9-12-2005

布什总统第三次巡视新奥尔良 (President Bush Pays Third Visit to New Orleans)

布什总统正在巡视新奥尔良市被大水破坏的街道。自从卡特里娜飓风两个星期之前肆虐美国墨西哥湾沿岸地区之后，这是他第三次视察这一地区。

布什星期天晚上飞到了新奥尔良，在一艘军舰上过夜。这艘军舰为这座受灾城市运来了直升机。布什总统今天听取了海岸警卫队艾伦中将有关救援努力的详细汇报，正随军用车队巡视新奥尔良市，并会晤当地官员。布什晚些时候将前往比奥尔良市飓风灾情更为严重的密西西比州城市格尔夫波特。

世界最大的保险公司之一瑞士再保险说，卡特里娜飓风最终会让世界各地的保险商损失大约400亿美元。这是最初估计的两倍。如果包括政府开支和人道组织的花费，这次风暴造成的损失总额有可能超过1200亿美元。

目前飓风死亡人数的官方数字是400多人，但是预计最后的数字会高出许多。路易斯安纳州的官员报怨说，联邦紧急措施署没有采取及时行动为仍然住在全州各地紧急庇护设施的5万8千名无家可归的居民提供临时住所。

President Bush is touring the flood-damaged streets of New Orleans, during his third visit to the U.S. Gulf Coast since the region was devastated by Hurricane Katrina two weeks ago.

President Bush flew to New Orleans late Sunday and spent the night aboard a naval vessel that brought helicopters to the battered city. Today the president received a detailed briefing on recovery efforts by Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen, and is now touring the city in a military convoy and meeting with local officials. Later, he heads to Gulfport, Mississippi, where damage by the hurricane was even more extensive than in New Orleans.

Swiss Reinsurance, one of the world's biggest insurance firms says Hurricane Katrina ultimately will cost underwriters around the world 40 billion dollars, twice the original estimate. Including costs borne by governments and expenditures by humanitarian organizations, the storm's total cost could be 120 billion dollars.

The official death toll from the storm now stands at more than 400, but is expected to grow considerably higher. Louisiana officials are complaining that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is not moving quickly enough to provide temporary housing for the some 58-thousand displaced residents still in emergency shelters across the state.

巴勒斯坦人涌入加沙废弃定居点庆祝 (Palestinians Rush into Abandoned Settlements in Gaza to Celebrate)

以色列撤离占领了38年的加沙地带之后，数以千计的巴勒斯坦人星期一欢呼着冲进被放弃的以色列定居点，在这块土地上升起巴勒斯坦旗帜。驻加沙地区以军最高指挥官将驾车经过基素菲姆过境点，进入以色列，完成了一整夜的撤军行动。巴勒斯坦人随后开始了庆祝。以色列8月份撤离了那里所有的8500犹太定居者。以色列军人随后关闭了大门并堆起水泥板和泥土，封锁了以色列和加沙之间的主要道路。

以色列人离开之后，巴勒斯坦激进分子马上鸣枪以示庆祝。有些人插上巴勒斯坦旗帜，还有一些人开始捣毁被放弃的犹太教堂。有些人还带着家人见证这个场面。

埃及边防军人试图驱散在加沙-埃及边界的人群。他们开枪打死一名巴勒斯坦男子。据说，这名男子和一群示威着试图越过边界进入埃及。

Thousands of cheering Palestinians rushed into abandoned Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip early today (Monday), raising the Palestinian flag over land vacated by Israel after a 38-year occupation. The celebrations erupted as the top Israeli military commander in the territory drove through the Kissufim crossing into Israel, completing an overnight troop withdrawal. All 85-hundred Jewish settlers were evacuated last month. Israeli soldiers then closed the crossing gate and piled concrete slabs and dirt to block the road, which had been the main artery linking Israel and Gaza.

Palestinian militants began celebrating with gunfire as soon as the Israelis left. Some planted Palestinian flags, while others began destroying abandoned synagogues. Still others brought their families to witness the spectacle.

Egyptian border guards trying to disperse huge crowds on the Gaza-Egypt frontier shot and killed a Palestinian man said to be part of a crowd of demonstrators trying to cross into Egypt.