VOA标准英语2013--Snowden’s Stay in Moscow Souring Relations with US

 

Snowden’s Stay in Moscow Souring Relations with US

MOSCOW — Edward Snowden, the fugitive¹ American intelligence leaker, missed another plane to Havana on Thursday.  As an overnight stopover in Moscow drags on, Snowden’s stay is taking a toll² on the U.S.-Russia relationship.

President Obama took time out on a trip to Africa to prod³ the Kremlin to turn over Snowden.

“My continued expectation is that Russia or other countries that have talked about potentially providing Mr. Snowden asylum⁴ recognize that they are part of an international community, and that they should be abiding⁵ by international law," Obama told reporters in Senegal.  

Separately, U.S. Defense⁶ Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters in Washington: “I would hope that the Russians do the right thing here and turn Snowden over to the United States. He has broken laws and I think, as far as I know, the decision of the Russian Government, at least a final decision, hasn't been made yet.”

American congressmen have come out with a series of statements sharply critical of the Kremlin.

“Snowden has overstayed his welcome at the Moscow airport,” Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat⁷ from New Jersey⁸, said Thursday. “I call on the Russian government, in the interest of justice, as well as U.S.-Russian relations, to release him into the custody⁹ of the U.S. government today.”

Kremlin showing no sign of cooperating.

“For political reasons it is impossible for both China and Russia to extradite him to the United States,” said Fyodor Lyukanov, who edits Russia in Global Affairs magazine. “That will make enormous damage to their reputations because at least half of the world believes Snowden is a hero because he revealed this big brother practice of the state.”

American intelligence experts worry that Russian officials have copied the memories of the four laptops that Snowden brought with him.

Russian President Vladimir Putin rejects U.S. pressure over Snowden.

“He's in the transit¹⁰ hall as a transit passenger now,” President Putin said on a visit to Finland Wednesday. “Our special services have never worked with Mr. Snowden and aren't working today."

In Hong Kong, Snowden told journalists Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras with The Guardian¹¹ newspaper he rejects accusations¹² that he leaked America’s secrets to help foreign powers.

“Anyone in the position of access with the technical capability¹³ that I had could suck out secrets and pass them on the open market to Russia,” Snowden said in a videotaped interview. “They always have an open door, as we do.”

The longer Snowden stays in Russia, the more he is winning conservative support in the country. Russian lawmakers and some human rights leaders now want the Kremlin to grant Snowden asylum. One Russian Senator, Ruslan Gattarov, invited Snowden to address a parliamentary working group set up to explore allegations of American wiretapping of Russian citizens.

President Putin says he will not extradite Snowden to the United States. But he wants the fugitive to keep moving. "Mr. Snowden is a free man,” he said in Finland. “The sooner he chooses his final destination, the better it would be for us and for himself."

Possible Eventual¹⁴ Destination

If Snowden keeps missing flights to Havana, a new solution could be on the horizon.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has said that he is considering granting Snowden asylum. Next week, President Maduro is to fly to Moscow in Venezuela’s presidential jet, an Airbus, to attend a conference of gas-producing nations.

In the roomy jet, he could bring along two other left-leaning leaders of South American gas-producing nations, Bolivian President Evo Morales and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. Ecuador has said it is reviewing an asylum request from Snowden.

Conceivably, Snowden could fly directly from Moscow to Caracas with this high level entourage. Perhaps aware of this possibility, President Obama promised not to take extraordinary measures.  

“No, I'm not going to be scrambling¹⁵ jets to get a 29-year-old hacker,” he said, referring to Snowden who turned 30 last week in Hong Kong. 

1 fugitive   

adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者

参考例句：

• The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
• The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。

2 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

3 prod   

vt.戳，刺；刺激，激励

参考例句：

• The crisis will prod them to act.那个危机将刺激他们行动。
• I shall have to prod him to pay me what he owes.我将不得不催促他把欠我的钱还给我。

4 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

5 abiding   

adj.永久的，持久的，不变的

参考例句：

• He had an abiding love of the English countryside.他永远热爱英国的乡村。
• He has a genuine and abiding love of the craft.他对这门手艺有着真挚持久的热爱。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

8 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

9 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

10 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

11 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

12 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

13 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

14 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

15 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》