NPR 2008-12-26

Versatile¹ singer and actress Eartha Kitt has died. Her role spanned the television hit "Batman" to the Broadway Stage, a self-proclaimed "sex kitten" famous for her catlike purr. Kitt won two Emmys, several Tonys and two Grammy awards in a career spanning six decades. Publicist Andrew Freedman says Kitt began to break out in the Broadway revue New Faces of 1952. "Nobody quite had seen anything like Eartha Kitt up until then. She was strong and seductive and sexy and always kind of a bit self of facing through it all." Her first album "RCA Victor Presents Eartha Kitt" came out in 1954, featuring the hit "Santa Baby" which ironically with Kitt's death occurring on Christmas Day which just recently declared the gold record. Eartha Kitt was 81 years old.

Harold Pinter, a British Nobel laureate, who was also an outspoken² critic of both President Bush and the Iraq War has died. According to his wife, Pinter died yesterday, following a long battle with cancer. In his interview with the BBC, Pinter left little doubt where he stood on the war in Iraq. "We've brought torture, cluster bombs, depleted³ uranium, innumerable acts of random⁴ murder, misery⁵, degradation⁶ and death to the Iraqi people and called it bringing freedom and democracy to the Middle East." Pinter wrote 32 plays and one novel. He also wrote at least 22 screenplays including "The French Lieutenant's Woman". Harold Pinter was 78 years old.

In southern California town of Covina, a man dressed as Santa Claus shot several people at a Christmas Eve party then set the house on fire. Six bodies have been found in the ashes there. NPR's Ina Jaffe has more.

Police suspect the shooter was 45-year-old Bruce Jeffrey Pardo. He was found dead at his brother's house with a single gunshot wound to the head. Witnesses say that the man dressed as Santa Claus began shooting as soon as he arrived at the Christmas Eve party. There were about 25 people there. Most of them ran when the shooting began. Two were wounded and one person broke an ankle. Police say the gunman used a homemade incendiary device to start the blaze, and that the six bodies they recovered are so badly burned that they can't tell if they were killed in the shooting or the fire. Still missing are the couple who own the home and Pardo's ex-wife. Police say Pardo was going through marital⁷ problems and they believe that the house where the shooting took place is owned by relatives. Ina Jaffe, NPR News.

A stretch of highway in California Sierra Nevada is open again after being closed because of heavy snow. The 80-mile stretch of roadway had to be shut down for several hours this morning, as thick snow and white-out conditions reduced visibility for motorists. Drivers are still being warned to prepare for difficult conditions. It's estimated upwards⁸ of two feet of snow fell overnight in the mountains around Lake Tahoe.

U.S. financial markets are closed for the holiday today.

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Pope Benedict XVI, in his annual holiday address, said despite the financial crisis, various conflicts and increased poverty, the world should not lose hope. The pontiff also called for peace in Middle East and in other war-torn regions such as Darfur and Zimbabwe. In his annual address from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Benedict echoed the theme from his midnight Mass, reciting holiday greetings in 64 languages. Talks are underway for the Pope to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories perhaps as early as this spring. 

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met today with Israel's foreign minister to discuss a truce⁹ between Hamas and the Jewish state. Egypt called on both sides to halt attacks to help Cairo broker¹⁰ a new peace deal. Aya Batrawy has more form Cairo.

After a ceasefire agreement ended last week in violence, Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni flew to meet with President Hosni Mubarak Thursday. In their meetings, Egypt urged both Israel and Hamas to stop launching attacks until Cairo can help broker any truce. It was reported in Israeli press that Mubarak invited Livini to Egypt to warn Israel against any operations in Gaza and fears that a massive military operation would destabilize the region. But Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit offered bleak¹¹ hope to reporters today after his meeting with Livni, saying Egypt won't be able to broker a truce so long as there is an escalation¹² of violence. Earlier this week, Israel killed three Palestinians while militants¹³ responded with rocket fire on Israel. Israeli leaders have sounded more hawkish¹⁴ lately with Livni, who was hoping to take over after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert steps down, calling for a harsher Israeli defense¹⁵ force stance with Hamas. For NPR News, I'm Aya Batrawy from Cairo.

In Ukraine, officials say they are still continuing to search for more victims of an apartment building explosion. At least 18 people were killed. Blast apparently¹⁶ caused by leaky oxygen canisters torn through the five-story building.

1 versatile   

adj.通用的，万用的；多才多艺的，多方面的

参考例句：

• A versatile person is often good at a number of different things.多才多艺的人通常擅长许多种不同的事情。
• He had been one of the game's most versatile athletes.他是这项运动中技术最全面的运动员之一。

2 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

3 depleted   

adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
• Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。

4 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

5 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

6 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。

7 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

8 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

9 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

10 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

11 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

12 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

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 hawkish   

adj. 鹰派的, 强硬派的

参考例句：

• My staff's advice that first day was amazingly hawkish. 在第一天，我的僚属们的意见是令人吃惊的鹰派意见。
• Antiwar groups fear Barack Obama may create hawkish Cabinet. 反战团体担心巴拉克·奥巴马可以创建强硬派内阁。

15 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。

16 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。