NPR 2009-03-30

NPR News has learned that the Obama Administration asked the Chairman and CEO of General Motors Rick Wagoner to step down and he has agreed to do so. The move comes as the president says GM and Chrysler need to rethink the reorganization plans they submitted to the government if they want more federal loans. “What we're trying to let them know is that we want to have a successful auto¹ industry, US auto industry. We think we can have a successful US auto industry, but it's got to be one that's realistically designed to weather this storm and to emerge at the other end, much more lean, mean and competitive than it currently is.” Mr. Obama on CBS's "Face the Nation" Today. His auto industry task force is expected to announce tomorrow what assistance the two companies will get and on what conditions. GM and Chrysler have asked for up to 22 billion dollars in additional loans on top of the 17-billion already received.

Officials in Fargo North Dakota and neighboring Moorhead Minnesota say the flooded Red River still poses a threat even the water levels have dropped a few inches. From Minnesota Public Radio, Tom Weber has the story

Fargo's mayor says the city got a wakeup call early this morning when the river briefly² breached³ a dike⁴. It was sealed but not before extensively damaging a school. River levels are falling but they're still at record levels and there is a lot of snow and ice that could cause more problems if it melts in coming days. There's also flooding in other areas not from levee breaches⁵ but from backed up sewers⁶. Moorhead Assistant Fire Chief Greg Doeden says crews have done a good job so far on finding problems quickly. “We expect that we’re still going to have a little spots jumping up, but, ah, we're trying to get ahead of the curve, and we’re hoping for good things happen today. People keep their heads up.” Military drones are flying over the area, offering analysis of water patterns. They could potentially warn officials of further problems. For NPR news, I'm Tom Weber.

In Pakistan, officials say Taliban militants⁷ kidnapped 11 Pakistani policemen in the Khyber region on the Afghan border. The kidnapping follows the deaths of 72 people in the same region after a suicide bombing inside a packed Mosque⁸. NPR's Anne Garrels reports.

A government spokesman said militants disarmed⁹ the policemen and then bundled them into vehicles. This is a region through which vital supplies are shipped to US and other NATO forces in Afghanistan. Pakistan's president told a joint¹⁰ session of parliament this weekend Pakistan needs to fight the escalating¹¹ extremist violence inside the country for its own good. But many here see the violence in Khyber and across the Northwest as a result of support for the US mission in Afghanistan. Pakistan has long seen the Taliban as a valuable ally in Afghanistan. Confusion about how to deal with the Taliban has so far rendered Islamabad’s war against terrorism incoherent. Anne Garrels, NPR News, Islamabad.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Police now say eight people, most of them patients, were shot to death when a gunman opened fire in a nursing home in Carthage, North Carolina today. Carthage Police Chief, Chris McKenzie. “Officer Garner¹² with the Carthage Police Department arrived to assist and encountered the assailant in a hallway of the nursing home. Both the officer and the assailant were shot.” McKenzie says the gunman is now in custody¹³. Police have no motive¹⁴ for the killings¹⁵.

Spain's National Court has agreed to consider bringing charges against six former Bush administration officials. The case deals with the alleged¹⁶ torture practices at the Guantanamo Bay detention¹⁷ facility. Jerome Socolovsky reports from Madrid.

The case names former US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former Undersecretary of Defense¹⁸ for policy Douglas Feith and four other officials from the Pentagon, the Justice Department and Vice¹⁹ President Dick Cheney’s staff. It says these officials provided legal cover for torture to be practiced at Guantanamo. The allegations were presented by human rights lawyers. The lawyers argued that the Spanish court can try US officials under the principle of universal jurisdiction²⁰ for torture cases. They also noted²¹ that in any case Spanish citizens have been held at Guantanamo. The case is now a step closer to an indictment²² after an investigating magistrate²³ asked prosecutors²⁴ to review the allegations. For NPR News, I'm Jerome Socolovsky in Madrid.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says US officials have little doubt that North Korea’s upcoming satellite launch is a cover for the regime’s effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile. But Gates tells Fox News Sunday the US military has no plans to try to shoot the missile down.

1 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

2 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

3 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

4 dike   

n.堤，沟；v.开沟排水

参考例句：

• They dug a dike along walls of the school.他们沿校墙挖沟。
• Fortunately,the flood did not break the dike.还好，这场大水没有把堤坝冲坏。

5 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

6 sewers   

n.阴沟，污水管，下水道( sewer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sewers discharge out at sea. 下水道的污水排入海里。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Another municipal waste problem is street runoff into storm sewers. 有关都市废水的另外一个问题是进入雨水沟的街道雨水。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

7 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。

8 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

9 disarmed   

v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 )；使息怒

参考例句：

• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。
• The swordsman disarmed his opponent and ran him through. 剑客缴了对手的械，并对其乱刺一气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

11 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

12 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。

13 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

14 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

15 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

16 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

17 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

18 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。

19 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

20 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

21 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

22 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

23 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

24 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。