中國網站品牌欄目（頻道）
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Wendi Deng (2nd L) lunges towards a man trying to attack her husband, News Corp Chief Executive and Chairman Rupert Murdoch, during a parliamentary committee hearing on phone hacking at Portcullis House in London July 19, 2011.(Agencies) |
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Rupert Murdoch, unfazed by a foam pie attack in the British parliament, made a "humble" apology on Tuesday for crimes that have rocked his media empire and the government but refused to resign, saying the fault lay with staff who "betrayed" him. Revelations of phone-hacking and payments to police by the News of the World have raised questions on his family's grip on News Corporation, on the probity of the police and on the judgment of Prime Minister David Cameron, who returned early from Africa for an emergency parliament debate on Wednesday. Calling it "the most humble day of my life", Murdoch defended his record and that of his son, and said he could not know everything that his 53,000 employees did. James, 38, sat beside him before parliament's media committee, interjecting on occasion as his 80-year-old father hesitated to give answers on what he knew, and when, of criminality at the Sunday tabloid. But as three hours of earnest, at times testy, proceedings drew to a close with lawmakers pressing the Murdochs to explain payments to some of those involved in the decade-old affair, the hearing briefly turned to violence and farce when a man rose from the public seating of the packed committee room. As he tried to hit the elder Murdoch with a paper plate of white foam, the Australian-born mogul's 42-year-old wife Wendi Deng leapt in to slap the protester in a melee before he was seized by police. He was identified as a left-wing comedian. After a short recess, Murdoch, now jacket-less, was told by one of the committee members he had shown "immense guts". Another lawmaker, long one of his most bitter critics, later jokingly complimented his wife on her "very good left hook". That televised cameo, and the emotionally worded statements from the Murdochs on their personal remorse and will to clean up the mess at the News International newspaper unit, may temper some of the public and parliamentary fury aimed at a man who has been courted and feared by British leaders for decades. "You couldn't make this stuff up. It could have turned the whole situation around for them," said Andrew Hawkins, chairman of polling company ComRes. "The combination of his father's age and the custard pie attack will have elicited a tremendous amount of sympathy. I suspect that in the weeks to come we will probably look back at this moment and think it was pivotal for them." (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies)
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魯伯特?默多克本周二就“竊聽門”事件出席英國議會聽證會，向受害者謙卑地道歉，但拒絕辭職。他表示，罪責應歸咎于“背叛”他的員工。這起竊聽事件動搖了他旗下的傳媒帝國和英國政府的地位。聽證會上，還上演了一名男子將剃須膏扔向默多克的小插曲。 電話竊聽丑聞以及《世界新聞報》買通警察一事曝光后，公眾開始對默多克家族對新聞集團的掌控、英國警方的公正、以及英國首相大衛?卡梅倫的判斷產生質疑。卡梅倫已從非洲提前趕回，參加本周三的議會緊急辯論。 默多克稱“這是我人生中最謙卑的一天。”他力證自己和兒子無罪，表示手下有5.3萬名員工，他不可能做到面面俱到。38歲的兒子詹姆斯坐在他身旁，對面是議會媒體委員會。當80歲的父親面對有關《世界新聞報》竊聽門的質詢感到遲疑時，他不時插話。 聽證會持續三個小時，氣氛嚴肅，但也有時緊張。接近尾聲時，立法人員要求默多克解釋收買相關人員的行為，竊聽事實已暗藏十年之久。此時一名男子在擁擠的委員會大廳的聽證席起身襲擊默多克，上演了一場充滿暴力的鬧劇。 當這名男子將一紙盤白色泡沫剃須膏潑向老默多克時，他42歲的妻子鄧文迪飛身上前掌摑襲擊者，現場一片混亂，之后該男子被警方制服。襲擊者是一名左翼活動人士，也是一名喜劇演員。默多克出生于澳大利亞，是著名傳媒大亨。 片刻休息之后，默多克脫掉外套繼續接受質詢。一名議員稱他非常“無畏”。另一名立法人士隨后打趣地稱贊他的妻子“左勾拳很精彩”。而他一直是默多克最嚴厲的批評者之一。 電視直播了這段插曲以及整場聽證會。默多克父子的發言十分感人，并表達了自責之意。他們表示將糾正旗下英國報業子公司犯下的錯誤。這些可能會緩和某些公眾和議員對默多克的怨氣。幾十年來，英國的領導者都拉攏默多克，而且對他懼怕三分。 康雷斯民意調查公司董事長安德魯?霍金斯說：“這不是捏造出來的，這有可能為他們打開局面。” “默多克的高齡以及遭襲事件會引發巨大的同情效應。我猜想，未來幾周我們很可能會回想這一瞬間，而且會認為這對他們至關重要。” 相關閱讀 （中國日報網英語點津 實習生史麗萍 編輯：Julie） |
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Vocabulary: unfazed: not dismayed or disconcerted; undaunted（未感到驚慌的，勇敢的） probity: integrity and uprightness; honesty（正直；誠實） interject: to interpose abruptly or sharply; interrupt with; throw in（插嘴，打斷別人的講話） testy: irritably impatient; touchy（易怒的；暴躁的） farce: a ludicrous situation or action（荒唐的事情；鬧劇） mogul: an important, powerful, or influential person（大亨；有權勢的人） melee: confusion; turmoil; jumble（混亂） guts: courage and fortitude; nerve; determination; stamina（勇氣；膽量；決心；毅力） left hook: 左勾拳 cameo：a. a single and often brief dramatic scene played by a well-known actor or actress in a film or television play（文藝或戲劇中的小品, 小品文） remorse: 懊悔；非常遺憾；自責 pivotal: of vital or critical importance（關鍵的） |
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