I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Two influential thinkers of the twentieth century have died.John Kenneth Galbraith, the economist, died on April twenty-ninth at the age of ninety-seven.Jane Jacobs, a defender of cities, died April twenty-fifth at the age of eighty-nine.Jane J...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Different types of methAmong illegal drugs, methamphetamine now has more users worldwide than cocaine and heroin combined.That statement comes from the chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration in the United States.Karen Tandy spoke this we...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. This is the opening weekend for the movie version of "The Da Vinci Code."The mystery about art, religion and murder is based on the book by Dan Brown.The latest reports say his three-year-old book has already sold sixty million copies worldwid...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Lee Jong-wook Health ministers from more than one hundred ninety countries met this week in Geneva to discuss issues like bird flu and other threats. But the yearly meeting of the World Health Assembly opened with tragic news. Lee Jong-wook, he...
Delegates speak at UN AIDS conferenceI'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.This week, the United Nations held a high-level meeting to discuss progress against AIDS and to set new goals for the future. The three-day meeting in New York ended Friday. It marked twenty-five years since...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Photo of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is shown at a news conference in IraqOn Thursday, Iraqi and American officials announced the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The leader of al-Qaida in Iraq is blamed for hundreds of deaths in bombings there and his ...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.East Timor asked for United Nations peacekeepers following the recent riots there. But international peacekeeping forces are not always welcomed. Map of SomaliaThe Somali parliament wants African troops to help return law and order after fiftee...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Kofi Annan speaks Monday to the opening meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council. The meeting in Geneva will last until June 30.This week, in Geneva, Switzerland, the United Nations Human Rights Council met for the first time. The new council i...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Americans gave an estimated two hundred sixty thousand million dollars to charity last year. That was an increase of six percent over two thousand four. The Giving USA Foundation says about half the increase resulted from giving after natural...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Discovery arriving at the International Space StationThis week, the space shuttle Discovery flew to the International Space Station as NASA struggles to meet an important date. A plan to complete the station by two thousand ten is at risk. This...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.In Washington, one of the most important Supreme Court decisions in years has now led to discussions in Congress. At issue is the power of the president, even at a time of war. The Supreme CourtThe decision came June twenty-ninth in a case called Hamdan ver...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim organization formed in Lebanon after the Israeli invasion in nineteen eighty-two. The name means "Party of God." Hezbollah militants during a parade last yearHezbollah calls itself a resistance group. It took credit when Israel ...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Pascal LamyAlmost five years of talks among countries in the World Trade Organization came to a halt this week. Director-General Pascal Lamy in Geneva suspended the troubled negotiations. He says restarting them will require work within countries. The talks...
This is Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo had to wait a long time for the elections last Sunday. It was the first time in almost a half-century that there were candidates from more than one party. Great numbers of people voted in the pre...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.AIDS 2006The sixteenth international AIDS conference will be held in Toronto, Canada, from August thirteenth to the eighteenth. Organizers say the meeting will be the world's largest since the first international conference took place in nineteen eighty-fiv...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says the administration will appeal the ruling by Judge Diggs Taylor.A federal judge in the United States says the Terrorist Surveillance Program violates the Constitution. This is the first such ruling against the secret p...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Pluto compared to other solar system bodies including Earth.This week, there were two big developments in astronomical science. One was a decision to name Pluto a "dwarf planet." The other was the announcement earlier in the week that scientists have found ...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Environmentalists are praising a bill passed this week in California -- the Global Warming Solutions Act of Two Thousand Six. It would make California the first American state to restrict the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Producing e...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.A map showing Senate seats that will be decided in November's election. Red states are currently held by Republicans, Blue by Democrats.This week marked the traditional start of the campaign season in the United States after Labor Day. Congressional, state ...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.An African Union soldier in DarfurDebate continued this week over what will happen at the end of the month when African Union peacekeepers may leave Darfur. The African Union has a seven-thousand member force in the Darfur area of western Sudan. But violenc...
