But close to half a million confirmed cases were reported to the World Health Organization as of November first.

VOA: special.2009.11.11

In April,after the first cases in the United States, officials told schools to close at the first sign of an H1N1 outbreak.

VOA: special.2009.08.05

The plan seemed good. And after the first few hours of battle, the Confederates were close to victory.

VOA: special.2009.09.17

Then the first man would speak for half an hour to close the debate.

VOA: special.2009.06.11

The past year brought the first decade of the new millennium to a close with several long-time champions reasserting themselves.

VOA: standard.2009.12.24

But Wednesday,the U.S.Senate joined the House in refusing the president's request for $80 million to close Guantanamo, saying he must first come up with a concrete plan to deal with the remaining 240 detainees.

VOA: standard.2009.05.21

Glenn Close says when she learned that Sgt.Bill Campbell - the first veteran to receive a Dog Tag dog - was returning to the prison to meet the inmate who trained Pax, she had to capture that moment.

VOA: standard.2010.05.18

Forward LeBron James, built his reputation as one of the top players in the National Basketball Association playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers - the team that first drafted him in 2003 and one that is close to his hometown of Akron,Ohio.

VOA: standard.2010.07.08

"But having learned lessons from the first elections that there was widespread fraud, irregularities and fraudulence, we will try our best in close coordination with Afghan leadership and Afghan institutions and other international major partners to make this election as fair and free of fraudulence,"

VOA: standard.2009.10.20