VOA慢速英语 White House Press Briefing Room Cleared - Briefly（在线收听）

White House Press Briefing Room Cleared - Briefly

U.S. Secret Service agents cleared reporters from the White House briefing room Tuesday following a bomb threat.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest was speaking to reporters at the time.

A Secret Service dog was deployed to check the area for explosives. A short time later, reporters returned to the room where the briefing restarted.

Earlier, a hearing of the Transportation Security Agency, TSA, on Capitol Hill was also cleared because of a bomb threat.

Capitol police evacuated several levels of the Senate office building but found no dangerous materials. Josh Earnest told reporters he did not know if the two threats were related.

Obama, Abadi: Quicker training needed for Iraqi Troops

U.S. President Barack Obama met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Germany Monday. The U.S. leader stressed the need to quickly train Iraqi troops in order to succeed against Islamic State fighters.

Mr. Obama said the U.S. military is working on plans to improve the training effort, and that those who have been trained are operating "effectively."  He also said recruiting, especially from Sunni tribes, needs to be a priority.

And he said it is very important to stop the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq. Mr. Abadi agreed. He said the foreign fighters add to the death and destruction.

HSBC to dismiss tens of thousands of workers

One of the world's largest banks, HSBC, is planning to dismiss up to 50,000 employees. The move is part of an overhaul of the bank’s international operations. It plans to focus more on Asia. It might even move its headquarters out of London.

The job cuts affect about 19 percent of the HSBC staff over the next two years.  Half of those cuts will come from selling operations in Turkey and Brazil. Thousands of jobs cuts will also come from the U.K.

HSBC operates in more than 70 nations with over 6,000 branches, and has tens of millions of customers. The bank has assets of more than $2.6 trillion.

Former lawmaker pleads not guilty of financial wrongdoing

Dennis Hastert, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, told a court Tuesday that he is not guilty of federal charges against him. Mr. Hastert is charged with illegal bank withdrawals and lying to investigators. A Chicago court released him after he paid a $4,500 bond to guarantee his return to court for trial.

The 73-year-old is suspected of paying as much as $3.5 million to someone to make up for and hide past wrongdoing. Reports say the wrongdoing involved sex.

Words in the News

evacuate – v. to remove a person or people from a dangerous place

recruit – v. to find suitable people and get them to join a company, an organization, the armed forces, etc.

priority – n. something that is more important than other things and that needs to be done or dealt with first

focus – v. to direct attention or effort at something specific

asset -– n. something that is owned by a person, company, etc. — usually plural