Fatwa Explains IS Rules About Sex Slaves

The leaders of the Islamic State terror group have written a detailed memo about how female sex slaves should be treated by their IS captors. A document was written in January 2015 but was recently uncovered by the Reuters news agency. For example, a man who takes a woman as a sex slave cannot also have sex with her daughter, Reuters reports. A translation of the original document says: “It is necessary to clarify some rules pertaining to captured prisoners to avoid any violations in dealing with them.” Apparently the rules needed to be made clear because most members of IS did not know how to treat captive women. “These rules have not been dealt with in ages,” says the first part of the document. The New York Times wrote about the rape of a 12-year-old girl last summer. The girl was an IS captive for 11 months before escaping to a refugee camp in Iraq. The girl said her captor would kneel down and pray before raping her. He said the rape was allowed by the Quran and brought them both closer to God. The girl is part of the Yazidi religious minority who are being persecuted by IS. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have written about the sexual abuse of Yazidi women by their IS captors. Donatella Rovera is a crisis advisor for Amnesty International. She works with women who once were enslaved by IS. “IS fighters are using rape as a weapon in attacks amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity,” she says. The IS document outlines “do’s and don’ts” when dealing with female sex slaves. Here is part of the list: If a slave becomes pregnant, her captor cannot have sex with her again until after she gives birth. A man cannot cause an abortion if the slave is pregnant A father cannot have sex with a slave, give her to his son and then have sex with her again If two or more people purchase a female slave, none of them can have sex with her because she is a “joint” captive The owner of a female slave cannot humiliate her or force her to do work he knows she will not be able to perform. The list has at least 15 separate points. According to the New York Times story, IS has captured so many women that their trade has turned into a thriving business. Women are held in warehouses, inspected like livestock and transported in fleets of buses. All sales are documented by IS-run Islamic courts. One girl talked about how her captor considered her rape allowed by God. An expert on Yazidi life from the University of Chicago told the New York Times that many of the IS attacks in Iraq are fueled by the desire to capture more women as sex slaves. Controlling territory is a secondary concern. A report from the BBC in 2014 said over 3,500 Yazidi women and girls had been captured by IS. The treatment of these captives prompted more than 100 Muslim scholars worldwide to write an open letter to IS. They condemned its practices as un-Islamic. Two points of their letter were: “It is forbidden to deny women their rights, and it is forbidden to re-introduce slavery.” I’m Dan Friedell.   Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English based on reporting from the Reuters and the New York Times. Kathleen Struck was the editor. What do you think of the way the Islamic State group treats captured women? Write to us in the Comments section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   abortion – n.  to end a pregnancy  fleet – n. a group of ships or vehicles that move or work together  humiliate – v. to make (someone) feel very ashamed or foolish livestock – n. farm animals (such as cows, horses, and pigs) that are kept, raised, and used by people memo– n. a usually brief written message from one person or department in an organization, company, etc., to another persecute – v. to treat (someone) cruelly or unfairly especially because of race or religious or political beliefs pertain – v. to relate to someone or something : to have a connection to a person or thing thrive – v. to grow or develop successfully : to flourish or succeed

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Plant Your Mobile Charger in the Dirt

Three university students in Santiago, Chile have developed a plant-powered device to charge their mobile phones. The three engineering students got the idea for the device while sitting in their school's courtyard. Their invention is a small biological circuit they call E-Kaia. It captures the energy plants produce during photosynthesis. A plant uses only a small part of the energy produced by that process.  The rest goes into the soil. E-Kaia collects that energy. The device plugs into the ground and then into a mobile phone. The E-Kaia solved two problems for the engineering students. They needed an idea for a class project. They also needed an outlet to plug in their phones. One of the student inventors, Camila Rupcich, says the device changes the energy released from the plant into low-level power to charge phones. The E-Kaia is able to fully recharge a mobile phone in less than two hours. I’m Jonathan Evans. VOA’s Jessica Berman reported this story from Washington. Jonathan Evans adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   courtyard – n. an open space that is surrounded completely or partly by a building or group of buildings circuit – n. the complete path that an electric current travels along photosynthesis – n. the process by which a green plant turns water and carbon dioxide into food when the plant is exposed to light

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English in a Minute: Low-Hanging Fruit

Low-hanging fruit on a tree is the easiest fruit to pick. But this expression actually has nothing to do with fresh fruit. Find out what makes something "low-hanging fruit" in this week's English in a Minute!

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Suicide Attack Kills 26 in Pakistan

A suicide bomber in northwest Pakistan killed at least 26 people and left more than 40 wounded last week. The explosion occurred in the Pakistani city of Mardan. The blast took place outside the door of a government office. The office was the National Database and Registration Authority. That office was in charge of issuing national identity cards.  The attacker arrived at the office’s gate on a motorbike. The cyclist was stopped by a security guard. He detonated an explosive vest, according to a witness. An investigation into the identity of the bomber is underway. ​A Pakistani official said if the bomber was not stopped at the gate, the death toll would have been higher. It is estimated that the rider was carrying up to 12 kilograms of explosives. A BBC report said about 50 people were wounded in the blast. Some were injured critically. Most of those killed or injured were civilians. The attack is one of the deadliest in Pakistan since a December 2014 massacre left 150 students and teachers dead in Peshawar, the BBC reported. ​A faction of the Pakistani Taliban said it carried out the attack. In a statement sent to VOA, the group said it targeted the office because it is part of Pakistan’s anti-terrorism war. But a spokesman for the mainstream Taliban in Pakistan said the Taliban had nothing to do with the bombing in Mardan. I'm Jonathan Evans. Ayesha Tanzeem and Ayaz Gul wrote this story for VOAnews.com. Jim Dresbach adapted it for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or visit our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   blast – n. a powerful explosion motorbike – n. a small motorcycle cyclist – n. some who rides a motorcycle or bicycle detonate – v. to explode or to cause something to explode massacre – n. the violent killing of many people faction – n. a group within a larger group that has different ideas and opinions than the rest of the group

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Have You Ever 'Stolen' A Kiss?

Flying Robots Are Coming to US Universities

Flying devices, called drones, may be one of the most important technologies of the future. The number of jobs for people who know how to design, build and control them is increasing. Because of this increase, several U.S. universities and colleges started offering degrees in unmanned aerial systems, or UAS. One of these universities is the University of Washington in Seattle. Christopher Lum is an aeronautics research scientist with the university's Autonomous Flight Systems Laboratory. Lum helps students explore how civilian drones can safely share the skies with regular aircraft. Ryan Valach loves the three years he spent in the flight lab. "One of the coolest parts is [working] with industries and all the cool technology we work with. It is a definitely an opportunity that a lot of students don't usually get," he said. Ward Handley is seeking a master's degree in aeronautics and astronautics at University of Washington. When the drone program first began, he did not think it was a good idea. "I … decided, no I do not want to work on drones because of the privacy issues," he said. Drones can be used to invade people's privacy. But when an offer for a paid position in the drone lab appeared, Handley changed his opinion. He said, "I'd like to see them used for good rather than [bad]. I think there are good enough [purposes] for them that are really useful.” However, the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, is creating new rules to control the use of drones. The FAA is the part of the U.S. government that controls air travel and traffic. A new FAA law requires drone owners to register their drones. All drones must be registered in a government database by February 19, 2016. People who do not register their drones could face fines of up to $20,000. Changing current rules may also present problems for students looking for drone-pilot experience. One problem for many school's unmanned aerial systems programs is finding a legal place to fly. Students at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, Oregon fly inside the college gymnasium. In Seattle, University of Washington student Alec Bueing showed off the place where his department tests the drones. "It's just a [big] room that we move the tables and chairs out of. ... If it happens to get out of control toward the windows we [reduce] any damage," he explained. Lum explained why they test drones inside a building. He said it takes a very long time to get official permission to fly outside. "The federal [laws] are a little bit [restricting]. ... We need to register our aircraft. We need to [get] what is called a Certificate of Authorization," Lum said. That process can take months. The FAA wants to replace the way it examines requests to register drones. Now, the FAA looks at each case differently. The organization wants to create a national rule for civil UAS, and UAS used for business, later in 2016. "At this time, Kansas State University is the only school with … [permission] to offer unmanned aircraft flight [classes] to students [outside]," an FAA representative wrote. The FAA selected Kansas State and 15 other universities to be part of a national academic research group, called the Center of Excellence for UAS. The group will receive federal money to expand research and training. Also in the group is the University of North Dakota. The university is the first to offer a UAS degree. Lum and some of his students recently moved their research to Australia. Australia has fewer rules governing UAS. A professor at Western Washington University also took his department's drones to Canada for the same reason.  I'm Pete Musto.   Tom Banse reported and wrote this story for VOA news. Pete Musto adapted it for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor. Now it's your turn. Do you think government should let private citizens use UAS? Are UAS common in your country? Let us know in the comments section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   unmanned aerial systems – n. flying vehicles or machines controlled either by onboard computers or by the pilot on the ground or in another vehicle aeronautics – n. a science that deals with airplanes and flying aircraft – n. a machine such as an airplane or a helicopter that flies through the air master's degree – n. a degree a college or university gives to a student usually after one or two years of additional study following a bachelor's degree astronautics – n. the science and technology of human space travel and exploration privacy – n. the state of being away from public attention database – n. a collection of pieces of information that is organized and used on a computer gymnasium – n. a room or building that has equipment for sports activities or exercise show(ed) off – p.v. to cause a lot of people to see or notice someone or something of which you think highly academic – adj. of or relating to schools and education ​

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Cemetery Goats Eat Weeds, Save Planet

A burial place in Washington, D.C. is using goats instead of poison to remove weeds. Congressional Cemetery, which opened in the early 1800s, is near Capitol Hill. Capitol Hill is where important buildings and business of U.S. government are located.    Many former members of the U.S. House and Senate are buried there. The cemetery is also the final resting place of former FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) Director J. Edgar Hoover and famous Civil War photographer Mathew Brady. There are more than 65,000 graves there. Burials still take place today. In recent years, many weeds have grown in the cemetery. Officials did not want to use poisons, called herbicides, to kill the weeds. The cemetery is near the Anacostia River. Officials have worked for many years to remove pollutants from the river, which runs through the city. Lauren Maloy is the program director at the cemetery. She says because it is close to the river, “We are always looking for ways to make sure that we are sustainable, that we are not using pesticides that might hurt the environment.” So cemetery officials decided to use goats. The animals are less costly than chemicals and do not hurt the environment. And the goats eat a lot of weeds. The animals are owned by Mary Bowen, a farmer. She operates a company called Browsing Green Goats. The cemetery pays her company more than $11,000 to have the goats remove unwanted plants from each hectare of the cemetery. But Mary Bowen says that is about half the cost of using herbicides. An electronic fence keeps the goats from leaving the cemetery. Mary Bowen says she examines the fence every day. She says she has not lost a goat in five years. She says the goats do not need to be told what to do, and they only stop eating when they want the food to settle in their stomachs. Mary Bowen says she hopes the goats will help more people understand that they can keep their property free of weeds without hurting the environment. I’m Kathleen Struck. Correspondents Joseph Mok and Yiyi Yang reported this story from Washington. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted it into VOA Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, or visit our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   weeds – n. a plant that grows very quickly where it is not wanted and covers or kills more desirable plants cemetery – n. a place where dead people are buried grave – n. a hole in the ground for burying a dead body poison – n. a harmful or deadly substance herbicide – n. a chemical used to destroy plants or stop plant growth sustainable – adj. able to last or continue for a long time; involving methods that do not completely use up or destroy natural resources pesticide – n. a chemical that is used to kill animals or insects that damage plants or crops  

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Coffee May Help You Live Longer

  From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report. Today we have more good news for all our coffee drinkers around the world. Another new study finds that drinking coffee can help you live longer. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health recently discovered that drinking between three and five cups of coffee a day may prevent certain illnesses. They found that coffee can protect against heart disease, brain diseases, type 2 diabetes and suicide. Walter Willett is a nutrition researcher at Harvard and co-author of the study. Willet says the findings extend to both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee – or decaf, as Americans often call it. So, the health benefits come not just from the caffeine in coffee, but from the compounds in the beans. Study methods The large study of about 200,000 subjects included data from three ongoing studies. Subjects in the study had to answer questions about their coffee drinking habits every four years over a 30-year period. Researchers found that moderate coffee drinking was linked with a reduced risk of death from many diseases. These diseases include cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurological diseases such as Parkinson's, and suicide. However, the researchers found no link between coffee drinking and cancer. Researchers also considered other habits such as smoking, obesity, and how active the subjects were. They also looked at what kinds of food the subjects ate, as well as how much alcohol -- and what type of alcohol -- they drank. They published their findings in the journal Circulation. All things in moderation This Harvard research adds to a growing body of evidence. This body of evidence finds drinking a moderate of coffee may have many health benefits, including a longer life. This is according to one of the researchers involved in the study. Frank Hu is senior author of the study. He is also a professor of nutrition and epidemiology. He studies how food affects illness. Hu adds that data from the study support the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Report. This report found that drinking a moderate amount of coffee can be part of a healthy diet. But how much and when you drink coffee is important. You may remember another study we reported on recently. That study said drinking coffee too late in the evening can disrupt your sleep. Questions Not everyone feels the recent Harvard study confirms anything. The news organization NPR spoke with one expert who warns that not everyone reacts to coffee the same way. Andrew Maynard of Arizona State University told NPR that the health benefits documented in this new study are “small.” Maynard says the study does not prove cause and effect between drinking coffee and living longer. He says the study points to an association, or link, between drinking coffee and living longer. Even those involved in the research still have questions. When NPR spoke with study co-author Walter Willett, he said he is not sure how coffee is linked to certain health benefits. Willett says the take-home message – in other words, the important thing to learn – is that if you like coffee, do not feel guilty about drinking it in moderation. If you don’t like coffee, don’t feel you have to start drinking it to be healthy. I’m Anna Matteo. Matthew Hilburn wrote this story for VOA News. Anna Matteo adapted it for Learning English, adding additional information from other reports and coffee research. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   decaffeinated – adj. not containing caffeine : having the caffeine removed association – n. a connection or relationship between things or people subjects – n. a person (or animal) used in an experiment, study, etc. body – n. a group of things that are related or connected in some way​ moderate – adj. average in size or amount : neither too much nor too little moderation – n. the avoidance of excess or extremes, especially in one's behavior or political opinions

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Nairobi Residents Turn to Community Currency

At the Sifa Primary School outside Nairobi, Kenya, students pay their tuition with a new, local currency called the pesa. The school is one of several institutions that accepts the community currency. Teacher Josephine Ouma says the currency has made life easier. The currency is widely used by people in the Gatina Village where she lives. The pesas are equal in value to the Kenyan shilling and can be spent in the community just like cash.  The new currency gives poor people more buying power than they would otherwise have. If members of the community have a shortage of the national currency, they can use the community currency to "get access to the goods and services they may need," said Ruth Mwangi, with Grassroots Economics. It is like having a credit card without the interest. The non-profit group Grassroots Economics introduced the currency here last year. Community currency programs are being set up by non-profit organizations across the world. Although they are called currencies, they are really a regional form of exchange, or barter. They help poor communities increase trade and create jobs, according to Grassroots Economics, based in Mombasa, Kenya. It “does not replace but rather supplements the national currency system,” reported the non-profit group. How does community currency work? Here’s how community currency works: A non-profit group like Grassroots Economics organizes local businesses into a commercial barter club. Each business is given an initial amount of credit by the other businesses. These credits are backed by the goods and services of each participating business. The credits can be exchanged for various goods and services at any business in the network. A portion of the credits is collected as a tax by the non-profit organization. This is used to fund public service projects in the community, like road maintenance or trash collection.   These alternative currencies are growing in popularity and are used in a variety of local communities around the world, including Europe, Africa and the U.S. For example, Bay Bucks is a community currency used in San Francisco. “You earn Bay Bucks every time a business purchases your goods or services on the Exchange, and you can spend the Bay Bucks you earn when you want to purchase anything in the Bay Bucks marketplace,” according to their website. Let’s say Albert is a baker who needs help filing his taxes. He contacts Betty, a bookkeeper in the network, and pays her 500 Bay Bucks for her tax preparation services. Betty pays Albert 50 Bay Bucks for some bagels to serve at her next meeting. She also pays Charlie, a web designer in the network, 300 Bay Bucks to design a new logo. And on it goes, stimulating business in the local economy. Participating businesses “can use future sales” to pay for what they need now, according to Chong Kee Tan, the co-founder of Bay Bucks. Merchants in the network do not pay any interest on their purchases. Credit in community currencies is interest free.    Grassroots Economics has given pesas to about 500 locals in Gatina Village. Each member receives a maximum of 400 pesas. Of these, 200 are saved and pooled for community improvement projects. The rest can be spent like cash. Those 500 people are a just a small percentage of the roughly 10,000 people living in Gatina Village. Grassroots Economics said it started with a small number of members so they can monitor the currency. Francis Njuguna, a shopowner in the village, said: “There are some challenges with the currency, since there are a lot of people who have not accepted its use, but I believe that once we educate them on it, they will accept it, since many more are joining as we continue to enlighten them.” What are the benefits of community currency? Traditional national currencies are issued by the government and backed by banks in those countries. For example, the British pound is backed by the Bank of England. But community currencies are based on a system of trust among local residents, explained Simon Woolf. He is managing director of the Brixton Pound, a community currency used in the south London district of Great Britain. The Brixton pound was launched in 2009. Woolf said in a TEDx talk that community currencies “stimulate local trade and the local economy.”          Supporters of community currency say it is a cost-effective way to promote small local businesses and achieve social and environmental goals. Participants in Kenya also say the currency provides a cushion against hard times. Grassroots Economics plans to expand the community currency program to communities in Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania in 2016. But experts say community currencies have limitations. Radha Upadhyaya is with the Institute for Development Studies at the University of Nairobi. “It prevents you from getting goods and services from outside the economy, the local economy, and that means that the exchange networks are quite small,” she said. Woolf noted that it is hard to measure the economic impact of the Brixton pound. “There are 50,000 Brixton pounds in circulation,” he said. But no one knows how many are actually being used and what the effect is on the local economy.      I’m Mary Gotschall.        Mary Gotschall wrote this story for Learning English, with additional reporting from Lenny Ruvaga at VOANews.com. Kathleen Struck was the editor. Do you have an opinion about this topic? Let us know what you think in the Comments section below, or on our Facebook page.  ___________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   tuition – n. money that is paid to a school for the right to study there currency – n. the money that a country uses : a specific kind of money barter – n. a system in which goods or services are exchanged for other goods or services instead of for money enlighten – v. to give knowledge or understanding to (someone) : to explain something to (someone) cushion – n. something (such as an extra amount of money) that you can use to reduce the bad effect of something (such as an unexpected problem or expense) shortage – n.  a state in which there is not enough of something that is needed

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'The Ransom of Red Chief,' by O. Henry

We present the short story “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry. Here is Shep O’Neal with the story. It looked like a good thing. But wait till I tell you. We were down south, in Alabama – Bill Driscoll and myself – when this kidnapping idea struck us. There was a town down there, as flat as a pancake, and called Summit. Bill and I had about $600. We needed just $2,000 more for an illegal land deal in Illinois. We chose for our victim -- the only child of an influential citizen named Ebenezer Dorset. He was a boy of 10, with red hair. Bill and I thought that Ebenezer would pay a ransom of $2,000 to get his boy back. But wait till I tell you. About 2 miles from Summit was a little mountain, covered with cedar trees. There was an opening on the back of the mountain. We stored our supplies in that cave. One night, we drove a horse and carriage past old Dorset’s house. The boy was in the street, throwing rocks at a cat on the opposite fence. “Hey little boy!” says Bill. “Would you like to have a bag of candy and a nice ride?” The boy hits Bill directly in the eye with a piece of rock. That boy put up a fight like a wild animal. But, at last, we got him down in the bottom of the carriage and drove away. We took him up to the cave. The boy had two large bird feathers stuck in his hair. He points a stick at me and says: “Ha! Paleface, do you dare to enter the camp of Red Chief, the terror of the plains?” “He’s all right now,” says Bill, rolling up his pants and examining wounds on his legs. “We’re playing Indian. I’m Old Hank, the trapper, Red Chief’s captive. I’m going to be scalped at daybreak. By Geronimo! That kid can kick hard.” “Red Chief,” says I to the boy, “would you like to go home?” “Aw, what for?” says he. “I don’t have any fun at home. I hate to go to school. I like to camp out. You won’t take me back home again, will you?” “Not right away,” says I. “We’ll stay here in the cave a while.” “All right!” says he. “That’ll be fine. I never had such fun in all my life.” We went to bed about 11 o’clock. Just at daybreak, I was awakened by a series of terrible screams from Bill. Red Chief was sitting on Bill’s chest, with one hand holding his hair. In the other, he had a sharp knife. He was attempting to cut off the top of Bill’s head, based on what he had declared the night before. I got the knife away from the boy. But, after that event, Bill’s spirit was broken. He lay down, but he never closed an eye again in sleep as long as that boy was with us. “Do you think anybody will pay out money to get a little imp like that back home?” Bill asked. “Sure,” I said. “A boy like that is just the kind that parents love. Now, you and the Chief get up and make something to eat, while I go up on the top of this mountain and look around.” I climbed to the top of the mountain. Over toward Summit, I expected to see the men of the village searching the countryside. But all was peaceful. “Perhaps,” says I to myself, “it has not yet been discovered that the wolves have taken the lamb from the fold.” I went back down the mountain. When I got to the cave, I found Bill backed up against the side of it. He was breathing hard, with the boy threatening to strike him with a rock. “He put a red-hot potato down my back,” explained Bill, “and then crushed it with his foot. I hit his ears. Have you got a gun with you, Sam?” I took the rock away from the boy and ended the argument. “I’ll fix you,” says the boy to Bill. “No man ever yet struck the Red Chief but what he got paid for it. You better be careful!” After eating, the boy takes a leather object with strings tied around it from his clothes and goes outside the cave unwinding it. Then we heard a kind of shout. It was Red Chief holding a sling in one hand. He moved it faster and faster around his head. Just then I heard a heavy sound and a deep breath from Bill. A rock the size of an egg had hit him just behind his left ear. Bill fell in the fire across the frying pan of hot water for washing the dishes. I pulled him out and poured cold water on his head for half an hour. Then I went out and caught that boy and shook him. “If your behavior doesn’t improve,” says I, “I’ll take you straight home. Now, are you going to be good, or not?” “I was only funning,” says he. “I didn’t mean to hurt Old Hank. But what did he hit me for? I’ll behave if you don’t send me home.” I thought it best to send a letter to old man Dorset that day, demanding the ransom and telling how it should be paid. The letter said: “We have your boy hidden in a place far from Summit. We demand $1,500 for his return; the money to be left at midnight tonight at the same place and in the same box as your answer. "If you agree to these terms, send the answer in writing by a messenger tonight at half past 8 o’clock. After crossing Owl Creek, on the road to Poplar Cove, there are three large trees. At the bottom of the fence, opposite the third tree, will be a small box. The messenger will place the answer in this box and return immediately to Summit. If you fail to agree to our demand, you will never see your boy again. If you pay the money as demanded, he will be returned to you safe and well within three hours.” I took the letter and walked over to Poplar Cove. I then sat around the post office and store. An old man there says he hears Summit is all worried because of Ebenezer Dorset’s boy having been lost or stolen. That was all I wanted to know. I mailed my letter and left. The postmaster said the mail carrier would come by in an hour to take the mail on to Summit. At half past eight, I was up in the third tree, waiting for the messenger to arrive. Exactly on time, a half-grown boy rides up the road on a bicycle. He finds the box at the foot of the fence. He puts a folded piece of paper into it and leaves, turning back toward Summit. I slid down the tree, got the note and was back at the cave in a half hour. I opened the note and read it to Bill. This is what it said: “Gentlemen: I received your letter about the ransom you ask for the return of my son. I think you are a little high in your demands. I hereby make you a counter-proposal, which I believe you will accept. You bring Johnny home and pay me $250, and I agree to take him off your hands. You had better come at night because the neighbors believe he is lost. And, I could not be responsible for what they would do to anybody they saw bringing him back. Very respectfully, Ebenezer Dorset.” “Great pirates of Penzance!” says I, “of all the nerve…” But I looked at Bill and stopped. He had the most appealing look in his eyes I ever saw on the face of a dumb or talking animal. “Sam,” says he, “what’s $250, after all? We’ve got the money. One more night of this boy will drive me crazy. I think Mister Dorset is making us a good offer. You aren’t going to let the chance go, are you?” “Tell you the truth, Bill,” says I, “this little lamb has got on my nerves, too. We’ll take him home, pay the ransom and make our get-away.” We took him home that night. We got him to go by telling him that his father had bought him a gun and we were going to hunt bears the next day. It was 12 o’clock when we knocked on Ebenezer’s front door. Bill counted out $250 into Dorset’s hand. When the boy learned we were planning to leave him at home, he started to cry loudly and held himself as tight as he could to Bill’s leg. His father pulled him away slowly. “How long can you hold him?” asks Bill. “I’m not as strong as I used to be,” says old Dorset, “but I think I can promise you 10 minutes.” “Enough,” says Bill. “In 10 minutes, I shall cross the Central, Southern and Middle Western states, and be running for the Canadian border.” And, as dark as it was, and as fat as Bill was, and as good a runner as I am, he was a good mile and a half out of Summit before I could catch up with him. You have heard the American story “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry. Your storyteller was Shep O’Neal. This story was adapted into Special English by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Lawan Davis. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   ransom – n. money that is paid in order to free someone who has been captured or kidnapped carriage – n. a large vehicle with four wheels that is pulled by a horse and that carries people paleface – n. a name supposedly used by North American Indians for a white person. sling – n.  a strap usually with a pocket in the middle that is used to throw something (such as a stone) funning – v. joking or teasing someone Now it’s your turn. Have you ever known a “wild” child like the boy in this story?  How did you deal with the child? Write to us in the Comments section.

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Belgium Detains Suspects in New Year’s Terror Plot

Police in Belgium detained at least six people last week in connection with an alleged terror plot on New Year’s Eve in Brussels. Two men were arrested Tuesday. The pair of Belgian nationals, identified by the BBC only as 30-year old Said S. and 27-year-old Mohammed K., were planning holiday terror attacks in Brussels, prosecutors said. Belgian police detained six more people during raids Thursday morning. Those six were connected to an alleged New Year’s Eve plot in Brussels. The prosecutor’s office did not mention any other potential targets or threats in Europe. But earlier this week, Austrian police received intelligence that major European capitals were at risk of being attacked over the holiday. ​Brussels’ main New Year’s fireworks display was cancelled after the plot was uncovered. In Russia, Red Square also closed for New Year’s celebrations. In Paris, site of a deadly terrorist attack in November, the main fireworks display were cancelled. A traditional New Year’s gathering on the Champs-Elysees will be held. I’m Jonathan Evans. Staff members from VOA news wrote this story for VOAnews.com. Jim Dresbach adapted it for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor. Do you worry about terrorism happening in crowded places? We want to know what you think. Write to us in the Comments Section or visit our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   nationals – n. people who are citizens of a country prosecutors – n. lawyers who represents the side in a court case that accuses a person of a crime and who try to prove that the person is guilty

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