• NEWS >> ATW
Yearly
Script Program Index
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OPEN/WELCOME
Hi and welcome to Assignment: The World for the week of March 6th, 2008… I’m Teej Jenkins.
Our top story this week Russia elects a new President.
TOP STORY - RUSSIA
55 degrees, 45 minutes north
37 degrees, 35 minutes east
Dmitry Medvedev won a crushing victory in Russia’s presidential election. The man Vladimir Putin handpicked to replace him took some 70 percent of the vote, a result not unexpected. Medvedev ran against three opponents apparently allowed onto the ballot because of their loyalty to the Kremlin. Medvedev wasted no time in exerting his presidential powers. On Monday he cut gas supplies to Ukraine, an apparent show of force to neighboring countries who seek closer ties to the West. The action may be an indication that Medvedev plans to follow plans set by his mentor, Vladimir Putin…. reasserting Russia’s presence abroad while keeping a grip on issues at home. Because of Medvedev’s inexperience and that he was chosen by Putin there are concerns about who is really in charge. Putin now steps into the office of Prime Minister… some feel that he will still make decisions in that role.
loyalty (n) faithful in allegiance to one's lawful sovereign or government.
ATW FACT
The average child today spends about three hours a day watching television. They spend 5 ½ hours a day on all media combined.
Source: American Academy of Pediatrics
INTRO REST OF THE NEWS
In the rest of the news this week…
- Venezuela sends troops the its border with Colombia
- A historic meeting in Iraq
- And Israel pulls troops back from Gaza
#2 – ISRAEL
31 degrees, 46 minutes north latitude
35 degrees, 14 minutes east longitude
Israel pulled ground troops out of northern Gaza Monday following several days of fighting. Israeli troops swept through the region following Palestinian rocket attacks… the offensive left more than 100 dead and led Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to put peace talks with Israel on hold. The hold clouds an upcoming visit by U-S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Hamas leaders are calling the withdrawal a retreat…but Israel said the pullout does not mean they are scaling back their presence in Gaza. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said a full-scale invasion was still possible.
Despite days of Israeli assaults rocket attacks continue into southern Israel.
swept (v) to move through with speed and intensity.
#3 – IRAQ
33 degrees, 21 minutes north
44 degrees, 25 minutes east
In an unprecedented visit, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in Iraq this week meeting with government officials. Ahmadinejad is seeking to build ties with Iran’s once-hated neighbor. He is the first Iranian president to visit Iraq.
While both countries have a Shiite majority, their past relationship has not been a good one. Hostilities rose during Saddam Hussein’s rule and they fought a catastrophic eight-year war when Hussein invaded Iran in 1980. Nearly a million people died during the war. When Saddam’s Sunni-led regime fell and Iraq’s Shiite majority took power ties between the two countries began to grow.
relationship (n) a state of affairs existing between those having dealings
#4 - VENEZUELA
10 degrees, 30 minutes north latitude
66 degrees, 56 minutes west longitude
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez closed his government’s embassy in Bogota, Colombia and sent tanks and troops to its border… all in response to Colombia’s killing of rebels based in Ecuador. Chavez, a critic of the United States, called the U-S allied government in Colombia a “terrorist state” and its President, Alvaro Uribe, a “criminal.”
Chavez condemned the killing of rebel leader Raul Reyes and 16 other guerrillas. Colombia and Venezuela have been at odds since November over negotiations with rebels and the holding of hostages. The U-S State Department had no response to his comments.
rebels (n) a person who rebels or is in rebellion
POP QUIZ #1
In our story about Russia we told you that one of the first actions taken by President Dimtry Medvedev was to cut something from Ukriane. Was it…
And the correct answer is number three, Medvedev cut gas supplies to Ukraine as a warning against improving ties with the West.
OLD CLUE # 1—LOCATION – TOKYO, JAPAN
Now its time for the answers to last week’s clues in the news.
Find the location of our first clue and find yourself in the island nation of Japan, where US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, finished her visit to Asia. Rice's tour included stops in South Korea and China. While in South Korea, Rice reached out for support of the United States’ attempts to persuade North Korea to abandon their nuclear weapons program. As she continued on to Japan, her top Asia diplomat, Christopher Hill, stayed behind to continue that effort in China.
OLD CLUE # 2— NATO VISIT
Fill in the blanks of our next clue and you get NATO Visit. NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, visited the White House last week to discuss efforts to topple the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. While meeting with President Bush, Scheffer said, “All 26 NATO allies are there and we are there for the long haul.” Despite increasingly violent encounters, Scheffer reassured the media that NATO is not losing in this effort, but actually prevailing in the fight against the forces there.
OC #3 – MIREK TOPOLANEK
Discover the role of our newsmaker, Mirek Topolanek, and you find that he is the President of the Czech Republic. Topolanek met with President Bush at the White House to discuss the installation of a U-S missile defense radar in his country. The installation is part of a plan to better protect the US and Europe against potential threats. They discussed Russia’s opposition to the plan and environmental matters. An agreement has yet to be reached, but both sides feel that they are close.
THIS WEEK IN WORLD HISTORY
This week in world history… March 3, 1931
President Herbert Hoover signed a measure that made “The Star Spangled Banner” the national anthem of the United States.
CHECK IT OUT
INTRO
We visited the Binghamton Zoo in Binghamton, New York to learn about an endangered species that can be found in the wild only in China. Check it out.
CHECK IT OUT
(Kristin)
The Amur leopard is from the China-Russia border and the China-North Korea border. It’s in the Amur valley area. Their job in the wild would probably be to keep the populations of some of the other herbivores and omnivores, their prey, down and under control, to the point where there isn't overpopulation of certain deer or whatever would cause different kind of habitat destruction of overeating grass and stuff. They are definitely a hunter, they are nocturnal, and they hunt at nighttime. The main food sources are the Sieka deer, road deer, and musk deer. They'll eat badgers and other small mammals that they could probably get a hold of.
(Narration)
The abilities of this lone ranger are surprising and not always what we'd expect from a cat.
(Kristin)
The Amur leopards are good climbers and swimmers. They can jump ten feet vertically and twenty feet horizontally. Climbing wise, they can climb very tall heights and when they do catch their prey, they often times will drag it up into a tree, so that way, they will have no other competition.
(Narration)
As agile and fierce as the Amur leopard can be, they are still unable to elude their one major threat, mankind.
(Kristin)
The Amur leopard is extremely endangered. There's, I believe a couple of main causes. They are being hunted for their fur, habitat destruction. Humans are a big one and those kind of both tie into there isn't enough prey around anymore for them to hunt. There's only about, they figure, about fifty left in the wild and in captivity there's only about two hundred. So, they're pretty critically endangered.
ISN’T IT COOL
Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano continues to flow lava through a nearly abandoned housing subdivision. The volcano has been slowly erupting for more than 25 years. Since 1983, lava flows have destroyed 190 structures, covering nearly nine miles of roadway.
ISSUE
How important is physical education? Illinois is the only state that mandates daily physical education… other states have no requirements and still others have even eliminated recess. They say there is too much already crammed into the typical school day and that classroom instruction is more important than physical education. They feel it is more important to teach math and science than it is physical education.
But others say children who are more physically active are better students. The Centers for Disease Control recommend that children get at least 30 minutes of exercise each day and yet nearly a quarter of all American students have no gym class at all. Experts point to the number of obese children nearly tripling in the last 30 years.
Well, we would like to know what you think…
“Is physical education important?”
Discuss this issue with your classmates after the show and then write to us with your opinions
MAILBAG
We received almost three hundred responses to our issue question: “Are restaurants responsible for our health?”
The majority of you, 73 percent say no, restaurants are not responsible for our health. 25 percent say yes they are. 2 percent are undecided.
Many of you feel restaurants should be responsible for our health.
Marie C. of Minot, (My-not) North Dakota writes, “You should be able to trust them to do what’s best for their customers.”
Alyssa F. of North Woodmere, New York reminds us that restaurants are trying to be healthy. Alyssa writes, “Restaurants had to change the oil they were using… because it was bad for your heart. (They) should use healthy foods that will keep people healthy.”
The majority of you, however, do not feel it is the restaurants responsibility to keep people healthy.
Andrea D. of Des Moines, Iowa writes, “We go there on our own free will. It’s not like they drag us in and stuff us with their food.”
Christianna E. of Jamestown, North Dakota adds, “People shouldn’t blame the people making the food… when they are ones eating too much.”
Ally C. of Kimberly, Wisconsin agrees and writes, “It’s our choice to eat out and have unhealthy things.”
And finally, Kelsey B. of Verona, Virginia writes, “You have a choice… I don’t think they are responsible for our health because they serve what we like.”
We look forward to your responses to our two latest questions “Are athletes role models?” and “Is physical education important?”
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 Israel’s military action in northern Gaza that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas put what on hold…was it?
And the correct answer is number two, Abbas put a hold on planned peace talks with Israel.
NEW CLUES
And now it’s time for next week’s clues in the news…
Our first clue a location…
48 degrees, 13 minutes north latitude
16 degrees, 20 minutes east longitude
Our second clue is a fill in the blank…it is two words.
First word
M blank L blank A
Second word
E blank E blank T blank blank N
And finally, our third clue is a scrambled letter. It is two words
First word
O I H S L P
Second word
T L S K A
These are clues to stories we think will happen in the coming weeks. 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. For all of us here at Assignment: The World, I’m Teej Jenkins. We’ll see you again next week.
© 2008 WXXI-TV/ Assignment: The World.
All Rights Reserved.
