Month: February 2020

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders won an emphatic victory in Saturday’s Nevada caucuses, strengthening his claim to the party nomination, but drawing protests from his challengers about his chances to defeat Republican President Donald Trump in November’s national election.
“In Nevada we have just put together a multi-generational, multiracial coalition, which is going to not only win in Nevada, it is going to sweep this country,” Sanders, a self-declared democratic socialist, told cheering supporters at a rally in Texas, where voting takes place March 3, along with 13 other states.
“We are bringing our people together — black and white and Latino, Native American, Asian American, gay and straight,” he said.WATCH: Mike O’Sullivan’s video reportSorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
Sanders led among those with college degrees and those without and in every age group except those over 65. In the first state to vote in the string of Democratic nominating contests with an ethnically diverse electorate, Sanders won more than half of Hispanics who voted and even narrowly won among those who identified as moderate or conservative.With more than half the vote counted, Sanders won 46%, Biden 20%, Buttigieg 15%, Warren 10% and Klobuchar 5%.Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden gestures as he speaks during a caucus night event, Feb. 22, 2020, in Las Vegas.Biden, once the national leader among Democrats to take on Trump, claimed success despite winning less than than half as many votes at Sanders.
“Y’all did it for me,” he told supporters at a Nevada union hall. “I ain’t a socialist. I’m not a plutocrat. I’m a Democrat, and proud of it,” he said.Biden, who now has lost the first three nominating contests, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” show, “I feel good about where we are. I feel good about going into South Carolina,” which votes next Saturday. “And I feel good about the kind of support I’ve had with African-Americans around the country.”Buttigieg, hoping to become the moderate Democrat to take on Sanders, claimed the Vermont senator is a divisive figure that would encounter headwinds against Trump when he seeks a second four-year term in the White House.Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign rally, Feb. 22, 2020, in Denver.”Before we rush to nominate Senator Sanders in our one shot to take on this president, let us take a sober look at the consequences,” Buttigieg said, adding that Sanders “believes in an inflexible, ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats, not to mention most Americans.”Warren, in Seattle, Washington, said, “I’ve got a word for Nevada, thank you for keeping me in the fight.”Warren, as she did at a Democratic debate last week, attacked former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has spent more than $400 million of his own money in a national advertising campaign to gain a foothold in the Democratic race, but stumbled badly on the debate stage with five other challengers seeking the nomination.Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.,speaks during a town hall, Feb. 21, 2020, in Las Vegas.Warren, making a joke about Bloomberg’s short stature, called Bloomberg “a big threat, not a tall one” who is trying to “buy this election.”Bloomberg, by his choice, was not on the Nevada ballot, nor will he be next week at the South Carolina primary, instead focusing on the Super Tuesday voting March 3, when he will be on the ballot as a third of the delegates to the July national nominating convention will be picked in one day in votes across the country.His advertising campaign has raised his profile nationally, but analysts are waiting to see whether he improves his debate performance when all six candidates debate again in South Carolina on Tuesday night.The challengers to Sanders are all looking to edge out other candidates to be left standing in a one-on-one face-off with him. Sanders, who also won the popular vote in Iowa and New Hampshire, now has the early lead in pledged delegates to the national convention and the prospect of winning a vast haul of delegates in the March 3 voting and in states that vote in the two weeks after that.FILE – Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg holds a campaign rally in Salt Lake City, Utah, Feb. 20, 2020.Kevin Sheekey, Bloomberg’s campaign manager, said, “The Nevada results reinforce the reality that this fragmented field is putting Bernie Sanders on pace to amass an insurmountable delegate lead.” Bloomberg, at last week’s debate, contended that Sanders would lose a national election to Trump.A long-time Democratic strategist, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, told ABC’s “This Week” show, that Sanders can yet be stopped from winning the Democratic presidential nomination, but said that, “The moderates have to coalesce around one candidate.”As the votes were slowly counted in Nevada, Trump offered his assessment of the contest to be his opponent.”Looks like Crazy Bernie is doing well in the Great State of Nevada,” Trump said on Twitter. “Biden & the rest look weak, & no way Mini Mike can restart his campaign after the worst debate performance in the history of Presidential Debates. Congratulations Bernie, & don’t let them take it away from you!”Looks like Crazy Bernie is doing well in the Great State of Nevada. Biden & the rest look weak, & no way Mini Mike can restart his campaign after the worst debate performance in the history of Presidential Debates. Congratulations Bernie, & don’t let them take it away from you!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2020
…

A study by the Nielsen ratings service says African Americans are among the nation’s top consumers of social media especially about presidential politics. A U.S. Intelligence report says that made them a target of a Russian disinformation campaign to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election, an effort Moscow is widely expected to repeat. VOA’s Chris Simkins reports from South Carolina where African Americans say they’re on the lookout for false content on social media.
…

Tibetans in New York were celebrating Saturday after it was announced an exhibit sponsored by the Chinese Consulate was being shut down in the Queens borough of the city.Two weeks ago, Tibetan activists in New York noticed the Queens Public Library in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens was hosting an exhibition under the theme, “Everyday Life in Tibet,” that was sponsored by the Chinese Consulate.The Tibetans said the exhibit was Chinese government propaganda that misrepresented the situation in Tibet. According to local newspaper QNS and its website, the library responded to the activists that it would not close or suspend the exhibition.The local Tibetan activist groups, including Students for a Free Tibet, Tibetan Youth Congress, Chushi Gandrug, U.S. Tibetan Committee, and Tibetan Association launched a campaign to protest.There are nearly 15,000 Tibetans living in New York City, many of them in Queens.De Blasio weighs inNew York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday at a town hall meeting in Queens he was not aware of the exhibit, but he would address the issue immediately when a Tibetan activist raised the issue. Representatives of Students for a Free Tibet said they subsequently gathered nearly 5,000 signatures for a petition to shut down the exhibit and delivered it to the mayor.“I am exceedingly critical of the Chinese government in the way it has oppressed people and taken away human rights,” de Blasio said. “No one has suffered more than the Tibetan people. So I did not have any reason to believe that any of our library systems would present the Chinese government point of view. I would assume it to be the other way around, and that I’d be getting complaints from the Chinese government.”The Queens Public Library informed the director of Students for a Free Tibet, Dorje Tseten, Friday the “Chinese Consulate and its affiliate made the decision to discontinue the exhibit, which will be removed by tomorrow.”The library announced moving forward it would collaborate with the Tibetan community there.“They showed great interest in working with us and to support the promotion of the Tibetan cause in the future,” Tseten told VOA. “So, it is overall a great victory for Tibetan cause.”Tseten said he thinks the library had asked the Chinese Consulate to withdraw in an effort for Beijing to save face.Library closes exhibitAs the library closed the exhibit Saturday, Tibetan activists gathered outside to acknowledge what they consider a “great victory.” U.S. Congressman Tom Suozzi attended and said he had called the library and expressed his concerns after learning about it from activist Tseten.“This is a big victory because there is lot of money and bureaucracy involved, but in the end the truth prevailed,” Suozzi said.Nyima Lhamo, a former political prisoner and a niece of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche — one of the most well-known Tibetan political prisoners, who died in a Chinese prison in 2015 — praised the exhibit’s shutdown.“Today is a major victory for Tibet, but we must continue fighting to amplify and uplift the voices of those still inside Tibet,” said Lhamo, who also was among the protesters in New York.“This is a library where our children study, and thousands of Tibetans live around here,” said Ngawang Tharchin, president of the regional Tibetan Youth Congress in New York and New Jersey, talking to the crowd gathered Saturday outside the library.The response by the Tibetan community there was loud and clear.
…

Sen. Bernie Sanders cruised to victory in the Nevada caucuses, heartening his supporters and stoking alarm among moderates who fear he is too liberal and would lose to President Donald Trump.Here are some takeaways from the Nevada caucuses:Sanders’ presidential bid gets rocket fuelSanders’ convincing win means there is no longer an asterisk next to his status as the front-runner in the race. He proved his strength with a broad coalition that included Latino voters, union members and African Americans.Now Sanders claims three victories in a row heading into South Carolina next Saturday, and more important, Super Tuesday on March 3 when about one-third of the delegates needed for the nomination are at stake. The biggest prizes that day, California and Texas, look a lot like Nevada demographically.FILE – Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg at a campaign rally in Salt Lake City, Feb. 20, 2020.Another advantage: His opponents remain splintered and, with the exception of billionaire former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, underfunded to compete across such a vast terrain.But now there will be extraordinary pressure to try to consolidate moderate support in an effort to stop Sanders’ rise. And Sen. Elizabeth Warren will have a decision to make on how much she tries to draw separation from Sanders since they are both competing for the progressive vote.There is at least one strong note of caution about Sanders’ success. In Iowa and New Hampshire he didn’t seem to grow the electorate substantially. Data is still out in Nevada.Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign rally, Feb. 22, 2020, in Denver.Buttigieg issues warning about SandersFormer South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg ran well behind Sanders, but he tried to cast himself as the strongest alternative to Sanders.In language uncharacteristically blunt, Buttigieg issued a warning to Democrats about the perils of nominating Sanders, whom he characterized as inflexible and whose ideas are not in the American mainstream.“Sen. Sanders believes in an inflexible, ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats, not to mention most Americans,” Buttigieg told supporters. He held himself out as the only viable alternative. “We can prioritize either ideological purity or inclusive victory,” Buttigieg said.He added: “Sen. Sanders sees capitalism as the root of all evil. He’d go beyond reform and reorder the economy in ways most Democrats — let alone most Americans — don’t support.”Despite his forceful argument, there’s a serious risk to Buttigieg in the upcoming calendar. He will have to win over black voters in South Carolina, then pivot to a multistate primary with comparatively limited resources. Buttigieg put out a plea for $13 million from donors before Super Tuesday.The former mayor of a city of 100,000 has repeatedly defied the odds in the presidential nominating contests, but the odds are getting longer.Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a Nevada Caucus night event in Las Vegas, Feb. 22, 2020.Biden has his back against a firewallFormer Vice President Joe Biden was hoping Nevada would turn things around for him after a disastrous showing in Iowa and then New Hampshire. He argued that he’d do better in a more diverse state.But Biden again lost badly even as he told supporters at a union hall, “We’re alive and coming back and we’re gonna win.”His last and best hope may be to win in South Carolina next Saturday. He’s counting on his support among the state’s black voters — they could make up two-thirds of the voters — to serve as his firewall.If Biden doesn’t win South Carolina, the rationale for his candidacy will much harder to maintain.In Las Vegas, he tried out a new rallying cry: “I ain’t a socialist. I ain’t a plutocrat. I’m a Democrat. And I’m proud of it.” Party loyalty may be all Biden has left.Maybe Culinary isn’t all-powerful after allThe 60,000-member Culinary Workers Local 226 represents workers in the casinos on the Las Vegas strip, and it’s routinely described, correctly, as the most powerful force in the state’s Democratic politics. But it’s not omnipotent.Culinary didn’t want Sanders to win. It has strongly opposed his “Medicare for All” plan, warning its members that it would eliminate their own generous health plan. Some observers thought the union might end up backing Biden. But after the former vice president’s embarrassing performances in Iowa and New Hampshire, Culinary instead stayed neutral.The calls from leadership went unheeded by many. Sanders had strong showings in some caucuses in casinos where crowds of Culinary members chanted the Vermont senator’s name and powered him to wins in most casinos. Culinary is driven by its members, many of whom are Sanders supporters, and there was no consensus among the rest about what they should do.Leadership decided to refrain from a divisive fight, helping pave the way for Sanders’ win. It’s a reminder that even in places like Nevada with strong political institutions, those institutions ultimately derive their power from voters.Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., reacts while meeting supporters at a campaign office, Feb. 22, 2020, in Las Vegas.No bounce for KlobucharSen. Amy Klobuchar produced one of the few surprises of the race when she surged to a third-place finish in New Hampshire, announced that she had raised more than $12 million, and vowed to prove her doubters wrong.Her momentum proved short-lived. She finished well behind the leading candidates, and in the process, prompted questions about her viability.But in a speech to supporters in her home state of Minnesota, she was defiant and said she would continue. She even tried to make a virtue of the fact that Trump mentioned her name at a rally. “By the way, for the first time ever, he mentioned me at a rally,” she said. “You know I’ve arrived now. You know they must be worried.”Probably not. Time is running out for candidates who haven’t finished higher than third in any contest. That also applies to Warren, also desperately needs a win. Her strong debate performance came after much of the state had already cast early votes.Not a great return on investmentTom Steyer, the billionaire who made his fortune running a hedge fund, bet heavily in Nevada, more than $12 million on advertising, and lost big, finishing sixth. Steyer has made strong appeals to minority voters, but in Nevada, failed decisively.But Steyer’s impact on the race could come next week in South Carolina, where he has spent even more money. Polls show that he has made significant inroads among African American voters. That would not be good news for Biden, who is counting on those votes to resuscitate his campaign.
…

A person was struck by a float and fatally injured Saturday evening during one of the iconic parades of the Mardi Gras season in New Orleans, authorities said. It was the second death in days to mar this year’s Carnival festivities.A city agency tasked with emergency preparedness tweeted that the death occurred Saturday night as the popular parade of the Krewe of Endymion was rolling. The agency, NOLA Ready, said it had no immediate details about how the death occurred or the identity of the person.NOLA Ready tweeted that the remainder of Endymion’s parade was being canceled Saturday evening. Reports said 13 floats had already passed the area where the accident occurred and that the remaining floats and marching groups diverted elsewhere. Police said the accident occurred along Canal Street, a major downtown thoroughfare in this Mississippi River port city.Second deathThe fatality comes as New Orleans had already been mourning the death of a 58-year-old woman who witnesses said was run over by a parade float Wednesday night in the runup to Mardi Gras.That death occurred during the parade of the Mystic Krewe of Nyx, an all-female Carnival group. Witnesses said the woman, later identified by authorities as New Orleans native Geraldine Carmouche, had apparently tried to cross between two parts of a tandem float and tripped over a hitch connecting the sections.It wasn’t immediately clear if a tandem float was involved in Saturday night’s fatality, but the city agency NOLA Ready tweeted that tandem floats would not be allowed for the remainder of the 2020 season. Tandem floats are multiple floats connected together and pulled by one tractor.Mardi Gras concludes with the Fat Tuesday celebration that marks the raucous climax of a week or more of parades and parties each year.2019 attackThe 2020 Carnival season deaths come just a year after a car sped into a bicycle lane near a parade route, hitting nine people and killing two bicyclists not far from where the Krewe of Endymion formation had just passed. A man identified as the driver was subsequently charged with two counts of vehicular homicide.Before this year, the most recent Carnival float-related fatality happened in 2009, when a 23-year-old rider fell from a float and in front of its wheels in Carencro, about 120 miles (195 kilometers) west of New Orleans.In 2008, a rider getting off a three-part float after the Krewe of Endymion parade in New Orleans was killed when the float lurched forward and the third section ran over him, police said.
 
…

Hopes for ending America’s longest war hinge on maintaining a weeklong fragile truce in Afghanistan that U.S. officials and experts agree will be difficult to assess and fraught with pitfalls. What if one militant with a suicide vest kills dozens in a Kabul market? Or, if a U.S. airstrike targeting Islamic State insurgents takes out Taliban members instead, does that destroy the deal? The agreement, which took effect Friday, calls for an end to attacks around the country, including roadside bombings, suicide attacks and rocket strikes by the Taliban, Afghan and U.S. forces. But in a country that has been wracked by violence for more than 18 years, determining if the agreement has been violated will be a tough task. And there are other groups and elements in the country that would love to see the deal fall through. “The reason this is a challenge is this is a very decentralized insurgency,” said Seth Jones, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and an Afghanistan expert. “There are going to be a lot of opportunities for any militia commander, element of the Taliban, the Haqqani network and other local forces who don’t want to see a deal, to conduct violence.” The Haqqani network is an insurgent group linked to the Taliban. Quick analysis is vitalAccording to one defense official, any attack will be reviewed on a “case-by-case” basis. And much will depend on how well U.S. military and intelligence officials in Afghanistan can quickly determine two things: who was responsible for the attack and whether any blame can be traced to the Taliban, particularly the group’s leaders who have been participating in the negotiations. The Taliban issued a statement late Friday saying their military council had instructed commanders and governors to stop all attacks against foreign and Afghan forces. The council has a web of commanders and shadow governors across the country. U.S. officials have made it clear that “spoilers” — such as militants associated with the Taliban who are not in favor of the peace talks — could launch an attack in a deliberate attempt to prevent them from happening. Jones said the U.S. military has tried to get a good layout of where all the insurgent groups are operating so it will be able to determine where any attack comes from and who likely was responsible. And U.S. military officials said they were prepared to make quick assessments. Vendors and shoppers fill a bazaar in Kabul, Afghanistan. Feb. 22, 2020. A temporary truce between the United States and the Taliban took effect Friday, setting the stage for the two sides to sign a peace deal next week.If successfully implemented, the weeklong “reduction in violence” agreement, which began at midnight Friday local time (1930 GMT), will be followed by the signing of a peace accord on February 29. That accord would finally wrap up the 18-year war and begin to fulfill one of President Donald Trump’s main campaign promises: to bring U.S. troops in Afghanistan home. The U.S. will continue to have surveillance aircraft and other assets overhead to monitor events and help to determine who is responsible for any attack. Communications channelOne senior U.S. official also said that the U.S., Afghans and Taliban will have a channel through which they will be able to discuss any issues that arise. Another U.S. official said that communications between the groups will allow the Taliban, for example, to quickly deny involvement with an attack. But in all cases, officials said the U.S. military — led by General Scott Miller in Afghanistan — will be responsible for investigating incidents and figuring out who is at fault. The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity. Once Miller reaches a conclusion, officials said it will be up to the White House and State Department to determine whether an attack constitutes a violation of the truce and if it is enough to affect the peace deal. The Pentagon has made it clear that U.S. troops may continue to conduct operations against Islamic State and al-Qaida militants as needed. But officials also noted that all sides want the peace agreement to be successful, so they will try to avoid anything that might scuttle it. The Pentagon has said for months that it is poised to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan from the current number of more than 12,000 to 8,600. That reduction is likely to be triggered once the peace agreement is finalized, but officials said Friday that it could take several months for any troop cuts to begin. Jones expressed some skepticism, saying the Taliban have expressed little interest in laying down arms or integrating into a government run by someone other than themselves. Months of talksThe agreement mapping out a plan for peace follows months of negotiations between the U.S. and the Taliban that have broken down before. Both parties, however, have signaled a desire to halt the fighting that began with the U.S. invasion after the September 11, 2001, attacks by Osama bin Laden’s Afghanistan-based al-Qaida network. The only other cease-fire the Taliban had agreed to was for three days in 2018 over the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Then fighting ceased completely and Taliban and Afghan security forces were even filmed taking selfies together and laughing. The Taliban military leaders chastised its fighters at the end of the cease-fire for their frolicking with the enemy. 
…

A U.S. federal narcotics agent known for spending lavishly on luxury cars and Tiffany jewelry has been arrested on charges of conspiring to launder money with the same Colombian drug cartel he was supposed to be fighting. Jose Irizarry and his wife were arrested Friday at their home near San Juan, Puerto Rico, as part of a 19-count federal indictment that accused the 46-year-old Irizarry of “secretly using his position and his special access to information” to divert millions in drug proceeds from control of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “It’s a black eye for the DEA to have one of its own engaged in such a high level of corruption,” said Mike Vigil, the DEA’s former chief of international operations. “He jeopardized investigations. He jeopardized other agents and he jeopardized informants.” Federal prosecutors in Tampa, Florida, allege the conspiracy not only enriched Irizarry but also benefited two unindicted co-conspirators, neither of whom is named in the indictment. One was employed as a Colombian public official while the other was described as the head of a drug trafficking and money laundering organization who became the godfather to the Irizarry couple’s children in 2015, when the DEA agent was posted to the Colombian resort city of Cartagena. When The Associated Press revealed the scale of Irizarry’s alleged wrongdoing last year, it sent shock waves through the DEA, where his ostentatious habits and tales of raucous yacht parties with bikini-clad prostitutes were legendary among agents. Once a model agentBut prior to being exposed, Irizarry had been a model agent, winning awards and praise from his supervisors. After joining the DEA in Miami 2009, he was entrusted with an undercover money laundering operation using front companies, shell bank accounts and couriers.  Irizarry resigned in January 2018 after being reassigned to Washington when his boss in Colombia became suspicious. The case has raised concerns within the DEA that the conspiracy may have compromised undercover operations and may upend criminal cases. “His fingerprints are all over dozens of arrests and indictments,” said David S. Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor in Miami. “It could have a ripple effect and cause courts to re-examine any case he was involved in.” Irizarry and his wife posted $10,000 bond each and were released later Friday. Nathalia Gomez-Irizarry declined to comment to AP and closed the door at the house she shares with her husband, saying he wasn’t home. Messages to Irizarry’s attorney were not immediately returned. The DEA referred comment to the Justice Department. A lawyer for the star witness in the case, a former DEA informant who was handled by Irizarry, celebrated the charges. Gustavo Yabrudi was given a 46-month sentence last year for his role in a multimillion-dollar money-laundering conspiracy. “Mr. Yabrudi has been waiting for almost two years for this day,” said Leonardo Concepcion. “It’s time that the puppet masters who pulled his strings and abused their authority over him are made to answer for their actions.” False reportsStarting around 2011, Irizarry allegedly used the cover of his badge to file false reports and mislead his superiors, all while directing DEA personnel to wire funds reserved for undercover stings to accounts in Spain, the Netherlands and elsewhere that he controlled or were tied to his wife and his co-conspirators. He’s also accused of sharing sensitive law enforcement information with his co-conspirators. The DEA has declined to comment on its employment of Irizarry and potential red flags that came up during his screening process. Irizarry was hired by the DEA despite indications he showed signs of deception in a polygraph exam, and despite the fact that he had declared bankruptcy with debts of almost $500,000. Still, he was permitted to handle financial transactions after being hired by the DEA. In total, Irizarry and informants under his direction handled at least $3.8 million that should have been carefully tracked by the DEA as part of undercover money laundering investigations. The indictment was handed up a week after another former DEA agent was sentenced to four years in federal prison for his role in a decadelong drug conspiracy that involved the smuggling of thousands of kilograms of cocaine from Puerto Rico to New York. 
…

Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay U.S. presidential candidate to mount a major campaign, has emerged as one of the leaders in the Democratic Party’s early nomination contests.While Buttigieg’s sexual orientation has not been a major issue in the Democratic race, many believe it would become a point of contention if he won the nomination to face President Donald Trump in November.For his part, Buttigieg neither trumpets nor hides his sexuality. On the campaign trail, he speaks of being gay in terms of family values, emphasizing he is in a loving, committed same-sex marriage, and what his candidacy says about inclusion and equality in America today.“One of the best things about this campaign has been being able to meet, especially young people who don’t always know if their family or their community has a place for them or their country. And being able to insist, the fact that I’m standing here, that, yes you do [have a place],” Buttigieg said recently at a Democratic town hall in Las Vegas, Nevada.WATCH: Is America Ready to Elect a Gay President?Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg waves to the crowd with his husband, Chasten, at his New Hampshire primary night rally in Nashua, N.H., Feb. 11, 2020.LGBTQ is an inclusive designation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other sexual orientations.It was less than five years ago that the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in a ruling that dramatically advanced LGBTQ rights in America. Over the past two decades, public support for same-sex marriage, seen as an indicator of acceptance of the LGBTQ community as a whole, has flipped from 60% opposition to more than 60% approval.Activist groups like the LGBTQ Victory Fund, Imse said, have helped get “Pete’s race off the ground” by providing financial backing, volunteers and visibility in LGBTQ media outlets.Casting himself as a moderate, Buttigieg earned the most pledged delegates and finished second in the voting in the Iowa caucuses behind progressive Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. In the New Hampshire primary, Buttigieg came in second, while former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumed front-runner, fell to fourth and fifth place, respectively, in the two contests.Protesters with Black Lives Matter protest a visit by Democratic presidential candidate and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, during a visit to A Bridge Home Project homeless shelter in Los Angeles, Jan. 10, 2020.However, as the race shifts to states with large African American and Latino populations, it is unclear if Buttigieg can maintain his momentum, and whether his sexual orientation will cost him votes.A Feb. 17 ABC/Washington Post national poll has Buttigieg trailing with only 9% support, far behind Sanders, who has 32%, Biden, with 16%, and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a late comer to the race, with 14%.Buttigieg has struggled to gain support from minority voters. In a Washington Post/Ipsos poll of African American voters taken in January, he had the highest unfavorable rating among the candidates.The same poll showed 40% of African American respondents saying they are reluctant to vote for a gay man.Michael Fauntroy, who teaches political science at Howard University in Washington, downplayed Buttigieg’s sexuality as disqualifying and said, “most voters do not place as high priority on this” as they do on larger issues like health care and jobs. Buttigieg’s newcomer status in national politics better explains his challenge to connect with minority voters, Fauntroy said.“I think the bigger issue, as it pertains to African Americans and Latinos, is the fact that they just don’t know him relative to the other candidates,” Fauntroy said.Buttigieg’s sexuality did not pose an insurmountable obstacle in 2015, when he won reelection for mayor of South Bend, Indiana, a city with a significant African American population. Buttigieg got 74% of the vote.Mayor Pete Buttigieg talks with an AP reporter as he walks in downtown South Bend, Ind., Jan. 10, 2019.“If African Americans were sort of disproportionately inclined to not vote for somebody who is gay, you would think that would have shown up there as well,” said David Barker, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University in Washington.Looming attacksSo far, Buttigieg’s sexual orientation has not proved divisive within the Democratic Party, which touts support for greater diversity and counts minorities as key components of a broad coalition. Outside the party, however, he already has drawn fire for his sexuality.Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, whom the president recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, provided a taste of negative attacks that could await Buttigieg. During a recent radio program, Limbaugh contrasted Trump, whom he called “Mr. Man,” with Buttigieg’s same-sex marriage, and said Americans are “still not ready to elect a gay guy kissing his husband on the debate stage [as] president.”Some observers say such comments may resonate with social conservatives but could alienate moderates who have supported Trump.“I think any effort like that, on the part of Rush Limbaugh or others, is likely to engender sympathy [for Buttigieg] among mainstream middle-class, suburban soccer moms,” Barker said.Responding to Limbaugh, Buttigieg contrasted his union with his husband, Chasten, to those of Trump, who has married three times and was reported to have paid hush money to an adult film star to remain silent about an alleged affair during the 2016 campaign.Each of the Democratic candidates running this year, Barker said, “has something about their demographic profile that makes them out of the ordinary,” be that age, gender, religion or sexuality.While these issues can be exploited by the opposition, none should pose an insurmountable barrier if the party comes out in force to vote for the eventual nominee, he said.
…

Voters in the Western U.S. state of Nevada gather for caucuses at 250 locations Saturday to have their say in who will be the Democratic Party’s nominee to oppose Republican President Donald Trump in the November national election.Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is the favorite in Nevada, where public opinion polls showed him with a clear lead above the next tier of candidates.Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., walks onstage to speak at a campaign event at Springs Preserve in Las Vegas, Feb. 21, 2020.Sanders is looking to build on the early momentum his campaign has experienced with strong finishes in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary earlier this month.The same is true for former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who was atop the race in Iowa along with Sanders and finished a close second in New Hampshire.Slightly ahead of Buttigieg in polls, but seeking a strong Nevada result after slower starts in the early voting states are former Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.Bloomberg joins frayDemocratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, center, meets with supporters at a rally, Feb. 21, 2020, in Las Vegas.In early October, Biden and Warren were together leading national polls in the Democratic race. But they experienced a drop in support as Sanders moved in front and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined the competition with hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising that propelled him to strong polling numbers.According to polls, the other major contenders in Nevada are Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and billionaire Tom Steyer.Klobuchar surprised in New Hampshire with a third-place finish, afterward celebrating her campaign as an underestimated one that has “beaten the odds every step of the way.”Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.,speaks during a town hall, Feb. 21, 2020, in Las Vegas.Big early turnoutDemocrats are hoping the Nevada caucus process goes more smoothly than the one in Iowa, where a problem with a new smartphone app and clogged phone lines caused long delays in reporting any results. After the counting stretched on for days, Iowa state party chairman Tony Price resigned.Officials in Nevada are expressing confidence in the systems they have place, with state party chief William McCurdy telling reporters, “We will be successful.”“We’ve done a lot of work here, and what happened in Iowa will not be in Nevada,” McCurdy said. “As soon as we heard what was happening on the ground in Iowa, we put our heads down and we got to work, and we made sure that we put together a process, and allowed for the training for our volunteers and our precinct chairs to have the ability to feel confident.”One factor that may help in Nevada is that the state allowed early voting this year, drawing a large number of people over four days.The Nevada State Democratic Party said nearly 75,000 people participated in the early voting. That compares to about 84,000 people who took part in the Democratic primary in 2016.Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg meets with people after a roundtable event with Nevada environmental activists and Native American leaders, Feb. 21, 2020, in Las Vegas.McCurdy said the party was “really thrilled for the turnout.”Delegates apportionedThe caucus process works differently from the national presidential election in which voters pick only one candidate to support.At the caucuses, voters make their initial candidate choice, after which officials tally up the results and disqualify those candidates who do not meet a required threshold. Those whose candidates were tossed from the race then have the opportunity to move to another candidate and be counted among their supporters in the final results.Unlike many of the states in the national election, the state primary and caucus contests award delegates to candidates on a proportional basis, so even coming in second or third can be valuable in amassing the support needed to march to an eventual victory at the Democratic Party’s national convention in July.Nevada has 36 pledged delegates at stake Saturday.So far, Buttigieg leads the race with 22 delegates from Iowa and New Hampshire, followed by Sanders with 21; Warren, eight; Klobuchar, seven, and Biden, six.More diverse electorateThe Nevada caucus is an opportunity for those who have support among a more diverse electorate to make up ground after competing in two states that are overwhelmingly white. Nevada’s population is about 29% Hispanic, 10% African American and 10% Asian.After a primary election in the Southern state of South Carolina February 29, the race will accelerate.March 3 brings voting in 14 states, including delegate-rich California and Texas, along with the U.S. territory American Samoa and Democrats voting abroad. A total of 1,357 pledged delegates are at stake that day.To clinch the nomination, a candidate needs to earn 1,991 pledged delegates.Republicans will officially select their candidate, the incumbent Trump, at their convention in August.
…

U.S. President Donald Trump will visit India early next week to meet his counterpart, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both sides are already managing expectations by saying they will not be signing a big trade deal. Still, the visit will be full of pomp and circumstance, with Trump already touting the massive crowds expected to turn up for him. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara takes a look at what we can expect in this meeting between leaders of the world’s two most populous democracies.
…

The jury in Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial indicated Friday that it is deadlocked on the most serious charges against the once powerful Hollywood mogul, but the judge told the panel it must keep working. In a note to the judge late in the fourth day of deliberations, jurors asked if it was permissible for them to be hung on one or both counts of predatory sexual assault while reaching a unanimous verdict on the other charges. Weinstein’s lawyers said they would accept a partial verdict, but prosecutors said no and Judge James Burke refused to allow it. He sent jurors back to deliberate for a few more minutes before letting them go home for the weekend. They’ll resume Monday morning. It is not uncommon for a jury to have difficulty initially in reaching a unanimous verdict, and it is not uncommon for a jury to believe that they will never be able to reach a unanimous verdict, Burke said, reading instructions to the jurors. But after further deliberations, most jurors are able to reach a unanimous verdict.'' Jurors' requestThe jury posed its deadlock question in hypothetical fashion, writing:We the jury request to understand if we can be hung on [Count] 1 and/or [Count] 3 and unanimous on the other charges? Thank you.” One reason for that phrasing could be that the verdict sheet, which lays out the charges, doesn’t include instructions for what to do if they can’t agree on a particular count, only how they’re supposed to proceed once they’ve reached a verdict of guilty or not guilty. The way the sheet is designed, jurors are supposed to first reach a unanimous verdict on the predatory sexual assault counts, which carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, before they can even consider the other three counts. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., foreground right, accompanied by Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi, leaves the courtroom after Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial adjourned for the day, in New York, Feb. 21, 2020.Law professor Cheryl Bader said the note suggests the jury is split on a key aspect of both predatory sexual assault counts — Sopranos actress Annabella Sciorra’s allegations that Weinstein attacked her in the mid-1990s — and that it is in unanimous agreement on the allegations by two other women — an aspiring actress who says he raped her in March 2013 and a former film and TV production assistant, Mimi Haleyi, who says he forcibly performed oral sex on her in March 2006. Weinstein has maintained any sexual encounters were consensual. The Associated Press has a policy of not publishing the names of people who allege sexual assault unless those people give their consent. It is withholding the name of the 2013 rape accuser because it isn’t clear whether she wishes to be identified publicly. Direction was ‘not unusual’It's not unusual for the judge to have them keep deliberating and not just give them a pass at the first sign of trouble, said Bader, a former federal prosecutor who teaches at Fordham University School of Law. The defense said speculating on the verdict at this point would be premature and a mistake.'' In all, Weinstein, 67, is charged with five counts stemming from the allegations of Sciorra, the aspiring actress and Haleyi. To convict Weinstein of a predatory sexual assault charge, jurors must agree on two things: that Weinstein raped or forcibly performed oral sex on Sciorra, as she alleges, and that he committed one of the other charged offenses. The predatory sexual assault charge requires prosecutors to show that a defendant committed a prior rape or other sex crime, but it doesn't have the statute of limitation constraints that would bar Sciorra's allegations from consideration on their own. Since getting the case Tuesday, jurors have been focusing a lot of attention on Sciorra, who testified nearly a month ago and was the first accuser to do so in the closely watched #MeToo trial. Sciorra testimonyThey started the day Friday by listening to a reading of her cross-examination and follow-up questioning by prosecutors. About 90 minutes into the reading, the jurors notified the judge they hadheard enough” and resumed their deliberations. Earlier in their deliberations, jurors looked at emails that Weinstein sent regarding Sciorra, including ones to the private Israeli spy agency he allegedly enlisted to dig up dirt on would-be accusers as reporters were working on stories about allegations against him in 2017. Defense attorney Donna Rotunno returns to the Harvey Weinstein rape trial courtroom after a break, in New York, Feb. 21, 2020.Sciorra, now 59, told jurors how Weinstein showed up unexpectedly at the door of her Manhattan apartment before in late 1993 or early 1994 before forcing her onto a bed and assaulting her. Bader said she was surprised the jury appears to be struggling with Sciorra, because she was a much cleaner witness than the other alleged victims, who admitted to having non-forced sex with Weinstein and staying in touch with him after their alleged assaults. Sciorra went public in a story in The New Yorker in October 2017 after one of the few people she says she told about the incident, actress Rosie Perez, got word to reporter Ronan Farrow that he should call her. Sciorra’s allegations weren’t part of the original indictment when Weinstein was arrested in May 2018, but after some legal shuffling they were included in an updated one last August. Annabella was brought into this case for one reason and one reason only,'' defense attorney Donna Rotunno said in her closing argument last week.She was brought in so there would be one witness who had some star power, one witness you may recognize and one witness whose name may mean something.” 
…

U.S. and Afghan officials have announced a reduction-in-violence agreement with the Afghan Taliban, in which both sides agree to stop offensive battles against each other. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb maps out the road ahead.
…

U.S. President Donald Trump appears to be getting closer to naming a new, permanent top intelligence official, announcing he has narrowed the list of possible candidates to a handful of finalists.Word of a potential nominee to take over as the country’s director of national intelligence (DNI) comes just days after Trump cast aside the acting director, reportedly over a briefing to lawmakers about Russian attempts to meddle in the upcoming U.S. presidential elections.”Four great candidates are under consideration at DNI,” Trump tweeted Friday. “Decision within next few weeks!”Four great candidates are under consideration at DNI. Decision within next few weeks!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill, Sept. 26, 2019.Coats was replaced on a temporary basis by retired U.S. Admiral Joseph Maguire, a former Navy SEAL who had been heading up efforts at the National Counterterrorism Center.But late Wednesday, the president announced he was replacing Maguire with U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, a well-known Trump loyalist.FILE – U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell is pictured in Berlin, Germany, May 8, 2018.The New York Times reported Thursday the president made the switch after learning one of Maguire’s top aides told lawmakers that Russia is seeking to boost his reelection during a classified briefing to lawmakers.The Washington Post reported the president was irate after learning of the briefing, concerned that officials had shared information that could be used against him.Trump on Friday accused Democrats of already trying to weaponize the information, calling in a hoax.”Another misinformation campaign is being launched by Democrats in Congress saying that Russia prefers me to any of the Do Nothing Democrat candidates who still have been unable to, after two weeks, count their votes in Iowa,” he tweeted Friday.Another misinformation campaign is being launched by Democrats in Congress saying that Russia prefers me to any of the Do Nothing Democrat candidates who still have been unable to, after two weeks, count their votes in Iowa. Hoax number 7!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2020Officials at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and its election security office declined comment when contacted by VOA.But the initial reaction from Democratic lawmakers was swift.”I am gravely concerned,” House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement late Thursday.”By firing Acting DNI Maguire because his staff provided the candid conclusions of the Intelligence Community to Congress regarding Russian meddling in the 2020 presidential election, the president is not only refusing to defend against foreign interference, he’s inviting it,” Thompson added.House Intelligence Committee chairman, Democrat Adam Smith, who was allegedly at the classified briefing, also expressed concern.”We count on the intelligence community to inform Congress of any threat of foreign interference in our elections,” Schiff tweeted. “If reports are true and the president is interfering with that, he is again jeopardizing our efforts to stop foreign meddling. Exactly as we warned he would do.”We count on the intelligence community to inform Congress of any threat of foreign interference in our elections.If reports are true and the President is interfering with that, he is again jeopardizing our efforts to stop foreign meddling.Exactly as we warned he would do. https://t.co/viSBlnA1nb— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) February 21, 2020The rocky relationship between Trump and U.S. intelligence agencies dates back to the 2016 presidential election, when the intelligence community concluded, “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin and the Russian government aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances when possible,” the leading U.S. intelligence agencies wrote in an unclassified report released in 2017.
Those conclusions were backed up by a report in April 2019 by special counsel Robert Mueller, which found, “the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome.”Trump has consistently denied any Russian interference, repeatedly deferring to Putin’s denials.”He said he didn’t meddle,” Trump told reporters following a conversation with Putin in Vietnam. “He said he didn’t meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times.”Still, U.S. intelligence officials have said, repeatedly, that not only did Russia meddle in 2016, but that it did so again in 2018 and that it would meddle in the 2020 presidential elections, as well.
  “We expect #Russia will continue to wage its information war against democracies and to use social media to attempt to divide our societies” per Coats, citing #Russian attack on #Ukraine naval vessels as sign of #Moscow’s willingness to violate int’ norms— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) January 29, 2019″It wasn’t a single attempt. They’re doing it as we sit here,” Mueller told lawmakers last July. “And they expect to do it during the next campaign.”The White House is facing a March 11 deadline to nominate a new, permanent director of national intelligence or risk having the position go vacant.Under U.S. law, the president must at least nominate someone to a position requiring Senate confirmation within 210 days of the position being vacated, meaning the acting director, whether it was Maguire or Grenell, would have to step down.”The clock doesn’t restart each time the president names someone else [as acting director],” Steve Vladek, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told VOA.”If no nominee is submitted in time, Grenell ceases to be the acting DNI, and no one can replace him,” he added. “Someone still has to ‘exercise the functions’ of the acting DNI, but that would fall to whoever the senior person at ODNI currently is.”
 
…

Democratic voters feel generally positive about all of their top candidates running for president, but they have only moderate confidence that their party’s nomination process is fair, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
    
U.S. voters from across the political spectrum have mixed confidence in the fairness of either party’s system for picking a candidate, but Democrats are especially likely to have doubts about their own party’s process. Among Democratic voters, 41% say they have a great deal or quite a bit of confidence in the Democratic Party’s nomination process, while 34% have moderate confidence and 25% have little to no confidence.
    
Among Republicans, meanwhile, 61% say they have high confidence in their party’s process, and just 13% have low confidence. President Donald Trump has only nominal opposition in the GOP nomination process, and several state Republican parties have even canceled holding a primary.
    
Julianne Morgan, 29, of Dayton, Ohio, said her confidence in the Democratic Party’s process was undercut earlier this month when Democrats delayed tabulating the results of the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses because of problems with a buggy mobile app.
    
Her concerns were further exacerbated this week after reading that Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who is third in the delegate count, was excluded in hypothetical head-to-head matchups against Trump in some recent polls.
    
“It doesn’t sound like there’s been fair representation for all the candidates,” said Morgan, who is supporting Warren’s candidacy.
    Some respondents said they worry that an increasingly bitter internal battle for the Democratic nomination could weaken whomever emerges to take on Trump in November. The poll was conducted before White House hopefuls on Wednesday took part in the most contentious debate of the cycle. Democrats are set to host their third 2020 nominating contest on Saturday in Nevada.
    
“They keep digging at each other,” said Roger Kempton, 85, of Niles, Michigan, a Trump voter in 2016 who said he plans to vote for a Democratic candidate in 2020. “They say beating Trump is the most important thing, but they keeping fighting each other. It’s only making people like myself unhappy with the choices.”
    
Others raised concerns that the Democrats have hung on too long to the tradition of giving Iowa the first spot on the nominating calendar. Since 1972, the top voter-getter in the Democratic caucuses has gone on to win the nomination in seven of 10 contested races. But only Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Barack Obama in 2008 won the presidency.
    
“Iowa is not a very diverse state, and I feel like it doesn’t really represent the country well,” said Katie Lewis of Lexington, Kentucky, who backs Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
    
Among Democratic respondents, self-described moderates and conservatives are more likely than liberals to have high confidence that their process is fair, 46% to 34%. Those age 45 and older are also more confident than those who are younger, and nonwhite Democrats are more confident than white Democrats.
    
The poll shows that Sanders gets slightly higher ratings nationally from Democratic voters compared to his nearest primary rivals, some of whom remain less well known even within the party.
    
Seventy-four percent of Democratic voters say they have a favorable opinion of Sanders, while 67% say that of former Vice President Joe Biden, 64% for Warren, and 58% for former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg. About half of Democrats express favorable opinions of billionaire Mike Bloomberg and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, while nearly 4 in 10 say they have a positive opinion of billionaire Tom Steyer.
    
Many Democratic voters say they don’t know enough to have an opinion of many of the candidates, including Steyer (52%), Klobuchar (39%), Buttigieg (28%), Bloomberg (25%) and Warren (16%).
    
But about 2 in 10 Democrats express negative opinions of Biden, Bloomberg, Warren and Sanders.
    
The more moderate Democrats, Biden, Bloomberg, Buttigieg and Klobuchar, have all raised questions about whether Sanders, 78, a self-described democratic socialist, is too far to the left of the American electorate. Both Sanders and Warren, who support heftier taxes on the wealthy to pay for expanded health care, free college, and other programs, have been branded by rivals as too liberal.
    
Biden had poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire and has faced questions about whether his best days as a politician are in the past.
    
Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and billionaire founder of a financial, software, data, and media company, didn’t enter the race until November. Some of his Democratic rivals, as well as Trump, have accused Bloomberg of trying to buy the nomination by pumping in hundreds of millions of dollars of his own fortune to fund campaign ads in the more than a dozen Super Tuesday states and U.S. territories. Those March 3 contests account for more than a third of all delegates at stake.
    
Bloomberg has also faced criticism for disparaging comments about transgender people, his support of “stop-and-frisk,” a controversial policing strategy that led to disproportionate stops of African Americans and Latinos in the nation’s biggest city, and complaints that he repeatedly made misogynistic comments to women who worked for him the 1980s and 1990s.
    
Wanda Gibson, 58, a Democrat from suburban Cincinnati, Ohio, who is undecided about who she’ll support, said that Bloomberg’s backing of stop-and-frisk and his sexist comments were wrong. But she also said that she worried that some Democrats are discounting the possibility that Bloomberg has changed.
    
“We’ve all done or said something in our past that would not necessarily be politically correct,” said Gibson, who said she is still weighing which Democrat she’ll back. “The problem is that we have Donald Trump, someone who continues to do this stuff daily, sometimes hourly. If someone did something 10 years ago, they can evolve.”The AP-NORC poll of 1,074 adults was conducted Feb. 13-16 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.
…

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Oman Friday for a meeting with the country’s new ruler, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said.Pompeo will also pay homage to relatives of Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who died in January.Oman has close ties with Iran and Saudi Arabia, where Pompeo departed from earlier Friday after a three-day visit.Pompeo and Saudi King Salman discussed regional security issues presented by Iran Thursday in Riyadh. Pompeo also met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.Regional tensions escalated dramatically last month after the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general.Saudi Arabia, a close U.S. ally, has supported U.S. efforts to counter Iran but warned against military action after multiple attacks last year damaged the kingdom’s oil facilities. Saudi Arabia accused Iran of carrying out the strikes, which Tehran denies.The risk of a regional war diminished last month after the U.S. and Iran backed away following a U.S. air strike in Iraq killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iran responded with missile attacks on U.S. military bases that injured more than 100 troops.  Before his trips to Oman and Saudi Arabia, Pompeo spent three days in Africa, visiting leaders of Senegal, Angola and Ethiopia. 
…

After nearly a dozen years moving through the U.S. visa system, Sai Kyaw’s brother and sister and their families were at the finish line: a final interview before they could leave Myanmar to join him in Massachusetts and work at his restaurant.Then a dramatic turn in U.S. immigration policy halted their plans. The interview was postponed, and it’s not clear when, or whether, it will be rescheduled.“It’s terrible,” Kyaw said. “There’s nothing we can really do except pray. They’ve been waiting 12 years. If they have to wait another 12 years, they will.”His is just one of many stories of confusion, sorrow and outrage spreading across some immigrant communities after the announcement of a Trump administration policy that is expected to all but shut down family-based immigration from Myanmar, also known as Burma, as well as Nigeria, Kyrgyzstan and Eritrea. The policy also restricts visas from Sudan and Tanzania.S’Tha Sein, left, and his daughter Lunn KyiPhyu Tha, 15, right, both immigrants from Myanmar, also known as Burma, speak with a reporter from The Associated Press following services, Feb. 16, 2020, at the Overseas Burmese Christian Fellowship.‘A panic wave’“There’s a panic wave going through the community,” said Grace Mobosi-Enwensi, president of the Minnesota Institute for Nigerian Development, a nonprofit group.In signing a proclamation last month that takes effect Friday, President Donald Trump said those countries failed to meet minimum security standards. It was his latest crackdown on his signature issue of immigration.Calls about the restrictions have flooded legal advocacy groups and lawyers’ offices. A Boston-area Burmese church is trying to intervene to help congregants. The United African Organization has held legal clinics in Chicago to walk people through their options.The rules are certain to face legal challenges, but in the meantime, activists have organized around #MuslimBan and #AfricaBan on social media and ramped up lobbying efforts to press Congress to pass the No Ban Act, which would limit the president’s ability to restrict entry to the U.S.Nigerians hit hardestRoughly 10,000 people received immigration-based visas from Nigeria, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar in the 2018 fiscal year, according to federal data analyzed by the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute. More than half were from Nigeria, the most populous African nation.The ripple of emotion has been felt strongest among America’s roughly 380,000 Nigerian immigrants and their children. They are one of the most educated immigrant groups. More than 60% percent of people with Nigerian ancestry who are at least 25 have a bachelor’s degree or higher, which is more than twice the general U.S. population rate of 29%, according to 2017 census data.Tope Aladele, who is seeking a visa for his wife in Nigeria, has faint hope that she will be able to come to the U.S.“I thought this year I could at least celebrate Christmas with her,” said Aladele, a U.S. citizen who works as a nursing assistant in the Chicago area. “I’m just hoping and praying.”Citizenship and Immigration Services officials declined to comment on the concerns of affected families, deferring to the Department of Homeland Security. Agency officials did not respond to emails seeking comment.Narrower rulesUnlike previous travel bans, the new rules are narrower. They halt immigrant visas from Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar and Kyrgystan, covering people who want to live in the U.S. permanently and are sponsored by family members or employers. They also eliminate participation in a visa lottery program in which a computer randomly selects up to 55,000 people for visas from underrepresented countries. Sudan and Tanzania will also be barred from the lottery.The ban does not affect immigrants traveling to the U.S. for a temporary stay, including tourists and students, or immigrants already in the U.S. There are exceptions, including dual citizenship holders.In Chicago, the United African Organization hosted dozens of people at legal clinics. Many had questions about their spouses and children. One was Osemeh Otoboh, 46, a Nigerian citizen with a green card who has applied for two of his teenage children from a previous marriage to come to the U.S.Though their visas were recently approved, the suburban Chicago man married to a U.S. citizen was worried. His children live in Lagos, and he wants them to pursue an education in the United States.“I don’t even know how to explain it to them,” Otoboh said of the restrictions.Justification questionedExperts have questioned the administration’s national security reasoning since there are no restrictions on tourist or student visas, which can take less time and vetting to get. Officials in at least one country, Nigeria, have said they are working to address security concerns, such as information sharing.Activists said the restrictions amount to another travel ban like the one that was widely decried as targeting Muslims. The Supreme Court upheld that ban as lawful in 2018. It restricted travel from several Muslim-majority countries including Iran, Somalia and Syria.Sudan and Kyrgyzstan are also majority-Muslim countries. Nigeria, the world’s seventh-most populous nation, has a large Muslim population, too.“It’s a continuation of this administration’s racist and xenophobic immigration framework that they use,” said Mustafa Jumale, a policy manager for the Black Alliance for Just Immigration.Some churches have also sprung into action.Baptist Pastor Clifford Maung, front, an immigrant from Myanmar, also known as Burma, sings a hymn with members of his congregation at the Overseas Burmese Christian Fellowship in Boston, Feb. 16, 2020.At the Overseas Burmese Christian Fellowship in Boston, Pastor Clifford Maung says he has relayed the concerns of two families in his congregation to national Baptist church leaders and is prepared to appeal to the U.S. government on their behalf.“You hope for the best. We grew up under a similar situation in Burma with an oppressive government so this is something we are used to,” he said. “But it shouldn’t happen in America.”Maung says one of those affected is his cousin, whose wife has already been approved for a visa and is awaiting medical clearance, which was supposed to come as soon as this week.Another affected family is that of S’Tha Sein, who arrived with his wife and youngest daughter in December. The 53-year-old Sein says his eldest daughter was also approved for a visa but tested positive for tuberculosis and was not allowed to travel with them.The 21-year-old college student is slated to be reevaluated next month after receiving treatment, but Sein says the new restrictions throw uncertainty into the prolonged immigration process, which the family began in 2006.“We’ve been praying that this law will change,” Sein said after attending church services this past Sunday with his family, siblings and elderly parents. “We just want to be able to live together.”
…

As Nevada Democrats flock to their presidential caucuses Saturday afternoon, this Western state’s growing Latino vote could play an important factor in the outcome. According to Pew Research, more than 1 in 4 Nevadans is of Latin American descent, and roughly 328,000 of them are eligible to vote. As VOA’s Carolyn Presutti found, while all candidates hope to attract the Hispanic vote, some are more successful than others.
…

A federal appeals court is keeping a block on a Mississippi law that would ban most abortions as early as about six weeks — a stage when many women may not even know they are pregnant.A panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made the decision Thursday, finding that the law is unconstitutional because it would ban abortion before the point of viability, when a fetus could survive outside of the womb.The appeals court judges agreed with a district court judge who blocked the law from taking effect in 2019, soon after it was signed by then-Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican.FILE – Then-Gov. Phil Bryant sits in his Jackson, Miss., Capitol office, Jan. 8, 2020.The only abortion clinic in Mississippi sued the state after Bryant signed what would have been one of the strictest abortion laws in the U.S., banning most abortions once fetal cardiac activity can be detected, which can be at about six weeks. The clinic said it provides abortions until 16 weeks.With the addition of conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court in recent years, several states have been enacting laws aimed at spurring court challenges that could eventually seek to overturn Roe v. Wade, the court’s landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.Thursday’s decision was the second time in recent months that the conservative 5th Circuit has blocked a Mississippi abortion law. In December, a panel of the appeals court kept a block on a 2018 Mississippi law that would have banned most abortions at 15 weeks, before viability. The state asked the full appeals court to reconsider that decision. In January, the court said it would not do that.”This is now the second time in two months the 5th Circuit has told Mississippi that it cannot ban abortion,” Hillary Schneller, senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement Thursday. “Despite the relentless attempts of Mississippi and other states, the right to legal abortion remains the law of the land.”In its decision Thursday, the appeals court said the Mississippi clinic and attorneys for the state disagree on when fetal cardiac activity can be detected, with the clinic saying it can happen at six weeks and the state saying it can happen at six to 12 weeks.”But all agree that cardiac activity can be detected well before the fetus is viable,” the appeals court wrote. “That dooms the law. If a ban on abortion after 15 weeks is unconstitutional, then it follows that a ban on abortion at an earlier stage of pregnancy is also unconstitutional.”It was not immediately clear Thursday whether Mississippi will appeal the ruling on the six-week ban. State officials said in January that they want the U.S. Supreme Court to consider arguments over the 15-week ban.
 
…

Las Vegas’ popular strip, home to hotels and casinos, is crowded with tourists and crowd-pleasing sites. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti, in Nevada to cover the state’s caucuses Saturday, shares some of the views.
…

Former national security adviser John Bolton on Wednesday denounced the House’s impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump as “grossly partisan” and said his testimony would not have changed Trump’s acquittal in the Senate, as he continued to stay quiet on the details of a yet-to-be-released book.In his second public discussion this week, Bolton was on stage at Vanderbilt University with former national security adviser under President Barack Obama, Susan Rice, who questioned Bolton’s refusal to discuss more details while his book undergoes screening for possible classified national security details by the Trump administration. Bolton was likewise quiet on specifics from the book during a Monday speaking engagement at Duke University.Book due next monthBolton plans to publish the book next month detailing his time in the White House, including criticism of Trump actions such as his decision to withhold military assistance while seeking a political favor from Ukraine. He said he believes the book doesn’t contain classified information.Bolton contended that the House “committed impeachment malpractice,” drawing some grumbling from the audience, saying “the process drove Republicans who might have voted for impeachment away because it was so partisan.” He also said he didn’t expect the Senate to vote against having him testify.”People can argue about what I should have said and what I should have done,” Bolton said. “I would bet you a dollar right here and now, my testimony would have made no difference to the ultimate outcome.”In leaked passages from the book’s manuscript, Bolton says Trump told him he was conditioning the release of military aid to Ukraine on whether its government would help investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.Rice said she also underwent a White House pre-clearance process for her own book. She said nothing caused her “to refuse to share information with Congress or the public that I thought was of national import.””I can’t imagine withholding my testimony, with or without a subpoena,” Rice said. “I also can’t imagine, frankly, in the absence of being able to provide that information directly to Congress, not having exercised my First Amendment right to speak publicly at a time when my testimony or my experience would be relevant.””Spill his guts”For anyone saying he should just “spill his guts” on what he knows, Bolton cited the “implied threat of criminal prosecution” if what he shares is determined to be classified information. Asked if he would have testified under a House subpoena, Bolton again cited the review process.”I’m not here to speculate on that with the pre-publication review process under way,” Bolton said, drawing some laughs from the audience. “Laugh all you want. This is the judgment of my counsel, somebody I worked with 35 years ago, 30 years ago at the Department of Justice.”House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff have put off — but not ruled out — a subpoena for Bolton, who refused to participate in the House impeachment inquiry but later said he would testify in the Senate trial.
…

Intelligence officials say Russia is interfering with the 2020 election to try to help President Donald Trump get re-elected, The New York Times reported Thursday.The Times said intelligence officials told lawmakers about the interference in a Feb. 13 closed-door briefing to the House Intelligence Committee. It said the disclosure angered Trump, who complained the Democrats would use the information against him. He berated the outgoing director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, the next day.Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 26, 2019.The Times attributed the report to five unidentified people familiar with the matter. The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the account.U.S. intelligence agencies say Russia interfered in the 2016 election through social media campaigns and stealing and distributing emails from Democratic accounts. They say Russia was trying to boost Trump’s campaign and add chaos to the American political process. Special counsel Robert Mueller concluded that Russian interference was “sweeping and systematic,” but he did not find a criminal conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign. Trump has doubted the findings of Russian interference.In the House briefing, Trump’s allies challenged the DNI’s chief election official, Shelby Pierson, who delivered the conclusions, saying Trump has been tough on Russia, the Times reported. But Trump has also spoken warmly of Russian leader Vladimir Putin and withdrawn troops from areas, like Syria, where Moscow could fill the vacuum. He delayed military aid last year to Ukraine, a Russian adversary — a decision that was at the core of his impeachment proceedings.Adam Schiff (D-CA) speaks to the media in Washington, Jan. 27, 2020.The Times said Trump was angry that the House briefing was made before the panel’s chairman, Rep. Adam Schiff, who led the impeachment proceedings.Trump on Thursday formally appointed Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany and a loyal supporter, to replace Maguire as the new acting director of national intelligence. Maguire was required to step down soon under federal law governing acting appointments. The Times cited two administration officials as saying the timing, after the intelligence briefing, was coincidental.
…

A deal between the United States and the Taliban to de-escalate the war in Afghanistan will likely include a communication mechanism to prevent military miscalculations during that time period, a U.S. official tells VOA.The communication mechanism would serve the same purpose as one set up between U.S. and Russian forces in Syria to avoid unsafe military incidents between Washington and its partner forces on one side, and Russian and Syrian government forces on the other.Multiple officials tell VOA the start date for a “reduction in violence” agreement between the U.S. and the Afghan Taliban is planned for Saturday.  A senior U.S. defense official said the U.S. military would maintain its authority for self-defense and would continue U.S. counterterrorism operations and the training and advising of Afghan forces during this agreement period.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, center, shakes hands with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, right, as US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper watches during the 56th Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Feb. 14, 2020.If the deal holds, Taliban officials have said a signing ceremony would take place in Doha, Qatar, on Feb. 29. Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Russia and the European Union have been invited to attend the signing ceremony in Doha, Qatar, according to Pakistani officials.U.S. officials say successful implementation of the temporary reduction in violence agreement would pave the way for a comprehensive peace deal that could end America’s longest war and bring some of the U.S. troops in Afghanistan home. Inter-Afghan dialogue between the Afghan government and the Taliban is expected to follow the reduction in violence agreement.“If we decide to move forward, if all sides hold up — meet their obligations under that reduction in violence — then we’ll start talking about the next part,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told reporters at the Munich Security Conference last week.The war in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of more than 2,400 U.S. service members and has cost Washington nearly $1 trillion.The term “reduction in violence” has created some confusion among Afghan government officials who question why both sides refrain from calling it a ‘cease-fire.’Sediq Sediqqi, spokesperson for the President of Afghanistan gestures as he speaks during a press conference in Kabul on Sept 8, 2019.Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesperson for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, told reporters in Kabul earlier this month that the Taliban’s commitment to anything short of a full cease-fire would not produce the desired outcome to end the war.“Does it mean that not 10, but five people will lose their lives? Or it means that there won’t be 10 attacks, but five daily?” Sediqqi said.President Ghani, however, on Saturday during the Munich Security Conference voiced cautious optimism about a partial truce agreed between the Taliban and the U.S. He said he was on the same page with Washington.Some former Taliban officials, including former deputy minister of justice during the Taliban regime Jalaluddin Shinwari, said a complete cease-fire could carry the risk of divisions in its ranks and a dispersion of Taliban fighters.The Taliban has so far insisted that it would talk to the Afghan government as one of the groups among other factions in the country not as a government. The Afghan government, however, insists that it would enter the so-called intra-Afghan dialogue with the insurgents as the legitimate government elected by the Afghan people.Afghanistan’s presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah arrives for a news conference after the preliminary presidential election results in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 22, 2019.The news of a potential deal with the Taliban and subsequent intra-Afghan dialogue comes amid an ongoing political struggle between Ghani and his main rival, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) said Ghani secured 50.64% of the votes and declared him the winner of the country’s fourth presidential election since 2001.Ghani’s main rival, Chief Executive Abdullah, who has shared power with Ghani since the 2014 presidential elections as part of the National Unity Government, rejected Tuesday’s results as “fraudulent” and vowed to announce the forming of his government soon.The Taliban also rejected the presidential election as “fraudulent” and called Ghani’s victory “illegal.”In a statement, the insurgent group said any elections under “foreign occupation” could never help settle the conflict in the country.VOA’s Hasib Danish Alikozai in Washington contributed to this story.
…

Victoria Coates, a top official on the National Security Council, is being reassigned amid fallout over the identity of the author of the inside-the-White House tell-all book by “Anonymous.”
    
Coates, who serves as national security adviser for the Middle East and North Africa, will be joining the Department of Energy as a senior adviser to Secretary Dan Brouillette, the NSC announced Thursday.
    
The move comes amid renewed speculation about the author of the book, “A Warning,” and a New York Times essay that were deeply critical of President Donald Trump, written under the pen name “Anonymous.”
    
But a senior administration official insisted the move had nothing to do with the speculation, saying top White House officials reject rumors that have circulated in recent weeks suggesting Coates is the author. The move, they said, has been in the works for several weeks.
   
“We are enthusiastic about adding Dr. Coates to DOE, where her expertise on the Middle East and national security policy will be helpful,” Brouillette said in a statement. “She will play an important role on our team.”
   
“While I’m sad to lose an important member of our team, Victoria will be a big asset to Secretary Brouillette as he executes the President’s energy security policy priorities,” Robert C. O’Brien, who leads the NSC, added.
    
The move also comes as the president has been working to rid the administration of those he deems insufficiently loyal in the wake of his acquittal on impeachment charges. Since then, Trump has ousted staffers at the National Security Council and State Department and pulled the nomination of a top Treasury Department pick who had overseen cases involving Trump’s former aides as a U.S. attorney.
    
At the same time, Trump has been bringing back longtime aides he believes he can trust as he heads into what is expected to be a bruising general election campaign.
    
Trump this week renewed questions about the identity of “Anonymous” when he told reporters that he knew who it was. Asked whether he believes the person still works at the White House, Trump responded: “We know a lot. In fact, when I want to get something out to the press, I tell certain people. And it’s amazing, it gets out there. But, so far, I’m leaving it that way.”
    
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley declined to say Wednesday why, if Trump knows the person’s identity, they would still be working in his administration.
    
In the book, published by the Hachette Book Group in November, the writer claims senior administration officials considered resigning as a group in 2018 in a “midnight self-massacre” to protest Trump’s conduct, but ultimately decided such an act would do more harm than good. 
…

 New Orleans is mourning the death of a woman who was run over by a parade float as the city celebrates Mardi Gras.The woman apparently tried to cross between two sections of a tandem float when she tripped over a hitch connecting the vehicles and was run over, witnesses told news outlets.It happened Wednesday night during the parade of the Mystic Krewe of Nyx, an all-female Carnival group that was “established to unite women of diverse backgrounds for fun, friendship, and the merriment of the Mardi Gras season,” according to its website.“On such a joyous night, this is obviously a tragic occurrence,” Nyx Captain Julie Lea said in a statement. “On behalf of the entire Krewe of Nyx, along with the city of New Orleans, we offer our most sincere condolences to the family and friends of the individual involved.”The accident involved float 21, New Orleans Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said at a news conference. The woman’s identity wasn’t immediately released.The parade was ended early, and the rest of the floats were diverted off the parade route. That was the “proper thing to do,” New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell told reporters near the scene.Mardi Gras is Feb. 25, but the Fat Tuesday celebration is preceded by a week or more of parades and parties each year.The death comes one year after a car sped into a bicycle lane near a parade route, hitting nine people and killing two bicyclists. Sharree Walls, 27, of New Orleans and David Hynes, 31, of Seattle, died not far from where the Krewe of Endymion parade had just passed. A man identified as the driver — Tashonty Toney, 32 — was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide.
…

Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, President Donald Trump’s second national security adviser, will have a book out April 28. First announced in the summer of 2018, “Battlegrounds” will focus on national security and foreign policy, including his contentious time with Trump.In announcing the release date Thursday, HarperCollins called “Battlegrounds” a “groundbreaking reassessment of America’s place in the world, drawing from McMaster’s long engagement with these issues, including 34 years of service in the U.S. Army with multiple tours of duty in battlegrounds overseas and his 13 months as national security adviser in the Trump White House.”McMaster clashed with Trump on policy toward Russia, Iran and elsewhere before being forced out in March 2018. He was replaced by John Bolton, who also fought with Trump before departing last September. Bolton’s memoir, “What Happened in the Room,” is expected next month.McMaster has written a previous book, the acclaimed “Dereliction of Duty,” which sharply criticized the political leadership during the Vietnam War. 
…

China and the United States in the past year have unveiled new regulations that force some news media organizations that receive government funding to register as government entities. Amid the regulatory changes, China Wednesday ordered three foreign reporters to leave the country because of complaints over a headline that appeared in their newspaper. Here’s an overview of the changing media laws, and the fallout for journalists.Why did Beijing expel the American reporters?China’s foreign ministry said Wednesday that the Wall Street Journal’s decision to publish an opinion column with the headline “China is the Real Sick Man of Asia,” was “racially discriminatory” and tried to discredit China’s efforts to fight the coronavirus outbreak. The editorial was written by an American academic in the newspaper’s opinion section, but the foreign ministry said: “Chinese people do not welcome media that speak racially discriminatory languages … as such, it is decided today, the press credentials of three WSJ journalists will be revoked.” Beijing said the decision to force the reporters to leave the country was not linked to the State Department’s ruling on restricting Chinese news organizations operating in the U.S. earlier this week.Why did the U.S. State Department designate five Chinese news agencies as foreign government entities?The State Department said Tuesday that Xinhua, China Radio, China Daily, CGTN and The People’s Daily will be officially treated as extensions of China’s government, subjecting employees to similar rules that foreign diplomats operate under. U.S. officials say the designation reflects the reality that these are not editorially independent newsrooms, but are controlled by the Chinese government. Chinese officials rejected the decision and said Chinese media covers news objectively.Why is the State Department making this change now?U.S. officials have been warning for years about China’s expanding operations targeting foreign countries, and in recent months have taken action. U.S. officials have announced prosecutions of academics who did not report receiving money from Chinese-government-linked institutions, named Chinese military hackers who allegedly stole personal records of millions of Americans, and accused Chinese technology companies of stealing intellectual property. The director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, said this month that China is threatening U.S. security by exploiting the openness of the American economy and society.Are VOA, BBC, DW and other state-funded broadcasters subject to the same State Department regulations on government funding?News organizations that receive government funding and also maintain editorially independent newsrooms are not subjected to the new State Department regulations because they have policies and structures to protect their editorial independence. For example, at the BBC, the organization’s charter commits it to pursuing “due impartiality” in all of its output. At VOA, the founding charter and editorial firewall keep its journalists independent and prevent government officials from interfering in news decisions.
…