Hourly News 每日新闻 2013-11-19

 Five Chinese tourists killed in bus accident in Indonesia

Five Chinese tourists have been killed in a bus crash in Indonesia.

A group of 13 Chinese tourists, all from Henan, were on a bus which went down a ravine while on their way to a temple in Bali.

The driver of the bus and their tour guide, both local Indonesians, have also been killed in the crash.

The status of the survivors¹ remains² unclear.

A local official in Bali says all the Chinese victims are men in their 50's.

It's unclear what caused the bus to plunge³ down the ravine.

 

Chinese mainland responds to Gambia cutting Taiwan ties

The Chinese government says it's been made aware of the change in diplomatic status between Gambia and Taiwan.

The Chinese foreign ministry⁴ says it continues to insist on developing its international ties on the basis of the one-China principle and the principles of peaceful coexistence across the Taiwan strait.

The statement comes after Gambia abruptly⁵ cut its diplomatic ties with Taiwan last week.

The government of the West African country has not explicitly⁶ said why it has made the move.

Any country which has official diplomatic ties with Taiwan can't have diplomatic relations with the mainland.

Mainland authorities say there are still no diplomatic ties with the mainland and Gambia.

Gambia was one of just a handful of countries in Africa which has maintained ties with Taiwan.

Now only Burkina Faso, Sao Tome and Principe and Swaziland have diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

 

Hollande urges high mobilization to arrest media outlets⁷ shooter

French President Francois Hollande is calling on his interior minister to deploy⁸ all means necessary to track down a man who has been threatening French media outlets.

All media outlets in Paris are on high-alert after a gunman opened fire inside a French newspaper office on Monday, seriously injuring a photographer assistant before escaping.

The same man is also believed responsible for threatening jouralists at a French TV station just days before.

It's unclear at this point what the motivation for the attacks may be or who the suspect is.

 

Russia invites Syrian opposition⁹ to Moscow for talks: FM

The Russian government has invited Syrian opposition groups to Moscow for talks designed to try to bridge the gaps among the opposition factions¹⁰ in the hope of getting a new Geneva conference underway.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov says the exiled Syrian National Coalition¹¹ is "studying" the proposal.

The Russian side has been working to try to get a unified¹² opposition voice to be present at a 2nd international conference to try to find a political solution to the fighting in Syria.

The opposition has so far refused to sign on to another international meeting, as factions within the opposition remain divided about attending.

 

UN Security Council extends mandate¹³ to fight Somali pirates

The UN Security Council has given the green light to another year of backing the international fight against Somali piracy¹⁴.

In unanimosly adopting the resolution, the Security Council says it recognizes the on-going instability in Somalia is one of the underlying¹⁵ factors behind the piracy off the Horn of Africa.

A recently-released report suggests Somali pirates have managed to collect around 400-million US dollars worth of ransom¹⁶ since piracy became rampant¹⁷ in 2006.

The Chinese navy is among a coalition of UN-backed countries that have dispatched ships to the region to help protect ships traversing the Gulf¹⁸ of Aden, which is one of the busiest and most strategic waterways in the world.

 

U.S. launches spacecraft to explore Martian atmosphere

NASA has launched its newest Mars probe.

The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile¹⁹ Evolution craft, or Maven, was launched from Cape²⁰ Canaveral in Florida Monday afternoon.

Maven will take around 10-months to arrive at Mars.

Once there, the space craft will begin taking samples of Mars' upper atmosphere to determine how the red planet lost its atmosphere to space.

NASA scientists are hoping to discover how this shaped the history of water on Mars.

NASA currently has two rovers on the Martian surface.

 

China to update national economy accounting²¹ system

The National Bureau of Statistics has announced plans to revise its current system of measuring the national economy.

The move is meant to bring its accounting practices more in-line with the latest international standards.

The NBS says the new system will reckon spending on research and development as a form of fixed²² capital and calculate it into the GDP.

Other changes include adjusting the method of setting value for self-owned housing for urban residents and counting the income made from transferring land-use rights into farmers' income.

The proposed revisions are in accordance with a 2008 version of the United Nations System of National Accounting 

The new system could be finalized²³ around the end of next year.

 

Guangzhou announces new property curbs²⁴

The municipal government of Guangzhou has spelled out new rules to cool down the property market.

Guangzhou authorities are raising down payments for second-home purchasers to at least 60-percent.

The move follows similar rules brought in in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, where 2nd home buyers have to put down 70-percent of the value of the property up-front. 

Authorities in Guangzhou are also forcing people who move to the city to pay taxes for 3-years before they're allowed to buy a home.

Non-Guangzhou residents are also going to be limited to purchasing one home.

Property prices in the province of Guangdong jumped nearly 21-percent through October, the fastest growth rate nationwide.

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 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。

3 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

4 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。

5 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

6 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

7 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

9 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。

10 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

11 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。

12 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

13 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

14 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

15 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

16 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

17 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

18 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

19 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

20 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

21 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

22 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

23 finalized   

vt.完成（finalize的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The draft of this article has been finalized [done]. 这篇文章已经定稿。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The draft was revised several times before it was finalized. 稿子几经删改才定下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

24 curbs   

v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In executing his functions he is not bound by any legal curbs on his power. 在他履行职务时，他的权力是不受任何法律约束的。 来自辞典例句
• Curbs on air travel were being worked out and would shortly be announced. 限制航空旅行的有关规定正在拟定中，不久即将公布。 来自辞典例句