NPR 2009-12-29

The Obama administration is promising¹ a review of the airport security procedures after the Christmas day attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight. A Nigerian man suspected of trying to detonate explosives on the plane bound for Detroit has been released from the hospital into the custody² of Federal marshals. A court hearing is scheduled for tomorrow as the White House seeks to head off Republican criticism. The ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, accused the Obama administration of being too lax in responding to the threat of terrorism on US soil.

Homegrown terrorism, the threat to the United States, is real. I think this administration has downplayed it. They need to recognize it, and identify it. It is the only way we are going to defeat it.

Hoekstra was on Fox News Sunday. There was another scare on the flight to Detroit today, but the FBI says the man did not pose a security risk. WDET's Rob St. Mary has more.

 Two days after a Nigerian man tried to detonate the device onboard a plane bound for Detroit, another man became disruptive and was arrested. The incident occurred onboard the same Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit that was attacked on Christmas Day. Robert Fo Conna was the wing counter executive.

He was not responding to commands, especially of the flight's crew and at that point of the radio that in. He would not exit the bathroom and of course there is a real heightened sensitivity about these subsequent circumstances.

 Subsequent interviews by investigators³ determining the businessman became ill during the flight. Passengers were detained for about four hours as the authorities investigated. For NPR News, I'm Rob St. Mary in Detroit.

 The United States is condemning⁴ Sunday's violence in Iran. The US says it's offering its support to the victims of the crackdown which witnesses and opposition⁵ websites say it left at least five people dead including the nephew of an opposition leader.

 Thailand has started to repatriate⁶ thousands of ethnic⁷ Hmong asylum⁸-seekers to neighboring Laos despite of objections by international rights groups and US officials. Doualy Xaykaothao has more on the story.

 In northern Thailand, soldiers with shields and batons⁹ are forcibly deporting¹⁰ more than 4,000 Hmong back to Laos. The hill tribe people have been living in makeshift Thai camps for the last five years. Many seek political asylum fearing prosecution¹¹ in Laos because of a history of fighting alongside American forces during the Vietnam War. A spokesman for the US State Department said forced returns of persons entitled to protections is inconsistent with international practice. The UN urged Thailand to call off the expulsions and Human Rights Watch in New York called the eviction¹² appalling¹³. But a Thai government spokesman said they have assurances from Laos that the Hmong will be safe back in their home country. For NPR News, I'm Doualy Xaykaothao.

This is NPR.

A one year anniversary of the war in Gaza was marked by Palestinians Sunday. Shear¹⁴ Franco reports from Jerusalem.

 Palestinians marked the anniversary of Israel's offensive in Gaza with sirens and a moment of silence. Thirteen Israelis were killed during the three weeks’ conflict. Officials in Gaza say as many as 1,400 Palestinians were killed. Although Israeli officials insist the count was lower and that many of the dead were militants¹⁵. Thousands of Palestinians are still displaced as Israel's embargo¹⁶ on the Gaza's strip bans construction materials from entering the coastal¹⁷ area. Israel launched the wars in response to Palestinian rocket attacks on its southern communities. The relative quiet since the war has caused many Israelis to announce operation was a success. In Israel, the anniversary passed largely unnoticed with none of the major people dailies marking the day in their news pages. For NPR News, I'm Shear Franco in Remora.

 A church in Arizona is holding prayer vigils for a Korean-American missionary¹⁸ who was believed to be detained in North Korea. Activist¹⁹ in South Korea say Robert Park illegally entered North Korea from China on Christmas Day with a letter urging North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to step down and free political prisoners. There's been no word from him since the state department, and the US embassy in Beijing say they are aware of the incident but have no details.

China says a hijacked²⁰ Chinese cargo²¹ ship and its 25 sailors have been rescued. The ship was seized two months ago by pirates operating off the coast of Somalia. The official Xinhua News agency says the crew was rescued early Monday but did not say whether a ransom²² was paid or if the ship was retaken by force. A statement from the Foreign Ministry²³ gave no details of how the crew was recovered.

I'm Giles Snyder. This is NPR News.

1 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

2 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

3 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 repatriate   

v.遣返；返回；n.被遣返回国者

参考例句：

• The government safely repatriates victims.政府安全遣返了受害者。
• In this part,you need to formulate in detail repatriate the plan.在这一部分，你需要制定详细的归国计划。

7 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

8 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

9 batons   

n.（警察武器）警棍( baton的名词复数 )；（乐队指挥用的）指挥棒；接力棒

参考例句：

• There were many riot policemen with batons. 有许多带警棍的防暴警察。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Chinese police fight? Number one is a person with batons to fight! 满街飘的中国国旗，是一个老华侨在事发时那出来分给大家的，很感动，真的，从来一向多一事不如少一事的中国人今天团结到一起站出来反抗。 来自互联网

10 deporting   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的现在分词 )；举止

参考例句：

11 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

12 eviction   

n.租地等的收回

参考例句：

• The family have won a temporary reprieve from eviction.这个家庭暂时免于被逐出。
• He claimed damages for unlawful eviction.他要求对非法驱逐作出赔偿。

13 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

14 shear   

n.修剪，剪下的东西，羊的一岁；vt.剪掉，割，剥夺；vi.修剪，切割，剥夺，穿越

参考例句：

• Every spring they shear off the sheep's wool and sell it.每年春天他们都要剪下羊毛去卖。
• In the Hebrides they shear their sheep later than anywhere else.在赫伯里兹，剪羊毛的时间比其他任何地方都要晚。

15 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。

16 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

17 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

18 missionary   

adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士

参考例句：

• She taught in a missionary school for a couple of years.她在一所教会学校教了两年书。
• I hope every member understands the value of missionary work. 我希望教友都了解传教工作的价值。

19 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

20 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

21 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

22 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。

23 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。