BBC News with Fiona MacDonald
A series of natural disasters has struck Indonesia. More than 100 people were reported to have been killed by an earthquake and tsunami in a remote group of islands west of Sumatra. Shortly afterwards, the country's most active volcano Mount Merapi in central Java erupted, killing 13 people. Karishma Vaswani reports from Jakarta.
Officials in West Sumatra said the three-metre-high tsunami washed away at least 10 villages in the Mentawai islands, but getting information from the worst-affected parts of the islands has been challenging. Bad weather has meant no search and rescue teams have been able to arrive in the area as yet. Meanwhile, black ash and soot has been spewing out of Mount Merapi ever since it erupted. Officials say more than 13,000 people have to be moved away from the volcano to refugee camps nearby.
The former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz has been sentenced to death by a court in Baghdad. He was convicted of persecuting Iraq Shia parties during the 1980s and 1990s. Mr Aziz was jailed after the US-led invasion of Iraq. His son Ziad described the verdict as disgraceful.
The UN's top human rights official Navi Pillay has called on Iraq and the United States to investigate allegations of detainee abuse revealed in the release of confidential American military documents by Wikileaks last week. The UN special rapporteur Manfred Nowak went further, calling for a full investigation into any torture practices carried out by US military and intelligence officials. Barbara Plett reports.
Navi Pillay said the leak of American field reports added to her concerns that serious breaches of international human rights law occurred in Iraq. She said the documents indicated that the US continued to transfer detainees to Iraqi forces, despite knowledge of widespread abuse. But the UN's point man on torture, Manfred Nowak, said it wasn't enough to investigate just what happened in Iraq. He urged President Barack Obama to launch a full investigation into any torture practices carried out by US military and intelligence officials, including those who handed detainees to states such as Egypt, Morocco and Syria, knowing they would be ill-treated there.
The authorities in Pakistan have allowed journalists to interview a 14-year-old boy being held in detention, who says he was trained as a suicide bomber by the Taliban. The boy told the BBC he'd been recruited by a friend who'd fought in Afghanistan. He said members of the Taliban had visited him once or twice a week to explain how to carry out attacks.
Leaders of three Latin American countries at the centre of the battle against the drugs trade have called on voters in California to reject the legalisation of marijuana. The presidents of Mexico, Costa Rica and Colombia said legalising marijuana would send a contradictory message.
World News from the BBC
The French Senate has given its final approval to plans to raise the retirement age in France from 60 to 62. The reforms have sparked weeks of protests and industrial action. Here is Christian Fraser.
After 143 hours of debate, the French Senate has finally approved Nicolas Sarkozy's controversial pension reforms. In the end, 177 voted in favour, 151 against, 2 abstained, perhaps unsure what it might all mean to the French way of life. The unions are more certain. It's the first assault on hard-earned welfare provision. On Thursday, there'll be another day of demonstrations. But the momentum is draining away - 59% of people say they are now opposed to the blockades of roads, refineries or depots.
Candidates running for the United States Congress have spent more money on their campaigns than in any previous mid-term election. Reports suggest that with one week to go, candidates are on the way to spending more than $2billion. On average, $4million have been spent for every congressional seat up for election. Most of the money has been spent on about 90 marginal seats in the House of Representatives.
The team managing England's bid to host the 2018 football World Cup has made an official complaint to the world governing body Fifa against the head of the rival Russian bid. It concerns remarks he's alleged to have made about crime and alcohol in London. Alex Capstick reports.
Criticising rival candidates is against Fifa rules, but Alexei Sorokin, the head of Russia's bid for the 2018 World Cup, said there's been a misunderstanding. His remarks, which were published in a Russian newspaper, were translated as saying London suffered from a high crime rate and had problems with young people drinking alcohol. Fifa will now have to decide whether there's a case to answer. But a spokesman for the Russian bid, Andreas Herren, said Alexei Sorokin was misquoted.
BBC News
印度尼西亚遭遇了一系列自然灾害袭击。据报道,苏门答腊岛西部一些偏远的群岛上发生的地震和海啸造成100多人死亡。随后不久,印尼最活跃的火山,爪哇中部的默拉皮火山喷发,造成13人死亡。Karishma Vaswani在雅加达报道。
西苏门答腊官员表示,三米高的海啸冲走了明打威群岛至少10个村庄,但是从岛上受灾最严重的地区获取信息非常困难。糟糕的天气状况导致搜救队伍目前仍然没有到达这些地区。同时,自默拉皮火山喷发以来,火山灰和烟尘不断蔓延。官员们表示,超过13,000人不得不从火山周边撤离,暂避在附近的难民营。
伊拉克前副总理和外交部长塔拉齐被巴格达一法庭判处死刑。他被判在上世纪80年代和90年代期间迫害伊拉克什叶派。自美国领导的军队入侵伊拉克以来,塔拉齐一直被关押在监狱。他的儿子Ziad称该判决是非常耻辱的。
联合国高级人权官员Navi Pillay呼吁伊拉克和美国对上周维基解密网披露的美国秘密军事文件中提到的虐待囚犯问题进行调查。联合国报告起草人Manfred Nowak进一步呼吁对美国军队和情报官员实施的任何虐待行为展开全面调查。
Navi Pillay表示,美国情报资料的泄漏增加了他对伊拉克的行动过程中严重违反国际人权法的担忧。她说,这些文件表明,尽管明知存在使用酷刑的情况,美国仍在继续向伊拉克移交囚犯。但是联合国酷刑问题核心人员Manfred Nowak表示,仅仅调查伊拉克发生的情况是远远不够的。
他敦促奥巴马总统对美国军队和情报官员实施的所有酷刑展开全面调查,包括将囚犯移交给埃及,摩洛哥和叙利亚等国的人,因为他们明知囚犯在这些国家会遭受虐待。
巴基斯坦当局允许记者采访一名被关押的14岁男孩。他们称,这名男孩被塔利班分子训练为自杀式爆炸者。这名男孩告诉BBC,他被一名在阿富汗参加战斗的朋友招募。他说,塔利班成员每周看他一两次,向他解释怎样实施袭击。
打击毒品贸易的三个核心拉美国家的领导人呼吁加利福尼亚的选民拒绝关于大麻的立法。墨西哥,哥斯达黎加和哥伦比亚总统表示,将大麻合法化将传达互相矛盾的信息。
BBC世界新闻。
法国议会最终通过了将退休年龄从60岁提高至62岁的计划。这些改革引发了几周的抗议和罢工。Christian Fraser报道。
经过143小时的辩论后,法国议会终于通过了萨科齐总统有争议的养老金改革法案。最终,177票赞成,151票反对,2人弃权,或许他们不太确定这些改革对法国人的生活产生什么样的影响。工会则非常确定。这是对辛苦赚取的福利体系的首次袭击。周四,他们将再次举行一天的示威。但是势头已经减小,59%的人表示,现在他们反对封锁道路,炼油厂和油库。
竞选美国国会席位的候选人比以往的中期选举在竞选活动中花费更多。报道称,距离选举还有一周的时间,候选人们已经花费了超过20亿美元。国会平均每个待选席位已经花费了400万美元。大部分资金花费在众议院的90个席位上。
英格兰2018年世界杯足球比赛申办小组向国际足联投诉竞争对手俄罗斯。投诉与他在伦敦的关于犯罪和酗酒的讲话有关。Alex Capstick报道。
批评竞争对手是违反国际足联规定的,但是俄罗斯申办2018年世界杯委员会负责人Alexei Sorokin表示这件事纯属误会。俄罗斯报纸发表的他的讲话被理解为,伦敦的犯罪率很高,伦敦年轻人饮酒的问题也非常严重。国际足联现在必须决定是否作出回应。但是俄罗斯申办小组发言人Andreas Herren表示,Alexei Sorokin的讲话被报纸错误地引用。
1.afterwards ad.然后,后来地
例句:What happened afterwards?
后来怎么样?
2.spew v.(使)喷涌出
例句:lava spewing out from a volcano
从火山中喷出的熔岩
fumes spewed out by cars and trucks
汽车和货车排放的废气
3.disgraceful adj.可耻的,丢脸的,不光彩的
例句:disgraceful behaviour
丟脸的行为
An honourable death is better than a disgraceful life.
宁为玉碎,不为瓦全。
4.recruit vt.vi.招募, 征募(新兵),吸收(新成员)
例句:Were men for the Navy recruited from men on merchant ships?
海军的人员是从商船的水手中征募的吗?
5.contradictory adj.矛盾的;抵触的
例句:He did something contradictory to his orders.
他做了与他的命令不符的事。
The argument is internally contradictory.
论据本身自相矛盾。
6.abstain v.弃权(不投票)
例句:In the referendum many people abstained.
在这次公民投票中许多人弃权。
7.momentum n.动力;推进力; 势头
例句:The style prevails and picks up momentum.
这式样很流行, 而且越来越流行。
8.remark n.话语, 评论, 谈论, 言辞
例句:In the light of his remarks, we rejected her offer.
鉴于他的评语, 我们拒绝了她的提议。
1.Navi Pillay said the leak of American field reports added to her concerns that serious breaches of international human rights law occurred in Iraq.
add to增加, 加强
例句:This lesson adds to the value of the book.
这一课增加了这本书的价值。
Since then, the palace has often been added to, rebuilt and repaired.
从那以后, 那座宫殿不断得到扩建和修缮。
2.In the end, 177 voted in favour, 151 against, 2 abstained, perhaps unsure what it might all mean to the French way of life.
in the end最后,终于
at last,at length,eventually,finally,in the end,lastly
这些词或词组均含有“最后,终于”之意。
at last多指经主观努力,克服各种困难后才终于达到目的。
at length强调经历一段长时间后终于完成,侧重在时间部分。
eventually侧重于动作或行为的结果。
finally常与at last换用,都可用于对往事的描述,但finally不带感情色彩,指一系列事情的最后结局。
in the end与at last同义,但in the end不仅可指“过去”还可表示对“未来”的预计。
lastly指连续顺序的最后,通常用在列举事情的场合。
3.But the momentum is draining away - 59% of people say they are now opposed to the blockades of roads, refineries or depots.
drain away(使)减弱
例句:The old lady's strength is draining away.
老妇人的体力在渐渐衰竭。
This hard work has drained away my keenness.
这种艰苦的工作削弱了我的锐气。
4.Candidates running for the United States Congress have spent more money on their campaigns than in any previous mid-term election.
more than any用比较级表示最高级的意思。