Militant Groups in Pakistan Rebrand Themselves as Political Parties

As international pressure is mounting on Islamabad to do more against militant groups operating from its soil, some militant groups are rebranding themselves as political parties.

“The Pakistan military is allowing militant, virulently anti-Indian groups to enter the political process to enable a vocal political voice against any Pakistani civilian warming relations with India,” Thomas Lynch, a research fellow at the National Defense University in Washington, told VOA.

“The aboveground voices of [Hafiz Mohammad] Saeed and [Kashmiri militant leader Fazlur Rehman] Khalil as political figures will meld with their enduring role as leaders of virulently anti-India armed groups in a way that will further constrain Pakistani political leaders from easily undertaking any moves toward rapprochement with India,” Lynch added.

New party

Saeed, the leader of Jamaat-ud-Dawa group (JUD), which has been designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. and is widely considered a front group for Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group, launched a new political party last month.

Saeed was accused of masterminding Mumbai’s 2008 terror attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans.

The U.S. government has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

JUD’s newly established Milli Muslim League party came in third in a by-election in Punjab last week, securing more votes than Pakistan’s People’s Party contender did.

Lynch said he thought that without the military’s blessings, the militants-turned-political parties cannot thrive.

“Nothing of consequence inside Pakistan security, politics or economics happens without the Pakistan military’s concurrence, either by direct support or indirect acquiescence,” Lynch said.

“This mainstreaming of longtime militant-terrorist groups led by Saeed and Khalil is of consequence [and] therefore must be supported by the Pakistan military,” he added.

Last week’s by-election was also contested by the Tehreek Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah, a party of the followers of Mumtaz Qadri, who was sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering Punjab’s Governor Salman Taseer, the same person he was paid to guard.

Qadri killed the governor in 2011 because he advocated for reforms in the country’s controversial blasphemy laws.

The two parties of militants-turned-politicians reportedly secured 11 percent of the total votes in last week’s election.

Increasing pressure

The politicization of militancy coincides with increasing international pressure on Pakistan to take action against militant safe havens in the county.

Announcing his South Asia strategy, U.S. President Donald Trump last month put Pakistan on notice to stop harboring militant groups that use Pakistani soil to plan and launch attacks against Afghan and U.S.-NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Leaders of BRICS, an economic bloc composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, also expressed concerns this month about Pakistan-based militant groups and cited them as a problem for regional security.

Pakistan has long denied that militants enjoy safe havens in the country and has proclaimed itself as a victim of terrorism.

The country’s Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, however, this week admitted that Hafiz Saeed and Lashkar-e-Taiba were liabilities for his country.

 “Saeed, LeT, they are a liability, I accept it, but give us time to get rid of them,” Asif said at an Asia Society event in New York on Tuesday.

Optimism

Some analysts, however, see the new trend of pushing militants to mainstream politics as a good development.

“Unless these parties and individuals are allowed to be a part of the political system, they might never change their way and will go underground, which will be much more dangerous,” said Zubair Iqbal, an analyst at the Middle East Institute in Washington.

The question is: Can violent extremism and politics co-exist? Pakistani-based political analyst Khadim Hussain has his doubts.

“The ‘mainstreamed’ extremist organizations have not publicly revoked their ideology. They have not yet dismantled their militaristic, welfare and ideological infrastructure. This seems to be legitimizing extremist violence in Pakistan,” Hussain said.

Hussain added that ” ‘mainstreaming ‘ and ‘integration’ seem to be a tactic to divert the U.S., BRICS and other regional and international stakeholders’ attention from the core issues of policymaking in Pakistan.”

Lynch of NDU echoed Hussain’s analysis and said it was unlikely that the move would help curb extremism.

“I do not see this move helping to curb extremism in Pakistan over the short term,” Lynch said.

As Pakistan is holding national and provincial elections in 2018, analysts fear that militant groups will attempt to use the new platform to influence legislation.

“These groups will inject xenophobia and extremist views in the body politic if given free hand in politics,” Pakistani activist Marvi Sirmed wrote in an op-ed in Lahore’s Daily Times, urging the state to halt any kind of support to these groups.

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After Attack on Westerners, Cambodia’s Foreign Minister Softens Tone

Cambodia’s foreign minister has launched a scathing attack on Western democracies, labeling them hypocritical and interested in promoting human rights and democracy only when it’s in their own interest.

Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon told the U.N. General Assembly last week that human rights and democracy issues were raised only “when the specific interests of certain major powers are at stake.”

“Otherwise, it is sheer silence, and often a conspiracy of silence,” he added.

The comments came amid a surge in anti-American rhetoric from the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, which has jailed the leader of the country’s opposition on allegations he conspired with the United states to unseat the long-term premier.

‘One-sided’ presentation

In an exclusive interview with VOA Cambodia, Sokhon softened his tone, saying Cambodia wants to “normalize relations” with the United States, “at least back to the original level.”

But Sokhon lashed out at the international media’s portrayal of the crackdown on dissent in Cambodia.

He told VOA, following the General Assembly meeting, that the international media had given a “one-sided” presentation of recent events in Cambodia.

He said that the closures of the National Democratic Institute in Cambodia, the American-owned Cambodia Daily newspaper and numerous radio stations broadcasting U.S.-funded radio programs were “being done in accordance with the law.”

The government has come under heavy criticism from Washington  and American allies, while China has lent Phnom Penh explicit support for its crackdown on dissent.

As Sokhon was giving his speech at the General Assembly last week, Cambodian-American protesters gathered at the U.N. headquarters to oppose the government line.

Steven Reach, a New York City resident, said he was unhappy with the “unreasonable” treason charges against Kem Sokha, the Cambodia National Rescue Party leader. He added that he hoped the U.N. could exert some influence over Hun Sen’s government.

Annie Van, a Cambodian-American from Massachusetts, said: “I and my colleagues came here to ask Prime Minister Hun Sen to free Kem Sokha … as well as free the other political prisoners of the opposition party.”

China pivot

In the interview with VOA, Sokhon said Cambodia’s pivot toward China and away from the West was “for the benefit of the Cambodian people … only because the relationship with China is based on mutual respect and mutual benefit.”

“We have received Chinese aid, Chinese cooperation, Chinese investment,” he added, pointing to China’s huge investment in key economic sectors, such as hydropower.

“The relationship is considered in the interest of Cambodia, but it does not mean that Cambodia has become a satellite state of China,” he said.

Cambodia had proved its independence during the recent diplomatic tensions with North Korea, he added..

Cambodia has historically had a close relationship with North Korea, which it has repeatedly attempted to use as leverage in its bid to act as a mediator in military de-escalation talks. However, following recent missile tests by North Korea, Cambodia has publicly taken a stronger line against Pyongyang.

“Although Cambodia has a good and special relationship with North Korea, Cambodia issued two separate statements last year and two more statements this year regarding the missile launches and underground nuclear test. So we had clearly stated to North Korea that if you want to maintain the friendship, you need to comply with the U.N. Security Council and comply with the resolution of the U.N. member states,” Sokhon told VOA.

“We ask [all parties] to consider the proposal of China and Russia” to halt nuclear and missile tests and military exercises, because U.S. and South Korean exercises are “a spark of fire, and that irritates North Korea.”

This report appeared originally on VOA Cambodia.

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Protesters March Through Washington Streets for Racial Justice

Activists with the March for Racial Justice and the March for Black Women took to the streets Saturday in Washington to protest what they called “racist policing practices” in America.

The two groups held individual rallies in the nation’s capital and then converged before marching together to the Justice Department building and the National Mall.

Videos of the march posted on social media showed the protest group marching down Pennsylvania Avenue, past the Capitol, while chanting, “No justice, no peace” and “If we don’t get it, shut it down.”

The protest march spanned several blocks as activists moved through the city before reaching their final destination on the mall.

Organizers of the two marches planned the events on September 30 to mark the anniversary of the Elaine Massacre of 1919, in which 200 black people were killed by law enforcement officers and citizens in Arkansas.

Farah Tanis, who planned the March for Black Women, told The Washington Post she came up with the idea because she felt black women weren’t properly celebrated during the large Women’s March on Washington following President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

“I said to myself that there will not be another March for Racial Injustice that does not truly center on black women and their issues,” she told the newspaper.

On its website, the March for Racial Justice said its mission was to “harness the national unrest and dissatisfaction with racial injustice into a national mobilization” aimed at promoting racial equity.

WATCH: Marchers in DC Seek Racial Justice

“Over the past few years, the movement against racist policing tactics and police killings has transformed the U.S. political terrain and brought much-needed attention to police brutality that is endemic in the U.S.,” the group said in a statement.

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Turkey Opens Largest Foreign Military Base in Mogadishu

Turkey’s largest foreign military base in the world opened Saturday in Mogadishu, in a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Somali leaders, top Turkish military officials and diplomats.

Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and the head of the Turkish military, General Hulusi Akar have jointly inaugurated the 4 square kilometer (1.54 square mile) facility, which holds three military residential complexes, training venues, and sports courts. It had been under construction for the last two years.

General Akar said the base is the biggest sign of how Turkey wants to help Somalia.

“We are committed to help [the] Somali government, and this base will cover the need for building strong Somali National Army. And it is biggest sign showing our relationship.”

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Prime Minister Khaire highlighted the significance of the training base for his country.

“Today our country goes to the right direction toward development and the re-establishment of Somali Army, capable and ready for the defense of their nations,” said Khaire “This base is part of that on ongoing effort.”

More than 200 Turkish military personnel will train some 1,500 Somali troops at a time, according to Somalia’s defense Ministry. The Somali prime minister said it will manufacture an inclusive united Somali Army.

“This training base has a unique significance for us because it is a concrete step taken toward building an inclusive and integrated Somali National Army,” said Khaire. “My government and our Somali people will not forget this huge help by our Turkish brothers. This academy will help us train more troops.”

The inauguration ceremony was held amid tight security around the base located in the Jaziira coastal area in southern tip of the capital.

Hulusi Akar, the Turkish Army chief said, “the Turkish government would continue to support our Somali brothers until their country becomes militarily stronger.”

Other diplomats who attended the event said the training is part of an international effort to strengthen the Somali National Army to a point where it can take over security responsibilities from African Union troops currently fighting al-Shabab militants. The African Union has said it wants to begin withdrawing troops from Somalia next year.

Prime Minister Khaire said the base also will help to defeat the extremism and the ideology that drives young Somali men into violence and terrorism.

“To defeat terrorism and fight against the poverty, we have keep in mind that building our national security and eliminating corruption is the key,” he said.

Somalia has a significant number of military personal, but they are ill-trained and poorly equipped. Last week, the government repeated its plea for world leaders to lift an international arms embargo.

The U.S. already had deployed dozens of American soldiers to Mogadishu, and their presence marked the first American military forces in Somalia, except for a small unit of counterterrorism advisers, since March 1994.

The United Arab Emirates also has a military facility where they train the Somali Army, which many politicians condemn for taking orders directly from UAE commanders.

“The good news is not only the opening of this training base but also …that when Turkey trains our troops it will also equip them,” said Somali Military Chief, Ahmed Mohamed Jimale.

Al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab is attempting to overthrow the Somali government and install a strict form of Islamic law throughout the country. On Friday, 30 people were killed when al-Shabab militants stormed a Somali military army base in the town of Barire, 47 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu.

 

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Spaniards Divided Over Catalonian Independence Vote

Thousands of demonstrators have gathered in Barcelona to oppose Sunday’s referendum on Catalonian independence from Spain.

Waving Spanish flags, the protesters filled the square in front of Barcelona’s regional government buildings Saturday.

Madrid has declared the vote illegal, and authorities in Spain began sealing off polling stations and confiscating ballots. While the Spanish national government said there would be no Catalonian independence vote, Catalonia’s regional government continued preparations for it.

Hundreds of people supporting the referendum camped out in schools in an attempt to keep them open for Sunday’s vote.

Enric Millo, the highest-ranking Spanish security official in the northeastern region, said Saturday that police had already blockaded half of the more than 2,300 polling stations designated for the referendum vote.

He said Spanish authorities also had dismantled the technology Catalan officials planned on using for voting and counting ballots, which he said would make the referendum “absolutely impossible.”

The president of the Catalan National Assembly appealed directly to the “conscience” of police officers deployed to the polling stations while speaking to reporters Saturday.

“I am aware they have a job to do, that they have their orders and have to carry them out. We are aware of that. But we also know that they have feelings, conscience,” he said.

“So tomorrow, when they carry out their orders they will undoubtedly receive, I hope they keep in mind — during the situations they find themselves in — that these could be their children, their mothers or their nephews, members of their family who just want to be able to  express themselves in freedom.”

Spanish Culture Minister Inigo Mendez de Vigo said Friday that the independence vote would violate Spanish law and that the government would not accept the results.

“We are open to dialogue within the framework of the law. As you would understand, nobody can ask us … to engage in dialogue outside the framework of the law. It’s impossible,” he said. “No European political leader can even consider dealing with an issue that is not in [Spanish] government hands.”

Catalan authorities said they would declare independence from Spain within 48 hours of the vote if residents there chose to secede.

On Friday, Catalan farmers rode tractors through the streets of Barcelona, driving slowly and waving pro-independence flags and banners. The tractors eventually stopped, converging on the regional government building.

At the same time, European Union officials said they would not mediate the dispute between Spain and Catalonia, calling it a matter of Spanish law.

“[It is] a Spanish problem in which we can do little. It’s a problem of respecting Spanish laws that Spaniards have to resolve,” said European Parliament President Antonio Tajani.

European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans called on Europeans to respect the constitution and rule of law in their countries. He said people in the EU need to organize themselves “in accordance with the constitution of that member state.”

“That is the rule of law — you abide by the law and the constitution even if you don’t like it,” he said.

Catalan authorities previously had appealed to the EU for help, saying the Spanish government undermined their democratic values.

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Plague Spreading Rapidly in Madagascar

The World Health Organization warns a highly infectious, deadly form of pneumonic plague is spreading rapidly in Madagascar and quick action is needed to stop it. 

Pneumonic plague, which is transmitted from person to person, has been detected in several cities in Madagascar.  This worries the World Health Organization as the disease is highly contagious and quickly causes death without treatment.

Plague is endemic to Madagascar resulting in around 400 cases annually.  Most are cases of bubonic plague, which is spread by the fleas of rats and other small rodents.  The disease is usually confined to rural areas, but this year it has spread to large urban areas and port cities.

WHO spokesman, Tarik Jasarevic, says cases of bubonic, as well as the human transmissible pneumonic plague have been found in the capital Antananarivo and the port cities of Majunga and Toamasina.

“So far, 104 cases of plague were reported since the first case has been identified that was dating from the 23rd of August,” said Jasarevic. “So, from the 23rd of August to 28th September, 104 cases that have been reported, including 20 deaths.”

Jasarevic notes the fatality rate is more than 19 percent.  He tells VOA this outbreak is very dangerous and must be brought under control quickly.

“The plague epidemic season usually runs from September to April, so we really are at the beginning of the epidemic season of plague,” said Jasarevic. “And, we have already from the 23rd of August until yesterday—so that is like five-weeks-time—we had 104 cases and again half of those cases were pneumonic plague.”

WHO says urgent public health response in terms of surveillance and treatment is required.  The health agency has released $250,000 from its emergency fund to get immediate action underway.  It plans to appeal for $1.5 million to fully respond to the needs.

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Thousands Flee Rumbling Volcano in Vanuatu, South Pacific

A volcano threatening to erupt in the South Pacific has led to the evacuation of an entire island in Vanuatu.  A state of emergency has been declared on the island of Ambae, where an increase in volcanic activity has raised fears of a major eruption.

Ash, stones and lava have been thrown from the mouth of the Monaro volcano in Vanuatu, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean.  Officials have ordered the entire population of 10,000 to leave their homes on the island of Ambae.  Many have left for evacuation shelters in coastal areas.  

Authorities have warned that villagers living within about 6 kilometers of the volcano are at risk from from airborne rocks and dangerous gases.  There is a warning, too, that acid rain could damage crops.  

The New Zealand air force has flown over the area to assess the risk.

Group Captain Nick Olney says the situation is volatile.

“Ambae was very active.  There was ash clouds, the crater was erupting plumes, lava, smoke, ash,” said Olney. “The evacuation of people is quite critical at the moment but there was some good imagery, what we would call hand-held imagery; normal photographs as well as infrared stuff, which the scientists will use.”

Australia has responded to the emergency by delivering supplies of food, water and shelter.

It is more than a decade since the volcano on the island of Ambae last erupted.   

Vanuatu sits on the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire. It is  considered one of the world’s most prone countries to natural disasters, with half a dozen active volcanoes, as well as regular earthquakes and cyclones.

Another volcano, this one on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali, is also rumbling.  Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes as authorities warn it could erupt.  

The area around Mount Agung has felt hundreds of tremors and other volcanic activity in recent days.

 

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Russian Soldier who Killed 3 Comrades Shot Dead

Officials in far east Russia say a soldier who opened fire at other servicemen during drills has been tracked down and killed.

The military says the soldier, who killed three and wounded two other soldiers, offered resistance to arrest and was shot dead early Saturday following a massive manhunt.

During Friday’s incident, the soldier fired his Kalashnikov rifle at his comrades waiting to have target practice at a base outside the town of Belogorsk near the border with China and then fled.

The city administration in Belogorsk says the soldier came from the province of Dagestan in Russia’s North Caucasus.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has sent a commission to investigate the shooting.

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Study: Trump Immigration Policies to Cost Michigan

At the turn of the century, Bangladeshi immigrant Shaker Sadeak packed his bags in New York City and headed to Michigan — a state that he says afforded him the opportunity to make a living and go to school at the same time.

Seven years later, he took another step, opening his own wholesale and retail fabric shop, India Fashion, in Hamtramck, Michigan’s Banglatown. Surrounded by Bengali restaurants, spice shops and groceries, his business, like the street upon which it lives, has flourished over time.

When VOA visited this summer, new and established businesses were steadily replacing abandoned lots along Conant Street, Banglatown’s commercial main street.

“Back in 2000, you used to see one car in two minutes. Now we have thousands of cars driving on the streets,” Sadeak said. “All the immigrants came into this town and rebuilt the whole thing.”

‘Bread and butter’ issue

In Rust Belt communities, immigration is a “bread and butter economic issue,” said Steve Tobocman, executive director of Global Detroit, a nonprofit corporation that pursues strategies to attract international investment and business in southeast Michigan.

The state government under a Republican governor has concluded the same, issuing a report last year that said that the more than 640,000 foreign-born individuals in Michigan are “critical contributors to Michigan’s economic success.”

But the Trump administration argues that low-skilled or illegal immigrants are hurting American workers.

President Donald Trump’s senior adviser for policy, Stephen Miller, told reporters last month that the president’s immigration policies will prevent an influx of such workers into the country.

“In an environment in which you have this huge pool of unemployed labor in the United States, and you’re spending massive amounts of money putting our own workers on welfare?” Miller asked. “We are constantly told that unskilled immigration boosts the economy but again, if you look at the last 17 years, we just know from reality that is not true.”

However, the Michigan state government’s economic report suggested that the estimated 126,000 undocumented immigrants in the state generally fill jobs different from native-born workers, “playing a small but critical role in the workforce.”

The report concluded that the group has played a positive role in Michigan’s economy, paying much more in taxes than the cost of the services such as education and law enforcement that they receive. The report suggested that giving legal status to these workers, and perhaps requiring them to pay back taxes, would be a net benefit for the state and its citizens.

Eight months into Donald Trump’s presidency, Global Detroit’s Tobocman says the administration’s immigration policies and rhetoric have come with a hefty price tag: more than $1 billion in lost annual economic activity in Michigan.

“We have done some damage to America’s brand as the world’s most welcoming economy, most innovative economy, and a place where anybody can come and contribute to our growth and prosperity and live the American Dream,” Tobocman said.

Policies and rhetoric, quantified

In collaboration with nine other Rust Belt states that make up the Welcoming Economies Global Network, Global Detroit calculated the combined projected economic loss in Michigan resulting from decreases in international tourism and international student applications, repercussions from the repeal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), and losses in agricultural production.

Of a combined projected $1.157 billion annual loss in statewide economic activity, $418.63 million comes at the hands of Trump’s announced termination of DACA.

WATCH: A Look at Hamtramck

An additional $241 million was attributed to an assumed 16 percent decline in international tourism. The now-extended travel ban, Tobocman argues, is a primary source of a downturn in tourism among both Muslim tourists and others who are sympathetic, “who would like to see a more welcoming culture.”

But even where hard numbers are more difficult to quantify, including losses in agricultural production and new refugee arrivals, Tobocman says the repercussions from Trump’s policies and rhetoric are becoming clear.

“It’s really enhanced enforcement … the deportation numbers are not significantly higher, but the kinds of raids that we have seen, and the kinds of treatment policies,” he continued, “that sends a signal: that your labor is not really welcome here.”

Weighing costs and benefits

In regions that have seen population decline, such as the Midwest, immigrants are “part of what’s keeping those communities vibrant or growing at all,” said Kim Rueben, senior fellow at the Urban Institute.

Rueben, a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) panel that produced a comprehensive 2016 report on the long-term impacts of immigration on native-born workers and overall wages, noted that over a period of 10 years or more, the impact of immigration on the wages of native-born workers is very small and there’s little evidence it affects the overall employment levels of U.S.-born workers.

Any decision to cut immigration numbers, Rueben told VOA, is both economically and fiscally costly.

She said eliminating DACA is particularly costly because DACA recipients tend to be well-educated and skilled workers.

“[DACA recipients] are contributing more to society because they are able to do those jobs that are in keeping with their education and the investments they have,” Rueben said.

Rueben added that the children of lower-wage first-generation immigrants, such as farm workers, have shown a tendency to exceed education-level expectations.

Nationwide, according to a late-September poll released by Quinnipiac, 38 percent of voting Americans approve of the way Trump is handling immigration issues, compared to 59 percent who disapprove. The numbers reflect a five-point drop in approval since mid-August.

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Trump Blasts Mayor of Hurricane-Devastated San Juan, Puerto Rico

U.S. President Donald Trump took the Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico to task in a series of Saturday morning tweets in apparent response to her criticism of the administration’s effort to help the U.S. territory recover from the devastation inflicted by Hurricane Maria.

Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz accused the Trump administration of “killing us with the inefficiency” and begged Trump to “make sure somebody is in charge that is up to the task of saving lives.”

The Republican president initiated his tweets, which were apparently deleted minutes later, by suggesting Cruz’s criticism was instigated by Democrats.

“The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump.”

“…Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They ….,” Trump added.

“…want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers not on Island doing a fantastic job.”

Trump then denounced two news organizations for what he apparently believed has been biased coverage of the recovery efforts with the ultimate aim of disparaging him.

“Fake News CNN and NBC are going out of their way to disparage our great First Responders as a way to “get Trump.” Not fair to FR or effort!”

He then reiterated he will soon get a first-hand view of the devastation on Puerto Rico and possibly in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“I will be going to Puerto Rico on Tuesday with Melania. Will hopefully be able to stop at the U.S. Virgin Islands (people working hard).

Trump then broadened his attack on the news media, accusing the networks of hindering recovery efforts.

“The Fake News Networks are working overtime in Puerto Rico doing their best to take the spirit away from our soldiers and R’s. Shame!”

Acting Homeland Security Administration Secretary Elaine Duke flew over hurricane devastated Puerto Rico Friday and reassured residents the federal government understands the severity of the ongoing human catastrophe facing the U.S. territory.

“I know the people of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are suffering,” Duke told a news conference in the capital, San Juan. “We are here and we have been here to help them. We are continuing to bring additional supplies and personnel to further assist distribution efforts on the ground.”

Duke’s unannounced trip to the island came hours after the mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital, San Juan, ridiculed comments the Homeland Security chief made at a White House briefing Thursday, where she described the life-saving efforts of relief workers as “a good news story.”

In a widely publicized CNN interview, Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz replied angrily, saying, “This is not a good news story. This is a ‘people are dying’ story. This is a life or death story.”

Clearly stung by Yulin Cruz’s barb, Duke made clear that she did not consider the current conditions in Puerto Rico satisfactory.

WATCH: US Military Aids in Hurricane Irma Rescue and Relief Efforts

“Yesterday I was asked if I was happy and satisfied with the recovery,” she said. “I am proud of the work that’s being done. I’m proud of Americans helping Americans, friends and strangers alike. I am proud of the work DOD, (Department of Defense, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and the territory, along with first responders are doing.

“The president and I will not be satisfied, however, until every Puerto Rican is back home, the power is back on, clean water is freely available, schools and hospitals are fully open, and the Puerto Rican economy is working,” the secretary said.

EPA assessing Superfund sites

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement that it has deployed assessment teams to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“We have begun re-assessing Superfund sites, oil sites, and chemical facilities in Puerto Rico and the USVI as part of EPA’s response to Hurricane Maria,” the agency said. 

It said that its initial assessments found the Superfund sites to have no significant damage. The agency is also working to assess the conditions of water and sewage treatment plants in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In the face of widespread criticism of Washington’s slow response to the Puerto Rico hurricane, the White House is in damage-control mode.

​‘You don’t just go back and fix it’

As he left the White House Friday for a weekend at his golf club in New Jersey, Trump told reporters the scope of destruction in Puerto Rico dwarfed the damage from hurricanes earlier this month in Texas and Florida. 

“It was flattened. You don’t just go back and fix it,” he said.

“It’s a very tough situation and a big question is what happens. We have to rebuild. The electric(ity) is gone, the roads are gone, telecommunications (are) gone. It’s all gone, and the real question is what’s going to happen later,” the president said.

Earlier in the day, at a speech to a group of manufacturing industry leaders, he pledged to provide all possible assistance from Washington.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” he said, noting that Washington is sending 10,000 federal personnel, including 5,000 National Guard members.

“We’ve closely coordinated with territorial and local governments which unfortunately aren’t able to handle this catastrophe on their own,” the president said.

Trump and other top administration officials are scheduled to visit the hurricane-ravaged region, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, next Tuesday.

​Critics say ‘too, little, too late’

A three-star general was named Thursday to head the relief effort, and a 1,000 bed hospital ship, the Comfort, departed Friday from its home port in the U.S. state of Virginia to assist in the recovery. Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert said 44 of Puerto Rico’s 69 hospitals have been restored to operation.

But critics say the response may prove to be a case of too little, too late.

Russel Honore, highly lauded for commanding the military response after another big storm, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, said the military deployments to Puerto Rico should have been started at least four days earlier.

Honore told National Public Radio that because of its distance from the mainland and the loss of its power grid, Puerto Rico “is a bigger and tougher mission than Katrina.”

The head of the U.S. relief effort, Lieutenant General Jeffrey Buchanan, said Thursday it would be a long-term project. 

“We’re bringing in more,” Buchanan told CNN. “This is a very, very long duration.”

Amid the tragedy, Trump said the one bright spot so far has been the ability of relief and rescue crews to keep hurricane-related death toll to a minimum. 

“The loss of life is always tragic, but it’s been incredible the results we’ve had with respect to loss of life,” the president told reporters Friday. “People can’t believe how successful that has been, relatively speaking.”

Health officials, however, say worse days and weeks may still be ahead as authorities battle the massive task of restoring clean water and sanitation, not to mention providing food and shelter for Puerto Rico’s 3.4 million people.

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Women in Politics: Democrats Motivated to Run, GOP Aren’t

The president of Emily’s List rose to the podium at a recent New York fundraiser to make a proud announcement: More than 18,000 women had contacted the group since Election Day, looking to explore running for office, “an explosion,” she called it.

Of course, they’re all Democrats. On the Republican side, there’s been no such explosion. While a tide of anti-Trump activism has led thousands of Democratic women to consider runs for office, their Republican counterparts are where they were before the 2016 election, with little chance of improving their representation.

“Republican women look very much the same now as they did pre-Trump,” says Jennifer Lawless, professor at American University and co-author of a recent report that examined the persistent gender gap in political ambition, on both sides of the aisle. “They’re generally not interested in running for office, the overwhelming majority has not been recruited to run, they don’t think they’re qualified to run, and their levels of political activity and enthusiasm are the same as they have always been.”

Democrat women energized

Lawless’ report, called “The Trump Effect,” also throws some cold water on the expectation that Democrats will see a seismic shift in numbers of women running; re-energized political activism doesn’t necessarily translate into candidacies. But the new enthusiasm has been almost entirely on the left side of the spectrum, and some groups are trying to address that.

Erin Loos Cutraro, CEO of She Should Run, a nonpartisan group, says while the overall pace of adding women to elected office is too slow — women, after all, make up just less than 20 percent of Congress — it’s clearly happening faster for Democrats.

Part of the problem: uneven institutional resources and support. 

“Feeling that you’re not going at it alone makes a big difference,” Cutraro said, “and it can feel really isolating for Republican women. They don’t have the same networks, just in sheer numbers … or the same level of institutional support. If you’re a Democratic pro-choice woman, and you have Emily’s List there to support you, that can be incredibly powerful. Republican women don’t have anything that plays at the same level.”

​First steps

While a group like Emily’s List lends concrete support to get a candidate over the finish line, She Should Run serves women seeking that first step. 

“‘I don’t even know where to start’ is something we hear over and over,” Cutraro said.

Rebecca Love is one of those women. A longtime Republican, she was president of the Republican club in high school, Love, 38, woke up at home in San Diego the morning after Election Day wanting to get involved, somehow.

“I felt that my values as a Republican woman were not represented by the candidate who was elected,” said Love, who has a young daughter and works in health care consulting. “I felt Republicans were better than this. It was a wakeup call.”

So Love began Googling programs for women interested in politics. Most, she found, were for Democrats, and her experience had been that even groups calling themselves nonpartisan were populated mostly by Democrats, some not eager to engage with Republicans. Finally, Love, who identifies as abortion-rights, moderate Republican, started working with She Should Run. She’s learning the political landscape of her community, and expects to pursue a city council seat or something similar.

By now, Love says, she feels confident enough that she doesn’t need to be “asked” to run. But she meets women who do: “I say to them, ‘You should think about running,’ and they say, ‘Me?”’

​Women need to be asked to run

Virtually any advocate working to get women into politics will say the same thing: Much more than men, women of any party need to be asked to run.

Julie Conway of VIEW PAC, which works to get Republican women elected to federal office, puts it this way: “You have to tell women, ‘Hey, you’d be great,’ and not only that, but you’d be the best, and now I’m going to have 10 other people tell you you’re the best. Guys just say, ‘Hey, I could do this.”’

Adds Stephanie Schriock, president of Emily’s List: “For years we’ve sat at kitchen tables, we’ve said, ‘You can do this, you don’t need five years of training, that dude has no training!”’

For Jinyoung Englund, getting asked by a former boss was a turning point. A daughter of Korean immigrants in Washington state, Englund got the bug for public service early, working on a congressional campaign and then on Capitol Hill while she was still in her 20s.

She hadn’t planned to run herself, and her first response, she says, was that it sounded “kinda crazy. … Women, like myself, are often, ‘Hey, who am I to think I could run?”’

But she is now the Republican candidate in a much-watched special legislative election; Republican control of the state Senate hangs in the balance. At 33, she’d be the body’s youngest woman.

Not every woman, of course, needs to be asked. 

Shantel Krebs, the South Dakota secretary of state and candidate for Congress, served 10 years in the state legislature — she was 30 when first elected in 2004, and had begun her legislative career at 17 as a page. Krebs says she hasn’t encountered the obstacles some other women describe, perhaps because South Dakota has a long history of women in positions of political power. The incumbent in the seat she’s seeking, Republican Kristie Noem, is running for governor.

“I think South Dakotans expect another woman in that position,” said Krebs, 44. “They know that women compromise and they listen.”

​The Trump question

Like Republican male candidates, GOP women must consider where they stand on President Donald Trump, their party’s polarizing leader. Depending on the district, it’s not always easy.

Asked about potential concerns among women voters about Trump’s attitudes toward women, Krebs, of South Dakota, says her constituents aren’t troubled by that. 

“I haven’t heard from any of my constituents that they’re concerned. The concern here is bigger issues,” she said. “They want government to be accountable, to control spending.”

In Austin, Texas, Jenifer Sarver is preparing for the “Trump question,” even though she’s not yet running for office.

“Certainly people have told me that saying you didn’t vote for the president isn’t a good thing,” said Sarver, 41, who runs a communications consulting business and has been mentioned in the local media as a potential candidate to replace Rep. Michael McCaul _ who in turn has been mentioned as a potential Trump Cabinet member. “There are going to be people who won’t vote for me. But I believe I can attract people in the middle … those who want to see that there are people of integrity and character running, who aren’t afraid to stand up to the system.”

This election cycle, there’s an additional concern for Republican women in Congress. Several aren’t running for re-election, either because they’re running for office elsewhere, or retiring. That could bring numbers of Republican women in Congress “down to numbers like we have not seen,” Lawless said. “It’s going to be very difficult for them to even maintain the numbers that they have.”

And that means a setback for women across the board, if you care about overall female representation in Congress. Because even with all the energy on the left, Lawless says, “the Democrats will have to have a hell of a banner year in order to compensate.”

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Women in Politics: Democrats Motivated to Run, GOP Aren’t

The president of Emily’s List rose to the podium at a recent New York fundraiser to make a proud announcement: More than 18,000 women had contacted the group since Election Day, looking to explore running for office, “an explosion,” she called it.

Of course, they’re all Democrats. On the Republican side, there’s been no such explosion. While a tide of anti-Trump activism has led thousands of Democratic women to consider runs for office, their Republican counterparts are where they were before the 2016 election, with little chance of improving their representation.

“Republican women look very much the same now as they did pre-Trump,” says Jennifer Lawless, professor at American University and co-author of a recent report that examined the persistent gender gap in political ambition, on both sides of the aisle. “They’re generally not interested in running for office, the overwhelming majority has not been recruited to run, they don’t think they’re qualified to run, and their levels of political activity and enthusiasm are the same as they have always been.”

Democrat women energized

Lawless’ report, called “The Trump Effect,” also throws some cold water on the expectation that Democrats will see a seismic shift in numbers of women running; re-energized political activism doesn’t necessarily translate into candidacies. But the new enthusiasm has been almost entirely on the left side of the spectrum, and some groups are trying to address that.

Erin Loos Cutraro, CEO of She Should Run, a nonpartisan group, says while the overall pace of adding women to elected office is too slow — women, after all, make up just less than 20 percent of Congress — it’s clearly happening faster for Democrats.

Part of the problem: uneven institutional resources and support. 

“Feeling that you’re not going at it alone makes a big difference,” Cutraro said, “and it can feel really isolating for Republican women. They don’t have the same networks, just in sheer numbers … or the same level of institutional support. If you’re a Democratic pro-choice woman, and you have Emily’s List there to support you, that can be incredibly powerful. Republican women don’t have anything that plays at the same level.”

​First steps

While a group like Emily’s List lends concrete support to get a candidate over the finish line, She Should Run serves women seeking that first step. 

“‘I don’t even know where to start’ is something we hear over and over,” Cutraro said.

Rebecca Love is one of those women. A longtime Republican, she was president of the Republican club in high school, Love, 38, woke up at home in San Diego the morning after Election Day wanting to get involved, somehow.

“I felt that my values as a Republican woman were not represented by the candidate who was elected,” said Love, who has a young daughter and works in health care consulting. “I felt Republicans were better than this. It was a wakeup call.”

So Love began Googling programs for women interested in politics. Most, she found, were for Democrats, and her experience had been that even groups calling themselves nonpartisan were populated mostly by Democrats, some not eager to engage with Republicans. Finally, Love, who identifies as abortion-rights, moderate Republican, started working with She Should Run. She’s learning the political landscape of her community, and expects to pursue a city council seat or something similar.

By now, Love says, she feels confident enough that she doesn’t need to be “asked” to run. But she meets women who do: “I say to them, ‘You should think about running,’ and they say, ‘Me?”’

​Women need to be asked to run

Virtually any advocate working to get women into politics will say the same thing: Much more than men, women of any party need to be asked to run.

Julie Conway of VIEW PAC, which works to get Republican women elected to federal office, puts it this way: “You have to tell women, ‘Hey, you’d be great,’ and not only that, but you’d be the best, and now I’m going to have 10 other people tell you you’re the best. Guys just say, ‘Hey, I could do this.”’

Adds Stephanie Schriock, president of Emily’s List: “For years we’ve sat at kitchen tables, we’ve said, ‘You can do this, you don’t need five years of training, that dude has no training!”’

For Jinyoung Englund, getting asked by a former boss was a turning point. A daughter of Korean immigrants in Washington state, Englund got the bug for public service early, working on a congressional campaign and then on Capitol Hill while she was still in her 20s.

She hadn’t planned to run herself, and her first response, she says, was that it sounded “kinda crazy. … Women, like myself, are often, ‘Hey, who am I to think I could run?”’

But she is now the Republican candidate in a much-watched special legislative election; Republican control of the state Senate hangs in the balance. At 33, she’d be the body’s youngest woman.

Not every woman, of course, needs to be asked. 

Shantel Krebs, the South Dakota secretary of state and candidate for Congress, served 10 years in the state legislature — she was 30 when first elected in 2004, and had begun her legislative career at 17 as a page. Krebs says she hasn’t encountered the obstacles some other women describe, perhaps because South Dakota has a long history of women in positions of political power. The incumbent in the seat she’s seeking, Republican Kristie Noem, is running for governor.

“I think South Dakotans expect another woman in that position,” said Krebs, 44. “They know that women compromise and they listen.”

​The Trump question

Like Republican male candidates, GOP women must consider where they stand on President Donald Trump, their party’s polarizing leader. Depending on the district, it’s not always easy.

Asked about potential concerns among women voters about Trump’s attitudes toward women, Krebs, of South Dakota, says her constituents aren’t troubled by that. 

“I haven’t heard from any of my constituents that they’re concerned. The concern here is bigger issues,” she said. “They want government to be accountable, to control spending.”

In Austin, Texas, Jenifer Sarver is preparing for the “Trump question,” even though she’s not yet running for office.

“Certainly people have told me that saying you didn’t vote for the president isn’t a good thing,” said Sarver, 41, who runs a communications consulting business and has been mentioned in the local media as a potential candidate to replace Rep. Michael McCaul _ who in turn has been mentioned as a potential Trump Cabinet member. “There are going to be people who won’t vote for me. But I believe I can attract people in the middle … those who want to see that there are people of integrity and character running, who aren’t afraid to stand up to the system.”

This election cycle, there’s an additional concern for Republican women in Congress. Several aren’t running for re-election, either because they’re running for office elsewhere, or retiring. That could bring numbers of Republican women in Congress “down to numbers like we have not seen,” Lawless said. “It’s going to be very difficult for them to even maintain the numbers that they have.”

And that means a setback for women across the board, if you care about overall female representation in Congress. Because even with all the energy on the left, Lawless says, “the Democrats will have to have a hell of a banner year in order to compensate.”

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Tillerson: US ‘Probing’ North Korea on Viability of Talks

The United States has opened a direct channel of communication with North Korea and is investigating whether the regime of Kim Jong Un is interested in pursuing talks to give up its nuclear weapons, according to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Saturday, who is in Beijing, seeking China’s cooperation on a “maximum pressure” campaign against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“We are probing so stay tuned,”  Tillerson told reporters after talks with Chinese officials. “We ask. We have lines of communication with Pyongyang. We’re not in a dark situation, a blackout. We have a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang.”

Amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Tillerson met with Chinese President Xi Jinping for talks on DPRK’s nuclear program, and they also were to cover trade and preparations for U.S. President Donald Trump’s first visit to China in November.  

Earlier Saturday Tillerson met with China’s top diplomat, State Councilor Yang Jiechi, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

 

The U.S. is conferring closely with Chinese officials on Beijing’s commitment to curbing imports of North Korean coal, iron, iron ore, lead and lead ore, and seafood.

 

If fully implemented, the ban on those items could substantially reduce North Korea’s revenues this year. North Korea had earned $1.5 billion from the export of these items to China in 2016, according to the State Department.

 

China is North Korea’s number one trade partner. Washington says bringing China on board is key to cutting off Pyongyang’s ability to earn hard currency.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Asia Program director Douglas Paal said, however, China’s influence over North Korea is limited.

 

“The North is very reluctant to take instructions from China. It will exploit whatever it can get from China, but it doesn’t look for political guidance from China. So this is a problem we [the U.S.] and South Korea are going to have to handle directly with North Korea as we go forward,” Paal told VOA.

VOA’s Nike Ching contributed to this report.

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Proposed Drone Usage Regulations Meet Resistance in Malawi

The government of Malawi has drafted new regulations on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones. Authorities say the move helps protect people’s security and privacy, but some drone operators are against the proposed changes.

The regulations would require drone operators to get authorization from the Department of Civil Aviation before flying their gadgets and have an adequate insurance policy. Those flouting the regulations would pay a fine of about $1,500 or be jailed for up to six months or both.

Drone users say the proposed rules are too restrictive.

Seeking government authorization whenever one wants to fly a drone is not practical, said Ezaus Mkandawire, president of Film Makers Association of Malawi.

“For example, if there was a demonstration, I don’t think one can rush to make an application to have your drone flying. I don’t think that works,” he said. “There are certain circumstances where you need to make a recording all of a sudden.”

Freelance video journalist and drone owner Eldson Chagara opposes a rule that would ban operators from flying a drone within 30 meters of any person.

“There are times when you [want to] fly as low as you can, depending on what you want to shoot, because most drones we have in Malawi have got cameras,” he said.

Malawi has recently seen a boom in the use of civilian drones, mainly to spice up aerial photography and videography for weddings and music videos. 

Alfred Mtilatila, the director of the civil aviation department, says the regulations are aimed at bringing sanity into the airspace. 

“The reason why we want to regulate the operations of the drones is to make sure that people are flying responsibly, knowing what to do and what not to do,” he said. 

Mtilatila says some rules have been adapted from civil aviation departments around the world.

“We physically went to South Africa. They actually told us how they have done it, and also, we underwent [a] regulatory course on how they do it in America. So, we are learning from most all the globe,” he said.

Mtilatila says his department is soliciting input from the public before the regulations are submitted to the Ministry of Justice for approval.

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Humanitarian Operations for Burundian Refugees Strapped for Cash

The U.N. refugee agency warns that funds for humanitarian assistance for hundreds of thousands of Burundian refugees have dried up, leaving only enough cash for the most essential needs.

More than 420,000 Burundians, who have sought refuge in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania, are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance; but, the U.N. refugee agency says it has practically run out of cash.

Only 19 percent of the agency’s revised $429 million appeal has been received. UNHCR spokesman Andrei Mahecic tells VOA hard choices must be made. With so little money on hand, he says priorities must be rearranged to make sure life-saving needs are met.

“But, there is a cost, there is a human cost attached to it,” Mahecic said. “There simply is not enough aid to go around. The services are not kept up to the standards that they should be and, obviously, in many cases, we are now facing the situation where shelter is by now dilapidated. The tents would need replacing. Eighty-eight-thousand refugees are still living under plastic sheeting, obviously vulnerable to heavy rains and so on.” 

Mahecic says many refugees risk catching communicable diseases, such as malaria and acute watery diarrhea. He says health care services must be urgently expanded. Because the money is not available, he says only 56 percent of identified survivors of sexual and gender-based violence are receiving the physical and psychological care they need.

The World Food Program, which also is suffering from underfunding, has been forced to cut monthly food rations to 60 percent in Tanzania — home to the largest number of refugees.

The UNHCR is appealing for international support so it can maintain its critical humanitarian assistance for Burundian refugees in the countries of asylum. The Burundians fled their country after violence surged in 2015. Many of them are women and children.

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US Military Aids in Hurricane Irma Rescue and Relief Efforts

At least 16 people have died and millions are without power since Hurricane Maria walloped the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Once again, the U.S. military is answering the call to help federal government relief efforts. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb has the latest.

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