美联社新闻一分钟 2005-07-04

（单词翻译）

1. Gunmen kidnapped the top Egyptian diplomat¹ in Iraq, in an apparent bid to discourage Arab states from bolster²ing ties with the US-backed government.

2. Saudi Arabia says its security forces have killed the nation's most wanted man, the head of al-Qaeda in the kingdom in a Riyadh gunbattle.

3. Iran accuses the United States and Israel of waging a smear⁴ campaign against its president-elect and warns Europe not to join in the mudslinging.

4. Democratic senators say they will use the filibuster⁵ if needed in a vote over the nominee⁶ to replace Supreme⁷ Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

5. NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft releases a probe that's to collide with a speeding comet to learn more about what's inside the icy bodies.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1.bid:n.an attempt to achieve or obtain something.
eg.a bid for power

2.bolster:v.to help someone to feel better and more positive.
eg.He is making a bold attempt to bolster the territory's confidence.

3.wage:v.to be involved in a war against someone, or a fight against something.
eg.he council has waged a vigorous campaign against the proposal.

4.smear campaign:a deliberate plan to tell untrue stories about an important person in order to make people lose respect for them - used especially in newspapers.
smear:n.an untrue story about a politician or other important person that is told in order to make people lose respect for them - used especially in newspapers

5.mudslinging:n.when someone says bad and often untrue things about someone in order to make other people have a low opinion of them.
eg.There has been a lot of political mudslinging in the battle for votes.

6.filibuster:n.the act of trying to delay action in Congress or another law-making group by making very long speeches.