In this Dec. 6, 2016, photo, President-elect Donald Trump introduces retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis as his nominee for Secretary of Defense while speaking to supporters during a rally in Fayetteville, N.C.
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Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Ford to Expand American Car Factory, Cancels Plans to Build in Mexico
Ford Motor Company says it has cancelled plans to build a car factory in Mexico. Ford said this week it will not move forward with plans to build a factory in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosi. The American company had planned to spend $1.6 billion to build the manufacturing center. It would have produced compact cars. Instead, Ford officials announced plans to expand the company’s factory in Flat Rock, Michigan, adding 700 jobs. Officials said the Flat Rock plant will be used to develop fully electric vehicles and hybrid models, ones that use both gasoline and electricity. The plant also will build a self-driving vehicle. Mark Fields, Ford’s chief executive officer, announced the decision on Tuesday. He said the company would invest $700 million to build several different models at the Flat Rock plant. "A new hybrid autonomous vehicle; a long-range battery electric SUV; a Mustang hybrid; an F-150 hybrid; a Transit custom plug-in hybrid; two new hybrid police vehicles; wireless charging; a $700 million investment and 700 new U.S. jobs." Labor representatives praised Ford’s move. United Auto Workers Vice President Jimmy Settles spoke at the announcement. He said the decision would have a big effect. "I don't know if you really can understand the impact of this investment. This is equivalent to a new assembly plant, $700 million." Ford’s decision comes as preparations continue in Washington for the swearing-in of Donald Trump as president of the United States. He will take office on January 20. During the 2016 election campaign, Trump was highly critical of American companies that close factories in the country, but operate overseas. Mark Fields said Ford is making the move, in part, because of what he called “pro-growth policies” discussed by Trump and the U.S. Congress. Ford says demand for compact cars is falling in North America. The carmaker says it will build a smaller model at another factory in Mexico. On Tuesday, Trump criticized the largest U.S. carmaker, General Motors. He said its cars sold across the country should also be made in the United States. Trump suggested what he called a “border tax.” General Motors reacted by saying the cars it makes in Mexico are not sold in the U.S. Experts say many companies are considering what to do if Trump and his administration press for U.S.-made products. James Nolt is with the World Policy Institute. "I've already read that Apple, for example, has done a contingency study to see how much it would cost if they moved manufacturing back from China to the United States. Other companies are probably doing the same sort of thing. They're making contingency plans. What if Trump is really serious about this?" Critics say political pressure adds to the complexity of decisions companies must make about how best to produce their products. They say the result could reduce choices for American consumers. I’m Mario Ritter. Zlatica Hoke wrote this report for VOANews.com. Mario Ritter adapted her report for Learning English with additional material from AP. George Grow was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story hybrid – adj. something that is the result of combining two or more things SUV –acronym a sports utility vehicle autonomous – adj. able to operate by itself battery – n. a device that chemically stores electricity assembly – n. the process of manufacturing something contingency – adj. a plan to be put into effect if there is an emergency or if the best plan cannot be carried out consumer – n. people who buy goods or services compact – adj. small
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The Most-Searched Terms on Google in 2016
How many times did you search for terms on the Internet last year? Google’s search engine performed 1.2 trillion searches in 2016. Google Trends, part of the American company, kept records of the most popular search terms. From the Summer Olympic Games to terrorist attacks to the presidential election in the United States, 2016 was filled with news. Many of us turned to search engines for more information about the news or about fun subjects, such as ice cream, popular culture and television programs. But have you ever wondered what everyone else was searching for online? Google Trends has developed a list of Breakout Trends. It shows the most popular online searches. You can see which terms people searched for most on Google by month, Overall Most Popular, and by area. Click on a listed search term to learn more about the term, such as trending over time, interest by city or state, and related subjects or queries. You can compare one search term to another to see the number of hits for both terms. You can also add a third search term for comparison. Google Trends offers charts, maps and other images so you can compare the search results for each term. In addition, you can see the results for 2016 or change the dates to study trends over time. Overall Most Popular Search Terms on Google in 2016 On Google, the most popular search terms worldwide were: Donald Trump Powerball Prince David Bowie Pokémon Hillary Clinton France Ramadan Orlando Academy Awards Chicago Cubs You can amend the results by People, Places, Things and Ideas to see the most popular term for each grouping. By Region According to Google Trends, these are the most searched terms on Google by region in 2016: Click the picture of a globe in Google Trends to see a world map of regions represented by gray bars. Click on a bar to see the most searched term for that country in 2016. You can also find top 2016 searches for each country on Google Trends or see a list of most popular searches worldwide. Google Trends also shows the most popular searches by subject, including: Global news People Consumer Tech Global Sporting Events Losses Movies Musicians TV Shows This video from Google has images of many news events from 2016. US Google Searches You also might wonder about the popularity of search terms in different American states. The website has a map with state-by-state comparisons. I’m Dorothy Gundy. Carolyn Nicander Mohr wrote this report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. Were you surprised by the terms that were searched most often on Google? Did you check your region to see which terms were most searched? Were there any terms you thought would be on the list but were not? Share your thoughts in the Comments Section below or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story trend - n. a general direction of change : a way of behaving, proceeding, etc., that is developing and becoming more common click - v. to press a button on a mouse or some other device in order to make something happen on a computer query - n. a question or a request for information about something according to - prep. as stated, reported, or recorded by (someone or something) * State Map of Googled Terms courtesy of Estately Blog. Used with permission.
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New UN Secretary-General Looks for More Women in Top Jobs
Some women’s rights supporters hoped 2016 would be the year the United Nations elected its first woman secretary-general. It did not happen, as the U.N. voted in October to make Antonio Guterres secretary-general. Guterres is a former prime minister of Portugal. Like the eight others who held the U.N.’s top position, he is a man. Jean Krasno chaired the Campaign to Elect a Woman U.N. Secretary General. Krasno said she was “very disappointed” at the election of Guterres. But she was happy when he agreed to meet with her just days after his election. Krasno came away from their meeting hopeful about how he might change the U.N. She said Guterres told her he hopes to fill half the top U.N. leadership positions he controls with women. That would be a big change. Anne Marie Goetz, professor at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs, said the U.N. has yet to give more than 25 percent of its top positions to women. Goetz said those who want more responsibility for women in international relations had two reasons for disappointment in 2016. One was the defeat of the seven women candidates for secretary-general. The other was the defeat of Hillary Clinton in the American election. Clinton was hoping to become the first woman president of the United States. But she lost to Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election. In a column written for the website opendemocracy.net, Goetz said she and others were looking forward to Clinton pushing the U.N. to do more on issues important to women. Among them, Goetz said, are rights of women to own property, fair pay, reproductive freedom and more efforts to stop gender-based violence. “It was a disappointment not to have the first woman secretary-general after over 70 years,” she told VOA. “But most of the people who were fighting for a woman secretary-general were happy to see him (Guterres) prioritizing gender equality, especially in U.N. staffing.” Tuesday was Guterres’ first day on the job as secretary-general. He talked about reforming what some say is an unresponsive U.N. bureaucracy. Earlier, Guterres promised new efforts to bring peace to some of the world’s major conflicts. “There are no miracles…and the only way for us to achieve our goals is to work as a team,” he said. Jean Krasno, who led the Campaign to Elect a Woman U.N. Secretary-General, said the system for choosing a new U.N. chief worked against women. Seven women competed for the position. Yet she said her group found many more women who had the experience necessary to be a candidate. Krasno said many women did not seek the office because they could not win the support of their countries’ governments -- in some cases, because they did not belong to the ruling political party. A secretive U.N. process, she said, made it difficult to know when the 15 members of the Security Council were considering the new secretary general. “We were hoping for a more open process,” she said. Krasno teaches political science and international relations at Yale University, Columbia University and the City University of New York. I’m Alice Bryant. Bruce Alpert reported on 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 disappoint - v. to make someone unhappy by not doing something column - n. an article written about a particular subject, sometimes with the writer’s opinion included gender - n. related to being either a male or female prioritize v. to make something the most important job miracle - n. a very amazing or unusual event or achievement achieve - v. to get something done unresponsive – adj. lacking an ability to react quickly or sympathetically bureaucracy – n. a group of non-elected government officials; an administrative group; a system of administration
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Young Boy Rescues Brother Trapped Under Furniture
This is What’s Trending Today: On one recent morning in the American state of Utah, 2-year-old twin boys Bowdy and Brock were playing in their bedroom. The boys were climbing on a piece of furniture called a dresser. They were trying to get into some empty drawers and climb to the top of the dresser. But as they both tried to climb up, the large dresser fell down on top of them. The accident was recorded on a camera the boys’ parents put in the bedroom. Some parents use these kinds of cameras to watch their children playing in another room. One of the young boys, Bowdy, managed to escape from under the dresser. But his brother, Brock, remained stuck under it. The video shows Bowdy walking around the dresser trying to find a way to free his brother. Almost two minutes pass. But Bowdy cannot move the dresser. Eventually, though, Bowdy found a way to push the dresser toward the wall. His brother was then able to roll out from underneath the big piece of furniture. Both boys are okay. They were not hurt. Their parents decided to put a video of the incident on YouTube. They hoped it would be a warning to other parents around the world. In just three days, the video has been viewed over 7 million times. It is the top trending video on YouTube. Ricky Shoff is the father of the boys. He posted the video to his Facebook page on January 1. He wrote: “I've been a little hesitant to post this. But I feel it's not only to bring awareness, but it is also incredible.” Shoff also told his friends to share the video and to make sure their furniture was secure. For example, big pieces of furniture should be safely attached to a wall or to the floor. Kayli Shoff, the boys’ mother, said when she first saw the video, she “felt like the worst mom.” But the parents said they made the video public even though they knew they would be criticized for not paying enough attention to their children. This is not the first time falling furniture has made the news in recent months. In December, furniture-maker Ikea agreed to pay $50 million to the families of three American boys, in three different states, killed by falling dressers. The company is recalling its furniture. It is also offering customers a refund or free tools to attach the furniture to a wall. And that’s What’s Trending Today. I’m Jill Robbins. Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. What do you think of the video from Utah? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story furniture – n. chairs, tables, beds, etc., that are used to make a room ready for use drawer – n. a box that slides into and out of a piece of furniture (such as a desk) and that is used to store things stuck – adj. difficult or impossible to move from a position hesitant – adj. slow to act or speak especially because you are nervous or unsure about what to do secure – adj. firmly attached
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January 4, 2107
A look at the best news photos from around the world.
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Tuesday, January 3, 2017
US to Continue Investigating Civil Rights Murders
The United States will continue to investigate unsolved murders of black people during the civil rights period. President Barack Obama recently signed into law a bill that continues a 2008 law requiring the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the crimes. The bill’s sponsor is Congressman John Lewis of Georgia. Lewis, a civil rights leader during the 1960s, suffered a skull fracture when he was beaten by police in 1965 during a civil rights march in Alabama. When the bill was first approved in 2008, Lewis hoped it would provide a “full accounting” of murders and other violence during America’s civil rights era. Most victims were African-Americans, but non-black supporters of civil rights also were targeted. Progress Has Been Slow In a 2015 report, the Justice Department said little progress had been made. The department said it investigated 113 unsolved cases dating from 1934 to 1967. The department said it completed 105 of the investigations. The department reported that bringing criminal charges in any of the cases is “unlikely.” The Justice Department report said federal power is limited. It said federal hate crime laws took effect too late to apply to murders during the civil rights period. It also said investigating old cases is difficult because “witnesses die or can no longer be located,” people forget what they saw, and “evidence is destroyed or lost." One Successful Prosecution The Justice Department pointed to its successful criminal case against James Ford Seale. He was found guilty of federal kidnapping charges 42 years after prosecutors said he tortured and killed two black teenagers near the Mississippi-Louisiana border in 1964. Seale died in 2011. But that case was filed before the 2008 law took effect. The department points to a successful state prosecution of a civil rights murder case after the law’s passage. Lewis said the new law passed by Congress and approved by President Obama improves the 2008 law. It requires the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, to work with civil rights groups and universities to find evidence. The new law directs federal officials to work together with state and local law enforcement offices. As supporters of the law point out, many crimes targeting blacks and other civil rights workers in the 1950s and 1960s were not investigated by local police agencies. “Investigators can now work to discover the truth and to seek justice under our legal system for the families of these victims,” said Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina. “Every American is worthy of the protection of our laws.” The bill is named for Emmett Till. Till was a 14-year-old African-American from Chicago. He was brutally murdered in 1955 while visiting family in Mississippi. Reports at the time said some whites were angry over reports he had flirted with a white woman. An all-white jury in Mississippi found the two white men charged with Till’s murder not guilty. Dark Period in Modern American History Congressman John Conyers of Michigan said the Emmett Till Act is an effort to bring to justice people responsible for crimes from one of the darkest periods in modern American history. Law students at Syracuse University in New York have joined the investigations. Led by two professors, Paula Johnson and Janis McDonald, Syracuse law students found 196 possible cases for criminal charges. McDonald is disappointed that the Justice Department has not moved on any of the 196 cases. She said the new law extends the time in which crimes can be investigated past the original deadline of 1969 by 10 years. Her hope is that the new Trump administration will want to show the public its willingness to fight racial injustice by bringing charges against people who escaped charges in the past. Johnson said that, when she and McDonald travel, they often hear from “relatives who believed they lost loved ones due to racial violence.” “We take their claims seriously and conduct our own investigations and we’ll continue to do so,” Johnson said. I'm Alice Bryant. And I'm Bruce Alpert. Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter 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 skull fracture - n. a blow to the head strong enough to break a bone in the cranial portion of the skull accounting - n. a report of what happened locate - v. to find file –v. to give a document to an official for consideration brutally - adv. done in an extremely cruel or harsh way flirt - v. to behave in a way that shows an attraction for someone but is not meant to be taken seriously due - v. required or expected to happen conduct - v. to do something
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Slovenia Remembers Melania Trump
Melania Trump will become the first foreign-born wife of an American president in almost 200 years. On January 20, her husband, Donald Trump, will be inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States. Most Americans do not know much about 46-year-old Melania Trump. She was born in the former Yugoslav republic of Slovenia. It is a small country surrounded by Austria, Hungary, Italy and Croatia. It has a small coastline on the Adriatic Sea. Slovenia also has castles that are hundreds of years old, large forests and clear rivers. VOA recently traveled to the country to learn about Melania Trump’s life before she came to the United States. Jakob Susteric operates a medical company in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. He knows his country is not well-known. But he believes Melania Trump will change that. “Slovenia. What is Slovenia? Is that a food? Is that a car? Nobody knows it’s a country. Nobody knows it’s a nation, and nobody knows that Melania is from Slovenia. So this is a big opportunity that our two million-nation basically gets its place in Europe, in the world.” Susteric says having a Slovenian in the White House says good things about the United States. “It expresses the message that America is sending from past years which is that America is a land of opportunities, so anybody that lives (in) and comes to America can achieve great things.” Stane Jerko is a photographer. He says he was one of the first people to see Melania Trump’s talent at a fashion show in Melania Trump’s hometown of Sevnica in 1987. Jerko says she was a quiet 17-year-old. He said she was notable for her beauty and her energy. Melania Trump was born April 26, 1970. She has said that when she is first lady she will work to fight cyber bullying. Petra Sedej, a friend and high school classmate, says Trump dealt with the difficult behavior that can be common with girls in high school. “Because she was beautiful, she was a model, a lot of girls talked about this and they were also jealous. But she didn’t react to this and I think this is something strong inside of her, because she knew that she was good. And if you know that you are good, you don’t need to prove this with words.” Sedej says Communism and Yugoslavia were collapsing in Slovenia when she and Trump were in school together. She says they wondered how that would affect their future. “We talked about studying, about how to see the world, and she, like a model, she knew that Slovenia was too small for her.” Melania Trump left Sevnica when she was still a teenager and went to live with her sister in the city of Ljubljana. She began working as a model there. Later, she traveled to Milan, Italy and Paris, France. Then she went to New York where she met Donald Trump at a fashion event in 1999. They dated for about a year. They restarted their relationship a few years later. In April, 2004, Donald Trump asked Melania to marry him. Melania was first named Melanija Knavs. She then changed her name to Melania Knauss. She became Melania Trump when she married Donald Trump in Florida on January 22, 2005. He was 58 years old. She was 30. It was her first marriage and his third. There were 500 guests at the wedding, including Oprah Winfrey, Prince Charles of Britain, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Muhammad Ali. Donald and Melania Trump have one child: a son named Barron William Trump. He was born in 2006. In Sevnica, friends of Melania Trump’s family say her father Viktor Knavs was a lot like Donald Trump. Zdravko Mastnak says Knavs was ambitious and a good businessman. He says he always looked for a way to improve his life beyond the money he could earn selling cars at a state-owned company. Only about 5,000 people live in Sevnica, which was affected by World War II. After the war, many mass graves were found there. When communists took control of Sevnica after the war, it became a center of furniture manufacturing. In the town, graffiti-covered trains speed past large apartment buildings built when the Communist Party ruled Yugoslavia. Some large buildings, like Communism, have collapsed. It is easy to understand why someone would want to leave the town although some parts of it are beautiful. Nusa Vidmar owns a cake shop in Sevnica near the apartment building where Melania Trump grew up. “We were very proud of Melania’s success. She used to be one of us and we are really happy for her, so everything what we do is making cakes, so we create simple but luxury cake that was, we wanted to have a beautiful cake like she is.” Zdravko Mastnak is a family friend who makes wine. He says he hopes Melania Trump and her husband will visit Sevnica. I’m Lucija Millonig. VOA Europe Correspondent Luis Ramirez reported this story from Sevnica and Ljubljana, Slovenia. Phil Dierking and Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted the report for Learning English. Mario Ritter 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 inaugurate – v. to introduce (someone, such as a newly elected official) into a job or position with a formal ceremony express – v. to talk or write about (something that you are thinking or feeling) achieve – v. to get or reach (something) by working hard talent – n. a special ability that allows someone to do something well fashion show – n. an event at which new clothing designs are displayed model – n. someone who is paid to wear clothing, jewelry, etc., in photographs, fashion shows, etc., so that people will see and want to buy what is being worn first lady – n. the wife of the American president cyber bullying – v. to frighten, hurt, or threaten (a smaller or weaker person) on the internet or through social media jealous – adj. feeling or showing an unhappy or angry desire to have what someone else has graffiti – n. pictures or words painted or drawn on a wall, building, etc. luxury – adj. of high quality or high cost or both
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French “Right to Disconnect” Law Goes Into Effect
This is What’s Trending Today. The start of a new year brings many new laws into effect in the U.S and around the world. For example, a new law in California makes it illegal for drivers to hold their mobile phones while in the car. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, people who buy drinks with added sugar, like Coca-Cola, will be taxed about 50 cents per liter. In Colorado, residents must not pretend their untrained pets are special service animals. And in France, a new law requires employers to ensure that their employees have time to disconnect. The “right to disconnect” law went into effect on January 1. The French Ministry of Labor says the rules make sure workers have time away from work and with their families without feeling as if they always need to read their work emails. Companies with at least 50 employees will have to set up quiet periods at night and on the weekends when their staff does not have to respond to work messages. One French member of parliament told a news service that email and other electronic messages can be like a leash. Constantly feeling connected to work can cause a lot of stress. There is also some concern that workers are not properly being paid overtime if they check their emails. Two universities in North America reported studies showing that work-related communication on nights and weekends can be a problem. Many people reacted to the news on Twitter and Facebook. One person wrote: “Shoutout to the French. Coming through with the work-life balance protections.” Another wondered why Americans do not have the same right. (embed: ) A third writer wanted to know when this idea will spread around the world. And that’s What’s Trending Today. I’m Dan Friedell. Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor. Is there a law about work email where you live? Let us know in the comments section. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story pretend –v. to act as if something were true leash – n. a long, thin piece of rope, chain, etc., that is used for holding a dog or other animal overtime – n. time spent working at your job that is in addition to your normal working hours shout-out – exp. an expression of praise
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