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Counterfeit Medicines on the Rise in India

By Steve Herman New Delhi 16 May 2007

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Adequate health care remains unavailable to most of India's citizens, especially in rural areas. Even those fortunate enough to have access to good care, however, cannot be certain that a prescription from a reliable doctor will ensure their recovery. VOA's Steve Herman in New Delhi explains why.

A customer - in this case, someone sent by Voice of America - complains of sleeplessness and gets a New Delhi pharmacist to hand over a packet of pills without a doctor's prescription.

In India, it is easy to get around the law requiring a prescription for most medicines. But, with or without a prescription Indians cannot be sure the drugs they buy are real, or safe.

Experts say millions of people in India each day are sold counterfeit medicines.

Sanjiv Zutshi M.D.

Dr. Sanjiv Zutshi, a New Delhi physician, thinks nearly anybody in India who receives medication is taking a gamble.

"I think it must be 20 to 30 percent of the drugs might be counterfeit or substandard in that nature," he said.

Surveys have found that in some medicine bazaars here, more than 90 percent of the drugs bought and analyzed are fakes, although many come in sophisticated packaging and look just like the real thing.

Dr. Zutshi says the widespread problem undermines the country's entire health care system.

"I need to be pretty sure that the medicine which I am giving is going to treat the disease," he said. "Otherwise, what's the use of a physician seeing a patient? The whole exercise becomes useless."

There are only 35 drug inspectors at the national level and little more than one thousand spread across India's 28 states. This for a country with more than half a million retail drug outlets and a population exceeding one billion.

Sushma Swaraj

Former Health Minister Sushma Swaraj, now an opposition member of parliament, says those trading counterfeit drugs are conspiring in what she terms "mass murder." She says the culprits are not just drug manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

"Such crime is committed always in connivance with the police," she said. "So many people are being benefited by the money trail. But they don't think how many hundreds of thousands of people are being killed."

She drafted an amendment to India's Drugs and Cosmetics Act, which would have enacted the most severe punishment for those making counterfeit medicines.

"Only you need one or two convictions and one or two hangings. If they think that 'oh, these two drug manufacturers have been given death sentences, they've been hanged,' it will give such a big effect," she said. "Today they are not afraid of anything."

Those in the illicit trade may have little to fear. The legislation, which is still pending, has been watered down and the maximum penalty now is life imprisonment and fines. And there is no indication if or when parliament will act on the bill.

For now, worried physicians, such as Dr. Zutshi, can offer few assurances to patients that they will exchange prescriptions for authentic medications.

"Get it from a reliable chemist," he said. "And do take a receipt for the medicines you have bought and, if possible, go back to the doctor if the effectivity [effectiveness] of the drug is not there."

Authorities say that is good advice for consumers everywhere, not just in India. Counterfeit drugs are being produced and sold in other parts of South Asia, China, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The Center for Medicines in the Public Interest in the United States predicts that sales of bogus pharmaceuticals will total $75 billion by 2010, double the market in 2005.

West Africans Anticipate New Relationship With France

By Naomi Schwarz Dakar 15 May 2007

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France's president-elect, Nicolas Sarkozy, will be inaugurated on Wednesday. Some West Africans, uneasy over Sarkozy's campaign statements on immigration and the status of immigrants, say they worry about their countrymen living in France as well as about the impact on Africa of Sarkozy's presidency. But some African analysts say they think Sarkozy will be good for French-speaking Africa, which, they say, relies too heavily on aid from its former colonizer. For VOA, Naomi Schwarz has more on the story from our regional bureau in Dakar.

Nicholas Sarkozy, 24 Apr 2007

Wary eyes in French-speaking West Africa are being directed towards France as Nicolas Sarkozy begins, on Wednesday, his presidency.

Babacar Gueye, political science professor at Dakar's Cheikh Anta Diop University, says most Africans were hoping for a different outcome.

The May 7 run-off election pitted Sarkozy, a business-oriented conservative with a reformist agenda, against Senegal-born socialist Segolene Royal.

Sarkozy's campaign statements on immigration fueled fears in French-speaking West Africa.

Mamadou Barry, spokeman for Senegal's socialist party, says even before the campaign began, Africans were aware of Sarkozy's hardline policies on immigration when he was France's interior minister.

Those included forcibly repatriating some illegal immigrants.

"His policy when he was minister of interior of putting people in the plane like others did before, his former mentors," said Barry. "People started thinking this guy is totally against immigration."

People wait to find out if their visa applications have been approved at the entrance to the French Embassy's visa services office in Dakar, Senegal (File)

Immigration is an important issue in West Africa, where poverty drives tens of thousands each year to seek better jobs in Europe. Many more rely on the funds these immigrants send back home.

Sarkozy has said he wants to revise France's immigration policy to favor highly educated Africans over unskilled workers.

Political Science professor Gueye says this is not good for Africa. He says Africa needs its educated and skilled workers to stay home and develop the country.

But some analysts say the fear of Sarkozy is premature.

Malian women's activist Oumou Touré says most Africans only know what the media has reported about Sarkozy, especially his most incendiary remarks.

Besides, she says, you cannot judge a politician solely by what he says during a campaign.

She says there is a huge gap between actions and words, and she cannot say what impact Sarkozy will have on Africa until he has been president for two or three years.

Senegalese Socialist party spokesman Mamadou Barry hopes Sarkozy will tone down his rhetoric now that the campaign is over.

"Maybe he will have a more humanitarian view," he said. "And, frankly, we will see what really he will do to try to support the economy of those countries sending immigrants, so people will not prefer taking those small boats to go in the ocean to be able to go to France or Spain. Because he is also a very pragmatic guy. We will see really when he comes to power."

Touré says, for one thing, it is time for France to reduce its military presence in Africa.

She says there are fewer wars, and African countries would be better served if France used its resources to support development.

France has military bases in many of its former colonies and retains rapid response troops in Chad, Central African Republic and Ivory Coast.

Nigerian human rights activist Saidou Arji says Francophone Africa's relationship with its former colonizer is already changing.

"At the same time France is trying to reduce its intervention in Africa, the African countries also tried to have several partners. So now I can say that France is not the main partner in terms of trade and other sectors," said Arji.

Political science professor Babacar Gueye says this is a positive development for West Africa.

"Until now, the cooperation between France and Africa was a cooperation based on paternalism, based on aid, and it is time to change that position," said Gueye. "It is time for the African countries to find the solutions to their own problems and stop asking for aid towards France."

Gueye says the election of Nicolas Sarkozy could be the shock Africans need to finally break their dependency on France.

Musharraf Says Muslim Nations Should Stop Blaming Others

By Benjamin Sand Islamabad 15 May 2007

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Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has told a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Islamabad that Muslim nations must stop blaming others for their troubles and solve their own problems. VOA correspondent Benjamin Sand reports from Islamabad.

Gen. Pervez Musharraf addresses the 34th session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad, 15 May 2007

Delegations from all 57 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference attended Tuesday's opening session in Islamabad.

The 38-year-old group is the leading coalition of Muslim nations.

In unexpectedly blunt opening comments, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said the meeting comes as the Muslim community faces unprecedented challenges, many of them self-imposed.

"The crises confronting the Islamic world are not only external but also internal, flowing from our own weaknesses, our own vulnerabilities, our own divisions within," he said. "The Islamic world is on a downward slide and we must face this."

General Musharraf said Islamic countries have failed to invest in education and lag far behind the rest of the world in literacy and economic growth.

The president also lashed out at Muslim hardliners who he blamed for fueling Western fears of the Islamic world.

"While the world views Islam as a militant, intolerant religion, this thought is reinforced by our own extremist forces," he said. "We are in a state where these semi-literate clerics are closing the minds of people."

The president urged the Islamic Conference to completely revamp its charter so it can more effectively represent and revitalize Muslim nations.

He said wealthier members of the group should step up their support for lesser-developed Muslim countries.

General Musharraf also called for an end to "outside interference" in Iraq and proposed an all-Muslim peacekeeping force to help patrol the country.

A similar proposal was previously raised by U.S. diplomats but failed to attract support from Islamic countries.

President Musharraf has been a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terror but faces increasing criticism from U.S. officials.

His comments Tuesday come as domestic opposition to his military-backed government has swelled and political analysts here suggest retaining U.S. support may be critical to his political survival.

Pakistan says 600 delegates are attending the conference from the 57 members of the OIC and observer groups. The meeting ends on Thursday.

VOASE0515_Health Report

15 May 2007

Fewer US Women Getting Mammograms
Drop in testing could help explain why breast cancer rates have fallen in recent years.

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This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Research is often a slow, maddening search for answers where each new finding only seems to raise more questions.

This is the case with a story we told you about last month. It offers a good example of how difficult it can be to define a relationship between two events, or even prove a connection.

In this case, one event was a sudden drop in the use of hormone replacement therapy. The other, which followed, was a sharp drop in the breast cancer rate in the United States.

Many older women stopped taking hormones after a government warning in two thousand two about possible risks.

Last December a team of scientists reported that breast cancer rates fell in two thousand three. Then, last month, they reported that the breast cancer rate was still down in two thousand four. They suggested that the major cause was most likely the drop in hormone use.

For evidence the researchers presented two main findings. One was that the reduction in the breast cancer rate was greatest among cancers fed by estrogen. Estrogen is commonly used in hormone replacement therapy. The other finding was that the reduction happened mainly among older women -- the main users of the therapy.

The scientists suggested that going off hormone therapy reduced the risk of cancer growth. They said other explanations for the drop in the breast cancer rate were possible, but less likely to have played a big part.

Now, a new study looks at one of those other possible influences: a decrease in mammogram testing for breast cancers. The study by the American Cancer Society just appeared in the journal Breast Cancer.

First, the study shows that breast cancer rates began to fall in nineteen ninety-nine. That was three years before the government warning about hormone therapy.

Secondly, the study shows that after the warning, fewer women had mammograms, which are usually done with X-rays. A mammogram is required before starting hormone therapy.

Whatever the reason for the decrease, fewer tests would mean fewer chances to find cancers. Still, many experts believe that the drop in estrogen-fed cancers in older women had something to do with the drop in hormone use.

A final note: government researchers reported Monday that mammogram testing fell four percent between two thousand and two thousand five. The lead researcher called it "very troubling."

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOASE0515_Explorations

15 May 2007

Charles Lindbergh Flew to Paris, and Into the History Books, 80 Years Ago
On May 21, 1927, he flew the Spirit of Saint Louis across the Atlantic Ocean from New York to Paris and became the first pilot to make the flight without stopping.

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ANNOUNCER:

EXPLORATIONS -- a program in Special English by the Voice of America.

Today, Richard Rael and Shep O'Neal tell the story of one of America's most famous pilots, Charles Lindbergh.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Charles Lindbergh is probably one of the best-known people in the history of flight. He was a hero of the world. Yet, years later, he was denounced as an enemy of his country. He had what is called a "storybook" marriage and family life. Yet he suffered a terrible family tragedy.

Charles Lindbergh was born in the city of Detroit, Michigan, on February fourth, nineteen-oh-two. He grew up on a farm in Minnesota. His mother was a school teacher. His father was a lawyer who later became a United States congressman. The family spent ten years in Washington, D.C. while Mister Lindbergh served in the Congress.

Young Charles studied mechanical engineering for a time at the University of Wisconsin. But he did not like sitting in a classroom. So, after one-and-one-half years, he left the university. He traveled around the country on a motorcycle.

VOICE TWO:

He settled in Lincoln, Nebraska. He took his first flying lessons there and passed the test to become a flier. But he had to wait one year before he could fly alone. That is how long it took him to save five hundred dollars to buy his own plane.

Charles Lindbergh later wrote about being a new pilot. He said he felt different from people who never flew. "In flying," he said, "I tasted a wine of the gods of which people on the ground could know nothing."

He said he hoped to fly for at least ten years. After that, if he died in a crash, he said it would be all right. He was willing to give up a long, normal life for a short, exciting life as a flier.

VOICE ONE:

From Nebraska, Lindbergh moved to San Antonio, Texas, where he joined the United States Army Air Corps Reserve. When he finished flight training school, he was named best pilot in his class.

After he completed his Army training, the Robertson Aircraft Company of Saint Louis hired him. His job was to fly mail between Saint Louis and Chicago.

Lindbergh flew mostly at night through all kinds of weather. Two times, fog or storms forced him to jump out of his plane. Both times, he landed safely by parachute. Other fliers called him "Lucky Lindy."

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen nineteen, a wealthy hotel owner in New York City offered a prize for flying across the Atlantic Ocean without stopping. The first pilot who flew non-stop from New York to Paris would get twenty-five thousand dollars.

A number of pilots tried. Several were killed. After eight years, no one had won the prize. Charles Lindbergh believed he could win the money if he could get the right airplane.

A group of businessmen in Saint Louis agreed to provide most of the money he needed for the kind of plane he wanted. He designed the aircraft himself for long-distance flying. It carried a large amount of fuel. Some people described it as a "fuel tank with wings, a motor and a seat." Lindbergh named it the Spirit of Saint Louis.

VOICE ONE:

In May, nineteen twenty-seven, Lindbergh flew his plane from San Diego, California, to an airfield outside New York City. He made the flight in the record time of twenty-one hours, twenty minutes.

At the New York airfield, he spent a few days preparing for his flight across the Atlantic. He wanted to make sure his plane's engine worked perfectly. He loaded a rubber boat in case of emergency. He also loaded some food and water, but only enough for a meal or two.

"If I get to Paris," Lindbergh said, "I will not need any more food or water than that. If I do not get to Paris, I will not need any more, either."

VOICE TWO:

May twentieth started as a rainy day. But experts told Lindbergh that weather conditions over the Atlantic Ocean were improving. A mechanic started the engine of the Spirit of Saint Louis.

"It sounds good to me," the mechanic said. "Well, then," said Lindbergh, "I might as well go."

The plane carried a heavy load of fuel. It struggled to fly up and over the telephone wires at the end of the field. Then, climbing slowly, the Spirit of Saint Louis flew out of sight. Lindbergh was on his way to Paris.

VOICE ONE:

Part of the flight was through rain, sleet and snow. At times, Lindbergh flew just three meters above the water. At other times, he flew more than three thousand meters up. He said his greatest fear was falling asleep. He had not slept the night before he left.

During the thirty-three-hour flight, thousands of people waited by their radios to hear if any ships had seen Lindbergh's plane. There was no news from Lindbergh himself. He did not carry a radio. He had removed it to provide more space for fuel.

Lindbergh after his famous flight

On the evening of May twenty-first, people heard the exciting news. Lindbergh had landed at Le Bourget airport near Paris. Even before the plane's engine stopped, Lindbergh and the Spirit of Saint Louis were surrounded by a huge crowd of shouting, crying, joyful people.

From the moment he landed in France, he was a hero. The French, British and Belgian governments gave him their highest honors.

VOICE TWO:

Back home in the United States, he received his own country's highest awards. The cities of Washington and New York honored him with big parades. He flew to cities all over the United States for celebrations.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

He also flew to several Latin American countries as a representative of the United States government. During a trip to Mexico, he met Anne Morrow, the daughter of the American ambassador. They were married in nineteen twenty-nine.

Lindbergh taught his new wife to fly. Together, they made many long flights. Life seemed perfect. Then, everything changed.

On a stormy night in nineteen thirty-two, kidnappers took the baby son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh from their home in New Jersey. Ten weeks later, the boy's body was found. Police caught the murderer several years later. A court found him guilty and sentenced him to death.

The kidnapping and the trial were big news. Reporters gave the Lindberghs no privacy. So Charles and Anne fled to Britain and then to France to try to escape the press. They lived in Europe for four years. But they saw the nations of Europe preparing for war. They returned home before war broke out in nineteen thirty-nine.

VOICE ONE:

Charles Lindbergh did not believe the United States should take part in the war. He made many speeches calling for the United States to remain neutral. He said he did not think the other countries of Europe could defeat the strong military forces of Germany. He said the answer was a negotiated peace.

President Franklin Roosevelt did not agree. A Congressman speaking for the president called Lindbergh an enemy of his country. Many people also criticized Lindbergh for not returning a medal of honor he received from Nazi Germany.

Charles Lindbergh no longer was America's hero.

VOICE TWO:

Lindbergh stopped calling for American neutrality two years later, when Japan attacked the United States navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack brought America into the war.

Lindbergh spent the war years as an advisor to companies that made American warplanes. He also helped train American military pilots. Although he was a civilian, he flew about fifty combat flights.

Lindbergh loved flying. But flying was not his only interest.

While living in France, he worked with a French doctor to develop a mechanical heart. He helped scientists to discover Maya Indian ruins in Mexico. He became interested in the cultures of people from African countries and from the Philippines. And he led campaigns to make people understand the need to protect nature and the environment.

VOICE ONE:

Charles Lindbergh died in nineteen seventy-four, once again recognized as an American hero. President Gerald Ford said Lindbergh represented all that was best in America -- honesty, courage and the desire to succeed.

Today, the Spirit of Saint Louis -- the plane Lindbergh flew to Paris -- hangs in the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. And the man who flew it -- Charles Lindbergh -- remains a symbol of the skill and courage that opened the skies to human flight.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

This Special English program was written by Marilyn Rice Christiano. Your narrators were Richard Rael and Shep O'Neal.

I'm Shirley Griffith. Listen again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.

Rice in Russia for Missile Defense Talks

By Lisa McAdams Moscow 14 May 2007

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U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice begins discussions in Moscow later Monday with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, aimed at smoothing over Russian objections and mistrust over Washington's missile defense plans in Europe. Tuesday, Rice is scheduled for discussions with President Vladimir Putin. VOA's Lisa McAdams reports from Moscow.

The major challenge Secretary Rice faces, heading into talks at the Kremlin, is Russia's still simmering anger at American plans to deploy an anti-missile defense shield in Poland, the Czech Republic and a third - as yet unnamed - nation in the Caucasus.

Washington says the system is needed to guard Europe, including Russia, against potential threats from so-called rogue states like Iran and North Korea.

Talks on the issue, late last week, between Russian and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) negotiators in Brussels failed to narrow the gap of disagreement. The chief of Russia's armed forces, General Yury Baluyevsky, says Russia wants assurances the planned U.S. deployment will not later be expanded further into Central and Eastern Europe. He also says the plans signal the start of a new arms race.

The director of the Heritage Foundation in Moscow, Yevgeni Volk, predicts Rice will encounter pretty much the same message during her talks this week in Russia.

"The Russian side does not believe American statements that these ballistic missile facilities will not be directed against Russia, but are a safeguard against rogue nations which seek nuclear weapons and missile technology to attack the United States and their allies," he said. "So, I believe both sides can hardly find common ground, because the perceptions of ballistic missiles in Europe are quite different."

Volk says Europeans view the missiles as being part of an offensive, rather than defensive, arsenal. As such, he predicts the Russian leadership's comments on the matter will remain - as he says - bellicose.

Another difficult point of discussion awaiting Ms. Rice is Moscow's opposition to a draft resolution before the United Nations Security Council in New York, providing for supervised independence for Kosovo.

Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has said Russian diplomats will not touch (determine a position on) the draft, until Rice's visit to Moscow is finished. Volk says, unless Rice and her Russian counterparts make some progress on this issue, he believes a Russian veto at the Security Council will be inevitable.

"If Kosovo becomes independent, it will mean a serious defeat for Russian diplomacy, for Russian foreign policy, and indeed it could be interpreted widely as, once again, a weakness of Russia in international relations, which the Kremlin elite cannot admit," Volk said.

Secretary Rice's trip is her first extended visit with Russian leaders since President Putin shocked the West with a harsh critique of American policies in a February speech in Munich. During the speech, Mr. Putin accused the United States of making the world a more dangerous place.

In the days leading up to her visit, Rice delivered strong criticism, in kind. She told a Senate committee Washington remains wary of Putin's leadership. She says that unease is shared by others around the world, including leaders in Europe, who are concerned about the internal course Russia has taken under President Putin.

Rice says democratic rollbacks, or losses, of previous gains made in Russia's legislature, free media and independent judiciary are of particular concern. She says the concentration of power in the Kremlin is - as she puts it - "troubling."

VOASE0514_Agriculture Report

14 May 2007

Fighting Fire Ants With a Virus of Their Own
US scientists have hopes for a biological way to control an invasion that causes billions of dollars in farm losses each year.

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Red imported fire ants cause billions of dollars a year in US farm damage

Farmers in parts of the United States have struggled for years with an invasion of red imported fire ants from Brazil. These insects do major damage, unlike native kinds of fire ants.

Each year they cause an estimated six billion dollars worth of damage in the United States. More than one billion dollars of that is just in Texas.

The ants are thought to have arrived in the southern state of Alabama in the nineteen twenties or thirties. Since then they have spread northward and all the way to the West Coast.

They ruin crops, damage soil and get into animal feed. They also damage electrical equipment and machinery. Not only that, they injure animals and workers. So farmers have to deal with medical costs and lost labor.

Fire ants get their name because when they sting, they inject poison into the skin that causes a feeling of intense burning. Some people suffer life-threatening reactions.

Colonies of red imported fire ants can be found in cities as well as farming areas. They can go deep underground to survive periods of little or no rain. They have no native predators, no creatures that like to feed on them.

But one solution could come from the ants themselves, in the form of a virus that some of them carry. This virus may someday help control the population.

Scientists at the United States Department of Agriculture began to work with the virus about five years ago. The researchers observed one hundred sixty-eight nests of imported fire ants in Florida. They found the virus in almost one-fourth of them.

The researchers found that the virus affected every part of fire-ant development, including the eggs. The affected colonies died in about three months.

Now, government researchers want to work with a private company to produce large amounts of the virus. It could then be used as a biological control.

Other natural ways to fight the fire ants are also possible. One is the South American phorid fly. It lays its eggs on fire ants. When the eggs break open, the young flies eat the brains of the ants. But researchers do not know how well the flies would do in North America.

As much as the ants are hated, they do have a few friends among growers of cotton and sugarcane. The ants feed on insects that attack those crops.

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

VOASE0514_Science In the News

14 May 2007

Looking at Mosquitoes as a Way to Fight Malaria Instead of Spreading It
Also: A report says fewer boys have been born in the US and Japan each year since 1970. And vitamins can help pregnant women increase low birth weights.

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VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. On our program this week, we will tell about a possible way to control the disease malaria. Researchers have reported a decrease in the rate of male births in the United States and Japan for the past thirty years. We will tell about their findings. We also will tell about a study on the effects of vitamins in pregnant women.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

If malaria control efforts are to succeed, experts say mosquitoes in the wild must be replaced with parasite-resistant ones

Researchers in the United States are exploring a possible way to control malaria. They are developing insects resistant to the disease.

More than three million people become infected with malaria each year. The disease kills at least one million people every year. Malaria is found in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America.

Malaria parasites enter a person’s blood through the bite of a very small insect -- the mosquito. The malaria parasites travel to the liver. The organisms grow and divide there. After a week or two, the parasites invade red blood cells and reproduce thousands of times. They cause a person’s body temperature to rise. They also may destroy major organs. People with malaria may suffer kidney failure or loss of red blood cells.

VOICE TWO:

People die from malaria because they are not treated or treatment is delayed. Different drugs can prevent the parasites from developing in the body. But experts still say the best way to prevent the disease is not to be bitten by a mosquito.

That could change in the future. Research scientists at The Johns Hopkins University have created mosquitoes that cannot spread the malaria parasite. Computer studies show that such insects are needed to replace mosquitoes in the wild if malaria control is to succeed. The researchers reported their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Earlier studies showed that disease resistant mosquitoes might not be as healthy as wild ones. Those with resistance would die early and not be able to replace the others.

VOICE ONE:

The Johns Hopkins researchers put equal numbers of malaria resistant mosquitoes in a box with other mosquitoes. All the insects fed on mice that had been infected with the malaria parasite. The researchers took eggs made by the insects and kept them until they became adult mosquitoes. These new mosquitoes were then permitted to feed on infected mice. The researchers did this again and again. After nine generations, seventy percent of the mosquitoes were malaria resistant.

The researchers say they changed the genetic structure of the mosquitoes to produce a protein called S.M. One. The S.M. One gene blocks the development of the malaria parasite inside the insect. The genetically engineered mosquitoes mated with mosquitoes lacking this gene. So their young had a single copy of the gene -- not two. This is thought to be the reason the genetically engineered mosquitoes did not die early as the others.

Other researchers say the Johns Hopkins work confirms earlier studies concerning disease resistant insects. But they say more work needs to be done, especially with human malaria parasites. The researchers say creation of the new insects alone will probably not be able to control the disease. They say malaria resistant mosquitoes could be used in combination with drugs and insect poisons to stop malaria in the future.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

A new report says the number of boys born in the United States and Japan has decreased every year since nineteen seventy. The report says the reason for the decrease is unclear. But it says environmental and other influences might be involved.

American and Japanese researchers studied thirty years of birth records from the two nations. The researchers say they found fewer boys were born in comparison to girls. They say the decrease in births was equal to one hundred thirty-five thousand white males in the United States. In Japan, the decrease was equal to one hundred twenty-seven thousand fewer males.

VOICE ONE:

The study found a decrease of seventeen males for every ten thousand births in the United States since nineteen seventy. And it found an even greater decline in Japan -- thirty-seven males for every ten thousand births. It also found a continued rise in deaths of male fetuses. The fetuses died before they were fully developed.

The researchers examined birth records of African-Americans as a separate group from white Americans. They found that the number of male births among African-Americans increased a little. But the rate of male births to female births for African-Americans was lower than that of whites.

The study found that all races experienced a decrease in the number of fetal deaths, probably because of improved medical care.

VOICE TWO:

Devra Lee Davis of the University of Pittsburgh Center Institute led the study. She says scientists do not know the reason for the decline in male births, but suspect environmental poisons.

Earlier reports show that researchers suspected a similar decrease in male births in other industrial nations.

Scientists already know that men who work with some chemicals and metals have fewer baby boys. Scientists also know that some things influence both a woman’s ability to have a child and the health of her children. These include her physical health, the foods she eats and the chemicals in the air around her.

VOICE ONE:

Professor Davis says other things can affect the health of a male fetus. They include the weight and age of the parents, and their use of alcohol drinks and drugs.

The report says one in every four to five married adults today report difficulty having children. It says evidence shows that chemicals in the air can affect the health of male reproductive fluid. This increases the chances of men producing a physically disabled child.

Professor Davis says more research is needed to examine these questions in greater detail among small groups. Experts say such research could lead to environmental changes that will protect young people and their children in the future.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The World Health Organization estimates twenty million babies are born too small each year. It says a baby weighing less than two thousand five hundred grams at birth has a less than desirable weight for good health. Ninety-five percent of such children are born in developing countries.

One recent study shows that pregnant women in developing countries have healthier babies if the women are given vitamins. Researchers from the United States and Tanzania found that vitamins could help reduce low birth weight. Their findings were reported last month in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Wafaie Fawzi of the Harvard University School of Public Health led the study. Professor Fawzi says low birth weight can cause serious health problems in babies. He says low birth weight has been linked to poor growth and mental development, and even early death.

VOICE ONE:

There are fourteen kinds of vitamins. People who do not get enough of these chemicals in their food, or want more, often take multivitamins.

In the study, multivitamin pills were given to four thousand two hundred pregnant Tanzanian women. The pills contained all the B vitamins, as well as vitamins C and E. They also included iron and folate in levels several times higher than advised for women in industrial nations.

Four thousand other women received a harmless substance. None of the women had the virus that causes the disease AIDS.

VOICE TWO:

The researchers found a twenty percent decrease in health risks for babies when mothers took the vitamins every day. There were no major differences between the two groups in the rate of early births or deaths of babies.

The researchers say the vitamins helped improve the growth of fetuses probably by improving the mother's natural defenses against disease and hemoglobin levels. Hemoglobin is the coloring in red blood cells that carries oxygen.

Professor Fawzi says multivitamin pills should be considered for all pregnant women in developing countries. He says the pills improve health and are not costly.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Nancy Steinbach and Lawan Davis. Brianna Blake was our producer. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Barbara Klein. Listen again next week at this time for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

Italy's Proposed Family Law Draws Large Protests

By Sabina Castelfranco Rome 13 May 2007

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Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have staged rallies in Rome to commemorate Family Day. At issue is proposed legislation that would grant greater rights to unmarried couples including homosexuals. Sabina Castelfranco has more from Rome.

Demonstrators from all over Italy gathered in a Rome square Saturday for the Family Day rally. They listened to songs like this one whose words evoked the need for children to have both a mother and a father.

Married couples with their children raised their voices to protest a proposed law that would give greater rights to unmarried couples, including gays and lesbians.

This woman says the family is important because society is based on the family and it is a value for everyone, not just Christians.

Lay Catholic groups and family associations organized the rally. They stressed the importance of policies that will favor the traditional family unit and family values based on marriage between a man and a woman.

Thousands of supporters of the controversial bill organized a counter-rally in Rome's famed Piazza Navona square. They said Italy would be a more civilized country if it gave rights to unmarried and gay couples.

This woman says she is a mother and has a family. She says it is only fair that even if she did not have a husband she should be entitled to basic civil rights.

Politicians, such as Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio of the Greens also took part in the demonstrations.

Pecoraro says Italy, like the rest of Europe, must give rights to all those who live together in this country. He says it is something simple, clear and clean.

Prime Minister Romano Prodi's center-left Cabinet proposed the controversial bill last February. Since then, it has been dividing Italians even though the proposed legislation stops short of legalizing gay marriage.

On one side are those who support calls by Pope Benedict XVI to defend the traditional family. On the other are those who say the measure would at last recognize the basic rights of people who live together outside marriage.

The draft legislation still requires parliamentary approval. Prime Minister Prodi has said lawmakers in his divided coalition are free to vote on it according to their conscience.

Secular Turks Stage Mass Anti-Government Rally

By Amberin Zaman Istanbul 13 May 2007

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Demonstrators attend a rally in support of secularism in Izmir, western coastal city of Turkey, 13 May 2007

Tens of thousands of secular Turks massed in the Aegean port city of Izmir Sunday to protest Turkey's Islamic-rooted government, led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The rally is the latest in a wave of pro-secular protests ahead of key parliamentary elections scheduled for July 22. From Istanbul, Amberin Zaman has details for VOA.

Singing nationalist anthems and waving Turkish flags, tens of thousands of Turks, many of them women, marched towards Izmir's Republic square Sunday to protest Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. Yachts, fishing boats and other vessels flying the Turkish national flag sailed in Izmir harbor in a show of support.

Turkey's pro-secular heart beats strong in Izmir, the only large city that Mr. Erdogan's Justice and Development Party has failed to capture in municipal elections.

Animosity to his government was evident in the placards carried by demonstrators. One read "Erdogan is lethal." There were also many anti-American and anti-European Union banners, evidence of mounting anti-Western sentiment that is shared by religious and secular Turks alike.

Mr. Erdogan is a former Islamist, who says he no longer believes in mixing religion with politics. But many pro-secular Turks accuse the prime minister of harboring a secret Islamist agenda. Tensions escalated when Mr. Erdogan nominated his foreign minister Abdullah Gul to replace President Ahmet Necdet Sezer last month.

In a dramatic move, the country's fiercely pro-secular military joined the debate by issuing a statement warning of the threats posed by spreading Islamic militancy. Bowing to a legal challenge from the opposition, Gul withdrew his candidacy and the prime minister called parliamentary elections on July 22, far ahead of their scheduled November 4 date.

Mr. Erdogan inaugurated his electoral campaign with a rally in the Eastern province of Erzurum, which drew tens of thousands of supporters.

The defiant prime minister said the ballot boxes would show who the Turkish people really favored.

Mr. Erdogan accused the opposition of lying to the people, saying that during his 4.5 years in power his government had done nothing to alter Turkey's secular system.

Opinion polls indicate that Mr. Erdogan's party may win 40 percent of the vote, far ahead of its closest rival Deniz Baykal and his pro-secular Republican People's Party, which according to the same survey would get 25 percent of the vote.

VOASE0513_Development Report

13 May 2007

GlobalGiving: Connecting Personal Donors to Local Projects
This non-profit organization has raised about five million dollars in the last seven years. The money has paid for or helped finance about seven hundred projects around the world.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

A little money can go a long way, especially in the developing world. This is one of the main beliefs of the non-profit group GlobalGiving. Two former top officials at the World Bank launched GlobalGiving seven years ago. Mark Kuraishi and Dennis Whittle wanted to connect personal donors to projects in mostly poor countries using the Internet. So far, the group has raised over five million dollars, mostly through its Web site, globalgiving.com. The money has paid for or helped finance about seven hundred projects around the world.

Joan Ochi is a spokeswoman for the Washington D.C.-based organization. She says donors can search the GlobalGiving Web site to find projects that interest them. Right now, for example, donors can give to a program called “Reach the Unreached…Delivering Care in Africa.” This project provides nurses in Zimbabwe with motorcycles and safety equipment. Miz Ochi says the nurses can now provide better care and health services to more people, especially in rural areas.

In Uganda, children who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS receive care at the Nyaka School

GlobalGiving and about forty other non-governmental organizations help identify social leaders or small local groups. After the projects are approved, Miz Ochi says a description is added to the GlobalGiving Web site. Donors can give any amount of money to a project using different methods of payment. These include credit card, the PayPal system or a stock transfer. All donations are fully tax-deductible. GlobalGiving also works with large companies and private foundations that support socially responsible giving.

Miz Ochi says about ninety percent of all donations to GlobalGiving go directly to the project selected by the donor. The organization uses ten percent for operating expenses. GlobalGiving urges its project leaders to provide progress reports every few months about how donor money is spent.

Joan Ochi says GlobalGiving hopes to double its donations every year. However, this is difficult because so many organizations are collecting money for important causes. Still, she says GlobalGiving is a way for small solutions to have a big influence in the developing world.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. You can read and download audio of Special English programs at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Shep O'Neal.

VOASE0513_This Is America

13 May 2007

Mothers Through the Eyes, and the Years, of TV and Movie Makers
Some examples of how, as women in general have become more independent, so have the moms created by Hollywood.

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. This week, our subject is mothers and how their image has changed over the years in film and television.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

In the United States and a number of other countries, the second Sunday in May is celebrated as Mother's Day.

Woodrow Wilson

Early in the nineteen hundreds, a woman named Anna Jarvis began a campaign to honor mothers in America. She talked to friends and friends of friends. She wrote to congressmen, local leaders, teachers and newspaper publishers.

Finally, President Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution in May of nineteen fourteen that officially established Mother's Day.

VOICE TWO:

Anna Jarvis thought mothers should be honored with expressions of love and respect.

Professor Robert Thompson at Syracuse University in New York state is an expert on American popular culture. Fifty or sixty years ago, he says, the popular media image of mothers was the so-called perfect mother.

This was a woman who gave all her time to her husband, home and children. Many women in society felt pressure to try to be this kind of mother.

VOICE ONE:

Like many observers, Professor Thompson uses the example of the imaginary June Cleaver, the mother on "Leave It to Beaver." That was a TV series from nineteen fifty-seven to nineteen sixty-three.

The Cleavers were a happy family. June Cleaver always had time and patience for her two sons, Wally and "Beaver." His real name was Theodore. And if there was ever a problem she could not handle, her husband put things right.

The same was true on another nineteen fifties television show. The name said it all: "Father Knows Best."

VOICE TWO:

A different image, though, could be found in films like the nineteen forty-eight motion picture "I Remember Mama." It was set in San Francisco, California, in nineteen ten.

It was about a family that came from Norway. The Hansons were poor and they struggled to make their way in their new land.

Mama Hanson, played by actress Irene Dunne, had little education. But she knew a lot about dealing with people. She guides her family.

VOICE ONE:

Mama hates "going to the bank" -- she means borrowing money. But she also recognizes the importance of staying in school. We listen as Mama and her family are sitting around the table, counting money.

(SOUND)

MAMA: "Yah, is all for this week. Is good. We do not have to go to the bank."
SON: "Mama, mama, I'll be graduating from Valley School next month. Could I -- could I go into high, do you think?"
MAMA: "You want to go to high school?"
SON: "Well, I'd like to, very much, if you think I could."
MAMA: "Is good."

VOICE TWO:

"I Remember Mama" earned Irene Dunne an Academy Award nomination for best actress of nineteen forty-eight.

Two years later, in the lighthearted film "Cheaper by the Dozen," Myrna Loy played Lillian Gilbreth, a mother of twelve. The father is an efficiency expert, an expert in doing things better and faster.

Lillian Gilbreth obeys her husband, or at least appears to. But she also has a mind of her own.

At one point, the husband, played by Clifton Webb, plays a joke on their son Bill. The father honks the horn just as the boy crosses in front of their car. Bill jumps. His father laughs and says the boy jumped six and nine-tenths inches.

VOICE ONE:

A little later, Bill plays the same joke on his father. This time his father does not laugh.

The mother has to save Bill from getting punished and, in the process, she teaches her husband a lesson.

(SOUND)

FATHER: "Who did that?"
BILL: "Uh, that was a good joke on you, Dad."
FATHER: "Listen, young man. There's a time and a place for jokes and a time and place for spankings. And the sooner you learn -- get out. Get out!"
MOTHER: "Mercy Maude, Frank, I'll bet you jumped six and nine-tenths inches that time."
FATHER: "You're right, son. That was a good joke on me. By jingo, I'll bet I did jump six and nine-tenths inches. Oh these kids, these kids."
(HORN SOUNDS AGAIN)
MOTHER: "Excuse me, dear, I did it. It was accidental."

VOICE TWO:

The Gilbreths were a real family. "Cheaper by the Dozen" was the name of a book written by two of the twelve children.

Their mother, Lillian, was a psychologist and herself an expert in the area of industrial management. In fact, Lillian Moller Gilbreth is known as the mother of modern management.

A woman who graduated from a women's college in nineteen fifty-three remembers hearing her as a graduation speaker. She remembers Lillian Gilbreth urging the young women to have full lives, with professions if they wanted them.

When Lillian Gilbreth received her doctorate in psychology, she already had four young children who attended the ceremony.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Over the years, as mothers and American women in general became more independent, more and more of them entered the job market. They did so by choice or because of financial need or both.

Pop culture expert Robert Thompson says the changes could be seen in film and television as well. For example, working women used to be shown mostly as nurses or teachers, because those were the jobs that many held in real life.

But these days, whatever new jobs are written into movies or TV shows, some images of mothers are timeless. One is the image of the overprotective mother who gets too involved in her child's life, even after the child grows up.

Diane Keaton (left) and Mandy Moore in Universal Pictures' "Because I Said So"

Diane Keaton plays just such a mother, a single mom named Daphne, in the two thousand seven film "Because I Said So." Mandy Moore plays her daughter.

(SOUND)

VOICE TWO:

Daphne is supposed to be seen as one of those moms who mean well even if they make their kids crazy.

Now consider Norma Bates, the mother in the nineteen sixty movie "Psycho," one of the scariest films from director Alfred Hitchcock.

In one scene we hear shouting because her son Norman, played by Anthony Perkins, wants to bring a guest to dinner.

(SOUND)

MOTHER: "No! I tell you no! I won't have you bringing strange young girls in for supper. By candlelight, I suppose, in the cheap erotic fashion of young men with cheap erotic minds."
NORMAN BATES: "Mother, please."
MOTHER: "And then what? After supper, music ... ?"

VOICE ONE:

Yet, in all fairness, the surprise ending to "Psycho" might leave you wondering if mother Bates was really evil after all.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The nineteen seventy-nine motion picture "Kramer vs. Kramer" got a lot of attention. It dealt with issues of parenting and relationships in modern society. Meryl Streep played a woman named Joanna Kramer who leaves her husband because he has no time for her or their young son. Dustin Hoffman played the husband, Ted Kramer.

After his wife leaves, he has to balance his busy work life with raising the boy himself. Later his wife goes to court to demand custody of their son. She wins the battle of Kramer versus Kramer in court. But in the end, she decides that her son will be better off with his dad.

The movie won five Academy Awards, including best picture. Oscars also went to Dustin Hoffman for best actor and Meryl Streep for best actress in a supporting role.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

For years, almost all leading movie and television stars, male or female, were white. Activists say members of racial and ethnic minority groups are still not well represented enough.

But the social gains that minorities made in the nineteen sixties and seventies led the way to shows like "The Jeffersons." This was a comedy on CBS television from nineteen seventy-five to nineteen eighty-five. It about a newly wealthy black family that moved into a New York City high-rise with mostly white neighbors.

VOICE TWO:

One of the most popular TV shows ever was "The Cosby Show," on NBC from nineteen eighty-four to nineteen ninety-two. It starred Bill Cosby as Cliff Huxtable and Phylicia Rashad as his wife, Clair.

He was a doctor and she was a lawyer. The Huxtables were presented as a strong, loving, successful African-American family. Still, pop culture expert Robert Thompson notes that Clair Huxtable was often shown more as a wife and mother than as a successful lawyer.

VOICE ONE:

"Mississippi Masala" was a nineteen ninety-one film about an ethnic Indian family exiled from Uganda when Idi Amin comes to power. The family lives in Mississippi, in the American South.

Daughter Meena is in love with a black American named Demetrius, played by Denzel Washington. Their parents strongly disapprove.

The family decides to return to Uganda, but Meena does not want to go. She calls her parents to tell them she is running away with Demetrius. Her mother, played by Sharmila Tagore, recognizes that they have to let their daughter lead her own life.

(SOUND)

MOTHER: "Meena?"
MEENA: "Ma, I'm not coming back. I'm sorry, but I can't go to Uganda. What would I do there?"
FATHER: "Are you alone?"
MEENA: "No, I'm with Demetrius. Pa, are you there? Ma, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. Why did he put the phone down?"
MOTHER: "I'll talk to your father. ... She has a mind of her own. She can't grow here anymore. "

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Barbara Klein. Transcripts and audio archives of our programs are on the Internet at voaspecialenglish.com. Be sure to join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.We leave you with a song from a classic film from nineteen sixty-seven. It was about a relationship between a recent college graduate and what popular culture today would call a "hot mom" -- a sexy older woman. The young man feels regret, which only grows as he falls in love with her daughter. The actress who played the mother was Anne Bancroft, the lover was Dustin Hoffman and the movie was "The Graduate."

Pope Benedict Warns Drug Dealers of Divine Justice

By Brian Wagner Sao Paulo 13 May 2007

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Pope Benedict, on a visit to Brazil, has been pressing church leaders to seek new solutions for social and economic problems in Latin America. From Sao Paulo, VOA's Brian Wagner reports that, in a speech on Saturday, the pontiff turned his attention to Latin American drug dealers and lashed out against them.

Pope Benedict XVI hugs children during a visit to a drug rehabilitation center called 'Fazenda da Esperanca' or Farm of Hope in Guaratingueta, Brazil, 12 May 2007

Pope Benedict traveled to a treatment facility for drug addicts near Sao Paulo, where he issued a strong warning to those who produce and traffic narcotics on the continent. He said God will call drug traffickers to account for their deeds, adding that human dignity cannot be trampled upon in this way.

The pontiff asked traffickers to think about the evil that they are causing to both young people and adults from all sectors of society.

Some former patients at the Farm of Hope also spoke to the crowd, recounting their troubles with drug use. Pope Benedict praised the staff and patients, saying recovering addicts must be ambassadors of hope to the world.

The pontiff also announced a 100-thousand-dollar donation to the clinic, which was founded by a German-born Franciscan friar and has facilities in Russia, Mozambique, Mexico and other nations.

The speech came ahead of a meeting on Sunday with Latin American and Caribbean bishops. Pope Benedict is expected to press the bishops to find new ways to resolve social issues such as drug use, crime and lack of development.

On Friday, the pontiff outlined his concerns during a speech to some 300 Brazilian bishops at a cathedral in Sao Paulo. In the speech, the Pope Benedict urged the bishops to be more active in combating problems caused by unequal income distribution and widespread poverty.

The pope says church leaders are required to view economic and social problems from the point of view of human dignity, and not simply in terms of economic winners and losers.

Pope Benedict also expressed concern about the growing rate of divorce and what he called attacks on the sanctity of marriage and family. He criticized legal reforms that have had, what he called, a negative impact on society, referring to recent changes in some countries allowing abortion or same-sex unions.

The pope said bishops also have a responsibility to work with government and business to promote Christian values, such as honesty and truthfulness.

The pope's message about social and economic development has resonated with many Catholic pilgrims who came to Sao Paulo for the pontiff's visit. High school student Aline Novaro, who traveled from Argentina, says she is concerned about worsening conditions, especially among poor communities.

She says there is a great deal of violence, and many people have little access to education and the church. And she says it is important to pray for improvements in school systems.

During his five-day trip to Brazil, Pope Benedict has called for greater efforts to improve Catholic education in the region, in part to counter the spread of Protestant congregations.

Violence Leaves 27 Dead in Pakistan as Political Crises Worsens

By Benjamin Sand Islamabad 12 May 2007

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At least 27 people have been killed in clashes between pro- and anti-government activists in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi. VOA correspondent Benjamin Sand reports from Islamabad the widespread violence represents a major challenge to President Pervez Musharraf's authority.

Supporters of opposition chant slogans against Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf upon arrival of Pakistan's suspended Chief Justice at Karachi airport on Saturday

Terrified residents took shelter Saturday as gunfire and other violence swept through the southern port city of Karachi.

Police and witnesses say the fighting began Saturday morning.

Thousands of pro-government activists roamed the city streets as opposition groups attempted to gather to support the country's suspended chief justice, Iftakhar Mohammed Chaudhry.

Pakistani television showed people marching through Karachi streets carrying handguns, assault rifles and flags of a pro-government party. Scores of vehicles were set on fire.

Talat Hussain is the news director for Pakistan's Aaj Television network. Speaking by phone from Karachi he says pro-government gunmen attacked the network's offices after it showed live footage of the violence outside. "This is like a battlefield. There is no law enforcement in sight and bullets are flying all around," he said.

Officials say more than 15,000 police and para-military forces were deployed throughout the city.

The former chief justice spent most of the day stranded inside Karachi's main airport and was ultimately forced to cancel plans to address his supporters.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf addressed his own political rally in Islamabad Saturday night, several hours after the situation in Karachi appeared to be improving.

He says he will not impose any emergency restrictions on the country. He says there is no need to take such extreme measures and the country's democracy will continue its course. He said national elections will be held later this year.

Pakistan Musharraf suspended Chaudhry on March 9 over unspecified allegations that he abused his authority.

The move sparked protests around the country and remains one of greatest political crises President Musharraf has faced since he seized power in a 1999 military coup.

His critics say Mr. Musharraf only removed the judge to gain control over the country's judiciary ahead of those planned national elections.

He is expected to seek another five-year presidential term while also remaining the country's military chief, a move his critics say is unconstitutional and subject to challenge in the country's high court.

Opposition parties are demanding the judge either be reinstated or that Mr. Musharraf resign from office.

Neither side has made any move toward compromise and the political standoff shows no signs of lessening.

Venice Meeting Seeks Ways to Combat Islamic Terrorists

Venice Meeting Seeks Ways to Combat Islamic Terrorists
By Sabina Castelfranco Venice 12 May 2007

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Interior ministers of the G-6 countries met in Venice Saturday at a summit in which they discussed how to harmonize measures to combat international terrorism. Also attending the meeting was U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and the EU Commissioner for Freedom, Security and Justice, Franco Frattini. Sabina Castelfranco reports for VOA from Venice.

G-6 Ministers and US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in Venice, Italy, 12 May 2007

At the second and final day of the summit of G-6 countries - France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain and Britain - the interior ministers focused on how to combat Islamic radicalization and recruitment in their countries.

Interior Minister Giuliano Amato, who chaired the summit, expressed concern that mosques, instead of being places of worship, are often used for other activities.

The ministers also discussed plans by the European Commission to gather more information about radical Islamic preachers, or imams, in Europe, including the mosques where they speak. EU Freedom, Security and Justice Minister Franco Frattini said a meeting would be held in the autumn to make this information available to member nations.

One of the aspects of this European mapping will involve the role of imams, their level of training, their ability to understand and express themselves in the language of the country where they preach and the flows of funds that reach mosques.

Frattini added that there is also a need to increase dialogue with Islamic communities within E.U. countries. He said that he and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso would meet next week in Brussels with leaders of different religious communities.

One of the purposes of this inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue, Frattini says, will be to avoid sending messages that incite hatred and violence.

Italian interior minister Amato said terrorism has shown that it has not chosen a single enemy but is opportunistic, finding targets wherever a network is operating.

Amato said this is an issue that involves moderate and modern Islam on one side and fanatical and conservative Islam on the other. And this conflict within Islam, he added, has now been extended to the EU. Terrorist networks, he said, sometimes use one EU country as base to prepare an attack on another EU country.

Amato concluded that these organizations have a network and the West also needs to create a legal network to combat them.