BBC News with Zoe Diamond
President Obama has invited Republican and Democratic leaders of Congress to the White House in the wake of mid-term elections in which he lost his party's majority in the House of Representatives. He said action was needed on extending tax breaks for middle-class families, on unemployment insurance and on measures to give businesses somewhat certainty about the tax regime they'll face.
"Obviously what's going to be critically important over the coming months is creating a better working relationship between this White House and the congressional leadership that's coming in, as well as the congressional leadership that carries over from the previous Congress. And so I want everybody to know that I've already called a meeting here at the White House on 18 November. This is going to be a meeting in which I'll want us to talk substantively about how we can move the American people's agenda forward."
The UN Development Programme says some of the poorest countries in the world are making the fastest progress in improving the quality of life of their citizens. It says its annual Human Development Index also suggests that aid works as the greatest progress has been made in areas like health and education, which have been the main focus for assistance.
France and China have signed trade deals worth many billions of dollars at the start of a state visit by the Chinese President Hu Jintao. From Paris, here is Christian Fraser.
The deals include a purchase by China of Airbus aircraft, several thousand tonnes of uranium from the French nuclear company Areva and a lucrative contract between French insurance firm Axa and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Together they are said by the French to be the biggest series of deals signed in one such visit. But given the economic interests at stake here, there will be one noticeable omission from the menu - the issue of human rights, in particular the subject of Liu Xiaobo, the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
With just days before its first elections for two decades, Burma appears to have become the victim of a massive cyber attack, which is blocking Internet access in the country. Jonny Hogg has the details.
This cyber attack appears to have been going on for nearly two weeks, but has worsened as the elections approach. Internet servers within the country are being deliberately flooded with far too much data in what is known as a Distributed Denial of Service attack. The result is that Internet access has become virtually impossible. The question is who has targeted Burma and why. There has been no comment from the Burmese authorities, but state media says the attack is coming from outside the country. This is not a view held by all. Some opposition figures and observers believe the military government could be sabotaging the servers itself in an attempt to limit reporting on Sunday's vote.
World News from the BBC
The authorities in Haiti are urging thousands of people to evacuate before a tropical storm hits the island. The storm is expected to make landfall early on Friday. Forecasters warned that it could destroy many of the makeshift camps where tens of thousands of people have been living since an earthquake in January.
Zimbabwe says that it will start exporting diamonds from its Marange mines, even though the organisation that regulates conflict diamonds says it hasn't yet approved the sale. At the end of a four-day meeting in Jerusalem, Zimbabwe's mining minister said sales would start immediately. Yolande Knell reports.
Zimbabwe is keen to exploit its diamond wealth in the Marange fields in the east of the country. It denies allegations of abuse of workers and smuggling by the military forces based there. Over the past four days, the Kimberley Process, the regulator which certifies diamonds, has been discussing the findings of a review commission. The chairman said no agreement had yet been finalised, although he hoped consensus could be reached in the coming days. Zimbabwe's mines minister, however, emerged from the meeting, declaring that sales of diamonds from Marange would resume immediately without conditions.
The engine maker Rolls-Royce has recommended precautionary checks on a model of its jet engines after one fitted to the world's largest passenger plane failed soon after take-off. An Airbus A380 operated by Qantas made an emergency landing at Singapore after what passengers described as a loud explosion seriously damaged one of its four engines. None of the more than 450 people on board was injured.
British scientists say that stimulating the brain with a very low electric current appears to make you better at doing maths. Researchers at Oxford University studied 15 student volunteers and found that passing a current through a specific brain region and in a particular direction improved performance in maths puzzles.
BBC News
在中期选举中,民主党失去了众议院的大多数优势。中期选举后,奥巴马总统邀请国会共和党和民主党领袖在白宫举行会晤。他说,必须在延长中产阶级家庭的减税政策,失业保险和为企业提供税收制度的确定性方面采取措施。
“很明显,未来的几个月最重要的是白宫和未来的国会领导者之间形成更好的工作关系,与上一届国会的领导者之间也要保持良好的关系。所以,我希望每一个人都明白,我已经邀请大家在11月18日在白宫召开会议。在这次会议上,我希望大家着重讨论一下我们应该怎样推进美国人民的日程。”
联合国开发计划署表示,世界上一些最贫穷的国家在改善公民的生活质量方面取得了最快的进步。该机构表示,其年度人类发展指数也表明在健康和教育方面的救援工作取得了最大的进展,这是救援工作的重点。
中国国家主席胡锦涛对法国进行国事访问期间,法国和中国签署了价值数十亿美元的贸易协议。Christian Fraser在巴黎报道。
这些协议包括,中国从法国购买空客飞机,从法国核公司Areva购买数千吨的铀,法国保险公司Axa和中国工商银行之间签订了一份利润丰厚的协议。法国表示,这是类似的国事访问中签订的规模最大的一系列协议。但是尽管经济利益获得保障,此行还有一个明显的疏漏之处,就是人权问题,尤其是今年的诺贝尔和平奖获得者刘晓波的问题。
距离二十年来的首次选举还有几天的时间,缅甸似乎成为大规模网络袭击的受害者。这次网络攻击使该国网民不能使用互联网。Jonny Hogg报道详细内容。
这次网络袭击似乎已经持续了接近两周的时间,但是随着选举的临近,攻击越来越严重。黑客使用分布式的拒绝服务攻击手段(DDoS)导致缅甸国内网络服务器被恶意阻塞。结果导致国内互联网用户几乎不可能上网。问题是,袭击缅甸互联网的幕后主使以及原因还不清楚。缅甸当局没有对此事作出任何评论,但是国家媒体表示,袭击来自境外。然而,并不是所有人都这样看。一些反对派人物和观察人员相信,可能是军事政府故意破坏服务器,以限制媒体对周日的投票的报道。
BBC世界新闻。
海地政府敦促数千人在热带风暴袭击该岛之前撤离。预期该风暴将在周五早些时候登陆。天气预报员警告称,这次风暴可能会摧毁自1月份地震以来数万人安身的临时帐篷。
津巴布韦宣布,他们将开始出口马兰吉(Marange)钻矿区的钻石,尽管调控有冲突的钻石的组织表示他们还未批准该矿区钻石的出售。耶路撒冷为期四天的会议结束之时,津巴布韦矿务部长表示将立即开始出售钻石。Yolande Knell报道。
津巴布韦急切地想要开采东部马兰吉(Marange)钻矿区的钻石财富。政府否认了虐待工人和驻扎在那里的军队走私钻石的指控。过去的四天,为钻石提供认证的金伯利程序一直在讨论调查委员会发现的结果。该机构主席表示,目前还没有达成最终的协议,尽管他希望未来的几天能够达成共识。然而,参加了该会议的津巴布韦矿物部长宣布,马兰吉(Marange)钻矿区的钻石将无条件地立即开始出售。
世界上最大的客机起飞后不久即坠落,引擎制造商劳斯莱斯建议对这款飞机上配备的喷气式引擎进行提前检查。乘客描述称,澳洲航空拥有的一家空客A380飞机起飞之后,巨大的爆炸导致四个引擎中的一个受损,随后在新加坡紧急迫降。机上450多人无人受伤。
英国科学家表示,使用微弱的电流刺激大脑似乎可以使人在数学方面表现更好。牛津大学的研究人员对15名学生志愿者进行了研究,发现对大脑的某个特定区域以特定的方向通电可以提高学生在数学谜语方面的表现。
1.somewhat ad.有点,稍微
例句:The idea somewhat alarmed her.
这主意有点令她惊恐不安。
2.substantively ad.实质上
例句:But how can one ensure that all the speakers talk substantively and constructively, and who is to judge whether they do?
但是,这样的定位,在实际的管理上困难重重。例如,我们怎么确保人人言之有物?这应该由谁判断?
3.lucrative a.有利益的,获利的,合算的
4.noticeable adj.显而易见的, 明显的, 显著的
例句:There's been a noticeable improvement in his handwriting.
他的书法有了明显的进步。
The damage to my car is hardly noticeable.
我的汽车被损坏的地方不大明显。
5.worsen vt.vi.(使)变得更坏,(使)恶化
例句:I apprehend no worsening of the situation.
我不担心局势会恶化。
6.sabotage vt.阴谋破坏(某事物)
例句:They tried to sabotage my birthday party.
他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
7.makeshift n.权宜之计, 临时代用的物品
例句:The accommodation for the press was makeshift at best.
迁就新闻界充其量只是个权宜之计。
8.exploit vt.开采; 开发
例句:Many countries exploit oil under the sea.
许多国家在海底开采石油。
1.President Obama has invited Republican and Democratic leaders of Congress to the White House in the wake of mid-term elections in which he lost his party's majority in the House of Representatives.
in the wake of尾随,紧跟,仿效
例句:Traders came in the wake of the explorers.
商人紧跟着探险者而至。
2.But given the economic interests at stake here, there will be one noticeable omission from the menu - the issue of human rights, in particular the subject of Liu Xiaobo, the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
in particular尤其, 特别
例句:She likes fruit and tomatoes in particular.
她喜欢水果, 尤其是西红柿。
3.Zimbabwe says that it will start exporting diamonds from its Marange mines, even though the organisation that regulates conflict diamonds says it hasn't yet approved the sale.
even though即使、虽然
例句:Even though he was getting angry, his voice remained level.
即使他非常生气, 他的声音仍保持稳定。
He's the best teacher even though he has the least experience.
尽管他经验最少, 但教得最好。
1.Obviously what's going to be critically important over the coming months is creating a better working relationship between this White House and the congressional leadership that's coming in, as well as the congressional leadership that carries over from the previous Congress.
what引导主语从句。
what引导名词性从句的五种用法
1)表示“……的东西或事情”:
They’ve done what they can to help her. 他们已经尽力帮助了她。
He saves what he earns. 他赚多少,积蓄多少。
What Mary is is the secretary. 玛丽的职务是秘书。
2)表示“……的人或的样子”:
He is no longer what he was. 他已经不是以前的那个样子。
He is what is generally called a traitor. 他就是人们通常所说的叛徒。
Who is it that has made Fred what he is now? 是谁把弗雷德培养成现在这个样子的?
3)表示“……的数量或数目”:
Our income is now double what it was ten years ago. 我们现在的收入是10年前的两倍。
The number of the students in our school is ten times what it was before liberation. 现在我校学生的数量是解放前的10倍。
4)表示“……的时间”:
After what seemed like hours he came out with a bitter smile. 似乎过了几个小时他才苦笑着出来。
The young girl was too frightened to speak, standing there for what seemed like hours. 小女孩吓得不敢说话,在那儿站了几个小时。
5)表示“……的地方”:
This is what they call Salt Lake City. 这就是他们称为盐湖城的地方。
In 1492, Columbus reached what is now called America. 1492年哥伦布到达了现在所称的美洲大陆。