BBC News with David Austin
An armed British team thought to include members of the special forces has left Libya by warship after being detained by opposition forces. Witnesses said most of the eight-man group arrived by helicopter on Friday near the eastern city of Benghazi, from where Jon Leyne reports.
Witnesses told us that the men denied to Libyan guards that they had weapons. But when their bags were searched, they were found to contain guns, explosives, maps and passports from at least four different nationalities.Since then, there’ve been tense negotiations between the opposition leadership here in Benghazi and the British authorities - negotiations which continued on board the British warship HMS Cumberland when it arrived unexpectedly in Benghazi today.The Foreign Office in London has now confirmed that a deal was agreed and the men were allowed to leave on board the ship when it sailed shortly before sunset.
It’s been a day ofintensifiedfighting in Libya with forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi mounting strong counter-attacks against opposition-controlled areas. In the east, artillery, missiles and helicopter gunships were used in the coastal town of Bin Jawad, forcing back the rebels who’d captured the area on Saturday. John Simpson reports on the latest fighting.
We were driving close to Bin Jawad, where the fighting isconcentrated, when two big mortar-bombs landed quite nearby. The rebels don’t seem soenthusiasticand excitable anymore. Their mood is grimmer and more determined now. Colonel Gaddafi’s television service in Tripoli has been claiming that his troops have recaptured Ras Lanuf, the strategic oil terminal but for nowat any rate, it’s still firmly in the hands of the rebels. But there isa great deal ofnervousness among the defenders at present.
Reports from Egypt say democracy activists have been attacked by men in plain clothes armed with knives outside the offices of the interior ministry in Cairo. It’s the first time since the toppling of President Mubarak last month that the protesters appeared to have come under such an attack. Over the weekend, activistsstormed several offices of the secret police.
The Chinese authorities have mounted a show of force in Beijing after renewed calls on the Internet for protests inspired by those in the Middle East. The anonymous messages had urged people to visit locations in major cities as way of calling for change. Damian Grammaticas is in Beijing.
The security blanket thrown over parts of Beijing on Sunday afternoon wasextraordinary. The anonymous on-line call had been for people to stroll silently through Xidan, a busy shopping area, in a challenge to the authoritarian rule of the Communist Party inspired by the revolutions in the Middle East. Large crowds of shoppers were around, but it’s not clear if any were protesters. Reporters were banned from filming or interviewing anyone. The Communist Party appearsprofoundlynervous.
Damian Grammaticas
World News from the BBC
Allies of the man internationally recognised as the president of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, say their homes in the city of Abidjan have beenransacked by supporters of his rival, Laurent Gbagbo. Gangs of youths backed by police are reported to have loaded trucks with the belongings of senior members of Mr Ouattara’s administration.
Officials in Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan say at least 12 civilians, including five children, were killed on Sunday when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb. The provincial governor accused the Taliban of planting the device. Jill McGivering reports.
Roadside bombs are commonly used by insurgents. They are intended for members of the security forces and officials, but often kill local people instead. Earlier, in the capital Kabul, hundreds of people took to the streets, protesting about the deaths of nine boys a few days ago in Kunar province. The children were gathering firewood when they were killed in an attack by Nato-led forces. The demonstratorscalled onAmerican troops to leave Afghanistan.
Jill McGivering reporting
With nearly all the votes counted in the Estonian general election, it appears that the centre-right coalition led by Andrus Ansip has been returned to power. The count shows the Reform Party and its allies have 82 seats in the 101-seat parliament. Previously, it had been aminorityadministration.
The British Foreign Secretary William Hague says he has full confidence in the Queen’s son Prince Andrew in his role as special representative for international trade. In recent days, the prince has been criticised for his judgment inbefriending a financier who is a convicted American sex offender. But Mr Hague said in a BBC interview that in visits to countries across the world, he’d seen the manybenefits which Prince Andrew had brought to the role.
And that’s the BBC News.
被利比亚反对派力量逮捕的英国武装小部队已经离开利比亚。据称,这支小部队中包括特种兵。目击者表示,这支由8人组成的小部队大部分人于周五乘直升飞机在东部城市班加西附近着陆。Jon Leyne报道。
目击者告诉我们,这些人向利比亚卫兵否认自己携带了武器。但是利比亚士兵却在搜他们的包裹时发现了枪支,炸药,地图和至少来自四个不同国家的护照。自那时起,班加西反对派领袖与英国当局进行了紧张的谈判——谈判在英国军舰坎伯兰号(HMS Cumberland)上进行,这艘军舰今天出人意料地抵达班加西。伦敦外事办公室现在证实双方达成了协议,这八人在太阳落山前不久搭乘军舰离开。
忠于卡扎菲上校的军队在反动派控制的地区发动了猛烈的反攻,利比亚又发生了一天的激烈战斗。在东部海岸城镇Bin Jawad,政府力量使用大炮,导弹和武装直升机击退了于周六占领该地区的叛军。John Simpson为我们报道最新的战斗情况。
随着我们驱车越来越靠近Bin Jawad,战斗也越来越激烈,两枚炮弹就落在我们旁边。反叛力量看上去已经不再那么充满激情。他们的情绪现在变得更加冷静,更加坚决。卡扎菲上校在首都的黎波里的电视台声称,他的部队已经重新占领了战略石油终端拉斯拉努夫。但是至少现在,该城镇仍被叛军牢牢控制。然而,现在防卫者却非常紧张。
来自埃及的报道称,民主积极分子在开罗内政部办公室外遭遇身穿便衣手持匕首的歹徒袭击。这是自上月穆巴拉克总统被推翻以来抗议者首次遭遇这样的袭击。周末期间,积极分子袭击了秘密警察的几个办公室。
(这两段和谐)
BBC世界新闻。
国际社会公认的科特迪瓦总统瓦塔拉的同盟表示,他们在阿比让的住处被对手巴博的支持者洗劫。据报道,由警察支持的年轻人组成的团伙将瓦塔拉政府高级成员的物品装上卡车带走。
阿富汗东部帕克蒂卡省官员表示,周六,一辆汽车遭遇路边炸弹袭击,造成至少12名平民死亡,其中包括5名儿童。该省省长指控塔利班分子安置了爆炸设施。Jill McGivering报道。
反叛分子经常安装路边炸弹。他们的袭击目标是安全力量和官员,却经常伤害当地居民。此前,数百人走上首都喀布尔街头,对几天前库纳尔9名儿童的死亡进行抗议。这些孩子正在捡柴,却遭遇北约领导的袭击而身亡。示威者呼吁美国军队离开阿富汗。Jill McGivering报道。
爱沙尼亚大选所有选票几乎已经统计完毕,似乎Andrus Ansip领导的右翼联盟重新执掌政权。计票显示,改革党及其同盟在101个席位的议会中获得了82个席位。此前,该联盟在政府中属于少数派。
英国外交大臣威廉·黑格(William Hague)表示,他对女王之子安德鲁王子担任国际贸易特别代表的任务充满信心。近日来,安德鲁王子因爆出与美国一名恋童癖富商私交深厚而备受批评。但是黑格在BBC的采访中表示,在访问世界各国的过程中,他看到安德鲁王子担任该职务能够带来的许多益处。
1.intensify vt.vi.(使)增强, (使)加剧
例句:The drought has intensified.
旱情加剧了。
enhance,heighten,intensify,aggravateenhance侧重指增加价值,魅力或声望等使人或物具有超科寻常的吸引力。
这些动词均有“加强,增强”之意。
heighten通常指使某物的某种性质变得不同于一般的显著或突出。
intensify指深化或强化某事或某物,尤指其特别之处。
aggravate指加剧令人不快或困难的形势。
2.concentrate vt.浓缩, (使)浓缩
例句:An acid solution is concentrated when it has very much acid in it.
当酸性溶液里含有很多酸时, 它就被浓缩了。
3.enthusiastic adj.满腔热情的, 热心的,热烈的; 极感兴趣的
例句:She is an enthusiastic golfer.
她非常爱好打高尔夫球。
4.storm vt.猛攻
5.extraordinary adj.意想不到的;令人惊奇的;奇怪的
例句:It's extraordinary that he managed to sleep through the party.
真想不到他竟然从聚会开始一直睡到结束。
6.profoundly adv.深深地;深切地;深刻地
例句:Memory can be profoundly shaped by subsequent experience.
记忆会受到后来经历的深刻影响。
7.ransack v.抢劫;掠夺
例句:Rioters ransacked the shops.
暴徒洗劫各商店。
8.minority n.少数, 小部分
例句:Only a minority of British households do not have a car.
英国只有少数家庭没有汽车。
9.befriend vt.以朋友的方式对待;照顾
例句:The policeman befriended the lost boy.
警察照顾迷路的孩子。
10.benefit n.U好处,益处,福利
1.Colonel Gaddafi’s television service in Tripoli has been claiming that his troops have recaptured Ras Lanuf, the strategic oil terminal but for now at any rate, it’s still firmly in the hands of the rebels.
at any rate无论如何,至少
例句:He doesn’t understand me, or at any rate not fully.
他并不了解我,至少是了解得不全面。
At any rate, chance had given him some breathing space.
无论如何,机会给了他一定的喘息空间。
2.But there is a great deal of nervousness among the defenders at present.
a great deal of很多的
例句:He talked a great deal of sense.
他讲得很有道理。
a great deal常与不可数名词连用:a great many则与可数名词的复数形式连用,它们的区别与 much和many的区别相同。 a great deal的后面接名词时要加of:a great many则不用of a great deal(或many)和a good deal(或many)通用,但前者的语气比后者重。在 口语里,常用a deal代替a great(或good)deal。
as the new year is approaching, we have a great deal of preparation work to do.
随着新年即将来到,我们有大量的准备工作要做。
the high island reservoir can store a great deal of water.
万宜水库能蓄藏大量的水。
there are a great many trees and folwers in the botanical garden.
植物公园里有许多树木和花草。
he has contributed a great many articles education to the south china morning post.
他为《南华早报》撰写了许多有关教育万面的文章。
3.The demonstrators called on American troops to leave Afghanistan.
call on要求, 请求
例句:He called on his friends to help him.
他向朋友求助。
4.Since then, there’ve been tense negotiations between the opposition leadership here in Benghazi and the British authorities - negotiations which continued on board the British warship HMS Cumberland when it arrived unexpectedly in Benghazi today.
这句话的主干是前半句。破折号后面是进行进一步补充说明。which continued是定语从句,修饰negotiations。when it arrived是时间状语从句。