Hourly News 每日新闻 2014-01-15

 Xi promises harsher anti-corruption drive

Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed the anti-graft² fight is vital to the Party's long term integrity and has urged independent and authoritative³ supervision⁴ from disciplinary agencies.

Xi Jinping made the remarks when addressing the third plenary session of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection⁵ which began Monday. 

He stressed zero tolerance⁶ of graft and promised to seriously punish any corrupt¹ official who is caught. 

He also urged for efforts to ensure "relatively⁷ independent and authoritative supervisory power" of disciplinary agencies at all levels.

 

Bulgarian president reaffirms commitment to Bulgaria-China ties

Bulgaria's President says his country's government pays a lot of attention to its relationship with China.

Rosen Plevneliev made the comments while paying a visit to China Radio International Tuesday in Beijing.

Plevneliev has also held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier⁸ Li Keqiang respectively as part of his current 4-day visit to China.

Plevneliev and Xi Jinping have overseeen the signing of deals connected to areas such as maritime⁹ transport and the establishment of cultural centers. 

Plevneliev is the first head of state to visit China in 2014.

 

16 dead, 5 injured in China factory fire

16 people are dead following a factory fire in Zhejiang.

The fire tore through a shoe factory yesterday afternoon in the coastal¹⁰ city of Wenling.

Around 2-dozen others managed to survive the blaze. Five of them are in hospital.

The fire gutted¹¹ around 800-square meters in the three hours it took to put the fire out.

The cause of the fire is unclear at this point.

 

1 dead, 21 rescued in China coal mine accident

One person is dead following a collapse¹² at a coal mine in Anhui.

The cave-in took place at a mine in the city of Huainan, which is located about 100-kilometers north of the provincial¹³ capital, Hefei.

There were 22 men in the mine at the time of the collapse.

One of the miners made it out after being trapped for around 4-hours.

It took an additional 3-hours to reach the other group of 21, one of whom was dead.

 

Polling stations closed after Egyptian vote for referendum

Polling stations are now closed in Egypt after the first day of a two-day referendum on changes to the country's constitution.

The vote, viewed by some as a milestone¹⁴ in the political transition plan, is the first since the military toppled President Mohamed Morsi.

A "Yes" vote could lead to fresh elections as soon as April.

It is widely believed army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will run in the presidential election.

 

Ban calls for more international help for Syrian refugees

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is urging the international community to do more to help Syrian refugees.

The call comes following a visit to a Syrian refugee camp in Northern Iraq.

The trip to the camp comes ahead of a donor's conference for Syrian humanitarian¹⁵ relief which is set to open in Kuwait later today.

The camp in northern Iraq is home to around 13-thousand Syrian refugees.

 

South Sudan government makes peace with Jonglei rebellion

South Sudan's government says it has made peace with the leader of a rebellion in the country's largest state.

The announcement comes a day after government representatives flew to Jonglei for talks with militia¹⁶ leader David YauYau.

Yauyau has agreed to re-integrate his fighters into the government's military.

Yauyau led the Murle ethnic¹⁷ group in an insurrection against the government in the state of Jonglei.

(BJH/Top/W.soundbite)Yingluck says she will not resign

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is holding firm to her pledge not to resign, despite intense pressure being put on her by opposition¹⁸ protesters.

This comes as protesters blockade streets across Bangkok in an attempt to shut down the capital.

Yingluck dissolved the lower house of Parliament last month and called elections for next month in a bid to ease tensions.

However, the main opposition party is planning to boycot the elections, demanding Yingluck's administration be replaced by a non-elected "people's council".

 

China's lottery¹⁹ sales exceed 300 bln yuan in 2013

New stats show lottery sales here in China reached 309-billion yuan this past year.

This is up over 18-percent year on year.

Welfare lottery sales increased by just under 17-percent year on year.

Sports lottery sales are up over 20-percent. 

Ministry²⁰ of Commerce attributes the jump in sales to new lottery products being offered, along with the promotion²¹ of quiz-style games and more outlets²² for online lottery games. 

Money raised through the lotteries²³ is used for the jackpot, management fees and public lottery funds.

 

China's moon rover performs first lunar probe

China's moon rover "Yutu", or Jade²⁴ Rabbit has completed its first scientific examination of lunar soil.

The Beijing Aerospace²⁵ Control Center says the rover used its mechanical arm to survey the lunar soil, following instructions from the control center back on Earth.

The examination lasted about half an hour and every operation was precisely²⁶ performed by the rover.

Yutu will survey the moon's geological structure and surface substances to look for natural resources for three months, while the lander will conduct in-situ exploration at the landing site for one year.

1 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

2 graft   

n.移植，嫁接，艰苦工作，贪污；v.移植，嫁接

参考例句：

• I am having a skin graft on my arm soon.我马上就要接受手臂的皮肤移植手术。
• The minister became rich through graft.这位部长透过贪污受贿致富。

3 authoritative   

adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的

参考例句：

• David speaks in an authoritative tone.大卫以命令的口吻说话。
• Her smile was warm but authoritative.她的笑容很和蔼，同时又透着威严。

4 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

5 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

6 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

7 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

8 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

9 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。

10 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

11 gutted   

adj.容易消化的v.毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的过去式和过去分词 )；取出…的内脏

参考例句：

• Disappointed? I was gutted! 失望？我是伤心透了！
• The invaders gutted the historic building. 侵略者们将那幢历史上有名的建筑洗劫一空。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

13 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

14 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

15 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

16 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

17 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

18 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

19 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

20 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

21 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

22 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

23 lotteries   

n.抽彩给奖法( lottery的名词复数 )；碰运气的事；彩票；彩券

参考例句：

• Next to bullfights and soccer, lotteries are Spain's biggest sport. 除了斗牛和足球以外，彩票是西班牙最热门的玩意儿。 来自辞典例句
• Next to bullfight and soccer, lotteries are Spain's biggest sport. 发行彩票在西班牙是仅次于斗牛和足球的最大娱乐活动。 来自辞典例句

24 jade   

n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠

参考例句：

• The statue was carved out of jade.这座塑像是玉雕的。
• He presented us with a couple of jade lions.他送给我们一对玉狮子。

25 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

26 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。