【212-215】Trump-Putin Meeting: Helsinki’s Cold War History

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*【212】 AS IT IS

Trump-Putin Meeting: Helsinki’s Cold War History

July 11, 2018

Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev shakes hands with President Ford after their first round of talks at the American Embassy in Helsinki, July 30, 1975. (AP Photo)

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold their first summit on July 16 in Helsinki, Finland.

The meeting comes at a time of uneasy relations between their countries.

In recent years, the two sides have disagreed about a number of issues. They include Russia’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict and its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In addition, United States officials have accused Russia of attempting to influence the 2016 U.S. elections.

Before Trump arrives in Finland, he will attend a NATO meeting in Belgium, and make stops in Britain and Scotland. Speaking to reporters before he left for Europe, the president predicted his talks with Putin may be the “easiest” during his trip.

While Trump said he “can't say right now” whether Putin is a friend or enemy, he did call the Russian president a “competitor.”

Tourists feed sea gulls in front of the Presidential palace in Helsinki, Finland, Thursday, June 28, 2018. (Onni Ojala/Lehtikuva via AP)

Helsinki has a rich history of high-level negotiations between the leaders of the nuclear powers. It will be the fourth time the top leaders from the two sides will meet there. Finland has historically been used as neutral territory since Russia was part of the Soviet Union. It was chosen as a place for the two sides to hold high-level talks on major issues.

Finland fought Soviet forces during World War II and signed a cooperation deal with the Soviet government in 1948. Before the Soviet Union collapsed, Finland permitted Soviet influence on its national and international policies, while officially keeping its independence.

The Finnish government sought to keep an even balance between the Soviet Union and the United States. Both powers used Finland as a base for intelligence-gathering operations.

Finland often offered Helsinki as a meeting place for negotiations between the Soviet Union and Western nations. In an effort to be seen as truly neutral, Finland never joined NATO or the Warsaw Pact, the defense treaty signed by the Soviet Union and its allies.

Mikko Majander is a Finnish historian. He told Radio Free Europe that Finland sought an "active policy” of neutrality. "Finland was between the blocs, East and West,” he said. “And by offering good services to international diplomacy, kind of strengthened its position."

U.S. President Gerald Ford and Soviet Communist Party chief and the state leader Leonid Brezhnev share a joke just before their summit meeting in Vladivostok in this Nov. 24, 1974 file photo. (AP Photo/File)

Helsinki’s most famous security summit came in 1975, with U.S. President Gerald Ford and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. The meeting resulted in the signing of an agreement known as the Helsinki Accords. These were a set of guidelines - including territorial issues and human rights – on ties between the United States, the Soviet Union and 33 European countries.

Brezhnev and Ford also held arms-control talks at their Helsinki summit. Then U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger described those talks as "very useful."

Jussi Hanhimaki is a Finnish historian with the Graduate Institute of Geneva. He said the 1975 summit represented a "major goal of Finnish diplomacy in the early 1970s."

Soviet Presidential Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President George Bush are shown where to stand to pose for a photograph, Sunday, Sept. 9, 1990 in Helsinki. In the background is the statue Lex. (AP Photo/Greg Gibson)

The next meeting of U.S. and Soviet leaders in Helsinki took place in September 1990. That is when U.S. President George Bush met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Their talks mainly dealt with a major international event at the time, Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

Two years earlier, then U.S. President Ronald Reagan, stopped in Helsinki on his way to Moscow for a summit with Gorbachev. During his three-day visit to Finland, he declared in a speech there was “no true international security without respect for human rights."

The most recent summit in Helsinki was held in 1997. It involved U.S. President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin. They discussed several major issues, including Russia’s strong opposition to NATO expansion into nations once belonging to the Soviet Union.

US President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin shake hands at the Mantyniemi presidential residence on the outskirts of Helsinki, Friday March 21, 1997, on the second day of their two-day Summit.(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Finland joined the European Union following the collapse of the Soviet Union, but has still not joined NATO. It is now part of the alliance’s Partnership for Peace program, which permits Finnish troops to take part in NATO peacekeeping operations.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English. His story was based on reports from RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty and the Associated Press. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

summit – n. an important meeting between leaders

*【213】AS IT IS

Who is Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s Nominee to the Supreme Court?

July 11, 2018

With the U.S. Supreme Court building in the background, Supreme Court nominee judge Brett Kavanaugh arrives prior to meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 10, 2018.

United States Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh started working to secure his place on the high court Tuesday.

Kavenaugh is meeting with senators to ask for their support. The U.S. Senate votes on nominees to be Justices on the Supreme Court. A simple majority is required.

President Donald Trump selected Kavanaugh to replace retiring 81-year-old Justice Anthony Kennedy. It is likely to be one of the more important decisions of his presidency.

"There is no one in America more qualified for this position, or more deserving,” the president said. Trump spoke during the television announcement of the nomination from the White House East Room on Monday. He called Kavanaugh a "brilliant jurist" who has "devoted his life to public service.

The 53-year-old Kavanaugh has served as a federal judge for 12 years. And, he has been part of some highly disputed legal cases.

Before he was a judge, he ran an investigation into the death of a deputy adviser to President Bill Clinton. It was ruled a suicide, but some people dispute this.

Later, he worked on Bill Clinton’s impeachment over a sexual relationship with a White House intern.

He also took part in legal action over the vote recount in the state of Florida during the 2000 presidential election. He later joined the administration of President George W. Bush.

Strong reactions from members of both parties

Trump’s choice was met with predictable reactions from Republicans and Democrats.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called Kavanaugh "an impressive" nominee who is "well qualified" to sit on the nation's highest court.

Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called him a "candidate worthy of the Senate's consideration." Grassley’s committee will hold hearings on Kavanaugh's nomination before it goes to a vote before the full Senate.

Democrats are worried that Kavanaugh will join with the court's other four conservative members to reverse legalized abortion in the United States. Abortion became legal in 1973 in a famous case known as Roe versus Wade. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has promised to protect abortion rights. He said he would work to defeat Kavanaugh, in his words, “with everything I have.”

Other Democrats are worried about Kavanaugh’s written opinion that a President should not face legal action for a crime while in office.

They believe that Special Counsel Robert Mueller may try to make the president testify in his investigation of the Trump campaign's possible links to Russia. They say Trump might be accused of a crime.

The case would then go to the Supreme Court.

Kavanaugh: 'Humbled'

At the announcement, Kavanaugh stood with his wife and two daughters and said he was “humbled” by the nomination. He described how his mother was a trailblazerwho went to law school and later became a trial judge. His father went to law school at night, he added.

“Tomorrow I begin meeting with members of the Senate,” he said, “If confirmed by the Senate, I will keep an open mind in every case."

Republicans hope to confirm Kavanaugh before the court begins its session in October.

However, his selection will start a major confirmation battle in the U.S. Senate. Republicans hold a narrow 51-49 majority. Democrats say they will fight to prevent the high court from becoming too conservative.

No middle position

Justice Kennedy was often a member of five-to-four majority decisions on the high court. Those included a number of disputed cases, including ones supporting same-sex marriage and a woman's right to an abortion.

Jonathan Turley is a George Washington University constitutional law professor. He says that without Kennedy, the Supreme Court has strong left and strong right positions, but no one in the middle.

The Supreme Court sits at the top of the judicial branch of government. The two other branches are represented by the presidency and Congress. But, unlike presidents or members of Congress, Supreme Court justices do not have term limits — they serve until they resign or die.

So Trump’s pick could affect the court’s decisions for many years into the future.

I’m Susan Shand.

VOA’s Steve Herman reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor.

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Words in This Story

qualify – v. to have the necessary skill or knowledge to do a particular job or activity

deserve – v. to have the necessary skill or knowledge to do a particular job or activity

brilliant – adj. highly intelligent

intern – n. an unpaid assistant, usually still a student

impressive – adj. deserving attention, admiration, or respect

reverse – v. to go in the opposite direction

abortion – n. the removal of a fetus from a woman’s uterus

testify – v. to give evidence in a court

trailblazer – n. a person who makes, does, or discovers something new and makes it acceptable or popular

resonate – v. to have particular meaning or importance for someone

*【214】 AS IT IS

Zimbabwe's Opposition: July 30 Vote at Risk

July 11, 2018

FILE - A man has his picture taken in front of an election campaign poster of Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa portrait, in Harare, May, 4, 2018.

The world’s oldest person lives in Zimbabwe and is 141 years old. Not far behind is a 134-year-old, also from Zimbabwe.

So says the country’s voters’ registration list, which has come under sharp criticism before the July 30 elections.

This will be the first election in many years without longtime leader Robert Mugabe. He served as Zimbabwe’s president from 1987 until last year. Before that, Mugabe was prime minister -- a position he held from 1980 to 1987.

The main opposition party has called the voters’ list flawed and the clearest sign that the election’s credibility is at risk.

On Wednesday, thousands of people demonstrated in the capital, Harare. They called for more openness in the voting. The protesters danced and waved signs saying “No reforms, no elections.”

Mugabe was pressured to step down when Emmerson Mnangagwa took power in November of 2017. The new president and the election committee have promised a free and fair election. But the issues with the voters’ list have many people worried that the government is unable to end a long history of suspected cheating in elections.

The strikingly old voters are just one concern. The voters’ list shows more than 100 people registered at the same property and more than one person sharing an identification number. The Associated Press says that information comes from James Timba, the chief election agent for the main political opposition.

“We are not going to compromise,” main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa told the crowd on Wednesday. He accused the election commission, the military and Mnangagwa of trying to influence the vote.

Chamisa is in a coalition with smaller parties that also took part in the protest. They gave a petition with their demands to a representative of the election commission.

“Next time we hold a demonstration, no one is going back home until our demands are met. We will camp here,” Chamisa said.

The opposition distrusts the production of ballots, their storage, design and even the quality of the paper.

Public trust in the election is so low that the opposition now tells people to bring their own writing instruments when they vote because they lack trust in the ones being provided.

Emmerson Mnangagwa is a longtime ally of Mugabe. The new president is under pressure to have a free and fair election as a way to end international sanctions.

Accusations of cheating and violence were a problem in Zimbabwe’s earlier elections. Mugabe banned Western election observers, but Mnangagwa has welcomed them for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Observers from the European Union and United States have raised concerns that are similar to the opposition’s claims. But the election campaign has been largely free of violence.

Mnangagwa, his ruling ZANU-PF party and the election commission are defending the credibility of the vote. Commission chairwoman Priscilla Chigumba has rejected the opposition demands, which include touching the ballot paper or looking at it closely. Party representatives were permitted to see the ballots being made from a distance last month, she said.

Political parties physically inspecting the ballot paper is unlawful, Chigumba, a former High Court judge, told reporters on Monday. She said the opposition’s demands are “an abuse of the right to transparency.”

She also has denied problems with the voters’ registration list, which was released to opposition parties and the public only after pressure and a court ruling.

Elections officials have said they will correct mistakes with the voters’ list. The story of the single property with more than 100 registered voters is, in fact, a religious center with 122 voters, Chigumba said.

Building public trust in the weeks before the vote will be difficult. A study released over the weekend found that 58 percent of registered voters do not trust the elections commission. Researchers spoke with more than 1,600 people from Bulawayo, an opposition center, and Midlands province, which has a mix of opposition and ruling party supporters.

While Mugabe is gone, “the regime remains,” said Munyaradzi Gwisai, a political expert who teaches law at the University of Zimbabwe. He added, “If anything, the hard men and hard women of that regime are the ones who have taken power and they are now in charge, so very little has changed.”

I’m Ashley Thompson.

The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

flaw – n. a small fault or weakness

credibility – n. the quality of being believed or accepted as true, real, or honest

petition – n. a written document that people sign to show that they want a person or organization to do or change something

sanction – n. an action to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country

transparent – adj. honest and open; not secretive

regime – n. a form of government

*【215】 AS IT IS

Boys Rescued from Thai Cave in Good Health

July 11, 2018

In this photo taken from a video released by the Thailand government, three of the 12 boys are seen recovering in their hospital beds after being rescued along with their coach from a flooded cave in northern Thailand.

A Thai government official says all 12 boys and their coach are doing well after their rescue from the Tham Luang cave.

Thongchai Lertwilairatanapong is a Thai public health inspector. He told the Associated Press Wednesday that the boys lost about two kilograms of weight during their time in the cave. He said they survived by drinking clean water dripping into the cave.

Four boys were rescued Sunday, and another four were guided to safety on Monday. The remaining four boys and their coach were pulled out Tuesday.

The first photographs of the boys recovering in a Chiang Rai hospital were released Wednesday. It showed that many of them appeared to be in good condition. Some made the two-finger victory sign from their hospital beds. The photos also showed parents of the boys looking at their children through a glass window.

In this photo taken from video released by Thailand government, family members watch the rescued boys through a window at the Chiang Rai hospital in northern Thailand, Wednesday, July 11, 2018.

The parents have reportedly only been able to see their children through windows as they recover. All 12 boys are being kept away from family members to prevent them from catching infections. Three of the boys are being treated for minor lunginfections.

Chaiwetch Thanapaisal is director of Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital. He said, “Don’t need to worry about their physical health and even more so for their mental health.”

Despite their mostly good health, all the boys need to be observed in the hospital for seven days and then rest at home for another 30 days.

The rescue operation

Thai Navy SEALs also posted photos and a video of some of their operations in the cave on their Facebook page Wednesday.

Thirteen international cave divers joined five Thai Navy SEALs in the dangerous rescue operation. Former Thai Navy SEAL Saman Gunan died last Friday while putting extra air tanks along the escape path. He ran out of air while trying to swim out of the cave.

Narongsak Osatanakorn is the official who oversaw the rescue operation. He praised the cooperation between Thai and international rescuers. He said, “The situation went beyond just being a rescue mission and became a symbol of unity among man.”

He added that everyone worked together without concerns about race or religion, as the goal was to save the young football team.

This undated from video released via the Thai NavySEAL Facebook Page, July 11, 2018, shows rescuers hold an evacuated boy inside the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand.

None of the 12 boys had ever been diving and some did not know how to swim. Two divers were helping each one make his way through very small passages filled with water. It took the divers about eight hours to get into the cave, reach the boys and bring them back out.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

VOA and the Associated Press wrote this report. Alice Bryant adapted them for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

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