NPR 2008-07-22

Serbia’s president says his forces have arrested a man long-sought by a UN war crimes tribunal. NPR’s Michele Kelemen reports.

According to a statement by President Boris Tadic’s office, Serbian security officials arrested former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. It was a move quickly welcomed by the UN War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. The lead prosecutor¹, Serge Brammertz, called it “an important day” for the victims who have waited for this arrest for over a decade. Radovan Karadzic was the leader of the ethnic² Serbs during the war in Bosnia–Herzegovina in the 1990s. He’s charged with genocide against Bosnian Muslim, Bosnian Croat and other non-Serb civilians³, and will face charges for his alleged⁴ role in the shelling of Sarajevo and the killing⁵ of thousands of Bosnian Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica. It’s not clear yet when he will be transferred to The Hague. Michele Kelemen, NPR News.

A judge at the first war crimes trial at Guantanamo Bay is barring evidence obtained by highly-coercive interrogations. The ruling by a navy captain came on the first day of the trial against Salim Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin⁶ Laden⁷. Hamdan today pleaded not guilty to conspiracy⁸ and supporting terrorism.

In a US district court in Santa Ana, California, a member of a domestic terrorist group was sentenced to prison for his role in a plot to attack military facilities, Jewish synagogues and the L.A. International Airport. NPR’s Carrie Kahn has details.

Twenty-four-year-old Gregory Patterson was sentenced in federal court to 12 years and seven months in prison. Patterson is one of four men accused of joining a domestic terrorist group formed by a state prison inmate⁹. According to federal prosecutors¹⁰, prisoner Kevin James formed a terrorist cell called “Jam’iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh” in 1997. Patterson pledged allegiance to the cell while housed at California’s New Folsom Prison. Following his release, Patterson set out to find new recruits. He enlisted¹¹ two Southern Californian men to blow up local Jewish temples, military recruiting centers and the Israeli Consulate¹². The plot was uncovered when the recruits were arrested robbing local gas stations to fund their self-proclaimed Jihad War. Carrie Kahn, NPR News.

An Iraqi spokesman says his government hopes US combat troops can pull out of the country by the end of 2010. The comments followed a meeting today between Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other top leaders in Baghdad. The timeframe for withdrawal¹³ is similar to the one Obama has proposed. Obama also met with US commanders and visited US troops near Basra.

On Wall Street today, the Dow fell 29 points to close at 11,467. The NASDAQ lost three points at 2,279. This is NPR.

The Food & Drug Administration says it has found a jalapeno pepper contaminated with the same salmonella strain that has sickened more than 1,100 people. Calling it “an important clue”, the agency is warning consumers not to eat fresh jalapenos. The FDA says the pepper was picked in Mexico, and identified at a distribution center in Texas. But it hasn’t determined¹⁴ where the pepper became contaminated.

A new study has found an unexpected part of the brain is active when animals sleep. The finding could help explain how the brain determines when and for how long animals, including us, need to sleep. NPR’s Joe Palca has the story.

If you look at brain waves coming from sleeping animals, you see two distinct patterns. In one, there are relatively¹⁵ long slow rhythmic¹⁶ waves of electrical activity; and in the other, you see fast erratic¹⁷ bursts. The fast activity has been associated with the dreaming while the slow waves seem to occur during restorative sleep, the kind of sleep that makes you unsleepy. Scientists used to think that a deep part of the brain called the brain stem was critical for slow-wave sleep. But now, scientists at SRI International in Menlo Park, California have found cells in the cortex that may turn out to be critical for triggering this slow-wave sleep. The research appears in the Proceedings¹⁸ of the National Academy of Sciences. Joe Palca, NPR News, Washington.

A joint¹⁹ military effort is under way to find the missing crew members of a B-52 bomber²⁰ that crashed off Guam. Two US airmen were killed; four others are missing. The Air Force says the bomber crashed shortly after taking off to perform a flyover²¹ in Guam’s Liberation Day parade.

1 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

2 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

3 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。

4 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

7 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

8 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

9 inmate   

n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人

参考例句：

• I am an inmate of that hospital.我住在那家医院。
• The prisoner is his inmate.那个囚犯和他同住一起。

10 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。

11 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

13 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

14 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

15 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

16 rhythmic   

adj.有节奏的，有韵律的

参考例句：

• Her breathing became more rhythmic.她的呼吸变得更有规律了。
• Good breathing is slow,rhythmic and deep.健康的呼吸方式缓慢深沉而有节奏。

17 erratic   

adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的

参考例句：

• The old man had always been cranky and erratic.那老头儿性情古怪,反复无常。
• The erratic fluctuation of market prices is in consequence of unstable economy.经济波动致使市场物价忽起忽落。

18 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

19 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

20 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

21 flyover   

n.立交桥，天桥

参考例句：

• It took workers more than one year to build this flyover.建造这座立交桥破费工人一年多时间。
• All that came to his bakery should go over a flyover first.所有来他店的人都必须先经过一座立交桥。