NPR 2011-04-03

Three hundred Southwest Airline's flights have been canceled as the company and federal officials review a sudden mid-flight Boeing 737 fuselage tear. A passenger aboard the afternoon flight out of Phoenix¹ yesterday said, "You could see the sky." Seventy-nine Southwest Airline's Boeing 737s have been grounded for safety checks. The FBI says there's no evidence of foul² play. Craig Williams is the airport director at the military airbase in Yuma, where the Southwest flight touched down.

"This is rare, but it's not unheard of. It required them to make an emergency landing at the nearest airport. That was us. So they landed here. The landing was uneventful."

Federal safety officials are investigating the cause. Metal fatigue³ and lightening strike are the common explanations, but meteorologists say the weather was clear. The Boeing 737 was 15 years old.

Libyan rebels have suffered setbacks as they tried to hold on to battlefield gains against government troops. NPR's Eric Westervelt has details from Brega.

Fighters we've talked to come from the front in Brega say that they're trying their best to be better organized and more disciplined, trying to break up units into distinct fighting. Forces were the chain of command, but it's also still very much in flocks. They are disorganized at their core, and these attempts are still very much a working progress. Often when they take fire from Gaddafi forces, that discipline breaks down, people flee and panic, and they've been working for weeks to try to get fighters to hold their ground to stay in fight and to be a more coordinated⁵ efficient fighting force.

NPR's Eric Westervelt in Libya. This week, NATO air strikes intended to slow Gaddafi's forces, accidentally killed several anti-Gaddafi fighters.

A terrorist bombing in Northern Ireland has taken the life of a 24-year-old policeman. Correspondent Larry Miller⁶ reports from London that there are concerns these types of attacks could spread.

The policeman was killed when a bomb exploded under his car in Omagh, about 70 miles from Belfast. He completed training just three weeks ago. Although there's been no claim of responsibility, since 2007 dissident republicans have planted dozens of bombs under the private cars of police officers. Two years ago, the group, the Continuity IRA, said it shot and killed a policeman not far from this incident. Politicians across the political and religious divide in both the UK and Ireland immediately condemned⁷ the attack. Six months ago, the British government and security officials warned that dissident republicans angry that the IRA accepted peace could strike mainland Britain. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

Four people are dead after this morning's crash of a test aircraft at an airport in Roswell.

This is NPR News.

Nigeria's election chief has announced that legislative⁸ elections set for today are off until next week. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports this is a major setback⁴.

The head of Nigeria's Independent Electoral Commission Attahiru Jega had pledged to reduce past election-related problems. But this time around, basic election materials went missing, as long lines formed outside polling stations when Jega dropped a bombshell.

"In order to maintain the integrity of the elections and retain effective overall control of the process, the commission has taken the very difficult but necessary decision to postpone⁹ the National Assembly elections to Monday, April 4."

Political thuggery, organized violence, voter intimidation¹⁰, vote-rigging and general disorganization have characterized previous elections since Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Accra.

The Associated Press is reporting that President Obama will file 2012 campaign papers with the Federal Election Commission as early as this week. The formal step will allow him to start raising money for the campaign expected to be based in Chicago.

On Capitol Hill, time's running out on budget negotiators. In the GOP weekly address, House Speaker John Boehner is warning that congressional uncertainty¹¹ about how to fund the government is creating economic instability. He says Congress needs to cut spending, block tax increases, reduce bureaucracy and eliminate regulations. He says getting spending under control will restore confidence in the economy.

1 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

2 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

3 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

4 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

5 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

6 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。

7 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

8 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

9 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

10 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

11 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。