U.S. authorities plan to start arresting immigrants eligible for deportations in 10 cities this weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday.

Trump previously warned last month about the planned deportations, which were earlier reported by the New York Times.

Courses in Islamic studies are being offered at many colleges and universities in the United States. And it’s not just Muslims signing up for those classes, as VOA’s Ali Orokzai notes in this report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard.

Bariatric surgery shrinks the stomach so people battling obesity can lose weight and regain their health. It’s a drastic, life-changing procedure, but as VOA’s Carol Pearson reports, some doctors think it should be done more often, before patients become severely obese.

U.S. President Donald Trump hosted a Social Media Summit Thursday, inviting conservative media, pundits, think tanks and social media influencers. Trump claims that conservative views are being censored online, by platforms including Twitter, Google and Facebook — tech-giants who were not invited to the summit. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized Bitcoin, Facebook’s proposed Libra

digital coin and other cryptocurrencies and demanded that companies seek a banking charter and make themselves subject to U.S. and global regulations if they wanted to “become a bank.”

“I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air,” Trump wrote on Twitter.”If Facebook and other companies want to become a bank, they must seek a new Banking Charter and become subject to all Banking Regulations, just like other Banks, both National and International,” he added.

Trump’s comments come one day after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told lawmakers that Facebook’s plan to build a digital currency called Libra cannot move forward unless it addresses concerns over privacy, money laundering, consumer protection and financial stability.

Powell said the Fed has established a working group to follow the project and is coordinating with other government’s central banks. The U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council, a panel of regulators that identifies risks to the financial system, is also expected to make a review.

Hours earlier on Thursday, Trump criticized large technology companies at an event at the White House, who he said treated conservative voices unfairly.

The Internet Association, a trade group representing major tech firms like Facebook, Twitter and Google, said, “Internet companies are not biased against any political ideology, and conservative voices in particular have used social media to great effect.”

An expanded alliance between Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG that includes a partnership in Ford self-driving unit Argo AI could redraw the balance of power in autonomous vehicles.

A Ford-VW collaboration with Argo, the Pittsburgh-based startup that has spearheaded Ford’s self-driving development since 2017, could help reduce the engineering and financial burdens on each automaker. It could also accelerate the deployment timetables of both, which have said they plan to put autonomous vehicles into operation in 2021.

Argo has been overlooked as Waymo, Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving subsidiary, has deployed its robo-vans, and General Motors Co.’s Cruise Automation subsidiary has raked in billions of dollars in investments.

Scale and resources

With VW, the world’s biggest automaker by sales volume last year, Argo would be aligned with a partner with substantial scale and resources.

Ford and VW said Thursday they are expanding their global alliance and that the two companies’ chief executives would hold a news conference in New York Friday, where they are expected to announce details on a technology-sharing agreement.

A Ford-VW deal that involves Argo could also have broader implications for similar alliances, as well as valuations of related startup companies.

Earlier estimates of Argo’s value have ranged from $2 billion to $4 billion. Depending on the size of a VW investment, that valuation could rise to $7 billion, according to a source familiar with the Ford-VW discussions.

Other players

In comparison, the value of Cruise jumped to $19 billion earlier this year after it attracted more than $6 billion in investments from SoftBank Group, Honda Motor Co. and T. Rowe Price.

The value of ride services firm Uber Technologies’ Advanced Technologies Group climbed to more than $7 billion earlier this year after SoftBank, Toyota Motor Corp. and Denso Corp. invested $1 billion.

Those valuations are dwarfed by the estimates for Waymo, which is widely acknowledged as the sector leader. Morgan Stanley values Waymo at up to $175 billion, while Jefferies values the company at up to $250 billion.

Both estimates take into account Waymo’s nascent robotaxi business and potential future revenue streams from a delivery service and from streamed in-vehicle services, including e-commerce and infotainment.

VW, whose Audi unit heads the German automaker’s Automated Intelligence Driving (AID) unit in Munich, reportedly considered a $13.7 billion investment last year in Waymo for a 10 percent stake that would have valued Waymo at $137 billion.

VW recently concluded a development agreement with Aurora, the Silicon Valley self-driving startup that includes Hyundai Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles among its customers. Fiat Chrysler also supplies vehicles to Waymo.

Aurora is valued at $2.5 billion. Investors include Hyundai and Amazon Inc.

Argo, which is majority-owned by the No. 2 U.S. automaker, is part of Ford Autonomous Vehicles LLC. Ford set up the unit in 2018, pledging to invest $4 billion until 2023.

 

The United Nations Human Rights Council has voted to launch an investigation into the alleged killings of tens of thousands of Filipinos during the government’s war on drugs.

The measure, put forward by Iceland, was approved 18-14 Thursday. It cites extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and disappearances at the hands of police since President Rodrigo Duterte launched the anti-narcotics campaign in 2016.

Philippines ambassador in Geneva,  Evan Garcia,  immediately rebuked the U.N. move saying it “does not represent a triumph of human rights, but a travesty of them.”

Filipino activists have claimed that about 27,000 people have been killed as police terrorize poor communities, using cursory drug “watch lists” to identify users or dealers. The government counters that about 6,600 people have been killed by police in shootouts with drug dealers.

The resolution was welcomed by human rights groups. “This vote provides hope for thousands of bereaved families in the Philippines,” Amnesty International said in a statement. “It’s a crucial step towards justice and accountability.”

Congressional Democrats hope to put last month’s scuffle over the $4.6 billion emergency border bill behind them with renewed oversight of the Trump administration’s immigration policies and legislation to strengthen protections for families detained at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The push comes amid reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will begin nationwide immigration raids Sunday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday, “It’s never too late to do the right thing for the children, and when it comes to children, again, I’m the lioness, I’m just going to protect our cubs. And so we’re going to use every legislative tactic at our disposal.”  

House legislation

House Democrats introduced a series of measures earlier this week intended to address the gap between a House-passed bill restricting the Trump administration’s operations on the border and the Senate version of the bill that ended up passing both chambers in June.

Democratic leadership had to quell a rebellion from House progressives who objected to voting for the Senate version of the bill, which provided emergency funding to address the humanitarian crisis at the border. A handful of Democrats refused to vote for that bill on the ground it enabled the Trump administration’s treatment of asylum-seekers.

Pelosi declined to answer if she would attach this week’s measures to must-pass legislation, a move that would avoid a repeat of the embarrassing scenario the leadership encountered last month.

Republican leadership pointed to the new legislation as proof Democrats were finally acknowledging problems on the border.

“I’m just excited that now the Democrats realize there’s a crisis,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California said. “The problem is their lack of action made the crisis worse, or lack of action when it comes to the supplemental.”

Republicans argue Democrats have failed to address increases in undocumented immigration, harming the children and families they want to help.

“By refusing to address our border crisis, we invite child smuggling and child abuse,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said on the Senate floor Thursday. “Nobody who is compassionate, nobody who wants to be virtuous, nobody who cares about other human beings would want to perpetuate what is happening at the border for even a single day.”

Detention policy

But Democrats argue the Trump administration is creating the crisis. Senate Democrats Thursday introduced legislation addressing the administration’s family detention policy, while recognizing it has no chance of passing the Republican-controlled chamber.

“If Democrats were in the majority, we’d move this legislation immediately,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said. “We’re not. And the question looms: Will [Majority] Leader [Mitch] McConnell stand up for the children and work with us to pass these new standards into law?”

The bill would seek a legislative end to the policy of separating migrant parents from children, along with mandating congressional oversight of children in custody.
 
“This is a conscious policy decision by this administration to create what they call a deterrent, to make the mistreatment of people at the border a signal and message to people across the world that the door is closed in the United States for asylum and for refuge. And they’re doing this in a conscious manner,” Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin said.

The effort in both chambers provides Democratic lawmakers with political cover with constituents concerned about Trump administration policies. But lawmakers are likely to gain more traction with oversight efforts in committees.
 
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Friday will examine claims of inhumane conditions by members of Congress who visited border detention facilities, as well as hear testimony from officials charged with oversight of the government agencies overseeing detention facilities. In a hearing next week, the committee will hear testimony from acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan.

Additionally, the House Judiciary Committee authorized subpoenas Thursday that would assist an investigation into administration policies at the border.

The investigation would require administration officials to answer questions about reports President Donald Trump offered then-Customs and Border Protection Commissioner McAleenan a pardon if he was jailed for obeying a presidential order denying asylum seekers entry into the United States.

Argentine President Mauricio Macri could edge out his main challenger in the event of an election runoff later this year, according to an opinion poll published on Thursday, one of the first since candidates officially announced their plans to run.

The poll from local firm Management & Fit suggested Macri would win by 2 percentage points in a head-to-head contest with Peronist rival Alberto Fernandez, whose running mate is populist former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

The report was based on 2,000 voters polled online, by telephone and in person. The narrow advantage, however, is less than the poll’s margin of error of 2.2% and comes months before the first voting round on Oct. 27.

According to the poll, Macri and his running mate, moderate Peronist Miguel Angel Pichetto, would win 45% of the votes in an election runoff scenario, with the Fernandez ticket at 42.9%.

A second-round runoff would take place on Nov. 24 if no candidate wins at least 45% of the first-round vote in October, or a minimum of 40% of the vote with a margin of at least a 10 percentage points over second place.

The poll indicated that Fernandez would narrowly win with the electorate able to vote for the full range of candidates — mirroring the process of the first round of voting — but not by a large enough margin to avoid a runoff.

Alberto Fernandez and Cristina Fernandez are not related.

Macri, elected in 2015, has come under fire since last year amid a biting recession and economic turmoil that saw the peso tumble against the dollar and annual inflation climb above 50%, denting his popularity with voters.

However, the economy has shown some recent signs of improvement, with a stronger peso, inflation stabilizing, bond yields falling and local equities near a record high.

Alberto Fernandez has criticized Macri’s policies and vowed to “rework” a huge financing deal with the International Monetary Fund for $56.3 billion that Macri agreed to last year.

The Fernandez ticket has yet to announce a detailed economic plan, though they have said they would look to tackle unemployment and the sharp slump in industrial production.

Investors, however, are wary of Cristina Fernandez — who is running for vice president — because of her past populist economic policies.

A look at the process of collecting information that would weaken a political opponent.

Sri Lanka’s government on Thursday defeated a no-confidence motion in Parliament that accused it of failing to prevent Easter Sunday bomb attacks that killed more than 250 people.

The motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government was defeated by a vote of 119 lawmakers against to 92 in favor. The motion, submitted by the opposition Peoples’ Liberation Party, said the government should not remain in office because it failed to respond to intelligence reports ahead of the attacks by Islamic extremists on three churches and three luxury hotels.

Wickremesinghe’s defeat of the motion is expected to strengthen his hand in his rivalry with the country’s president, Maithripala Sirisena, ahead of elections slated for this year _ including a presidential election which both Sirisena and Wickremesinghe are expected to contest.

The motion was debated on Wednesday and Thursday.

During the debate, opposition lawmakers blamed Wickremesinghe and the government for failing to prevent the April 21 attack, despite the fact that “proper information” was available regarding the attackers. Government supporters argued it was unfair to blame the government and prime minister when the security establishment, including police, was under the control of Sirisena, who is also the country’s defense minister.

The attack by seven suicide bombers from a local Muslim group, National Thowheed Jammath, was the worst violence by Islamic State group-linked militants in South Asia.

Sri Lankan leaders and the security establishment came under fire for not acting on near-specific intelligence information on possible attacks on churches. The government has acknowledged that some intelligence units were aware of possible attacks weeks before the bombings.

Sirisena’s enmity with Wickremesinghe and his Cabinet and a lack of communication between the two leaders is also considered a key factor in the breakdown of intelligence sharing ahead of the attacks.

Sirisena, who was health minister under former strongman President Mahinda Rajapaksa, quit that government and teamed up with Wickremesinghe to defeat Rajapaksa in the 2015 presidential election.

However, the two leaders fell out and their rivalry became public last October when Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe and appointed Rajapaksa as prime minister. The crisis brought the country to a standstill for seven weeks and was only resolved after a court ordered Sirisena to reinstate Wickremesinghe.

Sirisena has said he was kept in the dark on intelligence about the attacks and vowed to “take stern action” against officials who failed to share it.

Following the attack, national police chief Pujith Jayasundara was suspended and former Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando resigned. Both were arrested last week for alleged criminal negligence and later released on bail.

A parliamentary committee is looking into intelligence failures despite objections by Sirisena after some officials hinted at shortcomings by the president.

 

Former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz is recovering from a third surgery after experiencing complications resulting from his gunshot wound.
 
Ortiz’s wife, Tiffany, says in a statement Thursday that he is “recovering well and in good spirits.” He had the surgery earlier this week at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Ortiz was shot in the back at a bar in the Dominican Republic last month. Dominican police have said he was mistaken for another man who was sitting near him at the club.
 

Police say a suspected drug trafficker offered to pay $30,000 for the shooting.

Police say they’ve arrested 14 people in the case, including the suspected gunman, and are searching for others.
 

Boris Johnson, the man likely to become U.K. prime minister within weeks, on Thursday denied playing any role in the departure of Britain’s ambassador to Washington, who quit after coming under attack from President Donald Trump.

British politicians from both government and opposition parties have accused Johnson of spinelessness for failing to defend envoy Kim Darroch, and said the removal of a British ambassador because of pressure from a foreign leader was a severe blow to British diplomacy and power.

“This is a direct challenge to a sovereign nation,” said Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative lawmaker who heads Parliament’s foreign affairs committee. He added that Britain “shouldn’t be bullied.”

Johnson told The Sun newspaper it was “bizarre” people were blaming him for the departure of Darroch, who resigned following a furor over leaked diplomatic cables which labeled Trump’s White House dysfunctional, clumsy and inept.

Trump responded by branding Darroch a “pompous fool” and cut off the administration’s contact with him.

Darroch announced his resignation Wednesday, saying it had become “impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like.”

Politicians including Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Johnson’s rival for the prime minister’s job, criticized Trump’s tirades and defended Darroch.

But Johnson merely stressed his good relations with the White House and the importance of the trans-Atlantic relationship. Darroch resigned hours after Johnson made those comments.

“I can’t believe they’re trying to blame me for this,” Johnson told The Sun. “I’m a great supporter of Kim’s. I worked very well with him for years.”

Conservative lawmaker Nicholas Soames, however, said Johnson had “hung Kim Darroch out to dry … and I was ashamed to see it.”

Opposition Labour Party legislator Liz McInnes called Johnson’s behavior “the most craven and despicable act of cowardice I have seen from any candidate for public office, let alone someone running to be prime minister.”

Labour called for Prime Minister Theresa May to appoint Darroch’s successor before she leaves office later this month, to prevent Johnson from putting his own appointee in the post.

Johnson is the strong favorite to win a Conservative leadership contest and succeed May as party leader and prime minister. He is widely expected to defeat Hunt in a ballot of about 160,000 party members. The winner will be announced July 23.

May could try to replace Darroch in the two weeks she has left, but she is unlikely to have enough time.

British ambassadors are almost always professional diplomats rather than political appointees. Filling overseas posts involves a formal civil service process with advertisements, applications and interviews.

It’s unusual, but not unknown, for non-diplomats to become ambassadors, and some have suggested Johnson as prime minister might appoint someone seen as strongly pro-Brexit and friendly to Trump. The president has previously said Brexit champion Nigel Farage would be a good choice, though Farage this week ruled himself out.

May’s spokesman, James Slack, would not comment on the timetable, saying only that “in terms of this particular replacement, that will take place in due course.”

Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan said Darroch’s replacement would be appointed in the “proper way.”

“The next ambassador will be appointed in the usual way by the prime minister on the foreign secretary’s recommendation with the approval of Her Majesty The Queen,” he told lawmakers.

British officials are hunting for the culprits behind the leak of Darroch’s confidential memos, intended to be seen by a small group of senior politicians and officials. The cables published by the Mail on Sunday newspaper covered the period between 2017 and recent weeks.

Officials have said they think it’s 50-50 whether the mole is found.

Duncan said Thursday that the investigation had so far found no evidence that the security breach was a hack, rather than a leak.

“Our focus is on finding someone within the system who has released illicitly these communications,” he told lawmakers.

Retno Daru’s doctor told her to limit her outdoor activity and put her on medication to help relieve her swollen nasal passages inflamed by pollution in Indonesia’s capital city, Jakarta.

This is not an easy task for the English teacher who spends a lot of time outside often taking motorbike taxis to get around the congested city and exercising outdoors.

“It’s really inconvenient, because I swim and now I can’t,” she said.

The air pollution in Indonesia’s capital has become so bad that Jakarta regularly tops real-time charts of the world’s most polluted cities.

The heaviest average rainfall to lash a swathe of southern and eastern China in more than half a century brought torrential rain and floods, destroying houses, damaging crops and forcing the evacuation of nearly 80,000 people, state media said.

Even more rain is expected, state television said Thursday, after average rainfall in the affected areas this week was recorded as 51% higher than in the corresponding periods of previous years, and the largest since 1961.

State television showed images of half-submerged buildings and flooded streets in some of the worst-hit areas. Trains along the Beijing-Guangzhou railway were delayed after rising waters blocked a bridge in the southern province of Hunan, it added.

The latest episode has caused losses of 2.69 billion yuan ($392 million), with 126,100 hectares (311,600 acres) of farmland damaged and 1,600 homes collapsed, the Ministry of Emergency Management has estimated.

As many as 77,000 people had been evacuated, it added. The affected areas include the southern provinces of Hunan and Jiangxi, eastern Zhejiang, the southeastern province of Fujian, and the northern parts of the southwestern Guangxi region.

The first three areas are expected to be doused again in a fresh burst of torrential rain Friday and Saturday, weather officials said, along with the central province of Hubei, eastern Anhui and the province of Guizhou in the southwest.

The Yangtze River in Jiangxi is expected to exceed its warning level for the first time this year around Sunday, swelled by heavy rain that could last until Tuesday, state TV said.

Extreme weather is becoming increasingly frequent in China, with temperatures in some parts hitting records this year.

Weather officials warned on July 3 that rainfall in the south could surpass the average by 30% to 70% over a 10-day stretch.

Ride-hailing app Uber is considering expanding its services to Senegal’s capital.

But in a city full of taxis and drivers who don’t have smartphones, the San Francisco-based company will have to overcome a lot of challenges to be useful to Dakar residents and turn a profit.

The city, like most African capitals, has an abundance of taxis. In most parts of the city, any time day or night, it’s easy to find a ride. But the city is rapidly expanding, and Uber says it has seen an opportunity to move in.

“Any progressive, forward-thinking city that has a need for safe, reliable, efficient transportation is where we want to be,” Francesca Uriri, Uber’s head of communications in West Africa, told VOA. “We are part of a broader mobility movement in establishing smart cities of the future and will continue to explore what our options in West Africa.”

No fixed addresses

Among the challenges Uber will face in Dakar is a lack of fixed addresses. Taxi drivers know the city inside and out and tend to navigate based on landmarks. How the app could work in a city that rarely uses map applications is a big question for some residents.

“Like when you are coming to my house, I will not be able to tell you exactly where my house is located on the map. So, you will have to you know, I will have to tell you a building or somewhere, a school somewhere I can pick you from,” Sa Ngoné, a Dakar resident who has used Uber’s services while traveling in the United States, explained.

“It might work here, but it will require lots of investment because we don’t have the same organization as in the U.S.,” he said.

Unlike Ngoné, most Dakar residents haven’t heard specifically of Uber. But similar services, including Allo Taxi, a service you call and arrange rides with, already exist here.

Welcome addition

However, some say the services that already exist here aren’t fully developed, and Uber coming in would be a welcome addition.

“I think if this company came in it would create competition and add something new to the landscape of transportation in Dakar. I think it could work really well,” M. Dieye, a Dakar resident, told VOA.

For most taxi rides in Dakar, riders and drivers must negotiate prices before getting in. Both parties think they would be happier if the price was fixed based on mileage and time.

“If they hire us as drivers, for example, that could help us out a lot,” Modou N’Diaye, a taxi driver in Dakar, told VOA.

No haggling

Gora Séne, who has been driving a taxi since 1998, explained that often price negotiations lead to him getting paid less than he should, and sometimes arguments with riders end with him not being paid at all.

“[Uber] could work well here. If they hire drivers with experience here they could be successful — like if they hire us, that’s a possibility. But it depends on what they will offer,” he said.

But whether taxi drivers, most of whom don’t have smartphones, will be able to join Uber or compete with them, is yet to be seen.

Uber has expanded to 23 cities in Africa, including Abuja, Lagos and Accra in West Africa.

An art dealer who authorities called one of the most prolific smugglers in the world and seven others were charged with trafficking more than $140 million in stolen antiquities, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Authorities described the case as one of the largest of its kind, saying the conspiracy began more than three decades ago and involved more than 2,600 recovered artifacts, including statues and ancient masterworks.

A criminal complaint filed in Manhattan state court said the smuggling was orchestrated by Subhash Kapoor, a New York art gallery owner who was arrested in Germany in 2011 and later extradited to India, where he faces similar charges.

An email seeking comment was sent to Kapoor’s defense attorney.

Priceless works

The prosecution involves artifacts stolen from Afghanistan, Cambodia, India, Pakistan and other countries that were sold for profit to dealers and collectors around the world. Some of the items appeared in world-renowned museums without officials realizing they were ill-gotten gains.

“These are, in many instances, priceless works that represent the culture and history of the countries from which they were stolen,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. told The Associated Press in an interview. “They are of enormous value.”

In all, authorities said, the network trafficked more than $143 million worth of antiquities. The international investigation was called “Operation Hidden Idol.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has described Kapoor as “one of the most prolific art smugglers in the world.” He faces 86 counts in the criminal complaint, including grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

The lead prosecutor, Matthew Bogdanos, told the AP that none of the defendants is believed to be in the United States. He said the authorities asked Interpol to issue international warrants for their arrest.

Criminal complaint

Kapoor, 70, owned the Art of the Past gallery on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, which authorities raided in early 2012.

The criminal complaint says Kapoor went to extraordinary lengths to acquire the artifacts, many of them statues of Hindu deities, and then falsified their provenance with forged documents.

It says Kapoor traveled the world seeking out antiquities that had been looted from temples, homes and archaeological sites. Some of the artifacts were recovered from Kapoor’s storage units in New York.

Prosecutors said Kapoor had the items cleansed and repaired to remove any damage from illegal excavation, and then illegally exported them to the United States from their countries of origin.

“Kapoor would also loan stolen antiquities to major museums and institutions,” the complaint says, “creating yet another false veneer of legitimacy by its mere presence in otherwise reputable museums and institutions.”

The other defendants in the case include suppliers and restorers accused of conspiring with Kapoor.

Five boats believed to belong to Iranian Revolutionary Guards approached a British oil tanker in the Gulf on Wednesday and asked it to stop in Iranian waters close by, but withdrew after a British warship warned them, U.S. officials said.

Britain’s Ministry of Defense had no immediate comment.

The incident occurred almost a week after British Royal Marines boarded an Iranian tanker, Grace 1, off Gibraltar and seized it on suspicion that it was breaking sanctions by taking oil to Syria.

Earlier Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Britain would face “consequences” over the seizure of the Iranian tanker.

Economic sanctions

Tensions among Iran and the United States and its allies have risen sharply since Washington stepped up economic sanctions against Iran and moved to bring the country’s oil exports to zero as part of a “maximum pressure” policy to make Iran halt actions that it said undermined regional security.

Iran has responded to the sanctions by starting to breach limits put on its nuclear activities under a 2015 deal with world powers.

Several oil tankers were attacked in waters near Iran’s southern coast in May and June, for which the United States blamed Iran. Tehran denied any involvement.

Last month, Iran shot down a U.S. drone near the Strait of Hormuz, prompting President Donald Trump to order retaliatory air strikes, only to call them off.

British ships identified

The U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Wednesday’s incident happened as British Heritage was at the northern entrance of the Strait of Hormuz.

“The Royal Navy HMS Montrose, which was also there, pointed its guns at the boats and warned them over radio, at which point they dispersed,” one of the officials said.

“It was harassment and an attempt to interfere with the passage,” the other official said.

The United States hopes to enlist allies over the next two weeks or so in a military coalition to safeguard strategic waters off Iran and Yemen, Marine General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday.
 

A senior military officer has accused the Air Force general tapped to be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of sexual misconduct, potentially jeopardizing his nomination. Members of Congress have raised questions about the allegations and the military investigation that found insufficient evidence to charge him.

The officer told The Associated Press that Gen. John Hyten subjected her to a series of unwanted sexual advances by kissing, hugging and rubbing up against her in 2017 while she was one of his aides. She said that he tried to derail her military career after she rebuffed him.

The Air Force investigated the woman’s allegations, which she reported days after Hyten’s nomination was announced in April, and found there was insufficient evidence to charge the general or recommend any administrative punishment. The alleged victim remains in the military but has moved to a different job.

“My life was ruined by this,” she told the AP.

The woman asked to not be identified by name. The AP routinely does not name victims of sexual assault.

Pentagon turmoil

The accusations against Hyten come at a time when the Pentagon has had an unusual amount of turmoil in its senior ranks, with only an acting defense secretary for the past six months. One of President Donald Trump’s nominees for that position recently withdrew after details of his contentious divorce surfaced. On Sunday, an admiral selected to be the top Navy officer withdrew because of what officials said was an inappropriate professional relationship.

It’s unclear when, or if, Hyten’s confirmation hearing will move forward. It has not been scheduled, despite the fact that the current vice chairman, Gen. Paul Selva, is scheduled to retire at the end of the month.

Air Force Col. DeDe Halfhill, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said Wednesday that Hyten’s nomination remains on course.

“With more than 38 years of service to our nation, Gen. Hyten has proven himself to be a principled and dedicated patriot,” she said.

A senior Air Force official said investigators went through emails, conducted interviews and pursued every lead, but did not uncover evidence to support the allegations. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters, added that they also found no evidence that the woman was lying.

Last month, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Duckworth sent a letter to acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper asking why Hyten was not removed from his post amid the investigation. The letter, obtained by the AP, raised questions about whether he received special treatment.

The woman making the allegations said she, too, wonders if Hyten received special treatment because of his rank, and she fears her honesty and motives will be questioned because of the circumstances and timing of her allegations.

Unwanted contact

The woman began working for Hyten in November 2016. Though he is an Air Force general, she is in another military branch, which she asked the AP not to disclose.

The officer said the unwanted sexual contact, kissing and hugging began in early 2017 and recurred several times throughout that year when she was working closely with Hyten. She said she repeatedly pushed him away and told him to stop.

In December 2017, when they were in Southern California for the annual Reagan National Defense Forum, Hyten came into her room wearing workout clothes and hugged her tightly and rubbed up against her, according to the woman. She said she told him to leave.

Hyten then asked the woman if she was going to report him. She said she told him no.

The woman said she didn’t report the incidents at the time in order to avoid embarrassment and out of fear of retaliation. She was also thinking about retiring, and believed Hyten was as well, so she concluded that he would not pose a risk to any other service members.

‘Toxic’ leadership behavior

She later learned that she was under investigation by Strategic Command for what officials said was “toxic” leadership behavior.

That allegation surprised her, she says, because Hyten was familiar with her leadership style and “encouraged” it. He had given her glowing performance reviews, some of which were reviewed by the AP.

“I was not the most popular officer in the command. In fact, one could say I was not popular at all,” she said. “But I was very successful in turning around an organization.”

In her interview with the AP, she showed copies of performance reviews from Hyten in which she was ranked as the top officer out of 71 on his staff. Hyten wrote that she had “unlimited potential to lead and serve with distinction as a multistar” general.

“Exceptionally competent and committed leader with the highest level of character,” Hyten wrote, adding that “her ethics are above reproach.”

The investigators issued her a letter of reprimand for her leadership and she was removed from her job at Strategic Command. She submitted her retirement.

Retirement rejected

But military officials in her branch of service determined her retirement was coerced and they rejected it. They then moved her to another senior job in the Washington area.

As she moved into her position, the officer received another negative evaluation by Hyten, which she appealed. During the appeals process, Hyten was nominated for the vice chairman position.

The woman said she decided she couldn’t live with the idea that Hyten might assault someone else if he was confirmed for the job. She reported the sexual misconduct to the Defense Department inspector general.

No charges

Because the charges involved criminal sexual assault, the case was referred to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and a formal investigation into Hyten was launched. Several weeks later, Gen. James Holmes, the officer in charge of the investigation, decided not to press charges.

Asked whether she has ever filed similar complaints, the officer said she was one of several who reported a commander for sexual harassment in 2007 in Iraq.

The woman told the AP she believes Hyten has committed “the perfect crime where no one will ever believe me.”

“I’ve already completed a successful career,” she said. “I had nothing to gain from doing this.”

The Justice Department is trying to prevent two former members of special counsel Robert Mueller’s team from testifying behind closed doors in Congress next week, when Mueller will testify before lawmakers, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The department is opposing testimony by Aaron Zebley and James Quarles before the Democratic-led Judiciary and Intelligence committees in the House of Representatives, two sources said. 

The men were expected to testify on July 17, the same day that Mueller is due as a witness before the two panels. 

Democrats said they still expected Zebley and Quarles to appear, arguing that the Justice Department has no authority over the behavior of former employees. But a third source told Reuters that the former Mueller team members were still negotiating with the committees. 

“We expect them to appear,” California Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee, told reporters. “We’ve got two hours with the Judiciary and Mr. Mueller, and two hours for the Intel committee with Mr. Mueller, and then some time afterwards with his staff.” 

Justice Department officials had no immediate comment, and Zebley and Quarles could not be reached for comment. 

The episode is the latest example of the Trump administration’s efforts to stymie congressional investigations by directing current and former officials not to cooperate with investigators who are seeking evidence of corruption, obstruction of justice and abuse of power in the Trump presidency. 

Focus on findings

House Judiciary Democrats, who are poised to expand their probe of Trump, his family and associates with a slew of new subpoenas, say Mueller’s testimony will focus public attention on some of the more disturbing findings of his two-year investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. 

In a 448-page report, Mueller said the Trump campaign had numerous contacts with Moscow, though the investigation did not find sufficient evidence to establish conspiracy. 

He did not conclude that Trump obstructed justice by trying to impede the Russia probe, but also did not exonerate the president of doing so. 

The House Judiciary Committee is also investigating alleged hush payments during the 2016 campaign to two women who claimed to have had sexual liaisons with Trump, including porn star Stormy Daniels. 

“The Dems Witch Hunt continues!” Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday. He has regularly denounced the Mueller investigation while also claiming that the probe found “no collusion” with Russia and “no obstruction.” 

Judiciary Committee Democrats privately met on Wednesday to discuss details of conducting the Mueller hearing and his aides’ testimony, Democrats on the panel said. 

California Rep. Adam Schiff, who leads the Intelligence Committee, said he expected the special counsel’s office to live up to the agreements for Mueller and his aides to testify. 

Mueller, in his first public comments since starting his investigation, said on May 29 that Justice Department policies meant the probe was never going to end with criminal charges against Trump, and indicated it was up to Congress to decide whether he should be impeached. 

“If we had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so,” Mueller said.