This week, President Donald Trump came under fire for verbal attacks on four minority Democratic congresswomen. The House of Representatives condemned some of the president’s comments as racist. And Democrats remain divided over whether to try to impeach Trump or focus on defeating him in next year’s presidential election. The clash has plunged the country into an angry debate over race, immigration and political ideology, as we hear from VOA National correspondent Jim Malone in Washington.   …

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Updated July 19, 2019, 2:54 a.m. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — An explosion Friday near a gate to the campus of Kabul University in the Afghan capital killed six people and injured at least 27 as students waited to take an examination, officials said. Afghan security forces are facing almost daily attacks by Taliban militants, despite reported progress in efforts by the United States to broker an end to Afghanistan’s nearly 18-year war. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Friday’s blast just hours after Taliban militants set off two car bombs outside police headquarters in the southern city of Kandahar, killing at least 12 and wounding more than 80. Health ministry spokesman Wahid Mayar said there were students among the 27 injured taken to hospital after the blast, which a student at the university campus said took place while a number of students waited to appear for an exam. A student at the university campus said the explosion happened when a number of students were waiting near the campus gate to attend an exam. One or two vehicles caught fire after the explosion. The university compound houses several hostels where many students stay …

The weather in Washington has been hot, sticky and relentless this week. So has the politics. In a period of a few days, the president of the United States told four members of Congress they could leave the country if they were unhappy and go back to the countries they came from, sparking passage of a House resolution that condemned some of his verbal and Twitter attacks as racist. In the same week, Democrats again broached the subject of impeachment, only to see the effort fail when many Democrats joined Republicans in voting to table, or put off, the issue. In sum, it has been a trying week for American democracy that has plunged the country into an angry debate over race, immigration and political ideology. Washington Consumed by Growing Political Divide Over Race, Ideology video player. FILE – U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar participates in a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Feb. 7, 2019. Omar told reporters Thursday she believes Trump is “fascist,” then added, “This is what this president and his supporters have turned the country into.” The group of female lawmakers also includes House members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and …

U.S. lawmakers have sent a clear signal to Cambodian leaders that they have to reverse course on limiting democracy or face consequences. “The passage of the Cambodia Democracy Act is an important step toward holding Prime Minister Hun Sen and his cronies accountable for continuing to trample on the rights of the Cambodian people,” said Congressman Steve Chabot, a Republican from Ohio. Republican Congressman Ted Yoho of Florida introduced the bill in January after Cambodian authorities FILE – Phay Siphan, a Cambodian government spokesman, in VOA studio in Phnom Penh for Hello VOA. Cambodia expressed its regret for the passage of the legislation. “U.S. politicians’ intention on Cambodia always doomed to fail,” government spokesman Phay Siphan told VOA Khmer. “This legislation only aims to destroy democracy that Cambodia continues to strengthen that starts from election rights for the people. Secondly, this legislation aims to destroy efforts to build relationship and cooperation between the two peoples.” Cambodia’s senate called the bill “an interference into Cambodian affairs.” Democratic Congressman Alan Lowenthal of California said, “We’ve talked about how unhappy we are with him (Hun Sen) for getting rid of democracy, of keeping under house arrest Kem Sokha and exiling Sam Rainsy.” Lowenthal …

A 29-year-old former University of Illinois student will spend the rest of his life in prison for kidnapping and murdering a visiting Chinese scholar in 2017. When the jury deadlocked on whether Brendt Christensen should get the death penalty, federal Judge James Shadid automatically sentenced him to a life term with no chance of parole. Christensen kidnapped and murdered Yingying Zhang by beating her with a bat and cutting off her head. Her body has never been found. Zhang’s parents came from China to Peoria, Illinois, for the trial. They pleaded with Christensen to reveal where he put her body. “If you have any humanity left in your soul, please help us end our torment,” a family statement read. FILE – Ronggao Zhang, left, and Lifeng Ye, display a photo them with their missing daughter, Yingying Zhang, in Urbana, Ill., Nov. 1, 2017. In especially emotional testimony, Zhang’s mother lamented that she will never get to see her daughter wear a wedding gown and that her dreams of becoming a grandmother were smashed.  Shadid scolded Christensen for not addressing the Zhang family when he was given the chance.  Zhang was from a working-class Chinese family and she was studying at …

Canada and the European Union are close to agreeing on a possible temporary solution to a U.S. block on appeals in disputes at the World Trade Organization, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday. U.S. President Donald Trump is barring appointments to the WTO’s Appellate Body, saying its judges have overstepped their mandate and ignored their instructions. Unless the block is lifted, the world’s top trade court will be unable to hear appeals in international trade disputes after Dec. 11. Trudeau, speaking after a meeting with top EU officials in Montreal, said Canada backed existing attempts to restore a fully operational Appellate Body. “In the event that those efforts are unsuccessful, we need to be prepared. So we have been working with the European Union to find an interim fix,” he told a news conference. “After this summit we are closer to finalizing an agreement which would help preserve the function of an appeal system within the WTO until we find a more permanent solution.” The U.S. Trade Representative’s office declined to comment. Washington: WTO strays from pact Washington argues that the WTO’s dispute settlement system, particularly at the Appellate Body level, must be changed since it has “strayed extensively from …

President Donald Trump says he will nominate lawyer Eugene Scalia to be his new labor secretary. Scalia is the son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He is a partner in the Washington office of the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher law firm. Trump tweeted that Scalia “is highly respected not only as a lawyer, but as a lawyer with great experience working with labor and everyone else.” Trump’s previous labor secretary, Alexander Acosta, resigned last week. Acosta has come under renewed criticism for his handling of a 2008 secret plea deal with wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein, who is accused of sexually abusing underage girls.  …

White House bureau chief Steve Herman contributed to this report.    Iran signaled Thursday that it was willing to take steps to reduce the tensions over its nuclear program with the Trump administration.    Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters in New York that Tehran would be open to more intrusive inspections of its nuclear program if Washington lifted its economic sanctions.     But the offer, which Zarif described as “a substantial move,” was met with a tepid response.     A senior administration official told VOA on background, “The president has repeatedly said he is willing to have a conversation with Iranian leaders. If Iran wants to make a serious gesture, it should start by ending uranium enrichment immediately and having an actual decision-maker attempt to negotiate a deal that includes a permanent end to Iran’s malign nuclear ambitions, including its development of nuclear-capable missiles.”    The Trump administration has been tightening sanctions on Iran since the U.S. withdrew from the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Program of Action.  Washington’s objectives   Washington is trying to force Tehran to agree to stricter limits on its nuclear capacity, curb its ballistic missile program and end support for …

Mark LaMet and Lynn Davis contributed to this report. U.S. President Donald Trump has found his latest target for acerbic ridicule — a hijab-wearing Muslim newcomer to Congress named Ilhan Omar. She is a Somali refugee but naturalized U.S. citizen whom Trump views as something less than a patriotic red, white and blue American. Trump railed against the lawmaker Wednesday night at his 2020 re-election campaign rally in North Carolina. He stoked the packed crowd at a college basketball arena with his claims that she is proud of al-Qaida terrorists, blames the U.S. for the political crisis in Venezuela and launches “vicious anti-Semitic screeds.” FILE – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, looks at a paper held by President Donald Trump about Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., as Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, July 16, 2019. “Send her back! Send her back!” the frenzied crowd of Trump supporters chanted as he paused to listen for 13 seconds but without responding. It was reminiscent of Trump’s 2016 campaign, when supporters regularly shouted, “Lock her up!” in a call to jail his opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, the former U.S. secretary of state. Back in …

The United States sanctioned two Iraqi militia leaders and two former Iraqi provincial governors it accused of human rights abuses and corruption, the U.S. Treasury Department said Thursday. The sanctions targeted militia leaders Rayan al-Kildani and Waad Qado and former governors Nawfal Hammadi al-Sultan and Ahmed al-Jubouri, the department said in a statement. “We will continue to hold accountable persons associated with serious human rights abuse, including persecution of religious minorities, and corrupt officials who exploit their positions of public trust to line their pockets and hoard power at the expense of their citizens,” Sigal Mandelker, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said. The department said many of the actions that prompted the sanctions occurred in “areas where persecuted religious communities are struggling to recover from the horrors inflicted on them” by Islamic State, the militant group that controlled parts of Iraq for several years. Militia leaders The Treasury Department said Kildani is the leader of the 50th Brigade militia and is shown cutting off the ear of a handcuffed detainee in a video circulating in Iraq last year. It said Qado is the leader of the 30th Brigade militia, which engaged in extortion, illegal arrests and kidnappings. Sultan and Jubouri …

Taliban insurgents assaulted a provincial police headquarters Thursday in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 12 people and wounding more than 60 others. Officials said multiple heavily armed men wearing suicide vests stormed the well-guarded building in the center of Kandahar about 5 p.m. local time. The attack began with a suicide bomber detonating an explosives-packed vehicle at the main entrance to police headquarters. A large number of civilians were said to be among the casualties because the security installation is near residential areas. The siege was ongoing six hours later, according to residents and insurgent officials. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the violence, saying they had killed and injured dozens of security forces, though insurgent claims are often inflated. “Kandahar police headquarters initially came under a tactical bomb blast that enabled several martyrdom-seeking mujahedeen [holy warriors], equipped with heavy and light weapons, to enter the compound and launched [the] operation inside the [police] headquarters,” the group asserted in a statement. Other attacks This was the second deadly Taliban assault on government forces in as many days. On Wednesday, authorities said an insurgent attack in Badghis province killed more than 30 U.S.-trained Afghan commandos and captured an unspecified number of others. The slain forces reportedly had been …

As Algeria takes on Senegal in Friday’s Africa Cup of Nations final, a Paris exhibit takes the long view of soccer (football) — exploring its multi-faceted link to people and politics in the Arab world, and former colonial power France.  In a darkened room, children watch a replay of the 1998 world cup final that took place years before they were born. There’s the intent face of Zinedine Zidane, the star French player of Berber origin. He counted among France’s winning, multicultural team, that rallied the nation under the slogan “black, blanc, beur,” or “black, white, Arab.”  Children watch star player Zinedine Zidane of Algerian descent in replay of 1998 French World Cup victory. (Lisa Bryant/VOA) It’s one of the many snapshots of soccer’s powerful role in shaping history and society in the Arab world, featured in this exhibit titled: Soccer and the Arab World: The Revolution of the Round Ball. “Football in the Arab world is always linked to the history of the country and also linked to politics,” said show curator Aurelie Clemente-Ruiz. “Because in the stadium, the fans and even the team really reflect what’s happen in all society.” The show examines soccer’s role as a vehicle for political expression, …

Sudanese women were a driving force during months of protests that ousted veteran autocrat Omar al-Bashir, but the sexual violence they endured risks being forgotten with the signing of a power-sharing deal, women’s rights activists said Thursday. Action must be taken to address scores of rapes committed during a deadly crackdown by security forces in June and ongoing sexual harassment on Sudan’s streets today, they said. “There has been much recognition for the role that women have played in Sudan’s revolution, but now no one is addressing the sacrifices we have made,” said Hala Al-Karib of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa. “We have numerous cases of rape committed by security forces, but still the same perpetrators are out on the streets of Sudan today, harassing and intimidating women — and nothing is being done to stop them,” she said from Khartoum. FILE – Sudanese women march with a national flag during a rally in the capital Khartoum, June 30, 2019. Military council denies charges The Sudanese Embassy in Nairobi was not immediately available to comment. The military council has previously denied that rape took place. From students and academics to housewives and street traders, women came out …

House lawmakers voted Wednesday to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. In a vote that mostly followed party lines, House members passed the Raise The Wage Act, the first minimum wage increase since 2009. The measure has not yet come up in the Senate. The bill would more than double the national minimum wage over the next 6 years, a marked increase from the current $7.25 federal minimum wage. The bill would also raise the minimum wage for tipped employees to the same level from the current $2.13 an hour. In the 231-to-199 vote, three Republican representatives joined the majority and voted for the bill, while six Democrats voted against it. “This is about workers, it’s about their economic and financial security and today is a bright day because it affects so many people in our country,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters at a news conference. Skepticism While the vote was nearly unanimous by Democrats, some members were skeptical. Democrats Tom O’Halleran of Arizona and Stephanie Murphy of Florida introduced an amendment that would mandate the Government Accountability Office to track the bill’s effects and report to the House before the entire wage increase is implemented. …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that China’s mistreatment of its Uighur Muslim minority had created one of the most significant human rights crises in contemporary world history.    Speaking at a conference on religious freedom in Washington, Pompeo said, “China is home to one of the worst human rights crises of our time” and that “it is truly the stain of the century.”    The nation’s top diplomat also accused Chinese government officials of intimidating countries to keep them from attending the conference and said the U.S. had “taken note” of the countries that succumbed to China. While not naming them, Pompeo urged the countries to “find the courage” to stand up to China.    Pompeo said earlier this week that representatives of more than 100 countries would attend the three-day conference that ends Thursday, but a State Department spokesman could not confirm the number.    “We know the Chinese government called countries specifically to discourage participation,” the spokesman said, but “we cannot prove the exact number they successfully impacted.” FILE – Uighurs and their supporters protest in front of the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations in New York, March 15, 2018. The Chinese …

Anti-corruption officials in Pakistan have arrested former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for allegedly evading an ongoing investigation into corruption charges against him. The former Pakistani leader is the latest in a series of high-profile opposition politicians targeted under the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan who accuses his predecessors of corruption and stashing away billions of dollars to foreign bank accounts.  Abbasi together with several members of his opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) was on his way to address a news conference in the eastern city of Lahore on Thursday, when he was taken into custody by a team of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the state anti-corruption body. Authorities later took the former prime minister to Islamabad, where he will appear before an anti-corruption court on Friday, said NAB officials. Abbasi served as prime minister from August 2017 to May 2018. NAB officials explained that the arrest stemmed from a case related to the award of a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) import contract when Abbasi was serving as the federal minister for petroleum and natural resources. They said Abbasi had been repeatedly summoned for questioning sessions, including one on Thursday, but he did not appear. Former Pakistani …

U.S. President Donald Trump is disavowing chants of “send her back” at his political rally which were heard when he questioned the loyalty of U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a war refugee from Somalia. “I was not happy when I heard that chant,” Trump said to reporters in the Oval Office, adding he disagreed with it. Asked why he did not try to stop the chant at the event on Wednesday evening in North Carolina, the president replied: “I think I did – I started speaking very quickly.” Omar when asked about Trump on Thursday by reporters outside the Capitol, replied, “I believe he is fascist.” She asked: “Because I criticized the president, I should be deported?” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., a target of racist rhetoric from President Donald Trump, walks from the House to her office following votes, at the Capitol in Washington, July 18, 2019. Omar is one of four new Democratic Party members of Congress who are women of color who have repeatedly been attacked by Trump since Sunday on social media and in public comments. The congresswoman posted a tweet late Wednesday featuring a picture of herself wearing a hijab and seated in the speaker’s chair in …

Botswana’s government is to appeal a High Court judgement which overturned colonial-era laws against gay sex – the first decriminalization of homosexual relations through the courts in Africa.   Botswana’s conservative and religious communities have welcomed the possible repeal of the ruling while the gay community and rights groups have decried the appeal as a step backwards. The country’s gay community and rights activists celebrated on June 11, when the High Court became the first in Africa to overturn colonial-era laws against gay sex. But the victory could be short-lived as Botswana’s attorney general is to appeal the ruling. Botswanan musician Motswafere Sithole is one of the country’s few openly gay public figures. “My heart was saddened by that, I felt mortified.  We were moving forward; we were making progress, but now it is like we are two steps back.” Botswana’s conservative and religious communities, however, have welcomed the government’s move against legalizing gay sex, which they deem immoral, according to Thuso Tiego, pastor at Tiego Ministries. “This is a challenge, it’s not normal.  That is not how God wanted human beings to be like.  I am happy that the state has stood up and said there was an error.” …

A German humanitarian ship captain who eluded an Italian effort to block her from docking at an Italian port with migrants onboard has called for the European Commission to do its best to avoid new political standoffs. Carola Rackete, captain of the Dutch-flagged Sea-Watch 3, was questioned by Italian prosecutors in the Sicilian city of Agrigento on Thursday for allegedly aiding illegal immigration. Rackete was arrested June 29 for entering the Italian port of Lampedusa, ignoring a block imposed by far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. She was also accused of hitting an Italian border police boat as she disembarked 40 migrants who were rescued off Libya and spent over two weeks at sea in a political standoff. A judge overturned the arrest three days later, saying the captain had acted to save lives. But Rackete is still under investigation for entering Italian waters despite a direct order not to. “I’ve been very happy to be able to explain all the details of the rescue operation carried out on June 12,” Rackete said. “I hope that the European Commission, after the election of the new parliament, will do its best to avoid this kind of situation and that all the countries …

Hundreds of Sudanese have joined protests condemning a deadly crackdown last month, as tensions remain high despite recent progress toward a power-sharing deal with the ruling military council. The Sudanese Professionals’ Association, which has spearheaded months of protests, says security forces fired tear gas to disperse Thursday’s demonstrations in the capital, Khartoum. There were no reports of serious injuries.   The military overthrew long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April, but the protesters remained in the streets, calling for a swift transition to civilian rule. On June 3, security forces dispersed their main sit-in, killing scores of protesters.   The pro-democracy movement and the military signed a document outlining a power-sharing deal on Wednesday but remain divided on key issues, including whether military leaders should be immune from prosecution over last month’s violence. …

Just a year ago India was forecast to become the world’s third largest automobile market overtaking Japan, but the industry is now grappling with its worst slump in over a decade. As Anjana Pasricha reports from Gurgaon, a business hub near New Delhi, the plummeting fortunes of the $ 100 billion auto industry reflect a broader slowdown in India’s economy, which grew at its slowest pace in nearly five years in the first quarter of the year. …

Setting aside their usual bickering, South Korean liberal and conservative parties on Thursday vowed to cooperate to help the Seoul government prevail in an escalating trade row with Japan.   After a meeting between the parties’ leaders and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at Seoul’s presidential office, they announced plans to create a “pan-national” emergency body to respond to tighter Japanese trade controls on certain technology exports to South Korea.   The meeting came amid growing concerns in South Korea that Japan’s trade curbs, which could possibly be expanded to hundreds of trade items in coming weeks, would rattle its export-dependent economy.   South Korean political leaders urged Japan to immediately withdraw the measures they described as “unjust economic retaliation” that would seriously harm bilateral relations and cooperation.   The leaders of conservative parties also called for Moon to take more aggressive diplomatic steps, such as pushing for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe or sending a special envoy to Japan. Earlier on Thursday, South Korea’s central bank lowered its policy rate for the first time in three years to combat a faltering economy that faces further risks created by the trade row with Japan. “Japan’s export restriction …

Fifty years after humans first set foot on the moon, the rock samples collected by Apollo astronauts are being studied by volcanologists who believe what they learn could help predict eruptions on Earth more accurately. Faith Lapidus reports. …