NPR 2010-10-07

A federal judge says prosecutors¹ cannot use a critical witness in a terrorist trial because of harsh CIA interrogation tactics. NPR’s Carrie Johnson reports today’s ruling by Judge Lewis Kaplan delays the first civilian² trial of a Guantanamo detainee.

Judge Kaplan rejected the government’s attempt to use a witness it had only learned about after a harsh CIA questioning of a Gitmo detainee. The detainee, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, was sent to New York last year to face trial on charges that he played a role in the East Africa embassy bombings that killed more than 200 people in 1998. Lawyers and human rights groups are following the case for what it says about efforts to prosecute³ other men at Guantanamo. Attorney General Eric Holder⁴ says the government is reviewing the ruling.

“Article III courts are fully⁵ capable of handling these matters.”

Holder says it won’t hurt broader efforts to bring terrorists to trial in civilian courts. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

More attacks on NATO convoys⁶ today. An unidentified gunman set fire to about two dozen trucks that were headed from Pakistan to NATO troops in Afghanistan, the latest in a series of strikes in the last week against forces hunting down members of the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

An American soldier in Afghanistan who helped save his comrades by drawing insurgent⁷ fire on himself received the nation’s highest military tribute two years after his death. At a White House ceremony today, President Obama presented Sergeant⁸ Robert Miller⁹’s family with the Medal of Honor.

“Devotion to duty. An abiding¹⁰ sense of honor. A profound love of country. These were the virtues¹¹ that found their ultimate expression when Rob, just 24 years old and on his second tour, met his testing point on January 25th, 2008.”

Sergeant Robert Miller receiving the Medal of Honor two years after his death.

A report by the federal commission investigating the BP oil spill is highly critical of the Obama administration’s response to the spill. More from NPR’s Ari Shapiro.

Four weeks after the oil rig exploded and sank, the White House said around 5,000 barrels a day were coming out of the well. When independent scientists gave much higher estimates, the White House pushed back hard, even though the higher estimates later turned out to be more accurate. Now, this draft report by the commission investigating the spill says the White House refused to make internal higher estimates public. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric¹² Administration wanted to release worst-case figures, but the White House budget office said 'no'. The White House has always said that flow estimates had no impact on the government’s cleanup operations. But this report says by failing to disclose the higher estimates, the government lost credibility and public trust. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.

This is NPR.

The Supreme¹³ Court is considering a lawsuit¹⁴ filed by a fallen service member’s father. Albert Snyder is outraged¹⁵ that a fundamentalist church chose to stage one of its antigay protests at his son’s funeral, calling it a gross invasion of his family’s privacy. But Westboro Baptist Church defends its First Amendment¹⁶ right. Various conservative, liberal and media organizations including NPR have come out on the side of free speech, though they oppose the church’s methods.

A big international lending agency predicts that the global economy will grow this year. As NPR’s Paul Brown reports, the International Monetary¹⁷ Fund believes strength in China and other emerging economies will offset¹⁸ weakness in Europe and the US.

The new IMF forecasts just for world economic growth are 4.8 percent this year. That would follow last year’s contraction¹⁹, the worst since World War II. But the IMF says US and European economies are growing so slowly that Asian economies will contribute much of the expansion. That poses a balancing act. In particular, the IMF says countries with big trade surpluses like China need to increase demand at home as they cut dependence²⁰ on exports. And it says countries including the US with big trade deficits²¹ need to boost their exports. Paul Brown, NPR News, Washington.

US localities are collecting less revenue from property taxes than any other time in the last 25 years, reflecting the sharp drop in home prices across the country. The National League of Cities reports tax revenue fell 1.8 percent in fiscal²² year 2010.

Last check, the Dow was up 23 at 10,967.
 

1 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。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

4 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 convoys   

n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队

参考例句：

• Truck convoys often stop over for lunch here. 车队经常在这里停下来吃午饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A UN official said aid programs will be suspended until there's adequate protection for relief convoys. 一名联合国官员说将会暂停援助项目，直到援助车队能够得到充分的保护为止。 来自辞典例句

7 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

8 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

9 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

10 abiding   

adj.永久的，持久的，不变的

参考例句：

• He had an abiding love of the English countryside.他永远热爱英国的乡村。
• He has a genuine and abiding love of the craft.他对这门手艺有着真挚持久的热爱。

11 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

12 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

13 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。

14 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

15 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

16 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

17 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

18 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。

19 contraction   

n.缩略词，缩写式，害病

参考例句：

• The contraction of this muscle raises the lower arm.肌肉的收缩使前臂抬起。
• The forces of expansion are balanced by forces of contraction.扩张力和收缩力相互平衡。

20 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

21 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

22 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。