Measles is only found in human beings. There is a highly effective and safe vaccine for the disease. So, in theory, measles could be destroyed.
Yet the number of measles cases is on the rise.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that, in the first three months of 2019, the number of cases is three times higher than it was last year.
Africa alone has had a 700-percent increase compared to last year.
The Democratic Republic of Congo reported 67,000 measles cases and 901 measles-related deaths in 2018. This year, WHO officials have noted more than 16,000 suspected measles cases in the country. That number includes 284 measles-related deaths in the first weeks of 2019.
Between September 2018 and February 2019, Madagascar reported over 67,000 measles cases, including 828 deaths.
Dr. Anthony Fauci directs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, part of the United States government’s National Institutes of Health. He says the measles situation in Madagascar is extremely serious.
"Madagascar has almost 1,000 deaths and has tens of thousands of infections,” Fauci said.
The National Institutes of Health warns that a decrease in measles vaccination is causing a preventable return of this often deadly disease worldwide.
Fauci told VOA that "one in 10 children who get infected with measles will get an ear infection that could cause deafness. One in 20 would get pneumonia. One in a thousand would get brain swelling, what we call encephalitis, and one to three per thousand would die. To say that measles is a trivial disease is completely incorrect.”
Walter Orenstein is with the Emory University Vaccine Center in Atlanta, Georgia. He has spent his life working to end measles. Orenstein says possible effects of the disease are worse in poor countries.
"You start off with children who are already at greater risk. They may be malnourished. They may have compromised immune systems. They may be underweight and may have no access to health care so measles is a big killer,” he said.
You have a 90 percent chance of getting measles if you have not been vaccinated and you come in contact with someone who has it. Dr. Rebecca Martin is the Director of the Center for Global Health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. She is working to remove measles from Africa completely.
"It is very infectious. It will find everybody who is not protected against measles,” Martin said.
Health experts advise patients to get two treatments of the measles vaccine. U.S. health officials say educating parents about both the disease and the vaccine is an important step in stopping the spread.
Equally important is making vaccination a top goal of health systems worldwide.
 
I’m Caty Weaver.            
VOA correspondent Carol Pearson reported this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in this Story
 
trivial - adj. not important
malnourished - adj. not eating enough food or not eating enough healthy food
immune system - n. the system that protects your body from diseases and infections
access - n. a way of being able to use or get something
pneumonia - n. a serious disease that affects the lungs and makes it difficult to breathe
swell - v. to become larger than normal(2019/04/23 07:04)

World leaders congratulated comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy Monday on being elected president of Ukraine.                                                   
The country’s Central Election Commission reported that Zelenskiy received 73 percent of the vote, with nearly all ballots counted. Incumbent President Petro Poroshenko received 24 percent.
Zelenskiy had no political experience before running for president. He is best known for playing the president in a Ukrainian comedy show. The show, called “Servant of the People,” is about a Ukrainian high school teacher who becomes president by chance.
One of Zelenskiy’s campaign messages centered on his desire to unify the country. Ukraine has been divided over repeated debates about national identity. The country is also at war with rebels in the east. The rebels receive support from Russia’s government.
Election experts said Zelenskiy appeared to have won in both western and eastern areas, a rare happening in post-Soviet Ukraine.
Poroshenko had appealed to voters to choose him so he could continue on a path to bring Ukraine closer to the West. He had also campaigned on a promise to fight government corruption.
Election monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were in Ukraine for the voting. The group said the election respected “fundamental freedoms” and prepared the way for a “democratic and orderly” change of power.  
Declaring victory Sunday night, Zelenskiy told supporters he would not let the Ukrainian people down. “As a citizen of Ukraine, I can say to all countries in the post-Soviet Union: Look at us. Anything is possible.”     
Zelenskiy has promised to reduce corruption, which many Ukrainians see as the reason for rising prices and worsening living conditions. Zelenskiy said he also plans to continue the pro-European path that Poroshenko began, and will aim to improve his country’s ties with Russia.                                          
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, said on Monday it was "too early to talk about (Putin) congratulating Mr Zelenskiy, or about the possibility of working together." Peskov added that Russia “respects the choice of the Ukrainian people” and will wait for steps by Zelenskiy before making judgments.
U.S. President Donald Trump and French leader Emmanuel Macron called to congratulate Zelenskiy on his win. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also pledged her support.
In a joint letter to Zelenskiy, EU Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker praised Ukrainians for their "strong attachment to democracy and the rule of law."
I’m Bryan Lynn.
 
Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English based on reports from the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.   Ashley Thompson was the editor.
We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
 
comedian – n. a person who performs in front of an audience and makes people laugh by telling jokes or funny stories or by acting in a way that is funny
incumbent – n. a person who holds a particular office or position
fundamental – adj. relating to the most important or main part of something
 (2019/04/23 06:59)

 
Sri Lanka is under a state of emergency following bomb attacks at hotels and Christian religious centers in the country Sunday. The attacks killed almost 300 people and wounded hundreds of others. Sunday was Easter, the holiest day in the Christian year.
President Maithripala Sirisena’s emergency order permits police expanded power to search, seize, arrest, and question people. A curfew is also in effect from sunset to sunrise.
The government also has blocked most social media websites. 
Sri Lankan officials said Monday that intelligence agencies had warned weeks ago of possible attacks by a little known Muslim extremist group, National Thowfeek Jamaath. It has now been blamed for the Easter attacks in the mainly Buddhist country.
Sri Lankan Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said the intelligence agencies began issuing the warnings on April 4. The defense ministry wrote to the police chief with information that included the group’s name. And police wrote April 11 to the heads of security of the judiciary and diplomatic security division.
It was not immediately clear what action, if any, was taken after the threats. Officials said they knew where the group trained and kept shelter. However, they did not identify any of the seven suicide bombers, whose bodies were recovered, or the suspects arrested so far.
After Senaratne spoke to reporters Monday, a car parked near one of the bombed churches exploded. People fled.
Police found three additional bombs near the vehicle and tried to disarm them, but they exploded. No one was hurt.
Also on Monday, police found 87 bomb devices near Colombo’s bus station, officials said. They did not say if they were linked to Sunday’s attacks.
Senaratne also said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his cabinet did not know about the warnings until after the attacks.
Sirisena was out of the country at the time of the attacks. He had removed Wickremesinghe and his cabinet from power in late October. The Supreme Court has since returned Wickremesinghe as prime minister. However, he has been barred from meetings of the country’s Security Council since October.
All of the bombers were Sri Lankan citizens, but officials suspect foreign links, Senaratne said.
Sirisena will meet with diplomats in Colombo Tuesday to ask for help in the investigation.
Two other government ministers also suggested intelligence failures in Sri Lanka. The telecommunications minister wrote on Twitter: “Serious action needs to be taken as to why this warning was ignored.” 
Another minister said some security officers warned about the possibility that two suicide bombers would target politicians.
The Roman Catholic leader of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, said the attacks could have been prevented. “We placed our hands on our heads when we came to know that these deaths could have been avoided. Why this was not prevented?” he said.
Sri Lanka's defense minister described the bombings as a terrorist attack by religious extremists. 
Police said 24 suspects had been arrested, but no one has claimed responsibility.
Most of the explosions were in Colombo, the country’s capital. Outside Colombo, St. Sebastian's Church in the town of Negombo was also targeted.
Nilantha Lakmal, a 41-year-old businessman, and his family went to St. Sebastian’s for Easter service Sunday. He said they all escaped unharmed, but he remained horrified by images of the bodies being removed from the church.
At the Shangri-La Hotel, one witness said “people were being dragged out” after the explosion.
“There was blood everywhere,” said business owner Bhanuka Harischandra, of Colombo, who was going to the hotel for a meeting. “People didn’t know what was going on. It was panic mode.”
Most of those killed were Sri Lankans. But the ministry of tourism said 39 foreigners were also killed.
The U.S. said “several” Americans were among the dead. Britain, India, China, Japan and Portugal said they also lost citizens.
Two Muslim groups in Sri Lanka condemned the church attacks. The leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, expressed sympathy at the end of his traditional Easter blessing in Rome.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in Washington that he had spoken to the Sri Lankan prime minister and offered assistance.
“This is America’s fight, too,” he said. “We also stand with millions of Sri Lankans who support the freedom of their fellow citizens to worship as they please. We take confidence in knowing that not even atrocities like this one will deter them from respecting religious freedom.”
I'm Caty Weaver.
And I'm Ashley Thompson.
The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. 
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Words in This Story
 
mode - n. a specified way of thinking, feeling, or acting​
confidence - n. the feeling of being certain that something will happen or that something is true​
atrocity - n. a very cruel or terrible act or action​
deter - v. to prevent (something) from happening​(2019/04/23 06:59)

Both China and Vietnam are building up small islands in the South China Sea, a waterway known in Vietnam as the East Sea.
China has received a lot of criticism for its actions there. But Vietnam receives very little international criticism. In fact, the country even gets some support because the speed of its island-building project is slower and widely seen as defensive.
There are several differences between the ways the countries are operating in the South China Sea. First, Vietnam has held its islands for many years. In addition, the areas where work takes place are close to the Vietnamese mainland. The country avoids military projects that might appear offensive. Lastly, Vietnam belongs to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). That organization is known for helping its members work out any differences.
Alan Chong is an associate professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. He explains that Vietnam and neighboring ASEAN nations have kept to the areas near their borders around the sea.
"They've never had, I think, a standoff with any other country," Chong said. He added that within ASEAN, members do not want to cause each other trouble "so as to present a common front towards China."   
The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative said in a report on April 8 that Vietnam has "slowly" added buildings on some of its 10 islands since 2017. The initiative is a project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a research group based in the United States.
The report also noted new communications equipment, a sports field and the extension of an airport runway on Vietnam’s largest property in the Spratly Islands.
Securing occupation
On some of the islands it occupies in the Spratlys, Vietnam has built up land where there was once water. Some buildings are getting solar equipment, the report said. It also noted 25 guard houses that Vietnam has built on places that are sometimes underwater.
Trung Nguyen is international relations dean at the Ho Chi Minh University of Social Sciences and Humanities. He said that Vietnam is "very slowly" reclaiming land so that it can protect properties from bad weather. That effort has avoided use of large ships that might get too much international attention, he said.
 "The Vietnamese government has made it very clear they just reclaim the islands for self-defense, and they do not expand massively for other purposes," Nguyen said. "I don't think the Vietnamese government wants to draw a lot of attention from other countries on their reclamation, so that's the reason they want to do it quietly."
The Vietnamese government hopes the small islands can continue without much help from the country’s mainland, Chong said. He added that Vietnam is preparing for a "long stay" on the small islands.
Gregory Poling is director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. He said Vietnam is developing islands to make them harder for China to take without a cost, not for offensive military use. Poling said the Vietnamese goal seems to be "making these facilities more survivable, raising the cost for the Chinese to  to take them."
China's building speed
China claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea. The area it claims includes some of the waters Vietnam claims and areas that four other governments call their own. The four are Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan. Chinese reclamation work is especially upsetting to Vietnam because China controls the full Paracel island chain, also claimed by Vietnam, and three major islands in the Spratly chain.
China’s island-building work has led to the deployment of military aircraft and radars, the initiative said. Chinese crews had used 1,294 hectares of reclaimed land to help develop coral reefs and atolls under their control, the U.S. Defense Department estimated in 2016.
China gets the attention of other countries, including the United States, when it sends bombers and naval ships into the waterway. Both China and Vietnam say this is acceptable because they have long used the sea for military purposes.
Keeping peace
China and the Philippines have criticized Vietnam over the years because its islands fall into the areas they claim. But experts believe the criticisms do not continue because the other countries do not see Vietnam as a threat. 
Vietnam spends less on its armed forces and maritime development budget than China, which is Asia's top economic and military power. Chinese officials meet sometimes with ASEAN leaders. However, China is not invited to regular events for Southeast Asian heads of state, defense chiefs and foreign ministers.
Oh Ei Sun is  with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. He told VOA that ASEAN members will probably not fight each other.
"One ASEAN country is not going to war with another ASEAN country. We would find consensus. That's the true spirit of diplomacy."
Japan and the United States have also supported Vietnam in its island claims. Japanese and U.S. officials each want to limit Chinese expansion. Japan agreed in 2014 to donate six coast guard vessels to Vietnam. The U.S. Navy regularly passes ships through the sea to warn China.
I’m Jill Robbins.
And I'm Pete Musto.
 
Ralph Jennings reported on this story for VOA News. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
 
standoff – n. an argument or contest in which there is no winner
common front - n. n alliance between different groups, forces, or interests in pursuit of a common goal or in opposition to a common enemy
initiative – n. a plan or program aimed at solving a problem
runway - n. a long strip of ground where airplanes take off and land
solar - n. produced by or using the sun's light or heat
reclaim - v. to make (land) available for use by changing its condition
draw - v. to cause (attention) to be given to someone or something
massively - adv. in a large way
maritime – adj. of or relating to the sea
consensus - n. an idea or opinion that is shared by all the people in a group
What do you think of Vietnam's activity in the South China Sea? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.(2019/04/23 06:57)

The Iraqi city of Basra is struggling to deal with a growing problem: illegal drugs.
The drug problem has led to overcrowded prisons and increased pressure on police to find the drugs and the people who use them. It comes just months after violent protests over poor government services.
Once known as the Venice of the East, Basra city lacks clean water and does not have enough electricity to power air conditioning equipment. Unemployment is widespread, especially among young people, in the city that has a population of around 4 million people.
The number of drug arrests has risen since 2015, notes Shaker Aziz, a member of the Basra police narcotics force. By March, police had seized 15 kilograms of illegal drugs this year. Some 50 to 60 people are arrested each week on drug-related crimes, compared to more than 1,000 all last year, he added.
Major Aziz told the Reuters news agency that drugs have spread "because the youth are lost, they have no money, they are sick of life." He added that prison officials tell the police: "Ninety percent of inmates are convicted on drug charges, stop sending them."
"So we keep them here,” Aziz said, speaking about small, overcrowded holding cells.
In 2017, Iraq declared victory in the four-year war against the self-declared Islamic State, or IS, group. The city of Basra never fell to IS militants.
The situation in the prisons is evidence of the difference between the wealth Basra province produces and its poor living conditions. Basra's oil industry is responsible for over 90 percent of the state's revenues.
Local health officials promised to reopen and improve a 44-bed rehabilitation center this month, but the police say 44 beds is not enough.
“All of Basra’s oil and we can’t afford rehab?” said Aziz, the police narcotics officer.
Asked about the situation, the state-owned Basra Oil Company said it has offered to donate $5 million for a drug treatment center.
Regional drug trade
A police official, Bassem Ghanem, said methamphetamine, known popularly as crystal meth, is the most widespread drug. Opium, cannabis and pills are also commonly used.
Basra’s police force says 97 percent of drug users arrested in 2018 were unemployed, and more than two thirds were 25 years of age or younger.
All of the drugs come from other countries, said Colonel Ismail al-Maliki, who heads the Basra police narcotics unit.
Basra Police Chief Rashid Fleih said in November that 80 percent of drugs entering the city come from Iran. The Iranian government has denied his claim.
Even so, preventing drug trafficking is a serious problem for Iran. It borders Afghanistan, the world’s largest opium producer, and Pakistan, a major transit country for drugs.
I'm John Russell.
 
 Ahmed Aboulenein reported on this story for Reuters.  John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
 
narcotics – n. pain-reducing medicines
inmate – n. a person who is kept in a prison or mental hospital
convict – v. to prove that someone is guilty of a crime in a court of law
cell – n. a small, single room usually for one person
revenue – n. the amount of money produced; the money returned by an investment
rehabilitation – n. the act of returning to good health
afford – v. to be able to pay the cost of
transit – n.  the act of moving people or things from one place to another
We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.(2019/04/23 06:56)