新闻英语

Clinton Announces US Anti-Piracy Measures

By David Gollust Washington15 April 2009







Hillary Clinton, 15 Apr 2009Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced on Wednesday a multi-pronged U.S. effort to curb Somali-based maritime piracy. Among other things, the United States will move to track and freeze assets of pirate gangs, and press Somali authorities to shut down pirate land bases.
Clinton says she hopes the surge of piracy in recent days, including attacks on two U.S.-flagged vessels, will be a catalyst for concerted action against pirates and bring an end to the acceptance of ransom-paying as a cost of doing business for shippers off the African east coast.
At the State Department, Clinton said the Obama administration intends to work diplomatically to tackle the piracy problem and to deal with the underlying instability in Somalia that gives rise to it.
She said she is sending an envoy to a conference on Somali peacekeeping and development that opens on April 23 in Brussels, and calling a meeting of the more than 30-nation international contact group on Somali piracy to coordinate an expanded international presence in the region to combat the threat.
Clinton said top U.S. priorities include securing the release of ships and crews currently held by Somali pirates, and eliminating the financial payoff of piracy by tracking and freezing the assets of pirate gangs.
"We track and freeze, and try to disrupt the assets of many stateless groups - drug traffickers and terrorists - just to name two. We have noticed that the pirates are buying more sophisticated equipment, they're buying faster and more capable vessels. They are clearly using their ransom money for their benefit both personally and on behalf of their piracy. And we think we can begin to try to track and prevent that from happening," she said.
The secretary said the poverty and instability in Somalia that underlie the piracy problem are not being forgotten. But depicting the surge of maritime hijackings as a raging fire, she said you "have to try to put out the fire before rebuilding the house."
Clinton said she has directed U.S. diplomats to engage officials of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and regional leaders of the autonomous Puntland region, where many pirates are based, to press them to take action against what she termed "armed gangs on the seas".






Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (file) She said the transitional administration's new president, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, in particular, should be taken up on his expressed determination to curb lawlessness in his troubled country.
"We want to listen to them. The indications are that Sheikh Ahmed, the president of the Transitional Federal Government, understands that these pirates are a threat to the stability and order within Somalia that he is attempting to reassert. We want to hear from him and from other partners in the region what would be useful to help them," she said.
Clinton said the key to the problem is closing pirate land bases and said the United States "has a pretty good idea" where they are located.
She said she assumes that Somali tribal leaders would not like to have the international community "bearing down on them" and that they may be willing to cooperate in ridding their territory of the bases.
Clinton said the Obama administration will convene a high-level U.S. government interagency meeting on piracy this Friday.



【双语新闻】






奥巴马保证谋求无核武器世界 (Obama Pledges to Seek a World Without Nuclear Arms)
美国总统奥巴马说，他将很快安排一个议程，寻求一个没有核武器的世界。
奥巴马在法国东部城市斯特拉斯堡对学生说，核武器的扩散能毁灭地球上的任何一个城市。他说，他将于星期天在布拉格概述他的建议。
早些时候，萨科奇称赞奥巴马总统和俄罗斯总统梅德韦杰夫星期三宣布恢复延长限制远程核武器条约会谈的计划。
奥巴马强调同俄罗斯对话的重要性。但是他再次批评莫斯科去年入侵格鲁吉亚。他还强调保留所有欧洲国家自治的重要性。
在星期五举行的两天北约首脑会议之前，奥巴马抵达斯特拉斯堡。
U.S. President Barack Obama says he soon will lay out an agenda to seek a world without nuclear weapons.
Speaking to students in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, Mr. Obama said the spread of nuclear weapons could lead to the extermination of any city on the planet. He said he will outline his proposals in Prague Sunday.
Earlier French President Nicolas Sarkozy praised Wednesday's announcement by President Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev on plans to resume talks on extending a treaty limiting long-range nuclear arms.
Mr. Obama stressed the importance of dialogue with Russia. But he repeated his criticism of Moscow's military sweep into Georgia last year. He also stressed the importance of preserving the autonomy of all European countries.
Mr. Obama traveled to Strasbourg ahead of Friday's opening of a two-day NATO summit.
美国失业率猛增，创25年新高 (US Unemployment Rises Sharply, Hits 25-year High )
美国3月份的失业率猛升到25年来的新高，失业总人数为1300多万人。劳工部星期五公布的报告说，失业率上升了0.4%，达到8.5%。
陷入困境的美国经济3月份工作净损失66万3000个，全美各行各业都在裁员，仅制造业和建筑业损失了数以万计的工作。
不过就业市场仍有几个亮点，教育和医疗保健工作有所增加，尽管远不足以弥补其它行业的损失。
经济衰退对以男性为主工作的冲击，意味着男性群体的失业率要高于全国平均失业率，达到8.8%；而女性失业率低于全国平均失业率，达到7%)。
最新的数据显示，从经济衰退开始以来，美国丢掉了510万份工作。
U.S. unemployment rose to a 25-year high in March, leaving more than 13 million Americans without work. Friday's report from the Labor Department says the jobless rate soared four-tenths of a percent to hit 8.5 percent.
The troubled U.S. economy had a net loss of 663,000 jobs for the month. The layoffs are hitting companies across the economy and the nation, with manufacturing and construction losing tens of thousands of jobs.
There are a few bright spots, with education and health care gaining some jobs, though not nearly enough to make up for the damage in other sectors.
The recession's impact on male-dominated jobs means the jobless rate for men is higher (8.8 percent) than the national average, while women's rate is lower (seven percent) than the overall rate.
The latest figures show 5.1 million jobs have disappeared since the beginning of the recession.






【听力教室】818 Fan BaseEoin talks about his fan base and what he does to keep them involved with his music.





This conversation is continued from #817 After the Gig. Eoin is talking about what happens after on of his performances with is band.Todd: So, usually, do people come up and talk to you after the show, or are people usually kind of shy and they don't know how to approach you?Eoin: Yeah, so that's another thing. I mean we have a CD stall and some people are very forward and they'll come and instantly, like rush up and buy a CD but I think in Japan, especially it seems like people are kind of shyer about approaching you so giving out a questionnaire and asking people write it, it gives them an excuse to come up and talk to you anyway if they're interested later, so yeah, whenever we've given out questionnaires, it seems like we sell more CDs on those days.Todd: Then you just actually pass this out to the audience?Eoin: Yeah. Normally there's not that huge a number of people there, maybe forty or fifty people.Todd: Yeah.Eoin: Maybe a few more. It depends on the night. So this is... what I'm describing here is for a gig that's sort of away from home, you know. We played a concert just recently in Oita where we live and that was more of an event that we organized so we pretty much knew most of the people who had come anyway. In that case we played for longer, didn't do the questionnaire thing and just went out drinking after the gig. It was a more relaxed event on the night and afterwards but of course preparing for it in advance required a lot more effort - making sure people came, calling other bands to come and play with us and that sort of side of things.Todd: So do you have a fan base? A big fan base?Eoin: I wouldn't say it's massive but, yeah I guess when we play in Oita normally somewhere between, on a good day maybe 35, 40. On a bad day 15 to 20 people will come and see us.Todd: Still, that's good.Eoin: But, I mean, that's more, you know, we have to pro-actively contact them and say "Hey, you wanna come and see the band?" It's not like we just put an advert in the paper and everyone turns up. Unfortunately.Todd: Well, hey, you know. Give it time.



【网络文摘】我是一朵飘零的花





作者：杨海燕



86　　 想到一路上，他一直小心翼翼地防范着所有可能的陷阱，我感觉他是那么成熟、稳重，那么让人放心。我更加佩服他了，对他的依赖心理更重了。虽然丽娟说他在家里可能有女朋友，但这样成熟悉、稳重的人，我不相信他会骗我！再说，他只是对我好，也并没有说过爱我呢。 　　 正胡思乱想间，一个小个子男人走了过来，看到我们便说：“是你们要过关吗？” 　　 沈洲答：“是的。”回头再望老板，老板肯定地点点头，示意我们过去，并悄悄将刚才那张卡片塞给我。 　　 小个子男人走过我们身边时，小声吩付道：“等一下你一定要放松，跟在我后面，但不要太近。”边说边率先往前走，好象根本不认只我们一样。 　　 沈洲拉着我赶忙跟了上去，四双眼睛始终盯着小个子男人。刚离开店铺，便不时有形迹可疑的男人女人走过来悄声问：“要过关吗？” 　　 他们这样热情，我真是不好意思，礼貌地说：“不要。” 　　 不料他们并不买帐，反而不时有人回骂我：“神经病，不过关来这里做什么！” 　　 我委屈地望着沈洲，沈洲安慰道：“别理他们就好了。” 　　 我点点头，再有人来问的时候，我便学沈洲的样子，绕道而过，眼皮连抬都不抬，反而没人再骂我了。 　　 边检站的大厅里有很多人，但人虽多，看上去却很有气势。不时有穿着正规军装的解放军战士出入其中。到底是正规军人，看上去都很礼貌，脸上也没有那些治安员的霸气与匪气。 　　 大厅中央有好多个过关的入口，都排着长队。每个关口都坐着一个或两个解放军战士，排队的人把证件递给他，他看过再把证件还回来，那人就可以过了。大约是假期吧，人很多，查得有些快。 　　 我们先是紧跟着那个小个子男人排在一个关口，这个关口的人很少，我看到前面好象查得很严。在快轮到他时，小个子男人忽然退了回来，并示意我们跟他到另一个关口。那个关口排的队很长，查得相对松一些。 　　 我真是度日如年，拿着暂住证的手心都快渗出汗来了。很快，小个子男人顺利过关。轮到我时，我为了蒙混过关，故意将头发暗中一甩，正好遮住半边脸。那个清秀的解放军战士只扫了我一眼，便让我过去了！ 　　 沈洲也很快跟了上去，我长长舒了一口气。刚走到门外，沈洲便将早就准备好的五十块钱很隐蔽地塞给了那个人。那个人拿着钱，远远地走开了。我问沈洲：“他连看都没看，不怕是假的啊。” 　　 他轻声笑了：“你以为他们是吃干饭的吗？这儿到处都是他们的人的。” 　　 不远处停着好多很漂亮的大巴车，他紧紧拉着我的手，看了看车上的路过站点，便上了一辆车。到底是深圳，大巴车看上去非常豪华。因为是空调车，密封性太好，反而闷得人喘不过气来。 　　 我忐忑不安地问：“深圳这么大，我们要到哪里去呢？” 　　 他这才说：“我有一个同学在深圳，好久没见面了，我这次是来看看他。” 　　 听了这话，我不免有些失望。原以为他是专程带我来玩的呢，没想到是来看他同学的。 　　 气氛一时有些异样，车行驶得很快，我百无聊赖地望着车窗外的风景。他又象刚才在路上那样，滔滔不绝地介绍着：“你看，深圳真的是很漂亮的。城市绿化面积到４０％，全国之最。” 　　所谓的绿化，不过是人为铺的草坪，间或点缀着一些并不高大的树，到处都是人工雕凿的痕迹。我不置可否地摇摇头：“如果说绿化面积达４０％就是漂亮，那我家才漂亮呢，绿化面积可以达到９９％呢。”９９％只是我的估算，在我们那儿，山清水秀，除了房屋是人为制造的痕迹，到处都是绿意。甚至连我们墙角院内也不时冒出青草呢。 　　 他宽容地望着我，抚了抚眼镜说：“呵呵，你真逗。怎么能比呢，这是城市，你家是农村呢。” 　　 我想反驳，忽然意识到底气不足，终究什么也没有说。 　　 忽然，他惊喜地说：“看，世界之窗！” 　　 我放眼望去，只见前面路旁有一棵高约百米的巨树，非常独特。树旁还有一个半圆型的红色大门。大门旁有一个小型金字塔形状的建筑，上面写着“世界之窗”几个字。 　　 他介绍说：“这颗树应该是昨晚点亮的，是以世界之窗的地埃菲尔铁塔景点为主体精心制作的新年祝福，现在成深南大道一道夺目的风景了。