Hearing in this November's that it's not up to the Senate to pick the commander in chief leave it to the voters to choose their president but lead house and Pugin manager Adam Schiff mocked White House counsel pads simple Loney's argument he's guilty as sin but can't we just let the voters decide shift says no because they know the president cheated to win one election and will do it again 100 percent it takes a 2 thirds vote to remove the president meaning his acquittal is all but certain in the g.o.p. Led Senate come Wednesday Saager Megami Washington China is accusing the United States of whipping up panic over the fast spreading coronavirus with travel restrictions and evacuations the death toll in China rose to $361.00 on Monday Reuters Michel Hennessy reports the pandemic is having an impact on China's benchmark stock index China's stock market suffered its worst drop and maybe find views on Monday as the virus hit mainland reopened its exchanges for the 1st time since the Lunar New Year holiday fears over the new coronavirus saw investors selling the yuan and dumping commodities with around 400000000000 u.s. Dollars wiped from the Shanghai Composite Index the benchmark close nearly 8 percent lower the biggest one day drop since 2015 the ticker around the Shanghai Stock Exchange which would have shown a plunge was shot off on Monday investors are bracing for volatility as the spread of the new coronavirus waves on the world's growth outlook. That's what is Michelle Hennessy the. In the u.s. State of Iowa hundreds of thousands of people are casting their ballots in the state's Democratic caucus it's the 1st of many state congress contests to challenge President Donald Trump in the fall election Julie walker all weekend Democratic presidential candidates like a loser with war. 0 and the others locked in a 4 way battle with her Joe Biden Bernie Sanders and people who judge hustled across the state trying to fire up voters are when Chris Brown is still undecided prom fire and Biden. From between are unknown but Martin Campbell and Anthony does only say their minds are made up I'm going to repeat Bernie I think they are people be a good candidate unlike other Democratic primaries the Iowa caucuses are essentially small local meetings where neighbors stand up to show their support for a candidate and get others to join me I'm Julie Walker. Britain's justice minister says the government will introduce emergency legislation to prevent convicted terrorists from automatically being released early from prison this comes a day after police shot dead a man they say stabbed 2 people in south London the Islamic state is claiming responsibility for that attack the latest attempt at an age HIV vaccine has failed researchers say they've stopped giving the experimental shots in a major study. Reports the study had enrolled more than 5400 people since 2016 and South Africa a country with one of the world's highest HIV rates last month monitors checked to have a study was growing and according to the u.s. National Institutes of Health 1298 HIV infections had occurred among the vaccine recipients compared with 123 among those given a dummy shot to other large studies in several countries are under way testing a different approach to a possible HIV vaccine shortly after Washington Iran media says President Hassan Rouhani is ready to cooperate with the European Union to resolve issues related to the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal the comment came during a meeting with the European Union's top diplomat and u.s. Secretary of state Mike pump demanding evidence from the Taliban that it will lower the violence level in Afghanistan before signing a deal that will lead to peace talks a recording of the Broadway show Hamilton is coming to us movie theaters. Hamilton a version of Hamilton featuring creator Lindeman Well Miranda and the original Broadway cast will hit North American movie theaters on October 15th 2021 according to the Walt Disney Company the show was filmed in June of 2016 in New York children are Tommy Kail who also directs the film version says they are thrilled that fans and new audiences will get to experience what it was like on stage and in the audience. I'm arisen Melton. He's info to me just not on this is that we need to feed his international child at . The head of the World Health Organization makes his case against blocking all traveled to wood from China this is Tuesday the for the better we're in this is the only a.j. I'm Ira Mehlman in Washington also ahead you'll hear the latest on the continuing spread of the war on coronavirus impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump head toward a likely early and the u.s. Presidential race will see its 1st selection process in just a few hours that and more all on today's v.o.a. Asia. China's top leadership Monday admitted shortcomings and difficulties in its response to the corona virus outbreak as state media said a new hospital builded breakneck pace began receiving patients in the epicenter of the crisis 57 new beds were confirmed Monday the single biggest daily increase since the buyers was the tech that late last year in the central city a boom on the death toll in China stood at $361.00 that exceeds the 349 mainland to tallied from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS outbreak of 2002 and 3 which eventually killed nearly 800 the government in Beijing nevertheless hit out Appian ited States for sparking panic with its response to the coronavirus including a ban on foreigners who are brazenly been to China the virus has so far as spread to more than 20 countries and several other nations have instituted similarly tougher rules the number of cases of the virus in the United States has risen Dr Nancy Missoni a is with the u.s. Centers for Disease Control. No she says they have seen several new cases new cases including one patient again a fight in Massachusetts and 4 more patients in California 4 of the 5 patients have traveled 3 to one China one patient in California is a quote household trying to pick up another patient in California the World Health Organization as declared the crisis a global health emergency and the 1st foreign death of the virus was confirmed in the Philippines Sunday as the corona virus continues to spread worldwide many countries including the United States are denying entry to all foreign visitors who had recently been to China as part of a global effort to stop the spread the only is law that's a hoax reports people returning home from China are being quarantined. The death of the 1st patient outside China puts an additional question on health authorities worldwide to boost measures to protect the citizens of the United States Australia and then increasing number of other countries have barred the arrival of foreigners from China but they cannot bar their own citizens from any turning home in France has set up to quarantine centers where its citizens have to spend 2 weeks on that observation in developing a home is there more we are obviously monitoring the health situation of each of these people very closely and everything is organized to ensure that there are no infections should any occur more than $300.00 people have died in the corona virus outbreak in China most of them in the central province ward and 14000 people have been infected in 24 countries health authorities believe divides can reproduce and exist inside the digestive tract but have not yet determined how it is spread that will hire and will haunt Shans and even in the 1st virus cases in the United States they detected new coronavirus in feces of the patients in this phenomenon. Indicates that the virus can reproduce and exist inside the digestive tract but whether the virus is spread through fecal oral transmission or through droplets containing the part of us that forms an aerosol and then spreads this requires epidemiological research to confirm Italian scientists say they have isolated the d.n.a. Sequence of the new corona virus the findings were made at the laws in a spot on Saturday National Institute on infectious diseases which was treating a couple of Chinese visitors who were sickened by the virus. Having isolated the virus means it will have many more opportunities to study it to understand it and to better test what can be proved effective to contain it spread Italian health minister all bets us but onset told reporters the Sunday the findings would be shared with the international community the Chinese couple have been easily is only 2 cases of the diet as the rest of Europe has confounded more than 20 patients infected by the new strain slotted to halt v.o.a. News Washington all but one of the 57 new deaths reported Monday were in will high on the rest who Bay province most of which has been under lockdown for almost 2 weeks and move on where the virus is believed to have jumped from animals to a market into humans at Hardee's have been racing to build 2 new hospitals to treat be infected the 1st of those a $1000.00 bed facility began to receive patients Monday according to the People's Daily just 10 days after construction had started a 2nd hospital is due to open later this week the corona virus outbreak is taking its toll economically Stay with us for that the story is next. These are among the top Asia headlines you'll find right now appealing to News dot similar. Feeling Asia continues the corona virus that started in $100.00 China is taking an increasing economic toll shutting down businesses curbing international travel and impacting production lines of major global brands the Shanghai stock market plunged almost 8 percent Monday on the 1st day of trading since the holiday as investors played catch up with last week's global retreat and one which has been transformed from a bustling industrial hobby into a near ghost town residents have been living in deep fear of catching the bias the city's medical facilities have been overwhelmed with Shin while reporting that 68 medical teams of 8300 stamp had been sent to bay the industrial city of one Zollo say 800 kilometers to the east was placed under a similar lockdown to work on on Sunday it's 9 people 9000000 people ordered to stay indoors the emergence of the virus coincided with the lunar new year when hundreds of millions. Travel across the country for family reunions originally scheduled to end last Friday the holiday was extended by 3 days to give authorities more time to deal with the crisis but some major cities including Shanghai extended it again and many schools and universities have to lay the start of new terms many nations have had Thank you waited hundreds of their citizens from China with some forcing them of the quarantine on their return and more airlines are canceling services to the mainland China's Foreign Ministry Monday criticized the United States for being among the 1st to a bank you wait that goes without providing the substantial assistance to China the u.s. Actions that cause panic said a spokeswoman they director general of the World Health Organization is urging countries not to close their borders for foreigners in response to the virus outbreak Lisa's line reports for be away from Geneva the United States Australia Singapore and a growing number of other countries are denying entry to foreigners travelling from China in an effort to limit the spread of the deadly coronavirus w.h.o. Chief Tadros I don't know good graces says 151 cases of the disease and one death had been confirmed in 23 countries outside China he says this small number of cases can be managed without countries resorting to extreme measures there is no reason for a major does not necessarily mean that if it was international travel and trade. We call on all countries to implement this is evidence based and consistent w. Just under 3 d. To provide advice to any country that is considering which measures to take last week w.h.o. Declared the corona virus a public health emergency of international concern and issued several recommendations to prevent and limit the further spread of the virus Tetro says the disease was mainly declared a global health threat. Out of concern that countries with weaker health systems what have difficulty in containing the virus which can spread from person to person as such he says one of the recommendations is for international support to countries with fragile health systems He says other recommendations include efforts to accelerate the development of vaccines and medicines as well as measures to combat the spread of rumors and misinformation review preparedness plans identify got upset and evaluate the resources needed to identify isolate and care for the cases and prevent transmission blows the code on a virus the pattern is not panic Tator of says only solidarity and cooperation among all countries will defeat the corona virus outbreak He says everyone is in this together and the only way to stop the virus from spreading is by working together. For v.o.a. News Geneva Mongolia brusha and Apollo have closed their land borders while semi autonomous Hong Kong Monday was closing all but 2 land crossings also Monday the Cruise Lines International Association which represents some of the world's largest operators said vessels will deny boarding to passengers and crew who have recently traveled to China. Had a recession last year in suffering its 1st contraction in a decade after falling out of it with pressures of the u.s. Trade months approach the perceived protests play out the day would be a way this is the only Asia. We continue on Deal way Asian u.s. House Democrats prosecuting the a Pietschmann case against President Donald Trump and his defense team offer their closing arguments Monday at his Senate trial even as his acquittal remains all but certain the only Capitol Hill Correspondent Catherine gypsying joins us from Capitol Hill. Katharine Ward What's been the stances taken by those who brought the impeachment to the Senate in those who were defending the president well you know remember it's interesting that we're having these closing arguments up on Capitol Hill today because of course Today also marks the very 1st day the very present nominating contest is a 2020 presidential election which actually figured pretty largely in the president's defense they're making the argument that it Pietschmann is actually a subversion of American democracy and that because we're already in the 2020 Alexion cycle the American voters should be the ones who make the decision and that it's absolutely out of bounds for Democrats to try this impeachment case which would effectively take President Trump off the ballot in 2020 you know of course Democrats will tell you that the election is also pushing them forward they're saying that because President Trump allegedly invited for an election interference they have this pushing the need to prosecute the impeachment case and make sure that he doesn't meddle with the election process in November so really a lot of talk about the election up here on Capitol Hill and a very a sense of the press they need on both sides. Well is there any way that the Democrats to many people's view Diprivan presented to a very pressing and believable scenario do you think they made any impression whatsoever on any Republicans any indication of that whatsoever Well I don't think that they changed any Republican minds and actually we just heard from the a moderate swing state Democrat Joe Manchin who got presents which it you know which has a lot of the president's supporters living there he actually just took to the Senate floor and said that well he doesn't sign the president's July 25th phone call with Ukrainian President Selenski a perfect phone call by any means he is still undecided about how he is going to vote on it each man on Wednesday and you don't look that tells you something as somebody who is in a swing state who is trying to represent a lot of the president's supporters is still on the fence after months of investigation after months of this being litigated out in public he's still making up his mind now Manchin represents a state with many many people in the coal industry which is not in the best shape so I guess that's a little understandable So what happens next so what happens next is that senators continue to take to the Senate floor to talk through their decisions on their impeachment vote remember these are senators been sitting for 22 and a half weeks and not been allowed to talk except through those written questions that they handed through to the house and Pietschmann managers and the president can all so this is really their 1st time to get up in front of the cameras as an order for senators to do and really talk through this decision making process they'll be doing that through tonight they'll be doing that tomorrow to lose. Day even as the capital prepares for the annual State of the Union address and then on Wednesday at 4 pm That's all finally coming to a close when they make that final vote on and he China and Capitol Hill Correspondent Catherine gypsum it will be there that means you will as well Catherine mentioned the Iowa caucuses which is the 1st step as far as selecting a democratic Well Republican to but that goes without saying it's going to be Trump but as far as Democrats are concerned that is that that's open and we're going to explore that in just a moment Thanks again for being here Catherine so welcome this is below Asia. You play a judge song Twitter followers of v.o.a. Asia for developing stories in Asia perhaps close to you our Twitter feed also has updates on programmes you can hear and see with links to easily find your way Asia also follow radio programme host feel way Stevenson and v.o.a. Moment feel the way Asia Twitter We're always online for you. Is a news alert from v.o.a. Asia President Roderick go to tear tame Monday urged the Philippine citizens to stop stirring up anti Chinese ina phobia related to the outbreak of the corona virus that emerged in one China in December and a sense killed more than $300.00 that infected more than 17 pounds in the outbreak is the way of the band Chinese sentiment. The only Asia continues Democrats are expecting a high turnout for the 1st presidential selection of it in the United States the Iowa caucuses to take place today as being always Cain Ferro ball reports while many voters in Iowa are still undecided on a candidate they believe can best challenge Republican president Donald Trump in the November general election they welcome the attention the process brings to this state. It looks like a concert. Sounds like a concert. In feels like a concert. But this is actually a campaign event for presidential hopeful Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders one of 4 candidates leading polls for Democrats in the Iowa caucuses and. The event was filled with Sanders signs Sanders merchandise and Sanders supporters David. It was noticeably absent was Sanders himself Sanders and fellow senators a.b. Clubbish are Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bennett are all candidates who of last time campaigning on the ground in Iowa while attending the impeachment proceedings of President Trump in Washington d.c. Although they were back in Iowa over the weekend in Iowa we like to see the candidates that we like to see them a lot in fact that's the joke both here and in New Hampshire that they can't decide on a candidate until they talk to the person 3 or 4 or 5 times University of Iowa political science Professor Timothy Hague says cannabis kept in the states are relying on surrogates to encourage voters to attend caucus night events where turnout is key for a candidate's group of supporters to win the room and ultimately the caucus and they have to reach 15 percent to be considered viable as a group if they're not viable as a group then they have to realign in a 2nd round choose a different candidate and it took Drake University political science professor David Skidmore a while to settle on his 1st choice Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren his 2nd pick isn't as clear a lot of people are on his have remained undecided right up until perhaps even today I think what you're going to for sure which is why connecting with as many supporters as possible in the final days in Iowa could make or break caucus night for candidates in a race that opinion polls show is crowded with front runners including Sanders Warren. Former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend Indiana Mayor people to judge. If a little intimidating just because there's raised by some of the country's politicians about the site is access to the country's power grid. Bushfires almost row you have ruined crops and parts of the country's winemaking areas the full extent of the damage is still being calculated but some grape growers have lost their entire harvest to so-called smoke taint from Sydney Film or. As are reports for v.o.a. The cost of Australia's bushfire disaster continues to climb thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed and lives and livelihoods have been lost the nation's multi-million dollar wine industry has been badly hit the neons have been damaged in 3 Australian states New South Wales Victoria and South Australia some have been directly affected by the fires while others have been smothered by a smoky haze if grapes are exposed to smoke towards the end of the growing season they can absorb compounds from burnt trees that give wine an unpleasant taste making it on saleable this is led to many grapes being left on pate Stuart Holden is a senior wine maker with broken wood wines in the New South Wales Hunter Valley the lodged in her from they spike events is certainly on the ground as the fruit crop each year is the income for the and the heavily affected by their growers that we've. Had to walk away from their browser of taking a significantly lower amount of for on and that really impacts long on their livelihood and we need to make sure that those guys get through the unprecedented bushfire season follows the impacts of a long drought in many wind producing areas in Australia which had already reduced the size of the crop adding to the financial costs is a fall in the number of tourists visiting vain yards because of the fires there's also the realisation that climate change will bring more frequent and more intense bushfires and that the wine industry will inevitably be affected by more smoke in the years ahead Australian wine exports are worth about one point $86000000000.00 The 3 biggest markets are China the United States and Great Britain film assets of the away News Sydney. This is. A Northwestern University led team of scientists recently developed a method that may help determine if an exoplanet can actually support life the technique checks of planets habitability by combining 3 d. Climate modeling along with atmospheric chemistry to determine the planets have of the ability the neutral measures radiation emitted vive a star as well as the rotation rate of the planet itself the researchers found planets orbiting stars emitting a lot of ultraviolet radiation lose much of its liquid water the vaporization while planets around stars with low levels of u.v. Radiation tend to preserve their supplies of water it was also found that even planets with livable surface temperatures could be inhabitable if surrounded within ozone layer This would allow the planet to be bombarded with dangerous levels of u.v. Radiation I feel ways Rick Bandolero. You have been listening to v.o.a. Asia get our program on i Tunes and Sound Cloud download our podcast take a b.o.h. Asia with you visit our view a News dot com program page far thanks for joining us to you and thanks to our director Tracy Carter our engineer Calvin Fowler the managing director as Diane gallon our b.o.h. It came consisted of the Doug radar gate lay the Jim Stevenson I'm Ira Mehlman in Washington to enjoy your day. Welcome to learning English a daily 30 minute program from the Voice of America I'm Jonathan Evans and I'm Ashley Thompson this program is aimed at English learners so we speak a little slower and we use words and phrases especially. Early written for people learning English. Today on the program you will hear from Susan chef and Brian Lamb and and Katie Weaver later we will present our American history series The Making of a nation but 1st. Shortly before Christmas last year Brazilian piano player Carlos marching invited his friends to a bar near his home in Sao Paulo he wanted to show them the best a gift he had received in many years a new pair of gloves they are not just any gloves However the specially made by our Nick devices are letting the 79 year old play with both hands for the 1st time in more than 20 years. The artist is considered one of the greatest players of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach Martine's retired last March by then he had undergone 24 medical procedures to try to reduce pain caused by a progressive disease and from a series of accidents his limitations had forced him to work mostly as a musical conductor since the early to thousands but in the final days of 2019 friends returned to his home. They listened to him once again and bring his favorite classical music back to life on his piano. Before the gloves which were especially developed for him more Chines could only play songs slowly with his thumbs and sometimes his pointer fingers he told the Associated Press after I lost my tools my hands and couldn't play the piano it was if there was a corpse inside my chest marching his health problems date back to 1965 he became known for coming back from every struggle he faced for example he suffered nerve damage in his arm from a soccer injury while he was on tour a robber hit him over the head with a metal pipe in Bulgaria but even his close friends believed that the latest surgery on his left hand would mark the end of his days as a pianist However one designer believed marching retirement had come early that designer. Cost created special by onic gloves for marching his hands the clubs help move his fingers up after they press on the piano keys. Said he created early models based on images of marching his hands but he said those models were far from ideal He then decided to tell marching about his efforts. In March chains then spent several months testing different models the perfect match came in December and cost only $125.00 to build these days my chains never takes off his new gloves even when he goes to sleep he said I might not recover the speed of the past I don't know what result I will get I am starting over as though I were an 8 year old learning marching said he has received more than 100 devices in the last 50 years as possible solutions to his hand problems none worked well or long enough but these gloves do he said the new gloves have given him our chains a new goal he hopes to play the piano at New York's Carnegie Hall in October he is already set to conduct a concert celebrating the 60th anniversary of his 1st appearance there. The sound of n sax fills a former train station in the Kenyan town of Q a 2 hour drive from Nairobi the train station built during British colonial rule was closed in 2012 now oh old railroad sleeper cars lie in the grass around the building. The 6000 people who live in the area did not lose just their train station 8 years ago they stopped using rail service they depended on the old train to get to their jobs or the nearest hospital traveling by road in this part of eastern Kenya can be slow and costly just 500 meters from the old station the Chinese built a new rail line its high speed trains pass through q. Every day but they do not stop at this forgotten town opened in 2017 the new $3300000000.00 rail road is part of China's one belt one road unissued tive the Chinese have provided support for a series of infrastructure projects changing trade and transportation between China and the rest of Asia Europe and Africa the new railroad reduced travel times by 50 percent for passengers and products going between Nairobi and the port of Mombasa the train takes just over 4 hours to make 6 stops but only runs once a day the old train ran 2 times a day and made $46.00 stops this new railway is just for the rich we do not benefit said Thomas new t.v. Who lives in Kew new t.v. Who added that he used to go to work in Nairobi by train every day. But now the train no longer stops and it is too far and costly by road he has stopped going to the capital others who took the train daily to Nairobi now live there full time during the work week and return to queue on the weekends he added state operated Kenya railways said the new line has increased local travel people who used to travel by road or airplane now take the new train last year nearly 5000000 tons of goods were shipped on the new line the railroad tracks for the line cut Emily cut to Munoz farm in half although she was given money for her land she now struggles to get to the market without the old train the government should put a station here so we can benefit since we are traders who need to travel and sell our produce She said vegetable seller Margaret knew Gerry finds it difficult to visit a doctor without the old train the nearest hospital is 24 kilometers away mostly on a dirt road local residents must now pay nearly $5.00 to get to the hospital by a motorbike or a minibus that is 5 times the cost of taking the old train line we have to wait on the road many hours for transport because the new railway does not have a stop here said Jerry the British built the old train line more than 100 years ago it was often called a Lunatic Express because it made so many stops. However over the years many people came to depend on the train line for every day transportation. Time Susan Chand. European researchers say they have created a process that can produce oxygen from moon dust the process could provide a major source of oxygen for humans taking part in moon exploration activities in the future researchers from the European Space Agency or e.s.a. Carried out the experiments at a laboratory in the Netherlands they reported their results in a study published in planetary and space science the team says e.s.a. Experimental plant was able to successfully produce oxygen from simulated moon dust the dust is part of a material known as regolith a top layer of dirt and rock pieces that sit on the surface of the moon samples of regolith returned from the moon have confirmed that the material contains about 45 percent oxygen by weight however the oxygen is chemically locked in the form of minerals or glass so it is not easily available for use. Having real samples of regolith from the moon made it possible for the researchers to create the simulated moondust material used during testing the oxygen extraction process is carried out using a method called molten salt electrolysis this involves 1st placing the regolith in a metal container calcium chloride salt is added to the mixture which is then heated to $950.00 degrees Celsius at this temperature the regolith remains solid next and electrical current is passed through the material the researchers say it is this step that results in oxygen being extracted from the regolith the study reported that up to 96 percent of oxygen in the simulated moondust was extracted during the experiments e s A's long term goal is to design an oxygen producing pilot plant to operate full time on the moon the 1st technology demonstration of the system is expected to take place in the middle 2020 s that Flomax of the University of Glasgow was a lead researcher on the project being able to acquire oxygen from resources found on the moon would obviously be hugely useful for future lunar settlers both for breathing and in the local production of rocket fuel she said in a statement. The researchers reported that as a bonus the process also results in the production of usable metallic materials e.s.a. Researcher Alexandra medleys said the finding that a number of metals are left behind was an important discovery this is another useful line of research to see what are the most useful alloys that could be produced from them and what kind of applications could they be put to he said in a statement e.s.a. And the u.s. Space agency NASA are both working on plans to return human beings to the moon NASA has set a goal for 2024 with the an aim to keep humans on the moon for long periods e.s.a. Officials say the latest experiments were part of expanded engine nearing development aimed at finding new ways for lunar materials to be used to support future human activities last August Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Florida announced its own plans to develop a device that would melt lunar regolith to extract oxygen the NASA plan would involve heating the regolith to more than $1600.00 degrees Celsius and then flowing electricity through the material the agency explained the process would attempt to cause a chemical reaction to split the regolith into oxygen and metals. Haven't Grossman is a materials science expert at Kennedy Space Center he said researchers will be carrying out experiments to test the technology with the goal of getting NASA in his words one step closer to an automated mass production of oxygen on the moon I'm Katie Weaver and I'm Brian Lamb. Welcome to the making of a nation American history in Vo way special English. In 1914 Europe exploded into the 1st World War It was a war no nation really wanted but no nation seemed able to stop it the assassination of Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand in the city of Sarajevo was the spark that set off the explosion Harry Munroe and Kagan lent tell about the war and how it affected the United States under President Woodrow Wilson . The Austrian Archduke was murdered by Serbian nationalists they opposed Austrian control of their homeland after the assassination Austria declared war on Serbia one of Serbia's allies was Russia. Russia agreed to help Serbia in any war against Austria Austria had allies to the most important was Germany Germany it wanted Russia to stay out of the war when Russia refused Germany declared war on Russia then Germany declared war on Russia's close ally France Britain entered the war a few days later when Germany have violated the neutrality of Belgium one nation after another entered the conflict to protect its friends or to honor its treaties within a week most of Europe was it war on one side were the central powers Germany and Austria Hungary on the other side where the Triple Entente allies France Britain and Russia many other nations took sides bug area and Turkey joined the Central Powers Italy Romania Portugal and Greece joined the Allies the United States hoped to stay out of the war President Wilson immediately declared American neutrality he said it is a war with which we have nothing to do whose causes cannot touch us most Americans agreed with the President Wilson they did not want to get involved in the fighting however many found it difficult to remain neutral in their hearts. Some Americans had family roots in Germany they supported the Central Powers a greater number of Americans had family roots in Britain or France they supported the Allies yet the oficial American policy was neutrality the United States planned to continue to trade with both sides Germany and Austria expected a quick victory in the war they were caught between 2 polar full enemies Russia and France but German military leaders were not worried they had a battle plan they were sure would succeed the German generals plan to strike quickly at friends with most of the German army they expected to defeat France in a short time and then turn to fight Russia in this way the German army would not have to fight both enemies at the same time at 1st the plan worked $2000000.00 German soldiers swept across Belgium and into France they rushed forward toward Paris hoping for a fast victory but the German commanders made a mistake they pushed their men too fast when British and French forces struck back outside Paris the tired and worn German soldiers could not hold their positions the battle was fierce and unbelievably bloody in the end the Germans were forced to withdraw. The German withdrawal gave the Allies time to prepare strong defenses there was no chance no for a quick German victory instead it would be a long war with Germany and Austria facing enemies on 2 sides Britain and France where on the West Russia was on the east the allies took immediate steps to reduce Germany's trade with the rest of the world the British Navy began seizing war supplies found on neutral ships sailing toward German ports it then expanded its efforts to block food exports to Germany the blockade by Britain and the other allies was very successful Germany faced possible starvation its Navy was not strong enough to break the blockade with surface ships its only hope was to break the blockade with another naval weapon submarines Germany and now nst that it would use its submarines to sink any ship that came near the coast of Britain the threat included ships from neutral nations that tried to continue trading with the allies the United States and other neutral nations immediately protested the German announcement they said it was a clear violation of international law when a German submarine sank a British ship in the Irish Sea One of the victims was an American citizen. A few weeks later an American oil ship was damaged during a sea battle between British Navy ships and a German submarine and then came the most serious incident of all it involved a British passenger ship called the Lusitania the Lusitania was sailing from New York City to Britain when it was attacked by a German submarine the Lusitania sank in 18 minutes 1200 persons were killed 129 were Americans the sinking of the Lusitania shocked and horrified the American people they called it mass murder they turned against Germany President Wilson warned that he might declare war on Germany if Germany continued to sink civilian ships Germany did not want war with the United States you know already faced a strong fight against the European allies it promised not to sink any more civilian ships without warning and it offered regrets for the Lusitania incident President Wilson accepted Germany's apology like most Americans he hoped to stay out of the bloody European struggle and he also knew that the record of the Allies was not completely clean for example he was troubled by reports of mass hunger in Germany he and other Americans felt the British food blockade was cruel. They also are shocked by the way British forces brutally crushed a rebellion in Ireland at the time most of all the American people were sickened by reports of what was happening on the battlefields of Europe the armies were using poison gas and other terrible weapons soldiers on both sides were dying by the millions the war had become a bloodbath the United States had a presidential election in 1916 President Wilson won the nomination of the Democratic Party to seek reelection Democrats around the country shouted their support with these words he kept us out of war Wilson himself did not like the words he felt it raised false hopes but people continued to say it because they did not want war the Republican Party nominated Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes as its candidate for president Hughes was a moderate Republican he supported a number of social reforms like Wilson Hughes promised to keep the United States neutral however one of his supporters was a former president Theodore Roosevelt and Roosevelt called for strong arm Merican policies that could lead to war Roosevelt's words led many Americans to see Wilson as the candidate of peace and Hughes as the candidate of war. Voting in the presidential election was very close at 1st it seemed Hughes had one he went to bed on election night believing he would be America's next president but voting results later that night confirmed Wilson as the winner the election was so close the Republicans did not accept defeat for 2 weeks Woodrow Wilson had won another term. During that term he would find it increasingly difficult to honor the words of the campaign he kept us out of war finally he would find it impossible the United States entered World War one while Woodrow Wilson was president. And that's our program for today listen again tomorrow to learn English 3 stories from around the world Jonathan Evans and I'm Ashley Thompson. This is the only news I'm a. Closing arguments took place in the impeachment trial of u.s. President Donald Trump today tomorrow President Trumbull of address a joint session of Congress to deliver his State of the Union Address White House bureau chief Steve Herman has the to.

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