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This is VOA news. I'm Marissa Melton.
President Donald Trump has fired his National Security Adviser John Bolton. In a tweet on Tuesday, Trump said, "I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House." He said he thanked [Polton] Bolton for his service and said he would be naming a replacement next week. Bolton is contesting the president's account, saying he offered to resign on Monday night. Reports say he and the president argued over scuttled plans to host Taliban leaders at Camp David. He said the president had requested they discuss it further on Tuesday. Bolton was regarded as a hardliner and interventionist on matters of foreign policy and defense. He was appointed national security adviser in March of 2018. Bolton held a long history of serving presidents in the United States. Bolton previously served in the administrations of Ronald Regan, George H. W. [Buss] Bush and George W. Bush. He held roles in the Justice and in the State Departments. Bolton served as the 25th United States ambassador to the United Nations under the George W. Bush administration. Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam said Tuesday it would be "extremely inappropriate" for the United States or any other foreign government to interfere in the city's affairs. Her warning was in response to a rally outside the U.S. consulate on Sunday. The pro-democracy demonstrators called for Congress to pass a bill supporting their efforts. Lam warned that the violence would only deepen the conflict. "Violence should be stopped for the benefit of Hong Kong, but going forward, to mend the rift in society and to bring back peace, then we are very willing to engage people directly in a dialogue." At least 31 people have been killed in a stampede during the observance by Shiite Muslims of a holy day in the Iraqi city of Karbala, the country's Health Ministry says. This is VOA news. Pakistan is calling for the United Nations to investigate the crisis in Kashmir ignited by a security lockdown and communications blackout imposed by India's government after it downgraded the region's autonomy last month. "India's efforts to hide its atrocities in the Indian-occupied Jammu & Kashmir by falsely labelling it terrorism and cross-border terrorism are shameless and indefensible." Speaking at a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said India had transformed occupied Jammu & Kashmir "into the largest prison on this planet." India's Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Vijay Thakur Singh offered this response. "One delegation here has given a running a commentary with offensive rhetoric of false allegations and concocted charges against my country. The world is aware that this fabricated narrative comes from the epicenter of global terrorism, where ring leaders were sheltered for years. This country conducts cross-border terrorism as a form of alternate diplomacy." Meanwhile, residents of a dozen villages in disputed Kashmir says nighttime raids by Indian troops actually began before the New Delhi government stripped the region of its statehood last month. India denies those allegations. The Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen blames all warring parties for the humanitarian crisis affecting millions of civilians during more than four years of civil conflict. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva, where experts have presented their latest report to the U.N. Human Rights Council. The experts say there are no good guys in this war. All are bad. They say the governments of Yemen and its allies, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and armed groups affiliated with them are responsible for the tragedies. Chairman of the Group Kamel Jendoubi says the humanitarian crisis in Yemen caused by the needless death of so many innocent people every day is completely avoidable. He speaks through an interpreter. "There is no excuse to allow the suffering of the Yemeni people to continue like this. I appeal (to) the international community to take a stand to support the Yemeni people - they do not deserve to live in a world where their most basic human rights are constantly violated." The experts report many of these actions could amount to war crimes. Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva. The latest reports put the number of civilian deaths since March 26, 2015, at more than 7,500. Children account for more than one-quarter of those deaths. I'm Marissa Melton. You're listening to VOA news. |