U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday promised “big sanctions” against Turkey for its invasion into northern Syria against Kurdish fighters, but again defended his withdrawal of American troops who had been fighting alongside the Kurds against Islamic State terrorists. “Do people really think we should go to war with NATO Member Turkey?” Trump said on Twitter. “Never ending wars will end! The same people who got us into the Middle East mess are the people who most want to stay there!” ….Kurds may be releasing some to get us involved. Easily recaptured by Turkey or European Nations from where many came, but they should move quickly. Big sanctions on Turkey coming! Do people really think we should go to war with NATO Member Turkey? Never ending wars will end! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Turkey-backed Syrian rebel fighters ride on a vehicle at the border town of Tel Abyad, Syria, Oct. 14, 2019. Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reported Monday’s troop movement in Tal Tamr, about 20 kilometers from the border, saying it was done to “confront the Turkish aggression” and was welcomed by the people there. The extraordinary deal between the Kurds, Syria, and Russia — Syria’s main ally — comes …

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard says it has arrested an exiled journalist who helped fan the flames of nationwide economic protests that struck the country at the end of 2017. The Guard and a later announcement on state television on Monday did not explain how authorities detained Ruhollah Zam.   Zam had been living in exile in Paris, where he ran a news website that posted embarrassing videos and information about Iranian officials.   A channel he ran on the encrypted messaging app Telegram spread messages about upcoming protests in 2017 and shared videos from the demonstrations, which occurred across some 75 cities and towns.   Telegram shut down the channel over Iranian government complaints it spread information about how to make gasoline bombs. He later reopened it under another name. …

Taiwan set out nearly 50 years ago to grow its own defense industry because the island’s leaders never know how many arms they can get from abroad. Taiwan seeks a strong defense to deter China, an old military adversary with the world’s third strongest armed forces. That industry is growing steadily now in line with goals established by the ruling party in 2014 and contributing to an economy long dependent on tech but facing pressure to diversify. “Over the past few years President Tsai Ing-wen has been promoting a self-defense industry policy and that’s a good thing,” said Michael Tsai, chairman of the Institute for Taiwan Defense and Strategic Studies in Taiwan. 2020 goal The party’s defense committee suggested in 2014 that to “revitalize” Taiwan’s defense industry expenditures to domestic weapons production should reach at least 60% of military investments by 2020. The party said a year later its defense industry policy would eventually generate revenue of at least $8.17 billion and create 8,000 new jobs. Party representatives reached Monday were unable to say whether these goals were on track, and for security reasons the Ministry of National Defense does not disclose current or past revenues from the self-defense sector. …

This week China again demonstrated the pitfalls for American companies trying to do business there, when an NBA general manager’s tweet in support of the Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters became an international news story and sparked a backlash in China. Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets posted a tweet in support of the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement, before later deleting it and apologizing as it became clear how upset main NBA fans in mainland China were over his tweet. “If the NBA wants a piece of the Chinese market, then it needs to understand China’s culture and understand our country’s bottom line,” 18-year-old Li Xintong told Reuters while waiting for the arrival of the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets in Shanghai for an exhibition game on October 10. The response in China to Morey’s tweet included removing NBA logos, and Chinese sponsors suspending their relationship with the NBA. China’s massive economic market has long forced western companies to tread carefully when it comes to politically sensitive topics. But China scholars said the timing of the NBA social media post supporting Hong Kong during a sensitive time in China motivated its tough response. “With the 70th anniversary (of …

Spain’s Supreme Court sentenced nine former Catalan separatist leaders Monday to between nine and 13 years in prison for their attempt to declare independence from Spain in 2017. The former regional vice president, Oriol Junqueras, received the longest prison term of  13 years behind bars for sedition and misuse of public funds. The court found three other defendants guilty only of disobedience and did not sentence them to prison. The court, however, acquitted all defendants of the most severe charge, rebellion. The former head of Catalonia’s regional government called the Monday ruling an “atrocity.” Carles Puigdemont wrote on Twitter: “100 years in prison in total. An atrocity. Now more than ever … It is time to react like never before. For the future of our sons and daughters. For democracy. For Europe. For Catalonia.” 100 anys de presó en total. Una barbaritat. Ara més que mai, al vostre costat i al de les vostres famílies. Toca reaccionar, com mai. Pel futur dels nostres fills i filles. Per la democràcia. Per Europa. Per Cataunya. — Carles Puigdemont (@KRLS) October 14, 2019 Puigdemont was not a defendant in the landmark ruling over the banned referendum and short-lived independence declaration because he fled …

Vietnam has just topped a list of economic performers in Southeast Asia, a list that Standard Chartered Bank calls the “rising stars” of global trade based on improvements the countries have made and their future potential. The bank’s new Trade20 Index looks at 20 countries with promise around the world, and Vietnam ranks No. 6 on the index. However among the list’s countries in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is No. 1, moving past the likes of Indonesia and Thailand.  Reasons for Vietnam’s Economic Success The factors in Vietnam’s favor, according to the bank, include improved infrastructure, diverse trade with many countries and products especially amid the China-U.S. trade war, and political stability. The single-party term of the Communist Party since 1975 is the longest in Southeast Asia, after the People’s Action Party in power in Singapore since 1959. “Vietnam’s economic openness and integration is paying off,” Nirukt Sapru, who is the chief executive officer for Vietnam, Southeast Asia, and South Asia at Standard Chartered Bank, said last week. “The country has now become the fastest-growing economy in the region, a clear indicator of the benefits the country is reaping from an open economy.” Good news in the country is in contrast …

North Korea is demanding that the U.S. “do everything” before Pyongyang makes any concessions, Harry Harris, the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, said in an interview published Monday.  Harris’ comments to South Korea’s Dong-A-Ilbo newspaper are the first substantive reaction by a U.S. official since North Korea walked away from working-level nuclear talks late last week and blamed the U.S. for the breakdown. While noting he was not present at the negotiations held in the capital of Sweden, Harris suggested that North Korea, not the U.S., was to blame for the impasse.  “In my view, North Korea demanded that the United States do everything before doing anything,” Harris was quoted as saying. He did not elaborate. The U.S. State Department previously insisted the discussions went “good,” and pushed back against North Korea’s accusation that U.S. negotiators failed to bring any new ideas to the talks. North Korea has since threatened to resume long-range ballistic missile or nuclear tests and reiterated its end-of-year deadline for the U.S. to take a more flexible approach.  In the interview, conducted Friday, Harris downplayed the importance of the deadline, calling it “artificially set” by North Korea.  “The U.S. still wants to keep up the dialogue” …

Fifty-six-year-old Ibrahim Dubji is still trying to adjust to life out of the bushes of rural northeastern Nigeria. It’s been about three years since he left. He was a fighter with Boko Haram, taking cover in the region’s rocky and semi- arid terrain. Around the Borno State town of Gwoza, which Boko Haram captured in 2014 and declared as the headquarters of their Islamic caliphate, Dubji spent two years with the armed group, invading and attacking villages. He says he struggled with the group’s extreme mode of operation. “The son of my elder brother, they killed him in my presence,” Dubji says. “That is the worst thing I always remember.” He found a way to escape the group, turning himself in at a Nigerian military base. He said the soldiers there accepted his surrender but flogged him for four days, with “sticks, cables and machetes.” Last year, Dubji went through Operation Safe Corridor.  It’s the Nigerian government’s official rehabilitation and de-radicalization program, set up in 2016, mainly for low-ranking Boko Haram fighters and low-risk women and children affiliated with the Islamist group. Dujbi says he’s a reformed man. But he’s treated like an outcast. When he went back to his …

American Simone Biles became the most decorated gymnast in world championship history on Sunday when she won the beam and floor finals to take her career tally to 25 medals. Soon after securing a convincing victory on the beam in Stuttgart to overtake Belarusian Vitaly Scherbo’s record tally of 23 world medals, the 22-year-old Biles successfully defended her floor title to win medal number 25. The four-time Olympic champion is now the owner of 19 gold medals across four championships against 12 for Scherbo, who competed in five world events between 1991 and 1996. Making her final appearance of the week in front of a raucous crowd, Biles wasted no time as she landed a superb triple-twisting double back flip — known as the Biles II – on her first pass. Biles’s double layout with a half turn — another skill named after her — put her out of bounds for a 0.1 penalty but she did enough to post a winning score of 15.133. “Honestly, I just couldn’t move. I was so tired,” Biles said of her final pose on the stage. “This is really the best worlds performance I have ever put out.” The Americans took a one-two …

Parents of the British teen killed when his motorcycle collided with car allegedly driven by an American diplomat’s wife are on their way to the U.S. hoping to seek justice. Harry Dunn, 19, died in August in near the Croughton Royal Air Force base in Northhamptonshire, which is used by the U.S. Air Force as a communications center. Dunn’s mother, Charlotte Charles, told the BBC the family hopes to meet with the suspected driver, identified by British police and Prime Minister Boris Johnson as Anne Sacoolas, wife of an American intelligence officer based at Croughton. Sacoolas claimed diplomatic immunity and returned to the United States while the case was still being investigated. She has since written a letter of apology to Dunn’s family. But Charles said Sunday, “It’s nearly seven weeks now since we lost our boy, sorry just doesn’t cut it. “That’s not really quite enough,” she told Sky News. “But I’m still really open to meeting her, as are the rest of us. I can’t promise what I would or wouldn’t say, but I certainly wouldn’t be aggressive.” Charles also said the family was thankful to receive a letter Saturday from the Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab that said …

California has become the first U.S. state to ban all production and sale of animal fur products. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill that will make it illegal to make, sell and even donate any new item made using animal fur starting in 2023. The bill excludes used items, taxidemy products, fur taken with a hunting license and fur used by Native American tribes for religious purposes. Violators of the ban will face fines of up to $500, or even $1,000 for repeat offenses. “The signing of AB44 underscores the point that today’s consumers simply don’t want wild animals to suffer extreme pain and fear for the sake of fashion,” Kitty Block, the head of the Humane Society of the United States said in a statement. But the Fur Information Council of America condemned the ban as being part of a “radical vegan agenda” and has threatened a court challenge. Along with the fur ban, Newsom also approved a ban on the use of most animals in circuses. Exceptions will be made for dogs and horses. “California is a leader when it comes to animal welfare, and today that leadership includes banning the sale of fur,” Newsom said in a …

Poland’s conservative governing Law and Justice party won the most votes in Sunday’s election in the deeply divided nation and appeared, according to an exit poll, to have secured a comfortable majority in parliament to govern for four more years. The exit poll, conducted by the research firm Ipsos, projected that Law and Justice won 43.6% of the votes. That would translate into 239 seats, a majority in the 460-seat lower house of parliament. The poll said a centrist pro-European Union umbrella group, Civic Coalition, would come in second with 27.4%. The biggest party in the coalition is Civic Platform, which governed Poland in 2007-2015. Coalition leaders cheered and welcomed the result as a spur toward uniting society around common goals. Other parties projected to surpass the 5% threshold to get into parliament were a left-wing alliance with 11.9%, the conservative agrarian Polish People’s Party with 9.6% and a new far-right alliance called Confederation with 6.4%. The exit poll had a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points. Final vote results, which are expected by Tuesday, could shift, as they have in past elections. A prominent journalist, Konrad Piasecki, said that “at the moment it looks like …

Syrian government forces will deploy along the Turkish border to help repel the Turkish military incursion against Syrian Kurds, Kurdish officials announced Sunday. The extraordinary deal between the Kurds, Syria, and Russia — Syria’s main ally —  comes four days after Turkish forces moved against the Kurds in northern Syria after nearly all U.S. forces pulled out. Turkey regards the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces as terrorists aligned with separatists inside Turkey. Observers say in just the last four days, as many as 60 civilians have been killed with thousands of others fleeing. “In order to prevent and block this assault, agreement has been reached with the Syrian government whose duty is to protect the borders and Syrian sovereignty, for the Syrian army to enter and deploy along the length of the Syrian-Turkish border,” a Kurdish statement said. Kurds say Syrian forces will start spreading out along the border Sunday and should be totally deployed within two days. The Kurdish statement came shortly after the official Syrian news agency reported that the army was sending in troops to “confront Turkish aggression.” Syrian Kurds say they feel totally forsaken by the United States after fighting side-by-side with U.S. forces against Islamic State …

As the Turkish military and its allied Syrian rebels continue their operation against U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in northeast Syria, Christian communities in the region fear that the Turkish-led offensive is threatening their very existence in the war-torn country. On the first day of the Turkish offensive, which began on Wednesday, a Turkish artillery attack reportedly targeted a predominately-Christian neighborhood in Qamishli, the largest city in northeast Syria.   According to local sources, Ayeda Habsono and her husband, Fadi, were severely wounded in the attack that hit their house. Several other residents were also wounded. On Friday, the Virgin Lady Church in the town of Qahtaniya, near Qamishli, was also hit by Turkish shelling, local news said. Parts of the building were destroyed. Constant fear Hadeel Oueis, a Washington-based journalist who has family members living in northeast Syria, says that her Christian relatives have been living in constant fear.   “My family in Syria now lives in panic. For them, this Turkish assault is an existential threat,” she told VOA. She added that churches in Qamishli and elsewhere in northeast Syria have been ringing their bells, alarming locals of the ongoing Turkish military operations. “Many of my female Christian friends and …

Thousands of Haitians joined a protest in the capital Sunday called by the art community to demand President Jovenel Moïse resign, increasing pressure on the embattled leader after nearly a month of marches that have shuttered schools and businesses. Members of one art group participating in the march wore diapers on their heads and held empty bowls, while other protesters chanted slogans against Moïse, expressing anger over corruption, rising inflation and a lack of basic goods in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country. “Not our president” and “We want a different Haiti,” read signs in the protest in Port-au-Prince, where smoke could be seen rising from debris fires started by protesters. In contrast to recent demonstrations, police did not intervene to stop the protesters and the march progressed without tear gas. The demonstration comes amid a spike in violence in Haiti’s capital and surrounding communities as protests that have caused nearly 20 deaths and almost 200 injuries paralyze the country. Businesses remain shuttered and an estimated 2 million children have not been able to go to school, according to the United Nations. Earlier in the month, Moïse announced the creation of a commission charged with finding a solution to end the …

A conservative, Islamist-backed law professor looked set to assume Tunisia’s presidency after polling agencies suggested he overwhelmingly won Sunday’s runoff election in the country that unleashed the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings. Kais Saied’s supporters exploded with joy, celebrating on the main boulevard of Tunis even though official results from Sunday’s runoff vote weren’t expected until Tuesday. The winner of the topsy-turvy election inherits a North African country struggling to create jobs, revive tourism and overcome sporadic extremist violence — but proud of its still-budding democracy. This is only Tunisia’s second free presidential election. Polls carried in Tunisian media by Sigma Conseil and Emhrod Consulting forecast that Saied would come out on top with between 72% and 77% of the vote. Rival Nabil Karoui, who was in jail for most of the campaign, was projected to win between 23% and 27%. A crowd gathers on Tunis’ main avenue, Oct. 13, 2019. Tunisian polling agencies are forecasting that conservative law professor Kais Saied has overwhelmingly won the North African country’s presidential election. The polling agencies questioned several thousand people in person in various constituencies on voting day. Emhrod Consulting said its poll had a margin of error of 1-2%, while Sigma Conseil …

The U.N. warns that conditions for hundreds of thousands of civilians caught in the midst of Turkey’s military offensive in Kurdish-controlled areas of north-eastern Syria is rapidly deteriorating. Turkey began its so-called Operation Peace Spring five days ago to oust the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, which it views as a terrorist organization. However, most of the West views them as key partners in the fight against Islamic State. The civilian “collateral” damage of the Turkish operation already is huge. The U.N. office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs estimates more than 130,000 people are newly displaced. OCHA spokesman, Jens Laerke, said most displaced people are staying with relatives and host communities, but a growing number are living in collective shelters. He said U.N. figures indicate up to 400,000 civilians may require assistance and protection as the war escalates in the coming period. He told VOA it will be difficult to provide this aid because of insecurity and limited access to people in need. He says a number of NGOs have scaled down their operations and relocated their staff. “We do have staff that remain there. Of course, their ability to operate there and provide relief is severely restricted and hindered …

Hunter Biden, the son of former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, on Sunday defended his work in Ukraine and China after calls by President Donald Trump that the two countries investigate his business dealings, pleas that have engulfed Trump in an impeachment inquiry. The younger Biden, whose father is one of the leading Democratic candidates seeking to face Trump in the 2020 presidential election, said in a statement issued by his lawyer that despite Trump’s accusations of improprieties while he was a board member of the Burisma energy company in Ukraine for five years, no foreign or domestic law enforcement agency has accused him of any wrongdoing. Hunter Biden left the Burisma board last April and said, without giving an explanation, that he would leave the board of China’s BHR (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Company at the end of October. Published accounts say that he was paid as much as $50,000 a month to serve on the Burisma board, although his Sunday statement did not mention the salary he received. The younger Biden’s lawyer, George Mesires, said the position with the Chinese investment firm was unpaid, but that Hunter Biden two years ago invested $420,000 for a 10% equity …

Seven people were wounded after a mortar attack by al-Shabab militants hit the area around Mogadishu airport on Sunday, Somali witnesses and officials say The mortars landed on the heavily-guarded Halane area of the airport that houses the African Union and United Nations Mission in Somalia. Witnesses told VOA Somali that six mortars were fired at the vicinity just after 1pm local time. The al-Shabab militant group claimed responsibility for the attack. The Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary-General for Somalia, James Swan, confirmed that the mortars landed inside the U.N. and AMISOM facilities.  “I am appalled by this blatant act of terrorism against our personnel, who work together with the Somali people on humanitarian, peace building, and development issues,” Swan said in a statement. “There is no justification for such despicable acts of violence, and the United Nations remains determined to support Somalia on its path to peace, stability and development.” Al-Shabab uses mobile vehicles that transport mortars from one location to another. The mortars are then dissembled immediately after being fired and hidden in the bush or in a car, according to security sources. Al-Shabab attacked the same facility with mortars earlier this year injuring two United Nations …

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan held talks Sunday with leaders in Iran to formally begin a diplomatic offensive he said was aimed at defusing the neighboring country’s escalating tensions with Saudi Arabia and the United States. Khan told a joint news conference after his “wide-ranging consultations” with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that his country’s close ties with both Tehran and Riyadh go a long way back and Islamabad will do its utmost to prevent a conflict between the two Islamic countries.   “We recognize that it’s a complex issue. But we feel that this can be resolved through dialogue,” Khan stressed and announced he plans to travel to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to further his peace mission. “I have been very encouraged talking to you Mr. President. I feel encouraged and I go in a very positive frame of mind to Saudi Arabia and we will act as a facilitator. We would like to facilitate talks [between Tehran and Riyadh],” Khan said. The Pakistani leader noted his country has previously hosted Saudi Arabia and Iran for talks to help them iron out mutual differences and it is ready to do it again. For his part, Rouhani said he agreed with …

Weekend protests in Hong Kong were smaller and more peaceful than previous actions, but the thousands of people who marched and held sit-ins on the 19th straight week of unrest say their convictions have only strengthened in the past four months. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Hong Kong on how residents are not backing down, with reporting from Yihua Lee and Paris Huang. …

Syrian Kurdish officials says hundreds of suspected Islamic state supporters and family members have escaped from a displacement camp in northern Syria, as Turkey continues its military operation in the area. Jelal Ayaf, co-chair of the Ayn Issa Camp, estimated 850 foreigners linked to IS escaped and had help from sleeper cells that infiltrated part of the camp. Escaped IS family members and supporters are thought to include those from Britain, Ireland, Russia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia. Turkey launched its long-planned military operation last Wednesday aimed at taking out the Kurdish forces in northern Syria that it sees as terrorists, but which most of the West views as key partners in the fight against Islamic State militants. The military operation began days after a surprise and widely criticized White House announcement that U.S. forces would withdraw from the region. FILE – Members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are pictured during preparations to join the front against Turkish forces, near the northern Syrian town of Hasakeh, Oct. 10, 2019. Speaking to VOA Persian, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces Mustafa Bali said people in northern Syria were “frustrated and disappointed” that President Donald Trump withdrew dozens of …

Humanitarian groups on Sunday said they have rescued 74 migrants on a rubber boat in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya while Tunisian authorities reported blocking a smuggling boat carrying 110 migrants from setting off for Italy. Doctors Without Borders and SOS Mediterranee said their Ocean Viking ship rescued the migrants Sunday morning about 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the Libyan coast near an oilfield. The groups said six children were among those rescued. Tunisia’s Interior Ministry said three coast guard boats pursued the smuggling boat after it left Friday night from the city of Sfax. Officers shouted through loudspeakers at the boat and passengers threw projectiles that injured two officers and broke windows. The coast guard eventually forced the boat back toward Tunisia and rescued 25 migrants who had jumped into the sea. Meanwhile, three small boats carrying migrants reached Italian shores on Sunday. ANSA, the Italian news agency, said two boats – one carrying 15 people, the other 11 – landed on the island of Lampedusa. The agency says a third boat with 15 Tunisians aboard landed in southern Sicily.   …

Indian police and intelligence agencies detained a freelancer for the Voice of America’s Tibetan service as he arrived in Chennai Friday (October 11) to cover the informal summit between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. A freelancer for Radio Free Asia’s Tibetan service was also detained.  Both VOA and RFA are part of the U.S. Agency for Global Media. Cyaltsen Choedak for VOA and Pema Ngudup for RFA, were held for more than 40 hours, first at the Chennai railway station, then at a police station and finally at two guesthouses before they were released.   …