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From Our Own Correspondent: USA and the River Danube

USA and the River Danube

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, USA and the River Danube

Alan Johnston with despatches on homes for US war veterans and the sturgeon of the Danube

Analysis from correspondents around the world. Today, Robert Hodierne on America's need for "homes for heroes" - its disabled war veterans - and Nick Thorpe hears fishy tales by the River Danube.

Robert Hodierne on how America is building its own "homes fit for heroes" and Nick Thorpe traces the story of a sturgeon as it swims the River Danube.

Gimme shelter - disabbled veterans in the USA
The human cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has been appalling. Many have been killed, but many more have been badly injured or maimed, and their suffering will go on even after the fighting ends. Wounded Iraqis and Afghans will struggle desperately to cope with the consequences of their injuries. 

But America is better placed to support its wounded soldiers - and legions of them also need help.  More than 1,600 US military personnel have had to have legs or arms amputated after injuries in the Iraq and Afghan campaigns. Robert Hodierne has been following the story of two of them, a pair of ex-Marines with some very hardworking supporters. 

Sturgeon tracking by satellite - from the Black Sea to a dinner plate
For millions of years sturgeon have cruised the length and the depths of the River Danube - but for how much longer? This ancient, armoured species is now seriously endangered. 

Female sturgeon are the source of caviar, so there's big money to be made in feeding the world's appetite for the delicacy. But over-fishing is just one of the threats to their survival. As Nick Thorpe explains, the sturgeon is also threatened by major environmental changes in the Danube basin.

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