SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST
News Item 1 (For Questions 21 and 22)
American astronauts would not return to the moon as planed if US congress passes president Obama’s proposed budget. Obama’s budget which aims to cut funding in certain areas while increasing money used to create jobs would cancel NASA’s constellation programme. The programme has sought to send astronauts back to the moon by 2020. NASA’s programme also intended to study the idea of establishing a moon colony. The programme was set to follow the US space agency’s shuttle missions which are due to end in September. On its website, the White House Budget Office says the programme to send astronauts to the moon is behind schedule, over budget and overall less important than other space investments. “Using a broad range of criteria, an independent review panel determined that even if fully funded NASA’s programme to repeat many of the achievements of the Appolo era, 50 years later was the least attractive approach to space exploration as compared to potential alternatives.” the site says.

News Item 2 (For Questions 23 and 24)
A Russian cargo ship with about 30 crew members aboard was in danger of sinking off Russia’s eastern coast while storming weather interfered with rescue efforts , sate-run Itar-Tass news agency said Friday.

Ice had formed on the outside of the ship and the crew was chipping it off. The crew sent out the distressed signal but there was no explanation of the problem. Because of the severe weather aircraft can’t be used to rescue the crew. According to Itar-Tass the vessel is about 19 miles from the oil rig where rescue vessels are based, while a tugboat dispatched from land were still about 4 times farther away. “The cargo ship had been on route to a fishing area when it experienced problems.” The news agency reported, “The ship hauls fish from boats to ports.”

News Item 3 (For Questions 25 and 26)
Dozens of recording stars began converging on a Hollywood studio Monday to add their voices to a song. They hoped to raise millions of dollars for Haitian earthquake relief. The words and music are updated version of we’re the world, a song that raised at least $30 million for African humanitarian programme 25 years ago. Lionel Richie who co-worked the first song with Machael Jackson is organizing the effort. The original producer Quincy Jones is using the same studio he used in 1985. Reporters and security surrounded Hanson Studios, anticipating the arrival of limousines delivering stars on Monday afternoon for what is expect to be a marathon recording session. Smoky Robinson who sang on the original said the at least 100 singers asked to take part does not include any of the 45 stars from the previous version. Organizers have not said when the song might be ready for the world to hear.

News Item 4 (For Questions 27 and 28)
AT & T plans to spend 18 billion dollars in 2010 upgrading its wireless networks to handle the increasing amount of new traffic. This is roughly 2 billion dollars more than the company had invested in the previous year. Specifically AT & T will add 2000 new cell sites and upgrade existing cell sites with 3 times more fiber links than it had in 2009. This will increase capacity to connect the cell towers to AT & T’s main network. AT & T, which is the only wireless operator in the US selling iPhone, had been a target of much criticism over this past year as many iPhone subscribers, particularly in densely populated urban areas have complained about dropped calls, slow Internet access and poor service. Some critics claimed the company has not been spending enough on network upgrades to keep up with growing demand. AT & T has acknowledged that it has faced some difficulties particularly in big cities, but the company is closing the gap.

News Item 5 (For Questions 29 and 30)
An Olympics security plan, five years in the making, is taking shape in Vancouver this week. The Canadian police since handing up the 900 million dollars security operation the largest in Canada’s history. It would involve 15,000 police, private security and military personnel. The Winter Olympics would take pace Feb. 12 to 28 in 2010 in Vancouver. Political protest may post big threats to the games. The threat of a terrorist attack is really as low, but the memory of the 1972 Monich Olympics has not gone away. That year a terrorist group attacked the athletes’ village, eventually killing 11 Israeli athletes and coaches. It is no coincidence that in Vancouver security patrols are particularly evident around the low-rise apartment buildings where the athletes would be housed. In downtown Vancouver some roads are already closed and rings of security fencing surround some key venues. Perched on top of fencing is never work from 900 surveillance cameras to detect intrusions.