One of Australia’s most senior government ministers has accused the Chinese Communist Party of behaving in ways that are “inconsistent” with his country’s values. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton warned Canberra would work to counter foreign interference in Australian universities, as well as cyber espionage. Peter Dutton’s comments are some of the most uncompromising language yet from an Australian government minister on the perceived threat posed by China. Tensions between Canberra and Beijing have risen in recent times because of allegations of cyber attacks by China, and that it has meddled in Australia’s domestic politics. There’s also been friction over the detention of a Chinese-Australian writer in Beijing, and differences over Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea. Australia also has concerns about Chinese interference in its universities, including allegations that students who have supported democracy protests in Hong Kong have been harassed or monitored by Chinese agents on campus. Peter Dutton said Australia must be wary of China’s ambitions. “My issue is with the Communist Party of China and their policies to the extent that they are inconsistent with our own values, and in a democracy like ours we encourage freedom of speech, freedom of the expression of …

Russian leader Vladimir Putin travels to Saudi Arabia, a traditional U.S. ally, Monday, offering to act as a peacemaker between Riyadh and Tehran in a diplomatic offensive aimed at balancing Moscow’s relations across the Middle East. His second aim, say analysts, is to needle Washington. While courting Iran, Russia’s ally in Syria, the Kremlin has also been wooing Tehran’s top foes, Saudi Arabia and Israel, as well as other major powers in the region like Turkey, a member of the U.S.-led NATO Western military alliance. Putin’s visit coincides with a Pentagon announcement that it is dispatching 3000 additional troops and two squadrons of fighter jets to the Gulf kingdom in an effort, U.S. officials say, to deter Iranian aggression following the drone and Cruise missile attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities last month, which rattled global energy markets and added to war tensions in the Gulf. Saudi Arabia and the U.S., as well as other Western powers, blame Iran for the attack. In recent months, Russia’s president has been assiduously courting Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a move which has been compared by some analysts to trolling the U.S. in the Gulf. The Crown Prince hasn’t discouraged …

U.S. President Donald Trump says he doesn’t know the two Soviet-born associates of his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who were indicted on charges of campaign finance violation Thursday. “I don’t know those gentlemen,” Trump said Thursday, referring to Ukrainian-born Lev Parnas and Belarus-born Igor Fruman. “Now, it’s possible I have a picture with them, because I have a picture with everybody.” In fact, records paint a much closer relationship, highlighting how the two Florida-based businessmen bought their way to the top echelons of the Republican party with hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to pro-Trump Republican campaigns. As early as March 2018, Fruman attended a donor meeting with Trump at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, center, flanked by lawyers, aides and Capitol police, leaves the Capitol, Oct. 11, 2019, in Washington, after testifying to the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees. Moreover, Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who testified Friday that Trump had pressured the State Department to force her out after losing confidence in her, blamed Giuliani and his two associates for undermining her with false assertions. She suggested that Parnas and Fruman might …

Turkey’s official news agency says allied Syrian forces have captured the town of Suluk in the fifth day of the Turkish offensive in northeast Syria. Anadolu news agency said Sunday the town’s center, located at a strategic crossroads about 10 km south of the border, was cleared of Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG. Turkey considers the group a threat for links to a decades-long Kurdish insurgency at home. A Kurdish official on condition of anonymity said the clashes in Suluk were ongoing. Turkey’s Defense Ministry tweeted 480 YPG fighters were “neutralized” since Wednesday. The number couldn’t be independently verified. Several shells fired from Syria hit the Turkish border towns Akcakale and Suruc in Sanliurfa province. Anadolu news agency said one person was wounded Sunday in Suruc. President Donald Trump speaks at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, Oct. 12, 2019. Trump an ‘Island of One’ U.S. President Donald Trump has faced widespread bipartisan criticism that he has endangered stability in the Middle East and risked the lives of Syrian Kurdish allies who helped the U.S. bring down the Islamic State group in Syria. But on Saturday he remained steadfast and defended his decision, saying he is an “island …

Poles are voting Sunday in a parliamentary election that the ruling party of Jaroslaw Kaczynski is favored to win easily, buoyed by the popularity of its social conservatism and generous social spending policies that have reduced poverty. Law and Justice is the first party since the fall of communism to break with the austerity of previous governments. Those free-market policies took a moribund communist economy and transformed it into one of Europe’s most dynamic.  However, many Poles were left out in that transformation and inequalities grew, creating grievances that Law and Justice has addressed skillfully. Its most popular program, called 500+, gives away 500 zlotys ($125) to families per month per child, taking the edge off poverty for some and giving more disposable income to all recipients. However, many of the party’s liberal critics fear that another four-year term for Law and Justice will reverse the achievements made three decades ago in this Central European nation, long hailed as a model of democratic transformation.  They cite an erosion of judicial independence, pluralism and minority rights since the party took power in 2015. More than 30 million people in this nation of 37 million are qualified to vote. They are choosing …

Tunisians are voting for president Sunday in an unusual contest pitting a populist tycoon who just got out of jail against a conservative professor backed by resurgent Islamists. The winner of Sunday’s runoff vote will inherit a North African country struggling to overcome corruption, unemployment and sporadic extremist violence — but proud of its still-budding, post-Arab Spring democracy. The choice for voters between two quirky candidates who have never held political office has made for an unprecedented election. The top performer in last month’s first-round vote was 61-year-old Kais Saied, an enigmatic former constitutional law professor dubbed “Robocop” for his austere bearing. His challenger is Nabil Karoui, a glib, 56-year-old media mogul who spent most of the campaign behind bars on accusations of money laundering and tax evasion that he calls politically driven. People watch a televised debate between presidential candidates Kais Saied, left, and Nabil Karoui, on the last day of campaigning before the second round of the country’s presidential elections, in Tunis, Tunisia, Oct. 11, 2019. The entrepreneur The only thing the men have in common is their outsider status. A well-heeled entrepreneur who just started his political party this year, Karoui campaigned on promises to fight the …

There are more than a dozen candidates running against U.S. President Donald Trump in the next presidential race, but one Democrat who is standing out in the Asian American community is entrepreneur, Andrew Yang. He may not be one of the top three candidates in the Democratic Party, but he is the first Asian American candidate to make a serious run for the White House.  He has qualified for the next Democratic presidential primary debate near Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 15, while other Democrats have not. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee reports from one of his rallies in Los Angeles.   …

Banned Books Week happens every year as many children in America begin a new school year. In honor of the occasion, local libraries organize readings of Harry Potter, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill A Mockingbird and hundreds of other novels. Despite many of them being considered classical literature, they continue to be banned in some school libraries. Natalka Pisnya has the story narrated by Anna Rice.    …

There are thousands of Venezuelans stranded at the border after the Ecuadorian government imposed new rules that bar people from entering the country without a visa. But many of the refugees are stuck because they can’t afford the $50 fee to get a visa. VOA’s Celia Mendoza reports from the Rumichaca International Bridge in Colombia.   …

With Hong Kong anti-government protests ongoing, tech companies in the U.S. are being drawn into the crisis. The standoff between China and protesters has led some U.S. tech firms to curtail services. Michelle Quinn reports …

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau donned an armored vest and appeared with a heavy security detail at a major election rally Saturday. Officials would not reveal the nature of the threat. It resulted in a 90-minute delay before Trudeau appeared before about 2,000 supporters who had turned out as the election campaign ahead of the Oct. 21 vote. Trudeau wore a suit jacket rather than his usual rolled-up sleeves and loosened tie, and was wearing a vest, which was noticeable in photos taken at the event. Trudeau was escorted through crowd by a large number of plainclothes Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers as well as Mounties dressed in green tactical gear. Liberal leader and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wears a protective vest amid heavy security as he attends an election campaign rally in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Oct. 12, 2019. RCMP spokeswoman Stephanie Dumoulin said for security reasons they do not comment on security measures given to the prime minister. A spokeswoman Trudeau also declined comment. Prepared remarks had indicated that Trudeau’s wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, was to introduce the Liberal leader. She did not appear or take the stage during the rally. “Very upsetting to hear that Justin Trudeau …

Armed men stormed a mosque in the volatile north of Burkina Faso as worshippers were at prayer, killing 16 people and sending residents fleeing, security sources and locals said Saturday. The attack on the Grand Mosque in the town of Salmossi on Friday evening underscores the difficulties faced by the country in its battle against jihadists. One source said 13 people died at the scene and three succumbed to their injuries later. Two of the wounded are in critical condition. “Since this morning, people have started to flee the area,” one resident from the nearby town of Gorom-Gorom said. He said there was a “climate of panic despite military reinforcements” that were deployed after the deadly attack. Although hit by jihadist violence, many Burkinabes oppose the presence of foreign troops — notably from former colonial ruler France — on their territory. French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with Burkina Faso’s President Roch Marc Christian Kabore in Lyon, France, Oct. 9, 2019, during the meeting of international lawmakers, health leaders and people affected by HIV, Tuberculosis and malaria. Terrorism, foreign military On Saturday, a crowd of about 1,000 people marched in the capital Ouagadougou “to denounce terrorism and the presence of …

Britain remains a long way from agreeing on a final Brexit deal and the next few days will be critical if it is to reach departure terms with the European Union, a Downing Street source said Saturday. Negotiators for Britain and the EU entered intense talks over the weekend to see if they can break the Brexit impasse before a crucial summit next week and a deadline for Britain to leave the bloc Oct. 31. News of progress in the talks sent financial markets surging Friday after Boris Johnson and his Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar identified a pathway to a deal following months of acrimony. But on Saturday the deputy leader of the Northern Irish party that holds a key role in the talks signaled his concern about the mooted proposal and the Downing Street source said Britain remained ready to leave without a deal if needed. “We’ve always wanted a deal,” the person said, on condition of anonymity. “It is good to see progress, but we will wait to see if this is a genuine breakthrough. “We are a long way from a final deal and the weekend and next week remain critical to leaving with a deal on …

Turkey’s military said it captured a key Syrian border town under heavy bombardment Saturday in its most significant gain since an offensive against Kurdish fighters began four days ago, with no sign of relenting despite mounting international criticism. Turkish troops entered central Ras al-Ayn, according to Turkey’s Defense Ministry and a war monitor group. The ministry tweeted: “Ras al-Ayn’s residential center has been taken under control through the successful operations in the east of Euphrates” River. It marked the biggest gain made by Turkey since the invasion began Wednesday. The continued push by Turkey into Syria comes days after President Donald Trump pulled U.S. forces out of the area, making Turkey’s air and ground offensive possible, and said he wanted to stop getting involved with “endless wars.” Trump’s decision drew swift bipartisan criticism that he was endangering regional stability and risking the lives of Syrian Kurdish allies who brought down the Islamic State group in Syria. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces was the main U.S. ally in the fight and lost 11,000 fighters in the nearly five-year battle against IS. Turkish troops and allied Syrian opposition fighters have made gains recently capturing several northern villages in fighting and bombardment that …

Helicopters plucked people from their flooded homes Sunday as rescue efforts went into full force in wide areas of Japan, including Tokyo, after a powerful typhoon unleashed heavy rainfall, leaving at least four dead and 17 missing. Typhoon Hagibis made landfall south of Tokyo Saturday and moved northward. More than 100 people were also injured in its wake, according to public broadcaster NHK, as the numbers kept growing. An aerial view shows a Japan Self-Defense Force helicopter flying over residential areas flooded by the Chikuma River following Typhoon Hagibis in Nagano, Japan, Oct. 13, 2019, in this photo taken by Kyodo. News footage showed a rescue helicopter hovering in a flooded area in Nagano prefecture where an embankment of the Chikuma River broke. The chopper plucked those stranded on the second floor of a home submerged in muddy waters. A stretch of Fukushima, in the city of Date, was also flooded with only rooftops of residential homes visible in some areas. Parts of nearby Miyagi prefecture were also under water. The Tama River, which runs by Tokyo, overflowed its banks. Authorities warned of a risk of mudslides. Among the reported deaths were those whose homes were buried in landslides. Other …

A large section of a Hard Rock Hotel under construction at the edge of New Orleans’ historic French Quarter collapsed Saturday amid blinding dust and flying debris, killing one person, injuring more than 20 and leaving two unaccounted as rescue workers hastened to enter what was left of the largely unstable building. Nearby buildings were evacuated and a 270-foot (82-meter) construction crane — one of two still looming over the multi-story building — also was dangerously unstable, Fire Chief Tim McConnell said. “There is a very strong possibility of further collapse of this crane right now,” McConnell said.   McConnell said urban search and rescue teams on Saturday afternoon were entering a section of the building in hopes of finding the two missing people alive.  Neither of the missing people had been spotted, but McConnell said authorities believe they know their approximate locations based on talks with other survivors of the collapse. Camera-equipped drones were used to get closer views of the wreckage from the air but did not capture any sign of the missing. One man who had been unaccounted for turned out to have gone to a local hospital, authorities said. Officials said 18 other people were transported …

Kenya’s police chief says a roadside bomb has killed 11 officers on the country’s southern border with Somalia. Inspector General Hillary Mutyambai said Saturday the officers’ patrol car was blown up on Damajale Hare Hare road near the town of Liboi. No one has claimed responsibility for the bomb, but al-Shabab militants from Somalia are suspected. The al-Qaida-linked group has increasingly targeted Kenyan security forces in recent years. It vowed to take retribution on Kenya in 2011 for sending troops into Somalia to target its fighters. In July, Kenyan border police killed three suspected al-Shabab members who allegedly blew up their vehicle near the Somali border. A January attack on a Nairobi luxury hotel complex by al-Shabab extremists killed 21 people. …

Xi Jinping on Saturday became the first Chinese president in more than two decades to visit Nepal, where he is expected to sign agreements on several infrastructure projects. Xi arrived Saturday from India, where he met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Nepal is expected to tread cautiously while building relations with big neighbors India and China. India has extensive influence on Nepal’s economy and politics, while China and Nepal share a border covered with high mountain peaks. Jiang Zemin had been the last Chinese president to visit Nepal, making the trip in 1996, but other Chinese leaders — including premiers and foreign ministers — have since paid official visits to the Himalayan nation. Tanka Prasad Karki, a former Nepalese diplomat, said that a Chinese president had not visited Nepal in such a long time because “China was waiting for a strong government in Kathmandu, as the last few decades were marked by a Maoist war, frequent changes of government and political instability.” Xi was received by Nepalese President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli at the Kathmandu airport. Trans-Himalayan connectivity and an extradition treaty will be high on the agenda during official talks on Sunday, said …

An indigenous group in Ecuador that has led protests for more than a week against a law that ended fuel subsidies said on Saturday it has accepted direct talks with President Lenin Moreno, the first sign of a possible breakthrough in the dispute. The highland capital of Quito was rocked by a 10th day of clashes over Moreno’s austerity plan, with the office of Ecuador’s comptroller set on fire and access roads to Quito’s airport blocked. TV channel Teleamazonas showed images of its own offices in flames and said its employees were unharmed. In a televised message to the South American country of 17 million people, Moreno thanked indigenous leaders for agreeing to talks but did not comment on whether he would repeal the law. Moreno also ordered a military-backed curfew in Quito and surrounding valleys starting at 3 p.m. (2000 GMT), blaming the violence on extremists whom he said had infiltrated protests. “We’re going to restore order in all of Ecuador,” Moreno said. “We’re starting with the curfew in Quito.” But the announcement of the curfew came within half an hour of its implementation, giving anti-austerity protesters, many of whom had traveled to the city from the provinces, little …

Firefighters have made progress containing wind-driven wildfires in the western U.S. state of California that has claimed one life, destroyed or damaged dozens of structures, and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people. Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Branden Silverman said Saturday morning the blaze in Los Angeles County, named the Saddleridge fire, had been 19-percent contained overnight, thanks to slightly cooler temperatures and lighter winds. The blaze damaged or destroyed at least 31 structures, including homes. The fire, located in the San Fernando Valley in Northwestern Los Angeles County, was only 13-percent contained on Friday, after burning more than 3,000 hectares, officials said. Authorities ordered mandatory evacuations Saturday of some 23,000 homes in an area covering about 100,000 residents. The cause of the Saddleridge fire has not been determined, but investigators said they were following up on a report of flames from a power line when the fire started Thursday night. To the east of the Saddleridge fire, another blaze swept through a Riverside County mobile home park, destroying dozens of homes. Authorities said that fire, which has burned about 330 hectares, had been 25 percent contained Saturday. Flames from a backfire, lit by firefighters to stop …

Human rights organizations say they are preparing for a long-lasting displacement of civilians in northeastern Syria as a result of a military operation by Turkey and its aligned Syrian militants against the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces. The new Turkish offensive into Syria on Wednesday started after U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision Sunday to withdraw U.S. troops from the region. As the Turkish government on Thursday said its military pushed deeper into the region in its operation, humanitarian agency Care International told VOA that approximately 90,000 people have become internally displaced since its beginning on Wednesday. “Following the launch of a new military operation in the area, civilians in northeast Syria are at high risk,” said Fatima Azzeh, the senior regional communications manager for the Syria crisis at Care International. “Reports from responders on the ground say civilians are already on the move and some vital services, such as medical facilities and water supplies, have been interrupted,” Azzeh said, adding that thousands more civilians are expected to leave the area in coming days. Syrian refugees and relatives of nine-month-old baby, Mohammed Omar, killed in a mortar attack a day earlier in Akcakale near northern Syria, leaves after funeral ceremony in Akcakale …

Arab League foreign ministers condemned Turkey’s military incursion into northern Syria. The League’s secretary general, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said the group is calling on the U.N. Security Council to take action against Turkey.  At a meeting Saturday in Cairo, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit called Turkey’s military action an “invasion” and an “aggression” against an Arab state. He said the Arab League “condemns the invasion and that the world must not accept it, either, since it contradicts international norms and international law, no matter what pretext the invader uses.” Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali Hakim, who presided over the session, said the Turkish “invasion” would cause a further deterioration of the situation in Syria and a worsening of terrorism both in Syria and neighboring states, like Iraq. He said Turkey’s action represents a dangerous escalation that will worsen the humanitarian situation and increase the suffering of the Syrian people, in addition to allowing terrorists to regroup and weakening international efforts to fight terrorist groups, especially the Islamic State terror group, which threatens both the region and world. An explosion is seen over the Syrian town of Ras al-Ain, as seen from the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa …

The United States has hailed FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, for slapping a five-year ban on a former senior official of the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) for failing to act on sexual abuse allegations brought by the country’s female players. “Survivors of sexual abuse deserve justice & we look to Afghan authorities to ensure accused officials are held accountable,” Alice Wells, acting U.S. assistant secretary for south and central Asia, tweeted Saturday. We welcome @FIFAcom’s Ethics Committee’s suspension of an official who failed to act on allegations brought by the @AfghanistanWNT. Survivors of sexual abuse deserve justice & we look to Afghan authorities to ensure accused officials are held accountable. AGW — State_SCA (@State_SCA) October 12, 2019 FIFA announced a day earlier its ongoing investigation into complaints, lodged by several female Afghan football players, has found Sayed Aghazada, the former AFF general secretary, guilty of breaching the world body’s code of ethics. The complainants accused the former AFF president, Keramuudin Karim, of “repeated” sexual abuse between 2013 and 2018 when Aghazada was the general secretary. The players went public with the allegations last year, prompting FIFA to investigate and ban Karim for life in June. It also imposed a $1 …