This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
这里是美国之音慢速英语新闻报道。
This week, Ethiopians were closely following any news about the condition of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. A spokesman said in Addis Ababa on Thursday that the prime minister was taking sick leave on doctors' orders. Spokesman Bereket Simon said Mr. Meles' health was good, but he needed time to recover from an illness caused in part by an overload of work.
本周，埃塞俄比亚人密切关注着任何有关总理梅莱斯·泽纳维（Meles Zenawi）健康状况的新闻。发言人贝雷克特·西蒙（Bereket Simon）周四在亚的斯亚贝巴（该国首都）称，总理根据医嘱请了病假。贝雷克特表示，梅莱斯的健康状况良好，但他需要时间从部分由超负荷工作导致的疾病中恢复。
BEREKET SIMON: "Regarding his illness, I think I have told you that he is in good condition. He has got very good treatment for the ailment, and definitely he's in good condition."
贝雷克特：“关于梅莱斯的病情，我想我已经说过他很健康。他的小病得到了很好的治疗，毫无疑问他很健康。”
Mr. Bereket did not give any details of what the fifty-seven-year-old prime minister was being treated for or where. But he denied reports on Ethiopian dissident websites that Mr. Meles had brain cancer.
贝雷克特先生没有给出这位57岁总理治疗情况的任何细节。但他否认了埃塞尔比亚持不同意见的网站上称梅莱斯先生患有脑癌的报道。
The spokesman said the government was operating as normal and that Mr. Meles was still in power.
这位发言人表示，政府运作一如往常，梅莱斯先生仍然掌权。
BEREKET SIMON: "The only thing that I can say is, although he's in charge, he has to take some rest -- a week, ten days, five days, whatever. A leave of absence does not mean there's nobody in charge."
贝雷克特：“唯一我可以说的是，虽然由他执政，他需要休息十天八天，但他休病假不意味着就没人负责了。”
His comments followed media reports that the Ethiopian leader was in critical condition at a hospital in Belgium.
在贝雷克特发表评论之前，媒体报道梅莱斯在比利时一家医院病危。
David Shinn, formerly American ambassador to Ethiopia, told VOA that he had no information about the prime minister's health. But he said the spokesman's comments suggested a serious health issue.
前美国驻埃塞尔比亚大使戴维·希恩（David Shinn）对美国之音表示，他对梅莱斯总理的健康状况一无所知。但他表示，发言人贝雷克特的说辞表明梅莱斯健康问题很严重。
DAVID SHINN: "You wouldn't make a statement like that -- that is so open-ended -- unless the problem is significant."
希恩：“你不会做这种模凌两可的声明，除非问题很明显。”
He also described Mr. Meles as the kind of leader who plans ahead.
他还称梅莱斯是一位会提前规划的领导人。
DAVID SHINN: "Whatever his health problem is, he probably has known about it for some time. This was not some sort of a surprise issue, at least, that would be my guess. And if I am correct in that assumption then I would be willing to bet very good money that he has been planning for some way to deal with this issue in order to ensure some kind of reasonable succession of government in Ethiopia."
希恩：“不管他的健康问题如何，他可能早就已经察觉。这不是某种意外的问题，至少我这么认为。如果我的假设是正确的，那么我打赌，他一直计划着如何处理这个问题，以确保埃塞尔比亚政府的某种合理继承。”
Mr. Meles became president after he led rebels to power in nineteen ninety-one, overthrowing Ethiopia's former military government. He was elected prime minister in nineteen ninety-five.
1991年，梅莱斯先生率领叛军推翻了埃塞尔比亚前军政府，随后就任总统。1995年他当选总理。
Mr. Meles has served as the African Union's spokesman on climate change. He has been praised for helping lift Ethiopia out of poverty after civil war. But he has been criticized for silencing all forms of dissent.
梅莱斯先生曾担任非盟关于气候变化的发言人。他因为帮助埃塞俄比亚在内战后摆脱贫困，一直备受称赞。但也因为压制异议而一直受到批评。
Ethiopia has been seen as a close American ally in its support of anti-terrorism efforts in Somalia and East Africa. But the State Department has been critical of the government's human rights record and use of new anti-terrorism laws to suppress free speech. American officials have also criticized the way in which the government held recent national elections.
埃塞尔比亚因为在索马里和东非反恐措施上的支持被视为美国的亲密盟友。但美国国务院一直对埃塞尔比亚的人权记录以及使用新反恐法压制言论自由颇有微辞。美国官员还批评了埃塞俄比亚政府最近举行的全国大选。
Mr. Meles was last seen in public more than two weeks ago. He did not attend a meeting of AU leaders in the Ethiopian capital last Saturday and Sunday. At that meeting, South Africa's home affairs minister became the first woman to lead the African Union Commission.
梅莱斯先生最后一次在公开场合露面是两个多星期以前。他没有出席上周六和周日在埃塞俄比亚首都举行的非盟领导人会议。在那次会议上，南非内政部长成为首位领导非盟委员会的女性。
NKOSOZANA DLAMINI-ZUMA: "I, Nkosozana Dlamini-Zuma, solemnly undertake to exercise in all loyalty, discretion and conscience, the function and responsibility entrusted to me as chairperson of the Commission of the African Union."
德拉米尼·祖马：“我，德拉米尼·祖马，庄严承诺，忠实履行非盟委员会主席的职责。”
Ms. Dlamini-Zuma is the former wife of South African President Jacob Zuma. She was elected Sunday on the fourth ballot, defeating Chairman Jean Ping of Gabon.
德拉米尼·祖马是南非总统雅各布·祖马的前妻。她在周日的第四轮投票中，击败了来自加蓬的现任主席让·平（成为非盟委员会新任主席）。
(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)