York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg Wednesday night 6 Democratic party hopefuls took to the debate stage in Los Vegas Bloomberg qualified for the n.b.c. News debate after party officials eased the rules and he placed 2nd in a poll released this Tuesday and it's just behind the front runner Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders one time Republican Bloomberg spent millions of dollars of his own money and on advertising and undergone comparisons with u.s. President Donald Trump a Senator Elizabeth Warren Democratic candidate said the Democrats take a huge risk if they just substitute one arrogant billionaire For another she said the country has worked for the rich for a long time left everyone else in the dirt Bloomberg pointed to his background as a successful businessman and former New York City mayor. The White House is now denying reports that President Trump offered to pardon Wiki Leaks founder Julian Assange if he would say that Russia had nothing to do with leaking Democratic e-mails in 2016 we get more from a piece Mike Rasiah 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 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 son she was fighting extradition to the u.s. On spying charges is scheduled to begin next week I might Rossiya and this is the news 8 people were killed when seen 2 shooting incidents in a German city near Frankfurt and special forces were chasing the gunman who fled in a car. President Trump has tapped a staunch supporter to serve as the acting director of National Intelligence a.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 u.n. Officials expressed alarm Wednesday at the worsening humanitarian situation in Syria gear Petersen the u.n. Special envoy for Syria brief the Security Council Wednesday they are along by the rapid deterioration of humanitarian situation in northwest Syria and a tragic suffering of civilians the un humanitarian affairs chief Mark low caught called on the warring parties to protect 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 and backed by heavy Russian airstrikes Syrian government forces have for weeks been conducting a crushing military campaign she recapture the Aleppo countryside in parts of neighboring itll a province in northwestern Syria the last rebel held areas in the country hundreds of thousands have fled that fighting the u.s. Secretary of state might come pale 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 that Palm pale said mature responsible countries understand that a free press publishes facts and expresses opinions. China's Foreign Ministry said the piece which ran under the headline China's the real sick man of Asia and criticized Beijing's handling of the virus outbreak was races and then a great at China's efforts to fight the outbreak the foreign ministry said it asked the newspaper to apologize which it had declined to do however the journal's publisher William Lewis said in a statement that he was deeply disappointed by the decision to run that headline he said the opinion pages in the reporting part of the journal or separate entities and it was not the journal's intention to offend anyone I'm Tommy McNeil be away news. Good Morning America welcome to daybreak Africa for the Voice of America but in Washington today is there's the February 27th here are some of the stories we are covering that hillbillies government says it is ready for Saturday's presidential election giving us about some local observers from monitoring the polls and it was a. Big hit that independent and it. Took the vote both the budget and electoral Although that it could go about wara is Togo's Minister for Public Administration has parliamentary passes to keep the Electoral Reform motions will have an update on Guinea-Bissau is electoral crisis and maybe as you embattled government says it has suspended talks with General. Us forces the shelling attack on a cargo ship in Tripoli Harbor by Libyan forces under Eastern commander General Khalifa Haftar Tuesday appears to Adele to set back to you when sponsored talks in Geneva last correspondent Ed Will you radio in Cairo Uganda says export amaze grain to Zimbabwe is a win win situation and an identified Zimbabwe a woman has been admitted to a hospital in Harare after showing symptoms of the corona virus knows there is a Hmong coming up on Daybreak Africa. Lead to believe government says all is ready for Saturday's presidential election even as it bought 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 $500.00 observers from monitoring Saturday's vote the commission has also blocked the monitors. The Catholic Church Gilmore by law Togo's many stuff a public administration says the tool musicians are not neutral president for not simply was seeking another term is being challenged by all the coalition candidates and former prime minister a bio mean cordial information minister about why Russia says all has been put in place to make such a distinction transparent and peaceful. The company will be. So we will. Include an 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 I usually don't weigh the you think he's going to be reelected Yeah yeah yeah well you know they got the population that's. All about the country from the. From the. Well and the level of. Commitment. On the 22nd of. 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. Requirement for our. Independence 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 you are. On. Dependent. Problem we've been happily and this is what happened we. Didn't go bad well what about the total lease diaspora out I think we spoke the last time in the last year that the government was making an Irishman's fuck Togolese diaspora to register and vote in this election will they be able to vote definitely do it to every. One of them have not been well. For them. Anyhow we will. Let them from. Princeton 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 and then evaluate to Lily's passport and I 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 or so will when they get in their valid passport How do you know it will be live if you. Don't have to pass how can you prove that. You will live. In the United States. If you don't have. Or you don't have. How do you prove that you have lived in the us i did mention that if you don't have a document from the embassy so this is the problem of the Dublin Well I've been talking and them all sitting here and they're. Bearing the. Brunt of it 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 see how we can go about thank you very much again we look forward to speaking with you again probably on Saturday thank you very much thank you Reza Gilbert Rice Togo's Minister for 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 rough because John is they could have done a ton of the Institute for Policy interaction in Malawi the Kharif there was take the 50 plus one majority stipulation. In addition the amendment of the commission bill to change the composition of the electoral commission so that they are no longer pointed at the president but more by the public appointments committee of Parliament so in reality this was a victory for the civil society groups that have been protesting and then electro reforms yes of course a victory for those groups and it is a victory for the people of Malawi it is a victory for democracy they really d.p.p. Has the court ruling they have members in parliament I mean 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 and but 30 abstentions what happened in Parliament on Wednesday how much impact would they have on this challenge on this appeal does being launched by the ruling d.p.p. And president it will have a profound impact on the whole truth system and 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 goes 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 2024 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 2 player 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 will they can no longer rely on 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 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 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 Malawi speaking with us from the capital Langley You're listening to the Bergen for come on The Voice of America I'm James but in Washington today is Thursday February 20th the brick 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 I could have Secretary of the Guinea-Bissau Observatory of democracy and governance he tells Ricky strata that the commission has already done the national accountant but the losing party b.p. a G.c. Keeps contesting the results that was the accept you know I ask that request that it always has made and it was that there in n.m. costs I'm not a huge amount because executive secretary for all 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 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 media reports full view of from Cairo. The shelling attack on a cargo ship in Tripoli Harbor by Libyan forces under Eastern commander General Sally Foster 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. Presented as rival Libyan government 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 of killing several civilians in the attack after his forces deny the allegation Hoft 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. I don't know how dumb I do but it just made my doubt no doubt it was the speaker of Libya's House of Representatives and Sheila Sala put forth a 12 point plan to resolve the Libyan conflict on Wednesday according to Arab media the plan calls for the disarming of militias in the capital Tripoli and authorizes huffed 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 guard who says his forces goal is to capture all of Libya including the capital in the corrupt Turkish president Raja tie affair to one insisted that the e.u. Has no authority to make any decisions regarding Libya and went on to say the turkey would continue to support the Tripoli based government of Prime Minister Fayyad. U.b.i. And must must really did not enjoy all of that in the letter. He says that will continue to. Support the legitimate government in Tripoli against haft are who reclaims is trying to carry out a coup no era to 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 export amaze green to Zimbabwe as a win win situation reducing food shortages neighbor while benefit then farmers at home bright Rami Rama Uganda's minister of state for Agriculture says businessmen are already mobilized in shipments at the request of the Zimbabwe government Davis rockery g reports from com Paula. Say Zimbabwe contacted Uganda asking for me a place he says the government is not blazing much sense to organise a nothing green to make the request. Is it about this 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 approach and within the framework of commision we have greatly companies they have been a conducted this is a different fame we are doing so we did you do you know we were the doing what for programmers when that Zimbabweans faced if. Brought out raising inflation the edges the Ses countries in sub-Saharan Africa including Zimbabwe Sadan didn't the public of the Congo and its interest had region or 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 theory put released earlier this year or so quickly the report details at least 7700000 people or the country's population will fail. The security at the peak of the lean season there just comes at a tame that Uganda is cooperation with the invading look. But officials have stayed at affected is the rest of the heaviest. They move we highly benefit local. About where to buy your maize from Uganda is here is it and here we do business. Is a business so if farmers are going to say to Mrs to Zimbabwe good people going to see them is to do anywhere is a good and easy quantities is it really doesn't matter whatever quantities we can raise whatever quantities of needed it if it can to be sold off good news for you good afternoon to the head of the in Food and Agriculture Organization in Uganda to step in the right direction we need to promote the more this commercialization among ourselves. As you know this is the food of ask it of this region and the potential is there of the sort of our 1st the water is here so this creates more incentive for farmers to want to do more of the grains expected that being transported to Zimbabwe by road in the coming days for the news I am a gloomy deficit of income Palla 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 prosperous Transit says the woman was part of a group of people who arrive teens and bubbly 2 days ago from China where at least 2000 people have died and more than 74th follows an infected by the disease Dr Charles e. Says it technical team is suspected to deliberate on the status of the woman today Thursday while also making. A follow up on some of the people who were on the same flight when they made the new gig invade the airport from the port here being so red. Temperature and one share that. Information with themselves a good case positively still travel. Between country tries to seem to me since he needs that creativity to get from the. Ticket to. Convince people that a. Real chance to global temperature is normal you seem to use this trip through just as no danger eventually. It stresses that. You seem to be doing that. When circling over. Syria they don't still get them to do. That to be reported. To us we need to. Continue to assess what the kids can use. And that is. The need to do. So what does that mean I will keep it there. For us right now no reason for us to keep a end but. We have to go green. Spaces that can communicate all the developments from the time c.b.s. Can to. Spend you know I figure you cannot begin mission tomorrow morning so it cannot be it that you're going to release the patient advisory. Experience in the commission in the Morning should be. Are you going to be out. There or Malaysians will be. You know. Dr prosper chancy is the Harare city council health director he was speaking to get to a bit of the Zimbabwe service briefly before we leave you a summary of Africa news at least 10 Somali government soldiers and 16 militants were killed Wednesday when Islamist group al-Shabaab attacked 2 military bases in Somalia's lower region the 1st attack started wh