Pakistan Mosque Leader Vows to Continue Standoff

By Benjamin Sand Islamabad 08 July 2007

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Arrested Pakistan's religious students arrive at sports complex from Adiala jail to be handed over to their families, 8 Jul 2007

Pakistani commandos blasted new holes in the walls around an Islamabad mosque where armed militants are reportedly holding hundreds of women and children hostage. Officials say they hope at least some of the people inside will be able to escape through the holes. But as VOA Correspondent Benjamin Sand reports from Islamabad, the militant leader in the mosque vows to continue the standoff that began Tuesday.

Cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi says he and his supporters inside the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, would rather die than surrender.

The pro-Taleban leader released a statement saying he hoped his death would provoke an Islamic revolution throughout Pakistan.

On Saturday, President Pervez Musharraf issued a blunt ultimatum to the mosque's leaders.

He says the government, until now, has been patient. But he says anyone still inside the mosque should come out and surrender, and if they do not, they will be killed.

More than 1,000 people have come forward since Tuesday, but officials say hundreds more remain inside.

Around 50 or 60 well-armed militants are thought to be in control and may be preventing hundreds of women and children from leaving the mosque.

Thousands of troops have surrounded the compound and scores of ambulances have been pre-positioned nearby.

Explosions and gunfire continued throughout the night and early Sunday.

An elite Pakistani commando was killed during the latest operation as officials used dynamite to blast holes in the mosque's outer walls.

The militants' leader says no one is being held against their will and says at least 70 people in the mosque have died.

Government officials have rejected Ghazi's claims, but insist the radical cleric will be held accountable for anyone who has been killed during the standoff.

Lal Masjid has openly and repeatedly defied the government's authority in recent months. Ghazi has been a vocal supporter of Osama bin Laden and recently vowed to impose a Taleban-style Sharia law in the capital.

The bloody stand off erupted as President Musharraf faced mounting domestic opposition before national elections expected later this year. But public opinion has swung solidly behind the president and newspaper editorials have strongly backed the government's action against the hard-line mosque.

Cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi says he and his supporters inside the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, would rather die than surrender.

The pro-Taleban leader released a statement Sunday saying he hoped his death would provoke an Islamic revolution throughout Pakistan.

On Saturday, President Pervez Musharraf issued a blunt ultimatum to the mosque's leaders.

He says anyone inside the mosque should come out and surrender, and if they do not, they will be killed.

Thousands of troops have surrounded the mosque. Explosions and gunfire continued throughout the night and early Sunday.

An elite Pakistani commando was killed during the latest operation as officials struggle to free women and children they say are being held hostage in the mosque.

The militants' leader says no one is being held against their will and says at least 70 people in the mosque have died.

New 7 Wonders of the World Announced

By Sabina Castelfranco Rome 08 July 2007

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People celebrate in front of the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza in southern Mexico, after Chichen Itza was selected as one of the new seven wonders of the world, 7 Jul 2007

The new Seven Wonders of the World have been selected after a global poll. The winners were announced Saturday. Sabina Castelfranco reports from Rome.

About 100 million votes were cast by the Internet and cell-phone text messages to choose the new Seven Wonders of the World.

Academy Award-winning British actor Ben Kingsley announced the winners at a glitzy international show at Portugal's largest venue, the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon.

"The Colosseum in Rome," he said.

The only site in Europe selected was the Colosseum. The others were: The Great Wall of China, India's Taj Mahal, Jordan's ancient city of Petra, the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer, and Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid.

The seven winners beat out 14 other nominated landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Easter Island in the Pacific, the Statue of Liberty in New York City, the Acropolis in Athens, Russia's Kremlin and Australia's Sydney Opera House.

Thousands enjoyed the show in Lisbon, which included break-dancing and singing by tenor Jose Carreras and pop star Jennifer Lopez. Others celebrated in the countries home to the sites chosen.

In India, this young man said he was proud he was born in the city of the Taj Mahal. He said he was proud it was selected as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

In Mexico, Yucatan State Governor Yvonne Ortega celebrated the selection of the Chichen Itza pyramid.

Ortega said, "the Mayans brought luck to us, the people from Yucatan, but now we must take advantage of this with a great economic development for the country."

The campaign to name the new wonders was launched in 1999 with almost 200 nominations coming in from around the world. The list of candidates was narrowed to 21 by the start of 2006. Organizers also went on a world tour, visiting each site.

The original list of wonders were concentrated in the Mediterranean and Middle East. The only surviving structures from the original seven wonders of the ancient world are The Great Pyramids of Giza.

The New 7 Wonders organization was established by Swiss-Canadian adventurer Bernard Weber. It aims to promote cultural diversity by supporting, preserving and restoring monuments. It relies on private donations and revenue from selling broadcasting rights.

VOASE0708_This Is America

08 July 2007

Crayola Crayons Have Been Helping Children Color for Generations
For over 100 years, the Crayola company has made colorful tools for children to express their artistic skills.

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VOICE ONE:

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

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember. This week, we tell about the history of one of the most popular and colorful toy products in America. Generations of American children have grown up coloring and drawing with crayons made by the Crayola company. These small sticks of color are also popular around the world.

(MUSIC)

(SOUND)

Andrew:

Hi, my name is Andrew Bracken and I am six years old. I like to draw neighborhoods and cities. Right now I am drawing an ice cream store. My favorite crayon colors are: pink is my first, purple is my second and blue is my last.

VOICE ONE:

That was Andrew Bracken from Arlington, Virginia. He is one of many children in America who likes to draw with Crayola crayons. Many people use these fun drawing tools, but not everyone knows their history and how they are made.

The story of Crayola began in eighteen sixty-four. Joseph Binney started a company in the state of New York called Peekskill Chemical Works. The factory made products such as paints, dyes, and charcoal. Joseph Binney later asked his son Edwin Binney and another family member, C. Harold Smith, to work with him.

VOICE TWO:

Binney & Smith Founders

In eighteen eighty-five Joseph Binney retired. Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith decided to become business partners and changed the name of the company to Binney & Smith. The company made products like red oxide, a chemical used to give color to the red paint used for painting barn buildings on farms. Peekskill chemists also had an important role in how modern cars look. The first car tires were a white color because of the zinc oxide in the rubber. Peekskill experts learned that adding carbon black to tires not only made them darker but also made them much stronger.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen hundred the company started making slate school pencils in their factory in Easton, Pennsylvania. Binney & Smith started listening carefully to teachers who wanted better materials to use in their classrooms. The company soon made the first dustless chalk sticks for writing on school blackboards. A few years later the company decided to produce safe and low cost wax crayons, which are coloring sticks that can be made out of wax, chalk or charcoal. In fact, “crayon” comes from the French word for pencil.

VOICE TWO:

A box of Crayola crayons from 1903

Crayons were not a new art material, but good quality ones were costly to buy. It was Edwin Binney’s wife Alice who invented the product name Crayola. The first part of the name comes from “craie” the French word for the material chalk. The second part comes from “ola” in the word "oleaginous" which means having to do with, or containing, oil.

Today, you can buy boxes of Crayola crayons with more than one hundred colors. But the first box of Crayolas only had eight colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown and black.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

If you want to understand how these famous colorful sticks are made, you can visit the Crayola Factory visitor’s center in Easton, Pennsylvania. The real factory where Crayola crayons are produced is no longer open to the public. But at the visitors center you can see older versions of the machines that make crayons. Listen as one of the factory’s guides tells about the company.

(SOUND)

CHARLIE DOHERTY:

Hi, I’m Charlie Doherty. I work here at the Crayola Factory making crayons...well, showing people how we make crayons and markers. Crayola was founded, the crayon part of the company, in nineteen-oh-three. In two thousand three we had our one-hundredth anniversary. We were the first to package eight different colors back in nineteen-oh-three. We had an eight pack. You know how many colors we make now? Guess! How many?

One hundred and a half. Yeah, they come in a tower.

VOICE TWO:

Charlie Doherty pouring liquid parrafin wax to make crayons

Charlie Doherty can also show you how the many machines work that produce crayons. He starts by pouring hot paraffin wax that has been colored with pigment onto a special table. The hot liquid pours into one thousand two hundred thin container molds that are the shape of a crayon. Then, Mister Doherty runs a scraper over the table to make sure the wax is evenly placed. As the wax cools, it keeps the shape of the crayon forms. Cold water helps cool the crayons more quickly. Next, he carefully takes the cooled crayons out of the forms. The ones that break or do not have perfect tips get melted again into the wax.

VOICE ONE:

Charlie Doherty then shows the labeling machine that wraps small squares of paper around the crayon using sticky glue made from cornstarch. The paper helps strengthen the crayon so it does not break easily when used. The labels also give the name of the color.

Before these machines existed, local farmers put the colored labels on the crayons by hand. It was a good way for these families to make money during the winter. If you visit this factory, you can try to roll and glue the paper on a newly made crayon. It is not as easy as it looks! Charlie Doherty says the farmers used to be able to put the paper labels on ten to twelve crayons a minute.

The sorting machine that puts crayons into their boxes

Next, there is a machine that puts crayons into small boxes made out of cardboard paper.

(SOUND)

The machine sorts the crayons so that every box has one of every color.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

A whole history could be written about Crayola’s names for its many colors. Over the years Crayola has renamed three of its colors to be more "politically correct" and not risk insulting some groups of people. These include “Prussian blue” which became "midnight blue," and “Indian red” which became "chestnut." In nineteen sixty-two the company changed the color “flesh” to “peach.” The Crayola Web site says this was partly a result of the civil rights movement in the United States during the nineteen-sixties.

VOICE ONE:

It might surprise you to learn how seriously some people take their crayons. In nineteen ninety Crayola decided to retire eight colors including "raw umber," "maize" and "lemon yellow." The company did not expect that many adults who grew up with those colors would be very upset. Some people even protested in front of the Crayola headquarters. People organized themselves into protest groups like “RUMP.” This stands for the "Raw Umber and Maize Preservation Society.” Another protest group was called “The Society to Save Lemon Yellow.”

Crayola did not return the eight old colors permanently. But they did create special edition metal boxes of crayons that included the newly retired colors. They sold hundreds of thousands of those tins.

VOICE TWO:

You might be wondering who names all these colors. Crayola has three main ways for finding new names. Sometimes the company uses a book from the United States Commerce Department called “Color: Universal Language and Dictionary of Names.” This book is used by experts in industries like biology, botany, and home designing. Crayola also gets names from colors used by artists.

VOICE ONE:

Sometimes Crayola asks its workers for color ideas. Their suggestions include "pig pink" and "blue bell." Crayola has even asked its buyers for color name ideas. In nineteen ninety-three Crayola held a competition for new names. Adrienne Watral was six years old at the time. She named an orange crayon after her favorite food, "macaroni and cheese." Eighty-nine-year-old Mildred Sampson picked the name “purple mountain majesty.” This phrase comes from a famous song about America, but it is also the perfect name for a color.

Crayola recently started writing the names of each color in Spanish as well as French. So, now when you pick up the blue color “cornflower” you can improve your language skills. Cornflower is “azul aciano” in Spanish and “bluet” in French.

VOICE TWO:

Crayola is not the only company that makes crayons. For example, the Swiss company Caran d’Ache makes many kinds of high quality art products. These include colorful drawing sticks like oil pastels and wax pastels. This company’s products are mostly for professional artists and designers.

The company Dixon Ticonderoga makes Prang crayons out of wax and also out of soybean oil. Some people buy soy crayons because the colors are very bright and are good for the environment. These other companies might make similar products. But Crayola crayons have their own special place in the popular imagination of generations of Americans.

We leave you with the words of Daisy Bracken. She can tell you exactly which Crayola colors are special to her.

(SOUND)

Daisy:

My name is Daisy and I am four years old. Sometimes I color with crayons. I like indigo, green and purple and pink and red and I like yellow…and green…and brown….

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Our program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. You can see pictures of crayons being made at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find transcripts and audio archives of our programs. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE0708_Development Report

08 July 2007

Seeing Pressures but Also Possibilities in Urban Growth
Next year, more than half of the world population is expected to be living in cities; a new UN report urges governments to prepare.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Soon, more of us will be living in cities than in rural areas. Population experts at the United Nations had thought that would happen by this year. Lately their estimate is that in two thousand eight, for the first time in history, more than half of the world population will be in urban areas.

The United Nations Population Fund just released its yearly "State of World Population" report. Researchers say three-and-a-third billion people will be living in urban areas next year. By two thousand thirty, the estimate is almost five billion. The fastest growth will be in Asia and Africa.

Poor people will make up most of the urban growth. And natural increase will be the main cause of that growth, not migration from rural areas. The report says mega-cities of more than ten million people have not grown to the sizes once expected. Most growth is expected instead in smaller towns and cities.

The experts urge governments to improve social services and city planning policies. For example, the report calls for better land use so poor people do not have to live in slums. Today, an estimated one billion live in these often polluted and dangerous environments. Ninety percent of the people are in developing countries.

The report says the possible good of urbanization far outweighs the bad. The task is to learn how to make the best use of the possibilities. For example, cities can have a lot of poverty, yet they also represent the best hope for poor people to escape poverty, it says. "Cities create environmental problems, but they can also create solutions."

The United Nations report says climate change will affect poor countries, cities and individuals more severely. Yet many fast-growing cities are more concerned with economic growth than with protecting themselves against climate change.

On a separate issue, China last week denied a newspaper story about a World Bank report on the cost of pollution in that country. The Financial Times reported that Chinese officials persuaded the bank to remove information they thought could cause social unrest.

The information reportedly said air and water pollution caused about seven hundred fifty thousand early deaths in China each year.

A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said there was no issue involving a request from China. She said the report has not been completed yet. The World Bank said the final version will be released as a series of papers.

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

Need for Space!!!

PoEnglish还在等2期的Words and Their Stories，所以6月合辑还暂未打包，请给位耐心等待

现在是PoEnglish求助

G宝盘的垃圾空间服务又挂了，51files刚改成91files，还无法登陆，所以PoEnglish只好把文件暂时上传到googlepage上
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有朋友知道有稳定的上传下载网络空间服务的，请告诉我，能够提供良好空间的我更感激不尽！！！

VOASE0707_People In America

07 July 2007

Clare Booth Luce, 1903-1987: News reporter, Magazine Editor, Member of Congress and Ambassador
She was often on the list of the ten most important and admired women in the world.

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VOICE ONE:

I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Gwen Outen with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we tell about a woman who became famous for her activities in government, the media and the arts. She was a member of Congress and an ambassador. She was a news reporter and magazine editor. And she wrote plays. Her name was Clare Boothe Luce.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Clare Boothe Luce was one of the most influential women in modern American history.

Clare Boothe Luce

Yet she came from simple roots. She was born in New York City in nineteen-oh-three. Clare’s father was a musician and businessman. Her mother had been a dancer.

While Clare was a girl, her parents ended their marriage. She and her brother stayed with their mother. Their mother did not have a lot of money. Yet she was able to send Clare to very good schools. Her mother then married a doctor from Connecticut. Clare’s stepfather, Albert Austin, later served in the United States House of Representatives.

VOICE TWO:

As a young woman, Clare Boothe was known for her intelligence and good looks. She met her first husband through a family friend. George Tuttle Brokaw was a wealthy man. He also was more than twenty years older than Clare. They were married in nineteen twenty-three and had one child – a daughter. However, her husband had a problem with alcoholic drinks. Their marriage ended after only six years.

Clare developed a serious interest in writing. In nineteen thirty, a friend, the magazine publisher Conde Nast, offered her a job. She wrote comments for pictures published in Vogue, a magazine for women about clothes and fashion. A short time later, she accepted a job at another magazine, Vanity Fair. She wrote reports about social events and famous people in New York. Later these reports were published in a book.

VOICE ONE:

Clare Boothe became a top editor at Vanity Fair. She worked there until nineteen thirty-four. By then, she was also writing plays. One play was called “Abide With Me.” It was about a man who mistreats his wife. “Abide With Me” opened in a theater on Broadway in New York City in nineteen thirty-five. Critics hated it.

Clare Boothe Luce with Henry Luce

Two days after the show opened, Clare Boothe married Henry Robinson Luce. He was a famous and important magazine publisher. He published Time and Fortune magazines. She had first met Henry Luce at a party in New York. At the time, he was married and had two children. He and Clare were married a short time after a court order canceled his first marriage. They would stay together for more than thirty years.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Clare Boothe Luce returned to writing plays. Her second play, “The Women,” made fun of rich women. It opened on Broadway in nineteen thirty-six. The show was very popular. It was later made into a movie. Another play, “Kiss the Boys Goodbye,” also was a success. So was her next play, “Margin For Error.” All three plays were noted for their use of sharp language and making fun of human failings.

Clare Boothe Luce was known for expressing her opinions. Her most famous saying was: “No good deed goes unpunished.” She often spoke about the problems of women trying to succeed in a world mainly controlled by men. She said: “Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, ‘She doesn’t have what it takes.’ They will say, ‘Women don’t have what it takes.'” She made these comments in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

CLARE BOOTHE LUCE:

"We women are supposed to be a minority. I’ve never understood that myself because we outnumber the men in actual numbers, and we live five years longer. So I’ve never felt like a minority because, as you know, minorities are never supposed to say anything unkind about one another."

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen forty, Clare Boothe Luce traveled to Europe as a reporter for Life magazine, which was published by her husband. She visited a number of countries and later wrote reports about how people were dealing with World War Two. She wrote a book about this called “Europe in Spring.” In the book, she noted that people were living in “a world where men have decided to die together because they are unable to find a way to live together." She also reported from Africa, China, India and Burma for Life magazine.

In nineteen forty-two, her stepfather, Albert Austin, died. Missus Luce agreed to be the Republican Party candidate for his seat in the House of Representatives from Connecticut. She was elected and entered Congress in January, nineteen forty-three.

Missus Luce was a political conservative. She spoke against the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She criticized the Roosevelt administration’s foreign policy. She said it failed to supervise the war effort.

VOICE TWO:

A tragic event affected Clare Boothe Luce in nineteen forty-four. Her nineteen-year-old daughter Ann was killed in an automobile accident. Missus Luce experienced severe emotional problems. She sought help from a number of people, including a Roman Catholic clergyman, the Reverend Fulton J. Sheen. At the time, he was becoming known for his radio broadcasts.

Missus Luce demanded to know why God had taken her daughter. Reverend Sheen said the young woman had died so that her mother could learn about the meaning of life.

Missus Luce recovered and returned to Congress. She remained popular among the voters of Connecticut and was re-elected to a second term in office. However, she did not seek re-election in nineteen forty-six. Missus Luce said she wanted to spend more time with her husband. She also became a member of the Roman Catholic Church.

Missus Luce returned to writing. She also edited a book about people considered holy by the Roman Catholic Church.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Clare Boothe Luce criticized the spread of communism after World War Two. In nineteen fifty-two, she supported the Republican Party’s candidate for president, former General Dwight Eisenhower. He won the election and appointed Missus Luce as ambassador to Italy. She became one of the first American women to serve in a major diplomatic position. Missus Luce served as the ambassador until nineteen fifty-six. She left Rome after becoming sick with arsenic poisoning caused by paint particles in her bedroom.

VOICE TWO:

Three years later, President Eisenhower nominated Missus Luce as ambassador to Brazil. Most members of the United States Senate supported her nomination. However, some senators were opposed. Among them was Wayne Morse, a Democrat from Oregon.

The Senate approved Missus Luce as the new ambassador. After the debate, she said that Senator Morse’s actions were the result of him being “kicked in the head by a horse.” Many Democrats criticized her comment. A few days later she resigned as ambassador.

VOICE ONE:

Missus Luce remained active in politics. In nineteen sixty-four, she supported Senator Barry Goldwater as the Republican Party’s candidate for president. She also announced plans to be the Conservative Party candidate for the Senate from New York. However, Republican leaders disapproved and she withdrew from the race.

Clare Boothe Luce retired from public life. She and her husband moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Henry Luce died there in nineteen sixty-seven. He was sixty-eight years old.

Missus Luce moved to Honolulu, Hawaii. She lived there until the early nineteen eighties. During that period, she served as an advisor to three presidents. She was a member of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.

Then Missus Luce moved to Washington, D.C. In nineteen eighty-three, President Ronald Reagan awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That is the highest honor a president can give to an American citizen.

Clare Boothe Luce had a long battle with cancer. She died at her home in nineteen eighty-seven. She was eighty-four years old. She was buried near the remains of her husband in the state of South Carolina.

Experts said Clare Boothe Luce had enough important jobs in government, the media and the arts to satisfy several women. She was often on the list of the ten most important and admired women in the world.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by George Grow. Lawan Davis was our producer. I’m Gwen Outen.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Steve Ember. Listen again next week for People in America in VOA Special English.

VOASE0706_In the News

06 July 2007

US High Court Takes a More Conservative Turn With Bush Appointees
A look at the results of the Supreme Court term that just ended, and the president's decision to keep Lewis Libby out of prison.

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Legal experts had a lot to discuss this week. President Bush intervened to keep a former top administration official out of prison. And last week the Supreme Court ended its first full term with two Bush appointees.

A demonstrator holds a sign outside the Supreme Court building in December

Most experts agree that the appointments have created a more conservative high court. Just how much may remain to be seen. But some already think the changes may be remembered as the president's biggest success for the conservative movement.

John Roberts arrived on the court as chief justice after William Rehnquist died in two thousand five. Justice Samuel Alito joined the court at the beginning of last year. He replaced Sandra Day O’Connor who retired.

In the most recent term, which began in October, the four most conservative justices won twice as many cases as they lost. One-third of all cases were decided by votes of five-to-four. Commentators noted it was the highest share in ten years, though not all split liberal and conservative.

The deciding vote was often Justice Anthony Kennedy. He was in the majority in every five-four decision. Over the years he has voted with conservatives as well as liberals on the court.

In this term, Justice Kennedy sided with the liberals in their most important case. The court ruled that the government has the power to restrict the release of greenhouse gases. But he took the side of the conservatives in their most important decisions.

These included upholding a federal ban on a late-term abortion method. Another decision limited the free speech rights of public school students. And last week the court limited the ability of school systems to consider race in efforts to balance student populations.

On the last day of the term, the Supreme Court agreed to hear appeals by detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The court had denied an earlier request in April. The detainees seek the right to appeal their detainment in federal court.

The administration says they are enemy combatants and should not be given such rights. The Supreme Court will hear the arguments after its next term begins in October.

This week Americans debated another legal issue after President Bush commuted the prison sentence of Lewis "Scooter" Libby. He was the top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney and a presidential assistant.

A jury found he lied in the investigation into who leaked the identity of a Central Intelligence Agency officer married to an Iraq war critic.

The president said a thirty-month term was severe. He said he has not decided about using his constitutional right to also give a pardon. Monday's action came hours after a court refused to delay the prison sentence while Lewis Libby appealed his conviction.

He has already paid a fine of two hundred fifty thousand dollars as part of his sentence. The judge also ordered probation. Now the judge asks how someone could serve two years of supervised release without first going to prison.

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

VOASE0705_American Mosaic

05 July 2007

Live Earth Concerts Aim to Raise the Heat on Issue of Climate Change
Also: a listener in Taiwan asks if urban legends are true. And this summer's crop of sequel movies.

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

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

We answer a question from a listener about stories called urban legends…

Play music by groups taking part in worldwide Live Earth concerts to fight global warming…

And report about some movie sequels being released this summer.

Summer Sequels

HOST:

A sequel is a movie that continues a story begun in an earlier movie or tells another story using the same characters. This summer, there are a lot of them. Barbara Klein explains.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Movie studio officials say they expect sequels this summer to earn a huge amount of money. They say three such movies released in May earned more than one hundred million dollars each in ticket sales in just one month. The three movies are "Shrek Three," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End" and "Spider-Man Three."

"Spider-Man Three" continues the story of the superhero who fights evil in New York City. The movie earned more than one hundred fifty million dollars in its first three days of release. Reports say movie officials expect it to earn about nine hundred million dollars around the world.

"Shrek the Third" continues the story of the green cartoon creature and his wife, Princess Fiona. It has earned more than three hundred million dollars in the United States since it opened in May.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End" is the third story about pirate Captain Jack Sparrow. He was captured by the evil Davy Jones in the earlier movie. In the latest one, his friends rescue him from death on the high seas. The latest "Pirates" movie earned one hundred fifty million dollars in the United States on its opening weekend. And it earned more than two hundred forty million dollars outside the United States during that same period.

But movie officials are disappointed that the third movies in these series are not doing as well in the United States as the second movies did. They say one reason for this may be that the three movies opened very close to each other. Still, they expect all three movies to do extremely well around the world.

Several other movie sequels were released recently. They include “Ocean’s Thirteen,” "The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," and "Live Free or Die Hard." Still to come this summer: "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” and “The Bourne Ultimatum.”

Urban Legends

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Taiwan. Sandra wants to know if urban legends are true.

An urban legend is a story that many people believe to be true. Some of these stories may have had some truth to them at one time. But they usually change over time and many are not true anymore. In the past, people read such stories in magazines and newspapers. Today, the Internet spreads them around the world much faster.

Many urban legends warn about something. One very old one is about a woman who tied up her long hair and never washed it. Spiders were said to have made a nest in her hair and killed her by eating her head. Other examples include warnings about eating two different foods or medicines at the same time, like taking an aspirin with Coca Cola.

One urban legend is about ships and planes that mysteriously disappear in an area of the Atlantic Ocean called the Bermuda Triangle. Another is about people in New York City who got rid of their small pet alligators by flushing them down the toilet. These alligators lived in New York's underground waste water system and grew to be huge. Other urban legends involve famous movie stars.

Some urban legends are false, yet are extremely difficult to stop. For example, one story said a major American company gave some of its money to the Church of Satan that worships the devil. Many people who believed this story stopped buying the company’s products even though the story was false.

Some Internet sites investigate the truth of urban legends. One is called Snopes dot com. It lists the twenty-five most popular urban legends. Many are spread through the Internet. The top one is about plastic bottles you can buy that contain water. An urban legend says that these bottles release cancer-causing substances when they are re-used. Snopes says this urban legend is false.

Live Earth

HOST:

On Saturday, musicians around the world will perform a series of concerts to raise attention to global warming. The twenty-four hours of music will take place in New York, London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Johannesburg; also Hamburg, Germany, and Sydney, Australia. On Thursday a Brazilian judge ruled that the concert in Rio de Janeiro could go on as planned. She accepted security guarantees from organizers, but the decision may not have been final. The Live Earth shows will be broadcast on television, radio and the Internet in more than one hundred countries. Faith Lapidus tells us more about the events.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

They are being called "the concerts for a climate in crisis." Producer Kevin Wall, working with former Vice President Al Gore, came up with the idea for Live Earth. Wall has produced concerts for many famous performers including Bob Dylan. He founded SOS, Save Our Selves, to develop events to influence people to fight climate crisis. Wall was also the man behind Live Eight, a series of concerts last year to fight poverty.

Live Earth is taking place on the seventh day of the seventh month of two thousand seven. It represents all seven continents. More than one hundred famous musicians will perform. They include the Police, Madonna and Bon Jovi.

Lenny Kravitz will be the lead act at the concert in Rio de Janeiro. His hits include "American Woman" and "Let Love Rule." Here Kravitz sings "Are You Gonna' Go My Way."

(MUSIC)

The Black Eyed Peas will be among the performers at the show in London. Here lead singer Fergie performs a song from her solo album, "The Dutchess." "Big Girls Don't Cry" is one of the top songs on Billboard Magazine's Hot One Hundred List.

(MUSIC)

If you are near Hamburg, Germany you can see Shakira perform at the Live Earth show there. We leave you with Shakira singing "Illegal."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

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

Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver wrote the program. Mario Ritter was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

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

VOASE0705_Economics Report

05 July 2007

How Subprime Home Loans Become Risky Investments
The world of mortgage-backed securities.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

As the American housing market has cooled, worries about investments based on risky home loans have heated up.

Last month, two hedge funds operated by the investment bank Bear Stearns nearly collapsed under debt. They had borrowed billions of dollars from lenders and invested in securities tied to subprime mortgages.

Bear Stearns agreed to provide over one and one-half billion dollars to rescue one of the funds. Investors in the other could lose everything.

The trouble at Bear Stearns is an example of the risks involved with mortgage-backed securities. These investments have helped drive home ownership rates in the United States to nearly seventy percent. But as interest rates have risen, some homeowners now find it hard to pay their mortgages, and keep their homes.

Americans usually need a mortgage loan to buy a house. Subprime borrowers are people without strong credit histories. Lenders can charge them more because there is a greater chance they will not be able to pay back the loan.

Subprime lenders often depend on credit to make the loans. Once processed, the loan is usually sold to an investment bank. Loans with similar levels of risk are grouped together and then sold to investors worldwide as mortgage-backed securities. The higher the risk, the higher the return.

The Government National Mortgage Association, known as Ginnie Mae, and two other organizations known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac produce most mortgage-backed securities. But investment banks have increased their share, led by Lehman Brothers. Last year, it processed more than fifty billion dollars in securities backed by subprime mortgages.

Being able to sell their loans offers mortgage lenders a way to raise money to make new loans. But being able to spread their risk can also be seen as an invitation to make bad loans.

Last week, federal agencies released the final version of a statement on subprime lending. It provides guidance to lenders to make sure borrowers are able to pay back mortgages with adjustable interest rates. The aim is to avoid payment shock as the rates increase, often after a low starting rate. The agencies also warn against lending activities that harm the interests of homeowners.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. Transcripts and archives of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

Freed BBC Journalist Speaks of 'Appalling Experience'

By Robert Berger Jerusalem 04 July 2007

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Kidnapped BBC Journalist Alan Johnston, freed from captivity in Gaza early Wednesday, has described his experiences in a meeting with the media in Jerusalem. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, his enormous relief is overshadowed by haunting memories.

BBC reporter Alan Johnston speaks to the media during a press conference at the British consulate in Jerusalem, 04 Jul 2007

Alan Johnston emerged from the British Consulate in Jerusalem a happy man.

"It just is unimaginably good to be free," he said.

He looked and felt like a new man after a haircut, shower and shave.

"Maybe you have to have been a prisoner of some kind for some time to know how good it is just to be able to do the most basic things that freedom allows, not least to get a haircut," said Johnston.

"And you want to do everything at the same time, you know you want to read books, newspapers, go to the movies, go to the beach and sit in the sun and eat and talk and all the rest of it," he added.

So different, he said, than his nearly four months in captivity.

"It was as you can imagine the most appalling experience, like being buried alive and removed from life and sometimes, occasionally quite terrifying, and always frightening in that I just didn't know when it would end or how it would end," he said.

This story had a happy ending, when the shadowy group holding him, the Army of Islam, handed him over to officials of the Islamic militant group Hamas in Gaza. He said his situation changed when Hamas seized control of Gaza in last month's civil war.

"Hamas is a controversial organization with a lot of problems and so on in terms of relations with the outside world," said Johnston. "But I'm pretty sure if Hamas hadn't come in and stuck the heat on in a big way, I'd still be in that room."

Johnston was the only western journalist based in Gaza. The Gaza Strip has been a no-go zone for western journalists since Johnston was kidnapped, and it is not clear if they will start going back.

UN Agencies Call For 'Green Revolution' in Africa

By Lisa Schlein Geneva 04 July 2007

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Three of the most important international organizations that deal with food, agriculture, and rural development are calling for an African Green Revolution. The World Food Program (WFP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and International Fund for Agricultural Development say they will work together to help African countries increase their food production to overcome hunger and create a more prosperous future. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

An electrical storm lights the night sky above vegetable crops on a farm near Groblersdal, South Africa, 19 Dec. 2006

The U.N. agencies say Africa is not winning the war against hunger. They estimate 854 million people go hungry every day. They are particularly worried about the number of undernourished people, which has grown in Africa by 45 million during the past 15 years.

Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization, David Harcharik, says a Green Revolution in Africa is not only possible, but necessary. He says the program would be tailored specifically for African conditions.

"If an African Green Revolution is going to be successful, it has to reach as many farmers as possible," he said. "Most of these farmers are subsistence farmers now. I think the Green Revolution has got to find some way to reach out to them and help them increase their agricultural productivity. But, I do not think that that in itself would be sufficient. There has to be a way for farmers to market and sell produce that they produce beyond their own immediate family or village needs."

Harcharik says international trading rules have to be adjusted to give African farmers greater international market access and a fairer chance of exporting their products.

International Fund for Agricultural Development Vice President Kanayo Nwanze says a Green Revolution must be based on African traditions and values.

"It must be a bottom up approach. It must be community based and emphasis must be on rural communities with the targets being women and children given the important role that is played by women in African agriculture," he noted. "We have very clear evidence that investments into women farmers actually increases the chances of better nutrition, better education, better clothing for children."

Nwanze says bad, corrupt governments in Africa are holding back progress. He says African leaders must root out corruption in their political systems and be more transparent if they want to move forward and create a better future for Africa.

The U.N. agencies agree that the amount of Overseas Development Assistance must be increased. But, they say the international community will be more willing to increase their financial commitments to Africa if they see African governments investing more of their national budgets in their own agricultural production.

Russia to Respond if US Rejects Kremlin's Missile-Defense Plan

By Peter Fedynsky Moscow 04 July 2007

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Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov says the term "Cold War" will be forgotten if the United States accepts his country's missile-defense plan for Europe. But Ivanov is also threatening to deploy Russian missiles near Poland if Washington rejects the Kremlin offer. VOA Moscow Correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, wearing sunglasses and First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, background, visit a Command and Control Center in Rostov-on-Don, 29 June 2007

Speaking to reporters in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Russia will cancel plans to deploy missiles in its Kaliningrad enclave if the United States accepts a Kremlin plan for a European missile-defense system. The Russian Baltic enclave is surrounded by Poland and Lithuania, both NATO members.

Ivanov's statement carries the implied threat of an arms race in response to an American plan to deploy missiles in Poland and a radar installation in the Czech Republic. The United States says the system would guard against a possible attack by Iran. Ivanov says his country's proposal is better for NATO than America's.

Ivanov says that Russia together with the NATO allies can create a system that would defend not just some NATO members, but all of them. He says the American plan will not defend all.

Ivanov's statement follows a proposal made by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his meeting with President Bush in Kennebunkport, Maine. The proposal would add a radar facility in southern Russia to an earlier proposal for a Russian radar facility in Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic that borders Iran.

President Bush said in Kennebunkport that Mr. Putin's proposal is worth considering. But Mr. Bush added that the Czech Republic and Poland need to be an integral part of a NATO missile-defense system.

Ivanov's statement represents a Russian carrot and stick: Accept our proposal, he says, and the term "Cold War" will be forgotten. Reject it, and we will deploy missiles against you.

VOASE0704_Education Report

04 July 2007

Historic Antioch College Faces an Unsure Future
A shortage of students and money leads to a disputed plan to close the Ohio school next July and reopen in 2012.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, is a private liberal-arts school with a

Antioch College

history of social activism. It was the first American college to name a woman as a full professor and one of the first to admit students of all races.

Antioch also became one of the first to offer work study programs, so students could gain experience in jobs. And it was among the first to stop using grades to record progress.

A Protestant group known as the Christian Church started Antioch College in eighteen fifty-two. Even in those days it was different from most other American colleges because it admitted women as well as men.

During the nineteen sixties, Antioch students were active in the civil rights movement and opposition to the Vietnam War. At that time, the college had more than two thousand students. But times changed.

In nineteen seventy-eight Antioch University was created. Antioch College became the undergraduate residential program.

But it has struggled with a shortage of students and money. School officials say students are rejecting the college because it lacks modern dormitories, wireless Internet or new athletic buildings. The number of students has dropped to only four hundred this past year.

Now, the university Board of Trustees has voted to suspend operations at Antioch College next July. School officials say the goal is reopen the college in two thousand twelve. They say they want to raise enough money to design what they call a twenty-first century campus.

Today Antioch University has five other campuses around the country designed to serve working adults. The closure will not affect the other campuses.

Some people say Antioch's expansion is one reason the college is in financial trouble. But university officials say the other campuses have been helping to support Antioch College. They say the college has been operating at a loss for several years.

Antioch College has been closed and reopened three times already in its history, for financial and other reasons. Teachers and former students have talked about the possibility of legal action to try to stop the new plan. The Antioch College Alumni Association has been collecting money to try to keep the school from closing again -- or at least make sure it reopens.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. To learn more about American education, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0704_The Making of a Nation

04 July 2007

The Nineteen Seventies and Eighties Were A Period of Change in American Society
Americans became tired of social struggle. They had been working together for common interests. Now, many wanted to spend more time on their own personal interests.

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VOICE ONE:

This is Rich Kleinfeldt.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Ray Freeman with THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a VOA Special English program about the history of the United States. Today, we tell the story about some social and cultural issues of the nineteen seventies and nineteen eighties.

VOICE ONE:

An economics professor from the United States was teaching in Britain in the early Nineteen-Eighties. One of his students asked this question: "What is most important to Americans these days?" He said: "Earning money."

Clearly, his answer was far too simple. Still, many observers would agree that great numbers of Americans in the Nineteen-Eighties were concerned with money. These people wanted the good life that they believed money could buy.

VOICE TWO:

In some ways, the Nineteen-Eighties were the opposite of the Nineteen-Sixties.

The Nineteen-Sixties were years of protest and reform. Young Americans demonstrated against the Vietnam War. African Americans demonstrated for civil rights. Women demonstrated for equal treatment. For many, society's hero was the person who helped others.

For many in the Nineteen-Eighties, society's hero was the person who helped himself. Success seemed to be measured only by how much money a person made.

VOICE ONE:

The period of change came during the Nineteen-Seventies. For a while, these years remained tied to the social experiments and struggles of the Nineteen-Sixties. Then they showed signs of what American would be like in the Nineteen-Eighties. There were a number of reasons for the change.

One reason was that the United States ended its military involvement in Vietnam. Another was that the civil rights movement and women's movements reached many of their goals. A third reason was the economy. During the Nineteen-Seventies, the United States suffered an economic recession. Interest rates and inflation were high. There was a shortage of imported oil.

VOICE TWO:

As the Nineteen-Seventies moved toward the Nineteen-Eighties, Americans became tired of social struggle. They became tired of losing money. They had been working together for common interests. Now, many wanted to spend more time on their own personal interests.

This change appeared in many parts of American society. It affected popular culture, education, and politics.

VOICE ONE:

For example, one of the most popular television programs of that time was about serious social issues. It was called "All in the Family". It was about a factory worker who hates black people and opposes equal rights for women. His family slowly helps him to accept and value different kinds of people.

Other television programs, however, were beginning to present an escape from serious issues. These included "Happy Days" and "Three's Company."

Music showed the change, too. In the Nineteen-Sixties, folk music was very popular. Many folk songs were about social problems. In the Nineteen-Seventies, groups played hard rock and punk music, instead.

VOICE TWO:

Self-help books were another sign that Americans were becoming more concerned about their own lives. These books described ways to make people happier with themselves. One of the most popular was called I'm Okay, You're Okay. It was published in Nineteen-Sixty-Nine. It led the way for many similar books throughout the Nineteen-Seventies.

VOICE ONE:

The Nineteen-Seventies also saw a change in education. In the Nineteen-Sixties, many young people expressed little interest in continuing their education after four years of study in college. They were busy working for social reforms. Many believed that more education only created unequal classes of people.

By the middle Nineteen-Seventies, however, more young people decided it was acceptable to make a lot of money. Higher education was a way to get the skills to do this. Law schools and medical schools soon had long lists of students waiting to get in.

VOICE TWO:

Politically, the United States went through several changes during the Nineteen-Seventies. There were liberal Democratic administrations for most of the Nineteen-Sixties. Then a conservative Republican, Richard Nixon, was elected. During his second term, President Nixon was forced to resign because of the Watergate case.

Vice President Gerald Ford became president after Nixon's resignation. About two years later, he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter. The election showed that Americans were angry with the Republican Party because of the Watergate case. But they soon became unhappy with President Carter, too. They blamed him for failing to improve the economy. He lost his campaign for re-election to conservative Republican Ronald Reagan.

VOICE ONE:

The Nineteen-Eighties were called the Reagan years, because he was president for

Ronald Reagan

eight of them. During his first term, the recession ended. Inflation was controlled. He reduced taxes. Americans felt hopeful that they could make money again.

Observers created several expressions to describe some groups of people at that time. One expression was "the 'me' generation". This described Americans who were only concerned about themselves. Another expression was "yuppie". It meant "young urban professional". Both these groups seemed as if they lived just to make and spend money, money, and more money.

Entertainment in the Nineteen-Eighties showed the interest society placed on financial success. The characters in a number of television programs, for example, lived in costly homes, wore costly clothes, and drove costly automobiles. They were not at all like average Americans. They lived lives that required huge amounts of money.

Two of these television programs became extremely popular in the United States and in other countries. They were called "Dallas" and "Dynasty".

VOICE TWO:

Wall Street

At the movie theater, a very popular film was called "Wall Street". It was about a young, wealthy, dishonest -- powerful -- man who traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Power was a popular program idea in action films, too. The most successful action films were about a man called "Rambo". Rambo was impossibly heroic. Naturally, he always won. The films showed good winning over evil. But Rambo rejected established rules and was extremely violent.

Another form of entertainment became popular in the Nineteen-Eighties. It was the television talk show. People appeared on these shows mostly to talk about themselves: their politics, their families, their sexual relations. They talked in public about things that were once considered private.

Much of the popular music of the time also showed this new openness. Heavy metal rock groups sang about sex and drugs. And then there was the new form of music called "rap". In this form, words are spoken, not sung, over a heavy beat. Many Americans found all these kinds of music to be too shocking, too violent, too lawless, and too damaging to the human spirit.

VOICE ONE:

People may have talked and sung openly about sex and drugs in the Nineteen-Eighties. But as the years went by, many became increasingly careful about their own activities. This was because sex and drugs became deadly. A new disease appeared at that time. It was called AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. The disease spread in several ways. One was through sexual relations. Another was through sharing the needles used to take illegal drugs.

VOICE TWO:

A big change in American life during the Nineteen-Eighties came as a result of the computer. Computers were invented forty years earlier. They were large machines and were used only at universities, big companies, and in the military.

By the Nineteen-Eighties, computers had become much smaller. Anyone could learn

The IBM personal computer arrived in 1981

how to use them, even children. Millions of Americans soon had a 'personal' computer in their home. They could use it to read newspaper stories, buy things, do schoolwork, and play games.

Such technological improvement -- and a bright economy -- filled Americans of the early and middle Nineteen-Eighties with hope. Many felt there were almost no limits on the good life they could lead.

VOICE ONE:

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

VOICE TWO:

And this is Ray Freeman. Join us again next week for another V-O-A Special English program about the history of the United States.

US, Russia Pledge Further Nuclear Weapons Cuts

By David Gollust State Department 03 July 2007

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Russian President Vladimir Putin (l) and U.S. President Bush during a joint press conference at the Bush family compound in northeastern U.S. state of Maine, 02 Jul 2007

The United States and Russia vowed Tuesday to pursue further cuts in their strategic nuclear arsenals and to take new steps to limit weapons proliferation. The announcement was a follow-on to the talks between President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin Sunday and Monday in Kennebunkport, Maine. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

Arms control advocates have been critical of the administrations of both Presidents Bush and Putin for allegedly neglecting arms control.

But a joint statement here said the two powers are fully committed to non-proliferation, and intend to reduce their offensive strategic nuclear arsenals "to the lowest possible level" consistent with national security needs and alliance commitments.

The last strategic nuclear arms reduction, or START, treaty between Washington and Moscow, reached in 1991 at the end of the Soviet era and limiting the two sides to six thousand deployed warheads, expires in 2009

A Bush-Putin agreement in Moscow in 2002 commits the two sides to deeper cuts, to no more than 2,200 warheads each, but the deal lacked specifics and compliance has lagged.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed arms issues on the sidelines of the Kennebunkport meetings. They said in the joint statement the sides are ready - upon instructions from the two presidents - to continue talks on a post-START accord "with a view toward early results."

At a press appearance here with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak, U.S. Nuclear Non-Proliferation envoy Robert Joseph said talks on the shape of a post-START arms accord are under way but only at an early stage:

"We haven't come to agreement on what will replace START but we are in the process of talking about that. We both want transparency, we both want confidence building measures. We have talked about measures that would involve data exchanges and site visits," Joseph said. "We have, I think, a way to go in terms of our discussion but we are actively working that.

A declaration by Presidents Bush and Putin, also released Tuesday, said the two governments are determined to expand nuclear energy cooperation, and to make such technology available to developing countries, while still limiting the spread of nuclear weapons.

They said expansion of nuclear power around the world is inevitable given the soaring demand for energy, but that it should be conducted in a way that strengthens the international nuclear non-proliferation regime.

President Bush said Monday he and Mr. Putin agreed on the need to send a "common message" to Iran over its disputed nuclear program. Russia has proposed setting up a center to furnish and reprocess nuclear fuel for Iran and other potential nuclear states to prevent diversion of such material for weapons purposes.

In that regard, Deputy Foreign Minister Kislyak defended Moscow's cooperation with Iran on its nearly-completed Bushehr power plant on the Persian Gulf. He said Russia will control fuel for the Bushehr plant, and said if Iran wants a broader nuclear program it should be based on that arrangement:

"Bushehr is going to be continued. It's going to be built. It's fully compliant with all the requirements of the IAEA," Kislyak said. "It's fully under the safeguards agreements. And I would say that the arrangement around Bushehr is an example of what Iran would be well-advised to choose as a method and way of developing its nuclear energy."

Kislyak called the Bushehr plan a win-win proposition for all those concerned. He also dismissed as overly ambitious an Iranian claim this week that the plant will be completed and fueled within two months.

Though it once supported the Russian take-back plan for the Bushehr plant's fuel supply, the Bush administration has more recently urged Russia to halt nuclear cooperation with Iran altogether.

Iran insists its nuclear program is entirely peaceful, but the United States and European allies believe it has a covert weapons project.