澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2013-01-06

 And when the markets in Europe closed a couple of hours ago, London's FTSE 100 was up 42 points to 6,090. The Dax and Euro both closed up 20 and 8 points, respectively. In the US, trading comes to a close shortly and the Dow Jones is up 21 points, while the S&P 500 is up 5 points and the Nasdaq is up one point.

And the Australian dollar is worth nearly 105 US cents this morning. It'll also buy you 65 British pence and 126 New Zealand cents.

 

Switzerland's oldest private bank Wegelin & Co has been permanently¹ shut down after pleading guilty in a New York court to helping² Americans invade their taxes. The bank which has been in operation for over 260 years has agreed to pay almost 58 million dollars in fines to US authorities. The plea potentially marks a major turning point for authorities investigating Swiss bank secrecy³.

 

France's music Megastore Virgin⁴ is facing insolvency⁵, threatening 1,000 jobs across the country. The firm, which is predominantly owned by investment bank Butler Capital, has 25 stores in France and has already taken steps to terminate the lease on its Parisian store. It's the latest music chain to fail against the backdrop of consumers' shifting to digital music.

1 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

4 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

5 insolvency   

n.无力偿付，破产

参考例句：

• The company is on the verge of insolvency.该公司快要破产了。
• Normal insolvency procedures should not be applied to banks.通常的破产程序不应当适用于银行。