VOAの音声はこちらです。
年末になると毎年AP通信社がその年の10大ニュースを発表します。2010年は何だったのかを見てみましょう。
◆１位 メキシコ湾の原油流出事故
海底油田の掘削施設で爆発が起こり、約80万キロリットルの原油がメキシコ湾へ流出しました。
英国BP社は漁業・観光業界などへの補償として約2兆円の支払いに合意しました。
◆２位 アメリカの医療保険改革法の成立
医療保険に入っていなかった国民のうちおよそ3千万人が医療保険に加入することになります。しかしこれに反対する共和党は法案の修正に動いています。
◆３位 アメリカ、１１月の中間選挙の結果
共和党が下院の過半数を占める結果になりました。しかし上院ではオバマ大統領率いる民主党が過半数です。
◆４位 アメリカ経済
1930年代以来の経済恐慌は終わりを告げ、消費動向も上がってきました。しかし失業率はいまだに９％を上回っています。
◆５位 ハイチ大地震
少なくとも２３万人が犠牲者となりました。１００万人以上が家を失いました。伝染病などが原因で、復興にはまだ時間がかかりそうです。
◆６位 アメリカ、ティーパーティー運動
減税、政府の出費削減という「小さな政府」を標榜する運動で、中間選挙での共和党の勝利に大きく貢献しました。
◆７位 チリ鉱山の落盤事故
地下数百メートルに閉じ込められた３３名が６９日後に救出され、世界の注目を集めました。
◆８位 アメリカ軍のイラク撤退
７年以上前に終わった戦争が、ついに終結したといえます。
◆９位 ウィキリークスが秘密情報を暴露
イラク・アフガニスタン紛争に関する政府の文書を公開したことから始まり、更に各国政府との対話に関する多くの外交文書を暴露しました。
◆１０位 アフガニスタン紛争
この10年にわたる戦争についてオバマ大統領は派兵増強を命じました。アメリカ軍は2011年の７月から撤退を始めます。
At the end of each year, the Associated Press releases a list of the top ten news stories of the year. American editors and news directors are asked to vote for what they consider the top stories.
This year, the story with the most votes was the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. An oil rig operated by BP exploded in April. The explosion killed eleven workers. Close to five million barrels of oil were released into the Gulf until the leak was contained in the middle of July. BP agreed to set aside twenty billion dollars to pay claims and damages to people working in the area’s fishing and tourism industries.
The AP says the second most important story was health care reform in the United States. President Obama won a major political victory with congressional passage of his health care reform plan. Among other things, it will extend health care insurance to thirty-two million Americans now without it. But many Republicans in Congress oppose the law and want to cancel parts of it.
The congressional elections in November were another big story. The Republican Party gained a majority in the House of Representatives. But Democrats kept their majority in the Senate.
The American economy was another major story. Economists reported in twenty-ten that the worst recession since the nineteen-thirties had ended. Americans began to spend more as the year ended. But the unemployment rate stayed above nine percent.
In January, a powerful earthquake struck Haiti. It killed at least two hundred thirty thousand people and left millions of others homeless. Disease and other problems have slowed efforts to rebuild the country.
Another important story was the Tea Party movement in the United States. The Tea Party supports limited government, less federal spending and lower taxes. The movement had a big influence on the Congressional elections.
Another major story was the rescue of thirty-three mine workers in Chile. A partial mine collapse on August fifth trapped them more than half a kilometer underground. They remained trapped for sixty-nine days. Millions of people around the world watched on television as each miner was safely brought to the surface.
In twenty-ten, United States forces officially ended combat operations in Iraq. The Iraq war began more than seven years ago.
Another major story was the activities of the WikiLeaks website. First the website released thousands of United States military documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then it published thousands of State Department diplomatic cables. They included comments by American diplomats about the lives of world leaders and criticisms of foreign governments.
The tenth story on the AP’s list was the war in Afghanistan. President Obama ordered an increase in troops fighting the nearly ten-year-old war. American troops are to begin leaving the country in July. Afghans are to control their own security by the end of twenty fourteen.
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