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US Military Announces Deaths of 7 American Troops in Iraq

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=178BFFC:0CD412E1D281094ABD01515D8C973B749574F7DCC14957C0 The latest deaths
bring the number of American troops killed in Iraq since Friday to 15
The U.S. military says seven more U.S. soldiers have been killed in
Iraq.

It says six, along with an interpreter, were killed by a roadside bomb
in western Baghdad Saturday.  Another bomb killed the seventh U.S.
soldier south of the capital on Saturday.

The latest deaths bring the number of American troops killed in Iraq
since Friday to 15.

The U.S. military also said Sunday that coalition forces killed eight
suspected al-Qaida-linked terrorists and detained 34 in overnight
raids.

Meanwhile, U.S. and Iraqi troops are searching for three American
soldiers kidnapped a week ago in Iraq.

In other developments, a car bomb in Baghdad killed at least two
people Sunday.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

 

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Israel Launches Sixth Day of Air Strikes on Gaza

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=178BFF7:0CD412E1D281094ABD01515D8C973B749574F7DCC14957C0 The air strikes
coincided with a fragile truce between Hamas and the rival Palestinian
Fatah faction

Palestinian youths gather in the rubble of a building hit in an
Israeli missile strike south of Gaza City, Sunday, 20 May 2007Israel
has launched a sixth day of air strikes on Palestinian militants in
the Gaza Strip.  At the same time, fighting between rival Palestinian
factions has ebbed.  Robert Berger reports from the VOA bureau in
Jerusalem.

Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a car carrying members of the
Islamic militant group Hamas in Gaza.  The military said a massive
explosion indicated that the vehicle was loaded with weapons.  The
army said it also targeted two rocket factories used by Hamas and the
Islamic Jihad.

The air strikes are retaliation for Palestinian rocket attacks that
have terrorized the Israeli border town of Sderot.  Many residents
have left and those who remain are angry.

They accused the government of failing to act decisively to stop the
rocket attacks.

At the weekly Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said 120
Palestinian rockets have been fired at Israel since Wednesday.  And he
threatened tougher action.

"If the diplomatic and military efforts we have taken do not bring
calm, we will have to escalate our response," Olmert said.

The air strikes coincided with a fragile truce between Hamas and the
rival Palestinian Fatah faction.  Gun battles on the streets of Gaza
have left about 50 Palestinians dead during the past 10 days. 

But after five previous ceasefires quickly collapsed, this one appears
to be taking hold.  Gunmen scaled back their presence on rooftops and
at roadblocks, and battle weary residents ventured out of their homes
to stock up on supplies.

This Palestinian is fed up with both Hamas and Fatah. "We have
suffered too much and we do not need any more suffering."

Hamas said it believes this cease-fire will hold because it would be
improper for the Palestinians to fight each other while Israel is
bombing Gaza. 

 

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Security Forces, Gunmen Clash in Northern Lebanon, at Least 30 Dead

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=178BFFD:0CD412E1D281094ABD01515D8C973B749574F7DCC14957C0 Clash takes place
in Tripoli, Palestinian refugee camp

Lebanese security officials say at least 30 people were killed in
fighting Sunday between troops and Islamic militants in the northern
part of the country.

The fighting erupted with Fatah al-Islam in the city of Tripoli and
the adjacent Palestinian refugee camp Nahr al-Bared.  Militants also
attacked an army patrol to the south.

Security officials say 13 soldiers and 17 militants were killed. 
There were also reports that at least six civilians were killed inside
the camp.

By long-standing agreement, Lebanese police and soldiers do not enter
Palestinian refugee camps.

After the fighting, Syria closed two border crossings with Lebanon
because of security concerns.

Authorities say the fighting began when security forces tried to
detain suspects in a bank robbery outside the refugee camp.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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Suicide Bombing in Eastern Afghanistan Kills 10

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=178BFFE:0CD412E1D281094ABD01515D8C973B749574F7DCC14957C0 Bomber attacks
crowded market in Gardez

A damaged vehicle is seen after a suicide attack at a crowded market
in Gardez, 20 May 2007Authorities in Afghanistan say a suicide bomber
has killed at least 10 people and wounded nearly 35 others in the
eastern part of the country.

Interior Ministry officials say the attack occurred Sunday in a
crowded market in Gardez, in Paktia province.

Witnesses and officials say the bomber detonated his explosives as a
NATO convoy passed by. 

A NATO spokesman confirmed there were U.S.-led coalition troops in the
area at the time of the blast.  It is not clear if any soldiers were
hurt. Some witnesses say all of the victims were Afghan civilians.

Saturday, nine people, including three German NATO soldiers, were
killed in a similar suicide bombing in the northern city of Kunduz. 

The Taleban has claimed responsibility for both attacks.

In another development, officials in southern Ghazni province say
Afghan and NATO forces killed 30 Taleban fighters and detained about
10 others in a battle Sunday.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is due to meet with
President Bush Sunday and Monday at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

There are currently 37-thousand troops serving in NATO's International
Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.  A separate U.S.-led
coalition has deployed some 26-thousand troops there, some of whom
operate under NATO command.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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Humanitarian Situation in Sri Lanka Deteriorating

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=178BFF9:0CD412E1D281094ABD01515D8C973B749574F7DCC14957C0 World Food Program
reports 400,000 people are in need of food aid and agency needs
additional $10.7 million 

Newly arrived internally displaced ethnic Tamils prepare themselves to
be registered with camp officials in Kiran, Sri Lanka (File Photo)The
World Food Program warns renewed fighting in Sri Lanka's long-running
civil war is worsening the humanitarian situation for hundreds of
thousands of civilians. The U.N. agency is calling for more money and
better access and security for aid workers trying to help thousands of
people displaced by the fighting. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from
Geneva.

The World Food Program reports about 400,000 people either displaced
or affected by Sri Lanka's civil war are in need of food aid. But,
reaching the victims is difficult.

WFP Spokeswoman, Christiane Bertiaume says many people have been
displaced several times by the fighting.

She says they go back home to Batticaloa when things calm down, only
to flee again when fighting resumes.

She says the WFP is working to increase food deliveries in Batticaloa
District to make sure basic food supplies reach those people who were
forced out of their homes during the past two months of fighting. She
says the agency needs an additional $10.7 million in additional aid
during the next six months. 

"We have big problems in Sri Lanka. We have an access problem to the
most vulnerable people in the north and in the east of the country,"
said Bertiaume. "We have got security problems for our local and
international staff. Some of them have even been threatened. The
distribution of food is too slow in many places. We should be able to
do that more quickly. And, more particularly in the region of Jaffna
where our stock are very, very low."

The U.N. food agency says it wants to ship one-thousand metric tons of
food to the Jaffna Peninsula, which is cut off from the rest of the
country. The town of Jaffna is under government control, but rebels
operate in the area. The WFP has not been granted the necessary
permission nor guarantees of security to send a relief vessel. 

Renewed fighting during the past two months has displaced more than
150,000 people in the eastern part of the island country. The Sri
Lankan government recently began resettling about 90,000 of these
people to the homes they fled in West Batticaloa.

U.N. refugee spokeswoman, Jennifer Pagonis, says they are expected to
move back to their places of origin in the coming months in a phased
operation.

"UNHCR is fully involved in this process and our staff monitoring the
situation on the ground are saying that the majority of people are
eager to return home, that the returns are voluntary and in line with
international protection standards," she said.

Aid workers fear some of these people may be returning home against
their will. They point to reports of forced returns during a similar
resettlement program further north earlier this month.

Pagonis says the U.N. agency will continue to monitor these returns to
make sure they are voluntary.

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Exit Polls Indicate Romanian President Survives Impeachment Referendum

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=178BFFF:0CD412E1D281094ABD01515D8C973B749574F7DCC14957C0 Traian Basescu
accuses members of parliament of trying to stop him from moving ahead
with anti-corruption reforms

Surrounded by media, Romanian President Traian Basescu casts his vote
in his impeachment referendum in Bucharest, 19 May 2007Exit polls
indicate that suspended Romanian President Traian Basescu has survived
Saturday's impeachment referendum with more than 75 percent of the
vote.

Romanian television reported that two polls showed Mr. Basescu winning
with 75 and 78 percent. It said that the voter turnout was about 30
percent.

Mr. Basescu told Euronews television earlier today that members of
parliament acted to stop him from moving ahead with anti-corruption
reforms. But he added those reforms are vital under the terms of
Romania's membership in the European Union.

The president's rival, Prime Minister Calin Pepescu-Tariceanu, accused
him of resorting to rhetoric to please the crowds.

One of Mr. Basescu's harshest critics, former president Ion Iliescu,
says that Mr. Basescu must leave or political disputes will continue.

Mr. Basescu, who was a mayor of Bucharest, came to power in 2004,
vowing to reform the government and ensure the independence of the
judiciary. He has accused the prime minister of serving special
interests.

His opponents, mostly Social Democrats and former communists, have
accused him of violating the constitution.

The parliament voted to suspend Mr. Basescu last month, but he refused
to resign.

Some information in this report provided by AP and AFP.

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Guantanamo Bay Detainee David Hicks Back Home in Australia

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=178BFFB:0CD412E1D281094ABD01515D8C973B749574F7DCC14957C0 Hicks was the
first detainee convicted of supporting extremism by the US military
court

Handout photo received 27 March, 2007 shows undated photo of
Australian David HicksConvicted Australian terrorism supporter David
Hicks is back home and behind bars after a flight from the U.S.
detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Hicks was the first detainee
convicted of supporting extremism by the U.S. military court.  From
Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

After more than five years as an inmate at Guantanamo Bay, David Hicks
is back in Australia.

He was flown from Cuba to the southern city of Adelaide on a jet
chartered by the Australian government.

The former kangaroo hunter was transferred to the high-security Yatala
Prison, where he'll be kept in solitary confinement.

Hicks, who is 31 years old, was captured in Afghanistan in late 2001
and was sentenced in March to seven years in jail for terrorism
offenses.

Under a deal with U.S. prosecutors, most of his sentence - apart from
nine months - was suspended.

Hicks' lawyer David Mcleod says his client wants to start rebuilding
his life.

"All he wants to do now is to become a regular prisoner, serve his
time and proposes to make every use that he can of the rehabilitation
processes here," Mcleod says.  "He wants to get on with his
education."

At his military trial at Guantanamo Bay, David Hicks pleaded guilty to
providing material support to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

The Australian, a convert to Islam, was the first person convicted by
a U.S. war crimes tribunal since World War Two and the first of
hundreds of foreign captives held at Guantanamo Bay to face a military
trial.

Hicks was greeted outside the Adelaide jail Sunday by a small group of
protesters, who believe he has been treated unfairly.

The Australian government has cautioned that the former Guantanamo Bay
inmate should not be treated as some kind of hero.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said it was important to remember
that Hicks was a "criminal and someone who has been involved in
several terrorist organizations, in particular, al Qaeda."

David Hicks is scheduled to be released at the end of December 2007.

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Indian Government Seeks to Tame Chaotic Roads

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=178BFFA:0CD412E1D281094ABD01515D8C973B749574F7DCC14957C0 India proposes
increased penalties for traffic offenses which cause 100,000 deaths
every year 

Rush hour traffic coming from New Delhi stands congested on the
expressway at the border of Gurgaon, a suburb of New Delhi, 18 Apr
2007The Indian government has proposed a stiff increase in penalties
for traffic offenses. As Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi,
reckless driving and chaotic conditions on the country's roads are
blamed for tens of thousands of accidents.

Morning rush hour in Delhi is not a scene for the faint hearted.
Millions of cars, buses, motorcycles, and three-wheel scooters jostle
for space on the city's roads. Drivers jump signals, change lanes
recklessly, overtake from the wrong side, and fail to notice
pedestrians trying to weave their way through the madness.

Delhi's traffic is considered to be more chaotic than in other cities,
but bad driving is the norm on most roads in the country. The result:
India tops the world in road fatalities with 100,000 people dying in
road accidents every year. Tens of thousands of others suffer grievous
injuries.

In a bid to curb reckless driving, the Indian government has
introduced a bill in parliament proposing stiffer fines for traffic
offenses. For example, speeding could attract a penalty of $10 to $25,
and rash or drunken driving a fine of up to $50, along with a prison
sentence.

Traffic experts feel the fines might have a sobering effect on
drivers, who think little of paying the existing $2 penalty for
offenses such as jumping signals.

Rohit Baluja, head of the Institute of Road Traffic Education, says
the problem is huge.

"There are 146 million traffic violations committed by motorized road
users every single day," said Baluja. "It is a culture of degeneration
that people are doing whatever they want, you cannot anticipate a
person, how will he behave."

The Delhi government has already increased penalties in the capital,
but not to the extent proposed by the new bill.

But traffic experts say stiffer fines alone will not bring order on
Indian roads. They also want authorities to improve road engineering
to reduce the risk of accidents.

Baluja gives just a few examples. He says traffic signals are
sometimes not clearly visible, and there are inadequate provisions for
pedestrian crossings.

"We have problems with signals, with road markings, signages, design
failures, that is a large contributory factor," added Baluja. "Signals
you cannot see, behind bushes, they are not properly placed, if there
are no stop lines, how would you know that you have crossed a stop
line? "

Harman Sidhu, a resident of the northern city of Chandigarh, has been
campaigning to improve road safety since he was paralyzed in an
accident 10 years ago.

He says higher fines must be accompanied by better training and
testing of drivers, and stricter procedures for issuing licenses.

"The government is actually focusing on enforcement, but the education
part which is an important aspect is still not being covered," said
Sidhu. "People have to pay more for offenses, but they don't really
know under what condition are they making an offense. Most of the
drivers get their licenses through some illegal channels or through
some middlemen, there is no standardized testing."

All agree that India needs to step up efforts to improve road safety
as it adds new cars at a dizzying pace, and builds new expressways
that could turn into death traps if traffic behavior does not improve.

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Millennium Village in Senegal Starts Spending Donor Dollars

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=178C000:0CD412E1D281094ABD01515D8C973B749574F7DCC14957C0 Rural fishing
village of Potou was chosen last year; now deciding how to spend the
money The United Nations has chosen 12 of Africa's poorest
communities, calling them Millennium Villages, to receive hundreds of
thousands of dollars and international support to reduce poverty. In
Senegal, the rural fishing village of Potou was chosen last year and
is now deciding how to spend the money. Phuong Tran talks to Jeffrey
Sachs, director of the U.N. Millennium Villages Project, about the
challenge of rapidly reducing poverty.

Jeffrey Sachs, Director, UN Millennium Villages Project, 19 may
2007Jeffrey Sachs has been working with the governments of some of
Africa's poorest countries and their local communities to halve
extreme poverty by 2015.

World leaders adopted this goal and others, including cutting hunger
and disease, seven years ago.

Sachs says funds must be invested at the village level, where 80
percent of Africa's poorest live, to give villagers a chance to escape
poverty.

To achieve this, his team has invested in 12 sub-Saharan African
communities with harsh climates, few natural resources and extreme
poverty.

One of those villages is Potou in Senegal. The village of farmers and
fisherman faces rapidly expanding sand dunes that threaten to encroach
on agricultural land and wipe out crop production.

Sachs says this is only one of the villagers' worries. "During the
first phase of the project, the idea is to raise food output in the
community, fight malaria, to get children in schools, to get the
community connected with electricity, a paved road, to improve
transport capacity, to have access to safe drinking water," he said.

Sachs knows the agenda is ambitious. But he says between deadly
disease and dying livelihoods, there is no time to lose. "The clock is
ticking and we have a responsibility to move as fast as possible. This
is not trying to gold plate a village, and it is not aiming to create
a utopia, it is aiming to create a base for survival," he said.

Under the program, each Millennium Village gets $110 per resident.
Most of the money comes from the U.N. Smaller amounts come from
national and district governments and then from local community groups
and the Millennium Village itself.

For Potou, its 5,000 residents will receive about $500,000 every year,
for five years.

But critics say five years is not long enough to solve the crippling
problems these communities face.

Many say that when investors pull out, the communities will slide back
into extreme poverty.

Millennium Project Director Sachs says he hopes other countries and
businesses will continue funding. "This project gives a focused
investment in a very poor area counting on the increased overall aid
to be able to pick up some of the important features of this project
such as the clinics and schools," he said.

The world's richest countries have pledged to double aid to Africa by
2010 to $50 billion. Sachs is hopeful, but skeptical. "The past has
been rampant neglect. We are trying to do something against a baseline
of almost nothing and that is the harsh truth that is not well
understood. There is very very little help over the last 20 years for
these kinds of rural communities," he said.

Sachs says the goal of the project is to get the villages to a point
where they will not need as much outside aid. This can be achieved,
for example, by helping villagers earn more from their livelihoods.

In Potou's fishing community, Sachs' team is helping villagers sell
their catch in the region of Louga, which has a population of about
700,000.

However, making connections is not easy in this part of the world.
"When there is virtually no income, low productivity and weak
infrastructure, those linkages are extremely fragile. Places are
isolated. Not everything will get done at once," he said.

The first Millennium Village in Sauri Kenya, chosen shortly after the
project began in July 2004, has reported cutting malaria infections by
using bed nets, doubling crop harvests, and improving students' test
scores by better feeding the children from the larger harvest.

Sachs is cautious when predicting whether Sauri's success can be
repeated in other villages. "I do not see there being one answer, one
project that is going to do it. You run until you hit a wall and you
change direction. You get somewhat bruised in this process, but after
all, what is the alternative," he said.

The 12 villages are located in 10 sub-Saharan African countries. The
U.N. Millennium Project is funding an additional 66 villages located
in clusters around the original 12 in a bid to build stronger regional
economies.

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Octogenarian Cape Verdean Guitarist Reflects on Island Music, History

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=178BFF8:0CD412E1D281094ABD01515D8C973B749574F7DCC14957C0 Guitarist Lela
Violao says Cape Verdean musicians have mostly learned on their own
without any formal instruction

Lela Violao practices in Praia Cape Verde  The West African island
nation of Cape Verde has suffered for centuries from periods of severe
famine and drought. Most of its residents have immigrated overseas.
Musicians still living on the mostly barren archipelago say hard times
gave birth to the island's melancholic songs known as morna, with its
lyrics of loss and sacrifice. Phuong Tran talks to 78-year-old island
guitarist Lela Violao, who traces the changes in this tiny island's
history through its music.

Guitarist Lela Violao was born on the island of Sao Vicente in 1928.
Growing up, he says, he remembers hiding his guitar playing from his
disapproving father.

Violao says that as a 14-year-old, he earned about five cents playing
on the street every night while his father was at work. He says he
gave half of his earnings to his step-mother so she would help keep
his secret.

A self-taught musician, Violao says there was never a music school
when he grew up. Only recently did the former Portuguese-colony open
its first music school.

Violao says Cape Verdean musicians have mostly learned on their own,
finding the music within them naturally and without any formal
instruction.

Violao grew up to practice civil engineering, working on construction
projects as more of the country's 10 still-volcanic islands became
inhabited.

When he could not find work, he played his guitar, even after losing
part of his middle finger in an accident in 1956.

He mostly performed what islanders call morna music, singing about
nostalgia, love, loss and sacrifice.

"Cape Verdeans know that our talent comes from the sacrifices others
made before us. We are able to sing because others have died of hunger
for us," said Violao.  "Our strength comes from this history of
perseverance and hope."

"Morna is the saddest of our island's songs," he added. "If you are
already feeling sad when you listen to it, you will feel the pain even
deeper. The songs talk about eternity. That is a long time to feel
sadness."

Waves of drought in Cape Verde prompted massive emigration throughout
the 20th century, to the point more Cape Verdeans now live outside the
country than in it. Even as recent as five years ago, the Cape Verdean
government asked for international aid after a bad harvest.

But Violao says things are changing for the island.

"I grew up in a different time when people were dying of hunger," he
said. "Now, more Cape Verdeans and donors are giving the island money.
I am happy with how the islands are doing."

On average, Cape Verdeans earn more than most of their West African
neighbors, about $2,000 a year, and their country is no longer
considered one of the world's poorest countries. It is set to become,
officially, a middle-income country at the end of this year.

Violao says the music is also changing. Whereas, he says, it changed
little before independence from Portugal some 30 years ago, young
musicians now are creating more modern genres like this one.

But even with these changes, the island guitarist is not ready to stop
singing the hundreds of morna songs he has memorized.

This father of 30 children, married to his 11th wife, says there will
always be plenty of reasons to sing morna.

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