Vietnam is preparing to evacuate nearly 1.3 million people as it braces for the impact of typhoon Molave, which lashed the Philippines overnight causing flooding, landslides and leaving at least a dozen fishermen missing on Monday.
Typhoon Molave, with wind speeds of 125 kilometer (77 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 150 kph, left the main Philippine island of Luzon earlier on Monday, with heavy rain causing seven landslides and floods in 11 areas, the disaster agency said.
There were no reports of casualties, but 12 fishermen at sea failed to return to Catanduanes province off the country’s eastern coast.
Molave, the 17th typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, is forecast to make landfall in central Vietnam on Wednesday, with wind speeds of up to 135 kph.
It will be the fourth storm to hit Vietnam in a tumultuous month during which floods and landslides have killed 130 people and left 20 missing in the central region.
Vietnam is prone to destructive storms and flooding due to its long coastline.
“This is a very strong typhoon that will impact a large area,” Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said in an urgent warning to provinces and cities in Molave’s path to prepare.
Phuc compared Molave to typhoon Damrey, which killed more than 100 people in central Vietnam in 2017. He ordered boats ashore and told the security forces to get ready.
“Troops must deploy full force to support people, including mobilizing helicopters, tanks and other means of transportation if needed,” Phuc said in a statement.
About 11.8 million people in Vietnam’s costal provinces are exposed to the threat of intense flooding, with 35% of settlements located on crowded and eroding coastlines, a World Bank report said last week.
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Month: October 2020
With US Help, Cambodia Wants to be Landmine-free by 2025
Cambodia is deploying 2,000 soldiers to train as deminers after Western nations, led by the United States, bolstered their efforts to rid the country of landmines and other unexploded ordnance by 2025.Camera: David Potter, Luke Hunt, Ny Chhan
Producer: Luke Hunt
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Climate Change in Africa Threatens Food Security, Health and Socio-Economic Development
The World Meteorological Organization is calling for urgent action to mitigate the impact of climate change in Africa, which threatens food security, health and socio-economic development on the continent. WMO has just launched a multi-agency publication, FILE – An aerial shot shows widespread destruction caused by Cyclone Kenneth when it struck Ibo island north of Pemba city in Mozambique, May, 1, 2019.The Food and Agriculture Organization reports the number of undernourished people in drought-prone sub-Saharan African countries has increased by 45.6 percent since 2012. WMO director of Regional Strategic Office, Filipe Lucio tells VOA many more people are likely to go hungry as a result of climate variability and change.”With increased warming, we expect a reduction in terms of food production. We also expect impacts in terms of disease and pests,” Lucio said. “But importantly, we will have impacts generated by flooding on the infrastructure system for agriculture production, which is the main source of livelihoods and food security in the continent.”The report notes new diseases are emerging in regions where they had not been seen before because of rising temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns. For example, malaria epidemics have occurred in the higher altitudes of East African highlands where mosquitoes previously were unable to survive.The economic impact on the continent is also great. WMO Climate Coordinator Omar Baddour says the Gross Domestic Product in five African sub-regions is expected to decrease by 2.25 percent to 12.12 percent as a result of global temperature increase.”It leads to a jobless situation, have less economic activity, less employment and emigration, and so conflicts,” Baddour said. “So, it is really an alarming indicator that we can see as an impact on the African continent.”WMO urges African governments to increase their climate risk management strategies. These involve improving preparedness, prevention and early warning systems based on good data and weather forecasting.It says Africa should employ techniques such as efficient and clean energy sources. It says solar-powered, efficient micro-irrigation, for example improves agricultural yields by up to 300 percent and reduces water usage by up to 90 percent. This, while offsetting carbon emissions.WMO says these techniques have been shown to increase farm-level incomes by five to ten times where they have been employed.
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California Talent Agency Represents Disabled Actors
Actress Keely Cat-Wells has an impressive Hollywood resume. She also has a disability that might have discouraged someone less determined from pursuing a career in acting and advocacy. VOA’s Genia Dulot has the story
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Cameroon Condemns Killing of School Children, Calls for Investigation
There has been widespread condemnation in Cameroon over an attack on a school in the southwestern town of Kumba Saturday that left seven children dead. Locals marched through Kumba Sunday calling for an investigation and for the killings of innocents to stop. Close to a thousand men, women and children dressed in black as a sign of mourning listened to the mayor of Kumba Sunday. Gregory Mewano called on the protesters of the killing of seven school children to be united against cruelty and to cooperate with the military investigating the killing.The event was broadcast by almost all local radio and TV stations.Ekoko Mukete, traditional ruler of Kumba, says he has joined the protest to ask for barbarism in his city to end immediately.”I am here to resound the disgust that the entire nation of Cameroon, and not just Cameroon, the entire world [has],” said Ekoko. “People have been watching the pictures, asking themselves why. How could people [fighters] be so mean, wicked and demonic? We shall say no to violence. What do we say to violence?” CROWD ANSWERS: “No to violence”Sunday, churches, mosques and community meetings all over Cameroon dedicated time to condemning the killing.Tameh Valentine, president of the Teachers Association of Cameroon says no community can be built without education.“Sustainable Development Goal number 4 asserts that all in communities should be educated, so whoever supported or sponsored the barbaric activity, we are stating here that such a person has begun a war against the United Nations that put in place all those Sustainable Development Goals,” said Tameh.
Cameroon reports that since the 2020/2021 school year began on October 5, more than a million children in the crisis prone English-speaking regions listened to pleas from the government and international NGOs and resumed their studiesCameroon government spokesperson Rene Emmanuel Sadi says the separatists have for four years asked parents to stop sending children to school.”The objective of these separatists is to break the fresh impetus observed in the resumption of classes in the Northwest and the Southwest regions,” said Sadi. “The government intends to reaffirm its resolve to address all the intimidation by creating and preserving the conditions that would allow for the persuasion of the back to school campaign and the security of the educational community of the concerned regions as a whole.”Sadi said troops had been deployed to track the killers and bring them to justice. The United Nations, rights groups and foreign embassies in Yaoundé have all condemned the attack. Four children died on the spot and three at a hospital in Kumba. Fifteen were wounded with seven in critical condition.The U.S. Embassy in a release said it condemned in the strongest possible terms the shooting at Mother Francisca Nursery and Primary School in Kumba. The release says the violence must stop now, and children should be allowed to exercise their right to go to school without fear for their safety and that the perpetrators of the attack must be held accountable and be brought to justice.
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Iowa Among States That Could Determine Control of US Senate
U.S. Senate races in the November 3 elections could hold the key to whether the winner of the presidential contest can enact his agenda. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports on a hard-fought Senate race in the small state of Iowa.Producer: Kane Farabaugh
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Opposition Announces National Strike in Belarus
Belarus’s opposition called a countrywide general strike on Monday — the latest in a series of efforts to dislodge longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko from power following what opponents say was a rigged presidential election in the former Soviet republic last August. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya — Lukashenko’s primary opponent in the race and who fled the country under state pressure following the vote — threatened the strike two weeks ago in an effort to reinvigorate the protest movement. FILE – Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, candidate for the presidential elections, foreground, greets people during a meeting to show her support, in Brest, 326 km southwest of Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 2, 2020.Her demands: Lukashenko resign, end police violence against demonstrators, and free hundreds of political prisoners or face a national work stoppage. On Monday, the independent media site Tut.by posted photos of workers striking at several key factories. The news service also reported dozens of workers detained at the Grodno Azot factory for joining the strike. Nexta, People with old Belarusian national flags march during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Oct. 25, 2020.Yet once again, Lukashenko’s security troops and riot police were out in force. Central metro stations were closed in advance — forcing people to walk towards the city center. Crowds chanting “Strike, Strike, Strike” were met with stun grenades, rubber bullets, and tear gas as they closed in on Lukashenko’s residence — sending protesters running for cover. The Interior Ministry also reported demonstrators had thrown rocks and broken windows outside a police headquarters in central Minsk. The damage did not appear to be widespread. Meanwhile, the human rights group Vesna reported more than 300 protesters arrested — adding to the estimated 8,000 detained in the wake of the vote. On social media, a widely shared video showed masked security guards terrorizing protesters who had fled into a nearby apartment. Its unbearable to watch. Ferocious from impunity, Lukashenka’s police are hunting protesters in private apartments, threatening to use gas if the people don’t go with them FILE – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko takes his oath of office during his inauguration ceremony at the Palace of the Independence in Minsk, Belarus, Sept. 23, 2020.Lukashenko has refused to step down — arguing he won the election in a landslide with 80% of the vote. He also has backing from his neighbor Russia, which seeks to maintain a predictable ally in charge along its western border. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov implied Russia was growing concerned about the strike’s ability to impact Russia’s economy — noting the two economies were integrated “at the highest levels.” “For us, it’s extremely important how rhythmically and reliably the Belarus factories function,” added Peskov. President Vladimir Putin has provided both economic aid and assurances of military support if necessary. In another sign of Moscow’s careful watch over events in Belarus, Sergei Narishkin, the head of Russia’s external intelligence services, was in Minsk to meet with Lukashenko last week. Meanwhile, the U.S. and other Western governments have denounced the violence against demonstrators and backed sanctions on the Lukashenko regime — with the European Union declaring it no longer saw Lukashenko as the head of Belarus. French President Emanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are among European leaders who have met with Tikhanovskaya directly. FILE – Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya meets with French President Emmanuel Macron in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sept. 29, 2020.Washington calling In a separate development, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with Lukashenko by phone on Saturday — the first publicly known high-level contact between the U.S. and the embattled Belarusian leader since the political crisis began. Secretary Pompeo had been behind recent U.S. efforts to improve relations with Minsk — even meeting with Lukashenko during a high profile visit to Minsk last February. According to the State Department, Pompeo “reaffirmed U.S. support for the democratic aspirations of the people of Belarus” and demanded the release and evacuation of Vitali Shkliarov, 44, a Belarusian-American political analyst who was arrested ahead of the August vote while visiting his parents in Grodno. FILE – Belarusian opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova greets protesters during a rally at Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 22, 2020.In recent days, Kolesnikova issued a letter from prison saying Lukashenko’s security forces were threatening to jail her for the next 25 years.
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Australian Anguish at Passenger Strip Searches in Qatar
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports Australia has formally complained about what it is calling the “offensive and grossly inappropriate” treatment of passengers at Doha airport in Qatar. The report says thirteen Australian women were taken off a flight to Sydney after a newborn baby was found in an airport bathroom and the travelers were forced to have invasive internal examinations.Airport authorities say when a premature baby was discovered in a bathroom at the Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar, on October 2, all female passengers onboard a flight preparing to fly to Sydney were taken off the aircraft. The group included 13 Australian women. They were taken to two ambulances waiting outside the airport and subjected to strip searches. Some of the women have told local media they were terrified and were not told why the examinations were being carried out. The Australian Federal Police have been informed, although it is unclear what powers investigators might have over an incident that occurred in the Middle East. Australian foreign minister Marise Payne says Australia has formally complained to Qatar. “We also understand the matter has been reported to the Australian Federal Police. This is a grossly, grossly disturbing, offensive, concerning set of events. It is not something I have ever heard of occurring in my life in any context. We have made our views very clear to the Qatari authorities on this matter,” Payne said.Media reports have said the Australian women could take legal action against authorities in Qatar. Australian Labor opposition leader Anthony Albanese says their treatment has been unbelievable. “Reports of this treatment are really disturbing. The idea that women could be subject to these very intrusive searches is in my view an absolute disgrace,” Albanese said.In a statement, airport officials in Doha said the baby was “safe” and being cared for in Qatar.They added that medical staff had expressed concern to them “about the health and welfare of a mother who had just given birth and requested she be located prior to departing.” Australian authorities have said they are expecting a report on the incident from the Qatari Government later this week.
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European Markets Nosedive Monday as Global Coronavirus Cases Rise
European markets were falling Monday as investors appeared increasingly uncertain about the outlook of the global economy due to a resurgence of coronavirus cases across Europe and the United States. Britain’s benchmark FTSE index was down 0.2% at the midway point of the trading day. The CAC-40 index in France lost 0.4%, and Germany’s DAX index plunged 2.2%. Markets in the Asia-Pacific rim ended mostly lower earlier Monday. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index finished its trading session down 22 points, but unchanged percentage-wise.A man walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 and other Asian indexes at a securities firm in Tokyo, Oct. 26, 2020.The S&P/ASX index in Australia lost 0.1%. Shanghai’s Composite index was 0.8% lower. South Korea’s KOSPI index dropped 0.7%, while in South Asia, Mumbai’s Sensex plunged 1.3%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained 0.5%, and in Taiwan, the TSEC index finished up 10 points, but was unchanged percentage-wise. In commodities trading, gold was selling at $1,906.20, up one point. U.S. crude oil was selling at $39.10 per barrel, down 1.8%, and Brent crude was selling at $41.05 per barrel, down 1.7%. All three major U.S. indices were trending negatively in futures trading as investors awaited the opening bell on Wall Street.
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Typhoon Displaces Thousands, Floods Villages in Philippines
A fast-moving typhoon forced thousands of villagers to flee to safety in provinces south of the Philippine capital Monday, flooding rural villages and ripping off roofs, officials said. There were no immediate reports of casualties from Typhoon Molave, but authorities reported at least one person was missing and seven others were rescued after their yacht sank off Batangas province south of Manila. The typhoon has sustained winds of 125 kilometers (77 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 180 kph (112 miles) per hour and was blowing westward at 25 kph (15 mph). Molave is expected to start blowing out of the country into the South China Sea on Monday, government forecasters said. At least 25,000 villagers were displaced with about 20,000 taking shelter in schools and government buildings which were turned into evacuation centers, according to the Office of Civil Defense. “Villagers are now asking to be rescued because of the sudden wind which blew away roofs,” Humerlito Dolor, governor of Oriental Mindoro province, told DZMM radio. Dolor said pounding rains overnight swamped farming villages in his province then fierce winds toppled trees and power posts early on Monday, knocking off power. Authorities were clearing roads of fallen trees and debris in some towns after the typhoon passed, he said. More than 1,800 cargo truck drivers, workers and passengers were stranded in ports after the coast guard barred ships and ferry boats from venturing into rough seas. About 20 typhoons and storms annually batter the Philippines, and the Southeast Asian archipelago is seismically active, with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.
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Thai Parliament Opens Special Session Over Protest Tensions
Thailand’s Parliament began a special session Monday that was called to address tensions as pro-democracy protests draw students and other demonstrators into the streets almost daily demanding the prime minister’s resignation. As Speaker of the House Chuan Leekpai began the session, only 450 of the total of 731 members of both houses had signed in for the meeting. The demonstrations by student-led groups in the Bangkok and other cities have three main demands: that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha step down, the constitution be amended to make it more democratic and reforms be made to the monarchy to make it more accountable. Public criticism of the monarchy is unprecedented in a country where the royal institution has been considered sacrosanct, and royalists have denounced the protesters for raising the issue. “The only way to a lasting solution for all sides that is fair for those on the streets as well as for the many millions who choose not to go on the streets is to discuss and resolve these differences through the parliamentary process,” Prayuth said last week.Opposition leader from Pheu Thai Party, Sompong Amornwat delivers a speech during a special session at the parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, Oct. 26, 2020.The non-voting session of Parliament is expected to last two days. The protesters have little confidence in the parliamentary path, declaring the government’s efforts insincere. They noted the points of discussion submitted by Prayuth’s government for debate dealt not with the protesters’ concerns but were thinly disguised criticisms of the protests themselves. They concern instead the risk of the coronavirus spreading at rallies, the alleged interference with a royal motorcade by a small crowd earlier this month, and illegal gatherings and the destruction of images of the royal family. The protesters allege Prayuth, who led a coup in 2014 as the army chief, was returned to power unfairly in last year’s election because laws had been changed to favor a pro-military party. The protesters also say the constitution, written and enacted under military rule, is undemocratic. Parliament in September was scheduled to vote on six proposed constitutional amendments but instead set up a committee to further consider such proposals, and then recessed. Constitutional changes require a joint vote of the House and the Senate, but the proposals lack support in the Senate, whose members are not elected and are generally very conservative and hostile to the protesters. Instead of confronting lawmakers and counter-protesters on Monday, the pro-democracy protest organizers have called for an afternoon march to the German Embassy, apparently to bring attention to the time King Maha Vajiralongkorn spends in Germany. Germany’s foreign minister, questioned in Parliament by a member of the Green Party, recently expressed concern over any political activities the king might be conducting on the country’s soil. Protesters’ criticism of the royal institution has roiled conservative Thais. Self-proclaimed “defenders of the monarchy” mobilized last week online and in rallies in several cities, in many cases led by local civil servants. A small group of royalist demonstrators were outside Parliament on Monday morning, saying they were there to let lawmakers know of their opposition to any changes in the status of the monarchy.
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Barrett Likely to be Confirmed to US Supreme Court Monday
The U.S. Senate is expected to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to a seat on the Supreme Court in a vote late Monday. If confirmed, Barrett would be the third justice on the nine-member court to be nominated by President Donald Trump and significantly tip its ideological balance toward a 6-3 conservative majority. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and Senator Susan Collins is the only Republican to indicate she would not vote on Barrett’s nomination due to the close proximity to next week’s presidential election. Democrats have opposed Barrett’s nomination both objecting to her credentials and to the process of filling the seat of late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in such rapid fashion.Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett testifies during the third day of her confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 14, 2020.The Democrats have argued that the decision of picking a nominee for the seat should have been left up to whichever candidate wins the presidential election, a position Republicans held when there was an election-year vacancy in early 2016. “The Senate is doing the right thing,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday.“We’re moving this nomination forward.” The Senate voted 51-48 Sunday to end Democrats’ filibuster on Barrett’s nomination, starting a period of 30 hours of debate before the final vote. “Senate Democrats are taking over the floor all night to fight this sham process by Senate Republicans,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said. “We will not stop fighting.” Barrett almost assuredly would be among the justices hearing a new challenge Nov. 10 on whether to invalidate the country’s Affordable Care Act, which Trump has sought to overturn. The law, popularly known as Obamacare after former President Barack Obama who championed its passage in 2010, is a measure that helps provide health care to millions of Americans. Its fate is a crucial concern for many people amid the surging number of new coronavirus cases in the United States. Republicans have long argued that Obamacare costs taxpayers too much and gives government too much control over health care. The Republican-led Congress in 2017 eliminated the Act’s mandate that people who could afford to buy health insurance do so. They now want the Supreme Court to invalidate the entire Act, saying that without that key provision, the rest of the legislation is invalid.
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New Storm Zeta a Hurricane Threat to Mexico, US Gulf Coast
Newly formed Tropical Storm Zeta strengthened Sunday in the western Caribbean and will probably become a hurricane before hitting Mexico’s resort-dotted Yucatan Peninsula and the U.S. Gulf Coast in coming days.Zeta was the earliest named 27th Atlantic storm recorded in an already historic hurricane season.The system was centered about 275 miles (445 kilometers) southeast of Cozumel island early Sunday evening, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.The storm was nearly stationary, though forecasters said it was likely to shear the northeastern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula or westernmost Cuba by late Monday or early Tuesday and then close in on the U.S. Gulf Coast by Wednesday, but could weaken by then.The storm had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph), and forecasters said Zeta was expected to intensify into a hurricane Monday.Officials in Quintana Roo state, the location of Cancun and other resorts, said they were watching the storm. They reported nearly 60,000 tourists in the state as of midweek. The state government said 71 shelters were being readied for tourists or residents who might need them.The government is still handing out aid, including sheet roofing, to Yucatan residents hit by Hurricane Delta and Tropical Storm Gamma earlier this month.Zeta may dawdle in the western Caribbean for another day or so, trapped between two strong high pressure systems to the east and west. It can’t move north or south because nothing is moving there either, said University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy.“It just has to sit and wait for a day or so,” McNoldy said. “It just needs anything to move.”When a storm gets stuck, it can unload dangerous downpours over one place, which causes flooding when a storm is over or near land. That happened in 2017 over Houston with Harvey, when more than 60 inches (150 centimeters) of rain fell and 2019 over the Bahamas with a Category 5 Dorian, which was the worst-case scenario of a stationary storm, said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.While Zeta was over open ocean Sunday, Jamaica and Honduras were getting heavy rains because the system is so large and South Florida was under a flood watch, McNoldy said.But once Zeta eventually gets moving, it won’t be stalling over landfall, Klotzbach said.The Hurricane Center said Zeta could bring 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) of rain to parts of the Caribbean and Mexico as well as Florida and the Keys before drenching parts of the central Gulf Coast by Wednesday.A 2018 study said storms, especially in the Atlantic basin, are slowing down and stalling more. Atlantic storms that made landfall moved 2.9 mph (4.7 kph) slower than 60 years ago, the study found. Study author James Kossin, a government climate scientist, said the trend has signs of human-caused climate change.Zeta is also in a dangerous place to stall. The western Caribbean is “where storms can cook” and rapidly intensify because of the deep, warm waters, like 2005’s Wilma, Klotzbach said. However, the National Hurricane Center was not forecasting rapid intensification for Zeta.The lack of steering currents also meant wide spread of possible landfalls when Zeta eventually heads north to the Gulf Coast. The hurricane center said it could make landfall anywhere from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards urged his state’s citizens to monitor the storm, and the state activated its Crisis Action Team.On Sunday, a hurricane warning was called for the Yucatan Peninsula from Tulum to Rio Lagartos, including Cancun and Cozumel, while a tropical storm warning was in effect for Pinar del Rio, Cuba.Zeta broke the record of the previous earliest 27th Atlantic named storm that formed Nov. 29, 2005, according to Klotzbach.This year’s season has so many storms that the hurricane center has turned to the Greek alphabet after running out of official names.Zeta is the furthest into the Greek alphabet the Atlantic season has gone. There was also a Tropical Storm Zeta in 2005, but that year had 28 storms because meteorologists later went back and found they missed one, which then became a “unnamed named storm,” Klotzbach said.Additionally, Hurricane Epsilon was moving quickly through the northern portion of the Atlantic Ocean. Forecasters said it would become a post-tropical cyclone later Sunday. Large ocean swells generated by the hurricane could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions along U.S. East Coast and Atlantic Canada during the next couple of days.
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Belarus Opposition Prepares Mass Strikes After Lukashenko Ignores Deadline to Quit
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko defied an ultimatum to surrender power by midnight on Sunday, challenging his opponents to make good on their threat to paralyze the country with a national strike.Eleven weeks after a disputed presidential election, the crisis in the former Soviet republic entered a new phase with the expiration of the “People’s Ultimatum” set by opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.Lukashenko’s refusal to quit after 26 years in power will test whether the opposition has the mass support it needs to bring enterprises across the country of 9.5 million people to a halt.Tsikhanouskaya, who fled to Lithuania after the Aug. 9 election for the safety of her family, has urged Belarusians starting Monday to block roads, shut down workplaces, stop using government shops and services and withdraw all money from their bank accounts.Lukashenko has scoffed at the calls for a strike. “Who will feed the kids,” he has asked, if workers at state-owned enterprises go on strike.Tsikhanouskaya on Sunday called for the strike to go ahead after police forces loyal to Lukashenko fired stun grenades and detained scores of people in a clampdown on protests by tens of thousands in Minsk and elsewhere.”The regime once again showed Belarusians that force is the only thing it is capable of,” she wrote in a statement. “That’s why tomorrow, Oct. 26, a national strike will begin.”The standoff is being closely watched by neighboring Russia and by Western governments.Russian President Vladimir Putin has no desire to see another leader toppled by protests in a former Soviet state, as happened in Ukraine in 2014 and in Kyrgyzstan earlier this month. He too has faced street demonstrations at various times, including for the past three months in the far eastern city of Khabarovsk.Since the crisis began, Moscow has backed Lukashenko with a $1.5 billion loan and increased security cooperation, including a series of joint military exercises and a visit last week by the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence agency.Agencies: Belarus and Russia Will Respond to External Threats, Lukashenko Tells Pompeo Lukashenko had sought to mend fences with the West in recent yearsSecurity crackdownLukashenko, 66, claimed victory in the Aug. 9 election with officially more than 80% of the vote, but the opposition accused him of vote-rigging on a massive scale.He has responded to mass street protests by arresting around 15,000 people, though most have since been released, and jailing opposition leaders or forcing them to leave the country.
A U.N. human rights investigator said last month that thousands of people had been “savagely beaten” and there were more than 500 reports of torture, which the authorities deny.The United States, European Union, Britain and Canada have imposed travel bans and asset freezes against a string of officials accused of election fraud and human rights abuses.Tsikhanouskaya presented her ultimatum on Oct. 13 after the government said police would be authorized to use combat weapons against protesters if needed.Three days later, a senior police official repeated the threat.”We will of course humanely use weapons against them, including firearms, and we will remove the most dangerous ones from the streets,” said Nikolai Karpenkov, head of the police unit in charge of fighting organized crime.
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Police Arrest 100 Over Angola Anti-Government Demos
At least 100 people were held following violent weekend anti-government protests in the Angolan capital Luanda, a senior government official announced Sunday.Anti-riot police fired tear gas and beat protesters to break up the demonstrations that attracted around 2,000 people.Protesters set up barricades along the roads using skips, boulders, tree trunks and burning tires.Others set a national flag ablaze, an AFP photographer saw.Dozens of protesters, including journalists covering the demonstrations, were arrested. Salvador Rodrigues, an official with the interior ministry, said on state television that 103 people, including politicians from the largest opposition UNITA party, were in detention.They were due to appear in court on Monday.Rodrigues said six police officers were injured during the protests.He also said a police motorcycle, a car, an ambulance and fire engine were damaged or burnt during the protests that occurred in a working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of the oceanside capital Luanda.The demonstrations were staged to demand a new date for local government elections that were supposed to happen this year but have been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Protesters also demanded jobs and better living conditions.In a statement on Sunday, the main opposition UNITA accused police of using excessive force to quell the protests and demanded the “unconditional release” of all the arrested people.UNITA “denounces and condemns the arrest and beating of demonstrators by the national police, which caused chaos on the street.” Saturday’s protests were the latest show of disenchantment towards the government by Angolans in recent months.
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Pakistani PM: French Leader Stoking ‘Islamophobia’
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has accused French President Emmanuel Macron of “attacking Islam” by defending the publication of “blasphemous” caricatures.
The comment Sunday comes four days after Macron said France would not “give up cartoons” depicting the Prophet Muhammad, pledging that Islamists “will never have” his country’s future.
“Sadly, President Macron has chosen to deliberately provoke Muslims, including his own citizens, through encouraging the display of blasphemous cartoons targeting Islam & our Prophet PBUH (peace be upon him),” Khan said in a series of tweets.
“It is unfortunate that he has chosen to encourage Islamophobia by attacking Islam rather than the terrorists who carry out violence, be it Muslims, White Supremacists or Nazi ideologists,” Khan wrote.
FILE – French President Emmanuel Macron.Macron’s controversial remarks came in response to the beheading of a French teacher, Samuel Paty, outside Paty’s school near Paris after he had shown cartoons depicting the Prophet during a class on free speech. The French president described the slain teacher as a hero, saying Islamists were a threat to the country.
“This is a time when Pres Macron could have put healing touch & denied space to extremists rather than creating further polarisation & marginalisation that inevitably leads to radicalisation,” Khan said.
Caricatures of the Prophet are forbidden by Islam. Insulting the religion or the Prophet carries the death penalty under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.
“By attacking Islam, clearly without having any understanding of it, President Macron has attacked & hurt the sentiments of millions of Muslims in Europe & across the world,” Khan said.
Earlier this month, Macron sparked controversy when he said, “Islam is a religion that is in crisis all over the world,” prompting several Muslim countries to call for a boycott of French goods.
In recent years, France has experienced a series of violent attacks blamed on suspected Islamists, including a bloody 2015 assault on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo for publishing anti-Islam images.
Khan writes to Facebook
Separately, the Pakistani leader wrote to Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive officer of Facebook, urging him to ban anti-Islam content on the social media platform.
“Given the rampant abuse and vilification of Muslims on social media platforms, I would ask you to place a similar ban on Islamophobia and hate against Islam for Facebook that you have put in place for the Holocaust,” said Khan in a letter his office released to media late Sunday.There was no immediate comment from Facebook.The social media giant recently announced it was updating its hate speech policy to ban any content that denied or distorted the Holocaust.
Khan noted in the letter that Islam has been associated with terrorism in France and publication of blasphemous cartoons targeting Islam have been allowed there.
“This will lead to further polarization and marginalization of Muslims in France. How will the French distinguish between radical extremist Muslim citizens and the mainstream Muslim citizenry of Islam?,” Khan asked.
Last month, the Pakistani prime minister, in his address to the United Nations General Assembly, denounced Charlie Hebdo for re-publishing the cartoons and demanded that “willful provocations” be “universally outlawed.”
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Black US Archbishop’s Rise Marks a Historic Moment
Washington D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory is set to become the first Black U.S. prelate to assume the rank of cardinal in the Catholic Church, a historic appointment that comes months after nationwide demonstrations against racial injustice.Gregory’s ascension, announced on Sunday by Pope Francis alongside 12 other newly named cardinals, elevates a leader who has drawn praise for his handling of the sexual abuse scandal that has roiled the church. The Washington-area archbishop also has spoken out in recent days about the importance of Catholic leaders working to combat the sin of racial discrimination.The 72-year-old Gregory, ordained in his native Chicago in 1973, took over leadership of the capital’s archdiocese last year after serving as archbishop of Atlanta since 2005. The ceremony making his elevation official is slated for Nov. 28.“With a very grateful and humble heart, I thank Pope Francis for this appointment which will allow me to work more closely with him in caring for Christ’s Church,” Gregory said in a statement issued by the archdiocese.Gregory helped shape the church’s “zero tolerance” response to the sexual abuse scandal while serving as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops from 2001 to 2004. During that period, the bishops adopted a charter designed to govern its treatment of sexual abuse allegations made by minor children against priests. The church’s efforts since 2004 have helped achieve a sharp reduction in child-sex abuse cases. But some abuse continues to occur, and the church’s procedures for addressing abuse continue to incur criticism from those who feel there’s a lack of consistency and transparency.More recently, amid nationwide protests this summer sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Gregory made headlines for issuing a statement critical of President Donald Trump’s visit to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine. That presidential visit to the shrine came one day after demonstrators were forcefully cleared to facilitate Trump’s visit to an Episcopal church in Washington, and Gregory responded that he considered “it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated.”During a June dialogue hosted by Georgetown University, Gregory talked frankly about his own response to Floyd’s killing and emphasized the value of church involvement in pressing social issues.“The church lives in society. The church does not live behind the four doors of the structures where we worship,” Gregory said then.The Washington D.C. archdiocese has created an anti-racism initiative under Gregory’s leadership, offering focused prayer and listening sessions.In addition to his work combating racial injustice and sexual abuse in the church, Gregory has drawn notice for his more inclusive treatment of LGBTQ Catholics. In 2014, while serving in Atlanta, he wrote a positive column about his conversations with a group of Catholic parents of LGBTQ children.Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, which represents LGBTQ Catholics, said his group is “very excited” to see Gregory’s elevation and connected it back to Francis’ recently reported comments supporting civil unions for same-sex couples.Gregory’s elevation, while pathbreaking for Black Americans in the church, also follows a pattern of D.C.-area archbishops getting named to the rank of cardinal. Five of the six prelates who previously held Gregory’s position were later named cardinals.The archdiocese, though, has become embroiled in the abuse crisis since its previous two leaders — Donald Wuerl and Theodore McCarrick — were implicated in the church sex scandal.Francis in February 2019 defrocked McCarrick after a Vatican-backed investigation concluded he sexually abused minors and adults over his long career. It was the first time a cardinal had been dismissed from the priesthood for abuse.Francis reluctantly accepted Wuerl’s resignation in October 2018 after he lost the trust of his priests and parishioners in the months following the release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report. The report accused Wuerl of helping to protect some child-molesting priests while he was bishop of Pittsburgh from 1988 to 2006.
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Guinea’s Opposition Challenging President’s Election Victory
The West African nation of Guinea is bracing for more post-election unrest after the electoral commission Thursday declared preliminary results showing President Alpha Conde was reelected for a third term. As Marco Simoncelli reports from Conakry.Videographer: Davide Lemmi
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Sudan’s Normalization Deal with Israel Faces Hurdles
Sudan on Friday became the third state to move toward normalizing relations with Israel. But unlike Israel’s recent deal with Abu Dhabi where hotels are already promoting packages for Israeli tourists, the deal with Sudan still faces several hurdles, including some public opposition.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the normalization deal with Sudan.Netanyahu called it a dramatic breakthrough to peace and said the famous three “no’s” from Sudan in 1967 – no to peace with Israel, no to negotiations with Israel, and no normalization with Israel, turned into three yeses.Sudan had rejected Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and said Israel must withdraw from all of those areas to make a Palestinian state.Sudan follows the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain into making peace deals with Israel, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying at least five more are on the way, with Israel hoping that Saudi Arabia, with its huge economy and oil reserves, is one of them.In Sudan, the situation is a little more complicated. Many Sudanese oppose the normalization of ties with Israel, with demonstrators burning Israeli flags on the streets of Khartoum.Sudan is also in the process of transitioning form a dictatorship to a democracy. Foreign Minister Omar Gamareldin said that a peace deal with Israel would have to be ratified by a legislative council – a body which does not yet exist. It is not clear when the council will be formed.For Israel, normalization with Sudan would have important military benefits, says former Israeli Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren.“The vast majority of rockets that are fired at us from Gaza are not made in Gaza, they’re made in Iran. And they get into Gaza by the Sudan,” Oren said. “And our peace relationship with Sudan would have an immediate impact in stemming the flow of made in Iran missiles into the Gaza strip. I assume if missiles are getting in, money is getting in, other things are getting in, and it will be very difficult now for Hamas and Islamic Jihad to import Iranian weapons and other materials through the Sudan. And that would be extremely important to us.”The Palestinians have condemned the Arab outreach to Israel as “a new stab in the back” for them. As part of the deal, Washington also agreed to take Sudan off the list of organizations that support state terrorism.
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Belarus: Police Use Stun Grenades to Disperse Protests
Police in Belarus used stun grenades Sunday to disperse protesters, who after months of demonstrations, have threatened a national strike if longtime President Alexander Lukashenko does not resign by midnight.News reports say than 100,000 protesters were in the streets of Minsk Sunday – the 11th in a row of demonstrations against Lukashenko’s contested victory in August presidential elections.Video posted on RFE/RL showed police using stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse crowds as they marched to the Independence Palace in the capital, carrying the white and red flags that have come to symbolize the opposition movement.Agencies: Belarus and Russia Will Respond to External Threats, Lukashenko Tells Pompeo Lukashenko had sought to mend fences with the West in recent yearsOpposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled the country for her safety since the August election, has called for a national strike if Lukashenko does not resign by midnight.Lukashenko has indicated he will ignore the ultimatum.At least two people were injured by police in Sunday’s protests, according to RFE/RL. Sixty people were arrested, according to Belarusian rights group Vesna.Lukashenko maintains he won the poll in a landslide — garnering 80% of all ballots — despite widespread claims at home and abroad that the vote was heavily rigged to keep him in power. He has been in office for 26 years.Public anger has grown over the crackdown in the wake of the protests that have seen more than 7,500 arrests and police violence against demonstrators.Hundreds have emerged from police custody with bruises and tales of torture at the hands of Lukashenko’s security agents.Lukashenko has said the protests are encouraged and supported by the West and accused NATO of moving forces near Belarusian borders. The alliance has denied the accusations.
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Australia Wants Citizens Stranded Overseas by COVID-19 Restrictions Home by Christmas
Australia is to allow more of its citizens stranded overseas by COVID-19 restrictions to return home. A weekly quota imposed because of capacity constraints in the mandatory hotel quarantine system is to be raised by almost 300 people to 6,290.Foreign travelers were banned from Australia to curb the spread of COVID-19 in March, but citizens and permanent residents have been allowed to come home. When they do, they face a mandatory 14-day stay in hotel quarantine but there are strict limits on the number of repatriated travelers permitted to return each week. The current weekly quota is 6,000 people, and that will soon be increased to 6,290. It is estimated there are about 25,000 Australians stranded overseas. The federal government wants them home by Christmas and is looking with state and territory authorities at other quarantine measures beyond the use of hotels. Prime minister Scott Morrison.“Whether that is quarantining in home, on farm, in camp at a mining camp, on campus — any of these options we will be looking at and working together with states and territories to both identify and trial some of these options,” said Morrison. The government of the state of Victoria has delayed plans to ease some of the world’s longest lockdown restrictions in the city of Melbourne. An announcement on the relaxation of disease-control measures for shops and restaurants, as well as strict stay-at-home orders for the city’s 5 million residents, had been expected Sunday because of a sustained fall in daily infections. Officials do not know, though, whether a recently discovered cluster of coronavirus cases in Melbourne is contained. Victoria premier Daniel Andrews believes a prudent approach is needed.“This is not anything other than a cautious pause to wait to get that important information, to get the results of those tests just to rule out whether there is more virus there than we think,” said Andrews.Melbourne went into a second COVID-19 lockdown in early July. Business groups have said that they are “shattered” by the delay in reopening the retail, fitness, tourism and hospitality industries. Many restrictions have been lifted or partially relaxed in other parts of Australia as life begins to resemble what it was before the pandemic, but officials warn against community apathy or complacency.Australia has recorded 27,500 virus infections. More than 900 people have died.
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Protests Persist in Thailand Ahead of Special Parliamentary Session
Thousands of protesters gathered in Bangkok’s central shopping district Sunday after the prime minister ignored a “deadline” from the movement to resign. Last week, largely student-led protests demanded that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-Cha, who seized power in a 2014 coup, resign by Saturday evening. As the deadline came and went, protesters returned to the Ratchaprasong intersection to demand his ouster. Renewed protests come ahead of a special parliamentary session Monday, which is aimed at easing political tensions amid the ongoing protests.Thai Protest Leader: ‘Our Demands Are Supremely Clear’Parliament to hold special session after protesters call for removal of prime minister, a new constitution and reform of monarchyPrayuth has described the special session as a step toward finding a “middle-of-the-road path. In addition to changes to the constitution, demonstrators are seeking to reduce the influence of the Thai monarchy. The institution maintains a divine-like status among Thailand’s elite, and is protected by strict “lese majeste” laws that allow for imprisonment of anyone convicted of insulting the monarchy.
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Italy Further Tightens Closures as Coronavirus Infections Surge
With the number of daily new infections from the coronavirus now close to 20,000, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Sunday announced new closures set to take effect on Monday. He is tightening restrictions nationwide for the next month despite street protests in Rome and Naples over curfews. Concerns over the fast-rising numbers in new daily infections from the coronavirus have brought a rapid tightening of measures by the Italian government. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a new decree announcing the new closures that would take effect across the country starting at midnight. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte wearing a protective face mask gestures as he speaks during a news conference on government’s new anti-COVID-19 measures, at Chigi Palace in Rome, Oct. 25, 2020.Conte said the analysis of the epidemiological curve shows a rapid increase with the consequence that across nearly the entire country, the spread of the contagion and the stress on the health system have reached concerning levels. The government has ordered bars, cafes and restaurants to stop serving at 6 p.m. local time. At restaurants, only four customers will be allowed to sit at the same table unless they live under the same roof. Seventy-five percent of lessons for high school students will be online but younger children will continue to be able to attend their classes in person. Gyms, swimming pools, spas, cinemas, theaters and gaming halls will be shuttered as will ski resorts. There will be no more fairs and gatherings for weddings and other such events. Local police officers check that stores are closed in a shopping center in Milan, after the Lombardy region imposed a stop to non-essential economic activities and people’s movements between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m, in Milan, Oct. 24, 2020.The latest decree also encourages members of the public not to leave home unless they have to go to work, school, or venture out for health or other strictly necessary reasons. The government says smart working must take place as much as possible and families should also avoid hosting people at home. As the number of people going into intensive care units also rises, Prime Minister Conte has been trying to avoid a new national lockdown, aware of the further damage it would cause to the Italian economy, already suffering from last-year’s two-month-long lockdown. He says every effort is needed to halt the rapid resurgence of the virus responsible for the COVID-19 disease. Conte said everything possible must be done to protect both health and the economy. For the past couple of days and before the new closures were announced, Italy witnessed street protests in Naples and Rome, indicating that despite the concerns over the rising number of infections, there is general discontent in the nation and fears that this pandemic is far from under control.
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Pope Names 13 New Cardinals, Includes WDC Archbishop Gregory
Pope Francis on Sunday named 13 new cardinals, including Washington D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who would become the first Black U.S. prelate to earn the coveted red hat.In a surprise announcement from his studio window to faithful standing below in St. Peter’s Square, Francis said the churchmen would be elevated to a cardinal’s rank in a ceremony on Nov. 28.Other new cardinals include an Italian who is the long-time papal preacher at the Vatican, the Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, a Franciscan friar; the Kigali, Rwanda, Archbishop Antoine Kambanda; the Capiz, Philippines, Archbishop Jose Feurte Advincula, and the Santiago, Chile, Archbishop Celestino Aos Braco. Another Franciscan who was tapped is Friar Mauro Gambetti, in charge of the Sacred Convent in Assisi. The pope, when elected in 2013, chose St. Francis of Assisi as his namesake saint. Earlier this month, the pontiff journeyed to that hill town in Umbria to sign an encyclical, or important church teaching document, about brotherhood.In a reflection of the pope’s stress on helping those in need, Francis also named the former director of the Rome Catholic charity, Caritas, the Rev. Enrico Feroci, to be a cardinal.Wilton, 73, was picked by Francis to lead the prestigious diocese in the U.S. capital last year. The prelate has his pulse on factions in the U.S. Catholic Church, which has both strong conservative and liberal veins since he served three times as the head of the U.S. Conference of Bishops.Nine of the new cardinals are younger than 80, and thus eligible to elect the next pontiff in a secret conclave. Some cardinals head powerful Vatican offices, and pontiffs frequently turn to cardinals for advice.No details were immediately given by the Vatican about the concistory, as the formal ceremony to make the churchmen cardinals is known, especially in view of travel restrictions involving many countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.As he has in other groups of cardinals he tapped in his papacy, Francis in this selection reflected the global nature of the Catholic Church and his flock of 1.2 billion Catholics.Others named cardinals include a Maltese prelate, Monsignor Mario Grech; Monsignor Marcello Semeraro, an Italian serving as prefect of the Vatican office which runs the saint-making process; Bishop Cornelius Sim, a Brunei native who serves as apostolic vicar of Brunei; the Italian archbishop of Siena and nearby towns in Tuscany, Augusto Lojudice; the retired bishop of San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, Monsignor Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel; and an Italian former Vatican diplomat, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi.Churchmen over 80 who are named cardinals are chosen to honor their life of service to the church. Those in this batch too old to vote in a conclave are Cantalamessa, Tomasi, Feroci and Arizmendi Esquivel.
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