The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan tells VOA that Kabul has consciously decided to concentrate its security forces around population centers, which is partly what has led to the Taliban gaining territory. The comments came shortly after General John Nicholson appeared on Capitol Hill asking for more troops for his mission. VOA’s Amy Katz reports.
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U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe mixed business with pleasure Saturday on the second day of the multiday summit between the two leaders.

A day after Trump declared at the White House an alliance between the two countries is a cornerstone of peace in East Asia, Trump and Abe played golf Saturday at Trump National Golf Course near his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

Abe and Trump had more discussions Saturday over meals at various Trump properties in Florida.

Moments before the presidential motorcade arrived at the golf course, it crossed an intersection with a couple dozen protesters carrying signs, some of which said “Stop Hate and “Resist.”

Before departing for Florida Friday afternoon, the two leaders began talks at the White House that provided them with opportunities to reinforce a long-established security treaty and bolster their economic relationship.

On trade

Abe said he and Trump reached agreement on a new framework for economic talks, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal would be among the topics of discussion. Trump said any trading relationship between the two countries must be “free, fair and reciprocal.”

Japan has been concerned about the impact that Trump’s decision to withdraw from the TPP trade agreement, and his “America First” strategy, would have on Asia.

Abe expressed hope of developing a joint economic stimulus package that could create thousands of U.S. jobs through private and public investments in infrastructure.

Trump has spent more time with Abe than any other foreign leader since becoming president January 20. The meeting with Abe is Trump’s second face-to-face meeting with a key ally after hosting British Prime Minister Theresa May in Washington two weeks ago. The weekend excursion is Trump’s first use of his Mar-a-Lago resort to entertain an international leader.

‘We will work together’

The Trump administration set a positive tone for the weekend summit by saying before Abe’s arrival at the White House that Trump is committed to resisting any unilateral declarations that would threaten Japan’s authority over disputed islands in the East China Sea.

At their Friday news conference, Trump reaffirmed that commitment, as well as one ensuring safety in the region.

“We will work together to promote our shared interests … including freedom of navigation and defending against the North Korean missile and nuclear threat, both of which I consider a very, very high priority,” he said.

Japan’s concerns about Trump’s campaign promise to get Japan and other U.S. allies to pay more for their own defense were allayed somewhat by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis during a visit last week to Japan and South Korea.

Trump’s meeting with Japan’s prime minister occurs as the new U.S. administration appears to be adopting a more traditional U.S. policy toward Asia that features consolidating alliances and collaboration with China.

Late Thursday, Trump reaffirmed America’s long-standing “One China” policy in a telephone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Late Friday, Trump and Abe had dinner with their wives on an outdoor patio at Mar-a-Lago. They were joined by Robert Kraft, the owner of the National Football League’s New England Patriots, which won the Super Bowl last Sunday.

Trump and Abe are scheduled to leave Florida Sunday.
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A suicide car bombing Saturday killed at least seven people and wounded many others in Afghanistan’s embattled southern province of Helmand, officials said.

The Taliban insurgency took responsibility for the bombing, according to a spokesman for the group, who claimed army officers and soldiers were among the casualties.

The attack near a bank in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah was aimed at an Afghan National Army (ANA) convoy, a provincial government spokesman told VOA.

Soldiers and civilians were among those killed and wounded, said Omar Zwak. He added that at least 21 wounded people have been sent to area hospitals.

The victims were collecting their salaries when the bomber hit a military vehicle with his explosives-laden car outside the bank, said the spokesman.

The Taliban insurgency controls most of the province and often claims suicide and other bombings against Afghan security forces.

Airstrike probe

Meanwhile, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said Saturday it is looking into reports of civilian casualties from American airstrikes in another district of Helmand.  

Residents and Taliban insurgents in Sangin, the district center, alleged that the airstrikes Thursday night killed at least 20 civilians and wounded several others.

Provincial Governor Hayatullah Hayyat, accompanied by military and police commanders, told a joint news conference Saturday in Lashkar Gah that claims of civilian casualties were untrue.

He said the U.S. strikes targeted insurgent positions and killed nearly 60 Taliban fighters. Hayyat asked for proof from those claiming the attack caused civilian casualties.  

A U.S. military spokesman on Friday confirmed it carried out air raids against Taliban positions in the area, and it was looking into allegations of civilian casualties in the strikes.

“We are aware of the allegations of civilian casualties, and take every allegation very seriously,” a statement quoted the spokesman as saying.
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The head of Cambodia’s opposition party has announced his resignation from the group after the country’s long-serving prime minister announced plans for a law that could lead to the party’s dissolution.

Sam Rainsy announced his resignation Saturday in a letter to his Cambodia National Rescue Party.

His actions came after Prime Minister Hun Sen earlier this month vowed to amend the laws on political parties to keep convicts from holding leadership positions, among other rules.

Sam Rainsy is in self-imposed exile to avoid a prison sentence for criminal defamation. He’s been the target of several lawsuits by Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People’s Party.

The opposition says the lawsuits are without merit, and just a legal ploy to try to cripple them. Cambodia will hold local elections this June.
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Piyush Rai emerged from a polling station Saturday morning in Ghaziabad in India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state along with his family, fervently hoping his vote for a new regional government will help bring development and jobs for young people.

“Even those among us who have post-graduate degrees have no jobs. The law and order situation is so alarming,” laments Rai who is convinced that only Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can improve the situation.

A short distance away at another polling booth, the sentiment is completely different among people who crowd around officers searching for their name in the voters list.

As he waits to cast his vote, Nadeem Malik slams the prime minister’s recent ban on high-value currency notes that created a massive cash crunch. “Our work, which was going well, came to a halt, common people like me took a hit,” he says, vowing to support the ruling Samajwadi Party.

Crucial mid-term verdict

These are among millions of voters in northern Uttar Pradesh state who will deliver a crucial mid-term verdict on Modi and decide whether he can wrest India’s biggest political prize from the ruling Samajwadi party.

Polls are being held in five states, but none is more crucial to the political fortunes of Modi as Uttar Pradesh. Home to 220 million people, the sprawling state is the country’s biggest and polling will be held in seven stages over the next four weeks. It is also among the country’s poorest regions, but the battleground state is widely seen as holding the political pulse of the country.

“This is a kind of test for Mr. Modi’s continuing popularity,” says Ajoy Bose, an independent political analyst in New Delhi.

Three years ago, the BJP won a stunning victory in the state during national elections, helping it get the biggest parliamentary mandate in three decades. At that time Modi had rallied voters with his promise of economic revival and cleaning up what is widely seen as corrupt governance.

Uphill battle

But bringing about the radical change he promised and creating the tens of thousands of jobs that India’s young population needs has not been easy and many analysts say winning the regional polls will be an uphill battle.

The BJP had hoped to capitalize on Modi’s radical currency ban last year that aimed at striking at rich people with illegal cash and empowering the poor.

Many like Pinky Bharti, a beautician in Ghaziabad, admire the bold move and see him as a messiah who will root out corruption. “He did not distinguish between the rich and the poor, he brought everyone down to the same level,” she says.

But analysts warn that the high-risk gamble could have also cost him the support of tens of thousands of poor people in remote areas, who were worst affected by the currency shortages, as well as that of traders whose businesses, which depend heavily on cash transactions, slowed down.

“If he is unable to form a government there, it will be seen as an erosion of BJP support,” warns Bose.

The BJP’s main opponent is the regional Samajwadi party of incumbent Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav – a savvy young politician who last month struck what many consider could be a winning alliance with the Congress Party.

Another contender for power is Mayawati, whose Bahujan Samaj Party draws its support from the lower castes, but who has also made an outreach to Muslims hoping to broaden her base.

Predictions vary

Pollsters have given varying predictions, some putting the Samajwadi Party ahead, while others say the BJP is in front. Most analysts feel the race is wide open and the contest could be close.  

Whatever the outcome, Saturday’s poll was another colorful celebration of democracy in India.  Across towns and villages, by 9 a.m. there were long lines at schools and colleges that had been converted into polling locations. Police and armed guards ensured smooth polling.

In this poor state where people tend to vote along traditional caste and religious lines, thousands of illiterate women emerged from their homes enthusiastically, but simply cast their ballots as they were instructed to do by the men in the family.

Twenty-five-year-old Suman, who arrived with her two young children simply says she will vote for “the flower,” meaning the lotus symbol of the BJP, and finds it difficult to elaborate beyond that. Poonam Puri is also looking forward to voting, and says she will stamp on “the hand,” referring to the symbol of the Congress Party.

Polling will end on March 8 and results will be tallied on March 11.

It will be a crucial count for Modi. “The fact is the rest of his term, Mr. Modi will be looking over this shoulder if he does badly in these elections,” says political analyst Bose. On the other hand, if he does well, then he will get breathing space and he will have time to recover.”
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Every year, dozens of talented young American musicians spend a week at Grammy Camp in Los Angeles. They live and breathe music, playing with their peers, honing their skills and working with some of the biggest names in the industry.

This year, they jammed with Joey Alexander, the 13-year-old Indonesian-born jazz pianist whose debut album, “My Favorite Things,” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Albums chart and received two Grammy nominations last year, for best jazz instrumental album and best improvised jazz solo.

This year he was nominated for a third Grammy, for best improvised jazz solo with “Countdown.” The field this year also includes John Scofield, Brad Mehldau, Fred Hersch and Ravi Coltrane, son of the late jazz icon John Coltrane.

One of the campers, Geoff Gallante, played trumpet with Alexander on a ballad: “Just me and him … so that’s a great honor. We got to play for a good 15 minutes.”

Born in Bali, now a New Yorker

Alexander felt the same way. 

“It’s really my honor because to play with my peers who are close to my age … so I am really happy,” he told VOA.

Josiah Alexander Sila was born in Bali to musical parents; his dad plays guitar and piano, his mom’s sister is the Indonesian pop star Nafa Urbach. He remembers hearing jazz for the first time when he was 3 years old; at 6, he was playing the piano.

Alexander played for jazz icon Herbie Hancock in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, but his big break came in 2014 when trumpeter Wynton Marsalis spotted him on YouTube. Marsalis, the artistic director for Jazz at Lincoln Center, invited Alexander to play at the center’s gala that year.

Since then, Alexander has been profiled on U.S. television (CBS-TV’s “60 Minutes”) and received millions of views on YouTube. However, “I’m still me,” he told an interviewer from National Public Radio. “I play sports. Like, I play a little bit of tennis, swimming, like a normal kid. I watch movies.”

The ‘confident touch’ of a veteran

Alexander now lives with his parents in New York City, where he is home-schooled when not performing and receiving swooning reviews from the jazz press.

Alexander’s original compositions, JazzWeekly said, show that “his touch is already confident, spacious and patient.”

Or as Sylvannia Garutch, wrote in the online Elmore Magazine: “I have reached the point where I no longer think of him as an incredible jazz pianist for such a young man; I regard him as an incredible jazz pianist, period.”

This story was first reported by VOA Bahasa Indonesia.
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A new pod of 240 whales swam aground at a remote New Zealand beach Saturday just hours after weary volunteers managed to refloat a different group of whales from an earlier mass stranding.

In total, more than 650 pilot whales have beached themselves along a 5 kilometer (3 mile) stretch of coastline over two days on Farewell Spit at the tip of the South Island. About 335 of the whales are dead, 220 remain stranded, and 100 are back at sea.

Department of Conservation Golden Bay Operations Manager Andrew Lamason said they are sure they’re dealing with a new pod because they had tagged all the refloated whales from the first group and none of the new group had tags.

The news was devastating for hundreds of volunteers who had come from around the country to help with the initial group of 416 stranded whales that was found early Friday, many of them already dead. 

Volunteers not giving up

Volunteers are planning to return Sunday to help refloat as many healthy whales as they can.

Lamason said about 20 of the new group were euthanized by conservation workers because they were in poor condition and more would likely need to be killed Sunday.

Rescuers had been hopeful earlier Saturday after efforts to refloat the initial group of whales had gone well, following a frustrating day Friday.

Lamason said improved weather and crystal clear water helped with the latest rescue attempt. He said all the surviving whales were refloated, and about 100 volunteers formed a human chain in the water to prevent them from beaching again.

He said volunteers were warned about the possibility of stingrays and sharks, after one of the dead whales appeared to have bite marks consistent with a shark. He said there had been no shark sightings.

Carcass disposal 

With the rescue effort now paused, officials are beginning to turn their attention to the grim task of disposing of hundreds of carcasses.

Lamason said one option was to tether the carcasses to stakes or a boat in the shallow tidal waters and let them decompose. The problem with towing them out to sea or leaving them was that they could become gaseous and buoyant, and end up causing problems by floating into populated bays.

Farewell Spit, a sliver of sand that arches like a hook into the Tasman Sea, has been the site of previous mass strandings. Sometimes described as a whale trap, the spit’s long coastline and gently sloping beaches seem to make it difficult for whales to navigate away from once they get close.

There are different theories as to why whales strand themselves, from chasing prey too far inshore to trying to protect a sick member of the group or escaping a predator.

New Zealand has one of the highest rates of whale strandings in the world, and Friday’s event is the nation’s third-biggest in recorded history. The largest was in 1918, when about 1,000 pilot whales came ashore on the Chatham Islands. In 1985, about 450 whales stranded in Auckland.

Pilot whales grow to about 7.5 meters (25 feet) and are common around New Zealand’s waters. 
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Every year, dozens of talented American students are selected to join the Grammy Camp in Los Angeles, where the annual Grammy Awards are presented each year. For a week, the Grammy campers hone their musical skills and perform alongside famous professional musicians, including Indonesian jazz piano prodigy Joey Alexander. The 13-year-old is one of this year’s Grammy Awards contenders. VinaMubtadi reports.
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