In a surprise move, President Donald Trump said he would push back by a couple of weeks the raids planned for Sunday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border,” Trump wrote in a tweet Saturday afternoon from the presidential retreat in Camp David in Maryland. At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border. If not, Deportations start! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2019 The reports that ICE planned to conduct large-scale enforcement actions sparked an outcry from Democratic leaders in many major cities, who condemned the plan and initiated efforts to help affected residents. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had spoken with Trump Friday night, urging the delay, the Associated Press reported, citing a person familiar with the situation and not authorized to …

An Afghan man who was imprisoned by the government for allegedly collaborating with the Taliban is now mourning the death of his son who had joined the Afghan army and was killed by the Taliban insurgents.    Abdul Wares, 42, a taxi driver in the Ghani Khil district of eastern Nangarhar province, spent nearly three years in prison after the Afghan armed forces found him using his vehicle to transport Taliban members. When he was released by the government earlier this month, he found that his son Tawhid had been killed while fighting the Taliban on behalf of the Afghan government.    Abdul Wares told VOA he was forced and threatened by the Taliban to help move fighters through government checkpoints in Ghani Khil district. He was wounded in mid-2017 during a firefight between the army and the Taliban fighters when the latter attempted to escape a security checkpoint.  ‘I am a civilian’   “I told the army that I am a civilian and I did this because they [Taliban] forced me to,” he said. “When the Taliban tried to escape, the army fired shots and I got wounded.”   Abdul Wares was transported by the army to a local clinic for treatment and …

Having spent 2½ years in a government prison for collaboration with the Taliban in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, Abdul Wares, 42, now mourns with his family for his son, who was killed while fighting alongside the Afghan army against the Taliban. Zabihullah Ghazi reports for VOA. …

A skydiving plane crashed and burst into flames just after takeoff from a small seaside airfield on the island of Oahu, killing 11 people, officials said Saturday.    Authorities initially reported that nine people died in the crash Friday evening and that three of them were customers of a skydiving company and six were employees.    But the Hawaii Department of Transportation tweeted Saturday that officials later “confirmed there were 11 people on board the plane” and no survivors. The twin-engine Beechcraft King Air plane had taken off from Dillingham Airfield on the north shore of the island.    The plane was operated by the Oahu Parachute Center skydiving company and the ratio of employees to customers suggested that tandem jumps may have been planned in which the customers would have jumped while attached to experienced skydivers, Tim Sakahara, a spokesman for the Hawaii Department of Transportation, told reporters.    Neves described the site of the crash near the airport’s perimeter as being “quite a ways away from the runway” and said that some family members of those aboard were at the airport when the plane went down about 6:30 p.m.    “In my 40 years as a firefighter here in Hawaii, this …

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner spoke to “I have to say that this is one of the hardest problems that exists in the world. This conflict has been going on for a very, very long time and there’s been a lot of attempts at it which have all been very well-intended and noble attempts to try and solve it. When we got involved, we looked at all these attempts and we tried to study why they didn’t work and there’s a lot of good things that were done. We tried to take the good things they did and then come up with a new approach to try to bring this forward. We thought that the economics was a very important part.” “I find that in the real world, the way you solve problems is by really going into the details, putting forward proposals, agreeing, disagreeing on certain things – that’s very healthy,  that’s how you resolve a conflict. Remember, nobody agrees up until right before they do so. It’s not unexpected for people to posture and to criticize things but what we’re hoping to do is create a framework where we can change the discussion and get people to …

U.S. women will soon have another drug option designed to boost low sex drive: a shot they can give themselves in the thigh or abdomen that raises sexual interest for several hours. The medication OK’d Friday by the Food and Drug Administration is only the second approved to increase sexual desire in a women, a market drugmakers have been trying to cultivate since the blockbuster success of Viagra for men in the late 1990s. The other drug is a daily pill. The upside of the new drug “is that you only use it when you need it,” said Dr. Julia Johnson, a reproductive specialist at UMass Memorial Medical Center who was not involved in its development. “The downside is that it’s a shot — and some people are very squeamish.” The drug’s developer, Amag Pharmaceuticals, could also face some of the same hurdles that have plagued the lone pill previously approved for the condition, including unpleasant side effects and limited insurance coverage. The company declined to release price information. The FDA approved the new drug, Vyleesi (pronounced vie-LEE’-see), for premenopausal women with a disorder defined by a persistent lack of interest in sex, causing stress. The most common side effect …

A top U.S. Defense Department official told ambassadors and other leaders from Southeastern Asian countries that the Indo-Pacific region is “our priority theater” even as China makes inroads in an area it considers its backyard. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Randall Schriver, spoke at the US-ASEAN Business Council Wednesday.   He emphasized the need for nations in the region to consider the options offered by the United State and China, which are jockeying for geopolitical and economic influence in the area, before devising their individual Indo-Pacific strategies. “You don’t choose between countries or capitals but can you choose respect for sovereignty and independence of all nations large and small,” Schriver said. “Can you choose peaceful resolution of disputes? Can you choose free, fair, reciprocal trade and investment, which includes protections for intellectual property? Can you choose to support adherence to international rules and norms including freedom of navigation and overflight?” Schriver said these were not “U.S. positions or principles or values but more universal.” He made his remarks as skepticism is growing over China’s Belt and Road Initiative, an infrastructure investment program that comes with “debt risks, governance risks (corruption and procurement), stranded infrastructure, environmental risks and …

Security measures were increased at one of Iraq’s largest air bases that houses American trainers following an attack last week, a top Iraqi air force commander said Saturday. The U.S. military said operations at the base were going on as usual and there were currently no plans to evacuate personnel. The stepped-up Iraqi security measures at Balad air base, just north of the capital, Baghdad, come amid sharply rising tensions in the Middle East between the United States and Iran. The current regional crisis is rooted in the U.S. withdrawal last year from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers. Washington subsequently re-imposed sanctions on Iran, sending its economy into freefall and cutting deeply into its oil exports. Gen. Falah Fares told The Associated Press by telephone that the measures include a night-time curfew, boosting security inside and near the base as well as surveillance of nearby areas. He said these measures are being carried out in coordination with the U.S. “All unnecessary movements have been reduced,” Fares said, adding that the curfew now lasts from sunset until sunrise. He said the change was made after Balad air base, home to a squadron of Iraqi F-16 fighter jets, …

A new report finds nearly half of all people in the Central African Republic are suffering acute food shortages. The latest assessment by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a joint effort by eight U.N. and International non-governmental organizations, finds more than 1.8 million people in C.A.R. are facing an emergency food crisis.   Civil war in the Central African Republic erupted in December 2013 and continues to take a heavy toll on its people.  The country is in the midst of its so-called lean season, which goes from May to August.   This is the period between harvests when people have depleted their food stocks and hunger is particularly acute. The World Food Program reports nearly 2 million people do not know where their next meal is coming from during this period. WFP spokesman Herve Verhoosel says, unfortunately, the hunger crisis will not be over when the lean season comes to an end. “Nearly 1.35 million people—almost 30 percent of the population analyzed—will be in severe acute food insecurity including nearly 275,000 people in emergency during the harvest period, meaning September and October,” Verhoosel says. The United Nations reports more than a half million refugees have fled to neighboring …

As night fell, residents of a southern district in Khartoum briskly moved to set the stage for Sudanese protest leaders giving a brief on the movement’s latest updates. Grappling with a power outage, blocked internet access and heightened security, people from the Jabra district had few means to organize the meeting which drew dozens from the neighborhood. Within a few hours, power generators were fetched, loud speakers set up, plastic chairs lined up and cars blazed their headlights on the podium where protest leaders were to give their speech. Roadblocks were also set up to secure the entrances of the area. “The campaign keeps us updated with whatever new is happening about the situation in Sudan,” said Mujahed Abdelnaby who was attending the gathering. Sudan’s ruling generals have largely cut internet services in the wake of a deadly dispersal of a sit-in outside the army headquarters where thousands had been camped since April 6. The crowds who were initially demanding the ouster of veteran leader Omar al-Bashir stayed put after his fall to call on the generals who took over to hand power to civilians. But on June 3 armed men in military fatigues launched a bloody crackdown on the …

A seven-story building under construction collapsed in Cambodia’s coastal city of Sihanoukville early Saturday, killing seven workers and injuring 21, authorities said.   Provincial authorities said in a statement that four Chinese nationals involved in the construction have been detained while an investigation into the collapse is carried out.   Rescue work at the site was underway to find out if any more workers were trapped in the rubble, said the city police chief, Maj. Thul Phorsda. Workers could be seen using saws to cut steel beams and excavators to move piles of rubble from the site.   The Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training said that 30 workers were at the site when the building tumbled around 4 a.m.  Police and provincial authorities said they were unsure how many people were working on the building.   It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the collapse.   Yun Min, the governor of Preah Sihanouk province, said the building was owned by a Chinese investor who leased land for a condominium – one of many Chinese projects in the thriving beach resort.   Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said on his official Facebook page that the Cambodian workers were using the unfinished structure …

U.N. Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet is urging the Venezuelan government to free hundreds of jailed dissidents who were arrested for participating in peaceful protests. Her request came at the end of a three-day visit Friday to Venezuela during which she met with President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido. At a Caracas news conference before leaving the country, Bachelet called on the government “to release all those who are detained or deprived of their liberty for exercising their rights in a peaceful manner.” Rights groups have been pressuring Bachelet to advocate on behalf of more than 700 people they say have been jailed for political reasons, a claim Maduro denies. ‘Serious’ humanitarian crisis Bachelet, who said Venezuela faced a “serious” humanitarian crisis, also met with activists and victims of human rights violations, many of whom have been accused of conspiracy to overthrow the government. “It was deeply painful to hear the desire of the victims, of their families, to obtain justice in the face of serious human rights violations,” she sald. Maduro said that he will take the recommendations of Bachelet seriously. After meeting Bachelet, Maduro said, “There are always going to be different criteria in every country, …

VOA congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson and VOA Persian’s Katherine Ahn contributed to this report from Washington. WASHINGTON — Iran warned Saturday that it would react sharply to any perceived aggression against it. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told the semi-official Tasnim  news agency that Iran would not allow any of its borders to be violated.  He said “Iran will firmly confront any aggression or threat by America.” Britain’s Middle East minister travels to Tehran Sunday for talks with Iranian officials.  Britain’s Foreign Office said Andrew Murrison will call for “urgent de-escalation in the region.”  Murrison will also discuss Iran’s threat to cease complying with the nuclear deal that the United States pulled out of last year.   Friday U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that the United States was “cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it,” Trump tweeted, saying the action would have been disproportionate. “I am in no hurry,” Trump added. President Obama made a desperate and terrible deal with Iran – Gave them 150 Billion Dollars plus I.8 Billion Dollars …

For the first time since Mauritania’s independence, its citizens voted on Saturday for a successor to a democratically-elected president, though a government insider campaigning on a message of continuity is heavily tipped to win. Polls opened at 7 a.m. (0700 GMT) in the election to replace President Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz, 62, who since seizing power in a 2008 coup has positioned himself as an ally of the West in the fight against Islamist militants. Located on the northwest African coast and bordered to the east by the Sahara Desert, the country gained independence from colonial power France in 1960. Abdel Aziz is stepping aside after serving the maximum two five-year elected terms and has thrown his support behind Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, 62, a former general and defense minister. Abdel Aziz could however maintain significant influence behind the scenes. He said on Thursday that he had not ruled out running again in five years when his term limits would reset. Gilles Yabi, the founder of West African think tank WATHI, said Ghazouani was favored to win the election and would likely continue to rule in Abdel Aziz’s mould, but that he could still surprise. “Ghazouani is someone who is very …

Nine passengers and crew were killed Friday evening when their plane crashed near an airfield in Hawaii, authorities said, during what broadcaster CNN said was a skydiving trip. The twin-engine King Air plane went down near the Dillingham Airfield, the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) said. The fire service said the aircraft was engulfed in flames when fire crews arrived and there appeared to be no survivors. “We are still gathering information as to the intent of the flight and what they were doing,” Honolulu Fire Department Chief Manuel Neves told a news conference. CNN said the plane was on a skydiving excursion and that Federal Aviation Administration would investigate the crash. Dillingham is a joint-use airfield operated by the HDOT under a 25-year lease from the U.S. army, according to its website.   …

An Ecuador court ordered the release Thursday of a Swedish national who has ties to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and who was accused of computer hacking, because his detention was deemed “arbitrary.” Ola Bini had been arrested while trying to travel to Japan April 11, the same day Ecuador rescinded Assange’s seven-year claim to asylum in their London embassy. “There was effectively a violation to (Bini’s) right to freedom,” and his detention was “illegitimate and arbitrary,” Judge Patricio Vaca said in his ruling, ordering his immediate release. The court will require Bini to periodically appear before authorities and banned him from leaving the country as investigations continue over his alleged hacking attacks. “Today we have shown my innocence for the first time and we will continue to demonstrate my innocence,” Bini told reporters after being released a few hours after the hearing. “I am not free as long this illegitimate investigation is going on,” Bini said earlier, and his lawyers insisted the entire case against him was baseless. Ecuador has linked Bini to WikiLeaks’s Assange, a damaging charge because Quito has declared that any person close to the Australian was therefore involved in a plot to destabilize President Lenin Moreno. …