Hourly News 2012 08 15

 UN humanitarian¹ chief says situation worsened in Syria since March

 

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos is in Syria.

She says the situation on the ground in the country has worsened since her last visit in March.

Amos says the United Nations is working even harder now to try to help Syrians displaced by the ongoing² conflict.

Amos' comments have come following a visit to a school set up as an emergency shelter for displaced Syrians.

Amos says the UN is also looking for ways to support the Syrian Red Crescent and other local and foreign NGO's operating in Syria.

 

 

Standard Chartered agrees to pay $340m to settle US allegation

 

Standard Chartered has agreed to pay 340-million US dollars to settle allegations by regulators in New York the UK Company laundered³ money for Iran.

The bank has also agreed to install a monitoring system for at least the next 2-years to evaluate the money-laundering controls at the bank's New York branch.

Last week, New York's Department of Financial Services accused Standard Chartered's US unit of illegally hiding some 60-thousand transactions with Iran worth an estimated 250-billion dollars over the course of a decade.

A hearing scheduled for Wednesday has now been adjourned⁴.

 

 

600,000 yuan reward for gunman manhunt informant

 

A unidentified person in Chongqing has recieved a 600-thousand yuan reward for a critical piece of information which eventually led police to Zhou Kehua.

He's the mass murderer gunned down by the authorities yesterday in Chongqing.

Zhou was killed by police yesterday after exchanging fire with two plain-clothes police officers.

Zhou was tracked down by the authorities amid a massive manhunt in Chongqing which started on the weekend.

The massive search began after two more people were killed in Chongqing by Zhou over the weekend, including a police officer.

Zhou Kehua had been the prime suspect in the murder of 10 people in different parts of China since 2004.

The 42-year old became infamous⁵ for being able to elude⁶ authorities after holding up people withdrawing money from banks.

 

 

Urban-rural income gap gets bigger: report

 

One of Chinese government's main think tanks says the income disparity ratio between urban and rural residents is growing.

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says average incomes in this country's urban areas are 5.2-times higher than they are in the countryside.

The report by CASS suggests the growing disparity is, in part, because of the increase in expenses farmers are facing these days in rearing their crops.

The analysis by the Academy says the income gap here in China right now is 26-percent higher than it was in 1997.

The same report also says 51.27-percent of this country's population now lives in an urban setting.

 

 

Agriculture minister urges more pest control efforts

 

An outbreak of army worms in this country's major grain producing regions in the north and northeast is said to be posing a severe threat to corn and rice production.

So far, some 2 million hectares of the fall harvest is being affected⁷ by the outbreak of army worms.

The outbreak is taking place in Hebei, Jilin, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Beijing and Tianjin.

Army worms are moths⁸ in their caterpillar⁹ stage.

An infestation¹⁰ can devastate¹¹ crops if they go undetected.

 

 

Egyptian court sentences 14 Islamists to death

 

A court in Egypt has sentenced 14 Islamic militants¹² to death for their role in attacks in the restive¹³ Sinai region last year.

The group of 14 are among 25 members of the "Tawhid and Jihad" movement who were arrested last year for an attack on a police station and bank in the Sinai.

The attack left 7 police officers and soliders dead.

The death sentences come amid the massive crackdown on extremist elements in Egypt's restive Sinai region, following the border assault earlier this month which left 16 Egyptian soliders dead.

 

 

4 killed, 15 injured in clashes between Republican Guards, Yemeni troops

 

Internal fighting among Yemen's military forces has left at least 4 people dead.

Members of Yemen's Republican Guard became entangled¹⁴ in fighting with other Yemeni soliders guarding the country's defense¹⁵ ministry¹⁶ in the capital, Sana'a.

The fighting began during a demonstration¹⁷ by members of the Republican Guard, who have been protesting the continued re-organization of the military by Yemen's president.

At least 15 others have been hurt in the clashes.

Back in April, new Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi shuffled¹⁸ out 20 of the country's leading generals, many of whom were loyalists of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

 

 

U.S. Congress approval rating drops to record low: poll

 

New polling indicates the approval rating for the US Congress has slid to an all-time low.

A Gallop¹⁹ poll shows only 10-percent of people asked approve of the work US lawmakers are doing right now.

The same survey indicates some 83-percent of those asked 'disapprove²⁰' of the work Congress is doing.

The approval rating for the United States' lawmakers has been on a steady decline for over a year.

Congressional approval hit an all-time high of 84-percent following the 9/11 attacks, but has yet to come close to that figure ever since.

Lawmakers' handling of the economy and an inability to find compromise are considered the main factors for the historically-low approval rating.

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 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。

3 laundered   

v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的过去式和过去分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Send these sheets to be laundered. 把这些床单送去洗熨。 来自辞典例句
• The air seems freshly laundered. Sydney thinks of good drying weather. 空气似乎被清洗过，让悉妮想起晴朗干爽适合晒衣服的好天气。 来自互联网

4 adjourned   

（使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The court adjourned for lunch. 午餐时间法庭休庭。
• The trial was adjourned following the presentation of new evidence to the court. 新证据呈到庭上后，审讯就宣告暂停。

5 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

6 elude   

v.躲避，困惑

参考例句：

• If you chase it,it will elude you.如果你追逐着它， 它会躲避你。
• I had dared and baffled his fury.I must elude his sorrow.我曾经面对过他的愤怒，并且把它挫败了；现在我必须躲避他的悲哀。

7 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。

8 moths   

n.蛾( moth的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moths have eaten holes in my wool coat. 蛀虫将我的羊毛衫蛀蚀了几个小洞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The moths tapped and blurred at the window screen. 飞蛾在窗帘上跳来跳去，弄上了许多污点。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 caterpillar   

n.毛虫，蝴蝶的幼虫

参考例句：

• A butterfly is produced by metamorphosis from a caterpillar.蝴蝶是由毛虫脱胎变成的。
• A caterpillar must pass through the cocoon stage to become a butterfly.毛毛虫必须经过茧的阶段才能变成蝴蝶。

10 infestation   

n.侵扰，蔓延

参考例句：

• The premises were treated for cockroach infestation.因蟑螂成灾，这些房屋集中进行了灭蟑活动。
• Parts of California are suffering from an infestation of oriental fruit flies.加利福尼亚的部分地区正遭受东方果蝇的大肆侵袭。

11 devastate   

v.使荒芜，破坏，压倒

参考例句：

• A few days before,a fire had devastated large parts of Windsor Castle.几天前，温莎城堡的大部分被一场大火烧毁。
• Earthquakes can also cause tsunamis,which devastate coastal regions.地震还引发海啸，它直接破坏海岸地区。

12 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。

13 restive   

adj.不安宁的，不安静的

参考例句：

• The government has done nothing to ease restrictions and manufacturers are growing restive.政府未采取任何措施放松出口限制,因此国内制造商变得焦虑不安。
• The audience grew restive.观众变得不耐烦了。

14 entangled   

adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The bird had become entangled in the wire netting. 那只小鸟被铁丝网缠住了。
• Some military observers fear the US could get entangled in another war. 一些军事观察家担心美国会卷入另一场战争。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

16 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。

17 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

18 shuffled   

v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。
• Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 gallop   

v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展

参考例句：

• They are coming at a gallop towards us.他们正朝着我们飞跑过来。
• The horse slowed to a walk after its long gallop.那匹马跑了一大阵后慢下来缓步而行。

20 disapprove   

v.不赞成，不同意，不批准

参考例句：

• I quite disapprove of his behaviour.我很不赞同他的行为。
• She wants to train for the theatre but her parents disapprove.她想训练自己做戏剧演员，但她的父母不赞成。