美联社新闻一分钟 2006-08-02(在线收听

1. The Cuban government says Fidel Castro is recovering from intestinal surgery and that his final moment is still very far away. The statement comes one day after Castro turned over power of the communist country to his brother.

2. Three hours before the official end of a two-day halt in the air war with Lebanon, Israeli warplanes have attacked at least five suspected Hezbollah strongholds. Aid groups complained the ongoing violence is slowing their efforts to get food and medicine to stranded Lebanese civilians.

3. The East Coast is scorching hot and it's likely to get even hotter in the coming days. New York's Central Park hit 95 today, and the National Weather Service says it could reach 104 on Wednesday. Mayor Michael Bloomberg calls it a dangerous heat wave.

4. Mel Gibson says he is no bigot and in a statement released today apologized again for, what he calls, harmful words when he was arrested on a DUI charge last week. He is also asking for a meeting with Jewish community leaders. Meanwhile, an independent committee review finds the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department showed no favoritism to Gibson on the night of his arrest.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. intestinal : adj
Intestinal means relating to the intestines. (FORMAL)
intestine : n-count
Your intestines are the tubes in your body through which food passes when it has left your stomach.

2. strand : verb
If you are stranded, you are prevented from leaving a place, for example because of bad weather.

3. bigot : n-count
If you describe someone as a bigot, you mean that they are bigoted.
bigoted : adj, disapproval
Someone who is bigoted has strong, unreasonable prejudices or opinions and will not change them, even when they are proved to be wrong.

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