LONG BEACH, CALFORNIA - In the 1970s and 1980s, tens of thousands of Cambodians immigrated to the United States. Many of those were helped by religious organizations, including the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. Today's immigrants come largely from other parts of the world, but many of their needs are the same. And now the Lutheran refugee service is looking for help from refugees it once aided.

Sovannarorth Sok came to America as a refugee. Today, she helps them, as a case worker for the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.

The service wants former refugees to give back by helping new refugees settle into their new homes. So it has begun a coast-to-coast outreach campaign.

At a Cambodian New Year celebration in Long Beach, California, Sovanna and colleague Lauren Rymer hold a drawing for glass flowers, trying to attract a crowd and get contact information from former refugees.

Not everyone is interested.

"But we met some people who are happy to meet and have a conversation about their new life in the US," said Sovannarorth Sok.

For some, like Soroan Miller, it's an easy sell. He thinks he may have been sponsored by the church as an orphan.

"So if any way, shape or form that I can help refugees besides Cambodians, or around the world, I would do it," he said.

The Lutheran service sponsored around 50,000 Cambodians between 1975 and 1998, over more than two decades of war. That's a full third of all Cambodians that immigrated to the United States.

Today, the flow of Cambodian refugees is over. But refugees from other countries continue to seek American shores. The service feels Cambodians who have gone through the experience might be able to help.

Nop Vanny wins the drawing today. She says she sees value in the Cambodian immigrant experience.

"We came here first, so we know how easy and difficult and different life is," she said. "So if we meet those who have just come here, we can - and should - help them by giving them advice on how to live here and all the rules in this country."

The Lutheran service will continue its campaign throughout the United States wherever the old refugees might help the new. It has more prizes to give away. And a lot of work to do.

STATE DEPARTMENT - The United States is lifting all of its economic sanctions against the military-led government in Burma following the election to parliament of long-time pro-democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi. Washington will be sending its first ambassador to Burma in more than 20 years.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the suspension of bans on U.S. financial transactions, investments, and access to credit in a meeting with Burmese Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin.

"This is a moment for us to recognize that the progress which has occurred in the last year toward democratization and national reconciliation is irreversible, as the minister said to me. The United States wants to do everything we can to be sure that is the reality," she said.

Secretary Clinton praised the parliamentary elections that brought Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party to parliament, but said some U.S. measures, including an arms embargo, will remain in place until the country's reforms are complete.

In a video conference via Skype, hosted by former U.S. president George W. Bush, Aung San Suu Kyi said the suspension of U.S. sanctions against Burma, rather than their full removal, will keep the pressure on the military to stay on track with political reforms.

"I sometimes feel that things, that people are too optimistic about the scene in Burma. You have to remember that the democratization process is not irreversible. I have said very openly that we can never look upon it as irreversible until such time as the military commits itself to democratization," she said.

With abundant natural resources, Burma is ripe for new business. And Secretary Clinton called on U.S. investors to look for opportunities across the country to benefit ethnic minority areas as well.

"Today we say to American business: Invest in Burma. And do it responsibly. Be an agent of positive change," she said.

Aung San Suu Kyi says spreading new investments more equitably will help ease some of Burma's ethnic inequalities.

At Washington's Brookings Institution, Lex Rieffel says too much investment too quickly could overwhelm Burma. "To be successful, this has to be done carefully. What is happening right now is that the country is being over-run with visitors. It is being smothered in love. This is making it more difficult for the government to make good policy decisions," he said.

Some Burmese activists fear the United States is moving too fast. An ASEAN inter-parliament caucus on Burma is urging Washington to maintain all of its business sanctions, warning that a flood of new investment could fuel further human rights abuses and undermine democratic reforms.

WASHINGTON - ​​A private company is attempting to send its newly designed cargo rocket to the orbiting International Space Station - a feat that has only been accomplished by governments. The SpaceX launch, which has been delayed several times, is now set for May 19.

An animation shows what space station partner nations and SpaceX hope to see on launch day. The Falcon 9 rocket, carrying its Dragon capsule, will launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The cargo-carrying space capsule will separate from the rocket and begin its day-long journey toward the International Space Station.

SpaceX officials caution that many things can go wrong with such complex new technologies. The Dragon needs to meet up with an orbiting lab that is zooming around the Earth every 90 minutes, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk explained at a NASA news briefing in mid-April.

"So you've got to launch up there, you've got to rendezvous and be tracking the space station to within inches really, and this is something that is going 12 times faster than a bullet from an assault rifle. So it's hard," Musk admitted.

If Dragon's systems and sensors check out, the station crew will capture the capsule with the station's robotic arm.

ISS astronauts have plenty of supplies, so there won't be an issue if Dragon - essentially a robotic spaceship - is not able to dock.

"It's not as though there is somebody flying it with a joystick or that there is somebody on board who can make real-time corrections," noted Musk. "Dragon is making decisions all the time to optimize the probability of success, so there's a lot of intelligence on board the spacecraft."

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden is optimistic.

"If all goes well, SpaceX will launch Dragon and they'll rendezvous with the station and be berthed in a matter of days,: he said. " And that will be the beginning of a totally new era, an era of private access to low-Earth orbit, the International Space Station and other destinations there."

NASA used its space shuttles to bring cargo to the ISS before it retired the shuttle fleet last year. The U.S. space agency is now investing in private companies to handle low-Earth orbit transportation, and it has invested $381 million in SpaceX's commercial cargo capabilities.

The city of Beijing, then known as Peking, awakes on a cold January morning in 1937, to discover a young English woman, the daughter of a retired diplomat, has been brutally murdered.

So begins Midnight in Peking by British author Paul French. Already a number one bestseller in Asia following its release in late 2011, the book was recently published in the United State.

French, who has lived in China for two decades, takes the reader along as he re-investigates a cold case murder that actually happened. He shows the genteel as well as the seedy side of a city where tensions are heightened by the nervous anticipation of a Japanese invasion.

“The thing about Peking in 1937 is that it was a completely surrounded city,” says French. “The Japanese…were only eight miles [12.8 kilometers] away from the city center at the Marco Polo Bridge. It was no longer a question of if Japan was going to invade China, it was when.”

The Murder Case

An elderly Chinese man found the victim’s badly mutilated body at the bottom of a 15th century watchtower. The victim was 19-year-old Pamela Werner, the adopted daughter of retired British diplomat E.T.C. Werner, who had remained in China to pursue his study of the country’s history and culture.

​​“The body had been pretty horrifically mutilated and dumped at the foot of this building called the Fox Tower, which was a very desolate and isolated place because there was a lot of superstition around the tower, that it was haunted by fox spirits so people kept away from it,” says French. According to ancient Chinese legend, fox spirits disguised as beautiful young women prey on or try to possess humans.

The killing prompted a joint investigation by Peking Detective Colonel Han Shih-ching and British Detective Chief Inspector Richard Dennis, who was based in Tientsin. Han was considered the best detective in the country, who had trained in China and Japan and spoke English, and Dennis had trained at Scotland Yard. “As far as I know, this is the only time in Chinese history that a Chinese and a British detective ever worked together to try and solve a crime,” says French.

Two Pamelas

Author French has provided some investigative insight himself, reconstructing the crime, uncovering compelling evidence and deftly depicting the characters involved. For example, he learned the investigation found that Pamela Werner had two sides to her character. School photographs show a rather plain girl in a uniform, but Colonel Han found a studio portrait which revealed a lovely young woman in an elegant dress.

“These photos were taken within months, if not weeks, of each other, and so immediately, they had these two Pamelas,” says French. “And reconciling these two Pamelas was a major part of the job for the police.”

Who would so brutally murder a British schoolgirl preoccupied with boys, ice skating and preparing for university?

The investigation focused on the Legation Quarter, the home to most of Peking’s foreign professionals, including diplomats, businessmen, scholars and journalists. But nearby was the area known as the Badlands, occupied by desperately poor White Russians and people perceived as ne’er do wells, often working in prostitution and drug dealing.

“Those two communities would like to think they were very separate,” says French. “What Pamela’s murder instantly showed was that these two worlds overlapped in many more ways than people would be comfortable with.”

The case generated enormous press coverage, both inside and outside of China. But due to meddling by the British Embassy in Peking and the onset of the Japanese occupation, the investigation was overtaken by history.

The Murder Solved?

French believes he has pinpointed the actual reasons for the killing of Pamela Werner, based on a private investigation carried out by her father which is now contained in Britain’s National Archives.

Midnight in Peking will be televised by the British production company Kudos Television. French hopes the series will be co-produced with Chinese television, and shot on many of the locations portrayed in the book.

“We haven’t really had a good ‘foreigners in China’ drama for quite a long time, and there’s so much interest around the world in China among people that it could be great fun to do,” he says.

Greece now has a new caretaker government, following the political parties' failure to form a coalition government. Greece's president says that close to $900 million worth of euros was withdrawn from Greek bank accounts on Monday. Meanwhile Spain has seen its borrowing costs rise on the international markets as investors fear the crisis could spread across southern Europe.

Greece's new caretaker cabinet took office Thursday. Senior judge Panagiotis Pikrammenos, shown here in the center, will head an emergency government of professors, technocrats and politicians through a turbulent month until repeat elections on June 17.

In Greece and across Europe, there's a growing feeling that the coming weeks could decide Greece's future in the eurozone.

With Greek depositors withdrawing hundreds of millions worth of euros from local banks, the European Central Bank has stopped offering loans to some Greek banks it does not consider solvent. But both politicians and analysts are cautioning against fears of a run on Greek banks.

"I would expect that the population will be quietly doing what it has been doing in previous days," said Theodore Krintas, a market analyst with Attica Wealth. "In other words, some of the Greek citizens are afraid and are taking slowly a portion of the money [out of the banks], but I'm not expecting a bank run."

Many Greeks say another election will simply prolong the agony. Dionyssis Dimitrakopoulos, a senior lecturer at Birkbeck College University of London, says there is a danger of the same poll producing the same result.

"Everybody, as we say in Greece, will have to add some water to their wine," said Dimitrakopoulos. "In other words to seek consensus, you cannot build consensus without moving away from your original position."

Spain saw its borrowing costs rise sharply as fears grow over contagion across southern Europe.

Shares in the Spanish bank Bankia, which is being bailed out by the government, plummeted Thursday after a newspaper report said customers had withdrawn more than 1 billion euros in just a week.

DALLAS - First lady Michelle Obama joined U.S. Olympians and other athletes committed to her nationwide "Let’s Move" campaign to help solve the problem of childhood obesity.

Obama, who will lead the U.S. presidential delegation to the London Olympics in late July, wants to see American children become more active. She believes that the inspiration of the Summer Games will help achieve that goal.

She is teaming up with the U.S. Olympic Committee, which has the American governing bodies of 10 sports disciplines organizing beginner-level competitions for children who would not otherwise be involved in exercise programs.

Michelle Obama’s original target had been to help one million children get active in their communities. Monday she announced a new target of 1.7 million children actively exercising by the end of this year.

Sometimes, the first lady says, all it takes is a first lesson, class or clinic to get a child excited about a new sport. "Once they’re engaged, that’s when coaches and instructors can step in and become mentors. That’s when discipline and teamwork can become daily lessons. That’s when being active can become a lifelong habit," she said.

U.S. swimming star Nathalie Coughlin, an 11-time Olympic medalist, spoke to a packed news conference on behalf of the Olympians and said it was "extremely important" to her parents that she was active at an early age. "For me and my parents, it wasn’t about winning ribbons or trophies. It was just about getting out there and being active and being healthy, and I needed to do something outside of school to keep myself focused," she said.

U.S. gymnast Jonathan Horton, a silver medalist at the 2008 Olympics, hopes to qualify for the team going to London. He is a big supporter of the first lady’s "Let’s Move" campaign. "I think it’s my duty as an athlete - somebody that young kids can look up to - to support this cause. I think childhood obesity is an epidemic in our society today, and I’d like to be able to do anything that I can to inspire young kids to get fit," he said.

Horton told VOA that even if he does not win a medal in London, he will keep encouraging kids to get out of their houses and get fit.

More than 130 world leaders are expected to gather in Rio de Janeiro next month for the summit, which is also referred to as "Rio+20," a nod to the 20th anniversary of the original Rio Summit. The goal of the meeting is to secure political commitment toward sustainable development and energy, as well as addressing new and emerging challenges.

Nearly two billion people, about one-third of the world's population, don't have access to energy, according to the United Nations.

At a preview of the summit, at the non-profit Center for Global Development in Washington, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the best way to fight poverty is through energy. But he cautioned the earth has limited resources.

"We are using 1.3 times more than we have," Ban said. "If you have to spend 1.3 times more than your salary, what would happen to the whole economy? What would happen to the companies? They will all bankrupt."

Renewable energy is crucial and yet currently only represents 16 percent of the world's energy, according to Ban. That has to change, he said, especially since the burning of fossil fuels has a direct impact on climate change.

"Without addressing climate change properly, as soon as possible, like by 2020, then we'll be heading to almost a tipping point of this planet earth," he said. "This is a slowly approaching threat to our world, to our future."

Another issue is the current imbalance of energy consumption. While developing nations use large amounts of energy, many underdeveloped countries in Africa and Asia have few energy resources at all.

"If in the U.S. every person were to consume 10 kilowatt hours, 10 units of energy less per month, which is not a lot, that could save 4,000 megawatts of generation capacity," said Vijay Iyer, the World Bank's director of Energy, "which is the combined demand today of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda."

But to accomplish the goal of energy for all, Iyer said, the world needs to increase today's annual investment of $9 billion to $45 billion a year, which presents a difficult challenge.

Ban said the political will of world leaders will be decisive in achieving the goals of Rio + 20, most especially that of U.S. President Barack Obama.

"President Obama's role will be crucial again, as the number one world's economy, as the most powerful and leadership country, we count on the United States," Ban said.

It's not known yet whether Obama will attend the summit. Ban said he hopes the president will participate, right after the G20 summit meeting in Mexico.