The Atlanta-based nonprofit Carter Center announced 98-year-old former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is receiving hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh has more.
…

Space has “fundamentally changed” in just a few years due to a growing arms race, a U.S. general said, singling out China as the “most challenging threat,” followed by Russia.

“We are seeing a whole mix of weapons being produced by our strategic competitors,” General Bradley Chance Saltzman, the U.S. chief of space operations, told a group of media, including AFP.

“The most challenging threat is China but also Russia,” he said, speaking late Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, listing technologies including anti-satellite missiles, ground-based directed energy and orbit interception capacities.

“We have to account for the fact that space as a contested domain has fundamentally changed. The character of how we operate in space has to shift, and that’s mostly because of the weapons (China) and Russia have tested and in some cases operationalized,” he said.  

His words carry even more weight given surging U.S.-China tensions — highlighted by tense exchanges in Munich Saturday between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Beijing’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, over a suspected Chinese spy balloon.

Blinken warned Wang that China must not repeat such an “irresponsible act” of sending a balloon over U.S. airspace, while Wang said Washington’s reaction — it shot the craft down — had damaged their countries’ relations.

Space arms race  

The space arms race is nothing new. As early as 1985, the Pentagon used a missile to destroy a satellite in a test.  

Since then, the United States’s rivals have been seeking to show they can compete — China did the same in 2007, and India in 2019.  

In February 2020, an American general noted that there were two Russian satellites placed into orbit that were tracking a U.S. spy satellite.  

And in late 2021, Russia destroyed one of its own satellites with a missile fired from Earth, in a show of force condemned as an irresponsible act by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.  

“Adversaries are leveraging space… targeting and extending the range of their weapons,” said General Saltzman.  

“That’s really the change that happens inside the domain.”

Countries are increasingly secretive when it comes to their military activities in space, but the race is such that in 2019, the year that the Pentagon launched its Space Force, it predicted that Russia and China could potentially overtake the United States.  

Saltzman rejects the idea that Washington is behind.

But the fight has evolved, shifting from the idea of destroying satellites with missiles or “kamikaze” satellites, to that of finding ways of damaging them with laser weapons or powerful microwaves.

“I am always going to make sure that I preserve capabilities to do the most critical functions, like national command and control, or nuclear command and control,” said the general.

‘Responsible behavior’  

The war in Ukraine has served as a reminder of the fundamental importance of space in conflicts today and in the future.  

“Space is important to the modern fight,” said Saltzman.

“You can attack space without going (into) space, through cyber networks or other vectors. We have to make sure we are defending all these capabilities.”

The growing military activity, combined with increasing commercial production, does however raise the potential problems of collateral damage, destructive debris and, more broadly, an international code of conduct.

Saltzman has never held talks with his Chinese and Russian counterparts, his aides told AFP. In Munich, he met Norway’s defense minister and participated in a panel. 

“We talked about responsible behavior,” he said. “There is proper way to behave in space, that is not debris-generating, that does not interfere, that has safe distances and safe trajectories, and we communicate when we have problems.”

Space will become “more and more congested,” he added.

“If we can operate with a clear understanding of what the standards are, we are going to be a lot safer.”
…

On the back seat of Marilyn Bragg’s car are her late husband’s five guns.

“I don’t want that at home, I don’t even know how to shoot,” said the Houston, Texas, retiree before handing them over to the authorities.

In this American state, bruised by shootings, initiatives are multiplying to offer residents a chance to get rid of their pistols, rifles, and semi-automatic weapons, in complete safety.

“I have grandchildren, I don’t want them to have access to that,” Bragg said as a long line of cars winds its way to an arms dump site.

At the end of the line, drivers are asked to leave their weapons in their trunk or on the back seat for inspection.

Specialized police then approach and check that the weapons are unloaded and registered.

They often find more than a dozen weapons in the vehicle.

“I think it’s a great program,” said Stuart Wolf, with 11 guns in the back of his truck. “There is really no other safe way than this to part with it,” said the 60-year-old.

A total of 793 weapons will be handed over to law enforcement by the end of the day Saturday.

In exchange, participants are given vouchers: $50 for a weapon that no longer works, $100 for a rifle, and $200 for a semi-automatic rifle, the weapon used in so many shootings in the United States.

“We already have enough weapons, and there are some that we put down that we don’t need,” said Kenneth Blackmon, alongside his wife, Loretta.

“So why keep them? We have to get rid of them,” the 69-year-old man said, handing over seven weapons. Especially since thefts of firearms are recurrent and dangerous, he said.

“Gun thefts have increased 16% over the past 10 years,” said Rodney Ellis, an official of the county that surrounds Houston.

In Texas, shootings are a daily occurrence.

“Since 2009, more people have died in deadly shootings in Texas than in any other U.S. state,” Ellis said.

According to figures from the FBI, in 2020, the state’s violent crime rate — 446.5 cases per 100,000 population — was significantly higher than the national average, which is 398.5.

One example, among many others: a few days ago, a person was killed and three others were injured during an altercation in a shopping center in El Paso.

The tragedy happened just steps away from where a young white supremacist killed 23 people at a supermarket popular with the Hispanic community in 2019.

Texas will be marked forever by the massacre in Uvalde, when an 18-year-old man entered an elementary school and killed 19 children and two teachers.

This U.S. state of 30 million is also one where it is easiest to obtain a weapon.

The carrying of weapons is authorized there without restriction, in the name of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

But for Ellis, the county official, the framers of the Constitution, in the 18th century, could never have imagined the modernity of today’s firearms.

“So until we manage to change the mentality and we arrive at a reasonable framework for firearms in this country, this type of initiative is the kind of thing that we have to do.”
…

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says his Chinese counterpart, top diplomat Wang Yi, did not apologize during a meeting in Munich for Beijing’s violation of U.S. airspace with its high-altitude surveillance balloon, even as Blinken told him the spying was unacceptable and must never occur again.

The two diplomats met for an hour Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. This marked their first face-to-face meeting since the United States shot down the balloon earlier this month over the Atlantic Ocean off the U.S. Eastern Seaboard after it traversed the mainland for eight days.

Blinken told NBC’s “Meet the Press” show in an interview aired Sunday, “There was no apology. But what I can also tell you is this was an opportunity to speak very clearly and very directly about the fact that China sent a surveillance balloon over our territory, violating our sovereignty, violating international law.”

“And I told him quite simply that that was unacceptable and can never happen again,” Blinken said. “We’re of course not the only ones on the receiving end of these surveillance balloons. More than 40 countries have had these balloons fly over them in recent years, and that’s been exposed to the world.”

China has contended that the balloon, the size of two or three school buses, was a weather aircraft that drifted off course in the winds over the U.S., but U.S. officials, including Blinken, have rejected that explanation.

“What is clear is that, once the balloon was over the United States and flying basically west to east, it attempted to surveil very sensitive military sites,” he said. “In some cases, it loitered or returned to them as it progressed east. So, there’s no doubt in our minds at all that, A) this was a surveillance balloon and, B) it was attempting to engage in active surveillance.”

The U.S. subsequently has retrieved much of the balloon’s payload from the ocean floor off the coast of the southern state of South Carolina and sent the parts to the FBI’s laboratory outside Washington for examination.

Both countries deploy spy satellites. China has accused the U.S., while offering no evidence, of sending at least 10 balloons over China in recent years, an allegation the U.S. said is false.

Blinken, who canceled a scheduled trip to Beijing because of the spy balloon incident, said rescheduling it was not discussed with Wang.

Aside from their discussions about the spy balloon, Blinken said he shared the “very real concerns” of the U.S. about China’s support for Russia’s war against Ukraine, with the anniversary of the conflict this Friday.

To date, he said, the U.S. has seen “some political and rhetorical support, even some nonlethal support. But we are very concerned that China is considering providing lethal support to Russia in its aggression against Ukraine. And I made clear that that would have serious consequences in our relationship as well, something that President [Joe] Biden has shared directly with President Xi [Jinping] on several occasions.”

Blinken said, however, that “to the best of our knowledge they haven’t crossed that line yet” to provide military assistance to Russia and offered no specifics. “But the main concern is material support to Russia’s war effort that would have a lethal effect,” he said.

“China’s trying to have it both ways,” Blinken contended. “Publicly, they present themselves as a country striving for peace in Ukraine. But privately, as I said, we’ve seen already over these past months the provision of nonlethal assistance that does go directly to aiding and abetting Russia’s war effort.”

“So I think it’s important that we make clear, as I did this evening in my meeting with Wang Yi, that this is something that is of deep concern to us,” Blinken said. “And I made clear the importance of not crossing that line, and the fact that it would have serious consequences in our own relationship, something that we do not need on top of the balloon incident that China’s engaged in.”

Despite the current contentions, Blinken said the U.S. does not want to engage in a Cold War with China, whose economy is second in the world to the U.S.

“This is obviously among the most consequential but also complex relationships that we have, and probably the same could be said for many other countries around the world,” Blinken said.

“And of course, we’re in a vigorous competition with China, and that’s something we’re not at all shy about,” he said. “We intend to compete very vigorously, and we’ve taken important steps over the last couple of years to invest in ourselves so that we compete effectively. But also to align with allies and partners around the world so that we have a shared approach to some of the challenges that China poses.”

“And also, it’s important to note that there are some very big issues out there that are affecting all of our citizens and affecting people around the world where, if we can, it would be in our interest to find ways to cooperate on climate, on global health, on the macroeconomic situation around the world,” he said. “And we have a responsibility to at least try to do that. So that’s why I say you can’t reduce this to a bumper sticker or to a label. It’s complicated. It’s consequential. And we need to manage it responsibly.”

China’s state-run news outlet reported that Wang met with Blinken at the request of the U.S. and that Wang stated China’s “solemn position,” requesting the U.S. “change course” and fix the damage done to the bilateral relationship caused by the U.S.’s “abuse of force” in shooting down the balloon.
…

The push for free-fare public transit is growing in the United States, despite a debate over its feasibility.

While some cities have been taking small steps, Washington recently passed a measure to eliminate fares on city buses. It is the largest city to put into place a zero-fare transit program, set to begin by July 1.

“Having free fare is the right thing to do,” said Charles Allen, a member of Washington’s governing council, which unanimously passed the bill.

Allen, who is also the chair of the city’s transportation committee, thinks public transit should be considered the same as other free public services.

“I don’t pay to use the library or to call the fire department,” he told VOA. “I think public transit was primarily set up so that people didn’t view it as a public good, and I disagree with that.”

Allen noted that Washington’s “transit [system] doesn’t make money. It’s not supposed to since it’s a public good. And so, fare collection is where you get a little bit extra money in the system. And we’re just shifting the burden from the rider, especially because our bus riders are predominantly lower income.”

Work-from-home drove change

As in other cities, many Washingtonians began working remotely at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Ridership on public transportation dropped significantly.

“The bus ridership has now bounced back to 95% [of pre-pandemic levels],” Allen said, adding that Washington’s local government will provide funding for the project.

“The bill adds about a dozen 24-hour bus routes and creates a $10-million-a-year service fund for improving the bus service,” he said.

Allen hopes to entice more people to use public transit.

“The more we can get people out of their cars and onto the free public transit, the better,” he said.

Some see an environmental benefit to the free-fare movement.

“The Sierra Club supports the free-fare movement and believes that it’s critical for slashing pollution from the transportation sector,” said Katherine Garcia, director of the environmental group’s Clean Transportation for All campaign. “We know that when there are more riders on public transit, traffic congestion is reduced, and air quality improves.”

Just outside Washington, the city of Alexandria in the state of Virginia is continuing its DASH bus service, which became free-fare during the coronavirus pandemic.

“It saves me a lot of money and time,” said Resident Eduardo Campos. “And I can easily go from my neighborhood to other places in the city.”

New York-based TransitCenter, a foundation that advocates for better public transit in the United States, is against the zero-fare movement.

“With inflation, public transit needs more money to operate, and some of that money should come from taxpayers, and some of the revenue from fares,” TransitCenter executive director David Bragdon told VOA. “So, in most large cities, to abolish fares would reduce the revenue severely, and the amount of transit would be cut.”

Kansas City was first

Kansas City, Missouri, became the first U.S. city to embrace zero-fare public transit, making streetcars free for military veterans. Then, beginning in 2019, everyone was allowed to ride buses and streetcars for free.

Richard Jarrold, deputy CEO of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, said the program has been successful and “benefits the community by helping people save money they can use for rent and medical care.”

But Bragdon sees a downside, saying Kansas City used to have “low-quality transit that cost $1.50 to ride. Now, it has low-quality transit that costs nothing but not a lot of people ride it because it’s still low quality.”

Instead of eliminating the fares, said Bragdon, they should have used the income to improve the services.

Kansas City is facing substantial financial challenges to continue the free fares.

“Politically, we have the support of the city of Kansas City, which has provided additional funding to partially offset the loss of the revenue,” Jarrold said. “But long-term, we’re looking at possible different funding, including from health insurance companies and a social service agency.”

Other cities have come up with innovative ideas to experiment with free fares.

The public transit system in Denver, Colorado, set up a zero-fare month when pollution is high in August.

In San Francisco, a pilot program for young people and seniors “offers free rides on all public transit,” said Stephen Chun, deputy spokesperson for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Despite riders clamoring for free transit for everyone, “no steps have been taken in that direction,” he said.

TransitCenter’s Bragdon said providing fare subsidies is a better idea than no fares.

“There are cities already doing that in Seattle, Portland and New York. There are ways to subsidize the fares for low-income people,” he said.

Council member Allen in Washington also backs subsidies for the district’s subway system.

“It’s not going to happen right away,” he said, “but the plan is, we’ll be able to get subsidies for people who ride the Metro rail.”
…

The Carter Center said Saturday that former President Jimmy Carter has entered home hospice care. 

The charity created by the 98-year-old former president said on Twitter that after a series of short hospital stays, Carter “decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention.” 

It said he has the full support of his medical team and family, which “asks for privacy at this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers.” 

Carter, a Democrat, became the 39th U.S. president when he defeated former President Gerald R. Ford in 1976. He served a single term and was defeated by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980. 

In recent years the Georgia native suffered from a series of health issues including an aggressive form of melanoma that spread to his liver and brain, although he had responded well to the treatment he received. 

In August 2015, Carter had a small cancerous mass removed from his liver. The following year, Carter announced that he needed no further treatment, as an experimental drug had eliminated any signs of cancer. 

Carter celebrated his most recent birthday in October with family and friends in Plains, the tiny Georgia town where he and his wife, Rosalynn, were born in the years between World War I and the Great Depression. 

The Carter Center, which the 39th president and the former first lady established after their one White House term, last year marked 40 years of promoting democracy and conflict resolution, monitoring elections, and advancing public health in the developing world. 

James Earl Carter Jr. won the 1976 presidential election after beginning the campaign as a little-known, one-term Georgia governor. His surprise performance in the Iowa caucuses established the small, Midwestern state as an epicenter of presidential politics. Carter went on to defeat Ford in the general election, largely on the strength of sweeping the South before his native region shifted heavily to Republicans. 
…