Pollution Threatens Australia's Great Barrier Reef

By Phil Mercer Sydney 10 August 2007

Download

Conservationists say the Australian government must undertake a multi-million dollar cleanup of the Great Barrier Reef or risk its destruction. Campaigners say the World Heritage Site is threatened by millions of tons of chemicals and mud washed from farms onto the reef each year. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

This undated photo released by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, shows dying coral on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Environmentalists say the Great Barrier Reef is being threatened by waves of dangerous agricultural sludge.

Campaigners believe that more than 90 percent of the reef's pollution comes from soil, pesticides and other chemicals that have washed off farms and sugarcane plantations into rivers.

There are concerns that nutrients from farmland runoff boost the population of the crown-of-thorns starfish. It is a voracious predator that attacks coral.

The Australian government is being urged to do more to help farmers reduce this run-off.

Nick Heath from the global environmental group WWF says urgent action is needed.

"If nothing is done it's quite a grim future for the reef," he said. "Pollution will continue to stress corals, continue to feed wave after wave of crown of thorn starfish outbreaks, reducing coral cover and probably even worse reducing the resilience of the reef to be able to deal with the increased temperatures expected from climate change."

The Great Barrier Reef is home to 400 species of coral and supports over 2,000 different types of fish and 4,000 species of mollusks and countless other invertebrates.

It is the world's largest coral system and stretches for 2,300 kilometers along Australia's northeast coast, covering an area bigger than Britain.

The reef is one of Australia's most important tourist destinations, contributing an estimated $5 billion to the economy.

It attracts a million visitors a year, who come to see a vast array of sharks, turtles and brightly colored fish.

A new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina in the United States has found that the degradation of the world's coral reefs has been much worse than previously thought. A report said that over the past 20 years, coral had disappeared at five times the rate of the world's rainforests.

Many scientists have blamed climate change for rising ocean temperatures, which can kill coral by causing what is called bleaching.

Medical Aid Groups Welcome Indian Court Ruling on Patents

By Anjana Pasricha New Delhi 10 August 2007

Download

Medical aid groups - fighting for access to cheap medicines for the poor - are applauding an Indian court's decision to throw out a Swiss drug company's legal challenge on patent issues. Anjana Pasricha tells us more from VOA's bureau in New Delhi.

The court in Chennai threw out Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis' challenge to India's patent law - in a case closely watched around the world.

Novartis had filed suit after its bid to patent a new version of its anti-cancer drug, Gleevec, was rejected earlier this year. Indian law denies patents for minor improvements to existing medicines.

The ruling means Indian companies can continue to manufacture and sell medicines produced before 1995 - such as Gleevec - at a fraction of the price in Western countries. The only caveat is that domestic companies must use a different manufacturing process from that of the inventor.

The patent law here has enabled the Indian pharmaceutical industry to emerge as a major supplier of affordable drugs throughout the developing world.

Tido von Schoen-Angerer, a director at the medical charity Doctors Without Borders, called the ruling a "major victory" for poor people across the world.

Indian people infected with HIV and activists hold placards and shout slogans against harmaceutical firm Novartis during a demonstration in New Delhi, 29 Jan 2007

"The ruling still allows that for medicines that are not real breakthrough, big innovations, not to be patented in India," he said. "Right now we have a desperate need for several of the new HIV medicines to be produced cheaply in India, but the same will be true for all other inventions in other disease area be it cancer or other infectious diseases. So this has very broad importance for health in developing countries."

The Indian pharmaceutical industry - which is raking in profits - is also pleased with the ruling - noting that hundreds of similar pending patent applications will not be approved, and it can continue making a host of drugs, including anti-AIDS medicines.

The secretary-general of Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, Dilip.G. Shah, says the ruling is a "major relief."

"Number of products which are in the market, they will be able to manufacture and continue to market them, and it will also save them from expensive litigation," said Shah.

Novartis, however, says the Chennai court ruling will have negative consequences for research into and development of better drugs for patients in India and overseas. It says the Indian patent law stifles innovation.

Several developed countries argue that drug patents must be protected worldwide, because pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars to create new drugs. The issue is a key sticking point in trade liberalization talks at the World Trade Organization.

Pyongyang Still Safer Bet For North Korea's Leader in Second Summit With South

By Kurt Achin Seoul 10 August 2007

Download

Leaders from North and South Korea plan to meet this month in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, despite hints at a summit seven years ago that the next one would take place in Seoul. As VOA Seoul correspondent Kurt Achin reports, the idea of visiting the South Korean capital is enough to make North Korea's leader, and those who protect him, lose sleep.

After the first summit between North and South Korea in Pyongyang in 2000, then-President Kim Dae Jung said he had invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to visit Seoul. And Mr. Kim replied he would do so "at an appropriate time."

However, South Korean Chief of National Intelligence Kim Man-bok, who arranged this month's summit, says it will again be in Pyongyang. When asked why not Seoul, he gave a polite response.

North Koreans bow before the statue of the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung erected on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, North Korea, 05 Aug 2007

Kim says North Korean authorities proposed Pyongyang host the summit, because it was the "more elegant" venue, where President Roh could receive the "best possible treatment."

But many experts say it is more than elegance than motivated the decision - namely, fears of a security and public relations debacle.

The first summit featured hundreds of North Koreans in matching outfits, waving bouquets of flowers in unison. That display was made possible by North Korea's totalitarian system, in which thousands are mobilized for choreographed displays of reverence for the Kim family.

Here in South Korea, there is a tradition of boisterous - and occasionally violent - public protest. Political science professor Lee Ki-tak, at Seoul's Yonsei University, says coming to South would be a rude awakening for Kim Jong Il.

He says Kim Jong Il is used to being treated as a god in the North, and North Korean propaganda portrays many South Koreans as feeling the same way. Imagine the surprise, he says, when the "god" finds his motorcade pelted with stones on a visit to the South.

Even in North Korea, Kim Jong Il's movements are kept secret. Because virtually all state power is concentrated in his hands, experts say any danger to Kim Jong Il is a threat to the entire North Korean system.

Hong Jun-pyo, a South Korean presidential candidate, says North Korean authorities are aware of the risk.

He says no matter how much effort South Korea puts into guarding Kim Jong Il, it cannot provide a 100 percent guarantee of his safety.

Simply put, he says, the North Korean leader is afraid he could be assassinated.

There is no shortage of South Koreans unhappy with Mr. Kim. About 10,000 North Korean defectors live here, most of whom made a dangerous journey to escape starvation and repression.

In addition, about 500 South Korean prisoners of the 1950s Korean War are believed to be alive in the North, along with about 500 southerners the North abducted since the war. Relatives of those individuals are among the most vocal critics of South Korean engagement with the North.

Other South Koreans are angry over its test of a nuclear device and its record of human rights abuses.

Asia Stocks Fall on Fears of Liquidity Crunch

By Heda Bayron Hong Kong 10 August 2007

Download

Share prices across Asia fell sharply as the fallout from the U.S. sub-prime loan crisis widens. VOA's Heda Bayron reports from Hong Kong.

A Japanese businessman looks at a stock indicator in Tokyo, 10 Aug 2007

Stock analysts say fears that the global financial system would experience a credit crunch triggered a market sell off in Asia Friday.

Analysts say investors are worried that funds for businesses are drying up as a result of the U.S. sub-prime mortgage problem. That prompted investors to flee the stock markets in favor of less risky investments.

"This (liquidity concern) adds of course to the general risk aversion in the markets," said Jan Lambregts, a treasury strategist at Rabobank International in Hong Kong. "With many of the Asian equity markets, emerging markets being at obviously high risk, it runs that people in general turn away from risky assets and that would have impact on equity and some of the Asian currencies as well."

On Friday, the Bank of Japan injected a trillion yen or $8.4 billion, into the financial system, while Australia's Reserve Bank released more than $4 billion.

These follow similar actions by the European central bank and the U.S. Federal Reserve Thursday to calm the markets.

By putting more money into the financial system, the central banks hope to make sure there is plenty of cash available for businesses that need to borrow to fund operations.

Wall Street lost nearly 3 percent Thursday as investors sold on news that the French bank BNP Paribas Thursday froze three funds exposed to U.S. sub-prime loans.

The U.S. sub-prime loan sector lent money to those who otherwise would not qualify for mortgages because of poor credit records. As interest rates rose, many of those borrowers defaulted and some lenders have gone bankrupt, creating a wider credit crisis in the United States.

Lambregts says although Asian exposure to the U.S. sub-prime loan market appears to be limited, some Asian banks are still feeling the pinch.

"One of the main problem we are dealing with is that whereas some people have made guesstimates (estimates) of the extent of the damage, the losses that may come from sub prime segment, we are not sure about the distribution of those," he explained. "The sense is that Asian banks are not in the first line of the losses. However, as we can see and this is the nasty part of contagion is that even banks that are completely not exposed to sub-prime can be affected."

Japan's Nikkei 225 index closed 2.37 percent down at 16,764 - its lowest in about five months. South Korea's Kospi Index sank 4.2 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended 3 percent lower.

VOASE0809_Economics Report

09 August 2007

Will Credit Risk Weigh Down Debt Markets?
Concern over the quality of debt investments worries investors. Could liquidity in debt markets be drying up?

Download
Download

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Liquidity is the ease with which an investment can be sold and turned into money. For example, when a stock is traded easily, the market for it is said to be liquid.

Liquidity can also suggest the ease with which money can be raised in debt markets.

Subprime lender New Century Financial Corporation had to seek bankruptcy protection in April.

And this is where concerns are being raised. Offering credit always carries some risk that the loan will not be repaid. Now experts are saying that investors are as concerned about debt risk as they have been since two thousand one.

One way to measure investors' concern is by their willingness to buy new debt investments. Recently, banks, led by J. P. Morgan, postponed the sale of twelve billion dollars in bonds for the carmaker Chrysler.

The bond offering was part of a deal by private equity company Cerburus Capital Management to buy Chrysler from German carmaker Daimler. Reports say the deal is not in danger. But it could mean an increase in borrowing costs.

American markets are not the only ones in which banks are having trouble selling bonds. American private equity company Kohlberg Kravis Roberts hoped to raise over ten billion dollars in bonds. This was part of a deal to buy Alliance Boots, a European company that sells medicines. But a group of banks had to postpone the sale because of a lack of buyers.

Conditions for big deals by private equity companies appear to be cooling. Private equity companies depend on liquid debt markets to lend them money. And investors are less willing to put money into debt securities.

Part of this is the flight from risk involving investments based on subprime home loans. These loans carry lower than average credit quality but also pay higher interest rates. Credit rating agencies are now recognizing that investments based on subprime home loans are riskier than investors have thought.

Too many high-risk loans were blamed for the failure of the nation's second largest subprime lender. New Century sought bankruptcy protection from its creditors in April.

Investor flight from risk means that debt market liquidity could dry up as interest rates rise. But it is too early to tell.

The Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve did not change the federal funds rate when it met on Tuesday. The important interest rate remains at five and one fourth percent.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOASE0809_American Mosaic

09 August 2007

Barry Bonds Breaks Home Run Record Under a Cloud of Suspicion
Also: Music by Andrew Bird and a Day To Celebrate Left Handed People!

Download
Download

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

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

We listen to music from singer Andrew Bird…

Answer a question about International Left-Handers' Day…

And in sports, a home run record for Barry Bonds.

Barry Bonds Home Run Record

HOST:

Major League Baseball has a new king of home runs. This week Barry Bonds of the

Barry Bonds hits his 756th career home run in San Francisco on August 7, 2007.

San Francisco Giants broke the record set by Hank Aaron. Faith Lapidus has our story.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

First of all, here is a simple description, for anyone not sure how the game of baseball is played.

A pitcher throws a ball toward a catcher. In front of the catcher is a batter. The batter tries to hit the small, speeding ball with a narrow bat and then run to first base. If the batter hits the ball, and a player from the opposing team catches it or throws it to first base before the batter gets there, the batter is out.

Sometimes the ball flies high over the walls of the field then no one can catch it…except maybe a lucky fan in the crowd. Now the batter can safely get to first base, and second, and third and back to home plate. The batter has scored a run, but not just a run, a home run -- one of the most thrilling plays in the game.

This helps explain all the attention over Barry Bonds breaking the career record set by Hank Aaron.

In nineteen seventy-four, Hank Aaron hit his seven hundred fifteenth home run to break the record held for many years by Babe Ruth. Hank Aaron went on to hit seven hundred fifty-five home runs before he retired in nineteen seventy-six.

Now Barry Bonds has done better than that. Some baseball fans are excited for him. But others have been yelling "cheater" or "steroids" when he goes to bat.

Many people suspect him of taking drugs to improve his performance. They think he lied four years ago during a federal investigation into illegal steroid sales by a San Francisco laboratory.

News reports said he told a grand jury that he did take a substance to improve his health but thought it was flaxseed oil. Barry Bonds denies ever having knowingly used steroids.

His former personal trainer is in prison for refusing to answer questions about the case. The investigation continues. And, so does the suspicion.

Major League Baseball banned steroids in two thousand two. The question now is what would happen to Barry Bonds' record if he is ever proven to have taken steroids? Pete Rose was banned from baseball in nineteen eighty-nine for gambling on games. But his record as all-time hits leader still stands

Left-Handers' Day

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week is from Iran. Mohammed Sadegh Poladtan asks about an international holiday called Left-Handers Day.

International Left-Handers Day is Monday, August thirteenth. The International Left-Handers Day Web site says the Left-Handers Club started the holiday in nineteen ninety-two. It wanted left-handers around the world to celebrate. And it wanted to bring attention to the everyday problems of people who use their left hands.

One of these problems is difficulty using equipment and tools, like scissors. In general, most tools and equipment are made for people who are right-handed. The Left-Handers Club tries to educate designers and manufacturers to consider the safety of left-handed people when producing their products.

Another problem is that many societies have considered it bad to be left-handed. Some teachers and parents have tried to force children who used their left hand to use their right one instead.

Scientists do not really know why some people are left-handed. They have believed the reason is genetic. Researchers in Britain recently identified a gene that helps confirm this. Scientists at the University of Oxford reported their discovery in the publication Molecular Psychiatry.

They say the gene increases the chance of being left- handed. It appears to play an important part in deciding which part of the brain controls different activities. In right-handed people, the left side of the brain usually controls speech and language. The right side controls feelings. However, the opposite is often true in left-handed people. Scientists believe the gene is responsible for this. The gene showed a link with left-handedness in nine to twelve percent of the population. About ten percent of people around the world are left-handed.

Here is an interesting fact from the Left-Handers Club Web site: five out of the last six American presidents have been left-handed. They are Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

The Left-Handers Club wants everyone to know that left-handed people may be a little different from those who use their right hand. But they want left-handers to celebrate these differences on International Left-Handers Day August thirteenth.

Andrew Bird

HOST:

Andrew Bird is a skillful singer and songwriter who also plays the guitar, violin and glockenspiel instruments. This singer from the state of Illinois is even known for his extraordinary whistling abilities. He has explored just about every kind of musical tradition with his nine albums. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:

The music of Andrew Bird is hard to define. He combines many kinds of musical styles

Andrew Bird

into richly poetic songs. Bird started studying classical music as a small child. He also studied violin performance in college. His first records were heavily influenced by early jazz and swing music. Here is the song “Simple X” from his latest album “Armchair Apocrypha.”

(MUSIC)

Andrew Bird gives an excellent live performance. The sounds are so rich, it is hard to believe there are not several musicians on stage. To do this, Bird records himself playing musical instruments one at a time. He plays these recordings over and over and layers them together to make a complex arrangement. Every performance is a little bit different with this method. Here is the energetic song “Darkmatter.” Listen for Andrew Bird’s expert whistling noises.

(MUSIC)

We leave you with the song “Scythian Empires.” Andrew Bird says he was influenced by maps of the ancient world showing how people and civilizations change and move. The song tells about the beginnings and endings of ruling groups throughout history.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

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

It was written by Dana Demange, and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver was our producer.

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