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Hello and happy Friday, everyone. I'm Natasha Chen, filling in for Coy from CNN's Los Angeles Bureau. Hope you're having an awesome day.

 

bureau [ˋbjʊro] n. 事务处，联络处

 

It is Friday, September 12th, and we have a lot of news headlines to tell you about, so let's get right to it.

 

We begin in Qatar, where Israel's deadly strike on the capital of Doha earlier this week shakes up the possibility of a Gaza ceasefire deal.

 

shake up 重新改变

 

It was the first time Israel struck inside Qatar, a key American ally that has been instrumental in hosting ceasefire negotiations up to this point.

 

instrumental [͵ɪnstrəˋmɛnt!] adj. 有帮助的

 

Israel says the strike, which killed five Hamas members, was targeting the terror group's negotiating delegation, and those officials had been visiting Doha for a while to participate in those ongoing ceasefire talks.

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that Israel will continue to go after the Hamas leaders responsible for the October 7th terror attacks, whether they're in Gaza or abroad.

 

go after 追逐, 追踪

 

But the strike in Doha is not only sending shockwaves through the region, it's also now unclear if a deal can be reached, not just for a ceasefire, but for the release of the remaining hostages being held by Hamas.

 

Qatar's Prime Minister was meeting with the families the very morning of Israel's attack and has publicly condemned Netanyahu for it. He spoke exclusively to CNN about the situation.

 

They are counting on this mediation.

 

count on 指望

mediation [midɪˋeʃən] n. 调解，斡旋

 

They have no other hope for that. And I think that what Netanyahu has done yesterday, he just killed any hope for those, for those hostages.

 

A senior Hamas official tells CNN that, quote, no one is talking about a ceasefire deal now.

 

Now to the Asian nation of Nepal, where the army has taken control of the streets in the capital city of Kathmandu. A curfew is now being enforced after two days of deadly anti-government protests. Tens of thousands of people poured into the streets, clashing with government forces sent to control them.

 

Kathmandu [ˌkætmænˈdu] n. 加德满都

 

Protesters set fire to key government buildings, including parliament and the Supreme Court. And Nepal's prime minister and several cabinet members have resigned in the face of the massive demonstrations.

 

It's the worst unrest the country has experienced in decades.

 

unrest [ʌnˋrɛst] n. 动乱；动荡

 

The country's health ministry says at least 30 people have been killed and thousands have been injured so far.

 

We just wanted to prove a point. We don't want corruption.

 

We don't want this. We don't want them to lead our country. And they just killed people.

 

Like, life doesn't matter to them.

 

The Gen Z-led demonstrations erupted after the government banned Facebook, WhatsApp and other platforms earlier this month. That was a result of previous anti-corruption protests.

 

But one eyewitness stresses that the goal of this movement is much bigger than just social media.

 

eyewitness [ˋaɪˋwɪtnɪs] n. 目擊者；見證人

 

Hundreds of South Korean workers detainedby the U.S. government last week have been released. They are scheduled to land in Seoul today after boarding a chartered Korean air jet, which departed Atlanta on Thursday.

 

The workers were taken into custody in a massive immigration raid at a plant in southern Georgia, jointly operated by South Korea-based companies Hyundai and LG Energy Solution.

 

Korean officials say President Trump offered to allow the workers to stay in the U.S. to train American workers, but only one person chose to do so.

 

Now to a major update on a story out of the world of medicine.

 

Scientists are making progress on research to improve the performance of pig organ transplants in humans. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, has given the go-ahead for human trials involving kidneys from pigs that have been genetically modified to be more compatible with human recipients.

 

go-ahead（用于给别人许可）进行

recipient [rɪˋsɪpɪənt] n. 接受者

 

This is important because there are more than 100,000 people in the U.S. alone waiting for organ donations, and 86% of those on the list need a kidney.

 

The average wait time to get one from a human donor is currently three to five years, but depending on the recipient, it can take as many as 10 years.

 

Time for 10-second trivia.Which invasive species is a major problem in Florida's swamps?

 

Burmese pythons, Komodo dragons, anacondas, or rattlesnakes?

 

python [ˋpaɪθɑn] n. 蟒；巨蛇

anaconda [ænəˋkɑndə] n. 蟒蛇；巨蟒；森蚺

 

The answer here is Burmese pythons.

 

The snakes are not native to Florida and were released into the wild primarily as a result of the exotic pet trade. The pythons have drastically reduced populations of native mammals and other wildlife, significantly impacting the ecosystem.

 

Burmese pythons aren't the only slithery species invading the Sunshine State.

 

slithery [ˋslɪðərɪ] adj. 滑溜的

Sunshine State【俚】阳光州（美国佛罗里达州别名）

 

Asian swamp eels have also been spreading throughout Florida's thousands of lakes and waterways in recent years, and as their population grows, so do concerns over the potential impact they could have on local ecosystems.

 

eel [il] n. 鳗鱼

 

But a team of scientists is employing a shockingly unique approach in their quest to capture the critters. Our West Brewer got an up-close and personnel look.

 

quest [kwɛst] n. 寻找；追求；探索

 

Today we're going after Asian swamp eels. These are long eel-like fishes that will be up in the rocks and vegetation, and they are introduced and potentially causing some ecological problems.

 

Asian swamp eel 黄鳝

 

Let me get one of those.

 

Yep, looks like a snake.

 

We first discovered them in the central Florida area in 2023, and since that time we've been identifying additional lakes that have established populations in them.

 

This is a multi-partner effort to do this type of surveillance to get an idea of their current distribution in the area.

 

We'll go one direction, you go the other.

 

We have a tool called the Flood and Storm Tracker where we look at post-flooding conditions and the potential for movement of non-native species like our Asian swamp eels.

 

There is potential once a population is established in one lake, they can be spread to other lakes through those flood actions.

 

It gives us an idea of potential spread and consequences, the impacts of these introductions by identifying where populations are and potentially how many are there, and are they recruiting, are they reproducing in those lakes.

 

recruit [rɪˋkrut] v. 招聘，吸收;（尤指军队）征募新兵

 

We produce an electrical field around the boat through an anode and a cathode, so you saw the booms out in the front and then we have metal wires that trail behind them.

 

anode [ˋænod] n.【电】正极；阳极

cathode [ˋkæθod] n.【电】阴极

boom [bum] n. 吊杆; 张帆杆

trail [trel] v. 拖，曳；跟踪；追猎

 

The electricity comes out of the front of the boom and allows that electrical field around the boat to temporarily stun the fish, allowing us to sample them and release them unharmed.

 

stun [stʌn] v. 把……打昏，使昏迷

 

It's a small shock that allows them to come to the surface and allow us to sample them.

 

shock [ʃɑk] n. 电击

 

We are continuing to do research on the swamp eels, looking at some diet studies. Some of our partners including Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, they're also participating, doing various studies to understand more of the life history of these.

 

corps [kɔr] n.（医务，通讯，军械等兵种的）部队

 

Prevention is not releasing animals that don't belong in the wild, either a pet or through life.

 

life [laɪf] n. 活物; 实物，真货

 

Today's story gaining a 10 out of 10. One LEGO fanatic is getting the chance of a lifetime watching one of his own creations become a piece of history.

 

fanatic [fəˋnætɪk] n. 狂热者

 

Lifelong LEGO fan Alex Sully has quite the collection. He's conquered sets ranging from log cabins to the Millennium Falcon, but over the years he's moved from building sets to designing them.

 

log cabin 小木屋

 

Alex has dreamed up nearly 50 different creations using an online program, and after years of submissions, one of them was approved.

 

So this is the Italian Riviera. It is almost 3,300 pieces. So my inspiration for this was a trip I was about to take and I was all excited and I was doing a bunch of research.

 

LEGO designers helped Alex perfect the set and it officially hit shelves in August. The seaside scene even features a cameo of its creator.

 

cameo [ˋkæmɪ͵o] n.（名演员在电影或剧目中的）客串角色，小配角

 

So there's a mini figure right here of me with my camera because I'm always taking pictures.

 

He says putting it together for the first time was a surreal experience. It's also proof that persistence can pay off even if it's one brick at a time.

 

All right superstars, before we head out for the weekend, let's get you a very special Friday shout out.

 

This one goes to Ms. Bargfried's 7th graders and all the students at XT Middle School in Seattle, Washington. I had so much fun with you all today. I hope you did too.

 

Coy will be back on Monday. Have a great weekend. I'm Natasha Chen and this is CNN 10.