Chavez, Putin Meet in Russia

By Peter Fedynsky Moscow 28 June 2007

Download

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is in Moscow for discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin about a possible arms deal and expanded economic ties between the two countries. VOA Correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports from the Russian capital.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, greets Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during their meeting in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, 28 June 2007

President Hugo Chavez met his counterpart, Vladimir Putin, Thursday evening at an informal dinner at the Russian leader's country home near Moscow. But Russian news reports throughout the day focused on the opening of a Latin American cultural center in Moscow, where Mr. Chavez spoke for about an hour. Mr. Putin indicated that he followed the Venezuelan's appearance like most Russians, on television.

President Putin says he was able to watch televised news reports and noted that the new center will be a place where Russians can familiarize themselves with Latin American culture.

By scheduling Mr. Chavez so late in the day, Mr. Putin prompted speculation in Moscow that he downplayed the meeting because he does not want to be seen aggravating his already chilly ties with the United States. Washington considers Mr. Chavez to be a destabilizing element in Latin America. President Bush has invited the Russian leader for a visit this weekend at his family home in Kennebunkport, Maine to discuss ways of improving bilateral relations.

The United States is also concerned about Venezuelan arms purchases. Mr. Chavez's Moscow agenda includes the possible purchase of Russian diesel-electric submarines, armed with missiles. He is also interested in buying the Russian TOR-1 missile defense system. Last year, Mr. Chavez signed a deal with the Kremlin to purchase $3 billion worth of weapons, including helicopters, fighter planes and small arms.

The Venezuelan leader said on Thursday that he does not rule out the development of nuclear energy in his country. Mr. Chavez also said American troops should leave Iraq, and that Iran has a right to nuclear technology.

Hugo Chavez speaks while opening Venezuela's cultural center in Moscow, 28 June 2007

Mr. Chavez says that Iran has the right to a peaceful atomic energy industry because it is a sovereign state.

Russian and Venezuela, both major exporters of energy, are also discussing expanded commerce. Their bilateral trade, last year, amounted to only $90 million.

On Saturday, the Venezuelan leader will be President Putin's guest at a horse race in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. However, despite signs of closer relations, Russian lawmakers voted against allowing Mr. Chavez to address them in a full session of the country's lower house of Parliament.

Mr. Chavez has plans for more weapons deals with neighboring Belarus, where he flies after his visit to Russia. He then continues to Iran.

Missile Defense to Be Discussed at Upcoming Bush-Putin Summit

By Andre de Nesnera Washington 28 June 2007

Download

Russia strongly opposes Washington's plan to introduce a missile defense system in Eastern Europe. In this report from Washington, VOA Senior Correspondent André de Nesnera looks at the proposal, which will be discussed during the upcoming Bush-Putin summit (July 1-2) in Kennebunkport, Maine.

President Bush, (l), shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin after their meeting in Heiligendamm, Germany, 07 Jun 2007

U.S. officials say the proposed missile defense system, made up of 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic, is needed against potential threats from countries such as Iran. They say it is not targeted against Russia.

But Russian officials have strongly criticized the proposed missile defense system. President Vladimr Putin has even threatened to target U.S. allies in Europe with nuclear missiles if plans go ahead with deployment.

Robert Legvold, a Russia expert at Columbia University in New York, says Moscow sees the Polish and Czech initiatives as the first steps in a much broader plan to install a larger missile defense system throughout Europe in the years to come.

"If there are genuine strategic defense concerns involved, I think it's the future and what they think the U.S. may be doing," Legvold said. "But the political-psychological side is part of this larger notion that the United States is simply disregarding Russia's interests and concerns and going ahead doing whatever it chooses to do unilaterally, including expanding, enlarging NATO into this region and bringing more military power close to Russian borders - not just the Polish-Czech case with missile defense, but the bases that are being planned for Romania and Bulgaria and a number of other steps taken within Europe - and that without consulting Russia."

President Putin recently offered Washington use of a radar facility in Gabala, Azerbaijan in exchange for abandoning the Czech and Polish plans. U.S. officials have reacted coolly to the idea but have agreed to discuss it.

Jason Lyall, a Russia expert at Princeton University, says Mr. Putin's offer is a very smart maneuver.

"Because what it does is it makes the United States decline Putin's gracious offer and it makes the United States look like it won't be the willing party to meet Russia halfway," Lyall said. "The radar site in Gabala, Azerbaijan, is actually very, very old, very decrepit and doesn't cover all of Iran. So Putin doesn't lose anything by giving up this radar system and he gains a lot by being seen as an honest broker, somebody who is concerned about this and hopefully he could knock out the radar system in the Czech Republic and Poland."

During a recent trip to Poland on June 8 President Bush repeated the U.S. view that the missile defense system is not directed against Russia. And he went on to say, "indeed we would welcome Russian cooperation in missile defense." .

The missile defense issue will be one of the topics discussed during the upcoming Bush-Putin summit in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Dale Herspring, a Russia expert at Kansas State University, says Mr. Putin must take up President Bush's offer to get involved.

"Now it may be that they will give him only cosmetic involvement," Herspring said. "In that case, if I were the Russians, I'd just say the hell with it. What Putin needs to do to Mr. Bush in Kennebunkport, is say: 'Okay, Mr. President. Now you say you want us involved. What does that mean specifically? I have General Popov sitting here next to me. We want to know exactly what you are talking about when you say us being involved. And then we'll be in a position to give you a more serious answer.'"

Herspring and others do not believe any major breakthroughs will be achieved in Kennebunkport. But they say the informal setting there might help to bring some movement on key issues, including missile defense.

Bush Sees Hopeful Signs of Progress in Iraq

By Scott Stearns White House 28 June 2007

Download

President Bush says there are hopeful signs of progress in Iraq as 30,000 additional U.S. troops have been battling al-Qaida terrorists. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports the president's comments come amid accounts of more gruesome violence in Iraq.

President Bush says reinforced U.S. troops in al-Anbar province have reduced sectarian violence there even as al-Qaida is fighting to regain a base of operations.

President George Bush addresses an invitation-only crowd of military and civilians at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, 28 June 2007

"It is working to assassinate sheiks and intimidate the local population," he said. "We have got to prepare ourselves for more violence and more setbacks, but a province that had been written off as hopeless now enjoys a level of peace and stability that was unimaginable only a few months ago."

The president spoke at the U.S. Naval War College in the northeast state of Rhode Island. He is under pressure from congressional Democrats and some within his own party to show that the increased U.S. troop levels in Iraq are making progress.

"Right now we are at the beginning stage of the offensive," he added. "We've finally got the troops there. Americans have got to understand that it takes awhile to mobilize additional troops and move them from the United States to Iraq."

Public opinion polls show a majority of Americans believe the U.S. invasion of Iraq was a mistake. A survey by Newsweek magazine last week says 73 percent of Americans disapprove of how the president is handling the war.

In his remarks Thursday, the president again sought to link the war in Iraq with the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and he again blamed Iran and Syria for helping al-Qaida in Iraq.

"The influx of foreign fighters and foreign support makes this job a lot tougher: tougher on Iraqis, tougher on our troops," he explained. "We can expect more casualties as our forces enter enemy strongholds and push back against foreign interference."

A man stands among destroyed vehicles at a bus station in Bayaa neighborhood in Baghdad, 28 June 2007

The president says he is encouraged by what he is seeing in Iraq despite what he says is al-Qaida's strategy to use suicide bombers to create grisly images to overwhelm what Mr. Bush calls quiet progress on the ground.

Baghdad police say a car bomb during the Thursday morning rush hour at a bus station killed 21 people and wounded 40 others in a mainly Shi'ite district. Officials say the bodies of 20 beheaded men were found with their hands and legs bound on a riverbank in a Sunni village.

US Senate Blocks Major Immigration Reform Bill

By Deborah Tate Capitol Hill 28 June 2007

Download

The U.S. Senate has again blocked a sweeping immigration reform bill, handing a key defeat to President Bush, who has made the issue a top domestic priority. The Senate action Thursday likely dooms the legislation until after next year's presidential election. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

Supporters of immigration legislation gather in Little Rock, Arkansas, as they learn of the Senate's rejection of the immigration bill, 28 June 2007

The Senate voted 46 to 53 to limit debate and move the bill to a final vote. Under Senate rules, 60 votes were necessary in the 100-member chamber to move the bill forward.

The legislation called for tougher border security, a temporary worker program, and an immediate granting of legal status for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States.

Senator Ted Kennedy was a key supporter of the bill.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, left, and Sen. Edward Kennedy during a news conference on immigration in Washington, 27 Jun 2007

"Year after year we have had the broken borders. Year after year we have had the exploitation of workers. Year after year we see the people that have lived in fear within our own borders of the United States of America," he said. "This is the opportunity to change it. Now is the time."

But his appeal was not enough to overcome the opposition, much of which came from lawmakers of President Bush's own Republican Party. They argued the bill would not go far enough in securing U.S. borders and would reward immigrants who came to this country illegally with the promise of U.S. citizenship.

But many Democrats, and their labor union allies, also opposed the measure because, they argued, the temporary worker provision would create an underclass of cheap laborers.

Immigrant advocate groups also criticized the legislation's limits on family migration.

A grassroots campaign by various groups opposing the bill resulted in a flood of phone calls to lawmakers urging defeat of the measure.

Senator David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican and vocal opponent of the bill, says that had an impact on senators.

"This recent vote was a great victory, not for any individual senator, but for the American people," he said. "They were heard only because they demanded to be heard."

The bill had been blocked earlier this month by opponents, only to be revived amid an intense lobbying campaign by President Bush. But his efforts to secure more support, including phone calls and a rare meeting with fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill, were to no avail.

The president reacted to the Senate action during a visit to the eastern state of Rhode Island.

President George Bush addresses an invitation-only crowd of military and civilians at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, 28 June 2007

"Legal immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people and Congress' failure to act on it is a disappointment," he said.

Supporters vow to try again.

"We will be back," added Senator Kennedy. "This issue is not going away. Ultimately, we will be successful."

But with the 2008 presidential campaign to begin in earnest later this year, many lawmakers believe that the heated partisan atmosphere accompanying the campaign will make it unlikely that the issue can be thoughtfully debated until after a new president is in office in January 2009.

That was a point made by Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, as he appealed for support for the bill ahead of the vote.

"A temporary worker program and merit-based immigration is a good deal for this country and if we say 'no' today, good luck ever getting it again," he said.

The House of Representatives has not drafted its own version of the bill because it had been awaiting Senate action.

Islamists Invited to Somali Reconciliation Talks

By Alisha Ryu Nairobi 28 June 2007

Download

The foreign affairs secretary for Somalia's ousted Islamic Courts Union has confirmed to VOA that he has received an invitation from the country's western-backed transitional government to attend peace talks next month in Mogadishu. But as VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu reports from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi, the ICU leader says such talks are not possible while Ethiopian troops are still in Somalia.

Speaking to VOA from the Gulf state of Qatar, Islamic Courts Union Foreign Affairs Secretary Ibrahim Hassan Addow says the chairman of the Somali reconciliation committee, Ali Mahdi, extended the invitation to him by telephone last week.

"Ali Mahdi called me a few days ago," Addow said. "The problem is there has not been any discussion between the ICU and those who are saying they are in charge of reconciliation. There has not been any contact at all."

Inviting Addow to the long-delayed reconciliation conference is a striking turn-around for government leaders, who had insisted the talks would be strictly clan-based and rejected holding talks with any political entities, especially the Islamic Courts Union.

Many Somalis in the capital, Mogadishu, believe interim leaders would not have made such a conciliatory gesture without intense pressure from the government's biggest financial backer, the United States.

Six months ago, neighboring Ethiopia, with U.S. support, helped Somalia's secular transitional government take power in Mogadishu from the Islamic Courts Union. The Islamic Courts enjoyed popular support but, in the view of the West, was becoming increasingly radicalized.

To boost popular support for the weak transitional government and to end a violent insurgency in the capital, the United States and other western nations urged Somalia's new leaders to quickly organize a broad-based reconciliation conference, which included all Somalis willing to rebuild the war-devastated country peacefully.

The interim government had first intended to hold the peace conference in April, but insecurity in Mogadishu forced a delay. The talks have since been delayed two more times and are now scheduled for mid-July.

But Addow says there can be no reconciliation process without the immediate withdrawal of thousands of Ethiopian troops, who are still in Somalia protecting the interim government.

"The ICU is ready to go to any negotiation table anywhere," Addow said. "The only problem now is Somalia is under occupation and the TFG [transitional federal government] is not ruling Somalia. Ethiopia is the one that is running the show. And all those opposing the Ethiopian occupation cannot express their views politically. Somalia is not a free country right now, so it is amazing that some people are saying there will be a reconciliation in Mogadishu. We cannot attend any conference there."

The Islamic Courts Union leader tells VOA that he has been told the reconciliation committee chairman, Ali Mahdi, is preparing to travel to Eritrea to hold direct talks with Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, the head of the Islamic courts' moderate Executive Council, and some former members of the Somali parliament who are opposing the interim government.

VOASE0628_Economics Report

28 June 2007

World Trade Talks Break Down as the Group of 4 Fail to Reach Agreement
The United States, European Union, Brazil and India could not reach an agreement on farm subsidies. Now, World Trade Organization talks move to Geneva.

Download
Download

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

United States Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns at World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, June 22, 2007.

Talks meant to end disagreement over international trade failed to produce results in Potsdam, Germany last week. The European Union and the United States sought to find common ground with Brazil and India on several trade issues. The group has become known as the G-Four in World Trade Organization negotiations. But neither side could agree and talks ended last Friday, two days earlier than expected.

Brazil and India have been seeking big cuts in aid provided to farmers in industrial countries. The two nations have played the part of spokesmen for many of the least developed nations in the one- hundred-fifty-member W.T.O.

During the talks, the United States offered to limit farm aid, or subsidies, to seventeen billion dollars a year. That is down from twenty-two billion dollars offered in October of two thousand five. But Brazil wants the United States to promise a bigger reduction in farm aid to below fifteen billion dollars. Currently, American farmers receive a total of about eleven billion dollars a year in subsidies.

Indian Trade Minister Kamal Nath blamed the United States' position on farm aid for the failure of the talks. But India wants to protect twenty percent of its farm product import taxes from all or most cuts. United States Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said that would leave almost all of India's import taxes in place.

An official at the talks said the EU offered to cut import taxes on its most protected farm products by seventy percent. That is ten percentage points higher than its proposal from October, two thousand five. Products considered especially important would only receive subsidy cuts of twenty-three percent.

The Doha round of W.T.O. negotiations started in November of two thousand one. A main goal was for rich countries to reduce their farm subsidies on important crops like cotton, sugar and corn. In return, developing countries would reduce or end barriers to trade in goods and services from industrial countries.

Now, negotiations of the Doha Round will have to continue in Geneva, Switzerland. United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab said nations want to reach agreement on the Doha development plan. But she admitted that negotiations only among the G-Four nations may not be enough.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. I'm Mario Ritter.

VOASE0628_American Mosaic

28 June 2007

Exploring the Meeting Point Between Natural and Mechanical Forms: The Art of Graham Caldwell
Also: A listener in Hungary asks about Hell's Kitchen in New York City. And hear music from popular singer Chris Daughtry.

Download
Download

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

We answer a question from a listener about a place called Hell's Kitchen…

Play music by Chris Daughtry and his new rock group…

And report about a new American artist.

Graham Caldwell

HOST:

Graham Caldwell is a young artist who makes magical and unusual sculptures out of glass and metal. This artist does not want to make glass art that just looks nice. He wants to push the limits of this material. He likes to explore the meeting point of natural and mechanical forms. Critics are praising his imaginative and bold sculptures. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Graham Caldwell makes many of his glass sculptures in his workshop near Washington, D.C.

There, you can watch him put red-hot liquid glass on a metal stick called

Malocclusus by Graham Caldwell

a blowpipe. He expertly forms the glass in different ways by blowing air through the blowpipe opening. He can stretch the glass into long shapes or let it hang down so that gravity does the work. But Caldwell’s art is not usually just one single piece of sculpture. Each work is made up of many similar parts.

Graham Caldwell recently had a show at an art gallery in Washington. One work was made up of pointy glass pieces that looked like the shape of elephant tusks. They were attached to the wall by round metal bases.

Caldwell arranged these sharp, curved pieces in a circle so that all the points were

Untitled by Graham Caldwell

going in the same direction. It looked like the open mouth of an angry sea creature.

Another work was made up of many slightly different silvery glass forms that looked like tear drops coming out of the wall. Each glass drop reflected the silvery shape next to it. When you stood near the rounded forms, you could see yourself and the whole room reflected in the glass.

Graham Caldwell said the piece is about the "intelligibility of reflections." This striking artwork keeps you looking, wondering, and exploring.

Hell's Kitchen

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Hungary. Monika Fogl asks about a neighborhood in New York City called Hell's Kitchen.

Restaurants in the Hell's Kitchen area of New York City

Hell's Kitchen is on the island of Manhattan. It is between Thirty-Fourth and Fifty-Ninth Streets west of Eighth Avenue all the way to the Hudson River. Dutch immigrants settled in the area in the late sixteen hundreds. Back then, it had green fields and small rivers. The Dutch called the area Vale of Flowers.

How did the area get the name Hell's Kitchen? There are several possible answers. Some people say it was the traditional name of a building in the area. The building was in bad condition and the people who lived there were very poor.

By the eighteen hundreds the area had become a dangerous place to live. Many poor Irish immigrants lived there. Fights and other crimes were common. People lived in dirty, crowded buildings that the owners did not take care of. The area had many factories, including slaughterhouses, where animals were killed and sold at food markets.

In the eighteen sixties there were riots in Hell's Kitchen to protest the government's order forcing people to serve in the military during the Civil War. White people attacked black people, whom they blamed for the war. Many people were killed during the riots.

Some people think the area was named Hell's Kitchen around that time. It could have come from Americans who knew of a poor and dangerous neighborhood in London, England called Hell's Kitchen.

There is also the story of a police officer named Fred who worked the area in the eighteen seventies. Fred and his partner were watching a fight among people in the neighborhood. The partner said, "The place is hell itself." Fred answered, "Hell's a mild climate. This is Hell's kitchen."

In the nineteen thirties, the Great Depression made the poverty in Hell's Kitchen even worse. Many factories in the area dismissed employees. Port companies and slaughterhouses closed. Many people were forced to live on the streets because they could not pay for housing. Many others left the area.

But new immigrant groups continued to arrive in New York, seeking a better life. Many Puerto Rican immigrants settled in Hell's Kitchen. The nineteen fifty-nine Broadway musical "West Side Story" was set in the area. It told about two young lovers torn by ethnic conflict between their Puerto Rican and white groups.

The area has experienced a renewal over the years. It has many art galleries and restaurants. And it is close to Broadway Theaters. Hell's Kitchen has in fact been home to many young actors. There are also several broadcasting operations for television and radio in the area.

There have been efforts to change the neighborhood's name to Clinton, after a former New York governor. But efforts to keep the name Hell's Kitchen are equal in strength.

Chris Daughtry

HOST:

The television show, “American Idol,” has been the most popular program on American television for the past few years. Young singers perform on the show each week. Three judges comment on their performances. Then the viewers at home vote for their favorite. The singer with the fewest votes leaves the show. The winner gets the title, “American Idol.” But what happens to the singers discovered on the show after the competition ends? Faith Lapidus tells us about one “American Idol” loser who has become a big winner.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Chris Daughtry competed on "American Idol" a year ago. But he was voted off the

Chris Daughtry

show. He is now the lead singer of the rock group called Daughtry. That is also the name of the band’s first album, released last November. It has sold more than two and one-half million copies. Here is the first single from the album DAUGHTRY. It is called, “It’s Not Over.”

(MUSIC)

Chris Daughtry is twenty-seven years old. He was born and raised in North Carolina. He wrote or helped write ten of the twelve songs on the album. Here he sings, “What I Want.”

(MUSIC)

Critics say Chris Daughtry has become the best-selling musician in the United States. This is not bad for a singer who was a loser on “American Idol." We leave you now with another song from DAUGHTRY. It is called, “Home.”

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

It was written by Dana Demange, Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver, who also was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

Send your questions about American life to mosaic@voanews.com. Please include your full name and mailing address. Or write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, U.S.A.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.