1. BBC reporter Alan Johnston was released after four months as a prisoner of a Palestinian group. Leaders in Gaza say the release ushers in a new era of law and order, saying they'll now go after vigilante gunmen.

2. The son of former Vice President Al Gore was arrested in California. After pulling him over for speeding, police arrested 24-year-old Al Gore III for possessing marijuana and prescription drugs. He lives in Los Angeles and works at a magazine.

3. America celebrated the fourth of July with parades like this one in Washington. On this midweek holiday, about a thousand people became US citizens at Walt Disney World in Florida, raising their right hands in front of a Cinderella's castle.

4. A new top dog emerged on New York’s Coney Island as the World's Hot Dog Eating Champion. Joey Chestnut, from California, inhaled 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes, shooing past six-time winner, Takeru Kobayashi from Japan.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

1. usher in: PHRASAL VERB V P n (not pron)
If one thing ushers in another thing, it indicates that the other thing is about to begin. (FORMAL)

2. vigilante: N-COUNT
Vigilantes are people who organize themselves into an unofficial group to protect their community and to catch and punish criminals.

3. pull over: PHRASAL VERB V n P, V P n (not pron)
If the police pull over a driver or vehicle, they make the driver stop at the side of the road, usually because the driver has been driving dangerously.

4. marijuana: N-UNCOUNT
marijuana is a drug which is made from the dried leaves and flowers of the hemp plant, and which can be smoked.

5. prescription: N-COUNT
A prescription is the piece of paper on which your doctor writes an order for medicine and which you give to a chemist or pharmacist to get the medicine.

6. midweek: ADJ ADJ n
Midweek describes something that happens in the middle of the week.

7. Cinderella: N-COUNT usu sing, oft N n
If you describe a person or organization as a Cinderella, you mean that they receive very little attention and that they deserve to receive more.

8. top dog: N-COUNT
If a person or organization is top dog , they are the most successful or powerful one in a particular group. (INFORMAL)

9. inhale: VERB V, V n
When you inhale, you breathe in. When you inhale something such as smoke, you take it into your lungs when you breathe in.

10. hot dog: N-COUNT
A hot dog is a long bread roll with a hot sausage inside it.

11. shoo :
To drive or frighten away by or as if by crying “shoo.”