Category Archives: News

worldwide news

Technology Enhances Soccer Watching Experience

Football fans are watching the World Cup on multiple screens in bars, on their phones while they should be working, on TVs at home with their friends. One day, they could be following the action in 3D. Researchers at the University of Washington are developing a way to watch soccer games and other sporting matches as if you were in the stadium, by using augmented reality devices. Faiza Elmasry takes a look at the new technology in this report, narrated by Faith Lapidus.

Rising Greenhouse Gases Making Food Less Nutritious

Temperatures around the world are rising as humans burn coal, oil and other fossil fuels for energy. Burning those fuels releases heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But it does more than that. CO2 is vital for plant growth. While having more of it sounds like a good thing, scientists are finding it is not always that simple. VOA’s Steve Baragona has more.

Rising Greenhouse Gases Making Food Less Nutritious

Temperatures around the world are rising as humans burn coal, oil and other fossil fuels for energy. Burning those fuels releases heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But it does more than that. CO2 is vital for plant growth. While having more of it sounds like a good thing, scientists are finding it is not always that simple. VOA’s Steve Baragona has more.

Turkey’s Economic Policy Stokes Currency Fears as Lira Plummets

The Turkish lira recovered some losses Thursday hours after it hit record lows. New Treasury and  Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law, sought to reassure nervous markets that the central bank’s independence was not in question.

The wild currency gyrations following Albayrak’s appointment underscore concerns over what economic policy Erdogan will adhere to now that he has consolidated power following his June re-election.

The lira approached five to the dollar late Wednesday in a nearly 30 percent depreciation since the beginning of the year.

The heavy decline is a result of worries over Erdogan’s economic expansion policy.

Although growth has soared more than 7 percent, inflation has surpassed 15 percent — a 15-year high — while the current deficit has widened to more than 6 percent of national income.

Analysts say after the June election, key ministers led investors to believe Erdogan would adopt austerity measures to rein in inflation. They are concerned the president, with the appointment of his son-in-law, may be seeking more control over monetary issues while excluding two prominent government figures from any say on policy.

“The two faces of market-friendly policies, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek and Finance Minister Naci Agbal, are being excluded from policymaking roles,” economist Inan Demir of Nomura International Securities said.

“Before the elections,” he continued, “Agbal and Simsek had been talking to investors before the election, promising a return to orthodoxy that would generate a cooldown in the economy. The appointment of his son-in-law [Berat Albayrak] as the economy czar, would lead many investors to believe Erdogan will take tighter control of the economy, which would essentially annul promises of Agbal and Simsek.”

Agbal and Simsek are credited with persuading Erdogan to agree to an emergency hike in interest rates in May to protect the lira after steep falls. The Turkish president subscribes to the unorthodox view that low interest rates curb inflation, describing high interest rates as “the mother and father of all evils.”

Erdogan unnerved markets Tuesday by declaring his belief that “we will see interest rates fall in the period ahead.” Investors say any interest rate reduction would result in the total collapse of the currency, and that further increases are needed to secure the lira.

In a move to calm investors, Albayrak Thursday pledged to cut inflation, saying structural reform and fiscal discipline would be enforced, and he guaranteed the central bank’s independence. His statement saw the lira bounce back slightly.

Words, though, might not be enough. “It depends on how Albayrak will act really,” economist Demir said. “It’s possible if he manages to reassure the markets by actions, then the sell-off can subside. Otherwise, we will see an ongoing fall in lira assets going forward.”

Analysts warn there is skepticism about whether Albayrak will follow through on his commitment to fiscal discipline. Erdogan’s re-election campaign centered on the promise to continue with massive public construction projects and opposition to interest rate increases.

Political considerations

Political analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source partners suggests that political considerations could outweigh economic concerns.

“Something needs to be done. And the traditional recipe is belt-tightening and structural reforms in the traditional sense, to curtail domestic demand,” he said. “The challenge there is not that Erdogan is incapable of signing off for such a recipe. He is facing local elections in March 2019, which are extremely important, and the voters need to be fed, and that is the opposite of what the traditional recipe requires.”

A critical test of the direction Erdogan might choose will come at a July 24 meeting of the central bank. “If the central bank cannot find an opportunity to hike, the markets will take it very badly,” Demir said.

The failure of the central bank to act likely would increase worries about the introduction of capital controls to restrict money from leaving Turkey in a bid to protect the lira.

Demir said such a move would be counterproductive as it would end much of the international investment. Turkey needs to borrow about $5 billion monthly to cover the difference between its imports and exports.

As speculation rises over the threat of capital controls, Demir acknowledged investors now are asking about the risk of such a move. Pressure for decisive action by the central bank at its meeting July 24 is seen as critical to stemming the risk of an investor stampede out of the Turkish market.

Turkey’s Economic Policy Stokes Currency Fears as Lira Plummets

The Turkish lira recovered some losses Thursday hours after it hit record lows. New Treasury and  Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law, sought to reassure nervous markets that the central bank’s independence was not in question.

The wild currency gyrations following Albayrak’s appointment underscore concerns over what economic policy Erdogan will adhere to now that he has consolidated power following his June re-election.

The lira approached five to the dollar late Wednesday in a nearly 30 percent depreciation since the beginning of the year.

The heavy decline is a result of worries over Erdogan’s economic expansion policy.

Although growth has soared more than 7 percent, inflation has surpassed 15 percent — a 15-year high — while the current deficit has widened to more than 6 percent of national income.

Analysts say after the June election, key ministers led investors to believe Erdogan would adopt austerity measures to rein in inflation. They are concerned the president, with the appointment of his son-in-law, may be seeking more control over monetary issues while excluding two prominent government figures from any say on policy.

“The two faces of market-friendly policies, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek and Finance Minister Naci Agbal, are being excluded from policymaking roles,” economist Inan Demir of Nomura International Securities said.

“Before the elections,” he continued, “Agbal and Simsek had been talking to investors before the election, promising a return to orthodoxy that would generate a cooldown in the economy. The appointment of his son-in-law [Berat Albayrak] as the economy czar, would lead many investors to believe Erdogan will take tighter control of the economy, which would essentially annul promises of Agbal and Simsek.”

Agbal and Simsek are credited with persuading Erdogan to agree to an emergency hike in interest rates in May to protect the lira after steep falls. The Turkish president subscribes to the unorthodox view that low interest rates curb inflation, describing high interest rates as “the mother and father of all evils.”

Erdogan unnerved markets Tuesday by declaring his belief that “we will see interest rates fall in the period ahead.” Investors say any interest rate reduction would result in the total collapse of the currency, and that further increases are needed to secure the lira.

In a move to calm investors, Albayrak Thursday pledged to cut inflation, saying structural reform and fiscal discipline would be enforced, and he guaranteed the central bank’s independence. His statement saw the lira bounce back slightly.

Words, though, might not be enough. “It depends on how Albayrak will act really,” economist Demir said. “It’s possible if he manages to reassure the markets by actions, then the sell-off can subside. Otherwise, we will see an ongoing fall in lira assets going forward.”

Analysts warn there is skepticism about whether Albayrak will follow through on his commitment to fiscal discipline. Erdogan’s re-election campaign centered on the promise to continue with massive public construction projects and opposition to interest rate increases.

Political considerations

Political analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source partners suggests that political considerations could outweigh economic concerns.

“Something needs to be done. And the traditional recipe is belt-tightening and structural reforms in the traditional sense, to curtail domestic demand,” he said. “The challenge there is not that Erdogan is incapable of signing off for such a recipe. He is facing local elections in March 2019, which are extremely important, and the voters need to be fed, and that is the opposite of what the traditional recipe requires.”

A critical test of the direction Erdogan might choose will come at a July 24 meeting of the central bank. “If the central bank cannot find an opportunity to hike, the markets will take it very badly,” Demir said.

The failure of the central bank to act likely would increase worries about the introduction of capital controls to restrict money from leaving Turkey in a bid to protect the lira.

Demir said such a move would be counterproductive as it would end much of the international investment. Turkey needs to borrow about $5 billion monthly to cover the difference between its imports and exports.

As speculation rises over the threat of capital controls, Demir acknowledged investors now are asking about the risk of such a move. Pressure for decisive action by the central bank at its meeting July 24 is seen as critical to stemming the risk of an investor stampede out of the Turkish market.

US Inflation Steadily Firming; Labor Market Strong

U.S. consumer prices barely rose in June, but the underlying trend continued to point to a steady buildup of inflation pressures that could keep the Federal Reserve on a path of gradual interest rate increases.

Other data on Thursday showed first-time applications for unemployment benefits dropped to a two-month low last week as the labor market continues to tighten. The Fed raised interest rates in June for a second time this year and has forecast two more rate hikes before the end of 2018.

“U.S. inflation continues to drift gradually higher in response to a nearly fully employed economy, with some nudging from tariffs,” said Sal Guatieri, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto. “The Fed has every reason to pull  the rate trigger again in October.”

The Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index edged up 0.1 percent as gasoline price increases moderated and the cost of apparel fell. The CPI rose 0.2 percent in May. In the 12 months through June, the CPI increased 2.9 percent, the biggest gain since February 2012, after advancing 2.8 percent in May.

Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the CPI rose 0.2 percent, matching May’s gain. That lifted the annual increase in the so-called core CPI to 2.3 percent, the largest rise since January 2017, from 2.2 percent in May.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast both the CPI and core CPI rising 0.2 percent in June.

The Fed tracks a different inflation measure, which hit the U.S. central bank’s 2 percent target in May for the first time in six years. Economists expect the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index excluding food and energy will overshoot its target.

U.S. financial markets were little moved by the data.

In another report on Thursday, the Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 214,000 for the week ended July 7, the lowest level since early May.

That suggests robust labor market conditions prevailed in early July. The economy created 213,000 jobs in June.

A tightening labor market and rising raw material costs are expected to push up inflation through next year. Manufacturers are facing rising input costs, in part because of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on lumber, aluminum and steel imports.

So far, they have not passed on those higher costs to consumers. Fed officials have indicated they would not be too concerned with inflation overshooting its target.

Last month, gasoline prices rose 0.5 percent after increasing 1.7 percent in May. Food prices gained 0.2 percent, with food consumed at home rebounding 0.2 percent after falling 0.2 percent in May. Food prices were unchanged in May.

Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence, which is what a homeowner would pay to rent or receive from renting a home, rose 0.3 percent last month after increasing by the same margin in May. But the cost of hotel accommodation fell 3.7 percent after rising 2.9 percent in May.

Healthcare costs advanced 0.4 percent, with the price of hospital services surging 0.8 percent. Healthcare prices gained 0.2 percent in May. Consumers also paid more for prescription medication last month.

Prices for new motor vehicles rose for a second straight month. There were also increases in the cost of communication, motor vehicle insurance, education and alcoholic beverages.

But apparel prices fell 0.9 percent after being unchanged in May. The cost of airline tickets declined for a third straight month. Prices of household furnishings and tobacco also fell last month.

US Inflation Steadily Firming; Labor Market Strong

U.S. consumer prices barely rose in June, but the underlying trend continued to point to a steady buildup of inflation pressures that could keep the Federal Reserve on a path of gradual interest rate increases.

Other data on Thursday showed first-time applications for unemployment benefits dropped to a two-month low last week as the labor market continues to tighten. The Fed raised interest rates in June for a second time this year and has forecast two more rate hikes before the end of 2018.

“U.S. inflation continues to drift gradually higher in response to a nearly fully employed economy, with some nudging from tariffs,” said Sal Guatieri, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto. “The Fed has every reason to pull  the rate trigger again in October.”

The Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index edged up 0.1 percent as gasoline price increases moderated and the cost of apparel fell. The CPI rose 0.2 percent in May. In the 12 months through June, the CPI increased 2.9 percent, the biggest gain since February 2012, after advancing 2.8 percent in May.

Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the CPI rose 0.2 percent, matching May’s gain. That lifted the annual increase in the so-called core CPI to 2.3 percent, the largest rise since January 2017, from 2.2 percent in May.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast both the CPI and core CPI rising 0.2 percent in June.

The Fed tracks a different inflation measure, which hit the U.S. central bank’s 2 percent target in May for the first time in six years. Economists expect the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index excluding food and energy will overshoot its target.

U.S. financial markets were little moved by the data.

In another report on Thursday, the Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 214,000 for the week ended July 7, the lowest level since early May.

That suggests robust labor market conditions prevailed in early July. The economy created 213,000 jobs in June.

A tightening labor market and rising raw material costs are expected to push up inflation through next year. Manufacturers are facing rising input costs, in part because of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on lumber, aluminum and steel imports.

So far, they have not passed on those higher costs to consumers. Fed officials have indicated they would not be too concerned with inflation overshooting its target.

Last month, gasoline prices rose 0.5 percent after increasing 1.7 percent in May. Food prices gained 0.2 percent, with food consumed at home rebounding 0.2 percent after falling 0.2 percent in May. Food prices were unchanged in May.

Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence, which is what a homeowner would pay to rent or receive from renting a home, rose 0.3 percent last month after increasing by the same margin in May. But the cost of hotel accommodation fell 3.7 percent after rising 2.9 percent in May.

Healthcare costs advanced 0.4 percent, with the price of hospital services surging 0.8 percent. Healthcare prices gained 0.2 percent in May. Consumers also paid more for prescription medication last month.

Prices for new motor vehicles rose for a second straight month. There were also increases in the cost of communication, motor vehicle insurance, education and alcoholic beverages.

But apparel prices fell 0.9 percent after being unchanged in May. The cost of airline tickets declined for a third straight month. Prices of household furnishings and tobacco also fell last month.

Stormy Daniels Arrested at Ohio Strip Club

Porn actress Stormy Daniels was arrested at an Ohio strip club and is accused of letting patrons touch her in violation of a state law, her attorney said early Thursday.

While Daniels was performing at Sirens, a strip club in Columbus, some patrons touched her in a “nonsexual” way, her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, told The Associated Press. 

An Ohio law known as the Community Defense Act prohibits anyone who isn’t a family member to touch a nude or semi-nude dancer. 

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was in police custody early Thursday morning and was expected to face a misdemeanor charge, Avenatti said. 

“This was a complete set up,” he said. “It’s absurd that law enforcement resources are being spent to conduct a sting operation related to customers touching performers in a strip club in a nonsexual manner.”

A Columbus police spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment. A person who answered the phone at the strip club declined to comment. 

Daniels has said she had sex with President Donald Trump in 2006 when he was married, which Trump has denied. She’s suing Trump and his former longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and seeking to invalidate a nondisclosure agreement that she signed days before the 2016 presidential election.

Stormy Daniels Arrested at Ohio Strip Club

Porn actress Stormy Daniels was arrested at an Ohio strip club and is accused of letting patrons touch her in violation of a state law, her attorney said early Thursday.

While Daniels was performing at Sirens, a strip club in Columbus, some patrons touched her in a “nonsexual” way, her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, told The Associated Press. 

An Ohio law known as the Community Defense Act prohibits anyone who isn’t a family member to touch a nude or semi-nude dancer. 

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was in police custody early Thursday morning and was expected to face a misdemeanor charge, Avenatti said. 

“This was a complete set up,” he said. “It’s absurd that law enforcement resources are being spent to conduct a sting operation related to customers touching performers in a strip club in a nonsexual manner.”

A Columbus police spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment. A person who answered the phone at the strip club declined to comment. 

Daniels has said she had sex with President Donald Trump in 2006 when he was married, which Trump has denied. She’s suing Trump and his former longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and seeking to invalidate a nondisclosure agreement that she signed days before the 2016 presidential election.

FBI Official Testifies About Anti-Trump Text Messages

Embattled FBI official Peter Strzok appeared before Congress on Thursday, rejecting Republican criticisms that a series of text messages he exchanged with FBI lawyer Lisa Page during the 2016 presidential campaign were evidence of bias against President Donald Trump. 

Strzok, a deputy assistant FBI director who led the bureau’s 2016 investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and briefly worked on the Russia investigation team, testified he never let his personal views interfere with his work for the bureau.

“Let me be clear, unequivocally and under oath: Not once in my 26 years of defending my nation did my personal opinions impact any official action I took,” Strzok told a joint hearing by the House judiciary and government oversight committees. 

Strzok’s first public testimony came after he met behind closed doors with members of the two panels for nearly 11 hours last month.

The session got off to a tense start after Strzok declined to answer questions about the Russia investigation, leading the chairman of the judiciary panel, Bob Goodlatte, to threaten holding him in contempt of Congress. Democrats on the panel interjected, accusing Republicans of harassing Strzok. 

Strzok, a 22-year FBI counterintelligence veteran who also served in the Army for four years, headed the bureau’s Clinton email investigation and briefly worked on the Russia election interference investigation team led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Strzok was removed from the team, however, after the disclosure of his text messages.

The Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, last month released a report about the FBI’s handling of the Clinton email investigation, criticizing Strzok and Page for exchanging text messages that “potentially indicated or created the appearance that investigative decisions were impacted by bias or improper considerations.”

Strzok and Page were romantically involved at the time. In one text message uncovered by the inspector general, Strzok wrote to Page, “No. No, he won’t. We’ll stop it,” in response to Page’s question “[Trump’s] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!”

The inspector general wrote that Strzok’s response “is not only indicative of a biased state of mind but, even more seriously, implies a willingness to take official action to impact the presidential candidate’s electoral prospects.”

Pressed about the text message, Strzok explained that he sent the message late at night out of revulsion at then-candidate Trump’s denigration of the family of a U.S. service member killed in Iraq. The text, he said, reflected his personal view of the “horrible, disgusting behavior” of the candidate.

Trump has seized on Strzok and Page’s texts to denounce the Mueller probe as nothing more than a “rigged witch hunt.”

Strzok said he was removed from the Russia investigation team and reassigned to the FBI’s human resources department not because of his anti-Trump “bias” but because Mueller was concerned about the “appearance of potential bias” created by the text messages.

Strzok said he was one of a “handful” of people at the FBI with knowledge of the Russian interference probe in the 2016 presidential election and yet he declined to disclose it. 

“This information had the potential to derail, and quite possibly, defeat Mr. Trump,” he said. “But the thought of exposing that information never crossed my mind.”

Page, who recently was subpoenaed to testify, has agreed to appear before the committees on Friday and Monday, Goodlatte’s office announced.

Trump lashed out directly at Page in a Twitter post Thursday from Brussels.


Fingerprinting Technology Could Save Endangered Pangolins

Pangolins are the world’s most illegally trafficked animal. Eight species of the elusive mammals are found in Africa and Southeast Asia, but as many as 300 are poached every day, destined for markets in Vietnam and China, where their meat is considered a delicacy and their scales believed to have medicinal properties. Researchers in the UK are hoping to deter pangolin poaching with fingerprint technology that’s designed to identify poachers and bring them to justice. VOA’s Julie Taboh explains.

Fingerprinting Technology Could Save Endangered Pangolins

Pangolins are the world’s most illegally trafficked animal. Eight species of the elusive mammals are found in Africa and Southeast Asia, but as many as 300 are poached every day, destined for markets in Vietnam and China, where their meat is considered a delicacy and their scales believed to have medicinal properties. Researchers in the UK are hoping to deter pangolin poaching with fingerprint technology that’s designed to identify poachers and bring them to justice. VOA’s Julie Taboh explains.

First Test-Tube Baby Born 40 Years Ago This Month

Forty years ago this month, the first test-tube baby was born in what is now called in vitro fertilization. British baby Louise Brown was born July 25, 1978. She’s married now with two children who were born naturally. A new exhibition at the Science Museum in London is showcasing the anniversary and the technological advances achieved through in vitro fertilization. VOA’s Deborah Block has more.

First Test-Tube Baby Born 40 Years Ago This Month

Forty years ago this month, the first test-tube baby was born in what is now called in vitro fertilization. British baby Louise Brown was born July 25, 1978. She’s married now with two children who were born naturally. A new exhibition at the Science Museum in London is showcasing the anniversary and the technological advances achieved through in vitro fertilization. VOA’s Deborah Block has more.

Some See Shift In Republican Party’s Views of Russia Ahead of Trump-Putin Summit

As U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week, lawmakers from Trump’s Republican Party offer differing accounts of their visit to Moscow. While one U.S. senator called for the U.S. to lift sanctions against Russia, another compared dealing with Moscow to dealing with the mafia. VOA Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine looks at what appears to be a shift among many in the Republican Party, which traditionally has taken a hard line on Russia.

Pacific Leaders Sign on to Australian Internet Cabling Scheme, Shutting Out China

Pacific nations Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands have signed on to a joint undersea internet cable project, funded mostly by Australia, that forestalls plans by Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd to lay the links itself.

Wednesday’s pact comes as China pushes for influence in a region Australia views as its backyard, amid souring ties after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last year accused Beijing of meddling in Canberra’s affairs.

Australia will pay two-thirds of the project cost of A$136.6 million ($100 million) under the deal, signed on a visit to Brisbane by Solomon Islands Prime Minister Rick Houenipwela and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.

“We spend billions of dollars a year on foreign aid and this is a very practical way of investing in the future economic growth of our neighbors in the Pacific,” Turnbull told reporters about the deal.

The project, for which Australian telecom firm Vocus Group Ltd is building the cable, will link the two nations to the Australian mainland, besides connecting the Solomons capital Honiara with the archipelago’s outer islands.

For years, Western intelligence agencies have worried over Huawei’s ties to the Chinese government and the possibility that its equipment could be used for espionage.

Australia, which is poised to ban Huawei from its domestic 5G mobile network on the advice of its intelligence services, raised “concerns” that scuppered a Huawei offer for cabling to the Solomons, Houenipwela has previously told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Huawei has said it was never informed of any security problems with its planned cables for the Solomons, where Chinese activity has attracted additional attention, as it is one of six countries in the Pacific to maintain ties with Taiwan. 

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own and has never renounced the use of force to bring under its control what it sees as a wayward province.

Pacific Leaders Sign on to Australian Internet Cabling Scheme, Shutting Out China

Pacific nations Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands have signed on to a joint undersea internet cable project, funded mostly by Australia, that forestalls plans by Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd to lay the links itself.

Wednesday’s pact comes as China pushes for influence in a region Australia views as its backyard, amid souring ties after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last year accused Beijing of meddling in Canberra’s affairs.

Australia will pay two-thirds of the project cost of A$136.6 million ($100 million) under the deal, signed on a visit to Brisbane by Solomon Islands Prime Minister Rick Houenipwela and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.

“We spend billions of dollars a year on foreign aid and this is a very practical way of investing in the future economic growth of our neighbors in the Pacific,” Turnbull told reporters about the deal.

The project, for which Australian telecom firm Vocus Group Ltd is building the cable, will link the two nations to the Australian mainland, besides connecting the Solomons capital Honiara with the archipelago’s outer islands.

For years, Western intelligence agencies have worried over Huawei’s ties to the Chinese government and the possibility that its equipment could be used for espionage.

Australia, which is poised to ban Huawei from its domestic 5G mobile network on the advice of its intelligence services, raised “concerns” that scuppered a Huawei offer for cabling to the Solomons, Houenipwela has previously told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Huawei has said it was never informed of any security problems with its planned cables for the Solomons, where Chinese activity has attracted additional attention, as it is one of six countries in the Pacific to maintain ties with Taiwan. 

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own and has never renounced the use of force to bring under its control what it sees as a wayward province.

Senate Confirms Pick for Justice Department Criminal Division Chief

The Senate voted along party lines Wednesday to confirm a lawyer who briefly represented a Russian bank with ties to the Kremlin to head the Justice Department’s criminal division.

The confirmation of Brian Benczkowski came two days after Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee urged President Donald Trump to pull his nomination, saying Benczkowski’s lack of prosecutorial experience and representation of Alfa Bank disqualified him for the job.

As a partner in the Washington office of the Kirkland & Ellis law firm, Benczkowski, 48, represented Alfa Bank early last year when it was being investigated by the FBI over a series of data transmissions between computer servers linked to the bank and the Trump Organization during the 2016 presidential election.

The data transmissions have not revealed any evidence that Alfa Bank, one of Russia’s largest financial institutions, served as a link between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

Nevertheless, the controversy dogged Benczkowski’s nomination.

‘Demonstrated poor judgment’

The 10 Democrats on the judiciary panel wrote in a letter on Monday that Benczkowski “demonstrated poor judgment” by representing Alfa Bank at a time he was under consideration to head the criminal division.

“At a time when we need the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division to help uncover, prevent and deter Russian interference in our democracy, Mr. Benczkowski’s choices so far have not inspired confidence that he is the right person to lead the fight,” they wrote.

Despite Democratic opposition, Benczkowski’s nomination drew support from former Justice Department officials, with five former heads of the criminal division recently urging the Senate to confirm the nod, praising him for his “professional experience, temperament and integrity.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions praised Benczkowsi as “an outstanding lawyer with a diverse public service and criminal law background spanning more than 20 years.”

“At a time like this — with surging violent crime and an unprecedented drug epidemic — this position is especially important,” Sessions said in a statement.

Committee work

Before joining Kirkland & Ellis, Benczkowsi served in a number of senior positions on Senate and House committees, as well as in the Justice Department.

The criminal division, one of the Justice Department’s largest units, oversees federal criminal investigations and prosecutions.

Senate Confirms Pick for Justice Department Criminal Division Chief

The Senate voted along party lines Wednesday to confirm a lawyer who briefly represented a Russian bank with ties to the Kremlin to head the Justice Department’s criminal division.

The confirmation of Brian Benczkowski came two days after Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee urged President Donald Trump to pull his nomination, saying Benczkowski’s lack of prosecutorial experience and representation of Alfa Bank disqualified him for the job.

As a partner in the Washington office of the Kirkland & Ellis law firm, Benczkowski, 48, represented Alfa Bank early last year when it was being investigated by the FBI over a series of data transmissions between computer servers linked to the bank and the Trump Organization during the 2016 presidential election.

The data transmissions have not revealed any evidence that Alfa Bank, one of Russia’s largest financial institutions, served as a link between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

Nevertheless, the controversy dogged Benczkowski’s nomination.

‘Demonstrated poor judgment’

The 10 Democrats on the judiciary panel wrote in a letter on Monday that Benczkowski “demonstrated poor judgment” by representing Alfa Bank at a time he was under consideration to head the criminal division.

“At a time when we need the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division to help uncover, prevent and deter Russian interference in our democracy, Mr. Benczkowski’s choices so far have not inspired confidence that he is the right person to lead the fight,” they wrote.

Despite Democratic opposition, Benczkowski’s nomination drew support from former Justice Department officials, with five former heads of the criminal division recently urging the Senate to confirm the nod, praising him for his “professional experience, temperament and integrity.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions praised Benczkowsi as “an outstanding lawyer with a diverse public service and criminal law background spanning more than 20 years.”

“At a time like this — with surging violent crime and an unprecedented drug epidemic — this position is especially important,” Sessions said in a statement.

Committee work

Before joining Kirkland & Ellis, Benczkowsi served in a number of senior positions on Senate and House committees, as well as in the Justice Department.

The criminal division, one of the Justice Department’s largest units, oversees federal criminal investigations and prosecutions.

McMaster to Release Book in 2020

President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser H.R. McMaster has signed a book deal. 

Battlegrounds will cover the retired lieutenant general’s 34-year military career and his time in the Trump administration. 

The book is expected to be released in 2020, when Trump is expected to run for a second term in office.

McMaster had a tumultuous one year on Trump’s staff. He was picked to replace Michael Flynn, who was forced to resign after it was revealed that he’d lied about his dealings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

McMaster resigned in March and was replaced by John Bolton.

The book is expected to take a harsher view of the administration than books by former Trump staffers Sean Spicer and Anthony Scaramucci.

Publisher Harper Collins released a statement by McMaster in which he said he was “looking forward to researching and writing about the greatest challenges to the free world and how we can work together with like-minded nations to seize opportunities, defeat threats to security and preserve our way of life.”

Battlegrounds will be the second book by McMaster, who in 1997 wrote Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Lies that Led to Vietnam. 

McMaster to Release Book in 2020

President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser H.R. McMaster has signed a book deal. 

Battlegrounds will cover the retired lieutenant general’s 34-year military career and his time in the Trump administration. 

The book is expected to be released in 2020, when Trump is expected to run for a second term in office.

McMaster had a tumultuous one year on Trump’s staff. He was picked to replace Michael Flynn, who was forced to resign after it was revealed that he’d lied about his dealings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

McMaster resigned in March and was replaced by John Bolton.

The book is expected to take a harsher view of the administration than books by former Trump staffers Sean Spicer and Anthony Scaramucci.

Publisher Harper Collins released a statement by McMaster in which he said he was “looking forward to researching and writing about the greatest challenges to the free world and how we can work together with like-minded nations to seize opportunities, defeat threats to security and preserve our way of life.”

Battlegrounds will be the second book by McMaster, who in 1997 wrote Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Lies that Led to Vietnam. 

Nobelist Malala Slams US Child Separation Policy

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai described as “cruel” a policy launched by U.S. President Donald Trump to separate children of illegal

immigrants from their families, during her first visit to South America to promote girls’ education.

More than 2,300 children were separated from their parents after the Trump administration began a “zero tolerance” policy on illegal immigrants in early May, seeking to prosecute all adults who cross the border illegally from Mexico into the United States. Trump stopped separating families last month

following public outrage and court challenges.

“This is cruel, this is unfair and this is inhumane. I don’t know how anyone could do that,” Yousafzai told Reuters on Wednesday. “I hope that the children can be together with their parents.”

Her stern words contrasted with her effusive praise last year for Canada’s embrace of refugees under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, Malala also questioned Trump’s record on women’s rights.

Yousafzai, known widely by her first name, was visiting Rio de Janeiro to kick off the expansion of her education charity, the Malala Fund, into Latin America, starting with Brazil.

Her aim in Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, is to advocate for more public spending on education, a tall task after the country passed a constitutional amendment freezing federal spending in real terms for two decades in order to reduce public debt.

More girls in school

She also hopes to get an estimated 1.5 million girls currently not in school into the classroom, with a special focus on minority groups who lag behind white children on key indicators like literacy and secondary school completion.

“It is important for us to reach the indigenous and the Afro-Brazilian population in Brazil. Those girls are facing many challenges,” Malala said in an interview.

In 2014, Malala was made the world’s youngest Nobel laureate, honored for her work with her foundation, a charity she set up to support education advocacy groups with a focus on Pakistan, Nigeria, Jordan, Syria and Kenya.

The group’s Brazil presence kicked off with a $700,000 three-year grant for three Brazilian female activists focused on education issues. Malala says she hopes to expand elsewhere in Latin America.

Earlier this year, the 20-year-old returned home to Pakistan for the first time since a Taliban gunman shot her in the head in 2012 over her blog advocating girls’ education.

Weeks ahead of presidential elections in Pakistan, Malala is ruling out politics for herself for now.

“I’m still talking to leaders and ensuring that they prioritize education in their policy,” she said. “It’s easier that way than when you’re on the inside.”

Nobelist Malala Slams US Child Separation Policy

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai described as “cruel” a policy launched by U.S. President Donald Trump to separate children of illegal

immigrants from their families, during her first visit to South America to promote girls’ education.

More than 2,300 children were separated from their parents after the Trump administration began a “zero tolerance” policy on illegal immigrants in early May, seeking to prosecute all adults who cross the border illegally from Mexico into the United States. Trump stopped separating families last month

following public outrage and court challenges.

“This is cruel, this is unfair and this is inhumane. I don’t know how anyone could do that,” Yousafzai told Reuters on Wednesday. “I hope that the children can be together with their parents.”

Her stern words contrasted with her effusive praise last year for Canada’s embrace of refugees under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, Malala also questioned Trump’s record on women’s rights.

Yousafzai, known widely by her first name, was visiting Rio de Janeiro to kick off the expansion of her education charity, the Malala Fund, into Latin America, starting with Brazil.

Her aim in Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, is to advocate for more public spending on education, a tall task after the country passed a constitutional amendment freezing federal spending in real terms for two decades in order to reduce public debt.

More girls in school

She also hopes to get an estimated 1.5 million girls currently not in school into the classroom, with a special focus on minority groups who lag behind white children on key indicators like literacy and secondary school completion.

“It is important for us to reach the indigenous and the Afro-Brazilian population in Brazil. Those girls are facing many challenges,” Malala said in an interview.

In 2014, Malala was made the world’s youngest Nobel laureate, honored for her work with her foundation, a charity she set up to support education advocacy groups with a focus on Pakistan, Nigeria, Jordan, Syria and Kenya.

The group’s Brazil presence kicked off with a $700,000 three-year grant for three Brazilian female activists focused on education issues. Malala says she hopes to expand elsewhere in Latin America.

Earlier this year, the 20-year-old returned home to Pakistan for the first time since a Taliban gunman shot her in the head in 2012 over her blog advocating girls’ education.

Weeks ahead of presidential elections in Pakistan, Malala is ruling out politics for herself for now.

“I’m still talking to leaders and ensuring that they prioritize education in their policy,” she said. “It’s easier that way than when you’re on the inside.”

In Purge, Twitter Removing ‘Suspicious’ Followers

Social networking platform Twitter announced Wednesday it will be removing accounts it had deemed suspicious from user’s follower counts, as part of a recent push to promote accuracy on the website. This could reduce the number of “followers” of some of the website’s most popular users, including politicians and celebrities.

The website had locked accounts of users where Twitter “detected sudden changes in account behavior,” such as sharing misleading links, being blocked by a large number of accounts that account had interacted with, or a large number of unsolicited replies to other users’ tweets, Twitter general counsel Vijaya Gadde wrote. The accounts are locked, preventing one from logging in and using the account until the account’s owner verified their use.

Wednesday’s change will remove these locked accounts from users’ follower counts, which are visible on a user’s account page and often are used as a barometer of an individual’s sway on the website, which 336 million users log into every month, according to USA Today.

Gadde wrote that while the average Twitter user will see their follower count drop only by about four, popular accounts could see a more dramatic drop in the number of their followers.

In the wake of reports that Russia had used fake accounts platform to help sow discord in the American public in the lead-up and aftermath of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey pledged in March 2018 to help clean up the website.

And on Friday, The Washington Post reported that Twitter had suspended more than a million accounts a day in recent months — upward of 70 million in the months of May and June 2018 alone.

“I wish Twitter had been more proactive sooner,” Sen. Mark Warner [D-Virginia] the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told the Post. “I’m glad that — after months of focus on this issue — Twitter appears to be cracking down on the use of bots and other fake accounts, though there is still much work to do.”

Following the Post’s report, U.S. President Donald Trump, who often was the recipient of support from Russian-linked accounts, posted this tweet:

One such Twitter account suspended in 2017, @TEN_GOP, purporting to be related to the Tennessee Republican Party, had its tweets shared on the platform by Trump White House officials such as Kellyanne Conway and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

In February 2018, special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian influence in the Trump campaign and the 2016 election, named the account in an indictment, alleging it was one of many on social media that “primarily intended to communicate derogatory information about Hillary Clinton, to denigrate other candidates such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and to support Bernie Sanders and then-candidate Donald Trump.”