Author: Selleco

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered the release on bail of more than 70 opposition activists arrested in recent weeks and accused of plotting to overthrow the government, he said Thursday. Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for more than 34 years, has been under increasing international pressure to improve his human rights record, with the European Union threatening the withdrawal of important trade benefits. “There are over 70 people, please hurry up work on this case so that these brothers can be released on bail,” Hun Sen said in a speech at a new cement factory in the southern province of Kampot, in comments directed at judicial authorities. Self-exiled Cambodian opposition party founder Sam Rainsy speaks during an interview with Reuters at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Nov. 10, 2019. Cambodia arrested dozens of people in the run-up to last Saturday, when veteran opposition figure Sam Rainsy had said he would return from self-imposed exile to rally opposition to authoritarian ruler Hun Sen. But Sam Rainsy did not return to Cambodia, saying he had been stopped in Paris from boarding a flight to neighboring Thailand. He instead flew to Malaysia before arriving in Indonesia on Thursday. Leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) Kem Sokha shakes hands with British Ambassador to Cambodia Tina Redshaw at his home in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 14, 2019. On Saturday, Cambodia also relaxed the house arrest conditions on opposition leader Kem Sokha, who was arrested on treason charges more than …

The planned exchange of two senior Taliban commanders and a leader of the Haqqani militant group for an American and an Australian kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2016 has not taken place, a diplomat and a former Afghan official said on Wednesday. The diplomat, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, declined to provide any details about why the planned exchange, which Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced on Tuesday, did not occur. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the Afghan embassy in Washington. “We hope the Taliban immediately releases the hostages,” a spokesman for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. He said Australia appreciated Ghani’s concern for the hostages – Australian citizen Timothy Weeks and U.S. citizen Kevin King, professors kidnapped by the Taliban in August 2016 from the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul. The Afghan government’s decision to free Anas Haqqani and two other Taliban commanders, Haji Mali Khan and Hafiz Rashid, was taken in the hope of securing direct talks with the Taliban, which has refused to engage with what it calls an illegitimate “puppet” regime in Kabul. All three were captured in 2014. In return, King and Weeks were to be freed. …

Gaza’s militant Islamic Jihad group announced a cease-fire with Israel early Thursday, ending two days of fighting that left at least 34 Palestinians dead. Spokesman Musab al-Berim said the Egyptian-brokered deal went into effect at 5:30 a.m. There was no immediate confirmation from Israel, which rarely acknowledges deals with Gaza militant groups, but some restrictions were lifted on residents of the south, despite the continued fire of several rockets. Al-Berim said the cease-fire was based on a list of demands presented by his group late Wednesday, including a halt to Israeli targeted killings of the group’s leaders. The fighting broke out early Tuesday after Israel killed a senior commander of the militant group who was said to be behind a string of rocket attacks and who Israel said was believed to be planning a cross-border infiltration. The rare targeted killing by Israel sparked the heaviest fighting with Gaza militants since May. Islamic Jihad fired some 400 rockets toward Israel, while Israel responded with scores of airstrikes. Israel’s response Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the policy of targeted killings had “proved itself” to be effective and that it would continue, despite word of the cease-fire. “Everyone who was a top military official, who was set to carry out and was involved in terror or rocket firing against Israel was eliminated,” he told Israeli Army Radio. “And we intend to continue with this.” But Katz also said Israel would hold fire if Palestinian militants did so first. “Quiet will be answered …

Spanish police said Wednesday they have been unable to locate a Venezuelan former spymaster wanted by the United States for extradition on charges of drug trafficking. Police told The Associated Press that its officers have been unable to find Maj. Gen. Hugo Carvajal. News website El Español reported on Friday that a Spanish court had reversed an earlier ruling throwing out the U.S. arrest warrant and that it had ordered authorities to proceed with the extradition request. A spokesman for the National Court said Wednesday that no decision on the case has been made public at this time. Carvajal’s lawyer, Maria Dolores de Arguelles, said her client couldn’t be considered a fugitive because the defense has not been officially notified of the court ruling granting the extradition, and no court summons or arrest warrant has been issued. Venezuela’s Ex-spymaster to Be Extradited to US A source tells the AP that a former Venezuelan spymaster is being re-arrested in Madrid and is likely to be extradited to the United States to be tried on drug smuggling and other charges Carvajal is free on bail, but his passport has been confiscated and he is not allowed to leave the Madrid region, according to the bail terms. He also needs to sign in at the court every 15 days — the next time is Friday. Anti-drug prosecutors in Spain had appealed a mid-September decision by the National Court rejecting the extradition to the United States, where he is wanted on drug smuggling and …

Russia’s Embassy to Washington says it has lodged a formal diplomatic protest after Israel extradited a Russian national to the United States, where he is suspected of stealing more than $20 million from U.S. consumers through credit card fraud. In a Wednesday Facebook statement, the embassy also accused Washington of “hunting” Russian citizens across the world. The statement said that Russia had formally sent an official note to the U.S. State Department, demanding Aleksei Burkov’s rights be respected. The U.S. Justice Department says Burkov was “charged with wire fraud, access device fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, computer intrusions, identity theft, and money laundering” in the Eastern Court in Virginia on November 12. “According to court documents, Burkov allegedly ran a website called “Cardplanet” that sold payment card numbers (e.g., debit and credit cards) that had been stolen primarily through computer intrusions. Many of the cards offered for sale belonged to U.S. citizens. The stolen credit card data sold on Burkov’s site has resulted in over $20 million in fraudulent purchases made on United States credit cards,” the Justice Department said in a statement. If convicted on all counts, Burkov may face up to 80 years in prison.​ Burkov was arrested in December 2015 while leaving Israel. Last month, Israeli Justice Minister Amir Ohana signed an extradition order to the United States for the suspect. On November 10, the Supreme Court of Israel rejected Burkov’s appeal amid Russia’s protests. Russia had proposed to exchange Burkov for a U.S.-Israeli national …

The U.S. House of Representatives holds its first public hearings this week on the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump with testimony by three top diplomats on Wednesday and Friday. William Taylor, the highest-ranking U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, and George Kent, a senior State Department official in charge of U.S. policy toward Ukraine, are set to testify on Wednesday, followed by Marie Yovanovitch, the ousted former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, on Friday. All three diplomats have previously testified behind closed doors about Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, and probe a discredited conspiracy theory regarding the 2016 president election. Democrats say the open hearings will allow the public to assess the credibility of the witnesses and their testimonies.  Republicans are likely to attempt to discredit the impeachment proceedings and poke holes in the witnesses’ testimony. Here is what you need to know about the three witnesses and their role in the Ukraine affair.   Former Ambassador William Taylor leaves a closed door meeting after testifying as part of the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) William Taylor Taylor has served as chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv since June after Trump abruptly recalled Yovanovich. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asked Taylor to step into her role.  A West Point and Harvard-educated former Army officer and career diplomat, Taylor previously served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2006 to 2009. …

As Islamic State militants lost their territorial holdings in Iraq and Syria, VOA chronicled the events through the words of the victims, in a 12-part series called “Life Under Islamic State.” Now we bring you voices of victims who were silenced until recently. Officials estimate nearly 3,000 Yazidi people remain missing after being captured and enslaved by IS. When Daoud was 15, he was kidnapped, trained and forced to fight for the militant group. He was imprisoned after the final battles.  These are his words, told to us in the tent where he lives with his brother in an informal refugee camp. They are are translated into English and edited for clarity. It was August 3, 2014 and we were preparing to flee when the militants captured us. My sister, mother, father and five of my brothers are still missing. The IS fighters told my father and older brothers that they must convert to Islam. Then, they took my family away and sent me to a school in Tal Afar, Iraq. It was called the Sharia Institute, and it mostly taught religion. Officials Call for Rescue of Thousands of Yazidi Captives video player. Embed Copy Link But there were other classes. One class was called “The Aim of Jihad.” It was lessons in terrorism. They taught us who to kill, how to kill and how to identify infidels that should be killed. They taught us what the punishment is for non-Muslims and what the punishment is for people who abandon …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that while Israel does not want escalation in the latest clashes with Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, it will “respond to every attack.” Speaking at the start of a Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said Islamic Jihad has the choice to either “stop these attacks or take more and more blows.” Israeli forces carried out airstrikes Wednesday in Gaza, while militants there fired fresh barrages of rockets into Israel. A policeman stands in front of a house hit by a rocket fired from Gaza Strip in Netivot, Israel, after it was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza Strip, Nov. 12, 2019. Palestinian health officials said at least 18 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting began Tuesday.  There have been no reports of Israeli deaths. The Israeli Defense Forces said militants had fired more than 200 rockets. The rocket fire began in response to an Israeli airstrike that killed an Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza. Netanyahu said the commander, Bahaa Abu el-Atta, was responsible for many of the recent rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel, and that he had been planning further attacks. …

Mark Sanford, a former governor of South Carolina, abandoned his longshot bid on Tuesday to challenge President Donald Trump for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination. Sanford, 59, announced he was dropping out of the race at an event in New Hampshire, which holds the first Republican presidential primary, his hometown newspaper, The Post and Courier, reported. Sanford’s bid to challenge the sitting president for the Republican nomination failed to gain much traction since he threw his name into the ring two months ago. His departure from the race leaves two other Republicans waging longshot bids to win the Republican nomination — former Massachusetts governor William Weld and former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh. Sanford was governor of South Carolina from 2003 to 2011, and served two separate stints in the House of Representatives, but lost a party primary in 2018 after Trump urged voters to back his challenger. …

Clashes between protesters and riot police continued well into Tuesday night at a prominent Hong Kong university, extending one of the more violent stretches in the five months of demonstrations. Police fired rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and students responded by throwing bricks and gasoline bombs. Clashes continued until police eventually used a water cannon truck and then began a retreat. The weekday clashes — thus far unusual for the Hong Kong protests which have largely occurred on weekends — followed a day of chaos as protesters erected barricades on roads and subway tracks. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam called the protesters who threw Tuesday’s rush hour commute into chaos “extremely selfish.” Dozens of passengers aboard a commuter rail line were forced to exit the train when it stopped short of the station.    Thousands of protesters staged a “flash mob” demonstration in the city’s central business district at midday, chanting “five demands, not one less, a reference to their demands for democracy, an independent probe into allegations of police brutality and other issues. Tensions have escalated in Hong Kong after a policeman shot a 21-year-old protester Monday as he was physically struggling with another protester he was attempting to arrest.  The city’s hospital authority says the protester was in critical condition.  A man set on fire after he was doused with gasoline in a separate incident is also in critical condition.  Lam denounced the violence Monday, telling …

Jordan’s King Abdullah visits one of two small parcels of land which, until recently, was leased to Israel as part of the neighbors’ 1994 peace agreement. Jordan’s decision not to renew the lease was made at a time of brewing tensions between the peace partners. Jordanians blame Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for antagonizing the relationship, with action against Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque and the detention of Jordanian citizens, among others.   During Monday’s visit to Baqura, a 81-hectare enclave along the Jordan River in Jordan’s north, King Abdullah tweeted that “Jordan’s sovereignty over its territory is above all other considerations.” Jordan announced last year that it would not renew its peace treaty annexes with Israel on Baqura and al-Ghamr that gave Israeli farmers free access to the Jordan’s sovereign land. The decision is now in effect. Jordanian political analyst Osama al-Sharif says the move is “absolutely within Jordan’s rights” under the deal. Still, he says the country’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, has underscored Jordan’s commitment to the peace treaty. Israel’s foreign ministry expressed regret over the move, but says Jordan will allow farmers to harvest their remaining wheat and other crops.  Israeli Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel described the relations to Reuters as: “We are not on a honeymoon but rather in a period of ongoing arguments.”  He says the Israeli government, however, should have tried earlier to convince Jordan to extend the deal. Al Sharif sees Israeli Prime Netanyahu as responsible for whittling away at Israel’s relationship with Jordan — only one of its …

The Voice of America’s Russian serviced produced this documentary about the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It looks at Berlin then and today through the eyes of those who were there, including an American soldier, a dissident, a politician, a historian and others. …

Turkey’s October military intervention into Syria is increasingly straining relations with its regional allies and neighbors, but the country is pushing back against mounting criticism of its Syrian incursion. In a recent editorial headlined “A threat against the Turkey-Qatar alliance,” the Daily Sabah, which has close ties to the Turkish government, condemned coverage of Turkey’s Syrian military operation by Qatari-owned news broadcaster Al-Jazeera English. The editorial called for the firing of journalists, warning of long-term consequences to Turkish-Qatar relations. “Although the two countries see eye to eye on many issues, any sustainable partnership must be firmly rooted in mutual interests. Without reciprocity, any relationship is at risk of falling apart,” read last week’s editorial. The Turkish military operation is on pause after agreements were brokered by Washington and Moscow with Ankara. With Turkish relations strained with Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt, Qatar is one of Ankara’s few remaining regional allies. “Turkish-Qatar relations are built on good foundations,” said Mithat Rende, the former Turkish ambassador to Qatar. “But this [Sabah editorial] is probably a warning from the [Turkish] presidency, ‘You should behave. You should show respect.’”   FILE – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, welcomes Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani before their talks in Istanbul, Nov. 26, 2018. Ankara is strongly backing Qatar in an ongoing regional embargo led by Saudi Arabia against the emirate. Last year, Turkey deployed troops to Qatar, a move widely seen to prevent any Saudi military action. Rende says Ankara’s anger with …

Iraqi officials expressed “deep regret” on Monday at the death of protesters during weeks of unrest but defended Baghdad’s handling of the situation. Nearly 300 people have been killed in Iraq since the protests against political corruption, unemployment and poor public services began on Oct. 1. At a U.N. review of member states’ human rights records in Geneva, diplomats from several countries accused the Iraqi government of using excessive force. Justice Minister Farooq Amin Othman acknowledged there had been “individual violations” by members of the law enforcement agencies but said they were being investigated. “…We would like to express our deep regret for the number of people killed,” he told international diplomats gathered at what the U.N calls the Universal Periodic Review. “Our constitution guarantees peaceful assembly and the objective of our authorities is to protect the protesters,” he said. Other Iraqi officials said plans were under way to free detained protesters and for electoral reform, both of which were among a package of reforms urged by the United Nations. ‘Unlawful, Indiscriminate and Excessive’ Force But diplomats from several countries including the United States issued stinging criticisms. “We recommend that Iraq immediately cease using excessive force against peaceful demonstrators, particularly the unlawful use of tear gas canisters and live ammunition, and hold accountable, in a transparent manner, those responsible for this violence,” Daniel Kronenfeld, Human Rights Counselor at the U.S. Mission in Geneva. The Netherlands called the use of force “unlawful, indiscriminate and excessive”. Germany expressed deep concern and urged …

The Ukrainian military and Russia-backed separatist rebels have completed a pullback of troops and weapons from an area in eastern Ukraine embroiled in a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people, officials said Monday. The disengagement near Petrivske that began Saturday followed a recent similar withdrawal in another section of the frontline, where separatists and Ukrainian forces have been fighting since 2014. Ukraine’s military said Ukrainian forces completed the pullback in Petrivske at midday Monday. The disengagement of forces in eastern Ukraine was seen as a key step to pave the way for a summit of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany on ending the conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed plans for holding the summit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a phone call Monday, according to the Kremlin. Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said the summit could be held before the year’s end but wouldn’t comment on a possible date. “The summit should produce new positive results,” Ushakov said at a briefing. “It’s necessary to take the first steps toward the implementation of the agreement reached in Minsk.” Germany and France sponsored a 2015 agreement signed in the Belarusian capital Minsk that envisaged broad autonomy for the separatist regions in eastern Ukraine and an amnesty for the rebels — provisions that were never implemented because they were resented by many in Ukraine.   …

A plan by President Sebastian Pinera to draft a new constitution for Chile was criticized Monday by the opposition and even his own political ranks. The proposal unveiled Sunday by Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel is one of a series of measures aimed at quelling weeks of protests by Chileans over economic inequality and other grievances. It calls for a new charter to be drafted by a “constituent congress” and then put to a plebiscite, Blumel said.   But the opposition said the proposed process was inadequate, partly because it would rely on current legislators who are viewed with suspicion by protesters. They also said the plebiscite should occur at the beginning of the process, so people’s views could be considered. “The citizenry is demanding something different,” opposition Sen. Felipe Harboe said. He said people want a “constituent assembly” or some other form of direct participation in writing any constitution. “Parliamentarians don’t have credibility today,” said Sen. Manuel Jose Ossandon, who is part of Pinera’s governing coalition. “The parliament doesn’t have credibility to do something without the more active participation of the community.” Karla Rubilar, the government spokeswoman, on Monday rejected the call for a constituent assembly, which would involve the election of a group of citizens to draft the new constitution. Students in Chile began protesting nearly a month ago over a subway fare hike. But demonstrations quickly blew up into a huge protest movement demanding improvements in basic services and benefits, including pensions, health and education. Chile is one …

Despite major setbacks in recent years, the al-Qaida terror group seems to remain resilient and is slowly rebuilding its capabilities in many conflict-ridden countries around the world, while the world’s focus is on the Islamic State (IS), experts warn. Experts say the once-powerful jihadist group has been seeking to establish more ties with local extremist groups, particularly in some parts of Africa and the Middle East. “For some time, al-Qaida has been working quietly in many places, forging new alliances, and re-establishing links with former affiliates,” said Radwan Badini, a professor of political science at Salahaddin University in Irbil, Iraq. The ongoing political and security instability in countries such as Syria, Libya and Yemen has offered yet a new opportunity for al-Qaida to strengthen its presence. FILE – A Yemeni graffiti artist paints faces of victims of an al-Qaida militant attack on a wall during an “anti-terrorism” campaign in Sanaa, March 6, 2014. “The fact that IS has been the main target of the United States and other powers has allowed al-Qaida to reinvent itself and to become a more decentralized terror network that attracts Islamist groups that are even slightly inclined to wage jihad against the West,” Badini told VOA.  In its 2018 Country Reports on Terrorism, the U.S. State Department last week asserted that al-Qaida’s affiliate in Yemen has managed to recruit new members, wage attacks and threaten the West. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has “released several videos reiterating its intent to attack the West,” the report …

A large section of the United States is facing an arctic blast that is making the mid-autumn season feel more like the depths of winter. Hundreds of local low temperature records are expected to be broken in towns and cities from the Rocky Mountains, across the Plains and up and down the East Coast. In Chicago, 15 centimeters of snow fell by Monday afternoon and led to nearly 900 flights being canceled at O’Hare International Airport. The slippery runways caused an American Airlines flight to skid off the runway. Heavy snow is predicted in Indiana, Michigan and Vermont, with many other states expecting to see at least some snowfall. A woman walks in Chicago into a stiff wind and blowing snow off Lake Michigan, Nov. 11, 2019. Record-breaking lows are likely to be set across the region. Chicago is expected to see a high temperature of -6 degrees Celsius early Tuesday — a full seven degrees lower than the previous record set for Nov. 12. In Dallas, the temperature fell from 18 degrees Celsius to 8 degrees Celsius in a single hour Monday as the arctic front moved in. Low temperatures in the city are predicted to drop below -1 degrees Celsius early Tuesday. Nearly the entire country is expected to see colder than normal temperatures. States west of the Rockies will be the exception. The cold air is welcomed by some, including ski resorts in Vermont, which have announced they will be able to open early for the winter season. Milder …

Authorities declared a state of emergency across a broad swath of Australia’s east coast on Monday, urging residents in high risk areas to evacuate ahead of looming “catastrophic” fire conditions. Bushfires burning across New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland states have already killed three people and destroyed more than 150 homes. Officials expect adverse heat and wind conditions to peak at unprecedented levels on Tuesday. Bushfires are a common and deadly threat in Australia’s hot, dry summers but the current severe outbreak, well before the summer peak, has caught many by surprise. “Everybody has to be on alert no matter where you are and everybody has to be assume the worst and we cannot allow complacency to creep in,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney. The country’s most populous city has been designated at “catastrophic fire danger” for Tuesday, when temperatures as high as 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) are forecast to combine with powerful winds for potentially deadly conditions. It is the first time Sydney has been rated at that level since new fire danger ratings were introduced in 2009. Home to more than 5 million people, Sydney is ringed by large areas of bushland, much of which remains tinder dry following little rain across the country’s east coast in recent months. “Tomorrow is about protecting life, protecting property and ensuring everybody is safe as possible,” Berejiklian said. Lawmakers said the statewide state of emergency – giving firefighters broad powers to control government resources, force evacuations, …

The United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq warned Sunday of the need for timely, tangible results in the government’s response to protests that began in early October, and offered a roadmap to address some of the demonstrators’ demands. The U.N. office issued a statement saying that within a week the government should release all protesters who have been detained since October 1 and accelerate efforts to identify and prosecute those responsible for using excessive force against protesters. It said there should be public calls for those in the region and elsewhere in the world with influence in Iraq to respect the country’s sovereignty and not interfere with its internal affairs. UNAMI also called for the finalization of a framework for electoral reform and for anti-corruption action by the country’s political leadership within the next two weeks.  It further said that within three months, a constitutional review committee should continue its work on potential amendments. The United States supported the U.N.’s proposals. A White House statement late Sunday cited serious concerns about attacks against protesters and internet blackouts. “Despite being targeted with lethal violence and denied access to the Internet, the Iraqi people have made their voices heard, calling for elections and election reforms,” said the White House press secretary. Iraq’s Human Rights Commission says at least 319 people have been killed since the protests began. Demonstrators have complained about corruption, lack of basic services and job opportunities, as well electricity outages.  Iraqi leaders have proposed some reforms but those have …

A Hong Kong police officer shot at masked protesters on Monday morning, hitting at least one in the torso, as anger sparked by the recent death of a student spilled into the rush hour commute. The shooting, which was broadcast live on Facebook, is the latest escalation in more than five months of seething pro-democracy protests that have engulfed the international financial hub and battered its reputation. Footage showed a police officer drawing his sidearm in the district of Sai Wan Ho as he tried to detain a masked person at a junction that had been blocked by protesters. Another unarmed masked individual then approached the officer and was shot in the chest area, quickly falling to the ground, clutching their left side. Seconds later, two more live rounds were fired as the officer scuffled with another masked protester who fell to the ground. Both were detained by officers. Hong Kong police said live rounds were fired and that one person was struck. Hong Kong Protesters Vandalize Subway Station, Storm Mall Police made arrests across Hong Kong amid anger over demonstrator’s death and arrest of pro-democracy lawmakers A pool of blood could be seen near the first individual whose body initially appeared limp, although the person was later filmed conscious and even trying to make a run for it. The second man was conscious, shouting his name to reporters as he was handcuffed. Hospital authorities said three people were admitted from the incident, one with a gunshot wound. Commuter chaos …

Chancellor Angela Merkel led a series of commemorations in the German capital over weekend to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which divided the city during the Cold War until 1989. The wall was built by Communist East Germany to prevent its citizens fleeing to the capitalist west. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the hope and optimism in the years following the wall’s destruction have been replaced with fears over the resurgent tensions between Russia and the West …

Australian officials are warning of “catastrophic fire danger” as dozens of bushfires blazed in the state of New South Wales. As of early Monday, 64 fires were burning the New South Wales Rural Fire Service said in a tweet. Of those, more than 40 were out of control.  At 6am there’s 64 bush and grass fires across NSW, 40 not yet contained. Many of these fires won’t be contained ahead of tomorrow’s dangerous fire weather. Catastrophic fire danger has been declared for Tuesday in Sydney and Hunter areas. Use today to get ready. #nswrfspic.twitter.com/Qto5IF8PUH — NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) November 10, 2019 It warned residents in the area to expect conditions to get worse as high temperatures and gusting winds are forecast for Tuesday. “Don’t wait for the last minute and ring for a firetruck because it may not get there,” said Jeremy Fewtrell, deputy commissioner of New South Wales Fire and Rescue. “We just don’t want to lose more people.” Three people have been confirmed dead and more than 150 homes have been destroyed. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian declared a state of emergency Monday. It will stay in place for at least a week.     …

Voters are going to the polls Sunday in Romania for the country’s presidential election. Analysts say incumbent Klaus Iohannis will likely be returned to office in a runoff vote. Centrist liberal Iohannis, unlike some other Eastern European leaders, has not embraced nationalism. Polls indicate he will receive 40% of the votes Sunday. His toughest competition is expected to come from former Prime Minister Viorica Dancilla, leader of the Social Democrats. If no one receives 50% of Sunday’s ballots, there will be a second round of voting November 24.       …