BBC News with Jonathan Wheatley

A winter storm is causing major disruption along the eastern seaboard of the United States. Hundreds of flights have been cancelled, and states of emergency have been declared in Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. Rajini Vaidyanathan reports from Washington.

The snow has started to fall here in the nation's capital and across the east coast. A severe weather storm is forecast. The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning for the next 24 hours for major cities including New York and Boston, predicting between 40 and 50cm of snow and winds of more than 55km/h. Hundreds of flights have been grounded at airports, including at New York's JFK, Newark, Washington DC and Boston. Both international and domestic services are affected.

The party of the would-be president of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, has called for a general strike from Monday until the incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo steps down.A party statement said "We should not let them steal our victory." Both men say they won Ivory Coast's presidential election, but Mr Gbagbo has held on to day-to-day power, despite internationalappeals tohim to leave office.

There have been clashes between armed Christian and Muslim groups in the central Nigerian city of Jos less than two days after bombings killed 32 people. Security forcesdispersed the crowds, and there's no official word on casualties, but witnesses reported several dead bodies. Jos, in Nigeria's Plateau state, has been at the heart of ethnic and religioushostilityin recent years. But the Anglican Archbishop of Jos, Ben Kwashi, told the BBC Friday's bomb blasts werenothing to do withreligion. He blamed the international media forinflamingtensions.

"One bomb went off in a beer parlour, another bomb went off near a church, and the other bomb went off near the market. These are public places and have nothing to do with religion. These are criminal issues. We have worked very hard with religious leaders in Jos to work together and we were gaining ground until this one."

The Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said Israel will notapologiseto Turkey for a military raid on an aid shipbound forthe Gaza Strip in which nine activists were killed.It was Turkey who should apologise, Mr Lieberman said, for supporting terror, including the IHH, the Turkish organisation which sent the ship to Gaza.

"On the apology issue, thisborders onrudenessand is even beyond rudeness. If anyone has to apologise, it is the Turkish government to Israel for its cooperation with terror entities for supporting terror, for supporting the IHH, Hamas and Hezbollah. There will be no apology, and if there was to be one, it would be from the Turkish government and not the other way around."

World News from the BBC

Prosecutors in the Netherlands say they've cleared five of the 12 Somali men arrested on Friday on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack. The men were detained in Rotterdam after Dutch intelligence reports indicated an attack might beimminent. Officials said there was no criminal evidence against the five.

In Ukraine, the former Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko has been detained as part of a winding investigation into allegations of abuse of office and diverting public funds. The opposition says this inquiry is a politicalvendettalaunched by President Viktor Yanukovych against members of the previous government. The former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is also under investigation. David Stern now reports from Kiev.

According to Yuri Lutsenko's press service, 11 security agents seized the former interior minister when he was walking his dog on Sunday afternoon. Authorities had opened a criminal case against Mr Lutsenko earlier this month for abuse of power. He's the latest and so far highest-profile member of Yulia Tymoshenko's government to be arrested. Mrs Tymoshenko herself saw two separate charges filed against her this last week for misuse of funds and abuse of power when she was prime minister one year ago.

The Sri Lankan government says 200 former Tamil Tiger rebels it is holding in custody have passed A-level exams, normally taken at the age of 18. They are among 5,000 former rebels the authorities say they are still holding following the Tamil Tiger's defeat last year. However, human rights groups have denied that those sitting in the exam are former fighters at all.

Researchers say they'vesequenced most of the genetic code of a type of cocoa plant, used in making high-quality chocolate, meaning they might be able to improve its resistance to disease. The French group said they'd found almost 29,000 genes for the Criollo variety of cocoa. Criollos produce low yields and are very vulnerable to fungal disease.

BBC World Service News

1.disperse vt.vi.（使）分散，散开；疏散；驱散

例句：After school the children dispersed to their homes.

放学后, 孩子们四散回家了。

2.hostility n.敌意, 敌对状态

例句：There is open hostility between the two leaders.

两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。

3.inflame vt.激怒,点火,使发炎

例句：He was inflamed with anger.

他怒火中烧。

4.apologise vt.vi.道歉

例句：You forgot to apologise.

你忘记道歉了。

I must apologise that if I offended you I didn’t mean to.

我必须向您道歉, 如果冒犯了您, 我不是有意的。

5.rudeness n.无礼貌;粗野；粗鲁

例句：She asked him to pardon her rudeness.

她请求他原谅她的无礼。

He is usually well-behaved;this rudeness is only a lapse.

他一向彬彬有礼,这次的无礼只是一时的失态。

6.imminent adj.(通常指不愉快的事)即将发生的, 逼近的，临近的

例句：The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.

乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。

7.vendetta n.家族世仇;族间仇杀;宿怨

例句：For years he pursued a vendetta against the Morris family.

多年来他一直在寻求向莫里斯家族报世仇。

8.sequence vi.按顺序排列

1....oth men say they won Ivory Coast's presidential election, but Mr Gbagbo has held on to day-to-day power, despite international appeals to him to leave office.

appeal to向…呼吁; 向…请求;恳求

例句：By appealing to his better nature, we persuaded him to change his mind.

我们唤醒了他的良知, 劝他改变了主意。

He earnestly appealed to his friends for support.

他恳切地向朋友请求支持。

hold on to坚持,固守,抓紧

例句：They determined to hold on to the last.

他们决定坚持到最后。

2.But the Anglican Archbishop of Jos, Ben Kwashi, told the BBC Friday's bomb blasts were nothing to do with religion.

nothing to do with与…无关

例句：That has nothing to do with me.

这和我没关系。

3.He blamed the international media for inflaming tensions.

blame for因…怪罪, 责怪(某人)

例句：Don't keep blaming your little sister for your bad behavior.

不要总是把你的不良行为怪在你的小妹妹身上。

He blamed his brother for breaking the window.

他责备他兄弟打破了窗玻璃。

4.The Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said Israel will not apologise to Turkey for a military raid on an aid ship bound for the Gaza Strip in which nine activists were killed.

bound for驶往

例句：Where is ship bound for?

这船是开往哪儿去的？

5.On the apology issue, this borders on rudeness and is even beyond rudeness.

border on近乎

例句：What you are doing borders on the ridiculous.

你所做的事近乎可笑。

1.The party of the would-be president of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, has called for a general strike from Monday until the incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo steps down.

until与till的区别

用作介词或连词，意为“直到(……为止”，两者常可换用，只是 until 比 till 稍正式，所以在正式文体中，一般用 until，而在口语或非正式文体中则两者都可用。从其后所接成分来看，till多与名词或较短的从句连用，而较长较复杂的成分多用 until，位于句首时也多用 until。

两者在用法上应注意以下几点：

(1)相关主句谓语必须是持续性动词，若是终止性动词，则应为否定式(因为终止性动词一旦被否定就成为状态，便可持续)。如：

We waited until [till] he came. 我们一直等到他来。

We didn’t leave until [till] he came. 直到他来我们才走。

(2)引导时间状语从句时，其谓语要用现在时表示将来意义。如：

I won’t leave until he comes back tomorrow。我要等他明天回来再走。

(3)有时其后可跟副词、介词短语或从句等。如：

He has been ill until recently. 他最近一直生病。

She didn’t return until after twelve o’clock。直到 12 点过后她才回来。

They didn’t reach the station until after the train had left。直到火车开走之后，他们才到达车站。

Until when are you going to stay here？你在这儿要待到什么时候

2.It was Turkey who should apologise, Mr Lieberman said, for supporting terror, including the IHH, the Turkish organisation which sent the ship to Gaza.

it强调句型

it 引导的强调句型，通常形式为：It be 被强调部分 that/who 句子其他成分。这种强调句由普通陈述句转换而来，用来强调句子的主语、宾语或状语。例如：

It was Tom's mother that / who bought Tom a bicycle on his birthday.

是汤姆的妈妈在汤姆生日那天给他买了辆自行车。

It was yesterday that I met him. 我是昨天见到他的。

在此类强调句中需要注意的是：

1)不管被强调部分是单数还是复数，其前一律用it is / was 而不能用 they are /were

It is the teachers who teach me very well. 这就是教我教得很好的老师。

2)被强调部分指人时，被强调部分可用that /who来指代；被强调部分指物时，被强调部分后只能用that 指代

It is this house that has a beautiful garden. 就是这个房子有一个美丽的花园。

3)强调部分指时间和地点时，被强调部分只能用that 指代，而不能用when, where 等指代

It was yesterday that I entered the school. 我是昨天进的学校。