VOA慢速英语 IN THE NEWS - US Brings Charges against Accused Soma

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

American government lawyers this week brought criminal charges against a young Somali man in connection with a ship hijacking¹ earlier this month. They say Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse² is the only survivor³ of a hijacking attempt on an American ship off the coast of Somalia on April eighth.

The capture of the Maersk Alabama made news around the world. The four pirates released the ship and its crew. But they took the ship's captain hostage in a small boat. Four days later, American Navy forces killed three of the hijackers and rescued the captain, Richard Phillips.
　
Agents bring piracy⁴ suspect Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse, center, to the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation⁵ in New York City

Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse was flown from Africa to New York City, where he was charged Tuesday with five crimes, including piracy and hostage-taking. A New York federal court judge has ruled that Mister Muse is at least eighteen years old and can be tried as an adult. But his mother has said he is just sixteen years old. That could create a problem for government lawyers seeking the most severe punishment for the accused – spending the rest of his life in prison. International law has less severe punishments for criminals under the age of eighteen.

Confirming Mister Muse's true age is difficult because birth documents are rare in Somalia. The country has not had an effective government for almost twenty years.

The International Maritime⁶ Bureau is an organization based in London that studies crimes on the high seas. The organization says the waters off the coast of Somalia, including the Gulf⁷ of Aden, are the most dangerous in the world for international shipping⁸.

The Bureau says pirates carried out more attacks last year in the area than ever before. However, information gathered for the first three months of this year suggest two thousand nine will be even worse. Pirates have attacked at least sixty-one ships so far, compared to six for the same period last year.

Experts say pirates now control at least seventeen ships and three hundred crew members. The amount of money paid to hijackers is harder to confirm. Researchers believe this year's total is in the tens of millions of dollars.

In recent years the international community has deployed⁹ navy ships to guard the area in an effort to fight piracy. Ships from the United States and the European Union are involved in the effort. In addition, Russia, China and India also have ships in the area.
　
Somalia's Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke

Somalia's prime minister is calling for a halt to ransom¹⁰ payments to pirates and kidnappers¹¹. Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke says the large amounts being paid are part of the reason for the rise in hijackings. Somalia's weak central government must deal with a deadly rebellion inside the country and is unable to police its waters. Mister Sharmarke says piracy can only be prevented when Somalia has a government that can enforce its own laws.

On Thursday in Brussels, international donors¹² promised more than two hundred fifty million dollars to improve security in Somalia.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.

1 hijacking   

n. 劫持, 抢劫 动词hijack的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I have been told about the hijacking . 我已听说了那次劫机事件。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语
• They are taking measures to guarantee against the occurrence of hijacking. 他们正采取措施防止劫机事件的发生。

2 muse   

n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感

参考例句：

• His muse had deserted him,and he could no longer write.他已无灵感，不能再写作了。
• Many of the papers muse on the fate of the President.很多报纸都在揣测总统的命运。

3 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

4 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

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 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

8 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

9 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

10 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

11 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》