NPR 2008-03-30

 

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Craig Windham.

 

A round-the-clock curfew in Baghdad has been extended indefinitely in an effort to defuse clashes between Iraqi security forces and Shiite militants¹ as the Iraqi government's offensive falters². In the port city of Basra, Shiite militia³ now control wide areas. And Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was forced to flee his compound when it came under fire. NPR's Dina Temple-Reston reports from Baghdad.

 

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had vowed⁴ to fight the members of the Mehdi Army militiamen to the end and told his commanders in Baghdad to pursue militants in the capital without mercy. Just hours later, the Mehdi Army had surrounded the presidential palace in Basra where Maliki was directing the campaign. American troops had to evacuate⁵ him to another location in Basra. Iraqi security forces launched an operation against Mehdi Army fighters loyal to Sadr in the southern oil port city five days ago. The fighting has not gone well for the Iraqi government. To underscore that point, American and British forces have been called in to help them fight in both Basra and Baghdad. Dina Temple-Reston, NPR News, Baghdad.

 

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has been campaigning in Indiana and Kentucky today in advance of primaries there in May. She brushed aside any talk of dropping out of the race. From member station WFPL, Gabe Bullard has more.

 

With voting on May 6th and May 20th，Indiana and Kentucky usually aren't key states in the presidential primaries, but with the Democratic contest close, the Clinton and Obama campaigns have been focusing more attention on the two states. In a speech in New Albany in Southern Indiana, Senator Clinton said she had no intention of getting out of the race.

 

"There are some people, you see them on TV, saying, oh, we should stop this now, we've had enough elections.  I mean, I don't know where that comes from, I mean, it's March. Oh, You know, we've got a lot more contests ahead of us and Indiana should count and I want Indiana to be part of this process."

 

Senator Clinton used her New Albany speech to outline her plan for making the United States a leader in clean coal technology and production. For NPR news, I'm Gabe Bullard in Louisville.

 

Obama was stumping⁶ in Pennsylvania. He told supporters there that new leadership is needed to tackle the economic problems facing the nation.

 

"We're now looking at four-dollar-a-gallon gas, we haven't acted because the special interests and the lobbyists that have come to dominate Washington aren't looking out for you, they're looking out for their bottom lines."

 

Obama was speaking at a rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a major steel producing area. In Texas, Democrats⁷ participated in county and senate district conventions today, next step in selecting delegates to the National Convention. Hector Nieto is with the Texas Democratic Party.
 
"The one thing we are seeing today is, er, just a great, er, a large number of participant. Every corner of the state is seeing Democrats come out and become part of the process." Nieto says the next step is a state party convention. This is NPR News from Washington.

 

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she will push for an easing of Israeli restrictions⁸ on Palestinians in the West Bank. Rice is back in the Middle East as the administration tries to get the two sides to agree on a peace deal before President Bush leaves office. Rice will hold talks tomorrow with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

 

As many as 75 miners are feared dead in northern Tanzania after heavy rains reportedly flooded mines there. NPR's Gwen Tompkins has the story.

The miners went missing while looking for Tanzanite, a gemstone that is deep blue in color with a hint of violet. Tanzanite is found in no other place on earth but northern Tanzania, and the mines are widely known to be deadly. They'd been described is no more than deep holes in the ground. Over the past decades, scores of workers have died in a range of accidents while mining for Tanzanite. This time of year, the mines are particularly dangerous. It's the rainy season and most communities are experiencing heavy downpours everyday. The mines have flooded. The Tanzanian government has recovered the bodies of some of the workers, but holds out little hope that the others are still alive. Gwen Tompkins, NPR News, Nairobi.

 

A Bush administration plan to change the way the government regulates the financial industry will be formally unveiled on Monday by Treasury⁹ Secretary Henry Paulson. The plan would overhaul¹⁰ the regulation of banks, securities firms, mortgage brokers¹¹ and insurance companies. It would reportedly give the Federal Reserve broad new authority to oversee¹² financial market stability. That would include the power to examine the books of any institution that's deemed to represent a potential threat to the proper functioning of the financial system.

 

I'm Craig Windham, NPR News in Washington.

 

1 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。

2 falters   

（嗓音）颤抖( falter的第三人称单数 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃

参考例句：

• He never falters in his determination. 他的决心从不动摇。
• The plan never falters; the design never changes. It is all ordered. 大自然从不步履蹒跚，从不三心二意，一切都是有条不紊。

3 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

4 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

5 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。

6 stumping   

僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的现在分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说

参考例句：

• She's tired of stumping up for school fees, books and uniform. 她讨厌为学费、课本和校服掏腰包。
• But Democrats and Republicans are still dumping stumping for the young. 但是民主党和共和党依然向年轻人发表演说以争取他们的支持。

7 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

9 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

10 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

11 brokers   

n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司，经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分

12 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。