NPR 2012-02-11

 President Obama's trying to put to rest criticism of a controversial policy on birth control. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the administration is tweaking its policy now to address concerns of the Roman Catholic Church.

 

The new policy will still ensure that nearly all women who get health insurance through the workplace will have access to birth control free of charge. But Mr. Obama says women who work for Catholic hospitals, universities or other institutions with a religious objection will now get their coverage¹ directly from the insurance company, not their Catholic employer.

 

"The result will be that religious organizations won't have to pay for these services, and no religious institution will have to provide these services directly."

 

The move is designed to address concerns that the old policy infringed² on religious liberty. It's not clear how the move will play with Catholics generally, a key constituency in several battleground states. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House.

 

Mitt³ Romney's presidential campaign for the conservative vote drew him to the largest annual conservative gathering⁴ in Washington D.C. today. Thousands attending the conservative political action conference, or CPAC, heard the candidate pledged to shrink government, overturn the healthcare law and boost jobs. The former governor and businessman also makes no apologies for being rich.

 

"I did some of the very things conservatism is designed for. I started new businesses and turned around broken ones, and I'm not ashamed to say that I was successful in doing it."

 

Rick Santorum spoke⁵ earlier. Newt Gingrich is due to address CPAC in a couple of hours.

 

Jerry Sandusky's trial on child sex abuse charges is tentatively set for mid-May. The former Penn State football coach appealed in court today where judge also announced plans to rule soon on whether Sandusky can see his grandchildren. Here's Sandusky.

 

"When I had a wife who came home after visiting with grandchildren or who's sitting there, when grandchildren call on my birthday, and they ask to talk to me and she has to tell them that they can't. I'm sensitive to that."

 

Prosecutors⁶ are asking that Sandusky remain under house arrest until his trial.

 

In Greece, politicians are refusing to support a new international bailout just a day after the government agreed to it. Joanna Kakissis reports from Athens that the political uncertainty⁷ comes on another day of anti-austerity protests.

 

The protests were small compared to previous demonstrations⁸, but they turned violent. This news video shows scores of young men in hoods⁹ and masks fighting riot police. They are pelting¹⁰ gas bombs at the officers who respond with rounds of tear gas. The political drama was just as intense. Two ministers resigned and more threatened to leave. The stakes are high. If parliament votes against the new bailout, the EU says Greece can't have the money.

 

Joanna Kakissis reporting.

 

Dow down 136 points.

 

This is NPR.

 

Latin music pioneer Jimmy Sabater has died. The 75-year-old musician passed away of natural causes in New York. NPR's Felix Contreras explains Sabater had been part of at least two creative Latin music movements here in the US.

 

When Jimmy Sabater was a member of the Joe Cuba Sextet, he wrote one of the defining singles of the boogaloo era of the 1960s, Bang Bang. Sabater was born in the US to parents who came from Puerto Rico in the 1970s. He was an important part of the style of music that makes Puerto Rican and Afro-Cuban rhythms with jazz, salsa. Ultimately, Jimmy Sabater's music reflected the nature of a bicultural life, taking the best of both and creating something new. Felix Contreras, NPR News.

 

Calm has returned to the streets of Rio de Janeiro hours after police went on strike. The government is using troops to patrol the city which holds world-renowned Carnival¹¹ festivities in about a week. The celebration typically attracts about a million people. The county's security is also under greater scrutiny¹² these days because it's preparing to host the championship matches of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.

 

US stocks down today. At last check, Dow losing 134 points, it's at 12,757, down more than 1%; NASDAQ off 24, it's at 2,903; and the S&P 500 also down nearly 1% or 12 points, it's at 1,340.

 

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.

1 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

2 infringed   

v.违反（规章等）( infringe的过去式和过去分词 )；侵犯（某人的权利）；侵害（某人的自由、权益等）

参考例句：

• Wherever the troops went, they never infringed on the people's interests. 大军过处，秋毫无犯。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was arrested on a charge of having infringed the Election Law. 他因被指控触犯选举法而被拘捕。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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。

8 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

9 hoods   

n.兜帽( hood的名词复数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩v.兜帽( hood的第三人称单数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩

参考例句：

• Michael looked at the four hoods sitting in the kitchen. 迈克尔瞅了瞅坐在厨房里的四条汉子。 来自教父部分
• Eskimos wear hoods to keep their heads warm. 爱斯基摩人戴兜帽使头暖和。 来自辞典例句

10 pelting   

微不足道的，无价值的，盛怒的

参考例句：

• The rain came pelting down. 倾盆大雨劈头盖脸地浇了下来。
• Hailstones of abuse were pelting him. 阵阵辱骂冰雹般地向他袭来。

11 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

12 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。