澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2013-07-19

 Indonesia has come to Australia's aid to try to stem the flood of asylum¹-seeker boats to Australia. It's restricting the entry of Iranians to the country in response to a direct request by Kevin Rudd. The prime minister is said to unveil his revamp to asylum seeker policy as early as today.

 

South Australia's Premier² Jay Weatherill will hold meetings with car industry representatives in Melbourne today to discuss the Federal Government's planned changes to the fringe benefits tax. The coalition³ of car manufacturers, car leasing companies and the salary packaging industry is calling for a moratorium⁴ among the changes.

 

A military judge is refusing to dismiss the most serious charge against Bradley Manning, the US soldier accussed of leaking thousands of secret documents to Wikileaks. The charge of aiding the enemy carries a mandatory⁵ life sentence. Manning has already pleaded guilty to ten lesser⁶ charges.

 

Ine of the country's biggest coal mining project is under the threat. A federal court challenge is being lodged⁷ against Whitehaven Coal's new multi-million dollar mining in New South Wales. A local environment group says it will seriously damage the environment if it goes ahead.

 

And South Africans are continuing to celebrate the 95th birthday of their former president Nelson Mandela. President Jacob Zuma has visited Mr Mandela in hospital, while large crowds gathered outside to wish him a happy birthday.

1 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

2 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。

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

5 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

6 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

7 lodged   

v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属

参考例句：

• The certificate will have to be lodged at the registry. 证书必须存放在登记处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Our neighbours lodged a complaint against us with the police. 我们的邻居向警方控告我们。 来自《简明英汉词典》