Amid calls from some Democrats to suspend President Donald Trump’s account, Twitter says world leaders’ accounts aren’t entirely above its policies and that it will enforce those policies on any account that violates rules, such as promoting terrorism.

The company’s announcement this week expands on its policy governing those tweets.

In June, Twitter said world leaders’ tweets that violate its rules but have a clear public interest value might get a warning label. The label would provide context on the violation and let people click through for the content.

The company has yet to slap a tweet with a warning label.

Twitter said in a blog post that it’ll take action on any account that makes clear and direct threats of violence against a person, depending on the context.

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged Wednesday to continue a military operation into Syria, despite calls from Washington for a cease-fire. 
 
Erdogan’s pledge came ahead of high-level visit led by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The visit reportedly was arranged during a call between Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump. 
 
Trump is calling for an immediate cease-fire and is offering mediation to end Turkey’s 10-day military operation. 
 
Ankara launched operation “Peace Spring” against the YPG Syrian Kurdish militia, which Ankara deems as a terrorist organization linked to a decades-long insurgency inside Turkey. But the militia was a crucial ally in Washington’s war against the Islamic State group. 
 
No talking to ‘terror organization’

However, Erdogan is dismissing Washington’s efforts to end the operation. 

“There are some leaders who are trying to mediate,” Erdogan said in an address to parliament. “There has never been any such thing in the history of the Turkish Republic as the state sitting at the same table with a terror organization.” 

Speaking to reporters after his parliamentary address, Erdogan ruled out meeting Pence. “I am standing tall. I will not meet them,” he said of the delegation. “I will speak when Trump comes.” 
 
Erdogan later quickly reversed his stance. “He does plan to meet the US delegation led by @VP tomorrow [Thursday],”  tweeted Erdogan’s head of communications, Fahrettin Altun. 
 
However, Thursday’s meeting is expected to be difficult. “I don’t see what we can expect tangibly from the visit — just more of the same, unfortunately,” said former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen, who served in Washington. 
 
“Mr. Erdogan appears not to expect much from this visit,” he added. “But Moscow and Washington are lined up against this military operation, and extreme U.S. sanctions are on the way.” 
 
Trump sanctions implemented on Monday over the Turkish operation were brushed aside by Erdogan and the financial markets as symbolic. But U.S.  Congress is threatening to introduce far more severe measures if Turkey continues with its Syrian operation. 

Halkbank case
 
Further financial pressure piled on Ankara, with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York opening a case against Turkish state lender Halkbank for violating Iranian sanctions. 
 
 “This is one of the most serious Iran sanctions violations we have seen, and no business should profit from evading our laws or risking our national security,” said John C. Demers, the assistant attorney general for national security. 
 
Last year a New York court jailed Hakan Atilla, a senior Halkbank executive, on similar offenses. Atilla earlier this year returned to Turkey after completing his sentence. 
 
The latest case potentially opens Halkbank to massive fines. Erdogan has been lobbying Trump for the investigation to be dropped. Analysts say Ankara views the timing of the case as political. 
 
“The American side try every measure to put pressure on Turkey over its Syrian operation. Ankara definitely sees Halkbank is part of this,” said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University. 
 
“The Turkish government is disappointed, no doubt about that,” Bagci said.”The Americans think it will make things easier for them, but it will make it more complicated.” 

Markets calm
 
Such fears are not shared by international financial markets, with the impact on Turkish markets slight. “I don’t think the market is assuming that SDNY moved in connection with the Syrian situation,” said an analyst for an international bank, speaking anonymously. 
 

But the analyst warned trouble could be on the horizon if Halkbank was convicted: “There’s still concern about a Halkbank fine, because a fine in the neighborhood of billions of dollars would be a big burden on Turkey’s balance of payments.” 
 
The Halkbank case threatens to escalate U.S.-Turkish tensions, fueled by a growing mutual lack of trust. 
 
With anti-Americanism in Turkey at a record high according to opinion polls, analysts claim a tough stance against Washington will play well among Erodgan’s supporters. 
 
 Turkish media, mainly under government control, echo Erdogan’s fiery rhetoric aimed at the United States over its support of the Kurdish militia. 
 
However, Turkey is facing growing international isolation over its Syrian operation, with Moscow adding its voice to growing calls for its end. With the combined effect global reaction and the threat of significant U.S. sanctions, Erdogan could yet prove flexible in Thursday’s talks with Pence. 
 
“Erdogan is looking for more time for his operation,” said Bagci.” But he is a pragmatist; it depends what Pence has to offer.” 

A child was killed in a strong 6.4-magnitude quake that hit the southern Philippines on Wednesday, a local mayor said, as houses collapsed, power was knocked out and a shopping mall burst into flames.

Residents evacuated homes and buildings across the Mindanao region including a mall that caught fire in the city of General Santos shortly after the quake struck in the evening, officials said.

The child died in a house collapse in the town of Datu Paglas, while four residents of nearby Tulunan town were injured when at least two other houses fell down, Tulunan Mayor Reuel Limbungan told AFP.

“The child was crushed by a collapsed house wall” and pronounced dead in hospital, Limbungan said, adding that he had visited the medical facility and spoken to its director.

Rescue and local officials said there were no immediate reports of deaths elsewhere in Mindanao, and rescue official Anthony Allada told local television that 20 people were treated for injuries in the town of Magsaysay, near the epicenter.

Three other people were hurt in the town of M’lang, added its vice-mayor, Joselito Pinol.

The quake was 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) deep and was followed by at least two aftershocks, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

“It was the most powerful earthquake I have ever experienced,” Sara Duterte, mayor of the largest Mindanao city of Davao, and daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, told local television.

Falling debris

The Philippines is part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

An elderly man was treated for injuries after being struck by a falling object during the evacuation of a Davao mall, local TV reported.

Jerome Barranco, civil defense officer for the region, said several people were also injured in the city of Kidapawan “as a result of falling debris”.

In General Santos, television footage showed firemen battling a blaze that engulfed the three-storey Gaisano shopping mall.

It was not known if there were still people inside the building, which was evacuated as the quake struck.

The blaze was still raging more than three hours later despite the efforts of nearly 100 firemen, fire officer Redentor Batulan told AFP.

Coastal residents of Davao fled their homes in fear of a tsunami, but rescue workers were trying to convince them to return as no warning was issued, city civil defense chief Rodrigo Bustillo told local television.

“Our volunteers are out to calm the people and tell them there is no tsunami,” Bustillo added.

Chief Philippine government seismologist Renato Solidum said there was no risk of a tsunami because the quake occurred inland, but he advised residents to check their homes for possible damage.

“We ran out of the police station, and we also let the inmates at the municipal jail out,” patrolwoman Celina Sarte told AFP by telephone from the town of Bansalan.

She said the 10 prisoners were put in handcuffs outside moments later.

The United Auto Workers and General Motors have reached a tentative contract agreement that could end a monthlong strike that brought the automaker’s U.S. factories to a standstill.

The deal was hammered out Wednesday but it won’t immediately end the strike by more than 49,000 workers. They’re likely to stay on the picket lines at least a few more days until union committees vote on the deal. The entire membership also must vote.

Details of the four-year agreement have yet to be released.

Workers left their jobs early Sept. 16. They wanted a bigger share of GM’s profits, job security and a path to permanent jobs for temporary workers.

The company wanted to reduce labor costs so they’re closer to U.S. factories run by foreign automakers.

 

President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel sought Wednesday to demonstrate the solidity of the French-German relationship at a meeting in southern France, one day before a key EU summit that may approve a divorce deal with Britain.
 
They started with a visit to the headquarters of plane-maker Airbus, widely seen as a symbol of European industrial cooperation, near the city of Toulouse. The company, which is holding its 50th anniversary celebrations this year, has production and manufacturing facilities in countries including Germany, Spain and Britain.

Macron and Merkel had lunch inside a training A350 airbus – where a long table had been set – with high school students and apprentices preparing for a career in aircraft industry.
 
They were then due to hold bilateral talks in Toulouse, before a joint French-German cabinet meeting.

Macron and Merkel were to discuss Brexit as EU and British officials were scrambling to strike a deal before Thursday’s summit in Brussels, the last one planned for before Britain’s scheduled departure from the EU on Oct. 31.
 
The French and German delegations, including key ministers from both governments, were also planning talks on global trade tensions, the fight against climate change, European defense projects and how to defend EU copyright rules, Macron’s office said.
 
French and German defense ministers will try to elaborate common rules on arms exports during a defense security council. Both countries decided to halt weapons exports to Turkey after the offensive in northeast Syria last week. Germany has also banned defense industry exports to Saudi Arabia over the war in Yemen, while France has not.
 
Later Wednesday, after a joint news conference, Macron and Merkel will welcome incoming European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a dinner with members of the European Round Table of Industrialists, a group gathering over 50 major European multinational companies.
 
They are expected to discuss the U.S. decision to put tariffs worth $7.5 billion on EU goods like wine, cheese and olive oil, following a green light from the World Trade Organization in a case involving illegal EU subsidies for Airbus. The tariffs, to take effect Friday, will be 10% for EU aircraft and 25% for everything else.

From sea cucumbers to cancer research, Vietnam and Australia will start collaborating on science initiatives that are meant to show how innovation can be used to spread out the benefits of economic growth evenly to more of the population.

The Australian government has given more than 1.6 million Australian dollars to the three winners of a competition it co hosted with the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam as part of its so-called Aus4Innovation program. The winning teams are three different pairs of universities, one from Vietnam and one from Australia, that will work together on scientific research.

“The innovation partnership between Australia and Vietnam has proven to be an effective mechanism for the two countries to share best practice and models to enhance the innovation systems in both countries,” Vice Minister Bui The Duy from the Ministry of Science and Technology said at the award ceremony in Hanoi last week. “We hope grants provided under the Aus4Innovation program will set examples of how innovation – particularly when it can jointly [be] developed and implemented – can transform our society and deliver economic, social and environmental sustainability.”

One of the grants will center around sea cucumbers, a long spindly marine animal commonly cooked in Asian cuisine, whether fried on their own, or braised with mushrooms and Chinese broccoli. Scientists who received the grant are researching how to produce a hormone they believe can increase the productivity of sea cucumber farming. This matters to Vietnam because it wants its farmers to increase productivity so they can make a sustainable living while not draining so many resources  to harm the environment. At the same time, this product could raise questions of nutritional ethics among those who want minimal hormone and other human intervention in their food.

The grant recipients are researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) in Australia and the Research Institute for Aquaculture No. Three (RIA3) in Nha Trang, a touristic beach town along Vietnam’s south central coast known for its many islands.

They competed among 115 groups in Vietnam that applied for the grants and were selected based on their “potential positive economic and social impacts,” the Australian embassy in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, said in a press release.

Another of the three winners is a collaboration between the University of Sydney and the National Health Strategy and Policy Institute (NHSPI) in Vietnam, which are working on a way to improve methods to diagnose breast cancer.

Finally, one of the winning teams will use technology considered part of the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” to improve water supply monitoring and treatment. The specific technology was not described, but considering the application, this likely means “internet of things” devices, which are devices such as sensors that have chips to connect them to the internet, so data can be collected. The team is from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and the Vietnamese National University of Engineering and Technology (VNU-UET).

“Deeper, stronger ties between our innovation systems is a key goal for our strategic partnership with Vietnam,” Rebecca Bryant, a charge d’affaires at the Australian embassy, said. “I’m delighted to see more and more collaboration between the research institutions of our two countries.”

A dozen Democratic presidential contenders took part in what was at times a contentious debate Tuesday in Ohio. The Democrats took several rhetorical shots at U.S. President Donald Trump, but they also did not hesitate to challenge each other on issues like health care, income inequality and the pullout of U.S. forces from Syria. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is heading a U.S. delegation traveling to Turkey on Wednesday on behalf of President Donald Trump. The delegation, which also includes Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, United States National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, and Ambassador James Jeffrey is tasked with persuading Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to reach an immediate cease-fire in northern Syria with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports the sanctions Trump imposed on Turkey Monday for assault on the Kurds in Syria are generally considered to be ineffective.

Germany’s security services said Tuesday they’re seeking greater powers to fight the kind of far-right extremism behind last week’s synagogue attack, including requiring internet companies to report illegal hate speech to police.

A 27-year-old German man previously unknown to police confessed to carrying out the attack in the eastern city of Halle in which two people were killed Wednesday.

The suspected gunman, identified by prosecutors only as Stephan B. due to privacy rules, allegedly built the firearms he used with the help of online instructions, posted an anti-Semitic screed before the attack and later broadcast the shooting live on a popular gaming site.

In response to the attack and previous incidents, German officials have called for more officers to be devoted to tackling far-right extremism and a greater focus on online platforms they say are increasingly being used as a means of spreading far-right radicalism and linking up with like-minded people in a way already seen with Islamist extremism.

Thomas Haldenwang, who heads the BfV domestic intelligence agency, said the attack in Halle and similar shootings in Texas, New Zealand and Norway showed the need for security services to get better tools to tackle online extremism. In particular, he called for authorities to be given permission to install monitoring software on suspect’s devices so as to read their encrypted communication.

Holger Muench, head of the Federal Criminal Police Office, said online threats and acts of violence are creating a “climate of fear” in Germany that is deterring people from volunteering for public office.

“Right-wing crimes threaten our democracy,” Muench said. “The situation is serious.”

The country is still reeling from the killing of Walter Luebcke, a regional politician from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, who was shot dead at his home in June. Luebcke had vocally supported Merkel’s welcoming stance toward refugees in 2015 and the suspect in his killing is a far-right extremist with a string of convictions for violent anti-migrant crimes.

Muench said his agency has identified 43 far-right extremists they consider a serious threat, an increase of about a third since the start of the year. Overall, authorities say there are some 12,700 far-right extremists in Germany “prepared to use violence.”

He called for a bundle of measures including greater scrutiny of online hate postings, extending the period of time that security services can store data on possible extremists and prosecutions of those who create and distribute lists of political enemies.

He also proposed that an existing law requiring platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to swiftly remove illegal hate speech should be expanded to force them to report such content to police.

Muench suggested his office could become a central point of contact dealing with online hate crimes in the same way it already does for child pornography.

Further proposals include creating a special unit to investigate possible extremists in the police and other government departments, and a crackdown on known far-right groups.

Opposition lawmaker Martina Renner called for the BfV to stop using neo-Nazis as paid informants , a practice that has in the past resulted in funds flowing to the far-right scene.

Renner, a member of the Left party, instead backed calls for better cooperation among European countries in fighting far-right extremism.

Security officials are particularly concerned that the `new right’ — groups that include factions within the Alternative for Germany party which entered the federal parliament two years ago — are providing the intellectual fodder for extremists. Roland Ulbrich, a regional lawmaker for the party, prompted outrage after the Halle attack for posting on Facebook: “What’s worse, a damaged synagogue door or two dead Germans?”

The suspect had failed to force his way into the synagogue as scores of people inside were observing Judaism’s holiest day, Yom Kippur. He then shot and killed a 40-year-old woman in the street outside and a 20-year-old man at a nearby kebab shop before fleeing. He was later arrested in Zeitz, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Halle.

Authorities are still investigating whether he had ties to any known groups or individuals. At least five people watched the attack live as it happened, suggesting they may have known it was going to take place.

The suspect has admitted during questioning that he carried out the shooting and had anti-Semitic and right-wing extremist motives.

A memorial service for the younger victim of the shooting, an avid fan of Halle’s third-tier soccer club Hallescher FC, is planned Friday.

“An inconceivable act of horror took away my son, our grandson, uncle, nephew and friend,” the man’s family wrote in an obituary notice published in regional daily Mitteldeutsche Zeitung.

“Our hearts are broken.”

Thousands of Hongkongers rallied this week to show support for the US Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, up for vote in Congress as early as this week. The Act, if passed, would require the U.S. to annually review Hong Kong’s special economic status and impose sanctions on officials who undermine its autonomy — a move that could further complicate the US’ trade war with China, and overall relations between the world’s two largest economies.

Organizers expected 2,000 people to show up for the first legally permitted rally in 10 days, aimed at seeking U.S. support for Hong Kong’s reform movement.

 They got many, many, many more.

Thousands of people poured into a small square in central Hong Kong Monday night to show their support for the U.S. Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. The bill would require the U.S. to annually review Hong Kong’s special economic status and would allow sanctions on figures who are deemed to be “suppressing basic freedoms” in the Chinese region, which has its own laws and systems separate from the mainland.

Attendee Ken Yu said this struggle goes well beyond the 1,000-square mile territory, which was under British rule until it was handed back to the Chinese in 1997.

“It’s time for the world to react, because this is not only a fight for Hong Kong people, it’s a fight for the whole world, it’s a fight for democracy and freedom. And that’s what the Americans stand for,” he said.

China promised a 50-year “one country, two systems” policy that many activists feel it has not honored. This anonymous rally goer said it falls to the US to enforce China’s promise.

“They’ve been taking care of the whole world, they are the world police. I think they should do their job, just to make peace for the whole world.”

An 18-year-old student who spoke onstage at the rally said the U.S. bill “will be the most powerful weapon we have so far against the Chinese communists.” He declined to give his name, for fear of retaliation by  the Hong Kong government.
 
But  critics say the bill could cause more harm than good amid an intensifying trade war between the U.S. and China. And pro-Beijing officials in Hong Kong, who could be targeted for sanctions under the act, see it as unwarranted interference in Hong Kong’s autonomy.
 
President Donald Trump has downplayed the democracy protests in Hong Kong while emphasizing resolving difficult trade talks with China.

 The bill has bipartisan support and could go to a vote as early as this week. Two Republican senators visited Hong Kong over the weekend to express their support, including Republican Josh Hawley of Missouri.

 “Sometimes the fate of one city defines a challenge of a whole generation. 50 years ago it was Berlin,” he said. “Today, it’s Hong Kong. The free people of the world are standing with you, so we can all say, we are HongKongers now.”

Every weekend since June, residents of this Asian economic hub have jammed the streets to demand reform. Protesters feel Beijing is tightening its grip over the city and limiting freedoms.

 Recent protests have resulted in clashes between police and protesters, and provoked condemnation from pro-Beijing officials, who call the emboldened protesters “terrorists.”

This year’s protests started over a now-withdrawn extradition bill, but evolved to five main demands for greater freedoms and civil liberties.

 But China is not budging. On a visit this week to Nepal, Chinese President Xi Jinping Said anyone attempting to split China “will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones.”

But these determined Hong Kongers seem undeterred by that threat, leaving this dense city of 7.4 million people caught between two superpowers.

 

 

 

 

 

U.S. President Donald Trump is pressuring Turkey to stop its offensive in northern Syria with calls for a cease-fire and sanctions against Turkish officials, as he plans to send a delegation led by Vice President Mike Pence to Ankara for talks to resolve the situation.

Trump’s action follows sharp criticism in the week since the White House announced Turkey was going forward with its long-held plans to try to carve out a buffer zone along its border with Syria free from the U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters it accuses of being terrorists linked to separatist Kurds in Turkey.

Turkey’s incursion pushed the Syrian Democratic Forces to reach an agreement with the Syrian government that has brought Syrian troops back into the northeastern part of the country for the first time in years, including on Monday reaching the town of Manbij.

Trump spoke Monday with both Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and General Mazloum Kobani, the head of the mostly Kurdish SDF that the United States has relied on to battle Islamic State militants in Syria.

“We all firmly believe that the United States is the only party with the gravitas to arbitrate with both sides,” a senior administration official told reporters.

Trump directed the Pence-led delegation to go to Turkey “as quickly as possible to see if we can achieve a deal,” according to an administration official.

In addition to the call to halt the military operation, the United States raised steel tariffs and halted negotiations on a $100-billion trade deal with Turkey.

U.S. Democrats and Republicans have faulted the Trump administration for what is unfolding, saying the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the area cleared the way for the U.S. ally SDF to be put in danger as well as the potential for Islamic State militants under SDF detention to break free and stage a resurgence.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that Trump’s “erratic decision-making is threatening lives, risking regional security and undermining America’s credibility in the world.”

She said both Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate will proceed this week with “action to oppose this irresponsible decision.”

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that while Turkey does have legitimate security concerns linked to the Syrian conflict, the operation against the U.S.-backed Kurds jeopardizes the progress won against Islamic State.

“Abandoning this fight now and withdrawing U.S. forces from Syria would re-create the very conditions that we have worked hard to destroy and invite the resurgence of ISIS,” McConnell said.  “And such a withdrawal would also create a broader power vacuum in Syria that will be exploited by Iran and Russia, a catastrophic outcome for the United States’ strategic interests.”

A senior administration official rejected criticisms against Trump in the call with reporters Monday, saying only Erdogan’s actions are to blame.

The official said Erdogan “took a very, very rash, ill-calculated action that has had what, for him, were unintended consequences.”

Earlier Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Erdogan “bears full responsibility” for what happens.

He called the Turkish offensive “unnecessary and impulsive,” and said it has undermined what he called the successful multinational mission to defeat Islamic State in Syria.

Esper said he plans to go to Brussels next week to press other NATO allies to apply sanctions on Turkey.

Sudan’s new transitional government met with rebel leaders on Monday, kicking off peace talks aimed at ending the country’s yearslong civil wars.

The peace initiative was built into a power-sharing deal between Sudan’s army and its pro-democracy movement. That deal was reached after the overthrow of longtime autocrat President Omar al-Bashir in April. The transitional authorities have six months to make peace with the rebels, according to the agreement.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir is hosting the talks in its capital, Juba, where some rebel groups signed a draft agreement last month that detailed a roadmap for the talks, trust-building measures and an extension of a cease-fire already in place.
 
South Sudan gained independence from the north in 2011 after decades of civil war. But in the 2000s, Sudan was most known for al-Bashir’s brutal repression of an uprising in the western Darfur region.

Achieving peace is crucial to the transitional government in Sudan. It has counted on ending the wars with rebels in order to revive the country’s battered economy through slashing the military spending, which takes up much of the national budget.

Sudanese authorities have introduced good-will signals. They dismissed death sentences against eight rebel leaders and released more than a dozen prisoners of war. They have also delayed the formation of the parliament and the appointment of provincial governors to allow time for the rebels to come on board.

The government delegation, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamadan Dagalo, a member of the Sudan’s sovereign council, arrived in Juba late Sunday. Rebel leaders arrived earlier this month.

Rebel leader Malik Agar of the Sudan Revolutionary Front, an alliance of Darfur rebel groups, told The Associated Press that they would start “the official opening” of the talks Monday in Juba.

Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, head of Sudan’s sovereign council, also arrived in Juba to attend the opening session, along with other African leaders including Egypt’s Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, according to the official SUNA news agency.

Ahmed said the start of the negotiations was a “demonstration of the will for peace and reconciliation.” He encouraged “all stakeholders to reach a consensus and redirect their focus to building an inclusive and prosperous Sudan,” his office said.

Ethiopia and the African Union mediated the power-sharing agreement in August which ended months of violence and faltering talks between Sudan’s generals and protesters following the uprising against al-Bashir.

On Sunday, Sudan’s newly appointed top judicial officials were sworn in before Burhan.

Neamat Kheir, a veteran female judge, took the oath as chief of the judiciary. She’s the first woman to rise to Sudan’s highest judicial post. Taj al-Ser al-Hebr, a lawyer, was sworn in as the country’s public prosecutor.

Last month, thousands of Sudanese took to the streets demanding the two original appointees be sacked. Those two had been chosen by the military council that ruled Sudan after ousting al-Bashir.

Protesters insisted that independent judges be appointed before prosecuting members of the old regime, as well as those responsible for a deadly crackdown on protesters in June.

Unlike many judges, Kheir was not known to compromise her integrity to serve the interests of al-Bashir’s government. However, she was widely criticized for not having supported the Sudanese uprising since its inception.

Spanish riot police have clashed with protesters outside Barcelona’s airport Monday after the Supreme Court sentenced nine former Catalan separatist leaders to lengthy prison terms for their attempt to declare independence from Spain in 2017.

Witnesses say police with batons charged at the protesters who were blocking the entrance to El Prat airport.

Spain’s airport operator says that at least 20 flights were canceled.

Protesters in the Catalan region also stopped some train service in the region by placing wood on the tracks and blocking roads.

The protesters converged on the transportation hubs Monday after Spain’s high court sentenced Catalan separatist leaders to between nine and 13 years in prison for their role in pushing for the region’s independence.

The former regional vice president, Oriol Junqueras, received the longest prison term of 13 years behind bars for sedition and misuse of public funds.

The court found three other defendants guilty only of disobedience and did not sentence them to prison.

The court, however, acquitted all defendants of the most severe charge, rebellion.

The former head of Catalonia’s regional government called the Monday ruling an “atrocity.”

Carles Puigdemont wrote on Twitter: “100 years in prison in total. An atrocity. Now more than ever … It is time to react like never before. For the future of our sons and daughters. For democracy. For Europe. For Catalonia.”

Puigdemont was not a defendant in the landmark ruling over the banned referendum and short-lived independence declaration because he fled to Belgium, where he now lives in self-imposed exile.

After its ruling, the Supreme Court issued a European arrest warrant for Puigdemont.

Catalan’s current regional leader, Quim Torra, called the court’s ruling an insult to democracy.

Spain’s caretaker prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, said in a statement broadcast on live television that the sentences of the Catalan separatists must be carried out.

He also said he hoped that the sentences will help to “turn the page” in relations between Catalonia and greater Spain.

 

Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign says she would not seek to revoke the tax-exempt status of churches or other religious entities that decline to perform same-sex marriages.

The Massachusetts Democrat’s campaign spokeswoman addressed the issue after former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke said religious institutions should lose their tax exemption for opposing same-sex marriage – drawing criticism from conservatives.

“Religious institutions in America have long been free to determine their own beliefs and practices, and (Warren) does not think we should require them to conduct same-sex marriages in order to maintain their tax-exempt status,” campaign spokeswoman Saloni Sharma said when asked about O’Rourke’s remarks.

Warren is the latest Democratic presidential hopeful to create distance from O’Rourke’s suggestion. Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Ind., criticized the idea to CNN on Sunday.

 

Taiwan set out nearly 50 years ago to grow its own defense industry because the island’s leaders never know how many arms they can get from abroad. Taiwan seeks a strong defense to deter China, an old military adversary with the world’s third strongest armed forces.

That industry is growing steadily now in line with goals established by the ruling party in 2014 and contributing to an economy long dependent on tech but facing pressure to diversify.

“Over the past few years President Tsai Ing-wen has been promoting a self-defense industry policy and that’s a good thing,” said Michael Tsai, chairman of the Institute for Taiwan Defense and Strategic Studies in Taiwan.

2020 goal

The party’s defense committee suggested in 2014 that to “revitalize” Taiwan’s defense industry expenditures to domestic weapons production should reach at least 60% of military investments by 2020.

The party said a year later its defense industry policy would eventually generate revenue of at least $8.17 billion and create 8,000 new jobs.

Party representatives reached Monday were unable to say whether these goals were on track, and for security reasons the Ministry of National Defense does not disclose current or past revenues from the self-defense sector.

But a ministry spokesman pointed Monday to recent breakthroughs, such as a fighter jet trainer prototype unveiled last month and groundbreaking in May for Taiwan’s first homegrown submarine.

The $2.2 billion jet project has created 1,200 jobs, officials said last month. The submarine, to be built by CSBC Corp. in Taiwan for a target operation date in 2025, is expected to cost $15.9 billion.

Three years ago the government also announced $14.7 billion in naval shipbuilding programs.

“Over the past three years, we have developed our national defense industries and purchased advanced weapons, boosting military morale and enhancing our combat capabilities,” the president said Thursday in a National Day speech.

The current government fosters the industry by matching military needs with the Taiwanese companies most able to meet them. It also raises the military budget every year. A NT$358 billion budget for “national defense needs” in 2020 will mark a record high, Taipei-based Central News Agency reports.

Jobs and profits

Defense might eventually claim 3% to 5% of the $589 billion GDP and create jobs, said John Brebeck, senior adviser at the Quantum International Corp. investment consultancy. Taiwan is good at electronics, precision manufacturing and shipbuilding, he said.

“If they can put their mind to it I don’t think there’s anything they can’t do,” Brebeck said. “Taiwan’s got the technology.”

Government-run National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology develops most of Taiwan’s weaponry, particularly missiles and advanced radar systems. At least 200 other companies in Taiwan do work related to defense.

Military aircraft developer Aerospace Industrial Development Corp., which made the trainer jet prototype, posted a NT$2.09 billion ($68.3 million) profit last year and a $1.74 billion profit in 2017.

Taiwan does not export weapons.

Taiwan has manufactured high-tech exports since the 1980s, but in the face of competitors overseas, officials and leaders hope to diversify away from contract orders for consumer electronics.

Companies could eventually share discoveries in military technology with peers in Taiwan that work in the civilian sector, said Liang Kuo-yuan, president of the Taipei-based economic think tank Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute.

Unsteady sales from abroad

Washington is legally bound to answer any threats against Taiwan, which in turn counts it as the island’s top foreign arms supplier.

China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled, democratic Taiwan since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s. It occasionally threatens the use of force, if needed, to unify the two sides.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s government has approved five arms deals for Taiwan since 2017, but some presidents OK far fewer to avoid offending economically powerful China.

 

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard says it has arrested an exiled journalist who helped fan the flames of nationwide economic protests that struck the country at the end of 2017.

The Guard and a later announcement on state television on Monday did not explain how authorities detained Ruhollah Zam.
 
Zam had been living in exile in Paris, where he ran a news website that posted embarrassing videos and information about Iranian officials.
 
A channel he ran on the encrypted messaging app Telegram spread messages about upcoming protests in 2017 and shared videos from the demonstrations, which occurred across some 75 cities and towns.
 
Telegram shut down the channel over Iranian government complaints it spread information about how to make gasoline bombs. He later reopened it under another name.

Libyan health authorities say an airstrike has slammed into a house in the capital, Tripoli, killing at least four people and wounding four others, including a child.

Tripoli has been the scene of fighting between rival militias since April. The U.N.-supported but weak government holds the capital, while forces associated with Gen. Khalifa Hifter are trying to seize it.

The Tripoli-based government blamed the airstrike on Hifter’s forces. The health ministry said the airstrike took place Monday in Tripoli’s Firnaj district, a few kilometers (miles) from the city center.

Fighting has stalled in recent weeks, with both sides dug in and shelling one another along Tripoli’s southern reaches. The fighting has killed hundreds and displaced thousands of people.

There was no immediate comment from Hifter’s forces on the airstrike.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a law giving child sexual assault victims more time to file lawsuits.

Right now, people in California who are sexually abused as children have until age 26 to file lawsuits. The law Newsom signed Sunday increases that to age 40. Plus, it gives people already outside that statute of limitations a three-year window to bring a lawsuit anyway.

Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez said the law makes it easier for victims to have justice.

But the California Association of School Boards said the law could bankrupt some public school districts by exposing them to a new generation of liability.

A conservative, Islamist-backed law professor looked set to assume Tunisia’s presidency after polling agencies suggested he overwhelmingly won Sunday’s runoff election in the country that unleashed the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings.

Kais Saied’s supporters exploded with joy, celebrating on the main boulevard of Tunis even though official results from Sunday’s runoff vote weren’t expected until Tuesday.

The winner of the topsy-turvy election inherits a North African country struggling to create jobs, revive tourism and overcome sporadic extremist violence — but proud of its still-budding democracy. This is only Tunisia’s second free presidential election.

Polls carried in Tunisian media by Sigma Conseil and Emhrod Consulting forecast that Saied would come out on top with between 72% and 77% of the vote. Rival Nabil Karoui, who was in jail for most of the campaign, was projected to win between 23% and 27%.

The polling agencies questioned several thousand people in person in various constituencies on voting day. Emhrod Consulting said its poll had a margin of error of 1-2%, while Sigma Conseil said its margin of error was 1% to 1.5%.

Saied, 61, is an independent outsider but is supported by moderate Islamist party Ennahdha, which won last week’s parliamentary elections. He promised to hand more power to young people and local governments.

With poker-straight posture, a blank visage that hides any visible sign of emotion and a staccato speaking style — in literary Arabic inaccessible to many in the rural interior — he has been assigned the nickname “Robocop.”

Voters lined up even before polls opened in the capital, Tunis, choosing between two candidates who have never held political office and didn’t really campaign.

The only thing Saied and Karoui had in common is their outsider status. Both rose to the runoff on the disenchantment of Tunisians, particularly young people and the poor, who feel the governing class hasn’t fulfilled the promises of the 2011 “jasmine revolution” that unleashed revolts around the Arab world.

“I just hope that everything that will happen in the next five years will be better for Tunisia,” said voter Elfi Zaouarda, casting a ballot in Tunis.

Karoui, a glib, 56-year-old media mogul, spent most of the campaign behind bars on accusations of money laundering and tax evasion that he calls politically driven.

Saied was seen as the slight favorite, thanks to an enthusiastic youth campaign machine that cheers him on Twitter and backing from the No. 1 and No. 3 parties in the new parliament: the moderate Islamist party Ennahdha and the Al Karama Coalition, led by a radical Islamist lawyer.

A retired professor of constitutional law, Saied shunned political rallies, preferring to run his campaign from discreet locations like cafes, or let youth rally support.

More than 100,000 police, soldiers and security forces guarded the 15,000 polling stations, notably on the borders with Libya and Algeria, and thousands of local and foreign observers monitored the vote.

During an unprecedented TV debate, Karoui promised to combat extremist violence by “attacking at its roots” and raising economic prospects in struggling provinces that are fertile recruiting grounds for the Islamic State group and other extremists.

A self-proclaimed modernist, he said he would seek partnerships with companies such as Microsoft, Google and Netflix to create jobs, and holds up women as pillars of society.

After their televised debate Friday, they cordially shook hands — a gesture Tunisians celebrated as a sign that their democracy is on the right track.

But whoever wins the presidency of Tunisia has tough challenges ahead leading this country of 11 million people. In addition to economic and security troubles, Tunisia is both a source of migrants trying to reach Europe and a transit country for migrant trafficking from elsewhere in Africa.

The new president will also have to work with a fractious parliament, the result of legislative elections on Oct. 6 that gave no party a clear majority.

The election was held early following the July death in office of President Beji Caid Essebsi.

As the Turkish military and its allied Syrian rebels continue their operation against U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in northeast Syria, Christian communities in the region fear that the Turkish-led offensive is threatening their very existence in the war-torn country.

On the first day of the Turkish offensive, which began on Wednesday, a Turkish artillery attack reportedly targeted a predominately-Christian neighborhood in Qamishli, the largest city in northeast Syria.  

According to local sources, Ayeda Habsono and her husband, Fadi, were severely wounded in the attack that hit their house. Several other residents were also wounded.

On Friday, the Virgin Lady Church in the town of Qahtaniya, near Qamishli, was also hit by Turkish shelling, local news said. Parts of the building were destroyed.

Constant fear

Hadeel Oueis, a Washington-based journalist who has family members living in northeast Syria, says that her Christian relatives have been living in constant fear.  

“My family in Syria now lives in panic. For them, this Turkish assault is an existential threat,” she told VOA.

She added that churches in Qamishli and elsewhere in northeast Syria have been ringing their bells, alarming locals of the ongoing Turkish military operations.

“Many of my female Christian friends and classmates were kidnapped by ISIS, but now people are even more afraid from what would happen now if Turkey invaded our areas,” Oueis, said using an acronym for the Islamic State (IS) terror group.

During its rise in 2014, IS abducted thousands of women and young girls of religious minorities such as Christians and Yazidis in Syria and Iraq. Many those women were used as sex slaves by IS militants.

Among the Turkish-backed rebels who are participating in the ongoing offensive in northeast Syria are many Islamist groups who have committed abuses against civilians elsewhere in Syria, according to international rights groups.

U.S. Christian groups criticizing Trump’s move

The Turkish-led offensive was launched days after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered U.S. troops to withdraw to allow Turkish forces to carry out the operation.

Trump’s decision has drawn criticism from many in the U.S., including influential Christian figures who said that the move would put the lives of thousands of civilians at risk.

Some evangelical leaders like Franklin Graham, President of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, considered Trump’s decision a threat to religious freedom in Syria.

The Kurds are the ones who have been leading the fight against ISIS in Syria. Also pray for the Christians who the Kurds have been protecting. They could be annihilated. Would you pray w/me that Pres.

Relief efforts

U.S.-based relief groups said they have been in contact with Christians in Syria to prepare for providing emergency aid to locals.

“Our Christian friends in Kobani [in northern Syria] are using our supplies we placed there earlier to help people who have fled villages to the east that have been hit by the Turks,” David Eubank, director of the Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian group that has been involved in humanitarian relief in Syria, told VOA.

He said he would try to cross into Syria personally to take more medical supplies and other types of assistance.

Eubank noted that Christian residents in northeast Syria “are very afraid the attack will come to Kobane next but already over 100,000 are displaced along the border.”

Other Christian advocacy groups in the U.S. said they are evaluating responses to support Christians and other minorities in Syria during this crisis.

“Turkey’s invasion not only endangers the Kurds, but also endangers a Christian minority that has for years feared a Turkish invasion that would ‘cleanse’ its presence in northern Syria,” said Boris Zilberman, Director of Public Policy and Strategy at the CUFI Action Fund, an American Christian organization that advocates for the protection of Christians in the Middle East.

“The casualties we have seen thus far and the targeting of Christian areas only reinforces those fears,” he told VOA.