VOA NEWS

December 8, 2019

This is VOA news. I'm David Byrd.



President Donald Trump has thanked Iran for releasing a Chinese American researcher in exchange for an Iranian stem cell scientist.

As Reuters Emer McCarthy reports, the surprise prisoner swap happened on Saturday.

The U.S. released Iranian stem cell expert Massoud Soleimani in exchange for the liberation of Xiyue Wang, a Chinese American detained in Iran for three years on espionage charges.

On Twitter, Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif applauded a picture of him and Soleimani aboard a plane allegedly flying back to Iran.

Soleimani was arrested at Chicago Airport in October, 2018, for allegedly attempting to export biological materials to Iran, violating U.S. sanctions on the country over its nuclear program.

Xiyue Wang, meanwhile, is a Princeton University graduate who is said to have been conducting dissertation research in Iran in 2016 when he was detained.

That's Reuters Emer McCarthy.



President Trump and top U.S. officials are reaffirming America's continued commitment to Saudi Arabia in the wake of a Saudi Air Force student's shooting spree at a Navy base in Florida. AP's Ben Thomas reports.

"I spoke with the king of Saudi Arabia. They are devastated in Saudi Arabia ...." Speaking to reporters as he left the White House Saturday, President Trump said Saudi King Salman offered reassurances.

"... and the king will be involved in taking care of families and ...."

A Saudi statement calls the shooting a heinous crime that does not represent the Saudi people who count the American people as friends and allies.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he wouldn't hesitate to deploy U.S. forces to Saudi Arabia.

"... not at all. I think, you know, Saudi Arabia's a longstanding partner of ours in the region. We share mutual security interests ...."

Esper added the Pentagon would reexamine vetting procedures for foreign nationals taking part in its training programs.

Ben Thomas, Washington.



This is VOA news.



U.S. Democratic lawmakers met privately Saturday to work on the investigation into President Donald Trump, inching closer to an impeachment vote possibly before the Christmas holiday recess.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are working through the weekend to review evidence against the Republican president and draft articles of impeachment that they could recommend for a full House vote as early as Thursday.

The White House said Friday it would not take part in the impeachment hearings.



The United States and the Taliban restarted peace negotiations Saturday three month after President Donald Trump abruptly stopped the yearlong [ai...] process aimed at finding a political settlement [in] ending the longest war in American history.

A U.S.-based source told VOA that chief U.S. negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad led his team at Saturday's meeting in Doha, Qatar, where insurgent negotiators are based.

The Qatari government played host to the U.S.-Taliban dialogue before President Trump halted the talks in September in retaliation for an insurgent attack in the Afghan capital that killed an American solider.

A Taliban spokesman tweeted that the two sides will continue the talks on Sunday.



The 23-year-old rape victim set on fire by a gang of men, which included her alleged rapists, has died in a New Delhi hospital. Reuters Matthew Larotonda has more.

All the suspected perpetrators are in custody but her father says his family has received other threats and fears a long and drawn out court process.

"10-20 years," he says. He wants them to hang.

His daughter has not been publicly named, but according to local media and police reports she was attacked on her way to court on Thursday after she accused two men of raping her at gunpoint a year ago.

One of them was imprisoned but recently released on bail. The other was on the run.

As she boarded a train to the courthouse, the two men appeared with three others and doused her in kerosene. She was also beaten and stabbed.

It's said that she walked almost a kilometer trying to find help before she was forced to call the police herself.

That's Reuters Matthew Larotonda.



Hong Kong's police Commissioner Chris Tang told reporters Saturday in Beijing that his police force would adopt both "hard" and "soft" approaches when dealing with on going anti-government protests.

Tang said that police officers will not tolerate and take resolute measures to deal with violence but added they would adopt a more humanistic approach for minor infractions.

His visit came just before another mass protest is scheduled on Sunday, part of a pro-democracy movement in the semi-autonomous city that started back in June.



For more, be sure to visit our website. I'm David Byrd, VOA news.