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washington — Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday that the House of Representatives would go to court to enforce the subpoena against Attorney General Merrick Garland for access to President Joe Biden's special counsel audio interview, hours after the Justice Department refused to prosecute Republicans' contempt-of-Congress charge.  "It is sadly predictable that the Biden administration's Justice Department will not prosecute Garland for defying congressional subpoenas even though the department aggressively prosecuted Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro for the same thing," Johnson said in a statement.    In a letter to Johnson earlier Friday, a Justice Department official cited the agency's "long-standing position and uniform practice" to not prosecute officials who don't comply with subpoenas because of a president's claim of executive privilege.  The Democratic president last month asserted executive privilege to block the release of the audio, which the White House says Republicans want only for political purposes. Republicans moved forward with the contempt effort anyway, voting Wednesday to punish Garland for refusing to provide the recording.  Assistant Attorney General Carlos Felipe Uriarte noted that the Justice Department under presidents of both political parties has declined to prosecute in similar circumstances when there has been a claim of executive privilege.  Accordingly, the department "will not bring the congressional contempt citation before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute the attorney general," Uriarte said in the letter to Johnson. The letter did not specify who in the Justice Department made the decision.  Republicans were incensed when special counsel Robert Hur declined to prosecute Biden over his handling of classified documents and quickly opened an investigation. GOP lawmakers — led by Representatives Jim Jordan and James Comer — sent a subpoena for audio of Hur's interviews with Biden, but the Justice Department turned over only some of the records, leaving out audio of the interview with the president.  Republicans have accused the White House of suppressing the tape because they say the president is afraid to have voters hear it during an election year.  A transcript of the Hur interview showed Biden struggling to recall some dates and occasionally confusing some details — something longtime aides say he's done for years in both public and private — but otherwise showing deep recall in other areas. Biden and his aides are particularly sensitive to questions about his age. At 81, he's the oldest-ever president, and he is currently seeking another four-year term.  The attorney general has said the Justice Department has gone to extraordinary lengths to provide information to the lawmakers about Hur's investigation. However, Garland has said releasing the audio could jeopardize future sensitive investigations because witnesses might be less likely to cooperate if they know their interviews might become public.  In a letter last month detailing Biden's decision to assert executive privilege, White House counsel Ed Siskel accused Republicans of seeking the recordings so they can "chop them up" and distort them to attack the president. Executive privilege gives presidents the right to keep information from the courts, Congress and the public to protect the confidentiality of decision-making, though it can be challenged in court.  The Justice Department noted that it also declined to prosecute Attorney General Bill Barr, who was held in contempt in 2019. The Democratically controlled House voted to issue a referral against Barr after he refused to turn over documents related to a special counsel investigation into former President Donald Trump.  The Justice Department similarly declined to prosecute former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows after he was held in contempt of Congress for ceasing to cooperate with the January 6 committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Years before that, then-Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt related to the gun-running operation known as Operation Fast and Furious. The Justice Department also took no action against Holder.  Navarro and Bannon, two former Trump White House officials, were prosecuted for contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas from the January 6 committee. They were both found guilty at trial and sentenced to four months in prison.

VATICAN CITY — Before flying to Italy's southern Puglia region to meet world leaders at the Group of Seven summit, Pope Francis hosted a very different audience at the Vatican on Friday celebrating the importance of humor. The pontiff welcomed more than 100 comedians from 15 nations, including U.S. celebrities Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Rock, Stephen Colbert and Conan O'Brien. "In the midst of so much gloomy news, immersed as we are in many social and even personal emergencies, you have the power to spread peace and smiles," Francis told the comedians. "You unite people, because laughter is contagious," he continued, asking jokingly, "Please pray for me: for, not against!" Francis pointed out that in the creation, "Divine wisdom practiced your art for the benefit of none other than God himself, the first spectator in history," with God delighting in the works that he had made. "Remember this," he added. "When you manage to bring intelligent smiles to the lips of even a single spectator, you also make God smile." Francis also said it was OK to "laugh at God" in the same way "we play and joke with the people we love." After delivering his speech, Francis greeted all the comedians individually, sharing laughs and jokes with some of them. "It was great, it was very fast and really loving, and made me happy," Goldberg said afterward. O'Brien noted that the pope "spoke in Italian, so I'm not quite sure what was said." "To be in that room and to be with all my fellow comedians, some of whom I've been good friends with for many years, in that environment, was quite strange," the TV host added. "All of us were thinking, how did this happen? Why are we here, and when are they going to throw us out?" Colbert admitted his Italian "is really bad, I would like to speak it better." But he managed to remind the pope that he had done the audiobook for his memoir. "It was wonderful, he'll never forget me," he joked.

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houston — A federal judge Friday ordered the liquidation of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' personal assets but dismissed his company's separate bankruptcy case, leaving the future of his Infowars media platform uncertain as he owes $1.5 billion for his false claims that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. Judge Christopher Lopez approved converting Jones' proposed personal bankruptcy reorganization to a liquidation, but threw out the attempted reorganization of his company, Austin, Texas-based Free Speech Systems. Many of the Sandy Hook families had asked that the company also be liquidated. If Free Speech Systems' bankruptcy reorganization had been converted to a liquidation, Jones could have lost ownership of the company, its social media accounts, the Infowars studio in Austin, and all copyrights as the company's possessions were sold. Jones smiled as the judge dismissed the company's case. It wasn't immediately clear what will happen to Free Speech Systems, Infowars' parent company that Jones built into a multimillion-dollar moneymaker over the past 25 years. One scenario could be that the company and Infowars are allowed to keep operating while efforts to collect on the $1.5 billion debt are made in state courts in Texas and Connecticut, where the families won lawsuits against Jones, according to lawyers involved with the case. Another scenario is that lawyers for the Sandy Hook families go back to the bankruptcy court and ask Lopez to liquidate the company as part of Jones' personal case, because Jones owns the business, lawyers said. Lopez said his sole focus in determining whether to dismiss Free Speech Systems' case or order a liquidation was what would be best for the company and its creditors, including the Sandy Hook families. Lopez also said Free Speech Systems' case appeared to be one of the longest running of its kind in the country, and it was approaching a deadline to resolve it. "This case is one of the more difficult cases I've had," said Lopez. "When you look at it, I think creditors are better served in pursuing their state court rights." Many of Jones' personal assets will be sold off, but his primary home in the Austin area and some other belongings are exempt from bankruptcy liquidation. He already has moved to sell his Texas ranch worth about $2.8 million, a gun collection and other assets to pay debts. In the lead-up to Friday's hearing, Jones had been telling his web viewers and radio listeners that Free Speech Systems was on the verge of being shut down because of the bankruptcy. He urged them to download videos from his online archive to preserve them and pointed them to a new website of his father's company if they want to continue buying the dietary supplements he sells on his show. "This is probably the end of Infowars here very, very soon. If not today, in the next few weeks or months," Jones told reporters before Friday's hearing. "But it's just the beginning of my fight against tyranny." Jones has about $9 million in personal assets, according to the most recent financial filings in court. Free Speech Systems, which employs 44 people, has about $6 million in cash on hand and about $1.2 million worth of inventory, according to J. Patrick Magill, the chief restructuring officer appointed by the court to run the company during the bankruptcy. Jones and Free Speech Systems filed for bankruptcy protection in 2022, when relatives of many victims of the 2012 school shooting that killed 20 first-graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, won lawsuit judgments of more than $1.4 billion in Connecticut and $49 million in Texas. The relatives said they were traumatized by Jones' comments and his followers' actions. They have testified about being harassed and threatened by Jones' believers, some of whom confronted the grieving families in person saying the shooting never happened and their children never existed. One parent said someone threatened to dig up his dead son's grave.

WASHINGTON — The chairperson of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday outlined what he described as failures by the U.S. Agency for Global Media to adequately investigate allegations and whistleblower complaints. A 73-page report described a three-year investigation into whistleblower complaints about an employee at the USAGM network Voice of America, or VOA, including allegations of falsifying credentials and the mishandling of a contract. Chairman Michael McCaul, a Republican representative from Texas, said, “Given the important work of USAGM and VOA to provide accurate news around the world, I am extremely concerned about the agency’s serious investigative blunders despite the alarming complaints.” McCaul described the case as “the tip of the iceberg” in a statement, and staff representing Republicans on the committee said on background that it feeds into previous concerns about whether the agency properly vets foreign-born staff. However, the report focuses on the investigation into one employee. The report found “credible evidence” of wrongdoing, including that the employee in question did not hold a doctorate or equivalent from a French university as stated on a resume; mishandled a major contract; awarded “excessive” overtime pay to favored employees; and “faced persistent complaints” about an “abrasive leadership style.” Because the incident involves a personnel issue at VOA, which does not typically comment on such matters, the network is not naming the employee. The report further notes that an investigation under former President Donald Trump’s appointed leadership at VOA had found grounds to dismiss the senior staff member in 2021 after an investigation that included the handling of a $950,000 contract. After a change in administration, the McCaul report notes, the termination was reversed, and the employee was moved to a new department. An independent investigation by the Office of Special Counsel, or OSC, released in May 2023, described the case as a “particularly complex matter” and said it was “beyond the scope of this review to evaluate the merits of several allegations made against the individual; however, CEO Office involvement will be examined.” The OSC added that the USAGM Labor and Employee Relations investigators tasked with looking into the allegations “faced intense pressure” to conclude in 2021 that the employee should be terminated. The report by McCaul includes testimony and interviews with senior USAGM and VOA officials and staff. It states that once the agency was provided evidence to support the claims of falsified credentials, USAGM moved to issue a reprimand to the employee. Staff representing Republicans on the committee, speaking to VOA on background, said that during the committee investigation, they found USAGM had failed to thoroughly investigate the whistleblower complaints and other issues regarding oversight and negligence. The staff said the report’s findings and USAGM’s apparent failure to take appropriate action reflect wider and far-reaching concerns about the agency, including whether political bias played a role. A statement emailed to VOA and attributed to USAGM CEO Amanda Bennett said her office “cannot comment on specific personnel matters.” But, Bennett said, “We unequivocally reject the Committee's allegations that the agency’s investigation of an employee’s background was politicized, corrupt or mismanaged in any way.” Noting that the agency stands by its final decision in investigating complaints, the statement said its staff “made tremendous efforts to locate evidence relevant to the matter in question, and aggressively pursued every possible avenue to conduct a thorough investigation.” Mark Zaid, an attorney who represents the employee in question, told VOA via email, “The Committee's one-sided report continues an unexplained vendetta that has spanned two Administrations” against his client. He charged the report included “many incomplete, misinterpreted and defamatory conclusions.” But, Zaid said, he “agrees with the Committee on two things.” “First, there is a great deal of confusion surrounding the equivalency of French and American Ph.D.s, including among various experts,” he said. “Second, USAGM has mishandled this investigation from the beginning, particularly by interfering with [the client’s] right to counsel and denying [the client’s] appropriate due process.” He noted that “contrary to a footnote in the report,” USAGM did not share details with Zaid, in his capacity as the employee's attorney, or keep him updated about what the agency was doing in regard to the McCaul investigation. Members of McCaul’s staff told VOA on background that the committee intends no ill will toward the employee but that as a congressional oversight board it is their duty to investigate whistleblower complaints and follow the facts. The main focus of the report is on whether the employee held an advanced degree, as stated on the person's resume and on the VOA website. McCaul’s report says it was able to quickly establish three years ago that the credentials were incorrect. Zaid told VOA that attorneys have “repeatedly provided documentation” to confirm the degree, and enough evidence exists to show the qualification “has been properly described.” Gregory Meeks, the leading Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued a statement that called McCaul’s report “one-sided.” Meeks said, however, that USAGM should “address the Committee’s oversight questions and concerns." The findings in McCaul’s report serve as a case study of a wider problem, according to the committee staff, who spoke on background. The report calls for the employee to be terminated as per the earlier Labor and Employee Relations investigation and for USAGM to rectify its vetting process. “USAGM’s actions raise questions about the agency’s ability to vet its own staff, and I am extremely concerned Democrats who criticized the agency under the last administration have gone silent instead of working in good faith to serve Americans who deserve transparency and accountability,” McCaul said in a statement. It requests the agency deliver a report to Congress on vetting procedures within 90 days.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Istanbul / Washington — A recent report on the state of child labor in Turkey said at least 695 child workers died in the country in the past 11 years.   The report was published Tuesday by Health and Safety Labor Watch (ISIG), a civil society group in Turkey. The group compiled its dataset through open-source information and the families of the children who died while working. According to ISIG, at least 24 child workers died in the first five months of 2024.   VOA sent a request for a comment to Turkey’s Ministry of Labor and Social Security, but it has not received a response yet.   As of 2023, there were more than 22 million children in Turkey, which has a population of over 86 million, according to the state-run Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK). Education in Turkey is compulsory until the end of the 12th grade and public education is free of charge. However, the high school completion rate was 80.3 percent in 2023, a relative increase compared with 2022's figure of 65.1 percent.  Vocational training  Some experts think the state-run Vocational Education Centers (MESEM) are behind the increasing completion number, which they do not view as improving the education rate.   "Turkey has given up fighting against child labor for a long time. There are many practices that legitimize child labor, and MESEM comes first among these practices," Ezgi Koman, a child development expert at Turkey's nongovernmental FISA Child Rights Center, told VOA.  Turkey's Ministry of National Education (MEB) introduced MESEMs to the education system in 2016. The apprenticeship program enables students to learn the skills of an entry-level job and choose to be professionalized in one of at least 193 sectors provided by MESEM's curriculum.    MEB's website says the program's goal is "to meet our country's need for people with occupation."  The students enrolled in MESEMs go to school once a week for theoretical training and work at a job assigned by the MESEM for four days. The program takes four years to finish and counts as the student's last four years of compulsory education.   MESEM's enrollment requirements include completing the eighth grade, being over 14 years of age, signing a contract with a workplace related to the profession the child wants to pursue, and being in good health.   The students must be insured for job-related accidents and injuries. They are paid at least 30 percent of the minimum wage in the first three years and at least 50 percent of the minimum wage in the fourth year. The minimum wage in Turkey in 2024 is around US$520 a month.   "Our research shows that children who want to receive vocational training do not enroll in MESEM. Children who are already working are enrolled there. So, now, through MESEM, some of the children working unregistered are being registered in the labor force. MESEM is presenting them as receiving education," Koman said.  "However, there is no education. There are children left at the mercy of the bosses and labor exploitation," she added.  VOA Turkish requested a comment from Turkey’s Ministry of National Education, which oversees MESEM, but has not received a response.  Yusuf Tekin, Turkey’s minister of national education, responded to a parliamentary inquiry about the injuries and deaths of students enrolled in MESEMs in March 2024.  In the inquiry, Turan Taskin Ozer, an Istanbul deputy of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), asked about the number of injuries and deaths that occurred in MESEM programs since 2016.  “The sectors of workplaces where accidents and deaths occur are predominantly construction, metal, woodworking, engine and machinery,” Tekin responded in a written statement.  “A total of 336 students, 316 males and 20 females, had an accident,” Tekin added without disclosing the number of deaths.    The ISIG report shows that in the 2023-24 academic year, at least seven children died while working in jobs that were part of their MESEM training.   Refugee children  The ISIG report also indicates that since 2013, at least 80 migrant children have died while working - 71 from Syria, six from Afghanistan and one each from Iraq, Iran, and Turkmenistan.   According to the U.N. refugee agency’s annual Global Trends report, released in June, Turkey hosts 3.3 million refugee populations, including 3.2 million Syrians. Refugee children in Turkey have the right to education. Still, some experts point out that refugee children face peer bullying and xenophobia at school, which leads them to end their education and start work informally.   Turkey-based humanitarian organization Support to Life focuses on child workers in seasonal agricultural jobs, including migrant children.  "The living conditions of Turkish, Kurdish or migrant seasonal agricultural workers are far from humane living standards," Leyla Ozer, Support to Life's project manager, told VOA.  "Access to clean drinking water, electricity and toilets is limited. Families mostly live in tent areas they set up themselves. Conditions on agricultural fields are extremely challenging for children. Pesticides are a big threat, and labor is also added to this. Preventing child labor is vitally urgent," Ozer added.  

washington — Russia's efforts to subvert the coming presidential elections in Moldova go beyond sowing disinformation, according to U.S. officials, who charge that the Kremlin is actively supporting political candidates and political parties willing to espouse pro-Russia policies.  The warning, from a senior State Department official, comes a day after the U.S., Canada and Britain issued a statement publicly accusing Moscow of "currently supporting candidates for Moldova's presidency."  But in a virtual briefing with reporters on Friday, U.S. Special Envoy Jamie Rubin said Moscow's designs on Moldova go even deeper.  "To be as frank as I can, we're talking about funding parties, we're talking about funding outside groups," Rubin said, in response to a question from VOA. "They have devoted, we believe, a particularly egregious, pernicious plan to act against Moldova."  Rubin, who also serves as coordinator of the State Department's Global Engagement Center, is not the first to accuse Moscow of cultivating ties with political parties outside of Russia to push a Russian agenda.  As far back as 2018, Estonian intelligence officials warned of Russian efforts across Europe to cultivate ties with fringe political parties, providing advice, funding or outside business opportunities to help raise their fortunes.  In some cases, Russian-backed politicians rose from obscurity to prominence, winning seats in their country's parliaments.  "They have made some bad investments, but they have also made some very good investments," the then-chief of Estonia's foreign intelligence service said of Russia's efforts at the time. VOA requested comment from the Russia Embassy in Washington about the U.S. allegations Moscow is meddling in the Moldovan election, set for October. Russian officials have yet to respond.  But Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean this week said he was grateful to the U.S., Canada and Britain for speaking out.  "Grateful for the strong support of the US, the UK & Canada as we defend Moldova's democracy," Recean said Thursday in a post on the X social media platform.  "Kremlin's attempts to undermine our sovereignty & incite unrest will not succeed," he said in the post. "Our institutions stand strong, ensuring peace, security & the right of our people to choose their future."  Other officials also have complained about Russia influence operations aimed at destabilizing Moldovan society.  "They [the Russians] make this hybrid war more intense, with more disinformation, with more cyberattacks," Moldovan Internal Affairs Minister Adrian Efros told VOA last year. "They try to make the tension between different regions of Moldova, to make this tension internally."  Thursday's statement from the U.S., Canada and Britain accused Russia of carrying out a yearslong plot in Moldova to influence the outcome of the October election in favor of pro-Russian candidates, "using disinformation and propaganda online, on the air, and on the streets to further their objectives."  On Friday, the Global Engagement Center's Rubin cautioned that the latest intelligence points to Russia going even further if pro-Russian candidates fail to win at the ballot box.  "We're talking about rent-a-crowds," he said. "We're talking about individuals who will be gathered by the Russians in the hopes of a mass protest that will be generated by Russia."  "We believe they're applying a matter of high priority to interfere in the Moldovan election and, if necessary, to try to overthrow a democratically elected government," Rubin warned.  VOA Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb contributed to this report. 

washington — A New York court has denied the U.S. government the right to sell a superyacht that it alleges belongs to sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleyman Kerimov. The ruling means that U.S. taxpayers will continue to foot the bill for roughly $740,000 a month for the 106-meter Amadea's upkeep and insurance. The luxury vessel, with an estimated value of $230 million, is at the center of a legal battle over the enforcement of U.S. sanctions against Russia. American prosecutors allege that Kerimov and his proxies routed dollar transactions through U.S. financial institutions to maintain the yacht, which would constitute a sanctions violation. In May 2022, the island nation of Fiji confiscated the Amadea and later transferred it to the United States. The U.S. government would like to sell the yacht and transfer the proceeds to Ukraine. But that procedure, known as civil forfeiture, grew more complicated when another Russian billionaire, Eduard Khudainatov, who is not under U.S. sanctions, claimed the Amadea actually belongs to him. In court filings, the Justice Department has termed Khudainatov a "straw owner" for Kerimov. Khudainatov denies that. The legal battle over Amadea could take a while. Until it concludes, the U.S. government is paying roughly $600,000 for the yacht's upkeep and $140,000 for its insurance each month. In a bid to decrease those expenses, the U.S. government requested permission to sell the vessel and convert its value into cash. That practice is relatively common in civil forfeiture cases when an asset is rapidly depreciating in value or its upkeep is excessively costly. But on Tuesday, the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York ruled that the cost of maintaining Amadea was not "excessive." To assess "whether the maintenance costs of the Amadea are excessive, the court must not look solely at the total dollar amount of the maintenance costs, but must principally consider whether those amounts are more than what is usual as compared to the maintenance costs for other similar yachts," the judge wrote in the ruling. The U.S. government could not prove the expenses met that standard, the court ruled. The Justice Department has the right to appeal the decision. Two days after the ruling, lawyers representing Khudainatov and the company that directly owns the Amadea filed a memorandum opposing the U.S. government's efforts to strike Khudainatov from the case. Prosecutors allege that Khudainatov is not the yacht's actual owner, meaning he lacks standing to contest its forfeiture. But the memorandum, which includes declarations from yacht employees and contractors, argues that Khudainatov is the true owner and, thus, the Amadea is not subject to forfeiture at all. The U.S. government's attempts to strike Khudainatov from the case are "nothing more than a desperate attempt to steal the Amadea by default," Adam Ford and Renee Jarusinsky, counsel for Khudainatov and the ownership company, said in a statement. "Mr. Khudainatov is, and always has been, the rightful owner of the Amadea," they continued. "We are confident that the truth will prevail and the boat will be returned. Until then, this costly burden that the government has placed on the American people will continue to grow heavier." The Justice Department declined to comment.

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washington — Pope Francis, originally from Argentina, spoke Friday about the ethics of artificial intelligence at the G7 summit at a time when China has been rolling out its own AI standards and building technological infrastructure in developing nations, including Latin America. The annual meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations held in the Puglia region of Italy this week focused on topics that included economic security and artificial intelligence. On Friday, Francis became the first pope to speak at a G7 summit. He spoke about AI and its ethical implications and the need to balance technological progress with values. “Artificial intelligence could enable a democratization of access to knowledge, the exponential advancement of scientific research, and the possibility of giving demanding and arduous work to machines,” he said. But Francis also warned that AI "could bring with it a greater injustice between advanced and developing nations, or between dominant and oppressed social classes.” Technology and security experts have noted that AI is becoming an increasingly geopolitical issue, particularly as the U.S. and China compete in regions such as Latin America. “There will be the promotion of [China’s] standards for AI in other countries and the U.S. will be doing the same thing, so we will have bifurcation, decoupling of these standards,” Handel Jones, the chief executive of International Business Strategies Inc. told VOA. To decrease reliance on China, U.S. tech companies are looking to Mexico to buy AI-related hardware, and Taiwan-based Foxconn has been investing hundreds of millions of dollars in building manufacturing facilities in Mexico to meet that need. Huawei's projects At the same time, Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei has been implementing telecommunications and cloud infrastructure in Latin America. The company recently reported a 10.9% increase in revenue in that region in 2023. The United States has sanctioned Huawei because of national security concerns. “I would argue that Huawei is developing the infrastructure in the region [Latin America] in which it can deploy its type of AI solutions,” said Evan Ellis, Latin American studies research professor at the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Studies Institute. Ellis elaborated on the potential security concerns with Huawei’s AI solutions, explaining to VOA how China may be able use integrated AI solutions such as facial recognition for potentially “nefarious purposes,” such as recognizing consumer behavioral patterns. Jones emphasized the potential security threat to the West of China implementing AI in Latin America. “The negative [side] of AI is that you can get control, and you can also influence, so how you control thought processes and media, and so on … that’s something which is very much a part of the philosophy of the China government,” Jones said. Jones added that China is moving rapidly to build up its AI capabilities. “Now, they claim it’s defensive. But again, who knows what’s going to happen five years from now? But if you’ve got the strength, would you use it? And how would you use it? And of course, AI is going to be a critical part of any future military activities,” he said. In May, China launched a three-year action plan to set standards in AI and to position itself as a global leader in the emerging tech space. 'Rig the game' “Once you can set standards, you rig the game to lock in basically your own way of doing things, and so it becomes a mutually reinforcing thing,” Ellis said. “In some ways you can argue that the advance of AI in the hands of countries that are not democratic helps to enable the apparent success of statist solution,” he added. “It strengthens the allure of autocratic systems and taking out protections and privacy away from the individual that at the end of the day pose fundamental threats to the human rights and democracy.” The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to VOA’s request for comment about analysts' concerns related to security as China’s digital influence grows in Latin America. But in a previous statement to VOA about AI, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said, “The Global AI Governance Initiative launched by President Xi Jinping puts forward that we should uphold the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit in AI development, and oppose drawing ideological lines.” Liu said China supports “efforts to develop AI governance frameworks, norms and standards based on broad consensus and with full respect for policies and practices among countries.” Parsifal D’Sola, founder and executive director of the Andres Bello Foundation's China Latin America Research Center, said Huawei has been transparent with how it "manipulates information, [and] what it shares back with China.” “The way Huawei operates does pose certain risks even for national security, but on the other hand … it's cheaper, it has great service ... [and it provides] infrastructure in areas of the [countries] that do not have access,” D’Sola said. Experts said countries in Latin America seem less worried about the geopolitical battle between the United States and China and more concerned about efficiency. “Security is part of the conversation, but development is much more important,” D’Sola said. “Economic development, infrastructure development, is a key priority for - I don't want to say every country, but I would say most countries in the region.” As China and countries in the West continue to discuss the implications of AI, Chinasa T. Okolo, expert in AI and fellow from the Brookings Institution, said one of the challenges of creating regulatory guidelines for this emerging technology is whether lawmakers can keep up with the speed of technological advancement. “We don’t necessarily know its full capacity, and so it’s kind of hard to predict,” Okolo said, “and so by the time that, you know, regulators or policymakers have drafted up some sort of legal framework, it could already be outdated, and so governments have to kind of be aware of this and move quickly in terms of implementing effective and robust AI regulations.” Pope Francis, in his speech, acknowledged the rapid technological advancement of AI. “It is precisely this powerful technological progress that makes artificial intelligence at the same time an exciting and fearsome tool and demands a reflection that is up to the challenge it presents,” he said, adding that it goes without saying that the benefits or harm that AI will bring depends on how it is used.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will attend the international Ukraine Peace Summit in Switzerland this weekend, where she will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and address world leaders. She will underscore that the outcome of the war with Russia affects the entire world, a U.S. official said, and push for a maximum number of countries to back the notion that Moscow's invasion of Ukraine is a violation of the U.N. Charter's founding principles and that Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected. Harris, who will spend less than 24 hours at the gathering in Lucerne, Switzerland, will be standing in for President Joe Biden at the event. The president will be just ending his participation at the G7 summit in Italy and returning to the United States to attend a fundraiser for his reelection campaign in Los Angeles. Harris will meet with Zelenskyy and will address the summit's plenary session. Biden met Zelenskyy at the G7 summit, where they signed a U.S.-Ukraine bilateral security agreement, and in France for events surrounding the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. Harris was to depart for Switzerland on Friday night, arrive Saturday midday and spend several hours at the event before flying back to Washington. Then, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will represent the United States at the summit on Sunday and help establish working groups on returning Ukrainian children from Russia and energy security. Russia was not invited to the event and has dismissed it as futile. China, a key Russian ally, says it will not attend the conference because it does not meet Beijing's requirements, including the participation of Russia. The senior U.S. official said Russia's absence would not affect the summit but expressed regret at Beijing's decision. Ninety-two countries and eight organizations plan to attend. The United States has contributed billions of dollars in weaponry to help Ukraine fight the war begun by Russian President Vladimir Putin, although the latest massive package of aid from Washington was delayed for months by disagreements in Congress.

ISLAMABAD — “We don’t need development. … We want to live in peace,” a frustrated Abdul Khaliq told VOA over the phone. Khaliq is a resident of Pakistan’s tribal district Kurram, where locals held a consultative gathering, or jirga, earlier this month to discuss rising insecurity. The gathering was part of a recent wave of jirgas in Pakistani areas close to Afghanistan, where locals say they are caught between militant violence and military operations. In recent weeks, along with Kurram, tribes gathered in large numbers in the Mohmand, Tank, Bannu and Lakki Marwat districts in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The jirgas were held amid a spike in incidents involving targeted killings and extortion by militants. “We are not afraid for ourselves, but we are scared for our children and families,” a resident of Mohmand who did not want to be identified for security reasons told VOA over the phone. Militants set his cousin’s marble factory on fire in May, after the businessman rebuffed extortion demands. “Two days before the incident they warned the factory watchman to tell my cousin to resolve the problem. They used to send the messages through WhatsApp voice notes as well, and would call, too, but my cousin wouldn’t take the calls,” he said. Mohmand is home to dozens of marble factories. After the incident, owners complaining of extortion calls and threats of violence from militants held a protest sit-in for five days. They ended it only after government officials promised more police presence in the industrial area. Residents told VOA it’s not always clear if the threats are from Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan fighters, TTP affiliates or criminals posing as Islamist militants. However, they blame the rise in militant activity on the February 2020 deal between the United States and the Afghan Taliban that saw the insurgents return to power in August 2021. Many also hold responsible Pakistan’s controversial step to allow the return of thousands of TTP fighters who had been forced into Afghanistan by military operations. Afghan Taliban-mediated talks between Pakistan and the TTP broke down in November 2022. Faced with frequent terror attacks, Islamabad accused the Afghan Taliban of providing sanctuary to the leaders of the TTP, a globally designated terrorist organization. Kabul denies the allegation. Harassment by military Residents in areas close to the Afghan border complain militants also frequently barge into homes and businesses, demanding food and tea. Obliging them, they say, gets them into trouble with security agencies deployed in heavy numbers in the region. “Our problem is that at night armed men come to our homes, demanding food, and in the morning the military comes and takes the homeowner away [for interrogation],” said Pattu Lala Bittani, who took part in a massive jirga in district Tank this month. The gathering was held after a spate of militant attacks on ordinary citizens, government employees and security personnel. “Talking to Taliban puts us in a bad position with them [security institutions], and if we go to state authorities, then we get on the bad side of the Taliban,” Bittani said. State response “When you do counterterrorist operations in civilian-friendly population, it has negative manifestations, one of which is this,” said Muhammad Ali Saif, adviser to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister on information, conceding that civilians face harsh treatment from security institutions for coming into contact with militants. “It is difficult to do everything by the book. Mishaps occur, people get harassed, but there is a mechanism,” he told VOA. “Security agencies also don’t have some spiritual information on who is colluding with whom.” He pointed out that monetary compensation is available for civilians in case of physical or financial harm during military operations. Pakistani security forces are also coming under frequent, deadly attacks as they fight the militancy, which has spread from former tribal areas to settled areas, Saif said. Dozens of military personnel, including officers, and at least 70 police have died in terror attacks and counterterrorism operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province so far this year. A midyear report of the provincial counterterrorism department released this month recorded at least 237 terrorism incidents. It said 299 terrorists were arrested, while 117 were killed. Pakistani military spokesperson Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told the media last month that security forces had conducted more than 13,000 intelligence-based operations this year, mostly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Fear of displacement Locals worry the rise in military operations may force them to leave their homes. Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis became internally displaced persons, or IDPs, when the military conducted massive operations against terrorists between 2009 and 2015. “The security checks that happen, the check posts on the roads, it makes us feel that things are sliding back to how they were in 2009 when we all became IDPs,” said Abdul Khaliq, who had to leave his home in Kurram at the time. “The commotion we are seeing again, it makes us feel that we are again being pushed back into that era.” Saif said such fears are unfounded because authorities are conducting limited operations. He said he was not aware of any plans for a massive operation that would require moving residents. On Friday, residents of the Lakki Marwat district, which is around 300 kilometers (186 miles) southwest of the capital, Islamabad, blocked a highway to protest an ongoing counterterrorism operation. The security action came after seven soldiers, including an officer, were killed in a roadside bombing. Just days later, the Pakistani military claimed killing 11 terrorists in response. The decline in security has Abdullah Nangiyal Bittani, who attended the jirga in Tank roughly 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Lakki Marwat, wondering if he should go to his village to celebrate Eid with extended family on Monday. “I would be in my village for four or five days every month,” said Bittani, who lives in Islamabad. “But now it’s been two to three months since I last visited. “We expect the state will protect us,” Bittani said. “We should have peace in our areas like there is peace in other parts of the country.”

ROME — An Italian anti-fascist activist was released from house arrest in Hungary on Friday after being elected as a new member of the European Parliament for the Italian Green and Left Alliance, the party's leaders said.  Police in Budapest removed Ilaria Salis' electronic bracelet in the Hungarian capital and her father said he will take her back to Italy by Monday, when she celebrates her 40th birthday, according to Italian news agency ANSA.  Salis was elected to the European Parliament during her time under house arrest in Hungary, where she is on trial and faces charges for allegedly assaulting far-right demonstrators. European Parliament lawmakers enjoy substantial legal immunity from prosecution, even if the allegations relate to crimes committed prior to their election.  More than 170,000 voters in Italy wrote Salis' name onto the ballot in a bid to bring her home from Hungary, where she has been detained for more than a year.  "Finally! We are happy with the news coming from Budapest, MEP Ilaria Salis can now return to Italy and will be able to perform her new function to which hundreds of thousands of voters have pointed her," AVS lawmakers Angelo Bonelli and Nicola Fratoianni said in a statement.  Salis became a hot-button political issue in Italy after images emerged of her handcuffed and shackled in a Hungarian courtroom where she faced trial.  The Italian activist was charged in Hungary with attempted murder after being part of a group of anti-fascists accused of assaulting individuals they believed were linked to the far-right Day of Honor last year.  The event, held annually on February 11, sees far-right activists mark the failed attempt by Nazi and allied Hungarian soldiers to break out of Budapest during the Red Army's siege in 1945.  The alleged victims of the attack reportedly didn't complain to police.  Before the European Parliament election earlier this month, Salis' father repeatedly voiced concerns over his daughter's trial, saying she faced up to 24 years in jail. The Hungarian prosecutor had asked for a prison term of 11 years. 

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Leaders from nearly 90 countries will gather in Switzerland this weekend to discuss ending Russia's war in Ukraine. The Swiss and Ukrainian governments organized the summit at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. VOA's Myroslava Gongadze reports. Camera: Daniil Batushchak.

Pentagon — About 600 U.S. military personnel remain in Niger, as American troops continue to withdraw from the country before a mid-September deadline, according to a senior U.S. defense official. "We are on track to be done before the 15th of September," the senior U.S. defense official told reporters Friday, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues. However, the official cautioned that the rainy season could potentially slow withdrawal efforts. Last month, U.S. and Nigerien leaders agreed to a phased withdrawal of American forces from Niger after being in the country for more than a decade. At that time, there were about 900 U.S. military personnel in Niger, including active duty, civilians and contractors, according to two U.S. officials, who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity ahead of the withdrawal agreement. The withdrawal agreement between the U.S. and Niger confirmed protections and immunities for U.S. personnel and approved diplomatic clearances for withdrawal flights "to ensure smooth entries and exits." American forces were deployed in Niger to help local militaries combat Islamist terrorists in the Sahel. The United States has used two military bases in the country — Air Base 101 in Niamey and Air Base 201 in Agadez — to monitor various terror groups. Most U.S. forces in Niger are currently based in the latter, which cost the U.S. $110 million to build, and began drone operations in 2019. Niger's natural resources have increased its importance to global powers, and its location had provided the U.S. with the ability to conduct counterterror operations throughout much of West Africa. Countries in the region, including Niger, Mali, Nigeria and Burkina Faso, have seen an expansive rise in extremist movements. According to the Global Terrorism Index, an annual report covering terrorist incidents worldwide, more than half of the deaths caused by terrorism last year were in the Sahel. Niger's neighbor, Burkina Faso, suffered the most, with 1,907 fatalities from terrorism in 2023. Unless the U.S. can find another base to use in West Africa, counterterror drones will likely have to spend most of their fuel supply flying thousands of kilometers from U.S. bases in Italy or Djibouti, severely limiting their time over the targets and their ability to gather intelligence. "That's a significant policy matter that the U.S. is grappling with right now," the senior U.S. defense official told reporters Friday. Coup forced withdrawal  Tensions between the U.S. and Niger began in 2023 when Niger's military junta removed the democratically elected president from power. After months of delay, the Biden administration formally declared in October 2023 that the military takeover in Niger was a coup, a determination that prevented Niger from receiving a significant amount of U.S. military and foreign assistance. In March, after tense meetings between U.S. representatives and Niger's governing military council, the junta called the U.S. military presence illegal and announced it was ending an agreement that allowed American forces to be based in the country. During that meeting, the U.S. and Niger fundamentally disagreed about Niger's desire to supply Iran with uranium and work more closely with Russian military forces.