CNN 2009-01-19

Hello to you I'm Creshon Saunders at the CNN.com newsroom in Atlanta, here's a look at what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

Thousands of people are pouring into Washington to see one man make history. Today President-elect Barack Obama attended a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery¹ this afternoon. The Obamas and the Bidens will attend a star-studded concert at the Lincoln Memorial. This morning though the Obama family attended a church service at the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church.

CNN has confirmed that Palestinian militants² in Gaza have agreed to a one-week ceasefire with Israel. The agreement appears to cover all Palestinian factions³ including Hamas. Saturday Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced a unilateral ceasefire, Israel has already started removing troops from the Palestinian region but it will be a few days before all of them are able to be pulled out. More than 1200 people have died in Gaza during the 22-day offensive.

Six detainees have been transferred from US military detention⁴ at Guantanamo Bay. Four were sent to Iraq, one to Algeria and another to Afghanistan. The US military says the men were detained for several years after capture in Afghanistan and other countries but weren't charged with a crime. They are among sixty men the US has decided⁵ to release. 244 detainees are still there. At its peak Guantanamo held 770. President-elect Obama has pledged to close the facility after he takes office.

A two-year old in China tested positive for bird flu. She is the second in this month according to the World Health Organization, no official word yet on how the toddler got sick. Earlier this month, a woman died from the bird flu after handling and preparing ducks.

By early next week, gas will start to flow from Russia to Ukraine. The prime ministers of both countries reached an agreement. This morning after five hours of negotiations⁶, the dispute centered around pricing and taxes for the gas supply to the rest of Europe from Russia. Gas had been shut off since January 7th, leaving millions of Europeans without heating oil.

Those are the headlines at this hour, for more on these stories and other news of the day, CNN is your source on line, on TV even when you are on the go.

1 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

2 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。

3 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

4 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。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。