VOA English Newscast: 2000 UTC February 16, 2016

From Washington, this is VOA News.      I’m Dave DeForest reporting. Ukraine's president has asked the country's prime minister to resign. President Petro Poroshenko made the surprise request Tuesday in the face of what is perceived to be a government failure to fight corruption and overcome an economic crisis. Opinion polls show growing public disenchantment with the government of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Turkey is bracing for a possible new onslaught of Syrian refugees. Officials fear that fighting in Northern Syria between Kurdish and government forces will cause civilians to flee, seeking safety. Kurdish militiamen have taken control of a strategic town that overlooks the junction of two main roads leading to Aleppo. And Regime forces seized control of two villages overnight. A Turkish official said Tuesday that his government is asking allies to take part in a ground operation in Syria. He said that is the only way to stop the country's five-year war. But the official told reporters that while Turkey wants a ground effort, it will not undertake the effort on its own. Candidates in Uganda are holding final rallies ahead of the country's presidential and legislative elections. Voters will decide on Thursday whether to give President Yoweri Museveni a fifth term in office. On Monday, Ugandan police detained opposition candidate Kizza Besigye as he campaigned in the country's capital. Uganda's assistant inspector general of police accused Besigye of violating campaign rules. Four of the world's biggest oil-producing nations moved to freeze their production Tuesday. They are trying to stop the drop in the price of crude oil, which has resulted from a glut of petroleum on world markets. The agreement was reached by oil ministers of a number of countries. This is VOA News. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This New perceived – v. recognized; thinking of something as being something stated overcome – v. to defeat; to successfully deal with poll – n. an activity in which a number of people are asked questions in an effort to get information about a larger population is thinking disenchantment – n. dissatisfaction bracing – v. preparing for something onslaught – n. a violent attack strategic – adj. important or useful overlooks – v. to look down on something; to fail to see junction – n. a place where two things meet; a place where roads or railroad lines come together regime – adj. of or related to a government overnight – adj. during the night undertake – v. to begin or attempt something rallies – n. demonstrations or gatherings ahead – adv. or adj. before or toward of the front crude – adj. unprocessed or untreated glut – n. too much of something

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