NPR 2011-10-22

 President Obama is calling all American troops home from Iraq before year's end, closing a long and deeply divisive chapter in US history.

 

"After nearly nine years, America's war in Iraq will be over."

 

Washington and Baghdad have been unable to reach an agreement on training and special operations that would have left several thousand troops in Iraq. There are nearly 40,000 Americans still stationed in Iraq. More than 4,400 members of the US military have been killed in that country since 2003.

 

Transitional authorities in Libya say they are postponing¹ the burial of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi until they can figure out where he will be buried. It'll likely be a secret location. Jubilant anti-Gaddafi fighters have been taking journalists to see Gaddafi's body, which has been stored in a supermarket freezer in Misrata. The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse is in the city. He says the body of Gaddafi's son, Moatassem Gaddafi, also is being displayed.

 

There are scores of mostly women spectators flocking to a refrigerated container that holds the body of Moatassem Gaddafi. I've had a look myself. It's definitely him. Some people are standing² on crates³ to get a better view, craning their necks. The body itself has two very obvious gunshot wounds, one in the neck and one in the chest. The questions that are now being raised internationally about how Colonel Gaddafi and his son met their ends matter little to these people here.

 

That's the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse reporting from Misrata. Gaddafi and his son were killed in Sirte yesterday when it was overrun by revolutionary forces.

 

In the US, Labor⁴ Department's look at employment trends shows how the job numbers tally⁵ up at the state level. Danielle Karson reports it shows a mix of gains and setbacks last month.

 

Job losses went up in 25 states last month, while 24 added more jobs. Nevada is still struggling with the highest jobless rate, almost 13%, followed by California with 12. Florida posted the biggest job gains with more than 23,000 new hires. The gains and losses at the state level suggest the labor market is hanging by a thread. Heidi Shierholz is an economist⁶ with the Economic Policy Institute.

 

"They are consistent with what we are seeing at the national level, which is, in most states, we are not seeing the kind of job growth we need to start digging out of this thing."

 

Shierholz says the country needs to add at least 100,000 jobs a month just to keep up with population growth. For NPR News, I'm Danielle Karson in Washington.

 

Investors⁷ are bolstered⁸ by strong earnings⁹ reports today by several major companies. The Dow's up 267 points.

 

This is NPR.

 

The Obama administration is stepping up its pressure on Pakistan to take stronger measures against insurgent¹⁰ activity on its soil. For the second time in two days, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned militants¹² in Pakistan are still destabilizing neighboring Afghanistan. She also acknowledged that the US has tried to arrange peace talks with the Haqqani militant¹¹ network.

 

Hertz Rent-a-Car has fired more than two dozen Muslim employees for failing to clock out during their prayer breaks. As NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty reports, the Teamsters Union says it's about religious discrimination; the company says it's about fairness.

 

The employees are Somali Muslims who drive Hertz vans at Seattle's Airport for gas and servicing. They say in the past they have been able to take breaks five to ten minutes or so without clocking out. But Hertz came to believe the Muslims had been abusing the situation. Three weeks ago, Hertz changed the policy. It said employees must clock in and out for all breaks, for rest, meals and religious observation. The employees and the local union say if anyone was taking advantage, the company should deal with that individual, not make a blanket policy. A union spokesman says that the company does not require people taking smoking breaks to clock in and out. The union is fighting determinations. Barbara Bradley Hagerty, NPR News.

 

We continue to see gains today in US stocks. Dow Jones Industrial Average up 267 points or more than 2% before the close at 11,809 in trading of about three billion shares; NASDAQ gaining 1.5%; it's at 2,637; S&P 500 up nearly 2%.

1 postponing   

v.延期，推迟( postpone的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He tried to gain time by postponing his decision. 他想以迟迟不作决定的手段来争取时间。 来自辞典例句
• I don't hold with the idea of postponing further discussion of the matter. 我不赞成推迟进一步讨论这件事的想法。 来自辞典例句

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

6 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

8 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

9 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

10 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

11 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

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。