The violence that has become increasingly common in Egypt

 

From VOA Learning English, welcome to AS IT IS! 

Hello, I’m Steve Ember.  

Today Christopher Cruise reports on the violence that has become increasingly common in Egypt.  

Next - to the continuing fighting in Somalia, where United Nations observers say the al-Shabab militia¹ is receiving weapons from organizations with ties to Yemen and Iran. 

And, Kelly Jean Kelly looks at a film about eight young Rwandan patients with rheumatic heart disease and their travels for surgery.  

To many people, the violence that has seized Egypt since late last month has become a common event: Angry young men incited² police officers, and the police reacted with extreme force. When the dead and wounded were counted, they included police officers, protesters and people not even involved in the violence.  VOA’s Christopher Cruise reports.

 One image in particular caught the attention of Egyptians. It was a video of a single protester, with his clothes pulled off, kicked and beaten by police. Forty-eight-year-old Hamada Saber had been protesting outside the presidential palace. 

 “At first, after being taken into custody… “

Hamada Saber said it was protesters who hurt him. The police, he said, had helped him. He spoke³ from a hospital bed.   

But after his release, he blamed police for the beating. His hospital statement brought to mind countless⁴ cases of police coercion⁵, part of a larger system of injustice⁶ that helped set off Egypt’s rebellion two years ago. Wael Khalil is a political activist⁷ and blogger.

WAEL KHALIL: “This oppressive apparatus⁸ has not changed a bit, at all.  I mean, it is working with the same rule book. It is still untouchable. No one is accountable.”

Egypt’s interior minister has warned that without the police, the country could become a militia-state. The office of President Mohamed Morsi has promised an investigation⁹. But how much influence Mr. Morsi has or is willing to use is unclear. 

Interior Ministry¹⁰ reform has been slow -- even to make a change as simple as expressing support for riot control over violent suppression.   For many Egyptians, what is clear after seven months of Mr. Morsi’s presidency¹¹, is that they want him to do more. 

I’m Christopher Cruise.

You are listening to “As It IS in VOA Special English.  I’m Steve Ember.

The military offensive against the al-Shabab militia in Somalia has been making progress over the past year. But al-Shabab fighters have not been defeated.  

United Nations observers told Reuters that the militia is receiving weapons from organizations with ties to Yemen and Iran. The observers say the arms are entering Somalia through Puntland and Somaliland in the north. The news agency says the weapons are then transported to southern Somalia. That is where al-Shabab is fighting African Union, Somali and Kenyan forces. 

Reuters says the weapons include machine guns and improvised¹² explosive devices, or IEDs. It says the weapons were made in Iran and North Korea. 

Jonah Leff is with an independent research project called the Small Arms Survey.  

“Most of the new weapons that are entering the Horn (of Africa) are in fact coming into Somalia.”  

Jonah Leff says many of the weapons are coming from Yemen. He says the arms flow is not the work of the Yemeni government. But he accuses security officials in both Yemen and Somalia of working together.  

He says most of the arms activity is in northern Puntland, where ships bring weapons to small ports along the coast. He also says he cannot confirm that some weapons arriving in Somalia were made in Iran. 

“But we do know that there’s a close link between Iran and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. It’s been documented that Iran has supplied those rebels with weapons and also financial support.” 

Jonah Leff says it is likely that some of the weapons could have been diverted or sold outside of Yemen and into Somalia. 

He says Iran may be supplying weapons to al-Shabab. But he says this does not necessarily mean that the Iranians are providing Iranian-made weapons. 

The United Nations Security Council is expected to talk about the situation in Somalia over the next several weeks.

You are listening to AS IT IS in VOA Special English.

Next, an inspiring story about help for African children with a life-threatening medical condition.

“Open Heart tells the story of eight Rwandan children who are all suffering from rheumatic heart disease.”

That’s American film maker¹³ Kief Davidson.

“We follow the journey of these eight children as they leave their families behind and fly to Sudan, where they are operated on by an Italian war surgeon named Gino Strada.”

SOUND from “Open Heart”

Kief Davidson’s short documentary “Open Heart” is nominated for an Academy Award – that’s the top honor of America’s film industry.

As Kelly Jean Kelly tells us, Kief Davidson hopes his film will spread knowledge of a widespread health problem in Africa.

The film follows a heart specialist from Rwanda, Emmanuel Rusingiza, as he struggles to save young heart patients.  Some of the patients have just months to live.

“You know, sometimes when I go back home, I spend many hours and think about patients who are not doing well.” 

But a trip to a hospital in Sudan offers hope to eight of those children. The valves of their hearts were damaged by acute rheumatic fever. An Italian group operates the hospital. Filmmaker Kief Davidson tells the story through the eyes of the children and their families.  

“I think anyone, especially anyone who has kids, could only imagine what it must be life for those families.      

The parents of the eight children had to stay in Rwanda. They did not know if their children would survive or if they would ever see them again. The doctor led the children on the trip to Sudan. In the film, he says the trip will seem long for the children because the country is not their home. 

Rheumatic heart disease can result from strep throat. Left untreated, it can cause damage valves in the heart. Kief Davidson says the problem was once common in the United States, but is now rare. He notes that antibiotic¹⁴ drugs can easily treat the disease.

He says the children’s story is getting attention now that the film has been nominated for an Academy Award.  

Rheumatic heart disease affects more than 15 million people worldwide. Health officials say that making antibiotics¹⁵ and diagnostic tests more widely available could help save children in Africa and the developing world.   

I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

And that’s our program for today.  

Tell us what you want to hear about on our new show.  We want to cover the issues and ideas that matter to you, in your world, as it is.

1 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

2 incited   

刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He incited people to rise up against the government. 他煽动人们起来反对政府。
• The captain's example incited the men to bravery. 船长的榜样激发了水手们的勇敢精神。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

5 coercion   

n.强制，高压统治

参考例句：

• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions.既不诱供也不逼供。
• He paid the money under coercion.他被迫付钱。

6 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

7 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

8 apparatus   

n.装置，器械；器具，设备

参考例句：

• The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
• They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。

9 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

10 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

11 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

12 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

13 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

14 antibiotic   

adj.抗菌的；n.抗生素

参考例句：

• The doctor said that I should take some antibiotic.医生说我应该服些用抗生素。
• Antibiotic can be used against infection.抗菌素可以用来防止感染。

15 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。