CNN 2009-04-24

Good morning from the CNN Center here in Atlanta, I'm Melissa Long. It's Thursday, April 23rd. And here's a look at some of the stories making news.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says what's happening in Pakistan right now is a mortal threat to the US. She says Pakistan, a nuclear state, could fall into terrorists' hands. The Pakistani government agreed to let militants¹ take over a part of the country in a peace deal. But now the Taliban is expanding. Its latest land grab is just about 60 miles from the capital. Pakistan has sent troops into the area where Taliban now holds.

A jury convicting a Colorado man in what could be the state's first hate crime prosecution² involving a transgendered person. Allen Andrade was accused of beating Angie Zapata to death. Andrade says he snapped when he found out his date was biologically male. But prosecutor³ said Andrade was already, he already knew that and killed Zapata because he disliked gay people.

Three vials of a potentially dangerous virus are missing from an army lab in Maryland. They contain samples of a virus that sickens horses and people who usually get this get-flu-like symptoms, but it can be deadly. The army now investigating of course, but it thinks the vials may be among samples safely destroyed several years ago.

And you may feel you are immune to computer viruses if you own a Mac. But be aware of the first harmful program to specifically target Apple computers. “iBotnet” has affected⁴ a few thousand Macs. Experts say it represents a major shift. They predict we're gonna see more of this as Macs become more and more popular.

And the Big Apple has a beef with salt. New York City’s Health Department is meeting with food makers⁵ and restaurants to get them to cut sodium⁶ in foods. The food industry says it hopes this would be voluntary and that change would have to come gradually.

You're up-to-date. Those are the headlines at this hour. Do stay with CNN and CNN.com for more on these stories or other news that develops today.

1 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。

2 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

3 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 sodium   

n.（化）钠

参考例句：

• Out over the town the sodium lights were lit.在外面，全城的钠光灯都亮了。
• Common salt is a compound of sodium and chlorine.食盐是钠和氯的复合物。