NPR 2011-04-12

A Pakistani American is getting 23 years in prison for attempting to bomb subway stations in Washington DC. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports Farooque Ahmed was convicted as result of a sting operation.

Prosecutors¹ say Farooque Ahmed thought he was helping² al-Qaeda test the security of subway stops near the nation's capital. He took pictures in areas with high traffic and he recommended that the bombers³ put devices in suitcases on wheels. Investigators⁴ say the public wasn't ever in any danger. That's because Ahmed was working with undercover agents. Ahmed pleaded guilty to two charges: attempting to support a terrorist group and gathering⁵ information to help a terror attack. A judge sentenced him to nearly a quarter century in prison and 50 years of supervised release.

Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

No word yet on who was behind a deadly subway blast in the capital of Belarus today. At least 11 people were killed and scores more were wounded when an explosion tore through a major subway station in Minsk during the busy evening commute⁶.

Ivory Coast's renegade leader Laurent Gbagbo is under arrest. Gbagbo called for an end to fighting within hours of surrendering today in Abidjan to forces loyal to political rival Alassane Ouattara. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports today's capture is a pivotal moment for Ouattara, the democratically elected president of November's election.

This would be not only good for him but especially for the people of Ivory Coast and civilians⁷. They have borne the brunt of now weeks of fighting here in the commercial capital Abidjan. Hundreds are dead and civilians trapped in their homes with no foods, no water, no security, absolutely terrified by the fighting that has been going on.

NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton.

The Libyan opposition⁸ is rejecting the African Union's conditions for a ceasefire, saying that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi must leave Libya before any dialog can take place. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from the rebel stronghold of Benghazi that anti-Gaddafi fighters just don't trust the AU.

The delegation⁹ of African leaders arrived from Tripoli minus South Africa's Jacob Zuma, who said he had a schedule conflict. In contrast to the warm welcome the delegation received in Tripoli, in rebel-controlled Benghazi many suspect the African Union of siding with Gaddafi. Following an afternoon of meetings at a Benghazi hotel, the African leaders left without making any comment. The leader of the rebel's Transitional National Council Mustafa Abdul Jalil said the ceasefire and dialog proposal was over a month old and had been surpassed by events. Specifically, he said any proposal that does not include the departure of Gaddafi and his family could not be accepted by the rebels. He also said that Gaddafi should leave Libya voluntarily before "the march of the people is on his doorstep."

Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Benghazi.

US stocks mixed, Dow was up one at 12,381.

This is NPR.

In a setback¹⁰ for Arizona's Republican governor, an appeals court has refused to lift a stay blocking vital parts of Arizona's law targeting illegal immigration from taking effect. The Justice Department says the disputed section of that law, requiring police to verify the status of a detainee who's suspected of being undocumented, violates the Constitution because immigration enforcement is a federal issue. Yet no comment today though from either the Justice Department or Governor Jan Brewer¹¹.

Jury deliberations are under way in San Francisco at the Barry Bonds perjury¹² trial. From San Francisco, NPR's Tom Goldman reports Bonds is charged with lying to a grand jury when he said he never knowingly took banned performance-enhancing drugs.

One of the perjury count against Barry Bonds alleged¹³ he lied when he told a grand jury in 2003 that he had never been injected by anyone other than his doctors. Today, the jury reheard testimony¹⁴ that went directly to that count. A court reporter read the testimony of Kathy Hoskins. She used to be Bonds' personal clothes shopper. She said in 2002 she witnessed Bonds' former personal trainer Greg Anderson injected Bonds in the belly¹⁵ button with an unknown substance. Hoskins testified Bonds said at the time about the substance, "They can't detect it. They can't catch it." Bonds' defense¹⁶ team says Hoskins told the story about the injection just before her brother Steve. He was a business partner of Bonds' before the two had an acrimonious¹⁷ falling-out. Tom Goldman, NPR News, San Francisco.

Gas prices are edging closer to $4 a gallon across the US and people apparently¹⁸ are driving less. MasterCard SpendingPulse finds gas sales are down for a fifth week in a row.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.

1 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

2 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。

3 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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》

5 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

6 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

7 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。

8 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。

9 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

10 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

11 brewer   

n. 啤酒制造者

参考例句：

• Brewer is a very interesting man. 布鲁尔是一个很有趣的人。
• I decided to quit my job to become a brewer. 我决定辞职，做一名酿酒人。

12 perjury   

n.伪证；伪证罪

参考例句：

• You'll be punished if you procure the witness to commit perjury.如果你诱使证人作伪证，你要受罚的。
• She appeared in court on a perjury charge.她因被指控做了伪证而出庭受审。

13 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

14 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

15 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

16 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

17 acrimonious   

adj.严厉的，辛辣的，刻毒的

参考例句：

• He had an acrimonious quarrel with his girlfriend yesterday.昨天他跟他的女朋友激烈争吵了一番。
• His parents went through an acrimonious divorce.他的父母在激烈吵吵闹闹中离了婚。

18 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。