Music Helps New Orleans Revive

By Greg Flakus New Orleans 04 May 2007

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

Troy Andrews

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

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

Michael Ballard playing bass

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

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

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

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

Don Marshall

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

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

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

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

Polls Put Sarkozy Ahead in French Presidential Election

By Anita Elash Paris 04 May 2007

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Queen Elizabeth Tours Colonial Settlement of Jamestown, Virginia

By Margaret Besheer Washington 04 May 2007

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Ron Corben Bangkok 04 May 2007

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

VOASE0504_In the News

04 May 2007

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

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

VOASE0503_Economics Report

03 May 2007

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

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Robert Nardelli

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

VOASE0503_American Mosaic

03 May 2007

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

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

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

We answer a question about two famous American women …

Play music by Akon …

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

Smithsonian Craft Show

HOST:

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

FAITH LAPIDUS:

A ceramic container by Jennifer McCurdy

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

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

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

A work by Joh Ricci

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

Helen Keller and Sally Ride

HOST:

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

Helen Keller

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

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

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

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

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

Sally Ride

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

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

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

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

Akon

HOST:

A man in demand

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

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN:

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

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

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

(MUSIC)

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

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

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today. It was written by Lawan Davis, Dana Demange and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver was the producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

Send your questions about American life to mosaic@voanews.com. Please include your full name and mailing address. Or write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, U.S.A.

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

Negotiations Begin on New War Funding Bill

By Paula Wolfson White House 02 May 2007

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New Orleans Jazz Fest Gears Up for Weekend Finale

By Doug Levine Washington 02 May 2007

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Democrats to Keep Pressure on Bush Over Iraq Funding

By Dan Robinson Capitol Hill 02 May 2007

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

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

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

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

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

Republican whip Roy Blunt made this comment to VOA:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

African Union Peacekeepers Take Up Duties in Somalia

By Alisha Ryu Mogadishu 02 May 2007

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In the Somali capital, Mogadishu, several days of calm have allowed some African Union peacekeepers from Uganda to move out of their barracks for the first time since their arrival in March. From Mogadishu, VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has this report.

Africa Union (AU) troops patrol a street in Mogadishu, 01 May 2007

African Union troops in white armored personnel carriers rumbled through neighborhoods near the Mogadishu Airport Wednesday morning, giving many Somalis their first glimpse of the 1,400 Ugandan peacekeepers.

Some of the peacekeepers were reported sent to the outskirts of the city to protect campsites of tens of thousands of Somalis displaced during three months of vicious fighting between Somali insurgents and Ethiopian troops, who are backing the transitional government.

Other peacekeepers remained on stand-by inside a dilapidated compound in a strategic area of Mogadishu, known as Kilometer Four.

The troop commander in the area, Lieutenant Michael Okelokengo, tells VOA that because the peacekeepers are still assessing the security situation after clashes in Mogadishu ended five days ago, his men have not yet conducted extensive patrols in the city.

"At the moment, we do not go much into patrols because of the situation as it used to be," he said. We just do our observations and at times, small patrols."

A European Union security advisor recently criticized the Ugandan peacekeepers for failing to act in preventing the deaths of nearly 1,500 Somali civilians in the worst fighting the capital has seen in nearly two decades.

But supporters say the peacekeepers had little chance to intervene because they, too, have been the target of near daily attacks since they arrived in Mogadishu two months ago.

Anti-Ethiopian and anti-government insurgents, including Islamist fighters, welcomed the Ugandans with a mortar barrage. Continuing attacks forced the peacekeepers to largely confine themselves to the area around the airport.

The Ugandan troops, who have a six-month mandate, expect at least 6,500 more peacekeepers from several African Union member states to back them up.

But those troops have not arrived, placing most of the burden of securing Mogadishu on Ethiopian troops, whose mandate is to protect the transitional government. They are unlikely to withdraw from Somalia until the African Union peacekeepers are fully deployed.

On Monday, a top Ugandan commander cautioned the Somali government against declaring victory over the insurgents. He says they have merely gone into hiding and have not been defeated.

Indian Conservationists Question Plan to Repopulate Empty Tiger Reserve

By Steve Herman New Delhi 02 May 2007

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Tourists and guides preparing to enter tiger preserve

The tiger is India's national symbol, but it is getting difficult to spot the animal in its native habitat. The country now finds itself in the embarrassing position of having tiger reserves without any tigers. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports from New Delhi on the state of the Indian tiger and a controversial plan to relocate some of the big cats.

Sightings of tigers in their natural habitat in India are becoming more infrequent every year. Ranthambhore National Park, in the state of Rajasthan, is one of the best places to see the tigers. That has made it a popular tourist attraction bringing much needed revenue to the rural area.

Mother and cubs at Ranthambhore National Park

Other tiger reserves are not so lucky. In the Sariska Reserve, also in Rajasthan, the tourists have vanished because no tigers have been spotted there since November 2004. Humans are blamed for wiping out Sarika's tiger population.

In response, the Ministry of Environment and Forests plans to take some tigers from Ranthambhore to repopulate Sariska. The head of the Ministry's Project Tiger, Rajesh Gopal, endorses the idea.

"We can very well afford to translocate a few spillover tiger cubs in the prime age group from geographically distant areas within the tiger reserve, Ranthambhore itself, for Sariska," he said. "We can do that."

But the response from many conservationists is "don't do that."

They argue that any tigers moved from Ranthambhore face peril because 10,000 people live inside the Sariska Park. They include villagers who see the tiger as a threat to their animals, and poachers who sell tiger skins and other body parts, believed to have medicinal and aphrodisiac powers, on the thriving black market across the border in Nepal and China.

Valmik Thapar

One of India's best known tiger lovers, conservationist Valmik Thapar, says the plan to relocate a few of the park's villages will not save the endangered animal.

"If they don't want to go and none of them leave then you cannot relocate tigers because tigers and people don't co-exist," said Thapar. "The tiger salivates when it looks at the four-legged creatures that people in villages have, which are cows and buffaloes. There is conflict then between man and tiger, always has been for centuries."

Tiger conservationists lament that no one in India's government has the fierce commitment to saving the animal as did former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. She cracked down on tiger hunting and the fur trade and initiated the first nine reserves under Project Tiger, which she kept free of political interference.

The current overseer of Project Tiger, Gopal, refutes the critics.

"The Tiger Task Force came up with a set of urgent recommendations which are being implemented upon," said Gopal. "These are being monitored at the highest level of the government. So I don't see in any manner that the interest has diminished or the efforts have reduced."

Unarmed ranger in tiger preserve

But the numbers demonstrate otherwise. When Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated in 1984, there were an estimated 4,000 tigers across India. Now the official number is about 3,500 with some conservationists, such as Thapar, claiming the actual total is likely to be half that figure.

"There's a complete failure of governance. And the tiger will end up being, in another three to four years, it'll come down to a population of maybe 500 or 600. And then the world will start to shout - a bit late in the day," he said.

Those who are supposed to protect the tiger find themselves literally outgunned by poachers. There are too few guards to adequately patrol the vast expanses and they do not carry guns.

Sujoy Banerjee

Former forestry official, Sujoy Banerjee, who directs the species conservation program in India for the World Wildlife Fund, says policy should focus on apprehending the kingpins of the organized tiger trade.

"There is a need for more concerted action against the big poachers rather than actually the small ones because the small ones will eventually die out themselves because they won't have a market, they won't be able to sell," he said.

India is a major source for the tiger parts trade, with Interpol estimating that illegal wildlife products in total generate $12 billion a year worldwide.

With that sort of money in play, conservationists say India's tigers remain in serious danger.

International Court Issues First Darfur Arrest Warrants

By Lauren Comiteau Amsterdam 02 May 2007

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The International Criminal Court in The Hague says it has issued arrest warrants for a Sudanese government minister and a Janjaweed militia leader suspected of committing war crimes in Darfur. But as Lauren Comiteau reports from Amsterdam, the Sudanese government says it will not turn over the two men.

Ahmad Muhammed Harun

The arrest warrants name Ahmad Harun, Sudan's humanitarian affairs minister, and Janjaweed militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman - also called Ali Kushayb.

The ICC's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocamo asked judges to issue warrants for the two men earlier this year, after concluding an almost two-year investigation into the Darfur conflict. The United Nations estimates that some 200,000 people have died during the four-year conflict and two million more have fled their homes.

The two men are wanted for 92 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The charges include torture, rape and murder. The alleged crimes, all against civilians, took place in four towns and villages in western Darfur between 2003 and 2004. In issuing the arrest warrants, judges said there are "reasonable grounds to believe" that both men knew of the crimes and either encouraged them or, in the case of Ali Kushayb, personally participated in them.

Before becoming humanitarian minister, Ahmad Harun was Sudan's interior minister and had responsibility, as head of the Darfur security desk, for recruiting and funding the Janjaweed militia. The militia is accused of helping the Sudanese Armed Forces attack villages believed to be loyal to rebel forces.

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court accuse Harun of providing funds to the Janjaweed and implementing policies that led to mass rape and mass murder against people who were known not to be participating in the conflict. Prosecutors also allege that Haroun personally delivered weapons to the militia group, and that he publicly stated that, as head of the Darfur security desk, he had the authority to kill or pardon anyone he chose in Darfur for the sake of peace and security.

As for Kushayb, the Janjaweed militia leader, prosecutors call him the "colonel of colonels." They say he commanded thousands of Janjaweed militia in Western Darfur and personally participated in attacks, including inspecting a group of naked women before they were tied to trees and raped. He is also accused of the execution of 32 men whose bodies were later found in the bushes.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo (file photo)

The court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, says that now that arrest warrants have been issued, Sudan must respect them and arrest the two suspects. But a top official Sudanese official said Wednesday his country will not hand over the men to a court it does not recognize.

Justice Minister Mohammed Ali al-Mardi says his government is willing and able to try all perpetrators of offenses in Darfur, and for that reason the ICC has absolutely no right to assume any jurisdiction. The court and the U.N. Security Council disagree.

VOASE0502_The Making of a Nation

02 May 2007

1968 in America: a Year of Social Unrest and a Presidential Election
President Lyndon Johnson had decided not to seek another term, so the Democrats nominated Hubert Humphrey. The Republican candidate was Richard Nixon.

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VOICE ONE:

This is Stan Busby.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Rich Kleinfeldt with THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Nineteen sixty-eight was a presidential election year in the United States. It was also one of the saddest and most difficult years in modern American history. The nation was divided by disputes about civil rights and the war in Vietnam.

VOICE TWO:

March 31, 1968: Lyndon Johnson announces a bombing halt in Vietnam and his decision not to seek re-election

President Lyndon Johnson had helped win major civil rights legislation. Yet he had also greatly expanded American involvement in the war in Vietnam. By early nineteen sixty-eight, it was almost impossible for him to leave the White House without facing anti-war protesters. Johnson wanted to run for another four-year term. But his popularity kept dropping as the war continued. He understood that he no longer had the support of a majority of the people. In March, he announced that he would not be a candidate.

VOICE ONE:

One reason Johnson decided not to run was a senator from Minnesota, Eugene McCarthy. McCarthy competed against Johnson in several primary elections. The primaries are held months before a political party holds its presidential nominating convention. Delegates to the convention often are required to vote for the candidate their party members chose in the primary. Thousands of college students helped the McCarthy campaign before the primary election in New Hampshire. They told voters all over the state that their candidate would try to end the war. McCarthy received almost forty-two percent of the votes in New Hampshire. Johnson received less than fifty percent. For a president in office, the vote was an insult.

VOICE TWO:

Robert Kennedy, left, with his brother, President John F. Kennedy

After McCarthy's success, Senator Robert Kennedy of New York decided to enter the campaign, too. He was a brother of president John Kennedy, who had been murdered in nineteen sixty-three. Robert Kennedy had served as Attorney General, the nation's highest legal officer, in his brother's administration. Many people were pleased when Robert Kennedy announced his decision. They liked his message. He said: "I run to seek new policies to end the bloodshed in Vietnam and in our cities. I seek to lessen the differences between black and white, between rich and poor, between young and old, in this country and around the world."

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

On April fourth, nineteen sixty-eight, the nation's top civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, was shot to death in Memphis, Tennessee. Robert Kennedy spoke about king's death to a crowd of black citizens.

ROBERT KENNEDY: "What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom. And compassion toward one another. And a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black."

VOICE TWO:

No words, however, could calm the anger of America's black community. Martin Luther King had led the civil rights movement with peaceful methods. Yet his death led to violence in almost one hundred-thirty cities in America. Soldiers were called to crush the riots. Hundreds of people were killed or injured. After the riots, another man decided to campaign for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. The new candidate was Vice President Hubert Humphrey. Traditional Democrats supported him.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The primary elections continued. Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy tried to show how different they were. Many voters, however, saw little difference between their positions on major issues. Both men opposed the war in Vietnam. Both sought social reforms. Both sought improvement in civil rights in America. Kennedy defeated McCarthy in primaries in Indiana and Nebraska. McCarthy defeated Kennedy in Oregon. The next big primary was in California. Kennedy said that if he did not win this important contest, he would withdraw. He won.

VOICE TWO:

Perhaps Robert Kennedy might have won his party's nomination for president. Perhaps he might have defeated the Republican Party candidate in the national election. The nation would never know. Kennedy made his California victory speech at a hotel in Los Angeles. As he was leaving the hotel, he was shot. He died a few hours later. The man who shot him was Sirhan Bishara Sirhan. He was a Palestinian refugee. He said he blamed Robert Kennedy for the problems of the Palestinians.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The nation's two major political parties held their nominating conventions in the summer of nineteen sixty-eight. The Republicans met first. It was soon clear that Richard Nixon would control the convention. Nixon had run for president in nineteen-sixty. He lost to John Kennedy. Eight years later, he won several primary elections. He was a strong candidate to win the Republican nomination again. The other candidates were Ronald Reagan, governor of California, and Nelson Rockefeller, governor of New York. On the first ballot, Nixon got more than two times as many votes as Rockefeller. Reagan was far behind. Most of the delegates then gave their support to Nixon, and he accepted the nomination. The delegates chose the governor of Maryland, Spiro Agnew, to be their vice presidential candidate.

VOICE TWO:

The convention of the Democratic Party was very different from the convention of the Republicans. The Democrats were the party in power. Protests against the war in Vietnam were aimed at them. Thousands of anti-war protesters gathered in the city of Chicago during the political convention. The city's mayor, Richard Daley, had ordered the police to deal severely with all protesters. Many of the young people were beaten. Much later, the federal government ordered an investigation. The report said that the riots in Chicago were a result of the actions of the police themselves.

VOICE ONE:

Inside the convention building, the delegates voted for their presidential candidate. They did not choose the man who had done so well in the early primary elections, Eugene McCarthy. Instead, they chose the more traditional candidate, Hubert Humphrey. For their vice presidential candidate, they chose Edmund Muskie, a senator from Maine.

VOICE TWO:

The two men running for president, Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey, supported American involvement in Vietnam. Yet during the campaign, both spoke about finding ways to end the conflict. Both also spoke about finding ways to end social unrest in the United States. Many voters saw little difference between the two candidates. About six weeks before election day, public opinion studies showed that the contest was even.

VOICE ONE:

Nixon's major problem was his past. He had made enemies during his early political life. These people now tried to renew public fears about his record as a man who made fierce, unjust attacks on others. Vice President Humphrey's major problem was that he was vice president. He had to defend the administration's policies, even the unpopular ones. If he said anything that was different, another member of the administration intervened.

VOICE TWO:

Once, for example, Humphrey said the United States would stop dropping bombs on north Vietnam. But President Johnson did not act for a month. He gave the order to stop only four days before the election. Later, Humphrey said the delay harmed his campaign so badly that he could not recover from the damage.

VOICE ONE:

Richard Nixon campaigns in 1968

On Election Day, Richard Nixon won -- but not by much. He received a little more than forty-three percent of the votes. Hubert Humphrey received just a half a percent less. Nixon was about to become president.

It was the position he had wanted for a long time. It was to be a presidency that would change American government for years to come.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program of THE MAKING OF A NATION was written by Jeri Watson and produced by Paul Thompson. This is Rich Kleinfeldt.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Stan Busby. Join us again next week for another VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.

VOASE0502_Education Report

02 May 2007

Choosing a Student Exchange Program to Come to the US
Part 35 of our Foreign Student Series looks at programs for high school and college students.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

We continue our Foreign Student Series this week with two questions that we received. Anatolii Artamonov, a university student in Ukraine, would like to know about student exchange programs in the United States. Anatolii would especially like to know about the one called Work and Travel USA. And fifteen-year-old Betty Xu in China wants to know about a program called ASSE.

ASSE is the American Scandinavian Student Exchange. This program was established in Sweden in nineteen seventy-six to organize exchanges with the United States. It expanded to include students in Norway, Denmark and Finland.

Today ASSE organizes international exchanges for high school students in thirty-one countries. The students live with a family and attend school for a year.

Other programs also offer high school students a chance to come to the United States. These include AFS, Youth for Understanding and the Program of Academic Exchange, or PAX.

For college students, there are programs like the International Student Exchange Program, or ISEP. This is a group of almost three hundred colleges in thirty-nine countries. ISEP is an independent organization that was supported by the United States government until nineteen ninety-six.

ISEP is a true exchange program. That means two students from different countries trade places for a semester or a year.

Work and Travel USA is also for college students. But this program is not for those who want to study in the United States. It provides international students with the chance to work for up to four months while exploring American life.

The State Department says they generally work in hotels, restaurants and amusement parks but may also work for other employers. An organization called CIEE administers this program. It says students must understand that the money they earn from their work may not be enough to pay all of their costs.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Our Foreign Student Series on higher education in the United States is available online, with helpful links to Web sites, at voaspecialenglish.com. Our series offers all kinds of information and advice for international students who want to attend an American college or university.

To send us e-mail, write to special@voanews.com, and please be sure to include your full name and where you are from. I'm Faith Lapidus.