POPGAZETA

NEW DELHI — India’s main opposition Congress party on Saturday appointed Sonia Gandhi to serve as interim president until it elects a new party chief.    The party accepted the resignation of her son Rahul Gandhi, who quit in July after Congress’ crushing defeat in national elections. He continues to be a member of Parliament.  A party working committee then asked Sonia Gandhi, 72, to take over in a stop-gap arrangement, party spokesman K.C. Venugopal said.    Sonia Gandhi handed the top party post to her son in 2017 after she suffered health problems. The party has long been led by the politically powerful Nehru-Gandhi family.    Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party won 303 out of 542 seats in the lower house of Parliament, while the Congress party won 52 seats in April-May elections.    In January, Rahul Gandhi inducted his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra into politics as a party general secretary months before the national elections.    Several Congress leaders want Vadra, 47, to  succeed Rahul Gandhi as party president.  She has in the past helped her mother and brother campaign in their constituencies in northern Uttar Pradesh state.    Rahul Gandhi’s father, Rajiv Gandhi, his grandmother, Indira Gandhi, and his great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, have all served …

It didn’t seem to matter that police barred several protest marches Saturday, citing the fear of violence. Thousands of residents, furious with government indifference and harsh policing, fought battles throughout the city as they tried frenzied, urban guerrilla tactics to block roads, occupy the airport terminal, march en masse, participants shrugging off rounds of tear gas. Protesters staged the flash protests in lieu of organized, legal marches after police took the highly unusual step of denying permits, saying they would invite violence. Instead, groups of several hundred protesters gathered in the Kowloon neighborhoods of Tai Po and Tai Wai before hitting the tourist center of Tsim Sha Tsui. For many hours people staged a sit-in at the airport, the second since Friday, to attract international attention to their cause. In addition, strikers blocked the Cross Harbour Tunnel briefly before darting away. Anti-extradition bill protesters set up a roadblock at Tsim Sha Tsui neighborhood in Hong Kong, Aug. 10, 2019. Some lit a fire outside the police station in Tsim Sha Tsui. Others hurled taunts and rocks, and shone laser pointers at officers’ faces until squads of riot police pushed forward, dousing the crowd with tear gas. Soon after, the protesters …

JERUSALEM – The Israeli army said its troops fatally shot four heavily armed Palestinians on the Gaza border early Saturday, alleging one of them had crossed and thrown a grenade at soldiers.    Separately, security forces said they had arrested two Palestinians suspected of killing an off-duty Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank earlier this week.    There have been frequent clashes along the Gaza border since the Palestinians began organizing regular mass protests there in March 2018. But Saturday’s exchange was unusual because of the weaponry the Israeli army said was involved on the Palestinian side.    “The terrorists were equipped with AK-47 assault rifles, RPG grenade launchers and hand grenades,” an army statement said.     A spokeswoman said the army “opened fire after one of the terrorists scaled the barrier and hurled a grenade at the soldiers.”    No Israeli casualties were reported.  ‘Uniforms’   Army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said the four Palestinians were all wearing “uniforms” — without elaborating — and were equipped with food and a medical kit as well as the rifles.    A Hamas statement condemned Israel’s killing of the four Palestinians as a “crime.”    But the Islamist rulers of the Palestinian enclave made no …

Some material for this report came from RFE/RL.  Republican and Democratic lawmakers joined forces to oppose moves by the White House that critics fear could lead to sharp cuts in foreign aid for international health, narcotics and peacekeeping initiatives, and development assistance.    Members of the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees sent a letter Friday to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) expressing “deep concern” after it had instructed the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to freeze about $4 billion in their budgets until it reviewed any money that hadn’t yet been spent.    Critics have said the freeze could be the first step in making cuts to foreign aid.  The lawmakers sent the letter to the OMB seeking to head off such a move and threatening a response if the administration moved ahead with cuts. They also pointed out that, under the Constitution, it is Congress that appropriates money, which they said was “essential” to U.S. global leadership and security.    “Slashing crucial diplomacy and development programming would be detrimental to our national security while also undermining Congress’ intended use for these funds,” said the letter, signed by Sens. James Risch, R-Idaho, and Robert …

HONOLULU — Hawaii experts say two native bird populations have declined by more than half and could face extinction if nothing is done to save them, a report said.    The Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project said 312 Maui parrotbills and 2,411 crested honeycreepers remain in the wild, Hawaii News Now reported Friday.    Those are down more than 50% from previous population estimates of the two Hawaiian honeycreeper species, according to a new interagency monitoring report from the U.S. Geological Survey, Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife, and other wildlife agencies.     “Without intervention, these changes are projected to cause population decline and additional extinction of the remaining Hawaiian forest birds,” recovery project expert Hannah Mounce said.    Studies over the past several decades found there are multiple threats to these two endangered bird species, including disease and habitat degradation, wildlife officials said.    There are plans to reintroduce the parrotbills, also referred to as kiwikiu, to the Nakula Natural Area Reserve in the south and west regions of Maui in order to boost the endangered species’ numbers, experts said.    In preparation for the reintroduction, more than 200,000 native plants were planted in the Nakula Forest Reserve and Kahikinui Forest Reserve since 2013 covering thousands of …

There are reports of panic buying of iodine drops in Severodvinsk. Emergency officials reported a spike in background radiation. The White Sea bay where both the shipbuilding port and the regional capital, Arkhangelsk, are located has been ordered closed for swimming and fishing because of the presence of toxic rocket fuel. A month after a fire aboard a secretive military submarine killed 14 people and prompted criticism of the Russian Defense Ministry, a new fatal incident involving military forces in Russia’s far north has raised new criticism of how authorities handle deadly, and potentially embarrassing, information. The explosion, reported Thursday, occurred in Nyonoksa, a Dvina Bay port not far from the shipbuilding town of Severodvinsk, at a naval site that has been used for decades to test missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Deaths, injuries In its initial statement on the incident, the Defense Ministry said two people were killed and six injured in the blast and the fire that resulted. The ministry said that liquid rocket fuel was the cause of the blast, but that “no harmful chemicals were released into the atmosphere.” (That death toll was updated to five Saturday, according to a statement issued by Rosatom. That the update …

Yemeni separatists have seized control of much of the city of Aden, inflicting a blow to the Saudi-led coalition that is trying to dismantle the country’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement.    Yemeni security officials said Saturday that the separatists also had taken control of the presidential palace, a development confirmed by a spokesman from the Security Belt force, which is dominated by the separatists.    Officials said all military camps in the southern port city also had been seized.    The development complicated U.N. efforts to end the four-year war, which has killed tens of thousands of people and forced the poorest residents to the brink of famine.    The latest fighting erupted Wednesday when separatists tried to break into the presidential palace after Hani Bin Braik, an ex-cabinet minister and deputy head of the so-called Southern Transitional Council, called on forces to “topple” President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi’s government.     Braik accused the president and his forces of being loyal to the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which the United Arab Emirates and some other countries consider a terrorist group.    The internationally recognized Yemeni government has accused Braik of provocations and has called on the Saudi and UAE governments to force the separatists to stop their attacks.    …

The second season of an AMC-TV drama series follows the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and a number of bizarre deaths haunting a community. “The Terror: Infamy” is set to premiere Monday and stars Derek Mio and original “Star Trek” cast member George Takei as they navigate the forced internment and supernatural spirits that surround them. It’s the first television series depicting the internment of Japanese Americans on such a massive scale and camps were recreated with detail to illustrate the conditions and racism internees faced. The show’s new season is part of the Ridley Scott-produced anthology series. Mio, who is fourth-generation Japanese American and plays Chester Nakayama, said he liked the idea of adding a supernatural element to a historical event such as Japanese American internment. He says he had relatives who lived on Terminal Island outside of Los Angeles and were taken to camps. Residents there were some of the first forced into internment camps after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. “If you add the supernatural element, it’s a little more accessible and now it’s like a mainstream subject and it can open up more discussion about what really happened and what’s going on …

A cease-fire agreement has been reached to end fighting in the Libyan capital of Tripoli during the upcoming Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. Libyan National Army (LNA) chief Khalifa Haftar agreed to the United Nation’s-proposed cease-fire Saturday, his spokesman, Ahmad al-Mesmari, said at a news conference in Benghazi. Libya’s U.N.-supported government said earlier Saturday it had accepted the proposed cease-fire for the holiday, which begins Sunday. Militias allied with the government have been fighting since April against an LNA campaign to seize the capital.   More than 1,000 people have been killed in the fighting, according to the World Health Organization. More than 120,000 others have been displaced.   …

The U.N. refugee agency reports more than half-a-million Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh have received identity documents that will give them better access to aid.  An estimated 900,000 Rohingya refugees are living in overcrowded, squalid camps in the town of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.  Most of them fled there two years ago to escape persecution and violence in Myanmar. A joint registration project by Bangladeshi authorities and the U.N. refugee agency will give identity documents to more than 500,000 of the refugees, many for the first time.   The data on these fraud-proof, biometric cards will give national authorities and humanitarian partners a better understanding of the population and its needs.  UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic tells VOA the data collected will allow aid agencies to better help people with specific needs.  “The point of the verification exercise, of conducting a biometric data registration is first and foremost to protect the right of the Rohingya refugees to return to their homes… It is meant to ensure far better planning and far better targeting of the assistance, of very specific types of assistance, that, for example, women would need, that children would need,” said Mahecic. Mahecic explains the new registration cards indicate …

Over 2 million pilgrims are climbing Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia Saturday at the high point of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Rain, thunder and strong wind disrupted the ritual, but most pilgrims appear to have weathered the ordeal. Rituals on Mount Arafat, where Islam’s Prophet Muhammad was reputed to have delivered his final sermon almost 1,400 years ago, is part of the final leg of the annual hajj. Sheikh Mohammed bin-Hassan al-Sheikh delivered the ritual sermon at the Numeira Mosque on Mount Arafat, telling the crowd gathered both inside and outside the building that mercy is the single most important attribute in life. Hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims pray outside Namira Mosque in Arafat during the annual hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2019. He says that God will have mercy on those who have mercy on others and mercy should be the basis of society and all social relations, between fathers and sons, husbands and wives, mothers and other family. Mohammed Salah Bintan, the minister in charge of the pilgrimage, told journalists that the Saudi Arabian government has spent a great deal of money to improve infrastructure used by pilgrims. …

North Korea on Saturday extended a recent streak of weapons displays by firing what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea, according to South Korea’s military. The fifth round of launches in less than three weeks was likely another protest at the slow pace of nuclear negotiations with the United States and the continuance of U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises that the North says are aimed at a northward invasion. The South’s military alerted reporters to the launches hours after President Donald Trump said he received a “beautiful” three-page letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and predicted that they will have more talks to try resolving the nuclear standoff. Trump reiterated that he was not bothered by the flurry of short-range weapons Kim has launched despite the growing threat they pose to U.S. allies in the region, saying Pyongyang has never broken its pledge to pause nuclear tests. Hours after the latest launches, Trump tweeted that Kim spent much of his letter complaining about “the ridiculous and expensive” U.S.-South Korea military exercises. He said that Kim offered him “a small apology” for the flurry of missile tests, and that he assured him they would stop …

A landslide buried more than a dozen village houses in southeastern Myanmar, killing at least 10 people and injuring nearly 30, media reported Saturday. Rescuers were using backhoes and bulldozers to clear the mud and debris from the village in Paung township. The Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that some residents were still missing. The top official in Mon state, Aye Zan, visited the site and villagers who were evacuated to a relief camp to escape floods following torrential rains. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that monsoon flooding had displaced more than 7,000 people this week in Mon state. Apart from the landslide in Paung, houses and a school in other townships were washed away, roads were blocked and villages were submerged. Nearly 12,000 people have been displaced in Myanmar this week alone, bringing the total number of those in evacuation centers to more than 38,000, the U.N. said. …

Updated Aug. 10, 2019, 10:20a.m. Police arrested Russian opposition politician Lyubov Sobol Saturday in Moscow as thousands gathered in the city to protest the exclusion of several opposition candidates from the upcoming city council election. Sobol, who is one of the opposition candidates, was detained at her Moscow office as she was updating supporters on social media before the sanctioned protest began. A video on Sobol’s Twitter feed shows police in riot gear breaking into her office and demanding that journalists who were present to stand against the wall and put away their cell phones. Sobol, an ally of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, chronicled the event as it unfolded. “Look, they are breaking the door right now,” she said. “They will enter right now. I am not afraid. I will not give up. I am asking to get my lawyer and will continue my political activities.” Her arrest came as a protest was about to begin for the third consecutive weekend on the issue. Thousands of people were arrested in the two previous protests that occasionally turned violent. Some opposition activists have called for an unauthorized march in central Moscow after Saturday’s authorized rally, prompting a warning from Moscow police …

Updated Aug. 10, 2019, 10:15a.m. Financier Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges in New York, a former law enforcement official said Saturday. He was found in his cell at the Manhattan Correctional Center Saturday morning, according to the officials, who was briefed on the matter but spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss it publicly. The medical examiner’s office in Manhattan confirmed Epstein’s death. Epstein’s arrest last month launched separate investigations into how authorities handled his case initially when similar charges were first brought against him in Florida more than a decade ago. U.S. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta resigned last month after coming under fire for overseeing that deal when he was U.S. attorney in Miami. The 66-year-old had pleaded not guilty and was facing up to 45 years in prison if convicted. A little over two weeks, Epstein was found on the floor of his jail cell with bruises on his neck early, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. At the time, it was not clear whether the injuries were self-inflicted or from an assault. Epstein’s arrest drew national attention, particularly focusing …

Ozaguin, considered the most popular singer-songwriter in the Central African Republic, recently came to the U.N.’s European headquarters in Geneva to awaken the world to the struggles faced by his country, which has been mired in civil war since 2012.  Ozaguin sings about the difficulties confronting his people.  He sings about the constant search for food in a country where insecurity prevents people from farming and harvesting their crops.  He sings about people fleeing into the bush to escape the violence of armed groups.  He sings about the same armed groups manipulating vulnerable people into doing their bidding so they can feed their families. Violence in C.A.R. Sends Thousands Fleeing A recent flare-up in violence in northwest Central African Republic has sent thousands fleeing for their lives. The U.N. refugee agency reports more than 5,000 refugees from CAR have arrived in southern Chad since December 27. The new year is off to a bad start for thousands of people forced to flee clashes involving armed groups in the northwestern CAR town of Paoua. The U.N. refugee agency reports an estimated 5,600 refugees have fled to Chad. The musician and activist recounts the difficulties he, himself, has faced in life.  He …

Malta says it is willing to take in 39 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean Sea early Saturday by a Spanish NGO’s ship. Malta said, however, it would not take the 121 people who were already on the vessel who were plucked from the sea last week. Malta said its military had already mounted an effort to rescue the 39.   Proactive Open Arms, the migrant rescue group, recovered the 39 instead and has refused to disembark the group if Malta does not take the group of 121 migrants. Malta said in a statement that the larger group was rescued in “an area where Malta is neither responsible nor the competent coordinating authority.  Malta can only shoulder its own responsibility since other solutions are not forthcoming.” Oscar Camps, the founder of Proactive Open Arms, said Malta’s decision not to take the 121 migrants has “caused a serious security problem” on the ship.  “The anxiety of these people is unbearable.” Actor Richard Gere who brought food and water to the ship Friday, said, “The most important thing for these people here is to be able to get to a free port, to be able to get off the boat, to start a …

Indian officials say at least 42 people have been killed in landslides and flooding caused by heavy rains.   Emergency officials say 100,000 people have been evacuated. The Indian state of Kerala has been worst hit, but Karnataka and Maharashtra states are also affected. June to September is India’s monsoon season which brings the heavy rains that farmers depend on, but the rains also bring heavy death and destruction. …

In the 4½ months since U.S.-backed forces declared victory over the Islamic State terror group’s last shred of territory in Syria, there has been a steady drumbeat of doubt. One by one, military leaders, diplomats and experts began raising concerns, aiming to convince policymakers that for all of the success in rolling back IS’s self-declared caliphate, the group was far from dead. “This is not the end of the fight,” U.S. Special Representative for Syria Ambassador James Jeffrey warned, just days after the victory celebrations in Syria in late March. “That will go on,” he said. “It is a different type of fight.” FILE – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, center, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, U.S. Special Representative for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey, and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, at Esenboga Airport in Ankara, Oct. 17, 2018. A series of new reports, citing intelligence from United Nations member states, the U.S. military and other sources, now indicate it is a fight that IS is increasingly well-positioned to win. “As long as it can gain revenue, it will remain a danger,” the Rand Corp. declared Thursday in “Return and Expand?” a report on the terror group’s finances and prospects …

A fuel tanker exploded in Tanzania on Saturday, killing 57 people and injuring 65, many of whom were siphoning petrol from the vehicle, which had crashed, state broadcaster TBC Taifa said. The explosion occurred around 200 km (120 miles) west of the capital Dar es Salaam. “We have been saddened by reports of an accident involving a fuel truck in Morogoro, which caught fire and burnt several people,” government spokesman Hassan Abbasi said on Twitter.   …

Eighteen people were killed and 14 were missing in eastern China Saturday in a landslide triggered by a major typhoon, which caused widespread transportation disruptions and the evacuation of more than 1 million people, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Typhoon Lekima made landfall early Saturday in the eastern province of Zhejiang with maximum winds of 187 km (116 miles) per hour, although it had weakened from its earlier designation as a “super” typhoon, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Thousands of flights were canceled in eastern China, according to the country’s aviation regulator, with most flights into and out of Shanghai’s two major airports canceled Saturday afternoon, their websites showed. China’s weather bureau Saturday issued an orange alert, its second highest, after posting a red alert Friday, when the storm forced flight cancellations in Taiwan and shut markets and businesses on the island. The deadly landslide occurred about 130 km north of the coastal city of Wenzhou, when a natural dam collapsed in an area deluged with 160 millimeters (6.3 inches) of rain in three hours, CCTV reported. The storm was moving northward at 15 kph and was gradually weakening, Xinhua reported, citing the weather bureau. People walk in the rainstorm as …

Pro-democracy demonstrations are continuing in Hong Kong for a 10th straight weekend, despite the government’s refusal to issue permits for all but one of the marches. The weekend rallies got an early start when activists decided to stage a three-day demonstration at the airport, beginning Friday. There are citywide protests Saturday. Families, many of them with strollers, joined the “Guard The Children” march Saturday. It was the only planned demonstration to have received a permit. A children’s alphabet leaflet was distributed, with A for “angry,” D for “demonstration” and P for “protest.” “We have to tell children about the current situation in Hong Kong, and educate them about what the right kind of society is,” Faye Lai told the French news agency AFP. Lai attended the demonstration with her 3-year-old niece. China has claimed the protests in Hong Kong are funded by the West, but has failed to produce evidence other than supportive statements about the demonstrations from some Western politicians. “Hong Kong poses a serious problem for the Chinese government,” Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, told the Associated Press. “It can’t allow the protesters to challenge its authority or …

Amanda Browder works with fabrics of all kinds. But, instead of creating clothing for people, she “dresses up” buildings with her unique style of installation art. Maxim Moskalkov has the story.   …

More than a year has passed since protests against changes to Nicaraguas pension program turned into a full scale socio-political crisis. The government crackdown by President Daniel Ortega has resulted in more than 200 deaths, and forced more than 65,000 people to leave the country. Among them journalists who say they’ve been targeted. But even though they’re not there, many of these journalists are still sending the news back home. VOA reporter Cristina Caicedo Smit has the story.   …