Hourly News 每日新闻 2014-01-23

 Syria peace conference ends with bitter clash

Peace talks to carve a path out of Syria's civil conflict have gotten off to a rocky start, with the warring sides in Syria squaring off in a bitter clash over the future of President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria's main opposition¹ in-exile, the Syrian National Coalition², says the purpose of the peace conference is to set up a transitional government.

The group is demanding Bashar al-Assad step down.

However, the Syrian government delegation³ insists there will be no transfer of power and only Syrians can decide Assad's fate.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who attended the meeting, is calling on all sides for understanding and accommodation in solving the crisis.

International mediator⁴ Lakhdar Brahimi will be meeting separately with both Syrian sides later on today in a bid to bring the two parties to face-to-face when talks resume on Friday.

 

U.S. condemns⁵ increasing violence in Ukraine

The United States is pointing the finger at the Ukrainian government for the latest escallation of violence connected to the mass demonstrations⁶ taking place in the capital, Kiev.

The US State Department has released a statement, saying the tensions in Ukraine are a "direct consequence" of the Ukranian government's failure to engage in real dialogue.

The US side now says its considering its options, including sanctions, in connection with the violence.

The comments come following the shooting death of two protesters on Wednesday morning amid clashes with police.

The Ukrainian government is denying responsibility, saying it is the demonstrators who should be held accountable.

 

UN asks for inquiry⁷ over death of migrants in Greece

The UN is calling for an inquiry after a boat carrying migrants capsized while being towed by a Greek coastguard vessel⁸, leaving up to twelve dead.

The incident took place earlier this week.

So far only 2 bodies have been found.

10-others are still officially missing.

Sixteen people were rescued from the capsizing, which took place near the Turkish coast.

The Greek coastguard says it judged it safer to keep migrants on their own boat than to take them aboard in bad weather.

Greek officials say the panicking migrants caused the boat to capsize themselves.

Greece is one of the main destinations for clandestine⁹ migrants and refugees seeking to enter the EU.

 

Algeria ruling party announces Bouteflika's re-election bid for fourth term

Algeria's incumbent¹⁰ president is going to run again for a 4th term in office.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika's ruling National Liberation Front has decided¹¹ to put him forward for re-election, despite his health problems.

Bouteflika was hospitalized for 3-months last year after suffering a mini-stroke.

The 76-year old has been invovled in Algeria's government since the country's emergence¹² from French colonial rule in 1962.

Bouteflika has been Algeria's President since 1999.

 

Terrorist threat proves false alarm: Hungarian Olympic Committee

The Hungarian Olympic Committee says a letter threatening the country's athletes with a terrorist attack at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi is a false alarm.

The statement comes after the Hungarian Olympic Committee submitted the email for analysis to the International Olympic Committee. 

The IOC says the email contains no threat and appears to be a random¹³ message from a member of the public.

The German, Austrian, Swiss, Italian, and Slovenian Olympic committees also received similar notes.

 

China confident in meeting economic growth target/xinhua

China's top economic planning body is expressing confidence that the country will again reach its goal for economic growth.

The economy has expanded by 7.7 percent in each of the last two years.

Given current economic trends, Department of Development and Planning Director Xu Lin says "there will be no problem at all in China realizing 7-percent annual economic growth" to end the current five year planning period.

The growth rate exceeded 9-percent when the current planning cycle began, but the more modest growth of recent years is still considered "satisfactory."

 

China vows¹⁴ self-sufficiency in grain production

A senior agriculture official says China will become completely self-sufficient in the production of several important staples¹⁵, including wheat and rice.

Chen Xiwen says 97 percent of the grain supply right now is produced domestically, thanks to increased output over the past decade.

Numbers for grain imports in 2013 have not been released, but the official is predicting about 15 million tonnes, a modest increase over the previous year.

Domestic grain output last year was nearly 602 million tonnes, an increase over 2 percent compared to 2012.

Rice, wheat, and corn accounted for roughly 90 percent of that total.

The import numbers are said to be the equivalent of about 2.7 percent of the domestic supply.

Soy beans accounted for the majority of the grain imports.

 

12 more FTZs in the pipeline¹⁶

The central government has put 12 more bidders¹⁷ for a free-trade-zone on the list of potential candidates.

Among the 12 bidders, Tianjin and the province of Guangdong have already been given the green-light to set up FTZs.

The remaining 10 will have to go through a survey by a group of central government agencies before they receive the go-ahead.

So far, provincial¹⁸ regions including Zhejiang, Shandong, Liaoning, Henan, Fujian, Sichuan, Guangxi and Yunnan have all said that filing FTZ applications is high up on their priority list for this year.

The central government says it will not set limits on who can apply for an FTZ or the timetables on establishing them, as long as they meet the requirements.

1 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。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

4 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

5 condemns   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的第三人称单数 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• Her widowhood condemns her to a lonely old age. 守寡使她不得不过着孤独的晚年生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The public opinion condemns prostitution. 公众舆论遣责卖淫。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

7 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

8 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

9 clandestine   

adj.秘密的，暗中从事的

参考例句：

• She is the director of clandestine operations of the CIA.她是中央情报局秘密行动的负责人。
• The early Christians held clandestine meetings in caves.早期的基督徒在洞穴中秘密聚会。

10 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

13 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

14 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

15 staples   

n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
• I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句

16 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

17 bidders   

n.出价者，投标人( bidder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Bidders should proceed only if they intend on using a PayPal account to complete payment. Bidders的唯一形式，应继续只当他们在使用贝宝帐户，以完成付款打算。 来自互联网
• The other bidders for the contract complained that it had not been a fair contest. 其他竞标人抱怨说该合同的竞标不公平。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 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。