Hourly News 每日新闻 2013-10-30

CPC to hold key session Nov. 9-12 to deepen reforms

The Communist Party of China is set to hold the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee early next month.
A statement from the Political Bureau says the meeting will be held between November 9th and 12th here in Beijing.
It also says the meeting will review a key reform plan, labeling the country's reform and opening-up as a "great revolution".
The party document says the leadership of the CPC "must be strengthened and improved".

Iran's Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani visits China

Iran's parliamentary speaker has arrived in Beijing for a 4-day visit.
On top of a meeting with State Councillor Yang Jiechi, Ali Larijani has also made a stop at Beijing Foreign Studies University to talk to the students about bilateral¹ ties between China and Iran.
Larijani says Tehran and Beijing are playing a significant role in regional and international developments.
Larijani is the highest-ranking Iranian official to visit China since President Hassan Rouhani took office in August.

IAEA says Tehran's new proposal makes talks "very productive"

Iranian and IAEA negotiators have wrapped up a two-day meeting in Vienna.
Following the talks, the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran have issued a rare joint-statement, saying the talks have been "very productive."
As part of the talks, Iran has delivered a new set of proposals to the IAEA.
A new round of talks has also been scheduled for November 11th.
Iran and the IAEA have been at odds² over access to Iran's Parchin nuclear site.
The Atomic Energy watchdog has been trying to gain access to the site for a number of years.
However, Iran has refused access to IAEA inspectors³, citing national security concerns, given the Parchin nuclear facility is located on a military site.
Iran insists its nuclear programs are for civilian⁴ use only.

WHO confirms polio outbreak in Syria

The World Health Organization has confirmed a polio outbreak in Syria.
10 cases have been confirmed so far in the war-torn country.
It is the first such outbreak in the country in 14 years.
Some 95-percent of Syria children were vaccinated⁵ before the civil war.
The UN estimates some 500-thousand children have not been immunized.

U.S. health official apologizes for Obamacare website glitches⁶

A leading official in the Obama administration has issued the first formal apology for the poor roll-out of the Affordable⁷ Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.
Speaking before a congressional committee, the woman in-charge of implementing⁸ the new insurance program admits the online marketplace for the new program has "not lived up" to the administrations expectations.
Marilyn Tavenner, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, says the rollout of Obamacare has been "unacceptable."
President Barack Obama's landmark⁹ legislation, which mandates¹⁰ health insurance coverage¹¹ for millions of Americans, has been plagued with techinical issues since its launch on October 1st.
Many who have tried to sign up using the US government's website have found it almost impossible to use the system, which has been plaged with shutdowns and errors.
Health care providers have also complained they find it difficult to determine who has signed up to the program.
The Obama administration has since hired a new contractor¹² to try to fix the problems with the system.

Storms cause damage of 130 mln USD in the Netherlands

Monday's early winter storm which rolled through parts of northern Europe is now pressing its way into western Russia.
The so-called St. Jude storm is being blamed for hundreds of millions of dollars damage across parts of northern Europe which borders the North Sea.
Officials in the Netherlands estimate the damage to that country is going to cost insurers at least 130-million US dollars.
Hurricane-force winds ripped through the region on Monday and Tuesday, uprooting¹³ trees and causing significant flooding in low-lying areas.
The storm has also left numerous people dead across the region.

Somali gov't relieved at killing¹⁴ of militant¹⁵ commander in air strike

The Somali government is releasing more details about an al-Shabaab commander killed in a suspected US drone strike on Monday.
The government of Somalia says its "relieved" Ibrahim Ali Abdi, also known as Anta Anta, is dead.
Abdi and two others were killed after their vehicle exploded on Monday while enroute to an al-Shabaab-controlled town in southern Somalia.
While the Somali government hasn't confirmed it, eyewitnesses¹⁶ say the attack was a drone strike.
Ibrahim Abdi was said to be al-Shabaab's commander in-charge of coordinating¹⁷ suicide attacks.
The al-Shabaab militant group has been engaged in a battle with the Somali government and its regional supporters since 2009.
The group once controlled much of Somalia during the two decades the country was without a central administration.

Samsung's sales outsell Apple's

A bumper¹⁸ third quarter shipment record has helped Samsung widen its lead in the global smart phone market over Apple.
Samsung is reporting it shipped 88.4-million smartphones through the July to September period.
This marks a 55-percent surge over the same period last year.
Samsung now controls 35-percent of the global smartphone market.
At the same time, this week Apple reported a 26 percent spike¹⁹ in shipments in the 3rd quarter, moving 33.8 million units.
But this has failed to keep up with the industry's overall growth rate of 45 percent.
 

1 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

2 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

3 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

5 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

6 glitches   

n.小过失，差错( glitch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Manufacturing glitches have limited the factory's output. 生产中的故障影响了该厂的产量。 来自辞典例句
• Another kind of period variation,\"Glitches,\" are seen in several pulsars. 在几个脉冲星中还看到了周期的另一种变化，即“自转突快”现象。 来自辞典例句

7 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

8 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

9 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

10 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

11 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

12 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

13 uprooting   

n.倒根，挖除伐根v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的现在分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• He is hard at work uprooting wild grass in the field. 他正在田里辛苦地芟夷呢。 来自互联网
• A storm raged through the village, uprooting trees and flattening crops. 暴风雨袭击了村庄，拔起了树木，吹倒了庄稼。 来自互联网

14 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

15 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。

16 eyewitnesses   

目击者( eyewitness的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The examination of all the eyewitnesses took a week. 对所有证人的质询用了一周的时间。
• Several eyewitnesses testified that they saw the officers hit Miller in the face. 几位目击证人证明他们看见那几个警官打了米勒的脸。

17 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

18 bumper   

n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的

参考例句：

• The painting represents the scene of a bumper harvest.这幅画描绘了丰收的景象。
• This year we have a bumper harvest in grain.今年我们谷物丰收。

19 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。