VOASE1111_This Is America

11 November 2007

Alaska's Call of the Wild Leads Visitors to the Last Frontier
Today, it may seem hard to imagine that the decision to buy the territory from Russia for $7 million was unpopular.

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember. Among the fifty states, California is the largest in population. But which state is the largest in area? Texas? No, another state is even bigger than Texas: Alaska.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Alaska is a state of wild beauty. It calls itself the Last Frontier. Alaska is on the border with northwestern Canada -- so far north, part of it is within the Arctic Circle.

It has a million and a half square kilometers of territory. It has forests to hike, mountains to climb and waters to sail or fish. Alaska is known for its salmon, crab and other seafood.

The travel season in Alaska is between May and September. Some areas, especially in the interior, get surprisingly warm in the summer.

The Alaska Climate Research Center says one rule has been found to work for most travelers in Alaska. Always be prepared for one season colder than the time you are traveling. This is true especially if you visit Alaska early or late in the travel season.

VOICE TWO:

Much of Alaskan life is shaped by ice and snow, especially in the Arctic north. Not surprisingly, then, climate change is an important issue for the state.

September marked the end of what scientists call the melt season for Arctic sea ice. The National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado says the sea ice fell this year to the lowest levels since satellite measurements began. That was in nineteen seventy-nine. If earlier ship and aircraft records are included, Arctic sea ice may have fallen by as much as half from levels in the nineteen fifties.

VOICE ONE:

In September, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin signed an order establishing an advisory group within her cabinet. The Climate Change Sub-Cabinet will prepare a plan for dealing with the expected effects of global warming.

In a statement, the governor said many scientists note that Alaska’s climate is changing. She said Alaskans are already seeing effects like coastal erosion, melting ice and record forest fires.

The cabinet group will also look at ways to develop and expand programs for renewable energy from wind and other sources. In addition, the governor is seeking a natural gas pipeline that she says would help the nation by providing clean energy.

(MUSIC)

Saint Michael's Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox church in the town of Sitka

VOICE TWO:

Native groups have lived for thousands of years in Alaska. In the seventeen hundreds, Russia took control of the territory. Alaska is just across the Bering Strait from Siberia. The Russians traded with the local people and brought animal furs back home to Russia to sell.

Later, the Russians decided to sell the territory itself. The United States bought it in eighteen sixty-seven for seven million dollars. Alaska became a territory of the United States. The name came from Alyeska, an Aleut native word for "great land."

Many Americans did not think Alaska was such a great land. They did not think it had valuable resources. In fact, it was one of the best deals the United States ever made.

VOICE ONE:

Today, Alaska's biggest industries are oil production, tourism and fishing. The state also has gold and copper mines and other mineral resources.

Around nineteen hundred, gold was found in the Yukon area. Many people went to Alaska hoping to get rich in the Yukon gold rush. Most of them did not succeed.

Finally, in nineteen fifty-nine, Alaska entered the Union as the forty-ninth state -- the forty-ninth star on the American flag. Later that same year Hawaii became the fiftieth. Alaska and Hawaii are the only states that are not physically connected to the others.

VOICE TWO:

Alaska has fewer people per square kilometer than any other state. But the population has been growing. The most recent estimate from the Census Bureau shows there were six hundred seventy thousand people last year.

Most Alaskans live in central and southern Alaska. The climate is more moderate compared to the north and there is more daylight during winter.

Alaska’s largest city is Anchorage, with about two hundred eighty thousand people. Fairbanks and Juneau, the capital, have about thirty thousand each.

The Alaska Native Heritage Center says Alaska Natives represent about sixteen percent of the state population. The Heritage Center says eleven native Alaskan cultures and twenty languages survive today.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Sled dogs are an important part of the history of Alaska. For many, many winters, sleds pulled by dogs provided the only transportation across the frozen territory.

Dog sled drivers are called mushers. The early ones in some cases even used wolves to pull their sleds.

Mushers and their dogs carried mail, food and other supplies to miners after the rivers were frozen and boat travel was blocked. Sometimes the sleds carried the miners’ gold on the return trip.

In nineteen twenty-five, heavy snows blocked all the roads into the city of Nome. A serious disease, diphtheria, was spreading among children there. The nearest medicine was in Anchorage. Twenty dog sled teams took part in getting the medicine from Anchorage to Nome. They got it there in five and a half days.

Even as airplanes and snowmobiles came to replace dog sleds, that event has never been forgotten.

VOICE TWO:

A musher and his dog team in the 2005 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race

In March of each year, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is held in Alaska. Organizers wanted to create an event that would preserve the memory of dog sleds. They chose a race over what had been the Iditarod Trail, one of the paths traveled by dog sleds.

The race from Anchorage to Nome, on the Bering Sea coast, is more than one thousand eight hundred fifty kilometers long. The first one took place in nineteen seventy-three.

The mushers travel from one rest area to another, much the same way mushers did many years ago as they took supplies to the miners. But the modern sleds travel much faster.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Alaska is a popular vacation place. One reason is its eight national parks. The best known is Denali National Park. Denali is home to North America’s highest mountain. Mount McKinley is over six thousand meters high.

Denali National Park also has rivers and large glaciers. Wildlife in the park includes wolves, moose and grizzly bears.

Cruises ship coming into port in Juneau, Alaska

There are hotels in the park, but some visitors like to set up tents and sleep outdoors. Most visitors come in the summer months. During winter, the road into the park is closed except for visitors using skis, snowshoes or dog sleds.

Tourists in Alaska do not have to go camping to see glaciers. Many people go on cruise ships that sail past these slow-moving mountains of ice. Another way to experience Alaska is by train. There are railroad tours that are several days long.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen seventy-three the United States was facing a Middle East oil crisis. Congress passed legislation that President Richard Nixon signed into law to permit the building of an oil pipeline across Alaska. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline is almost one thousand three hundred kilometers long. It extends from the oil fields of Alaska’s North Slope to the port of Valdez.

Oil brings money for Alaska, but also risks. Almost twenty years ago, Alaska experienced an environmental disaster that killed fish, birds, seals and other animals.

In nineteen eighty-nine, the tanker ship Exxon Valdez tore open on underwater rocks and created a huge oil spill along the coast. The clean-up took a long time and led Congress to pass legislation to try to reduce the danger of oil pollution.

Today environmental groups are fighting calls to open protected areas of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling. Drilling supporters say the oil is needed to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. Opponents say it would defeat the purpose of a wildlife refuge.

VOICE ONE:

One thing cannot be disputed. Alaska's biggest industries -- oil, tourism and fishing -- all depend on its natural resources. That includes the wild and wide-open beauty that every year brings more than one million visitors to the Last Frontier.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Our program was produced by Caty Weaver. I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Barbara Klein. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE1111_Development Report

11 November 2007

Shining a Light on Water to Prevent Infections
Some water purifiers use ultraviolet light to destroy harmful organisms.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Viruses, bacteria and other organisms in dirty water sicken hundreds of millions of people every year. Yet there are many different water-treatment technologies available.

Some systems use ultraviolet light to destroy harmful organisms. One product that disinfects water with UV light is called AquaStar, made by Meridian Design.

The American company says most UV water-purification systems put into homes have one or more filters. These use carbon or mesh to catch impurities. The filters are added to improve the taste and smell of water.

But the company says a complex system like this is often not needed in situations where the aim is just to make water safe to drink.

The AquaStar device is a one-liter bottle with an ultraviolet lamp inside. The user pushes a button and the light goes on for about a minute and a half. The lamp is powered by two small batteries.

Two electrical engineers, Dan Matthews and Kurt Kuhlmann, designed the system. They brought it to market in January of two thousand five. Since then, they say, Meridian Design has sold about two thousand devices a year, at a price of eighty-nine dollars.

Meridian's newest water treatment device is called the mUV ("move"). This micro-UV device floats and is small enough to use in a glass. It works like the AquaStar purifier but has a rechargeable battery. Dan Matthews says it can be connected to almost any battery for enough of a charge to clean twelve liters of water.

He tells us that Meridian Design is currently supporting a project by the Mexican nonprofit organization Niparajá. The group is producing containers that disinfect water with UV lights powered by the sun. The containers hold fifteen liters.

The device is called the UV Bucket, and it won an award last year from the World Bank. Families in parts of Baja California Sur, Mexico, and in Guatemala are using it.

Meridian Design is also working with several partners on a solar-powered version of its AquaStar purifier. This has already been developed and is now being tested. Dan Matthews says the goal is to be able to sell it at a low price.

Meridian Design is also working with a partner to develop a different kind of solar-powered purification system. This one would make a chlorine-based disinfectant out of salt added to water. The goal there is to be able to store large amounts of water and keep it disinfected.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. To learn more about water treatment, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.

VOASE1110_People In America

10 November 2007

James Stewart, 1908-1997: He Starred in Some of the Best-loved American Movies
The actor was also a war hero and writer of poetry.

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Rich Kleinfeldt with the VOA Special English program, People in America. Today, we tell the story of actor James Stewart. His movies were loved by people around the world.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

James Maitland Stewart was born in the small eastern town of Indiana, Pennsylvania

Jimmy Stewart

in nineteen-oh-eight. His father had a hardware store that had been owned by the Stewart family since the eighteen fifties.

During high school, Jimmy played football, and acted in plays. He also learned to play the accordion. He took the accordion with him to college at Princeton University, where he joined a musical group called the Triangle Club. Through the club, he met students interested in performing.

Jimmy studied architecture at Princeton. He graduated in nineteen thirty-two. Just before graduation, a friend asked him to join an acting group for the summer. Jimmy agreed because he thought it would be a good way to meet girls.

VOICE TWO:

Jimmy Stewart said later that if his friend had not asked him to join the summer theater group, he would never have been an actor. He would have returned home to help his father in the store. Instead, he met a number of good young actors while performing that summer in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. One was Henry Fonda, who would be a friend throughout his life.

VOICE ONE:

Jimmy Stewart performed in Broadway plays in New York City until the Metro Goldwyn Mayer movie company gave him an acting job. He moved to California in nineteen thirty-five. He acted in more than twenty-four movies over the next six years. He appeared in all kinds of movies: funny ones, sad ones and musical ones. He even sang a song in the movie "Born to Dance. " It is called "Easy to Love":

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The movie that made Jimmy Stewart a real Hollywood star was "Mister Smith Goes to Washington. " It was released in nineteen thirty-nine.

JIMMY STEWART:

''Mister Smith Goes to Washington''

“It's a funny thing about men, you know. They all start life being boys. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if some of these Senators were boys once. And that's why it seemed like a pretty good idea to me to get boys out of crowded cities and stuffy basements for a couple of months out of the year and build their bodies and minds for a man-sized job, because those boys are gonna be behind these desks some of these days.”

VOICE TWO:

The next year, he won an Academy Award for best actor in "The Philadelphia Story. "

The night he won the Academy Award, his father called him on the telephone from Pennsylvania. "I hear you won some kind of an award," Alex Stewart said. "You had better bring it back here and we'll put it in the window of the store. " Jimmy Stewart's Oscar statue stayed in the window of Stewart's hardware store in Indiana, Pennsylvania for twenty-five years.

VOICE ONE:

Jimmy Stewart was already an established and successful actor when World War Two started in Europe. Early in nineteen forty-one, he tried to join the Army. But he was rejected because he did not weigh enough. So he started eating high fat foods and tried again. This time, he was accepted for military service.

The Army put him in the Air Corps because he already knew how to pilot a plane. In nineteen forty-three, he went to Europe as commander of an Air Force bomber group. He flew more than twenty combat missions, leading as many as one thousand planes at a time over Germany. He returned to the United States in nineteen forty-five as a colonel.

VOICE TWO:

Jimmy Stewart won several military awards for excellent performance under very dangerous conditions. He remained in the Air Force Reserve after the war. In nineteen fifty-nine he was made a general. Each year, he took part in two weeks of active military duty. In nineteen sixty-six, he requested combat duty and took part in a bombing strike over Vietnam.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

After World War Two, Jimmy Stewart returned to Hollywood. He found that his new movies were not as popular as his earlier ones had been. One example was "It's a Wonderful Life." It was released in nineteen forty-six. The movie was not a success at first. But over time it has become one of the best loved American movies.

JIMMY STEWART:

''It's a Wonderful Life''

“Can't you understand what's happening here? Don't you see what's happening? Potter isn't selling. Potter's buying! And why? Because we're panicky and he's not. That's why. He's pickin' up some bargain. Now, we can get through this thing all right. We've, we've got to stick together, though. We've got to have faith in each other.”

VOICE ONE:

Jimmy Stewart said in later years that "It's a Wonderful Life" was the movie he liked best. It tells the story of a small town man who feels the world would have been better if he had never lived. An angel comes to him and shows him that this is not true. The movie celebrated values like loyalty and love of family.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Jimmy Stewart decided to play other kinds of parts after what seemed to be the failure of "It's a Wonderful Life. " He was a reporter in "Call Northside Seven Seven Seven" the next year. He was a suspicious head of a school in the murder movie "Rope" in nineteen forty-eight. In the nineteen fifties, he appeared in many western movies such as "Winchester Seventy-Three" and "Broken Arrow. "

VOICE ONE:

Jimmy Stewart enjoyed his greatest popularity in the nineteen fifties. In nineteen fifty-nine, he won awards from the Venice Film Festival, the New York film critics and the Film Daily writers. The awards honored him for his performance in the movie "Anatomy of a Murder. " He was the defense attorney for an army officer accused of murder. He was nominated for an Academy Award for that movie. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for playing a man who has an imaginary rabbit friend, in the movie "Harvey. "

Jimmy Stewart is well known for his work with the famous director of mystery movies, Alfred Hitchcock. These movies included "The Man Who Knew Too Much," "Rear Window" and "Vertigo. " Mister Stewart also played real heroes in several movies. He was band leader Glenn Miller in "The Glenn Miller Story. " And he was pilot Charles Lindbergh in "The Spirit of Saint Louis. "

VOICE TWO:

Jimmy Stewart appeared in fewer films in the nineteen sixties. He was a senator in the Old West in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.” In "The Shootist" he was a doctor in a small town. He also appeared on television. But his two television shows were not successful.

Mister Stewart began experiencing health problems as he aged. He had heart disease, skin cancer and hearing loss. But he found time to travel. And he published a book of poetry in nineteen eighty-nine. It sold more than three hundred thousand copies.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen eighty, Jimmy Stewart was honored by the American Film Institute with an award for his lifetime work. Three years later, he received a Kennedy Center Honor for his work. And in nineteen eighty-five, President Ronald Reagan gave him the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

People who knew Jimmy Stewart did not praise him just because he was a good actor and a war hero. They said Jimmy Stewart was one of the nicest people they had ever met. He was a man who lived by the values he was taught as a child in that small town in Pennsylvania.

He went back to Indiana, Pennsylvania, in nineteen eighty-three, for his seventieth birthday. The town held a huge celebration in his honor. President Reagan sent planes to fly over the court house. Parades were held. And a statue of him was placed in the town center.

VOICE TWO:

Jimmy Stewart married Gloria Hatrick McLean in nineteen forty-nine. She had two sons from an earlier marriage. Jimmy raised them as his own. One of the boys was killed during the Vietnam War while serving in the Marine Corps. Jimmy and Gloria also had twin daughters.

Gloria Stewart died in nineteen ninety-four. Friends said Jimmy Stewart was never the same after that. They said he withdrew into his house because he did not know what to do without her. His health got worse. He died on July the second, nineteen ninety-seven.

VOICE ONE:

Jimmy Stewart's daughter Kelly Harcourt spoke at his funeral in Beverly Hills. She reminded mourners of the message of her father's favorite movie, "It's a Wonderful Life:" No man is poor who has friends.

"Here's to our father," she said, "the richest man in town."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Lawan Davis. I'm Rich Kleinfeldt.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week at this time for another People in America program on VOA.

VOASE1108_American Mosaic

08 November 2007

Names Are Read to Mark 25th Anniversary of Vietnam Veterans Wall

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

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

We listen to some music from the movie "Into the Wild"…

Answer a question about a famous American landmark…

And report about a special anniversary for Veterans' Day.

Anniversary of the Wall

HOST:

November eleventh is Veterans Day in the United States. It is the day Americans remember those who have fought in the nation's wars. This year is a special one at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. That memorial honors American men and women who served in the Vietnam War. Faith Lapidus has more.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

A Vietnam veteran holds a rose to a name on the memorial

This year is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial known as the Wall. The Wall is two large,shiny, black stones built into the ground, forming the letter V. The names of more than fifty-eight thousand Americans are cut into the stone.

These are the names of those who died or who are missing as a result of their service in Vietnam. As part of the anniversary observance, the names of all those listed on the Wall are being read aloud this week.

(SOUND)

The Wall has the power to create strong feelings. The shiny black stone acts like a mirror. It seems to draw in visitors so that they too are part of the Wall. This is especially emotional for those visitors who served in Vietnam and for the family members of those killed there.

Vietnam Veteran Jan Scruggs thought of the idea for the memorial as a way to honor those killed in one of America's most divisive wars. He formed an organization to build the memorial. In nineteen eighty, a competition was held to choose the design. Judges considered more than one thousand designs. They chose the design of a twenty-one-year-old Yale University student, Maya Lin.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was officially opened on November thirteenth, nineteen eighty-two. The design of the memorial caused great debate. Supporters thought it was simple and powerful. But some people said it was not personal enough and did not show the heroic efforts of those who fought in the war.

As a result, other structures were added to the memorial. They are the Three Servicemen Statue and the Vietnam Women's Memorial statue. A special plaque honors those who died later as a result of injuries from the war.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is the most visited memorial in the nation's capital. More than four million people visit each year. Some visitors make a copy of one of the names on the Wall. Others leave a special object of love and remembrance. Visitors have left tens of thousands of such objects at the Wall. These include flowers, letters, poems, toys, photographs, baseballs and military medals. These objects are links between those who were killed and those who will always remember them.

The Gateway Arch

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes from Russia. Andrey Lopatin wants to know

The Gateway Arch

about the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis, Missouri. This famous curved steel structure next to the Mississippi River rises one hundred ninety-two meters in the air. This is the same distance between the arch’s two legs. The Gateway Arch is the tallest freestanding federal monument in the United States.

Plans for the arch developed in the nineteen thirties. During this time, the city of Saint Louis decided to build a federal monument to honor the westward expansion of the United States during the nineteenth century. In eighteen oh three, President Thomas Jefferson had bought more than two million square kilometers of land from France, including what would become the state of Missouri.

The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States at the time. This famous land deal made it possible for the young American nation to expand and grow. The next year, President Jefferson hired Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore this large new area of land. The Lewis and Clark Expedition started just west of Saint Louis. So Saint Louis became known as the Gateway to the West.

The Jefferson National Expansion Park was established in nineteen thirty-five. The federal government and city of Saint Louis agreed to share the building costs. During the nineteen forties, city officials created a national competition among building designers to decide what form the new monument would take.

The Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen won the competition in nineteen forty-eight. Building the arch finally began in nineteen sixty-three was completed two years later. The arch is an example of excellent structural engineering. The shape of the structure is called an inverted catenary curve. This is the form a free-hanging heavy rope or metal chain takes when it is hung between two supports.

Each year, about one million visitors ride special vehicles to the top of the Gateway Arch to enjoy its history and expansive views of Saint Louis.

"Into The Wild"

HOST:

Emile Hirsch plays Christopher McCandless in 'Into the Wild'

“Into the Wild” is a new movie that tells the true story of a young man named Christopher McCandless. In the nineteen nineties, he dropped out of society after college to test himself in the American wilderness. Actor Sean Penn wrote and directed the movie, which is based on a book by Jon Krakauer.

Penn asked his friend, the singer Eddie Vedder, to write the music for this powerful film. The songs help express the inner voice and personal discovery of this brave young man. Barbara Klein has more.

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN:

That was Eddie Vedder singing “No Ceiling.” You might recognize his voice. Vedder is the lead singer for the rock band Pearl Jam. This is the first album in which he performs on his own. Vedder says that when he read the book “Into the Wild” and started to write songs for the movie, the story of Christopher McCandless took control of him.

For two years, this young man traveled through deserts, down rivers, and up mountains in the western United States. He traveled all the way to the northern state of Alaska. On the road, he met many people and influenced them with his intense and intelligent personality. Here is the song “Hard Sun.”

(MUSIC)

Christopher McCandless did not survive his adventure. Some people have noted that he really was not prepared to survive in the wild. He died of starvation at the age of twenty-four, all alone in the Alaskan wilderness. But the story of his independence and desire to live in the simple beauty of nature lives on.

We leave you with the song “Society.” In it, Eddie Vedder imagines the thoughts of Chris McCandless as he says goodbye to the rules and demands of society in order to lively freely on his own.

(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. 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.

VOASE1109_In the News

09 November 2007

Pakistani Police Keep Bhutto From Leading Protest Near Capital
Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was freed late Friday after a day of house arrest that prevented her from attending a demonstration in Rawalpindi.

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

The political crisis in Pakistan deepened Friday. Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto tried to lead a big protest against emergency rule declared last Saturday by President Pervez Musharraf. Instead, the former prime minister spent the day under house arrest.

Benazir Bhutto, top center, and her supporters try to push through a police barrier

She tried to leave her home in Islamabad to attend the demonstration that she organized in nearby Rawalpindi. But she could not get past barriers and hundreds of police around her home.

Late in the day, however, Benazir Bhutto was freed. The government said the detention order had been withdrawn. In Rawalpindi, police clashed with several hundred protesters who violated a ban on demonstrations.

Benazir Bhutto says she still plans to lead a protest march early next week from Lahore to Islamabad. She returned to Pakistan last month after eight years of exile to avoid corruption charges. Before she returned, she had been negotiating with President Musharraf on a possible political alliance.

Last weekend, the president dismissed the Supreme Court. He has placed the chief justice and other judges under house arrest. He also suspended the constitution and shut down privately owned television news stations. And he gave wide powers to officials to crush dissent.

Protests have been suppressed, sometimes violently, by police in recent days. How many people have been detained is unclear. The number is in the thousands, including opposition members, human rights activists and lawyers.

Pervez Musharraf

The opposition is demanding that President Musharraf end emergency rule, retire as army chief and hold elections in January. World leaders, including President Bush, have also called on him to do these things.

President Bush considers the leader of the nuclear-armed nation an important ally against terrorism. Since two thousand one the United States has given Pakistan almost ten billion dollars in aid, mostly for its military.

National elections were planned for early January. This week, General Musharraf said elections would now be held by February fifteenth. He also said he will resign as army chief before he is sworn in again as president. He said he will keep that promise once the new Supreme Court confirms his re-election.

Benazir Bhutto said the election announcement was simply an attempt to quiet growing dissent.

General Musharraf seized power in nineteen ninety-nine. Later he was elected to a five-year term. And, last month, lawmakers elected him to another term. Many political observers say he declared emergency rule because he feared that the Supreme Court would cancel his re-election.

The court had been considering whether he was permitted by law to run for president while serving as army chief. General Musharraf says he declared emergency rule because of a growing threat from Islamic militants and activist judges.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. For more news about Pakistan, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.

VOASE1108_Economics Report

08 November 2007

Citigroup's Prince Resigns as CEO
Biggest U.S. bank estimates write-downs of up to $11 billion in the current quarter on mortgage-related investments.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Last week, we told you about big losses at the investment bank Merrill Lynch. But the losses may be even bigger at the nation's biggest bank, Citigroup.

Citigroup estimated this week that it would take losses of eight billion to eleven billion dollars on investments in risky housing loans. Many people who bought houses with subprime mortgages are now unable to pay them back.

The estimated write-downs are for the bank's current period, October through December. Citigroup says they represent five to seven billion dollars after taxes. The bank reported six and a half billion dollars in credit-related losses for the third quarter of the year.

Charles Prince

Charles Prince, Citigroup's chief executive officer, resigned under pressure on Sunday. He led the New York-based bank since two thousand three. He took over for Sanford Weill who built Citi into one of the world's largest financial groups.

Win Bischoff, chairman of Citi Europe and a British and German citizen, will serve as chief executive for now. Former United States treasury secretary Robert Rubin was named chairman of the board. He will help lead the search for a permanent replacement for the C.E.O.

Charles Prince was the second head of a major bank to be forced out in recent days. Last week, Stan O'Neal resigned at Merrill Lynch after his company reported a loss for the third quarter of over two billion dollars. Merrill Lynch had to write-down eight billion dollars in mortgage-related losses.

Citigroup announced that it has fifty-five billion dollars worth of investments directly related to subprime mortgages. Forty-three billion dollars of that is in complex investments called collateralized debt obligations.

A big problem for banks is putting a value on the mortgage-related securities that they hold. Investors are no longer interested in trading these securities. This has frozen the market for them. So banks like Citigroup depend on mathematical models to place a value on these complex investments.

Credit rating agencies reacted to this week's bad news. Moody's Investors Service lowered Citigroup's credit rating one level to its third highest rating. Moody's said the expected write-downs would result in a sizeable quarterly loss for Citigroup.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. To learn more about the problems with subprime mortgages, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.