On Sunday, Turkish voters go to the polls in critical local elections, in which control of the country’s main cities are up for grabs. With inflation soaring and the country in recession, this election is set to pose a big challenge for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
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Month: March 2019
Syrian Immigrants, Now Turkish Citizens, Ready Vote in Elections
More than 3.5 million Syrian refugees migrated to Turkey since the Syrian crisis began in 2011. In January, Turkish Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu said that nearly 80,000 of those refugees have become naturalized citizens of Turkey. Roughly 53,000 of which are able to participate in Turkey’s elections Sunday. VOA’s Tan Cetin spoke to two Syrian-born Turkish citizens to find out what factors play a role in their voting decision and filed this report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard.
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US Again Calls for China to Stop Crackdown on Uighurs, Religious Groups
The United States is calling on China to stop what it calls its growing oppression of people of faith, noting the detention of a million ethnic Uighur Muslims. VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine has the story from the State Department.
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Chinese-American Businesswoman Accused of Selling Access to Trump
Twenty years ago, Yang Li left northeast China in the prime of her life and crossed the Pacific Ocean borne by her own American dream.
She became an American citizen, founded a spa and massage business in Florida, participated in community activities, attended events where American politicians appeared, and posted on social media photos of herself with U.S. President Donald Trump.
That photo opportunity ignited a media firestorm around Yang amid accusations that she sold Chinese businessmen access to American politicians, actions that may have violated the U.S. campaign finance laws.
Robert Kraft’s arrest
Yang’s name surfaced in the U.S. media March 8. That was days after police in Florida arrested Robert Kraft, the owner of American football’s New England Patriots, on Feb. 22, on allegations that he was soliciting prostitution at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida. Kraft has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Yang told NBC News on March 20 that she sold the spa seven years ago.
At the time Kraft was arrested, Yang ran a public relations business that provided opportunities for Chinese businessmen to have access to Trump at his Florida hotel and golf course. Yang’s company, GY US Investments LLC, also helped U.S. firms “expand their brand image in the modern Chinese marketplace.” Although the GY US website is down, the business remains open, according to public records in Palm Beach County.
The Miami Herald reported a trail of campaign donations to Trump funneled by Yang through family, her work, and business associates.
Yang told NBC News she does not know Trump despite the selfie she posted after a Super Bowl football championship party Feb. 3 at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club.
“I love Americans,” Yang told NBC, adding that she immigrated in 1999 and is now a U.S. citizen. “I love our president. I don’t do anything wrong.”
Suggestions of espionage
But media speculation about her ties to the Chinese government has dogged Yang since the days after Kraft’s arrest, as have suggestions that she may be a spy.
The result is that Democratic leadership in both houses of Congress have asked the FBI to launch criminal and anti-espionage investigations into Yang’s businesses and activities.
Yang, 45, has in turn used the media to say the American institutions she has long cherished are unfairly targeting her. She has scoffed at the spy charges and said she had never been involved with prostitution and did not violate any laws when she brought guests to Trump events.
“I’m a Republican,” she told NBC. “I am Chinese. That’s why the Democrats are investigating me.”
Yang took the English name Cindy, an homage to the American supermodel turned businesswoman, Cindy Crawford.
“I like her,” Yang told NBC News.
Entering the political fray
Yang has worked as a journalist, ran a media company and an art promotion agency, sold medical supplies, and worked in the spa/massage industry long before entering the American political fray.
Through Yang’s lawyer, Voice of America has requested the opportunity to interview Yang. Although no decision has been reached, the invitation remains open.
Yang was active in Chinese political and social circles in South Florida.
Yang served as president of the Florida branch of the Chinese Cheongsam Association, which celebrates the traditional form-fitting Chinese dress, also known as a qipao. On the website of her consulting company, Yang said she was vice president of the Miami branch of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, USA. The association was established in 2016.
According to Chinese media reports, Yang participated in the local chapter of the Council for the Promotion of the Peaceful Reunification of China (CPPRC), which was founded in 2016. The organization is believed to have close ties to Beijing.
Yang also set up a non-governmental organization, the Women’s Charity Foundation, in 2015.
Suddenly a public figure
Outside southern Florida, Yang wasn’t a public figure until she became national news.
Cliff Zhonggang Li, executive director of the National Committee of Asian American Republicans (Asian GOP) has worked with Yang.
“Yang Li has tried a lot of business,” he told VOA. “She’s a very energetic and capable person, and I think she’s always on the lookout for new opportunities.”
Li Zhonggang first met Yang at a May 2015 cheongsam association event she had organized. In the midst of founding the Asian GOP, Li Zhonggang pegged Yang as a people person with organizational skills.
“I thought it would be very good if her energy could help us to promote Chinese-American political participation,” Li Zhonggang said.
Yang helped mobilize more than 200 Chinese-Americans to attend a June 15 rally where Jeb Bush announced his candidacy for president. Asian GOP supporters occupied VIP seats as the group made its debut.
Volunteering as fundraiser
At other Republican Party events, Yang met Karyn Turk, who was Mrs. Florida 2016, a conservative commentator and a radio host.
“I found her to be a very friendly person, who did not have English as the first language,” Turk told VOA. “So she was kind of hard to communicate with, but she always seemed to be very friendly with a smile on her face.”
Li Zhonggang said that after the Bush rally, Yang volunteered to be a fundraiser for the Asian GOP and act as an outreach director for its Florida chapter.
Now Karyn Turk, and her husband, Evan Turk, are respectively Yang’s spokesperson and lawyer, helping Yang deal with what Karyn Turk calls “another media hype.” Li Zhonggang believes that a media “witch hunt” targeting Trump ensnared an innocent Yang.
The Turks and others who know Yang told VOA she has become caught in a web of negative exposure and false speculation. American political insiders say it’s not difficult to make contact with Trump, or other politicians, and that people who are politically active or who make donations, often have opportunities to meet high-ranking officials.
However, Li Zhonggang, of the Asian GOP, said some Chinese-Americans use photo ops with political figures to improve their visibility in the community as a way of making money for themselves.
Amid the publicity, Li Zhonggang’s organization has severed ties with Yang. He said that this is not because Yang did anything wrong, but because his organization was overwhelmed by the media “bombardment.”
Investigation sought
Democratic leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, asked FBI Director Christopher Wray last week to launch a criminal and counterintelligence investigation into Yang.
In a letter, House Democrats such as Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, wrote: “Ms. Yang’s activities may only be those of an unscrupulous actor allegedly selling access to politicians for profit, her activities also could permit adversary governments or their agents access to these same politicians to acquire potential material for blackmail or other even more nefarious purposes.”
The FBI has not commented.
Yang’s attorney, Evan Turk, said his client’s reputation had been damaged and she is another Trump supporter who’s become a media casualty.
Yang said that after the exposure, she couldn’t eat or sleep well and lost 15 pounds because, she told NBC News, “I’m so scared.”
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Tanker Captain Feared Death in Migrant Hijacking
African migrants who hijacked an oil tanker after it rescued them in the Mediterranean Sea seized metal objects and began smashing the ship and threatening crew members after they realized they were being returned to Libya, the ship’s captain said Friday.
Nader el-Hiblu, the 42-year-old Libyan captain of the El Hiblu 1 ship, said he and five other crew members feared they could be killed during the “horror” that played out at sea this week. He said the threats by rioting migrants forced him to agree to their demand that he take them to Europe, not back to Libya.
“They attacked the cockpit, heavily beating on the doors and the windows and they threatened to smash the boat,” el-Hiblu said in an exclusive account given Friday to The Associated Press. He spoke by phone from the ship, which is now docked in Valletta, the capital of Malta.
“They went nuts and they were screaming and shouting ‘Go back! Go back! Go back!’” he said.
Death and desperation
For years, the Mediterranean Sea has been a place of drama and death as desperate people from Africa and the Middle East board unseaworthy smuggling boats with dreams of a better life in Europe. Last year, 2,299 people died in the sea trying to head to Europe. The dangerous journey has killed 311 people so far this year.
The migrants revolted against heading back to lawless Libya, where aid groups say migrants are beaten, raped and tortured on a regular basis in detention camps. Some aid groups called the migrants’ actions “self-defense” against Europe’s inhumane migration policies.
Now, there are fears that some merchant ship captains might become reluctant to save migrants from sinking boats if they fear they could lose control of their ships.
Rescue becomes hijacking
El-Hiblu said the drama began Tuesday afternoon when his tanker was traveling from Istanbul to Libya. He was contacted by a military aircraft flying above — though he isn’t sure if it was Maltese or Italian — alerting him of a boat with people who needed help.
He then approached the boat, which he said was carrying 98 men, women and children.
“I took the people in the boat and there were six who refused to jump in, fearing that I take them back to Libya,” he said. “They refused to come with me and they fled while the plane was going after them.”
The aircraft then contacted him with a second location and he went there, but lost contact with the plane and the boats, he said.
He then directed his ship to Libya, saying the migrants believed they were headed to Europe and “were relaxed and happy and did nothing throughout the journey.”
Call for help ignored
At 6 a.m. Wednesday, el-Hiblu alerted Libyan port authorities that he was nearing the coast and requested assistance from coast guard or naval forces, aware that the migrants would become upset at realizing they were returning to Libya.
But help didn’t come. When the Libyan capital of Tripoli came into view, about 25 of the male migrants began their attack, he said.
“They all brought heavy metal tools and started to beat and smash the ship and threatened that they would leave the ship in pieces” if the vessel continued to Libya, he said. “It was horror. I didn’t care much about the boat, but the crew members.”
El-Hiblu called the port in Libya again and told them the crew was heading north toward Europe, saying: “they are going to kill me and kill us if we return. We are leaving.”
Libyan Coast Guard Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ayoub Gassim said when the Libyan coast guard learned about the hijacking, they sent two boats in “hot pursuit” over a distance of 60 nautical miles (110 kilometers), but said the tanker was faster than their boats.
El-Hiblu insists, however, that the Libyan coast guard could have reached his tanker had authorities wanted to.
Italy rejects migrants
As the tanker moved north, news started spreading it was heading either toward Malta or the Italian island of Lampedusa. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who has a strong anti-migrant stance, said Italy would not accept them.
At first, Malta also insisted it would not accept the vessel in its waters.
But Thursday morning, the Maltese armed forces stormed the vessel and detained five men suspected of leading the hijacking, taking them away in handcuffs when the ship docked in Valletta, the capital.
El-Hiblu was incensed, however, at his treatment by a Maltese security officer, who ordered him to take off his clothes for a body search and confiscated his phone. He said he was detained for a couple of hours in a cell in a police station near the port, under suspicions of being a human trafficker.
“This filthy country treated me in a very disrespectable way after rescuing 98 people. They dealt with me as a criminal and accused me of illegal migration,” he said angrily.
Maltese officials would not comment on the tanker hijacking case as they carried out an investigation. It was also impossible to speak to any of the migrants who had been on the ship to hear their side of the story.
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Burundi Extends Bans on VOA, BBC, Deepening Media Crackdown
Burundi will continue to block broadcasts from two international media organizations and expand restrictions on their operations, the government announced Friday.
At a meeting in Bujumbura, the president of the National Council of Communication, Nestor Bankumukunzi, said the British Broadcasting Corp. and the Voice of America are no longer allowed to broadcast, effective immediately. The ban is indefinite and extends to journalists, both foreign and domestic, who provide information to either broadcaster.
“We are alarmed that reporters in Burundi are now forbidden to communicate with VOA and believe these continuing threats to our journalists undermine press freedom in the country,” VOA Director Amanda Bennett said. “We stand with the people of Burundi against those who are restricting their access to accurate and reliable news and information.”
The BBC condemned the decision, calling it “a serious blow against media freedom.”
Last May, the Burundi government suspended both news organizations for six months, a week before holding a referendum on a new constitution. The outlets have been off the air since.
Rachel Nicholson, a researcher for Amnesty International, said Burundi’s government is angry at the broadcasters for different reasons.
The government was upset by a documentary the BBC broadcast last year, she said, about members of Burundi’s intelligence service operating secret sites where dissidents are detained and tortured.
Burundi has accused VOA of employing a journalist who opposes the government, Nicholson added. Patrick Nduwimana, the former director of Bonesha FM Radio in Burundi, is “wanted for participating in deadly violence that preceded the May attempted coup,” the National Council of Communications wrote in Friday’s statement.
“I think it’s really worrying to see the government personalize attacks on radio stations. They have such an important role to play, particularly BBC and VOA, particularly in the absence of independent Burundian radio stations operating from within the country,” Amnesty’s Nicholson said. “The BBC and VOA have such an important role to play in sharing information with people in Burundi.”
In a phone interview with VOA, Willy Nyamitwe, senior adviser to Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza, said the news organizations were banned for spreading falsehoods.
“Some international media are biased. Everybody knows some reports were fake reports, fake news,” Nyamitwe said. “So if people cannot even try to speak the truth, but if some people are using some media outlets only to spread lies, what other comments do I have to do?”
Nyamitwe also said that Burundi has an open media landscape and that all countries have the right to ban news organizations that spread lies. “There are thousands of journalists in the country. There are tens of media houses, radio stations, TV stations, newspapers, media online.
“So I think people are exaggerating thinking that there’s no media houses in the country,” he said. “I do know that even in the United States there are some media houses that have been called biased or fake news media houses.”
In its 2018 press freedom report, Reporters Without Borders ranked Burundi 159th out of 180 countries worldwide. It said security forces routinely harass journalists and pointed to the unsolved 2016 disappearance of journalist Jean Bigirimana as evidence of intimidation and violence against reporters.
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Mozambique Cholera Cases Jump from 5 to 139 in One Day
Officials in cyclone-stricken Mozambique say the number of cases of cholera has skyrocketed from five on Wednesday to 139 by late Thursday.
Cholera is a bacterial disease spread by contaminated food or drinking water. It causes severe diarrhea and subsequent dehydration, and can kill within hours if not treated.
Squalid living conditions — contaminated water and lack of sanitation — in the country following the cyclone are the perfect breeding grounds for the spread of the disease.
The World Health Organization said earlier this week that it was sending 900,000 doses of cholera vaccine to the region.
AFP, the French news agency, reported that a cholera prevention publicity campaign had been mounted via radio and loudspeakers throughout affected towns and villages.
UNICEF has warned there is “very little time to prevent the spread of opportunistic diseases.”
Cyclone Idai struck most of Mozambique nearly two weeks ago with hurricane-force winds and heavy rains. It also hit eastern Zimbabwe and Malawi.
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Egyptian Leader to Meet with Trump Next Month at White House
President Donald Trump will meet with Egypt President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi next month at the White House.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says in a statement released Friday the leaders on April 9 will discuss bilateral concerns, including conflicts in the region and military, economic and counterterrorism issues.
Egypt under the ex-general has rolled back many freedoms won by the 2011 uprising in the country. El-Sissi has silenced most dissenting voices in the media and restricted civil society groups.
El-Sissi led the military overthrow of Mohammed Morsi, an elected but divisive Islamist whose rule inspired protests. El-Sissi was elected president in 2014 and re-elected to another four-year term last year after challengers were arrested or pressured to withdraw.
El-Sissi’s supporters say he needs more time to develop the economy and defeat an Islamic State-led insurgency.
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Algerians March Against President — and Political System
Algerians who took to the streets for their sixth straight Friday of protests aren’t just angry at their ailing president — they want to bring down an entire political system seen as corrupt and out of touch.
Tens of thousands massed in the boulevards of Algiers on Friday, dominated by young people and their families. Police helicopters circled overhead and riot police vans lined sensitive neighborhoods, but the mood was largely festive.
It’s the first protest since the Algerian army chief called earlier this week for a constitutional process to declare President Abdelaziz Bouteflika unfit for office. Other politicians and parties backed the idea as a solution to the gas-rich country’s political crisis.
But protesters see the proposal as a way for the secretive political elite to keep their grip on power and name a hand-picked successor to Bouteflika, who has been largely out of the public eye since a 2013 stroke.
Anger at the constitutional process issue is central to Friday’s protest. Many held signs calling for the departure of army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah, or referring to Article 102 of the constitution, which Salah proposed using to pave the way for Bouteflika’s ouster.
One sign accused the political elite of being “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves.” Another read “Not Moscow, Not Paris, Not Washington — The Choice should be Algerian,” in reference to concerns of foreign interference in the crisis.
A former French colony with close ties to France, Algeria was a powerful ally of Moscow in the Soviet era but in recent years has also become a key partner of the U.S. and Europe in fighting terrorism.
Frustration also targeted Bouteflika’s brother, Said. A small group of protesters started shoving journalists from Ennahar Television, considered close to Said Bouteflika, shouting “Shame!,” before other protesters separated them.
When the protests broke out last month, the demonstrators’ anger was more focused on Bouteflika himself, and demands that he abandon his bid for a fifth term after 20 years in power.
Since then, Bouteflika has dropped his election bid, but also canceled the April 18 vote pending electoral reforms, raising fears he would cling to power indefinitely.
Bouteflika is credited with bringing peace to his nation after the bloody civil war of the 1990s, but some of his most powerful supporters have turned against him this week.
The protesters are notably angry at corruption. An Algerian media executive who was detained Thursday and released hours later said he was arrested because he publicly denounced political corruption.
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Trump Runs Victory Lap on Michigan Stage
U.S. President Donald Trump is on the offensive now that the two-year investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. national election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign ended with no immediate backlash for him. VOA’s Michael Brown reports, Trump is paying special attention to Democrats who seem not ready to accept he has been cleared of any wrongdoing.
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US Holds ‘Constructive’ Trade Talks With China
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is in Beijing, posted on Twitter Friday that he has held “constructive” talks with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.
A new deal could possibly end hefty tariffs both countries have imposed on each other during the last eight months. The United States has taxed $250 billion of Chinese imports while China has imposed levies on about $110 billion of U.S. goods.
The United States is demanding wide changes to Chinese industrial policy, including an end to large-scale state intervention in markets, subsidies for various industries and the alleged theft of American technology.
U.S. President Donald Trump said last week he was confident the United States could strike a deal with China, but added, “If this isn’t a great deal, I won’t make a deal.”
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow says the talks are not time-dependent and could last weeks or even months.
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Mozambique Cholera Cases Jump From 5 to 139 in a Day
Officials in cyclone-stricken Mozambique say the number of cases of cholera has skyrocketed from five Wednesday to 139 by late Thursday.
Cholera is a bacterial disease spread by contaminated food or drinking water. It causes severe diarrhea and subsequent dehydration, and can kill within hours if not treated.
Squalid living conditions — contaminated water and lack of sanitation — in the country following Cyclone Idai are the perfect breeding grounds for the spread of the disease.
The World Health Organization said earlier this week that it is sending 900,000 cholera vaccines to the region.
AFP, the French news agency, reports that a cholera prevention publicity campaign has been mounted via radio and loudspeakers throughout affected towns and villages.
UNICEF has warned there is “very little time to prevent the spread of opportunistic diseases.”
Cyclone Idai clobbered most of Mozambique nearly two weeks ago with hurricane-force winds and heavy rains.
It also walloped eastern Zimbabwe and Malawi.
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Egyptian Pro-Democracy Activist Free After 5 Years
One of Egypt’s most prominent pro-democracy activists was released from prison early Friday after serving a five-year sentence for inciting and taking part in protests, his family and lawyer said.
Alaa Abdel-Fattah rose to prominence with the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings that swept the Middle East and in Egypt, toppled long-time President Hosni Mubarak. To many, his imprisonment three years later — at a time when authorities imposed draconian laws banning public gatherings and unauthorized demonstrations — was another sign of Egypt’s return to Mubarak’s autocratic rule.
Abdel-Fattah’s sisters, Mona and Sanaa Seif, posted on Facebook that “Alaa is out,” along with a video of him at home, playing with a dog. His lawyer, Khaled Ali, confirmed the release by posting: “Thanks God, Alaa Abdel-Fattah at home.”
Detained several times
An outspoken dissident, Abdel-Fattah was detained several times before. He was sentenced to five years for taking part in a peaceful demonstration following the military’s ouster in July 2013 of Egypt’s freely elected but controversial Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
After Morsi’s ouster, Egypt’s military-backed transitional authorities waged a heavy crackdown on his supporters who had rallied against his ouster, including a sit-in by Islamists in Cairo that was broken up by security forces in an operation that left hundreds dead.
Within weeks, the government also went after secular and liberal activists who opposed a newly introduced law banning street protests without prior permission from authorities. The new law required participants to formally ask the Interior Ministry three days in advance whether they could hold a rally while also setting prison terms and high fines for violators.
Military tribunals
The demonstration that led to Abdel-Fattah’s arrest and sentencing was against trials of civilians before military tribunals, known for their swift and harsh rulings.
Security forces raided his house after the protest, beat up his wife and confiscated his laptops but he was not there. He later turned himself in.
“I don’t deny the charge,” he wrote in a statement released at the time. “It’s an honor to hold responsibility for people’s rallies in defiance of legalizing the return of” the rule of Mubarak.
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Trump Looks for Political Boost After Mueller Report
Now that we know the conclusions of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, how does that reset the U.S. political landscape looking ahead to the presidential election in 2020?
According to the summary provided by Attorney General William Barr, Mueller found no conspiracy or collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to interfere in the 2016 election.
But Mueller did not make a judgment on whether Trump sought to obstruct justice in connection with the Russia investigation. According to Barr, while Mueller’s report “did not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”
In the end, it was Barr who decided that the evidence Mueller developed on obstruction was not sufficient to move the matter forward.
At the Capitol this week, Trump was said to be in a triumphant mood in the wake of Barr’s summary of the Mueller report.
“It was proven very strongly no collusion, no obstruction, no nothing,” Trump told reporters before his meeting with Republican senators. “We are doing so well. We have never, probably, had a time of prosperity like this. It has been great.”
WATCH: How Mueller Report Could Affect Presidential Campaign
Time for a reset
Trump’s Republican allies now believe the president has an opportunity to reset his political agenda.
“You are probably stronger today than you have been any time in your presidency. This cloud has been removed,” Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters. “The question for you is, how are you going to use it? What are you going to do?” That remains an open question.
Trump has talked about political retribution for those behind the Russia probe.
“There are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, very bad things. I would say treasonous things against our country,” Trump said at the White House on Monday.
But political strategist Karl Rove, a former key adviser to former President George W. Bush, is among those warning the president not to devote too much time rehashing the Russia probe.
“The president should focus his time, voice and tweets on the roaring economy, impressive job creation and bigger paychecks,” Rove wrote in The Wall Street Journal.
Democrats press for full report
Democrats remain focused on demanding that the full Mueller report be released to the public, especially given the lingering questions about why Mueller did not come to a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday that she found Barr’s summary letter to Congress “condescending” and “arrogant.”
Pelosi added, “No thank you, Mr. Attorney General, we do not need your interpretation. Show us the report and we can draw our own conclusions.”
It was a call echoed by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
“Our main thrust on this issue is simply transparency. Release the report, then come to conclusions,” he said.
A boost for Trump
Analysts believe the Mueller report finding of no collusion with Russia is a political boost for the president as he heads into the 2020 presidential election cycle.
“For President Trump, the preliminary reports on the Mueller report are all very, very positive,” said American University expert Bill Sweeney. “But the questions remain about what is in the Mueller report and how will the administration release that information to the Congress and the American people.”
Sweeney predicted that the fallout from the report could be limited as the 2020 election draws closer.
“I think President Trump’s base stays with President Trump. I think those opposed to President Trump remain opposed to President Trump. So far, the Mueller report has done nothing to change the hearts or minds or soul of any undecided voter going into this election,” he said.
Recent polling seems to back that up. A Reuters/Ipsos poll this week found the president’s approval rating ticked up from 39 to 43 percent.
The latest Morning Consult and Politco poll found the president’s approval at 42 percent, with 55 percent disapproving, virtually the same as the week before.
And the most recent Quinnipiac University poll found Trump’s approval at 39 percent, with 55 percent disapproving. That was little changed from earlier in the month.
The polls also show that Democrats may be on firm ground in demanding the Mueller report be released to the public. Eighty-two percent in the Morning Consult-Politico survey said the full Mueller report should be released, as did 84 percent in the latest Quinnipiac University poll.
Focus on 2020
To many Democrats, the outcome of the Mueller report suggests they need to focus on beating the president at the polls in November 2020 instead of a long-shot effort at impeachment.
Even before the Mueller report findings were released by Barr, voters in general seemed disinclined toward impeaching Trump. A Quinnipiac poll in early March found Americans opposed to impeachment by a margin of 59 to 35 percent.
So now the political focus for both parties will shift strongly to the election contest next year.
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is the latest Democrat to officially join a crowded field of presidential contenders, and Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet says he is interested in running, as well.
In the end, Democrats could field between 15 and 20 White House contenders in the year ahead, all of whom see Trump as vulnerable.
“You would not see this many candidates running if they did not think that they had a real shot at unseating an incumbent for the first time since Bill Clinton did it in 1992 to (President) George H.W. Bush,” said George Washington University expert Matt Dallek.
But given that history favors presidents seeking a second term and that voters see the economy as strong, Democrats should be wary, said University of Virginia analyst Larry Sabato.
“Democrats have to find a way to break up that Electoral College majority that Trump got. There are ways to do it, reasonable ways to do it. But it is not even close to being assured,” Sabato said via Skype.
In the wake of Mueller’s findings this week, Sabato and colleague Kyle Kondik summarized the political landscape in the weekly political newsletter known as Sabato’s Crystal Ball.
“2020 should be a close, competitive high-turnout election with both sides energized. The fate of the Trump presidency is on track to be decided at the ballot box, as opposed to a courtroom or impeachment proceeding.”
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Report: Investigators Think Anti-Stall System Activated in Ethiopian Crash
Investigators looking into a Boeing 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia that killed 157 people have reached a preliminary conclusion that an anti-stall system was activated before the plane hit the ground, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people briefed on the matter.
U.S. safety investigators have reviewed data from the “black boxes” that were aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, four people briefed on the investigation told Reuters Thursday. A preliminary report is expected as early as next week, the U.S. officials said.
The plane crashed March 10 shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa.
737 MAX grounded
Investigators of a deadly 737 MAX crash in Indonesia in October have also focused on the new anti-stall system, called MCAS. Boeing on Wednesday said a planned software fix would prevent repeated operation of the system that is at the center of safety concerns.
Boeing’s fastest-selling 737 MAX jet, with orders worth more than $500 billion at list prices, has been grounded globally by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other regulators, although airlines are still allowed to fly them without passengers to move planes to other airports.
The manufacturer said it had developed a training package that 737 MAX pilots are required to take before the worldwide ban can be lifted, proposing as it did before two deadly crashes that those pilots do not need time on flight simulators to safely operate the aircraft.
On Thursday, a lawsuit against Boeing was filed in Chicago federal court by the family of Jackson Musoni, a citizen of Rwanda, who died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
The lawsuit alleges that Boeing had defectively designed the automated flight control system. Boeing said it could not comment on the lawsuit.
Training questioned
The amount and quality of training that Boeing and airlines provided to 737 MAX pilots is one of the issues under scrutiny as investigators around the world try to determine the causes of two 737 MAX crashes within five months.
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Boeing’s development process and what Boeing disclosed about MCAS. The U.S. Transportation Department said Monday that a new blue ribbon commission will review how the FAA certifies new aircraft.
U.S. and European regulators knew at least two years before the Indonesian crash that the usual method for controlling the 737 MAX’s nose angle might not work in conditions similar to those in two recent disasters, Reuters reported Friday, citing a document.
The European Aviation and Space Agency (EASA) certified the plane as safe in part because it said additional procedures and training would “clearly explain” to pilots the “unusual” situations in which they would need to manipulate a rarely used manual wheel to control, or “trim,” the plane’s angle.
Those situations, however, were not listed in the flight manual, according to a copy from American Airlines seen by Reuters. Boeing declined to comment on the EASA document.
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South African Police Dogs Search for Cyclone Victims in Zimbabwe
South African police sniffer dogs have been sent to parts of Zimbabwe hit by Cyclone Idai to help look for those who are missing and presumed dead.
Survivors of the storm hope to find the bodies of their loved ones and give them a proper burial.
To conduct the search, a South African police officer guides his sniffer dog in Ngangu, one of the areas hardest hit by Cyclone Idai in Chimanimani district, Zimbabwe.
The area has been engulfed by a putrid smell that locals believe could be decomposing bodies trapped under the earth.
WATCH: South Africa Police Dogs Search Cyclone Idai-Hit Areas
Search for grandmother
Wonder Tom’s grandmother was lost when Cyclone Idai hit the area March 16.
Tom, 35, hopes the sniffer dogs will help them find the 82-year-old’s body so they can give her a proper burial.
“They will help us to discover our relatives,” Tom said. “Because I think here, in our country, we don’t have the machines to see that under this ground there is somebody who is trapped there. So, it will relieve all of us to retrieve our relatives’ bodies and bury them nicely, although they are already bad.”
Almost all of the 330 people missing from when the cyclone hit Zimbabwe are from Chimanimani district.
South Africans search large area
Ian Hoy is with the South African police sniffer dog team. He says they will be in Chimanimani for five days to search an area with a radius of about 60 to 80 kilometers.
“The devastation here, to be honest, is very bad,” Hoy said. “Even if we were here for three, four, five weeks it wouldn’t be enough. But we here for now, we doing what we can, and we gonna accomplish what we can with the time available to us.”
On the first day of searching, the South African sniffer dogs and Zimbabwe security officials say they have made progress. Zimbabwe army troops are expected to start digging for the bodies in areas identified by the dogs.
Hope only for remains
The assistant commissioner of Zimbabwe’s police Ndofandaedza Jaboon is leading the recovery.
“So far so good, we have identified quite a number of places and we will excavate to try retrieve the bodies. We will dig and try find out if we can retrieve bodies underneath,” Jaboon said.
Since the cyclone unleashed muddy floodwaters into villages, locals have used shovels, picks and even forks to dig for their relatives’ bodies.
While there are no hopes here for survivors, the South African sniffer dogs will at least narrow the search zone for what remains can be found.
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Voting on the Front Lines: Ukraine’s Election and the War With Russia
The city of Mariupol lies on the Azov Sea, next to the front lines of Ukraine’s war against Russian-backed rebels. The conflict has touched everyone’s lives as the danger of an escalation looms over the city. Moscow’s continued detention of 24 Ukrainian sailors seized just offshore in November underlines the threat. Faced with such challenges, how do the people here view Sunday’s presidential election, and who holds the key to ending the conflict? Henry Ridgwell reports from the city.
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Voting on Front Lines: Ukraine’s Election and War with Russia
At the height of the conflict in 2014, the people of Mariupol, Ukraine, feared their city would be the next to fall to Russian-backed rebel forces.
The threat of annexation by Moscow has subsided for now. But the front line lies just six kilometers (3.7 miles) to the east — and the conflict continues to have a big impact on everyday life in the city.
Moscow’s detention of two dozen Ukrainian sailors seized in a naval clash just offshore in November underlines the continued threat.
Faced with such challenges, how do the people of Mariupol view Sunday’s presidential election? And who holds the key to ending the conflict? Amid the election campaigns, frustration and exhaustion are palpable.
“I like any of the candidates, but not the one who is in power now. We need more authority for us to have peace, for our economy to grow, for us to be prosperous,” Mariupol resident Tatyana told VOA.
Aleksandr Sidorov, a soldier on leave from the front line, believes the next president can do little about the war with Russia. He’s focused on domestic issues.
“The main issue for me is for all the corrupt people to be imprisoned,” he said.
Young mother Alina Arabadzhi plans to vote for comedian-turned-presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Why Zelensky? Because it is a new face. Because he has no vested interests. He hasn’t been in politics a single day,” she said.
WATCH: Voting on the Front Lines of Ukraine’s War With Russia
The war is having a huge effect on the local economy. Mariupol used to be an export hub for the Donbas region, Ukraine’s former industrial powerhouse. Most of that region is now controlled by Russian-backed separatists and has been all but cut off.
Two giant steel plants still dominate Mariupol’s skyline, bringing prosperity but also choking pollution. The products are shipped around the world from the nearby port. However, since its forceful seizure of Crimea in 2014, Russia controls shipping access to the Sea of Azov via the Kerch Strait — effectively giving it a stranglehold on a key artery of Mariupol’s economy.
The director of the port, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich, said he is losing over $7.5 million a year in business.
“Starting in April 2018, Russia started to search all the ships which enter the Azov Sea to reach Ukrainian ports. Then after loading, they check them again when they return back to the Black Sea. The waiting time, the route time, has increased, and it’s had a great financial impact on our export clients,” Aleksandrovich told VOA.
Amid the upheaval, there has been progress in some areas. The organization, Halabuda, began as a group of volunteers taking supplies to soldiers on the front line. It has now morphed into an advice group for residents and businesses.
“A question that concerns every single citizen of Ukraine is corruption. Compared to the corruption in law enforcement that we had five years ago, now after the reforms, we nearly eradicated corruption at the level of the traffic police,” said Halabuda founder Dmitry Chichera.
Corruption and conflict: generational challenges with no easy answers. The people of Mariupol are desperate for change and for the war to end. They know that whoever becomes president, the threat from the east is unlikely to end anytime soon.
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New General Oversees US Central Command
Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie has taken charge of U.S. Central command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, central and southwest Asia.
Speaking at the change of command ceremony Thursday at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., McKenzie said his command “remains at the ready to do what has to be done” as the U.S. wraps up counter-Islamic State operations in Iraq and Syria, and continues efforts to pressure the Taliban in Afghanistan.
McKenzie took command from Army Gen. Joseph Votel, who has led U.S. Central Command since March 30, 2016.
Votel praised U.S. and international efforts in the region and military leaders from other nations attending the ceremony.
“Because of us, a once-defeated and retreating Iraqi army has risen like a phoenix from the ashes of 2014 and now proudly defends their country,” he said.
Islamic State’s control of Iraq and Syria peaked in 2014. International forces announced the defeat of the group last week after retaking its final stronghold in eastern Syria.
“We can never allow extremists to use this area as a platform to attack our homeland,” and “we must safeguard access to the critical waterways that support global commerce and freedom of navigation,” Votel said.
Votel also addressed the ongoing fight in Afghanistan, praising Afghan and international partners for creating “the military pressure that has brought the Taliban to the table and provided us a real path to a negotiated settlement to this long war.”
While Afghan security forces are leading the fight against extremists in Afghanistan, the U.S. military has been fighting in Afghanistan in varying capacities for nearly two decades, a fact the U.S. president has strongly criticized.
“As our president said recently, great nations don’t fight forever wars, and we shouldn’t. It is time to bring these conflicts to a conclusion,” Votel said. “This won’t be as quick as anyone would like, but it can be done.”
There are about 14,000 U.S. troops based in the war-torn nation.
Prior to taking command of CENTCOM, McKenzie served as the director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A career infantry officer, he graduated from The Citadel in 1979.
His career includes deployments to Afghanistan in 2004 and Iraq in 2005 and 2006.
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Iran Media: 10 People Die from Drinking Tainted Alcohol
Iran’s state-run news agency says 10 people have died from tainted alcohol in northwestern Azarbaijan province while 240 were hospitalized.
IRNA says the alcohol poisoning took place over the past six weeks in the city of Tabriz.
Hodjat Pourfathi, an official with the Health Ministry, is quoted as saying three of the victims were blinded and several were in a coma. He says the fatalities are likely to rise.
IRNA reported 31 deaths from tainted alcohol last October, most of them in southern Hormozgan province.
At the time, the agency said that as the nation’s currency plummets against the dollar and the price of liquor rises, consumers increasingly turn to homemade alcohol.
In Iran, drinking alcohol is considered sinful and punishable by flogging and cash fines under Islamic law.
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UN Orders Members to Crack Down on Terrorist Financing
The U.N. Security Council Thursday unanimously passed the first-ever resolution ordering members to enforce laws against terror financing.
Experts believe as many as two-thirds of U.N. members are not adequately prosecuting those who aid terrorists in acquiring money.
Thursday’s resolution demands all states “ensure that their domestic laws and regulations establish serious criminal offenses” to collect funds or financial resources to terrorist groups or individual criminals.
It also calls on members to create financial intelligence units.
Nations that fail to carry out the resolution would face U.N. sanctions.
U.N. counterterrorism chief Vladimir Voronkov said the resolution comes at a “critical time,” saying terrorists have gotten their hands on cash through both illegal and legal channels, including drug trafficking, the construction trade and used car sales.
The U.N. resolution would also urge members to stop paying ransom to kidnappers, saying such payments have become a major source of financing for Islamic State and others.
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Iran Flash-Flood Death Toll Up to 44
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency is reporting that the death toll from flash floods across the country has risen to 44 from 17.
The Thursday report quotes Hamidreza Khankeh, an official in the country’s emergency medical services agency, as saying 44 people have died since Monday in 10 provinces.
Since March 19, many roads in Iran have been affected by heavy rainfall that caused flash flooding.
Last year, at least 30 people were killed in flash flooding in the eastern part of neighboring Azerbaijan.
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Somalia Not Ready for Massive Refugee Return, UN Warns
The U.N. refugee agency has warned that a large-scale return of refugees from Kenya’s Dadaab camp could exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in parts of Somalia.
UNHCR said it was aware of Kenya’s recently renewed call to close the Dadaab refugee camp, which houses 230,000 people. Dana Hughes, the agency’s senior regional spokesperson for East Africa, noted that this had happened before.
As in the past, she said, the UNHCR continues to work with the Kenyan government to implement a long-term, sustainable solution for the refugees. These steps include resettlement in third countries, family reunification, and relocation of some refugees in other parts of the country.
She said returns could occur relatively safely in some areas of Somalia. But, speaking by phone from Uganda, she told VOA that in most cases, repatriation is too dangerous to consider now.
“Most of the areas that the refugees from Dadaab come from cannot be considered stable for any kind of large-scale returns, and in fact it could exacerbate the humanitarian crisis that exists in those parts of Somalia,” Hughes said.
Some safe spots
Hughes said African Union and other forces had largely established peace in 12 areas in Somalia, and that UNHCR continued to assist people who voluntarily wanted to return there. She noted that more than 82,000 refugees from Dadaab had gone back since 2014.
But in general, she said, large parts of Somalia are not ready for the massive return of refugees.
“While Somalia has made some progress in development over the last few years, it still is a country that has had decades of war, which means decades of a lack of infrastructure, and still is rebuilding itself,” Hughes said. “And so, of course, any large-scale returns would not aid the stability that Somalia is trying to build.”
Hughes said the UNHCR was thankful to Kenya for its generosity in hosting the Somali refugees for decades despite the toll it has taken on the environment and other aspects of life. She said her agency was having discussions with Kenyan authorities about the possible closure of the Dadaab camp.
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Democratic 2020 Hopeful Klobuchar Touts $1 Trillion Infrastructure Plan
Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar is pitching an infrastructure plan she says will provide $1 trillion to fix roads and bridges, protect against flooding and rebuild schools, airports and other projects.
The plan announced Thursday is the first policy proposal from the Minnesota senator since she joined the 2020 race with a snowy rally not far from where the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River in 2007.
Klobuchar speaks often on the campaign trail about the collapse, which killed 13 people, telling voters “a bridge just shouldn’t fall down in the middle of America.” She also talks about how she worked with Republican colleagues to get funding to rebuild the bridge within 13 months.
“America needs someone who will deliver on their promises and get things done for this country,” Klobuchar said in a statement Thursday announcing her plan.
She said it will be her top budget priority and pledged to pass it during her first year as president.
The plan calls for leveraging $650 billion in federal funding through public-private partnerships, bond programs and clean-energy tax incentives. It would restart the Build America Bonds program President Barack Obama’s administration created to help stimulate the economy during the recession.
About $400 billion of the $650 billion federal spending would come from raising the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 25 percent. The rate was cut from 35 percent to 21 percent in President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax bill. Klobuchar also calls for closing tax loopholes and imposing a “financial risk fee” on large banks.
Klobuchar has criticized Trump for pledging to pass a “significant” infrastructure plan but not doing so.
Her campaign says her plan provides a “concrete, common-sense” way to fund infrastructure investments. Those include connecting every U.S. household to the internet by 2022, modernizing public transportation and investing in renewable-energy development and drinking and wastewater systems.
Klobuchar plans to discuss the proposal during stops Friday and Saturday in Iowa and Nebraska, where she will visit communities struggling with major flooding and other infrastructure needs.
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