NPR 2010-11-29

Wikileaks has moved forward with a major document drop of hundreds of thousands of confidential¹ US diplomatic cables. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports the action flies in the face of dire² warnings from top US officials.
The documents provide a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the State Department. The diplomatic cables cover everything from US concerns over the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons to a comical portrait of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who apparently³ likes flamenco dancing and usually travels with a "voluptuous⁴ blonde", his senior Ukrainian nurse. Afghan President Hamid Karzai is described as being "driven by paranoia⁵", while Saudi Arabia and Qatar come in for criticism for their records on terrorism. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US ambassadors have been reaching out to leaders around the world to alert them of potentially embarrassing disclosures. The State Department's legal adviser⁶ wrote to the lawyer of Wikileaks, warning that the distribution of the cables could disrupt counterterrorism operations and endanger lives. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.
At this hour, Wikileaks is alleging⁷ a denial of service attack has shut down their website.
Chaos⁸ in Haiti, where surrounded by the debris⁹ of January's earthquake, citizens were to have voted for a new president and for lawmakers. In Port-au-Prince, NPR's Jason Beaubien reports nearly all the major presidential candidates are charging fraud and calling for a nullification of the vote.
Two of the leading candidates are among the ones who are calling for the elections to be nullified. The other leading candidate, Jude Celestin, and they are accusing him of being a candidate who is going to benefit from this fraud that they said they were seeing. So, certainly, this is a wide segment of the political spectrum¹⁰. They were falling out, coming out and calling for this nullification. And certainly, they have a lot of supporters. So, this is a big deal. This isn't just a few people on the edge saying this. These are some of the main candidates, two of the leading candidates for president saying that they believe these elections should be nullified.
NPR's Jason Beaubien reporting from Port-au-Prince.
The lame-duck Congress resumes session tomorrow with the Bush tax breaks among the major pieces of unfinished business. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is saying today that he, like many other Republicans, will support a continuation of the breaks for all income groups.
"I'm not going to vote to increase taxes on anybody in America, millionaires included. We're in a very weak economy. If you want to make it weaker, raise taxes on anybody is a bad idea."Graham spoke¹¹ on "Fox News Sunday".
Congressman¹² Charlie Rangel is getting ready to appeal to the House to reduce his ethics¹³ violation¹⁴ punishment from a censure¹⁵ to a reprimand.
This is NPR News.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet has approved a proposal to establish a massive detention¹⁶ center for illegal immigrants. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro has more.
Some 35,000 illegal immigrants from Africa have crossed into Israel recently. A new wall is being built along the border with Egypt, where most of the immigrants come through, and now, Israel's cabinet approved the construction of a massive detention center that will house them until they can be repatriated¹⁷. Prime Minister Netanyahu has said the facility will not be aimed at refugees fleeing from war, but rather infiltrators who threaten Israeli jobs. Most of the immigrants come from Sudan and Eritrea. Activists¹⁸ working with the African immigrants here are condemning¹⁹ the plan though, one saying on Israeli public radio that Israel will be locking them up in a ghetto²⁰. Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, NPR News, Jerusalem.
A US supercarrier and a South Korean destroyer are in position in the Yellow Sea for war games expected to last till Wednesday. At the same time, China's nuclear envoy²¹ wants six-nation talks to convene²² an emergency session in Beijing early next month. Wu Dawei issued a statement that the international community, especially members of the six-party talks, are deeply concerned about tensions between North and South Korea.
The research firm ShopperTrak is reporting that shoppers spent almost 11 billion dollars Black Friday, up just 0.3% over last year. Deep discounts and online shopping took some of the punch out of in-store sales.
In the Thanksgiving weekend box office contest between "Harry²³ Potter" and "Rapunzel", the boy wizard won, selling over 50 million dollars in tickets.
I'm Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.

1 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

2 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 voluptuous   

adj.肉欲的，骄奢淫逸的

参考例句：

• The nobility led voluptuous lives.贵族阶层过着骄奢淫逸的生活。
• The dancer's movements were slow and voluptuous.舞女的动作缓慢而富挑逗性。

5 paranoia   

n.妄想狂，偏执狂；多疑症

参考例句：

• Her passion for cleanliness borders on paranoia.她的洁癖近乎偏执。
• The push for reform is also motivated by political paranoia.竞选的改革运动也受到政治偏执狂症的推动。

6 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

7 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

8 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

9 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

10 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 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。

13 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

14 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

15 censure   

v./n.责备；非难；责难

参考例句：

• You must not censure him until you know the whole story.在弄清全部事实真相前不要谴责他。
• His dishonest behaviour came under severe censure.他的不诚实行为受到了严厉指责。

16 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。

17 repatriated   

v.把（某人）遣送回国，遣返( repatriate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The refugees were forcibly repatriated. 难民被强制遣送回国。
• Ancient artworks were repatriated from the US to Greece. 古代艺术品从美国遣送回希腊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 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》

19 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

20 ghetto   

n.少数民族聚居区，贫民区

参考例句：

• Racism and crime still flourish in the ghetto.城市贫民区的种族主义和犯罪仍然十分猖獗。
• I saw that achievement as a possible pattern for the entire ghetto.我把获得的成就看作整个黑人区可以仿效的榜样。

21 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

22 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。

23 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。