【常速英语广播5分钟】英语新闻20200208

VOA NEWS

February 8, 2020

This is VOA news. I'm David Byrd.

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A decorated military officer who testified in President Trump's impeachment trial, Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, the White House's top expert on Ukraine, has been fired.

Vindman was escorted out of the White House where he had worked on the National Security Council.

His lawyer David Pressman said in a statement the Purple Heart award winner was fired for telling the truth.

He remains on active duty with the U.S. Army.

Asked about Vindman's case, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the Defense Department would welcome him back to the Pentagon.

"We protect all of our persons, service members, from retribution or anything, anything like that. So we've already addressed that in policy and other means."

Vindman testified to the House of Representatives impeachment inquiry in November that President Trump made an improper demand of Ukraine's president in a July phone call.

His testimony was part of the House effort to charge the president with abuse of power, a charge the Senate acquitted him of this week.

Meanwhile, another impeachment witness, U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, said in a statement Friday night that President Trump intends to recall him from his post.

The U.N. human rights office says scores of civilians are being killed and wounded and hundreds of thousands are being displaced in Syria. Lisa Schlein has more from Geneva.

The U.N. human rights office says scores of civilians are being killed and wounded and hundreds of thousands are being displaced. In the first five days of this month, the agency has verified that at least 49 civilians, including 14 women and 17 children, have been killed. It notes at least 186 civilians were killed last month.

Agency spokeswoman Marta Hurtado says it is shocking that civilians continue to bear the brunt of the hostilities. She tells VOA all parties to the conflict are attacking civilians.

The U.N. says airstrikes by Syrian and Russian forces are responsible for most civilian deaths and injuries.

Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva.

Federal government investigators say there is no sign of engine failure in the deadly crash that killed Kobe Bryant and seven others. AP's Mike Gracia reports.

The National Transportation Safety Board says wreckage from the helicopter that crashed, killing Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others, did not show any sign of engine failure.

An investigative update from the NTSB says a tree branch at the crash site was cut, indicating the engines were working and rotors were turning at the time of impact. A determination on the cause of the January 26 crash could take a year or more.

The helicopter was ferrying the group toward a girls' basketball tournament at Bryant's Mamba Sports Academy when it slammed into a mist-shrouded hillside in Calabasas, California.

I'm Mike Gracia.

For more, be sure to visit our website voanews.com. I'm David Byrd, VOA news.

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