【831-833】川普和金正恩在河内会面时其前律师在华盛顿作证&未来犹太教祭司与巴勒斯坦人共植树&尼日利亚总统连任被反对派否认
AS IT IS
As Trump and Kim Meet in Hanoi, Former Trump Lawyer Testifies in Washington
February 27, 2019
President Donald Trump meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Feb. 27, 2019, in Hanoi. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
American President Donald Trump was all smiles as he greeted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday in Hanoi, Vietnam. The two leaders met for the second time to talk about economic measures against North Korea and its nuclear weapons program.
The two exchanged handshakes in front of American and North Korean flags before holding their one-on-one talk at the Metropole Hotel.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney later joined Trump for dinner with the North Korean leader. Kim was joined by Kim Yong Chol, the vice chairman, and Ri Yong Ho, the foreign minister.
As the dinner began, Trump said, “A lot of things are going to be solved I hope.” He added, “I think it will lead to a wonderful, really a wonderful situation long-term.”
Kim said, “We have met again here and I am confident that we can achieve great results that everyone welcomes.”
Trump’s attention is back in Washington
But, the events in Hanoi did not fully take the president’s attention away from Washington, D.C. There, his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, was answering questions from Congress about his time working for Trump.
Just before his meeting with Kim, Trump wrote on Twitter, “Michael Cohen was one of many lawyers who represented me (unfortunately). He had other clients also. He was just disbarred by the State Supreme Court for lying & fraud. He did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying in order to reduce his prison time.”
Hours later, Cohen spoke under oath before a committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was called to speak by Democratic lawmakers, over Republican objections.
Cohen told lawmakers that Trump directed him to lie about plans to build a skyscraper in Moscow, Russia. Cohen said Trump knew about the project, as he represented him in negotiations with Russia during the 2016 presidential election campaign.
Cohen has already admitted to lying to Congress about the project.
Also on Wednesday, Cohen claimed that Trump knew about his adviser’s contact with WikiLeaks during the presidential campaign. Cohen said he was in Trump’s office in July 2016 when longtime adviser Roger Stone called Trump on the phone. He said Stone told them about WikiLeaks’ plan to release emails that were meant to damage Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Cohen did not present any evidence of this, however. Clinton was Trump’s Democratic opponent in the 2016 presidential race.
Cohen said he does not have direct evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. He said he suspects there was collusion, however.
Cohen claimed he witnessed a conversation between Trump and his son, Donald Trump Jr. Cohen said he believes the two talked about a 2016 meeting at Trump Tower in New York City. The meeting involved the younger Trump, the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, his campaign manager Paul Manafort and a Russian lawyer with ties to the Russian government.
Cohen said Trump often told him that Donald Trump Jr. “had the worst judgment of anyone in the world” and he “would never set up any meeting of any significance alone — and certainly not without checking with his father.”
Last year, Cohen admitted guilt to violating campaign finance rules by paying off two women who said they had relationships with Trump. Federal lawyers in New York have said Trump directed Cohen to arrange the payments in exchange for promises from the two women to stay quiet.
On Wednesday, Cohen told Congress that Trump personally signed checks to repay him. He showed the House committee a copy of a check for $35,000 dated August 1, 2017. At that time, Trump was already president.
At one time, Cohen said he would “take a bullet” for Trump while serving as his personal lawyer. But on Wednesday, he told Congress, “I am ashamed of my weakness and misplaced loyalty, of the things I did for Mr. Trump in an effort to protect and promote him.”
Cohen added, “I have lied, but I’m not a liar. I have done bad things, but I’m not a bad man. I have fixed things, but I am no longer your ‘fixer,’ Mr. Trump.”
Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English based on reporting from VOA, the Associated Press and Reuters. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
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Words in This Story
confident - adj. certain that something will happen
disbar - v. to take away the right of a lawyer to work in the profession
fraud - n. the crime of using dishonest methods to take something valuable from another person
under oath - n. having made a formal promise to tell the truth
skyscraper - n. a very tall building in a city
collusion - n. secret cooperation for an illegal or dishonest purpose
pay off - v. to give something valuable (like money) in return for doing something illegal or dishonest
loyalty - n. the quality of showing complete support for someone
promote - v. to help someone or something
AS IT IS
Future Rabbis Plant Trees with Palestinians
February 27, 2019
Some young American rabbinical students have added a new activity to the year of study in Israel.
In the past, students would visit holy sites, learn Hebrew and read religious books. But these students are also reaching out to Palestinians.
Tyler Dratch is a 26-year-old rabbinical student at Hebrew College in Boston. He spoke to The Associated Press as he was planting olive trees with about 24 other students in the Palestinian village of At-Tuwani in the southern West Bank. The only Jews that Palestinians there usually see are Israeli soldiers or nationalist settlers.
“Before coming here and doing this, I couldn’t speak intelligently about Israel,” Dratch said. “We’re saying that we can take the same religion settlers use to commit violence, in order to commit justice, to make peace.”
Dratch did not want to be mistaken for a settler. He covered his Jewish skullcap with another hat. He followed the group to see messages that villagers say settlers left last month: “Death to Arabs” and “Revenge” painted in Hebrew on rocks and several uprooted olive trees.
This year’s study program also includes a visit to the West Bank city of Hebron, where there is a lot of anti-Israeli anger. The students will also visit an Israeli military court that tries Palestinians and a meeting with an activist from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which is under an Israeli blockade.
The program is run by T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, an organization of rabbis based in the U.S.
Most of T’ruah’s membership, and all students in the program, are connected to the Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative Jewish movements. These represent the more liberal side of Judaism that makes up the majority of American Jews.
In Israel, these movements are mostly ignored. Israeli rabbis of the Orthodox group control religious life in the country.
The T’ruah program is in its seventh year. It adds to the students’ usual studies of Hebrew, religion and Jewish Israeli society. Though the program is not required, T’ruah says about 70 percent of the visiting American rabbinical students from the liberal branches of Judaism take part.
The year-long program looks at Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and reported human rights abuses inside Israel.
T’ruah says its visits to the West Bank are not just single acts of community service. Students are expected to share their experiences within the Jewish community when they return home.
Rabbi Ian Chesir-Teran is T’ruah’s rabbinic educator in Israel. He says the program is designed is to push the students, in his words, “so they invite their future rabbinates to work toward ending the occupation.”
On this day, the students were going to the Palestinian villages of At-Tuwani and Ar-Rakkes in Area C, which in under total Israeli control.
Palestinian villagers guided the group to their olive trees. The trees are an ancient Palestinian symbol and a more recent victim in the struggle for land with Israeli settlers.
Israeli security officials reported a sharp rise last year in settler violence against Palestinians.
Yishai Fleisher is a spokesman for the settlers. He blamed attacks on the anger of each side in the West Bank.
As Israeli soldiers watched from a hill, Palestinians and Jews planted olive trees in holes left by settlers who had destroyed old trees.
Tyler Dratch said he grew up in Pennsylvania during the years of the second Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s. “My religious education was fear of Palestinians,” he said.
But in college, Dratch’s ideas about Israel changed.
Dratch says he still supports Israel, but is against its policies in the West Bank. “I realized I could be Zionist without turning my back on my neighbor, on Palestinians,” he said.
With hundreds of young American rabbis sharing such ideas, some in Israel are worried.
Yossi Klein Halevi is with the Shalom Hartman Institute, a research center in Jerusalem. He said he worries that intense desire for social justice may lead to extreme politics among future American Jewish leaders.
Israel is to hold elections in April. Public opinion studies suggest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his religious, nationalist allies will win the voting.
Studies in the U.S. show younger American Jews are more peaceful toward Palestinians and supportive of religious pluralism.
Two weeks after visiting At-Tuwani, the group learned that 25 of the 50 trees they had planted had been removed. Settlers are suspected. They plan to replant --- again.
I’m Dorothy Gundy. And I'm Susan Shand.
The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted the AP report for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
rabbinical – adj. relating to the writings and teaching of rabbis, Jewish holy men
revenge – n. the act of doing something to hurt someone because that person did something that hurt you
prosecute – v. to hold a trial against a person who is accused of a crime to see if that person is guilty
allege – v. to accuse without proof
covet – v. to desire
pluralism – n. a situation in which people of different social classes, religions, races, etc., are together in a society but continue to have their different traditions and interests
AS IT IS
Nigerian President's Re-election Rejected by Opposition Candidate
February 27, 2019
Supporters of Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari celebrate at the campaign headquarters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) party in Abuja, Nigeria, Feb. 26, 2019.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was declared the clear winner of the country’s presidential election on Wednesday.
Top opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar has rejected the election results. The former vice president said he would try to overturn the decision in court.
Buhari is nearing the end of his first term as president. During the election campaign, he appealed to voters to give him another chance to repair the country’s weak economy. Abubakar, a billionaire, offered campaign promises to “make Nigeria work again.”
Two major issues in Nigeria are insecurity and corruption. Many people are tired of politicians becoming rich in office. The former military dictator appeared to profit in the vote from his public image of having strong morals.
Buhari spoke after the election results were announced.
“I would like to make a special appeal to my supporters not to gloat. … Victory is enough reward for your efforts,” he said. The president also said he regretted the loss of many lives in violence before the voting.
Buhari promised that his administration will strengthen efforts in security, economic growth and fighting corruption.
In a prepared statement, Abubakar said he would have conceded “within seconds” if the vote had been free and fair. But he noted reports of cheating and problems in many of the country’s 36 states.
Abubakar said that voting was suppressed in parts of the south, where he has many followers. He also said that states threatened by an extremist militancy had “much higher voter turnouts” than in peaceful ones. He was also angry about the deployment of the military in some areas.
Election observers from the Civic Media Lab found that Borno State reported a 13 percent increase in voters. Borno is the state most affected by extremist violence.
Legal challenges to election results are not new in Nigeria. Buhari fought earlier election losses for months without success. The Supreme Court of Nigeria has never overturned a presidential election.
The president’s followers and aides said they expected a challenge. “There’s no opposition that will roll over and play dead,” said Hameed Ali, a member of Buhari’s ruling party.
The president’s supporters began dancing in the streets of Abuja on Tuesday night as vote counting showed him leading Abubakar by nearly 4 million votes.
Buhari received 15.1 million votes, or 55 percent, election officials said. Abubakar received 11.2 million, or 41 percent.
Buhari’s party rejected Abubakar’s claim that the results were false. It called on Abubakar to accept his defeat. “Let this nation move forward,” a campaign spokesman told The Associated Press.
Many Nigerians have prayed for peace during the long election campaign. Some people recalled the 2015 election, when President Goodluck Jonathan confirmed his loss to Buhari before official results were announced. It was the first defeat of a president seeking reelection in the country’s history.
Now Nigerians are getting prepared for a court fight.
I’m Susan Shand.
The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted the AP report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
challenge – v. to say or show that (something) may not be true, correct or legal
gloat – v. to show in an improper or selfish way that you are happy with your own success or another person's failure
reward – n. something that is given or received for something that has been done or that is offered for something that might be done
concede – v. to say that you accept or do not deny the truth or existence of something