NPR 2011-10-26

 Turkish television is reporting a prison riot as a result of today's strong aftershock in the eastern city of Van. Authorities say inmates¹ of the facility that can incarcerate² as many as 1,000 people apparently³ panic. They set bedding on fire in an attempt to escape. Some prisoners had already fled after Sunday's 7.2-magnitude quake, which is now blamed in at least 400 deaths.

 

Today's aftershock in Turkey was as strong as the earthquake that struck northeastern Japan early Wednesday local time. The temblor's epicenter was on the coast near the town of Iwaki, more than 100 miles north of Tokyo. It struck the prefecture where a more powerful quake and tsunami⁴ triggered a nuclear crisis earlier this year.

 

Partial results are out in Tunisia's first election since the uprising. The moderate once-banned Islamist party appears on track to winning the majority of seats.

 

The availability of stray munitions⁵ in Libya from the Gaddafi regime has human rights groups worried. As Larry Miller⁶ reports from London, there is a fear that stolen surface-to-air missiles could bring down commercial airlines.

 

Human Rights Watch says it's seen two sites near Sirte with surface-to-air missiles, tanks, mortar⁷ rounds and thousands of guided and unguided aerial weapons, and there's also serious concern over what's missing. The group says it's been warning Libya's Transitional National Council and NATO for months about stockpiles of unsecured weapons, and that these stockpiles have been raided. Human Rights Watch says it's found vast quantities of stray munitions scattered⁸ in the surrounding desert. It reports US experts are helping⁹ to locate missing missiles but warns time is running out. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

 

BP's third-quarter earnings¹⁰ topped five billion dollars, beating analysts¹¹' forecasts. NPR's Jeff Brady says the oil giant can thank higher prices.

 

Oil is selling on the world market for about 112 dollars a barrel now. Last year it was 77 dollars. While BP beat forecasts, the company has seen a decline in production. Chief executive Bob Dudley says his company is returning to work in the Gulf¹² of Mexico and meeting its obligations related to last year's spill.

 

"We have already paid half of the 20 billion dollars we committed to the Trust Fund to meet the costs of the Deepwater Horizon incident."

 

Related to the spill, Dudley announced this morning the company will sell 45 billion dollars in assets to pay costs associated with it. That's up from the previously¹³ announced 30 billion dollars. Jeff Brady, NPR News.

 

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry is proposing a tax-cutting plan that he argues is bolder than those of his GOP rivals and more aggressive than what President Obama offers. The Texas governor's plan sets a flat tax rate of 20%, but he says that under his proposal taxpayers¹⁴ would have the option to stay with their current rate.

 

This is NPR News.

 

Oakland, California police are reported to be maintaining a heavier-than-usual presence around City Hall hours after they arrested 75 activists¹⁵ during an anti-Wall Street protest. Before dawn police in riot gear broke up an encampment where activists had gathered some two weeks ago as part of the broader Occupy Wall Street movement that has touched off demonstrations¹⁶ in several US cities.

 

A United Mine Workers Union investigation¹⁷ into last year's mine disaster in West Virginia calls the tragedy tantamount to industrial homicide. Twenty-nine workers were killed in the explosion. NPR's Howard Berkes has more on the report just out this hour. 

 

The mine workers union calls mine owner Massey Energy a rogue¹⁸ corporation that operated the Upper Big Branch mine with subterfuge¹⁹, fear and intimidation²⁰. The union report also blames state and federal

 

regulators for failing to shut down the mine. There are two surprises. The union says its investigator²¹ found evidence of a possible effort to direct air towards a methane²² sensor²³ that might otherwise have shut down the mining machine that triggered the explosion. The report also says a methane sensor was found free of soot²⁴ and damaged, implying it may have been planted by two Massey executives immediately after the blast. The company has insisted the executives were searching for victims. Howard Berkes, NPR News.

 

And clarifying their report was disclosed earlier today.

 

Eurozone governments are trying to draft a comprehensive plan to address the region's debt problems by the time heads of state gather for a summit tomorrow. The Obama administration says there's a very strong likelihood there will be success.

 

The Dow was down more than 100 points.

1 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 incarcerate   

v.监禁，禁闭

参考例句：

• Why do you incarcerate yourself in the room every afternoon?你为何每天下午将自己关在房间里？
• Many people think that it is wrong to incarcerate criminals in confined quarters for as long as thirty years.很多人认为把罪犯监禁在禁闭营里达30年之久是不对的。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

5 munitions   

n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品

参考例句：

• The army used precision-guided munitions to blow up enemy targets.军队用精确瞄准的枪炮炸掉敌方目标。
• He rose [made a career for himself] by dealing in munitions.他是靠贩卖军火发迹的。

6 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

7 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

8 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

10 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

12 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

13 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。

14 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

15 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

17 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

18 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

19 subterfuge   

n.诡计；藉口

参考例句：

• European carping over the phraseology represented a mixture of hypocrisy and subterfuge.欧洲在措词上找岔子的做法既虚伪又狡诈。
• The Independents tried hard to swallow the wretched subterfuge.独立党的党员们硬着头皮想把这一拙劣的托词信以为真。

20 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

21 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

22 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

23 sensor   

n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官）

参考例句：

• The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
• He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。

24 soot   

n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟

参考例句：

• Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
• The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。