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VOA NEWS

February 19, 2020

This is VOA news. I'm Marissa Melton.

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced he has granted clemency or pardons to 11 people whose criminal cases made headlines. AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports from the White House.

There is former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich who has served eight years of a 14-year prison term for political corruption.

"That was a tremendously powerful, ridiculous sentence, in my opinion."

A former New York police commissioner who served time for tax fraud and lying to the White House and a financier who broke federal securities laws.

"We have Bernie Kerik, we have Mike Milken ...."

And ex-San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr., who is involved in a gambling scandal. Jerry Rice was on the Super Bowl teams DeBartolo helped build and was here when the pardon was announced.

"Today is a great day for him."

Sagar Meghani, at the White House.

Meanwhile, the federal judge in the Roger Stone trial is refusing to postpone her sentencing while President Donald Trump says the conviction of his close friend and confidant should be thrown out.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson said during a conference call Tuesday with Stone and his lawyers that the sentencing will take place on Thursday as planned.

But Jackson appeared to say she could put off an order for Stone to begin his sentence after Stone's lawyers requested a new trial. That request came after Trump tweeted his belief last week that the foreperson on the Stone jury was, in his words, "unambiguously" biased - an opinion he re-tweeted Tuesday when a Fox New commentator also said Stone deserved a new trial.

The Justice Department stunned the legal and political community last week when it overruled its own prosecutors and recommended a lighter prison sentence for Stone - a longtime friend and confident of Trump who was convicted on lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice stemming from the Russian election meddling probe.

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After 13 Americans evacuated from a cruise ship in Japan with the coronavirus outbreak test positive, the other 315 evacuees are being carefully monitored as they remain in quarantine. AP correspondent Julie Walker has more.

State Department officials say the 13 who tested positive for the coronavirus were allowed to get on the plane to the U.S. because they were ??? at the time. They are now at hospitals in California and Nebraska.

The other 315 evacuees from the cruise ship remain in two-week quarantine at Air Force bases - Travis in California and Lackland in Texas.

Meanwhile, at least 40 Americans remain in Japan with the coronavirus. They are part of a group of more than 400 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that have so far tested positive.

I'm Julie Walker.

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The Commerce Department declined to comment after the president's tweet.

Mike Gracia, Washington.

Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission says President Ashraf Ghani has won a second term as president. The results of September's election were repeatedly delayed due to technical issues, allegations of fraud and protests from candidates.

The commission announced on Tuesday that [Ghani] Ghani garnered 50.6 percent of the vote while challenger and chief executive Abdullah Abdullah received around 39 percent of the vote.

An Israeli court has announced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial will begin March 17. That's just two weeks after national elections.

Mr. Netanyahu is charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

Marissa Melton, VOA news.

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