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0136. A Rough Road for Toyota

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:04:12 +0900

A Rough Road for Toyota
The world's biggest automaker faces a huge recall over a safety issue that it says is rare and easily repaired. But after years of building loyalty, the company may have put its brand name at risk. Transcript of radio broadcast: 04 February 2010 http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2010_02/audio/Mp3/se-econ-toyota-05feb10_0.Mp3

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Toyota became the world's largest automaker in two thousand eight. But after years of building loyalty, the Japanese company may have put its quality brand name at risk, at least temporarily.

Toyota is recalling millions of cars and trucks around the world because of cases where vehicles have sped up unexpectedly. Last August, a driver in California was unable to stop. The crash killed him and three of his family members.

A technician repairs an accelerator pedal for a 2010 Corolla at McInerney Toyota in Clinton Township, Michigan

Toyota says the problem is rare and caused by accelerator pedals becoming stuck open. On January twenty-sixth, the company suspended sales of eight of its top-selling vehicles in the United States, its largest market. Toyota dealers have been receiving parts to make repairs.

General Motors and Ford both reported increased sales in January. But Toyota sales in the United States have fallen, and so has its stock price. Toyota says it expects costs and lost sales from its recent safety recalls to total two billion dollars by the end of March.

Louis Lataif spent twenty-seven years in the car industry at Ford. Now he is dean of the School of Management at Boston University.

LOUIS LATAIF: "It's Toyota's biggest such recall. It's voluntary incidentally, it's not mandated. So, in that respect, they are doing something fairly bold, namely, taking the hit of shutting production and correcting the vehicles that are in inventory on which they have stopped sales."

A recall late last year involved floor mats that Toyota said could cause the accelerator to get stuck. One of the vehicles in the floor mat recall was the Prius, the world's top selling hybrid.

Now American officials are investigating the brake system on the twenty ten Prius. The Transportation Department says it has received more than one hundred twenty reports, including reports of four crashes.

Toyota says it found a software problem that could briefly affect the "feel" of the anti-lock brakes on rough or slippery roads. It says it fixed the brake problem last month.

But a growing number of legal cases claim Toyota knew for a long time about the sudden acceleration issue with other vehicles. The problem reportedly has led to more than eight hundred crashes and nineteen deaths in the past ten years. Congress is preparing for hearings.

Greg Bonner is a marketing professor at Villanova University. He says to regain trust, Toyota will have to make public everything it knows about the problems and show it accepts responsibility.

The recall has also intensified questions about all the computer control systems used in modern cars.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

0124. Asia-Pacific Tourism Industry Stages Economic Recovery

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:01:19 +0900

Asia-Pacific Tourism Industry Stages Economic Recovery

04 February 2010 Ron Corben | Bangkok

http://www.voanews.com/MediaAssets2/english/2010_02/Corben_Bangkok_ASIA_PACIFIC_TOURISM_L_3acts-st-32b.mp3

Travel and tourism, vital elements in the Asia-Pacific region's economy, have been staging a recovery since late 2009, with growth strongest within the region. But, while travel experts are upbeat, they say it could take a year before the industry fully recovers from the global economic slowdown.

The Asia-Pacific travel industry is on the rise after two years of hard times caused by soaring fuel prices and the global economic slump.

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) says the recovery had gathered momentum, with international visitor arrivals in the region increasing three percent in November compared with a year earlier.

PATA spokesman John Koldowski, says the travel industry may have to wait until 2011 for a full recovery. But he says airlines, hotels and tourist attractions expect a successful Lunar New Year holiday.

"It's going to be a boom; even now if you try to get a flight in or out of somewhere [in the region] you have to be very, very cautious - very, very flexible," Koldowski explained. "The capacity at that point in time is limiting. As you know, we've had air capacity reductions for the last 18 months."

The Lunar New Year begins February 14, and is traditionally a popular time for travel in Asia. Markets that are showing strong gains include Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Macau. Arrivals to China, however, are still down from 2008 when Beijing hosted the Olympic Games.

Arrivals to Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives were also higher, but visitor numbers to India remained flat. Southeast Asia led the region's recovery with a boost in arrivals of 15 percent. The International Air Transport Association recently reported that the Asia-Pacific region has eclipsed North America as the largest aviation market.

In 2009, 647 million people flew in the Asia-Pacific, compared with North America's 638 million.

Brian Sinclair Thompson, Thailand manager for Swiss International, is upbeat over the region's outlook.

"Cautious optimism is once again the buzz word and I think the region - Asia Pacific - is showing the way in terms of the IATA statistics," he said. "It's set to take over from North America in absolute terms of movement and I think that's a good sign as well that intra-Asia, the demand is definitely coming back."

Sinclair Thompson expects the major carriers to rebuild capacity while low-cost airlines, which continued to grow during the downturn, are still expanding.

Lutzi Matzig, chief operating officer of travel operator Asian Trails, says Thailand began recovering in late 2009, but he says political stability in Thailand is vital to keep the recovery going.

Anti-government protesters in late 2008 occupied Bangkok's international airport for a week, costing the travel industry hundreds of millions of dollars.

"Thailand, we are up 3.7 percent, so the trend is positive, but no mega increase. But at least it's going in the right direction. December is generally better than a year ago, but at least the trend starts to go up. This is good," said Matzig.

The region's travel industry, which in some countries makes up more than five percent of the economy, will be banking on a continued recovery of the global economy this year to build on the recent improvement.

0135. Students' Writing and the Web: Motivator or OMG?

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 08:12:45 +0900

Students' Writing and the Web: Motivator or OMG?
Some teachers blame the Internet for an increase in spelling and grammar errors. But language experts praise it for making communication more expressive. Transcript of radio broadcast: 28 January 2010 http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2010_01/Audio/Mp3/se-ed-language-and-internet-28-jan-10.Mp3

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Web browsers first appeared on computers in the early nineteen nineties. Since then, the Internet has greatly changed the way people communicate. But some teachers think the changes are not all for the better.

Eleanor Johnson is an English professor at Columbia University in New York.

The Internet is adding to vocabulary but, some argue, at a cost

ELEANOR JOHNSON: "I think that text messaging has made students believe that it's far more acceptable than it actually is to just make screamingly atrocious spelling and grammatical errors."

She says her students over the past several years have increasingly used less formal English in their writing. She says words and phrases like "guy" and "you know" now appear in research papers.

And she now has to talk about another problem in class, she says -- incorrect word use. For example, a student says "preclude" instead of "precede" when talking about one event coming before another. It sounds like precede but it means prevent.

Professor Johnson suspects a strong link between the rise of instant and casual communication online and an increase in writing mistakes. But she admits there may not be much scientific evidence, at least not yet.

David Crystal is a British linguist who has written more than one hundred books, including the book "Language and the Internet." He says the actively changing nature of the Internet makes it difficult to stay current in studying its effects. But he believes its influence on language is small.

DAVID CRYSTAL: "The main effect of the Internet on language has been to increase the expressive richness of language, providing the language with a new set of communicative dimensions that haven't existed in the past."

Erin Jansen is founder of Netlingo, an online dictionary of Internet and text messaging terms. She says the new technology has not changed existing language but has greatly added to the vocabulary. "Basically it's a freedom of expression," she says.

And what about teachers who find these new kinds of mistakes in spelling and grammar in their students' work. What is her message to them?

ERIN JANSEN: "I always advocate, don't get angry or upset about that, get creative. If it's helping the kids write more or communicate more in their first draft, that's great. That's what teachers and educators want, is to get kids communicating."

But Erin Jansen and David Crystal agree with Eleanor Johnson on at least one thing. Teachers need to make sure students understand the uses and rules of language.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Lawan Davis, with reporting by Rachel Abrams. We want to know what you have to say about the effects of the Internet on language and writing. Post your comments at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Bob Doughty.

0123. (Specilal) VOA Interview with Secretary of State Clinton

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 08:04:10 +0900

Transcript of VOA Interview with Secretary of State Clinton

The following is a transcript of an interview VOA State Department Correspondent David Gollust had with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Paris 29 Jan 2010. In the interview, Clinton discussed developments in Afghanistan, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Burma and China.

http://www.voanews.com/MediaAssets2/english/2010_01/clinton_intvr_gollust-29Jan10.mp3

GOLLUST: Madam Secretary, I have a question left over from the London conference on Afghanistan. Before your news conference, several of us reporters talked to the women's rights advocates from Afghanistan. They expressed some real concern that the reconciliation process contemplated by [Afghan] President [Hamid] Karzai might mean that their interest would be sacrificed in the interest of some accommodation with Taliban people. I know the United States won't be involved in the reconciliation, but is there any kind of assurance you can offer them that their interests might be protected?

CLINTON: Well, David, I share that concern, which is why I have not only spoken with a number of Afghan women and listened to their concerns but also to President Karzai and others about them. There is certainly no intention for that to happen. But, we have to be really vigilant to make sure it doesn't. The idea behind the standards that would be used for reintegration and reconciliation is that people would enter society in a way that required them to abide by the laws and constitution of Afghanistan, and which provide for equal treatment of women. I do think we should put this in the larger context, which is that, unfortunately, discrimination against women exists even without the Taliban in many parts of Afghanistan. So, I don't want to sound any alarms yet, because we are just watching the beginning of this process. But, I do want to assure your listeners that the United States is committed to protecting the rights of all people and we pay particular attention to vulnerable populations, like girls and women in Afghanistan.

GOLLUST: Let me switch now to the address you gave in Paris on European security. You suggested that the expansion of NATO has in effect improved the security of Russia itself, even though it has been quite an opponent of NATO expansion. But, what about the argument that Russia itself has perhaps become more defensive, less democratic, because of NATO expansion?

CLINTON: Well, I don't think that the facts support that. I think, making it possible for Central and Eastern European states to feel secure, to join NATO if that is their choice, creates a compact of nations that are working together to enhance security. NATO has no offensive interest in taking action against any peaceful neighbor. In fact, NATO has a great interest in working more closely with Russia. Because, we believe that, in the 21st Century, the challenges are not between states so much as they are between states that are committed to peace and prosperity and non-state actors and rogue states, and Russia's confronted a lot of insecurity internally on its own border. And, I think it has helped Russia not to have to worry about its neighbors to the West. Russia has to decide how it interprets developments like the expansion of NATO, but I would like to see a very close relationship between NATO and Russia that I think would continue to benefit all the parties.

GOLLUST: What's your level of concern about the state of democratic freedoms in Russia? Many people think it's deteriorated since the Yeltsin years.

CLINTON: I think there are some unfortunate trends in both democracy and human rights and also in development. Russia's life span is going down. This is a great country with an extraordinary history and very intelligent population, well-educated. So, I think that Russia has some work to do at home, which I believe President Medvedev recognizes. He has spoken about, he's written about it. And, I think, in the long run, it is in Russia's interest to be more open and more tolerant of dissent, and to continue working to expand its free market and join the world trade organization and all of the other aspects of modernization, which really should help Russians.

GOLLUST: You spoke in your address about the elections in Ukraine coming up being part of a process that will bring Ukraine closer to the European mainstream. On the other hand, if you look at polls, a candidate who basically opposes NATO membership, might win the election. If that happens, is that a setback?

CLINTON: No, because it's a decision for a country to make. Nobody is forced to join NATO; it's only if a country wishes to apply for membership, and if there's a change in political leadership, in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian people decide that they, at this time, would prefer not to pursue NATO membership, that's their choice.

GOLLUST: You also mentioned in the address the continuing United States concern about Abkhazia-South Ossetia. Doesn't, in fact, the fact that Russia practically, or physically occupies these areas really preclude the possibility of NATO membership for Georgia?

CLINTON: No. Georgia is in a process to see if it can meet the standards for membership. There's certainly not a recognition in Europe or the United States, or among NATO members of the legitimacy of the secession South Ossetia and Abkhazia. We would hope for improvement in the relationship between Russia and Georgia, and a cooling of any tensions and a refraining from provocation. But, this is one of the areas that we're working on.

GOLLUST: One of the more moving events, I thought, at the State Department a week ago, was your meeting with the prime minster of Moldova. His comments about how grateful he was to become an MCC [Millennium Challenge Corporation] member and how proud he was about democratic reform. Is there something that the United States and/or other allies do about the territorial issue in Moldova that really has been an impediment to that country's progress?

CLINTON:   I discussed this at length with the prime minister. Moldova is struggling to consolidate democracy to improve its economy, it is eligible for Millennium Challenge compact because it is still a poor country in need of a lot of help. Certainly the border disputes with Romania, the continuance of Russian troops on Moldovan territory are matters of concern. But we want to assist Moldova in improving the lives of its people and hopefully over time the problems that it faces can be addressed.

GOLLUST: Another subject you alluded to in the speech was international response to disasters as underlined by the Haiti experience of a couple weeks ago. Are there lessons to be learned from the Haiti example about how the international community should respond to a disaster?

CLINTON: I think there are and we need to be looking at the tsunami, the terrible earthquake in Haiti, and figuring out what are the best ways for the international community to respond. I've started discussing this with Catherine Ashton, the new High Representative for the European Union: how do we prepare to take responsibility for different parts of the world, how do we stockpile goods, how do we assign different responsibilities among different nations? I think this is a ripe area for more international cooperation and we should not just respond, we should learn and do it better the next time.

GOLLUST: Still another issue raised at the forum in Paris, U.S. relations with China, the controversy over the Google website. You mentioned that the president will be meeting the Dalai Lama. The issue of Taiwan arms sales is out there. Do you think we are in for, you might say, a patch of rough sledding in relations with China because of the convergence of such issues?

CLINTON: Well I hope not. But there shouldn't be any surprises on either issue. The United States has supplied defensive arms to Taiwan for many years. We do it within the context of our Taiwan Relations Act and the Joint Communiqué and our commitment to a one China policy. We think it is appropriate and in fact we believe that providing defensive equipment has actually enabled Taiwan to feel more comfortable in drawing closer to China in commercial interactions. And the last three, maybe four presidents have met with the Dalai Lama, so again there shouldn't be any surprise. We certainly don't recognize any claim that the Dalai Lama makes to territory inside China. We view him primarily as a religious leader. So again this is something that previous presidents have done and President Obama is committed to doing.

GOLLUST: Another issue out in that region involves Burma. The military government there is talking about an election process that would conceivably be followed by the release of Aung San Suu Kyi when her latest term of detention expires.   Is that sequence of events something that would be acceptable both for the United States and other international players?

CLINTON:   Well what we want to see are free fair and legitimate elections that give the people of Burma the chance to express their preference for their own leaders. We want to see Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners released as soon as possible. We want to develop a better bilateral relationship with Burma and we have offered the potential of that but of course we really hope to see the kind of progress that would demonstrate that Burma is ready to emerge from a period of authoritarian rule and some level of isolation and violation of human rights and the United States stands ready to work toward better relations with Burma and assistance but we have to see some evidence first.

GOLLUST: Madam secretary I appreciate very much you giving your time today.

CLINTON: Thank You.

0134. Less Salt Can Mean More Life

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 08:09:00 +0900

Less Salt Can Mean More Life
A new study shows a cut of three grams of salt a day prevent tens of thousands of deaths among Americans Transcript of radio broadcast: 27 January 2010 http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2010_01/audio/Mp3/se-health-salt-reduction-study-27jan10_0.Mp3

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Even a small reduction in salt in the diet can be a big help to the heart. A new study used a computer model to predict how just three grams less a day would affect heart disease in the United States.

Whatever salt you use, less of it could be good for your health

The result: thirteen percent fewer heart attacks. Eight percent fewer strokes. Four percent fewer deaths. Eleven percent fewer new cases of heart disease. And two hundred forty billion dollars in health care savings.

Researchers found it could prevent one hundred thousand heart attacks and ninety-two thousand deaths every year.

The study is in the New England Journal of Medicine. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo at the University of California San Francisco, was the lead author. She says people would not even notice a difference in taste with three grams, or one-half teaspoon, less salt per day. The team also included researchers at Stanford and Columbia University.

Each gram of salt contains four hundred milligrams of sodium, which is how foods may list their salt content.

The government says the average American man eats ten grams of salt a day. The American Heart Association advises no more than three grams for healthy people. It says salt in the American diet has increased fifty percent since the nineteen seventies, while blood pressures have also risen. Less salt can mean a lower blood pressure.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is leading an effort called the National Salt Reduction Initiative. The idea is to put pressure on food companies and restaurants. Critics call it government interference.

Mayor Bloomberg has already succeeded in other areas, like requiring fast food places in the city to list calorie information. Now a study by the Seattle Children's Research Institute shows how that idea can influence what parents order for their children.

Ninety-nine parents of three to six year olds took part. Half had McDonald's menus clearly showing how many calories were in each food. The other half got menus without the calorie information.

Parents given the counts chose an average of one hundred two fewer calories when asked what they would order for their children. Yet there was no difference in calories between the two groups for foods that the parents would have chosen for themselves.

Study leader Pooja Tandon says even small calorie reductions on a regular basis can prevent weight gain over time. The study was published in the journal Pediatrics.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. What do you think is a government's duty on issues like salt or fats? Let us know at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Faith Lapidus.

0122. North Korea Says Second American Taken Into Custody

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 07:54:28 +0900

North Korea Says Second American Taken Into Custody

28 January 2010 Kurt Achin | Seoul

http://www.voanews.com/MediaAssets2/english/2010_01/LCR_achin_korea_tensions_28jan10-32b.mp3

North Korea says it has arrested another U.S. citizen. If confirmed, the man would be the second American taken into custody in the North in two months. North Korea also is continuing with maritime artillery drills.

North Korea's official news agency issued a short report Thursday saying "an American was detained for trespassing" on its border with China on January 25. The report said the man is under investigation.

Exactly one month earlier - on Christmas Day, December 25 - activists here in South Korea say U.S. citizen Robert Park illegally crossed the same border to spread a Christian message of human rights.

North Korea reported the arrest of an American soon after than, but has never publicly referred to Park by name.

Jo Sung-rae, a human rights activist and close colleague of Park here in Seoul, says if another American did cross into the North, the action had no connection with Christian groups here.

Jo says no, absolutely not. They have checked to see if there is a connection.

Jo is even skeptical that North Korea took a second American into custody at all.

He says after Park's entry, it has become extremely hard to get in to North Korea from China. He also describes it as "highly questionable" that North Korea would issue a report of the arrest so soon after it took place.

No confirmation of the report was available from U.S., Chinese, or South Korean authorities Thursday.

Also Thursday, North Korea fired more artillery shells into disputed waters west of the Korean peninsula, as it had said it would.

Pyongyang says it is conducting an annual military drill, and warned ships to stay clear of the area until March. South Korean defense officials say so far, the shells are landing north of a maritime border with the South that Pyongyang has long disputed.

For that reason, South Korea says it is closely observing the firing, but has no objection to it.

The North on Thursday also proposed resuming multinational efforts to recover bodies of soldiers lost in its territory during the 1950s Korean War. The search for thousands of unaccounted for U.S. and South Korean troops was halted in 2005 because of security concerns related to the North's nuclear weapons programs.

0121. Obama Discusses Airline Attack With Intelligence Officials

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:59:07 +0900

Obama Discusses Airline Attack With Intelligence Officials

31 December 2009

http://www.voanews.com/MediaAssets2/english/2009_12/klein_obama_terrorism_31dec09-32b.mp3

U.S. President Barack Obama has been briefed on early reports about last week's aborted airline terror attack. The president has received a report on how a Nigerian man suspected of terrorist links boarded a U.S.-bound jetliner and allegedly tried to bomb it.

President Obama is not saying what is in the preliminary report from John Brennan, his assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism. But a written statement from the president says he has talked with Brennan and will discuss the issue with other U.S. intelligence advisers over the next few days.

The president ordered a review of intelligence and travel policies after 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab apparently smuggled explosives onto a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on December 25. He allegedly tried and failed to set off the explosives, which were concealed on his body.

Mr. Obama says he also spoke with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Thursday to hear about her agency's review.

The president is on vacation in his home state of Hawaii, and says he will meet with the heads of several homeland security agencies on Tuesday, after he returns to Washington.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which is affiliated with Osama bin Laden's organization, claims it was behind the attempted bombing.

The father of the suspect had warned U.S. officials in Nigeria about his son's extremist views. The suspect's name was placed in a U.S. government database, but not on the list that would have prevented him from boarding the plane.

President Obama said on Tuesday that such lapses cannot be allowed.

"When our government has information on a known extremist and that information is not shared and acted upon as it should have been and this extremist boards a plane with dangerous explosives that could cost nearly 300 lives, a systemic failure has occurred," said President Obama. "And I consider that totally unacceptable."

The president has demanded to know why the U.S. intelligence community did not piece together the information that could have kept the suspect off the plane. Reports say questions are being aimed at the National Counterterrorism Center, the CIA and the State Department, among other agencies.

Mr. Obama told reporters Tuesday the nation's intelligence practices need to be reformed immediately.

"We need to learn from this episode and act quickly to fix the flaws in our system because our security is at stake and lives are at stake," said Mr. Obama.

The president has also ordered an investigation of security screening practices at U.S. airports. Officials in Nigeria and the Netherlands announced Wednesday they will begin using full-body scanners on some flights.

Republicans have criticized Mr. Obama for waiting several days after the incident to make his first statement. Former Vice President Dick Cheney accused the president of trying to pretend the U.S. is not at war with terrorists.

White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer responded that Cheney was injecting politics into what the administration is treating as a terrorist attack.

0133. Economy Was Top News Story of 2009

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:41:05 +0900

Economy Was Top News Story of 2009
The yearly AP top ten list includes President Obama’s inauguration and health care reform. Transcript of radio broadcast: 01 January 2010 http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2010_01/Audio/Mp3/se-itn-2009-top-10--01jan10.Mp3

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

At the end of each year, editors and news directors of the Associated Press in the United States vote for the top ten news stories of the year.

They named the American economy as the top news story of two thousand nine. The government approved more than seven hundred eighty billion dollars to help the struggling economy. Yet the unemployment rate was over ten percent. Many banks failed. And the federal deficit reached a record one point four trillion dollars.

Chief Justice John Roberts swears in Barack Obama as the 44th United States president

Last year, the top news story was the election of Barack Obama as the first African-American president of the United States. This year, Mister Obama's inauguration was voted the second top story.

The battle between Republicans and Democrats over health care reform was voted the third top story of the year. Reform of the country's health care system was one of President Obama's top goals.

The American auto industry was fourth on the list. Two of the big three American automakers filed for bankruptcy after suffering sharp drops in sales.

Next on the list was the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu. The virus affected tens of millions of people worldwide. Officials said swine flu sickened about fifty million Americans and killed ten thousand.

American troops in Afghanistan

The war in Afghanistan was also among the top news stories. Last month, President Obama decided to send thirty thousand more American troops to Afghanistan. Public opinion studies show that the war has grown increasingly unpopular with Americans.

The AP editors said the death of singer Michael Jackson in June was also among the top news stories. The fifty year old international star was just days from beginning a series of performances in London. Jackson's doctor became the subject of a police investigation after admitting he gave Jackson a powerful drug to help him sleep.

Another top story happened in November. Thirteen people were killed in a shooting at Fort Hood military base in Texas. Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Hasan is accused of the killings.

Ted Kennedy

Senator Edward Kennedy's death in August was also among the top news stories. Mister Kennedy was one of the nation's longest-serving and most respected senators.

And finally, the tenth news story of the year has been called the "Miracle on the Hudson." Pilot Chesley Sullenberger safely landed a US Airways passenger plane on New York's Hudson River after both its engines failed.

For the first time, the AP invited members of the public to name their top news stories. A separate vote was held on Facebook. More than one thousand four hundred people took part.

They chose President Obama's inauguration as the top story, followed by the economy. Eight stories appeared on both top ten lists.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. What do you think were the top news stories of two thousand nine? You can comment on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

0120. Contracts Awarded to Russian, Norwegian Firms on Last Day

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:33:33 +0900

Contracts Awarded to Russian, Norwegian Firms on Last Day of Iraq Oil Auction

Russia's Lukoil and Norway's Statoil won a joint contract to develop a major untapped oil field in southern Iraq, Saturday, on the second and final day of a two-day auction aimed at boosting Iraq's oil output. Representatives from dozens of foreign oil companies attended the auction, despite security risks.

http://www.voanews.com/MediaAssets2/englishttp://www.voanews.com/MediaAssets2/english/2009_12/Yeranian_Cairo_LCR___IRAQ_OIL_AUCTION___3_Acts_3m20s-32b.mp3

The Iraqi government expressed satisfaction with the outcome of major two-day oil auction, Saturday after awarding the prized West Qurna Phase Two oil field to both Russia's Lukoil and Norway's Statoil.

The winning bid by the two companies proposed to give Iraq a fee of $1.15 per barrel of crude extracted from the field. The companies also pledged to reach an output of 1.8 million barrels per day.

Friday, Iraq awarded contracts to exploit the Majnoon oil field to Royal Dutch Shell and Malaysia's Petronas, while granting another major contract to China's CNPC.

Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani declared that the results of the auction were "a victory," adding that Iraq would not waste the money from the oil deals "on wars," as former president Saddam Hussein "used to [do]." The money, he emphasized, will "go to the Iraqi people."

Shahristani also told Iraqi politicians that were opposed to the deals that commercial accords, such as the oil deals, were under the control of the government and did not need the approval of parliament.

He says that the constitution is clear that international accords and treaties signed by Iraq and any foreign country must go through parliament for approval, but that commercial agreements don't need to be legally approved by parliament, according to the Iraqi constitution, no matter how large the contract, or how long the duration.

Sunni opposition parties have criticized Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for going ahead with the deals, complaining that he was "giving away Iraq's natural resources."

Former oil minister Issam al-Jalabi insisted that the government was not following proper procedures and needs to submit the deals to parliament for approval.

He says that the government cannot just pick and choose which oil laws it wishes to follow. He insists that a 1967 law stipulates that a bill must go through parliament for each and every accord. Otherwise, he says, the agreements will be considered null and void.

Louis Hobeika, professor of economics at Lebanon's Notre Dame University, said that he's not sure if the Iraqi government should have gone ahead with the deals, given the unsettled political situation in the country.

"We all know that the Iraqi government and Iraqi institutions are weak and any contracts given under these circumstances, especially long-term contracts, for me is doubtful, and therefore, all of these contracts, especially long term contracts, are bad for Iraq. It will not be in the Iraqi's interest, it will be in the foreign firm's interest," he explained.

The oil deals will increase Iraq's production, according to government estimates, by over 4.7 million barrels per day in the coming years. Iraq now produces 2.5 million barrels per day. Many analysts, however, question if Iraq will be able to attain such lofty production levels.

0132. Aiming for a Deal on Climate Change

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:27:35 +0900

Aiming for a Deal on Climate Change
Thousands of delegates meet through December 18 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The goal is an agreement to cut greenhouse gases and help developing countries. Transcript of radio broadcast: 12 December 2009 http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2009_12/audio/Mp3/se-itn-climate-change-conference-12dec09_0.Mp3

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Demonstrators marching Saturday from the Danish parliament in the center of Copenhagen to the site of the climate change conference

In Copenhagen, Denmark, the United Nations Climate Change Conference opened this week. Around fifteen thousand delegates and observers from nearly two hundred countries are there. Some call it "the last best chance" for an agreement to fight climate change.

Yvo de Boer is the top climate official at the United Nations.

YVO DE BOER: "The time for formal statements is over. The time for restating well known positions is past. The time has come to reach out to each other. I urge you to build on your achievements, take up the work that has already been done and turn it into real action."

But there are questions about how much can be done, and how an agreement would be put into action.

A "Global Day of Action" was also observed in other cities, including Sydney, Australia

The twelve-day conference ends next Friday. Late next week, leaders from more than one hundred countries are expected at the talks, including President Obama.

Delegates hope to set new targets to reduce greenhouse gases -- the pollution blamed for trapping extra heat in the atmosphere. An existing agreement, the Kyoto Protocol, ends in two thousand twelve. Many countries have offered new proposals for cuts, including the United States and China.

China is now the leading producer of greenhouse gases. But the United States and other industrialized nations were the top polluters for years. So they are under extra pressure to reduce emissions from cars, factories and other sources.

Summit delegates look at a display showing the warming of the world's oceans

In Washington, the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday declared carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases a threat to public health. That clears the way for the administration to set limits, unless Congress acts first.

But developing countries are also being urged to do more. And they, in turn, want help. They criticized a proposal for industrialized nations to pay developing countries ten billion dollars a year over three years. The World Bank says dealing with climate change will require hundreds of billions a year in public and private financing.

In New York, the United Nations secretary-general reacted to a dispute over e-mails stolen from the University of East Anglia in England. Critics say the messages show climate change scientists discussing ways to discredit other theories about global warming. But Ban Ki-Moon said Tuesday that the evidence is "quite clear" that humans are the main cause of temperatures rising faster than expected.

Modern climate records date back to eighteen fifty. The United Nations weather agency says two thousand to two thousand nine was the warmest decade on record. And it said this week that final results will likely show two thousand nine was the fifth-warmest year on record.

Current estimates show record warmth this year in large parts of southern Asia and central Africa. The agency reported that the only parts of the world with cooler than average conditions this year were the United States and Canada.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. For the latest news from Copenhagen, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.