Sexual Assault Charges against Islamic Expert Shock Europe’s Muslims

  Sexual assault charges against a leading expert on Islam have left many European Muslims shocked. The Islamic expert, Swiss-born Tariq Ramadan, took a leave of absence from his teaching position at Oxford University last week. The move came after two French women accused him of rape and assault. Reports of similar accusations were published in a Swiss newspaper. Ramadan has denied the accusations. An Oxford University statement said that both he and the school agreed on his leave of absence. Effect on French-speaking Muslims The effect of the accusations is huge, especially in French-speaking countries. He appealed to a generation of young Muslims who came to believe they could follow Islam’s teachings and be European citizens. Unlike many Islamic religious leaders in Europe, he spoke in French instead of Arabic at meetings and conferences. Ramadan is the grandson of the founder of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. The 55-year-old has long had critics. They claim he hid political Islam under talk of unifying society. He was temporarily banned from the United States during the presidency of George W. Bush. The ban was lifted after Bush left office. An estimated five million Muslims live in France. They make up Western Europe’s biggest Islamic community. In April, French officials expelled Ramadan’s older brother, Swiss clergyman Hani Ramadan. They claimed he was a threat to public order. The brother made news in 2002 when France’s Le Monde newspaper published an article he wrote. His story expressed support for stoning adulterers -- married men and women who have sex with someone who is not their wife or husband. Tariq Ramadan condemned his brother’s position. The assault charges come at a time when a growing number of powerful men have been accused of sexual abuse. It started in early October, when media reports described the first abuse claims against American movie producer Harvey Weinstein.  Claims against Ramadan Last month, French activist Henda Ayari, a former supporter of the Salafist movement, accused Ramadan of raping her in a hotel room in 2012. Since then, another French woman has reportedly come forward with a similar story. French government lawyers are investigating the accusations. In Switzerland, a Geneva newspaper reported that four young women claimed they had sexual relations with Ramadan when he was teaching at their school. The four women said they were not old enough at the time to be considered adults. Media reported another rape claim in Belgium. And Oxford University graduate Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi published a blog post about Ramadan. It gave voice to an American Muslim friend, who described an unwanted sexual advance by Ramadan in 2013. “For me it’s not about his political views,” Al-Tamini said. He works for a group opposed to Ramadan, but says he is not part of that debate. Ramadan accuses his critics of making false charges and damaging his public image. In a Facebook post Saturday, he said he remains calm and has “confidence in justice.” For years, he has called for moderation and openness, he wrote, and “these are the values we need most today.” Reaction to the accusations There have been different reactions to the charges on social media. Workers at Charlie Hebdo, the French newspaper that was targeted in a 2015 terrorist attack, have received death threats over a front-page cartoon of Ramadan. In addition, former French Prime Minister Manuel Valls condemned his behavior on Twitter. Others suggest the accusations against Ramadan are a Zionist or Jewish plot or evidence of racism. But a group of Muslim women expressed support for his accusers in a statement published in Le Monde. “There is no ‘Muslim exception’ when it comes to sexual abuse,” researcher Fatima Khemilat wrote. When questioned, several well-known French Muslims remain guarded, saying they were waiting for French courts to announce judgement first. But M’hammed Henniche said the accusations against Ramadan would harden feelings against Muslims. Henniche works for an alliance of French Muslims in the Seine-Saint-Denis area outside Paris. “Everyone who is against Tariq Ramadan will say this is proof that Islam is not a religion of peace, that it’s a barbaric religion that treats women as objects,” he said. Abdallah Zekri, a member of the French Council for the Muslim Faith, is not a big supporter of Tariq Ramadan. But he criticizes the strong reaction against him. “Ramadan is a big personality because the media made him one,” he said. “He’s never been my cup of tea. But he has not been judged or condemned, and I respect the presumption of innocence.” I’m Jill Robbins. And I'm John Russell.   Lisa Bryant reported this story for VOANews.com. George Grow adapted her report for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story assault – n. a violent attack absence – n. failure to be present at an expected place Salafist – n. a conservative form of Sunni Islam advance – n. forward movement confidence – n. a feeling of one’s own powers; the quality of being sure of oneself cartoon – n. a picture making people or objects look funny or foolish cup of tea – expression. something one likes presumption – n. a belief that something is true We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

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Japan Seeks to Expand Influence in Southeast Asia

  As the United States pulls back from large free trade deals in the Asia-Pacific, Japan is competing with China for influence in the area. Japan is discussing deals to build a train line in the Philippines, a seaport in Cambodia, and a free trade agreement for countries around the Pacific Ocean. Trans-Pacific trade deal could still go forward U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the Trans Pacific Partnership, or TPP, free trade deal in January. That move left 11 countries including Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore wondering how to move forward. Japan led the remaining countries to a revised deal at a meeting last week of the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group in Vietnam. The new free trade deal is called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Japan is also increasing its investment in major Southeast Asian countries. Japanese investment in major countries in the region has averaged $20 billion each year from 2011 to 2016. That is more than double the average from the five years before 2011. Trade routes and navigation important issues to Japan Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was among the leaders at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, meeting in the Philippines this week. The 10-member ASEAN group agreed to upgrade a nine-year-old trade agreement with Japan. A spokesman for Abe, Norio Murayama, said Japan hopes to secure trade routes through Southeast Asia to markets as far away as Africa. Murayama said, “For Japan, the country surrounded by the sea, a maritime order is extremely important.” He raised concerns, however, about the safety of shipping through the region. Jeffrey Kingston is a writer and instructor at Temple University Japan. He said there are concerns that China may seek total control over navigation in the South China Sea. “A lot of Japanese investment, a lot of factories’ offshore operations (are) located there,” he said. China and Japan seek influence with ASEAN countries China and Japan still face difficult issues linked to Japan's activities before and during World War II. The two countries also have conflicting claims to some small islands in the East China Sea. Japanese direct aid around the world increased by 12.7 percent last year to $10.37 billion. The foreign ministry says on its website that Japan is seeking to support the goals of “human security” and “sustainable development.” Japan wants to do this based on the needs of individual countries. China, however, has proposed a huge development program involving hundreds of billions of dollars. Known as the “One Belt, One Road” infrastructure campaign, the project aims to link Asia, Europe and even Africa. Stephen Nagy is an associate political science professor at International Christian University in Tokyo. He said Japan’s efforts in Southeast Asia will become clearer because the U.S. is currently not as active in the region under President Trump. Nagy said Japan has an important part to play in developing partnerships in the region. He added that Japan’s efforts help balance China’s expanding economic, diplomatic and security influence throughout Southeast Asia. I’m Mario Ritter.   Ralph Jennings reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   route –n. a way or a path that goes from one place to another navigation –n. moving a boat or ship over an area of water be located –v. to be in a certain place We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

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Distant Star Refuses to Die

  Scientists have long believed that a star explodes when it reaches the end of its life. This explosion is called a supernova. NASA, the American space agency, describes a supernova as the largest explosion that takes place in space. Recently, a team of astronomers discovered evidence of one star that apparently refuses to die. The long life of this supernova is raising questions for experts who thought they knew how dying stars worked. The star, officially called iPTF14hls, is 500 million light-years away from Earth. One light-year equals 9.5 trillion kilometers. It was found in 2014 and appeared to be a normal supernova, growing less bright over time. But a few months later, astronomers at the Las Cumbres Observatory saw it getting brighter. In fact, they have seen the light grow brighter, then weaker, then stronger again five different times. They also found evidence of an explosion in the same area 60 years ago. The findings were reported in the journal Nature. The observatory is based in the American state of California. The astronomers say they continue to keep watch of the star with robotic telescopes around the world. Supernovas normally grow dark after about 100 days. But this one is still going strong after 1,000 days, although it is slowly getting darker. “It’s very surprising and very exciting,” said Iair Arcavi, who is with the Physics Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Arcavi led the team of astronomers. He said “We thought we’ve seen everything there is to see in supernova after seeing so many of them, but you always get surprised by the universe. This one just really blew away everything we thought we understood about them.” This supernova is believed to have once been a star up to 100 times larger than our sun. It is possibly the biggest explosion of a star ever observed. The Associated Press says this might explain its unusual ability to survive. Alive and rare One theory is that the supernova is actually several explosions happening so quickly that they run into one another. It could also be a single explosion that repeatedly gets brighter and darker. Another idea is that this star was so large, and its core or middle so hot, that an explosion only blew away the star’s outer layers. This would mean the star’s core was left solid enough to repeat the entire process. However, this theory still does not explain everything about this supernova, Arcavi said. Avi Loeb is chairman of the Astronomy Department at Harvard University in Massachusetts. Loeb was not involved in the study. But he thinks the star’s core might be either a black hole or a magnetar.  A magnetar is a neutron star with a strong magnetic field. However, there will need to be further study in order to better explain what is happening, Loeb said. Scientists also do not know if this unusual supernova is one of a kind.  For now, it appears to be rare since no others have been identified. “We could actually have missed plenty of them because it kind of masquerades as a normal supernova if you only look at it once,” Arcavi said. However one thing that everyone agrees on is that nothing lasts forever, not even this super supernova. “Eventually, this star will go out at some point,” Arcavi said. “I mean, energy has to run out eventually.” I’m Phil Dierking.   Marcia Dunn reported this story for AP. Phil Dierking adapted her report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Have you ever seen a one-of-a-kind event? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   masquerade - v. to pretend to be someone or something else​ neutron - n. a very small particle of matter that has no electrical charge and is part of the nucleus of all atoms except hydrogen atom​ speculate - v. to think about something and make guesses about it​ super - n. extremely good​ layer - n. an amount of something that is spread over an area​

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Zimbabwe’s President ‘Confined to Home’ after 37-Year Rule

The president of Zimbabwe is reported to be “confined to his home” after the country’s military seized power. South African President Jacob Zuma said in a statement that he spoke to President Robert Mugabe early Wednesday. Mugabe has led Zimbabwe for 37 years. Zuma’s statement said that the longtime president told him he was confined to his home, but fine. The South African leader added that his country “is also in contact with the Zimbabwean Defense Force.” The military action follows Mugabe’s dismissal of his vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa. The dismissal appeared to position his wife, Grace Mugabe, as Zimbabwe’s next leader. Robert Mugabe has been in power for 37 years, since the country gained independence in 1980. At the age of 93, he is the world’s oldest head of state. His wife is 51. Grace Mugabe is unpopular among some Zimbabweans. And Mnangagwa has support from Zimbabwe ’s military. The head of the military warned that he would “step in” unless Mugabe stopped removing Mnangagwa supporters from his ZANU-PF party. On Tuesday, armed soldiers and tanks took up positions around the capital, Harare. Not a takeover, army claims Major General Sibusiso Moyo is a spokesman for the military. In a speech on state television Wednesday, he said the military is targeting “criminals” around Mugabe and, in his words, “this is not a military takeover.” The general confirmed that the military is holding Mugabe and his wife. He added, “Their security is guaranteed.” Moyo also said that “as soon as we have accomplished our mission, we expect that the situation will return to normalcy.” South African President Zuma said he was sending his ministers of defense and state security to meet with Mugabe and the military. Zuma said he hopes Zimbabwe’s army will respect the constitution and that the situation “is going to be controlled.” I’m Jonathan Evans.   Hai Do wrote this report for VOA Learning English. His report was based on stories from VOANews.com, the Associated Press and Reuters. George Grow was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   confine - v. to keep a person in a place accomplish - v. to succeed in doing something mission - n. a specific task or duty  

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Fewer New International Students Attending US Colleges

  For the first time in 12 years, the number of new international students attending American colleges and universities has dropped. That information comes from the 2017 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. The report is a project of the Institute of International Education, a not-for-profit group in the United States, and the U.S. Department of State. The findings were released on Monday. The Open Doors report has been documenting international student exchanges at American colleges and universities since 1954. The 2016-2017 school year marked the second year in a row that over a million international students attended the schools. This time, the number of new international college students was about 10,000 less than a year earlier. That represents an almost three percent decrease from the 2015-2016 school year. The latest Open Doors report did note a record year, with the largest number of international college students in the U.S. to date. But separately, the Institute of International Education noted a drop in the number of internationals seeking admission for the current school year. The average decrease, at almost 500 colleges and universities, was seven percent. Allan Goodman is the president of the institute, also known as the IIE. He said the main reason for the decrease is economics. The cost of higher education nationwide has been rising over the past 30 years. Goodman noted that the United States faces greater competition than ever to provide top quality education. “Countries and multinational employers around the world are competing to attract top talent,” he said at a press conference Monday. “As more countries … implement national strategies to attract them, the competition … will only intensify.” Goodman also noted cuts to several programs that sent many international college students to the U.S. in the past. For over 10 years, the government in Saudi Arabia spent billions of dollars so that its citizens could study in other countries. But in 2016, falling oil prices led the government to make cuts to that program. This resulted in a 14 percent decrease in the number of Saudi Arabian college students coming to the United States last year. Earlier this year, Brazil’s Ministry of Education announced plans to cancel a similar program. Started in 2011, the program helped send over 100,000 university students overseas to study the sciences. The new report noted that the number of Brazilians attending American colleges and universities dropped by about 32 percent. However, some experts argue it is not just economics that are affecting the decrease in international students. Philip Altbach directs the Center for International Higher Education in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. Last year, he predicted a decrease in the number of international students coming to the U.S. His predictions were published in several opinion pieces. So why is the United States suddenly less appealing? Altbach thinks the policies and behavior of President Donald Trump are partly to blame. And he believes those policies and actions could lead to fewer international students in the years to come. “The US is seen as an unwelcoming country in the ‘age of Trump,’ Altbach told VOA. “This is combined with both the perception and … the reality that it is more difficult to obtain a US visa than it used to be. … The US remains the strongest … system in the world … but negative forces grow ever stronger.” In the first month of his presidency, Trump announced a temporary ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens of several Middle Eastern countries. And in September, he announced an expansion of that ban to include other countries, such as Venezuela and North Korea. Altbach adds that the rise of racist incidents at American colleges and cities does not improve the way the world looks at the United States. One example took place three months ago at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. White nationalists clashed with opponents near the school’s grounds. One woman and two male law enforcement officers were killed. As the 2017-2018 school year began, several other schools reported finding racist images or messages on their campuses. Recent violent attacks, like the mass shooting in Las Vegas in October, only add to the fears of international students and their parents, says Altbach. But Marianne Craven argues that politics and other issues are not the only influences on peoples’ decisions to study in the United States. Craven is the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs for the State Department. She says that international students are much more concerned with the future an American education can offer them. “Students make their choices of where to study with their long-term goals and career plans in mind,” Craven told VOA. She added “These are very personal decisions by students and their families. Craven says the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs plans to continue building friendly relations between the U.S. and other countries. It plans to do so through educational, cultural, sports, and professional exchanges. The number of people attending events designed to publicize American higher education in other countries remains strong, Craven adds. While the United States may be facing a decrease in the number of new foreign college students, Canada is becoming more appealing. Between 2008 and 2015, the total number of international students at Canadian colleges and universities increased by about 92 percent. A decrease in the number of international college students at American colleges and universities could affect the U.S. economy. The Department of Commerce reports that internationals students added about $39 billion to the economy last year. I’m ­Pete Musto. And I'm Jill Robbins.   Pete Musto reported this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. How has the view of the United States and its higher education system changed in your country in the last five years? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   in a row – idm. following one after another attract – v. to cause someone to choose to do or be involved in something talent – n. a person or group of people with a special ability to do something well implement – v. to begin to do or use something, such as a plan strategies – n. a careful plan or method for achieving a particular goal usually over a long period of time perception – n. the way you think about or understand someone or something obtain – v. to gain or get something, usually by effort negative – adj. harmful or bad racist – adj. used to describe the poor treatment of or violence against people because of their race campus(es) - n. the area and buildings around a university, college, school professional - adj. done or given by a person who works in a particular​ job or industry publicize – v. to cause something to be publicly known

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US Changes Definition for High Blood Pressure

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report. Recently, two leading heart organizations changed the definition of what it means to have high blood pressure. Because of this change, the number of Americans with high blood pressure jumped from 32 percent to 46 percent. Doctors at the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology now classify anyone with a blood pressure reading of 130 over 80 as having high blood pressure. Before, the cutoffs for high blood pressure had been a top number of 140 and a lower number of 90. Health experts at the website Science Daily say blood pressure is defined by two numbers. The top number, called systolic, represents the force with which your heart pumps blood into the blood vessels. The bottom, called diastolic, is a measure of the resistance to the blood flow in the body's blood vessels. The American Heart Association says the new guidelines are designed to help people take steps to control their blood pressure earlier. High blood pressure can cause heart disease and stroke – the two leading causes of death in the world. The new guidelines set blood pressures in these categories: Normal Blood Pressure: Under 120 over 80 Elevated Blood Pressure: Top number 120-129 and bottom number less than 80 High Blood Pressure / Stage 1: Top number of 130-139 or bottom number 80-89 High Blood Pressure / Stage 2: Top number at least 140 or bottom number at least 90 High blood pressure around the world A 2016 study by the World Health Organization and hundreds of scientists found that the number of people in the world with high blood pressure had reached 1.13 billion. However, the study defined high blood pressure as 140 over 90. Should they adopt the new guidelines, the number of people with high blood pressure worldwide will most likely increase. Scientists at Imperial College London led the study and looked at blood pressure measurements from nearly 20 million people from the years 1975 to 2015. In this study, they found that the number of people with high blood pressure nearly doubled in 40 years. Researchers found that over half of the world's adults with high blood pressure lived in Asia. Around 226 million people in China have high blood pressure, along with 200 million in India. This study also found that in 2015 people in South Korea, the USA and Canada had the lowest high blood pressure rates in the world. With the new U.S. guidelines, the U.S. ranking in the world could change. The researchers from Imperial College London published their findings from the study in the January 2017 edition of the medical journal The Lancet. Does this mean more medication is necessary? Health experts are warning people to not rush to medication to lower their high blood pressure. They advise that there are many lifestyle changes a person can make to effectively keep their blood pressure at a healthy level. Regular exercise and losing weight can lower your blood pressure. In some people, making changes in diet can make a big difference. Eating more fruits, vegetables, fish, beans, nuts and seeds can help. Eating less sodium and drinking less alcohol can also help. And that’s the Health & Lifestyle report. I’m Anna Matteo.   Anna Matteo wrote this report with information from the American Heart Association and Science Daily. Hai Do was the editor. ​ _________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   classify – v. to arrange (people or things) into groups based on ways that they are alike : to consider (someone or something) as belonging to a particular group systole – n. the contraction of the heart by which the blood is forced onward and the circulation kept up : systolic – adj. systolic blood pressure – medical noun the highest arterial blood pressure of a cardiac cycle occurring immediately after systole of the left ventricle of the heart — called also systolic pressure; diastole – n. the dilatation of the cavities of the heart during which they fill with blood : diastolic – adj. diastolic blood pressure – medical noun the lowest arterial blood pressure of a cardiac cycle occurring during diastole of the heart — called also diastolic pressure resistance – n. a force that slows down a moving object (such as an airplane) by going against the direction in which the object is moving category – n. a group of people or things that are similar in some way edition – n. the form or version in which a text is published

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FBI Says Hate Crimes Rose Again in 2016

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says hate crimes rose across the United States in 2016 for the second year in a row. An FBI study released Monday reports there were 6,121 hate crime incidents last year, an increase of 4.6 percent from 2015.   It was the first time since 2004 that U.S. hate crimes rose two years in a row. In 2015, hate crimes increased by seven percent. The largest group of victims, 58 percent, were targeted because of race or ethnicity, the report said. Rising hate crimes were reported against several groups including Arabs, Muslims, Jews, blacks and transgender people.   About 50 percent of these hate crimes were done because of anti-Black bias. Nearly 21 percent involved anti-White bias, while 10 percent were anti-Hispanic or Latino crimes, the report said. About 3 percent resulted from anti-Asian bias, while nearly four percent of victims were American Indian or Alaska Native. About one percent involved anti-Arab crimes. Among hate crimes involving religion, the report said 54 percent were anti-Jewish, while 25 percent were anti-Muslim.   Nearly 18 percent of reported hate crimes were based on the sexual orientation of victims. Of these 1,218 incidents, 63 percent involved anti-gay bias against men. The FBI has been gathering hate crime data since 1992. The agency’s numbers are based completely on voluntary reporting from police agencies across the U.S. Therefore, the reports are widely believed to underreport the actual number of hate crimes. In releasing the new report, the FBI said hate crimes remain the “number one investigative priority” of its Civil Rights Division. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has also promised to make hate crimes a main focus of the Justice Department. Sessions said Monday the Justice Department is awaiting a full agency report on what steps to take to improve. The report is expected to suggest ways to better train investigators and prosecutors and improve collecting methods for hate crime data. In a statement, Sessions said his agency will seek to make sure individuals “can live without fear of being a victim of violent crime based on who they are, what they believe, or how they worship.” I’m Bryan Lynn.   Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from VOA News, the Associated Press and the FBI. Hai Do was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   hate crimes – n. crimes motivated completely or in part by a bias against race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, etc. incident – n. an event, especially one that is bad or unusual bias – n. belief that a group of people, ideas, etc. are better than others transgender – adj. of or relating to people who feel that their true nature does not match their sex at birth orientation – n. a person’s feelings, interests, or beliefs priority – n. something that is more important than other things worship – v. to show respect for god by praying or attending religious services  

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Freedom House: Governments Suppressing Speech Online

Around the world, freedom on the internet appears to be breaking down. Some governments have suspended their mobile internet service or added restrictions on live video streaming. And governments are paying writers to put pro-government stories on the World Wide Web. These are some of the findings in a new report by Freedom House, a non-profit group that measures democracy and freedom around the world. Freedom House examined internet freedom in 65 countries over a 12-month period, starting in June of 2016 and continuing through last May. Those nations are responsible for about 87 percent of all the people online. Those users are connected to the internet, a computer, or a computer network. The report noted internet freedom decreasing in nearly half of the 65 countries. Ukraine, Egypt and Turkey had the greatest one-year losses of freedom. China remains the world’s worst abuser of internet freedom, followed by Syria and Ethiopia, the report said. Sanja Kelly directs the Freedom on the Net project at Freedom House. She said the decline of internet freedoms happened as more people go online and use the internet to support democracy and human rights. Kelly said “One of the reasons why we are seeing greater restriction is precisely because some of the leaders … have discovered the power of the internet.” They are trying to come up with new methods to suppress that, she said. “Suddenly the governments start taking note and we start seeing propaganda actions,” she said. Governments in Zambia and Gambia have suspended mobile service connections to the internet, mainly around elections. “Shutting down the internet is such a blunt message,” she said, adding that “It really signals the government is willing to take it to the next level.” Some other findings of the report: -Online efforts to manipulate voting affected elections in 18 countries. -Governments in 30 countries supported misleading online information, using tools such as false news websites and paid commentators. Last year, it was 23 countries. -Half of internet shutdowns involved mobile phone service. Most happened in areas with ethnic or religious minorities. In October 2016, the Ethiopian government suspended mobile networks for nearly two months as part of a state of emergency during anti-government protests. Belarus stopped mobile service to prevent live streaming images from reaching large numbers of people. Bahrain has a law that bars news websites from using live video. -In 30 countries, there have been physical reprisals taken against people for their online statements. That number is up from 20 countries a year earlier. Until recently, China and Russia were the main users of some of these online suppression methods. Now other governments are starting to act the same way, Sanja Kelly explained. Kelly added that she believes China and Russia are showing non-democratic governments ways to control the internet. I’m Susan Shand.   Michelle Quinn reported this story for VOANews.com. Susan Shand adapted her report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   decline - v. to become lower in amount or less in number blunt - adj. saying or expressing something in a very direct way that may upset some people manipulate - v. to deal with or control (someone or something), usually in an unfair or selfish way mobile – adj. with an ability to be moved; changeable in appearance or purpose streaming – n. playing continuously as audio or video material is sent to a computer or electronic device over the Internet reprisal – n. punishment; something done to hurt or punish someone else

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Scientists Find Oldest Wine-making Evidence in Georgia

  This is What’s Trending Today... The United States, France and Germany may be the top three wine-drinking countries in the world, but Georgia can now claim to be the country where wine-making began. And, it turns out, humans have been making and enjoying the alcoholic drink for a lot longer than we had thought. Scientists this week announced the discovery of the oldest-known evidence for wine-making. Researchers found pieces of 8,000-year-old containers used to make wine. The remains were found at two sites about 50 kilometers south of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. The findings show that wine-making occurred earlier than previously known in the South Caucasus area. Before now, the oldest evidence had come from pottery from the Zagros Mountains in northwestern Iran, dating to 5400-5000 BC. The oldest of the newly discovered remains dated to about 5980 BC.  The jars measured about 80 centimeters tall and 40 centimeters wide. They were gray, some with simple drawings of grapes and of a man dancing. The researchers published their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. David Lordkipanidze is director of the Georgian National Museum, which helped pay for the research. He said large jars called qvevri -- similar to the ancient ones -- are still used by winemakers in Georgia today. Researchers performed biochemical tests on the jars to find small amounts of wine substance that the pottery had absorbed. University of Pennsylvania’s Patrick McGovern is a biomolecular archaeologist. He found evidence of several kinds of acid that indicate brewing involving the Eurasian grape.   The pottery was found at the site of two ancient villages, once home to about 60 people. The villagers harvested wheat, raised animals and used simple tools made of bone and volcanic glass. This is not the earliest sign of any alcoholic beverage. Evidence was found in China of an alcoholic mix of rice, honey and fruit from about 7000 BC. And that’s What’s Trending Today.   Reuters news agency reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.  _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   wine - n. an alcoholic drink made from the juice of grapes pottery - n. objects (such as bowls, plates, etc.) that are made out of clay usually by hand and then baked at high temperatures so that they become hard jar - n. a clay container that has a wide opening absorb - v. o take in (something, such as a liquid) in a natural or gradual way acid - n. a chemical with a sour taste that forms a salt when mixed with a base archaeologist - n. a person that studies archaeology -- the science that deals with past human life and activities by studying the bones, tools, etc., of ancient people grape - n. a green, dark red, or purplish-black berry that is used to make wine or is eaten as a fruit  

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November 14, 2017

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

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Let's Teach English: Examples of Classroom Management

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