Voice of America

In the quiet corners of Springfield, Ohio — out of sight of the drumbeat of politicians and journalists, troopers and newly installed security cameras — the people who live here are taking a breath, praying and attempting to carry on.

Between the morning bomb sweeps of Springfield's schools and the near daily afternoon media briefings, a hush comes over the city of 58,000 that residents say is uncanny, haunting even. It's fear. It's confusion — dismay at being transformed overnight into a target for the nation's vitriol.

Pastor Andy Mobley, who runs the Family Needs Inc. food pantry on the city's south side, said people are hunkered down out of the public eye. He said they're hoping the attention sparked by former President Donald Trump spreading unsubstantiated rumors about the city's legal Haitian immigrants eating house pets during last week's presidential debate will blow over.

Residents of Springfield, Ohio, wait for political firestorm to blow over In the quiet corners of Springfield, Ohio — out of sight of the drumbeat of politicians and journalists, troopers and newly installed security cameras — the people who live here are taking a breath, praying and attempting to carry on. Between the morning bomb sweeps of Springfield's schools...

A military court in Democratic Republic of Congo, one of Africa's largest countries, has convicted three Americans and dozens of others of taking part in a coup attempt and imposed "the harshest penalty, that of death."

The court convicted the 37 defendants, including the three Americans and imposed the death penalty in a verdict delivered by presiding judge Maj. Freddy Ehuma at an open-air military court proceeding.

The defendants, a majority of them Congolese but also including a Briton, a Belgian and a Canadian, were charged with terrorism, murder, criminal association and illegal possession of weapons, among other charges.

The lawyer who defended the six foreigners said they would appeal the verdicts.

The U.S. State Department strongly discourages travel to Congo, warning of violent crime and civil unrest. Here's how the three Americans ended up in the middle of the coup attempt.

How three US men ended up facing death penalty over Congo coup attempt The defendants, a majority of them Congolese but also including a Briton, a Belgian and a Canadian, were charged with terrorism, murder, criminal association and illegal possession of weapons

Amid a reported surge in cross-border repression across Southeast Asia, rights advocates say Thailand is making promising but very slow progress rolling out an asylum program meant to protect the most vulnerable refugees.

They say many who might be eligible for the program are reluctant to apply for fear of exposing themselves to the police and that coming forward could backfire.

Thailand does not officially recognize refugees and deems anyone in the country without a valid visa or passport an illegal migrant. Last September, though, the government introduced a National Screening Mechanism to give "protected persons status" to those from other countries who can prove they are "unable or unwilling" to return home "due to a well-founded fear of persecution."

Neither the Royal Thai Police – whose Immigration Bureau is leading the program – nor the National Security Council or Foreign Affairs Ministry, which both participate, replied to VOA’s repeated requests for comment on the NSM, which took effect September 22 of last year.

Thailand grants few asylum claims in first year of program Advocates say many reluctant to apply -- fear exposure to police and that claiming could backfire

The son of Iran’s last monarch, exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, is urging Israelis to help fund civil disobedience movements in the Islamic Republic as part of his campaign for regime change.

The U.S.-based Pahlavi made the appeal in a VOA interview after speaking on Friday at the Israeli-American Council national summit at the Washington Hilton. The event is an annual gathering of Israeli American activists, their Jewish American allies and other Israel supporters.

Pahlavi drew cheers and standing ovations from the audience for urging Israelis to work with Iranians to oust the radical clerics who have ruled Iran since overthrowing his father in 1979.

The speech was his most high-profile outreach to Israelis since traveling to Israel in April 2023, when he became the most prominent Iranian opposition figure to make a public visit to the Jewish state.

Iran’s exiled prince urges Israelis to fund civil disobedience in Islamic Republic Reza Pahlavi elaborates in VOA interview about his Washington speech to Israeli Americans, whom he called on to act in support of regime change in Iran

The meeting between President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House next Thursday will be an opportunity to "align strategic goals" for the remainder of Biden's administration – says the National Security Council's Michael Carpenter. Zelenskyy is expected to present Ukraine's "victory plan" directly to Biden. VOA's Iuliia Iarmolenko asked Ambassador Carpenter what President Biden is prepared to do to ensure Zelenskyy's plan is successful.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

White House eager to hear Zelenskyy's 'victory plan,' wants to align strategic goals Ambassador Michael Carpenter of the National Security Council discusses next week's meeting

A new report released by the main United Nations agency for action on AIDS and HIV says growing public debt is choking sub-Saharan African countries, leaving them with little fiscal room to finance critical HIV services.

In the report, launched ahead of the 79th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAIDS, asks the international community for more funding to ensure Africa eliminates AIDS by 2030.

She said Africa, which accounts for the largest number of people living with HIV — some 26 million out of 40 million globally — is overwhelmed by public debt.

Robert Shivambu, UNAIDS communication officer, told VOA: “The region's success in having reduced new HIV infections by 56% since 2010 will not be sustained if fiscal space is constrained.”

UN report: Debt crisis undermines AIDS eradication in Africa Research published ahead of a UN General Assembly calls for increased funding to help nations such as Zimbabwe eliminate AIDS by 2030

The U.S. Secret Service says the ability of a lone gunman to fire eight shots at Donald Trump during a campaign rally in rural western Pennsylvania was partially the result of multiple failures by the agents charged with protecting the former president.

A report on the agency’s own investigation into the attempted assassination of the one-time U.S. leader and current Republican presidential candidate identified problems with communication and coordination ahead of the July 13 rally in Butler, as well as an over-reliance on state and local law enforcement partners.

“We cannot abdicate or defer our responsibilities to others,” acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe told reporters Friday in Washington.

“The Secret Service did not give clear guidance or direction to our local law enforcement partners,” he said. “While some members of the advance team were very diligent, there was complacency on the part of others that led to a breach of security protocols.”

Probe finds 'complacency,' shortfalls contributed to Trump assassination attempt The U.S. Secret Service says the ability of a lone gunman to fire eight shots at Donald Trump during a campaign rally in rural western Pennsylvania was partially the result of multiple failures by the agents charged with protecting the former president. A report on the agency’s own...

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Thursday that the U.S. was partly responsible for the eruption of drug cartel violence that has killed at least 30 people in the past week in Mexico’s northern state of Sinaloa.

The violence was ignited by the July arrest of reclusive Sinaloa cartel leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada in Texas, Lopez Obrador said.

He also said the “instability and clashes” that Sinaloa was now facing were the result of the arrest in what he said was a “totally illegal” operation.

Washington has denied that it played any part in Zambada’s capture.

Mexican president says US shares blame for Sinaloa drug cartel violence US arrest of drug cartel leader in July sparked violence, he says

Pakistan and Iran have sharply criticized diplomats from the de facto Taliban government in neighboring Afghanistan for showing “disrespect” to their national anthems in breach of diplomatic norms.

The controversy arose earlier this week after the Taliban consul general, Mohibullah Shakir, and his colleague remained seated during the playing of the Pakistani national anthem at an official ceremony in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

The move triggered public outrage in Pakistan and demands for Shakir's expulsion.

Islamabad swiftly protested and officially complained to de facto Afghan authorities in Kabul, denouncing their diplomat’s “disrespect” for the Pakistani national anthem as a “reprehensible” act and a breach of “diplomatic norms.”

Shakir’s mission office in Peshawar defended his stance and dismissed allegations of disrespect for the anthem. It said the diplomat remained seated because the anthem had music, which the Taliban consider forbidden in line with their strict interpretation of Islam. “Imagine a religious scholar standing up for music,” a consulate spokesperson was quoted as saying.

https://www.voanews.com/a/taliban-face-backlash-for-disrespecting-host-nations-anthems/7792106.html

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said Friday the European Union plans to lend Ukraine $39 billion to help rebuild the nation’s economy and energy grid, both heavily damaged by Russia’s invasion.

Von der Leyen made the announcement during a joint news briefing in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The $39 billion loan is part of a $50 billion loan package using frozen Russian assets, which was agreed upon by the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations during a meeting in June.

The EU has frozen about $235 billion in Russian assets. The European Commission — the EU’s executive branch — has signed off on the $39 billion loan, but it still must be agreed to by a majority of EU member states.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s most immediate use for the EU funds will be to shore up its heavily damaged energy grid ahead of the winter.

Von der Leyen’s visit Friday follows an announcement she made Thursday in Brussels of a European Union plan to provide Ukraine with about $180 million in energy funding — about $111 million of it coming from the frozen Russian assets.

https://www.voanews.com/a/russia-warns-west-and-ukraine-of-disastrous-consequences-if-kyiv-moves-against-belarus-/7791825.html

Israel launched a rare airstrike Friday on the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, killing a senior Hezbollah military official, the Israeli army said.

Lebanese health authorities said at least 14 people were killed in the attack, with dozens more wounded.

The strike on the densely populated southern Beirut district of Dahiya killed Ibrahim Akil, a commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, said Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. He said 10 other Hezbollah operatives were killed in the attack.

Hezbollah confirmed early Saturday that Akil had been killed, without providing details on his death.

Israel says Beirut strike killed top Hezbollah official; 14 dead, Lebanon says Israeli defense minister says attack was part of new phase of war

The simultaneous explosion of thousands of pagers used by Lebanese militia Hezbollah Tuesday was the result of an unprecedented weaponization of a wireless paging system, in which rigged devices detonated upon receiving a coded signal transmitted by radio frequency.

The Lebanese government said the attack on pagers used by Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terror group, killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 2,750 others. It said another 25 people were killed and hundreds more were wounded on Wednesday when walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah also exploded simultaneously.

Lebanon, Hezbollah and its patron Iran blamed their enemy Israel, whose government has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.

https://www.voanews.com/a/how-lebanon-s-wireless-paging-system-was-weaponized-to-make-hezbollah-devices-explode/7791044.html

The Israeli military said Friday it is investigating an incident after videos posted to social media and recirculated by news organizations appear to show members of Israel Defense Forces pushing dead bodies off a roof during a raid in the occupied West Bank on Thursday.

The incident took place in the town of Qabatiya, west of Jenin, where the Israeli army has been conducting raids against Hamas militants in recent weeks.

Multiple videos of the incident have been circulating, and in one version, Israeli soldiers can be seen dragging, pushing, throwing and in one case kicking what appear to be three dead men off the edge of a building.

An Associated Press journalist was at the scene in Qabatiya and witnessed the incident. Another witness who said he was uncle to one of the dead men told the Reuters news service the soldiers had gone to the roof after the men had been killed.

The IDF said it had opened an investigation.

https://www.voanews.com/a/israel-hamas-war-latest-15-killed-overnight-in-gaza-in-multiple-attacks-/7791844.html

📷: Residents and rescuers gather at the scene of a missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut in Lebanon, Sept. 20, 2024.

Media reports say Israel and Lebanon traded volleys of airstrikes across Israel’s northern border Friday in some of the most intense exchanges since the conflict in Gaza began more than 11 months ago.

https://www.voanews.com/a/israel-and-hezbollah-trade-fire-after-heaviest-airstrikes-yet/7791839.html

On Sunday, U.S. Africa Command’s Major General Kenneth Ekman was one of the last two U.S. service members to leave Niger as part of America’s military withdrawal, following the country’s July 2023 coup. Per an agreement reached by the U.S. and Niger in May, the only American service members that remain in the country are those securing the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Niamey.

The general, who served as AFRICOM’s director of strategy, plans and programs before focusing solely on West Africa, spent the last few months methodically overseeing the withdrawal of about 1,100 American service members, along with U.S. weapons, drones and equipment that had been staged for years in two U.S. military bases in Niger. The task was completed on time and within the parameters set by the host nation, but the withdrawal has created a massive hole in the United States’ ability to monitor the growing violent extremist threat.

In an exclusive interview at the Pentagon on Thursday, Ekman explained how the new U.S. footprint in West Africa is beginning to take shape to continue fighting a shared threat.

VOA EXCLUSIVE: US general explains US movements, partnerships in West Africa US, Chad reach agreement to return some U.S. forces to country; U.S. moved special forces team from Niger to Ivory Coast

U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon urged immediate de-escalation as hostilities flared anew at the Lebanese-Israeli border on Friday, following Israel's most intense airstrikes in nearly a year of conflict with the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Israel's military said on Thursday it had struck hundreds of Hezbollah rocket launchers that had been set to fire towards Israel, in what security sources in Lebanon said was the heaviest such attack since hostilities began last October.

Ignited by the Gaza war, the conflict has intensified significantly this week, with Hezbollah suffering an unprecedented attack in which pagers and walkie talkies used by its members exploded, killing 37 people and wounding thousands.

The batteries of the walkie-talkies were laced with a highly explosive compound known as PETN, a Lebanese source familiar with the device's components told Reuters.

The way the explosive material was integrated into the battery pack made it extremely difficult to detect, the source said.

https://www.voanews.com/a/israel-and-hezbollah-trade-fire-after-heaviest-airstrikes-yet/7791839.html

📷: Flood victims push their belongings along a flooded road as they move to safety, in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Sept. 17, 2024.



👉 Houses swept away to the very last brick. Inmates frantically fleeing the city's main prison as its walls got washed away by water rising from an overflowing dam. Corpses of crocodiles and snakes floating among human bodies on what used to be main streets.

As torrential rains across Central and West Africa have unleashed the most catastrophic floods in decades, residents of Maiduguri, the capital of the fragile Nigerian state of Borno — which has been at the center of an Islamic extremists' insurgency — said they have seen it all.

The floods, which have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands across the region this year, have worsened existing humanitarian crises in the countries which have been impacted the most: Chad, Nigeria, Mali and Niger. Upwards of 4 million people have been affected by flooding so far this year in West Africa, a threefold increase from last year, according to the U.N.

With rescue operations still under way, it is impossible to get an accurate count of lives lost in the water. So far, at least 230 were reported dead in Nigeria, 265 in Niger, 487 in Chad and 55 in Mali, which has seen the most catastrophic flooding since the 1960s.

https://www.voanews.com/a/torrential-rains-sweep-through-west-and-central-africa/7791669.html

The U.S. is returning Special Forces troops to Chad after leaving at the country’s request nearly five months ago.

"We have reached an agreement on the return of a limited number of Special Forces personnel," Maj. General Kenneth Ekman, who oversaw the recent U.S. withdrawal from Niger at the request of U.S. Africa Command chief Gen. Michael Langley, told VOA in an exclusive interview Thursday.

"It was a presidential decision by [Chadian] President [Mahamat] Deby, but the decision is made, and now we're working through the specifics on how we return," he added.

In April, the U.S. pulled out some 70 Special Forces personnel from Chad ahead of the nation’s presidential election. Deby won that election and ultimately decided to allow U.S. forces to return, a decision that was only recently relayed to U.S. Africa Command.

Ekman told VOA the U.S. military plans a smaller operation than the headquarters that forces previously maintained in Chad, whose 11,000-member counterterror force is fighting a growing number of Boko Haram and Islamic State militants around Lake Chad.

https://www.voanews.com/a/us-general-chad-agrees-to-bring-back-us-forces-/7791656.html

The European Union pledged on Friday to lend Ukraine up to 35 billion euros ($39 billion) as part of a loan package organized by the Group of Seven major industrial nations, as it seeks to help the country rebuild its economy and its war-shattered power grid.

G7 leaders agreed in June to engineer a $50 billion loan to help Ukraine its fight for survival. Interest earned on profits from Russia’s frozen central bank assets would be used as collateral, but progress in distributing the loans has been slow.

“We should make Russia pay for the destruction it caused,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters at a news conference in Kyiv with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.



Von der Leyen said that the EU has already provided Ukraine with more than 118 billion euros ($132 billion) in military and economic assistance since the war began in February 2022, “but Russia’s relentless attacks mean further support is necessary.” (AP)

https://www.voanews.com/a/european-commission-president-says-she-s-in-kyiv-to-discuss-support-for-ukraine/7791627.html

The EU's trade chief, Valdis Dombrovskis, said Thursday he had held "constructive" talks with China's commerce minister, Wang Wentao, as Beijing seeks a deal with Brussels to avoid steep tariffs on imported electric vehicles.

The meeting was held as divisions grow in Europe over the proposed tariffs, after Spain urged the EU last week to "reconsider" plans for duties of up to 36% on Chinese electric cars, joining Germany in opposition.

"Constructive meeting with Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao. Both sides agreed to intensify efforts to find an effective, enforceable and WTO [World Trade Organization] compatible solution," Dombrovskis said on X.

Wang also spoke to businesses in the EV sector on Wednesday in Brussels after which he said China "will certainly persevere until the final moments of the consultations," as quoted in a statement by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to the EU.

The European Commission in July announced plans to levy import duties on electric vehicles imported from China after an anti-subsidy investigation started last year found they were unfairly undermining European rivals.

https://www.voanews.com/a/eu-china-hold-constructive-talks-on-ev-tariffs-/7791562.html

📷: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen greet each other in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sept. 20, 2024.

👉 Ukraine's "victory plan" in the war against Russia depends on quick decisions being taken by allies this year, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday during a visit by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Zelenskyy told a joint press conference with von der Leyen that Ukraine planned to use a proposed multi-billion-dollar European Union loan for air defense, energy and domestic weapons purchases.

Zelenskyy singled out the importance of U.S. President Joe Biden to the victory plan, which he said the two leaders will discuss when they meet. The Ukrainian leader is travelling to the United States next week.

https://www.voanews.com/a/zelenskiy-says-ukraine-victory-plan-depends-on-quick-decisions-by-allies/7791768.html

Botswana has awarded a 15-year license to a Canadian firm, Giyani Metals, to mine manganese, a metal used in the manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles.

According to a statement from Giyani Metals, the K-Hill project will produce battery-grade manganese. Mining will take place in Kanye, 90 kilometers (56 miles) southwest of Gaborone.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Lemogang Kwape, the area’s member of parliament, told VOA he expects good things from the project.

"It is a project that envisages to mine a product that will revolutionize clean power. It is also a project that will develop Kanye and Botswana,” Kwape said. “Giyani management promised that there will be some processing that will be done in situ. By doing processing, you are adding value, which is in line with the president's objective of adding value to products from Botswana.”

Botswana grants Canadian firm license to mine manganese The mine will be the first manganese project in the country and comes amid high global demand for the raw material used in the manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles

A dream has come true for Loza Abera, who this month became the first Ethiopian woman to sign a contract to play professional women’s football in the United States.

"I am thrilled," she said during a TV interview with VOA’s Horn of Africa Service.

From street football in Ethiopia to the US Super League Loza Abera, the first Ethiopian woman signed to play Division 1 football in America, says she aims to inspire other Ethiopian women

Sri Lankan housewife Lankika Dilrukshi says she is tired of the daily struggle to provide for her children. On Saturday, she is voting in a presidential poll she sees as key to securing a better future for herself and her nation.

Dilrukshi, 31, is one of the millions of people barely able to make ends meet since the island nation's economy in 2022 plunged into its worst financial crisis in decades.

"Life has become so difficult. We need change," she said. "We need a leader who will work for the poor."

The economic recovery is at the core of the three-way election battle between President Ranil Wickremesinghe, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, and Marxist-leaning politician Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

https://www.voanews.com/a/crisis-hit-sri-lanka-s-poor-hope-new-president-will-change-their-fortunes/7790183.html

Slumped on the ground over a mound of dirt, Divine Wisoba pulled weeds from her daughter's grave. The 1-month-old died from mpox in eastern Congo in August, but Wisoba, 21, was too traumatized to attend the funeral.

In her first visit to the cemetery, she wept into her shirt for the child she had lost and worried about the rest of her family.

"When she was born, it was as if God had answered our prayers — we wanted a girl," Wisoba said of little Maombi Katengey. "But our biggest joy was transformed into devastation."

Her daughter is one of more than 6,000 people officials suspect contracted the disease in South Kivu province, the epicenter of the world's latest mpox outbreak, in what the World Health Organization has labeled a global health emergency.

A new strain of the virus is spreading, largely through skin-to-skin contact including but not limited to s*x. A lack of funds, vaccines and information is making it difficult to stem the spread, according to alarmed disease experts.

https://www.voanews.com/a/congo-gold-mining-town-is-mpox-hot-spot-as-new-strain-spreads-/7790474.html

Police in southern Pakistan reported Thursday that a doctor facing allegations of blasphemy against Islam was killed in a shootout during a raid intended to arrest him.

The overnight alleged extrajudicial killing of Shah Nawaz in the province of Sindh marked the second instance within a week in which Pakistani police fatally shot a blasphemy suspect.

Pakistani police kill second blasphemy suspect within a week Police in Sindh report that a doctor facing allegations of blasphemy against Islam died in a shootout during a raid to arrest him

A senior United Nations official warned Wednesday that "immediate action" is needed to halt the fighting in the capital of Sudan's North Darfur region, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are at risk.

"We urge members of the Security Council to employ their collective leverage to help protect the population caught in the crossfire," Martha Pobee, U.N. assistant secretary-general for Africa, told council members.

A round of large-scale fighting erupted on September 12 between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, who advanced on the capital of El Fasher from multiple directions, and the Sudanese Armed Forces, who are positioned inside the city.

El Fasher is the only capital in the Darfur region that has not yet fallen to the rebel paramilitary.

UN: 'Immediate action' needed to halt fighting in Sudan's Darfur Danger of battle for El Fasher grows for civilians trapped in city

A congressional hearing to seek the release of imprisoned Americans in Beijing highlighted reasons for the U.S. to expand its list of U.S. citizens wrongly detained in China to prioritize their return.

Members of Congress and witnesses argued at a hearing this week that the U.S. government should expand the list of Americans that it designates as being “unjustly detained” in China.

“More Americans should be considered to be unjustly detained by the State Department,” Representative Chris Smith, chair of the Congressional Executive Commission on China, said Wednesday in opening remarks at the CECC hearing.
China is known for a justice system lacking transparency and arbitrarily detaining foreigners as well as its own citizens.

https://www.voanews.com/a/congressional-hearing-us-should-name-more-americans-as-unjustly-detained-in-china/7790352.html