It is twenty-three hours thirty Universal Time and here is the news in Special English. ▼ Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says a fourth set of United Nations restrictions against Iran will be the toughest the country has faced. The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote on the resolution Wednesday. It includes travel bans and financial restrictions against people and businesses thought to be involved in Iran's nuclear or missile activities. The American ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, says the resolution includes many new measures. She said she expects it to be approved by a strong majority of the fifteen council members. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned that any new restrictions could mean the end of talks on nuclear issues.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization says three more soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan. The alliance said a bomb killed two of its soldiers Tuesday in southern Afghanistan. And, the British Defense Ministry reported that a British soldier died in a gun battle with militants in Helmand province. Monday was the deadliest day for international forces in Afghanistan this year. Ten soldiers were killed in separate attacks in the country's south and east. President Obama is expected to return to the Gulf Coast early next week. He is to inspect how oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill is affecting the coasts of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The administration said the President will be in the area next Monday and Tuesday. Also, the chief of B.P., Tony Hayward, is to meet with American lawmakers next week to discuss the huge oil spill. Mr. Hayward is the only witness set to attend the meeting with the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The meeting is to discuss the company's part in the oil spill. The damaged well was caused by an explosion on an oil rig that killed eleven people. A brother of one of the victims spoke to the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday. Lawmakers are discussing a law that limits the amount a company must pay the family of a worker killed at sea.
Three Somali ministers say they have resigned. Culture and Higher Education Minister, Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar and State Minister for the President, Hassan Moalim [Mohamud], announced their decision Tuesday in an interview with VOA. Both men said the government is failing to make progress on Somalia's many problems. Later, State Minister for Defense, Yusuf Mohammad Siad, also announced his resignation. The Somali government has been affected by several disputes in recent weeks. The Speaker of Parliament resigned last month after being shouted at by other lawmakers.
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Vice President Joe Biden says American investment in Kenya will increase if the country successfully passes a new constitution and other reforms.
Mr. Biden spoke in Nairobi on Tuesday. He said American countries [companies] want to do business in Kenya. He said there would be more business interest if political and economic reforms are carried out in Kenya as promised. Mr. Biden is on a three-day trip to Kenya. His comments came after a meeting with President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga. The Kenyan leaders began a power-sharing deal in two thousand eight after election violence killed over one thousand people.
Thailand has appointed a former top government lawyer to investigate violence between anti-government protestors and Thai security forces last month. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva announced Tuesday that Kanit Nanakorn would lead the investigation. The Puea Thai opposition party has criticized the appointment. It says Mr. Kanit is too close to the administration that ordered the violence. Members say they want the government to invite international observers to lead the investigation instead. Eighty-nine people were killed and nearly two thousand wounded in fighting between Thai security forces and Red Shirt demonstrators.
Officials in Peru say Dutch citizen Joran Vander Sloot has admitted to killing a young Peruvian woman in his hotel room in Lima. Officials Tuesday said the twenty-two year old admitted on Monday that he killed Stephany Flores last month. Officials told local media that he killed her because he was angry that she had looked up information about him on his computer. Joran Vander Sloot is also the main suspect in the two thousand five disappearance of American teenager Natalie Holloway in Aruba. He was arrested twice in the case but was freed for lack of evidence.
Emirates Airlines has ordered thirty-two Airbus A-380 passenger airplanes. It is said to be the biggest order ever placed for the huge planes. The agreement was announced Tuesday at the Berlin Air Show. The order is worth eleven billion five hundred million dollars. Emirates Airlines already has ten of the two-level planes. Each one has space for five hundred or more passengers.
The family of former South African President Nelson Mandela says he will make a brief appearance at the World Cup's opening ceremony in Johannesburg Friday. A family spokesman had earlier said that the ninety-one year old former president was too weak to attend. But, he told reporters Tuesday that Mr. Mandela probably will meet with players and other people for ten to fifteen minutes. Mr. Mandela has been widely praised for his part in ending white minority rule and discrimination against blacks in South Africa. He served as president for five years after the end of racial separation in the country. ▲ Briefly, here again is the major news of the hour.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says a fourth set of United Nations restrictions against Iran will be the toughest the country has faced. NATO says three more soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan. And, Vice President Joe Biden says American investment in Kenya will increase if the country successfully passes a new constitution and other reforms.
That's the news in VOA Special English coming your way from Washington. Source: VOA Special English June 8, 2010 2330UTC
