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VATICAN, LELEMUKU.COM - Pope Francis is seeking to turn a page in Christian-Muslim relations while also ministering to a unique, thriving island of Catholicism as he embarks on the first-ever papal trip to the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam.

While Francis is building on two of his priorities with his Sunday-Tuesday visit to the United Arab Emirates — promoting interfaith dialogue and visiting the Catholic peripheries — diplomatic protocol will likely dictate that he leaves other concerns behind.

The Emirates’ support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, which has caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and the UAE’s problematic record on human rights and labor violations at home will likely will get a pass, at least in public.

Interreligious dialogue

Francis is traveling to Abu Dhabi to participate in a conference on interreligious dialogue sponsored by the Emirates-based Muslim Council of Elders, an initiative that seeks to counter religious fanaticism by promoting a moderate brand of Islam. It’s the brainchild of Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar, the revered 1,000-year-old seat of Sunni Islam learning that trains clerics and scholars from around the world.

It will be the fifth meeting between Francis and el-Tayeb, evidence that Al-Azhar’s freeze in relations with the Holy See sparked by Pope Benedict XVI’s 2006 comments linking Islam to violence has thoroughly thawed.

In a video message to the Emirates on the eve of his trip, Francis paid homage to his “friend and dear brother’’el-Tayeb and praised his courage in calling the meeting to assert that “God unites and doesn’t divide.’’

“I am pleased with this meeting offered by the Lord to write, on your dear land, a new page in the history of relations among religions and confirm that we are brothers despite our differences,’’ Francis said.

In a statement Saturday, Al-Azhar described the upcoming meeting as “historic’’ and praised the “deeply fraternal relationship’’ between its imam and the pope, which it said even includes birthday greetings.

Openness to other faiths
Francis and el-Tayeb are to address the “Human Fraternity Meeting’’ Monday that has drawn not only Christian and Muslim representatives but hundreds of Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and other Christian faith leaders. It’s all part of the Emirates’ “Year of Tolerance’’ and its effort to show its openness to other faiths in a region otherwise known for severe restrictions on religions outside of Islam.

“It’s something new for the Muslim world, that within the discussion of dialogue, they’re talking about interreligious dialogue across the board,’’ beyond basic Christian-Muslim relations, said Marco Impagliazzo, president of the Sant’Egidio Community, a Rome-based Catholic organization active in interfaith relations who will be attending the conference.

Mass for thousands

Francis’ other main initiative in Abu Dhabi is a giant Mass on Tuesday in the city’s main sports arena that is expected to draw some 135,000 people in what some have called the largest show of public Christian worship on the Arabian Peninsula. There, Francis will see firsthand a Catholic community that is big, diverse and dynamic, at a time when the wider Mideast has seen an exodus of Christians fleeing persecution at the hands of the Islamic State group and others.

Of the more than 9 million people now living in the UAE, around 1 million are Emirati while the rest are foreigners drawn to the oil-rich federation to work in everything from white-collar finance to construction.

The Catholic Church believes there are about 1 million Catholics in the UAE. Most are Filipino and Indian, many of whom have left behind families for work and can face precarious labor conditions, which human rights groups regularly denounce.

“The church has a unique role because it becomes home,’’ said Brandon Vaidyanathan, chair of the sociology department at Catholic University in Washington, who grew up in Dubai. “It becomes a place of belonging’’ in a country where foreigners can live, work and practice their faith but will never gain citizenship.

Vaidyanathan, who converted from Hinduism to Catholicism while living in Dubai, said the Emirates’ religious tolerance is commendable given the trends of the region. He noted the “unprecedented” nature of the government’s invitation to Francis, its donation of lands for churches and even a recent decision to rename a mosque “Mother Mary of Jesus.’’

Religious freedom vs. freedom to worship

Yet he pointed to the difference between freedom to worship and true religious freedom. Crosses, for example, can only be displayed inside churches, proselytizing for faiths other than Islam is banned and Muslims are forbidden from converting.

Francis will likely focus on issues of religious freedom and fraternity in his public remarks. Unlike all his other foreign trips, he will not deliver a political speech.

Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said the reason was to give greater emphasis to his speech to the interfaith conference. He dodged a question about whether Francis would raise Yemen’s yearslong war in his private talks with the sheikh. The UAE is deeply involved in the Saudi-led war in the Arab world’s poorest country, where tens of thousands have been killed and millions face food and medical shortages.

“I don’t know if the Holy Father will confront it publicly or privately, but certainly on many occasions, even recently, he has underlined the need to search for peace in particular to guarantee the humanitarian rights of the population, especially children,’’ Gisotti said.

Aid groups working in Yemen hope Francis won’t just rely on his past appeals, but will use his visit to bring his message to the Emirati leadership. (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - The U.N. Children’s Fund is launching its largest-ever appeal for $3.9 billion in life-saving assistance for 73 million people, including 41 million children affected by conflict, natural disasters and other emergencies in 59 countries.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The U.N. Children’s Fund says 2019 also marks a year of heightened conflict, with more countries at war than at any time in the past three decades.

Among the greatest victims are more than 34 million children affected by conflict or disaster. UNICEF says they are suffering horrific levels of violence, deprivation and trauma with little access to protection and life-saving assistance.

UNICEF Director of Emergency Operations Manuel Fontaine says 88 percent of this year’s appeal is for humanitarian crises driven by conflict. He says the single biggest operation is to help Syrian refugees, the largest displacement crisis in the world, and the host communities in five neighboring countries of asylum.

“The 2nd largest appeal is for Yemen, which over the past year has seen conditions, unfortunately, that were already catastrophic for children get even worse, if that is possible" Fontaine said. "Eight out of 10 children, which is over 11 million, now require humanitarian assistance in Yemen.”

UNICEF’s biggest operations traditionally have been in Africa. But this year the Democratic Republic of Congo places third, followed by Syria and South Sudan.

Fontaine says Africa unfortunately is the continent with the biggest gap in funding. He tells VOA African countries are not getting the attention they need, and that has serious consequences for humanitarian operations.

“In a country like Cameroon, which is one of the countries for which we have concerns, particularly in northwest and southwest region at the moment. We had aimed to immunize 61,000 children against measles and because of lack of resources, we could only immunize a bit more than 2,000," Fontaine said. "So, obviously, we are far behind what we need to do.”

Fontaine says UNICEF has had to drastically cut back services for gender-based violence in Central African Republic because it only has received 36 percent of the money it needs. In all cases, he says funding shortfalls have very direct implications on the lives of children and women. (VOA)

PANAMA, LELEMUKU.COM - Pope Francis celebrates Mass Saturday in the centuries-old colonial Cathedral Basilica of Santa Maria la Antigua, Panama’s patron saint, as part of World Youth Day festivities.

On the fourth day of his visit to Panama, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church is also to meet with student priests at the seminary of San Jose. He is expected to talk with the young men about the dwindling number of men entering the priesthood and the reasons for the declining numbers.

Francis has admitted elsewhere that the sex scandals and cover-ups have contributed to fewer men seeking religious vocations.

Later Saturday, Francis and the Archbishop of Panama, Cardinal Jose Domingo Ulloa, are hosting a lunch for 10 young people attending the WYD celebrations.

On Friday, the pope went to a youth detention center, enabling the inmates to participate in WYD. Francis also heard the confessions of the five of the detainees.

In an emotional homily at the center, Francis said he deplored society’s tendency to label people as good or bad, the righteous or sinners. Instead, he said, society should focus on creating opportunities that enable people to change.

In a veiled swipe at U.S. President Donald Trump and his insistence on a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, the Argentinean-born pope said of the tendency to label: “This attitude spoils everything, because it erects an invisible wall that makes people think that, if we marginalize, separate and isolate others, all our problems will magically be solved.” Francis added, “When a society or community allows this, and does nothing more than complain and backbite, it enters into a vicious circle of division, blame and condemnation.” (VOA)

LONDON, LELEMUKU.COM - Things are already tough for Victoria Mickleburgh, whose 3-year-old daughter Grace, has Type 1 diabetes and needs insulin every day to stay alive.

Mickleburgh, 38, gave up her job as a management consultant to care for her daughter, who must be monitored constantly, even in the middle of the night, to make sure her blood sugar levels are steady. Every time Grace has so much as a cookie, Vicki needs to check her.

So for this family in southeastern England, the question of whether insulin and the equipment needed to deliver it will be available if Britain leaves the European Union without a Brexit agreement is more than just a political debate. Unlike produce or machinery, a delay in the supply of drugs from continental Europe could have dire consequences.

“It’s a life or death situation,” Mickleburgh said. The constant talk about a no-deal Brexit and the havoc it could cause in trade with the EU is making her nervous. “You don’t want the additional stress or worry of where her next vial of insulin is going to come from.”

Mickleburgh’s stress highlights a problem for everyone in this country. Britain’s pending departure from the EU comes at a time when drug supplies are stretched because of market forces that have little to do with Brexit. Now pharmacists and drugmakers are concerned that shortages of life-saving medicines may occur if Britain can’t negotiate an agreement to facilitate trade after March 29, the day it is scheduled to leave the bloc.

Planning for a no-deal Brexit

The risk of a no-deal Brexit is increasing as Prime Minister Theresa May tries to push ahead with the draft agreement she negotiated with the EU after it was overwhelmingly defeated by Parliament. While opposition leaders have demanded that the government reject the possibility of a no-deal departure, May says this would weaken her negotiating position.

Against this backdrop, the government has stepped up planning for the disruptions that are likely to be caused if 45 years of free trade end abruptly March 29, triggering border checks that could cause lengthy delays at the English Channel ports that are the gateway to trade with the EU. Pharmaceutical companies are building up stockpiles of drugs in Britain and insist they are ready for disruption.

“Despite the industry doing everything it can (to prepare) for no deal, the complexity of no deal means there will be stresses in the system,” said Mike Thompson, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, which represents drugmakers who supply more than 80 percent of branded medicines to the National Health Service. “This is a challenge for everybody.”

Stockpiling not enough

But stockpiling isn’t enough to ensure long-term supplies because two-thirds of the medicines consumed in the U.K. come from the continent and 90 percent of that is shipped on trucks through three chokepoints: Calais in France and the ports of Dover and Folkestone in Britain.

Drug companies are pushing the British government to open other ports for their use. There are plans to lease additional ferries and the government has proposed airlifting drugs if necessary.

“The government recognizes the vital importance of medicines and medical products and is working to ensure that there is sufficient roll-on, roll-off freight capacity to enable these vital products to continue to move freely into the U.K.,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock said a statement, adding that medicines would be given priority over other things.

Consumers wonder whether the government is doing enough. Much of the focus has been on drugs that require strict temperature controls and are most at risk from long delays on hot summer days. Insulin, for example, must be stored at between 2 degrees and 8 degrees Celsius (35.6 degrees to 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

Novo Nordisk, a Danish company that is Britain’s biggest insulin provider, has made expanding storage capacity one of its primary goals. The company says it has a 16-week supply of insulin in Britain, more than double the normal seven weeks, and it plans to increase that to 18 weeks within the next few months.

“In the event of a no deal Brexit, then the replenishment of the stock is the really key thing here,” said Pinder Sahota, general manager of Novo Nordisk in the U.K. He says the company has booked air freights and looking to transport through additional ports.

Shortages not Brexit related

Britain is already experiencing shortages of some drugs for reasons not to do with Brexit, including manufacturing problems, increasing global demand and price pressures. The Department of Health agreed to pay a premium for 80 generic drugs that were in short supply last month, up from less than 50 in October.

Graham Phillips, superintendent pharmacist at Manor Pharmacy Group in Wheathampstead, north of London, said anxiety is increasing because of Brexit. People in his village, where many are elderly, are already calling the pharmacy because of concerns about supplies.

“I have no confidence that this can be managed on this scale,” he said. “It’s an enormous undertaking. The idea that you can stockpile the whole of the NHS’ drug bill for a six-month period, which is billions of pounds, and you can manage logistics, I think that’s cloud cuckoo land.” (VOA)

CANBERRA, LELEMUKU,COM - Tens of thousands of Melbourne homes and businesses lost power Friday as air-conditioners taxed the power supply on what was forecast to be the hottest day in a decade for Australia’s second-largest city.

The Victoria state capital, with a population of 5 million, is set to reach 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit). That would be Melbourne's hottest day since Feb. 7, 2009 — a day of catastrophic wildfires that is remembered as Black Saturday.

That day, the temperature soared to 46.4 C (115.5 F). Wildfires killed 173 people and razed more than 2,000 homes in Victoria.

Scores of wildfires are raging in heat wave conditions across much of drought-parched southeast Australia, with authorities warning the fire risk is high.

Audrey Zibelman, chief executive of the Australian Energy Market Operator, which manages the national electricity grid, said three heat-stressed coal-fired generators had failed in Victoria and a fourth was expected to shut downFriday.

The grid began loading-sharing as temperatures climbed in the early afternoon, with 30,000 households and businesses at a time being switched off for as long as two hours so that supply could keep up with demand, Zibelman said. Essential services such as hospitals were quarantined.

Alcoa, the state’s largest power user, agreed to power down its aluminum smelter. Several other businesses also agreed to wind down their operators during the period of extraordinary demand to spare the city’s power.

Black Saturday had been the hottest day ever recorded by a major Australian city until Adelaide reached a searing 46.6 C (115.9 F) on Thursday.

The South Australia state capital of 1.3 million people — 640 kilometers (400 miles) west of Melbourne — beat its previous 80-year-old record of 46.1 C (115 F) set on Jan. 12, 1939, and records tumbled in smaller towns across the state.

The South Australian town of Port Augusta, population 15,000, topped the state at 49.5 C (121.1 F).

The Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne invoked its extreme-heat policy Thursday and closed the main stadium's roof during a women's semifinal match.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Rob Sharpe said he would not be surprised if this January becomes Australia's hottest January on record with heat wave conditions likely to persist.

Last year was Australia's third-warmest on record. (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - The World Refugee Council called Thursday for up to $20 billion stolen by government leaders and now frozen in the United States, Britain and other countries to be reallocated by courts to help millions of displaced people forced to flee conflict, persecution and victimization.

The council also called for people responsible for the growing crisis of refugees and internally displaced people — including government leaders, military officers, and opposition and rebel figures — to be held accountable, all the way to the International Criminal Court.

Chaired by former Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy, the 24-member council, which was formed in May 2017, includes former heads of state and ministers, Nobel Peace Prize laureateLeymahGbowee, and leading business, civil society and human rights officials.

Displacement at postwar peak

The 218-page report it launched Thursday goes beyond what the United Nations has done, at a time when the number of people forcibly displaced from their homes is 68.5 million, the highest since World War II. Its release also comes as populist and nationalist political figures"are exploiting people's anxieties, fears'' about refugees, Axworthy said,

Tanzania's former President Jakaya Kikwete, a council co-chair, said the current crisis is a consequence of some countries' internal policies, authoritarianism, sectarianism, violence and conflicts,"but the other aspect is that the attitude towards refugees has changed.''

"In the past people have been welcoming, friendly,'' he said."Now people are ... closing the doors for people who are ... fleeing from danger. But they say, 'No, no, you can't come' ... and refugees are being blamed as being the problem.''

Kikwete said"unscrupulous politicians'' are using refugees to get votes"because when you tell your people they're dangerous,'' they react, and the politicians become popular.

At the same time, the report said,"the humanitarian commitment of nations, once a norm, has given way to nativism. Xenophobia — fear and exclusion of the ‘outsider' — has gathered force in America, Europe, Australia and elsewhere.''

The U.N. refugee agency, which relies on voluntary contributions, is seriously underfunded, and its head, Filippo Grandi, called in his latest report on forced displacement for"a new and far more comprehensive approach'' to the crisis"so that countries and communities aren't left dealing with this alone.''

Axworthy told a news conference:"What we've really proposed is a way in which you have to get out of the box in which refugees are seen simply as 'ahumanitarian issue.' ''

"Therehas tobe a much stronger level of involvement,'' he said, in matters of security, development, human rights, accountability and finance for the world's 25.4 million refugees and 40 million internally displaced, along with 3.1 million asylum seekers.

Axworthy said the World Bank has estimated that there are between $15 billion and $20 billion"in purloined assets that various political leaders have stolen from their people.''

Swiss actions

How much of that can be recovered, he said, depends on how many governments and countries are prepared to give their courts the right to reallocate the money. He pointed to Switzerland, which has done just that, as a model.

Fen Osler Hampson, the council's executive director, said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's regime has complained it doesn't have access to $3 billion in bank accounts frozen in the United States. He said there are several hundred million dollars belonging to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's family frozen in London bank accounts. And in the case of South Sudan, he said,"the generals have several hundredmillionsthat are frozen in bank accounts in Nairobi.''

"All it takes is political will to introduce that legislation'' to give courts the right to reallocate that money, Hampson said.

The World Refugee Council's argument is that refugees and internally displaced people,the majority ofthem women and children, are the most vulnerable in the world and should therefore have the primary claim on those assets, he said.

Other prospects for new money, Hampson said, are to leverage the vast resources of the private sector and create"refugee bonds,''similar to"green bonds'' to tackle climate change.

Another proposal is a kind of cap-and-trade system in whicha country unwilling to resettle refugees for political reasons could contribute money todeveloping countries saddled with the huge costs of hosting millions of refugees, Hampson said.

Remove the 'impunity'

As for accountability, Axworthy said using the International Criminal Court to prosecute Myanmar's military leaders for alleged crimes against humanity for the crackdown that led over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh would"take away the impunity'' for those responsible for massive displacement.

The council also called for the drafting of a new protocol to the 1951 Refugee Convention requiring"collective responsibility for refugees.''

And it urged nations to promote the achievements and contributions of refugees to counter the negative narrative of opponents and populists.

"For example, Syrian refugees in Turkey have established an estimated 6,000 businesses providing 100,000 jobs,'' the report said."In Sweden, the intake of about 600,000 refugees and migrants has produced some of the highest growth rates in Europe and aided in addressing the challenges of an otherwise aging population.'' (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Leaders in Kansas City, Missouri, one of the nation's largest cities without a public memorial to Martin Luther King Jr., settled a yearlong debate Thursday by voting to rename a 10-mile stretch of roadway after the civil rights leader.

Nearly 51 years after King was assassinated, the Kansas City Council voted 8-4 to rename the Paseo as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The Paseo is a 10-mile boulevard the runs through Kansas City's mostly black eastern sections.

Supporters, including Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver, fought since early last year to honor King, the Kansas City Star reported.

Objections centered mostly on whether residents and businesses along the Paseo had been given sufficient notice or didn't want the street renamed. Others thought a better site could be found to honor King.

"We have overcome a borderline regressive electoral body that almost didn't do this, but we thank God for the progressive leaders on this council that rose up today and are a reflection of what one Kansas City can look like," said Vernon Howard Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City, one of the strongest proponents of the name change.

The Board of Parks and Recreation, which oversees the city's boulevards, rejected the suggestion last year to rename The Paseo for King. That's when ministers led by the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference began collecting signatures to put the question on the August or November 2018 ballot, but the organization didn't gather enough signatures.

Mayor Sly James, who said he thought there were better ways to honor King than renaming the Paseo, formed a citizens' commission to gather public input and recommend which sites could be renamed for King. That panel favored naming a new terminal at the Kansas City International Airport after King, a suggestion that airport officials did not support.

The second option was 63rd Street, an east-west thoroughfare that stretches from majority-white neighborhoods through eastern Kansas City. The commission's third option was the Paseo. (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Washington Gov. Jay Inslee introduced himself by first name to one college student after another this week as he toured the state that's home to the nation's first presidential primary. Then, still with a smile, he told them that humanity is under existential threat because of climate change.

"We are the first generation to feel the sting of climate change, and we are the last generation that can do something about it," he said. "We have to act now."

So went a two-day East Coast swing this week that previewed how Inslee plans to distinguish himself if he launches a widely expected presidential bid soon. In a Democratic field that could span dozens of candidates — including several boldface names — the relatively unknown Washington governor would likely center his campaign on climate change.

He's hardly the only Democrat talking about the issue, but his exhaustive focus could test whether climate change resonates among voters after it barely entered the conversation during the 2016 campaign.

In New Hampshire, a small state long conditioned to its role in elevating some presidential hopefuls and burying others, Inslee appeared to succeed in his first steps.

"He did a great job," said Olivia Teixeira, a Saint Anselm College sophomore from neighboring Massachusetts who plans to vote in New Hampshire. "He shined a light on an issue that most candidates don't bring to the forefront, and that can help him stand out."

Indeed, Inslee is unbowed by the prospects of being an underdog should he join a field that already includes Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, among others, with New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, former Vice President Joe Biden and liberal icon Bernie Sanders of Vermont possibly joining soon.

The governor is convinced his profile as a state executive along with his emphasis on climate change will distinguish him over time.

There's a record of success that does distinguish governors from legislators and why, on occasion, governors have made good presidents," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. More pointedly, he added, "They can't build a birdhouse in Washington, D.C. We are moving in Washington state."

He even turned his signature issue into a cudgel against potential rivals.

"Here's an existential threat to the United States, and they do their rollouts and the words `climate change' don't appear," he continued, calling it "shocking" and "disappointing," though he did not target anyone by name.

Sanders, along with Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Cory Booker of New York, have signed onto the so-called "Green New Deal," a set of aggressive policy proposals, among other things, to curb the warming effects of carbon in the atmosphere. Warren and Harris have both backed the need for action.

Sen. Kamala Harris of California did not mention climate change in a 10-minute announcement interview this week on ABC's "Good Morning America," but she later brought it up speaking with reporters.

Inslee would have some competition on climate issues if billionaire businessman and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg joins the race. But Inslee got a potential boon when another activist billionaire, Tom Steyer of California, passed on a White House bid.

"Don't be surprised if I'm talking to Tom Steyer in the next few weeks," Inslee said, adding that he's emailed with Steyer since he announced he wasn't running but hasn't explicitly asked for his support.

With stops at two colleges, Inslee's New Hampshire itinerary put him in front of young voters he believes are most likely to embrace his pitch. Polling suggests concerns about climate change correlate with age, with younger voters consistently ranking the issue as a higher priority than older subsets of the electorate.

Mostly absent from Inslee's New Hampshire swing were mentions of President Donald Trump. Inslee referred to "the climate denier in the White House" but steered clear of the labyrinth of investigations swirling around the administration, and none of his audience questioned him on the subject.

Winter weather deprived the governor of another opportunity to meet donors and older voters who might be inclined to his candidacy when a flight cancellation caused him to miss the League of Conservation Voters' private fundraising gala that he was set to headline.

The governor did make a private meeting with New Hampshire Democratic Chairman Raymond Buckley, who'd recently taken a public swipe at Inslee — a rare move from a party chairman in an early nominating state. Buckley was aggravated at Inslee, who served as Democratic Governors Association chairman last year, for not devoting more money to the New Hampshire governor's race. Democrat Molly Kelly lost in November.

Inslee called the meeting productive and defended his decision not to invest in New Hampshire, noting that Democrats flipped seven governor's offices elsewhere, the biggest party gains since 1982.

Buckley said he simply wanted "an explanation" that he hadn't gotten during the campaign. He said he'd treat Inslee like any other candidate, and he was clear that longshots and little-known candidates have a shot in his state.

"People are looking for change ... and that means different things to different people," he said. "There is more than one choice for every kind of Democrat. ... We don't know who's going to emerge."

As for when Inslee might officially enter the race, the governor said, "Weeks, not months." (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Renald Richard has been a musician all of his life. Richard says, “It’s a part of my life that’s irreplaceable. It’s something that I enjoy and I love to do and I get a satisfaction from it.”

Born in 1925 in Thibodaux, Louisiana, just west of New Orleans, Richard’s memories of childhood are filled with music. His father played pianoby ear. His uncles and cousins all played instruments and sang. So, at the age of six, Richard started piano lessons at home.

“I played partially by ear and I learned pieces on the piano like the boogie woogie and that kind of stuff, so I guess music was in my system.”

Jam sessionswere usual events at Richard’s house when family stopped by. And that was more than fine with Richard.

“I just wanted to play music."

At the age of 13, Richard went to see a band perform at a church dance. He noticed two young trumpet players in the band. He says they were dressed “clean and sharp.” All the girls -- including his girlfriend --fell forthe trumpet players. Richard knew he had to take action.

“I got to do something about this, so..." I asked my Dad if I could play the trumpet. And he said ‘why do you want to play the trumpet’? I said ‘I think I like the trumpet’. And he said ‘I'll get a trumpet for you but, you cannot stop the piano. You have to continue the piano’. And I got the trumpet. And I started lessons on the trumpet. I continued lessons on the piano and trumpet. And it went on like that for a while. And I got my girl back.”

Richard played the trumpet in the high school band. After high school, the government sent him into military service. He played his trumpet during his time in the United States Navy Band. Later, he performed while touring in a USO variety show.

Richard thought he had learned enough from his time in the band and the USO show.

“I got an experience from that (which) lasted me a lifetime and I almost made a bad mistake because when I came out of the Navy I figured I knew it all, says Richard. That was my education.”

But, Richard ended up studying music at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. He played clubs on the city’s famous Bourbon Street. He also toured with many bands including his family band, the Johnson Brothers, as well as Guitar Slim and Ivory Joe Hunter.

While playing in Houston, Texas in 1954, Richard wasapproachedby Jeff Brown, the manager of musician Ray Charles.

“Ray Charles is forming a new band. He just got a hit record out and he would be interested in you playing trumpet in the band. Would you like to do that? Of course. Ray Charles. I said ‘yes’!”

Renald Richard soon was playing his trumpet for Ray Charles' band.

“First of all, to beselectedby Ray Charles was an honor to me. I was honored by that and a little nervous,” says Richard.

In time, Richard became Charles’ bandleader. Ray Charles was exacting, says Richard, and he demanded the same from band members.

“He was aperfectionistand he was ratherstrictabout his music.”

Richard says over their years together he came to realize the genius of Ray Charles.

“It was like going to college with Ray Charles. I learned voicing and resolving notes. He would start with the baritone sax and then he woulddictateevery note like he’s not using anything from memory. He say alright, let’s take the saxophone, let’s take the trumpet or whatever. Everything is in his mind. So it really was educational.”

Richard toured all over the South and West with Ray Charles. Sitting in the back seat of the car on the way to agig,Richard wrote the song “I Got a Woman” for Charles.

It became Ray Charles’ first number one radio hit. The song put Ray Charleson the map. In 1954, Renald Richard left Ray Charles band. He was upset by the drug problems among band members.

“I knew that it would not be long before they would be what we call busted. And it did happen. And I wasn’t quite ready for that.”

Richard stayed friendly with Ray Charles over the years. He went back to his hometown and became the high school’s band director until 1962. Four years later, he moved again, this time to New York City.

Over the years, Richard has written many other songs that have been recorded by artists including Joe Turner, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley to name a few.

I was thrilled when music artist Kanye West used “I Got a Woman” as the basis for his hit song “Gold Digger”, Richard says.

The song was number one on the Billboard Charts for 16 consecutive weeks.

“It was a big, big hit,” says Richard.

Richard retired from teaching in 1991.

Living now in Southern Florida, Richard still plays his trumpet with the Marco Island Strummers and with the Jazz Masters in Naples. (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - The University of Notre Dame will cover murals in a campus building that depict Christopher Columbus in America, the school's president said, following criticism that the images depict Native Americans in stereotypical submissive poses before white European explorers.

The 12 murals created in the 1880s by Luis Gregori were intended to encourage immigrants who had come to the U.S. during a period of anti-Catholic sentiment. But they conceal another side of Columbus: the exploitation and repression of Native Americans , said the Rev. John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame.

It is a "darker side of this story, a side we must acknowledge," Jenkins said in a letter Sunday.

The murals in the Catholic university's Main Building are painted directly on walls. Jenkins said they will be covered, although they still could be occasionally displayed. A permanent display of photos of the paintings will be created elsewhere with an explanation of their context.

"We wish to preserve artistic works originally intended to celebrate immigrant Catholics who were marginalized at the time in society, but do so in a way that avoids unintentionally marginalizing others," Jenkins said.

In 2017, more than 300 students, employees and Notre Dame alumni signed a letter in the campus newspaper that called for the removal of the murals.

The president of the Native American Student Association praised Jenkins' decision.

"This is a good step towards acknowledging the full humanity of those native people who have come before us," said Marcus Winchester-Jones of Dowagiac, Michigan.

But Notre Dame law student Grant Strobl said the decision was disappointing.

"If we adopt the standard of judging previous generations by current standards, we may reach a point where there are no longer accomplishments to celebrate," Strobl said. (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - A commemorative service for Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that was nearly imperiled by the federal government shutdown began Monday morning at a church called King's "spiritual home."

The annual service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta was in doubt until Delta Air Lines gave the National Park Service a grant to reopen it. Delta is headquartered in Atlanta.

The civil rights leader was co-pastor with his father at the church from 1960 until his assassination in 1968.

The church is part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park located in the "Sweet Auburn" district of downtown Atlanta.

The celebration has taken on special significance as Jan. 15 marked what would have been King's 90th birthday.

Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative will be keynote speaker. (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Doris Cochran, a disabled mother of two young boys, is stockpiling canned foods these days, filling her shelves with noodle soup, green beans, peaches and pears - anything that can last for months, or even years. Her pantry looks like she's preparing for a winter storm. But she's just trying to make sure her family won't go hungry if her food stamps run out.

For those like Cochran who rely on federal aid programs, the social safety net no longer feels so safe. As the longest government shutdown in U.S. history stretches into a fifth week with no end in sight, millions of poor Americans who depend on food and rental assistance are becoming increasingly worried about the future. Most major aid programs haven't dried up yet. But each day the stalemate in Washington drags on, the U.S. inches closer to what advocates call a looming emergency. Those dependent on the aid are watching closely under a cloud of stress and anxiety.

"I just don't know what's going to happen," Cochran said, "and that's what scares me the most."

With no indication of an imminent compromise, the Trump administration in recent weeks has scrambled to restore some services across the government. But two agencies crucial to the federal safety net - the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Agriculture Department - remain largely shuttered.

USDA announced earlier this month that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food aid to roughly 40 million Americans, will be fully funded through February. But should the shutdown stretch into March its status is unclear: with just $3 billion in reserves, USDA won't be able to cover the roughly $4.8 billion it pays in monthly benefits.

The department was able to stretch the program for another month based on a loophole in a spending bill. But as a result of congressional rules, food stamp benefits allotted for February are being given out early, before Jan. 20. There is no guarantee recipients will get food stamps for March, but if even if the program continues without a lapse, recipients would have to stretch their current allotment for at least six weeks, rather than four.

The impact of any lapse in these programs would be dramatic and unprecedented: USDA says there has never before been a break in food stamp benefits since the program was made permanent in 1964.

Food banks are already stretched thin thanks to a notable spike in demand from furloughed federal employees, contractors and others out of work due to the shutdown, said Carrie Calvert, the managing director for government relations at Feeding America, a hunger relief organization. For every meal Feeding America's network of food pantries serves, federal food aid provides 12.

"This is a potentially catastrophic situation. This could be an immediate emergency that grows exponentially," Calvert said.

Since the shutdown began, HUD has been unable to renew hundreds of contracts with private building owners who receive significant federal subsidies to provide housing to low-income families, the elderly and people with disabilities. Under these contracts, tenants pay a portion of the rent and the federal government covers the rest. But between December and the end of February, roughly 1,700 contracts are slated to expire, meaning that HUD won't be able to make their payments. The agency has asked landlords to dip into their reserves to cover rental costs until the government reopens, with a promise of reimbursement.

Similarly, come February, 700 rental assistance contracts administered through a USDA program that offers aid to low-income people in rural areas, will also expire. A spokesman said the office "is exploring all options to mitigate any potential negative impact" to tenants.

Those unknowns are causing anxiety and anguish among America's most vulnerable.

Eneaqua Lewis, 36, lives in a HUD-subsidized apartment on Roosevelt Island in New York City. She said she found out earlier this month her building's HUD contract expired January 9. A single mother raising a 10-year-old, Lewis was laid off from a construction job in December. Without an income or any significant savings, Lewis said she'd be forced to drain her meager retirement fund to cover the full amount due with no rental assistance subsidy offsetting the expense.

"People are really afraid right now and just don't know what to do," Lewis said. "I can't afford market rate rent here. Where would I go, where would everyone go? One side of the building is all elderly or handicapped. The other side is all families. Where would we all go?"

For Cochran, the mother stockpiling food, a disruption could throw her life into chaos.

She lives in subsidized housing in Arlington, Virginia, with her six- and eight-year-old sons. She used to drive a truck, but recent health issues have left her unable to work. She relies solely on government subsidies to survive, cobbling together just enough to support her children using social security payments, food stamps and cash assistance payments. If any one of those federal programs were to stall, Cochran could end up on the street.

Cochran said she's trying to sell some homemade crafts, and clothes to secondhand stores to squirrel away a few extra dollars. She returned the toys she'd bought for her sons for Christmas-a Hot Wheelz racetrack for the eight-year-old, a Mighty Beanz game for the younger boy-so she could buy them shoes.

"It was hard, but you have to make choices," she said. "I'm experiencing quite a bit of anxiety." (VOA)

VATICAN, LELEMUKU.COM - As the pope prepares to meet tens of thousands of young people from across the globe for World Youth Day this week, he attempted to connect with them on a platform they would easily understand: the internet.

During the weekly Angelus prayer at the Vatican Sunday, Pope Francis launched his own user profile on Click to Pray, the official app of the Vatican's Worldwide Prayer Network.

"Internet and the social networks are a resource of our time, a way to stay in touch with others, to share values and projects, and to express the desire to form a community," the pope told those gathered in St. Peter's Square.

With the help of an aide holding a tablet, the pope swiped the screen saying, "Here, I will put in ... requests for prayers for the Church's mission."

For example, he said, the app will let young people join him in prayer for the "two sorrows" in his heart this week: the 170 migrants who drowned in recent days in the Mediterranean Sea and the victims of a terrorist attack in Colombia this week that killed 21 people.

"I especially invite young people to download the Click To Pray app, continuing to pray with me the Rosary for peace, especially during the World Youth Day in Panama," the pontiff said.

He also asked all Catholics to pray for the youth event, which takes place Jan. 22-27.

World Youth Day was started by Pope John Paul II in 1985. It is held in different cities around the world every two to three years. This will be Francis' third World Youth Day. (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Martin Luther King Jr., a man who embodied the U.S. civil rights movement, was assassinated more than 50 years ago on April 4, 1968. Here is a timeline of events before and after his death.

April 3, 1968 — King arrives in Memphis Tennessee, to support striking sanitation workers and checks into the Lorraine Motel.

April 4 (before 6 p.m.) — King leaves his room at the Lorraine Motel to attend dinner at the home of a local minister. He lingers on the balcony to talk to his driver in the courtyard below.

April 4 (6:01 p.m.) — King is shot and rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital.

April 4 (7:05 p.m.) — King is pronounced dead. Rioting erupts in more than 100 U.S. cities. President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a state of emergency.

April 5 — The FBI begins its investigation of King’s murder, which will cost more than $2 million and involve more than 3,500 investigators.

April 9 — King’s funeral is held at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. More than 50,000 people accompany his mule-drawn coffin through the city.

April 19 — The FBI investigation centers on James Earl Ray, 40, whose fingerprint, according to detectives, matched one on the rifle used to shoot King. The convicted armed robber had escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary the previous year.

April 24 — Ray obtains a Canadian passport under the name George Sneyd and purchases a plane ticket from Toronto to London.

June 8 — Ray is arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport after trying to buy a ticket to Brussels and is later extradited to the United States.

March 10, 1969 — Ray pleads guilty to killing King and is sentenced to 99 years in a Tennessee prison.

March 13, 1969 — Ray recants his guilty plea, claiming he was coerced. He maintains his innocence for the rest of his life.

1978 — Ray testifies before the House Select Committee on Assassinations, which later concludes that Ray acted alone. However, the committee concludes there was circumstantial evidence of a conspiracy.

December 1993 — Former Memphis restaurateur Loyd Jowers says members of the Mafia paid him $100,000 to plan King’s assassination. Jowers says he paid laborer Frank Holt to shoot King.

April 23, 1998 — Ray dies in prison from kidney and liver disease at age 70.

1999 — The King family, who believes Ray was innocent, sues Jowers for King’s death. The civil lawsuit ends with a $100 award to the King family, who donate the money to charity.

June 2000 — U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno conducts a fourth investigation into Ray’s appeal, but finds no evidence of a conspiracy. (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - The effort to honor civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. with a federal holiday began four days after his assassination on April 4, 1968. However, it took more than 15 years for that to happen.

April 8, 1968 — Four days after King is assassinated, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., introduces the first legislation proposing a federal holiday for Martin Luther King Jr.

1973-1979 — Several states enact statewide King holidays, including Illinois, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey.

Feb. 19, 1979 — After 10 years of petitions from millions of Americans, Washington lawmakers hold an official hearing to discuss the idea. King’s wife, Coretta Scott, testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

November 1979 — Legislation for the holiday is defeated in a floor vote in the U.S. House of Representatives by five votes.

January 1981 — Singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder releases “Happy Birthday,” a song that becomes a rallying cry for the pro-holiday movement.

1982 — Coretta Scott King, along with Stevie Wonder, presents a petition signed by 6 million people to House Speaker Tip O’Neill.

Aug. 27, 1983 — More than 500,000 people attend a 20th Anniversary March on Washington to honor King and the civil rights movement. Speaker after speaker calls for a federal holiday on King’s birthday.

August 1983 — The U.S. House of Representatives passes the King Holiday Bill, 338-90.

Oct. 19, 1983 — The King Holiday Bill passes the Senate, 78-22.

Nov. 3, 1983 — President Ronald Reagan signs the bill into law, declaring the third Monday in January the Martin Luther King Jr. National Holiday.

Jan. 20, 1986 — The first national celebration of the King Holiday takes place. (VOA)

TOKYO, LELEMUKU.COM - The world's oldest man has died at the age of 113.

Masazo Nomaka of Japan died in his sleep early Sunday in his home in Ashoro, according to his family.

"He was as usual yesterday and passed away without causing our family any fuss at all," his granddaughter Yuko told Kyodo News.

Nomaka was born in 1905, just months before Albert Einstein published his theory of relativity.

His family has owned and operated a hot springs inn for four generations that remains in the family. according to the Associated Press,

Last year Guinness officially recognized Nomaka as the world's oldest man after the death of Spaniard Francisco Nunez Olivera.

Japan has one of the world's highest life expectancies. The oldest living man on record is also Japanese. Jiroemon Kimura died in June 2013 at the age of 116. (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - With temperatures of 48 Celsius (118 Fahrenheit) in the New South Wales outback, records are falling as an extreme heat wave grips eastern Australia.

Even in a land used to nature's extremes, this heat wave is punishing. The blistering conditions are affecting much of eastern Australia, but New South Wales has felt it most.

Last year was Australia's third-warmest year on record, and 2019 has got off to a scorching start.

Residents in White Cliffs, 1,000 kilometers northwest from Sydney, have endured heat of 48.2 Celsius. Other parts of Australia have also set new heat records, including the town of Noona, which hit a nighttime temperature of 35.9 Celsius (96.6 Fahrenheit), the highest ever documented across the nation.

"The heat wave across New South Wales over the past week has actually broken 14 all-time maximum temperature records,” said Graham Creed, a TV weather expert. “It is all a combination of weather patterns that have led to the buildup of heat, including the influence of climate change increasing the potential of these events.

“Now we currently have (a) near-record late start to the monsoon across northern Australia. That is leading to the clear skies and very little rainfall that is allowing the heat to continue to build across the northern and central parts of the continent," he added.

Heat waves are Australia's deadliest natural hazard, but there was relief for a distressed sheep found abandoned in the New South Wales outback. It was rescued by the police, and allowed to recover in an air-conditioned patrol car.

Cooler conditions this weekend are expected to give way to more extreme heat in the coming days. Authorities say the hot weather will worsen the risk of serious bushfires. Emergency crews in drought-hit New South Wales continue to battle about 80 blazes.

Australia's hottest recorded temperature was 50.7 Celsius (123 Fahrenheit) in South Australia in January 1960. (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - When Wilkinson Sejour, owner of Chef Creole, the only Haitian restaurant at the Miami International airport, noticed TSA (Transportation Security Administration) agents were no longer coming in to buy meals, he found it odd and wondered what was going on.

Sejour learned they were federal workers affected by the U.S. government's partial shutdown. The federal security screeners are among hundreds of thousands of federal employees working without pay until President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats resolve a political dispute over construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

So Sejour devised a plan to show his appreciation.

"We've been at the airport for four months now, and they support us every day," he told VOA Creole. "I thought if they were there since the beginning and helped me make money, now that they're having problems, I have to thank them for their support and try to help them."

The Chef Creole restaurant owner decided to offer free meals for a week — lunch and dinner — for TSA agents, customs inspectors and other federal employees working at the airport. They lined up to partake in the offerings, or sent a colleague to get meals for agents who were too busy to walk over to the restaurant.

"Food is important, more important than money — when you have food you're OK," Sejour noted.

So far, Chef Creole has distributed 1,400 free meals. Sejour said he doesn't have a lot of resources. He said he worried about how he was going to afford to give out free food. But he had faith.

"The first day we gave out free meals, people saw and they offered to help, too. They said, 'Chef, here are five cases of chicken, 50 pounds of shrimp, two cases of ribs — you don't have to publicize it' — that's how it's done. You have to have faith," Sejour told VOACreole.

What has been the reaction among the lucky recipients? Gratitude.

"God bless youbrother, no other restaurant in airport is doing what u are doing, all the money we spend in those restaurants and not one has offered to help tsa during a time like this, much respect to you brother we appreciate you, God bless," @im_so_handsome commented on Chef Creole's Instagram page.

"We are humbled by your generosity. You deserve everyblessing you receive and then some," commented @stevieb305.

The gratitude wasechoed by members of the Haitian community who reacted to a post about Chef Creole's efforts on VOA Kreyol's Instagram page.

"Good job. Kindness going around," @farahfaroul commented.

"Keep up the good work you're doing, you'll be rewarded, God is with you," @maranata_christ_revien commented in Creole.

On Thursday, Haitian recording label Abstract Records gave Sejour a check for $500 to help pay for his efforts.

"That will help me buy more supplies, because I promised I would feed them for a week," Sejour said.

Asked what motivates him, Sejour said he was inspired by the spirit of Haiti's independence.

"Remember, we are Haitians — and when we were the first to win our independence, all of South America came to us for help, so it's in our blood to help our neighbors — not just our brothers and sisters."

Sejour added that he finds pleasure in feeding people.

"What makes me happy is when you look in the person's eyes — it's just a plate of food — but it makes them happy," he said. (VOA)

MEXICO CITY,  LELEMUKU.COM - A group of Honduran migrants entered southern Mexico on Friday, joining more than 1,000 people who departed Central America in recent days headed to the United States and putting to the test Mexico's vows to guarantee the safe and orderly flow of people.

The cohort crossed into southern Chiapas state before dawn without needing wrist bands that migration officials the day before told migrants to wear until they could register with authorities, several migrants and an official told Reuters.

"The road today was open. ... They didn't give us bracelets or anything, they just let us pass through Mexico migration," said Marco Antonio Cortez, 37, a baker from Honduras traveling with his wife and children, ages 2 and 9.

A migration official at the entry point, who asked not to be named because she was not authorized to speak to media, said that at least 1,000 people crossed from Guatemala into Mexico by around 5 a.m., without needing wrist bands.

The group proceeded on foot alongside cars on a highway, accompanied by federal police officers.

Mexico's migration institute did not respond to a request for comment.

Groups of migrants departed from El Salvador and Honduras earlier in the week, the latest in a string of caravans of people largely fleeing poverty and violence.

The caravans have inflamed the debate over U.S. immigration policy, with U.S. President Donald Trump using the migrants to try to secure backing for his plan to build a wall at the southern border with Mexico.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is pursuing a "humanitarian" approach to the problem, vowing to stem the flow of people by finding jobs for the migrants. In exchange, he wants Trump to help spur economic development in the region. (VOA)

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - “U.S. political leaders and the media have ignored us long enough.”

That’s the message thousands of international indigenous activists will be bringing to Washington Friday for the first ever Indigenous Peoples March. They are seeking to bring national attention to injustices endured by Indigenous people across the globe.

The event, coming a day before the third annual Women’s March, is organized by the Indigenous Peoples Movement (IPM), an international grassroots collective seeking to unify tribes and indigenous peoples from North, South and Central America, the Pacific, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.

“Our main goal is to send a message that we are still here, we are organized, and we are growing,” said IPM media coordinator Darren Thompson, an Ojibwe and member of the Lac du Flambeau tribe in Wisconsin. “We are looking not only to empower each other but share important information with the American public about the legacy of colonization.”

As many as 80 speakers and indigenous performers will participate in the event, which is hash tagged #IPMDC19 on social media. They include Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), a member of the Laguna Pueblo and one of the first two Native American women elected to the U.S. Congress, and Ruth Buffalo, recently elected first Native American Democrat to the North Dakota Legislature.

Also speaking will be Ashley Callingbull, a Cree First Nations woman from the Enoch Cree Nation in the province of Alberta, Canada, and a former Miss Universe who works to empower indigenous youth through relating stories of her own experiences with physical and sexual abuse.

They will address a wide range of issues and injustices impacting indigenous communities, including the environment, voter suppression, police brutality and a global epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women (MMIW).

Historic marginalization and racism, the legacies of colonization, have left indigenous women particularly vulnerable to violence. Statistics are hard to come by, owing to spotty reporting by victims and police. The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) reports that 84 percent of Native American and Alaska Native (NA/AN) women have experienced violence in their lives, and more than half of them are survivors of sexual violence. Ninety-six percent of victims of rape or sexual assault are attacked by non-native assailants, and NA/AN women in the United States are murdered at a rate ten times higher than the national average.

In addition, a 2015 National Congress of American Indians study of four sites in the U.S. and Canada found that about 40 percent of women involved in sex trafficking identified as an AI/AN or First Nation from Canada.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz (Igorot, from the Philippines), reported in 2015 that indigenous women worldwide are vulnerable to rape, enslavement or murder, particularly during military conflicts.

IPM organizers say they are looking to advocate policies to strengthen indigenous rights and to encourage solidarity among global indigenous groups across borders imposed by European colonizers.

They expect to draw a crowd of 10,000 from as far away as Australia, Guatemala, Papua New Guinea, and the Caribbean.

“Though since we are piggybacking on the Women’s March on Saturday, that number could be much, much higher,” said Thompson. (VOA)