Since Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979 and took 52 American diplomats and citizens hostage for 444 days, relations with the U.S. and Iran have been volatile. Tensions escalated recently after the the U.S. conducted a targeted killing of a top Iranian commander in Iraq. The incident has increased anxiety among many Iranian Americans in the U.S. who already felt vulnerable. VOA’s Julie Taboh talked with a few of them and has this report.
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Russia says good progress has been made in talks in Moscow over a ceasefire in Libya – but a breakthrough deal has yet to be signed between the rival forces. Russia, which supports strongman Khalifa Haftar in the east of the country, helped broker a ceasefire alongside Turkey, which plans to deploy troops to defend Haftar’s rival, the United Nations-backed Government of National Accord based in Tripoli. As Henry Ridgwell reports, more and more foreign powers are getting involved in the conflict – and while hopes have been raised of a longer-term peace deal, there is also a danger the intervention could backfire.
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Pollution kills three times more people than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, according to new estimates. It’s one of the leading causes of death. But it’s a neglected issue in most of the world, despite the enormous toll. VOA’s Steve Baragona has more.
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The small town of Kief in North Dakota was founded by Ukrainian immigrants more than 100 years ago. Once upon a time it was a bustling little town, but today it is nearly empty. Iryna Matviichuk visited Kief and talked to the descendants of the first settlers. Anna Rice narrates her story.
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A former soldier told a court on Monday he had been hired to kill Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak — a reporter known for his corruption investigations whose murder triggered anti-graft protests that brought down the prime minister.
Marcek, 37, said his cousin — co-defendant Tomas Szabo — had approached him with an offer to do the contract killing and drove him to the house.
Marcek told the Special Criminal Court in Pezinok, north of the capital, that he had not known who Kuciak or Kusnirova were when he killed them.“
I want to apologize to those affected for the harm that we have caused. Nothing can make up for that, there is no satisfactory apology. Seeing them on television, seeing their pain forced me to talk,” he told the court, according to Aktuality.sk news website.
Prominent businessman Marian Kocner was also in court, accused of ordering the hit. He denied the charge, but he admitted to a lesser illegal arms offense — the police found undeclared ammunition at his place.
A third defendant, Alena Zsuzsova, denied charges of being an intermediary in the killings. Szabo, a former police officer charged alongside Marcek with murder, did not enter a plea.
The case is seen as a test of Slovak police and judicial independence after an investigation into the murders exposed business and personal links between Kocner and security officials.
Kuciak, a postgraduate student of journalism, had delved into fraud involving businessmen with political connections.
He had reported on Kocner’s business activities, including the takeover of a television station and property deals.
A fifth suspect, Zoltan Andrusko, confessed in December to facilitating the murder and a court handed him a 15-year prison sentence.
Long-serving Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, his cabinet, and later the national police chief, resigned after the murder provoked the country’s biggest protests since the fall of communism.
Crowds called for an independent investigation and an end to widespread corruption.
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Afghanistan’s military says a Taliban customs house was destroyed during a joint security operation with coalition forces in the southwestern part of the country.
A spokesperson of the Afghanistan Defense Ministry, Fawad Aman, told VOA Monday that the insurgent group generated a daily revenue of more than $38.00 from the customs house it was running in Farah province.
The ongoing military campaign, code-named Operation Lucky, was launched in December 2019 with the objective of clearing the province of Taliban militants.
FILE – A customs tariff by so-called Afghanistan Islamic Emirates shared on social media in early 2018. (Photo: K. Noorzai/VOA)Since security forces began targeting Taliban narcotics processing labs in early 2018, the Taliban reportedly has resorted to establishing customs houses as a means to generate more revenue to help finance its insurgency in southern Afghanistan.
The insurgent group also runs customs houses in other provinces, including Herat, Ghor and Nimruz, according to the Afghan military. The Afghan Taliban also enforces a strict judicial system in remote parts of the country where authorities have no control.
Security officials also say the Taliban is using the money to purchase weapons and strengthen its combat capabilities against Afghan forces.
FILE – An image of Taliban’s statement says it will begin collecting a transit tax in the southern Nimruz and southwestern Farah provinces on Jan. 3. 2018 (Photo: K. Noorzai/VOA)“Our plan is to destroy not only the Taliban’s customs houses, but also their check posts where they have been extorting money from people,” Defense Ministry spokesperson Aman told VOA.
Desperate to finance its militant activity, the Taliban has been using illegal avenues to make money, including kidnapping and extortion, and smuggling drugs, minerals and gemstones, according to Afghan officials.
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Jury selection resumed Monday at the trial of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, who has pleaded not guilty to charges he raped a woman in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and sexually assaulted another in 2006.
The initial screening process, now on its fifth day, has been stymied by a host of challenges and distractions, including repeatedly denied requests from the defense and a noisy protest outside the courthouse.
Both sides hope to deliver opening statements before the end of this month.
If convicted at a trial expected to last into March, the 67-year-old could face life in prison.
The former studio boss behind such Oscar winners as I and “Shakespeare in Love” has said any sexual activity was consensual.
About 120 prospective jurors are being summoned to court each day. Last Tuesday, they were introduced as a group to Weinstein and were read a list of names that could come up at trial, including actresses Salma Hayek, Charlize Theron and Rosie Perez.
As his New York trial was getting underway a week ago, Los Angeles prosecutors announced new charges in a separate case against Weinstein. Those charges accuse him of raping one woman and sexually assaulting another woman there on back-to-back nights in 2013, days before he walked the Oscars with his then-wife, fashion designer Georgina Chapman, who was pregnant at the time.
Weinstein has not entered a plea in the Los Angeles case, which will be tried later.
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Dark comic book tale “Joker” topped the Oscar nominations Monday, picking up 11 nods including best picture and best director, as women and ethnic minorities were largely shut out once again.
The pre-dawn Academy Award announcement capped months of ceaseless campaigning by A-listers and studios, revealing which stars and movies have a shot at Hollywood’s ultimate prize next month.
Todd Phillips’s “Joker,” a bleak, arthouse take on the comic book villain starring Joaquin Phoenix, was just ahead of three films.
Quentin Tarantino’s 1960s Tinseltown homage “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood,” Sam Mendes’s World War I odyssey “1917” and Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” each earned 10 nominations, including best picture as well as best director.
South Korean class satire “Parasite,” from Bong Joon-ho, secured the final best director slot, meaning once again no female directors made the shortlist.
Much of the focus so far this award season has been on the lack of women and ethnic minority filmmakers honored.
Greta Gerwig’s acclaimed “Little Women” adaptation has been notably absent in several award nominations announcements, although it was one of nine films nominated for the best picture Oscar.
“Unfortunately there are just five nominees” for best director in an “incredibly strong year,” one Academy voter who asked not to be named told AFP, pointing to the revered track records of the likes of Scorsese, Tarantino and Mendes.
Controversy over those omissions, in an industry criticized for its lack of diversity, was fueled at last week’s BAFTA nominations, which were also condemned for overlooking ethnic minorities.
Showbiz legend
The Oscars picked only one non-white actor — British star Cynthia Erivo, who plays U.S. anti-slavery icon Harriet Tubman in “Harriet.”
Notable snubs included Eddie Murphy for blaxploitation biopic “Dolemite Is My Name,” Jennifer Lopez for “Hustlers,” Awkwafina for “The Farewell” and Lupita Nyong’o for “Us.”
Last year, three of the four acting Oscars went to non-white performers.
Voting for Oscar nominees ended last Tuesday, two days after the Golden Globes.
But Taron Egerton’s Globe-winning turn as Elton John in “Rocketman” was not enough to earn an Oscar nomination in an outrageously competitive best actor field.
Renee Zellweger, who has swept the best actress nominations so far during this awards season, headed the best actress Oscar shortlist thanks to her acclaimed turn as showbiz legend Judy Garland in “Judy.”
Some 9,000 Academy members vote for the Oscars.
In the nominations round of voting, members were asked to rank their top choices only for best picture, and for the categories corresponding with the specific Academy branch to which they belong.
Voting for winners — in which members can vote in every category — begins January 30, closing five days later.
The Oscars will be handed out in Hollywood on February 9.
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A former soldier told a court on Monday he had been hired to kill Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak — a reporter known for his corruption investigations whose murder triggered anti-graft protests that brought down the prime minister.
Marcek, 37, said his cousin — co-defendant Tomas Szabo — had approached him with an offer to do the contract killing and drove him to the house.
Marcek told the Special Criminal Court in Pezinok, north of the capital, that he had not known who Kuciak or Kusnirova were when he killed them.“
I want to apologize to those affected for the harm that we have caused. Nothing can make up for that, there is no satisfactory apology. Seeing them on television, seeing their pain forced me to talk,” he told the court, according to Aktuality.sk news website.
Prominent businessman Marian Kocner was also in court, accused of ordering the hit. He denied the charge, but he admitted to a lesser illegal arms offense — the police found undeclared ammunition at his place.
A third defendant, Alena Zsuzsova, denied charges of being an intermediary in the killings. Szabo, a former police officer charged alongside Marcek with murder, did not enter a plea.
The case is seen as a test of Slovak police and judicial independence after an investigation into the murders exposed business and personal links between Kocner and security officials.
Kuciak, a postgraduate student of journalism, had delved into fraud involving businessmen with political connections.
He had reported on Kocner’s business activities, including the takeover of a television station and property deals.
A fifth suspect, Zoltan Andrusko, confessed in December to facilitating the murder and a court handed him a 15-year prison sentence.
Long-serving Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, his cabinet, and later the national police chief, resigned after the murder provoked the country’s biggest protests since the fall of communism.
Crowds called for an independent investigation and an end to widespread corruption.
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Democratic presidential candidates meet for a critical debate Tuesday in Iowa, less than three weeks before Iowa voters kick off the presidential nomination process on February 3rd. A total of six Democratic contenders will be on stage with signs of growing tensions among some of the candidates. The debate also comes amid military tensions with Iran and the impending Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.
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Iranian protesters took to the streets in the third day of demonstrations against the government after it acknowledged mistakenly shooting down a Ukrainian passenger jet, killing all 176 aboard.
Video posted online showed students outside universities in Tehran and Isfahan Monday chanting at the country’s rulers, “Clerics get lost!”
Earlier videos from the night before appear to show security forces firing live ammunition and tear gas at the protesters in Tehran. Authorities denied they opened fire but the semi-official Fars news agency reported police had “shot tear gas in some areas” in an attempt to disperse the demonstrators.
The videos showed protesters coughing and sputtering as they tried to escape the tear gas fumes. VOA could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.
Tehran’s police chief, Gen. Hossein Rahimi, insisted authorities treated protesters with “patience and tolerance.”
Iranian police officers take position while protesters gather in front of Amir Kabir University in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 11, 2020, to remember victims of a Ukrainian airliner shot down by an Iranian missile.“Police did not shoot in the gatherings since broad-mindedness and restraint has been the agenda of the police forces of the capital,” Iranian media quoted him as saying.
The protests erupted after Iran on Saturday acknowledged that “human error” led a missile operator to fire on the Boeing 737 jet last Wednesday. The accident occurred hours after Iran fired 16 ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases housing U.S. forces in retaliation for U.S. President Donald Trump ordering the Jan. 3 drone strike at the Baghdad airport that killed Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force.
As protests started against Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,Trump voiced support for the demonstrators and warned Iranian officials, “Don’t kill your protesters.”
After Iran fired the missiles at the Iraqi bases, Trump retreated from threats of further armed conflict with Tehran. He instead imposed more economic sanctions against Iran in an effort to force it to renegotiate terms of the 2015 international treaty aimed at restraining its nuclear program, the deal that Trump withdrew the U.S. from.
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U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien told CBS’ Face the Nation show on Sunday that Iran is “being choked off” economically and that U.S. officials see an opportunity to further intensify pressure on the country’s leaders and leave them with no choice but to negotiate. But late Sunday, Trump seemed indifferent to the possibility of more negotiations.
“Actually, I couldn’t care less if they negotiate,” Trump said on Twitter. “Will be totally up to them but, no nuclear weapons and ‘don’t kill your protesters.’”
To the leaders of Iran – DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching. More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free! Stop the killing of your great Iranian people!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2020
On Sunday, in an emotional speech before parliament, the head of the Revolutionary Guard apologized for the missile attack on the jetliner and insisted it was a tragic mistake.
“I swear to almighty God that I wished I was on that plane and had crashed with them and burned, but had not witnessed this tragic incident,” said Gen. Hossein Salami. “I have never been this embarrassed in my entire life. Never.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, on Twitter, expressed “profound regrets” and apologized for the shoot-down of the Ukraine International Airlines jet. But he contended that ‘Human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster.”
A protester holds up a picture of a victim of the downing by the Iranian military of a Ukrainian civilian airliner, during an anti-govenrnment rally outside Amir Kabir University, in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 11, 2020.O’Brien rejected Zarif’s claim in a Fox News Sunday interview, saying Iran first covered up its actions then claimed the civilian aircraft veered toward a military base. He said Iran needs to investigate the accident, apologize for it, pay compensation to the victims’ families and “make sure it never happens again.”
A team of Canadian officials is due to travel Monday to Iran to work with the families of victims, including identifying those killed and repatriating their remains. They will also assist in the investigation.
Off the 176 dead, at least 57 were Canadians.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participated in a memorial service Sunday in Edmonton where he expressed sorrow for those who died and said, “This tragedy should never have occurred.”
“We will continue to work with our partners to ensure that a full, transparent investigation is conducted,” Trudeau said. “I want to assure all families and all Canadians we will not rest until there are answers. We will not rest until there is justice and accountability.”
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Talks between leaders of Libya’s two warring sides wrapped up Monday in Moscow, with Russia’s foreign minister noting some progress, a day after a fragile cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey came into force.
FILE – Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj leaves after an international conference on Libya at the Elysee Palace in Paris, May 29, 2018.Russia and Turkey are emerging as key arbiters in the war-torn country, trying to push Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), and his rival, renegade General Khalifa Haftar, to start agreeing to the outlines of a longer-term political settlement, one suiting both Ankara and Moscow.
On Monday, before talks started, al-Sarraj urged Libyans to “turn the page” on the turmoil of the past,” saying all Libyans should “reject discord and close ranks to move toward stability and peace.” He said the GNA had entered the cease-fire to end the bloodshed and that his beleaguered government is in “a position of strength to maintain national and social cohesion.”
Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar shakes hands with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu before talks in Moscow, Jan. 13, 2020. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation/Handout via Reuters)The latest phase of the long-running violent turmoil that followed the 2011 ouster of then-dictator Moammar Gadhafi has been bogged down in stalemate for months.
The warring factions failed to sign the truce as scheduled Monday, and adjourned for further discussions Tuesday. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in the Russian capital he was confident they would ink the document, saying they viewed the document “positively.”
More than 280 civilians and about 2,000 fighters have been killed and 146,000 Libyans displaced since Haftar launched an assault last year on Tripoli, according to monitoring groups. Formerly one of Col. Gadhafi’s most trusted lieutenants, Haftar, since 2014, has been waging a campaign against the GNA, which is recognized by the U.S. and most Western states as the legitimate Libyan government.
Last week, his forces seized the coastal town of Sirte, Gadhafi’s birthplace and the scene of the ousted autocrat’s brutal death.
Both Russia and Turkey have much invested in Libya — Russia in terms of reputation, clout and potential oil deals, and Turkey with even more wide-ranging commercial interests, say analysts. They have been backing opposing sides in Libya, posing a risk to their fledgling, albeit competitive, partnership in northern Syria, where Moscow has accepted, at least temporarily, a Turkish military intervention against the Kurds. Moscow has also been working with Ankara to try to forge a post-war future for Syria that works for both the Turks and Russians and balances out their interests and influence.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan meets with Libya’s U.N.-recognized Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj in Istanbul, Turkey, Jan. 12, 2020.The Libya cease-fire followed a joint call by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — who backs al-Sarraj and has deployed troops to help the GNA — and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, who has been supporting Haftar. Hundreds of military contractors from Russia’s Wagner Group have been fighting alongside Haftar. The Wagner Group is a Kremlin-tied private military contractor whose mercenaries have been identified fighting in Syria and other hotspots on the side of Moscow’s allies.
Last week, President Putin said he was aware of the presence of Russian mercenaries in Libya, but denied they were they on his command. “
If there are Russian citizens there, then they are not representing the interests of the Russian state and they are not receiving money from the Russian state,” he said.
Pro-Haftar forces are supported also by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. French officials have denied a charge by Sarraj that it has been tacitly supporting Haftar’s siege of the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
In December, Russian energy companies signed contracts with Libya’s National Oil Corporation for exploration. Turkey also is determined to establish a long-term partnership with Libya, formerly part of Turkey’s Ottoman empire. Turkish companies, which moved into Libya aggressively after the ouster of Gadhafi, are owed millions of dollars in unpaid business they conducted prior to 2014.
And in November, Erdogan signed signed memorandums with the GNA on security cooperation and maritime boundaries. The latter agreement, which Brussels says violates international law, secured in principle oil shale deposits in the Mediterranean Sea for Turkey. The memorandums between the GNA and Ankara prompted alarm in Moscow. Kremlin officials warned the deals — along with Erdogan’s announcement he would send troops to Libya to buttress the GNA — could derail peace negotiations scheduled for later this year in Berlin.
The increasing involvement of foreign forces and rival outside powers in Libya prompted German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week to warn that the country risked sliding into a Syria-like civil war.
FILE – German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Dec. 18, 2019.The German leader has been supportive of the arbitration of Moscow and Ankara. And during a joint press conference Saturday with Putin in Moscow, she said, “We hope that the joint efforts by Russia and Turkey will lead to success, and we will soon send out invitations for a conference in Berlin.”
Analysts say the Europeans, the largest donors of humanitarian aid to Libya, have increasingly become bystanders as events unfold in the north African country — and are eager for someone, or anyone, to secure a resolution to a conflict that’s helped facilitate the movement of sub-Saharan migrants to Europe.
The European Union has been anything but united on which side to support in Libya, say Karim Mezran and Emily Burchfield, analysts with the U.S.-based research group the Atlantic Council. “
The main rift is between France, which claims to support the GNA, but has been linked to military and financial support to Haftar; and Italy, which aligns with the United Nations in backing Sarraj. The clash between Italy and France over Libya has contributed to the failure of international efforts to develop a political solution for the conflict, they say.
Without European leadership on Libya, Russia and Turkey have found it easier to insert themselves into the conflict,” they added.
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Queen Elizabeth II said Monday that she has agreed to grant Prince Harry and Meghan their wish for a more independent life that will see them move part-time to Canada.
The British monarch said in a statement that “today my family had very constructive discussions on the future of my grandson and his family.”
She said it had been “agreed that there will be a period of transition in which the Sussexes will spend time in Canada and the UK.” Harry and Meghan are also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
FILE – Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex react as they leave after her visit to Canada House in London, Jan. 7, 2020.“These are complex matters for my family to resolve, and there is some more work to be done, but I have asked for final decisions to be reached in the coming days,” the queen said.
In a six-sentence statement that mentioned the word “family” six times, the queen said that “though we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family.”
Monday’s meeting involved the queen, her heir Prince Charles and his sons William and Harry, with Meghan expected to join by phone from Canada.
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President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Sunday that a monument will be put up to memorialize nine U.S.-Mexican dual citizens ambushed and slain last year by suspected drug gang assassins along a remote road in the northern border region near New Mexico.
In remarks to members of the small town of La Mora, which was shattered by the Nov. 4 killings of three women and six children from the extended Langford, LeBaron and Miller families, Lopez Obrador said the first goal is to bring those responsible to justice.
Speaking after meeting with victims’ relatives, the president said an agreement had been reached with municipal and Sonora state officials to establish a monument of some sort “here where these lamentable and painful events took place,” and also for special recognition of those who risked their lives to rush to the aid of victims and survivors.
“So that we exalt this, the true solidarity: He who is willing to give his life for another,” Lopez Obrador said.
He promised to meet with family members in two months to give them another in-person update on the investigation and to return in four to six months to present a plan on regional development including road improvements.
The mostly bilingual American-Mexicans have lived in northern Mexico for decades and consider themselves Mormons, though they are not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The community’s origins in Mexico date to the official end of polygamy over a century ago by the LDS church, which prompted many families that continued the practice to establish colonies elsewhere. Many of those in northern Mexico have by now, over the generations, abandoned polygamy as well.
La Mora is a hamlet of about 300 people in Sonora state while Colonia LeBaron is a larger town of over 2,000 on the other side of the mountains in Chihuahua; the two are linked by a bone-jarring and treacherous dirt road where the attack occurred as the women and children were traveling to visit relatives.
The areas lie in the territory of rival drug gangs with the Sinaloa cartel of convicted kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman holding sway in Sonora and the Juarez cartel dominant in Chihuahua.
The killings sowed grief and fear in the tightly knit communities, and dozens fled La Mora for the United States in the subsequent days out of concerns for their safety. What was once a tranquil and even idyllic life in a fertile river valley surrounded by mountains and desert scrub had grown increasingly tenuous as criminal gangs exerted their influence and fought each other, some said.
“Broken hearts, defeated, and through the fault of crime. I personally do not understand how so many people continue to die in such a beautiful country, such good people and with such richness,” community member Margaret Langford said at Sunday’s ceremony. “I was born in Chihuahua but I have been living for 20 years here in La Mora, a place that was so tranquil and neighbors we treasure so much.”
“I love this country and it pains me to my soul to think of not being able to live here,” Langford said. “This massacre has left us lost and destroyed. I ask God that it not be what defines our community..”
Mexico has been posting homicide totals in recent years at all-time highs since comparable records began to be kept in the 1990s.
Lopez Obrador repeated Sunday that his security strategy aims to address root causes of violence such as poverty, inequality and lack of opportunity, particularly for young people, rather than the military offensive launched in 2006 by then-President Felipe Calderon and continued under Lopez Obrador’s predecessor, Enrique Pena Nieto.
“Deprive the fish of water,” the president said “so there are no longer young people who want to be cartel killers.”
Victims’ relatives said Thursday that U.S. authorities told them they had detained two suspects in the killings, and Mexican prosecutors said earlier in the week that more than 40 suspects had been identified.
Previously, Mexican prosecutors said three men were arrested and charged with organized crime for drug offenses, though none apparently yet faced homicide charges in the case.
Four other suspects were said to be under a form of house arrest, and the name of one suspect partially matched the police chief of the town of Janos, Chihuahua, near the eastern terminus of the connecting dirt road.
Local media reported the chief had been on the payroll of La Linea drug gang, which is allied with the Juarez cartel.
“I know there are things that do not take away the pain, that the pain remains in our hearts, but without doubt, justice, Mr. president, … will relieve a little bit the pain of these families,” Sonora Gov. Claudia Pavlovich Arellano said Sunday.
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China says its diplomats and government officials will fully exploit foreign social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter that are blocked off to its own citizens.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Monday likened the government to “diplomatic agencies and diplomats of other countries” in embracing such platforms to provide “better communication with the people outside and to better introduce China’s situation and policies.”
Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms have tried for years without success to be allowed into the lucrative Chinese market, where Beijing has helped create politically reliable analogues such as Weichat and Weibo. Their content is carefully monitored by the companies and by government censors.
Despite that, Geng said China is “willing to strengthen communication with the outside world through social media such as Twitter to enhance mutual understanding.” He also insisted that the Chinese internet remained open and said the country has the largest number of users of any nation, adding, “we have always managed the internet in accordance with laws and regulations.”
The canny use of social media by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong has further deepened China’s concern over the use of such platforms, prompting further crackdowns on the mainland, including on the use of virtual private networks.
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President Donald Trump says the Senate should simply dismiss the impeachment case against him, an extraordinary suggestion as the House prepares to transmit the charges to the chamber for the historic trial.
The Republican president is giving mixed messages ahead of the House’s landmark vote that will launch the Senate proceedings in a matter of days, only the third presidential impeachment trial in American history. Trump faces charges that he abused power by pushing Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden and then obstructed Congress.
First Trump was suggesting his own ideas for trial witnesses, then he said almost the opposite Sunday by tweeting that the trial shouldn’t happen at all.
“Many believe that by the Senate giving credence to a trial” over charges he calls a hoax, Trump tweeted, “rather than an outright dismissal, it gives the partisan Democrat Witch Hunt credibility that it otherwise does not have. I agree!”
The idea of dismissing the charges against Trump is as unusual as it is unlikely. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell signed on to an outlier proposal circulating last week among conservative senators, but he does not have enough support in the Republican-held chamber to actually do it. It would require a rare rules change similar to the approach McConnell used for Supreme Court confirmations.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned Sunday that senators will “pay a price” if they block new witness testimony with a trial that Americans perceive as a “cover-up” for Trump’s actions.
“It’s about a fair trial,” Pelosi told ABC’s “This Week.” “The senators who are thinking now about voting for witnesses or not, they will have to be accountable.”
She said, “Now the ball is in their court to either do that or pay a price.”
Voters are divided over impeachment largely along the nation’s deeply partisan lines and the trial is becoming a high-stakes undertaking at the start of a presidential election year.
A House vote to transmit the articles to the Senate will bring to a close a standoff between Pelosi and McConnell over the rules for the trial. The House voted to impeach Trump last month.
Yet ending one showdown merely starts another across the Capitol as the parties try to set the terms of debate over high crimes and misdemeanors.
Democrats want new testimony, particularly from former White House national security adviser John Bolton, who has indicated he will defy Trump’s orders and appear if subpoenaed.
Trump doesn’t want his brash former aide to testify. Republican allies led by McConnell, R-Ky., are ready to deliver swift acquittal without new testimony.
Trump first said Sunday it’s Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff who should both testify, which would be unlikely.
The president said he shouldn’t have to carry the “stigma” of impeachment because he’s done nothing wrong. Pelosi said the House vote last month means Trump will be “impeached forever” and “for life.”
McConnell is reluctant to enter a divisive Senate debate over witnesses that could split his party and prolong a trial that is already expected to consume weeks of floor time.
He is seeking a speedy acquittal and has proposed a process similar to the presidential impeachment trial of Bill Clinton in 1999, which would start the proceedings and then vote later on hearing new testimony.
One leading Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, has already predicted that the trial would end “in a matter of days.” Graham and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. are leading the effort to dismiss the charges against Trump.
Trump delayed nearly $400 million in aide as Ukraine battled Russia on its border while he pushed the country’s new president to investigate political rival Joe Biden. Trump pays close attention to a conspiracy theory pushed by his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani about Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who served on the board of a gas company in Ukraine while his father was vice president. No evidence of wrongdoing by the Bidens has emerged.
Some GOP senators want to turn the impeachment trial away from the Democrats’ case and toward the theories being pursued by Giuliani. GOP Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said Sunday he wants to hear from the Bidens “and find out — get to the bottom of that.”
At least one Republican up for reelection, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, said last week she was in talks with GOP colleagues on a process that would allow them to hear more testimony as Democrats want.
The Democratic-run House has not yet set the timing for this week’s vote to transmit the impeachment articles to the Senate. Pelosi will meet behind closed doors with House Democrats to decide next steps on Tuesday morning ahead of the party’s presidential primary debate that evening, the last before the Iowa caucuses Feb. 3.
Once the Republican-led Senate receives the charges, the trial is expected to begin swiftly.
While some Democrats have grumbled about the delay, Pelosi and other party leaders defended the strategy, saying it produced new potential evidence and turned public attention on the upcoming trial.
“One of the things that holding on to the articles has succeeded doing is fleshing out McConnell and the president’s desire to make this a cover up,” Schiff, D-Calif., said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Bolton’s remarks, which were recalled by witnesses in the House investigation, could cut different ways in testimony. He was said to have compared the Ukraine actions to a “drug deal” he wanted no part of and warned that Giuliani was a “hand grenade”‘ about to go off.
House Democrats, who did not issue a subpoena for Bolton last year, did not rule out doing so now. Pelosi also left open the door to filing more articles of impeachment against Trump.
“Let’s be optimistic about the future … a future that will not have Donald Trump in the White House, one way or another. Ten months from now we will have an election, if we don’t have him removed sooner,” she said.
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Who will be celebrating Oscar morning? Brad Pitt for sure. Jennifer Lopez almost certainly. And very possibly the Obamas, too.
Nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards, which will begin at 8:18 a.m. EST Monday, should bring plenty of star power to the Feb. 9 ceremony – a good thing, too, since the show will for the second straight year go without a host.
Thankfully, this Oscar year isn’t lacking for drama. Netflix is gunning for its first best picture win, a year after Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” fell just short. It has not just one but at least two contenders led by Martin Scorsese’s elegiac crime epic “The Irishman” and Noah Baumbach’s intimate divorce drama “Marriage Story.”
But in the lead up to Monday’s nominations, much of the momentum has gone to a pair of movies that exalt the big screen with showmanship and celebrity: Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” with Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, and Sam Mendes’ continuous World War I thrill ride, “1917.” Hollywood, in the midst of a streaming upheaval, has so far favored the traditionally released movies.
Still, no definite front-runner has emerged, and nominations morning could tip the scales anew in a rapid-paced awards season that, while not lacking for the usual battery of parties, screenings and Q&As, is more condensed than usual.
The nominations, to be read by Issa Rae and John Cho, will be live streamed on Oscar.com, Oscars.org and the academy’s digital social platforms. The second wave of nominees will begin at 8:30 a.m. EST and be carried live on “Good Morning America.”
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences select anywhere from five to 10 nominees for best picture, depending on how many first-placed votes a film gets. That’s usually meant eight or nine movies. This year, the precursor guild nominations have suggested the sure things are “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” “1917,” “The Irishman,” Taika Waititi’s “JoJo Rabbit” and Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite.”
That leaves a few slots to be battled out by “Joker,” “Little Women,” “Ford v Ferrari,” “Knives Out,” “Bombshell” and “The Farewell.”
“Parasite” will be the first Korean film ever nominated for an Oscar but it’s likely to land several nominations, including Bong for best director and possibly Song Kang Ho for best supporting actor.
The director category will be especially closely watched. Though Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”) is a possibility, the academy is expected to nominate an all-male field despite a year in which women made significant gains behind the camera. The academy has nominated only men for best director in all but five years; Gerwig was the last woman nominated, two years ago.
In the acting categories, Renee Zellweger (“Judy”) has consistently led the best actress contenders. Should Awkwafina be nominated, she would be only the second woman of Asian descent nominated in the category. (The first, 1936 nominee Merle Oberon, hid her South Asian heritage.)
Pitt has a lock on the supporting actor Oscar, which would be his first ever. Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”) and Lopez have led the supporting actress nominees. A nomination would be the first for Lopez.
The best actor category, after a few lackluster years, has been especially competitive, with Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”) and Adam Driver (“Marriage Story”) as the most entrenched nominees in a field including DiCaprio, Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”), Christian Bale (“Ford v Ferrari”), Eddie Murphy (“Dolemite Is My Name”), Adam Sandler (“Uncut Gems”) and Robert De Niro (“The Irishman”).
While a similar result Monday is unlikely, the British Film Academy last week nominated an all-white field of acting nominees. Widely criticized, the BAFTAs pledged to review its awards process.
Beyonce will likely add an Oscar nomination to her many honors, for her “Lion King” song. “American Factory,” the first release from Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground, is likely to be among the documentary nominees.
After the most dominant box-office year in Hollywood history, the Walt Disney Co. will have reasons to celebrate Monday, though their top films – including the record-setting Marvel blockbuster “Avengers: Endgame” – are expected to be largely relegated to categories like best visual effects. The studio, which has never won a best picture Academy Award, does have a few contenders via its acquisition in April of 20th Century Fox. Both “Ford v Ferrari” and “Jojo Rabbit” (released by specialty label Fox Searchlight) will compete in the top categories.
The 92nd Academy Awards will take place Feb. 9 in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theatre. ABC will again broadcast the show, viewership for which last year rose 12% to 29.6 million.
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Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is set to hold face-to-face talks Monday with Prince Harry for the first time since he and his wife, Meghan, unveiled their controversial plan to walk away from royal roles, holding a dramatic family summit meant to chart a future course for the couple.
The meeting reflects the queen’s desire to contain the fallout from Harry and Meghan’s decision to “step back” as senior royals, work to become financially independent and split their time between Britain and North America. The couple, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, made the announcement Wednesday without telling the queen or other senior royals first.
Before the extraordinary session, Princes William and Harry took the equally unusual step of issuing a statement challenging the accuracy of a newspaper report that there was a severe strain on the relationship between the two brothers.
“For brothers who care so deeply about the issues surrounding mental health, the use of inflammatory language in this way is offensive and potentially harmful,” the statement said.
The meeting at the monarch’s private Sandringham estate in eastern England will also include Harry’s father Prince Charles and his brother Prince William. It comes after days of intense news coverage, in which supporters of the royal family’s feuding factions used the British media to paint conflicting pictures of who was to blame for the rift.
William is expected to travel to Sandringham from London and Harry from his home in Windsor, west of the British capital. Charles has flown back from the Gulf nation of Oman, where he attended a condolence ceremony Sunday following the death of Sultan Qaboos bin Said.
Meghan, who is in Canada with the couple’s baby son Archie, is likely to join the meeting by phone.
Buckingham Palace said “a range of possibilities” would be discussed, but the queen was determined to resolve the situation within “days, not weeks.” The goal was to agree on next steps at Monday’s gathering, which follows days of talks among royal courtiers and officials from the U.K. and Canada. Buckingham Palace stressed, however, that “any decision will take time to be implemented.”
One of the more fraught questions that needs to be worked out is precisely what it means for a royal to be financially independent and what activities can be undertaken to make money. Other royals who have ventured into the world of commerce have found it complicated.
Prince Andrew, for example, has faced heated questions about his relationship with the late convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew, the queen’s second son, has relinquished royal duties and patronages after being accused by a woman who says she was an Epstein trafficking victim who slept with the prince.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also face questions on paying for taxpayer-funded security. Home Secretary Priti Patel refused to comment, but said safety was a priority.
“I’m not going to provide any detailed information on the security arrangements for either them or any members of the royal family or for any protected individuals, that’s thoroughly inappropriate for me to do so” she told the BBC. “At this moment in time, right now, the royal family themselves need some time and space for them to work through the current issues that they’re dealing with.”
The meeting comes amid days of days of discussions about the future of the monarchy following the surprise announcement. Senior royals were said to be hurt, Harry and Meghan’s friends have told Britain’s media that the couple were being pushed aside because of the desire of the Windsors to concentrate on the core of the royal family and focus on those in the line of succession – Prince Charles, William and William’s son George.
Tom Bradby, a TV journalist who is close to Harry and Meghan, warned in the Sunday Times that the royal family badly needed a peace deal to prevent “a protracted war” that could damage the monarchy.
With much at stake, the talks could be a step toward a changed monarchy.
“This is a seismic moment in royal history and British society,” Kate Williams, a historian at the University of Reading, wrote in the Observer. “It tells historians of the future much about our society, its self-perceptions, prejudices and fears. And most of all, it should mark our realization as we didn’t learn after (Princess) Diana that those who marry into the royal family are not our dolls to attack and throw around as we please.”
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Iranian Americans are closely watching the unfolding situation in their home country as protests continue in Tehran over the Iran military’s admission on Saturday that it mistakenly shot down a civilian Ukrainian plane, killing all 176 on board.
Many Iranian Americans have taken to the streets to express their support for the Iranian people and their demands in the ongoing protests in Iran.
On Sunday, dozens of Iranian-American activists gathered in Washington D.C, to honor the victims of the Ukrainian plane crash and to show support for their fellow countrymen who reportedly have been facing a violent government crackdown on recent protests.
“I’m here to support the Iranian people [and] be their voice,” said Monir, an Iranian-American, who only gave her first name.
“If you go in the streets [in Iran], you might be jailed, you might be killed in the streets, and these people are so brave,” she said as she was standing with a crowd in downtown Washington.
خطاب به رهبران ايران: معترضان خود را نكشيد. هزاران تن تاكنون به دست شما كشته يا زنداني شده اند، و جهان نظاره گر است. مهمتر از ان، ايالات متحده نظاره گر است. اينترنت را دوباره وصل كنيد و به خبرنگاران اجازه دهيد ازادانه حركت كنند! كشتار مردم بزرگ ايران را متوقف كنيد!
Candles and flowers are displayed with condolences offered to the families of the passengers of the Ukrainian jetliner shot down by Iran by accident at a memorial at the “2020 LA Convention for Free Iran,” Jan. 11, 2020.“One of the biggest points of contention has been this idea of wanting to support the Iranian protest movement against the Islamic regime in Iran while the same time not beating the drums of war,” she told VOA in a phone interview.
Demands evolved
Some activists said demands of Iranian protesters have evolved over the years from basic reforms to regime change.
“If you listen to people on the streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities, it is clear that people are fed up with this regime,” said Ahmad Batebi, a human rights activist based in Washington, who was imprisoned in Iran for his role in a student protest movement in 1999.
“In today’s Iran, there are two governments,” he told VOA. “One that is just a façade, which is represented by people like [Iranian President Hassan] Rouhani and [Foreign Minister Javad] Zarif.”
The other is the government that works in the shadow and holds real power is represented by the Supreme Leader and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Batebi said.
In April 2019, the U.S. government designated the IRGC a terrorist organization.
Lobbying lawmakers
Sadegh Amiri, another Iranian-American activist who lives in Annapolis, Maryland, said that his objective is to raise more awareness among the American public about what has actually been happening in Iran.“
“We reach out to local lawmakers [in Maryland] and ordinary people to tell them Iran is not what they see on television,” he said.
“We would like people in America to understand (that) Iranian people wish to live in freedom, and that this current regime in Tehran doesn’t represent them,” he told VOA.
People gather for a candlelight vigil to remember the victims of the Ukraine plane crash, at the gate of Amrikabir University that some of the victims of the crash were former students of, in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 11, 2020.Ali Afshari of the Iranians for Secularism and Democracy, an advocacy group based in the U.S., says Iranian Americans could be effective in two ways in response to the latest events in Iran.
“First we, in the diaspora, need to amplify the voices of protesters on the ground,” he told VOA, adding that, “we need to empower people so that can sustain their demands against the Iranian regime.”
“Second we need to be more active in terms of reaching out to lawmakers and policymakers in Washington. Iranian Americans have a historic responsibility to convey accurate information and facts from inside Iran to people in the United States,” Afshari added.
Divisions
Analysts say there are many differences among Iranian Americans that reflect their political, ethnic and cultural diversity.
Shahed Alavi, an Iranian political analyst based in Washington, says when it comes to attitude towards the Iranian government, there are three types of people within the Iranian American community.
“There are those who fully support a regime change in Tehran and hope this ongoing protest movement will turn into something bigger,” he said. “There are others who believe that Iranian people have the right to protest, but they don’t think the U.S. should interfere in Iranian affairs.”
However, he added, “the silent majority among the Iranian community in America refuses to get involved or even have an opinion about that’s happening in Iran, because they visit Iran and still have relatives there. So they simply fear retribution from the Iranian regime.”
VOA’s Persian Service, Cindy Saine and Saqib Ul Islam contributed to this story from Washington.
Retired Pope Benedict XVI has broken his silence to reaffirm the value of priestly celibacy, co-authoring a bombshell book at the precise moment that Pope Francis is weighing whether to allow married men to be ordained to address the Catholic priest shortage.
Benedict wrote the book, “From the Depths of Our Hearts: Priesthood, Celibacy and the Crisis of the Catholic Church,” along with his fellow conservative, Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, who heads the Vatican’s liturgy office and has been a quiet critic of Francis.
The French daily Le Figaro published excerpts of the book late Sunday; The Associated Press obtained galleys of the English edition, which is being published by Ignatius Press.
Benedict’s intervention is extraordinary, given he had promised to remain “hidden from the world” when he retired in 2013 and pledged his obedience to the new pope. He has largely held to that pledge, though he penned an odd essay last year on the sexual abuse scandal that blamed the crisis on the sexual revolution of the 1960s.
His reaffirmation of priestly celibacy, however, gets to the heart of a fraught policy issue that Francis is expected to weigh in on, and could well be considered a public attempt by the former pope to sway the thinking of the current one.
The authors clearly anticipated that potential interpretation, and stressed in their joint introduction that they were penning the book “in a spirit of filial obedience, to Pope Francis.“
Francis has said he would write a document based on the outcome of the October 2019 synod of bishops on the Amazon. A majority of bishops at the meeting called for the ordination of married men to address the priest shortage in the Amazon, where the faithful can go months without having a Mass.
Francis has expressed sympathy with the Amazonian plight. While he has long reaffirmed the gift of a celibate priesthood in the Latin rite church, he has stressed that celibacy is a tradition, not doctrine, and therefore can change, and that there could be pastoral reasons to allow for a exception in a particular place.
Benedict addresses the issue head-on in his chapter in the brief book, which is composed of a joint introduction and conclusion penned by Benedict and Sarah, and then a chapter apiece in between. True to his theological form, Benedict’s chapter is dense with biblical references and he explains in scholarly terms what he says is the “necessary“ foundation for the celibate priesthood that dates from the times of the apostles.
“The priesthood of Jesus Christ causes us to enter into a life that consists of becoming one with him and renouncing all that belongs only to us,” he writes. “For priests, this is the foundation of the necessity of celibacy but also of liturgical prayer, meditation on the Word of God and the renunciation of material goods.”
Marriage, he writes, requires man to give himself totally to his family. “Since serving the Lord likewise requires the total gift of a man, it does not seem possible to carry on the two vocations simultaneously. Thus, the ability to renounce marriage so as to place oneself totally at the Lord’s disposition became a criterion for priestly ministry.”
The joint conclusion of the book makes the case even stronger, acknowledging the crisis of the Catholic priesthood that it says has been “wounded by the revelation of so many scandals, disconcerted by the constant questioning of their consecrated celibacy.”
Dedicating the book to priests of the world, the two authors urge them to persevere, and for all faithful to hold firm and support them in their celibate ministry.
“It is urgent and necessary for everyone-bishops, priests and lay people-to stop letting themselves be intimidated by the wrong-headed pleas, the theatrical productions, the diabolical lies and the fashionable errors that try to put down priestly celibacy,” they write. “It is urgent and necessary for everyone-bishops, priests and lay people-to take a fresh look with the eyes of faith at the Church and at priestly celibacy which protects her mystery.”
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