NPR 2009-03-16

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Craig Windham.

The chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisors¹ Christina Romer says the US is fighting an economic war that has not yet been won but she says the US economy is fundamentally solid. "The fundamentals are sound in the sense that the American workers are sound, we have a good capital stock, we have good technology, we know that... that temporarily we are in a mess." Romer told NBC's "Meet the Press" that for now the nation is in very, very difficult times.

The administration is sharply criticizing the payment by insurance giant American International Group of 165 million dollars in bonuses after receiving more than 170 billion dollars in taxpayer² bailout money. Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell says he has a problem with the conclusion by AIG and Treasury³ Department attorneys that most of the bonuses are contractual obligations. "The message here, I'm afraid, to any business out there that's thinking about taking government money is 'Let's enter into a bunch of contracts real quick and we'll have the taxpayers⁴ pay bonuses to our employees.' This is an outrage⁵." McConnell was on ABC's "This Week".

So far so good at the Kennedy Space Center where the space shuttle Discovery has been fueled for this evening's scheduled launch on a mission to the International Space Station. At this point last week, NASA engineers were seeing signs of a hydrogen gas leak that prompted them to cancel a launch attempt. But NASA spokesman George Diller says not so today. "There is no indication of leakage⁶ at all. It appears that the system is tight and that we'll be able to press on." Discovery will deliver a final set of solar panels and some critical parts for the space station's water recycling system.

The president of Madagascar has defied an ultimatum⁷ to resign despite growing opposition⁸ to his government. After the deadline issued by his political rival passed, he emerged from the presidential palace to say he has no intention of stepping down. More from NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton.

Parts of the armed forces are refusing to take orders from the government of embattled President Marc Ravalomanana, prompting concern that the political standoff in Madagascar may lead to military intervention⁹. Hundreds of Ravalomanana's supporters are defending the presidency¹⁰ compound after threats by the opposition leader Andry Rajoelina to march on the palace if his rival does not quit. Rajoelina has declared himself president and says he will name his own government. Meanwhile his supporters have occupied the prime minister's offices. Analysts¹¹ predict that opposition protesters have little appetite for a violent confrontation¹² in Madagascar, though they are turning up the pressure on a president they claim has failed to tackle poverty and corruption¹³. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Johannesburg.

A roadside bomb explosion killed four American soldiers in eastern Afghanistan today. In a separate attack, a suicide bomber¹⁴ targeted a NATO convoy¹⁵ but instead killed two bystanders.

This is NPR News.

Iran's foreign minister has reportedly made an unannounced visit to Saudi Arabia as tensions rise between the Islamic Republic and the Arab world. Dale Gavlak has more.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki held talks with the Saudi counterpart Prince Saud al-Faisal. Just two weeks ago, al-Faisal called for a unified¹⁶ Arab strategy to deal with what he termed "the Iranian challenge". Moderate Arab states are worried about Iran's nuclear program and its growing influence in Iraq. Its support of  Islamist movements Hamas and Hezbollah also concern US allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Egypt has accused Iran of manipulating Arab states to increase its influence in the region. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the US would like to see Syria, Iran's closest Arab ally, weaned away from Teheran's control. For NPR News, I'm Dale Gavlak in Amman, Jordan.

The OPEC oil cartel has decided¹⁷ not to lower its current production targets, but instead will push member nations that are not complying with previous pledges to cut production to do so. That will result in reduced output of about 840,000 barrels a day. OPEC Secretary General Abdalla El-Badri says the decision was a compromise aimed at shoring up oil prices while not aggravating¹⁸ the global economic downturn. "Taking into consideration what's going on in the world economy, everything we try to talk about, everything is negative, you know, everyday we receive negative information, so we just try to balance the situation out." El-Badri says if oil prices do not stabilize¹⁹ by May when the OPEC ministers meet next, they will consider production cuts.
 
I'm Craig Windham, NPR News in Washington.

 

1 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

2 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

3 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

4 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

5 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

6 leakage   

n.漏，泄漏；泄漏物；漏出量

参考例句：

• Large areas of land have been contaminated by the leakage from the nuclear reactor.大片地区都被核反应堆的泄漏物污染了。
• The continuing leakage is the result of the long crack in the pipe.这根管子上的那一条裂缝致使渗漏不断。

7 ultimatum   

n.最后通牒

参考例句：

• This time the proposal was couched as an ultimatum.这一次该提议是以最后通牒的形式提出来的。
• The cabinet met today to discuss how to respond to the ultimatum.内阁今天开会商量如何应对这道最后通牒。

8 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。

9 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。

10 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

12 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

13 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

14 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

15 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

16 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。

17 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

18 aggravating   

adj.恼人的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• How aggravating to be interrupted! 被打扰，多令人生气呀！
• Diesel exhaust is particularly aggravating to many susceptible individuals. 许多体质敏感的人尤其反感柴油废气。

19 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。