1. It's Easter weekend and supposedly spring. But across a swath of the US, it's turning out to be a white Easter. Snow fell from Washington DC to the president's hut in Crawford, Texas. Cold temperatures are expected to stay awhile.

2. State TV in Iran says an Iranian diplomat freed after being captured in Iraq says the CIA tortured him. The diplomat says he was questioned about Iran's relations with Iraq and assistance to Iraqi groups. The US denies any involvement.

3. Fire consumes hundreds of dwellings in a Manila shanty town, leaving about 1,200 families homeless. Residents grabbed buckets and scrambled to water, hoping to douse the flames.

4. And an American billionaire who helped develop Microsoft Word blasted off from Kazakhstan, headed to the International Space Station. The 58-year-old software developer paid more than 20 million dollars for the 13-day trip.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. shanty town: n-count
A shanty town is a collection of rough huts which poor people live in, usually in or near a larger city.
=shantytown

2. scramble: verb
If you scramble to a different place or position, you move there in a hurried, awkward way.

3. douse: verb
If you douse a fire, you stop it burning by pouring a lot of water over it.

4. blast off: phrase
When a space rocket blasts off, it leaves the ground as the start of its journey.