NPR 2010-02-20

From NPR News in Washington, I’m Lakshmi Singh.

President Obama’s been campaigning on behalf of a Nevada Democrat¹ who is in a tight race for reelection to the U.S. Senate. Today, Mr. Obama rallied support for Harry² Reid. He credits the Senate Majority leader with fighting for better health care and putting people back to work. “From the tax cuts to the unemployment insurance to the jobs, that was only possible because of Harry's leadership. And as a result, our economy is growing again.” President Obama hosting a town-hall meeting in Henderson near Las Vegas today.

There’s some question lingering whether the suicide flight of a lone³ pilot who slammed his small plane into an office building in Austin, Texas yesterday was a criminal or a terrorist act. The pilot and a federal employee were killed. NPR's John Burnett has more details from Austin.

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo was emphatic⁴ in his statement to the press. “I can tell you categorically that there is no cause for concern from a law enforcement or a terrorism perspective.” But not everyone agrees. Representative Michael Markel, the hard-nosed anti-terrorism Republican congressman⁵ in whose district this happened, suggested that a person with a grudge⁶ against the government flying a plane into a building full of federal employees sounded like a terrorist to him. Markel sits on the Homeland Security Committee and said the panel will look at how to better protect buildings from airplane attacks. On Friday, the global strategic intelligence company STRATFOR released an analysis that concludes the suicide flight is terrorism as defined by the Patriot⁷ Act. The FBI has yet to label the incident as domestic terrorism. John Burnett, NPR News, Austin.

The FBI has closed a 2001 anthrax case and will announce a former army scientist was responsible. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston has more.

The anthrax letters arrived in the weeks right after the 9/11 attacks. Letters with the poison were sent to lawmakers and news organizations, and five people died and 17 were sickened by those attacks. The FBI is expected to say that former army scientist Bruce Ivins was responsible for the anthrax mailings, and that he worked alone. The Department of Justice will be unsealing documents related to the case later today and they've already notified victims about their conclusions in the case. The FBI is expected to make an announcement this afternoon. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News.

The Obama administration is asking the Supreme⁸ Court to allow the government to force big tobacco to pay for programs that help people quit smoking, and this could cost the industry billions of dollars. Philip Morris also filed an appeal with the high court today. It wants the justices to overturn rulings that found the industry concealed⁹ the dangers of smoking.

Last check on Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average up eight points at 10,401.

From Washington, this is NPR News.

Reports from Pakistan today say the son of a Taliban faction¹⁰ leader has been killed in a US missile strike. NPR's Julie McCarthy has more on this latest blow on the Taliban militants¹¹.

A security source said that missiles fired from a US Predator¹² drone targeted a Haqqani compound yesterday near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan. The Haqqanis have been based in that tribal¹³ area since they fought to expel the Soviets¹⁴ from Afghanistan in the 1980s. Mohammad Haqqani, the son of the veteran Afghan guerrilla commander Jalaluddin Haqqani is believed to have been killed in the drone strike. The Haqqani faction which has links to al-Qaeda does not launch attacks in Pakistan but sends fighters over the border into Afghanistan. Another son, Sirajuddin, is a higher-profile target and is described by US forces as one of their biggest enemies in Afghanistan. He has a bounty¹⁵ of five million dollars on his head. Julie McCarthy, NPR News, Islamabad.

Tiger Woods struggling to rebound¹⁶ from his sex scandal has broken his silence on the matter and has told family and fans that he is sorry. He appeared before the glare of cameras in Florida today. The superstar golfer bluntly apologized for having extramarital affairs, admitting to letting down a lot of people. Woods says he’s sticking with therapy and doesn’t know when he will return to golf.

Senator Frank Lautenberg has stomach cancer. Doctors say they do expect the Democrat from New Jersey¹⁷ to make a full and complete recovery. The 86-year-old is scheduled to undergo chemotherapy over the next few months for plans to keep working on congressional matters in between treatments.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.
 

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

3 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

4 emphatic   

adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的

参考例句：

• Their reply was too emphatic for anyone to doubt them.他们的回答很坚决，不容有任何人怀疑。
• He was emphatic about the importance of being punctual.他强调严守时间的重要性。

5 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

6 grudge   

n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做

参考例句：

• I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。
• I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。

7 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

10 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

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 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

13 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

14 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

15 bounty   

n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与

参考例句：

• He is famous for his bounty to the poor.他因对穷人慷慨相助而出名。
• We received a bounty from the government.我们收到政府给予的一笔补助金。

16 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

17 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。