BBC news 2014-06-14

BBC News with Julie Candler

The first match of the Football World Cup is being played at the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo, with the host nation and Croatia are leveled half time with one goal each. The Brazilian star Neymar equalized 29 minutes into the game after an early own goal put the Croatians ahead as silence to hit into enthusiastic crowd. Tens of thousands of fans in yellow and green had earlier watched the opening ceremony. Matthew Kenyon is in Sao Paulo.

“The opening ceremony without the usual speeches from either politicians or football officials after the country’s president was booed at the opening of the Confederation’s Cup 12 months ago. With the usual colorful affair reflecting Brasil, its people and the 31 visiting nations, and it was watched by a gathering crowd, some of whom chanted against FIFA in particular at the end of the event. The stadium area was heavily secured and protests met by tear gas and strong police tactics continued elsewhere in Sao Paulo. But the Wold Cup 2014 is now officially underway and the eyes of Brasil and the world are on the football.”

President Obama says his national security team is looking at all options including military ones to help the Iraqi government counter the Islamist insurgency as its overrun much of north Iraq this week. Mr. Obama said Iraq needed the help of the United States if it was to overcome the territorial gains made by the al Qaeda offshoot ISIS.

“What we’ve seen over last couple days indicates the degree to which Iraq’s gonna need more help, so my team is working around the clock to identify how we can provide the most effective assistance to them. I don’t rule out anything, because we do have a stake in making sure that these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold in either Iraq or Syria.” Reports say the Iraqi government has mounted airstrikes against the ISIS militants who seized the cities of Tikrit and Mosul.

The Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine have used tanks for the first time since the start of the conflict in the region two months ago. Steve Rosenberg reports.

“According to his spokesman, Petro Poroshenko told President Putin it was unacceptable that tanks had got into Ukraine from Russia. Earlier, Ukraine Interior Minister claimed that separatist rebels have managed to bring three tanks and other military equipments across the border to fight Ukrainian forces. An official at the Russian Foreign Ministry told the BBC the minister was being inventive and the information was fake. But President Poroshenko has held a meeting with his defense chiefs about the situation. Meanwhile, violence continues.”

An explosion has been heard in the center of the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk. One witness said he saw a van in flames in front of one of the city administration building has been taken over by Pro-Russian separatists.

World News from the BBC

The International Criminal Court says the former President of Ivory Coast Laurent Gbagbo is to be put on trial for crimes against humanity. Mr. Gbagbo, who denies the charges, has been in custody at the ICC since 2011. Mary Harper reports.

“The court said that it had analyzed mountain of material including a hundred witness statements and 22,000 pages of documentary evidence. There was, it said, sufficient evidence against Mr. Gbagbo for him to stand trial. He faces four charges of crimes against humanity, including murder and rape. The offenses were allegedly committed during a conflict which broke out in Ivory Coast after a disputed election in 2010. Prosecutors say Mr. Gbagbo masterminded a plan to stay in power, through what they describe as carefully planned and deadly attacks.”

US defense officials say the American soldier freed last month in a controversial prisoners swap with the Afghan Taliban will be flown home on Friday from Germany where he has been receiving medical treatment. No details were given about Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s return. The Obama administration was criticized over its decision to swap five Taliban detainees held at Guantanamo for the release of Sgt. Bergdahl. As news just in, Bowe Bergdahl is now en route to the United States, the Pentagon confirmed he boarded a US military aircraft in Germany earlier today.

The American actress and civil rights campaigner Ruby Dee has died in New York. She was 91. Ruby Dee was one of the most prominent black actresses in Hollywood in 1950s and 1960s and the first black woman to play lead roles in the American Shakespeare Festival.

Shark fin will be in future off the menu at a major resort in Singapore. The American owned Marina Bay Sands is the latest Singapore based company to boycott consumption of the traditional delicacy following years of lobbying by animal rights activists.

BBC News

词汇解释

1.level n. 水平;标准;水平面 adj. 水平的;平坦的;同高的 vi. 瞄准;拉平;变得平坦 vt. 使同等;对准;弄平

The storm was the most powerful to hit Hawaii this century. It levelled sugar plantations and destroyed homes.

这是本世纪袭击夏威夷最猛烈的暴风雨。它夷平了甘蔗种植园，也摧毁了家园。

2.tactics n. 策略;战术;用兵学

Tactics differs from strategy.

战术有别于战略。

3.overrun n. 泛滥成灾;超出限度 vt. 泛滥;超过;蹂躏 vi. 泛滥;蔓延

A group of rebels overran the port area and most of the northern suburbs.

一群叛乱分子迅速占领了港口地区及绝大部分北部郊区。

4.offshoot n. 分支;支流;衍生物

Psychology began as a purely academic offshoot of natural philosophy.

心理学形成之初是作为自然哲学的一个纯学术分支。

5.mastermind vt. 策划 n. 优秀策划者;才子

There are many theories as to who masterminded the attacks.

关于谁策划了这些攻击，有许多的猜测。

6.swap n. 交换;交换之物 vt. 与...交换;以...作交换 vi. 交换;交易

Next week they will swap places and will repeat the switch weekly.

下周他们将互换位置，以后将每周换一次。

7.en route (法)在途中

We stopped for a picnic en route.

我们在途中停下来野餐。

8.boycott vt. 联合抵制;拒绝参加 n. 联合抵制

The main opposition parties are boycotting the elections.

主要的反对党派正在联合抵制选举。

内容解析

1.I don’t rule out anything, because we do have a stake in making sure that these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold in either Iraq or Syria.

have a stake in 与…利害攸关

All free nations have a stake in preventing sudden and catastrophic attacks.

防范灾难性的突发攻击事件，与所有自由的国度休戚相关。

And many have a stake in the stability of the persian Gulf.

波斯湾的稳定关系到许多国家的利益。

2.What we’ve seen over last couple days indicates the degree to which Iraq’s gonna need more help, so my team is working around the clock to identify how we can provide the most effective assistance to them.

around the clock 日以继夜地，连续一整天

People with very important jobs sometimes have to work around the clock.

有要职在身的人有时要日以继夜地工作。

He studied around the clock for his history exam.

他日以继夜地准备历史考试。

参考译文

朱莉·坎德勒为你播报BBC新闻。

足球世界杯第一场比赛在巴西圣保罗举行，上半场中东道国和克罗地亚打平，各踢进一个球。先是克罗地亚以一个球领先，然后29分钟时巴西球星内马尔扳平比分，安静的观众立刻激动起来。之前成千上万身穿黄绿衣服的粉丝们观看了开幕式，马修·凯尼恩在圣保罗报道。

“由于12个月前巴西总统在联合会杯开幕式上遭嘘，这次开幕式没有政客或足球官员做讲话。 这样多彩的赛事能反映出巴西及其人民和31个参加国的种种，大批观众都在观看着，有的观众在开幕式结束时高呼反对FIFA的口号。体育场里安保重重，抗议遭到催泪弹的压制，圣保罗各地都设置了强大的警力。但2014世界杯已经正式开始了，巴西人和全世界的眼光都盯在足球上了。”

奥巴马总统称国家安全小组正想尽包括军事手段在内的一切办法来帮助伊拉克政府对付伊斯兰叛乱，本周伊拉克北部发生了动荡。奥巴马说，如果伊拉克希望夺回被基地组织分支ISIS占领的领土，就需要美国的帮助。

“过去几天我们看到的情况说明伊拉克需要更多的帮助，所以我的团队现在正夜以继日地研究我们如何才能提供最有效的援助。我并不排除任何手段，因为确保圣战分子在伊拉克和叙利亚都没有永久的立足之地与我们也是利害相关的。”报告称伊拉克政府已对控制提克里特和摩苏尔的ISIS武装分子发动空中打击。

乌克兰总统佩特罗·波罗申科称，自两个月前东部地区开始冲突以来，分裂叛军首次开始使用坦克。史蒂夫·卢森伯格报道。

“波罗申科的发言人说，乌克兰总统告诉普京总统，无法接受坦克从俄罗斯进入乌克兰的现实。早些时候，乌克兰内政部长声称分裂叛军已设法将三辆坦克和其他军事设备运过边境，准备打击乌克兰军队。俄罗斯外交部一名官员告诉BBC，这位部长是在伪造事实，称该消息是假的。但波罗申科总统已和国防领袖们就这一局势举行会议，同时暴力仍在继续。”

乌克兰东部城市顿涅茨克中心发生爆炸，一名目击者称他看到，在该市被亲俄分裂分子占领的政府大楼前，一辆货车被放火烧了。

BBC世界新闻。

国际刑事法庭称科特迪瓦前总统洛朗·巴博将因反人道罪被审判，巴博否认这些指控，他自2011年起一直被拘留在国际刑事法庭。玛丽·哈伯报道。

“法庭称已经分析了大量的材料，包括100名目击者的陈词和2.2万页的文档证据。法庭称证据充足，应当审判巴博。他还面临4项反人道指控，包括谋杀和强奸。据悉这些罪行发生在2010年一次有争议选举导致的冲突中。检察官称巴博策划继续留任的计划，通过的是所谓详尽策划和致命袭击手段实施的。”

美国国防官员称，上月在与阿富汗塔利班有争议的囚徒交换中获释的美国士兵周五将从德国飞回家，他已经在德国接受了治疗。美国没有透露中士鲍·贝里达尔回国的细节。奥巴马政府因决定通过释放关塔那摩湾囚禁的塔利班囚犯来换取这位中士的获释而遭到批评。刚刚得到的消息，鲍·贝里达尔已经在回美国的路上，五角大楼证实他于今天早些时候登上一架美国军用飞机。

美国女演员兼民权运动人士鲁比·迪伊在纽约去世，终年91岁。鲁比·迪伊是20世纪50-60年代最著名的黑人女演员之一，是第一位在美国莎士比亚戏剧节上出演主角的黑人女性。

今后鱼翅将不再出现在新加坡主要度假地的菜单上，在动物权利人士多年来的游说之后，美国的滨海湾金沙酒店是新加坡国内最新一家抵制消费这一传统美味的公司。

BBC新闻。