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LAUDERHILL, Florida — The United States cricket team made more history by reaching the second round in its Twenty20 World Cup debut after its last group game against Ireland was washed out Friday. Rain meant the match at Broward County Stadium was abandoned without a ball bowled, advancing the Americans to the Super Eight stage and automatically qualifying them for the 2026 Twenty20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. The U.S. qualified for this T20 World Cup only as a co-host with the West Indies, but it has used home advantage to make a stunning first impression in its first major cricket tournament. While the Americans progressed alongside unbeaten India from Group A, former champion Pakistan and winless Ireland were eliminated from Super Eight contention. Pakistan won the title in 2009 and reached two more finals, including at the last T20 World Cup in 2022. Pakistan has failed to get out of the group stage for the first time. Ireland was expected to be a threat, too. The Irish also reached the second round on debut in 2009 and repeated in 2022. The competition point from the washout was enough for the U.S. to advance after beating Canada in Texas and stunning Pakistan in Texas during the first week. Tying Pakistan in regular overs then beating it in a super over was one of the greatest upsets in the tournament's history. The Americans were thumped by India, one of the title favorites, as expected on Wednesday but the hosts' progression without being able to play on Friday was still well deserved. The umpires made four inspections of the wet outfield before heavy rain arrived at around 1:30 p.m. local time and the match was called off three hours after its scheduled start. The 17th-ranked U.S. joined the West Indies, India, Australia, South Africa and Afghanistan in the Super Eight, with two more teams yet to qualify. The Super Eight starting on Wednesday splits into two groups, with each team guaranteed three games to try and reach the semifinals. Nepal wins toss At Kingstown, St Vincent, Nepal won the toss and chose to bowl in its later match against Group D leaders South Africa, the first international match between the teams. South Africa already has qualified for the Super Eight stage after winning its first three matches against the Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. South Africa's first match in the Super Eight playoffs is next Wednesday against the U.S. in Antigua. Nepal lost to the Netherlands in its opening match, and its second match against Sri Lanka was rained out, meaning this will be its first game in 10 days. It is also the first match at the tournament to be played in St. Vincent. Nepal captain Rauhit Praudel said he elected to bowl first to take advantage of easier batting conditions in the second innings. Proteas captain Aiden Markram said he would have chosen to bat first. For the first time at the tournament, Nepal has been able to select its leading player, Sandeep Lamichhane. Lamichhane was convicted of rape in January and sentenced to eight years in jail. But his conviction was overturned in May by the Nepal High Court. His application for a visa to travel with the Nepal squad to the United States was rejected. But he has been able to join the team in St. Vincent, bringing the Nepal squad up to its full complement of 15 players in the Caribbean. New Zealand bowls first At Tarouba, Trinidad, New Zealand won the toss and chose to bowl in a Group C match against Uganda. The West Indies and Bangladesh already have taken the two Super Eight qualifying spots available from the group. New Zealand lost its first two matches at the tournament to Bangladesh and the West Indies and can no longer qualify. It sits at the bottom of the group behind Uganda, which has two points from a win over Papua New Guinea. New Zealand's failure at this tournament ends a run of success at white ball World Cups. It has reached at least the semifinals of the last six white-ball world tournaments over the last decade. 

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.

MATAMOROS, Mexico — Some shelters south of the U.S. border are caring for many more migrants now that the Biden administration stopped considering most asylum requests, while others have yet to see much of a change. The impact appears uneven more than a week after the temporary suspension took effect. Shelters south of Texas and California have plenty of space, while as many as 500 deportations from Arizona each day are straining shelters in Mexico's Sonora state, their directors say. "We're having to turn people away because we can't, we don't have the room for all the people who need shelter," said Joanna Williams, executive director of Kino Border Initiative, which can take in 100 people at a time. About 120 are in San Juan Bosco shelter in Nogales, across the border from the Arizona city with the same name, up from about 40 before the policy change, according to its director, Juan Francisco Loureiro. "We have had a quite remarkable increase," Loureiro said Thursday. Most are Mexican, including families as well as adults. Mexico also agreed to accept deportees from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. A shelter in Agua Prieta, a remote town bordering Douglas, Arizona, also began receiving more Mexican men, women and children last weekend — 40 on Sunday, more than 50 on Monday and then about 30 a day. Like those sent to Nogales, most had entered the U.S. farther west, along the Arizona-California state line, according to Perla del Angel, a worker at the Exodus Migrant Attention Center. Mexicans make up a relatively large percentage of border arrests in much of Arizona compared to other regions, which may help explain why Nogales is affected. Mexicans are generally the easiest nationality to deport because officials only have to drive them to a border crossing instead of arranging a flight. In Tijuana, directors of four large shelters said this week that they haven't received a single migrant deported since the asylum ban took effect. Al Otro Lado, a migrant advocacy group, consulted only seven migrants on the first full day operating an information booth at the main crossing where migrants are deported from San Diego. "What there is right now is a lot of uncertainty," said Paulina Olvera, president of Espacio Migrante, who houses up to 40 people traveling in families, predominantly from Mexico, and has others sleeping on the sidewalk outside. "So far what we've seen is the rumors and the mental health impact on people. We haven't seen returns yet." Biden administration officials said last week that thousands have been deported since the new rule took effect on July 5, suspending asylum whenever arrests for illegal crossings hit a trigger of 2,500 in a single day. The officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, were not more specific. The halt will remain in effect until arrests fall below a seven-day daily average of 1,500. "We are ready to repatriate a record number of people in the coming days," Blas Nuñez-Neto, assistant homeland security secretary for border and immigration policy, told Spanish-language reporters after the policy was announced. The Homeland Security Department did not immediately respond to a request for figures on Friday and neither did the National Immigration Institute in Mexico. 

BANGKOK — Myanmar's military government has launched a major effort to block free communication on the internet, shutting off access to virtual private networks — known as VPNs — which can be used to circumvent blockages of banned websites and services.  The attempt to restrict access to information began at the end of May, according to mobile phone operators, internet service providers, a major opposition group, and media reports.  The military government that took power in February 2021 after ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi has made several attempts to throttle traffic on the internet, especially in the months immediately after their takeover.  Reports in local media say the attack on internet usage includes random street searches of people's mobile phones to check for VPN applications, with a fine if any are found. It is unclear if payments are an official measure.  25 arrested for having VPNs On Friday, the Burmese-language service of U.S. government-funded Radio Free Asia reported about 25 people from Myanmar's central coastal Ayeyarwady region were arrested and fined by security forces this week after VPN apps were found on their mobile phones. Radio Free Asia is a sister news outlet to Voice of America.  As the army faces strong challenges from pro-democracy guerrillas across the country in what amounts to a civil war, it has also made a regular practice of shutting down civilian communications in areas where fighting is taking place. While this may serve tactical purposes, it also makes it hard for evidence of alleged human rights abuses to become public.  According to a report released last month by Athan, a freedom of expression advocacy group in Myanmar, nearly 90 of 330 townships across the country have had internet access or phone service — or both — cut off by authorities.  Resistance that arose to the 2021 army takeover relied heavily on social media, especially Facebook, to organize street protests. As nonviolent resistance escalated into armed struggle and other independent media were shut down or forced underground, the need for online information increased.  The resistance scored a victory in cybersphere when Facebook and other major social media platforms banned members of the Myanmar military because of their alleged violations of human and civil rights, and blocked ads from most military-linked commercial entities.  Users unable to connect This year, widely used free VPN services started failing at the end of May, with users getting messages that they could not be connected, keeping them from social media such as Facebook, WhatsApp and some websites. VPNs connect users to their desired sites through third-party computers, making it almost impossible for internet service providers and snooping governments to see what the users are actually connecting to.  Internet users, including online retail sellers, have been complaining for the past two weeks about slowdowns, saying they were not able to watch or upload videos and posts or send messages easily.  Operators of Myanmar's top telecom companies MPT, Ooredoo, Atom and the military-backed Mytel, as well as fiber internet services, told The Associated Press on Friday that access to Facebook, Instagram, X, WhatsApp and VPN services was banned nationwide at the end of May on the order of the Transport and Communications Ministry.  The AP tried to contact a spokesperson for the Transport and Communications Ministry for comment but received no response.  The operators said VPNs are not currently authorized for use, but suggested users try rotating through different services to see if any work.  A test by the AP of more than two dozen VPN apps found that only one could hold a connection, and it was slow.  The military government has not yet publicly announced the ban on VPNs. 

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.

manila / london — The crew of a Greek-owned vessel damaged in an attack by Yemeni Houthi militants has been evacuated, and the abandoned ship is drifting in the Red Sea, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said Friday. One sailor from the Tutor, a Liberia-flagged coal carrier, remains missing, officials in the Philippines said. The attack near the Yemeni port of Hodeida on Wednesday caused severe flooding and damage to the engine room and left the Tutor unable to maneuver. Iran-aligned Houthis claimed responsibility for the missile strike on that vessel and another, the Verbena, in the Gulf of Aden, over the past days. Their attacks also damaged two other ships in the last week, "marking a significant increase in effectiveness," British security firm Ambrey said. The Houthis have used drones and missiles to assault ships in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden since November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war. They have sunk one ship, seized another vessel and killed three seafarers in separate attacks. "This situation cannot go on," International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said in a statement. The Tutor's 22 crew members are mostly Filipino, Hans Cacdac, the Philippine Department of Migrant Workers secretary, told a press conference in Manila. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the country's authorities were coordinating with the UKMTO to take the crew members to Djibouti and bring them home. The missing crew member was believed to be trapped in the engine room, maritime sources said. "We are still ... trying to account for the particular seafarer in that ship. We are praying we could find him," Cacdac said. The ship's Athens-based manager, Evalend Shipping, has not responded to Reuters' requests for comment. Tsavliris Salvage Group has been assigned to tow the ship, which is carrying 80,000 metric tons of coal, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The project will involve two vessels. The first is expected to reach the Tutor on Monday morning and the second on Tuesday evening. The Houthis' air and sea campaign has disrupted global shipping, causing delays and costs to cascade through supply chains. At least 65 countries and major energy and shipping companies — including Shell, BP, Maersk and Cosco — have been affected, according to a report by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency. INTERCARGO, which represents dry cargo ship owners, urged states to enhance maritime security in the area. "We demand that all involved parties cease their deliberate and targeted attacks on innocent seafarers with immediate effect," it said.

On Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden wrapped up meetings in Italy with leaders of the Group of Seven democracies. The leaders focused on threats they say China poses to the global economy and artificial intelligence ethics championed by Pope Francis. Patsy Widakuswara reports from Brindisi, Italy.

A peace summit for Ukraine in Switzerland this weekend will be attended by at least 90 countries and organizations —except Russia. World leaders explore ways of ending the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. G-7 world leaders boost support for Ukraine while aiming to raise the cost to Russia’s war efforts. U.S. and NATO leaders were at odds over the extent to which Ukrainians can use Western-provided weapons to hit military targets inside Russian territory. The U.N. nuclear agency or IAEA says Iran is expanding its nuclear capabilities

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.

United nations — Sudanese paramilitary forces are using the Central African Republic as a "supply chain," including for recruitment of fighters, according to a report published Friday by U.N. experts who are concerned about a "spillover effect."  Sudan descended into war in April 2023 when the generals in charge of the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took up arms against each other in a fight for control, rejecting a plan to integrate.  "The spillover effect of the conflict in the Sudan has significantly affected the situation in the Central African Republic," said the expert committee, formed by the U.N. Security Council to monitor sanctions on C.A.R.  They highlighted in particular the humanitarian situation, as the country sees an influx of millions of Sudanese refugees, as well as incursions by the two warring Sudanese parties – plus air raids by the Sudanese army in and around the Umm Dafog border post, where the RSF is present.  This "continues to constitute a security threat to civilians and an impediment to humanitarian activities in the area," the experts said.  They insist the paramilitaries are also using the Am Dafok area in C.A.R. on the border "as a key logistical hub."  Because the RSF can "move between the two countries easily through a long-standing network," they have been able to recruit "from among armed groups in the Central African Republic."  "Opposition armed groups from the Central African Republic have been reported to have actively recruited for, and sent members of their own groups to fight in, the Sudan under RSF," the experts said.  They noted in particular fighters in Sudan since as early as August 2023 from the Popular Front for the Rebirth of Central Africa, a C.A.R. rebel group. The experts said they are aware that this armed group and others "are still able to cross between the Sudan and the Central African Republic at will and use Sudanese territory to launch attacks."  The experts thus called on C.A.R. authorities to "counteract the surge in arms trafficking from neighboring countries, particularly given the current conflict situation in the Sudan."  They also asked the leaders to combat "the infiltration of foreign fighters into the Central African Republic, which poses a significant long-term threat to the region." 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti will replace the head of its national police force, Frantz Elbe, with former chief Rameau Normil, the prime minister's office said Friday, as the country faces a gang crisis that has displaced more than half a million people. The Haitian National Police, or PNH, has been at the forefront of a battle against powerful armed gangs that have taken over most of the capital, Port-au-Prince. A spokesperson from the office of Prime Minister Garry Conille, who was named to the post two weeks ago, confirmed the change by telephone following local media reports. The effective date was not clear, but the decision will likely go into force after a decree from Conille and the presidential transition council. The Caribbean nation's fast-shrinking police force has suffered from lack of resources while fighting the criminal groups, armed with high-caliber weapons the United Nations says are largely trafficked from the nearby United States. Normil headed the PNH from mid-2019 to late 2020. Elbe was one of his successors, replacing a chief who served during the 2021 assassination of Haiti's last president, Jovenel Moise, and the kidnapping of 17 U.S. and Canadian missionaries by the 400 Mawozo gang. Moise's assassination opened a political vacuum that allowed gangs to expand their territories, while ransom kidnappings have since become rife. A recent survey by local rights group RNDDH found that 20 police officers have been killed so far this year and more than 320 since 2015. Police officers also reported late pay, insufficient training, workplace harassment, dismissal threats, knife and gunshot injuries and equipment shortages, including of weapons, ammunition, shields and vehicles. "The results of Elbe at the helm of the police are catastrophic," RNDDH director Pierre Esperance told Reuters, saying he believed Elbe should be prosecuted. Elbe did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The police force, Haiti's main security agency, has been in talks with counterparts from Kenya, which pledged to lead a long-delayed U.N. security support mission requested by Haiti in 2022. The gang violence has, according to the U.N.'s latest estimates, pushed 578,000 people from their homes. Esperance said his organization hopes Normil will "work to de-gangsterize the country and dismantle the gangs so the Haitian population can breathe."  

ABUJA, Nigeria — The World Bank has approved a $2.25 billion loan for Nigeria to shore up revenue and support economic reforms that have contributed to the worst cost-of-living crisis in many years for Africa's most populous country.  The bank said in a statement late Thursday that the bulk of the loan — $1.5 billion — will help protect millions who have faced growing poverty since a year ago when President Bola Tinubu came to power and took drastic steps to fix the country's ailing economy.  The remaining $750 million, the bank said, will support tax reforms and revenue and safeguard oil revenues threatened with limited production caused by chronic theft.  President Tinubu's economic reforms — including ending decadeslong but costly fuel subsidies and unifying the multiple exchange rates — have resulted in surging inflation that is at a 28-year high.  Under growing pressure from citizens and workers protesting the hardship, Tinubu's government said in May that it was seeking the loan to support its long-term economic plans.  Mohamed Malick Fall, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, told a U.N. news conference in New York that about $800 million will go to a cash transfer program that will enable the number of households benefitting from social support to increase from 3 million to 15 million. That will help alleviate immediate suffering and could impact up to 70 million people, considering every household has five to seven people, he said.  Fall said the government has put about $450 million into a social protection scheme, and to sustain the social safety net in the long term, the U.N. is advising it to develop a sustained investment program that isn't dependent on foreign assistance as part of its poverty alleviation plan.  The government said it was also taking steps to boost foreign investment inflows, which fell by 26.7% — from $5.3 billion in 2022 to $3.9 billion in 2023, according to the Nigerian Economic Summit Group think tank.  Nigeria already has a high debt burden that has limited how much money the government can spend from its earnings. Its reliance on borrowing for public infrastructure and social welfare programs saw public debt surge by nearly 1,000% in the past decade.  The World Bank, however, said it was "critical to sustain the reform momentum" under Tinubu. The government's economic policies have placed the country "on a new path which can stabilize its economy and lift its people out of poverty," according to Ousmane Diagana, the World Bank vice president for Western and Central Africa. 

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.

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