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ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has officially authorized its military-run main spy agency to intercept citizens’ phone communications, sparking outcry and concerns from political opponents and advocates of civil liberties.  Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition government has defended the controversial measure, saying the new powers for the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, will enable authorities to track “anyone who misuses the law.”  Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told parliament on Tuesday that phone monitoring would be restricted to tracking criminal and terrorist activities. He said the government would ensure it does not violate Pakistanis' privacy.  According to the July 8 directive, “The federal government, in the interest of national security and in the apprehension of any offence, is pleased to authorize [ISI] officers … to intercept calls and messages or to trace calls through any telecommunication system.”  Critics have slammed the notice as unconstitutional and an assault on civil liberties, saying it would enable ISI to further strengthen its alleged hidden role in national politics.  Politicians, including former Pakistani prime ministers, have long accused the ISI of manipulating or undermining elected governments at the behest of the powerful military, which has staged several coups and governed the country for nearly half of its independent history.  Lawmakers affiliated with the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan strongly opposed the phone tapping permission given to the ISI and promised to launch a legal challenge against it.   The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, or HRCP, said in a statement Wednesday it was “deeply concerned” by the government’s decision to give intelligence personnel “carte blanche” to intercept phone calls of any citizen.   The watchdog decried the measure as a “flagrant violation of citizens’ constitutionally protected rights to liberty, dignity and privacy.”   The HRCP stated, “Given the poor track record of governments and intelligence agencies alike, this measure will invariably be used to clamp down on political dissent through means of blackmail, harassment, and intimidation.”  Several members of the Pakistan Bar Council, the country's highest elected body of lawyers, issued a joint statement dismissing the government’s notice as a “blatant disregard” for the rule of law and judicial independence.  “Such sweeping powers granted are alarming and unjustified. The issuance of this notification is in direct violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of Pakistan,” the council said.  Pakistan’s renowned English-language newspaper Dawn criticized the granting of new powers to ISI as another “example of how extensively constitutional freedoms are being encroached upon” in the country.   “To be clear, this was already being done, albeit without warrants or legal sanction. It will now continue with legal sanction, but likely still without warrants,” the paper said Wednesday in an editorial.   “Suppressing a restless public and blocking dissent will only create more frustrations, which may spill over in unforeseen ways,” the editorial cautioned. 

Windhoek, Namibia — Namibia will attempt to reduce the local seal population by 80,000 this year, officials recently announced, despite opposition from animal rights groups. The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources said the reduction is necessary to maintain balance in the ecosystem and keep the seals from hurting the nation’s fishing industry. Seal numbers increased from 1.3 million to 1.6 million over the past three years, said Annely Haifene, executive director of the marine ministry. She told VOA this is an indication of a healthy marine ecosystem but is also a threat to the $10 billion fishing industry, which is one of the largest contributors to Namibia’s economy, because seals prey on the fish. Last year’s seal harvest was disappointing, Haifene said, with the companies that hold rights to catch seals along Namibia’s Atlantic coastline harvesting less than 50% of the “total allowable catch.” “The challenge is really the market,” she said. “There is no demand for pup’s products, and therefore, even if you harvest them, you will likely not get any economic sense out of the pups.” Markets for the bulls are difficult, too, she said. The main market for seal pelts and food products is China, but demand has dropped because of an international ban on seal fur. Last year, the total allowable catch for seal pups was 80,000. Only 3,764, or 5% of the target, was harvested. The companies harvested a larger proportion of adult seals, catching about 3,100 of the 6,000 allowed. Haifene blamed animal rights groups for last year’s the low numbers. Naude Dreyer of Ocean Conservation Namibia said Namibia’s attempts to reduce the seal population is having the opposite effect of what the ministry is trying to achieve. “By taking out the biggest bulls in the group, you are messing with the harem structures in the groups,” he said. “Normally a big bull will have up to 50 females underneath him, which he would then be fighting with other big bulls to keep them exclusively his. By taking out those big bulls, this allows much younger males to come in and do the mating.” Namibia is the only country in the Global South where seal harvesting takes place. Other countries that harvest seals include the United States, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Finland and Sweden. Namibian seals live in three colonies along the country’s 1,500-kilometer (932-mile) coastline. This year’s harvest is set to end in November. Authorities believe the harvest will be less than last year’s due to declining interest in seal products on the international market.

WARSAW — Poland needs to prepare its soldiers for all-out conflict, its armed forces chief of staff said on Wednesday, as the country boosts the number of troops on its border with Russia and Belarus.  Poland's relations with Russia and its ally Belarus have deteriorated sharply since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, starting a war that is still being fought.  "Today, we need to prepare our forces for full-scale conflict, not an asymmetric-type conflict," army chief of staff General Wieslaw Kukula told a press conference.  "This forces us to find a good balance between the border mission and maintaining the intensity of training in the army," he said.  Speaking at the same event, deputy defense minister Pawel Bejda said that as of August, the number of troops guarding Poland's eastern border would be increased to 8,000 from the current 6,000, with an additional rearguard of 9,000 able to step up within 48 hours notice.  In May, Poland announced details of "East Shield", a 10 billion zloty ($2.5 billion) program to beef up defenses along its border with Belarus and Russia, which it plans to complete the plans by 2028.  The border with Belarus has been a flashpoint since migrants started flocking there in 2021 after Belarus opened travel agencies in the Middle East offering a new unofficial route into Europe — a move the European Union said was designed to create a crisis.  Warsaw has ramped up defense spending to more that 4% of its economic output this year in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.  Kukula also said the current high interest from candidates to join the army posed a dilemma over whether to take in more recruits than budgeted for at the expense of military equipment procurement, especially as he said interest was expected to start declining sharply from 2027.  The size of the armed forces stood at about 190,000 personnel at the end of last year, including ground, air, naval, special forces and territorial defense forces. Poland plans to increase this to 300,000 troops within a few years. 

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Beijing — India has no right to carry out development in the area China calls South Tibet, China's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday in response to a Reuters report on New Delhi's plans to speed up hydropower projects in the border state.  "South Tibet is China’s territory," a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement.  It said India had no right to carry out development there and the establishment of what India calls Arunachal Pradesh on Chinese territory is "illegal and invalid."  Reuters reported on Tuesday that India plans to spend $1 billion to expedite the construction of 12 hydropower stations in the northeastern Himalayan state.  India's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on China's statement.  India says its remote state of Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of the country, but China says it is a part of southern Tibet, and has objected to Indian infrastructure projects there.  Last week, India Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Kazakhstan where the two agreed to intensify efforts to resolve issues along their border. 

NAIROBI, Kenya — The ballooning debt in East Africa's economic hub of Kenya is expected to grow even more after deadly protests forced the rejection of a finance bill that President William Ruto said was needed to raise revenue. He now warns "it will have huge consequences." Facing public calls to resign, Ruto said the government will turn to slashing a $2.7 billion budget deficit by half and borrowing the rest, without saying from where. After anger over bloated bureaucracy and luxurious lives of senior officials helped to fuel the protests, Ruto also promised funding cuts in his own office and said funding would stop for the offices of the first lady, the wife of the vice president and the wife of the prime Cabinet secretary. Almost four dozen state enterprises with overlapping roles will be closed. Ruto has become deeply unpopular in his two years in office over his quest to introduce taxes meant to enable Kenya to repay its $80 billion public debt to lenders that include the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and China.  The public debt makes up about 70% of Kenya's gross domestic product, the highest in 20 years. How Ruto's administration will find the money to pay off debt without further angering millions of Kenyans barely getting by, and without slowing down the economy, is the key question. The economy grew 5.6% in 2023. Economist Mbui Wagacha, a former adviser to previous President Uhuru Kenyatta, said Kenya needs a professional budget and management body like the Office of Management and Budget in the United States. Currently, Kenya's treasury makes budget estimates and forwards them to the parliamentary finance committee, which creates the finance bills. "Parliament has abdicated its mandate on the public finances in the Constitution, and it's looking after its own interests," Wagacha said in an interview. He said further borrowing by Kenya could be "disastrous" and proposed a strategy of using diplomacy to attract investment and restructuring the debt to get creditors to write off some of it. Another economist, Ken Gichinga, agreed that government borrowing will slow down Kenya's economy. Businesses still haven't recovered from the effects of the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine, he said. "When the government borrows more, interest rates go up. And when interest rates go up, businesses slow down, the economy slows down, due to the high cost of repayment," Gichinga said. Kenya's president has advocated self-sustainability, saying the country should raise more revenue instead borrowing. "If we are a serious state, we must be able to enhance our taxes," he said in May. But Kenyans have rejected attempts to raise taxes as they struggle with rising prices on basic goods, even storming parliament during the recent protests. Last week, days after announcing he would not sign the finance bill he once championed, Ruto said that he had worked hard "to pull Kenya out of a debt trap" and that huge consequences lie ahead. Wagacha said economic growth must come before the government increases revenue targets and tax collection. "You create an expanded economy with employment and with investment, and people have money in their pockets. It's much easier for them to hear about your request for taxes," he said. He suggested making access to low-interest credit easier for businesses in key sectors such as tourism and agriculture, saying small businesses hold the key to Kenya's economic growth as they tend to absorb many employees. That could help address high youth unemployment. The government should give incentives to businesses to create jobs with low taxation and lower interest rates, Gichinga said. "At the end of the day, we need a jobs-centered economic policy. That's what we've been lacking," he said. The IMF, which had suggested some of the controversial tax changes, has been a target of Kenya's public dissatisfaction. Some protesters had posters with messages such as "IMF stop colonialism." In a statement late last month, the IMF said it was monitoring the situation in Kenya, adding that its main goal was to help it "overcome the difficult economic challenges it faces and improve its economic prospects and the well-being of its people." The IMF needs to do more for Kenya beyond focusing on debt sustainability and be a "strong development partner," Gichinga said.

American soldier Jericho Magallon went to fight in Ukraine in March 2022. He was killed in September near Bakhmut. In late June, his body was brought back home to California for a funeral. VOA Russian Service spoke with his mother and siblings about his life in this story narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Vazgen Varzhabetian.

John Collins visited Ghana as a child with his father. But life brought him back years later, and the musician never left. VOA’s Isaac Kaledzi met him in Accra and Anthony Labruto narrates.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Yangon, Myanmar — Myanmar ethnic minority fighters said on Wednesday they have seized a town along a key trade highway to China following days of clashes with junta troops.  The town of Naungcho "is totally ours," General Tar Bhone Kyaw of the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) told AFP.   Earlier Wednesday a military source told AFP that ethnic minority fighters were in control of "most" of Naungcho.  Myanmar's northern Shan state has been rocked by clashes since late last month when an alliance of ethnic armed groups renewed an offensive along the highway that runs from second city Mandalay to China's Yunnan province.  Naungcho is around 50 kilometers along the highway from the former British hill station of Pyin Oo Lwin, home to the military's elite officer training academy.   Another road from the town leads to Taunggyi, the capital of Shan state.   AFP was unable to reach a junta spokesman for comment.   Myanmar's borderlands are home to myriad ethnic armed groups who have battled the military since independence from Britain in 1948 for autonomy and control of lucrative resources.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

SYDNEY — Australia, along with the United States and Britain, are accusing a state sponsored Chinese spy agency of cyber espionage. Authorities in Beijing have rejected the allegations as another attempt to “smear and frame China on cybersecurity.” The Australian Signals Directorate, the national cyber intelligence agency, has accused a group called APT40 - meaning Advanced Persistent Threat - of widespread hacking on behalf of a branch of China's Ministry of State Security.   The agency said Tuesday that the hackers were trying to plunder information by infiltrating old and forgotten computers that were still connected to sensitive networks. Australian officials said the targets were government and business networks, and that the threat was “ongoing.” It is the first time Australia has directly attributed malicious cyber espionage to a state-sponsored group in China.    The Australian Signals Directorate’s report was co-authored by Canberra’s Five Eyes security alliance partners; Canada, New Zealand, the United States and Britain, along with Germany, South Korea and Japan.   Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sought to stabilize ties with China after years of diplomatic friction but has insisted there would be areas of disagreements. Matt Thistlethwaite, Australia’s Assistant Minister for Defense, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Wednesday that the “cyber domain” was becoming an area of conflict and espionage.   “It has been a non-traditional area of conflict in Ukraine and we are learning a lot of lessons from that," he said. "That is why the Albanese government is making record investments in bolstering Australia’s cyber capability both in a defense sense and in a non-defense sense as well." Analysts have said Australia’s cyber espionage allegations appear to be an escalation of international efforts to deter Beijing's cyber espionage activities. China has steadfastly refuted the claims. On Tuesday, a foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing that the Chinese government was “firmly opposed to such repeated hype about so-called ‘Chinese cyber attacks’ aimed to smear and frame China on cybersecurity.” Experts have also said the stockpiling of sensitive computer information has made Australia a target for hackers.  In recent years, many of its major ports, its largest private health insurer and one of its main telecom companies have been targeted by cyber criminals. Earlier this year, the New Zealand government blamed APT40 for a cyber-attack in 2021 that compromised its parliamentary computer network.  

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.