CNN 2011-01-27

It's all thanks to new technology that a student in Texas is doing something he thought might be impossible: be in class with his friends. And how he's doing it is really gonna amaze you. That story's coming up. I'm Carl Azuz. A new week of CNN Student News starts right now!

All right, up first today, we're looking at some international headlines, starting with political shifts in Ireland. The government of that country is under pressure because it asked for a financial bailout, after it insisted for a long time that it didn't need one. In the U.S., there are two main political parties. But in Ireland, there are a lot of political parties. And right now, the Irish parliament is controlled by a coalition¹, a merger² of several of those parties.

That coalition seems to be falling apart. Yesterday, the Green Party announced that it's pulling out of the coalition government. That could lead to early elections in the country. The Green Party's announcement coming one day after the current prime minister, Brian Cowen, said that he's not planning to lead his party after upcoming elections. Cowen said part of the reason he's stepping down is because of criticism of his leadership from inside his own party.

Well, from Ireland, we move to Australia, a country that's home to around 21 million people. More than 3 million of them - that is more than 10 percent of Australia's population! - have been affected³ by this: massive flooding in eastern Australia. Authorities calling this one of the most costly⁴ disasters in Australia's history. The floods have had a big impact on crops, on tourism, retail⁵ and manufacturing. Part of the reason this is worse than previous floods or fires is that Queensland -- the area where all this is happening -- has had a big jump in population. One official said the government has already made about $227 million in recovery payments.

The last stop on our tour of international headlines is the North African country of Tunisia. Protests against the government there have left more than a hundred people dead. And the country's longtime leader was removed from power. Now, some Tunisians are protesting against the new government. Brian Todd looks at how what's happening in Tunisia could have an impact on that region and the rest of the world.

1 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

2 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

5 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。