Other officials point to the several alarms sounded about preparations before the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece, which were staged successfully.

VOA: standard.2009.09.14

Senator Kennedy's funeral follows several days of memorials during which Kennedy's fellow Democrats , along with Republicans, united in paying him tribute.

VOA: standard.2009.08.29

Al-Shabab,which currently controls key towns in southern and central Somalia, was founded several years ago by al-Qaida-trained Somali radicals and is virulently anti-West.

VOA: standard.2009.05.01

The United States, which has 28,000 troops in South Korea, has hurriedly announced plans for several joint military exercises in the coming month.

VOA: standard.2010.05.26

President Obama says he wants to avoid a repeat of last year's failure of several banks and other financial firms, which devastated the U.S.economy.

VOA: standard.2010.01.21

Republicans and many conservative Democrats are balking on the cost of the reform, which could reach one trillion dollars over the next several years.

VOA: standard.2009.09.04

In 2000,confrontations at the site of the al-Aqsa mosque and the Western Wall sparked a bloody, Palestinian uprising known as the Second Intifada, which lasted for several years.

VOA: standard.2009.10.05

The president outlined several areas in which the U.S.can advance the issue.

VOA: standard.2009.05.19

The report pinpoints several factors, which make the current crisis particularly devastating.

VOA: standard.2009.10.14

The vote,which has been postponed several times since 2005, is an attempt to find a lasting political solution to nearly a decade of internal conflict in the once stable West African nation.

VOA: standard.2009.09.29

For several years,al-Shabab, which follows the ultra-conservative branch of Islam propagated by al-Qaida and the Taliban, has been trying to eradicate Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam, which has deep roots in Somalia.

VOA: standard.2010.01.02

Secretary Gates told reporters on the plane that U.S.and NATO decisions about strategy and troop deployments do not have to wait until the new Afghan government takes office, which could be several months.

VOA: standard.2009.10.20

He says its unique flavor is due to the combination of Kampot's rich soil, the climate in this area which is between the mountains and the sea, as well as the experience of several generations of pepper farmers.

VOA: standard.2009.04.16

U.S.-Venezuelan relations since the populist Mr.Chavez was first elected in 1998 have been increasingly difficult, and he said in Moscow the new arms are to counter a U.S.-Colombian agreement last month under which U.S.forces will have access to several Colombian military bases.

VOA: standard.2009.09.15

"It does not really matter because in the best case scenario we have today,we will still have a moderate virus that is projected to cause several million deaths extra deaths than the usual influenza annual mortality, which means that even in the best-case scenario, we do have an emergency on our hand,"

VOA: standard.2009.09.04

strategic objective." The defense secretary has given several hints of his views on the way forward in Afghanistan, including a speech earlier Monday in which he cautioned against an over-reliance on air power and high technology, which some officials believe should be used more in Afghanistan, instead of the additional troops the U.S.and NATO commander there wants.

VOA: standard.2009.10.06