NPR 2012-02-26

 Two high-ranking military officers were shot dead today inside a government ministry¹ in Kabul. NPR's Quil Lawrence reports the attack was believed to be connected to five days of anti-US riots after US soldiers accidentally burned copies of the Quran. 

 

Reports of gunfire inside the Interior Ministry were followed by a NATO statement that two service members are dead after an individual turned his weapon on them. An official in the ministry confirmed the casualties were US army officers of high rank. American officials say they are investigating how US soldiers came to burn copies of the Muslim holy book at an American air base, but apologies from the White House and American commanders have not dampened the anger. Demonstrators clashed with police outside a UN compound in northern Afghanistan. Earlier this week, two American troops were killed by an Afghan army soldier in the east of the country. Quil Lawrence, NPR News, Kabul.

 

Pakistani intelligence officials say a US drone crashed today in North Waziristan, not far from the Afghan border. Taliban fighters claimed they shot it down. US officials denied this and declined to provide any other information. 

 

Meanwhile, Pakistani workers today began demolishing² the three-story compound where Osam bin³ Ladan had lived for years before being killed by US commandos last May.   

 

The Red Cross and other groups are trying again today to rescue the wounded from the besieged⁴ Syrian city of Homs. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

 

Opposition⁵ activists⁷ said the initial evacuations brought women and children out of the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs. They were conflicting accounts of how many were evacuated⁸, possibly as many as 27. French journalist Edith Bouvier and British photographer Paul Conroy remain in Baba Amr, according to activists, not wishing to be the first ones evacuated. The bodies of journalists Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik are also still there. A Red Cross spokesman says talks with Syrian authorities are ongoing⁹. Meanwhile, an activist⁶ in Homs said shelling of several neighborhoods in the city has resumed. Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Beirut.

 

In the race for the Republican presidential nomination¹⁰, Mitt¹¹ Romney is emphasizing his local roots three days ahead of Michigan's primary. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports Romney is on a snowy bus tour across the state.

 

Romney has always talked about his family on the Michigan campaign trail, lately though the references have been multiplying. In Lansing, he talked about the hospital where he was born, his father's gubernatorial campaign and his dad's inauguration¹² on a snowy day like this one.

 

“As I recall, they'd also just changed the slogan of the state. It used to be Water Wonderland. Remember on the license¹³ plates? It said Water Wonderland. They changed it to Winter Water Wonderland. Now it was hard just to say it but to get it on a license plate proved to be impossible.”

 

Romney has seemed more relaxed on this bus trip that may reflect the fact that he has closed the wide lead Rick Santorum held a week ago. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Lansing, Michigan.

 

Santorum and Ron Paul are also campaigning in Michigan. Newt Gingrich is in California because it holds its primary until June.

 

This is NPR News.

 

With a little more than a week before a presidential election in Russia, thousands of demonstrators marched through the Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's hometown today, demanding that he resign. NPR's Martha Wexler reports he’s facing an uncomfortable wave of protests.

 

An estimated 10,000 Russians marched through St. Petersburg, carrying signs with slogans like “Putin, we are your employers, and you are fired.” An opposition leader told the crowd to vote for anyone but Putin, who's already served two terms as president and one as prime minister. Anti-Putin protests broke out after parliamentary elections in December that were tainted¹⁴ by fraud. Tomorrow activists are planning to form a human chain around Moscow's ring road. The Kremlin has responded by mobilizing pro-Putin crowds, including tens of thousands who packed a Moscow stadium this past week, many bused in from other cities. Martha Wexler, NPR News, Moscow.

 

A court in Milan ruled today a corruption¹⁵ case against Silvio Berlusconi must be dismissed because the statue of limitations has expired. The former Italian prime minister was charged with paying British lawyer David Mills 600,000 dollars to lie during two trials in the 90s involving the billionaire's business dealings. Berlusconi has said that Mills was one of many lawyers who worked for him and doesn't recall ever meeting him. Berlusconi still faces several other trials in Milan.

 

Former South African President Nelson Mandela is back in the hospital. The government issued a statement that he's being treated for a long-standing stomach ailment¹⁶. Mandela is 93 and has not been making public appearances for more than a year. He became South Africa's first black president in 1994 after spending 27 years in prison for opposing apartheid.

 

I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 demolishing   

v.摧毁( demolish的现在分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings. 这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。 来自《用法词典》
• Conventional demolishing work would have caused considerable interruptions in traffic. 如果采用一般的拆除方法就要引起交通的严重中断。 来自辞典例句

3 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

4 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

5 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。

6 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

7 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》

8 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。

9 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

10 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。

11 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

12 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

13 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

14 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

16 ailment   

n.疾病，小病

参考例句：

• I don't have even the slightest ailment.我什么毛病也没有。
• He got timely treatment for his ailment.他的病得到了及时治疗。