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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Jonathan Smith reporting.
President Donald Trump's national security adviser says the deadly violence that broke out at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday meets the definition of terrorism. H.R. McMaster in an interview on ABC news described the car ramming into a crowd of counter-protesters that killed a 32-year-old woman as a criminal act. "Well, the president's been very clear. We cannot tolerate this kind of bigotry, this kind of hatred. And what he did is he called on all Americans to take a firm stand against it. This is a great opportunity for us to ask ourselves what are we teaching our children? Tolerance has to overcome this kind of hatred, this kind of hatred that is grounded, really, in ignorance. Ignorance of our values and what makes us unique as Americans. Our commitment to each other, our commitment to freedom, liberty, tolerance, and rights for all of us." Nineteen others were injured in the clash, some of them critically. On Sunday, the White House defended the president's reaction to the deadly violence in Virginia after criticism that he did not explicitly condemn far-right groups. In a statement released Sunday, the White House said the president "condemns all forms of violence, bigotry and hatred and of course that includes white supremacists, Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazi and all extremist groups. He called for national unity and bringing all Americans together." The White House did not attach a name to the statement. Usually, it would be signed by the press secretary or another staffer. The U.S. Justice Department says it has opened a civil rights investigation of the violence. This is VOA news. The top American general is on the Korean Peninsula as annual U.S. and South Korean military exercises risk further increasing tensions with North Korea. U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joe Dunford said his visit to the region this week is aimed at reassuring allies South Korea and Japan, while building the military-to-military relationship with China in order to prevent miscalculations. Senior American national security officials are saying that a military confrontation with North Korea is not imminent, but the possibility of war has increased. There was a gathering of supporters and leaders of Kenya's opposition party Sunday in Nairobi's huge Kibera slum. The opposition claims the newly reelected ruling party intends to steal their victory. From Nairobi, VOA's Jill Craig reports. Near a railway track in Nairobi's Kibera slum, at least a thousand supporters gathered Sunday afternoon to hear remarks from Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga, who recently lost the hotly contested presidential race to incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta. But Odinga and his NASA coalition members say that the election was "stolen" from them, and reiterated that position to the enthusiastic crowd. He says, "We've come here to say sorry, sorry, sorry for what happened here yesterday and the other day. They want to steal our victory, and again they come to kill our people. That is what is called 'impunity' in English." Kenya's presidential spokesman Manoah Esipisu disputes these claims. "The president won this election fair and square, both international and local observers have attested to that point. There are really valid voices, right from John Kerry, from the U.S., to President Mbeki, of South Africa, all saying that the process was fair. Jill Craig, VOA news, Nairobi. A senior Somali militant who had been on the run for several years has surrendered to the government, an intelligence official told VOA Somali the news. Mukhtar Robow Ali, known as "Abu Mansour," met with government representatives early Sunday morning at his hideout in Abal village in southwest Somalia, and was later taken to the main town of Huddur, a senior regional official told VOA Somali. Shine Moallim Nurow is the commander of Special Forces in the southwestern regional administration. He led government officials who reached Robow's base in Abal on Saturday. He said he met him last night in the battle field in Abal where Robow's men and al-Shabaab have been fighting for the past few days. You can find more on these and other late breaking and developing stories, from around the world, around the clock, at voanews.com. I'm Jonathan Smith reporting from Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |