Year: 2019

When astronauts orbit the moon, or live on its surface in the decade ahead, they will probably be inside inflatable space lodges now in development. Dozens of NASA officials and veteran astronauts are wrapping up a review of five space habitat mockups built by different companies. VOA’s Jim Randle has a look at the results. …

The World Health Organization says Zambia has reported its first local case of polio since 1995, in a 2-year-old boy paralyzed by a virus derived from the vaccine. In a report this week, WHO said the case was detected on the border with Congo, which has reported 37 cases of polio traced to the vaccine this year. The U.N. health agency said there is no established link between the Zambia case and the ongoing Congo outbreak but said increased surveillance and vaccination efforts are needed, warning that “there is a potential for international spread.” In rare cases, the live virus in oral polio vaccine can mutate into a form capable of sparking new outbreaks. Nine African countries are currently battling polio epidemics linked to the vaccine as WHO and partners struggle to keep their efforts to eradicate polio on track. Elsewhere, cases have been reported in China, Myanmar and the Philippines. On Thursday, WHO and partners are expected to announce they have rid the world of type 3 polio virus. Nigerian Polio Survivor Gives Hope To Thousands Teaser Description Ten years ago, Nigeria accounted for half of the world’s polio cases, but following an aggressive vaccination program, the African nation is on the verge of being declared polio free. Despite the milestone, Nigeria’s many polio survivors are left to struggle with their disabilities, although one survivor has found a way to provide support and hope for thousands. Timothy Obiezu has this story from Abuja ahead of World Polio Day on …

Israel’s former military chief Benny Gantz is set to receive an official mandate to form the country’s next government but has few options after last month’s elections left him in a near tie with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu was given the first opportunity to form a government after assembling a large right-wing bloc but announced this week that he failed to build a 61-seat majority. Gantz faces similarly steep odds, raising the possibility that Israel will hold a third election in less than a year. President Reuven Rivlin is to formally grant the mandate later Wednesday to Gantz, who will have 28 days to form a coalition. It will mark the first time in over a decade that anyone besides Netanyahu has been given the task. Still, Gantz faces steep odds in every possible path to forming a government. He has been endorsed by just 54 lawmakers representing an array of parties that are unlikely to sit together in a coalition. Both Gantz and Netanyahu say they favor a national unity government. Together, Netanyahu’s Likud and Gantz’s Blue and White control a solid 65-seat majority. But the two men are divided over who should lead any new government. Netanyahu has insisted he head the government, at least for the first two years, and that it include his right-wing allies, conditions that Gantz has repeatedly rejected.   Netanyahu is likely to be indicted on corruption charges in the coming weeks, and Gantz has said Netanyahu should resolve his legal troubles …

President Donald Trump says there is “big success” on the Turkey-Syria border following the withdrawal of Kurdish forces from northeast Syria and the end of a Turkish offensive against them. “Big success on the Turkey/Syria Border. Safe Zone created! Ceasefire has held and combat missions have ended. Kurds are safe and have worked very nicely with us. Captured ISIS prisoners secured. I will be making a statement at 11:00 A.M. from the White House. Thank you!.” Trump said on Twitter. Big success on the Turkey/Syria Border. Safe Zone created! Ceasefire has held and combat missions have ended. Kurds are safe and have worked very nicely with us. Captured ISIS prisoners secured. I will be making a statement at 11:00 A.M. from the White House. Thank you! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2019   Turkey on Tuesday said there is “no need” to resume its military offensive against Syrian Kurds, saying the U.S. has told it that the Kurdish withdrawal from northern Syrian border is complete.   Turkey made its announcement hours after the five-day long cease-fire expired in the Turkish military incursion into what had been a Kurdish safe zone in northern Syria.     Turkey Says ‘No Need’ to Resume Offensive Against Kurds Statement comes as 5-day cease-fire ends in northern Syria as US reports ‘complete’ Kurdish withdrawal The Syrian Kurds fought alongside U.S. forces against Islamic State terrorists. But Turkey considers them to be linked with Kurdish separatists who have long fought for autonomy inside Turkey. …

Norway’s domestic security agency says early investigations into the injury of two toddlers in a stroller on an Oslo sidewalk by a man driving a stolen ambulance “doesn’t look like a terrorist incident.” PST spokesman Martin Bernsen told Norwegian VG newspaper Wednesday that the agency continues to assist the Oslo police with the case. A 32-year-old Norwegian man who was not named, was arrested Tuesday after injuring two toddlers when speeding in the ambulance while chased by police. He was finally stopped after officers shot at the tires and rammed the vehicle. Inside the ambulance, police found an Uzi submachine gun, a shotgun and narcotics. Another daily, Aftenposten, said the suspect had previously been convicted of a raft of crimes including robbery, illegal possession of drugs and arms.   …

China on Wednesday accused the U.S. of having “weaponized” the issuance of visas following the reported inability of a top Chinese space program official to obtain permission to travel to a key conference in Washington. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters that the head of the Chinese delegation to the International Astronautical Congress wasn’t able to obtain a visa following an Oct. 12 interview, making it difficult for Chinese representatives to attend important events at the meeting. Reports said the vice chairman of the China National Space Administration, Wu Yanhua, had planned to attend the congress. Hua said the U.S. has “weaponized” visa issuances and “repeatedly defied international responsibilities and obligations and impeded normal international exchanges and cooperation.” She said that “threatened and damaged the legitimate rights and interests of all parties in the international community. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said it couldn’t discuss individual visa cases because of privacy issues. Hua said that “for some time, the U.S. has frequently rejected and delayed visa applications, revoked long-term visas of Chinese applicants and investigated and harassed the Chinese scholars, students, businesspeople, and scientific and technical personnel.” China last year launched more missions to orbit than any other country, and is on track to do the same this year. Those missions include the first-ever soft-landing of a space craft on the far side of the moon. However, close ties between the Chinese space program and the country’s military have limited its participation in multinational efforts, including the International Space …

The U.S. has postponed a resumption of refugee arrivals by at least another week, a State Department spokesperson confirmed to VOA on Tuesday, as the Trump administration pushes for further reductions in the number of refugees America takes in each year. The postponement follows last month’s announcement that a pause in refugee arrivals would be in effect until Oct. 22 while the White House and Congress engaged in legally required discussions to determine how many refugees will be admitted for the 2020 fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. The State Department now says refugee arrivals likely will resume next week “on or after October 29.” Refugees who had been expected to travel to the U.S. in the interim will be rescheduled, according to an agency statement. The U.S. reached its self-imposed cap of 30,000 refugee arrivals in FY2019, one of the lowest admissions levels since the program started in 1980. For FY2020, U.S President Donald Trump and the State Department have proposed a cap of 18,000 refugees. US Hits Lowered Refugee Cap for 2019 as Another Decrease Looms Last year, White House set admissions ceiling at 45,000, of which less than half — 22,491 refugees — were resettled in the US While the president issues the “determination” that sets the upper limit of how many refugees will be admitted in a year, that ceiling requires consultations with Capitol Hill lawmakers. A determination has not yet been announced, and no refugees have arrived in the new fiscal year to date. For …

Aid workers in northern Iraq say they are seeing increasing numbers of Syrians fleeing over the border into the mainly Kurdish region as the cease-fire in northeastern Syria is about to expire. In the past day alone, the Norwegian Refugee Council reports that 1,736 Syrians crossed into Iraq, the highest number to cross in one day since the beginning of Turkey’s military operation. They say that many have escaped with just the clothes on their backs.  Ibrahim Barsoum is a program officer working with Syrian refugees for the Christian Aid Program Northern Iraq, run by a Catholic priest, Father Emanuel Youkhana. The group has been helping Iraqis displaced by Islamic State militants. Barsoum says the KRI, or Iraq’s Kurdistan Region authority, facilitates their transfer into the country. “Usually the families come through the night because they are not allowed, for some reason, to cross the borders over there, Barsoum said. “They come with smugglers or just cross the borders through the night. The security forces for KRI receive them. “ Barsoum said that the U.N. refugee agency is taking the lead in providing shelter in a number of northern Iraq’s existing camps, some already hosting Yazidis, victims of Islamic State attacks in 2014. He said that many have escaped Turkish bombardment and attacks from Syrian militias allied with Turkey with just the clothes on their backs. “Many of them need immediate and urgent support,” Barsoum said. “Food and basic needs for winter time — blankets and clothes, even.  They don’t have it. …

A court established by Russia-backed separatists who hold parts of eastern Ukraine has sentenced journalist Stanislav Aseyev, an RFE/RL contributor, to 15 years in a penal colony. In a ruling condemned as “reprehensible” by RFE/RL’s president, separatist news outlet DAN reported on Tuesday that the court had found Aseyev guilty of espionage, extremism, and public calls to violate the territory’s integrity. Aseyev, who wrote under the pen name Stanislav Vasin, disappeared in Ukraine’s Donetsk region on June 2, 2017, and has been held in detention since by the separatists. “The conviction against Stanislav Aseyev, which dates from August but was made public only today, is reprehensible,” said RFE/RL President Jamie Fly. “Stas is a journalist and was only trying to raise awareness about the situation in eastern Ukraine. The ruling is an attempt by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk to silence his powerful, independent voice. Stas should be released immediately,” Fly added. The 30-year-old journalist was one of the few reporters in Donetsk who continued to work in the city after it came under the control of the separatists. Representatives of the separatists accused Aseyev of observing the deployment sites of their paramilitary groups and passing on the information to the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), according to the news outlet Hromadske. In August 2018, the bipartisan U.S. Congressional Press Freedom Caucus called for Aseyev’s immediate release, describing him as “one of the few independent journalists to remain in the region under separatist control to provide objective reporting.” U.S. Senator Marco Rubio …

Turkey’s incursion into northeastern Syria appears to be giving Islamic State new life, but U.S. counterterrorism officials caution the terror group’s next moves are far from certain. The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, warn Islamic State is well-versed in using regional conflicts to its advantage, having done so in Iraq in 2005-2006, and again in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. And they note that IS has used the seven months since the fall in March of its last territorial stronghold in Baghuz, Syria, to lay a foundation of “dispersed networks” — comprising an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 fighters — for a prolonged and vicious insurgency. “It is not clear at this time how ISIS may adjust their strategy in Syria in light of the Turkish incursion,” a U.S. counterterrorism official told VOA, using an acronym for the terror group. FILE – Smoke billows from burning tires to decrease visibility for Turkish warplanes on the outskirts of the town of Tal Tamr, Syria, along the border with Turkey in the northeastern Hassakeh province, Oct. 16, 2019. Until Turkey launched its operation in Syria’s northeast earlier this month, most of IS’s operations had targeted Kurdish security forces. There was also speculation that IS cells might try to free some of the approximately 12,000 fighters being held by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as well as the tens of thousands of IS wives and other family members in displaced persons camps across the region — something IS leader Abu …

Former U.S. Ambassador William Taylor, a diplomat who has sharply questioned President Donald Trump’s policy on Ukraine, has provided lawmakers with a detailed account of his recollection of events at the center of the Democrats’ impeachment probe , they said Tuesday.   Lawmakers emerging from the room after the early hours of the private deposition said Taylor had given a lengthy opening statement, with a recall of events that filled in gaps from the testimony of other witnesses.   “The testimony is very disturbing,” said New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who attended the start of the Taylor interview.   Taylor, who declined to comment as he entered the closed-door deposition, is the latest diplomat with concerns to testify. His appearance is among the most watched because of a text message in which he called Trump’s attempt to leverage military aid to Ukraine in return for a political investigation “crazy.” He was subpoenaed to appear.   Rep Ami Bera, D-Calif., said Taylor is a career civil servant who “cares deeply” about the country. He said Taylor’s memory of events was better than that of Gordon Sondland, the U.S. European Union ambassador who testified last week but couldn’t recall many specific details.   Taylor was expected to discuss text messages he exchanged with two other diplomats earlier this year as Trump pushed the country to investigate unsubstantiated claims about Democratic rival Joe Biden’s family and a debunked conspiracy theory about Ukraine’s role in the 2016 election. Text Messages Between US, Ukraine Officials …

Associate Justice Elena Kagan said Monday that it “behooves” the U.S. Supreme Court to realize in these polarized times that there’s a danger of the public seeing it as just a political institution — and to strive to counter that perception. Speaking at the University of Minnesota, Kagan said the high court’s legitimacy depends on public trust and confidence since nobody elected the justices. “We have to be seen as doing law, which is distinct from politics or public policy, and to be doing it in a good faith way, trying to find the right answers,” she said. FILE – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. Kagan acknowledged that the justices can be “pretty divided” on how to interpret the Constitution. But she said the view that politics guides their decisions is an oversimplification. The justices decide most of their cases unanimously or by lopsided margins, she said. The justice didn’t mention a Marquette University Law School poll released earlier Monday in which 64% of respondents said they believe the law, rather than politics, mostly motivates the high court’s decisions. But the findings dovetailed with her remarks. “It behooves us on the court to realize that this is a danger and make sure it isn’t so,” she said. Kagan, 59, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2010 and is a member of the court’s liberal wing, said she believes none of the justices decide cases for partisan political reasons, but they do have different legal philosophies and approaches …

Two members of Iraq’s security forces were killed and three wounded when Islamic State militants attacked checkpoints in the Allas oil fields area of the northern Salahuddin province on Monday, the military said in a statement. The Allas oil field, 35 km (20 miles) south of Hawija, was one of the main sources of revenue for Islamic State, which in 2014 declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria. Iraq declared victory over the hardline Sunni militants in late 2017 after pushing them out of all territory it held in the country. They have since reverted to hit-and-run insurgency tactics aimed at destabilizing the government in Baghdad. “Elements of the terrorist Daesh gangs attacked two security checkpoints in the Alas oil fields area of Salahuddin province, and an improvised explosive device blew up a vehicle belonging to security forces stationed there, leading to the martyrdom of two of them,” the statement said. Militants also opened fire on the security forces who attempted to evacuate the bodies, injuring three more. A joint force consisting of regular troops and mostly Iran-backed Shi’ite paramilitary groups known as the Popular Mobilization Forces is pursuing the attackers, the statement said.   …

United Parcel Service Inc’s new Flight Forward drone unit will soon start home prescription delivery from CVS Health Corp. The service, which will debut in one or two U.S. cities in the coming weeks, shows how the world’s biggest parcel delivery company is expanding the reach of its upstart drone delivery service beyond hospital campuses. UPS Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer Scott Price said the Atlanta-based company, which owns 251 aircraft and charters nearly 300 more, said, “Flight Forward will work with new customers in other industries to design additional solutions for a wide array of last-mile and urgent delivery challenges.” UPS this month won the U.S. government’s first approval to operate a drone airline, taking a lead over rivals like Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Wing. Regulators are still hammering out rules for how the unmanned winged vehicles will operate in U.S. airspace and guidelines are expected in 2021. On Monday, Flight Forward and partner Matternet also announced a deal to deliver biological samples and other cargo on University of Utah Health hospital campuses. That program is similar to the program at WakeMed Hospital in North Carolina, Flight Forward’s first client. Flight Forward has also inked a hospital campus deal with health care provider Kaiser Permanente, UPS said. In addition, the company said pharmaceutical distributor AmerisourceBergen Corp will use Flight Forward drones to move pharmaceuticals, supplies and records to select U.S. medical campuses it serves. UPS rival FedEx Corp last week delivered a residential package to a home in …

U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil goes on trial in New York Tuesday on charges it lied to investors about financial cost of fighting global warming. The lawsuit, filed by the New York state attorney general, contends Exxon deliberately underestimated the cost to the company if governments implement action to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius. The lawsuit says the Exxon wanted to avoid having to publically devalue the company’s assets which could have cost it billions of dollars. It also alleges Exxon’s top executives, including former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, knew they were misleading investors. “If companies like Exxon accurately account for the necessary degree of regulation to prevent even more dangerous global warming from happening, it will make less and less sense to continue to invest in developing fossil fuel projects,” Colombia University expert in climate change law Michael Burger says. Exxon denies any wrongdoing and calls the attorney general’s case “misleading” and a deliberate misrepresentation. “We tell investors through regular disclosures how the company accounts for risks associated with climate change. We are confident in the facts and look forward to seeing our company exonerated in court,” an Exxon spokesman says.   …

Women will finally join men in New York’s iconic Central Park after a city commission voted Monday to erect a monument depicting women. Central Park has 23 statues honoring men who have contributed to history but none honoring real women. There are plenty of statues depicting female fantasy and fictional characters. The monument, to be unveiled in August 2020, will feature three civil rights pioneers: Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth. The work by artist Meredith Bergmann will break what some call the “bronze ceiling” in the 166-year-old park. Bergmann’s original design for the monument came under criticism because it only showed Anthony and Stanton. Critics pointed out that African American women also played an important role in women’s suffrage in America, prompting Bergmann to redesign the statue and add Truth.   …

President Evo Morales led in early returns from the first round of Sunday’s presidential election, but he appeared to have failed to get enough votes to avoid a runoff in the tightest political race of his life. The Andean country’s top electoral authority said Sunday night that a preliminary count of 84% of the votes showed Morales on top with 45.3%, followed by 38.2% for his closest rival, former President Carlos Mesa. If the results hold, the two men will face off in December and Morales could be vulnerable to a united opposition in the first runoff in his nearly 14 years in power. Mesa told supporters shortly after the first results were announced that his coalition had scored “an unquestionable triumph,” and he urged others parties to join him for a “definitive triumph” in the second round. Morales claimed a victory for himself, saying that “the people have again imposed their will.” “We are not alone. That is why we have won again,” he told supporters at the presidential palace. To avoid a runoff and win outright, Morales would have needed to get 50% of the votes plus one or have 40% and finish 10 percentage points ahead of the nearest challenger. Morales came to prominence leading social protests in the landlocked country of 11 million people and rose to power as Bolivia’s first indigenous president in 2006. The 59-year-old leftist is South America’s longest-serving leader. Mesa is a 66-year-old historian who as vice president rose to Bolivia’s top …

Mark Esper sought a firsthand assessment Sunday of the U.S. military’s future role in America’s longest war as he made his initial visit to Afghanistan as Pentagon chief. Stalled peace talks with the Taliban and unrelenting attacks by the insurgent group and Islamic State militants have complicated the Trump administration’s pledge to withdraw more than 5,000 American troops. Esper told reporters traveling with him that he believes the U.S. can reduce its force in Afghanistan to 8,600 without hurting the counterterrorism fight against al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. But he said any withdrawal would happen as part of a peace agreement with the Taliban. The U.S. has about 14,000 American troops in Afghanistan as part of the American-led coalition. U.S. forces are training and advising Afghan forces and conducting counterterrorism operations against extremists. President Donald Trump had ordered a troop withdrawal in conjunction with the peace talks that would have left about 8,600 American forces in the country. U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad had a preliminary peace deal with the Taliban, but a surge in Taliban violence and the death of an American soldier last month prompted Trump to cancel a secret Camp David meeting where the peace deal would have been finalized. He declared the tentative agreement dead. FILE – U.S. envoy for peace in Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad speaks during a debate at Tolo TV channel in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 28, 2019. ‘The aim is to still get a peace agreement at some point, that’s the best way forward,” …

At least 12 white supremacists have been arrested on allegations of plotting, threatening or carrying out anti-Semitic attacks in the U.S. since the massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue nearly one year ago, a Jewish civil rights group reported Sunday. The Anti-Defamation League also counted at least 50 incidents in which white supremacists are accused of targeting Jewish institutions’ property since a gunman killed 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018. Those incidents include 12 cases of vandalism involving white supremacist symbols and 35 cases in which white supremacist propaganda was distributed. US to Seek Death Penalty for Accused Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter The massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue was the deadliest attack ever on Jewish Americans in the US The ADL said its nationwide count of anti-Semitic incidents remains near record levels. It has counted 780 anti-Semitic incidents in the first six months of 2019, compared to 785 incidents during the same period in 2018. The ADL’s tally of 12 arrests for white supremacist plots, threats and attacks against Jewish institutions includes the April 2019 capture of John T. Earnest, who is charged with killing one person and wounding three others in a shooting at a synagogue in Poway, California. The group said many of the cases it counted, including the Poway shooting, were inspired by previous white supremist attacks. In online posts, Earnest said he was inspired by the deadly attacks in Pittsburgh and on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, where a …