August 18, 2016

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

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August 17, 2016

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

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Study: Cutting Out One Sugary Drink is Good for Your Health

A new study shows that replacing one sugary drink a day with water can help a person lose weight and improve their health. Kiyah J. Duffey (http://ift.tt/2b4wDt6) helped to write a report on the study. She says no matter how many sugar-sweetened beverages someone drinks, “replacing even just one serving can be of benefit.” Duffy is a specialist on human nutrition, foods and exercise. She teaches at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg. Medical experts believe sugary drinks are partly to blame for the obesity epidemic in some areas. The drinks have also been linked to Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The U.S. government's 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans says no more than 10 percent of a person’s daily calories should come from sugary drinks. Duffy says just replacing one 236-milliliter sugary drink with the same amount of water would help people reach that target. “We found that among (American) adults who (drink) one serving of sugar-sweetened beverages per day, replacing that drink with water lowered the percent of calories coming from drinks from 17 to 11,” she said. “Even those who consumed more sugary drinks per day could still benefit from water replacement, dropping the amount of calories coming from beverages to less than 25 percent of their daily caloric intake she said.” The report was published in the journal Nutrients. (http://ift.tt/2b2OHAx) I’m Caty Weaver. VOANews.com reported on this story. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted the report for Learning English. George Grow 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   beverage – n. something you can drink; a liquid for drinking serving – n. an amount of food or drink that is enough for one person benefit – n. a good or helpful result or effect obesity – adj. very fat; fat in a way that is unhealthy epidemic – n. an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people calorie – n. a unit of heat used to indicate the amount of energy that foods will produce in the human body intake – n. the amount of something (such as food or drink) that is taken into your body    

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Bill Gates: Nigeria Can Stop Polio Despite Setback

Bill Gates says the world can beat polio -- despite two new cases of the disease in Nigeria. Gates, who started Microsoft, spoke to VOA’s Africa 54 program. He said he was disappointed to hear of two new cases in Borno, located in Nigeria’s northern Lake Chad region. But Gates said he is optimistic that the whole world would soon be polio free. He said he is hopeful, despite how hard it is to find kids in areas that are not safe. Northern Nigeria is where Boko Haram militants operate.  “We need to find kids and we need people to understand the importance of getting all the kids to take these oral polio vaccines,” Gates said.  Nigerian officials said the virus was found in two children from Borno State earlier this year. The discovery came days before Nigeria would have marked two years without a case of polio. Ministry of Health officials told VOA that the army would help health teams to vaccinate children in Northern Nigeria. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated $3.5 billion since 2000 to stop polio. Forbes Magazine lists Bill Gates as the richest person in the world. In 1999, the foundation said polio was present in 125 countries and paralyzed 350,000 people every year. Last year, Gates said, there were 19 cases in the world. “This by far the lowest year of polio cases ever and we’re getting smarter all the time about how to find the villages, how to reach out to the traditional leaders,” Gates said.  Gates said his goal is to allow “kids in poor countries” to be as “healthy as kids in the rest of the world.” That requires better health care, better food and more education in poor nations, he said. “There’s still a lot to be done,” Gates said. But he said it is important to talk about how much progress has been made in recent years. Gates told VOA that 25 years ago, about 12 million children under age five died every year. “Now,” he said, “that number is under six million”. Polio used to strike fear into every parent before 1952, because there is no cure. But Dr. Jonas Salk found a vaccine. These days, kids no longer need a painful injection to make them safe from the virus. A few drops taken by mouth can prevent a lifetime of paralysis. Gates said it is important to spread the vaccination program into northeastern Nigeria, along with Pakistan and Afghanistan. “The simple thing if we get every kid to take the vaccine, then the disease drops to zero and zero is a really magical number,” he said.  The benefits of making the world polio free are major, Gates said. “No kid will be paralyzed and no parents will have to worry about this disease, which back in its heyday was very, very, very widespread,” Gates said.  Gates spoke about where he sees that effort now. “So, getting the coverage level up, not having large pockets of children, like that in the Lake Chad region, that we’re missing with the vaccines, that is what we have to deal with. We certainly see great progress on that in Asia, and now we got to redouble our efforts in Africa.”  I’m Mehrnoush Karimian-Ainsworth.   Kenneth Schwartz reported this story for VOANews.com. Bruce Alpert adapted the story for Learning English. Pete Heinlein was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and share your views on our Facebook Page. ___________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   disappointed -- n. feeling bad about a situation optimistic -- n. feeling hopeful about a situation oral -- adj. of or relating to the mouth paralyze - v. to make a person unable to move or feel all or part of the body magical -- adj. very special heyday -- n. the time something was at its greatest strength            

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Brazil Welcomes Refugees

Fleeing places such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan is not easy because few countries will accept refugees. Several of the countries that do welcome refugees are in South America. Over the past five years, Brazil has been the place where refugees arrive and stay – or at least live temporarily -- before they are sent to Europe or the United States. Ahmad Hamada is one of those refugees. Seven days a week, he sells Arab food in the Botafogo neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro.  "Here in Brazil, no person [helps you], gives you money, give[s] you [a] house," he said. "You must work. No work, cannot eat here." Hamada is a Palestinian who grew up in Syria and Lebanon. He decided to flee the conflicts in the Middle East 11 months ago. He wanted to go to Europe and believed he could get there by going first to Brazil. Before Europe began to accept large numbers of refugees, Brazil was one of the few countries that would give Syrians and Palestinians a visa. Since 2013, thousands of refugees have entered Brazil. Many of them hope to be sent to Europe. Ahmad was one of them. But he says immigration officers attacked him in Rome and returned him to Brazil. He says he woke up on a plane, guarded by four Italian police officers. He said his hands and legs were in chains. Refugees who arrive in Rio de Janeiro are often sent to the Sao Joao church. It is led by Father Alex Coelho Sampaio. Father Sampaio operates The House of Support for Refugees in buildings behind the church. He says Brazil has, for many years, accepted those who are being persecuted or are fleeing conflict. "Brazil for many years has had an open-door policy and that was true after the Second World War, for example," he said. "And at the moment, in particular, regarding Syrian refugees, we are receiving quite a lot." Father Sampaio says at one time he was caring for so many Syrians that the refugees had to sleep on mattresses on the floor. With his help, some have gone to Europe and others have remained in Brazil. He now cares for 35 refugees. Three are Syrians. They include Ahmad Barour, from Damascus. "I would love to go to Europe, Britain, a country that is democratic," Barour said. "Everybody is equal -- no discrimination between black, white, stranger, or native. They respect everybody." For now, he is happy to stay in Brazil. He says he earns enough money to buy food. And he says he has friends. But he says someday he hopes to visit his sister in Denmark. I’m Pete Musto.   VOA Correspondent Jeff Swicord reported this story from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted his report for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly 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 persecute – v. to treat (someone) cruelly or unfairly especially because of race or religious or political beliefs                  

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Reaction to Image of Dazed, Injured Syrian Boy

This is What’s Trending Today. A dusty and bloody five-year old Syrian boy captured the attention of people around the world this week. The boy suffered head injuries when his family’s apartment building in the city of Aleppo was hit by a bomb. The boy was rescued from the rubble of the building. His family members were also rescued. None of them had serious injuries. The video and photos show the boy being lifted into an ambulance by a rescue worker. People can be heard yelling in the background. The boy, who has been identified as Omran Dagneesh, remains quiet and calm. The worker places the boy in an orange seat in the ambulance. The seat is made for an adult, so Dagneesh looks small. He looks confused about what is happening. He touches the side of his face, and feels something wet. He looks at his hand and sees blood. Soon others join him in the ambulance. They are another child and a man. But the image of Dagneesh alone in the brightly-lit ambulance brought out comments from around the world. Some people said it was similar to the photo of the dead Syrian child who washed up on a Turkish beach in September 2015. Others called the image “haunting.” Broadcaster Al-Jazeera noted that the boy is the same age as the Syrian war.  Another person wrote, simply: “Breaks. My. Heart.”  Others wanted to know why people around the world are not more concerned about the fighting in Syria and Aleppo.   They were tweeting edited images of the wounded boy sitting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Doctors said the airstrike killed eight people, including five children. The United Nations says it is hoping to negotiate a 48-hour ceasefire. That would let them deliver aid to areas they cannot reach now because of the fighting. And that’s What’s Trending Today.   I’m Dan Friedell. Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. Jill Robbins was the editor. How do you feel when seeing the photo of the boy? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.   _______________________________________________________________   Words in This Story ambulance – n. a vehicle used for taking hurt or sick people to the hospital especially in emergencies haunting – adj. sad in a way that is difficult to forget edit – v. to prepare (something written) to be published or used : to make changes, correct mistakes, etc., in (something written) rubble – n. broken pieces of stone, brick, etc., from walls or buildings that have fallen

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It Sounds Like...Onomatopoeia!

The world is full of different sounds. Some sounds are pleasing to hear, like a bird's voice. Other sounds hurt your ears, like a loud machine. But how do we explain in words what a sound is? For example, how do you describe the sound a dog makes? Also, does everyone hear that sound the same way? Every language in the world has words that express sounds. These are called onomatopoetic words. When a person says an onomatopoetic word, the sound of the word copies the natural sound the word is identifying. Let's say you walk past an angry dog. What sound does the dog make? Woof. Woof. Woof. When a native English-speaker says the word woof, the pronunciation is somewhat similar to the sound the dog makes. But, a native Russian-speaker would not agree. They would say dogs make the sound gav gav. A native Korean-speaker would say mung mung. These sounds are expressed differently in different languages because every language uses sound in different ways. The noises animals make are not the only examples of onomatopoetic words. Imagine you are walking down a street on a rainy day. A car drives by very fast. Zoom. As the car passes you, it drives through  some water. Splash. You close the front of your jacket to protect yourself. Zip. These words are all nouns that express the sound effect you are hearing. Some sounds even define the objects that make them. Do you remember closing your jacket to protect yourself? The zipper is the object that connects the front parts of a jacket by joining the sets of metal teeth along the edges. In comic books, we often see these sound effects written in the pictures. These words help the reader imagine sounds in the story. Onomatopoetic words are not only nouns, though. Imagine you are in a quiet restaurant. Suddenly, the people next to you start to have an argument.   Anna: I can't believe you lied to me! Jonathan: Shhhh! We are in public! Anna: Don't shhhh me! When you tell someone shhhh, you are saying the situation requires quiet. In the conversation you just heard, Anna responds to Jonathan by saying "Don't shhhh me." In this case, Anna is using shhhh as a verb. She means to say, "Don't tell me to be quiet."  Another example is one you probably hear every day. When you use a computer, you choose objects on the screen using a device called a mouse. Click. But, the action of choosing an object on a computer screen using a mouse is called clicking. Now think back to the car passing you very quickly in the rain. What was the sound it made? Zoom. But, you can also say, "The car zoomed by me." This means the car drove by you at a very high speed. Sometimes, onomatopoetic words are even used as adjectives. If you see something explode, you will often see the word boom used to describe the sound. This is because the sound of an explosion is low and deep, the way English speakers pronounce the word boom. Now listen to the actor James Earl Jones. "Look, I can't tell you the secret of life, and I don't have any answers for you. I don't give interviews and I'm no longer a public figure. I just want to be left alone." His voice sounds low and deep. You could say his voice is booming. Onomatopoetic words are not often used in formal language. But they are very common in everyday speech and there are hundreds of examples. They make languages more creative. Writers and musicians have used these types of words for many years to find a connection with the natural world. Just listen to the music group Ylvis as they make an entire song about onomatopea! Dog goes woof, cat goes meow, bird goes tweet and mouse goes squeak Cow goes moo, frog goes croak and the elephant goes toot Ducks say quack and fish go blub And the seal goes ow ow ow But there's one sound that no one knows What does the fox say? Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding! I'm Pete Musto. Pete Musto wrote this story for Learning English. Adam Brock was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   onomatopoetic words – n. words that copy natural sounds pronunciation – n. the way in which the sound of word or name is made jacket – n. a piece of clothing that is worn on your upper body over another piece of clothing such as a shirt comic book(s) – n. a magazine that is made up of a series of drawings that tell a story or part of a story screen – n. the part of a television or computer that you look at when you are using it creative – adj. having or showing an ability to make new things or think of new ideas Now it’s your turn. How do you express sounds in the form of words in your language? How different from the English versions are these words in your language? Let us know in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.

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Every Bill Gets Vote in North Dakota

It took just two weeks for lawmaker Howard Anderson Jr. to get a vote on his bill. Anderson serves in the North Dakota State Senate. His bill would help people seeking medical help for a drug overdose avoid arrest. In most legislatures across the United States, including the U.S. Congress, it is a big deal to get a vote on a bill. But in North Dakota, every bill proposed is guaranteed a vote. Anderson’s bill was one of over 900 introduced in the last North Dakota legislative session. All bills that were not withdrawn got votes and over half were passed and signed into law, including Anderson’s. 'Good Thing' for North Dakota “I think it’s a good thing,” said North Dakota House Majority Leader Al Carlson. “We are a citizens’ legislature. We don’t get paid a lot of money. We go into session for 80 days every two years. And if you introduce a bill, you are going to get a hearing and a vote.” That is a big difference from other legislatures. In the U.S. Congress, for example, only 5 percent of the 11,000 bills proposed during the current term got a vote. Only 2 percent passed and were signed into law by President Barack Obama. Better Odds in North Dakota There are no such long odds facing sponsors of bills in North Dakota, a state just south of the Canadian border. Anderson said his bill makes sure people are not afraid to call for emergency help after a drug overdose for fear of getting arrested. The senator said he hoped his bill would save lives. Carlson and Anderson are members of the Republican Party, the majority party in North Dakota. But the state’s Democratic Party lawmakers also like the guarantee of every bill getting a vote. North Dakota Senate Minority Leader Mac Schneider, a Democrat, said that in most legislatures it is easy for a committee chair to kill a bill. But with the requirement that every bill get a vote, Schneider said, Democratic proposals can pass -- even in mostly Republican North Dakota. As examples, he points to Democratic bills to help college students. The legislature passed measures to help students change terms on their student loans and to set limits on student fees at state colleges. His opinion: It is one thing for a committee chair to kill a popular bill with few looking, but another for lawmakers to vote against a popular bill when the vote is made in public. What About the Crazy Stuff? But surely, some really “crazy” bills must get votes, right? Schneider said he can’t think of many. It might be because members know whatever they propose will get a vote and few lawmakers want to defend a bill other members consider strange, he said. He told VOA the only example he could think of was a bill that required people to keep their car headlights on while driving both during the daytime and at night. “This made sense to one of our members, but the majority voted it down,” Schneider said. Dana Michael Harsell teaches political science at the University of North Dakota. He said the “every bill gets a vote” rule follows a long tradition of citizen democracy in North Dakota. It is more than just the vote guarantee, which is unique among the 50 states. Many North Dakota state legislators leave their home telephone or cell phone numbers on the state’s website. As popular as it is in North Dakota, Harsell said, the requirement that all bills get a vote probably would not work in larger states. For example, New York has a population of 19.8 million, 26 times larger than that of North Dakota’s 756,927. New York state lawmakers consider about 12,000 bills in a legislative session, about 13 times as much as North Dakota, according to FiscalNote.com. “I don’t know how it would work elsewhere,” said Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner of his state’s vote guarantee. “I just know that it works in North Dakota.” But Wardner said even North Dakota has rules. For example, to get a vote a bill must be proposed during the first part of the 80-day legislative term. There are exceptions. But no matter the party of the sponsor, there has to be a “pretty good” reason to allow a bill to be considered past the deadline, he said. I'm Bruce Alpert.   Bruce Alpert reported this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and share your views on our Facebook Page. ___________________________________________________________ Words in this Story overdose -- n. an amount of a drug or medicine that is too much and usually dangerous introduce -- v. to submit a bill to a legislature long odds -- adj. very little chance of happening sponsor -- n. the person in a legislature who writes and introduces a bill unique -- adj. very unusual deadline -- n. a date or time when something must be finished

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News Words: LGBT

This news word is not a word. Learn what it means in this week's News Words.

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Firefighters Battle Western U.S. Wildfires

This week, a fast-moving fire forced American officials to order the removal of more than 82,000 people from an area north of San Bernardino, California. Twelve hours after the fire began, it had already burned more than 6,000 hectares. Because of the fire and smoke, officials closed roads, including part of the one that connects the Los Angeles area and Las Vegas, Nevada.   Hundreds of people are working to contain the fire. The job is even more difficult because of the hot, windy, and dry weather. Wildfires are common in the western United States during the warm summer months. In northern and central California, wildfires have destroyed more than 100 structures. The fires have forced more than 1,000 people to flee from their homes. Four years of drought — little or no rainfall — has helped fires spread in northern California. There are six major fires still burning in California and others burning throughout the West. In Los Angeles, many homes are just a short drive from wilderness areas. The drought conditions make the dry plants and grasses catch fire quickly. But officials say they are ready to fight the seasonal fires with newly-leased aircraft. These include helicopters known as “super-scoopers,” which are able to collect water supplies without landing. VOA spoke with fire officials and pilots near the aircraft. Richard Licon is with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. "(On) rivers, lakes, they can scoop up the water and be ready to go and fight fire continuously without having to ground (land) unless they have to refuel." The huge helicopter carries 10,000 liters of water. But it takes skill to fly it through fire areas. Natalie Jones knows this. As a pilot, it is her job to fly the helicopter and help put out fires. "We're in an environment that's inherently dangerous to begin with, so making sure that you can see other aircraft in the flight path, in the area around you, and making sure you have good communications, safety first with everything. And making sure that we're not dropping water on anything that's going to harm anybody below us." She and other pilots wait to be called into action in Los Angeles. They talk about the issues around keeping themselves, firefighters and their equipment ready for the fires they know will come. Paul Gottwig is with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. "It's very difficult, given the amount of pilots that you have, to continue 24-hour operations, rotate those pilots through rest periods, rotate them back onto the fire, is one of the biggest challenges.  Also, another big challenge for helicopters and all the airplanes is maintenance, keeping the aircraft flying continuously." In northern and central California, officials say the fire season could continue until November. But in the southern part of the state, the season could last even longer because of the current drought. I’m Anne Ball. Mike O’Sullivan and Chris Hannas reported this story for VOANews.com. Anne Ball wrote it for Learning English. Her report included information from the Associated Press. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and visit us on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   drought – n. a dry period in the weather with little or no rainfall lease – v. agreement that lets someone use a car, plane or house for a period of time in return for payment rotate – v. regularly change the person who does a job so that each takes the place of another in a group

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Dr. Anthony Fauci: America’s Man on Infectious Diseases

  His name is Dr. Anthony S. Fauci. Some Americans may never have heard of him, but his work affects tens of millions of people. Fauci is the United States’ top doctor when it comes to infectious diseases. He leads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the United States National Institutes of Health. It investigates emerging diseases like Zika and Ebola. It also leads research into diseases HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria and allergies. Fauci studied at Cornell University Medical College. He then completed his internship and residency there. Dr. Fauci says he likes talking about science to the general public in a way they can understand why it is important to support it. Fauci says it was his education at a Catholic high school in New York that influenced him to consider a career in healthcare. “Well, I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York.  My father is a pharmacist, so I had some exposure to the health issue, but I don’t think that was the major thing leading me in to medicine.  It was mostly training in high school and college by the Jesuits, who taught humanities, classics, Greek, Latin.  So I became much more of a humanitarian-type person than a scientific-type person. So, I figured the best way to combine an aptitude toward science with a desire to do something that strongly that relates to people and taking care of people, you put all of those things together and you come up with the field of medicine, in my mind.” In 1968, Fauci came to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a clinical associate in the Laboratory of Clinical Investigation in NIAID.  Since then he has held many important positions, including chief of the Laboratory of Immunoregulation, a position he still holds. Dr. Fauci also has made many contributions to basic and clinical research on the pathogenesis and treatment of immune-mediated and infectious diseases. Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or (AIDS), in particular, is one of those infectious diseases. Just as AIDS was beginning to kill thousands of young men across the country, Dr. Fauci was there doing research at NIH. He helped change rules in order to approve drugs for the virus and the disease. In time, these new treatments turned HIV/AIDS into a manageable condition. An HIV or AIDS diagnosis was no longer a death sentence. “When we first got involved in studying what turned out to be AIDS, we didn’t even know what the agent is that caused AIDS. All of the research that was funded by the NIH and our collaborators and people down here have led everything from the identification of the agent, the development of diagnostics, to the combinations of drugs that we now have that can actually get a person with AIDS or HIV infection to live, essentially, a normal lifespan. That’s one of the most impressive medical advances in the history of medicine.” Dr. Fauci is the recipient of many awards. President George W. Bush presented him with the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Bush said Fauci’s work on AIDS in Africa reached millions of people, “preventing HIV infections in infants and easing suffering and bringing dying communities back to life.”   “One of the moments, among the few, and I'll just mention a few, that I’m most proud of in my life, my role as the director of an institute that funds most of the research in infectious diseases and the drive toward the development to what now turns out to be lifesaving therapies for a number of diseases, but particularly HIV/AIDS. "We’ve also developed a number of vaccines against very important diseases. And importantly, in 2002, President George W. Bush asked me to go to Africa to see if I could put together a program that would provide life-saving interventions in HIV, a program which ultimately came to be known as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which already has been responsible for saving several million lives in the developing world.” I’m Dorothy Gundy. Marsha James wrote this story for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. Try this quiz to practice your listening skills and check your understanding. Next time on People in America, Dr. Fauci talks more about infectious diseases and his role at National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. ___________________________________________________   Words In This Story   institute – n. an organization created for a particular purpose (such as research or education) allergy – n. a medical condition that causes someone to become sick after eating, touching, or breathing something that is harmless to most people internship – n. a temporary position to provide practical on-the-job experience pharmacist- n. a person whose job is to prepare and sell drugs and medicines that a doctor prescribes to patients exposure – n. experience of something Jesuits –n.  a man who is a member of a religious group called the Roman Catholic Society of Jesus humanities [plural]- n. areas of study that relate to human life and ideas humanitarian – ​n. a person who works to make other people’s lives better aptitude – n. a natural ability to do something or learn something pathogenesis – n. the development of a disease immune – adj. not influenced or affected by something collaborators – n. a person who works with another person or group in order to achieve or do something impressive – ​adj. deserving, attention, admiration, or respect  

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