Two ossuaries found under the Pontifical Teutonic College in the Vatican were opened Saturday and forensic experts began to analyze the bones. The ossuaries were discovered by the Vatican last week after the opening of two tombs of princesses at the cemetery earlier this month revealed they were empty. The tombs had been opened as part of investigations into the disappearance of 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican employee, in 1983.The mystery of the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, 36 years ago, continues to deepen at the Vatican, giving rise to more questions rather than answers. The latest mystery involves bones recovered on Saturday for analysis, located in two ossuaries found last week. Earlier this month the Vatican had opened two tombs and found the remains of the bodies that should have been there were not.
Church officials said the bodies of the two German princesses who were buried in those tombs may have been removed and never returned to their original resting place. The tombs were opened following a request from the Orlandi family.A demonstrator wears a shirt with writing in Italian reading “Please give the justice dossier for Emanuela” on the outskirts of the Vatican, in Rome, Thursday, July 11, 2019.Outside the Vatican walls, a group of supporters of the Orlandi family said they would continue to demand the truth about the disappearance of young Emanuela Orlandi, who disappeared in 1983 as she was on her way to a music class in Rome.
Emanuela’s brother, Pietro, still holds out some hope his sister may still be alive.
The family had requested the tombs be opened after receiving an anonymous letter earlier this year that stated Emanuela’s body might be hidden among the dead in the Teutonic Cemetery where a statue of an angel holding a book reads in Latin “Rest in Peace.”
Pietro Orlando will not give up until he is given answers.
After no bones were found, Pietro Orlandi said that “it could not end here because obviously I want to know why in the last year, people whose names I know, have directed us there”, to look for Emanuela’s remains.
In a statement on Saturday the Vatican said that “with this latest expert operation… the Vatican is again showing its openness towards the Orlandi family. This openness has been shown from the outset in agreeing to check the Holy Teutonic Campus even on the basis of a mere anonymous report.”Over the years, the Vatican has often been accused by the Orlandi family of failing to do enough to help with investigations into the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi.
The identity of the bones recovered on Saturday remains a mystery. The Vatican statement also said it is “not possible, for the moment, to predict how long it will take for the morphological analysis of the remains to be completed”. The Vatican added that further tests would be carried out July 27.
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Month: July 2019
Pompeo To Meet with Ecuadorian President Moreno on Latest Leg of Latin American Trip
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to meet Saturday with Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno in the capital of Quito as he continues his Latin American trip that has so far been dominated by the growing threat of terrorism in the Western Hemisphere.In Argentina Friday, Pompeo confirmed the U.S. imposed financial sanctions against a Hezbollah militant group leader suspected of directing a deadly bombing in 1994 of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.
“They were killed by members of a terrorist group, Hezbollah, and had help that day from Iran,” which provided “logistical support and funding through its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” Pompeo said at an event in Argentina marking the 25th anniversary of the attack.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signs a guest book during a memorial service marking the death of 85 people who died in a 1994 bombing blamed on Hezbollah, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, July 19, 2019.Pompeo announced two actions against Salman Raouf Salman, who he said was the on-the-ground coordinator for the deadly bombing, and “remains a wanted man who continues to plot terrorism on behalf of Hezbollah.”The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $7 million for information leading to his arrest. The U.S. Treasury Department named Salman a specially designated global terrorist, “which denies him access to the United States financial system.”
Pompeo, who was joined by several ministers from Latin American nations on Friday for talks on counterterrorism, said “solidarity” between countries is the “antidote” to the threat of terror.Pompeo said his four-day Latin American trip was part of a “concerted effort to re-engage with our partners in the hemisphere” as terrorist groups “continue to seek a lasting presence in our hemisphere.”
Argentina’s Foreign Minister Jorge Fauri said, “Argentina will not cease in its struggle to ensure that the Iranian citizens” who carried out the 1994 bombing are “brought to justice in Argentina.”
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, and Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie, shakes hands during a press conference at an international counterterrorism conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, July 19, 2019.Earlier, standing at a memorial at the site of the car bombing, Pompeo lit a candle with Jewish center President Ariel Eichbaum and said the worst terrorist attack in Argentina is a stark reminder of the danger to the Western Hemisphere from Hezbollah and other Middle East-based extremist groups.
“It was a moving reminder that our discussion today isn’t abstract; it’s not theoretical. The risk of terrorism is real for each and every one of us, and each and every one of our citizens,” Pompeo said.
On Monday, Argentina’s Security Ministry officially designated the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group, which is supported by Iran, as a terrorist organization. The move gives the U.S. another ally in a global coalition to contain Iran’s influence in the Middle East and beyond.
Pompeo’s three-day Latin American visit also takes him to Ecuador, Mexico City and San Salvador, where he will seek cooperation on security issues, reinforce U.S. commitment to human rights and democracy, and expand economic opportunities for citizens, State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said during a recent Washington press briefing.
Venezuela is also expected to be an important topic during Pompeo’s trip. On Friday, the U.S. State Department announced sanctions against four more officials in the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro takes part in a military graduation ceremony in Caracas, July 8, 2019.The United States and more than 50 other countries support opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s leader. Guaido contends President Maduro’s re-election last year was invalid and wants early presidential elections. Maduro accuses the opposition of fomenting violence.
Migration will also be addressed when Pompeo meets with Latin American leaders. Some experts say the United States must address the root causes or “push factors” that are compelling people to flee their homes.
“You have to look at the lack of opportunity, the gang activity, the weak institutions in this region, in Central America if you are ever going to stop people from making what is a difficult and dangerous journey to the United States. These people don’t leave taking the decision lightly,” said Benjamin Gedan of the Wilson Center.
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Nation Celebrates 50th Anniversary of 1st Lunar Footsteps
Celebrations are in full swing across the country for the 50th anniversary of humanity’s first footsteps on another world.
Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. Armstrong was the first one out, proclaiming: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”Guests take a selfie photo in front of a new statue of the the Apollo 11 astronauts, from left, Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Thursday, July 18, 2019, in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, cars were backed up for miles Saturday morning outside the visitor complex. In Armstrong’s hometown of Wapakoneta, Ohio, runners competed in “Run to the Moon” races.Preparations are underway in Washington, DC, by NASA for celebrating the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 mission and moon landing, July 19, 2019. (Photo by Diaa Bekheet)
The White House reiterated its goal to send astronauts back to the moon and “take the next giant leap – sending Americans to Mars.” Vice President Mike Pence headed to Kennedy to tour the Apollo 11 launch pad and give a speech.
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Switzerland Says It Is Mediating Talks as Cameroon’s Separatist Crisis Deepens
Switzerland has officially said it is helping the government of Cameroon negotiate with rebels to end the separatist crisis that has killed more than 2,000 people in Cameroon. The Swiss ambassador to Cameroon, Pietro Lazzeri, spoke in Yaounde about attempting reconciliation after more than 20 people were killed within two days of fighting in the crisis-stricken regions.Pietro Lazzeri, Switzerland’s ambassador to Cameroon, says his country is mediating the political crisis that has plagued Cameroon’s English-speaking northwest and southwest regions since 2016. He says the negotiations are being guided by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.Pietro Lazzeri, Switzerland’s ambassador to Cameroon, July 19, 2019. (Moki Kindzeka, VOA)”Over the last months, we have been trying to create dialogue among the parties because we have the acceptance of the parties and we are doing it because we have a certain expertise. We are referees, we are not the players,” said Lazzeri. “We need the willingness of the parties in order to build the dialogue.”Separatists say on social media two meetings already have taken place in Geneva but no details were given.Lazzeri also declined giving details on how far they had gone with negotiations but said his country, in collaboration with the Geneva-based Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, intend to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the crisis that has been claiming so many lives in the restive English speaking regions of Cameroon.He said besides the dialogue, they have been providing humanitarian assistance to the hundreds of thousands affected by the separatist war.The crisis escalated on October 1, 2017, when militant secessionist groups symbolically proclaimed independence from the English-speaking state of Ambazonia.Cameroon President Paul Biya declared war against the separatists in November 2017, calling them terrorists. Biya said he would never negotiate with terrorists who are out to separate his country and that it was his duty to ensure public order, social peace, the unity of the nation and Cameroon’s integrity.In May, Cameroon Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute visited the restive English speaking towns of Bamenda, Buea and Kumba and said Biya had sent him to tell English speakers that the government is open to dialogue, but that separatists cannot be tolerated because Cameroon is one nation and indivisible.Lieutenant General Rene Claude Meka, Cameroon’s defense chief, visits troops in Buea, Cameroon, July 17, 2019. (Moki Kindzeka, VOA)Separatists on social media have maintained they will make the English-speaking regions ungovernable by the central government in Yaounde until they have their independence. They say they will only negotiate with the government in Yaounde if it withdraws all of its troops, which they call occupational forces, from the English-speaking regions, insisting the negotiations must be on their terms.William Arrey, lecturer of peace and conflict studies at the Protestant University of Central Africa, says for successful negotiations to occur and for peace to return, each of the conflicted parties should shift from their original positions.”The conflicted parties are still so stiff at the level of their various positions,” said Arrey. “There is no way we will be able to resolve this conflict if we are not able to shift from our original positions, which we call in conflict management — compromise.”As the Swiss ambassador announced his country was spearheading negotiations, Cameroon’s military said at lease 20 separatist fighters had been killed in battles in the English-speaking villages of Wainamah and Mbot and the towns of Jakiri, Kumba and Njinikom.Lieutenant General Rene Claude Meka, Cameroon’s defense chief, who visited the English-speaking towns of Buea and Bamenda on Thursday, says they will continue to fight until the fighters are defeated.He says although the military has been scoring huge victories, the war continues to rage. Meka says he is calling on the population to assist the military by denouncing separatist fighters and providing information about where where they are hiding so they can be defeated and for peace to return.The United Nations estimates at least 2,000 people have been killed and more than 530,000 displaced since fighting broke out. It says about 1.3 million people are in need of assistance.
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Global Tensions Mount Over Iran’s Seizure of British Oil Tanker
VOA National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.WHITE HOUSE – Global tensions continue to mount over Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, with Britain issuing a stern warning to Tehran and the Islamic Republic maintaining the seizure was a “reciprocal” move. Britain’s Foreign Office said Saturday it summoned Iran’s Charge d’Affaires in London, one day after British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Tehran “may be choosing a dangerous path of illegal and destabilizing behavior” and warned Britain’s “reaction will be considered but robust.”Iran’s powerful Guardian Council said Saturday the seizure was in response to Britain’s participation in the capture two weeks ago of an Iranian oil tanker transporting more than 2 million gallons of Iranian crude oil near the British territory of Gibraltar on Spain’s southern coast.Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei told Iran’s Fars News Agency “the rule of reciprocal action is well-known in international law” and that Iran’s seizure was justifiable given “the illegitimate economic war and seizure of oil tankers.”U.S. President Donald Trump declared after Iran’s Friday seizure that Iran is “nothing but trouble” and said the U.S. will “be working with the U.K.” In response to a question from VOA on the White House South Lawn, Trump said “We have no written agreement [with the British], but I think we have an agreement that is long-standing.”Germany called for the release of the Swedish-owned, British-flagged Stena Impero, with its foreign ministry declaring Iran’s seizure was a “dangerous further aggravation of an already tense situation.”France also called on Iran to release the vessel, saying the seizure “hampers a necessary de-escalation of tensions in the Gulf region.”
Iran’s maritime authorities had requested the capture of the Stena Impero for “not following international maritime regulations,” according to the guard corps, which is a branch of the Iranian armed forces.Personnel on boardThe owners of the Stena Impero, which was heading to Saudi Arabia, say they have been unable to contact their vessel, with 23 personnel on board, which was “heading north towards Iran” after being approached by “unidentified small crafts and a helicopter” in the strait.Drone shot downEarlier Friday, Trump expressed confidence an Iranian drone was downed Thursday in the strait as it approached a U.S. warship.”No doubt about it. No. We shot it down,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.”There’s no question that this was an Iranian drone,” Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, chimed in. “The USS Boxer took it out as the president announced yesterday because it posed a threat to the ship and its crew. It was entirely the right thing to do.”Asked before news of the seizure of the oil tankers became public — if he was worried about a broader clash with Iran in the Strait, Trump replied he was not.”We hope for their sake they don’t do anything foolish. If they do, they will pay a price like nobody’s ever paid a price.”VOA later asked Trump if seizing the tankers was foolish, but he declined to answer specifically.Speaking Friday at a security forum in Aspen, Colorado, U.S. Defense Intelligence Director Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley said Iran is at what he described as an inflection point due to ongoing economic strife as a result of U.S. sanctions.”What you see is an attempt to break that status quo,” Asley said.”We saw this coming a couple of weeks out,” he told the audience, adding that while Tehran does not want war, “there’s always the possibility of miscalculation.”A senior administration official, earlier Friday, told reporters it is anticipated that the Defense Department will release video evidence of the drone shootdown.Iran is denying the United States military shot down one of its drones.”We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on Twitter, adding he is “worried” the U.S. amphibious assault ship had shot down an American military drone “by mistake.”We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else. I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS by mistake!— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) July 19, 2019″The Iranians don’t have a great history with the truth,” responded a senior U.S. official to the assertion from Tehran. “They have a 40-year history of provoking us.”
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Nearly 2 Million Cyclone Survivors in Mozambique at Risk of Severe Food Shortages
The World Food Program warns 1.9 million Mozambicans battered by two devastating cyclones earlier this year are at risk of severe food shortages without urgent international assistance. Hundreds of people were killed, tens of thousands made homeless and livelihoods lost when Cyclones Idai and Kenneth hit Mozambique with devastating force in March and April. The destructive power of the two storms has wreaked havoc on the country’s infrastructure and agriculture.Many crops that were about to be harvested and farm infrastructure were destroyed. The impact of these two disasters lingers on, threatening widespread hunger among survivors of these twin disasters. A man waits to receive food aid outside a camp for displaced survivors of cyclone Idai in Dombe, Mozambique, April 4, 2019.World Food Program spokesman Herve Verhoosel says more than 1.6 million people are suffering from acute food insecurity and the worst is yet to come.“It is expected that the upcoming lean season it will be very difficult in Mozambique with just below 2 million people projected to be in crisis situation if there is no humanitarian intervention before,” Verhoosel said. “The lean season is the period from October this year until the next harvest season in March 2020.” Verhoosel says WFP is planning to assist more than 560,000 people every month through October in both cyclone and drought affected areas. He says his agency hopes to scale up its humanitarian operation when the lean season kicks in in October. If the money is available, he says WFP will provide food rations to one-and-one quarter million people every month until March when the next harvest season begins. He says WFP will need slightly more than $100 million to implement its recovery plan over the next six months.
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Officials Raise Health Concerns as Heatwave Intensifies Over Central, Eastern US
The National Weather Service warned that dangerously high temperatures and humidity in the United States over the weekend could quickly cause heat stress or heat stroke, if precautions are not taken. The NWS advises people to check in on relatives and friends, especially the elderly.Temperatures have been rising in cities from the Midwest to the East Coast because of a high pressure system that has trapped the warm air. City officials are allowing public pools to stay open longer and municipalities are issuing advisories to inform the public about how best to deal with the heat. Forecasters say temperatures in New York City will reach 33 degrees Celsius Saturday, but with the humidity, it will feel like 43 degrees Celsius.Saturday in the nation’s capital will reach 38 degrees Celsius and Philadelphia will go up to 36 degrees Celsius. The World Meteorological Organization says June 2019 was the planet’s warmest month ever. In addition, both land and sea temperatures set record highs in June. June was also Europe’s hottest June on record, according to the WMO. Greenland, Alaska and parts of South America, Africa and Asia had temperatures substantially above normal in June, according to the WMO. The organization said India and Pakistan experienced a severe heatwave in the early part of June, before the onset of the monsoon season.
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Millions Still Believe the 1969 Moon Landing Was a Hoax
Despite the huge amount of evidence, the dust and rock samples, the television footage, and the hundreds of thousands of people who made it happen, polls show as many as 6% of Americans believe the Apollo 11 astronauts never landed on the moon.Conspiracy theorists continue to insist the entire mission 50 years ago was an elaborate hoax, produced at the Area 51 Air Force testing range in Nevada or on a Hollywood movie soundstage by legendary director Stanley Kubrick.
In Exclusive VOA Interviews, NASA Astronauts Reflect on Historic Moon Missions video player.
Art Harmon, a former legislative director for the U.S. House or Representatives, currently leads the Coalition to The conspiracy minded claim photos the astronauts took on the moon do not show any stars in the background. In reality, the cameras were unable to capture the faint light emitted by stars,If the moon landing was real, they ask, why didn’t the lander scatter dust when it touched down? In reality, the lander was traveling horizontally much of the time and the thrusters that controlled its landing were not pointed down. Radiation from the sun also made the dust highly charged and it clung to the moon’s surface.Every claim that no one went to the moon can be easily explained by science, physics or evidence brought back to Earth, Harmon said. He adds the conspiracy theories are “an insult to those 400,000 Americans who worked to get us to the moon and back.”Those hundreds of thousands of people, including scientists, engineers and factory workers, were scattered around the world.One astronaut who actually walked on the moon in 1969 has no tolerance for those who call it a massive hoax.When one conspiracy theorist challenged Buzz Aldrin and called him a liar, Aldrin punched him in the face.
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Explosion at Gas Factory in Central China Kills at Least 12
The death toll has risen to 12 in a gas plant explosion in central China, authorities said Saturday.Another 13 people were seriously injured and three others remained missing, China’s Ministry of Emergency Management said. About 270 firefighters and rescue workers have completed three rounds of search and rescue, the ministry said.The Friday evening explosion in Yima city in Henan province shattered windows 3 kilometers (2 miles) away and knocked off doors inside buildings, Chinese state media reports said.The official Xinhua news agency said the explosion occurred in the air separation unit of the Yima gas factory of the Henan Coal Gas (Group) Co., Ltd. The blast was not in the gas tank areas, and all production has been stopped.China experiences frequent industrial accidents despite orders from the central government to improve safety at factories, power plants and mines.More than 60 people died in March in a chemical plant explosion in eastern Jiangsu province.Among the worst accidents was a massive 2015 explosion at a chemical warehouse in the port city of Tianjin that killed 173 people, most of them firefighters and police officers. That blast was blamed on illegal construction and unsafe storage of volatile materials.
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Japan Animation Studio Chief Mourns Bright, Young Staff
Many victims of an arson attack on an animation studio in the western Japanese city of Kyoto were young with bright futures, some joining only in April, the company president said Saturday, as the death told climbed to 34.Thursday’s attack on Kyoto Animation, famous in Japan and overseas for its series and movies, was the worst mass killing in two decades in a country with some of the world’s lowest crime rates.Company president Hideaki Hatta said many of the victims were young women.“Some of them joined us just in April. And on the eighth of July, I gave them a small, but their first, bonus,” he said. “People who had a promising future lost their lives. I don’t know what to say. Rather than feeling anger, I just don’t have words,” Hatta said.Policemen stand behind a police line at the torched Kyoto Animation building in KyotoFifteen of the victims were in their 20s and 11 were in their 30s, public broadcaster NHK said. Six were in their 40s and one was at least 60. The age of the latest victim, a man who died in hospital, was not known. The names of the victims have not been disclosed.The studio had about 160 employees with an average age of 33, according to its website.Police have confirmed the identity of the suspect as Shinji Aoba, but have declined to comment further.Aoba had been convicted of robbery and carried out the attack because he believed his novel had been plagiarized, NHK and other media have said.But Hatta said he had no idea about any plagiarism claim, adding he had not seen any correspondence from the suspect.Police have not arrested Aoba, as he is being treated for heavy burns, NHK said, although police have taken the unusual step of releasing his name.Two days after the fire, animation fans gathered near the burned studio to add to a growing pile of flowers, drinks and other offerings.A man prays for victims in front of the torched Kyoto Animation building in KyotoBing Xie, 25, a Chinese student at Kyoto University, said she could not forgive the arsonist.“The criminal who does this seems to have been mentally disturbed, but I can’t forgive him. The young people at Kyoto Animation were beautiful and warm and it is hard to accept they are gone.”Police guarded the site as investigators, some on the roof near where many died in a connecting stairwell, examined the blackened building. The smell of smoke lingered over the quiet suburban neighborhood.Hatta said the building needed to be torn down because it was so badly damaged.Tributes to the victims lit up social media, with world leaders and Apple Inc.’s chief executive offering condolences. The hashtag #PrayforKyoAni, as the studio is known among fans, has become popular.
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Hawaii Seeks Peaceful End to Telescope Protests
Officials in Hawaii said Friday that they will not call up additional National Guard troops or use force on peaceful telescope protesters blocking access to the state’s highest peak.Gov. David Ige said that his priority is to keep everyone in the community safe, including the activists at the base of Mauna Kea. The 80 guard members on the Big Island since the start of the protests will remain, state officials said.“We will not be utilizing tear gas, as some of the rumors have been (saying),” Ige said. “We are looking for the best way forward without hurting anyone.”The governor said last week that National Guard units would be used to transport personnel and equipment as well as to enforce road closures.Hawaii Gov. David Ige speaks at a news conference in Honolulu, July 17, 2019, about issuing an emergency proclamation in response to protesters blocking a road to prevent the construction of a giant telescope.Ige said Friday no more troops would be called in to the Big Island, but he stopped short of removing an emergency proclamation that he enacted Wednesday. The emergency order broadened the state’s authority to remove protesters from the mountain, including the use of National Guard for security.Big Island Mayor Harry Kim, who met with Ige Friday morning as about 800 to 1,200 activists gathered on the mountain, said he hopes the protesters and state officials will take some time to discuss a better way forward.“We all need to step back a little bit,” Kim said. “This is still our home, this is still our family. On both sides.”Presidential candidates commentThe move comes after some notable politicians weighed in on the issue Friday.U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii followed fellow Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in supporting protesters.She said in a statement that Ige should withdraw the emergency declaration and sit down with protesters to find a peaceful way forward.“Trust must be earned — it is wrong that state leaders have approved the development of a new telescope on a new site on Mauna Kea, without first ensuring the timely removal of decommissioned facilities along with full restoration of those sites,” Gabbard said. “This failure and a history of broken promises has resulted in the standoff that we are seeing today.”Earlier in the day, Sanders said in a tweet that has since been deleted: “We must guarantee native people’s right to self-determination and their right to protest. I stand with Native Hawaiians who are peacefully demonstrating to protect their sacred mountain of Mauna Kea.”Sanders’ campaign didn’t immediately respond to an email asking why the tweet was deleted.Protesters brace for arrestsProtest leader Kaho’okahi Kanuha said protesters have been bracing for law enforcement to show up in force ever since the governor signed the emergency proclamation. That was the day officers arrested 34 protesters.
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Report: US May Set Refugee Cap at Zero for Coming Year
The Trump administration is considering more dramatic cuts to the U.S. refugee program, with one official suggesting the White House not allow any refugees into the country in the coming fiscal year.In a Politico report released Thursday, government officials from several federal agencies attended a meeting last week and discussed several options that included a ceiling of 10,000 — well below the current refugee ceiling of 30,000, which is already an all-time low for the program.The U.S. resettled 23,190 refugees since the beginning of fiscal 2019 last October. With 2½ months remaining until the count resets, the U.S. is on track to fall short of this year’s cap, according to U.S. State Department data.Since the so-called “refugee ceiling” is an upper limit, and not a quota, the government is not required to meet the annual admissions number.Multiple figuresScott Arbeiter, president of World Relief, one of the primary refugee resettlement nongovernmental organizations in the U.S., said he has heard multiple figures proposed for the coming fiscal year, all well below the program’s historical annual threshold of around 60,000 to 70,000.In President Barack Obama’s last year two years in office, his administration made a concerted effort to increase the number of admitted refugees, with a particular focus on Syrians fleeing conflict and persecution.And since the U.S. president is the one who ultimately makes the final decision when it comes to the number of refugee admissions, President Donald Trump has leeway to further reduce the total allowed.“The president hasn’t made an actual decision, that won’t happen till October. But I suspect they’re testing the waters a bit to see if, in fact, the public will respond to this, and if there will be any public outrage,” Arbeiter told VOA. “So it is a proposed number, it is not a final number, but a number anywhere between zero, and we’ve heard 3,000, 7,000 10,000, but anywhere in that range, what it effectively does is it closes the door on refugees, and effectively constitutes a total ban on refugees.”Earlier ban attemptsTrump repeatedly attempted a ban on refugees with multiple executive orders on travel during his first year in office, citing “national security” concerns.Those worries, however, were not substantiated by data and no scientific study demonstrates a correlation between refugee admissions and elevated crime or security risks.Each year, the president makes an annual determination, after appropriate consultation with Congress, regarding the refugee admissions ceiling for the following fiscal year. That determination is expected to be made before the start of fiscal 2020 on Oct. 1, 2019.The U.S. State Department is one of the leading agencies involved in the deliberation process with the White House over refugee admissions. In an emailed statement Friday, a spokesperson reiterated the president makes the decision on the ceiling every year “after appropriate consultation with Congress.”Beyond that, however, the spokesperson said the State Department would “not discuss internal and interagency deliberations or communications involved in such deliberations.”Last year, however, the White House was criticized by members of Congress after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the fiscal 2019 cap would be 30,000, before the legally required meetings with Capitol Hill lawmakers happened.
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Plan to Slow Western Wildfires Would Clear Strips of Land
SALT LAKE CITY — The Trump administration is proposing an ambitious plan to slow Western wildfires by bulldozing, mowing or revegetating large swaths of land along 11,000 miles (17,700 kilometers) of terrain in the West.
The plan that was announced this summer and presented at public open houses, including one in Salt Lake City this week, would create strips of land known fuel breaks'' on about 1,000 square miles (2,700 square kilometers) managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in an area known as the Great Basin in parts of Idaho, Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Utah. It gives us a chance to get in front of it and put fires out more quickly,” Draper said.
The estimated cost would be about $55 million to $192 million, a wide range that illustrates the variance in costs for the different types of fuel breaks. Some would completely clear lands, others would mow down vegetation and a third method would replant the area with more fire-resistant vegetation.
It would cost another $18 million to $107 million each year to maintain the strips and ensure vegetation doesn't regrow on the strips.
Wildfire experts say the program could help slow fires, but it won't help in the most extreme fires that can jump these strips. The breaks could also fragment wildlife habitat.
An environmental group calls it an ill-conceived and expensive plan that has no scientific backing to show it will work.
FILE - Smoke from wildfires rises from a hillside near power lines outside Azusa, Calif., June 20, 2016.A U.S. Geological Survey report issued last year found that fuel breaks could be an important tool to reduce damage caused by wildfires, but the agency cautioned that no scientific studies have been done to prove their effectiveness and that they could alter habitat for sagebrush plants and animal communities.
The Bureau of Land Management says it has done about 1,200 assessments of fuel breaks since 2002 and found they help control fires about 80 percent of the time.
The strips of land that would be 500 feet or less would be created along highways, rural roads and other areas already disturbed, such as rights of way for pipelines, said Marlo Draper, the Bureau of Land Management's supervisory project manager for the Idaho Great Basin team. Should cut costs
They won't prevent fires, but they should reduce the costs of having to battle major blazes because fuel breaks reduce the intensity, flame length and spread of fires and keep firefighters safer, Draper said.
It cost about $373 million over the last decade to fight 21 fires that were larger than 156 square miles (404 square kilometers) on lands managed by the bureau in Utah, Nevada and Idaho, according to a report explaining the proposal.
Western wildfires have grown more lethal because of extreme drought and heat associated with climate change, and because housing developments have encroached on the most fire-prone grasslands and brushy canyons. Many of the ranchers and farmers who once managed those landscapes are gone, leaving terrain thick with vegetation that can explode into flames.
The proposal is out for public comment and pending environmental review. If approved, some of the land could be cleared as soon as next year while other projects could take several years, she said.
The plan comes after President Donald Trump last December issued an executive order calling on the Interior Department to prioritize reducing wildfire risks on public lands.
This proposal doesn’t include U.S. National Forest Service lands. Most states have their own plans for fire prevention, which sometimes include thinning of forests.
FILE – Firefighters create a firebreak near a home in Middletown, Calif., Sept. 13, 2015.Fuel breaks are a useful tool if used with other wildfire prevention methods that can keep firefighters safer and potentially help in broad expanses of land because they are long and thin, said Lenya Quinn-Davidson, the area fire adviser for the University of California Cooperative Extension. They can especially helpful by providing perimeters for prescribed burns. But they must be in the right places, and they don’t stop fires, she said.
David Peterson, an ecology professor at the University of Washington and former federal research scientist, said the plan will likely produce mixed success in slowing down fires. But he said the plan will not help with extreme fires that produce embers and flames that jump over fire breaks. He said the risk of fragmenting important habitat and harming animals like sage grouse is real. ‘Long-term’ funding
The U.S. government must also be committed to the chore of maintaining the areas or the plan won’t help and could open the door for more cheatgrass to grow in, which fuels fires.
We are buying into a long-term commitment of funding,'' Peterson said. This seems like the Interior is trying to demonstrate they are doing something, and they want something that is impressive to people, like: `Look at us, we’ve bulldozed 11,000 miles of desert,’ ” Donnelly said. “Ultimately, this is a misguided effort.”
Patrick Donnelly, the Center for Biological Diversity's Nevada state director, said the plan could break up habitat for sage grouse, deer and the Pygmy rabbit. He said the money would be better spent planting native seed and sagebrush to get rid of non-native plants that make fires worse.
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Bangladesh Calls for Financial Sanctions on Myanmar, as Country Pushes for Rohingya Repatriation
Bangladesh wants Myanmar to repatriate the nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees who have fled genocide, and a top Bangladeshi official wants international financial sanctions to back it up.Much of the Muslim-majority ethnic group has fled to Bangladesh after Myanmar’s latest brutal crackdown in 2017, which included mass killings, sexual assaults and arson. The military has justified its crackdown, which involved mass killings, gang rapes and widespread arson, as a way of eradicating Rohingya insurgents.Foreign Minister Abul Kalam Abdul Momen called Wednesday for the international community to place concerted financial pressure on Myanmar in an interview with VOA Bangla. More than 900,000 Rohingya live in camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district, straining local facilities and services. FILE – A young Rohingya refugee stands in her house which has been destroyed by Cyclone Mora at Balukhali Refugee Camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has begun calling for repatriation, telling a French ambassador Wednesday, “How long will we bear the burden? The sooner the FILE – Rohingya refugees collect drinking water at the Shalbagan refugee camp in Teknaf, Bangladesh, March 5, 2019.China and Russia, two of Myanmar’s more powerful allies, also could hold some sway, Momen suggested.Both countries, however, have boycotted U.N. talks on the Rohingya crisis. In 2018, China advocated slashing the proposed budget for addressing the refugee crisis, reducing by half the original number of nearly $30 million. China’s proposal didn’t go through, but the country continues resisting talk of sanctioning Myanmar for its treatment of Rohingya people.Could that change? Bangladesh asked China to encourage Myanmar’s repatriation of the Rohingya refugees, said Momen, and China “assured us they’ll do it.”The Rohingya have faced decades of systemic violence and discrimination in Myanmar, which sees the group as illegal migrants from Bangladesh. A 1982 citizenship law didn’t include them as one of 135 recognized indigenous groups, effectively rendering the population of 1.1 million Rohingya stateless — one of the largest such communities in the world.In addition to periodic violent ethnic cleansing campaigns, Myanmar’s government has denied the Rohingya access to everyday services such as education, healthcare and freedom of movement.
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Russia’s Putin Says He ‘Sympathized’ With Trump Before US Election
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had “sympathized” with Donald Trump before the 2016 presidential election that swept Trump to power because of his desire to restore normal relations with Russia. In an interview with U.S. filmmaker Oliver Stone dated June 19 and published on the Kremlin website Friday, Putin also said that any alleged Russian hackers were still not able to influence the vote’s outcome. The Russian president reiterated that he had not and would not interfere in U.S. elections. The Moscow-Washington ties have long been strained by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement findings, denied by the Kremlin, that Russia tried to influence the results of the 2016 U.S. presidential election to boost Trump’s chances of winning the White House. U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies say Russia used disinformation and other tactics to support Trump’s 2016 campaign. Putin has denied it. “And whichever our bloggers — I don’t know who works there in the internet — had expressed their point of view on the situation in the USA in this or that way, this had not been able to play a decisive role. This is nonsense,” Putin said. “But we had sympathized with him [Trump], because he said that he wanted to restore normal relations with Russia. What’s bad in this? And of course, we couldn’t unwelcome such a position.”
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Trump Administration Trying to Bring A$AP Rocky Home
First lady Melania Trump says her husband’s administration is working with the State Department to try to bring rapper A$AP Rocky home.The president also tells reporters that many members of the African American community have asked him to intervene.The platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated artist has been behind bars in Sweden while police investigate a fight he was involved in in Stockholm earlier this month.Kim Kardashian West, Diddy, Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendes and Nicki Minaj are some of the celebrities who have shown public support for the Grammy-nominated Rocky.Kardashian West thanked Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner on Twitter Thursday evening for their “efforts to Free ASAP Rocky & his two friends.”She says their “commitment to justice reform is so appreciated.”
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Zimbabwe’s Food Situation Moving Toward Emergency, UN Says
Zimbabwe’s food situation is moving from a crisis to an emergency because of El Nino-induced drought and the ongoing economic meltdown, the United Nations said.Plaxedes Chibura of Epworth, located about 60 kilometers (37 miles) southeast of Harare, is in desperate need of food aid. “We have resorted to just one meal a day,” said Chibura, 48, who struggles to care for her grandchildren. “At times, it’s just the vegetables we get in our garden. We are struggling to get money to buy food. I wish donors would bring us food, especially for the children, as I am not employed. Even school fees I can’t pay. One of them [the children] was not well, so medical bills.”A child waits as Plaxedes Chibura prepares sadza — Zimbabwe’s staple food made of corn — in Epworth, Zimbabwe, July 18, 2019. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)According to a recent report by U.N. aid agencies and the government, Zimbabwe needs about $218 million to stave off hunger for about 5.5 million people between now and April 2020, when the next harvest is expected. That’s assuming there will be enough rain.Bishow Parajuli, the coordinator of U.N. agencies in Zimbabwe, is urging farmers to invest in irrigation and small grains as part of efforts to reduce the effects of climate. The world body says Zimbabwe is among several southern African nations hit by extreme weather in the 2018-19 growing season. The drought has devastated crops — especially corn, which is used to make the staple food sadza, a thick porridge that is served with relish. In addition, Cyclone Idai in March destroyed many crops a few weeks before harvest time.”Unfortunately, we are moving from a crisis to an emergency, which is pretty serious,” Parajuli said. “Also the economic challenges facing the country, people have lost their income. The situation is really precarious.”The drought has also affected the water supply. Michael Chideme, the spokesman for Harare, says two of the capital’s reservoirs have dried out and others are following suit. Water rationing has begun.Zimbabwe’s hopes now depend on “the generosity of the international community,” Parajuli said.
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Zimbabwe’s Food Situation Moving Toward Emergency, UN Says
The United Nations says Zimbabwe’s food situation is moving from a crisis to an emergency. It says a majority of the population is food insecure because of El Nino-induced drought and the ongoing economic meltdown. Columbus Mavhunga has the story from a poor township just outside the capital, Harare.
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Spain’s Socialists, Far-Left Party Move Closer to Govt Deal
Spain’s center-left Socialist party and the United We Can party edged closer to a deal on forming a coalition government after the far-left party’s leader removed a key obstacle by saying Friday he would not insist on being part of a future Cabinet.Isabel Celaa, the spokeswoman for the Socialist caretaker government, said acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was ready to create a coalition with the United We Can party, so long as its leader, Pablo Iglesias, was not part of it.Sanchez said Thursday he has deep differences of opinion with Iglesias on such issues as the Catalonia region’s demands for independence, which the Socialists oppose.Nevertheless, Celaa said Friday that “the offer of a coalition government is on the table” for United We Can to consider before parliament next week holds confidence votes on the Socialist party’s bid to take office.Iglesias signaled he was thinking of taking the offer.“I won’t be the Socialists’ excuse for there not to be a coalition of parties on the left,” he said in a tweet hours after Celaa spoke.However, he said he wants his party’s Cabinet seats to be proportional to the number of parliamentary seats it captured in April’s general election, where United We Can earned 42 seats, compared with 123 for the Socialists.The Socialists require parliament’s endorsement and are shy of the 176 votes they need to achieve a majority in the 350-seat chamber next Tuesday. Even with United We Can’s backing, Sanchez would still need other smaller parties’ support to win that vote.If that bid fails, a second vote is scheduled for Thursday, when Sanchez will only need to get more “Yes” votes than “No votes.
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Promise, Peril in Malaysia’s Move to Lower Voting Age
Parties on either side of Malaysia’s deep political divide are hoping to capitalize on a bipartisan bill to lower the country’s voting age from 21 to 18, a move likely to swell the ranks of eligible voters.The sudden influx of first-time voters, however, could also backfire on either side and risks amplifying some of Malaysia’s thorniest political problems, analysts and observers warn.Malaysia’s lower house on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved the constitutional amendment, which would not only lower the voting age but automatically register citizens as they come of age. Together, the changes could boost the country’s voter rolls 50 percent by the time of the next general election in 2023.The Senate must vote on the measure in 30 days and is expected to add its endorsement, fulfilling a campaign promise of the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition, which ended Barisan Nasional’s six-decade run in power in an election upset last year. The measure will also bring Malaysia’s voting age in line with most countries.FILE – Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, center, shows document of Registration of Pakatan Harapan “Alliance of Hope” during a press conference in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, May 17, 2018.James Chin, director of the University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute, said Pakatan Harapan was banking on most of Malaysia’s youngest voters to stick with it through the next election, as they did in 2018; but, he said the last poll would likely prove a poor bellwether for the next, now that the coalition has lost its outsider appeal.”The problem is that you can’t apply the same rules anymore because Pakatan is no longer in opposition. In other words, people supported you previously because they liked the fact that you keep criticizing the government, you keep attacking the government. But now you’re part of government; it’s much more different. So if things go wrong, people will actually blame you rather than support you,” he said.After years of going under-registered by competing parties scheming to weed out non-partisans, automatic registration will also boost the proportion of eligible voters from the country’s majority ethnic Malay community at the expense of others, said Chin.That could prove problematic for Pakatan Harapan, which drew on the votes of large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities to win in 2018, and a boon for the nationalist parties it bested.In an opinion piece for the New Straits Times, a local paper, Deputy Defense Minister Liew Chin Tong, a strategist for one of the ruling parties, said the flood of young voters unburdened by old allegiances heralded an end to Malaysia’s toxic racial politics.Analysts and observers find the promise specious at best. They said Malaysia’s ethnic and religious fault lines were too deep to fade without changing the way the country runs its elections.”Currently the system does not encourage non-communal division; that’s ultimately the problem. Adding more voters will not overcome that, but there is a chance it may actually make it worse,” said Wong Chin Huat, a political analyst at the Penang Institute, a local research organization.”Worse because you have more people whose interests would be at stake, and it’s simply just more uncertainty. The volatility will get amplified with more people in the game.”Thomas Fann, chairman of Bersih, a local non-government group that campaigns for free and fair elections, agreed, noting the rise of Islamic parties and the madrassas – religious schools – shaping many of Malaysia’s soon-to-be eligible voters.But Fann said Pakatan Harapan could try to hold on to some of the youth vote by wielding the power of incumbency during what’s left of its current term.”Pakatan Harapan has four more years. I think that they will probably be coming out with policies that will be friendly to younger voters, and in that sense younger voters may still be leaning toward Pakatan,” he said, naming job creation and vocational training as likely winners.Fann also warned of another looming effect of the coming amendments.Because Malaysia’s urban centers tend to be younger than the country as a whole, he said, constituencies that are already “supersized” will become “megasupersized,” further diluting the value of their votes in Malaysia’s first-past-the-post, or winner-takes-all, system.The government is not due to redraw constituencies for another seven years. Fann said authorities could trigger an early redrawing, but only with another constitutional amendment, which would likely prove a tougher sell than lowering the voting age.Chin Huat said the new voters could take out their frustrations on the ruling parties if the boundaries stay put.”What happens is that the urban youth may get very angry if there’s no redelineation that takes place after the full expansion of [the] electorate, because what it means is that I get a vote now, but my vote is worth a fifth, a sixth of someone else. And they would not accept any explanation but probably blame the new government,” he said.Chin Huat also warned that the coming youth vote could add to the country’s combustible mix of tribal politics and first-past-the-post elections. An electoral reform committee on which he sits has suggested moving toward more proportional representation to help defuse the tension but gotten little traction with parties.”I would say that there have not been very warm responses across the board,” he said. “People do not see the danger is coming.”
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US Says It has Clear Evidence Navy Ship Downed Iranian Drone
A U.S. official says “we have very clear evidence” the USS Boxer shot down an Iranian drone that threatened the U.S. Navy warship in the Strait of Hormuz. “We would anticipate there’s video” that will be released by the Defense Department, a senior administration official said early Friday. President Donald Trump said Thursday the warship destroyed an Iranian drone that was threatening the ship and its crew.Iran is denying the allegations.”We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on Twitter, adding he is “worried” the U.S. amphibious assault ship had shot down an American military drone “by mistake.”We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else. I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS by mistake!— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) Iranian versions of the American RQ-170 drone which were used in a military exercise in the Gulf in Iran, involving dozens of drones, are seen on a runway, in this undated handout photo.The amphibious ship USS Boxer “was in international waters conducting a planned inbound transit of the Strait of Hormuz. A fixed wing unmanned aerial system (UAS) approached Boxer and closed within a threatening range. The ship took defensive action against the UAS to ensure the safety of the ship and its crew,” according to a U.S. Defense Department statement. Iranian offerU.S. officials are also dismissing an offer proposed by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to offer permanent scrutiny of his country’s nuclear sites in exchange for permanent sanctions relief.”The president has repeatedly said he is willing to have a conversation with Iranian leaders. If Iran wants to make a serious gesture, it should start by ending uranium enrichment immediately and having an actual decision maker attempt to negotiate a deal that includes a permanent end to Iran’s malign nuclear ambitions, including its development of nuclear-capable missiles,” a senior U.S. official told VOA. On Friday, another official elaborated that the Trump administration wants “to see those offers coming from someone who has decision-making power, which he does not.” The official also brushed off Zarif’s gesture. “We’ve seen absolutely no evidence he has decision-making power,” said the senior administration official, adding that any offers from Tehran need to come from either Supreme Leader Ali Khameini or Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. FILE – An MH-60S Sea Hawk lands on the flight deck of USS Boxer in the Arabian Sea off Oman, July 16, 2019.In a briefing for reporters, a senior official emphasized that Trump desires to change Iran’s behavior through diplomacy and economic pressure and “he has no interest in an additional war in the Middle East” but “if they continue to take provocative acts that threaten our assets, our ships, commerce in the region, we’ll respond.” Action against HezbollahThe United States on Friday also declared it is beginning to take increased action against Hezbollah, which one senior official characterizes as “a global terrorist organization sponsored and paid for by Iran.” Asked by VOA whether Tehran dictates where and when Hezbollah will strike or if it is acting independently, the senior official replied: “Both. It depends.” The Treasury Department is offering a $7 million reward for credible and actionable information leading to the apprehension of a senior Hezbollah operative, Salman Raouf Salman, for “perpetrating and plotting terrorist attacks in the Western Hemisphere.” U.S. officials say Salman coordinated the 1994 attack on the largest Jewish community center in South America. The bombing of the building in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killed 85 people and injured hundreds of others. “We believe he is somewhere in the Middle East,” a senior U.S. official replied when asked by VOA what information the government has on Salman’s current location. U.S. officials say Salman was the handler for Mohammed Hamdar, arrested in Peru in 2014 for planning a terrorist operation in that South American country.
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2020 Dems Grapple with How To Pay for ‘Medicare for All’
Democratic presidential candidates campaigning on “Medicare for All” are wrestling with how to pay for the dramatic overhaul of the American health care system.Bernie Sanders, the chief proponent, says “Medicare for All” could cost up to $40 trillion over a decade. He’s been the most direct in discussing how he’d finance it, including higher taxes on the middle class which he argues would ultimately cost less than the current health care system.But his rivals who also support “Medicare for All” have offered relatively few firm details so far about how they’d pay for it beyond raising taxes on top earners.As health care dominates the early days of the Democratic primary, some experts say candidates won’t be able to duck the question for long.
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China Calls on US To ‘Correct’ Iran Sanctions
China urged Washington on Friday to “correct” sanctions imposed on Chinese companies accused of helping Iran acquire materials for its nuclear program.U.S. pressure on Iran and its “long-arm jurisdiction” against companies in third countries is the “root cause” of tension with Tehran, a foreign ministry spokesman said.“China has consistently and resolutely opposed the United States imposing unilateral sanctions and so-called long-armed jurisdiction over other countries, including China,” said the spokesman, Geng Shuang. “We urge the United States to immediately correct this wrong approach and earnestly respect the legitimate rights and interests of all parties,”The U.S. Treasury said Thursday it imposed sanctions on what it called a network of front companies and agents. It said they are based in Iran, China and Belgium. The Treasury gave no details but said the purchases violated U.N. restrictions on materials that can be used for nuclear programs.Geng said Beijing opposes nuclear proliferation but rejects Washington’s unilateral sanctions.“We resolutely oppose any form of proliferation activities, always strictly implement relevant international obligations and stay committed to international cooperation on non-proliferation, Geng said.
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South Africa Mourns ‘White Zulu’ Johnny Clegg
South African singer and musician Johnny Clegg, one of the loudest voices in pop during the anti-apartheid movement, is being widely mourned in the country following his death earlier this week.
The so-called “White Zulu” — so named for his use of indigenous South African music and dance – passed away at age 66, after a battle with pancreatic cancer.Musician Sipho Mchunu was just 17 when he met the young man who would change his life — and South Africa’s music scene.
Mchunu was walking down the street when Clegg, just 16, approached him and asked him to sing him a song. He did, and the rest, he says, is history: the two formed a band, Juluka, and became known for their inventive use of Zulu songs and dance. In 1990, they became the biggest-selling world music group on the planet.In this photo taken on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, musician Johnny Clegg on stage at a farewell concert in Johannesburg.‘He taught me a lot also’
Clegg was no ordinary singer — and, Mchunu says, no ordinary South African. His goal was to unite South Africans across color lines. But Mchunu says the learning went both ways.
“I’ve never been to school so I can’t read and write,” he told VOA this week in Johannesburg. “So he made me understand the white people, a little bit of the culture. I guess you could say he helped me a lot. I helped him too. But I don’t feel like, when the people they say, “you taught him a lot.’ I say, ‘he taught me a lot also.’ So in Zulu, we call that ‘izandla ziyagezana,’ the hands wash each other.”
‘He captured the imagination’On the streets of the hip Johannesburg suburb of Melville, South Africans of all races mourned the loss.
“You can compare him to any international performer,” said music fan Philip Brook. “For instance, Queen was a true performer, a true artist. So was Johnny Clegg. He captured the imagination of the people, he told a beautiful story.”
He also continues to inspire a new generation of musicians, like 20-year-old student Nipo Mubaiwa.
“When we speak about legends and icons we’re actually speaking about people like Johnny Clegg, people like Freddie Mercury and so I think for me that’s a really iconic moment,” she said. “And you know that you created such a big impact when you pass away and so many people are just in a state of shock because of the amount of impact that you had on their lives.”
Mchunu taught Clegg how to dance and stick-fight like a Zulu man, and was by Clegg’s side as they rocketed to stardom with hits like “Asimbonanga” and “Impi,” a song so controversial it was banned by the apartheid regime.In this photo taken Saturday, July 2017, South African musician Johnny Clegg, middle, and the dancers perform during “The Final Journey” concert at the Grand Arena in Cape Town, South Africa.Fans big and small
But Clegg’s music, which dealt with big issues and major figures like former South African President Nelson Mandela, also touched the hearts of ordinary South Africans. Street guard Konose Kula says he will forever carry Clegg’s music in his heart.
“Johnny Clegg was the best,” he said. “He was a super musician. Yeah. He was a legend.”
Kula, too, is a musician, and plays the guitar and the piano. And, he says, the legend himself may be gone, but the White Zulu’s music will never die.
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