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It is zero hour thirty Universal Time and here is the news in Special English.
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American Defense Secretary Robert Gates says major changes are needed in NATO. He said the alliance faces threats today that are very different from when it was created more than sixty years ago. Mr. Gates says the disarmament of Europe is limiting NATO's ability to fight wars, including in Afghanistan. He said the disarmament has become a barrier to real security in the twenty-first century. He is urging NATO members to change how they set goals and give out resources, so the alliance can remain strong in a changing environment. The Defense Secretary spoke at the National Defense University in Washington.

Officials in Ivory Coast have named a new government in a move aimed at ending the country's political crisis. Prime Minister Guillaume Soro said the new cabinet will include representatives from the main opposition parties. He said eleven positions in the twenty-eight-member cabinet are not yet filled. He says they will be announced before the ministers' first meeting on Thursday. Earlier this month, President Laurent Gbagbo dismissed the government and the national elections committee. His action led to violent demonstrations. The move has delayed the presidential election by several weeks.

The new military rulers of Niger have named a civilian prime minister to lead the country's temporary government until elections are held. An announcement on state television said Major Salou Djibo signed an order appointing Mohamadou Danda as prime minister. Mr. Danda served as information minister in a temporary government after Niger's last revolt in nineteen ninety-nine. The military ousted Niger's president, Mamadou Tanja, last week. He created a political crisis last year by changing the constitution, so he could remain in power. The ousted president and three ministers remain under house arrest.

Iran says any exchange of low enriched uranium for highly processed nuclear fuel must take place on its own territory. The United States is calling this proposal unacceptable. Iranian officials announced the details of their proposal Tuesday. It is the first official answer to a fuel exchange proposal by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The agency proposed that Iran send its uranium to other countries to be made into fuel for an Iranian nuclear research reactor. An American State Department spokesman said the Iranian proposal would do nothing to show other countries that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful.

Iranian officials say Iran's security forces are holding the head of a Sunni militant group. Iranian state media say Abdolmalek Rigi was arrested while traveling on a private airplane from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan. He leads Jundallah, a group blamed for a number of deadly attacks in Iran. The Iranian intelligence minister reportedly said that the militant leader was at an American military base twenty-four hours before his capture. The minister said that Americans had given him an Afghan passport. Iranian state television broadcast the comments. The French news agency is reporting that an American official dismissed Iran's accusations.

[You are listening to the news in VOA Special English.]

Turkish officials say a gas explosion at a coal mine in the northwestern part of the country has killed seventeen workers. Officials ended search and rescue efforts Tuesday after nearly thirty other workers were removed from the collapsed mine. The accident took place near the town of Dursunbey in Balikesir province. Turkish media say seventeen workers were killed at the same mine in two thousand six.

Al-Qaeda's North Africa group has released a French hostage it has held in Mali for three months. Officials in Mali say they have the Frenchman, Pierre Camatte. His release was part of a prisoner exchange demanded by the group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Mali's government released four Islamist militants on Sunday after the terrorist group threatened to kill the French hostage. The release of the Islamists angered neighboring Algeria and Mauritania. Both governments have removed their ambassadors from Mali.

The Sudanese government has signed a truce with the most powerful rebel group in Darfur. The agreement is part of a promise to end a seven-year conflict in the area. Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir signed the ceasefire with the rebel Justice and Equality Movement in Qatar Tuesday night. The truce is part of a recent promise by Sudan and Chad to end hostilities along their shared border. Sudan has agreed to offer the rebels government jobs, to cancel death sentences and release thirty percent of the rebels still in prison. Each side had accused the other of supporting the rebels in their countries. [in their countries = in the opposite countries.]

Toyota's top American official has defended the Japanese carmaker to the United States House of Representatives. James Lentz told lawmakers that the company is working to restore trust in its vehicles. Lawmakers denounced Toyota's answer to problems with some cars speeding up without a driver's command. Toyota has recalled more than eight million vehicles worldwide because of safety concerns. Mr. Lentz admitted that Toyota has not lived up to the excellence that people have come to expect. But, he denied charges that Toyota has ignored manufacturing problems.
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And now briefly, here again is the major news of the hour read in Special English.

American Defense Secretary Robert Gates says major changes are needed in NATO. He said the alliance faces threats today that are very different from when it was created more than sixty years ago. Officials in Ivory Coast have named a new government in a move aimed at ending the country's political crisis. And, in late news, Nigerian government sources say President Umaru Yar'Adua is flying back home three months after he left Nigeria for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia.

That's the news in Special English coming to you from Washington.