New Mogadishu Mayor Tells VOA His Priority is Making the Capital Safe

By Alisha Ryu Mogadishu 05 May 2007

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The new mayor of Somalia's troubled capital says he has implemented tough measures to help secure Mogadishu and is appealing for international help to restore badly-needed services. Mohamed Dheere spoke to VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu in Mogadishu. It was Dheere's first interview with a western journalist since the former factional leader was named to the post four days ago.

Mohamed Dheere leaves the Mogadishu Municipality Centre after his inauguration, 04 May 2007

Mohamed Omar Habeb, better known as Mohamed Dheere, says his first priority as mayor is making Mogadishu a safer place for residents. He says every effort is being made to crack down on what he calls terrorism and banditry in the capital.

Dheere says as part of tightened security, unregistered weapons are now strictly prohibited in the city and vehicles with tinted windows will be barred from the streets. He says 500 policemen are patrolling on foot and in vehicles throughout Mogadishu, enforcing the law.

The new mayor says he is also working with private businessmen to restore electricity and water service as quickly as possible.

Without a functioning government to provide basic services, much of Somalia has relied on private businesses for the past 16 years to keep the electricity on and water flowing in the capital.

Smoke hovers above the outskirts of Mogadishu, after heavy fighting, 21 Apr 2007

When fierce fighting earlier this year between Ethiopian troops and anti-government, anti-Ethiopian insurgents dragged on for months, many businessmen shut their grids and pumps and fled.

Mohamed Dheere says he is trying to encourage businessmen to return and form a cooperative to provide electricity and water to everyone in Mogadishu, not just to certain paying neighborhoods.

There are other serious issues needing immediate attention, such as the city's enormous sanitation problem. But the mayor says Somalia's interim government cannot address them properly without financial help from the international community.

"We need the international community to help us rebuild our country," Dheere says. But he acknowledges that he first needs to convince international aid agencies that Mogadishu is a safe place to work.

As the ruler of Jowhar, the provincial capital of the middle Shabelle region in south-central Somalia during the first half of this decade, Mohamed Dheere has experience in running a major town. People in Jowhar credit Dheere with maintaining stability and peace during his tenure there as governor.

But others in Mogadishu are skeptical of Dheere's pledge to bring order. Critics of the security crackdown say arrests are likely to be arbitrary, and the accused may have little or no access to lawyers. Also, they say there are no functioning courts in Mogadishu to hold hearings and trials.

Dheere's appointment is seen as a dramatic turnaround for a man who is best known as a factional leader whose militia participated in the destruction of the city during 16 years of fighting between rival sub-clans.

Last year, he was one of several faction leaders, including Somalia's new police commissioner Abdi Qeybdid, who fought against Islamist forces as part of a U.S.-backed anti-terror alliance group.

Some residents accuse the interim government and its security forces of using the threat of terrorism as an excuse to silence critics and to confiscate private properties.

Mohamed Dheere says he has heard about the allegations and is looking into them.

Hamas Rejects American Proposal for Easing Israeli-Palestinian Tensions

By Robert Berger Jerusalem 05 May 2007

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Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal blasted a U.S. proposal calling on Israel and the Palestinians to take concrete steps toward easing tension and building confidence. Under a four-month timetable, Israel would ease roadblocks and travel restrictions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Palestinians would halt rocket attacks on Israel and curb weapons smuggling from Egypt into Gaza.

Khaled Mashaal (file photo)

Speaking at a rally in Damascus, Meshaal called the American plan a farce.

He called on all Palestinians groups to prepare for battle against Israel, saying Hamas would never give up armed resistance in exchange for Israel easing roadblocks.

Hamas is the senior partner in a Palestinian unity government with the more moderate Fatah party, which has expressed support for the American plan. But Hamas has refused to recognize Israel or renounce violence, and Israeli spokesman Mark Regev says Meshaal's comments are therefore no surprise.

"Unfortunately, Hamas with its extremist, hateful positions, with its Jihadist, radical theology is just not ready for peace," he said.

Israel plans to discuss the U.S. proposal at its weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday. Israeli officials say the plan is problematic, because easing travel restrictions could enable Palestinian suicide bombers to enter the country.

Underscoring the difficulties, Palestinian militants fired several rockets at Israel after Israeli undercover troops killed three Islamic Jihad gunmen in a West Bank raid.

Tens of Thousands of Turks Demonstrate for Secular Government

By Amberin Zaman Istanbul 05 May 2007

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Thousands of Turks held anti-government demonstrations Saturday. The rallies in defense of Turkey's secular system come ahead of a key vote in the Turkish parliament to elect a new president. As Amberin Zaman reports from Istanbul, the presidential election has evolved into a showdown between Turkey's pro-Islamic government and pro-secular forces in the opposition and in the military.

Demonstrators march during a pro-secular rally in Manisa, western Turkey, 05 May 2007

Waving Turkey's crimson national flag and chanting anti-government slogans, more than ten thousand demonstrators marched through the western city of Manisa on Saturday. Their message was the same as in a mass rally held last week in Istanbul: "Turkey is secular and must remain so." Further west in the city of Canakkale thousands more staged a similar protest.

Meryem Tuna is a middle-class homemaker from Istanbul who has taken part in anti-government demonstrations. Like others opposed to the government, she is worried that Turkey's pro-Islamic prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has nominated his foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, to replace the incumbent Ahmet Necdet Sezer as president when he steps down on May 16.

Tuna says the main problem with Gul is that his wife wears an Islamic style headscarf and will therefore project a backward image of Turkey, one that directly contradicts the kind of Turkey Ataturk envisioned when he encouraged Turkish women to abandon their veils and gave them the right to vote even before their peers in France and Switzerland.

For Turkey's main opposition parties, it is about more than just Turkey's image. They say if both the government and the presidency are controlled by Islamists, Turkey's secular system will be overturned. At the end of April, they boycotted a first round of voting in the parliament to elect a new president.

Gul, who is running unchallenged for president, suffered a further setback when the constitutional court upheld the opposition's claims that there were not enough deputies present at the session and it was therefore invalid.

The court delivered its verdict only days after the military issued a statement on its Web site listing the risks posed by Islamic fundamentalism and threatened to intervene if need be. The move was sharply criticized by the European Union.

The E.U. is demanding that the military's powers be trimmed before Turkey is admitted as a full member of the 27 member bloc.

Onur Oymen is deputy chairman of the staunchly pro-secular main opposition Republican People's Party, which was founded by Ataturk. He disagrees that the military was in breach of democratic principles when it delivered its ultimatum last week. "They expressed in a strong way maybe their opinions but they stated in their statement that everybody needs to observe the rules of the constitution - that was their message. The constitution and the basic principles of the constitution starting with secularism," he sad.

Oymen adds that he does not believe that the Turkish army, which has overthrown four governments since 1960, will seize power ever again.

The government will attempt for a second time on Sunday to elect Gul. Should it fail to do so, Erdogan has said he will hold nationwide general elections on July 22, well ahead of the originally scheduled date, November 4. He is also pushing for constitutional changes that would allow the Turkish people to elect a president themselves

Two center-right opposition parties - the True Path and Motherland - announced Saturday they are uniting as the Democrat Party in order to challenge the ruling party in July 22 elections.

Kenya Airways Jet Crashes in Cameroon

By Katy Migiro Nairobi 05 May 2007

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Authorities in Cameroon have begun a search for a Kenya Airways jetliner that crashed with 114 people aboard in the southern part of the country. The plane took off from Cameroon's commercial center of Douala early Saturday and was bound for the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. There is no word yet on casualties. Katy Migiro has more for VOA from Nairobi, where Kenya Airways has set up a crisis center.

Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni gives a press conference in Nairobi, 05 May 2007

Kenya Airways chief executive Titus Naikuni says the aircraft lost touch with the control tower in Doula immediately after take off.

Naikuni says Cameroonian authorities picked up an automatic distress signal from the plane and they have sent helicopters to the area the signal came from.

"The latest information that we have is that a distress signal was picked up on the west coast of Africa and a search and rescue mission, initiated by the Cameroonian authorities, was initiated at 1105 this morning, that is Nairobi time," he said. "So far no report has yet been received from this mission."

The distress signal came from an area about 35 nautical miles south west of Doula.

Relatives wait after hearing news of missing Kenya Airways plane at Jomo Kenyatta airport in Nairobi, Kenya, 05 May 2007

Naikuni says there were 105 passengers and nine crew members on board the plane. He says most of the passengers were African, but there were also Europeans, Asians and one American on the flight.

Government spokesperson Alfred Mutua described the situation as tragic.

"The government has co-ordinated a team of officials and experts led by the Honorable Minister of Transport Chirau Ali Mwakwere to travel to Cameroon and link up with authorities there so as to establish what is happening and also lead the operation," he said. "The government will do everything to unearth the cause of this accident in order to prevent it from occurring again."

In 2000, 169 people died when a Kenya Airways Airbus crashed into the sea shortly after take off from Abidjan, in Ivory Coast.

The missing plane was only six months old.

VOASE0505_People In America

05 May 2007

Gene Kelly, 1912-1996: His Movies Made Dance Popular in America

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, People in America. Every week we tell about a person important in the history of the United States. Today, we tell about actor and dancer Gene Kelly. Experts say he did more than anyone else to make dance popular in America.

(MUSIC: "Gotta Dance")

VOICE ONE:

Gene Kelly

Eugene Curran Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in nineteen twelve. His mother wanted all five of her children to play music and to dance. Gene was more interested in becoming an athlete. Yet he continued his dance lessons even as he became successful in sports. He said later that he never started out to be a dancer. He wanted to play professional baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team. But, he said, he discovered girls liked his dancing.

VOICE TWO:

Gene Kelly graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in nineteen thirty-three. He started teaching at a dancing school. He also directed local plays and performed with his brother Fred.

He went to New York City in nineteen thirty-eight. He was twenty-seven years old. After dancing in a few Broadway shows, he got the lead part in the musical play "Pal Joey" in nineteen forty.

Critics in New York praised Gene Kelly for his ability to sing and dance, and at the same time, create a believable character on stage. Soon, he was offered work in Hollywood. He went to California in nineteen forty-one.

VOICE ONE:

Gene Kelly's real success in movies began in nineteen forty-four. He and director Stanley Donen created a special dance for the movie "Cover Girl." In it, Gene Kelly appears to be dancing with himself. Cameras took pictures of him doing two dances separately. Then the two pictures were placed on a single piece of film. In the movie, two Gene Kellys seem to chase each other up and down steps, threaten each other, and leap over each other's heads.

Gene Kelly said later that he had made a huge discovery in that movie. He said dancing in a movie does not look the way it does on the stage. So he tried to do things differently for the movies. He tried to invent dance movements that were especially created for cameras.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen forty-five, Gene Kelly first used a method of filming seen often today. He

Anchors Aweigh

shared the movie screen with a drawing. In the movie "Anchors Aweigh", he appeared to dance with a cartoon mouse. It cost one hundred thousand dollars to film the eight- minute dance.

Gene Kelly danced first. Then cartoon artists filmed the drawings of the mouse's movements. The two films were combined into one. In the movie, Gene and the mouse are happily dancing and singing together.

VOICE ONE:

Gene Kelly was part of another movie-making first in nineteen forty-nine. It happened in "On the Town." It was the first movie musical to be filmed in a real city. "On the Town" is about three sailors in New York. The movie shows sailors getting off their ship. Then they sing and dance through the city streets.

Musicals were normally filmed on sets built in Hollywood to look like other places. Gene said movie company officials at the time thought filming in the real city was crazy, but it worked. It changed movie musicals forever. Gene Kelly called "On the Town" his favorite movie. It opens with the song "New York, New York":

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Some critics say Gene Kelly's greatest success was the nineteen fifty-one movie, "An American in Paris. " It won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Gene won a special Oscar for his singing, dancing, acting and creating dances. The movie ended with a seventeen-minute ballet dance. It showed the effect of the city of Paris on the hero. In the ballet, Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron danced to George Gershwin's "An American in Paris":

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Singin' in the Rain

Many people think the best Gene Kelly movie of all is "Singin' in the Rain." Experts say "Singin' in the Rain" was the last of the great movie musicals. It was released in nineteen fifty-two. In one part, Gene Kelly sings the title song while he dances. It is considered one of the best movie scenes in history. In it, he shows how happy he is at the idea of being in love. He performs the song and dance while heavy rain falls on a lonely city street.

(MUSIC: "Singin in the Rain")

VOICE TWO:

Gene Kelly appeared in forty-five movies. He danced and sang. He acted in movies that were not musicals. He produced movies and directed them, too. He also directed musical plays on New York City's Broadway. He appeared on television, winning an Emmy Award for the show "Jack and the Beanstalk. "

Gene Kelly was in the three "That's Entertainment" movies. In those movies, he worked with another great dancer, Fred Astaire. Fred Astaire was a movie star when Gene Kelly was just starting to dance.

Kelly said he was too big for the kind of dancing Astaire did so well. He said his kind of athletic dancing was better done in pants and a shirt than in the more formal clothes Astaire wore.

VOICE ONE:

Gene Kelly died on February second, nineteen ninety-six following a series of strokes. He was eighty-three years old. He had been honored many times for his work. He was given awards by the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and the American Film Institute. The government of France gave him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. President Clinton gave him the American National Medal of Arts.

People said he had created a new kind of American dance by mixing modern, tap and ballet in an athletic way. Gene Kelly always said he was not that important. He said he really was just a song and dance man.

(MUSIC: "Gotta Dance")

VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written by Nancy Steinbach. It was produced and directed by Lawan Davis. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Shirley Griffith. Listen again next week at this time to People in America on the Voice of America.

VOASE0704 Print Edition[Big Bug]

Big Bug 很快就把4月合辑的打印版做出来了

这次还特意加了目录，老实说，就这目录的工作就一定很辛苦

有这样不求回报，无私奉献的网友，PoEnglish真的很高兴

希望大家感谢和喜欢Big Bug 的劳动成果

VOASE0704 Print Edition.cover[Big Bug]
VOASE0704 Print Edition[Big Bug]

Music Helps New Orleans Revive

By Greg Flakus New Orleans 04 May 2007

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For more than 30 years, New Orleans has held a Jazz and Heritage Festival. This year's festival wraps up this weekend. Many well-known musicians come to play at Jazz Fest, but it is also an important showcase for local talent. That is especially important as the city still struggles to recover from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, which struck in August 2005. As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from New Orleans, one local group is doing its part to keep the city's musical heritage alive.

Troy Andrews

There are still large parts of New Orleans that are all but uninhabited and less than half the people who once called the city home have returned. In the months following Katrina, there was concern that the cultural heritage of New Orleans might have been irreparably damaged. But many musicians have returned, including 21-year-old Troy Andrews, who is known here and around the world as Trombone Shorty.

"Jazz was started here and it is just in some of the musicians' blood. Everything I like to say about New Orleans is that the musicians here are completely honest. I do not know any other place in the world that you can go to hear jazz where people come to dance," he said.

Michael Ballard playing bass

Bass player Michael Ballard says the essence of the music created here is found in every performance in which players alter and add to the sound as they play.

"You solo and you improvise and you play on top of intelligent material, but it is also what you can make up on the spot, whatever you can do or sing. That is what jazz is: whatever you can mix into the melting pot."

Jazz Fest organizer Don Marshall says music and musicians are playing an important role in the recovery of New Orleans.

"So many of our musicians were displaced right after Katrina and they were welcomed by people around the world, cities and individuals, and organizations. While we have struggled to keep the message alive about New Orleans and its importance in rebuilding, our musicians have really carried the message worldwide," he said.

Don Marshall

Marshall says Jazz Fest nurtures talents like Trombone Shorty, who began playing in his Treme neighborhood, near the French Quarter, when he was only four years old. When he played at Jazz Fest, it brought him to a wider audience. Marshall says proceeds from Jazz Fest are supporting a number of local projects that will help musicians stay here. These include a school program for aspiring musicians and a housing project, called Musicians' Village.

Troy Andrews' current group is called Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue. The ensemble plays a rich mixture of styles that are hard to label. He says this mixing of music in a creative stew is the New Orleans tradition most worth saving.

"In New Orleans, we have a gumbo [mixture] of music. You can walk down the street and catch the Neville Borthers, you can walk three blocks away and catch the Rebirth [Brass Band] and just by having all those different forms of music here, it gives a good avenue to be able understand different types of music and just be involved in the music scene, period. Jazz is my background, but like you can see with this band, we are more rock and roll funk, with a little jazz in it, and that is what we are," Andrews said.

Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue played at this year's Jazz Fest and are also playing in various clubs in New Orleans this month.

Polls Put Sarkozy Ahead in French Presidential Election

By Anita Elash Paris 04 May 2007

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New polls predict conservative candidate Nicolas Sarkozy will be the clear winner in Sunday's presidential election in France. With just three days to go, polling firms say he'll win at least 53 percent of the vote compared to 47 percent for Socialist candidate Segolene Royal. For VOA, Anita Elash reports from Paris.

After the first round of voting two weeks ago, polls showed that Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal were running neck and neck. That changed after their televised debate on Wednesday night.

French Socialist Party candidate Segolene Royal (l) faces conservative front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy (r) minutes before their only televised debate in Paris, 02 May 2007

Twenty million people watched as a combative Royal tried to unhinge Sarkozy, who is often seen as an authoritarian with a volatile temper. In the end, it was Royal who lost her cool, over questions about education for handicapped children.

Sarkzoy told her to calm down, and when she refused, he told her, "As president of the republic, you need to be calm."

Brice Teinturier, director of the polling firm TPS-Sofres, said that's when opinion tipped in Sarkozy's favor.

He told a press conference in Paris that viewers perceived Royal as pugnacious and aggressive, when she should have been showing herself as presidential and proving that she had a firm grasp on policy.

Throughout the campaign, critics have said that Royal lacked a clear vision of where she wanted to lead the country. Teinturier said her performance during Wednesday's debate confirmed that perception.

He said more than half of those polled afterward, including members of the Socialist Party, concluded that Sarkozy was more convincing, and had stronger policies and a clearer vision for France.

Friday is the last official day of campaigning. Sarkozy and Royal both held their final public meetings last night and were making the rounds of radio and TV talk show programs today.

Royal was on the offensive, arguing that Sarkozy would be a dangerous choice for France. Sarkozy said he had no desire to revisit the debate on Wednesday, but said he found Royal's approach that night outrageous.

Queen Elizabeth Tours Colonial Settlement of Jamestown, Virginia

By Margaret Besheer Washington 04 May 2007

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Britain's Queen Elizabeth visited the historic Jamestown Settlement Friday, in the U.S. state of Virginia. Jamestown was the first permanent English colony in what would become the United States. The Queen's visit is part of commemorations of the Virginia settlement's 400th anniversary. From Washington, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more on the royal visit.

Queen Elizabeth II looks over at US Vice President Dick Cheney during a visit to Jamestown Settlement in Williamsburg, Virginia, 04 May 2007

The Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, accompanied by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne, arrived at the historic settlement Friday morning.

In May 1607, 104 English settlers landed at the site on the James River. The dangerous Atlantic crossing took five difficult months, and nearly half the original group died within months of their arrival. But despite great difficulty, what began as a commercial venture and a search for a new water route to the Pacific, became the foundation of a new nation.

Vice President Cheney said the settlers' arrival changed the world.

"Inside a little three-sided fort in this corner of Virginia large events were set in motion and great and noble traditions were introduced to America," he said. "So we pay homage to the first English settlement on the North American shore and we mark the 14th of May 1607 as a providential moment in the life of this nation."

This is the 81-year-old monarch's fourth State visit to the United States. Her first was 50 years ago, just after she had become queen, and it was also to Jamestown for the 350th anniversary celebrations.

The queen, wearing a teal coat and matching hat, did not address the crowd. Later she toured the fort with the vice president. Her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, a former officer in the Royal Navy, accompanied Mrs. Cheney aboard a replica of the Susan Constant, the largest of the three ships that brought the Jamestown settlers to North America.

After Jamestown, the royal couple visited the nearby College of William & Mary. Founded by a royal charter in 1693, it is the second oldest college in the United States. At a luncheon at the Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg in her honor, the Queen, now in a raspberry-colored ensemble, spoke about the symbolism of the Jamestown landing.

"[It is] A symbol of the convergence of civilizations, of the spread of the rule of law, of the growth of representative democracy, and also the symbol of friendship, the deep and enduring friendship between the United States and the United Kingdom," she said.

Saturday, the horse-loving monarch will travel to the state of Kentucky to attend the famous Kentucky Derby horse race. Monday night, the Bushes will entertain the royals at a White House State Dinner.

UN Climate Panel Says Work to Halt Global Warming Must Start Immediately

By Ron Corben Bangkok 04 May 2007

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A United Nations report on climate change says a reduction in potentially harmful greenhouse gas emissions can be achieved, and is affordable. But the report says that action by governments and individuals must begin immediately. Ron Corben reports from Bangkok.

A boat makes its way through the icebergs in Disko Bay, Greenland, (File)

The United Nations International Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, in a report released Friday, says the technology exists to curb so-called greenhouse gas emissions that are thought leading to global warming.

The report calls for the current rise in global temperatures to be halted at around two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial age levels. It says this can be achieved by 2030 at a cost to the global economy of about three percent of worldwide gross domestic product.

Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the IPCC, says the report emphasizes the need for action by both individuals and governments.

"An extremely powerful message in this report is the need for human society as a whole to start looking at changes in lifestyle and consumption patterns," he said.

The U.N. panel says greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) rose 70 percent between 1970 and 2004, with most coming from the energy sector. Ogunlade Davidson, the panel's co-chairman, says existing policies will not halt GHG growth.

"If we continue to do what we are doing now, we're in deep trouble," he explained. "As it's clearly stated here, with the current climate change mitigation policies, global GHG emissions will continue to grow over the next few decades. That is one immediate message from us to take home."

The report says stabilizing emissions of carbon dioxide, the chief culprit in global warming, can be done through increased fuel efficiencies, improved building codes, the setting of stricter industry standards, plus financial incentives. For the first time, the IPCC endorses the option of nuclear power.

The report will be forwarded to governments, and will enter the public debate over how best to combat climate change. Hans Verolme, director of the World Wildlife Fund's global climate change program, says the matter is now up to the politicians.

"My message to the politicians, to which this document is addressed, let's get to work," he said. "Politicians need to get together and recognize there's an enormous potential for increasing energy efficiency."

The next step will come when leaders of the major industrialized countries meet in June, followed by another United Nations conference on climate change in Indonesia in December.

VOASE0504_In the News

04 May 2007

White House, Congress Try to Negotiate a New Spending Bill for Iraq War
Talks follow Bush's veto of a measure that would have required a troop withdrawal to begin by October.

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

White House officials have begun talks with Congress on a war spending bill in place of the one President Bush vetoed on Tuesday.

President Bush speaking at the White House after he vetoed a $124 billion spending bill

He rejected it because the Democratic-controlled Congress tried to set a date for American troops to leave Iraq. The bill would have required a withdrawal to begin by October.

The spending measure totaled one hundred twenty-four billion dollars. One hundred billion of that would have gone to pay for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The veto was only the second of Mister Bush's presidency. The first was last year, to stop Congress from ending his restrictions on federal money for stem cell research.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted to try to save the war spending bill that the president vetoed. But, as in the case of his first veto, there was not enough support for an override.

The president met with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders after the House failed to override his veto. He said he was hopeful that an agreement could be reached. And he called for it to be done quickly. Republican leaders said they hope for a new bill by the end of the month.

The president says it is time to move away from the political battles of recent days. He said three of his top advisers would be working with members of both parties to write an acceptable war funding bill.

Talks took place Thursday on Capitol Hill. The two sides agreed to meet again early next week and to keep details of their talks private. But Democratic leaders said they have not agreed to keep any language about troop withdrawals out of a replacement bill.

The administration said Mister Bush would not accept any bill that includes a time limit or suggested date for a withdrawal from Iraq.

Congress could also try to set goals for the Iraqi government.

Earlier this week, President Bush asked Americans to give his recent troop increase in Iraq more time. The war began in March of two thousand three.

A new public opinion study showed that more than seventy percent of Americans disapprove of the president's handling of the war. Two-thirds of those questioned for CBS News and the New York Times said they support setting a time limit for the withdrawal of troops.

President Bush says he wants American troops out of Iraq, but only when its own government is better able to control security.

Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Robert Byrd proposed Thursday that Congress cancel its resolution that approved the use of force in Iraq. They say the president should have to seek approval from Congress this October to continue the war. A presidential spokeswoman accused the Senate of trying, in her words, "another way to put a surrender date on the calendar."

IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English was written by Brianna Blake. Transcripts and audio files of our reports are online at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.

VOASE0503_Economics Report

03 May 2007

How Much Is Too Much? The Debate Over Executive Pay
Critics say company leaders are getting big raises even when they do not add value for their shareholders.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Robert Nardelli

For Robert Nardelli, two thousand seven might seem like a bad year. After all, he resigned in January as chief of the world's largest operator of home-improvement stores.

Sales and profits grew during his six years at Home Depot. But the stock price of the company, based in Atlanta, fell eight percent. Many shareholders thought Bob Nardelli was paid too much and did not respect his investors enough.

So he was forced out. But he had something to look forward to that would ease his fall. Company directors agreed to give him two hundred ten million dollars worth of payments and benefits.

An agreement like this is known as a golden parachute. These are traditional when top executives lose their jobs because of a change of ownership or control of a company. This was not the case at Home Depot, and the money only added to shareholder anger.

Golden parachutes are just one issue in a larger debate in America. Executive pay is growing out of control, critics say, at a time when many Americans are feeling greater economic pressures. Last year, the average pay for a chief executive officer on the Standard & Poor's Five Hundred list of companies increased by over nine percent.

Critics say there is no relationship between pay and performance. They say company leaders get raises even if they fail to create value for shareholders.

Lawmakers are taking note. On April twentieth, the House of Representatives passed a bill to give shareholders in publicly traded companies the right to vote on executive pay.

The proposal by majority Democrats now goes to the Senate. But its future is unclear. The Bush administration opposes the bill. It says Congress should not set the approval process for executive pay.

The bill would require yearly votes but these would be non-binding. In other words, companies would not have to follow shareholder wishes. Still, supporters argue that a "say on pay" vote would send a clear signal about what the owners of the company, the investors, think.

The Securities and Exchange Commission requires public companies to include executive pay information in a document called a proxy statement. A proxy statement is supposed to help shareholders make informed votes on company proposals. But critics note that the way executive income is reported is often too difficult to understand.

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

VOASE0503_American Mosaic

03 May 2007

Mix Caribbean, West African, Pop and Hip-Hop, What Do You Get? Akon
Also: a question from Vietnam about the life stories of Helen Keller and Sally Ride. And we check out the Smithsonian Craft Show in Washington.

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

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

We answer a question about two famous American women …

Play music by Akon …

And tell about a craft show in Washington, D.C.

Smithsonian Craft Show

HOST:

Where can you go to see and buy the work of one hundred twenty of America's best craft artists? In Washington, D.C. you can visit the yearly Smithsonian Craft Show. For twenty-five years, some of the finest craft artists have gathered to show their expertly made objects at this special event. These objects include beautiful jewelry, wood, paper, glass, ceramics and more. Faith Lapidus tells us about it.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

A ceramic container by Jennifer McCurdy

The Smithsonian Craft Show is held every year for four days in late April. Going to the craft show is an exciting activity. As you visit the many craft artists' show areas, you feel like you are taking part in a celebration of artistic skill and invention. But not just any artist can take part in this event. More than one thousand people from all over the United States requested to be in the show. But only one hundred and twenty were chosen. They were carefully picked by a jury of craft experts.

The Craft Show is organized every year by the Smithsonian Women's Committee. The event helps raise money to support education and research programs for the nineteen museums that are part of the Smithsonian Institution.

This year, for example, visitors could see the graceful ceramic works of Jennifer McCurdy. Her finely formed white clay containers have a fluid sense of motion. Or, visitors could play with the detailed and imaginative toy machines made by Bill Durovchic.

A work by Joh Ricci

Holly Anne Mitchell showed her wonderfully creative jewelry made out of folded pieces of newspaper. Joh Ricci received the Best of Show award for her colorful art objects made by tying thin pieces of cloth cord into detailed forms. And, if you wanted to wear a piece of art, you could buy a hat by Joan Hammerschmidt. Her wildly colorful and inventively shaped hats would make everyone look at you with a smile.

Helen Keller and Sally Ride

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The students of Nguyen Thanh Duc at the Marie Curie High School want to know about two famous American women: Helen Keller and Sally Ride.

Helen Keller

Helen Keller was born in eighteen eighty in a small town in Alabama. She developed an infection when she was nineteen months old. She lost the ability to see and hear.

When Helen was seven years old, her parents hired a special teacher for their daughter. Anne Sullivan taught Helen the names of things. She formed letters with her fingers in Helen’s hand to spell out words. She taught Helen sign language, and how to use her voice.

Later, Helen Keller learned to read Latin, Greek, French and German. She completed her studies at Radcliffe College with honors in nineteen-oh-four.

Helen Keller worked for many years for the American Foundation for the Blind. She met with presidents and traveled to many countries. She wrote books and articles. And she showed other disabled people that they, too, could succeed. Helen Keller died in nineteen sixty-eight. Her life story has been told in books, plays and movies.

Sally Ride grew up near Los Angeles, California. She studied science in college. In

Sally Ride

nineteen seventy-eight, she was one of the first six women to be trained as an astronaut. She also earned a doctoral degree in astrophysics at Stanford University in California.

Sally Ride was the first American woman in space. She was the flight engineer on the Challenger space shuttle in nineteen eighty-three. She was thirty-one years old, the youngest American astronaut ever to go into orbit.

One year later, she was a crew member on another space shuttle flight. And in nineteen eighty-six, she was a member of the presidential committee that investigated the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle earlier that year.

Sally Ride left NASA to teach at Stanford University. Since nineteen eighty-nine, she has been a professor at the University of California at San Diego. She has also written science books for children and directed education projects designed to interest young people in science.

Akon

HOST:

A man in demand

Senegalese-American singer Akon has a musical sound that is different from current popular artists. He has had several hit songs. Barbara Klein tells us about him.

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN:

That was Akon singing his hit song "I Wanna Love You" from his latest album, "Konvicted."

Akon's real name is Aliaune Thiam. He is the son of Senegalese jazz drummer Mor Thiam. Akon grew up listening to jazz and other kinds of music, but he especially liked hip-hop.

When he was a teenager, Akon was arrested and sentenced to three years in jail for stealing cars. During his time in jail, Akon wrote songs. Those songs became part of his first album, "Trouble," released in two thousand four. Akon sings about his arrest and jail experiences in this song, "Locked Up."

(MUSIC)

Music critics say Akon is popular because his music offers something new. His creative sound combines Caribbean and West African singing with popular music and hip-hop beats. Akon has performed and recorded songs with many kinds of artists. They include rapper Snoop Dogg, singer Gwen Stefani and the South African singing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

We leave you with another hit song from Akon’s latest album, "Konvicted." This is "Don’t Matter."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today. It was written by Lawan Davis, Dana Demange and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver was the 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.

Negotiations Begin on New War Funding Bill

By Paula Wolfson White House 02 May 2007

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Negotiations are under way between the White House and the U.S. Congress on a revised war funding bill. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports President Bush is emphasizing the need to find common ground, and find it quickly.

President Bush meets at the White House with Nancy Pelosi (l) and Harry Reid, 2 May 2007

Less the 24-hours after President Bush vetoed a war funding bill that included a timeline for a troop withdrawal, work began on a replacement piece of legislation.

As he sat down with congressional leaders, Mr. Bush said it is time to move away from the political battles of recent days.

"Yesterday was a day that highlighted differences," said President Bush. "Today is a day where we can work together to find common ground.

The president struck a positive tone as the session with top lawmakers got under way. He said his intentions are serious, and announced that three of his top advisers would be detailed to work with members of both political parties to craft an acceptable war funding bill.

"I think it is very important to do this as quickly as we possibly can," he said. "I am confident that we can reach agreement. I know it will require goodwill, but we all care."

Earlier, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow told reporters that while the president is approaching the talks with Congress in a collegial manner, he will refuse to compromise on key principles. Snow made clear that under no circumstance will Mr. Bush accept a bill that includes a timetable or target date for a U.S. troop withdrawal.

"The purpose of this bill is - it's an emergency supplemental bill - to finance ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Tony Snow. "You have to do that in a way that will allow you to conduct effectively ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Participants in the White House meeting told reporters that the session dealt primary with logistics, and there was no discussion of the thorny issues that have divided the Bush administration and the Democratic-Party led Congress.

Republican leaders said they had agreed on a procedure for talks, and hope to get the job done by the end of the month.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was also pleased with the tone of the meeting, but emphasized Democrats were right to take a legislative stand against the president's war policy.

"Make no mistake, Democrats are committed to ending this war, and we hope to do so in unison with the president of the United States," said Nancy Pelosi.

The meeting took place less than an hour after Democrats tried and failed to muster the two-thirds majority vote needed to override the president's veto of their original war spending bill. That piece of legislation totaled about $124 billion, with $100 billion earmarked for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also ordered the administration to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq no later than October.

Senior Democrats have indicated they will not include a troop pull-out timeline in any replacement bill. But there are indications they may include language that would set benchmarks - or specific goals - for the Iraqi government.

New Orleans Jazz Fest Gears Up for Weekend Finale

By Doug Levine Washington 02 May 2007

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Thousands took in the sights and sounds of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on its opening weekend, April 27-29, which featured almost every type of music imaginable. As VOA's Doug Levine tells us, some of the best is yet to come at the festival many thought would never return after Hurricane Katrina.

Still lingering on the minds of musicians and fans was Hurricane Katrina, whose wrath and destruction nearly two years ago almost put an end to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. But, judging by last weekend's crowds, it looks like Jazz Fest is here to stay.

Though attendance is still down from pre-Katrina levels, the numbers are slowly climbing back. Producer and director Quint Davis remarked that, "It looks like a full-sized Jazz Fest." He added, "It feels more substantial and settled than last year, when it was hanging off the cliff by its fingernails."

Phillip Paulin belts out a tune during his set at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, 29 April 2007

Substantial might be putting it mildly. With the opening three days boasting everyone from the Crescent City All-Stars to Van Morrison, and hundreds more in between, Jazz Fest 2007 is once again proving itself gargantuan.

While many came for the headliners - Van Morrison, Percy Sledge, Rod Stewart, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dr. John, Bonnie Raitt, Norah Jones and Ludacris - most were willing to seek out their favorite local act, like the New Birth Brass Band.

Fans daring to stay in town for the Jazz Fest finale May 4-6 will be richly rewarded by the variety of music offered at the Fair Grounds Race Course.

Dotted among the Native American pow-wows, second line parades, and heritage food and crafts fairs are two jazz tents, a blues tent, a gospel tent, a kid's tent, and three main music stages. After catching a glimpse of ZZ Top, Steely Dan, John Mayer, New Edition, Counting Crows, The Allman Brothers Band, George Benson and Harry Connick, Jr., who could resist an hour in the Southern Comfort Blues Tent listening to guitarist Walter "Wolfman" Washington and The Roadmasters.

Democrats to Keep Pressure on Bush Over Iraq Funding

By Dan Robinson Capitol Hill 02 May 2007

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Majority Democrats intend to maintain pressure on President Bush over Iraq in coming months, despite the president's veto of war funding legislation containing a timeline for withdrawing U.S. forces. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill, where Democrats failed in a 222 to 203 vote to have the House of Representatives override the president's veto.

As the House prepared for the unsuccessful override vote, Democratic leaders were busy planning strategy in crafting new legislation to send back to the president.

Majority leader Steny Hoyer told reporters he hopes to have a new version within the next two weeks. That would be the goal in the House, he emphasized, noting that the Senate would also have to act.

On specifics, he notes that key Republican leaders have stated that a new measure should carry some form of benchmarks to hold the Iraqi government accountable for progress on political reconciliation.

One option Republicans apparently are considering is linking future U.S. assistance, such as aid for reconstruction, with Iraqi government progress.

Republican whip Roy Blunt made this comment to VOA:

"The political and economic aid would be the logical thing to look at," he said.

House majority leader Hoyer told reporters that Democrats will use legislative opportunities over the next four months, namely separate defense authorization and appropriation bills and House-Senate negotiations, to exert pressure regarding the future course in Iraq.

In sending Congress formal written notification of his veto, President Bush said it contained an arbitrary date for beginning withdrawal of American troops without regard to conditions on the ground, and tried to micromanage military commanders.

Knowing they lacked support for the two-thirds majority needed to over-ride a veto, House Democrats went ahead with an over-ride debate and vote, featuring familiar arguments.

Nancy Pelosi (l) and Harry Reid, 2 May 2007

Saying Congress will not support an open-ended U.S. commitment in Iraq, Speaker Nancy Pelosi had these remarks on the floor of the House:

"I had hoped that the president would see the light, instead of turning a tin ear to the wishes of the American people, and a blind eye to what is happening on the ground in Iraq," she said.

Republican leader John Boehner countered that the rejected legislation would have strengthened the hand of terrorists, in Iraq and elsewhere:

"They have made Iraq the central front in their war with us, and if we walk out of Iraq, if we don't give this plan a chance to succeed, we encourage the terrorists," he said. "We will encourage them [and] they will be able to recruit new people all over the world. They will have a safe haven in Iraq itself."

Emerging from a meeting with the president later, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell agreed that a new measure should go to the president before the next congressional break at the end of May, adding that the president's chief of staff would meet with Senate Republicans on Thursday.

Describing the meeting with the president as very positive speaker Pelosi quoted the president expressed willingness to work together to find common ground.

While expectations are that Democrats will have to drop language containing a specific timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces, Senate majority leader Harry Reid said a new measure should contain language that transitions the mission of U.S. forces and ends the war in Iraq.