CNN news 2010-12-10 加文本

cnn news 2010-12-10

A frosty forecast, an out-of-this-world vacation, and an unbelievable finish to a cross-country race. All of it’s coming up this Tuesday on cnn Student News. Hi, everyone. I’m Carl Azuz.

First up, a series of meetings in Switzerland that are happening behind closed doors. The subject: Iran’s controversial nuclear program. That Middle Eastern country is on one side of the table. On the other side are the U.S., the UK, Russia, China, France and Germany. It’s been more than a year since the last time representatives from these countries got together. Both sides are bringing up some of their concerns. Iran wants to talk about attacks on two Iranian scientists last week. The other nations want to put the brakes on Iran’s nuclear program. They’re worried that Iran might be trying to make nuclear weapons, a concern the international community has had for some time. Iran denies that. It says it’s just making nuclear power. The talks started yesterday.

The day before that, Iran announced that it doesn’t need anyone’s help to produce nuclear fuel. The country says it is producing its own yellow cake. That’s a substance that’s required for nuclear programs, whether they’re peaceful or military. Officials can’t verify that Iran is producing yellow cake, but American authorities said they weren’t surprised by the announcement.

Things are getting more tense on the Korean peninsula, and the U.S. is getting involved in a couple ways. First, Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is heading to South Korea. He’s going to reassure that country’s military that the U.S. supports it. Back in Washington, D.C., Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was offering a similar message when she met with South Korean and Japanese officials yesterday.

Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court is investigating some alleged attacks by North Korea on South Korea. Those include an attack on a South Korean island and the sinking of a South Korean warship. For its part, the North is blaming the South for all the tension in the region.