NPR 2011-08-22

 Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is pledging to remain in Tripoli, although it is unknown if he's even in the capital city. Gaddafi is staunchly defending his regime in the face of a fast-moving advance by rebels, some of whom are already in Tripoli. It remains¹ unclear if Gaddafi's forces are still in control of the capital. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports civilians² are running for safety wherever they can.

 

This fighting in the last 24 hours in many of the neighborhoods in Tripoli, what we've seen is civilians—basically a whole family's getting into their cars and with all their belongings³ and fleeing to the west of the country to the relative safety of cities that have now been freed of Gaddafi control like Zawiya and other locations in the Western Mountain. They reported to me when I spoke⁴ to them today that the situation was extremely tense in the capital. There were running street battles in certain neighborhoods, and that beyond that, the food, electricity, the general livability in the city was very, very difficult, and that is why many of them have been fleeing.

 

That's NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro.

 

The president of Syria is appealing to the public to stop its uprising and allow political reform to unfold in the country. Bashar al-Assad, as heard through an interpreter, appeared on Al Jazeera to speak to the unrest in his country.

 

"As a matter of fact, we are really able to deal with the situation, and we achieved security achievements. We cannot reveal them, but we have some procedures, and I am not concerned at all. I am not concerned at all. We can deal with the situation."

 

Syria has been in the grip of an uprising for about five months now. It also faces mounting calls from the West for Bashar al-Assad to resign and is in the wake of its crackdown on anti-government activists⁵.

 

The Arab League has held an emergency meeting in Cairo to discuss recent Israeli air strikes on Gaza. Mary Kennedy in Cairo reports that the Arab League condemned⁶ the attacks and urged the United Nations to take action.

 

In a statement, the Arab League said that Israel should be held legally and financially responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity for the recent air strikes. The air strikes began Thursday after a wave of attacks by militants⁷ near the Israeli border. The Arab League wants the assault on Gaza to stop. They've urged the UN Security Council to take action. The league also said it holds Israel responsible for the deaths of several Egyptian policemen on Thursday near the Israeli border. Israel has since apologized for those deaths. Balacuttoo Fatah is the Palestinian representative to the Arab League. He says: "We talk[ed] about peace. We want peace. Israel does not want peace, and it insists on hindering the peace process." For NPR News, I'm Mary Kennedy in Cairo.

 

The lawyer for two American men being held in Iran for espionage⁸ says he will appeal his clients' prison sentence. 

 

This is NPR.

 

A debate is raging inside the European Union over whether to introduce euro bonds, bonds jointly⁹ held by all 17 euro-area economies, as a way to help ease the crippling debt crisis. Teri Schultz reports from the newest member of the eurozone Estonia, where leaders have a simpler rule: Don't spend more than you make.

 

Estonia has fewer than 1.5 million people, but they live as a model of economic austerity for other EU nations. Estonia's debt to GDP ratio is just 6.6%. Greece's almost 143%. Even EU powerhouse Germany has debt equaling 83.2% of its GDP. Speaking as its rigidly¹⁰ disciplined country celebrates 20 years of independence from the Soviet¹¹ Union, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet says history gives him a certain perspective.

 

"The worries we see today in Europe, comparing with problems and fears and situations we have seen here in Estonia around some decades ago, it's nothing."

 

Estonia's second-quarter GDP growth of 1.8% also beat the EU average of 0.2%. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Tallinn.

 

A month of national mourning in Norway ended this day with a nationally televised memorial service in Oslo for the 77 people killed in last month's bombing and mass shooting.

 

President Obama tells CBS his low approval rating is reflecting general public discontent with Congress. In an interview broadcast today, the president says that even though his policies have helped keep the economy from getting worse, that argument may not resonate with unemployed¹² Americans. Recent public opinion polls have shown Mr. Obama's approval rating hovering¹³ around 40%.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

3 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

7 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。

8 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

9 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

10 rigidly   

adv.刻板地，僵化地

参考例句：

• Life today is rigidly compartmentalized into work and leisure. 当今的生活被严格划分为工作和休闲两部分。
• The curriculum is rigidly prescribed from an early age. 自儿童时起即已开始有严格的课程设置。

11 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

12 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

13 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。