Hourly News updated 14:00 2011/10/14

 Stranded¹ Chinese sailors in Thailand begin the journey home

Chinese sailors and their family members stranded in northern Thailand have begun their journey home.

More than 160 of them had been living aboard dozens of ships on the Mekong River, as shipping² on the major southeast Asian waterway was suspended due to last week's attack on two Chinese cargo³ ships.

A Chinese vessel⁴ with police aboard is escorting the ships. Some speed boats of the Thai police were also seen guarding the Chinese ships.

 

Family members of the 12 murdered sailors now arrived in Thailand

Earlier, 29 family members of the 12 Chinese sailors who were murdered during the hijacking⁵ of their cargo ships on the Mekong River arrived in Thailand to identify their loved-ones. 

A memorial service has been held at the scene where the attack took place.

One of the 13 Chinese sailors on board the two boats attacked last week remains⁶ missing.

 

China's inflation eases to 6.1 pct in September

Consumer prices in China increased 6.1 percent in September from a year earlier, following a 6.2 percent gain in August. 

It's the lowest inflation rate since May.

Meanwhile, producer prices rose 6.5 percent. 

China's statistics bureau will release gross domestic product data on Tuesday.

 

Aircraft nose-dives at NW China air show; no casualties reported

A Chinese fighter jet has crashed during an airshow in northwest China. 

The pilot was ejected safely and there were no casualties on the ground.

The fighter jet FBC-1, also known as a Flying Leopard⁷, was manufactured by the Xi'an Aircraft Industry Corp. 

The three-day air show is part of the China International General Aviation Convention being held in Xi'an, capital city of Shaanxi Province.

 

Papua New Guinea hit by 6.7-magnitude earthquake off coast

A 6.7-magnitude undersea earthquake has rocked the coast off Papua New Guinea.

There was no immediate⁸ tsunami⁹ warning. The extent of damage or casualties remains unclear. 

Papua New Guinea lies in the so-called "Ring of Fire", an area where several tectonic plates collide.

 

Slovakia approves the EFSF

Slovakia's parliament has approved expanding the size and power of the EU bailout fund.

The parliament rejected the proposal in the first vote earlier this week.

Slovakia is the last of the 17 eurozone nations to approve adding to the 440 billion euro bailout fund.

The expanded fund is empowered to buy eurozone government debt and offer lines of credit to both member states and their banks.

 

Johnson-Sirleaf leads with 44.5 pct votes in preliminary results of Liberian polls

Liberia's elections commission has released the official preliminary results of this week's voting.

Incumbent¹⁰ President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf holds a significant lead, garnering¹¹ 44.5-percent of the vote so far.

Her closest competitor, Winston Tubman, holds 26.5-percent of the votes cast.

The final tally¹² won't be complete for at least another week.

 

US, S Korea leaders reassure¹³ alliance following approved FTA

US President Barack Obama and his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-Bak have met in Washington.

The meeting comes just hours after the U.S. Congress approved a long-delayed free trade deal between the two countries.

"Our alliance reflects a broader truth. The United States is a Pacific nation and America is leading once more in the Asia-Pacific and with our landmark¹⁴ trade agreement, we will bring our nations even closer, creating new jobs for both our people and preserving our edge as two of the most dynamic economies in the world."

Both Obama and Lee hailed the new FTA as a win for both countries.

 

U.S. hedge fund tycoon¹⁵ sentenced to 11 years in jail for insider trading

The man convicted in one of the world's biggest hedge fund scams has been sentenced to 11-years in prison.

A court in New York has also fined Raj Rajaratnam 10-million dollars.

The co-founder of the Galleon¹⁶ Group was arrested in late 2009, after police discovered he gained close to 64-million dollars in insider trading.

The Sri Lanka-born Rajaratnam ran Galleon, worth some 7-billion US dollars at one point, until his arrest, which was part of the largest crackdown on hedge fund insider trading in US history.

 

13 Chinese tourists injured in central Philippines traffic accident: police

Thirteen Chinese tourists have been injured in a traffic accident in the central Philippine province of Aklan. 

Local police say the Chinese nationals were aboard an Island Tour Bus when it collided with a dump truck. 

An investigation¹⁷ is underway.

 

Australian fans queue up for iPhone 4S in Sydney

Australia has become the first country to receive the iPhone 4S as the new phone went on sale today.

Hundreds of Apple fans queued at the Apple Store in Sydney's central business district this morning.

The four-story George Street office was filled to capacity as soon as the doors opened.

The iPhone 4S is said to be much faster than its predecessor¹⁸ and with improved video and photo capabilities¹⁹.

It's been more than a year since the previous model was released.

1 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

2 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

3 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

4 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

5 hijacking   

n. 劫持, 抢劫 动词hijack的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I have been told about the hijacking . 我已听说了那次劫机事件。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语
• They are taking measures to guarantee against the occurrence of hijacking. 他们正采取措施防止劫机事件的发生。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 leopard   

n.豹

参考例句：

• I saw a man in a leopard skin yesterday.我昨天看见一个穿着豹皮的男人。
• The leopard's skin is marked with black spots.豹皮上有黑色斑点。

8 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。

9 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

10 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

11 garnering   

v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• And at the forefront was Bryant, garnering nothing but praise from his coaches and teammates. 而站在最前沿的就是科比，他也因此获得了教练和队友的赞美。 来自互联网

12 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

13 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

14 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

15 tycoon   

n.有钱有势的企业家，大亨

参考例句：

• The tycoon is on the verge of bankruptcy.那名大亨濒临破产的边缘。
• The tycoon has many servants to minister to his needs.那位大亨有很多人服侍他。

16 galleon   

n.大帆船

参考例句：

• The story of a galleon that sank at the start of her maiden voyage in 1628 must be one of the strangest tales of the sea.在1628年，有一艘大帆船在处女航开始时就沉没了，这个沉船故事一定是最神奇的海上轶事之一。
• In 1620 the English galleon Mayfolwer set out from the port of Southampton with 102 pilgrims on board.1620年，英国的“五月花”号西班牙式大帆船载着102名

17 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

18 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

19 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓