VOA English Newscast: 1900 UTC January 21, 2016

From Washington, this is VOA News.    I’m  Ira Mellman reporting. A British murder investigation points a finger of accusation toward  Vladimir Putin... A top British government investigator says Russian President Vladimir Putin probably personally approved the assassination of (Alexander) Litvinenko, a Russian spy-turned-dissident who was exiled in Britain after criticizing Putin. Robert Owen, a retired judge serving as the inquiry's chairman Thursday announced his year-long inquiry had confirmed the Russian state was responsible for the November 2006 poisoning of Litvinenko, carried out by two Russian agents at the Millennium Hotel in central London just a few meters from the U.S. Embassy. VOA's London correspondent Louis Ramirez has more. “The report says that president Vladimir Putin probably approved the assassination of Litvinenko, which happened in 2006 when he met with two Russian agents at a hotel in central London. The allegation which is now conclusive, pretty much proven, by British investigators was that they laced his tea with a highly toxic radioactive substance known as radioactive polonium. This resulted in contamination of the hotel and the contamination pretty much spread across the streets of London wherever Mr. Litvinenko was after that moment. He fell ill very quickly, died 23 days later.” In Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zhakarova said "we regret that a purely criminal case has been politicized and has darkened the general atmosphere of bilateral relations.'' More on our website at voanews.com. This is VOA News. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story Assassination –n. the killing of a well-known person usually for political reasons Allegation –n. a statement saying someone has done something wrong or illegal Lace –v. to add a small amount of a powerful substance to something Contamination –n. a substance that makes something or a place dirty, impure or toxic Bilateral –adj. relating to two sides

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The Perfect Progressive Tenses

  Editor's note: See An Introduction to Verb Tenses for the first story in this series. For VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. This is the last in our four-part series on verb tenses. Make sure you see our episodes on progressive and perfect tenses before trying to learn the perfect progressive tenses. For English learners, the perfect progressive tenses can be scary. But they are more straightforward than you might think. When you talk about grammar, perfect means “complete,” and progressive means “unfinished.” Perfect progressive sentences focus on the completion of an action that is, was or will be in progress. Think about this sentence in the past perfect progressive: “I had been waiting for three years by the time my application was approved.” In this example, the emphasis is on duration of the first verb waiting. Perfect progressive tenses often answer the question how long? There are three perfect progressive tenses: the present perfect progressive, the past perfect progressive, and the future perfect progressive.   Present Perfect Progressive Past Perfect Progressive Future Perfect Progressive PERFECT PROGRESSIVE TENSES It had been snowing for two days before it stopped. Had been + -ing verb + for/since It has been snowing all month long. Has/have + -ing verb + for/since It will have been snowing for three days by the time it stops. Will have been + -ing verb + for/since   Present Perfect Progressive Let’s start with the present perfect progressive. You form the present perfect progressive by using have been (or has been) followed by an –ing verb. For instance, “She has been sitting in class since early this morning.” The action, sitting, is continuing. But the emphasis is on the completed part of the action. Here are some more examples: I have been waiting for 20 minutes. I have been studying since I was a child. It has been snowing all day long. In all of these sentences, the emphasis is on how the finished activity relates to the present. A time reference is not required to use the present perfect progressive. Sometimes we use it to refer to recently completed actions. Imagine your friend comes to your house with red, puffy eyes. You might say, “Your eyes are red. Have you been crying?” Or you notice that a co-worker is looking tanned. You might ask, “You look tanned. Have you have been sunbathing?” Remember that stative verbs cannot be used in any progressive tense. A stative verb describes unchanging situations, often mental states such as realize, appear and seem. You should not say, “I’ve been knowing you for a long time.” If you have a stative verb, use the present perfect: “I have known you for a long time.” Almost all native speakers will contract, or shorten the pronoun that comes before have or has. “I have been” will sound like, “I’ve been.” Expert grammarian and teacher Betty Azar tells English learners: “Don’t expect slow, careful pronunciation of helping verbs in normal conversation.” Past Perfect Progressive Let us move on to the past perfect progressive. The past perfect progressive emphasizes the duration of a past action before another action happened. For example, “I had been smoking for 10 years before I quit.” You form the past perfect progressive by using had been followed by an –ing verb. Notice how the past perfect progressive often includes the adverbs for and since to express duration. You will also see the adverbs before, when or by the time used to introduce a second action. The second action uses the simple past tense. Here are some more examples: I had been studying for 12 years by the time I graduated from high school. She had been living there since she was a child. He had been teaching for 12 years before he was certified. The past perfect progressive can also describe a recently completed action. For instance: My clothes were wet because it had been raining. He was talking loudly because he had been drinking. Future Perfect Progressive We will end with the future perfect progressive. The future perfect progressive describes the duration of an action as it relates to a future event. There are two ways to form the future perfect progressive. Both require two actions. One is by using “will have been” plus a present participle, followed by “when” or “by the time” and the second action. For example, “I will have been working for 35 years by the time I retire.” Notice that the second planned action, retire, is in the simple present. The simple future is never used with the second action. The other way to form the future perfect progressive is using “be going to have been” plus a present participle followed by “when” or “by the time” and the second action. The order of the actions can be reversed with either form. For example, “By the time the plane arrives, I am going to have been waiting for five hours.” With the future perfect progressive, it is not always clear if the ­­–ing verb started in the past or will start in the future. For example, “The doctor will have been working for 24 hours by the time his shift is finished.” The future perfect progressive is rare because it is difficult to know the duration of an activity relative to another future event. And those are the three perfect progressive tenses in English. We have been talking about verb tenses for several weeks now. It is time to move on to other topics. We leave you with a present perfect progressive song by the music band "Foreigner." "I’ve been waiting for a girl like you To come into my life" I’m John Russell. And I’m Jill Robbins.   Adam Brock wrote this story for Learning English. Jill Robbins and Kathleen Struck were the editors. What do you think is the hardest verb tense of the ones you’ve studied? Write to us in the Comments section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   straightforward – adj. direct, not complicated puffy – adj. larger than normal contract - v. to make (something) smaller or shorter certified – adj. having met the official requirements that are needed to do a particular type of work episode - n. part of a longer program, such as a film or television series tanned - adj. becoming more brown in color graduated - v. successfully completed a study program duration - n. the time during which something continues participle - n. a form of a verb that is used to change a noun or verb

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Monkeys Can Be as Spiteful as Humans

Monkeys do not like it when others get more food than they do, according to a new study. Researchers from Yale and Harvard universities found Capuchin monkeys punish monkeys that get more food. “This sort of, ‘If I can’t have it, no one can’ response is consistent with psychological spite, and it was previously thought unique to humans,” said Kristin Leimgruber of Harvard University. She is a co-author of the research study. The researchers watched as some Capuchin monkeys were given more food than others. They found that monkeys getting the smaller share pulled a rope to collapse a table holding the other monkey’s bigger share. Another lead researcher, Yale University psychologist Laurie Santos, explained over email. "I think that we can conclude about humans is that some of our more embarrassing tendencies (e.g., not liking it when others get more than us in some situations) have relatively deep roots.” Santos said the spiteful response was not present with another member of the ape species – chimpanzees. An earlier study, she said, showed chimpanzees would collapse the table of other chimpanzees who took or stole food from them. But they would not collapse the table of chimpanzees who just happened to have more food, Santos said. In other words, it was fine if another chimpanzee had more food -- as long as they did not steal it. I'm Caty Weaver.   Bruce Alpert reported and researched this story for VOA Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section or share your views on our Facebook Page -- whether you like monkeys or not. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   spite – n. a desire to harm another person because you feel that you have been treated wrongly or unfairly previously – adv. happening at an earlier time unique – adj. used to say that something or someone is unlike anything or anyone else embarrassing – adj. to make (someone) feel confused and foolish in front of other people tendency – n. a quality that makes something likely to happen or that makes someone likely to think or behave in a particular way relatively – adv. when compared to other ​

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Simon and Garfunkel and Bernie Sanders

This is What’s Trending Today… In less than two weeks, the state of Iowa will vote on its choices for the 2016 Democratic and Republican presidential nominees. The Iowa Caucus begins a months-long process of selecting presidential candidates. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is one of the Democratic presidential candidates. On Thursday, he released a new ad targeting Iowa voters. The 60-second ad is set to a famous song from the 1960s: the folk rock band Simon and Garfunkel’s “America.” The video shows images of Iowa farms, coffee shops, families at kitchen tables, and thousands of Sanders' supporters. The ad is designed to show Sanders’ growing crowd of supporters made up of “everyday Americans.” “Simon and Garfunkel” trended worldwide on Twitter and on Facebook. “Simon Garfunkel and Bernie Sanders” was also a Top-10 Google search on Thursday. On social media, people praised Sanders for his choice of avoiding attacking other candidates and instead “focusing on voters,” as one New York Times headline said. As Simon and Garfunkel’s famous line, “They’ve all come to look for America,” plays, so, too, does video footage of Sanders' supporters. Twitter user @Hilary_Crisan tweeted: “This is what political ads should look like. No intimidating. No trash-talking. Just Simon and Garfunkel.” ​ And @dsfriends tweeted: “Not in any way an endorsement - but this is a well done political ad #emotionwins.” ​ Twitter user @STrimel said: Best political ad of the season! Brings a tear to my eye. Maybe yours, too.” Bernie Sanders himself tweeted: “ This campaign is not about Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, or Donald Trump. This campaign is about you.” And that’s What’s Trending Today. I’m Ashley Thompson. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   trash talk - n (informal). insulting speech intended to intimidate or humiliate someone, especially an opponent​ endorsement - n. a public or official statement of support or approval

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Missing Booksellers Raise Fear of Lost Freedom in Hong Kong

Chinese security forces confirmed they are holding Lee Bo, one of five book publishers who recently disappeared. Lee is a small publisher of books about China and its leaders. He was last seen December 30 on his way to his warehouse. Lee publishes books that are critical of the Chinese government and detail the personal lives of government officials. These officials do not want the public knowing about their personal affairs. Until the confirmation, no one had heard from Lee for weeks. His wife received a message in early January that he was alright, according to a report by the Reuters news service. The confirmation that Lee is in China came because of an inquiry from the Hong Kong police. Gui Minhai is another missing bookseller. He was last seen in October in Thailand. But he resurfaced during a state media broadcast on Sunday. Gui says he returned to China to answer for his role in killing a student during a traffic accident over 10 years ago. In an interview with Reuters, Gui’s daughter says the allegation that her father was involved in an accident is “ridiculous.” She says she thinks her father was abducted because of his work. Two of five missing publishers have now been heard from, but questions remain about freedoms in Hong Kong. The case of the missing booksellers is important for Hong Kong because the island’s residents are supposed to have different rights and protections than people who live in China. Those rights are part of Hong Kong’s “Basic Law” which provides freedom from arbitrary arrests and the right to elect a chief executive for the island. Albert Ho is a member of the Hong Kong Democratic Party. He says the disappearances of Lee and other publishers is a problem. “It is very threatening to the Hong Kong people, because it is related to the basic personal safety and the security of the city. It is much more than a question of political development or democratization. It concerns whether any Hong Kong citizen is vulnerable to being taken away or kidnapped.” The disappearances prompted protest marches earlier in January. They also resulted in some Hong Kong bookstores removing the contested books from their shelves. William Nee works with the human rights organization Amnesty International. He says the government in Hong Kong needs to do more to be sure the territory’s rights are protected. “You know, the government needs to continue over the long run to be very vigilant in ensuring that the rights guaranteed in the Basic Law are actually implemented.” I’m Dan Friedell.   Shannon Van Sant wrote this story for VOANews.com Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor. Do you think the missing booksellers in Hong Kong are being silenced? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   abduct – v. to take (someone) away from a place by force allegation – n. a statement saying that someone has done something wrong or illegal executive – n. a person who manages or directs other people in a company or organization contest – v. to make (something) the subject of an argument or a legal case : to say that you do not agree with or accept vigilant – adj. carefully noticing problems or signs of danger vulnerable – adj. open to attack, harm, or damage      

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English @ the Movies: 'Put Your Foot Down'

This English @ the Movies phrase is "put your foot down." It comes from the funny movie "Inside Out," about a young girl and the emotions inside her head. At one point, her dad gets so mad, he ends up having to put his foot down. What does that mean? Find out.

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January 21, 2016

A look at the best news photos from around the world.

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subtract (verb)

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American Concerts Available Worldwide

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra will be performing works by Georges Bizet Friday morning. You might enjoy classical music and like to attend the performance, but live far away from America’s Motor City. On Saturday, the GoGo group Curtis Johnson & The Band Eternity is performing at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. If you live overseas, going to that show is probably out of the question. But there is a solution! These and other concerts are available “live” on the Internet. You can hear them in real time with an electronic device. Both performances will be available on the World Wide Web. They are part of a growing number of concerts broadcast on computers, tablets and smart phones. These digital concerts are known as live-streaming. Technology expert Michael Antonoff says better and less costly equipment is making it easier for performers and theaters to offer music "live" online. The quality of the sound and video images are improving all the time, he says. A few years ago, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra experienced hard times, similar to its home city’s financial problems. The orchestra even had to cancel its 2010-2011 season because of a bitter labor dispute. After the dispute ended, the group started offering concerts online. Those online concerts now have as many as 40,000 viewers per show. People in 100 nations are watching. “It is a huge part of our increasing global reach,” said Eric Woodhams, director of digital initiatives at the Detroit Symphony. He said it also increases donations to the orchestra. Some concerts are done from fine arts centers. The Kennedy Center has been offering live webcasts of its daily, free 6 o’clock concerts since 1999. Other performers sing from their living rooms, using a small camera or two and several microphones to capture their songs. But it does take some getting used to, especially the lack of a live audience. “The first time we played, the lack of reaction was somewhat weird, but you quickly get used to it,’’ said Graydon James of Toronto’s Young Novelists. “You finish the song and there's a moment of quiet, then you start chatting again.” People show their appreciation by leaving comments in the space provided. After a recent webcast concert by California singer-songwriter Marina V. ((Verenikina)), people offered these comments:  “Wow,” “Great song,” “You killed it,” and “Standing ovation.” Many livestream concerts charge between $2 and $10 to watch. Many are free or let people choose how much to pay. People can add “tips” for the performers – much like someone might leave extra money for a server at a restaurant. “People can be surprisingly generous and streaming services now have interesting perks you can add in to the experience,” says James of The Young Novelists. “We've done things like say give us a tip of $5 or more and we'll play a cover song you request.” On New Year’s Eve, many people at Washington’s Kennedy Center were dancing to the modern jazz tunes of Michael Mwenso & the Shakes. Mwenso urged people watching at home to join in the dancing. But performers cannot see whether their online followers are dancing, cheering or falling asleep. For international performers, Kennedy Center officials see a jump in online viewership from the home countries of the performer. There is hometown pride when an artist is performing at one of America’s best-known concert venues, says the Kennedy Center’s Garth Ross. At a recent Kennedy Center concert, a performer said he was so happy that his disabled mother back in California could watch his performance. It is not just music being streamed on the web. On December 10, the producer of the musical “Daddy Long Legs” put the show on the web free of charge. It was the first live webcast of a New York musical. Over 150,000 people from 135 nations watched, producer Ken Davenport said. In other words, it would take his musical 2.7 years of sold out performances to draw that many people. Davenport said the webcast provided the “word-of-mouth” that smaller theaters like his, “need to get noticed.” Popular sites streaming live concerts and other events include:  https://www.stageit.com, http://ift.tt/1Nuv2c4 and http://livestream.com. I'm Jim Tedder   Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. Who would you like to see perform online? Have you ever watched an online concert and, if you did, what did you think?​ Write to us in the Comments section or share your views on our Facebook Page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   classical – adj. relating to music in a European tradition that includes opera and symphony and that is generally considered more serious than other kinds of music solution – n. something that solves a problem concert – n. a public performance of music electronic – adj. operating through the use of many small electrical parts performance -- n. an activity (such as singing a song or acting in a play) that a person or group does to entertain an audience digital – adj. showing the time with numbers instead of with hour and minute hands viewer – n. a person who watches a show on television, or online global – adj. worldwide audience – n. a group of people who gather together to listen to something, such as a concert or play appreciation – n. a feeling of being grateful for something generous – adj. freely giving or sharing money and other valuable things pride – n. a feeling of happiness that you get when you or someone you know does something good  

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VOA English Newscast: 2000 UTC January 20, 2016

  From Washington, this is VOA News.       I’m Dave DeForest reporting. An attack in Pakistan: A gun and bomb attack on Bacha Khan University in the Pakistani town of Charsadda Wednesday left at least 20 people dead and many wounded. A military spokesman says 18 students and two university staff are among the dead. Troops gunned down four attackers. There are conflicting statements from the Taliban about its involvement in the attack. Afghan officials say a suicide car bomb near the Russian Embassy in Kabul has killed at least seven people. Police say the attack targeted a minibus carrying the production staff of an Afghan television channel. Several employees of Tolo TV are among the dead. The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack. Falling oil prices, China's economic slowdown, and a pessimistic outlook for the overall global economy this year has sparked another selloff on stocks on global markets. U.S. indexes fell 3.4 percent or more in Wednesday's afternoon trading. Stocks in Germany, France and Britain dropped. Markets closed down in Asia. A United Nations delegation flew to Burundi Wednesday to urge the government and the opposition to begin talks before it is too late to avert a catastrophe. It is the second time the Security Council has sent a delegation to the country in less than a year -- a clear indication of its growing concern about the escalating bloodshed. U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power is a part of the group. “They cannot let it become business as usual, when you wake up in the morning and there is a corpse on the street as you try to get to work. And that is what is starting to happen in Burundi. The election-related violence has killed at least 439 people since April. This is VOA News. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This News   staff – n. employees or workers gunned down – v. shooting and killing someone television channel – n. television station pessimistic – adj. having or showing a lack of hope outlook – n. a set of conditions that will probably exist in the future overall – adv. as a whole or in general global – adj. of or involving the whole world sparked – v. setting off a burst of activity indexes – n. measurements that show the value or quality of something catastrophe – n. a horrible disaster indication – n. a sign or expression of something escalating – v. becoming worse or more severe bloodshed – n. violence corpse – n. a dead body   We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. ​

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Bomb Threats Empty Schools in 7 States

Police are investigating threats against dozens of schools this week in seven U.S. states. Searches failed to find bombs or other dangers. Threats were called in to at least 26 schools in New Jersey on Tuesday. Most were to schools in suburbs of New York City, police said. Other threats were called in Tuesday to schools in Maryland, Iowa, Massachusetts, Delaware, Arizona and Florida. Wednesday brought more bomb threats to schools in Delaware and Arizona. The threats come at a time polling shows Americans worried about terrorist attacks. New Jersey police officials said voices on the threatening phone calls sounded altered by computers. The calls were traced to Bakersfield, California, police said. At Clifton High School, a voice mail warned of a bomb. A separate call warned of a “mass shooting” at the school later on Tuesday, said Sgt. Robert Bracken of Clifton Police Department. The responses to the threats varied, according to news reports. Some schools moved students to other buildings while officials searched the threatened schools. In New Jersey, some students said they waited outside their schools for an hour or more without coats in below freezing temperatures. Other schools closed for the day. And some kept students “locked down” in their classrooms. In New Jersey, police used dogs trained to smell explosives. Police and school officials said Tuesday they could not say if most threats came from a single group or person. They also said they did not know the reason threats were made. Some police said some calls appear the work of “copy cats.” Copy cats are people who repeat an action taken by somebody else. Last month, threats were made to school administration offices in New York City and Los Angeles. Emails warned of attacks on multiple schools in the two cities. Los Angeles officials decided to close their schools that day, but New York City officials kept schools open. No bombs were found. Los Angeles and New York are the largest school districts in the United States. The threats are making some students and parents nervous. NBC 4 TV News in New York reported some students said they decided not to return to school Tuesday after the “all clear” signal was given because they remained afraid. Last month, President Barack Obama observed the third anniversary of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. A lone gunman killed his mother and then drove to the school where he killed 20 first graders and six educators. In Virginia, Prince William County school and police officials met Monday with parents to discuss recent bomb threats at four county high schools. Insidenova.com reported that officials told parents most people planning school shootings “do not advertise shootings.” “We have to take the threat seriously, but we also have to balance our approach so that we’re not scaring the kids,” said Police Lieutenant David Burghart, according to Insidenova.com But a school official told parents they should tell their children to report any threats they hear about from classmates or others. I'm Jonathan Evans.   Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English. His report was based on police and media reports. Kathleen Struck was the editor. Share your comments below or on our Facebook page.​ _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story suburb – n. a town or other area where people live in houses near a larger city alter – v. to change something or someone voice mail – n. a message left on a telephone answering device response – n. something that is done as a reaction to something else vary – v. different responses to the same problem locked down -- v. to be kept in place dozens - n. large numbers of people or things polling - n. an activity in which many people are asked questions in an effort to get information about what most people think about something according - adv. as stated by or in coats - n. an outer piece of clothing that keeps a person warm or dry​

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