AU news 0724

Good morning. The foreign minister insists he is doing all he can to secure the release of an Australian man in Somalia. Photographer Nigel Brennan was kidnapped in Somalia almost a year ago. Yesterday, his mother pleaded with the prime minister to do more to help her son. Steven Smith says he emphasizes with Mr. Brennan’s family.

The United States says North Korea has no friends left, because of its nuclear stance. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has held discussions with 27 leaders at the ASEAN summit in Thailand. She’s urged Asian nations to use political and financial pressure to bring the Stalinist state back to the negotiating table.

A war of words has broken out about the federal government’s indigenous housing plan. The Northern Territory Aboriginal Affairs Minister said she is appalled by reports. The plan is behind schedule, but the Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin has disputed claims that not enough houses will be built.

And five firefighters have died battling bush fires in Spain’s northeast. Spain has asked for help from its neighbors to fight the blazes which have been burning for almost a week. Thousands of residents have been evacuated.

And there’ll be more news later.

• New Words
• Pronunciation
• Simple Meaning

• plead with
• /pliːd/
• 恳求

• emphasize with
•  
• 重视……

• stance
•  
• Your stance on a particular matter is your attitude to it.

• negotiating table
•  
• 谈判桌

• federal
• /ˈfedərəl/
• A federal country or system of government is one in which the different states or provinces of the country have important powers to make their own laws and decisions.

• indigenous
•  
• Indigenous people or things belong to the country in which they are found, rather than coming there or being brought there from another country.

• appal
• /əˈpɔːl/
• If something appals you, it disgusts you because it seems so bad or unpleasant.

• firefighters
•  
• 消防队员

• blazes
• [ˈbleiziz]
• When a fire blazes, it burns strongly and brightly.

• evacuate
• [iˈvækjueit]
• To evacuate someone means to send them to a place of safety, away from a dangerous building, town, or area.

• US Secretary of State
• [ˈsekrətri]
• 美国国务卿

• Hillary Clinton
•  
• 希拉里·克林顿

• ASEAN
• /ˈæsiæn/
• 东盟

• Aboriginal Affairs Minister
•  
• 土著事务部长

• Spain
•  
• 西班牙

转载于:https://www.cnblogs.com/cnxyang/archive/2009/11/15/1602576.html