Yazidi families would not feel safe returning to their homes in Iraq until Islamic State militants accused of atrocities against the religious minority face justice, according to a doctor awarded Saturday for his work with Yazidi women and children. Mirza Dinnayi, a Yazidi activist named the winner of the Aurora humanitarian prize for helping 1,000 Yazidi women and children seek medical treatment in Europe, said prosecutions were key to help the “completely traumatized” community. “Yazidis need to trust the authorities in Iraq in order to establish peace and make a process of reconciliation and transitional justice. This has not happened,” Dinnayi said. FILE – Iraqi Yazidi women and children rescued from the Islamic State group wait to board buses bound for Sinjar in Iraq’s Yazidi heartland, April 13, 2019. UN declares genocide Islamic State rampaged through the Yazidi religious community’s heartland in Sinjar, northern Iraq, in 2014, slaughtering thousands of people, in what the United Nations has called a genocide. About 7,000 women and children were kidnapped to become sex slaves or fighters. Almost 3,000 of them remain unaccounted for, according to community leaders. The jihadist group was driven out of the region in 2017, but many Yazidi still live …

Soldiers patrolled the streets in Chile’s capital Saturday for the first time since the military dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet ended in 1990, summoned to keep order following violent protests over subway fares.    The military presence was part of a state of emergency declared by President Sebastian Pinera in response to student-led protests Friday that paralyzed the city.    Protesters burned several subway stations and damaged dozens of others, and some set fire to a high-rise energy company building. Officials reported 156 police officers and 11 civilians injured and more than 300 people arrested.    The conservative Pinera vowed that those responsible for the violence “are going to pay for their deeds.”    New but less rowdy protests broke out again at midday Saturday in several areas around the metropolitan area, and police fired tear gas to break some of them up. Pot-banging and honking spread to cities to the country’s north and south.     The government recently raised subway fares from about $1.12 to $1.16 because of rising fuel prices.    The head of the subway system, Louis De Granges, said the vandalism caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage and said it wasn’t clear when service …

Opposition groups called Saturday for continuing protests to demand that Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez be removed from office after his younger brother was convicted of drug trafficking in a New York court.    Thousands of Hondurans protested into the early hours of the morning after Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernandez was convicted Friday in what U.S. prosecutors described as a conspiracy that relied on “state-sponsored drug trafficking.”     Protesters blocked key roads in half of the country’s 18 provinces, setting barricades ablaze, while some took advantage of the disturbances to loot stores. Police had not reported any arrests and urged protesters to express their concerns “peacefully without affecting the right of others.”       President Hernandez insisted via Twitter that the verdict was not against the state of Honduras, saying his government had fought drug trafficking. On Saturday he attended a parade to honor the country’s armed forces and posted pictures of himself on Twitter smiling alongside the U.S. charge d’affaires to Honduras, Colleen Hoey.        With Hoey at the parade, Hernandez said he discussed ways to strengthen ties between the two countries while also fighting drug trafficking and organized crime.    The president has accused Honduran drug traffickers extradited to the U.S. …

Political, racial and gender tensions between students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have erupted over freedom of speech and drawn deep battle lines.    Senior Jasmine Kiah said she felt “unsafe” as a black woman because of posters in the campus Student Activity Center (SAC) put up by the GOP Badgers — also called the College Republicans — who support President Donald Trump.    “The Student Activity Center is a place where all students should feel safe. For black people and other people of color, we do not feel welcome,” Kiah told VOA. “Trump signs are a representation of hate.”  Taped up posters   Kiah protested by taping anti-Trump posters on a glass wall of the College Republicans’ office that faces into the SAC. While she was counterprotesting the Trump display, she played an anti-Trump protest song by the late community activist and rapper Nipsey Hussle on her cellphone.   GOP student members said they felt unsafe and called university police, as reported by the Badger-Herald, an independent student newspaper. Campus police arrived, asked Kiah to leave and escorted her from the building.    The University of Wisconsin released a statement saying that, according to campus policy, only preapproved signs by the Student Activities Office can be displayed in public spaces on campus. Also, posters are not allowed on glass …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Saturday that Washington remained committed to peace and stability in Afghanistan as police searched for bodies in the rubble of a mosque in eastern Nangarhar province where bomb blasts killed at least 69 people.  The explosives that went off during Friday prayers were placed inside the mosque in the Jawdara area of the Haska Mena district. On Friday, local officials had reported the number of dead at 62 and about 50 wounded.  “The United States remains committed to peace and stability in Afghanistan, and will continue to fight against terrorism,” Pompeo said in a statement. “We stand by the people of Afghanistan who only want peace and a future free from these abhorrent acts of violence.”  Sohrab Qaderi, a member of Nangarhar’s provincial council, said the mosque, with a capacity of more than 150 worshippers at a time, was full of people when the bombs exploded.  “Bodies of 69 people, including children and elders, have been handed to their relatives,” Qaderi said, adding that more bodies could be lying under the rubble.  No group has claimed responsibility but the government blamed Taliban insurgents, who are fighting to reimpose strict Islamic law after they were ousted from power in 2001 by U.S.-led forces.  Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban, denied the group was responsible. In a tweet, he said that witnesses …

Mexico’s foreign minister said Saturday that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, had agreed to take swift action to stem the flow of illegal weapons from the United States into Mexico.  Lopez Obrador told Trump on a phone call, “I want to propose to you that both our countries use technology to close the border, to freeze the traffic of arms that is killing people in Mexico,” Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard told reporters.  “And Trump responded that he thought it was a good idea that this could be done using technology,” Ebrard said, adding that existing technology could be used for this objective.  Lopez Obrador told Trump “he was very concerned” that gang members were using .50 caliber armor-piercing rifles during the breakout of violence in the northwestern city of Culiacan after  Mexican authorities attempted to arrest Ovidio Guzman, one of jailed drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s dozen or so children.  There was no need to change laws in the United States in order to stop the illegal flow of weapons into Mexico, Ebrard assured.  The two leaders agreed that U.S. and Mexican officials would meet in the next few days to discuss options, and would announce actions to “freeze” illegal imports of weapons into Mexico through U.S. border crossings.  There was no immediate comment from U.S. authorities about the discussion, which …

Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) confirmed Saturday it had delayed the planned release of preliminary results of the Sept. 28 presidential polls.    The commission’s chief, Hawa Alam Nuristani, made the widely anticipated announcement at a late evening news conference in Kabul on the day the commission was supposed to officially deliver first results.    Nuristani apologized to Afghans for not being able to meet the deadline, but she defended the decision to delay the results, saying it would “further ensure the transparency of the [electoral] process” and restore the people’s confidence in it.    The chief election commissioner promised to release preliminary results as soon as possible but did not say exactly when that would happen.    Two senior IEC members, while speaking to VOA on Friday, predicted results would be delayed by at least one week.  Problems from the start   Election officials said they had from the outset faced issues in collecting and transferring massive amounts of data to the main IEC computer server from biometric devices used to record voter fingerprints and pictures. A time-consuming exercise of identifying fraudulent votes was cited as another major factor for the slow data entry.    The fourth Afghan presidential election was already under scrutiny for a record-low turnout of about 26 percent and …

Turkish-backed Syrian fighters clashed with Kurdish-led forces in several parts of northeastern Syria on Saturday, with some crossing the border from Turkey to attack a village, a war monitor said. Both sides blamed each other for fighting that has rattled the U.S.-brokered cease-fire. Nearly two days into the five-day halt in fighting, the two sides were still trading fire around the key border town of Ras al-Ayn. There has also been no sign of a withdrawal of Kurdish-led forces from positions along the Syrian-Turkish border as called for under the agreement, reached between Turkey and the United States. Turkey’s Defense Ministry said it was “completely abiding” by the accord and that it was in “instantaneous coordination” with Washington to ensure the continuity of calm. The ministry accused Kurdish-led fighters of carrying out 14 “attacks and harassments” the past 36 hours, most in the town of Ras al-Ayn, which is besieged by allied fighters before the cease-fire. It said the Syrian Kurdish fighters used mortars, rockets, anti-aircraft and anti-tank heavy machine guns. Turkey also said Saturday said it has recaptured 41 suspected Islamic State members who had fled a detention camp amid the chaos caused by the fighting earlier this week. …

Washington is drowning in red ink again, yet the mounting fiscal problem is prompting collective yawns from the Trump Administration and Democrats alike. It wasn’t so long ago that an announcement that the United States annual budget deficit was approaching $1 trillion — in a time of record low unemployment and steady economic growth, no less — would have set off alarm bells in the nation’s capital and sent politicians running to the television cameras to demand action to rein in federal spending. But a recent report from the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic analysis that shows the deficit ballooning to a seven-year high of $984 billion in fiscal 2019 was greeted with near silence from U.S. lawmakers, the administration and other policy makers. Instead, as the 2020 presidential campaign heats up, Republicans and Democrats are promoting ambitious new spending and tax relief measures that would add many trillions of dollars to the cumulative federal debt – the sum total of past deficits — which is now approaching a staggering $23 trillion. After forcing a $1.5 trillion tax cut through Congress in 2017 and demanding sharp increases in military spending, both of which have contributed to a 48% increase …

Environmental rights groups are calling on Laos to cancel the latest hydro-electric dam it has approved for construction across the Mekong River, warning of dire consequences for the millions of people who rely on the waterway for a living. A six-month “prior consultation process” for the Luang Prabang dam began on October 8, giving Laos’ partners in the Mekong River Commission (MRC) — Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam — a chance to review the project plans and raise concerns. But the rights groups say the farming and fishing communities expected to be hit hardest by such dams have been let down by the consultations for previously approved projects, and they expect no different this time. The Luang Prabang dam is the fifth mainstream Mekong dam Laos will have put through the consultation process, and with 1,460 megawatts of generating capacity, it will be the biggest thus far. The first, the Xayaburi, is due to start producing electricity at the end of the month. “For the past four prior consultation processes that we have experienced, we’ve seen big loopholes and the exclusion of affected communities in the process,” said Pianporn Deetes, Thailand campaign director for International Rivers, which advocates for sustainable river …

The State Department has completed its internal investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of private email and found violations by 38 people, some of whom may face disciplinary action. The investigation, launched more than three years ago, determined that those 38 people were “culpable” in 91 cases of sending classified information that ended up in Clinton’s personal email, according to a letter sent to Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley this week and released Friday. The 38 are current and former State Department officials but were not identified. Although the report identified violations, it said investigators had found “no persuasive evidence of systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information.” However, it also made clear that Clinton’s use of the private email had increased the vulnerability of classified information. The Associated Press sent an email seeking comment to a Clinton representative. The investigation covered 33,000 emails that Clinton turned over for review after her use of the private email account became public. The department said it found a total of 588 violations involving information then or now deemed to be classified but could not assign fault in 497 cases. For current and former officials, culpability means the violations will be noted …

The battle over Brexit spilled onto the streets of London on Saturday when tens of thousands of people gathered to demand a new referendum while lawmakers decided the fate of Britain’s departure from the European Union. Protesters waving EU flags and carrying signs calling for Brexit to be halted gathered at London’s Park Lane before a march through the center of the capital to parliament. “I am incensed that we are not being listened to. Nearly all the polls show that now people want to remain in the EU. We feel that we are voiceless,” said Hannah Barton, 56, a cider maker from central England, who was draped in an EU flag. “This is a national disaster waiting to happen and it is going to destroy the economy.” Many protesters carried placards, some comparing Brexit to the election of U.S. President Donald Trump. Some wore elaborate costumes with one group dressed as fruit and vegetables. There were also papier mache models mocking politicians such as Prime Minister Boris Johnson. “I don’t like the sort of place the country is becoming. We have become a more angry country than before the referendum,” said Phil Canney, 33, a mechanical engineer. “If what …

Thousands of demonstrators poured into Lebanon’s streets on Saturday for a third day of anti-government protests, directing growing rage at a political elite they blame for driving the country to the economic brink. From the south to the east and north, protesters blocked roads, burned tires and marched through the streets to keep the momentum going despite gunmen loyal to Shi’ite Muslim Amal movement appearing with heavy guns to scare them away. In central Beirut, the mood was fiery and festive with protesters of all ages waving flags and chanting for revolution outside upmarket retailers and banks that had their storefronts smashed in by some rogue rioters the night before. “This country is moving towards total collapse. This regime has failed to lead Lebanon and it must be toppled and replaced,” said Mohammad Awada, 32, who is unemployed. “We no longer feel we have a state. This state tramples on all institutions.” Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri gave his government partners a 72-hour deadline on Friday to agree on reforms that could ward off economic crisis, hinting he may otherwise resign. The latest unrest erupted out of anger over the rising cost of living and new tax plans, including a fee …

South Sudan opposition leader Riek Machar returned to the country on Saturday to meet with President Salva Kiir less than a month before their deadline to form a unity government after a five-year civil war. Machar last met face-to-face with Kiir in September, when they discussed outstanding issues in a fragile peace deal. His two-day visit includes a meeting with the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who arrives Sunday with a U.N. Security Council delegation. The delegation is expected to encourage progress in the peace deal signed a year ago but fraught with delays. The opposition has said Machar won’t return to form the government by the Nov. 12 deadline unless security arrangements are in place. The U.S. has said it will reevaluate its relationship with South Sudan if that deadline is missed. The civil war killed almost 400,000 people and displaced millions. Before Machar’s return a unified army of 41,500 opposition and government soldiers needs to be ready along with a 3,000-person VIP protection force. But so far there are only 1,000 unified soldiers and security arrangements won’t meet the deadline, deputy opposition spokesman Manawa Peter Gatkuoth said. The previous Machar-Kiir meeting focused on speeding up the screening …

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, said Saturday the murder suspect whose case was the spark that started the fire of the Hong Kong protests — an extradition proposal to allow Hong Kong to transfer suspects to Taiwan, as well as  mainland China, among other places, that Lam has announced will be withdrawn — is ready to turn himself in to Taiwanese authorities. Lam said Chan Tong-kai wrote to her, saying he would “surrender himself to Taiwan” in connection with his alleged involvement in a murder case. Chang is accused of murdering his girlfriend in Taiwan.  When he fled back to Hong Kong, he was arrested on money laundering charges but is expected to be released soon. Hong Kong is facing the 20th straight weekend of anti-government protests, after both sides revealed this week that they are digging in. Protesters say they won’t back down from their “five demands” on Hong Kong’s government, and Lam said she would make no concessions to protesters. Lam’s hardline position was echoed earlier this week by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who went a step further and warned that anyone advocating Hong Kong’s independence from China risked “crushed bodies and shattered bones.” But protesters say …

At least 15 gold miners were killed on Saturday when a dam collapsed, flooding an artisanal mining encampment in a remote part of Siberia, officials said. Heavy rains had weakened the dam and water broke through, sweeping away several cabins where the artisan miners lived, about 160 km (100 miles) south of the city of Krasnoyarsk. President Vladimir Putin ordered all necessary measures to be taken to help those affected, to identify the cause of the disaster and prevent any impact on a nearby residential area, Interfax quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying. Russia is one of the world’s top gold producers with most of its output coming from large professional industrial mines. However, alluvial production, which is usually operated by small firms, still contributes some of the country’s gold. Alluvial or artisanal gold mining in Russia is usually small-scale, but is still conducted by officially registered firms which are supposed to abide by health and safety rules. Krasnoyarsk officials said in a statement that water released by the dam partially flooded two dormitories of the rotational camp in which 74 people lived, adding that 13 people were still missing. A Russian investigative committee said it had launched a …

Inspired by the climate activism of a Swedish teenager, Jane Fonda said Friday that she is returning to civil disobedience nearly a half-century after she was last arrested at a protest. Fonda, known for her opposition to the Vietnam War, was one of 17 climate protesters arrested Friday at the U.S. Capitol on charges of unlawful demonstration by what she called “extremely nice and professional” police. Fellow actor Sam Waterston was also in the group, which included many older demonstrators. Now 81, Fonda said she plans to get arrested every Friday to advocate for urgent reduction in the use of fossil fuels. She hopes to encourage other older people to protest as well. Arrests in 2019 not like the 1970s Getting arrested in 2019, poses some entirely new challenges, Fonda told The Associated Press in an interview. These days, “they use white plastic things on your wrists instead of metal handcuffs, and that hurts more,” she said. “The only problem for me is I’m old,” Fonda said. After her first arrest last week, she had trouble getting into the police vehicle because she was handcuffed behind her back and “had nothing to hang on to.” On Friday, Fonda emerged from …

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam took to the airwaves Saturday to back the use of force by police ahead of a major anti-government march planned this weekend in the Chinese-ruled city, which has been battered by months of violent protests. Following a week of relative calm, Sunday’s march will test the strength of the pro-democracy movement. Campaigners vowed it would go ahead despite police ruling the rally illegal. In the past, thousands of people have defied police and staged mass rallies without permission, often peaceful at the start but becoming violent at night. Suspect wants to surrender in Taiwan The trigger for unrest in Hong Kong had been a now-withdrawn proposal to allow extradition to mainland China, as well as Taiwan and Macau. The case of a Hong Kong man accused of murdering his girlfriend in Taiwan before fleeing back to the city was held up as an example of why it was needed. Late Friday the man, Chan Tong-kai, who is jailed in Hong Kong for money laundering, wrote to Lam saying he would “surrender himself to Taiwan” over his alleged involvement in the case upon his release, which could be as soon as next week. Hong Kong Chief …

Around 20 South Korean protesters broke into the residential compound of the U.S. ambassador to South Korea Friday, prompting U.S. officials to call for tighter security measures around diplomatic missions here. Video of the break-in posted online shows a group of young, chanting protesters using ladders to scale the stone wall surrounding Ambassador Harry Harris’ house, which is in a central area of Seoul. After scaling the compound walls, the intruders attempted to forcibly enter the ambassador’s residence but were detained by Seoul police, according to a statement by the U.S. Embassy issued Saturday. Some of the protesters carried signs calling for Harris to leave Korea and characterized U.S. troops as an occupying force. Protesters shout slogans while holding signs to oppose planned joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States near the U.S. embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 5, 2019. Pockets of anti-US sentiment Although polls show South Koreans overwhelmingly support the alliance with Washington, pockets of anti-U.S. sentiment remain. In 2015, a knife-wielding South Korean man with a history of militant Korean nationalism ambushed then-U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert outside a building in downtown Seoul. Lippert sustained cuts to his arm and face. More sporadic, minor …

Chile’s president declared a state of emergency in Santiago Friday night and gave the military responsibility for security after a day of violent protests over increases in the price of metro tickets. “I have declared a state of emergency and, to that end, I have appointed Major General Javier Iturriaga del Campo as head of national defense, in accordance with the provisions of our state of emergency legislation,” President Sebastian Pinera said. Throughout Friday, protestors clashed with riot police in several parts of the city and the subway system was shut after attacks on several stations. Violent clashes escalated as night fell, and the ENEL power company building and a Banco Chile branch, both in the city center, were set on fire and several metro stations hit with Molotov cocktails. A subway ticket office is on fire during a protest against the increase in the ticket prices for buses and subways in Santiago, Chile, Oct. 19, 2019. The unrest started as a fare-dodging protest against the hike in metro ticket prices, which increased from 800 to 830 peso ($1.17) for peak hour travel, following a 20 peso rise in January. Firefighters work to put out the flames rising from the …

Seasonal rains are bringing relief from a toxic haze that had blanketed Malaysia and Singapore. The air pollution disrupted the lives of millions of people and concerns remain about whether the problem will keep happening. Dave Grunebaum has the story from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.   …

Seasonal rains have brought relief from the haze that blanketed much of Malaysia and Singapore. The toxic air disrupted life for tens of millions of people. Face masks were a common site across Malaysia in September as people tried to protect themselves. (D. Grunebaum/VOA) Face masks were in common usage as people tried to protect themselves. Many Malaysian schools closed for days because the air was so hazardous. Much of the smog stemmed from Indonesia, where fires were set to clear land for palm oil plantations, as well as pulp and paper. Some of the plantations are owned by Malaysian companies. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has a haze agreement to try to combat the issue, but it seems to have done little so far. “The ASEAN trans-boundary haze agreement has largely been a case of being like a paper tiger,” said Nithi Nesadurai, president of the Environmental Protection Society Malaysia, a nongovernment organization. “It’s something there on paper, but really has very little effect.” The haze happens almost every year, although health advocates say the pollution was worse this year compared with any since 2015. Local doctors reported a surge in illnesses. Dr. Jessreen Kaur of Kuala …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is battling to persuade lawmakers to back the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement he signed with the European Union ahead of a special session in the British Parliament scheduled for Saturday. The vote on the deal is set to go to the wire. As Henry Ridgwell reports from Brussels, Europe is doing all it can to try to get the deal passed. …