Category Archives: News

worldwide news

500 Arrested During Weekend Protests in Belarus

Police in Belarus arrested 500 protesters over the weekend, as demonstrations against President Alexander Lukashenko continued.Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years, claimed his sixth reelection in the Aug. 9 election. But many in the country view the outcome as illegitimate. He claimed 80% of the vote.The country’s Interior Ministry said 150 people were arrested Saturday and another 350 on Sunday during protests across 22 cities, according to The Associated Press.Dozens Arrested as Protests Against Lukashenko Continue in Belarus The protests in Minsk, Homel, and other cities came after Lukashenko, in power since 1994, was inaugurated on September 23 in a secretive ceremony Around 100,000 protesters took to the streets in the capital, Minsk.A human rights group said the crackdowns on protesters over the weekend were not as violent as previous clampdowns, during which police used tear gas, truncheons and rubber bullets to disperse crowds. Several protesters were reportedly killed.”Repressions get stuck when more than 100,000 people take to the streets,” said Ales Bialiatski, head of the Viasna Human Rights Center, according to AP. “The authorities’ scare tactics don’t work anymore.” Authorities recently began an investigation into members of the Coordination Council, which was created by the opposition and supports a peaceful transition of power. Alleged charges against members of the group include undermining of national security.Several have been arrested or forced to leave the country, according to reports.On Monday, Svetlana Alexievich, who won the 2015 Nobel Prize in literature, left for Germany. Another council member, Maxim Znak, was jailed earlier this month and has been on a hunger strike since Sept. 18.Both the United States and the European Union have said the election was not free nor fair, and many European countries have refused to recognize Lukashenko after his surprise inauguration earlier this week.

Why Facebook Suddenly Closed 155 Accounts Targeting the Philippines

Facebook’s deletion of accounts targeting the Philippines from bases in China shows that the U.S. internet giant wants a better reputation in Southeast Asia after letting things slide in the past, say analysts who follow the case. On September 22, Facebook said it had removed 155 of its own accounts and six Instagram accounts for violating an internal policy against “foreign or government interference which is coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf of a foreign or government entity.” The accounts originated in China and focused “primarily on the Philippines and Southeast Asia more broadly” as well as on the United States, Facebook says. Facebook’s move will endear it to Filipinos, who use the service so fervently that it has become a de facto official homepage for businesses and government agencies but who also worry that it has become too permissive, scholars say.    For Facebook, “it’s more from a kind of a PR point of view – I do this at a particular time, somehow, it’s seen as positive and I can say, ‘look, I have done this,’” said James Gomez, regional director at the Bangkok-based think tank Asia Center. Operators of the deleted accounts had posted in Chinese, English and Tagalog about naval activity in the South China Sea as well as Philippine politics and tried to cover up their identities, Facebook said.  China and the Philippines dispute sovereignty over a tract of the sea that’s rich in fisheries as well as undersea energy reserves. China has the upper hand militarily, frustrating officials in Manila and fanning debate there over whether the Philippines should ask Washington for more help. The connection to Facebook goes back to 2015, when the California-based service joined domestic mobile service provider Smart Communications to offer an app that allowed free access to 24 heavily used mobile sites.The thumbs-up Like logo is shown on a sign at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., April 14, 2020. Facebook’s long-awaited oversight board is set to launch in October 2020.But Facebook has made eyes roll in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries by allowing relatively unfettered access by politicians, hate-speech spreaders and purveyors of fake news, Gomez said.   “We would welcome that there is self-governance on the part of Facebook,” said Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Metro Manila-based advocacy group Institute for Political and Electoral Reform. “There was a lot of that [problematic material] in the past up till now.”’ Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte maintains an “online army” that was reportedly paid to pack Facebook with supportive material in the name of “grassroots activists”, Southeast Asian news outlet New Mandala reported in 2017, a year after Duterte took office.   Filipinos are starting now to eye the 2022 presidential election, motivating Facebook to clean up so it can avoid criticism, said Eduardo Araral, a Filipino and associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s public policy school.  Some of the shuttered accounts carried “content supportive of President Rodrigo Duterte and Sara Duterte’s potential run in the 2022 Presidential election,” Facebook said, referring to the current leader’s daughter. Presidents can serve just one term in the Philippines. “They have to be active in showing Facebook is no longer used or can no longer be used as a platform for inauthentic behavior,” Araral said. Duterte has pursued friendship with China despite the maritime dispute, but common Filipinos remain leery of Beijing’s designs for the surrounding seas. About 74 million people use Facebook in the Philippines, where the total population stands near 109 million. Facebook’s statement says 276,000 accounts followed one or more or 11 deleted Facebook Pages belonging to businesses. The service took down those pages along with the 155 non-business accounts. Facebook said that about 5,500 people followed one of more of the closed-down Instagram accounts. Facebook has removed accounts in Singapore and Myanmar as well, as both countries approached political milestones, Gomez said.  In 2018, for example, a U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights mission found that Facebook had helped spread “hate” speech against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar that has struggled to get along with the country’s government. Facebook took down a page authored by senior Myanmar military officials — a long-time nemesis of the Rohingya — after the U.N. findings appeared. 

Sri Lanka Returns Hazardous Waste to Britain

Sri Lanka says it is shipping 21 containers of waste back to Britain.  Officials said hazardous waste materials, including hospital waste, were found in some of the containers, in violation of international laws and European Union regulations.  Officials said the containers were supposed to be holding used mattresses, rugs and carpets for possible recycling. An AFP reports says the containers arrived in Sri Lanka between September 2017 and March 2018. The containers left Sri Lanka bound for Britain Saturday, officials said.  Several Asian countries have said they are tired of being the garbage dump for wealthy nations and have refused docking privileges to ships transporting waste. 

US Judge Halts Government Ban on TikTok

A U.S. federal judge has temporarily halted a Trump administration order to ban the popular video app TikTok from U.S. app stores. The ban was due to go into effect at the end of the day Sunday by order of the U.S. Commerce Department, the latest move targeting what administration officials have said are security concerns with Chinese companies. The judge gave lawyers for TikTok and the administration until Wednesday to meet and propose a schedule for further proceedings in the case.  TikTok lawyers argued at a Sunday hearing that banning the app would infringe on the free speech rights of its users, while also bringing irreparable harm to the company’s business. “We will continue defending our rights for the benefit of our community and employees,” the company said in a statement welcoming the judge’s decision. The U.S. head office of TikTok is seen in Culver City, California, Sept. 15, 2020.The Commerce Department said after the ruling that an executive order President Donald Trump issued in August outlining concerns that TikTok collects a wide range of data that could end up in the hands of the Chinese government “is fully consistent with the law and promotes legitimate national security interests.”   The statement said the government is complying with the injunction but intends to “vigorously defend” the executive order and its implementation from legal challenges. The Trump administration also sought to shut another popular app, WeChat, out of U.S. app stores, before a judge issued an injunction a week ago stopping that ban as well.   China has rejected the U.S. allegations that the apps present security concerns, while accusing the United States of bullying Chinese companies. The Justice Department asked Friday for the WeChat ban to be allowed to go into effect while that legal case plays out, arguing that allowing the app to continue to be available to U.S. users will cause the country harm. TikTok has sought to alleviate U.S. concerns by forming a partnership with two U.S. companies, Oracle and WalMart.  The deal has not been finalized, and there have been conflicting statements among the parties about how much of the new venture each would own. Trump initially said he gave his blessing to the arrangement, before stating it would not go forward if TikTok’s parent company had any ownership stake in the new company. TikTok said after Sunday’s ruling that it will “maintain our ongoing dialogue with the government to turn our proposal, which the President gave his preliminary approval to last weekend, into an agreement.” 

Switzerland Voters Reject Limiting Immigration from EU   

Voters in Switzerland rejected a proposed limit on immigration from European Union countries in a national referendum Sunday. The freedom-of-movement proposal put forth by the populist Swiss People’s Party was defeated, with only 38% of voters approving the measure. The intent of the People’s Party was to prioritize access to jobs, social protection and benefits to Swiss citizens over those from the 27 countries of the EU, of which Switzerland is not a member.  Critics of the proposal maintained that would have been disadvantageous to Swiss citizens wanting to live or work in any EU member countries. The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the result, saying that it upheld “one of the core pillars of our relationship: the mutual freedom to move, to live and to work in Switzerland and the EU.” About 1.4 million EU citizens live in Switzerland, a country of roughly 8.2 million, while some 500,000 Swiss live in EU member countries. Regarding domestic issues included in the ballot, more than 60 percent of voters favored extending parental leave to fathers, which like maternity leave affords parents 80 percent of their salary, up to 196 Swiss francs per day. The $6.5 billion fighter jet purchase, an issue debated for about a decade, received a yes vote with only 50.1% in favor. Swiss voters rejected an attempt to make it easier to shoot wolves considered a threat to livestock. The turnout of about 60% in Sunday’s referendum was considerably higher than in most recent referendums. 

TikTok Fate in the Balance as Judge Weighs App Store Ban

Lawyers for TikTok pleaded with a U.S. federal judge on Sunday to delay the Trump administration’s ban of the popular video sharing program from app stores set to take effect at the end of the day, arguing the move would infringe on First Amendment rights and do irreparable harm to the business.The 90-minute hearing came after President Donald Trump declared this summer that TikTok was a threat to national security and that it either sold its U.S. operations to U.S. companies or the app would be barred from the country.TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is scrambling to firm up a deal tentatively struck a week ago in which it would partner with tech company Oracle and retailer Walmart and that would get the blessing of the Chinese and American governments. In the meantime, it is fighting to keep the app available in the United States.The ban on new downloads of TikTok, which has about 100 million users in the U.S, was delayed once by the government. A more comprehensive ban is scheduled for November, about a week after the presidential election. Judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said he would make a decision by late Sunday, leaving TikTok’s fate hanging.In arguments to Nichols, TikTok lawyer John Hall said that TikTok is more than an app but rather is a “modern day version of a town square.””If that prohibition goes into effect at midnight, the consequences immediately are grave,'” Hall said. “It would be no different than the government locking the doors to a public forum, roping off that town square” at a time when a free exchange of ideas is necessary heading into a polarized election.  TikTok lawyers also argued that a ban on the app would stop tens of thousands of potential viewers and content creators every month and hurt its ability to hire new talent. In addition, Hall argued that a ban would prevent existing users from automatically receiving security updates, eroding national security.  Justice Department lawyer Daniel Schwei sought to undercut TikTok lawyers’ argument, saying that Chinese companies are not purely private and are subject to intrusive laws compelling their cooperation with intelligence agencies. The Justice Department has also argued that economic regulations of this nature generally are not subject to First Amendment scrutiny. Plaintiffs can’t claim a First Amendment right in hosting TikTok itself as a platform for others’ speech because merely hosting a platform is not an exercise of the First Amendment, the Justice Department contends.  “This is the most immediate national security threat,” Schwei argued. “It is a threat today. It is a risk today and therefore it deserves to be addressed today even while other things are ongoing and playing out.”Schwei also argued that TikTok lawyers failed to prove it would suffer irreparable business harm.The Justice Department laid out its objections to TikTok’s motion for a temporary injunction in a brief under seal, but it was unsealed in redacted form to protect confidential business information.Trump set the process in motion with executive orders in August that declared TikTok and another Chinese app, WeChat, as threats to national security. The White House says the video service is a security risk because the personal information of its millions of U.S. users could be handed over to Chinese authorities.Trump has said he would approve a proposed deal in which Oracle and Walmart could initially own a combined 20% of a new U.S. entity, TikTok Global. Trump also said he could retract his approval if Oracle doesn’t have “total control.”The two sides of the TikTok deal have also appeared at odds over the corporate structure of TikTok Global. ByteDance said last week that it will still own 80% of the U.S. entity after a financing round. Oracle, meanwhile, put out a statement saying that Americans “will be the majority and ByteDance will have no ownership in TikTok Global.”Chinese media have criticized the deal as bullying and extortion, suggesting that the Chinese government is not happy with the arrangement. ByteDance said Thursday it has applied for a Chinese technology export license after Beijing tightened control over exports last month in an effort to gain leverage over Washington’s attempt to force an outright sale of TikTok to U.S. owners.  China’s foreign ministry has said the government will “take necessary measures” to safeguard its companies but gave no indication what steps it can take to affect TikTok’s fate in the United States.TikTok is suing the U.S. government over Trump’s Aug. 6 executive order, saying it is unlawful. So are resulting Commerce Department prohibitions that aim to kick TikTok out of U.S. app stores and, in November, essentially shut it down in the U.S., it claimed.The Chinese firm said the president doesn’t have the authority to take these actions under the national security law he cited, that the ban violates TikTok’s First Amendment speech rights and Fifth Amendment due-process rights, and that there’s no authority for the restrictions because they are not based on a national emergency.

Dozens Arrested as Protests Against Lukashenko Continue in Belarus 

Belarusian police detained dozens of protesters on Sunday during a march in Minsk and security forces in Homel used tear gas against demonstrators, as a groundswell of opposition to Alexander Lukashenko, who claimed victory in the country’s presidential election more than a month ago, continued for the 50th day. The protests in Minsk, Homel, and other cities came after Lukashenko, in power since 1994, was inaugurated on September 23 in a secretive ceremony that prompted European Union members and the United States to issue statements that they did not recognize his legitimacy. A spokesman for the Homel Regional Executive Committee’s Main Department of Internal Affairs said “technical devices” were used to cause a loud explosion and a flash of light and tear gas was used “because some people behaved inappropriately,” RFE/RL’s Belarus Service reported. Tens of thousands of people, waving red and white opposition flags, marched through Minsk in the latest demonstration since Lukashenko was declared the winner of the August 9 presidential election. Protesters were planning to hold an “inauguration of the people” in support of Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the exiled opposition candidate, who is now in Lithuania. Tsikhanouskaya, who joined the presidential race at the last moment after her husband’s own bid was ended after he was jailed, said she won the August 9 poll with 60 to 70 percent of the vote. She called for Belarusians to demonstrate on September 27 for the “goal of new, honest elections and, as a result, an official, lawful inauguration.” In Minsk, dozens of protesters on September 27 were rounded up and forced into police vans by riot police in balaclavas. Rallies were also reported elsewhere in Belarus, including in Mogilev, Hrodna, Lida, and Homel. The protests came a day after security forces in Minsk detained more than 100 protesters during a women’s march. Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians have taken to the streets for seven weeks, calling for Lukashenko to step down and new elections to be held. Lukashenko has directed a brutal postelection crackdown in response to protests, including thousands of arrests, beatings, and other mistreatment of peaceful protesters, and the expulsions of foreign journalists. He has denied accusations that the presidential election was rigged. Meanwhile, most figures in the opposition’s Coordination Council, a body established to facilitate dialogue and a peaceful transfer of power, have been forced into exile or detained. In Lithuania, leading writers, artists, and scientists on September 27 appealed to French President Emmanuel Macron to support protesters in Belarus. Macron begins a two-day visit to Lithuania and Latvia on September 28. “Men and women of Belarus are subjected to inhuman torture. And this is happening in 21st century Europe!,” said a poster designed as an open letter to Macron and signed by more than 40 leading Lithuanian cultural figures. “We trust that you, who represents France, where human rights were born, will also hear the painful cry of the Belarusian people for their freedom,” the appeal says.  

Paris Attacker Says He Was Targeting ‘Charlie Hebdo’ Magazine 

French officials say a man who is suspected of stabbing two people Friday in Paris has said he was targeting what he thought were the offices of the satirical magazine “Charlie Hebdo” because it had recently republished cartoons featuring the Prophet Muhammad.  The attacker was identified as an 18-year-old Pakistani man who arrived in France three years ago as an unaccompanied minor.  He was apparently unaware that the magazine had moved from that location, following  a 2015 attack that killed 17 people.  French authorities launched an anti-terrorism investigation after the attack on Friday. In an interview with France 2 television station, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the attack was “clearly an act of Islamist terrorism.”  On Sunday, Darmanin visited a synagogue and said more than 7,000 police and soldiers are protecting Jewish services as the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, begins. “Because we know that Jews are particularly targeted by Islamist attacks,” Darmanin told reporters, “we should obviously protect them.” Jean-Francois Ricard, France’s counterterrorism prosecutor, said the attacker did not know the victims — a woman and a man from a documentary production company on a smoke break.   French police said on Saturday they had detained a person believed to be a former roommate of the man who attacked the people.  Late Friday police released a 33-year-old Algerian man who was a witness and had “chased the assailant,” after the investigators corroborated the man’s account. A terrorism trial for 14 people accused of being accomplices in the 2015 attack on the magazine is currently going on in Paris.    “Charlie Hebdo” angered many Muslims by publishing cartoons featuring the Prophet Muhammad, and ahead of the trial it recently reprinted some of the same cartoons.      Police recently moved the magazine’s head of human resources from her home after she was the target of death threats around the start of the trial.   

Free Movement at Risk in Heart of Europe as Swiss Vote

The Swiss will vote Sunday on limiting immigration from the European Union, which, while not expected to pass, has sparked fears a shock “yes” could devastate relations with the bloc.The initiative backed by the populist right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) — Switzerland’s largest party — has seen dwindling public support in recent polls.The most recent survey showed 65% of those questioned opposed the call to tear up an agreement permitting the free movement of people between Switzerland and the surrounding European Union.It seems unlikely the initiative will garner the double majority needed to pass, winning both the popular vote and most of Switzerland’s 26 cantons.But the SVP has eked out surprise victories in the past in its drawn-out war against tightening relations with the EU, fueling concern that Switzerland’s relationship with its biggest trading partner could be in jeopardy.The initiative, put to a vote as part of the direct democracy system, calls for Switzerland to revise its constitution to ensure it can autonomously handle immigration policy.The SVP, which has built its brand by condemning immigration and EU influence, warns that the wealthy Alpine country is facing “uncontrolled and excessive immigration.”‘Betrayal’While not an EU member, Switzerland is bound to the bloc through an array of intricately connected bilateral agreements.If the SVP initiative passes, authorities would have one year to negotiate an end to the 1999 agreement on the free movement of persons between Switzerland and the bloc.The proposal goes even further than a similar measure, also backed by the SVP, that narrowly passed in February 2014, demanding that Bern impose quotas on the number of work permits issued to EU citizens.That vote threw Swiss-EU relations into disarray, with Brussels warning any curbs on immigration by EU citizens would put a whole range of bilateral agreements at risk.Bern struggled for years to find a way to respect the vote without permanently alienating EU neighbors.After lengthy talks, the agreement reached in late 2016 stopped far short of an initial quotas plan, which Brussels had fiercely rejected.Instead Bern opted merely to require Swiss employers to jump through a few bureaucratic hoops before hiring from the bloc, and to prioritize Swiss job seekers, at least ostensibly.The SVP condemned that compromise as a “betrayal” and launched its new initiative.Votes on the SVP’s initiative and several other issues had been scheduled to take place in May but were postponed since the coronavirus lockdown measures prevented campaigning.’Enough!’As soon as those measures began lifting a few months ago, the SVP rolled out its campaign posters, including one showing a jeans-clad behind with an EU-starred belt sitting heavily on a map of Switzerland, under the words: “Enough is enough!”While the 2014 vote still looms large in Switzerland’s collective memory, opinion polls hint that anxiety over immigration has lessened.The SVP also finds itself more isolated than ever, with the government, parliament, unions, employer organizations and all other political parties urging voters to reject the initiative.Opponents stress the importance of the EU relationship for the country’s economy.And the government has cautioned that if Switzerland unilaterally voids the free movement accord, a “guillotine” clause will come into force to freeze the entire package of Swiss-EU deals, including on trade.Sunday will also see Swiss voters cast ballots on a range of other issues, including whether to dish out 6 billion Swiss francs (5.6 billion euros) for new fighter jets, and whether to grant two weeks’ paternity leave to new fathers.Most Swiss vote in advance in the popular polls and referenda held in the country every few months, and ballot boxes generally open for just a few hours on voting day for those wishing to cast their vote in person.Polls open at different times in different cantons but will all close by midday (1000 GMT), with initial results expected by early afternoon.

Mexico Issues Arrest Warrants on Sixth Anniversary of Disappearance of 43 College Students

Mexican authorities have issued dozens of arrest warrants for police and soldiers who they believe may have participated in the 2014 disappearance of 43 Mexican college students, the head of the investigation said Saturday.Omar Gomez, head of the special prosecutor’s office for the case, told a news conference in Mexico City the warrants had been issued for the “material and intellectual authors” of the crime, including military members, and federal and municipal police.The announcement came during a news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City on the sixth anniversary of the students’ kidnapping. During the event, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Mexico’s Undersecretary of Human Rights Alejandro Encinas held fabrics embroidered by relatives of the victims, many of whom attended the ceremony holding large pictures of the disappeared students.Saturday marks the first time in the case that Mexican authorities have announced arrest warrants for military personnel. Reuters reported earlier in the week that arrest warrants were imminent.The Mexican military did not respond to initial requests for comment.The students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College disappeared on September 26, 2014, in the state of Guerrero. The remains of only two of the students have been positively identified so far.The unsolved kidnapping of the young men who were training to be teachers convulsed the country, sparking massive protests in 2014 and garnering international condemnation as one of the darkest examples of the government’s long-standing difficulty preventing violence or convicting those responsible.In June, authorities announced the apprehension of the leader of a Guerrero gang accused of involvement in the disappearance, and arrest warrants for Guerrero officials in connection with the case.Family members of the victims have long accused Mexican authorities, including the military, of complicity in the students’ disappearance.”The military participated,” Maria Martinez Zeferino, the mother of one of the disappeared students, said during Saturday’s news conference.

US Imposes Curbs on Exports by China’s Top Chipmaker SMIC

SHANGHAI/WASHINGTON — The United States government has imposed restrictions on exports to China’s biggest silicon chip maker after concluding there is an “unacceptable risk” that equipment supplied to it could be used for military purposes.
 
Suppliers of certain equipment to Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) will now have to apply for individual export licenses, according to a letter from the Commerce Department dated Friday and seen by Reuters.
 
SMIC becomes the second leading Chinese technology company to face U.S. trade curbs after telecoms giant Huawei Technologies, whose access to high-end chips has been curtailed by its addition to a so-called entity list.
 
The Pentagon said earlier this month that it was weighing blacklisting SMIC, which the U.S. authorities have identified as a threat due to an alleged “fusion” of civilian and military technologies.
 
Asked for comment, SMIC said it had not received any official notice of the restrictions and said it has no ties with the Chinese military.
 
“SMIC reiterates that it manufactures semiconductors and provides services solely for civilian and commercial end-users and end-uses,” SMIC said.
 
“The Company has no relationship with the Chinese military and does not manufacture for any military end-users or end-uses.”
 
The Commerce Department declined on Saturday to comment specifically on SMIC, but said its Bureau of Industry and security was “constantly monitoring and assessing any potential threats to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.”
 

UN Human Rights Chief Calls for Venezuela Reforms

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet is calling on Venezuela to release all political prisoners and end the repression of political and civil rights.  In November, Penal Forum, a Venezuelan network of criminal defense lawyers reported there were 400 government opponents in Venezuela prisons. Bachelet presented an update of conditions in Venezuela before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.
 
While the report presents a generally a bleak picture of human rights in Venezuela, Bachelet said there are a few bright spots. She welcomed the recent pardon by President Nicolas Maduro’s government of 110 political opponents who had been detained for months and the release of 40 others.
 
However, she said many dissidents and human rights defenders still are arbitrarily deprived of their liberty for exercising their civic and democratic rights. She said they too should be released.
 
“There are still cases of repression of peaceful protesters in the state of emergency that has been in place since March, including the detention of people protesting because of low wages and the lack of public services and the lack of fuel.… There are also restrictions on freedom of expression. This includes the application of the anti-hatred legislation, and also legislation against human rights activists,” Bachelet said.FILE – United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet adjusts her glasses during the opening of 45th session of the Human Rights Council, at the European U.N. headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Sept. 14, 2020.The U.N. refugee agency reports an estimated 4.5 million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2015 because of persecution and economic hardship. Many have since returned home because COVID-19 restrictions have made it impossible for them to earn a living in their countries of refuge.
 
Bachelet said she is concerned some Venezuelan authorities are stigmatizing migrants returning to the country. She said many are being blamed for bringing COVID-19 to Venezuela and some are being detained.
    
“There are protocols which apply to detention centers concerning COVID-19 but it is important to improve the situation concerning access to water, health care and medication and to ensure continuous contact with the lawyers and relatives—be it in person or through virtual means,” Bachelet said.   
    
Venezuela’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Jorge Valero, lashed out at what he called a small group of hostile countries who backed a resolution at the council directing the high commissioner to monitor the situation in his country.   
 
He rejected the high commissioner’s report, saying it distorted the truth and was based on biased information used to fuel a media campaign against Venezuela. 

Paris Stabbing Attack Termed Act of Islamist Terrorism

French authorities launched an anti-terrorism investigation Friday after an attacker stabbed two people in Paris near the former offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.In an interview with France 2 television station, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the attack was “clearly an act of Islamist terrorism.””Manifestly, the method was one of an Islamist terrorist,” he said. “There is little doubt this is a new bloody attack against our country, against journalists, against our society, which you already mentioned in your report… a great amount of difficulties and emotions over the past few years and I would like the extend my support to them as well.”Darmanin said the chief suspect in Friday’s stabbings came to France, apparently from Pakistan, three years ago as an unaccompanied minor.France’s counterterrorism prosecutor, Jean-Francois Ricard, said the young man was arrested with another person not far from where the attack took place.Ricard said the attacker did not know the victims — a woman and a man from a documentary production company on a smoke break.The motivation for the attack and whether it had any connection to Charlie Hebdo is unclear.Islamist militants attacked the Charlie Hebdo offices in 2015, killing 12 people.A terrorism trial for 14 people accused of being accomplices in that attack is currently going on in Paris.Charlie Hebdo angered many Muslims by publishing cartoons featuring the Prophet Muhammad, and ahead of the trial it recently reprinted some of the same cartoons.Last week, police moved the magazine’s head of human resources from her home after she was the target of death threats around the start of the trial.

At Least 22 Die in Ukraine Plane Crash

A Ukrainian military plane crashed and burst into flames on Friday evening, killing at least 22 people on board, authorities said.The aircraft crashed while trying to land at Chuhuiv’s airport in the Kharkiv region, about 400 kilometers east of the capital, Kyiv.”There were 27 people on the aircraft,” said Oleksii Kucher, Kharkiv governor. “There were seven officers and 20 military students. We can say for sure now that 22 people died. Two people are in hospital. And there are three people missing.”One pilot reported failure in one of the plane’s two engines, Kucher said, adding that it should not have been a critical situation for an experienced pilot.The Antonov An-26 aircraft was conducting training exercises and most of those on board were air force cadets at the defense ministry’s Kharkiv University of Air Force.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office said a state commission is being established to identify the circumstances and causes of the incident.

Lufthansa Cuts Jobs, Plans to Expand COVID-19 Testing

German airline Lufthansa says it will have to make more staff cuts in addition to the previously announced reduction of 22,000 full-time positions — despite receiving a $10.5 billion (9 billion euro) government bailout in June. The airline said it would put some of its fleet into long-term storage and permanently decommission its seven remaining Airbus A340-600s. VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo has this story.

US Rapper Kanye West Makes Surprise Visit to Haiti

American rap star and third-party U.S. presidential candidate Kanye West visited Haiti on Friday, Haitian President Jovenel Moise announced on Twitter.“I’m with famous American rapper Kanye West who just arrived in the country to visit Labadee and l’Ile de la Tortue. I wish him a great visit,” Moise tweeted.The post, which included four photos, show both the president and West wearing face masks.The purpose of West’s visit to the Caribbean nation remains unclear. He has not posted anything about it on his official Twitter account, @kanyewest. President Moise’s tweet provided no further details.According to local media, the rap star, 43, landed Friday morning at the Cape Haitien international airport and was met there by the president. Official Haitian greeters, fans, airport workers and members of the press crowded into the small airport’s diplomatic lounge to catch a glimpse of West, who was wearing a lilac hoodie, dark pants and his signature sneakers. President Moise accompanied him on a visit to two picturesque islands.Labadee island, located off the coast of Cape Haitien in Haiti’s north, is a resort predominantly frequented by foreign tourists. The island is leased by Royal Caribbean cruise lines and features turquoise waters, sandy beaches and an assortment of water rides.Ile de la Tortue (Tortuga island) is also a popular tourist destination off Haiti’s northwestern coast.Cape Haitien, where West landed, is Haiti’s second-largest city. It is home to the renowned historical site, Citadelle Laferriere, a 19th century fortress that was instrumental in the slave revolution to gain independence from France in 1804.This is the rap star’s second jaunt to the Caribbean in a week. The Miami Herald reported that West made a visit last week to Jamaica, where he was accused of breaking COVID-19 protocols after photos surfaced of him without a face mask with reggae music star Buju Banton.West announced his candidacy for U.S. president on July 4, 2020, and is officially on the ballot for the November election in 11 states.

Haiti Policeman Released from Jail After Violent Demonstrations

Haitian National policeman Pascal Alexandre is a free man — for now — after being conditionally released Friday from the National Penitentiary, where he had been held for nearly five months, after violent protests by a rogue police group calling for his freedom.Alexandre, who is a member of the national police’s anti-drug force, was arrested May 8 and accused of assault with a deadly weapon and destruction of public property. He was arrested after an altercation between the rogue police group Fantom 509 and a member of the elite Special Weapons and Tactics force (SWAT), during which the SWAT officer was allegedly disarmed and forced into a vehicle.Alexandre, wearing a dark gray T-shirt and face mask as he left the Port-au-Prince court where he was arraigned, was accompanied by his lawyer, Andre Michel.Michel told reporters the judge agreed to release his client on the condition that he make himself available to respond to any questions that may arise and to appear in court, if necessary, in the coming weeks.Lawyer Andre Michel talks to reporters about the conditions for Alexandre’s release from prison. (Matiado Vilme /VOA Créole)”Pascal Alexandre is a lucky man because he appeared before an independent judge, a courageous judge, an honest judge, a judge who knows his job,” the lawyer said. “After examining the case and the accusations against him, the judge agreed that they were groundless, a veritable tempest in a teapot.”Many Haitians distrust the judicial system, alleging that most of its judges are corrupt.Haiti’s National Police force has also struggled to improve its image, investing in training and equipment, partially financed by the United States.The Trump administration has requested $128.2 million in assistance for Haiti in fiscal year 2021, intended to “foster the institutions and infrastructure necessary to achieve strong democratic foundations and meaningful poverty reduction” according to Rapper 222 Flow says the neighborhood is thrilled to have Pascal Alexandre back home. (Matiado Vilme /VOA Créole)The policeman’s release was a key demand during a series violent protests orchestrated by Fantom 509 (Ghosts of 509, which is the area code for Haiti) in the Haitian capital earlier this month. The group claims to represent officers who have died in the line of duty and says their goal is to correct injustices.The group, armed with high-powered weapons, has orchestrated several violent street protests, demanding justice.Among state buildings targeted in their most recent protests, September 12-14, were the Immigration Service, the newly constructed National Identification Office (ONI), which distributes the ID cards required for bank transactions, property purchases, travel and other official matters. Government vehicles including garbage trucks were also damaged.During the September 12 protest, members of Fantom 509 fired at the home of chief prosecutor Ducarmel Gabriel to demand the release of four fellow police officers charged with dereliction of duty. They had been accused of failing to secure the crime scene in the home where Port-au-Prince bar association chief Monferrier Dorval was slain.Dorval’s home was ransacked, and potentially valuable evidence was destroyed, according to the lead investigator. A short time after the shooting incident, the four officers were released from jail.During a September 14 protest, VOA asked one of the Fantom 509 officers what sparked their rampage.”We’re fighting for our brother’s freedom,” the policeman, dressed in uniform and wearing a facemask, told VOA Creole. “That’s why each time we hit the streets and our demands are not met by officials, we will hold them responsible (for whatever happens). We will keep this up until Pascal Alexandre is free. Wherever we see injustices – we will respond with civil disobedience.”Fantom 509 threatened during the September 14 protest to burn the capital city down to the ground if Alexandre was not released. When VOA Creole asked them why they were resorting to violence rather than petitioning the minister of justice, they responded that their colleague was unjustly arrested, so that “is not an option.””The government had Pascal arrested, so we are dealing directly with the government,” the officer told VOA.

Justice Department Asks Judge to Allow US to Bar WeChat from US App Stores

The U.S. Justice Department asked a federal judge in San Francisco on Friday to allow the government to bar Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google from offering WeChat for download in U.S. app stores pending an appeal.The filing asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler to put on hold her preliminary injunction issued Saturday. That injunction blocked the U.S. Commerce Department order that was set to take effect late September 20 and that would also bar other U.S. transactions with Tencent Holding’s WeChat, potentially making the app unusable in the United States.Beeler responded late Friday by setting a hearing for October 15 on the motion but said she could potentially hold it on “a tighter time period.”The Justice Department filing said Beeler’s order was in error and “permits the continued, unfettered use of WeChat, a mobile application that the Executive Branch has determined constitutes a threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”Tencent had put forward a “mitigation proposal” that sought to create a new U.S. version of the app, deploy specific security measures to protect the new apps source code, partner with a U.S. cloud provider for user data storage, and manage the new app through a U.S.-based entity, the filing said.However, its proposal still allowed Tencent to retain ownership of WeChat and did not address U.S. concerns over the company, it added.Tencent declined to comment.Lawyers for U.S. WeChat Users Alliance, the group behind the legal challenge to the WeChat ban, questioned the urgency of the government’s request, noting the time it took for the government to seek a stay.”The government’s decision to sit tight for five days shows that there is no emergency,” they wrote.In support of its argument, the Justice Department made public portions of a September 17 Commerce Department memo outlining the WeChat transactions to be banned.”The WeChat mobile application collects and transmits sensitive personal information on U.S. persons, which is accessible to Tencent and stored in data centers in China and Canada,” the memo said. Beeler said WeChat users who filed a lawsuit “have shown serious questions going to the merits of the First Amendment claim.”The Justice Department filing said, “The First Amendment does not bar regulation of WeChat simply because it has achieved the popularity and dependency sought by (China), precisely so it can surveil users, promote its propaganda, and otherwise place U.S. national security at risk.”WeChat has had an average of 19 million daily active users in the United States, analytics firms Apptopia said in early August. It is popular among Chinese students, Americans living in China and some Americans who have personal or business relationships in China.Beeler wrote “certainly the government’s over-arching national-security interest is significant. But on this record — while the government has established that China’s activities raise significant national security concerns — it has put in scant little evidence that its effective ban of WeChat for all U.S. users addresses those concerns.”WeChat is an all-in-one mobile app that combines services similar to Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Venmo. The app is an essential part of daily life for many in China and boasts more than 1 billion users.TikTok on Wednesday sought a similar preliminary injunction from a U.S. judge in Washington. A judge on Friday said he would hold a hearing Sunday morning about whether to halt the U.S. app store ban on new TikTok downloads set to take effect Sunday night.  

UN Urges Belarus to Release Opposition Figure Kolesnikova

Independent human rights experts from the United Nations on Friday urged the Belarusian government to free leading opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova, saying she faces a five-year prison term after being charged with undermining national security.The musician and political activist was jailed recently amid ongoing mass protests against the country’s authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, who was re-elected August 9 in a vote that opponents allege was rigged. The rights experts said Kolesnikova was “snatched off the streets” of Minsk, the capital, September 7, threatened with death or deportation and secretly imprisoned.The statement noted that after three days with no information on her whereabouts, authorities announced that Kolesnikova was in pre-trial detention. It added that on the 16th, she was officially charged.“It is particularly troubling that the authorities have resorted to enforced disappearances in an effort to quash protests, stifle dissent and sow fear,” the U.N. experts said, adding, “We urge the authorities not to use national security concerns to deny individuals their fundamental rights, among others the rights to opinion, expression, or peaceful assembly and association.”The rights experts also said in their statement they wanted authorities to bring to justice those responsible for her disappearance. They noted she had campaigned for opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled with her children to Lithuania for safety.Kolesnikova was a key member of a council set up by the opposition to push for new elections. Separately, another activist, Olga Kovalkova, said that authorities forced her out of the country and that she was dropped off at the Polish border.Lukashenko said he won the August 9 election in a landslide. He claimed the beginning of his sixth term Wednesday, following an inauguration ceremony held in secret. The president, who has ruled Belarus for 26 years, said the protesters were being backed by foreign powers.
 

Thousands March in Berlin Climate Rally

Thousands of mostly young people gathered Friday in Berlin to demand more action on climate change, part of a global day of action for the environment.Defying gray skies, the participants, many on bicycles, brought placards and banners to a rally near the iconic Brandenburg Gate. Most wore face masks as a COVID-19 precaution. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus.Germany is a focal point for the demonstrations in Europe because it holds the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, which together with Britain accounts for 22 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans.The climate has made headlines around the world recently, from melting Arctic ice to record Siberian heat to wildfires in California and elsewhere.German climate activist Luisa Neubauer told the crowd, “We’re here because we know that climate justice is possible as long as we keep fighting for it. That’s why we’re here today.”Fridays for Future activists protest calling for a “Global Day of Climate Action” in Berlin, Germany, Sept. 25, 2020.The demonstration was one of 3,000 scheduled to be held around the world Friday, as part of the youth activist movement “Fridays for Future.” COVID-19 restrictions forced many of the activities online.In Stockholm, the person considered to be the founder of the movement, teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, was in her usual location, in front of the Swedish parliament. She told a reporter the main goal of the protests was to raise awareness and sway public opinion on the urgency of climate issues.She said, “We need to treat the climate crisis as a crisis. It’s just as simple as that. The climate crisis has never once been treated as a crisis, and unless we treat it as a crisis, we won’t be able to so-called ‘solve’ it.’ ”In 2018, at age 15, Thunberg began skipping school on Fridays and going to the parliament to hold demonstrations for legislation on climate change. Soon, she was joined by others, and the protests eventually went viral through social media.
 

Eight in 10 Britons Ignore COVID-19 Self-Isolation Rules, Survey Finds

A new survey indicates more than 80% of people living in Britain with COVID-19 symptoms or who have had contact with someone who has tested positive are ignoring self-isolation guidelines.
 
The survey, released Friday and conducted by Kings College London and the National Health Service (NHS), found that only 18.2% of people who reported having symptoms of COVID-19 in the previous seven days have stayed isolated since their symptoms developed, and only 11.9% requested a COVID-19 test.
 
The research also shows fewer than half those surveyed were able to identify the symptoms of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus.
 
The research also found that only 10.9% of people told to self-isolate after close contact with a COVID-19 case had done so for 14 days as required.
 
In a statement, the survey’s senior author, Kings College researcher Dr. James Rubin, said the research indicated that while the public seems to have good intentions to adhere to the test, trace and isolate guidelines, financial constraints are the most common reason given for non-compliance, among other factors.
 
Britain this week introduced fines of up to $12,780 for breaking self-isolation rules, and it is offering nearly $640 in support payments to low-paid workers who lose income from quarantining.
 
The study shows other reasons for non-compliance ranged from not knowing government guidance to being unable to identify the symptoms.
 
Kings College says the data was collected through surveys conducted among 30,000 people living in Britain between March and August of this year.
 

Canceled Flights Strand 25 Easter Islanders for 6 Months

For people around the world, the coronavirus has caused distressing separations and delayed homecomings. But the situation for a group of 25 residents from remote Easter Island stands out.  
For six months now the group has been stranded far across a vast stretch of ocean on Tahiti in French Polynesia. Children remain separated from their parents, husbands from their wives.  
Mihinoa Terakauhau Pont, a 21-year-old mom who is among those stranded, is due to give birth to her second son any day now but can’t have her husband by her side because he’s back home. Her grief has left her exhausted.
“I can’t cry anymore,” she said. “My heart is cold.”
Usually considered a tropical paradise, Tahiti has become a kind of prison to them. Many arrived in March planning to stay for just a few weeks — they’d come for work, or a vacation, or for medical procedures. But they got stuck when the virus swept across the globe and their flights back home were canceled.
Each day they have been going to the authorities and begging for help in Spanish, in French, and in English. They’ve considered chartering a plane or trying to hitch a lift on a military ship to make the journey of some 4,200 kilometers (2,600 miles). But each time their hopes rise a little, their plans turn out to be too expensive or impractical.
Home to about 8,000 people, Easter Island is a tiny speck in the vast Pacific Ocean, located midway between Polynesia, in the South Pacific, and South America. Also named Rapa Nui, the Chilean territory is renowned for its imposing moai — giant heads carved from volcanic rock by inhabitants hundreds of years ago. For Easter Islanders, Tahiti has long been a stopping-off point, a connection to the rest of the world.
Until the virus struck, LATAM airlines ran a regular return route from Santiago, Chile, to Easter Island and on to Tahiti. LATAM said it suspended the route in March because of the virus and doesn’t have a timeline for restarting it. No other airlines offer a similar service.
“The resumption of this flight is subject to the development of the pandemic and travel restrictions in place,” the airline said in a statement.
Terakauhau Pont arrived in Tahiti in January to visit her first son, who was staying on a nearby island with her parents. She was due to fly home in March. As the weeks trying to get a flight back slipped into months, she heard from afar that her husband had lost his job at a hotel because of the downturn in the tourism industry caused by the virus.
Now, Terakauhau Pont’s mother has started a garden and her father is going fishing so they have enough food to eat each day.
“It’s the only way to survive,” she said.
She has pleaded with the authorities to help, and has even written to leaders in mainland Chile and on Easter Island, but without any success.  
“It is so much grief for all of us,” she said.
She said the person who has done the most to help is Kissy Baude, a 40-year-old administrative technician who has lived in Tahiti for years but was due to start a new job on her native Easter Island in April.  
Because of her contacts on Tahiti, Baude has become the unofficial leader of the group — its social worker, psychologist and spokesperson. Baude said the group has survived thanks to the generosity of Tahitians, who have been providing them with food and accommodation long after many of them ran out of their own resources.
Baude said that before the virus struck, she was eagerly anticipating returning to Easter Island. She was looking forward to seeing her mother, who has a room prepared and waiting. But now, her mother’s husband also remains stranded with her on Tahiti, after traveling there for colon surgery in March.
Baude said one option they’ve been exploring is to fly a circuitous route to Los Angeles and then to Santiago and hope they get repatriated from there. But even then their return isn’t certain and many in the group can’t afford the expense.
Among the 16 females and nine males stranded are seven children aged between 2 and 14. And the clan is expected to grow by one on about Oct. 3, the day Terakauhau Pont is due to give birth to a son that she and her husband plan to name Anuihere.
Some in the group have struggled to find enough money simply to eat, while others have found it tough going emotionally. Lately, they have been able to collect some money online after setting up two donation pages.
Baude gets emotional when talking about their situation. She said some of them fear speaking up in case they face repercussions back on Easter Island, but she isn’t afraid.
“We just want to go back to our homeland,” she said.

London Police Officer Fatally Shot While Detaining Suspect

A London police officer was shot and killed early Friday inside a London police station while detaining a suspect, officials said.
 
In a statement, London’s Metropolitan Police said the incident occurred at 2:15 am London time at the Croydon Custody Center on the city’s south side.  
 
The British Broadcasting Corporation reports the 23-year-old suspect as being detained, he produced a weapon, shot the officer, and then turned the weapon on himself. Officials say no police weapons were fired.
 
Police say the suspect is being treated at a London hospital, where he is in critical condition. The officer has not been identified while police notify his family.  
 
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on Twitter, offered his condolences to the officer’s family and colleagues as did London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
 
Britain has strict firearms laws, and it is rare for police officers there to be shot and killed.
 
The BBC reports the Croydon officer is the 17th on the London police force to have been killed by a firearm since the World War II.
 
The broadcaster reports since the beginning of the 20th century, only 73 police officers have been shot and killed by criminals in Britain, excluding all deaths in Northern Ireland. The majority of the deaths – more than 50 – have occurred since 1945.