Month: November 2022

A circle of drummers plays on weekends in New York’s Central Park to bring some African rhythm to the city and teach others how to do the same. Ginny Niwa reports
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More than three years since a devastating fire burned parts of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, reconstruction is underway, and organizations from the United States are helping. Karina Bafradzhian has the story.
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In recent years, the trend of “Friendsgiving” has been taking off in the U.S. In this version of Thanksgiving, people who can’t spend the day surrounded by their biological families instead spend the holiday with friends. Genia Dulot reports.
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In December 2019, then-U.S. President Donald Trump was asked whether he thought it was worth it to have “all those” U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.

“It could be debated. I could go either way,” Trump answered.

The comments came at the height of tense negotiations over Trump’s demand that Seoul pay much more to host approximately 28,000 U.S. troops.

Trump’s answer did not come out of the blue. Throughout his time as president — and in fact, even before and after his presidency — Trump regularly questioned the value of the U.S.-South Korea alliance.

According to I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year, a 2021 book by two Washington Post journalists, Trump privately told close aides that he planned to “blow up” the U.S.-South Korea alliance if he won reelection in 2020.

In part because he lost that election, no one knows how serious Trump was about upending the U.S. relationship with South Korea.

Some analysts say Trump was only being transactional, as he was with many other allies, and that he never intended to abandon Seoul.

Others are not so sure, noting Trump once went so far as to suggest South Korea should get its own nuclear weapons so that Seoul could protect itself.

Faced with an increasingly hostile and nuclear-armed neighbor, South Korea can afford little ambiguity on the matter, which helps explain why a growing number of prominent voices in Seoul would like to see if Trump’s nuke offer still stands.

Going mainstream

One of the most outspoken advocates of South Korea getting its own nuclear weapons is Cheong Seong-chang, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute, a nonpartisan foreign policy research organization outside Seoul.

Cheong spoke to VOA several days after Trump announced his 2024 presidential bid. He said it is not just the possible return of Trump that is concerning — it’s the chance that his America First ideas will have a lasting impact on U.S. foreign policy.

“The United States has a presidential election every four years…[it] may go back to isolationism, which is why South Korea’s own nuclear armament is essential to maintain stable security and deter North Korea,” Cheong told VOA.

Fringe figures have long called for South Korea to acquire nuclear weapons, but recently the proposal has gone mainstream. This year, several well-known scholars have proposed Seoul either acquire its own nuclear arsenal or request the redeployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons that were removed in the early 1990s.

A poll published in May by the conservative Asan Institute for Policy Studies suggested that more than 70% of South Koreans support their country developing indigenous nuclear weapons — the highest level of support since the organization began asking the question in 2010.

Cheong is trying to turn that support into something more organized. In early November, he launched the ROK Forum for Nuclear Strategy, which promotes South Korea’s nuclear armament and discusses plans to make it happen. In its infancy, the group already has more than 40 members, according to Cheong.

Not just Trump

Trump is far from the only factor driving South Korea’s nuclear arms debate.

South Korean leaders are also alarmed at the rapid development of North Korea’s nuclear weapons. North Korea has conducted a record number of launches this year, including both long-range missiles that could reach the United States and shorter-range ones that threaten Seoul. U.S. and South Korean officials say North Korea could conduct another nuclear test soon.

North Korea has also embraced a more aggressive nuclear posture. In October, leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a series of launches simulating a tactical nuclear strike on South Korea. The North is likely moving ahead with deploying tactical nuclear weapons to frontline positions, analysts say.

In addition, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has underscored the risks that non-nuclear states face when confronted with an aggressive, nuclear-armed neighbor.

Although South Korea is protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella, some South Korean analysts believe the United States may be reluctant to respond to a North Korean attack if Pyongyang has the ability to destroy a major U.S. city — in essence, the fear is that the United States would not want to risk San Francisco to save Seoul.

“North Korea believes there’s a slight chance that they could get away with a nuclear attack without getting a reprisal from the United States,” said Chun In-bum, a retired lieutenant general in the South Korean army.

Big obstacles

In Chun’s view, acquiring nuclear weapons is one way for South Korea to guarantee its security, although he acknowledges major barriers.

Among the uncertainties is the question of how China, Russia, and others in the region would respond. For instance, would Japan, another U.S. ally in Northeast Asia, feel compelled to get its own nuclear weapons?

Analysts are also unsure exactly how the United States would react if South Korea eventually did begin pursuing nuclear weapons. And many South Koreans who support acquiring nukes hint they would tread cautiously with that in mind.

“It’s not as if I’m going to risk the alliance in order to have South Korea get nuclear weapons. But what happens if the U.S. president says he’s going to pull U.S. troops from Korea? What if that becomes a reality?” asked Chun.

In some ways, the situation mirrors the 1970s, when South Korea briefly pursued a nuclear weapons program amid questions about the long-term U.S. security commitment.

Instead, South Korea ratified the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. It is now uncertain what consequences South Korea would face for abandoning its commitments under the pact.

Reassurance limits

When asked about the issue in recent months, Pentagon and State Department officials have ruled out the idea of returning tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea. Instead, they have focused on how the U.S. is prepared to use the full range of its capabilities, including nuclear weapons, to defend South Korea.

At a meeting earlier this month with his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said Seoul is not considering the return of tactical nuclear weapons and remains committed to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

At that Pentagon meeting, both sides agreed to several measures meant to reinforce the U.S. security commitment. The steps included increasing the deployment of U.S. strategic assets, such as long-range bombers and aircraft carriers, to South Korea, and vowing that any North Korean nuclear strike “will result in the end of the Kim regime.”

What they didn’t discuss, at least according to the 10-page joint communique released following the meeting, was Trump or his America First ideas — perhaps the one area where U.S. officials can offer the least reassurance.

“You can’t,” said Jenny Town, a Korea specialist at the Washington-based Stimson Center.

“Democracies are democracies and policies can shift,” she said.

Much depends on how Trump and his ideas fare in the 2024 elections. But even if Trump loses again, Town said, many in South Korea will have concerns about the future.

“It isn’t business as usual anymore,” she said. “It’s recent memory, and it doesn’t fade very quickly.”
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The man facing possible hate crime charges in the fatal shooting of five people at a Colorado Springs gay nightclub was ordered held without bail in an initial court appearance Wednesday as the suspect sat slumped over in a chair.

Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, could be seen with injuries visible on their face and head in a brief video appearance from jail. Aldrich appeared to need prompting by defense attorneys and offered a slurred response when asked to state their name by El Paso County Court Judge Charlotte Ankeny.

The suspect was beaten into submission by patrons during Saturday night’s shooting at Club Q and released from the hospital Tuesday. The motive in the shooting was still under investigation, but authorities said Aldrich faces possible murder and hate crime charges.

Hate crime charges would require proving that the shooter was motivated by bias, such as against the victims’ actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. The charges against Aldrich are preliminary, and prosecutors have not yet filed formal charges.

Defense attorneys said late Tuesday that the suspect is nonbinary and in court filings referred to the suspect as “Mx. Aldrich.” The attorneys’ footnotes assert that Aldrich is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns.

Prosecutor Michael Allen repeatedly referred to the suspect as “he” during a press briefing after the hearing and said the suspect’s gender status would not change anything about the case in his opinion. Allen said Aldrich was “physically competent” to stand charges.

Ankeny set the next hearing for Dec. 6.

Of 17 people injured by gunshots in the attack, 11 remained hospitalized late Wednesday, officials said.

Aldrich’s name was changed more than six years ago as a teenager, after filing a legal petition in Texas seeking to “protect himself” from a father with a criminal history, including domestic violence against Aldrich’s mother.

Aldrich was known as Nicholas Franklin Brink until 2016. Weeks before turning 16, Aldrich successfully petitioned a Texas court for a name change, court records show. A petition for the name change was submitted on Brink’s behalf by his legal guardians at the time.

“Minor wishes to protect himself and his future from any connections to birth father and his criminal history. Father has had no contact with minor for several years,” said the petition filed in Bexar County, Texas.

The suspect’s father, Aaron Brink, is a mixed martial arts fighter and pornography performer with an extensive criminal history, including convictions for battery against the alleged shooter’s mother, Laura Voepel, both before and after the suspect was born, state and federal court records show. A 2002 misdemeanor battery conviction in California resulted in a protective order that initially barred Aaron Brink from contacting the suspect or Voepel except through an attorney but was later modified to allow monitored visits with the child.

Aaron Brink told the San Diego CBS affiliate, KFMB-TV, that he was shocked to learn about Aldrich’s alleged involvement. He said his first reaction was to question why Aldrich was at a gay bar. Brink said he hadn’t had much contact with his child but had taught them to fight, “praising” Aldrich for violent behavior at an early age. He added that he’s sorry he let Aldrich down. Brink said “there’s no excuse for going and killing people. If you’re killing people, there’s something wrong. It’s not the answer.”

Local and federal authorities have declined to say why hate crime charges were being considered. District Attorney Michael Allen noted that the murder charges would carry the harshest penalty — life in prison — whereas bias crimes are eligible for probation. He also said it was important to show the community that bias motivated crimes are not tolerated.

Aldrich was arrested last year after their mother reported her child threatened her with a homemade bomb and other weapons, according to police. Ring doorbell video obtained by The Associated Press shows Aldrich arriving at their mother’s front door with a big black bag the day of the 2021 bomb threat, telling her the police were nearby and adding, “This is where I stand. Today I die.”

Authorities at the time said no explosives were found, but gun-control advocates have asked why police didn’t use Colorado’s “red flag” laws to seize the weapons Aldrich allegedly had.

Allen declined to answer questions related to the 2021 bomb threat following Wednesday’s court hearing.

The weekend assault took place at a nightclub known as a sanctuary for the LGBTQ community in this mostly conservative city of about 480,000 about 110 kilometers south of Denver.

A longtime Club Q patron who was shot said the club’s reputation made it a target. In a video statement, Ed Sanders said he thought about what he would do in a mass shooting after the 2016 massacre of 49 people at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

“I think this incident underlines the fact that LGBT people need to be loved,” said Sanders, 63. “I want to be resilient. I’m a survivor. I’m not going to be taken out by some sick person.”

Authorities said Aldrich used a long rifle and was halted by two club patrons including Richard Fierro, who told reporters that he took a handgun from Aldrich, hit them with it and pinned them down with help from another person until police arrived.

The victims were Raymond Green Vance, 22, a Colorado Springs native who was saving money to get his own apartment; Ashley Paugh, 35, a mother who helped find homes for foster children; Daniel Aston, 28, who had worked at the club as a bartender and entertainer; Kelly Loving, 40, whose sister described her as “caring and sweet,” and Derrick Rump, 38, another club bartender known for his wit.
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People associated with the U.S. military created fake accounts on more than seven internet services as part of a “coordinated inauthentic” influence operation targeting people in Central Asia and the Middle East, according to Meta, the parent of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, in its report out this week.

Although the people behind the operation “attempted to conceal their identities and coordination,” Meta said, its investigation “found links to individuals associated with the U.S. military.” 

The U.S. Department of Defense had not yet responded to a request for comment late Wednesday from VOA.

However, the Department of Defense told BBC News it was “aware of the report published by Meta.”

“At this time, we do not have any further comments on the report or potential actions that may be taken by the department as a result of the report,” it told the BBC.

Meta’s report adds more credence to the theory that the U.S. military was behind the operation, first reported in August by researchers at Graphika and the Stanford Internet Observatory.

The August report shed light on what was believed to be the first time Facebook and Twitter reported a pro-U.S. operation using methods — including fake personas and coordinated memes — that countries such as Russia and Iran employ to sow disinformation in the U.S. and elsewhere.

In its report, Meta said it had taken down 39 Facebook and 26 Instagram accounts that were part of a coordinated campaign focused on countries such as Afghanistan, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Somalia, Syria, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Yemen. The campaign operated not only on Meta’s Facebook and Instagram but also on YouTube, Telegram, Russia social media site VKontakte, and Odnoklassniki, a social media site based in Russia and used in former Soviet states.

The fake accounts, which posted on themes such as sports or culture, emphasized cooperation with the U.S. and criticized Iran, China and Russia, Meta said. The postings, mostly made during U.S. East Coast business hours, were primarily in Arabic, Farsi and Russian. They praised the U.S. military and included COVID-19 content, which Meta removed for “violating our misinformation policy.”

Facebook’s automated system detected and disabled some of the posts, the firm said. The campaign’s overall impact did not appear to catch on in local communities. “The majority of this operation’s posts had little to no engagement from authentic communities,” Meta said.

After the initial revelations about the operation, the Pentagon launched a review of its clandestine psychological operations, according to The Washington Post. 
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Refugees from around the world who resettled in the Washington area got together to celebrate their first Thanksgiving in the United States. VOA’s Shahnaz Nafees has the story.
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When Donald Trump ran for president in 2016, the businessman and entertainment figure was seen as a disruptor. Facing defeat in his bid for re-election in 2020, he stressed election denialism. Now, as he eyes 2024, he’s touting his first-term record and policy plans. VOA’s Anita Powell reports.
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Turkey’s offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters is quickly ratcheting up tensions with Washington, with new information suggesting some Turkish airstrikes have put U.S. personnel in harm’s way.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees the approximately 900 U.S. troops in Syria tasked with countering the Islamic State terror group, said Wednesday that at least one of the airstrikes, against a counterterrorism base in the country’s northeast, did endanger U.S. forces.

“We have received additional information that there was a risk to U.S. troops and personnel,” CENTCOM spokesman Colonel Joe Buccino said in a statement shared with VOA.

“These actions threaten our shared goals, including the continued fight against ISIS to ensure the group can never resurge and threaten the region,” he added, using another acronym for IS.

CENTCOM officials have so far declined to provide additional information about the incident Tuesday, which targeted a base near Hasakah used both by the U.S. and by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

SDF reports two casualties

In its initial assessment on Tuesday, CENTCOM had said no U.S. forces were at the base at the time of the airstrike, although it criticized the Turkish airstrikes in general, saying such actions “do place U.S. troops operating in Syria to defeat ISIS at risk.”

SDF officials said Tuesday’s airstrike killed two U.S.-trained members of its counterterrorism forces.

An SDF spokesman told VOA on Wednesday that U.S. troops had been at the base just five days earlier, doing some aerial surveillance of the area.

The U.S. revelation that the Turkish airstrike might have directly endangered U.S. personnel followed repeated calls by U.S. officials for Turkey and the Syrian Kurds to pull back.

“We continue to urge for de-escalation on all sides. … (T)hese strikes from all sides risk our mission, which is to defeat ISIS,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Tuesday, responding to a question from VOA.

On Wednesday, the U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart, emphasizing the need to maintain communications.

Turkey launched its most recent offensive against the Syrian Kurds this past week, blaming them for a November 13 bombing in Istanbul that killed at least eight people and injured dozens more.

The U.S.-backed SDF and the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Syrian-based offshoot of the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist group, have denied responsibility.

While the U.S. views the Kurdish-led SDF as a key ally in the fight against IS and as separate from the YPG, Ankara views the SDF and YPG as a single organization, arguing many fighters belong to both groups.

“Turkey does continue to suffer a legitimate terrorist threat, particularly to their south,” John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, told reporters Tuesday. “They certainly have every right to defend themselves and their citizens.”

But Kirby emphasized Washington’s concerns that Turkish offensive, in the long run, will do more harm than good.

“It might force a reaction by some of our SDF partners that would limit, constrain their ability to continue to fight against ISIS … it’s still viable as a threat,” he said.

The SDF told VOA on Wednesday that those fears were already starting to play out.

SDF spokesman Farhad Shami said Turkey launched five airstrikes against security forces guarding IS families at the al-Hol displaced-persons camp in northeast Syria, allowing some of the families to escape.

The SDF also accused Turkey on Wednesday of targeting civilian infrastructure, including homes, hospitals and schools, killing at least 15 civilians, since the start of its offensive on November 19.

Turkey pledges more

Turkish officials have said the offensive has killed 184 militants, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signaled Wednesday that he was preparing to intensify efforts against the Syrian Kurds.

“While we press ahead with air raids uninterrupted, we will crack down on terrorists also by land at the most convenient time for us,” Erdogan said during a speech to members of parliament.

“Turkey has the power to identify, catch and punish terrorists who are involved in attacks against our country and nation, and those helping them, inside and outside our borders,” he said.

Mutlu Civiroglu and Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report.
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California condors are North America’s largest bird. But they came close to extinction before conservationists and Indigenous communities joined to save them. Matt Dibble reports from California on how the Yurok Tribe is helping condors recover.     
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Skyrocketing food prices due to soaring inflation are taking a bite out of this year’s feast on Thanksgiving, a national holiday in the United States on November 24. People traditionally share a big meal and give thanks for their blessings.

Thanksgiving dinner often includes turkey and trimmings, such as cranberries, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie.

A survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation indicates Thanksgiving dinner costs are up 20% from last year. And the cost of a turkey alone is up 21%.

Some people say they plan to pare down their big holiday feast.

“I will not have as much food this year. I used to have too much food anyway,” said Cynthia Walsh, who lives in Alexandria, Virginia, outside Washington. “What is more important is that my family is together to appreciate what we have.”

For those in need, food banks across the country are lending a hand. But with donations down, and a huge influx of clients, they are feeling the pinch.

Millions of people are reaching to the food banks for help.

Among them is Marguerita Vicencio, who came to the U.S. from Chile six years ago.

“My husband just lost his job, and this is the first time I’ve come to a food bank for help,” she said as she picked up supplies at Food for Others in Fairfax, Virginia, a Washington suburb.

Her 11-year-old son, Tomas Arancibia, said his family combines their Chilean roots with American Thanksgiving traditions.

“We’re going to celebrate with a turkey and the food we get here with my brothers and sisters and friends of our family,” he said.

Annie Turner, executive director of Food for Others, told VOA that high food prices are making it challenging for the nonprofit to support the clients.

“We’ve not only seen an increase in our food costs, but our donors are giving less money, so we have to buy more food ourselves,” she said. “Meanwhile, the number of families that are coming here has increased 60% over this time last year.”

“We get many families who come to get food for Thanksgiving, and we hand out stuffing, potatoes and other fresh produce,” she added. “Instead of providing a turkey, we give them a gift card to buy food, so they can get a turkey or other food they would prefer.”

In the Midwest, food service organizations in cities like Chicago and St. Louis are also getting inundated with clients.

“The number of people turning to our food programs is up 42% compared to last year,” said Greg Trotter, director of marketing and communications at Nourishing Hope, a social services group in Chicago. “Our donations have not been enough to keep pace with the increase in the number of people we serve, which includes a lot more families with children.”

“Even though we had to pay twice as much as we did for turkeys this year, we try to provide turkeys and other holiday food to anyone who comes in the door,” he said.

At the St. Louis Area Foodbank in Missouri, the organization is holding their “Thanksgiving Together” for the fifth year.

“We are distributing Thanksgiving meals to over 4,000 families, the highest we’ve ever planned for,” Meredith Knopp, the president and CEO of the foodbank, told VOA. “Since this area has such a diverse population, which includes people from Afghanistan and large Bosnian and Asian populations, we are also providing foods that they are more accustomed to since not everybody celebrates Thanksgiving.”

In Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the U.S., the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank through its partner agencies reach 800,000 people every month.

Michael Flood, the CEO of the food bank, said a major problem is “we’re having supply issues getting enough turkeys for Thanksgiving.

“Besides turkeys, we’re bringing in truckloads of chickens for people during the holiday,” he said.

At St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix, Arizona, the number of people who come in continues to skyrocket, said Jerry Brown, the director of public relations.

“We’ve had twice as many people than this time last year — 7,000 of them came to our two main locations in one week, which we’ve never had happen before,” Brown said. However, “donors are cutting back, so we’re spending more money on food and we’re giving out more food than we ever have before.”

Despite the obstacles, Brown said the food bank is determined to give families a good Thanksgiving.

“We’re anticipating we will be able to send 12,000 people home with food boxes before Thanksgiving,” Brown said. “We have prided ourselves at St. Mary’s for decades that the last car leaving us before Thanksgiving will have a turkey in the back seat.”
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The Thanksgiving travel rush was back on this year, as people caught planes in numbers not seen in years, setting aside inflation concerns to reunite with loved ones and enjoy some normalcy after two holiday seasons marked by COVID-19 restrictions.

Changing habits around work and play, however, might spread out the crowds and reduce the usual amount of holiday travel stress. Experts say many people will start holiday trips early or return home later than normal because they will spend a few days working remotely — or at least tell the boss they’re working remotely.

The busiest travel days during Thanksgiving week are usually Tuesday, Wednesday and the Sunday after the holiday. This year, the Federal Aviation Administration expects Tuesday to be the busiest travel day with roughly 48,000 scheduled flights.

Chris Williams, of Raleigh, North Carolina, flew Tuesday morning with his wife and two kids to Atlanta, Georgia, to spend the holiday with extended family.

“Of course, it’s a stressful and expensive time to fly,” said Williams, 44, who works in finance. “But after a couple years of not getting to spend Thanksgiving with our extended family, I’d say we’re feeling thankful that the world’s gotten to a safe enough place where we can be with loved ones again.”

Although Williams said the family’s budget has been tight this year, he’s capitalized on the opportunity to teach his kids some personal finance basics. His youngest, 11, has been learning how to budget her allowance money since March and is excited to buy small gifts for her friends on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. “Probably slime,” she said, “with glitter.”

The Transportation Security Administration screened more than 2.6 million travelers on Monday, surpassing the 2.5 million screened the Monday before Thanksgiving in 2019. The same trend occurred Sunday, marking the first year that the number of people catching planes on Thanksgiving week surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

“People are traveling on different days. Not everyone is traveling on that Wednesday night,” says Sharon Pinkerton, senior vice president at the trade group Airlines for America. “People are spreading their travel out throughout the week, which I also think will help ensure smoother operations.”

AAA predicts that 54.6 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home in the U.S. this week, a 1.5% bump over Thanksgiving last year and only 2% less than in 2019. The auto club and insurance seller say nearly 49 million of those will travel by car, and 4.5 million will fly between Wednesday and Sunday.

U.S. airlines struggled to keep up as the number of passengers surged this year.

“We did have a challenging summer,” said Pinkerton, whose group speaks for members including American, United and Delta. She said that airlines have pared their schedules and hired thousands of workers — they now have more pilots than before the pandemic. “As a result, we’re confident that the week is going to go well.”

U.S. airlines plan to operate 13% fewer flights this week than during Thanksgiving week in 2019. However, by using larger planes on average, the number of seats will drop only 2%, according to data from travel-researcher Cirium.

Airlines continue to blame flight disruptions on shortages of air traffic controllers, especially in Florida, a major holiday destination.

Controllers, who work for the Federal Aviation Administration, “get tested around the holidays. That seems to be when we have challenges,” Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle said a few days ago. “The FAA is adding another 10% to headcount, hopefully that’s enough.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has disputed such claims, saying that the vast majority of delays and cancellations are caused by the airlines themselves.

TSA expects airports to be busier than last year and probably about on par with 2019. The busiest day in TSA’s history came on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 2019, when nearly 2.9 million people were screened at airport checkpoints.

Stephanie Escutia, traveling with four children, her husband and her mother, said it took the family four hours to get through checking and security at the Orlando airport early Tuesday. The family was returning to Kansas City in time for Thanksgiving after a birthday trip to Disney World.

“We were surprised at how full the park was,” said Escutia, 32. “We thought it might be down some, but it was packed.”

She welcomed the sense of normalcy and said her family would be gathering for Thanksgiving without worrying about keeping their distance this year. “Now we are back to normal and looking forward to a nice holiday,” she said.

People getting behind the wheel or boarding a plane don’t seem fazed by higher gasoline and airfare prices than last year or the widespread concern about inflation and the economy. That is already leading to predictions of strong travel over Christmas and New Year’s.

“This pent-up demand for travel is still a real thing. It doesn’t feel like it’s going away,” says Tom Hall, a vice president and longtime writer for Lonely Planet, the publisher of travel guides. “That’s keeping planes full, that’s keeping prices high.”
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Tiger Woods, who has played only nine competitive rounds in 2022, topped the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program for the second consecutive year to claim a $15 million bonus, the tour announced Tuesday.  

Woods, whose 82 PGA triumphs share the all-time record with Sam Snead, led the analysis of global media exposure with top-ranked FedEx Cup winner Rory McIlroy second and Jordan Spieth third.  

McIlroy, a four-time major winner, took home $12 million while Spieth, a three-time major champion, made $9 million.  

The second-year impact program paid money to 23 players, the top 20 as planned plus three additional players who would have made the list under tweaked 2023 criteria — Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and Americans Cameron Young and Sam Burns. Each will be paid $2 million.  

The program, designed to reward those who delivered greater interest in the PGA, uses data measurement of internet searches, news article mentions, weekend television sponsor exposure, popularity measurement and social media reach and engagement.  

Woods, a 15-time major winner who turns 47 next month, continued to recover this year from severe leg injuries suffered in a February 2021 car crash.  

Woods finished 47th at the Masters in his return to competition, making the cut and battling through the walk over 72 holes at hilly Augusta National.  

He made the cut in May at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills but withdrew due to leg pain after three rounds. Woods missed the cut at the British Open in July at St. Andrews.  

Woods has announced he will play in next week’s Hero World Challenge, an invitational which he hosts in the Bahamas. 

He also will partner with McIlroy against the US duo of Spieth and Justin Thomas, this year’s PGA Championship winner, in “The Match,” a 12-hole exhibition under lights next month at Pelican Golf Club in Belleaire, Florida. 

There is also a chance that Woods will make a third consecutive appearance with son Charlie at the father-son PNC Championship in Orlando on December 15-18. 

Thomas was fourth on the bonus list at $7.5 million followed in order by Spain’s Jon Rahm ($6 million), Masters champion Scottie Scheffler ($5.5 million), Tokyo Olympic champion Xander Schauffele ($5 million), US Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick ($5 million) and Americans Will Zalatoris ($5 million) and Tony Finau ($5 million).    
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Police in the U.S. state of Virginia are investigating a shooting at a Walmart store late Tuesday that left multiple people dead and wounded. 

A police spokesman told reporters he did not know the number of dead, but at that moment it was “less than 10.” 

The spokesman also said police believe there was a lone shooter responsible for the attack and that the shooter was dead. 

The attack comes just days after a shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that left five dead and 18 wounded. 

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters. 
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Sumo, traditional Japanese wrestling, is attracting fans and participants in the United States. From Los Angeles, Mike O’Sullivan reports that sumo’s appeal also extends beyond the heavyweights who dominate the professional sport.
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A senior U.S. diplomat this week accused the Russian forces invading Ukraine of “systemic” war crimes, saying that abuses are taking place at a scale that suggests leaders in the highest levels of the Kremlin know about and support them.

Russia claimed the allegation was not supported with evidence and that reports of Ukrainian atrocities were being ignored.

In a briefing at the State Department on Monday, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice Beth Van Schaack said evidence of Russian war crimes collected by nongovernmental organizations, the media and dedicated war crimes investigators is extensive.

Van Schaack signaled strong U.S. support for the various efforts currently underway to document war crimes and to eventually present formal charges at the International Criminal Court or other suitable venues.

“The aggression against Ukraine is a manifest violation of the U.N. Charter, and we have mounting evidence that this aggression has been accompanied by systemic war crimes committed in every region where Russia’s forces have been deployed,” Van Schaack said. “This includes deliberate, indiscriminate, and disproportionate attacks against the civilian population and elements of the civilian infrastructure. We’re seeing custodial abuses of civilians and POWs and also efforts to cover up these crimes.”

‘All the way up the chain of command’

She said the evidence suggests that “these atrocities are not the acts of rogue units or individuals. Rather, they are part of a deeply disturbing pattern of reports of abuse across all areas where we’re seeing Russia’s forces engage.”

Pointing specifically to “filtration” camps, through which an untold number of Ukrainian civilians, including many children, have been processed and deported to Russia, she said that the scale of the operation suggests the Kremlin’s direct support.

“Prosecutors will follow the evidence where it leads, but when we’re seeing such systemic acts, including the creation of a vast filtration network, it’s very hard to imagine how these crimes could be committed without responsibility going all the way up the chain of command,” she said.

Implicating Putin

Monday’s remarks from Van Schaack were not the first time a senior U.S. official has accused Russia of war crimes, but experts said that her comments seemed to mark a shift in the administration’s attitude toward future prosecutions.

David J. Scheffer, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, told VOA that Van Schaack’s emphasis on the “systemic” nature of the alleged war crimes was important.

“She is, rather formally, acknowledging that the commission of war crimes by the Russian military is not an isolated string of crimes, but rather, is part of an overall plan and executed on a large scale basis,” Scheffer said.

“That is not stated lightly, because once there is a determination that war crimes are being committed systemically, that involves sophisticated planning, organization and execution, which can only take place, normally, from the leadership level.”

In that case, he added, “the investigation takes on a much broader and significant character, because there you’re going to the top. You’re trying to establish superior responsibility with respect to civilian leaders like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, or command responsibility with respect to military commanders in the Ministry of Defense.”

New tone from US

The United States has not always been broadly supportive of efforts to establish standards for international criminal law, but in this case, the Biden administration has been actively supporting a variety of ongoing inquiries, including direct cooperation with the International Criminal Court.

“It’s a really remarkable shift in the U.S. stance on international criminal law, from multiple previous administrations, to see this level of involvement,” Marti Flacks, director of the Human Rights Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told VOA. “It’s a sign of, in part, just how serious and widespread and systematic the crimes in Ukraine are at this point.”

In past conflicts, including the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s, prosecution of war criminals has been a slow-moving process. However, Flacks said, the combination of surveillance technology and a seeming willingness by Russia to flagrantly violate international law may result in a more rapid pace of indictments.

“I would expect that we’ll see some of those charges come out in a matter of months and not a matter of years,” she said. “The question is how long it’s going to take to actually get to a prosecution, which, of course, requires a defendant. And that’s where we may be playing a very long game, in terms of maintaining that evidence and, and having those procedures ready to go when … we’re able to take someone into custody.”

Indictments may be sealed

In the event that cases made against Russian individuals are complicated by the accused person remaining in Russia, Van Schaack said prosecutors have the ability to issue indictments “in absentia” in order to establish evidence and issue arrest warrants.

Flacks, of CSIS, said that she would also expect some indictments to be issued under seal, so as not to alert individuals that there are active arrest warrants naming them.

“It’s actually very practical,” she said. “You don’t want to announce that somebody’s wanted and deter them from traveling to a place where they might actually be arrested.”

Russian accusations

The comments from Van Schaack come at the same time that Russian sources have been making claims that they have evidence of a war crime committed by Ukrainian forces.

A snippet of video being widely shared on Russian social media shows a group of Russian soldiers emerging from a building, appearing to surrender to Ukrainian forces and being instructed to lie on the ground. With several Russian soldiers already on the ground, another person follows them out of the building and appears to fire a weapon toward Ukrainian troops. The video cuts away, but another scene, apparently shot later, appears to show the Russians who had been lying on the ground still in similar positions, but now dead in pools of blood.

Asked to address the video, Van Schaack said that U.S. officials are monitoring the situation closely, and stressed that the laws of war must be observed by both sides in the conflict.

However, she added, “When we’re looking at the sheer scale of criminality exhibited by Russian forces, it’s enormous compared to the allegations that we have seen against Ukrainian forces. And likewise we’re seeing a really vast difference when it comes to the reaction to such allegations. Russia inevitably responds with propaganda, denial, mis- and disinformation, whereas the Ukrainian authorities have generally acknowledged abuses and have denounced them and have pledged to investigate them.”

Russia responds

The Russian embassy in Washington responded to Van Schaack’s statements with a post on Facebook.

“We noted the statements of Ambassador-at-Large on International Criminal Justice Beth [Van Schaack] on the murder of captured Russian military personnel by Ukrainian neo-Nazis,” the statement said. “The official refused to directly condemn the massacre of our unarmed soldiers, despite the confirmation of the authenticity of the relevant video materials by American journalists, who did not hush up the tragedy.”

It continued, “The diplomat cynically referred to the fact that the ‘war crimes’ of the Russian Army are recorded ‘many times more often’ than those by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the same time the State Department yet again failed to provide any evidence of violent acts allegedly committed by our servicemen.”
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Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. health official celebrated and vilified as the face of the country’s COVID-19 pandemic response, used his final White House briefing on Tuesday to denounce division and promote vaccines.

Fauci, who plans to retire soon as President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser and top U.S. infectious disease official, has dealt with the thorny questions around health crises from HIV/AIDS to avian flu and Ebola.

But it was his handling of COVID — and his blunt assessments from the White House podium that Americans needed to change their behavior in light of the pandemic — that made him a hero to public health advocates while serving under President Donald Trump, a villain to some on the right and an unusual celebrity among bureaucratic officials used to toiling in obscurity. Fauci has regularly been subjected to death threats for his efforts.

True to form, Fauci used the final press briefing to strongly encourage Americans to get COVID vaccines and booster shots, and touted the effectiveness of masks, all of which became partisan totems in the United States.

The United States leads the world in recorded COVID-19 deaths with more than 1 million.

After 13 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines given worldwide, Fauci said, there is “clearly an extensive body of information” that indicates that they are safe.

“When I see people in this country because of the divisiveness in our country … not getting vaccinated for reasons that have nothing to do with public health, but have to do because of divisiveness and ideological differences, as a physician, it pains me,” Fauci said.

“I don’t want to see anybody hospitalized, and I don’t want to see anybody die from COVID. Whether you’re a far-right Republican or a far-left Democrat, doesn’t make any difference to me.”

Fauci is stepping down in December after 54 years of public service. The 81-year-old has headed the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, since 1984.

The veteran immunologist has served as an adviser to seven U.S. presidents beginning with Republican Ronald Reagan. He made his first appearance at the White House press briefing in 2001.

Republican lawmakers including fierce critic Senator Rand Paul, with whom Fauci tangled during Senate hearings, have vowed to investigate him when they take control of the House of Representatives following November’s congressional elections.

On Tuesday, Fauci said he “will absolutely cooperate fully” in any congressional oversight hearings launched by Republicans next year.
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Alexander Boyce thought he was born to make music. But somewhere along the way the Dominican born Boyce turned to painting. And that has made all the difference. Ginny Niwa reports for VOA.
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