Hourly News updated 18:00 2011/10/24

 217 dead in eastern Turkey earthquake: interior minister

The death toll¹ from the strong earthquake in eastern Tukey now stands at 217 as rescue teams are desperately² searching for people trapped under rubble³.

More than 1,000 people have been injured in the 7.2-magnitude quake that struck Van province.

In the hardest-hit town of Ercis, up to 80 buildings collapsed⁴.

The quake cut electricity and telephone lines and the authorities in some areas have cut gas to avoid the risk of fire.

Turkish officials have warned that the death toll could reach a thousand.

 

China ready to provide assistance for quake-hit Turkey

China has expressed deep condolences for Turkey and says it is ready to provide assistance.

Foreign Ministry⁵ spokeswoman Jiang Yu says Premier⁶ Wen Jiabao has sent a telegram of condolences to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

 

N. Korea, US open talks in Geneva

The US and North Korea have opened talks in Geneva, aimed at restarting stalled nuclear negotiations⁷. 

The talks are being viewed as a positive step toward resuming the so-called six-party discussions, which broke down in April 2009 when North Korea walked out.

Washington and Pyongyang have just agreed to resume searching for the remains⁸ of American soldiers killed in the Korean war of the 1950s.

 

China to freeze terrorists' assets

China will upgrade its anti-terrorism efforts by creating a verified database of terrorist names and the ability to block their assets.

The State Council has submitted a draft decision to the country's top legislature, which opened its bimonthly session today.

The lack of a clear definition of what constitutes terrorist activity and a list of organizations has impeded⁹ China's anti-terrorism work.

 

China's CPI to cool to under 5 pct in next two months: NDRC official

A top Chinese economy official says China's stubbornly high consumer prices are set to decline, as the government's cooling measures take effect.

Peng Sen, Vice¹⁰ director of the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planning agency, says consumer prices are expected to decline to less than 5 percent in the next two months.

China's inflation hit a 37-month high of 6.5 percent in July, and eased to 6.2 percent in August and 6.1 percent in September.

 

EU Foreign Affairs chief Ashton meets Chinese officials

The European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has visited Beijing for talks with Chinese officials.

She has met with State Councilor, Dai Bingguo for discussions on the on-going eurozone crisis. 

Ashton also met Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, Fu Ying.

Last week, China and the European Union called off a summit of their leaders planned for Tuesday so European officials could remain at home for talks on the debt crisis.

 

3 miners confirmed dead in flooded coal mine in NE China

All 13 miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in northeast China have been confirmed dead.

The bodies of the miners have all been retrieved¹¹ following nearly two weeks of rescue efforts.

The coal mine in Jixi city, Heilongjiang Province, became flooded on October 11.

Twenty-four miners were working underground at the time, and eleven of them managed to escape.

 

Tunisia counts votes in historic free election

Votes are being counted in Tunisia after Sunday's election, the first free poll of the Arab Spring.

Officials say more than 90% of registered voters turned out to elect a 217-seat assembly that will draft a constitution and appoint an interim¹² government.

The election was held nine months after former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was overthrown¹³ by mass demonstrations¹⁴.

Results are expected on Tuesday.

 

UN chief hails liberation of Libya as "historic juncture¹⁵"

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has hailed the liberation of Libya as "a historic juncture," saying the end of war is only the beginning of a long process to build a new Libya.

In a statement, the UN chief urged Libya's new leaders to commit to building accountable democratic institutions to the benefit of all Libyans.

Libya's transitional government has declared national liberation from the city Benghazi, where the uprising against former leader Muammar Gaddafi began.

Elections are due to be held this coming June.

 

Bangkok residents evacuate¹⁶ to evade¹⁷ flood

Many Bangkok residents have chosen to leave their homes as floodwaters have seriously interfered¹⁸ with their daily activities.

Laksi District, the commercial area in the north of the capital, has became a flood plain with stores on both sides of road inundated¹⁹ with water.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra says it will take up to six weeks for floodwaters to recede²⁰, urging residents to move to higher ground.

Thailand's worst flooding in half a century has killed more than 350 people and affected²¹ nearly 2.5 million people, with water covering an area the size of Kuwait.

 

Steve Jobs Biography Released

The biography of Steve Jobs has been released to pay tribute to the Apple co-founder who died early this month.

Steve Jobs: the Biography, is the only authorized²² biography for Jobs, written by famous Pulitzer Prize nominee²³ Walter Isaacson.

Isaacson has visited more than a hundred of Jobs' relatives, as well as his friends and rivals in business circles. 

The Chinese version of the Jobs biography is available in major online bookshops and 30 bookstores.

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

3 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

4 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

5 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。

6 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

7 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 impeded   

阻碍，妨碍，阻止( impede的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Work on the building was impeded by severe weather. 楼房的施工因天气恶劣而停了下来。
• He was impeded in his work. 他的工作受阻。

10 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

11 retrieved   

v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Yesterday I retrieved the bag I left in the train. 昨天我取回了遗留在火车上的包。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He reached over and retrieved his jacket from the back seat. 他伸手从后座上取回了自己的夹克。 来自辞典例句

12 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

13 overthrown   

adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词

参考例句：

• The president was overthrown in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被赶下台。
• He has overthrown the basic standards of morality. 他已摒弃了基本的道德标准。

14 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。

15 juncture   

n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头

参考例句：

• The project is situated at the juncture of the new and old urban districts.该项目位于新老城区交界处。
• It is very difficult at this juncture to predict the company's future.此时很难预料公司的前景。

16 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

17 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？

18 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 recede   

vi.退(去)，渐渐远去；向后倾斜，缩进

参考例句：

• The colleges would recede in importance.大学的重要性会降低。
• He saw that the dirty water had begun to recede.他发现那污浊的水开始往下退了。

21 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

22 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

23 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。