NPR 2011-12-05

 Russian state television reports that exit polls show the party of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is picking up less than half the vote in parliamentary elections. Opposition¹ parties and election monitors claim even this figure is inflated². They charge ballot³ stuffing. Putin and his United Russia party have dominated Russian politics for more than a decade. A strong showing at the polls today would have boosted Putin's efforts to return to the presidency⁴ next year.

 

Results from the first round of voting in Egypt's parliamentary elections confirm that Islamist parties captured the majority of the votes. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports from Cairo.

 

According to the High Electoral Commission, 61% of all the votes cast went to Islamist parties. The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party took in some 36% of the votes and the hard-line fundamentalist party Nour, which means light, took some 24%. The overwhelming boost for religious parties has left Christians⁵ and liberal groups here concerned that the new parliament could be used to push an Islamist agenda. Liberal parties fared badly in this round of the vote even though those affiliated⁶ to them were heavily involved in Egypt's revolution in January and February when the Hosni Mubarak regime was toppled. It's unlikely they will fare any better in the next two rounds of voting, which take place in rural conservative areas. Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, NPR News, Cairo.

 

Media reports in Iran claim the military there has shot down an unmanned U.S. reconnaissance plane that had violated Iranian airspace. A Pentagon spokesman in Afghanistan says U.S. operators had lost control of a plane last week and they're trying to determine its status.

 

President Obama called the president of Pakistan today to offer condolences over the Pakistani soldiers killed in a NATO air strike last week. The White House says the president called the deaths regrettable but said they were not the result of a deliberate attack.

 

Vice⁷ President Joe Biden is in Greece to meet with coalition⁸ government leaders during a crucial week for the eurozone. Joanna Kakissis reports from Athens.

 

Biden is set to meet tomorrow with Lucas Papademos, the former central banker, appointed prime minister last month. Papademos is trying to hold together a fractious three-party coalition that's supposed to save Greece from defaulting on its massive debt but politicians are fighting with each other as they try to position themselves for snap elections expected as early as February. Biden is expected to offer support for Papademos's efforts to keep Greece in the eurozone mainly through unpopular austerity measures. He and Greek leaders are also set to discuss Turkey's controversial oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean⁹. For NPR News, I'm Joanna Kakissis in Athens.

 

Italy's new government today approved an emergency austerity package. Prime Minister Mario Monti says the measures include spending cuts and increased efforts to get people to pay their taxes. He's to outline the specifics to parliament tomorrow.

 

This is NPR News from Washington.

 

Utility officials in California say there are still tens of thousands of people without electricity after powerful windstorms last week. Unusually strong winds began Wednesday, bringing down trees and power lines. More wind is expected to begin tomorrow and persist into Tuesday.

 

The Observer newspaper in Britain celebrates its 220th birthday with today's issue. Larry Miller¹⁰ reports it's the world's oldest Sunday paper.

 

The Observer buries the story on page 21 with the headline Happy Birthday to Us. First published in 1791, it says it was born in the age of enlightenment of Thomas Paine, a free trade and bloody¹¹ revolution. It was initially¹² a four pager published by a young Irish man. He went quickly in debt and he had to sell it. But the Observer says it wasn't until the mid-1900 that it found its liberal soul. Meanwhile the British Library has uploaded 65 million articles from the last 300 years. Searching is free but it costs to view a page. The digitizing is a 10-year project. When complete, there will be 40 million web pages with 650 million articles. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

 

German authorities say bomb experts successfully defused a World War II-era British bomb in the western city of Koblenz today. The bomb was spotted¹³ in the Rhine River after water levels had dropped after a prolonged lack of rain. The 1.8-ton bomb had been left behind from World War II. The discovery prompted authorities to move 45,000 people out of the city. This is nothing new the city was heavily bombed during World War II. A German news agency says 28 smaller bombs have been found since 1999.

 

I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.

1 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。

2 inflated   

adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。
• They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

4 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。

5 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

6 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

9 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

10 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。

11 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

12 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

13 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。