CNN news 2013-05-18 加文本

cnn news 2013-05-18

Land, sea, air - we’re heading all over to bring you stories for this Tuesday edition of cnn Student News. First up, we have some election results. Over the weekend, people cast their ballots in Pakistan. Before this election, here is what some of the voters said about the issues that were on their minds.

We want a government that won’t set Pakistan drag, that won’t rob Pakistan, but build Pakistan.

Corruption is the main cause of all those problems like unemployment, like inflation, like lack of education.

The country’s economy right now has reached a very dangerous level. It has reached zero.

We’re fed up with this system, with the same words, the same people. We need new people or at least they should fulfill their promises.

Looks like Pakistan’s new leader is an old leader. Nawaz Sharif has been prime minister twice before, and based on early results he’s about to get that title for a third time. Pakistan has a parliament, kind of like the U.S. Congress, it’s made up of a Senate and a national assembly. The assembly picks the country’s prime minister who serves as the head of Pakistan’s government. So, whichever political party wins the most seats in the assembly, that party’s leader is usually selected as prime minister. And it looks like Sharif’s party won the most seats in this election.

All right, our next story today - Israel. Next month, it’s hosting an international conference. One British scientist says he’s not going. So what? Well, he’s one of the most famous scientists in the world. Stephen Hawking is a physicist, an astronomer, a mathematician, a cosmologist, an author, a professor. Originally he said he couldn’t travel to the conference because of health reasons. Then he sent a letter to the organizers that said his decision was part of a boycott against Israel.

Palestinian civil society groups organized this boycott in 2005. It encourages world figures not to visit Israel in order to pressure that country into negotiating with Palestinians. The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians goes back decades. One of the major issues is over who controls two regions - Gaza and the West Bank. A founder of the boycott praised Hawking for his decision. The chairman of the conference called the decision wrong. The response has been split on social media, too. Some people accused Hawking of being anti-Semitic, others were offering him congratulations.

Certainly not the first time that someone famous has spoken out about a global issue. When that happens, do you think it makes a difference? That’s the question we’re asking today on our blog. When public figures use their fame to promote a cause, do they have an influence? Tell us your thoughts at cnnstudentnews.com.