Bush Says America Shocked by University Shooting

By Paula Wolfson White House 16 April 2007

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America is in shock and mourning, following the worst mass shooting in the nation's history. VOA's Paula Wolfson has the latest on a day of bloodshed at Virginia Tech University that left 33 people dead, including the gunman.

SWAT team members head to Norris Hall, the site of a shooting on campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, 16 Apr 2007

A blustery spring morning turned into a living nightmare at Virginia Tech.

A gunman opened fire in a dormitory. Two hours later, he struck again in a classroom.

Students fled in panic as police rushed in. Buildings across the sprawling rural campus were locked down. And the nation mourned as the death toll increased over and over again.

"Our nation is shocked and saddened by the news of the shooting at Virginia Tech today," the president said.

President Bush reacting to shooting at Virginia Tech, 16 Apr 2007

President Bush gave a voice to the thoughts of the American people.

"Today, our nation grieves with those who lost loved ones at Virginia Tech," he said. "We hold the victims in our hearts, we lift them up in our prayers, and we ask a loving God to comfort those who are suffering today."

Across Washington, in the halls of Congress, political foes joined in a moment of silence for the dead - first in the Senate and then in the House.

The top Democrat in the Senate - Harry Reid - spoke of the senselessness of the shootings. He said many questions remain unanswered.

"What we do know breaks our hearts and shakes us to our very core," he said. "So for now all we can do is offer our thoughts and our prayers in a very individual way."

For members of Virginia's congressional delegation, the shootings literally struck close to home. Virginia Tech is the largest university in the state with roughly 25,000 students. Virginia's long-time senior Senator - Republican John Warner - spoke of the loss in personal terms.

"This tragedy is an incomprehensible situation," he said. "It is an incomprehensible, senseless act of violence."

The federal government has offered to help Virginia with its investigation of the tragedy. Officials at Virginia Tech - which is state-owned and run - have defended their handling of the crisis. Students have complained the school was slow to get out information about the first shooting and that a general warning might have prevented further loss of life.

Until Monday, the worst campus shooting in U.S. history was the 1966 massacre at the University of Texas, where a student killed 16 people. Eight years ago, two teenagers murdered 13 people at their high school in Colorado before committing suicide. And just last year, a gunman killed five young girls at an Amish school in Pennsylvania.

One Iraqi Woman Stands Up to Sectarian Intimidators

By Margaret Besheer Baghdad 16 April 2007

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In the Iraqi capital, illegal Sunni and Shi'ite groups are trying to shift the sectarian balance of neighborhoods to their favor. They use intimidation and executions to force residents of different sects to flee their homes. From Baghdad, VOA's Margaret Besheer has the story of one woman who would not be driven away.

Iraqi women hold portraits of relatives killed in clashes during protest by displaced Sunnis in Baghdad's al-Adil neighborhood (file photo)

Ala'a sits in her nearly-dark living room, just one lamp running off the generator. She is a Sunni Arab who lives in a predominantly Shi'ite neighborhood of northwestern Baghdad. In the last few weeks, Shi'ite militiamen targeted her and the few remaining Sunni families in the area.

Ala'a fidgets with her headscarf as she tells how her ordeal began on an ordinary morning when she discovered a red "X" painted on the small shop her family owns nearby. At first she thought it was just some mischievous teenagers, but then two days later, another red "X" appeared on her house. Written under it was "Leave, your blood is wanted."

Next a note was left in their front yard. It said, "You came back? Are you challenging us? We will burn you and kill you because you are Nawasib" - a derogatory name Shi'ites use against Sunnis.

Frightened, Ala'a called the American army unit responsible under the new Baghdad security plan for her neighborhood. Captain Benjamin Morales, the commander of Company B of the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division responded.

"We went there, we talked to the family. They had a death threat note on the door and they gave it to us," he said. "We gave them our tip number and said if they ever came by again give us a call. About a week later they said they were outside and they were spray- painting graffiti and yelling at them again."

Captain Morales says there were seven armed men, five in a car, and two on a motorcycle. They were threatening the other Sunni families in the neighborhood and had sprayed graffiti glorifying the Mahdi Army on four or five other Sunni houses.

The Mahdi Army is the militia of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Many Sunnis blame its members for intimidation and executions in their neighborhoods.

A few days later the men returned.

Ala'a says she and her family were sitting in the front garden when they began shooting at the house. The family fled inside and then the militiamen locked them in using chains and padlocks.

They told Ala'a and her family they would be back to kill them. Ala'a called Captain Morales and his men responded immediately.

"We shot the locks off the doors and freed the families. There were multiple Sunni families that were locked into their houses," he said. "They went to every Sunni family in that neighborhood and locked them into their houses and said they would be back within 48 hours to kill them."

Amazingly, once Ala'a and her family were freed, they did not leave their home despite fears the gunmen would return.

That night, the American troops watched Ala'a's house from a distance. Four men returned and the soldiers arrested them.

Captain Morales says he cannot yet confirm whether they were Mahdi Army, only that they were criminals. But Ala'a has no doubts they were from the Mahdi Army, which has a strong presence in her neighborhood.

She says the militia has become much quieter in the area since the Americans arrested some of their members.

But she says persistent fear of the militia is keeping her from going out much. She says the militiamen have threatened her saying the Americans cannot protect her forever and they will kill her soon.

She remains in her home with some other female relatives and their children. They sent their husbands away weeks ago when the threats began. They say if the men had stayed they would certainly have been killed and then who would have taken care of them? They never imagined that women and children could be targets of such violence.

Ala'a says she has many good Shi'ite neighbors, but they too fear the militia, which tells them not to associate with Sunnis.

Captain Morales says his men have detained a total of 10 suspects and none are likely to be released anytime soon. But he cautions that senior leaders remain on the loose and that his unit is continuing to work to make the area safer for all its residents - Sunni and Shi'ite - and end the troubling trend of sectarian intimidation and displacement.

Sadr Ministers Quit Iraqi Cabinet Pressuring Maliki

By Margaret Besheer Irbil, Iraq 16 April 2007

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Six cabinet ministers loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr quit the Iraqi government Monday to protest the prime minister's refusal to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. and other coalition forces, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's already beleaguered government. From northern Iraq, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.

Nassar al-Rubaie, head of the Sadr bloc in parliament read the statement to the assembly.

He said, in the interest of the Iraqi people and in order to alleviate their suffering, we find it necessary to order the Sadr bloc ministers to immediately withdraw from the government and give their posts to independent men who have the Iraqi people's interests in mind.

The move only affects the cabinet, not the 30 seats that supporters of the radical, anti-American cleric hold in the 275-member legislature. But it is likely to put more pressure on Prime Minister Maliki, who relied on Sadr's support to get his job.

Radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr speaks near the Shi'ite Holy city of Najaf, Iraq (File)

Moqtada al-Sadr has significant influence on the country's majority Shiites, and Monday's move is designed to pressure Mr. Maliki to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. and coalition forces from Iraq. Mr. Maliki said last week during a visit to Japan that he sees no need for such a timetable.

Sadr's announcement may not be the only political storm brewing for Mr. Maliki.

Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani told VOA Monday, that the Kurdish bloc, which has about 58 seats in the Iraqi parliament, would rethink its support of Mr. Maliki if the prime minister goes ahead with a plan that would effectively delay resolving the status of the disputed oil rich-city of Kirkuk, which lies just outside the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

A committee in the parliament is responsible for making recommendations about implementing Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution. That article deals with determining the city's future within the central government and the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

Under the constitution Mr. Maliki has the authority to implement those recommendations, but says he will instead refer them to the parliament for a vote.

Prime Minister Barzani says the moment these guidelines are sent to the parliament the normalization process will become further complicated and it will not help the implementation process.

He says he sees this as a step backwards on Mr. Maliki's part from implementing Article 140, and if he insists that the issue should be addressed in this way by the parliament, the Kurdish bloc would review its position on its alliance.

A referendum is due to be held on the city's future by the end of this year. Kirkuk's population is a mix of mainly Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen. Its vast oil and natural gas deposits make it a very valuable city.

VOASE0416_Science In the News

16 April 2007

World Health Experts Report Progress in Fight Against Tuberculosis
One-third of the world's population is infected with TB bacteria. But most people with the disease can be cured.

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VOICE ONE:

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

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember. On our program this week, we tell about the disease tuberculosis. Tuberculosis can be deadly if not treated the right way. It is a serous health problem around the world.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that usually attacks the lungs

Tuberculosis is one of the leading infectious diseases. The World Health Organization says two billion people are infected with the TB bacteria. That is about one-third of the world’s total population.

One in ten people infected with the TB bacteria will become sick with tuberculosis at some time during their life. Almost nine million people become sick with the disease each year. About one million six hundred thousand people will die of the disease this year.

The World Health Organization says TB is a disease of poverty. It affects mostly young adults in their most productive years. The large majority of deaths from the disease are in developing countries. More than half of all deaths happen in Asia.

VOICE TWO:

The World Health Organization declared TB a public health emergency in nineteen ninety-three. A new WHO report shows tuberculosis rates around the world are falling or unchanged. The report says rates were unchanged in two thousand five after reaching record high levels one year earlier.

If this continues for the next three or four years, WHO officials believe their Millennium Development Goal could be reached. The goal is to discover at least seventy percent of TB cases and successfully treat eighty-five percent of those cases by the year two thousand fifteen.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Patients with TB in Hyderabad, India

Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that usually attacks the lungs. Most people infected with the bacteria never develop active TB. However, people with weak body defense systems often develop the disease. TB can damage a person’s lungs or other parts of the body and cause serious health problems.

The disease is spread by people who have active, untreated TB bacteria in their throat or lungs. The bacteria are spread into the air when people with the disease talk or expel air suddenly.

VOICE TWO:

People who breathe infected air from a TB victim can become infected with the tuberculosis bacteria. However, most people with active tuberculosis do not expel very many TB bacteria. So, the spread of the disease usually does not happen unless a person spends a large amount of time with a TB patient. Those most at risk are family members, friends and people who live or work closely with a patient.

If a person becomes infected with the TB bacteria, it does not mean he or she has the disease. Having the infection means that the bacteria are in the body, but they may be neutral, or inactive.

VOICE ONE:

When TB bacteria are inactive, they cannot damage the body. And they cannot spread to other people. People with the inactive bacteria are infected, but they are not sick. They probably do not know that they are infected. For most of them, the bacteria will always be inactive. They will never suffer signs of tuberculosis.

If the natural immune system against disease is weak, however, a person can get tuberculosis soon after the TB bacteria enter the body. Also, inactive TB bacteria may become active if the immune system becomes weak. When this happens, the bacteria begin reproducing and damaging the lungs or other organs and causing serious sickness.

The inactive TB bacteria can become active under several conditions. When a person becomes old, the immune system may become too weak to protect against the bacteria. The virus that causes AIDS can cause TB bacteria to become active. Also, doctors warn that people who drink too much alcohol or use drugs have a higher risk of becoming sick from the tuberculosis bacteria.

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VOICE TWO:

Tuberculosis can attack any part of the body. However, the lungs are the most common targets of the bacteria. People with the disease show several signs. They may expel air from the lungs suddenly with an explosive noise. This kind of cough continues for a long period of time. People with a more severe case of tuberculosis also may cough up blood.

People with the disease often have high body temperatures. They suffer what are called night sweats, during which their bodies release large amounts of water through the skin. TB victims also are tired all the time. They are not interested in eating. So their bodies lose weight.

One thing that is especially dangerous about TB is that people with moderate signs of the disease may not know they have it. They may spread the disease to others without even knowing it. So, it is very important for people to get tested for tuberculosis.

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VOICE ONE:

There are several ways to test for TB. The first is the TB skin test. It also is known as the Mantoux skin test. The test can identify most people infected with tuberculosis six to eight weeks after the bacteria entered their bodies. A substance called purified protein derivative is injected under the skin of the arm. The place of the injection is examined two to three days later.

If a raised red area forms, the person may have been infected with the tuberculosis bacteria. However, this does not always mean the disease is active.

VOICE TWO:

If the skin test shows that TB bacteria have entered the body, doctors can use other methods to discover if the person has active TB. However, this sometimes can be difficult because tuberculosis may appear similar to other diseases. Doctors must consider other physical signs. Also, they must decide if a person’s history shows that he or she has been in situations where tuberculosis was present.

Doctors also use an X-ray examination to show if there is evidence of TB infection, such as damage to the lungs. Another way to test for the presence of active tuberculosis is to examine the fluids from a person’s mouth.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

It is very important for doctors to identify which kind of TB bacteria are present so they can decide which drugs to use to treat the disease. Most TB cases can be successfully treated with medicines. However, the death rate for untreated patients is reported to be about fifty percent. Successful treatment of TB requires close cooperation among patients, doctors and other health care workers.

The World Health Organization has a five-step program to guarantee that TB patients take their medicine correctly. The program is called Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course, or DOTS. Directly observed means that local health care workers watch to make sure patients take their medicine every day. Full treatment usually lasts from six to nine months to destroy all signs of the bacteria.

It is very important for patients to be educated about the disease and its treatment. Sometimes patients fail to finish taking the medicine ordered by their doctors. Experts say this is because some patients feel better after only two to four weeks of treatment and stop taking their medicine. This can lead to the TB bacteria becoming resistant to drugs and growing stronger, more dangerous and more difficult to treat.

VOICE TWO:

Experts say TB is a preventable disease. The goal of health organizations is to quickly identify infected persons – especially those who have the highest risk of developing the disease. There are several drugs that can prevent tuberculosis in these people.

Experts say tuberculosis can be cured if it is discovered early and if patients take their medicine correctly. And, like other diseases, education and understanding are extremely important in preventing and treating TB. Next week, we will tell you about efforts to fight TB in several countries.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by George Grow and Shelley Gollust. Brianna Blake was our producer. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember. We would like to hear from you. Write to us at Special English, Voice of America, Washington, DC, two-zero-two-three-seven, USA. Or send electronic messages to special@voanews.com. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

VOASE0416_Agriculture Report

16 April 2007

Lonely Farmers Look for Love Online
FarmersOnly.com and Singles in Agriculture try to help farmers in the US make new friends.

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

The Web site FarmersOnly.com calls itself an online dating and friendship finder. The idea started in the mind of a man in Ohio. Jerry Miller wondered how farmers could meet new people who understand the life of a farmer.

Jerry Miller is not a farmer. He works in advertising and public relations. But he represents a lot of farmers.

As he tells it, the idea for the site was planted when a farmer told him one day that she was recently divorced and would like to date. But she already knew everyone who might be a possible dating partner.

And the men she met through dating services did not understand the difference between city life and rural farm life. Someone would invite her to meet for coffee at nine o'clock at night, when she had to start her day at five the next morning.

So, in two thousand five, Jerry Miller launched his Web site. Yet the name is a little misleading. "You don't have to be a farmer to be on FarmersOnly.com, but you do have to have the good old-fashioned traditional values of America's Heartland." That is what it says.

You also have to live in the United States or Canada to be a member of the site. Some services are free, but a full membership costs fifty dollars for a year. As of last week the site listed more than fifty-eight thousand members.

Many of them are among the two million farmers in the United States. Others are students or workers involved in some way with agriculture. Still others are people who have said goodbye to farm life but would like to return.

Jerry Miller tells us about thirty marriages in the last year have resulted from his Web site.

Some farmers have also found love through a group based in Illinois. Singles in Agriculture was formed as a nonprofit organization in nineteen eighty-six. It organizes gatherings that usually end with a dance, but is not a dating service.

The purpose is to support educational and social activities that offer people a chance for friendship, travel and activities like camping. Its Web site, singlesinag dot o-r-g, says there are more than one thousand members across the nation and as far away as France.

Someone who says she might try singlesinag.org is a middle-aged woman in the Midwest named Linda. She raises goats and milk cows in Michigan. Her husband died several years ago. She wishes that she had more time for a social life, but says she is not looking to remarry.

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

US Envoy Believes North Korea Will Honor Nuclear Agreement

By Michael Bowman Washington 15 April 2007

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Bill Richardson

A special U.S. envoy to North Korea says he believes the communist nation will honor an agreement to shut down a nuclear reactor, despite the expiration of a key deadline Saturday. VOA's Michael Bowman reports, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson made the comment on U.S. television early Sunday.

Governor Richardson, an opposition Democrat and presidential candidate, who also serves as a special envoy on North Korea, says Pyongyang may be late in honoring the terms of a February disarmament accord, but he does not believe the North Koreans are scuttling the deal.

"They are difficult, they are unpredictable, they are isolated. But at the same time I do believe that next week they are going to come forward and say, 'we are shutting down this reactor, we are inviting the international inspectors.' It is going to take a while, but I believe we are all moving in the right direction," Richardson said on ABC's This Week program.

The top U.S. representative to the six-party talks, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, has expressed disappointment and frustration, saying he is "not happy" with the passing of the deadline. He added that the United States will closely monitor the situation in coming days.

There has been no official comment from Pyongyang since Saturday, but North Korea previously insisted it must have access to funds that had been frozen in a Macau bank. Assistant Secretary of State Hill says Pyongyang now has access to the $25 million, funds the United States maintains were tied to money laundering operations. The U.S. cleared the way for the funds to be released last month. However, the transfer of the money has been delayed by what officials say are banking technicalities.

Some observers have questioned whether North Korean officials will ever find it advantageous to fully terminate their country's nuclear weapons program. Governor Richardson says he believes they will.

"In exchange for the North Koreans dismantling their nuclear weapons, North Korea gets a substantial amount of fuel oil, food, energy assistance, the lifting of sanctions, an armistice agreement which basically ends the Korean War. I believe they have made the strategic decision to move forward," he continued. "But at the same time the nuclear card is their biggest asset. So they are going to play it to the hilt."

Richardson added that he sees North Korea's return of the remains of six U.S. soldiers from the Korean war as a hopeful sign of cooperation from Pyongyang.

Nepal's Interim Government Shows Signs of Fraying

By Steve Herman Kathmandu 15 April 2007

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Nepal again has been thrust into political confusion just two weeks after a landmark interim government was formed. The country's elderly prime minister was a no-show for an emergency session of his cabinet on Sunday. That prevented coalition leaders from holding a critical meeting to set a new date for national elections. As VOA's Steve Herman reports from Kathmandu, members of the interim government, including the Maoists, are warning of the dangers of delaying the polls.

A meeting of Nepal's coalition government leaders to decide a new election date did not take place Sunday. Those who gathered for the emergency meeting were stood up by the prime minister.

Former deputy prime minister Amik Sherchan

Former deputy prime minister Amik Sherchan, representing the People's Front Nepal, says those at the prime minister's office were given no reason for the absence of the ailing government leader, 85-year-old Girija Prasad Koirala.

Sherchan told reporters outside the prime minister's office that the group waited more than two hours for Mr. Koirala. But the prime minister did not come into the meeting room and nobody was able to speak with him.

An interim government, including the Maoists and seven other parties, was created April 1st and the Maoists were given relatively minor posts in the cabinet.

The Maoists have now, threatened to pull out of the interim government if the election is delayed and called for Nepal's unpopular king, Gyanendra, to be dethroned ahead of the polling.

Esteem for the royal family plummeted following a palace massacre in 2001 and the current king's attempt to seize absolute power in 2005.

The Maoists, until last year, waged a decade-long campaign to overthrow the monarchy. The violence claimed 14,000 lives.

Rebel leaders last November agreed to a peace deal to end their uprising and have since registered as a political party for the elections to select lawmakers for a constituent assembly. That election had been scheduled for June 20 but Nepal's election commission says due to technical issues and security concerns that is much too soon for nationwide polling.

The Maoists, in recent days, have called the proposal to delay the election a political conspiracy. They have threatened to resume their struggle outside government, although it is unclear whether that would mean again taking up arms. Their soldiers and weapons have been placed in camps supervised by the United Nations.

Hundreds of Maoists came out of their barracks in southern Nepal on Saturday, in violation of an accord signed with the U.N., to protest the delay in the election.

Beijing 2008 Olympic Tickets Go on Sale

By Daniel Schearf Beijing 15 April 2007

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Beijing 2008 olympics logo

Tickets for the Beijing 2008 Olympics went on sale today to Chinese citizens at prices ranging from $4 to $650, with features to prevent fraud and ticket touting. Beijing's Olympic Committee officials say the price range means the majority of Chinese can afford to attend the games. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.

The Beijing Olympic Committee on Sunday announced more than seven million tickets are on sale for the 2008 games. The tickets will be offered in three phases, the first starting today.

Tickets can be purchased online or over the phone with a credit card and, in China, at Bank of China branches. Each ticket will have a digital chip that identifies the purchaser to prevent re-selling the much sought after tickets and to help identify counterfeits.

Officials said block ticket sales would be limited to corporate sponsors and youth groups while individuals could purchase only one ticket each for lead events, such as the opening ceremony, and only a few for less popular events.

Wang Wei

Wang Wei, the executive vice president of the Beijing Olympic Committee, told journalists in a live broadcast Sunday that the system would ensure fair distribution.

"[We will] respect international practice and in line with Olympic operation standards and China's situation, have fair and just, open and transparent ticket sales," said Wang.

Concerns had been raised that ordinary Chinese would not have access to or be able to afford the Olympics. Most Chinese live in the countryside where average annual incomes are around $463, less than a third of what city dwellers earn.

Wang says the range of ticket prices is reasonable and acceptable for the majority of Chinese.

"The biggest challenge is satisfying the vast public's desire to attend the Olympics," he added. "This is the Beijing Olympic Committee's ticket servicing principle and objective."

Olympic Committee officials say 75 percent of tickets will be set aside for Chinese sports fans and 25 percent for other nationalities. If an event were over-booked, random computerized booking would allocate tickets.

Distribution of tickets in countries outside China is the responsibility of National Olympics Committees.

Organizers are expecting to earn about $140 million from ticket sales, a fraction of the billions of dollars being spent by Beijing on hosting the Games.

VOASE0415_This Is America

15 April 2007

Put on Your Travel Shoes: Down the West Coast and Onward to Points East
Some facts about Washington State, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma.

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty with Gwen Outen. Get ready for a ride. And hold on to your camera. Today we take you on a lightning-fast trip to seven states in fifteen minutes.

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VOICE ONE:

We start in Washington. Not the capital city, but the state of Washington on the other side of the country. It is in the Pacific Northwest, on the border with Canada. It is the only state named after a president. George Washington was the first president of the United States.

Washington State entered the union in eighteen-eighty-nine. It is a major shipping port for Asia. Fishing is another big industry. So is technology. Washington State is home to the biggest maker of computer programs, Microsoft. Boeing still makes airplanes here. But its headquarters are now in Chicago.

Mountains divide Washington State. The east is heavily agricultural, but the west gets most of the rain.

VOICE TWO:

Mount Rainier

Washington is called the Evergreen State. It has lots of trees that keep their leaves all year. Those trees are important to the forest products industry. They are also important to the many people who hike through forests and climb mountains. The highest one here is Mount Rainier, in western Washington. It stands almost four-thousand-four-hundred meters above sea level.

Not too far away is Seattle. It is the largest city in Washington. But the state capital is Olympia.

VOICE ONE:

Washington is one of three states along the West Coast. As we leave Washington, we travel south into Oregon. It became a state in eighteen-fifty-nine. Forests cover a lot of the state. In fact, Oregon leads the United States in wood production.

Visitors enjoy places like Crater Lake National Park. A volcano formed this deep lake in the mountains. The bright blue water has appealed to photographers from all over the world. Cities in Oregon include Portland, Eugene and the capital, Salem.

VOICE TWO:

From Oregon, we continue south into California. People from Spain settled the land in the seventeen-hundreds. Mexico later controlled it, until some of the land became the American state. The capital is Sacramento.

Americans captured the California territory during the Mexican-American War in the eighteen-forties. The discovery of gold helped California join the United States in eighteen-fifty.

Many gold miners came through San Francisco. And that is where we stop. Visitors like to ride the old cable cars up and down the hills of the city. They also like to see the Golden Gate Bridge. And, when they get hungry, many go for seafood along Fisherman’s Wharf.

To the south of San Francisco is the area with a large of number of computer technology companies -- better known as Silicon Valley.

VOICE ONE:

And a lot farther south is Los Angeles. Many communities form the city and county of Los Angeles. One of them is Hollywood, the center of the film and television industry.

California has one of the largest economies in the world. It also has the largest population in the country, more than thirty-five million people. One-third of them are of Hispanic ancestry. But people come here from all over the world.

These include a growing number from Africa. Population researchers say the Los Angeles-Long Beach area has the third largest number of African-born people in the United States. About forty-three thousand live there. About twelve-thousand live farther south, in San Diego.

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VOICE TWO:

Now, from Southern California, we travel east into Arizona. Arizona is known the Grand Canyon State. Over time, the Colorado River cut through stone and rock to form the Grand Canyon. It is more than one and one-half kilometers deep. Millions of people come to see it.

Phoenix is the capital of Arizona, America's fastest-growing state

Arizona is a desert state. People once thought the land was worthless. But today many people come to Arizona for its hot, dry climate and its natural beauty. Phoenix is the largest city, and a shipping center for agriculture. It is also the state capital.

Many people who come to Arizona visit Native American reservations. Indians who live on these tribal lands must obey United States laws, but they also make their own laws.

VOICE ONE:

To the east of Arizona is New Mexico. Both states are on the border with the country of Mexico. New Mexico has a rich Spanish history. It also has a lot of land – almost three-hundred-fifteen thousand square kilometers. But fewer than two million people live here.

Lots more come to hunt, fish, or snow ski. They also come to enjoy arts and cultural activities. Santa Fe claims the largest collection of folk art in the world. Santa Fe is the state capital. But the largest city is Albuquerque.

New Mexico has mines for coal, copper, potash and uranium. And it has around as many cows as it has people. Cattle growers help keep some traditions of the Old West alive. But New Mexico is also a center of scientific research. There are national laboratories. In fact, the first atomic bomb was exploded in the desert here.

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VOICE TWO:

To the east of New Mexico is a state with a tradition of thinking big: Texas. Texas has more land than any other state except Alaska.

There are still cowboys with big hats. That is true. But visitors can also find a rich cultural life in cities like San Antonio, Houston and Dallas. The city of Austin is the state capital.

Texas once belonged to Mexico. Mexican influence remains strong. More than thirty percent of Texans are Hispanic. But many other groups also live here. Among the more recent arrivals are people from Africa. About forty-seven thousand live in Houston and Dallas.

VOICE ONE:

The Alamo

One of the places that many people like to visit in Texas is a stone building in San Antonio called the Alamo. The American hero Davy Crockett was among those who died in a long battle there. They were fighting for independence from Mexico. "Remember the Alamo!" became a battle cry after that.

The Americans lost the battle of the Alamo, but they won the Mexican-American war. Texas became a state in eighteen-forty-five.

VOICE TWO:

From Texas we travel north into Oklahoma, deeper into the central part of the United States. Oklahoma is our last stop today. It too has lots of land but not a lot of people. It became a state in nineteen-oh-seven.

Oklahoma is a big producer of fuel and food for the country. Flat areas and low hills make good places to grow wheat and raise cows.

Years ago, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein wrote a musical play called "Oklahoma!"

(MUSIC)

Oklahoma is part of what people call the American heartland. People think of the heartland as a peaceful place. So what happened in April of nineteen-ninety-five seemed especially shocking. A bomb wrecked the Murrah Federal Office Building in Oklahoma City, the state capital.

A former soldier angry at the government was executed for the attack. One-hundred-sixty-eight people were killed. A national memorial now stands in place of the building to honor the victims.

Two rainbows form at Hopi Point, at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona

VOICE ONE:

So, we have told you a few things about seven of the fifty states. Visitors leave with memories of wide open spaces, and cities without enough space. Forest-covered mountains, and flat, dry land without any trees as far as the eye can see. Farmers working in their fields, and fields with workers drilling for oil and natural gas. White-topped waves on the Pacific Ocean, and a golden sun setting over the Grand Canyon.

If you do ever visit, don't forget to bring a camera.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Bob Doughty with Gwen Outen. Our programs are online with transcripts and audio archives at voaspecialenglish.com. Listen again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE0415_Development Report

15 April 2007

In Kenya, an HIV/AIDS Program Includes Healthy Food
A partnership of Indiana University in the US and Moi University in Kenya provides drugs but also operates farms.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

AMPATH patient in western Kenya

AMPATH is the Academic Model for Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS. This is a partnership between the medical schools at Indiana University in the United States and Moi University in Kenya.

The project began eighteen years ago. Today it treats more than forty thousand HIV-infected adults and children at nineteen centers in western Kenya.

Fran Quigley is the Indiana-based director of operations and development for AMPATH. He tells us that almost two thousand new patients are added to the program every month. And, he says, as long as AMPATH continues to receive enough antiretroviral drugs, the program will continue to grow.

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, started by the Bush administration, provides the drugs. Also, private individuals and organizations donate money to the program. Mister Quigley says AMPATH needs between twelve million and thirteen million dollars each year to operate.

Antiretrovirals are used to suppress HIV infections. New patients in the program are tested for the levels of virus in their blood. About half require immediate treatment. Patients whose own immune systems are still able to fight the virus can receive other services.

The way that the program deals with HIV/AIDS is holistic. In other words, it tries to deal with the complete needs of its patients. Most notably, many patients and their children get food assistance through the program. Mister Quigley says AMPATH doctors have learned that antiretroviral care cannot succeed if a patient is too weak from hunger.

AMPATH operates several farms. Patients can receive weekly or monthly food assistance. The United Nations World Food Program adds to these food supplies.

AMPATH also provides micro-loans and skills training to help patients become more economically secure. In addition, the program helps Kenyan children who have lost parents to AIDS. Often this assistance includes support for extended families that have taken in orphaned children.

Fran Quigley says the example of the Academic Model for Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS can be copied throughout the developing world. For now though, he says the goal is to provide more and better services at its centers in Kenya.

Last December, a group of professors in the state of Indiana nominated AMPATH for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Whatever the result, Fran Quigley says that simply being nominated is a huge honor.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. I’m Shep O'Neal.

Demand Rises in Asia for Weight-Loss Surgery

By Claudia Blume Hong Kong 14 April 2007

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Liang Yong, a 26-year-old man, carries his child in a basket on his back in southwest China's Chongqing municipality

As Asian levels of obesity are catching up with the West, more and more people in the region choose to undergo weight-loss surgery. Claudia Blume at VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong reports about the growing trend.

Obesity is no longer just a problem in the West. Rising affluence in Asia means many people now have more food on their plate than they need, and often it is rich in fat and sugar. At the same time, physical activity in the region's cities is increasingly reduced. The result: more and more Asians are overweight or clinically obese, even in developing countries.

Ramen Goel is a member of the Obesity Surgery Society of India. He says while there is still a lot of malnourishment in India, there is at the same time an increasing number of overweight people. He says there is a growing trend of obesity among children, for example in the capital New Delhi.

"One in three children, the child is overweight. That means 30 percent of the children is overweight. That's a dangerous trend because it's almost at par with what you have in the USA," he said.

The health risks for extremely overweight people are enormous, and include heart disease and arthritis. But for many, exercise and diets are no longer enough to lose weight. Goel says an increasing number of morbidly obese Indians are turning to bariatric surgery, in which doctors seal off most of the stomach to limit food intake.

He said when he first started doing these operations seven years ago, he had one patient every three months on average. Now, he operates on about 10 patients every month.

Anti-obesity surgery also is a growing trend in other Asian countries - mainly in Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea. At a regional anti-obesity conference, held earlier this month in Malaysia, participants said more than one thousand three hundred weight-loss surgeries were performed in the region in the past two years.

At the moment, there are only a few dozen qualified surgeons in the whole of Asia who can carry out these operations. Isao Kawamura of the Japanese Society for the Study of Obesity says organizations like his are trying to change that.

"Actually there are not so many surgeons in this area so we must educate them to get into this area from our society," said Kawamura.

Often, Asians undergoing bariatric surgery are less overweight than Western patients.

Kawamura says overweight Asians generally have a higher risk of developing weight-related health problems such as diabetes, even when they are not morbidly obese by Western standards.

Pro-Secular Turks Stage Mass Anti-Islamist Rally

By Amberin Zaman Istanbul 14 April 2007

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Thousands of Turks march towards Ataturk's mausoleum for a wreath laying ceremony in support of secularism after a rally in Ankara, 14 Apr 2007

More than 200,000 Turks protested in Turkey's capital Saturday against the country's prime minister, a former Islamist, who is expected to seek the presidency next month. From Istanbul, Amberin Zaman has details for VOA.

Chanting anti-government slogans, the crowds marched on the mausoleum of Ataturk, the pro-secular founder of modern Turkey, in an effort to discourage Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan from making a bid for the presidency.

Bussed into to the capital Ankara from the most far flung regions of Turkey, tens of thousands of Turks waving the Turkish flag chanted "Turkey is secular and will remain secular." It was one of the biggest demonstrations in recent years.

Ural Akbulut is the rector of Ankara's pro-secular Middle East Technical University, one of many academic leaders who took part in the rally.

Akbulut says Saturday's turnout proves that Turkey's pro-secular spirit, inspired by Ataturk, remains very much alive.

The rally was organized by retired military officers and pro-secular civil rights groups, which allege that Mr. Erdogan has an Islamist agenda, and should therefore not be allowed to replace Turkey's fiercely pro-secular president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, when he steps down in May.

Mr. Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party, founded by former Islamists, has a majority in the Turkish parliament, which is authorized by the constitution to elect the new president. Mr. Erdogan is widely believed to covet the country's top post, although he has yet to publicly declare his intentions.

Erdogan refutes allegations that he and his government are bent on steering Turkey, a key Western ally, toward an Islam-oriented path. Since coming to power more than four years ago, Erdogan's government has overseen a swath of democratic reforms that helped Turkey win a date to open membership talks with the European Union two years ago.

Western diplomats agree that Mr. Erdogan has done nothing substantive to alter Turkey's pro-secular course, though his efforts to outlaw adultery and to forge closer relations with Iran and Syria have provoked some concern.

As president, Mr. Erdogan would be the commander-in-chief of Turkey's rigidly pro secular Armed Forces. He also would have the power to appoint members of the judiciary and university rectors.

With just days left for candidates to submit their names, only one person, a comedian named Metin Uca, has declared his intention to run for president. On Friday, President Sezer waded into the presidential debate saying that Turkey's secular regime faced its gravest danger since the founding of the Republic in 1923. Throughout his seven-year term, Mr. Sezer vetoed legislation and the appointment of scores of senior officials forwarded by Mr. Erdogan, arguing that they posed a threat to secularism.

Some Iraqi Provinces Closing Door to Displaced

By Lisa Schlein Geneva 14 April 2007

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The International Organization for Migration says some provinces in Iraq are closing their doors to internally displaced people fleeing violence in Baghdad and other parts of the country. IOM says these areas are finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the growing number of homeless people. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

An Iraqi woman at a camp in Diwaniyah, 130 kilometers south of Baghdad

The United Nations estimates that almost 2 million people are now internally displaced within Iraq. Of these, about 800,000 people have fled their homes since late February 2006, following the bombing of the Shi'ite golden mosque in Samarra.

A spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Jean-Philippe Chauzy, says the displaced are vulnerable and in great need of help.

"The International Organization for Migration has been monitoring around 55,000 families in 15 of the 18 governorates of Iraq," he said. "We found out that an overwhelming majority of those displaced, about 75 percent of the displaced, do not have adequate access to shelter, to food, to medical assistance, to drinkable water. Therefore, the challenges are quite enormous."

In the Governorate of Karbala, south of Baghdad, Chauzy says, local authorities are turning away internally displaced people because of the severe strain the displaced are putting on local resources and services. He says this is also occurring elsewhere in the country.

"The burden placed by the displaced on public services on host communities has basically brought the authorities of those governorates to stop the displaced from basically coming in and settling into these governorates," he added. "And, so that is obviously an added worry for the agencies that are trying to operate inside Iraq"

IOM has appealed for $50 million to fund its operations for internally displaced people. It has received only a fifth of that amount.

But Chauzy says IOM has received a $3.5 million donation from the UN's Central Emergency Revolving Fund. He says, thanks to that, the agency will be able to deliver desperately needed food and non-food assistance to some 15,000 vulnerable families over the next three months.

VOASE0414_People In America

14 April 2007

John Coltrane, 1926-1967: The famous saxophone player helped make modern jazz popular around the world

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VOICE ONE:

PEOPLE IN AMERICA, a program in Special English by the Voice of America.

(MUSIC)

He was one of the greatest saxophone players of all time. He wrote jazz music. He

John Coltrane

recorded new versions of popular songs. And, he helped make modern jazz popular. I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Today, we tell about musician John Coltrane.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

John Coltrane was born in the state of North Carolina in nineteen twenty-six. He was raised in the small farm town of High Point. Both of his grandfathers were clergymen. As a young boy, he spent a great deal of time listening to the music of the black Southern church.

Coltrane's father sewed clothes. He played several musical instruments for his own enjoyment. The young Coltrane grew up in a musical environment. He discovered jazz by listening to the recordings of such jazz greats as Count Basie and Lester Young.

VOICE TWO:

When John was thirteen, he asked his mother to buy him a saxophone. People realized almost immediately that the young man could play the instrument very well. John learned by listening to recordings of the great jazz saxophone players, Johnny Hodges and Charlie Parker.

John and his family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in nineteen forty-three. He studied music for a short time at the Granoff Studios and at the Ornstein School of Music.

VOICE ONE:

John Coltrane served for a year in a Navy band in Hawaii. When he returned, he began playing saxophone in several small bands.

In nineteen forty-eight, Coltrane joined trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie's band. Seven years later, Coltrane joined the jazz group of another trumpet player, Miles Davis. The group included piano player Red Garland, double bass player Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones.

VOICE TWO:

Coltrane began experimenting with new ways to write and perform jazz music. He explored many new ways of playing the saxophone.

Some people did not like this new sound. They did not understand it. Others said it was an expression of modern soul. They said it represented an important change. Jazz performers, composers and other musicians welcomed this change.

During the nineteen fifties, Coltrane used drugs and alcohol. He became dependent on drugs. Band leaders dismissed him because of his drug use. In nineteen fifty-seven, Coltrane stopped using drugs.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen fifty-nine, John Coltrane recorded the first album of his own music. The album is called "Giant Steps." Here is the title song from that album.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Coltrane also recorded another famous song with a larger jazz band. The band included Milt Jackson on vibes, Hank Jones on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Connie Kay on drums. Here is their recording of "Stairway to the Stars."

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen sixty, Coltrane left Miles Davis and organized his own jazz group. He was joined by McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums. This group became famous around the world.

John Coltrane's most famous music was recorded during this period. One song is called "My Favorite Things." Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein had written the song for the Broadway musical "The Sound of Music." Jazz critics say Coltrane's version is one of the best jazz recordings ever made. The record became very popular. It led many more people to become interested in jazz.

(MUSIC: "My Favorite Things")

VOICE TWO:

Critics say Coltrane's versions of other popular songs influenced all jazz music writing. One of these was a song called "Summertime." It was written by Du Bose Heyward and George Gershwin for the opera "Porgy and Bess."

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen sixty-four, Coltrane married pianist Alice McCloud who later became a

member of his band. He stopped using alcohol, and became religious. He wrote a song to celebrate his religious experience. The song is more than thirty minutes long. It is called "A Love Supreme." Here is part of the song.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

By nineteen sixty-five, Coltrane was one of the most famous jazz musicians in the world. He was famous in Europe and Japan, as well as in the United States. He was always trying to produce a sound that no one had produced before. Some of the sounds he made were beautiful. Others were like loud screams. Miles Davis said that Coltrane was the loudest, fastest saxophone player that ever lived.

Many people could not understand his music. But they listened anyway. Coltrane never made his music simpler to become more popular.

Coltrane continued to perform and record even as he suffered from liver cancer. He died in nineteen sixty-seven at the age of forty in Long Island, New York.

VOICE ONE:

Experts say John Coltrane continues to influence modern jazz. Some critics say one of Coltrane's most important influences on jazz was his use of musical ideas from other cultures, including India, Africa and Latin America.

Whitney Balliett of The New Yorker Magazine wrote about Coltrane the year after his death: "People said they heard the dark night ... in Coltrane's wildest music. But what they really heard was a heroic ... voice at the mercy of its own power."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Lawan Davis. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week at this time for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.

Iranian-British Standoff Leaves Domestic, International Political Fallout

By Gary Thomas Washington 13 April 2007

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Iranian state-run Al-Alam television image of detained British sailors, 30 Mar. 2007

Iran is embroiled in controversy with the West over issues ranging from Iran's nuclear ambitions to its bid to extend its influence in Iraq and the Middle East. Yet, even at such a sensitive time, Iran detained 15 British sailors who were on patrol in the Persian Gulf and held them for nearly two weeks. Britain said its personnel had been in Iraqi waters, not in Iranian waters as Tehran maintains. VOA correspondent Gary Thomas looks at some of the questions surrounding the incident and the possible ramifications.

The reasons for the capture of the British naval personnel in late March, and the subsequent fallout from it, may lie across Iran's western border in Iraq, where analysts say Iran is seeking to extend its influence, and the U.S. is trying to halt it.

The United States says Iran is training Iraqi insurgents and arming them with deadly roadside bombs to attack U.S. forces. Iran denies the charge, dismissing it as propaganda.

President Bush has pledged to halt any cross-border activity. "When we find the networks that are enabling these weapons to end up in Iraq, we will deal with them," said the president. "If we find agents who are moving these devices into Iraq, we will deal with them."

Paul Pillar

So in January, U.S. forces detained five Iranians in the northern city of Irbil. In a separate incident, an Iranian diplomat was abducted by unknown Iraqi gunmen. Former CIA analyst Paul Piller explains what followed.

"So the Iranians felt like they were getting shoved around with that earlier episode in Iraq, two episodes, really, and they wanted to do some shoving back," explained Piller. "It would have been riskier to shove directly back against the United States. So the slightly softer target, if you will, the 'squishier' target but one with whom the message would still be sent [that] 'we're not going to be shoved around,' was the British servicemen."

Karim Sadjadpour

No one outside Tehran's inner ruling circle knows for certain who ordered the action. Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, offers a possible scenario. “I think that at the senior levels in Tehran there's ... a sense of schizophrenia," says Sadjadpour, "that on the one hand, 'we don't want confrontation, we're weary of political and economic isolation,' but on the other hand, 'we're not simply going to lie down when you turn up the heat.'"

Former National Security Council staffer Gary Sick says the United States and Iran have similar interests in a stable Iraq, but that as Iraq's neighbor, Iran will not back off from its bid to exert influence there.

Gary Sick

"What's curious is that the United States and Iran have very close to the same interests in Iraq in the broad sense," says Sick, who now teaches at Columbia University in New York.

"But the difference is that Iran is there, it's on the [Iraqi] border. It's fought a war with Iraq. And Iran is going to stay there. We're going to go away. They will still be there 100 years from now," he continued, "and they have to think about what that's going to mean for their long-term interests. At the moment, I think they feel they're doing pretty well."

A multinational conference on stabilizing Iraq was held in March that included both U.S. and Iranian officials. Another meeting, this time with higher-ranking diplomats, is in the works.

Paul Pillar says the meeting next month in Egypt was another factor in the quick end to the British-Iranian standoff. "I speculate that part of the thinking in Tehran which led to the release after the two weeks of captivity was not wanting to complicate particularly the Iraq conference, which is going to address some subjects that, despite the rhetoric on both sides, both the United States and Iran share many interests, particularly the basic interest of not wanting to have unending and escalating disorder in Iraq. And, of course, for the Iranians," he added, "it's right next door."

The Iranian diplomat who was captured by unknown Iraqi gunmen gained his freedom right before Iran released the British naval personnel. Britain says there is no connection. Negotiations also began to allow Iranian envoys to visit the Iranians in U.S. custody.

Yet, mutual suspicions persist. Iran is threatening to boycott the next Iraq conference unless the five Iranians detained by U.S. forces are released. Iran says they are diplomats. American officials believe they are linked to Iraqi insurgents.