Hourly News 每日新闻 2014-03-24

Chinese military plane takes off in Australia to search for MH370
The first Chinese military flight in search of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is underway.
The flight has left from Perth in the search for the missing jetliner.
It will be focused on an area around 400-kilometers long and around 30-kilometers wide.
This is the area searchers feel is the best location to search for possible debris¹ from the plane spotted² by Australian satellite images last week.
Chinese military aircraft arrived in Australia Saturday to assist in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, which disappeared over 2-weeks ago with 239-passangers and crew onboard, including 154 from China.
 
Last of Ukrainian marines remain at their base
A Ukrainian marine³ battallion, which remains⁴ in Russian-annexed Crimea, is now in the process of negotiating with Russian forces on handing over the base.
The Feodosia base is home to Ukraine's top military unit and one of the last military facilities still under Ukrainian control in Crimea.
On Saturday, Russian troops seized a Ukrainian air base and naval⁵ base in Crimea.
The Russian Defense⁶ Ministry⁷ says the Russian flag is currently flying over 189 military facilities in Crimea.
Russia's move to take control of Crimea has sent relations among Russia, Europe and the United States to their lowest point since the Cold War.
The United States and the European Union are set to hold an emergency meeting of the Group of Seven leaders later today in the Netherlands.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who is representing Russia at the Nuclear Security Summit in the Hague, is expected to hold talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry on sidelines of the event.
 
Syria accuses Turkey of "flagrant aggression⁸" for downing warplane
The Syrian government is slamming Turkey for what it describes as "flagrant agression" after one of its war planes was shot down near the Syrian-Turkish border.
Damascus is characterizing the incident as proof the Turkish government is supporting armed terrorist groups in Syria.
Syrian authorities say their plane was shot down by Turkish air defenses while targeting armed militants⁹ which had moved from Turkey into northern Syria.
The Turkish government says its airforce shot down the Syrian jet after it violated Turkish airspace.
The plane itself crashed on a buffer¹⁰ zone between the border separating the Syrian province of Latakia with the Turkish province of Hatay.
The pilot of the Syrian jet managed to safely eject.
The Syrian government has been fighting a new offensive launched by jihadist groups in the same region since Friday.
 
Pakistani PM says direct talks with Taliban in one or two days
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has revealed the government expects to hold direct talks with the Taliban in the next day or two.
The revelation comes just a day after the Pakistani government and the Taliban agreed on a venue¹¹ for the direct talks.
Neither side has disclosed the location for the talks for security reasons.
Pakistani government negotiators started peace talks with Taliban intermediaries last month.
That led to a month-long unilateral ceasefire by the Taliban.
One of the government's lead negotiators admits there is still some mistrust that exists, but says they expect to get past that when they meet this week.
 
Algeria kicks off presidential campaign
The official campaign is underway in Algeria for the country's presidental elections.
A total of six candiates are up for the position.
However, most observers expect it to come down to a 2-way race between long time incumbent¹² Abdelaziz Bouteflika and former Prime Minister Ali Benflis.
Benflis was appointed as the Prime Minister by Bouteflika in 2000.
However, he left his post 3-years later in a dispute with Bouteflika.
The 77-year old Bouteflika, who has been involved in Algerian politics since the country escaped colonial rule in the early 1960's, is looking for a 4th term as President.
 
Former Spanish PM Suarez dies, King Juan Carlos leads praise
Former Spanish Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez has died.
Suarez passed away Sunday after a prolonged illness.
He's best known as the first Spanish prime minister following the death of long-time Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.
King Juan Carlos, who appointed Suarez after the King replaced Franco as head of state, has been one of the first to pay homage¹³ to Suarez, describing him as a man who put the interests of Spain above those of the interests of his party.
Suarez had been suffereing from the effects of Alzheimers Disease for the past decade.
He was 81.
 

1 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

2 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。

3 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

4 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。

5 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 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。

8 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

9 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。

10 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

11 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

12 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。

13 homage   

n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬

参考例句：

• We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
• The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。