Hourly News 每日新闻 2014-01-01

 Chinese President delivers New Year Message

Chinese President Xi Jinping has delivered a New Year address to domestic and overseas audience via China Radio International, China National Radio and China Central Television. 

"As the new year begins, let us also start anew. I'm delighted to extend New Year wishes to Chinese people of all ethnic¹ groups, to compatriots in the Hong Kong Special Administrative² Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region, Taiwan, and to overseas Chinese and friends all over the world! "

Xi Jinping says the year 2013 has been an extraordinary year for the Chinese nation and people. The government developed a comprehensive plan to deepen reforms, and laid out a grand blueprint³ for future development. 

"In 2014, we are expected to make new strides on the road of reform. We have advanced reforms with the fundamental purpose of making our nation stronger and more prosperous. We also aim to achieve a higher degree of impartiality⁴ and justice in society so that people can live a better life. "

The Chinese President says he wishes that the dreams of the Chinese people, and people from all countries, will come true.

 

China ready to further advance ties with U.S.: Chinese FM

China's foreign minister has been working the phones to help ring-in the New Year.

Wang Yi has placed phone calls to, among others, US Secretary of State John Kerry and South Korean foreign minister Yun Byung-se.

Speaking with Kerry, Wang Yi says China is willing to continue working to implement⁵ the concensus reached between President Xi Jinping and Barack Obama this past year in California.

China and the US today are officially marking 35-years of diplomatic ties.

Speaking with South Korea's foreign minister, Wang Yi and Yun Byung-se have discussed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent visit to the Yasukuni Shrine⁶.

Both say their respective responses to the controversial visit are both just and legitimate⁷.

 

More than 300,000 people celebrate 2014 new year in HK

More than 300-thousand people gathered at both sides of Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong to ring in the New Year last night.

The normal end-of-night daily light displays in the Harbour were replaced by a countdown, with tens-of-thousands counting down the countdown to midnight.

Heading into the new year, a number of those interviewed said they're concerned about the continued rise in the value of the Renminbi.

The Hong Kong dollar remains⁸ pegged⁹ to the US dollar, making exports from the city more expensive.

It's estimated that for every percent the Renminbi rises against the US dollar, exporters in Hong Kong are going to have to raise their prices 0.55-percent.

To remain compeditive, most exporters will have to absorb most of those costs themselves.

 

S. Korean ship catches fire in Mumbai, no casualty

No injuries have been reported following a fire on a cargo¹⁰ ship in the port of Mumbai.

The blaze broke out on the anchored ship around 9pm local time.

It only took about half-an-hour to put the blaze out.

The cause of the fire has been reportedly traced to a transformer explosion on the ship.

The Port of Mumbai was the scene of a deadly explosion in April which left 18 Indian sailors dead after their submarine erupted into flames.

 

Bangladesh court accepts homicide charge against factory owner, 12 others over deadly fire

The courts in Bangladesh have approved charges against 13 people connected to a deadly fire in a factory last year which left dozens dead.

The factory's owner and a dozen other officials have been part of a year-long probe.

In November of 2012, a factory caught fire, leaving 112 dead.

Workers at the facility allege¹¹ the fire was intentionally¹² set.

The garment factory produced clothes for, among other corporations, Wal-Mart.

The fire was eventually dwarfed¹³ in its scale of tragedy by the April collapse¹⁴ of an 8-story garment factory which left over 11-hundred dead.

These incidents have led to new questions about foreign companies roles in Bangladesh's garment industry.

Clothes-making is the main export sector¹⁵ in Bangladesh, pulling in some 22-billion US dollars a year.

It employs around 4-million people.

 

Gas poisoning kills 9 in SW China

9 people are dead following gas exposure in Guizhou.

The incident took place yesterday afternoon in the city of Bijie, which is located in the northwest of the province, in a remote area near the border with Yunnan and Sichuan.

Local authorities say liquified gas used to heat the home is the cause of the deaths.

The circumstances behind the gassing have not been revealed.

However, authorities say of the 9 dead, only 8 were found in the home.

 

Mainland tourist in Taiwan has bird flu

Another case of H7N9 bird flu has been discovered outside the mainland.

Authorities on Taiwan say an 86-year old man has been confirmed with the strain of the bird flu.

The elderly man travelled to the island from Jiangsu on December 17th.

He was hospitalized on December 24th.

So far none of the two-dozen others travelling with him have shown any symptoms.

This is the 2nd case of the H7N9 virus showing up on Taiwan.

The first one, also found in a mainland resident, showed up on Taiwan in April.

1 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。

2 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。

3 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

4 impartiality   

n. 公平, 无私, 不偏

参考例句：

• He shows impartiality and detachment. 他表现得不偏不倚，超然事外。
• Impartiality is essential to a judge. 公平是当法官所必需的。

5 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

6 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

7 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

8 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。

9 pegged   

v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的过去式和过去分词 )；使固定在某水平

参考例句：

• They pegged their tent down. 他们钉好了账篷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She pegged down the stairs. 她急忙下楼。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 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。

11 allege   

vt.宣称，申述，主张，断言

参考例句：

• The newspaper reporters allege that the man was murdered but they have given no proof.新闻记者们宣称这个男人是被谋杀的，但他们没提出证据。
• Students occasionally allege illness as the reason for absence.学生时不时会称病缺课。

12 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

13 dwarfed   

vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The old houses were dwarfed by the huge new tower blocks. 这些旧房子在新建的高楼大厦的映衬下显得十分矮小。
• The elephant dwarfed the tortoise. 那只乌龟跟那头象相比就显得很小。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

15 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。