辋川集

木末芙蓉花,山中发红萼,涧户寂无人,纷纷开且落

By - 陳 思敬

Syrian rebels inside Aleppo Part One

Syrian rebels1 inside Aleppo2, who have been reduced3 to holding just a sliver4 of the city, were reported to have surrendered5. But a deal6 under which they would be allowed to leave for the province of Idlib promptly7 ran into difficulties, and fighting resumed8. Anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 civilians9 are still trapped10 inside the tiny remaining enclave11. See here and here.
A bomb at a Coptic Christian church in Cairo killed at least 25 worshippers12, two days after two bomb attacks targeted police in the Egyptian capital. See article.
America said it would limit its arms sales to Saudi Arabia, following concerns13 about the high number of civilians being killed by Saudi air strikes in Yemen aimed at Houthi rebels.

The president of Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, retracted14 his earlier concession15 of defeat and challenged the result of an election16 on December 1st, which he lost. Leaders of neighbouring states have been pressing him to stand down with threats17 of sanctions18 and the use of force against him. See article.
Muhammadu Buhari, the president of Nigeria, proposed19 a budget20 that will increase government spending by 20% in a bid21 to restart growth in an economy that has slumped22 into recession23.
Nana Akufo-Addo, the leader of Ghana’s opposition New Patriotic24 Party, won the presidency25. It was the country’s seventh more-or-less peaceful poll26 since the return of multiparty27 democracy28 in 1992.
António Guterres was sworn29 in as UN secretary-general30. The former Portuguese prime minister and head of the UN refugee agency is taking over from Ban Ki-moon.

  1. Someone who tries to remove a government or leader using force
  2. A city in the north west of Syrian
  3. To make something smaller or less in size, amount, importance etc
  4. A small pointed or thin piece that has been cut or broken off something
  5. To say officially that you have been defeated and will stop fighting
  6. An agreement or arrangement, especially in business or politics, that helps both sides involved
  7. At the right time without being late, immediately
  8. To start doing something again after stopping or being interrupted
  9. Anyone who is not a member of the military forces or the police
  10. In a dangerous place, to prevent someone from escaping from somewhere, especially a dangerous place
  11. A small area that is within a larger area where people of a different kind or nationality live
  12. The ones who show respect and love for a god, especially by praying in a religious building
  13. A feeling of worry about something important
  14. If you retract something that you said or agreed, you say that you did not mean it
  15. something you allow somebody something that you allow someone to have in order to end an argument or a disagreement
  16. When people vote to choose someone for an official position
  17. A statement in which you tell someone that you will cause them harm or trouble if they do not do what you want
  18. Official orders or laws stopping trade, communication etc with another country, as a way of forcing its leaders to make political changes
  19. To suggest something as a plan or course of action
  20. The money that is available to an organization or person, or a plan of how it will be spent
  21. An offer to pay a particular price for something, especially at an auction ( a public meeting where land, buildings, paintings etc are sold to the person who offers the most money for them )
  22. To fall or lean against something because you are not strong enough to stand
  23. A difficult time when there is less trade, business activity etc in a country than usual
  24. Having or expressing a great love of your country
  25. The position of being the president of a country or organization, or the period of time during which someone is president
  26. The process of voting in an election, or the number of votes recorded
  27. Involving or including more than one political party
  28. A system of government in which every citizen in the country can vote to elect its government officials
  29. To promise that you will do something
  30. The most important official in charge of a large organization, especially an international organization

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