美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-05-18

Land, sea, air, we're heading all over the breaking new stories for this Thursday's edition of CNN Student News.
First up, we have some election results. Over the weekend, people cast their ballots 1 in Pakistan. Before the election, here is what's some of the voters said about the issues that were on their minds.
--We want a government that won't set Pakistan drained. That won't rob Pakistan, but build Pakistan.
--Corruption is the main cause of all those problems, like unemployment, like infation, like lack of education.
--The country's economy like now has reached a very dangerous level, it has reached zero.
--We're fed up with the system, with the same words, the same people. We need new people, or at least they should fulfill 2 their promises.
Looks like Pakistan's new leader is an old leader. Nawaz Sharif has been prime minister twice before. Based on early results, he's about to get that title for 3rd time.
Pakistan has a parliament, kind of like US Congress. It's made up of senate and national assembly. The assemble picks the country's prime minister who serves as the head of Pakistan's government. So which ever political party wins the most seats in the assembly, that party's leader is usually selected as the prime minister. And it looks like Sharif's party won the most seats in this election.
All right, our next story today. Israel. Next month, it's hosting an international conference. One British scientist says he's not going. So what? Well, he is one of the most famous scientists in the world. Steven Hawkin is a physicist 3, an astronomer 4, a mathematician 5, a cosmologist, an author, a professor. Originally, he couldn't travel to the conference, because of health reasons. Then, he sent a letter to the organizors that he said his decesion is a part of the boycott 6 against Israel.
Palestinian civil society groups organized this boycott in 2005. It encourages the world figures not to visit Israel, in order to pressure that country in the nigotiating with Palestinians. The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians goes back decades. One of the major issues is overwho controls 2 regions: Gaza and the West Bank.
A founder 7 of the boycott praised Howkin for his decesion. The chairman of the conference called the decesion, wrong. The responses have been split on social media, too. Some people accused Hawkin of being anti Semitic; others're offering him congratulations.
Certainly, not the first time that someone famous has spoken out about the global issue. When that happens, do you think it makes difference? That's the question we're asking today on our blog. When public figures use their fame to promote cause, do they have an influence? Tell us your thougts, CNNSTUDENTNEWS.com.