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Nigerian Spokesman: Girls’ Rescue Reaffirms President’s Promise
A spokesman for Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said the rescue Tuesday of 200 girls and 93 women is a major breakthrough in the fight against terrorism.
Reuben Abati said it also reaffirms Jonathan’s promise to rescue the girls alive. He said the news is so big that it will gladden the hearts of all peace lovers around the globe.
Abati would not say whether the rescue had come too late following Jonathan’s loss during the March 28 election to challenger Muhamadu Buhari.
He said the rescue is more important to Jonathan than political ambition.
“Whatever is the real identity of the girls in terms of whether they are the girls from Chibok or girls from anywhere, I think that this is a major breakthrough in the fight against terror. It is a reaffirmation of President Jonathan’s commitment which he has stated again and again that his administration will ensure that the girls are rescued and will do everything possible to ensure that they are rescued alive,” he said.
“President Jonathan is leaving office on May 29th, and I think that personally he, too, must be happy that the operation in the northeast has recorded this huge success. The identity of the girls, whether they are from Chibok or from wherever, the fact that these are human beings who have been rescued from the captivity of terrorists is more important to him than political ambition,” he said.
President-elect Buhari has promised to "spare no effort" to defeat Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
"Boko Haram will soon know the strength of our collective will. We should spare no effort," Buhari said in his first formal speech since winning the election. "In tackling the insurgency, we have a tough and urgent job to do.
Young Women Bear HIV Burden
The head of PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, says young women and girls are disproportionally affected by HIV. Dr. Deborah Birx said seven thousand young women are infected each week with the AIDS virus – mostly in Africa.
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Ambassador Birx is helping to lead an effort protect women and girls and change the course of the epidemic.
She said, “People have known for a while that women and girls, particularly young women’s incidence of disease and prevalence of disease is much higher than their age-matched boy counterpart. And it starts really very early, probably at about 14 to 15, and then continues to escalate all through the early 20s with a rate that’s about twice what it is in young men.”
Dr. Birx said a lot of the infections among young women and girls can be traced to who they date.
“The young girls and young women are not being infected from their age-matched cohort when you see that kind of disparity. So, you know that they must be getting infected or exposed to the HIV virus probably from a different age cohort of men. And that’s been all of the discussion over the years about cross-generational sex and young women engaging with sex with older men. When we say older men it could be simply five or 10 years older.”
She said that health officials have a lot to learn about why adolescent girls and young women make such dating decisions. Earlier in the epidemic, much of the problem was blamed on the so-called “sugar daddy” syndrome, where young women would date rich older men. But Dr. Birx said it’s really more complicated than that.
“You know, we haven’t sat down with young women at 10 and 14 and then again at 15, 16 and 17 and really dissected each of those decisions in different communities. I do believe it’s probably different and it’s a different pattern in communities that could be right next to each other.”
The PEPFAR head said the information being gathered will be used to tailor programs toward young women and adolescent girls.
The DREAMS program announced last December is still in its early stages. DREAMS stands for determined, resilient, empowered, AIDS-free, mentored and safe. It’s a public-private partnership PEPFAR has with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Nike Foundation. It’ll begin in 10 sub-Saharan African countries.
“Now there’s a difference between defining that they’re at a unique risk – figuring out what that risk is – and then implementing programs that address that risk. And I think we’ve defined that they’re at a unique risk, but we haven’t really defined the type of programming that will affect that risk.”
Ambassador Birx said such programs are vital considering population growth.
“If you look at South Africa, itself, about the demographics of the young women in the age category of 15 to 30 at the beginning of the epidemic in 1985 and you look again now of how many young women, there’s about 25 to 30 percent additional young women in that age group. So this youth bulge – this youth dividend – this fabulous piece of Africa rising – is also the piece that really puts Africa at risk,” she said.
In the early years of the epidemic, Birx treated patients in the U.S. and Africa before the disease was called AIDS. There were a lot of funerals. So, the disease was forefront in many people’s minds. Now, she fears complacency is taking hold.
“The reality of weekly funerals – the reality that HIV/AIDS is death – was so pervasive. So when Global Fund and PEPFAR and host country investments allowed this amazing saving of lives [and]there was no longer this constant parade of funerals every weekend, it has resulted in a level of complacency that I don’t think any of us expected,” Birx said.
At the recent World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, Dr. Birx spoke with a number of African finance ministers. She said they told her they thought the HIV/AIDS problem had ended because the number of deaths had dramatically declined.
She said PEPFAR and others are shining a light on the disease so people understand it is still a significant problem that needs to be solved.
NASA's Messenger Will Crash Into Mercury
The first spacecraft to orbit Mercury, the closest planet to our Sun, will run out of fuel and crash on its surface Thursday, ending its 11-year mission.
The half-ton orbiter known by its acronym MESSENGER was launched in August 2004 on a mission to study Mercury’s chemical composition, geology and magnetic field.
MESSENGER spiraled through the inner solar system for seven years before reaching its destination. Inserting MESSENGER into orbit proved to be a challenging task, due to the sun’s gravity, intense heat and effects of solar radiation pressure.
WATCH: NASA video MESSENGER flies over Mercury
https://youtu.be/oSOv0-iWWwQ
Among other scientific data, MESSENGER discovered the presence of frozen water in deep craters sitting in permanent shadow, as well as a mysterious dark material that could consist of organic compounds.
During its last month in orbit, MESSENGER sent back to NASA the best high-resolution images so far of Mercury’s desolate, moonlike surface.
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China, Russia to Hold First Joint Mediterranean Naval Drills
BEIJING— China will hold joint naval drills with Russia in mid-May in the Mediterranean Sea, the first time the two countries will hold military exercises together in that part of the world, the Chinese Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
China and Russia have held naval drills in Pacific waters since 2012. The May maneuvers come as the United States ramps up military cooperation with its allies in Asia in response to China's increasingly assertive pursuit of maritime territorial claims.
A total of nine ships from the two countries will participate, including vessels China now has on anti-piracy patrols in waters off Somalia, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng told a monthly news briefing.
"The aim is to deepen both countries' friendly and practical cooperation, and increase our navies' ability to jointly deal with maritime security threats," Geng said.
"What needs saying is that these exercises are not aimed at any third party and have nothing to do with the regional situation.
Geng gave no specific date for the drills, which will be focused on navigation safety, at-sea replenishment, escort missions and live fire exercises.
Russia building ties
Since Western powers imposed economic sanctions on Russia last year over the violence in Ukraine, Moscow has accelerated attempts to build ties with Asia, Africa and South America, as well as warming relations with its former Soviet-era allies.
China and Russia are both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and have close diplomatic, economic and military ties, with China traditionally relying on Russia for its most advanced equipment.
President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Moscow next month to attend a parade celebrating the end of World War II.
China has been increasingly flexing its military muscles since Xi assumed the presidency in 2013, jangling nerves around the region and globally, though Beijing insists it is a force for peace and threatens nobody.
China's navy has become a focus of Xi's efforts to better project the country's power, especially in the disputed South China Sea.
U.S. President Barack Obama accused China on Tuesday of "flexing its muscles" to advance its territorial claims atsea.
China says about 90 percent of the 3.5 million square km (1.35 million square miles) South China Sea is its sovereign territory. The Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam also claim large parts.
China and Russia have held naval drills in Pacific waters since 2012. The May maneuvers come as the United States ramps up military cooperation with its allies in Asia in response to China's increasingly assertive pursuit of maritime territorial claims.
A total of nine ships from the two countries will participate, including vessels China now has on anti-piracy patrols in waters off Somalia, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng told a monthly news briefing.
"The aim is to deepen both countries' friendly and practical cooperation, and increase our navies' ability to jointly deal with maritime security threats," Geng said.
"What needs saying is that these exercises are not aimed at any third party and have nothing to do with the regional situation.
Geng gave no specific date for the drills, which will be focused on navigation safety, at-sea replenishment, escort missions and live fire exercises.
Russia building ties
Since Western powers imposed economic sanctions on Russia last year over the violence in Ukraine, Moscow has accelerated attempts to build ties with Asia, Africa and South America, as well as warming relations with its former Soviet-era allies.
China and Russia are both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and have close diplomatic, economic and military ties, with China traditionally relying on Russia for its most advanced equipment.
President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Moscow next month to attend a parade celebrating the end of World War II.
China has been increasingly flexing its military muscles since Xi assumed the presidency in 2013, jangling nerves around the region and globally, though Beijing insists it is a force for peace and threatens nobody.
China's navy has become a focus of Xi's efforts to better project the country's power, especially in the disputed South China Sea.
U.S. President Barack Obama accused China on Tuesday of "flexing its muscles" to advance its territorial claims atsea.
China says about 90 percent of the 3.5 million square km (1.35 million square miles) South China Sea is its sovereign territory. The Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam also claim large parts.
In Some Nepali Villages, Not a Single Structure Stands
Residents of a destroyed home in Ratomatey scavenge for corn in the rubble.
A woman, extricated from the rubble of her home after being trapped for five days, was carried to the roadside to await transportation to a medical center. She was thought to have a broken back.
NEWZ
SINDHUPOLCHOK, NEPAL—
The small fishing village of Majigaon, on the banks of the Indravati River, 100 kilometers (60 miles) by road from Kathmandu, exists on few maps. Now, it has literally been wiped off the map.
Not a single structure still stands in Majigaon. All 50 stone and wood homes tumbled in an instant last Saturday when the magnitude-7.8 quake struck Nepal.
Majigaon is one of numerous villages and hamlets in the hardest-hit Sindhupolchok district to suffer total devastation.
A VOA news crew reached Majigaon Thursday after traveling for hours in an off-road vehicle over earthquake-damaged roads just cleared of landslides and then hiking down a steep path on a terraced paddy field.
Five people died in Majigaon, one teenaged boy is missing and about 20 villagers were injured.
Injured remain
A Singaporean rescue team showed up for less than 20 minutes Wednesday to render first aid, a villager said. Several injured, including an 18-month-old girl with a broken leg, remain in the destroyed village.
The stench of death is not human, it is from livestock trapped in the rubble.
A dirt road above Majigaon in Sindhupolchak district was cracked by the magnitude-7.8 earthquake.
Some goats and chickens roam atop the rubble – the few animals that have survived. The loss of nearly all livestock is a devastating blow for impoverished and now homeless people all across the district.
For four days, the survivors in Majigoan had nothing to eat. Then they heard aid was being distributed in nearby Melamchi.
Akash Maji, 24, said when people from Majigaon arrived they discovered the aid had been distributed, mostly to relatively well-off shopkeepers whose properties were not seriously damaged.
The Majigaon delegation had no money, but arranged to purchase on credit 30 sacks of rice, each containing 30 kilograms.
Although Majigaon has existed for countless generations, the villagers are now debating whether they should bother to rebuild here, fearing another earthquake will cause a repeat tragedy.
Even many communities closer to Kathmandu are reciting woes siimilar to Majigaon's.
A hamlet named Ratomatey, on a hill in the Himalayan foothills overlooking fertile rice fields in the adjacent Kavre district, has also been flattened. Here, too, not a single structure is habitable and precious livestock is buried in the rubble. No aid has reached Ratomatey, where 12 people died.
More than 11,000 injured in Nepal
Near Ratomatey injured survivors wait for help. It may be days or weeks before some are reached in a country where the official tally of those injured by the quake has surpassed 11,000.
In Mahadevstan, in Kavre district, the only assistance received has been a donation from the local Red Cross of 90 tarps under which survivors from 1,700 collapsed houses are supposed to shelter.
As villagers aired their complaints to a VOA news crew, a woman who had been extricated from the rubble of her home in nearby Borgaon was carried to Mahadevstan.
Wrapped in a green blanket, having apparently suffered a broken back, she was listless on a blue stretcher as flies covered her body, attracted by the stench of her dead husband whom she had laid beside for five days.
Residents said the town’s only ambulance was in service elsewhere and unless the woman could pay for transport there was no ride for her to a hospital.
A policeman arrived and flagged down a passing truck, convincing the reluctant driver to take the woman to the nearest medical center. The stretcher was lifted into the back of the truck for a bumpy one-hour ride
Nepal Quake Toll Rises as Aid Operations Continue
The death toll from Saturday's earthquake in Nepal has risen to nearly 5,500 people, officials said Thursday, as teams continued digging through rubble and aid groups worked to get much needed supplies to survivors.
U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos was due to arrive in Nepal for a three-day visit to assess relief operations.
The U.N. launched an urgent appeal Wednesday for $415 million dollars to provide shelter for 500,000 people who are sleeping out in the open, as well as medicine, water and food for millions affected by the earthquake. It said the disaster destroyed 70,000 houses and damaged more than half a million others.
Also Wednesday, President Barack Obama discussed aid efforts in a telephone call with Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala. The U.S. is providing more than $10 million for both immediate efforts such as clean water and search and rescue operations, and for long term recovery efforts.
Meanwhile, people in Nepal's capital city of Kathmandu continued leaving Thursday by bus to reach their families in remote areas that were hardest hit by the magnitude-7.8 earthquake.
Many in Nepal have been frustrated by what they say is a slow response by the government. Several hundred people protested Wednesday by blocking traffic in Kathmandu.
The International Committee of the Red Cross created a website for friends and family to report missing loved ones, or search for those who have checked in.
Young Kenyan Climate Activist Tackles Global Warming
A young Kenyan activist is part of a fast-moving low cost-movement that is tackling the impact of global warming at the local level.
Winnie Asiti is a board member comprised of young climate leaders that distribute small-scale grants to young, marginalized activists in global warming hotspots—from the Philippines to Iraq.
In its first two years, Global Greengrants’ Next Generation Climate Board reported it contributed $110,000 in 24 grants to 23 groups in 17 countries.
Described by her colleagues as a rising star of the next generation of environmental leaders she reflects on how she became a climate activist.
“I drew my inspiration from a lot of things. I joined the university environment club -- through that I got to interact with other like-minded young people. In 2006, climate change negotiations were being hosted by Kenya, and we all got an opportunity as university students to go to the meetings as volunteers and as observers. We got interested in climate change negotiations and climate change work,” explained Asiti.
She added she soon met other young people from other countries who were interested in the same field. During this time, the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC) was established.
Asiti said women climate activists’ roles depend on the region of the world in which they live.
“I think a lot of women activists bring to the climate change debate the whole aspect of the human impacts of climate change. I think for me that is quite profound because women are able to relate to some of these things especially those that are coming from communities or countries where there are climate change effects such as drought, for example, in Kenya, floods, the coastal areas rising and all of that,” explained the young climate activist.
The Global Greengrants’ Next Generation Climate Board is focusing now on helping young activists prepare for the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) that is scheduled to take place later in the year in Paris.
“We are looking at supporting young people to carry out activities that are related and have an impact on the climate change negotiations that are going to take place in Paris. Those activities could be anywhere—at the local level, at the national level, or at the international level,” said Asiti.
She emphasized the importance of environmentally-engaged young people making their voices heard at the COP. She said she’s looking to have young people explain how they’re addressing climate change:
“[For example], what adaptation measures are they putting in place? Are they educating themselves? Are they learning from the elders-- for example about how communities were able to adapt to climate change?” asked Asiti.
She said there is a lot of local and indigenous knowledge that young people can tap into that could help their communities adapt to the effects of changing weather taking place now.
“It’s not just about the COP because our vision is to go beyond [it]. We want these groups to be able to make the linkages between the local, regional, international processes so that even when they come to the COP, they are able to take that knowledge back home and be able to link their own local activities, original activities, to what is happening at the international level,” stressed the young climate activist.
Reelected Kazakh Leader Reappoints Trusted PM as Growth Slows
ASTANA— Veteran Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, elected for a new five-year term over the weekend, on Wednesday reappointed loyalist Karim Masimov as prime minister, at a time when growth in the oil-fueled economy is slowing down.
Nazarbayev, 74, has ruled the Central Asian nation with sweeping powers and little tolerance of dissent since 1989, when he became its Communist Party boss.
On April 26, he won a new five-year term in a snap election, receiving 97.75 percent of the vote. The Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe said there was a lack of credible opposition and voters had no genuine choice in the vote.
Nazarbayev has promoted market reforms and attracted $200 billion in foreign direct investment, turning his steppe nation of 17 million into the second-largest economy in the former Soviet Union and No. 2 post-Soviet oil producer after Russia.
"I believe we have to preserve the continuity of the government's work," Nazarbayev said in parliament, proposing Masimov's reappointment, the presidential press service said.
"Karim Masimov is coping well with his work, he has potential and relevant knowledge, and we can trust him to continue his current work."
Unanimous vote
The parliament's lower house, dominated by Nazarbayev's ruling Nur Otan party, unanimously voted for Masimov.
Masimov, a 49-year-old economist fluent in several languages including Mandarin, had been Nazarbayev's chief of staff for two years before he was appointed prime minister in April last year.
Nazarbayev called the election more than a year before his term was due to end, averting the risk that another year of economic pain could develop into a more serious challenge to his leadership.
His re-election also takes the question of a possible successor - a key issue for investors - off the table for now.
Masimov, popular with foreign investors and who led Kazakhstan's economy through the global financial crisis in his previous stint as prime minister from 2007 to 2012, will now deal with a new slowdown.
Hit by low oil prices and a crisis in sanctions-hit key trade partner Russia, Kazakhstan's economic growth is forecast to slow to 1.5 percent this year from 4.3 percent in 2014.
The gross domestic product could even shrink if oil prices fall below $50 per barrel, Kazakh officials have said.
Last November Nazarbayev ordered the government to allocate $3 billion from the National Fund, which collects windfall oil export revenues, every year from 2015 to 2017 to bolster growth by developing infrastructure projects and creating new jobs.
This money, along with another $6 billion already provided by the fund for private businesses and loans from international lenders, means total investment in various Kazakh projects will reach $24 billion in three years, he said at the time.
Nazarbayev, 74, has ruled the Central Asian nation with sweeping powers and little tolerance of dissent since 1989, when he became its Communist Party boss.
On April 26, he won a new five-year term in a snap election, receiving 97.75 percent of the vote. The Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe said there was a lack of credible opposition and voters had no genuine choice in the vote.
Nazarbayev has promoted market reforms and attracted $200 billion in foreign direct investment, turning his steppe nation of 17 million into the second-largest economy in the former Soviet Union and No. 2 post-Soviet oil producer after Russia.
"I believe we have to preserve the continuity of the government's work," Nazarbayev said in parliament, proposing Masimov's reappointment, the presidential press service said.
"Karim Masimov is coping well with his work, he has potential and relevant knowledge, and we can trust him to continue his current work."
Unanimous vote
The parliament's lower house, dominated by Nazarbayev's ruling Nur Otan party, unanimously voted for Masimov.
Masimov, a 49-year-old economist fluent in several languages including Mandarin, had been Nazarbayev's chief of staff for two years before he was appointed prime minister in April last year.
Nazarbayev called the election more than a year before his term was due to end, averting the risk that another year of economic pain could develop into a more serious challenge to his leadership.
His re-election also takes the question of a possible successor - a key issue for investors - off the table for now.
Masimov, popular with foreign investors and who led Kazakhstan's economy through the global financial crisis in his previous stint as prime minister from 2007 to 2012, will now deal with a new slowdown.
Hit by low oil prices and a crisis in sanctions-hit key trade partner Russia, Kazakhstan's economic growth is forecast to slow to 1.5 percent this year from 4.3 percent in 2014.
The gross domestic product could even shrink if oil prices fall below $50 per barrel, Kazakh officials have said.
Last November Nazarbayev ordered the government to allocate $3 billion from the National Fund, which collects windfall oil export revenues, every year from 2015 to 2017 to bolster growth by developing infrastructure projects and creating new jobs.
This money, along with another $6 billion already provided by the fund for private businesses and loans from international lenders, means total investment in various Kazakh projects will reach $24 billion in three years, he said at the time.
Envoy: Russians Preparing for Kim Jong Un Visit
A Russian diplomat in Pyongyang has confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un accepted Moscow’s invitation to Russia’s Victory Day, the Brazilian ambassador to Pyongyang said.
Recently, the Kremlin told VOA's Korean Service it was “working through all the logistical questions” with North Korea for Kim’s visit. But Pyongyang has not commented on the trip.
Russia invited world leaders, including Kim, to the May 9 ceremony in Moscow marking the 70th anniversary of Russia’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
Roberto Colin, Brazil's ambassador to North Korea, said Russian diplomats in Pyongyang were preparing for the visit.
“My Russian colleague has confirmed the invitation and the acceptance of the leader," Colin said in an email this week to VOA's Korean service. "The Russians are very active here, and my guess is that the marshal will travel to Moscow.”
The ambassador said North Korean officials refused to comment on Kim’s trip. “My local counterparts have never confirmed nor denied the trip to Moscow,” he said.
On Wednesday, South Korea’s intelligence agency told lawmakers that Kim was likely to travel to Moscow, according to a South Korean official who is familiar with the subject. The official, who asked to remain anonymous, told the VOA Korean service it did not appear that hotel rooms were reserved for his visit. The official said Kim could stay at the North Korean Embassy in Moscow, adding that the embassy is equipped with sufficient lodging.
Kim is not known to have visited a foreign country or met a head of state since he took power in late 2011.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye was invited to the event but decided not to attend. The United States will be represented by its envoy to Moscow at the ceremony, according to the State Department.
Togo Opposition Rejects President's Win
DAKAR—
In Togo, the opposition is challenging the provisional results from Saturday's presidential poll. Those results show President Faure Gnassingbe winning a third term.
Togo’s electoral commission says President Faure Gnassingbe got just under 59 percent of votes against four challengers. Opposition leader Jean Pierre Fabre got 35 percent.
Fabre’s party rejected the results as fraudulent Wednesday. The party says Fabre is the rightful winner by its count.
Fabre says they will "mobilize."
"This coup will not stand. We can't let people stay in power because they can do this. That time is over. They violated the law, electoral commission's procedure and the April 24th accord. We cannot accept it," said Fabre.
International observer missions gave Saturday’s poll marks of approval, but vote counting was held up by accusations of fraud from the opposition.
Disputes over results of Togo's last two presidential elections led to violent protests.
The Gnassingbe family has ruled the West African country for nearly 50 years. Gnassingbe Eyadema took power in a military coup in 1967. He died in 2005 and his son became president.
The president’s supporters started celebrating after provisional results were announced late Tuesday.
“What we know is that we need peace,” said one. “We’ve lived in peace for decades. We can see what this president has done for Togo since he arrived ten years ago.”
Opposition supporters said they were disappointed but not surprised.
“This is not strange,” said another. “It’s always the same thing in this country, but we really need a change. Faure Gnassingbe has already had two mandates. He should step aside and let someone else try."
There are no term limits in Togo. The opposition tried and failed last year to add a two-term limit to the constitution.
US Diplomat in Burundi Amid Anti-president Protests
BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI— A senior U.S. diplomat arrived in Burundi on Wednesday to try to help halt escalating unrest and defuse the country's biggest crisis in years, set off by President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term.
Police in the east African nation have clashed for four days with protesters who say Nkurunziza's plan to run again in the June 26 election violates the constitution and threatens a peace deal that ended the ethnically-fueled civil conflict.
Before arriving, Tom Malinowski, U.S. assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, wrote on Twitter: "Disappointed President Nkurunziza violating Arusha Accord."
He added it was not too late for a "peaceful democratic path."
In response, presidential media adviser Willy Nyamitwe told Reuters: "This is not neutral, but we are in a democratic process and anyone is free to have his own point of view."
A senior State Department official said U.S. concerns about Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term had been raised with government officials in Burundi and in the region.
In meetings, U.S. Ambassador to Burundi Dawn Liberi had also raised concerns over the closure of independent media outlets and pressed for dialogue between the government and opposition to "establish a credible and inclusive electoral process," the official added.
The U.N. Security Council expressed concern on Wednesday about the escalation of hostilities and restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly. It urged all parties to refrain from violence and intimidation.
The streets of the capital, Bujumbura, were calmer on Wednesday. Police fired tear gas when protesters approached them, but both sides mostly kept behind makeshift barricades of stones, smoldering tyres and sticks.
"I want to fight for the right of people, and I reject the third term that the president is taking by force," said Innocent Miturizo, 27, a student in a suburb that has seen regular protests.
Said Djinnit, the U.N. Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, met Nkurunziza on Monday. Djinnit was in Burundi to ensure there was space for dialogue, the United Nations said.
Police say two people have been killed in this week's violence. Civil society groups say the death toll is five.
Scores more have been injured and more than 250 arrested.
About 25,000 people have fled across the border fearing a resurgence of ethnic killings.
The 12-year civil war pitted the army, then led by the ethnic Tutsi minority, against rebel groups of majority Hutus.
The army is now fully mixed, while the opposition includes coalitions of Hutus and Tutsis.
Diplomats say escalating violence could reopen old wounds and trigger ethnic bloodletting.
The constitution and Arusha peace accords set a two-term limit, but Nkurunziza's supporters say he can run again because his first term, when he was picked by lawmakers and not elected, does not count.
The African Union's Peace and Security Council on Wednesday said both sides should await Burundi Constitutional Court's decision on his eligibility.
Police in the east African nation have clashed for four days with protesters who say Nkurunziza's plan to run again in the June 26 election violates the constitution and threatens a peace deal that ended the ethnically-fueled civil conflict.
Before arriving, Tom Malinowski, U.S. assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, wrote on Twitter: "Disappointed President Nkurunziza violating Arusha Accord."
He added it was not too late for a "peaceful democratic path."
In response, presidential media adviser Willy Nyamitwe told Reuters: "This is not neutral, but we are in a democratic process and anyone is free to have his own point of view."
A senior State Department official said U.S. concerns about Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term had been raised with government officials in Burundi and in the region.
In meetings, U.S. Ambassador to Burundi Dawn Liberi had also raised concerns over the closure of independent media outlets and pressed for dialogue between the government and opposition to "establish a credible and inclusive electoral process," the official added.
The U.N. Security Council expressed concern on Wednesday about the escalation of hostilities and restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly. It urged all parties to refrain from violence and intimidation.
The streets of the capital, Bujumbura, were calmer on Wednesday. Police fired tear gas when protesters approached them, but both sides mostly kept behind makeshift barricades of stones, smoldering tyres and sticks.
"I want to fight for the right of people, and I reject the third term that the president is taking by force," said Innocent Miturizo, 27, a student in a suburb that has seen regular protests.
Said Djinnit, the U.N. Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, met Nkurunziza on Monday. Djinnit was in Burundi to ensure there was space for dialogue, the United Nations said.
Police say two people have been killed in this week's violence. Civil society groups say the death toll is five.
Scores more have been injured and more than 250 arrested.
About 25,000 people have fled across the border fearing a resurgence of ethnic killings.
The 12-year civil war pitted the army, then led by the ethnic Tutsi minority, against rebel groups of majority Hutus.
The army is now fully mixed, while the opposition includes coalitions of Hutus and Tutsis.
Diplomats say escalating violence could reopen old wounds and trigger ethnic bloodletting.
The constitution and Arusha peace accords set a two-term limit, but Nkurunziza's supporters say he can run again because his first term, when he was picked by lawmakers and not elected, does not count.
The African Union's Peace and Security Council on Wednesday said both sides should await Burundi Constitutional Court's decision on his eligibility.
Marchers on the Move Again in Baltimore
More than 1,000 demonstrators marched through downtown Baltimore on Wednesday in what Police Commissioner Anthony Batts called an "extremely peaceful" protest demanding more justice for African-Americans.
The crowd marched from the city's main train station to City Hall and back again. Police said they fully expected everyone to heed the city's overnight curfew.
Other marches were held in Washington, Boston and New York City, where police arrested demonstrators who tried to disrupt downtown traffic.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan declared Baltimore safe Wednesday, following two nights of demonstrations sparked by the death of a young African-American man in police custody. Commuters packed buses and subways, and public schools reopened. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra played a free outdoor concert.
But the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox played a baseball game in an empty stadium. Police said they needed to deploy elsewhere in the city and could not provide enough security at the game.
Violence erupted Monday after the funeral for Freddie Gray, 25, who suffered a still-unexplained severe spinal injury while in police custody. He had been arrested and thrown into a police van; officers drove him to jail without securing him with a seat belt as required, and they allegedly ignored his pleas for medical attention.
The six officers involved in the arrest are on paid administrative leave while the investigation proceeds. Police plan to turn the results of their investigation over to the state's attorney's office Friday, who will then decide whether to charge the officers with a crime.
The U.S. Justice Department and the FBI also are conducting a civil rights investigation into Gray's death.
After the funeral, rampaging crowds poured into the streets, with protesters burning stores and nearly 150 cars and looting a shopping mall. Police arrested 235 people; 20 officers were injured.
But many protesters said the violence was not just about Gray, but about what they called the habitual poor treatment of blacks by police and the city's alleged unwillingness to do anything about it.
They also said they were angered by what they saw as a lack of economic power, something they said has persisted for decades in black neighborhoods.
The situation was calmer from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, the first night of the seven-hour overnight curfew that will remain in effect all week. Police made 35 arrests. Officers and National Guard troops dispersed protesters, even as some of the protesters jeered and threw bottles at them.
Memories Are Fresh for Man Who Fled Vietnam 40 Years Ago
Branch at Voice of America. A short version of this story was originally published in The Philadelphia Inquirer on the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
All I could see were the thousands of hollow eyes looking in despair as the cargo vessel pulled away from its berth along the Saigon River. This moment, so calm and so quiet, was punctured nightly when I woke up, breaking out in a sweat, after seeing that those hollow eyes were my own.
For years after the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, the scene played out every night in my sleep as a reminder of how close I had come to being left behind as communist forces entered the city.
I was 17 at the time. The Vietnam War had been raging my entire life, as well as my parents' entire lives. Born and raised in North Vietnam, my parents moved south as the Geneva Convention in 1954 divided the country. The division ended up splitting family members, some who took up arms fighting for communism in the North and others, nationalism in the South.
My father, Hoe, joined the South Vietnamese army and rose to the rank of major in artillery. The only times we ever saw him were at army hospitals, where he was nursing his wounds, or at special family occasions. One time, he arrived at a cousin's wedding in battle fatigues, carrying the smell of gunpowder and the red dirt of Pleiku. Everyone paused as he entered the room.
FILE - Hai Do is shown with his father, Hoe Do.The beginning of the months, though, we were treated to portions of meat to go with vegetables and rice, whenever our father could send home part of his salary.
The Tet Offensive
But the war took a turn in 1968.
Vietnamese believe that whatever you do for Tet - the New Year's Day of the lunar calendar - will shape your fortune for the year. My father would come home as both sides of the conflict stopped fighting to observe the holiday. There would be new clothes to wear, more food to eat, and lucky money to spend. We would celebrate with firecrackers to scare off the ghosts of the past and the evils of the future.
On the morning of Tet in 1968, the sound of firecrackers turned out to be the sound of gunfire. Communist forces broke the traditional cease-fire and staged surprise attacks in every community in the South.
Hiding in the alley in front of our house in Phu Nhuan, on the edge of Saigon, communist soldiers attacked Fort Tran Hung Dao, the headquarters of the South Vietnamese armed forces, with batteries of machine guns.
As a fire started to spread in the neighborhood, we had to leave our hiding place, our own home. I was about 11 years old, but I will never forget having to walk through the gauntlet of Communist soldiers to flee the approaching fire.
Holding on to my mother's arm, I looked straight ahead and kept saying to myself, "If I make myself so small, they're not going to see me and they're not going to shoot me."
We walked away from the fighting in Saigon and headed to the countryside, toward my grandfather’s house.
The fighting closed my elementary school for several months but gave me the time to spend with my grandfather, Pham Dinh Lieu. During the day, I would read aloud the news stories from the Vietnamese daily Chinh Luan for my aging grandfather.
I was frustrated to see stories censored by large swaths of black ink and delighted once I understood the news hidden in fables written by columnists. At night, we would listen to the BBC and the Voice of America shortwave broadcasts because the signals were strong and clear. These broadcasts became our lifeline for news and information.
Learning to survive
Every time a siren went off alerting us to a mortar attack, we were told to lie down alongside a wall. Supposedly, if a mortar shell hit the house, only the roof and the top section of a wall would collapse, which would create a pocket that could save your life. I would pick up a book - any book - lie down along a wall and go into my own world.
The sound of gunfire was becoming routine. I even slept through an overnight attack from Communist forces while visiting relatives in Bien Hoa.
The reality of war came one day at sunrise when I saw a woman wailing under her straw hat by a pile of rubble. The woman had come home from an overnight shift to find her house collapsed by mortar shells, which buried her entire family in their sleep.
A few years later, on my way to school, I said hello as usual to the uniform cleaner by the railroad tracks, waved to the owner of the motorcycle repair shop, and passed the old man who slept on the sidewalk in front of the cinema on Vo Di Nguy Street.
As I continued on my way, a bomb detonated, sending the theater's facade crashing onto the sidewalk. When I ran back to look, there was a pile of concrete on the sidewalk. Somewhere underneath was the old man I had seen only moments earlier.
Later, I received a stern lecture from my father to avoid doing so again, because terrorists would routinely set off a second explosive device to inflict more damage as crowds gathered.
In 1975, I was preparing for the baccalaureate exam, which could determine my whole future and was to be taken in summer. A failing grade meant straight to basic training for the armed forces, while a passing one would open the door to state universities for further education.
Three years earlier, my cousin Linh was drafted into the South Vietnamese Army after failing the exam. The army trained him for about three months and sent him, as a newly commissioned second lieutenant, to lead a patrol unit in the central region. My aunt Sam said that Linh would call her late at night to say how scared he was of the dark. Then she received a call from the army, asking her to pick up his body at the morgue. A sniper’s bullet had pierced his eye.
The spring of 1975
By the spring of 1975, the North Vietnamese army was advancing at a breakneck pace.
As communist forces closed in on Saigon, planeloads of well-connected Vietnamese took off hourly from the Tan Son Nhat air base near our home.
South Vietnam President Nguyen Van Thieu broadcast his farewell address, blaming the Americans for losses, before fleeing, first to Taiwan and eventually settling in the United States. General Nguyen Cao Ky, an air force general and South Vietnam leader, crisscrossed Saigon calling for troops to defend the motherland, and then fled the country, too, eventually settling in the United States.
On the morning of April 29, my family was awakened by loud explosions as shells landed at the air base.
My family fled our home: my dad holding my 2-year-old sister Diem in one arm and one of my three brothers in the other; my mom clutching my other two brothers, and my sister Thuy and I helping our 72-year-old grandmother.
With every burst of gunfire, my father hollered at us to pick up the pace, while my grandmother mumbled about how fruitless it was to bother running.
I could see rows of helicopters flying overhead, the wind created by the rotor blades shaking everything in sight.
But I was not prepared for what I saw in downtown Saigon. There were men with eyes bulging and weapons waving, women sobbing and children crying for anyone to latch on to.
A sea of people was pushing, shoving, punching and screaming toward the U.S. Embassy, at least five blocks away. For the first time in my life, I was terrified. I snatched glances from the corner of my eyes, afraid that the men would empty their weapons if I dared to look them in the eyes.
My father changed our course to Bach Dang naval base on the other side of the city, hoping we could get on board a naval vessel. The crowd in front of the base was small enough to afford a view of the gate, but bursts of gunfire over our heads sent people cowering to the pavement. We realized our own soldiers were firing at us as they fled, too!
Our last hope was fading as we started heading south, ahead of the communist forces marching into Saigon. Low-flying jets taking aim at targets around the city drowned out the noise of the helicopter blades. Then, the loudest explosion imaginable shook the earth below my feet.
An orange ball of fire shot up in the sky ahead, followed by another. The oil reserve tanks in Nha Be exploded, sending up columns of fire and smoke.
Fleeing Vietnam on a cargo vessel
But right in front of us, a black cargo vessel was boarding.
FILE - U.S. Navy personnel aboard the USS Blue Ridge push a helicopter into the sea off the coast of Vietnam in order to make room for more evacuation flights from Saigon, April 29, 1975.The Tien Phong was a 60-foot vessel designed to navigate the Mekong River. But as the tide turned in South Vietnam, its owner and a group of paying passengers organized the vessel's maiden voyage on the high seas to escape. They were not prepared for the number refugees who forced their way aboard.
The first two days on board without food or water, I still had enough energy to roam about and found two bags of flour tucked away in a corner. With a tin can attached to a string, I fetched seawater and mixed it together with the flour. How hard could it be to make some bread? I persuaded the boat owner to bake it in the oven. The result was a clump of white powder burnt on the outside. I didn't get through even the first bite.
A lasting image is of my father walking around the boat with the limp body of my sister Diem. She was dehydrated after two days at sea. He begged until someone gave her some water and food. My father dipped his finger in the cup of water, and put it in her mouth. He repeated it over and over and then shared what was left with our family. Then, he would pick Diem up again and go to a different family to beg some more.
Overcome by hunger, I faded into my corner of the world, a doorframe leading to the deck below, where fellow refugees had claimed every step. The boat was so crowded no one had room to lie down.
After seven days, the Tien Phong ran across American warships that were stationed off the coast of South Vietnam to rescue refugees escaping by boat - or anything that floated.
I was barely conscious when my father and an American sailor propped my head up to pour some liquid into my mouth. It tasted like milk. I hated milk. I still hate it. But I proceeded to drink the whole container and asked for more. It revived me.
The warships escorted our vessel to the Philippines. Nine days after we set sail, we arrived at Subic Bay after midnight with only the twinkle of lights visible in the harbor.
With his arm around me, my father talked about our lives, our hopes and our future. Then, he pulled out a pistol that he had carried on the battlefields, on the run, and on the boat, and dropped it into the sea.
Top 5 Songs for Week Ending May 2
We’re counting down the five most popular songs in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart, for the week ending May 2, 2015.
After a week of chart fireworks, the Top Five quiets down, with one song making a return trip.
Let’s open in fifth place, where Fetty Wap drops a slot with “Trap Queen.” The New Jersey rapper has only one eye…the result, he says, of a childhood bout of glaucoma. Fetty says he contracted it in both eyes. The doctor was able to save only one, but he says today he doesn’t even think about it unless someone points it out.
Down a slot to fourth place goes Maroon 5 with “Sugar.” Adam Levine and his band just got a recording invitation from another big star… Last week, Sia mentioned on Australian radio that she’s written a new song, “Step By Step.” She says that she’s pitching it to Bruno Mars…and Maroon 5. Sia also says her next album, This Is Acting, is ready to go.
The Weeknd is our prodigal son this week, rebounding three slots to third place with “Earned It.” What does this young Canadian have in common with Britney Spears, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, and Elton John? They’ve all had…or will have…performing residencies in Las Vegas. The Weeknd will be appearing at the Cromwell Hotel on May 23, June 13, and July 3… with more dates to come.
Up at number two, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars remain within striking distance of the title with “Uptown Funk.” Mark had some unflattering things to say about the launch of the Tidal streaming service. Speaking with Southern California Public Radio about streaming services, Mark says he thought Tidal seriously miss-handled its launch last month. He saw it as less about musical change…and more as a group of millionaires adding to their wealth.
Up at number one, it’s Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth for a second week with “See You Again.” It’s a soundtrack single from Furious 7…which is now a hit of historic proportions. It’s only the third film to gross more than $1 billion internationally, following Avatar and Titanic.
We're out of hits for now, but let’s do it all over again next week!
Rescued Boko Haram Captives May No Longer Have a Home
LAGOS— Nearly 300 girls and women are now free from Boko Haram captivity after a raid by Nigeria’s military. But some may have nowhere to go back to.
The identities of 200 girls and 93 women the Nigerian military says it rescued from Boko Haram in the Sambisa Forest on Tuesday remain unknown.
As part of its six-year insurgency, Boko Haram has kidnapped hundreds of people in northeastern Nigeria and neighboring Cameroon. Its most infamous mass kidnapping was in the town of Chibok, when the militants kidnapped 219 schoolgirls last year.
Military spokesmen have been unclear on whether the girls rescued Tuesday are or are not from the town.
Whoever they are, these nearly 300 women have a long journey back to normalcy. Psychologist and a counterterrorism adviser to the government Fatima Akilu says many may not be able to go home because Boko Haram has destroyed their houses, families or businesses, or continues to threaten their towns.
Others may be traumatized by their time in captivity, Akilu says.
“The life that they had before the Boko Haram terror campaign is going to be different, so people have to make an adjustment to a new kind of reality," said Akilu.
Akilu says the government is working to get the women medical care and connect them with counselors who can help them reintegrate into society. But their needs are many, and they still need to figure out where these women and girls are from, and if they can even go home.
“For us, it is really great that we have got them back, but it is going to take a while to get them reintegrated into communities that they left, because we do not know the state of the communities yet. They were just rescued yesterday. We do not know the state of those communities that they come from," she said.
Human Rights Watch researcher Mausi Segun says the government needs to take steps so the rescued women and girls do not simply end up in camps for displaced people, where jobs and help are often scarce.
“Many of the communities in the northeast are non-existent as we speak. So releasing these individuals who either melt into the larger communities or to go into IDP camps where the people already living in those places are living in abysmal conditions, it would be really tragic," said Segun.
There are also issues of accountability. A senior military officer told VOA some of the women opened fire on troops as they were being rescued, then said they were forced to fight by Boko Haram. Segun says these cases should be investigated and given due process if charges are filed.
Baltimore Quiet After Overnight Curfew
A semblance of normalcy returned Wednesday to the eastern U.S. city of Baltimore, with schools reopening and authorities declaring the city safe two days after rioting and looting erupted.
Some weekday commuters headed to work. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra played a free midday, outdoor concert under sun-drenched skies. Two baseball teams, the hometown Orioles and the Chicago White Sox, played an afternoon game, but with no fans allowed in the stadium as officials continued to take precautions against further unrest.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said, "The city is now safe." He said an overnight curfew had quieted tensions after Monday's rampaging rioting, looting and fires imperiled impoverished neighborhoods, but he would not predict when a state of emergency would be called off.
City police reported that "Baltimore is stable." They said 35 people had been arrested during the first night of a seven-hour overnight curfew in which police and National Guard troops dispersed protesters, even as some of the protesters jeered and threw bottles at them.
The activity contrasted sharply with Monday's turmoil. Two days ago, rampaging crowds poured into streets to protest high unemployment, their treatment by police and the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American who died earlier this month from a still-unexplained severe spinal injury while in police custody.
With overnight order mostly restored, the Page One headline Wednesday in the city's newspaper, The Baltimore Sun, described the moment as an "Unsettled Peace."
Fall of Saigon Continues to Sting Vietnamese-Americans
Forty years after the fall of Saigon signaled the end of the Vietnam War, the event still stings for many Vietnamese-Americans.Hundreds of Vietnamese-Americans recently participated in a somber event to mark the 40th anniversary of the war's end by singing the anthem and waving the flag of American-backed South Vietnam.
While many in the U.S.-Vietnamese community still call April 30 a “National Hatred Day,” authorities in Vietnam have mobilized thousands of people to join military parades and festive activities to celebrate what they call a reunification day or victory day.
Do Thai Kieu, who fled Vietnam for the U.S. as a 16-year-old refugee, said it is emotional for her and for members of the Vietnamese community as the day approaches.
“I did not like the communist regime, so I had to flee from our country," she said. "Hatred fades with time, but I will never forget that I lost my nation, and I hope that the country will become a democratic one where people are freer and more independent.”
This sentiment is shared by Nguyen Kim Hoa, who was taken on an American helicopter out of Vietnam one day before Saigon fell. “I always feel so sad recalling the day I left my homeland,” said Hoa, who has lived in San Diego, California, since coming to the United States.
Millions of Vietnamese-Americans live in the U.S., making them the largest overseas Vietnamese community in the world.
Hundreds of thousands left Vietnam for the U.S. and other Western nations after the war, including many who took risky trips by boat.
Professor Nguyen Ngoc Bich, chairman of National Congress of Vietnamese in the United States, said ideological differences have led to a division among Vietnamese since the war. He said Hanoi had not done enough to ease the pain of the prolonged conflict.
Prominent Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Van Hai, who was deported to the United States after being released from prison in Vietnam last year, echoed Bich’s opinions.
“Conflicting ideologies split Vietnamese into two sides, leading to the war," he said. "Therefore, it is now time for everyone to sit down to find ways to restore the country. But everyone must have a voice in the process, although the communist party maintains that only it rules over the nation.”
Hai was sent to the U.S. before his prison terms ended as Vietnam seeks to strengthen relations with Washington while facing with its giant neighbor, China.
In a visit to the U.S. last year, Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang said Vietnamese-Americans play an important part as a bridge between Hanoi and Washington.
Clinton to Call for Criminal Justice Reform in New York Speech
Hillary Clinton will discuss the violent protests in Baltimore and call for reform in the U.S. justice system, including the use of body cameras by police across the country, in a speech in New York on Wednesday, according to her presidential campaign.
Clinton, the Democratic front-runner in the 2016 race for the White House, will urge an end to the "era of mass incarceration," and propose pursuing alternative punishments for low-level offenders, the campaign said in a statement.
She will call for "every police department in the country to have body cameras to improve transparency and accountability in order to protect those on both sides of the lens," it said.
Jerald Miller helps clean up debris from a CVS pharmacy that was set on fire yesterday during rioting after the funeral of Freddie Gray, on April 28, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland.Clinton will also address the violence in Baltimore, where shops were looted and buildings were burned to the ground in rioting on Monday that erupted after the funeral of a 25-year-old black man who died after suffering injuries in police custody.
"It is heartbreaking, the tragic death of another young, African-American man, the injuries to police officers, the burning of people's homes and small businesses," Clinton told a New York fundraiser on Tuesday.
"We have to restore order and security, but then we have to take a hard look as to what we need to do to reform our system," she added, according to a Wall Street Journal reporter's account circulated to the media.
The campaign statement said Clinton would discuss "the hard truth and fundamental unfairness in our country that today African-American men are far more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charged with crimes and sentenced to longer prison terms."
Requiring police to wear body cameras has been one of the issues in the debate over policing tactics following the killing of black men by white officers in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York last year.
Other presidential candidates, including Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, have also called for measures to reform the criminal justice system Clinton's speech on Wednesday is the keynote address at the 18th Annual David N. Dinkins Leadership and Public Policy Forum at Columbia University.
Clinton, the Democratic front-runner in the 2016 race for the White House, will urge an end to the "era of mass incarceration," and propose pursuing alternative punishments for low-level offenders, the campaign said in a statement.
She will call for "every police department in the country to have body cameras to improve transparency and accountability in order to protect those on both sides of the lens," it said.
Jerald Miller helps clean up debris from a CVS pharmacy that was set on fire yesterday during rioting after the funeral of Freddie Gray, on April 28, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland."It is heartbreaking, the tragic death of another young, African-American man, the injuries to police officers, the burning of people's homes and small businesses," Clinton told a New York fundraiser on Tuesday.
"We have to restore order and security, but then we have to take a hard look as to what we need to do to reform our system," she added, according to a Wall Street Journal reporter's account circulated to the media.
The campaign statement said Clinton would discuss "the hard truth and fundamental unfairness in our country that today African-American men are far more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charged with crimes and sentenced to longer prison terms."
Requiring police to wear body cameras has been one of the issues in the debate over policing tactics following the killing of black men by white officers in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York last year.
Other presidential candidates, including Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, have also called for measures to reform the criminal justice system Clinton's speech on Wednesday is the keynote address at the 18th Annual David N. Dinkins Leadership and Public Policy Forum at Columbia University.
