Month: July 2019

MIAMI — American crocodiles, once headed toward extinction, are thriving at an unusual spot — the canals surrounding a South Florida nuclear plant.  Last week, 73 crocodile hatchlings were rescued by a team of specialists at Florida Power & Light’s Turkey Point nuclear plant and dozens more are expected to emerge soon.  Turkey Point’s 168-mile (270-kilometer) man-made canals serve as the home to several hundred crocodiles, where a team of specialists working for FPL monitors and protects them from hunting and climate change.  From January to April, Michael Lloret, an FPL wildlife biologist and crocodile specialist, helps create nests for the creatures. Once the hatchlings are reared and left by the mother, the team captures them. They are measured and tagged with microchips to observe their development. Lloret then relocates them to increase survival rates.  “We entice crocodiles to come in to the habitats FPL created,” Lloret said. “We clear greenery on the berms so that the crocodiles can nest. Because of rising sea levels wasting nests along the coasts, Turkey Point is important for crocodiles to continue.”  Wildlife biologist/crocodile specialist Michael Lloret points out a crocodile nest on one of the berms along the cooling canals next to the Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station, July 19, 2019, in Homestead, Fla. Now ‘threatened,’ not ‘endangered’ The canals are one of three major U.S. habitats for crocodiles, where 25% of the 2,000 American crocodiles live. The FPL team has been credited for moving the classification of crocodiles on the Endangered Species …

TOKYO — Japanese voters cast ballots Sunday in an upper house election, with Shinzo Abe’s ruling bloc looking to protect its majority and keep on track plans to amend the country’s pacifist constitution.    Abe, 64, who is on course to become Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, is also hoping to shore up his mandate ahead of a crucial consumption tax hike later this year, along with trade negotiations with Washington.    Opinion polls suggest his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner Komeito are likely to win a majority, mostly because of a lackluster opposition.    Sunday’s vote is for half the seats in the House of Councilors — the less powerful house of parliament — and polling stations across the country open at 7 a.m. (2200 GMT Saturday).    The vote outcome is expected to become clear shortly after the polls close at 8 p.m., with pollsters suggesting turnout could be lower than 50 percent,  significantly less than usual.  ‘Disarray’ in opposition camp   Abe’s ruling coalition is forecast to win a solid majority of the 124 seats contested in the election, according to pre-election surveys.    The two parties control 70 seats in the half of the chamber that is not being contested, meaning the projections put them on track to maintain their overall majority in the body.    “Abe’s strength is largely based on passive support resulting from disarray in the opposition camp and a lack of rivals,” Shinichi Nishikawa, professor of political science at Meiji University in …

ABUJA — Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari condemns the killing of 37 people by bandits in the northwestern state of Sokoto, his spokesman said Saturday in a statement.  Armed gangs have killed hundreds of people in northwest Nigeria this year and forced at least 20,000 to flee to neighboring Niger, adding to security problems in a country also struggling with an Islamist insurgency in the northeast and clashes between farmers and herders in central states.  “President Muhammadu Buhari strongly condemns the killing of 37 innocent people by bandits in the Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State,” the presidency said in the statement.  Local media said the attacks took place late Friday.  Troops have been deployed to the areas hit in the latest flashpoint, the presidency statement said. Military and police have been dispatched to tackle criminal gangs blamed for a spate of killings and kidnappings over the last year.  Buhari, a former military ruler, began his second four-year term in May after winning a presidential election in February.  During his campaign he vowed to improve security but — against the backdrop of the northwest’s wave of banditry, high-profile kidnappings nationwide and attacks by Islamist insurgents — he has reiterated that it remains a priority.  …

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan meets with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday in the White House. VOA’s Aman Azhar spoke to experts and Pakistani residents in United States about their expectations for the visit and filed this report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard. …

PANAMA CITY — Panama on Saturday became the first Central American nation to ban single-use plastic bags to try to curb pollution on its beaches and help tackle what the United Nations has identified as one of the world’s biggest environmental challenges.  The isthmus nation of roughly 4 million people joined more than 60 other countries that have totally or partially banned single-use plastic bags, or have introduced taxes to dissuade their use, including Chile and Colombia in the region.  Supermarkets, pharmacies and retailers in Panama must stop using traditional polyethylene plastic bags immediately, while wholesale stores will have until 2020 to conform to the policy approved in 2018. Fines can be applied for non-compliance but there are exceptions for the use of plastic bags for sanitary reasons, such as with raw food.  On the streets of Panama City, signs with the phrase “less bags, more life” reminded passers-by that the measure had gone into effect.  “This seems like a good measure because you avoid continuing to pollute the streets and the community,” said Victoria Gomez, 42, a secretary in downtown Panama City.  Birds, turtles, seals, whales and fish often become entangled in or ingest the remnants of plastic bags in Latin America, one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. Along Panama’s coast, it is common to see plastic waste littering  beaches, especially near populated areas.  Given projected growth in consumption, without new anti-pollution policies, oceans are expected by 2050 to contain more plastics than fish by weight, according to the New Plastics Economy report published by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in 2016.  The report also found that …

Fifty years ago, two American astronauts became the first humans to walk on the Moon. But before humans had left Earth, animal astronauts had blazed a trail into space. VOA’s Kerry Hensley has more. …

Many victims of an arson attack on an animation studio in the western Japanese city of Kyoto were young with bright futures, some joining only in April, the company president said Saturday, as the death told climbed to 34. Thursday’s attack on Kyoto Animation, famous in Japan and overseas for its series and movies, was the worst mass killing in two decades in a country with some of the world’s lowest crime rates. Company president Hideaki Hatta said many of the victims were young women. “Some of them joined us just in April. And on the eighth of July, I gave them a small, but their first, bonus,” he said. “People who had a promising future lost their lives. I don’t know what to say. Rather than feeling anger, I just don’t have words,” Hatta said. Policemen stand behind a police line at the torched Kyoto Animation building in Kyoto Fifteen of the victims were in their 20s and 11 were in their 30s, public broadcaster NHK said. Six were in their 40s and one was at least 60. The age of the latest victim, a man who died in hospital, was not known. The names of the victims have not been disclosed. The studio had about 160 employees with an average age of 33, according to its website. Police have confirmed the identity of the suspect as Shinji Aoba, but have declined to comment further. Aoba had been convicted of robbery and carried out the attack because he believed …

Officials in Hawaii said Friday that they will not call up additional National Guard troops or use force on peaceful telescope protesters blocking access to the state’s highest peak. Gov. David Ige said that his priority is to keep everyone in the community safe, including the activists at the base of Mauna Kea. The 80 guard members on the Big Island since the start of the protests will remain, state officials said. “We will not be utilizing tear gas, as some of the rumors have been (saying),” Ige said. “We are looking for the best way forward without hurting anyone.” The governor said last week that National Guard units would be used to transport personnel and equipment as well as to enforce road closures. Hawaii Gov. David Ige speaks at a news conference in Honolulu, July 17, 2019, about issuing an emergency proclamation in response to protesters blocking a road to prevent the construction of a giant telescope. Ige said Friday no more troops would be called in to the Big Island, but he stopped short of removing an emergency proclamation that he enacted Wednesday. The emergency order broadened the state’s authority to remove protesters from the mountain, including the use of National Guard for security. Big Island Mayor Harry Kim, who met with Ige Friday morning as about 800 to 1,200 activists gathered on the mountain, said he hopes the protesters and state officials will take some time to discuss a better way forward. “We all need to step …

The Trump administration has told federally funded family planning clinics it is considering a delay in enforcing a controversial rule that bars them from referring women for abortions. That comes after clinics had vowed defiance. Two people attending meetings this week between the Department of Health and Human Services and clinic representatives told The Associated Press that officials said the clinics should be given more time to comply with the rule’s new requirements. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly before any decision has been announced. HHS said Friday that its policy has not changed. Rule announced, to take effect immediately On Monday, agency officials announced that the government would immediately begin enforcing the rule, catching the clinics off-guard and prompting an outcry. Planned Parenthood said its 400 clinics would defy the requirement. Some states, including Illinois and Maryland, backed the clinics. The family planning program serves about 4 million women a year, and many low-income women get basic health care from the clinics. The administration’s abortion restrictions, cheered by social and religious conservatives, are being challenged in court by groups representing the clinics, several states, and the American Medical Association. The litigation is still in its early stages. An enforcement pause may allow for a clearer indication of where the court cases are headed. The people who spoke to AP said that HHS Office of Population Affairs Director Diane Foley told representatives of the clinics the administration is considering rewinding the clock …

In the Spanish colonial fortress that serves as his official residence, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello is under siege. Motorcyclists, celebrities, horse enthusiasts and hundreds of thousands of ordinary Puerto Ricans have swarmed outside La Fortaleza (The Fort) in Old San Juan this week, demanding Rossello resign over a series of leaked online chats insulting women, political opponents and even victims of Hurricane Maria.  Rossello, the telegenic 40-year-old son of a former governor, has dropped his normally intense rhythm of public appearances and gone into relatively long periods of near-silence in the media, intensifying questions about his future. Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello speaks during a press conference in La Fortaleza’s Tea Room, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, July 16, 2019. For much of his 2½ years in office, Rossello has given three or four lengthy news conferences a week, comfortably fielding question after question in Spanish and English from the local and international press. And that’s on top of public appearances, one-on-one interviews and televised meetings with visiting politicians and members of his administration.  But since July 11, when Rossello cut short a family vacation in France and returned home to face the first signs of what has become an island-wide movement to oust him, the governor has made four appearances, all but one in highly controlled situations.  New protests began Friday afternoon, with unionized workers organizing a march to La Fortaleza from the nearby waterfront.  Horseback riders join the march Horseback riders joined them with a self-declared cavalry …

Hundreds of Catholics gathered in the nation’s capital to protest the federal government’s treatment of migrants, and about 70 sisters, clergy and parishioners were arrested. The Washington Post reports protesters armed with photos of migrant children who died in federal custody recited The Lord’s Prayer as they demonstrated in the Russell Senate Office Building on Thursday. The children’s names rang out as some protesters laid on the floor in the shape of a cross.   This is the second time this week people of faith protested in the District and called for the dissolution of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and an end to crowded detainment centers at the U.S.-Mexico border. Dozens of protesters blocked access to the ICE headquarters Tuesday and 10 were arrested on charges of unlawful entry.   …

South African singer and musician Johnny Clegg, one of the loudest voices in pop during the anti-apartheid movement, is being widely mourned in the country following his death earlier this week.   The so-called “White Zulu” — so named for his use of indigenous South African music and dance – passed away at age 66, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Musician Sipho Mchunu was just 17 when he met the young man who would change his life — and South Africa’s music scene.   Mchunu was walking down the street when Clegg, just 16, approached him and asked him to sing him a song. He did, and the rest, he says, is history: the two formed a band, Juluka, and became known for their inventive use of Zulu songs and dance. In 1990, they became the biggest-selling world music group on the planet. In this photo taken on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, musician Johnny Clegg on stage at a farewell concert in Johannesburg. ‘He taught me a lot also’   Clegg was no ordinary singer — and, Mchunu says, no ordinary South African. His goal was to unite South Africans across color lines. But Mchunu says the learning went both ways.    “I’ve never been to school so I can’t read and write,” he told VOA this week in Johannesburg. “So he made me understand the white people, a little bit of the culture. I guess you could say he helped me a lot. I helped him too. But …

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee who will question former special counsel Robert Mueller next week plan to focus on a narrow set of episodes laid out in his report, an effort to direct Americans’ attention to what they see as the most egregious examples of President Donald Trump’s conduct. The examples from the Mueller report include Trump’s directions to White House counsel Donald McGahn to have Mueller removed and, later, orders from Trump to McGahn to deny that happened. Democrats also will focus questioning on a series of meetings Trump had with former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in which the Republican president directed Lewandowski to persuade then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to limit Mueller’s investigation. Mueller laid out several episodes in which Trump tried to influence his investigation and wrote that he could not exonerate the president on obstruction of justice. Democratic aides say they believe the McGahn and Lewandowski narratives, explained in detail in the 448-page report, are clear examples of such obstruction and will be easy to understand as lawmakers try to educate the American public on a report that they believe most people haven’t read. The aides requested anonymity to freely discuss members’ plans for questioning. The House Judiciary and intelligence committees will question Mueller in back-to-back hearings July 24. The testimony had been scheduled for July 17 but was delayed . Time will be extremely limited under an agreement with Mueller, who is a reluctant witness and has said he will stick to the contents of …

Former South African President Jacob Zuma has decided to stop testifying at a public inquiry into state corruption. Zuma’s lawyers said Friday their client feels that he has been questioned unfairly. “Our client from the beginning . . . has been treated as someone who was accused,” said Zuma’s lawyer, Muzi Sikhakhane. The former president has given testimony this week at the so-called “State Capture” commission. Raymond Zondo, the lead judge in the probe, has said, “The commission is not mandated to prove a case against anybody, but is mandated to investigate and inquire into certain allegations.” Zuma has denied allegations of corruption, saying he was a victim of conspiracies to end his career, ruin his reputation and kill him. Zuma was forced to resign from office last year by the ruling African National Congress party after being implicated in numerous corruption scandals.  In one instance, prosecutors accused him of using some $20 million in public funds for improvements at his private estate. …

The German rescue ship captain who allegedly disobeyed Italy’s ban on migrant ships, voiced hope Thursday that EU countries would allow migrants in the future. Carola Rackete spoke after she was questioned by a Sicilian court on suspicion of aiding illegal immigration. Shouts of “Brava,” along with applause, greeted Carola Rackete as she left court in the town of Agrigento after just under four hours of questioning. Demonstrators outside the courtroom held banners which read, “Saving lives at sea is not a crime.” Sea-Watch 3 Captain Calls for EU Action on Migrants Rescues A German humanitarian ship captain who eluded an Italian effort to block her from docking at an Italian port after rescuing migrants has called for the European Commission to do its best to avoid new migrants’ standoffs The 31-year-old Rackete told reporters she was pleased to have told the court why she entered the port of Lampedusa in late June after two weeks at sea in international waters. Rackete was arrested June 29 after defying orders to stay out of the port and hitting a police boat with her ship, the Sea-Watch 3, with migrants on board. A judge in Agrigento subsequently released her from house arrest, saying the captain followed the “law of the sea,” which is first and foremost to save the lives of endangered people. The captain has said she docked at Lampedusa because she feared for the health of her migrant passengers. Rackete told journalists she hoped the new European Union Commission would …

VALLETTA, MALTA — Three suspects were formally charged this week in the 2017 slaying of Maltese anti-corruption journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia.    Brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio and Vince Muscat, all in their 50s, were arrested in December 2017. The Justice Ministry’s confirmation of the charges, which allows a trial to be held, came Tuesday, days before a 20-month deadline.    The public prosecutor now has another 20 months to set a date for the trial, which legal experts said might not take place for years.    Late last week, the government of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, at the recommendation of the Council of Europe, said it would create a public commission of inquiry within two months that would investigate whether the Oct. 16, 2017, attack could have been prevented.    Caruana Galizia, described as a “one-woman WikiLeaks,” was responsible for a number of corruption exposes targeting both Muscat and opposition figures.    In the wake of the killing, Malta asked American and Dutch experts to help in the probe.    After her death, her sons demanded Muscat’s resignation, accusing him of surrounding himself with crooks, creating a culture of impunity and turning the tiny Mediterranean state into a “mafia island.”  …

House lawmakers voted Wednesday to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. In a vote that mostly followed party lines, House members passed the Raise The Wage Act, the first minimum wage increase since 2009. The measure has not yet come up in the Senate. The bill would more than double the national minimum wage over the next 6 years, a marked increase from the current $7.25 federal minimum wage. The bill would also raise the minimum wage for tipped employees to the same level from the current $2.13 an hour. In the 231-to-199 vote, three Republican representatives joined the majority and voted for the bill, while six Democrats voted against it. “This is about workers, it’s about their economic and financial security and today is a bright day because it affects so many people in our country,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters at a news conference. Skepticism While the vote was nearly unanimous by Democrats, some members were skeptical. Democrats Tom O’Halleran of Arizona and Stephanie Murphy of Florida introduced an amendment that would mandate the Government Accountability Office to track the bill’s effects and report to the House before the entire wage increase is implemented. It passed 248-181. Republican lawmakers voiced sharp opposition, arguing it will stifle economic growth. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise said that the bill would “eviscerate millions of American jobs,” referencing a report by the Congressional Budget Office that projected between 1 million and 3 million Americans could lose their jobs …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that China’s mistreatment of its Uighur Muslim minority had created one of the most significant human rights crises in contemporary world history.    Speaking at a conference on religious freedom in Washington, Pompeo said, “China is home to one of the worst human rights crises of our time” and that “it is truly the stain of the century.”    The nation’s top diplomat also accused Chinese government officials of intimidating countries to keep them from attending the conference and said the U.S. had “taken note” of the countries that succumbed to China. While not naming them, Pompeo urged the countries to “find the courage” to stand up to China.    Pompeo said earlier this week that representatives of more than 100 countries would attend the three-day conference that ends Thursday, but a State Department spokesman could not confirm the number.    “We know the Chinese government called countries specifically to discourage participation,” the spokesman said, but “we cannot prove the exact number they successfully impacted.” FILE – Uighurs and their supporters protest in front of the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations in New York, March 15, 2018. The Chinese government has dismissed accusations it violated rights to religious freedom. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a Beijing news briefing Thursday that “this situation of so-called religious persecution does not exist.”     Lu also said China “demand[s] that the United States correctly view China’s religious policies and the status …

Anti-corruption officials in Pakistan have arrested former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for allegedly evading an ongoing investigation into corruption charges against him. The former Pakistani leader is the latest in a series of high-profile opposition politicians targeted under the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan who accuses his predecessors of corruption and stashing away billions of dollars to foreign bank accounts.  Abbasi together with several members of his opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) was on his way to address a news conference in the eastern city of Lahore on Thursday, when he was taken into custody by a team of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the state anti-corruption body. Authorities later took the former prime minister to Islamabad, where he will appear before an anti-corruption court on Friday, said NAB officials. Abbasi served as prime minister from August 2017 to May 2018. NAB officials explained that the arrest stemmed from a case related to the award of a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) import contract when Abbasi was serving as the federal minister for petroleum and natural resources. They said Abbasi had been repeatedly summoned for questioning sessions, including one on Thursday, but he did not appear. Former Pakistani president and currently a lawmaker in Parliament and leader of Pakistan People’s party, Asif Ali Zardari, center, leaves the High Court building, in Islamabad, June 10, 2019. The arrest came just weeks after the country’s former president, Asif Ali Zardari, the head of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, was arrested …

U.S. President Donald Trump is disavowing chants of “send her back” at his political rally which were heard when he questioned the loyalty of U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a war refugee from Somalia. “I was not happy when I heard that chant,” Trump said to reporters in the Oval Office, adding he disagreed with it. Asked why he did not try to stop the chant at the event on Wednesday evening in North Carolina, the president replied: “I think I did – I started speaking very quickly.” Omar when asked about Trump on Thursday by reporters outside the Capitol, replied, “I believe he is fascist.” She asked: “Because I criticized the president, I should be deported?” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., a target of racist rhetoric from President Donald Trump, walks from the House to her office following votes, at the Capitol in Washington, July 18, 2019. Omar is one of four new Democratic Party members of Congress who are women of color who have repeatedly been attacked by Trump since Sunday on social media and in public comments. The congresswoman posted a tweet late Wednesday featuring a picture of herself wearing a hijab and seated in the speaker’s chair in the U.S. House of Representatives chamber along with a message for Trump and his supporters, who have in recent days repeatedly suggested the U.S. citizen “go back” to Somalia. “I am where I belong, at the people’s house and you’re just gonna have to deal!” Omar wrote. 👋🏽 I am …

A Republican senator blocked a bipartisan bill that would have made sure that a fund providing compensation to 9/11 workers would remain viable until 2090.  Rand Paul of Kentucky questioned the bill’s 70-year time frame and said any new spending should be offset by corresponding cuts so the U.S. government’s $22 trillion debt does not continue to grow.  “It has long been my feeling that we need to address our massive debt in the country,” Paul said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “And, therefore, any new spending … should be offset by cutting spending that’s less valuable. We need to at the very least have this debate.” Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., speaks during a town hall meeting during a campaign stop in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Presidential hopeful New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand had offered the bill for unanimous consent, which would have fast-tracked its approval.  Under Senate rules, an objection from a single senator can block a measure offered via unanimous consent, which is what Paul did.  A spokesperson for Paul later told The Hill that Paul “is not blocking anything,” adding that he is “simply seeking to pay for it.” The bill, which easily passed in the House last month, would extend though 2092 a victims compensation fund, essentially making it permanent.  More than $7 billion was placed in a fund to compensate firefighters, construction crews, police and other emergency workers who rushed into the debris of the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001 — …

The Democratic-controlled House voted Wednesday to hold two top Trump administration officials in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with subpoenas related to a decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The House voted 230-198 to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in criminal contempt. The vote, a political blow to the Trump administration, is largely symbolic because the Justice Department is unlikely to prosecute the two men. The action marks an escalation of Democratic efforts to use their House majority to aggressively investigate the inner workings of the Trump administration. President Donald Trump abandoned the citizenship question last week after the Supreme Court said the administration’s justification for the question “seems to have been contrived.” Trump directed agencies to try to compile the information using existing databases. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, listens as President Donald Trump speaks with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before departing, July 17, 2019, in Washington. The White House called the vote “ridiculous” and “yet another lawless attempt to harass the president and his administration.” The Justice and Commerce departments have produced more than 31,000 pages of documents to the House regarding the census issue, and senior officials from both agencies, including Ross, have spoken on the record about the matter, the White House said, adding that Democrats continue to demand documents that the White House contends are subject to executive privilege.   “House Democrats know they have no legal right to these …