NPR 2011-06-12

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says al-Qaeda in Africa has been dealt a serious blow with the death of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, the man accused of being the mastermind of the deadly 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The attacks killed 224 people. Edith Bartley, whose father and brother were killed in Kenya, welcomes the news.

"Very pleased. We're coming up on the 13th anniversary of the embassy bombing, and this individual was part of the original indictment¹ in the first al-Qaeda trial in 2001, and so it's long overdue²."

Fazul was killed this week by Somali security forces in Mogadishu.

Syrian refugees continue to stream into Turkey amid the second day of a Syrian army assault. It's under way in the same northern province where more than 100 security personnel were killed this week. NPR's Deborah Amos is monitoring events in Syria from Beirut.

Army units have burned farm fields, shelled neighborhoods and shot protesters in towns near the Turkish border in what the Syrian government calls an operation to restore order. Activists³ who reached the area by phone say the targets are defectors as well as protesters. Some security forces who refused orders to shoot civilians⁴ were trapped or stayed behind in the town of Jisr al-Shughour as most of the residents fled. Deborah Amos, NPR News, Beirut.

Embattled Congressman⁵ Anthony Weiner is asking for a leave of absence from the House of Representatives in order to seek professional treatment, though he doesn't specify⁶ what kind. The request comes as a growing number of Democrats⁷ today publicly call for Weiner to step down after he admitted to having inappropriate online contact with women for several years. NPR's Andrea Seabrook tells us House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Congressman Steve Israel are among the influential⁸ lawmakers putting pressure on Weiner.

To me, that is a coordinated⁹ effort. In fact, I have been told by senior Democratic aides, well-placed aides that it was a coordinated effort. These leaders have been talking to Anthony Weiner all week, and his decision to seek treatment, the pressure of the Sunday morning talk shows, which, you know, generate a lot of news usually and can put a lot of political pressure on members. All of these things plus the Congress coming back on Monday. You know, these leaders felt like it was time to go out, put their foot down and say we will not accept this in the Congress.

NPR's Andrea Seabrook.

Fire crews say they are awed¹⁰ by the vast Wallow Fire in eastern Arizona. Firefighter Pierre Maletare.

"Just a lot of fire everywhere, as just that we will care for out there as this scary."

A break in the weather helped crews get control of some of the fire, but high winds are expected to return today and tomorrow.

This is NPR News.

More than 30 baggage screeners at Honolulu International Airport are about to be fired for security lapses¹¹. The Transportation Security Administration says investigations¹² late last year found checked bags were allowed onto flights without being properly screened for explosives. The workers' union says pressure to ensure morning international flights depart on time led to the screeners' actions.

Canada could be facing a major disruption in air travel. From Toronto, Dan Karpenchuk reports the union for the country's biggest airline has served a 72-hour strike notice.

Here Canada says it plans to minimize the inconvenience to passengers and intends to continue to operate a regular schedule. The Canadian Auto¹³ Workers union, which represents the airline's 3,800 customer service and sale staff, gave the strike notice on Friday. That means the workers could walk out just after midnight on Tuesday if the two sides can't reach a deal. They've been talking for more than two months, but the main sticking point is a change to the employees' pension benefits. The union claims that proposed changes would be massive and gut¹⁴ the existing pension plan. The union says it's willing to talk through the weekend. But it's pushing for major concessions¹⁵. For NPR News, I'm Dan Karpenchuk in Toronto.

Anti-nuclear demonstrators are marking today's three-month anniversary of Japan's earthquake and tsunami¹⁶. Masses gathered in Tokyo, carrying banners calling on the government to shutter¹⁷ the country's nuclear plants. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is visiting the tsunami-damaged region. He's been criticized for the way he handled the disasters and recovery efforts. The magnitude 9 quake and subsequent tsunami killed more than 23,000 people and triggered one of the world's worst nuclear accidents.

I'm Barbara Klein, NPR News in Washington.

1 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

2 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

3 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》

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 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。

6 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

7 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

9 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

10 awed   

adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声，人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 lapses   

n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He sometimes lapses from good behavior. 他有时行为失检。 来自辞典例句
• He could forgive attacks of nerves, panic, bad unexplainable actions, all sorts of lapses. 他可以宽恕突然发作的歇斯底里，惊慌失措，恶劣的莫名其妙的动作，各种各样的失误。 来自辞典例句

12 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

13 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

14 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

15 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

16 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

17 shutter   

n.百叶窗；(照相机)快门；关闭装置

参考例句：

• The camera has a shutter speed of one-sixtieth of a second.这架照像机的快门速度达六十分之一秒。
• The shutter rattled in the wind.百叶窗在风中发出嘎嘎声。