The White House faces constant pressure from more than 60 American families whose relatives are held hostage overseas, including one whose family, this week, marks 10 years without him.

Austin Tice has been missing in Syria since August 2012, giving him the grim record of being held longer than any other American journalist. Syria’s government denies holding him. State Department spokesperson Ned Price refuted that.

“We have engaged extensively with Syrian authorities to try to get Austin home, including directly with Syrian officials,” he said. “But as I mentioned at the time, Syria has never acknowledged holding him. We continue to believe that Syria has, now, an opportunity to help release a U.S. national. We will continue to pursue every avenue we conceivably can to secure Austin’s prompt release.”

Intergovernmental hostage situations are rarely straightforward and often escalate to the highest levels of government, making them some of the most diplomatically delicate and emotionally fraught tasks for any White House. Earlier this year, President Joe Biden’s administration oversaw a prisoner swap for the release of Trevor Reed, a former Marine held since 2019 in Russia.

Last month, after basketball star Brittney Griner appeared in a Russian court on drug charges, the administration refined its hostage policy, allowing agencies to impose sanctions and visa bans on both state and nonstate actors who are holding Americans.

Push for an offer

Those campaigning to free Tice welcomed these changes and are calling on Biden to act.

Bill McCarren, who heads the Free Austin Tice campaign, told VOA that the Syrian government laid out requests in a 2020 meeting with U.S. officials.

“Now what needs to happen is an offer needs to be put on the table, and it is the United States that needs to do that,” he said. “That is where the ball is right now.”

McCarren said Syrian officials, in the meeting, raised three issues: a reduction in U.S. troops in Syria, sanctions relief and limited diplomatic engagement in Washington and Damascus.

“It’s not a crazy idea. These are things that we should be willing to engage with, with them and discuss with them,” he said. “And so far, that still is yet to be done.”

But those who have worked in the West Wing say this process can be excruciatingly complex and hinge on strong negotiation.

Confidence in negotiators

“The president has to have confidence in his negotiators,” said Philip Bobbitt, now a Columbia University law professor who was working at the White House on January 20, 1981, as President Ronald Reagan was being sworn in – and Iran’s supreme leader released 52 U.S. hostages after 444 days.

“If he tries to jiggle their elbow to get the hostages back with more dramatic threats, or with more dramatic concessions, he’ll really, even if he succeeds, in the instant case, make things more difficult for the United States if hostages are taken again in the future. So he has to find negotiators in whom he has confidence, give them a charter and keep steadily to that.”

Bobbitt, who worked under then-White House counsel Lloyd Cutler and was President Jimmy Carter’s negotiator during the crisis, also described for VOA what negotiation can look like behind the scenes, with this account of how the Carter administration persuaded Tehran to release the hostages:

“This occurred at a club in New York City, in the late afternoon, shrouded in darkness and silence, a secret meeting with a representative of the Bank Markazi, which was the Iranian state bank. And Cutler said that the money that we had frozen of Iranian assets was not coming back,” Bobbitt said.

“The second proposal Cutler made that afternoon ran sort of like this: He said that he believed that the administration could persuade Congress to put a cap on civil lawsuits brought by the families of the hostages. And if we did not do that, then Iran would be plagued for decades by lawsuits brought in the United States before very sympathetic juries. … And it was that argument that I believe actually turned the key.”

For families on the sidelines, this complicated, high-level dance between governments can be a tormenting experience — and negotiations can still fail. Diane Foley learned that eight years ago this week.

Her son James, a journalist, had been kidnapped nine months earlier in Syria by a militia group loyal to Syria’s president.

Former President Barack Obama mounted a failed rescue mission. Then, on August 19, 2014, the captors released a chilling video, showing Foley. He had been decapitated.

Progress seen

Foley’s mother said she welcomed the changes that have been made since. She spoke to VOA as she prepared to travel to Virginia for the sentencing of one of the men convicted in her son’s kidnapping and murder.

“There’s definitely been progress,” she said, “I really feel there is. In 2015, you know, the hostage recovery fusion cell was created, the special envoy and the whole hostage enterprise. When Jim was in captivity, there was no such thing. So at least we have people accountable for the return of Americans.”

She also stressed that officials need to work with hostages’ families.

“It is essential that families be involved because they’re the best advocate,” she said. “They are the ones that will not give up. They’re the ones that will always do what they can to get their loved one home.”

And McCarren argues that the Foley family’s path to justice shows that the U.S. government isn’t playing a zero-sum game.

“This is not a question of, you can either get the hostage out, or you can hold the person accountable by justice,” he said. “You can do both things. You can do both things. And that’s what I think the rigidity of the U.S. policy does not allow for.”
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The Cowgirls of the West Museum in Cheyenne, Wyoming, tells the hidden story of the women on farms and ranches who helped build the American West. VOA’s Katherine Gypson reports.
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The White House announced Thursday it will make an additional 1.8 million doses of monkeypox vaccine available for distribution beginning next week.

At a news conference, White House national monkeypox response coordinator Bob Fenton said the additional doses will be available for U.S. jurisdictions to order starting Monday, through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky and HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra also took part in the news briefing.

Fenton said in the less than 10 days since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the CDC authorized the Jynneos vaccine for emergency use against monkeypox in individuals 18 years of age and older, HHS has delivered nearly 1 million doses to U.S. states and cities, making it the largest program of its kind for monkeypox vaccine in the world.

Fenton said the additional doses are part of the National Monkeypox Response Team’s plan to address the viral disease’s outbreak in the United States and mitigate its spread.

He said HHS has been working on launching a pilot program that will provide up to 50,000 doses from the national stockpile to be made available for events that will have high attendance of gay and bisexual men.

While monkeypox is not classified as a sexually transmitted infection, or STI, it has been found to be disproportionally affecting men who have sex with men. The disease can spread through close or intimate physical contact such as hugging, kissing and sex. It can also be transmitted by touching infected items such as clothing, bedding or towels.

Fenton said the Biden administration has also significantly increased availability and convenience of monkeypox tests, expanding capacity from 6,000 tests per week to 80,000 tests per week.

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
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A U.S. federal magistrate judge will hear Thursday from attorneys for some of the nation’s most prominent media companies arguing for the release of the affidavit supporting a search warrant executed last week at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate.

The U.S. Justice Department has objected to making the document public, arguing that would jeopardize its investigation into Trump’s handling of classified material.

The media companies argued in a court filing that it is in the public interest to see “the government’s basis for the extraordinary step of seeking the warrant to search a former president’s home.”

The filing further said that if the judge reviews the document and finds a compelling interest in keeping some portions of the information secret, then the remainder should be made public.

Those arguing for the document’s release include The Associated Press, broadcast networks ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN, as well as newspaper companies The New York Times, The Washington Post, Dow Jones & Company, E.W. Scripps Company and McClatchy.

FBI agents removed 11 sets of classified documents from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on August 8.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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A long-running battle between U.S. securities regulators and Chinese companies that sell their shares in the United States is expected to result in five large state-controlled Chinese firms leaving the New York Stock Exchange, with other departures possible in the future.

Last week, oil company Sinopec, China Life Insurance Company, Aluminum Corporation of China Limited, PetroChina, and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical announced that they would voluntarily delist from the NYSE.

The immediate effect for investors who have purchased shares of the five firms will be an exchange of what are known as American Depository Receipts, which trade in the U.S., for shares of the firms that trade in Hong Kong. But what it means for the larger number of investors who hold shares in the hundreds of Chinese firms listed on U.S. exchanges is less clear.

The departure of the five firms will leave only China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines as major state-owned enterprises that remain listed in the U.S., raising questions about whether they will eventually delist, as well.

Other departures possible

Some other large Chinese firms have either already delisted or appear to be making plans to do so. Didi, the Beijing-based ride-hailing company, delisted under pressure from the Chinese government earlier this year. This week, fast food giant Yum China Holdings announced it is converting its current secondary share listings in Hong Kong to a primary listing, which would make delisting simpler. E-commerce giant Alibaba took the same step last month.

In a recent interview with CNBC, former NYSE President Tom Farley said that from an economic perspective, the departure of the five Chinese government-owned firms is “a non-event.” The companies do not trade widely in the U.S., he said.

However, he added, “Symbolically, it’s very important,” because it opens the door to the departure of large Chinese companies like Alibaba and JD.com, which do trade heavily in the U.S.

“This is China saying, ‘Hey, these are gone, and the next batch to go are the Alibabas and the JD.coms.’ That would be a big deal both economically and symbolically,” Farley said.

Alibaba’s market capitalization, the cumulative value of its outstanding shares, is over $232 billion. JD.com, another e-commerce firm, has a market capitalization of more than $87 billion.

Battles over access

At its root, the argument has been about disclosure. U.S. securities regulators, who are charged with assuring that individual investors have the information they need to make informed decisions, require that publicly traded companies provide extensive information about their business and accounting practices.

In particular, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) requires companies to provide it with full access to the working papers of their auditors. Created in the wake of several major accounting scandals, including at Enron in 2001 and WorldCom in 2002, the PCAOB’s mission is to ensure that the established business accounting rules are being followed by firms that sell their shares to the public.

The Chinese government, however, has long balked at the requirement that audit working papers be surrendered to the U.S. government. The primary complaint is that many of the firms possess data that the government in Beijing views as being too sensitive to share with other governments.

This has led to a stalemate between the PCAOB and Chinese officials.

According to the agency itself, “The PCAOB spent significant time and resources negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Chinese authorities for enforcement cooperation. Unfortunately, since signing the MOU in 2013, Chinese cooperation has not been sufficient for the PCAOB to obtain timely access to relevant documents and testimony necessary to carry out our mission consistent with the core principles identified above, nor have consultations undertaken through the MOU resulted in improvements.”

Farley, the former NYSE president, said that even though Chinese firms would be hurt by withdrawing from the U.S. market, which has the largest supply of investment capital in the world, it could still happen.

“This dispute may end up being intractable,” he told CNBC, “and you very well may see these companies pick up and go home if this negotiation doesn’t improve markedly.”

Secrecy questioned

Frank Tian Xie, a professor of business at the University of South Carolina Aiken, told VOA that while the Chinese government may have some security concerns about U.S. regulators’ access to company data, there are other reasons why Beijing is resistant to comply with U.S. rules.

Xie said it is an “open secret” that Chinese companies do not always comply with accounting rules, and that enforcement within China is lax. Turning over their business records to U.S. authorities would invite “disaster” for many Chinese firms, Xie said.

“They just cannot fare well with more scrutiny from U.S. authorities,” Xie said.

However, Xie added, he does not believe there will be a wholesale exodus of Chinese companies from U.S. stock markets, because the benefits of listing in the U.S. are too significant.

“There are good, bona fide Chinese companies with honest people doing their business,” he said. If Chinese authorities allow them to comply with U.S. regulations, they will try to maintain their U.S. listings.

“Chinese companies want to have their stocks listed on American exchanges, because of the prestige — it’s an honorable thing to have — and so they can gain access to U.S capital,” Xie said.

Long timeline

The struggle intensified last December, after the Securities and Exchange Commission finalized new rules that made it possible for the agency to prohibit trading of the shares of noncompliant Chinese firms.

The new rules were written to implement the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act of 2020, which Congress passed with the explicit intent of forcing Chinese firms trading in the U.S. to prove that they are not controlled by the Chinese government and to force compliance with transparency rules.

As of Aug. 7, the SEC had placed 162 Chinese firms on a list of those at risk of a trading prohibition because of their failure to comply with the law.

Any actual prohibition would take place only after a company had been found to be in violation of reporting requirements for three consecutive years, beginning in 2023.
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The U.S. government has announced talks with Taiwan on a trade treaty in a new sign of support for the self-ruled island democracy claimed by China’s ruling Communist Party as part of its territory.

The announcement Thursday comes after Beijing held military drills that included firing missiles into the seas around Taiwan in an attempt to intimidate the island after a visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the highest-level member of the U.S. government to visit Taiwan in 25 years.

Thursday’s announcement by the U.S. Trade Representative made no mention of tension with Beijing but said the negotiations were meant to enhance trade and regulatory cooperation, a step that would entail closer official interaction.

The United States has no official relations with Taiwan but maintains extensive informal contacts through the unofficial American Institute in Taiwan. Washington is obligated by federal law to see that the island has the means to defend itself.

Taiwan and China split in 1949. The island never has been part of the People’s Republic of China, but the Communist Party says it is obligated to rejoin the mainland, by force if necessary.

The talks also will cover agriculture, labor, the environment, digital technology, the status of state-owned enterprises and “non-market policies,” the USTR said.
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A federal judge in Cleveland awarded $650 million in damages Wednesday to two Ohio counties that won a landmark lawsuit against national pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens and Walmart, claiming the way they distributed opioids to customers caused severe harm to communities and created a public nuisance.

U.S. District Judge Dan Polster said in the ruling that the money will be used to abate a continuing opioid crisis in Lake and Trumbull counties, outside Cleveland. Attorneys for the counties put the total price tag at $3.3 billion for the damage done to the counties.

Lake County is to receive $306 million over 15 years. Trumbull County is to receive $344 million over the same period. Polster ordered the companies to immediately pay nearly $87 million to cover the first two years of the abatement plan.

In his ruling, Polster admonished the three companies, saying they “squandered the opportunity to present a meaningful plan to abate the nuisance” after a trial that considered what damages they might owe.

CVS, Walmart and Walgreens said they will appeal the ruling. It is unclear whether the companies will have to immediately pay the nearly $87 million during their appeals.

Trumbull County Commissioner Frank Fuda praised the award in a statement, saying “the harms caused by this devastating epidemic” can now be addressed.

Lake County Commissioner John Hamercheck said in a statement: “Today marks the start of a new day in our fight to end the opioid epidemic.”

A jury returned a verdict in November in favor of the counties after a six-week trial. It was then left to Polster to decide how much the counties should receive from the three pharmacy companies. He heard testimony in May to determine damages.

The counties convinced the jury that the pharmacies played an outsized role in creating a public nuisance in the way they dispensed pain medication into their communities.

It was the first time pharmacy companies completed a trial to defend themselves in a drug crisis that has killed a half-million Americans since 1999.

Attorneys for the pharmacy chains maintained they had policies to stem the flow of pills when their pharmacists had concerns and would notify authorities about suspicious orders from doctors. They also said it was doctors who controlled how many pills were prescribed for legitimate medical needs, not their pharmacies.

Walmart issued a statement Wednesday saying the counties’ attorneys “sued Walmart in search of deep pockets, and this judgment follows a trial that was engineered to favor the plaintiffs’ attorneys and was riddled with remarkable legal and factual mistakes.”

Walgreens spokesperson Fraser Engerman said, “The facts and the law did not support the jury verdict last fall, and they do not support the court’s decision now.

“The court committed significant legal errors in allowing the case to go before a jury on a flawed legal theory that is inconsistent with Ohio law and compounded those errors in reaching its ruling regarding damages.”

CVS spokesperson Michael DeAngelis said, “We strongly disagree with the court’s decision regarding the counties’ abatement plan, as well as last fall’s underlying verdict.”

CVS is based in Rhode Island, Walgreens in Illinois and Walmart in Arkansas.

Two chains — Rite Aid and Giant Eagle — settled lawsuits with the counties before trial. The amounts they paid have not been disclosed publicly.

Mark Lanier, an attorney for the counties, said during the trial that the pharmacies were attempting to blame everyone but themselves.

The opioid crisis has overwhelmed courts, social services agencies and law enforcement in Ohio’s blue-collar corner east of Cleveland, leaving behind heartbroken families and babies born to addicted mothers, Lanier told jurors.

Roughly 80 million prescription painkillers were dispensed in Trumbull County alone between 2012 and 2016 — equivalent to 400 for every resident. In Lake County, 61 million pills were distributed during that period.

The rise in physicians prescribing pain medications such as oxycodone and hydrocodone came as medical groups began recognizing that patients have the right to be treated for pain, Kaspar Stoffelmayr, an attorney for Walgreens, said at the opening of the trial.

The problem, he said, was “pharmaceutical manufacturers tricked doctors into writing way too many pills.”

The counties said pharmacies should be the last line of defense to prevent the pills from getting into the wrong hands.

The trial before Polster was part of a broader constellation of about 3,000 federal opioid lawsuits consolidated under his supervision. Other cases are moving ahead in state courts.

Kevin Roy, chief public policy officer at Shatterproof, an organization that advocates for solutions to addiction, said in November that the verdict could lead pharmacies to follow the path of major distribution companies and some drugmakers that have reached nationwide settlements of opioid cases worth billions. So far, no pharmacy has reached a nationwide settlement.

Also on Wednesday, attorneys general from numerous states announced they had reached an agreement with Endo International to pay as much as $450 million over 10 years to settle allegations the company used deceptive marketing practices “that downplayed the risk of addiction and overstated the benefits” of opioids it produced.

Based in Ireland, Endo’s U.S. headquarters are in Malvern, Pennsylvania. The company did not respond Wednesday to telephone and email requests for comment.

The agreement calls for the $450 million to be divided among participating states and communities. It also calls for Endo to put opioid-related documents online for public viewing and pay $2.75 million in expenses to publicly archive those documents.

Endo can never again market opioids, according to the agreement.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday night.

Endo produces generic opioids and name brands such as Percocet and Endocet. The company’s Opana ER opioid was withdrawn from the market in 2017. The attorneys general say Endo “falsely promoted the benefits” of Opana ER’s “so-called abuse deterrent formulation.” The attorneys general said the formulation did not deter abuse of the drug and led to deadly outbreaks of hepatitis and HIV resulting from people injecting the drug.
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