【197-199】Iran, World Powers Prepare for Nuclear Deal Talks

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*【197】AS IT IS

Iran, World Powers Prepare for Nuclear Deal Talks

July 04, 2018

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addresses the Innovation and Industry Forum during an official visit in Bern, Switzerland, July 3, 2018.

Foreign ministers from Iran and four other countries are set to hold talks Friday on the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

The ministers are to discuss how their countries can best support the deal following the withdrawal of the United States.

Iranian state media reported on Tuesday that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will be in Vienna, Austria for the talks. It said he will meet with the foreign ministers of Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is also traveling to Switzerland and Austria this week as part of efforts to try to save the nuclear agreement. Rouhani has said he expects European countries to propose measures in the coming days to keep the deal alive.

Under the agreement, Iran promised to limit its uranium enrichment activities so that it could not create enough fuel for nuclear weapons. In exchange, billions of dollars of seized Iranian money was released, while many restrictions on the country were ended.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced in May that the United States was withdrawing from the deal. He described the agreement as “very badly negotiated.” But all the other signatories to the nuclear deal say they still support it. They have expressed strong disappointment at the U.S. withdrawal.

On Monday, the Trump administration announced its plans to re-establish strong sanctions on Iran's energy and banking industries.

"Our goal is to increase pressure on the Iranian regime by reducing to zero its revenue on crude oil sales," said Director of Policy Planning Brian Hook. He added that U.S. officials are working to contain any problems that may affect the international energy market.

During a press conference at the State Department, Hook called on Iran to meet demands so it could be, what he termed, "normal country."

"Normal countries don't terrorize other nations…and impoverish their own people," Hook said. He added that the new U.S. policy is not about changing the Iranian government.

He noted the first part of U.S. sanctions will take effect in early August.

These measures will include targeting Iran's automobile industry, trade and some metals, including gold. He said the remaining U.S. sanctions will take effect in early November.

These sanctions will include targeting Iran's energy industry and petroleum-related activities and activities involving the central bank of Iran.

The United States has warned other countries that they will also face sanctions if they continue to trade with sanctioned areas of the Iranian economy.

Hook said U.S. officials are traveling around the world meeting with American allies to try to persuade them to cooperate with the sanctions.

I'm Susan Shand.

VOA News reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

disappointment - n. the state or feeling of being disappointed

sanction - n. an action that is taken to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country

regime – n. administration or government

revenue - n. money that is made by or paid to a business or an organization

impoverish – v. to make someone poor

petroleum – n. an oily liquid that is found in many places near Earth’s surface

*【198】AS IT IS

Young Students Build a Station for Monarch Butterflies

July 04, 2018

Students at P.B. Smith Elementary School’s ecology club are learning about the life and migration of monarch butterflies.

They learn in the classroom about the butterfly’s need for certain plants. They learn scientific words for the stages of a butterfly’s life. But, ecology club teacher Barbara Dennee says they learn the most when they visit their school garden in Warrenton, Virginia. There they wait patiently for the monarch to arrive.

Just recently, monarch butterflies landed in their garden where among vegetables and herbs, the students planted the milkweed plant.

Monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed plants. There are concerns that the plants have been disappearing because of poor weather conditions and the use of herbicides. So, monarchs, which travel between Canada and Mexico during their migration, now have far fewer places to stop.

Dennee explained to her students that planting the milkweed would create a station for the butterfly.

A monarch butterfly rests on a milkweed plant in the P.B. Smith Elementary School butterfly garden. (Photo: B Dennee)

"We talk about the need for a certain plant for an organism to survive. The big one is the milkweed. That is the host for the butterfly, the monarch specifically. And we've planted, from seed, milkweed plants."

Ten-year old Keenan Whitney said he learned the importance of the cycles of nature.

"I only thought they pollinated one flower, for some reason, but I’ve learned they pollinate a lot of flowers and that if we didn’t have butterflies, we probably wouldn’t have any food.”

Students began to learn how to plant and harvest many herbs and vegetables when the ecology club started its vegetable garden a few years ago. They give some of the produce to their school cafeteria and the rest to a local foodbank.

Then Keely Scott, a high school student who once attended Smith Elementary, needed a Girl Scout project. She persuaded the school to add milkweed to the garden to attract butterflies.

"I love looking at all the butterflies and I was like, 'Wow, well we have a decreased population in our area.' And I thought, 'Oh, well I can fix that.' So I developed this idea and Mrs.Dennee supported me 100 percent."

Eleven-year old Amelia Jakub loves watching nature. She is excited about the daily discoveries.

“We saw several swallowtails and caterpillars. And there's this really fat one that should be turning into a chrysalis soon. I’m quite surprised at how it can turn to chrysalis. And just how does its body form into the beautiful body of a butterfly?”

Dennee says her mission is to teach children about the connection between humans and nature. When they understand this, she said, she has succeeded in her mission.

She said the experience of gardening is important. “They can say these words, but they don’t really understand until they actually do something,” she said.

I’m Susan Shand.

VOA's Faiza Elmasry reported and wrote this article. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

monarch butterfly – n. a large orange and black American butterfly

herb – n. a plant or a part of a plant that is used as medicine or to give flavor to food

chrysalis – n. a hard case that protects a moth or butterfly while it is turning into an adult

caterpillar – n. a small creature that is like a worm with many legs and that changes to become a butterfly or moth

harmoniously - adv. not experiencing disagreement or fighting

mission –n. a task or job given to someone

*【199】AS IT IS

Historic High in US Acceptance of Christian Refugees

July 04, 2018

The al-Qassab family, Iraqi Christian refugees from Mosul, at Beirut international airport in Lebanon ahead of their travel to the United States, February 8, 2017.

United States government records show that nearly 68 percent of all refugees arriving in the country over the past nine months are Christian.

That information comes from the U.S. State Department. The acceptance rate represents a 16-year high for Christian refugees.

Yet some Christian activists are unhappy about the latest numbers. They note that the number of refugees accepted is much lower than that of recent years.

Of the 16,229 refugees admitted from October 1 to June 28, 10,949 were Christian. They were mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine, and Burma.

The Christian aid group World Relief is one of nine national resettlement organizations in the United States.

Matthew Soerens is World Relief’s U.S. director of church mobilization. Soerens said that he did not know "a single Christian who is in any way consoled" by the higher proportion. He added, "I think it's a tragedy for Christians, Muslims and every other religion. Most every group you could look at is down at least 60 percent."

A Christian publication, The Christian Post, noted recently that the number of Middle Eastern Christians accepted in the U.S. was very low.

Kathryn Freeman directs public policy for the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission. She said that few “persecuted Christians” from the Middle East had been admitted in the past six months. She said, "I think it is also important to note that we feel the national slowdown in refugee resettlement is affecting refugees of all faiths."

The Cato Institute, a research group, reported that Muslim refugee flows fell 94 percent from January to November 2017. In December, Cato said there was a 26 percent drop in immigrants and a 32 percent decrease in temporary visas for people from majority-Muslim countries during that period.

Effects of the Trump travel ban

President Donald Trump spoke with the Christian Broadcasting Network a week after taking office in January 2017. Trump said he supported increasing the number of Christian refugees accepted to the U.S.

He pointed out that the U.S. government had been making it "very tough" for Syrian Christians to be resettled in the country. He called the situation “very, very unfair.”

But many activists working for refugees say the administration has not done enough.

Seventeen Christian Syrians have been resettled in the U.S. since October of last year. Activists say that number is unlikely to change after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in support of Trump's travel ban order. The order strongly restricts the number of people accepted from Syria, four other Muslim-majority countries, Venezuela and North Korea.

Similarly, 22 Iraqi Christians have arrived in the U.S. since October 2017. At first, Iraq was included in the travel ban, but later removed. During the same period in then-President Barack Obama's last full year in office, hundreds of Iraqi Christian refugees came to the U.S.

Not about faith

Soerens of World Relief said religion should be considered as a reason for resettlement only if refugees are endangered in their home country.

"It should never be a preference of…one religion over another," he said.

The Trump administration pushed back on claims that refugee admissions are based on religion. It also disagrees that Trump’s polices have affected levels of Christian or Muslim refugees.

An administration official was asked by VOA in January of this year about the dropping numbers of Muslim arrivals during the autumn and winter months.

The official said, "Our admissions has nothing to do with religion in any way, shape or form."

A state department official said, "The slowdown in many places is a result of many different factors, including security checks and medical checks and the number of resources that (the Department of Homeland Security) is able to commit.”

I’m Lucija Millonig

Victoria Macchi of VOA News. Susan Shand adapted it. Mario Ritter was the editor.

Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

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