A second U.S. resident has pleaded guilty this week to federal charges stemming from an elaborate visa fraud scheme to bring Armenians to the United States under the guise of being folk dance performers.Armenian national and California resident Hrachya Atoyan, 32, took part in an illegal transnational network that told U.S. immigration authorities the supposed dancers were coming to America to perform and therefore qualified for “Culturally Unique Artist” visas, according to the Department of Justice.Atoyan and others in the network are said to have charged Armenian nationals between $3,000 and $10,000 to come to the U.S. as part of a fake dance troupe.Stella Boyadjian, a New York resident accused of leading the fraud ring, pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges in March, but has not been sentenced. A third defendant, Diana Grigoryan, also has been charged in the case.Investigators said Boyadjian used the Big Apple Music Awards Foundation, a nonprofit organization she created, as a front for the scheme, according to a 2018 indictment.Boyadjian and others had fake “dance certificates” made, arranged photo shoots “to make it appear as though they were traditional Armenian musicians, singers and performers,” and created flyers about fake concerts to justify a performance “tour” for the visa applicants, according to the indictment.”Exploiting the P-3 nonimmigrant visa classification system for culturally unique artists and entertainers makes a mockery out of the legitimate performers for whom that visa was intended,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. Cultural visas are intended to allow people to “temporarily travel to the United States to perform, teach or coach as artists or entertainers,” according to the DOJ.Atoyan is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 20, 2020.
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Month: October 2019
Leader of South Africa’s Leading Opposition Party Resigns
The first black leader of South Africa’s largest opposition party resigned Wednesday in a blow to efforts to shed the liberal party’s image as representing the country’s white minority.Mmusi Maimane stepped down as the Democratic Alliance’s leader shortly after the return of former party leader Helen Zille as its chair. Zille has been criticized over past comments suggesting that colonialism wasn’t all bad.
Tensions have risen after the DA saw a loss of support in this year’s general elections, winning 20.7% of votes, down from 22.2% in 2014, even as the ruling African National Congress saw its weakest victory in a quarter-century. Some of the DA’s more conservative voters opted instead for the right-wing Afrikaner party Freedom Front Plus.
A recent internal review heavily criticized Maimane for the poor election performance. He has been accused of pursuing the support of South Africa’s black majority at the expense of the DA’s traditional, mainly white, base.
“Over the past few months it has become more and more clear to me that there exists those in the DA who do not see eye-to-eye with me, who do not share the vision for the party and the direction it was taking,” Maimane told reporters while announcing his resignation.
“There have been several months of consistent and coordinated attacks on me and my leadership, to ensure that this project failed or I failed,” he added.
Earlier this week the DA saw the resignation of Herman Mashaba, the mayor of South Africa’s economic hub, Johannesburg, and another of the party’s prominent black leaders.
Political analyst Prince Mashele said the resignations signal a backward step for the party.
“The DA is going back to its original self, which is a party of white people, focusing on the interests of white, and nothing else,” Mashele said. “I have no doubt that now that Mmusi is gone we will see an exodus of black leaders and members who will leave the party.”
The analyst said the DA appeared to be more worried about “the white voters who deserted the party and voted for the Freedom Front Plus than about black people not voting for them.”
While the ruling ANC won a new low of 57.5% of the vote in this year’s elections, hurt badly by public outrage over corruption, it was the populist Economic Freedom Fighters party that picked up ground. It won 10.7% of the vote, up from 6.3% five years ago in its first election showing.
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Trump Seeks to Block California as Global Climate Leader
The Trump administration on Wednesday sued to try to block California from engaging in international efforts against climate change, charging that the state exceeded its constitutional authority by joining with a Canadian province in a program to cut climate-damaging fossil fuel emissions.The suit, filed in federal court in California, is the latest Trump administration push to stymie state efforts aimed at contesting the administration’s rollbacks of environmental and climate protections. California says it’s being punished for its advocacy.The complaint, which names Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and others, alleges that California usurped federal power to conduct foreign policy and make international accords when it signed an ongoing agreement with Quebec to limit emissions.California “veered outside its proper constitutional lane,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark said in a statement.Newsom countered that the administration was “continuing its political vendetta against California, our climate policies and the health of our communities.”President Donald Trump mocks the science of climate change and made pulling out of the Paris international climate accord one of the first acts after taking office.California and other states have filed dozens of legal challenges to administration rollbacks of environmental regulations and laws. Tensions between the Newsom and the administration escalated when Trump tried to compel California to join in his efforts to relax Obama-era mileage standards for passenger vehicles.Wednesday’s suit concerns California’s cap and trade program. Industries in the program commit to purchasing pollution “credits” or to reduce their consumption of climate-changing oil, gas and goal. Former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger started the program, and Quebec’s government signed on about a decade later.
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Vatican Financial Watchdog Defends Actions After Raid
The Vatican’s financial watchdog agency on Wednesday strongly denied allegations of wrongdoing by Vatican prosecutors who ordered an unprecedented raid on its offices and seizure of confidential documents.The board of the Financial Information Authority, which works with national financial intelligence units around the world in the fight against money laundering and other financial crimes, issued a statement Wednesday insisting the agency’s activities were entirely proper.An internal AIF investigation concluded that neither the authority’s suspended director, Tommaso Di Ruzza, nor anyone else at the agency “improperly exercised his authority or engaged in any other wrongdoing.”
The statement was issued by the Vatican press office in a sign of institutional backing.FILE – Tommaso Di Ruzza, director of the Vatican Financial Information Authority, left, talks to the media at the Vatican, April 28, 2016.Acting on orders from Vatican prosecutors, Vatican gendarmes searched AIF headquarters Oct. 1 and seized files and records in connection with an investigation into the Holy See’s investment in a London real estate venture that went sour.
The raid sparked an institutional crisis and raised alarm internationally, given AIF’s role as an independent watchdog authority over the Holy See’s financial activities. Officials expressed alarm that other countries would be less willing to share sensitive information with the AIF in the future if that material could so easily end up in the hands of Vatican police.
According to the search warrant, which was seen by The Associated Press, prosecutors only alleged that the AIF’s actions in the real estate operation were “not clear” and faulted Di Ruzza for being in contact with a London law firm. Prosecutors appeared to have misunderstood that AIF was working with Britain’s financial intelligence unit to try to catch the businessmen who were fleecing the Holy See in the real estate deal.London apartment
The Vatican had put 150 million euros into the luxury apartment building in London’s tony Chelsea neighborhood, only to see tens of millions end up in the pockets of middlemen managing the venture.
The Vatican’s secretariat of state in 2018 decided to buy the building outright while working with British authorities to nab the middlemen. But internally, the Vatican bank and auditor general’s office raised an alarm with Vatican prosecutors that the buyout looked suspicious, sparking the raids on AIF and the secretariat of state.In the statement, AIF’s board said it was “confident that potential misapprehensions will be clarified soon.” It added that it had full faith and trust in Di Ruzza “and moreover commends him for the institutional work carried out in the handling of this particular case.”Flyer leakedDi Ruzza’s reputation, and that of four other Vatican employees suspended as part of the investigation, was tarnished further when a Vatican police flyer featuring their headshots, names and titles was leaked to an Italian newsmagazine. The Vatican police chief, who is Pope Francis’ personal bodyguard, resigned as a result of the leak scandal.
The investigation has come at a sensitive time for the Vatican, as it prepares early next year for a regular visit by the Council of Europe’s Moneyval evaluators, who monitor the Holy See’s adherence to international norms to fight money laundering and terrorist financing.Moneyval in the past has faulted Vatican prosecutors for the relatively few financial prosecutions carried out based on AIF reports of suspicious transactions.
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Harvard Paper Blasted for Seeking Immigration Agency Comment
The student newspaper at Harvard University is facing a campus backlash over a routine request for government comment on a demonstration against a federal immigration agency.A petition signed by 11 student groups including the Harvard College Democrats accuses the Harvard Crimson of showing cultural insensitivity. The student Democrats said on Twitter they have stopped speaking with the newspaper.
Protesters at the Sept. 12 rally in Harvard Yard called for the abolition of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The Crimson contacted ICE to ask it for comment for its story on the demonstration, a standard practice in journalism. The Crimson said this week it stands by the decision.
It is the latest example of heightened political sensitivity on college campuses that also have seen a wave of conservative speakers being uninvited.
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UN Says 1st Local Polio Case Found in Zambia Since 1995
The World Health Organization says Zambia has reported its first local case of polio since 1995, in a 2-year-old boy paralyzed by a virus derived from the vaccine.In a report this week, WHO said the case was detected on the border with Congo, which has reported 37 cases of polio traced to the vaccine this year. The U.N. health agency said there is no established link between the Zambia case and the ongoing Congo outbreak but said increased surveillance and vaccination efforts are needed, warning that “there is a potential for international spread.”In rare cases, the live virus in oral polio vaccine can mutate into a form capable of sparking new outbreaks.Nine African countries are currently battling polio epidemics linked to the vaccine as WHO and partners struggle to keep their efforts to eradicate polio on track. Elsewhere, cases have been reported in China, Myanmar and the Philippines.On Thursday, WHO and partners are expected to announce they have rid the world of type 3 polio virus.Nigerian Polio Survivor Gives Hope To ThousandsTeaser DescriptionTen years ago, Nigeria accounted for half of the world’s polio cases, but following an aggressive vaccination program, the African nation is on the verge of being declared polio free. Despite the milestone, Nigeria’s many polio survivors are left to struggle with their disabilities, although one survivor has found a way to provide support and hope for thousands. Timothy Obiezu has this story from Abuja ahead of World Polio Day on October 24th.There are three types of polio viruses. Type 2 was eliminated years ago. That now leaves only type 1. But that refers only to polio viruses in the wild. Type 2 viruses continue to cause problems since they are still contained in the oral polio vaccine and occasionally evolve into new strains responsible for some vaccine-derived outbreaks.The global effort to eradicate polio was launched in 1988 and originally aimed to wipe out the potentially fatal disease by 2000. While cases have dropped dramatically, the virus remains stubbornly entrenched in parts of Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan. This year there have been 72 cases of polio in Pakistan after only eight in 2018.In meeting notes from an expert polio oversight board in September, WHO’s Michel Zaffran said the status of eradication was “of great concern,” noting the Taliban’s ban on house-to-house vaccination in Afghanistan. Officials described the program in Pakistan as a “failing trajectory.”
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China: US Has ‘Weaponized’ Visas to Target Exchanges
China on Wednesday accused the U.S. of having “weaponized” the issuance of visas following the reported inability of a top Chinese space program official to obtain permission to travel to a key conference in Washington.Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters that the head of the Chinese delegation to the International Astronautical Congress wasn’t able to obtain a visa following an Oct. 12 interview, making it difficult for Chinese representatives to attend important events at the meeting.Reports said the vice chairman of the China National Space Administration, Wu Yanhua, had planned to attend the congress.Hua said the U.S. has “weaponized” visa issuances and “repeatedly defied international responsibilities and obligations and impeded normal international exchanges and cooperation.”She said that “threatened and damaged the legitimate rights and interests of all parties in the international community.The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said it couldn’t discuss individual visa cases because of privacy issues.Hua said that “for some time, the U.S. has frequently rejected and delayed visa applications, revoked long-term visas of Chinese applicants and investigated and harassed the Chinese scholars, students, businesspeople, and scientific and technical personnel.”China last year launched more missions to orbit than any other country, and is on track to do the same this year. Those missions include the first-ever soft-landing of a space craft on the far side of the moon.However, close ties between the Chinese space program and the country’s military have limited its participation in multinational efforts, including the International Space Station. China is instead building its own permanent station and has invited other countries to join in the effort.The visa incident also comes amid a simmering trade war between China and the U.S. in which accusations that China steals or coerces foreign firms into handing over sensitive technology have played a major role.
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Hong Kong Supporters Try to Make a Statement at First NBA Game of the Season
Two teams in the National Basketball Association: the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers played their season opener in Los Angeles Tuesday. Pro-democracy demonstrators took this opportunity to pass out T-shirts outside the arena in support of Hong Kong and its efforts to fight for more freedoms. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee reports from Los Angeles.
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Jailing of Donetsk Journalist Condemned as ‘Illegal’ Attack on Press Freedom
International media-freedom watchdogs, the Ukrainian government, and a U.S. senator have strongly condemned the “illegal” and “unacceptable” sentencing of journalist Stanislav Aseyev, an RFE/RL contributor, by a court established by Russia-backed separatists who hold parts of eastern Ukraine.Separatist news outlet DAN reported on Tuesday that Aseyev in August received a sentence of 15 years in a penal colony on charges of espionage, extremism, and public calls to violate the territory’s integrity.The 30-year-old journalist, who wrote under the pen name Stanislav Vasin, disappeared in Ukraine’s Donetsk region on June 2, 2017, and has been held in detention since by the separatists.”I am shocked by his completely illegal conviction and sentencing,” the OSCE representative on freedom of the media, Harlem Desir, said in a statement, reiterating his call that Aseyev must be “released immediately.”RFE/RL President Jamie Fly has called the ruling against Aseyev “an attempt by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk to silence his powerful, independent voice” and along with Desir urged the release of Oleh Halaziuk, a contributor of RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service who has been held by separatists in Donetsk since August 2017.The two journalists “were among the very few independent journalists who worked and reported from the non-government-controlled area of Donetsk region,” the OSCE representative said.”The silencing of independent journalists is a crime against the freedom of expression and it is unacceptable,” Desir added.Aseyev was one of the few reporters in Donetsk who continued to work in the city after it came under the control of the separatists in 2014.Representatives of the separatists have accused Aseyev of observing the deployment sites of their paramilitary groups and passing on the information to the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), according to the news outlet Hromadske.In New York, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the “so-called court” that convicted and sentenced Aseyev was “not legitimate.”Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, noted in a statement that Aseyev “is neither a spy nor extremist,” but “a journalist who was providing a rare glimpse into the life of ordinary people” in the separatist-controlled region.The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) said that “the mistreatment of [Aseyev] and now the harsh sentence are blatant violations of media freedom.””The authorities must stop criminalizing journalists and depriving their rights to exercise freedom of speech,” EFJ General Secretary Ricardo Gutierrez said.The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also condemned the “unlawful” verdict, and noted that “illegal imprisonment is a criminal offense in Ukraine.””All those involved in the detention of [Aseyev] will be prosecuted in accordance with the Criminal Code of Ukraine,” it added.In a tweet, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (Republican-Florida) urged the United States and the international community to “condemn the Putin regime for targeting journalists & demand Aseyev’s immediate release,” referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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Ukraine’s President Urges Lawmakers to Take Polygraph Test
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged lawmakers from the parliament’s finance committee to take a lie detector test in the wake of allegations of bribery.Zelenskiy said in a statement on Wednesday that the lawmakers who were embroiled in a corruption scandal should take the polygraph test to prove their innocence.Zelenskiy’s statement follows allegations in Ukrainian media that several Supreme Rada lawmakers from Zelenskiy’s ruling party accepted up to $30,000 in bribes each for pushing through an amendment that would benefit property companies linked to another lawmaker.
Ukrainian prosecutors announced earlier on Wednesday that they are investigating the reports.Zelenskiy won the presidential election by a landslide in April on a promise to battle the country’s endemic corruption.
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Zuckerberg Appears in Congress as Facebook Faces Scrutiny
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is again appearing before Congress to face questions about his company’s massive market power, privacy lapses and tolerance of speech deemed false or hateful.Zuckerberg has been summoned to testify at a hearing Wednesday by the House Financial Services Committee on Facebook’s plan to create a global digital currency, which has stirred opposition from lawmakers and regulators in the U.S. and Europe. But the full range of policies and conduct of the social media giant with nearly 2.5 billion users will be under the public glare.It’s the Facebook chief’s first testimony to Congress since April 2018.The company seems to spark public and official anger at every turn these days, from its shift into messaging services that allow encrypted conversations to its alleged anticompetitive behavior to its refusal to take down phony political ads or doctored videos.Lawmakers from both parties and top regulators, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, have criticized Facebook’s plan for the new currency, to be called Libra. They warn that it could be used for illicit activity such as money laundering or drug trafficking.
Rep. Maxine Waters, the California Democrat who heads the Financial Services panel, this summer asked Facebook to not move forward with the currency and a digital wallet called Calibra that would be used with it. Waters has called Libra “a new Swiss-based financial system” that potentially is too big to fail and could require a taxpayer bailout.
Several high-profile companies that had signed on as partners in Facebook’s governing association for Libra have recently bailed, spelling a potentially rough road for the project. But many experts don’t believe it’s doomed. Zuckerberg, in written testimony prepared for the hearing, aimed to reassure lawmakers that his company won’t try to evade financial regulators as it readies Libra.Facebook “will not be a part of launching the Libra payments system anywhere in the world unless all U.S. regulators approve it,” he said. That’s a stronger statement than Facebook official David Marcus made to Congress in July, when he said the company will not activate Libra until it has “fully addressed regulatory concerns and received appropriate approvals. Marcus leads the Libra project.Zuckerberg is striving to defend Libra and alleviate concerns that the currency could sidestep regulators. Analysts say Libra could avoid regulation and launch in countries where it’s not getting pushback, but this doesn’t appear to be Facebook’s intention.Instead, Zuckerberg is pushing an optimistic vision of Libra and what it could mean for people around the world who don’t have access to bank accounts.While some critics see the recent exodus of some Libra partners as evidence of the plan’s likely failure, U.S. regulators appear to view it as enough of a threat that they are considering the possibility of the Fed launching its own competitor currency.“At the Federal Reserve, we will continue to analyze the potential benefits and costs of central bank digital currencies, and look forward to learning from other central banks,” Lael Brainard, a member of the Fed’s board of governors, said in a speech last week.There is concern among regulators that the massive reserve created with money used to buy the new currency could supplant the Fed and destabilize the financial system, and that consumers could be hurt by Libra losses.Zuckerberg also played the China card in his remarks, urging regulators to act quickly “While we debate these issues, the rest of the world isn’t waiting. China is moving quickly to launch similar ideas in the coming months,” he said.The Facebook CEO also has cited competition from China as a compelling reason against breaking up the company.The Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission and the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee are all conducting investigations of Facebook and the other huge tech companies amid accusations of abuse of their market power to crush competition.Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a leading Democratic presidential candidate, has advocated breaking up Facebook and other tech behemoths. She recently ran a fake political ad on Facebook taking aim at Zuckerberg to protest the company’s policy of not fact-checking politicians’ speech or ads in the same way it enlists outside parties to fact-check news stories and other posts.In a major speech last week at Georgetown University, Zuckerberg defended the company’s refusal to take down content from its platform it considers newsworthy “even if it goes against our standards.”
Facebook, Google and Twitter are trying to oversee internet content while also avoiding infringing on First Amendment rights. The pendulum has swung recently toward restricting hateful speech that could spawn violence.
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Nigerian Polio Survivor Gives Hope to Thousands
Ten years ago, Nigeria accounted for half of the world’s polio cases, but following an aggressive vaccination program, the African nation is on the verge of being declared polio-free. Despite the milestone, Nigeria’s many polio survivors are left to struggle with their disabilities, although one survivor has found a way to provide support and hope for thousands. At the age of five, Ayuba Gufwan contracted polio, which led to paralysis in both legs.Like other polio survivors, he struggled but eventually made it through school and became a lawyer.After graduating, he opened “The Beautiful Gate Handicapped People’s Center,” which manufactures wheelchairs that are distributed for free to other polio survivors. Gufwan says his goal is to close the gap between polio eradication and rehabilitation of survivors.”We discovered then and even now that the focus of polio eradication is prevention-centered. There was little or nothing that was done to take care and to ameliorate the suffering of polio victims,” Gufwan said.Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis within hours.With a massive polio eradication initiative by the World Health Organization, polio cases decreased globally by more than 99% since 1988.But beyond eradication, Gufwan’s center has helped about 18,000 survivors in Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon, including Ibrahim Umar, who now works at the Beautiful Gate facility.Umar says, “I started working here in 2016. Before then, I had no prior experience or training, but I have been getting a lot of help from them.”Nigeria has not recorded a new, single polio case in three years – a major improvement since 2012 when it accounted for more than half of the world’s infections.But the Abuja-based Disability Rights Advocacy Group (DRAC) says 40 percent of Nigeria’s 27 million disabled people are polio survivors.At a demonstration to raise awareness of their plight, the director of the advocacy group, Irene Patrick, says polio eradication is incomplete unless the disabilities of survivors are addressed.”Every year whenever we’re commemorating polio, the focus is on polio eradication, make sure all children get vaccinated, make sure mothers are vaccinating their children, make sure we kick polio out. But nobody thinks about those who have survived polio and are living with one form of disability or the other, and going through various challenges. So for us, that’s also a priority,” Patrick said.Months ago, Nigeria’s National Assembly passed into law a bill to ensure that disabled people, including polio survivors, have better access.But in the meantime, survivors like Gufwan are working to help those who have suffered from the effects of polio to improve their lives.
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Studying Hurricanes Indoors
In the age of climate change hurricanes are becoming more numerous and stronger. To understand what that means the Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel, at the University of Maryland is coming in handy. Voice of America reporter Iacopo Luzi, went there to experience hurricane force winds.
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Swedish Envoy: US, N. Korea Talks Went Longer Than Planned
The recent nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea were substantive and lasted longer than anticipated, according to a Swedish diplomat who helped arrange the talks.The upbeat analysis by Swedish Special Envoy Kent Harstedt stands in contrast to that of North Korean diplomats, who blamed Washington for failing to bring new ideas to the early October talks in Sweden’s capital.At an event Wednesday in Seoul, Harstedt said the U.S.-North Korea negotiations lasted “many hours” and were “not interrupted.” He said he was “cautiously optimistic” the talks would continue, despite North Korea not accepting Sweden’s invitation for follow-up talks within two weeks.“The DPRK hasn’t closed the door for continuation at this point,” Harstedt said, using an abbreviation for North Korea’s official name. “We don’t comment exactly on our dialogue with DPRK. We can just say we have a very good working dialogue with them.”“We also have to bear in mind that this is a very, very sensitive and complicated matter to discuss,” the envoy added.Sweden has acted as an intermediary between the United States and North Korea, since the two countries do not have official diplomatic relations. Though Sweden helped set up the U.S.-North Korean talks, Harstedt said he was not involved in the negotiations.Immediately after the Stockholm talks, U.S. officials characterized the discussions as “good” and insisted that they want them to continue. But North Korea said it has no intention to engage in “sickening negotiations” until the United States takes unspecified steps to withdraw its “hostile policy.”“I think it’s good that both sides expressed themselves afterwards,” Harstedt said.Since the breakdown of the Stockholm talks, North Korea has hinted at a return to major provocations.President Donald Trump, the self-styled deal-maker, is struggling to close big deals. He heads to the United Nations this coming week with many unresolved foreign policy challenges, including North Korea.Last week, North Korean state media published photos of leader Kim Jong Un riding a white horse up the country’s highest mountain while warning of a “great operation to strike the world with wonder.” Similar reports have sometimes preceded major policy shifts.Pyongyang has also issued a veiled threat it may resume nuclear or long-range missile tests — a move that would risk upsetting the nuclear talks.North Korea has not conducted a nuclear or long-range missile test since 2017. In 2018, Kim announced a self-imposed moratorium on such tests.Since May, Pyongyang has conducted 11 rounds of short- or medium-range missile launches. U.S. President Donald Trump has shrugged off the tests, saying short-range missiles do not threaten the United States.Some analysts view North Korea’s moves as evidence Pyongyang believes it is in a stronger bargaining position, especially amid Trump’s domestic political troubles and upcoming re-election campaign.U.S.-North Korea talks have been stalled since February, when Trump walked away from a summit with Kim in Hanoi, Vietnam. The two sides disagreed on how to pace sanctions relief with steps to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program.Although Trump has been reluctant to relax sanctions unless North Korea agrees to abandon its entire nuclear weapons program, he had signaled increased flexibility ahead of the Stockholm talks, speaking of the need for a “new method” to the negotiations.It’s not clear what Washington was prepared to offer. One possibility: the United States could allow the resumption of inter-Korean economic initiatives such as the Kaesong Industrial Complex and tours to North Korea’s Mount Kumgang resort.Such concessions could provide North Korea much-needed sources of cash without completely dismantling the sanctions regime that Washington has used to pressure Pyongyang.On Wednesday, North Korean state media signaled Kim may not be interested in such a concession.During a visit to Mount Kumgang, Kim slammed dependence on South Korea for the operation of the resort, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.During his visit, KCNA said Kim would like to tear down the “backward” and “shabby” facilities built by the South. It suggested he may try to reopen the facility, regardless of progress in inter-Korean relations.Amid a warming of relations in 2018, North and South Korea agreed to “normalize operations” at Mount Kumgang when conditions allow. Inter-Korean relations have since worsened, and international sanctions have prevented the resumption of South Korean tours.South Korean tours of Mount Kumgang were stopped in 2008 after a North Korean soldier shot and killed a 53-year-old tourist who had allegedly wandered into an off-limits area. Since then, the resort has not seen much activity.
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Philippines Cozies up to India, Both Wary of China
The Philippines has agreed to strengthen defense ties with India, an increasingly significant Western ally in Asia, as part of its accumulation of foreign support in case fragile ties with China suddenly break down.Last week, the presidents of India and the Philippines decided to work more closely together on defense and security in light of what the presidential office in Manila called a “fast-changing geopolitical landscape in the Asia-Pacific region.”Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte welcomed India’s role in a Philippine program to upgrade defense, the presidential office said in a statement Saturday after a visit by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind.Duterte, despite warming up to China after taking office in 2016, is now seeking foreign ties elsewhere fearing pressure from Beijing on a maritime sovereignty dispute over the South China Sea.“He cannot be sure of China’s one-way goodwill,” said Alan Chong, associate professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. “He thought he had China as a friend. Then I think he realized that behind the smiles and the pageantry and all the economic deals, China was actually continuing to militarize its islands in the South China Sea.”India has its own grievances with China and has been working with a other countries, including the United States, to check Beijing’s maritime expansion.China relationsDespite Duterte’s efforts to fostered a friendship with Beijing, with China pledging $24 billion in aid and investment to the Philippines in 2016, hundreds of Chinese vessels stirred up concerns after passing near Philippine-held islets in the sea’s contested Spratly archipelago in April.And, in early June, a Chinese fishing boat sank a Filipino vessel near the disputed sea’s Recto Bank, raising questions about a possible ramming incident.Duterte is now looking for closer relations with powerful third countries, using China as a gambit, said Stephen Nagy, senior associate politics and international studies professor at International Christian University in Tokyo.“It’s the Philippines really fishing for lots of different assistance and using China as the bait,” Nagy said. “Unofficially, the Chinese are probably not going to be happy that India has increased their relationship with the Philippines. And they will probably read it as the Philippines basically milking every cow rather than really forging a strong and enduring relationship with China.”Duterte visited Russia earlier this month for talks that analysts say could generate arms sales. He has made efforts to cozy up to Washington this year after a strain in relations in 2016. And, in May, the president made his third visit to Japan, which like India, is working with Washington and other western countries to check China’s maritime expansion.“As countries strategically located in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, we affirmed our shared interest to protect our maritime commons and advance the rule of law in our maritime domains,” Duterte said after meeting India’s Kovind.Brunei, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines claim all or parts of the sea. China claims 90% of the waterway as its own and it has taken a military lead there over the past decade.India’s interestsIndia, located west of the Indochinese peninsula, does not claim any part of the South China Sea, but in September, it held military drills with Japan and the United States outside the South China Sea.Even though the drills took place outside the disputed sea, India showed support of a “ruled based order” in Asian seas instead of “giving credence to Beijing’s claims,” said Jay Batongbacal, international maritime affairs professor at University of the Philippines.New Delhi probably sees stronger Philippine defense relations as “complementary” to its ties with Japan and the United States, Nagy said.India’s Act East policy that calls for stronger economic ties with fast-growing Southeast Asia – including the Philippines – would put further weight behind China’s rivals in the maritime dispute. India is the 15th largest investment partner of the Philippines, according to government data from Manila.But these ties may not be enough.“India itself is also in a way still exploring what it can do in Southeast Asia in general based on its Act East policy, but in terms of substance it is also been not moving as fast as say China,” Batongbacal said.
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Russia Seeks Stronger, More Positive Ties to Africa at Sochi Summit
Dozens of African officials and business leaders will gather in Sochi, Russia, this week for a two-day summit designed to bolster relations between the Russian Federation and all 54 African nations.Moscow hopes the summit, co-chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, will kickstart economic, security and political partnerships.Expanded ties to Russia mean more flexibility for African states in search of international collaboration, James Jonah, the former U.N. under secretary general for political affairs, told VOA.“It opens a lot of options not to rely only on one power,” Jonah said, whether that power is Japan, China or the European Union.Russia may also hope to fill a perceived void left by the United States, whose presence in Africa appears to be waning.In August 2018, the New York Times reported that the U.S. would begin drawing down troops and scaling back missions throughout Africa.It’s also unclear how a new strategy released this summer, “Prosper Africa,” will reshape America’s involvement in Africa, especially after the abrupt departure of National Security Advisor John Bolton, who first unveiled the plan at the Heritage Foundation last December.And when President Donald Trump omitted Africa from his remarks at a recent United Nations General Assembly appearance, Jonah said, it sent a clear message.“If you listen to the speech that President Trump gave at the U.N., he doesn’t mention Africa,” Jonah said. “So why should the Africans — what could they do? If the interest is not that great on the other side?”’A relative minnow’For its part, Moscow has taken a hands-on approach, forging security and economic alliances from the Central African Republic to Eritrea.But Judd Devermont, director of the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it’s problematic to conclude Russia can compete with countries like the U.S. and China, despite recent trends suggesting a resurgence.“We have to look at Russia’s influence and engagement quite separately from the U.S., Europe and China,” Devermont said. “Russia is a relative minnow compared to these other countries.”Overstating Moscow’s clout, Devermont added, could benefit a government intent on creating the impression of power on par with the biggest international players in Africa.“When the United States and other governments talk about great power competition, and they say ‘Moscow’ in the same breath as ‘Beijing’ or ‘Washington’ or ‘Brussels,’ I think they’re doing a tremendous service to Vladimir Putin, who very much wants to present himself as a global power.”Cooperation and conflictIn Sochi, African heads of state, ministers and business leaders from more than half the continent’s countries will join panels to explore potential collaborations with Russian agencies and businesses.Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will serve on a panel examining the security implications of epidemics and disease outbreaks, and Museveni and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo will join a discussion on doing business in Africa.Representatives from intergovernmental organizations, including the Southern African Development Community, the African Union Commission and the Organization of African First Ladies for Development, will also attend the events.A forum that will run alongside the summit will serve as an additional outlet to explore points of potential collaboration.But the cooperation and goodwill in focus at this week’s summit reflect one side of Russia-Africa relations. In countries like the Central African Republic, Moscow has enmeshed itself in longstanding conflicts, often through the use of private military contractors, who give Russia flexible ways of working with both African governments and rebel groups.While Moscow may cast itself in a peacekeeping role, some analysts, including Devermont, have raised concerns about Russia’s presence in regions marked by conflict and instability.“It is a bit player that is doing a number of things that are deeply destabilizing and concerning,” Devermont said.
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US Endorses Tobacco Pouches as Less Risky Than Cigarettes
For the first time, U.S. health regulators have judged a type of smokeless tobacco to be less harmful than cigarettes, a decision that could open the door to other less risky options for smokers.The milestone announcement on Tuesday makes Swedish Match tobacco pouches the first so-called reduced-risk tobacco product ever sanctioned by the Food and Drug Administration.FDA regulators stressed that their decision does not mean the pouches are safe, just less harmful, and that all tobacco products pose risks. The pouches will still bear mandatory government warnings that they can cause mouth cancer, gum disease and tooth loss.But the company will be able to advertise its tobacco pouches as posing a lower risk of lung cancer, bronchitis, heart disease and other diseases than cigarettes.The pouches of ground tobacco, called snus — Swedish for snuff and pronounced “snoose” — have been popular in Scandinavian countries for decades but are a tiny part of the U.S. tobacco market.Users stick the teabag-like pouches between their cheek and gum to absorb nicotine. Unlike regular chewing tobacco, the liquid from snus is generally swallowed, rather than spit out. Chewing tobacco is fermented; snus goes through a steamed pasteurization process.FILE – A woman shows portions of snus, a moist powder tobacco product that is consumed by placing it under the lip, in Stockholm, Aug. 6, 2009.Long-term dataFDA acting commissioner Ned Sharpless said the agency based its decision on long-term, population-level data showing lower levels of lung cancer, emphysema and other smoking-related disease with the use of snus.Sharpless added that the agency will closely monitor Swedish Match’s marketing efforts to ensure they target adult tobacco users.”Anyone who does not currently use tobacco products, especially youth, should refrain from doing so,” he said in a statement.Stockholm-based Swedish Match sells its snus under the brand name General in mint, wintergreen and other flavors. They compete against pouches from rivals Altria and R.J. Reynolds. But pouches account for just 5% of the $9.1 billion U.S. market for chew and other smokeless tobacco products, according to Euromonitor market research firm.
And public health experts questioned whether U.S. smokers would be willing to switch to the niche product.”Snus products have a bit of a challenge” among smokers who are used to inhaling their nicotine, said Vaugh Rees, director of Harvard University’s Center for Global Tobacco Control.U.S. smoking rateThe U.S. smoking rate has fallen to an all-time low of 14% of adults, or roughly 34 million Americans. But smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S., responsible for some 480,000 deaths annually.The FDA’s decision has been closely watched by both public health experts and tobacco companies.
Public health experts have long hoped that alternatives like the pouches could benefit Americans who are unable or unwilling to quit cigarettes and other traditional tobacco products. Tobacco companies are looking for new products to sell as they face declining cigarette demand due to tax increases, health concerns, smoking bans and social stigma.The FDA itself also has much at stake in the review of snus and similar tobacco alternatives.Congress gave the FDA the power to regulate key aspects of the tobacco industry in 2009, including designating new tobacco products as “modified risk,” compared with traditional cigarettes, chew and other products.
But until Tuesday, the FDA had never granted permission for any product to make such claims.
The FDA is reviewing several other products vying for “reduced risk” status, including a heat-not-burn cigarette alternative made by Philip Morris International. While electronic cigarettes are generally considered less harmful than the tobacco-and-paper variety, they have not been scientifically reviewed as posing a lower risk.
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Ukrainian Journalist Held by Russia-Backed Separatists Sentenced to 15 Years
A court established by Russia-backed separatists who hold parts of eastern Ukraine has sentenced journalist Stanislav Aseyev, an RFE/RL contributor, to 15 years in a penal colony.In a ruling condemned as “reprehensible” by RFE/RL’s president, separatist news outlet DAN reported on Tuesday that the court had found Aseyev guilty of espionage, extremism, and public calls to violate the territory’s integrity.Aseyev, who wrote under the pen name Stanislav Vasin, disappeared in Ukraine’s Donetsk region on June 2, 2017, and has been held in detention since by the separatists.”The conviction against Stanislav Aseyev, which dates from August but was made public only today, is reprehensible,” said RFE/RL President Jamie Fly.”Stas is a journalist and was only trying to raise awareness about the situation in eastern Ukraine. The ruling is an attempt by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk to silence his powerful, independent voice. Stas should be released immediately,” Fly added.The 30-year-old journalist was one of the few reporters in Donetsk who continued to work in the city after it came under the control of the separatists.Representatives of the separatists accused Aseyev of observing the deployment sites of their paramilitary groups and passing on the information to the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), according to the news outlet Hromadske.In August 2018, the bipartisan U.S. Congressional Press Freedom Caucus called for Aseyev’s immediate release, describing him as “one of the few independent journalists to remain in the region under separatist control to provide objective reporting.”U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (Republican-Florida) also called for Aseyev’s release in July.Media rights group Reporters Without Borders has also voiced concern about Aseyev’s treatment, which it has called “increasingly disturbing.”RFE/RL has also urged the release of Ukrainian Service contributor Oleh Halaziuk, who has been held by Russia-backed separatists in Donetsk since August 2017.
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Census Bureau Pivots from Verifying Places to Recruiting
A top U.S. Census Bureau official says the agency has pivoted away from verifying addresses and is now kicking off a campaign to recruit and hire as many as a half million temporary workers to help with the largest head count in U.S. history next spring.Timothy Olson, the agency’s associate director for field operations, said Tuesday that 32,000 workers verified 50 million addresses over an almost two-month period that ended more than a week ago.Olson called the address verification process a success.The agency already has 900,000 people who have applied for 2020 Census jobs, but the bureau wants a potential pool of 2.7 million applicants to choose from.The 2020 Census head count will be the first decennial census when respondents are encouraged to answer questions online.
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China Lambasts Peter Navarro’s Credibility
China has seized on an embarrassing revelation about U.S. President Donald Trump’s top trade adviser to score points and toughen its rhetoric in its long-running trade dispute with the United States.At a briefing Tuesday in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the international community had been “in uproar and shocked” by revelations that U.S. trade adviser Peter Navarro used a fictitious analyst as a source of quotes in several books.”Making up and peddling lies, even making policy based on lies, is not only ridiculous, but also extremely dangerous,” Hua was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.A day earlier, the state-run television network CCTV said in an editorial that Navarro “has put much of his fantasy into practice as one of the most important pushing hands behind the U.S.’s decisions to stage a trade war against China. He is also the most radical White House adviser to voice the China threat narratives.”FILE – White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, center, joins other Trump administration officials as they meet with Chinese officials to begin U.S.-China trade talks on the White House complex in Washington, Jan. 30, 2019.Navarro, an academic seen as one of the administration’s strongest advocates for a hard line on China trade, has been forced to admit that Ron Vara, a hawkish analyst quoted in several of his books, is in fact a made-up person whose name is an anagram of Navarro’s own.The fiction was first revealed last week by Tessa Morris-Suzuki at the Australian National University, who wrote in the Chronicle of Higher Education that Ron Vara’s name turned up a dozen times in at least six of Navarro’s books, but that no such person could be found.Navarro subsequently admitted to having invented the character but defended his action in a press statement, saying the fictional analyst was a “whimsical device and pen name” devised purely for “entertainment value,” not as a source of fact.CredibilityNevertheless, analysts say the revelation has weakened Navarro’s credibility as a key player in efforts to resolve the trade dispute, and handed Beijing a cudgel with which to hammer the American negotiators. Navarro is considered among the architects of the U.S. trade policy and has been a regular participant in those talks.Gao Mobo, a professor of Chinese studies at the University of Adelaide, said academics need to be impartial and objective, supporting their assertions with empirical evidence or by citing credible sources. “You cannot just write up a statement or make an assertion without substantiation,” he said in an email to VOA.Frank Xie, an associate professor of marketing at the University of South Carolina Aiken, suggested the Navarro episode had given Beijing an opportunity to do something it needed to do anyway — step up its rhetoric in the trade dispute.China has to appear tough because its leaders realize their country is stuck in a trade war they cannot win, Xie said.”If it caves in and accepts Trump’s deal, all the benefits for the privileged groups with vested interests and state-run enterprises will be gone. That will collapse the party,” Xie said. “But if it fights [the U.S.] by decoupling the Chinese economy from the U.S. economy, the party will also fall from power.”Stall tacticsStuck between two unpalatable alternatives, Xie said, China appears to be trying to stall the trade negotiations in the hope that Trump will be defeated in the 2020 election and they will be able to deal with a new American president.FILE – Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, June 25, 2019.China is also expected soon to convene a fourth plenary session of the Chinese Communist Party, an event that is long overdue, fueling suspicions of political undercurrents unfavorable to President Xi Jinping. That, Xie said, gives the Chinese leadership another reason to toughen its rhetoric and present a public image of strength.Despite the commotion over the exposure of Navarro’s alter ego, some analysts doubt the revelation will have much impact on the U.S.-China trade talks.”The Trump administration’s credibility cannot be hurt any further anyway,” argued Gao, the University of Adelaide professor. Neither will it harm future Sino-U.S. relations, which he said “aren’t based on this kind of credibility.”Yen Chen-shen, an international relations professor at Taipei’s National Chengchi University, suggested that Navarro’s role in the talks is not that important because the U.S. president has his own agenda toward China and largely makes his own decisions.The professor advised both the U.S. and Chinese governments to downplay Navarro’s role if they truly want to strike a trade deal.
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500,000 Californians May Face Power Cuts as Fire Threat Looms
Some 500,000 residents of northern California could once again be plunged into darkness as the state’s largest power company mulls power cuts in an attempt to prevent wildfires.The warning from Pacific Gas & Electric comes just two weeks after the utility cut power to 2 million people, many for several days.This time, 15 counties in the Sierra foothills and the San Francisco Bay area could be affected starting Wednesday.The dry and windy conditions are prompting PG&E to take action so that its power lines or other equipment don’t malfunction and start a fire.FILE – Homes were leveled by the Camp Fire line the Ridgewood Mobile Home Park retirement community in Paradise, Calif., Dec. 3, 2018.PG&E has been using blackouts as a preventative measure ever since its power lines were blamed for a setting fires in northern California nearly a year ago that killed 86 people and burned 62 hectares. The town of Paradise was so devastated by the January fire that, by mid-July, only 2,034 residents — of nearly 27,000 before the fire — were living in the city.PG&E filed for bankruptcy earlier this year after the utility was found liable for igniting multiple fires. In September, PG&E reached an $11 billion settlement in those claims. A third group of claims is still working its way through state and federal courts.To avoid more legal fights, PG&E and other utilities companies decided to cut power during high-wind episodes. Based on conditions, power cuts could last up to six days.Climate change, years of drought, and the construction of houses and communities in wilderness areas have all contributed to the spate of intense and deadly fires in California in recent years, experts say.
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Slovakian Foreign Minister: Reporter’s Murder ‘Changed my Country’
Slovakia’s top diplomat says last year’s murder of an investigative journalist and his fiancée has changed the Central European country and possibly altered how citizens will vote in upcoming parliamentary elections.”I must say that this killing has changed my country and that this is a different Slovakia after the murder,” Slovakian Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák told VOA’s Russian Service on Tuesday. “And those who ordered the killing, which are not the same (as those) who committed this horrible crime, achieved an exact opposite of what they wanted to achieve.”Lajčák’s comments came one day after Slovak authorities brought charges against high-profile businessperson Marian Kocner and three others in the February 2018 shooting deaths of reporter Jan Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kusnirov.”Our people are now demanding full transparency, zero corruption, zero tolerance for misusing the judiciary and police,” said Lajčák. “There is no doubt that this will play a very important role also in upcoming parliamentary elections that are scheduled for February next year.”Their killings, which police described as an expert-caliber assassination, sparked nationwide anti-corruption protests that ended the longtime rule of ex-prime minister Robert Fico and other high-level officials.Although Fico’s ruling three-party coalition survived March 2019 elections, they’ve seen dwindling public support over resentment that legislators and police failed to respond quickly to exposés by Kuciak and other journalists linking a powerful Italian organized crime group to Slovakian government officials.According to court documents, Kuciak received death threats directly from Kocner, whose business dealings were at the center of Kuciak’s published reports.FILE – Candles are seen in front of a photo of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova, in Bratislava, Slovakia, March 9, 2018.Kuciak and Kusnirova were gunned down in their home outside the capital, Bratislava, in what prosecutors have called a contract hit by Kocner, who denies the charges.Critics of the ruling coalition have also faulted police for failing to take death threats against Kuciak more seriously. Revelations of links between Kocner and security officials exposed during the case have led to more resignations in recent weeks.Speaking with VOA, Lajčák nonetheless credited security officials for working doggedly to seek justice for Kuciak and Kusnirov, who were both 27.”It’s extremely important to know that justice will be served, because I cannot imagine the feeling if we (hadn’t) been able to identify the killers,” Lajčák said.”It’s an element of justice, but it’s also a very important signal, I would say, of a political and moral nature,” he added, alluding to the fact that completion of the investigative phase of the case has been viewed as a litmus test for Slovak police and judicial independence.But the case could still have a major political impact in a general election in February, with polls showing a slide in support for the ruling Smer Party, and politicians from other parties also playing down their ties to Kocner.Kocner, who studied journalism in college, was once himself a reporter in Soviet-era Slovakia before gravitating toward the seedy underworld of black market enterprise that flourished after the collapse of the Berlin Wall.Kocner would sometimes invite reporters to attend press conferences he staged to discuss his real estate and development projects in what critics called a ruse to court or, if needed, intimidate reporters.Kocner and two alleged accomplices have pleaded not guilty in the murder, while a fourth suspect confessed involvement in the shooting. A fifth man confessed to the killing and has made a plea deal with prosecutors to act as a witness in the trial of the other four.All suspects could face life in prison on six charges, including premeditated murder.This story originated in VOA’s Russian Service. Some information is from Reuters.
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Kenyan Training Camp Produces Winning World-Class Runners
Kenya’s reputation as a producer of world-class marathon runners was further boosted this month when Kenyans Eliud Kipchoge and Brigid Kosgei broke world records on the same weekend. Running is a big thing for the East African nation, where regular competitions give young runners a chance to prepare for greater glory. Kenya’s Ndalat cross-country races – a yearly event in the Rift Valley – attract more than 5,000 runners of all ages.This year’s contest comes just a week after Kenyan marathon runners Eliud Kipchoge and Brigid Kosgei set new world records in Chicago and Vienna.Watch Mohammed Yusuf’s video report:
Regular Competitions Help Kenyan Marathon Runners Win Medals video player.
The chairman of the event, Abraham Mutai, said the competition nurtures new Kenyan talent.“We’ve managed to see that the young ones are the ones participating more. We’ve had about 2,500 of the young ones doing the race. And, for sure I can tell you the country will now have a talent and make sure that supply for an athlete to the national team will never go dry because of Ndalat Gaa Cross Country,” he said.Runner Daisy Jepkemei won this year’s 10-kilometer race. She dreams of representing Kenya on the global stage.“I started this year in Gabon as number two,” said Jepkemei, and “my sister was number one ranked, Norah Cheruto. Now I have built my body so that I can represent my country.”Running is big thing for Kenya, it attracts thousands of spectators. They come to see and support their future athletes who they hope will bring glory to the country. (M. Yusuf/VOA)22-year-old Robert Kiprop has similar dreams. He finished third in the men’s junior 10-kilometer race.“My leg has been giving me a bit of a problem,” said Kiprop. “I was supposed to go to Berlin to compete, but I could not go because of injury. Then I prepared for this Ndalat race to try my luck, he says, and see how I am recovering from my injury.”Kenya’s Rift Valley has produced most of the country’s athletes and is filled with training camps. The Rift Valley region has produced most of athletes, its common to see young athletes train in this part of the country. (M. Yusuf/VOA)At Kericho County’s Lomitit training camp, 40 young athletes hope to one day become champions.Emily Chebet was among the first runners to join the camp 12 years ago at the age of 14. Since joining the camp, she has won many competitions.Chebet said, “I went to compete in Ethiopia, where I finished fourth in the 5,000-meter race. Then I went to Mauritius where I won a gold medal for the 3,000 meters, she says, and then to Colombia where I won a silver medal for the 3,000 meters. Recently, I graduated to compete in the 21 kilometers race.”In the local competition, the winners don’t get medals but this the beginning for bigger things for those who make to the country’s national athletic team. (M. Yusuf/VOA)Her sister Beatrice Chebet joined the camp five years ago. After winning this year’s World Under 20 championship, she is even more ambitious. “Now I am preparing for Africa cross country, for the Olympics,” Chebet said. “I will work with my coach for the training, the help, and the advice I need. I think I will do well.”The competition is getting is stiffer as many athletes want to represent Kenya at the 2020 Olympics in Japan.At the 2016 games, Kenyan athletes captured 13 medals – all but one of them for running.At local competitions like Ndalat’s cross country races, the winners get flowers and tea bags. It is a small but welcome beginning for many Kenyan athletes who hope to win greater rewards on the world stage.
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Diplomat Provides House With ‘Disturbing’ Account on Ukraine
Former U.S. Ambassador William Taylor, a diplomat who has sharply questioned President Donald Trump’s policy on Ukraine, has provided lawmakers with a detailed account of his recollection of events at the center of the Democrats’ impeachment probe , they said Tuesday.
Lawmakers emerging from the room after the early hours of the private deposition said Taylor had given a lengthy opening statement, with a recall of events that filled in gaps from the testimony of other witnesses.
“The testimony is very disturbing,” said New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who attended the start of the Taylor interview.
Taylor, who declined to comment as he entered the closed-door deposition, is the latest diplomat with concerns to testify. His appearance is among the most watched because of a text message in which he called Trump’s attempt to leverage military aid to Ukraine in return for a political investigation “crazy.” He was subpoenaed to appear.
Rep Ami Bera, D-Calif., said Taylor is a career civil servant who “cares deeply” about the country. He said Taylor’s memory of events was better than that of Gordon Sondland, the U.S. European Union ambassador who testified last week but couldn’t recall many specific details.
Taylor was expected to discuss text messages he exchanged with two other diplomats earlier this year as Trump pushed the country to investigate unsubstantiated claims about Democratic rival Joe Biden’s family and a debunked conspiracy theory about Ukraine’s role in the 2016 election.
The diplomat was one of several intermediaries between Trump and Ukrainian officials as the president advocated for the investigations. Taylor had been tapped to run the embassy there after the administration abruptly ousted the ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch, in May.
In a series of text messages released earlier this month by Ukrainian envoy Kurt Volker, Taylor appeared to be alarmed by Trump’s efforts as the U.S. was also withholding military assistance to Ukraine that had already been approved by Congress.
“I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” Taylor wrote in excerpts of the text messages released by the impeachment investigators.
Taylor has stood by the observation that it was “crazy” in his private remarks to investigators, according to a person familiar with his testimony who was granted anonymity to discuss it.
Taylor’s description of the policy is in sharp contrast to how Trump has tried to characterize it. The president has said many times that there was no quid pro quo, though his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney contradicted that last week. Mulvaney later tried to walk back his remarks.
Taylor, a former Army officer, had been serving as executive vice president at the U.S. Institute of Peace, a nonpartisan think tank founded by Congress, when he was appointed to run the embassy in Kyiv after Yovanovitch was removed before the end of her term following a campaign against her led by Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
He was welcomed back to Kyiv as a steady hand serving as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2006 to 2009.
“He’s the epitome of a seasoned statesman,” said John Shmorhun, an American who heads the agricultural company AgroGeneration.
Before retiring from government service, Taylor was involved in diplomatic efforts surrounding several major international conflicts. He served in Jerusalem as U.S. envoy to the Quartet of Mideast peacemakers. He oversaw reconstruction in Iraq from 2004 to 2005, and from Kabul coordinated U.S. and international assistance to Afghanistan from 2002 to 2003.
He arrived in Kyiv a month after the sudden departure of Yovanovitch and the inauguration of Ukraine’s new president, prepared to steer the embassy through the transition. He was most likely not prepared for what happened next.
In July, Trump would have his now-famous phone conversation with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which he pressed him to launch the investigations. Trump at the time had quietly put a hold on nearly $400 million in military aid that Ukraine was counting on in its fight against Russian-backed separatists.
In the follow-up to the call, Taylor exchanged texts with two of Trump’s point men on Ukraine as they were trying to get Zelenskiy to commit to the investigations before setting a date for a coveted White House visit.
In a text message to Sondland on Sept. 1, Taylor bluntly questioned Trump’s motives: “Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations?” Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the European Union, told him to call him.
In texts a week later to Sondland and special envoy Kurt Volker, Taylor expressed increased alarm, calling it “crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.” In a stilted reply, several hours later, Sondland defended Trump’s intentions and suggested they stop the back and forth by text.
Taylor had also texted that not giving the military aid to Ukraine would be his “nightmare” scenario because it sends the wrong message to both Kyiv and Moscow. “The Russians love it. (And I quit).”
U.S. diplomats based at the Kyiv embassy have refused to speak with journalists, reflecting the sensitivity of the impeachment inquiry. The embassy press office did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.
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