"I believe that the resolution they have agreed upon is the first step of what has to be an ongoing reconciliation and compromising of political views that can stabilize civilian democracy and the rule of law, both of which are essential to the efforts that the Pakistanis themselves see as so critical - namely preventing extremism and violence from stalking the Pakistani peoples and the country,".

VOA: standard.2009.03.16

He says identifying human antibodies that will stop the ability of the virus to reinvent itself is the first step.

VOA: special.2009.03.04

The tests are the first step in human clinical trials of two vaccine candidates developed at the University of Cape Town.

VOA: special.2009.07.29

So an astronaut on the flight of Gemini Four, Ed White,took that first frightening step into the unknown.

VOA: special.2009.07.01

Many Americans were honestly worried that Roosevelt's expansion of government was the first step to dictatorship.

VOA: special.2011.03.31

Outline.So the first step in terms of my writing is outline."

VOA: special.2009.10.12

"We think that is an essential first step. We are continuing to call for the freedom of Aung San Suu Kyi.

VOA: standard.2009.11.12

Kevin Volpp,director of the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Health Incentives, says these programs make it easier to take that first step to change.

VOA: standard.2010.07.16

"If it is just the first step, we can give Medvedev the benefit of the doubt, though this step is probably rather a clumsy one.

VOA: standard.2009.10.15

One observer,Akiva Eldar, a senior columnist at the Haaretz newspaper in Tel Aviv, sees no movement unless one of the sides takes the first step.

VOA: standard.2009.11.16

For many of these activists, stopping health care reform is the first step toward defeating Democrats in Congress in November and President Obama in 2012.

VOA: standard.2010.03.18

Astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first human to step on the Moon, observed the extraordinary accomplishment of the Apollo 11 mission forever established a lasting legacy in space flight.

VOA: standard.2009.07.16

IRRI researcher Melissa Fitzgerald says finding the genes which control starch release is just the first step toward creating a grain that people will accept as part of their diet.

VOA: standard.2010.06.25

Britain's new cabinet agreed to cut the pay of all ministers by five percent, the first step in what is to be a major effort to cut Britain's national deficit.

VOA: standard.2010.05.13

The first step uses a bit of influenza DNA to get the patient's immune system to begin fighting off the flu, and then the protection is given a "boost" some time later by the second step, which can be either another bit of DNA or a conventional flu vaccine.

VOA: standard.2010.07.21