Thousands of Hong Kong protesters rallied Sunday, defying a police ban on marches in the Chinese-controlled territory and continuing a restive weekend of demonstrations that saw police fire tear gas overnight. Anti-government protests took place in different locations across the Asian financial hub, including one at the city’s international airport for a third day. Thousands take part in a second day of sit-in protest at the airport in Hong Kong, Aug. 10, 2019. A third day of protests was planned for Sunday. Increasingly violent demonstrations have plunged Hong Kong into its most serious political crisis for decades, posing a serious challenge to the central government in Beijing, which has taken an increasingly tough line. By Sunday afternoon, more than 1,000 black-clad protesters peacefully swarmed the airport arrivals hall, chanting “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our time.” In the city’s Victoria Park, thousands of people including elderly and families with children braved sweltering heat to demand authorities listen to the public’s demands, particularly an independent inquiry into the government’s handling of the crisis and what they say is police brutality. A protester holds a poster depicting protesters, medical worker and people help an injured protester bearing the words “Together” as people …

Clashes have erupted between Muslim worshippers and Israeli police at a major Jerusalem holy site during prayers marking the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. It was not immediately clear what sparked the violence at the site, which Muslims refer to as the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and Jews refer to as the Temple Mount. Thousands of Muslims had flocked to the site early Sunday for holiday prayers. It is the holiest site for Jews and the third holiest for Muslims. It has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli police barred entry to the compound to Jewish visitors Sunday before clashes erupted. Sunday is also the Ninth of Av, the Jewish day of mourning for the destruction of the two Biblical temples built on the site in antiquity. …

Myanmar troops deployed to flood-hit parts of the country Sunday to help with relief efforts after the death toll from a deadly landslide jumped to 48. Every year monsoon rains hammer Myanmar and other countries across Southeast Asia, submerging homes, displacing thousands and triggering landslides. But the disaster Friday in southeastern Mon state was the worst in recent memory, and hundreds of emergency response workers were still pulling bodies out of the muddy wreckage early Sunday. Paung, Myanmar “The total death toll reached 48. Search and rescue is still ongoing,” Paung township administrator Zaw Moe Aung told AFP. Heavy rains pounded Mon, Karen and Kachin states, flooding roads and destroying bridges. As the rainy season reaches its peak, the country’s armed forces are pitching in. “Our regional military commands are working to help with the search and rescue process in disaster areas,” Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told AFP. “Helicopters will be used to supply food.” The bulk of the effort is focused on hard-hit Mon state, which sits on the coast of the Andaman sea. Floodwaters have submerged more than 4,000 houses in the state and displaced more than 25,000 residents who have sought shelter in monasteries and pagodas, …

A powerful typhoon left at least 28 people dead in southeastern China, after a landslide backed up a river that broke through debris and inundated homes, state media reported Sunday. Another 20 people remained missing in Zhejiang province, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Typhoon Lekima made landfall at 1:45 a.m. Saturday in Wenling city, about 300 kilometers (190 miles) south of Shanghai, the China Meteorological Administration said. The deaths occurred in Yongjia county on the outskirts of Wenzhou, a major port city. The river blocked by a landslide rose to a level of 10 meters (30 feet) within 10 minutes, trapping 120 villagers, Xinhua said. More than 1 million people were evacuated before the storm struck, including 253,000 in Shanghai. An uprooted tree is seen on a street after Typhoon Lekima hit Taizhou, Zhejiang province, China, Aug. 10, 2019. Shanghai Disneyland was closed, as were some popular tourist areas along the riverfront in the city’s historic Bund district. “Of course, it’s a little disappointing, but it’s because of the weather so we can all understand, right. This is a natural disaster, isn’t it?” said Wang Chunguang, who was visiting from Jiangsu province north of Shanghai. CCTV said 3,023 airline …

A gunman armed with multiple weapons opened fire in a mosque near Oslo Saturday, injuring one person before being overpowered by an elderly worshipper and arrested, Norwegian police and witnesses said. Hours after the attack, the body of a young woman related to the suspect was found in a home in the suburb of Baerum where the shooting took place earlier in the day, police said Saturday evening. Investigators are treating her death as suspicious and have opened a murder probe. The head of the mosque described the assailant as a young white man dressed in black and said he was wearing a helmet and bulletproof vest. He said only three people had been inside the al-Noor Islamic center at the time of the attack. Police were alerted to the shooting shortly after 4 p.m. local time (1400 GMT). Rune Skjold, assistant chief of police, holds a news conference after a shooting in al-Noor Islamic center mosque, in the police headquarters in Oslo, Norway, Aug. 10, 2019. A lone gunman Officers first reported that a victim had been shot, but later clarified one person had sustained “minor injuries” and that it was unclear if they were gunshot wounds. Police said …

Jacqueline Kennedy, the former first lady of the United States would have turned 90 years old this summer. On the occasion of the anniversary, Maksim Moskalkov visited the house where she first met John F. Kennedy more than half a century ago.   …

The Associated Press contributed to this report. The apparent suicide in federal custody of well-connected U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein is being investigated by the FBI and the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General.  Epstein, who had friendships with U.S. President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Britain’s Prince Andrew, was facing the possibility of 45 years in prison if convicted on charges of orchestrating a sex trafficking ring and sexually abusing dozens of underage girls. Several of Epstein’s accusers said Saturday they’re disappointed that the financier won’t have to face them in court or serve a long prison sentence if convicted. The investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan will continue despite Epstein’s death, a source familiar with the matter said. The government is pursuing an “ongoing investigation of uncharged individuals” in connection with the case. Accusers disappointed One Epstein accuser, who filed a since-settled lawsuit against Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, says she’s grateful he will never harm anyone again, but is angry there will be no chance he answers for his conduct. Virginia Giuffre told The New York Times that her husband woke her early in Australia to share the news that Epstein had died. “We’ve worked so …

Five years ago, the town of Ferguson, Missouri, made international headlines when a local white officer shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, triggering waves of riots. Masood Farivar recently visited to see what has changed in a town that has become a flashpoint for America’s struggles with poverty and race. …

In 1988, sensing a need, religious leaders began delivering meals to people with HIV and AIDS who couldn’t leave their homes. From that simple idea, the nonprofit Food and Friends has grown into a Washington institution, bringing thousands of meals a day to the sick and those in need. VOA’s Unshin Lee reports. …

Leonard Triyono contributed to this report, which originated on FILE – Former Indonesian dictator Suharto sits in his home in Jakarta, Oct. 24. 2006. Threat of violence In addition to the threats posed by the regulations, members of the Indonesian press are under constant threat of physical violence. AJI notes that between 2006 and 2014 there were an average of 50 cases of violence against journalists each year. Government officials and community groups perpetrated most of the attacks. “What we have witnessed recently is that the pressure exerted by the mobs has also increased,” Manan said. “This is something that during the New Order era was almost nonexistent. That started to take place a lot after 1999.” The New Order refers to the three-decade authoritarian rule of Suharto that ended in 1998. Although the government lifted restrictions on the press in May 1998, within the year, journalists were reporting to the international monitors at the Committee to Protect Journalists that they feared reprisals if they reported the details of ethnic killings in Pontianak, West Kalimantan province.  Media freedom improves That said, media freedom in Indonesia has improved significantly since the end of the Suharto era. Indonesia now has hundreds of television …

NEW DELHI — India’s main opposition Congress party on Saturday appointed Sonia Gandhi to serve as interim president until it elects a new party chief.    The party accepted the resignation of her son Rahul Gandhi, who quit in July after Congress’ crushing defeat in national elections. He continues to be a member of Parliament.  A party working committee then asked Sonia Gandhi, 72, to take over in a stop-gap arrangement, party spokesman K.C. Venugopal said.    Sonia Gandhi handed the top party post to her son in 2017 after she suffered health problems. The party has long been led by the politically powerful Nehru-Gandhi family.    Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party won 303 out of 542 seats in the lower house of Parliament, while the Congress party won 52 seats in April-May elections.    In January, Rahul Gandhi inducted his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra into politics as a party general secretary months before the national elections.    Several Congress leaders want Vadra, 47, to  succeed Rahul Gandhi as party president.  She has in the past helped her mother and brother campaign in their constituencies in northern Uttar Pradesh state.    Rahul Gandhi’s father, Rajiv Gandhi, his grandmother, Indira Gandhi, and his great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, have all served …

It didn’t seem to matter that police barred several protest marches Saturday, citing the fear of violence. Thousands of residents, furious with government indifference and harsh policing, fought battles throughout the city as they tried frenzied, urban guerrilla tactics to block roads, occupy the airport terminal, march en masse, participants shrugging off rounds of tear gas. Protesters staged the flash protests in lieu of organized, legal marches after police took the highly unusual step of denying permits, saying they would invite violence. Instead, groups of several hundred protesters gathered in the Kowloon neighborhoods of Tai Po and Tai Wai before hitting the tourist center of Tsim Sha Tsui. For many hours people staged a sit-in at the airport, the second since Friday, to attract international attention to their cause. In addition, strikers blocked the Cross Harbour Tunnel briefly before darting away. Anti-extradition bill protesters set up a roadblock at Tsim Sha Tsui neighborhood in Hong Kong, Aug. 10, 2019. Some lit a fire outside the police station in Tsim Sha Tsui. Others hurled taunts and rocks, and shone laser pointers at officers’ faces until squads of riot police pushed forward, dousing the crowd with tear gas. Soon after, the protesters …

JERUSALEM – The Israeli army said its troops fatally shot four heavily armed Palestinians on the Gaza border early Saturday, alleging one of them had crossed and thrown a grenade at soldiers.    Separately, security forces said they had arrested two Palestinians suspected of killing an off-duty Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank earlier this week.    There have been frequent clashes along the Gaza border since the Palestinians began organizing regular mass protests there in March 2018. But Saturday’s exchange was unusual because of the weaponry the Israeli army said was involved on the Palestinian side.    “The terrorists were equipped with AK-47 assault rifles, RPG grenade launchers and hand grenades,” an army statement said.     A spokeswoman said the army “opened fire after one of the terrorists scaled the barrier and hurled a grenade at the soldiers.”    No Israeli casualties were reported.  ‘Uniforms’   Army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said the four Palestinians were all wearing “uniforms” — without elaborating — and were equipped with food and a medical kit as well as the rifles.    A Hamas statement condemned Israel’s killing of the four Palestinians as a “crime.”    But the Islamist rulers of the Palestinian enclave made no …

Some material for this report came from RFE/RL.  Republican and Democratic lawmakers joined forces to oppose moves by the White House that critics fear could lead to sharp cuts in foreign aid for international health, narcotics and peacekeeping initiatives, and development assistance.    Members of the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees sent a letter Friday to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) expressing “deep concern” after it had instructed the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to freeze about $4 billion in their budgets until it reviewed any money that hadn’t yet been spent.    Critics have said the freeze could be the first step in making cuts to foreign aid.  The lawmakers sent the letter to the OMB seeking to head off such a move and threatening a response if the administration moved ahead with cuts. They also pointed out that, under the Constitution, it is Congress that appropriates money, which they said was “essential” to U.S. global leadership and security.    “Slashing crucial diplomacy and development programming would be detrimental to our national security while also undermining Congress’ intended use for these funds,” said the letter, signed by Sens. James Risch, R-Idaho, and Robert …

HONOLULU — Hawaii experts say two native bird populations have declined by more than half and could face extinction if nothing is done to save them, a report said.    The Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project said 312 Maui parrotbills and 2,411 crested honeycreepers remain in the wild, Hawaii News Now reported Friday.    Those are down more than 50% from previous population estimates of the two Hawaiian honeycreeper species, according to a new interagency monitoring report from the U.S. Geological Survey, Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife, and other wildlife agencies.     “Without intervention, these changes are projected to cause population decline and additional extinction of the remaining Hawaiian forest birds,” recovery project expert Hannah Mounce said.    Studies over the past several decades found there are multiple threats to these two endangered bird species, including disease and habitat degradation, wildlife officials said.    There are plans to reintroduce the parrotbills, also referred to as kiwikiu, to the Nakula Natural Area Reserve in the south and west regions of Maui in order to boost the endangered species’ numbers, experts said.    In preparation for the reintroduction, more than 200,000 native plants were planted in the Nakula Forest Reserve and Kahikinui Forest Reserve since 2013 covering thousands of …

There are reports of panic buying of iodine drops in Severodvinsk. Emergency officials reported a spike in background radiation. The White Sea bay where both the shipbuilding port and the regional capital, Arkhangelsk, are located has been ordered closed for swimming and fishing because of the presence of toxic rocket fuel. A month after a fire aboard a secretive military submarine killed 14 people and prompted criticism of the Russian Defense Ministry, a new fatal incident involving military forces in Russia’s far north has raised new criticism of how authorities handle deadly, and potentially embarrassing, information. The explosion, reported Thursday, occurred in Nyonoksa, a Dvina Bay port not far from the shipbuilding town of Severodvinsk, at a naval site that has been used for decades to test missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Deaths, injuries In its initial statement on the incident, the Defense Ministry said two people were killed and six injured in the blast and the fire that resulted. The ministry said that liquid rocket fuel was the cause of the blast, but that “no harmful chemicals were released into the atmosphere.” (That death toll was updated to five Saturday, according to a statement issued by Rosatom. That the update …

Yemeni separatists have seized control of much of the city of Aden, inflicting a blow to the Saudi-led coalition that is trying to dismantle the country’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement.    Yemeni security officials said Saturday that the separatists also had taken control of the presidential palace, a development confirmed by a spokesman from the Security Belt force, which is dominated by the separatists.    Officials said all military camps in the southern port city also had been seized.    The development complicated U.N. efforts to end the four-year war, which has killed tens of thousands of people and forced the poorest residents to the brink of famine.    The latest fighting erupted Wednesday when separatists tried to break into the presidential palace after Hani Bin Braik, an ex-cabinet minister and deputy head of the so-called Southern Transitional Council, called on forces to “topple” President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi’s government.     Braik accused the president and his forces of being loyal to the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which the United Arab Emirates and some other countries consider a terrorist group.    The internationally recognized Yemeni government has accused Braik of provocations and has called on the Saudi and UAE governments to force the separatists to stop their attacks.    …

The second season of an AMC-TV drama series follows the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and a number of bizarre deaths haunting a community. “The Terror: Infamy” is set to premiere Monday and stars Derek Mio and original “Star Trek” cast member George Takei as they navigate the forced internment and supernatural spirits that surround them. It’s the first television series depicting the internment of Japanese Americans on such a massive scale and camps were recreated with detail to illustrate the conditions and racism internees faced. The show’s new season is part of the Ridley Scott-produced anthology series. Mio, who is fourth-generation Japanese American and plays Chester Nakayama, said he liked the idea of adding a supernatural element to a historical event such as Japanese American internment. He says he had relatives who lived on Terminal Island outside of Los Angeles and were taken to camps. Residents there were some of the first forced into internment camps after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. “If you add the supernatural element, it’s a little more accessible and now it’s like a mainstream subject and it can open up more discussion about what really happened and what’s going on …

A cease-fire agreement has been reached to end fighting in the Libyan capital of Tripoli during the upcoming Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. Libyan National Army (LNA) chief Khalifa Haftar agreed to the United Nation’s-proposed cease-fire Saturday, his spokesman, Ahmad al-Mesmari, said at a news conference in Benghazi. Libya’s U.N.-supported government said earlier Saturday it had accepted the proposed cease-fire for the holiday, which begins Sunday. Militias allied with the government have been fighting since April against an LNA campaign to seize the capital.   More than 1,000 people have been killed in the fighting, according to the World Health Organization. More than 120,000 others have been displaced.   …

The U.N. refugee agency reports more than half-a-million Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh have received identity documents that will give them better access to aid.  An estimated 900,000 Rohingya refugees are living in overcrowded, squalid camps in the town of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.  Most of them fled there two years ago to escape persecution and violence in Myanmar. A joint registration project by Bangladeshi authorities and the U.N. refugee agency will give identity documents to more than 500,000 of the refugees, many for the first time.   The data on these fraud-proof, biometric cards will give national authorities and humanitarian partners a better understanding of the population and its needs.  UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic tells VOA the data collected will allow aid agencies to better help people with specific needs.  “The point of the verification exercise, of conducting a biometric data registration is first and foremost to protect the right of the Rohingya refugees to return to their homes… It is meant to ensure far better planning and far better targeting of the assistance, of very specific types of assistance, that, for example, women would need, that children would need,” said Mahecic. Mahecic explains the new registration cards indicate …

Over 2 million pilgrims are climbing Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia Saturday at the high point of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Rain, thunder and strong wind disrupted the ritual, but most pilgrims appear to have weathered the ordeal. Rituals on Mount Arafat, where Islam’s Prophet Muhammad was reputed to have delivered his final sermon almost 1,400 years ago, is part of the final leg of the annual hajj. Sheikh Mohammed bin-Hassan al-Sheikh delivered the ritual sermon at the Numeira Mosque on Mount Arafat, telling the crowd gathered both inside and outside the building that mercy is the single most important attribute in life. Hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims pray outside Namira Mosque in Arafat during the annual hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2019. He says that God will have mercy on those who have mercy on others and mercy should be the basis of society and all social relations, between fathers and sons, husbands and wives, mothers and other family. Mohammed Salah Bintan, the minister in charge of the pilgrimage, told journalists that the Saudi Arabian government has spent a great deal of money to improve infrastructure used by pilgrims. …

North Korea on Saturday extended a recent streak of weapons displays by firing what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea, according to South Korea’s military. The fifth round of launches in less than three weeks was likely another protest at the slow pace of nuclear negotiations with the United States and the continuance of U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises that the North says are aimed at a northward invasion. The South’s military alerted reporters to the launches hours after President Donald Trump said he received a “beautiful” three-page letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and predicted that they will have more talks to try resolving the nuclear standoff. Trump reiterated that he was not bothered by the flurry of short-range weapons Kim has launched despite the growing threat they pose to U.S. allies in the region, saying Pyongyang has never broken its pledge to pause nuclear tests. Hours after the latest launches, Trump tweeted that Kim spent much of his letter complaining about “the ridiculous and expensive” U.S.-South Korea military exercises. He said that Kim offered him “a small apology” for the flurry of missile tests, and that he assured him they would stop …

A landslide buried more than a dozen village houses in southeastern Myanmar, killing at least 10 people and injuring nearly 30, media reported Saturday. Rescuers were using backhoes and bulldozers to clear the mud and debris from the village in Paung township. The Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that some residents were still missing. The top official in Mon state, Aye Zan, visited the site and villagers who were evacuated to a relief camp to escape floods following torrential rains. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that monsoon flooding had displaced more than 7,000 people this week in Mon state. Apart from the landslide in Paung, houses and a school in other townships were washed away, roads were blocked and villages were submerged. Nearly 12,000 people have been displaced in Myanmar this week alone, bringing the total number of those in evacuation centers to more than 38,000, the U.N. said. …

Updated Aug. 10, 2019, 10:20a.m. Police arrested Russian opposition politician Lyubov Sobol Saturday in Moscow as thousands gathered in the city to protest the exclusion of several opposition candidates from the upcoming city council election. Sobol, who is one of the opposition candidates, was detained at her Moscow office as she was updating supporters on social media before the sanctioned protest began. A video on Sobol’s Twitter feed shows police in riot gear breaking into her office and demanding that journalists who were present to stand against the wall and put away their cell phones. Sobol, an ally of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, chronicled the event as it unfolded. “Look, they are breaking the door right now,” she said. “They will enter right now. I am not afraid. I will not give up. I am asking to get my lawyer and will continue my political activities.” Her arrest came as a protest was about to begin for the third consecutive weekend on the issue. Thousands of people were arrested in the two previous protests that occasionally turned violent. Some opposition activists have called for an unauthorized march in central Moscow after Saturday’s authorized rally, prompting a warning from Moscow police …