It is twenty-three hours thirty Universal Time and here is the news in Special English. ▼ President Obama is preparing to speak to the nation about the government's plan to deal with the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It is the fifty-seventh day of the leak from oil company BP's deepwater well. The President will give the speech hours after returning from a visit to areas along the Gulf of Mexico coast. He visited beaches Tuesday and spoke with local officials about the clean-up effort. In related news, top officials from BP, Shell, Exxon-Mobile and other oil companies appeared before a Congressional committee. They defended their industry's safety measures. One BP official was questioned whether his company took too many risks to save costs. Also Tuesday, BP temporarily stopped efforts to collect leaking oil because of a fire on a containment ship. BP says the fire was put out and no one was injured.
The United States is sending a top diplomat to Kyrgyzstan where ethnic violence in the south of the country has killed at least one hundred seventy-seven people. Tens of thousands of people have fled to bordering Uzbekistan. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has sent diplomat Robert Blake to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to discuss humanitarian aid. The United States is discussing the situation with Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Earlier, the International Committee of the Red Cross said ethnic violence has killed several hundred people.
North Korea's United Nations ambassador says his country's military will answer if the U.N. condemns North Korea for sinking a South Korean warship. Shin Seon-ho spoke at a news conference Tuesday. He denied North Korea sank the ship, killing forty-six sailors. Mr. Shin says he does not want the U.N. Security Council to take measures against North Korea. The diplomat said his country would reject any U.N. document against it. Mr. Shin's comments followed a statement by the Security Council expressing deep concern about the tensions in the Korean Peninsula. A State Department spokesman said North Korea's threat sounds like more of the same bad behavior for which the country is known. He called North Korea, “a criminal state.” Militant attacks in southern and eastern Afghanistan have killed a district governor, at least eleven other Afghans and five NATO soldiers. Officials say Arghandab district governor Haji Abdul Jabar died in a bombing Tuesday in the city of Kandahar. The explosion also killed his son and a guard. A bombing in Wardak province killed four police officers, while a militant attack in Ghazni province killed five officers. Also Tuesday, Britain's Defence Ministry said two British soldiers were killed in Helmand province. A third died of wounds suffered in combat days ago. And, one American and one Polish soldier were killed in eastern Afghanistan.
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More than fifty countries attending a United Nations meeting have supported a statement that criticizes Iran's human rights record. The U.N. Human Rights Council considered the statement Tuesday at the meeting in Geneva. The statement says member states are concerned about a lack of progress in Iran for protecting human rights, especially since Iran's election a year ago. It said problems include violent suppression of dissent and detention and executions without legal process. Iran's ambassador was temporarily able to stop the ambassador from Norway from reading the statement. Several other nations, including Pakistan joined Iran in objecting to the measure. At least fifty-five nations supported the statement.
An Israeli security official says Israel would face a huge security threat if the nation canceled its blockade of the Gaza Strip. Shin Bet security chief Yuval Diskin says Gaza militants have about five thousand rockets. He said some of those rockets are able to travel up to forty kilometers. He said most of the rockets belong to Hamas, the group that took control of Gaza in two thousand seven. The Shin Bet chief spoke during a private meeting with parliament Tuesday. On Monday, the European Union urged Israel to cancel its restrictions against Gaza.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has officially apologized for the nineteen seventy-two killings of unarmed Catholics in Northern Ireland. Mr. Cameron spoke to Parliament after a report on the incident, known as Bloody Sunday, was made public Tuesday. He said the findings of the report were clear. Thirteen protestors died in Londonderry that day. Another died later of his wounds. A report in nineteen seventy-two cleared British security forces of wrongdoing. But, Mr. Cameron said British soldiers fired on unarmed protestors. He said the events of Bloody Sunday were in no way justified.
In space news, two United States astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut are traveling to the International Space Station. The group will spend six months on the station. Their Russian Soyuz spacecraft [was] launched from the Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early Wednesday.
At the World Cup in South Africa, it took fifty-five minutes of play before Brazil could score against North Korea. The five time champions later defeated North Korea two to one. In other action, New Zealand shocked Slovakia with a goal in the closing minutes to gain a one one tie. Ivory Coast and Portugal failed to produce a goal in zero zero tie. Ivorian star Didier Drogba played part of the match although he recently suffered a broken arm. ▲ Here again is the major news. President Obama is preparing to speak to the nation about the government's plan to deal with the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The United States is sending a diplomat to Kyrgyzstan where ethnic violence has killed at least one hundred seventy-six people. And, militant attacks in southern and eastern Afghanistan have killed a district governor, at least eleven other Afghans and five NATO soldiers.
That's the news in Special English, from Washington. Source: VOA Special English June 15, 2010 2330UTC
