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	• NEWS >> ATW March 4, 2004 Yearly Script Program Index -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPEN/WELCOME Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of March 4th, 2004. I’m Elissa Marra. In our top story this week…A new leader seeks peace in Haiti. 1—HAITI Boniface Alexandre called upon all of the people of his country to unite behind his interim government. Alexandre, who was once the head of Haiti’s highest court, became president after the resignation of Jean-Bertrand Aristede. Aristede resigned Sunday and flew into exile, finally bowing to pressure brought by months of pressure from armed rebels. Led by former army officer Guy Phillippe, the rebels had advanced to within the outskirts of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. Their opposition to Aristede rose from what they felt were the rigged elections of 2000, elections in which Aristede’s party swept into power. The United Nations Security Council approved the deployment of a peace keeping force for the next three months to help stabilize Haiti. In that time, interim President Alexandre will work with a council of prominent citizens to establish a new and more representative government acceptable to all. Exile (n) self imposed absence from one’s country WtN 2/29 ATW FACT Haiti is one of two nations to occupy the same Caribbean Island. Christopher Columbus discovered Hispaniola in 1492. In addition to Haiti which occupies its western 1/3rd, the eastern part of Hispaniola is now the Dominican Republic. INTRO REST OF THE NEWS In the rest of the news this week… -Will Venezuela’s president be the next to leave? -the U-N also sends peacekeepers to Ivory Coast. -and a surprise choice for Russian Prime Minister. #2—IRAN ATTACKS A three day period of mourning is in effect for the hundreds of victims killed or injured in separate attacks in Iran Tuesday morning. The attacks happened at about the same time in the cities of Baghdad and Karbala. Many of the victims were Shiite Muslims who were celebrating the holy day of Ashoura. Observing Ashoura was banned during the regime of Saddam Hussein. It is the holiest day on the Shiite Muslim calendar. The attacks at a mosque and elsewhere took place in the midst of tens of thousands of Shiite pilgrims. The explosions may have been caused by rockets or mortars. A leading Shiite says the attacks must have been initiated by foreigners, that Iraqis could never have planned such a tragedy. WTN 3/2 Mosque (n) A Muslim house of worship #3— VENEZUELA Protests continue to spread in Venezuela against that country’s president. Hugo Chavez is fighting an effort to demand a recall of his 1998 election. He claims that hundreds of thousands of the 3-point-4 million signatures gathered on recall petitions are forgeries. Venezuela’s National Elections Council asked thousands of citizens to verify that they had signed their names. Opposition leaders urged acts of civil disobedience. Police reacted to one such protest by firing tear gas into a crowd. President Chavez has been accused of trying to impose a Cuban style of communism on Venezuela. Chavez, in turn, says the US is behind efforts to change the government in an oil-rich nation. WTN2/29 Forgery(n) something counterfeit or fraudulent #4— —RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER Confirmation is expected Friday of Mikhail Fradkov, the surprise choice to be the new Russian Prime Minister. Fradkov was chosen by Russian President Vladimir Putin after Putin dismissed the long time head of his cabinet, Mikhail Kasyanov. Both moves come less than a month before Russia’s next presidential election which Putin is expected to win easily. His choice of prime minister came as a surprise because Fradkov was not among the major candidates considered by most analysts. Fradkov had previously served as a trade minister and as the head of Russia’s tax police. His nomination is subject to approval in the Russian legislature but that body is controlled by a wide majority by Putin’s United Russia party WTN 3/1 Surprise (v) to cause to feel wonder, astonishment, or amazement POP QUIZ #1 In our story about Haiti, who did we tell you became that country’s interim president? Was it 1. Boniface Alexandre 2. Guy Phillippe 3. Jean Bertrand Aristede And the answer is…number 1. After the resignation of Jean Bertrand Aristede, Boniface Alexandre became interim president. OLD CLUE #1— SEOUL/NUKE TALKS And now it’s time for the answers to our clues in the news… Our first clue is the location of Seoul, South Korea. Leaders there are cautiously hopeful after talks ended over the weekend about North Korea’s nuclear program. A total of six nations including Japan, the US and China were involved in the talks. Though the meeting ended only with an agreement to hold more negotiations, the mood was more upbeat than in the past. North Korea continues to push for security guarantees and various types of aid before it dismantles any of its nuclear program. WTN 2/28 OLD CLUE #2—GERHARD SCHROEDER Our second clue was newsmaker Gerhard Schroeder. The German Chancellor visited the White House for meetings with President Bush. The two leaders discussed a wide variety of issues including Iraq, the Middle East and North Korea. Germany and the US haven’t always agreed on such issues but President Bush says the chancellor does have basic, common goals. The news back home in Germany wasn’t as good. Schroeder’s party was dealt a blow in local elections in Hamburg Sunday, a sign that Germans may be dissatisfied with Schroeder’s policies. WTN 2/26 OLD CLUE #3—ACADEMY AWARDS And finally, unscramble our third clue and you have Academy Awards. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences handed out its top awards Sunday night. Charlize Theron and Sean Penn took away Oscars as Best Actress and Best Actor respectively. But the biggest story of this year’s Academy Awards was The Lord of the Rings. The final part of the Rings trilogy became the first fantasy film to win Best Picture. In fact, Lord of the Rings won each of the 11 categories in which it was nominated, tying it with Titanic and Ben Hur for the most Oscars won by a single movie. WTN 2/29 THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY This week in world history…March 4th, 1793, Vermont became the first state not in the original 13 colonies to join the Union. Its capital, Montpelier is the smallest in the US with just 9-thousand residents but no place else makes more maple syrup. FEATURE Poverty is a problem for many in Latin America…Mexico may have the world’s tenth largest economy but nearly a quarter of all its people live in “extreme poverty”. In neighboring Guatemala it is much the same story. But a program has been started that is trying to give Guatemala City’s street kids a chance for a better life. Check it out! (Wyatt) “Eleven-year old Yamalat lives in a one roomed house with her family in one of Guatemala City’s slums. Like most of the people there, they are very poor and have few possessions. But Yamalat has something she hopes will change her life….a camera.” (Yamalat) “I would like to work as a photographer.” (Wyatt) “Yamalat is one of over 100 so-called “Photo Kids”, a project that’s giving these youngsters a window onto the world, while also paying for their education. Each week fellow students get together for a photography lesson, finding inspiration in everything and everyone. The resulting pictures are so good they’ve been shown around the world, some selling for as much as 150 U.S. dollars. The program was started by Nancy McGirr. A photographer McGirr had sent years covering wars and its effect on children. She sees “Photo Kids” as a way of helping kids break the cycle of poverty.” (Nancy McGirr) “It really opens up a whole world for them, and makes them think too that they’re part of a whole global society, that they’re not alone. I think what’s probably the most heartbreaking is the kids that don’t go on, because their parents want them to work, they have to help support the family. There’s a lot of poverty here, so you don’t get many second chances.” (Wyatt ) “So far, six “photo kids” have moved on to a university, something Yamalat would like to do. If successful, she would break a two-generation tradition of working in the city market. For ‘Assignment: The World’, I’m Wyatt Doremus.” ISN’T IT COOL FERRARI RECORD They claim it’s a new world record…organizers in Hong Kong gathered 125 Ferraris in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for longest parade of the famous Italian cars. One of the many cars was a Ferrari Enzo…which according to local television reports was worth five million Hong Kong dollars! That’s 643,000 U.S. dollars. Organizers say money raised from the parade will go to charity. ISSUE On Saturday, 87 teams from 10 US states, Canada, Germany, Italy and Norway will head out on what’s billed at the Last Great Race. The Iditarod dog sled race ends more than a thousand miles and at least 8 days later. A growing number of critics of the race say dogs are injured or even killed by the grueling pace of a race that takes place in the bitter weather of Alaska. USA Today columnist Jon Saraceno called the race “shameful marketing carried out on the backs of defenseless animals.” He and others say the original reason for the race…transporting medical supplies…has long been obsolete. But supporters of the race say that while some dogs do suffer injuries, they deny the dogs are mistreated. In fact, they say the dogs are athletes who are bred, trained and truly enjoy racing in the cold of winter. They say there’s hours of video proof that medical care before, during and after the race is among the best in the world. So, what you think… “Should the Iditarod race stop running?” Discuss this issue with your classmates after the show and then write to us with your opinions. MAILBAG We received nearly three hundred responses to our issue question…” Should school vouchers be available nationwide?” The majority of you, forty nine percent, say no, they should not be available nationwide. Forty five percent say yes, they should. Six percent are undecided. Many of you feel it is important that children get a good education and that vouchers might help achieve that goal. Hannah W. of Frederick County, Virginia writes, “Children need this opportunity if they are not getting enough education at a public school. We shouldn’t deprive children of their right to education.” Alex L. of Mequon (Mek-wahn), Wisconsin agrees and adds, “School vouchers will help communities with insufficient public schools put their kids in more educational private schools.” The majority of you, however, feel there are better ways to spend our tax money. Jocelyn B. of Ticonderoga, New York writes, “If school vouchers were available nationwide then public schools would get less money. Instead of giving nationwide vouchers, all the money should go toward making (all) schools better.” Nicholas F. of Fishersville, Virginia agrees and writes, “Why should we have to pay for private schools when we already pay for public schools?” Jordan G. of Mt. Sidney, Virginia adds, “If you want your child to attend a private school then (you) pay the extra money for them to attend.” And finally, Katie S. of New Berlin, Wisconsin writes, “I don’t think we should have (vouchers) at all! The government should be concentrating on things other than if parents can afford to get their kids into private schools.” MAILBAG CLOSE We look forward to receiving your responses to our two latest issue questions…“Should the Iditarod race stop running?” and “Should foreign born US citizens be allowed to fun for president?” 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 http://atwonline.org./ We also read e-mail at atw@wxxi.org. POP QUIZ #2 In our story about the Academy Awards, what type of film won for the first time? Was it a 1) Comedy 2) Fantasy 3) Animation And the correct answer is number two. Lord of the Rings is the first fantasy to win an Oscar as best picture. NEW CLUES And now it’s time for next week’s clues in the news… Our first clue a location… 10 Degrees, 30 minutes north latitude 66 Degrees, 55 minutes west longitude Our second clue is a fill-in the blanks, three words F__X V__S__T__ B__S__ And finally, our third clue is a scrambled letter…two words: AGOREGI ENCLOSEIT 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 Elissa Marra. We’ll see you again next week. © 2004 WXXI-TV/ Assignment: The World. All Rights Reserved.