NPR 2009-5-30

In the wake of yet another short-range missile firing by North Korea, US officials now say there are scenes what appears to be increased activity at a long-range missile site. North Korea test-fired its sixth missile this week over strong objections by the United Nations. UN Security Council is trying to determine how to respond. During a regional security conference in Singapore, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called for much tougher sanctions.

"One of the only effective ways of seizing attention of the government in Pyongyang is by a harsh range of financial measures."

Further fueling UN concerns, North Korea claims to have conducted a nuclear test earlier this week.

Hourly workers at General Motors have signed off on a package of concessions¹ aimed at giving the struggling automaker a bit of breathing room. At a news conference today, United Auto² Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said about three quarters of the company's 54,000 US production workers voted in favor of the deal, which is designed to save the automaker more than a billion dollars annually³. In exchange for concessions, the hourly workers will get 17.5% ownership in a post-bankruptcy⁴ GM. Bondholders have till 5 pm tomorrow to vote on their part of the deal. Under the current plan which envisions a bankruptcy filing by the automaker early next week, US government will wind up with a more than 70% stake in GM.

The German government is meeting to discuss plans for the take-over of GM's subsidiary Opel. Financial (report) support from the government is necessary for that deal to succeed. The BBC's Steve Rosenberg reports.

Locked away in a luxury hotel by the Brandenburg Gate, Magna and GM bosses talked. They're trying to iron out their differences. If they failed to agree a deal, there will be no meeting at the German Chancellor’s Office and no financial assistance from the German government. By evening, Magna and GM announced they had reached a preliminary agreement over investment in GM's European operations. And if the blueprint⁵ meets with Berlin's approval, that could pave the way for a vital package of emergency aid for GM Europe, courtesy of the German government. BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Berlin.

The US government is offering a new little revised look at the state of the economy. NPR's Giles Snyder reports.

The Commerce Department's reports suggest the recessions gripped on the economy at the beginning of the year began loosening. It says Gross Domestic Product contracted at an annual rate, a 5.7% in the first quarter. That was a slightly better annual decline than the Commerce Department first estimated, but the drop was still significant. GDP is a key gauge⁶ of the nation's economic health. That measures the value of all goods and services produced in the US. The economic weakness was led by a sharp slowdown in business spending. Activity was also dragged down by cutbacks in federal government's spending and a plunging⁷ US export. While the drop in economic activity was still steep and slightly worse than Wall Street expected, recent data have indicated that the rate of slowdown is easing. Many economists⁸ are looking for growth to resume in the coming months. Giles Snyder, NPR News, Washington.

This is NPR.

A US official in France tasked with preparing for a President Obama's upcoming D-Day visit has been hospitalized with Swine Flu. A French official says 11 other members of US delegation⁹ have been placed in isolation¹⁰. The US embassy officials said that the French authorities are taking the appropriate measures. The case of reported swine flu comes as French, British and US officials who are headed to France ahead of the 65th anniversary of D-Day, June 6th.

A new report by Human Rights Organizations finds there has been a major shift in global opinion about cluster bombs in recent years, and countries that previously¹¹ favored them are now denouncing them as inhumane. The report says an increasing number of countries are signing the treaty to ban clustery ammunitions. Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva.

So far, 96 countries have signed the treaty to ban cluster ammunitions. Major holdouts include the United States, Russia, Israel and China. But Steve Goose of Human Rights Watch is optimistic the US will review its policy and join.

"We are optimistic in part, because as a senator, Barack Obama was supportive on this issue and we're hoping that he will continue that kind of support now that he is Commander in Chief.”

Though the US is not part of the treaty, Goose notes Congress has banned the export of cluster munitions¹². He believes the convention has created a new standard of behavior and acts as a powerful deterrent¹³ to countries not to use these weapons. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Schlein in Geneva.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 96 points to close at 8,500. For the week, The Dows was up to 2.7%. The NASDAQ climbed 22 points today. The S&P 500 was up 12 points.

I'm Jack¹⁴ Speer, NPR News in Washington.

1 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

2 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。

3 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

4 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

5 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

6 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

7 plunging   

adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

10 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

11 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

12 munitions   

n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品

参考例句：

• The army used precision-guided munitions to blow up enemy targets.军队用精确瞄准的枪炮炸掉敌方目标。
• He rose [made a career for himself] by dealing in munitions.他是靠贩卖军火发迹的。

13 deterrent   

n.阻碍物，制止物；adj.威慑的，遏制的

参考例句：

• Large fines act as a deterrent to motorists.高额罚款是对开车的人的制约。
• I put a net over my strawberries as a deterrent to the birds.我在草莓上罩了网，免得鸟歇上去。

14 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。