美国有线新闻 CNN 总统副总统各自拥兵 南苏丹内战又起

 

We're starting the show in the African country of South Sudan. It's considered the newest or youngest nation on Earth. It's got its independence from Sudan in 2011 and it has struggled.

According to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, less than a third of South Sudan's population can read and write. Half the people there live below the poverty line.

Years of warfare¹ and having to live their homes meant that many of South Sudan's adults missed out on school and some experts are saying that the nation's ethnic² tensions are threatening to stir up genocide, the mass murder of a racial or a cultural group. Why?

Observers say militias³ based on people's ethnicity are arming up and squaring off. They say there's been an increase in hate speech. South Sudan's government has been accused of destroying villages and armed groups have reportedly been attacking civilians⁴.

Hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese have fled to neighboring countries since 2013, and though tens of thousands of United Nations peacekeepers are in the country, they have still been repeated flare-ups of violence.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Violence is raging in the world's newest country. Hundreds are feared dead in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. Many have fled the city. Others are hunkering down, trying to stay safe.

It looks like it could go from bad to worse.

But what exactly is going on?

Here is a breakdown⁵.

SUBTITLE⁶: South Sudan: How we got here.

South Sudan is a nation in East Africa and turned five years old earlier in July. The country broke away from Sudan in 2011 after decades of epic⁷ and political conflict. South Sudan's president is this man, Salva Kiir, and this is his long time rival and vice⁸ president, Riek Machar.

Civil war broke out in 2013 after the president accused the vice president of an attempted coup⁹. Machar was sacked and forces loyal to each side began fighting.

The conflict also has a strong ethnic dimension. You see Kiir is a Dinka. That is the largest ethnic group in South Sudan. And Machar is a Nuer.

And traditionally, Dinka and Nuer are rivals in the country.

The war killed more than 50,000 people and displaced more than two million, about one in six people.

A peace deal signed last year meant Machar coming back to his post, which has only been in for a few months, and forces loyal to him have been stationed in Juba. And with heavily armed troops backing the rivals, it was almost inevitable¹⁰ that there will be a blowup.

Now the fear is, is that South Sudan, the youngest country on earth, will slide back to war and chaos¹¹, and civilians are often the worst hit.

1 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

2 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。

3 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

6 subtitle   

n.副题（书本中的），说明对白的字幕

参考例句：

• His new book has a subtitle.他的新书有一个副标题。
• Ah!I don't know why they don't subtitle these movies.唉！我不知道这些电影为什么不打字幕。

7 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

8 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。

9 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

10 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

11 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。