CNN 2009-01-11

I'm Asieh Namdar at the CNN.com newsroom in Atlanta. Here is a look at what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.
 
There is no let-up in Israel's assault on Gaza and Hamas's rocket attacks into Israel. The fighting has entered a third week with mounting casualties on both sides. Israel says a Hamas commander in charge of launching rockets into Israel from Gaza City was killed by ground fire. Also during a three-hour lull¹ today, Israel dropped leaflets warning residents to evacuate² their homes. A United Nations spokesman says the pause in fighting was not long enough to resume aid deliveries into Gaza. The humanitarian⁴ situation there is described as "desperate". And Palestinian medical sources say at least 800 people have been killed in Gaza since the Israeli offensive began. Thirteen Israelis including 10 soldiers have also died.
 
A supertanker crew held for months by pirates is now on its way to safe waters. The pirates released the vessel⁵ after receiving a ransom⁶ payment that was dropped by parachute. Four of the pirates drowned after their skiff capsized in rough seas. Initial reports say pirates were asking for as much as 25 million to free the Saudi-owned ship and crew, but may have lowered their demands to around three million.
 
It's back to work for Indian government oil workers after a three-day strike that crippled Indian commerce. Some 45,000 oil workers walked off the job after the government refused their demands for higher pay. The labor⁷ standoff ended after days of intense government pressure, including threats of job loss and even arrest to strikers. Meantime, talks with a second group of nationwide strikers may soon be underway. The Indo-Asian News-Service says India's transport minister is ready to discuss demands from truckers. Many across India have parked their rigs, calling for reduction in diesel⁸ and tyre prices.
 
We're getting more details on President-elect Barack Obama's proposed economic stimulus⁹ plan. His economic team says the plan will create three and a half million jobs. The president-elect puts the cost of the package at a whopping 775 billion dollars, although Obama admits even his own economic advisors¹⁰ tell him there's a significant margin¹¹ of error in the projected job numbers. The president-elect warns the recession could last for years if nothing is done.
 
An honor today for former President Bush. President George H.W. Bush is getting a ship named after him. His son, the current president, spoke³ this morning about the honor. "..distinguished¹² man. I wanna thank you all for coming. Laura and I are thrilled to be here to help commission an awesome¹³ ship and to honor an awesome man, President George H.W. Bush." The former president says the work aboard the ship will be hard and thank the men and women who will be working aboard for their sacrifices.
 
And those are the headlines at this hour. For more on these stories and other news of the day, CNN is your source online, on TV, or when you're on the go.

1 lull   

v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇

参考例句：

• The drug put Simpson in a lull for thirty minutes.药物使辛普森安静了30分钟。
• Ground fighting flared up again after a two-week lull.经过两个星期的平静之后，地面战又突然爆发了。

2 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

5 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

6 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

7 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

8 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

9 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。

10 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

11 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

12 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

13 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.