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The powerful earthquake that hit Haiti on Saturday killed hundreds and injured thousands more. The destruction comes just 11 years after a temblor killed tens of thousands of people, if not hundreds of thousands. Some 100,000 buildings were destroyed in the 2010 quake.  
 
As rescuers search for survivors in the Caribbean nation, here’s a look at why Haiti has had so many devastating earthquakes over the centuries and why they are often so devastating.  
 What makes Haiti prone to earthquakes?  
 
The Earth’s crust is made up of tectonic plates that move. And Haiti sits near the intersection of two of them — the North American plate and the Caribbean plate.  
Multiple fault lines between those plates cut through or near the island of Hispaniola, which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic. What’s worse, not all of those fault lines behave the same way.  
 
“Hispaniola sits in a place where plates transition from smashing together to sliding past one another,” said Rich Briggs, a research geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Geologic Hazards Science Center.  
 
“It’s like a rock stuck in the track of a sliding glass door,” he said. “It just does not want to move smoothly because it’s got so many different forces on it.”  
 What caused the most recent quake?  
 
Saturday’s magnitude 7.2 earthquake likely occurred along the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone, which cuts across Haiti’s southwestern Tiburon Peninsula, according to the USGS.  
 
It’s the same fault zone along which the devastating 2010 earthquake occurred. And it’s likely the source of three other big earthquakes in Haiti between 1751 and 1860, two of which destroyed Port-au-Prince.  
 
Earthquakes are the result of the tectonic plates slowly moving against each other and creating friction over time, said Gavin Hayes, senior science adviser for earthquake and geologic hazards at USGS.
 
“That friction builds up and builds up and eventually the strain that’s stored there overcomes the friction,” Hayes said. “And that’s when the fault moves suddenly. That’s what an earthquake is.”
 Why can earthquakes in Haiti be so devastating?
 
It’s a combination of factors that include a seismically active area, a high population density of 11 million people and buildings that are often designed to withstand hurricanes — not earthquakes.  
 
Typical concrete and cinder block buildings can survive strong winds but are vulnerable to damage or collapse when the ground shakes. Poor building practices can also play a role.  
 
The 2010 quake hit closer to densely populated Port-au-Prince and caused widespread destruction. Haiti’s government put the death toll at more than 300,000, while a report commissioned by the U.S. government placed it between 46,000 and 85,000.
 
“I think it’s important to recognize that there’s no such thing as a natural disaster,” said Wendy Bohon, a geologist with Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology. “What you have is a natural hazard that overlaps with a vulnerable system.”  
 What does the future hold?  
 
Geologists say they cannot predict the next earthquake.  
 
“But we do know that earthquakes like this can cause similar-sized earthquakes on the next portion of the fault,” said Hayes of USGS. “And it’s quite a significant hazard in places that don’t have the construction practices to withstand the shaking.”  
 
Construction of more earthquake-resistant buildings remains a challenge in Haiti, which is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.  
 
Before Saturday’s quake, Haiti was still recovering from the 2010 earthquake as well as Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Its president was assassinated last month, sending the country into political chaos.  
 
And while there have been some success stories of Haitians building more earthquake-resistant structures, the country has lacked a centralized effort to do so, said Mark Schuller, a professor of anthropology and nonprofit and NGO studies at Northern Illinois University.  
 
Haiti’s government has become increasingly weak, while non-governmental organizations focus on their own compartmentalized projects.
 
“There is technical knowledge in Haiti. There are trained architects. There are city planners. That’s not the problem,” Schuller said. “The problem is a lack of funding for coordination, and lack of political will from donors (to organizations providing aid).”
 
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The death toll in Haiti after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake has risen to more than 700, officials said Sunday.At least 1,800 people were injured and more remain missing amid widespread damage, authorities said. There also have been several aftershocks.The temblor struck Saturday near the town of Petit-Trou-de-Nippes, about 125 kilometers west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.Haiti earthquake location map, Aug. 14, 2021 (Credit: USGS)Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who took office just three weeks ago after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, said the government was mobilizing aid to the affected areas.”The most important thing is to recover as many survivors as possible under the rubble,” Henry told The Associated Press. “We have learned that the local hospitals, in particular that of Les Cayes, are overwhelmed with wounded, fractured people.”Henry declared a monthlong state of emergency for the country.”The needs are enormous. We must take care of the injured and fractured, but also provide food, aid, temporary shelter and psychological support,” Henry said. He later boarded a flight to Les Cayes, in the island nation’s southwest.Les Cayes, which is the largest town near the epicenter, reported collapsed buildings and major damage, officials said. Rescue workers were searching for survivors.Firefighters search for survivors inside a collapsed building, after Saturday´s 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 15, 2021.U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed Saturday morning about the Haiti quake, the White House said.“In what is already a challenging time for the people of Haiti, I am saddened by the devastating earthquake that occurred in Saint-Louis du Sud, Haiti, this morning. We send our deepest condolences to all those who lost a loved one or saw their homes and businesses destroyed,” Biden said in a statement. The United States a “close and enduring friend to the people of Haiti,” he added.He also authorized an immediate response by the U.S. and named U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power to coordinate the effort, according to the White House.In Les Cayes, the country’s third-largest city, resident Jean Marie Simon, 38, told Reuters he was at the market when the quake struck. As he ran home, he said he could hear the cries of people in distress.”I saw bodies being pulled out of the rubble, injured and perhaps dead people,” Simon said. “I heard cries of pain everywhere I passed through.” Landslides remained a significant danger after the quake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Haiti’s Civil Protection service said a landslide had blocked the highway between Les Cayes and the town of Jeremie, Reuters reported.People in Port-au-Prince felt the tremor, and many rushed into the streets in fear, although there did not appear to be damage there, AP reported.Naomi Verneus, a 34-year-old resident of Port-au-Prince, told AP she was jolted awake by the earthquake.”I woke up and didn’t have time to put my shoes on. We lived the 2010 earthquake and all I could do was run. I later remembered my two kids and my mother were still inside. My neighbor went in and told them to get out. We ran to the street,” Verneus said.The temblor was felt as far away as Cuba and Jamaica, although there were no reports of damage or injuries. At magnitude 7.2, the earthquake was bigger and shallower than the magnitude 7 quake that struck Haiti in 2010, killing up to 300,000 people.Red Cross paramedics carry a girl injured during a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 14, 2021.The country is also weathering a political crisis.President Moise was assassinated in his home July 7 and his wife, Martine Moise, was injured in the attack.Martine Moise, posted a message on Twitter on Saturday, calling for unity among Haitians: “Let’s put our shoulders together to bring solidarity. It is this connection that makes us strong and resilient. Courage. I am always by your side.”To add to the country’s difficulties, Tropical Storm Grace is forecast to hit Haiti late Monday or early Tuesday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.Humanitarian aid groups said the earthquake would only worsen the suffering in Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas.”We’re concerned that this earthquake is just one more crisis on top of what the country is already facing, including the worsening political stalemate after the president’s assassination, COVID and food insecurity,” Jean-Wickens Merone, spokesman for World Vision Haiti, said, according to the AP.Other countries were also offering help to Haiti, including Argentina and Chile.(Some material for this article came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.) 
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Tropical Storm Grace is crossing the northeastern Caribbean Sea, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, threatening to bring heavy rainfall to the Lesser and Greater Antilles over the next few days.Tropical storm warnings and watches are in effect as Grace moves with maximum sustained winds of 65 kph.A warning means tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area, while a watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch area, generally within 48 hours.Tropical storm warnings have been issued for Saba and Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra, and the Dominican Republic from Cabo Caucedo to Samana.Grace has also produced a tropical storm watch for the southern coast of the Dominican Republic from the Haitian border to Cabo Caucedo.Meanwhile, the remnants of Fred are expected to redevelop into a tropical storm over the Gulf of Mexico Sunday, as it moves with maximum winds of 55 kph, the hurricane center said.Fred, however, could produce as much as 20 centimeters of rain to portions of Cuba on Sunday and as much as 7.6 centimeters across the Bahamas. Beginning Sunday night, forecasters predict Fred could bring heavy rainfall across portions of Florida and southern Alabama.  
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Flooding caused by heavy rains in regions around the Black Sea have left dozens of people dead in Turkey and forced the evacuation of hundreds in southern Russia.The Turkish provinces of Bartin, Kastamonu and Sinop along the Black Sea suffered torrential rains midweek that led to flooding.Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said the flooding destroyed dozens of homes and several roads and bridges and cut off electricity to hundreds of villages.The death toll from flooding in Turkey rose to at least 57 people, AFAD said Saturday. At least eight people were hospitalized, agency officials said.Speaking late Saturday in Kastamonu, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 15 of the dead had not been identified yet.Across the Black Sea, heavy rains also triggered widespread flooding in southern Russia, forcing the evacuation of more than 1,500 people in the Krasnodar region, including nearly 1,000 children from summer camps, officials there said Saturday.More than 1,400 houses had been flooded following storms and heavy rains that swept the area this week. About 108,000 residents of 11 settlements were left without power, the regional Russian emergency headquarters reported.The Black Sea resort city of Anapa was among the worst affected, officials said. Heavy rain in the region was expected for another two days.Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty contributed to this report. Some material also came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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A 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook southwestern Haiti on Saturday morning, leaving hundreds dead, injured or missing, taking down buildings and cutting off communication to at least two cities. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti tells us more.
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The death toll in Haiti after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake rose to at least 304 on Saturday, the country’s civil protection agency said.Hundreds of people were injured or missing, and there was widespread damage, authorities said. There also were several aftershocks.The temblor struck near the town of Petit-Trou-de-Nippes, about 125 kilometers west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.A truck is covered by parts of a wall that fell on it during an earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 14, 2021.Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who took office just three weeks ago after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, said the government was mobilizing aid to the affected areas. “The most important thing is to recover as many survivors as possible under the rubble,” Henry told The Associated Press. “We have learned that the local hospitals, in particular that of Les Cayes, are overwhelmed with wounded, fractured people.”Henry declared a monthlong state of emergency for the country.”The needs are enormous. We must take care of the injured and fractured, but also provide food, aid, temporary shelter and psychological support,” Henry said. He later boarded a flight to Les Cayes, in the island nation’s southwest.Les Cayes, which is the largest town near the epicenter, reported collapsed buildings and major damage, officials said. Rescue workers were searching for survivors.The residence of the Catholic bishop is damaged after an earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 14, 2021.U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed Saturday morning about the Haiti quake, the White House said.“In what is already a challenging time for the people of Haiti, I am saddened by the devastating earthquake that occurred in Saint-Louis du Sud, Haiti, this morning. We send our deepest condolences to all those who lost a loved one or saw their homes and businesses destroyed,” Biden said in a statement.He also authorized an immediate response by the U.S. and named U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power to coordinate the effort, according to the White House.In Les Cayes, resident Jean Marie Simon, 38, told Reuters he was at the market when the quake struck. As he ran home, he said, he could hear the cries of people in pain and distress.Sacred Heart Church is damaged after an earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 14, 2021.”I saw bodies being pulled out of the rubble, injured and perhaps dead people,” Simon said. “I heard cries of pain everywhere I passed through.”People in Port-au-Prince felt the tremor, and many rushed into the streets in fear, although there did not appear to be damage there, AP reported.Naomi Verneus, 34, a Port-au-Prince resident, told AP she was jolted awake by the earthquake.”I woke up and didn’t have time to put my shoes on. We lived the 2010 earthquake and all I could do was run. I later remembered my two kids and my mother were still inside. My neighbor went in and told them to get out. We ran to the street,” Verneus said.A woman stands in front of a destroyed home in the aftermath of an earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 14, 2021.The temblor was felt as far away as Cuba and Jamaica, although there were no reports of damage or injuries there. And at magnitude 7.2, the earthquake was bigger and shallower than the magnitude 7 quake that struck Haiti in 2010, killing up to 300,000 people.The country is also weathering a political crisis.Moise was assassinated in his home July 7 and his wife, Martine Moise, was injured in the attack.Martine Moise posted a message on Twitter on Saturday, calling for unity among Haitians: “Let’s put our shoulders together to bring solidarity. It is this connection that makes us strong and resilient. Courage. I am always by your side.”To add to the country’s difficulties, Tropical Storm Grace is forecast to hit Haiti late Monday or early Tuesday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.Humanitarian aid groups said the earthquake would only worsen the suffering in Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas.”We’re concerned that this earthquake is just one more crisis on top of what the country is already facing, including the worsening political stalemate after the president’s assassination, COVID and food insecurity,” Jean-Wickens Merone, spokesman for World Vision Haiti, said, according to the AP.Other countries were also offering help to Haiti, including Argentina and Chile.Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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At least 29 people were killed Saturday when a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, just days before a tropical storm is expected to make landfall. Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he was mobilizing all available government resources to help victims in the affected areas. The epicenter of the quake was about 125 kilometers (78 miles) west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey said, and widespread damage was reported. Jerry Chandler, Haiti’s director of civil protection, told the AP that the death toll stood at 29 and that teams will be sent to the area for search and rescue missions. Henry said on Twitter that the “violent quake” had caused loss of life and damage in various parts of the country, and he appealed to Haitians to unify as they “confront this dramatic situation in which we’re living right now.”  He declared a one-month state of emergency for the whole country. At a press conference, he said he would not ask for international help until the extent of the damage is known. A truck is covered by parts of a wall that fell on it during an earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 14, 2021.Videos posted to social media showed collapsed buildings near the epicenter and people running into the streets.  People in Port-au-Prince felt the tremor, and many rushed into the streets in fear, although there did not appear to be damage there.  Naomi Verneus, a 34-year-old resident of Port-au-Prince, said she was jolted awake by the earthquake and that her bed was shaking.  “I woke up and didn’t have time to put my shoes on. We lived the 2010 earthquake and all I could do was run. I later remembered my two kids and my mother were still inside. My neighbor went in and told them to get out. We ran to the street,” Verneus said. The residence of the Catholic bishop is damaged after an earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 14, 2021.The impoverished country, where many live in tenuous circumstances, is vulnerable to earthquakes and hurricanes. It was struck by a magnitude 5.9 earthquake in 2018 that killed more than a dozen people, and a vastly larger magnitude 7.1 quake that damaged much of the capital in 2010 and killed an estimated 300,000 people. The National Hurricane Center has forecasted that Tropical Storm Grace will reach Haiti late Monday night or early Tuesday morning.  The earthquake struck more than a month after President Jovenel Moïse was killed, sending the country into political chaos, and humanitarian aid groups said the earthquake will add to the suffering. “We’re concerned that this earthquake is just one more crisis on top of what the country is already facing, including the worsening political stalemate after the president’s assassination, COVID and food insecurity,” said Jean-Wickens Merone, spokesman for World Vision Haiti. Catholic priest Fredy Elie, who began working with the Mission in Haiti Congregation after the 2010 earthquake, told The Associated Press that access to the area is hindered by criminal gangs and was pleading for help. “It’s time to open the road to those who want to help. … They need help from all of us,” Elie said.
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Tropical Storm Grace strengthened slightly early Saturday but is expected to weaken in the Leeward Islands later in the day as Fred weakened from a tropical depression to a tropical wave before it is expected to re-develop Sunday over the Gulf of Mexico.The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that Grace was about 425 kilometers east-southeast of the Leeward Islands as it traveled west at 37 kilometers per hour, while Fred was located about 80 kilometers west of Havana as it moved west-northwest at 19 kilometers per hour.With an eye on Grace, the Dominican Republic issued a tropical storm watch “for the south coast of the Dominican Republic from Punta Caucedo eastward to Cabo Engano, and for the north coast from Cabo Frances Viejo eastward to Cabo Engano,” the NHC said.The NHC also said the tropical storm warning for the U.S. Florida Keys has been discontinued due to the weakening of Fred.
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The death toll from flooding in Turkey has climbed to at least 44 people, the country’s disaster agency said Saturday.Torrential rains Wednesday triggered flooding in the northern Black Sea region, destroying homes, closing roads, and cutting off electricity to hundreds of villages, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD).Fires Rage in Turkey as Anger Grows over Grounded Firefighting AircraftSome blame government political score-settling for stalling firefighting efforts parts of country burn Authorities said more than 2,200 people had been evacuated and that the search continued for missing residents.The floods are the second natural disaster to strike Turkey this month. Over the past two weeks, emergency crews battled wildfires in southern coastal regions that had been bought under control by the time the flooding began.Scientists blame climate change sparked by the burning of fossil fuels for extreme weather disasters that are expected to occur more frequently as the planet warms.Experts in Turkey maintain, though, that meddling with rivers and faulty construction also has contributed to the heavy damage caused by the floods.The Associated Press and Reuters provided some information for this report.
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A major earthquake struck western Haiti Saturday and was felt across the Caribbean where people fled their homes for fear that buildings might collapse.The magnitude 7 earthquake quake struck 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the town of Petit Trou de Nippes, about 150 kilometers west of the capital Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 10 kilometers, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
 
The country is still recovering from a magnitude 7 earthquake closer to the capital 11 years ago that killed tens if not hundreds of thousands of people and flattened swathes of buildings, leaving many homeless.
 
“Everyone is really afraid. It’s been years since such a big earthquake,” said Daniel Ross, a resident in the eastern Cuban city of Guantanamo, adding that his home stood firm but the furniture shook.
 
The U.S. Tsunami Warning System said there was no tsunami warning after the quake.
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Saturday that Tropical Storm Grace has joined Tropical Depression Fred over the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.  
 
The NHC said Grace is moving westward and has sustained 65-kilometer-per-hour winds and is expected to reach the Lesser Antilles by Saturday night. Grace is a small tropical storm, according to NHC, with tropical-storm-force winds extending outward up to 35 kilometers from the center.  
 
Tropical storm warnings are in effect for Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra.
 
Weather forecasters said, “disorganized Fred” is moving west-northwest into the Gulf of Mexico and produced heavy rain across Cuba and the Florida Keys, with winds of 55 kilometers per hour.  
 
A tropical storm warning is in effect because of Fred for the Florida Keys west of the Seven Mile Bridge to the Dry Tortugas. 
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Haitian Judge Mathieu Chanlatte, chosen to oversee President Jovenel Moise’s assassination case, has resigned from the investigation, citing personal reasons, in a letter Friday that bears his signature and the stamp of the court.The letter, obtained by VOA Creole, states that he is sending the case back to the dean of the civilian court of Port-au-Prince.The dean, Magistrate Bernard Saint-Vil, announced Monday that security had been tightened for the judge shortly after naming Chanlatte. Judges on the short list to oversee the case previously turned down the opportunity after reportedly receiving death threats.Moise was assassinated early on July 7 inside his home in a luxury suburb of the capital, Port-au-Prince. His wife, Martine Moise, was gravely injured and evacuated to Miami, Florida, where she received treatment.The case is now under the purview of the Haitian Justice Ministry. National Police spokesperson Marie-Michelle Verrier said earlier this week that the police had arrested 44 people in connection with the crime and had seized weapons, ammunition and cash in both U.S. and Haitian currencies.”Among them are 18 Colombians, four Haitian Americans and 22 Haitians,” Verrier said Monday during a news conference. “Among these 22 Haitians are 20 police officers.”FILE PHOTO: Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph gives a press conference, July 20, 2021.Haitian Foreign Minister Claude Joseph expressed concern about the ability of the country’s justice system to adequately prosecute the case.”I would like to highlight the limitations, weaknesses and lack of experience of the Haitian judicial system in handling cases of such complexity, which have resulted in serious doubts about the capacity, on one hand, to justly carry out this investigation and, on the other hand, to find and bring to justice to those responsible,” Joseph wrote in French to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Joseph has asked the U.N. to open an international inquiry into the Moise assassination.Guterres has not yet responded.”We’ve received the letter … which asked for assistance into the investigation of the assassination of President Jovenel and the prosecution of those who are responsible. We’re taking a look at the letter, and that letter will be answered,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told VOA.FILE – In this June 20, 2017, file photo, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric fields questions for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, March 19, 2021.The letter also requests an international tribunal. Dujarric told VOA that one of the U.N.’s legislative bodies would decide on that.”Those [requests] would have to go through competent legislative bodies of the U.N., as we’ve seen them in the past for other various incidents around the world, be it the Security Council, the Human Rights Council or others,” he told VOA.American law enforcement officials from the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security are assisting Haiti with the investigation. Dujarric told VOA the U.N. mission in Haiti currently has four police advisers working with the National Police Inspector General and the Judicial Police.Jean Robert Philippe and U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.
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Nicaraguan police raided the offices of the storied opposition newspaper La Prensa on Friday.The National Police said in a statement that the raid was part of an investigation into “customs fraud and money laundering.” It said the newspaper’s offices “remain under police custody.”The raid came one day after La Prensa suspended its print edition because the government’s customs office had again withheld newsprint.La Prensa, founded in 1926, has been critical of President Daniel Ortega, who has also recently arrested dozens of opposition figures. Ortega’s regime has often used money laundering, tax issues and other accusations to raid nongovernmental and civic groups it disagrees with.Editor Fabián Medina, who was inside the building at the time, said via Twitter that the police “were looking for paper” used to print the daily. He said that later, police allowed reporters to return to their offices but were still in the building.La Prensa had said it would continue an online edition, but it was unclear how long it could continue to do so. La Prensa has been the country’s only newspaper with a print edition since another opposition paper, El Nuevo Diario, closed in 2019.Nicaraguan police stand watch during a raid at La Prensa, the only national newspaper, after President Daniel Ortega’s government opened customs fraud and money laundering investigations against the publication, in Managua, Aug. 13, 2021.On Thursday, the newspaper said in an editorial that “once again the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship has withheld our paper,” referring to Ortega’s wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo. “Until they release the raw material, we cannot continue with the print edition,” the newspaper said. The move also affects sister paper Hoy.The move marks the third time the government has withheld the newspaper’s paper or ink. The paper had ceased printing for about 500 days in 2018 and 2019 amid widespread protests against the regime.The nongovernmental Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights protested the raid and demanded respect for the employees inside the building.Nicaragua is scheduled to hold national elections November 7, and Ortega is seeking a fourth consecutive term. He placed an opposition vice presidential candidate under house arrest last week and then released her pending the outcome of an investigation.Over the past two months, Ortega’s government has arrested nearly three dozen opposition figures, including seven potential challengers for the presidency.On Monday in Managua, the opposition alliance National Coalition said in a statement that it did not recognize the current electoral process as a way out of Nicaragua’s political crisis and urged Nicaraguans not to recognize it either.Later Monday, authorities announced the arrest of opposition leader Mauricio Díaz Dávila, a candidate for congress and a former ambassador to Costa Rica. He had been called to the attorney general’s office on Monday as part of an investigation for alleged acts against the state.His political party, Citizens for Liberty, said he was arrested with violence. His ability to run for office had been canceled by the electoral court three days earlier. Party President Kitty Monterrey, whose Nicaraguan citizenship was withdrawn last week, called for his immediate release.
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A young man who killed five people, including his mother, and then took his own life in Britain’s first mass shooting in more than a decade had complained online about difficulties meeting women and being “beaten down” by life.Police said Friday that the motive for the shootings was unclear but that there were no immediate signs the crime was an act of terrorism or the gunman had connections to extremist groups.They identified the shooter as Jake Davison, 22, and said he had a gun license, but revealed few other details. Witnesses reported that he used a pump-action shotgun, police said, though they wouldn’t confirm what type of weapon it was and whether it was the one Davison was licensed to use.Gun crimes are rare in Britain, which has strict firearm control rules.Police responded to multiple emergency calls made at 6:11 p.m. Thursday, arriving six minutes later at an address in the Keyham neighborhood of Plymouth, England, where Davison had shot and killed his mother, Maxine Davison, 51, also known as Maxine Chapman.According to police accounts, Davison left the house and immediately shot and killed a 3-year-old girl, Sophie Martyn, and her father, Lee Martyn, 43. He then shot and wounded two other people down the street whom police haven’t identified.Police said Davison moved on to a park where he shot Stephen Washington, 59, who died at the scene, and then to a nearby street, where he shot Kate Shepherd, 66. She died later in a hospital.Eyewitnesses reported that Davison shot himself before police arrived. He was licensed last year to use a gun, and police are checking whether he had the license before then.Still collecting informationShaun Sawyer, chief constable for Devon and Cornwall police, told reporters that investigators weren’t sure what Davison’s motive was but did not think extremist ideology prompted the attack.A woman embraces two children during a vigil for the victims of the Keyham mass shooting in Plymouth, England, Aug. 13, 2021.“Let’s see what’s on his hard drive, let’s see what’s on his computer, let’s see what’s on social media,” Sawyer said.“We believe we have an incident that is domestically related that has spilled into the street and seen several people of Plymouth lose their lives in an extraordinarily tragic circumstance,” he added.Davison appeared to post on YouTube under the name Professor Waffle in an account that has now been taken down, replaced by a notice saying it violated the site’s community guidelines. In a final 11-minute clip posted before the killings, “Professor Waffle” talks about how he was “beaten down and defeated by … life.”He talks about struggling to stay motivated at working out and losing weight, working as a scaffolder when he was 17-18, and hinted at his lack of a love life by referring to “people who are incels” — shorthand for “involuntarily celibate.”The “incel” movement justifies violence against women as revenge for men who are rejected as sexual partners, and believes society unjustly denies men sexual or romantic attention. The online subculture has been linked to deadly attacks in California, Florida, and Toronto, Ontario. Davison said that while he wouldn’t describe himself as an “incel,” they are “people similar to me, they’ve had nothing but themselves, and then they’ve socially had it tough.”He compared himself to a businessman struggling to break even despite working long hours but who has a wife and kids supporting him.”Does an incel virgin get that? No,” he said.Britain’s last mass shooting was in 2010, when a taxi driver killed 12 people in Cumbria in northwest England before taking his own life.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will announce on Sunday a September “snap” election midway through his second term, national news media are reporting, citing unnamed sources. The reports say the election will be held on September 20, allowing only the shortest campaign permitted by law — 36 days. Canadian law allows a federal administration to serve up to five years, but the sitting government sets the election date and can call for early elections at any time. Trudeau’s Liberal Party was reduced to minority status in parliament in the most recent election in 2019.  Canadian leaders usually call early elections when they are ahead in opinion polls and believe they can improve their standing in parliament. The latest polls show Trudeau’s Liberals ahead of four other parties with 35.8% support — considered just enough support to secure a majority government, FILE – Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks during a news conference at the daycare inside Carrefour de l’Isle-Saint-Jean school in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, July 27, 2021.”It’s highly unlikely that the election will conclude with a change of government,” said Marcus Kolga, a senior fellow with the MacDonald-Laurier Institute. “The Liberals have a seven-point lead ahead of the Conservatives going into the election and current seat projections have them in majority territory.” That is a marked improvement from its standing earlier in the year, when Canada lagged far behind the United States in rolling out coronavirus vaccines. Since then, the country has surged ahead of its southern neighbor and has fully vaccinated more than 63 percent of its population. Trudeau, the son of the country’s most acclaimed modern prime minister — Pierre Trudeau — also receives high marks from analysts for his handling of Canada-U.S. relations before and during the administration of former U.S. president Donald Trump. Despite a series of high-profile trade disputes and, at one point, being described by Trump as “very dishonest & weak,” Trudeau managed to minimize friction and did not downgrade intelligence cooperation with the U.S. even when other allies did.  FILE – U.S. Ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman speaks during an event in Ottawa, June 2, 2014.”Over the last three American administrations no world leader has navigated the U.S. relationship better than Prime Minister Trudeau,” former U.S. ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman told VOA.  Among other achievements, Heyman lauded Trudeau’s role in the re-negotiation of a crucial free trade agreement among Canada, the United States and Mexico. Kolga cited the government’s handling of the pandemic as a factor in the decision to go to the polls so early, but warned of a possible backlash. “There may have been some doubts about the effectiveness of the government’s response to the pandemic late last year before vaccines were administered, but there haven’t been any catastrophic failures and overall Canadians approve of the Trudeau government’s handling of the crisis,” he told VOA. “However, the timing of the election may be questioned by many Canadians, given the rising fourth wave and the lack of any credible reason to call an election beyond political opportunism.” That is the hope of Jagmeet Singh, leader of the leftist New Democratic Party, which stands third in the polls with 19.3% support. FILE – Canada’s New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh speaks at London Muslim Mosque in London, Ontario, Canada, June 8, 2021.”It is a mistake to call an election while we are still in the middle of a pandemic,” Singh’s office said in a statement provided to VOA. “A prime minister’s top priority should be to fight the pandemic and deliver the help people need.  “Instead, Justin Trudeau has made this selfish summer election and attempted power grab his priority. Our priority is to fight for people. We’re ready to fight for workers, to make sure the ultra-rich and big corporations pay their fair share, and to build a green and fair recovery that people deserve.” Some voters seem to agree. “I don’t want a federal election right now,” said Vanessa MacNeil, who is between jobs after moving with her husband and child from Alberta to Greenwood, Nova Scotia. “We’re still trying to find our new normal with COVID, none of the major parties have a ground-breaking change in stance on anything, this is just going to be 36 days of political mud-slinging because the Liberals want a majority. I have way more to worry about right now than grandstanding.” Kolga noted that if Trudeau secures another term he could end up outlasting his long-serving father, who was prime minister from 1968 to 1984, apart from a short period as opposition leader in 1979 and 1980. “It’s Trudeau’s election to lose,” University of Prince Edward Island professor and trade adviser Jeffrey Collins told VOA. “He is banking on the vaccine rollout, COVID spending, and reopening across the country.” Collins said the Liberals’ main rival at 28.7% support, the Conservative Party of Canada, has “struggled to resonate with enough swing voters” under its current leader Erin O’Toole. FILE – Canada’s Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole speaks during a conservative caucus meeting in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, June 23, 2021.For most analysts, the election is not about whether Trudeau can be defeated but whether he can gain a majority government, enabling his party to pass legislation without relying on the support of one or more other parties. “If the opposition is able to hold Justin Trudeau to a minority government, that would be seen as a defeat by Liberals, who are expecting to retake the majority government they lost in 2019,” Kolga said. Foreign policy will not be a big part of this election but there are some issues which will be fresh in the minds of voters.  “The Conservatives are going to go after the Trudeau government when it comes to China and they are going to accuse the government of being weak,” author and former Canadian intelligence analyst Phil Gurski told VOA. China just this month sentenced a Canadian citizen to death for drug trafficking and sentenced another to 11 years in prison for espionage.  
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The U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday it was imposing sanctions on two Cuban Ministry of Interior officials and a military unit over the Cuban government’s crackdown on protesters last month.The department said it was sanctioning Romarico Vidal Sotomayor Garcia and Pedro Orlando Martinez Fernandez and the Tropas de Prevencion of the Cuban Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces.”Today’s action shines a spotlight on additional perpetrators responsible for suppressing the Cuban people’s calls for freedom and respect for human rights,” said Andrea Gacki, director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.The Cuban Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request to comment.In July, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on the Cuban police force and two of its leaders.The protests erupted in July amid Cuba’s worst economic crisis since the fall of its old ally, the Soviet Union, and a record surge in coronavirus infections. Thousands took to the streets, angry over shortages of basic goods, curbs on civil liberties, and the authorities’ handling of the pandemic.Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has blamed the unrest on the United States, which in recent years has tightened its decades-old trade embargo on the island. He has said many protesters were sincere but manipulated by U.S.-orchestrated social media campaigns.The U.S. Treasury earlier announced sanctions on Cuba’s defense minister and an interior ministry special forces unit over allegations of human rights abuses in the crackdown that followed the protests, in which hundreds of activists were detained.
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Book distributors and publishers in Hungary have raised concerns that a decree restricting the sale of LGBTQ-themed books could lead to self-censorship and make such items harder to obtain in smaller towns.The government has ordered shops to sell sealed and wrapped all books aimed at under-18s that are viewed as promoting homosexuality or gender change, or which contain “explicit” depictions of sexuality.It also bans the sale of all such books, whether intended for children or adults, within 200 meters (220 yards) of a school or a church.The decree is part of an anti-LGBTQ drive that has set nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban at loggerheads with rights groups and the European Union.Katalin Gal, head of the Association of Hungarian Book Publishers and Distributors, said more than 100 Hungarian bookshops were within 200 meters of a church or a school, many in small towns.”This is covertly pushing publishers towards self-censorship. If they make it very hard to sell these books, why would they print them at all?” she said on Friday.”It is clear that from now on if I write a book with LGBTQ characters, it will reach a much smaller audience,” said Tibor Racz-Stefan, an author of young adult novels, some of which feature same-sex couples.The order is the first directive spelling out implications of a law passed in June banning materials seen as promoting homosexuality and gender reassignment at schools.Orban, on a pre-election crusade to safeguard what he calls traditional Christian values, says the law is meant to protect children and that their parents should educate them about sexuality.
The government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The World Health Organization said on Friday it was setting up a new group to trace the origins of the coronavirus, seeking to end what it called “political point scoring” that had hampered investigations.The inability of the WHO to say where and how the virus began spreading has fueled tensions among its members, particularly between China, where COVID-19 cases were first identified in Wuhan in late 2019, and the United States.The WHO called for all governments to cooperate to accelerate studies into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and “to depoliticise the situation.”It specified that a new advisory group called the International Scientific Advisory Group for Origins of Novel Pathogens would support “the rapid undertaking” of further studies.”We should work all together. You, me, everyone wants to know the origin of worst pandemic in a century,” WHO spokesperson Fadela Chaib said at a U.N. briefing on Friday.Washington on Friday welcomed the WHO plan, noting the “emphasis on scientific-based studies and data driven efforts to find the origins of this pandemic so that we can better detect, prevent and respond to future disease outbreaks.”President Joe Biden in late May ordered aides to find answers on COVID-19 origins and report back in 90 days.In its final report, written jointly with Chinese scientists, a WHO-led team that spent four weeks in and around the city of Wuhan in January and February said that the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal. It said that a leak from a laboratory was “extremely unlikely” as a cause.However, in a documentary broadcast in his native Denmark on Thursday, the WHO mission leader Peter Ben Embarek said that the lab hypothesis merited further study. Ben Embarek could not be reached by Reuters for further comment on Friday.A WHO official said that its statement on advancing the virus origins study bore no relation to those remarks, noting that the Ben Embarek interview was filmed months ago.China said it has never rejected cooperation on tracing COVID-19 origins, state media quoted the country’s vice foreign minister as saying.
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Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro said his government would not give in to “blackmail or threats” after the United States urged him to make serious efforts toward holding elections if he wants sanctions relief.Washington’s call comes ahead of a Friday meeting in Mexico between representatives of both the leftist government and opposition leader Juan Guaido — considered interim president by the United States — before talks set for August 30 under mediation from Norway.Venezuela is suffering through a crippling economic crisis, exacerbated by a raft of fresh sanctions imposed by Washington following a contested election in 2018.In a state television broadcast, Maduro said his country would go to the talks “autonomously and independently and does not submit to blackmail or threats from the United States government.”Earlier, Maduro said he was seeking an “immediate lifting of all the criminal sanctions” led by the United States, which in 2019 said it no longer considered him the legitimate president after wide allegations of electoral irregularities.State Department spokesman Ned Price said the sanctions were aimed at “promoting accountability” on democracy and human rights.”We’ve also been clear that the Maduro regime can create a path to easing sanctions by allowing Venezuelans to participate in long overdue free and fair presidential, parliamentary and local elections,” Price told reporters.Doing so “requires the Maduro regime to engage in sincere discussions with the opposition — led by, of course, Interim President Juan Guaido — that result in a comprehensive negotiated solution to the Venezuelan crisis,” he said.Guaido is seeking guarantees over electoral conditions as well as the release of political prisoners including Freddy Guevara, who was recently detained.’For our political prisoners’Guaido declared himself Venezuela’s president in 2019 through his position as parliament speaker.The opposition-dominated parliament had claimed Maduro’s 2018 re-election was fraudulent, a view shared by the European Union and the United States.Former US president Donald Trump, vowing to crush leftists across the Americas, imposed sweeping sanctions to pressure Maduro including on Venezuela’s key export of oil.But Maduro has withstood the pressure with support from the nation’s military, Russia, China and Cuba despite a crumbling economy that has caused millions to flee.Biden has largely kept in place Trump’s stance on Venezuela while promising a more nuanced approach that relies on US allies.Neither Maduro or Guaido will attend the latest talks, and the government holds most of the cards.In a video retweeted on his official Twitter account, Guaido said: “Today there is unity in Venezuela supporting the possibility of a solution through a comprehensive agreement.” In a later tweet, he wrote: “For our country, for our political prisoners, for the struggle and the sacrifice of thousands, we are going to rise up and move on until we achieve it.”The government and the opposition last held negotiations in Barbados in 2019 that were also mediated by Norway and failed to make a breakthrough.
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Tropical Depression Fred is producing heavy rains over eastern Cuba, the National Hurricane Center reported early Friday.Fred is moving with maximum sustained winds of 55 kph. The center said Fred is expected to experience “slow strengthening” in the next few days and could become a tropical storm sometime Friday.Fred is expected to move along or just north of eastern and central Cuba through Friday night, forecasters say, and be near the Florida Keys and southern Florida on Saturday. Fred is predicted to be near the west coast of Florida on Sunday.Fred has resulted in tropical storm watches for several areas: the Cuban provinces of Ciego de Avila, Camaguey, Las Tunas, Holguin, and Granma; the Florida Keys west of Ocean Reef to the Dry Tortugas; and the southwest coast of Florida from Bonita Beach south and east to Ocean Reef including Florida Bay.Fred is expected to produce 2.5-7.5 centimeters of rain over Cuba and the eastern Bahamas, the NHC said, while bringing as much as12.5 centimeters in some locations. In the western Bahamas, Fred is predicted to dump 7.5-12.5 centimeters, with isolated maximum totals of 20.5 centimeters.Through Monday, 7.5-15 centimeters of rain is anticipated across the Keys, the southern and central Florida Peninsula, and north toward the Big Bend of Florida, with isolated maximum totals of 20 centimeters. The NHC said the rainfall could lead to urban, and small-stream flooding, and potentially lead to isolated moderate river flooding.
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British sprinter CJ Ujah, who won an Olympic silver medal in the 4x100m relay in Tokyo, was Thursday suspended for an alleged anti-doping breach, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced.If the case is proven, then 27-year-old Ujah and the British team will be stripped of the silver they won behind Italy in Japan.The AIU said that Ujah was found to have “presence/use of prohibited substances ostarine and S-23, which are selective androgen receptor modulators (SARM).”They are substances commonly used to build muscle.In his most recent Instagram posting, Ujah wrote: “Stay focused…Because truth is madder than fiction.”As well as Ujah, Bahrain’s 1500m runner Sadik Mikhou, Georgian shotputter Benik Abramyan and Kenyan sprinter Mark Otieno Odhiambo have also been provisionally suspended following adverse tests, the AIU added.”The AIU now awaits the conclusion of the International Testing Agency (ITA) proceedings against the above athletes, which will determine whether any anti-doping rule violations have been committed and what consequences (if any) should be imposed in relation to the Olympic Games,” said a statement.”Any consequences beyond the Olympic Games to be imposed upon the athletes under the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules will be determined following the conclusion of the ITA proceedings.” 
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Six people were killed in a mass shooting in the city of Plymouth in southwestern England on Thursday evening, in an incident described by the British Home Secretary as “shocking.” Two females and three males, including the suspect, died from gunshot wounds at the scene of the incident, the Devon and Cornwall Police said in a statement. Another female died a short time later in the hospital, the police added. Police had earlier described the shooting as a “serious firearms incident” and said the situation was contained. The police added that the incident was not related to terrorism. The United Kingdom has one of the lowest gun homicide rates in the world, and mass shootings are rare. Sharron Turner, 57, who lives behind the scene of the shooting, told The Times newspaper that a gunman had “kicked in” the front door of a semi-detached house before shooting a young mother and her daughter, who was about 5 years old. Turner said she had been told that the man, who was dressed in black and gray, was armed with a semi-automatic weapon. After the attack, the gunman escaped through a park behind the house and shot two dog walkers, The Times reported. “The incident in Plymouth is shocking, and my thoughts are with those affected,” Home Secretary Priti Patel said on Twitter. Devon and Cornwall Police said they were called to the Keyham area of the city at 6:10 p.m. on Thursday. “Investigations are continuing into the incident, and disruption to the road network in the Keyham area will remain throughout the night,” police said. The South Western Ambulance Service earlier said it had responded to the incident with a significant number of resources, including Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART), multiple ambulances, air ambulances, multiple doctors and senior paramedics. 
 
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The extreme heat in the Mediterranean region continued to trigger wildfires, with dozens of people killed in Algeria, Greece, Italy and Turkey in recent days. The weather system, nicknamed “Lucifer,” has unleashed record temperatures, and on Thursday it was moving slowly west toward Spain and Portugal.A weather station near the town of Syracuse in southeast Sicily registered what could be Europe’s highest recorded temperature Wednesday, at 48.8 degrees Celsius (119.8 F). The record had yet to be verified by the World Meteorological Organization.Fire crews said forests and fields, baked to tinder by the intense heat, were easily ignited by such things as a discarded cigarette or concentration of the sun’s rays by a shard of glass.Horrifying sightAt night, the hills of southeast Sicily were lit up in flames. It was a frightening spectacle for the residents of the ancient mountain villages.“Our small town was really invaded by fire. It is a catastrophe. The entire Calaforno Park and the surrounding area went up in flames,” said Giovanna Licitra, a resident of Giarratana. “We are living through some really sad moments because our land has suffered a very serious loss. And it will take a long time before it returns to its former glory.”Goats are seen at a burn area near Krioneritis village on Evia island, about 181 kilometers north of Athens, Greece, Aug. 12, 2021.On the Greek island of Evia, the air was filled with acrid smoke, frequently punctured by the low-flying sorties of water-dropping aircraft. Fire crews have traveled from across Europe and as far away as Russia and Egypt to help. But for many residents, it was too late.“Today, we have a lot of water-dropping aircraft, but they should have been here from day one. The damage now is too big, unfortunately,” said Dimitris, an island resident.The heat has also triggered huge fires in Algeria, which reportedly have killed at least 69 people. Aid agencies said that more than 600 families had been made homeless.  Algerian Prime Minister Aymen Benabderrahmane visited some of the affected regions Thursday and promised further government help.Scientists said governments should make better preparations for further extreme weather.FILE – A man looks at a forest fire near the village of Larbaa Nath Irathen, near Tizi Ouzou, in the mountainous Kabyle region, 100 kilometers east of Algiers, Aug.11, 2021.“It really is horrific, and unfortunately, this is just the beginning of the heat and humidity deaths which we’re going to see, which we can attribute directly to human-caused climate change,” Ilan Kelman, a professor of disasters and health at University College London, said in an interview with VOA.“When we’re up to this level of 45 degrees [Celsius] and over, when this continues for a while, and when we add humidity, really the only way to get through it unfortunately is indoor cooling,” Kelman said. “And most people do not have that. Many people cannot afford it. And we also have the challenge that even if everyone was given access to it and could afford it or were helped, then that would overload the power system. We would see power outages.”Economic disruptionIn addition to the immediate danger to life, the extreme weather disrupts livelihoods and entire economies, Kelman said.“When it’s too hot to be outside, we are not going to have people tilling the fields,” he added. “We are not going to have people harvesting the crops and sending it to be processed for our supermarket shelves. Construction cannot happen. What do we do about repairs for infrastructure which require people being outdoors” when it’s simply too hot to be out there?The weather system was slowly moving west toward Spain and Portugal. Social workers were checking in on the most vulnerable residents, including the elderly.“Weather phenomena that are generated by climate change contribute to this vulnerability. This calls for more care and attention, and puts them at even more risk,” Madrid social worker Clara Garcia told Reuters.Destroyed cars lie in a street after floods and mudslides in Bozkurt town, Kastamonu province, Turkey, Aug. 12, 2021. Floods triggered by torrential rains battered the Black Sea coastal provinces of Bartin, Kastamonu, Sinop and Samsun on Wednesday.Meanwhile in northern Turkey, heavy rains have caused catastrophic flooding in recent days, sweeping away cars and buildings and triggering mudslides — echoing scenes from Germany and Belgium last month.Scientists said it showed the urgency of fighting climate change. But in the short term, they warned that extreme weather was increasingly common and said humanity must adapt as best it can.Some information for this report came from Reuters.
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North Macedonia’s bid for membership in the European Union was held up for two decades by a dispute with Greece over its name. One painful compromise later, the road forward is being blocked again — this time by Bulgaria in a dispute over language and historical grievances. And Albania, whose EU bid is to be considered in tandem with that of North Macedonia, is collateral damage. Both North Macedonia and Albania had high hopes of moving forward this year, but progress was brought to a halt at a June meeting of the EU’s General Affairs Council, where Bulgaria exercised its veto as an EU member to block the start of accession negotiations with North Macedonia.  Among several cultural and historic grievances, Sofia called for North Macedonia to acknowledge that the language spoken there is derived from Bulgarian. That is a bitter pill for the government in Skopje, which already acceded to the addition of “North” to the country’s name to satisfy the objections of Greece, which has a province named Macedonia. FILE – European Council President Charles Michel, right, speaks with North Macedonia Prime Minister Zoran Zaev prior to a meeting at the European Council building in Brussels, May 19, 2021.The government in Skopje said it does not plan on giving up on its EU aspirations and that it will continue to actively seek out a solution. “If there is political will and leadership on the side of Bulgaria, I think we can find a European solution that would be good for Macedonian-Bulgarian friendship, for the European promise to the region, and for North Macedonia. But there is an ‘if,’ because we already did our best,” Nikola Dimitrov, North Macedonia’s vice prime minister for European affairs, said in comments reported by Euronews. In a June 28 statement on its Foreign Ministry website, Bulgaria maintains it is committed to resolving its differences with North Macedonia, but it demands an end to what it describes as the suppression of the rights of people in North Macedonia “who identify themselves as Bulgarians.” Experts in the United States — which supports EU integration of the entire Balkans — warn that the delay in starting accession talks with the two countries is likely to be exploited by Russia and China to increase their influence in the western Balkans.  Balkans expert Edward Joseph, a senior fellow with the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, describes the impasse as an extremely serious challenge for the EU and its vision.  “This is an unconscionable blockage and imposition by Bulgaria against North Macedonia. Failure to do this will destabilize the Balkans and represents an opening for Russia and China in the region,” Joseph told VOA’s Macedonian Service.Аll other countries in the EU agree that North Macedonia and its 2 million people are more than ready to join the bloc.    “North Macedonia has done what it has been asked; it has done more than any other country has been asked. And we in the United States, we respect what North Macedonia has done in this compromise, which was a true compromise with Greece,” Joseph said. He argued that Bulgaria is demanding that Macedonians “accept a version of history, a version of who they are — except that version that Bulgarians insist upon is against EU values,” which maintain that members must not bring bilateral issues into the accession process. FILE – Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev speaks with the media as he arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, May 25, 2021.Bulgaria, for its part, maintains that it sees EU enlargement in the western Balkans as a priority and that it does not object to accession talks with Albania, although at present the bloc is not prepared to discuss the one country without the other. “We are resolute to continue the dialogue with the Republic of North Macedonia,” the statement on its Foreign Ministry website says. “We are committed to finding pragmatic, sustainable and mutually acceptable solutions to the challenges inherited from the past.” Joseph argues that if the EU members are not able to bring sufficient pressure on Bulgaria and North Macedonia to move the process forward, the United States should step in. “Washington has to join with Brussels and with key capitals Berlin, Paris and others, and bring requisite pressure,” he said, noting that U.S. President Joe Biden had himself argued in the 1990s for the Clinton administration to do more to integrate the Balkans with western Europe. Erwan Fouéré, a former EU special representative in North Macedonia, offered a similar assessment. “The Americans are expecting the EU to take assumed leadership. And unfortunately, the EU is not assuming the leadership as it should,” he said. “The situation with Bulgaria and the veto that Bulgaria imposed … undermines the entire EU enlargement agenda. So many promises that have been given to North Macedonia, that have been broken, and this is another one now,” he told VOA Macedonian. Fouéré, currently a senior associate research fellow at the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels, said the way forward may require “mediation by a third party, by the Council of Europe or OSCЕ. These are all entities that have experience in resolution of bilateral disputes.”   
 
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