Indonesia’s two easternmost provinces of Papua and West Papua, known internationally as the territory of West Papua, have recently been racked by civil unrest. Thousands of people across the region have joined rallies to protest racial discrimination. VOA’S Alam Burnahan looks at the root of the conflict.   …

Mexican activists took to the streets in large cities Saturday to demand safe and legal abortions, many wearing green bandanas that have become a symbol with the abortion rights movement in Latin America. The protests on International Safe Abortion Day come after the Mexican state of Oaxaca on Wednesday approved a bill to legalize abortion, making it only the second region after Mexico City to permit the procedure. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador earlier this month sent a bill to the federal Congress that would, if approved, grant an amnesty to women serving jail terms for what is considered a crime in all states but Oaxaca and the capital. The country’s state Congress is dominated by his leftist National Regeneration Movement though lawmakers from different parties have signaled they would support the bill. Conservative Catholic country Women take part in a protest, part of a movement known as “Marea Verde,” to mark the International Safe Abortion Day in Mexico City, Sept. 28, 2019. Mexico is a predominantly conservative and Roman Catholic country and the president himself has avoided taking a clear stand. Mexico City legalized abortion in 2007. Hundreds of people took to the streets in the capital, some …

At least 36 people died and 36 others were injured in east China when a packed coach with a flat tire collided with a truck, authorities said Sunday. The bus was carrying 69 people, its maximum capacity, when it crossed into oncoming traffic and hit the freight truck on an expressway in eastern Jiangsu province Saturday morning, the Yixing public security bureau said. A preliminary investigation determined the accident was caused by a flat tire on the left front wheel of the bus, the bureau said in a statement. Nine people were seriously injured, 26 were slightly hurt and one was discharged from the hospital. The Changchun-Shenzhen expressway reopened after eight hours of rescue work. Deadly road accidents are common in China, where traffic regulations are often flouted or go unenforced. According to authorities 58,000 people were killed in accidents across the country in 2015, the last available figures. Violations of traffic laws were blamed for nearly 90 percent of accidents that caused deaths or injuries that year.  …

A 3-year-old colt sustained a catastrophic injury in the eighth race at Santa Anita and was euthanized Saturday, the 32nd horse to die at the track since December. Two-time Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Mario Gutierrez was tossed off in the incident on the second day of the fall meet at Santa Anita, where the Breeders’ Cup world championships are to be run in November. Track officials said Gutierrez wasn’t injured after landing near the inner rail. He was taken away by ambulance. Track veterinarian Dr. Dana Stead said in a statement that Emtech had two broken front legs and she made the decision to euthanize the colt on the track. Dr. Dionne Benson, chief vet for The Stronach Group, which owns Santa Anita, said a review would be opened to consider the factors that contributed to Emtech’s injury. She said the colt would have a necropsy at the University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, which is mandatory for all on-track accidents. Emtech, trained by Steve Knapp, went down in the middle of the track in the upper stretch of the six-furlong, $40,000 claiming race. The fatalities at Santa Anita since Dec. 26 have raised alarm within California and the …

The United States does not currently plan to stop Chinese companies from listing on U.S. exchanges, Bloomberg reported Saturday, citing a U.S. Treasury official. “The administration is not contemplating blocking Chinese companies from listing shares on U.S. stock exchanges at this time,” Bloomberg quoted Treasury spokeswoman Monica Crowley as saying. Reuters reported Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration is considering delisting Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges in a move that would be part of a broader effort to limit U.S. investment in Chinese companies. The Treasury did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. …

The Middle East. Trade tensions. Iran’s nuclear program. Venezuela’s power struggle. Civil wars in Syria and Yemen. Familiar flashpoints such as these got plenty of airtime at the U.N. General Assembly’s big annual gathering this week. But some leaders used their time on the world stage to highlight international conflicts and disputes that don’t usually command the same global attention. A look at some of the less-discussed controversies trying to be heard: Nagorno-Karabakh Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 24, 2019. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan landed one of the coveted first few speaking slots, and he devoted a bit of his wide-ranging speech to a clash in the Caucasus: a standoff between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The mountainous, ethnic Armenian area of about 150,000 people is recognized as part of Azerbaijan in U.N. Security Council resolutions dating to the 1990s. But Nagorno-Karabakh and some neighboring districts have been under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces, backed by Armenia, since a six-year separatist war ended in 1994. Both Azerbaijan and Turkey have closed their borders with Armenia because of the conflict, cutting trade and leaving Armenia with …

A boat carrying at least 50 Europe-bound migrants capsized Saturday in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya, the U.N. refugee agency and the country’s coast guard said, while an independent support group said another 56 migrants on another boat were at risk in the sea. Coast guard spokesman Ayoub Gassim told The Associated Press that a shipwreck took place off the western city of Misrata, 187 kilometers (116 miles) east of the capital, Tripoli. UNHCR said rescue efforts were ongoing Saturday afternoon and released no details on casualties. Alarm Phone, an independent support group for people crossing the Mediterranean, said a second boat for migrants was in distress, with “about 56 lives at risk.” The group said it received a call from migrants on the boat, who left Libya’s shores days ago, saying that “they are desperately calling for help and are afraid to die.” “They are still in distress at sea with no rescue in sight. They have now been at sea for over 60 hours,” Alarm Phone said. Mediterranean crossing point Libya became a major crossing point for migrants to Europe after the overthrow and death of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, when the North African nation was …

In the United States, if your parents attended a college or university, there is a good chance that you will, too. But your chances are reduced if you come from a family with financial needs, a community with limited educational resources or have no one to follow as an example. Helping those attain a college education is the motivation behind “nudging” or nudge theory, a way of changing people’s behavior through suggestion and support. Popularized in the 2008 book “Nudge,” the concept was a project of a legal expert and an economist with the University of Chicago. Nudging includes emailing and texting students, offering advice and help. A growing number of U.S. colleges and universities look to nudging as way to support poor, minority and first-generation college students.  But recent studies show that nudging is imperfect, and influencing large groups of students is not easy. Alejandra Acosta is a higher education policy expert at New America, an independent research group. She said for the messages to be effective, they should meet certain benchmarks, such as: * A nudge must be time-sensitive, meaning they reach college students well before the date a student is required to take action. * A nudge …

Asian American groups are objecting to the Trump administration’s efforts to step up deportations of Cambodians, as dozens of refugees with criminal convictions are being ordered to report to federal officials next week for removal. At least 20 people in California have been served notices to report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to begin the deportation process, according to Ny Nourn, a San Francisco-based community advocate with the Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus. The state is home to the largest population of Cambodians in the U.S. In Massachusetts, the state with the nation’s second largest Cambodian community, at least 10 residents have received them, said Bethany Li, director of Greater Boston Legal Services’ Asian Outreach Unit. Cambodians living in Minnesota, Texas, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin have also been issued the orders, said Elaine Sanchez Wilson, a spokeswoman for the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center in Washington. Protests planned Asian American activists are planning demonstrations in San Francisco, Sacramento and Boston next week. They argue that many of those facing deportation served criminal sentences years and in some cases decades ago, when they were troubled young refugees struggling to adjust to a new country after their families fled …

For decades, the message to women in track and field was crystal clear: get pregnant, lose sponsorship money. A rebellion led by some of the sport’s top runners, Allyson Felix, Kara Goucher and Alysia Montano, is helping to change that.  Two months after the U.S. women’s soccer players stated their case for equal pay, women in track and field come to their major event, the world championships in Doha, having found their footing on another important crusade — retaining full pay from their sponsorship deals after they get pregnant. “It’s the power of the collective,” Felix said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Alysia speaking, Kara speaking, the women’s soccer team. It’s just such a pivotal time right now in women’s sports, and we’re seeing change happen.” The six-time Olympic and 11-time world champion had a baby girl in November and will compete on the women’s relay team next week at the worlds in Doha, where she will have a new apparel sponsor, Athleta, after spending years with Nike. Nike responded to the outcry, as well, announcing in May that it would not apply performance-related pay reductions for pregnant athletes for a consecutive period of 12 months. Then, last …

The sidelining of a prominent Iraqi general celebrated for helping oust jihadists from Mosul has generated controversy in a country caught in a tug of war between Tehran and Washington. The Iraqi premiership on Friday announced it was decommissioning Staff Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi, who had served as the deputy head of the elite Counter-Terrorism Service, without giving a reason.  As a top commander in the CTS, which was created and intensively trained by the US, Saadi helped recapture Mosul from the Islamic State group in 2017 and is considered by many Iraqis to be a national hero. On Friday, Saadi said he considered the shift to a posting at the defence ministry as an “insult” and a “punishment”.   The decision has sparked allegations of a purge of officials seen as unfavourable to Iraq’s Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force, which includes factions close to Tehran. An Iraqi government official who requested anonymity said pro-Iran factions within the Hashed had “personally” lobbied for Saadi’s removal.  “These groups were operating outside the state and the only barrier was the CTS,” the official told AFP.  “The idea is to sideline him to bring somebody close to Iran and no longer have the CTS …

More than half a dozen people were reportedly killed Friday during a terrorist attack on an Egyptian military checkpoint near the northern Sinai town of Bir al-Abed. The Islamic State group reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.    Amateur video showed ambulances — sirens blaring — rushing to the checkpoint which faces an apple orchard outside Bir al-Abed. It was not the first time that the area has come under attack by terrorists. The Egyptian military issued a statement in response saying that it has exacted a heavy toll on terrorists in the northern Sinai in recent weeks, killing 118 of them, destroying their armored vehicles, motorcycles, and hideouts, but that it has also lost a number of its own men. An Egyptian military spokesman said that nine soldiers and one officer were killed or wounded during fighting while conducting searches. VOA could not independently confirm how many were killed. Social media websites showed pictures of at least five Egyptian soldiers who were reportedly killed in Friday’s attack. Reuters news agency reported that Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on the Egyptian military checkpoint. It was not clear from which country the terrorist group issued its declaration. Egyptian President …

Seemingly low voter turnout marked presidential elections in Afghanistan Saturday, even as security forces managed to maintain relative calm across the country, despite dire warnings from the Taliban. At least four civilians and three security personnel were killed across the country and more than 50 civilians suffered injuries in election-related violence, mostly from small explosions. The figure is relatively small, keeping in mind past elections and the almost daily violence Afghanistan normally faces.   “At the moment we don’t have the exact number of voter turnout. But we have created a safe environment. We do believe quite a wide range of our compatriots were present,” General Khoshal Sadat, the Afghan deputy interior minister, told VOA before polls closed. Afghan incumbent president and presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani arrives to cast his vote in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sept. 28, 2019. Daryush Khan, who came to a Kabul polling center with his wife and two small children, one of them in his arms, said he was there to safeguard his kids’ future. “We know there are a lot of problems in Afghanistan, including security. But it’s our civil duty to come out and vote and choose our destiny,” he said. His wife, Gaity, holding …

ZWIMBA, ZIMBABWE — Zimbabwe’s former president, Robert Mugabe, was buried Saturday in a low-key ceremony in his rural village. The site was chosen after the 95-year-old former leader’s family refused to have him buried at the national shrine in Harare because he had been “ridiculed.” A Roman Catholic mass was held Saturday afternoon at Mugabe’s former home, about 100 kilometers northwest of Harare ahead of his burial. Only family members were allowed to witness the interment, which took place on the home’s grounds just before sunset. Junior Shuvai Gumbochuma, the sister of Grace Mugabe, said the former leader’s family was not worried about the low-key burial. Junior Shuvai Gumbochuma, sister of Zimbabwe’s former first lady Grace Mugabe, speaks behind a photo of the late president Robert Mugabe, at his burial in Zwimba, Zimbabwe, Sept. 28, 2019. (C. Mavhunga/VOA) “We might be surprised by the way Mugabe was a great man and then see the number of people who have gathered to bury him. I remember when he used to bury other heroes at the National Heroes Acre, buses were coming from all corners of the country, coming to bury other heroes but in our minds were expecting his burial to …

A U.S. judge on Friday blocked new Trump administration rules that would enable the government to keep immigrant children in detention facilities with their parents indefinitely. U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles said the rules conflict with a 1997 settlement agreement that requires the government to release immigrant children caught on the border as quickly as possible to relatives in the U.S. and says they can only be held in facilities licensed by a state. Gee said the Flores agreement — named for a teenage plaintiff — will remain in place and govern the conditions for all immigrant children in U.S. custody, including those with their parents. “The agreement has been necessary, relevant, and critical to the public interest in maintaining standards for the detention and release of minors arriving at the United States’ borders,” the judge wrote in her decision. “Defendants willingly negotiated and bound themselves to these standards for all minors in its custody, and no final regulations or changed circumstances yet merit termination of the Flores agreement.” The Trump administration sought to end the agreement and issued the new rules with the hope of detaining immigrant children in facilities with their parents. The move …

Renewed clashes broke out in Hong Kong Saturday night as police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse hardcore protesters hurling Molotovs and bricks after tens of thousands rallied peacefully in a nearby park. Huge crowds had gathered to mark the fifth anniversary of the “Umbrella Movement”, the failed pro-democracy campaign that laid the groundwork for the massive protests currently engulfing the finance hub. Tens of thousands crammed into a park outside the city’s parliament, the same site that was the epicenter of the 2014 protests. But smaller crowds took over a main road opposite the building with groups of hardcore activists in masks throwing bricks and petrol bombs at the nearby Central Government Offices. Police responded with water cannon laced with pepper solution and tear gas volleys, though the crowds soon dispersed at the sight of riot police. The scenes were reminiscent of the Umbrella Movement, which exploded when huge crowds came out after police fired tear gas at a student-led rally which had taken over the same highway — and was named after the ubiquitous tool people used to defend themselves from police. Both 2014’s protests and the current demonstrations were fueled by fears that Beijing is …

U.N. agencies are rushing to provide aid to tens of thousands of people affected by severe flooding in Niger.  Floods caused by heavy rains, which began in June, have killed 57 people and affected 211,000. Niger is facing multiple emergencies.  The floods are just adding to the crises already stretching the capacity of the government and humanitarian agencies to respond.   The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports the situation took a dramatic turn for the worse the last week of August.  That was when water levels of the Niger basin reached flood stage and overflow from dams in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali contributed to the surging waters.   OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke says the last time the Niger basin reached this level was in 2012. “At that time, the floods left dozens of dead and affected nearly half-a-million people… Each year, there has been an upward trend in how many people are affected by these seasonal rains.  We have seen a doubling of the number of people affected since 2015, as well as increasing material damage including destruction of crops and loss of livestock,” Laerke said.   The hardest hit regions are Zinder, Maradi and …

Kurt Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO caught in the middle of a whistleblower complaint over the President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, resigned Friday from his post as special envoy to the Eastern European nation, according to a U.S. official. The official said Volker told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday of his decision to leave the job, following disclosures that he had connected Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani with Ukrainian officials to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his family over allegedly corrupt business dealings. Giuliani has said he was in frequent contact with Volker about his efforts. The State Department had no immediate comment on his resignation and has said only that Volker put Giuliani in touch with an aide to Ukraine’s president. Pompeo said Thursday that as far as he knew, all State Department employees had acted appropriately in dealing with Ukraine. Volker was brought into the Trump administration by former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to serve as envoy for Ukraine. He worked in a volunteer capacity and had retained his job as head of the John McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University. Arizona State’s student newspaper was the …

At 5:30 p.m. sharp, six days a week, the Pit Stop Community Café rolls up its metal shop door on a quiet street in central Kuala Lumpur and welcomes in some of the Malaysian capital’s most needy for a warm, hearty meal, free of charge. Some of the café’s regulars who count on the soup kitchen to make it through each day, though, earn too much to meet the government’s definition of the poor.  A growing number of experts, most recently from the U.N., say that the official numbers miss millions of people who would qualify as poor almost anywhere else, leaving them cut off from critical state benefits and with too few of others to make a difference. Having made only modest adjustments to its official poverty line since the 1970s, the government can claim to have all but routed poverty among its 32 million people, and at 0.4% Malaysia has the lowest self-reported poverty rate of any country for which the World Bank has figures. Neighboring Thailand claims an 8.6% poverty rate. The latest rebuke of Malaysia’s figures came from U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights Philip Alston. After wrapping up an 11-day visit last …

The United Nations reports human rights violations in both government and separatist-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine continue with impunity.  The report, which was examined by the U.N. human rights council this week also documents violations perpetrated by the Russian occupiers of Crimea. While critical of the overall situation in eastern Ukraine, the report injects a note of optimism that the new government, headed by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy shows promising signs of the country turning a corner.   It notes the Ukrainian government and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine largely continue to respect a cease-fire and have disengaged forces. In addition, it says the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine has begun operating.   The report urges the newly-appointed prosecutor general and chief military prosecutor to promptly investigate conflict-related and other grave human rights violations on both sides of the contact line, the patch of land that divides the government and separatist-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine. U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore says accountability for past and present human rights violations on both sides of the line have to be addressed.  She accused the authorities in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics of denying U.N. monitors access to …

At least 44 people were killed and thousands moved to relief camps because of flooding caused by torrential rains in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state, officials told AFP Saturday. Densely populated regions on the banks of two main rivers in the state, which are overflowing because of incessant rainfall in the last 24-48 hours, are among the worst hit. “We had confirmed 44 deaths till late yesterday night. The authorities are focusing on rescue and relief work in the affected regions,” Ravindra Pratap Sahi, vice chairman of the state disaster management authority, told AFP. “We have moved thousands to relief shelters as there is forecast of heavy rains in the next 48 hours in most of the affected districts of the state,” Sahi said. Officials and local media reports said most people lost their lives for a variety of reasons including wall collapses, drowning, lightning and snake bites. Flash floods after heavy rains killed at least 17 people in western India’s Maharashtra state earlier this week. Monsoon rains are crucial to replenishing water supplies in drought-stricken India, but they kill hundreds of people across the country every year.   …

An urban climber known as the “French Spiderman” has climbed a high-rise building in the German city of Frankfurt and now faces a fine for his effort. It took Alain Robert 20 minutes to scale the 153-meter (502-foot) Skyper building in the heart of Germany’s financial capital early Saturday. Upon his descent from the gleaming glass structure, the 57-year-old was met by German police who escorted him away. Robert has climbed many of the world’s tallest buildings, often without permission.   …

Prominent Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong announced plans Saturday to contest local elections and warned that any attempt to disqualify him will only spur more support for monthslong pro-democracy protests. His announcement came ahead of a major rally later Saturday to mark the fifth anniversary of the Umbrella protests, where he first shot to fame as a youth leader. During the Umbrella Movement, protesters occupied key thoroughfares in the city for 79 days to demand for free elections for the city’s leaders but failed to win any concession. Wong, 22, said he will run in district council elections in November and that the vote is crucial to send a message to Beijing that the people are more determined than ever to win the battle for more rights. “Five years ago, we claimed that we will be back and now we are back with even stronger determination,” he told a news conference. “The battle ahead is the battle for our home and our homeland.” FILE – Pro-democracy protesters walk with umbrellas in the rain in Hong Kong, Aug. 31, 2019. The crowd alternated between singing hymns and chanting slogans of the pro-democracy movement. Risk of being disqualified Wong, who has been …

VOA White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report. WASHINGTON — After more than two years of political and legal strife, U.S. President Donald Trump appears to be prevailing in revamping immigration policy and building portions of a wall to limit migration across the southern U.S. border. Trump views boosting border security as a “promise kept” to the American people, one he will tout to voters in his re-election bid next year. “[W]e’re doing it. We get it done,” the president said this past week. “The [border] wall is being built.” Senate Deals Wall Setback, but Trump May Still Win on Border video player. Migrants from Central America and Cuba line up outside the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance to apply for asylum and refugee status in Tapachula, Mexico, Sept. 13, 2019. Migrant apprehensions down The administration reports nearly 100 kilometers of new border wall construction since 2017 and aims to extend barriers by more than 600 kilometers by the end of next year. Meanwhile, apprehensions of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border fell from 144,255 in May to 64,006 in August, a 56% decline. While migrants continue to arrive at the border, far fewer have been held on U.S. …