Hourly News updated 08:00 2011/11/06

 Hu's speech at G20 summit draws positive international comments

President Hu Jintao's speech at the recent G-20 Summit has drawn¹ positive comments from the international community, which praised the address for proposals for efforts to maintain world economic growth and financial stability.

President Hu put forward a package of proposals in his speech, urging the world's major economies to work together to promote growth and financial stability. 

Reuters said Hu hopes to send a clear message of ensuring economic development and boosting stablity to the international community. 

The French newspaper Le Figaro reported that Hu expressed confidence that Europe could overcome its debt crisis.

 

Most Greeks opt³ for national unity² government rather than early elections

The wide majority of Greek citizens prefer the forming of a national unity government rather than holding early general elections according to results of two opinion polls.

52 percent of respondents in the poll conducted for Greek newspaper "Proto Thema" supported Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou's proposal for the creation of a coalition⁴ that will lead the country until the implementation⁵ of the recent EU deal of the fresh aid pact⁶ for debt-laden country. 

36 percent of respondents backed the call of main opposition⁷ party leader Antonis Samaras for snap polls in early December. 

In a separate poll conducted for "Ethnos" daily, the result was 45 percent in favour of a national salvation⁸ government and 42 percent in favour of early national elections.

 

Iran says IAEA's documents on its missile program "baseless": FM

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi says the documents of the International Atomic Energy Agency on his country's missile program are "unfounded and baseless." 

He was referring to reports that the IAEA will release some documents about Iran's missile program in the future. 

The United Nations nuclear supervision⁹ agency is expected to release a report on Iran's nuclear program next week, which is likely to hint at Iran's engagement in nuclear weapons work despite UN sanctions. 

Yukiya Amano, the IAEA Director General, told the UN General Assembly that while its too early to make conclusions just yet, the report may possibly exacerbate¹⁰ Middle East tensions.

He urged Iran to cooperate with the IAEA to prove that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

 

Syria lashes¹¹ out at U.S. State Department

A Syrian foreign ministry¹² source has slashed¹³ as "irresponsible" a statement made by the U.S. State Department advising Syrians not to surrender themselves after Damascus announced an amnesty for those who gave up their weapons. 

The source says with its statement the U.S. administration has proved once again its flagrant intervention¹⁴ in the Syrian affairs and revealed its policy that supports killing¹⁵, as well as its funding of terrorist groups. 

The Syrian interior ministry has called on those who carried, sold or distributed weapons but didn't commit homicides to turn themselves in within a week to receive amnesty.

 

Israeli airstrike on southern Gaza kills one, wounds 2: Medics

A Palestinian was killed and two wounded when an Israeli Apache helicopter fired two missiles at an area east of the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis. 

Security officials in Gaza said that the Israeli helicopter's missiles targeted a group of militants¹⁶, who were members of Saraya al-Quds, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad. 

Medics at a local Hospital said one Palestinian was killed and two wounded, one of whom seriously.

 

Trapped miners rescued after China coal mine accident kills 8 

Rescuers have pulled out the last of the 45 surviving miners who were trapped for 40 hours following a rock burst that hit a central Chinese coal mine, leaving eight workers dead.

The last worker was seen waving his hands to the rescue team and journalists as he walked out of the Qianqiu Coal Mine with the support of other rescuers. 

A rock burst occurred in the Qianqiu Coal Mine in the city of Sanmenxia, Henan province, following a 2.9-magnitude earthquake on Thursday evening.

 

Thai flood death toll¹⁷ reaches 446, 2 missing 

A total of 446 people were confirmed dead and two people were missing in the floods that have inundated¹⁸ the upper part of Thailand for almost three months.

On Saturday, floods still prevail in 25 of 77 provinces and are affecting about 3.2 million people from 1.2 million housefolds 

70 main highways in 13 provinces are flooded and cannot be passed and some north-bound train routes were canceled.

 

Income gap between urban, rural residents continues to narrow 

An official with the Research Center for Rural Economics under the Ministry of Agriculture says the income gap between rural and urban residents in China has continued to narrow, as income growth for rural residents outpaced that of urban dwellers¹⁹ during the first three quarters.

The official says the income growth rate of rural residents was 5.8 percentage points higher than that of urban dwellers during the first nine months.

However, he says a combination of factors will restrict farmers from making more money, including high inflation, rising agricultural production costs and fewer job opportunities.

1 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

2 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

3 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

4 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

5 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

6 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

7 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。

8 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

9 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

10 exacerbate   

v.恶化，增剧，激怒，使加剧

参考例句：

• WMO says a warming climate can exacerbate air pollution.世界气象组织说，气候变暖可能会加剧空气污染。
• In fact efforts will merely exacerbate the current problem.实际上努力只会加剧当前的问题。

11 lashes   

n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• Mother always lashes out food for the children's party. 孩子们聚会时，母亲总是给他们许多吃的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Never walk behind a horse in case it lashes out. 绝对不要跟在马后面，以防它突然猛踢。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 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。

13 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 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。

15 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

16 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

17 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。

18 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》

19 dwellers   

n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes. 城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They have transformed themselves into permanent city dwellers. 他们已成为永久的城市居民。 来自《简明英汉词典》