Hourly News 每日新闻 2014-04-03

Chinese Premier¹ urges stepped up search effort for MH 370
China's premier is again urging international search crews to step up their efforts in the hunt for that missing Malaysia Airlines flight.
Those crews are now in a race against time, as the locator function on MH370s flight recorders is expected to lose power within days.
Premier Li Keqiang made the comments following a phonecall with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Wednesday.
The two leaders agreed to continue efforts to find the missing plane.
A statement from the Chinese foreign ministry² says the search is facing complications, but officials will not relax or give up.
Premier Li also thanked the Australian side for its efforts in the ongoing³ search.
After weeks of searching, no trace of flight MH370 has been recovered.
The Malaysian side has announced it is treating the disappearance⁴ as a criminal matter, though it adds all passengers onboard the plane have been cleared of suspician.
That leaves only the pilot, co-pilot, and cabin crew as possible suspects in this case.
Malaysia's prime minister has arrived in Perth, Australia to observe the search effort first hand.
The MH370 went missing on route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 passengers and crew. 154 of them are Chinese.
 
4 Chinese workers killed in explosion in Ecuador: embassy
Four Chinese workers have died in Ecuador.
The Chinese embassy has confirmed the workers were killed in an explosion at a hydoelectric station that is currently under construction.
The remains⁵ of the victims were discovered following a five-hour search.
No other casualties have been reported.
The Sopladora hydropower station, one of the most important hydroelectric projects in Ecuador, is being built by Ge Zhou Ba group, a Chinese construction and engineering company based in Wuhan, capital of Hubei.
The cause of the explosion has not yet been determined⁶.
 
Hasty presidential elections could destabilize situation in Ukraine: Yanukovych
Ukraine's ousted⁷ president is warning against holding a 'hasty' election, saying it could further destabalize the situation in his home country.
Viktor Yanukovych made the comment on Wednesday in an interview on Russian TV.
He questioned the legitimacy⁸ of planned presidential elections coming up in May and proposed holding a referendum on turning the country into a loosely knit federation⁹ before holding any other vote.
Yanukovych also told viewers that constitutional reform is the only way to deal with the feeling of discord¹⁰ across Ukrainian society.
Ukraine's parliament ousted Yanucovych on February 22nd. Early elections have been called for May 25th.
 
UN chief calls for more countries to join Arms Trade Treaty
The UN Secretary General is calling for more countries to join the Arms Trade Treaty.
Ban Ki-moon made the appeal on Wednesday, the first anniversary of the adoption¹¹ of the treaty by the 193-member UN General Assembly.
However, the treaty has only been ratified¹² by 31 member nations.
50 countries must sign the actual document before it can officially go into effect.
Ban says the treaty for the first time sets global standards for the transfer of weapons.
While marking the anniversary of the vote by the General Assembly, ban stated his deep concern that civilians¹³ continue to be killed or maimed in targeted or indiscriminate attacks with weapons that should never have been in the hands of the perpetrators.
 
Deadly bombings target Egyptian police outside Cairo University
The area around Cairo University in the Egyptian capital has once again been targeted for violence.
A newly-identified extremist group called Soldiers of Egypt has claimed responsibility for a series of explosions in the area on Wednesday.
The group released a statement saying its three bombs attacks are part of a retaliation¹⁴ campaign against "criminal security forces."
The group is believed to be among the supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, forced from his brief tenure¹⁵ in office by mass street demonstrations¹⁶.
Morsi is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood¹⁷, a group that was banned after his ouster by the military.
One of the explosions on Wednesday killed a security official and injured five other people.
 
Mortar¹⁸ attacks kill 12 in Syria/xinhua
Mortar attacks in Syria killed 12 people on Wednesday. At least 40 others have been wounded.
Media reports say the attacks happened in the capital, Damascus, and in a southern province.
The worst attack happened in a suburb south of Damascus. Eight people were killed and another 34 injured. Targets appeard to include a highway and a police hospital.
The intensified¹⁹ mortar shelling against government-controlled areas in Syria coincided with the fierce battle between government troops and armed militant²⁰ groups in Damascus' eastern suburb of Jobar, a hideout for rebels against President Bashar al-Assad's administration.
The three-year Syria crisis has resulted in the deaths of more than 150,000 people. Millions have been displaced.
 
Increase in cancer unlikely following Fukushima exposure: UN report
A UN report states that cancer levels are likely to remain stable in the area around Japan's damaged Fukishima nuclear power plant.
The report from the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation finds there should be no discernible change in future cancer rates and hereditary²¹ diseases as a result of the 2011 leak, caused by the twin earthquake-tsunami disaster.
Nevertheless, it notes there is a theoretical possibility that the risk of thyroid cancer among the group of children most exposed to radiation could increase, though the situation will have to be monitored.
Thyroid cancer is a rare disease among children, and their normal risk is very low.
 
 

1 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

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 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

5 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。

6 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。

7 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

8 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

9 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

10 discord   

n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐

参考例句：

• These two answers are in discord.这两个答案不一样。
• The discord of his music was hard on the ear.他演奏的不和谐音很刺耳。

11 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

12 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

13 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

14 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

16 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

17 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

18 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

19 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

21 hereditary   

adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的

参考例句：

• The Queen of England is a hereditary ruler.英国女王是世袭的统治者。
• In men,hair loss is hereditary.男性脱发属于遗传。