White House officials on Thursday were baffled as to why a doctored presidential seal — including an eagle clutching golf clubs in its talons instead of arrows — was projected on stage at an event at which U.S. President Donald Trump spoke. The seal was displayed on Tuesday at Turning Point USA’s student summit, where Trump gave a raucous 80-minute speech and was greeted warmly by the youthful audience. The image included a two-headed eagle, instead of just one head, which the Washington Post said closely resembles the bird on the Russian coat of arms and also appears on the flags of Serbia, Albania and Montenegro. The eagle has a set of golf clubs in its talons instead of the traditional seal’s clutch of arrows. There were suspicions at the White House that the organizers had found the doctored image online and mistakenly used it. “We never saw the seal in question before it appeared in the video,” said a White House official. “The White House had no knowledge of it.” Officials referred questions to Turning Point USA, which could not immediately be reached for comment. The political nonprofit group was founded to organize conservative students on college campuses by …

U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar struck a chord with other Muslim Americans when she denounced a perceived assumption that she is reluctant to condemn or sympathetic to terrorism and atrocities committed by Islamic groups. “Does this need to be on repeat every five minutes?” Omar asked during a Muslim Caucus Education Collective forum in Washington on Tuesday. “So today, I forgot to condemn al-Qaida,” she continued to resounding applause. “So here’s the al-Qaida one. Today I forgot to condemn a FGM [female genital mutilation.]  So there you go.” Muslim-American progressive activists at the conference said Omar’s outrage mirrored their anger at having their values and loyalty constantly questioned. Attendees applaud while U.S. Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) host a town hall meeting on ‘Medicare For All’ in Minneapolis, Minnesota, July 18, 2019. “It was time for someone to say it and she finally did. And we are so proud and so honored to have her in Congress,” said Yasmeen Obeid, a Palestinian-American community activist from San Diego, California. Female genital mutilation Omar was responding to a question about FGM from Ani Zonneveld, president of Muslims for Progressive Values. She asked the Minnesota lawmaker to join with fellow Muslim …

Sixteen U.S. Marines in California have been arrested in connection with an investigation that produced allegations of human smuggling and drug offenses, the Marine Corps said. Officials, including those with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), arrested the Marines early Thursday after they and hundreds of other Marines were called to a battalion formation at Camp Pendleton, 79 kilometers (49 miles) from San Diego. According the Marine Corps, the arrests stemmed from a previous human smuggling investigation that resulted in two arrests.    Marine and NCIS officials said additional information was not being released because the investigations were ongoing.    “None of the Marines arrested or detained for questioning served in support of the Southwest Border Support mission,” the Marine Corps said in a statement.    Charges have yet to be filed in connection with the latest arrests.    The Marine Corps said another eight Marines were also taken in for questioning on unrelated drug allegations.    Thursday’s arrests came one day after U.S. Special Operations Command announced a Navy SEAL platoon stationed in Iraq had been sent back to the United States early because of “perceived deterioration of good order and discipline.”    According to media reports, about 20 of the SEALs had been …

U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated Ukraine’s new president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on holding parliamentary elections which Zelenskiy’s party won, and offered U.S. help to promote reforms in Ukraine, Zelenskiy’s office said on Thursday. Zelenskiy, a television sitcom star who was elected in a landslide in May, called an early parliamentary election to replace a parliament dominated by loyalists of his predecessor. His party won a majority of seats in the vote, held on Sunday. Trump told Zelenskiy by phone he was confident that the new Ukrainian leadership would improve the country’s image, Zelenskiy’s office said. Zelenskiy thanked Trump for maintaining and intensifying sanctions on Russia. The United States and European Union imposed financial sanctions in 2014 after Russia seized Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and backed a separatist uprising. …

The White House on Thursday blasted a federal court action temporarily blocking the Trump administration from enforcing a directive that disqualifies a significant proportion of mostly Central American asylum-seekers who reach the U.S.-Mexico border. “We intend to pursue all available options to address this meritless ruling and to defend this Nation’s borders,” the White House’s press secretary said in a statement. Late Wednesday, Judge Jon Tigar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued an injunction halting the administration’s new asylum rule, saying it fails to ensure that asylum-seekers rejected by the United States and sent to a third country, most often Mexico, would be safe there and have access to a fair asylum process. FILE – Migrant children sleep on the floor of a shelter in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, July 17, 2019. “The government’s own administrative record contains no evidence that the Mexican asylum regime provides a full and fair procedure for determining asylum claims,” Tigar wrote. “Rather, it affirmatively demonstrates that asylum claimants removed to Mexico are likely to be exposed to violence and abuse from third parties and government officials, denied their rights under Mexican and international law, and wrongly returned to countries …

With the United States mulling sanctions over Turkey’s recent procurement of Russian missiles, Ankara is warning that America’s use of a critical military air base could be at risk. The U.S.’s decades-long use of Incirlik Air Base is seen as not only of vital military importance, but underscores the strategic relationship between the two NATO allies. “We are currently running the process [of retaliatory measures], whether it’s Incirlik, Kurecik [U.S. radar base in Turkey] or other issues,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned Washington this week, in the latest ratcheting up of bilateral tensions. “If America has very negative steps toward us,” he added, “if there are sanctions or further steps, we will have answers to America.” Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly made a similar threat over Incirlik’s use, in his meeting with President Donald Trump in June on the sidelines of the G-20 economic summit in Osaka, Japan. FILE – President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. This month’s delivery of Russia’s S-400 missile system to Turkey violates the U.S.’s Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions …

Drake has two new partners: SiriusXM and Pandora. The two companies which merged earlier this year announced Thursday that they have signed a new creative partnership with the superstar rapper.   The new deal includes “a dedicated station, curated music, and collaborations with creative talent.” The roll-out will start later this year.   Drake is one of the world’s top-streamed artists. He previously had a radio show on Apple Music, did a commercial for the brand and launched new music on the streaming platform, giving Apple an exclusive for a time period over competitors.   Drake has had 35 Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and won four Grammy Awards. …

Airlines are tallying up the damage and talking to Boeing about compensation for the grounding of the troubled 737 Max jet.   On Thursday, two of the three large U.S. airlines that own Max jets updated their estimates of how the plane is hurting their bottom lines. American Airlines said its 2019 earnings will be reduced by $400 million _ $50 million more than its previous estimate. Southwest Airlines announced that because it has fewer planes without the Max, it will end service at a major airport in the New York City area.   Southwest also dropped the plane from its schedule until early January _ two months longer than American _ to allow time for pilot retraining and avoid disruptions for holiday-season travelers. Airline executives, however, are standing behind the plane and betting that passengers will get back on board. The Max has been grounded since March after two crashes killed a total of 346 people.   American Airlines Chairman and CEO Doug Parker said once the Federal Aviation Administration approves Boeing changes to the plane and pilots are comfortable that they are adequately trained to fly it, that “will make the difference in consumer attitudes about the aircraft …

European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen met with Poland’s prime minister Thursday to discuss the executive body’s agenda for when she takes the helm later this year, including the sticky points of migration and rule of law. Before the talks Von der Leyen, who takes up her post on Nov. 1, said she did not expect to find agreement on all points, and named migration and the rule of law as difficult themes. She stressed, however, it was important that the sides listen to each other’s arguments with respect. The visit to Warsaw was von der Leyen’s second foreign trip, after Paris, since being approved for her post. Her talks focus on shaping the new commission. Poland backed her candidacy. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki expressed “great hope that in the coming years we will jointly work for a new opening and build a Europe of compromises.” Poland’s right-wing government is hoping for more understanding from the EU under von der Leyen for its policies. Warsaw is bitter over sanctioning procedures that the EU, under current Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, has launched over changes to Poland’s judiciary that are seen as a threat to the rule of law, in violation …

Upon his death on Monday, Li Peng, China’s former premier, was officially extolled as a time-tested statesman in China. But internationally, Li will undoubtedly be remembered as the “Butcher of Beijing” for his role in the bloody crackdown of the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy student movement, observers say.   “He fed erroneous and highly exaggerated reports to [then Chinese President] Deng Xiaoping about the extent, to which, the students were trying to overthrow the party and he exaggerated the dangers posed by the supporters of the pro-democracy movement,” said Willy Lam, a noted Chinese political analyst.   “So, he played a role in influencing Deng Xiaoping to make the fatal decision to use troops to crush the pro-democracy movement,” the Hong Kong-based analyst added. The Butcher of Beijing   Lam said that Li well deserved the reputation as the “Butcher of Beijing,” who, as the right-hand man of the then-paramount leader Deng, declared martial law and pressed ahead with a bloody suppression of the student protests in the early hours of June 4th, 1989.   China has never provided a full accounting of the violence, but rights groups estimate the figure could run into the thousands. The protests have remained …

Patients are about to be enrolled in the first study to test a gene-editing technique known as CRISPR inside the body to try to cure an inherited form of blindness. People with the disease have healthy eyes but lack a gene that converts light into signals to the brain that enable sight.   The experimental treatment aims to supply kids and adults with a healthy version of the gene they lack, using a tool that cuts or “edits” DNA in a specific spot. It’s intended as a onetime treatment that permanently alters the person’s native DNA. Two companies, Editas Medicine and Allergan, will test this in up to 18 people around the United States, including Massachusetts Eye and Ear in Boston, starting this fall.     …

Chinese tanks at the border? False. Photo of a protester biting off a policeman’s finger? Misleading. In polarized Hong Kong, a fake news fight for public opinion has become as crucial a battleground as the city streets. During weeks of pro-democracy protests that have involved millions of people and frequently turned violent, online rumors and conspiracy theories have sowed confusion and deepened distrust. From 2011 footage of South Korean soldiers misrepresented as an impending Chinese “invasion” to doctored photographs exaggerating the size of rallies, Hong Kong citizens have been bombarded with conflicting claims from both sides of the political divide. The numbers signaling the impact of the disinformation can be shocking. Footage of a convoy of Chinese tanks that posts claimed were being sent “to suppress Hong Kongers and cause bloodshed” quickly racked up more than 800,000 views on one Twitter account alone. Hong Kong authorities have been forced to repeatedly deny claims circulating on social media — most recently, that People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers had been brought in from the mainland to defend government buildings. “There is absolutely no such thing and all these claims are totally false,” Hong Kong’s government said this week, responding to the allegations. …

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan’s meets with US President Donald Trump at the White House. Plugged In with Greta Van Susteren examines the state of the relationship between the two leaders and the two countries and their common interest in ending the war Afghanistan. Joining the program: VOA White House Bureau Chief Steve Herman; VOA Islamabad Bureau Chief Ayesha Tanzeem; Michael Kugelman, Deputy Director of the Asia Program and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Wilson Center; and Hasib Alikozai from VOA’s Extremism Desk. …

Three bombs rocked the Afghan capital of Kabul Thursday, killing at least 15 people, officials said, as the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff was meeting top U.S. and NATO officials in the city. Eight employees of the ministry of mines and petroleum were killed and 27 wounded in an attack on their bus, ministry officials said in a statement. Five women and a child were among the dead. Minutes after the blast, a suicide bomber blew himself up a few meters away, killing at least seven people and wounding 20. Three blasts “First a magnetic bomb pasted to a minibus exploded, then a suicide bomber blew himself near the bus attack site and the third blast happened when a car was blown up by unknown militants,” said Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesman of the interior ministry in Kabul. “The death toll could rise from all the three blasts,” he said. The Taliban, fighting to restore strict Islamic law after their 2001 ouster at the hands of U.S.-led troops, claimed responsibility for the car bomb alone. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said nine foreign forces were killed and two vehicles destroyed, but government officials did not confirm the Taliban claim. U.S. …

Americans love ice cream so much that in 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day. VOA’s Karina Bafradzhian traveled to Savannah, Georgia, to try ice cream at a legendary parlor that has been making the cool treat for almost a century.  …

Scientists at IBM’s Zurich-based research lab and the University of Zurich have used machine learning to analyze millions of cells from breast cancer tissue of 140 tumors, creating what they describe as an ‘atlas’ of these tumors. Faith Lapidus reports. …

LGBT activists in the Republic of Georgia this summer have been looking for ways to hold a parade on the streets of the capital, Tbilisi.   While pride parades are common across the West, activists in Georgia face strong opposition from the government and a deeply traditional society.  In a report narrated by Steve Redisch, Ricardo Marquina in Tbilisi looks at the difficult road ahead for those promoting the rights of homosexual, bisexual and transgender people. …

As part of sweeping reforms, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appointed Meaza Ashenafi to be the first woman to lead the country’s Supreme Court. This charismatic lawyer has built a career advocating for women. VOA’S Salem Solomon has this profile. …

Britain’s new Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Conservative Party leader, began assembling his political team as soon as he took office Wednesday. New Cabinet members include the country’s first ethnic minority person to head the Treasury and several women. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports Johnson’s first day on the job was marked by demonstrations by his supporters, as well as his opponents. …

Former special counsel Robert Mueller told members of Congress Wednesday that his investigation into Russian interference in the last presidential election did not exonerate U.S. President Donald Trump of allegedly trying to thwart the investigation. As Mike O’Sullivan reports, Mueller’s comments before two congressional committees drew very different responses from Republicans and Democrats. …

In a deeply divided political atmosphere, Democrats and Republicans had hoped special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony before two House committees would be a turning point for the Trump administration. Amid the circuslike atmosphere on Capitol Hill, both parties appeared to dig in further on the issue of whether the president should be impeached. As VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, the debate over Russian interference during the 2016 election shows no signs of ending. …

U.S. President Donald Trump celebrated former special counsel Robert Mueller’s appearances Wednesday before two House of Representatives committees as “a very good day” for himself and fellow Republicans. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after Mueller’s testimony about his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and alleged obstruction of justice by Trump that Democrats would push on in their own probes of the president and his administration. “There was no defense for this ridiculous hoax, this witch hunt that’s been going on for a long time,” Trump told reporters using his oft-repeated dismissals of Mueller’s investigation. “What he showed more than anything else is that this whole thing has been three years of embarrassment and waste of time for our country.” Former special counsel Robert Mueller listens to committee members give their opening remarks before he testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on his report on Russian election interference, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, July 24, 2019. Trump and Republican members of Congress were critical of House Democrats for calling Mueller to speak before the intelligence and judiciary committees, saying they should be moving on from the probe. But House leaders speaking after the testimony signaled their intention to …

U.S. President Donald Trump, who is trying to stem the flow of mostly Central American migrants seeking to enter the United States from Mexico, said on Wednesday that Mexico may put more troops at the two countries’ border. Speaking to reporters at the White House before leaving on a trip to West Virginia, Trump said the numbers of migrants apprehended at the border “are way down” because Mexico has sent troops to the frontier “and they mean business.” “It’s also good for Mexico what they’re doing because the cartels have been running all of the border for years and years. And Mexico is saying, and the president is saying: We’ve got to clean it up. So they’ve got 21,000 soldiers and will probably put up more,” Trump said. The Trump administration has sought to curtail the increasing numbers of migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border after fleeing violence and poverty in countries such as Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Mexico said earlier this month that migrant apprehensions at the U.S. southern border fell 30% in June from the previous month after introducing controls as part of a deal with the United States to curb the flow of migration or face …

“I’ll refer you to the report on that.” “That’s accurate based on what’s in the report.” “I don’t want to wade in those waters.” So it went for more than five hours as former special counsel Robert Mueller appeared before two congressional committees Wednesday to testify about his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and alleged presidential obstruction of justice, closely hewing to a final report he submitted to Attorney General William Barr in March. Ahead of his appearance before the House judiciary and intelligence committees, Mueller, a former FBI director, had warned that he’d not stray beyond his 448-page legal thicket. He stuck to his word, frustrating both Democrats and Republicans in the process. Former special counsel Robert Mueller returns to the witness table following a break in his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill, July 24, 2019. Differing outcomes Democrats had hoped the public would hear from the special counsel himself damning details of misdeeds by President Donald Trump. With Mueller clearly unwilling to deliver, they were forced to read portions of the report for him, robbing the hearings of the power of a compelling witness’s words. Republicans wanted to focus …