Severe cold attacks Moscow
Edited by Kovis



The record Arctic cold snap that began last week continued to grip much of western Russia last Sunday, causing more deaths from exposure to severe cold and straining the country's energy system.

It has been unusually cold in the Russian capital during the past few days, following the arrival of a cold front that blew in from Siberia at the beginning of the week.

On Monday night, temperatures dropped sharply from around the freezing mark to below minus 20 degrees Celsius. They then plunged by a further 10 Celsius on Wednesday morning.

Roman Vilfand, head of the Russian Meteorological Office, was quoted by the Tass News Agency as saying that the weather could warm slightly to minus 22-25 degrees Celsius over the weekend in Moscow and the nearby regions. The temperature had dropped below minus 30 Celsius on Saturday. However, he warned that strong winds would counteract the effects of the warm-up.

In Moscow, another 22 people were taken to hospital overnight as a result of exposure to the severe cold. 59 were hospitalized in St Petersburg on Saturday, including 31 with frostbite, a source with the city's first aid services was quoted as saying.

Seven people died of exposure to the severe cold in Moscow this weekend, bringing the death toll in the Russian capital to at least 24 last week, health officials said. The nationwide toll has risen well above 40. Most of the victims were drunk or homeless people.

This winter has been the coldest since 1978-1979, when temperatures reached minus 38 Celsius. Weather forecasters warned no significant thaw is in sight before February.

The cold front that blew in from Siberia last Monday has severely strained the country's heating and power system.

A state of emergency has been announced in the city of Balei in the Siberian region of Chita, where an accident with the central hot water pipeline left almost 3,000 people struggling with cold and forced many schools to cancel classes.

An accident in the central heating also left 43 apartment buildings in the town of Tomilino near Moscow without heat.

Russia started to use its state fuel reserves on Thursday to cope with soaring energy demands. The fuel is being used to keep households warm and factories running. The cold snap has also forced Russia to reduce gas supplies to Europe.

An elderly woman wraps up to brave the freezing outdoors in Tomilino, a town outside Moscow, Russia, January 20, 2006.

 

 

World in Pictures
Photo source: ImagineChina

	People in glass houses 七旬老人酒瓶建屋 Georgy Vashchenko, 76, is seen standing near the entrance to his house in Lyubimovka, Ukraine, January 19. The front wall of the house is constructed entirely of empty champagne bottles.
	Unlikely friends 蛇鼠天敌成室友 A hamster named Gohan(R), and snake, Aochan, living together in a cardboard box at a zoo on the outskirts of Tokyo, January 14. Zookeepers at Tokyo's Mutsugoro Okoku zoo presented the hamster to Aochan as a tasty morsel in October. But instead of indulging, Aochan decided to make friends with the furry rodent, according to keeper Kazuya Yamamoto. The pair have shared a cage since then.
	Miniature heroes 葡萄籽上刻精美微雕 Microminiature artist Vladimir Aniskin from Novosibirsk has carved Buratino, Frog and Tortoise Tortilla, heroes of The Golden Key or Buratino's Adventures, on half of a grape seed. The "True Story of Modern Levsha" exhibition of microminiatures opened in the Peter and Paul Fortress, January 16.
	One man band 手脚并用同奏三把吉他 Malaysian guitarist Hisham plays tunes with his three guitars at his studio in Klang, outside Kuala Lumpur, January 17. Hisham, 34, says he discovered his talent for playing two guitars 10 years ago, and first played three guitars just one year ago.
	Mouth to mouth "口对口"喂食 David Ferreira finds a unique way to feed the birds, January 17, at Fort Island Gulf Beach in Crystal River, Florida, USA.

 

 

World in Words
Collected & translated by Beverly

"What are other athletes thinking when a fellow athlete is lounging around because of plastic surgery?"
"如果一个运动员因为做整形手术就可以不来参加训练, 那队友们会作何感想呢? "
One of South Korea's top women fencers was dropped from the country's national team because she underwent plastic surgery that caused her to miss several days of practice.
--韩国一位顶级女子击剑运动员因接受整容手术缺席训练而被开除出国家队.

"The money has become quite substantial."
"这钱来得太是时候了. "
Dan Goure, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute. After falling well short of its recruiting goals last year, the US Army has doubled maximum payments to both new recruits and reservists.
--面对去年的征兵窘境, 美军只得提高现役新兵和预备役军人的入伍津贴. 列克星敦研究院的国防专家丹·古尔对此发表了自己的看法.

"Regular aspirin use lowers women's risk of suffering a stroke by 17 percent compared to nonusers, while aspirin's effect on men is to reduce their chances of a heart attack by 32 percent. "
"相比不吃阿司匹林的女性, 定期服用这种药的女性发生中风的几率会减少17%, 但对于男性而言, 阿司匹林则会使他们的心脏病发病率减少32%. "
Researchers has found that the benefits of taking aspirin regularly differs between men and women.
--研究人员发现阿司匹林的药效男女有别.

"You get the feeling you're Lewis and Clark, charting undiscovered territory."
"你觉得自己就是路易斯和克拉克了, 像发现新大陆一般. "
Biologists have just discovered twenty-seven previously unknown species of animals in two national parks in the Sierra Nevada.
--生物学家们近日在位于内华达山脉地区的两处国家公园内发现了27种新型动物物种.


Vocabulary
strain 损坏
hamster 仓鼠
cold front 冷锋
plunge 下降
frostbite 冻伤
thaw 解冻