Viktor Yeimo Has a Relationship with Indonesian APB, Veronika Koman

JAYAPURA, LELEMUKU.COM - The Papua Regional Police General Criminal Directorate continues to conduct investigations on the spokesman for the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), Viktor Yeimo, for his involvement in many cases Papua.

One of the investigations focuses is Viktor Yeimo's involvement with an Indonesian all-points bulletin (APB) Veronika Koman. From the investigation results, the police found that Viktor Yeimo was the data supplier for Veronika Koman, who was in Australia.

"Meanwhile, the investigation is about it because all this time they are both reporting untrue things about Papua. The person concerned (Viktor Yeimo) took the data from the KNPB and then shared it with Veronika Koman in Australia. So he is like a data supplier for Veronika Koman," said Chief of Papua Regional Police, Police Inspector General Mathius Fakhiri in Jayapura City, Tuesday (11/5/2021) morning.

Apart from examining the relationship between Viktor Yeimo and Veronika Koman, investigators also examined the supply of funds for the KNPB.

"We will check the flow of funds for this organization (KNPB). Including their action at the Papua governor's office in 2019. We understand whom the funds flow from, "he explained.

Previously, KNPB spokesman Viktor Yeimo was named a suspect in the riot case in Jayapura City in 2019. In addition, he was also charged with several other cases such as ITE, propaganda and treason cases.(HumasPolri)

Thai Court Grants Bail to Pro-Democracy Activist on Hunger Strike, Including Parit Penguin Chiwarak

BANGKOK, LELEMUKU.COM - A Thai court on Tuesday freed on bail two Thai pro-democracy activists charged with royal defamation, including Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, who has been on a weeks-long hunger strike to protest being denied bail 10 times since his February arrest.

The court also released Chaiamorn “Ammy” Kaewwiboonpan, who was arrested in March for allegedly burning a portrait of King Maha Vajiralongkorn in front of a jail during an anti-government protest. A bail hearing for a third activist, Panupong “Mike” Jadnok, also charged with defaming the monarchy, was delayed as they were waiting for results of his COVID-19 test, authorities said.

“The court examined the evidence at the hearing for a temporary release of Parit and Chaiamorn and considered that the circumstances of the cases have changed. Therefore, the court granted a temporary release of Parit and Chaiamorn,” the Criminal Court in Bangkok said in a statement, without elaborating on how the situation had changed.

Parit had been sent to a hospital on April 30, where he was force fed through a tube, the corrections department had said. At that time, his weight had dropped from 107 kg (236 lbs.) to 94.5 kg (208 lbs.), Thawatchai Chaiyawat, deputy director-general of the Department of Corrections, had said in a Facebook post.

After they were released from jail around 9:30 p.m., Parit and Chaiamorn flashed three-finger salutes to supporters who had gathered outside the prison. Parit’s family took him to Vibhavadi Hospital for treatment.

The three-finger salutes, borrowed from The Hunger Games movies, is a symbol of protesters’ demands that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha step down, that the Constitution be amended and that the monarchy be reformed. Since pro-democracy protesters first gathered in mid-July 2020, rallies have been held in Bangkok and across the nation as thousands have called for the three reforms.

Parit and Chaiamorn did not speak to reporters after their release, but Parit’s sister addressed the media.

“I'm glad that we get to be together after all. I think that we will not stop fighting,” Ploywarin Chiwarak told reporters.

“We have to keep fighting until the day we get democracy.”

Meanwhile, the court said Panupong tested negative for COVID-19 on May 6, but he had been tested again and results were awaited.

Kritsadang Nutcharat, a lawyer from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), said the court allowed Parit to be released on 400,000 baht (U.S. $12,830) bail. Chaiamorn was allowed to be released on 250,000 baht ($8,000) bail. Neither the lawyer nor the court released details about who paid for their release.

Under bail terms, neither man can defame the monarchy or participate in protests. They also cannot leave the country and must wear electronic monitoring bracelets.

On April 30, Parit’s mother, Sureerat Chiwarak, shaved her head in front of the Criminal Court building in Bangkok after judges again turned down her request that Parit be released on bail on humanitarian grounds. Parit had been on hunger strike since March 15.

During that day’s hearing, TLHR attorneys said Sureerat offered to pay 200,000 baht ($6,400) for her son to be granted bail so he could get hospital treatment.

The court rejected that offer and sent Parit to Ramathibodi Hospital for treatment.

“My son is sacrificing what he loves and I am letting go of something that I love as well. I will start with shaving my hair,” Sureerat told reporters at the time.

“When the people see me walking around with a bald head, which may be ugly, please know that this injustice is happening in Thailand and it is even uglier than this.”

Parit, Panupong and five other pro-democracy activists, are accused of violating the strict royal defamation law during a two-day protest in September 2020.  Royal defamation, or Lese-Majeste, carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years per count.

At the time, protest leaders submitted a letter to the metropolitan police chief asking the king to accept political reform. They also placed a plaque in an area of Bangkok reserved for royal ceremonies.

March incident

Chaiamorn, a pop-star turned activist, was charged with Lese-Majeste, for an incident in late February, police and a lawyers’ group had said.

Local media showed Chaiamorn falling after climbing a scaffolding in front of Klong Prem Central Prison while holding a portrait of King Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X), as he called for the release of Parit and three other protest leaders.

“The arson of the king’s portrait was my work and I assume sole responsibility. It has nothing to do with any movements,” Chaiamorn said in an Instagram posting at the time.

Parit and Chaiamorn join other pro-democracy leaders to be released on bail in recent weeks.

Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul, who also began a hunger strike late in March on Lese-Majeste charges stemming from the September protest, was released on bail on May 6.

Jatupat “Pai” Boonpattararaksa and Somyot Pruksakasemsuk were released on bail on April 23 after the court ruled there was no sufficient reason to deny their request. Like the others, Jatupat and Somyot were charged with violating Article 112 – Lese-Majeste – at the September rally.

As of March 3, as many as 382 activists had been charged with alleged offenses stemming from the pro-democracy protests, according to TLHR. In addition, at least 68 protesters had been charged with Lese-Majeste since Prayuth announced in November that authorities would begin enforcing that law for the first time in about two years. (Wilawan Watcharasakwet| BenarNews)

Indonesian Military Says Missing Submarine Sank in Deep Water off Bali

DENPASAR, LELEMUKU.COM - Hopes for the survival of 53 sailors aboard a missing Indonesian Navy submarine dimmed Saturday when the military announced that the vessel sank and may have cracked and disintegrated in deep water off Bali as it went down.

Senior armed forces officials pointed to debris and objects from the submarine that were recovered in the ongoing search for the KRI Nanggala-402 as evidence of cracks that caused it to sink hundreds of meters below the surface of the Bali Sea.

The submersible boat lost radio contact after being cleared to dive during a torpedo training exercise early Wednesday morning.

“The search has shifted to the sub sunk phase, from the sub miss phase,” Air Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, the chief of the armed forces, told reporters in Bali, using a military term for a missing submarine.

The recovered items included a part used in the submarine’s torpedo system, a heat insulator and a bottle of lubricant for greasing the periscope, officials said as they displayed the recovered objects during a press conference at a military base on Bali. A Muslim prayer rug from the submarine was also recovered, they said.

“These objects would have never slipped out of the submarine unless there was pressure or cracks,” Hadi said.  

Navy Chief Adm. Yudo Margono indicated that the crew’s chances of survival were slim, but he and other military officials declined to say out right whether all the sailors on the submarine had perished, when reporters pressed them on this question.

“It did not explode, but there was a crack due to the depth of 700 meters [2,296 feet]. The pressure was so high that there could have been cracks in the submarine,” the Navy chief said.

Water might have flooded the submarine because of cracks but part of the submarine’s cabin could be compartmentalized to prevent more seawater from coming in provided that the hatches were closed, Yudo said.

“Seventy-two hours is the maximum limit in the event of an electrical blackout, but it can last up to five days if the electricity is on. But we suspect that there was a blackout,” he said, referring to the submarine’s oxygen supply, which had been expected to run out early Saturday.

“We have tried our best to find the KRI Nanggala, but this morning was the deadline for oxygen life support to run out. Oil spills and debris have become authentic evidence of Nanggala’s sinking,” Hadi said.

No bodies have been found so far, according to Yudo.

“We are still carrying out the search ... the depth of the sea we have detected is at 850 meters (2,790 feet), which is very tricky and presents many difficulties,” Reuters quoted the admiral as saying.

The announcement came as an Australian frigate, the HMAS Ballarat, and a U.S. military reconnaissance aircraft arrived in Bali to join dozens of Indonesian vessels that have scoured the sea to locate the submarine during the past few days.

Singapore’s submarine-rescue ship, the MV Swift Rescue, was expected to arrive later on Saturday, the Navy said.

Malaysia and India are also sending ships to support the search effort.

The Indonesian military believes that the submarine sank to between 600 and 700 meters below the surface – far deeper than the German-made vessel was designed to dive.

Yudo said Singapore’s MV Swift Rescue ship and a similar vessel from Malaysia had remotely operated vehicles that could reach depths of 900 to 1000 meters.

The Ballarat is equipped with sonar technology that could detect underwater objects, he said.

“Together, all teams will work hard because the depth of the sea is 850 meters and it will be extremely hard to do lifting and evacuation work,” Yudo said.

The KRI Nanggala-402 was built by German company Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in 1977 and came into service in 1981, the Indonesian military said.

From 2009 to 2012, the submarine was retrofitted by South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, officials said.

Indonesia has five submarines, including the missing one.

Former Rear Adm. Soleman Ponto said the Nanggala might have broken up because the hull could no longer withstand the pressure.

“It is unlikely that they will survive,” he told BenarNews, referring to the crew.

“When pressure is high, the submarine will crumble like a squeezed tin – flattened.” (Tria Dianti | Benarnews)

Philippines Imposes 1-Week Lockdown in Manila to Combat COVID-19 Infections

MANILA, LELEMUKU.COM - The Philippines imposed a one-week lockdown on heavily populated metropolitan Manila and nearby areas beginning Monday, the same day it received 1 million vaccine doses, as the government sought to contain the surging numbers of COVID-19 infections.

The “enhanced community quarantine” announced on Saturday forces more than 24 million people inside their homes until Easter Sunday April 4, unless they are “essential workers” in the field of hospitals and banking, among others.

“Like what I said last Saturday, all social gatherings are prohibited,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque told a virtual news conference on Monday.

“Unfortunately, all these variants made the disease more infectious and more transmissible. So I’d like to stress, it’s not just foreign variants. Even the Philippine variant now, that’s something that no one could have done anything about because it’s in the nature of viruses to mutate,” Roque said.

The government enforced a curfew between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day, banned all mass gatherings including Holy Week church services when millions of Catholic Filipinos traditionally congregate at places of worship.

On Monday, the health department said it had logged 10,016 new daily COVID-19 infections, the highest so far logged in the Philippines bringing the pandemic toll to 731,894. The health department also recorded 16 deaths, bringing the toll to 13,186.  

Bangladesh recommendations

Meanwhile in Bangladesh, the government on Monday issued an 18-point directive imposing restrictions on social, political or religious gatherings following a spike in COVID-19 infections there.

Bangladesh recorded 5,181 coronavirus infections on Monday, its highest one-day total since the pandemic began.

In addition to the restrictions, public transportation, hotels and restaurants are limited to 50 percent capacity while meetings, seminars, trainings and workshops must be arranged online.

A family medicine specialist in Dhaka blamed the government’s decision to go forward with 50th anniversary of independence celebrations last week with having a role in Monday’s restrictions.

“The authorities did not pay attention to this rise as they were busy with state functions in celebration of the golden jubilee of independence,” Dr. Lelin Chowdhury said. “The 18-point directive that has come today is like chasing after the coronavirus. You could not run faster than the virus, which was urgent.”

Mutations

Roque said the lockdown was necessary because the virus has mutated, making it more difficult for health experts to address. He also sought to dispel doubts about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, saying the government was doing its best to acquire them.

“With more people getting sick, there will be more people inevitably who will get sick in a serious and critical manner, so have your vaccine if you are able to have it now,” he said.

The nation began its inoculation program at the start of March, but had received only 1.12 million vaccine doses and had delivered the first dose to slightly more than 500,000 of the country’s 110 million people as of last week.

On Monday, the government received 1 million vaccine doses purchased from Chinese manufacturer Sinovac.

“We are expecting the delivery of around 1.5 million to 4 million of the remaining procured doses from Sinovac by April and May 2021, together with the 979,200 AstraZeneca vaccine doses from the WHO-led COVAX facility,” said Carlito Galvez, a former general who is in charge of the government’s vaccine procurement.

“These will allow the country to further expand coverage of our vaccination program,” he said. (BenarNews)

Ugandan Forces Search for Abducted US Tourist and Driver

KAMPALA, LELEMUKU.COM - Ugandan security forces are searching for an American tourist, her driver and the four gunmen who abducted them inside a national park on Tuesday. The gunmen have demanded half a million dollars to release the captives.

Ugandan police say a group of three tourists and their Ugandan driver were out in Queen Elizabeth National Park at about 2:00 p.m. Tuesday when the unidentified men held them up at gunpoint.

They say the gunmen kidnapped an American, identified as 35-year-old Kimberly Sue Endecott, and the driver, Jean Paul. The other two tourists, an elderly couple, were freed and later informed park officials of the abduction.

The abduction happened in the Ishasha section of the park, which sits near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“The kidnappers, using the victim's phone, have demanded $500,000," Polly Namaye, the police deputy spokesperson told reporters. "We strongly believe that this ransom is the reason behind the kidnap."

Now, the phone is switched off, meaning authorities have to wait for kidnappers to get back in touch.

Security agencies including the president's Elite Special Forces, the tourism police and the regular police are searching the national park, an area that covers 2,000 square kilometers, in hopes of rescuing Endecott and Paul.

They are hoping the gunmen do not cross into Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, which is just 18 kilometers from the kidnap scene and stretches into Congo.

In 1999, armed Hutu fighters from Congo entered Bwindi Park and killed eight tourists and four Ugandans.

Namaye says police suspect Endecott, Paul and the kidnappers are still somewhere in Queen Elizabeth Park.

“We strongly believe that the perpetrators and the victims could still be trapped within our search area and we are hopeful that our efforts will lead to their successful and safe recovery.” said Namaye.

Uganda earns about $1.3 billion per year from tourism.

Bashir Hangi, the spokesperson for the Uganda Wildlife Authority, acknowledged the kidnapping could hurt the tourism industry but said tourists need to be cautious when traveling in national parks.

“Maybe we need to appreciate the fact that these people did not have a ranger guide, the time they went for a game drive. And why do we have guns in the park? It’s to protect our visitors, not only against wildlife but also against such illegal armed entrants in the parks," said Hangi.

Meanwhile, in an advisory, the U.S. embassy in Kampala has asked Americans to exercise caution when traveling in Queen Elizabeth National Park due to ongoing security activity. (VOA)

One Dead, Multiple People Wounded in Dutch Tram Shooting

AMSTERDAM, LELEMUKU.COM - Police in the Dutch city of Utrecht say there were One person is dead and multiple injuries in a shooting incident in a tram in residential neighborhood.

Police said that several trauma helicopters had been deployed to the scene to assist the wounded and appealed to the public to stay clear of the area to allow first responders to provide the necessary help.

“The surrounding area has been cordoned off and we are investigating the matter," Utrecht police said.

A police spokesman is quoted as saying that all possibilities are being considered, including a terrorist motive,  the shooter remains at large. They have advised schools in the area to keep their doors closed.

“At 10:45 a.m. local time, multiple shots fired inside a tram near 24 Oktoberplein in Utrecht,” police told Arab News, adding that “there were multiple shots causing multiple, heavy injuries.”

The head of the Dutch national counter-terrorism service, Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, said on Twitter that he was having “crisis consultations”, adding: “Terrorist motive not excluded. Information not yet full.

NCTV is monitoring the situation in #Utrecht. In close contact with local authorities. We cannot rule out terrorist motive. Crisis team is activated. Local media reports have said counter-terrorism police were seen at the scene.

“Shooting incident... Several injured people reported. Assistance started,” the Utrecht police Twitter account said. “It is a shooting incident in a tram. Several trauma helicopters have been deployed to provide help.”

Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he was "deeply concerned" about the incident.

The 24 Oktoberplein is a busy Utrecht traffic junction, with a tram stop. Tram traffic was temporarily stopped due to the incident, but the trams are currently running again between Zuilenstein, Nieuwegein and IJsselstein.

Local media have reported that counter-terrorism police were at the scene and showed images of masked, armed police and emergency vehicles surrounding a tram that had stopped near a road bridge. (Albert Batlayeri/VOA)

49 People Were Killed in Christchurch Mosques Attack

At least 49 people were killed during Friday prayers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Young children are among the 48 people wounded in the attack and are being treated for gunshot wounds. Forty-one people were killed at one mosque, and seven people were killed at the second mosque.

The victims of Friday's shooting included immigrants from Pakistan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The suspects 

Three men and one woman are in custody. New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said none of them were on security watch lists.

A 28-year old man has been charged with murder. The attacker has not been named, but Australia's prime minister said he was an Australian citizen and described him as an "extremist right-wing violent terrorist."

The gunman live-streamed the assault on Facebook from a head-mounted camera, and the footage showed how victims were killed inside one of the mosques. The shooter broadcast the live footage after publishing a manifesto in which he called immigrants "invaders."

Prime Minister Ardern called the shooting a "terrorist attack," and authorities advised all mosques in Christchurch to shut down until further notice.

World reaction 

U.S. President Donald Trump extended condolences on Twitter to New Zealanders and said, "The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do."

The attack has been condemned across the globe, with leaders from Pakistan, Turkey, Britain, Germany, Israel, Jordan, Japan and the European Union sending their condolences and offering support to New Zealand.

Violent crimes rare

Mass shootings, and violent crime in general, are rare in New Zealand, a country of nearly 5 million people. The country's worst mass shooting was in 1990 when a lone gunman killed 13 people in the small town of Aramoana. (VOA)

Students Worldwide Skip School to Protest Global Warming

STOCKHOLM, LELEMUKU.COM - They're angry at their elders, and they're not taking it sitting down.

Students worldwide are skipping class Friday to take to the streets to protest their governments' failure to take sufficient action against global warming.

The coordinated "school strikes," being held from the South Pacific to the edge of the Arctic Circle, were inspired by 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who began holding solitary demonstrations outside the Swedish parliament last year.

Since then, the weekly protests have snowballed from a handful of cities to hundreds, driven by social media-savvy students and dramatic headlines about the impact of climate change.

Thunberg, who was recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, was cheered for her blunt message to leaders at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland this year, when she told them: "I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day."

Friday's rallies are expected to be one of the biggest international actions yet. Protests were under way or planned in cities in more than 100 countries, including Hong Kong; New Delhi; Wellington, New Zealand; and Oulo, Finland.

In Berlin some 10,000 protesters, most of them young students, gathered in a downtown square, waving signs with slogans such as "There is no planet B" and "Climate Protection Report Card: F" before a march through the capital's government quarter. The march was to end with a demonstration outside Chancellor Angela Merkel's office.

Organizer Carla Reemtsma, a 20-year-old university student, said social media had been key in reaching people directly to coordinate the massive protests in so many different locations, noting that she was in 50 WhatsApp groups and fielding some 30,000 messages a day.

"It's really important that people are getting together all over the world, because it's affecting us all," she said.

Critics, supporters

Some politicians have criticized the students, suggesting they should be spending their time in school, not on the streets.

"One can't expect children and young people to see all of the global connections, what's technically reasonable and economically possible," said the head of Germany's pro-business Free Democratic Party, Christian Lindner. "That's a matter for professionals."

But scientists have backed the protests, with thousands signing petitions in support of the students in Britain, Finland and Germany.

"We are the professionals and we're saying the young generation is right," said Volker Quaschning, a professor of engineering at Berlin's University of Applied Sciences.

"We should be incredibly grateful and appreciative of their bravery," said Quaschning, one of more than 23,000 German-speaking scientists to sign a letter of support this week. "Because in a sense, it's incredibly brave not to go to school for once."

Scientists have warned for decades that current levels of greenhouse gas emissions are unsustainable, so far with little effect. In 2015, world leaders agreed in Paris to a goal of keeping the Earth's global temperature rise by the end of the century well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

Yet at present, the world is on track for an increase of 4 degrees Celsius, which experts say would have far-reaching consequences for life on the planet.

"As a doctor, I can say it makes a big difference whether you've got a fever of 41 degrees Celsius (105.8 Fahrenheit) or 43 C (109.4 F)," said Eckart von Hirschhausen, a German scientist who signed the call supporting striking students. "One of those is compatible with life, the other isn't."

Other action

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron have publicly welcomed the student protests, even as their policies have been criticized as too limited by environmental activists.

In France, activist groups launched legal action this week for failing to do enough to fight climate change, citing a similar successful effort in the Netherlands.

In Germany, environmental groups and experts have attacked government plans to continue using coal and natural gas for decades to come. Activists say that countries like Germany should fully "decarbonize" by 2040, giving less-advanced nations a bit more time to wean themselves off fossil fuels while still meeting the Paris goal globally.

Other changes needed to curb greenhouse gas emissions include ramping up renewable energy production, reining in over-consumption culture now spreading beyond the industrialized West and changing diets, experts say.

"The fight against climate change is going to be uncomfortable, in parts, and we need to have a society-wide discussion about this," said Quaschning.

That conversation is likely to get louder, with several U.S. presidential hopefuls planning to campaign on climate change.

Luisa Neubauer, one of the Berlin group organizing Fridays for Future, said politicians should take note of the young.

"For the European elections in May, we're urging everyone to think about whether they want to give their vote to a party that doesn't have a plan for the future and the climate," she said. (VOA)

Nigeria Building Collapse Kills 20, Mostly Children

ABUJA, LELEMUKU.COM - Twenty people are confirmed dead in the school building that collapsed in Nigeria on Wednesday, and most of them are children, an official said Friday.

Forty-three other people were rescued, Lagos State Health Commissioner Jide Idris told The Associated Press. The disaster occurred in the heart of Nigeria's commercial capital.

Officials have said the three-story residential building had been marked for demolition and that the school was operating illegally on the top two floors. It is still not clear how many people were inside when it collapsed.

Rescue crews halted their search Thursday, saying they had reached the building's foundation without finding any other victims. Some anguished families protested and sifted through the rubble for any sign of their children.

Building collapses are all too common in the West African nation, where new construction often goes up without regulatory oversight. Official moved through the neighborhood on Thursday, marking other derelict buildings for demolition.

Adeyemo Sunday, the father of twins, mourned one of his sons. The other was pulled out alive, he said.

Sunday said his family lived on the building's second floor and he sent his boys to school there so they wouldn't have to travel far.

Another parent, Yewande Ogunsanwo, said her son remained in critical condition Thursday.

"Let's thank God for God, he's getting better but his condition is so critical," she said. "The pain is too much."

The collapse came as President Muhammadu Buhari, newly elected to a second term, tries to improve the distressed infrastructure in Africa's most populous nation. (VOA)

New Zealand Arrests Suspects Linked to Mosque Attacks

WELLINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - At least forty-nine people were killed and more than 20 seriously wounded Friday in shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Three men and one woman are in custody. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said none of them were on security watch lists.

A 28-year old man has been charged with murder. He is expected to appear in court Saturday, according to Police Commissioner Mike Bush.

While Bush refused to name the person who has been charged, Television New Zealand (TVNZ) has identified the gunman as 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant from Grafton, New South Wales, Australia. Australian officials have confirmed the gunman is an Australian citizen.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the man arrested was an Australian citizen. Morrison described the suspected attacker as an "extremist right-wing violent terrorist.”

Commissioner Bush said part of the investigation will be "to look back at every possibility to ensure that we, in law enforcement and security, didn't miss any opportunities to prevent this horrendous event."

The two mosques were attacked during Friday prayers attended by hundreds of worshippers.

Assault live streamed 

The gunman live-streamed the assault on Facebook from a head-mounted camera, and the footage showed how victims were killed inside one of the mosques. The shooter broadcast the live footage after publishing a manifesto in which he called immigrants “invaders.”

Social media sites were asked to remove the horrific footageForty-one of those killed were at one mosque and children are among the 48 people being treated for gunshot wounds, officials said.

Bush said a "record number of firearms" was recovered at both mosques.

Eyewitness account 

Worshipper Ahmed Al-Mahmoud told New Zealand television a gunman entered a mosque and began “shooting like everyone in the mosque, like everywhere,” prompting worshippers to smash door and window glass in an attempt to flee.

Prime Minister Ardern said it was one of New Zealand's "darkest days”.

She went on to say it was clear “this can now only be described as a terrorist attack.”

The New Zealand military also defused explosive devices attached to a car.

Mosques shut down 

Authorities advised all mosques in Christchurch to shut down until further notice. A lockdown on all schools in Christchurch has been lifted, but the city remains on high alert.

Thursday’s attacks are unprecedented in New Zealand, a country of 4.5 million people that prides itself on its social diversity.

Adern said "Many of those who will have been directly affected by this shooting may be migrants to New Zealand, they may even be refugees here. They have chosen to make New Zealand their home, and it is their home. They are us. The person who has perpetuated this violence against us is not."

Trump extends condolences 

U.S. President Donald Trump extended condolences on Twitter to New Zealanders and added, "The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do."

The Bangladesh cricket team was at one of the mosques when the shooting started, but the players were able to escape. Their third test match with New Zealand, scheduled for Sunday, has been canceled. (VOA)

Chaos, Gridlock a Daily Ordeal for Manila's Long-suffering Commuters

MANILA, LELEMUKU.COM - It's 3.30 a.m. in the Philippines and much of San Jose Del Monte is fast asleep.

Flashlight in hand, street sweeper Alejandro Galasao, 58, navigates a labyrinth of alleys to a main road to catch a bus to the capital Manila 30 km (18.6 miles) away.

He has to wake up in the middle of the night for a job that doesn't start until 6 a.m.

Traffic is so bad in Manila that if he leaves any later, there's no way he will clock in on time.

"If I go to work at rush hour, it would take me three hours," Galasao told Reuters. "This is the only job I know. Even if I find something else, I doubt I would earn any better."

Metro Manila, a sprawl of 16 cities fused together by outdated infrastructure, is creaking under the weight of millions of vehicles, owing largely to economic growth of more than six percent a year since 2012.

Urban rail coverage is limited, trains are prone to breakdowns and queues spill onto streets where exhaust fumes are intoxicating.

Quality of life is poor for many urban Filipinos, who spend a chunk of their day commuting.

Janice Sarad works at a bank head office and leaves home four hours before work starts in Bonifacio Global City, a Manila business hub.

On a typical day, Sarad, 22, takes a train, a bus and two passenger jeeps to get to work.

"In the morning, it's even more difficult to commute because the pressure not to be late is there. You really have to fight your way in," she said.

Heavy Toll

A 2015 survey by GPS-based navigation app Waze found that Manila had the world's worst traffic congestion, partly due to a tripling of annual car sales from a decade ago.

Oliver Emocling, 23, rides the train, but queues are so long that he arrives late often, and has been docked wages as punishment.

"When I get home, it's already 10 p.m.," said Emocling, who works at a magazine. "I could be using that time to sleep more, rest more. Instead, my time gets wasted."

The daily loss of business in Manila due to traffic woes has risen to 3.5 billion pesos ($67.2 million) in 2017 from 2.4 billion pesos ($46.1 million) in 2012, according to the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

President Rodrigo Duterte has said that fixing Manila's traffic wasn't easy, adding that it was the only campaign promise he had failed to deliver.

He recently approved a law that encourages companies to support more employees to work from home.

The government is making some headway on an $180 billion program to modernize roads, railways and airports, including a subway system which was set to begin construction at the end of February.

However, the building works are exacerbating snarl-ups.

Ferdinand Tan, a 53-year-old wealth coach, lets his staff work from home and has modified his van to cope with traffic, turning it into a mobile office with a power supply, computer and even a foot massager.

"No one can really solve the traffic. So instead of complaining about it, I try to maximize (the time)," he said. "I use unproductive time to be productive." (Reuters/VOA)

College Scam in "Operation Varsity Blues" Takes Bribery to Whole New Level

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Rich and famous parents who are accused of buying their children entrance to some of the best universities in the U.S. were part of a multilevel, years-long scam that exploited a desire expressed worldwide: to be educated at the best American institutions.

William Rick Singer of Newport Beach, California, who has pleaded guilty to orchestrating the scam and is named as a cooperating witness, earned more than $25 million by connecting parents and their children with test administrators and college coaches who took their cut for endorsing bogus applicants, says the U.S. Department of Justice.

"They flaunted their wealth, sparing no expense, so they could cheat the system so set their children up for success with the best education money could buy. Literally," described Joseph Bonavolonta of the FBI's Boston field office.

Exclusive, moneyed and well-connected, parents on the list of those indicted in "Operation Varsity Blues" for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud include the owner of a California wine vineyard and the former owner of a California media company that sold for $325 million a year ago. Some own corporations and firms, and deal in private equity and real-estate development. There are several executives, entrepreneurs, investors and CEOs among the 50 who were charged. Parents charged in the scandal list addresses on New York City’s Fifth Avenue and at Rockefeller Center, California’s Beverly Hills, Greenwich, Connecticut, and Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, where the Kennedy political dynasty owns an oceanfront summer compound.

That echelon of American wealth traditionally seeks prestigious institutions of higher education for their children: Yale, Stanford and Georgetown, among other Ivy League, or older universities known for their excellence and well-heeled connections. Other schools caught in the scam are campuses in the University of California system, the University of Texas and Wake Forest University.

Wealthy families have been donating large sums to colleges and universities for a millennia to get their offspring into prestigious schools – and get their family name inscribed in stone on university buildings or connected to a prestigious post, called a “chair.” And testing overseas for international students has been cancelled numerous times -- as recently as this month -- because the test answers have been widely distributed to test takers before the exam.

But prosecutors say this scam took bribery to a new level.

"We're not talking about donating a building so a school is more likely to take your daughter or son," explained U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling. “We’re talking about deception and fraud. Fake test scores, fake athletic credentials, fake photographs, bribed college officials.”

Lelling said the case is one of “the widening corruption of elite college admissions. … There can be no separate admission system for the wealthy. Every year, talented students work hard ... in a system that grows more and more competitive every year."

"For every student admitted through fraud, an honest and genuinely talented student was rejected," he said.

Even high-achieving high-school students labor for four years to impress highly selective colleges that have low acceptance rates: Among the schools mentioned in the indictments, only 5 percent of applicants get into Stanford, 7 percent into Yale, 16 percent into University of California-Los Angeles, 17 percent into Georgetown, 18 percent into the University of Southern California, and 29 percent into Wake Forest University, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

In addition to high grade-point averages, students applying to schools need high scores on standardized tests like the SAT and ACT. Many families pay tutors to help students improve their test scores, which can be taken several times.

But unlike most high-school juniors and seniors who take the SAT or ACT under the watchful eye of proctors in large group locations like school cafeterias, parent and Hollywood actor Felicity Huffman paid Singer $15,000 to get her daughter time and privacy to take the test, according to prosecutors. One defendant, Mark Riddell of Palmetto, Florida, answered or corrected hers and other’s responses before submitting the results to the testing companies.

And parents – some of whom paid up to $75,000 for testing assistance -- got a bonus: They made their payments through a charitable organization Singer created named Key Worldwide Foundation. Not only is Key tax-exempt as a charity, parents were able to deduct those charitable contributions from their income taxes, prosecutors said.

Athletics are a unique path into higher echelon colleges and universities, and college coaches were a link between parents and Singer. A student who excels at lacrosse, soccer or basketball can boost an institution’s revenue through ticket sales, endorsements and brand marketing. College basketball is widely seen as a televised, brightly lit pathway for athletes to professional, well-paid careers.

The indictment snagged college sports coaches who acted as middlemen, knowing the applicants real abilities but taking big payoffs to endorse them for admission. College and university coaches are often the highest paid on college campuses, sometimes receiving tens or hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions more, than the college presidents they serve.

Parents staged photos of their children engaged in popular sports, Lelling described, including photoshopping the face of their child onto the face of an actual athlete, and then submitting it to support of the child's application.

“We believe everyone charged here today had a role in cultivating a culture of corruption and greed,” Bonavolonta said at a press conference. “Their actions were without a doubt insidious, selfish and shameful.”

Olivia Giannulli, daughter of televison actor Lori Loughlin and a YouTube star who goes by the name Olivia Jade, has seen increased heat around comments she made after her acceptance at USC.

"I don't know how much of school I'm gonna attend," she shared with her nearly 2 million subscribers, after explaining her extensive work schedule. “I don't really care about school, as you guys all know."

Prosecutors said they did not believe the schools were directly involved or knew of the pay-for-admission scam. Yale and USC issued statements early.

“We do not believe that any member of the Yale administration or staff other than the charged coach knew about the conspiracy. The university has cooperated fully in the investigation and will continue to cooperate as the case moves forward,” wrote the university's President Peter Salovey.

“The federal government has alleged that USC is a victim in a scheme perpetrated against the university by a long-time Athletics Department employee, one current coach and three former coaching staff, who were allegedly involved in a college admissions scheme and have been charged by the government on multiple charges,” wrote USC President Wanda M. Austin to the university community.

“At this time, we have no reason to believe that admissions employees or senior administrators were aware of the scheme or took part in any wrongdoing—and we believe the government concurs in that assessment.” (Mark LaMet/Lynn Davis/Kathleen Struck-VOA)

US to Remove All Diplomatic Personnel from Venezuela

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - The United States says it is removing all remaining personnel from its embassy in Venezuela.

In a statement issued late Monday night, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the personnel will be pulled out of Caracas this week. Secretary Pompeo said the decision to shut down the embassy “reflects the deteriorating situation in Venezuela” as well as the conclusion that the presence of the diplomatic staff “has become a constraint on U.S. policy.”

The State Department ordered all non-emergency personnel to leave Venezuela back in January, days after President Nicolas Maduro ended diplomatic relations with Washington and ordered U.S. diplomats to leave after President Donald Trump officially recognized Juan Guaido as interim president. Guaido had declared himself president after claiming Maduro’s re-election was illegitimate.

The U.S. announcement that it was closing its embassy comes as Venezuela enters the sixth day of nationwide power outage Tuesday. Desperate residents are fetching water from a polluted river and drainage pipes, with schools and businesses closed and stores unable to keep cold and fresh whatever food is on hand.

Some hospitals have generators and doctors are hoping to be able to transfer patients who need operations to save their lives to those facilities.

Power was restored to parts of the country Monday, but was reported to be unreliable. It is also hard to confirm reports of deaths and looting coming out of Venezuela because of communication difficulties.

President Maduro blames the power outage on the United States and the political opposition, accusing them of a cyberattack on a hydroelectric dam.

Guaido says government corruption and mismanagement are the cause. Engineers say a lack of maintenance and skilled experts fleeing the country have left the Venezuelan electrical grid in terrible shape.

The United States denies having anything to do with the power shortages and Pompeo Monday blasted Cuba and Russia for backing the Maduro regime.

"No nation has done more to sustain the death and daily misery of ordinary Venezuelans, including Venezuela's military and their families, than the communists in Havana," Pompeo said. "Cuba is the true imperialist power in Venezuela."

Pompeo says Maduro sends up to 50,000 barrels of oil to Cuba per day to help prop up Cuba's "tyrant socialist economy while Maduro needs Cuban expertise and repression, to keep his grip on power. A match made in hell," said Pompeo.

Pompeo added that Russia joins Cuba in showing contempt for the rule of law and prosperity in Venezuela.

"Russia, too, has created this crisis. It, too, for its own reasons, is thwarting the Venezuelan people's legitimate democratic hopes and their dreams... The Kremlin is standing with its Venezuelan cronies against the will of the people of a sovereign nation to protect a Moscow-friendly regime."

Pompeo said oil-rich Venezuela's plunge from wealth to poverty has left economists with "amazement and horror."

The United States expanded sanctions against Venezuela Monday to include a Moscow-based bank jointly owned by the Venezuelan and Russian governments.

The Treasury Department says the bank allegedly tried to avoid earlier sanctions on Venezuela by backing Maduro's failed efforts. (Nike Ching-VOA)

North Korea May Be Preparing Missile or Space Launch

SACRAMENTO, LELEMUKU.COM - There are indications North Korea may be preparing for a missile or space launch, National Public Radio is reporting. The U.S. news outlet said an analysis of satellite images of the Sanumdong facility near Pyongyang reveal the presence of trucks, cars, rail cars and cranes.

"When you put all that together, that's really what it looks like when the North Koreans are in the process of building a rocket," said Jeffrey Lewis, a researcher at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.

Lewis has studied the images, which were provided by DigitalGlobe, a U.S. commercial provider of space and earth imagery.

This development comes on the heels of U.S. President Donald Trump saying he would be "very disappointed" if North Korea is resuming nuclear testing after his recent meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Trump made the comments to reporters Friday as he prepared to travel to Alabama to view tornado damage. He said he has greatly improved U.S. relations with North Korea during his time in office.

"Look, when I came in," he said, "under the Obama administration, North Korea was a disaster. You were going to war, folks, whether you know it or not. ... I inherited a mess."

He continued, "Right now you have no testing, you have no nothing. Let's see what happens, but I would be very disappointed if I saw testing."

Trump and Kim met last week in Vietnam in a summit meant to reach an agreement on North Korean denuclearization. But the meeting broke down over an impasse over how many sites North Korea would shut down.

Following the summit, South Korean newspapers reported there was evidence of new activity at the Sohae long-range rocket site, a site Kim agreed last year to shut down as part of confidence-building measures with the United States.

North Korean state media acknowledged the failed meeting for the first time Friday, saying the people of North Korea blame the United States for the collapse of the talks.(VOA)

Air Transat Flight Makes Emergency Landing at Newark International Airport

NEW JERSEY, LELEMUKU.COM - An Air Transat flight was forced to divert Saturday morning to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey after reports of a possible fire in the cargo hold.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration. (FAA) passengers on board the Boeing 737 which flew out of Montreal and was bound for Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

"They evacuated onto the airport's runway via emergency slides," according to FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.

Airport firefighters responded to the scene. The incident prompted the Newark airport to shut down all runways briefly, but flights resumed soon after.

Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, told CNN that the pilot of the Air Transat flight requested an emergency landing at 8:20 a.m., saying there was smoke in the aircraft.

"The plane landed safely. Passengers were evacuated on the runway via the chutes and bused to the terminal, where they will be housed until the airline can determine what it wants to do with them," Coleman said.

Two minor injuries were reported, he said, but they were unrelated to the smoke. The incident is under investigation, Coleman added, and authorities are working to get the aircraft off the runway.

An Air Transat statement said, "Our 189 passengers' safety is our top priority and they were evacuated promptly upon landing."
The Canadian airline said it will send another plane to get passengers to their destination. (CNN)

US Looking for New Ways to Get Aid into Venezuela

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the U.S. is looking for ways to get humanitarian assistance into Venezuela, after troops loyal to President Nicolas Maduro repelled aid trucks in clashes at the borders with Brazil and Colombia.

The top U.S. diplomat, in an interview Sunday on CNN, did not suggest how the U.S. might carry out the aid mission in the face of armed opposition.

He said, however, that the United States would consider imposing more sanctions against the Venezuelan government to increase pressure on Maduro to quit in favor of the country's interim president, Juan Guaido, the president of the National Assembly. Guaido is considered by the U.S. and dozens of other countries as the legitimate leader in Caracas.

Pompeo called Maduro a tyrant, saying, "I'm confident that the Venezuelan people will ensure that Maduro's days are numbered."

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is meeting Monday with Guaido and other regional leaders in Bogota, the Colombian capital, to discuss a strategy against Maduro and how to get aid into Venezuela, where supplies of food and medicine have run low.

Maduro has blocked the aid effort spearheaded by the U.S., saying it is a pretext for an armed U.S. invasion.

On Saturday, Maduro supporters fired bullets at those attempting to get aid trucks into Venezuela, while Venezuelan border troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets.

Foro Penal [Criminal Forum], a group that tracks violence in Venezuela, reported four deaths at the Brazilian border with Venezuela on Saturday. It said the victims were shot by pro-government militia members.

A spokesman for the group, Alfred Romero, posted a video on Twitter saying more than two dozen other people were wounded in the violence.

At one border point, aid trucks caught fire, leading the crowd to rush to save the boxes of food and medical supplies.

A U.S. State Department official traveling with the Brazilianaid convoy told VOA that the trucks crossed the borderintoVenezuela, but were not allowed through the military checkpoint there, and did notunload their cargo.

Afterward, Guaido pressed the case for new foreign assistance to oust Maduro. "Today's events force me to make a decision: to pose to the international community in a formal way that we must have all options open to achieve the liberation of this country that is fighting and will continue to fight," he said on Twitter.

The European Union, also supporting Guaido, condemned Maduro's actions to repel the trucks with the humanitarian aid. "We repudiate the use of irregular armed groups to intimidate civilians and lawmakers who have mobilized to distribute assistance," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on behalf of the 28-member bloc of countries.

Sunday, Pompeo deplored the fact that the Venezuelan military, despite a small number of defections to the opposition, has mostly remained loyal to Maduro.

"We hope the military will take that role back in protecting their citizens from these tragedies. If that happens, I think good things will happen," he said.

"We're aimed at a singular mission -- ensuring the Venezuelan people get the democracy they so richly deserve and the Cubans and the Russians who have been driving this country into the ground for years and years and years no longer hold sway," he said.

Colombian officials say more than 60 Venezuelan soldiers defected Saturday. Venezuelan Army Major Hugo Parra announced his defection, telling VOA Noticias he recognizes Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

Guaido tweeted his praise of the soldiers' actions. "They aren't deserters," he said. "They've decided to put themselves on the side of the people and the constitution."

Maduro announced in a speech to his supporters Saturday that he is cutting off diplomatic ties with Colombia. Colombia President Ivan Duque has been making public appearances with Guaido as they work to transport aid across Venezuelan borders.

Duque said Colombian ambassadors and consuls have 24 hours to leave Venezuela.

Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holms Trujillo released a statement in response, saying, "Colombia holds the usurper Maduro responsible for any aggression or violation of the rights of Colombian officials in Venezuela."

Maduro also said he would defend Venezuela's independence with his life. He called Guaido a puppet of the White House.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted his support for Guaido.

"The people of Venezuela stand at the threshold of history, ready to reclaim their country and their future. God Bless the people of Venezuela!" Trump said. (VOA)

Iran Government Faces Angry Online Backlash Over Activists' Abuse Claims

TEHRAN, LELEMUKU.COm - In early January, labor activist Esmail Bakhshi posted a letter on Instagram saying he had been tortured in jail, attracting support from tens of thousands of Iranians online.

Bakhshi, who said he was still in pain, also challenged the intelligence minister, a cleric, to a public debate about the religious justification for torture. Late last month, Bakhshi was rearrested.

Sepideh Qoliyan, a journalist covering labor issues in the Ahvaz region, was also rearrested on the same day after saying on social media that she had been abused in jail.

Bakhshi's allegations of torture and the social media furor that followed led Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to call for an investigation, and the intelligence minister subsequently met with a parliamentary committee to discuss the case, a rare example of top officials being prompted to act by a public backlash online.

"Each sentence and description of torture from the mouths of #Sepideh_Qoliyan and #Esmail_Bakhshi should be remembered and not forgotten because they are now alone with the torturers and under pressure and defenseless. Let us not forget," a user named Atish posted on Twitter in Farsi on Feb. 11.

"When thousands of people share it on social media, the pressure for accountability goes up," said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director at the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran. "Sham investigations won't put it to rest. Social media is definitely becoming a major, major public square in Iran."

Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said last month, without naming Bakhshi, that allegations of torture online constitute a crime.

His comments follow growing pressure from officials to close Instagram, which has about 24 million users in Iran. Iran last year shut down the Telegram messaging app, which had about 40 million users in the country, citing security concerns.

"Today you see in cyberspace that with the posting of a film or lie or rumor the situation in the country can fall apart," Dolatabadi said, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency.

"You saw in recent days that they spread a rumor and announced the rape of an individual or claimed suicide and recently you even saw claims of torture and all the powers in the country get drawn in. Today cyberspace has been transformed into a very broad platform for committing crimes."

Arab population

The arrests of Bakhshi and Qoliyan are part of a crackdown in Ahvaz, center of Iran's Arab population. Hundreds of activists there pushing for workers' and minority rights, two of the most contentious issues in Iran, have been detained in recent weeks.

The Arab minority in southwest Iran has long claimed that it faces discrimination from the central government. Frustration has occasionally turned into violence: in 2005 the city was struck by bomb attacks for which government sources blame Arab separatist groups.

Last autumn, gunmen killed 25 people, including 12 Revolutionary Guards, in Ahvaz. Islamic State and an Arab separatist group both claimed responsibility. Officials vowed revenge and hundreds of people were arrested.

On Wednesday, a suicide bomber killed 27 Revolutionary Guards in southeast Iran, where the Baluch minority shares the same grievances as the Arab community: government neglect and discrimination.

"The general situation with regard to human rights in Iran is reaching a crisis point," said Mansoureh Mills, Iran researcher for Amnesty International. "This wave of arrests of Ahvazi Arabs is one part of the Iranian authorities waging a year-long campaign to completely crush dissent."

Two of Abbas Zahiri's brothers were among many people arrested on the day of the Ahvaz attack. They were accused of taking video footage on their phones near the scene and are currently in jail, in poor health, according to Zahiri.

"They are under pressure to confess their links to those who carried out the attack," Zahiri, 18, told Reuters from Ahvaz.

In recent weeks, several activists in Ahvaz have been sentenced to death on security charges, according to their families and human rights groups.

Abdollah Marmazi, an Arab rights activist, was arrested last autumn on security charges after the Ahvaz attack. He was not allowed to see his lawyer or contact his family for months, his sister Amal said in an interview from London. Last month, he was sentenced to death.

Their brother Hatam, also an Arab rights activist, was killed in jail after being arrested last summer, according to Amal. "My family has no hope of seeing him again," she said.

"They believe he is dead."

Judiciary offices in Ahvaz and Tehran said nobody was available to comment.

Human rights

Amnesty documented the arrest in 2018 of more than 7,000 "protesters, students, journalists, environmental activists, workers and human rights defenders, including lawyers, women's rights activists, minority rights activists and trade unionists."

Bakhshi and Qoliyan were initially arrested last November after attending a gathering of workers from the Haft Tapeh sugar cane factory who were demanding unpaid wages.

Hundreds of workers from an Ahvaz steel mill were protesting about unpaid wages at the same time. Authorities feared that the labor protests could dovetail with grievances of minority rights activists and cause further unrest, analysts and activists said.

Labour activists elsewhere in the country went online to support the protesting Ahvaz workers.

Both Bakhshi and Qoliyan turned to social media to detail the abuse they said they faced in custody after they were released in December. Bakshi wrote in Jan. 4 on Instagram that security agents beat him "to the edge of death."

"Today, after the passing of approximately two months from that difficult day I still feel pain in my broken ribs, kidneys, left ear and testicles," Bakshi wrote. The post was shared thousands of times on social media.

After Rouhani's call for an investigation, parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy commission met Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi on Jan. 8. Alavi denied Bakhshi had been tortured, the spokesman for the parliamentary committee, Ali Najafi Khoshroodi, told the Tasnim news agency.

The government did not announce any further investigation of Bakhshi's allegations, an indication that the meeting may have been largely symbolic, analysts say.

Iranian state TV aired a report on Jan. 19 in which Bakhshi and Qoliyan admitted having ties with individuals and groups outside the country planning to overthrow the Islamic Republic.

Rights groups say the videos were false confessions recorded under duress. Bakhshi and Qoliyan were rearrested a day after the broadcast.

Their arrests demonstrate Rouhani's inability to rein in the intelligence ministry, where Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say.

Still, the ministry's role in arrests in Ahvaz and elsewhere has dented Rouhani's pragmatic reputation, analysts say.

"People are not going to look to Rouhani as an alternative to the more hardline elements like the Revolutionary Guards or the people who control the judiciary," Ghaemi said. "This is going to put Rouhani and his administration squarely in the camp of hardliners that he has tried so hard to distinguish himself from." (Reuters/VOA)

Sudan Lawmakers Cancel Meeting on Constitutional Changes for Omar al-Bahsir

KHARTOUM, LELEMUKU.COM - Sudan's state-run news agency says a parliamentary committee tasked with amending the constitution to allow President Omar al-Bashir to run for another term has abruptly canceled its meeting.

SUNA says the meeting was scheduled for Sunday but has been postponed for "emergency reasons." It says a new date will be announced later.

Sudan has been rocked by a wave of protests since December calling on al-Bashir, who seized power in a 1989 military coup, to step down. Activists say at least 57 people have been killed, but the government tally stands at 30.

Al-Bashir has vowed to run for another term, saying the country can only change leadership through elections. (VOA)

US-Allied Syrian Kurds Reportedly Sell Oil to Damascus Government

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - The Wall Street Journal reported Friday the U.S.-allied Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has been selling oil from fields that it controls in the east of Syria, despite U.S. economic sanctions. The Syrian government and the Kurds have been discussing possible autonomy conditions with Damascus in light of the expected U.S. pullout from the north of the country in April, and Arab media reports that oil resources are one of the main topics of negotiation.

Arab media reports say Kurdish negotiators from the U.S.-allied SDF in the north of Syria and Syrian government officials, including intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk, have been holding autonomy talks since mid-January, in Damascus and at the Russian Hmeimem Airbase in Latakya.

The Syrian government is reportedly discussing control of oil fields in the northeast of the country, now under Kurdish control, along with Kurdish demands to continue an education program in Kurdish, which Damascus rejects.

The U.S. daily Wall Street Journal reported Friday the Syrian-owned Qatirji Group is purchasing oil from the SDF and refining it for use in areas of the country that it controls. The head of the group was recently placed under U.S. economic sanctions.

University of Paris Professor Khattar Abou Diab tells VOA he thinks the oil sales are mostly "black market" deals and the Islamic State group had also sold oil from the same fields to the Syrian government when they controlled them.

He says U.S. forces are planning to complete their withdrawal by April, and that (all parties) are preparing for that moment in order to fill the void to the east of the Euphrates River. In this race against the clock, he stresses, Turkey is negotiating with both the United States and Russia, while the Kurds are negotiating with the United States and the Syrian government.

American University of Beirut Political Science Professor Hilal Khashan said the parties in the Syrian conflict are involved in "pragmatic business dealings", rather than issues of "morality."

"The war in Syria is a proxy war and everyone there is fighting on behalf of someone else. The Kurds need cash. If they do not get it from the Syrian government through the sale of oil, then they might be asking the United States for the money. So, I do not see any ideological issue for the United States. Politics is about pragmatism. These people are selling oil. If Assad does not get oil from the Kurds, he will get it from another source," said Khashan.

Lebanese economist and former finance minister Georges Corm told VOA he believes the Kurds in the north of Syria have an "interest in establishing a constructive dialogue with the Syrian government," given the "threats by Turkish President Erdogan to set up a security zone in northern Syria."

He said Syria is being aided by powerful countries with economic resources like China, Russia and Iran, so he does not think U.S. economic sanctions will have a major effect on the Syrian government. He also argues the Syrian economy has traditionally been self-sufficient, so it is less dependent on outside forces.

Arab media, however, reported in recent weeks the Syrian currency has lost more of its value to the dollar, currently trading on the black market at between 600 and 700 Syrian lira to the dollar, causing increasing economic hardships for many people.. (VOA)

Zanu PF Youth: We Were Given Army Uniforms At Ruling Party Offices

HARARE, LELEMUKU.COM -  A Zimbabwean man claims that the ruling Zanu PF party gave party supporters army uniforms during recent public protests over the high cost of living sparked by fuel price increases of 150 percent announced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

According to the privately-owned Standard newspaper, Shepherd Magorimbo, who was arrested in Harare while dressed in an army camouflage after allegedly robbing some people in Harare, is facing charges of armed robbery.

The newspaper reports that the Zanu PF Youth League member told prosecutors that “we were given the uniforms at the party office.”

Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo was not available for comment.

State security agents claimed recently that some protesters stole arms and uniforms at army barracks, which they allegedly used to gun down at least 12 people in some parts of Zimbabwe.

But the opposition dismissed the remarks as misleading and designed to protect the army.

The Movement for Democratic Change led by Nelson Chamisa says latest reports pinning the army to some atrocities committed by state security agents, some of the in army uniforms, indicates that the Zimbabwe Defence Forces are now an extension of the ruling party.

“There has always been a conflation between Zanu PF and the state agencies. And this is something that we have been crying about as opposition and also as citizens of this country that we need to separate the state from the party that is called Zanu PF. But what we have been witnessing for a long time is that you can’t separate Zanu PF from the army, which makes the military not so professional at all.

“It is true that what we have been witnessing in the last four weeks was not only being perpetrated by the army but by Zanu PF youth too. At times Zanu PF youth were actually commanding the people that were causing all the confusion in the country.”

However, Believe Gaule of the ruling Zanu PF party’s powerful Central Committee, said his party had nothing to do with the distribution of army uniforms.

“Zanu PF is not part of that rubbish. I think those (claiming to have received uniforms from the ruling party) are being used by the opposition. They have a hidden agenda. Zanu PF does not distribute army uniforms. We did not do that and we won’t do that at any time.” (VOA)