澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2011-06-20

 US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has confirmed his country is having preliminary talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan. He says they’ve been going on for some weeks, but are still in the very early stages. Now it’s the first time the US has acknowledged contact with the Taliban and Mr Gates says he doesn’t expect any results before the end of the year. 

 

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has postponed¹ a party to mark the first anniversary of his ousting² from the top job. His wife Therese Rein³ made the announcement on Twitter, blaming media interest for the postponement⁴. There’s been growing tension in the Labor⁵ Party as Friday’s anniversary approaches.

 

Another protest has begun in Athens as Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou appeals to his parliament to push through tough economic reforms. Mr Papandreou has warned a debt default could be catastrophic for Europe. He’s told the parliament that Greece is at a critical crossroads and must embrace international help. 

 

NATO has now acknowledged responsibility for an air strike that killed several civilians⁷ in Tripoli. It says it had been targeting a military missile site. It also says one of its rockets went astray possibly because of a weapon system failure and admits there may have been civilian⁶ casualties. 

 

And the Federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig has flown to Indonesia for talks on the live cattle trade. The minister will meet his Indonesian counterpart today. Senator Ludwig says the Government is committed to reaching an agreement that would allow the trade to resume. 

1 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

2 ousting   

驱逐( oust的现在分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• The resulting financial chaos led to the ousting of Bristol-Myers' s boss. 随后引发的财政混乱导致了百时美施贵宝的总裁下台。
• The ousting of the president has drawn widespread criticism across Latin America and the wider world. 洪都拉斯总统被驱逐时间引起拉丁美洲甚至全世界的广泛批评。

3 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

4 postponement   

n.推迟

参考例句：

• He compounded with his creditors for a postponement of payment. 他与债权人达成协议延期付款。
• Rain caused the postponement of several race-meetings. 几次赛马大会因雨延期。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

7 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。