As Afghanistan prepares for presidential elections on Saturday, the Taliban is again threatening to disrupt the polling, while the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has urged the insurgents to refrain from attacking civilians exercising their democratic right. “The Islamic Emirate (a name used by the Taliban) directs its Mujahideen to prevent this process throughout the country by making use of everything at their disposal and activate their plans for its neutralization,” a Taliban statement read. The statement said Afghans should stay home or risk being harmed in an attack. Tadamichi Yamamoto, the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative for Afghanistan, met with some members of the Taliban on Tuesday in Doha, where they maintain an unofficial political office, to discuss the issue of election-related violence. An Afghan man walks past election posters on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sept. 23, 2019. “He highlighted that attacks directed against polling centers and civilians participating in the electoral process are clear violations of international law and may amount to war crimes. He furthermore stressed that perpetrators of such crimes must be held accountable and urged the Taliban to retract any instructions which could disrupt elections,” a UNAMA statement issued Wednesday said. The militant group has …

Leaders of Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia have decided to jointly launch an English language television channel dedicated to confronting Islamophobia and removing “misperceptions” about Islam. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the decision Thursday after his trilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. The three-nation channel would offer Muslims a dedicated media presence to help in “setting the record straight” on Islam and fighting the phenomenon of Islamophobia internationally. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan waits to address the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 24, 2019. Skeptics, however, questioned whether a dedicated TV outlet can help defuse instances of Islamophobic tendencies in the West, noting many Islamic television channels already exist and are responding to anti-Muslim propaganda and hate. “The issue is much deeper, and merely a TV channel cannot be sufficient,” said Muhammad Amir Rana, the director of Islamabad-based independent Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS). “Without a robust intellectual foundation, a TV channel would have no worth, except a reactionary propaganda tool.” On Wednesday, Pakistan and Turkey also cohosted a high-level roundtable discussion at the U.N. on …

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake shook Istanbul on Thursday, slightly injuring eight people and sending school children and residents into the streets of Turkey’s commercial and cultural hub. The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority said the earthquake struck in the Sea of Marmara at 1:59 p.m. (1059 GMT) at 7 kilometers (4.4 miles) deep and was felt throughout the western Marmara region. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said eight people were injured and had received treatment. “Apart from small damage, we have not received any reports so far that would pain our hearts,” he said. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Twitter confirmed there were no deaths. News footage showed a collapsed minaret in the city’s western Avcilar district. The emergency agency said one building tilted, two showed damage and cracks were found in others. Turkish media showed children being evacuated from schools and city residents waiting outside their homes. Schools were cancelled for the day. The U.S. Geological Survey assessed the quake’s magnitude at 5.7. The Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute recorded several aftershocks, with the highest at 4.4 magnitude. Turkey is crossed by fault lines and prone to earthquakes. Experts have long warned that a major earthquake is expected to …

Next week, Cameroon’s government will host what it calls a national dialogue on the separatist crisis in its Northwest and Southwest regions.  However, U.S.- and Europe-based separatist leaders invited to the talks say they will not take part in any dialogue unless it is held outside Cameroon with non-Cameroonians as mediators.  The government has stated it will not accept a foreign mediator. The week-long dialogue on the separatist crisis is due to begin Monday in Yaounde.  The government says it has invited more than 1,000 people, including lawmakers, clergy, teachers, and civil society activists. However, none of the U.S.- and Europe-based separatist leaders contacted by VOA said they will attend the talks. Among those turning down the invitation is Eric Tataw, who lives in the United States. He says he will not attend because he and fellow separatists based in the diaspora are wanted in Cameroon on charges of secession and terrorism. Those are the same charges for which separatist leaders Ayuk Tabe Julius and 10 collaborators were arrested and sentenced to life in prison by a Yaounde military tribunal. Tataw says Cameroon should free Julius and the other leaders as a sign they are truly ready for dialogue. “I …

Jacques Chirac, a two-term French president who was the first leader to acknowledge France’s role in the Holocaust and defiantly opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, died Thursday at age 86. His son-in-law Frederic Salat-Baroux told The Associated Press that Chirac died “peacefully, among his loved ones.” He did not give a cause of death, though Chirac had had repeated health problems since leaving office in 2007.   Chirac was long the standard-bearer of France’s conservative right, and mayor of Paris for nearly two decades. He was nicknamed “Le Bulldozer” early in his career for his determination and ambition. As president from 1995-2007 he was a consummate global diplomat but failed to reform the economy or defuse tensions between police and minority youths that exploded into riots across France in 2005.   Yet Chirac showed courage and statesmanship during his presidency.   In what may have been his finest hour, France’s last leader with memories of World War II crushed the myth of his nation’s innocence in the persecution of Jews and their deportation during the Holocaust when he acknowledged France’s part.    “Yes, the criminal folly of the occupiers was seconded by the French, by the French …

An immense mass of black smoke is rising over Normandy as firefighters battle a blaze Thursday at a chemical plant, and authorities closed schools in 11 surrounding towns and asked residents to stay indoors. The fire poses a pollution risk for the nearby Seine River, the government’s top official for the region said Thursday, according to the French news service AFP. “We’re still fighting the blaze, with the risk that pollution could spill into the Seine if retention ponds overflow,” Pierre-Andre Durand told journalists. No injuries have been reported and French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on RTL radio “there is no element that could lead us to believe that the smoke is dangerous.” But authorities are taking precautionary measures and carrying out air quality tests as about 200 firefighters work to extinguish the fire. The administration for the Seine-Maritime region urged people to avoid non-essential travel in the area after the fire alarm rang at the Lubrizol plant in Rouen early Thursday. The Interior Ministry tweeted that schools and nurseries in the area have been closed, and residents in nursing homes are being confined. A policeman stands on a blocked road in Le Petit-Quevilly on September 26, 2019 as …

The Federal Trade Commission is suing the parent company behind dating sites Match.com, Tinder, PlentyOfFish and OKCupid for fraudulently enticing people to subscribe to its service. The FTC says Match Group allowed consumers who had created a profile for the sites but had not yet subscribed to receive emails expressing interest that Match Group knew were likely from fake accounts. The emails told the reader that someone was interested in their profile and allowed them access to a link that led them to a subscription page. “We believe that Match.com conned people into paying for subscriptions via messages the company knew were from scammers,” said Andrew Smith, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. Nearly 500,000 people subscribed to Match.com after receiving fake messages between June 2016 and May 2018, the FTC complaint said. It also accused the company of making it hard for consumers to cancel their subscriptions or dispute charges. Match Group disputed the FTC’s charges. “The FTC has misrepresented internal emails and relied on cherry-picked data to make outrageous claims,” the company said. …

Advocates are warning of an “epidemic” of mental health problems and suicide among Australian farmers. Isolation, financial pressures and the impact of drought are all part of the problem.  Seven days a week, Joe Meggetto is up before dawn on his dairy farm near the town of Warragul, 100 kilometers southeast of Melbourne in southern Australia. He is the son of Italian migrants. He’s tough and hard working, but for years he has battled the demons of mental illness. “I used to carry a bullet around in my pocket and I remember talking to my brother one day on the road just here, I was bringing the cows home on the road and I was talking to him and I was angry at the time and I kept this bullet in my pocket all the time,” he said. “And I got the bullet out and said to my brother — I showed it to him — and I said one day I’m going to bloody blow my head off, you know. I was really down in the dumps and by that afternoon I was milking the cows and before I knew it there were two policemen at the milking shed …

The gap between the haves and have-nots in the United States grew last year to its highest level in more than 50 years of tracking income inequality, according to Census Bureau figures. Income inequality in the United States expanded from 2017 to 2018, with several heartland states among the leaders of the increase, even though several wealthy coastal states still had the most inequality overall, according to figures released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The nation’s Gini Index, which measures income inequality, has been rising steadily over the past five decades. The Gini Index grew from 0.482 in 2017 to 0.485 last year, according to the bureau’s 1-year American Community Survey data. The Gini Index is on a scale of 0 to 1; a score of “0” indicates perfect equality, while a score of “1” indicates perfect inequality, where one household has all the income. FILE – Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., participate in the first of two Democratic presidential primary debates hosted by CNN, July 30, 2019, in the Fox Theatre in Detroit. Calls for a ‘wealth tax’ The increase in income inequality comes as two Democratic presidential candidates, U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and …

Faith Aweko of Uganda describes herself as a “waste-preneur.”  She has come up with an innovative way to transform discarded plastic bags into backpacks for everyday use.  Halima Athumani reports from the town of Mpigi.    …

The international community must do more to tackle networks of global corruption that are fueling violence in South Sudan, according to activists. The call follows publication of a report detailing how corporations profited from the country’s civil war. The investigation by The Sentry organization, co-founded by actor George Clooney, shows the links between armed groups involved in the civil war, global oil giants, and British and American citizens. Henry Ridgwell has more.   …

U.S. President Donald Trump has accused Democrats in Congress of failing to work for the American people. Speaking to reporters at the United Nations Wednesday, Trump said the impeachment inquiry against him was timed to take the attention away from the successful meetings he has had with foreign counterparts during the U.N. General Assembly. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has more.   …

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives promised swift action Wednesday on the impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump. But congressional Republicans said the White House release of a memo of Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy only revealed the political motivations of the investigations. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson has more on the next steps in the impeachment inquiry on Capitol Hill.   …

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the threat posed by Iran and Britain’s fraught exit from the European Union are likely topics Thursday as world leaders gather for a third day of speeches at the United Nations. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and diplomats from Israel and Saudi Arabia, which blames Tehran for an attack on its key oil sites, are expected to push their causes. Iran has denied any involvement in the Saudi strike, which jolted global oil prices and temporarily knocked out nearly 6% of daily global crude oil production. Saudi Arabia insists Iranian weapons were used and has invited U.N. investigators to assess where the strikes were launched from. The U.S., France, Britain and Germany also blame Iran. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani did not refer to the attacks in his speech Wednesday. He has scheduled a news conference for Thursday. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrives for the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Sept. 24, 2019. Israel considers Iran to be its greatest enemy and has been a leading opponent to the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Tehran is trying to build a nuclear bomb — which Iran denies — …

The arrest of a U.S. soldier with far-right sympathies who is suspected of plotting an attack on American soil to spark “chaos” has highlighted a challenge for the Pentagon: purging its ranks of extremists. Jarrett Smith, a private in the U.S. Army based at Fort Riley in Kansas, was arrested and charged in federal court with one count of distributing information related to explosives after offering a detailed explanation to an undercover FBI agent. Smith also expressed interest in targeting members of the leftist group Antifa and heading to Ukraine to fight with a far-right paramilitary group, the FBI says. But he is hardly the first U.S. soldier to reveal far-right or ultra-nationalist leanings — and some fear the U.S. military is being used as a training ground by extremist groups. FILE – Texas Department of Public safety officers escort Louis Beam away from a March 18, 1993, Branch Davidian news briefing with the FBI and ATF in Waco, Texas. White supremacists target military “Everything old is new again,” said Brian Levin, a professor of criminal justice at California State University, San Bernardino, and the director of the school’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. “There is a …

An earthquake of magnitude 6.5 hit the island of Seram in Indonesia’s eastern province of Maluku on Thursday, damaging some buildings, but there was no risk of a tsunami, the geophysics agency said. Disaster officials said the early morning quake, initially measured at a magnitude of 6.8, was felt in towns such as Ambon and Kairatu, waking some residents, who said it felt like trucks rumbling past. A university building was slightly damaged and a bridge cracked in Ambon, about 40 km (25 miles) from the epicenter, said Agus Wibowo, a spokesman for the disaster mitigation agency. Video posted on social media showed plaster and rubble scattered over floors and chairs in the Al Anshor Islamic boarding school in Ambon, the provincial capital, but a witness said no injuries were reported from the school. Indonesia, which sits on the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, often experiences deadly earthquakes and tsunamis. In September 2018, Palu, on the island of Sulawesi west of Maluku, was devastated by a 7.5-magnitude earthquake and a powerful tsunami it unleashed, killing more than 4,000 people. In 2004, a quake off Sumatra island triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean that killed 226,000 in 14 countries, …

The woman who launched France’s #MeToo movement against sexual harassment has been ordered to pay damages to the man she accused of harassment. A Paris court on Wednesday ruled that journalist Sandra Muller must pay TV executive Eric Brion $22,000 for defaming him. In 2017, at the height of the global push against sexual harassment, Muller tweeted her accusation using the hashtag #balancetonporc, which roughly translates to “squeal on your pig.” Brion’s lawyers had argued that his inappropriate comments to Muller were an attempt at flirting during a party, not harassment and that he had apologized for them. The court on Wednesday also ordered Muller to delete her tweet and replace it with the statement of the court. Muller said the court’s decision sends a message to victims: “Be quiet.”  She said she will appeal the ruling. Muller’s lawyer said the decision also sends a message to men in France.  “If they only do it one time, it will be excused by the court,” Francis Szpiner said. Brion hailed the ruling on Twitter as a “victory of true justice.’’ …

President Donald Trump Wednesday gave the State Department the authority to bar senior Iranian officials and their family members from entering the United States as immigrants or nonimmigrants, the White House said in a proclamation. The proclamation, posted on the White House website and bearing Wednesday’s date, repeated U.S. accusations that Iran sponsors terrorism, arbitrarily detains American citizens, threatens its neighbors and carries out destructive cyber attacks. “Given that this behavior threatens peace and stability in the Middle East and beyond, I have determined that it is in the interest of the United States to take action to restrict and suspend the entry into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, of senior government officials of Iran, and their immediate family members,” Trump said in the proclamation. Iranian officials were not available to comment. Iran nuclear deal The U.S.-Iranian confrontation has ratcheted up since last year, when Trump withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with major powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy. Trump wants to go beyond that deal to further curb Iran’s nuclear program, halt its ballistic missile work and end its support for proxy forces in the Middle East. It was unclear why Trump …

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands urged financial regulators on Wednesday not to let fears over technology stall efforts to ensure everyone in the world has access to a bank account and credit to save money and build businesses. Maxima said progress had been made since she was appointed the United Nations special advocate for financial inclusion 10 years ago, with about 70 percent of the world now having access to banking, insurance and credit compared with 51 percent in 2011. But she said 1.7 billion adults globally still did not have an account at a financial institution or through a mobile money provider, with women in developing economies about 9 percentage points less likely than men to have a bank account. “Financial inclusion is not the end but the means to increase family income, improve nutrition, increase access to health care … education, and empower — especially women,” Maxima told a side event at the United Nations General Assembly. Ending poverty, inequality The Dutch queen said it is critical if the world is to achieve the United Nations’ goals to end poverty and inequality by 2030 that people were included in financial systems. She said mobile money and fintech had …

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday announced a “formal impeachment inquiry” into President Donald Trump, escalating a long-running clash between Democratic lawmakers and the White House over alleged presidential malfeasance. The announcement followed disclosures that Trump in a July 25 call to Ukraine’s president asked him to investigate front-running Democratic candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. Here are nine things you need to know about the festering impeachment controversy.  What is impeachment? This refers to the constitutional process of removing a sitting president from office. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to oust a president for “treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” While there is no single definition of the phrase “high crimes and misdemeanors,” it is generally understood to include actions that violate the oath of office and the public trust. The impeachment process begins with formal charges brought in the House of Representatives and ends with a trial in the Senate where two-thirds of senators must vote to convict the president. This would be the fourth congressional impeachment attempt in history. Former presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached and brought to trial in the Senate, but subsequently won acquittal. Former President Richard M. Nixon …

After two days of intense negotiations, the Universal Postal Union has reached a compromise agreement on mailing rates that has averted a threatened walkout by the United States, which could have caused a major disruption to the global postal system.  The United States declared victory in the UPU’s “Extraordinary Congress,” saying it got what it wanted. The head of the U.S. delegation, Peter Navarro, said member countries unanimously approved the adoption of a comprehensive set of reforms based on the U.S. proposal.    Navarro, who is the director of trade and manufacturing policy at the White House, said the measure lets the United States immediately self-declare its postal rates, thereby covering the costs of bulky letters and small parcels sent from abroad.  FILE – U.S. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro speaks during an interview at the White House in Washington, Sept. 11, 2019. Major savings seen   Navarro called this a big deal.     “The U.S. got immediate self-declared rates that saves us a half a billion dollars,” he  said. “It eliminates market distortions.  It creates tens of thousands of jobs for America.  It also helps our friends and allies, and other nations — Norway, Finland, Brazil — who are getting hammered by …

Egyptian security forces arrested three political activists known for their outspoken criticism of Egypt’s government and president, defense lawyers said Wednesday, amid an intensified crackdown on dissent following small but rare anti-government protests over the weekend. The demonstrations erupted over corruption allegations earlier this month against the military and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, by an Egyptian businessman living in self-imposed exile. El-Sisi, who is currently attending the United Nations General Assembly, has dismissed the corruption allegations as “sheer lies.” Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, Sept. 24, 2019. Police quickly dispersed the protests, but they signified a startling eruption of street unrest. Demonstrations have been almost completely silenced in recent years, with those who dare take to the streets being quickly arrested and receiving lengthy prison sentences. Attorneys Nour Farahat and Khaled el-Masry identified the three detained activists as Hazem Hosny, Hassan Nafaa and Khaled Dawoud. Hosny and Nafaa are political science professors at Cairo University and were arrested Tuesday. Hosny also was a spokesman for the 2018 presidential campaign of Sami Annan, who served as chief-of-staff for former president Hosni Mubarak. …

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The nation’s largest e-cigarette maker will stop advertising its devices in the U.S. and replace its chief executive as mysterious breathing illnesses and an explosion in teen vaping have triggered efforts to crack down on the largely unregulated industry. Juul Labs and other e-cigarette makers are fighting to survive as they face backlash from two public health debacles. Federal and state officials have seized on the recent outbreak of lung illnesses — including nine reported deaths — to push through restrictions designed to curb underage vaping. No major e-cigarette brand has been tied to the ailments, including Juul, which said it won’t fight a Trump administration proposal for a sweeping ban on e-cigarette flavors that can appeal to teens. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, left, speaks as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo listens during a press conference, Sept. 25, 2019, in Hartford, Conn. Governors in Michigan and New York moved to outlaw vaping flavors this month, while Massachusetts said Tuesday that it will ban all vaping products for four months, the first such step in the country. “I think this rush to judgment is extraordinary, and we might be looking at the demise of vaping,” said Kenneth Warner, professor emeritus at …