Month: January 2020

North Korea will not resume nuclear talks unless the United States unconditionally accepts its demands, a senior North Korean official said Saturday.

“We have wasted our time with U.S. for more than a year and a half,” said Kim Kye Gwan, a North Korean vice foreign minister, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

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Trump Wishes North Korea’s Kim a Happy Birthday

The U.S. president sent a message to the Kim Jong Un via South Korea’s national security adviser

Kim, a senior diplomat, said Kim Jong Un’s relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump remains positive, noting that Kim recently received birthday greetings from Trump.

“But it is a personal thing and our chairman, who represents the state and works for the benefit of the state, will not make decisions based on his personal relationship,” Kim added.

“For dialogue to happen, the U.S. must unconditionally accept our demands. However, we know that the U.S. is not ready to do so, or cannot do so,” he added.

The North Korean diplomat did not say what North Korea is demanding. North Korea regularly complains about U.S. and international sanctions, as well as joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises and weapons sales.

Trump Administration Gives Korean Leader Benefit of Doubt

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expresses hope Kim Jong Un will ‘choose peace and prosperity over conflict and war’

The U.S.-North Korea talks have been stalled since February, when a Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi ended abruptly over a disagreement on how to pair sanctions relief with steps to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program.

Kim, the North Korean diplomat, said “there will be no negotiations like in Vietnam, in which we proposed exchanging a core nuclear facility of the country for the lifting of some U.N. sanctions.”

Over the last two years, Trump and Kim have exchanged personal letters. Trump has hinted the two also talk on the phone. Last week, Trump insisted the relationship remains “very good,” despite U.S.-North Korea talks being stalled.

Birthday greetings

The latest reported Trump-Kim interaction came this week, when Trump sent birthday greetings to the North Korean leader, who is believed to have  turned 36 on Wednesday.

South Korea said Friday it had relayed the birthday message following a meeting between Trump and South Korea’s national security adviser.

However, KCNA reported Saturday that North Korea had already received Trump’s greetings directly in the form of a personal letter. KCNA mocked South Korea for attempting to mediate between Washington and Seoul.

“They seem not to know that there is a special liaison channel between the top leaders of the DPRK and the U.S.,” the diplomat Kim said, using the acronym for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“It seems [South Korea] still has lingering hope for playing the role of ‘mediator’ in the DPRK-U.S. relations,” he said, saying it is “presumptuous for south Korea to meddle in the personal relations between Kim and Trump.”

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who has prioritized dialogue with the North, met with Kim three times in 2018. The inter-Korean relations at least initially helped smooth the way for the Trump-Kim talks in early 2018.

As  U.S.-North Korea negotiations stalled, though, Pyongyang abandoned the inter-Korean talks, apparently in frustration over Seoul’s unwillingness to move ahead with joint projects without U.S. support.

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North Korea’s Kim Touts Strategic Weapon Amid Stall in Talks

Kim has used the diplomatic stalemate to expand his military capabilities by intensifying tests of shorter-range weapons

Two years into dialogue with North Korea, the only apparent remnant is the occasional Trump-Kim letter. Even that relationship may be at risk, however, if North Korea resumes longer-range missile or nuclear tests, as it has been hinting.

“Personal relationships at the top can get a dialogue going, but personal relations alone don’t result in deals,” said Daniel DePetris, a fellow at Defense Priorities, a Washington-based research organization. “This is what Trump doesn’t appear to understand. He’s banking on his ‘friendship’ with Kim to lead the way to denuclearization.”

“Friendship or not, denuclearization left the barn a long time ago,” DePetris added.

Many analysts are pessimistic about the short-term chances for talks.

“North Korea has made clear it will not return to the talks unless the U.S. offers new proposals,” Kim Dong Yub, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said at a Seoul conference Friday.
 
The North Korean leader has not likely abandoned talks altogether, however, Kim said. “The U.S. is the only country that can help North Korea be a normal nation in the international community,” he added.

…

El Salvador has passed a new law on internally displaced people that the U.N. refugee agency says will offer a new lease on life for tens of thousands of victims forcibly displaced by gang violence and organized crime.

The U.N. refugee agency reports gang violence has forcibly displaced an estimated 71,500 Salvadorans between 2006 and 2016 within their own country.  Over the last few years, the agency reports the malign grip of organized crime in El Salvador and other countries in Central America has sent an increasing number of people fleeing to the United States in search of protection.  

UNHCR spokeswoman Liz Throssell tells VOA internal displacement as a result of organized crime and criminal gangs continues to be an extremely serious problem in El Salvador and Honduras.

“So, what we are doing is we are welcoming the fact that the Salvadoran authorities are really taking this first step to address the problem of internal displacement,” Throssell said. “I think clearly, if there are efforts to prevent internal displacement, that is also going to have a knock-on effect to external displacement.” 

These are still early days, as El Salvador’s National Assembly just passed the law on Friday and has yet to be implemented.  The law aims to protect, aid and offer solutions to the tens of thousands of victims of forced displacement.  Under its provisions they would gain access to humanitarian aid and have basic rights restored, including effective access to justice.

Throssell says the law could have a lasting positive impact on the lives of the more than 70,000 uprooted by gang violence once it is signed into law by President Nayib Bukele.

“The law reflects the growing momentum in Central America and beyond to recognize and respond to the phenomenon of internal displacement,” Throssell said. “In Honduras, where an estimated 247,000 people have been displaced by violence within their own country, the National Congress is considering legislation similar to the law passed in El Salvador.” 

Throssell says Mexico also recognizes the serious impact of internal displacement and has expressed its commitment to pass similar legislation at the federal level.

…

European powers have rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for them to join him in abandoning the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with several factors pushing them to try to keep the deal alive, analysts say.

After European Union foreign ministers held an emergency meeting in Brussels Friday to discuss escalating Middle East tensions, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said the 28-nation bloc will keep doing whatever it can to save the deal. Under the agreement, world powers offered Iran relief from international sanctions in return for limits on its nuclear program.

Trump had called on the JCPOA’s three EU signatories — Britain, France and Germany, all traditional U.S. allies — to “break away” from the deal in a Wednesday speech detailing his response to Iranian missile strikes on U.S. forces in Iraq the previous day. Iran launched the attacks, which caused no casualties, in retaliation for what the U.S. called a self-defensive strike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad last week.

“The very defective JCPOA expires shortly anyway, and gives Iran a clear and quick path to nuclear [weapon] breakout. The time has come for the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia and China to recognize this reality,” Trump said. Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

“We want to save this deal if it’s possible,” Borrell told reporters after chairing the EU foreign ministers’ talks in Brussels. “Thanks to this deal, Iran is not a nuclear power,” he added.

Dispute resolution mechanism

Borrell also said the EU powers had not discussed triggering the JCPOA’s dispute-resolution mechanism in response to Iran’s series of breaches of JCPOA limits on nuclear activities in recent months or its latest threat to scrap restrictions on uranium enrichment, a process that can be diverted to nuclear bomb-making.

Diplomats have warned that Britain, France and Germany could activate the agreement’s dispute mechanism if Iran does not return to full compliance. Such an activation could lead to a U.N. Security Council “snapback” of international sanctions on Iran, a move that Tehran has said would prompt it to quit the deal and end any remaining restraints on its nuclear program.

Trump has vowed that he will never allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon and refused to rule out military action to prevent such an outcome.

One factor pushing EU powers to try to keep the JCPOA alive is the fear that triggering a dispute process that leads to a U.N. sanctions snapback could push the U.S. and Iran into a war.

“Any conflict between Iran and the U.S. will happen at the EU’s doorstep, and they will be the ones who will pay a price for it, in the form of waves of refugees and radicalization that would end up on European shores,” said Ali Vaez, an International Crisis Group analyst, in a VOA Persian interview.

EU powers also appear to be waiting for Iran to make the next move in its series of JCPOA breaches.

Tehran has yet to say when and by how much it will expand uranium enrichment, as it threatened to do after the Jan. 3 U.S. killing of Soleimani. Tehran also has said the International Atomic Energy Agency can keep monitoring its nuclear sites and the JCPOA breaches are reversible if European powers help the Iranian economy to circumvent crushing U.S. sanctions.

Hudson Institute analyst Michael Doran told VOA Persian that Iran would have to behave so brazenly in any further breaches of the JCPOA that it generates a backlash for EU powers to feel compelled to trigger the dispute mechanism.

“I think the Iranians understand that it’s not in their interests do that, so they will calibrate their nuclear steps very carefully,” he said. 

Waiting game

As EU powers wait for U.N. inspectors to verify the extent of Iran’s breaches of the JCPOA before deciding their next move, the U.S. may not exercise the same degree of patience. 

A State Department legal opinion reported by the Associated Press last month said the U.S. has a legal avenue to demand a snapback of U.N. sanctions without waiting for the JCPOA’s joint commission to conclude its dispute process. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the JCPOA in 2018, saying it was not tough enough on Iran.

Trump’s Republican allies in Congress, including Senators Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, have urged him to invoke the U.N. snapback of sanctions in response to Iran’s threat to back out of JCPOA limits on uranium enrichment. U.S. officials have not said whether they will heed that call.

Trump critics have disputed the State Department’s legal opinion, saying the U.S. can only trigger the U.N. snapback if it actively participates in the JCPOA and its dispute mechanism. 

“I’ve talked with the Europeans, Russians and Chinese. No one recognizes that interpretation that the U.S. has, so they don’t take this threat seriously,” Vaez said. 

EU powers also face little pressure from their domestic constituencies to walk away from the nuclear deal. 

“This is not a top priority for the European public,” Vaez said. “There are a lot of other issues they care about more, like the future of trade, the NATO alliance and 5G mobile technology.” 

This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service.
 

…

More than 1 billion animals have been killed in bushfires in the Australian state of New South Wales, according to leading wildlife experts.

Bushfires have had a terrible impact on Australia. Lives have been lost, thousands of homes destroyed and vast areas of land incinerated. The disaster has also had catastrophic consequences for animals. Images of badly burned koalas, Australia’s famous furry marsupials, have come to define the severity of the fire emergency.

The University of Sydney has estimated that more than 1 billion mammals, birds and reptiles, as well as “hundreds of billions” of insects have died in the fires. Experts have warned that “for some species we are looking at imminent extinction.”

They also fear that animals that have survived the fires by fleeing or seeking safety underground will return to areas that will not have the food, water or shelter to support them. 

Saving the zoo animals

At zoos and wildlife reserves, staff risked their lives protecting the animals in their care.

As fires tore through the town of Mogo on the New South Wales south coast on New Year’s Eve, there were grave fears for the animals at the local zoo. Remarkably, they all survived, but the property is badly damaged.

Chad Staples, the head keeper, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation about his decision to stay to fight the flames.

“We have a lot of damaged fences,” he said. “The good thing is that we saved every single animal, there is no injuries, there’s no sickness. We had to stay here and protect them. We knew that this was the best place that we, if we worked hard, could make this a safe place. But, yeah, of course, I think everyone, at [a] different point, was scared out of their wits.”

Farm animals perish

Tens of thousands of farm animals also have likely died in the bushfire disaster.

Farmers have been forced to euthanize injured stock. The losses could run into the millions of dollars.

Only when the fires clear will Australia be able to more accurately assess the full extent of the damage on livestock and wildlife.

Dozens of fires continue to burn across several Australian states.

…

Two Eritrean asylum-seekers were shot dead in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, days after the U.N. refugee agency pressed them to leave its facility citing overcrowding.

The UNHCR confirmed the deaths in a statement Friday saying it’s “deeply saddened” by the Thursday deaths in Tripoli.

Three refugees told The Associated Press that the men were among dozens forced out of the UNHCR-run Gathering and Departure Facility 10 days ago. The three spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

The facility was promoted as an “alternative to detention” but when the numbers of refugees increased, the U.N. offered money and pressed new arrivals to leave. The slain refugees were among those who accepted the money and left.

They were among thousands held in Libya’s detention centers where abuses are rampant. The country is a major waypoint for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East to Europe.

…

The Islamic State group gloated over the recent U.S. killing of a senior Iranian general, who rose to prominence by advising forces fighting the extremists.

In the first IS comments since Gen. Qassem Soleimani’s slaying, the group said his death “pleased the hearts of believers.” The editorial was released in the group’s al-Nabaa online newspaper late Thursday.

Although the U.S. and Iran strictly avoided working together directly, they were once on the same side in the fight against IS. Neither side wants to see the extremists stage a comeback.

But as the various players in Iraq jockey to come out ahead in a post-Soleimani landscape, Islamic State militants may find an opening. Thousands of fighters are scattered among the group’s sleeper cells, and have claimed attacks in both Iraq and neighboring Syria in recent months.

As the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, Soleimani was one of the main commanders on the ground spearheading the fight against IS. He sent thousands of Iran-backed fighters to Iraq and Syria to battle the extremists, and directed Iraqi Shiite militias as well. A top Iraqi militia commander was killed alongside Soleimani in last week’s U.S. drone strike.

The IS editorial said that its members tried for years to kill the two commanders, but that “God brought their end at the hands of their allies.” It said both men “have gone too far in shedding the blood of Muslims in Iraq and Syria.”

Iraq’s caretaker prime minister has now asked Washington to start working out a road map for withdrawing the more than 5,000 American troops in Iraq, in response to Soleimani’s killing. But the U.S. State Department on Friday bluntly rejected the request.

Iraqis have felt furious and helpless at being caught in the middle of fighting between Baghdad’s two closest allies.

…

The United Nations human rights office accused members of the ethnic-Lendu community in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri Province of mass violations against the ethnic Hema community, which could constitute crimes against humanity.

Inter-ethnic tensions between the Lendu and Hema communities over land and other resources have gone on for decades.  But the U.N. human rights office reports those disputes have spiraled out of control and become particularly dangerous and alarming.  

A U.N. investigation from December 2017 to September 2019 found more than 700 people were killed, 168 injured and at least 143 people sexually violated in the territories of Djugu and Mahagi in DRC’s Ituri Province.  U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said most of the perpetrators are Lendu and most of the victims are Hema.

“The report documents numerous cases of women being raped, of children—some in school uniforms—being killed, and of looting and burning of villages,” he said. “The violence could contain some elements of crimes against humanity through murder, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, pillage and persecution.”  

The report said the barbarity of the attacks reflects the desire of the attackers to inflict lasting trauma to the Hema communities and force them to flee and not return to their homes.  The U.N. said schools and health clinics were attacked and destroyed, houses and villages burned to the ground.  The attacks occurred in June and December during the harvest and planting seasons and aimed to prevent the Hema from cultivating their land and have them experience food shortages.

Colville told VOA those tactics have some characteristics of genocide.  But he said the burden of proof for genocide is so high one has to be very cautious before jumping to such conclusions.  

“I think what they are doing in the report is just flagging this element is there,” he said. “It is inter-ethnic.  It appears to be targeting on a big scale.  It is organized and systematic, and there are elements that could lead to, perhaps depending on what happens in the future to a characterization of genocide.  But it is a very tentative reference.  It is not dwelled on at any length.” 

The U.N. human rights office recommended DRC authorities address the root causes of the Lendu-Hema conflict, urged authorities to conduct an independent and impartial investigation into the violence, and to compensate the victims.

…

South Sudanese First Vice President Taban Deng Gai is denying allegations of human rights abuses and criticizing U.S. sanctions against him.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Deng on Wednesday. Officials say Deng arranged and directed the deaths of two prominent activists — human rights lawyer Samuel Dong Luak and opposition politician Aggrey Iddri — and tried to derail South Sudan’s peace process. Conflict broke out in 2013 following a power struggle between President Salva Kiir and then-Vice President Riek Machar.

The U.S. government also says Deng worked to divide opposition opponents and members of the broader ethnic Nuer community who were displaced because of the conflict. Officials say he directed the actions to solidify his position within Kiir’s government and to intimidate members of the SPLM-IO, of which Iddri was a member.

Deng called the sanctions “regrettable and baseless.”

The U.S. move is the latest in a series of sanctions against South Sudanese individuals.

The Treasury Department accuses South Sudan’s government of refusing to create “political space for dissenting voices, from opposition parties, ethnic groups, civil society, or media,” an issue it said has been a key factor in the country’s inability to implement a peace agreement and ongoing acts of violence against civilians.

In September 2018, Kiir and Machar signed a revitalized peace agreement that called for the formation of a national unity government by May 2019. Government and opposition leaders extended that deadline twice, but have not taken steps to create a unified national army — one of the measures seen as key to implementing the peace deal. The biggest remaining obstacle between the government and the opposition is the dispute over the number of states and their boundaries.

Kiir and Machar are scheduled to form the unity government in February.

Defending Deng 

Deng’s office manager defended his boss and his activities.

“In discharging his duties as the first vice president of the Republic of South Sudan, he dedicated and committed himself to working for the unity and peaceful co-existence among the people of South Sudan to secure a future for them,” Adel Sandrai told VOA.

The U.S. said the sanctions fall under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption.

The Treasury Department noted in its statement that since the September 2018 peace deal, which included a permanent cease-fire, hundreds of civilians have been killed, raped and abducted. It said the U.S. will not hesitate to target individuals who have perpetuated the conflict.

Sandrai maintains that Deng has worked to restore peace in South Sudan.

“Despite the sanctions wrongly imposed on him, H.E General Taban Deng Gai pledges to continue to work with the United States and the international community to demonstrate such commitment and to prove the unfounded nature of the allegations against him,” Sandrai said.

The sanctions freeze all cash or assets held in the U.S. and block Deng from accessing the American financial system.

Next steps

Abraham Kuol Nyuon, professor of political science at the University of Juba, said Kiir should fire the officials already on the list of people sanctioned by the United States.

“The president should be able to redeem himself by trying to make sure he disassociates himself from the people who have already been sanctioned and the people who have become spoilers to the peace agreement,” Nyuon told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus program.

Nyuon said he believes the only way Kiir can turn things around is by convincing the international community he is ready to cooperate.

“All the people around the president are already sanctioned and now the United States is seriously watching every step of the president,” Nyuon said.

In December, the U.S. sanctioned Defense Minister Kuol Manyang Juuk and Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lomuro, saying they fueled the five-year conflict and obstructed peace in South Sudan, the world’s youngest country. Five other South Sudanese were sanctioned last month.  
 

…

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday the House will take steps next week to send articles of impeachment to the Senate for President Donald Trump’s Senate trial.

In a letter to her Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said she has asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler to be prepared to bring to the floor next week a resolution to appoint managers and transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate.

“I will be consulting with you at our Tuesday House Democratic Caucus meeting on how we proceed further,” Pelosi wrote.

Pelosi has held on to the articles in a standoff with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The protracted showdown has scrambled the politics of impeachment and the congressional calendar three weeks after the House Democrats impeached Trump on charges of abuse and obstruction over his actions toward Ukraine.

Transmittal of the documents and naming of House impeachment managers are the next steps needed to start the Senate trial. Pelosi indicated she may be communicating to her colleagues, as she often does with a letter on her thinking.

McConnell wants to launch a speedy trial without new witnesses but Pelosi is warning against a rush to acquit the president.

Trump mocked Pelosi with his tweets Friday and derided her and other Democrats late Thursday in Toledo, his first rally of 2020.

Pelosi, D-Calif., faces mounting pressure to act. Republicans say Democrats are embarrassed by their vote. But Pelosi countered that Democrats are “proud” of upholding the Constitution and said she doubted that Senate Republicans will do the same.

Many on Capitol Hill expect the Senate impeachment trial to begin next week.

“I’ll send them over when I’m ready. That will probably be soon,” Pelosi told reporters at the Capitol Thursday, noting she is not postponing it “indefinitely.”

The House impeached Trump in December on the charge that he abused the power of his office by pressuring Ukraine’s new leader to investigate Democrats, using as leverage $400 million in military assistance for the U.S. ally as it counters Russia at its border. Trump insists he did nothing wrong, but his defiance of the House Democrats’ investigation led to an additional charge of obstruction of Congress.

Pelosi’s delay in sending the articles of impeachment over for a Senate trial has led to a standoff with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., over what would be the third impeachment trial in the nation’s history.

McConnell said that if Pelosi and House Democrats are “too embarrassed” to send the articles of impeachment, the Senate will simply move on next week to other business.

“They do not get to trap our entire country into an unending groundhog day of impeachment without resolution,” McConnell said.

McConnell told GOP senators at a lunchtime meeting to expect the trial next week, according to two people familiar with his remarks. The people requested anonymity to discuss the private meeting.

At the same time, McConnell signed on to a resolution from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., to allow for the dismissal of articles of impeachment if the House doesn’t transmit them in 25 days. That change to Senate rules appears unlikely to happen before Pelosi transmits the articles.

In the weeks since Trump was impeached, Democrats have focused on new evidence about Trump’s effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals and they pushed the Senate to consider new testimony, including from former White House national security adviser John Bolton. Republicans are just as focused on a speedy trial with acquittal.

Republicans have the leverage, with a slim 53-47 Senate majority, as McConnell rebuffs the Democratic demands for testimony and documents. But Democrats are using the delay to sow public doubt about the fairness of the process as they try to peel off wavering GOP senators for the upcoming votes. It takes just 51 senators to set the rules.

“When we say fair trial, we mean facts, we mean witnesses, we mean documents,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., promising votes ahead. “Every single one of us, in this Senate, will have to have to take a stand. How do my Republican friends want the American people, their constituents, and history to remember them?”

Trump weighed in from the White House suggesting that he, too, would like more witnesses at trial. They include former Vice President Joe Biden, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination now, and his son Hunter, as well as the government whistleblower whose complaint about the president’s pressure on Ukraine sparked the impeachment investigation.

On a July telephone call with Ukraine’s new president, Trump asked his counterpart to open an investigation into the Bidens while holding up military aid for Ukraine. A Ukrainian gas company had hired Hunter Biden when his father was vice president and the Obama administration’s point man on Ukraine. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Biden.

Trump suggested that his administration would continue to block Bolton or others from the administration from appearing before senators. Many of those officials have defied congressional subpoenas for their testimony.
       When we start allowing national security advisers to just go up and say whatever they want to say, we can't do that,'' Trump said during an event with building contractors. "So we have to protect presidential privilege for me, but for future presidents. That's very important."<br /><br />
Bolton, one of four witnesses that Democrats have requested, said this week that he would testify if subpoenaed.<br /><br />
McConnell has said from the start he is looking to model Trump's trial on the last time the Senate convened as the court of impeachment, for President Bill Clinton in 1999. McConnell has said there will be "no haggling" with House Democrats over Senate procedures.<br /><br />
"There will be no unfair, new rule rule-book written solely for President Trump," McConnell said Thursday.<br /><br />
McConnell, who met with Trump late Wednesday at the White House, suggested last month it would be "fine with me" if the House never sent the articles. More recently, he has drawn on the Constitution's intent for the Senate to have the ultimate say on matters of impeachment. He scoffed that Pelosi has `'managed to do the impossible by uniting Democrats and Republicans who want the trial to begin.

Some Democrats have been showing increased anxiety over the delay as Americans remain divided over Trump’s impeachment.

The delay on impeachment has also upended the political calendar, with the weekslong trial now expected to bump into presidential nominating contests, which begin in early February. Several Democratic senators are running for the party’s nomination.

One 2020 hopeful, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., told The Associated Press’s Ground Game podcast that a looming impeachment trial and other pressing issues in Washington could deal a “big, big blow” to his presidential campaign by keeping him away from Iowa in the final weeks before the Feb. 3 caucuses.

As Pelosi dashed into a morning meeting at the Capitol, she was asked if she had any concerns about losing support from Democrats for her strategy. She told reporters: “No.”

“I know exactly when” to send the impeachment articles over, Pelosi said. “I won’t be telling you right now.”

Pelosi is seeking what she says she wanted from the start – “to see the arena” and “terms of the engagement” that McConnell will use for the trial – before sending her House managers to present the articles of impeachment in the Senate. She has yet to choose the managers, a source of political intrigue as many lawmakers want the high-profile job.

…

Independent news organizations in Cambodia are struggling to recover from a major crackdown on the free press during the 2018 election. VOA’s Brian Padden reportsthe Cambodian government eased its pressure on the media somewhat after the EU threatened sanctions, but journalists continue to face increased risks of imprisonment and persecution.

…

At least 40 victims of the Ukrainian plane crash in Tehran were students or researchers active in Canadian universities or research communities.

Most were students returning to Canada after spending winter break in Iran, according to University Affairs (UA) of Canada. Dozens of students, professors and researchers from at least 18 universities across the country have been identified among the victims, the UA news service reported. Among the 176 killed in the crash, 140 were traveling to Canada, with a stopover in Kyiv, Ukraine. Sixty-three were Canadian citizens.

“We have learned, with profound sorrow, that several U of T students were among the 176 people killed in the crash,” University of Toronto President Meric Gertler wrote. “On behalf of the entire University of Toronto community, I want to say how deeply saddened we are, and how concerned we are for the families and friends of those who lost their lives.” 

With great sadness, We received the heartbreaking news about the tragic death of two of our students, Shahab Raana & Sahand Hatefi-Mostaghim, following a plane crash in Iran.

On behalf of Aviron, we offer their families our sincere condolences.

Rest in Peace?#Flight752pic.twitter.com/7osPgkf2gT

— Aviron de Montreal (@AvironTechMtl) January 9, 2020

Newlyweds Arash Pourzarabi and Pouneh Gorji were master’s students in computer science at the University of Alberta.

The university also lost Mojgan Daneshmand, a Canada Research Chair in radio frequency microsystems, who was returning to Canada with her husband, Pedram Mousavi, a professor of mechanical engineering. The couple’s two daughters were also killed in the crash.

University of Alberta President David H. Turpin wrote, “Words simply cannot express the loss I know we all are feeling. On behalf of the University of Alberta, I wish to extend our deepest condolences to the families, friends, colleagues and loved ones of the victims of this tragedy.”

“Ours is a closely interconnected community, and we grieve with everyone touched by this terrible loss — friends, classmates, roommates, professors, students, mentors and colleagues,” Turpin added.

In some cases, the victims included family members — such as Dalhousie University engineering student Masoumeh Ghavi and her younger sister Mandieh Ghavi. The younger sister was an incoming student at the Nova Scotia school, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Among those killed in the crash were undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students in fields including electrical engineering, computer systems technology, human and veterinary medicine, geography, finance, business, environment, geomatics, marketing and consumer studies, molecular genetics and human resources.

“The Science Students’ Association is deeply saddened by the loss of our peers in the tragic plane crash in Iran,” tweeted @SSA_AES. “We extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those affected. Our thoughts are with you as we face this very sad time.”

The Science Students’ Association is deeply saddened by the loss of our peers in the tragic plane crash in Iran. We extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those affected. Our thoughts are with you as we face this very sad time.? https://t.co/wmCb84tN9k

— SSA-AÉS (@SSA_AES) January 9, 2020

The educational institutions impacted were the University of Toronto, University of Alberta, Carleton University, Dalhousie University, University of Guelph, McMaster University, University of Manitoba, Ontario Tech University, University of Ottawa, University of Quebec, Queen’s University, Ryerson University, Saint Mary’s University, University of Victoria, University of Waterloo, Western University, University of Windsor and York University.

“This is not right,” London, Ontario, Mayor Ed Holder told the Western News, his voice breaking with emotion. “We should not be here this afternoon grieving the loss of these four young people. We should be celebrating their return home. It’s not right.”

…

Vietnamese startups are heading into the new year looking to avoid the mistakes of such companies as Uber and WeWork, which disappointed investors in 2019 for failing to turn a profit after so much buildup.

Investors and entrepreneurs in the communist nation are taking a more critical look at their businesses after seeing others get burned overseas. WeWork, which rents out shared workspaces, was seen as a cautionary tale of a startup that did not live up to expectations and was not profitable.

For years, investors were willing to back losing businesses to gain market share. But now, there is more scrutiny of new investments.

Benchmarks set

The Vietnam Innovative Startup Accelerator (VIISA) requires its technology startups to meet a list of benchmarks throughout their time in the program.

“Apart from very intuitive selection criteria that all applying startups have to go through, the program has introduced a new development measurement method, which helps us to capture the progress of startups that are accepted into VIISA,” Hieu Vo, a board member and chief financial officer at VIISA, said. “I think this process will bring out the best in each person for the particular business they have founded and committed to.”

Vo said his colleagues sit down with startups when they join the accelerator to discuss key performance indicators, or KPI, that will be set as goals. VIISA also does training for the young businesses so they have quantifiable skills, such as how to structure a business deal, or how to set up their accounting system.

Having metrics and ratings, Vo said, supports “both business performance, as well as personal transformation of founders.”

Founder scrutiny

The founder as an individual has become a point of scrutiny for investors, who used to be more forgiving of an eccentric or aggressive founder, seen as part of the package to have a tech genius head an innovative business. But there has been a backlash among those who think too much permissiveness can damage a business, from the sexual misconduct amid the workplace culture of Uber, to the conflicts of interest in business decisions at WeWork.

It helps to not just think short term and to have an outside perspective, according to Pham Manh Ha, founder and chief executive officer of Beekrowd, an investment platform in Ho Chi Minh City.

“As a first-time founder, it seems impossible for us to look beyond the first six months to a year of our business,” he said, adding that experienced third parties can help businesses take the long view. “They stand outside the trees that are blocking us from seeing the forest.”

To see the forest, Vietnamese businesses like his are taking a more measured approach. Vietnam has seen an escalation of tech startups, as investors have rushed to put their money to work and take advantage of the economy’s fast growth.

They also remember the dot-com bubble in the United States, and the more recent global tech bubble, two reminders for caution.

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The agency that oversees the United States’ nuclear arsenal says it doesn’t need to do any broad environmental reviews of a proposal that calls for ramping up production of plutonium triggers at federal installations in New Mexico and South Carolina.

The National Nuclear Security Administration on Wednesday released a supplemental analysis related to the project, saying the determination was made after reviewing extensive documentation and public comments that were received last year.

Nuclear watchdogs, government accountability advocates and other critics argue that the decision skirts requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and a decades-old court order that included a mandate for an environmental review when the federal government embarked on plans to boost production to more than 80 of the nuclear cores a year.

A key component of every nuclear weapon, most of the plutonium cores in the stockpile were produced in the 1970s and 1980s, according to the nuclear agency.

Federal officials have set a deadline of 2030 for ramped-up core production, with work being split between Los Alamos National Laboratory in northern New Mexico and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. At stake are jobs and billions of dollars in federal funding that would be needed to revamp existing buildings or construct new factories to support the work.

The NNSA said it would prepare an environmental impact statement on core-making at Savannah River. A less extensive review is being done for Los Alamos, but watchdogs say that analysis will fall short of the nationwide public review required by such a significant proposal.

Legal challenge

Lawyers for the Natural Resources Defense Council, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Savannah River Site Watch and Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment first threatened legal action last fall. They reiterated Thursday that a legal challenge is possible since the nuclear agency has declined to prepare a broader review.

“We need to find smart ways to face the world’s renewed nuclear arms race. Unnecessary expanded production of questionable plutonium bomb cores is not the way to do it,” said Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Waste New Mexico.

Under the National Environmental Policy Act, Coghlan said the federal government should be considering credible alternatives to ensuring the reliability and sustainability of the nuclear arsenal rather than the rubber stamping of a “nukes forever” agenda that is funded by taxpayers.

Years-long debate

While the NNSA’s decision comes as President Donald Trump on Thursday proposed overhauling the half-century old National Environmental Policy Act, the issues surrounding plutonium pit production have spanned multiple presidential administrations.

Elected leaders in New Mexico and South Carolina long have been jockeying for the lucrative mission. Some members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation have resisted the nuclear agency’s plan, arguing that production should be centered at Los Alamos — the once-secret city in northern New Mexico where the atomic bomb was developed decades ago as part of the Manhattan Project.

The mission of producing the cores has been based at Los Alamos for years but none have been made since 2011 as the lab has been dogged by a string of safety lapses and concerns about a lack of accountability.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico criticized the Trump administration Thursday for its proposed rollbacks, saying the environmental policy act is the only law that requires federal agencies to consider the environmental and climate related consequences of federal actions. As for the plutonium project, the senior senator has yet to say whether he would support more environmental reviews.
 

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A radio station host and manager in the Mexican state of Michoacan who went missing in late November has been found dead, officials said Thursday, adding to the growing murder toll of journalists as violence escalates across the country.

Local media said he had been shot to death.

Mexico registered 10 killings of journalists in 2019, the same number as the year before and in line with Syria, according to Reporters Without Borders, making Mexico one of the world’s most dangerous places for media workers.

The body of Fidel Avila, of the “Ke Buena” station in the western state of Michoacan’s Huetamo municipality, was found on a highway earlier this week, 40 days after he was last seen at a cultural event in neighboring Guerrero state, Mexico’s National Commission of Human Rights said.

“Our condolences to the family and friends of Fidel Avila Gomez, journalist in Michoacan. We deeply lament his murder,” presidential spokesman Jesus Ramirez wrote in a post on Twitter.

Michoacan and Guerrero are two of Mexico’s most violent and lawless states, where rival drug gangs have battled to control smuggling routes.

The president of the Michoacan Association of Journalists, Alvaro Garcia, told local television that criminal activity in the area was at a peak.

“There is always a persistent risk,” he said.
 

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The number of migrants apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border has declined sharply since May 2019, according to data released Thursday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

A CBP official told reporters Thursday that the number of people apprehended or viewed as “inadmissible” totaled 40,620 last month, a 72% decrease from the more than 144,000 recorded at the peak of the border crisis last May.

During Thursday’s press call, border officials attributed the seven-month decline to the Trump administration’s policy initiatives aimed at deterring illegal border crossings.

Despite the drop, the December apprehensions number is not especially low, according to Migration Policy Institute analyst Jessica Bolter.

“Looking back at apprehensions in the month of December, this number is the fourth highest between 2012 and 2019. So, it’s solidly in the middle,” she said.

Even so, Bolter noted that apprehensions have been declining month after month since May.

“This indicates that there’s something going on other than seasonal factors that’s affecting migration flows,” she said. “The combination of MPP [Migrant Protection Protocols] and Mexico’s increased enforcement, which both mainly target Central Americans, is clearly having a deterrent effect.”

Under MPP, also known as “Remain in Mexico,” migrants are forced to await U.S. immigration court dates in Mexico. Human rights advocates say the program deters people with legitimate asylum claims from seeking protections in the United States.

In December, family units accounted for 12,064 people who crossed the border without authorization and were stopped by U.S. Border Patrol agents. There were 3,707 unaccompanied children and 24,788 single adults, down 4% from November.

Overall, CBP reports a 69% decline in unaccompanied children and a decrease across all key demographics since May.

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A preliminary investigation into viral pneumonia illnesses sickening dozens of people in and around China has identified the possible cause as a new type of coronavirus, state media said Thursday.

Chinese health authorities did not immediately confirm the report from state broadcaster CCTV.

Coronaviruses are spread through coughing or sneezing or by touching an infected person. Some cause the common cold and others can lead to more severe respiratory diseases, such as SARS and MERS. Such viruses are common in people but more exotic versions from bats, camels and other animals have caused severe illness.

The novel coronavirus is different from those that have previously been identified, CCTV said. Health authorities ruled out SARS and MERS as possible causes over the weekend.

Patients in four locations

As of Sunday, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said 59 people in the central Chinese city were being treated for the respiratory illness. Seven were in critical condition, while the rest were stable.

Eight patients were discharged Wednesday, Xinhua state news agency reported. They had not exhibited any pneumonia symptoms for several days.

Laboratory experts as of Wednesday evening had found the novel coronavirus in 15 of the 59 cases, CCTV said, adding that more research must be done before a conclusion is reached.

Possible cases of the same illness have been reported in Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan involving recent travelers to Wuhan.

Since the end of 2019, Hong Kong public hospitals have reported 38 patients who presented with fever, respiratory infection or pneumonia symptoms after recent visits to Wuhan. Twenty-one of those patients have since been discharged, Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority said Wednesday.

No serious cases have been found to be related to those in Wuhan, said Hong Kong health chief Sophia Chan.

None of the Hong Kong patients had visited the seafood market in Wuhan where some of the mainland Chinese patients operated businesses. The South China Seafood City food market will be suspended and investigated, Wuhan’s health commission said.

A Chinese woman who works for a South Korean company was diagnosed Tuesday with pneumonia, according to the Korea Centers of Disease Control and Prevention said. Meanwhile, Taiwan authorities said Wednesday that they were quarantining a patient who fell ill with flu symptoms Jan. 6, more than two weeks after the individual returned from a trip to Wuhan.

Fears of SARS, MERS

The new illnesses had raised fears of a recurrence of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome. The disease first infected people in southern China in late 2002, and spread to more than two dozen countries. More than 8,000 people were sickened and nearly 800 died, but no cases have been reported since 2004.

Another coronavirus caused MERS, or Middle East respiratory syndrome. That outbreak started in Jordan and Saudi Arabia in 2012 and spread into about two dozen other countries. About 2,500 lab-confirmed cases have been reported, including more than 800 deaths, with cases continuing to be seen in recent years.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put out a health alert advising physicians who treat patients with pneumonialike illness to consider a possible link to the Chinese outbreak and to wear masks and take other precautions in treating patients who recently traveled to Wuhan.

The CDC this week also advised U.S. travelers going to Wuhan to avoid animals and sick people and wash their hands often.

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Several exchange programs are geared for high school students to study in the U.S., and applicants are encouraged to get their documents together for this year’s competition.

High school students in Europe or Eurasia might check out the FLEX program that brings students from those regions to the U.S. on a yearlong cultural exchange.

The Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX) is a student exchange program sponsored by the U.S. State Department that brings international students from 21 countries to the U.S. for one academic year.

FLEX offers international students an opportunity to learn about the U.S. and its culture. Participants become young cultural ambassadors of their homeland to share with Americans. The program tries to create strong ties among the student, the host families and the local community to build lifetime relationships.

Students from 21 countries

“My story starts and ends with my amazing host family, that was the highlight of my year. From the first day, I felt like a part of the family. The same happened with my school; I didn’t really have a hard time making friends and getting along to other people,” Mariam, a former student from Georgia who was hosted in California, wrote on the FLEX website.

The FLEX program partners with schools from 170 cities in 21 countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Ukraine.

Each year, about 950 high school students are selected and given a scholarship to attend high school in the U.S. for a year while they stay with a host family. Applicants must be in high school and between 15 and 17 years old to participate. Students who are blind, deaf, have mobility issues or need special accommodations are also encouraged to apply, Frank said.

Families throughout the U.S. volunteer to host FLEX scholars. They do not receive payment.

“My host mom, Monica, always says: Whatever you start, once you are into it, you need to finish it and go for it,’ and that’s a really good thought,” said Vadym, a former student from Ukraine who was hosted in Iowa.  “This year was awesome. I can see strong changes in my character and that’s a really great feeling.”

Able to speak English

Participants need to be able to communicate and be amiable with their host family, their classmates and at school, said Valerie Frank, senior program manager at American Councils.

“Participants must have a functional level of spoken English to survive 6,000 miles away from home for 12 months,” she said. “Candidates also need to have a good or better standing in order to win a scholarship.”

Also, candidates need to do well on the ELTiS Test to be taken into consideration by schools in the U.S.” The ELTiS test is a rigorous academic English test developed to measure the listening and reading comprehension skills of high school-age students whose first language is not English, according to the ELTiS website. 

To apply for the FLEX scholarship, candidates contact the American Councils office in their country. The application cycle is rolling, but typically ends in the fall. Applicants should check with the American Councils in their country or region for specific dates.

FLEX gives students a $125 stipend per month for social activities, program orientation and activities, as well as medical insurance. Students who are interested in FLEX should check to see if they are eligible for a J-1 visa before applying.

The exchange program does not cover the costs for documentation. The program includes an orientation before leaving for the U.S. and another a few days before school starts in their American hometown. Parents or other relatives are not allowed to stay with the student during the orientation program.

Applicants are ineligible if they have stayed 90 days or more in the U.S. in the past five years, or have received a green card or won the visa lottery.

Host families

If a participant has difficulty keeping up with classwork, their host family and the scholar’s placement organization will help get tutoring. Homesickness is remedied by the host family and a local program coordinator who help the students deal with difficulties they might encounter in the U.S.

“Some of the countries located in Central Asia tend to have a little more difficulty when trying to master the English language and break the barrier during their stay,” Frank said. FLEX works with students in countries where English is not widely spoken. It does not matter whether a participant attends a public or private school.

“This year changed my life and me personally. I learned not only how to speak better English, but also American history, geography, values, way of life and all other aspects of culture,” former FLEX participant Zhanar from Kazakhstan said on the program’s website.

FLEX was established in 1992 and serves as a model for other exchange programs such as the YES (Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study) and A-SMYLE (American Serbia and Montenegro Youth Leadership Exchange) programs, and has since expanded to other countries, according to the FLEX website. Funding is provided through the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

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The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico Wednesday sued the state’s largest school district and a former teacher over a 2018 incident where the teacher allegedly cut a Native American student’s hair during class on Halloween and asked another student if she was dressed as a “bloody Indian.”

The ACLU’s complaint against Albuquerque Public Schools and the former teacher, Mary Jane Eastin, contends she created a hostile learning environment and discriminated against McKenzie Johnson, who is Navajo. The group also claims the school district failed to properly train teachers and provide for student safety.

The lawsuit follows discrimination charges filed in May 2019 with the New Mexico Human Rights Bureau by Johnson. The school district denied the allegations and the bureau did not reach a determination, clearing the way for the lawsuit.

Case would set precedent

The case is aimed at establishing a clear precedent that New Mexico’s anti-discrimination protections extend to students in public schools, said Preston Sanchez, an attorney at the ACLU of New Mexico. It also seeks unspecified financial damages.

“Not only must we ensure Native American students feel safe behind school walls, but we must also do everything in our power to ensure that they are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve,” Sanchez said.

School officials declined to comment on the case. Eastin has an unlisted phone number and it wasn’t immediately clear if she had an attorney.

The school district’s superintendent issued a public apology after the allegations emerged and told parents that Eastin would not return to Cibola High School, where she taught English.

School officials said later that Eastin’s employment with the school district ended in 2018 but did not disclose if she quit or was fired. They also said they would address racism and cultural sensitivity at all schools in the district.

Cultural sensitivity

Leaders from the Navajo Nation had called on the district to provide cultural sensitivity training. While they described the teacher’s acts as part of a “Halloween stunt,” they said one teen’s parents told them it was traumatizing.

According to the lawsuit, Eastin had dressed as a voodoo witch on Halloween and planned a game for her advanced English class in which she asked students questions and then rewarded those who answered correctly with marshmallows and gave dog food to those who answered incorrectly.

The lawsuit states that at one point, Eastin approached a Native American student and asked her if she liked her braids and then allegedly cut the tip of the girl’s hair with scissors.

Eastin also was accused of then asking another student, identified as Johnson, if she was dressed as a “bloody Indian.” The girl’s mother later told reporters her daughter was dressed for Halloween as Little Red Riding Hood with a red paw mark on her face.

The ACLU contends in the complaint that Johnson’s reputation was harmed and that she suffered personal injuries, including emotional distress.

Johnson has since recounted her story during school board meetings and at a Native American community forum hosted by the school district. She has said more needs to be done to address cultural sensitivity in Albuquerque’s schools.

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