On July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin set foot on the lunar surface – the first men on the moon. The U.S. space agency, NASA, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of this historic event in style – by restoring and reopening the control room that handled the historic Apollo 11 mission. Today it is a museum, but it looks every bit alive and real as it did in 1969, as though engineers and scientists just stepped away for a moment. Lesia Bakalets visited the control room. Anna Rice narrates her story. 

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Ethiopia’s Amhara Democratic Party (ADP) named the security adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as head of the restive Amhara region on Monday after his predecessor was killed in a violent attempt to seize power there.

Dozens were killed in fighting during the foiled coup by a rogue state militia in Amhara that claimed the life of regional president Ambachew Mekonnen and other top officials. The same night, the army’s chief of staff and a retired general accompanying him were killed in the capital Addis Ababa in a related attack, the government said.

The ADP said on its Facebook page that it had nominated Abiy’s security adviser Temesgen Tiruneh as Ambachew’s successor in Amhara. The party controls the Amhara regional government and is also one of four in Abiy’s national governing coalition.

The Amhara violence was the strongest challenge yet to the rule of Abiy, who has rolled out ambitious political and economic reforms in what was once one of Africa’s most repressive countries since coming to power in April 2018.

Abiy has freed political prisoners and journalists, offered an amnesty for some rebel groups and opened up space for a number of parties ahead of planned parliamentary elections next year in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country.

But his government has also presided over a rise of ethnic violence as regional powerbrokers try to grab more power and territory and air long-held grievances against the Addis Ababa coalition. More than 2.4 million of Ethiopia’s 100 million citizens are displaced.

Temesgen’s nomination is expected to be ratified by the Amhara regional council at a later date, according to an ADP central committee member.

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Aid workers in Uganda say armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has doubled the flow of refugees in past weeks, straining humanitarian funding.  Many DRC refugees brave cold nights and risk big waves on Lake Albert to reach the Ugandan border.

In the pitch-black hours of the early morning, a boatload of refugees from the DRC arrives on Uganda’s side of Lake Albert.  Some of the babies are hysterical.

Aid workers say the number of Congolese refugees fleeing armed conflict to Uganda has more than doubled since June to about 300 per day.

Refugee Gipato Margaret says there has been intensive fighting in the last two weeks in the DRC town of Chomya.

“There are so many soldiers, yet the enemy rebel groups are in the surrounding forests.  If they find a person in the garden, they kill you.  They completely finish you.  And when they see government soldiers, they follow and kill and fight them.  We saw it was too much, there is a lot of gunshots nearby and staying there got difficult.  So, we had to find a way out,” Margaret said.

Refugee Joshua Oshaki lost contact with his wife during fighting in the DRC’s Ituri region but managed to escape with his two children.  

“We got here in the night.  We moved with children and other people.  We moved in the cold, the children are suffering, we are hungry till now.  And so many things got lost, clothes, money and property. We do not have peace in Congo,” Oshaki said.

Fighting over land, mineral wealth, and politics has raged in eastern Congo for more than two decades.

Uganda works with the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, to register and transport new arrivals to camps already hosting over a million refugees, 350,000 of them from the DRC.  

The UNCHR’s deputy representative to Uganda, Kemlin Furley, says the influx of refugees has stretched the agency’s funding.

“It’s about 17 percent of all the needs that need to be covered.  So, this new influx is definitely challenging.  You know we are short of funds for the assistance that they need immediately.  Lifesaving assistance upon arrival,” Furley said.

The World Food Program says it is managing to provide aid for the new refugees but Julie McDonald, the deputy country director for WFP-Uganda, warns its budget won’t last long.

“At this point in time, we are scheduled to run out of food and cash by September.  So, we do urgently need new contributions in order to ensure that we can continue to feed the refugees,” McDonald said.

Meanwhile, there seems no end in sight to the flow of Congolese refugees fleeing for safety to Uganda.  

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Aid workers in Uganda say armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has doubled the flow of refugees since June, straining humanitarian funding. Many of the DRC refugees brave the harsh waters of Lake Albert on the Uganda border to make the crossing to safety. Halima Athumani reports from Sebagoro Landing Site in southwestern Uganda.

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Financier Jeffrey Epstein will remain behind bars for now as a federal judge mulls whether to grant bail on charges he sexually abused underage girls.

The judge said he needed more time to make a decision during a hearing Monday in New York.

Federal prosecutors maintained the well-connected Epstein, 66, is a flight risk and danger to the community _ saying he should remain incarcerated until he is tried on charges that he recruited and abused dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida in the early 2000s.

Prosecutors said their case is getting “stronger by the day” after several more women contacted them in recent days to say he abused them when they were underage.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Rossmiller also revealed Monday that authorities found “piles of cash,” “dozens of diamonds” and an expired passport with Epstein’s picture and a fake name during a raid of his Manhattan mansion following his July 6 arrest .

Epstein’s lawyers said he has not committed crimes since pleading guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution charges in Florida in 2008 and that the federal government is reneging on a 12-year-old plea deal not to prosecute him. They said they planned to file a motion to dismiss the case and that Epstein should be allowed to await trial under house arrest in his $77 million Manhattan mansion, with electronic monitoring.

In a written submission Friday to U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman, prosecutors shared new information about their investigation and why they perceive Epstein as dangerous.

They said several additional women in multiple jurisdictions had identified themselves to the government, claiming Epstein abused them when they were minors. Also, dozens of individuals have called the government to report information about Epstein and the charges he faces, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said they believe Epstein might have tried to influence witnesses after discovering that he had paid a total of $350,000 to two individuals, including a former employee, in the last year. That came after the Miami Herald reported the circumstances of his state court conviction in 2008, which led to a 13-month jail term and his deal to avoid federal prosecution .

“This course of action, and in particular its timing, suggests the defendant was attempting to further influence co-conspirators who might provide information against him in light of the recently re-emerging allegations,” prosecutors said.

The decade-old secret plea deal led to Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta’s resignation last week. Acosta came under renewed criticism following Epstein’s arrest over the 2008 non-prosecution agreement he oversaw as the U.S. attorney in Miami.

In addition to the charges in the indictment, prosecutors are also reviewing dozens of electronic files seized during a raid on Epstein’s residence after his July 6 arrest, finding even more photos than the hundreds or thousands of pictures of nude and seminude young women and girls they had reported prior to a court hearing a week ago.

In their submission to the judge, Epstein’s lawyers say their client has had a clean record since he began registering as a sex offender after his Florida conviction.

They said the accusations against Epstein are “outside the margins of federal criminal law” and don’t constitute sex trafficking since there were no allegations he “trafficked anybody for commercial profit; that he forced, coerced, defrauded, or enslaved anybody.”

Prosecutors said efforts by defense lawyers to characterize Epstein’s crimes as “simple prostitution” were “not only offensive but also utterly irrelevant given that federal law does not recognize the concept of a child prostitute _ there are only trafficking victims _ because a child cannot legally consent to being exploited.”

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Palestinians on Monday denounced President Donald Trump’s attack on U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, accusing him of racism and saying it once again proves his bias against the Palestinian people.
 
Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat and daughter of Palestinian immigrants, was one of four congresswomen of color who were targeted in a Trump Twitter barrage over the weekend.
 
Trump said the women should go back to the “broken and crime infested” places they came from, ignoring the fact that all are American citizens and three, including Tlaib, were born in the U.S. Trump also accused them of saying “terrible things” about the U.S. and said they “hate Israel.”
 
Although Tlaib has never lived in the West Bank, she still has relatives in the area and is widely seen as a local hero for making her way to the highest levels of American government.
 
Bassam Tlaib, an uncle of the congresswoman who lives in the West Bank, called the president’s comments “a racist statement meant to target Rashida because she has Palestinian roots.”
 
“This statement proves that Trump is anti-Palestinian, anti-Islam and completely biased toward Israel,” he added.
 
Ibrahim Milhim, spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, said Trump’s statement is an “insult” to the office of the presidency and the laws of the U.S.
 
“It’s an insult to the Statue of Liberty, America’s most famous symbol, an insult to the American values where migrants from all over the world are united as one nation under one law,” he said.
 
The Palestinians had cut ties with the White House after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017 and subsequently moved the American embassy to the contested city. The White House responded by shuttering the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington and cutting hundreds of millions of dollars of aid.
 
The Palestinians have pre-emptively rejected Trump’s Mideast peace plan, accusing him of being unfairly biased toward Israel, and boycotted last month’s conference in Bahrain where the White House launched the economic portion of its plan.
 
It was not clear why Trump mentioned Israel in his latest tweets. Omar ignited a bipartisan uproar in Washington early this year when she suggested that members of Congress support Israel for money. Tlaib, meanwhile, has endorsed the Palestinian-led boycott movement against Israel.
 
Israel, on the other hand, has forged strong ties with Trump, who in addition to moving the embassy, has recognized Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights.
 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly praised Trump, drawing criticism from opponents in Israel and some Jewish American groups that he is politicizing and weakening what has traditionally been bipartisan support for his country in the U.S.
 
Israel’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on Trump’s tweets. But Netanyahu’s son Yair, who serves as an unofficial adviser to his father, welcomed them.
 
“Thank you so much! You are the best friend the Jewish people ever had in the White House!” Yair Netanyahu wrote on Twitter.
 
Yossi Shain, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations at Tel Aviv University, said he was not surprised that Israel had been dragged into the debate.
 
“Their hostility toward Trump, and the fact that Trump is in intimate relations with Netanyahu, make progressive voices in the U.S. into Israel haters,” he said.
 

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Police and protesters are gearing up for a fight in Hawaii as construction is set to begin on a massive telescope on Mauna Kea, the islands’ highest peak, considered sacred by some native Hawaiians.

State officials said the road to the top of Mauna Kea mountain on the Big Island will be closed starting Monday as equipment is delivered to the construction site.

Scientists chose Mauna Kea in 2009 after a five-year, worldwide search for the ideal site for the largest telescope in the Northern Hemisphere. Construction was supposed to begin in 2014 but was halted by protests.

Opponents of the $1.4 billion telescope will desecrate sacred land. According to the University of Hawaii, ancient Hawaiians considered the location kapu, or forbidden. Only the highest-ranking chiefs and priests were allowed to make the long trek to Mauna Kea’s summit above the clouds.

Supporters of telescope say it will not only make important scientific discoveries but bring educational and economic opportunities to Hawaii.

The company behind the telescope is made up of a group of universities in California and Canada, with partners from China, India and Japan.  

Astronomers hope the telescope will help them look back 13 billion years to the time just after the Big Bang and answer fundamental questions about the universe.

It is not clear what the opponents of the project have planned for Monday but Gov. David Ige said unarmed National Guard units will be on hand to help enforce road closures and transport workers and supplies.

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India aborted the launch Monday of a spacecraft intended to land on the far side of the moon less than an hour before liftoff.

The Chandrayaan-2 mission was called off when a “technical snag” was observed in the 640-ton, 14-story rocket launcher, Indian Space Research Organization spokesman B.R. Guruprasad said.

The countdown abruptly stopped at T-56 minutes, 24 seconds, and Guruprasad said that the agency would announce a revised launch date soon.

Chandrayaan, the word for “moon craft” in Sanskrit, is designed for a soft landing on the lunar south pole and to send a rover to explore water deposits confirmed by a previous Indian space mission.

With nuclear-armed India poised to become the world’s fifth-largest economy, the ardently nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is eager to show off the country’s prowess in security and technology. If India did manage the soft landing, it would be only the fourth to do so after the U.S., Russia and China.

Dr. K. Sivan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, said at a news conference last week that the estimated $140 million Chandrayaan-2 mission was the nation’s “most prestigious” to date, in part because of the technical complexities of soft landing on the lunar surface, an event he described as “15 terrifying minutes.”

After countdown commenced Sunday, Sivan visited two Hindu shrines to pray for the mission’s success.

Criticized program pays off

Practically since its inception in 1962, India’s space program has been criticized as inappropriate for an overpopulated, developing nation.

But decades of space research have allowed India to develop satellite communications and remote sensing technologies that are helping solve everyday problems at home, from forecasting fish migration to predicting storms and floods.

With the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission this month, the world’s biggest space agencies are returning their gaze to the moon, seen as ideal testing grounds for technologies required for deep space exploration, and, with the confirmed discovery of water, as a possible pit stop along the way.

“The moon is sort of our backyard for training to go to Mars,” said Adam Steltzner, NASA’s chief engineer responsible for its 2020 mission to Mars.

Seeking water on the moon

Because of repeated delays, India missed the chance to achieve the first soft landing near the lunar south pole. China’s Chang’e 4 mission landed a lander and rover there last January.

India’s Chandrayaan-1 mission orbited the moon in 2008 and helped confirm the presence of water. The Indian Space Research Organization wants its new mission’s rover to further probe the far side of the moon, where scientists believe a basin contains water-ice that could help humans do more than plant flags on future manned missions.

The U.S. is working to send a manned spacecraft to the moon’s south pole by 2024.

Modi has set a deadline of 2022 for India’s first manned spaceflight.

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Unknown armed assailants killed a reporter for a local radio station in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktia province.

Nader Shah Sahibzada, a reporter for Voice of Gardiz local radio, went missing on Friday and authorities found his dead body on Saturday near his home in capital city, Gardiz.

Initial autopsy reports suggest that Sahibzada has been severely tortured and stabbed to death.

Aminullah Amiri, an editor of the Voice of Gardiz radio, told VOA that Sahibzada was running entertainment shows at the station and had no conflicts with anyone, suggesting he may have been killed because of his work.

Sardar Wali Tabassum, the provincial police spokesperson, told VOA that an investigation has been launched into the killing of Sahibzada and efforts are under way to bring those responsible for his death to justice.

Sahibzada’s case is not an isolated incident.  According to media advocacy groups in Afghanistan, so far this year seven local journalists have been killed by unknown armed men.

No group has immediately claimed responsibility for Sahibzada’s killing, but late last month the Taliban warned Afghan media outlets that if they do not stop what the militant group called “anti-Taliban statements”, they would be targeted.

“Those who continue doing so will be recognized by the group as military targets who are helping the Western-backed government of Afghanistan,” the insurgent group said in a statement.

“Reporters and staff members will not remain safe,” the statement added.

Both U.S. and Afghanistan condemned Taliban’s threats against the Afghan media outlets.

“Freedom of expression and attacks on media organizations is in contradiction to human and Islamic values,” Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s office said in a statement.

John Bass, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, said in a tweet that the Taliban should stop threatening Afghan journalists.

“More violence, against journalists or civilians, will not bring security and opportunity to Afghanistan, nor will it help the Taliban reach their political objectives,” Bass said.

Deadliest place for journalists

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which advocates for freedom of the press around the world, reported that Afghanistan was the world’s deadliest country for journalists in 2018 followed by Syria.

The group said in its annual report in late December that 15 journalists have been killed in Afghanistan and 11 others have been killed in Syria, making both countries the deadliest places for journalists around the world.

The increased fatalities among journalists in Afghanistan is due in part to bombings and shootings that targeted media workers.

In April of 2018, a double bombing in Kabul killed nine journalists, including six Radio Free Europe reporters.

The Islamic State (IS) terror group claimed responsibility for those attacks, which they said deliberately targeted journalists.

Some of the materials used in this report came from Reuters.

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A decorated member of the U.S. Special Forces has died during combat in northern Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced Sunday.

Green Beret Sgt. Maj. James “Ryan” Sartor died Saturday after being injured by enemy fire Saturday. His death brings the number of fatalities among the U.S. military this year in the Afghanistan to 11.

Sartor’s death reportedly has brought the number of U.S. service members killed since the Afghan war started in October of 2001 to 2,430.

Sartor, 40, of Teague, Texas, had served multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan with the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) division.

“We’re incredibly saddened to learn of Sgt. Maj. James “Ryan” Sartor’s passing in Afghanistan. Ryan was a beloved warrior who epitomized the quiet professional,” said commander of 10th SFG (A), Col. Brian R. Rauen. “He led his soldiers from the front and his presence will be terribly missed.”

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed claimed on Saturday that the militant group was behind the killing but the claim has yet to be verified.

The U.S. has about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan, where they primarily advise Afghan forces who are battling the Taliban.

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Forecasters have downgraded Tropical Storm Barry to a tropical depression, but Barry is still a major rainmaker and tornado threat as it drifts northward.

Parts of Louisiana could still see as much as 38 centimeters of rain with lesser amounts in sections of Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

“This rainfall is expected to lead to dangerous life-threatening flooding,” forecasters warn anyone who may think the storm is no longer a threat.

Barry made landfall Saturday as a Category 1 hurricane, sparing New Orleans from a direct hit, but knocking out power and bringing floods to other parts of the state.

No serious injuries or major damage have been reported. But some residents in Louisiana say the ground was already saturated before Barry hit, raising fears of large trees coming down on homes and cars.

U.S. President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in Louisiana ahead of the storm, authorizing federal funds to help local officials cope with whatever storm recovery is needed.

Barry was the first named storm of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season, which started on June 1 and lasts until November 30.

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The power of song can heal the hearts and bring people together.  A girls’ chorus named Pihcintu sings to do just that.  Most members are from war-torn countries and refugee camps around the world. Together they sing as one and spread a message of hope. VOA’s June Soh caught up with the group in Washington and has this story narrated by Carol Pearson 
 

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