【精品资料】专四听力训练 VOA 100篇

【精品资料】专四听力训练 VOA 100篇 1 VOA 100 VOA News Item 1 Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and his counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations sealed the agreement in Bangkok Thursday. They met on the sidelines of the annual ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting. The agreement creates one of Asia?s biggest trading areas and integrates India?s fast growing economy with 10 of its neighbors. Trade between India and ASEAN amounts to $40 billion each year. Under the pact, India and ASEAN will eliminate tariffs on various goods by 2016. VOA News Item 2 Britain?s political life has been dominated for the past three decades by two parties the Conservatives, now led by David Cameron, and Labor headed by current Prime Minister Gordon Brown. But a third party, the Liberal Democrats, are turning this election into a three-horse race. Their campaign was given a major boost by Britain?s first ever televised debate last week; Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg emerged as the clear winner. Viewer polls taken after this second debate, which focused on foreign policy, showed there was no runaway victor. The last time Britain had a hung parliament was in 1974. A final televised debate is to take place next Thursday, followed by the election on May 6. VOA News Item 3 On the second day of debate all signs continued to point toward an easy confirmation win for Sotomayor, the 55-year-old federal court judge nominated by President Barack Obama earlier this year. Although most of the 40 Senate Republicans are likely to vote against her, the decision Wednesday of Missouri Senator Kit Bond added to the number of Republicans who have committed to voting for her. Senator Bond, who is one of several Republicans retiring from the Senate next year, said while he respects and agrees with the legal reasoning others in his party used to oppose Sotomayor, lawmakers have an obligation to show deference to a president?s choice of a nominee. VOA News Item 4 Foreign ministers of the Southern African Development Community met in Maputo to prepare a report on the region?s political crises. It is to be presented to African leaders at their upcoming summit in Ethiopia. SADC?s Political and Diplomatic Committee has been mediating three major crises in the region. SADC officials said the ministers are pleased the various parties to the unity government in 2 Zimbabwe resumed negotiations on implementing their power-sharing agreement. They said they believed Zimbabwe was on the right path. The officials said the ministers also believe that progress is being made toward easing the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and that reconciliation efforts between the government and various rebel groups were on the right track. But the officials said they were less optimistic about the political crisis in Madagascar. It erupted in March after Andry Rajoelina, backed by the military, seized power following the ouster of then-President Marc Ravalomanana. SADC and the African Union do not recognize the Rajoelina government and have suspended Madagascar from their organizations. VOA News Item 5 Security has been tightened around Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak after he received dozens of death threats. Security sources say the threats were made by Jewish militants who oppose the government?s partial freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank. The freeze was imposed in November under pressure from the United States, which sees the settlements as an obstacle to peace. The death threats are being taken seriously. In 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by an Orthodox Jew opposed to his policy of trading land for peace with the Palestinians. VOA News Item 6 Government officials say they will investigate just how three leaders of the anti-government protests managed to escape when police tried to surround their hotel Friday. One of the leaders climbed down three floors using a rope, and was rushed away by supporters thronging the building. Officials earlier Friday said the government is preparing to arrest people linked to clashes with security forces last Saturday that left 24 soldiers and protesters dead. The government says armed men infiltrated protester ranks and fired on troops trying to disperse a rally. The anti-government movement, led by the United Democratic Front against Dictatorship or UDD, demands that the Government call fresh elections. UDD supporters have held protests in Bangkok for more than a month. Thailand is facing its most severe political crisis in almost 20 years. Some parties in the governing coalition want to set a clear time frame for elections to ease tensions. But the government says it will only call elections once the political situation has cooled. VOA News Item 7 Kyrgyzstan?s five-day-old provisional government is vowing to use the country?s military to launch a special operation to neutralize President Kurmanbek Bakiyev if he does not resign. Interim Kyrgyz leader Roza Otunbayeva says her government is willing to negotiate his departure from the country and wants to resolve the standoff without any more harm to innocent 3 civilians. The president was effectively ousted after last Wednesday?s clashes between government forces and protesters. Authorities say about 80 people have died and more than 1,600 were wounded. VOA News Item 8 On the eve of Israel?s 62nd Independence Day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the nation must not rely on the help of foreigners. Commentators say it is a clear reference to Israeli ties with the United States, which have plummeted over Jewish construction in disputed in East Jerusalem. The U.S. backs Palestinian demands that East Jerusalem should be the capital of a future Palestinian state. But Israel sees all of Jerusalem as its eternal capital, and Mr. Netanyahu, who heads a right-wing government, has rejected U.S. demands to stop building there. As a result, the Palestinians have refused to return to U.S.-sponsored peace talks, and the diplomatic process has been deadlocked for 15 months. Defense Minister Ehud Barak took a softer approach. Barak said Israel would not make any compromises when it comes to the security of the state. But he said it would show courage in the struggle for peace with the Palestinians based on the two-state solution. VOA News Item 9 Nearly 5,000 farmers in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal, and Sierra Leone are exporting organically-grown produce to Europe, after gaining organic and fair-trade certification with help from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The program focuses on all stages of production from planting and harvesting to packaging and promotion, increasing the profitability of farmers who previously struggled to afford costly chemical fertilizers. 30 small-scale pineapple farmers in Ghana saw sales grow from 26 tons to more than 115 tons after gaining their organic certification. Pascal Liu is an economist with the FAO?s trade and markets division. Liu says the United Nations expects demand for organic foods will grow by between five and 15 percent during the next five years. And African farmers are well positioned to benefit from more people eating healthier food. VOA News Item 10 The heads of the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank were in Berlin Wednesday for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel and other senior officials. The aim: to get agreement on a bailout package for Greece. Greece has been in negotiations with EU member countries and the IMF to secure a bailout money that would allow it to pay debts coming due in time to avoid having to default. In return Greece is under pressure to restructure its economy and implement austerity measures. Disgruntled public-sector workers went on strike in Greece Wednesday to protest against the 4 cutbacks. A daylong general strike has been called for next week. Opinion polls show the majority of Greeks are against an IMF-EU bailout, seeing it as foreign interference. Worries about the Greek economy?s potential meltdown have sent jitters through world markets. And help is imperative because the Greek crisis could spread. A joint EU-IMF package for Greece is put at $60 billion, but some European officials said Wednesday the full cost could be much higher, reaching about $160 billion over three years. VOA News Item 11 Aiming his appeal directly at the financial industry and skeptics within it, and at Republican critics in Congress, the president warned of the danger of a repeat of economic collapse. Calling the financial crisis the outcome of a failure of responsibility from Wall Street to Washington, he said the time has come to seize the moment to make fundamental changes in the rules of the financial road. With many, but not all, of the most prominent executives of Wall Street firms present, the president outlined key aspects of legislation the U.S. Senate will debate in coming days. These include steps to impose new oversight and controls on hedge funds and complex financial instruments known as derivatives, and protections for consumers of financial products. Of particular importance would be a system to ensure that troubled financial companies could be dismantled in an orderly way without posing the kind of systemic risk they did in 2008. Calling the Senate bill and one the House of Representatives approved last year a significant improvement over flawed rules now in place, he said changes would be advantageous for the industry and the country. VOA News Item 12 The International Air Transport Association says global carriers are losing an estimated $200 million a day in revenue as a result of airline groundings related to the Iceland volcano. Albert Tjoeng, a Singapore-based spokesman for the association, says that is just part of the problem. Travelers waiting around here are missing out on income because they cannot return to work. The flight cancellations are expected to have additional repercussions for smaller Southeast Asia countries, where travel and tourism is a major share of the economy. VOA News Item 13 WFP The World Food Program is now expecting to feed more than 1.5 million people in next month?s general food distribution, along with specialized therapeutic feeding for 500,000 children under the age of six. That is because poor rains last year have brought forward the time when people no longer have enough to eat. WFP is trying to raise $182 million to scale up its operations in Niger. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization is also stepping in to aid cattle herders in Niger and Chad. Livestock pastures are dry, so herders are selling their animals at lower prices to buy food for their families. 5 Eight FAO projects in Niger worth more than $12 million are aimed at helping two million people. VOA News Item 14 2010 Cobo Center is home to the 2010 North American Auto Show in downtown Detroit. For the event, the Center has been transformed into an expanse of flashy displays and trendy marketing displays, featuring the latest in automotive engineering. Known as the Detroit Auto Show, the annual event is one of the industry?s biggest. It helps generate publicity for some models, like the newly-redesigned Ford Focus, and it helps promote new technology, like the electric battery in the Chevrolet Volt. But in the wake of one of the worst years for U.S. automobile sales, this year?s show has a different feel. General Motors and Chrysler two of the Detroit “Big Three” automakers, which also include Ford went bankrupt last year and received billions of dollars in federal aid. Although some of that money has been paid back, the U.S. government is still a major shareholder in both companies. VOA News Item 15 China celebrated the opening of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai with an evening of fireworks and fanfare. Dubbed the “Economic Olympics,” by Chinese officials, some 190 nations and 50 international organizations are participating in the multi-billion dollar event. Similar to how 2008 Beijing Olympic Games put the Chinese capital in the international spotlight, Shanghai?s hosting of the World Expo has given the city of 20 some million people and China a chance to showcase its emergence as a global economic power. The theme for the Shanghai World Expo is “Better City, Better Life” and features major exhibitions that look at modern and future urban life, and consider issues such as sustainable development and the interaction between cities and the environment. The Shanghai 2010 World Expo runs until the end of October. VOA News Item 16 First the good news: after contracting slightly in 2009, global economic output is expected to grow more than 4 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. With a fledgling recovery gaining strength, it is easy to forget how close major industrialized nations came to economic collapse less than two years ago, an outcome that almost surely would have triggered a worldwide depression rivaling the Great Depression of the 1930s. In short, the pain, havoc, and economic devastation could have been far worse, according to the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Texas, Richard Fisher. Addressing central bankers from Europe and elsewhere, Fisher said central banks and national governments averted catastrophe through aggressive intervention. VOA News Item 17 Rocket alarms have terrified Israeli border communities near the Gaza Strip for years. But 6 now Israel has a high-tech answer to the thousands of low-tech rockets that Palestinian militants have fired across the border since Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005. Israel has successfully tested its Iron Dome defense system, which uses cameras and radar to track incoming rockets and can shoot them down within seconds of their launch. The system was developed by Rafael, the Israel Military Industries, at a cost of $200 million. VOA News Item 18 Computer security engineer Alan Paller recalls how the Soviet Union?s 1957 launch of Sputnik, the world?s first artificial satellite, spurred the U.S. government to accelerate its lagging space technology program. Now Paller, research director at an educational company called the SANS Institute, is leading the campaign to bring that kind of energy to defending cyberspace from assault by pranksters, thieves and spies. VOA News Item 19 It?s another day of stringent security checks at Tel Aviv?s Ben Gurion airport. About a million passengers pass through the airport each month, on average. But here, the lines move quickly thanks to what Israeli security experts say is an approach that unlike other countries relies more on eye contact with passengers and less on technology. VOA News Item 20 The Italian aid group Emergency has had a tense relationship with local authorities in violence-wracked Helmand province, due in part to its policy of treating all patients. Afghan officials said they detained three Italian Emergency workers Saturday, a doctor, a nurse and a logistics worker. Afghan officials said they were held as part of an investigation into an alleged plot to kill the governor of Helmand province. Helmand Province Governor Gulab Mangal said an Emergency staff member received $500,000 as an advance payment for killing him. In total nine people, including six Afghans, were held after explosive suicide vests, hand grenades and other weapons were discovered in the storeroom of the Emergency-run hospital in Helmand?s capital, Lashkar Gah. Emergency founder Gino Strada denounced the detentions of the aid group?s three workers, calling it a mafia-style attempt to silence a witness. VOA News Item 21 The U.N. Security Council has lifted its arms embargo on Liberia for one year, primarily to allow its peacekeeping mission there to receive military equipment. But it also allows the government of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to acquire arms and training to fight crime. Government misuse of force under former President Charles Taylor brought about the arms embargo 10 years ago. Its lifting, even temporarily, has been met with both pride and worry among Liberians still recovering from a long civil war. VOA News Item 22 Reaction to the attempted bombing of a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day has been mixed 7 among the six African nations with direct air links to the United States. Ghana has announced it will install full-body scanners at Accra?s international airport by next month. Nigeria has also announced it will install the scanners at Lagos international airport. Nigerian student Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab departed from Accra and transited through Lagos and Amsterdam. He subsequently attempted to set off a bomb on a Northwest Airlines flight traveling to Detroit. Abdulmutallab successfully passed through metal detectors and hand luggage searches at both airports, allegedly by concealing powdered explosives under his clothes. The full-body scanners are more powerful than metal detectors that are standard at most airports. They can detect non-metallic materials hidden on the human body. But some rights groups consider the scanners an invasion of privacy, because they show private physical characteristics in detail. South Africa, whose airports handle the largest number of travelers flying directly between Africa and the United States, says it does not intend to install the scanners at this time. VOA News Item 23 The Discovery crew is set to launch early Tuesday to deliver nearly 8,000 kilograms of equipment to the International Space Station. NASA engineers cleared the shuttle to fly on Sunday, after deciding there were no technical concerns to delay launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Shuttle weather officer Kathy Winters said the skies should be clear for the evening launch, but storms could delay the delicate process of filling the shuttle?s external fuel tanks. VOA News Item 24 A new study out this week highlights the role that coral reefs play in evolution, adding another reason to preserve these delicate, diverse, and often beautiful ecosystems. Many of the world?s coral reefs are threatened by ocean acidification and pollution, among other things. Wolfgang Kiessling of Berlin?s Natural History Museum says that concerns ecologists because of the vital role reefs play in ocean ecosystems. VOA News Item 25 The researchers will set sail for Antarctica early next month, in an expedition funded by the Australian and New Zealand governments. The scientists hope their journey to the Southern Ocean will help to disprove Japan?s claims that whales have to be killed to properly study them. During their six-week voyage, researchers will employ a range of techniques to unlock some of the secrets of the giant marine mammals. They will fire darts from small air rifles to collect blubber and skin for genetic testing, and to attach satellite-tracking tags to monitor the whales. Samples of dung will also be gathered, photographs taken, and acoustic instruments will record the animals? distinctive calls. 8 VOA News Item 26 Taller mothers are more likely to have children who are healthier indeed, their children are more likely not just to thrive, but to survive compared to children of shorter mothers. That?s the conclusion of a massive new study of millions of children in low- and middle-income countries. “The key finding of this paper was to show a consistent association between maternal height and offspring health, which was mainly defined in terms of offspring mortality by age five and the risk of experiencing a failure in growth.” The Harvard researcher says that while the association is clear, the “why” still needs more work. VOA News Item 27 H1N1 The World Health Organization is warning countries to prepare for further spread of the H1N1 influenza pandemic in coming months. However, aid agencies say it will be more difficult to fight the disease in poorer countries, which have weak health systems, poor health status and limited resources. They say countries overburdened by diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, will have great difficulty dealing with the surge of pandemic flu cases. World Health Organization spokesman, Paul Garwood, says this Call to Action aims to reduce the impact of H1N1 by offering a range of measures applicable to all countries. VOA News Item 28 Americans are just as divided on health care as they were before President Obama?s health care reform legislation became law. Protesters in Washington carried signs on Thursday calling for the repeal of the legislation. They say it represents runaway spending. A new Associated Press-GfK poll shows that 50 percent of Americans oppose the new health care law and opposition is strongest among those 64 and older. Many older Americans worry that their care will be affected by cuts in federal payments to hospitals and other providers. In another survey, this one by Ipsos/Reuters, only 51 percent of Americans thought they could get adequate, affordable health care. The survey included people in 22 nations. Women, adults under the age of 55 and less educated people in all the countries included in the study reported low satisfaction with health care access. Yet another study showed that Americans without medical insurance, often delay going to a hospital after a heart attack. VOA News Item 29 For nearly a decade, the popularity of Australian universities rose rapidly among Indian students, and the number of those heading to the country for higher education rose from about 10,000 in 2001 to more than 70,000 last year. But that could change this year due to a string of negative publicity generated by attacks on Indian students in Australia. 9 A travel advisory by the Indian government earlier this week warned that Indian students in Australia face an increased risk of assault. It was issued after an Indian graduate was stabbed to death in Melbourne. His stabbing came on the heels of a spate of attacks on Indian students in Australia in recent months, which the Indian media have dubbed as racist. It is a charge that Australian officials have strongly denied. They say the attacks are purely criminal, and the country is safe for foreign students. Nevertheless, as concerns rose in India, foreign minister S.M. Krishna called on Indians to assess their options while exploring the possibility of studying in Australia. VOA News Item 30 For some, the wave of suicides at France Telecom reveals the downsides of the scramble to stay competitive amid the pressures of globalization and the recent economic downturn. More than 40 France Telecom employees have taken their lives since 2008. Unions say that includes a dozen suicides this year alone. The probe by the Paris prosecutor?s office follows a court complaint filed by the union Solidaires Unitaires Democratic (SUD). Union lawyer Jean-Paul Tessionniere blamed working conditions at the company for the suicides. A February report by the French labor inspector?s office linked 14 France Telecom suicides directly to the company?s management practices. France Telecom denies its management practices have led to the suicides. France Telecom lawyer Claudia Chemarin told French television that each suicide will be examined individually. She said that under no condition can it be claimed that there was an organized policy that led to them. In March, France Telecom?s new boss Stephane Richard outlined ways the company planned to improve employee working conditions. France Telecom is not the only French company grappling with employee suicides. But because of the numbers of employee deaths and the media attention they have attracted, critics say France Telecom?s problems have emerged as a warning story about the downsides of valuing productivity and growth over employee well being. VOA News Item 31 Jewish settlement councils have declared a general strike to protest the Israeli government?s freeze on construction in West Bank communities. Settlement leaders demonstrated outside the Prime Minister?s Office in Jerusalem as the Cabinet held its weekly meeting. They carried signs saying, you can freeze in the North Pole, but not in Israel. The settlers helped elect right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but now they accuse him of abandoning his nationalist ideals. VOA News Item 32 The King of Rock „n? Roll, Elvis Presley, was born 75 years ago last week in a two-room house in the town of Tupelo in the piney woods of the deep southern state of Mississippi. So this time of year, and again in August on the anniversary of the King?s death, pilgrimages of Elvis fans 10 descend upon that furniture manufacturing center of 34,000 people. Surprisingly, you don?t see a lot of Elvis markers there. There is one sign that says The King is Up Ahead, but that?s for an automobile dealership. Visitors can take a self-guided Elvis Presley driving tour. One stop is the Tupelo Hardware where Elvis got his first guitar. The folks there say Elvis had wanted a rifle. But his mother, Gladys would have none of it. She stood him on a keg and let him play around with a guitar. He loved it, and Mrs. Presley bought it for him for $7.95. VOA News Item 33 A funny thing is happening in the world of language instruction. Only it?s not funny at all for one language in particular. Because of the growing importance of global commerce and contact, foreign language instruction is booming at U.S. colleges. But because of the tight economy, many colleges are eliminating fulltime language-teaching positions or filling them with cheaper lecturers who are not faculty members at all. This is the case at the University of Maryland?s flagship College Park campus, a prestigious state-run school in the eastern U.S.. To save costs, the university plans to cut its one Yiddish-teaching position. It?s the latest blow in what has been a steady decline in the study and use of Yiddish, which began among European Jews in the Middle Ages as a conversational Germanic language that uses Hebrew characters. Today, Yiddish is struggling to survive. It?s thought that fewer than 500,000 people, mostly the elderly, speak it worldwide. Most young, acculturated Jews speak only their countries? principal language, plus Hebrew during worship. VOA News Item 34 The Mekong River is the lifeblood of Southeast Asia, with the largest inland fisheries in the world. About 40 million people depend to some degree on the fisheries, worth about $2.5 billion a year. But fisheries experts say plans by Cambodia, Laos and Thailand to build hydropower dams on the Mekong would block fish migration, threatening already endangered species. Environmental activists say plans by Laos to build a dam in the Don Sahong area near the Cambodian border could doom the nearly extinct Irrawaddy dolphin. VOA News Item 35 Haiti is prone to disasters, but this huge quake is the worst to hit the Caribbean island state in two centuries. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday destroyed much of the country?s capital, Port-au-Prince. The International Red Cross fears up to three million people may have been affected by the earthquake, which not only devastated the capital city, but many smaller nearby communities. The United Nations reports electricity has been cut off and communications are difficult. It says bridges have been knocked out, hospitals and care facilities have been damaged or destroyed. Haiti?s envoy to the United States estimates losses could run into the billions. 11 VOA News Item 36 • For Mike Zito, singing “Dirty Blonde” from Pearl River, the phrase “up-and-comer” is a thing of the past. As one reviewer writes, “With his husky vocals and hard rocking guitar, Mike is well on his way to the big time.” Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Zito gravitated to the guitar after hearing an album by ?80s rockers Van Halen. Guitar greats Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and B.B. King also made an impression, as well as Prince and Buddy Guy. Mike crafted his skills while working in a local guitar shop frequented by legendary rocker Chuck Berry. Looking back, Mike says, “I soaked up the sounds of that store, and began building my own style.” After a succession of independent releases in the 1990s, Mike picked up a steady stream of followers on extensive tours across the country. When he wasn?t touring, he spent his time off playing nightly gigs in his hometown. Weary from touring, and close to giving up altogether on a career in music, Mike remained confident that he was close to gaining a major label contract. He says, “Music can change everything; how you feel; how you see and what you believe.” Sure enough, he was offered a national distribution deal with Delta Groove Music. VOA News Item 37 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel hopes to begin peace negotiations with the Palestinians next week, during a visit by U.S. envoy George Mitchell. Mr. Netanyahu spoke to his Cabinet a day after the Arab League endorsed indirect peace talks for a period of four months. The prime minister said direct talks are necessary to reach a peace agreement, but indirect talks are an acceptable way to restart the diplomatic process. Peace talks broke down more than a year ago, and the Palestinians have refused to return to the negotiating table until Israel freezes all settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Palestinians rejected Israel?s offer of a partial freeze. But now, the American proposal of indirect talks mediated by the United States has provided a way out of the impasse. Palestinian officials say the first order of business during the four-month talks is charting the borders of a future Palestinian state. An agreement on borders could lead to direct talks on the thorniest issues of the conflict, including the status of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees. VOA News Item 38 9-11 Last November, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that five alleged conspirators of the 9-11 attacks including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would go on trial in a federal court in New York City in connection with the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. But that decision may be about to be reversed, according to senior Obama administration officials cited in the Washington Post and by other sources. A decision to reverse course could come as early as next week and would be the latest twist in a political firestorm that erupted over the issue of civilian trials since it was announced by Attorney General Holder last year. The question of whether to try the alleged 9-11 conspirators in a civilian court or through a 12 military justice track sparked an intense debate in Congress and on the nation?s airwaves. Former Vice President Dick Cheney spoke recently on ABC?s “This Week” program. “I think trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York is a big mistake, It gives him a huge platform to promulgate his particular brand of propaganda around the world. I think he ought he ought to be at Guantanamo. I think he ought to be tried at Guantanamo in front of a military commission.” VOA News Item 39 While the health care reform debate in the United States has been dominated on lowering the cost of health insurance, other health care activists and experts are working behind the scenes to lower barriers to quality health care for African-Americans and Hispanics. One well-respected figure says the key is bringing more minorities into the profession. Numerous studies indicate African-Americans and Hispanics receive a poorer quality of health care than non-Hispanic whites, even when they have the same levels of income and health insurance coverage. Researchers say the reasons for this disparity include stereotyping of patients by health care providers, and a severe shortage of minority health care professionals. Dr. Louis Sullivan says minority health care professionals fill a key role in serving ethnic communities. “There are studies that have shown that African American physicians or Hispanic American physicians are three to five times more likely to establish their practices in African American or Hispanic American communities.” Sullivan, who once served as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, says minority physicians see a higher percentage of patients with either no insurance, or covered by Medicaid, the government insurance program for low-income Americans. VOA News Item 40 Acting President Goodluck Jonathan fired National Security Advisor Sarki Mukhtar and replaced him with retired Lieutenant General Aliyu Gusau. Gusau held that post under former president Olusegun Obasanjo and is seen by many as a potential presidential candidate in next year?s election, having finished second to President Umaru Yar?Adua in the last ruling-party primary. Mr. Jonathan?s move to sack a national security advisor chosen by President Yar?Adua is the latest move by the acting president to solidify his position at a time when President Yar?Adua is still recovering from a heart condition and the nation is facing renewed civil unrest. Nigerian troops are patrolling villages near the city of Jos after Plateau state officials say the death toll from Sunday?s ethnic and religious violence could be as high as 500. Residents in the village of Dogo Nahawa say Fulani herdsmen raided their village before dawn, shooting in the air to draw people out of their homes before attacking them with machetes and knives. Many of those killed were women and children who could not outrun their attackers. VOA News Item 41 Vice President Joe Biden told an audience at Tel Aviv University the United States remains deeply committed to Israel?s security, saying the United States has no better friend than the Jewish state. He said it is now in the best interest of Israelis to make a serious attempt to make peace with the Palestinians. “It is really hard to be a beacon for others, when you are constantly at war. To end this historic conflict, both sides must be historically bold, because if each waits stubbornly for the 13 other to act first, this will go on and be waiting for an eternity.” Despite U.S. demands for Israel to stop or restrain construction of Jewish housing in disputed East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, during the Biden visit Israeli officials announced their approval of construction of 1,600 new Jewish housing units in East Jerusalem. Israel said it did not intend to embarrass Biden, the highest-ranking Obama administration official to visit the region. VOA News Item 42 Indian and Russian officials say the two prime ministers held wide-ranging discussions. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says his talks with Mr. Putin went beyond the 22 agreements they signed. “There is much that India and Russia can do together to advance global peace and stability and the process of global economic revival. We?ve agreed to intensify our consultations on Afghanistan and the challenges posed by terrorism and extremism in our region.” But most of the attention focused on the billions of dollars worth of deals they signed. To help India meet a shortage of electricity for its booming economy, Russia is to build between 12 and 16 nuclear power plants here, six of them by 2017. Russia is already constructing two units in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Earlier in the day, during a video conference with Indian business leaders gathered in several cities, Mr. Putin said Russia would also supply India with fuel for the reactors and cooperate on disposal of nuclear waste from the new plants. He called Russia?s nuclear technology among the safest in the world. VOA News Item 43 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad criticized Washington with his own words, as he appeared at a news conference alongside Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul. Earlier this week, visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates accused Tehran of playing a “double game” in Afghanistan being friendly to the Afghan government, while at the same time trying to undermine Afghan and international forces. Iran denies the allegations, and Mr. Ahmadinejad struck back. He says that in his view, U.S. officials are the ones playing a double game. He said they created terrorism in Afghanistan and then declared a need to fight it. The United States supported Afghan rebels more than two decades ago when the Soviet Union fought in Afghanistan. But the support vanished after the Soviets pulled out, and eventually, analysts say instability in Afghanistan created a safe haven for al-Qaida. While touring an Afghan army training center outside Kabul, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed his concern about the Iranian leader?s visit. “As I told President Karzai, we think Afghanistan should have good relations with all of its neighbors, but we also want all of Afghanistan?s neighbors to play an upfront game in dealing with the government of Afghanistan.” VOA News Item 44 At the Besuki Public School in Jakarta, eight year old student Chavielda Najma and classmates are rehearsing a dance number they hope to perform for the school?s most famous alumni. She says she likes President Obama very much because he was very good in social sciences. She, like many Indonesians, feels a personal connection with the U.S. president because he spent part of his childhood years living in Jakarta and attending this school. There is even a 14 statue of him at the entrance to the school. The statue was originally erected at a nearby park but was moved when some people complained that an Indonesian hero should be honored there instead. Still, political analyst Wimar Witoelar says President Obama is quite popular in Indonesia because most people believe the president understands Indonesian culture and values. VOA News Item 45 Clinton is discounting reports of a major crisis in U.S.-Israel relations, but she is making clear that she wants to see substantial gestures by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to repair damage from last week?s housing announcement. The Israeli government angered and embarrassed the Obama administration a week ago when it announced, as Vice President Joe Biden began a visit to Israel, that it will build 1,600 new Jewish housing units in mainly-Arab East Jerusalem. The United States is seeking assurances from Mr. Netanyahu that such an incident will not be repeated, as well as pledges that it is prepared to discuss all of the core issues of the Middle East peace process including Jerusalem in talks with the Palestinians. At a press event with Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin, Clinton said the U.S. administration is in very active consultations with Israel over steps by the Jewish state that in her words “would demonstrate the requisite commitment” to the peace process. VOA News Item 46 Cardinal Sean Brady chose to issue a very public apology in his St. Patrick?s Day sermon in the cathedral in Armagh, in Northern Ireland. Speaking to journalists afterwards, he explained. “I apologized to those who have suffered as a result of abuse in the past and particularly, I apologized to those who due to my failures in the past have suffered.” Cardinal Brady?s apology centers on the case of pedophile priest, Father Brendan Smyth, who was arrested, tried and convicted in 1994 of abusing and raping young boys and girls in Ireland as well as in the United States. Smyth died in a military prison in Ireland in 1997. It?s been revealed that Sean Brady, then a junior church official, knew of Smyth?s abuse in 1975. He was involved in an investigation into abuse allegations and met with two of Smyth?s young victims. Brady did not tell the police and the two young boys were instead told to sign a secrecy oath. At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI said he was deeply concerned about the crisis. Speaking before a weekly general audience, the pope said he would send a pastoral letter to Ireland?s Roman Catholics about the scandal. VOA News Item 47 The last time an American president visited Australia, large numbers of protesters angry at the war in Iraq rallied in Sydney when President George W. Bush attended an Asia-Pacific economic conference. Demonstrators are again planning to march in several Australian cities during President Barack Obama?s visit next week, although the protests are expected to be far smaller. Foreign policy analysts say Mr. Obama?s trip is mainly about maintaining the alliance or dropping in on friends. He is to address Australia?s federal Parliament in Canberra, only the sixth world leader to do so. Washington and Canberra signed a formal security pact in the early 1950s, in which the Americans agreed to defend Australia in the event of an attack. Brendon O?Connor, an associate professor at the U.S. Studies Center at the University of Sydney, thinks 15 many Australians trust that President Obama will make the relationship even stronger. VOA News Item 48 In one month?s time, the country will launch an ambitious plan to provide free health care to lactating and pregnant women and children under five, in an attempt to reduce maternal and child mortality in the country. Sierra Leone has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Lack of essential drugs to keep pregnant women and young children healthy is a major hurdle to providing comprehensive care. Lianne Kuppens leads UNICEF?s child survival and development team in Sierra Leone. She says the drugs are essential, if some of the people in the country are to achieve real free health care. “The drugs, indeed worth around $7 million, are covering… are in line with the national essential drugs. It is a list which has been combined, which has been made with all the stakeholders in support of the government. And, it is covering diseases like diarrhea, like malaria, like pneumonia, all the basic diseases that people face and then, of course, we try to address the most vulnerable among all of them.” The drugs will also address conditions such as diabetes and hypertension that put pregnant women at risk for complications during pregnancy. VOA News Item 49 The Federal Reserve came under fire again as some lawmakers renewed calls to reduce the Central Bank?s authority. Republican Congressman Spencer Bacchus cited experts who claim the Federal Reserve already has too many responsibilities.” Said that collecting diverse responsibilities in one institution is like asking the plumber to check the wiring in your basement. It seems that when the Fed is responsible for monetary policy and bank supervision, its performance in both suffers.” But Fed chairman Ben Bernanke countered, saying the central bank?s expertise in setting monetary policy makes it uniquely qualified to identify risks to the financial system. “Moreover, the insights provided by our role in supervising a range of banks, including community banks significantly increases our effectiveness in making monetary policy and fostering financial stability.” Bernanke?s testimony comes as lawmakers attempt a major overhaul of financial regulations. VOA News Item 50 Since a deadly bombing attack on hotels in Jakarta last year, Indonesian security forces have tracked down the militants responsible and prevented other attacks. They have also killed Noordin Top, the leader of the group that carried out the attack on the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels. And they hunted down and killed a man known as Dulmantin, who had long been on Indonesia?s most-wanted list, suspected of being involved in a 2002 attack on the island of Bali. While the security forces have been praised for these actions, Andi Widjajanto, a military analyst from the University of Indonesia, is concerned that the increased police activity also indicates an increased level of militant activity. “I think after the Marriott and (Ritz) Carlton 2009, after the raid of Aceh and Pamulang, there is a strong indication that the network is getting stronger and stronger, it is not getting weaker.” 16 VOA News Item 51 Maryland Democrat Steny Hoyer said that he and Republican congressional leaders have discussed implementing new security precautions for lawmakers after an increase in threats following Sunday?s health care reform vote and accompanying anti-reform protests outside the Capitol over the weekend. Hoyer said there have been at least four acts of vandalism against Democratic House members that are linked to their votes on health care. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating cut fuel lines at the Virginia home of Democratic Representative Tom Perriello?s brother, whose address was posted online by a right-wing blogger who said it was the lawmaker?s address. Hoyer also said that at least 10 House members have received threats to themselves or their families and that the Capitol Police have been alerted. VOA News Item 52 Toyota has been inundated with lawsuits due to safety concerns that have led to the recall of more than eight-and-a-half million vehicles worldwide. Federal judges in California will hear arguments on whether to consolidate more than one hundred lawsuits claiming Toyota is responsible for economic losses suffered by Toyota owners. “What they?re addressing are the diminished values of the cars nationwide, as the result of Toyota?s misinformation and mismanagement of the company, through no fault of the consumers,” Northeastern University Law Professor Tim Howard, leads a consortium of attorneys that will make the case for a single class action lawsuit. Howard says it?s a case that could cost Toyota dearly. “The amount of damages the cases will be claiming, you are looking at approximately eight to ten million cars. If we look at a $1,000 a car that would be eight million cars, $8 billion dollars worth of raw economic damages.” The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has linked more than 50 deaths to the unexpected acceleration problems a safety issue Toyota has blamed on floor mats and sticky gas pedals. VOA News Item 53 They came by the thousands, from across state lines and across the country, in campers, recreational vehicles and by motorcycle. With flags that read “Don?t Tread On Me”, Tea Party supporters gathered in a windswept dusty lot in the desert in Searchlight, Nevada, the hometown of Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid. The featured speaker was former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who urged the crowd to hold President Obama and the Democrats accountable for the health care plan recently approved by Congress despite unanimous Republican opposition. VOA News Item 54 Senior African finance officials say per capita income in Africa fell for the first time in a decade because of the global economic recession. But during a meeting in Malawi they also noted that the economic rebound had improved growth prospects for this year. African finance ministers and central bank governors have concluded a two-day meeting in Lilongwe that focused on ways to soften the effects of global economic shocks on Africa. They were among several-hundred 17 delegates from across the continent to attend a joint meeting of the African Union and the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa. ECA Executive-Secretary Abdoulie Janne told delegates Africa?s projected economic growth rate for this year would improve to 4.3 percent from 1.6 percent last year, although he noted this rate is still too low to meet the Millennium Goal of halving poverty in five years. VOA News Item 55 The New York police department says there has been no specific threat against the city?s subway system, but additional security has been put in place as a precaution. The additional coverage includes more armed officers and sniffer dogs patrolling subway stations as well as more frequent bag checks and increased surveillance of high-traffic areas. Mayor Michael Bloomberg says all New Yorkers, including the more than 250,000 with Russian heritage, express their deepest sympathy to the victims of the Moscow train bombings. He says any terrorist attack reminds the city it needs to remain vigilant. VOA News Item 56 Investigators in Mexico say the detained suspect 45 years old Ricardo Valles de la Rosa claims the ambush of a U.S. couple near the Juarez city hall on Saturday, March 13, was carried out as an act of retribution against Arthur Redelfs, who worked as an El Paso County Sheriff?s detention officer and was accused by gang members of mistreating their compatriots there. Redelfs and his pregnant wife, Lesley, who worked at the U.S. consulate in Juarez, died in their white sport utility vehicle after being shot multiple times. Around the same time, a Mexican man who had been at a social event with the couple just minutes before was killed in similar fashion at another location. According to Mexican authorities the second victim was also in a white sport utility vehicle and since the gunmen were not sure which one was Redelf?s car, they decided to kill the occupants of both vehicles. Such callousness is not unusual in Juarez, where drug-related violence has claimed the lives of more than 4,800 people since 2008. The violence has claimed around 600 victims so far this year. VOA News Item 57 The anger is apparent at both ends of the political spectrum from militias on the right, to anti-globalization demonstrators on the left. It has been mostly talk and little action, but Joseph Lieberman a Connecticut independent says there is plenty of reason for concern. He points to the recent disclosure of an antigovernment militia plot in the American Midwest. He says both politicians and commentators in the media need to cool their rhetoric. VOA News Item 58 2009 At 3:32 a.m., the time the deadly quake struck last April 6, a requiem was played in L?Aquila?s central Piazza Duomo. The names of all 308 victims were read aloud. No one in the town has been able to forget the tragedy. Sergio Bianchi lost his 22-year-old son, Nicola. “It?s difficult,” he says. “There?s lots of anger, discouragement and solitude.” Residents were asleep in their beds when the 6.3 magnitude quake struck. People fled their homes in L?Aquila and in more 18 than 40 surrounding towns and villages. Many were unable to get out fast enough. Thousands of buildings were reduced to rubble, including centuries-old churches. Survivor Sergio Bianchi says poor construction heightened the death toll. He says earthquakes are natural events, but if homes were built properly, the L?Aquila quake would not have been so devastating. VOA News Item 59 Speaking to more than 1,500 delegates from 75 countries at the 14th annual Africa-Middle East Microcredit Summit in Nairobi, Nobel Laureate Muhammed Yunus called it a “landmark summit”. He said it highlights the microfinance industry?s success in the face of the global financial crisis. Yunus said microfinance continues to flourish, providing opportunities for people in the developing world to lift themselves from poverty. “In this crisis, microcredit was not the one which was closing down the shops. It was the big banks which were closing down their shops. So one of the lessons of these dark days: we need to reinvent banking. And microcredit provides the direction in which we have to go.” Microfinance is a movement within international development to provide financial services to the poor. Organizations typically provide small loans, called microcredit, for individuals to start business in their communities. The practice is seen by many as a means of empowerment for people who have traditionally been denied access to credit and banking institutions. VOA News Item 60 The opposition coalition announced a new interim government for Kyrgyzstan and said it would rule until elections are held in six months. Former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva says Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov has resigned, parliament has been dissolved, and she will lead the new government. Speaking from a parliament building, Otunbayeva demanded the resignation of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who has fled the capital. VOA News Item 61 Greece must raise $15 billion by the end of May to cover debt that is due, but nervous investors are helping to push the government?s borrowing costs to record highs. A recently downgraded debt rating could make Greece?s attempt to get the money more difficult. Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou says his country is not seeking to activate a eurozone and Inter national Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue plan designed to prevent a default. But he called the plan an important “safety net” and said officials are working out details of how it would work. VOA News Item 62 These students are taking part in experiments designed to test their knowledge and inspire them to concentrate on science, technology, engineering and math. Charles Bolden, the head of the U.S. space agency, NASA, and Lisa Jackson from the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, came to this Washington, DC middle school to encourage these youngsters to focus on math and science careers. 19 VOA News Item 63 The violence began before dawn, with gunmen in speeding cars killing soldiers and police at checkpoints across Baghdad. The assailants used silencers, a new gangland-style twist to their attacks. In the hours that followed, two bombs, also targeting police, exploded in the capital. Other blasts occurred outside the homes of policemen in Fallujah, west of Baghdad. VOA News Item 64 It?s a weekend of political intrigue in the very highest of places in Britain as the parties consider their options in a high stakes game that may very well determine just who will govern the country in the wake of Thursday?s inconclusive parliamentary election result. On Friday, Conservative leader David Cameron offered potential partner the Liberal Democrats a minority role in a government. “Across our two manifestos, there are many areas of common ground. And there are areas I believe that we in the Conservative party can give ground both in the national interest and in the interest of forging an open and trusting partnership. “ But the biggest issue standing in the way of any such deal is election reform. Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes says if the Conservatives are not offering real reform, then his party is not interested. VOA News Item 65 The debate centers around a legal principle known as the Miranda warning. It was named after a Supreme Court decision in 1966 that found that a robbery suspect named Ernesto Miranda had been wrongfully convicted. The ruling said he was not made aware of his constitutional right to remain silent and consult an attorney before police questioning. The Miranda warning is seen as one of the pillars of due process in the U.S. justice system. But many people worry that in terrorism cases, it ties the hands of interrogators trying to get vital information. VOA News Item 66 Even as they agreed to start indirect talks, both sides disagreed whether the negotiations had officially begun. Palestinian leaders say they have yet to give formal approval for the U.S.-mediated negotiations, but said the talks would officially start on Saturday. Israel considered the negotiations to have begun on Wednesday, when U.S. envoy George Mitchell met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Those meetings continued behind closed doors in Tel Aviv, as Mitchell prepared to take Israel?s first set of statements to the Palestinians on Friday when he crosses into the West Bank. That both sides have agreed to talk is seen as a breakthrough. Negotiations have been at a total standstill for 16 months. VOA News Item 67 South Korean media say Kim Jong-il?s personal train crossed into China at the northeastern Chinese city of Dandong Monday. The detailed reports say the North Korean leader is spending the night in the city of Dalian before heading to Beijing. Officials at the Chinese Foreign Ministry and at the North Korean embassy in Beijing could not be reached because of a holiday in China. Security was reported to be heavy at the North Korean border, but there was no apparent tightening in Beijing, where Mr. Kim is believed to be heading. Some people in the Chinese 20 capital, like 28-year-old bank employee Tao Ye, welcomed the possibility of the visit. Tao says he hopes China can help North Korea develop and strengthen its economy. He also pointed to the strong feelings Chinese and North Korean people share. The trip to China would be the North Korean leader?s first in four years and Mr. Kim?s first trip abroad since a suspected stroke in 2008. China is North Korea?s largest trading partner and main political ally. VOA News Item 68 South Africa President Jacob Zuma says international sanctions against Zimbabwe should be lifted. In recent weeks the European Union and the United States voted to extend sanctions against South Africa?s neighbor. But Mr. Zuma says Zimbabwe?s powersharing government should be supported so the country can move forward. Thomas Cargill from the Britain-based research group Chatham House says Zimbabwe will be one of the topics discussed during President Zuma?s three-day visit to Britain. But he says Mr. Zuma is also here to raise the profile of the World Cup football championship, which kicks off this June in South Africa. VOA News Item 69 IAEA It was another day of bullhorn diplomacy by Iran?s top nuclear officials, who appear to be struggling to halt momentum for a new round of international sanctions. The head of Iran?s atomic energy agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, began the day by calling IAEA chief Yukiya Amano “biased.” Salehi added that Iran hopes that Amano will change his approach. The remarks coincide with a meeting of the IAEA board in Vienna, which began Monday, in which Amano complained that Tehran “has not provided the agency with the necessary cooperation,” and that he could “not confirm that all nuclear material in Iran is being used in peaceful activities.” Amano?s report to the IAEA board also stressed that Tehran may be working to develop a nuclear warhead, and its recent decision to enrich uranium to the 20-percent level could, in theory, give it the material needed to produce an atomic bomb. Iran has repeatedly insisted that its nuclear program is intended for peaceful civilian purposes, but the West suspects it is covertly working to produce nuclear weapons. VOA News Item 70 The European Union has urged Greece to implement greater austerity measures immediately to tackle a debt crisis that has shaken the entire bloc. EU Finance Commissioner Olli Rehn made the call after a first round of talks with Greek officials amid growing market expectations of a trade-off between new deficit cutting steps and practical EU support for Greek borrowing. The strength of the European currency has been under pressure since Greece?s financial problems were revealed, with concern that the problem could spread to other euro-zone countries. VOA News Item 71 This is the 10th time Lisa Delpy Neirotti has accompanied college students to an Olympic Games. Neirotti is a professor for Sports Management at the George Washington University, and 28 students from the Business School are with her in Vancouver studying the management and marketing of the Olympic Games. 21 Through the years she has built up relationships with people connected to the Olympics to make these educational visits successful. “We?re meeting with people from IOC members all the way down to volunteers, and, you know, USOC, VANOC, sponsors from the top level to the national level, to suppliers.” Professor Neirotti told VOA she meets with the students well in advance and warns them that the Olympic trips are not about fun and games. “This is a rigorous course, and the students are just dead tired. I mean we go from 8 to 5 or 6, and then they?re expected to go out and collect surveys. They collect a minimum of 50 surveys each of spectators.” And the students do that after their class time and their behind-the-scenes meetings and tours. VOA News Item 72 Italian authorities say it is a race against time to stop a massive oil slick flowing down Italy?s longest river. The black tide continues down the Po River and is expected to reach the Adriatic by the weekend. Recent heavy rains have swollen the river allowing the oil to move quickly despite efforts to contain it. In an urgent report to parliament on Thursday, environment undersecretary Roberto Menia said the oil slick would reach the Adriatic within a maximum of 70 hours. The official said three-and-a-half million liters of oil have already poured into the river and the environmental devastation is there for everyone to see. The oil has already killed hundreds of birds and fish. Residents have been told to avoid drinking tap water. They say there is a terrible stench. VOA News Item 73 Poverty is not first thing that comes to mind when you think of Japan. After all, there are no children begging on the streets in major cities here. You do not often see Japanese citizens publicly venting their frustrations over the country?s economic decline. But senior government researcher Aya Abe says Japan has the fourth-highest rate of poverty among developed countries. She says she sees that poverty in schools where students admit to only bathing once a week. Some cannot afford to buy pencils for class. Abe attributes the increase in child poverty to the country?s changing demographics, struggling economy and high social security premiums. She says fewer people live in three-generation households, where the parents and grandparents work. The number of single mothers has increased. The salary for young fathers has declined with the economic downturn. And social security premiums have increased in the last 20 years, putting families on the threshold of poverty. Abe says studies conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) pointed to rising poverty in Japan before the global economic crises in 2008. VOA News Item 74 There doesn?t seem much to celebrate in this dusty, sun-scorched patch of Sudan, just east of the border with Chad. But after seven years of devastating conflict, the new village of Habali Canari, and dozens more like it, are giving some people hope. With the help of the Arab League there is now a mosque, a water station and other signs of basic modern life. The emphasis is on basic. There are no roads to the settlement just tracks through the soft sands of the no-man?s 22 land of the desert. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa came to Habila Canari to officially open the project. He says he hopes the village will help lure people out of the refugee camps where Darfurians sought protection. VOA News Item 75 The National Union of Somali Journalists reports the Islamist militant group al-Shabab has imprisoned Ali Yusuf Adan, a radio correspondent for the private media broadcaster Somaliweyn. International watchdog groups are decrying the abduction, which they say is part of a troubling trend in areas under the control of the al-Qaida-linked Somali rebels. Gabriel Baglo, head of the Africa program for Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists, called for Adan?s immediate release. He said the situation for journalists in Somalia right now is the most pressing on the continent. VOA News Item 76 The private meeting began with a few public remarks by the president, in which he focused on issues of vital interest to the governors. He said they are working together to rebuild the economy, after a series of emergency measures to end the recession and help key industries survive. Mr. Obama said he understands the toll the recession took on state governments that found themselves with less tax revenue and a rising need for services. “Overall, the economy is in a better place than it was a year ago. We were contracting by six percent. We are now growing by six percent. But I know that your states are still in a very tough situation and too many Americans still have not felt the recovery in their own lives.” The president spoke about ongoing efforts to create jobs. He also talked about actions to put America on a stronger economic footing in the future, by improving education standards across the country. VOA News Item 77 Australia has set a November deadline for Japan to stop whaling in Antarctic waters, or face international court action. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he was still hopeful that talks with the Japanese would lead to a negotiated settlement whereby Tokyo would abandon its annual hunt in the Southern Ocean. Mr. Rudd will be able to deliver his ultimatum in person to Japan?s foreign minister, Katsuya Okada, who arrives in Sydney Saturday for pre-arranged talks on trade and military ties. The Australian leader says his government is committed to international legal action if discussions fail to convince Japan to stop killing whales in the Antarctic. VOA News Item 78 In a nationwide radio and television broadcast, a spokesman for the mutinous soldiers said they have suspended the constitution and dissolved the government that President Tandja established following a controversial referendum last August. Coup spokesman Colonel Abdoul Karim Goukoye Karimou said Niger?s defense and security forces decided to take their responsibility to end the country?s tense political situation. He said Niger is now being led by a Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy which is calling on people to remain calm, stay united, and make their country an example of democracy, good governance, and stability. 23 President Tandja was meeting with cabinet ministers at the presidential palace when the coup took place. Soldiers are now reportedly holding him at a military barracks outside the capital. VOA News Item 79 President Medvedev says there is a need to eliminate Interior Ministry functions that are redundant or not relevant to police work. Mr. Medvedev says he has made a decision to cut the number of employees at headquarters and subordinate structures from 19,970 people to 10,000. He says there will also be a review of functions, which should correspond to the Ministry?s current needs, its mission and resources. Accordingly, he has sent a bill to parliament that would transfer responsibility for various tasks from the Interior Ministry to other agencies. These include the expulsion of illegal immigrants, running detoxification centers, and conducting vehicle inspection. VOA News Item 80 President Obama says Republicans and Democrats can cooperate to strengthen the economy, even though they disagree on many issues. “I think it?s fair to say that the American people are frustrated with the lack of progress on some key issues. And although the parties are not going to agree on every single item, there should be some areas where we can agree.” Minority Republicans have blocked Democratic initiatives on health care and other domestic issues. With the U.S. unemployment rate at 9.7 percent, the president said he hopes Congress will soon approve incentives for small businesses to add workers. VOA News Item 81 Endeavour?s last scheduled night launch went smoothly in the pre-dawn hours Monday. That is, smoothly for a launch that was set for Sunday, but postponed because of thick cloud cover. Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach said the crew did not let the one-day delay have a negative impact on them. “It was just a terrific countdown. The team was very energized going into this count. A little disappointed last night with the weather that got us, but... you know, we fought the weather last night, just was not the right time to launch yesterday, so we stood down, got into it today and it really rewarded everybody extremely well.” When they get to the International Space Station, the Endeavour crew will be delivering and installing a module known as Tranquility, which will provide additional room for crew members. Attached to Tranquility is a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and another in the center. NASA says this will provide a panoramic view of Earth and objects in space. VOA News Item 82 Secretary Gates is working with allies to develop an effective sanctions regime targeting Iran?s government, while having minimal impact on its people. U.S. officials say they hope to bring a resolution to the U.N. Security Council this month, while France holds the rotating presidency. Gates says Iran has not responded constructively to President Barack Obama?s unprecedented and long effort to start a dialogue on its nuclear program. But asked whether he is concerned Israel might launch an air strike on Iran?s nuclear facilities now that the Iranian president has ordered the resumption of uranium enrichment, the secretary said he believes there is 24 still a chance for sanctions and other forms of diplomatic pressure to work. VOA News Item 83 Friday brought some hopeful news to the battered U.S. labor market. Although employers continue to cut jobs amid a fledgling economic recovery, the U.S. unemployment rate for January dipped below 10 percent to 9.7 percent. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner hailed the development. “We are seeing some encouraging signs of healing. This is going to take a while, and it is going to be uneven. But there are encouraging signs in this report. We have an economy that was growing at the rate of almost 6 percent of GDP in the fourth quarter of last year the most rapid rate in six years. And we have the capacity as a government to try to make sure we are reinforcing that process, and we help guide this economy back to the point where we are not just growing again, but we see growth translate into jobs.” In its budget projections, the Obama administration is assuming that unemployment will remain stubbornly high above 9 percent well into next year. VOA News Item 84 Despite seemingly-conciliatory comments by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week, Clinton says there has still been no definitive Iranian reply to a compromise nuclear proposal offered last October. She says it is important now to consider additional sanctions against Iran, and that the United States is reaching out to other major powers on the issue, including China which says it opposes early punitive action. Earlier this week, the Iranian President said his government would have “no problem” sending low-enriched uranium abroad if it later received, in exchange, higher-enriched reactor fuel. But U.S. officials say Iran has not followed up with a formal acceptance of a swap arrangement proposed last October by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Under it, Iran would give up most of its uranium stockpile in return for enriched fuel for a medical reactor. In a talk with reporters, Clinton said the world community is only getting mixed signals from Tehran and that it is time to pursue additional pressure. VOA News Item 85 In previous years, the U.N. Children?s Fund has classified Haiti as a country “in crisis.” Since the devastating earthquake struck, UNICEF has increased its efforts to restore shattered lives and protect children and women who are among the most vulnerable victims of this disaster. VOA News Item 86 U.S. Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Ellen Tauscher expressed confidence that despite deep partisan divisions in Congress, the Senate would pass the successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, although she gave no timeframe. “We do have a polarized atmosphere in Washington, but I think that on issues of national security, we have always found that we can find a very broad concensus of Democrats and Republicans that will work together to advance those issues. I expect on this issue we will find that same sweet spot.” 25 Tauscher spoke at a conference in Paris gathering former diplomats and arms negotiators and aimed at pushing for global nuclear disarmament. U.S. and Russian negotiators resumed talks in Geneva this week aimed to wrap up a new nuclear disarmament treaty to replace START, which expired in December. VOA News Item 87 President Obama visited the Northeastern state of New Hampshire on Tuesday, to promote a plan he hopes will help ease the nation?s ten percent unemployment rate. Mr. Obama says money repaid by large banks that received government help should be lent to small businesses, where he says most of America?s job creation takes place. “I am announcing a proposal to take $30 billion of the money that was repaid by Wall Street banks now that they are back on their feet take that $30 billion and use it to create a new small business lending fund that would provide capital for community banks on Main Street.” As Mr. Obama admitted in last week?s State of the Union address, the federal bailout of big financial institutions has been unpopular. But he says it was necessary to prevent the U.S. financial system from collapsing. VOA News Item 88 The African Union is urging Guinea?s new interim authority to restore constitutional order through free and transparent elections by June. That transitional government is led jointly by the country?s acting military leader General Sekouba Konate and the new civilian prime minister, Jean Marie Dore. The prime minister says responsibility for meeting that electoral deadline does not rest entirely with the interim authority. He says the success of the election depends on its organization. And if there is not enough money to organize it properly, Guinea will continue to struggle. VOA News Item 89 The World Health Organization says it is worried about an explosion of diseases in Haiti. It says people are at great risk of getting diarrhea, cholera and other water borne diseases because of the bad sanitary conditions and contaminated water. It says contagious diseases such as measles can spread like wildfire in the overcrowded, squalid resettlement camps. WHO spokesman Paul Garwood says U.N. agencies and the Haitian government will conduct a campaign next week to immunize hundreds of thousands of children under age five against measles, tetanus and diphtheria. He says WHO and other aid agencies will be taking additional measures to try to prevent epidemics from breaking out. VOA News Item 90 President Obama spent his first year in office trying to prevent the collapse of big financial firms, and stabilize the national economy. Now, he is taking a more populist approach focusing on the day-to-day issues that create money woes for many families. He says it is part of an effort to show the administration cares about workers who are struggling to pay their bills or have anxieties about losing their jobs. “We have just come through what was one of the most difficult decades the middle class has ever faced a decade in which median income fell, and 26 our economy lost about as many jobs as it gained.” The president spoke at a meeting of a White House advisory panel set up to study the problems facing the middle class and to propose solutions. Among the ideas embraced by the administration are steps to cut the costs of child care for working parents, and help them save for retirement. VOA News Item 91 In May 1960, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the world?s first birth control pill. Today, 12 million American women take the Pill, making it the leading contraceptive in the United States. In her 1975 hit single, country star Loretta Lynn sings a victory anthem for the Pill: You wined me and dine me When I was your girl Promised if I’d be your wife You’d show me the world But all I’ve seen of this old world Is a bed and a doctor bill I’m tearin’ down your brooder house ’Cause now I’ve got the pill. When the Pill hit the market in 1960, 30 states had laws restricting the advertising and sale of contraceptives. Two states banned them outright. Those laws were rendered invalid for married women by a 1965 Supreme Court decision and the ruling was expanded in 1972 to cover all women. In the post-World War II baby boom era, the impetus for promoting an oral contraceptive for women came not from drug companies or the government. It came from the vision of two women: Margaret Sanger and Katharine McCormick. Sanger and McCormick felt the female contraceptive could emancipate women. The team they worked with to make that happen attached other far-reaching utopian dreams to the project. “The most idealistic hopes attached to the Pill were that it would solve the problem of overpopulation, and poverty; that it would domestically, would create happy families because married couples could enjoy sex without fears of unwanted pregnancy; that single women wouldn?t have babies anymore because they could prevent it until they were married.” It gradually became clear that the Pill was not a panacea for all those societal ills. It did not stem overpopulation, cut poverty, lower the divorce rate or put an end to unwanted pregnancies. Nor did the Pill spark the sexual revolution of the 1960s. Instead, as May writes in her new book, “America and the Pill: A History of Promise, Peril and Liberation,” women liberated themselves as the result of the feminist movement. And they used the Pill as an important tool to gain control over their lives. VOA News Item 92 90 Lebanese officials have called for a day of mourning for those killed when the plane went down in stormy weather in the early hours of Monday. Officials say there is no indication of terrorism or foul play. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said that, as of now, an act of sabotage is unlikely. The Boeing 737-800 had just taken off from Beirut and was headed to the 27 Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, when it went down in the Mediterranean a few kilometers off Lebanon?s coast. Witnesses report seeing the plane on fire before it crashed. Authorities say more than 50 Lebanese passengers boarded the plane as well as more than 20 Ethiopians, in addition to the crew members. French officials say the wife of France?s ambassador to Lebanon was among the people from other countries on board. VOA News Item 93 To some in Washington, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is the master economist whose aggressive actions and creative solutions prevented complete economic collapse in 2008, when major American banks, investment firms, insurance companies, and home mortgage giants were failing at a catastrophic pace. To others, he is the financial industry insider who facilitated reckless corporate risk-taking that placed the national and global economy in grave peril in the first place. Days before the expiration of a four-year term as Fed chief, Bernanke faces growing opposition from Democratic and Republican senators who will vote on his reconfirmation. Bernanke was originally nominated by former President George W. Bush in 2005. Last year, President Barack Obama backed Bernanke for a second term, and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs expressed optimism his tenure will be extended. VOA News Item 94 President Obama says he wants to avoid a repeat of last year?s failure of several banks and other financial firms, which devastated the U.S. economy. After years of corporate mergers in the financial industry, the president is calling for legislation to prevent the further consolidation. He says he wants to ensure that the failure of a single, large financial firm would not threaten the entire economy. “Never again will the American taxpayer be held hostage by a bank that is too big to fail.” Mr. Obama also says he wants to bar big banks from financial trading for their own benefit. The practice, known as proprietary trading, generally shifts the risk to taxpayers while banks make money. VOA News Item 95 Japan Airline?s bankruptcy filing is one of Japan?s largest corporate failures in decades. The former state-owned carrier once symbolized the strength of the country?s postwar economic boom. But its financial fortunes declined in the last decade with the fallout from the September 11th attacks, a surge in fuel prices, and the worldwide economic slowdown. The company racked up more than $20 billion in debt and its share price has dropped to a record low of about three cents. The Japanese government bailed out the airline three times in the last 10 years but it could not save the company from bankruptcy this time. VOA News Item 96 Addressing the upper house of the Italian parliament late Tuesday, Interior Minister Roberto Maroni praised the work of the security forces in the southern Calabrian town of Rosarno, where African farm workers rioted in the streets last week. The two days of violence erupted after a group of white local youths allegedly shot two immigrants with a pellet gun. 28 Maroni said the immediate reaction on the part of security officials from the start of the disorder ensured the violence did not degenerate into more serious incidents. In all, 21 migrants were injured in the clashes, with eight still hospitalized. The interior minister said about 750 illegal immigrants were transferred to holding centers in the southern cities of Crotone and Bari. He added that more than 300 with regular permits left Rosarno voluntarily with their own means to other destinations. Maroni made clear the fight against illegal immigration would continue without let-up. VOA News Item 97 Tens of thousands of people have fled the conflict in northern Yemen over the past five months. And, they continue to leave in large numbers. A spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Dorothea Krimitsas, says freezing temperatures are making the already dire situation of people fleeing their homes even worse. “Our concern according to what we can witness there, because we are on the ground, we are present on the ground harsh weather conditions and winter conditions in northern Yemen are affecting the populations there, especially those fleeing who have absolutely no shelter and nothing and, sometimes no clothes. They have to flee just with what they have on them and leave. So, this is something that is making their condition much more difficult.” Krimitsas says the risk of respiratory infections is increasing, especially among children exposed to the cold, the wind, and the rain. She says getting shelter for people living out in the cold is vital as is access to food, water and health care. The Red Cross is unable to reach large parts of the conflict areas. Therefore, Krimitsas says it is difficult to know how many people are not receiving aid. “But, despite these conditions, we continue to work in close cooperation with other organizations and especially together with the Yemeni Red Crescent Society. We continue to work and to maintain our aid effort. We have so far provided around 73,000 displaced people with water, food and other essential items. We continue to run five camps.” Krimitsas says the Red Cross also provides health care to the displaced and medical support, including supplies, to the Yemeni Red Crescent. She says the International Committee of the Red Cross is renewing its appeal to all parties in the conflict to ensure the protection of civilians and to allow safe passage for humanitarian aid. VOA News Item 98 A wave of cold and snowy weather continues to grip Europe, grounding airplanes, trains and cars and causing dozens of deaths. Britons shivering through one of the coldest winters to hit the United Kingdom in decades got no reprieve from Mother Nature on Sunday. Channel 4 and other British media delivered more bad news including weather-related deaths. A week of snow and ice also temporarily shuttered Dublin airport and led to cancellations of planes, trains and sporting events in London and elsewhere. Conditions are not much better in France, where weather forecasters are predicting more 29 arctic temperatures on Monday and a wave of snow to hit some parts of the country on Tuesday. Snow has also grounded flights around the country. Roughly 1,000 passengers were forced to spend the night at the Lyon airport and nearby hotels in east-central France. VOA News Item 99 The war against narcotics-trafficking cartels in Mexico is being watched closely by federal law enforcement officials here in the United States. The Drug Enforcement Administration, or DEA, is spearheading a multi-agency U.S. effort at its field office in Houston. Gary Hale, chief of intelligence at the Houston office, says sharing resources and information with the Mexican government has helped President Calderon to disrupt the criminal organizations? operations on the border. VOA News Item 100 Thirty-six year old Peter Moore was released by his captors in Baghdad Wednesday morning. He was turned over to the Iraqi authorities and then handed over to the British embassy in the Iraqi capital. In London, British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband welcomed the release and said he had spoken with Moore. “Peter is in good health despite many months of captivity, he?s undergoing careful medical checks and he is going to be reunited with his family as soon as possible back in the U.K..” Peter Moore, a computer consultant, was working in Baghdad when he and four bodyguards were seized at the finance ministry in May 2007 by some 40 gunmen disguised as Iraqi police. Three of the bodyguards were killed and their bodies returned to British authorities earlier this year. The fate of the fourth, Alan McMenemy, is as yet unconfirmed, but British authorities believe he too was killed.__