|
(This is VOA) news. I'm David Byrd.
President Donald Trump again denied any wrongdoing in his July phone call with Ukraine's president Wednesday even as congressional Democrats said that Trump tried to pressure Volodymyr Zelenskiy into investigating former Vice president Joe Biden's son. Speaking Wednesday afternoon in New York, Trump said he supports the Ukrainian leader's efforts to combat massive corruption and he derided impeachment investigations against him as a "joke." "When they look at the information, it's a joke. Impeachment? For that? When you have a wonderful meeting, or you have a wonderful phone conversation?" Hunter Biden served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company at the same time as his father was leading the Obama administration's diplomatic dealings with Kyiv. Though the timing did raise concerns among anti-corruption advocates, there's been no evidence of any wrongdoing by either the former vice president or his son. Meanwhile, members of Congress were able to review a whistleblower complaint that has triggered impeachment investigations against President Trump. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democratic, said that he had reviewed the complaint and he found it deeply disturbing. "... and the idea that the Department of Justice would have intervened to prevent it from getting to Congress throws the leadership of the that department into further ill repute." The summary's disclosure came one day after Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump and allegations that he sought Ukraine's help to smear Democratic political opponent Joe Biden and to help Trump with his 2020 reelection bid. For more on these stories, please visit our website voanews.com. This is VOA news. A United Nations special report warns that much of humanity is threatened by global warming's devastating impact on oceans and frozen regions of the Earth. AP's Shelley Adler has details. "The oceans and the icy parts of the world are in big trouble and that means we're all in big trouble, too." Michael Oppenheimer, professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University, one of the lead authors of the report. "If we don't slow down emissions and we stay in a high emissions trajectory, sea level is gonna rise faster and faster. Extreme flood levels are gonna get more and more extreme faster than our ability to catch up and do something about it." Shelley Adler, Washington. The attorneys general from 17 U.S. states have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over rule changes that weakened the Endangered Species Act. Led by California, Maryland and Massachusetts, the coalition of states filed the suit Wednesday in San Francisco. It follows a lawsuit filed last month by seven environmental and animal rights groups. Xavier Becerra is California's Attorney General. "We are announcing that we are taking legal action against the Trump administration once more, this time, to protect the Endangered Species Act and the plants and the animals that depend on it." The changes introduced by the Trump administration include requiring consideration of economic cost when deciding whether to save a species from extinction. The law currently says the cost to logging or oil interests will have no bearing on whether an animal or other species deserves protection. The revised regulations would also end blanket protection for a species listed as threatened, a designation that is one step away from being endangered, and would reduce some wildlife habitat. An unrepentant Prime Minister Boris Johnson brushed off cries of "Resign!" and dared his foes to topple him Wednesday at a raucous session of Parliament. It came one day after Britain's highest court ruled Johnson acted illegally in suspending Parliament ahead of the Brexit deadline. Amid shouts, angry gestures and repeated cries of "Order!" in the House of Commons, Johnson emphatically defended his intention to withdraw Britain from the European Union on October 31. "This government that I lead has been trying truly to get us out. And most people, most people - indeed most supporters of the party opposite - regardless of how they voted three years ago - think the referendum must be respected." Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn called for Johnson to resign and rejected Johnson's taunting demand for a no-confidence vote in the government. For more, visit our website. I'm David Byrd, VOA news. |