澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2011-05-11

（单词翻译）

The Treasurer¹ Wayne Swan has chartered a course to put the budget back into surplus. He’s predicting a budget deficit² of $49 billion this year, moving to a modest $3.5 billion surplus in two years’ time. There’s $22 billion worth of savings³ and more money to get people back to work and also more money for mental health. 

Software giant Microsoft is buying the Internet phone service company Skype. The $8 billion deal is the biggest in Microsoft’s 36-year history. It’ll give the company access to Skype’s 170 million users. The boards of both companies have already signed off on this deal. 

Bali Nine drug smuggler⁵ Scott Rush has won his appeal against a death sentence. Indonesia’s Supreme⁶ Court has voted two to one to commute⁷ his sentence to life in prison. The 25-year-old was arrested six years ago trying to smuggle⁴ heroin⁸ into Bali. 

The United Nations is calling for a pause in the fighting in Libya to help ease the growing humanitarian⁹ crisis there. Three quarters of a million people have fled the country since the uprising began. The UN says the situation is particularly dire¹⁰ in Misrata, where food and water are in short supply. 

And floodwaters in the US city of Memphis have peaked just below the 1937 record. The swollen¹¹ Mississippi River reached just over 14.5 metres. Hundreds of people fled their homes and it will take weeks for the water to recede¹². Cities and towns further downstream are now bracing¹³ for the worst.