Q: The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the East during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, which had been founded as Byzantium). It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. Both "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" are historiographical terms created after the end of the realm; its citizens continued to refer to their empire as the "Roman Empire" (, tr. ; ), or "Romania" (), and to themselves as "Romans".

Several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empire's Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I (r. 324337) reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, and legalised Christianity. Under Theodosius I (r. 379395), Christianity became the Empire's official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius (r. 610641), the Empire's military and administration were restructured and adopted Greek for official use instead of Latin. Thus, although the Roman state continued and Roman state traditions were maintained, modern historians distinguish Byzantium from ancient Rome insofar as it was centred on Constantinople, oriented towards Greek rather than Latin culture, and characterised by Orthodox Christianity.

1. Eastern Roman Empire
2. Constantinople
3. Istanbul
4. Byzantium
5. Yes
6. Europe.
7. "Roman Empire"
8. "Romans".
9. Roman Empire's Greek East and Latin West divided
10. Constantine I
11. yes
12. Constantinople
13. Theodosius I n
14. Yes
15. Heraclius
16. Greek
17. Latin.
18. yes
19. Orthodox Christianity.

Numbered questions:
1. What is another name for the Byzantine Empire?
2. In the early days, what was its capital city called?
3. What is it currently called?
4. Founded by?
5. When it was existing, was it the most powerful force?
6. Where exactly?
7. What did the citizens called the empire?
8. and themselves?
9. What happened from the 4 and 6th centuries?
10. Who reorganized the empire?
11. and did he legalize Christianity?
12. and what was the new capital?
13. Under whose reign, did Christianity become the official state religion?
14. Was it the only religion that was practiced?
15. Under who reign was the administration restructured?
16. So which language did the use then?
17. In place of which language?
18. So, were the Roman traditions kept?
19. Characterized by what?

Q: Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Libya's interim leaders will declare liberation on Sunday and hold elections in the coming months as the war-torn country works toward building a new society in the post-Moammar Gadhafi era.

Mahmoud Jibril, chairman of the National Transitional Council executive board, said elections "should be within a period of eight months, maximum." He spoke at the World Economic Forum in Jordan.

The first vote will be for a National Congress that will draft a constitution. After that, parliamentary and presidential elections will be held.

Jibril said that oil-rich Libya is currently producing around 300,000 barrels per day, up from near zero during the depths of the conflict.

The country should be back at its prewar output of 1.6 million barrels of oil per day within 15 months, he said.

Gadhafi's death Thursday solidified the power of the NTC, which will mark the country's liberation on Sunday in the eastern city of Benghazi, where the uprising started.

NATO, which launched an operation to protect Libyan citizens against the Gadhafi regime during the Libyan war, plans to ends its operations by October 31.

Speaking in his weekly address Saturday, Obama said Gadhafi's death "showed that our role in protecting the Libyan people, and helping them break free from a tyrant, was the right thing to do."

"Our brave pilots and crews helped prevent a massacre, save countless lives, and give the Libyan people the chance to prevail. Without putting a single U.S. service member on the ground, we achieved our objectives. Soon, our NATO mission will come to a successful end even as we continue to support the Libyan people, and people across the Arab world, who seek a democratic future."

1. Libya's interim leaders will declare liberation

Numbered questions:
1. Who will declare liberation?

Q: Is there intelligent life on other planets? For years, scientists said "no" or "We don't know." But today this is changing. Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are astronomers. They believe intelligent life exists somewhere in the universe. They also think we will soon contact these beings. Why do Shostak and Barnett think intelligent life exists on other planets? The first reason is time. Scientists believe the universe is about 12 billion years old. "This is long enough for other planets to have intelligent life," say Shostak and Barnet. The second reason is size--the universe is huge. "Tools like the Hubble telescope have shown that there are at least 100 billion galaxies," says Shostak. "And our galaxy, the Milk Way, has at least 100 billion stars. Some planets going around these stars might be similar to Earth." In the past, it was hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe. But now, powerful telescopes allow scientists to discover smaller planets--the size of Mars or Earth in other solar systems. These planets might have intelligent life. Have beings from space already visited Earth? "Probably not," says Shostak. "It's a long way away. However, intelligent beings may contact us in other way, such as radio signs. In fact, they may be trying to communicate with us now, but we don't have the right tools to receive their messages. However, this is changing. By 2025, we could make contact with other life forms in our universe and we might help each other."

1. they are astronomers
2. They believe intelligent life exists somewhere in the universe
3. the Milk Way
4. 100 billion stars
5. powerful telescopes
6. the Hubble telescope
7. no
8. no
9. radio signs
10. no
11. yes

Numbered questions:
1. What scientific field do Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett work in?
2. What do they believe about intelligent life existing on other planets?
3. What galaxy do we live in?
4. How many stars does it have?
5. What type of tool allows us to see other planets?
6. What famous one is mentioned?
7. Does Shostak believe beings from space have already visited Earth?
8. Did Barnett express an opinion on that topic?
9. What is one way that we may be contacted?
10. Does Shostak believe beings from space will visit Earth soon?
11. Does Shostak believe beings from space could make contact with Earth soon?