Waching daily Nov 1 2018

President Donald Trump says he wants to end to the constitutional right of citizenship

for babies born in the United States to non-U.S. citizens.

Trump made the comments on the television program "Axios on HBO."

They come a week before general elections, also called mid-term elections.

The name comes from the fact that they come half way through the president's four-year

term in office.

The Associated Press (AP) reports that the president wants to energize his supporters

and help the Republican Party keep control of Congress.

Trump has expressed concern about a large group of Central American migrants walking

across Mexico toward the U.S. border.

On Monday, the Trump administration announced it is sending thousands of troops to the border

area.

The president has said he will build tent cities for those seeking asylum.

For years, Trump and many U.S. conservatives have called for an end to birthright citizenship.

One idea is for the president to sign an executive order to suspend that constitutional right.

But it is not clear if a president has the power to declare that children born in the

United States to those living here illegally are not citizens.

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution guarantees that right for all children born in the United

States.

When asked if he had the power to make such a change, Trump said, "they're saying

I can do it just with an executive order."

He added that "we're the only country in the world where a person comes in and has

a baby, and the baby is…a citizen of the United States."

A 2010 study from the Center for Immigration Studies showed that 30 countries offered birthright

citizenship.

Some of Trump's recent comments were published Tuesday on Axios's website.

The president said that government lawyers are studying his proposal.

It is unclear how quickly he would act on the executive order.

A person close to the Trump White House said the issue of birthright citizenship had been

raised many times during the past year.

However, some White House officials reportedly expressed opposition to any change.

White House lawyers will work with the Justice Department to develop a legal justification

for the action, the person said.

The person added that it is one of many immigration policy changes being discussed.

Legal experts questioned whether Trump has the power to make such changes with an executive

order.

Omar Jadwat is the director of the Immigrants' Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties

Union in New York.

He noted that the U.S. Constitution is very clear.

"If you are born in the United States, you're a citizen," he said.

He added that it was "outrageous that the president can think he can override constitutional

guarantees by issuing an executive order."

Jadwat said the president is required to defend the Constitution.

He added that Trump can try to get Congress to pass a constitutional amendment, but he

said, "I don't think they are anywhere close to getting that."

Any decision by Congress would end up in court, Jadwat said.

Suzanna Sherry is a professor of law at Vanderbilt Law School in Tennessee.

She told the Associated Press that people who are telling Trump he can change the Constitution

with an executive order are mistaken.

"He can't do it by himself," she said, adding that he cannot do it even if Congress

agrees.

Sherry said, "I think it would take a Constitutional amendment."

Under the Constitution, an amendment may be proposed by the Congress with a two-thirds

majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Or two-third of state legislatures must call for a special meeting, or constitutional convention.

But other experts say the U.S. president may have the power to end birthright citizenship.

Jon Feere is an adviser at Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

He has argued that that the president could limit citizenship through an executive order.

Feere wrote that a president could direct the government to follow his interpretation

of the Supreme Court's past rulings.

The court has only ruled on the children of legal immigrants.

It has not ruled on the children of those asking for asylum or those who are in the

country illegally.

Feere also wrote that a president could tell the government to give Social Security numbers

and passports only to children who have at least one parent who is a citizen or parents

who are in the United States legally.

His argument was published in The Hill in 2015.

The first line of the 14th Amendment states that "All persons born or naturalized in

the United States…are citizens of the United States…"

Congress passed the 14th Amendment in 1866 after the Civil War.

It was agreed to by three-fourths of the states in 1868.

At the time, the amendment was seen as a way to guarantee citizenship to freed slaves and

their children.

I'm Ashley Thompson.

And I'm Mario Ritter.

Former United States President Jimmy Carter has travelled the world observing elections

to find out if they are fair.

Carter also is a former Democratic governor in the American state of Georgia.

Now he is turning attention to an election in his home state.

He is asking Republican candidate for governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, to resign from his

current position as secretary of state.

As secretary of state, Kemp oversees the state's elections, including his own for governor

against Democrat Stacey Abrams.

Carter wrote, "Popular confidence is threatened not only by the undeniable racial discrimination

of the past...but also because you are now overseeing the election in which you are a

candidate."

He added in a personal letter sent to Kemp, "I urge you to step aside and hand over to

a neutral authority the responsibility of overseeing the governor's election."

Carter has offered his support to Abrams.

In a recent debate with Abrams, Kemp said that local officials run the elections process.

However, Kemp's critics have accused him of using his office to make it harder for minorities

and other Democratic Party supporters to vote.

They said Kemp's office held up 53,000 voter registrations under the state's new law for

registration by mail.

Under the law, a misspelling or a difference between a family name and a married name can

cause a registration to be rejected.

Kemp answered that he is carrying out state law.

He also said those would-be voters could still vote if they present acceptable identification

to clear up doubts.

Kemp's Republican supporters accused Abrams and the Democrats of wanting to give voting

rights to illegal immigrants in advertising seen around the state.

The state of Georgia is not the only American state with new laws that, critics say, make

it harder for people to vote.

The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School says that 24 states

passed voting measures after the 2010 election.

The center studies issues including voting rights and campaign reform in America.

The group reported that 13 states have passed restrictive voter identification laws.

Eleven states have laws that make it harder for citizens to register.

Seven states have reduced early voting.

And three states have passed laws making it harder to restore voting rights to people

who have committed crimes.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to block a North Dakota law requiring voters

to show identification with current street addresses.

Activists argued that the law could prevent 19,000 Native Americans who live on reservations

from voting because they often lack street addresses.

In Kansas, the American Civil Liberties Union is bringing legal action against local officials

for moving the only voting place outside of Dodge City.

The group says the move makes it harder for the city's Hispanic population to vote.

The city also sent new voters, mainly Hispanics, the wrong address.

Kansas, along with Tennessee, Arizona, Alabama and Georgia, have also passed laws requiring

proof of citizenship in order to register to vote.

The laws are being considered by courts.

Supporters of the voting restrictions say that these measures are necessary to prevent

unlawful voting.

And they say the new laws increase public trust in the electoral process.

In 2017, President Donald Trump created a commission to study the issue of unlawful

voting.

After the 2016 presidential election, Trump had said that millions of illegal ballots

had been completed.

The commission, however, ended its work a year later without finding evidence of widespread

illegal voting.

I'm Mario Ritter.

The United Nations refugee agency has condemned an agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar

about minority Rohingyas.

Under the agreement, Bangladesh would return thousands of Rohingya Muslims to Rakhine state

in Myanmar.

The ethnic group began fleeing that area in August 2017 to escape violence.

The return is to begin next month.

However, the U.N. refugee agency said conditions in Rakhine are not right for a safe, respectful

return.

A UNHCR spokesman said that the UN will not assist with such refugee returns because Rakhine

state is unsafe for Rohingyas.

He said Rohingya and other Muslims in three Rakhine towns suffer difficulties and poverty

because of restrictions on their movement.

He added that the area is filled with "fear and mistrust."

More than 700,000 Rohingya refugees crossed into Bangladesh from western Myanmar, U.N.

agencies say.

They fled after Myanmar launched a military campaign in August 2017 to crush Rohingya

rebels.

U.N. investigators have called the campaign "genocide."

Bangladesh reportedly gave Myanmar the names of more than 5,000 Rohingya refugees who had

been processed for return.

On Wednesday, Myanmar officials visited camps for Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh.

The officials wanted to persuade the refugees that it is safe to return.

A group of about 60 Rohingya community leaders met a delegation of about 12 Myanmar officials

in the Kutupalong camp, said two Rohingya men who were present.

Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh is the largest refugee settlement in the world.

Myanmar says it has been ready to accept back the refugees since January, and has built

camps near the border to receive them.

Myint Thu, permanent secretary at Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and leader of

the Myanmar delegation, said Myanmar had confirmed about 5,000 names of refugees.

He said that repatriation would begin with 2,000 returnees in mid-November.

It is unclear if these 2,000 have agreed to return to Myanmar.

"We are here to meet with people from the camps so that I can explain what we have prepared

for their return and then I can listen to their voices," he told reporters near the

camp.

Bangladesh handed over an additional list of more than 22,000 Rohingya refugees to Myanmar,

Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Abul Kalam told Reuters.

Rohingya leaders said after Wednesday's meeting that they were not convinced they should return.

"They told us we don't have to stay (in a camp) for long, but when we asked for how

many days they could not say," said Mohib Ullah, an important Rohingya leader in the

Kutupalong camp.

Mohib Ullah said Rohingya leaders wanted Myanmar to recognize them as an ethnic group with

the right to Myanmar citizenship before they return.

Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingya as a native ethnic group.

They have lived as a stateless people for six generations.

Many in the Buddhist-majority country call the Rohingya "Bengalis", suggesting they belong

in Bangladesh.

A Reuters reporter examined a pamphlet given to refugees by Myanmar officials on Wednesday.

It says Rohingya should accept new identity cards as a "first step" to citizenship.

Many Rohingya reject the cards, which they say call them Bengalis and not citizens of

Myanmar.

Those with "national verifications cards" (NVCs) would be guaranteed government assistance,

but those without will be "stateless," the pamphlet says.

"When we asked about our citizenship there was no answer," said Abdur Rahim, another

Rohingya at the meeting.

"They told us to accept NVCs.

We are not accepting NVCs.

We are not Bengali."

The Rohingya leaders gave the delegation a letter for Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

It set out their demands, which include payment for the violence they have faced.

U.N. rights investigators said in August that Myanmar's military acted with "genocidal intent"

during last year's violence.

The administration of Nobel laureate Suu Kyi has denied most of the accusations.

She says the military was trying to stop "terrorism."

China has played an important role in the situation.

It sided with Myanmar when the refugees fled.

Now China is holding talks with the Bangladesh government to speed up the repatriation.

Western countries and the United Nations have said that all returns must be voluntary.

They have also called on Myanmar to take responsibility for the military's violent abuses.

Many Buddhists from Rakhine state do not want the Rohingya to return.

Buddhists are the majority population in western Myanmar's Rakhine state.

Than Tun is a Rakhine community leader.

He said those who return should be placed in a part of the Maungdaw area close to the

border.

They should not be allowed to return to the formerly Muslim-majority areas, he added.

"We Rakhine don't want them to come back at all, but we understand there's international

pressure," he said.

I'm Susan Shand.

French officials say famed musician Yo-Yo Ma will perform at the Arc de Triomphe in

Paris in a World War I anniversary event.

The war ended 100 years ago on November 11, 1918.

More than 16 million people were killed, 9 million of them soldiers.

The fighting lasted almost four years, four months.

At the time of the fighting, World War I was often spoken of as "the war to end all wars."

Now, it is often called "The Great War."

Joseph Zimet is director of France's First World War Centenary Mission.

He says Ma will lead a field of "great international artists" during the November 11 ceremony close

to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The Chinese-American artist Ma, who received the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom

back in 2010, was born in Paris in 1955.

A group of young musicians, called The European Union Youth Orchestra, has also been invited

to perform.

They will play Ravel's "Bolero" at the event.

Beninese artist Angelique Kidjo is to sing in honor of the colonial troops who fought

for France during the war.

I'm ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬Dorothy Gundy.

The man accused of killing 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh reportedly left messages

on a small social media service.

The suspect, Robert Bowers, was charged with 29 crimes, including hate crimes, related

to the attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The attack on the Jewish religious center also injured at least six others, including

four police officers.

On the morning of the shooting, a person using the name of Robert Bowers posted an anti-Semitic

message on a social media service called Gab.

The message targeted a Jewish nonprofit group called HIAS.

The group seeks to help refugees around the world.

The message said: "HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people."

The post continued, "I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered...I'm going in."

Officials said Bowers called out "All Jews must die," before he fired at people inside

the synagogue.

The Southern Poverty Law Center is a nonprofit civil rights group.

It said an examination of the suspect's social media activity on Gab showed he had posted

or reposted content at least 68 times.

It said the postings often dealt with "numerous anti-Semitic conspiracy theories" long publicized

by neo-Nazi and white nationalist groups.

By Monday, Gab was no longer available on the internet after several companies supporting

the site cut off services for policy violations.

The Gab service was launched in 2016 by Andrew Torba.

He said his purpose was to provide another social media choice for people facing restrictions

by other services.

The site gained popularity as Twitter and Facebook sought to ban members of a movement

known as the "alt-right."

The alt-right is a far-right movement that publicizes extreme ideas -- mainly on the

internet.

Twitter, Facebook and other social media have said bans are carried out when users violate

policies against hate speech or threats of violence, not because of their political views.

On its Twitter page, Gab describes itself as "built, owned and funded by The People,

with a mission to defend individual liberty and free expression online."

The service lets users read and write messages called "gabs."

The company that hosted the site, GoDaddy, said it decided to end its service because

Gab had violated a policy against promoting violence.

Payment company PayPal also banned Gab from using its services.

Apple and Google blocked app sales of Gab for violating hate speech policies.

In an interview published Tuesday on the internet, Torba said he was "horrified" when he learned

the shooting suspect had used Gab.

He said Bowers clearly violated a company policy that bans "threats of violence and

terrorism."

But Torba said he did not know about Bowers or his postings until after the attack.

Torba said his company had fully cooperated with U.S. law enforcement officials since

the attack "to bring justice to an alleged terrorist."

He added, "Because of the data we provided, they now have plenty of evidence for their

case."

In a statement, Torba called the actions against his site and new criticism after the Pittsburgh

shooting unfair.

He says the site simply aims to "defend free expression" for all individuals.

"Social media often brings out the best and the worst of humanity," his statement said.

He added that he was working to find new partner companies to support the service so it can

return to the internet.

"Gab isn't going anywhere," he wrote.

Other sites known to be popular with alt-right groups are 4chan and Reddit.

These sites both have areas where members can read and post political views.

Oren Segal is the director of the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism.

He told Yahoo News his organization has already observed internet discussions among extremists

about what will happen if Gab goes away forever.

He said it is highly likely that another service sharing Gab's views on uncensored speech would

take over.

"This is the beginning of this discussion," Segal said.

"Gab being taken down is not the end."

I'm Bryan Lynn.

Chinese officials say the country will permit trading of products made from endangered tigers

and rhinos in "special" cases.

The decision ended a ban that had been in effect since 1993.

No reason was given for lifting the ban.

A government statement issued on Monday did not note any change to existing law.

Instead, the statement said the government would "control" the trade.

The new rules permit the sale of rhino horns and tiger bones from farmed animals.

The animal parts may be sold only if the products are for medical research or treatment.

Tiger bone and rhino horn are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

There is a lack of evidence, however, that they are effective in treating disease.

The statement said the central government "urged governments at all levels to improve

publicity activities for protecting rhinos and tigers to help the public actively boycott

any illegal purchases."

Wildlife conservation groups have condemned the decision.

The U.S.-based World Wildlife Fund said the move would lead to "devastating" results around

the world.

It said illegal hunters would be able to hide behind the legalized trade.

Margaret Kinnaird is with the World Wildlife Fund.

She said in a statement, "With wild tiger and rhino populations at such low levels and

facing numerous threats, legalized trade in their parts is simply too great a gamble for

China to take."

She added that the decision appeared to go against, in her words, "the leadership China

has shown recently in tackling the illegal wildlife trade."

China banned the sale of ivory from elephant tusks earlier this year, a move that conservationists

praised.

Britain's Environmental Investigation Agency said the move hurts "international efforts

for tiger and rhino conservation."

The group added that China has destroyed its "reputation as a growing leader in conservation."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China's position on protecting endangered animals

is unchanged.

He said the changes are aimed at making earlier rules clearer and increasing enforcement.

There are fewer than 4,000 wild tigers left in the world, according to 2016 reports.

Studies estimate the population of wild rhinos to be less than 30,000.

I'm Ashley Thompson.