Month: September 2023

Bill Richardson, a two-term Democratic governor of New Mexico and a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who dedicated his post-political career to working to free Americans detained overseas, has died. He was 75.

The Richardson Center for Global Engagement, which he founded and led, said in a statement Saturday that he died in his sleep at his home in Chatham, Massachusetts.

“He lived his entire life in the service of others — including both his time in government and his subsequent career helping to free people held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad,” said Mickey Bergman, the center’s vice president. “There was no person that Governor Richardson would not speak with if it held the promise of returning a person to freedom. The world has lost a champion for those held unjustly abroad, and I have lost a mentor and a dear friend.”

Before his election in 2002 as governor, Richardson was U.N. ambassador and energy secretary under President Bill Clinton and served 14 years as a congressman representing northern New Mexico.

Richardson also traveled the globe as an unofficial diplomatic troubleshooter, negotiating the release of hostages and American servicemen from North Korea, Iraq, Cuba and Sudan. He bargained with a who’s who of America’s adversaries, including Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. It was a role that Richardson relished, once describing himself as “the informal undersecretary for thugs.”

Armed with a golden resume and wealth of experience in foreign and domestic affairs, Richardson ran for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president in hopes of becoming the nation’s first Hispanic president. He dropped out of the race after fourth-place finishes in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.

Richardson was the nation’s only Hispanic governor during his two terms. He described being governor as “the best job I ever had.”

“It’s the most fun. You can get the most done. You set the agenda,” Richardson said.

As governor, Richardson signed legislation in 2009 that repealed the death penalty. He called it the “most difficult decision in my political life” because he previously had supported capital punishment.

Other accomplishments as governor included $50,000-a-year minimum salaries for the most qualified teachers in New Mexico, an increase in the state minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.50 an hour, pre-kindergarten programs for 4-year-olds, renewable energy requirements for utilities and financing for large infrastructure projects, including a commercial spaceport in southern New Mexico and a $400 million commuter rail system.

Richardson continued his freelance diplomacy even while serving as governor. He had barely started his first term as governor when he met with two North Korean envoys in Santa Fe. He traveled to North Korea in 2007 to recover remains of American servicemen killed in the Korean War. In 2006, he persuaded Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to free Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist Paul Salopek.

Richardson transformed the political landscape in New Mexico. He raised and spent record amounts on his campaigns. He brought Washington-style politics to an easygoing western state with a part-time Legislature.

Lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, complained that Richardson threatened retribution against those who opposed him. Democratic state Sen. Tim Jennings of Roswell once said Richardson was “beating people over the head” in his dealings with lobbyists on a health care issue. Richardson dismissed criticisms of his administrative style.

“Admittedly, I am aggressive. I use the bully pulpit of the governorship,” Richardson said. “But I don’t threaten retribution. They say I am a vindictive person. I just don’t believe that.”

Longtime friends and supporters attributed Richardson’s success partly to his relentlessness. Bob Gallagher, who headed the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, said if Richardson wanted something done then “expect him to have a shotgun at the end of the hallway. Or a ramrod.”

After dropping out of the 2008 presidential race, Richardson endorsed Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton. That happened despite a long-standing friendship with the Clintons.

Obama later nominated Richardson as secretary of commerce, but Richardson withdrew in early 2009 because of a federal investigation into an alleged pay-to-play scheme involving his administration in New Mexico.

Months later, the federal investigation ended with no charges against Richardson and his former top aides. Richardson had a troubled tenure as energy secretary because of a scandal over missing computer equipment with nuclear weapons secrets at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the government’s investigation and prosecution of former nuclear weapons scientist Wen Ho Lee.

Richardson approved Lee’s firing at Los Alamos in 1999. Lee spent nine months in solitary confinement, charged with 59 counts of mishandling sensitive information. Lee later pleaded guilty to one count of mishandling computer files and was released with the apology of a federal judge.

William Blaine Richardson was born in Pasadena, California, but grew up in Mexico City with a Mexican mother and an American father who was a U.S. bank executive.

He attended prep school in Massachusetts and was a star baseball player. He later went to Tufts University and its graduate school in international relations, earning a master’s degree in international affairs.

Richardson moved to New Mexico in 1978 after working as a Capitol Hill staffer. He wanted to run for political office and said New Mexico, with its Hispanic roots, seemed like a good place. He campaigned for Congress just two years later — his only losing race.

In 1982, he won a new congressional seat from northern New Mexico that the state picked up in reapportionment. He resigned from Congress in 1997 to join the Clinton administration as U.N. ambassador and became secretary of energy in 1998, holding the post until the end of the Clinton presidency.
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Even on a blisteringly hot day in Marion, Kansas, Margaret Harris was not deterred from her task of tending to flowers memorializing her friend, Joan Meyer.

At 98 years old, Meyer was a stalwart in this small Midwestern town, where she was co-owner of the local newspaper, the Marion County Record. Her friend, Harris, has lived in the area for more than 80 years and says she knew Meyer for decades.

Meyer’s death one day after police raided the paper’s newsroom and her home was a shock both to Harris and the community of under 2,000 people.

Harris and Meyer had a long family connection: Their fathers fought together during World War I. Harris believes that Meyer was particularly upset about the raid on her home and paper because their fathers had risked their lives to defend their freedoms.

“So it means a lot to me to support Joan because of the war and our history together with our fathers,” Harris told VOA after taking care of the memorial outside the Marion County Record’s newsroom.

Harris, who ran a store in Marion for over two decades, used to advertise in the newspaper.

“I think it was very unfair to raid the paper and also Joan’s house,” she said. “When the police are raiding your house, who do you call?”

Police have defended the August 11 raid, saying it was over a complaint that a local restaurant owner had filed against the paper. And the publisher — who is also Joan Meyer’s son, Eric — has said he will pursue legal action.

VOA’s multiple attempts to reach local police for direct comment were unsuccessful.

Harris’ efforts underscore the broader support the Marion County Record team received locally and farther afield, in the form of letters and flowers, free food and thousands of new subscriptions.

Considering the crisis facing the local news industry across the United States, that support has been particularly welcome, said Eric Meyer.

While the raid highlights the challenges facing the local news industry in the United States, the legacy of Joan Meyer highlights why local news matters in the first place.

“She was a very generous and kind person, a very smiling and friendly person who loved to joke,” her son told VOA in the Record’s newsroom. “She had a very strong sense of morality and really loved the community, loved Marion, loved what she did.”

The Meyers loved Marion so much that when the longtime owners of the Record, the Hoch family, decided to sell it in 1998, the Meyers bought the paper to prevent a corporation from purchasing it.

“We said, well, we can’t see this group running this thing that my family has been involved with for 50 years,” Eric Meyer said.

Journalism has long been in the Meyer family’s blood. Joan’s husband, Bill, began working at the Record in 1948, and she joined him in the early 1960s.

Eric Meyer wrote for the paper in high school. He later worked for several years at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel before becoming a journalism professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and later returning to Marion to lead the paper.

The Meyer family’s purchase of the paper was a rarity at a time when local media are often bought up by large corporations in a process that can often result in cuts to staff or coverage.

The United States has lost more than one fourth of its newspapers since 2005 and is set to lose one third by 2025, according to a report by Northwestern University’s Medill Local News Initiative. Financial struggles are often to blame, and, in most cases, the papers were weekly community publications.

Meanwhile, statistics from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker show that out of over 90 search-and-seizure instances involving journalists documented since 2017, nine have involved search warrants.

The raid “shows the importance of the local news organizations that are remaining in holding public officials accountable,” Tim Franklin, who leads the Northwestern University’s Medill Local News Initiative, told VOA.

In other cases, particularly in the Midwest, the death of a paper’s elderly publisher can sound the death knell of the paper itself if no one buys it, according to Teri Finneman, a journalism professor at the University of Kansas.

“How many more newspapers are we about to lose from people who can’t sell?” Finneman said. “There’s not nearly enough conversation about how many more are about to be lost.”

The role that local newspapers play in communities is on the mind of Tim Stauffer, president of the Kansas Press Association and managing editor of The Iola Register.

“We believe in what newspapers do for democracy — very strongly. We believe that sunlight is the best medicine,” Stauffer told VOA.

“But I also think it’s a secondary, deeper role that’s now coming more to the forefront about helping connect and build communities that frankly, in rural America, are confronting a lot of challenges,” he said.

Studies show that the fall of local news contributes to a rise in misinformation and polarization, an increase in government and local business corruption, and a decline in civic engagement.

For the Record’s staff the role as public watchdog is a responsibility they take great pride in as they cover everything from the city budget to a local celebrity in the form of a cat who hangs out around a hotel in town.

“We hold the feet of local people who are making decisions — that affect local people —to the fire,” reporter Phyllis Zorn told VOA. “And someone’s got to do it.”

That sentiment is also what drove Joan Meyer and her son Eric to keep the paper running.

Marion born and bred, Joan rarely left her hometown. She worked at a grocery store, hospital and an alfalfa mill, but the bulk of her life — nearly 60 years — was spent as a reporter, columnist, editor and associate publisher at the Record.

For decades, she wrote a column about local history called Memories. She continued to write it every week until last year, due to vision issues. But she would still sometimes write articles, with her son’s help.

To her, the newspaper was an essential element of her hometown, which is a sentiment her son shares.

“She believed the sense of community was deteriorating” in Marion, Eric Meyer said. “The best way to encourage community is to let people know what’s happening.”
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Gushiken Takamatsu balances his spectacles on the tip of his nose before switching on his headlight, revealing the blackened fragments on the floor of the cave. Using an old plasterer’s tool, he gently combs through the debris before picking out a jagged, triangular piece of bone.

“Zugaikotsu,” he says, in a gentle Okinawan accent. “Skull.” He points to the patterns created by blood vessels on the inside of the skull, clearly visible after nearly 80 years.

The 69-year-old speaks quietly to himself as he collects other pieces from the cave floor — fragments of finger bones and what appears to be a kneecap. “Is this dead person a soldier or a civilian?” he asks. “I think it was a flamethrower that did this. Everything is burned.”

The jungle caves of Okinawa hide the remains of thousands of civilians and soldiers, victims of the last major battle of World War II.

On April 1, 1945, American forces invaded the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa, triggering one of the bloodiest land battles of the Pacific. Takamatsu has spent decades searching for the remains of those who died. Now he fears Okinawa is once again caught in the crosshairs of potential conflict.

Cave diggers

For decades, the bones of the victims have lain undisturbed as Japan tried to forget its wartime past. That shames the nation, says Takamatsu. The Okinawan native founded Gamafuya, or “cave digger,” a small group of volunteers dedicated to finding the remains of wartime victims and reuniting them with their living descendants.

“I’m often asked why I started doing this,” Takamatsu says. “I was born in Naha city [the Okinawan capital], and there were many remains of people who died in the war around my house. It was the kind of place where you would still see skeletons wearing steel helmets when you went out to play in the mountains. When I was a child it was just scary. But as I got older and matured, I wondered why the victims of this war were still there.”

‘Never-ending’

Through 40 years of searching, Takamatsu has discovered the remains of over 700 people. The Japanese government does not provide financial help. Finally, in 2011, it agreed to offer DNA testing on the remains. However, the number of Japanese citizens registered on the database is small, while many relatives of the victims have likely already died.

“We are one or two volunteers,” Takamatsu tells VOA. “In reality, the government should be doing this. But even though we ask, they refuse. I want to show that if you look for the remains in this way, you can find them. This work isn’t finished yet.”

He gathers together the fragments he has found, before saying a short prayer — and promises that he will return to the cave to finish the search another day. “After about five hours, if I do more than that, I’ll get too tired. So I’ll do it next time,” he says. “This work is never-ending.”

Reunited

Hacking through the jungle, Takamatsu heads to another site where he has found human remains. He climbs over the jagged rocks and into a shaded ravine. At the base, several long bones are neatly aligned beneath the decaying leaves and soil. Other remains are concealed beneath large rocks that have cascaded down the ravine, possibly as a result of the ferocious battles that raged above 78 years ago.

Takamatsu measures a radius, or forearm bone, and determines that the remains belong to an adult male, before jotting his discovery in a battered field notebook. He will have to return with other volunteers to help shift the rocks and remove the other remains.

Takamatsu notifies the police of each of his finds. The bones are taken to a makeshift morgue at the local peace museum before being sent for DNA testing.

So far, Takamatsu has been able to identify four bodies and reunite the bones with their surviving relatives. All were from the Japanese mainland — soldiers sent to Okinawa to fight the American invasion.

The families “didn’t believe me at first,” Takamatsu says. “They were suspicious and thought it was a scam. But I understand how they felt. For 70 years they didn’t hear anything, and then they get a phone call to say their relative had been found. It was like their father was coming home. They were very happy.”

Battle of Okinawa

The American invasion of Okinawa triggered three months of ferocious fighting. Around 90,000 Japanese soldiers and 12,000 U.S. troops had been killed by the time American forces seized the capital, Naha, in early June 1945. The United States feared such losses would continue if its forces invaded the Japanese mainland. Those concerns partly led to the decision to drop nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki two months later. Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945.

The civilian toll in Okinawa was even higher, with an estimated 100,000 people killed — around a quarter of the prewar population of the islands.

The Japanese government told local inhabitants that they would be beaten and murdered by U.S. forces. Many hid in the island’s caves. Some committed suicide as the fighting approached.

“The inhabitants were not allowed to surrender. If you surrendered to the Americans and tried to walk out with your hands up, the Japanese would shoot you in the back,” Takamatsu tells VOA.

“They were told that no one would survive if captured by the U.S. military,” he says. “They said that women would be beaten and killed, while all the men would be lined up on the road and run over by tanks. So, the residents were very afraid of the American military. However, it wasn’t until after they became prisoners of war that they realized that wasn’t true. The U.S. military provided the residents with food and medical care.”

Allies

Fast forward to the present, and the United States and Japan are now close allies. Okinawa hosts almost 30,000 American troops, and it is among the most important U.S. military bases in the Pacific, seen by Washington as an increasingly vital deterrent amid growing Indo-Pacific tensions.

In the remote Henoko Bay on the east coast of the island, a new U.S. air base is being built. It’s hoped the new base will relieve pressure on existing facilities, especially the Futenma air base, which is located in a residential area north of Naha and has long created tensions with locals.

However, some of the earth used in the construction of the Henoko base is being excavated from the south of Okinawa — from battlegrounds where U.S. forces came ashore in 1945.

Local authorities insist the material is screened before it is dug up. Takamatsu says it likely contains the remains of Japanese and American soldiers. “This is blasphemy against the dead. I’m imploring them to stop doing it,” he says.

China tensions

Meanwhile, as regional tensions escalate with China over Taiwan, and with North Korea over its missile and nuclear weapons programs, there are growing fears that these heavily militarized islands could once again be caught in the crosshairs of a Pacific war.

“Missiles will fly to Okinawa again. If there is a war, this place will be attacked. That’s what bothers me the most,” Takamatsu tells VOA. “Let’s all stand together. Let’s eliminate war from the Earth. I believe that if we ordinary citizens join hands, we can do it.”

A solitary figure searching through the caves, Takamatsu is trying to heal the wounds of Okinawa’s past; to offer the victims dignity where the state has failed to intervene; to show respect for sacrifice where much of the nation would rather leave the remains to decay undisturbed, along with that troubled period of Japanese wartime history.

Takamatsu’s painstaking work is also an act of protest against war — an appeal for peace — as the danger of conflict once again edges closer to these islands.
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U.S. President Joe Biden heads to Florida on Saturday to survey damage caused by Hurricane Idalia and comfort people affected by the storm, but he will not be meeting Ron DeSantis, the state’s Republican governor and a potential presidential rival.

Biden, a Democrat, told reporters on Friday he would see the governor during the trip, but DeSantis’s spokesman Jeremy Redfern said later that no meeting was planned and that “the security preparations alone that would go into setting up such a meeting would shut down ongoing recovery efforts.”

DeSantis, 44, is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination to oust Biden from the White House but trails former President Donald Trump in polls. Biden, 80, is running for re-election.

Biden and DeSantis have spoken regularly through the week about the storm, which pummeled Florida’s Big Bend region with Category 3 winds of nearly 200 kph (125 mph). On Wednesday the president said politics had not crept into their conversations. “I think he trusts my judgment and my desire to help,” Biden said.

The White House said that Biden, who is traveling with his wife, Jill, informed DeSantis about the visit during a conversation on Thursday, and that the governor did not raise concerns then. 

“Their visit to Florida has been planned in close coordination with FEMA as well as state and local leaders to ensure there is no impact on response operations,” White House spokesperson Emilie Simons said, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

DeSantis has been a sharp critic of Biden, and the two have clashed over COVID-19 vaccines, abortion and LGBTQ rights. But they met last year when Biden went to Florida to assess the devastation from Hurricane Ian. Biden said at the time that they had worked together “hand-in-glove.”

DeSantis may not want to be photographed with Biden overlooking storm damage now as the Republican presidential primary race intensifies. Although he trails Trump, DeSantis leads the other Republican candidates in the race.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who is also running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, drew criticism for his praise of President Barack Obama in 2012 when the Democrat visited his state in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy.

Biden visited Hawaii last week in the aftermath of deadly fires there and said on Wednesday that no one could deny the climate crisis in light of the extreme weather. He is slated to travel to his home state of Delaware for the weekend after concluding the Florida trip.
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On Friday, Texas became the most populous state with a ban in effect against gender-affirming care for minors.

The law was allowed to kick in after a court ruling Thursday, part of a flurry of action across the country on policies aimed at transgender people and their rights. A separate Texas ruling blocked a law that drag show performers feared would shut them down.

Here’s a look at the latest developments and what’s next.

Texas gender-affirming care ban takes effect

In its ruling Thursday, the Texas Supreme Court allowed a law banning gender-affirming care including puberty blockers, hormones and surgery for minors.

The ruling is not final, but allows enforcement of the law while courts determine whether it’s constitutional. The decision is also a reversal of a lower court from the week before, when a state judge had said the law should be put on hold while it’s sorted out.

Since 2021, 22 Republican-controlled states have passed laws restricting access to gender-affirming care for minors. At least 13 states, meanwhile, have adopted measures intended to protect access.

Several of the bans are so new that they haven’t taken effect yet. Missouri’s kicked in earlier this week. Enforcement of the laws in Arkansas, Georgia and Indiana are currently on hold.

There are legal challenges to the policies across the country, and there isn’t a clear pattern for how courts handle them. None have reached a final court decision.

Courts in three states hold hearings on care restrictions

Two court hearings on the matter Friday did not immediately change the status quo in three states but showed how thorny the legal issues can be.

In Florida, a judge declined to take steps to immediately ease access to gender-affirming treatment for children or adults. Both age groups were affected by a ban which, unlike other states, also has a provision that restricts access to care for adults. The ban on treatment was signed into law in May by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

District Judge Robert Hinkle said that he would consider changes for adult plaintiffs if he sees medical evidence on how going without treatments could be harmful.

He has a trial scheduled for February on the constitutionality of the Florida law.

But he noted that with similar cases moving through courts across the country, whatever he decides won’t be the final word.

Also Friday, a three-judge panel from the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court heard arguments on whether states can ban puberty blockers and hormones for transgender minors in both Kentucky and Tennessee, as lawsuits challenging the statutes makes their way through the courts. The appellate judges did not make a ruling but noted that a key factor would be determining which side was being more compassionate.

Alaska moves to restrict sports participation for transgender girls

The Alaska state board of education on Thursday voted in favor of a policy that would keep transgender girls out of girls sports competitions.

The board’s action is a major step, but not the final one for the policy.

It’s up to Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor to decide whether to implement it. The attorney general, like the school board, was appointed by Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who has called for such a ban.

At least 24 states have adopted laws restricting sports participation, including four where courts have put enforcement on hold.

Kansas no longer has to change birth certificates

A federal judge ruled Thursday that Kansas officials no longer have to change transgender people’s birth certificates to match their gender identities.

The ruling undoes a 2019 federal consent agreement that required the state to make the changes when asked. The reason for the change is a new state law that defines male and female as the sex assigned at birth.

The ruling puts Kansas among a small group of states, including Montana, Oklahoma and Tennessee, that bar such birth certificate changes. Under a separate legal filing from Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach in July, the state is among a few that do not allow people to change the sex on their driver’s licenses.

Texas law that drag performers feared is put on hold

Not all the latest developments are losses for transgender people.

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked a new Texas law that drag show artists feared would be used to shut them down or put them in jail.

The law, which expands the definition of what’s considered an illegal public performance of sexual conduct in front of children, was scheduled to take effect on Friday.

But a group of LGBTQ+ rights advocate and drag performers sued to block it. U.S. District Judge David Hittner agreed with their contention that it likely violates the First Amendment and paused enforcement while he prepares a more permanent order in the case.

Judges have also blocked enforcement of bans on drag performances in Florida and Tennessee.

This week, advocates filed a lawsuit in Tennessee trying to stop a local prosecutor who said he intends to enforce the law there despite the federal court ruling. On Friday, a federal judge ruled that law enforcement officials cannot use the limits to interfere with a local Pride festival in Blount County this weekend.

Canada responds with a travel advisory

Canada this week updated its travel advisory to the U.S., alerting members of the LGBTQ+ community that some states have enacted laws that could affect them.

The advisory doesn’t single out states and it doesn’t go as far as telling Canadians not to travel to the neighboring nation. Instead, it tells them to check local laws.

Non-government groups have issued similar warnings. In June, the Human Rights Campaign, the largest U.S.-based group devoted to LGBTQ+ rights, declared a state of emergency for community members in the U.S.

And in May, the NAACP issued a travel advisory about Florida citing policies and laws including bans on gender-affirming care for minors, requirements that transgender people use school bathrooms that don’t match their gender, and restrictions on drag performances — although those were later put on hold.
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Another attempted coup in Africa, and a glimmer of hope for reviving the Black Sea grain deal. VOA Correspondent Margaret Besheer has more on the top stories this week at the United Nations.
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The United States will continue to push back against Beijing’s “false maritime claims,” said John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, in response to China’s newly released 2023 map that has drawn the ire of India, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines.

In an interview with VOA White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara on Friday, Kirby spoke about expectations for President Joe Biden’s upcoming trip to the G20 summit in New Delhi, followed by a visit to Hanoi, where the U.S. is expected to upgrade bilateral ties with Vietnam. He also previewed Vice President Kamala Harris’ upcoming engagement with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta, Indonesia.

This transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: We are hearing that [Chinese] President Xi Jinping may not be attending the G20. President Biden said that he hopes that he will still attend. Is there a sense that the president’s disappointed? Was there a Biden-Xi meeting that is now not going to happen?

John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator: As far as I know, there hasn’t been a formal decision made by the [People’s Republic of China]. We’ll certainly leave it to them to talk about his attendance plans. As the president said, we certainly hope that President Xi would attend.

G20 is an important forum, and this year there’s a focus on improving economic cooperation around the world. So clearly, there will be a role for the PRC, and we would hope that he will take advantage of that.

VOA: China just released its annual map that seems to be more expansive. It’s not just the nine-dash line, it’s now the 10-dash line. How does the administration feel about this?

Kirby: We have been very, very consistent about pushing back on these false maritime claims of the PRC. This map doesn’t change that policy. But it’s not just what lines they draw on the map. It’s about their coercive behavior. It’s about the way they intimidate [their] neighbors and some of our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific, to try to advance these false maritime claims.

VOA: Do we expect the vice president to be that forward leaning as you have laid out when she visits the region? Last year she went to Palawan Island. Can we expect that kind of a pushback this year?

Kirby: The vice president’s very much looking forward to her participation at the ASEAN summit. She will not shy away from talking about our responsibilities as a Pacific power. She will not shy away about talking about how seriously we take our security commitments to our allies and partners throughout the region. Five of our seven treaty alliances are in the Indo-Pacific region.

VOA: One of the proposals that the president will bring to New Delhi is to bolster the capacity of the IMF [International Monetary Fund] and the World Bank to provide lending for global development projects as an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

There is already a Western push for this. It was initially called Build Back Better World, B3W, and then the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, PGII and now this push to move together with the World Bank and the IMF. Is there a change of strategy or perhaps a scaling down of ambition here?

Kirby: Not at all. In fact, it’s quite consistent with everything the president has been saying since he took office. The data show that his approach to economic prosperity, building from the bottom up and the middle out — Bidenomics — works here at home. The president believes that that same approach can work globally. One of the ways is through revitalizing multilateral development investment. That’s why he has asked Congress for another $25 billion to reshape the World Bank. That’s why he has appointed the new head of the World Bank.

And it’s why the president — as you rightly said — also launched a couple years ago the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, which is already starting to pay dividends. The PGII won’t necessarily be on the agenda at the G20. But we’re certainly hoping that we’ll get a chance to talk about it.

VOA: So, this is in addition, not in place of the PGII program?

Kirby: The PGII is something separate and distinct from what we’re trying to do in terms of the World Bank. 

I think it’s important to keep all this in context. Developing countries are looking for alternatives to the high interest loan programs that the PRC is putting out. What the president and the G7, G20 leaders wanted to put in place are alternatives to that so that developing countries who have been affected by the war in Ukraine can address those problems.

VOA: Is the president disappointed that — unlike in G20 Bali — this time around the G20 chair, India, is not inviting [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy to speak?

Kirby: That’s really up to the G20 chair. President Zelenskyy had a chance to address NATO allies in Vilnius not too long ago. He certainly has had multiple opportunities to speak with foreign leaders on his own. We believe that it’s important that people stay focused on supporting Ukraine to the degree they can, but as far as an invitation, I’d refer you to the Indians.

VOA: Can we get some more clarity on a possible Biden – [Saudi Crown Prince] MBS [Mohammed bin Salman] meeting? Would this be a good opportunity to forward the agenda of a Saudi-Israel normalization?

Kirby: The president believes strongly that our strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia is important. That’s why we continue to work on that partnership and see it starting to bear fruit, in terms of the truce in Yemen.

In trying to encourage progress towards normalization with Israel, there’s been a lot of good work with Saudi Arabia. The president looks forward to any opportunity to try to advance that, I just don’t have anything on the schedule.

VOA: Our diplomatic sources say that Vietnam is interested in upgrading ties to not just a Strategic Partnership, but to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which would be a really big deal. Can you confirm this?

Kirby: I’m not in a position to confirm. We very much value the growing partnership that we have with Vietnam. Some of our interests are merging in ways that 10 to 15 years ago you couldn’t even imagine. 

The Vietnamese are of course concerned about PRC activities in their part of the Indo-Pacific. There’s an awful lot of shared common interests here, and the president’s looking forward to discussing how we can advance those interests. But I won’t get ahead of specifics.

VOA: An op-ed in The Jakarta Post said that “ASEAN matters little if at all enough for Biden to skip the annual gathering, even though he will be in the neighborhood around that time.” Does ASEAN matter to the U.S. beyond officials such as yourself repeating statements of ASEAN centrality?

Kirby: Of course, it does. The president hosted a summit here in Washington, the first ever for ASEAN, and has engaged with ASEAN leaders on numerous occasions in person and, of course, virtually over the last two and a half years. And the vice president also believes strongly in the vibrancy of ASEAN and in our Indo-Pacific relationships.

The first two foreign leaders that President Biden invited to the White House were from Japan and South Korea. The first trip that the Secretary of Defense [Lloyd Austin] and Secretary of State [Antony Blinken] took together, was to the Indo-Pacific region. The president revitalized the Indo-Pacific Quad. The president was responsible for putting together AUKUS [Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States strategic partnership] which will allow us in concert with the United Kingdom to help Australia build a nuclear-powered submarine capability.

We are looking forward to participating in this ASEAN summit because ASEAN is an important forum for discussion and pursuit of these common interests and shared values, as well as addressing the challenges that those countries face. The United States wants to be part of that discussion. We have been with ASEAN since the very beginning of this administration, and we will certainly be going forward.
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An art exhibition in Rockville, Maryland, pays tribute to women in Iran who have been killed for speaking out against injustice. VOA’s Julie Taboh has more.
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In 2023, the Trust for the National Mall and the National Park Service unveiled a state-of-the-art project: the U.S. Park Police Horse Stables and Wells Fargo Education Center. Reporting from the National Mall in Washington, Liliya Anisimova has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Videographer: Elena Matusovsky
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A U.S. congressional delegation visiting Taiwan said Friday the U.S. would act if the island was attacked and promised to resolve the $19 billion backlog in its defense purchases from the U.S.

“Know that any hostile unprovoked attack on Taiwan will result in a resolute reaction from the U.S.,” said Rob Wittman, vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, in a speech, ahead of meetings with President Tsai Ing-Wen.

U.S. law requires Washington provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself and treat all threats to the island as matters of “grave concern,” but remains ambiguous on whether it would commit forces in response to an attack from China.

Wittman of Virginia, along with Carlos Gimenez of Florida and Jen Kiggans of Virginia, arrived Thursday for a three-day visit to Taiwan. The three Republicans are meeting with Tsai and the head of Taiwan’s National Security Council Wellington Koo.

Taiwan is a self-ruled island claimed by China that has faced increasing military harassment in recent years as Chinese fighter jets and navy ships hold daily exercises aimed at the island, often coming near the island or encircling it. Over the years, to beef up its defense, Taiwan has bought $19 billion in military items from the U.S., but most of that remains undelivered.

“We have an obligation to make sure that we fill the backlog of foreign military sales that exist now between our countries,” Wittman said, adding that both Republicans and Democrats were working on the issue.

The U.S. has started finding new ways to support Taiwan in defense aid. In July, the United States has announced $345 million in military aid in a major package drawing on America’s own stockpiles.

On Wednesday, the Biden administration approved the first-ever U.S. military transfer to Taiwan under a program generally reserved for assistance to sovereign, independent states. The amount was modest at $80 million, and officials did not specify what exactly the money would be used for.
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The United States, South Korea, and Japan are imposing new sanctions on individuals and companies that facilitate North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, following Pyongyang’s failed launch of a spy satellite last week – the second attempt this year.

The move also came after North Korea’s military exercise that rehearsed occupying all South Korea territory and a tactical nuclear strike drill earlier this week.

South Korea’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said Friday it has sanctioned North Korea’s Ryu Kyong Program Development Company and five individuals associated with that firm, including its chief, Ryu Kyong-chol, and four others from branch offices in China.

South Korea was the first country to sanction the named individuals and the company, according to the ministry, for activities that include helping North Korea to develop satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Japan’s foreign ministry said Friday it has imposed sanctions on three groups and four individuals involved in North Korea’s nuclear and missile development.

Japan’s chief Cabinet secretary, Matsuno Hirokazu, told reporters after a Cabinet meeting his government would continue to seek North Korea’s denuclearization and closely coordinate with the United States and South Korea.

In Washington, the U.S. Treasury Department Thursday targeted two individuals and one entity, Russia-based Jon Jin Yong, Sergey Mikhaylovich Kozlov, and Intellekt LLC in a separate sanctions announcement.

They were cited for involvement in “generating revenue for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) unlawful development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missiles.” DPRK is the abbreviation for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The three countries pledged to continue working with allies to counter North Korea’s destabilizing activities, citing its use of ballistic missile technology as a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Some analysts warned North Korea’s missile launches in recent months indicated a significant technological advancement.

In July, North Korea successfully tested its newest intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-18.  It marked North Korea’s second solid-propellant ICBM launch following its first test-firing on April 13.

“A solid propellant rocket can be moved around as an individual missile, it doesn’t need any support vehicles.  It could be launched in less than a minute probably.  So even if you have found it and might be tracking it, you may not be able to destroy it [in time],” said Theodore Postol, professor emeritus of science, technology, and national security policy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“This is a very reliable means for attacking the United States or Europe,” Postol told VOA.

On Aug. 18, the U.S., South Korea, and Japan issued “Camp David Principles” after their leaders’ first trilateral summit, where the three allies said they “stand united” in commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea under the U.N. Security Council resolutions, but “remain committed to dialogue with the DPRK with no preconditions.” 
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Nearly 60,000 asylum-seekers are in New York City’s care. Some of them have no choice but to sleep outside, and some residents don’t want them. Nina Vishneva has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.
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A former organizer of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced on Thursday to 17 years in prison for spearheading an attack on the U.S. Capitol to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 presidential election.

The sentence for Joseph Biggs is the second longest among hundreds of Capitol riot cases so far, after the 18-year prison sentence for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes.

Federal prosecutors had recommended a 33-year prison sentence for Biggs, who helped lead dozens of Proud Boys members and associates in marching to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Biggs and other Proud Boys joined the mob that broke through police lines and forced lawmakers to flee, disrupting the joint session of Congress for certifying the electoral victory by Biden, a Democrat.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly said the Jan. 6 attack trampled on an “important American custom,” certifying the Electoral College vote.

“That day broke our tradition of peacefully transferring power, which is among the most precious things that we had as Americans,” the judge said, emphasizing that he was using the past tense in light of how Jan. 6 affected the process.

Biggs acknowledged to the judge that he “messed up that day,” but he blamed being “seduced by the crowd” of Trump supporters outside the Capitol and said he’s not a violent person or “a terrorist.”

“My curiosity got the better of me, and I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life,” he said, claiming he didn’t have “hate in my heart” and didn’t want to hurt people.

Prosecutors, though, defended their decision to seek 33 years behind bars for Biggs, saying it was justified because he and his fellow Proud Boys committed “among the most serious crimes that this court will consider,” pushing the U.S. government “to the edge of a constitutional crisis.”

“There is a reason why we will hold our collective breath as we approach future elections,” prosecutor Jason McCullough said. “We never gave it a second thought before January 6th.”

The judge who sentenced Biggs also will separately sentence four other Proud Boys who were convicted by a jury in May after a four-month trial in Washington, D.C., that laid bare far-right extremists’ embrace of lies by Trump, a Republican, that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Enrique Tarrio, a Miami resident who was the Proud Boys’ national chairman and top leader, is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday. His sentencing was moved from Wednesday to next week because the judge was sick.

Tarrio wasn’t in Washington on Jan. 6. He had been arrested two days before the Capitol riot on charges that he defaced a Black Lives Matter banner during an earlier rally in the nation’s capital, and he complied with a judge’s order to leave the city after his arrest. He picked Biggs and Proud Boys chapter president Ethan Nordean to be the group’s leaders on the ground in his absence, prosecutors said.

Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was a self-described Proud Boys organizer. He served in the U.S. Army for eight years before getting medically discharged in 2013. Biggs later worked as a correspondent for Infowars, the website operated by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

Biggs, Tarrio, Nordean and Proud Boys chapter leader Zachary Rehl were convicted of charges including seditious conspiracy, a rarely brought Civil War-era offense. A fifth Proud Boys member, Dominic Pezzola, was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but was convicted of other serious charges.

Prosecutors also recommended prison sentences of 33 years for Tarrio, 30 years for Rehl, 27 years for Nordean and 20 years for Pezzola. The judge is scheduled to sentence Rehl later on Thursday. Pezzola and Nordean are scheduled to be sentenced on Friday.

Defense attorneys argued that the Justice Department was unfairly holding their clients responsible for the violent actions of others in the crowd of Trump supporters at the Capitol.

More than 1,100 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 600 of them have been convicted and sentenced.

Besides Rhodes, six members of the anti-government Oath Keepers also were convicted of seditious conspiracy after a separate trial last year.
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