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This is VOA news. I'm Nicole Livas.
U.S. President Donald Trump is stoking new fears over undocumented immigrants just days before next week's national congressional elections and could tighten rules for migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. He spoke about immigration at the White House Thursday, his latest attempt to make it the central issue for Republicans in the Tuesday voting. "My administration is finalizing a plan to end the rampant abuse of our asylum system, it's abused, to halt the dangerous influx and to establish control over America's sovereign borders." Trump this week has dispatched more than 5,000 troops to the southern U.S. border with Mexico to block a caravan of several thousand migrants. He says they must follow the rules to gain entry. "... they should turn back now, because they're wasting their time. They should apply to come into our country. We want them to come into our country." Many of the migrants are women and children hoping to enter the U.S. Funerals for the victims continue as the man accused of killing 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue pleaded not guilty Thursday in a U.S. federal court on 44 charges that include murder and hate crimes. Forty-six-year-old Robert Bowers spoke little during the brief court appearance beyond saying he understood the charges and his not guilty plea. AP correspondent Maryclaire Dal reports. Bowers walked into court today in contrast how he was on Monday when he was brought in a wheelchair. He was told that the trial could last three or four weeks unless it's certified as a possible death sentence case. In that case, the trial would be longer. A grand jury indicted Bowers Wednesday in connection with the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue. China is exporting its methods of strict Internet controls to governments around the world that are employing them to stifle dissent and information and tighten their grip on power, according to U.S.-based Freedom House. The rights watchdog group said global Internet freedom had declined for the eighth consecutive year. This is VOA news. Hundreds of Google employees around the world walked out of the office Thursday in a one-day protest of unequal treatment of minority and female workers. AP correspondent Warren Levinson reports. There were Google walkouts in Tokyo, Singapore and London. Hundreds streamed out of the New York office and rallied in a nearby park. gAnd I am fed up." Nicole Durbin, a Google contractor, says it's time the company lived up to its promises. "I want Google to enforce the provisions that they already have and to take seriously claims of people who are harassed." Protests were sparked by a New York Times report that Android creator Andy Rubin walked away with a $90 million severance package in 2014 after credible allegations of sexual abuse. Rubin denies the charge. Warren Levinson, New York. U.N. member states overwhelmingly supported lifting Washington's more than half-century-old economic, commercial and financial embargo of Cuba on Thursday, saying it is the main impediment to the island nation's economic and social development. The assembly voted 189 in favor of ending the blockade, with only the United States and Israel in favor of continuing it. No country entered an abstention, while Moldova and Ukraine were present but did not cast votes. Investigators searching for more remnants of a downed Indonesia flight say they have made progress with a discovery of at least one data recorder. AP Stephen Wright with details. That's crucial part of the investigation. They're also ???still searching for an object they believe to be a large part of the fuselage .... Monday's crash is another black mark on Indonesia's fast-growing aviation sector, which has acquired a reputation for poor safety oversight. The country's airlines have previously been banned from operating in the U.S. and European Union. Human Rights Watch calls for immediate action to stop what it says is widespread sexual abuse in North Korea. Here is Reuters Michelle Hennessy. Sexual violence so common that has become an ordinary part of life. That's more what than 60 North Koreans told human rights investigators about the widespread sex abuse by officials in the country. U.S.-based Human Rights Watch say(s) the isolated state's human rights record is being intentionally ignored in an international effort to improve relations. They ??? their findings on Thursday and the survey is limited in numbers. They said some of the women interviewed didn't understand that coercive sex shouldn't be a part of almost every-day life. Afghanistan's government continues to lose ground to the Taliban, a Pentagon watchdog says, noting Kabul now controls or influences just 56 percent of the country's districts. I'm Nicole Livas, VOA news. |