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1.The FBI has released documents saying Army scientist Bruce Ivins had custody¹ of anthrax spores³ identical to those that killed five and sickened at least 17 others in 2001.The FBI also says Ivins worked unusually late lab work hours around the time of the attacks.Ivins committed suicide last week as prosecutors⁴ were planning to charge him with murder.

2.A former driver for Osama bin⁵ Laden⁶ could face life in prison.A jury of six military officers at Guantanamo Bay convicted Salim Hamdan of supporting terrorism but cleared him of conspiracy⁷ charges. The White House says it's pleased with the outcome.

3.President Bush told China that America is firmly opposed to the way the Communist government represses its own people. In his speech delivered from Bangkok on the cusp of the Olympic Games.Bush balanced his criticism with praise for China's market reforms.

4.The last survivor⁸ of the mountaineering disaster that killed 11 people has been rescued by helicopter from K2, the world's second highest peak.The frostbitten 37-year-old Italian climber was taken to a nearby military hospital.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1.spore² [countable]n.
a cell like a seed that is produced by some plants such as mushrooms and can develop into a new plant

2.clear [transitive usually passive]v.
to prove that someone is not guilty of something
clear somebody of (doing) something
e.g.
Maya was cleared of manslaughter.
a long-running legal battle to clear his name

3.conspiracy plural⁹ conspiracies¹⁰ [uncountable and countable]n.
a secret plan made by two or more people to do something that is harmful or illegal

4.on the cusp of
be on the cusp of something
[singular] to be at the time when a situation or state is going to change
e.g.The country was on the cusp of economic expansion.

5.mountaineering [uncountable]n.
the sport of climbing mountains

6.K2 also Mount Godwin Austen
the second highest mountain in the world after Mount Everest, on the border between Kashmir and China

7.frostbitten adj.
frostbite [uncountable]n.
a condition caused by extreme cold, that makes your fingers and toes swell, become darker, and sometimes fall off