Politics this week (2020.06.13) Part.01

Democrats in the House of Representatives introduced legislation to reform policing in America in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. The measures, which will be resisted in the Senate, would simplify the process for prosecuting officers for misconduct and curtail the “qualified immunity” law that shields them from civil lawsuits. Mr Floyd was laid to rest in his home town of Houston.

• Democrat
  • （美国）民主党人
• House of Representatives
  • 众议院
  • Senate
    • 参议院
• in the wake of
  • coming after or following sb/sth 随……之后而来，在……后
• prosecute
  • 起诉，控告，检举
• misconduct
  • unacceptable behaviour, especially by a professional person 失职，处理不当，行为不端
• curtail
  • 限制，缩减
• lay to rest
  • （委婉说法，与bury同义）安葬

Protesters turned their energy to toppling statues. Among those torn down were effigies of Jefferson Davis in Richmond, Virginia, and Christopher Columbus in a number of cities. NASCAR, a car-racing tournament popular in the South, banned the Confederate flag from its events.

• topple
  • 打倒，推翻，颠覆；（使）失去平衡而倒下
• statue
  • 雕塑，雕像，塑像（大小通常等于或大于真人或实物）
• tear down
  • 拆毁，拆除（建筑物、墙等）
• effigy
  • （名人、圣人或神的）雕像，塑像
• Confederate
  • 美利坚联盟国的（自1861年至1865年由11个美国南方蓄奴州宣布从美利坚合众国分裂而出的政权）；联盟的

Israel’s high court struck down a law that sought to legalise Jewish settlements built on private Palestinian land as long as the Palestinians are compensated. The law would have retroactively legalised thousands of homes built in the occupied West Bank. Meanwhile, the Palestinian prime minister, Muhammad Shtayyeh, said the Palestinian Authority would declare an independent state if the Israeli government follows through on its plans to annex parts of the West Bank.

• strike down
  • 取消，撤销（法规）
• legalise
  • 使合法化
• settlement
  • （尤指拓荒安家的）定居点
• compensate
  • 补偿，弥补
• retroactively
  • 追溯地
• follow through on/with
  • 把……进行到底，完成（开了头的事）
• annex
  • 强占，并吞（国家、地区等）

Militias aligned with the UN-backed governemnt in Libya ousted the forces of Khalifa Harftar, a renegade general from areas around Tripoli, ending his 14-month siege of the capital. General Haftar’s forces, which are backed by Russia, retreated to areas in the south and east which are under his control. The government’s forces, supported by Turkey, have pursued them to Sirte, where the fighting continues.

• oust
  • to force out of a position or place 剥夺，罢免，革职
• renegade
  • 变节者，叛徒，背叛者
• pursue
  • 追逐，跟踪，追赶

Russia was suspected of carrying out air strikes on the last rebel-held enclave in Syria. The bombing in Idlib province breached a ceasefire brokered by Turkey and Russia in March. Separately, protesters in the southern city of Sweida, fed up with a sinking economy, denounced President Bashar al-Assad in a rare show of dissent.

• air strike
  • 空袭
• enclave
  • 飞地（某国或某市境内隶属外国或外市，具有不同宗教、文化或民族的领土）
• breach
  • 违反，违背（约定等）
• broker
  • 安排，协商（协议的细节，尤指在两国间）
• be fed up with
  • very tired of (something) : angry about (something that has continued for a long time) 对……厌倦/生气
• denounce
  • 谴责，指责，斥责
• dissent
  • （与官方的）不同意见，异议

Pierre Nkurunziza, the president of Burundi, died, possibly of covid-19. Mr Nkurunziza, who was due to step down in August, had said that God would protect the country from the virus.

Ali Kushayb, a militia leader who is wanted by the International Criminal Court to face chargeds of war crimes in the Darfur region of Sudan, surrendered to authorities in the Central African Republic.

• surrender
  • 投降