Engaging Her

With much of the focus on conventions that begin next week, some are looking beyond.  Get out the vote efforts are underway, and voter turn out is a main strategy of Barack Obama's path to victory.  Unassociated with a candidate, groups are also working to increase voter involvement.  One campaign is called Get out HER vote.  Kathy Spillar, Executive Editor, Ms Magazine joins us to talk about it.

Women are voting at higher rates not only as older women but also among young women voters.

INTERVIEW 2

• Presidential Candidates Try to Get the Veteran Vote
• Groups Say EPA is Withholding Information on Pesticides
• One Year Anniversary of Elvira Arellano's Deportation
• Saving Whale Sharks Off Kenya's Coast

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• Activists Settle for $2 Million with NYC
• Fallout from Musharraf Resignation Continues in Pakistan
• Taliban Attacks in Afghanistan Intense and Focused
• Russia Shows Signs of Troop Withdrawal from Georgia
• WA Primaries First Test for State's New Election System
• College Presidents Call for Examination of Current Drinking Age
• Fay Weakens to Tropical Storm as it Moves Across Florida

Attempting to appeal to veterans, Presidential candidates McCain and Obama spoke at the Veterans of Foreign Wars conference in Florida. A policy difference between the two candidates has resurfaced - veteran's health care. FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell has more.

Bees are a crucial part of the food chain because they pollinate our crops - but they're dying at an alarming rate. The National Resources Defense Council has filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency, in an attempt to get more information about a pesticide that may be killing off bees. Tanya Snyder has more.

The whale shark is the biggest fish species in the ocean. Up to 18 meters long, this vegetarian is found across the world's tropical waters, from Belize to northern Australia. Their huge dorsal fins, which make for highly prized culinary delicacies, fetch high prices on South-East Asian markets, leading them to be almost fished to extinction off India's western coast a few years ago. On the other side of the Indian Ocean, whale sharks have come under threat in recent years off Kenya's southern coast. But there, they have been collateral damage: often accidentally trapped in drift nets donated by US AID to local fishers. A grassroots organization is now working to stem the damage caused by these nets which they say has been endangering not only the sharks, but the coral reef as well. Arusha Topazzini reports from Diani, Kenya.