NPR 2009-01-26

Some key Congressional Republicans are voicing opposition¹ to President Obama's proposed 825-billion-dollar economic recovery plan in its current form. GOP Senator John McCain of Arizona. "The plan was written by the majority in, Democratic majority in the House primarily, and so yeah, I think there has to be major rewrites, if we wanna stimulate² the economy." McCain on Fox News Sunday said he wants to see more tax cuts for both working Americans and for businesses. At least two Republicans will have to back the plan in the Senate to produce a filibuster-proof majority.

In the House, Republican leader John Boehner says many in his party will vote "No" unless there are significant revisions. But Vice³ President Joe Biden predicts the legislation will eventually be enacted⁴. "I think at the end of the day after the Senate, to use Senate jargon⁵, the House and the Senate go to conference and reconcile the differences which would be very rapidly. I think you'll see a fairly strong vote across the board out of 535 members for this stimulus⁶ package." Biden was on CBS's "Face the Nation".

On another topic, Biden said with more US forces set for deployment⁷ in Afghanistan, Americans should be prepared for what he called "an uptick" in US casualties there. Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai is condemning⁸ a US raid, which he claims killed as many as 16 civilians¹⁰. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports from Kabul.

Karzai said the US raid in the eastern province of Laghman killed 16 civilians, including women and children. Karzai warns such raids are strengthening terrorists. His office said it has sent draft agreements to Washington and NATO, demanding more Afghan control over western military operations. The US military has repeatedly stated that it killed 15 militants¹¹ in a predawn raid Saturday, including one woman with a rocket-propelled grenade. Officials say they have photos to prove it, but that they would not release them to the public. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, Kabul.

Emergency crews are working to restore power and reopen roads following a severe storm that swept through France and Spain. Anita Elash reports.

The storm blew in from the Atlantic Ocean, and brought winds as high as 110 miles an hour. It ripped the roofs off houses, toppled hundreds of thousands of trees, cut off train service, and left eight hundred thousand homes without electricity. Nineteen people were killed, many of them in northern Spain. Today French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited the worst hit area in France around Bordeaux. He said he announced the army to help bring services back to normal as quickly as possible. Helicopters were trying to locate down power lines and dozens of generators¹² were being delivered to old people's homes. In Spain, hundreds of firefighters were battling three forest fires that started after the storm toppled electricity towers. Anita Elash reporting.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is pledging to defend any Israeli soldier who might face war crimes charges in connection with the recent Israeli military offensive against militants in the Gaza Strip. His comments come amid a concern that some officers could face international prosecution¹³ over civilian⁹ deaths in the operation. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights says there're nearly 1,300 Palestinians killed during the offensive, more than half were civilians. Thirteen Israelis were killed including three civilians.

In Bolivia, voters went to the polls today for a referendum on a new constitution that will give the indigenous¹⁴ majority there more political clout¹⁵ and allow incumbent¹⁶ President Evo Morales to run for reelection. NPR's Juan Forero reports from Bogota.

Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, says the new constitution will expand rights for the country's 36 indigenous communities. The constitution would also give the state a bigger role in economy, while limiting the size of land holdings. But critics among them, former President Carlos Mesa said the new charter could lead to more turmoil¹⁷ in the historically tumultuous country. Leaders in the richer eastern lowland say the constitution amounts to a power grab for Morales. Indeed, the drafting of the constitution has been so controversial that it led to bitter recriminations and violent anti-government protests last year. Morales, though, has the support of most of the country's nine million people, the majority of whom are indigenous. Juan Forero, NPR News, Bogota.

Gasoline prices have increased again, up just over 7.5 cents a gallon over the past two weeks. The average price nationally now for self-service regular is $1.85 a gallon. Highest gas prices were found in Anchorage, the lowest were in Billings, Montana.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

5 jargon   

n.术语，行话

参考例句：

• They will not hear critics with their horrible jargon.他们不愿意听到评论家们那些可怕的行话。
• It is important not to be overawed by the mathematical jargon.要紧的是不要被数学的术语所吓倒.

6 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

7 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

8 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

10 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

11 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

12 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

14 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

15 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

16 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

17 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。