CNN 2009-01-13

Good morning from the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'm Reggie Aqui. Here's what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

We begin with President Bush who gave what would likely be the last news conference of his presidency¹ today. Bush spent time thanking members of the media for their work during his two terms. The president also talked about the possibility of requesting the rest of the bailout money on president-elect Barack Obama's behalf.

"I told him that if he felt that he needed the 350 billion, I would be willing to ask for it. If he feels like it needed to happen on my watch. The best course of action, of course, is to convince enough members of the senate to vote positively³ for the request, eh, and, you know, that's all I can share with because that's all I know. "

Now we're gonna turn to a problem that the president-elect will then hear: the latest developments in the Middle East. That's where Israel continues to launch a new round of air strikes in Gaza that despite a UN call for an immediate⁴ ceasefire. The Israeli military says it did pause its assault to allow residents to pick up humanitarian⁵ supplies. Palestinian medical sources say more than 900 people have been killed since the Israeli offensive began.

Russian and natural gas should begin flowing again in Europe soon. Russia says it will resume deliveries after Ukraine dropped added conditions to an EU-brokered deal to monitor the pipelines⁶. But the dispute has left parts of the Balkans without heat during a bitterly cold winter.

Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff could find out today if he's going to be moved to a jail cell. A judge will decide if his bail² will be revoked⁷ for allegedly trying to hide some of his wealth. Madoff is currently under house arrest in his apartment in New York. He's being investigated for allegedly running a 50-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

That's what's happening in the news right now. Please stick with us here at cnn.com and cnn.com/live for more of these stories and your updates throughout the day.

1 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

2 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

3 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

7 revoked   

adj.[法]取消的v.撤销，取消，废除( revoke的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It may be revoked if the check is later dishonoured. 以后如支票被拒绝支付，结算可以撤销。 来自辞典例句
• A will is revoked expressly. 遗嘱可以通过明示推翻。 来自辞典例句