This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Jackie RobinsonSunday will mark an important anniversary in American society. Sixty years ago, Jackie Robinson became the first black man to play in Major League Baseball.His uniform number, forty-two, was retired as an honor on the fiftieth anniversary. Si...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Friday was a statewide day of mourning in Virginia for the people shot to Mourners at a memorial in Blacksburg, Virginiadeath Monday at Virginia Tech. But other Americans also honored the thirty-two students and teachers. Some of the victims at the universi...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.This week, Russia buried its former president with full honors in Moscow. Boris Yeltsin died Monday at age seventy-six. He served from nineteen ninety-one to nineteen ninety-nine. He will always be remembered as Russia's first democratically elected leader....
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.White House officials have begun talks with Congress on a war spending bill in place of the one President Bush vetoed on Tuesday. President Bush speaking at the White House after he vetoed a $124 billion spending billHe rejected it because the Democratic-co...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.The stroke that left Ariel Sharon fighting for his life this week also left political experts debating the effects on Middle East peace efforts.The seventy-seven-year-old former general was expected to win a record third term as prime minister ...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.There are more warnings about the need to prepare for the possibility of a worldwide outbreak of bird flu.VOA's Steve Herman in Tokyo reported Friday on the results of a two-day meeting held by Japan and the World Health Organization.Delegates ...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.This week, the people of Chile elected their first female president -- and Africa's first elected woman president took office. In Chile, Michelle Bachelet won fifty-three percent of the ballots in a second vote held Sunday.She was the Socialist...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. The Islamic group Hamas won seventy-six of the one hundred thirty-two seats in the Palestinian parliament.Hamas defeated the ruling Fatah party.Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh outside his house at the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza The majority is ...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.George Bush, delivering his 2006 State of the Union addressPresident Bush gave his State of the Union speech to both houses of Congress and the American people Tuesday.This year, one of the major subjects was the nation's dependence on oil.Mis...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Protesters in Kuala LumpurThe drawings that have led to increasing protests by Muslims in recent days first appeared in a Danish newspaper last September.The Jyllands-Posten published twelve images of the Prophet Mohammad.Many Muslims say Isla...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.More countries found the h-five-n-one virus in birds this week.Cases of the deadly virus in chickens and turkeys in Egypt led to an emergency cabinet meeting on Friday. Earlier in the week, health officials found the virus in additional countri...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. American lawmakers continue to debate the sale of some operations at six ports in the United States to a Dubai company.A cargo ship is unloaded at Maryland's Port of BaltimoreDemocrats want Congress to have the right to disapprove the deal.Inf...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. This week, the State Department released its "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices."American officials use these yearly reports to develop policies, carry out diplomacy and decide about aid and other assistance.Secretary of State Condolee...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Three years ago, on March nineteenth, President Bush ordered American-led coalition forces to invade Iraq.One goal was to free the Iraqi people.The other was to prevent Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from using weapons of great destruction.The Uni...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.The world's first permanent court for war crimes was established in the Netherlands in two thousand two.Since then the International Criminal Court has not had anyone to bring to trial. This week the court in The Hague called its first prisoner...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Immigration was a major subject as President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox met this week.They were in Cancun, Mexico, joined by the new prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper.The North American leaders also discussed trade and other ...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.This week, Tom DeLay announced he will resign from Congress.The former House majority leader plans to leave by the middle of June.Video image provided by Rep. Tom DeLay's office shows DeLay announcing his intention to resign from CongressMister...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Iran has rejected an appeal from the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency to suspend its uranium enrichment activities.United Nations nuclear agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei met Thursday in Tehran with Iranian officials. Mohamed ElBara...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.This week, Columbia University in New York announced the winners this year of the Pulitzers.The Pulitzer Prize in Journalism is the top honor for American newspapers.The Washington Post won four awards.Susan Schmidt, James Grimaldi and Jeffrey ...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Mao Zedong led the revolutionary army that established the People's Republic of China in nineteen forty-nine.Mao led Communist China until he died in nineteen seventy-six.Today, governments in two countries that border on China face rebels foll...
