Castro recovering from surgeryver 60% of US in drought


Cuban leader Fidel Castro (L) with his younger brother Raul Castro in a file photo

Cuban leader Fidel Castro is recovering from surgery and will return to office soon, Health Minister Jose Ramon Balaguer said last Friday.

"We know Comandante Fidel will recover soon and will be back with us soon," Balaguer said during a visit to Guatemala.

"I can say the situation is stable, but a general recovery in health requires time," Castro said in a statement. "I am in good spirits, and the main thing is that everything is working perfectly well in the country and will remain doing so."

"This country is prepared to defend itself with the Revolutionary Armed Forces and with its people," it added.

He said that everyone would soon be fully informed of his condition.

Castro, who turns 80 on August 13, delegated power on July 31 to his younger brother Raul Castro, who is the country's defense minister.

The Cuban leader said he would be "out of power for several weeks" and had relinquished the presidency and his position as the first secretary of the Communist Party to Raul.

Chinese President Hu Jintao last Tuesday sent a message of good wishes to Castro, following his operation to treat an acute intestinal problem.

The Caribbean Community and several political organizations from across the world have sent messages of support.

The White House said that it is closely monitoring the situation in Cuba with the deterioration of the elderly leader's health.

The Bush administration is "monitoring the situation," White House spokesman Peter Watkins said. "We can't speculate on Castro's health, but we continue to work for the day of Cuba's freedom."

It is official US policy to "undermine" Cuba's planned succession from Castro to his brother Raul, an AP report said.

Cuba's government said that Raul Castro was firmly in charge of the country. "The word transition does not exist in the vocabulary of Cubans here," the ruling Communist Party newspaper Granma said.

world in pics

Icy bar
韩国冰吧消暑凉一夏



A young couple drink in an icy bar in Souel, South Korea, August 5. The average temperature in the icy bar is about minus 4 to 6 degrees. It costs each customer USD 15 to get an iced cocktail and warm clothes.

Thai police to lose weight
泰交警集体减肥



Tubby Thai policemen exercise on the first day of weight-control program at Kluai Nam Thai Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, August 2. Bangkok's 4,000 overweight traffic police were ordered to reduce their flab to look fit when they direct the traffic on the roads.

Cool down the streets
日本商家冷水冰镇地板招徕顾客



Coffee shop waitresses dressed in maid costumes sprinkle water over the hot pavement in Tokyo, August 1, for a campaign of cooling down with recycled water. The maid themes have already proved hugely successful among Tokyo's plentiful "otaku", hardcore anime fans, with at least 50 cafes, bars, restaurants using the theme to attract business.

British Beer Festival
英国啤酒节吸引5万余人



A group of drinkers representing Skinners Brewery sing a toast during the opening day of The Great British Beer Festival in London, August 1. Now in its 29th year, the festival was expecting more than 50,000 beer-loving visitors who may be tempted to taste the 500 different types of ale, cider, perry and imported bottled beers on offer.

Porcelain expo
西班牙陶瓷展能看也能玩



A participant drinks water from a large porcelain jar, which weighs 70kg, at a porcelain expo in Spain, August 4. Visitors to the expo can feast their eyes with various kinds of porcelains as well as attend the bizarre water drinking contest.

odds & ends 大千世界
Collected & translated by Jianjiang

Paris bans indecent clothing
巴黎人工海滩禁穿比基尼
Parisian sunbathers will no longer be allowed to go nude or wear g-strings on the capital's artificial beaches and risk a 38 euro fine if they are caught baring their breasts or buttocks.
在巴黎人工沙滩上享受日光浴的人们今年不能自由裸体或穿丁字裤了, 如果穿得太清凉暴露, 他们将被处以38欧元的罚款.

Fried pigeon sparks train chaos
鸽子切断丹麦铁路
Denmark's train network was thrown into chaos by a pigeon that alighted on a high-tension electricity wire, causing a short-circuit that brought services to a standstill throughout the country.
上周, 一只小鸽子让丹麦铁路运输陷入一片混乱. 这只鸽子撞到为铁路供电的高压线上, 造成短路起火, 哥本哈根通往全国各地的主要铁路都被迫中断.

Failure to pay alimony costs a driving license
拒付赡养费将被剥夺驾照
Latvian parents who fail to make child maintenance payments to their estranged partners could be stripped of their driving licences under a proposal unveiled by officials.
拉脱维亚最近通过一项提案, 如果离婚后一方没有及时向另一方支付孩子的赡养费, 就有可能遭到剥夺驾照的处罚.

Musician uses bomb backdrop
黎巴嫩音乐家用炸弹声伴奏
A Lebanese musician has recorded a unique duet with the Israeli Air Force by recording on the balcony of his Beirut apartment during a bombing raid. In his sound art piece, the trumpeter intermingles his music with the sounds of bombardment.
一位黎巴嫩小号演奏家录制了一曲独特的二重奏, 他在贝鲁特的自家阳台上录下以军空袭时的炸弹爆炸声, 并将他的音乐声和爆炸声混在了一起.


Vocabulary
relinquish 放弃
acute 急性的
intestinal 肠的
undermine 破坏
speculate on 推测