More Americans Willing to Get Vaccine, Now Open to Children

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - As more Americans are being vaccinated, more people say they are now willing to get the shots than in January.

However, questions about side effects and how the shots were tested still hold some people back. This presents a challenge for U.S. health officials who are ready to expand vaccination to children as young as 12 years old.

The AP-NORC survey, released Tuesday, found 1 in 5 American adults now say they probably or definitely will not get vaccinated. In January, when the shots were first given out, opinion researchers found about 1 in 3 said that they would not get vaccinated.

African Americans are becoming more open to the shots, with 26 percent now saying they definitely or probably will not get vaccinated compared with 41 percent in January.

That is similar to the 22 percent of Hispanic Americans. Among Asian Americans, just nine percent said they definitely or probably will not get the shots.


The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that more than 150 million people — about 58 percent of all adults — have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

Among those who remain unvaccinated, only 34 percent of people in the study say they definitely will not get the shot. About three-fourths of those who said they are unlikely to get vaccinated have little to no confidence that the vaccines were tested enough. Some 55 percent were very concerned about side effects.

The numbers, however, mean a large number of unvaccinated Americans could be persuaded to get the shots.

Kizzmekia Corbett is an immunologist with the National Institutes of Health. Corbett helped lead development of the Moderna shot. She spends hours giving answers to questions from Americans — especially African Americans like her. Her job is to fight against misinformation about the three vaccines approved for emergency use in the U.S.

She tells people the COVID-19 vaccines will not cause inability to bear children. Also, the speedy development of vaccines does not mean they are less safe, Corbett told the AP.

Corbett has attended gatherings held by colleges, African American religious leaders, doctors, and even basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to talk about the vaccine. She said the best way to overcome distrust is to explain the science in understandable terms for strangers just like she does for her family.

But “really, we should have started the conversations very early about what went into it,” she said. This way, the public would have understood that no steps were missed in vaccine development.

Last month, U.S. health officials temporarily paused the use of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. They wanted to find out how to deal with a very rare risk of blood system blockages, known as blood clots. Even after that pause, overall confidence in the vaccines has increased compared with a few months ago.

On Monday, U.S. health officials expanded the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to children as young as 12.

Dr. Peter Marks is vaccine chief for the Food and Drug Administration. He said, “Having a vaccine authorized for a younger population is a critical step” in the effort against COVID-19.”

Approval for the shots comes before students return to school in autumn and to more normal activities. Shots could become available this week for the nation’s 12 to 15-year-olds.

Pfizer is not the only company seeking to lower the age limit for use of its vaccine. Moderna recently said early results from its study on 12 to 17-year-olds showed strong protection and no serious side effects. Another U.S. company, Novavax, has started studying its vaccine, which is in development, in the same age group.

Experts say children must get the shots if the country is to vaccinate the 70 to 85 percent of the population necessary to reach what is called herd immunity. That term describes a condition where enough people have become immune to an infectious disease that it is no longer a threat to people who are not immune to it. (Jonathan Evans| VOA)

Joe Biden Proposes Making Preschool Free for Children and Focus on Education

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - American President Joe Biden is making childcare and education a major concern of his administration.

In his first address to a joint session of Congress on April 29, Biden proposed a $1.8 trillion spending plan to expand government support for children, families and education. The plan, called American Families Plan, includes $200 billion for free pre-school for 3 and 4-year-olds.

The president said, “research shows when a young child goes to school — not daycare — they are far more likely to graduate from high school and go to college or something after high school.” He added, “no matter what background they come from, it puts them in the position to be able to compete all the way through 12 years.”

Preschool, also known as pre-kindergarten or pre-K, is a program to help children with the beginning steps of learning and socializing. Daycare centers focus more on caring for children than learning.

Rebecca Anguiano teaches preschool at an elementary school in Washington, D.C. The classes are bilingual. They are taught in both English and Spanish. She said students who attend two years of preschool have done better than those who have not.

Anguiano said, “If they miss those two years, it’s kind of catch-me-up for them. I definitely feel that starting early—especially at a bilingual school—is key for a lot of success.”

Effective preschool programs

The National Institute for Early Education Research says, at this time, only four American states and Washington, D.C., spend enough money to support preschool programs.

The nation’s capital spends the most money per preschool student. It also has the highest percentage of students in pre-K classes. Seventy-nine percent of 3 and 4-year-olds attend preschool in Washington, DC. And nationwide, just 20 percent attend.

Washington is one of the most expensive cities to raise a child. A 2018 study says childcare in the city can cost up to $2,000 per month for each child. In some places, parents choose to stay home with their children instead of having a job and paying for care.

In 2018, research from the Center for American Progress showed that about 10 percent more mothers entered the workforce after the city started its preschool program. Student test scores have also gone up since the change. That year, Washington schools were among the few across the nation to see an increase in math and reading scores.

Josh Axelrod has two children attending preschool in Washington, D.C. He said the program is a “huge benefit” to living in the city. “Our experience... has been great,” he added.

Washington’s preschool program is not without its problems, however. Many elementary schools in the city do not offer preschool and some programs are better than others. There is also a very high demand for some preschool spots, which means that some children will not be placed into their neighborhood school. Others are not placed at all.

Biden’s proposal

Biden’s proposal comes at a time when preschool attendance has fallen by 25 percent in the past year, largely due to the pandemic.

The administration says free preschool nationwide could save the average American family $13,000 and benefit 5 million children. And it proposes to pay for the plan by raising taxes on wealthy Americans.

Republican opponents to the idea say it costs too much and that families will be making childcare decisions based on what the government wants. For the plan to pass, the president will need Republican support in an evenly divided Senate.

Senator Josh Hawley is a Republican from the state of Missouri. He shared his opposition in an opinion piece on Fox Business.

“No familyshouldbeforcedintoa particularchildcare arrangementby the government. And no parent should be treated worse by the tax code for choosing todo the work of raising kids at home,” he wrote.

Anguiano, the Washington, D.C. preschool teacher, sees universal preschool as a way to improve education equity. Many families from poorer areas cannot pay for private preschool, she said, keeping children away from school and parents away from working.

“I think expanding this nationwide, you will most definitely see not just an educational benefit for kids, but an economic benefit for families,” Anguiano said. (Jill Robbins| VOA)

Shortage of Computer Chips Hits Manufacturers, Electronics Products Affected

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - A computer chip shortage has left several manufacturing industries struggling. Makers of products such as video game consoles, smartphones and cars are among those affected.

Computer chips are small devices that contain electrical circuits and are used in computers and other electronics.

The shortage began in December 2021. At that time, many manufacturers misjudged demand for products like laptop computers and smartphones. Sales for these internet devices sharply increased during the coronavirus health crisis.

Whirlpool is an international company based in the United States. It is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of home products like ovens and refrigerators.

Whirlpool China chief Jason Ai said the company’s exports from China to Europe and the United States have decreased by as much as 25 percent in recent months.

Whirlpool cannot get enough microcontrollers: simple chips used in over half of its products. Ai said the company is struggling to meet the demand for appliances, while trying to fill “an explosion of export orders.”

“It’s a perfect storm,” he said.

Other manufacturers are also struggling because of the chip shortage. Hangzhou Robam Appliances Co. Ltd. is a Chinese home goods maker. It had to delay the release of a new stove part by four months because it could not get enough microcontrollers.

Dan Ye is the company's marketing director. He said many of its products are built for high technology homes, “so of course we need a lot of chips.”

With the shortage, companies are now having to compete to buy remaining chips to secure their own supplies.

Ye said that it is easier for the company to find chips in China than in other countries.

“Domestic chips can satisfy our needs completely,” he said.

To deal with the shortage of microprocessors and memory chips, Dreame Technology cut its budget and hired extra employees just to communicate with chip suppliers. The company makes vacuum cleaners.

Dreame has also been forced to test chips that could serve as alternatives to the ones it normally uses.

Marketing director Frank Wang, said Dreame also is investing in some computer chip suppliers.

“We’re working to have deeper control of our suppliers," he said.(VOA)

Microsoft to Make Augmented Reality Headsets for US Army Worth $22 Billion

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Microsoft has announced a contract with the U.S. Army worth almost $22 billion to produce augmented reality headsets.

Augmented reality, or AR, is a technology that uses glasses toprojectcomputer-created pictures and information that add to what users see in the real, physical world.

The deal was announced Wednesday. Microsoft would supply at least 120,000 troops with the devices.

Military officials said the technology will improve soldiers’ ability to see their surroundings and identify targets and danger. The technology is based on Microsoft’s HoloLens headsets, which were first designed for video games.

The Army said the headsets could be used for both training and in battle. The army said the AR system could help troops gain an upper hand during battle. Soldiers first tested the gadgets last year.

The contract is worth up to $21.88 billion for up to 10 years, Microsoft said. The agreement goes for five years and could be extended for an additional five.

Microsoft President Brad Smith spoke about the technology to the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee in February. He said soldiers could use the system to see at night and for facial recognition on the battlefield. He also described how it could help in hostage situations by creating an electronic representation of a building, what he called a “digital twin.”

Several technology companies have sought to use augmented reality for video games. Those efforts have largely been unsuccessful. But Microsoft’s Hololens 2 will be used by the Army. The company also wants the devices to be used to help doctors during medical operations, factory crews and others. Users can often control what they see on the device by using hand movements or voice commands.

The headset deal is part of Microsoft’s work as a defense contractor. The military also awarded Microsoft a $10 billion cloud computing contract in September. (VOA)

The American College Basketball Tournaments Lift Student Spirit

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - The American college basketball tournaments known as “March Madness” look a little different than they used to. There are very few fans watching the games in person. The players stay in safe areas called “bubbles” in the states of Texas and Indiana.

But at least the games are happening. Last year, the tournaments were just about to start when the United States closed all public events to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The college tournaments include over 60 teams made up of college students. There is a tournament for men and a tournament for women. In U.S. cities with large colleges and universities, people would go out to eat, drink and watch the games on television.

When the tournaments were canceled last year, students were also sent home. Some students have yet to return to campus. Others came back to a very different college life in autumn. They needed to stay apart from each other. They took classes by video call. They could not spend time with friends or eat in large dining rooms. Colleges, like the rest of the country, were trying to stop the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Group activities are a big part of the college experience. And students whose universities had good basketball teams in 2020 lost out on one of those experiences: cheering for their schoolmates in the tournaments.

Shane Hoffmann saw this at the University of Oregon. He is a sports writer for The Daily Emerald, the student newspaper. He said last year, the Oregon women’s basketball team might have won the tournament. Three Oregon players were among the first eight players chosen by the professional teams of the WNBA, including Sabrina Ionescu, the first pick. Hoffmann called it “a huge bummer” to see the college basketball tournaments canceled.

“It did seem very, very gloomy. I think people realized that was the last time they were able to see that phenomenal, phenomenal Oregon team, which is probably going to go down as one of the best ever.”

This spring, things are a little less gloomy for Max Witty, a student at Syracuse University in central New York. Witty said watching the games on television was a fun activity for students and others.

“It gives us a sense of maybe we are getting back to normal, maybe one day we can have that big game, maybe one day we’ll be able to sit and watch it with a huge crowd in The Dome, who knows?”

“The Dome” is the large building at Syracuse where 30,000 fans can watch the games and cheer for the team. Watching games there was one of the reasons Witty chose to go to Syracuse.

Syracuse recently lost to the University of Houston to end its season. But for a couple of weeks, Witty said being able to watch the games with a small group of friends was a “pick-me-up” after a difficult year.

Thomas Kollie is in his second year at the University of Alabama. The school, in the city of Tuscaloosa, is known for its winning football team and the 100,000 fans at the games. Kollie said he missed attending football games last year. With COVID-19 restrictions, very few were permitted at the games and he could not get in.

This year, both the men’s and women’s basketball teams were in the college tournaments before losing in late March. Life in Tuscaloosa has also been different compared to 2020. Streets in the city have been filled with fans watching games as the state removed gathering limits.

In his fraternity house, Kollie has been watching sports events with as many as 25 friends.

“Now, like, actually being able to gather and watch the basketball games without fear of how many rules we're breaking, that's really cool. Because you're not sitting in constant fear about the cops coming and kicking everyone out in the middle of a game, or something like that.”

Hoffmann went to Indianapolis, Indiana to write about the Oregon games. He said seeing the whole sports world shut down last year was “depressing.” But now, he is excited to see fans from all over the U.S. coming to see the games.

He said seeing families out in the city, wearing the colors of their favorite teams, made it seem like the U.S. is taking “a step in the right direction to … normalcy again.”

The final games of the college basketball tournaments are played on April 4 and 5. (VOA)

United States Sounds Warning as South Easy Asia Countries Choose Huawei for 5G

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM -  The United States is acknowledging that many countries are not heeding warnings about the possible security risks in allowing Chinese tech giant Huawei to build the next generation of high-speech wireless networks known as 5G.

The trend is particularly clear in Southeast Asia, where even U.S. allies are racing ahead to partner with Huawei and launch 5G networks in the coming years.

In February, Thailand launched a Huawei 5G test network in Chonburi. Thai authorities indicated that the affordability of Huawei's 5G services offset potential concerns over cybersecurity.

In the Philippines, its Globe Telecom is rolling out the nation's 5G network in partnership with Huawei.

In Malaysia, the country's leading communications and digital services company Maxis signed a memorandum of understanding with Huawei to cooperate and accelerate 5G development.

This week, six former top U.S. military officials, including two who were commanders for the U.S. Pacific Command, issued a blunt warning of a future where a Chinese-developed 5G network could be widely adopted among American allies.

"There is reason for concern that in the future the U.S. will not be able to use networks that rely on Chinese technology for military operations in the territories of traditional U.S. allies or emerging partners in Europe, Asia and beyond," said the former military leaders in a statement.

"The immense bandwidth and access potential inherent in commercial 5G systems means effective military operations in the future could benefit from military data being pushed over these networks," they added.

And U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday warned some European countries could soon find themselves cut off from U.S. intelligence and other critical information if they continue to cultivate relationships with Chinese technology firms.

"We've done our risk analysis," Pompeo said, following a NATO ministerial meeting in Washington. "We have now shared that with our NATO partners, with countries all around the world. We've made clear that if the risk exceeds the threshold for the United States, we simply won't be able to share that information any longer."

For U.S. officials, the threat posed by a Chinese-built communication network could not be clearer.

"Huawei is not a state-owned enterprise. But Huawei is a Chinese company and what we do know is several things. One, broadly speaking, Chinese companies will respond to requests for demands from the Chinese government. Telecommunications is a vital part of national backbones. It has military security implications. It has financial and economic implications," said Dean Cheng, a senior research fellow of Washington-based Heritage Foundation.

​Cheap. Fast. Secure?

Huawei insists that it would not turn information over to Chinese authorities if they demanded it, but few outside analysts believe any Chinese company would stand up the country's authoritarian government. U.S. officials are even more direct.

"What we do is in our national interests, we see with companies like Huawei that are supported, if not directed, by central authorities in China. We see challenges and potential threats to the sanctity, the security of our systems in our networks, and the best we can do with our friends and partners and allies, is to share our information, share our experience," Patrick Murphy, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told VOA at a recent seminar at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

That message clearly has had a mixed reception, especially after years when the United States' vast electronic eavesdropping capabilities have drawn criticism.

Richard Kramer, founder of Arete, a technology research firm based in London, said leaks from U.S. security agencies in recent years have revealed close cooperation between the federal government and U.S. telecoms and tech firms around intelligence gathering.

The U.S. position, he said, seems to be: "We don't want China to spy on us, but we want to be able to spy on them."

Will pressure backfire?

Even in countries where there are open political concerns over the growing power of Chinese influence, too much U.S. pressure could backfire, said Anthony Nelson, Director of the East Asia and Pacific practice at the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global business strategy firm.

"Southeast Asian countries that are looking to balance their military relationships with the U.S. and China are not motivated by Washington's security concerns, with the notable exception of Vietnam," Nelson said.

Vietnam has had tensions with China in recent years over disputed territory and trade issues. Vietnamese Ambassador to the U.S., Ha Kim Ngoc, told VOA that all companies operating in the country need to respect Vietnam's sovereignty.

"We have one principle: They need to respect our sovereignty, national sovereignty," said the ambassador at the recent USIP event. (VOA)

Ugandan Forces Search for Abducted US Tourist and Driver

KAMPALA, LELEMUKU.COM - Ugandan security forces are searching for an American tourist, her driver and the four gunmen who abducted them inside a national park on Tuesday. The gunmen have demanded half a million dollars to release the captives.

Ugandan police say a group of three tourists and their Ugandan driver were out in Queen Elizabeth National Park at about 2:00 p.m. Tuesday when the unidentified men held them up at gunpoint.

They say the gunmen kidnapped an American, identified as 35-year-old Kimberly Sue Endecott, and the driver, Jean Paul. The other two tourists, an elderly couple, were freed and later informed park officials of the abduction.

The abduction happened in the Ishasha section of the park, which sits near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“The kidnappers, using the victim's phone, have demanded $500,000," Polly Namaye, the police deputy spokesperson told reporters. "We strongly believe that this ransom is the reason behind the kidnap."

Now, the phone is switched off, meaning authorities have to wait for kidnappers to get back in touch.

Security agencies including the president's Elite Special Forces, the tourism police and the regular police are searching the national park, an area that covers 2,000 square kilometers, in hopes of rescuing Endecott and Paul.

They are hoping the gunmen do not cross into Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, which is just 18 kilometers from the kidnap scene and stretches into Congo.

In 1999, armed Hutu fighters from Congo entered Bwindi Park and killed eight tourists and four Ugandans.

Namaye says police suspect Endecott, Paul and the kidnappers are still somewhere in Queen Elizabeth Park.

“We strongly believe that the perpetrators and the victims could still be trapped within our search area and we are hopeful that our efforts will lead to their successful and safe recovery.” said Namaye.

Uganda earns about $1.3 billion per year from tourism.

Bashir Hangi, the spokesperson for the Uganda Wildlife Authority, acknowledged the kidnapping could hurt the tourism industry but said tourists need to be cautious when traveling in national parks.

“Maybe we need to appreciate the fact that these people did not have a ranger guide, the time they went for a game drive. And why do we have guns in the park? It’s to protect our visitors, not only against wildlife but also against such illegal armed entrants in the parks," said Hangi.

Meanwhile, in an advisory, the U.S. embassy in Kampala has asked Americans to exercise caution when traveling in Queen Elizabeth National Park due to ongoing security activity. (VOA)

Mark Zuckerberg Confident of Stopping Interference in 2020 Campaign in Facebook

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM -Facebook Inc's Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg is confident the world's biggest social network will do better in 2020 at stopping "bad actors" from manipulating the U.S. presidential election.

"We've learned a lot since 2016, where, obviously, we were behind where we needed to be on defenses for nation states trying to interfere," he said in a "Good Morning America" interview released on Thursday.

"These aren't things that you ever fully solve, right? They're ongoing arms races, where we need to make sure that our systems stay ahead of the sophisticated bad actors, who are just always going to try to game them.”

U.S. intelligence agencies say there was an extensive Russian cyber-influence operation during the 2016 campaign aimed at helping Donald Trump, a Republican, defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Zuckerberg said the social media giant had implemented a lot of different measures since 2016 to verify any advertiser who is running a political ad and create an archive so anyone could see what advertisers are running, who they are targeting and how much they are paying.

Advertising practices at Facebook, the world's largest social network with 2.7 billion users and $56 billion in annual revenue, have been in the spotlight for two years amid growing discontent over its approach to privacy and user data.

The company said in a congressional testimony last year that Russian agents created 129 events on the network during the 2016 U.S. election campaign, shedding more light on Russia's purported disinformation drive aimed at voters.

"At this point, (we) have probably some of the most-advanced systems of any company or government in the world for preventing the kind of tactics that Russia and now other countries, as well, have tried," Zuckerberg said.

Asked if he could guarantee that there would not be interference in the election, Zuckerberg said, "What I can guarantee is that they're definitely going to try.” (Reuters-VOA)

Social Media Scramble to Remove New Zealand Suspect's Video

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - They built their services for sharing, allowing users to reach others around the world. Now they want people to hold back.

Facebook and other social media companies battled their own services on Friday as they tried to delete copies of a video apparently recorded by the gunman as he killed 49 people and wounded scores of others in the attack on two New Zealand mosques Friday.

The video was livestreamed on the suspect's Facebook account and later reposted on other services.

According to news reports, Facebook took down the livestream of the attack 20 minutes after it was posted and removed the suspect's accounts. But people were able to capture the video and repost it on other sites, including YouTube, Twitter and Reddit.

YouTube has tweeted that it is "working to remove any violent footage." A post from one user on Reddit asks others not to "post the videos. If you see the videos, bring it to themoderators' attention."

Criticism of pace

Despite the companies' quick actions, they still came under fire for not being fast enough. Critics said the platforms should have better systems in place to locate and remove content, instead of a system that helps others facilitate its spread once something is posted.

One critic, Tom Watson, a member of the British Parliament and deputy leader of the Labor Party, called for YouTube to stop all new videos from being posted on the site if it could not stop the spread of the New Zealand video.

Resistance to censorship

The companies' race to stamp out the New Zealand video highlighted the dilemma that social media companies have faced, particularly as they have allowed livestreaming.

Built on users' content, Facebook, YouTube and others have long resisted the arduous task of censoring objectionable content.

At hearings in Washington or in media interviews, executives of these firms have said that untrue information isin itself notagainst their terms of service.

Instead of removing information deemed fake or objectionable, social media companies have tried to frame the information with fact checking or have demoted the information on their sites, making it harder for people to find.

That is what Facebook appears to be doing with the anti-vaccination content on its site. Earlier this month, Facebook said it would curtail anti-vaccination information on its platforms, including blocking advertising that contains false information about vaccines. It did not say it would remove users expressing anti-vaccination content.

But sometimes the firms do remove accounts. Last year, Facebook, Twitter and others removed from their platforms Alex Jones, an American commentator, used for spreading conspiracy theories and stirring hatred.

More monitors

In the past year, some social media companies have hired more people to monitor content so that issues are flagged faster, rather than having to wait for other users or the firm's algorithms to flag objectionable content.

With the New Zealand shooting video, Facebook and other firms appeared to be in lockstep, saying they would remove the content as quickly as they found it.

But there have been more calls for human and technical solutions that can quickly stop the spread of content across the internet.(VOA)

US to Impose Visa Restrictions Over ICC Actions

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - The United States will impose visa restrictions on people responsible for any International Criminal Court probe, a move aimed at preventing actions against the U.S. and its allies in Afghanistan, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday.

The Trump administration in September said that if the court launched a probe of war crimes in Afghanistan, it would consider banning ICC judges and prosecutors from entering the United States, sanctioning funds they have there and prosecuting them in U.S. courts.

Washington took the first step on Friday with Pompeo's announcement.

"I'm announcing a policy of U.S. visa restrictions on those individuals directly responsible for any ICC investigation of U.S. personnel," Pompeo said at a news conference in Washington. (VOA)

Students Worldwide Skip School to Protest Global Warming

STOCKHOLM, LELEMUKU.COM - They're angry at their elders, and they're not taking it sitting down.

Students worldwide are skipping class Friday to take to the streets to protest their governments' failure to take sufficient action against global warming.

The coordinated "school strikes," being held from the South Pacific to the edge of the Arctic Circle, were inspired by 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who began holding solitary demonstrations outside the Swedish parliament last year.

Since then, the weekly protests have snowballed from a handful of cities to hundreds, driven by social media-savvy students and dramatic headlines about the impact of climate change.

Thunberg, who was recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, was cheered for her blunt message to leaders at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland this year, when she told them: "I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day."

Friday's rallies are expected to be one of the biggest international actions yet. Protests were under way or planned in cities in more than 100 countries, including Hong Kong; New Delhi; Wellington, New Zealand; and Oulo, Finland.

In Berlin some 10,000 protesters, most of them young students, gathered in a downtown square, waving signs with slogans such as "There is no planet B" and "Climate Protection Report Card: F" before a march through the capital's government quarter. The march was to end with a demonstration outside Chancellor Angela Merkel's office.

Organizer Carla Reemtsma, a 20-year-old university student, said social media had been key in reaching people directly to coordinate the massive protests in so many different locations, noting that she was in 50 WhatsApp groups and fielding some 30,000 messages a day.

"It's really important that people are getting together all over the world, because it's affecting us all," she said.

Critics, supporters

Some politicians have criticized the students, suggesting they should be spending their time in school, not on the streets.

"One can't expect children and young people to see all of the global connections, what's technically reasonable and economically possible," said the head of Germany's pro-business Free Democratic Party, Christian Lindner. "That's a matter for professionals."

But scientists have backed the protests, with thousands signing petitions in support of the students in Britain, Finland and Germany.

"We are the professionals and we're saying the young generation is right," said Volker Quaschning, a professor of engineering at Berlin's University of Applied Sciences.

"We should be incredibly grateful and appreciative of their bravery," said Quaschning, one of more than 23,000 German-speaking scientists to sign a letter of support this week. "Because in a sense, it's incredibly brave not to go to school for once."

Scientists have warned for decades that current levels of greenhouse gas emissions are unsustainable, so far with little effect. In 2015, world leaders agreed in Paris to a goal of keeping the Earth's global temperature rise by the end of the century well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

Yet at present, the world is on track for an increase of 4 degrees Celsius, which experts say would have far-reaching consequences for life on the planet.

"As a doctor, I can say it makes a big difference whether you've got a fever of 41 degrees Celsius (105.8 Fahrenheit) or 43 C (109.4 F)," said Eckart von Hirschhausen, a German scientist who signed the call supporting striking students. "One of those is compatible with life, the other isn't."

Other action

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron have publicly welcomed the student protests, even as their policies have been criticized as too limited by environmental activists.

In France, activist groups launched legal action this week for failing to do enough to fight climate change, citing a similar successful effort in the Netherlands.

In Germany, environmental groups and experts have attacked government plans to continue using coal and natural gas for decades to come. Activists say that countries like Germany should fully "decarbonize" by 2040, giving less-advanced nations a bit more time to wean themselves off fossil fuels while still meeting the Paris goal globally.

Other changes needed to curb greenhouse gas emissions include ramping up renewable energy production, reining in over-consumption culture now spreading beyond the industrialized West and changing diets, experts say.

"The fight against climate change is going to be uncomfortable, in parts, and we need to have a society-wide discussion about this," said Quaschning.

That conversation is likely to get louder, with several U.S. presidential hopefuls planning to campaign on climate change.

Luisa Neubauer, one of the Berlin group organizing Fridays for Future, said politicians should take note of the young.

"For the European elections in May, we're urging everyone to think about whether they want to give their vote to a party that doesn't have a plan for the future and the climate," she said. (VOA)

US Regulators Charge Volkswagen, Ex-CEO With Defrauding Investors

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - U.S. regulators charged Volkswagen and former CEO Martin Winterkorn with defrauding investors during its massive diesel emissions scandal.

The charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission come two years after the German automaker settled with the U.S. over criminal and civil charges, as the company tries to distance itself from one if its darkest eras.

The SEC said that between April 2014 and May 2015, Volkswagen issued more than $13 billion in bonds and asset-backed securities in U.S. markets when senior executives knew that more than 500,000 vehicles in the country grossly exceeded legal vehicle emissions limits.

Volkswagen made false and misleading statements to investors and underwriters about vehicle quality, environmental compliance, and the company's financial standing, which gave Volkswagen a financial benefit when it issued securities at more attractive rates for the company, according to the SEC.

“Volkswagen hid its decade-long emissions scheme while it was selling billions of dollars of its bonds to investors at inflated prices,” said Stephanie Avakian, co-director of the SEC's enforcement division.

In September 2015 Volkswagen installed software on more than 475,000 cars that enabled them to cheat on emissions tests, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The software reduced nitrogen oxide emissions when the cars were placed on a test machine but allowed higher emissions and improved engine performance during normal driving.

In 2016 the Justice Department sued Volkswagen over the emissions-cheating software and the Federal Trade Commission sued the company, saying it made false claims in commercials promoting its “Clean Diesel” vehicles as environmentally friendly.

Winterkorn resigned saying he took responsibility for the fraud, but insisted he personally did nothing wrong.

Volkswagen said Friday that the SEC is simply repeating unproven claims about Winterkorn.

“Regrettably, more than two years after Volkswagen entered into landmark, multibillion-dollar settlements in the United States with the Department of Justice, almost every state and nearly 600,000 consumers, the SEC is now piling on to try to extract more from the company,” the company said in a prepared release.

The company has paid some $20 billion in fines and civil settlements. It has also pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the United States and several managers, including Winterkorn, were charged there.

The surprise charges from the SEC arrive as the German company attempts to distance itself from the scandal. On Tuesday the automaker said that it planned to ramp up production of electric vehicles over the next ten years, to 22 million, and reduce its carbon footprint over vehicle life cycles by 30 percent.

Volkswagen's pivot to electric vehicles comes as it seeks to comply with new limits on carbon dioxide emissions in Europe, and a push by China for more low-emission vehicles.

The SEC's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, charges Volkswagen AG, its subsidiaries Volkswagen Group of America Finance, LLC and VW Credit, Inc., and Winterkorn with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws.

The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest and civil penalties. It also wants to bar Winterkorn from holding any corporate officer or director positions. (VOA)

Chaos, Gridlock a Daily Ordeal for Manila's Long-suffering Commuters

MANILA, LELEMUKU.COM - It's 3.30 a.m. in the Philippines and much of San Jose Del Monte is fast asleep.

Flashlight in hand, street sweeper Alejandro Galasao, 58, navigates a labyrinth of alleys to a main road to catch a bus to the capital Manila 30 km (18.6 miles) away.

He has to wake up in the middle of the night for a job that doesn't start until 6 a.m.

Traffic is so bad in Manila that if he leaves any later, there's no way he will clock in on time.

"If I go to work at rush hour, it would take me three hours," Galasao told Reuters. "This is the only job I know. Even if I find something else, I doubt I would earn any better."

Metro Manila, a sprawl of 16 cities fused together by outdated infrastructure, is creaking under the weight of millions of vehicles, owing largely to economic growth of more than six percent a year since 2012.

Urban rail coverage is limited, trains are prone to breakdowns and queues spill onto streets where exhaust fumes are intoxicating.

Quality of life is poor for many urban Filipinos, who spend a chunk of their day commuting.

Janice Sarad works at a bank head office and leaves home four hours before work starts in Bonifacio Global City, a Manila business hub.

On a typical day, Sarad, 22, takes a train, a bus and two passenger jeeps to get to work.

"In the morning, it's even more difficult to commute because the pressure not to be late is there. You really have to fight your way in," she said.

Heavy Toll

A 2015 survey by GPS-based navigation app Waze found that Manila had the world's worst traffic congestion, partly due to a tripling of annual car sales from a decade ago.

Oliver Emocling, 23, rides the train, but queues are so long that he arrives late often, and has been docked wages as punishment.

"When I get home, it's already 10 p.m.," said Emocling, who works at a magazine. "I could be using that time to sleep more, rest more. Instead, my time gets wasted."

The daily loss of business in Manila due to traffic woes has risen to 3.5 billion pesos ($67.2 million) in 2017 from 2.4 billion pesos ($46.1 million) in 2012, according to the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

President Rodrigo Duterte has said that fixing Manila's traffic wasn't easy, adding that it was the only campaign promise he had failed to deliver.

He recently approved a law that encourages companies to support more employees to work from home.

The government is making some headway on an $180 billion program to modernize roads, railways and airports, including a subway system which was set to begin construction at the end of February.

However, the building works are exacerbating snarl-ups.

Ferdinand Tan, a 53-year-old wealth coach, lets his staff work from home and has modified his van to cope with traffic, turning it into a mobile office with a power supply, computer and even a foot massager.

"No one can really solve the traffic. So instead of complaining about it, I try to maximize (the time)," he said. "I use unproductive time to be productive." (Reuters/VOA)

College Scam in "Operation Varsity Blues" Takes Bribery to Whole New Level

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Rich and famous parents who are accused of buying their children entrance to some of the best universities in the U.S. were part of a multilevel, years-long scam that exploited a desire expressed worldwide: to be educated at the best American institutions.

William Rick Singer of Newport Beach, California, who has pleaded guilty to orchestrating the scam and is named as a cooperating witness, earned more than $25 million by connecting parents and their children with test administrators and college coaches who took their cut for endorsing bogus applicants, says the U.S. Department of Justice.

"They flaunted their wealth, sparing no expense, so they could cheat the system so set their children up for success with the best education money could buy. Literally," described Joseph Bonavolonta of the FBI's Boston field office.

Exclusive, moneyed and well-connected, parents on the list of those indicted in "Operation Varsity Blues" for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud include the owner of a California wine vineyard and the former owner of a California media company that sold for $325 million a year ago. Some own corporations and firms, and deal in private equity and real-estate development. There are several executives, entrepreneurs, investors and CEOs among the 50 who were charged. Parents charged in the scandal list addresses on New York City’s Fifth Avenue and at Rockefeller Center, California’s Beverly Hills, Greenwich, Connecticut, and Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, where the Kennedy political dynasty owns an oceanfront summer compound.

That echelon of American wealth traditionally seeks prestigious institutions of higher education for their children: Yale, Stanford and Georgetown, among other Ivy League, or older universities known for their excellence and well-heeled connections. Other schools caught in the scam are campuses in the University of California system, the University of Texas and Wake Forest University.

Wealthy families have been donating large sums to colleges and universities for a millennia to get their offspring into prestigious schools – and get their family name inscribed in stone on university buildings or connected to a prestigious post, called a “chair.” And testing overseas for international students has been cancelled numerous times -- as recently as this month -- because the test answers have been widely distributed to test takers before the exam.

But prosecutors say this scam took bribery to a new level.

"We're not talking about donating a building so a school is more likely to take your daughter or son," explained U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling. “We’re talking about deception and fraud. Fake test scores, fake athletic credentials, fake photographs, bribed college officials.”

Lelling said the case is one of “the widening corruption of elite college admissions. … There can be no separate admission system for the wealthy. Every year, talented students work hard ... in a system that grows more and more competitive every year."

"For every student admitted through fraud, an honest and genuinely talented student was rejected," he said.

Even high-achieving high-school students labor for four years to impress highly selective colleges that have low acceptance rates: Among the schools mentioned in the indictments, only 5 percent of applicants get into Stanford, 7 percent into Yale, 16 percent into University of California-Los Angeles, 17 percent into Georgetown, 18 percent into the University of Southern California, and 29 percent into Wake Forest University, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

In addition to high grade-point averages, students applying to schools need high scores on standardized tests like the SAT and ACT. Many families pay tutors to help students improve their test scores, which can be taken several times.

But unlike most high-school juniors and seniors who take the SAT or ACT under the watchful eye of proctors in large group locations like school cafeterias, parent and Hollywood actor Felicity Huffman paid Singer $15,000 to get her daughter time and privacy to take the test, according to prosecutors. One defendant, Mark Riddell of Palmetto, Florida, answered or corrected hers and other’s responses before submitting the results to the testing companies.

And parents – some of whom paid up to $75,000 for testing assistance -- got a bonus: They made their payments through a charitable organization Singer created named Key Worldwide Foundation. Not only is Key tax-exempt as a charity, parents were able to deduct those charitable contributions from their income taxes, prosecutors said.

Athletics are a unique path into higher echelon colleges and universities, and college coaches were a link between parents and Singer. A student who excels at lacrosse, soccer or basketball can boost an institution’s revenue through ticket sales, endorsements and brand marketing. College basketball is widely seen as a televised, brightly lit pathway for athletes to professional, well-paid careers.

The indictment snagged college sports coaches who acted as middlemen, knowing the applicants real abilities but taking big payoffs to endorse them for admission. College and university coaches are often the highest paid on college campuses, sometimes receiving tens or hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions more, than the college presidents they serve.

Parents staged photos of their children engaged in popular sports, Lelling described, including photoshopping the face of their child onto the face of an actual athlete, and then submitting it to support of the child's application.

“We believe everyone charged here today had a role in cultivating a culture of corruption and greed,” Bonavolonta said at a press conference. “Their actions were without a doubt insidious, selfish and shameful.”

Olivia Giannulli, daughter of televison actor Lori Loughlin and a YouTube star who goes by the name Olivia Jade, has seen increased heat around comments she made after her acceptance at USC.

"I don't know how much of school I'm gonna attend," she shared with her nearly 2 million subscribers, after explaining her extensive work schedule. “I don't really care about school, as you guys all know."

Prosecutors said they did not believe the schools were directly involved or knew of the pay-for-admission scam. Yale and USC issued statements early.

“We do not believe that any member of the Yale administration or staff other than the charged coach knew about the conspiracy. The university has cooperated fully in the investigation and will continue to cooperate as the case moves forward,” wrote the university's President Peter Salovey.

“The federal government has alleged that USC is a victim in a scheme perpetrated against the university by a long-time Athletics Department employee, one current coach and three former coaching staff, who were allegedly involved in a college admissions scheme and have been charged by the government on multiple charges,” wrote USC President Wanda M. Austin to the university community.

“At this time, we have no reason to believe that admissions employees or senior administrators were aware of the scheme or took part in any wrongdoing—and we believe the government concurs in that assessment.” (Mark LaMet/Lynn Davis/Kathleen Struck-VOA)

Despite Differences, Democrats Stick with Nancy Pelosi on Impeachment

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Democrats are largely lining up behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her wait-and-see strategy on any impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

Moderate and even some of the most liberal House Democrats said they were supportive of the speaker after she told The Washington Post that she's not for impeachment, at least for now. Impeaching Trump is "just not worth it," Pelosi said, unless there's overwhelming support. While some in her caucus may disagree on certain points, the majority of Democrats endorsed Pelosi's approach.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said a unilateral pursuit of impeachment by Democrats would be an "exercise doomed for failure."

"I see little to be gained by putting the country through that kind of wrenching experience," he said at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said impeachment "has to be a bipartisan effort, and right now it's not there." Cummings said his sense is that "this matter will only be resolved at the polls."

Even one of the strongest proponents of impeachment, freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, said Tuesday that she is "absolutely not" disappointed in Pelosi. Tlaib, who attracted attention the day she was sworn in by using a vulgarity in calling for Trump's removal, said the speaker has always encouraged her to represent her liberal Detroit district.

Tlaib stressed that she is going to continue to push for impeachment, but echoed Democratic leaders' caution in first calling for a committee process that investigates Trump.

"That doesn't mean we are voting on it, it means we are beginning the process to look at some of these alleged claims," Tlaib said.

Democrats have launched multiple probes into Trump's White House and personal businesses. Those investigations, led by Schiff and other House committee chairmen, are intended to keep the focus on Trump's business dealings and relationship with Russia, no matter what comes from the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., a member of the House Judiciary Committee and a leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Pelosi's comments are "probably a reaction to everybody wanting to go to the end of an investigation when we haven't started."

Pelosi's approach could also provide cover to some of her members, including freshmen who were elected in November from "red-to-blue" districts where impeachment is politically fraught. California Rep. Katie Hill, one of those freshmen, praised Pelosi's approach.

"If it's going to be a political disaster for us, then we're not going to do it," she said.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., noted that the majority of freshman members have not been outspoken on impeachment, and that the Senate remains controlled by Republicans. "Nobody thinks there is going to be a conviction in the Senate, unless circumstances very substantially change."

Pelosi has long resisted impeachment as a drastic step that should only be broached with "great care."

She rebuffed calls when she first held the speaker's gavel, in 2007, to start impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush. Having been a member of Congress during President Bill Clinton's impeachment, she saw the way the public turned on Republicans and helped Clinton win a second term.

Last year, heading into the midterm elections, Pelosi discouraged candidates from talking up impeachment, preferring to stick to the kitchen table issues that she believes most resonate with voters. The approach paid off, as Democrats won back the House majority for the first time in eight years.

In a caucus meeting Tuesday morning, Pelosi encouraged Democrats to "keep our eye on the prize" as "we look at what this president is doing to this great country." Impeachment was not discussed, according to an aide who requested anonymity to discuss the closed meeting.

Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., a member of House leadership, said Democrats ran on an agenda of controlling health care costs, raising incomes and fighting corruption.

"We're working very hard to deliver on those things, and I think the speaker wants to make sure we stay focused on that," he said. (VOA)

As Sanctions on North Korea Remain, Kim’s Economic Development Goals May Recede

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may not be able to achieve his economic development goals given the divergent ideas over denuclearization exhibited by Washington and Pyongyang after the Hanoi summit, said experts.

After the Hanoi summit broke down last month over discussions of Washington’s demand on denuclearization and Pyongyang’s demand on sanctions relief, Kim made a first public statement emphasizing economic development, a goal he set for this year during his New Year’s Day speech.

If the sanctions are not lifted, North Korea and its citizens will likely to face tougher economic conditions this year.

North Korea’s main state media outlet, Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), reported on Saturday that Kim stressed last week “the need to concentrate all efforts of information and motivation on accelerating socialist economic construction.” KCNA added that Kim emphasized the [North] Korean people should “further display their might in the spirit of self-reliance.”

Ahead of the report, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton told Fox Business Network last week the U.S. is looking to increase sanctions if Pyongyang is not willing to denuclearize.

“They’re not going to get relief from the crushing economic sanctions that have been imposed on them,” Bolton said. “We’ll look at ramping those sanctions up in fact.”

A State Department official said on Thursday that the U.S. is not looking to provide exemptions to South Korea to resume joint economic projects with North Korea, which Seoul has been pushing for since the first inter-Korean summit in April.

Missile sites

Based on commercial satellite imagery, North Korea appeared to be rebuilding the Sohae Satellite Launching Station at Tongchang-ri last week. Pyongyang began to dismantle the largest missile engine test site in the country after the first summit with the U.S.in Singapore in June.

Movements around the Samundong facility near Pyongyang were also detected last week, suggesting North Korea might be preparing for a missile launch.

Built in 2012, the Samundong facility's mission is the development of long-range missiles and space-launch vehicles, such as the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile, which analysts agree is capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.

Experts said Kim will not be able to develop North Korea’s economy, one of the world’s most opaque, without a sanctions lift from the U.S.

According to South Korea’s central bank, North Korea’s economy shrank 3.5 percent in 2017, a year after the United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions banning North Korea’s key exports including coal, textiles and fisheries and limited its imports of oil. Without the income derived from selling those export commodities, the North Korean economy is likely to face limits on its growth.

“Sanctions are really serious obstacles to the prospects for North Korea to fully develop its economy,” said Scott Snyder, director of the U.S.-Korea policy program at the Council of Foreign Relations.

Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said the North Korean economy is likely to dwindle as the result of sanctions.

“Kim’s economy is in difficult shape, squeezed by sanctions,” Manning said. “Some think it is likely to contract in 2019.”

Snyder said North Korea will likely continue to look for ways to bypass sanctions, and turn to Russia and China, which have been willing partners in that effort in the past. But, he thinks that Pyongyang is unlikely to get very far with Moscow and Beijing.

Since the U.S.-North Korean summit process started in June, Snyder said China has eased off enforcing sanctions in the past two months.

"But I believe that China is willing to continue to apply sanctions up to a point, and that the level of relaxation on the part of China is not going to be sufficient to meet North Korea’s desire toward its needs," he added.

Joshua Stanton, a Washington-based attorney who helped draft the North Korea Sanctions Act in 2016, thinks the consequence of sanctions are not rigorous enough at the current level to deter evasions by North Korea.

“So far, they are not,” Stanton said. “You need to go out to Chinese banks that continue to launder money for North Korea. And although the Trump administration threatened that, it hasn’t followed through with that threat.”

US legislation

A day before the Hanoi summit that took place Feb. 27-28, Congressman Brendan Boyle, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, introduced a bill calling for the prohibition of lifting sanctions on North Korea.

Stanton said Congress will likely look for ways to make sanctions stronger now that North Korea has demonstrated its unwillingness at the Hanoi summit to agree to U.S. demands on denuclearization.

Ken Gause, director of the International Affairs Group at the Center for Naval Analyses, said North Korea is most likely to turn to South Korea for concessions and look to resume inter-Korean projects, such as the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Mount Kumgang tourism, which South Korea has been planning to discuss with the U.S. prior to beginning preparatory work because of potential sanctions violations.

The Kaesong Industrial Complex that opened in 2004 included factories where South Korean manufacturers could employ North Korean workers for low wages. It was shut down in 2016 following a North Korean nuclear test. South Korean tours to the venerated Mount Kumgangended in 2008 after a South Korean tourist was shot by a North Korean guard.

Gause said, “It will definitely make it more difficult for [South Korean President Moon Jae-in] to just provide concessions to North Korea with the United States taking a hardline following Hanoi.”

Snyder thinks “the inter-Korean projects cannot go ahead under current circumstance because they would pursue contrary to the sanctions efforts,” and if South Korea tries to resume the projects with North Korea, “it would definitely create tension.”

“So I believe South Korea is going to get essentially a red light on the idea of large-scale economic cooperation," he added.

Gause, on the other hand, thinks inter-Korean economic projects could help U.S. negotiate denuclearization with North Korea.

“If the South Koreans were able to get some sanctions relief and provide North Korea with some resources, maybe reopening the Kaesong Industrial Complex or Mount Kumgang, that could actually lay the path for better negotiations with the United States down the line than if we just take a hard line against North Korea, and they go into a shell,” said Gause.

After the Hanoi summit, Snyder said North Korea is looking for a way to boost its leverage over the U.S. position by making a preparation to resume testing.

“One leverage that North Korea can use to push back on the U.S. position is the idea of making preparations for possible resumption of testing," he said. “It’s kind of logical move for North Korea to make as a means by which to send the signal that the North Koreans also have some leverage and they’re not just going to roll over.” (Christy Lee-VOA)

US to Remove All Diplomatic Personnel from Venezuela

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - The United States says it is removing all remaining personnel from its embassy in Venezuela.

In a statement issued late Monday night, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the personnel will be pulled out of Caracas this week. Secretary Pompeo said the decision to shut down the embassy “reflects the deteriorating situation in Venezuela” as well as the conclusion that the presence of the diplomatic staff “has become a constraint on U.S. policy.”

The State Department ordered all non-emergency personnel to leave Venezuela back in January, days after President Nicolas Maduro ended diplomatic relations with Washington and ordered U.S. diplomats to leave after President Donald Trump officially recognized Juan Guaido as interim president. Guaido had declared himself president after claiming Maduro’s re-election was illegitimate.

The U.S. announcement that it was closing its embassy comes as Venezuela enters the sixth day of nationwide power outage Tuesday. Desperate residents are fetching water from a polluted river and drainage pipes, with schools and businesses closed and stores unable to keep cold and fresh whatever food is on hand.

Some hospitals have generators and doctors are hoping to be able to transfer patients who need operations to save their lives to those facilities.

Power was restored to parts of the country Monday, but was reported to be unreliable. It is also hard to confirm reports of deaths and looting coming out of Venezuela because of communication difficulties.

President Maduro blames the power outage on the United States and the political opposition, accusing them of a cyberattack on a hydroelectric dam.

Guaido says government corruption and mismanagement are the cause. Engineers say a lack of maintenance and skilled experts fleeing the country have left the Venezuelan electrical grid in terrible shape.

The United States denies having anything to do with the power shortages and Pompeo Monday blasted Cuba and Russia for backing the Maduro regime.

"No nation has done more to sustain the death and daily misery of ordinary Venezuelans, including Venezuela's military and their families, than the communists in Havana," Pompeo said. "Cuba is the true imperialist power in Venezuela."

Pompeo says Maduro sends up to 50,000 barrels of oil to Cuba per day to help prop up Cuba's "tyrant socialist economy while Maduro needs Cuban expertise and repression, to keep his grip on power. A match made in hell," said Pompeo.

Pompeo added that Russia joins Cuba in showing contempt for the rule of law and prosperity in Venezuela.

"Russia, too, has created this crisis. It, too, for its own reasons, is thwarting the Venezuelan people's legitimate democratic hopes and their dreams... The Kremlin is standing with its Venezuelan cronies against the will of the people of a sovereign nation to protect a Moscow-friendly regime."

Pompeo said oil-rich Venezuela's plunge from wealth to poverty has left economists with "amazement and horror."

The United States expanded sanctions against Venezuela Monday to include a Moscow-based bank jointly owned by the Venezuelan and Russian governments.

The Treasury Department says the bank allegedly tried to avoid earlier sanctions on Venezuela by backing Maduro's failed efforts. (Nike Ching-VOA)

North Korea May Be Preparing Missile or Space Launch

SACRAMENTO, LELEMUKU.COM - There are indications North Korea may be preparing for a missile or space launch, National Public Radio is reporting. The U.S. news outlet said an analysis of satellite images of the Sanumdong facility near Pyongyang reveal the presence of trucks, cars, rail cars and cranes.

"When you put all that together, that's really what it looks like when the North Koreans are in the process of building a rocket," said Jeffrey Lewis, a researcher at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.

Lewis has studied the images, which were provided by DigitalGlobe, a U.S. commercial provider of space and earth imagery.

This development comes on the heels of U.S. President Donald Trump saying he would be "very disappointed" if North Korea is resuming nuclear testing after his recent meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Trump made the comments to reporters Friday as he prepared to travel to Alabama to view tornado damage. He said he has greatly improved U.S. relations with North Korea during his time in office.

"Look, when I came in," he said, "under the Obama administration, North Korea was a disaster. You were going to war, folks, whether you know it or not. ... I inherited a mess."

He continued, "Right now you have no testing, you have no nothing. Let's see what happens, but I would be very disappointed if I saw testing."

Trump and Kim met last week in Vietnam in a summit meant to reach an agreement on North Korean denuclearization. But the meeting broke down over an impasse over how many sites North Korea would shut down.

Following the summit, South Korean newspapers reported there was evidence of new activity at the Sohae long-range rocket site, a site Kim agreed last year to shut down as part of confidence-building measures with the United States.

North Korean state media acknowledged the failed meeting for the first time Friday, saying the people of North Korea blame the United States for the collapse of the talks.(VOA)

Air Transat Flight Makes Emergency Landing at Newark International Airport

NEW JERSEY, LELEMUKU.COM - An Air Transat flight was forced to divert Saturday morning to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey after reports of a possible fire in the cargo hold.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration. (FAA) passengers on board the Boeing 737 which flew out of Montreal and was bound for Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

"They evacuated onto the airport's runway via emergency slides," according to FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.

Airport firefighters responded to the scene. The incident prompted the Newark airport to shut down all runways briefly, but flights resumed soon after.

Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, told CNN that the pilot of the Air Transat flight requested an emergency landing at 8:20 a.m., saying there was smoke in the aircraft.

"The plane landed safely. Passengers were evacuated on the runway via the chutes and bused to the terminal, where they will be housed until the airline can determine what it wants to do with them," Coleman said.

Two minor injuries were reported, he said, but they were unrelated to the smoke. The incident is under investigation, Coleman added, and authorities are working to get the aircraft off the runway.

An Air Transat statement said, "Our 189 passengers' safety is our top priority and they were evacuated promptly upon landing."
The Canadian airline said it will send another plane to get passengers to their destination. (CNN)

US Looking for New Ways to Get Aid into Venezuela

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the U.S. is looking for ways to get humanitarian assistance into Venezuela, after troops loyal to President Nicolas Maduro repelled aid trucks in clashes at the borders with Brazil and Colombia.

The top U.S. diplomat, in an interview Sunday on CNN, did not suggest how the U.S. might carry out the aid mission in the face of armed opposition.

He said, however, that the United States would consider imposing more sanctions against the Venezuelan government to increase pressure on Maduro to quit in favor of the country's interim president, Juan Guaido, the president of the National Assembly. Guaido is considered by the U.S. and dozens of other countries as the legitimate leader in Caracas.

Pompeo called Maduro a tyrant, saying, "I'm confident that the Venezuelan people will ensure that Maduro's days are numbered."

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is meeting Monday with Guaido and other regional leaders in Bogota, the Colombian capital, to discuss a strategy against Maduro and how to get aid into Venezuela, where supplies of food and medicine have run low.

Maduro has blocked the aid effort spearheaded by the U.S., saying it is a pretext for an armed U.S. invasion.

On Saturday, Maduro supporters fired bullets at those attempting to get aid trucks into Venezuela, while Venezuelan border troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets.

Foro Penal [Criminal Forum], a group that tracks violence in Venezuela, reported four deaths at the Brazilian border with Venezuela on Saturday. It said the victims were shot by pro-government militia members.

A spokesman for the group, Alfred Romero, posted a video on Twitter saying more than two dozen other people were wounded in the violence.

At one border point, aid trucks caught fire, leading the crowd to rush to save the boxes of food and medical supplies.

A U.S. State Department official traveling with the Brazilian aid convoy told VOA that the trucks crossed the borderintoVenezuela, but were not allowed through the military checkpoint there, and did notunload their cargo.

Afterward, Guaido pressed the case for new foreign assistance to oust Maduro. "Today's events force me to make a decision: to pose to the international community in a formal way that we must have all options open to achieve the liberation of this country that is fighting and will continue to fight," he said on Twitter.

The European Union, also supporting Guaido, condemned Maduro's actions to repel the trucks with the humanitarian aid. "We repudiate the use of irregular armed groups to intimidate civilians and lawmakers who have mobilized to distribute assistance," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on behalf of the 28-member bloc of countries.

Sunday, Pompeo deplored the fact that the Venezuelan military, despite a small number of defections to the opposition, has mostly remained loyal to Maduro.

"We hope the military will take that role back in protecting their citizens from these tragedies. If that happens, I think good things will happen," he said.

"We're aimed at a singular mission -- ensuring the Venezuelan people get the democracy they so richly deserve and the Cubans and the Russians who have been driving this country into the ground for years and years and years no longer hold sway," he said.

Colombian officials say more than 60 Venezuelan soldiers defected Saturday. Venezuelan Army Major Hugo Parra announced his defection, telling VOA Noticias he recognizes Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

Guaido tweeted his praise of the soldiers' actions. "They aren't deserters," he said. "They've decided to put themselves on the side of the people and the constitution."

Maduro announced in a speech to his supporters Saturday that he is cutting off diplomatic ties with Colombia. Colombia President Ivan Duque has been making public appearances with Guaido as they work to transport aid across Venezuelan borders.

Duque said Colombian ambassadors and consuls have 24 hours to leave Venezuela.

Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holms Trujillo released a statement in response, saying, "Colombia holds the usurper Maduro responsible for any aggression or violation of the rights of Colombian officials in Venezuela."

Maduro also said he would defend Venezuela's independence with his life. He called Guaido a puppet of the White House.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted his support for Guaido.

"The people of Venezuela stand at the threshold of history, ready to reclaim their country and their future. God Bless the people of Venezuela!" Trump said. (VOA)