Afghan Government Moves to Bolster Leading Bank (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/01/world/asia/01kabul.html?ref=asia)

1. Afghanistan — The sudden intervention by the Afghan government to shore up(支撑住) a deeply troubled bank sent shock waves through the capital on Tuesday, prompting fears among American and Afghan officials about the integrity(完整, 完全, 完善) of the country’s financial system

2. The two top executives of Kabul Bank, Sherkhan Farnoud and Khalil Ferouzi, abruptly(突然地,意外地) left their jobs earlier this week at the demand of officials of the Central Bank of Afghanistan, following the discovery that Kabul Bank’s losses may exceed $300 million, an amount that far exceeds the bank’s assets.

3.Afghan and Americans officials expressed alarm not only at Kabul Bank’s financial condition, but also at the prospect of a collapse of confidence in Afghanistan’s fragile(虚弱的, 脆弱的; 经不起折腾的) financial system, which was built from scratch following the ouster of the Taliban from the Afghan capital in 2001.

4. This could be catastrophic(灾难性的) for the country

5. Kabul Bank and its chairman, Mr. Farnoud, lie at the heart at the heart of the political and economic nexus((事物、思想等之间的)联结,联系,关系，枢纽，纽带) that sustain — and are sustained by — the government of President Hamid Karzai. Mr. Ferouzi was chairman of Mr. Karzai’s re-election presidential campaign last year,

6. Investigators said that Mr. Farnoud’s unorthodox(非正统的, 非传统的, 非正规的) financial dealings, which included lending tens of millions of dollars to himself and other politically connected Afghans, have long been shielded from scrutiny by his close ties to Mr. Karzai.

7. Investigators say Kabul Bank is also tied to the inquiry into New Ansari, the money-transfer firm that is suspected of moving billions of dollars out of the country for Afghan politicians, drug traffickers and insurgents(起义,暴动,造反)

[此贴子已经被作者于2010/8/31 18:26:38编辑过]

2. The explosions appeared to be the latest in a string of attacks by Sunni extremists against the minority Shiites they consider infidels (不信宗教的(人);异教徒)

3. Lahore, the country's political capital and home to much of its military (激进分子, 好斗分子) elite, has been regularly targeted by militants over the past two years

4. The bombs exploded at three separate sites Wednesday evening as 35,000 Shiites marched through the streets of Lahore in their traditional mourning(悲痛) procession for the caliph Ali, one of Shiite Islam's most respected holy men.

5. After the blasts, the marchers erupted(突然发生,突然发出（尤指叫喊）) in fury(激烈, 猛烈), setting fire to a police station, another police facility, two police cars and three motorcycles, said Zulfiqar Hameed, a senior police officer.

6.  Footage of that explosion shown on Geo television showed a small blast erupting amid a crowd of people on the street followed by a large plume of(升上空中的羽状物) smoke

[此贴子已经被作者于2010/9/1 18:24:10编辑过]

Taliban Claim Deadly Attack on Shiites in Pakistan

1. It was not immediately clear whether the bomb was detonated((使)爆炸, 引爆) by a suicide bomber or a remote-controlled device

2. Militants are intensifying their violent attacks to pressure a government that has been struggling to cope with devastating monsoon((南亚、尤指印度洋的)季风)-driven floods

3. an annual protest to express solidarity(团结；齐心协力；同心同德；相互支持；休戚与共) with Palestinians and to condemn(（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责，指责) Israel.

[此贴子已经被作者于2010/9/4 11:22:38编辑过]