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...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Thai soldiers near Parliament in BangkokThai military leaders say their seizure of power Tuesday was necessary to unite a nation divided by months of political tension. Eighty percent of Thais in a public opinion study approved of the ouster of Thaksin Shin...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo AbeJapan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has already taken his first steps to try to repair relations with South Korea and China. Mister Abe and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun spoke by telephone earlier this week and ag...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon is expected to become secretary-general of the United Nations on January first. Mister Ban was the winner this week in unofficial voting by the Security Council. He was the only one who did not receive a vote of opp...
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.North Korea this week announced it carried out its first-ever nuclear test. North Korean officials said they exploded a nuclear weapon under the ground. map of north koreaInternational testing equipment confirmed that ground movement in the nor...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.This week, the national population clock at the United States Census Bureau reached three hundred million. This is only an estimate -- the next official count is in two thousand ten. The Census Bureau's population clockBut the Census Bureau says the United ...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.From left: Gao Yu, May Chidiac and Elena Poniatowska The International Women's Media Foundation presented three Courage in Journalism Awards this week at a ceremony in New York. One went to May Chidiac, a Lebanese broadcaster who survived a bomb attack last...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.A picture from the negative ad targeting Congressman FordThe United States will hold local, state and national elections this Tuesday. Opinion studies suggest that the Democrats may be in a position to end Republican control of one or both houses of Congres...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.November eleventh is Veterans Day, when Americans honor those who serve Congresswoman Pelosi meets with President Bush d in the military. Some Americans think the best way to honor the troops in Iraq is to bring them home. Others think more troops should be...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.The Middle East was very much in the news this week. These were a few of the developments: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad In Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country was ready to take the final step in its nuclear program. He did not say ...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.For years, activists for the rights of women have marked November twenty-fifth as an important date. It is a day to recognize the goal of ending violence against women.November twenty-fifth was chosen to honor three sisters in the Dominican Republic. The Mi...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Local governments in the United States have always had a constitutional right to seize private property, with fair payment. This right is called eminent domain. Eminent domain has traditionally been limited to the taking of land for public uses like roads, ...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.President Bush meets with Iraq Study GroupThe message was loud and clear: the situation in Iraq is bad and only getting worse. After nine months of work, the Iraq Study Group gave its report this week, calling for major changes in United States policy. The ...
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Crime rates in the United States have been dropping for a number of years. Rates of violent crime have fallen to their lowest levels since the nineteen seventies. President Bush noted this in his declaration in April for National Crime Victims' Rights Week....
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Each year, the editors and news directors of the Associated Press choose what they believe are the top ten news stories of the year. AP voted the Iraq War the top news story of the yearThey chose the war in Iraq as the number one news story this year. Two t...
I'm Steve Ember with In the News in VOA Special English.This week we tell about some of the biggest news stories of twothousand four. We start in Asia, with what is being described as oneof the worst natural disasters ever.Last Sunday, huge waves moved across the Indian Ocean and floodedcoastal area...
