Month: September 2019

The U.S. military says it has carried out an airstrike against the Islamic State group in Libya, the latest in a series of airstrikes by the U.S. in the North African country over the past ten days.

Monday’s statement by U.S. Africa Command says seven militants were killed in the strike, launched a day earlier in southwest Libya.
 

Third US Strike in Libya Targets Islamic State Terror Group

U.S. Africa Command says 17 Islamic State fighters were killed

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Gayler, director of operations at the command, says the airstrike aimed at “disrupting the terrorists’ planning, training, and activities.”
 
This is the fourth the U.S. airstrike in Libya since Sep. 19. The spike came after more than a year hiatus. The airstrikes killed at least 43 militants.
 
Islamic extremists expanded their reach in Libya amid the chaos following the 2011 uprising, which killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

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 Lyonel Desmarattes in Washington, Sony Louis in Leogane, Jaudelet Junior Saint-Vil in Fort Liberte and Hernst Eliscar in Les Cayes contributed to this report
 

WASHINGTON / PORT-AU-PRINCE – Hundreds of demonstrators protested across Haiti Monday, responding to calls by the opposition and anti-corruption militants to take to the streets and build roadblocks to force President Jovenel Moise to resign.

In Port-au-Prince, police fired on protesters who were trying to burn down a police station in the Carrefour Aeroport neighborhood, wounding a local radio reporter. Protesters did manage to set fire to a police car.

In the southern city of Les Cayes, protesters set ablaze a police station located in the southern part of the city. The local office of national electric company EDH was looted.

In Fort Liberte, hundreds took to the streets early. Some wore costumes as they marched through the tow,n holding a casket draped in white fabric, adorned with black crosses and the words, “Goodbye Jovenel,” written in black marker on the sides.

The Tet Ansanm pou Rebati Ayiti (Union to Rebuild Haiti) group, which includes various opposition organizations, Sunday called for the protests.     

“Jovenel Moise is no longer president; the people have fired him, but the people must remain mobilized. The roadblocks must go higher and the mobilization has to go higher until we install a provisional government,” said lawyer Andre Michel, a member of the Democratic and Popular Sector party.

Referring to a protest last Friday which the opposition considered a nationwide success, Michel said, “On Sept 27, 2019, the people fired Jovenel Moise as their president…Jovenel Moise is a president in hiding….he is no longer leading the country.”

‘Where is Jovenel?’
 

Moise has not been seen or heard from since he delivered a national address on September 25, during which he sought to calm a furious nation and extend an olive branch to the opposition.

The latest protests stem from the Haitian leader’s decision more than a year ago to end fuel subsidies, a move that came at the request of the International Monetary Fund. While Moise reversed the decision after an eruption of violence, frustration has mounted over his inability to turn the economy around and end corruption.    

Instead, Moise has infuriated the opposition and protesters and sparked the most destructive and violent protests to date. Asked if Moise is in hiding, presidential advisor Cange Mackenson told local radio station Magik 9 Monday morning that the president has control of the country and is “reflecting like a good coach.”

Late on Sunday, a series of decrees was issued by acting Prime Minister Jean Michel Lapin announcing new Cabinet appointments to head various ministries, including those for finance, public planning, migration, Haitians living abroad and tourism. The move followed shakeups in the interior and justice ministries.  

Le citoyen Joseph JOUTHE est nommé Ministre a.i de l’Economie et des Finances @MEFHaitipic.twitter.com/STa0GaHwQ8

— Communication Haïti (@MCHaiti) September 30, 2019

More calls for resignation

The Conference of Catholic Bishops has added its voice to those expressing concern over Haiti’s political quagmire. The conference issued a statement asking the president to face the consequences of his irresponsibility. “Is there a violence worse than living with constant insecurity? Is there a misery worse than the black misery that removes all hope? No people should resign themselves to accepting misery, poverty and violence as a way of life,” the statement said. “The officials at the highest level of government must take responsibility to guarantee the country and its institutions are able to function properly. They are morally responsible for the security and well-being of the people, first of whom is the president.”

An association of artists and actors also decried the political crisis. A statement issued Sunday cited corruption and impunity as the main culprits.

“We artists realize that these two factors are responsible for the terrible situation we find ourselves in, where many young people are leaving in search of a better life overseas,” the statement, signed by some of Haiti’s most popular and successful artists, said.  

Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic reportedly reinforced its border with Haiti, adding more than 1,000 soldiers to boost security in anticipation of the planned protests.

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The Treasury Department is targeting Russians suspected of trying to influence the 2018 U.S. midterm elections.
 
Treasury says, however, there is no indication that they were able to compromise election infrastructure in ways that would have blocked voters, changed vote counts or disrupted vote counting.
 
 Monday’s action targets for sanctions four entities, seven individuals, three aircraft and a yacht that are all associated with the Internet Research Agency and its Russian financier, Yevgeniy Prigozhin.
 
Treasury says the IRA used fictitious personas on social media and disseminated false information to attempt to influence the 2018 U.S. midterm elections and try to undermine faith in U.S. democratic institutions.

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A regional Chinese diplomat has rebuked the United States for being “ignorant” about his country’s ongoing key economic contributions and cooperation with Afghanistan.

Arrangements are being worked out to enhance the cooperation with Kabul even under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Yao Jing, the Chinese ambassador to neighboring Pakistan told VOA.

He hailed Saturday’s successful Afghan presidential election, saying China hopes they will boost peace-building efforts in a country wrecked by years of conflicts.

“We hope that with the election in Afghanistan, with the peace development moving forward in Afghanistan, Afghans will finally achieve a peaceful period, achieve the stability,” said the Chinese diplomat, who served in Kabul prior to his posting in Islamabad.

China and US Clash Over ‘Belt and Road’ in Afghan Resolution

China insisting on including a reference to Beijing’s $1 trillion global building program in resolution on the UN political mission in Afghanistan

Earlier this month, U.S. officials and lawmakers during a congressional hearing in Washington sharply criticized China for its lack of economic assistance to Afghan rebuilding efforts.

“I think it’s fair to say that China has not contributed to the economic development of Afghanistan. We have not seen any substantial assistance from China,” Alice Wells, U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, told lawmakers.

Wells, however, acknowledged that Beijing has worked with Washington on a way forward on peace as have other countries, including Russia and immediate neighbors of Afghanistan.

“She is a little ignorant about what China’s cooperation with Afghanistan is,” ambassador Yao said when asked to comment on the remarks made by Wells.

He recounted that Beijing late last year established a trade corridor with Kabul, which Afghan officials say have enabled local traders to directly export thousands of tons of pine nuts to the Chinese market annually, bringing much-needed dollars. Yao said a cargo train was also started in 2016 from eastern China to Afghanistan’s landlocked northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

China is also working on infrastructure projects, including the road linking Kabul to the eastern city of Jalalabad and the road between the central Afghan city of Bamiyan and Mazar-e-Sharif. Chinese companies, Yao, said are also helping in establishing transmission lines and other infrastructure being developed under the CASA-1000 electricity transmission project linking Central Asia to energy-starved South Asia nations through Afghanistan.

Ambassador Yao noted that China and Afghanistan signed a memorandum of understanding on BRI cooperation, identifying several major projects of connectivity.

“But the only problem is that the security situation pose a little challenge. So, that is why China and Pakistan and all the regional countries, we are working so hard trying to support or facilitate peace in Afghanistan,” he said.  

For her part, Ambassador Wells told U.S. lawmakers that China’s BRI is a “slogan” and “not any reality” in Afghanistan. “They have just tried to lockdown lucrative mining contracts but not following through with investment or real resources,” she noted.

Wells said that Washington continues to warn its partners, including the Afghan government about “falling prey to predatory loans or loans that are designed to benefit only the Chinese State.”

U.S. officials are generally critical of BRI for “known problems with corruption, debt distress, environmental damage, and a lack of transparency.” The projects aims to link China by sea and land through an infrastructure network with southeast and central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

But Yao rejected those concerns and cited the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a pilot project of BRI, which has brought around $20 billion in Chinese investment to Pakistan within the past six years. It has helped Islamabad build roads and power plants, helping the country overcome its crippling electricity shortages, improve its transportation network and operationalize the strategic deep-sea Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea.

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Clashes between two Turkish-backed rebel groups in the northwestern Syrian town of Afrin have left at least two fighters dead and about a dozen wounded, according to reports Sunday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor group that has researchers across Syria, reported that fierce fighting between the al-Majd Legion and al-Sham Legion in Afrin erupted Saturday night following a disagreement over property.

“Our sources have confirmed that the infighting erupted after a dispute over the ownership of a house just outside of Afrin,” Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory, told VOA.

Local news said the disputed house belonged to a Kurdish civilian that armed groups reportedly had seized months ago.

Frequent clashes

Armed confrontations among Syrian rebel factions have reportedly increased since Turkish military and allied Syrian rebels took control of Afrin after a two-month-long military campaign that ousted the Kurdish People Protection Units (YPG) from the region in March 2018, rights groups said.

“This is not the first time that such clashes take place over property and revenue-sharing among rebel groups,” the Syrian Observatory added.

Infighting among rebel groups has become a common issue in the region.

 “There is almost one occurrence like this one on a daily basis,” said Mohammed Billo, a journalist from Afrin.

“Usually when fighting gets out of control, Turkish military interferes to stop it,” he told VOA.

Some rights groups have also voiced concerns about growing violations against civilians in recent months in Afrin.

“Local sources in Afrin reported at least 110 abuses that appear to amount to instances of arbitrary detention, torture and abductions of civilians by pro-Turkey armed groups,” Amnesty International said in a report released in May.

YPG attacks

Since their ouster from Afrin in March 2018, Kurdish fighters affiliated with the YPG have occasionally carried out attacks against Turkish military and Syrian rebel forces in the Kurdish-majority region.

Last week, YPG fighters claimed responsibility for an attack on a Turkish military outpost in Afrin that killed two Turkish soldiers and wounded another.  

Ankara views the YPG as part of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been engaged in a three-decade war with Turkish armed forces for greater Kurdish rights in Turkey. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.  

Turkey has repeatedly threatened to invade other YPG-held areas in northern Syria, despite a recent agreement with the United States to establish a safe zone along Syria’s border with Turkey.

The two countries have begun joint patrols along parts of the border, but Turkish officials continue their objection over Washington’s support for the YPG, which has been a key U.S. ally in the fight against the Islamic State terror group in Syria.

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About 350,000 treasure hunters from all over the world, have been scouting out a large area in the Rocky Mountains stretching from Northern New Mexico to Montana, looking for a hidden treasure. As the story goes, all one needs to do to find the loot, is to decipher the nine clues in a poem written by wealthy art collector and entrepreneur Forrest Fenn, who says he collected and hid the treasure years ago. Its lore became wildly popular after he had written a book called “The Thrill of the Chase,” talking about his life and the treasure.  While many believe the treasure is real, others think it’s a hoax. VOA’s Penelope Poulou visited the area and spoke with Fenn about the meaning of it all

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Riot police have thrown tear gas and cordoned off part of a street at Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay shopping belt after a large crowd started to amass for an anti-China rally ahead of Tuesday’s National Day celebrations.

Protesters chanted slogans and heckled police as they were pushed back behind a police line. The atmosphere is tense as police warned the crowd they were taking part in an illegal assembly. Officers fired tear gas canisters after some protesters threw bottles and other objects in their direction.

Police earlier searched some protesters and several people were detained. The crowd has swelled to more than 1,000 people, with many spilling into adjacent streets. 

Supporters of Beijing rally

Earlier, hundreds of pro-Beijing supporters in Hong Kong on Sunday sang the Chinese national anthem and waved red flags ahead of China’s National Day to counter pro-democracy protests that have challenged Beijing’s rule.

The show of support for Beijing came after another day of violence in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory that sparked fears of more ugly scenes that could embarrass Chinese President Xi Jinping as his ruling Communist Party marks its 70th year in power Tuesday. Pro-democracy advocates have called for a major rally to coincide with the celebrations in Beijing.

Police on Saturday fired tear gas and water cannons after protesters threw bricks and firebombs at government buildings following a massive rally in downtown Hong Kong. The clashes were part of a familiar cycle since protests began in June over a now-shelved extradition bill and have since snowballed into an anti-China movement with demands for democratic reforms. 

Protesters are planning to march Tuesday despite a police ban. Many said they will wear mourning black in a direct challenge to the authority of the Communist Party, with posters calling for Oct. 1 to be marked as “A Day of Grief.” 

Later Sunday, protesters also plan to gather for an “anti-totalitarianism” rally against what they denounced as “Chinese tyranny.” Similar events are being organized in more than 60 cities worldwide including in the U.S., U.K., Australia and Taiwan.

Hong Kong’s government has scaled down National Day celebrations in the city, canceling an annual firework display and moving a reception indoors.

Despite security concerns, the government said Sunday that Chief Executive Carrie Lam will lead a delegation of more than 240 people to Beijing Monday to participate in the festivities. She will be represented by Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung in her absence and return to the city Tuesday evening.

Lam held her first community dialogue with the public Thursday in a bid to diffuse tensions but failed to persuade protesters, who vowed to press on until their demands including direct elections for the city’s leader and police accountability are met.

Several hundred people, many wearing red and carrying Chinese flags and posters, gathered at a waterfront cultural center in the city Sunday and chanted “I am a citizen of China.” They sang the national anthem and happy birthday to China. They were later bused to the Victoria Peak hilltop for the same repertoire. 

Organizer Innes Tang said the crowd, all Hong Kong citizens, responded to his invitation on social media to “promote positivity and patriotism.” He said they wanted to rally behind Chinese sovereignty and urged protesters to replace violence with dialogue.

“We want to take this time for the people to express our love for our country China. We want to show the international community that there is another voice to Hong Kong” apart from the protests, he said.

Mobs of pro-Beijing supporters have appeared in malls and on the streets in recent weeks to counter pro-democracy protesters, leading to brawls between the rival camps. 

Losing freedoms

Many people view the extradition bill, that would have sent criminal suspects to mainland China for trial, as a glaring example of the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy under the “one country, two systems” policy when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

China has denied chipping away at Hong Kong’s freedom and accused the U.S. and other foreign powers of fomenting the unrest to weaken its dominance.

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Austrians began voting Sunday in snap elections, in which the conservatives look set to triumph but face difficulties finding a partner to govern after a corruption scandal brought down their last coalition with the far-right.

The People’s Party (OeVP) led by 33-year-old Sebastian Kurz is predicted to win around 33 percent, up slightly from the last elections two years ago but not enough to form a majority government.

Kurz has “nothing to win, but a lot to lose,” Die Presse daily warned in an editorial Saturday. “Even with a nice plus on Sunday, it is more difficult for him than in 2017,” it said, adding there was no partner that quite suited any more.

With 6.4 million people eligible to vote, polling stations across the country opened at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT). They will close by 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) when first projections are expected. 

Far-right troubles

The parliamentary elections were brought about by the “Ibiza-gate” corruption scandal that engulfed Kurz’s far-right coalition partner in May, after 18 months in government together.

Experts have predicted “whizz-kid” Kurz could once again partner up with the Freedom Party (FPOe) in a re-run of the coalition that has been touted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and other nationalists as a model for all of Europe.

But fresh allegations of wrongdoing have shaken the far-right over the past week.

Prosecutors confirmed Thursday they were investigating Heinz-Christian Strache, who resigned as FPOe leader and vice-chancellor in May because of “Ibiza-gate,” over fraudulent party expense claims.

The FPOe’s current leader, Norbert Hofer, has said he won’t tread gently if any wrongdoing is confirmed, leading to worries that supporters of Strache, who led the party for 14 years and remains influential, could stay away from the polls in protest.

Kurz himself has also warned that left-leaning parties could gain more than predicted and then band together to form a coalition without him.

“If there is just a little shift… then there will be a majority against us,” Kurz told supporters at a final rally in Vienna on Saturday.

Climate matters 

Unlike in 2017, the top voter concern is not immigration but the climate.

Tens of thousands of people marched Friday in Vienna and other Austrian cities to demand the government fight climate change.

The protests were part of global demonstrations led by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and the biggest yet in the Alpine country of 8.8 million.

Against this backdrop, Austria’s Greens, who failed to get into parliament in 2017 in shock results, look set to make the biggest inroads Sunday.

They are tipped to garner 13%, up 10 percentage points from two years ago.

It remains to be seen if Kurz, a former law student who has enjoyed a rapid ascent through the ranks in Austrian politics, tries to woo them and another small party, the liberal NEOs, to form a partnership.

Prominent concerns

Unsurprisingly given the reason the election was called, corruption in public life and party financing have also been prominent themes in the campaign, as well as more bread-and-butter issues like social care.

Another option for Kurz could be to form a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPOe).

With a predicted historic low of around 22%, the SPOe was neck and neck with the FPOe before the troubles this week as the country’s second strongest party.

Since World War II, either OeVP or SPOe have always governed, and for 44 years in total the two ruled together, but it was Kurz who ended their last partnership, leading to the 2017 polls.

He has also floated the idea of ruling in a minority government. But this would potentially continue political uncertainty and could even trigger another election.

Either way, negotiations between parties are expected to take months again. Ultimately, President Alexander Van der Bellen, a former Greens leader, will need to approve any government. 

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Students at an American charity school in Liberia almost lost their institution to a notorious sex abuse scandal, forcing the academy to close. Then a new, Liberian-run organization formed to re-open the school. In Monrovia, Monique John follows one student on her first day back in class. This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.
 

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The United Nations reports human rights violations in both government and separatist-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine continue with impunity.  The report, which was examined by the U.N. human rights council this week also documents violations perpetrated by the Russian occupiers of Crimea.

While critical of the overall situation in eastern Ukraine, the report injects a note of optimism that the new government, headed by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy shows promising signs of the country turning a corner.  

It notes the Ukrainian government and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine largely continue to respect a cease-fire and have disengaged forces. In addition, it says the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine has begun operating.  

The report urges the newly-appointed prosecutor general and chief military prosecutor to promptly investigate conflict-related and other grave human rights violations on both sides of the contact line, the patch of land that divides the government and separatist-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine.

U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore says accountability for past and present human rights violations on both sides of the line have to be addressed.  She accused the authorities in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics of denying U.N. monitors access to their territories and detention facilities despite repeated requests.

“We nevertheless continue to document human rights concerns in those areas; breaches of human rights through such as arbitrary and incommunicado arrests and the absence of space for people to exercise fundamental freedoms, symptoms of the persistent climate of fear that prevails in those parts of Ukraine’s territory,” she said.

Gilmore also condemned violations perpetrated by the Russian Federation as the occupying power in the Crimean Peninsula, which it annexed in March 2014.  Abuses documented in the report include deportations of protected persons, forced conscriptions, restrictions on freedom of expression and an increasing number of house searches and raids, mainly against Crimean Tatars.

Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya blasted Russia’s occupation of Crimea and blamed Moscow for the suffering of Ukraine’s citizens who are in the sixth year of war that was instigated by Russia.

Russia, which blatantly disrespects human rights of its own citizens, perpetrates human rights abuses at home and abroad, in essence, commits a moral turpitude amid its desire to infiltrate the body, which has been created to prevent human rights violations and go after perpetrators,” Kyslytsya said.

Russia is running for a seat on the 47-member Human Rights Council.  The Ukrainian minister said it would be a travesty of justice to elect Russia to the U.N. body, which is the foremost protector and promoter of human rights.

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At least 44 people were killed and thousands moved to relief camps because of flooding caused by torrential rains in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state, officials told AFP Saturday.

Densely populated regions on the banks of two main rivers in the state, which are overflowing because of incessant rainfall in the last 24-48 hours, are among the worst hit.

“We had confirmed 44 deaths till late yesterday night. The authorities are focusing on rescue and relief work in the affected regions,” Ravindra Pratap Sahi, vice chairman of the state disaster management authority, told AFP.

“We have moved thousands to relief shelters as there is forecast of heavy rains in the next 48 hours in most of the affected districts of the state,” Sahi said.

Officials and local media reports said most people lost their lives for a variety of reasons including wall collapses, drowning, lightning and snake bites.

Flash floods after heavy rains killed at least 17 people in western India’s Maharashtra state earlier this week.

Monsoon rains are crucial to replenishing water supplies in drought-stricken India, but they kill hundreds of people across the country every year.

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