When India became a nation following its independence from Britain, most of the biggest and richest royal families disappeared from the public eye. But some, like the Marwar-Rathore dynasty, have survived and thrived. Faiza Elmasry tells us how the descendants of this family have turned their ancestral properties into modern business enterprises. Robert Raffaele narrates.
American rap artist Macklemore will perform a gay anthem at a rugby league final in Sydney on Sunday, thanks to the sport’s officials rejecting pressure from opponents of same-sex marriage as Australia votes on liberalizing its marriage laws.
Macklemore will perform the hit song Same Love before more than 80,000 fans of a sport traditionally associated with macho values as the North Queensland Cowboys take on the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League Grand Final.
NRL bosses resisted pressure last week to stop the song despite a petition signed by just more than 7,000 people calling for the performance to be banned.
Song No. 1 on Australian iTunes
Instead, the song rose to No. 1 on the Australian iTunes chart where it remained ahead of the match Sunday.
Macklemore pledged Friday to donate proceeds from the Australian sales of the song to help the campaign to legalize same-sex marriage.
After becoming the third major American celebrity to weigh in on the debate, the singer from Seattle, Washington, said music had the power to help people talk about the issue.
“I want to donate my portion of the proceeds from Same Love that I get off of that record here in Australia to voting YES,” Macklemore said in a Channel Nine interview posted on his twitter feed Saturday.
Voting underway
Australians began voting last month in a non-binding poll, conducted by mail, to inform the government on whether to become the 25th nation to permit same-sex marriage. The results of the poll will be declared Nov. 15.
Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman said he was surprised Australia didn’t have marriage equality yet, in an interview with NewsLtd’s online service news.com.au published Saturday.
U.S. pop star Meghan Trainor entered the fray in August after her image was used without her permission to urge Australians to vote against legalizing same-sex marriage.
“I support marriage equality. Someone in Australia is illegally using my picture for a campaign against marriage equality. So wrong. Not okay,” Trainor tweeted.
The debate has divided the nation of 24 million people along religious and generational lines and at times has threatened to turn nasty, prompting parliament to strengthen laws preventing hate-speech.
Read More US Rap Artist Latest Star to Enter Australian Same-sex Marriage Debate : http://ift.tt/2ygpfrn
As international pressure is mounting on Islamabad to do more against militant groups operating from its soil, some militant groups are rebranding themselves as political parties.
"The Pakistan military is allowing militant, virulently anti-Indian groups to enter the political process to enable a vocal political voice against any Pakistani civilian warming relations with India," Thomas Lynch, a research fellow at the National Defense University in Washington, told VOA.
"The aboveground voices of [Hafiz Mohammad] Saeed and [Kashmiri militant leader Fazlur Rehman] Khalil as political figures will meld with their enduring role as leaders of virulently anti-India armed groups in a way that will further constrain Pakistani political leaders from easily undertaking any moves toward rapprochement with India," Lynch added.
New party
Saeed, the leader of Jamaat-ud-Dawa group (JUD), which has been designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. and is widely considered a front group for Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group, launched a new political party last month.
Saeed was accused of masterminding Mumbai's 2008 terror attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
The U.S. government has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
JUD's newly established Milli Muslim League party came in third in a by-election in Punjab last week, securing more votes than Pakistan's People's Party contender did.
Lynch said he thought that without the military's blessings, the militants-turned-political parties cannot thrive.
"Nothing of consequence inside Pakistan security, politics or economics happens without the Pakistan military's concurrence, either by direct support or indirect acquiescence," Lynch said.
"This mainstreaming of longtime militant-terrorist groups led by Saeed and Khalil is of consequence [and] therefore must be supported by the Pakistan military," he added.
Last week's by-election was also contested by the Tehreek Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah, a party of the followers of Mumtaz Qadri, who was sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering Punjab's Governor Salman Taseer, the same person he was paid to guard.
Qadri killed the governor in 2011 because he advocated for reforms in the country's controversial blasphemy laws.
The two parties of militants-turned-politicians reportedly secured 11 percent of the total votes in last week's election.
Increasing pressure
The politicization of militancy coincides with increasing international pressure on Pakistan to take action against militant safe havens in the county.
Announcing his South Asia strategy, U.S. President Donald Trump last month put Pakistan on notice to stop harboring militant groups that use Pakistani soil to plan and launch attacks against Afghan and U.S.-NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Leaders of BRICS, an economic bloc composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, also expressed concerns this month about Pakistan-based militant groups and cited them as a problem for regional security.
Pakistan has long denied that militants enjoy safe havens in the country and has proclaimed itself as a victim of terrorism.
The country's Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, however, this week admitted that Hafiz Saeed and Lashkar-e-Taiba were liabilities for his country.
"Saeed, LeT, they are a liability, I accept it, but give us time to get rid of them," Asif said at an Asia Society event in New York on Tuesday.
Optimism
Some analysts, however, see the new trend of pushing militants to mainstream politics as a good development.
"Unless these parties and individuals are allowed to be a part of the political system, they might never change their way and will go underground, which will be much more dangerous," said Zubair Iqbal, an analyst at the Middle East Institute in Washington.
The question is: Can violent extremism and politics co-exist? Pakistani-based political analyst Khadim Hussain has his doubts.
"The 'mainstreamed' extremist organizations have not publicly revoked their ideology. They have not yet dismantled their militaristic, welfare and ideological infrastructure. This seems to be legitimizing extremist violence in Pakistan," Hussain said.
Hussain added that " 'mainstreaming ' and 'integration' seem to be a tactic to divert the U.S., BRICS and other regional and international stakeholders' attention from the core issues of policymaking in Pakistan."
Lynch of NDU echoed Hussain's analysis and said it was unlikely that the move would help curb extremism.
"I do not see this move helping to curb extremism in Pakistan over the short term," Lynch said.
As Pakistan is holding national and provincial elections in 2018, analysts fear that militant groups will attempt to use the new platform to influence legislation.
"These groups will inject xenophobia and extremist views in the body politic if given free hand in politics," Pakistani activist Marvi Sirmed wrote in an op-ed in Lahore's Daily Times, urging the state to halt any kind of support to these groups.
Read More Militant Groups in Pakistan Rebrand Themselves as Political Parties : http://ift.tt/2fAkVYG
Cambodia's foreign minister has launched a scathing attack on Western democracies, labeling them hypocritical and interested in promoting human rights and democracy only when it's in their own interest.
Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon told the U.N. General Assembly last week that human rights and democracy issues were raised only "when the specific interests of certain major powers are at stake."
"Otherwise, it is sheer silence, and often a conspiracy of silence," he added.
The comments came amid a surge in anti-American rhetoric from the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, which has jailed the leader of the country's opposition on allegations he conspired with the United states to unseat the long-term premier.
'One-sided' presentation
In an exclusive interview with VOA Cambodia, Sokhon softened his tone, saying Cambodia wants to "normalize relations" with the United States, "at least back to the original level."
But Sokhon lashed out at the international media's portrayal of the crackdown on dissent in Cambodia.
He told VOA, following the General Assembly meeting, that the international media had given a "one-sided" presentation of recent events in Cambodia.
He said that the closures of the National Democratic Institute in Cambodia, the American-owned Cambodia Daily newspaper and numerous radio stations broadcasting U.S.-funded radio programs were "being done in accordance with the law."
The government has come under heavy criticism from Washington and American allies, while China has lent Phnom Penh explicit support for its crackdown on dissent.
As Sokhon was giving his speech at the General Assembly last week, Cambodian-American protesters gathered at the U.N. headquarters to oppose the government line.
Steven Reach, a New York City resident, said he was unhappy with the "unreasonable" treason charges against Kem Sokha, the Cambodia National Rescue Party leader. He added that he hoped the U.N. could exert some influence over Hun Sen's government.
Annie Van, a Cambodian-American from Massachusetts, said: "I and my colleagues came here to ask Prime Minister Hun Sen to free Kem Sokha ... as well as free the other political prisoners of the opposition party."
China pivot
In the interview with VOA, Sokhon said Cambodia's pivot toward China and away from the West was "for the benefit of the Cambodian people ... only because the relationship with China is based on mutual respect and mutual benefit."
"We have received Chinese aid, Chinese cooperation, Chinese investment," he added, pointing to China's huge investment in key economic sectors, such as hydropower.
"The relationship is considered in the interest of Cambodia, but it does not mean that Cambodia has become a satellite state of China," he said.
Cambodia had proved its independence during the recent diplomatic tensions with North Korea, he added..
Cambodia has historically had a close relationship with North Korea, which it has repeatedly attempted to use as leverage in its bid to act as a mediator in military de-escalation talks. However, following recent missile tests by North Korea, Cambodia has publicly taken a stronger line against Pyongyang.
"Although Cambodia has a good and special relationship with North Korea, Cambodia issued two separate statements last year and two more statements this year regarding the missile launches and underground nuclear test. So we had clearly stated to North Korea that if you want to maintain the friendship, you need to comply with the U.N. Security Council and comply with the resolution of the U.N. member states," Sokhon told VOA.
"We ask [all parties] to consider the proposal of China and Russia" to halt nuclear and missile tests and military exercises, because U.S. and South Korean exercises are "a spark of fire, and that irritates North Korea."
This report appeared originally on VOA Cambodia.
Read More After Attack on Westerners, Cambodia's Foreign Minister Softens Tone : http://ift.tt/2xH0KD0
Authorities on the Indonesian island of Bali on Saturday asked thousands of people who had evacuated this week because of the threat of a volcanic eruption from Mount Agung to return home.
A statement by the Indonesian National Agency for Disaster Management said 70,000 evacuated residents of the 27 villages within the designated "danger zone" around the long-dormant volcano should stay put, but as many as 73,000 people from 51 villages outside that zone could safely go home.
The agency said the extra people were placing an undue burden on the nearly 500 shelters set up by the government for those whose homes are in the danger zone.
The danger zone is based on damage from Mount Agung's last major eruption, which killed more than 1,700 people and destroyed about that many homes in 1963.
Seismic activity at that volcano has been detected since August, and the alert level has been raised to 4, the highest level available on the Indonesian scale.
The vast archipelago of Indonesia is located along the Pacific's Ring of Fire, a seismically active line of faults where earthquakes and volcanoes are common.
Read More Half of Volcano Evacuees on Bali Are Asked to Go Home : http://ift.tt/2ygm7vO
The United States has opened a direct channel of communication with North Korea and is investigating whether the government of Kim Jong Un is interested in pursuing talks to give up its nuclear weapons, according to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was in Beijing Saturday seeking China's cooperation on a “maximum pressure” campaign against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Tillerson says Washington is probing to see if Pyongyang is interested in dialogue and revealed the two nations do talk.
Speaking with a small group of journalists Saturday in Beijing after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials, Tillerson said the United States is not in the dark and that Washington has its own lines of communication with Pyongyang.
“We are probing, so stay tuned,” Tillerson said. “We talk to them, we do talk to them, directly through our own channels.”
When asked what they talk about, Tillerson said, “We ask: Would you like to talk?"
The United States and North Korea typically speak to each other through other governments or former officials.
Direct interaction
The remarks from Tillerson are the clearest to date on how the two countries interact, and come hot on the heels of rising tensions and a war of words between the two countries.
Over the past few weeks, following North Korea’s sixth nuclear test – it’s most powerful to date – President Donald Trump has referred to the North's leader, Kim Jong Un, as “Rocket Man.” Trump also said at the U.N. on September 19 the U.S. would “totally destroy” North Korea if it carried out an attack.
Kim responded by calling Trump a “dotard” and North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations said the U.S. would “pay dearly for his speech,” threatening to carry out an atmospheric nuclear test over the Pacific Ocean.
Tillerson said Saturday, “Actually, what we need is to calm things down, I think they are well overheated right now. I think everyone would like for it to calm down.”
He also added, "Obviously it would help if North Korea would stop firing off missiles.”
One key focus of Tillerson’s whirlwind visit, which came just shortly after Chinese and American officials met earlier this week in Washington to host the Social and Culture Dialogue, was to hammer out details for Trump’s upcoming visit to Asia and China in November.
National Day
China has a week-long holiday starting Sunday and shortly after that the ruling Communist Party will host high-level political meetings and a once-in-five-years leadership reshuffle. Tillerson said he made the trip to discuss North Korea and Trump’s trip before China gets too busy with the party congress.
There are concerns, however, that North Korea might use China’s National Day anniversary and holiday or the upcoming meetings as an opportunity to carry out more tests. When asked whether an atmospheric nuclear test would trigger a military response from the United States, and whether that would cross a red line, Tillerson said President Trump would make that decision.
Tillerson added, though, that as far as he knows, the president has not set any red lines.
On Friday, President Trump announced a lengthy visit to Asia, his first to the region, which will include a stop in China. During meetings on Saturday, Tillerson said the details of that trip were starting to come together.
In brief remarks in front of reporters Saturday, Xi Jinping said he believed the visit would be “special, wonderful and successful” and called the visit the most important agenda for U.S.-China relations.
Implementing sanctions
Earlier Saturday Tillerson met with China's top diplomat, State Councilor Yang Jiechi, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The U.S. is conferring closely with Chinese officials on Beijing's commitment to curbing imports of North Korean coal, iron, iron ore, lead and lead ore, and seafood.
If fully implemented, the ban on those items could substantially reduce North Korea’s revenues this year. North Korea had earned $1.5 billion from the export of the items to China in 2016, according to the State Department.
China is North Korea’s number one trade partner. Washington says bringing China on board is key to cutting off Pyongyang’s ability to earn hard currency.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Asia Program Director Douglas Paal said, however, China’s influence over North Korea is limited.
“The North is very reluctant to take instructions from China. It will exploit whatever it can get from China, but it doesn't look for political guidance from China. So this is a problem we [the U.S.] and South Korea are going to have to handle directly with North Korea as we go forward,” Paal told VOA.
VOA State Department Correspondent Nike Ching contributed to this report.
Dozens of Afghan forces are said to have been killed in repeated insurgent attacks over the past week in western Farah province, which borders Iran.
Politicians and residents in the province have told local media that Taliban insurgents also have captured several security outposts in and around the Bala Buluk district.
While officials have not yet discussed battlefield details, a provincial police spokesman told Ariana News channel Afghan forces, backed by airpower, have killed more than 30 Taliban assailants and destroyed a number of their military vehicles in ongoing counteroffensives.
Farah also shares a border with Helmand province, Afghanistan's largest, where the Taliban controls or influences a majority of the districts.
The fighting in the western Afghan province comes amid allegations Iran and Russia are providing support to the Taliban.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, while speaking on Thursday during his first visit to Kabul, warned both countries against such activities.
“Those two countries have both suffered losses due to terrorism. So I think it would be extremely unwise to think that they can somehow support terrorists in another country and not have it come back to haunt them,” Mattis said, but he declined to discuss specifics.
Tehran and Moscow have acknowledged maintaining contacts with the Taliban to use the group to counter emerging threats from Islamic State in volatile Afghan regions. But both countries deny they are militarily supporting the insurgents.
Stepped up insurgent attacks across most of the country’s 34 provinces continue to inflict heavy casualties on Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF).
Earlier this week, at least 12 Afghan forces were killed when a Taliban suicide bomber detonated his explosives-packed vehicle in the Maroof district of southern Kandahar province.
The Taliban has also ambushed and assassinated five Afghan district police chiefs in September.
The Islamist insurgency has extended its control or influence to more than 40 percent of the Afghan territory since the U.S.-led foreign combat troops left the country in 2014.
Read More Deadly Fighting Rages in Afghan Province Bordering Iran : http://ift.tt/2fxCXKY
A volcano threatening to erupt in the South Pacific has led to the evacuation of an entire island in Vanuatu. A state of emergency has been declared on the island of Ambae, where an increase in volcanic activity has raised fears of a major eruption.
Ash, stones and lava have been thrown from the mouth of the Monaro volcano in Vanuatu, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean. Officials have ordered the entire population of 10,000 to leave their homes on the island of Ambae. Many have left for evacuation shelters in coastal areas.
Authorities have warned that villagers living within about 6 kilometers of the volcano are at risk from from airborne rocks and dangerous gases. There is a warning, too, that acid rain could damage crops.
The New Zealand air force has flown over the area to assess the risk.
Group Captain Nick Olney says the situation is volatile.
“Ambae was very active. There was ash clouds, the crater was erupting plumes, lava, smoke, ash," said Olney. "The evacuation of people is quite critical at the moment but there was some good imagery, what we would call hand-held imagery; normal photographs as well as infrared stuff, which the scientists will use.”
Australia has responded to the emergency by delivering supplies of food, water and shelter.
It is more than a decade since the volcano on the island of Ambae last erupted.
Vanuatu sits on the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire. It is considered one of the world's most prone countries to natural disasters, with half a dozen active volcanoes, as well as regular earthquakes and cyclones.
Another volcano, this one on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali, is also rumbling. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes as authorities warn it could erupt.
The area around Mount Agung has felt hundreds of tremors and other volcanic activity in recent days.
Read More Thousands Flee Rumbling Volcano in Vanuatu, South Pacific : http://ift.tt/2yesqzV
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Beijing Saturday, seeking China’s cooperation on a “maximum pressure” campaign against North Korea’s nuclear aggression amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
He is scheduled to meet with top Chinese officials — President Xi Jinping, State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi — and focus on how to force North Korea to abandon its nuclear program. The talks will also include preparations for U.S. President Donald Trump’s first visit to China in November.
The U.S. is conferring closely with Chinese officials on Beijing’s commitment to curbing imports of North Korean coal, iron, iron ore, lead and lead ore, and seafood.
If fully implemented, the ban on those items could substantially reduce North Korea’s revenues this year. North Korea had earned $1.5 billion from the export of these items to China in 2016, according to the State Department.
China is North Korea’s No. 1 trade partner. Washington says bringing China on board is key to cutting off Pyongyang’s ability to earn hard currency.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Asia Program director Douglas Paal said, however, China’s influence over North Korea is limited.
“The North is very reluctant to take instructions from China. It will exploit whatever it can get from China, but it doesn’t look for political guidance from China. So this is a problem we [the U.S.] and South Korea are going to have to handle directly with North Korea as we go forward,” Paal told VOA.
VOA's Nike Ching contributed to this report.
Read More Tillerson’s Talks in Beijing Focus on North Korea : http://ift.tt/2fFkMa9
Around half of the opposition members of Cambodia’s parliament have left the country in fear of a crackdown by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government, a deputy party leader said.
The leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), Kem Sokha, was arrested Sept. 3 and charged with treason for an alleged plot to take power with U.S. help.
The government has said there could be more arrests linked to the alleged plot, which the opposition says is just a ploy to ensure Hun Sen keeps his more than three-decade hold on power in next year’s general election.
Slim majority in parliament
Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has a slim majority in the 123-member parliament, which voted Sept. 11 to allow the prosecution of Kem Sokha in a vote boycotted by opposition members.
“About half are out of the country in fear,” Mu Sochua, one of three deputies to Kem Sokha told Reuters on Friday. “I’m taking my chances. We cannot live in fear and let the fear paralyze us.”
She said the party was still in contact with those members outside the country as the opposition tries to rally international pressure on the government.
A spokesman for the ruling party said it was an internal issue for the CNRP if its members were abroad. Spokesman Sok Eysan said the CPP believed in a culture of dialogue but Kem Sokha’s “criminal act” had destroyed it.
“The ship has left the port so it’s already too late,” said Sok Eysan.
Threat to dissolve party
The government has said Kem Sokha’s party could be dissolved if it doesn’t drop him as its leader, something the CNRP has said it will not do.
While Western countries have condemned the arrest of Kem Sokha and called for his release, Hun Sen has support from his close ally China, by far the biggest donor to one of Southeast Asia’s poorest countries.
Mu Sochua said she was still hopeful that Western countries would take stronger action against the government, but did not specify what.
“A statement alone is not going to help,” she said.
The evidence presented against Kem Sokha so far is a video from 2013 in which he tells supporters that he has support from unidentified Americans for a plan to gain power.
The opposition says it is evidence of an election strategy, not a coup plot.
Read More Opposition Party Members Fear Hun Sen Crackdown, Flee Cambodia : http://ift.tt/2xR46D1
A U.S. citizen who joined al-Qaida was convicted Friday of participating in a failed suicide bombing in 2009 at an American military base in Afghanistan.
A federal jury in New York reached the verdict in the case against Muhanad Mahmoud Al Farekh, who’s originally from Houston.
Farekh’s case drew extra attention because of reports that American officials had initially debated whether to try to kill him in a drone strike, a step almost never taken against U.S. citizens. President Barack Obama’s administration ultimately decided to try for a capture and civilian prosecution instead.
Farekh was captured in Pakistan and brought to the U.S. in 2015.
“Today, an American al-Qaeda member was brought to justice in a U.S. courtroom,” said Bridget Rohde, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, using an alternate spelling for the militant group’s name.
She said Farekh faces the possibility of life in prison for “his efforts to murder Americans and his commitment to one of the world’s most infamous terrorist organizations.”
There was no immediate response from Farekh’s lawyer, Sean Maher. He had argued the forensic evidence was too weak to convict Farekh, calling fingerprint experts’ testimony “junk science” in a closing argument.
Most of the charges against Farekh stem from an attack at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost City, Afghanistan, Jan. 19, 2009.
The attackers drove two vehicles rigged with explosives. An initial blast injured several Afghans, including a pregnant woman, but a much larger bomb failed to go off, sparing the lives of American soldiers.
The jury heard testimony about how forensic technicians in Afghanistan recovered 18 of Farekh’s fingerprints on packing tape used to bind the detonators on the unexploded bomb.
Farekh was convicted of conspiring to murder U.S. nationals, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, conspiracy to bomb a government facility and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.
During the trial, the jury also heard testimony from Zarein Ahmedzay, one of three men convicted in a thwarted plot to bomb New York’s subway system. Ahmedzay told jurors he was trained by an al-Qaida operative identified by prosecutors as a co-conspirator of Farekh’s, who traveled with him from Canada to Pakistan in 2007.
Deliberations were briefly interrupted when the judge learned the defendant’s father had encountered four jurors in an elevator and complained to them that he’d been denied direct contact with him. The judge decided to replace the jurors with three alternates and ordered the deliberations to continue with a panel of 11 instead of the usual 12.
Read More American al-Qaida Convicted in '09 Suicide Attack in Afghanistan : http://ift.tt/2x3qZUD
Pakistan said that cross-border shooting by India late Friday left one soldier and two civilians dead in the disputed Kashmir region.
Three soldiers and two civilians were wounded, according to a Pakistani military statement.
The statement blamed Indian troops for initiating the fire and targeting the civilian population with heavy weapons in the Rakhchikri area near the Line of Control, which separates Pakistani and Indian portions of Kashmir.
Soldiers dispatched to help evacuate injured civilians then also came under attack from Indian troops, the Pakistan army said. Pakistani forces returned fire, targeting Indian army posts.
Such exchanges of gunfire are common in Kashmir, which has been the cause of two of three wars between the two nuclear powers since 1947, the year they gained independence from Britain.
The skirmishes have rendered ineffective a 2003 mutual cease-fire in the disputed territory.
Last week, six civilians were killed and 26 wounded when Indian forces opened fire from across the Kashmir frontier.
India and Pakistan both claim the divided Himalayan region in its entirety.
Read More Cross-Kashmir Border Clash Kills Pakistani Soldier, 2 Civilians : http://ift.tt/2x30XAV
Two women accused of murdering the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are expected to plead not guilty when their trial begins Monday in Malaysia, according to an attorney representing one of the defendants.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam are accused of murdering Kim Jong Nam on February 13 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport by smearing his face with a deadly nerve agent.
Huong's lawyer, Hysyam Teh, told Reuters the women "will maintain their innocence."
Aisyah and Huong have told their respective diplomats they were unwitting participants in the assassination, which U.S. and South Korean officials have said was planned by North Korean agents.
After a pretrial court proceeding in July, lawyers of the two women said their clients had been led to believe they were taking part in a reality television hoax when they assaulted Kim.
The defendants will face the death penalty if they are convicted.
Kim was the oldest son of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, whose other son, Kim Jong Un, assumed leadership of North Korea when their father died in 2001.
Read More Women Expected to Plead Not Guilty in Death of Kim Jong Un's Half Brother : http://ift.tt/2ye23tM
The International Organization for Migration says 63 Rohingya refugees are believed to have died when a boat carrying them from Myanmar to Bangladesh capsized in the Bay of Bengal's rough seas Thursday.
Survivors say 80 people were on board the vessel at the start of the voyage. They say 24 men and boys between the ages of 10 and 35 were on board. The 80 passengers included at least six women and 50 children, many traveling without their parents.
According to IOM, 23 people are confirmed dead, and 40 are missing and presumed dead.
The survivors described the difficulties of being at sea with no food, and said the captain, who was a Bangladeshi, tried to evade checkpoints or sea patrols so as not to be detected, according to IOM spokesman Joel Millman.
"At one point, he chose to anchor the vessel," Millman said. "But, that proved to be a fatal mistake as the rough seas were much worse than he supposed. This was easily within sight of land. … the boat was destroyed by the high sea and the torrential rains and wind."
Millman says four of 10 survivors who were admitted to a hospital yesterday have been released. Those four and seven others will be moved to Kutupalong, a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
Most of the more than one-half-million Rohingya refugees who fled violence and persecution in Myanmar over the past month are in this area. Thousands live in organized camps, but a majority are scattered in the surrounding hillocks in tent cities and overcrowded makeshift settlements.
Read More Death Toll Rises After Boat Carrying Rohingya Refugees Capsizes : http://ift.tt/2k9JWz1
Pakistan’s military chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, will undertake a crucial visit to Afghanistan on Saturday where his delegation is to discuss with Afghan counterparts ways to strengthen bilateral security cooperation and border management efforts.
Relations between Islamabad and Kabul have been marred by mistrust and suspicion, with both sides routinely accusing each other’s security institutions of backing fugitive anti-state militants to plot terrorist attacks against the other.
While no official details of Bajwa’s expected engagements in Kabul have been announced, he is scheduled to meet with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, a Pakistani official told VOA on condition of anonymity.
General Bajwa is expected to reiterate offers of training for Afghan soldiers and police personnel in Pakistani institutions and emphasized the need for the two countries to resolve differences by relying on bilateral mechanisms and dialogue.
The Afghan government and the United States allege Taliban insurgents use sanctuaries on Pakistani soil for launching attacks in Afghanistan.
Islamabad rejects the charges and insists no such activity is taking place on its side of the largely porous border because of sustained anti-terrorism operations Pakistani security forces have undertaken over the past few years.
Pakistani officials also cite building of a fence and new security outposts on the nearly 2,600-kilometer border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Chief military spokesman Major-General Asif Ghafoor said the fence will be in place within the next two years.
“If Afghans are willing to build the fence and posts on their side, we are ready to do it for you so that only peaceful citizens can cross the border,” he recently told a group of Afghan and Pakistani reporters.
Until a few years ago, he said, the border was free of observation posts, terrorists were “roaming freely” in both directions but “today from our side 90 percent of the areas are difficult to infiltrate.”
Kabul, however, opposes the fencing project because it traditionally disputes the demarcation established in 1896 under British rule.
Pakistan dismisses the objection and recognizes the boundary as an international frontier the country inherited after gaining independence from Britain in 1947.
Afghan officials maintain that Taliban insurgents are being harbored in major Pakistani cities, including Quetta and Peshawar and simply fencing the border will not address their concerns.
For their part, Pakistani authorities maintain that militants who have fled security operations have taken shelter in Afghanistan and plot attacks against the country with the help of the Afghan intelligence agency.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, at a public talk in New York earlier this week, recounted his country’s contributions to fighting terrorism and helping U.S.-backed efforts to stabilize Afghanistan. He criticized U.S. attempts to single out Pakistan for all the ills plaguing the war-ravage country.
“The drug production in Afghanistan has gone up by 3,700 percent. Are we responsible? Daesh [Islamic State group] is there in three [Afghan] provinces, proven presence. Are we responsible for that? Forty percent of territory to the Taliban in the last 15 years. Are we responsible for that? The corruption, Afghan soldiers selling their weapons in open market to the Taliban. Are we responsible for that?”
Read More Pakistan Army Chief to Visit Afghanistan Saturday : http://ift.tt/2hCpohM
On a sweltering day in July of last year, swarms of people streamed in near perfect unison from sleepy restaurants lining the road of Angk Ta Saom village to join in a funeral procession.
It wasn’t from television that they knew the body of slain activist Kem Ley was about to arrive. Nearly all stations instituted a blackout of the monumental event.
The requiem was instead streamed live on Facebook by U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia (RFA) and its team of more than 30 video journalists, along with citizen journalists, activist monks and others armed with little more than 3G connections.
Video and photos flooding Facebook that day showed of hundreds of thousands of people coming out to pay respects to a man they believed was assassinated by the government, signaling perhaps the clearest warning yet of the power of social media.
“There was this resentment, this build up of frustration at the government and seeing a renowned public figure being assassinated like that just brought everything over, just boiled everything over,” recalled Catherine V. Harry, a Cambodian journalist, writer and actor who has shot to stardom as a social media feminist activist.
“I see some of my friends who had not talked to me about Kem Ley at all; they started posting stuff about how they were upset by that...they started to express that once they saw other people expressing that as well, they became more brave in doing that,” she said.
Harry has experienced firsthand the power of Facebook video in a country where she says state control of TV confines programming to an antiquated, misogynistic and tightly restrictive value system.
A recent video of hers directly confronting the taboo surrounding women's virginity in Cambodian society has been watched almost 2 million times and set off a firestorm of debate online.
While many media outlets, including RFA, have since fallen to intimidation and other political pressure in a sustained government clampdown on independent voices, Facebook remains alive and healthy. RFA and Voice of America are overseen by the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors.
Many, including Harry, are wondering if social media platforms such as Facebook will soon be caught in the dragnet of the government’s crackdown on non-government and civil society.
Online arms race
In barely five years, Facebook has gone from a platform ignored by the government to one of its key tools for communicating directly with its citizens.
It's a progression that Seva Gunitsky, an associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto, who studies the use of social media by autocratic and “hybrid” democratic states, has seen across the world.
Gunitsky notes that an initial period of euphoria over the democratic potential of social media gives way to the realization that authoritarian regimes also can use it. He also says beyond that, platforms like Facebook help regimes circumvent the often distorted information they are fed by local elites inflating their efficiency and hiding corruption through direct user feedback.
“So it’s a way to call attention to local problems and to gain the short-term benefit of popularity from your citizens without necessarily having to take any huge reforms,” he said.
In September 2016, Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a directive ordering all government ministers to create working groups to process and resolve Facebook complaints on a daily basis.
Hun Sen has become fond of making Facebook interventions himself and using it to announce decisions, such as the cancellation of a toll on one of the major national roads.
Kevin Doyle watched the birth of social media in Cambodia as editor-in-chief of the recently shuttered Cambodia Daily newspaper.
He’s now researching the subject at the University of Dublin in Ireland and said the Cambodian government has developed sophisticated nationwide programs.
“Now I’ve been talking to sources in Phnom Penh who described to me some of the tactics that the ruling party is using in terms of mobilizing support officially on Facebook - users who are actually working for the government and actually have titles as being part of the cyber units,” he said.
Government tactics
Doyle said sources told him dozens of social media operatives in every province were operating dozens of accounts, each under a hierarchy administered at the provincial level.
“Getting out messages, checking criticisms of the government, responding, you know, being very active - it being a whole new area of engagement rather than just the rapid reaction unit at the council of ministers - they’ve got the cyber unit.”
Huy Vannak is one of the most powerful people in Cambodian media. He is head of news at national broadcaster CTN, an undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Interior and president of the recently established, ruling party-backed Union of Journalist Federations of Cambodia.
He will not be drawn on specifics of the government’s social media programs, but believes the space is dangerously prone to disinformation from members of the public untrained in the responsibilities of journalism.
“You need to define who uses it. If the intellectual uses it, I’m sure they use for the better way, better action; but, if the stupid people use it, then the result will become stupid,” he said.
“I don’t see any moment that Cambodia will close Facebook. I don’t see it; but, the important step that the Cambodian government needs to do, is to have a cyber law.”
Shutting down critics
While that law remains on the drawing board, existing legal mechanisms have been used against people posting online.
Numerous opposition members and supporters have been jailed for Facebook postings, including former opposition leader Sam Rainsy and Senator Kim Sok Hour, who was charged over a post related to Cambodia’s border dispute with Vietnam.
Student Kong Raya was jailed for 18 months in 2016 for a Facebook post a court deemed treasonous, while earlier in September, police arrested a 20-year-old woman near the Thai border for an allegedly defamatory post.
Meanwhile, attacks on civil society and the press continue, with the NGO Equitable Cambodia now joining NDI, RFA, The Cambodia Daily, Mother Nature and more than 10 radio stations, which have been pushed into closure in the past month.
Doyle said that feeling they had struck an effective balance between their messaging and harsh sanctions against people who stepped out of line, the Cambodian government was unlikely to risk a backlash by attacking Facebook itself ahead of next year’s election.
“For the popularity, I think it would be less unpopular for them to shut down the election than shut down Facebook,” he said.
Read More Who's Playing Whom on Cambodian Facebook? : http://ift.tt/2fVGofg
U.S. President Donald Trump will embark on a trip to Asia in November with the goal of garnering global support against the North Korean threat, while attending regional summits and discussing trade, the White House announced Friday.
"The president's engagements will strengthen the international resolve to confront the North Korean threat and ensure the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the statement said.
The trip will include the president's first visit to China, North Korea's closest ally and number one trade partner.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will pave the way for Trump's trip to China on his second trip to the country next week by seeking Beijing’s cooperation on a “maximum pressure” campaign against North Korea’s nuclear aggression, amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The U.S. is conferring closely with Chinese officials on Beijing’s commitment to curbing imports of North Korean coal, iron, iron ore, lead and lead ore, and seafood.
If fully implemented, the ban on those items could substantially reduce North Korea's revenues this year, after earning $1.5 billion from the export of these items to China in 2016, according to the U.S. State Department.
Trump will attend the U.S.- Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit and the East Asia summit in the Philippines. His travels also will take him to Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday in Jakarta, Indonesia, the U.S.-ASEAN relationship is a "strategic partnership" and that ASEAN has "promoted prosperity and security" not only among member nations, but also throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
The exchange of goods and services between the countries also will be a priority for Trump. The White House said the president will stress "the importance of fair and reciprocal economic ties with America's trade partners."
Trump's November 3-14 trip will include visits to South Korea, Japan and Hawaii.
Read More Trump's November Asia Trip to Include 1st China Visit : http://ift.tt/2xLOPmV[unable to retrieve full-text content]
VOA Burmese service reporters took part in an official press visit of a mass grave site in Myanmar's Rakhine state, where the bodies of Hindu villagers were on display. Read More VOA Reporters Visit Myanmar Mass Grave Site : http://ift.tt/2fDNHvn
“Chilling” and “dangerous” is what women’s rights activists and lawyers in India have called a Delhi High Court judgment that set aside the conviction of a Bollywood filmmaker for rape after the judge ruled that a “feeble no” could indicate willingness on the part of the victim.
They warn that by diluting the meaning of consent, the judgment in the high-profile case rolls back some of the hard-won gains made after the horrific 2012 gang rape of a 23-year-old student in New Delhi, which led India to tighten rape laws.
Mahmood Farooqui was sentenced to seven years imprisonment last year by a lower court on charges of raping an American postgraduate student of Indian origin when she visited his home in Delhi in 2015.
The woman had told the court that he forced himself on to her and ignored her “no”, but after a point she stopped resisting fearing she may be harmed.
Farooqui’s lawyers said there was no evidence that he was alone in his house with her and “if at all” such an incident took place, it was with her consent.
This week, Judge Ashutosh Kumar ruled in Farooqui’s favor saying that it was not clear if the incident happened or whether it took place without her consent.
Several observations in the 82-page judgment have raised angry questions and triggered heated television debates.
It says that in a case where the parties are well educated and known to each other “it would be really difficult to decipher whether little or no resistance and a feeble no was actually a denial of consent.”
The judge holds that "in an act of passion, actuated by libido, there could be myriad circumstances which can surround a consent and it may not necessarily always mean yes in case of yes or no in case of no."
What constitutes consent ?
Denouncing the judgment as a “very dangerous one”, Kavita Krishnan of the All India Progressive Women’s Association, said it weakens the legal definition of consent that the women’s movement has struggled hard to get. Lawyers point out that consent has to be unequivocal, voluntary and must not arise from fear.
“Now he is saying that not only is an affirmative consent not required, but even if a woman has actually voiced “no” several times, even that is not good enough. I find this quite appalling,” says Krishnan.
Women rights activists, who have long struggled with deeply-rooted patriarchal attitudes to sex, are also taking exception to the judgement for drawing a distinction between an educated and uneducated person, and those who are in a relationship. They say this would reinforce stereotypes that a rape was usually the woman’s fault and the onus of preventing assault lies on her.
Fears have also been expressed that the judgment will make it harder to win convictions for rape in a country where low conviction rates are already a cause for concern.
“Take a woman who is very educated and very bright, take a woman who as in this case has spoken of kissing the accused before, only kissing, and take a woman like this who is then raped. I think it is chilling that this judgment could be cited as precedent for saying that ‘no’ means ‘yes’,” said Supreme Court lawyer Karuna Nundy, who advised on the reform of sexual assault laws.
More women coming forward
This is not the only order in a rape case that has caused furor. Last week, judges in the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted bail to three law students found guilty of gang rape and blackmail of a fellow student while their appeal is heard.
The woman was blackmailed with her nude photographs by a student with whom she broke up after a month-long consensual relationship. He raped her and also forced her to have sex with his two friends.
The order said the victim had a “promiscuous attitude and a voyeuristic mind," and that her "narrative does not throw up gut wrenching violence that normally precede or accompany such incidents."
The spotlight on sexual violence in recent years has prompted more women to come forward to report rape cases and fast track courts have been established to ensure speedier justice. Besides the Bollywood director, some other high profile personalities, including a prominent editor, have faced rape charges.
But women activists fear that there is an effort to read down the tougher laws in a country where many say that women who wear provocative clothes, drink or stay out late at night are actually providing consent.
“There is an active effort to create a backlash, to say that these laws victimize men and that behavior that ought to be considered normal behavior on part of men is being criminalized by these laws. In other words, it is trying to normalize violence against women,” said Kavita Krishnan.
Read More Rights Groups Furious About Indian Court Decision on Consent in Rape Cases : http://ift.tt/2fWpw88
Calls are mounting for Myanmar to resume access for aid groups in northern Rakhine State, more than a month after attacks by Rohingya Muslim insurgents prompted an army operation that sent nearly 500,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.
While most Muslims living in northern Rakhine have fled across the border, an unknown number remain at home and under increasingly isolated conditions, with little access to regular food and health supplies as the lean part of the harvest season approaches.
“The situation in northern Rakhine state is really a humanitarian catastrophe in the making,” said Pierre Peron, spokesman in Myanmar for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA.
United Nations staff and international NGOs have had to relocate many of their staff members to other parts of the state and longstanding operations, such as malnutrition assistance and medical services, were dramatically scaled back.
“Since the violence broke out a month ago, all these life-saving important humanitarian activities have been suspended,” Peron said. “So we really are calling at the moment for humanitarian access, unfettered access to these areas in order to meet the needs of what were communities that were already very much in need of humanitarian assistance and who are likely to be in even more dire need of life-saving aid.”
Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said as part of a joint statement with other relief agencies on Thursday that “it is chilling to imagine the situation of those who might be left behind, unable to flee.”
Egeland urged Myanmar’s authorities to allow NGOs “full, free and unimpeded access to reach everyone in need everywhere in Rakhine.”
Bias toward Rohingya
Aid is a sensitive issue in the western state.
Rakhine Buddhists believe international agencies are biased towards the Rohingya and the government inflamed these tensions at the beginning of the conflict by publishing photos of World Food Program biscuits that were found in a raid on an insurgent training camp. Aid groups strenuously denied allegations they were somehow supporting the fighters.
In a joint statement released by the Norwegian Refugee Council and signed by 19 humanitarian agencies, the organization pointed to increased pressure on local aid workers from members of their own communities.
“Threats, allegations, misinformation and public accusations against humanitarian staff have led to genuine fears amongst humanitarian workers, in particular national staff, and have contributed to an environment where targeted attacks on humanitarian staff have taken place,” it said.
A local mob in the state capital Sittwe last week attacked a delivery of supplies with stones and Molotov cocktails, according to reports. No one was hurt, but the government arrested and charged nine people.
In its September 22 bulletin, OCHA pointed to parts of Rakhine State where Buddhist landlords and contractors were under pressure not to rent property to or work with to aid groups.
Normal deliveries also slowed to other Rohingya camps in the central part of the state in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
The Myanmar government has tasked the Red Cross Movement with delivering aid in northern Rakhine, but groups fear the task is too large for one organization. The Norwegian Refugee Council’s joint statement said agencies were “very concerned that this will not be sufficient to meet the enormous humanitarian needs across this region.”
Cecilia Goin, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Yangon, said it’s true that it cannot completely fill the vacuum left by the U.N. and other humanitarian organizations. But it is scaling up its response.
“It’s very intense, the needs are huge, and we are trying to provide assistance to as many people as possible,” she said.
The violence in northern Rakhine has also displaced tens of thousands of Buddhists into other parts of the state, while other ethnic minorities have been swept up in the fighting.
Earlier this week the government said it found a mass grave of dozens of Hindus killed by ARSA fighters at the beginning of the conflict. Though relatives have corroborated some of the allegations, ARSA rejected them, saying it doesn’t attack civilians.
In Photos: Rakhine State Mass Grave
Read More Aid Groups Demand Unfettered Access to Myanmar Conflict Zone : http://ift.tt/2yxv7st
In October, when China’s Communist Party holds its once-in-five-years party congress and leadership reshuffle, many will watch to see who Xi Jinping picks to fill top political positions. The party congress is a time of high-stakes political drama for a party that single-handedly rules China, but don’t expect women to be given any prominent roles. VOA’s William Ide files from Beijing.
Afghan officials say a suicide bomber has targeted a Shi'ite mosque in the capital, killing at least four people and wounding 16.
A police officer told the French news agency that the bomber was "grazing sheep" outside the mosque before the blast.
Police say the attack near the Hussainia Mosque in Kabul took place after Friday prayers when worshipers were on their way home.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The blast happened shortly before the beginning of the Muslim holy day of Ashura.
Attacks against Shi'ites are not uncommon in Afghanistan. Shi'ites comprise 15 percent of the country's estimated 30 million people.
Militants, including the Taliban and Islamic State, consider Shi'ites apostates and are blamed for the sectarian violence.
Read More 4 Killed in Suicide Attack on Kabul Mosque : http://ift.tt/2fwetC1
The new U.S. strategy for the war in Afghanistan unveiled last month by President Donald Trump is already showing results insisted senior military officials who met with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Afghanistan this week.
General John Nicholson, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, told reporters traveling with Mattis that Trump’s conditions-based approach to the conflict has improved troop morale, stunted Taliban gains, and stunned insurgents.
“We’re seeing an effect amongst the Taliban leadership,” Nicholson said. “For years they thought we were leaving; now with the renewed commitment at Warsaw, (and) with the new U.S. policy, they realize we’re not leaving, so this has put them in disarray.”
Stalemate for now
But speaking on background, U.S. officials were more restrained in their assessment about the 16-year-old battle.
“We still put the conflict within the bounds of a stalemate, where neither side has the capability right now to have a decisive victory in the campaign,” a U.S. military official acknowledged.
According to the latest U.S. assessment, 64 percent of the Afghan population lives in territory controlled or influenced by the Afghan government, with the rest either contested or under Taliban control.
But U.S. officials are hopeful that will change soon.
The coalition says it has halted Taliban advances, especially in provincial capitals and major population centers. And coalition forces are “definitely on track” to achieve Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s goal of having 80 percent of the population under government control by 2020, says a U.S. military official.
U.S. officials also point to what they say is the Afghan military’s increased capabilities. Next week the inaugural class of Afghan pilots will begin learning to fly the first of around 160 Black Hawk helicopters the U.S. is giving to Afghanistan as part of a new seven-year effort to modernize the country’s air force.
How to define success?
Afghan officials welcome the new U.S. approach, saying it provides more certainty and won’t allow the Taliban to wait out timelines for troop withdrawal.
But the Trump administration hasn’t laid out what metrics it will use to define success in Afghanistan. And many of the factors Trump has mentioned — crushing the terrorists or denying safe haven to militants, for example — are not easily measurable, leading some to worry about a perpetual war.
During Mattis’ visit to Kabul, he suggested coalition forces will regularly evaluate the more than 200 benchmarks that President Ghani has set in conjunction with Washington.
“Who initiates the most fights with the enemy? How are we doing on selection of junior officers from NCO ranks? How are we doing on counter-corruption? All of this comes together in an integrated, whole of government, whole of coalition campaign,” Mattis said.
“And the ongoing evaluation will be transparent,” he added. “In other words, we will share all of our data, we will review it together and make adaptations as needed.”
Two easily quantifiable factors are bombs and troops, and the U.S. is sending more of both to Afghanistan.
The U.S. last month dropped more bombs (503) on Afghanistan than any single month since 2012, according to military figures. Mattis recently announced the U.S. would send another 3,000 U.S. forces to Afghanistan, bringing the total number in the country to around 14,000.
The new U.S. plan also involves pressuring Pakistan to end its support for Afghan militant groups, and envisions India playing a bigger role in helping bring stability and prosperity.
Different enough?
But for all the ways that Trump’s Afghanistan strategy allegedly differs from that of former President Barack Obama, many former Obama officials praised the policy’s continuity.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” said Shamila Chaudhary, who worked on Afghanistan policy in Obama’s White House. “I thought it was a very pro-establishment approach they took. They played it very safe.”
Speaking on background, a U.S. military official acknowledged that under Trump’s new plan “the authorities to conduct the campaign are broadly the same” as under the previous administration.
But U.S. officials are confident their new strategy is different enough to break the stalemate and will eventually force the Taliban to the negotiating table.
What isn’t clear is how long it will take.
Ongoing violence
As Mattis arrived in the Afghan capital, the Taliban provided a grim reminder of the path ahead, sending a flurry of rockets toward the Kabul international airport. Though Mattis had departed the area hours earlier, the insurgents described the attack as an assassination attempt, drawing headlines that dominated news coverage of the secretary’s visit.
Insurgents also killed at least 12 Afghan security forces in a suicide attack in Kandahar late Wednesday, hours before Mattis landed in the western city to meet with coalition officials.
Despite the setbacks, Mattis says he is confident of success.
“War is principally a matter of will,” he said, standing alongside President Ghani and NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg. “And we’ve made clear we have the will to stand together.”
Read More In Afghanistan, Mattis Confident of Eventually Breaking Stalemate : http://ift.tt/2fVURro
A rush-hour stampede at a railway station in the Indian financial hub of Mumbai killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 20, a hospital official said.
Police said the stampede at the Elphinstone railway station was triggered by a rumor that a pedestrian overpass collapsed after concrete chunks fell. Chaos prevailed as people surged forward to leave the bridge.
Paramedics have taken the injured to a hospital, the police control room said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
North Korean overseas workers are feeling the heat as countries are stepping up their efforts to implement U.N. sanctions against their motherland.
On Wednesday, the Polish foreign ministry told VOA's Korea Service that Poland does not intend to issue new work permits to North Korean workers to comply with the two latest U.N. Security Council resolutions. These measures were passed in response to the Kim Jong Un regime's long-range intercontinental ballistic missile launches and sixth nuclear test.
"The Ministry of the Family, Labour and Social Policy has sent out a communication to voivodship [provincial] offices asking them to withhold all decisions regarding applications for work permits concerning [North Korean] citizens," the foreign ministry said in an email to VOA, "until the process of transposition and development of a common position by European Union member states regarding the scope and method of implementing the resolution is completed."
Fewer North Koreans working in Poland
With not one work visa being issued to a North Korean national in 2016 and 2017, the number of North Koreans employed in Poland stood at about 400 as of January this year, a decline from 550 in July last year, according to the Polish government's estimates. In 2014, the Polish consul in Pyongyang issued 147 work visas, and in 2015, 129 such visas were issued.
The Polish foreign ministry said Poland, which is one of the European Union countries that hires many North Korean laborers, does not have any systemic measures in place that would prevent citizens of other countries, including North Koreans, from taking up work in the country, imposing a work ban would represent "an unequivocal demonstration of discrimination on the grounds of nationality."
"In this context, we welcomed Resolution 2371 of 5 August 2017 and 2375 of 11 September 2017, the first to refer to the employment of [North Korean] citizens abroad in so decisive terms," the ministry said.
Since North Korea has long been accused of using money paid to its overseas workers to finance its weapons programs, the two latest U.N. resolutions for the first time included restrictive measures on North Korean laborers abroad, first banning the hiring of additional North Korean workers, then barring the renewal of their work contracts when they expire.
Residency permits not renewed
Similar action was taken by Kuwaiti authorities, who have stopped issuing entry visas of any kind to North Korean nationals and forbidding them from transferring their residency permits from one company to another, according to the country's implementation report on U.N. Security Council resolution 2371 submitted to the council in late August.
"Expired residency permits are not renewed, and permit holders are requested to leave the country promptly once the permit has expired," reads the report.
Also taking heed of the Security Council resolutions on North Korea are Senegal and Qatar. Senegal suspended the issuance of entry and short-stay visas to North Korean workers. Qatar discontinued issuing the approvals of employment requests and the renewal of residence of workers.
Jenny Lee contributed to this report.
Read More North Korean Workers Overseas Feeling Sanctions' Squeeze : http://ift.tt/2wYbNZ8
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson embarks Thursday on his second trip to China, seeking Beijing's cooperation on a "maximum pressure" campaign against North Korea's nuclear aggression amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
In a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong on Thursday, the top U.S. diplomat is seeking China's cooperation to curb North Korea's nuclear provocations and to pave the way for President Donald Trump's first visit to China in November.
"We'll continue our discussions on a number of other issues that are important, and certainly North Korea will be on the table for discussion," Tillerson said before the first round of U.S.-China Social and Cultural Dialogue that's aimed at promoting people-to-people ties.
The U.S. is conferring closely with Chinese officials on Beijing's commitment to curb imports of North Korean coal, iron, iron ore, lead and lead ore, and seafood.
If fully implemented, the ban on those items could substantially reduce North Korea's revenues this year. North Korea earned $1.5 billion from the export of these items to China in 2016, according to the State Department.
No. 1 trading partner
China is North Korea's No. 1 trading partner. Washington says bringing China on board is key to cutting off Pyongyang's ability to earn hard currency.
"We've been rolling out sanctions on various entities in China," acting Assistant Secretary of State for Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton told U.S. lawmakers Thursday.
"All of these designations target North Korean trade, North Korean entities, North Korean illicit proliferation," Thornton said, adding that those measures will reduce Pyongyang's ability to earn hard currency and increase pressure on the regime.
Trade and investment also are high on the agenda for Tillerson's visit to Beijing. It follows one by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who has said China needs to provide fair and reciprocal treatment for American companies.
"We're working with China to rebalance our trade and our lopsided relationship in that realm, and ensure that China provides fair treatment to U.S. companies in ways that create U.S. jobs," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said Thursday.
Energy embargo unlikely
Experts say China is very unlikely to completely cut off energy supplies to North Korea, but Beijing appears ready to cut down oil supplies.
Atlantic Council senior fellow Robert Manning said China can do a number of things, including closing a border bridge or permitting 24/7 U.N. monitoring of traffic to and from the road.
"The U.S. has intelligence that Pyongyang is either importing or exporting nuclear and/or missile components or other sensitive items; Beijing can and should cooperate in intercepting them," Manning told VOA.
But Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Asia Program director Douglas Paal said China's influence over North Korea is limited.
"The North is very reluctant to take instructions from China. It will exploit whatever it can get from China, but it doesn't look for political guidance from China. So this is a problem we [the U.S.] and South Korea are going to have to handle directly with North Korea as we go forward," Paal told VOA.
Trump's tweets
North Korean intermediaries reportedly approached Paal to help to decipher President Trump's tweets.
"In January, the North Koreans had to see Trump's tweet, which was criticizing South Korea and talking about possible talks, meetings, and discussing issues with the North Korea leader. So they probably were looking for some clues of what this all means. Since then, of course, most of the tweets had turned very negative on North Korea," Paal said.
"They probably could use some help to understand what the real policy of the Trump administration is. So it's reasonable for them to be out asking," Paal added.
Read More Tillerson Heads to China Amid North Korea Nuclear Escalation : http://ift.tt/2xK4Iu5
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Thursday for "swift action" to halt the deteriorating situation in Myanmar's northern Rakhine State, where a half million mostly Rohingya Muslims have fled to neighboring Bangladesh in the past month.
"The situation has spiraled into the world’s fastest developing refugee emergency; a humanitarian and human rights nightmare," Guterres told an open meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
The council has privately discussed the situation three times in the past month, but Thursday’s session was the first time since 2009 that it has publicly discussed Myanmar.
Guterres called for an end to the military’s operations; unhindered aid access; and the safe and voluntary return of refugees to their areas of origin.
"There seems to be a deeply disturbing pattern to the violence and ensuing large movements of an ethnic group from their homes," Guterres said.
Guterres and his human rights commissioner have both expressed concerns that what is happening in Rakhine State is ethnic cleansing.
The secretary-general said the core problem is the prolonged statelessness of the Rohingya and its associated discrimination. "The Muslims of Rakhine State should be granted nationality," Guterres said.
The Rohingya are one of many ethnic minorities in the Buddhist-majority nation. They are considered to be economic migrants from Bangladesh and have been denied citizenship, even though most can show that their families have been in the country for generations.
'Brutal, sustained campaign'
Violence erupted in Rakhine on Aug. 25, after attacks by Rohingya militants on state security forces led to military reprisals.
U.S. ambassador Nikki Haley said the military response has been "disproportionate and indiscriminate" and has dwarfed the original rebel attacks in the scope of its violence. She called for a suspension of arms sales to the military until sufficient accountability measures are in place.
The military has been accused of the widespread burning of Rohingya villages, rape, killings, looting and the laying of landmines to prevent people returning to their homes.
"We cannot be afraid to call the actions of the Burmese authorities what they appear to be: a brutal, sustained campaign to cleanse the country of an ethnic minority," Haley said, referring to Myanmar by its other name.
"And it should shame senior Burmese leaders who have sacrificed so much for an open, democratic Burma," she said in an apparent reference to the country's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has faced international criticism for remaining silent on the situation until last week.
'Excessive pressure' discouraged
Haley said the United States has provided $95 million in humanitarian aid to Myanmar and Bangladesh, but acknowledged it would not be enough for the growing emergency.
"As we speak, the situation on the ground is beginning to move toward stability," China’s Deputy U.N. envoy Wu Haitao declared.
Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia discouraged "excessive pressure" on Myanmar’s authorities, which he said could only aggravate the situation. "We need to be very careful when we wield such notions as genocide and ethnic cleansing," he added.
Most council members expressed their concern that the crisis could spill over into the region, causing broader instability and the potential radicalization of the disenfranchised. There was also broad consensus among members that the violence must stop, humanitarian agencies must be allowed in, and root causes of the conflict should be addressed.
Claim of ethnic cleansing disputed
Myanmar's national security adviser, Thaung Tun, disputed that ethnic cleansing is taking place.
"I wish to stress there is no ethnic cleansing and no genocide in Myanmar," he told council members. "Ethnic cleansing and genocide are serious charges and they should not be used lightly."
He said the country is fighting terrorists, adding that no armed clashes or clearance operations have taken place since Sept. 5.
"Despite claims otherwise, violence has not ceased in northern Rakhine State, neither has the exodus of Rohingyas to Bangladesh," that country's U.N. ambassador Masud Bin Momen said. "Only last night an additional 20,000 entered into Bangladesh," he noted.
The envoy said the situation is untenable and reiterated his prime minister's call for U.N. supervised safe zones inside Myanmar for the Rohingya.
Advisory commission
Myanmar's National Security Adviser also noted that his government views the recommendations of the Rakhine Advisory Commission as a "viable road map" forward.
The Commission was chaired by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan and had six local and three international experts. Members traveled extensively in Rakhine State during the past year and submitted their final report to the national authorities on Aug. 23.
The commission's recommendations include urging the government to provide full and unhindered humanitarian access; addressing the issue of citizenship, including reviewing the 1982 citizenship law; and guaranteeing freedom of movement for all people in Rakhine, irrespective of religion, ethnicity or citizenship status.
French Ambassador Francois Delattre said that Kofi Annan has agreed to brief the council next month in an informal session.
Thursday’s Security Council session follows two high-level meetings on the sidelines of last week’s gathering of leaders at the U.N. General Assembly. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) met at the ministerial level to discuss the growing humanitarian crisis, and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson brought together his counterparts from several countries, including the United States. They called for an end to the military campaign.
UN officials to visit Myanmar
The heads of U.N. agencies in Myanmar were due to visit Rahkine State on Thursday on a government-arranged trip, but it was postponed due to inclement weather conditions. The Myanmar National Security Adviser said the visit would go ahead on Monday. He also said the government has invited U.N. chief Guterres to visit the area.
Aid agencies have been unable to work in Rakhine since violence erupted last month, but they are working in Bangladesh, where the refugees are fleeing.
A boat carrying Rohingya refugees capsized there Thursday in the Bay of Bengal, killing at least nine children and five women.
The U.N. refugee agency said 27 women and children survived the accident, but it was not clear how many people were on the boat before it tipped over. The agency said there are unconfirmed reports that a second boat is missing.
Appeal for emergency funds
The U.N. has appealed for $77 million to meet emergency needs of the refugees. It has received nearly half that amount, but will be calling for additional funds as the scale of the emergency has far surpassed initial projections.
On Oct. 9, the U.N. Refugee agency, the humanitarian affairs office and the International Organization for Migration will convene a donor's conference, the secretary-general said.
Myanmar has also reached out to the regional bloc ASEAN for humanitarian assistance.
Human rights groups call for 'urgent action'
Separately, a coalition of nearly 90 human rights groups called Thursday for the U.N. Security Council to consider measures including an arms embargo against Myanmar's military and targeted financial sanctions against individuals responsible for crimes and serious abuses.
"As more evidence emerges, it is clear that the atrocities committed by Myanmar state security forces amount to crimes against humanity," the coalition said. "The United Nations and its member states need to take urgent action," their statement read.
"If governments, U.N. officials and diplomats simply hold meetings and make speeches as atrocities continue in Myanmar, they bear the risk of failing to use every diplomatic tool at their disposal to stop the ethnic cleansing campaign and further crimes against humanity," the rights groups warned.
Read More UN Chief Urges 'Swift Action' to Alleviate Suffering of Myanmar Muslims : http://ift.tt/2xOleJP
A U.N. fund to help victims of sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeepers and U.N. staff has now grown to $1.5 million following contributions from 10 more countries including Sri Lanka, whose troops were implicated in a child sex ring in Haiti.
Critics called the fund "tiny" and said it would only provide general support services rather than payouts to individual victims.
The U.N. Department of Field Support made the announcement Wednesday in New York, a week after a special session was held on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly to address the scourge of sexual violence by U.N. staff and peacekeepers in missions around the world. It was the most detailed accounting to date made public about the fund's contributors.
The new contributions to the trust fund, which had previously been estimated at about $500,000, will initially be used to boost services for victims in Congo, according to the announcement. Projects are also expected in several of the other countries with high numbers of allegations: Central African Republic, Haiti and Liberia.
"These contributions reinforce the Secretary-General's clear commitment to putting the rights and dignity of victims first," it said.
While some young women have managed to confirm paternity in cases of abuse and exploitation by U.N. staff or peacekeepers, individual payments are rare and even then can take years to receive.
The $1.5 million special U.N. fund is limited in scope, emphasized Paula Donovan, co-director of AIDS-Free World, which has investigated U.N. sexual abuses through its Code Blue Campaign.
"Let's be clear: This `trust fund' is not what it appears to be. It provides no funds to individual victims," she said Thursday. "Instead, it is a tiny pot of money to be dispersed by the United Nations to fund organizations that provide generalized services in a fraction of the affected communities."
A recent year-long investigation by The Associated Press found that more than 700 of the approximately 2,000 allegations of sexual misconduct since 2004 had taken place in Congo, an enormous African country that is home to the world's largest U.N. peacekeeping mission.
Pledges not met
The AP investigation found that the U.N. failed to meet many of its pledges to help victims, some of whom have been lost to a sprawling bureaucracy. Cases have disappeared, or have been handed off to the peacekeepers' home countries — which often do nothing with them.
Justice is even more elusive, because the cases are referred to the alleged perpetrators' home countries. The AP found that even after a U.N. investigation discovered a three-year child sex ring involving Sri Lankan peacekeepers in Haiti, Sri Lanka prosecuted no one.
The South Asian country was among the 10 announced as contributors Thursday though it was not immediately clear how much the nation may have donated as no breakdown was made public. The announcement also noted that $102,000 of the money comes from withholding payments to alleged perpetrators in cases where complaints were substantiated.
Other new contributors to the fund whose peacekeepers have faced allegations of sexual misconduct include Bangladesh, Nigeria and Pakistan. Albania, Canada, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland also have made unspecified donations, joining Bhutan, Cyprus, India, Japan and Norway, the U.N. said.
Read More UN Fund for Sexual Abuse Victims Grows to $1.5 Million : http://ift.tt/2k43PHC
Members of Congress are sharpening their criticism of Myanmar's crackdown that has forced nearly a half-million Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh.
Republicans and Democrats want the Trump administration to consider sanctions against the perpetrators and to re-evaluate U.S. policy toward the Southeast Asian nation.
Twenty-one senators say in a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson there's a risk of genocide against the Rohingya, who've fled en masse after Myanmar security forces responded to insurgent attacks.
The senators say that response has been "extraordinarily disproportionate.''
They say those responsible should be held accountable under international law and U.S. law that allows the president to punish rights violators in foreign countries.
Read More Senators Urge US Sanctions Over Myanmar 'Atrocities' : http://ift.tt/2fUAwmp
After President Donald Trump last week issued a new executive order giving the United States greater leverage over foreign banks that support the North Korean regime, the U.S. is now looking at implementing the tougher sanctions, officials said Thursday.
Susan Thornton, acting assistant secretary of state for Asian and Pacific affairs, told a congressional committee the administration is working with allied countries to try and “ferret out these illicit underground networks” used by North Korea to subvert previous sanctions.
“We’re working with international partners,” she said. “And I think continuing a full court press with those international partners on implementation is going to be the key to really upping the pressure on the Kim [Jong Un] regime.”
The U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions Tuesday targeting eight North Korean banks, as well as 26 DPRK banking officials. The Treasury Department said the action aimed to prevent North Korea from using the international financial system to facilitate its missile programs.
Sigal Mandelker, treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial crimes, told Congress the executive order marked the first time in more than a decade that a non-North Korean bank had been targeted for facilitating North Korean financial activity. She specifically mentioned the China-based Bank of Dandong.
“Banks worldwide should take note,” she said.
Earlier this month, the U.N. Security Council adopted a new round of economic sanctions against North Korea following Pyongyang's testing of what may have been a hydrogen bomb.
If fully implemented, the new sanctions would cut one-third of North Korea's oil imports, and reduce by more than half the country's gas, diesel and heavy fuel oil imports, while completely banning the import of natural gas and other oil substitutes.
North Korea condemned the U.N. action, calling it a "full-scale economic blockade" that was aimed at "completely suffocating" the North Korean people.
The 26 North Korean nationals sanctioned Tuesday by the U.S. live abroad, but they work for North Korean banks. Nineteen are living in China, three are based in Russia, and two each are living in Libya and the United Arab Emirates.
Read More US Working to Implement North Korea Sanctions : http://ift.tt/2fBEmnH
A visit by U.N. officials to Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state Thursday was postponed due to 'bad weather'.
The U.N. said Wednesday that its representatives would be accompanied by Myanmar government officials in a visit to Rakhine state, but the trip has been moved to next week, the U.N. spokesperson said.
The trip would have marked the first time a U.N. representative would have been allowed to visit Rakhine state since the beginning of a mass exodus of Rohingya Muslims.
Access to the region adjacent to Bangladesh has been strictly controlled by Myanmar's government.
The United Nations said Thursday that over 500,000 refugees from Myanmar had crossed the border into Bangladesh. The U.N. said that the new, higher number was mainly because they were better able to count refugees, not because of a dramatic increase in arrivals.
The International Organization for Migration reported Thursday that 13 people, including eight children, were killed when a boat capsized while traveling from Myanmar to Bangladesh. Thirty Rohingya have been rescued from the boat carrying 120.
Violence erupted between Ryhingya and Myanmar's military in Rakhine state on August 25, when a group of Rohingya militants attacked dozens of police posts and an army base in what militants said was an effort to protect their ethnic minority from persecution.
About 400 people have been killed in subsequent clashes. Satellite images released by rights group Amnesty International have shown entire Rohingya villages burned.
In Photos: Mass Grave Site in Northern Rakhine State
Read More UN Visit to Myanmar's Rohingya Region Postponed : http://ift.tt/2fU86sZ[unable to retrieve full-text content]
The Military Information Department organized a day trip to see Hindu mass grave sites in Northern Rakhine State. Read More Mass Grave Sites in Northern Rakhine State, Myanmar : http://ift.tt/2xIv6EA
A three-year-old girl became Nepal's new living goddess Thursday, revered by both Hindus and Buddhists in the Himalayan nation.
Trishna Shakya was carried in a religious ceremony to a temple palace in the heart of the Nepalese capital where she is to live until just before puberty.
She was among four finalists from the Shakya clan for the position of living goddess, called “Kumari.”
A panel of Hindu priests took days to select her after checking her horoscope and searching for physical imperfections. As a goddess she should not have any physical flaws.
“It is our tradition that after the living goddess reaches age 12 we have to find a new one and the search begins. We have to make sure that the goddess is suitable to bring good fortune for the country,” said Gautam Shakya, a priest in the panel.
“We have found our new Kumari,” he said.
Hundreds of followers and devotees lined up to get a glimpse of the girl, dressed in a red dress and covered with flower garlands.
Before she left her house in Kathmandu, people lined up to give her chocolates, eggs, sweets and fruits.
The head priest came in a car and took her to the temple palace, where she was carried in after a visiting surrounding temples.
Her family said they were emotional that their daughter was leaving but also proud.
“She is going to be the living goddess. She is just not our daughter but the living goddess of the whole country,” said Bijaya Ratna Shakya, her father. “I am happy but at the same time I feel like crying.”
Soon after Trishna's arrival at the temple palace, her predecessor, 12-year-old Matina Shakya, left from a rear entrance on a palanquin carried by her family and supporters.
The ceremony took place on the eighth day of the two-week-long Dasain festival, the main festival in Nepal.
Read More 3-year-old Girl Becomes Nepal's New Living Goddess : http://ift.tt/2xN5lDo
Vietnam's annual water buffalo fighting festival resumed Thursday despite calls for an end to the traditional event because of its violence.
The tournament was halted temporarily three months ago after a buffalo killed its owner on the fighting field. It was the first human fatality, although buffaloes have died in fights before.
More safety measures, including re-enforced fences and tests of buffaloes for stimulants, have been put in place since then.
On Thursday, about 20,000 people crowded the stadium in the resort town of Do Son in Hai Phong to watch the finals, in which 16 buffaloes were pit against each other.
“I'm really happy and proud,” said Luu Dinh Toi, whose buffalo was the winner.
Toi's buffaloes have participated in many festivals, but this was the first time one was the winner.
“I was the one who cut grass to feed my buffalo and stay with him overnight over the past year,” he said. “Today, my buffalo rewarded me for my care.”
Tradition looms large
In accordance with tradition, all losing buffaloes were slaughtered right after the end of the tournament. The winning buffalo will be killed the next day as a tribute to God.
“I'm very sad that my buffalo will be slaughtered for God tomorrow,” Toi said. “I feel like I'm losing something, but that's the tradition left behind by our ancestors and I have no choice.”
The death in early July sparked a heated debate over whether to continue the festival.
Nguyen Tam Thanh of the animal welfare group Animals Asia in Vietnam said his group is opposed to events where animals are maltreated or used to entertain people.
“This year's festival is very disappointing,” he said. “Our group had hoped that the deadly incident would serve as a warning ... but regrettably, the festival still went ahead and the community's ideas were not respected.”
Buffalo fighting was halted during the Vietnam War and resumed in the late 1980s.
Read More Vietnam Resumes Controversial Water Buffalo Fighting : http://ift.tt/2xMCv63It is the first major art museum in New York to close within recent memory. The museum had financial challenges and has faced accusations o...
