VOA慢速英语2010年-IN THE NEWS - Attention Turns to Yemen

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Yemen is the poorest Arab nation. Poverty can help breed extremism -- al-Qaida is a growing concern for the Yemenis. But the government also faces an armed rebellion in the north and a separatist movement in the south.

Yemeni anti-terrorist forces train near Sanaa this week

In Sanaa, fears of an al-Qaida attack led to temporary closures this week of the American, British and French embassies. Yemeni officials say they have increased protection of foreign interests in the capital. They have also sent thousands of troops to Arhab and other areas to battle the local al-Qaida group.

Yemen also plays a part in the case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. He is the man accused of trying to bomb an American plane with explosives in his underwear.

A Yemeni deputy prime minister said Thursday that the twenty-three year old Nigerian met last year in Yemen with Anwar al-Awlaki. The American-born Muslim clergyman is accused of supporting al-Qaida.

But the deputy prime minister said al-Qaida first recruited the young man in Britain when he was a student in London. The official also warned against foreign military intervention¹ in Yemen, saying that could strengthen al-Qaida.

Britain is organizing an international conference later this month to discuss the security problems. And the United States is expected to nearly double its seventy million dollars in security assistance to Yemen.

Earlier this week, President Obama said no additional prisoners from Guantanamo Bay will be released to Yemen. The president wanted to close the American prison in Cuba this month. But the recent developments seem to have only made the issue more difficult.

The failed attack on the plane happened December twenty-fifth, Christmas Day. Almost three hundred people were on the flight from Amsterdam. It was preparing to land in Detroit, Michigan. Passengers and crew restrained the man and put out the fire caused by a mixture of explosives.

A drawing of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab facing charges in a federal courtroom in Detroit

He could face life in prison. He appeared in federal court in Detroit for the first time Friday. He did not answer the charges himself but his lawyers entered a plea of not guilty. Some people say the case should have been handled in the military justice system.

On Thursday President Obama blamed the incident on what he called a "systemic failure across organizations and agencies."

"Rather than a failure to collect or share intelligence," he said, "this was a failure to connect and understand the intelligence that we already had."

He is ordering steps to improve airport security and the handling of intelligence information. But he admitted there is no perfect solution. "As we develop new screening technologies and procedures," he said, "our adversaries² will seek new ways to evade³ them."

Last week, the Central Intelligence Agency suffered a setback⁴ in its efforts against al-Qaida. A suicide bombing at a C.I.A. base in Afghanistan killed seven Americans and a Jordanian intelligence officer. The bomber⁵ was identified as a Jordanian doctor who was supposed to be informing on the terrorist group.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.

1 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

2 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

3 evade   

vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避

参考例句：

• He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
• You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人，你怎么能对这个问题不置可否？

4 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。

5 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。