Hourly News 每日新闻 2014-02-17

 Advanced centrifuges, heavy-water reactor¹ main topics of nuclear talks: negotiator

Iranian nuclear negotiatiors say they're hoping to focus on advanced uranium enrichment and the Arak heavy-water reactor in the forthcoming talks in Vienna.

Negotiator Hamid Ba'idinejad says the Iranian side is adamant² that it will keep the Arak facility.

The next round of talks are scheduled for tomorrow.

The so-called P5+1 grouping and Iran are working to try to create a permanent agreement to replace the temporary deal reached in November.

As part of the interim³ agreement, Iran has agreed to suspend its 20-percent uranium enrichment in exchange for a partial lifiting of the sanctions that have been imposed on the country for the past few years.

 

Protesters block entrance to administration building

A group of radical⁴ protesters have blocked the entrance to the city administration building in Ukraine's capital, Kiev.

This comes shortly after opposition⁵ supporters vacated it under the new amnesty bill.

The protesters did not enter the building, but denied access to city officials.

This comes as barricades⁶ are being cleared.

Demonstrators have stopped their 2-momth occupation of Kiev city hall to adhere to a government amnesty offer. 

The amnesty calls for protesters to vacate seized government buildings throughout Ukraine.

Ukrainian authorities are dropping all criminal charges against activists⁷ who have been provisionally freed, provided municipal buildings are cleared.

 

Iraq's Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr quits politics, sporadic⁸ violence continues

Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has announced that he is leaving political life.

Al-Sadr has also closed his offices, and says he will no longer intervene in political affairs.

The Shiite cleric's followers⁹ currently hold 40 seats in the Iraqi parliament, on top of 6 cabinet posts.

It's widely expected members of his coalition¹⁰ are likely to resign from parliament, bringing the country's political system to a deadlock¹¹.

 

Emergency task force meeting after bombing in Egypt's Sinai kills 3 South Koreans

The South Korean Foreign Ministry¹² has held an emergency meeting following an attack on a South Korean tour bus in Egypt which left 3 South Korean nationals dead.

The attack, which also left the Egyptian driver of the bus dead, took place in the Sinai near the border with Israel.

The attack is stoking fears militants¹³ in the Sinai have resumed attacks against tourists.

Security officials say the source of the explosion remains¹⁴ unclear at this point.

12 of the 33 others injured in the blast are in hospital with serious injuries.

 

Crashed Nepal Airlines airplane found in jungle

Remains of a crashed airplane have been spotted¹⁵ in central Nepal, hours after it went missing on Sunday.

Authorities say they believe all 18 people on board the plane are feared dead.

Nepal Airlines Corporation officials are pinning the blame on bad weather.

 

Police reveal details of Xinjiang terrorist attack

Authorities in Xinjiang have revealed details of an attack which took place on Friday.

Police say a total of 11 people were killed in the assault, which took place in Aksu prefecutre.

8 were shot dead by police, while three others killed themselves with suicide vests, after attacking a team of police officers in mid-afternoon on Friday.

Authorities say the group had been planning the assault since January.

The attack took place in the same area where another group attacked a police station in January, leaving 6 dead.

 

China reports 3 more H7N9 cases

Health authorities here in China are reporting another 3 people have been infected with the H7N9 bird flu through the weekend.

The new cases have emerged in Jiangsu, Hunan and Guangdong.

One of those infected is said to be in critical condition.

More than 180 cases of human H7N9 cases have been reported in China so far this year.

Over 30 have died.

 

Local govts reduce 2014 GDP targets

New stats show that most local governments here in China have cut their economic growth targets this year.

Among the 31 provinces, 22 local governments have lowered their GDP targets.

Only seven local governments have kept their targets the same as last year.

Only Heilongjiang and Hainan have raised their GDP target this year.

Among those which have downgraded their GDP targets, Tianjin has cut its projections¹⁶ the most by 1.5 percent. 

Tianjin, Guizhou and Tibet posted the highest economic growth last year of 12.5 percent. 

Authorities in Beijing and Shanghai have both cut their targets by 0.2 percent, the lowest targets for local governments.

 

Beijing gov't slashed¹⁷ amid continuous smog

Heavy smog has lasted for days in Beijing, triggering public criticism over the municipal government's inaction.

On Sunday morning, the air quality index (AQI) at monitoring stations in the city's downtown areas was at Level 6, the highest level indicating hazardous¹⁸ pollution.

Heavy smog has continued for at least three days, and there has been mounting criticism over the inaction of the municipal government.

 

Railway trips surge after Lantern Festival

Holiday season train trips in China has surpassed the 200-million mark as migrant workers and college students began returning to their jobs and universities following the Lantern Festival.

On Saturday, some 7.8 million trips were made via the country's railway network, up over 6 percent from last year's lunar new year and bringing total trips to more than 201 million during "chunyun," the peak travel period surrounding China's Spring Festival. 

Although "chunyun" is nearing its end, railway authorities expected the number of daily train trips to remain high until Feb. 24 due to a growing number of trips made by students and workers.

1 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

2 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

3 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

4 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

7 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》

8 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

9 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

10 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

11 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。

12 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。

13 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

14 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。

15 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

16 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。

17 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。