US and EU eye North Korea-Iran military cooperation
Posted by Worldcrew On 01/05/2024
Washington — The United States and the European Union say they are keeping their eyes on Pyongyang and Tehran for any possible military cooperation between the two as Iran confirms a North Korean delegation’s visit to the country.
The U.S. “will use all available tools, including interdiction and sanctions, to address such activities,” a State Department spokesperson said in an email to VOA’s Korean Service on Friday.
An EU spokesperson on the same day told VOA Korean that it is also “following closely Iran-DPRK relations and their potential cooperation that could indeed be concerning on certain issues if it violates existing U.N. sanctions.”
North Korea’s official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Pyongyang announced through its state-run KCNA that it sent a delegation led by its External Economic Relations Minister Yun Jong Ho to Iran on April 23.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday that a North Korean delegation visited Tehran last week to discuss bilateral trade, according to Reuters.
But Kanaani dismissed any suspected cooperation on their missile programs, saying it is a “biased speculation” based on “untrue” reports.
The U.S. has accused Pyongyang, Tehran and Beijing of supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Tehran has also been involved in conflict with Israel.
Iran attacked Israel on April 13 with more than 300 missiles and drones and said the assault was in retaliation against an Israeli strike on an Iranian consular building in Damascus, Syria. Israel responded by launching a counterstrike into Iran on April 18.
“It certainly is possible and even probable” that Pyongyang and Tehran are cooperating militarily in the current Middle East conflict, just as they have done since the 1980s, said Robert Peters, a research fellow for nuclear deterrence and missile defense at the Heritage Foundation’s Allison Center for National Security.
Iran is motivated to acquire missiles from North Korea “given Iran’s current approach of laying a siege [around] Israel using missiles supplied to its proxies – Hezbollah, Hamas, and Houthis,” Peters said.
Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis are Iran-backed militant groups that base their operations in Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and Yemen, respectively.
Pyongyang’s arms sales to Tehran began in the 1980s during Iran’s war with Iraq. Their cooperation on missile programs continued since then and expanded.
In January 2016, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Iranians for traveling to Pyongyang and collaborating on the development of North Korea’s 80-ton rocket booster. A few months later, North Korea said it had tested a new rocket engine that had a thrust of 80 tons and would be used in a new space launch vehicle.
North Korea has been accusing Israel of committing “terrorism” against Iran since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
In December, the Israel Defense Forces said North Korean weapons have been turning up in Gaza.
Bruce Bechtol, a former intelligence officer at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency and now a professor at Angelo University in Texas, said arms transfers between Pyongyang and Tehran are “inevitable” regardless of any meeting between the two last week.
“Some of the weapons that North Korea has sent to Russia have gone to Iran first and then up to the Caspian Sea, and Russia has used those weapons in the Ukraine,” said Bechtol, the author of the book “North Korean Military Proliferation in the Middle East and Africa.”
He told VOA that Iran’s Emad medium-range ballistic missiles used in the attack against Israel earlier in the month were made based on the Shahab-3, which Iran first put into use in 2003. That, in turn, was developed from North Korean NoDong missiles that were sent to Tehran in the 1990s.
Bechtol said Iran’s Shahab-3 missiles were developed in a facility that North Korea built for Tehran in the early 2000s. He said Tehran is likely seeking to acquire Pyongyang’s Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Joeun Lee contributed to this report.
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Ukrainian woman, 98, escapes Russian-occupied home on foot with slippers, cane
Posted by Worldcrew On 01/05/2024
KYIV, Ukraine — A 98-year-old woman in Ukraine who escaped Russian-occupied territory by walking almost 10 kilometers (6 miles) alone, wearing a pair of slippers and supported by a cane has been reunited with her family days after they were separated while fleeing to safety.
Lidia Stepanivna Lomikovska and her family decided to leave the front-line town of Ocheretyne, in the eastern Donetsk region, last week after Russian troops entered it and fighting intensified.
Russians have been advancing in the area, pounding Kyiv’s depleted, ammunition-deprived forces with artillery, drones and bombs.
“I woke up surrounded by shooting all around — so scary,” Lomikovska said in a video interview posted by the National Police of Donetsk region.
In the chaos of the departure, Lomikovska became separated from her son and two daughters-in-law, including one, Olha Lomikovska, injured by shrapnel days earlier. The younger family members took to backroads out, but Lydia wanted to stay on the main road.
With a cane in one hand and steadying herself with a splintered piece of wood in the other, she walked all day without food and water to reach Ukrainian lines.
Describing her journey, said she had fallen twice and was forced to stop to rest at some points, even sleeping along the way before waking up and continuing her journey.
“Once I lost balance and fell into weeds. I fell asleep … a little, and continued walking. And then, for the second time, again, I fell. But then I got up and thought to myself: “I need to keep walking, bit by bit,'” Lomikovska said.
Pavlo Diachenko, acting spokesman for the National Police of Ukraine in the Donetsk region, said Lomikovska was saved when Ukrainian soldiers spotted her walking along the road in the evening. They handed her over to the “White Angels,” a police group that evacuates citizens living on the front line, who then took her to a shelter for evacuees and contacted her relatives.
“I survived that war,” she said referring to World War II. “I had to go through this war too, and in the end, I am left with nothing.
“That war wasn’t like this one. I saw that war. Not a single house burned down. But now – everything is on fire,” she said to her rescuer.
In the latest twist to the story, the chief executive of one of Ukraine’s largest banks announced on his Telegram channel Tuesday that the bank would purchase a house for the pensioner.
“Monobank will buy Lydia Stepanivna a house, and she will surely live in it until the moment when this abomination disappears from our land,” Oleh Horokhovskyi said.
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Gaza pier construction leads to concerns about US force protection
Posted by Worldcrew On 01/05/2024
As Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu vows to enter Rafah to rid the Gaza Strip of Hamas, the United States military has started to build a pier off the coast in hopes of providing more aid to civilians trapped in the violence. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb explains why this has some lawmakers worried about what’s next.
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Massive Powerball win draws attention to a little-known immigrant culture in US
Posted by Worldcrew On 01/05/2024
PORTLAND, Ore. — Cheng “Charlie” Saephan wore a broad smile and a bright blue sash emblazoned with the words “Iu-Mien USA” as he hoisted an oversized check for $1.3 billion above his head.
The 46-year-old immigrant’s luck in winning an enormous Powerball jackpot in Oregon earlier this month — a lump sum payment of $422 million after taxes, which he and his wife will split with a friend — has changed his life. It also raised awareness about Iu Mien people, a southeast Asian ethnic group with origins in China, many of whose members fled from Laos to Thailand and then settled in the U.S. following the Vietnam War.
“I am born in Laos, but I am not Laotian,” Saephan told a news conference Monday at Oregon Lottery headquarters, where his identity as one of the jackpot’s winners was revealed. “I am Iu Mien.”
During the Vietnam War, the CIA and U.S. military recruited Iu Mien in neighboring Laos, many of them subsistence farmers, to engage in guerrilla warfare and to provide intelligence and surveillance to disrupt the Ho Chi Minh Trail that the North Vietnamese used to send troops and weapons through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam.
After the conflict as well as the Laotian civil war, when the U.S.-backed government of Laos fell in 1975, they fled by the thousands to avoid reprisals from the new Communist government, escaping by foot through the jungle and then across the Mekong River into Thailand, according to a history posted on the website of Iu Mien Community Services in Sacramento, California. More than 70% of the Iu Mien population in Laos left and many wound up in refugee camps in Thailand.
Thousands of the refugees were allowed to come to the U.S., with the first waves arriving in the late 1970s and most settling along the West Coast. The culture had rich traditions of storytelling, basketry, embroidery and jewelry-making, but many initially had difficulty adjusting to Western life due to cultural and language differences as well as a lack of formal education.
There are now tens of thousands of Iu Mien — pronounced “yoo MEE’-en” — in the U.S., with many attending universities or starting businesses. Many have converted to Christianity from traditional animist religions. There is a sizeable Iu Mien community in Portland and its suburbs, with a Buddhist temple and Baptist church, active social organization, and businesses and restaurants.
Cayle Tern, president of the Iu Mien Association of Oregon, arrived in Portland with his family in 1980, when he was 3 years old. He is now running for City Council. His father and uncle assisted American forces in Laos and he was born as his mother fled to a refugee camp in Thailand.
Many Iu Mien in the U.S. have similar stories, and Saephan’s Powerball win sheds light on the new lives they have made in Oregon and elsewhere after such trauma, he said. Tern knows all three of the Powerball winners, he said.
“You know, I think for me it’s more than just about the money. … We’ve been here since the late ’70s, but very little is known of us,” he said while sitting in his uncle’s restaurant in Troutdale, a Portland suburb.
“This attention that we’re getting — people are interested in what the community is, who we are, where we came from. That is to me is equally special.”
Saephan, 46, said he was born in Laos and moved to Thailand in 1987, before immigrating to the U.S. in 1994. He graduated from high school in 1996 and has lived in Portland for 30 years. He worked as a machinist for an aerospace company.
He said Monday that he has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.
“I will be able to provide for my family and my health,” he said, adding that he’d “find a good doctor for myself.”
The winning Powerball ticket was sold in early April at a Plaid Pantry convenience store in Portland, ending a winless streak that had stretched more than three months. The Oregon Lottery said it had to go through a security and vetting process before announcing the identity of the person who came forward to claim the prize.
Under Oregon law, with few exceptions, lottery players cannot remain anonymous. Winners have a year to claim the top prize.
The jackpot had a cash value of $621 million before taxes if the winner chose to take a lump sum rather than an annuity paid over 30 years, with an immediate payout followed by 29 annual installments. The prize is subject to federal taxes and state taxes in Oregon.
The $1.3 billion prize is the fourth-largest Powerball jackpot in history, and the eighth-largest among U.S. jackpot games, according to the Oregon Lottery.
The biggest U.S. lottery jackpot won was $2.04 billion in California in 2022.
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Georgian police crack down on ‘foreign agent’ bill protesters with water cannon, tear gas
Posted by Worldcrew On 01/05/2024
tbilsi, georgia — Georgian security forces used water cannon and tear gas against protesters outside parliament late on Tuesday, sharply escalating a crackdown after lawmakers debated a “foreign agents” bill, which is viewed by the opposition and Western nations as authoritarian and Russian-inspired.
Reuters eyewitnesses saw some police officers physically attack protesters, who threw eggs and bottles at them, before using tear gas and water cannon to force demonstrators from the area outside the Soviet-built parliament building.
Earlier, riot police used pepper spray and batons to clear some protesters who were trying to prevent lawmakers from leaving the back entrance of parliament. Some protesters shouted “Slaves” and “Russians” at police.
The bill has deepened divisions in the deeply polarized southern Caucasus country, setting the ruling Georgian Dream Party against a protest movement backed by opposition groups, civil society, celebrities and Georgia’s figurehead president.
Parliament, which is controlled by the Georgian Dream and its allies, is likely to approve the bill, which must pass two more readings before becoming law. Lawmakers ended Tuesday’s session without a vote, and the debate will resume on Wednesday.
The bill would require organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents.”
Georgian critics have labeled the bill “the Russian law,” comparing it to Moscow’s “foreign agent” legislation, which has been used to crack down on dissent there.
Russia is disliked by many Georgians for its support of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Georgia lost a brief war with Russia in 2008.
The United States, Britain and the European Union, which granted Georgia candidate status in December, have criticized the bill. EU officials have said it could halt Georgia’s progress toward integration with the bloc.
‘Prolonging the inevitable’
Tina Khidasheli, who served as Georgian defense minister in a Georgian Dream-led government in 2015-2016, attended Tuesday’s protest against her former government colleagues and said she expected the demonstrators to win eventually.
“The government is just prolonging the inevitable. We might have serious problems, but at the end of the day, the people will go home with victory,” she told Reuters.
Thousands of anti-government demonstrators have shut down Tbilisi’s central streets on a nightly basis since parliament approved the bill’s first reading on April 17.
On Monday, a government-organized rally in support of the bill was attended by tens of thousands of people, many of whom had been bussed in from provincial towns by the ruling party.
At that rally, former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire who founded Georgian Dream, harshly criticized the West and hinted at a post-election crackdown on the opposition.
Ivanishvili told attendees that a “global party of war” had hijacked the EU and NATO and that it was bent on using those institutions to undermine Georgian sovereignty.
Ivanishvili, who says he wants Georgia to join the EU, said the foreign agent law would bolster national sovereignty, and he suggested that the country’s pro-Western opposition was controlled by foreign intelligence services via grants to NGOs.
He added that after elections due by October, Georgia’s opposition, which is dominated by the United National Movement Party of former President Mikheil Saakashvili, would face “the harsh political and legal judgment it deserves.”
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While their peers want alternatives, some young voters endorse Biden or Trump
Posted by Worldcrew On 01/05/2024
A majority of younger voters in this U.S. presidential election say they wish they had someone other than Joe Biden or Donald Trump to choose from. Some of that has to do with the candidates’ ages. But who are the younger voters backing one of the two? VOA Correspondent Scott Stearns reports.
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China’s state media support protests on US campuses but not at home
Posted by Worldcrew On 01/05/2024
washington — State media in China, where social protest is strongly discouraged or punished, have been vocally supporting the pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. campuses while decrying what they describe as a heavy-handed crackdown on free speech by authorities.
“Can blindly using violence to suppress students be able to quell domestic dissatisfaction with the government?” wrote Jun Zhengping Studio, a social media account operated by the News Broadcasting Center of the People’s Liberation Army, in an April 26 commentary.
“If American politicians really have a sense of democracy and human rights, they should stop supporting Israel, stop endorsing Israel’s actions, and do more things that are conducive to world peace. Otherwise, the only one who will suffer backlash is the United States itself.”
The People’s Daily, China’s state-owned newspaper, said in a video that American students are protesting because they “can no longer stand the double standards of the United States.”
On social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying echoed that comment and implied the U.S. government was cracking down on protests at home while supporting protests abroad.
She posted a clip of U.S. police arresting protesters with the question, “Remember how U.S. officials reacted when these protests happened elsewhere?”
The protests this month at scores of universities, including New York’s Columbia University and George Washington University in the U.S. capital, have opposed Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza over the large number of civilian casualties. The student protesters are demanding that their schools divest from companies with ties to Israel and are calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the protests are a symbol of American democracy, but he criticized the protesters for remaining silent on the attack by Hamas militants in October that killed more 1,200 Israelis and sparked the conflict.
Critics say antisemitic rhetoric emerged at some of the protests, and there have been clashes with police.
As of Monday, more than 900 students had been arrested, mainly for trespassing because of protest camps they erected on university property.
In an email to all faculty members and students, American University stated that the school’s policy of supporting free speech has not changed, but it explicitly prohibits “disruptive” behavior such as setting up camps.
“Any demonstration that continues to interfere with university operations or violate policies after engagement and de-escalation will not be permitted, and those responsible will face conduct actions, disciplinary sanctions, or arrest as appropriate,” the email said.
Reactions differ
The handling of the protests has been in stark contrast with the Chinese authorities’ crackdown on domestic dissent and any form of street protest.
China’s strict zero-COVID measures and censorship of critical voices during the pandemic spurred street protests in many Chinese cities in November 2022 that became known as the White Paper movement. Protesters would hold up blank sheets of white paper to symbolize support for the protests while not actually saying or doing anything, in hopes of not getting into trouble.
Nonetheless, Chinese police arrested and surveilled those caught holding up white paper. Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye accused “external anti-China forces” of being behind the protests and called them a “color revolution.”
Critics were quick to point out Beijing’s double standard when Chinese state media backed U.S. college protesters.
Sean Haines, a British man who worked for Chinese state media from 2016 to 2019, told VOA that Chinese state media’s extensive coverage of Western demonstrations is a consistent policy.
“At Xinhua, when we chose the running order for news, foreign protests were always promoted,” he said, “especially if it was around election times. ‘Look how scary foreign democracies are, aren’t you glad China doesn’t have this?'”
He said footage of protests is easy to find in places with a free press, such as the United States and the West, while there are almost no images of protests in China, a one-party authoritarian state where public demonstrations are quickly stopped.
“It’s ironic.” he said. “China is using [the] West’s free speech, openness, right to protest — against itself.”
Although Chinese authorities have not declared support for any side in the Israel-Hamas war, they were reluctant to condemn the militants’ October attack and repeatedly blamed Israel and the U.S. for the conflict in Gaza.
At the same time, antisemitic and anti-Israel sentiments, including conspiracy theories, have been allowed on China’s highly censored social media.
A popular claim is that U.S. support for Israel is not because of history and democratic values but because a Jewish cabal secretly controls U.S. politics and business.
Hu Xijin, a special commentator and former editor-in-chief of China’s state-run Global Times, posted on social media site Weibo on April 19 that all walks of life in the U.S. “cannot suppress the protests of college students everywhere, which shows that the Jewish political and business alliance’s control over American public opinion has declined.”
Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
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Seeking mediator role, Turkey courts Hamas
Posted by Worldcrew On 01/05/2024
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is stepping up his efforts to play a more prominent role in the Gaza conflict. The Turkish leader recently hosted Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
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China prepares to start building EVs in Europe
Posted by Worldcrew On 01/05/2024
China’s share of the European electric vehicle market has doubled in less than two years, with Chinese automakers accounting for 20 percent of EVs sold in Europe last year. The trend is raising alarm among European carmakers, and they are considering pushing for new tariffs. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from Alfonso Beato in Barcelona. VOA’s Ricardo Marquina contributed.
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Open-source intel offers glimpse of war casualty figures Russia is trying to hide
Posted by Worldcrew On 01/05/2024
The number of Russian soldiers killed in combat since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine remains a secret that the Kremlin goes to great lengths to hide. However, open-source research has recently yielded figures that show Moscow’s losses have been heavy. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report by Ricardo Marquina.
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Biden administration takes step to make marijuana use a less serious crime
Posted by Worldcrew On 01/05/2024
Blinken says ‘time to act is now’ for Hamas to accept cease-fire deal
Posted by Worldcrew On 30/04/2024
Amman, Jordan — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Hamas to accept a proposed cease-fire deal in its conflict with Israel, saying that there are “no more excuses” and “the time to act is now.”
“Our focus right now is on getting a cease-fire and hostages home. That is the most urgent thing, and it’s also I think what is achievable because the Israelis have put a strong proposal on the table. They’ve demonstrated that they’re willing to compromise, and now it’s on Hamas,” Blinken told reporters as he wrapped up a visit to Jordan.
He also stressed the importance of getting more humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
“This has been part of our work every single day. It’s also been the focus of every single one of my trips to the region,” Blinken said, adding that he will discuss the issue when he holds meetings in Israel on Wednesday.
Earlier, the top U.S. diplomat held separate talks with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and King Abdullah II before meeting with Sigrid Kaag, U.N. senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza.
Blinken thanked Abdullah for Jordan’s leadership in facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid, including joint U.S.-Jordan airdrops that to date have delivered over 1,000 tons of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza.
The two leaders discussed joint efforts to expedite the flow of additional urgently needed aid to Gaza from Jordan through land routes. Blinken also commended the king’s commitment to economic modernization and vital public sector reforms.
Later on Tuesday, Blinken met with Palestinians from Gaza at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs before meeting with Kaag. Blinken told Kaag he was anxious to hear directly from her, adding, “The entire team is doing extraordinary work to ensure that people in Gaza get the help and support and the assistance they need.”
Israel declared war on Hamas after its October 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of about 250 hostages.
Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, a figure that Israel says includes several thousand Hamas fighters.
A delegation from Hamas participated in talks Monday in Egypt, which with Qatar has been seeking to broker a deal that would halt the Israeli offensive and see hostages freed.
U.S., Saudi talks
In Riyadh earlier this week Blinken said the United States is close to finishing a security agreement with Saudi Arabia that would be offered if the country makes peace with Israel.
“The work that Saudi Arabia, the United States have been doing together in terms of our own agreements, I think, is potentially very close to completion,” Blinken told an audience at the World Economic Forum on Monday.
He said the two nations have done intensive work over the last month on Israeli-Saudi normalization.
Blinken disclosed that he was scheduled to be in Saudi Arabia and Israel on October 10 last year to focus specifically on the Palestinian part of the normalization deal because that is an essential component. But it did not happen because of the Hamas terror attack on Israel.
“In order to move forward with normalization, two things will be required: calm in Gaza and a credible pathway to a Palestinian state,” Blinken said.
U.S. officials have said creating a pathway to a Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel is key to lasting peace and security in the Middle East and to Israel’s integration in the region.
The Saudis have demanded, as a prerequisite, to see an Israeli commitment to the two-state solution.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the two-state solution and the return of the Palestinian Authority to control Gaza, demands that are widely supported by the international community.
Nimrod Goren, a senior fellow for Israeli affairs at the Middle East Institute, told VOA in an email, “Saudi Arabia has been gradually opening towards Israel for a decade. Significant progress was made in the months prior to the Hamas attack of October 7, with the hope of linking an Israeli-Saudi normalization agreement to a pre-presidential election, U.S.-Saudi defense pact. The war stalled the process, but talks are continuing and are at a decisive phase.”
If Netanyahu’s opposition to the two-state solution remains unchanged, Goren said, he might struggle to secure normalization with Saudi Arabia.
VOA’s Cindy Saine contributed to this report.
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Scottish government faces no-confidence vote Wednesday
Posted by Worldcrew On 30/04/2024
LONDON — The Scottish government will face a no-confidence vote Wednesday, one it is expected to win after First Minister Humza Yousaf said he would resign.
Yousaf’s resignation Monday came just 13 months after he replaced Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland’s leader and sparks another leadership contest in the Scottish National Party.
The crisis in the SNP gives an opportunity for the U.K. opposition Labour Party to regain ground ahead of a national election expected this year.
The motion of no confidence in the government was submitted by Scottish Labour last week, after Yousaf said he was ending a coalition with the Scottish Green Party. Scottish parliament listings showed the vote was scheduled for Wednesday.
Facing a separate vote of no confidence in his own position as first minister, Yousaf said he would step down as Scotland’s leader, as opposition parties, including the Greens, lined up to vote against him. That vote now won’t take place.
However, Labour’s wider motion of no confidence in the whole government is set to be opposed by the Greens, meaning that it will likely fail and that the SNP will have chance to form a new minority government under another leader.
Former leader John Swinney has said he is considering standing, while Yousaf’s former leadership rival Kate Forbes is seen as a possible candidate.
If the Labour no confidence motion passes, it will result in the resignation of the government and likely Scottish elections thereafter.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said it would be a democratic outrage for the SNP to choose another leader — and thus First Minister — without a parliamentary election.
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UN court refuses emergency call for Germany to halt military aid Israel
Posted by Worldcrew On 30/04/2024
Democrats say they will save Speaker Mike Johnson’s job if Republicans try to oust him
Posted by Worldcrew On 30/04/2024
WASHINGTON — House Democrats will vote to save Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s job should some of his fellow GOP lawmakers seek to remove him from the position, Democratic leaders said Tuesday, avoiding a repeat of when eight Republicans joined with Democrats to oust his predecessor, former Rep. Kevin McCarthy.
Johnson, R-La., has come under heavy criticism from some Republicans for moving forward with aid for Ukraine as part of a $95 billion emergency spending package that passed this month. It would take only a handful of Republicans to remove Johnson from the speakership if the Democratic caucus went along with the effort.
But Democratic leaders took that possibility off the table.
“At this moment, upon completion of our national security work, the time has come to turn the page on this chapter of Pro-Putin Republican obstruction,” said a statement from the top three House Democrats, Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar. “We will vote to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Motion to Vacate the Chair. If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed.”
Greene, R-Ga., earlier this month filed a resolution with the House clerk — called a motion to vacate — that would remove Johnson from office if approved by the House. And while Greene did not force the resolution to be taken up immediately, she told reporters she was laying the groundwork for future consideration. She had two co-sponsors, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.
Johnson was quick to distance himself from Democrats on the issue, saying he had no conversations with Jeffries or anyone else about saving his job.
“I was laser-focused on getting the supplemental done,” Johnson said, referring to the aid package. “I’ve had colleagues from both parties come up to me on the floor, of course, and say we won’t stand for this. … I’ve not requested assistance from anyone. I’m not focused on that at all.”
Many House Republicans are eager to move past the divisions that have tormented their ranks ever since taking the majority last January. At a closed-door session Tuesday morning, much of the discussion focused on how to create unity in the party heading into the November elections.
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., said Republicans heard from Michael Whatley, the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, who emphasized that Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, wants to unify the majority in the House. He said that’s a message that certainly helps Johnson.
“What he wants is a unified Republican majority, so my message is singing from the same song sheet as President Trump,” Barr said.
Still, Greene indicated she may still move forward with the effort to remove Johnson, tweeting on X that she believes in recorded votes to put “Congress on record.” She also called Johnson “officially the Democratic Speaker of the House” and questioned “what slimy deal” he made for Democratic support.
“Americans deserve to see the Uniparty on full display. I’m about to give them their coming out party!” Greene tweeted. “Uniparty” is a derisive term some Republicans use to describe cooperation between some fellow Republicans and Democrats.
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Sword-wielding man kills 14-year-old boy, injures 4 others in London suburb
Posted by Worldcrew On 30/04/2024
LONDON — A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a east London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four others, British authorities said.
A 36-year-old man was arrested in a residential area near Hainault subway station, police said. The incident is not being treated as terror-related or a “targeted attack.”
Police said the 14-year-old died in the hospital from his injuries. Two police officers were in hospital being treated for stab wounds. Two other people were also injured.
Chief Supt. Stuart Bell described the incident as “truly horrific.”
“I cannot even begin to imagine how those affected must be feeling,” he said outside the homes in east London where the crime happened.
The Metropolitan Police said they were called early Tuesday to reports of a vehicle being driven into a house in a residential street and people being stabbed.
Video on British media showed a man in a yellow hoodie holding a long sword or knife walking near houses in the area.
Witnesses say they heard police shouting to the suspect urging him to put down the weapon as they chased after him.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said police do not believe there is a threat to the wider community.
“We are not looking for more suspects,” he said. “This incident does not appear to be terror-related.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the incident was “shocking,” adding: “Such violence has no place on our streets.”
King Charles III said his thoughts and prayers were with the family of the young victim, and he saluted the courage of emergency workers, Buckingham Palace said.
Transport for London said Hainault station was closed due to a police investigation in the area.
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Judge holds Trump in contempt of court for violating gag order
Posted by Worldcrew On 30/04/2024
Ukraine declares day of mourning in Odesa after deadly Russian attack
Posted by Worldcrew On 30/04/2024
Pro-Palestinian protesters take over Columbia University building
Posted by Worldcrew On 30/04/2024
Biden pledges cooperation with Egypt, Qatar to implement proposed Israel-Hamas cease-fire
Posted by Worldcrew On 30/04/2024
Pro-Palestinian encampment protesters hold ground on both US coasts
Posted by Worldcrew On 30/04/2024
Campus protests of the war in Gaza continue, despite college administrations’ warnings — and new ones are being launched. VOA Natasha Mozgovaya reports from an encampment set up Monday at the University of Washington in Seattle.
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Georgia lawmakers tussle over ‘foreign agents’ bill
Posted by Worldcrew On 30/04/2024
Rolling Stones show no signs of slowing down as they begin their latest tour
Posted by Worldcrew On 30/04/2024
houston — Time marches on and all good things must come to an end. But don’t tell that to The Rolling Stones.
What many believe to be the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world showed no signs of slowing down anytime soon as they kicked off their latest tour Sunday night at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
The Stones have been touring for more than 60 years. Frontman Mick Jagger and lead guitarist Keith Richards are both 80, with guitarist Ronnie Wood not far behind at 76. Their tour is being sponsored in part by AARP.
But during a vibrant two-hour show, the Stones played with the energy of a band that was on tour for the first time.
“It’s great to be back in the Lone Star State,” Jagger told the packed stadium, filled with longtime fans, many wearing faded concert shirts from previous tours.
Jagger often strutted up and down the stage with seemingly boundless energy while Richards and Wood played many familiar guitar riffs beloved by fans. Jagger often led the audience in sing-alongs.
“The energy level is up and it’s always up with them. The age doesn’t show,” Dale Skjerseth, the Stones’ production director, said Friday before the concert.
The Stones have hit the road to support the release of their latest album, “Hackney Diamonds,” the band’s first record of original music since 2005.
Houston was the first stop on the band’s 16-city tour across the U.S. and Canada. Other cities on the tour include New Orleans, Philadelphia and Vancouver, British Columbia. The tour ends on July 17 in Santa Clara, California.
During Sunday’s 18-song concert set list, the Stones played several tracks off the new record, including the lead single, “Angry.” They also played classics including “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Gimme Shelter,” “Honky Tonk Women” and “Start Me Up.”
After playing “Beast of Burden,” Jagger said that concertgoers in Houston had voted to include it on the set list.
“You can’t go wrong with that,” one man in the audience could be heard screaming.
The Stones also played some unexpected choices, including “Rocks Off,” from their 1972 double album “Exile on Main St.” and “Out of Time,” a 1966 song that Jagger said during the concert had not ever been played by the band in the U.S.
With the 2021 death of drummer Charlie Watts, the Stones are now comprised of the core trio of Jagger, Richards and Wood. On Sunday, they were backed by various musicians including two keyboardists, a new drummer, backup singers and a brass section.
While the stage was surrounded by a large collection of video screens projecting images throughout the show, the main focus of the concert was the band and their songs.
Before Sunday’s concert, Jagger spent time on Friday touring NASA’s Johnson Space Center in suburban Houston, posting photos on his Instagram account of him with astronauts inside Mission Control.
“I had an amazing trip to the space center,” Jagger said.
When asked if the band might be thinking about retiring, Skjerseth said he doubts that will happen.
“This is not the end. They’re very enthused,” he said.
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