9-1-2005

布什周五将前往飓风灾区慰问 (President Bush will visit the hurricane-devastated areas)

白宫说，布什总统星期五将视察美国墨西哥湾沿岸一带飓风受灾区。白宫发言人麦克莱伦说，布什将乘座空中和陆地交通，巡视包括新奥尔良市在内的受灾区。麦克莱伦说，布什总统还请求前总统克林顿和乔治. H.W.布什领导为飓风受害者筹款的活动。早些时候，布什总统说，美国政府开始了美国有史以来规模最大的救灾工作，向卡特里娜飓风的灾民伸出援手。

布什总统表示，当务之急是找到和抢救数千名仍然被困在新奥尔良市和其它重灾区的人。救援人员正在将新奥尔良市圆顶大体育馆内的几千名灾民转移到大约500公里外的休斯顿市，但是，有人向参与行动的直升机开枪，致使转移行动暂停。地面疏散仍在继续。

新奥尔良市还重新布置了警力，以阻止那些越来越嚣张的哄抢者，他们不仅盗取食品、饮水，还抢走电视机甚至枪支等物品。救援努力延伸到密西西比州的沿海地区。星期一的风暴摧毁了当地数以千计的住宅，造成至少110人死亡。

The White House says President Bush will visit the hurricane-devastated areas along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast Friday. Spokesman Scott McClellan says Mr. Bush will tour the region by both air and ground. The visit is to include the city of New Orleans. The spokesman also says the president has asked former Presidents Bill Clinton and George Herbert Walker Bush to lead a fundraising effort for hurricane victims. Earlier, President Bush said the U.S. government has launched the most massive relief effort in the nation's history to help the hurricane victims.

He said the top priority continues to be finding and rescuing thousands of people still stranded in New Orleans and other hard-hit areas. Rescue workers are transporting thousands of storm refugees from a New Orleans sports stadium to the city of Houston (500 kilometers away). Helicopter flights at the site were suspended after someone fired a shot at an incoming aircraft, but the ground evacuation continued.

Police have re-deployed in New Orleans to stop increasingly aggressive looters, who have been stealing not only food and water but also items like television sets and guns. Rescue efforts extend to coastal areas of Mississippi, where Monday's storm destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 110 people.

美中纺织品谈判未能达成协议 (U.S. and Chinese officials have concluded a third day of talks in Beijing without an agreement on textile trade)

美国和中国官员在北京结束了第3天的会谈，没有就纺织品贸易问题达成协议。美方首席谈判代表戴维.斯普纳星期四对记者说，虽然他们尽了最大努力，但是双方无法解决阻碍达成协议的分歧。

争议的焦点是恢复中国出口到美国的19种纺织品的限额。参加谈判的美方代表希望说服中国为这些种类的纺织品出口设定年增长率不超过7.5%的上限，并且一直执行到2008年。

美国的纺织品生产厂商指称， 自从今年春天纺织品配额取消之后，中国的廉价产品使美国损失了2万6千个就业机会。但是中国表示，美国产业界已经有充份的时间来应对因配额到期而产生的市场变化。

Washington's lead negotiator at the talks (David Spooner) told reporters today (Thursday) that despite their best efforts, the two sides were unable to resolve differences holding up an agreement.

At issue is the resumption of limits on 19 categories of Chinese textiles exported to the United States. U.S. delegates to the talks want to persuade China to limit exports in those categories to a seven-point-five percent growth rate per year through 2008.

U.S. textile manufacturers allege that cheap Chinese imports have cost 26-thousand jobs since the original quotas expired this spring. However, China says the United States had ample time to prepare the industry for market changes before those quotas expired.