美联社新闻一分钟 2007-02-16（在线收听）

1. A Florida judge is ordering another DNA sample to be taken from Anna Nicole Smith's body. It comes as the former Playboy playmate's longtime companion Howard K. Stern and her estranged mother fight over Smith's remains. Stern is also fighting Larry Birkhead, one of the men who claims he's the father of Smith's five-month-old daughter.

2. In southern Iraq, British and Iraqi forces closed two border points with Iran and temporarily closed the border with Syria. It's an attempt to shut down smuggling networks that the US believes are supplying weapons to militant groups.

3. President Bush is calling on NATO allies to send more soldiers to Afghanistan. During this speech, Bush said the extra troops are needed to battle Taliban fighters who are gearing up for a new spring offensive.

4. Helps arrived for snow-buried upstate New York. A National Guard engineering unit is helping remove snow in Oswego County where lake-effect snow showers have dumped up to 12 feet of snow already this month.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. estranged: adj.
If you are estranged from your family or friends, you have quarreled with them and are not communicating with them. (FORMAL).

2. gear up: phrase
If someone is gearing up for a particular activity, they are preparing to do it.