CRI Hourly News 2012 08 17

 China says Japan's unilateral moves against Chinese nationals "illegal, invalid¹"

 

China says any of Japan's unilateral moves against Chinese nationals is illegal and invalid.

China's Foreign Ministry² made the statement after Japan decided³ to release 14- Chinese nationals it detained early this week.

The 14-activists⁴ were arrested when they went to the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea on Wednesday to assert China's sovereignty over the islands.

Japanese media say the activists, who are currently in Okinawa Prefecture, may be released this Friday afternoon by plane or boat.

Further plans are being discussed.

 

 

Typhoon Kai-Tak lands in Guangdong

 

Typhoon Kai-Tak, this year's 13th, has landed in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.

As Kai-Tak approached, heavy rains lashed⁵ the island province of Hainan, while flights were canceled in Beihai, a city in Guangxi.

Authorities have raised the emergency response level.

Before moving into to China, Kai-Tak killed 8 people and displaced nearly 90-thousand in the Philippines.

China has been battered⁶ by tropical storms this month, with typhoon Saola, Damrey and Haikui leaving over 50 people dead.

 

 

Chinese and Costa Rican leaders work to deepen economic cooperation

 

Chinese President Hu Jintao has met with his Costa Rican counterpart to try to extend the relationship between the two countries.

Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla is currently on a week-long trip here to China.

The two sides have signed a number of agreements in investment, trade, clean energy, education and agriculture.

The Costa Rican President is also promising⁷ to improve her country's visa policy for Chinese tourists.

 

 

Hu Jintao expresses sympathy over NK flooding

 

Chinese President Hu Jintao has expressed his sympathy and concern to North Korea over damages caused by the recent flooding.

President Hu Jintao made the comments during a meeting with Jang Song Thaek, chief of the central administrative⁸ department of the Workers' Party of Korea.

Hu Jintao says China believes North Korea will overcome the disaster and carry out reconstruction⁹ work.

Earlier, Jang singed¹⁰ an agreement with Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming to set up a joint¹¹ steering¹² committee for developing two trade zones.

 

 

Ecuador grants asylum¹³ to Assange, angering Britain

 

Ecuador's decision to grant asylum to Wikileaks founder¹⁴ Julian Assange has angered Britain.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague says London will not be allowing Assange safe passage out of the country:

"We're disappointed by the statement by Ecuador's Foreign Minister today that Ecuador has offered political asylum to Julian Assange. It's important to understand that this is not about Mr Assange's attitudes at WikiLeaks or the attitude of the United States of America. He is wanted in Sweden to answer allegations of serious sexual offences. We are determined¹⁵ to fulfill¹⁶ our legal obligations under the extradition¹⁷ act to Sweden."

Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino says his country fears for the safety of Assange.

Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in June to avoid extradition to Sweden.

Earlier, Britain had threatened to raid the Ecuadorian embassy to arrest Assange and extradite him to Sweden.

 

 

UN Syria mission to end

 

The United Nations is due to end its monitoring mission in Syria this Sunday, just days before its mandate¹⁸ expires.

A 30-person strong civilian¹⁹ office is going to be set up in Damascus to maintain political contact with Syria.

The UN mission, which was set up in April, has been part of Kofi Annan's 6-point peace plan.

The continued violence in Syria has made the mission increasingly difficult.

 

 

Four dead in pub fire on Thai holiday island of Phuket

 

A fire at a nightclub in the popular Thai tourist destination of Phuket has killed four people and injured about a dozen others.

Police say the fire at the Tiger disco broke out early on Friday morning.

Officials said it could have been caused by lightning striking a transformer.

The nationalities of the deceased are not known, but reports say foreigners are among the injured.

 

 

China to deploy²⁰ more security guards at schools

 

China's Ministry of Education is set to hire more security guards in primary and middle schools as well as kindergartens.

Minister of Education Yuan Guiren says that by 2013, all education facilities will have at least one guard.

Education on safety will also be held just before school holidays and after the new semesters begin.

China's schoolyard security worsened in 2010 after a series of attacks on kindergartens and primary school students.

 

 

Gold demand dims in Q2

 

New statistics indicate gold demand here in China has dipped 6-percent in the second quarter.

Gold jewelry²¹ demand has fallen 8-percent year-on-year.

Fluctuating gold prices have put Chinese investors²² into a wait and see mode.

1 invalid   

n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的

参考例句：

• He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
• A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

7 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

8 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

9 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

10 singed   

v.浅表烧焦( singe的过去式和过去分词 )；（毛发）燎，烧焦尖端[边儿]

参考例句：

• He singed his hair as he tried to light his cigarette. 他点烟时把头发给燎了。
• The cook singed the chicken to remove the fine hairs. 厨师把鸡燎一下，以便去掉细毛。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 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。

12 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

13 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

14 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

15 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。

16 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

17 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。

18 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

19 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

20 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

21 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

22 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会