NPR 2011-01-29

Protesters and police continue to clash in Egypt despite a nighttime curfew. It's the fourth and largest day of anti-government protests. Black smoke and tear gas fill the air but they aren't quieting demands that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak end his nearly 30-year rule. Demonstrators are trying to take over the central Tahrir Square where the ruling party headquarters is on fire. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is in Cairo and tells us authorities are trying to hold the crowd back.

There are protesters in the square but as you can hear in the background that the police are still very actively¹ engaging them, firing tear gas, cannon² surge, rubber bullets. Now we've had protestors complaining that there had been live fire as well. And certainly I saw some very seriously injured people earlier on in the day. But there's no way of confirming any of this because all of our communications are down. We have no way of talking by Internet, by telephone. I mean this line, the landline, is the only thing that works out of Egypt at the moment.

NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson in Cairo. Egyptian authorities have disrupted Internet and phone services in several areas, a move Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today criticized.

"We urge the Egyptian authorities to allow peaceful protests, and to reverse the unprecedented³ steps it has taken to cut off communications."

But not all communications are cut off. Arab satellite stations are broadcasting a constant stream of live pictures from the protests to people across the Middle East. As NPR's Deborah Amos reports from Riyadh, that's inspiring demonstrators elsewhere to take to the streets.

Jordanian youths were in the streets to demand the resignation of the prime minister despite the government's attempt to get ahead of the discontent with a half-billion dollars worth of new subsidies⁴ to reduce the prices on food and cooking oil. Thousands of Yemeni students protested after Friday prayers. And in Saudi Arabia's port city of Jeddah, a protest march was quickly stopped by police. Jeddah has been in chaos⁵ after the heaviest downpour in 17 years, collapsing⁶ buildings and sweeping⁷ cars away. There's an online call for more protests on Saturday. Deborah Amos, NPR News, Riyadh.

In Afghanistan, a suicide bomber⁸ detonated explosives in a grocery store in Kabul, killing⁹ at least nine people. The supermarket is located in the capital's embassy district and next to the British Embassy. It's popular with foreigners, that grocery store. The Taliban are claiming responsibility for the attack. Kabul has been largely spared from attacks since the US invasion, but today's bombing is the fourth strike in the capital in just over a month.

Lower-than-expected earnings¹⁰ reports from Amazon and Ford¹¹ are driving stocks down at this hour. The Dow is up 160 points. The NASDAQ is down 63.

This is NPR.

Consumers helped boost the economy in the fourth quarter of last year. The government says Gross Domestic Product strengthened at a 3.2% annual rate. That was less than expected, but as NPR's Giles Snyder reports, economists¹² are not disappointed.

Over the summer, there was concern the economy would fall back into recession. But Phil Orlando, the chief strategist at Federated Investors¹³, says the government's latest GDP reading should dispel¹⁴ any fears of that happening.

"It's a significant degree. This provides additional confidence to us that the economy suffered a temporary soft patch over the summer, and that we're no longer at risk of falling over into a more extreme double-dip recession."

Consumer spending accounted for much of the gain in fourth-quarter GDP. It was up more than 4%. Exports also came on strong. And even the troubled housing sector¹⁵ saw an improvement. Giles Snyder, NPR News, Washington.

Treasury¹⁶ Secretary Timothy Geithner is striking a positive tone at the World Economic Forum¹⁷ in Davos, Switzerland. A day after Moody's Investors Service said the US rating outlook is precarious¹⁸, Geithner's telling counterparts he's confident the most acute part of the economic crisis is over in the US. But British Prime Minister David Cameron is there. He's telling governments the top priority now is to reduce debt. Geithner said the US recognizes the debt needs to be cut.

The New START Treaty between the US and Russia is poised¹⁹ to take effect. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today signed the ratification²⁰ of the nuclear arms reduction pact²¹. The treaty limits both countries to 1,550 strategic warheads, a lower limit than the previous arms deal.

1 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

2 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

3 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

4 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

6 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

7 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

8 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

9 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。

10 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

11 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

12 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

14 dispel   

vt.驱走，驱散，消除

参考例句：

• I tried in vain to dispel her misgivings.我试图消除她的疑虑，但没有成功。
• We hope the programme will dispel certain misconceptions about the disease.我们希望这个节目能消除对这种疾病的一些误解。

15 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

16 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

17 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

18 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

19 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

20 ratification   

n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• The treaty is awaiting ratification.条约正等待批准。
• The treaty is subject to ratification.此条约经批准后才能生效。

21 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。