| Washington 31 July 2007 |
DownloadThe man nominated to be the top U.S. military officer says he is concerned about what he called Iran's "increasingly hostile" role in the Middle East. Admiral Mike Mullen discussed Iran, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other issues in a wide-ranging confirmation hearing by the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday. VOA's Al Pessin reports from Washington.
Admiral Mullen, who currently heads the U.S. Navy, said if confirmed by the Senate as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff his first goal will be to address issues in the Middle East and Afghanistan. He said he is "deeply troubled" by Iran's support for terrorism, its effort to develop nuclear weapons and its involvement in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
 |
| Navy Admiral Michael Mullen testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, 31 July 2007 |
Admiral Mullen says largely-Shiite Iran is now also supporting its former rival in Afghanistan, the largely-Sunni Taliban.
"Iran is now supporting the Taliban, and in the Middle Eastern view of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend.' Well, that strategic shift for them, to me, is a big deal," he added.
Admiral Mullen said he hopes diplomacy can convince Iran to play a more constructive role, and military action is not "appropriate at this time." But he said he would "never take that off the table" as a possibility.
The admiral, who would become the chief military adviser to the president and the defense secretary, said he shares the frustration over the slow pace of progress in Iraq. But he urged patience and caution as the Congress prepares to receive a progress report in September. He said the current troops surge is working, he is opposed to timetables for a U.S. troop withdrawal, and any strategy change should be considered very carefully.
"I worry a lot about moves which would turn Iraq into a cauldron," he explained. "And I think that would be not just bad for the people of Iraq, not just bad for the people of America, but for our vital interests in that part of the world."
Admiral Mullen said Iran would be a "winner" if the United States withdrew and left an unstable Iraq behind. But he also said it will be difficult to sustain the U.S. troop surge beyond the spring of next year. And the admiral said no amount of U.S. effort will bring stability to Iraq unless Iraqi leaders use the improved security delivered by the surge to make progress on political disputes. He called that the "lead issue" in Iraq today.
Senator John Warner, a respected voice on defense issues from President Bush's own Republican Party, expressed frustration at the lack of progress by the Iraqi parliament, which is now on its summer recess.
"How do you think that the troops accept their challenge to lose life and limb to carry out their orders when they see the other side of the partnership is absolutely failing?" he asked.
The nominee to be Admiral Mullen's vice-chairman, Marine Corps General James Cartwright, responded that U.S. troops are committed to their mission, but will not have unlimited patience.
"There comes a point at which they're going to look at that and say, 'How much longer and at what price?' if progress isn't seen," he said.
During the lengthy hearing, Admiral Mullen said Iraq is the central front of a broader, long war on terrorism, which he said "will define the quality of American life for generations to come," a position that echoes President Bush's views. But he also said the United States must ease the pressure on its military - pressure caused by the war in Iraq - in order to ensure a strong and versatile force for the future. He called for a re-balancing of U.S. strategic interests to prepare for a variety of potential threats around the world, and to fight terrorists wherever they operate.
"We must get al-Qaida on the run and keep them on the run," he said. "They are still the essence of the most significant threat we have. They've got a safe haven now. They've got leadership, which is reinvigorated. They've got lieutenants back in place. They clearly have a stated challenge to hit us."
Admiral Mullen said he is "extremely concerned" that al-Qaida has established what he called an expanding safe haven in Pakistan. He said he is encouraged that the Pakistani government is moving against the group, but he said he is not sure how quickly it will be able to make progress.
If he is confirmed by the Senate, as expected, Admiral Mullen will replace General Peter Pace on October 1. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he did not recommend renomination for General Pace, because senators told him the general's role in developing previous Iraq strategies would make the confirmation process extremely difficult.
| Jakarta 31 July 2007 |
DownloadIndonesia says it is working to make high-speed communications more affordable and available by increasing competition in the marketplace. Trish Anderton reports from Jakarta.
 |
| Acehnese women study computer at a class in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, 7 Mar. 2005 (file photo) |
There are only two telecommunications hubs linking Indonesia to other countries, he says, which makes it a less attractive market for investors. Nuh plans to address that by establishing new connections with Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines. He also hopes to recruit more companies to establish operations in the country.
"We have two policies. We invite foreign investors to establish the industry telecom here. Not only trading, but invest here. And also we empowering the domestic industries for the telecom," he explained.
The ministry is installing 10,000 kilometers of fiber-optic lines by next year, creating a new network that would connect several of the country's major islands. It is also urging state-owned companies to share their fiber-optic lines, reducing the need for new infrastructure.
According to the website InternetWorldStats.com, about 20 million Indonesians use the Internet. That is only about nine percent of the population, as opposed to 16 percent in the Philippines and 48 percent in Malaysia.
Many rural Indonesians lack access to even more basic communications. About 38,000 villages have no phone lines. Nuh says he hopes to rectify that situation too by next year, setting up data-ready voice lines that will one day also provide internet to a central location in each village.
"The system itself, the equipment, should be complying with the data. Because after that, we will set up what we call CAP, the community access point. The CAP is to be the Internet in the village," he said.
Lack of competition may not be the only factor limiting Indonesia's communications growth. Last month, the country's Business Competition Supervisory Commission said it had uncovered evidence that two large cell-phone service providers may be colluding to keep other companies out of that market. Nuh said he could not comment on the allegations.
| Seoul 01 August 2007 |
DownloadSouth Koreans have begun appealing for U.S. help in freeing 21 Korean hostages facing death threats in Afghanistan. Families of the hostages and Korean government officials are urging Washington to adjust its policy against negotiating with the Taleban, but U.S. officials say that will not happen. VOA's Kurt Achin reports from the South Korean capital.
 |
| Protesters hold pictures of 21 South Korean hostages held in Afghanistan during anti-war and anti-US rally, 01 Aug 2007 |
The insurgents have executed two hostages over the past six days, and warned of more killings if Taleban comrades are not released from Afghan prisons. Families of the hostages have begun directing an emotional appeal squarely at the United States.
Standing alongside other hostage family members in front of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul Wednesday, Lee Chae-bok urges Washington to consider Koreans' views, and help to resolve the situation in a humanitarian way.
The families handed a petition to U.S. diplomats asking for Washington to help strike a deal with the Taleban kidnappers.
The U.S. government was among those that were sharply critical earlier this year when the Afghan government arranged a swap of five Taleban prisoners for an Italian journalist taken hostage. U.S. officials argued then that such concessions send a message to terrorists that hostage-taking is beneficial, raising the likelihood of future abductions.
U.S. State Department Spokesman Tom Casey told reporters Tuesday that Washington does not make concessions to terrorists, and is unlikely to do so.
"I think U.S. policy, again, is longstanding," Casey said. "It's been there for many, many years and I don't see any indication that we're going to be changing that any time soon."
That argument may ring hollow for some South Koreans in the emotion of the moment. Jang Do-jeong, a man in his 20s, attended Wednesday's gathering of families at the U.S. Embassy, carrying a sign that said "Bush, talk to the Taleban." He says he is angry at the United States, and that he is not alone.
He says if more Korean hostages are harmed, there will be a surge of South Korean anger and protests against the United States.
Pleas to the U.S. are not coming just from the Korean public. Members of South Korea's two main political parties, usually fierce rivals, issued a joint statement Wednesday calling on the United States and the United Nations to "shift their stance and help prevent these imminent killings."
For the second time this week, South Korean presidential spokesman Chun Ho-seon said Wednesday that some U.S. "flexibility" would be welcome.
He says Seoul respects the general policies of the U.S. and Afghan governments, but urges them to take "flexible action from a humanitarian perspective."
Earlier Wednesday, family members spoke to the media at the South Korean Christian church that dispatched the group to Afghanistan for aid work. Kim Taek-kyoung, mother of one of the hostages, issued her own emotional plea for U.S. involvement.
She says she wants to meet with President Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. She wishes she could go get her daughter, and would rather be killed herself by the insurgents than see her daughter die.
The United States led a multinational force that toppled the Taleban regime in Afghanistan soon after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on New York and Washington. The U.S. dominates international efforts to stabilize the country, and South Korea has contributed several hundred non-combat personnel to the effort.
| Jeddah 31 July 2007 |
DownloadSecretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates discussed Iraq and other Middle East issues late Tuesday with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and other top Saudi officials in Jeddah. Gates says the Bush administration will take regional stability into account in any decision it makes on the future of the U.S. troop presence in Iraq. VOA's David Gollust reports from Jeddah.
 |
| US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, right, and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, left, meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (not pictured) at a hotel in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, 31 July 2007 |
At a press event with Rice capping talks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh with ministers from Egypt, Jordan and the six Gulf Cooperation Council member states, Gates acknowledged Arab concern about Iraq and promised it will figure in administration decision-making:
"I think there is clearly concern on the part of the Egyptians and I think it probably represents concerns elsewhere in the region that the United States will somehow withdraw precipitously from Iraq, or in some way that is destabilizing to the entire region," he said. "And so there were no prescriptions, only the expression of concern. But as we look at the path ahead, that we take into account those concerns, and in turn we assured them that the President is going to bear very much in mind what he thinks is in the interest of long-term stability in the region in terms of decisions he makes with respect to what happens next in Iraq in terms of U.S. troops."
Gates did not minimize the discontent in the U.S. Congress over the Iraq war, but he said even among war opponents, there is a "growing body of opinion" that any move on the future of the troop presence needs to be done with great thought and care:
"It seems to me over the past two or three weeks or so in Washington that while there are still strong advocates, clearly of withdrawal, and some of them withdrawing very quickly, what I have begun to hear is more and more of an undertone, even from those who oppose the President's policies, of the need to take account of the consequences if we make a change in our policy, and the dangers inherent in doing it unwisely," he added.
The visit here by the Bush cabinet members comes at a sensitive point in U.S.-Saudi relations following rare frontal criticism of Saudi policy on Iraq from U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad.
The former U.S. envoy to Baghdad told television interviewers Sunday that Saudi Arabia and a number of other Arab countries are not doing all they can to help the United States in Iraq, and in some cases are undermining efforts to make progress.
In the press event that immediately preceded her arrival in Saudi Arabia, Rice softened the comments and said the issues cited by Khalilzad cannot be compared to negative activities on Iraq by countries like Syria and Iran:
"I think what Ambassador Khalilzad said was that there are neighbors of Iraq who could do more, effectively than they are doing, and by not doing that they are not being helpful," she said. "Look, all of Iraq's neighbors could do more to stabilize Iraq. My point yesterday was that if you compare what you're seeing in terms of Syrian people coming through Damascus airport, many of whom can't cross borders at other points including in Saudi Arabia, then you have a marked contrast in what governments are trying to do to stem the flow of foreign fighters."
Rice and Gates part company Wednesday, with the Defense Secretary continuing talks in the Gulf region and Rice heading to Jerusalem for a set of meetings with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and capping the Middle East trip Thursday with talks in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Rice is working on plans for an international meeting she will host this autumn aimed at restoring momentum to Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
31 July 2007| Discovery of 'Itch Gene' May Lead to New Treatments | |
Download
DownloadThis is the VOA Special English Health Report.
Itchy skin is a common problem. Severe itching can interfere with sleep or lead to
 |
They report finding a gene that sends the itch signal up the spinal cord to the brain. This is the first gene identified for the itch sensation in the central nervous system.
A team led by Zhou-Feng Chen at Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, Missouri, made the discovery in mice. The study appeared last week in the journal Nature.
The gene is called GRPR, for gastrin-releasing peptide receptor. This gene has been studied for years, but scientists did not know it was linked to itching. The Washington University researchers say they discovered the connection by accident while searching for genes linked to pain.
During their experiments, they gave itch-causing substances to some laboratory mice. They found that mice without the GRPR gene scratched much less than normal mice with the gene. However, the animals reacted to pain in the same way as normal mice.
The scientists say the reaction showed that pain and itch are controlled by separate sets of genes in the spinal cord.
Because the mice without the itch gene did scratch a little, scientists believe there must be other itch genes in the body.
Still, the discovery is seen as good news for people who have severe dry skin or other conditions that cause itching. These include skin disorders like eczema and problems such as kidney failure or liver disease. The researchers, though, have not confirmed whether the GRPR gene is involved in these diseases.
Cancer treatments and strong painkillers like morphine can also cause itchiness.
Yet effective treatments for severe itching are limited. This is partly because scientists have traditionally thought that an itch was a less intense form of pain. Because of this, Professor Chen says itch research has lived in the shadow of pain research.
He notes that many genes have been identified along the pain pathway. Now the discovery of a so-called itch gene could lead to new treatments for people who suffer from severe itching. The researchers suggest that new drugs could be developed to suppress itching without affecting a person's ability to sense pain.
And that's the VOA Special English Health Report was written by Brianna Blake. For more health news, along with transcripts and archives of our reports, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.
31 July 2007| Looking for an Activity for the Brave of Heart (and Heights)? Try Sport Parachuting | |
Download
DownloadVOICE ONE:
EXPLORATIONS -- a program in Special English by the Voice of America.
(MUSIC)
 |
| Members of the US Army Golden Knights parachute team at a performance in North Carolina |
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Excitement fills the early morning air as you arrive at the little airport for your lesson in sport parachuting. First you learn to recognize and name each part of the parachute. You also learn what each part does.
The excitement builds as your teacher describes each step of the jump from take-off to landing. He tells you what to do in an emergency. Again and again, he explains the need for safety.
By early afternoon, you have completed the schoolwork. Now it is time for your first jump. As you put on the equipment, you probably begin to think: "Do I really want to do this?" You are excited, of course, but a little afraid, too.
VOICE ONE:
The teacher inspects your equipment. Nothing is loose. Nothing is broken. He asks you questions about safety. Finally, he smiles and says you are ready.
Then you, two other students and the teacher climb into a small airplane. The pilot makes sure everyone is sitting down and that no one else is outside near the plane. The plane's engine starts. The pilot moves the plane to the end of the runway. Moments later, you are climbing into the sky.
The door of the plane has been taken off so you can get out more easily with all the parachute equipment. Without the door, the engine noise and the wind are very loud. Talking is almost impossible. So you sit there and think about everything you have learned. You go over each step for a successful and safe jump. You try to put the fear out of your mind.
While you are thinking, your teacher and the pilot are working. The teacher leans out the door, watching the ground far below. With one hand he points toward a spot in the sky above your landing area. When the teacher is satisfied that the plane is flying toward the right place, he shouts:
VOICE TWO:
"Jump-run!"
VOICE ONE:
This means you are getting close to the jump area. When the plane reaches it, your teacher tells the pilot:
VOICE TWO:
"Cut the engine!"
VOICE ONE:
The pilot slows the plane's engine. Then the teacher points at you, and says:
VOICE TWO:
"Sit in the door!"
VOICE ONE:
Still fighting your fear, you sit in the doorway, with your legs outside the airplane. Then, you get the next command:
VOICE TWO:
"Climb out!"
VOICE ONE:
You reach out and hold the wing support. When you have a good, tight hold with both hands, you slide out of the plane using its wheel as a step. When you reach the right position, you step off the wheel.
Hanging by your hands, you look at your teacher and nod your head. You are ready and waiting for his final command. You look down at the ground, nine hundred meters below your feet. The wind from the plane's propeller feels heavy against your chest.
Then your teacher shouts:
VOICE TWO:
"Go!"
VOICE ONE:
You let go of the wing support and fall away from the plane. You throw your head back, arms out, legs apart, as you learned. You fall face forward toward the Earth below.
The sound of the engine and the scream of the wind disappear immediately. There is only silence. You feel you are moving, but not falling.
Quickly, a line tied to the plane pulls the parachute from its pack. The lines of the parachute and the stiff straps of the parachute harness gently pull on your shoulders and legs.
You look up. The big, colorful parachute is now fully open above you. You look at it carefully to make sure it is not damaged. Reaching over your head, you hold the left and right steering lines. You pull the left one and begin a slow, smooth turn to the left.
VOICE TWO:
You still have no feeling of falling. You seem to hang in the air. There is no longer any feeling of fear. Yet your heart is racing with excitement. You look around. You can see for many kilometers. You look down between your feet. You can see people, cars and buildings. They look very small.
For a few moments, you enjoy the view and the silence of your first parachute jump.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Too soon, it seems, it is time to prepare for landing. You watch the landing area and move toward it by pulling on the left or right steering lines. You aim for the soft sand in the center of the landing place.
Suddenly, the ground is moving quickly toward you. You bring your feet together and bend your legs at the knee. You reach high into the straps above your head. You keep your eyes straight ahead. You hit the ground, gently, it seems. And, as you learned, you roll on your side to the left and come back up onto your feet.
You gather up your parachute, being careful not to cross the many lines. Your first sport parachute jump has been safe, successful and great fun.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
The idea of the parachute is almost as old as man's dreams of flight. The first known parachute designs were drawn by Italian artist and inventor Leonardo Da Vinci as early as fourteen ninety-five. However, there is no evidence that Da Vinci ever built a parachute.
About two hundred years ago, Louis-Sebastian Lenormand of France invented a kind of parachute to save people at the top of tall burning buildings. Historians say he jumped safely from a building in Montpellier, France, using his small device.
The first man to use a real parachute was Andre-Jacques Garnerin. In seventeen ninety-seven, he parachuted from a balloon six hundred meters above the city of Paris.
VOICE ONE:
There were more and more parachute designs after the invention of the airplane. Early planes often crashed. Fliers needed a safety device that would let them escape from a falling plane. Parachutes saved many of their lives.
Parachutes became so dependable that military leaders believed they could be used to get soldiers to a battlefield quickly. American General Billy Mitchell tested the idea in nineteen twenty-eight. Six soldiers jumped by parachute from an airplane. When they landed, they set up a machine gun. The test was a complete success. And the parachute became a useful military tool.
In the past thirty years, parachuting has become an exciting sport. It became popular when young men who learned to parachute in the military wanted to continue jumping when they returned to civilian life. Today, parachuting is enjoyed by men and women, young and old.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
There are many kinds of sport parachuting. One of the most interesting is skydiving.
Jumpers leave the airplane as it flies more than three thousand meters above the ground. They fall for about one minute before opening their parachute. They use their bodies, and the air that rushes past them, to control their flight while falling. They can speed up or slow down. They can turn left or right. They can turn over completely.
People who like to skydive say they can do anything an airplane can do, except go up. Those who jump say skydiving is as close as man will ever come to free flight -- like that of birds.
VOICE ONE:
Today's parachutes are very different from the device Leonardo Da Vinci designed five hundred years ago. They come in many different shapes and colors.
One of the most popular is shaped more like a rectangle than the traditional circle of old parachutes. This one works much like a jet airplane. It forces the air that passes through it to the back. Large openings in the back can be opened or closed to steer it.
Some of the most modern kinds of parachutes give jumpers much more control over where they float. Jumpers can fall gently down. Or they can travel forward, while falling, at speeds of forty kilometers an hour.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
You have been listening to the Special English program, EXPLORATIONS. Your narrators were Shirley Griffith and Ray Freeman. Our program was written and produced by Paul Thompson.
Listen again next week at this time for another EXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.
| Manila 31 July 2007 |
DownloadForeign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations propose strengthening an initiative to protect the region's currencies. VOA's Nancy-Amelia Collins has more from Manila where the top ASEAN diplomats are meeting with officials from key partner nations.
As Asian economies boom, billions of dollars of foreign investment are flowing into the region.
That money is creating economic growth, but it also presents risks, because it can easily be moved away from the region if investors become worried. In meetings Tuesday with the foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea, the senior diplomats from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations proposed expanding an initiative to protect their currencies and prevent financial meltdowns.
 |
| Thai Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram, center, discusses with his aides the contents of the documents during the plenary session in the ongoing 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Manila, 30 Jul 2007 |
"We have this huge influx of foreign international capital and it's causing quite a bit of havoc," said Nitya. "It's causing instability, it's causing loss of confidence, it's causing great volatility in terms of our currencies."
Nitya says ASEAN wants to expand on the Chiang Mai Initiative, which was created at a meeting in 2000 in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai.
"What we did was to propose that we expand the Chiang Mai Monetary Initiative to internationalize it, to multi-lateralize it if you can bring about a stable, financial environment, then that will create a lot of confidence for people in trade, investment, and future investment as well." said Nitya.
The Chiang Mai Initiative established a regional financing facility for ASEAN countries plus China, Japan, and South Korea to defend their currencies against an attack.
Diplomats at Tuesday's meetings also discussed a proposal for an East Asian trade bloc, and efforts to improve political, economic, and security cooperation in the region.
The issue of Burma arose again, with ASEAN members acknowledging the concerns of several Western countries over Rangoon's human rights record. But ASEAN diplomats said they thought it better to engage with Burma than to isolate it.
The diplomats Tuesday also called on militants in Afghanistan to free 21 South Korean aid workers they hold hostage. Two of the workers have been killed by their Taleban kidnappers.
On Wednesday, the ASEAN foreign ministers meet with officials from the U.S., Australia, European Union and other governments.
The following day, the ASEAN Regional Forum gathers all of the diplomats for an annual regional discussion of security and other issues.
| Nouakchott, Mauritania 31 July 2007 |
DownloadThe West African country Mauritania is emerging from decades of dictatorship. The newly-elected President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi is facing the problem of how to bring home tens of thousands of Mauritanians who fled ethnic violence under the previous dictator. Refugees say they have long wanted to return, but question their safety in a country still divided by color and class. Phuong Tran brings us this report from Nouakchott, Mauritania.
Hundreds of black Mauritanians were killed and tens of thousands lost everything in the 1989 ethnic purge by the Arab-dominated government of Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya.
Through the years, many of the more than 70,000 who fled have returned to Mauritania. They came on their own, with no government protection from attacks or help restarting their lives.
President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi campaigned on bringing together racially-divided Mauritania. He recently named a committee of elected officials and civil society groups to organize a U.N.-supervised return of the refugees, scheduled to begin later this year.
The committee visited refugees in Senegal earlier this month to hear their views on returning.
 |
| Amadou Samba Ba with son in Dodel, a Mauritanian refugee camp in Senegal |
But he says there are also other demands. Ba says the government needs to restore jobs, land. and cattle taken away in the late 1980's, as well as lost wages.
Ba says there are not enough schools or health clinics to serve the thousands who will come home.
The camp chief says the refugees also want officials who took part in the purges charged for murders and other human rights abuses. An estimated 500 died.
The refugees have asked the government to set up a truth and reconciliation committee, similar to those created after conflicts in South Africa and Liberia.
 |
| Mauritanian President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi |
The president says his goal is to create conditions for refugees to safely return with dignity.
But U.S- based Islamic law professor Bernard Freamon says the government alone cannot fight racial discrimination. He says Mauritanians listen to their religious leaders.
Freamon says some leaders wrongly interpret the Koran to justify the continued political and economic domination of white Moors over Blacks.
"People use the old classical law as a proxy for maintaining what are essentially either tribal or feudal, or sometimes class or caste based relationships," he adds.
The law professor says government efforts to work with religious leaders are hard.
"Classical Islamic law requires the person qualified to give opinions in Islamic law be independent of the ruler," said Freamon. "Some scholars do not want to be tagged with the negative label of being a mouthpiece for any particular government."
Freamon says it will take time, but without the support of Islamic leaders, it will be hard for the president to convince the population to change long-held views on color, caste, and class.
U.N. refugee agency officials expect more than half of the refugees to return once the $1.6 million return program concludes at the end of next year.
Officials estimate almost 30,000 refugees live in Senegal and Mali.
| New York 31 July 2007 |
Download
The American Museum of Natural History in New York offers an educational program each summer that allows young adults to create their own imaginative and interactive tours. After a month of training in June with museum experts, the guides take summer camp groups through the vast halls of one of the world's preeminent scientific and cultural institutions. From VOA's New York Bureau, Mona Ghuneim has the story. 
Hassan Mohamed, 19, center facing camera, talks about a Stegosaurus during his "Attack and Defense" tour with students of PS 168 from the Bronx borough, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York
What do diamonds, salmon bones and the rainforest have in common? Nineteen-year-old student guide Jennifer Phanomrat says they are all precious to someone or something. The young college student designed a tour called "Precious Matter," which links three halls at the museum with a common message.
First, Jennifer takes the young campers through the Hall of Gems and Minerals where she points out the value of jewels and raw materials. She says that in a recent tour, some teenage girls learned a valuable lesson as they moved from one hall to another.
"I had this one group of 13-year-old girls, and [one] said, 'Oh I want an engagement ring this big,' you know, and then later when I brought them to the Native People's [Hall], they started to say, 'Yeah, my family is precious to me too,' so I liked how they got the message that I tried to bring out on the tour," Phanomrat said.
Jennifer then guides her groups through the Hall of Northwest Coast Indians where she shows how Native American families treasured things like totem poles, baskets and fish bones, which they threw back into the river to appease the spirits.
In the Hall of African Mammals and the Rainforest, Jennifer explains the preciousness of the environment. One young camper understands her message immediately.
"If we save the Rainforest, we can help the wildlife because if we hurt the wildlife, that's less food for us. And trees provide air so with less air, we're actually hurting ourselves," he said.
Caren Perlmutter works with the museum's education and employment program and helps select the student guides. She says candidates are college students aged 18 to 21 and all are New York City residents. Now in its twelfth year, the program this year is comprised of three dozen participants from various universities throughout the nation.
Perlmutter says that while their university studies may range from psychology to literature to marine biology, there is one thing the guides all have in common.
"One of the most important skills of the program that people acquire is the ability to communicate with different kinds of people, and so I look for good communicators above everything else," Perlmutter said.
Perlmutter says the guides are put into situations where they must constantly communicate. In addition to their own tours, they are stationed in various halls to answer questions and help visitors. Many stand behind rolling carts that contain objects or specimens that visitors are welcome to touch and ask about.
Twenty-one-year-old Oscar Bolivar is in his last year at Hunter College in New York City. His tour focuses on the use of stones as tools. While manning a cart in the African Mammals Hall, he encourages visitors to interact with him and the specimens.
"This is an ostrich egg. It's really hard and what the people in Africa did is, you see the hole over here, they cut out a hole, so what they did is for long trips along the desert, they fill it up with water and this would keep it cool. So they would bury it under the sand and when they were on their way back, they would (use) it as a canteen," Bolivar said.
Oscar says his museum experience will help with his plan to study elementary education in graduate school. Another skill he says he acquired through the program is the ability to maneuver around large groups of people.
Both Oscar and Jennifer say the program has helped them develop patience. They say dealing with large groups of children from age five to 16 has tested their endurance, but the experience has been well worth it.
"Oh my God!"
"Look, yellow ones!"
"Wow!"
"Yeah, I don't like that one."
"Number two is (inaudible)."
"Which is number two?"
"And so is number 49."
"Sulfur's a cool element."
"This is so cool!"
When a group of ten to twelve year olds say your museum tour is 'cool,' then you've probably created a valuable experience.
| Beijing 31 July 2007 |
Download
A human rights group says new evidence has emerged that, if genuine, suggests the internet company Yahoo lied to the U.S. Congress about its role in the conviction of Chinese political dissidents. Yahoo says the suggestion is false. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing. 
The allegation is based on information circulating on the Internet this week. It appears to show that Chinese police clearly informed Yahoo they were investigating political dissidents when they asked the company to turn over private e-mails and account information.
The key items are notices from the Chinese police to Yahoo, translated by the Dui Hua group, a San Francisco-based group that promotes human rights in China. According to Dui Hua's translations, the notices informed Yahoo that the police were investigating separate cases involving the "leaking of state secrets to foreigners" and "subversion."
Dui Hua says it believes the notices are genuine.
The Chinese authorities have often used the vague charge of "revealing state secrets" to silence dissidents.
Dui Hua says Yahoo subsequently handed over information the police used as evidence to convict dissident writers Wang Xiaoning in 2003, and Shi Tao in 2005. Both were sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Yahoo's general counsel, Michael Callahan, testified before the U.S. Congress last year that Chinese police never told Yahoo the nature of the investigation when it asked for the information, and the company was merely complying with Chinese law in handing it over.
Vincent Brossel, who heads the Asia Pacific Desk for the Paris-based press-freedom group Reporters Without Borders, says if the notices prove to be genuine, it would show that Callahan was either not fully informed by Yahoo executives, or he lied to Congress.
"If Mr. Callahan got this information and he did not provide it to the Congress, it is something very serious," Brossel said. "So we hope that again, Yahoo must give the truth and all the truth about this case. And they have a huge responsibility."
Yahoo declined a request by VOA for an interview. But company spokesman Jim Cullinan said in an e-mailed statement that Callahan's testimony was "accurate and forthright." He repeated Yahoo's position that the Chinese government did not disclose the nature of the investigation was related to dissident activity.
Cullinan said only Chinese officials could confirm whether the police notices were genuine.
Brossel says Yahoo is one of several Internet companies that have compromised their ethical principles in order to gain access to China's massive internet market, which is now estimated at 162 million users.
"From the beginning to the end there is absolutely no ethical principles in how the big companies have been accessing the Internet market in China," Brossel said.
U.S.-based Cisco Corporation has sold equipment the Chinese government allegedly uses for filtering Internet content the government does not want the Chinese people to see. The Internet companies Google and MSN, a Microsoft affiliate, have censored the Chinese versions of their Web sites in order to avoid angering Chinese officials.
The Dui Hua Foundation says Yahoo has handed over account information of at least two other dissidents who received prison sentences. Li Zhi was sentenced to eight years and Jiang Lijun to four years in 2003 on similar subversion charges.
The families of Shi Tao and Wang Xiaoning are both suing Yahoo in U.S. federal court. The lawsuits seek to stop the company from providing private information to Chinese authorities that could be used for political purposes.
30 July 2007| Goats Employed in Fight Against Kudzu in US South | |
Download
DownloadThis is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
 |
| Kudzu kills other plants as it spreads quickly |
The Japanese brought it to the United States in eighteen seventy-six. It grew well in the warm, wet climate of the southeastern states. People planted kudzu around their homes to hide things like fences.
In the nineteen thirties, during the Great Depression, the government put people to work planting kudzu for soil protection. Between nineteen thirty-five and the nineteen fifties, the government even paid farmers to plant it. The kudzu also provided cattle feed.
But kudzu kills other growth as it spreads. Finally, in the fifties, the Agriculture Department no longer suggested it as a cover crop. Then, in nineteen seventy, officials declared it a weed. Today it is known as "the plant that ate the South."
Kudzu now covers an estimated three million hectares of land. Over time, much of whatever was nearby died.
People are always looking for better ways to stop the invasive plant. Since last year, the public works department in Chattanooga, Tennessee, has been using goats.
This song by Randy Mitchell tells the story of the kudzu-eating goats:
(MUSIC)
It was the end of August in Tennessee's Chattanooga town
The weather had been hot and humid, summer was a hangin’ ‘round
The vines had been growing long and steady all season long
I knew it was time for me to write another kudzu song
That stuff is growing everywhere even choking out a railroad bridge
But now there's kudzu eating goats out on Missionary Ridge
The tunnels got to where it was a danger to try to drive through
They tried poison and herbicides and chopped it up where it grew
But nothing seems to work very long and the city was at wits end
They discovered that goats like kudzu and would eat all up and then
The 3.4 acres would be clear and free of kudzu up to the tunnel's ledge
Cause now there's kudzu eating goats out on Missionary Ridge
Yet even kudzu has fans. Artisans form the twisting vines into baskets. Others use kudzu in food, clothing and herbal medicines.
And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Steve Ember.
30 July 2007| Parkinson's Disease: Exploring the Mystery of a Movement Disorder | |
Download
DownloadVOICE ONE:
This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I’m Faith Lapidus.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. Today we tell about the latest research and treatments for Parkinson’s disease.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
 |
| Muhammad Ali |
VOICE TWO:
Parkinson’s is a disease of the central nervous system. It is a progressive disorder. It gets worse over time. The disease affects a small area of cells in the middle of the brain. This area is called the substantia nigra. The cells slowly lose their ability to produce a chemical called dopamine.
The decrease in the amount of dopamine can result in one or more of the general signs of Parkinson’s disease. These include shaking in the hands, arms and legs. They also include difficulty in moving or general slowness of movement. Another symptom is difficulty keeping balanced while walking or standing.
Other signs in some people include decreased movement of the face. Also, there can be emotional changes, like feeling depressed or worried. The symptoms of Parkinson's differ from person to person. They also differ in their intensity. Some people develop minor effects. Others become severely disabled as the effects get worse.
VOICE ONE:
The disease is named after James Parkinson. He was a British doctor who first described this condition in eighteen seventeen. Doctor Parkinson did not know what caused it. During the nineteen sixties, medical researchers discovered changes in the brains of people with the disease. These discoveries led to medicines to treat the effects of the disease. There is no cure for Parkinson's and no way to prevent it. And doctors still are not sure about the cause.
Parkinson’s is found in all parts of the world. The World Health Organization estimates up to six million people have the disease. Most are older adults. The disease affects men a little more often than women.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Most patients have what is called idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. Idiopathic means the cause is unknown. People who develop the disease often want to link it to some cause they can identify. This might be a medical operation or extreme emotional stress.
Yet many doctors reject this idea of a direct link to Parkinson’s. They point to other people who have similar experiences and do not develop the disease. Still, doctors say it is possible that such events might cause symptoms of Parkinson's to appear earlier than they would have.
Some studies have found a link between Parkinson's and chemical products for killing insects. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic reported last year that men who often used such products increased their risk of developing the disease. But women who used pesticides had no increased risk.
VOICE ONE:
In May, another study showed the link between pesticide use and Parkinson's. This study also found that serious head injuries also increased a person's risk.
Finlay Dick of Aberdeen University in Scotland led the study. His team collected information about more than nine hundred people with Parkinson's or similar conditions. The team compared this group to almost two thousand people without the disorder. The people lived in Scotland, Italy, Sweden, Romania and Malta. All the people were asked about their use of pesticides, chemical fluids, and metals like iron. The team also collected information on family history of Parkinson's and head injuries.
Farm workers and others who said they often used pesticides had a forty-one percent greater risk of Parkinson's than other people. The disease was also two and one-half times more common among people who had been knocked unconscious more than once in their lives. These people temporarily lost consciousness after suffering a blow to the head. This finding is especially important for athletes like boxers who are often knocked unconscious. As we told you, former boxer Muhammad Ali is probably the world's most famous Parkinson's patient.
VOICE TWO:
Another area of study is family genetics. There are some cases of many members of a family having the disease. Three years ago, scientists linked changes in a gene called PARK-eight to cases of Parkinson’s in some families. Other research involves genes that might increase the risk of the disease in some ethnic groups.
Two years ago, researchers completed what they called the first large map to show genetic links with Parkinson's disease. The map identifies changes in twelve genes that may increase the risk in some people.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Improved treatments to ease the symptoms of Parkinson's disease make it possible for many patients to live almost normal lives. People who have lost their ability to do many things are sometimes able to regain some of these abilities with treatment.
The most commonly used drug is levodopa. When it reaches the brain, levodopa is changed into dopamine, the chemical that is lacking in people with the disease.
Levodopa helps deal with the symptoms of Parkinson's. But it does not prevent more changes in the brain that are caused by the disease. It can also produce unwanted effects in some people. These side effects include feeling sick to the stomach. To prevent this from happening, other substances can be combined with levodopa.
VOICE TWO:
Other drugs used to treat Parkinson’s disease act like dopamine. They produce reactions in the nerve cells in the brain. For example, the United States Food and Drug Administration recently approved a skin patch to treat early symptoms of Parkinson's. The product, called Neupro, is a cloth-like material placed on the skin. Neupro contains rotigotine, a drug that helps to activate dopamine receptors in the body.
Last month, American researchers reported that a drug commonly used to treat high blood pressure also slowed the development of Parkinson's. In animal tests, the drug, isradipine, protected dopamine nerve cells from substances that would normally kill them. The drug still must be tested in people.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Doctors sometimes perform operations to treat Parkinson’s. Last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved an operation called deep brain stimulation. Doctors place small electrical devices into the brain. These are connected to a small piece of equipment called a pulse generator.
Deep brain stimulation can reduce the need for levodopa and other drugs. It also helps to reduce symptoms such as shaking, slowness of movement and problems with walking.
VOICE TWO:
Scientists are also experimenting with genes to treat Parkinson's. Last month, The British medical journal, The Lancet, reported about an experimental gene therapy. It seemed to improve symptoms of the disease without causing side effects in an early study of twelve patients.
The treatment involved putting billions of copies of a gene into the brain to ease overactive nerve cells. The nerve cells become overactive because they lack the normal supply of an important chemical called GABA. The extra copies of the gene made the brain produce the needed chemical.
The study was designed to test the safety of the method instead of its effectiveness. The scientists were pleased with the results but said they had a lot more testing to do.
VOICE ONE:
Around the world, groups provide education and support services for Parkinson's patients and their families. Last year, the World Parkinson Congress took place in Washington, D.C. More than two thousand people met to discuss the latest progress and treatments. The next such meeting is planned for two thousand ten.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by George Grow. Brianna Blake was our producer. I’m Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And I'm Faith Lapidus. You can read and listen to our programs at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.
