BANGKOK — A new report from Burmese activist groups is calling on French-based airline manufacturer Airbus to use its influence with Aviation Industry Corporation of China, or AVIC, to pressure the Chinese firm to end its arms sales to the Myanmar junta.

AVIC is one of the world’s biggest defense contractors, and the Chinese aviation firm supplies aircraft and weapons to Myanmar’s military junta that are being used in airstrikes in the war-torn country.

The report, which was released Monday, says Airbus has not only maintained but increased investment in companies controlled by the Chinese firm.

According to the report, Airbus is “heavily” invested in AVIC’s Hong Kong-listed holding company, AviChina, a strategic partner of AVIC China.

An Airbus spokesperson denies allegations that the company could be in violation of international sanctions.

In its report titled #AIRBUSTED How Airbus’ close partner AVIC is supplying arms to the Myanmar military and what Airbus should do about it, Justice for Myanmar, and Info Birmanie, a non-profit organization in Paris that focuses on Myanmar, say they have uncovered evidence that AVIC is continuing to supply aircraft and weapons to the Myanmar military, which they say have been used to commit war crimes throughout the country.

The report’s authors have called on Airbus to “use its leverage over AVIC and its subsidiaries so they halt all ongoing and planned transfers of military aircraft, arms and associated equipment to the Myanmar military,” as well as maintenance, training and technical support for the country’s air force.

“Because of these known risks, Airbus should conduct heightened due diligence on any current and future partnerships with AVIC and its subsidiaries and make that due diligence public,” the report said.

The report also called on Airbus to divest and end its relationship with AVIC if the company refuses to end its relationship and all business with Myanmar’s military.

Philippe Gmerek, a spokesperson for Airbus, told VOA in an email that the French airline manufacturer is compliant with sanctions on Myanmar and within international law with its relationship with AVIC.

“Airbus has not supplied defence products to Myanmar or its armed forces.  Airbus is committed to conducting its business ethically and in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. This includes the delivery of defence products in accordance with export control laws and in full transparency and alignment with authorities and relevant stakeholders,” Gmerek said in the emailed statement.

He added that “Airbus’ relationship with Chinese companies, including AVIC, is fully compliant with all European and international laws and regulations, notably with regards to the existing arms embargo on China. As such, Airbus’ industrial and technology partnerships in China are exclusively focused on civil aerospace and services.”

AVIC, one of the world’s largest military contractors, has been under U.S. sanctions since 2020 and is listed by Washington as a potential national security threat because of its links to the Chinese military. Those sanctions prohibit any American organization or individuals from dealing with firms that have links to the Chinese PLA.

Myanmar has been in chaos since military leader General Min Aung Hlaing and his military forces overthrew the democratically elected government in February 2021.  

The coup sparked widespread armed resistance to military rule, led by ethnic armed groups and forces loyal to a civilian-led shadow government. Upwards of 5,600 people have been killed by the military and millions displaced since the coup, according to rights groups.

In a joint statement at the U.N. Security Council in February, France joined Britain, Ecuador, Japan, Malta, South Korea, Slovenia, Switzerland and the United States in strongly condemning the military’s violent attacks on civilians in Myanmar, including its “continued use of indiscriminate airstrikes.”

The governments of France, Germany and Spain all hold major shares in Airbus through holding companies.

VOA reached out to Christian Lechervy, France’s ambassador to Myanmar, and AVIC for comment but has yet to receive a reply.

Johanna Chardonnieras, coordinator for Info Burmie, said the French government, among others, should act.

“The French, Spanish and German governments have a responsibility and a duty to act when Airbus’ partner and investee is linked to war crimes,” Chardonnieras said. “Today they have the opportunity to show their capacity for action, in line with their statements, values and sanctions.”

Yadanar Maung, the Justice for Myanmar spokesperson, called for the U.S. to take action should Airbus continue its business ties with AVIC.

“We call on the U.S. government to conduct due diligence on any business activities and links it currently has with Airbus and encourage U.S. citizens and entities to do the same. Airbus’ decision to continue its business relationship with AviChina should be subject to consequences, including restricting market opportunities in the U.S.,” she told VOA.

Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington who focuses on Southeast Asia politics and security, says the report could tarnish Airbus’ reputation, though it is unclear how much of an impact it could have beyond that.

“Airbus will obviously try to make the case that they only partner with AVIC in the commercial aircraft, but obviously there’s a lot of dual use technology,” Abuza said.

“The biggest hit to the firm is reputational damage. I am not sure Myanmar is a large enough issue, or it’s a priority for European leaders, or there’s a significant and politically powerful diaspora to demand changes,” he told VOA.

The U.S., Canada, Britain and the EU have all imposed a variety of sanctions on Myanmar’s military regime and its entities in recent years in a bid to end its violent crackdown.
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SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea tested new tactical ballistic missiles using super-large warheads and modified cruise missiles on Wednesday as leader Kim Jong Un called for stronger conventional weapons and nuclear capabilities, state news agency KCNA reported.

The tests to improve weapons capabilities are required because of the grave threat posed by outside forces to the security of the country, Kim, who led the tests, was quoted as saying.

The account followed the firing of multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday reported by the South Korean military, which was the second time the North test-launched missiles in a week.

Last week, North Korea also unveiled a uranium enrichment facility, in its first such public report.

Kim stressed “the need to continue to bolster the nuclear force and have the strongest military technical capability and overwhelming offensive capability in the field of conventional weapons too,” KCNA said.

Wednesday’s tests involved the new tactical ballistic Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5 missiles, KCNA said, indicating it was part of a series of short-range ballistic missiles it had been developing.

The missile was mounted with a 4.5-ton super-large conventional warhead, KCNA said.

North Korea’s state media reported the tests of missiles with the same name in July, which was considered a partial success. On Thursday, state media released photographs of a projectile striking a target in a hilly area.

South Korea’s military said on Thursday two ballistic missiles landed in a mountainous area in the North’s northeast.

Such a missile launch test with an intention to hit an inland target is likely unprecedented, said Shin Seung-ki, who is the head of research on North Korea’s military at the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul.

North Korea routinely test-launches missiles to drop in the sea or on an uninhabited island.

The particular missile with the Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5 designation is still under development but Russia may want it soon if its performance and reliability can be guaranteed through further testing, Shin said.

“North Korea will want to shorten that time as much as possible,” he said.

Kyiv officials and independent experts have said there were signs some of the missiles used by Russia in the war against Ukraine were North Korean-made, including some that were produced this year. Moscow and Pyongyang both deny any illicit arms trade or shipments.

The North’s military also tested a strategic cruise missile that has been upgraded for combat use, KCNA said.

North Korea has criticized military drills by the South Korean and U.S. militaries, including a large-scale exercise conducted this summer, as preparations for war on the Korean peninsula.

The allies say the drills are defensive in nature and aimed at maintaining readiness against any North Korean aggression.
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Islamabad/Washington — Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk met with Pakistani officials in Islamabad on Wednesday to deepen economic ties and expand cooperation “across multiple sectors,” as Moscow grapples with U.S. and EU economic sanctions over its war against Ukraine.

Overchuk’s visit comes after two days of meetings between John Bass, U.S. acting undersecretary of state for political affairs, and Pakistani army chief General Asim Munir and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad.

During a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Wednesday in Islamabad, Dar said discussions centered on expanding economic ties between the two countries.

Pakistan’s bilateral trade with Russia reached an unprecedented $1 billion last year. The countries are committed to expanding trade ties by addressing logistical and related issues, Dar said.

According to Dar, Pakistan and Russia are expanding ties in many fields, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchases. However, sanctions against Russia restrict cooperation between the two countries.

“Even today, we looked at how to expand our relationship, and overcome this constraint of the banking system, which you know are facing sanctions, which obviously constrains our relationship, the volume of our relationship could have been much bigger,” Dar said

Dar said Pakistan and the U.S. Department of State had detailed discussions in October 2023, and American officials agreed to Pakistan’s request to purchase Russian LNG, as long as a committee of U.S. trade officials determines the price.

According to Dar, Pakistan views Russia as an important player in West, South and Central Asia. He said Pakistan aims to work with Moscow toward peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s army media wing said in a statement on Wednesday that Russia’s Overchuk spoke with General Syed Asim Munir, chief of the army staff (COAS), in Rawalpindi.

“Both reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to fostering traditional defense ties with Russia. Both sides reaffirmed their resolve to strengthen security and defense cooperation in multiple domains,” the statement says.

Analysts say the Russian deputy prime minister’s visit and the expansion of cooperation shows Moscow is expanding its influence in the region.

“In my view, a vacuum has emerged after the U.S. exit from Afghanistan, and Russia is positioning itself to fill that void. China is also making efforts in this direction. As a result, Pakistan is working under this policy framework to improve its relations with regional countries, including Russia,” professor Manzoor Afridi, a Pakistani academic on international relations, told VOA.

Muhammad Taimur Fahad Khan, a Pakistani international affairs expert at Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad, told VOA, “The primary goal during this period is to enhance trade, strengthen diplomatic ties, and develop infrastructure, particularly in the energy sector. However, the United States has restricted certain aspects of Pakistan’s ballistic missile program, while tensions between Russia and Ukraine have escalated. In this context, Pakistan’s relationship with Russia holds significance.”

Pakistan received its first shipment of Russian liquefied petroleum gas in 2023. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif discussed the possibility of liquefied natural gas supplies earlier in July on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit at Astana, Kazakhstan.

This story originated in VOA’s Deewa service.
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islamabad — Russia expressed support Wednesday for Pakistan’s entry into the BRICS intergovernmental group of major emerging economies from the Global South.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk made the pledge after holding delegation-level talks in Islamabad with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who is also the deputy prime minister.

Pakistan announced last November that it had formally requested to join BRICS, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

“We are happy that Pakistan has applied … and we would be supportive of that,” said the Russian deputy prime minister during a joint news conference with Dar when asked about Moscow’s position on Pakistan’s bid to join BRICS.

“At the same time, there is a consensus that needs to be built within the organization to make those decisions,” Overchuk said, noting that “we have shared a very good relationship with Pakistan.”

Moscow initially launched BRICS in 2009 to provide members with a conduit for challenging the world order dominated by the U.S. and its Western allies. South Africa joined in 2010, and the group expanded this year with new members from the Middle East and Africa.

The Russian deputy prime minister said Wednesday that the organization acts as a platform for discussions “based on quality, mutual respect and consensus” among member countries. “It’s actually what is attracting many countries from throughout the world to BRICS,” he stated.

Russia will host the 2024 BRICS Summit in Kazan on October 22-24.  

Overchuk said that Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin would attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or SCO, heads of government meeting in the Pakistani capital next month. 

The SCO is a security, political and economic grouping launched by China, Russia and Central Asian states in 2001 as a counterweight to Western alliances. It expanded to nine countries after archrivals Pakistan and India joined in 2017 and Iran in 2023.

In a post-talks statement Wednesday, the Pakistan Foreign Ministry quoted Dar as conveying to Overchuk Islamabad’s “desire to intensify bilateral, political, economic and defense dialogue” with Moscow.

The statement said the two sides “agreed to pursue robust dialogue and cooperation” in trade, industry, energy, connectivity, science, technology and education. 
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For the first time in over a decade, elections for 90 seats in Indian-administered Kashmir’s general assembly are being held. This is the first vote since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government revoked the region’s semi-autonomous status. Separatist leaders and parties are participating in the election against Modi’s party. VOA’s Yusuf Jameel has more from Srinagar, Kashmir. Camera: Zubair Dar
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SPRING VALLEY, Sri Lanka — Whoever Sri Lanka’s next president is, Muthuthevarkittan Manohari isn’t expecting much to change in her daily struggle to feed the four children and elderly mother with whom she lives in a dilapidated room in a tea plantation.

Both leading candidates in Saturday’s presidential election are promising to give land to the country’s hundreds of thousands of plantation workers, but Manohari says she’s heard it all before. Sri Lanka’s plantation workers are a long-marginalized group who frequently live in dire poverty, but they can swing elections by voting as a bloc.

Mahohari and her family are descended from Indian indentured laborers who were brought in by the British during colonial rule to work on plantations that grew first coffee, and later tea and rubber. Those crops are still Sri Lanka’s leading foreign exchange earners.

For 200 years, the community has lived on the margins of Sri Lankan society. Soon after the country became independent in 1948, the new government stripped them of citizenship and voting rights. Around 400,000 people were deported to India under an agreement with Delhi, separating many families.

The community fought for its rights, winning in stages until achieving full recognition as citizens in 2003.

There are around 1.5 million descendants of plantation workers living in Sri Lanka today, including about 3.5% of the electorate, and some 470,000 people still live on plantations. The plantation community has the highest levels of poverty, malnutrition, anemia among women and alcoholism in the country, and some of the lowest levels of education.

They’re an important voting bloc, turned out by unions that double as political parties that ally with the country’s major parties.

Despite speaking the Tamil language, they’re treated as a distinct group from the island’s indigenous Tamils, who live mostly in the north and east. Still, they suffered during the 26-year civil war between government forces and Tamil Tiger separatists. Plantation workers and their descendants faced mob violence, arrests and imprisonment because of their ethnicity.

Most plantation workers live in crowded dwellings called “line houses,” owned by plantation companies. Tomoya Obokata, a U.N. special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, said after a visit in 2022 that five to ten people often share a single 3.05-by-3.6 meter room, often without windows, a proper kitchen, running water or electricity. Several families frequently share a single basic latrine.

There are no proper medical facilities in the plantations, and the sick are attended to by so-called estate medical assistants who do not have medical degrees.

“These substandard living conditions, combined with the harsh working conditions, represent clear indicators of forced labor and may also amount to serfdom in some instances,” Obokata wrote in a report to the U.N. high commissioner for human rights.

The government has made some efforts to improve conditions for the planation workers, but years of fiscal crisis and the resistance of powerful plantation companies have blunted progress. Access to education has improved, and a small group of entrepreneurs, professionals and academics descended from planation workers has emerged.

This year, the government negotiated a raise in the minimum daily wage for a plantation worker to $4.50 per day, plus an additional dollar if a worker picks more than 22 kilos in a day. Workers say this target is almost impossible to achieve, in part because tea bushes are often neglected and grow sparsely.

The government has built better houses for some families and the Indian government is helping to build more, said Periyasamy Muthulingam, executive director of Sri Lanka’s Institute of Social Development, which works on plantation worker rights.

But many promises have gone unfulfilled. “All political parties have promised to build better houses during elections but they don’t implement it when they are in power,” Muthulingam said.

Muthulingam says more than 90% of the plantation community is landless because they have been left out of the government’s land distribution programs.

In this election, sitting President Ranil Wickremesinghe, standing as an independent candidate, has promised to give the line houses and the land they stand on to the people who live in them, and help develop them into villages. The main opposition candidate, Sajith Premadasa, has promised to break up the plantations and distribute the land to the workers as small holdings.

Both proposals will face resistance from the plantation companies.

Manohari says she’s not holding out hope. She’s more concerned with what’s going to happen to her 16-year-old son after he was forced to drop out of school due to lack of funds.

“The union leaders come every time promising us houses and land and I would like to have them,” she said. “But they never happen as promised.”
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TOKYO/TAIPEI — A Chinese aircraft carrier entered Japan’s contiguous waters for the first time on Wednesday, Japan’s defense ministry said, the latest in a string of military maneuvers that has ratcheted up tensions between the neighbors.

The carrier, accompanied by two destroyers, sailed between Japan’s southern Yonaguni and Iriomote islands, entering an area that extends up to 24 nautical miles from its coastline where Japan can exert some controls as defined by the United Nations.

Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Moriya said Tokyo had conveyed its “serious concerns” to Beijing, describing the incident as “utterly unacceptable from the perspective of the security environment of Japan and the region.”

“We will continue to closely monitor Chinese naval vessels’ activities in the waters around our country and will take all possible measures to gather information and conduct vigilance and surveillance,” Moriya told a news conference.

Japan last month lodged a protest with China after one of its naval survey vessels entered Japanese waters, shortly after an airspace breach. In July, a Japanese navy destroyer made a rare entry into China’s territorial waters near Taiwan, according to the Japanese media.

An uptick in Chinese military activity near Japan and around Taiwan in recent years has stoked concerns in Tokyo. Japan has responded with a defense buildup it says aims to deter China from using military force to push its territorial claims in the region.

Earlier on Wednesday, Taiwan’s defense ministry said it had spotted the same Chinese aircraft carrier group sailing through waters off its east coast in the direction of Yonaguni, Japan’s southernmost island, which is about 110 km east of Taiwan.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its territory, has been staging regular exercises around the island for five years to pressure it to accept Beijing’s claim of sovereignty, despite Taipei’s strong objections.

The ministry said the Chinese ships, led by Liaoning, the oldest of China’s three aircraft carriers, were spotted in the early hours of the morning on Wednesday sailing through waters to the northeast of Taiwan.

Taiwan tracked the ships and sent its forces to monitor, it said. China’s defense ministry did not answer calls seeking comment.
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BEIJING — Malaysia’s king Sultan Ibrahim will visit China starting Thursday, the first by a Malaysian monarch in a decade, where he will meet President Xi Jinping and likely seek support for projects boosting connectivity to neighboring Singapore.

The ceremonial ruler from the southern state of Johor, will be accompanied by Malaysia’s transport and housing ministers, a statement from the country’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

“His Majesty’s visit provides an excellent opportunity for both sides to reaffirm a shared commitment in ensuring that Malaysia-China relations continue to remain forward-looking, dynamic and prosperous,” Malaysia’s foreign ministry said.

Sultan Ibrahim was installed as the country’s 17th king in January, under a unique system of monarchy where the heads of Malaysia’s nine royal families take turns to sit on the throne every five years and are supposed to stay above politics.

But the 65-year-old has indicated he intends to weigh in on the country’s political issues and proposed in a media interview before his ascension that Malaysia’s state oil firm Petronas and the country’s anti-corruption agency report directly to the king.

The last time a Malaysian king visited China was in 2014.

Ibrahim will also meet China’s second-ranking official, Premier Li Qiang, Malaysia’s foreign ministry said.

Li visited Kuala Lumpur in June and backed Malaysian plans to develop its connectivity through a $10-billion rail link to other China-backed railway projects in Laos and Thailand.

Li said that the initiative would realize plans for a proposed Pan-Asia railway running from Kunming in China to Singapore, presumably through Johor, which is where the outspoken Sultan wants to develop a rail link, too.

Ibrahim has spoken of plans to revive a stalled high-speed rail project between Malaysia and Singapore, with a border crossing in Forest City, a $100-billion joint venture between China’s Country Garden 2007. HK and a private Malaysian company backed by the Sultan.

Data compiled by the American Enterprise Institute shows the embattled Chinese developer had invested just $110 million out of the total $26 billion Chinese firms have directed to Malaysia since 2010, the bulk of which was in its metals, energy and transport sectors.

The two countries’ commercial ties came under the spotlight earlier this month when Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said China had protest notes to stop Malaysia’s oil exploration activities in the South China Sea, but stressed the two sides continued to communicate over the issue.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its territory based on historic maps, including parts of the exclusive economic zones of Malaysia the Philippines, Brunei, Taiwan and Vietnam. An international arbitration tribunal in 2016 said China’s claim had no basis under international law, a ruling Beijing does not recognize.
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NEW TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s Gold Apollo said on Wednesday the pagers that were used in the detonations in Lebanon on Tuesday were not made by it but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand.

At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday.

Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo.

“The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it,’ Gold Apollo founder and president, Hsu Ching-Kuang, told reporters at the company’s offices in the northern Taiwanese city of New Taipei on Wednesday.

The company said in a statement that the AR-924 model was produced and sold by BAC.

“We only provide brand trademark authorization and have no involvement in the design or manufacturing of this product,” the statement said.

Hsu earlier said that the firm with the license was based in Europe but later declined to comment on BAC’s location.

While Hsu was meeting with reporters, police officials arrived at the company.

Hezbollah fighters began using pagers in the belief they would be able to evade Israeli tracking of their locations, two sources familiar with the group’s operations told Reuters this year.

Hsu said did not know how the pagers could have been rigged to explode.

Iran-backed Hezbollah said it was carrying out a “security and scientific investigation” into the causes of the blasts.

Israel’s Mossad spy agency planted explosives inside 5,000 pagers imported by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesday’s detonations, according to a senior Lebanese security source and another source.

Hsu said Gold Apollo was also a victim of the incident.

“We may not be a large company but we are a responsible one,” he said. “This is very embarrassing.”
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SEOUL/TOKYO — North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles Wednesday that landed in the sea off its east coast, South Korea and Japan said.

The missiles lifted off from Kaechon, north of the capital, Pyongyang, around 6:50 a.m. local time and flew in a northeast direction, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, without specifying how many were fired.

“Our military is maintaining full readiness posture while strengthening surveillance and vigilance in preparation for additional launches and closely sharing information with the U.S. and Japan side,” it said in a statement.

About 30 minutes after the first missile notice, Japan’s coast guard said North Korea fired another ballistic missile, noting the projectiles appeared to have fallen.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said on X that it was aware of the launches and consulting closely with Seoul and Tokyo.

The North fired several short-range ballistic missiles last Thursday, the first such launch in more than two months, which it later described as a test of a new 600 mm multiple-launch rocket system.

South Korea’s JCS has said the launch might have been to test the weapons for export to Russia, amid intensifying military cooperation between the two countries.

The United States, South Korea and Ukraine, among other countries, have accused Pyongyang of supplying rockets and missiles to Moscow for use in the war in Ukraine, in return for economic and other military assistance.

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, who is visiting Russia this week to attend conferences, met her counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday and discussed ways to promote bilateral ties, the Russian foreign ministry said on its website.

Wednesday’s missile launches also came days after the isolated country for the first time showed images of centrifuges that produce fuel for its nuclear bombs, as leader Kim Jong Un visited a uranium enrichment facility and called for more weapons-grade material to boost the arsenal.
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Beerwah, Kulgam and Srinagar, Indian administered Kashmir — Several Kashmiri political figures, including former members of banned separatist groups, have abandoned long-held separatist leanings and joined mainstream Indian politics.

This shift in the disputed Himalayan region’s political landscape comes as three weeks of voting begin on Wednesday in the first legislative assembly election since 2019 when India stripped Jammu and Kashmir, or J&K, of its limited autonomy.

One such Kashmiri figure is Sarjan Ahmad Wagay, a prominent cleric whose anti-India anthems became popular during a 2016 uprising. Wagay is running simultaneously from prison in two central Kashmir constituencies known as Ganderbal and Beerwah.

His family says that Wagay’s decision to run was inspired by the success of Sheikh Abdul Rashid, who while imprisoned in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail won a J&K seat in the Indian parliament during national elections earlier this year.

“Rashid’s victory gave his family a hope that winning the election could help get him out of prison,” a family member, Rehbar Ahmad, told VOA.

“People from Beerwah and Ganderbal visited our home and assured us of their support,” Ahmad said. “He was popular in these areas because he used to deliver religious sermons there. He is getting a lot of support from the like-minded people who want to see political prisoners out of jail.”

In the heart of Kulgam district, Sayar Ahmad Reshi, a member of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami, is campaigning door-to-door. The socio-religious organization was banned by the Indian government in early 2019, accused of engaging in activities that “threatened India’s security, integrity and sovereignty.”

More than three decades ago, Jamaat-e-Islami participated in the Indian elections of 1987, but the group attributed its defeat to vote-rigging and has boycotted subsequent elections.

This year, Jamaat-e-Islami decided to again participate in the elections but could not field candidates as a party because of the ban. Instead, they encouraged at least 10 members of their organization to run as independent candidates across the Kashmir  Valley.

“Jamaat-e-Islami has never had issues with India, yet the organization is accused of promoting anti-India activities,” Reshi told VOA. “If any individual was involved in such a movement, it was their own doing because there were no directives from our leadership,” he added.

“If Jamaat-e-Islami hadn’t been banned, I would have contested under its banner with a clear manifesto for social reform and justice,” Reshi said. “I am hopeful that independent candidates of Jamaat-e-Islami will emerge victorious.”

Political analyst Muzamil Maqbool told VOA that many people who long opposed the integration of Kashmir with central India have changed their minds since the region’s special autonomy was repealed in 2019.

“Kashmiri people are a leader-driven population, and all those leaders have deceived people through and through,” he said. “Now the same people are exercising their power under democracy through voting and taking part in elections.”

The candidacies of individuals previously associated with separatism have caused alarm among the region’s strongest traditional parties, the National Conference, or NC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, or PDP.

Both parties suspect that the nationally ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has encouraged the trend in a bid to divide the vote and marginalize the regional parties.

“New Delhi always wanted to create an alternative here through the newly registered political parties which failed to score …  in the recently held parliamentary elections,” Maqbool said.

“However, there has been an entire paradigm shift where the focus has been shifted to many individuals, young faces and religious leaders to create an independent alternative force against regional mainstream parties.”

Earlier, veteran separatist leader Salim Geelani, switched to mainstream politics after spending 35 years in Hurriyat Conference, an amalgam of separatist political parties in the Valley.

He said that his decision to join PDP was driven by common goals including promoting infrastructure development and resolving Kashmir’s status within India.

“How can I deny the fact that I carry an Indian passport and use Indian currency? J&K remains a conflict zone and the people who lost their lives over the years, regardless of their identities, were our children,” he told VOA.

“Had there been no Kashmir issue the situation would be different today. I favored dialogue between all stakeholders of the region to resolve the Kashmir issue and I shall be in its favor forever,” he added.

BJP national spokesperson Shazia Ilmi welcomed the decision of those who have chosen to show faith in Indian democracy rather than pursue separatist goals.

“Everyone has a right to contest elections in a democracy and our democracy allows that. Nobody has a right to make statements that are secessionist in nature that promote any kind of disintegration of the country,” Ilmi told VOA.
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WASHINGTON — As the U.S. presidential election approaches, North Korea will likely escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula in an attempt to get attention and increase leverage for future negotiations with the United States, analysts said.

On Friday, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and Rodong Sinmum newspaper released several photos showing leader Kim Jong Un visiting what the North’s media said is a uranium enrichment facility. It was the first time the North has disclosed a uranium enrichment facility publicly.

In a recent speech marking the 76th anniversary of the founding of his government, Kim said North Korea will “redouble its measures and efforts to make all the armed forces of the state, including the nuclear force, fully ready for combat.”

Kim said he was acting because of the “grave threat” posed by “the reckless expansion” of a U.S.-led regional military bloc, according to KCNA. 

It remains unclear what the revelation means for the North’s nuclear capability, but it drew international attention.

Nuclear escalation

Despite the disclosure, the European Union said Monday that North Korea will never have the status of an acknowledged nuclear weapon state. 

“The EU position is that the DPRK must immediately comply with UN Security Council resolutions by abandoning all its nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction, ballistic missile programmes and existing nuclear programmes, in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner and cease all related activities,” said a spokesperson for the EU in an email to VOA Korean.

Evans Revere, who served as acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said Kim probably believes that Trump, of the two presidential candidates, is more likely to help North Korea advance its agenda.

“Pyongyang wants to be accepted as a nuclear state and it is trying to undermine and eventually end the U.S.-ROK [South Korea] alliance and get rid of U.S. forces who are stationed on and around the Korean Peninsula,” Revere told VOA Korean Friday on the phone.

“Which of the two U.S. presidential candidates does North Korea see as more likely to help achieve its goals?” he asked.

Revere, however, said he does not view North Korea’s recent actions as aimed at swaying the U.S. presidential election, stressing that what North Korea does and says is “not always about us.”

Sydney Seiler, who was the national intelligence officer for North Korea on the U.S. National Intelligence Council from 2020-2023, told VOA Korean in a Zoom interview Thursday it may be “a step too far” to assume North Korea is trying to influence the upcoming election in the U.S. through its provocative behaviors.

However, Seiler said, Pyongyang could be tweaking the timing of its actions “to remain on everybody’s radar screen.”

Seiler predicted that North Korea will hold off on its next major provocations, such as a seventh nuclear test, until after the next U.S. president is elected.

North Korea’s intention

Park Won-gon, a professor in the Department of North Korean Studies of Ewha Womans University in Seoul, told VOA Korean Friday that the North Korean regime may have considered testing its nuclear weapons for a seventh time to show that President Joe Biden’s North Korea policy has not worked and to “turn it to Trump’s advantage.” 

“The situation, however, has now changed,” Park said. “Trump has been touting his close relationship with Kim Jong Un, so Pyongyang may have concluded that another nuclear test will not help Trump.” 

Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, agreed that North Korea is not likely to conduct the seventh nuclear test before the November election. 

“None of the countries that possess nuclear weapons have disclosed their nuclear facilities, especially enriched uranium facilities, but making such an unprecedented disclosure was to replace the nuclear test card,” Hong told VOA Korean Friday. 

Kim In-tae, senior research fellow at South Korea’s Institute for National Security Strategy, said a seventh nuclear test is still a possibility. 

“North Korea’s foreign ministry declared it will prepare itself for a long-term nuclear confrontation with the United States,” Kim told VOA Korean Friday, referring to a Sept. 9 statement released by Pyongyang.

“They are now saying that they will strengthen their nuclear offensive from a longer-term perspective, regardless of the U.S. presidential election,” 

Kim said there is a possibility that North Korea will gradually ramp up its provocations, up to the test of a nuclear weapon. 

North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test in September 2017.

VOA’s Kim Hyungjin contributed to this report. 
…

The United States has deepened its cooperation with allies in the Indo-Pacific region in recent years, including Japan and South Korea. But it has also reached out to non-allies, including non-aligned countries of Southeast Asia like Indonesia. VOA’s Virginia Gunawan reports. Camera: Ahadian Utama, Hafizh Sahadeva.
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NEW DELHI — India has condemned comments made by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the treatment of Muslims in the South Asian nation, calling his remarks “misinformed and unacceptable.”

“We cannot consider ourselves to be Muslims if we are oblivious to the suffering that a Muslim is enduring in Myanmar, Gaza, India, or any other place,” Khamenei said in a social media post on Monday.

In response, India’s foreign ministry said it “strongly deplored” the comments.

“Countries commenting on minorities are advised to look at their own record before making any observations about others,” the foreign ministry spokesperson said.

The two countries have typically shared a strong relationship, and signed a 10-year contract in May to develop and operate the Iranian port of Chabahar.

India has been developing the port in Chabahar on Iran’s southeastern coast along the Gulf of Oman as a way to transport goods to Iran, Afghanistan and central Asian countries, bypassing the ports of Karachi and Gwadar in its rival Pakistan.

Khamenei, however, has been critical of India in the past over issues involving Indian Muslims and the troubled Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.
…

Nadia Mirza is a well-known journalist in Pakistan. But her high-profile status is no protection from online trolls who threaten her and target her appearance and competence. Analysts say the treatment of women in media is a global issue. For Tabinda Naeem, Elizabeth Cherneff has the story for VOA News.
…

ISLAMABAD — A new report finds Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are being significantly misused, with many defendants facing baseless accusations, protracted legal battles and lengthy pre-trial prison time as judges tread carefully to avoid offending religious groups.  

The U.S.-based Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ) on Monday released its findings after monitoring 24 blasphemy lawsuits for six months during 2022 in Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s most populous province, Punjab. 

The CJF said 15 of the accused are facing mandatory death sentences if convicted. However, the report said its monitors had noted little progress in most cases, with 217 out of 252 hearings adjourned, leaving many defendants stuck in pre-trial detention. 

“This report shows a process fraught with significant delays and unfairness, exacerbating the widespread climate of misuse, discrimination, and intimidation that has developed around Pakistan’s blasphemy law,” said Zimran Samuel, a CFJ legal expert and visiting professor in practice at the London School of Economics.  

“Pakistan’s blasphemy provisions in their current form and as they are being implemented are in urgent need of reform and reconsideration,” Samuel said.  

Making derogatory remarks against Islam or the Prophet Muhammad in Muslim-majority Pakistan is punishable by death under the country’s blasphemy laws, though no one has ever been executed under the laws. 

The CFJ’s report criticized the country’s blasphemy laws for being inconsistent with international standards, especially the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).  

The study noted that many blasphemy accusations lack evidence, with complainants often not witnessing the alleged acts. In some cases, it added that the specific blasphemous words are not even identified.  

Despite safeguards in place, such as the requirement for government approval of charges, these are often disregarded, the report alleged.  

The CFJ stated that defendants are often arrested without warrants, denied bail, and subjected to repeated adjournments due to missing witnesses, prolonging their legal ordeals. It called for Pakistan to repeal its blasphemy laws, raise the standards for filing allegations, deter false accusations, and reform court procedures to prevent endless delays. 

“The judicial system in Pakistan has completely failed in preventing the abuse and malafide (bad faith) use of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan,” the report quoted Hina Jilani, a leading human rights lawyer and activist in Pakistan. 

“While there are concerns regarding the laws as they are currently framed, the way that courts disregard the few procedural safeguards that were added to the legal framework has rendered prosecution in such cases farcical and an epitome of injustice,” stated Jilani, a recipient of the American Society of International Law award.  

The report highlighted that some cases do not even go to trial, with mob violence against those accused of blasphemy on the rise.  

Pakistani officials did not immediately respond to the CFJ findings, which came ahead of the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s review of the country, scheduled for October 17.  

Islamabad has consistently rejected foreign criticism of its blasphemy laws, calling it an internal matter for Pakistan to deal with. 

The report came just days after a police officer in the southwestern province of Balochistan shot and killed a man who was being held in custody on blasphemy allegations. The victim, a Muslim, was arrested a day earlier for allegedly making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad.  

In June, a 73-year-old Pakistani man from the minority Christian community died in a hospital a week after being violently attacked by a mob in his native Sargodha district in Punjab following accusations he insulted Islam.  

Days later, on June 20, a Muslim man from Punjab was visiting the scenic Swat Valley in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when a mob violently lynched him for allegedly desecrating Islam’s holy book, the Quran. 

Hundreds of suspects, mostly Muslims, are languishing in jails in Pakistan because fear of retaliation from religious groups deters judges from moving their trials forward. 

The CFJ report backed long-running local and international rights groups’ concerns that the strict blasphemy laws are often misused to settle personal vendettas or to persecute Pakistani minority communities.  

The organization says its CFJ legal experts are tasked to monitor criminal trials globally against those who are most vulnerable, particularly journalists, democracy defenders, women and girls, LGBTQ+ persons, and minorities. 
…

Hanoi — Typhoon Yagi caused $1.6 billion in economic losses in Vietnam, state media said Monday, as the UN’s World Food Program said the deadly floods it triggered in Myanmar were the worst in the country’s recent history.

Yagi battered Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand with powerful winds and a huge dump of rain more than a week ago, triggering floods and landslides that have killed more than 400 people, according to official figures.

It tore across Vietnam’s densely populated Red River delta — a vital agricultural region that is also home to major manufacturing hubs — damaging factories and infrastructure, and inundating farmland.

The typhoon caused an estimated $1.6 billion in economic losses, state media reported, citing an initial government assessment.

The death toll in Vietnam stands at 292, with 38 missing, more than 230,000 homes damaged and 280,000 hectares of crops destroyed, according to authorities.

In Myanmar, the ruling junta has reported 113 fatalities and said that more than 320,000 people have been forced from their homes into temporary relief camps.

“Super Typhoon Yagi has affected most of the country and caused the worst floods we have seen in Myanmar’s recent history,” Sheela Matthew, WFP’s representative in Myanmar, said in a statement, without giving precise details.

Exact details of the impact on agriculture were not yet clear, she said.

“But I can say for sure that the impact on food security will be nothing less than devastating,” Matthew said.

Severe flooding hit Myanmar in 2011 and 2015, with more than 100 deaths reported on both occasions, while in 2008 Cyclone Nargis left more than 138,000 people dead or missing.

The latest crisis has prompted the junta to issue a rare appeal for foreign aid, with neighbor India responding with 10 tons of materials, including dry rations, clothing and medicine.

Myanmar’s military has blocked or frustrated humanitarian assistance from abroad in the past, including after powerful Cyclone Mocha last year when it suspended travel authorizations for aid groups trying to reach around a million people.

Even before the latest floods, people in Myanmar were already grappling with the effects of three years of war between the junta and armed groups opposed to its rule, with millions forced from their homes by the conflict.
…

Osaka, Japan — Japan celebrated on Monday the record-breaking Emmy Awards triumph of “Shogun”, although many confessed not having watched the series about the country’s warring dynasties in the feudal era.  

“Shogun” smashed all-time records at the television awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, taking home an astounding 18 statuettes and becoming the first non-English-language winner of the highly coveted award for best drama series.  

Lead Hiroyuki Sanada, who played Lord Toranaga, became the first Japanese actor to win an Emmy, while Anna Sawai achieved the same for her performance as Lady Mariko.  

“As a Japanese, I’m happy Sanada won,” Kiyoko Kanda, a 70-year-old pensioner, told AFP in Tokyo.   

“He worked so hard since he moved to Los Angeles,” she said.  

“In ‘Last Samurai’, Tom Cruise was the lead, but it’s exciting Sanada is the main character in ‘Shogun’,” Kanda added.  

But she admitted that she only watched the trailer.  

The series is available only on Disney’s streaming platform, which is relatively new in Japan.  

“I want to watch it. I’m curious to know how Japan is portrayed,” Kanda said.  

Otsuka, who declined to give her first name, said she, too, has not watched the show.   

“But I saw the news and I’m happy he won.” Sanada, now 63, began his acting career at the age of five in Tokyo and moved to LA after appearing in “Last Samurai” in 2003.   

The words “historic achievements” and “Hiroyuki Sanada” were trending on X in Japanese, while Sanada’s speech at the awards racked up tens of thousands of views.  

Yusuke Takizawa, 41, also only watched a trailer but he said he was amazed by the quality of the show.  

“I was impressed by the high-spirited acting, the attention to detail and the film technology,” Takizawa told AFP outside Osaka Castle, a major historical location for the series.  

“I think many young people will want to try their hand in Hollywood after watching Sanada,” he said.  

Tourists at the castle also welcomed the record Emmy win.   

“I think was the best TV show that I’ve seen this year,” said Zara Ferjani, a visitor from London.   

“I thought it was amazing… The direction was beautiful, and I really enjoyed watching something that wasn’t in English as well,” the 33-year-old said.  

She said she had planned to watch “Shogun” after returning home from Japan.  

“But one of my friends strongly advised me to watch it beforehand, just to appreciate the culture more and definitely Osaka Castle more,” she added.  

• Breaking from cliches – 

Many in the Japanese film industry were also jubilant.   

“He won after many years of trying hard in Hollywood. It’s too cool,” wrote Shinichiro Ueda, director of the hit low-budget film “One Cut of the Dead”, on X.  

Video game creator and movie fan Hideo Kojima, who has described the show as “Game of Thrones in 17th-century Japan”, reposted a news story on the win.  

The drama, adapted from a popular novel by James Clavell and filmed in Canada, tells the tale of Lord Toranaga, who fights for his life against his enemies alongside Mariko and British sailor John Blackthorne.   

A previous TV adaptation made in 1980 was centered on Blackthorne’s perspective.  

But the new “Shogun” breaks away from decades of cliched and often bungled depictions of Japan in Western cinema, with Japanese spoken throughout most of the show.  

Sanada, who also co-produced the drama, is credited with bringing a new level of cultural and historical authenticity to “Shogun.”   

An army of experts, including several wig technicians from Japan, worked behind the scenes to make the series realistic, poring over sets, costumes and the actors’ movements. 
…

CHENNAI, India — Police on Monday detained 104 striking workers protesting low wages at a Samsung Electronics plant in southern India as they were planning a protest march without permission, with the dispute disrupting output at the key factory for the past week.

The detention marks an escalation of a strike by workers at a Samsung home appliance plant near Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu. Workers want higher wages and have stopped work at the plant that contributes roughly a third of Samsung’s annual India revenue of $12 billion.

The Samsung protests have cast a shadow on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan of courting foreign investors to “Make in India” and his goal of tripling electronics production to $500 billion within six years.

Lured by cheap labor, foreign companies are increasingly using India for manufacturing to diversify their supply chain beyond China.

On Monday, the workers planned to start a protest march, but were detained as no permission was given since there are schools, colleges and hospitals in that area, said senior police officer of the Kancheepuram district K. Shanmugam.

“It is the main area which would become totally paralyzed and [the protest would] disturb public peace,” he said.

“We have detained them in wedding halls as all of them can’t be in stations,” he said.

Samsung workers since last week have been protesting at a makeshift tent near the plant, demanding higher wages, recognition for a union backed by influential labor group the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), and better working hours.

Samsung is not keen to recognize any union backed by a national labor group such as the CITU, and talks with workers, as well as state government officials, have not yielded resolution.

The CITU Tamil Nadu Deputy General Secretary, S. Kannan, condemned the police action, saying “This is an archaic move by the state government.”

Despite Monday’s police action, 12 union groups, including one affiliated with the ruling party of Tamil Nadu, said in a public notice dated Sept. 11 that they will stage a protest in support of the striking workers in Chennai on Wednesday, a move that could intensify the tensions between the company and the workers.

“We are going ahead with Wednesday’s protest … no changes to the plan,” said A. Jenitan, a deputy district secretary for the CITU.

The protests add to Samsung’s challenges in India, a key growth market.

The South Korean company is planning job cuts of up to 30% of its overseas staff in some divisions, including in India. And India’s antitrust body has found Samsung and other smartphone companies colluded with e-commerce giants to launch devices exclusively, violating competition laws, Reuters has reported.

Samsung did not respond to a request for comment on Monday, but on Friday said it has initiated discussions with workers at the Chennai plant “to resolve all issues at the earliest.”

Video footage from Reuters partner ANI showed dozens of Samsung workers wearing the company uniform of blue shirts being transported in a bus to a hall.

The Samsung plant employs roughly 1,800 workers and more than 1,000 of them have been on strike. The factory makes appliances such as refrigerators, TVs and washing machines. Another Samsung plant that makes smartphones in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh has had no unrest.

The police also detained one of CITU’s senior leaders, E. Muthukumar, who was leading the Samsung protests at the factory near Chennai, according to the CITU’s Jenitan.

Kancheepuram police official Shanmugam said there was no timeline as to how long the workers will be detained.
…

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — It’s noisy, smelly, shy – and New Zealand’s bird of the year.

The hoiho, or yellow-eyed penguin, won the country’s fiercely fought avian election on Monday, offering hope to supporters of the endangered bird that recognition from its victory might prompt a revival of the species.

It followed a campaign for the annual Bird of the Year vote that was absent the foreign interference scandals and cheating controversies of past polls. Instead, campaigners in the long-running contest sought votes in the usual ways — launching meme wars, seeking celebrity endorsements and even getting tattoos to prove their loyalty.

More than 50,000 people voted in the poll, 300,000 fewer than last year, when British late night host John Oliver drove a humorous campaign for the pūteketeke — a “deeply weird bird” which eats and vomits its own feathers – securing a landslide win.

This year, the number of votes cast represented 10% of the population of New Zealand — a country where nature is never far away and where a love of native birds is instilled in citizens from childhood.

“Birds are our heart and soul,” said Emma Rawson, who campaigned for the fourth-placed ruru, a small brown owl with a melancholic call. New Zealand’s only native mammals are bats and marine species, putting the spotlight on its birds, which are beloved — and often rare.

This year’s victor, the hoiho — its name means “noise shouter” in the Māori language — is a shy bird thought to be the world’s rarest penguin. Only found on New Zealand’s South and Chatham islands — and on subantarctic islands south of the country — numbers have dropped perilously by 78% in the past 15 years.

“This spotlight couldn’t have come at a better time. This iconic penguin is disappearing from mainland Aotearoa before our eyes,” Nicola Toki, chief executive of Forest & Bird — the organization that runs the poll — said in a press release, using the Māori name for New Zealand. Despite intensive conservation efforts on land, she said, the birds drown in nets and sea and can’t find enough food.

“The campaign has raised awareness, but what we really hope is that it brings tangible support,” said Charlie Buchan, campaign manager for the hoiho. But while the bird is struggling, it attracted a star billing in the poll: celebrity endorsements flew in from English zoologist Jane Goodall, host of the Amazing Race Phil Keoghan, and two former New Zealand prime ministers.

Aspiring bird campaign managers — this year ranging from power companies to high school students — submit applications to Forest & Bird for the posts. The hoiho bid was run by a collective of wildlife groups, a museum, a brewery and a rugby team in the city of Dunedin, where the bird is found on mainland New Zealand, making it the highest-powered campaign of the 2024 vote.

“I do feel like we were the scrappy underdog,” said Emily Bull, a spokesperson for the runner-up campaign, for the karure — a small, “goth” black robin only found on New Zealand’s Chatham Island.

The karure’s bid was directed by the students’ association at Victoria University of Wellington, prompting fierce skirmish on the college campus when the student magazine staged an opposing campaign for the kororā, or little blue penguin.

The rivalry provoked a meme war and students in bird costumes. Several people got tattoos. When the magazine’s campaign secured endorsements of the city council and local zoo, Bull despaired for the black robin’s bid.

But the karure – which has performed a real-life comeback since the 1980s, with conservation efforts increasing the species from five birds to 250 – took second place overall.

This weekend as Rawson wrapped up her campaign for the ruru, she too took her efforts directly to the people, courting votes at a local dog park. The veteran campaign manager who has directed the bids for other birds in past years was rewarded by the ruru placing fourth in the poll, her best ever result.

“I have not been in human political campaigning before,” said Rawson, who is drawn to the competition because of the funds and awareness it generates. The campaign struck a more sedate tone this year, she added.

“There’s been no international interference, even though that was actually a lot of fun,” she said, referring to Oliver’s high-profile campaign.

It was not the only controversy the election has seen. While anyone in the world can vote, Forest & Bird now requires electors to verify their ballots after foreign interference plagued the contest before. In 2018, Australian pranksters cast hundreds of fraudulent votes in favor of the shag.

The following year, Forest & Bird was forced to clarify that a flurry of votes from Russia appeared to be from legitimate bird-lovers.

While campaigns are fiercely competitive, managers described tactics more akin to pro wrestling — in which fights are scripted — than divisive political contests.

“Sometimes people want to make posts that are kind of like beefy with you and they’ll always message you and be like, hey, is it okay if I post this?” Bull said. “There is a really sweet community. It’s really wholesome.”
…

Islamabad — Pakistan has documented the killings of 11 journalists in 2024, reaching a record-breaking annual tally with nearly four months left in the year.

The South Asian nation continues to face persistent criticism for an alleged lack of justice or impunity for journalists’ murders, making it one of the world’s most dangerous countries for media workers.

The latest victim was Nisar Lehri, a 50-year-old Pakistani journalist and secretary of a local press club in violence-hit southwestern Balochistan province. Unknown assailants shot and killed him on September 4 near his home in the town of Mastung for his reporting about criminal elements, according to a complaint filed with the area police.

Lehri’s murder followed the death of reporter Muhammad Bachal Ghunio on August 27. He was associated with the local Awaz TV channel and was targeted by gunmen in his native Ghotki district in southeastern Sindh province.

Ghunio’s family and police investigators believe he was killed because of his reporting. Police subsequently announced the arrest of a suspect, and the recovery of a weapon allegedly used in the attack.

Islamabad-based nonprofit Freedom Network, an advocate for press freedoms, reported that before the two fatalities, nine journalists were killed in Pakistan this year, including a YouTube show host. 

“Safety is every journalist’s key concern while reporting, and given the fact that 11 journalists, including a YouTuber, were killed this year so far, it has a chilling effect on independent media,” Iqbal Khattak, the executive director of the nonprofit network, told VOA. 

Pakistani officials blame growing terrorist activities in the country for the uptick in attacks on journalists.

However, critics dispute these claims, noting that many of the journalist fatalities this year occurred in Sindh and the country’s most populous Punjab province, which have been relatively peaceful compared to terrorism-hit Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. 

While Pakistan’s military and its intelligence agencies are routinely accused of orchestrating violence against journalists critical of their involvement in national politics, influential feudal lords and politicians in Sindh, as well as Punjab, are often blamed for ordering violence against media workers in their native constituencies and escaping accountability. 

“The deep-rooted impunity and political instability are driving the current violence. However, the list of press freedom predators is not restricted to the two drivers,” Khattak stated. “The list is long to name the predators. Terrorism is not excluded,” he added.

Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told reporters Saturday that the federal government is working closely with authorities in the four provinces to address the challenges facing journalists.

“There are incidents in Sindh, I totally agree. Some people often use political influence to get their way and get out of these cases,” Tarar stated when asked by VOA about his government’s role in addressing the cases of fatal attacks on journalists and providing justice to their families.

The minister pledged to coordinate with provincial counterparts to investigate these cases and deter further violence against media workers.

“We need to set an example in one or two cases, so this does not happen again. I think this is a very important issue which needs to be handled,” Tarar said.  

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a U.S.-based global media rights group, mourned the deaths of Lehri and Ghunio in a Friday statement. 

“Pakistani authorities must immediately bring the perpetrators of the killings … to justice and show urgent political will to end the horrifying cycle of violence against journalists that has continued this year across Pakistan,” said Beh Lih Yi, the CPJ Asia program coordinator.

“The press in Pakistan cannot carry out their journalism unless the government and security agencies put an end to the impunity against journalists in the country,” she stressed. 

The CPJ statement also noted that dozens of Pakistani journalists have been attacked or forced into hiding this year due to their reporting across the country.

Another global media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), urged Pakistan’s federal and provincial authorities in a recent report to take urgent measures to address the alarming decline in press freedom in the country.

“The many press freedom violations reveal a climate of violence, and a determination to censor that has little in common with the undertakings by the political parties in their elections campaign manifestos and the message of support for journalists by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif,” stated Celia Mercier, the head of RSF’s South Asia desk.

“Pakistan remains one of the world’s most dangerous countries for media personnel, and the level of impunity for the murders of journalists is appalling,” Mercier said in June.  

Stifling free press

Until this month, millions of Pakistanis experienced significant disruptions in accessing major social media platforms nationwide, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, drawing a public outcry.

The military-backed Sharif government was blamed for imposing the shutdowns and internet slowdowns to deter dissent or political unrest. 

Pakistani authorities rejected the allegations and blamed internet disruptions on a faulty submarine internet cable. 

In an August 28 announcement, the state regulator, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, announced that repairs to the faulty cable would likely be completed by early October, but slow internet speeds might persist until then. 

VOA Islamabad Bureau Chief Sarah Zaman contributed to this report.
…

…

DHAKA, Bangladesh — A high-level U.S. delegation met Sunday with the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, to affirm “dedication to fostering inclusive economic growth,” according to the American embassy in Dhaka. 

Yunus took over after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country last month amid a mass uprising. She was accused of corruption, violation of human rights and excessive use of force against the protesters. 

During her 15-year rule, Hasina enjoyed close relations with India, China and Russia who have heavily invested in the country’s infrastructure development, trade and investment. The U.S. has also become the single largest foreign investor in Bangladesh under Hasina. 

Yunus on Sunday said he sought U.S. support “to rebuild the country, carry out vital reforms, and bring back stolen assets,” his press office said in a statement after he met the delegation at the State Guest House Jamuna in Dhaka. 

He told the U.S. representatives his interim administration has moved fast to “reset, reform, and restart” the economy, initiate reforms in financial sectors, and fix institutions such as the judiciary and police, the statement said. 

The U.S. delegation, led by Brent Neiman, assistant secretary for International Finance at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, had representatives from the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Donald Lu, assistant secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, joined the delegation after visiting India. 

They met with several officials in Dhaka, including Touhid Hossain, the country’s adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The USAID also signed an agreement to provide $202.25 million in aid to Bangladesh. 

The U.S. embassy on X underscored how American companies are entrenched in the South Asian country. 

“With the right economic reforms in place, the American private sector can help unlock Bangladesh’s growth potential through trade and investment,” the embassy wrote on its official account. 

The delegation also met representatives of the American companies under the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) operating in Bangladesh upon arriving Saturday. 

Concerns over safety and lack of order in Bangladesh were relayed by the companies’ agents. 

AmCham President Syed Ershad Ahmed said at the meeting that while there were improvements after the interim government was installed, “there are some bottlenecks too.” Profit repatriation amid the ongoing crisis of U.S. dollars and challenges in the supply chain resulting from congestion at ports were among the issues he raised. 

The meeting came as unrest took hold of the country’s major garment industry with workers walking out, leaving factories shuttered, as they demanded better benefits including higher wages. The factory owners, the government and workers’ leaders are holding meetings to ease the tension. 

Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate-induced disasters. The U.S. embassy on its official Facebook page said the United States wanted to help it “mitigate climate risks.” 
…

DILI, East Timor — It was the farthest trip of his pontificate and one of the longest papal trips ever in terms of days on the road and distance traveled. But Pope Francis, age 87, hobbled by bad knees and bent over with sciatica, appeared to be having the time of his life.

With half of East Timor’s population gathered at a seaside park, Francis couldn’t help but oblige them with a final good night and languid loops in his popemobile, long after the sun had set and the field was lit by cellphone screens.

It was late, the heat and humidity had turned Tasitolu park into something of a sauna, and most of the journalists had already gone back to their air-conditioned hotel to watch the Mass on TV. But there was Francis, defying the doubters who had questioned if he could, would or should make such an arduous trip to Asia given everything that could go wrong.

“How many children you have!” Francis marveled to the crowd of 600,000, which amounted to the biggest-ever turnout for a papal event as a proportion of the population. “A people that teaches its children to smile is a people that has a future.”

The moment seemed to serve as proof that, despite his age, ailments and seven hours of jet lag, Pope Francis still could pope, still likes to pope and has it in him to pope like he used to at the start of his pontificate.

That’s never truer than when he’s in his element: in the peripheries of the world, among people forgotten by the big powers, where he can go off-script to respond to the spirit of the moment.

And it was certainly the case on his 11-day trip through Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, during which he clocked nearly 33,000 kilometers (20,505 miles) in air travel alone. It was a trip that he had originally planned to make in 2020 but COVID-19 intervened.

Four years and a handful of hospitalizations later (for intestinal and pulmonary problems), Francis finally pulled it off. He seemed to relish getting out of the Vatican and away from the weighty grind of the Holy See after being cooped up all year, much of it battling a long bout of bronchitis.

Francis does tend to rally during foreign trips, though he usually sticks to a script when he’s in the protocol meetings with heads of state, dutifully delivering speeches that were written in advance by Vatican diplomats.

But when he’s meeting with young people or local priests and nuns, he tends to show his true colors. He’ll ditch his prepared remarks and speak off-the-cuff, often engaging in back-and-forth banter with the faithful to make sure his message has stuck.

Doing so thrills the crowd, terrorizes his translators and complicates the work of journalists, but you always know Francis is enjoying himself and feels energized when he goes rogue. And he went rogue plenty of times in Asia — and on the in-flight press conference coming back to Rome, during which he urged American Catholics to vote for who they think is the “lesser evil” for president.

Francis started in Indonesia, arguably the most delicate destination on his itinerary given the country is home to the world’s largest Muslim population. The Vatican would be loathe to say or do anything that might cause offense.

And yet from his very first encounter with President Joko Widodo, Francis appeared in a feisty mood, praising Indonesia’s relatively high birthrate while lamenting that in the West, “some prefer a cat or a little dog.”

Francis has frequently made the same demographic quip at home in Italy, which has one of the world’s lowest birthrates. But the high-profile trip meant that his trademark sarcasm got amplified. American commentators immediately assumed Francis had entered the “childless cat ladies” debate roiling U.S. politics, but there was no indication he had JD Vance in mind.

Even in the most delicate moment in Jakarta, at Southeast Asia’s biggest mosque, Francis threw protocol aside and kissed the hand of the grand imam and brought it to his cheek in gratitude.

In Papua New Guinea, Francis was similarly jazzed after pulling off a visit to a remote jungle outpost that had seemed impossible for him to reach: The airport in Vanimo, population 11,000, doesn’t have an ambulift wheelchair elevator that Francis now needs to get on and off planes, and bringing one in just for him was out of the question.

The stubborn pope, who really, really wanted to go to Vanimo, ended up rolling on and off the back ramp of a C-130 cargo plane that Australia had offered to get him, and the metric ton of medicine and other supplies he brought with him, to the town.

Despite the considerable security concerns of entering a region torn by tribal rivalries, Francis seemed to relish the jungle visit, perhaps because he felt so much at home. A dozen Argentine missionary priests and nuns have lived in Vanimo with the local community for years and had invited him to come. They decorated the simple stage in front of the church with a statue of Argentina’s beloved Virgin of Lujan, to whom Francis is particularly devoted, and had a gourd of mate, the Argentine tea, waiting for him.

In East Timor Francis had to negotiate perhaps the most sensitive issue clouding the visit: the case of Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, the revered national hero who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent independence campaign. The Vatican revealed in 2022 that it had sanctioned Belo, who now lives in Portugal, for having sexually abused young boys and ordered him to cease contact with East Timor.

Francis didn’t mention Belo by name and didn’t meet with his victims, but he did reaffirm the need to protect children from “abuse.” There was nary a mention of Belo’s name in any official speech during a visit in which East Timor’s traumatic history and independence fight were repeatedly evoked.

In Singapore, his final stop, Francis once again ditched his remarks when he arrived at the last event, a meeting of Singaporean youth on Friday morning.

“That’s the talk I prepared,” he said, pointing to his speech and then proceeding to launch into a spontaneous back-and-forth with the young people about the need to have courage and take risks.

“What’s worse: Make a mistake because I take a certain path, or not make a mistake and stay home?” he asked them.

He answered his own question, with a response that could explain his own risky decision to embark on the Asia trip in the first place.

“A young person who doesn’t take a risk, who is afraid of making a mistake, is an old person,” the 87-year-old pope said.

“I hope all of you go forward,” he said. “Don’t go back. Don’t go back. Take risks.”
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