Officials in northern Burkina Faso say at least 29 people were killed in two separate incidents Sunday.  Government spokesman Remis Dandjinou said, in a statement, at least 15 people were killed when a truck carrying people and goods “rode over an improvised explosive device in the Barsalogho area.”  Fourteen people were killed when a food convoy of trucks came under attack in Sanmatenga province, according to the spokesman.  The French news agency AFP reports that locals sources said many of the dead in the convoy were the drivers of the vehicles carrying provisions for people displaced by fighting.  “Military reinforcements have been deployed and a thorough search in under way,” said Dandjinou.  Millions of people in Burkina Faso are facing an unprecedented humanitarian emergency because of growing hunger, instability and displacement,  the World Food Program warned recently.  The United Nations reports escalating fighting, some fueled by ethnic and religious beliefs, has forced more than 237,000 people to flee their homes.   Jihadists have frequently launched attacks on Burkina’s military.  A former French colony, Burkina Faso in one of the poorest countries in the world. …

Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China and any form of  secessionism “will be crushed,” state media said on Monday, a day after demonstrators rallied at the U.S. consulate to ask for help in bringing democracy to city. The China Daily newspaper said Sunday’s rally in Hong Kong was proof that foreign forces were behind the protests, which began in mid-June, and warned that demonstrators should “stop trying the patience of the central government”. Chinese officials have accused foreign forces of trying to hurt Beijing by creating chaos in Hong Kong over a hugely unpopular extradition bill that would have allowed suspects to be tried in Communist Party-controlled courts. Anger over the bill grew into sometimes violent protests calling for more freedoms for Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula.  Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam formally scrapped the bill last week as part of concessions aimed at ending the protests. “Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China – and that is the bottom line no one should challenge, not the demonstrators, not the foreign forces playing their dirty games,” the China Daily said in an editorial. “The demonstrations in …

Nissan Motor Co’s nominating committee will discuss Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa’s resignation and possible successors at a meeting on Monday, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Saikawa has expressed his desire to resign from the troubled automaker and is not “clinging to his chair”, the source said, declining to be identified because the information has not been made public. The Nikkei newspaper earlier reported that Saikawa told reporters on Monday he wanted to “pass the baton” to the next generation as soon as possible. The executive has come under pressure since admitting last week to being improperly compensated.   …

A charity ship run by humanitarian groups in the Mediterranean spent a rainy Sunday searching open waters for a fragile rubber boat overloaded with migrants before finally plucking 50 people to safety not far off Libya’s coast. The Norwegian-flagged Ocean Viking, which is operated jointly by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders, sent its own boats to pick up a pregnant woman close to full term, 12 minors and 37 men, all from sub-Saharan Africa. “God bless you!” one of the men told the rescuers as they passed life vests to the wet and barefoot passengers. At least two people feeling ill collapsed upon arrival on the Ocean Viking, while three others were soaked in fuel and two were suffering from mild hypothermia. The operation was witnessed by an Associated Press journalist aboard the ship, which found the migrant boat some 14 nautical miles (16 statute miles) from Libya. The rescue occurred 14 hours after the Ocean Viking as well as Libyan, Italian and Maltese authorities, the United Nations’ refugee agency and Moonbird, a humanitarian observation plane, received an email by Alarm Phone, a hotline for migrants. It was an urgent call seeking help for the rubber boat carrying 50 …

World War II veteran Henry Ochsner, who landed on the beach at Normandy on D-Day and later received the French government’s highest honor for his service, has died. He was 96. Family friend Dennis Anderson says Ochsner died Saturday at his home in California City of complications from cancer and old age. As part of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division — known as the “Screaming Eagles” — Ochsner also fought at the Battle of the Bulge. In 2017 Ochsner and nine other veterans were awarded France’s National Order of the Legion of Honor during a ceremony at Los Angeles National Cemetery. Ochsner married Violet Jenson in 1947. He is survived by his wife, their four daughters and two granddaughters. Funeral plans are pending. …

More than 2,000 people – including the U.S. ambassador and several other Western diplomats – marched in Sarajevo Sunday for Bosnia’s first-ever gay pride parade. There were nearly as many riot police and other security forces at the march as participants after conservative Muslims and other religious groups demanded it be canceled. The marchers waved the universal gay pride rainbow flag, beat drums, and chanted slogans. “We demand a society which we will together fight against violence, hatred, isolation, and homophobia.” one marcher said while others decried the official non-recognition of same sex partnerships in Bosnia. While the Bosnian government outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation, civil unions and other rights such as adoption are still not formally allowed.   …

Despite a fragile ceasefire that was announced unilaterally by the Syrian government troops last week, the situation in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib remains uncertain as extremist militants, including foreign fighters, seem determined to carry on their fight against the Syrian regime. Since April, Idlib has been the target of a military campaign by the Syrian regime and allied Russian forces as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces seek to retake control of the area, which is considered the last major rebel stronghold in Syria. But Russia declared last week that Syrian troops have halted their operations to “stabilize the situation” in Idlib. On Sunday, however, Syrian state media reported that clashes broke out between regime troops and jihadist forces in the southern countryside of Idlib. According to the latest U.N. count, at least 1,000 civilians have been killed in Idlib since April. Unimplemented deal The northwestern Syrian province, home to nearly 3 million people, has been a center of contention between Russia and Turkey, two powers that support opposite sides of the Syrian conflict. In September 2018, Moscow and Ankara reached an agreement that postponed a planned Syrian regime offensive on Idlib and other areas near the Turkish border. …

The history-making storm known as Dorian got in its last licks Sunday before heading into the North Atlantic for its welcome demise. Dorian – now what is known as a post-tropical cyclone – battered the Canadian Maritime provinces and far-eastern Quebec with tropical storm force winds, tearing off the roofs of homes and buildings, uprooting trees, and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands. No Canadian storm deaths are reported. Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has issued temporary flight restrictions to U.S. aircraft over the Bahamas to reserve the airspace for search and rescue missions. The FAA says its order came at the request of the Bahamian government. The head of the U.S. Agency for International Development Mark Green, toured Abaco and Great Bahama islands. He said parts look as if a nuclear bomb had gone off. “We recognize that there’s a long road ahead but we’re going to work closely with the prime minister and his government to make sure that we help provide immediate relief,” Green said Sunday. The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard are bringing in what is needed most — food, water sanitation, and emergency shelter. Relief has also poured in from the United Nations, …

Rescuers were searching Sunday for four crew members of a cargo ship that overturned and caught fire near a port on the Georgia coast, but the efforts ran into trouble amid the flames and instability of the ship, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The Golden Ray cargo ship’s problems began in the early morning when it listed heavily and rolled on its side in St. Simons Sound near the Port of Brunswick with 23 crew members and one pilot on board. Coast Guard Capt. John Reed said 20 were safely evacuated from the ship before rescuers determined the situation, as smoke and flames appeared, was too risky to go further inside the vessel. Reed said rescue teams Sunday were trying to stabilize the 656-foot vehicle carrier to continue their search for the missing crew, but they have been unable to determine if the fire has been extinguished. “Once salvage professionals have determined the vessel to be stable, we will identify the best option to continue our rescue efforts for the four crew remembers who remain on board,” Reed said at a Sunday afternoon news conference. Search and rescue operations involve federal, state and local agencies. Coast Guard Lt. Lloyd Heflin …

An Iranian oil tanker at the center of a major diplomatic dispute with the United States has sold its cargo in violations of international sanctions, Iran said. “The Adrian Darya oil tanker finally docked on the Mediterranean coast … and unloaded its cargo,” Iran’s state news agency IRNA quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi as saying on Sunday. He didn’t elaborate on the country involved. The tanker was carrying 2.1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil. The tanker went dark last week and has been photographed by a satellite off the coast of Syria. The ship was detained by British Marines off Gibraltar in July after it was suspected of violating European Union sanctions against oil sales to Syria. It was held in the British territory for six weeks and eventually released, over the objections of the U.S., after Gibraltar said it has received assurances that it would not head for any countries under EU sanctions. Since then, U.S. has pursued the tanker, tried to offer a multi-million dollar bribe to its captain to turn over the ship and issued sanctions against its crew. Also Sunday, Mousavi hinted that Iran might soon release the British-flagged tanker seized by Iran in …

Samples taken by the U.N. nuclear watchdog at what Israel’s prime minister called a “secret atomic warehouse” in Tehran showed traces of uranium that Iran has yet to explain, two diplomats who follow the agency’s inspections work closely say. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is investigating the particles’ origin and has asked Iran to explain the traces. But Tehran has not done so, according to the diplomats, stoking tensions between Washington and Tehran. U.S. sanctions have slashed Iranian oil sales and Iran has responded by breaching its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. In a speech a year ago Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vehemently opposed the deal, called on the IAEA to visit the site immediately, saying it had housed 15 kg (33 lb) of unspecified radioactive material that had since been removed. Reuters first reported in April that the IAEA, which is policing the nuclear deal, had inspected the site – a step it had said it takes “only when necessary” – and environmental samples taken there were sent off for analysis. Israeli and U.S. media have since reported that the samples turned up traces of radioactive material or matter – the same vague language used …

Mark Sanford, the former South Carolina governor and congressman, joined the Republican race against President Donald Trump on Sunday, aiming to put his Appalachian trail travails behind him for good as he pursues an admittedly remote path to the presidency. “I am here to tell you now that I am going to get in,” Sanford said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” ″This is the beginning of a long walk.” When asked why he was taking on an incumbent who’s popular within the party, Sanford, who has acknowledged his slim chances by saying he doesn’t expect to become president, said: “I think we need to have a conversation on what it means to be a Republican. I think that as the Republican Party, we have lost our way.” Sanford joins Joe Walsh, a former tea-party-backed, one-term congressman from Illinois, and Bill Weld, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts, as primary challengers to Trump. “This vanity project is going absolutely nowhere,” said Drew McKissick, the South Carolina Republican Party chairman. Sanford tweeted that he respects “the view of many Republican friends who have suggested that I not run, but I simply counter that competition makes us stronger.” “Humbly I step …

Todd Phillips’ dark comic book film “Joker” won the Golden Lion Award at the 76th Venice International Film Festival on Saturday and cemented its place as a legitimate contender for the rest of the awards season. Jury president Lucretia Martel announced the winners of the prestigious award during a ceremony on the Lido. The Golden Lion previously put a spotlight on films that went on to be major awards season players, such as “Roma” and the film academy’s 2018 best picture winner, “The Shape of Water.” “I want to thank Warner Bros. and DC for stepping out of their comfort zone and taking such a bold swing on me and this movie,” Phillips said with star Joaquin Phoenix by his side on stage. Phoenix did not win the best actor prize — it went to Italian actor Luca Marinelli for the Jack London adaptation “Martin Eden” — but the director of “Joker” dedicated much of his speech to the talents of his leading man. In the film, he transforms from struggling stand-up comedian Arthur Fleck into Batman’s classic nemesis. “Thank you for trusting me with your insane talents,” Phillips said to Phoenix. Actress Emmanuelle Seigner holds the Silver Lion Grand …

Sudan’s first Cabinet since the ouster of president Omar al-Bashir was sworn in Sunday as the African country transitions to a civilian rule following nationwide protests that overthrew the autocrat. The 18-member Cabinet led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, which includes four women, took oath at the presidential palace in Khartoum, an AFP correspondent reported. It is expected to steer the daily affairs of the country during a transition period of 39 months. The line-up was formed after Sudan last month swore in a “sovereign council” — a joint civilian-military ruling body that aims to oversee the transition. The 18 ministers were seen greeting members of the sovereign council, including its chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in images broadcast by state television from the palace. “We have to put in a lot of efforts to meet our people’s demands,” Information Minister Faisal Mohamed Saleh told reporters after the swearing in ceremony. “The world is watching us. It is waiting to see how we can solve our issues.” The sovereign council itself is the result of a power-sharing deal between the protesters and generals who had seized power after the army ousted Bashir in April. Hamdok’s Cabinet, which has the country’s first …

Taking another page out of President Donald Trump’s playbook, Israel’s prime minister is trying to pass a law requiring video cameras at Israeli polling stations ahead of next week’s vote — an effort that’s drawing charges of racism and incitement. The 11th hour move, allegedly meant to prevent fraud in Arab voting stations, could have a tough time passing parliament on such short notice.   It’s nonetheless become an effective campaign tool for embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to galvanize his supporters. During April’s vote, Netanyahu’s Likud party deployed activists with cameras at polls in Arab communities.   Critics accuse him of diverting attention from a flawed campaign, undermining the country’s democratic institutions and potentially setting the stage for a Trump-like rejection of the results if he loses.     …

The lander module from India’s moon mission was located on the lunar surface on Sunday, one day after it lost contact with the space station, and efforts are underway to try to establish contact with it, the head of the nation’s space agency said. The Press Trust of India news agency cited Indian Space and Research Organization chairman K. Sivan as saying cameras from the moon mission’s orbiter had located the lander. “It must have been a hard landing,” PTI quoted Sivan as saying. ISRO officials could not be reached for comment. The space agency said it lost touch with the Vikram lunar lander on Saturday as it made its final approach to the moon’s south pole to deploy a rover to search for signs of water. A successful landing would have made India just the fourth country to land a vessel on the lunar surface, and only the third to operate a robotic rover there. The space agency said Saturday that the lander’s descent was normal until 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the lunar surface. The roughly $140 million mission, known as Chandrayaan-2, was intended to study permanently shadowed moon craters that are thought to contain water deposits that …

The Afghan Taliban have denounced President Donald Trump’s decision to call off peace talks with the insurgent group, claiming American interlocuters were happy with a deal both sides had negotiated in Doha, and that September 23 had been decided as a date to move to the next step—the start of negotiations with other Afghan factions. In a Pashto language statement Sunday, the insurgent group also claimed it will not give up its fight and that the U.S. will be forced to return to negotiations eventually. Trump called off the peace deal with the Taliban in a series of Tweets, blaming “an attack in Kabul that killed one of our great great soldiers, and 11 other people.” ….an attack in Kabul that killed one of our great great soldiers, and 11 other people. I immediately cancelled the meeting and called off peace negotiations. What kind of people would kill so many in order to seemingly strengthen their bargaining position? They didn’t, they…. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad (L), meets with Afghanistan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sept. 2, 2019. (Afghan Chief Executive office/Handout via Reuters) Days earlier, Khalilzad had told …

One of the most powerful typhoons to ever hit the Korean Peninsula has left five people dead and three injured in North Korea, state media reported Sunday, in its first public announcement of casualties since the storm made landfall in the country a day earlier. Before reaching North Korea, Typhoon Lingling hit South Korea, killing three people and injuring 13 others, though the country appears to have escaped widespread damage. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, said the typhoon left 460 houses and 15 public buildings destroyed, damaged or inundated in the country. It said 46,200 hectares of farmland were buried or inundated. KCNA said the typhoon hit North Korea from 2 p.m. Saturday to midnight Sunday. Recovery work was underway in typhoon-afflicted areas, it said. Outside observers said rainstorms could be a catastrophe in North Korea because of poor drainage, deforestation and decrepit infrastructure in the impoverished country. South Korean media said North Korea could eventually report more typhoon-related casualties and damage. According to a previous KCNA dispatch, leader Kim Jong Un “urgently convened” an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss disaster prevention efforts and scolded government officials who he described as “helpless against the typhoon, …

Former Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe is expected to be buried next Sunday, state media reported. Mugabe, an ex-guerrilla leader who became the southern African country’s first leader following independence from white minority rule in 1980 and held on to power until he was forced to resign in 2017, died in Singapore on Friday. His body will arrive in Zimbabwe on Wednesday, the Sunday Mail quoted presidential spokesman George Charamba as saying. Mugabe enjoyed strong backing from Zimbabwe’s people after taking over in 1980 but that support waned following decades of repression, economic mismanagement and allegations of election-rigging. He is still regarded by many as a national hero, though, with some even beginning to say they missed him after his successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former ally turned foe, failed to revive the economy and used the army to crush dissent. According to Charamba, Mnangagwa and family members will receive the body at the airport named after the former president in the capital, Harare. The body will be taken to his rural home, about 85 kilometers (53 miles) southwest of Harare before being placed in a giant stadium for public viewing. Mnangagwa, who described Mugabe as a “a great teacher and mentor”, …

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Sunday replaced the energy minister with one of his sons, state media said, in a major shakeup as the OPEC kingpin reels from low oil prices. The appointment of Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, half-brother to de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, marks the first time a royal family member has been put in charge of the all-important Energy Ministry. He replaces veteran official Khalid al-Falih as the world’s top crude exporter accelerates preparations for a much-anticipated stock listing of state-owned oil giant Aramco, expected to be the world’s biggest. “Khalid al-Falih has been removed from his position,” the official Saudi Press Agency said, citing a royal decree. “His royal highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman is appointed minister of energy.” Since his appointment as oil minister in 2016, Falih has been the face of Saudi energy policy but the veteran technocrat had seen his portfolio shrink in recent weeks. His ouster comes just days after he was removed as chairman of Aramco and replaced by Yasir al-Rumayyan, governor of the kingdom’s vast Public Investment Fund. Falih’s powers were diminished last month when the world’s top oil exporter announced the creation of a new ministry …

Top oil producers will consider fresh output cuts at a meeting this week, but analysts are doubtful they will succeed in bolstering crude prices dented by the U.S.-China trade war. The OPEC petroleum exporters’ cartel and key non-OPEC members want to halt a slide in prices that has continued despite previous production cuts and US sanctions that have squeezed supply from Iran and Venezuela. Analysts say the OPEC+ group’s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, which monitors a supply cut deal reached last year, has limited options when it meets in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. UAE Energy Minister Suheil al-Mazrouei said Sunday the group would do “whatever necessary” to rebalance the crude market, but admitted that the issue was not entirely in the hands of the world’s top producers. Speaking at a press conference in Abu Dhabi ahead of the World Energy Congress, to start Monday, he said the oil market is no longer governed by supply and demand but is being influenced more by U.S.-China trade tensions and geopolitical factors. The minister said that although further cuts will be considered at Thursday’s meeting, they may not be the best way to boost declining prices. “Anything that the group sees that will …

A senior minister of Britain’s ruling Conservative party has resigned because she does not think the prime minister is serious about creating a Brexit divorce deal.  Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said late Saturday that Boris Johnson is not working to secure a Brexit withdrawal agreement.  “There is no evidence of a deal,” Rudd said.  “There are no formal negotiations taking place.”  Rudd said in her resignation letter: “I joined your cabinet in good faith: Accepting that ‘no deal’ had to be on the table, because it was the means by which we would have the best chance of achieving a new deal to leave on 31 October.”  Rudd added: “The government is expending a lot of energy to prepare for ‘no deal’ but I have not seen the same level of intensity go into our talks with the European Union.”  Home Secretary Sajid Javid said Sunday the government is “straining every sinew to get a deal.”    …

Dorian, now a post-tropical cyclone, is expected to move over or near the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador Sunday and then enter the North Atlantic. The storm hit Canada’s Atlantic coast Saturday with heavy wind and rains that toppled a construction crane into the side of an apartment building under construction in Halifax, the provincial capital of Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Power told the Associated Press that 300,000 customers of Halifax, which has a population of 400,000, were without power late Saturday. Before reaching Canada, Dorian moved over extreme southeastern Massachusetts and Maine in the U.S. On Friday, Dorian made landfall over Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, after weakening into a Category 1 storm. It generated tornadoes, severe storm surges and flooding in coastal areas in North and South Carolina. Steve Harris, a resident of North Carolina’s Ocracoke Island said, “We went from almost no water to 4 to 6 feet in a matter of minutes.” People wait to board a cargo ship for evacuation to Nassau after Hurricane Dorian, Sept. 7, 2019, in Marsh Harbor, Great Abaco. Bahamians who lost everything in Hurricane Dorian were scrambling to escape the worst-hit islands. Dorian was a Category 5 storm when it …

This article originated in FILE – President Donald Trump signs an executive order to increase sanctions on Iran, at the White House, June 24, 2019. Executive order U.S. President Donald Trump cited the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 in issuing his June executive order prohibiting the provision of “services” to Khamenei and anyone else deemed to be acting on behalf of the Iranian supreme leader, a designation later applied to Zarif. But IEEPA also protects the rights of Americans to exchange information with sanctioned foreigners, provided those exchanges do not involve a “transfer of anything of value,” according to the FILE – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrives for a meeting with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres at United Nations headquarters, July 18, 2019. Instagram, a Facebook subsidiary, and Twitter declined to comment about what they might do with Zarif’s account when contacted by VOA Persian last month. Typically, it takes U.S. social media companies more than just one day to act in response to a sanctions designation, said a former employee of several U.S. tech firms. “There’s this assumption that if sanctions are placed against somebody, it’s a pretty quick process to make a decision,” …