Thousands of Chinese basketball fans cheered on the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets at an NBA exhibition game in the city of Shenzhen on Saturday night – but some warned the organization to stay out of politics. Daryl Morey, general manager of another team, the Houston Rockets, voiced support for pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in a tweet last week, prompting Chinese sponsors and partners to cut ties with the NBA. China is estimated to be worth more than $4 billion for the NBA, so the stakes are high. Outside the arena on Saturday, some protesters waved Chinese flags and others held admonitory red signs. “Morey must apologize to China,” read one. Another said: “Violations of national sovereignty will not be tolerated”. China has accused the West of stirring up anti-Beijing sentiment in Hong Kong, where large and at times violent anti-government protesters have gained momentum over the past four months. State media characterized Morey’s tweet – which read “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong” – as meddling in China’s affairs. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver defended it on Tuesday, further angering Beijing. A 20-year-old Chinese university student at Saturday’s game, who would only give his English name, Andy, …

A media mogul and a former law professor who are vying to be Tunisia’s next president sparred during a televised debate over how to fight terrorism and poverty. Then the two candidates cordially shook hands, an act Tunisian voters are celebrating as a sign that the democracy built on their country’s 2011 Arab Spring uprising is on the right track. Tycoon Nabil Karoui and professor Kais Saied are competing in a runoff presidential election on Sunday. Neither has held political office before. Karoui promised during Friday night’s debate to combat extremist acts by tackling poverty. He said he would pursue investments from companies like Google and Netflix. Saied promised to give struggling provinces and young people more power. Both men said Tunisia should work to bring peace to neighboring Libya. …

Logging on to the corner coffee shop’s public Wi-Fi in Thailand could get a good deal more public in the coming months, following a government order that cafés across the country start tracking and saving their customers’ online activity. The Digital Economy and Society Ministry says it needs access to the data to help its new anti-fake news center crack down on cyber-criminals. Rights groups say it’s the government’s latest attempt to stamp out political dissent and free speech. “Government authorities are attempting to use the argument of ‘fake news’ and the power granted under the Computer Crimes Act to silence all dissent and to create an environment of fear resulting in individuals censoring themselves from questioning [or] criticizing the actions of the government,” Emilie Pradichit, director of rights group Manushya, said of the order. She said the “log files” in question could include users’ browsing histories but also a record of who they send messages to or receive them from. “This is very concerning since this information will be given to the anti-fake news center, that so far has no rules on how it would use or assess information and no rules that places limitations on its misuse,” Pradichit …

Cambodian authorities have launched a crackdown on activists in a move observers say is an attempt to intimidate opposition supporters ahead of the planned, but uncertain return next month from self-exile of Sam Rainsy, the acting head of the now-dissolved opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, and other opposition leaders. Rainsy, who faces a range of charges and convictions in absentia and multiple arrest warrants, and others who fled the country following the 2017 dissolution of the CNRP, plan to return Nov. 9, which is Cambodian Independence Day and the anniversary of the day the Berlin Wall fell.    According to a CNRP list, as of midday Oct. 9, 37 activists affiliated with the party and former officials have been arrested this year and placed in pre-trial detention. Thirteen of those were arrested in September. Since then, four more members have been arrested. More than a dozen others have been charged over the past week with incitement to commit a felony or with conspiracy to topple the government for attempts to mobilize citizens for the return of the opposition leaders. FILE – Cambodia’s self-exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy speaks during a press conference in Tokyo, Japan, April 13, 2018. Phay Siphan, …

Indian and Chinese leaders at an informal summit Saturday sidestepped their differences and said they will tackle a huge trade deficit that has been troubling India, and enhance measures to strengthen border security.     In the coastal heritage town of Mamallapuram in southern India, where the two leaders met, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that “we have decided to manage our differences prudently,” and not let them become “disputes.” He said both sides will remain sensitive to each other’s concerns so that the relationship “will be a source of peace and stability in the world.”   Without elaborating, Chinese President Xi Jinping said “we have engaged in candid discussions as friends,” as they sat down for talks.   Their sharp differences over the disputed region of Kashmir that came to the fore in the weeks ahead of the summit did not figure into the one-on-one talks held for several hours between Xi and Modi, according to Indian officials.   China has strongly backed Pakistan in raising strong objections to India’s move to scrap autonomy in the disputed Himalayan region, angering New Delhi, which says it is its internal affair.   Saying that there had been “visible progress” since …

A second evacuation flight of 123 asylum-seekers from Libya landed in Rwanda late Thursday at Kigali International Airport.  Most of the 123 are young Africans who were detained in Libya on their way to Europe.  They have been taken to a transit facility in Gashora, where the United Nations refugee agency is providing them assistance. This is the second group following the first plane of 66 asylum-seekers who arrived Sept. 27 as part of a U.N. and African Union agreement with Rwanda to host 500 African evacuees. …

Hong Kong pro-democracy demonstrations Saturday were smaller and less disruptive than recent massive rallies that shut down much of the city.   The largest event on Saturday was a march that included thousands of protesters in the Mong Kok shopping district in Kowloon, across from the business and financial centers on Hong Kong Island.   Some black-clad protesters spray-painted government offices and subway stations with anti-Chinese messages. Others set up impromptu roadblocks. Some vandalized shuttered shops that protesters say have expressed support for Beijing.   Riot police nearby displayed a black flag to indicate they would fire tear gas but took no action during the afternoon long march. Some protesters passing by shouted obscenities at the police.   Most of the protesters were young and masked but the crowd also included a few parents with young children and babies. One father marching with his young daughter, both in masks, said he was not concerned for their safety at the demonstration but is more worried about the possible repressive control of Hong Kong by the “Chinese government in the future.”  Emergency measures   Saturday’s turnout was less that last week’s demonstrations, when tens of thousands came out, and much less than …

Ali Javanmardi from VOA’s Persian Service contributed to this report from Irbil. The World Food Program says more than 100,000 people have been displaced so far by the Turkish invasion of northern Syria. The agency said those displaced have come from the towns of Ras al-Ayn and Tal Abyad. Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces deny that Turkish forces have taken the border town of Ras al-Ayn as Turkey had claimed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the civilian death toll resulting from Turkey’s offensive has risen to 30. Ankara launched the cross-border operation on Wednesday, saying it wants to clear a buffer zone in northern Syria of Syrian Kurdish forces, whom it sees as terrorist allies of Kurdish separatists in Turkey. An explosion is seen over the Syrian town of Ras al-Ayn, as seen from the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province, Turkey, Oct. 12, 2019. Turkey reported its first military fatality three days into its incursion into Syria. The defense ministry said three other soldiers were wounded, without giving any details. Civilian casualties also were reported in the Turkish-Syrian border region. U.S. officials say an American military outpost in Kobane, in northeastern Syria has been evacuated after Turkish …

Most mobile phone connections in Kashmir will be restored, the Indian government said Saturday, after it imposed a shutdown of more than two months since ending the troubled region’s autonomy. Indian government spokesman Rohit Kansal said the decision had been taken after a review of events in the restive Himalayan region. “All post-paid mobile phones irrespective of the telecom service provider will stand restored and be functional from noon on Monday,” he told a press conference. He added that the measure would apply to all districts of Kashmir. The New Delhi government ended Kashmir’s autonomy on August 5 and imposed the mobile phone and internet blackout as part of a huge security clampdown. …

Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, is being investigated by federal prosecutors in New York for possible lobbying violations. That’s according to a report Friday in The New York Times, citing two anonymous people familiar with the inquiry. One of the Times’ sources says the investigation is related to Giuliani’s efforts to undermine former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Two Florida businessmen tied to Giuliani were charged Thursday with federal campaign finance violations. The men had key roles in Giuliani’s efforts to launch a Ukrainian corruption investigation against Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden and his son Hunter. A whistleblower complaint about Trump’s involvement with Ukraine has led to an impeachment investigation. The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment Friday night on the Times report.   …

Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge made athletics history Saturday when he became the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours although his remarkable effort will not be recognized by the sport’s governing body. The Olympic marathon champion and world record holder completed a course around Vienna’s Prater Park in one hour 59:40 minutes on a cool, misty and windless autumnal morning. Guided by rotating seven-man teams of pacesetters, many of themselves renowned athletes, and an electric pacecar that shone green lasers onto the track, Kipchoge averaged around 2.50 minutes per kilometer. He reached the halfway mark in 59:35, 11 seconds inside the target, and ran remarkably consistently with his one-kilometer times fluctuating between 2.48 and 2.52 seconds. For the last kilometer, the pacemakers and car peeled away and Kipchoge pointed to the crowd and smiled as he completed the run. Kipchoge, who before the race compared the achievement to landing on the moon, said it was the biggest athletics milestone since Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile barrier in 1954. “I am feeling good, after Roger Bannister it took another 65 years to make history,” he said. “Now I’ve gone under two hours to inspire other people and …

Amazon is endorsing the idea of government regulation of facial recognition technology, as part of a wide-ranging statement of its principles on a range of social and political issues. The U.S. tech giant, which has come under scrutiny by antitrust enforcers and has been criticized over its use of facial recognition software, set out its positions in a statement posted late Thursday on its corporate website. Some of those stances, such as its endorsement of a raise in the federal minimum wage, were previously disclosed by Amazon. The statement also reiterated recent comments by Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos on efforts to battle climate change. Facial recognition On facial recognition, Amazon said it believes that “governments should act to regulate the use of this technology to ensure it’s used appropriately.” The company noted that it offered its own set of guidelines for facial recognition that “protects individual civil rights and ensures that governments are transparent in their application of the technology.” Thursday’s statement said governments “should work quickly to put in place a regulatory framework” for the technology, which has been used increasingly around the world amid criticism on privacy and civil liberties concerns. Human rights, privacy Amazon …

A Mekong River hydropower dam scheduled to open this month worries Vietnam because the country sits just downriver from it and would be threatened by lower water flows. Officials in Hanoi aren’t wildly protesting to the dam’s host country, Laos, however, because Vietnam knows Laos has support from their much larger neighbor, China. Vietnamese leaders instead are approaching Laos cautiously about the dam, out of fear the tiny landlocked country would seek more of that help from Beijing, Southeast Asia scholars say. Vietnam struggles to get along with China and resents Chinese expansion in other parts of Asia. The new fear in Hanoi shows it can no longer treat Laos as a client state as it’s used to doing, those experts say. “Vietnam is worried that Laos is just doing a little bit too much to dam up the Mekong,” said Murray Hiebert, senior associate of the Southeast Asia Program at the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “But Vietnam, although they have talked quietly to the Lao, it has not chosen the nuclear option to carry on very publicly and condemn Laos.” FILE – A man walks by a government billboard promoting Chinese President Xi …

Edwin Bernard, 73, is no stranger to flames that have frequently menaced his sunburned corner of Los Angeles, but they never arrived as quickly or came as close to his home before. Fire swept down the hill across the street and spit embers over his home of 30 years, sizzling through dry grass and igniting trees and bushes. He and his wife scrambled to go, leaving behind medication, photo albums and their four cats. “It was a whole curtain of fire,” Bernard said. “There was fire on all sides. We had to leave.” Bernard’s home and the cats left inside survived — barely. His backyard was charred. Bernard and his wife were among some 100,000 residents ordered out of their homes because of a wind-driven wildfire that broke out Thursday evening in the San Fernando Valley. It spread westward through tinder-dry brush in hilly subdivisions on the outskirts of the nation’s second-largest city and was only 13% contained Friday night. Los Angeles City firefighters battle the Saddleridge fire near homes in Sylmar, Calif., Oct. 10, 2019. Fire officials said 13 buildings were destroyed, many probably homes. Another 18 were damaged. A middle-aged man who was near the fire went into …

Jane Fonda was arrested at the U.S. Capitol Friday while peacefully protesting climate change. The actress and activist was handcuffed on the east side steps and escorted into a police vehicle. Video of the arrest circulated online. Fonda was one of 16 people arrested for unlawfully protesting and was charged with “crowding, obstructing or incommoding.” She was released hours later. On Thursday, the actress vowed to join Friday protests at the Capitol “inspired and emboldened by the incredible movement our youth have created.” Ira Arlook, of the group Fire Drill Fridays, confirmed that Fonda was arrested at the inaugural demonstration Friday. Before her arrest, Fonda in a speech called climate change “a collective crisis that demands collective action now.” …

From celebrities to paparazzi, media crews to music bands, hundreds gathered and attended the fourth annual Slemani International Film Festival in Sulaymaniyah city of Iraqi Kurdistan. This year, 154 films from 78 countries are competing to win awards in different categories. VOA’s Rebaz Majeed has more in this report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard.    …

The Human Life Protection Act, passed in May, will impose a near-total ban on abortions in Alabama starting in November 2019. Court challenges make it unlikely the bill will be allowed to go into effect, but it is one of many recently passed state laws that ban abortion and make no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. Andrey Nazarbekian traveled to Huntsville where the only abortion clinic in the state still operates.   …

Nearly one-third of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters who have been arrested by police are younger than 18 years old, according to the government. VOA’s Brian Padden reports Hong Kong’s leaders are appealing to parents and teachers to restrain their children from getting involved in illegal acts that could destroy their future. …

VOA’s Dzeilana Pecanin and Ivana Kostantinovic contributed to this report. Almost immediately after Polish author Olga Tokarczuk and Austria’s Peter Handke were awarded the Nobel Literature Prize, reactions started to pour in, lamenting Handke’s positions about war crimes in the Balkans. Handke won the 2019 prize for “an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience” while Tokarczuk won the 2018 prize “for a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life.” Praise from academy In its motivation for Handke, the Swedish Academy says that with his debut novel “Die Hornissen” published in 1966 and the play “Publikumsbeschimpfung” (“Offending the Audience,” 1969), Handke set his mark on the literary scene. “More than 50 years later, having produced a great number of works in different genres, 2019 Literature Laureate Peter Handke has established himself as one of the most influential writers in Europe after the Second World War,” the Academy said. The body praised his drama, “Walk About the Villages,” and the novel, “Repetition,” saying that his writing “shows and unending quest for existential meaning.” The Academy also singled out “A Sorrow Beyond Dreams,” in which …

A federal judge in New York on Friday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump from implementing a plan to deny green cards to many immigrants who use Medicaid, food stamps and other government benefits.    U.S. District Judge George Daniels’ ruling came just four days before the Trump administration was set to start enforcing new rules that would disqualify immigrants from getting legal U.S. residency if they were likely to become a burden on public welfare programs.    In his ruling, Daniels said Trump was redefining immigration rules that had stood since the late 1800s with a new framework that had “no logic.”    Allowing the policy to go into effect now, he said, would have a significant impact on “law-abiding residents who have come to this country to seek a better life.”    “Overnight, the rule will expose individuals to economic insecurity, health instability, denial of their path to citizenship and potential deportation,” Daniels wrote. “It is a rule that will punish individuals for their receipt of benefits provided by our government, and discourages them from lawfully receiving available assistance intended to aid them in becoming contributing members of society.”  Ruling in California   Almost simultaneously, a federal judge in California also …

Shepard Smith, whose newscast on Fox News Channel seemed increasingly an outlier on a network dominated by supporters of President Trump, abruptly quit after working at Fox since it started in 1996. Smith said at the end of his daily newscast on Friday that he had asked the network to let him out of his contract and it had agreed. Even in the current polarized environment, Smith said, “it’s my hope that the facts will win the day, that the facts will always matter and journalism and journalists will thrive.” Neil Cavuto, who anchors the broadcast following Smith’s, looked shocked after the announcement. “Whoa,” Cavuto said. “Like you, I’m a little stunned.” Smith’s departure also comes one day after Attorney General William Barr met privately with media mogul Rupert Murdoch, founder of Fox News. President Trump has been increasingly critical of personalities on Fox News that he views as disloyal. On his afternoon newscast, Smith had frequently given tough reports debunking statements made by Trump and his supporters — even the Fox News opinion hosts that rule the network’s prime-time lineup. Two weeks ago, Smith clashed with Tucker Carlson when an analyst on Smith’s program, Andrew Napolitano, said that it …

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg has lost his title as chairman of the troubled aircraft manufacturer, nearly a year after the first of two crashes of its 737 Max that together killed 346 people. Boeing announced late Friday that company directors decided to separate the two jobs and elected one of their own, David L. Calhoun, to serve as non-executive chairman.   Earlier on Friday, a panel of international aviation regulators issued a report critical of Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration over how the Max was approved to fly. The group said Boeing failed to adequately inform the FAA about changes to a key flight-control system implicated in the accidents. Muilenburg said in a statement that he supported splitting the CEO and chairman jobs.   “The board has full confidence in Dennis as CEO and believes this division of labor will enable maximum focus on running the business with the board playing an active oversight role,” Calhoun said in a statement issued by the company. Board rejects resolution The board in April opposed a shareholder resolution to split the jobs amid criticism over Boeing’s response to the accidents. The measure was rejected by a 2-to-1 margin.   The Max was …

VOA Persian’s Ali Javanmardi contributed to this report from Irbil.    Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces say Turkey’s three-day-old offensive in northern Syria aimed at clearing a border zone of Kurdish forces has displaced more than 10,000 people from their homes.    SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali provided the estimate of displaced people in a Friday interview with VOA Persian from his base in the northern Syrian town of Qamishli, adjacent to the Turkish border.    The U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) gave a Displaced Syrians sit in the back of a pickup truck as Arab and Kurdish civilians flee amid Turkey’s military assault on Kurdish-controlled areas in northeastern Syria, Oct. 11, 2019, in the Syrian border town of Tal Abyad. “The Turkish offensive is not aimed only at the Kurds,” Bali said. “It is against all Syrian groups in the region, including Christians and Arab Muslims.” He said Turkish bombardments had cut off water supplies in several Syrian towns near the Turkish border. OCHA said a water station in Al-Hasakah servicing about 400,000 people was out of action.  Buffer zone sought Ankara launched the cross-border operation on Wednesday, saying it wanted to clear a buffer zone in northern Syria of Syrian Kurdish …

California has become the first state to require public universities to offer abortion pills at campus health centers. California’s Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday signed the bill into law, which requires the states’ 34 universities to offer abortion medication beginning in 2023.   The medication is a first-trimester procedure that involves a woman taking two pills to create an effect similar to a miscarriage.   FILE – California Gov. Gavin Newsom addresses a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., July 23, 2019. Newsom’s predecessor, Jerry Brown, who is also a Democrat, vetoed similar legislation last year, arguing that abortion services were “widely available off-campus” and so did not need to be provided by state universities.   Democratic Senator Connie Leyva, who sponsored the bill, said in a statement Friday, “Abortion is a protected right, and it is important that everyone, including college students, have access to that right, if they so choose.” Leyva has argued the bill would help young women who cannot get to outside abortion providers because of transportation or financial obstacles. The bill has been opposed by religious and anti-abortion groups.   The University of California system has not taken a position on the matter but has raised …