Month: August 2019

Kamala Harris is on the move. During the course of a five-day sprint across Iowa that included 17 stops across 11 counties, the Democratic presidential candidate ordered tacos from a tacqueria in Storm Lake, sampled a pork chop at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, called bingo at a senior center in Muscatine and toured the Coyote Run farm in Lacona. The Associated Press interviewed Harris on her bus, which blared her name in bold, vibrant colors as she traveled through a state that she repeatedly said has “made me a better candidate.” Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, …

READ MORE

Kidnapping of aid workers has become “big business” as militants often work with crime networks to carry out abductions, a senior United Nations official and former hostage said on Tuesday. Vincent Cochetel, who was held captive in Chechnya in 1998, said countries must bring kidnappers to justice to stem a steep increase in attacks, which are undermining aid operations. “We need to absolutely get the perpetrators to court,” Cochetel, who works for the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR), told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, adding that it was usually possible to trace many of those involved. “These people can be tried any …

READ MORE

Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido warned President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday that any attempts to bring forward parliamentary elections would end in “disaster” for the government. Elections to renew the National Assembly, the only branch of government under opposition control, are set for December 2020. But the Constituent Assembly, a rival body created by the Maduro regime and given extraordinary powers superseding the National Assembly, has hinted at the possibility of ordering early elections. Such a maneuver could threaten the opposition’s hold on the National Assembly and with it Guaido’s claim as head of the legislature to be the country’s …

READ MORE

A longtime human rights lawyer who is running for Tunisia’s presidency as the country’s first gay candidate says he is receiving threats from radical Islamist groups. Mounir Baatour, founder of the Tunisian Liberal Party, recently announced his candidacy for president, vowing to bring about justice and equality in the Muslim-majority, North African nation.  “I have received a number of threats after my announcement, especially through social media,” Baatour told VOA in an interview. “Many of these threats are from extremist individuals. But no political parties have responded negatively to my announcement.” Baatour, 48, said his campaign focuses on employment, equal …

READ MORE

Libyan officials say the fighting around Tripoli has resumed, following a two-day truce observed during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. The officials said on Tuesday that the self-styled Libyan National Army led by commander Khalifa Hifter carried out airstrikes overnight on the southern outskirts of Tripoli.   They say the militias allied to the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli also shelled Hifter’s forces in the area. On Saturday, both sides had accepted a U.N.-proposed truce during Eid al-Adha, which began Sunday.   The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.   Hifter’s …

READ MORE

Amid revelations about the circumstances around Jeffrey Epstein’s death , federal authorities have intensified parallel inquiries into what went wrong at the Manhattan jail where he was behind bars and who now may face charges for assisting or enabling him in what authorities say was his rampant sexual abuse of underage girls. One of the new details provided by people familiar with the Metropolitan Correctional Center was that one of Epstein’s guards the night he died in his cell wasn’t a regular correctional officer. Serene Gregg, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3148, told The Washington Post …

READ MORE

Trying to hold support in the manufacturing towns that helped him win the White House in 2016, President Donald Trump is showcasing growing efforts to capitalize on western Pennsylvania’s natural gas deposits by turning gas into plastics.  Trump will be in Monaca, about 40 minutes north of Pittsburgh, on Tuesday to tour Shell’s soon-to-be completed Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex. The facility, which critics claim will become the largest air polluter in western Pennsylvania, is being built in an area hungry for investment.   The focus is part of a continued push by the Trump administration to increase the economy’s dependence on …

READ MORE

Workers are preparing to decontaminate some Paris streets surrounding the Notre Dame Cathedral that have been tested with high levels of lead following the April blaze that damaged the landmark. High fences blocked Parisians and tourists from several streets and a bridge around the monument on Tuesday. The culture ministry said workers plan to use two decontamination techniques. One involves spreading a gel on public benches, street lights and other fixtures to absorb the lead, letting it dry for several days before removing it. Another method will feature high pressure water jets with chemical agents. The cleanup work inside Notre …

READ MORE

 Suzanne Sataline contributed to this report from Hong Kong. All departing flights from Hong Kong’s international airport have been cancelled for a second straight day Tuesday after pro-democracy demonstrators once again took over the facility’s main terminal. The decision by the airport authority came just minutes after it suspended all passenger check-in services after protesters blocked passengers from entering their departure gates, and advised the general public not to come to the airport.   The departure board shows all flights leaving Hong Kong canceled, Aug. 12, 2019. The airport was already struggling to return to normal after reopening a day …

READ MORE