NPR 2009-05-25

From NPR News in Washington, I am Craig Windham.

The second ranking Democrat¹ in the Senate Dick Durbin of Illinois says President Obama is likely to announce this week his nominee² to replace retiring Supreme³ Court justice David Souter. Durbin says Mr. Obama has made his criteria⁴ clear. "I think he's gonna look for a person who understands the law, someone of high integrity and as he says someone who is in touch with the real world." Durbin was on NBC's "Meet the Press". But the Senate’s No.2 Republican Jon Kyl of Arizona says he is reserving the right to filibuster⁵ the nomination⁶. "Given the fact that the President has already signaled that he wants to appoint someone who has empathy and will decide cases based on that, I think you have to reserve it." Kyl was on Fox News Sunday.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has reaffirmed that he is a Republican despite a recent remark by former Vice⁷ President Cheney to the contrary that Powell says the GOP needs to change. "I have always felt that the Republican Party should be more inclusive than it generally has been over the years. And I believe we need a strong Republican Party that is not just anchored in the base but has built on the base to include more individuals." Powell was interviewed on CBS's "Face the nation". He repeated his support for closing the US detention⁸ facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a position that was echoed today by the Chairman of the Joint⁹ Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen.

Russia’s Foreign Minister is calling on Israel to lift its economic blockade of the Gaza Strip after a summit in Damascus of Foreign Ministers from Muslim countries. Dale Gavlak reports from Oman.

Sergey Lavrov said Russia will press Israel to lift the economic blockade of Gaza when he meets Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in Moscow early next month. Gaza has been under blockades since the Hamas faction¹⁰ took power in Gaza in June, 2007. Israel and other countries, including the US, have demanded Hamas recognize Israel and stop rocket fire in order for the embargo¹¹ to be lifted. Although most western countries have boycotted¹² Hamas, Russia has kept up a dialogue with the organization. Lavrov said he also urged Hamas to maintain the lull¹³ in its rocket attacks against Israel. He added that Russia would like to see full-fledged peace talks started between Israel, the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon. For NPR News, I am Dale Gavlak in Oman.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and former Vice President Al Gore¹⁴ urged hundreds of business leaders at a conference in Denmark today to push governments to reach a global deal on reducing green house gases. Gore said a deal is essential this year because,in his words, "Mother Nature does not do bailouts". "The consequences that scientists have warned us about for decades are now beginning to occur." Gore was speaking at a World Business Summit on Climate Change. He called on the executives to find greener ways of running their businesses.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Seven people,most of them police officers, were killed today when a suicide bomber¹⁵ detonated a blast at the entrance to a military base in the capital of Somalia. NPR’s Gwen Tompkins reports from Nairobi.

So far not the Somalia’s transitional government nor the Islamist extremists who want power appear strong enough to put the other away. But the hardliners had gained new territory in Mogadishu in recent weeks. And now the government is making its own offensive. The US, the African Union and the United Nations have shown increasing concern over the hardliners' assault on Somalia's moderate Islamist government. The U.S. has linked one of the extremist groups to al-Qaeda and the African Union has called for UN sanctions against Eritrea, whom they accuse of funneling¹⁶ weapons to the extremists.  Eritrea denies the claim. Eritrea’s mortal enemy Ethiopia is also denying claims that it has troops in the country. Fears are rising that Eritrea and Ethiopia are fighting by proxy¹⁷ in Somalia and that terrorist groups are taking advantage. Gwen Tompkins, NPR News, Nairobi.

At least nine people were wounded when gunmen attacked a Sikh temple in Vienna today. Vaughan Florin reports.

According to eyewitnesses¹⁸, the incident started when a small number of worshipers showed displeasure about the sermon. One of the attackers pulled the gun, the other had a knife. In the ensuing struggle, several people were severely¹⁹ wounded. The assailants were wrestled²⁰ to the ground. One witness told the Austrian Press Agency that, a few days ago, the police have been informed about the possible conflict at the temple. The roughly 10,000-strong-Indian community in Austria has previously²¹ not been known for any violence. Vaughan Florin reporting.

A New York woman in her 50s is the latest person to die of swine flu in the US.  A spokeswoman said the woman had other medical problems as well.

I am Craig Windham, NPR News in 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 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

3 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。

4 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

5 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

6 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

9 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

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 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。

12 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

13 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。

14 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

15 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

16 funneling   

[医]成漏斗形：描述膀胱底及膀胱尿道交接区

参考例句：

17 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

18 eyewitnesses   

目击者( eyewitness的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The examination of all the eyewitnesses took a week. 对所有证人的质询用了一周的时间。
• Several eyewitnesses testified that they saw the officers hit Miller in the face. 几位目击证人证明他们看见那几个警官打了米勒的脸。

19 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

20 wrestled   

v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤

参考例句：

• As a boy he had boxed and wrestled. 他小的时候又是打拳又是摔跤。
• Armed guards wrestled with the intruder. 武装警卫和闯入者扭打起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。