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【速度】
【1】
Passage One：
High-Level Delegations Meet for Talks on Mali Crisis
High-level delegations met in Bamako, Mali for talks on the crisis in the country's north. Representatives from the United Nations, African Union and the Economic Community of West African States met with Malian leaders to develop a plan.
Mali's temporary president Dioncounda Traore urged representatives to act immediately to deal with the situation. He promised that the government would cooperate and work together with forces assisting in ousting the Islamic militants from the north.
Mali fell into a crisis in March, twenty-twelve, after the military ousted President Amadou Toumani Toure. Shortly after, Islamic militants with ties to al-Qaida seized control of the north. The militants want to enforce a severe version of Islamic law there. Recent reports from the north have documented human rights abuses by the militants. They perform public executions, use children as soldiers and force women into sex work. Women in many towns are forced to cover their faces and are banned from appearing in public with men. Smoking and music are also prohibited.
The U.N. has been calling on ECOWAS to provide a more detailed plan for its proposed military action in northern Mali. Last week, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution clearing the way for deployment of the ECOWAS force. It gave African leaders forty-five days to create a military intervention plan.
The newly appointed chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, said she would deal first with Mali after being sworn in. In Bamako, she said it was her first official trip as a messenger of solidarity from the African continent to the Malian people.
"I also want to highlight the AU's deep concern about the prevailing situation and the AU's determination to do everything in our power to help the people of Mali to find a speedy resolution of the overlapping crises in their country."
The U.N. Security Council will hold a second vote to approve or disapprove a military intervention plan once it is created. However, many people in Mali oppose foreign intervention.
【334】
【2】
Hundreds of Malians marched in Bamako this week to protest the idea of ECOWAS' military deployment.
The protest was organized by supporters of former army members who ousted the government. Many Malians say they are concerned that the army is disorganized and poorly equipped to take back the north alone.
Last week, thousands of Malians marched in support of ECOWAS troops in Mali. A Malian living in the northern city of Gao says military intervention is necessary.
He also says the people in the north have suffered enough, and it is time for war in order to clear the path.
There is also concern that military intervention could push Islamic militants and more refugees into neighboring countries.
Passage Two：
US Considers No-Fly Zone in Syria
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration says it is still considering a no-fly zone for northern Syria as cross-border shelling with Turkey threatens civilians on both sides.
With more Syrian tanks along the border, U.S. State said artillery fire between Syria and Turkey risks spreading violence.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland "The Turks have been very consistent that they are striking back strongly and proportionally every time they take an attack across the border," Nuland said. "This is extremely dangerous and goes to the point that we’ve been making about the danger of this conflict spilling beyond borders.
Turkey's response is about more than border security, said U.S. Institute of Peace analyst Steve Heydemann.
"It's also very clearly an effort on the part of the government in Ankara to change the political equation and to bring much greater pressure to bear not only on the Assad regime itself, but on the international community about what is at stake in this conflict and why the international community needs to do much more than it has," Heydemann said.
With more than 100,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey, Washington is weighing the no-fly zone for areas of northern Syria controlled by Assad opponents.
【315】
【3】
"We continue to talk to partners about how, what, why, exactly the elements that might go into some of these things that people have proposed, including a no-fly zone, but we haven’t made any decisions at this stage," Nuland said.
President Assad realizes a no-fly zone would give his rebel opponents an "extraordinary advantage, said Heydemann.
"The Syrians view this escalation of conflict across the Syrian-Turkish border as another effort to establish Syria's determination not to be intimidated by the superior military of Turkey, not to be intimidated by the threat that NATO might support Turkey.
He said Assad's government is feeling emboldened by outside help at a time when international military support for the rebels is limited.
"They feel as if Russia, China, Iran, Hezbollah are very firmly on their side," Heydemann said. "They sense the prevarication of the international community in increasing its support for the opposition. And they feel that gives them the advantage.
Lebanon's Hezbollah faction says it does not have fighters in Syria. Still, the United States is concerned about growing Hezbollah and Iranian influence in Syria and is sharing those concerns with Russia, Nuland said.
"If Moscow is concerned about these kinds of things -- they have expressed concern about what could come after Assad -- and our point is, what is coming now with Assad still in power, increasing efforts by extremists of all kinds and by Iran to make trouble that could spread even beyond borders," she said.
Nuland added the United States is working with allies who supply weapons to Syrian rebels to ensure that those arms are not going to groups that are being infiltrated by extremists.
【277】
【4】
Passage Three：
Euro Crisis Fuels Pro-Independence Movements
Scotland already has its own parliament in Edinburgh. The ruling Scottish National Party wants to break away entirely from the United Kingdom.
First Minister Alex Salmond has secured a referendum on Scotland’s future - to be held in 2014.
“I believe we’ll win it by setting out a positive vision for a better future for our country, both economically and crucially also socially,” said Salmond.
Salmond said an independent Scotland would rely on an energy economy, becoming the "Saudi Arabia of renewable energy.
But David Maddox, London correspondent for the Scotsman newspaper, said that's debatable.
"The problem with North Sea oil and gas is that the amount of tax collected is extremely volatile. So you can’t really judge your future revenues on it. And also it’s probably only got 30 years left,” said Maddox.
The referendum will be held on the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn, when Scottish forces routed the English army. But polls show just 30 percent of Scots support independence.
“The argument the SNP used was to have Scotland as an independent country within the European Union. Their view was that they’d eventually join the euro. Now because of what’s happened with the euro, nobody really wants to join the euro at all,” said Maddox.
The Scottish referendum has helped to energize independence movements elsewhere, like in the Spanish region of Catalonia. Madrid has blocked a referendum - but more than half of Catalans say they want to break away.
“We need a date, too, for our referendum. The sooner the better,” said Barcelona resident Ramon Mora.
In Belgium, the separatist New Flemish Alliance won several local elections this month. Voters say it’s about the economy.
【284】
【5】
“It could be the end of Belgium, yes, it’s always possible. In my opinion, things cannot go on any longer like this with the French-speaking southern part of Belgium. It costs us a lot of money,” said Antwerp resident Francois Verswjvel.
James Ker-Lindsay of the London School of Economics said that in many cases the economic crisis has fueled long-existing grievances and independence movements.
“But in terms of viability, to my mind absolutely no question at all, an independent Scotland, an independent Flanders and an independent Catalonia are quite clearly viable entities,” said Ker-Lindsay.
Ker-Lindsay fears the wave of separatism could reach more volatile regions like the Balkans.
“What happens if you then start talking about Republika Srpska in Bosnia for example, northern Kosovo, problems in Macedonia? These are areas where there is a lot of concern about it,” said Ker-Lindsay.
Pro-independence parties across Europe will be watching the Scottish referendum closely to see if this is the birth of Europe’s newest nation-state.
【166】
【越障】
A feeling of violation：
New reasons why the people of Okinawa question the benefits of Japan’s alliance with America
COMMANDERS of the 26,000 or so American troops based in Okinawa feel cursed by bad luck. For their part, many of the 1.4m Okinawans feel cursed by the Americans themselves. The arrest and charging of two American sailors for the alleged rape of a local woman comes at an awkward moment. Okinawa had already seen an upsurge in protests against the American bases, prompted by the deployment this month at the Futenma airbase in Ginowan city of 12 MV-22 Osprey aircraft, which take off and land like a helicopter but fly like a fixed-wing aeroplane.
In the view of one protester, this brings “the world’s most dangerous aircraft to the world’s most dangerous base”. The Americans dispute both halves of that accusation, and deny that their soldiers are more likely to commit a crime than anyone else on the island. Yet the rape allegations will only add fuel to local fury.
In the case of the Ospreys, the bad luck came in the form of accidents in Florida and Morocco earlier this year. These strengthened what the Americans again say is an unfair impression that they are unsafe. The marines say the aircraft have a better safety record than most of their aeroplanes and regard them as a huge boost to their capabilities in Okinawa. They replace an ageing fleet of Sea Knight helicopters with craft of twice the speed, three times the payload and four times the range.
Okinawa is the main island in what used to be called the Ryukyu chain, which Japan annexed in the 19th century, extending Japanese territory by over 1,000km (620 miles) to the south-west towards Taiwan. The island is central to the security alliance between Japan and the United States, and home to two-thirds of American troops in Japan. As America “pivots” its global military strategy to Asia, Okinawa, in the “first island chain” between China and the open ocean, and within reach of potential trouble in the Taiwan Strait and, to the north, the Korean peninsula, is as well-situated as ever.
Moreover, America’s treaty promises to defend Japan if it is attacked appear more than theoretical just now. It still seems almost inconceivable that the current row with China over the tiny, uninhabited, Japanese-administered Senkaku islands, known as the Diaoyus in Chinese, will lead to war. But a reason for that is America’s assurance that the treaty covers the islands.
An independent assessment of America’s Pacific strategy, commissioned by the Pentagon and published in August by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a think-tank in Washington, described the “core strategic bargain” in the treaty: America provides security, while Japan provides access to bases. So there is reason for the Japanese government to worry about growing resentment in Okinawa.
At Futenma’s gates a dwindling band of mostly elderly anti-Osprey protesters gathers daily, the remnants of a movement that saw a 100,000-strong demonstration last month. One protester is 67, as old as the American presence, which he has been struggling against since 1982, when some landowners tried not to extend leases on lots inside American bases. He became more involved after the gang-rape in 1995 of a 12-year-old girl by three American marines. He demonstrated again in 2004 when a helicopter crashed (without any loss of life) in a university outside Futenma.
The Ospreys, and now the alleged rape, have rekindled old grudges and sparked new anger. Susumu Matayoshi, director of the office of Okinawa’s governor, guesses that the Ospreys are opposed by 80-90% of the population, including even staunch supporters of the treaty. The local worry stems in part from the uncomfortable topography of Futenma itself. Thanks to development, Ginowan now surrounds it entirely.
In 1996 America and Japan agreed to relocate Futenma, and in 2006 they settled on a new location, at Henoko, in the less populated north-east of the island. The CSIS report thought Futenma the “best location on Okinawa”, with Henoko the best of other options, suggesting the delay is of little concern to the Americans. But Christopher Owens, the general commanding the aircraft wing at Futenma, thinks the move to a base facing fewer restrictions would be preferable.
At one point it even seemed feasible. But in 2009 the new government of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) said it wanted to shift the base off Okinawa altogether. The DPJ later recanted. But by then local opinion had hardened against the new base. So difficult is the relocation that in April America and Japan agreed to unlink it from other parts of their 2006 agreement—the return of other bases in the south of Okinawa and the relocation of 9,000 marines from Futenma to Guam. But both are long-term projects, mired in delays of their own.
Far away and easy to ignore
Okinawans, who suffered terribly as American and Japanese troops battled at the end of the second world war, have long been promised an easing of their “burden” of playing host to the bases that have been there ever since. Instead the Ospreys and the rape accusation offer new reasons for anger. In Tokyo politicians pay lip-service to their concerns, but seem to believe they can be bought off. One DPJ politician sees the timing of the Ospreys’ arrival as a godsend. It greatly enhances deterrence towards China in the Senkakus—which are within range of the Ospreys, but not the Sea Knights. And it coincides with real threats to Japan’s security, when some Chinese hint at a territorial claim to the whole Ryukyu chain, which should soften opposition.
In the governor’s office Mr Matayoshi thought this argument a “huge leap of logic”, even before the rape allegations, which will drown out local press coverage of incursions around the Senkakus by Chinese warships. It all helps explain why one of the younger protesters at Futenma says that, when she and her friends get together over a beer, conversation soon turns to distant dreams of Okinawan independence.
【1005】
NOTE：
美日安保条约：1951年9月8日日本与美国在旧金山美国陆军第六军司令部签订的军事同盟条约，此条约不仅构成规定日本从属美国的法律依据，而且使美国可以在日本几乎无限制地设立、扩大和使用军事基地。2012年7月24日，日本宣称与美国共同作出决定，要将钓鱼岛列入“美日安全保障条约”。2012年9月19日，美方声称对有关领土争端不持立场。事实上，美国一直公开强调钓鱼岛属日美安全保障条约适用对象。
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说明~
1.9是23号作业，9-8是22号作业额~~大家别做多了啊~ 因为我和鱼鱼都是新上岗，望大家海涵
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京公网安备11010202008513号 京ICP证101109号 京ICP备12012021号
发表于 2012-10-21 19:30:54
楼主
沙发是自己的！
被前面一堆地名啊什么乱七八糟的东西搞晕了.....不过...重点内容还是有瞄到哦
LZ好可爱呀~~
