Spaceport America is no longer just a shiny shell of hope that space tourism would one day launch from this remote spot in the New Mexico desert. The once-empty hangar that anchors the taxpayer-financed launch and landing facility has been transformed into a custom-tailored headquarters where Virgin Galactic will run its commercial flight operations. The interior spaces unveiled Thursday aim to connect paying customers with every aspect of the operation, providing views of the hangar and the space vehicles as well as the banks of monitors inside mission control. Two levels within the spaceport include mission control, a preparation area for pilots and a lounge for customers and their friends and families, with each element of the fit and finish paying homage to either the desert landscape that surrounds the futuristic outpost or the promise of traveling to the edge of space. Virgin Galactic employees gather at the coffee bar that serves as the heart of the company’s social hub at Spaceport America near Upham, New Mexico, Aug. 15, 2019. From hotel rooms to aircraft cabins, the Virgin brand touts its designs for their focus on the customer experience. Spaceport is no different.  A social hub includes an interactive digital …

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Florida legislators are moving to officially condemn white nationalism, with Democrats and Republicans alike drafting resolutions against hate-spurred violence, but the unity could be short-lived as elected officials plunge into debates over how the government should intervene to prevent more mass killings and rein in white supremacists.    The condemnations come amid an outcry over a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, in which authorities believe the gunman posted a racist screed online shortly before the attack.      Following the shooting, Florida Senate President Bill Galvano, a Republican, called the violence a “reminder that we have more work to do,” and he called on a legislative committee to review what can be done to address white nationalism.     Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris speaks at the Presidential Gun Sense Forum, Aug. 10, 2019, in Des Moines, Iowa. Earlier this week, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, a Democratic presidential hopeful, called for a federal “red flag” law that would allow law enforcement to take away guns from white nationalists, if a judge agrees if a person poses an imminent danger.    While Galvano says he’s open to possibly expanding the Florida’s “red flag” laws, he told the Associated Press on Thursday that …

North Korea said Friday it will never sit down with South Korea for talks again, rejecting a vow by the South’s President Moon Jae-in to pursue dialog with Pyongyang made the previous day as he pledged to bring in unification by 2045. The North has protested joint military drills conducted by South Korea and the United States, which kicked off last week, calling them a “rehearsal for war” and has fired several short-range missiles in recent weeks. The loss of dialog momentum between the North and South and the stalemate in implementing a historic summit between their two leaders last year is entirely the responsibility of the South, a North Korean spokesman said in a statement. Blaming US-Korea exercises The spokesman repeated criticism that the joint U.S.-South Korea drills was sign of Seoul’s hostility against the North. “As it will be clear, we have nothing more to talk about with South Korean authorities and we have no desire to sit down with them again,” the North’s spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country said. The committee is tasked with managing the North’s relationship with the South. The rival Koreas remain technically at war under a truce …

CINCINNATI – The gunman in Dayton who killed nine people had cocaine, an antidepressant and alcohol in his system during the mass shooting and was cut down by a barrage of at least two dozen police bullets that penetrated gaps in his body armor, a coroner said Thursday.      Montgomery County Coroner Dr. Kent Harshbarger said authorities found a pipe device and a baggie of cocaine on Connor Betts, 24. Harshbarger also reported in his preliminary autopsy findings that Betts had more than 50 entry and exit wounds.     “This incident involved an intense firefight that is rarely seen other than combat and an active-shooter incident,” Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said. “The officers were confronted with a moving shooter wearing body armor, actively executing victims with an AR-15-type weapon and high-capacity magazines.”  Police bullets hit two   The coroner said police gunfire hit two people. One of them died, but Harshbarger said the gunman, not police, fired the lethal round.    Police investigators will review the medical records of the 17 who were wounded to determine if any of them were struck by the officers’ bullets, Biehl said.    Police haven’t yet determined a motive for the shooting.   A …

President Donald Trump said on Thursday the United States and Britain were moving rapidly towards a deal on trade that would be “fantastic and big.” “I think we’ll make a fantastic and big trade deal with the UK,” Trump told reporters before departing for a political rally in New Hampshire. “That’s moving along rapidly.” He said he had talked to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday and would be speaking with him again. “He and I are very much aligned,” Trump said. The two countries are discussing a partial accord that could take effect on Nov. 1, the day after Britain is due to leave the European Union, a senior Trump administration official said on Tuesday. Officials from the two nations have discussed the possibility of a temporary agreement covering all sectors. Such a deal could last for something like six months, the official told reporters. Supporters of Britain’s exit from the EU are hoping for a wide-ranging deal with the United States that could help cushion the nation from any disruption to trade with European neighbors. …

VOA’s Michael Atit contributed to this report from Khartoum. The United States has imposed a visa ban on the former director general of Sudan’s national intelligence and security services for his alleged involvement in gross human rights violations. The State Department, in announcing the ban Wednesday, said it has “credible information” that Salah Abdalla Mohamed Mohamed Salih, also known as Salah Gosh, “was involved in torture during his tenure as head of NISS.”  Gosh, 63, resigned his position as security chief in April, after the military forced out Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir. Gosh had worked with the security force for nearly four decades, according to The National, a Middle East news organization. He faces charges in Sudan of incitement and involvement in the deaths of protesters who pressed for Bashir’s removal after 30 years in power.    The ban blocks Gosh and his family members from entry to the United States. That includes his wife, Awatif Ahmed Seed Ahmed Mohamed, and his daughter, Shima Salah Abdallah Mohamed. “We will continue to hold accountable those who violate human rights,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a tweet.  Reactions from Sudanese Sudanese citizens had a mixed reaction to the U.S. move. “This …

The United States criticized Thursday the government in Afghanistan for releasing from jail and into house arrest a key “fraud perpetrator” before the conclusion of his sentence, allegedly in return for a multimillion-dollar campaign donation. The U.S. reaction came after a spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani confirmed the former Kabul Bank chief executive, Khalilullah Ferozi, had been transferred to his residence because of his deteriorating health. “This action, along with the continued failure to execute warrants for those accused of corruption, calls into question the government’s commitment to combating corruption and making best use of donors’ support,” U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan John Bass tweeted Thursday. An Afghan woman walks past an election poster of current president and presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani during the first day of campaigning in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 28, 2019. Presidential spokesman Sediq Seddiqi, however, rejected as baseless allegations that Ferozi was granted the concession after a substantial donation to Ghani’s election campaign. “Countless Afghans suffered in the past decade because international assistance funds were stolen for personal gain,” lamented ambassador Bass. Ferozi, along with another senior colleague, Sherkhan Farnood, were tried and sentenced to 10 years and five years, respectively, for their roles in the nearly …

Zimbabwe’s deteriorating economy is forcing many families to put their children to work. Child rights activists say an increasing number of children are selling items on the street to supplement the family income. On a busy corner, a 16-year-old we shall call Tribunal sells wares. Tribunal said this has been her story for the past two years since her mother died and she dropped out of school. She now lives with her 22-year-old sister. She said she gets about $5 a day in sales. Tribunal said she actually wishes for a decent life and does not want to sell stuff here, but that she felt she could not force her father to pay her school fees because he is no longer employed. Tribunal said her father is even failing to pay fees for her 12-year-old brother, which she is now doing. She said she hopes her brother makes it in life. On Thursday, Health and Child Welfare Minister Obadiah Moyo said President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government was aware of the plight of Tribunal and other children. He said Harare was working with organizations like UNICEF and other rights groups to remedy the situation. Ratidzai Moyo, a program manager at children’s rights group Childline Zimbabwe, …

The U.N. children’s fund reports the number of children orphaned by Ebola or separated from their parents because of the disease in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has more than doubled since April. Since the epidemic was declared more than one year ago, aid agencies have registered 1,380 children who have lost one or both parents to Ebola. During the same period, nearly 2,470 children have been separated from parents undergoing treatment for the disease or isolated because they have come in contact with an infected person. World Health Organization figures put the number of Ebola cases at 2,831, including nearly 1,900 deaths. UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado says more children are getting sick and dying in this epidemic than in previous ones. FILE – Health workers begin their shift at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, Democratic Republic of Congo, July 16, 2019. “In this epidemic, about 30 percent of the cases are among children, whereas in previous epidemics, the proportion was about 20 percent,” Mercado  said. “As of the fourth of August, there were 787 children below 18 who were infected with Ebola and there have been 527 deaths.” Mercado says the children are under enormous stress and need …

When Chad Johansen voted for Donald Trump in 2016, he hoped he was picking someone who could help small-business owners compete with bigger companies. But that hasn’t happened, and now the 26-year-old owner of NH iPhone Repair feels what he calls “Trumpgret.”   The Republican president has done little to address health care issues for a small employer, he said, and the Manchester man remains on edge about how Trump’s tariffs could affect his business, which employs fewer than 10 people. Beyond that, he said, unrelenting news about bigotry and racism in the Trump administration is “a turnoff.”   “The president’s supposed to be the face of the United States of America,” said Johansen, who voted for Democrat Barack Obama in 2012. “And supposed to make everyone be proud to be an American and stand up for everyone who is an American. And I don’t feel that President Trump’s doing that. I feel like it’s chaos.”   That sentiment is concerning for Trump as he travels to New Hampshire on Thursday for a reelection rally. The state, which he lost by about 2,700 votes in 2016, is doing well economically, at least when using broad measures. But beneath the top-line …

VOA Contributor Greta Van Susteren interviews National Security Advisor John Bolton on topics including Venezuela sanctions, Russian and Chinese involvement in Venezuela, Hong Kong protests, North Korea, nuclear proliferation, Myanmar refugee crisis. Q: “Voice of America reaches all over the world, including directly into Venezuela and the surrounding countries. A lot of chaos going on there. What’s the message that you want to get to the people of Venezuela. What do they need to know about American policy?”  National Security Advisor John Bolton: “Well that we are entirely behind their justifiable desire to be able to control their own government to get rid of this authoritarian military regime that’s basically ruined the economy of the country over the last twenty years. The nations of the Western Hemisphere are almost unanimously behind their desire to see a peaceful transfer of power. Fifty six governments have recognized Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim president, that’s the first time that there’s ever been that kind of rejection of the Maduro regime. So times are hard in Venezuela now, that’s because of twenty years of mismanagement of the economy.  But our desire is to see this peaceful transfer of power and have really true …

A federal judge on Thursday ordered Georgia to stop using its outdated voting machines after this year and to be ready with hand-marked paper ballots if its new system isn’t in place for the presidential primaries. U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg’s 153-page ruling Thursday is not a complete victory for either side.   A federal lawsuit filed by election integrity advocates and individual Georgia voters argues that the paperless touchscreen voting machines Georgia has used since 2002 are unsecure, vulnerable to hacking and can’t be audited. They have been seeking statewide use of hand-marked paper ballots.   A law passed this year provided specifications for a new system. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger certified a new system last week and said new machines will be in place for the state’s presidential primary election on March 24.   But the plaintiffs had asked Totenberg to order the state to immediately stop using the current system, which it plans to use for special and municipal elections this year. They also said they feared that the timeline for the implementation of the new machines is too tight, which could result in the old machines being used for 2020 elections.   Totenberg’s order made …

In a show of force to discourage anti-government protests, Zimbabwe police with water cannons patrolled the capital’s streets and warned residents “you will rot in jail” if they participate in the demonstrations planned for Friday.   Six anti-government activists have been abducted and tortured this week ahead of the protests, as tensions rise over Zimbabwe’s deteriorating economic conditions, according to human rights groups. President Emmerson Mnangagwa urged the opposition to engage in dialogue, but at the same time his government is pushing for parliament to quickly adopt new security legislation criticized as repressive. The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change party said it will roll out “peaceful” protests starting this week to try to force Mnangagwa to set up a transitional authority to address economic problems and organize credible elections. The protests will spread to other cities next week, the opposition said. Teams of police officers searched vehicles at checkpoints on roads leading into the city. Police said the protests are likely to be violent, and warned people to stay away. “Do not take part, you will rot in jail” shouted police officers using megaphones in downtown Harare and some residential areas. “Intelligence and concrete evidence on the ground has …

America’s top representative in Taiwan said Thursday that Washington expects the island to continue increasing its defense spending as Chinese security threats to the U.S. ally continue to grow.   W. Brent Christensen said the U.S. had “not only observed Taiwan’s enthusiasm to pursue necessary platforms to ensure its self-defense, but also its evolving tenacity to develop its own indigenous defense industry.” That was a nod to President Tsai Ing-wen’s drive to develop domestic training jets, submarines and other weapons technology, supplementing arms bought from the U.S. “These investments by Taiwan are commendable, as is Taiwan’s ongoing commitment to increase the defense budget annually to ensure that Taiwan’s spending is sufficient to provide for its own self-defense needs,” Christensen said in a speech. “And we anticipate that these figures will continue to grow commensurate with the threats Taiwan faces.”   Christensen is the director of the American Institute in Taiwan, which has served as the de facto U.S. Embassy in Taiwan since formal diplomatic relations were cut in 1979.   While China and Taiwan split during a civil war in 1949, Beijing still considers Taiwan Chinese territory and has increased its threats to annex the self-governing democracy by force if …

A newspaper in Gibraltar says the United States has applied to seize an Iranian supertanker that authorities in the British overseas territory were seeking to release from detention. The Gibraltar Chronicle says the development means a last minute application by the U.S. Department of Justice to extend the ship’s detention prompted the Supreme Court to adjourn its decision until later Thursday.  The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.  The tanker was seized last month in a British Royal Navy operation off Gibraltar. It’s suspected of violating European Union sanctions on oil shipments to Syria, and its seizure deepened international tensions in the Persian Gulf. The Gibraltar government says it is seeking to “de-escalate” the situation over the Grace 1. …

Criminal justice activists have long complained that in the United States, routine traffic violations can turn poor people into criminals. The inability to pay fines leads to more fines and penalties, often turning communities against law enforcement. In Ferguson, Missouri, the unrelated shooting death of an unarmed black man five years ago led the community and the police to reassess these practices, sparking a national conversation.  Masood Farivar reports.   …

According to the polls, former Vice President Joe Biden continues to hold a lead over the large pack of Democratic presidential contenders for next year’s election. Despite his standing in the polls, concerns linger about Biden’s age and his habit of making verbal gaffes, and that has some Democrats questioning whether he is the best candidate to go up against President Donald Trump next year. Like most of his rivals, Biden has focused his campaign efforts in the early voting state of Iowa in recent weeks. Iowa will kick off the primary voting process with its caucus votes Feb. 3. President Donald Trump talks to reporters at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, N.J., Aug. 13, 2019. Targeting Trump In speaking to Democratic voters, Biden often makes the desire to defeat President Trump his primary campaign focus. “If we give him eight years, and I really believe this from the bottom of my heart, he will forever change the character and the nature of who we are,” Biden told a rally in Boone, Iowa, last week. “That is why we have to defeat Donald Trump in 2020. Period.” Biden remains atop national and key state polls for now but faces strong …

Opinion polls show that former Vice President Joe Biden continues to lead the large pack of Democratic presidential contenders for 2020. But concerns about Biden’s age and his habit of making verbal gaffes have some Democrats questioning whether he would be the best candidate to go up against President Donald Trump next year. VOA national correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington on Biden’s status as the Democratic Party frontrunner.   …

Malaysian police said Thursday there were no signs of foul play in the death of a 15-year-old London girl who mysteriously disappeared from a nature resort, with an autopsy showing she succumbed to intestinal bleeding because of starvation and stress. Nora Anne Quoirin’s body was discovered Tuesday beside a small stream about 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) from the Dusun eco-resort after she disappeared from her family’s resort cottage Aug. 4. Negeri Sembilan state police chief Mohamad Mat Yusop said the autopsy found no evidence the teenager had been abducted or raped. She was estimated to have been dead two or three days and not more than four when her naked body was found, he said. “For the time being, there is no element of abduction or kidnapping,” he told a news conference at a police station. “The cause of death was upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to duodenal ulcer, complicated with perforation … it could be due to a lack of food for a long period of time and due to prolonged stress,” he said. Mohamad said there were also some bruises on the girl’s legs but wouldn’t cause her death. Samples taken from her body will be sent to the …

Immigration raids in the U.S. led to the apprehension of more than 1,500 undocumented immigrants at job sites last year. They are among about 250,000 immigrants deported in 2018 by the Trump administration. On average about 15 employers per year face criminal charges for hiring undocumented workers. As VOA’s Brian Padden reports, advocates and opponents of tighter immigration restrictions argue that raids do little to deter illegal immigration as long as employers are not held accountable.    …

Uganda’s Communication Commission announced, Aug. 8, 2019, that all commercial online publishers must register with the government. The commission says the publishers have to be watched to ensure they are posting appropriate content.  Ugandan social media influencers and news organizations see the requirement as a step toward limiting freedom of speech and the press. Halima Athumani reports from Kampala. …

About 650 million girls worldwide were married before age 18. That is about 17% of the world’s female population, according to UNICEF. These marriages often keep girls from completing their education and can lead to devastating psychological and physical consequences. In a yearlong project, Voice of America met with child brides from Albania to Pakistan to Tanzania.Jesusemen Oni has more.   …

A group of Israeli volunteers recently brought some Palestinian families and their children to the beach, offering a chance for many of the kids to see the ocean for the first time. The trip to the beach was a way of making peace, one child at a time. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA News.   …

Next month, the National Football League, America’s professional football league, will open its 100th season with a game featuring its oldest rivalry, Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers, teams that first faced off in 1921. The Green Bay Packers, based in a city of just more than 100,000 in the state of Wisconsin, hold a number of distinctions, among them: they play in the smallest market for any major U.S. sports franchise, and they are publicly owned. VOA’s Jeff Custer has more from Green Bay.   …