Protesters rallied in Hong Kong again on Sunday, as anti-government demonstrations, now in their 11th week, continue.  Mike O’Sullivan reports that the protests were first sparked by an extradition bill, but are now broadly aimed at maintaining Hong’s Kong’s special status within China.     …

Last update: 1:45 p. m. Iran said its seized oil tanker was expected to leave Gibraltar on Sunday after authorities there rejected a U.S. bid to detain it, but it was unclear where the ship might be headed next. “The vessel is expected to leave tonight,” envoy Hamid Baeidinejad said on Twitter, adding that two engineering teams had been flown to Gibraltar to assist in its departure. Tehran said it was ready to dispatch its naval fleet to escort the ship, loaded with 2.1 million barrels of light crude oil worth $130 million, but Iran gave no indication where it would set sail for. The ship, called the Grace 1 but now renamed by Iran as Adrian Darya 1, was seized July 4 by Gibraltar, an overseas British territory, because authorities there believed the crude oil was headed to Syria, an Iran ally, in violation of European Union sanctions. Originally, the ship was flying under a Panamanian flag but after it was renamed, a red, white and green Iranian flag was hoisted over the ship. In this July 21, 2019 photo, an aerial view shows a speedboat of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard moving around the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero which …

Restrictions continued in much of Indian-administered Kashmir on Sunday, despite India’s government saying it was gradually restoring phone lines and easing a security lockdown that’s been in place for nearly two weeks. Soldiers manned nearly deserted streets and limited the movement of the few pedestrians who came out of their homes in Srinagar, the region’s main city. The security crackdown and a news blackout were installed following an Aug. 5 decision by India’s Hindu nationalist government to downgrade the Muslim-majority region’s autonomy. Authorities started easing restrictions on Saturday. But the Press Trust of India news agency said authorities re-imposed restrictions in parts of Srinagar after violence was reported on Saturday. About 300 Kashmiris returned to Srinagar on Sunday from a Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Many of them became emotional while reuniting with their family members who met them at the city’s airport. Due to the security and communications lockdown, many travelers were unable to contact anybody in the Kashmir region. “Neither us nor our relatives here knew if we were dead or alive,” Muhammad Ali said after returning from the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. Public transport buses started operating in some rural areas in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Saturday. …

 Jaffar Mjasiri contributed to this article. A Tanzanian regional governor is calling for a nationwide public database listing married men as a means of protecting prospective brides from humiliation and heartbreak, he says. Paul Makonda, the top official in the commercial capital of Dar es Salaam, announced his plan earlier this week. He proposed the database after saying women had complained to him of lovers who had pretended they were single and promised marriage but then deserted them, along with children they’d fathered. The women were left without financial or other support. “We can see from our women, they are suffering a lot,” Makonda told VOA in a phone call Wednesday. He said that at least one despondent woman had become suicidal “because somebody has been cheating [on] her. … We have to find a way to protect these women.” The official offered this rationale for the campaign: “If the family is not going well, don’t expect the country to be in a good position. Everything starts from the family. … So it is our responsibility as a government to make sure that people are living in harmony.” Anna Henga, executive director of the independent Legal and Human Rights Center  …

The World Food Program warns that millions of people in Burkina Faso are facing what it calls an unprecedented humanitarian emergency because of growing hunger, instability and displacement. Fighting in Burkina Faso has intensified over the past six months, raising intercommunal tensions. Attacks, killings and targeted kidnappings by different armed groups have increased. The United Nations reports escalating fighting, some fueled by ethnic and religious beliefs, has forced more than 237,000 people to flee their homes. The insecurity and large-scale displacement, it says, has led to the closure of dozens of health centers and thousands of schools, depriving nearly 330,000 children of an education. In addition, hundreds of thousands of people are facing severe food shortages. World Food Program spokesman, Herve Verhoosel, told VOA that hunger is particularly high during the so-called lean season. This, he explains, is the period between June and September when food stocks are particularly low before the next harvest. “People have the problem to find food. Sometimes a problem of access. Then because of the security issues they cannot always access to markets or to go to work in the farms for example. That is why the combination of those two problems are giving the …

Frustrated by Italy’s interior minister in their quest to set foot in Europe, several migrants jumped into the sea from a Spanish rescue boat that has been blocked for days from docking at an Italian island in a thwarted bid Sunday to reach land on their own.    “We have been warning for days, desperation has its limits,” said Open Arms founder Oscar Camps, who released a video showing four migrants, in orange life vests, swimming toward Lampedusa island, while several crew members from the humanitarian group’s ship swam quickly to catch up with them and bring them back aboard.   FILE – Migrants are evacuated by Italian Coast guards from the Open Arms Spanish humanitarian boat at the coasts of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, southern Italy, Aug. 17, 2019. For days, Open Arms, which on Sunday had 107 migrants aboard, has been anchored off Lampedusa, a fishing and vacation island between Sicily and northern Africa. The boat initially had 147 migrants aboard when it reached Italian waters. In the last few days, 40 migrants have transferred by Italian coast guard vessels to Lampedusa, including a few who were ailing and 27 who said they were minors.   Right-wing …

A study by the FILE – A Rohingya refugee girl sells vegetables in Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh, Aug. 28, 2018. Ingram told VOA that UNICEF is appealing to Myanmar authorities to provide education to the children in the refugee camps.  Until now, he said, the children have been taught in the Burmese language by volunteer teachers from the refugee population. “And, with the best will in the world, that is not the same as having a properly trained teacher, someone who has experience of delivering the Myanmar government’s own curriculum.  So, that is really what we are looking for and those are the conversations that are now ongoing with the government in Myanmar and we hope that we will receive a positive response to that,” said Ingram. Ingram said it is critical for refugee children to be taught in Burmese as that is the language they will need if and when they return back to Myanmar.  Unfortunately, he notes Rohingya adolescents will continue to live in limbo until it is safe for them to go home.  He acknowledged that going home does not appear to be a realistic possibility for the foreseeable future.   …

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets Sunday in rain-drenched Hong Kong for another anti-government rally. This is the eleventh weekend in a row that protesters have turned out to voice their dismay. The demonstrations began as peaceful protests to stop an extradition bill that would allow criminal suspects to face trial in mainland China’s opaque legal system.  Since then the protests have evolved into a movement for democratic reforms. The protests are generally peaceful, but activists have sometimes clashed with police. “We hope that there will not  be any chaotic situations today,” organizer Bonnie Leung told the Associated Press. The extradition bill has been suspended, but the protests continue as Hong Kong residents worry about the erosion of freedoms guaranteed under the “one country, two systems” mandate that has been in place since the territory’s return from British to Chinese rule in 1997. China’s paramilitary troops have been training in Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, causing concern that China is ready to send in the troops to suppress the protests.  Hong Kong’s police have insisted they are able to handle the demonstrators. Demonstrations last weekend at Hong Kong Airport spilled over into the work week, crippling one …

Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren framed their Democratic presidential bids in personal, faith-based terms Saturday before black millennial Christians who could help determine which candidate becomes the leading progressive alternative to former Vice President Joe Biden. Sanders, the Vermont senator whose struggles with black voters helped cost him the 2016 nomination, told the Young Leaders Conference that his family history shapes his approach to President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and the rise of white nationalism in the United States. “I’m Jewish. My family came from Poland. My father’s whole family was wiped out by Hitler and his white nationalism,” Sanders said at the forum led by the Black Church PAC, a political action committee formed by prominent black pastors. “We will go to war against white nationalism and racism in every aspect of our lives,” Sanders said, promising to use the “bully pulpit” to unite instead of divide.  Warren, a Massachusetts senator and United Methodist, quoted her favorite biblical passage, which features Jesus instructing his followers to provide for others, including the “least of these my brethren.” “That’s about two things,” Warren said. “Every single one of us has the Lord within us. …. Secondly, the Lord does not call on …

Police in Portland, Oregon, arrested at least 13 people Saturday, established concrete barriers, closed streets and bridges, and seized a multitude of weapons in an attempt to preempt violence between right-wing groups and anti-fascist counter-protesters. Metal poles, bear spray, shields and other weapons were taken from protesters by the authorities Saturday as hundreds of far-right protesters and counter-demonstrators crowded the downtown area, but there were no major incidents between the two factions.  Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said at an evening news conference, however, that the event was connected with “a rising white nationalist movement” and a growing sense of fear in the U.S.   Police officers detain a protester against right-wing demonstrators following an “End Domestic Terrorism” rally in Portland, Ore., on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019. The mayor said Joe Biggs, the organizer of the far-right demonstration, was not welcome in Portland. “We do not want him here in my city. Period.”  Biggs said Saturday was a success. “Go look at President Trump’s Twitter,” he told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “He talked about Portland, said he’s watching antifa. That’s all we wanted.”  U.S. President Donald Trump indicated Saturday morning that he could take action on Antifa. The president said in a tweet, …

Three Palestinian men were killed by Israeli forces, the Palestinian health ministry said Sunday, adding that another Palestinian man was wounded in the shooting.  An Israeli military statement said a military “attack helicopter and tank” opened fire on a group of armed men spotted “adjacent to the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip” that separates Israel from Gaza. The incident happened just hours after three rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel.  There were no immediate reports of casualties in that incident. …

This story was first reported in VOA Learning English.  As tuition and fees have increased sharply in the U.S. over the past 30 years, schools are looking for ways to make college and university more affordable.  Between 1990 and 2012 while college enrollment increased 62 percent, the volume of borrowing for school increased 352 percent, according to the Heritage Foundation. By the end of 2017, according to the Federal Reserve Bank, national student loan debt in the United States was $1.48 trillion.  One popular option is community college. These schools offer a two-year study program that awards an associate’s degree at a cost vastly less expensive than four-year schools. Those credits are typically transferrable to a four-year college or university where a student can achieve a bachelor’s degree.  Some four-year colleges and universities, often public institutions, offer free tuition but ask students to pay for room and board, like housing and food. Books and other school supplies may also be the responsibility of the students, which may add up to an unaffordable package of schools costs from some students. Some colleges exchange part-time work on campus for lowered tuition and fees. Berea College in rural Kentucky, does not charge tuition. …

For many, blindness or poor vision can keep them from activities like cycling. But a NYC non-profit called InTandem works to make cycling accessible to everyone. The organization unites sighted New Yorkers with the visually impaired so that everyone can enjoy a ride. Anna Nelson has the story narrated by Anna Rice. …

Authorities in Afghanistan say the death toll has risen to more than 63 and injured to 183 in the overnight suicide bombing at a packed wedding hall in the capital, Kabul. The victims were mostly members of the minority Shi’ite Hazara community.  Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi confirmed the casualty toll in a statement issued early Sunday, saying women and children were among the victims. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the carnage, one of the worst attacks against Afghan civilians in recent years. The Taliban denied its involvement and condemned the bombing. A spokesman for the insurgent group said “such barbaric deliberate attacks against civilians including women and children are forbidden and unjustifiable.” Afghan police men stand guard outside the wedding hall after an explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug.18, 2019. Almost all recent bombings in the city, particularly against the Hazara community, have been claimed by Islamic State’s Afghan branch, known as Khorasan Province.  Rahimi in a statement he issued shortly after the attack said the blast occurred just before midnight on Saturday and police and ambulances quickly reached the site to transport victims to Kabul hospitals. Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the …

As back to back mass shootings in the U.S. prompt more difficult debates on gun laws, researchers at University of Southern California (USC) are working on a different, perhaps less controversial method of keeping people inside buildings safe and deterring people who want to commit acts of mass violence.   Design and Behavior Engineers and computer scientists are exploring building design and technology seeking ways to protect people. Recent innovations offer many possibilities, from placement of exits to the number of hiding spots and even walls that move.  But before designs can be put in place, researchers must first observe the behavior of the building’s occupants. How do the people inside a building respond when an active shooter is present? Will their behavior change if the building is designed in a different way? Virtual reality (VR) is the first step to answering these questions and helping engineers create a safer building according to USC assistant professor Gale Lucas, who conducts research in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering Computer Science Department and Institute for Creative Technologies.   “We’re interested in looking at how different building attributes affect responses to incidents of extreme violence, and that’s something that we can’t manipulate easily …

Britain will face shortages of fuel, food and medicine if it leaves the European Union without a transition deal, jamming ports and requiring a hard border in Ireland, official government documents leaked to the Sunday Times show. The Times said the forecasts compiled by the Cabinet Office set out the most likely aftershocks of a no-deal Brexit rather than the worst case scenarios. They said up to 85% of lorries using the main channel crossings “may not be ready” for French customs, meaning disruption at ports would potentially last up to three months before the flow of traffic improves. The government believes a hard border between the British province of Northern Ireland and the Republic will be likely as current plans to avoid widespread checks will prove unsustainable, the Times said. …

Workers erected a wooden wall around Mexico City’s iconic Angel of Independence monument Saturday after feminists defaced it with graffiti during a raucous and violent protest over a string of alleged rapes by police. The disorder Friday night erupted as part of protests that arose this week over a perception that city officials were not adequately investigating the rape accusations. Both victims were teenagers. The demonstrations have become known as the “glitter protests” after marchers doused the city’s police chief in pink glitter. Hundreds of city workers spent the wee hours of the morning pressure-cleaning and painting over graffiti. The deputy director of artistic patrimony at the National Fine Arts Institute, Dolores Martinez, said at the base of the statue that officials were assessing the damage to the Angel and other points in the capital that protesters attacked.  At the same time, Martinez added, the fine arts institute “respects freedom of speech and offers support for actions to eradicate all forms of violence against women.” Protesters wrote phrases like “They don’t take care of us” and “rape state” in lime green, purple and black spray paint across the base of the Angel monument, which commemorates Mexico’s independence from Spain and …

LOS ALAMOS, NEW MEXICO – Officials at Los Alamos National Laboratory have plans for $13 billion worth of construction projects over the next decade at the northern New Mexico complex as it prepares to ramp up production of plutonium cores for the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal.    They outlined their plans at a recent meeting attended by hundreds of representatives of construction firms from around the country.    Beyond the new infrastructure related to plutonium assignment, other work most likely will be aimed at serving a growing workforce — from planned housing projects and parking garages to a potential new highway that would reduce commute times from Albuquerque and Santa Fe for the 60% of employees who live outside Los Alamos County.  2,600 jobs   Lab Director Thomas Mason told the Albuquerque Journal the lab has 1,400 openings and plans to add another 1,200 jobs to its workforce of 12,000 by 2026.      “It’s a busy time at the lab,” he said. “We’re probably busier than we have been since the height of the Cold War.”    Mason said $3 billion in spending is planned for improvements to the lab’s existing plutonium facility for the core work. An accelerator project …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina’s treasury minister, Nicolas Dujovne, resigned Saturday and will be replaced by the economy minister of the country’s most populous state, a senior official in the presidential office said.    The resignation came three days after President Mauricio Macri announced his conservative administration was temporarily increasing the minimum wage, reducing payroll taxes and implementing other steps to help Argentine workers as the country struggles to overcome sizzling inflation, high unemployment and other economic problems.    Macri acted after a leftist presidential slate that includes his predecessor, Cristina Fernandez, turned in a powerful showing last Sunday in primary voting for candidates going into October general elections. Macri’s slate did poorly, and the already weak Argentine peso slumped and stock prices fell sharply as investors worried about the vote results.    In his resignation letter, Dujovne reportedly said the government needed to make “a significant overhaul in the economic area.” He said the administration had made strides in reducing the government’s deficit and reducing taxes, but added that “we undoubtedly made mistakes.”    The presidency official, who agreed to confirm the resignation only if not quoted by name, said Dujovne would be replaced by Hernan Lacunza, the economy minister for Buenos Aires province. Lacunza previously was general manager of the Central Bank.  …

LONDON – Prime Minister Boris Johnson will tell French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel that his nation’s Parliament cannot stop Brexit and a new deal must be agreed if Britain is to avoid leaving the EU without one.  In his first trip abroad as leader, Johnson is due to meet his European counterparts ahead of a G-7 summit on Aug. 24-26 in Biarritz, France.  He will say that Britain is leaving the European Union on Oct. 31, with or without a deal, and that Parliament cannot block that, according to a Downing Street source.  The United Kingdom is heading toward a constitutional crisis at home and a showdown with the EU as Johnson has repeatedly vowed to leave the bloc on Oct. 31 without a deal unless it agrees to renegotiate the Brexit divorce.  Refusing to reconsider After more than three years of Brexit dominating EU affairs, the bloc has repeatedly refused to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement, which includes an Irish border insurance policy that Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, agreed to in November.  The prime minister is coming under pressure from politicians across the political spectrum to prevent a disorderly departure, with opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn vowing to bring down Johnson’s government in early September to delay Brexit.  It is, however, unclear if lawmakers …

TEJEDA, SPAIN – A wildfire in the Canary Islands led to the evacuation of a small town in Gran Canaria island on Saturday, and officials said the blaze had a “great potential” to spread.  The wildfire started in the town of Valleseco, and an emergency area was also declared for the municipalities of Moya and Tejeda. In the latter, most parts of the town of 1,900 inhabitants were evacuated for precautionary reasons and roads were closed, the regional government said.  Seven helicopters, as well as firefighters on the ground, were battling the blaze.  Tejeda had been evacuated last week when another wildfire affected the area.  …

Updated at 5:52 p.m. Aug. 17. ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – Authorities in Afghanistan said a massive bomb blast late Saturday inside a packed wedding hall in Kabul “killed and injured dozens of civilians.”  There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the bombing in a western part of the Afghan capital. The victims were mostly members of the minority Shiite Hazara community.  Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi confirmed the blast and blamed “enemies of Afghanistan” for plotting the carnage. He did not explain further.  Rahimi said police and ambulances quickly reached the site, and victims were transported to city hospitals. He said the nature of the blast was being determined, and he promised to issue soon an exact casualty toll and other details.  Local journalists quoted survivors as saying they saw dozens of bodies all around the hall following the powerful explosion.  Taliban insurgents routinely carry out attacks against government security forces in Kabul. But almost all recent bombings against the Hazara community in the city have been claimed by Islamic State’s Afghan branch, known as Khorasan Province.  Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict in Afghanistan, where more than 1,500 civilians were killed or wounded in July alone, according to …

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, PAKISTAN – Pakistani intelligence officials said a roadside bomb attack killed two army soldiers Saturday in the country’s northwest.    The officials said the planted bomb exploded when a security forces vehicle was patrolling in the Ladha area of South Waziristan.      The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.      No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but past such attacks have been claimed by Pakistani Taliban.      South Waziristan was a stronghold of Mahsud militants until the army carried out multiple offensives against them in recent years.    The army claims to have cleared the area near the Afghan border of Islamic militants.  …

BEIRUT – Airstrikes have killed more than two dozen civilians in northwestern Syria in the last two days in an escalation of a Russian-backed offensive against the last major rebel stronghold, a war monitor and local activists said Saturday.  An airstrike in the village of Deir Sharki killed seven members of one family, most of them children, on Saturday morning, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Another seven people were killed by bombardments in other areas, it said.  On Friday, airstrikes in the village of al-Haas killed 13 people. The dead included a pregnant woman and her unborn baby, local activists and the observatory said. They had been seeking shelter after fleeing another area.  Rami Abdulrahman, director of the observatory, said the government’s aim was apparently to force civilians to flee from areas that had been relatively unscathed in the military escalation that began in late April.  “They are bombing the towns and their outskirts to push people to flee,” he said, adding that hundreds of families were moving northward, away from the targeted areas.  No military positions  Ahmad al-Dbis, safety and security manager for the U.S.-based Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM), which supports medical facilities in the northwest, said the bombardment had widened into populated areas where there were no military positions.  “They are being targeted to drive …