Month: December 2019

The United States reportedly flew a reconnaissance plane over South Korea on Monday, marking the second intelligence-gathering flyover this week, according to an aviation tracker cited by several South Korean news sources. The aircraft — thought to be an RC-135W — was first reported on Twitter flying west to east across South Korea at an altitude of around 31,000 feet at approximately 8:26 a.m. The spy plane was spotted by Aircraft Spots, an account that monitors military aircraft movements.  The same account reportedly identified a U.S. Air Force U-2S plane flying over Seoul on December 1, while South Korean media reported similar recent flights by U-2S, EP-3C, E8C and RC-135V jets. The United States’ most recent reconnaissance flight took place just days after North Korea launched its 13th projectile this year — “a super large multiple rocket launcher” — on Nov. 28. “Monitoring like this is routine, and we can assume that the U.S. military is surveilling North Korea at all times,” C. Harrison Kim, a North Korea expert and professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, told VOA. “But at the same time, the recent missile launches from North Korea are seen as a provocation and so, given the situation, the U.S. has to respond on some level.” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has given an end-of-year deadline for further nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang. “The United States has to do some form of [military surveillance] to do its part as a military power in East Asia,” …

Clashes sparked by suspected cartel gunmen in a northern Mexican town killed 20 people this weekend, authorities said, putting more pressure on Mexico’s president to curb gang violence after the United States vowed to label the gangs terrorists. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, mindful of efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to designate Mexican drug gangs as terrorist groups, repeated on Sunday that he would not accept any intervention from abroad, while doubling down on his strategy of trying to contain the cartels. But the killings clouded celebrations marking Lopez Obrador’s first year in office, which were buffeted by a march in Mexico City by thousands of people protesting the violence. The government of the northern state of Coahuila said local security forces killed 14 gunmen on Saturday and Sunday, after a major gunfight broke out in the small town of Villa Union near the Texas border. Earlier, the state government had said police had shot dead 17 cartel members. Four police were also killed in the shootouts, which broke out around midday on Saturday, sparking fresh criticism of the government’s approach to handling the powerful gangs. The bodies of two unarmed civilians apparently murdered by the gunmen were also recovered, the government said. Riding into town in a convoy of heavily armed pickups, gunmen sprayed the offices of the mayor of Villa Union with bullets and fought police for more than 1 1/2 hours as gunfire echoed through the streets. More than 60 gunmen took part in the fight …

The White House says it will not participate in Wednesday impeachment hearing by the House Judiciary Committee. Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler invited U.S. President Donald Trump and his counsel to attend the committee’s first hearing as the impeachment inquiry moves into its next phase. While no one expected Trump to attend – he plans to be at a NATO summit near London this week – White House counsel Pat Cipollone is also declining the invitation. “We cannot fairly be expected to participate in a hearing while the witnesses are yet to be named and while it remains unclear whether the Judiciary Committee will afford the president a fair process through additional hearings,” Cipollone said in a letter to Nadler late Sunday. Cipollone said he will reply by the end of the week on whether the White House would appear at future hearings. Nadler assured Trump and his counsel in his invitation letter last week that he “remains committed to ensuring a fair and informative process.” He said Trump has the “opportunity to be represented in the impeachment hearings, or he can stop complaining about the process.” Next Phase of Trump Impeachment Begins This Week video player. Embed Copy Link Watch related video by VOA’s Arash Arabasadi. Wednesday’s Judiciary Committee hearing will focus on the constitutional grounds surrounding impeaching a president. The yet-to-be-named witnesses will be legal experts. The Intelligence Committee, which held a series of public and closed-room hearings last month, will send its findings to the Judiciary Committee, whose …

Former congressman and retired Navy admiral Joe Sestak is giving up his efforts to be the next president of the United States. The Democratic candidate told supporters on Twitter Sunday he is dropping out of the race. He thanked all those who backed his candidacy, calling it an honor to be able to run. Sestak blamed his failure to make an impact on the race in part because he said he lacked the “privilege of national press.” Sestak barely registered in the polls and failed to qualify for any of the Democratic debates.   …

A statue of U.S. civil rights leader Rosa Parks has been unveiled in Montgomery, capital of the southern state of Alabama. The unveiling Sunday marks the 64th anniversary of the day Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man. “Today, on the second official Rosa Parks Day, we honor a seamstress and a servant, one whose courage ran counter to her physical stature,” said Mayor Steven Reed, the city’s first African American mayor. “She was a consummate contributor to equality and did so with a quiet humility that is an example for all of us.” On December 1, 1955, Parks was on her way home when she was asked to vacate her seat for a white man. She refused. Her subsequent arrest led to the 381-day boycott of the Montgomery bus system, organized by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., then pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. The statue is located at Montgomery Plaza, about 9 meters from the spot where Parks is believed to have boarded the bus. Parks’ small act of defiance made her a major symbol of the civil rights movement. She died in 2005 at age 92.   …

Albania’s prime minister is asking the international community for financial aid and expert assistance following last week’s earthquake. Edi Rama said at a Cabinet meeting Sunday, “Simply, this is humanly impossible to do this [reconstruction] alone.” He said the budget is being reshaped to deal with the earthquake’s aftermath, but Albania still needs international support.   Rama said he has written to U.S. President Donald Trump to ask for help. U.S. and European Union civil engineers are working with local experts in Albania to assess the damage.   Rescuers from France and Switzerland operate at a collapsed building after the 6.4-magnitude earthquake in Durres, western Albania, Nov. 29, 2019. The mayor of Durres, one of the hardest hit towns, resigned Sunday after public outcry about remarks she made that she was “pleased” that only 50 people had died in the earthquake.  Valbona Sako said she was “hurt by the overwhelming negative reaction to a statement I made under stress that exceeds my strength.” The search and rescue operation for earthquake survivors in Albania ended Saturday, the prime minister said. The small town of Thumane, experienced the highest death toll from Tuesday’s quake with 26 people killed, six of whom belonged to one family, and all but one under age 30. They were buried Friday. In the port city of Durres — 30 kilometers west of the capital, Tirana — the quake killed 24.  One person also died in Kurbin. In all, 51 people died, including seven children. Nine-hundred were injured.  More than …

Britain’s political leaders sparred Sunday over who is responsible for the early release of a convicted extremist who launched a stabbing attack in central London that left two dead and injured three. The argument centers over the early release from prison of Usman Khan, who served roughly half his sentence before being set free. He was able to stab five people before being shot dead by police despite conditions imposed on his release that were supposed to protect public safety. After a one-day pause out of respect for victims, the Friday attack is dominating the political scene as the Dec. 12 election nears, shifting the focus, at least for the moment, from Brexit and the National Health Service to issues of security and criminal justice. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday blamed Khan’s freedom on changes in sentencing rules made by the last Labour Party government before Johnson’s Conservatives took power in 2010. He promised to toughen sentencing laws.  “I think it is repulsive that individuals as dangerous as this man should be allowed out after serving only eight years and that’s why we are going to change the law,” he told BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. Armed police officers on the north side of London Bridge in London, Nov. 29, 2019. Marr repeatedly challenged the prime minister by pointing out that the Conservatives had been in power for nearly a decade and not taken any steps to change the situation Johnson was complaining about. The accuracy of Johnson’s claim was …

Algeria’s presidential campaign is in trouble. Candidates are struggling to fill rally venues, campaign managers have quit, voters have pelted campaign headquarters with tomatoes and eggs, and the country’s 9-month-old pro-democracy movement calls the whole thing a sham. The five candidates seeking to replace President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in the Dec. 12 election have failed to captivate a disillusioned public. Bouteflika was pushed out in April after 20 years in power amid an exceptional, peaceful protest movement, and now demonstrators want a wholesale change of political leadership. Instead, the election is managed by the long-serving power structure of this oil- and gas-rich country with a strategic role in the Mediterranean region. Instead of new faces, two of the candidates are former prime ministers and one is a loyalist of Algeria’s influential army chief. The Hirak protest movement held their 41st weekly demonstrations Friday, denouncing the presidential election. But for the first time, thousands of pro-government supporters held their own rally Saturday. An Algerian woman holds a banner reading “No to foreign interference” during a march against EU interference into Algeria’s policy, Nov. 30, 2019 in Algiers after the European Parliament on Thursday condemned the reality of human rights in Algeria. The candidates have tried to convince voters that taking part in the election is the only alternative to chaos, an allusion to the civil war that ravaged Algeria in the 1990s. But that argument falls flat among the protesters, who have been overwhelmingly peaceful, with demonstrators calming each other down and …

A huge crowd took to the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday, some driven back by tear gas, to demand more democracy and an investigation into the use of force to crack down on the six-month-long anti-government demonstrations. Thousands turned out, from hardened youthful protesters in black outfits and face masks to parents with their children. Marching near the waterfront on the Kowloon side of Victoria Harbour, they sought to keep the pressure on city leader Carrie Lam after pro-democracy candidates won district council elections a week earlier. “If we don’t walk out, the government will say it’s just a youth issue, but this is a Hong Kong problem that affects all of us,” Lily Chau said as she pushed her toddler in a stroller. “If we are scared, the government will continue to trample on our rights.” Many held up a hand to indicate the five demands of the movement and shouted “Five demands, not one less” and “Disband the police force.” Pro-democracy protesters raise their hands to symbolize the five demands of the pro-democracy movement during a rally in Hong Kong, Dec. 1, 2019. Riot gear and tear gas Police in riot gear were out in force for the third march of the day — and the one where violence seemed most likely. They fired pepper spray and tear gas in some areas. Protesters dug up paving stones and threw them in the street to try to slow the police down. Hong Kong’s protests have been relatively peaceful …

Donald Trump faces a process that could end with his removal as president of the United States. Impeachment hearings underway now in the House of Representatives represent the beginning part of what is prescribed by the U.S. Constitution. In today’s installment of American Impeachment, VOA’s Steve Redisch takes you through the responsibilities of the House of Representatives.   …