澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2014-10-09

 There are calls for a national inquiry¹ into surrogacy after the ABC uncovered another case of an abandoned baby. An Australian couple who had twins to a surrogate in India left one behind because they preferred one gender² over the other. Former Foreign Minister Bob Carr says he does not recall the case. The current minister says she's also in the dark. 

 

This case is obviously focused on the interest of the child. So we would be concerned but the former prime minister and the former foreign ministers are all around. They are all available. So it's assumed that somebody is speaking to them about the details. 

 

Julie Bishop³ there.

 

Now the first person in the United States to be diagnosed with the Ebola virus has now died in a Dallas hospital. Thomas Duncan became ill when he returned to Texas after contracting the virus in Liberia. US Secretary of State John Kerry is calling for greater global actions to stop the spread of Ebola. 

 

US-led airstrikes have helped stop the advance of the Islamic State fighters in the Syrian town of Kobani. A fierce battle is still underway for control of the besieged⁴ town. Across the border in Turkey, more than 18 people have died in violent protests by Kurds which have now spread to 30 cities.

 

And stargazers were treated to a rare lunar eclipse known as a blood moon last night. The moon's red color takes place when the earth passes between the moon and the sun.

1 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

2 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

3 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

4 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。