NPR 2010-12-26

Winter weather is disrupting holiday travel in the southern US, where some parts are having a rare white Christmas. Hundreds of flights are canceled in and out of Atlanta. And National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Korty says the East Coast should get ready to face the same storm.

"The heaviest amounts from this system are probably gotta occur, probably in eastern portions of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, and then across the northern Mid-Atlantic region which may include the New York City area, for instance, and then a lot of New England."

Korty predicts snowfall will be so significant that people going to or leaving New England should do it today.

In Bethlehem, thousands gathered in Manger Square in unseasonably warm weather to celebrate the holiday. Officials say crowds are the biggest in a decade. US troops celebrating Christmas in Afghanistan today enjoyed a special meal, but amidst the comradery, many say it's tough being away from home for the holiday.

"It's an honor to serve my country, but it’s also - I hate to miss my family at the same time, so it's 50-50."

Pope Benedict delivered his Christmas message to the world this morning from a balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square. The BBC's David Willey reports the Pope asked for prayers for those suffering religious and political repression¹.

Pope Benedict prayed for comfort, for oppressed Christian² communities in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East. He prayed for Catholics in mainland China, for nations suffering from natural disasters in Latin America.

And the bureau estimates in the last two years the size of ransoms³ has doubled. Naval⁴ warships⁵ are trying to provide security in the area and do make arrests, but Captain Pottengal Mukundan of the Maritime⁶ Bureau says the area is just too big.

"The Indian Ocean is so vast. There'll simply never be enough warships to come to the systems of ships in this area."

This year, pirates staged attacks as far as 1,400 nautical⁷ miles off the Somali coast. Mukundan says he expects pirate attacks to grow in 2011. Frank Langfitt, NPR News, Nairobi.

Thousands gathered in frigid⁸ temperatures and light rain to hear Pope Benedict deliver his Christmas Day message from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. He called for peace in the Middle East and urged Roman Catholics in China and Iraq to resist persecution⁹.

The top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, is spending Christmas Day crisscrossing Afghanistan to visit coalition¹⁰ troops stationed at some of the major battle fronts. His first stop today was the northern province of Kunduz, where he told troops there's nowhere else he'd rather be than where the focus of the US effort is.

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The Pakistani army is in the second day of large-scale fighting near the Afghan border. Officials say helicopter gunships and artillery¹¹ have killed 40 Islamist militants¹². And in another northwest province, a female suicide bomber¹³ killed at least 40 people when she detonated an explosives-laden vest at a food aid distribution center.

India's space agency has suffered a second failure for this year. A rocket carrying a communication satellite exploded just after liftoff today. A similar rocket failed in flight in April. India's planning a manned space flight in 2016.

This year's holiday shopping season is bringing increased sales in e-books and e-book reading devices. Details from NPR's Lynn Neary.

As the holiday shopping season wound down, a widely circulated Bloomberg report estimated that Amazon may sell as may as eight million Kindles¹⁴ in 2010. And it wasn't just the sale of digital reading devices that boomed; sales of e-books also soared. Just six months ago, Amazon reported that it was selling more e-books than hardcovers. And in a year-end letter to employees, the CEO of Random¹⁵ House predicted its worldwide e-book sales would increase by 250 percent over last year. Google entered the e-book market in 2010, getting Amazon some competition and allowing independent bookstores to sell e-books from their own websites. Amazon also got some competition from other digital devices. The Apple iPad, which can also be used to read books, was introduced in the spring. And Barnes & Noble came out with a color version of its e-reading device, the Nook. Lynn Neary, NPR News, Washington.

1 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 ransoms   

付赎金救人，赎金( ransom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The kidnappers exacted ransoms for their hostages. 绑匪勒索人质的赎金。
• Hotel:Wealthy captives sleep at the hotel for an increase in their ransoms. 酒店：富有的俘虏们要住在酒店等待足够的赎金以回家。

4 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

5 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

6 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

7 nautical   

adj.海上的，航海的，船员的

参考例句：

• A nautical mile is 1,852 meters.一海里等于1852米。
• It is 206 nautical miles from our present location.距离我们现在的位置有206海里。

8 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

9 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

10 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。

11 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

12 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。

13 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

14 kindles   

（使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的第三人称单数 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光

参考例句：

• And as kindles hope, millions more will find it. 他们的自由又将影响周围，使更多的人民得到自由。
• A person who stirs up trouble or kindles a revolt. 煽动叛乱者，挑动争端者挑起麻烦或引起叛乱的人。

15 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。