may 25
It is twenty-three hours thirty Universal Time and here is the news in Special English. ▼ North Korea says it is ending all relations and communication with South Korea. The cancellation of relations was contained in a statement from North Korea's national reunification committee. The North's state-operated news agency published the announcement. North Korea says it will not talk with South Korean officials while South Korean President Lee Myung-bak is in office. The North also announced plans to expel all South Korean officials working at an industrial center in the border town of Kaesong.
The United States and China have ended two days of meetings in Beijing. American Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says both sides made progress in settling some of their economic disagreements. Secretary Geithner said the Chinese government has taken steps to change a policy designed to help companies that develop technology within China. The United States says the policy hurts American companies. Mr. Geithner said the meetings did not completely settle American concerns about Chinese economic policies. But, he said both sides will hold more talks on this and other issues in the coming weeks and months.
A top American official says President Obama will deploy up to one thousand two hundred National Guard troops to the border between the United States and Mexico. He is also to ask for an additional five hundred million dollars to fight the illegal drug trade. The administration official said the move is part of President Obama's plan to secure the southwest border. The official says the extra troops would give immediate support to drug enforcement officials and help with intelligence.
Officials in Jamaica say fighting in the capital, Kingston, has killed at least thirty people. Hundreds of troops and police are searching for a suspected drug dealer wanted by the United States. At least twenty-five people have been injured and two hundred others detained. The violence was started by government efforts to find Christopher “Dudus” Coke. Heavily armed security forces raided the Tivoli Gardens neighborhood of Kingston, Monday, in a failed effort to find the suspect. Schools and businesses across the city have been closed because of the violence. Emergency conditions are in effect for areas of Kingston.
Slovenian police have arrested fourteen people in a major operation against drug dealers and organized crime across southern Europe. Police, Tuesday, said they raided thirty houses and seized weapons and drugs. Balkan news reports say the suspects may belong to a group led by wanted criminal Darko Saric.
[You are listening to the news in VOA Special English.]
Stock prices fell sharply on Asian, European and American exchanges Tuesday. Observers placed partial blame on increased tensions between North and South Korea and Europe's debt problems. Leading stock indexes in the United States lost as much as three percent before recovering to end trading with little change. Observers say investors sold euros and sought what they believe to be safety of dollars. World oil prices also fell.
Oil company B.P. says it is completing several hours of tests before beginning an operation to stop a leaking deep sea oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. The company announced Tuesday that equipment is ready for what it calls “the top kill” method. The method involves pumping heavy drilling fluid into the well to stop the flow of oil and natural gas. The operation may begin on Wednesday. B.P. said it has a sixty to seventy percent chance of success.
European officials say the ruling party in Ethiopia used unfair actions in the parliamentary elections on Sunday. The latest official election results show Ethiopia's EPRDF coalition winning at least four hundred ninety-nine seats in parliament. The main opposition coalition, Medrek, won only one seat. But, the E.U. observer team says conditions for the election helped the ruling party. The E.U. team said the Ethiopian government used its resources to help the ruling coalition. And, it said that more than fifty percent of all election news on state-owned media involved the ruling party. The E.U. chief observer said the government blocked other news sources, including VOA broadcasts.
Yemeni and American officials say tribesmen in Yemen freed an American man and his wife Tuesday. The two Americans and their driver were kidnapped Monday near the capital, Sana'a. A Yemeni spokesman says police surrounded the tribesmen and negotiated the release of the Americans. On Monday, their driver said the kidnappers demanded that officials release a detained tribesman. It is unclear if their demands were met. Separately, Yemeni tribesman attacked an oil pipeline after the government carried out an air strike against suspected al-Qaida members. The air strike missed its target but killed the Secretary General of the Marib provincial council, Jaber Ali al-Shabwani. He was negotiating the surrender of al-Qaida members.
An al-Qaida group in Iraq is denying claims that it is plotting an attack on next month's world cup football competition in South Africa. The group published statements on Islamist websites Tuesday, calling the claims lies. Iraqi military officials said last week that a captured Saudi al-Qaida militant admitted to planning attacks against the sports event. On Tuesday, the State Department warned Americans that the world cup could offer targets for terrorists. The agency said, however, that it has no information on any planned threats. ▲ Here again is the major news.
North Korea says it is ending all relations and communication with South Korea. The American Treasury Secretary says China and the United States made progress in settling some of their economic disagreements. And, President Obama is to deploy over one thousand National Guard troops to the border between the United States and Mexico.
That's the news in VOA Special English from Washington. Source: VOA Special English May 25, 2010 2330UTC
