Month: September 2019

Four years after battling life-threatening cancer in his liver and brain, and four months after falling and breaking his hip, requiring surgery and weeks of intense physical therapy, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter took the stage September 18, unassisted, here for the Annual Jimmy Carter Emory University Town Hall, which he’s participated in, uninterrupted, for 38 years. Standing without assistance for more than 30 minutes, addressing topics ranging from current polarized U.S. politics to his favorite animal, Carter, a distinguished professor at Emory, showed no signs of fatigue or pain as he enthusiastically answered question after question from those who gathered in the cavernous campus gymnasium by the thousands to hear him speak. “Before this I really didn’t know much about President Carter,”  freshman Stephanie Teng said. “I feel so…

Liv first met Bill in 2016 when she was a college student and $5,000 in debt from student loans. Making rent was next to impossible, she said, but Bill helped her manage her expenses and finances better. They saw each other a few times a week, and soon Bill was paying Liv’s tuition and rent. He sent her on exotic trips to Europe and Thailand. They moved in together. “He taught me how to do my taxes. He taught me how to get my own car insurance. He helped me pay back student loans,” Liv said. “He just taught me so much and he didn’t have to do any of it. “I actually grew real feelings for him.” “Actually” because Liv was 24 and Bill was 70 when they connected…

A regional Chinese diplomat has rebuked the United States for being “ignorant” about his country’s ongoing key economic contributions and cooperation with Afghanistan. Arrangements are being worked out to enhance the cooperation with Kabul even under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Yao Jing, the Chinese ambassador to neighboring Pakistan told VOA. He hailed Saturday’s successful Afghan presidential election, saying China hopes they will boost peace-building efforts in a country wrecked by years of conflicts. “We hope that with the election in Afghanistan, with the peace development moving forward in Afghanistan, Afghans will finally achieve a peaceful period, achieve the stability,” said the Chinese diplomat, who served in Kabul prior to his posting in Islamabad. China and US Clash Over 'Belt and Road' in Afghan ResolutionChina insisting on including a…

Pope Francis on Sunday decried "the culture of comfort'' that leads to indifference in the face of a global migration and refugee crisis. The pope who has made caring for migrants a hallmark of his papacy spoke during a Mass for the World Day for Migrants and Refugees. "We cannot be indifferent to the tragedy of old and new forms of poverty, to the bleak isolation, contempt and discrimination experienced by those who do not belong to 'our group,'" Francis said. "We cannot remain insensitive, our hearts deadened, before the misery of so many innocent people. We must not fail to weep. We must not fail to respond.'' The pontiff has often spoken of the need to be welcoming to migrants, traveling to the Italian island of Lampedusa in 2013…

Thousands of protesters jammed a central Moscow square on September 29 as opposition groups sought to regain momentum following a summer of demonstrations that targeted both local elections but also Russia’s broader political system. The rally was the first major effort by liberal political groups and allied parties since elections earlier in the month that ended up being a catalyst for the biggest wave of sustained anti-government rallies in nearly a decade. Instead of elections, the Moscow event was focused on "political repression," as activists demanded that authorities halt a campaign of raids and arrests targeting anti-corruption crusader Aleksei Navalny and his network of supporters nationwide. Activists were rallying against harsh police tactics used in earlier demonstrations as well as what many Muscovites say were harsh jail sentences handed down…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz traded blame Sunday over the failure so far of efforts to reach a unity government deal following deadlocked elections.   A new round of negotiations between Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud and Gantz’s centrist Blue and White broke down Sunday and the two sides appeared far from reaching a compromise.   Likud said Netanyahu would make a "last effort" to reach a deal before informing President Reuven Rivlin he is unable to form a government.   That would leave Rivlin to decide whether to ask Gantz to try to do so or call on parliament to agree on a candidate for prime minister by a vote of at least 61 out of 120 members.   Netanyahu "will make a last effort to…

Syria's top diplomat on Saturday demanded the immediate withdrawal of American and Turkish forces from the country and said his government reserves the right to defend its territory in any way necessary if they remain. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem's remarks to the United Nations General Assembly were made as Turkey and the United States press ahead with a deal to create a safe zone along Syria's border with Turkey.  On the political front, he reaffirmed the government's support for the recently agreed committee to draft a new constitution for the country. As has been the government's tone since the start of the 2011 uprising in Syria, the foreign minister took a hard line, stressing there must be no interference from any country or timeline imposed on the process.  Al-Moallem's speech…

The British-flagged oil tanker that was seized by Iran in July has docked in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates early Saturday, according to ship-tracking websites and pool reporters. The Stena Impero, which had been held off Bandar Abbas for more than two months, started moving out of the Iranian port Friday and reached the coast off Dubai early Saturday. The arrival was reported on several ship-tracking websites. Erik Hanell, CEO of the company that owns the vessel, Stena Bulk, told the media earlier that the tanker's crew are "safe and in high spirits" following their release from Iran. He added that arrangements have been made for them to return to their families. "The crew will have a period of time to be with their families following 10 weeks of…

Seemingly low voter turnout marked presidential elections in Afghanistan Saturday, even as security forces managed to maintain relative calm across the country, despite dire warnings from the Taliban. At least four civilians and three security personnel were killed across the country and more than 50 civilians suffered injuries in election-related violence, mostly from small explosions. The figure is relatively small, keeping in mind past elections and the almost daily violence Afghanistan normally faces.   “At the moment we don’t have the exact number of voter turnout. But we have created a safe environment. We do believe quite a wide range of our compatriots were present,” General Khoshal Sadat, the Afghan deputy interior minister, told VOA before polls closed. Afghan incumbent president and presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani arrives to cast his…

The United States rejected a request by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to visit Iran's United Nations ambassador in a New York hospital where he is being treated for cancer, the U.S. State Department and Iranian U.N. mission said on Friday. A U.S. State Department spokesperson said Zarif's request would be granted if Iran released one of several American citizens it had detained. In July the United States imposed tight travel restrictions on Zarif before a visit that month to the United Nations, as well as on Iranian diplomats and their families living in New York, which Zarif described as "basically inhuman." Unless they receive prior approval from Washington, they are only allowed to travel within a small area of Manhattan, Queens and to and from John F. Kennedy…

Joseph Wilson, the former ambassador who set off a political firestorm by disputing U.S. intelligence used to justify the 2003 Iraq invasion, died Friday, according to his ex-wife. He was 69.    Wilson's died of organ failure in Santa Fe, said his former wife, Valerie Plame, whose identity as a CIA operative was exposed days after Wilson's criticism of U.S. intelligence that Saddam Hussein was attempting to purchase uranium.    The leak of Plame's covert identity was a scandal for the administration of President George W. Bush that led to the conviction of vice presidential aide Scooter B. Libby for lying to investigators and justice obstruction.    President Donald Trump pardoned Libby in 2018.    Plame, who is running as a Democrat for Congress — in part as a Trump adversary — called…

Mourners gathered at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Friday to pay their respects to former President Jacques Chirac, whose death unleashed a flood of tributes to a charismatic but complex giant of French politics.    Chirac, president from 1995 to 2007, died Thursday at age 86 after years of deteriorating health since suffering a stroke in 2005.    Ahead of a national day of mourning announced for Monday, the French presidency threw open the doors of the Elysee Palace for people wanting to sign a book of condolences.    "I express my admiration and tenderness for the last of the great presidents," read one tribute. "Thank you for fighting, thank you for this freedom and good spirits."    In a televised address Thursday night, President Emmanuel Macron praised "a…

The head of Zimbabwe's Doctors Association has left the country for urgent medical treatment in South Africa after being held captivity, during which his medical team says he was poisoned.  Police tried to block his departure even though he had a court order allowing him to leave.  Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare for VOA News. ...

Losing a job is seldom a good thing.  Repeatedly losing that job on the same day sounds nightmarish. Get ready to feel sorry for a person who does not exist. VOA's Arash Arabasadi plugs us in to an alternate reality created to help managers hone skills at performing an unpleasant but sometimes necessary task. ...

Health experts warn we are due for a cataclysmic pandemic — they just don’t know when it will happen. The warning was delivered this week to world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly by a special global health monitoring group that said the next pandemic could traverse the world in 36 hours, killing up to 80 million and causing devastating economic loss. The group, the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, operates independently of the World Health Organization and the World Bank, the entities that created it last year with a mandate to issue an annual assessment. The first report was grim. A health worker vaccinates a child against malaria in Ndhiwa, Homabay County, western Kenya, Sept. 13, 2019, during the launch of a malaria vaccination campaign in the country. Lack of…

A shallow tremor Thursday sent terrified residents of northeastern Pakistan onto the streets, days after a powerful quake killed 38 people and caused widespread damage in the area. The tremor stretched already-frayed nerves in Mirpur, in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, as fears of aftershocks from Tuesday's quake sent hundreds into the streets and put local hospitals on alert. The US Geological Survey put the quake at 4.7 magnitude and 10 kilometres (six miles) deep, adding that it had struck just four kilometres outside of Mirpur. City residents huddled in streets following the quake, some still barefoot, while others recited verses from the Koran. "It's hell. I am running to save my life," Mohammad Bilal told AFP moments after the tremor. "I thought most of the building would have tumbled down," said Sagheer…

A Jewish civil rights group has added dozens of new entries to its online database of hateful symbols, slogans and memes that white supremacists have adopted and spread. The "OK" hand gesture is one of the images that the Anti-Defamation League has added to its hate symbols database. Online trolls have used the gesture to dupe viewers into perceiving it as a "white power" symbol, but the ADL says far-right extremists also are using it as a sincere expression of white supremacy.   California Synagogue Shooting Suspect Pleads Not Guilty to Hate CrimesThe man suspected of killing a woman in a shooting at a Southern California synagogue pleaded not guilty to federal hate crime charges Tuesday. John T. Earnest spoke twice during the brief hearing — to acknowledge his name…

The fate of Emmanuel Macron's presidency of France may lie in the fate of his planned overhaul of the retirement system, which has already prompted strikes and protests. Knowing that it's not going to be the easiest of sells following the yellow vest movement that brought France to a near-standstill last winter, Macron is embarking Thursday on a ``Tour de France'' of meetings to try to convince skeptical workers that reform is exactly what France's stretched and hugely complicated pension system needs to survive into the long-term.     Here's a look at the planned changes, and why they are generating debate:  France old-age pension system The country's retirement system has its roots in 1673 and the reign King Louis XIV. Initially for royal marines, the system swelled to include…

Israel's president has asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try to form a new government after last week's deadlocked elections that have paralyzed the country. The office of President Reuven Rivlin made the announcement after meeting Wednesday with Netanyahu and his primary challenger, Benny Gantz. Rivlin has the responsibility of selecting the candidate he believes has the best chance of forming a coalition government after neither Netanyahu nor Gantz captured the required support of the parliamentary majority. Rivlin mediated two previous meetings this week between the politicians, hoping to reach a deal between Netanyahu's conservative Likud party and Gantz's centrist and liberal Blue and White alliance. FILE - Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz delivers a statement in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sept. 19, 2019. The talks ended, though, because…

The decision by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to launch an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump has complicated what already was Trump's uncertain road to re-election next year.  Public opinion polls suggest Trump is in a weaker position for re-election than most other incumbent presidents have been, and he is counting on a strong economy and loyal supporters to overcome what is expected to be an intense turnout of motivated Democratic voters next year. ...

VOA Burmese Service contributed to this report The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation aimed at advancing efforts to hold senior Myanmar leaders accountable for crimes committed against Rohingya and other ethnic minorities. The BURMA act was approved on Tuesday and now goes to the Senate for consideration. Andy Levin, D-Mich, arrives for member-elect briefings on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 15, 2018. "Journalists, activists and anyone who is willing to use their voice to call out wrong doing must be protected. That is why Congresswoman Ann Wagner and I introduced the Burma Political Prisoners Assistance Act, Rep. Andy Levin (D) said. "This bill calls for the release of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Burma and directs our State Department to bolster its works to achieve this…

A threat by Donald Trump to pull the United States out of the global postal system could lead to a "nightmare scenario" of mail going undelivered, packages piling up and American stamps no longer being recognized abroad, the U.N. postal agency said. The Universal Postal Union (UPU) has been holding an emergency meeting in Geneva to persuade Washington not to follow through on a threat to quit the agency, which sets rules to ensure mail gets delivered around the globe. The Trump administration says it wants to charge other countries more than UPU rules now permit to have letters and packages delivered in the United States. It has set a deadline of next month for rates to be raised or it will quit. Universal Postal Union (UPU) Director General Bishar…

Sweeping goals to end poverty, inequality and other global ills are being derailed by climate change, conflicts and violence, the head of the United Nations told world leaders in New York on Tuesday, calling for a "decade of action." Sustainable development needs more financing, investment in health and education, and broader access to technology to succeed, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the first high-level review of the global goals adopted in 2015. Launched with great fanfare and optimism, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed by the 193 U.N. member states set out an ambitious "to-do" list tackling conflict, hunger, land degradation, gender inequality and climate change by 2030. But assessments of their progress have been bleak. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the Climate Summit in the United Nations General…

House and Senate leaders are reacting along party lines to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's announcement of a Trump impeachment inquiry. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is accusing Democrats of having a "predetermined conclusion" about Trump's guilt, calling Tuesday's developments part of an "impeachment parade in search of a rationale." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivers remarks during a weekly Senate Luncheon press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Sept. 24, 2019. "It simply confirms that House Democrats' priority is not making life better for the American people, but their nearly three-year-old fixation on impeachment." McConnell's statement came just after he was part of the Senate's unanimous consent agreement that the whistleblower's complaint be immediately handed over to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. McConnell's House counterpart, Republican Minority…

World leaders involved in some of the most high profile geopolitical issues are among those set to speak on the first day of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. After opening remarks from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, those gathered for the annual meeting will hear from a group that includes U.S. President Donald Trump, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Korean President Moon Jae-in and French President Emmanuel Macron. The addresses come a day after Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg scolded world leaders at a U.N. summit calling for climate action, saying people are suffering and dying from the effects of global warming and that all the leaders have are empty words.  "We are in [the] beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money," said…

Honda said on Monday it would phase out all diesel cars by 2021 in favor of models with electric propulsion systems, as the Japanese automaker moves to electrify all of its European cars by 2025. Honda is the latest automaker cutting production of diesel cars to meet stringent global emissions regulations. The plan is part of its long-term goal to make electric cars, including all battery-electric vehicles, to account for two-thirds of its line ups by 2030 from less than 10% now. By next year, according to European Union emission targets, CO2 must be cut to 95 gram per km for 95% of cars from the current 120.5 gram average, a figure that has increased of late as consumers spurn fuel-efficient diesels and embrace SUVs. All new cars in the…

A global working group set up by Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Microsoft to remove extremist content will become an independent watchdog working "to respond quicker and work more collaboratively to prevent" attacks like Christchurch, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday. Ardern has pushed for stronger action since New Zealand's worst peacetime mass shooting in March, when a gunman attacked Muslims attending Friday prayers in Christchurch. He killed 51 people and broadcast the attack live on Facebook. "In the same way that we respond to natural emergencies like fires and floods, we need to be prepared and ready to respond to a crisis like the one we experienced," Ardern told reporters on the sidelines of the annual United Nations gathering of world leaders. The Global Internet Forum to…

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, began their first official tour as a family Monday with their infant son, Archie, in South Africa, with Meghan declaring to cheers that "I am here with you as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of color and as your sister." The first day of their 10-day, multi-country tour started in Cape Town with visits to girls' empowerment projects that teach rights and self-defense. Harry danced a bit as a musical welcome greeted them in the township of Nyanga, whose location was not made public in advance because of security concerns.   Violent crime is so deadly in parts of Cape Town that South Africa's military has been deployed in the city, and its stay…