Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to return up to 2 million refugees to Syria. Under his plan, the refugees would return to what he has called a “safe zone” created by the Turkish military during its incursion into Syria.  But as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, many Syrians are not ready to go back after spending years in Turkey.  …

Tens of thousands of Guineans rallied in support of President Alpha Conde on Thursday after two weeks of violent protests against the leader’s suspected bid to prolong his rule claimed around 10 lives. Communication Minister Amara Sompare said 45,000 people turned out to greet Conde, 81, on his return from a trip abroad, which the minister said proved that the president has wide backing for his push for a new constitution. The pro-Conde rally was a response to a protest that saw hundreds of thousands take to the streets a week ago, according to local journalists. Organisers put the turnout for that rally at around a million, while the government said the protesters numbered 30,000. On Thursday, people thronged the Conakry airport and lined the road leading into town, wearing the yellow and white colours of the ruling party, their T-shirts emblazoned with “Yes to the new constitution” and “Let’s have a referendum”. Fode Oussou Fofana, vice president of one of the opposition parties, claimed that civil servants had been instructed to leave work to attend the rally. He added that buses were chartered to ferry people to the airport at great expense. The authorities have not responded to the …

Iraqi Kurdish officials say at least 12,000 people have crossed the border from Syria, seeking safety in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The influx of refugees started three weeks ago after Turkey and its allied Syrian militia fighters began a military offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters. VOA’s Kawa Omar reports from Bardarash, Iraq. …

Somalia’s federal government and U.N. aid agencies are calling for humanitarian assistance to help hundreds of thousands of Somalis affected by some of the heaviest floods in years. A government emergency committee said heavy rains caused the overflow of the Juba and Shabelle rivers, as well as streams and creeks in the Bay and Bakool regions. The town most affected is Belet Weyne in the Hiran region, about 340 kilometers north of Mogadishu, where floods swamped residential and business buildings, and drove thousands of people from their homes. Authorities in the town said at least 10 people have died. Somalis wade through floodwaters after heavy rain in Mogadishu, Somalia, Oct. 21, 2019. “The level of the Shabelle River, which runs through the city, burst its banks and led to overbank spillage into the entire town, and consequently floodwaters, about six meters above the ground, expanded fast across the town,” Ali Mohamed Arale, the regional governor, told VOA. “I have never seen such floodwaters in the town in my life. It is one of its worst in history,” he said. A statement from the office of Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire said 85 percent of the town is under water and …

President Donald Trump’s approval rating is holding steady as the House presses forward with an impeachment probe President Donald Trump’s approval rating is holding steady as the House presses forward with an impeachment probe that could imperil his presidency, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. But there are warning signs in the survey for Trump. Though Trump remains overwhelmingly popular within his own party, some Republicans have a critical view of the president’s honesty, his discipline and his respect for America’s democratic norms. Overall, 61% of Americans say Trump has little or no respect for the country’s democratic institutions and traditions, an issue that strikes at the heart of the impeachment inquiry focused in part on whether he sought a foreign government’s help for personal political gain. Trump has fought back against the House probe with the same strategy that has buoyed him throughout the other investigations and controversies that have consumed his first three years in office: casting the investigations as politically motivated and repeatedly disparaging his opponents, often in bitingly personal terms. Republicans are so far sticking with him, with 85% saying they approve of Trump. “The Democrats will not …

The New York Public Library just opened an exhibition dedicated to J.D. Salinger, the author of the classic coming-of-age novel Catcher in the Rye. For the first time, the reclusive writer’s fans will be able to see his rare letters, manuscripts, photos and other personal items. The glimpse into the writer’s creative process is attracting thousands. Anna Nelson visited the exhibit, and Anna Rice has her story. …

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Thursday said his country is negotiating with Russia to return 18 people believed to be Syrian government troops. Akar said the soldiers were captured near the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ayn, the epicenter of Turkey’s October military offensive in northeastern Syria. Turkey has since ended its invasion of Syria through two cease-fires brokered by the U.S. and Russia. The pacts call on Kurdish fighters to pull 30 kilometers away from the Turkish border, where Syrian government forces would assume positions. The intent is to establish a “safe zone” where Turkey plans to repatriate some of the more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees Turkey is now hosting. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, meanwhile, touted the negotiations Thursday that produced the cease-fire agreements. He said he hoped an initial meeting Wednesday of the U.N. Constitutional Committee at a conference in Istanbul would “be the first step toward a political solution that will end this tragic chapter in the lives of the Syrian people.” Turkey considers the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria a terrorist group associated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, an insurgent group that has been banned from the country. Turkish and Russian patrols …

The U.N. human rights office has denounced what it calls the ongoing repression in Indian-administered Kashmir and is urging the government to restore the rights stripped from the region’s millions of Muslim inhabitants in August. India’s only Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir has officially ceased to exist. On August 5, the Indian government revoked constitutional provisions that granted partial autonomy to the area. As a result, the region was divided into two federally administered states – one being Jammu and Kashmir, which will include the restive Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley and the Hindu-majority Jammu. The second territory will include the high-altitude Buddhist enclave of Ladakh. This move, which came into effect on Thursday, ends seven decades of self-rule for the region.   The office of the U.N. high commissioner for human rights says it deplores the restrictive measures and what it calls the wide range of rights abuses that have continued unabated since August. In large parts of the Kashmir Valley, it reports an undeclared curfew is preventing the free movement of people and restricting their rights to health, education and freedom of religion and belief. Human rights office spokesman Rupert Colville says the agency has heard about allegations of …

Declassified KGB documents on display in Russia describe future President Vladimir Putin as a “conscientious and disciplined” spy at the start of his career. “Comrade Putin… is constantly raising his ideological, political and professional level,” said the one-page document released to Russian media, written while the intelligence agent turned politician was in his 20s. Now 67, Putin worked for the secret service from the mid-1970s and was posted in Dresden, then East Germany, from 1985 to 1990, as Soviet power was crumbling. In the Kremlin he has surrounded himself with many former employees of the secret service and the FSB, the successor to the KGB, remains a powerful agency. The KGB profile is part of an exhibition at the Central Archive of Historical and Political Documents in Russia’s second city of Saint Petersburg, featuring other declassified files. The young Putin also received “congratulations from his seniors” in the organization  “for his well organized work and results,” the document said. In 2016, Putin, who has been in power as president or prime minister for two decades, revealed he had kept his USSR Communist Party membership card for sentimental reasons. …

This week’s takedown of Facebook and Instagram accounts that were used to interfere with African political affairs has provided new insight into the extent to which a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin is engaged in the continent, analysts say. Facebook announced Wednesday that, after a weeks-long investigation, it was FILE – Kremlin-linked businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin gestures on the sidelines of a meeting at the Konstantin palace outside St. Petersburg, Russia, Aug. 9, 2016.  “We believe that this is consistent with Russian commercial-linked activities, and to some extent with Russian state political interests as well,” Grossman told VOA in an interview this week. Prigozhin, commonly called “Putin’s chef” in Russia media, was A screenshot shows a Facebook page found to be part of a Russian disinformation campaign. (Courtesy – Stanford Internet Observatory researchers) For example, in Mozambique, sites supported Frelimo, the country’s longtime ruling party, in advance of elections.  In Sudan, Facebook pages initially supported former dictator Omar al-Bashir and then switched to the Transitional Military Council following his ouster. In Libya, the pages supported both rogue General Khalifa Haftar and his potential political rival, Saif al-Islam, son of autocrat Moammar Gadhafi, killed in 2011 during Arab Spring uprisings. …

Europe’s economy is losing strength. Top officials at the European Central Bank are at odds over policy. And it’s even unclear whether they can do much to help anyway. It adds up to a full in-tray for Christine Lagarde as she takes over as ECB president on Friday. The former head of the International Monetary Fund succeeds Mario Draghi, who as head of the central bank for the 19 countries that use the euro helped keep the currency union together through a financial crisis. While the crisis has abated, the pressures of the job have not diminished, with the ECB president acting as the final backstop for Europe’s economy and global uncertainties on the rise. Here’s a look at the main challenges Lagarde faces. A weakening economy Growth has dropped significantly even since Draghi announced a big stimulus package on Sept. 12. Analysts think Lagarde may not have to change policy for a while as that stimulus runs, but big risks still loom over the global and European economies. Trade disputes between the U.S. and major economies like China and Europe have hurt manufacturing. Brexit has yet to be resolved, keeping businesses uncertain about how to invest. The ECB’s next …

As Pete Buttigieg works to prove the leader of a city of roughly 100,000 people is ready to assume the American presidency, he’s relying on help from politicians who would know best: his fellow mayors. The South Bend, Indiana, mayor has amassed a network of roughly 60 “Mayors for Pete,” a collection of local leaders pushing for his underdog bid. The group includes mayors from former industrial cities, thriving metros and tiny towns of just a few thousand people. It includes the mayor of Dayton, Ohio, a Rust Belt city like the one Buttigieg leads, and the mayor of West Sacramento, California, a rising progressive leader. About a third are from swing states Democrats need to win to take the White House. But just three are from the early voting states Buttigieg needs to win to become Democrats’ presidential nominee. The campaign believes the mayors bring credibility to the 37-year-old Buttigieg’s chief pitch, a promise to usher in the next generation of Democratic politics and a more pragmatic, no-excuses style of governing. “He’s a mayor, which means that unlike a lot of people who are running for that office, he’s in a place where he actually has to get things …

A car bomb killed at least eight people on Thursday in a vegetable market in a northern region of Syria held by Turkish-led forces. Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency said another 14 people were wounded in the attack. It said the explosives were packed into a refrigerator truck. Turkish-led forces captured Afrin from Syrian Kurdish fighters early last year. The area is controlled by Syrian fighters allied with Turkey, who have been accused by rights groups of seizing land and property. The area sees sporadic attacks and other violence. Syria’s state-run SANA news agency also reported the attack, saying nine people were killed and 20 wounded. It said the blast ignited a nearby patrol station and caused damage to surrounding homes and shops. No one has claimed the attack. Turkey launched another cross-border operation earlier this month, invading northeastern Syria to push out Syrian Kurdish fighters who had partnered with U.S. forces against the Islamic State group. The invasion came after President Donald Trump ordered American forces to step aside. Ankara views the Syrian Kurdish fighters as an extension of the decades-long Kurdish insurgency in southeastern Turkey.     …

President Donald Trump’s top adviser for Russian and European affairs is leaving his job at the White House just as he’s scheduled to testify before the House impeachment investigators, a senior administration official said.   Tim Morrison owes his job at the National Security Council to Trump, but his testimony Thursday in the House impeachment inquiry might be central to a push to remove the president from office.   A senior administration official said Wednesday that Morrison “has decided to pursue other opportunities.” The official, who was not authorized to discuss Morrison’s job and spoke only on the condition of anonymity, said Morrison has been considering leaving the administration for “some time.”   Morrison has been in the spotlight since August when a government whistleblower said multiple U.S. officials had said Trump was “using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.”   Now it’s his turn in the impeachment probe’s hot seat.   Morrison, tall and lean with an authoritative voice, will be asked to explain that “sinking feeling” he got when Trump demanded that Ukraine’s president investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and meddling in the 2016 election.   …

Thirty years ago the Berlin Wall fell, ending the divide between the communist East and the democratic West.  The fall of the wall symbolized the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe that was imposed by the then- Soviet Union after World War II. It also paved the way for the eventual re-unification of Germany so that today, what was once East Germany, is now part of Western Europe. But right wing parties are gaining strength in former East Germany, threatening the country’s stability, as Michael Scaturro reports from Berlin.   …

Washington’s Kennedy Center opened an unusual exhibition within the walls of its new art space,  a collection of paintings by former president George W. Bush. The total of 66 oil paintings of military veterans will be displayed in the center this fall. Maxim Moskalkov has the story.    …

Every year on October 31, or Halloween, American streets overflow with candy and costumes. On average, people spend $86 a year on decorations, sweets, costumes and accessories. Yet some love the spooky holiday much more than others. Mariia Prus met with a true Halloween fan who takes the holiday frightfully seriously.    …

At least five people are dead in the southern Philippines after it was struck by a powerful earthquake Thursday, the third one to hit the region this month. The U.S. Geological Survey says the 6.5 magnitude quake struck about 1 kilometer south of the town of Kisante on Mindanao island. The death toll included a local official killed when a village hall collapsed. At least eight residents of a five-story condominium in Davao city, the hometown of President Rodrigo Duterte, had to be rescued when the building collapsed. Duterte was in Davao at the time of the quake, but his spokesman says the president is safe. The region was struggling to recover from a 6.6 magnitude quake that killed at least eight people Tuesday, and a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that struck on October 16 that left at least five people dead. Hundreds of people were injured and scores of buildings were destroyed or damaged in the two quakes. The Philippine archipelago sits along the so-called “Ring of Fire,” a series of underground fault lines and volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean Basin, where most of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.   …

U.S. President Donald Trump’s attended two fundraisers this week, raking in millions of dollars for the Trump 2020 and House Republican campaigns. The events, both held at Trump’s own properties in Washington and Chicago are drawing continued scrutiny and charges of ethics violations that the president brushes aside. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report. …

Chile canceled the hosting of two important international meetings in the capital, Santiago, because of ongoing protests across the South American country. Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera said Wednesday his country will not host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in November or the COP25 environmental summit in December, as his government has to deal with the unprecedented unrest that has left about 20 people dead and led to the resignation of eight cabinet ministers. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports. …

A fire swept through a Pakistani train Thursday killing at least 46 people, police said, after a gas canister passengers were using to cook breakfast exploded. The fire destroyed three of the train’s carriages near the town of Rahim Yar Khan in the south of Punjab province. District police chief Amir Taimur Khan told Geo television that the death toll had risen to 46. “Two cooking stoves blew up. They were cooking, they had (cooking) oil which added fuel to fire,” Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told Geo earlier. “Most deaths occurred from people jumping off the train,” he added. Baqir Husain, the head of the district rescue service, said the death toll could rise, and 15 people had been injured. People sneaking stoves onto trains in order to prepare meals on long journeys is a common problem, the minister said. Pakistan’s colonial-era railway network has fallen into disrepair in recent decades because of chronic under-investment and poor maintenance. Eleven people were killed in an accident in July and four in another accident in September. About 130 people were killed in 2005 when a train rammed into another at a station in Sindh province, and a third train hit …

The Washington Nationals defeated the Houston Astros 6-2 Wednesday in the deciding seventh game of the World Series to claim their first Major League Baseball championship in franchise history. Washington had to rely on what had become a defining factor of their playoff run, staging a late comeback after falling behind early in the game. The Nationals played in five deciding games in October and at one point trailed in all five. Even making the playoffs seemed like a distant goal in May when the team was struggling with a 19-31 record. ‘We stayed in the fight’ But Manager Dave Martinez, who faced numerous calls for him to be fired, preached resiliency and his motto that to turn things around the team needed only to win that day’s game. “Guess what, we stayed in the fight,” Martinez said Wednesday, echoing what had become a team slogan. “We won the fight!” A second-inning home run by Astros first basemen Yuli Gurriel put the Nationals and ace starting pitcher Max Scherzer in a 1-0 hole. Scherzer was pitching days after being scratched from a planned start in Game 5 of the series thanks to a neck injury. He and the Nationals fell …