NPR 2011-02-11

Protesters in Egypt's Tahrir Square are waiting for an announcement from embattled President Hosni Mubarak, who is widely expected to relinquish¹ some power after two weeks of anti-government demonstrations². NPR's Corey Flintoff reports that the army says it's acting³ to preserve the nation.

Major General Hassan Roweny entered the square this afternoon and told protesters that "everything you want will be realized." He declined to say more, adding that there would be an announcement later in the day. The Egyptian military issued a statement entitled Communiqué No. 1. The statement said in part that a military council met today and decided⁴ to remain in continuous session to consider what measures may be taken to protect the nation. Protesters in the square said they'd wait for Mubarak's announcement, but many expressed concern that what's happening now may be a military coup⁵ rather than a realization⁶ of their demands for democracy. Corey Flintoff, NPR News, Cairo.

There's been a serious attack at the northwest Pakistani city of Mardan, at one of the country's oldest military installations. From Islamabad, NPR's Julie McCarthy reports that a suicide bomber⁷, whom local authorities say was a teenager, killed at least 31 military personnel and wounded 40 other people.

According to army sources, the bomber walked past the parade grounds this morning, where soldiers of the Punjab Regiment⁸ were conducting physical training and blew himself up. While eyewitnesses⁹ told police the bomber appeared to be in his early 20s, army sources say the suicide attacker was a teenager believed to be between the ages of 16 and 18. Mardan is one of the busiest cities in the northwest, and the military base lies in the main road. The army says the bomber gained access, dressed in a uniform of one of the two schools housed in the military base. The Punjab Regimental Center is a sprawling¹⁰ complex founded by the British during the colonial era. Today's bombing comes as Pakistan announced it would resume ministerial talks with India on a range of issues including peace and Kashmir. Julie McCarthy, NPR News, Islamabad.

New data show fewer homes entered the foreclosure process in January in the US than in any month in more than three years. NPR's Giles Snyder reports numbers may not tell the whole story.

Compared to January last year, filings are down 17%. RealtyTrac spokesman Rick Sharga says the number might suggest the foreclosure problem is easing, but that's probably not true.

"What we're still seeing is a fallout from the paperwork issues that plagued the lenders due to the robo-signing scandal that hit late in the third quarter of last year, and ultimately we're going to see a return to higher levels of foreclosure activity."

Sharga says the numbers will go up. It's just a question of when. Giles Snyder, NPR News, Washington.

The Dow's down 36 at 12, 204; NASDAQ is down five.

This is NPR.

The federal government's budget deficit¹¹ is on track to hit a record high. The Treasury¹² Department says the deficit grew by $50 billion in January, the highest ever for that month. For the first four months of the budget year, the deficit reached nearly $419 billion. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the gap will widen to 1.5 trillion this budget year.

An investigation¹³ is under way into last night's natural gas explosion in eastern Pennsylvania. Melanie Herschorn of member station WIFT [WITF] reports the blast destroyed several homes and killed at least three people.

The fire has been extinguished after burning for several hours while utility crews tried to shut off the gas main. The victims' names have not been released. Emergency crews are still trying to locate other residents. Fire Chief Robert Scheirer says he expects eight houses to be lost and another 16 to sustain considerable damage. The nearly 600 residents evacuated¹⁴ last night are returning to their homes. The cause of the explosion has not yet been determined¹⁵. A spokesman for Reading-based UGI Utilities says the company performed a routine leak check this week and found no issues in the gas main in that area prior to the explosion. For NPR News, I'm Melanie Herschorn.

The American security firm McAfee warns oil company computers in the United States and other countries have been breached¹⁶ by hackers¹⁷ traced to China. In a report released today, McAfee says the hackers stole data about the company's finances and other sensitive aspects of their operations, an attack that started over a year ago. The targeted computers were in the US, Greece, Kazakhstan and Taiwan.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.

1 relinquish   

v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手

参考例句：

• He was forced to relinquish control of the company.他被迫放弃公司的掌控权。
• They will never voluntarily relinquish their independence.他们绝对不会自动放弃独立。

2 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。

3 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 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。

6 realization   

n.实现；认识到，深刻了解

参考例句：

• We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
• He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。

7 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。

8 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

9 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。

10 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

11 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

12 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。

13 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。

14 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

15 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

16 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

17 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网