News Spotlight（在线收听）

News Spotlight

POLITICS

Brazil’s government has confirmed press reports that it barred International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors from part of a new 1)uranium enrichment plant near Rio de Janeiro, but Brazil angrily rejects what it sees as baseless American 2)insinuations that the plant might be used to make the 3)ingredients for bombs.

The facility in question is being built to enrich uranium for Brazil’s nuclear power plants. The Brazilians say they’ve allowed all the inspections required by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but so far they’re 4)baulked at letting inspectors take a closer look at certain machinery. Foreign Minister Celso Amorim says Brazil has a right to shield 5)legitimate industrial secrets.

“Brazil is entitled to protect its 6)proprietary technology, technology that was developed in Brazil,” Amorim says. 7)Prominent nuclear physicist Josia Goldenberg says, Brazilian technicians have managed to build the facility without outside help, but he’s 8)skeptical of the need for secrecy.

Josia: It’s an achievement you know but which does not mean that the process has any great originality.

The controversy was touched off by a front-page story in Sunday’s Washington Post, which highlighted the limits on inspections at the facility. The Brazilian government 9)took offence at the story which many here saw as an unjustified attack on Brazil’s nuclear non-proliferation credentials. Politicians here have assumed the story was planted either by the U.S. government or the International Atomic Energy Agency, even though the IAEA won’t comment on the situation. Jose Sarney is the president of the Brazilian Senate.

“I don’t see how anyone could compare Brazil to North Korea or Iran,” Sarney said. Brazil abandoned its bomb programme in the 1980s and the constitution here now bans nuclear weapons. But the country has not yet signed what’s known as the Additional Protocol, an 10)addendum to the Non-Proliferation Treaty which allows more intrusive inspections.

Despite the 11)dust up caused by the Post article, Brazil and the IAEA are hardly stuck at a stand off over inspections. Brazilian authorities say they’re still willing to negotiate the terms of the inspections. And a Brazilian delegation is planning a trip to the agency’s headquarters in Vienna where they say they’ll disclose more details of their enrichment process.

BUSINESS

Bank of America said yesterday it plans to 12)eliminate more than 12,000 jobs. The announcement came four days after the North Carolina based company completed a 13)merger with Fleet Boston to become the country’s third largest bank.

The jobs being eliminated represent about seven percent of Bank of America’s workforce. 12,500 positions will be done away with in the next two years; some of the affected employees will begin receiving the news this month.

Bank of America says most of the jobs will be in such areas as marketing, finance and back office processing. It hopes about 30 percent of them will come from normal 14)attrition. In yesterday’s announcement, the company said it expects a short term employment drop in New England.

John Conaughtan (Economist): Historically, Bank of America, as they’ve merged and acquired other banks, most of the cuts have come from the acquired bank, so that’s not unusual. They simply believe that their systems are better and are more profitable, and that’s why they were able to acquire the bank: they were more profitable than the other bank they’re acquiring.

Despite the layoffs, Bank of America promises it will eventually restore current employment levels in New England by adding jobs and opening new offices. Bank of America hopes to achieve $1.6 billion in cost savings from the merger. It says its 36 million customers won’t notice the difference.

PEOPLE

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates may no longer be the world’s richest man. Swedish news reports say the businessman who founded the furniture retail chain IKEA has taken over the top spot.

77-year old Swede Ingvar Kamprad is estimated to have a personal fortune of $53 billion. That’s six billion dollars more than Gates’ estimated fortune. Kamprad is known for his money-saving habits, such as flying 15)economy class, and no longer takes part in the daily running of IKEA, although he is still the owner.

SOCIETY

And finally, New York’s Times Square is celebrating its 100th birthday. 16)Confetti fell as the so-called “Crossroads of the World” celebrated its 17)centenary. Times Square originated in 1904 when the mayor renamed what was then called Long Acre Square after the new headquarters of the New York Times newspaper; the newspaper built a giant 18)skyscraper, No. 1 Times Square. At 100-year anniversary celebrations, New York city’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, paid 19)tribute to the Square’s 20)pivotal role in the image of the 21)Big Apple. The Square has seen several disreputable phases over the years before becoming famous for its flashing 22)neon and giant electronic screens.

注释：
1) uranium enrichment 铀浓缩，铀提纯
2) insinuation [insinju5eiFEn] n. 暗示
3) ingredient [in5^ri:diEnt ] n. 原料
4) baulk [bC:lk] v. 阻碍
5) legitimate [li5dVitimEt] a. 合法的
6) proprietary [prE5praiEtEri] a. 专有的
7) prominent [5prCminEnt] a. 卓越的， 显著的，突出的
8) skeptical [5skeptikEl] a. 怀疑的
9) take offence at 为……而生气
10) addendum [E5dendEm] n. 附录，补遗
11) dust up 争吵，吵闹
12) eliminate [i5limineit] v. 排除
13) merger [5mE:dVE] n. 合并
14) attrition [E5triFEn] n. 人员自然减缩
15) economy class  经济舱位，二等舱位
16) confetti [kEn5feti] n. （喜庆活动中抛撒的）五彩纸屑
17) centenary [sen5ti:nEri] n. 一百年
18) skyscraper [5skaiskreipE] n. 摩天大楼
19) tribute [5tribju:t] n. 颂词
20) pivotal [5pivEtEl] a.  关键的
21) Big Apple 纽约市又被称作大苹果
22) neon [5ni:En]  n. 霓虹灯

新闻聚光灯

政治

巴西政府正式证实媒体的报道，该国已经拒绝了国际原子能机构（IAEA）的要求，不容许该机构派员对里约热内卢附近一座新的提炼浓缩铀工厂内的部分设施进行核查。此前美国曾暗示该设施可能会被用于生产核武器原料，巴西政府愤怒否认，认为这是无事实根据的猜测。
此次引起争议的是兴建中的铀浓缩设施，它是为巴西的核电站提供所需原料的。巴西声称已经按照《不扩散核武器条约》的规定接受了检查，但目前巴西拒绝核查人员进一步检查部分设施。巴外长塞尔索·阿莫林指出巴西有权保护其合法的工业秘密。
阿莫林：“巴西有权保护其自行发展的专有技术。”著名核物理学家乔斯·戈登伯格说，巴西技术人员已经成功独力建造核设施，但他不认为有保密的必要。
乔斯: 众所周知，这是个了不起的成就，但这并不意味着其中有什么了不起的首创成分。
周日版的《华盛顿邮报》的头版报道成为引发此次争议的导火线。该报道特意强调巴西政府回绝了部分核查要求这一举动，这让巴西大为不悦，因为他们禁止核武扩散的声誉因此遭到了无理的怀疑。巴西的政治家还认为该报道代表了美国政府或国际原子能机构的意旨，尽管国际原子能机构不会就此作出回应。荷西·萨尼是巴西参议院主席。
萨尼说，“不知道为什么有人会把巴西和朝鲜、伊朗两国相提并论”。巴西早在20世纪80年代就宣布放弃发展核武器，宪法也明令禁止核武器的开发。但巴西至今仍未签署《不扩散核武器条约》的附加协定书，从而得以拒绝国际社会对该国核设施进行强制性核查。
《华盛顿邮报》的报道引起的争议并没有导致巴西与IAEA的关系因核查问题而出现僵局，巴西政府表示愿意就核查细节展开进一步磋商。一个巴西代表团拟出访IAEA的总部所在地维也纳，届时他们将透露更多关于铀浓缩设施的细节。

财经

美国银行昨天宣布将裁员一万两千多人。四天前，总部位于北卡罗来纳州的美国银行刚刚完成了对弗利特波士顿公司的并购，成为全美第三大银行。
本次美国银行的裁员人数占员工总数的7%，这一万两千五百人的裁员将在未来两年的时间里完成。部分员工这个月内就会接到离职通知。
美国银行指出，裁员主要集中在市场、金融和后台处理部门，预计约30%的减员将通过员工的自然流失来完成。美国银行在昨天发表的声明中预计，该行在新英格兰地区的员工人数在短期内会出现下跌。
约翰·康纳坦（经济学家）:回看历史，每次美国银行吞并其他银行后，被裁的员工大多数都是来自被吞并的银行，因此，这次这样做也并不奇怪，美国银行本来就认定本公司的制度更完善，盈利更多，这也是他们能够兼并对方的原因：他们的经营状况更胜一筹。
美国银行许诺，这次裁员之后将会在新英格兰地区开设新的分支机构，增设新职位，届时该行在此地区雇用的人数将恢复到原有水平。美国银行希望这次合并能节省十六亿美元的成本开支，但三千六百万客户不会因此受到任何影响。

人物

微软主席比尔·盖茨可能不再是世界首富了。瑞典媒体报道，家具连锁店宜家的创办人已取代盖茨荣登世界首富宝座。
77岁的瑞典人英瓦尔·坎普拉德的个人资产预计达到530亿美元，比盖茨还要多60亿。坎普拉德有不少众所周知的省钱癖好，如乘飞机坐的是经济舱。尽管他仍是宜家的老板，但已经不再参与公司的日常事务运作。

社会

纽约时代广场迎来了它的百年华诞！飘飞的彩屑给走过百年风雨的“世界十字路口”祝寿。1904年，《纽约时报》将其总部搬进了新建的摩天大厦“时代广场一号”，因而，当时的纽约市长将该大厦所在的广场（当时名为“长亩广场”）更名为“时代广场”。在百年庆典上，纽约市长迈克尔·布隆伯格高度评价了时代广场在塑造纽约形象中发挥的重要作用。在经历了数次不甚光彩的阶段之后，今天，时代广场因其绚丽的霓虹灯和巨幅电子广告屏幕而名扬世界。