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Istanbul — Nine Turks working for pro-Kurdish media outlets were arrested Tuesday in Turkey, their employers and lawyers said, with a relative of one saying they were accused of "terrorist activities." Four women and five men were arrested at dawn in Istanbul, the capital Ankara, and the southeastern city of Urfa, lawyers from the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), a press freedom organization, said. MLSA said those arrested work for news organizations including the Mezopotamia Agency and the newspaper Yeni Yasam and include several journalists and "press employees." The nine were denied access to their lawyers for 24 hours, MLSA said in a message on X. "No declaration has been made about the reasons for the detention of the journalists" on Tuesday morning, it said. Mezopotamia said one of its journalists was arrested in Ankara during "a police operation at his home.” A relative of one of the journalists, who asked not to be named, told AFP the police showed up at the journalist's home at dawn. She said the families of the journalists had been informed that their arrests were "part of an investigation opened in 2022 for terrorist activities.” The journalists based in Istanbul were being held on Tuesday in a police station in the city, she said. The international press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders, contacted in Istanbul, said it was "monitoring the situation closely.” Elsewhere, Belgian police searched the studios of two Kurdish channels, Sterk TV and Medya News, that broadcast from Belgium, the two media outlets said in a statement to AFP. The Belgian public prosecutor's office said in a statement on Tuesday that the searches were carried out "during the night" "at the request of the French judiciary," which is seeking to "establish possible evidence of terrorist financing. A source close to the police operation who asked not to be named told AFP those raids had "no link" to the arrests in Turkey.

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At least two countries have declared bankruptcy due to an inability to repay foreign interest payments, primarily to China.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — On a recent morning at a hospital in the heart of gang territory in Haiti's capital, a woman began convulsing before her body went limp as a doctor and two nurses raced to save her.  They stuck electrodes to her chest and flipped on an oxygen machine while keeping their eyes on a computer screen that reflected a dangerously low oxygen level of 84%.  No one knew what was wrong with her.  Even more worrisome, the Doctors Without Borders hospital in the Cite Soleil slum was running low on key medicine to treat convulsions.  "The medication she really needs, we barely have," said Dr. Rachel Lavigne, a physician with the medical aid group.  It's a familiar scene repeated daily at hospitals and clinics across Port-au-Prince, where life-saving medication and equipment is dwindling or altogether absent as brutal gangs tighten their grip on the capital and beyond. They have blocked roads, forced the closure of the main international airport in early March and paralyzed operations at the country's largest seaport, where containers filled with key supplies remain stuck.  "Everything is crashing," Lavigne said.  Haiti's health system has long been fragile, but it's now nearing total collapse after gangs launched coordinated attacks on February 29, targeting critical infrastructure in the capital and beyond.    The violence has forced several medical institutions and dialysis centers to close, including Haiti's largest public hospital. Located in downtown Port-au-Prince, the Hospital of the State University of Haiti was supposed to reopen on April 1 after closing when the attack began, but gangs have infiltrated it.  One of the few institutions still operating is Peace University Hospital, located south of the shuttered airport. From February 29 to April 15, the hospital treated some 200 patients with gunshot wounds, and its beds remain full.  "We urgently need fuel because we operate using generators. Otherwise we run the risk of closing our doors," hospital director Dr. Paul Junior Fontilus said in a statement.  More than 2,500 people were killed or wounded across Haiti from January to March, a more than 50% increase compared with the same period last year, according to a recent U.N. report.  Even if a hospital is open, sometimes there is little or no medical staff because gang violence erupts daily in Port-au-Prince, forcing doctors and nurses to stay at home or turn around if they encounter blocked roads manned by heavily armed men.  The spiraling chaos has left a growing number of patients with cancer, AIDS and other serious illnesses with little to no recourse, with gangs also looting and setting fire to pharmacies in the capital's downtown area.  Doctors Without Borders itself has run out of many medications used to treat diabetes and high blood pressure, and asthma inhalers that help prevent deadly attacks are nowhere to be found in the capital, Lavigne said.  At the Doctors Without Borders hospital, medical staff recently tried to save a boy with a severe asthma attack by giving him oxygen, she said. That didn't work, and neither did another type of medication. Finally, they ended up injecting him with adrenaline, which is used in emergencies to treat anaphylactic shock.  "We improvise and we do our best for the people here," Lavigne said.  People's health is worsening because the daily medication they need for their chronic conditions is not available, warned Doctors Without Borders project coordinator Jacob Burns.  "It becomes acute and then they run out of options," he said. "For certain people, there are very, very few options right now."  Despite the pressing need for medical care, the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Cite Soleil has been forced to cut the number of outpatients it treats daily from 150 to 50, Burns said, though all emergencies are attended to.  Scores of people line up outside the hospital each day and risk being shot by gang members who control the area as they await medical care.  Everyone is allowed to enter the hospital compound, but medical staff set up a triage to determine which 50 people will be seen. Those with less urgent needs are asked to return another day, Burns said.    On Friday morning, 51-year-old Jean Marc Baptiste shuffled into the emergency room with a bloody bandage on his right hand. He said police in an armored vehicle shot him the previous day as he was collecting wood to sell as kindling in an area controlled by gangs.  Once inside, nurses removed the bandage to reveal a gaping wound in his thumb as he cried out in pain. Lavigne told him he needed a plastic surgeon, which the hospital does not have, and ordered X-rays to ensure there was no fracture.  On average, the Cite Soleil hospital sees three wounded people a day, but sometimes it's up to 14 now, staff said.  Recently, five people wounded by bullets arrived at the hospital after spending all night inside a public bus that couldn't move because of heavy gunfire, Burns said.  "Cite Soleil was long the epicenter of violence," he said. "And now violence is so widespread that it's become a problem for everyone."

WASHINGTON — Myanmar’s ruling junta, the State Administrative Council, is criticizing a U.S. aid package that is being funneled through opponents of the regime, saying the United States should consider whether its actions amount to support for terrorism.  The assistance marks the first implementation of the BURMA Act, part of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act aimed at helping pro-democracy forces battling the SAC.  Under the act, the aid is intended to strengthen federalism in Myanmar by providing nonlethal assistance to armed groups, helping pro-democracy organizations, assisting aid organizations operating from Thailand, and financing investigations of junta human rights violations. The aid is restricted to ensure it does not benefit the SAC or any entity affiliated with the Myanmar military.  “We believe the U.S. is manipulating Myanmar to counter China's influence in the region,” the junta said in a statement provided to VOA on March 29. “Despite the U.S. presenting itself as a champion of democracy, the aid disproportionately benefits Myanmar's opposition groups, particularly the National Unity Government (NUG) and the People's Defense Force (PDF).”  The NUG is the opposition’s shadow government; the PDF is made up of civilian armed groups battling the military.  The junta statement calls on the United States to review its aid allocation “to reassess whether their actions, which some label as terrorism, represent a legitimate path to reclaiming power.”  The junta, which has killed and imprisoned thousands of people since overthrowing the democratically elected government in February 2021, accuses the NUG and PDF of responsibility for the civilian deaths. The statement did not elaborate on the charge that U.S. support for resistance groups in Myanmar is linked to Myanmar’s adversarial relationship with China.  The promise of the BURMA Act  The Burma Unified Through Rigorous Military Accountability Act, commonly called the BURMA Act, says it aims to “continue to support the people of Burma in their struggle for democracy, human rights, and justice.”  It identifies specific resistance groups as beneficiaries, including the NUG, and the National Unity Consultative Council, or NUCC, which comprises several opposition groups.  Also named are the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, which is made up of members of the ousted Myanmar parliament; the civil disobedience movement; "and other entities in Burma and in other countries” that seek to “bring about an end to the military junta’s rule.”  The act promises to “hold accountable perpetrators of human rights violations,” and to “hold accountable the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China.”  It provides $75 million for refugee assistance programs, including in Thailand and India, and $25 million for “technical support and non-lethal assistance” to the NUG and PDF. Smaller amounts are earmarked for governance programs, documentation of atrocities, and assistance to political prisoners, Rohingya and deserters from the junta’s military.  The Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority group, have faced persecution and discrimination in Myanmar for decades. In 2017, a military crackdown by the Myanmar army forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, seeking refuge from the violence and persecution.  The act authorizes appropriations to be allocated annually from fiscal years 2023 through 2027, with $121 million earmarked for FY 2024.   Process of the funding  During debate on the bill, the U.S. House of Representatives initially proposed a more limited $50 million aid package but agreed to the larger sum advocated by the Senate before final passage.  "We are pleased with the $121 million proposed by the Senate, instead of the $50 million proposed by the House. However, we believe this amount is insufficient, and should be closer to $300 million to meet the humanitarian needs on the ground,” said James Shwe, from the Los Angeles Myanmar Movement, which works with Myanmar activists in the United States.  In a Zoom call with VOA, Shwe also criticized what he sees as the high administrative costs of aid distribution.  “Because of the lack of state-to-state cooperation in a case such as Myanmar, where the aid is meant for humanitarian assistance, but not for the ruling power, this leads to several layers of management,” he said.  “The aid is funneled through USAID partners, the biggest of which is the U.N., which has to operate under the rules of the junta. In many cases, the U.N. will in turn deal with [non-governmental organizations]. The NGO then needs to distribute that aid to [civil society organizations] on the ground. This leads to ever-increasing administrative costs and less actual assistance to those in need.”  Shwe said administration costs eat up around 45% of aid funds.  “Only $75 million of the $121 million is allocated for cross-border aid, which we believe will be more effective than channeling funds through the U.N., the largest partner of USAID," Shwe added. But he welcomed the lawmakers’ decision to specifically name the NUG and the NUCC in the act, ensuring that they will play a role in the allocation of the funds.  Hopes for assistance amid U.S. engagement  Hopes for continued humanitarian assistance to Myanmar are on the rise after U.S. State Department Counselor Derek Chollet and USAID Assistant Administrator Michael Schiffer met this month with representatives from the NUG.  “The meeting underscores the ongoing commitment of the United States to engage with Myanmar's NUG leadership and support their endeavors to promote democracy, peace, and stability in the region,” said an April 11 State Department press release.  Chollet also met in late March with ethnic armed organizations allied with the NUG. "Met today with leaders of Burma’s ‘K3C’ ethnic group alliance on their extraordinary efforts to pursue a federal democracy in Burma,” he wrote on X on March 28. “We discussed steps for the international community to expand assistance to those in need and secure a better future for the people of Burma." The K3C alliance, comprising the Kachin Independence Organization, Karen National Union, Karenni National Progressive Party, and Chin National Front, is politically aligned with the NUG and collaborates militarily with its armed wing, the People’s Defense Force.  "We briefed them on the political and military situation in our state, as well as the humanitarian situation,” said Aung San Myint, secretary of the Karenni National Progressive Party, who shared details of the meeting with VOA by phone.   “Following our presentation, they assured us of continued collaboration as the U.S. Department of State. ... We have hope for increased humanitarian aid as discussions progress with U.S. officials."

Baku, Azerbaijan — Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Tuesday a peace deal with Armenia was closer than ever before, as teams from both countries began demarcating the border in a bid to end decades of territorial disputes and clashes. Aliyev's optimism comes amid progress on marking the border despite protests in Armenia, still bruised after Baku seized control of the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region in a lightning offensive last year. On Tuesday, teams from both countries installed the first border marker after officials had agreed to delimit a section based on Soviet-era maps. "We are close as never before," Aliyev said on Tuesday of an elusive peace deal. "We now have a common understanding of how the peace agreement should look like. We only need to address details," he said. "Both sides need time... We both have political will to do it." Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan last month agreed to return four border villages that were part of Azerbaijan when the two countries were republics of the Soviet Union. Aliyev said Tuesday he had accepted a proposal by Kazakhstan to host a meeting of their foreign ministers. Several countries have tried to play mediator — including Russia, Iran, the United States, France and Germany — but years of talks have failed. Aliyev downplayed the need for third party intervention. "We are not talking about any kind of mediation, because what happens now on our border demonstrates that when we are left alone... we can agree sooner than later," he said. Experts from both countries installed the first marker on Tuesday, they announced in identical statements. Rallies had earlier erupted in Armenia, with protestors briefly blocking traffic at several points on the Armenia-Georgia highway, fearful of giving up more land. Yerevan said Tuesday it would not transfer "Armenia's sovereign territory." The four abandoned settlements that are to be returned to Azerbaijan — Lower Askipara, Baghanis Ayrum, Kheirimly and Gizilhajili — were taken over by Armenian forces in the 1990s, forcing their ethnic Azerbaijani residents to flee. But Armenian residents of nearby villages worry they will end up isolated from the rest of the country and that some houses could fall into Azerbaijani territory. The area has strategic importance for landlocked Armenia: Several small sections of the highway to Georgia — a vital trade artery — could be handed over. The delimited border will run close to a major Russian gas pipeline, in an area that also offers advantageous military positions. Pashinyan has insisted on the need to resolve the border dispute "to avoid a new war." On Saturday, he said Russian guards deployed in the area since 1992 would be replaced "and border guards of Armenia and Azerbaijan will cooperate to guard the state border on their own." Border delimitation was a "significant change," he said, adding: "now have a border and not a line of contact, which is a sign of peace." Last autumn, Azerbaijani troops recaptured the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region from Armenian separatists in a one-day offensive that ended a bloody three-decade standoff over the region. But lingering territorial claims have continued to threaten a fresh escalation. Baku has claims over four more villages located in exclaves deeper in Armenian territory. It is also demanding the creation of a land corridor through Armenia to connect the mainland to the Nakhichevan exclave and onwards to close ally Turkey. Yerevan, in turn, points to its own exclave in Azerbaijan and pockets of land Baku has seized over the last three years outside of Karabakh.

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After years of political wrangling and court battles, British lawmakers passed legislation Monday that the government hopes will allow it to deport asylum seekers arriving in small boats across the English Channel to Rwanda for processing. As Henry Ridgwell reports from London, the dangers of the migrant crossings were underlined just hours after the law was passed.

Artificial intelligence continues to play a role in modern information warfare, revolutionizing the way data is processed, analyzed, and disseminated. As technology advances, understanding the intersection of AI and information warfare becomes increasingly crucial in safeguarding the integrity of information ecosystems. To take a closer look at how the United States, China, and Russia use AI in their respective information warfare operations, VOA’s Steve Miller caught up with Augusta University professors Lance Hunter and Craig Albert. Authorities say they've uncovered hundreds of bodies at Gaza hospitals. A U.S. Congressional deligation is in Ukraine.

Washington — The U.S. ramped up its sanctions against Iran on Tuesday, designating four people and two companies it says were "involved in malicious cyber activity" on behalf of the country's military.   "These actors targeted more than a dozen U.S. companies and government entities through cyber operations, including spear phishing and malware attacks," the U..S Treasury Department said in a statement.  The individuals and companies were working "on behalf of" Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Cyber Electronic Command (IRGC-CEC), the Treasury said.  "Iranian malicious cyber actors continue to target U.S. companies and government entities in a coordinated, multi-pronged campaign intended to destabilize our critical infrastructure and cause harm to our citizens," the Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in a statement.  "The United States will continue to leverage our whole-of-government approach to expose and disrupt these networks' operations," he added.   Tuesday's sanctions are the latest to be levied against Tehran by the United States and its allies for supporting anti-Israel proxies in the Middle East and for providing military support for Russia's war in Ukraine.   Last week, the U..S and Britain announced widespread sanctions against Iran's military drone program in response to Tehran's large-scale attack against Israel earlier this month.   That attack came in response to an April 1 airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus — widely blamed on Israel — that killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two generals.  A day after those sanctions were unveiled, the U.S. fined a Thailand-based firm $20 million for more than 450 possible Iran sanctions violations.  They included processing close to $300 million in wire transfers for a company jointly owned by the National Petroleum Company of Iran.   Alongside Tuesday's sanctions, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have indicted the four individuals in question "for their roles in cyber activity targeting U.S. entities," the Treasury Department said.  

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DETROIT — The U.S. Justice Department announced a $138.7 million settlement Tuesday with more than 100 people who accused the FBI of grossly mishandling allegations of sexual assault against Larry Nassar in 2015 and 2016, a critical time gap that allowed the sports doctor to continue to prey on victims before his arrest.  When combined with other settlements, roughly $1 billion now has been set aside by various organizations to compensate hundreds of women who said Nassar assaulted them under the guise of treatment for sports injuries.  Nassar worked at Michigan State University and also served as a team doctor at Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics. He's now serving decades in prison for assaulting female athletes, including medal-winning Olympic gymnasts.  Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin Mizer said Nassar betrayed the trust of those in his care for decades, and that the "allegations should have been taken seriously from the outset."  "While these settlements won't undo the harm Nassar inflicted, our hope is that they will help give the victims of his crimes some of the critical support they need to continue healing," Mizer said of the agreement to settle 139 claims.  The Justice Department has acknowledged that it failed to step in. For more than a year, FBI agents in Indianapolis and Los Angeles had knowledge of allegations against him but apparently took no action, an internal investigation found.  FBI Director Christopher Wray was contrite — and very blunt — when he spoke to survivors at a Senate hearing in 2021. The assault survivors include decorated Olympians Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney.  "I'm sorry that so many different people let you down, over and over again," Wray said. "And I'm especially sorry that there were people at the FBI who had their own chance to stop this monster back in 2015 and failed."    After a search, investigators said in 2016 that they had found images of child sex abuse and followed up with federal charges against Nassar. Separately, the Michigan attorney general's office handled the assault charges that ultimately shocked the sports world and led to an extraordinary dayslong sentencing hearing with gripping testimony about his crimes.  "I'm deeply grateful. Accountability with the Justice Department has been a long time in coming," said Rachael Denhollander of Louisville, Kentucky, who is not part of the latest settlement but was the first person to publicly step forward and detail abuse at the hands of Nassar.  "The unfortunate reality is that what we are seeing today is something that most survivors never see," Denhollander told The Associated Press. "Most survivors never see accountability. Most survivors never see justice. Most survivors never get restitution."  Michigan State University, which was also accused of missing chances over many years to stop Nassar, agreed to pay $500 million to more than 300 women and girls who were assaulted. USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee made a $380 million settlement. 

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