From Washington this is real way New Orleans. I'm Joe Palca reporting President Trump responds to court decision a federal appeals court Thursday refused to reinstate u.s. President Donald Trump's ban on travelers from 7 predominately Muslim nations the 3 judge panel from the 9th u.s. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco unanimously declined to block a lower court ruling that suspended the ban and allowed previously barred travelers to enter the United States President Trump responded just moments ago during a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo they we're going to keep our country safe we are going to do whatever is necessary to keep our country safe and we had a decision which we think will be very successful with it should have taken this much time because safety is a primary reason one of the reasons I'm standing here today is the security of our country the voters felt that I would give it the best security so we'll be doing something very rapidly having to do with additional security for our country you'll be saying that sometime next week in addition we will continue to go through the court process and ultimately I have no doubt that will win that particular case and arose Matthias and as a partner of the California Public Law Group in San Francisco who actively litigates in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals it's almost certainly going to go up to the u.s. Supreme Court to the u.s. Supreme Court and I think likely they'll probably already have this flagged as something that is likely coming to them at a news conference Thursday in Seattle Bob Ferguson the attorney general for the state of Washington which argued against restoring the Trump travel ban we are nation of laws those laws apply to everybody in our country and that includes the president the United States Ferguson said the president's ban had real human consequences. This is v.o.a. News Turkey says a Russian airstrike has accidentally killed 3 Turkish soldiers in northern Syria the Russian military says it was carrying out an operation targeting Islamic state Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his condolences Turkish president to Juan approved a constitutional reform bill on Friday for holding a national referendum that would assure in a more powerful presidency speaking on state run television a deputy prime minister said the referendum on the issue is expected to be held on able to 16th in January the Turkish parliament approved a new 18 article constitution to create an executive presidency along the lines of that in the United States and France now the government said the changes which will abolish the office of Prime Minister will ensure more effective leadership the critics say the changes would open the way for one man rule humanitarian agencies are moving into areas of northeast Nigeria once controlled by Boko Haram militants and the scope of their mission looms large officials say millions of people are hungry and some are even facing famine like conditions v.o.a. Is Joe De Capua reports when Boko Haram began its insurgency in 2009 it targeted 3 states Borno state where it was born as well as you obey and Adamawa but violence also spilled over Nigeria's borders in Tunisia Cameroon and Chad no room that the toll is always representative in the 5100000 people. Well. Its toll says among those 5100000 people or about 120000 facing famine like conditions there's a high mortality rate because they don't have enough to eat and don't have access to medical care Joe De Capua the away News Washington for more on this story visit our website a deal way News dot com The top u.s. Commander in Afghanistan General John Nichols. And told the Senate Armed Services Committee he believes the u.s. Backed Afghan forces are in a stalemate in the 15 year old war he said to break that stalemate he needs a few 1000 more soldiers to accompany the $8400.00 u.s. Troops still in Afghanistan Senator John McCain suggests that Russia is playing a significant role in Afghanistan and Nicholson agreed saying that Russia's meddling this year has become more difficult they have begun to publicly legitimize the Taliban this narrative that they promote is that the Taliban are fighting Islamic state and the Afghan government is not as fun fighting Islamic state and that therefore there could be a spillover of this group into the region this is a false narrative the u.s. And Afghan forces have reduced Islamic state space down to just 3 or 4 districts in our province this is Joe Palca wrote porting from Washington. That's the latest world news from b o a. This . Is Friday February 10th and this is feel ways international edition I'm sorry Williams in Washington coming up a federal appeals court refuses to reinstate president Donald Trump's travel ban speaks by phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping the conversation the White House has were extremely cordial to talk about a lot of issues and look out for the fashion coming up at Sunday's Grammy Awards It's all ahead. A federal appeals court Thursday refused to reinstate president Donald Trump's ban on travelers from 7 predominantly Muslim nations the 3 judged. Hannele from the 9th u.s. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco unanimously declined to block a lower court ruling that suspended the ban and allowed previously barred travelers to enter the United States international editions Laurie London talks to Anna Rose Matheson partner at the California appellate law group in San Francisco who actively litigates in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. It's a clear win for the state the opinion is unanimous all 3 judges including a Bush appointee agreed in the result and the opinion goes through kind of at the heart of it finds that the government has not shown it is likely to succeed on the due process claim the state so the procedural posture is somewhat odd here because the state moved in the district court to try to get an injunction that is to try to get the president's order stopped and not enforced the district court granted a temporary restraining order said we are going to temporarily stop the program in till we can decide whether or not after a fuller hearing whether or not to stop this order so the government had to show that it was likely to win and beat the states on their due process claim at the heart of the opinion the court rules that the government has not met its burden of showing it is likely to succeed on the due process when the judges wrote their opinion did they give specifics on why they came to the conclusion that they did the court walk through a number of the preliminary issues both parties ended up having procedural issues that they argued but at the heart of what the Court ruled is that the 5th Amendment of the Constitution protects due process and that this executive order may interfere with the due process rights of citizens or residents or loved ones from the involved state and the court said the state could assert those rights and because the government hadn't met its burden of showing that it was likely to be able to prove there wasn't a due process violation here it was going to allow the lower court order stopping the president's executive order Muslim ban was going to not overturn what the district court had done how did it come to the decision is. Rooted in prior cases or did it just look at the constitutionality Oh it's deeply rooted in prior cases the court goes through and rejects several arguments the government made for why the court shouldn't be able to decide and should just defer to the president on issues of national security and the court walk through a number of prior cases from the Supreme Court and other courts saying time and again no it's the obligation of courts to decide issues of constitutionality we can't simply to further when the president says I'm making this decision based on national security course constantly say Oh well then we're out instead the courts have an obligation to protect the rights of people who come to it and in ruling on these constitutional issues and protecting due process the courts been doing exactly what they've done for centuries and what the Constitution says they're supposed to do the opinion goes through carefully those decisions and it goes to the decision of both the u.s. Supreme Court and other courts saying that the due process rights of all of the involved people and the people affected by this travel ban are significant can't be brushed away by the administration the government tried to make it so the court wouldn't consider those by for instance saying they get the ban wouldn't apply to permanent residents and the courts said well look that's one person White House counsel who says that's not a formal modify modification of the executive order and Anyways given how much the administration's been going back and forth we don't necessarily have faith that interpretation is going to stand is this likely to end up in the u.s. Supreme Court as it would you know the president immediately tweeted out to you in court yes which was kind of a funny thing for him to say given that he just lost in court and had previously lost in the trial court but yes see you in court it's it's almost certainly going to go up to the u.s. Supreme Court so the u.s. Supreme Court can act quickly they'll probably. Already have this flag something that like they coming to them that Santa Rosa Matheson partner at the California appellate law group in San Francisco she was speaking to Laurie London Well joining me here in the studio is social media editor Doug Barnard said Doug what's going on well how surprised are you that I'm going to begin with a treat from President Donald Trump Ok In fact it's a tweet that Laurie just mentioned there and others it's been getting a lot of attention this following the 9th the panel of the 9th Circuit appeal denying the trumpet ministrations request and he treated tweeted out in all caps which is kind of shouting Internet See you in court the security of our nation is at stake exclamation point now a lot of people are responding look there are people who are supporting the president here's somebody who goes by the name of banks and he's saying he or she is saying a majority of the country still supports the president's decision to keep America safe and there's some factuality to that I don't know if it's a majority as in 50 percent plus one but more Americans by recent polling do seem to favor the idea of the temporary travel restrictions then those who don't. And I call it that because that's sort of the more correct term but when the president tweets about it he uses the term ban because I guess the church order is it's only a $144.00 characters on the on the old Twitter so but anyway people are responding to this says she when court hears John nice son are you are you going to sue the judicial branch branch question mark Here's Casey Johnson quote Oh no not Court say judges. Adviser President Trump after losing in court says he will see the court in court. There's a lot of these kind of jokes that are going around but it what it underlies obviously this. Seriousness of the issue at play this is I think in some ways it socially at times like this I think can act kind of as a pressure valve ya know let people just kind of blow off some steam or whatnot I think everybody we're going realizes the seriousness of the debate that taking place but I think people are just perhaps as I say letting off a little steam and it is Friday and it is from All right thanks a lot Doug that social media editor Doug Barnard. Here are some of the top news stories trending Turkey's president approves a national referendum to add power to the presidency Iranian celebrate the 38th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution 11 civilians are killed in fighting in southern Afghanistan. And as well a poll says that Europeans favor a halt to immigration from mainly Muslim countries expanded coverage of these stories and more on the v.o.a. News dot com website this is the l.a. . This is science in a minute. Astronomers have long thought that there were 2 types of black holes smaller sized black holes called stellar black holes and gigantic super massive black holes astronomers at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics say they have found new evidence of a medium sized intermediate mass black hole with a mass of about 2200 suns hiding in the center of a globular star cluster some 13000 light years from Earth while a few intermediate mass black holes had been spotted in the past Bulent a Harvard astrophysicist says that all past claims of finding an intermediate black hole have been inconclusive and were subject to opposition by scientists who found these findings to be equally consistent with other phenomena because of them says that scientists want to find is immediate mass black holes because they are the missing link between stellar mass and super massive black hole I now feel weighs recompilation. This is international edition on The Voice of America I'm sorry Williams coming up Japan's prime minister arrives at the White House for talks with President truck. President Donald Trump told Chinese President Xi Jinping in a telephone conversation that the u.s. Intends to honor the one China policy by acknowledging China's position it has sovereignty over self rule Taiwan I spoke with the away Beijing correspondent Bill I about the conversation between the 2 leaders which followed trumps convert. Stations and meetings with a number of other leaders you know on the on the front with China things have been really quiet and there are some reasons for that analysts believe one of the probably the big reasons is that shortly after he was elected President Trump spoke with he at that time but then afterwards he also spoke with Taiwan's president time when and that irritated China very much China regards Taiwan to be a part of its territory province of China and so that was the 1st blow after that then came Trump tweeting about the one China policy and China of course was very irritated with that and then there were other tweets that followed there with the Rex Tillerson comments about the South China Sea and recent revelations about Bannon's comments about the South China Sea Then surely there could be a war there so there's been a lot of things building you know a lot of water under the bridge here and it seems like there was no way to kind of make this happen or to get started the conversation the White House says was extremely cordial they talked about a lot of issues and even discussions having Fishel as have negotiations meetings in the future and the 2 leaders change visits but the key thing that seemed to have brought this together was some kind of a and an acknowledgement on the on Trump's part about the one China policy which China says is the political foundation of its relationship with the United States and his comment at least according to the White House statement was a bit guarded but he did mention the one China policy he did say that at the request of she agreed to honor of the one and he didn't say China's one child policy he said on. Our one China policy referring to the us is it's a very nuanced term it's there's a lot of a lot to city in it in its meaning and u.s. Presidents have used it over the years and different ways but basically what the one China policy refers to is from China's point of view that Taiwan is a part of China the u.s. Acknowledges that position but it doesn't accept that position is there any indication yet as to when the 2 leaders will meet no there is no indication yet and if one looks at the political calendar it seems analysts that I was speaking with today were saying that the g. 20 meeting and in Germany could be a possibility there could be a possible place for the 2 to meet seems like the most obvious other than the possibility that they arrange some other kind of meeting elsewhere Well finally Bill I also want to just to ask you this this conversation between chop and she took place Amanda rising tensions in the East and South China Sea Is there any indication that the 2 leaders touched on those topics no indication whatsoever about that that is a very key issue one that you know there's there's still a lot of while this is a good ice breaking moment for the 2 presidents there's still a lot of issues a lot of very contentious issues that the 2 need to start addressing and start working on and how quickly they may be able to move forward on those issues it's still a big question the Beijing correspondent. Well Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abbay has become the 2nd world leader to meet with President Trump the 2 are holding a White House summit Friday followed by golf diplomacy at Mr Trump's Mar a Lago Club in Florida Mr Trump's decision to withdraw the u.s. From the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement has. Criticism of countries with huge trade surpluses with the u.s. And calls for greater defense burden sharing has caused concern in Japan Jeffrey Hornig fellow at the Washington base Sas a cow a piece Foundation tells international editions victor be a key objective of his visit will be to build trust trying to build the trust with President Trump given some of the campaign rhetoric he said on the campaign trail really cause a lot of anxiety in Japan another one is to pick up the pieces from the t p p that President Trump killed and toward that end there's rumors that Prime Minister will be bringing a package of some sorts that could create up 270-0000 u.s. Jobs through some private public investments interesting that he's probably if my memory serves me the 2nd world leader to visit Mr Trump after British Prime Minister to resign may prime minister Abbate was the only world leader to my knowledge that met with President elect Trump he will be the 2nd world leader to meet with President Trump and this is all very much a part of Tokyo trying to reinforce the message to trump that Japan is very important that the alliance is very important at that a lot of the rhetoric that he said during the campaign was in fact mistaken Yukio aka Moto a former Japanese diplomat with ties to the Abbaye government said what we just pan want to know is Mr Trump's attitude toward China again they're still trying to figure out like all world leaders trying to figure out what are the specific policies from the White House especially regarding China one of the big ones and so the fear is that given how much President Trump has talked about the importance of making deals and negotiating there's an anxiety in Tokyo that he may want to cut a deal that some people. All the g 2 essentially the u.s. And China divvying up the Asia Pacific with fears of influence space largely on economic rationale but also having geo political consequences as well what about the defense burden sharing issue we saw that Secretary of Defense Mattis went there last week can reassure Japan that the alliance is pretty much going to maintain the same trajectory that it did before the election of course the burden sharing has not gone away I would be surprised if they did not at least began talking about that because again along with the economic issues really has one target they're in to sort of shore up the alliance and the minute that he starts approaching the topic of the alliance I would be surprised if President Trump did not raise say at some point we're going to have to talk about burden sharing that share free horning a fellow at the sas a Kawai piece foundation Somali is a new president says he will work to have his country removed from the list of nations who citizens were and may yet be barred from entering the United States Mohammad Adlai Mohammad more commonly known as Farmer Joe told v.o.a. Of his plans in a phone interview late Thursday a day after his unexpected victory in the Somali presidential election it's part of my responsibility to talk this issue of who is going the government by coup what message to the president and his government that the Somali people are in a good hardworking people who always has been in the United States. To the state. So. You can change that policy and. From that from Ajo is a dual u.s. And Somali citizen who has spent much of his adult life in the United States mostly in the northern city of Buffalo this is the way. When news breaks v.o.a. They are bringing you news as it happens listen to Africa news tonight Monday through Friday at 160-1900 u.t.c. And our 5 minute newscasts come to you at the top of each hour v.o.a. Africa you're a trusted source of information. On your larceny get to be always the correspondents a weekly roundup of the top stories with analysis from our dedicated reporters around the globe among the stars expressing support for the content this is the problem that affects almost every country think of it as a conversation on the biggest issues of the day wherever the news may be our correspondents are there listen to the correspondents Saturdays and Sundays on viewing. The Grammy Awards are Sunday and what people are wearing could generate as much buzz as who wins the coveted awards Here's the ways David Bird. The Grammy Awards are mostly about music but they are as much about the fashions the artists wear as the music they make the Grammy red carpet can offer designers an audience that they won't get from other awards shows so the top houses and designers are eager to dress the stars George co-hosted the fashion police show for years with the late Joan Rivers he says that music stars have more freedom to express their style at the Grammys than at other awards shows that there might be a black tie attire required but no one goes by it no one cares the guys can work t. Shirts and ripped jeans the girls can wear that now in mostly it's outrageous that women can be scantily clad and super sexy but in recent years a lot of women including like Riana everywhere on the look is fabulous they've been wearing like Ok sure they've been wearing designers even wearing gowns and tailless with Katy Perry which is unusual they're treating it almost as if it is the Oscars but it's it's you know can be a little bit more out there says his all time favorite Grammy look was pop diva Jennifer Lopez's plunging Versace dress at the 2000 Grammy Awards the absolute most iconic Grammy look ever is j. Lo and that Versace luck with the palm trees and plunging down here I mean I think that it's just like you can look in the dictionary and it would say grab the red carpet and there would be a photo of that you know that that defines the Grammy red carpet I think George concert says that in recent years stars like Beyonce Rianna Taylor Swift and Katy Perry have tended to wear more of quote your styles not as flashy but still high fashion so as far as like the Grammys go they have these really great dresses like this is from this French designer alexy might be so I was saying ladies are wearing more could sure looks this isn't something you'd wear the Oscars but for the Grammys it works it's got this. Kind of weird detail that super cool with the sleeves and it's to beautiful color if this is something like real. Predicts that some stars might try something a little more daring this year like sequined pajamas one thing he says fans can look for is more fun styles not something as conservative or traditional as they see at this month's Oscars the Grammy Awards are Sunday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in Washington I'm David Bird. That's our show thanks for joining us have a great weekend. Next an editorial reflecting the views of the United States Government Defense Secretary James Mattis took his 1st official trip abroad this month to visit 2 American allies South Korea and Japan where he reiterated the United States firm commitment to the security of our longtime Asia Pacific partners in Seoul Secretary Mabus called the u.s. South Korea alliance a linchpin of regional peace and stability he noted the dangers posed by North Korea's missile launches nuclear weapons program and threatening rhetoric and behavior America's commitment to defending our allies and to upholding our extended deterrence guarantees remain ironclad he said any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated and any use of nuclear weapons would be met with the response that would be effective and overwhelming in the face of North Korea's growing nuclear and ballistic missile threat the United States is taking defensive steps to help protect the South Korean people as well as the thousands of u.s. Troops stationed in the country Secretary Mabus pointed to the deployment to South Korea of a Terminal High Altitude Area defense system capable of intercepting and destroying North Korean ballistic missiles potentially armed. With weapons of mass destruction he also spoke of the need to continue expanding trilateral cooperation with Japan in Tokyo Secretary Mabus referred to the alliance between the us and Japan as enduring and a cornerstone of peace and security in the Asia Pacific region he reaffirmed the u.s. Commitment to the defense of Japan under the treaty of mutual security and praised Japan for its noteworthy contributions to regional stability Secretary Mabus stressed however that both the United States and Japan must not be found complacent in the face of the emerging challenges he pointed to the threat of nuclear and missile provocations by North Korea and to increasingly confrontational behavior by China in the East and South China Seas Secretary Mabus emphasized the necessity of maintaining a rules based international order in which countries resolve issues like land disputes through arbitration or diplomacy not through military force or occupation he also insisted that freedom of navigation is absolute. Faced with the current grave security situation Secretary Mattis said it is important for the United States and Japan to continue investing in our defense personnel and capabilities in this manner we will ensure that we are true partners today and in the years to calm the United States he added stands with our friends and allies. But it was an editorial reflecting the views of the you're. Welcome to learning English a daily 30 minute program from the Voice of America on Jonathan Evans and I'm Ashley Thompson this program is aimed at English learners so we speak a little slower and we use words and phrases especially written for people learning English. Today on the program you will hear stories from. Brian lan Mario redder and and ball later Joel robins and it's John Russell will bring us this week's lesson in every day grammar but 1st here is on Emma Teo u.s. President Donald Trump sent a letter Wednesday to Chinese President Xi Jinping he wrote that he is looking forward to working with she to develop a constructive relationship that benefits both countries the White House said in a statement The letter also thanked she for his note of congratulations on Trump's inauguration it also wished the Chinese people a happy Lantern Festival and a successful year of the rooster China's Lantern Festival takes place this Saturday February 11th. The Lunar New Year was January 28th China praised Trump's letter on Thursday foreign ministry spokesman Lew conk said China highly commended Trump for the letter to she. Also dismissed suggestions that China had expected contact from Trump sooner it is known to all that since President Trump took office China and the u.s. Have been in close contact Lou said Trump and she have not spoken directly since Trump took office last month they did however talk on the phone soon after Trump won the presidential election in November the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said last week that the 2 countries were remaining in close touch China's top diplomat State Councillor young g.h. Or has led that contact last week Young told Michael Flynn trumps national security advisor that China hopes it can work with the United States to manage and control disputes and a sensitive problems as a presidential candidate Trump accused China of unfair trade practices and of undervaluing its currency when he was president elect Trump took a telephone call from Taiwan's president. When some Chinese officials said the call violated America's 1979 pledge of support for a one China policy China claims Taiwan as its own territory since taking office Trump and members of his administration have been critical of China's actions in the South China Sea. Deal damning is with the Institute of American studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences he told the state run Global Times that Trump's letter to she is a good sign but we still need to observe his real actions. Is a professor at the University of international relations in Beijing he told the Global Times that Trump's choice to send a letter instead of making a phone call shows he may still want to keep his distance from China however he said a friendly signal is better than a provocation last month Chinese Internet users found another friendly signal on social media trumps daughter Ivanka posted a video of her 5 year old daughter singing a song in Mandarin in celebration of the Chinese New Year the short video spread quickly in China I'm on I'm a Teo. And . Japan is reportedly planning to approve new movie so rules to attract more foreign workers the proposed change comes as the United States considers new immigration reforms to limit the number of foreign workers it excepts. The new rules would speed up the process for temporary workers to get permanent residency according to multiple reports quoting officials from the Japan x. Turn will trade organization or jet tro if the government plan is approved it would allow skilled foreign workers in Japan to receive permanent residency within one to 2 years according to Jethro chief director general cousin knock a hole currently Japan's points based temporary worker program requires visa holders to wait 5 years before applying for permanent residency jet tro executive vice president Shige ki. Also spoke about the planned changes at a recent trade event in India we are trying to make the Japanese business environment better for foreign companies through introducing a new type of green card system he was quoted as saying the new Japanese proposal comes as u.s. Officials consider changing its h one b. Visa program for one b. Visa allows foreign workers to stay in the u.s. For up to 6 years. After a maximum stay of 6 years h. One b. Visa holders can either return to their home country or apply for permanent u.s. Residency also known as a green card the program is designed to employ foreign workers in jobs requiring specialized knowledge according to the u.s. Department of Homeland Security many of the jobs are filled by scientists engineers and computer programmers the American technology industry has relied on h one b. Visas to bring in skilled workers that it says are difficult to find in the u.s. Workers cannot apply for an h one b. Visa on their own the company that wants to employ them must do so the number of h. One b. Visas is limited to a total of $85000.00 per year a lottery is held to choose which applicants get approved last year there were more than $200000.00 requests for h one b. Visas during his presidential campaign Donald Trump criticized visa programs that allow u.s. Employers to bring in skilled foreign workers he promised to make changes to see that more of those jobs go to Americans not foreigners a draft of an executive order has been prepared for President Donald Trump. According to The Associated Press the draft calls for a 9 month government study to look at current visa programs including the h one b. Program a government report will then be issued about ways u.s. Workers are harmed by working visas such as the h one b. A.p. Reported it will also reportedly seek ways to make sure h one b. Visas end up going to the best and the brightest people trumps new Attorney General Jeff Sessions has also voiced opposition to the current h one b. Program and the u.s. Congress has also proposed legislation to reform the program on Friday in Washington Trump and Japanese prime minister Sheen's 0 Abbay are expected to discuss trade and other issues at the White House it will be the 2nd meeting for the 2 leaders Trump will also host. Over the weekend for a round of golf near the president's Mar a Lago resort in Palm Beach Florida. I'm Brian Lin. More visitors to Vietnam come from China than from any other country the number of Chinese tourists going to Vietnam reached 250000 last month Vietnamese state media say that is a 68 percent increase from the number in January 26th seen the popularity of Vietnam with Chinese tourists is somewhat of a surprise the 2 countries are involved in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea They also have a long history of disputes and distrust Chinese tourists have influenced the economies of places like Hong Kong and Taiwan over the past 10 years Frederick Burke is a partner in Baker and McKenzie a law office in hoti Minh City he says while there are disagreements between the countries Chinese like to visit Vietnam there are some underlying tensions over the East Sea or the South China Sea but nevertheless Vietnam is a place the Chinese feel comfortable going to he said relations have not always been warm. China and Vietnam have argued for years over 2 groups of small islands and rocks in the South China Sea in 1979 the 2 sides fought a brief war the number of Chinese visitors fell in 2014 when China's state oil company set up an oil rig in disputed waters the move resulted in deadly anti Chinese riots in Vietnam but since then the number of Chinese tourists has increased about 2 point $2000000.00 Chinese went to Vietnam last year some observers say increasing tourism is a way for Vietnam to be more than a manufacturing center. When I started the news website Vietnam advisors he says the country is seeking to develop new industries Vietnam still depends on manufacturing to keep its economy strong however Frederick Burke says tourism provided 6.6 percent of Vietnam's economic activity last year he says one in 8 jobs is tied to services such as hotels travel and food China and Vietnam share a border and flights between the 2 are short especially from southern China Malaysia Singapore and Thailand were the 1st countries in Southeast Asia to become popular tourist destinations. But the number of Chinese visitors to Malaysia has dropped since the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines am h 370 Singapore reported a drop in Chinese tourists in both 20132014 before the country made it easier for Chinese families to travel there Thailand has remained a popular place for Chinese tourists with a 20 percent increase in visitors in 2015 tourists from China have and fluence to other parts of Asia China eased restrictions on travel to Hong Kong from mainland China in 2003 in 2015 the territory received nearly 46000000 mainland Chinese also millions of Chinese have visited the island of Taiwan since 2008 but Taiwanese officials have reported a 30 to 40 percent drop in Chinese travel groups since the swearing in of Taiwan's president sa even when last May sigh opposes closer ties with China which considers the island a rebel province Taiwan's hotels and bus operators have been hurt by the decrease in tourists in the case of Vietnam Frederick Burke says China does not appear to be pushing tourism for any long term gain but Chinese travel agencies could cut back their services if relations get tense in Hong Kong visits from the mainland drop 3 percent during 2015. That year thousands of young people demonstrated in what became known as the umbrella movement protesters were angry about Chinese government efforts to influence the election of Hong Kong's chief executive I'm Mario Ritter. The world's largest refugee camp will remain open in Kenya Kenya's High Court announced the ruling Thursday it said closing the camp would violate the country's constitution rights groups sought legal action after the Kenyan government announced last May that it would close the camp it said it would return home the almost 260000 Somali refugees living there the Somalis had fled fighting in their country which borders Kenya Kenyan High Court Justice John said the government's orders to close the camp were discriminatory and amounted to collective punishment Kenya had argued that security threats made it necessary to close the camp the government also said it would close the Department of refugee affairs the high court also rejected that play on. A ministry of the interior official Melinda and Joka said the Kenyan government will appeal the ruling because the reasons for closing the camp remains the main reason was security and joke a said the fact that the camps have lost their humanitarian character and they became places where terrorists would come out. And their sympathizers would go and plan their attacks on Kenya so that has not changed and joke us said that Somalia has also stabilized a new president Mohammad Abdullah he Mohammad took office in Somalia on Wednesday and Dzhokhar also said that the Kenyan government would obey the court's ruling if it loses on appeal we cannot defy a court order he said The rights group Amnesty International praised the court's decision but the group's deputy regional director Michel Garri also said that Kenya has carried a disproportionate burden when it comes to housing refugees she called on Western countries to take a fair share of refugees the Norwegian Refugee Council Doctors Without Borders and Human Rights Watch also released statements praising the ruling the United Nations says almost $34000.00 refugees have returned to Somalia since Kenya announced it would close the camp. I'm a ball. From feel a learning English this is every day grammar imagine you are at a business meeting you have just presented a plan to your business partners they want to give suggestions for how to make your plan better the conversation might sound like this I really like your plan yes it's pretty good but it needs a little revising of course you did a very good job but you might need to consider a few more points yes it will probably be more effective if you highlight the staffing requirements and expand on the budget whether you like business or not this conversation gives you important grammar information that you can use in just about any situation in particular the exchange offers examples of some of the most important adverbs that you will hear in every day speech this week we will explore special adverbs that increase or decrease the force of a statement these adverbs are sometimes called amplifiers or down toners ad for are words that modify or change the meaning of adjectives verbs and sometimes entire sentences. They are often used to show time a way of doing something place or degree a measure of something some kinds of adverbs act as amplifiers the word amplify means to make something stronger so these imply fires make the meaning of an adjective or sentence stronger in American English amplifiers have 3 common uses increasing intensity expressing certainty and showing precision This information comes from Susan Conrad and Douglas Biber 2 experts on English grammar words such as really and very are among the most common that increase the intensity of a statement they usually modify an adjective take the adjective good for example imagine you are trying some food that your friends cooked Perhaps you want to tell them this food is good you could increase the intensity of your statement by using the word Very This food is very good you could express certainty by using an amplifier such as Definitely this is definitely the best food I've ever had or you could use an amplifier to show Priss Ian at exactly 5 13 pm on Feb 6th I ate the best food I've ever had in my life. Other kinds of adverbs act as down toners down toners are the opposite of amplifiers they reduced the force of a statement or expressed doubt in other words they set the tone of a statement you can remember the term down tone or by thinking about what it does toning down a statement down toners have 3 common functions reducing intensity expressing doubt or showing him precision 3 common down toners in conversational English are pretty may be and probably say Conrad and Biber How can you use down toners to change the meaning of the statement take our earlier example this food is good if you wanted to reduce the intensity of your statement you could say this food is pretty good you could show doubt even your raise questions by saying this is maybe the best food I've ever had or this is probably the best food I've ever had these statements express someone's opinion about the food but they are not as strong as example sentences that use amplifiers in other words saying this food is pretty good is not as forceful as saying This food is really good so what does this discussion of food have to do with the exchange we heard at the beginning of this report. Let's think back to the business conversation I really like your plan yes it's pretty good but it needs a little revising of course you did a very good job but you might need to consider a few more points yes it will probably be more effective if you highlight the staffing requirements and expand on the budget you might notice that one of the speakers uses amplifiers such as really and very she is using these words to give more force to her statement she is probably more excited about the business plan the 2nd speaker uses down toners the words pretty and probably for example so you might suspect that he is more guarded about the plan maybe he has doubts that the new plan will be better that amplifiers and down toners they use are also among the most common ones that you will hear in American English These words are useful in a number of settings they are polite and acceptable in almost any situation remember this the amplifiers and down toners we have discussed today are common in conversation different amplifiers and down toners are more common in writing. For example you are more likely to read words such as indeed certainly or approximately than you are to hear them in everyday conversation if you use these amplifiers and down toners in conversation your speech will take on a very official sound while that might be a good idea in a formal presentation or speech it might not be the best choice for an every day conversation amplifiers and down toners are not always necessary to use in a sentence but when you see or hear them you are getting information about the thoughts and feelings of another person you are learning about how strongly they feel about something and that's the end of this really long report I'm Jill Robbins And I'm John Russell. And that's our program for today listen again tomorrow to learn English 3 stories from around the world I'm Jonathan Evans and I'm Ashley Thompson.