CNN news 2007-08-18 加文本

cnn 2007-08-18



【电信1】 Realvideo / MP3

Hello, I’m Melissa Long here at the cnn Center in Atlanta with a look at what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

After three rescue workers died during a dangerous effort to reach six trapped coal miners, the underground rescue is suspended, while drilling at the mountaintop continues. The dead were among nine rescuers who were inside the mine during that collapse yesterday. The other six were injured. Three are at the hospital. The trapped miners have not been heard from since that cave-in 11 days ago.

A killer storm is blasting Texas with torrential rains and strong winds. The remnants of Tropical Storm Erin are blamed for four deaths in the Lone Star State. Two in the victims were killed in Houston when a waterlogged roof of a storage unit collapsed. Three more people are missing. Up to ten inches of rain fell in that city and San Antonio. And more heavy rain is in forecast. Now at the very same time, Hurricane Dean is turning in the Caribbean. The National Hurricane Center has upgraded Dean to a Category 3 storm, making it a major hurricane. *It can't end up, rather, could end up near Jamaica over the weekend.

U.S. military assistance is en route to Peru. A mobile surgical team is expected on the ground within just hours to help victims of Wednesday's deadly quake. More than 400 people are dead. Other reports put that number above 500, another 1,500 injured. Bodies are laid out on some city streets, with hospitals and morgues too overwhelmed to take in all the victims.

With the last of his co-defendants making their deals with prosecutors, NFL star Michael Vick is running out of options. The Atlanta Falcons quarterback will have to decide sometime today whether to accept a plea bargain agreement that would land him in prison for at least a year or face trial on federal dogfighting conspiracy charges.

And a California man is in jail because a savvy woman saw through his alleged scam. She told police he tried to sell her a flat screen television for a cheap price. She said "no". But she got his license plate number and police checked him out. They say this so-called television yet turned out to be oven doors, right there, covered with shrink wrap.

Those are the headlines for you this Friday, August 17th. For more on these stories or other news of the day, remember cnn is your source whether you're surfing the web, watching television or on the go with your cellphone.


Words&Expressions

plea bargain agreement: A plea bargain (also plea agreement, plea deal or copping a plea) is an agreement in a criminal case in which a prosecutor and a defendant arrange to settle the case against the defendant. The defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest (and often allocute) in exchange for some agreement from the prosecutor as to the punishment. A plea bargain can also include the prosecutor agreeing to charge a lesser crime (also called reducing the charges), and dismissing some of the charges against the defendant.