vocab question

[jie2li4]

新华网哈尔滨５月２９日电 入春以来，北方大部分地区持续干旱，森林火险气象等级居高不下，森林火灾时有发生。

I can't figure out what the "电 入春以来" part means, and the dictionary isn't much help. If someone could explain, I'd greatly appreciate it.

[skylee]

There is a space between 电 and 入春以来

电 - telegraph from (now it simply indicates the source of the news)

入春以来 - since the start of this spring

[jie2li4]

Okay, it makes sense now-- thanks a lot!

[Kong Junrui]

Wait, so does a space after the 电 give it a different meaning, or what? I'm kind of confused as to what importance the space has here.

[imron]

I doesn't change the meaning at all, 电 is still the abbreviation of telegraph i.e. that the news came "over the wire". The space is there to indicate that the first part 新华网哈尔滨５月２９日电 is separate from the following part 入春以来……

So, the first part lists the source of the article - i.e. that it came from the Xinhua network, then it has the place and date of the story, and finally we have that it came "over the wire" (电). 入春以来…… is then the beginning of the article proper.

It's like in English, seeing.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two British journalists.....

The "-" here serves the same purpose as the space in the Chinese article.

[skylee]

the space means that it should not be read as "电 入春以来". instead, it should be read as "新华网哈尔滨５月２９日电：入春以来，......".