CNN 2009-02-05

Good morning from the CNN center in Atlanta. I am Reggie Aqui. Here is what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

We are gonna start with the president who wants to set a $500,000 pay cap for executives at companies that got some bailout money. New rules are gonna be announced later this morning. CNN.com Live will carry that for you when it happens. And these rules say that any additional pay must be restricted to stocks that can only be sold after companies pay back tax payers. The president says the top execs have a responsibility to tax payers. Meantime, the debate continues in Capitol Hill as to that stimulus¹ bill, it is now in the Senate.

More job cuts to tell you about this morning. Panasonic says it is axing 15,000 staff and expects to lose more than four billion dollars in the current fiscal² year. And as a part of an overall cost reduction program, Electronic Arts is cutting more than 1000 jobs and closing twelve of its facilities. EA is known for such video games as Rock Band and Madden Football.

Old man winter has acted again as extremely low temps can be felt from the Great Lakes to Florida. A one-degree wind chill is what Atlantans woke up to this morning. Over in the Midwest, the Chicago Tribune reports the city has had at least an inch of snow on the ground for 29 straight days. And in Kentucky, hundreds of thousands of people remain without power, a week after a deadly winter storm.

The Madoff whistleblower goes to Capitol Hill this morning to tell his story. He says he warned regulators about Bernard Madoff's alleged³ Ponzi scheme for years and no one listened. Madoff is accused of swindling more than 50 billion dollars from investors⁴.

Michael Pheps, Phelps I should say could be looking at criminal charges. A sheriff in South Carolina says he's conducting an investigation⁵ into whether to charge Phelps with a crime for a photo of him allegedly smoking pot. The sheriff says the case could be relatively⁶ easy since there is a photo and partial confession⁷. If he is convicted, Phelps could get up to 30 days in jail.

Please stick with us here in CNN.com and CNN.com Live as we bring you the updates throughout the day.

1 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

2 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

3 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

4 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。