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	• NEWS >> ATW February 19 , 2004 Yearly Script Program Index -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPEN/WELCOME Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of February 19th 2004. I’m Jennifer Davis. Elissa Marra is on assignment. In our top story this week…What’s next for Saddam as violence continues in Iraq. #1—IRAQ Iraq wants its former leader handed over for trial. Saddam Hussein was classified as a prisoner of war when he was captured by American soldiers last December. That allows Hussein certain rights and privileges but may limit what charges Iraq might be able to level against him. Elsewhere, the top US official in Iraq says he would oppose any move to make Islam the state religion and the basis for Iraq’s legal system. Paul Bremer says he would block any move to add Islamic law to the interim constitution now being drafted. Islamic law would limit rights that Iraqi women currently have in divorce, child support and inheritance. The US is currently planning to have a new and permanent constitution in Iraq by 2005, a timetable many Iraqis want to speed up. Law and order is difficult to find in some parts of Iraq. Separate attacks killed and wounded several people around the capitol city of Baghdad. On Saturday, Iraqi rebels overwhelmed a police station in the town of Falujah. But a day later in Baghdad, Iraqi police captured one of the men on the most wanted list drawn up by the US military. With the arrest of Zimam, Abdul Razaq, only ten names remain at large from the original list of 55. Timetable (n) schedule listing times at which certain events are expected to occur ATW FACT While the presidential primary season stretches into June, the most important two weeks lie just ahead. 10 states hold primaries on March 2nd, the so-called Super Tuesday while a week later, four more including Texas and Florida ask voters to make a choice. Source: NY Times INTRO REST OF THE NEWS In the rest of the news this week… -Trouble continues in Haiti -Hopes for peace between India and Pakistan -and Iraq’s neighbors take a step back #2—HAITI Protests continue to flare in cities throughout Haiti. Some of those calling for the ouster of Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide are led by a former police chief. Guy Philippe started a rebellion in Haiti’s fourth largest city, Gonaives, in early February. Another group is led by Louis Jodel Chamblain, a soldier who reportedly served in death squads in the late 1980s. Those men and less violent protestors object to elections held in 2000. They say President Aristide’s party swept into power after illegally influencing the voting. Discontent among Haiti’s 8 million people has grown since then. Since protests began last September, at least 50 people have been killed in clashes with police.. Object(v) to feel adverse to or express disapproval of something#3— PAKISTAN-INDIA TALK Officials from both Pakistan and India are cautiously optimistic about peace talks that began this week between the two countries. They are the first formal talks between the two since July of 2001. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since gaining their independence in 1947. Among their disputes is the border territory of Kashmir. Officials say Kashmir and many other issues are all up for discussion. The talks could take months but the leaders of both India and Pakistan are satisfied that progress has begun and can be maintained. Independent (adj) politically autonomous, self governing #4— —IRAQ’S NEIGHBORS If violence continues to trouble Iraq, it won’t come from Iraq’s neighbors. That was the pledge resulting in a weekend meeting of Iraq’s neighbors. Foreign ministers from Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Turkey and Egypt all promised to keep out of Iraq’s internal affairs. Though the group has met four times since the American invasion last April, this was the first meeting at which an Iraqi was present. Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, told his counterparts that meeting the proposed transfer of power in his country on June 30th will be “extremely difficult” because of security concerns and a lack of preparation. Iraq’s neighbors plan to meet again in Egypt before the US deadline for transferring power back to native Iraqis. Transfer (v) to convey or shift from one person or place to another POP QUIZ #1 In our story about India and Pakistan, how many wars did we tell you those two countries have fought? Was it… 1. 1 2. 2 3. 3 And the answer is…number 3. Since gaining their independence from England, India and Pakistan have fought each other 3 times in the past 57 years. OLD CLUE #1— BIO DOVERSITY CONF And now it’s time for the answers to our clues in the news… Our first clue is the location of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, site of a meeting of the latest Convention of Biological Diversity. Environmentalists, scientists and government officials from more than 100 countries gathered to discuss the preservation of natural habitats. The biodiversity conference has its roots back in the early 1990s when 156 nations and the European Union signed an agreement designed to halt the extinction of plant and animal species across the world. OLD CLUE #2—PRESIDENTS DAY Fill in the blanks on our second clue and you got Presidents Day. The third Monday in February is officially Washington’s Birthday. Congress passed the Monday Holidays Act in 1968. 3 years later, when the act went into effect, President Nixon said the holiday should honor all past presidents. While that idea has taken hold, it has never been made official. And while the US has celebrated the birthday of George Washington as a federal holiday since 1885, Abraham Lincoln’s birthday has never been an official national holiday. OLD CLUE #3—WASHINGTON CAUCUSES And finally, unscramble our third clue and you have Washington Caucuses. The remaining candidates for the Democratic nomination for President gathered to debate in Wisconsin Sunday. That’s just a day after front runner John Kerry swept two more caucuses, this time in Nevada and the nation’s capitol. With those victories, Kerry has roughly a quarter of the total needed to win the right to run against President Bush this fall. THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY This week in world history…February 19th, 1674, England and the Netherlands signed the Peace of Westminster, bringing an end to the third war fought between the two countries. With it, England regained control of what would thereafter be known as New York and New York City. FEATURE INTRO We introduce this week a new segment called The Science Desk…our science reporter George Wolfe will take a look at a story in the news and how science plays a role in many stories each and every day. Check out our Science Desk. FEATURE SCIENCE DESK (George Wolfe) "There is an impending threat that may wipe out bananas all over the world. The black sigatoka fungus is beginning to take a toll on banana crops. the fungus has affected crops from Florida to South America and Africa. Why are bananas such easy victims? Well, the next time you open a banana...look for seeds. Unless you're eating a plaintain, a cousin of the banana you won't find any. Plantains are loaded with seeds but bananas reproduce without flowers and seeds. They grow a new tree from a runner. Now a good example of a runner is this spider plant. In this above ground one, right here. Now if this were a banana plant that runner would be underground and this would be the new banana tree. It shoots off the parent plant and goes on to make a brand new, identical plant. this works fine as long as nothing threatens the parent plant. But when something new and nasty comes along, like black sigatoka, the new plant will only be as weak or as strong as its parent plant. this is a perfect example of the natural battle between predator and prey. Something you may know as survival of the fittest. I want you to think about this...in a typical predator/prey situation, if a newer or faster or stronger predator comes along, only the prey that is skillfull in escape will survive. This, of course, selects for the still, faster, still stronger predator which selects for the stronger and faster prey and it goes on and on. Well, in this case the fungus is the predator and the banana is the prey and unfortunately the bananas are so similar to each other, that if one lacks an adaptation to protect itself from the fungus, they all do. Its an evolutionary dilemna that could lead to extinction. Now, the world's hope for a better banana rest with the International Network for the improvement of the banana and plantain. Otherwise known as INIBAP. They are hard at work trying to produce a new banana that may be resistant to black sigatoka. You can learn more about this issue on the web and there is an experiment on fungus growing available for you and your teachers at atwonline.org. That's it from the Science Desk. ISN’T IT COOL NEW GALAXY It’s a discovery that offers a glimpse back to when the universe was just 750 million years old. Astrophysicists say the tiny galaxy is the farthest known object from Earth. The discovery, just one thousand light-years across, is far smaller than the Milky Way. The Hubble Space Telescope revealed the first glimpse…a discovery backed up by the Keck Observatory in Hawaii. ISSUE Federally funded school vouchers are now available to poor students in the District of Columbia. Low income children would have the chance to go to private or religious schools and have up to 75-hundred dollars in tuition paid for by the government. President Bush wants to see the program expand to the rest of the country. He says vouchers will give hope to students trapped in sub-standard schools and will prompt districts across the nation to improve. But critics say that using taxpayer money to send students to religious schools violates the separation of church and state. They say that since many public schools are funded according to the number of students in them, having fewer students would mean fewer dollars to teach the poorest of the poor. They claim it would mean that the government would give up on public education. So, what do you think… “Should school vouchers be available nationwide?” Discuss this issue with your classmates after the show and then write to us with your opinions.MAILBAG We received nearly two hundred responses to our issue question…” Should Jeremy Bloom be able to accept endorsement money?” The majority of you sixty two percent say yes, Jeremy should be able to accept endorsement money for his skiing. Thirty six percent say no, he should not. Just two percent are undecided. Brynn B. of Liverpool, New York wonders why Jeremy would want to accept endorsement money. Brynn writes, “Jeremy has a scholarship…and he wants to give it up for skiing in the Olympics? To me, that is just dumb.” The majority of you, however, feel Jeremy should be able to accept endorsement money for his skiing. Many of you feel Jeremy’s two sports have nothing to do with each other. Matthew G. of Orchard Park, New York writes, “I think Jeremy should be able to accept endorsement money as long as it is a different sport.” Melissa W. of Wittenberg, Wisconsin says that is exactly the case, Melissa writes, “Skiing and football are different sports. He won’t have enough money to compete in skiing without the endorsements. He would still be an amateur football player.” MAILBAG CLOSE We look forward to receiving your responses to our two latest issue questions…“Should school vouchers be available nationwide?” and “Should all parents be required to sign a sportsmanship pledge?” If you would like to receive an Assignment: The World Press card, please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope. You may write to us here at Assignment: The World, Post Office Box three-zero-zero-twenty-one, Rochester, New York… one-4-6-zero-3… or you may contact us at the A-T-W website at atwonline.org. We also read e-mail at atw@wxxi.org. POP QUIZ #2 In our story about the biodiversity Conference, where did we tell you the conference was held? Was it… Bangkok Kuala Lumpur Singapore And the correct answer is number two. The Convention on Bio Diversity was held in the capitol of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. NEW CLUES And now it’s time for next week’s clues in the news… Our first clue a location… 19 Degrees, 72 minutes north latitude 72 Degrees, 12 minutes west longitude Our second clue is a fill-in the blanks. Its three words: I__A__ E__E__T__O__S And finally, our third clue is a scrambled letter…two words: GRINPS RANTINGI These are clues to stories we think will happen in the coming week. You can find the answers on radio and television newscasts and in newspapers and newsmagazines. We’ll reveal the answers on next week’s show. Good luck! GOOD-BYE And that’s it for this week’s show. From all of us here at Assignment: The World, I’m Jennifer Davis. We’ll see you again next week. © 2004 WXXI-TV/ Assignment: The World. All Rights Reserved.