AP 2010-12-18

（单词翻译）

1. President Barack Obama says US diplomat¹ Richard Holbrooke deserves credit for the hard-won progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Holbrooke died Monday night. He had surgery in Washington Saturday to repair a tear in his aorta². He was 69 years old.

2. President Obama says he is not disturbed by a federal judge's ruling that a key part of his health care law is unconstitutional. The ruling states that Americans cannot be compelled to buy health insurance. The ruling states that Americans cannot be compelled to buy health insurance. Obama noted³ yesterday that other judges have found the law constitutional.

3. WikiLeaks founder⁴ Julian Assange is scheduled to be in a London court today. He’s fighting extradition⁵ to Sweden in a sex-crimes investigation⁶. Assange is also trying to secure bail⁷ after being held for a week in a British prison cell.

4. The bitter, slow-moving storm that has battered⁸ the upper Mid-west is now making its way into the Northeast. But it’s not just snow and strong winds that are the problems. Bone-chilling temperatures are now in place from Minnesota to Florida. Below-average temperatures are expected to stay in place for several days.