NPR 2008-06-13

President Bush in Rome, midway through a European trip, says he disagrees with the Supreme¹ Court ruling that says detainees at Guantanamo Bay have the right to use US courts to challenge their detention². NPR’s Don Gonyea reports.

 President Bush was meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi when the Supreme Court issued its 5-4 ruling which overturns Bush administration policy. The president was asked about it at a news conference in Rome. “First of all, it’s a Supreme Court decision. We’ll abide³ by the court’s decision. That doesn’t mean I have to agree with it.” President Bush maintains the now-rejected law had been written carefully to protect Americans from terrorists. He said he may go back to Congress to pursue legislation that would address the court’s concerns and give the government the authority, he says, “it needs”. That would be much more difficult this time around with the president’s public approval ratings persistently⁴ at or near an all-time low, and with Congress now controlled by Democrats⁵. Don Gonyea, NPR News, Rome. Justice Department today, meanwhile, said US military commission trials of inmates⁶ will continue despite the ruling. Justice contends the ruling involves the status of detainees, and not the trials themselves.

 More than a dozen Boy Scouts⁸ are still in the hospital, following a tornado⁹ touchdown at a remote Iowa camp that left four scouts dead. Official say the four were killed when the twister bore down on them, giving them little time to escape. Ninety-three boys and twenty-five staff members were attending a week-long leadership training session at the Little Sioux Scout⁷ Ranch¹⁰.

 As many as 21 tornadoes¹¹ touched down in Kansas last night. One of them was a half mile wide and tore through the small town of Chapman. More from Kansas Public Radio’s J. Schafer.

 Eighty percent of Chapman was damaged or destroyed and the town’s 1,300 residents were evacuated¹² to nearby towns. Sharon Watson is with the state Adjutant General’s Department. “We had tornado that touched down in several areas. And unfortunately, it resulted in two fatalities¹³.” A tornado also ripped through Manhattan, causing 20 million dollars in damage to buildings at Kansas State University. The school’s wind erosion laboratory was blown away. And the building housing the school’s nuclear reactor¹⁴ was hit, but the reactor itself was not damaged. For NPR News, I’m J. Schafer, in Lawrence, Kansas.

 After failing to ram¹⁵ through a measure to extend jobless benefits for an additional 13 weeks yesterday, House lawmakers were able to get the bill passed today. Lawmakers approved the bill on a vote of 274 to 137. New York Democratic Congressman¹⁶ Michael Arcuri says the extra money will make a big difference for people who’ve lost their jobs. “Unemployment insurance can mean the difference between saving a home and failing to make a mortgage payment. It can mean the difference between purchasing needed medications and going without. And it can mean the difference between filling up the car to go out and look for another job and having to stay home.” However, the plan faces slim odds¹⁷ in the Senate and a veto threat from the White House.

 On Wall Street, the Dow was up 57 points. This is NPR.

 Two top executives at investment bank Lehman Brothers have been shown the door. Chief Financial Officer Erin Callan and Chief Operating Officer Joseph Gregory were both removed from their post as the bank seeks to restore investor¹⁸ confidence and recover from a big decline in its share price this week. The firings followed word that Lehman, the nation’s fourth largest investment bank, lost upwards¹⁹ of three billion dollars during its latest quarter. On Monday, the bank announced plans to seek six billion in fresh capital to offset²⁰ the losses.

 In Colombia, the Supreme Court ruled the head of the secret police accused of collaborating²¹ with death squads²² should be freed on procedural grounds. NPR’s Juan Forero reports from Bogotá.

 Jorge Noguera was head of Colombia’s intelligence service and close to President Álvaro Uribe. Prosecutors²³ said that he also worked closely with right-wing paramilitary groups to target trade union activists²⁴ and other lefties. Noguera could be freed as early as this afternoon. The court said the attorney general’s office had made errors as it investigated Noguera who had been in jail 11 months. The revelations come as prosecutors investigate ties between more than 60 members of Congress and paramilitaries, most of the lawmakers close allies of President Uribe. Prosecutors said they would continue to mount a case against Noguera and arrest him again. Juan Forero, NPR News, Bogotá.

 Officials in Brazil say two heavily armed men stole two engravings by artist Pablo Picasso from a Sao Paulo art museum. The thieves also reportedly got away with two oil paintings by two well-known Brazilian artists. Museum spokeswoman would only say the art works were taken this morning. She did not immediately say which pieces were stollen from the museum.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

3 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

4 persistently   

ad.坚持地；固执地

参考例句：

• He persistently asserted his right to a share in the heritage. 他始终声称他有分享那笔遗产的权利。
• She persistently asserted her opinions. 她果断地说出了自己的意见。

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

8 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

9 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

10 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

11 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网

12 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

13 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

15 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

16 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

17 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

18 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

19 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

20 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

21 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

22 squads   

n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍

参考例句：

• Anti-riot squads were called out to deal with the situation. 防暴队奉命出动以对付这一局势。 来自辞典例句
• Three squads constitute a platoon. 三个班组成一个排。 来自辞典例句

23 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

24 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》