VOASE0508_Explorations

08 May 2007

Have an Active Interest in Volcanoes? Then a Place to Look Around Is Hawaii
Learning about volcanoes (active and inactive) at two national parks.

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VOICE ONE:

This is Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Sarah Long with the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Today, we visit two of the most unusual national parks in the United States. They are Volcanoes National Park and Haleakala National Park, both in Hawaii.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Let me ask you a question: What is the tallest mountain on Earth? Most

Mauna Loa

school children will say the answer is Mount Everest near the border between Nepal and Tibet.

There is something that is three hundred four meters taller than Mount Everest. However, it is mainly underwater. It begins at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, and rises more than seventeen kilometers from the ocean floor.

Its name is Mauna Loa. In the Hawaiian language, Mauna Loa means “Long Mountain.” Mauna Loa is more than half of the island of Hawaii, the largest of the Hawaiian Islands.

It is also the largest and most active volcano on Earth. It has produced liquid rock called lava more than thirty times since records were first kept in eighteen forty-three. Today, Mauna Loa is quiet. It is not producing lava. However volcano experts say it is only a matter of time before this happens once again.

VOICE TWO:

Lava on Kilauea

Mauna Loa is not the only volcano on the island of Hawaii. There are four others. Three of them are no longer active. One of them still is active. It is named Kilauea. It has produced lava more than fifty times in the last one hundred years. At this moment, red hot lava is pouring out of Kilauea. It has been doing this since nineteen eighty-three.

Sometimes the lava moves slowly. At other times it pours out very fast as huge amounts of pressure force it from the volcano. During these times, it moves almost as quickly as water moving down the side of a mountain. Sometimes Kilauea produces large amounts of lava that seem like rivers of fire.

VOICE ONE:

When the lava from Kilauea reaches the ocean, its fierce heat produces great amounts of steam that rise into the air. The lava is so hot it continues to burn underwater for some time. The lava from Kilauea continues to add land to the island as the volcanoes of Hawaii have always done. It is these volcanoes that formed the islands of Hawaii.

Most of the time the lava of Kilauea seems to move peacefully toward the ocean. Yet it is not as peaceful as it seems from a distance. In recent years the lava destroyed one small town on the island. The liquid rock slowly covered the town. It blocked roads and destroyed them. Nothing can stop the lava of Kilauea. Experts say the volcanoes of Mauna Loa and Kilauea are a serious threat to property on many parts of the island.

Experts say the volcanoes of the island of Hawaii are proof that the changing environment of Earth is, and will always remain, beyond human control.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Mauna Loa and Kilauea together form Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii. But another

Haleakala

national park has a huge volcano. It is on the island of Maui. It is the Haleakala National Park. Haleakala in the Hawaiian language means “House of the Sun.”

Haleakala is another huge volcano. Together with a smaller, much older volcano it helped form the island of Maui. It is no longer considered to be active. In about seventeen ninety, two areas in the side of the huge volcano opened and lava came out. The lava moved down the mountain and into the sea. That was the last recorded activity at Haleakala.

The volcano that contains Haleakala National Park rises three thousand fifty meters above the sea. We would like to take you for a visit to Haleakala. For a few minutes, sit back while we drive the road up to the top of the volcano.

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VOICE ONE:

Our trip begins near the ocean today. We drive through the city of Kahului. We see businesses and homes, the buildings you find in any American city. There are more flowers than in many American cities. The Hawaiian Islands are famous for their flowers.

Soon the road begins to go up. The road moves back and forth and around corners as it moves up the face of the mountain. At times our driver must slow the vehicle and turn very sharply. Soon, there are no more homes or stores.

From the city of Kahului to the top of Haleakala is about fifty-five kilometers. We will be three thousand fifty meters higher at the top of the mountain.

Very soon, we no longer see trees. We have traveled too high for them to survive. Soon there are only a few plants. Then there is nothing but black lava rock. At one place, we begin to enter the clouds that hang close to the mountain. Our driver turns on the headlights of the vehicle. Ten minutes later, we are above the clouds in the bright sunshine.

The road is good, so the trip takes only about an hour.

VOICE TWO:

The National Park Headquarters is about two kilometers from the top. Park officials at the information center tell you about the history of the volcano. They say that it is very safe -- today. They also tell you that it could very well become active again. The experts just do not know.

We soon leave the Park Headquarters and travel up again, this time to the top. There is an area here to leave our vehicle. We walk the last few meters to the top.

As we reach the top, almost everyone says similar things. How strange! Did the violence of a volcano form this? This is so beautiful!

VOICE ONE:

We are on the top looking down inside what was the most active part of the volcano. The shape is almost like a circle except the sides have been stretched -- almost the shape of an egg but longer.

There are only a few plants here and no trees. However the volcano has left thousands of different shapes of lava stone. Hundreds of years of rain and bright sun have cut long paths in the stone.

Time has turned the oldest lava to a soft sand. There are huge mountains. There are also smaller hills that seem to be made of ash or sand. The place is a riot of color.

One big mountain seems to be a deep, dark red. Another area seems almost yellow. Another is green, and still another is a beautiful brown color. One area is colored gray that seems to move into a deep black. It looks as if someone has spilled many colors of paint over the huge area. The volcano produced these colors because the lava is very rich in many kinds of minerals.

VOICE TWO:

The area we are seeing stretches for a long distance. This morning, high on the mountain in the bright sun, we can see almost forty kilometers of the park. And this is only part of it. There are eleven thousand five hundred ninety-six hectares of land in the park.

Some of the park is closed to visitors. Scientists do research in those areas. Experts are trying to learn how to grow and protect some of the very unusual plants that live in Haleakala.

One of these plants is called the Silver Sword. It grows only in Hawaii. It has long, thin, silver leaves. It is very beautiful and unusual.

The Hawaiian nene goose also lives here. It is a large bird. Visitors are asked not to come too near the nene. Experts are helping both the Silver Sword plants and the nene geese to reproduce so they will not disappear from the Earth.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Thousands of visitors each year enjoy Haleakala National Park on the island of Maui, and Mauna Loa and Kilauea on the island of Hawaii. Ships stop at the two islands and buses take the groups of visitors to see these huge volcanoes.

Many people also fly over the volcanoes in airplanes or helicopters. This is a safe and popular method of watching Kilauea’s lava moving slowly toward the ocean. Other people see it from ships.Visitors also may walk into the rain forest created by the volcano thousands of years ago. Here they can see Waimoku Falls where water drops one hundred twenty meters down the face of a mountain.

Both parks offer visitors a sight of nature that most people never have the chance to enjoy. Visitors can see how an active volcano adds mass to the island. And they can see inside a volcano that has been silent for hundreds of years.

The United States Park Service is responsible for both Haleakala and the Hawaii National Volcanoes Park. It works hard to keep both these areas as nature created them.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written and produced by Paul Thompson. Our recording engineer today was Bob Phillips. This is Sarah Long.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.

Israel Carries Out Airstrike in Gaza

By Jim Teeple Jerusalem 07 May 2007

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Israeli aircraft have attacked a car in the Gaza Strip that Israeli military authorities say was carrying Palestinian militants planning to launch rockets against southern Israel. One militant was reported wounded in the attack that followed a warning from Israel's Defense Minister that Israel would not tolerate continuing rocket attacks. VOA's Jim Teeple has more from our Jerusalem bureau.

The Israeli strike followed a recent spike in rocket attacks by Palestinian militants against Sderot, the nearest Israeli town to the Gaza border.

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz (Jan 2007)

Israel's Prime Minister warned Israel would no longer tolerate the attacks. Defense Minister Amir Peretz told Israel Radio that Israeli patience had run out.

Peretz, who also heads the Labor Party, says while Israelis want peace they will not put peace before security.

The militant group Islamic Jihad is claiming responsibility for the attacks and vowed to retaliate for Israel's missile strike. The group did not sign a Gaza truce agreement with Israel that other Palestinian armed factions agreed to last November .

Meanwhile, U.N. officials say they are increasing security at U.N. facilities in Gaza, where Islamic extremists attacked a U.N. run school on Sunday. The group called a sports festival at the school that involved both boys and girls "un-Islamic" and warned of violence. A security guard was killed in the attack and seven others were wounded.

The senior U.N. official in Gaza, John Ging, says the problems with security there can be tied to problems with money.

"The bottom line is that security forces that we all rely on to uphold law and order have been without their regular salaries for well over a year. They are demoralized, de-motivated and it is basically down to that. This was predicted, it is predictable, and until there is a solution to the funding crisis that faces the Palestinian Authority and all elements of the public sector, we can expect deterioration in public serves, including security services, to continue," he said.

Most international funding to the Palestinian Authority was suspended last year following the Hamas victory in Palestinian legislative elections. A new Palestinian unity government has managed to get some funding restored, but mainly for humanitarian assistance.

Ging says despite the deteriorating security situation, the United Nations has no plans to curtail its extensive operations in Gaza. Palestinian security officials say the same group that attacked the U.N. run school appears to be behind a string of attacks on internet cafes, and video rental stores.

More violence was reported when members of a Gaza clan attacked the al-Aqsa University campus in Gaza City.

Monday also marked the eighth week of captivity for the BBC's Gaza correspondent, Alan Johnston. He was the only western reporter permanently based in Gaza. Despite global calls for his release there is no information about his condition or whereabouts.

Celebrations, Protests Greet Sarkozy Victory in France

By Anita Elash Paris 07 May 2007

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French voters celebrated Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential election victory well into the night, as thousands of people gathered in central Paris, for a party sponsored by Mr. Sarkozy. But there were also protests in some parts of France, with nearly 400 cars burned. Anita Elash reports for VOA.

French President elect Nicolas Sarkozy, right, gestures as he delivers a speech before supporters on Concorde square 06 May 2007

The Place de Concorde in central Paris is usually filled with tourists. Sunday night, it was teeming with fans of French President-elect Nicolas Sarkozy, who had invited voters to a victory rock concert. Thirty-thousand people came. Most of them were young, and most were optimistic about Mr. Sarkozy's victory.

A lot of young people support Nicolas Sarkozy, said one student from Paris. He said students think he can make the changes France needs.

But there were also anti-Sarkozy protests in some parts of the country. Nearly 400 cars were reported burned in cities across France.

But police said there was little violence in the places where it had been most feared - the multi-ethnic neighborhoods where Mr. Sarkozy is blamed for inflaming tensions between the police and youth. Instead, police blamed the incidents mostly on right and left-wing extremists.

Mr. Sarkozy, a conservative, won 53-percent of the vote. That gave him a comfortable majority over his opponent, socialist Segolene Royal, and a strong mandate to pursue the economic reforms he has proposed. They include changes to France's generous unemployment benefit and to standard work contracts that protect worker security.

One of his proposed measures would ensure a minimum train service. That would stop rail workers from shutting down the country to protest his reforms. Mr. Sarkozy is taking a few days off before he takes office on May 16.

Officials Say No Chance of Survivors From Kenya Airways Crash

By Katy Migiro Nairobi 07 May 2007

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Rescue teams in Cameroon resumed work at the site of the crashed Kenya Airways flight at daybreak. The plane crashed early Saturday after take-off from Doula airport in Cameroon and was found late Sunday in a mangrove swamp surrounded by forest. Katy Migiro has this report from the VOA bureau in Nairobi.

Cameroon troops provide security at crash site of a Kenya Airlines plane in Mbanga Pongo, Cameroon, 07 May 2007

Officials say there is virtually no chance of there being any survivors among the 114 people on board.

Speaking from Cameroon, Kenyan transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere told VOA that he walked through knee deep mud to reach the plane on Sunday night.

"Last night I joined the governor of the region and other senior officials from Cameroon and Kenya around 7:00 o'clock at night and we all visited the site" he said. "So we saw the remains of the airplane deep in the tropical forest in a very very marshy and muddy area where the aircraft dived and three quarters of it is actually buried in the mud."

Cameroonian army and police officers hacked through the forest to recover wreckage from the plane. The Kenya government has dispatched Kenya Air Force officers to assist the Cameroonians in their efforts.

No one has yet been able to explain why the plane that was six months old crashed. The flight was delayed because of a storm and it was still raining heavily when it took off.

Kenya Airways chief executive Titus Naikuni said the plane stopped emitting emergency signals soon after the initial distress call, although the automatic device should have kept up emissions for two days.

VOASE0507_Science In the News

07 May 2007

Research Shows How Fishing for Sharks Also Affects Other Sea Animals
Also: a new kind of big cat is found on Borneo island. British researchers call for drug policy reform based on new findings. And American officials order stronger warnings for sleep drugs.

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VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. On our program this week, we will tell how fishing for sharks may affect other sea animals. We will also tell about a newly identified large cat and warnings for drugs to treat sleep disorders. And, we will report on a proposed system for measuring harmful substances.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Shark fins are sold in the Chinatown area of Los Angeles. Demand has grown for shark fin soup, which can cost more than $100 a bowl.

Several recent studies have linked human activities to reduced numbers of sharks in the world's oceans. Scientists now say a sharp decrease in the number of large sharks in the Atlantic Ocean has helped some kinds of fish. They say such fish are now threatening other sea animals.

Canadian and American scientists studied the effects of people fishing for sharks in the Northwest Atlantic over the past thirty-five years. Results of their studies were published in Science magazine.

The scientists say one effect of shark fishing has been an estimated ninety-nine percent decrease in some shark populations. They say the loss of larger sharks has caused a population explosion among fish like skates and rays. Such fish and smaller sharks have increased in number along the east coast of the United States.

Sharks usually eat skates and rays. The scientists say these fish feed on shellfish, which are disappearing from the ocean. They say other sea animals are also being threatened by the area's changing environment.

VOICE TWO:

Demand for shark fins has been rising in Asia. Shark fins are used for medical purposes and also for food. The popularity of shark-fin soup in China has made the demand for these animals greater.

For one of the studies, scientists from Canada examined information from private fishing companies and other research projects. They noted a sharp decrease in eleven kinds of great sharks since the nineteen-eighties.

One of the scientists was Julia Baum of Dalhousie University. She says the World Conservation Union earlier this year listed great hammerhead and scalloped hammerhead sharks as being in danger of disappearing. The group also reported the dusky and sandbar sharks as being threatened.

Other scientists agree that the shark population decrease may be linked to the increase of smaller fish. But they say the decrease in sharks is not the only cause. They debate how much the decrease has affected other fish species. Other theories for these changes include pollution and loss of native waters for some animals.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Environmental activists recently announced the discovery of a new kind of clouded leopard. The wildlife group W.W.F. says the new species is found on the Southeast Asian islands of Borneo and Sumatra.

Until now, the clouded leopards there were believed to be the same as those living on the Asian mainland. Yet tests of genetic material show the animals are, in fact, very different. The two species of clouded leopard also have physical differences. Scientists found they have different markings, and different colors over their skin.

VOICE TWO:

The Bornean clouded leopard is the largest animal hunter on Borneo. On Sumatra, only the Sumatran tiger is larger. The new species of clouded leopard has the longest canine teeth for its size of any cat. It hunts lizards, monkeys, and small deer.

Researchers believe the clouded leopard of Borneo may have separated from the mainland population more than one million years ago. Genetic tests have shown about forty differences between the two species.

Researchers estimate that between five thousand and eleven thousand clouded leopards live in the rain forest called the Heart of Borneo.

VOICE ONE:

Stuart Chapman is the W.W.F. international coordinator for the Heart of Borneo program. The program is aimed at protecting plant and animal life in on the island. Mister Chapman says biologists have seen the clouded leopard of Borneo for more than a century and not known it was different. He says identification of the new species shows the importance of protecting the Heart of Borneo. The biggest threat to these large cats is the destruction of the areas where they live.

The discovery of the clouded leopard comes weeks after the W.W.F. reported that scientists had identified at least fifty-two new plant and animals species on Borneo.

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VOICE TWO:

Tobacco was listed ninth in a recent study of most dangerous drugs

A British study has found that alcohol and tobacco products are more dangerous than some illegal substances. The study identified alcoholic drinks and tobacco as more harmful than illegal drugs like marijuana or ecstasy.

David Nutt of Bristol University in Britain and other researchers produced the study. They proposed a system for listing harmful substances. The system is based on evidence of the harm created for the user and for other people. Results of the study were published in The Lancet magazine.

The researchers proposed three ways to measure the possible harm that a substance causes. The first measure is the physical harm to the user. The second is the ability of the drug to create a sense of dependence in the user. The third is the effect of a drug's use on the community.

VOICE ONE:

The researchers asked two groups of experts to create lists of the most dangerous drugs. The experts included psychiatrists who study drug dependence, and legal or police officials with scientific knowledge. The experts were asked to consider twenty drugs, including cocaine, ecstasy, and heroin. Study organizers then combined the two lists to create general ratings of each substance.

The experts generally agreed with each other. However, they did not agree with Britain's current rating system for dangerous substances.

The experts agreed that the most dangerous of the twenty substances was heroin. Cocaine was the second most dangerous. Drinking alcohol was the fifth-most harmful on the combined lists. Smoking tobacco was ninth on the combined lists. Marijuana was eleventh. And, ecstasy was near the bottom of the list.

Professor Nutt says he hopes that the study will create a debate within Britain and other areas about how these drugs should be controlled.

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VOICE TWO:

The United States Food and Drug Administration has ordered companies to place strong warnings on thirteen drugs that treat sleep disorders. It also ordered the makers of the sleeping drugs to provide information for patients explaining how to safely use the pills.

The F.D.A. announced in March that some of the drugs can have unexpected and dangerous effects. These include the risk of life-threatening allergic reactions. They also include rare incidents of strange behavior. These include people cooking food, eating and even driving while asleep. The patients later had no memory of doing these activities while asleep.

VOICE ONE:

Last year, a member of the United States Congress said he had a sleep-driving incident. Patrick Kennedy, a representative from Rhode Island, crashed his car into a security barrier near the building where lawmakers meet. The accident happened in the middle of the night and no one was hurt. Mister Kennedy said he had earlier taken a sleep medicine. He asaid he was also being treated with a stomach sickness drug that can cause sleepiness.

A Food and Drug Administration official said the serious side effects of sleep disorder drugs appear to be rare. But, he also said there are probably more cases than are reported. He said the agency believes the risk of such behaviors could be reduced if people take the drugs as directed and do not drink alcohol while taking the drugs.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS program was written by Caty Weaver and Brianna Blake, who also was our producer. I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Barbara Klein. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

VOASE0507_Agriculture Report

07 May 2007

Looking Behind the 'Fairtrade' Label
The movement began in Europe in the 1980s as a way to guarantee fair prices for small coffee producers in poor countries. With praise, though, has come criticism.

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Coffee drinkers are not the only ones willing to pay more for products marked with the words "Fairtrade" or "Fair Trade Certified." Fair-trade teas, bananas, nuts and other products are also available. Some people see it as an act of social responsibility to buy these products.

Fair-trade Sumatran coffee

The movement began in Europe in the nineteen eighties. Activists wanted a way to guarantee fair prices for small coffee producers in poor countries.

A group called the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International, or FLO, was established in nineteen ninety-seven. Its responsibilities include setting prices as well as rules for working conditions and wages.

Under fair trade rules, importers must give growers technical help and let growers borrow money from them.

Until nineteen eighty-nine, an international agreement helped keep coffee prices level by governing the world supply. But then a free market agreement ended that. The supply of coffee grew higher than demand. Prices were low. Now, coffee prices are rising on the world market.

The European Parliament recognized the work of the Fairtrade movement with a resolution last year. But there were also calls to establish policies to protect the movement itself from abuses. These include growers failing to pay the required wages to their workers.

Some economists criticize Fairtrade plans in general. They say the guaranteed prices are often higher than market prices. As a result, growers produce more, and too much supply can hurt growers who are not included in the plans.

Coffee is the second most traded product on world markets after oil. And some of the finest coffees come from Ethiopia.

Now, Ethiopia wants to control the use of its specialty coffee names under trademark laws. The idea is to charge coffee sellers for the right to use those names.

The world's best known coffee seller, however, resisted the idea. But last week, after two days of talks, Ethiopia's Intellectual Property Office and the Starbucks Coffee Company released a joint statement. They said they look forward to signing an agreement this month.

Details are not yet final. But they say the agreement will recognize the importance of Ethiopia's specialty coffee names. After all, Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz noted that Ethiopia is recognized as the historic birthplace of coffee.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Steve Ember.

Conservative Sarkozy Is Elected President of France

By Anita Elash Paris 06 May 2007

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France has chosen a conservative candidate as its next president. Preliminary results based on exit polls showed Nicolas Sarkozy was elected with 53 per cent of the vote. That gave him a comfortable lead over his opponent, Socialist Party candidate Segolene Royal. Shortly after results were announced riot police have broken up demonstrations in Paris and Lyon against Sarkozy's election. Anita Elash reports for VOA from Paris.

Nicolas Sarkozy, 6 May 2007

With most of the ballots counted, Nicolas Sarkozy, who is the head of France's main conservative party, UMP, scored just over 53 percent of the vote, compared with a little over 46 percent for Royal.

Sarkozy's win was no surprise, but when it was announced supporters at his headquarters erupted into cheers, shouting "Nicolas President" and "bravo." The excitement spilled onto the street where dozens of journalists on motorcycles followed Sarkozy as he drove to a theater to make his acceptance speech.

He told his supporters that French voters had chosen to break with the ideas and habits of the past.

His supporters broke into cheers and applause again as he promised to emphasize values of work, authority, respect, merit and national identity.

Sarkozy said he would work for all of France. He also offered his support to the United States, but said real friends understand they can disagree with each other.

Segolene Royal after conceding defeat, 6 May 2007

The second round of the presidential ballot pitted candidates on the right and left sides of the political spectrum. Sarkozy called for tough economic reforms that would revitalize the ailing French economy. His opponent, Socialist candidate Segolene Royal proposed left-wing economic policies and "reforms without brutality."

The son of Hungarian immigrants, Sarkozy is the first French president of foreign origin to be elected by universal suffrage. At age 52, he is also the first president of the Fifth French Republic who has no living memory of World War II.

The ministry of the interior reported some 86 percent of the 45 million registered voters turned out at the polls.

Huge Welcome for Suspended Judge Could Mean Trouble for Pakistan President

By Benjamin Sand Islamabad 06 May 2007

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Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry's vehicle, covered with red rose pattels, is on the way to Lahore, 05 May 2007

Pakistan's chief justice was cheered by thousands of supporters in the eastern city of Lahore as he took his challenge to President Pervez Musharraf to the people. Mr. Musharraf suspended the judge in March, and has faced growing public protests ever since. VOA Correspondent Benjamin Sand reports from Islamabad.

Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Lahore to cheer on the former chief justice, Iftakhar Mohammed Chaudhry. They threw flowers in the path of his motorcade, and banged drums to welcome him.

Addressing a crowd of lawyers outside the city's High Court building, Chaudhry urged his supporters to continue their fight to protect the country's independent judiciary.

He says any country based on dictatorship instead of the rule of law inevitably destroys basic rights.

Chaudry did not specifically mention the military-backed government of President Pervez Musharraf, who suspended the judge in March for alleged abuse of power. Nevertheless Chaudry's speech is widely seen here as a direct challenge to the president's authority.

Chaudry took over as chief justice in 2005 and has ruled against the Musharraf government in several high-profile cases.

His supporters insist his firing was to silence the country's independent judiciary before a possible constitutional challenge to the president's re-election later this year.

Massive protests have been held almost weekly in major cities across Pakistan since the suspension. Chaudry is appealing his removal, and a judicial panel is reviewing the case.

On Saturday, President Muhsarraf warned his opponents not to politicize the issue.

Nevertheless the rally in Lahore was by far the largest in several weeks, and is dominating headlines throughout the country. The rally was blacked out of state-owned television, but was shown on private channels.

Political analysts say the enormous turnout suggests the president faces an uphill battle as he tries to defuse the crisis.

Lahore is widely considered the country's unofficial political capital.

It is also President Musharraf's main political base, and experts warn that if he loses backing there, he could be in serious trouble in this year's national elections.

Turkish Parliament Fails to Pick President Again

By Amberin Zaman Istanbul 06 May 2007

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Turkish FM Abdullah Gul, is seen after a vote for presidential elections in Parliament in Ankara, 06 May 2007

The Turkish parliament, dominated by the ruling Justice and Development Party, has failed to get its candidate elected as President in a second round of balloting. Abdullah Gul, the sole candidate running for the country's top post, announced he was withdrawing from the race after the parliament failed to gain a quorum during its morning session. From Istanbul, Amberin Zaman has details for VOA.

It was the latest round in the ongoing standoff between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's pro-Islamic government and Turkey's pro-secular establishment represented by the country's powerful army and opposition parties.

Opposition parties boycotted the session to prevent Foreign Minister Gul from being elevated to the presidency by leaving the government nine votes short of a quorum.

The secularists accuse Prime Minister Erdogan of seeking to steer Turkey towards Islamic rule during his four and a half years in office. They charge that if Gul, a devout Muslim, were to become president he would rubber stamp legislation that would dilute the secular tenets laid down by the founder of modern Turkey, Kemal Ataturk.

The incumbent, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, is a fiercely pro-secular former judge. During his seven year's as president he vetoed government legislation deemed to threaten Turkey's secular system. He is set to step down on May 16.

With Gul's withdrawal, analysts say Mr. Sezer will stay on as a caretaker until a new parliament is elected. To end the deadlock, Erdogan has called for early general elections on July 22.

Opinion on whether Mr. Erdogan and his government have shed their Islamist roots remains sharply divided in Turkey. During the weekend tens of thousands of Turks chanting pro-secular slogans took to the streets in the western cities of Canakkale and Manisa to protest Erdogan.

Several anti-government rallies have been held during the past month in various cities including Ankara, the capital, and Istanbul. They followed threats from the Turkish military, which has overthrown four governments since 1960, to defend secularism by intervening once again if need be.

Rojbin Tugan, a prominent human-rights lawyer from the largely Kurdish province of Hakkari, bordering Iraq and Iran, believes Erdogan's government has done more to improve democratic standards in Turkey than any of its predecessors, including for the country's estimated 12 million Kurds.

Tugan notes that it was because of reforms adopted by Mr. Erdogan that the European Union agreed to open long-delayed membership talks with Turkey in 2005.

Like many commentators, Tugan believes the past week's turmoil reflects a broader struggle between those who want their country to become freer and more transparent and others, including the military, who stand to lose power and influence should Turkey join the European Union.

VOASE0506_Development Report

06 May 2007

As Chinese Investment in Africa Grows, So Do Risks
Deadly attack on oil field in Ethiopia shows the dangers that China may face as it expands its involvement in the continent.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

On April twenty-fourth, rebels in eastern Ethiopia attacked a Chinese-owned oil exploration field in the Ogaden area. They killed sixty-five Ethiopians workers and nine Chinese. Seven other Chinese were kidnapped but released. The Ogaden National Liberation Front took responsibility.

The group said China did not appear to recognize the struggles of the Somali people of Ogaden. The rebels have been fighting the Ethiopian government for more than twenty years. They urged China to cease all cooperation with the government in the area of oil exploration.

Some experts believe China may become more of a target in Africa as it expands its involvement there. Today, Chinese companies operate in most African nations. China has also been investing in local projects like roads, schools and hospitals.

An unidentified man walks past a Chinese trader sitting in front of his shop in Lagos, Nigeria

Ray Cheung writes for Business China, a newsletter published by the Economist Intelligence Unit. He says China has invested in Africa since the nineteen fifties, but mostly within the past five years. By two thousand five, Chinese trade with Africa totaled about forty billion dollars.

Ray Cheung says the government has been urging state-owned companies to operate internationally to help support China's expanding economy. But, he adds, many of the leaders of those companies are not trained in good corporate governance. He says the next generation of business leaders is more international and will have more of the skills needed for places like Africa.

Africans have generally welcomed China's investments. China, in return, gets oil and other natural resources that it needs, like copper and iron. But some say the growing Chinese involvement in Africa could lead to a form of economic colonization.

China has an official policy of noninterference in other countries. But as Adam Wolfe noted in World Politics Watch, China will have to decide how much it can follow that policy in the face of risks like the attack in Ethiopia.

China, for example, has recently urged the government of Sudan to do more to end the violence in Darfur. China has faced international pressure to use its influence in Sudan to help solve the crisis. China National Petroleum is the main buyer of Sudanese oil.

In February, Chinese President Hu Jintao met with Sudan's president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, during an eight-nation trip to Africa.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss.

VOASE0506_This Is America

06 May 2007

Playing in the Sun and Sea at Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket
Why visitors come back summer after summer to these two islands off the coast of Massachusetts.

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ANNOUNCER: Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein. This week on our program, we tell you about two islands in Massachusetts, in the New England area of the northeastern United States. Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket are popular places to visit, especially in the warmer months.

Brant Point Lighthouse in Nantucket, Massachusetts

Both are known for their sailing and sunsets and fun things to do. Martha's Vineyard is also known for its tall cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The island is about thirteen kilometers off the coast and is less than two hundred sixty square kilometers.

Homes designed like those of earlier times line the streets of Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven. These are the major towns on Martha's Vineyard.

For most of the year, the population of Martha's Vineyard is about fifteen thousand. During the summer, more than one hundred thousand people crowd the island. And we do mean crowd. Look around and you might see some Hollywood stars and other faces of the rich and famous.

Some people arrive by boat, including a ship that carries passengers and cars. Others come by plane. Many visitors return year after year.

Now, we continue our story with Shirley Griffith and Rich Kleinfeldt as your travel guides.

VOICE TWO:

The towns and the quieter country areas of Martha's Vineyard all offer places to stay. Small hotels and homes for visitors on the island may not cost much. Other hotels cost hundreds of dollars per night. Some people save money by preparing their own food. Others eat in the many restaurants on the island.

Hungry visitors like the seafood at several famous eating places like the Black Dog Tavern in Vineyard Haven. And they can stop into small stores that sell sweets like ice cream and fudge candy.

During warm weather the Vineyard is a good place for many different activities. People can play golf or catch fish. They can ride in sailboats or motor boats. They can water ski and swim. They can take quiet walks along sandy beaches and among the thick green trees. They can take pictures of birds found around small areas of fresh water or on the old stone walls surrounding many farms.

VOICE ONE:

Many families with children spend their summer holidays in Martha's Vineyard. One of the popular places for families is the Flying Horses Carousel in Oak Bluffs. It is the oldest continually operated merry-go-round ride in the United States. The colorful wood horses that turn in a circle were created in eighteen seventy-six.

One of the best places for children and adults to swim is the Joseph A. Sylvia state beach. The water there is warmer and calmer than at some of the other Vineyard beaches.

Familes also enjoy the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary where they can observe much of the island wildlife. People can walk through more than nine kilometers of fields, trees and wetlands to learn about the plants and animals on the island.

Almost twenty percent of the land on Martha's Vineyard is protected from development. There are other wildlife areas to explore. A flat-topped boat called the On-Time Ferry takes people and cars to a nearby small island, Chappaquiddick.

Chappaquiddick has a white sand beach at the Cape Poge Wildlife Preserve. Many small birds make their homes in the grass on the edge of the sand.

VOICE TWO:

Back on Martha's Vineyard, visitors often take long walks at the foot of the colorful high edges of rock that line the water at Gay Head Cliffs. The white, yellow, red and brown colors of the cliffs deepen as the sun disappears.

People also sit on the beach and on rocks in the fishing village of Menemsha to watch the sunsets. As the sun goes down in the sky it paints yellow, red, and other colors on the clouds. Some people offer a kind of ceremony as they watch the sun disappear into the seas.

Fishing boats rise and fall with the waves. Bells sound to help guide the boats to land as darkness covers the water.

VOICE ONE:

Many people who live all year on the island make their money from the sea. Some of the fishermen and farmers on the island today are related to the Europeans who settled the land centuries ago.

Historians say British mapmaker Bartholomew Gosnold first made a map of the island for the rulers of England in sixteen-oh-two. Gosnold is said to have named the island to honor his baby daughter, Martha.

The Vineyard part of the name came from the many wild grape vines Gosnold found on the island. Later, King Charles of England gave the island to businessman Thomas Mayhew of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The son of Thomas Mayhew established the first European settlement on the island in sixteen forty-two at Edgartown. The Wampanoag Indians taught the settlers to kill whales.

Men in Edgartown and Vineyard Haven earned their money by killing whales until the middle of the nineteenth century. Then, after the Civil War, visitors began to provide most of the islanders' money.

In eighteen thirty-five, the Methodist Church held a group camp meeting in what was to become the town of Oak Bluffs. Some of the campers stayed on and built small homes.

By the middle of the nineteenth century, ships from the American mainland began bringing visitors to the island. Big hotels were built in the town near the edge of the water. Martha's Vineyard was on its way to becoming the visitors' center that it is today.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Many summer visitors also travel to Nantucket, another island in the Atlantic near Massachusetts. They like this island for its beaches, its open land and its trees.

Nantucket is smaller than Martha's Vineyard. It is about fifty kilometers from the Massachusetts coast. Its distance from the mainland causes some Nantucket citizens to say they are true islanders. The only town on Nantucket Island also is called Nantucket.

Nantucket Bookworks owner Wendy Hudson in front of her store in Nantucket, Massachusetts

Artists often paint its waterfront and the small stores along it. But many visitors say the most interesting part of the town is the area of homes. The island is known for its small gray houses with roses growing on them. Signs on some of the houses say they were built as long ago as the seventeenth century.

The public may enter fourteen historic homes now open as museums. Another museum, the Museum of Nantucket History, helps newly arrived mainlanders learn about the land and history of the island.

VOICE ONE:

Humans are not the only visitors to Nantucket. More than three-hundred-fifty kinds of birds visit the island each summer. So people who like to watch birds return year after year.

Nature in general appeals to Nantucket visitors. Many plants and flowers grow wild in open areas of the island. Farmers also grow several kinds of berry fruits. Cranberries are a leading crop. Some people visit Nantucket in the autumn to watch the harvests of the red berries.

People who visit Nantucket enjoy water sports, walking and bicycle riding. They also catch fish for pleasure. Some Nantucket citizens earn money by fishing. Earning their living from the sea comes naturally to people who live on the island.

At one time, hunting for whales was the main job of people on Nantucket, just as it was on Martha's Vineyard.

VOICE TWO:

England gave Nantucket to Thomas Macy in sixteen fifty-nine. Macy made an agreement with the Wampanoag Indians who lived there. Then he sold most of the land to shareholders. Settlers farmed the land. But farming on Nantucket did not succeed very well because the ground was so full of sand.

In sixteen ninety an expert from the mainland taught sailors to catch small whales from boats very close to the land. Years later, strong winds forced a whaling boat further into the ocean. Sailors on that boat caught a sperm whale. That whale provided highly sought oil. Soon the Nantucket sailors were catching many sperm whales.

That accidental event made Nantucket a whaling center. However, whales in the seas near Nantucket died out over time. Nineteenth century sailors from the island had to travel for years to catch whales.

Luckily, visitors had begun to provide earnings for Nantucket by the eighteen seventies. But it was not until the nineteen sixties that providing for visitors became the major industry on Nantucket.

VOICE ONE:

Visitors today to both Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard enjoy almost everything about the islands -- except other visitors. The crowds during the warm season can mean heavy traffic and long lines for services.

Yet, most visitors to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket really enjoy their holidays there. They often say they feel they are escaping from the problems of daily life. And they leave with peaceful memories of watching the red sun disappear into the dark ocean waters around the islands.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER: Ours program was written by Jerilyn Watson and read by Shirley Griffith and Rich Kleinfeldt. I'm Barbara Klein. We hope you can join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

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.