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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Jonathan Smith reporting.
The Trump administration is responding to criticism that it isn't giving enough help and fast enough to Puerto Rico after the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria. The Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke spoke to reporters Thursday at the White House. "You are seeing devastation in Puerto Rico. That is the fault of the hurricane. The relief effort is under control. It is proceeding very well considering the devastation that took place." The Pentagon has appointed Lieutenant General Jeffrey Buchanan to lead all military hurricane response efforts in Puerto Rico. Buchanan is expected to arrive in Puerto Rico at any moment. On Thursday, Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert defended the eight-day period between the declaration of an emergency in Puerto Rico and the naming of a leader for recovery efforts. He said [the coverage] in some cases, the news coverage, that is, is giving the appearance that we are not moving fast enough. He said that of 69 hospitals in Puerto Rico, 44 are now operational. The social media company, Twitter, told the House and Senate intelligence committees Thursday that it had shut down more than 200 accounts after determining they were linked to Russia and sought to interfere in American politics. The closed-door sessions followed similar briefings earlier this month with Facebook, which has also agreed to provide lawmakers with 3,000 Russia-linked ads involving divisive social and political issues that were placed on its platform. The committees are examining the spread of false news stories and whether anyone in the United States aided in targeting content to certain users. This is VOA news. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday agreed to push for the creation of a "de-escalation" zone in Syria's key northern province of Idlib to help end the civil war. Erdoğan said after talks in Ankara the pair agreed to "pursue more intensely" the implementation of a de-escalation zone, which is currently under jihadist control, Idlib that is. The agreement is seen as a key step toward ending the civil war and ushering in the start of a peace process. Two days of talks among members of Kenya's electoral commission, the ruling party and the opposition have fallen apart amid disagreements over how to conduct fresh presidential elections set for next month. As correspondent Mohammed Yusuf reports from Nairobi, there are fears that Kenya is headed for a political and constitutional crisis. The dispute centers in part on two proposed amendments to the electoral law ahead of the October 26 ballot. The ruling Jubilee Party wants the law changed so officials rely more on election results that are submitted via paper ballot, as opposed to those transmitted electronically. The second centers on mandating that the Kenyan Supreme Court order a recount if results are in dispute. The Kenyan Supreme Court struck down President Uhuru Kenyatta's August 8 electoral win, citing irregularities in the way the results were transmitted. The court said earlier this month that electronically transmitted results were neither transparent nor verifiable, as required by law. The opposition says the ruling party's attempt to push the proposed changes through in the National Assembly should not be done during an election season. They argue that such an effort would "tie the hands" of the electoral commissioner. Mohammed Yusuf, for VOA news, Nairobi. The U.S. government has fined the tree-trimming company, Asplundh Tree Expert, a record $95 million for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. Prosecutors say the fine against the Philadelphia-based company is the largest criminal penalty ever imposed in an immigration case. Prosecutors say company managers deliberately looked the other way while supervisors knowingly hired thousands of undocumented workers between 2010 and 2014. They say this gave the company a large workforce ready to take on emergency weather-related jobs across the country, putting its competitors at an unfair disadvantage. The company chairman said, "We accept responsibility for the charges as outlined." There is more on these and other late breaking and developing stories, from around the world, around the clock, at voanews.com and on the VOA news mobile app. I'm Jonathan Smith reporting from the world headquarters of the Voice of America in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |