Voice of America’s immigration news

Israel continues an almost weeklong assault on the northern West Bank to root out what it says is Hamas and Islamic Jihad infrastructure. Palestinians say at least 20 people have been killed and the Israeli operation has ripped up roads in Jenin. Israeli analysts say tensions are rising in the West Bank. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem. Camera: Ricki Rosen

SAO PAULO, brazil — Elon Musk's satellite-based internet service provider Starlink backtracked Tuesday and said it will comply with a Brazilian Supreme Court justice's order to block the billionaire's social media platform, X.  In a statement posted on X, Starlink said it will heed Justice Alexandre de Moraes' order despite him having frozen the company's assets. Previously, it informally told the telecommunications regulator that it would not comply until de Moraes reversed course.  "Regardless of the illegal treatment of Starlink in freezing our assets, we are complying with the order to block access to X in Brazil," the company statement said. "We continue to pursue all legal avenues, as are others who agree that @alexandre's recent order violate the Brazilian constitution."  De Moraes froze the company's accounts last week as a means to compel it to cover X's fines, which exceed $3 million, reasoning that the two companies are part of the same economic group. Starlink filed an appeal, its law firm Veirano told The Associated Press on August 3, but has declined to comment further in the days since.  Days later, the justice ordered the suspension of X for refusing to name a local legal representative, as required in order to receive notifications of court decisions and swiftly take any requisite action — particularly, in X's case, the taking down of accounts. A Supreme Court panel unanimously upheld the block on Monday, undermining efforts by Musk and his supporters to cast the justice as an authoritarian renegade intent on censoring political speech in Brazil.  Had Starlink continued to disobey de Moraes by providing access, telecommunications regulator Anatel could eventually have seized equipment from Starlink's 23 ground stations that ensure the quality of its internet service, Arthur Coimbra, an Anatel board member, said on a video call from his office in Brasilia.  The company has said it has more than 250,000 clients in Brazil, and it is particularly popular in the country's more remote corners where it is the only available option.  Some legal experts questioned de Moraes' basis for freezing Starlink's accounts, given that its parent company SpaceX has no integration with X. Musk noted on X that the two companies have different shareholder structures.  X has clashed with de Moraes over its reluctance to block users — mostly far-right activists accused of undermining Brazilian democracy and allies of former President Jair Bolsonaro — and has alleged that de Moraes wants an in-country legal representative so that Brazilian authorities can exert leverage over the company by having someone to arrest. 

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.

When people think about the US state of Texas, they often think of cowboys in big hats and pointy-toed boots. But Texas is more than that. A study found that its biggest city, Houston, is the most diverse large city in the US. This is reflected in the immigrants and the many cuisines and cultures they brought with them to Texas. VOA's Elizabeth Lee reports.

washington — The Justice Department announced criminal charges Tuesday against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other senior militants in connection with the October 7, 2023, rampage in Israel, marking the first effort by American law enforcement to formally call out the masterminds of the attack.  The seven-count criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York City includes charges of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals, and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, resulting in death. It also accuses Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah of providing financial support and weapons, including rockets, that were used in the attack.  The impact of the case may be mostly symbolic given that Sinwar is believed to be hiding out in tunnels and the Justice Department says three of the six defendants named in the complaint are believed now to be dead. The complaint was originally filed under seal in February to give the U.S. time to try to take into custody the then-Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, but was unsealed Tuesday weeks after Haniyeh's death and because of other developments in the region, the Justice Department said.  "The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas' operations," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a video statement. "These actions will not be our last."  Washington pushes for cease-fire The charges come as the White House says it is developing a new cease-fire and hostage deal proposal with its Egyptian and Qatari counterparts to try to bring about an agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the nearly 11-month war in Gaza. A U.S. official, who was not authorized to talk publicly about the case and spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press there was no reason to believe the charges would affect the ongoing negotiations.  National security spokesperson John Kirby said the recent "executions" of six hostages — including one American, Hersh Goldberg-Polin — by Hamas "underscores the sense of urgency" in the talks.  Sinwar was appointed the overall head of Hamas after the killing of Haniyeh in Iran and sits atop Israel's most-wanted list. He is believed to have spent most of the past 10 months living in tunnels under Gaza, and it is unclear how much contact he has with the outside world. He was a long-serving Palestinian prisoner freed in an exchange of the type that would be part of a cease-fire and hostage release deal.  Other Hamas leaders charged include Haniyeh; Marwan Issa, the deputy leader of Hamas' armed wing in Gaza who helped plan last year's attack and who Israel says was killed when fighter jets struck an underground compound in central Gaza in March; Khaled Mashaal, another Haniyeh deputy and a former leader of the group thought to be based in Qatar; Mohammed Deif, Hamas' longtime shadowy military leader, who is thought to be dead following an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza in July; and Lebanon-based Ali Baraka, Hamas' head of external relations.  'Violent, large-scale terrorist attack' During the October 7 attack, militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The indictment calls the massacre the "most violent, large-scale terrorist attack to date" in Hamas' history. It details how Hamas operatives who arrived in Israel with "trucks, motorcycles, bulldozers, speedboats, and paragliders" engaged in a brutal campaign of violence throughout southern Israel that included rape, genital mutilation and machine-gun shootings at close range.  Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The war has caused widespread destruction and forced the vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million residents to flee their homes, often multiple times. 

With just over two months to go before Election Day in the United States, presidential nominees Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are campaigning on the economy and preparing for their first debate. VOA correspondent Scott Stearns looks at the race.

london — The future of German military aid to Ukraine and support for Ukrainian refugees in Germany are being called into question after a surge in support saw the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party emerge victorious Sunday in elections in the state of Thuringia. The AfD won with 32.8% of the vote, ahead of the Christian Democrats with 23.6%. The newly formed far-left BSW party was in third place with 15.8%. The AfD came in second in the neighboring state of Saxony, just behind the Christian Democrats. Björn Höcke, the AfD leader in Thuringia, said it was a "historic victory." "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you and then you win. And today, dear friends, we have won!" Höcke told cheering supporters Monday in the eastern town of Erfurt. It's the first state victory for Germany's far right since World War II. Rival parties, however, have vowed not to work in coalition with the AfD, meaning complex coalition talks could lie ahead for control of the state legislature. Although widely predicted, the results have shocked many of Germany's allies – not least Ukraine. Germany is Ukraine's second-biggest donor of military aid, behind the United States. That is now in doubt, said Mattia Nelles, co-founder of the German-Ukrainian Bureau, a political consultancy based in Düsseldorf. "Both the far-right and the far-left populist forces were campaigning on cutting German aid for Ukraine, and they were explicitly calling for a reduction in military aid,” Nelles told VOA. “They called on the government to finally pressure Ukrainians to start negotiating with Russia. They were for pressuring Ukraine into submission. And that is very unfortunate for Ukraine to have these very vocal forces gaining traction in these regional elections.” In the short term, Nelles said the state election results won't affect the federal government's funding of aid to Ukraine, "but you already see a slight change in the rhetoric of the centrist parties [toward Ukraine]. We have four centrist parties, and some of them already took some of the narratives or the frames that the populist and far-right parties were using," he added. Germany is set to hold nationwide federal elections next year. Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the liberal Free Democratic party – part of the ruling coalition - is pushing for aid to Ukraine to be halved in the next budget. His party gained less than 5% in the Thuringia state election and fears a repeat in the 2025 federal elections, noted analyst Liana Fix of the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations. "[They] are afraid that they will not get into parliament, which has happened already once before, that they were not able to cross the 5% threshold for the German parliament. So it's really a sort of a fight, a battle for political survival, especially for the liberals who are pushing for this agenda of cutting the budget for Ukraine," Fix said. Immigration was a major issue driving votes for the far right, with much rhetoric directed at non-European, and especially Muslim, migrants. Germany, however, is also hosting more than 1 million Ukrainian refugees – and the financial cost was under the spotlight during the state election campaigns of both the far right and far left, said analyst Nelles. "They were both – though on separate notes, different tonalities – campaigning on lesser aid or cutting of aid for Ukrainian refugees in Germany. The question whether and how they should be funded and whether they should be drafted or sent to Ukraine – that is a delicate issue," Nelles said. "We have males, Ukrainian males, that are legally eligible for the draft. So, there is growing pressure also on the male Ukrainian refugee population in Germany to push them back to Ukraine,” he added. “Germany is unable for good reasons to send males back to Ukraine. But the pressure on the government to do so is growing.” The federal government has given no indication that it intends to cut support for Ukrainian refugees or send them back to Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said last month that Berlin would support Kyiv with military aid "as long as necessary." Scholz's Social Democrat Party highlighted Monday that German intelligence services had classified the AfD as an extremist party and said its victory in Thuringia must act as a "wake-up call."

German military aid to Ukraine and support for Ukrainian refugees in Germany are being called into question following elections in which a far-right political party won power in an eastern state. The far-left also made gains in the elections. Henry Ridgwell has more on the outcome and what it might mean for Ukraine going forward.

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.

washington — Top U.S. election security officials are asking American voters to tune out the noise and reject what they describe as unfounded claims that the coming presidential election will be rigged.  Instead, in the first of a series of election security briefings planned in the run-up to November's election, they say U.S. voters should have confidence that when they go to the polls their votes will be counted accurately.  "Throughout the next few months, you are going to hear a lot of different things from different sources. The most important thing is to recognize the signal through the noise, the facts from the fiction," said Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which is responsible for election security.  "Our elections process, election infrastructure has never been more secure, and the election stakeholder community has never been stronger," Easterly said, briefing reporters Tuesday. "It's why I have confidence in the integrity of our elections and why the American people should, as well."  Easterly's effort to reassure voters comes a little over a month after the U.S. intelligence community issued its own warning that U.S. adversaries, led by Russia, Iran and China, are seeking to meddle with the November election.  But those efforts highlighted in the intelligence community warning are spearheaded by influence operations or disinformation campaigns designed to sow doubt about the U.S. election process and to help or hinder certain candidates.  In contrast, efforts by U.S. adversaries to attack or hack systems used to carry out the election, and tally votes, have so far been nonexistent.  "We have not seen any intent to interfere in the elections process," Cait Conley, CISA senior adviser, told reporters.   And while some of that could be explained by what officials describe as a steady stream of investments in election security infrastructure — including the hiring of more field offices and election security advisers — CISA officials are not taking the lack of malicious activity for granted.  "That is something that could change at any moment," Conley said. "When we look at this threat landscape for this election cycle, it truly is arguably the most complex yet."  CISA said other efforts to safeguard the upcoming presidential election include a variety of election security exercises, accuracy testing for voting machines, and enhanced security measures to protect election-related computer networks.  They also emphasize that none of the systems that record votes are connected to the internet and that 97% of U.S. voters will cast ballots in jurisdictions that have paper ballots as back-ups.  None of that, however, will stop countries such as Russia, Iran and China from trying to convince voters that things are going wrong.  Easterly said one of the biggest concerns is that U.S adversaries will portray minor hiccups as major scandals.  "It's almost inevitable that somewhere across the country someone will forget to bring the keys to unlock the polling location," she said. "Someone will unplug a printer to plug in a crockpot. A storm may cause a polling site to lose electricity."  Cybercriminals might even find a way to temporarily disable what officials describe as election-adjacent systems, including websites for state and local agencies that record and tally votes.  "We can absolutely expect that our foreign adversaries will remain a persistent threat to attempting to undermine American confidence in our democracy and our institutions and to sow partisan discord," she said. "It is up to all of us not to let our foreign adversaries be successful."  Easterly and Conley said the best way to avoid unnecessary panic is for American voters to rely on state and local election officials for information.  But if Americans rely on word-of-mouth social media accounts, it could cause trouble.  "It's a hard problem for social media companies," a senior U.S. intelligence official said at a recent briefing, speaking to reporters on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues.  "The PRC [People's Republic of China] definitely uses influence actors on social media to try to at least stir discord in the United States," the official said. "So, I would expect that platform to be [used]."  And there is growing evidence that China may be ramping up its efforts.  Graphika, a social media analytics firm, issued a report Tuesday warning that a Chinese-linked disinformation operation known as "Spamoflage" has grown increasingly aggressive.  Graphika said it has identified more than a dozen accounts on platforms including X, formerly known as Twitter, and on TikTok "claiming to be U.S. citizens and/or U.S.-focused peace, human rights, and information integrity advocates frustrated by American politics and the West."  "These accounts have seeded and amplified content denigrating Democratic and Republican candidates, sowing doubt in the legitimacy of the U.S. electoral process, and spreading divisive narratives about sensitive social issues," the Graphika report said, though it added that few of the accounts had managed to gain much traction.  Graphika's conclusions seem to be consistent with earlier assessments by Meta, the social media company behind Facebook and Instagram, when it first identified the effort last year.  "Despite the very large number of accounts and platforms it used, Spamouflage consistently struggled to reach beyond its own [fake] echo chamber," Meta said at the time. "Only a few instances have been reported when Spamouflage content on Twitter and YouTube was amplified by real-world influencers." 

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.

Washington — Turkey placed 10 people in pretrial detention Tuesday in connection with an assault of two U.S. Marines in Turkey’s western port city of Izmir. Several members of a Turkish nationalist group, Turkey Youth Union, or TGB, on Monday attacked two U.S. Marines from the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, which docked in the city’s port on Sunday, according to the Izmir Governorate. Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder told reporters Tuesday that the two Marines were not injured and are “safe.” He said they were aided by other Marines in the area during the incident and were subsequently taken to a local hospital for evaluation as a precaution before returning to the Wasp. “This is clearly a troubling incident. We are grateful for the support of the Turkish authorities who are looking into this,” Ryder said. He added that no Marines have been detained by authorities, and that those involved in the incident are cooperating with investigators. Turkish authorities arrested 15 people on Monday over the incident, and a Turkish court released five of them under judicial control on Tuesday. The remaining 10 were ordered held in pretrial detention until they hear charges against them. According to a video shared by the TGB on social media, TGB members were seen as they put a sack over a U.S. Marine’s head. “No one will be able to respond to the cries for help from U.S. soldiers. Your hands are stained with the blood of our brave soldiers and thousands of Palestinians. You will leave our lands!” the TGB wrote on X, tagging the X accounts of the U.S. Embassy in Turkey and the U.S. Department of Defense. “[U.S. soldiers] put a sack over the head of our soldiers in Sulaymaniyah,” a TGB member said in the video, referring to an incident in which U.S. troops arrested at least 11 Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq in 2003. Turkish media reported that the heads of the arrested Turkish soldiers were covered in sacks, and the arrests stirred a diplomatic crisis between Turkey and the United States. The incident is widely known as the “Hood event” in Turkey. The video also showed several TGB members chanting, “Yankee, go home,” a historical anti-American slogan associated with 1960s leftist protests in Turkey. Reports confirmed In a statement on Monday, the Izmir Governorate announced that two women and 13 men, who are members of the TGB, physically attacked two U.S. military personnel in civilian clothes. “Five U.S. soldiers in civilian clothes joined the incident after seeing it from a distance, and our security forces quickly intervened,” the governorate said. The U.S. Embassy in Turkey confirmed reports of the attack on Monday. “We thank Turkish authorities for their rapid response and ongoing investigation,” the embassy said on X. In a statement to VOA, a White House National Security Council spokesperson also said, “We are troubled by this assault on U.S. service members and are appreciative that Turkish police are taking this matter seriously and holding those responsible accountable.” On Sunday, Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, or DVIDS, reported that the Wasp was in Turkey “for a regularly scheduled port visit” that “provides an opportunity to further enhance strategic partnership between the U.S. and Turkiye.” According to the DVIDS, the schedule of the U.S. personnel included “tours organized by the ship’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation team, such as a visit to the Ephesus historical site, snorkeling and scuba diving, and a guided tour of Izmir’s cultural sites.” U.S. Sixth Fleet spokesperson and Navy Commander Timothy Gorman told VOA the two assaulted Marines were from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Middle East tensions The U.S. sent the Wasp to the eastern Mediterranean for deterrence reasons in June amid the increased tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. The USS Bataan and the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford were previously deployed to the region after the October 7 attack. Omer Celik, the spokesperson for Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party, criticized the deployments. “Every warship, every aircraft carrier sent there by other countries will provide an opportunity that will benefit those who say violence should continue and violence should spread even more to the region,” Celik said. The Wasp participated in bilateral at-sea training with two Turkish navy ships in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea from August 13 to 17. U.S. Marines shared information about the joint training, but Turkey’s National Defense Ministry did not publicly announce it. Later in August, Turkish media reported that the Wasp docked in Cyprus as part of the increased U.S. presence in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party criticized the government for not disclosing the joint training. VOA Turkish Service’s Ogulcan Bakiler from Izmir and Begum Donmez Ersoz from Istanbul contributed to this story. VOA’s Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb also contributed.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran's Supreme Court has upheld a death sentence imposed on a member of the all-volunteer wing of the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard who stormed a house during the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini and killed a 60-year-old man, a lawyer said Tuesday.  The sentence imposed on the Basij member marks a rare moment for Iran to hold accountable its security forces, who waged a bloody, monthslong crackdown on all dissent over Amini's death. More than 500 people were killed and more than 22,000 were detained.  Since then, Iran has put to death multiple protesters who were detained in the crackdown and accused of killing security forces, after closed-door trials criticized by activists abroad.  Lawyer Payam Derafshan, who represented a protester detained in 2022, told The Associated Press that the Supreme Court reached its verdict on August 26 over the killing of Mohammad Jamehbozorg, a carpet seller in the city of Karaj.  The convicted Basij member and others stormed Jamehbozorg's home in Karaj, some 40 kilometers northwest of the capital, Tehran, looking for demonstrators taking part in the Amini protests, including his son. The Basij member, identified only by initials, shot Jamehbozorg in the head, killing him.  Two other Guard members also received prison sentences. Iran's government and state media did not report the ruling.  Amini, 22, died after being arrested by Iran's morality police over allegedly improperly wearing her hijab, or headscarf. In March, a United Nations fact-finding mission said Iran was responsible for the "physical violence" that led to Amini's death and concluded that Tehran committed "crimes against humanity" through its actions in suppressing the protests.  There has been another case of a security force member receiving the death penalty over a killing in the Amini protests. In 2023, a military court sentenced Colonel Jafar Javanmardi, the police chief of northern port city of Bandar Anzali, for killing a young man while not observing the country's laws related for using live ammo.  The Supreme Court is still reviewing Javanmardi's initial death sentence.  Cases involving security forces accused of brutality have been a particular focus of Iran's new reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian. Last week, Pezeshkian ordered an investigation into the death of a man in custody after activists alleged he had been tortured to death by police officers. 

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.

gaborone, botswana — Botswana, Africa's longest democracy, will hold its general election on October 30, President Mokgweetsi Masisi announced Tuesday. Masisi will seek a second and final term after his ruling party endorsed his candidacy over the weekend. In a public address, Masisi said Botswana will continue with its long-standing principle of holding regular elections. Masisi’s ruling Botswana Democratic Party has been in power since independence from Britain in 1966. "The constitution of the Republic of Botswana mandates that we, as a nation, hold general elections every five years,” Masisi said. “This is not just a legal obligation but a fundamental principle that underpins our democracy, a commitment we have honored, and we will continue to honor in the future.” The president urged voters to turn out in large numbers after previous elections in 2019 experienced voter apathy and low turnout. Out of a target of 80% set by the country’s electoral body, the Independent Electoral Commission registered only 63% of the eligible voters. Masisi declared October 30 and 31 as public holidays to encourage citizens to vote. Masisi is seeking a second term, which would be his final one, if he is reelected. The president is allowed two terms in office, according to the constitution The BDP’s main threat is from a coalition of parties, the Umbrella for Democratic Change, or UDC, and the Botswana Congress Party, which has broken away from the opposition alliance. UDC spokesperson Moeti Mohwasa said they expected the announcement of the election date to come earlier. “We welcome the date. However, it is regrettable that such an announcement is made at such short notice,” Mohwasa said. “We would have liked a situation whereby the date of elections is announced well in advance, but what we are happy with is that after so much suffering under the BDP rule, this will come to an end on October 30.” Mohwasa said the election should be free and fair after his party alleged rigging in the previous poll, claims that were dismissed in court. The ruling party also denied the allegations. Leonard Sesa, a political analyst at the University of Botswana, said it was right for the president to make the election date public as concerns over a delay were mounting. “We were going to get worried if it was going to be postponed,” Sesa said. “Remember, we are talking about a beacon of shining democracy in Africa. Small things matter when gauging democracy. So, issuing a writ to say October 30, we are on the right track.” Sesa said political parties are not yet ready for the election as they are still battling to field candidates in all constituencies. “There was a delay for political parties to conduct their intra-party primary elections, within the political parties themselves, and people were worried,” he said. “There are some constituencies that all the political parties including the ruling party, have not posted anyone to stand.” In the previous election, the BDP secured a comfortable victory, where its share of the popular vote increased from 47% in 2014 to 53% five years later.

Abuja, Nigeria — Barely 48 hours after Nigeria's state-owned oil company made a startling revelation, hundreds of commuters joined a line stretching many kilometers for fuel at an NNPC outlet in the capital. In a statement Sunday, Nigeria’s state oil firm, NNPC Limited, said that financial constraints are hampering its ability to import gasoline. The statement acknowledged local media reports in July that the oil regulator owed oil traders more than $6 billion — double its debt compared with April. Nigeria depends on imports to meet its daily demand for gasoline — more than 66 million liters — and NNPC is the sole importer of fuel. Abuja resident John Prince said he'd been waiting in line for hours. "When I came in the morning, they were not selling [gasoline]. They said they were waiting for orders from above. [Now] I've been here for the past two hours,” he said. Prince said that while customers waited, the gasoline station increased prices by nearly 30%. NNPC said the situation could worsen supply in coming days but also said it is working with the government and other partners to fix the problem. Fuel shortages have been recurring in Nigeria since last year, despite Nigerian President Bola Tinubu scrapping the fuel subsidy. Tinubu doubles as petroleum minister, but authorities later reinstated a partial subsidy to curb inflation, the high cost of living and growing public tensions triggered by economic reforms. But the founder of the Center for Transparency Advocacy, Faith Nwadishi, said corruption and incompetence are to blame. "It's just a cocktail of corruption, impunity and no regard for the people of the country,” she said. “I think it's just another ploy to make Nigerians pay for impunity. It's quite disheartening. This morning, I had to queue so that I could get fuel to come out. You know — man hours lost, no productivity, and nobody is making any compensation for that. It's unfortunate.” Last month, NNPC announced a record $1.9 billion in profits for 2023 but said it was covering for shortfalls in the government's petrol import bill. Ogho Okiti, an economic analyst, said, "Every other oil-producing country is smiling now except Nigeria. So, it's a transparency problem. There's so much uncertainty. And that heightened uncertainty and volatility will continue to drive the price and, of course, drive the conditions that we see. “As it is, we're losing in all ramifications — we're paying exorbitant prices for fuel, the government is not getting the resources, and the exchange rate is worsening," Okiti said. Meanwhile, authorities say the Dangote Oil Refinery in the Lagos area has begun gasoline production and could supply up to 25 million liters this month. On Tuesday, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority entered an agreement with the NNPC to sell crude oil to Dangote refinery in the local currency, the naira. If that happens, it could significantly address local supply issues and save the country several billions of dollars in foreign exchange.

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.