VOASE0723_Science In the News

23 July 2007

Science and Beauty Combine at the US Botanic Garden in Washington
Summer demonstrations show the many differences among America's plant life.

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VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Bob Doughty. This week, we tell what is showing and growing at the United States Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C.

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VOICE ONE:

The United States Botanic Garden is America's plant museum. Congress established the Botanic Garden as a center for the science of growing things. But the Garden is also a center of beauty.

The Botanic Garden has twenty-five thousand plants in its collection. Visitors can see many of them in the Garden's public Conservatory. It is a large stone and glass structure near the United States Capitol building.

VOICE TWO:

A titan arum plant at the US Botanic Garden. It is called the "corpse plant" because its flower smells something like a dead body.

Everywhere you look in the Conservatory, something appeals to your eyes. A visitor can move seemingly from one part of Earth to another in just a few seconds. A short walk takes you from desert to thick forest.

The Conservatory offers examples of plants that provide the makings of medicine. It also has plants of special interest to children. Rare and endangered plants occupy a place all their own.

Many visitors show an interest in the plants of North America and economic plants. Economic plants get their name because they are used in products like food, drinks and wood.

VOICE ONE:

The tradition leading to the present Botanic Garden began almost two hundred years ago. In eighteen sixteen, a cultural group in Washington proposed creating a special garden. This area was to have plants from the United States and other nations.

In eighteen forty-two, the explorer Charles Wilkes donated two hundred fifty four living plants. The plants were carefully kept. After a short time, they found a home in a new greenhouse. The greenhouse was moved to its present home in nineteen thirty-three. That was a year after the opening of nearby Bartholdi Park. This open-air space is also part of the Botanic Garden.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

On a hot summer morning, many people make their way through the Conservatory building. They say the cool air inside feels good. But wetness levels and temperatures are carefully controlled for the health of the plants.

Some of the visitors spend time in the Botanic Garden's seasonal demonstrations, or exhibits. Among the crowd in the open air exhibits are high school students. They study plants on the terrace -- the space around the Conservatory.

Several women wearing hats also walk around the terrace. Then they move west of the building to look at the new National Garden. They watch workers set new plantings in the ground.

VOICE ONE:

The National Garden first officially welcomed the public last October. Private donors and groups added this open-air growing space to the United States Botanic Garden. The Office of the Architect of the Capitol operates the National Garden and all parts of the Botanic Garden, often called the U.S.B.G.

The U.S.B.G. and the American Public Gardens Association organized the temporary exhibits. The exhibits are part of an event called "Celebrating America's Public Gardens." The celebration will last until early October. Twenty botanic gardens from all over the country are represented.

An exhibit called "Green Today, Growing Tomorrows" shows the importance of respect for the future of the environment. A second exhibit is named "A Sense of Place." It shows the great differences among plant life in America. Experts in the study of horticulture and plant science say an important part of an area's identity comes from what that area grows.

VOICE TWO:

The exhibit of the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Hawaii shows plant life of warm climates. The National Tropical Botanical Garden operates four gardens in Hawaii and one in Florida. Dried fronds, or leaves, of palms form the top of a Hawaiian shelter in the Washington exhibit. To most Americans, the Hawaiian plants and trees look unusual. For example, there is ulu, or breadfruit, and the aluha plant from the bellflower family. A nearby banana tree looks more common.

The National Tropical Botanical Garden says saving tropical plants is one of its main purposes. Experts say thirty-three percent of all plant life in the United States could disappear from Earth. An even higher percentage of tropical plant life is threatened.

VOICE ONE:

Another popular exhibit comes from the Heritage Farm. The farm is part of the Rio Grande Botanic Garden in New Mexico. An old red wagon with large wheels contains evidence of nature's products in the American West. The vehicle contains apples, onions, strawberries and mission grapes. It has honey and a honeycomb, the wax cells where bees store the honey. Many kinds of trees, grasses and plants need bees to grow.

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VOICE TWO:

A young man is watering flowers in the National Garden. He takes a long look at roses from the Reiman Gardens at Iowa State University. These flowers are special. They are stronger and require less care than other roses. The university says this is because they were developed to survive the cold winters of Iowa. Scientist Griffith Buck produced them. Mister Buck worked at the university's College of Agriculture from nineteen forty-eight until nineteen eighty-five. He developed ninety kinds of roses.

VOICE ONE:

Several people are taking pictures of the exhibit of the Cleveland Botanical Garden in Ohio. A huge reproduction of a salsa can is marked "Ripe from Downtown Salsa." Real tomatoes and vegetables grow on top of the can.

The salsa mixture contains tomatoes and other healthful foods. Members of the Cleveland Botanical Garden's Green Corps manufacture the salsa. These young food manufacturers are fourteen to nineteen years old. They also attend a special high school while making the salsa.

VOICE TWO:

Dale Chihuly's ''Summer Boat 2006''

The National Garden has another eye-catching object in the form of glass artwork. Dale Chihuly's artwork is called "Summer Boat, two thousand six." Orange, red, green and yellow objects of blown glass fill the boat. It floats on a small area of water toward the west end of the garden. Some visitors say the glass objects look suspiciously like flowers and vegetables.

The North Carolina Arboretum also provided colorful artwork. The arboretum sent a steel sculpture measuring more than four meters long.

Grace Cathey's sculpture is a yellow dahlia on a green stem. The dahlia is a popular flower in the American South. But the sculpture provides more than an appealing artwork. It honors the color that dahlias provide for North Carolina's crafts industry.

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VOICE ONE:

The United States Botanic Garden also provides year-round education in plant life. For example, the U.S.B.G. is currently showing the photography of biologist Amy Lamb. Her pictures hang near the entrance to the Conservatory. Most of the plants seen in the pictures are grown around her home in Bethesda, Maryland.

As a scientist, Miz Lamb says she looks at flowers for more than just their beauty. She studies them to learn the reasons for their forms and colors. Miz Lamb takes cuttings from her plants at several periods of their development. Then she places the cuttings against something black. The results show the smallest hairs and lines.

VOICE TWO:

The Botanic Garden also provides information about insects. A researcher will offer a program on the subject in August. Dayna Lane will explain whether gardeners should step on insects -- or learn to love them. Also in August, the U.S.B.G. will hold four classes in cooperation with an agency of the Department of Agriculture. Scientists with the Department's Agricultural Research Service will explain Research Service projects.

Even people visiting the Botanic Garden for only one day can get horticultural education. Information in the National Garden describes grasses and plants native to the middle-Atlantic Ocean area. It also explains uses for the plants and suggests the best soil for them.

VOICE ONE:

Today, the United States Botanic Garden continues many of the traditions it started long ago. America's plant museum continues to prove that science and beauty go together.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson. Brianna Blake was our producer. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Read and listen to our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again at this time next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

VOASE0722_This Is America

22 July 2007

New Movie Musical 'Hairspray' Takes You Back to the 1960s
New movie stars John Travolta as a woman.

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I’m Doug Johnson.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. Today we play music from the new movie about teenagers in the nineteen sixties called “Hairspray.”

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VOICE ONE:

“Hairspray” opened in the United States last weekend. It is the movie version of a popular musical play in New York City. That musical has been playing on Broadway since two thousand two. It won several Tony Awards, including best musical, the following year. Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman wrote the music for the play and movie.

But "Hairspray" really began life in nineteen eighty-eight as a funny movie written and directed by John Waters. It is about rock and roll music and relations between black and white teenagers. It takes place in Baltimore, Maryland, during the civil rights movement of the nineteen sixties.

Nikki Blonsky in scene from "Hairspray"

“Hairspray” is a funny story about teenagers and their music. The main character is a teenage girl named Tracy Turnblad. Tracy is a big girl. She is overweight. She also has “big hair.” She wears her hair in a high hairstyle that was popular back then. She keeps it in place using hairspray. Tracy loves music. And she loves to dance. After school, she and her friends watch other teenagers dance on a popular local television show, the "Corny Collins Show."

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VOICE TWO:

Tracy’s dream comes true. She is chosen to be one of the dancers on the show. She likes one of the male dancers, Link Larkin. Zac Efron, as Link, sings a love song to Tracy called “It Takes Two.”

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

John Travolta as Edna in "Hairspray"

Tracy becomes very popular after appearing on the television show. The owner of a clothing store for large women wants to make Tracy a model for his clothing. Tracy wants her mother, Edna Turnblad, to help her become famous. Edna is also a very large woman. She works at home washing other people’s clothes. She does not like to leave her house. Tracy tells her mother she must take part in all of the excitement of life. Nikki Blonsky, as Tracy, sings “Welcome to the Sixties.”

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Edna Turnblad, Tracy’s mother, looks unusual. That is because she is played by the famous actor John Travolta, dressed like a large woman. Listen as Edna sings about her love for her husband, Wilbur.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

All the dancers on the "Corny Collins Show" are white. However, once a month, the show permits black teenagers to dance on the show. Motormouth Maybelle, who owns a record store, organizes and leads that show. Tracy believes that black teenagers and white teenagers should be able to dance together on the show all the time. She and Maybelle organize a civil rights demonstration. But it turns into a riot and the protesters are arrested. Later they are released from jail. Maybelle tells about her own struggle for equal rights. Queen Latifah sings “I Know Where I’ve Been.”

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The television show organizes a contest called “Miss Teenage Hairspray.” The people at the event vote for the teenage girl they like best. The event is broadcast on television across the country. The broadcast is paid for by a company that makes hairspray. All of the girls in the contest use the product to keep their large hairstyles in place. James Marsden as Corny Collins sings about hairspray.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The “Miss Teenage Hairspray” contest includes a dance competition. All of the teenagers, both black and white, join Tracy in the contest. They dance together on nationwide television for the first time. And they all sing “You Can’t Stop the Beat.”

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Shelley Gollust and produced by Caty Weaver. To learn more about American life, and to download transcripts and audio archives of our programs, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Doug Johnson. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE0722_Development Report

22 July 2007

Mandela Forms 'Elders' to Work on World Problems
The former South African president brings together a group that includes Jimmy Carter and Kofi Annan.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela, surrounded from left by his wife Graca Machel, British singer Peter Gabriel, British entrepreneur Richard Branson and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter

Former South African president Nelson Mandela celebrated his eighty-ninth birthday last week by launching "the Elders." This is a group of men and women with almost one thousand years of collective experience to deal with world issues. Among them are former president Jimmy Carter and former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan.

Former South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu will be the chairman. Other members include Indian social activist Ela Bhatt, former Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland and former Irish president Mary Robinson. Bangladeshi economist and Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus and former Chinese foreign minister Li Zhaoxing are also Elders.

Nelson Mandela presented the group at a news conference in Johannesburg with his wife, Graca Machel, a children's rights activist. One chair was empty. It represented the final Elder: Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader under house arrest in Burma.

The idea for the group came from British businessman Richard Branson and musician Peter Gabriel. They proposed the idea to Mister Mandela and his wife several years ago. Mister Branson, along with the U.N. Foundation and private donors, has helped finance the group.

The Elders say their work will not be in conflict with the United Nations or other international groups. Instead, they say they hope to work alongside such organizations.

Mister Mandela says the Elders will use their skills and collective wisdom to look for solutions to problems such as AIDS, climate change and longtime conflicts. The idea is that they can talk to anyone they please or get involved in any issue they wish because they do not represent governments.

The group plans to hold videoconferences and also to meet in person two times a year.

Some people may wonder how much a group of mostly retired leaders can influence world issues. Nelson Mandela himself has said he plans to take retirement seriously. He left office in nineteen ninety-nine and announced his retirement from public life in two thousand four.

His involvement on the council is expected to be largely ceremonial. But he says he believes in the Elders because each member is fiercely independent. They are free, he says, to put the needs of the world's people first.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. For more development news, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.

Turkey Electing New Government

By Dorian Jones Istanbul 21 July 2007

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Turkish voters head to the polls Sunday to elect a new government. From Istanbul, Dorian Jones reports for VOA that the election is viewed by the ruling Justice and Development Party and its nationalist rivals as a key test for country's secular democracy.

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses an election rally of his Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party, 20 July 2007

Candidates of the 14 competing parties tried to win over voters until the last minute in what has been an exceptionally bitter campaign. The opposition parties charge the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a threat to the secular state.

The election was called four months early after the opposition refused to agree to the ruling party's candidate for president, Abdullah Gul, saying his Islamic background presented a threat to Turkey's secular status.

Political scientist Ali Carkoglu teaches at Istanbul's Sabanci University. He says the opposition used the deadlock over the presidency to good advantage during the campaign.

"I think the opposition parties have very successfully from their perspective made the case that the still unresolved election of the president presents a salient threat to the secularist republic principles," he said.

The first task of the incoming parliament will be to elect the next president, who has important powers in appointing key officials, including members of the constitutional court.

Prime Minister Erdogan, in his campaign, has emphasized Turkey's economic advances during his five years as prime minister, and it is in large part because of the country's improving economy that Mr. Erdogan's party is expected to win.

But in the last few weeks, according to polls, his Justice and Development Party has been losing votes to the far right National Action Party, which has strongly criticized Mr. Erdogan over the increasing attacks by Kurdish separatist forces in the Kurdish regions of southeastern Turkey.

Dozens of Kurdish nationalists are standing as independents in the southeast of the country, with as many 35 expected to enter parliament.

Price For Prized Himalayan Fungus Soars to Record High

By Steve Herman Thimpu, Bhutan 21 July 2007

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A fungus that grows out of the head of dead caterpillars has evolved into a lucrative pursuit for farmers and others seeking riches in the Himalayas. This year the elusive medicinal mushroom, known as nature's Viagra, is fetching record prices, and in some cases has led to armed clashes. VOA's Steve Herman recently went to the Bhutanese capital of Thimpu to found out why.

A closeup shot of harvested cordyceps

To scientists the fungus that invades caterpillars' bodies and kills its host is known as cordyceps sinensis.

The people of Bhutan refer to it as yarchagumba where it has long been a folk medicine. For buyers in China it is a remedy for everything from anemia to impotence. And it is rapidly becoming a popular herbal treatment in the United States and Europe.

Sellers showing up at Bhutan's annual cordyceps auctions this month are finding very receptive buyers. The fungus is fetching a record price of nearly $9,000 a kilogram, an increase of 250 percent from last year. In the early 1990's, it could be had for as little as $5 a kilo.

One of the buyers at the auctions, Bio Bhutan managing director Karma Yangzom, explains what traders believe is causing the most recent price surge.

Karma Yangzom (center) inspecting cordyceps for sale at auction

"This year in the world market the supply has gone down, because the harvest was not good in China and Tibet," she noted. "They were able to harvest a lot of cordyceps in Nepal but that was seized by the Maoist rebels which left only the Bhutanese cordyceps available in the world market."

Even in the best of times collecting cordyceps is more art than science. Some farmers and herders abandon their crops and animals in Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet to crawl flat on the harsh terrain more than 4,000 meters above sea level, hoping to spot the fungus protruding from the soil.

Nepal banned collecting cordyceps until 2001. In Bhutan, a similar prohibition was in place until 2004 to protect the rare fungus. Now limited trade is permitted so farmers can supplement meager incomes.

With prices so high for the fungus, harvesters are willing to use violence to protect supplies. A human rights organization in Hong Kong reported that earlier this month, gunfights broke out among groups of ethnic Tibetans fighting over the right to harvest cordyceps in southwestern China.

Bhutanese exporter Karma Yangzom and other buyers, hoping to satisfy a swelling demand overseas, are not satisfied with what has been brought to this season's auctions.

"Usually the price is very much based on the quality," she added. "But this year in the auctions everything has become so crazy. In some cases, even the poor quality cordyceps is fetching very high prices because the competition is more, because the demand is high in the five auctions that we've attended not much has come into the auctions in terms of quantity. It has been very low, so everybody is competing for it."

Officials here say some 700 kilograms is exported annually - about one-third of Bhutan's estimated potential yield. But many of those hardy enough to brave the climate to search for it come up empty-handed. The lucky ones make it to the auctions, some clutching as little as a few precious grams. But even that now brings enough to provide several months of food and other necessities for a typical rural Himalayan family.

India Elects First Woman President Amid Controversy

By Steve Herman New Delhi 21 July 2007

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India has elected its first woman president. Results show a landslide victory for a long-time loyalist of the country's foremost political dynasty. But as VOA's Steve Herman reports from New Delhi, the selection of Pratibha Patil for the figurehead post comes after what Indian analysts are describing as one of the most bitter presidential elections there in decades.

Pratibha Patil (file photo)

It was a landslide victory for Pratibha Patil, 72, the governing coalition's choice for president. The long-time Congress Party ally defeated, by nearly a two to one margin, India's vice president, Bhairon Singh Shekawhat, 83, who was backed by the opposition.

The results for the largely ceremonial post were announced Saturday, two days after local and national level legislators voted by secret ballot.

Officials say the governing coalition candidate garnered 638,116 votes to the vice president's 331,306 votes.

The new president, moments after the results were announced, briefly spoke to supporters gathered in front of her residence.

"I am grateful to the people of India and to the men and women of India," she said. "And this is a victory of the principles, which our Indian people uphold. Once again, I thank every one of you. Thank you."

Ms. Patil, a lawyer by training and largely unknown nationally until her nomination, has close links to the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty and was a steadfast loyalist of India's first female prime minister, the iron-fisted Indira Gandhi.

The former Rajasthan governor's election comes after weeks of mudslinging by the opposition, which questioned her fitness to serve. It was alleged that she protected her brother in a murder investigation and had allegedly been involved in numerous financial irregularities. She also raised eyebrows by stating that one of her disciples had channeled a dead religious leader who proclaimed that Ms. Patil would soon be handed "great responsibility."

With legal proceedings pending against members of her family, some observers question whether India's first female president is likely to have a controversy-free five-year term as did her predecessor in what is supposed to be a non-political post. She succeeds the popular APJ Abdul Kalam, one of the country's most distinguished scientists, who chose not to stand for another term.

VOASE0720_In the News

20 July 2007

Intelligence Report Says al-Qaida Remains Top Threat to US Security
On another issue, Bush appoints a cabinet group to look for ways to make sure food and other imported goods are safe.

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

A new report says al-Qaida is still, and will remain, the major threat to the United

Firemen near the wreckage of the World Trade Center in New York. Al Qaida terrorists hijacked two passenger airplanes and crashed them into the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.

States. The report is known as a National Intelligence Estimate. Officials this week released only what are called the key judgments of the sixteen American intelligence agencies.

The organization led by Osama bin Laden is said to have re-established itself as a center of worldwide Islamic terrorism. The report says al-Qaida operates from the safety of Pakistan's tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan.

An estimate last year said al-Qaida was becoming less organized. But Ted Gistaro, a national intelligence officer, says that appears to have changed. He says al-Qaida has become more organized again and seeks to extend its reach, especially with the group called al-Qaida in Iraq.

The report says al-Qaida is expected to intensify efforts to put operatives in the United States. But it also says increased worldwide efforts to fight terrorism have restricted the group's ability to attack the United States homeland again. It says terrorist groups now see the country as a harder target to strike than on September eleventh, two thousand one.

President Bush, commenting on the report, said al-Qaida is strong today, but not nearly as strong as before the September eleventh attacks. He says the reason why is because of efforts, in his words, "to defeat them where we find them."

Peter Zeihan is with Stratfor, a private intelligence company in Texas. He agrees that al-Qaida leaders want to launch another major attack in the United States. But he believes they lack the ability.

Another finding is that Hezbollah in Lebanon may be more likely to consider attacking the United States over the next three years. The report says this is possible if it sees the United States as a direct threat to the group or Iran.

In Congress, lawmakers from both parties used the intelligence estimate to support their arguments over Iraq war policy. Republicans said the report shows the continued need to fight al-Qaida in Iraq. Democrats said it shows the war has created new terrorists while permitting al-Qaida to re-organize in Pakistan.

On Wednesday, Republican senators blocked an attempt to withdraw troops from Iraq by April. This followed an all-night debate called by Democratic leaders to persuade more Republicans to support it.

Lawmakers are expected to return to the Iraq debate in September. Congress wants the American ambassador and top commander in Iraq to report then on the progress of the recent troop increase.

For Americans, not all safety concerns involve terrorism. There is growing debate about the safety of imported goods. Attention has centered on China after recalls of a number of products made there.

On Wednesday, President Bush directed a group of cabinet members to look for ways to make sure food and other imports are safe. They have sixty days, possibly longer, to identify steps that can be taken without adding new costs.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.

US Ambassador to Iraq Faces Tough Questions in Congress

By Deborah Tate Capitol Hill 19 July 2007

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U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker Thursday offered a mixed picture of the political progress being made by Iraqi leaders in a briefing to U.S. lawmakers by video link from Baghdad. Lawmakers, in turn, expressed impatience that the Iraqi government has not done more and reiterated calls for a drawdown in the U.S. military presence in that country. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

Amb. Ryan Crocker, Feb 2007

Ambassador Crocker told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Iraqi government has made some progress, but that much more needs to be done.

"I certainly will not try to present to you the Iraqi government as a model of smoothly functioning efficiency, because it is not," he said. "It faces considerable difficulties. The stresses, the strains, the tensions of society are reflected in the government, and if there is one word I would use to sum up the atmosphere in Iraq on the street, in the countryside, in the neighborhoods, and at the national level, that word would be 'fear'".

In a report to Congress last week, the administration found that Iraq made progress on less than half of 18 political, economic and military benchmarks.

Lawmakers expressed their frustration with the Iraqi government over the pace of progress. Some of the most critical comments came from members of President Bush's Republican Party.

"How long is enough time? We are in our fifth year, and we still see no political reconciliation occurring. Actually, I think we are going 'backward.," said Republican Senator Chuck Hagel from Nebraska.

Hagel is one of a growing number of Republicans who have called for a new U.S. strategy toward Iraq, one that reduces the U.S. military presence in that country and emphasizes diplomatic efforts.

Senator Richard Lugar (file photo)

The top Republican on the committee, Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, has proposed legislation calling on President Bush to develop contingency plans for Iraq, including a drawdown in U.S. combat forces.

"We must now prepare for what comes next," he said.

Lugar asked Crocker if the U.S. government is developing any such contingency plans. The ambassador responded that he was not aware of such planning, and said he was focusing on implementing President Bush's troop surge strategy.

Lugar cited media reports which he said suggested that inter-agency planning for a potentially difficult redeployment from Iraq had been halted by what he called "high-level political pressures" in Washington.

Crocker's testimony comes a day after Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic-sponsored proposal for a withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of next April.

Traveling in Tennessee, President Bush - in an apparent reference to the congressional debate over the troop pullout - said current U.S. strategy is on the right track.

"We will succeed unless we lose our nerve," he said. "We will succeed. Liberty has the capacity to conquer tyranny every time."

Lawmakers are expected to return to the Iraq debate in September, when Ambassador Crocker and the top U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, brief Congress about the success of the surge strategy.

Turkey Holds Crucial Election Sunday

By Sonja Pace Istanbul 19 July 2007

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Historic Galata Tower with flags of political parties, in Istanbul, 19 Jul 2007

Voters in Turkey go to the polls Sunday to elect a new parliament, which in turn will form the new government. More than a dozen political parties and a slate of independent candidates are vying for the 550 seats, but as VOA's Sonja Pace reports from Istanbul, there is a widespread belief that the country's future direction is at stake.

It is election time in Turkey and voters are ready to have their say.

The ruling Justice and Development Party, the AKP, is out in force. Its banners are hard to miss and its leader, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, makes his pitch to voters.

The party takes credit for a burgeoning economy, growing foreign investment and for launching talks to join the European Union.

Sheyma Dueje

AKP activist Sheyma Devueje says the party's last 4.5 years in power are a testimony to its success.

She also dismisses opposition claims that the AKP wants to impose an Islamic state or force women to cover their hair. She says the party judges no one by what they wear or how they look.

Critics do not agree, and the main opposition faction, the Republican Peoples' Party, the CHP, is leading the charge.

The opposition cites the AKP's Islamist roots - the fact that its main leaders are openly devout Muslims whose wives wear the traditional Islamic headscarf.

And, they dismiss arguments from AKP leaders that being a devout Muslim does not conflict with upholding the constitution or presiding over a democratic state.

Oya Tuemer

CHP activist Oya Tuemer is among those with suspicions about the AKP.

"They have a secret agenda that they do not want to tell us," said Tuemer. "This is that they want Islam to rule this country."

Tuemer insists the AKP wants to take Turkey backwards, to the days of the Ottoman Empire that long held sway over this region. The CHP, on the other hand, sees itself as the guardian of secularism, as espoused by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.

Mustafa Akyol

Political columnist Mustafa Akyol tells VOA this election highlights that divide.

"This election in Turkey will be kind of a referendum on the current government - the current government led by the Justice and Development Party [AKP], which defines itself as conservative, but some secularists see as Islamist," said Akyol.

The vote is seen as equally crucial for the secularist agenda, as political science professor Ali Carkoglu of Sabanci University, outside Istanbul, explains.

Ali Carkoglu

"From the perspective of the secularists this is an important election because they believe that unless this rise of Islamism is stopped, the Islamists will take over the whole state system," he said.

Carkoglu believes these secularist fears are overblown.

Despite such deep ideological divides, opinion polls show most Turks rate problems of daily life highest on their list of concerns, problems of unemployment and the ongoing battle against Kurdish separatist.

The AKP is expected to win the most votes in Sunday's elections. The CHP is said likely to come in second and at least one other party is given a chance of passing the 10 percent vote threshold to make it into parliament. And, polls show 30 to 40 independent candidates also have a good chance of gaining a seat.

Russia to Stop Counter-Terrorism Cooperation with Britain

By Peter Fedynsky Moscow 19 July 2007

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Russia has escalated its diplomatic dispute with Britain, expelling four British diplomats and also suspending bilateral cooperation in the struggle against terrorism. VOA Correspondent Peter Fedynsky has details from Moscow.

Mikhail Kamynin speaks in the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, 19 Jul 2007

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin says four British diplomats must leave Russia within 10 days. Moscow will also stop issuing visas to British government officials. These are in-kind reactions to London's expulsion Monday of four Russian diplomats.

The Kremlin response, however, takes the dispute a step further.

The Russian official says that to his country's regret, measures announced by London on July 16 make it impossible for Russia to cooperate with Britain in the struggle against terrorism.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called the expulsion of the four British diplomats "completely unjustified."

British-Russian ties have deteriorated since the Kremlin refused to extradite Alexander Lugovoi, a former KGB intelligence officer accused of murdering Kremlin-critic Alexander Litvinenko last year in London. Litvinenko was also an ex-KGB officer.

Meanwhile, the international community is calling for a resolution to the crisis.

In Berlin, the German Foreign Ministry announced that Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will meet Friday with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, for brief but intensive talks about the situation.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Sky News Television that Britain has nothing to gain by abandoning Russia. Secretary Rice added that Russia should cooperate fully with Britain and extradite Lugovoi to face trial on murder charges in Britain.

Portugal, in its capacity as current head of the European Union's rotating presidency, expressed disappointment with Moscow's failure to cooperate with British authorities.

Russian officials responded to the Portuguese statement with surprise, saying selective application of European solidarity could harm relations between Russia and the European Union.

Kremlin officials say their country's constitution prohibits the extradition of Russian citizens.

Both sides have said they do not want worsening diplomatic relations to affect tourism, exchange programs or business. But political observer Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of Russia in Global Affairs, a Moscow-based monthly magazine, says business will inevitably suffer.

Lukyanov says those who would come to Russia to participate in big projects will not do so at the present time. He says he believes British companies will not get permission to come.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Kamynin said Russia hopes common sense will prevail and Russian-British relations will be relieved of, as he put it, artificial burdens.

Brazilian Prosecutors Call for Airport to Suspend Flights During Crash Investigation

By Brian Wagner Miami 19 July 2007

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Brazilian prosecutors are seeking to suspend flights at the country's busiest airport while investigators study a plane crash that killed at least 189 people. In Miami, VOA's Brian Wagner reports aviation officials have pledged to address safety concerns, without halting service at the key airport.

Firefighters work at the site where a TAM airlines jet crashed Tuesday killing at least 189 people in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 19 July 2007

Federal prosecutors filed a motion to halt operations at Congonhas airport one day after the TAM Airlines jet flew off a runway and burst into flames. Prosecutors asked a judge to suspend flights until aviation officials can ensure that it is safe to continue operations at the airport, in the heart of Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo.

Jose Carlos Pereira, the president of Brazil's aviation authority, Infraero, said halting flights at the nation's busiest airport would be an excessive and radical measure.

He said any suspension would affect the 20 million passengers who use that airport, and said it could trigger chaos in the airline industry.

Federal police officers inspect the Congonhas airport runway, as a TAM airlines jet prepares to land, in Sao Paulo, 19 Jul 2007

Flights resumed at Congonhas airport early Wednesday, but aviation officials say the runway involved in the crash will remain closed until an investigation is complete.

TAM airline executives said the Airbus 320 aircraft was in perfect condition and the pilots were experienced.

Recovery efforts were continuing at the site where the plane left the runway, crossed a busy city street and crashed into a cargo terminal and gas station. Officials say the bodies of most of the victims have been recovered, but work is slow because of fears that the heavily damaged buildings may collapse.

Brazilian investigators are working with experts from the plane's maker, Airbus, as well as officials from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.

Jim Hall, a former chairman of the U.S. agency, said the probe into the crash will consider numerous factors, including rainy conditions at the time of the accident.

"They will be looking at the runway, the runway surface," said Hall. "They will be looking at weather information that was available, weather radar [and] the transmissions between the [control] tower and the aircraft."

Police officers carry remains of victims from the crash of a TAM airlines commercial jet in Sao Paulo, 18 July 2007

Earlier this year, airport officials resurfaced the runway used by the TAM flight, but they said workers had not yet cut grooves into the pavement to help channel rain water.

Hall said he has flown into Congonhas airport, and said he recalls that it has a very short runway and is located in a dense urban area. He said Brazilian officials have been aware of safety concerns for some time.

"The main concern is the length of that runway, and a lack obviously of any type of adequate safety area at the end of the runway," he added.

Hall says one possible safety measure is placing a surface called "crushable concrete" at the end of the tarmac to help stop runaway airplanes. He said several U.S. airports use the material that allows a plane's wheels to sink in, and slow the aircraft down.

Suicide Bombings Strike Pakistan as President Calls for Unity Against Extremism

By Benjamin Sand Islamabad 19 July 2007

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Separate bomb blasts have killed more than 52 people in Pakistan, and the country is bracing for more violence. A wave of attacks in recent days has left at least 160 people dead, and has put Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf on the defensive. VOA Correspondent Benjamin Sand reports from Islamabad.

The site of a bomb explosion in Hub near Karachi, 19 Jul 2007

The first bomb ripped through a crowded marketplace Thursday morning in Hub, in the southern province of Baluchistan.

Later, a suicide bomber targeted a police training center in northern Pakistan, killing at least seven people.

Major General Saleem Nawaz, commander of security forces in the south, says the Baluchistan blast occurred as a convoy of Chinese engineers was passing through the area.

He says police and paramilitary forces were guarding the convoy, and no Chinese nationals were reported injured in the attack.

Chinese officials have pressed Pakistan to provide greater protection for its citizens working here, following a recent series of deadly attacks.

A violent though fairly limited insurgency has destabilized Baluchistan for several years.

Tribal militants there are seeking greater control over local resources, and have targeted Chinese contractors in the past.

Authorities say it is not clear if Thursday's attack was carried out by separatist rebels or Islamist extremists.

However, religious militants have vowed bloody revenge after government commandos stormed a radical, pro-Taleban mosque in Islamabad last week.

Smoke rises from Lal Masjid during heavy gunbattle between Pakistan troops and militants in Islamabad, 10 July 2007

An eight-day siege and assault on the mosque left more than 100 people dead, and the action appears to have sparked a militant backlash. Officials say more than 140 people have been killed in attacks since the raid.

Thursday's bombing of the police training center in northern Pakistan was the sixth such attack in as many days.

The bomber rammed his car, reportedly full of explosives, into the compound's outer gate.

Taleban and al-Qaida militants are thought to be active in that area.

State Minister of Information Tariq Azim says President Pervez Musharraf has no intention of backing down in the face of the militant threat.

"He's as determined as ever. Suicide attacks will not deter him," said Azim. "He's as determined to fight terrorists as he always has been."

Political analysts say the attacks have sharply increased the pressure on Mr. Musharraf, who faces mounting opposition from both religious extremists and the country's pro-democracy moderates.

He has scheduled national elections later this year, but his critics fear he may postpone the vote and blame the surging violence.

On Wednesday, he insisted he would not declare a state of emergency or delay the election.

VOASE0719_Economics Report

19 July 2007

Junior Achievement Teaches Business Skills to Young People
Volunteers help students around the world understand real-life economics.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Junior Achievement is an international movement to educate young people about business and economics. The purpose is to help them prepare to succeed in a world economy.

Vesna Jeremic, left, leader of Podunavlje County, Serbia, purchases ''stocks'' from students in Junior Achievement

The organization is the largest of its kind. JA Worldwide says it reaches about seven and one-half million students each year in nearly one hundred countries. Programs begin in elementary school and continue through middle and high school. The education is based on the ideas of market-based economics and entrepreneurship.

Junior Achievement began in nineteen nineteen in Springfield, Massachusetts. Two business leaders, Horace Moses and Theodore Vail, joined with Senator Murray Crane of Massachusetts to start it.

For more than fifty years, Junior Achievement programs met after school. They began as a group of business clubs. The organization started with a small number of children ages ten to twelve.

But in nineteen seventy-five, Junior Achievement began to offer classes during school hours. Many more young people joined the organization once it began to teach business skills as part of the school day.

Volunteers from the community teach about businesses, how they are organized, and how products are made and sold. They also teach about the American and world economies, the money system, industry and trade.

The Junior Achievement Company Program teaches young people how entrepreneurship works. They learn about business by operating their own companies.

The students develop a product and sell shares in their company. They use the money to buy the materials they need to make their product, which then they sell. Finally, they return the profits to the people who bought shares in the company.

Junior Achievement says more than two hundred fifty thousand volunteers support its programs around the world. In the United States alone, there are more than twenty-one thousand places that hold Junior Achievement events.

Junior Achievement Incorporated and Junior Achievement International combined their operations in two thousand four. They formed Junior Achievement Worldwide. Its headquarters are in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Shelley Gollust and Mario Ritter. Transcripts and archives are at voaspecialenglish.com where you can also find a link to the JA Web site, ja.org. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOASE0719_American Mosaic

19 July 2007

Kids Love Shoes on Wheels, but Adults Turn Against 'Heelys'
A new environmental magazine called Verdant. And a listener from Iran wants the details about singer George Michael and his 1984 hit ''Careless Whisper.''

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

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

We listen to music from George Michael …

Learn about some popular shoes for children …

And report about a new environmental magazine.

Verdant

HOST:

Finding new ways to improve the world’s environment and fight climate change is becoming an important industry. “Going Green” has become a way to make money. Verdant Magazine is a new publication that wants to be part of the “Going Green” market. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Verdant Magazine says it gives “Smarter Choices for Better Living.” It calls itself a high-end

magazine that provides information about environmentally friendly living. The magazine says it is fun while also being informative. It tells its readers about many things including travel, design, art and reports about products.

The first issue came out in May. Some articles are fun to look at, such as the pictures of environmentally safe objects for the home. These include computer devices covered in carved wood. Cloth colored with environmentally safe chemicals. And even art made from recycled materials.

One article tells about how to have a garden of plants that does not require a lot of water. The article shows that by using rocks and special plants people can have outdoor areas that do not waste water. Some stories are serious, such as the article about the future of hydrogen cars. Other articles are more fun, such as one about different uses for chocolate.

The next issue of Verdant will come out at the end of August. So far, people have given mixed opinions of the first issue on Web sites such as treehugger.com. Some people think Verdant is aimed only at rich people who can buy the objects in the articles. Some think the magazine itself is a waste since it is printed on paper. But others think the magazine offers environmental information in a form that is easy to use. If you want to decide for yourself, visit the magazine’s Web site at verdantmag.com.

Heelys

HOST:

One of the most popular activities among children in the United States this summer involves a costly pair of shoes. But adults are warning about the possible dangers of the shoes with wheels known as Heelys. Faith Lapidus explains.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Heelys are shoes that can roll. They are sports shoes with a wheel in the heel. The wheels can be easily removed from the shoes. So a person wearing them can either walk or ride! Heelys are sold in at least fifty countries around the world. They cost between fifty and one hundred dollars. They were first sold in the United States in two thousand.

Heelys Incorporated is one of the fastest growing businesses in the United States. Reports say the company has produced more than ten million pairs of shoes. And it had almost two hundred million dollars in sales last year.

Roger Adams invented Heelys because he wanted to be able to roller skate without changing his shoes. He invented a shoe that could roll if the wearer moved the weight of his body toward the back.

Doctors, however, say wearing Heelys can be dangerous. One doctor told a newspaper in the state of Iowa that the shoes would be safer if the wheels were in the front of the shoe instead of the back. He said a person’s natural balance is to the front of the foot, not the back.

One medical study last month in the journal Pediatrics warned of the possible dangers of wearing Heelys. It said doctors at a hospital in Dublin, Ireland reported treating sixty-seven children for injuries over a ten-week period last summer. Doctors in Singapore reported that thirty-seven children were treated for injuries during seven months in two thousand four. Most of the injuries reported involved broken hands, arms and ankles and cracked heads. The children were not wearing any kind of protective equipment when they fell.

The Heelys company recently released the result of a study it had requested. The study found that rolling on Heelys is safer than roller skating, skateboarding or riding scooters. Still, the company and many doctors suggest that children wear protective equipment on their heads, arms and legs. But children say they do not like to do this. Many say they expect to fall while learning to use Heelys and they just get up and try again.

George Michael

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes from Iran. Saeed Majidi wants to know about George Michael and his famous song “Careless Whisper.”

George Michael

George Michael is one of the world's most successful male recording artists. He has sold more than eighty million records around the world. George Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in London in nineteen sixty-three. His father was from the Greek side of the island of Cyprus and changed his name to Jack Panos when he moved to England.

George Michael and his high school friend Andrew Ridgeley formed the music band Wham! in nineteen eighty-one. They released two albums, “Fantastic” and “Make it Big.” The song “Careless Whisper” came out in nineteen eighty-four. George Michael wrote it when he was only seventeen years old.

“Careless Whisper” became one of the most popular songs of the nineteen eighties.

(MUSIC)

In nineteen eighty-six the members of Wham! broke up. But George Michael continued to write and sing hit songs. The next year he released the album “Faith.” It earned him many awards. They include a Grammy Award for Best Album and two American Music Awards for Favorite Male Vocalist. Here George Michael sings the title song, "Faith."

(MUSIC)

George Michael has always been politically and socially active. He has given earnings from songs and concerts to organizations that deal with AIDS and children’s health. This summer, he has been performing more than thirty concerts all over Europe. The Twenty-Five Live Tour is celebrating his first twenty-five years in music. The tour will end next month.

HOST:

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

It was written by Dana Demange and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

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