Cnn Student News 2010年10月25日

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JOYCE JOSEPH, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Hi, I'm Joyce Joseph. Carl Azuz is off today. I hope you're ready for some traveling, 'cause CNN Student News is about to take you around the world. Our first stop: Haiti.

First Up: Cholera in Haiti

JOSEPH: Government and health officials are trying to help thousands of sick people there who have all been diagnosed with cholera. It's an illness caused by a bacteria, and people usually get it from food or water that's been contaminated. Cholera can be treated. But in severe cases, the disease can be fatal. More than 250 people have died from this cholera outbreak in Haiti. Part of the problem is that parts of Haiti haven't recovered from that massive earthquake back in January. People are still living in tents, and they don't have access to clean water. Paula Newton is in Haiti. She has more for us on the situation down there and how officials are trying to deal with this outbreak.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Health professionals know that they may be at a tipping point with this outbreak. They want to do all they can to contain it. What does that mean? It means being here in Port-au-Prince, where tens of thousands are still in tent cities sprawled all over the city.

They are stepping up the sanitation at latrines. They are opening hand centers in order to clean your hands. They are having water deliveries to these areas. They are also having trucks on standby in order to take people throughout the night to hospitals if they feel sick. And they are setting up, as a precautionary measure, quarantine areas.

The situation in Saint Marc, north, rural, in a rural area to the north of Port-au-Prince, the situation still quite desperate there. The most frustrating thing has been for relatives who get to the hospital with their loved ones, sick, and they end up dying still. Why? The hospital there is completely overwhelmed. Having said that, aid agencies working in conjunction with the Haitian government and the U.N. are trying to get more supplies over some very tough terrain. Rehydration supplies, trying to get medical professionals up there to be able to tend to these people. They hope that the situation will improve quite a bit in the next 24 to 48 hours.

The problem, though, is that they are really keeping an eye on the numbers. They want to make sure that they are able to contain this outbreak, because that's when the problems begin. They have so many people, more than a million people, still here affected by the earthquake, living in already what are not very hygienic conditions, and that is what frightens them. Paula Newton, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

(END VIDEO)

Typhoon Megi

JOSEPH: Over in Asia, Typhoon Megi is causing havoc for hundreds of thousands of people. A typhoon is the same thing as a hurricane. These types of storms just have a different name in that part of the world. This one, Megi, hit China on Saturday, and it brought a lot of rain with it. Experts think it will get weaker as it moves across land, but around 270,000 people were told to leave their homes to get away from the typhoon. Officials went ahead and canceled flights and ferry services. The storm's being blamed for at least 11 deaths so far. And when it hit the Philippines last week, Megi left thousands of people homeless.

WikiLeaks

JOSEPH: WikiLeaks is what's called a whistle-blower website. It's a site that reveals information that would normally be secret. Last Friday, WikiLeaks published thousands of classified military documents about the war in Iraq. What's in those documents is raising a lot of controversy. According to the documents, 15,000 more Iraqi civilians died during the Iraq war than we previously thought.

The documents also point out that most of those civilians were killed by other Iraqis. The report also indicates that Iraqi security forces tortured prisoners. The group Human Rights Watch says it's clear the U.S. knew about the torture, but handed prisoners over anyway. So, it's calling for an investigation. The U.S. military reacted in a couple ways. First, it said that nothing in the report indicates any kind of a war crime. Second, military officials say this information was never supposed to be public. They argue that releasing it could put troops in danger.

I.D. Me

SHELBY ERDMAN, CNN STUDENT NEWS: See if you can I.D. Me! I'm a Middle Eastern country that's home to nearly 23 million people. You'll find me to the south of Saudi Arabia, and I border the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea. My capital city is Sanaa. I'm Yemen, and my current government was established in 1990.

Yemen Offensive

JOSEPH: Yemen is one battleground in the fight against al Qaeda. That's the global terrorist organization run by Osama bin Laden. A group that calls itself al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula established itself in Yemen last year. Right now, the country is launching an assault against al Qaeda fighters. This isn't the first time. The footage you're seeing here is from a previous military operation in Yemen. This time, more than a thousand soldiers are going after al Qaeda forces in one part of the country. He isn't the main target, but American officials say that one al Qaeda leader in the region where this assault is happening is connected to a couple attempted attacks on the U.S.

Retirement Age Debate

JOSEPH: Over in France, things are moving forward on the government's plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. We reported on this last week. The country says it can't afford to pay for the extra years. More than a million French citizens have been protesting against the idea. But those protests don't seem to be working. On Friday, the French Senate passed the bill. The other part of France's parliament passed its version last month. Just like with the U.S. House and Senate, French lawmakers now have to combine those two versions. If the final bill gets approved, it'll go to the president for his signature. Meantime, groups that are against the idea are planning more protests.

Shoutout

TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Today's Shoutout goes out to Ms. Farrell's students at Cooper Middle School in McLean, Virginia! 5,280 feet is equal to what? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it: A) 1 fathom, B) 1 kilometer, C) 1 mile or D) 1 football field? You've got three seconds -- GO! If you've gone 5,280 feet, you've traveled one mile. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

100 Miles on 1 Gallon

JOSEPH: That means 100 miles is more than half a million feet! A car designer says his new vehicle can go that far on just one gallon of gas. And oh, by the way, it doesn't even use any gas. That's not the only interesting feature of this award-winning car. Art Kohn of affiliate WAVY takes us on a test drive.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

RON MATHIS, CHIEF DESIGNER, EDISON2, VERY LIGHT CAR: The car weighs 830 pounds.

ART KOHN, WAVY REPORTER: It's so light, chief designer Ron Mathis can push the vehicle with his thumb. But even more amazing is the fact that this car will run for 100 miles on just one gallon of gas.

MATHIS: It would be 100 miles per gallon if we ran on gasoline. We actually ran on E85, but the amount we were allowed to use was the same energy content as one gallon of gasoline.

KOHN: The Edison2, Very Light Car -- that is its name -- is this year's winner of the Automotive X Prize competition. Not only is the car light, its sleek, aerodynamic design allows it to move at a pretty good clip down the highway.

MATHIS: It will run at about 120. It cruises very happily at about 85.

KOHN: This is only a prototype, so there are few amenities or creature comforts. Those will be built into other versions of the car, but only to a limited extent.

MATHIS: Is it quite as luxurious as a Buick or a Cadillac? No, it's not.

KOHN: Nor is it likely to ever have power windows or other power-driven accessories that add weight and decrease fuel efficiency in cars.

MATHIS: You can't be lazy and stay fit. It just doesn't work like that.

KOHN: Instead, it works like this: The car's lightweight, steel frame and aluminum running gear enables designers to make the rest of the car even lighter.

MATHIS: You see those big, fancy, heavy brakes in the wheels of fancy cars driving around. Our brakes weigh a fraction of that, and they still stop the car 30 feet shorter than a 2010 SS Camaro.

KOHN: But at what point will American car buyers be willing to trade luxury for efficiency?

MATHIS: Right around the time gas hits five bucks a gallon, this is going to start to seem like a really good idea.

(END VIDEO)

Before We Go

JOSEPH: Before we go, the Boston area is full of tourist attractions. But this one only lasted for about an hour. NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal found a seat in Harvard Square last week and hung out for a while as fans took pictures. Here's the catch: Shaq didn't talk. He barely even moved. He was a human statue! Or Shaq-tue. He had promised the stunt a couple weeks ago and obviously didn't want to let the fans down.

Goodbye

JOSEPH: It just shows he doesn't have a heart of stone, and anyone who snapped a picture that day has concrete proof. We hope you all have a great day. For CNN Student News, I'm Joyce Joseph.