The Race to the Moon: Gemini 6 and 7 Meet High Above Earth in 1965

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Astronauts proved that two spaceships could meet in almost the same orbit. And they proved that humans could survive for the time needed to get to the moon and back. Part four of an eight-part series. Transcript of radio broadcast:

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

(MUSIC)

Today, Shirley Griffith and Tony Riggs complete a report about America's second manned space program, Gemini. Its purpose was to bring the United States closer to its goal of landing astronauts on the moon.

VOICE ONE:

To explore the surface of the moon, astronauts must be able to survive outside the protection of their spacecraft. So an astronaut on the flight of Gemini Four, Ed White, took that first frightening step into the unknown.

For more than twenty minutes, he floated outside his spacecraft in the emptiness of space.

Walter Schirra, right, and Thomas Stafford during an exercise in preparation for their launch in Gemini 6

Astronauts on the next flight, Gemini Five, suffered a number of technical problems. But they were able to survive in space for eight days.

Then it was time to launch Gemini Six. Its crew would attempt a move that would be necessary for any landing on the moon. The astronauts would chase another object orbiting Earth. And they would move their spacecraft as close as possible to it.

However, the target -- a satellite -- apparently exploded after it was launched. So America's space agency, NASA, said there was no reason to send up Gemini Six. NASA decided to move ahead with the next flight, Gemini seven.

VOICE TWO:

Then NASA considered yet another plan. It would launch Gemini Seven. And, if everything was ready, it would launch Gemini Six a few days later. Gemini Six would chase, and get close to, Gemini Seven instead of a satellite.

Astronauts Frank Borman and James Lovell were the crew of Gemini Seven. They would make the longest, most difficult flight ever. They would spend fourteen days in their tiny spacecraft.

VOICE ONE:

Gemini Seven lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Friday, December third, nineteen sixty-five. Workers at the space center examined the launch area. There appeared to be no major damage. The workers quickly moved another huge Titan rocket into place. On top of the rocket sat the Gemini Six spacecraft.

NASA announced that Gemini Six would be launched in the early morning of Sunday, December twelfth. The timing would put the two spacecraft in the correct orbit to meet in space.

Astronauts Walter Schirra and Thomas Stafford prepared for their flight. They had waited once in a spacecraft that never left the ground. Their first launch had been cancelled because the target satellite exploded. This time, they hoped, things would be different.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Mission Control in Houston. The first attempt to launch Gemini 6 ended in failure.

On that Sunday morning, Schirra and Stafford were again in their tiny Gemini Six spacecraft atop the Titan rocket. Borman and Lovell, in Gemini Seven, speeded across the United States. The countdown at Cape Canaveral reached zero as Gemini Seven passed overhead.

Frank Borman's disappointed words from space told the story. "I saw ignition...and then shutdown." For some reason, the Titan rocket engines had fired as planned. But then they shut themselves off one second later.

For several tense minutes, the astronauts of Gemini Six were sitting on top of a highly explosive mass of rocket fuel. Schirra waited with his hand on a special device. If he pulled it, he and Stafford would get away safely. If he did not pull it, and the rocket exploded, they would be killed. With nerves of steel, the astronauts waited. The rocket did not explode.

VOICE ONE:

Once again, Schirra and Stafford climbed out of Gemini Six. Borman and Lovell continued to circle the Earth.

Soon, the public heard the report. A tiny part at the bottom of the rocket had fallen out too early. That tiny part sent a signal to computers that the launch had taken place. The computers immediately shut off the rocket engines.

Space agency officials decided to try one more time. They set the launch for three days later. It would be the last chance for Gemini Six to attempt to meet with Gemini Seven in space. If this attempt failed, the United States would suffer a serious delay in its goal to land astronauts on the moon.

Borman and Lovell continued to circle the Earth, day after day, as workers hurried to meet the new launch date. They were almost three hundred kilometers high. They were moving at twenty-eight thousand kilometers an hour.

VOICE TWO:

The launch of Gemini 6

December fifteenth, nineteen sixty-five. This was it. What could be an impossible effort in the history of spaceflight was ready to lift off on its final chance for success.

For the third time, Walter Schirra and Thomas Stafford put on their space clothing. They took their places in the Gemini Six spacecraft. The countdown reached zero just as Frank Borman and James Lovell, in Gemini Seven, passed overhead.

This time, with a thundering roar, Gemini Six rose into the air. As it headed into space, a radio announcer said: "This whole nation pushed that one up."

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Now there were four Americans in space. Gemini Six followed Gemini Seven, but in a lower orbit that moved the two spacecraft closer together. Flight controllers on the ground held their breath. Success was near. Yet failure was still very possible.

The spacecraft were almost two thousand kilometers apart. They needed to get within six hundred meters of each other. Only then would space agency officials consider the project a complete success.

VOICE TWO:

Time passed quickly as Schirra moved Gemini Six closer and closer to its target. Gemini Six was now eight kilometers behind, and twenty-four kilometers below, Gemini Seven. Schirra fired a rocket exactly long enough to put his spacecraft in the same orbit. Then radar on each spacecraft noted the other spacecraft. Happily, Schirra sent a radio message to Gemini Seven. "We'll be up shortly," he said.

A few minutes later, the astronauts were able to see each others' spacecraft. Success seemed within reach. Only six-and-one-half kilometers separated them. The two spacecraft continued to float together, far out in space.

VOICE ONE:

A photo of Gemini 6 taken by the crew of Gemini 7

They moved closer and closer together as they flew across the Indian Ocean. It was about six hours since the launch of Gemini Six. For a while, there was no communication from space to Earth. The spacecraft were too far from any ground station to send clear messages.

Finally, the voice of Thomas Stafford came through the silence of Space: "We are thirty-six meters apart and sitting."

Thirty-six meters! That was far better than the six hundred meters space agency officials would have considered a complete success.

In fact, the two spacecraft almost touched each other before they separated. Space agency officials now knew that it was possible to join two orbiting spacecraft. The crew on Gemini Six had made the operation seem easy.

VOICE TWO:

As the American astronauts continued to float through space, they inspected each other and each other's spacecraft. Frank Borman noted happily that after twelve lonely days in space, he and James Lovell finally had company for one night!

The next day, Schirra and Stafford completed their flight. Gemini Six landed in the Atlantic Ocean within twenty kilometers of the rescue ship. Gemini Seven continued to speed on.

VOICE ONE:

On December eighteenth, ground controllers asked Borman and Lovell if they were ready to come home. "Ready! Ready!" the astronauts answered. Gemini Seven landed as perfectly as Gemini Six.

Astronauts Borman and Lovell had been in space more than three hundred thirty hours. They had traveled almost eight million five hundred thousand kilometers.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The flights of Gemini Six and Gemini Seven greatly increased hope that Americans soon would be able to land on the moon. Schirra and Stafford proved that spaceships could link up while in orbit. Borman and Lovell proved that humans could survive in space for the time needed to get to the moon and back. The distance to the moon suddenly seemed shorter.

VOICE ONE:

Five more Gemini flights followed. Other spacecraft joined with other targets in space and landed exactly where planned. Astronauts worked for longer periods of time in the hostile environment of space.

The Gemini program had reached all its goals. Now, the United States was ready for the next historic jump into space. It would be Project Apollo. Project Apollo would land men on the moon.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

This Special English program was written by Marilyn Rice Christiano. Your narrators were Shirley Griffith and Tony Riggs. I'm Doug Johnson. Listen again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.

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An 1859 Battle in Italy, and the Birth of the Red Cross

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Movement, Geneva Conventions both grew from ideas of Swiss businessman Henri Dunant after the Battle of Solferino. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

The International Red Cross Movement grew out of a major battle in the unification of Italy. The Battle of Solferino took place one hundred fifty years ago, in June of eighteen fifty-nine. This past week, volunteers from Red Cross and Red Crescent societies around the world gathered in Solferino to mark the anniversary.

(SOUND)

About eight thousand people marched in a torch-lit event called the Fiaccolata. They followed in the footsteps of those who took injured soldiers from Solferino to the nearest village, Castiglione.

Hannigton Segarunaya, national youth president of the Ugandan Red Cross Society, says the visit made him want to work harder to help people.

HANNIGTON SEGARUNAYA: "I am going back to Uganda in Africa to make more moves for humanity. I know where the young people come together, we have the possibility of doing whatever it takes to make the world a better place."

The Battle of Solferino

In the battle, allied French and Sardinian troops defeated the Austrian army. Around six thousand men were killed and more than thirty thousand were wounded.

Yet, says Swiss historian Francois Bugnion, the battle lasted only twelve hours. He says a Swiss businessman named Henri Dunant was horrified by what he saw.

FRANCOIS BUGNION: "Thousands of wounded were brought to the next town of Castiliogne where he arrived and there was practically no medical assistance. So he saw hundreds of men, thousands of men, suffering awfully from very deep wounds and left to die without any real assistance."

He says Henri Dunant quickly took action. The businessman got local women to provide food and water. He also got them to dress the wounds of soldiers without concern for their nationality.

Henri Dunant

Dunant later wrote a book called "A Memory of Solferino." In it, he launchedtwo ideas. One was the idea of voluntary relief societies to provide assistance to the wounded or other people. This led to the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

The second idea was a treaty protecting the wounded and medical personnel on the field of battle. This, explains historian Francois Bugnion, is the origin of the Geneva Conventions.

Stephen Ryan is the communications officer for youth and volunteers at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. He says it is important to get young people involved in volunteer work at an early age.

STEPHEN RYAN: "Young people need to be given the opportunity to really feel like they are making a difference in the world. It gives people the opportunity to make change that they would like to see in the world."

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, with reporting from Solferino by Lisa Schlein. Archives of our programs are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

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Coleman Concedes Defeat in Minnesota, Giving Democrats Another Seat in US Senate

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Norm Coleman concedes to Al Franken in St. Paul, Minnesota, 30 Jun 2009

Former U.S. Senator Norm Coleman, a Republican conceded defeat Tuesday to Democrat Al Franken in the disputed Senate race in the Midwestern state of Minnesota. The move followed a decision by the Minnesota Supreme Court that affirmed Franken's narrow win.

More than seven months after the election, Norm Coleman came before reporters at his home in St. Paul, Minnesota to concede defeat.

"I join all Minnesotans in congratulating our newest U.S. Senator, Al Franken," said Norm Coleman.

The announcement came after the state Supreme Court declared, in a unanimous decision, that Franken had won the race by a margin of 312 votes. The court rejected an appeal by Coleman to include some 4,000 absentee ballots that had been rejected for various reasons.

Two of the court's seven justices did not take part in the decision. They recused themselves because they had served on a canvassing board that performed a recount earlier this year.

A 13 Apr 2009 file photo of Al Franken talking with reporters outside his Minneapolis home

The court ruled that Franken is "entitled" to the senate seat, but stopped short of ordering the governor to officially certify him. The state's Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty, widely seen as a potential presidential candidate, refused to certify Franken after the recount, saying that he would wait until the state Supreme Court had ruled. The court's decision and Coleman's concession presumably removes any obstacle for Franken's certification.

Al Franken spoke to reporters on Tuesday, saying that Norm Coleman had telephoned him to congratulate him on the victory. He described the call as "gracious".

Franken conceded that he will have some catching up to do, coming in six months after the Senate session began. But he said he is ready.

"I cannot tell you exactly when I will be seated, but I think it will be early next week," said Al Franken. "Coming in mid-session will be more difficult than having started January 6th, I am sure. But I have been trying to keep abreast of what is going on and I will do the best I can."

The 58-year-old Franken is a former comedian and actor who also served as a liberal radio talk show host before deciding to run for office. Coleman, who is 59, was mayor of St. Paul before entering the U.S. Senate in 2003.

The addition of Franken will provide the Democrats with 60 votes in the U.S. Senate, giving President Barack Obama and party leaders a better chance of passing controversial legislation such as health care reform and a cap-and-trade bill aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming. The 60-vote advantage is also important because it will make it far more difficult for Republicans to block passage of bills through a filibuster, in which senators tie up the floor in long speeches to prevent a vote. It takes 60 votes to end such a maneuver.

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Hondurans March in Support of New Government

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Demonstrators show support for new Honduras government during march in Tegucigalpa

Thousands of Hondurans have marched in support of the new government that replaced ousted leader Manuel Zelaya earlier this week. Officials have vowed to arrest Mr. Zelaya if he returns to the country.

Supporters of the new government rallied in the capital Tuesday to hear a speech from interim President Roberto Micheletti and the head of the nation's armed forces.

Marchers held signs and waved the blue-and-white flag of the Central American nation as they chanted slogans in support of Mr. Micheletti and the army. Some people also voiced criticism of ousted President Manuel Zelaya and his close ties to Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.

Mr. Michelleti led a cheer for soldiers, who he said had done nothing more than fulfill their duties under the constitution.

He called on supporters to cheer for the real heroes of the moment, the nation's armed forces.

The former leader of congress said the military was acting on a judicial order to remove Mr. Zelaya, who he accused of a series of offenses as president.

Mr. Micheletti said the events this week should serve as an example that no person who becomes president is above the law.

Earlier, the attorney general under the new government released details about a criminal investigation into the ousted leader, who he said is accused of 18 offenses, including treason and abuse of power. Officials also said Mr. Zelaya was involved in trafficking drugs from South America through the country.

Speaking at the United Nations in New York, Mr. Zelaya pledged to return to Honduras Thursday and reclaim the presidency. The new attorney general said Mr. Zelaya will be arrested if he sets foot in the country, and he said officials were seeking help from Interpol to capture the ousted leader on foreign soil.

Also Tuesday, supporters of the ousted leader held separate marches around the capital. One day earlier, security forces outside the presidential palace clashed with hundreds of protesters demanding the return of Mr. Zelaya.

President Obama has said the coup against Mr. Zelaya was illegal and that he remains the president of the Central American nation. Scores of Latin American governments also have rejected the new government in Tegucigalpa.

The Organization of American States (OAS) held an emergency meeting in Washington to consider a response to the coup, including the possible suspension of Honduras from the regional bloc.

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As Violence Subsides, Concrete Pours in West Bank

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Israel has said it wants to boost the economy of the Palestinian territories as a way to bring peace. The Israeli leadership has not implemented any specific plan to improve economic conditions, yet the territories are experiencing a marked economic upturn as a halt in violence leads to increased trade and investment.

West Bank's economy

Afaf Rahal, a Palestinian schoolteacher, shopping in Herbawi department store in Jenin, 30 Jun 2009

A woman in Islamic veil, speaking in Arabic, has a gleaming smile as she explains she is having trouble deciding on which dish set to buy. She browses through a glitzy showroom boasting European and American brands in a scene that might appear to be a shopping mall in Dubai, Qatar, or New York. In fact, it is Jenin, in the West Bank.

The town until recently was known as a bastion of suicide bombers. But now, with this brand new million-dollar department store, and a shopping mall in the blueprints, Jenin is becoming a haven for shoppers for women like Afaf Rahal, a Palestinian schoolteacher.

She says when she used to go to Amman and other places, she would hope that Palestinians would one day build a department store like this in the West Bank. She says she thanks God her expectations have been exceeded.

The Herbawi department store in Jenin, which was built with Arab investment, is part of what analysts say is a boom that is occurring in the West Bank despite the global slowdown.

They say the reason is security conditions have improved, allowing the wheels of commerce to turn.

Israeli-Palestinian trade improving

Ofir Gendelman, the head of Israeli-Palestinian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in Tel Aviv, 30 Jun 2009

Ofir Gendelman heads the Israeli-Palestinian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Tel Aviv - a new organization set up as trade grows between Israel and the Palestinian territories.

"It is way quieter now in the West Bank than the way it used to be even six months, or 12 months ago," said Gendelman. "It is totally quiet. No terrorist attacks, nothing. The Palestinian security services are doing what they can to prevent attacks and, of course, the Israeli army is doing what it has to do. At the end of the day, when there is quiet, when there is security, the economy will flourish and this is what we see."

Construction projects can be seen just about everywhere. The town of Ramallah is preparing to open a newly-built five-star hotel, the result of European investment.

Improved security has led the Israeli army in the past year to remove more than 140 checkpoints, allowing for the freer flow of people and goods in the West Bank.

The hope on both sides is that trade, which reached $4 billion last year, will continue to grow, generating jobs and prosperity.

Can economic prosperity bring peace?

Newly-built five-star hotel soon to be opened in Ramallah

But there is a long way to go before trust is established. Palestinians say other checkpoints continue to exist, blocking access to jobs and business opportunities for many. Many Palestinians complain they cannot access the markets of Israel's $162-billion economy.

Other obstacles include persistent political attitudes. Many Palestinians view increased trade with the Israelis as collaboration with the enemy. No Palestinian chamber of commerce has been established to foster trade with Israel.

Few Palestinians and Israelis believe that economic prosperity alone will bring peace. They say previous Israeli efforts to boost the Palestinian economy have failed. Analysts say the bloodiest Palestinian uprisings of the late 1980's and in 2000 were preceded by periods of economic growth.

But some, including Ofir Gendelman, see reason for hope in the current upswing.

"It is easier to negotiate with someone who has a normal life, someone who is not desperate, someone who does not feel disenfranchised," added Gendelman. "I think that the betterment of the economic situation in the West Bank has definitely improved the chances to reach a peace deal."

At the shiny new department store in Jenin, Afaf Rahal glows as she browses American and European porcelain dinnerware. She says finding dishes like these here in Jenin is, for her, like a dream.

She says she has seen plates like these in Amman, but was always afraid of carrying them across the border. Now, when she sees them, she says it is like finding a treasure.

For Afaf Rahal this new department store is a sign of hope that life is becoming normal, even in a place like Jenin.

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Iraq Takes Control of Cities and Towns as US Withdraws

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Iraqi Honor Guards perform Tuesday 30 June 2009, as they mark the day they took control of security for Baghdad and other cities in Iraq

Iraqi forces officially assumed control of Baghdad and other cites across the country, following the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from urban areas.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, accompanied by Defense Minister Jawad Boulani, reviewed Iraqi troops from the army, navy and air force as a military band played music to celebrate the official U.S. withdrawal from Iraqi towns and cities.

Mr. Maliki then laid a wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier as an army bugler played to commemorate Iraqi troops that have died in the service of their country.

Iraqi soldiers and police staged a long parade in full dress uniform in Baghdad to commemorate the U.S. pullout and to mark the day the government is calling "National Sovereignty Day."

Most Iraqis were joyful and jubilant, and few people went to work on the declared national holiday.

Iraqi army tanks, armored personal carriers and other military vehicles lined the streets, as police and soldiers were deployed in force to scare away troublemakers.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (file photo)

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called the day a "great victory" for the Iraqi people and said the U.S. pullout was "historic."

He says that he has no doubt Iraq will come out holding its head high, and that the country is prepared to retaliate with full force against whomever wishes ill against it and its people. He says it is a national and historic duty to stand together behind Iraq's armed forces, which are responsible for this great achievement. He said the occasion must not be used for political or sectarian revenge. He said Iraqis must overcome differences and be wise in dealing with political challenges.

The prime minister also noted all U.S. forces are scheduled to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011, urging his countrymen to look forward with confidence to that moment.

He says Iraqis hope and aspire to achieve the ultimate goal set to take place at the end of 2011, with the final pullout of foreign troops from the country. This event will surely take place, he insists, according to the scheduled timetable.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani also spoke on Iraqi TV, urging his countrymen to cooperate with the country's political and military leaders to achieve stability.

He says destabilizing the situation in Iraq will not profit any one. The key element in achieving stability, he argues, is the support and cooperation of the public with the political leadership and the armed forces.

U.S. troops have reportedly dismantled dozens of bases and command posts inside Baghdad and elsewhere, an handed many over to Iraqi forces.

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Plane Carrying 153 Crashes Near Comoros, Child Found Alive

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Relative of passenger cries at Marseille airport, southern France, 30 Jun 2009

A Yemeni Airbus 310 passenger plane traveling from Yemen's capital, Sanaa, to the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean, crashed early Tuesday as it approached the islands, killing most of the 153 people on board. A Comoros police official says a child has been rescued alive from the sea, but he knew of no other survivors.

It was the second crash in just under a month involving an Airbus passenger jet. The Yemeni plane went down as it was approaching Moroni, the Comoros capital.

Eyewitnesses indicated that "meteorological conditions were bad" around the time of the crash and that there was a "great deal of wind."

French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau told a French TV station that the Yemenia Airlines Airbus A-310 which crashed had been prohibited from flying in French airspace since an inspection in 2007 found "numerous [technical] faults."

Yemeni Civil Aviation spokesman Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Kader told journalists that "bodies were seen floating on the surface of the water and that a fuel slick had also been seen about 16 or 17 kilometers from Moroni."

Abdel Kader describes the situation. He says that 142 passengers and 11 crew members were on board the jetliner, including a number of children ... He adds that there was turbulence at the time that the flight was approaching a landing at Moroni airport and the sea was rough. Three rescue boats, he says, were sent out to search for survivors. A high-level committee, he emphasizes, has been set up to investigate the crash.

Sixty-six French citizens were reportedly on board the Yemenia airliner and most of the other passengers were from the Comoros.

French Army General Command spokesman Christophe Prazuck told France 24 TV a French Army rescue unit from Reunion Island is to help locate victims and recover parts of the crashed plane."

The Yemenia Airlines station chief in the Comoros islands, Gamal Abdel Ghaffour Ibrahim, told Yemeni TV that "Arab businessmen and tourists often take the flight to the Comoros and Yemenia [airlines] does its best to run a top-notch service."

An Air France Airbus A-330 crashed on a flight between Rio de Janeiro and Paris on June 1 killing all 228 people on board. The cause of that crash is still being investigated.

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Taliban Ends Peace Deal in Pakistan

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Taliban militants have pulled out of a peace deal in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region, dealing a blow to the government's efforts to eliminate attacks by Islamic extremists.

The announcement by a spokesman for Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar could signal the end of months of relative peace in North Waziristan.

Ahmadullah Ahmadi told news agencies on Tuesday the group decided to scrap the deal because Pakistan had not put an end to missile strikes from unmanned U.S. aircraft - or Predator drones - in both North and South Waziristan.

The abandoned agreement was negotiated between local authorities and Taliban representatives last year. Its collapse comes just weeks after the Pakistani military began its campaign to hunt down Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban in neighboring South Waziristan.

Pakistani analyst Khalid Aziz says the breakdown of the North Waziristan deal is not surprising. Aziz, formerly chief secretary of North West Frontier Province and now director of the Regional Institute of Policy, Research and Training in Peshawar, says such agreements rarely work because they do not address the underlying problems in Pakistani's tribal areas. Aziz also says such deals have little to do with ideology - and much more to do with political power.

"These are just technical moves of convenience," Aziz said. "From the militants' side, the convenience is that they are in a position of strength within the area. They are, as a matter of fact, the unrecognized government in some places. They're collecting taxes. They are using authority. They are enriching themselves. On the other hand, as long as these so-called agreements last, the government gets weaker."

Aziz says as soon as militant leaders sense the Pakistani government is willing to impose its authority in region like Waziristan, their self interests are immediately threatened and all peace deals are off.

North Waziristan's Taliban leader is Hafiz Gul Bahadar, who negotiated the now-abandoned agreement. He and and his followers are from the Wazir tribe, which has little loyalty to the Mehsud tribe led by Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan.

Now, Bahadar says, his fighters will start targeting Pakistani security forces. Just days before Bahadar called off his peace deal with officials, a military convoy was ambushed in North Waziristan. The Army says the attack killed 16 Pakistani troops.

Azmat Hayat Khan, vice chancellor at Peshawar University, says the complexity of tribal alliances in both North and South Waziristan makes the Pakistani military's job much more difficult.

"There are so many groups now having different ideologies and they've been supported by different people," Khan said. "So, one group's interest doesn't coincide with the other. It is very hard to predict. It all depends on how the [military] operation goes. If they are successful and they take it [to] some conclusion, then I think some results will come out. But if it's left in the middle, then I think it's going to have bad effects."

The local population is likely to take the brunt of the military offensive in the region, just as it has in the nearby Swat Valley where an estimated 2.5 million people have been displaced. And if that happens, it could erode public support of the military's efforts to go after top militant leaders in Waziristan.

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World Meeting Pledges Urgent Social Support for Nazi Holocaust Survivors

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The European Union and dozens of countries have pledged to speed up social support for Holocaust survivors and the search for art and other items that were stolen during World War II by the Nazis. At the meeting in Prague, they agreed to establish a special European institute to deal with these issues and education.

" alt="Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout delivers speech during Holocaust Era Assets Conference in Prague, 29 Jun 2009 " src="http://www.voanews.com/english/images/AP_Czech_prague_kohout_Holocaust_29jun09_eng_210.jpg" vspace="2" width="210" border="0" height="210" hspace="2">

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout delivers speech during Holocaust Era Assets Conference in Prague, 29 Jun 2009

As the number of survivors of the Nazi Holocaust rapidly declines, there was a sense of urgency among delegates that the world must provide them with adequate social assistance and compensation for stolen goods.

The five-day meeting in the Czech capital Prague, attended by Holocaust survivors, members of Jewish organizations and delegates from nearly 50 nations, was a follow-up to a conference more than a decade ago in Washington that led to agreements on recovering art looted by the Nazis.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel told the gathering that it is a moral duty to provide thousands of victims of Nazi persecution living in poverty at least some comfort in their final days.

"It is not easy to measure human suffering," he said. "How much was my grandmother's candle stick? How much? And they took it. They needed it for the war? Think of every individual who lost whatever poverty he or she had. And when you think of them, you realize that whatever we do is so late. But we cannot wait another day, not another hour."

Soon after, Naftali Herstik, the chief cantor of The Jerusalem Great Synagogue, tried to comfort Holocaust survivors who attended the emotionally charged meeting with solemn songs.

Herstik recalled the six million Jews who perished at the hands of Adolf Hitler's followers, who also seized billions of dollars of gold and art as well as private and communal property across Europe.

Later, a declaration was approved by the national delegates in attendance, saying that they are aware that Holocaust survivors and other victims of Nazi Germany have reached advanced age and that meeting their social welfare needs must be a priority.

The European Union's executive branch, the European Commission, and the outgoing Czech EU presidency, also pledged support for "more effective" Holocaust education and research across Europe, and the preservation of memorials in former concentration camps, cemeteries and "other sites of memory". The EU also promised more social services for Holocaust survivors and investigations into looted properties.

The head of the American delegation, former U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Stuart Eizenstat, told reporters he believes that progress will be made.

"Of all the conferences, this is by far the most ambitious - covering the widest array of issues, including those never considered before by previous conferences, like the desperate need of survivors, many of whom live, even in the United States of America, in abject poverty, and issues like compensation, private property and [war loot] recovery," he said.

But Eizenstat said that, among other items, the Nazis stole or forced the sale of some 600,000 paintings of which at least 100,000 remain unrecovered.

All of the country delegates attending the conference backed the foundation of an institute to track the return of Jewish art and property stolen by the Nazis.

Czech Minister for European Affairs Stefan Fule said the European Shoah Legacy Institute would be based in the Czech town of Terezin, the site of a former Nazi concentration camp.

"The Institute should serve as a voluntary forum for promoting developments in the areas covered by the conference, especially educational and social programs," he said.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was born in what was Czechoslovakia, welcomed the initiative and plans by conference delegates to visit the former camp in Terezin.

"I have to say that I especially am deeply moved that you are all going to go to Terezin. That is part of my history that I only learned recently and my family's association," she said.

Several of Albright's Jewish relatives perished at the hands of the Nazis during World War II.

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Japan Gears Up for Election

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A new political party could take the reins in Japan for the first time in than more than a decade. The Democratic Party, known as the DPJ, is likely to dominate the general election, expected to be held in September. A DPJ victory would oust the Liberal Democratic Party, which has led the government for most of the past 60 years. But there is little expectation of big policy shifts.

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, in Tokyo (File photo)

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso came to power last September with dismal approval ratings for his Liberal Democratic Party. Former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda had just resigned after support for his Cabinet fell below 30 percent.

The LDP hoped a change in leadership would change the numbers. Yet nine months on, polls show Mr. Aso's support below 20 percent.

Chuo University Professor Stephen Reed says that is no surprise.

"They've [the LDP] basically been holding on all this time," Reed said. "They started with a huge majority and they've slowly been hanging on since. They basically ran out of tricks. It's no longer working."

DJP could score big victory

Reed says that will be shown in the Lower House Election, expected to be held in September. All 480 seats are up for grabs. Reed predicts a big win for the opposition Democratic Party or DPJ, and he is not alone.

The latest polls conducted by Japan's top newspapers show a majority support a DPJ-led government.

"There's a lot of people who are ready to say 'okay, I don't know if the Democrats can govern or not but I know the LDP cannot,'" Reed noted.

The conservative LDP has dominated Japanese politics for more than half a century now. Since the early 1950s, only three prime ministers have come from opposition parties, all leading brief coalition governments in the mid-1990s, the last ending in 1996.

Scandals plague LDP

reporters at Hiroshima Peace Park following Saturday morning memorial ceremony" title="Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi speaks to reporters at Hiroshima Peace Park following Saturday morning memorial ceremony" src="http://www.voanews.com/english/images/herman_koizumi_hiroshima_210.jpg" vspace="2" width="176" border="0" height="210" hspace="2">

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (File photo)

But the LDP has faced one scandal after another since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi left office three years ago.

His successor, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned in September 2007 following revelations that the government lost millions of pension files. And his successor, Mr. Fukuda, lasted only about a year.

Mr. Aso's Cabinet has had its share of scandals. In February Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa resigned after he appeared drunk at a G7 meeting news conference. His successor, Kaoru Yosano, now faces allegations he received illegal campaign donations.

Party dominance frustrates voters

This voter says there is something wrong with one party being in power for 50 years. He says he wants want to know what will change if voters put a different party in power.

But the DPJ has had its share of scandals as well. Last month, party leader Ichiro Ozawa resigned after one of his close aides was charged with accepting illegal campaign donations.

The scandals involving both the DPJ and the LDP cause voters like Kei Takikawa to question whether the two parties are any different.

He says LDP or DPJ, it does not matter. Both sides are just about accepting a lot of money and living the good life.

Reed says there are some differences.

Campaign promises

DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama vows to cut bureaucratic waste and refuses to commit to a sales tax increase in the near future to fund social security programs. Mr. Aso favors sales tax increase over the next two years, when he expects the economy to recover. Hatoyama says he wants to stimulate the economy through tax breaks instead of the large infrastructure projects promoted by the LDP.

And he is pushing for reforms to the political process, vowing to eliminate corporation donations. He also wants to limit the widespread practice of inheriting political seats from family members.

Polls show voters are not impressed with either leader. Nearly half said neither Mr. Aso nor Hatoyama would make a good prime minister.

"The number of people who have high expectations for a Democratic [DPJ] government are almost zero," Reed said. "There just aren't that many people who think the Democratic government is going to do a good job. They just know that the LDP is going to do a bad job."

An attitude the DPJ is willing to accept, so long as it drives the party to victory.

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Working to Improve the Condition of Everglades National Park

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This biological treasure is located in the American state of Florida. Transcript of radio broadcast:

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Doug Johnson. This week, we tell about Everglades National Park in the American state of Florida. We also tell about an effort to improve the condition of this important natural treasure.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

When many people think of Florida, images of sandy coastlines or theme park rides come to mind. But about an hour south of Miami lies a natural wilderness different from anywhere else in the United States.

Everglades National Park is the largest subtropical wilderness in the country. The park is home to several rare and endangered species. It is also the third largest national park in the lower forty-eight states, after Death Valley and Yellowstone. More than one million people visit the Everglades each year.

VOICE TWO:

An egret in a cypress swamp

In nineteen forty-seven, President Harry Truman spoke at a ceremony establishing the Everglades National Park. He said the goal of creating the park was to protect forever a wild area that cannot be replaced.

The Everglades is considered one of the great biological wonders of the world. The expansive wetlands stretch across more than six hundred thousand hectares. It is a place where plants and animals from the Caribbean Sea share an ecosystem with native North American species.

Nine different environments exist within the Everglades. They include mangrove and cypress swamps, estuaries and coastal marshes.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

In the nineteen-forties, Marjory Stoneman Douglas wrote a book called, "The Everglades: River of Grass." She described the area as, "the liquid heart of Florida."

Unlike most other national parks, Everglades National Park was created to protect an ecosystem from damage. The Everglades is home to thirty-six species that are considered threatened or protected. They include the Florida panther, the American crocodile and the West Indian manatee. In addition, more than three hundred fifty bird species and three hundred species of fresh and saltwater fish live within the park. The Everglades is also home to forty species of mammals and fifty reptile species.

VOICE TWO:

Exotic plants can also be found in the Everglades. They include what is said to be the largest growth of mangrove trees in the western half of the world. Gumbo-limbo trees, known for their peeling red skin, strangler figs and royal palms are also among the area's plant life. The Everglades is also home to the country's largest living mahogany tree. Sawgrass grows in some areas of the park. Be careful – it is very sharp, with teeth just like a saw. It can grow up to four meters tall.

With about one and one-half meters of rainfall each year, plants and trees never stop growing in the Everglades. That is why it is hard to tell a powerful storm, Hurricane Andrew, caused severe damage to the area in nineteen ninety-two.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

An American crocodile

The dry, winter season is the favorite of most visitors, when insects like mosquitoes are less of a problem. The rainy season lasts from June to November. There are many ways to explore the Everglades. Visitors could see alligators while hiking the Anhinga Trail. The Everglades is the only place on Earth where fresh water alligators and saltwater crocodiles live in the same area. Visitors using canoes or airboats are likely to see large groups of wading birds like the wood stork or great blue heron. It is even possible to see flamingos in the Everglades.

Some might enjoy riding bicycles through Shark Valley, while others may want to move slowly through shallow waters where insects and wildlife can be seen up-close. Park guides also lead visitors on tours with tram cars.

VOICE TWO:

This spring, Everglades National Park launched a visitation program to what was once a highly restricted military base. Park officials are working to recover a missile base used in the nineteen sixties. The base played a part in the nuclear tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.

The government built the Florida base shortly after the discovery of Soviet missiles about three hundred kilometers away, on the island of Cuba. Tensions were high during the Cuban missile crisis. But missiles stored at the American base were never fired.

The base was closed and all missile equipment was removed in the nineteen seventies. Today only the buildings remain.

This year, the historic area had many visitors, including former American service members who remember the missile crisis. The park hopes to offer more trips next spring, to help support the history for those who lived through it and for future generations.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Experts say changes to the Everglades are threatening several different kinds of wildlife. They say the threats are a result of actions the United States government began more than fifty years ago, and settlers began even earlier.

The National Park Service says early colonial settlers and land developers thought the Everglades had little value. The settlers had plans to remove water from the area and in the eighteen eighties developers began digging drainage canals. At the time, they did not understand the complexity of the Everglades' ecosystem. As a result, they were not prepared for all the work and caused environmental problems. The ecosystem, however, was able to survive.

VOICE TWO:

Even larger efforts to drain the wetlands continued between nineteen oh five and nineteen ten. Large areas were changed to farmland. This led to increased development, with more people moving to the Everglades and also more visitors.

More changes came in nineteen forty-eight, when Congress approved the Central and South Florida Project. As part of the plan, the Army Corps of Engineers built roads, canals and water-control systems throughout South Florida. The aim of the project was to provide water and flood protection for developed areas and agriculture. Workers built a huge system of waterways and pumping stations to control the overflow of Lake Okeechobee, north of the Everglades.

VOICE ONE:

Today, fifty percent of south Florida's early wetland areas no longer exist. Populations of wading birds have been reduced by ninety percent. Whole populations of animals are in danger of disappearing. The endangered creatures include the manatee, the Miami blackhead snake, the wood stork and the Florida panther.

In recent years, environmental experts have learned about the damage to the Everglades. They say the natural balance of plants and animals has been destroyed.

VOICE TWO:

Recently, the Obama administration promised three hundred sixty million dollars to pay for Everglades restoration this year. The administration is also asking that Congress approve an additional two hundred seventy-eight million dollars for next year.

The money will help to support projects approved by the government nine years ago. The projects include improving wetlands in the Picayune Strand in Southwest Florida and repairs to Lake Okeechobee's dike. Until now, the state of Florida has spent the most money on the project.

VOICE ONE:

A Burmese python

Another threat biologists have been battling for years in the Everglades is the area's population of Burmese pythons. Officials believe there are as many as one hundred fifty thousand of these large snakes in the Everglades. But the snakes are a foreign species, native to Southeast Asia. Owners of pythons left their unwanted snakes in the Everglades years ago.

Biologists say adult pythons are able to eat small deer and bobcats. When pythons are found in the Everglades, they are often killed. Scientists are now experimenting with other ways to remove the snakes, including trapping methods and offering payments to hunters.

The future of the Everglades is not clear. However efforts to protect the area are continuing so people that from all over the world may continue visiting this biological treasure.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS program was written by Brianna Blake, who was also our producer. I'm Doug Johnson.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Read and listen to our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

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US Hands Over Control of Iraqi Cities

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Iraqi forces officially assumed control of Baghdad and other cites across the country early Tuesday, following the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from urban areas. Celebrations in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, include music, dance and poetry.

People celebrate in Basra, Iraq's 2nd largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, 29 Jun 2009

Iraqi government TV has been playing patriotic music to celebrate the U.S. military withdrawal from cities, towns and villages across the country, officially set to be completed by Tuesday June 30th.

Iraqi military vehicles were also covered with flowers to celebrate the event, and military parades, complete with band music, were organized in Diyala and Diwania provinces.

The government declared a "Day of National Sovereignty" to mark the event, and has invited ordinary citizens to join evening celebrations at Baghdad's Zawra Park for a festival of music and poetry.

Interior Minister Jawad Boulani told journalists the U.S. withdrawal is almost complete and Iraqi forces are capable of maintaining order across the country.

He says he believes Iraq's security situation is under control. "I do not think we need to declare a curfew," he insisted.

Major General Abdul Karim Khalaf, operations director for the Iraqi Interior Ministry, told al-Iraqia TV that all police and army units have been deployed across the country and that scheduled leaves have been canceled.

General Ray Odierno, who commands U.S. forces in Iraq, told Fox TV on Sunday the United States has already completed the handover of Iraqi cities to the Iraqi government.

"We have already met the deadline. We have already moved out of the cities. We have solely been doing it over the last eight months and the final units have moved out of the cities over the last several weeks," Odierno said.

Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman General Mohammed al-Askeri listed all the areas where army forces have taken control. He also expressed confidence in the army's ability to maintain order.

A young policeman in Diyala province told al-Rifidain TV he thinks his men are "ready to assume their responsibilities" and the Iraqi people "want the army to be united and for politicians not to interfere with the security situation."

There have been a number of deadly bombings in Baghdad and Kirkuk in recent days. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki indicated several weeks ago that he thought insurgent groups would likely step up their attacks before the June 30th U.S. pullout.

He has repeatedly maintained that Iraq's 750,000 member security forces are capable of maintaining order in the country, but urged Iraqi citizens to cooperate with the army and police by informing them of possible attacks.

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Anti-Taliban Campaign in Pakistan's Swat Valley Enters Final Phase

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Pakistan says the military is in the final phase of its campaign to expel Taliban militants from northwestern Swat Valley and surrounding areas. But, there are no reports that government forces have killed or captured top Taliban leaders in the region.

The Pakistani army says all main areas in the region occupied by the militants have been cleared.

Army spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas also told reporters Monday that Taliban command structures have been dismantled and their training centers and ammunition dumps have been destroyed. In addition, Abbas says government forces have reopened and secured strategic highway links between the northern part of Swat Valley and the west and have discovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition in the region.

Major General Athar Abbas (File photo)

But Abbas stopped short of declaring total victory in the nearly two month campaign against Taliban fighters in the area, saying some small areas of resistance remain. When a Pakistani journalist pointed out that the military has been reporting pockets of resistance in Swat Valley for the past month, Major-General Abbas sought to explain why:

"Please realize that the counter-insurgency operation - where you have to enforce the writ of the government - what was the extent of the writ lost by the government in that area," said General Abbas. "Please keep that in mind. We are getting into an area which, in our view, the government had completely lost the writ of authority. And therefore the operations sometimes in some areas is painfully slow. Because of the terrain, because of the resistance, because of a lack of support and because of the lack of information."

Abbas also asked reporters to remember how many soldiers had lost their lives and how many had been wounded, saying that is the proof of progress.

The government also predicted that within a week, some of the estimated 2.5 million people displaced by the conflict will be able to return in large numbers. And the government says it is taking care of these people, having already distributed millions of dollars in cash payments to those who were forced to flee.

Monday's progress report did not include the announcement of the capture or killing of any top Taliban leaders such as Sufi Mohammed, the radical cleric who negotiated the failed deal to impose strict Islamic law in Swat Valley. Nor was there news of the capture of killing of his son-in-law, Maulana Fazllulah, whose followers have fought fierce battles against the army in the region.

A former army lieutenant general and defense analyst, Talat Masood, says until the military eliminates the Taliban leadership in Swat Valley, success against extremists will be elusive.

"That is really the heart of the problem because they can always regroup and come back and keep on motivating people from the outside and be quite dangerous, in fact," said Talat Masood. "You know, directing it from different places. So we have get a hold of the leadership. It's very important."

In the meantime, the army is also pounding targets in nearby South Waziristan in preparation for a full-fledged assault on Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and his forces. And on Sunday, troops faced a flare up of militant violence in North Waziristan. The army says militants unleashed a flurry of gunfire - followed by the detonation of improvised explosive devices - on a convoy of security forces. The army says 16 soldiers, including three officers, were killed along with 10 militants.

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Scientists Use DNA to Trace Illegal Elephant Poaching

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A poached elephant

Scientists are using DNA to trace illegal ivory from slaughtered elephants to its countries of origin in an effort to nab poachers. Researchers are trying to combat the multi-billion dollar criminal enterprise at its source.

Since enacting the U.N. treaty outlawing the hunting of endangered elephants for their tusks in 1989, experts say illegal poaching of African elephants has only increased. The illicit ivory trade has been a bonanza for international crime syndicates, with the prized tusks fetching as much as $1,800 per kilogram on world markets.

Another poached elephant

Demand for ivory has been especially high in China. There is also a substantial market for illegal ivory in the United States and in Japan, where it is commonly fashioned into handles for knives and swords.

To combat poaching, scientists are using the genetic material from the tusks of slaughtered elephants to trace the ivory back to the countries where it originated. They have developed a method for extracting DNA from tiny samples of ivory given to them by authorities in countries where tusks have been confiscated.

An ivory market in central Africa

That DNA is then compared to a catalog of unique DNA samples taken from elephant dung in regions throughout Africa.

The head of the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington in Seattle, Samuel Wasser, says researchers have pinpointed the origins of thousands of kilograms of illegal ivory smuggled out of Africa, and their evidence makes clear the terrible impact poaching is having on endangered wild elephant populations:

"People thought the only way they are getting that much ivory is by essentially cherry picking across Africa; going and taking a little from this dealer and that dealer, etc., pulling it together in a common location and shipping it out," said Samuel Wasser. "And what we showed is that for these large seizures, that is not what is happening. What is happening is that they ... are all coming from pretty much the same location. So, they are hammering this population [of elephants] over and over and over again, and it looks like the big dealers are putting out purchase orders, saying I need this many cuts by this date, and then they go and hammer this population over and over to get it to them."

An adult and a young elephant smelling the femur bone of a dead elephant

Wasser says DNA fingerprinting helped investigators three years ago to make the largest seizure of illegal ivory since the global trade ban went into effect in 1989 - 10 tons of ivory contained in two separate shipments. All of the ivory was traced to a small area near the border of Tanzania and Mozambique.

Wasser says illegal ivory is usually shipped to a number of countries before reaching its final destination in order to avoid detection and protect international dealers.

But the use of DNA, according to Wasser, makes it possible to pinpoint precisely where the ivory comes from when it is finally seized so efforts can be made to stop poachers.

"It allows us to direct limited law enforcement resources to key areas," he said. "It also tends to expose countries in denial [about] the amount of poaching going on in their country and to essentially encourage them to get more serious about policing the illegal trade."

An article on the use of DNA fingerprinting to combat the illegal ivory trade, by Samuel Wasser and fellow researchers at the University of Washington, appears in the July issue of Scientific American.

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Obama Calls for Return of Honduran President

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Presidents Barack Obama (r) and Alvaro Uribe meeting at the White House, 29 Jun 2009

U.S. President Barack Obama says the removal of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was illegal and sets a bad precedent for the region. Mr. Obama spoke after a White House meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

President Obama says the ouster of President Zelaya by the Honduran military must be reversed.

"We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the President of Honduras - the democratically elected president there," said President Obama.

Mr. Obama says the United States is joining with others, including the Organization of American States, demanding that President Zelaya be reinstated. He says there is great concern throughout the region about the situation in Honduras.

"It would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backwards to an era in which we are seeing military coups as a way of political transition, rather than democratic elections," said Mr. Obama.

Events in Honduras added a sense of urgency to Mr. Obama's talks with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. Other issues discussed included economic matters - most notably, the pending U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

As a member of the U.S. Senate, Mr. Obama was cool to the deal, saying that it did not do enough to address human rights abuses in Colombia.

But as he met with Alvaro Uribe, President Obama said he was confident that problems with the trade agreement could be rectified. He said he sees progress on the human rights front in Colombia, but added that much more needs to be done.

"I have noted a special concern that is bipartisan and shared by both this administration and Congress - that the human rights issues in Colombia get resolved," he said. "President Uribe has assured me that he is interested in resolving those issues."

Of the three pending free trade agreements negotiated by the Bush administration, the one with Colombia might be the most controversial.

Supporters say it will bolster a key U.S. ally that is taking on narcoterrorists.

Opponents say Colombia remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for union organizers, and that it does not do enough to enforce workers' rights.

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New Honduras Government Resists International Pressure

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New president of Honduras Roberto Micheletti, 28 Jun 2009

The new president in Honduras is rejecting international pressure to allow the return of President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted by military forces on Sunday. Mr. Zelaya is meeting with Latin American heads of state in Nicaragua to demand that the new government step down.

Former congressional president Roberto Micheletti is facing growing pressure from foreign governments one day after he took the oath of office as president in Honduras. Micheletti said Monday that his new government is not afraid of anyone, and asked for respect for the country so it could prepare for general elections in November.

Several Latin American blocs and foreign governments, including the United States, have called for President Manuel Zelaya to be returned to power. The Organization of American States said it would not recognize any government that does not include Mr. Zelaya.

Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya in San Jose, Costa Rica, 28 Jun 2009

The ousted leader said masked soldiers woke him at his home in Tegucigalpa early Sunday and forced him onto a plane to Costa Rica. Monday, Zelaya was in Nicaragua for a meeting of Latin American leaders, including Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez.

Mr. Chavez said he and other leaders wanted to send a message to the new government in Honduras, that it was surrounded and it should surrender before it is too late.

Mexico's government offered diplomatic protection to the Honduran Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas, who was briefly held by Honduran forces before leaving the country. After arriving in Mexico City, she told reporters that ousting President Zelaya was a crime.

Rodas said the coup was illegal, but all sides needed to find a way to resolve the situation for the sake of the Honduran people and for democracy. She said the world should not allow illegal coups to take place.

The United Nations held a special session in New York, where delegates offered support to the ousted president. The Honduran ambassador Jorge Arturo Reina called on the world body to help restore order in the Central American nation.

Reina said U.N. member states should demand that President Zelaya be allowed to return to his post, as he was elected by the Honduran people.

Mr. Zelaya has denied reports that he sent a resignation letter to congress before leaving the country. Micheletti said a judicial order was issued, allowing military forces to remove Mr. Zelaya from power for a series of alleged illegal acts. The military intervention took place early Sunday, when the president was planning to hold a referendum, which the Supreme Court had ruled was illegal.

Witnesses said Honduran military forces remained on guard in some parts of the capital, including the presidential palace. Micheletti said military forces were needed to respond to possible disturbances, and said they would return to their barracks as soon as possible.

In Miami, small groups of Hondurans gathered to call for support for the country's new president. At a press conference Monday, community organizer Jose Lagos spoke by telephone with Micheletti to relay the support.

"So we are calling on Hondurans to remain calm," he said. "And we are calling for support for Roberto Micheletti, to allow him to govern accordingly."

Supporters of the new president in Miami say many Hondurans were unhappy with President Zelaya, partly because he was not doing enough to combat poverty in the country.

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Top US Officer Takes More Active Role on Afghanistan

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The top American military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, has taken a particularly active role in changing the U.S. approach to Afghanistan, contributing to the new strategy, choosing the new commander for U.S. and NATO forces, and deciding to replace the previous one a year ahead of schedule.

During a trip with the admiral to Europe, VOA Pentagon Correspondent Al Pessin spoke to him about the new strategy and why he has taken such an active role.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates (l) and Joint Chief's of Staff Chairman, Admiral Michael Mullen at the Pentagon, 18 Jun 2009

As chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mullen's main job is to be the top military adviser to the president and the secretary of defense. In that role, he must keep close watch on U.S. military operations, worldwide, as well as the strategic environment related to the full range of U.S. national security interests. It is a job with little direct authority but potentially huge influence, and during this, his second year on the job, Admiral Mullen has been using that influence to the fullest.

"I've got to do what I think is right," he said. "What motivates me more than anything else is I've got young people out there who are sacrificing their lives, sacrificing like I've never seen, certainly, in my time. And, I'm anxious to do as much as I possibly can to try to get it right for them."

The 62-year-old admiral's focus has been the allied effort in Afghanistan and related security issues in neighboring Pakistan.

"I have a sense of urgency about Afghanistan that, if we don't get it right within the next 12-to-18 months, we may not ever get it right," he said. "And, at the same time, I really think we can get it right. I can see the way it needs to be done. I think we've learned a lot of lessons in Iraq, from a counterinsurgency standpoint, so that we can meet the sense of urgency that's there to move rapidly."

Lessons learned

Afghan man shows shoe he found near debris of house destroyed in coalition airstrike in Bala Baluk district of Farah province, 08 May 2009

Those lessons include the need to focus on protecting civilians, rather than necessarily killing insurgents, especially when the insurgents attack from civilian areas, as they often do. And, that requires more forces, a near doubling of U.S. troops, which are flowing into Afghanistan now.

"In the end, we can't win it if we don't get this right," said Admiral Mullen. "We can't keep killing Afghan civilians and hope to win. It's just not going to work.

But recent incidents in which U.S. air strikes have caused large numbers of civilian casualties have worked against that strategy. That is why the admiral's hand-picked new commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, will soon issue new orders to his forces on the use of air power.

The worst incident was in early May in Farah Province.

An official U.S. investigation says 26 people were confirmed killed when an American air crew violated procedures and bombed a building where Taliban fighters had taken refuge, without knowing whether civilians were inside. The American military acknowledges the civilian death toll may be higher, but says it is not as high as the 140 dead some Afghan officials have claimed.

Admiral Mullen says General McChrystal will use the Farah incident to push for a fundamental shift in how the troops on the ground think, how they plan and when they call in air strikes.

Civilian casualties

He says even junior officers and enlisted troops must understand the strategic need to gain the support of the Afghan people, even as they face deadly threats in the heat of battle.

"You can have a tactical victory and a strategic defeat," he said. "We can't keep generating tactical victories which give us strategic defeats."

Admiral Mike Mullen, left, Rear Admiral Scott Van Buskirk talk with Pakistani Army General Ashfaq Kayani and Pakistani Army Lt. General Ahmad Shuja Pasha (US Navy Photo)

The admiral says the new directive will help, but there also needs to be training and combat planners from all allied nations need to think ahead, in detail, to try to avoid creating, or being drawn into, situations in which civilians will be at risk. In the Farah incident, the U.S. investigation says Afghan troops initiated an operation against a strong Taliban unit without sufficient planning, causing an American unit to come to their aid and later resulting in the errant air strike.

But Admiral Mullen says the troops will still be free to protect themselves. And, he acknowledges there will still, inevitably, be some civilian casualties.

He also acknowledges that sometimes the new approach may mean more danger for U.S. and allied troops. But he says, in the long term, more support from the Afghan people will reduce the danger, overall.

"If you reduce strategically, you reduce risk to the force."

Admiral Mullen is reluctant to discuss his own activist role, compared to his two predecessors who commentators have criticized for not doing enough to ensure victories in Iraq and Afghanistan, years ago. But with the new strategy and the new commander in Afghanistan, who he calls "the best we have," Admiral Mullen is clearly embarking on his second two-year term as a man on a mission.

"At a time when I'm losing members of our military, when they're paying the ultimate sacrifice, I think I owe them the best military leader I have and the best I can do to support him," he said.

Admiral Mullen calls the new U.S. strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan "a strategy of new leadership," and leadership, he says, is what solves the toughest problems.

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ICRC Says Palestinians Trapped in Gaza Face Rising Poverty, Despair

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The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says many Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip are not able to rebuild their lives and are sliding deeper into despair.

In a report released Monday, the ICRC says stringent import restrictions by the Israeli government are hampering reconstruction efforts by donors who have pledged nearly $4.5 million.

The report, which comes six months after the end of Israel's military offensive in Gaza, says many seriously ill patients are not getting the treatments they need.

The Red Cross is urging Israeli authorities to lift restrictions and allow medical supplies and building materials into the territory.

Israel says it launched the Gaza offensive to stop Palestinian militants from firing rockets into Israel. The fighting killed 13 Israelis and at least 1,300 Palestinians.

The United Nations Human Rights Council is holding its second day of public hearings Monday as part of an investigation into possible war crimes committed by the Israeli military and Hamas militants during the offensive.

Also Monday, a group of international activists is sailing from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip in an effort to deliver humanitarian aid to civilians.

The 21 activists from the U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement are expected to arrive in the territory on Tuesday.

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Michael Jackson's Mother Requests Permanent Guardianship of Jackson Children

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Michael Jackson waves as he arrives at the Santa Barbara County courthouse in Santa Maria, California (Jun 2005 file photo)

As fans mourn the death of pop star Michael Jackson, the singer's family is sorting out the details of his estate. Jackson's mother is asking to administer his estate on behalf of his three children.

The singer's mother, Katherine Jackson, filed court papers on Monday, asking to be named the permanent guardian of Jackson's three children and the administrator of his estate.

The court granted her temporary custody of the children - two boys and a girl who range from 7 to 12 years old - and set dates in July and August to take up the other questions. Two of Jackson's children were born to his ex-wife, Debbie Rowe; the third was born to a surrogate mother.

Michael Jackson's father, Joe, said the children should stay at the family's Los Angeles compound.

Al Sharpton (l) and Joe Jackson, Michael Jackson's father hold a news conference in front of the Jackson family residence in Encino, California, 29 Jun 2009

"Of course, this is where they belong," said Joe Jackson. "We're the parents and we've got other kids their size. They love those kids, and we love those kids too. We're going to take care of them and give them the education they're supposed to have."

Joe Jackson says the family is not ready to release details of the singer's funeral plans. A family friend, political activist the Reverend Al Sharpton, says they want to ensure that the pop star is properly honored.

"It is the determination of the family to be careful and deliberate on how they plan his celebration of life because we're talking about a historic figure that really changed pop culture around the world," said Al Sharpton.

Authorities are trying to determine what happened in the singer's last hours, as he suffered cardiac arrest in his rented home on Thursday. Investigators have questioned the physician who was with him, Conrad Murray, and are looking into the role prescription drugs might have played in Jackson's death. The doctor's lawyer told investigators that Murray did not give Jackson any medication that could have caused his death.

The Los Angeles County's coroner's office has conducted an autopsy and says there were no indications of trauma or foul play. The coroner's office says results from its toxicology tests could take up to six weeks. Meanwhile, the Jackson family has hired a private pathologist to conduct a second autopsy.

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