This is VOA news. I'm David Byrd. Trump loyalist and political trickster Roger Stone was sentenced Thursday to more than three years in jail in a case marked by an extraordinary move from Attorney General William Barr and tweets from the president. AP's Sagar Meghanihas more. Stone is now facing 40 months in federal prison after being convicted last year of witness tampering, lying to Congress and other charges. Justice Department prosecutors originally recommended a seven-to-nine-year sentence but Barr backed off that following complaints from President Trump. Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Stone merited a significant sentence but said the seven-to-nine-year recommendation was excessive. The 67-year-old Stone's lawyers asked for no prison time, citing his age, health and lack of a criminal record. He is the sixth Trump associate or adviser convicted on charges stemming from the special counsel's Russia probe. Sagar Meghani, Washington. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump expressed hope that Roger Stone will get a new trial and be exonerated. VOA's Steve Herman has details. The president, speaking in Las Vegas to former prison inmates reentering society, said he hopes a judge will agree with him that Stone deserves a new trial because one of the jurors allegedly postedanti-Trump material on social media. "It's my strong opinion that the forewoman of the jury, the woman who was in charge of the jury, is totally tainted." Trump added he'll let the process"play out" for now but at some point will decide whether to intervene using his presidential clemency powers. Steve Herman, VOA news, at the White House. For more on these stories, be sure to visitour website voanews.com. You can also follow us on the VOA mobile app. This isVOA news. Hundreds of people gathered in Berlin and Hanau, Germany, for vigils to remember the victims of a mass shooting that left nine people dead. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told those gathered in Hanau, the site of the killings, that the attack has left Germans speechless, sad and angry. "... das macht uns fassungslos, dasmacht uns traurig ..." He said what has happened is what we allfear deeply, which is to lose loved one. In Berlin, mourners gathered and lighted candles at the Brandenburg Gate. A 43-year-old German who posted a manifesto calling for the "complete extermination" of many "races or cultures in our midst" shot and killed nine people of foreign background,most of them Turkish, in an attack on a hookah bar and other sites in theFrankfurt suburb on Wednesday. He was later found dead at his home along with his mother, and authorities said they were treating the rampage as an act of domestic terrorism. The United Nations is "very alarmed about the safety and protection" of civilians in Idlib and its surrounding areas in Syria. Stéphane Dujarric is a spokesman for theU.N. secretary-general. "We remain very alarmed about the safety and protection of over three million civilians in Idlib and its surrounding areas in the northwestern part of Syria, as reports of airstrikes and shelling continue to take a heavy toll on the civilian population." According to the U.N., hostilities are now approaching densely populated areas such as Idlib city and Bab al-Hawa border crossing, which has among the highest concentration of displaced civilians innorthwest Syria and also serves as a humanitarian lifeline. Dujarric said, "A massive cross-border operation in the northwest of the country is underway to assist civilians as needs are growing." The United States on Thursday slapped sanctions on five Iranian officials in charge of vetting candidates for the Islamic republic's parliamentary elections Friday. The Treasury Department said in a statementit imposed the sanctions on the members of Iran's Guardian Council and itselection supervision committee over their role in disqualifying several thousand candidates, including sitting members of parliament. Brian Hook is the U.S. special representatives for Iran. "The five officials being designated today have denied the Iranian people free and fair parliamentary elections." The sanctions mean that any U.S. assets ofthe officials will be frozen and that transactions with them will be a crime for anyone in the United States. Friday's vote is seen largely as a popularity contest for the ruling clerics at a time when tensions between Washington and Tehran have been high. For more, visit voanews.com. I'm David Byrd, VOA news.
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