US Senate Approves Rescue Plan
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Amended plan now goes back to House of Representatives, which plans to vote on it again Friday
Revised legislation to rescue America's financial institutions has cleared its first hurdle, winning approval in the U.S. Senate. But as VOA's Kent Klein reports from Washington, the bill could face a tougher test Friday in the House of Representatives. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, center, (L-R)Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) during press conference, 01 Oct 2008Senators overwhelmingly passed the enhanced version of the bailout, 74-25 Wednesday night, sending it to the House, which rejected the first incarnation of the bill earlier in the week. Under the controversial plan, the U.S. government would spend $700 billion to take over bad debts from U.S.-based financial institutions.The easy Senate approval raised hopes among the Bush administration and congressional leaders that many of the Representatives who voted against the bill on Monday might change their minds by Friday.The revised legislation is said to be gaining support in the House, thanks in part to amendments including $100 billion in tax breaks for businesses and middle-income families, as well as an increased limit on federal deposit insurance.The proposal is not popular with many taxpayers. Mail, e-mail and telephone calls to congressional offices have been overwhelmingly against it. With the entire House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate up for re-election about one month from now, many lawmakers have been hesitant to support the bailout.Even some Senators who voted for the plan, such as Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, say they did so reluctantly."We have two choices as far as I am concerned: a bad choice we all recognize, and a catastrophic choice if we do nothing," he said.Many lawmakers who voted yes warned of a financial catastrophe if the bailout goes down again. Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York said failure to pass the bill would result in the financial equivalent of a heart attack."Our economy's body is in terrible shape because its arteries, the financial system, is clogged, and it will cause a heart attack, maybe in a day, maybe in six months, but we will get a heart attack for sure if we do not act," he said.Both presidential candidates left their campaigns to return to the Senate and vote in favor of the bill. Illinois Democrat Barack Obama spoke on the Senate floor, saying a second defeat for the legislation would affect Americans everywhere."What it means is that businesses will not be able to get the loans they need to open a new factory or make payroll for their workers. And if they cannot make payroll on Friday, then workers are laid off on Monday. And if workers are laid off on Monday, then they cannot pay their bills or pay back their loans to somebody else. And it will go on and on and on, rippling through the entire economy," he said.Earlier in the day, Republican John McCain of Arizona warned of dire consequences if the enhanced bailout plan went down."If the financial rescue bill fails in Congress yet again, the present crisis will turn into a disaster," McCain said. Wednesday's vote crossed party lines. Many Republicans voted for the plan, and some Democrats voted against it. Some liberals oppose using taxpayers' money to rescue the financial markets, and some conservatives believe the government should not interfere in private business. Alabama Republican Richard Shelby voted against the proposal because he thought there should be a better alternative."Many around here are finding comfort in the notion that something is better than nothing. I believe that is a false choice. The choice we faced was between pursuing an informed response or panic. And I think we chose panic," he said.If the House passes the bailout plan, it will go to President Bush for his signature.After the House rejected the previous version on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost almost 780 points, a record for a one-day point loss. The Dow recovered more than half of that lost value on Tuesday. .
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US, European, Asian Markets React to Senate Vote on Bailout Plan
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Markets in London, Paris, Frankfurt post gains but US, Asian markets lower despite Senate approval of plan to shore up financial system
Japanese businessman walks by share prices board in Tokyo, 02 Oct 2008U.S. stocks were down as much as one percent as Thursday's trading got underway.European shares made modest gains in afternoon trading. Many Asian markets declined despite Wednesday's Senate vote. Tokyo's Nikkei index lost nearly two percent, while the indexes in Sydney, South Korea and Taiwan also dropped. But Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained just over one percent by the close.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Bloomberg.
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Palin, Biden to Face Off in Highly Anticipated US Vice Presidential Debate
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Economic situation expected to figure prominently in debate, to be held in St. Louis, Missouri
Sen. Joe Biden speaks at a rally in front of the Detroit Public Library in Detroit, Michigan, 28 Sept. 2008U.S. Democratic Senator Joe Biden and Republican Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska face off Thursday night in the only debate between the two vice presidential candidates.The economic situation is expected to figure prominently in the debate in St. Louis, Missouri, and much attention also will be focused on Palin - a relative newcomer to the national political stage.Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain's pick of Palin as his running mate has energized social conservatives within their party, but critics question whether she is experienced enough to be vice president.McCain defended Palin Thursday and expressed confidence in her "experience, talent and leadership". Palin faces an experienced Washington hand in Senator Biden, but the Delaware lawmaker is prone to verbal gaffes.The two main presidential candidates - Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain - held their first debate last week and will hold two more this month.Recent voter opinion polls show Obama with a significant lead over McCain. At least three separate national surveys conducted by the Associated Press, CBS News and the Pew Research Center show Obama ahead of McCain by between seven to nine percent.Obama is scheduled to hold a rally in Michigan Thursday, while McCain is expected to take part in a town hall meeting in Colorado.
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Attacks Kill 20 in Iraq During Eid al-Fitr Celebrations
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Officials say car bomber attacked mosque in Zafaraniyah district, while suicide bomber in another part of Baghdad blew himself up at separate mosque
Iraqi police say bomb attacks targeting two Shi'ite mosques in Baghdad have killed at least 16 people and wounded 30 others.The attacks took place Thursday as worshipers celebrated the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Officials say a car bomber attacked a mosque in the Zafaraniyah district, while a suicide bomber in another part of Baghdad blew himself up at a separate mosque.In Diyala province, security officials say at least four people were killed when gunmen opened fire on a minibus.In a separate development, the U.S. military in Iraq says coalition forces captured six suspected terrorists in operations in Mosul and Baghdad.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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US Envoy Extends North Korea Stay
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Nuclear envoy Christopher Hill conducted a second day of talks with his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye Kwan Thursday in Pyongyang
A senior American envoy has prolonged his visit to North Korea, in an effort to keep Pyongyang from unraveling a major deal to get rid of its nuclear weapons. At the same time, military talks between North and South Korea have stalled and a South Korea media report quotes intelligence officials who say the North appears to be preparing a missile test. VOA Seoul Correspondent Kurt Achin reports.Christopher Hill (File)U.S. Undersecretary of State Christopher Hill extended his stay in North Korea by at least a day Thursday - continuing negotiations involving a stalled nuclear deal.Hill met with Kim Kye Kwan, his negotiating counterpart in six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons capabilities altogether. Last week, North Korea ejected international inspectors from the main nuclear facility it agreed to disable as part a deal reached in Beijing last year. It warned it would resume reprocessing activity before the end of this week.Hill is trying to get the North to agree on verification steps to confirm a nuclear declaration Pyongyang made this year is accurate. Tuesday, a senior American official said North Korea may be enticed to submit a verification agreement to China, if the United States removes the North from a State Department list of nations accused of sponsoring terrorism.North and South Korean military delegates met Thursday for an hour and a half in the border-straddling village, Panmunjeom, where an armistice was signed to pause the 1950's Korean war. A formal peace has never been declared.North Korea's representative, Pak Rim Su, said the talks come at a significant time. He says the North-South relationship is in a very serious situation. He says the current discussions could "greatly effect" the bilateral relationship.North Korea halted most contact with the South, earlier this year, when South Korean President Lee Myung-bak made transfers of food and other aid contingent on the North's cooperation on the nuclear issue. The North's military has refused any cooperation on a probe into the July shooting of a South Korean tourist by a North Korean soldier in a jointly managed resort zone.South Korea's military envoy, Lee Sang-chul, agreed Thursday's contact is important. Lee points out the meeting is the first in eight months. He says the South has high expectations for the talks and hopes they are sincere and productive.The talks North-South ended with no significant agreements.Separately, South Korea's Dong-a Ilbo cites unnamed government officials as saying there are signs North Korea may be preparing a long-range missile test. The report described, in detail, apparent North Korean moves to renovate a missile testing site on its east coast. Two years ago, the North conducted an unsuccessful test at the site of a long-range missile hypothetically capable of reaching the continental United States.South Korea will not confirm the missile-site report.
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Turkey's Kurdish Party Looks to Religion to Boost Political Profile
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Concerns about direction of main Kurdish party increase as it turns to religion in battle to re-establish itself
After suffering defeat in last year's general election to the Islamic rooted AK party, Turkey's main Kurdish party is turning to religion in its battle to re-establish itself as the region's main political power. But there are concerns about the direction the movement is going. For VOA, Dorian Jones has this report from Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey. Turkish Kurds hold flags of a pro-Kurdish party as they dance during the celebrations for Nowruz in Diyarbakir (File)At a public meeting of the Democratic Society Party or DTP, in Diyarbakir, leaders address their supporters.Standing at their sides are religious elders. The retired Imams, while religiously conservative, are staunch supporters of Kurdish nationalism. But in last year's general election they didn't give their traditional support to the DTP. That lack of support coincided with a victory for the Islamic rooted AK party, which stood on a platform of Islamic solidarity. Head of Diyarbakir's religious elders, Zait Citiran, says the DTP had to be taught a lesson.He said the DTP made a great mistake not understanding that 97 percent of Kurdish people are Muslim and have Islamic sensitivities and he says that is why they lost last year's general election. But he says the DTP mayors and members of parliament are now going to mosques to pray and they are inviting religious elders to their meetings. Citiran says he and the religious elders are now pleased to support the DTP.But there are concerns about this embrace of Islam by political leaders. Publisher and writer Kawa Nemir has devoted his life to the struggle for Kurdish rights both politically and culturally. He believes many of the gains of the last few decades of the Kurdish movement are at risk.
"We have a literary political movement of modernizing Kurdish society and modernizing Kurdish literature for the last 30 years," said Nemir. "There has been a guerrilla war , also there has been a legal movement, legal struggles, and at the beginning it was leftist, it was Marxist. There were some liberals, some villagers, some progressive people. Intellectuals were supporting that movement. Secularism was very important for the Kurdish movement. But now this movement is being more religious day by day. Fifty years ago it was conservative , but it had started to change but now there is a reverse."The Friday sermon at the Olu Cami, Diyarbakir's main mosque, is a tirade of anti-Semitism particularly aimed at Israel. It says Jews are murderers of Palestinian children and are agents of the devil. Kurdish nationalists are traditionally sympathetic to Israel because of its support for the semi autonomous Kurdish state in neighboring Northern Iraq. The Friday sermon, according to head of the DTP in Diyarbakir, Nectar Atalay, is just another example of the Turkish state and the ruling Justice and Development Party, using religion to undermine his party's support.He says they are always trying to use religion against the DTP, saying the DTP is an atheist party. He says they especially attack the DTP for the prominent role of woman in the DTP movement and that many of the women don't wear head scarves. Atalay says the DTP is now being more successful in showing the people that it is a party of faithful people that respects Islam.Last March, tens of thousands of people attended a meeting to celebrate the birth of Mohammed. It was organized by supporters of the DTP in the neighboring city of Batman. The increasing embrace with Islam, is causing particular concern among woman.The DTP has a strong secular tradition and commitment to woman's rights. It has a 45 percent quota for positions for women in the party. Sîlan Eser, is a popular singer in Diyarbakir and a leading official in the DTP. She is the modern face of the party. Eser says while she understands the motives behind the party moving towards Islam, she thinks it is a dangerous game.Eser says the recent move toward Islam by the DTP does not bode well for women in the party. Up until now, she says, the DTP movement has been very positive for women and has always challenged conservatism in the region. She says that's why women make up the majority of the party activists. Eser says these women will not allow Islamic ideals to become too powerful in the party and, she says, women will protect all the achievements they have won.Supporters of the party's stance towards religion are arguing it is a question of fighting fire with fire. But critics are warning that people who play with fire invariably end up with burnt fingers. For the Kurdish movement it could well be the women who suffer first.
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Red Cross: Life in Mogadishu Remains Precarious
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Agency official says recent fighting between insurgents, Ethiopian-backed Somali government has taken heavy toll
The International Committee of the Red Cross says the situation in Mogadishu, the Somali capital has calmed somewhat since the intensification of fighting last week. Nevertheless, it says dangers persist and lack of security is causing difficulties in providing aid. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from ICRC headquarters in Geneva.The International Committee of the Red Cross says the recent fighting between insurgents and Ethiopian-backed Somali government forces has taken a heavy toll. Resident of Mogadishu flees with his child from embattled capital, 24 Sep 2008 It reports at least 12,000 people fled their homes in panic to safer areas in Mogadishu or in the outskirts, which already are overflowing with displaced people. It says scores of people have been killed and the city's two hospitals remain overwhelmed by the influx of casualties, resulting from the conflict. It says more than 140 wounded people were admitted.Red Cross spokeswoman, Anna Schaafe, tells VOA the heavy fighting prevented many other injured people from obtaining urgently needed medical care. "The hospitals are coping and now they do have enough supplies to treat the wounded," she explained. "But, the fact is that there are only a few surgeons working there and these surgeons need to take care of all these wounded. So, it is difficult because they cannot treat everyone at the same time. They were working 24 hours a day last week and it was a very difficult situation for them." The Red Cross is providing medical supplies for the two hospitals in Mogadishu, which between them have treated more than 2200 casualties since January.Somali child sits on a cart as the family leaves Mogadishu, 24 Sep 2008 Schaafe says the Red Cross recently has begun to support five temporary Somali Red Crescent Society primary health care clinics on the outskirts of Mogadishu. These clinics, she says care for more than 200,000 people who have fled the capital during the past months.She says it is difficult for aid workers to reach all the people in need of assistance."It is dangerous. And, it needs careful assessment of the security situation every time," she said. "It needs a lot of flexibility for our staff to decide really at the last moment where it is safe today to go and where they can go and where they cannot go." In the past four months, Schaafe says the Red Cross has been providing food for more than one-half million displaced people and their host families. She says the agency also has distributed essential items such as shelter material, kitchen sets, blankets and clothing to 420,000 people.The ICRC has been providing humanitarian aid for the Somali population since 1977.
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India Bans Smoking in Many Public Places
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Government effort to stub out vice, which kills estimated one million people every year, goes into effect Thursday
India has become the latest country to ban smoking in most public places, starting Thursday. From New Delhi, Anjana Pasricha reports on the government's efforts to stub out smoking, which kills an estimated one million people in the country, every year. Man smokes in MumbaiPrakash sells cigarettes at a popular roadside stall, near a movie theater and a high school in Delhi. He is confident the ban on smoking in public places will not impact his sales. He says, if authorities are strict, his sales might plummet. However, he feels most people are neither scared nor bothered about the new rules. Health ministry officials think otherwise. They are optimistic that the ban will help cut down smoking among the country's estimated 250 million tobacco users. Most of them are men.An earlier drive against smoking in public made little impact. The new ban, which came into effect Thursday, is more sweeping. The places where lighting up is prohibited include hotels, restaurants, schools, pubs, offices, night clubs, hospitals, airports and bus stops.The government has directed these establishments to appoint anti-smoking officers who will be accountable, if people smoke on their premises. Those caught violating the ban can be fined up to five dollars.Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss says smoking curbs are needed in a country where more than half the population is under 30."Although it is fantastic to be in a youthful country, we need to protect this very valuable resource from the harmful effects of tobacco," Ramadoss said.However, most people feel that enforcing the ban may not be easy in a country where many rules are routinely violated. A middle-aged smoker puffs away in a marketplace and doubts whether the ban will help him cut down smoking. "Not much of it. Only thing is you will have to see where you are, that is all," the smoker said. But the government hopes that the ban will slowly make a difference, as it has in several countries, where curbs on smoking in public places have been imposed in recent years. Smokers in India are apparently more vulnerable to tobacco-related diseases than those in other countries. A study earlier this year (published in New England Journal of Medicine) found that two-thirds of all smoking-related deaths in India occur relatively early - between the ages of 30 and 69.The ban came into effect after the Supreme Court rejected a plea by cigarette giant Indian Tobacco Company and hotel interests for a delay.
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Aid Group Says Free Testing, Treatment Essential to Eliminate Malaria
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Doctors Without Borders says new advances in medicine make it ever more possible to combat malaria, one of world's deadliest diseases
An international medical aid group says the number of people dying from malaria could be dramatically reduced by providing free testing and treatment. The group made the announcement based on three successful programs in Africa where most malaria deaths occur. VOA Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from our West Africa Bureau in Dakar. The Doctors Without Borders, called MSF, humanitarian group says new advances in medicine make it ever more possible to combat malaria, one of the world's deadliest diseases. But it says these new methods will not succeed if their cost is passed on to the patient.The group issued a report based on programs in three African countries, Mali, Chad and Sierra Leone. Malaria is spread by mosquitoesMalaria kills an estimated one million people every year, mostly in Africa. Yet it is easily treated using new, rapid diagnostic kits, that allow treatment to begin immediately, and a combination of new drugs.The report says the number of children receiving treatment in Mali tripled, and child deaths from malaria in Sierra Leone were halved when the treatment was free.But MSF Advisor Seco Gerard says these techniques are expensive, especially for people in rural areas where malaria predominates. As a result many do not seek treatment.Humanitarian groups usually provide treatment for free. But Gerard says it should be a policy for all providers."There are several African countries that have changed their health financing policy and where health care now does not require patients to pay," said Seco Gerard. "So we would hope that this kind of approach would be extended."Malaria is caused by a parasite that is transmitted to humans by mosquito bites. It can be prevented through the use of mosquito nets treated with insect repellant. Gerard agrees prevention should be part of the program to combat malaria and says her group also works in this area. "Nevertheless, there are still some people that are going to be infected, a lot of children that will be sick," she said. "And if those children do not get access quickly to the treatment they need, a big part of them are going to die."A network of 100 institutions and governments last week launched at the United Nations the Roll Back Malaria campaign. The campaign aims to virtually eliminate malaria deaths in seven years at a cost of more than $5 billion per year.Gerard praised the effort, but said some of these funds should be used to make treatment free."If we continue in very poor countries to ask the patients to pay for the malaria care that the people need, those objectives unfortunately will not be reached," said Seco Gerard.Experts agree, but note that this requires mechanisms and political commitment to ensure that funding continues and the medicines reach people in remote areas.
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US Spacecraft MESSENGER Prepares Second Flyby With Mercury
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Event will give NASA opportunity to view most of unseen surface of planet
Next Monday the U.S. spacecraft MESSENGER will fly past Mercury a second time in preparation for settling in to orbit around the planet closest to the Sun. Mission controllers with the U.S. space agency NASA are anxiously awaiting the event, which will give them an opportunity to view most of the unseen surface of Mercury. VOA's Jessica Berman reports.
Photo of Mercury's surface, taken by MESSENGER spacecraftMonday's rendezvous with Mercury is the second of three flybys by MESSENGER, which stands for Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging.
MESSENGER, which was launched in 2004, is using the encounters as critical gravity assists to help ease the spacecraft into Mercury's orbit in 2011.
The flyby will bring MESSENGER very close to the planet's surface, according to Daniel O'Shaughnessy, head of guidance and control of the mission.
"MESSENGER will whizz 200 kilometers above the planet at a relative speed of nearly 15,000 miles per hour. During this time, MESSENGERwill train its suite of miniaturized instruments at portions of the planet never before seen at such a distance," he said.
NASA scientists say there will be a 17-minute blackout, during which time MESSENGER's instruments are expected to capture some 1,200 images of Mercury's rocky surface.
They say the data will be safely stored in internal batteries for analysis later.
NASA officials say the second MESSENGER encounter with Mercury will follow up data gathered during MESSENGER's January flyby, during which scientists learned new details about an enormous impact crater, volcanic structures and lava fields.
"What we're expecting is to see additional examples of the kind of geological features, the kind of geological units characterized by colors and shapes that we've seen so far," said Sean Solomon, the mission's principal investigator.
Mission managers say MESSENGER's second swing-by of Mercury will reveal thirty percent of the planet. Between MESSENGER's January rendezvous and images sent back by the Mariner missions 33 years ago, space scientists say they will soon glimpse 95 percent of Mercury's surface.
The space probe will fly past Mercury one more time in September 2009 before settling into permanent orbit in three years.
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