Officials initially blamed "insurgent activity" for the casualties, but later said it was possible the soldiers were hit by friendly fire.

VOA: standard.2009.11.07

Many Western countries initially hailed the election as a victory for the democratic process.

VOA: standard.2009.09.15

This is welcome news for U.S.health officials, who initially had to consider the possibility that the new flu strain's impact could mirror the devastation of the 1918 influenza pandemic that led to tens of millions of deaths worldwide.

VOA: standard.2009.05.03

"We will get some vaccine at the beginning of the fall we won't be able to vaccinate everybody initially, so we'll be identifying priority groups, but because we had advance contracts for vaccine we'll get very big supplies through the fall and winter,".

VOA: standard.2009.07.31