Near Michael Bloomberg on stage with his rivals for the 1st time Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former South Bend Indiana Mayor Pete booted judge entered the debate fresh off of strong performances in Iowa New Hampshire the 1st 2 states to make their selections in the nominating process contest Minnesota Senator Amy Cobra sure is looking to ride momentum from a surprise 3rd place finish in New Hampshire and among the candidates for whom the debate and Saturday's voting are a chance to breakthrough and recapture the support that made them strong contenders in earlier national polls are former Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren the White House is denying reports that President Trump offered to pardon Wiki Leaks founder Julian Assange if he would say Russia had nothing to do with leaking Democratic e-mails in 2016 we get more from a.p. Correspondent Mike Ross at a preliminary hearing in London Wednesday an attorney for Wiki Leaks founder Julian Assange read a statement from another lawyer who says that Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher went to see a songe at the Ecuadorian embassy in London in $27.00 team on instructions from President Donald Trump according to the statement from Attorney Jennifer Robinson Rohrabacher relayed that Trump was offering a pardon or some other way out if Assad said Russia had nothing to do with the leaks from the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 election White House Spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham says Trump has never spoken to Rohrabacher about a songe a full hearing for a song she is fighting extradition to the u.s. On spying charges is scheduled to begin next week I'm Mike Ross 8 people were killed on Wednesday and 2 shooting incidents in a German city near Frankfurt and special forces were chasing the gunman who fled in a car local media said the gunman had opened fire to a shisha bars and heavily armed police sealed 2 streets in the city this is the only news President Trump has tapped a staunch supporter to serve as acting director of National Intelligence e.p. . Correspondent Jackie Quinn Richard Grinnell's been serving as the u.s. Ambassador to Germany now he'll replace Joseph McGuire who was acting national intelligence director since August the move puts a loyal Trump ally in charge of the nation's 17 spy agencies there are some who are criticizing the announcement they say this sensitive a job should go to someone with deep experience in intelligence and by naming Grinnell as acting director the president is able to sidestep a confirmation hearing in the Senate Jackie Quinn Washington more than 100 Hong Kong residents who were quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise in Japan for over 2 weeks landed Thursday morning in the Asian financial hub where they will face a further 14 days of Korean teen authority said 55 of the 364 Hong Kong residents on the ship were infected with the coronavirus they will remain in Japan along with 33 other citizens who have been in close contact with them one alert recently says that 2 people have died who were on the ship u.n. Officials express alarm on Wednesday at the worsening humanitarian situation in Syria gear Petersen the u.n. Special envoy for Syria briefed the Security Council Wednesday are along by the rapid deterioration of humanitarian situation in Libya Syria and the tragic suffering of civilians and the u.n. Humanitarian affairs chief Mark Lowcock called on the warring parties to present fact the displaced the filming of women and children living on the scraps of plastic sheeting and in freezing conditions is cruel beyond belief we are still trying to count the number of civilians killed yesterday backed by heavy Russian airstrikes Syrian government forces have for weeks been conducting a crushing military campaign to recapture the Aleppo countryside and parts of neighboring itll a province in northwestern Syria. Mexican law enforcement has arrested dust the suspects in the killing of a 7 year old girl whose murder rocked the capital with protest and the body of a team of Sicilia was discovered over the weekend and not plastic garbage bags sparking outrage over their rolling violence there u.s. Secretary of state Mike pump Ale has condemned China's expulsion of 3 Wall Street Journal reporters after the paper's opinion section published a piece critical of China's handling of the corona virus outbreak and a statement from pale said mature responsible countries understand that a free press publishes facts and expresses opinions I'm Tommy McNeill below in. Good morning Africa welcome to daybreak Africa for the Voice of America but in Washington today is Thursday February 27th here are some of the stories we are covering Italy's government says it is ready for such a this presidential election giving us a ball some local observers from monitoring the polls in the months to. Over the weekend if that independent and. Vote for you but. If you go about why Rice told us myself a public administration has Polonetsky passes to keep the Electoral Reform motions will have an update on Guinea Bissau electoral crisis and Libya's un by the government says it has suspended talks with General. Us forces the shelling attack on a cargo ship in Tripoli Harbor by Libyan forces during Easter a commander General start to stay appears to Adele to set back to the way sponsored talks in Geneva That's correspondent Ed where you radio in Cairo Uganda says export amazed grain to Zimbabwe is a win win situation and an identified Zimbabwean woman has me admitted to a hospital in Harare after showing symptoms of the corona knows there is a more coming up on Daybreak Africa. The government says all is ready for Saturday's presidential election even as it barred some local observers from monitoring the polls Togo's Election Commission said Wednesday that it has counseled the accreditation of the national consultation of civil society of Togo and its 500 observers from monitoring Saturday's vote the commission has also blocked the monitors. The Catholic Church Gilmore by law Togo's Minister for Public Administration says the tool musicians are not neutral president for not simply was seeking another term is being challenged by opposition coalition candidates and from a Prime Minister I by all means call Joe information minister but while Russia says all has been put in place to make such a dizzy lection transparent and peaceful become. The company will be. So we will. Include Election Day. Also very. Simply and all the required by the village. Election. So how do you think oh you know kind of the president for nothing but I usually don't when the you think he's going to be reelected Yeah yeah yeah well you know they got the population. All over the country from the. From the. West and the level of. Commitment. You know down on the 2nd. We hear that the elections commission says that the national consultation of civil society of Togo and also the Catholic Church cannot observe the election is that true I think . Quite. Independently and it. Will be. When you said they are not independent What do you me I think when you take. The. Political debate by giving the impression that the. Defendant. Probably but happily and this is what happened we've. Got to. Go But what about the Togolese diaspora I think we spoke the last time maybe last year that the government was making an Irishman's phone to Billy's diaspora to register and to vote in this election will they be able to vote definitely do it every. One of them have not left. Anyhow we will grow from the situation and see how we can improve. In the next election it seems that the government has made it difficult for the diaspora to have the necessary preparation because what we understand is that the government is demanding a valid to Willy's passport want and a state issue id card and the issue register with the embassy of Togo some of these people being here have less if I sample in the United States for 1520 years and still when they get in their valid passport How do you know that we live if you cannot. Speak out or you don't have the power how can you prove that not live in Tokyo but. In the United States. If you don't have the balls or you don't have people how do you prove that you are in the United Nations . If you don't have a document from the embassy so this is the problem of what I've been talking and them all sitting here and they're preparing themselves. Thank you for. The possibility. This is not the fault of the government but at the point of. Truthfully Anyhow I thought you would drop some level of that yes and are we going to thank you very much again we look forward to speaking with you again probably on Saturday thank you very much thank you Reza Gilbert but while I still go Spanish to full public administration he was speaking with us from the capital loamy Malawi's parliament on Wednesday adopted 2 motions to amend the Electoral Commission Act in the palm entry and presidential election at the moment as part of electoral reforms recommended by the Constitutional Court is Feb 3rd ruling knowledge find the May 200-1000 presidential election results Rafique I jot is that could have done a ton of the Institute for Policy interaction in Malawi the Kharif Bill was the 50 plus one majority stipulation. In addition the amendment of the Electoral Commission bill to change the composition of the electoral commission so that they are no longer pointed by the president but more by the public appointments committee of Parliament so in reality this one's a victory for the civil society groups that have been protesting and then electron reforms yet support is a victory for those groups and it is a victory for the people of Malawi or it is a victory kind of ocracy they really d.p.p. . The Court ruling they have members in parliament I mean did they also vote for this 50 plus one on one no it was quite close I think it was 96 or so and 84 was against. Their will but 30 abstentions what happened in Parliament on Wednesday how much impact would they have on this challenge on this appeal does been launched by the ruling d.p.p. And president it will have a profound impact on the whole truth system in Malawi so whatever happens at the Supreme. Court is not going to change this I think the issue that the Supreme Court is the order for Iraq and reran will take place in roughly about 4 months from now Point months before well so the impact can be quite profound quite soon if the appeal is upheld and the rerun it doesn't take the next election that takes place will be a very very different election in pretty 24 but let's assume that the court order election which is supposed to take place I think is July 2nd is going to go ahead literally some of the political party leaders I had a talk the other day on my program with act to play live and they're talking alliances now how they're not playing well alliances and coalitions are normal feature of multi-party democracy it's not new in Malawi in the past we had good reason of coalition which was an alliance of the n.c.p. And host of smaller parties so I think all the parties are jockeying for position especially with the 50 plus one stipulation they were big can no longer rely on the relative votes they will need an absolute majority which is 50 plus one so obviously people are marshalling their forces together when the Parliament talked about the composition of the Mali electoral commission what does that do with said the country. I know she has refused to step down protesters have demanded her resignation does she stay on or she will have to step down there will be a new recruit Commission there's no doubt about that thank you very much you're most welcome stay well run think a judge is a sensitive director of the Institute for Policy interaction in my law week speaking with us from the capital Langley You're listening to Deborah got for come on The Voice of America I'm James but in Washington today is Thursday February 20th the break Africa time 15 minutes past the hour. Guinea-Bissau the Supreme Court late last week asked the National Electoral Commission to once again conduct in national a counting of the votes from the December of presidential election I'm a do. This is like it of secretary of the Guinea Bissau Observatory of democracy and governance he tells rakish trying that the commission has already done the national accountant but the losing party d p a g c keeps contesting the results that would the accept you know I ask request that if the West has made and it was that then and then they did it are tensions Shoko investitures President elect Obama has been traveling a lot are these visits official state visits. Are they you know who is paying for them do we know is who are they sanctioned by and it's kind of interesting for our president elect to make so many international visits so quickly that when I never do but the truth he's he's traveling the elected president. I think he's capable of dealing with the costs I'm a huge amount because executive secretary for the Guinea Bissau Observatory of democracy and governance was speaking to reconstruct that from baseball Libya's Tripoli because the u.n. Back to national unity government says it is suspending talks with forces on the the command of General Khalifa Haftar following an attack by his forces on the port of Tripoli on Tuesday which target the ship reportedly carrying weapons from Turkey and when you read the reports for viewing from Cairo. The shelling attack on a cargo ship in Tripoli Harbor by Libyan forces under Eastern commander General after Tuesday appears to have dealt a setback to u.n. Sponsored talks in Geneva after members of the Tripoli based governing council said they would no longer be tough there's rep. Is that it is rival Libyan government's disputed the details of the attack on the Lebanese ship which forces under huffed our claim was carrying weapons from Turkey sources and Tripoli dispute the claim an accused Hof there of killing several civilians in the attack after his forces deny the allegation huffed are met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Schwager who in Moscow Wednesday to discuss the latest developments in Tripoli after meeting with the top u.s. Diplomat in Libya at Hof there is headquarters in the eastern Libyan town of rash on Tuesday. You don't know how dumb I do but it just made my dad my dad was the speaker of Libya's House of Representatives and he let Sala put forth a 12 point plan to result the Libyan conflict on Wednesday according to Arab media the plan calls for the disarming of militias in the capital Tripoli and authorizes Hof there is forces to carry out the disarming the plan is unlikely to be welcomed by the Tripoli based unity government the United Nations Libya envoys asan celeb mate is calling for a cease fire between the warring parties that will be transformed into a permanent agreement the European Union says that it would be willing to monitor the cease fire an arms embargo on the rival parties the e.u. Offer is unlikely to be accepted by Hof there who says his forces goal is to capture all of Libya including the capital in the corrupt Turkish president Raj of tire bared to one insisted that the e.u. Has no authority to make any decisions regarding Libya and went on to say that Turkey would continue to support the Tripoli based government of Prime Minister Fayyad. The b I r must must really did not enjoy all of that in the letter. He says it will continue. Support the legitimate government in Tripoli against haft are who reclaims is trying to carry out a coup not an Arab one also says that Turkey is gradually strengthening its position in the region alluding to an agreement over maritime borders with the Tripoli government that is disputed by regional states including Greece Egypt and Cyprus Edward you're rainy and for v.o.a. News Cairo Uganda says it sees exporting maize green to Zimbabwe as a win win situation reducing food shortages in its neighbor while benefit then farmers at home bright Ramey Rama Uganda's minister of state for Agriculture says businessman already mobilized in shipments at the request of the Zimbabwe government David Brock Origi reports from Com Palla. Say Zimbabwe contacted Uganda asking for me a place he says the government is mobilizing my tents to organise enough grain to make the request in their comments or is it about least we should do. Among Go ahead of us even if we may know Tavor too much but if we are going to give half of what they need is Ok so they engage him in his book and within the framework of commision we have a brain in the companies they have really been a conducted this is a different thing we are doing so we did you do you know we. Were the doing what from that Zimbabweans faced from prolonged drought raising inflation the edges to Ses countries in sub-Saharan Africa including Zimbabwe sas Today did an article Republic of the Congo and its interest head region all need immediate attention Zimbabwe in particular faces overheating with their faces raising foot a degree Celsius making it impossible for food production according to if the report released earlier this year or so quickly the report details at least 7700000 people or of the country's population will fail. The security at the peak of the links isn't there because it comes at a tame that Uganda is cooperation with the invading look. But officials have stayed at affected the rest of the harvests. They move will highly benefit. By about where to buy your maize from Uganda is here is it and here we do business . As a business so even in the city of maize to Zimbabwe good people going to see them is to do anywhere is a good and easy of all quantities easier. Whatever quantities we can raise whatever quantities of from us can you get it if it can be sold of good news for you good afternoon to the head of the in Food and Agriculture Organization in Uganda to stand in the right the election we need to promote the more this commercialization among ourselves and as you know this is the food of ask it of this region and the potential is there are the sources are 1st the water is here so this creates morning says center for farmers to to do more of the cranes expected start being transported to Zimbabwe by road in the coming days for the news I am a gloomy deficit income Palace Uganda and only then the 527 year old Zimbabwean woman who works in one city in China has been admitted to an infectious hospital in Harare for monitoring after showing symptoms of the corona virus Robert City Council Director of Health Services Dr Prosper says the woman was part of a group of people who arrive 10 Zimbabwe today it's a goal from China where at least 2000 people have died and more than 74 farmers they have infected by the disease Dr Charles e. Says technical team is suspected to deliberate on the status of the woman today Thursday while also making. Follow up on some of the people who were on the same flight with a lady we need to gauge invade the airports from the ports there be observing. Good temperature and I'm sure that sometimes a day needs information of incest a good case because we did the 3 of travel. Between country France was not pleasing to me since you made that claim cherry to gap between us to get to. Convince people. On the right of. Us with their assurance chance to go to Germany normal seem to use this trip through just as no danger of it for the. It's strange that. You seem to be that. Serious command you. Don't still give them today when. You need to. Be reported. Case we need to. Continue to assess what the kids see. That. The need to do full color number so what does that mean I will keep big their ha ha that's right now no reason for us to keep a end but. We have to go hungry big Wall Street is. Here to look at all the developments from the time since you can. Spend you know the last thing you k