Few performances are as daunting as the one-person play.

That’s why Jake Gyllenhaal had to find a way to conquer that fear when he took on the role of Abe in the second half of “Sea Wall/A Life.”

“Before I did it, I was terrified,” Gyllenhaal said of “A Life,” after the play’s Broadway opening. Tom Sturridge stars in “Sea Wall,” the other half of the pair of one-act monologues.

Gyllenhaal admits that nervousness extended to the rehearsal room. But then he found confidence in an unlikely place. The story of Alex Honnold’s 3,000-foot (914-meter) climb of the El Capitan rock formation at Yosemite National Park.
 
“I was sort of quaking in my boots thinking about it. Then I saw `Free Solo,’ that documentary about the free climber Alex Honnold that won the Academy Award. Amazing, amazing documentary, and I thought to myself, if he can do that without any rope I can do a monologue. And then that was it,” Gyllenhaal said.

From then on, it was smooth sailing.
 
It was a little different for Sturridge.  “I feel like weirdly – like before I walk on stage I feel fear. But I feel safest on the stage,” Sturridge said.

Both actors say the lack of an onstage partner to play off of can add to the stress; there isn’t a safety net if you blow a line. But Sturridge uses the audience.

“Normally when you’re on stage you’re pretending to be in a room and pretending like you’re in Russia and 1920s and you’re pretending the audience don’t exist. But with this, I’m having a conversation with real people who are different every night. And if I blow a line, then we just change the conversation,” Sturridge said.

“Sea Wall/A Life,” a pair of plays written by Nick Payne and Simon Stephens, respectively are tragic comedies that deal with love and loss.

Gyllenhaal says the emotional value shifts with each audience.

“It’s very emotional through all of it. But it changes every night. It’s different. Sometimes I’m telling the story, I’m just telling it. Sometimes things happen. Sometimes I hear someone in the audience have an emotional response. He was laughing or crying, and it makes me feel something,” he said.

“Sea Wall/A Life” plays on Broadway at the Hudson Theater until Sept. 29.

Washington’s top two intelligence officials are spending their last day on the job Thursday, preparing to leave the nation’s intelligence community in the hands of an acting director as U.S. President Donald Trump oversees an overhaul of his intelligence leadership.

The departures of Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and his top deputy, Sue Gordon, come as tensions rise between China and a protest movement in Hong Kong, and while other potential crises simmer in the Persian Gulf, on the Korean Peninsula and elsewhere.
 
Trump announced Coats’ resignation on Twitter late last month and followed up less than two weeks later with a tweet about the resignation of Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Sue Gordon, who had been in line to become the acting director.

 
But in a note accompanying her resignation letter, Gordon made clear her departure was an “act of respect & patriotism, not preference.”
 
“You should have your team,” she wrote.
 
Trump selected Coats, a former Republican lawmaker and one-time U.S. ambassador to Germany, to be his top intelligence official shortly after taking office.
 
But while Coats quickly won praise from lawmakers and veterans in the U.S. intelligence community for “speaking truth to power,” his public assessments repeatedly clashed with the president’s own assertions.

Read also: US Intel Chiefs Warn Washington Risks Losing Friends, Influence

Most recently, Coats and other U.S. intelligence chiefs stoked Trump’s ire this past January when they testified before Congress, contradicting the president’s assessment of Iran, of U.S. efforts to denuclearize North Korea as well as the president’s declarations that the Islamic State terror group had been defeated.
 
In a series of tweets, Trump declared Coats and the others, “are wrong!” and further suggested, “Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!”

NEW: @POTUS taking a shot at his intelligence chiefs on #Iran – calls them “extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers…They are wrong!” pic.twitter.com/hkwCZDw7OT

— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) January 30, 2019

 
Coats also publicly split with the president in July of last year, when he told an audience at a security forum that Trump’s decision to meet alone with top Russian officials at the White House was, “probably not the best thing to do.”

There was also this moment from the #AspenSecurity Forum in July 2018, when outgoing @ODNIgov Dir Coats was asked about @POTUS’ White House mtg w/#Russia FM #Lavrov & then Amb #Kislyak…

“[Sighs] Probably not the best thing to do”https://t.co/KjNaAOeAEw

— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) July 28, 2019

 
For now, the U.S. intelligence community will be led by Joseph Maguire, a retired admiral and former Navy SEAL, who until now had been serving as director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC).
 
Maguire has garnered praise both from intelligence officials, including Coats, and from key lawmakers.
 
“I’ve known Admiral Maguire for some time, and I have confidence in his ability to step into this critical role,” Richard Burr, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said last week.

 
During his NCTC confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee last year, Maguire assured lawmakers he would not allow politics to influence how intelligence would be presented to the president.
 
“I am more than willing to speak truth to power,” he said told lawmaker at the hearing last year. “To color and shape the information to please other folks would be a disservice.”

Before naming Maguire as his acting director of national intelligence, Trump announced he planned to nominate Republican Congressman John Ratcliffe to the post. But Ratcliffe withdrew his nomination days later, following growing questions about his credentials and experience.

A “humbled and honored” @RepRatcliffe tweets he asked @POTUS to nominate someone else to @ODNIgov

“I do not wish for a national security and intelligence debate surrounding my confirmation, however untrue, to become a purely political and partisan issue” pic.twitter.com/pg8ScbEBsx

— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) August 2, 2019

 
Read also: Trump’s Pick for National Intelligence Director Withdraws
 
Trump has said he is considering several candidates to serve as a permanent director of national intelligence, but told reporters last week, “I’m in no rush because we have a great acting [director].”
 
“That’s a job that everybody wants, DNI. Everybody” Trump said. “We’ll come up with somebody that’s great. We have a lot of choice. A lot of people want the job.”
 
Reaction from Intelligence Community
 
Despite such assurances, some former U.S. intelligence officials are leery, expressing concern that Trump will ultimately seek to appoint a political ally, like Congressman Ratcliffe, instead of an experienced intelligence hand.
 
Trump “is clearly ignorant of the wounds he inflicts on US national security,” Larry Pfeiffer, a former CIA chief of staff and former senior director of the White House Situation Room, tweeted last week following the news of Gordon’s resignation.

Sue Gordon’s forced resignation as deputy DNI today is an assault on inteligence. @realDonaldTrump is clearly ignorant of the wounds he inflicts on US national security.

— Larry Pfeiffer (@LarryPfeifferDC) August 8, 2019

Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, a former veteran CIA officer who served as the spy agency’s Europe division chief, was even more pessimistic.
 
“This is a sign Trump is going to do something unacceptable in his efforts to control intelligence&law enforcement and consolidate power,” he tweeted.

Deputy Director of National Intelligence reportedly just met Trump and decided to resign. I know Sue Gordon personally. She’s a loyal American. This is a sign Trump is going to do something unacceptable in his efforts to control intelligence&law enforcement and consolidate power. https://t.co/jotSnj3x95

— Rolf Mowatt-Larssen (@AmericanMystic) August 8, 2019

Some key lawmakers have also expressed distress at the way Trump has handled the country’s intelligence agencies.

“The  president has shown that he has no problem prioritizing his political ego even if it comes at the expense of our national security,” Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner, a Democrat, said in a statement last week.
 

A newspaper in Gibraltar says the United States has applied to seize an Iranian supertanker that authorities in the British overseas territory were seeking to release from detention.

The Gibraltar Chronicle says the development means a last minute application by the U.S. Department of Justice to extend the ship’s detention prompted the Supreme Court to adjourn its decision until later Thursday. 

The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The tanker was seized last month in a British Royal Navy operation off Gibraltar. It’s suspected of violating European Union sanctions on oil shipments to Syria, and its seizure deepened international tensions in the Persian Gulf.

The Gibraltar government says it is seeking to “de-escalate” the situation over the Grace 1.

Opinion polls show that former Vice President Joe Biden continues to lead the large pack of Democratic presidential contenders for 2020. But concerns about Biden’s age and his habit of making verbal gaffes have some Democrats questioning whether he would be the best candidate to go up against President Donald Trump next year. VOA national correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington on Biden’s status as the Democratic Party frontrunner.
 

Malaysian police said Thursday there were no signs of foul play in the death of a 15-year-old London girl who mysteriously disappeared from a nature resort, with an autopsy showing she succumbed to intestinal bleeding because of starvation and stress.

Nora Anne Quoirin’s body was discovered Tuesday beside a small stream about 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) from the Dusun eco-resort after she disappeared from her family’s resort cottage Aug. 4.

Negeri Sembilan state police chief Mohamad Mat Yusop said the autopsy found no evidence the teenager had been abducted or raped. She was estimated to have been dead two or three days and not more than four when her naked body was found, he said.

“For the time being, there is no element of abduction or kidnapping,” he told a news conference at a police station.

“The cause of death was upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to duodenal ulcer, complicated with perforation … it could be due to a lack of food for a long period of time and due to prolonged stress,” he said.

Mohamad said there were also some bruises on the girl’s legs but wouldn’t cause her death. Samples taken from her body will be sent to the chemistry department for further analysis, he said.

The girl’s family can take her body back to their country if they wish, he added.

Quoirin’s family has said she wasn’t independent and wouldn’t wander off alone because she had learning and physical disabilities. Police believe she climbed out through an open window in the living room of the cottage but said they were investigated all aspects including possible criminal elements.

Police from Ireland, France and the U.K. are in Malaysia to assist in the investigation. The girl’s mother is from Ireland and her father is French, but the family has lived in London for 20 years.

The Paris prosecutor’s office Wednesday said it has opened a preliminary investigation into the girl’s death, on potential charges of kidnapping and sequestration. The prosecutor’s office wouldn’t elaborate. French authorities often open such investigations when French citizens are victims or otherwise involved in suspected crimes abroad.

Quoirin’s family arrived Aug. 3 for a two-week stay at the Dusun, a small resort located in a durian orchard next to a forest reserve 63 kilometers (39 miles) south of Kuala Lumpur.

Her family Wednesday thanked the more than 350 people who helped search for the girl and said that their hearts were broken.
 

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that trade talks with China could wait until tensions in Hong Kong had eased, tweeting: “Of course China wants to make a deal. Let them work humanely with Hong Kong first!” 
 
Trump also praised Chinese President Xi Jinping, calling him a “great leader” and saying he could quickly resolve the unrest in Hong Kong if he wanted to. “I have ZERO doubt that if President Xi wants to quickly and humanely solve the Hong Kong problem, he can do it. Personal meeting?” Trump tweeted. 
 
Trump has previously said little about the protests in the semiautonomous Chinese city, except to make it clear he believes that Hong Kong and China need to “deal with that themselves.” He has urged the two sides to exercise caution and voiced hopes that the situation will be resolved peacefully.  
  
His more extensive comments Wednesday came as U.S. stock markets tumbled, in part because of uncertainty over Trump’s trade standoff with Beijing. Investors have also been rattled about the widespread protests in Hong Kong. Flights resumed at Hong Kong’s airport after two days of disruptions that descended into clashes with police. 
 
While Trump has been reticent to take sides, some Republican and Democratic members of Congress have voiced their support for the protesters. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, for example, issued a statement last week saying that “dreams of freedom, justice and democracy can never be extinguished by injustice and intimidation.” 
 
The demonstrations are against what many Hong Kong residents see as an increasing erosion of the freedoms they were promised in 1997 when Communist Party-ruled mainland China took over what had been a British colony.  

Trump said he knew Xi well and called him a “great leader who very much has the respect of his people.” 
 
Trump also voiced optimism about the off-again, on-again trade negotiations with China. Administration officials publicly and privately have voiced beliefs that a trade deal is still a ways off even as the president voices frustration about the lack of progress.  

Unhappy with the pace of negotiations, Trump announced two weeks ago that the U.S. would apply 10% tariffs on about $300 billion in Chinese imports, beginning Sept. 1. But the administration moved Tuesday to delay the tariffs on a wide range of Chinese-made products, including cellphones, laptop computers, some toys, computer monitors, shoes and clothing. And it’s removing other items from the list based “on health, safety, national security and other factors.” 
 
Trump tweeted that delaying the tariffs would help China more than the U.S.: “The American consumer is fine with or without the September date, but much good will come from the short deferral to December.” 

Christy Lee and Kim Young-gyo contributed to this report which originated on VOA’s Korean Service.

WASHINGTON — The recent missile tests by North Korea, including one Saturday, show potential weapons that are designed to circumvent any preemptive strikes that would destroy them on their launch pads before being fired, experts said.

North Korea wants to “be able to roll out a launcher, fire immediately, and not give the U.S. and South Korea an opportunity to attack the launcher and destroy them before they can launch their missiles,” said Bruce Bennett, a senior defense and analyst at the Rand Corp.

North Korea said Sunday it

KATHMANDU, NEPAL — A Nepal government committee formed after a bad mountaineering season on Mount Everest has recommended requiring climbers to have scaled tall peaks, undergone proper training, and possess certificates of good health and insurance that would cover rescue costs if required. 
 
A report by the committee released Wednesday says people must have successfully climbed a peak higher than 6,500 meters (21,320 feet) before they can apply for permits to scale Mount Everest. Each climber would also be required to have a highly experienced guide. 
 
Of the 11 people who died during the spring climbing season this year, nine were climbing from the southern side of the peak in Nepal, making it one of the worst years on the mountain.  
  
The government was criticized for allowing too many climbers on the world’s highest peak.  
  
Mountaineering authorities were also criticized for not stopping inexperienced climbers who had difficulty coping with harsh conditions on Everest and slowed down other climbers on the trail to the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) summit. 
 
The government is expected to amend its mountaineering regulations following the recommendations. 
 
The March-May climbing season is when weather conditions are best for climbing the Himalayan mountain. 

Canada’s ethics commissioner said Wednesday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau improperly pressured the country’s former attorney general to halt the criminal prosecution of a company, a development that could imperil his re-election chances. 

The report comes just before the official start of campaigning for the Oct. 21 general election and it threatens to re-inflame a scandal that rocked the government earlier this year, causing a drop in poll ratings that had since abated.

Ethics commissioner Mario Dion said Trudeau’s attempts to influence the former attorney general and justice minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, were contrary to the constitutional principle of prosecutorial independence.

“The prime minister, directly and through his senior officials, used various means to exert influence over Ms. Wilson-Raybould,” Dion wrote. 

“The authority of the prime minister and his office was used to circumvent, undermine and ultimately attempt to discredit the decision of the director of public prosecutions as well as the authority of Ms. Wilson-Raybould.” 

Trudeau said at a news conference that he takes responsibility “for everything,” but said he “can’t apologize for standing up for Canadian jobs.”  

Wilson-Raybould believes she was demoted from her role as attorney general and justice minister to veterans’ affairs minister in January because she didn’t give in to pressure to enter into a remediation agreement with a Canadian company accused of bribing officials in Libya.

That potential solution would avoid a potential criminal conviction that would bar Quebec engineering giant SNC-Lavalin from receiving any federal government business for a decade. The company is a major employer with 9,000 employees in Canada and about 50,000 worldwide.

The report said Trudeau “directed his staff to find a solution that would safeguard SNC-Lavalin’s business interest in Canada.”

“What happened over the past year shouldn’t have happened,” Trudeau said. “I take responsibility for the mistakes that I made. At the same time, we learned many lessons.”

But Trudeau said he didn’t agree that any contact with the attorney general on the issue was inappropriate. He said his job is to consider the impact decisions have on Canadians.

He noted that deferred prosecution agreements are frequently used in many countries and it would be up to his new justice minister on whether the company gets one. 

The scandal led to multiple resignations, including that of Gerry Butts, Trudeau’s top aide and best friend. And it damaged the party for weeks. Butts has since rejoined Trudeau’s re-election campaign team. 

Opposition Conservative leader Andrew Scheer renewed calls for police to investigate and called SNC-Lavalin a “Liberal” linked corporation that defrauded some of the poorest people on earth. 

Scheer said Trudeau hasn’t lived up to promises to be open and honest when he was elected.

“Trudeau may not face a court of law for his role in this scandal, but he will have to face the Canadian people over the next few weeks,” Scheer said. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it is “examining this matter carefully with all available information and will take appropriate actions as required” and declined further comment. 

Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said the report is very damaging and said the scandal could topple Trudeau’s Liberal government. 

“The SNC-Lavalin controversy is certainly reignited and fits with the Conservative narrative that the Trudeau is no angel,” Wiseman said. “I expect the Liberals to drop in the polls by 5% or so. Whether they can recover by election day is an open question. I wouldn’t bet on it.”

A vaping industry group sued the U.S. government on Wednesday to delay an upcoming review of thousands of e-cigarettes on the market.

The legal challenge by the Vapor Technology Association is the latest hurdle in the Food and Drug Administration’s yearslong effort to regulate the multibillion-dollar vaping industry, which includes makers and retailers of e-cigarette devices and flavored solutions.

The vaping group argued that the latest deadline of next May to submit products for review could wipe out many of the smaller companies. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Kentucky. 
 
E-cigarettes first appeared in the U.S. more than a decade ago and have grown in popularity despite little research on their long-term effects, including whether they can help smokers quit cigarettes.

In recent years, health authorities have warned of an epidemic of vaping by underage teenagers, particularly the leading brand Juul, known for its high nicotine content and easy-to-conceal device, which resembles a flash drive. 
 
Nicotine is what makes both cigarettes and e-cigarettes addictive, and health experts say the chemical is harmful to developing brains.

San Francisco-based Juul is among 800 member companies of the vaping association. 

Moving deadlines
 
The 2009 law that gave the FDA power over the traditional tobacco products did not mention e-cigarettes. And it wasn’t until 2016 that the agency expanded its own regulations to include the devices. But since then FDA regulators have repeatedly pushed back the timeline, at one point until 2022, to begin reviewing the legions of vaping products that have come to market.

Frustrated by the delays, anti-tobacco groups including the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids sued the FDA to speed up the process. In June, a federal judge sided with the groups and set a deadline of next May for all companies to submit their products for federal review. The FDA did not appeal the decision.

The vapor group’s lawsuit said the FDA has now set five different deadlines.

“It is time for FDA to stop moving the goalposts and changing the rules in the middle of the game to the detriment of our manufacturers and small businesses,” said Tony Abboud, the group’s executive director, in a statement.

Vaping executives have long said that most companies will not be able to afford to conduct large, expensive studies needed for FDA review. Only products that meet FDA standards would be permitted to be sold. 
 
The FDA declined to comment on the lawsuit. 

Tunisia’s independent electoral body says 26 candidates have qualified to run in the country’s early presidential election on Sept. 15, out of 96 who were seeking the job.

The number of candidates could increase when the final list is announced on Aug. 31, after the appeals process.  
 
Among those sure to bid for Tunisia’s highest office, according to Wednesday’s announcement, are Prime Minister Youssef Chahed and his defense minister who resigned to run in the presidential race, Abdelkrim Zbidi. Lawyer Abdelfattah Mourou plans to be a candidate for Islamist party Ennahdha, which now holds the most seats in parliament. 
 
The early election follows the July 25 death of Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, 92, the North African nation’s first democratically elected president.

An Indian court Wednesday acquitted six people accused of murdering a Muslim man who was attacked while transporting cows, which Hindus revere.

Pehlu Khan, a 55-year-old farmer, died after around 200 vigilantes attacked trucks carrying cattle on a highway in the western state of Rajasthan in April 2017.

Nine people were accused of killing Khan, with six of them acquitted by a local court in Rajasthan on Wednesday.

The three other accused are minors and are being tried in a juvenile court, Indian media reported.

The Khan family’s legal team told AFP the prosecution plans to file an appeal against the verdict in the High Court.

Police told AFP that the arrests were made after examining video footage shot by onlookers and eventually broadcast by media. 

The verdict comes two months after New Delhi rejected a U.S. State Department report which said religious violence against minorities had spiked under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

Cow slaughter is illegal in many Indian states and vigilante squads that roam highways checking livestock trucks for animals being transported across state borders have proliferated since the BJP came to power in 2014.

Rajasthan is among the states that ban cow slaughter, and authorities also require anyone transporting the animals across state borders to have a license.

Marieme Jamme was trafficked from Senegal to France at the age of 13 to work as a prostitute. Later, she lived in a refugee center before making her way to Britain, where Jamme became interested in computer programming. She became a success, and she made it her mission to teach one million women and girls — including refugees — how to program by 2030. Ruud Elmendorp reports from Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.

U.S. President Donald Trump attacked China’s trade and financial policies, but refused to criticize Beijing’s pressure on Hong Kong. In a speech Tuesday in Pittsburgh, Trump said China has manipulated the World Trade Organization and the Chinese currency to its advantage. But he said tensions between Beijing and Hong Kong are to be resolved between them. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.

Donald Trump Jr. promoted two Trump-branded resorts in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, on Tuesday, and defended against allegations that the Trump Organization’s global business empire continues to create conflicts of interest for his father’s administration. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this story.

Getting around in a wheelchair takes some maneuvering, but Wheelie makes it as easy as raising your eyebrows. Tina Trinh reports.

Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido warned President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday that any attempts to bring forward parliamentary elections would end in “disaster” for the government.

Elections to renew the National Assembly, the only branch of government under opposition control, are set for December 2020.

But the Constituent Assembly, a rival body created by the Maduro regime and given extraordinary powers superseding the National Assembly, has hinted at the possibility of ordering early elections.

Such a maneuver could threaten the opposition’s hold on the National Assembly and with it Guaido’s claim as head of the legislature to be the country’s legitimate president.

But Guaido insisted it would backfire, further isolating Maduro, who has so far withstood opposition challenges to his presidency with the support of the military.

“What would happen if the regime dared to — and it could — bring forward an irregular convocation for elections without any conditions?” said Guaido.

“They will drown in contradictions, in isolation — they will drown in disaster.”

Constituent Assembly president Diosdado Cabello, the most powerful regime figure after Maduro, admitted on Monday the move was a “counter-attack” after the United States increased its sanctions on the government.

Venezuela has been locked in a political crisis since the legislature branded Maduro a “usurper” in January over his controversial re-election last year in a poll widely denounced as rigged.

As the head of the National Assembly, Guaido demanded Maduro step down and declared himself acting president in a move recognized by more than 50 countries.

The government and the opposition have engaged in Norwegian-mediated talks but those negotiations appear blocked over the opposition’s demand that Maduro step down so new elections can be held.

In the meantime, the regime has stepped up pressure on opposition legislators by stripping 25 of them of their parliamentary immunity over their alleged support for a failed April uprising instigated by Guaido.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini’s spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said these moves were “another direct attack on the only democratically elected body in Venezuela.”

U.S. President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton urged the “international community to hold the tyrant Maduro accountable.”

Democrat Stacey Abrams, who vaulted onto the national political stage championing voting rights during an unsuccessful 2018 run for Georgia governor, announced on Tuesday that she’s launching a new multistate voter protection initiative and not running for president in 2020.

Abrams revealed plans for the multimillion-dollar initiative, called Fair Fight 2020, during a speech before a labor union convention in Las Vegas. The project will staff and fund voter protection teams in battleground states across the country ahead of next year’s elections.

The move follows months of speculation over what Abrams’ next move in politics might be, including whether she’d join the crowded field of 2020 presidential hopefuls.

“We’re going to win because there are only two things stopping us in 2020: making sure people have a reason to vote and that they have the right to vote. Well I’ve decided to leave it to a whole bunch of other folks to make sure they have a reason to vote,” Abrams said, referring to the field of Democratic candidates.

“But I’m here today to announce Fair Fight 2020 to make sure everyone has the right to vote,” she said.

Abrams spokesman Seth Bringman confirmed that Abrams was not running for president and would instead focus on the new initiative.

Abrams faced Republican Brian Kemp during her unsuccessful bid for Georgia governor last year. Kemp was secretary of state during their race, and Abrams frequently accused him of using his position to suppress votes, especially in minority communities.

Kemp vehemently denied the claim.

Voters in that election reported a myriad of problems casting ballots including malfunctioning voting equipment and long wait times that caused some voters to give up in frustration.

Abrams said her new group will fight “systematic” voter suppression across the country.

A statement from Fair Fight says the initiative will “either directly fund, or assist in raising the funds for, robust voter protection operations, which will be run by Democratic state parties and allies.”

“Fair Fight staff will provide ongoing support to these operations,” it says.

Earlier this year, Abrams announced she would not run in 2020 for the U.S. Senate seat held by incumbent Georgia Republican Sen. David Perdue, after being heavily recruited by Senate Democratic leadership to run.

President-elect Alejandro Giammattei said Tuesday that Guatemala will not be able to hold up its side of an immigration agreement with the United States by serving as a “safe third country” for asylum seekers.

Giammattei told The Associated Press his country cannot tend to its own people, let alone those from other countries. The agreement signed with the United States in July by Guatemala’s current administration would require asylum seekers from other countries transiting Guatemala to seek asylum here rather than in the U.S.

“In order to be a safe country, one has to be certified as such by an international body, and I do not think Guatemala fulfills the requirements to be a third safe country. That definition doesn’t fit us,” said Giammattei, a conservative who won Sunday’s presidential runoff election.

“If we do not have the capacity for our own people, just imagine other people,” Giammattei said.

Guatemalans make up one of the largest groups emigrating from Central America because of poverty, unemployment and crime. Critics say it is hard to see how the country could offer a safe haven to migrants from other nations.

The agreement, signed by the government of outgoing President Jimmy Morales, is aimed at reducing the number of asylum seekers arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration pressured Guatemala to sign the deal by threatening to punish Guatemala with taxes.

Giammattei, who takes office Jan. 14, said that annexes to the agreement are still being negotiated with the United States and that he would ask Morales to include members of his transition team in those talks.

The president-elect also noted that the agreement would have to be ratified by the congresses of both nations to go into force. There has been widespread criticism of the deal in Guatemala.

Giammattei pledged to recognize the importance of Guatemalan migrants living in the United States by creating a Washington-based Cabinet-level position to attend to migrant affairs.

“It is about time we had a government that cared for the people,” he said. “It is these people (migrants) who are supporting us” with the remittance money they send back to relatives in Guatemala, he added.

“I do not think physical walls, or walls of weapons, can stop migration,” Giammattei said. “I think what can stop migration are walls of opportunities.”

On another matter, the incoming leader distanced himself from Morales’ unpopular decision to not renew the mandate of the U.N.-sponsored anti-corruption commission that has played a key role in sending high-ranking politicians, including ex-presidents, to jail. But Giammattei also indicated he wouldn’t work to bring back the commission, known as CICIG.  

“The mandate has been terminated; the United Nations accepted that,” he said.

 He said he has no legal capacity or any other authority to ask Morales to renew the commission.

“The CICIG is disappearing and history will judge whether Morales’ decision was right or not,” he said.

A Mexican judge has ordered former cabinet minister Rosario Robles detained pending criminal proceedings involving the disappearance of public funds, a lawyer for Robles said Tuesday, in a case hailed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as part of his campaign against corruption.

Robles served in the cabinet of former President Enrique Pena Nieto from 2012 to 2018, first as secretary of social development and then as secretary of agrarian, land and urban development, and earlier became the first woman to serve as mayor of Mexico City.

Prosecutors have accused Robles of “improper exercise of public service.” Robles has appeared in court over prosecution claims that more than 5 billion pesos ($258 million) destined for welfare programs during her tenure had gone missing, according to local media reports.

The investigation has fueled accusations that the money was siphoned off, allegations denied by Robles. Julio Hernandez, a lawyer for Robles, said on local television that she will fight the accusations.

“Truly, Rosario Robles is innocent,” Hernandez said. 

Lopez Obrador made rooting out corruption a cornerstone of his campaign for the presidency. The investigation into Robles represents one of the highest-profile cases during his administration.

Asked whether the Robles case represented an achievement for his administration, Lopez Obrador said, “I believe that it is an accomplishment that there is no impunity.”

Robles is one of several officials from Pena Nieto’s administration, including a former head of state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, to end up in the crosshairs of Lopez Obrador’s government. Robles has been a high-profile figure in Mexican politics for two decades. Lopez Obrador succeeded her as mayor of the capital.

During his regular morning news conference, Lopez Obrador said the investigation of Robles will determine whether other people who have served in government are implicated in the case.

Lopez Obrador said that a judge will decide the next steps in the Robles case, stressing the independence of judicial authorities.