澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-09-01

Three Australians and a New Zealander were killed when their charter plane burst into flames in Papua New Guinea. The Trans Air plane overshot the runway on Misima Island and crashed into trees. One of the men killed was a 61-year-old marine¹ pilot from Sydney. Consular² officials in Port Moresby and Canberra are working with authorities to contact the families of those on board.

The chief executive of the Hawthorn³ Football Club says the sport’s drugs policy has failed. One of the club's players Travis Tuck is the first player to be suspended under the AFL's three strikes policy. Stuart Fox says the club was completely unaware⁴ of Tuck's drug taking and couldn't provide him with a support network. Tuck will miss 12 AFL matches and will have to pay a 5,000-dollar fine.

Four Israelis have been killed near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank in what police are describing as a terrorist attack. They were shot just two days before new peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians begin in Washington. Israeli police say a car came under attack near the settlement of Kyriat Arba near Hebron. Islamist Hamas militants⁵ in the Gaza Strip issued a statement on Tuesday claiming responsibility, calling it a heroic operation.

Iraq's prime minister says his country is independent as the US formally ends combat operations seven years after they began. Nouri al-Maliki says the country's security forces will now deal with all threats, domestic or external. While many Iraqis have welcomed the withdrawal⁶, some say they believe it's happening too soon.

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 consular   

a.领事的

参考例句：

• He has rounded out twenty years in the consular service. 他在领事馆工作已整整20年了。
• Consular invoices are declarations made at the consulate of the importing country. 领事发票是进口国领事馆签发的一种申报书。

3 hawthorn   

山楂

参考例句：

• A cuckoo began calling from a hawthorn tree.一只布谷鸟开始在一株山楂树里咕咕地呼叫。
• Much of the track had become overgrown with hawthorn.小路上很多地方都长满了山楂树。

4 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

5 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。

6 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。