Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau donned an armored vest and appeared with a heavy security detail at a major election rally Saturday.
Officials would not reveal the nature of the threat. It resulted in a 90-minute delay before Trudeau appeared before about 2,000 supporters who had turned out as the election campaign ahead of the Oct. 21 vote.
Trudeau wore a suit jacket rather than his usual rolled-up sleeves and loosened tie, and was wearing a vest, which was noticeable in photos taken at the event.
Trudeau was escorted through crowd by a large number of plainclothes Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers as well as Mounties dressed in green tactical gear.
Liberal leader and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wears a protective vest amid heavy security as he attends an election campaign rally in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Oct. 12, 2019.
RCMP spokeswoman Stephanie Dumoulin said for security reasons they do not comment on security measures given to the prime minister. A spokeswoman Trudeau also declined comment.
Prepared remarks had indicated that Trudeau’s wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, was to introduce the Liberal leader. She did not appear or take the stage during the rally.
“Very upsetting to hear that Justin Trudeau had to wear a bulletproof vest tonight at a campaign event,” opposition Conservative leader Andrew Scheer tweeted. “Threats of violence against political leaders have absolutely no place in our democracy.”
Opposition NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was the first to tweet his concern.
“Any threat made against (at)JustinTrudeau, or any leader, is troubling to all of us,” he wrote. “No matter how you vote or believe, no one should face threats of violence. To the officers who protect all of us – thank you.”
A second evacuation flight of 123 asylum-seekers from Libya landed in Rwanda late Thursday at Kigali International Airport. Most of the 123 are young Africans who were detained in Libya on their way to Europe. They have been taken to a transit facility in Gashora, where the United Nations refugee agency is providing them assistance. This is the second group following the first plane of 66 asylum-seekers who arrived Sept. 27 as part of a U.N. and African Union agreement with Rwanda to host 500 African evacuees.
Hong Kong pro-democracy demonstrations Saturday were smaller and less disruptive than recent massive rallies that shut down much of the city.
The largest event on Saturday was a march that included thousands of protesters in the Mong Kok shopping district in Kowloon, across from the business and financial centers on Hong Kong Island.
Some black-clad protesters spray-painted government offices and subway stations with anti-Chinese messages. Others set up impromptu roadblocks. Some vandalized shuttered shops that protesters say have expressed support for Beijing.
Riot police nearby displayed a black flag to indicate they would fire tear gas but took no action during the afternoon long march. Some protesters passing by shouted obscenities at the police.
Most of the protesters were young and masked but the crowd also included a few parents with young children and babies. One father marching with his young daughter, both in masks, said he was not concerned for their safety at the demonstration but is more worried about the possible repressive control of Hong Kong by the “Chinese government in the future.”
Emergency measures
Saturday’s turnout was less that last week’s demonstrations, when tens of thousands came out, and much less than the nearly 2 million people that participated in anti-government protests in June.
For over four months, Hong Kong has been in the midst of an uncompromising standoff between increasingly defiant pro-democracy protesters and equally determined government forces backed by Beijing.
Riot police remove barricades erected by demonstrators during a protest in Hong Kong, Oct. 12, 2019.
While China regained sovereignty over this former British colony in 1997, Hong Kong has maintained a degree of political autonomy and civil liberties including free speech and a free press that is not tolerated on the mainland.
The protests erupted over a failed extradition bill to China but has since grown into calls for direct elections for all Hong Kong officials, instead of the current system under which Beijing appoints the chief executive and committees representing Hong Kong business interests select a number of seats in the legislature. The protesters are also demanding a release of jailed protesters, an inquiry into police abuse and even the disbandment of the police force.
Hong Kong police have used increasing force to quell the protests, employing water cannons, tear gas, and rubber bullets, and last week an officer shot a young protester with lethal ammunition during a scuffle with activists.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam also invoked partial emergency powers in outlawing the use of face masks that protesters have used to hide their identities and to protect themselves from tear gas attacks by police.
Since June, Hong Kong police over apprehended over 2,000 demonstrators, and nearly one-third of those arrested are under the age of 18.
Pro-Beijing lawmaker Regina Ip, head of the New People’s Party, credits the increased law enforcement measures with discouraging more people from risking arrest by participating in marches.
“Well in terms of the numbers of the so-called peaceful rational nonviolent protesters, those are the real peaceful demonstrators. The numbers are down a lot you know,” she said.
Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest in Hong Kong, Oct. 12, 2019.
Fire and gasoline
It is not clear, however, if the lower turnout at Saturday’s march shows declining support for the democracy movement or is a temporary lull in activity. A march last Saturday attracted only about 1,000 protesters but support rebounded with a massive demonstration the next day.
Protesters who came out on Saturday said they would not be discouraged by the threat of arrest for participating in an illegal assembly or breaking the anti-masks law.
If “enough people break the law,” one masked woman protester said, “it won’t be illegal anymore.”
The activist group Citizen’s Press, in a statement, likened the Hong Kong emergency measures taken to suppress the protests “to extinguishing a fire with gasoline.”
Gasoline bombs were ignited at a subway station in Kowloon, likely by pro-democracy activists who have been increasingly engaging in vandalism and clashes with police. No one was injured in the incident, according to the Hong Kong government.
The subway system, which had been shut down during past protest marches, was operating Saturday but scheduled to close early at 10 p.m.
Some young protesters were seen at one point changing from the black clothing associated with the protester into more colorful attire and blending into a crowd of shoppers after being told police were approaching.
Also on Saturday a group of senior citizens calling themselves the “Silver-Haired Marchers” began a 48-hour quiet sit-in at police headquarters to show support for the predominately young protesters and “uphold the core values of Hong Kong and defend the future of our younger generations,” the group said in a statement.
Ali Javanmardi from VOA’s Persian Service contributed to this report from Irbil.
The World Food Program says more than 100,000 people have been displaced so far by the Turkish invasion of northern Syria.
The agency said those displaced have come from the towns of Ras al-Ayn and Tal Abyad.
Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces deny that Turkish forces have taken the border town of Ras al-Ayn as Turkey had claimed.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the civilian death toll resulting from Turkey’s offensive has risen to 30.
Ankara launched the cross-border operation on Wednesday, saying it wants to clear a buffer zone in northern Syria of Syrian Kurdish forces, whom it sees as terrorist allies of Kurdish separatists in Turkey.
An explosion is seen over the Syrian town of Ras al-Ayn, as seen from the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province, Turkey, Oct. 12, 2019.
Turkey reported its first military fatality three days into its incursion into Syria. The defense ministry said three other soldiers were wounded, without giving any details. Civilian casualties also were reported in the Turkish-Syrian border region.
U.S. officials say an American military outpost in Kobane, in northeastern Syria has been evacuated after Turkish artillery shells landed nearby. The main U.S. base in Kobane was not affected, and the officials said they expect the evacuation of the outpost will be temporary.
NATO urged Turkey, an alliance member, to exercise restraint.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged Turkey’s legitimate security concerns about the Syrian Kurdish fighters but warned that the offensive could “jeopardize” progress made against the Islamic State terror group that previously held territory in northern Syria.
A man and two boys sit on belongings at the back of a truck as they flee Ras al-Ayn, Syria, Oct. 9, 2019, with smoke billowing in the background during a Turkish offensive.
Stoltenberg spoke at a news conference in Istanbul with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. Cavusoglu said Turkey expects solidarity from NATO against the threats it faces.
“I am very concerned by reports of civilian casualties on both sides of the border, and of large numbers of people moving inside Syria in the hope of avoiding the fighting,” said Mark Lowcock, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief coordinator. He made the comments in a statement published Friday, the second day of a two-day visit to Ankara and the Turkish-Syrian border.
“I reiterate what the Secretary-General of the United Nations has said: that we urge all parties to exercise restraint, to act in line with their obligations under the U.N. charter and international humanitarian law, to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria, and in particular to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure,” Lowcock said.
Turkish soldiers stand near military trucks in the village of Yabisa, near the Turkish-Syrian border, Syria, Oct. 12, 2019.
Speaking to VOA Persian, SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali said people in northern Syria were “frustrated and disappointed” that President Donald Trump withdrew dozens of U.S. troops that had been stationed in northern Syria earlier this week, shortly before Turkey launched the offensive. The troops were part of a U.S. military deployment that has partnered with the SDF in the fight against IS.
“The United States didn’t stop the Turks from doing this offensive,” Bali said.
Trump has said he pulled out the U.S. troops because they had defeated IS and he did not want them to be caught up in an offensive that Ankara long had threatened to carry out against Syrian Kurdish forces. His administration has strongly criticized the Turkish offensive and denied green-lighting it.
Most mobile phone connections in Kashmir will be restored, the Indian government said Saturday, after it imposed a shutdown of more than two months since ending the troubled region’s autonomy.
Indian government spokesman Rohit Kansal said the decision had been taken after a review of events in the restive Himalayan region.
“All post-paid mobile phones irrespective of the telecom service provider will stand restored and be functional from noon on Monday,” he told a press conference. He added that the measure would apply to all districts of Kashmir.
The New Delhi government ended Kashmir’s autonomy on August 5 and imposed the mobile phone and internet blackout as part of a huge security clampdown.
Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, is being investigated by federal prosecutors in New York for possible lobbying violations.
That’s according to a report Friday in The New York Times, citing two anonymous people familiar with the inquiry.
One of the Times’ sources says the investigation is related to Giuliani’s efforts to undermine former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
Two Florida businessmen tied to Giuliani were charged Thursday with federal campaign finance violations. The men had key roles in Giuliani’s efforts to launch a Ukrainian corruption investigation against Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden and his son Hunter. A whistleblower complaint about Trump’s involvement with Ukraine has led to an impeachment investigation.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment Friday night on the Times report.
VOA Connect Episode 91 – We learn that the transition to cleaner energy isn’t always about climate change, as coal miners in the American West are finding out. Yet those working in and running unprofitable mines are having to rethink their future, too, adapting their skills to survive. Also on the show this week, looking back on Andy Warhol and how his artwork still resonates today.
As coal companies are shutting down in Gillette, Wyoming, workers in the coal industry have lost their jobs. We talk to some of the people most affected by all the coal plants shutting down.
We go to Kemmerer, Wyoming to find out how residents are handling the move away from coal, and hear from economist Robert Godby who offers an explanation as to why the state has been so slow to transition to coal alternatives.
Representative Casey Becker, Speaker of the House in Colorado, helped create a program to help those most impacted by power plant shutdowns transition to another job. Find out how local workers, who are filled with angst about their future, feel about the change.
BK ROT is New York City’s first bike-powered food waste service that collects organic waste from households and businesses and transforms it into compost material for use in farming and gardening.
Reporter: Nina Vishneva, Camera: Aleksandr Barash, Adapted by: Martin Secrest
The Trump administration is touting a drop in enforcement actions along the U.S.-Mexico border for a fourth straight month as proof it is successfully reducing illegal immigration into the United States.
“This administration’s strategies have brought about results — dramatic results,” Acting Customs and Border Protection [CBP] Commissioner Mark Morgan said at the White House Tuesday.
The agency reported intercepting 52,546 people at the southwest border in September, including unauthorized crossings as well as those deemed inadmissible at legal border crossings. That constituted a 63% reduction from the 144,255 people apprehended or turned back in May, the highest monthly total of the 2019 fiscal year, which ended last month.
Declining numbers coincided with the Trump administration’s implementation of policies restricting access to asylum that have prompted outcries from human rights advocates.
Earlier this year, the administration began forcing asylum-seekers and other migrants to await their U.S. immigration court dates in Mexico. Under the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy, more than 50,000 individuals have been returned across the border.
Meanwhile, the administration has forged agreements designating El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras as asylum destinations, while stipulating that non-Mexicans must seek asylum in a third country they transited en route to the U.S. border before filing a claim in the United States.
Morgan said the policies were needed to curtail “numbers [of border arrivals] that no immigration system in the world is designed to handle, including ours.”
Immigrant rights advocates, however, see a humanitarian disaster in the making.
“The new asylum rule is sufficient to stop almost everyone,” said Helena Olea, an international human rights lawyer and adviser to Alianza Americas, a network of Latin American and Caribbean immigrant organizations in the United States.
Of concern, she said, are the “extremely weak asylum procedures” in Central American countries, “because no one is seeking protection in countries from which everyone is fleeing.”
Families, mostly from Central America, but increasingly from outside the Americas, accounted for most of the spike in arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border earlier this year.
CBP has not released a detailed breakdown of data for September. It is unclear what proportion of those encountered by the agency last month were families, unaccompanied children, or adults traveling alone.
The drop in arrivals coincided with the hottest months at the U.S.-Mexico border. Immigration experts say the numbers could rise again as temperatures moderate.
Immigration advocates say factors compelling people to flee their home countries continue unabated.
“People may continue trying to cross,” Alianza Americas’ Olea said. “They may fail, but that doesn’t mean they won’t continue attempting to come to the U.S.”
