Hourly News 每日新闻 2014-01-27

 Women and children allowed to leave Homs: Syria peace talks

Syrian authorities says women and children who have been trapped in the besieged¹ city of Homs are being allowed to leave immediately.

The deal comes as the peace talks between the Syrian government and the main opposition³ roll into a 4th straight day today.

The UN's mediator⁴ at the Syrian peace talks Lakhdar Brahimi also says the opposition delegation⁵ has agreed to a government request to provide a list of detainees held by armed rebel groups. 

But the two sides have failed to reach agreement on a prisoner exchange, as Brahimi had hoped.

The current peace talks are expected to run for seven days.

The second phase of talks follows a previous meeting joined by delegations⁶ from nearly 40 countries.

Leading the Chinese delegation at the meeting, Chinese Foregin Minister Wang Yi has made repeated calls for a political solution and an immediate² cease fire between the warring parties.

 

Mansour says presidential vote to be held before parliamentary poll

Egyptian authorities have decided⁷ to call the presidential elections before the parlimentary polls.

This comes after voters adopted a new consititution earlier this month which allows a presidential election to be held before the end of April.

The parlimentary vote is to be held before the end of July.

The exact date of the election hasn't been revealed.

Many expect army chief General Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi to run for president. 

The general has not yet made a formal announcement as to whether he will enter the race.

Egyptians remain divided among supporters and opponents of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood⁸. 

Egyptian officials say that the death toll⁹ from recent clashes is approaching 50.

 

At least 21 dead in tourist ferry capsize in Andaman Islands of India

At least 21 people are dead following the capsizing of a tourist ferry near the Indian-controlled Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the eastern Indian Ocean.

A number of others remain missing.

So far searchers have found only 13 survivors¹⁰.

A total of 43-people were on the boat when it capsized late Sunday afternoon.

Many of the vicitms are believed to be from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a popular tourist destination located off the southwestern coasts of Myanmar.

 

Five dead in SW China village fire

A fire has swept through a rural village in Guizhou, leaving at least 5 people dead.

The first started in a home in Congjiang county, on Guizhou's southeast border with Guangxi, killing¹¹ the five occupants.

The fire then spread to other buildings throughout the village.

In total, the fire damaged over 20 homes, affecting over 130-people in the village.

Meanwhile, a forest fire has broken out near the tourist city of Lijiang in Yunnan.

No casualties have been reported.

Around 200 fire fighters and 500-locals have been mobilized to try to fight that blaze.

 

Police reveal details of Xinjiang terrorist attack

Police in Xinjiang are revealing more details about last Friday's deadly assault which left a dozen people dead.

Authorities say a group of 17 terrorists set off a series of bombs Friday in the county seat of Xinhe county, which is located on the northern rim¹² of the Tarim Basin, about 400-kilometers southwest of the regional capital, Urumqi.

Police say a man named Ibrahim Qahar had been organizing religious extremeists since May, and organzied a group of 17-followers to launch the bombings on a local hair salon¹³ and vegetable market.

Six of the attackers were eventually shot and killed by police.

Six others were killed by the bombs they were carrying.

Five others were arrested.

Authorities say one police officer was slightly injured, and no bystanders were hurt.

 

China takes measures against H7N9

Health authorities here in China are putting more pressure on local health departments to be more vigilant¹⁴ when it comes to the spread of the H7N9 strain of the bird flu.

Three more human infections from this strain of the bird flu have been reported yesterday.

The new cases have emerged in Guangdong and Zhejiang.

This now brings the number of human cases of the H7N9 strain of Avian Influenza¹⁵ in Zhejiang alone this year upto 49.

New cases of the bird flu have been emerging in that province every day for the last 18-days.

Chinese vice¹⁶ Premier¹⁷ Liu Yandong has issued a call for more coordination¹⁸ among local health departments to better manage the spread of the virus.

Authorities are worried about the spread of the virus as more and more people travel and come in contact with poultry¹⁹ during the Spring Festival holiday.

 

China braces²⁰ for holiday travel peak

The number of Chinese passengers is expected to top 100 million a day during the next few days as the week-long Spring Festival holiday approaches.

Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, is the country's most important traditional holiday for family reunions. China's transport system will be put to the test during "Chunyun", the 40-day travel period around the festival, which falls on Jan. 31. 

The Ministry²¹ of Transport says a total of 860,000 coaches have begun journeys already, and during the weekend, trains have been increased to 5,000, carrying an average 6.8 million passengers each day.

 

 

1 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

2 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

3 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。

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 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。

6 delegations   

n.代表团( delegation的名词复数 )；委托，委派

参考例句：

• In the past 15 years, China has sent 280 women delegations abroad. 十五年来，中国共派280批妇女代表团出访。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• The Sun Ray decision follows the federal pattern of tolerating broad delegations but insisting on safeguards. “阳光”案的判决仿效联邦容许广泛授权的做法，但又坚持保护措施。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

7 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。

8 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

9 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。

10 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

11 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。

12 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

13 salon   

n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室

参考例句：

• Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？
• You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

14 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

15 influenza   

n.流行性感冒，流感

参考例句：

• They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。

16 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

17 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。

18 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

19 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

20 braces   

n.吊带，背带；托架( brace的名词复数 )；箍子；括弧；（儿童）牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来

参考例句：

• The table is shaky because the braces are loose. 这张桌子摇摇晃晃，因为支架全松了。
• You don't need braces if you're wearing a belt! 要系腰带，就用不着吊带了。

21 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。