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North Korea has tested what appears to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile — an important advancement in Pyongyang’s weapons program and a major provocation just days ahead of working-level nuclear talks with the United States.

South Korea’s military says it is “highly likely” North Korea tested a Bukkeukseong-type submarine-launched ballistic missile, or SLBM, early Wednesday from the sea near the coastal city of Wonsan in Gangwon province. Seoul says the missile flew about 450 kilometers but reached an altitude of about 910 kilometers, meaning it was launched at a lofted trajectory that would make its maximum distance much longer.

It is not yet clear whether the North launched the SLBM from a submarine or an underwater platform.

If confirmed, it could be the first time since 2017 that North Korea has tested a missile that is capable of flying distances that exceed what is considered to be “short range.” Its exact maximum range is not yet known.

The provocation comes at a particularly fragile moment. Late Tuesday, North Korea’s vice foreign minister said Pyongyang and Washington have agreed to hold long-delayed, working-level talks on October 5. The two sides will have “preliminary contact” the day before, she said.

It’s not clear how the latest launch will impact the talks. North Korea has conducted 11 rounds of ballistic missile launches since May. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he has “no problem” with Pyongyang’s previous launches, since they were short-range.

A new threat

A submarine-based missile launch would be a major escalation and a reminder of the threat posed by North Korean weapons.

Following several failed tests, North Korea in 2016 successfully tested a ballistic missile launched from a submarine. Reports have suggested that North Korea is working on new types of SLBMs, but those models had not yet been tested.

“We knew they were working on it but the question is why test it now?” asked Vipin Narang, a nuclear expert and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Get one in before the bell, betting we won’t walk away? Test the SLBM before talks start knowing you can’t once they do? Build leverage? All of the above?”

The development of satellite-launched ballistic missiles adds an unpredictable new component to North Korea’s arsenal. SLBMs are mobile, potentially increasing the range of North Korea’s ballistic missile arsenal. They are also easier to hide.

The latest test demonstrates North Korea is successfully diversifying its nuclear delivery options in ways that make it harder to combat using regional missile defenses, said Eric Gomez, a policy analyst for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute.

“This improves DPRK ability to survive attacks and have forces left to retaliate,” said Gomez.

Talking while launching

The North Korean launch risks embarrassing Trump and upsetting working-level talks that have been delayed for months. Though the United States has given no signs it will back out of the negotiations, Pyongyang seems to be sending the message it will continue its provocations even while engaging in negotiations.

“The North Koreans have a long history of juggling carrots and sticks,” said Mintaro Oba, a former U.S. diplomat who focused on the Koreas. “They combine these launches that raise tensions with what we call ‘charm offensives’ and that’s exactly what we saw today.”

“Their motivation is both to accelerate their technology, to create a sense of urgency behind negotiations to get some sort of nuclear deal with the United States, and to send some signals domestically as well that Kim Jong Un is strong and that the military remains an important constituency,” Oba said.

Regional threat

The missile launches also threaten North Korea’s neighbors.

Japanese officials said Wednesday North Korea fired two missiles, and that one landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone off Shimane Prefecture. The other landed just outside Japan’s EEZ, Tokyo said.

If confirmed, it would be the first time in nearly two years that a North Korean rocket has landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo condemned the launch.  

“North Korea has fired two ballistic missiles this morning,” he said. “This type of short range ballistic missile is a violation of United Nations resolutions and we seriously and heavily protest and reprimand against such act.”

North Korea has given varying justifications for its previous launches this year. Some of the launches, it says, were aimed at sending a warning to South Korea. Others were simply a test of its military capabilities and should not be seen as a provocation, it insisted.

Kim Dong-yub, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul, said the latest launch likely has a dual message: to increase leverage ahead of working-level talks with the United States, and to respond to South Korea’s unveiling Tuesday of advanced weaponry, including the F-35A stealth fighter acquired from the U.S.

Delayed talks

The North’s announcement of talks came almost exactly three months after Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas and agreed to resume working-level talks.

The talks have been stalled since February, when a Kim-Trump meeting in Vietnam broke down over how to pace sanctions relief with steps to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program.

It’s not clear if either side has softened their negotiating stance, though recent developments suggest an increased willingness to work toward a deal.

Late last month, Trump said a “new method” to the nuclear talks would be “very good.” That is especially relevant since North Korean officials have for months said the only way for the talks to survive is if the United States adopts a “new method” or a “new way of calculation” or similar language.

Trump also recently dismissed his hawkish National Security Advisor John Bolton, who had disagreed with Trump’s outreach to North Korea.

North Korea praised both developments, even while criticizing the U.S. for what it sees as provocative actions, including the continuation of joint military exercises with South Korea and weapons sales to Seoul.

Approach

North Korea has repeatedly said it is not willing to unilaterally give up its nuclear weapons. Pyongyang instead prefers a phased approach, in which the United States takes simultaneous steps to relieve sanctions and provide security guarantees.

Kim and Trump have met three times since June 2018. At their first meeting in Singapore, the two men agreed to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. But they never agreed on what that means or how to begin working toward it.

Trump has said he is open to holding another summit with Kim. But it has long been unclear how the talks can advance without more substantive discussions — including technical experts — about what each side is prepared to offer and how to get there.

“I hope this will at minimum reacquaint the substantive negotiators with their counterparts and perhaps lead to some actionable leads,” said Melissa Hanham, a weapons expert and deputy director at the Open Nuclear Network. “Any substantive working-level talks are good. Diplomacy is like a muscle and it needs exercise.”

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Brazil’s top court is expected to make a ruling this week that could lead to the annulment of dozens of cases brought by the sprawling Operation Car Wash that has snared top politicians and businesspeople across Latin America. The probe, once heralded as a model of anti-corruption efforts, has been heavily criticized in Brazil following allegations that some prosecutions were politically tainted. Here’s a look at the challenges the operation faces:

What is Operation Car Wash?

“Operation Car Wash” began in March 2014 as an investigation into money laundering involving a gas station owner in the southwestern state of Parana. The suspects reached plea bargains that opened windows onto an immense graft scheme. Prosecutors say executives of major construction companies effectively formed a cartel that decided which firms would be awarded huge contracts with the state oil company Petrobras and how much to inflate prices to cover payoffs for politicians and Petrobras executives.

What Has It Achieved?

The inquiry has led to the sentencing of 159 individuals, including former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, former congressional Speaker Eduardo Cunha, former Rio de Janeiro Gov. Sergio Cabral and Eike Batista, once Brazil’s richest man. Prosecutors say Brazil can expect to retrieve over $3.4 billion in stolen money, with a fourth of that amount already returned. The probe has also led to the arrest or resignation of presidents in Peru and has rattled nations across the hemisphere.

So Why is It Losing Steam?

Some legal analysts, business leaders and politicians have accused Car Wash prosecutors of judicial overreach to further a political agenda, notably in the conviction of Da Silva, which forced him out of the last presidential race. The Intercept Brasil news website said hacked cellphone conversations showed that the judge guiding the Car Wash probe, Sergio Moro, had improperly coordinated with prosecutors, allegations he denies. Moro was later chosen justice minister by newly elected conservative President Jair Bolsonaro, whose campaign was boosted by the removal of the front-running Da Silva. The controversy has led some to urge limits on the investigation.

What is the Supreme Court Discussing?

Plea bargain testimonies are at the core of the Car Wash investigation. A majority of justices in Brazil’s top court voted last week in favor of allowing defendants mentioned in plea deals to testify after hearing the accusation. They argue that the accused had not been adequately allowed to defend themselves. The case applied to Marcio de Almeida Ferreira, the Petrobras executive who raised the issue. Justices have yet to decide whether the decision will apply only to his and future cases, or be retroactive — a measure that potentially could undermine earlier convictions.

What Could the Ruling Mean?

The Car Wash task force, part of the federal public prosecutors’ office, says 143 criminal defendants might benefit from a retroactive ruling. The decision could open the door for the annulment of some cases Da Silva is involved in, but not the one that put him behind bars. The 73-year-old former president was found guilty in July 2017 of accepting an apartment in the city of Guaruja as a kickback from construction company OAS in return for his influence. His lawyer says the prosecution was “corrupted” and that the former president should be freed anyway.

What About Congress?

Lawmakers — some of them under investigation themselves — recently passed a law against possible “abuse of authority” from prosecutors, judges and police. Fabio Kerche, a political scientist at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, says prosecutors in Brazil have a lot of autonomy and little accountability. The new law seeks to limit some of that power by expanding the list of what is considered an “abuse of authority.” While it does not target Car Wash prosecutors or judges specifically, it applies to them too. A magistrates’ association says it will fight some of the new measures in the Supreme Federal Court. Bribery experts from the Paris-based Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation also expressed concerns before the bill was approved, saying they fear it will let corrupt people “unfairly attack justice-seeking prosecutors and judges for appropriately doing their jobs.”

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Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno announced an end to government subsidies for holding down fuel prices and said Tuesday night that he will send congress a proposal to overhaul taxes and labor rules as a way to revitalize the economy.

In an address broadcast on television and radio, Moreno said he was eliminating the $1.3 billion subsidy for gasoline and diesel. The move will raise the price of gasoline to $2.30 a gallon from $1.85 and the cost of diesel to $2.27 from $1.03.

He said a tax overhaul bill that he would send to the National Assembly within hours would include a provision for a three-year special tax on companies with annual revenue above $10 million. The extra money would go to education, health and safety, he said.

Moreno said the proposal also would provide for reducing taxes on technological and cellular equipment, machinery and industrial equipment for simplifying refunds for exporters that pay foreign trade taxes. To stimulate the creation of jobs, he said he is proposing a new law to make hiring easier, encourage facilities for telework and help those who start businesses.

“The goal is more work, more entrepreneurship and better opportunities … boosting economic growth and employment,” the president said.

Moreno also announced that government employees will be required to contribute a day’s pay each month to state coffers on the grounds that they receive higher pay than workers in the private sector.

Ecuador is experiencing economic problems arising from the high public indebtedness inherited from the 2007-2017 administration of President Rafael Correa. Moreno has sought credit with international agencies, especially the International Monetary Fund.

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A man with a knife-like weapon killed one person and wounded at least nine others Tuesday at a shopping center in central Finland, police said. The attacker has also been wounded and is in custody.  
 
Police said they were forced to use a gun to stop the violence at the Hermanni shopping center, which has been evacuated in the town of Kuopio. But police didn’t confirm that they shot the suspect, and they didn’t immediately provide further details.
 
The conditions of the wounded, including the attacker, weren’t immediately available and police haven’t provided a possible motive.
 
Prime Minister Antti Rinne tweeted that the violence was “shocking and totally condemnable.”
 
Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat reported that the shopping center houses a vocational school which the attacker allegedly tried to enter. Finnish media also reported that the man used a type of sword.

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Bernie Sanders said, “I hate asking people for money” — and then asked for money. Joe Biden’s campaign warned that President Donald Trump would “feel like he won” if a fundraising goal wasn’t reached. And Beto O’Rourke offered to “try to text you” in exchange for $5.

In the days and hours before Monday’s third-quarter fundraising deadline, Democratic White House hopefuls were pleading for campaign cash, making appeals on social media and collectively blasting out more than 80 emails asking supporters to “chip in” $5, $10 or $50.
 
With the Iowa caucuses approaching in February, there’s a growing sense of urgency as the primary becomes a fierce battle for a limited pool of cash that could make the difference between staying in the race and heading for the exits. Those who continue to muddle along in the lower tier will not only face challenges paying for advertising to amplify their message, but they are also likely to struggle reaching fundraising thresholds set by the Democratic National Committee to qualify for future debates.
 

Top-tier candidates like Sanders, a Vermont senator, former Vice President Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts are anticipated to be among the leaders in the field. But others are facing pressure to post competitive numbers or get out, something that might not happen soon enough for some angsty Democrats.
 
“If you are being outraised 3-to-1 by Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden, you have no viable path to victory,” said Rufus Gifford, Barack Obama’s former finance director. “Even if you can compete in the early states … shortly thereafter you will run out of money.”

Cory Booker recently warned that unless he juiced his fundraising numbers by an additional $1.7 million he’d likely have to drop out, stating that he didn’t “believe people should stay in this just to stay in it.” But the New Jersey senator announced he surpassed his goal on Monday, raising $2 million after enlisting help from Hillary Clinton and his girlfriend, the actress Rosario Dawson.
 
Regardless, he will still lag behind the top contenders even if he has an outstanding quarter.
 
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, who has also struggled to raise money, announced Monday that he’s applying for public financing, turning to a fund that is replenished by those who volunteer to chip in $3 from their taxes. He hopes it will supplement his campaign with a $2 million fundraising boost.
 
The third quarter is coming to a close as Trump faces an impeachment inquiry in Congress related to his attempts to get the Ukrainian government to investigate Biden. The development has scrambled politics in Washington but has turned into a fundraising rallying cry for both major political parties.
 
Trump has turned his outrage over the inquiry into a flood of campaign cash. Trump and the Republican National Committee reported raising $13 million in the three days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the probe last week. And Trump’s son Eric tweeted later that the total grew to $15 million.
 
That’s on top of what’s already expected to be a major haul for the quarter. Trump and the RNC previously reported pulling in more than $210 million since the start of 2019, more than his Democratic rivals combined.
 
That’s a source of worry for some Democrats concerned it will be hard to catch Trump once a nominee is selected.
 
 “Trump’s presidency is wounded but not mortally wounded, and their operation is as good as it gets,” Gifford said.
 
Like Trump, some Democrats have treated the impeachment inquiry as a fundraising opportunity. Biden ramped up Facebook ad spending that seized on unfounded allegations made against him and his son Hunter by Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York.
 
A recent series of Biden ads asking for donations said Trump was “trying to distract you from what’s really at stake for your family by spreading lies about my family,” and his campaign says they’ve seen a significant uptick in donations.
 
Sanders, Warren and California Sen. Kamala Harris have also made fundraising appeals based around impeachment.
 
But in a sign that the primary could be taking a bitter turn, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who has also struggled to raise money, took aim at her rivals for capitalizing on impeachment.
 
 “Candidates for POTUS who are fundraising off  ‘impeachment’ are undermining credibility of inquiry in eyes of American people, further dividing our already fractured country,” she tweeted on Monday. “Please stop. We need responsible, patriotic leaders who put the interests of our country before their own.”

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Mark Sanford, the most prominent primary challenger to President Donald Trump, has said he won’t solicit contributions from his longtime donor base until he’s “proven a measure of electoral success.”

Bill Kristol has yet to fully activate a super PAC aimed at hurting Trump’s reelection chances.
 
And Stuart Stevens, the top strategist for Sen. Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, until he was prompted, could not recall the name of the super PAC he is advising that supports another Trump challenger, Bill Weld.
 
So far, not even the start of an impeachment inquiry against the president has energized the campaigns of those candidates, or aligned groups, seeking to deny Trump the Republican presidential nomination.
 
Still, outside spending by disenchanted “Never Trump”-type Republicans could diminish Trump’s 2020 odds by wounding his candidacy even if stopping well short of denying him the nomination.
 
“For now, the idea that somehow, some way, some seven-figure guy or some seven-figure bundler, is going to break from the pack to go support one of these guys is just, I don’t think realistic,” said Reed Galen, a former Republican turned independent who worked in the past for George W. Bush and John McCain.

Weld, the former Massachusetts governor and the first Republican to announce a primary challenge to Trump, has struggled to mount a serious fundraising effort, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission filings. That’s also been true for the pro-Weld super PAC America United.
 
At the end of June, the committee had raised only $60,000 and had less than $20,000 cash on hand. Stevens emphasized last week that fundraising is just starting. By comparison, New Day for America, a super PAC supporting former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, ended June with close to $414,000 cash on hand.
 
“The people that we’re talking to are against Donald Trump,” Stevens said. “And they were against Donald Trump before, so it’s not like some light bulb went off. This may open up a new group of donors. I just don’t know yet.”
 
Weld was joined in the Republican primary race in recent weeks by Joe Walsh, a former tea-party-backed, one-term congressman from Illinois, and Sanford, the former South Carolina governor and congressman.
 
Since announcing for president in April, Weld has struggled to gain footing in New Hampshire even with frequent campaigning in the state. Sanford and Walsh both recently made initial visits.
 
Kristol, a director of Defending Democracy Together, a 501(c)(4) anti-Trump conservative group, said Trump’s dealings with Ukraine and the impeachment proceedings have led to Never Trump donors feeling vindicated. And last week Republicans for the Rule of Law, a project of Defending Democracy Together, announced it had begun targeting digital ads at some congressional Republicans as “the first stage in a $1 million campaign urging Republicans to stand up for the rule of law and speak out against the president’s abuse of power.”
 
It could be a new ballgame, Kristol said, and raised the possibility of other Trump challengers getting into the race.
 
“I would say they’re being seen as serious. I don’t think people think they can win,” Kristol said of the three current Trump primary challengers. “But I think you can be serious without having much of a chance of winning if you raise issues and show weakness in the front-runner.”
 
That has resulted in a transition for Trump’s Republican critics.
 
 “Most of the Never Trumpers in the Republican Party, both donors and activists, are gradually becoming After Trumpers,” said Dan Schnur, a former Republican turned independent who was national director of communications for McCain’s 2000 presidential run.  He added: “Impeachment could force their hand, but right now, they’re devoting their time and effort to thinking about what the Republican Party could or should be once Trump has left the political landscape.”
 
Dating back to 1976, sitting presidents have a history of losing the general election after a serious primary challenge. But for Trump’s Republican challengers, the case to be taken seriously has only become more difficult as a handful of state parties cancel their primaries and other nominating contests.
 
Walsh hasn’t been shy about his struggles as a candidate and conceded before the impeachment inquiry that it had “not been easy to raise money.” But he has been encouraged by interest and support from small-dollar donors.
 
There is less support from big donors now, even from the ones who had donated to him in the past.
 
 “The vast majority of those donors, even though they like me, many of them are still on board the Trump train,” Walsh said.

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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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An urban climber known as the “French Spiderman” has climbed a high-rise building in the German city of Frankfurt and now faces a fine for his effort.

It took Alain Robert 20 minutes to scale the 153-meter (502-foot) Skyper building in the heart of Germany’s financial capital early Saturday.

Upon his descent from the gleaming glass structure, the 57-year-old was met by German police who escorted him away.

Robert has climbed many of the world’s tallest buildings, often without permission.

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Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives began the formal process of impeaching U.S. President Donald Trump this week.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the first step in the impeachment process Tuesday, following reports that a whistleblower filed a complaint alleging Trump sought foreign interference into the 2020 election.

What triggered House Democrats to begin a formal impeachment inquiry?

Investigations into Trump’s administration and his campaign’s actions during the 2016 presidential election were already underway in six House committees at the beginning of this week. Many House Democrats already backed impeachment, but until this week opposition leaders had resisted calls for launching the impeachment inquiry. They believed such an inquiry had no chance of passing the Republican-led Senate and could end up hurting Democrats in the 2020 election.

The new whistleblower report appears to have dramatically shifted the politics of the issue.

Several additional House Democrats came forward in support of an impeachment inquiry. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday the House would embark on the first step of the impeachment process to determine if Trump had committed the “high crimes and misdemeanors” the U.S. Constitution lays out as the standard for removing a president from office.

What do we know about the whistleblower?

The whistleblower remains anonymous under laws protecting government workers who expose wrongdoing. But he or she is a U.S. government employee who had knowledge of Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and spoke to other U.S. officials who shared similar concerns over the legality of the president’s actions.  Although the whistleblower did not have direct knowledge of the Zelenskiy phone call, an independent investigator for the U.S. government found the allegations were credible.

The New York Times has reported the whistleblower is a CIA employee who has spent some time working in the White House during the Trump administration.
 
The complaint alleges a number of offenses on the part of Trump and U.S. officials. The most serious of the allegations is that Trump implied congressionally-approved U.S. aid to Ukraine was contingent upon Zelenskiy’s government providing information on the son of 2020 presidential election rival, Joe Biden. The complaint also alleges White House officials were aware of the gravity of Trump’s actions and covered up records of the phone call.

How was the whistleblower complaint handled by the government?

Democrats are pledging to investigate both the allegations in the complaint as well as how the Trump administration handled it.

Under the whistleblower process, the complaint was summarized in a letter that was addressed to senior lawmakers in the House and Senate committees, which oversee the intelligence community. That August 12 letter was sent to the inspector general at the CIA, which worked to try to substantiate some of the allegations. But instead of sending the letter on to the lawmakers in Congress after two weeks, as required by law, Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, instead held it from lawmakers while he consulted with the White House and the Department of Justice about the allegations.

Democratic lawmakers argue Trump administration officials tried to keep the allegations from reaching Congress, violating the procedure for dealing with such issues.

Maguire told members of Congress Thursday he had acted lawfully in initially blocking the release of the complaint due to concerns about executive privilege, a legal right of the U.S. presidency to keep some conversations and documents private.

What do we know about the Trump-Zelenskiy phone call?

The White House released a summary of Trump’s phone call with Zelenskiy Wednesday. In a memo reconstructed from the work of White House note takers, Trump asks Zelenskiy to investigate business dealings of former Vice President Biden and his son, Hunter.

Trump also reminds the Ukrainian president that “the United States has been very very good to Ukraine.” Trump ordered a freeze on $400 million of congressionally-approved aid to Ukraine just a few days before that phone call. Trump said this week the order was part of an effort to combat corruption.

Congressional Democrats say the memo is clear evidence of the president proposing a so-called “quid pro quo,” an exchange of one favor for another. But the president’s allies on Capitol Hill said the memo completely exonerated him.

What will happen next in the U.S. Congress?

The House committees investigating the president’s actions will begin building a case that could lead to the drafting of articles of impeachment.

Articles are formal charges against the president that are voted on by the entire U.S. House of Representatives.

Impeachment is a two-step process. If the House votes on and passes the articles, the president is considered impeached and the case moves to the U.S. Senate for a process that is similar to a court trial. If a two-thirds super majority of the U.S. Senate votes to convict, the president is removed from office.

Only two U.S. presidents have been impeached by the U.S. House – Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. The U.S. Senate has never voted to remove a president from office.

How soon can we expect a vote on impeachment?

Pelosi has cautioned that there should be a careful gathering of facts so that lawmakers do not rush to judgement. But many House Democrats want to see the vote on articles of impeachment before the end of the year. The 2020 presidential election gets fully underway with the Iowa caucuses in February. Many Democrats believe it would be politically risky to have an impeachment vote occurring at the same time.

As of Friday, 225 House Democrats and one independent member of the U.S. House of Representatives support impeachment or an impeachment inquiry. Until articles of impeachment are drafted, it is unknown how many members would vote in support of impeaching Trump.

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After the 24-hour storm dumped more rain on his olive trees than 55-year-old Gianluca can recall having seen in a September, the part-time farmer shook his head as he inspected his forlorn crop. 

“This is the third year I have not seen much to harvest,” he lamented. “Last year was even worse, mind you. But look at this,” he said, pointing to trees with few olives and many threadbare branches. 

In the distance, Lago di Bolsena shimmered and the Italian countryside just north of Rome seemed picture perfect. The sun had returned after Monday’s extreme storm and with it warm autumnal temperatures. But for all the surrounding bucolic beauty, farmers and smallholders in northern Lazio, as in much of rural Italy, are becoming alarmed at the increasingly fickle weather with erratic rainfall, spring frost, tempestuous wind and summer drought.

Farmers say the change in climate patterns across Italy is causing poor olive harvests, which are leaving in their wake predictions that the country could become dependent on olive oil imports.

That’s a remarkable turnaround for a country that many see as synonymous with olive oil — although olive trees weren’t natural to Italy and first arrived in Italy from Greece, thanks to Greeks who settled in Sicily.

By early in the first century AD, the Roman historian Pliny could brag that Italians produced more olives than the Greeks and the quality was superior.

Last year, Italy saw a 57 percent plunge in the country’s olive harvest, sparking protests by thousands of Italian farmers who descended on Rome wearing orange vests, calling for climate action. 

According to Riccardo Valentini, a professor in forest ecology at the University of Tuscia in Viterbo, the development of olive trees can suffer greatly when there are sudden extremes in weather.

“Three or four days of 40 (degree Celsius) temperatures in summer, or 10 days without rain in spring — even two days of freezing temperatures in spring — are important,” he said in a recent interview with Italian media. “The alarm bell is ringing loud and clear: If we do not limit emissions and pollution levels, the land that we all know is in great danger.”

Climate change, disease and insects are reducing Italy’s production of homegrown olive oil, say scientists and farmers. Last year’s unusual weather patterns inflicted an estimated $1 billion worth of damage on the olive-oil sector, according to the national farmers’ association Coldiretti. The sharp drop in production was the worst the country has witnessed in a quarter-century. 

Insects, disease

The weather is also hurting the trees by helping insect infestations — especially of a species of fly that lays eggs in the trees after burrowing into them.

Of even greater threat is a bacteria called Xylella fastidiosa, thought to have come from Costa Rica and spread by the meadow spittlebug. The bacteria starts in the leaves, turning them a rusty brown color, then proceeds into the trunks, disrupting arteries that allow the tree to absorb water. 

The disease first broke out around 2013 in the southern region of Puglia, in the heel of the Italian boot. Until recently, Puglia was responsible for more than half of Italy’s olive oil production but it has slipped as a result of hundreds of thousands of olive trees dying. Last year, the region’s production plunged by 65 percent. 

Altogether, an estimated one million Italian trees have died as a result of the disease, and farmers in Lazio are fearful that they will soon see what they dub “tree cemeteries.” While climate change isn’t being held responsible for the appearance of the bacteria in Italy, it is thought to have helped its quick spread. 

The EU has called on Italy to create a buffer zone by cutting down diseased trees, but the work has been patchy and trees elsewhere — in Lazio and Tuscany — are showing early signs of the disease. 
 

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VOA Connect Episode 89 – Meet a homesteader who tries to get by on what he and his family make for themselves; a young seamstress who turns old clothes into fashionable new ones, and visit a church that has been turned into a brewery.  

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An Iranian woman sentenced in the United States for violating sanctions against Tehran was released and has returned home, her lawyer told AFP Thursday, following her country’s unsuccessful attempt at a prisoner swap.

A judge in Minneapolis sentenced Negar Ghodskani to 27 months in prison Tuesday, but determined the time she had spent in custody in Australia and the United States was enough to fulfill her punishment.

Ghodskani “is now free in Iran with her family,” her lawyer Robert Richman said in an email.

Arrested in Australia

A legal resident of Australia, Ghodskani was arrested in Adelaide in 2017 after U.S. prosecutors said she sought U.S. digital communications technology by presenting herself as an employee of a Malaysian company.

U.S. prosecutors said she in fact was sending the technology to Iranian company Fanamoj, which works in public broadcasting.

After extradition to the United States, she confessed to participation in a conspiracy to illegally export technology to Iran in breach of sanctions, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Pregnant at the time of her arrest, she gave birth while in Australian custody. Her son was sent to Iran to live with his father.

Prisoner swap offered

Her case was raised by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in April, who floated a potential prisoner swap for a British-Iranian mother being held in Tehran.

He suggested exchanging Ghodskani for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, in jail in Tehran for alleged sedition.

Both women have been separated from their young children while being detained.

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The United States is pressing other countries to join its proposed International Religious Freedom Alliance, in what diplomat Sam Brownback calls “the most significant” new human rights initiative in a generation.

“We’re going to call like-minded nations together and ask them to join this alliance and push on the issue of religious freedom and against religious persecution around the world,” Brownback, ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, said at a news briefing earlier this week. “We want to see the iron curtain on religious persecution come down.”

Brownback’s remarks came at a Monday press conference following the “Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom,” a U.S.-sponsored event on the opening day of the annual U.N. General Assembly. At the event, President Donald Trump pledged an additional $25 million to counter a trend of increasing religious intolerance around the globe.

The president’s chief envoy for that mission is Brownback. Since early 2018, the former Republican governor from the Midwestern state of Kansas has headed the office that he helped establish as a U.S. senator. He was a key sponsor of the 1998 Religious Freedom Act, as Religion News Service has pointed out. 

Brownback spoke with VOA after the news conference about what his brief entails — “fighting for religious freedom all around the world for all faiths all the time,” as well as for “people of no faith.”

“We’ll stand up and we’ll do something,” Brownback said of the Trump administration, saying it employs tools ranging from private diplomacy to public designations and “sanctions against countries that persecute people for their faith.”

For instance, the State Department in July publicly designated four Burmese military officials as responsible for “gross human rights violations,” including the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people, the Muslim minority group in Myanmar.

Government restrictions on religion have “increased markedly around the world,” according to the Pew Research Center, which began tracking the issue in 2007. The Washington-based center reported this summer that “52 countries, including some in very populous countries such as China, Indonesia and Russia, impose either ‘high’ or ‘very high’ levels of restrictions on religion, up from 40 in 2007.” It found increases in the number of states enacting restrictive laws and policies, as well as in religion-related hostilities and violence against individuals.

“Approximately 80% of the world’s population live in countries where religious liberty is threatened, restricted or even banned,” Trump said Monday, using a State Department figure extrapolated from Pew’s research.

Pew does not attempt to calculate the share of people around the world who are affected by such restrictions, a spokeswoman for the center told VOA.

Brownback told VOA that he sees religious freedom, enshrined in both the U.N. Charter and U.S. Constitution, as a harbinger of whether other rights are respected or not.

“When you’re willing to protect a person’s religious freedom, you generally are willing to protect the rest of their rights,” the diplomat said. “If you’re willing to persecute a person for their religious beliefs, you’re generally willing to persecute on a number of other rights.”

Brownback said the United Arab Emirates, while “certainly not perfect,” was a model of religious freedom. “They allow faiths to practice. They allow people to build” houses of worship. “And you have this robust, dynamic, growing economy and a lot of other things moving forward.”

He added that he’s “very hopeful” about Algeria and Sudan, African countries where “there are new governments coming in” to replace oppressive regimes.

The U.S. is supporting “better security at religious institutions, where we see a lot of them destroyed around the world, people killed at these houses of worship,” Brownback said at the press conference. He noted that he’s co-hosting a conference in Morocco next week on preserving religious heritage sites.

The Trump administration, which has strong support among evangelical Christians, has been criticized for favoring certain faith groups over others.

“President Trump was elected on the promise of a ‘complete and utter shutdown’ of Muslim immigration to the U.S.,” Rabbi Jack Moline, who leads the Interfaith Alliance, told USA Today. “Since then, his administration has worked tirelessly to redefine ‘religious freedom’ as a license to discriminate.”

The alliance promotes the separation of church and state.

The role of faith-based initiatives in U.S. foreign policy has risen during the last two decades under both Republican and Democratic administrations, according to scholar Lee Marsden, noting a strong interest in curbing radical Islam after the al-Qaida terrorist attacks in September 2001.

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The Trump administration is proposing to accept a maximum of 18,000 refugees in the coming year, in what would be the lowest refugee ceiling in the country’s history, the U.S. State Department said Thursday.

If the government follows through, 2020 will be the third year of significant cuts to refugee resettlement under President Donald Trump.

For now, however, the latest figure remains a proposal.

The final decision, in the form of a “presidential determination,” will be made in the coming weeks after the required consultations with Congress, a senior administration official told reporters in a phone briefing organized by the White House on Thursday.

In fiscal 2018, the first full year of the Trump administration, the ceiling was set at 45,000, and 22,491 refugees were admitted.

In fiscal 2019, the ceiling was 30,000. With only three full days remaining in the fiscal year, the U.S. is close to the limit, with 29,972 refugees admitted, according to State Department data.

Prior to Trump’s election, the refugee ceiling average was 60,000 to 70,000 every year.

The proposed ceiling is one of three fundamental changes to the resettlement program announced Thursday.

Trump also issued an executive order that will require state and local governments to “consent” to accept refugees for resettlement.

While not a widespread issue, the order would allow states like Tennessee, which unsuccessfully sued the federal government to stop resettlement, to potentially prevent willing nonprofit organizations in the state from accepting refugees.

Additionally, the U.S. State Department is creating new categories — a procedure used rarely to meet specific needs, usually for a specific region.

For fiscal 2020, however, the total will include up to 5,000 refugees persecuted on account of their religious beliefs; 4,000 spots for Iraqis who assisted the U.S. during its operations in the country; and up to 1,500 of what the White House called “legitimate refugees” from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Those specific allocations would allow for a maximum of 7,500 refugees who fall outside those categories.

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In an earlier time, boxes on wheels raced on American streets.  Now, an energy drink company sponsors motorless, homemade car races around the world.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi takes us on this bumpy ride through Jordan.

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Faith Aweko of Uganda describes herself as a “waste-preneur.”  She has come up with an innovative way to transform discarded plastic bags into backpacks for everyday use.  Halima Athumani reports from the town of Mpigi. 
 

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The international community must do more to tackle networks of global corruption that are fueling violence in South Sudan, according to activists. The call follows publication of a report detailing how corporations profited from the country’s civil war. The investigation by The Sentry organization, co-founded by actor George Clooney, shows the links between armed groups involved in the civil war, global oil giants, and British and American citizens. Henry Ridgwell has more.
 

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A Zimbabwean doctor desperate to leave the country for medical treatment after his recent abduction has been blocked after police approached the High Court asserting he is “unfit to travel.”

The head of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association, Dr. Peter Magombeyi, was freed last week after disappearing for several days. His alleged abduction after leading a pay strike led to days of protests by health workers and expressions of concern by diplomats and rights groups, who said more than 50 government critics and activists in Zimbabwe have been abducted this year alone.
 

Police stopped Magombeyi from leaving for treatment in neighboring South Africa on Tuesday even after a judge ruled he could travel outside Zimbabwe as he is not under arrest. He has been recuperating in a local hospital, and lawyers have said preliminary medical assessments show possible physical harm and psychological trauma.
 
Magombeyi’s lawyers now say police are violating the court order, and they worry his condition will deteriorate as the drama plays out. The doctor must stay in Zimbabwe until the police application to the court is resolved.
 
Police dismissed accusations that they are preventing the doctor from traveling, saying they are providing him with protection “for his own personal safety.”
 
In the court application filed Tuesday night, police said Magombeyi should remain at the hospital until he is fit to travel, adding that they also want to sort out his security while in South Africa.
 
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, a non-governmental group helping the doctor, described the police assertions as “shocking.”

The government has bristled at the accusations of abductions, with President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other officials over the weekend warning against so-called “false” abductions they assert are meant to make the government look bad. Mnangagwa is attending the United Nations annual gathering of world leaders this week.
 
Zimbabwe’s health sector, like its economy, is in crisis. Many services are unavailable due to collapsed infrastructure, lack of medicines or unavailability of doctors and nurses who say they can no longer afford transport to return to work.
 

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