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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Soldiers in Madagascar have stormed and occupied one of the palaces of the embattled President Marc Ravalomanana. Around 100 troops backed by tanks 1 explosions and rounds of gunfire once inside the compound. They also seized the central bank. The president was said to be in another palace some distance away where hundreds of his supporters have formed a human shield to prevent any further military move against him. The opposition1 leader Andry Rajoelina has called for the president's arrest. He's denied the action amounts to a coup2.
It's not a military coup, but the life of the country doesn't stop. You can't have a vacuum of power. What we want is to put in place a transitional government which will organize free and fair elections in the next 18 to 24 months at the very latest. I have the mandate3 of more than 60 political parties in Madagascar to lead this transition. So it isn't a coup at all.
President Barack Obama has described as an outrage4 the payment of large bonuses to some senior employees of the insurance company, AIG. The group has had up to 180 billion dollars in government bailouts. From Washington, James Coomarasamy.
President Obama didn't mince5 his words. 2 the growing sense of public anger here, he said it was hard to understand how a corporation in financial distress6 due to recklessness and greed could offer its derivatives7 traders any bonuses, let alone 165 million dollars which AIG is due to pay out. He said he'd asked his Treasury8 Secretary Timothy Geithner to pursue every legal avenue to block the bonuses, describing them as an outrage to taxpayers9 who were keeping the huge insurance company afloat.
Leaders from Africa have warned that parts of the continent could be plunged10 back into conflict if they don't get help to recover from the global economic downturn. The warning came as African leaders gathered in London to pass on their concerns to the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the host for the G20 summit in April. The Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said funding the poorest now would cost much less than peacekeeping operations later.
The British government is taking what is a highly unusual step in restoring direct rule in the Caribbean territory of Turks and Caicos. It also suspended the constitution. Turks and Caicos have built a reputation as an offshore11 financial center. Paul Adams reports.
The British government clearly believes the Turks and Caicos Islands were in a mess and need to be taken over. Today's foreign ministry12 statement speaks of abundant evidence pointing to a high probability of systemic corruption13 or serious dishonesty as well as general administrative14 incompetence15 on the islands. A 3 set up last year has recommended sacking the government of Prime Minister Michael Misick and the House of Assembly, handing power to the governor. It could happen within weeks.
Israel has accused the Palestinian movement Hamas of hardening its position on a possible exchange of prisoners. It said two days of talks on the issue in the Egypt failed to reach any agreement. The Israeli prime minister's office said a special cabinet meeting will be held on Tuesday to discuss the outcome. Israel said Hamas had withdrawn16 from understandings reached over the past year and raised what it called extreme demands.
Kidnappers17 in Somalia have released four United Nations aid workers after holding them for several hours on Monday. The group, three foreign nationals and a Somali translator, had been on their way to a local airport for a flight to Nairobi when they were seized by a group of armed men in the district of Waajid in southern Somalia. The area has been controlled by an Islamist militant18 group for the past three months.
The authorities in Spain say they are taking action to save the country's vultures from starvation. At present, European Union laws aimed at halting the spread of mad cow disease require dead livestock19 to be removed, robbing the vultures of an important food source. Danny Wood reports from Madrid.
These 4 are so famished20, farmers say they've seen vultures attack and kill cows and pigs to satisfy their hunger. To help the birds, the head of Madrid regional government, Esperanza Aguirre, says she is legally modifying the rules to allow some animals that die of natural causes to be left in the countryside to rot. The change in the legislation will restore a traditional source of vulture food. Before 2002, farmers could legally dump the carcasses of cows and sheep in designated areas.
The American space agency NASA is tracking a piece of debris21 from an old Russian satellite which it believes could get very close to the shuttle Discovery as it 5 the International Space Station. Computer predictions suggest a piece of junk which is only the size of a mobile phone may come within 750 meters of the space station. Last week, the crew of the station had to leave it temporarily when another smaller piece of debris passed about 4.5 kilometers away.
马达加斯加军人发起进攻，占领了被困的总统马克.拉瓦卢马纳纳的一处总统府，约一百名军人开着坦克撞进总统府，进去后里面便传来爆炸声和枪声。他们也占领了中央银行。据说总统在另一处总统府，离这里有一定距离，那里有数百名支持者以“人盾”架势保护他，使之免受进一步的军事进攻。反对派领导人拉乔利纳曾要求逮捕总统，他否认这一行动是政变。
这不是一次军事政变，但是这个国家的生命不会停止。我们不希望政府管理真空，我们想设置一个过渡政府，它将尽快在未来的18到24个月内组织自由、公正的选举。我可以带领马达加斯加的60多个政党来领导过渡政府。所以这根本不是政变。
奥巴马总统痛斥AIG保险公司向一些高管发放巨额奖金的做法为“暴行”。该公司已经得到高达1800亿的政府援助款。
奥巴马总统说话很直率。得知公众对此的讨伐声涨起，他说，这家公司由于鲁莽和贪婪而陷入财政危机，很难理解为什么还要给衍生品交易员发奖金，更不用说它还有165百万欠款要还。他说他已要求财政部长盖特纳利用所有司法途径组织AIG发放奖金，他认为这对那些帮助AIG脱困的纳税人来说，这一举动就是暴行。
非洲领导人警告说，如果得不到帮助并从全球经济危机中恢复过来，非洲大陆的一些地区将重陷冲突之中。这是非洲领导人在伦敦参加集会时发出的警告，他们向英国首相戈登.布朗表达了担忧，布朗是四月份召开的G20峰会的主持。利比里亚总统埃伦.约翰逊-瑟利夫说，为最贫困国家提供的资金，比随后的维和行动花费要少得多。
英国政府将采取非常措施，恢复对加勒比海领域的特克斯和凯科斯群岛的直接统治权，并取消当地的宪法。特克斯和凯科斯群岛以离岸金融中心的地位享有盛誉。
英国政府坚信，特克斯和凯科斯群岛已处于混乱中，需要接管过来。今天外交部的一份声明指出，已有大量证据表明，除了难以胜任常规的管理，岛上很可能存在体制腐败或严重的不诚实。去年，一个调查委员会建议解除总理Michael Misick的政府和议会，并将权力转交给英国政府。可能会在几周内施行。
以色列指控巴勒斯坦在可能的战俘交换一事上的强硬立场，它说，埃及为期两天的谈判未能达成任何协议。以色列总理办公室表示，周二将举行一场内阁特别会议，以讨论问题的结果。以色列说，哈马斯已经背离了去年达成的谅解，并提出了“极端的要求”。
劫持几小时后，周一，索马里绑架者释放了四名联合国援助人员。这个由三名外国人和一名索马里翻译组成的小组，是在Waajid地区被一伙武装人员逮住的，当时他们在去当地机场的路上，原本要飞往内罗毕。过去的三个月来，该地区一直被一支伊斯兰武装组织控制。
西班牙官方表示，目前正在采取措施，保护本国的兀鹰不至于饿死。目前，为遏制疯牛病的传播，欧盟法律要求移走死亡的家畜，这就使兀鹰失去了很重要的食物来源。
这群猛禽太饿了，农场主说他们看到有兀鹰攻击并咬死牛和猪，以满足食欲。为帮助这些鸟，马德里地区政府头领埃斯佩兰萨.阿奎尔说，她正在依法修改法律，允许不用管农村一些自然死亡的动物，让它们自然腐化。法律上的这些改变将使兀鹰重新得到它们传统的食物。2002年以前，农场主可依法在指定的区域倾倒牛羊尸体。
美国航天局NASA正在追踪一枚来自苏联一颗旧卫星的碎片，认定当“发现号”航天飞机与国际空间站对接时，这枚碎片会与“发现号”很近。计算机预报显示，这片废弃物只有手机大小，可能会在空间站750米处出现。上周，当另一块碎片逼近空间站4.5千米远时，空间站宇航员不得不暂时躲离。
收听单词发音 |
1
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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coup
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| n.政变；突然而成功的行动 | |
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mandate
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| n.托管地；命令，指示 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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mince
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| n.切碎物；v.切碎，矫揉做作地说 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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derivatives
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| n.衍生性金融商品；派生物，引出物( derivative的名词复数 )；导数 | |
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treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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taxpayers
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| 纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 ) | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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offshore
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| adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面 | |
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ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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administrative
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| adj.行政的，管理的 | |
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incompetence
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| n.不胜任，不称职 | |
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16
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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kidnappers
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| n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 ) | |
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18
militant
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| adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士 | |
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19
livestock
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| n.家畜，牲畜 | |
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famished
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| adj.饥饿的 | |
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debris
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| n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片 | |
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