英国新闻听力 奥巴马求国会授权对IS动武

Francesco Schettino, the captain of the cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground off the Italian coast three years ago, has been found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Thirty two passengers and crew died when the ship hit rocks off the Italian island of Giglio. Allan Johnston reports from outside the court.

Francesco Schettino attended to take his huge ship very very close to the island of Giglio. He was on the bridge and in command when she ran a reef and sank on that winter's night. Thirty two people drowned. Now Schettino has been convicted of their manslaughter and of abandoning ship, saving himself while many of his passengers were still in danger during a chaotic¹ evacuation. Schettino had denied the charges. He's always argued that others should share the blame for what happened.

President Obama has asked the US Congress to authorise a three-year military campaign against Islamic State militants². The plan could include limited ground operations by American forces. The president says he already has the statutory authority to attack IS, but he wants the clear backing from Congress. Mr Obama said he was not requesting the deployment³ of US ground forces to Iraq or Syria.

"It is not the authorisation of another ground war like Afghanistan or Iraq. As I said before I'm convinced the United States should not get dragged back into another prolonged ground war in the Middle East. It's not in our national security interest, and it's not necessary for us to defeat Isil."

The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France have begun talks in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, to try to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine. President Poroshenko and President Putin briefly⁴ shook hands at the start of the meeting. Mr Poroshenko has warned that achieving a ceasefire is essential to prevent the situation getting out of control. Lyse Doucet is at the talks in Minsk.

There is still a huge and very dangerous gap between all the sides, most of all between the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who represent two very different sides in this escalating⁵ war. Petro Poroshenko wants to regain⁶ the territorial⁷ integrity. He is talking about greater autonomy, but the rebels want to control the areas. They are talking about federalism and decentralisation.

Thousands of people are taking part in rallies in Greece in support of the new government's anti-austerity policies. The demonstrations⁸ were timed to coincide with the meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels to discuss changes to the international bailout, which Greece says is unsustainable. Before the meeting, the head of the IMF Christine Lagarde praised Greek officials.

World News from the BBC

The army in Niger says it spoiled an attack by a female suicide bomber⁹ in the town of Diffa. An army spokesman said a military vehicle followed a veiled woman who'd been asking for the whereabouts of soldiers. He said when she failed to give herself up they shot her dead, and then found a belt of explosives on her. The violence on Nigeria's borders with Niger and Cameroon has intensified¹⁰ as regional armies mobilise to fight Boko Haram militants.

American diplomats¹¹ have flown out of Yemen after the closure of their embassy as rival demonstrators took to the streets of capital Sanaa. The State Department confirmed that the diplomats' vehicles had been seized apparently¹² by Houthi rebels. The Houthi advance into Sanaa led to the resignation last month of President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, a US ally.

Ivory Coast's government is to reward its football team with millions of dollars in prizes for winning the Africa Cup of Nations. The team beat Ghana in the final in Equatorial Guinea. Here is Richard Hamilton.

President Alassane Ouattara is giving each member of the 23-man squad¹³ a house worth about $50,000 and the same amount in cash. There will also be six-figure rewards for the football federation¹⁴ and technical staff. In total the government is spending more than $3m on its celebrations, which included Monday's National Holiday. Some might question the wisdom of this expenditure¹⁵ in a country that had been ravished by civil conflict, but there is undoubtedly¹⁶ a feel-good factor in Ivory Coast.

The European Space Agency says its prototype miniature space plane has splashed down successfully in the Pacific Ocean in an experiment to help scientists develop reusable spacecraft. The plane reached an altitude of about 400km before descending¹⁷ rapidly. The flight will allow scientists to analyse the strains of returning through the atmosphere at great speed.

三年前撞到意大利沿海地区的游轮歌诗达协和号的船长斯凯蒂诺被判过失杀人罪，判刑16年。当时这艘船撞到意大利吉利奥岛的岩石上，导致32名乘客和船员遇难。艾伦·约翰逊在法庭外报道。

斯凯蒂诺当时将这艘游轮驶到距离吉利奥岛很近的地方，他当时在桥上指挥，这时游轮撞到礁石上并沉没在冬夜的海水中。32人被溺死，现在斯凯蒂诺被判过失杀人罪和弃船罪，在当时混乱的撤离中他自己获救了，但很多乘客被困在危险中。斯凯蒂诺否认这些指控，称其他人也应该承担罪责。

奥巴马总统请求美国国会授权对IS武装分子进行三年的军事行动，该计划包括美军有限制的地面行动。总统称他已经有袭击IS的法定权力，但他希望得到国会的明确支持。奥巴马说他不会请求部署美军到伊拉克或叙利亚。

“这并不是要授权进行另一场阿富汗或伊拉克地面战争，正如我所说的那样，我相信美国不应该回到中东另一场旷日持久的地面战争中，因为那不符合美国的国家安全利益，也不是击败IS所必须的。”

乌克兰、俄罗斯、德国和法国领导人开始在白俄罗斯明斯克进行会谈，努力解决乌克兰东部的冲突。在会议开始之前，波罗申科总统和普京总统简短握了手。波罗申科警告说，实现停火是预防局面失控所必须的。Lyse Doucet在明斯克报道。

各方之间仍存在着巨大且非常危险的分歧，主要分歧存在于乌克兰总统波罗申科和俄罗斯领导人普京之间，他们在这场日益升级的战争中代表截然不同的两方。波罗申科希望重新获得领土完整，他谈到更大的自治权，但叛军希望控制这些地区，他们还谈到联邦制而非地方分权。

数千人在希腊集会支持新政府的反紧缩政策，游行举行时，欧元区财长们恰好在布鲁塞尔商谈改变国际纾困政策，希腊称该政策不可持续。在会议之前，IMF总裁克里斯汀娜·拉加德赞扬了希腊官员们。

BBC世界新闻。

尼日尔军方称击败了一名女性自杀爆炸者在迪法镇的袭击，军方发言人称一辆军车跟踪了一名蒙面妇女，她一直在询问士兵们的下落。他说当她未能引爆自己时，士兵们将她击毙，然后发现她身上有炸药。由于地区军队集结前去与博科圣地武装分子战斗，尼日利亚与尼日尔和喀麦隆接壤处的暴力事件开始加剧。

由于游行者走上首都萨那街头，美国外交官们在关闭使馆后就逃离了也门。国务院确认外交官们的车辆显然已被胡塞叛军控制，上月胡塞叛军向萨那挺进导致总统哈迪辞职，他是美国的盟友。

科特迪瓦政府将向其足球队授予数百万美元奖金作为对赢得非洲国家杯的奖励，该国球队在赤道几内亚举行的决赛中打败加纳。理查德·汉密尔顿报道。

总统乌阿塔哈给球队的23名球员每人一套价值5万美元的房子，还有等量的现金。同时还将给足球联盟和技术人员六位数的奖励，政府总共将花费300多万美元来庆祝成功，包括周一的国庆节也要庆祝。有些人质疑这样的开支是否明智，因为该国已被国内冲突折磨不堪，但无疑这对科特迪瓦来说是个利好因素。

欧洲航天局称其微型航天飞机原型已经成功落到太平洋，这次试验是为了帮助科学家开发可重复使用的航天器。这架飞机在很快降落之前达到约400千米的高度，这次飞行将帮助科学家们分析高速下返回的压力。

1 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

4 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

5 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

6 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

7 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

8 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。

9 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。

10 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

13 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

14 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

15 expenditure   

n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗

参考例句：

• The entry of all expenditure is necessary.有必要把一切开支入账。
• The monthly expenditure of our family is four hundred dollars altogether.我们一家的开销每月共计四百元。

16 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

17 descending   

n. 下行 adj. 下降的

参考例句：

• The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
• The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。