Voice of America’s immigration news

Strasbourg, France — Europe's top rights court will on Tuesday issue unprecedented verdicts in three separate cases on the responsibility of states in the face of global warming, rulings that could force governments to adopt more ambitious climate policies. The European Court of Human Rights, part of the 46-member Council of Europe, will rule on whether governments' climate change policies are violating the European Convention on Human Rights, which it oversees. All three cases accuse European governments of inaction or insufficient action in their measures against global warming. In a sign of the importance of the issue, the cases have all been treated as priority by the Grand Chamber of the ECHR, the court's top instance, whose 17 judges can set a potentially crucial legal precedent. It will be the first time the court has issued a ruling on climate change. While several European states, including France, have already been condemned by domestic courts for not fulfilling commitments against global warming, the ECHR could go further and make clear new fundamental rights. The challenge lies in ensuring "the recognition of an individual and collective right to a climate that is as stable as possible, which would constitute an important legal innovation," said lawyer and former French environment minister Corinne Lepage, who is defending one of the cases. Turning point The court's position "may mark a turning point in the global struggle for a livable future," said lawyer Gerry Liston, of the NGO Global Legal Action Network. "A victory in any of the three cases could constitute the most significant legal development on climate change for Europe since the signing of the Paris 2015 Agreement" that set new targets for governments to reduce emissions, he said. Even if the Convention does not contain any explicit provision relating to the environment, the Court has already ruled based on Article 8 of the Convention -- the right to respect for private and family life -- an obligation of states to maintain a "healthy environment" in cases relating to waste management or industrial activities. Of the three cases which will be decided on Tuesday, the first is brought by the Swiss association of Elders for Climate Protection -- 2,500 women aged 73 on average -- and four of its members who have also put forward individual complaints. They cite "failings of the Swiss authorities" in terms of climate protection, which "would seriously harm their state of health." Damien Careme, former mayor of the northern French coastal town of Grande-Synthe, in his case attacks the "deficiencies" of the French state, arguing they pose a risk of his town being submerged under the North Sea. In 2019, he filed a case at France's Council of State -- its highest administrative court -- alleging "climate inaction" on the part of France. The court ruled in favor of the municipality in July 2021, but rejected a case he had brought in his own name, leading Careme to take it to the ECHR. 'For benefit of all' The third case was brought by a group of six Portuguese, aged 12 to 24, after fires ravaged their country in 2017. Their case is not only against Portugal, but also 31 other states – every EU country, plus Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and Russia. Almost all European countries belong to the Council of Europe, not just EU members. Russian was expelled from the COE after its invasion of Ukraine but cases against Moscow are still heard at the court. The ECHR hears cases only when all domestic appeals have been exhausted. Its rulings are binding, although there have been problems with compliance of certain states such as Turkey. The three cases rely primarily on articles in the Convention that protect the "right to life" and the "right to respect for private life." However, the Court will only issue a precedent-setting verdict if it determines that these cases have exhausted all remedies at the national level. The accused states tried to demonstrate this is not the case during two hearings held last year.

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.

KIGALI, Rwanda — Rwanda is preparing to mark the 30th anniversary of the East African nation's most horrific period in history — the genocide against its minority Tutsi. To this day, new mass graves are still being discovered across the country of 14 million people, a grim reminder of the scale of the killings. Delegations from around the world will gather on Sunday in the capital of Kigali as Rwanda holds somber commemorations of the 1994 massacres. High-profile visitors are expected to include Bill Clinton, the U.S. president at the time of the genocide, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. In a pre-recorded video ahead of the ceremonies, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France and its allies could have stopped the genocide but lacked the will to do so. Macron's declaration came three years after he acknowledged the "overwhelming responsibility" of France — Rwanda's closest European ally in 1994 — for failing to stop the country's slide into the slaughter. Here's a look at the past and how Rwanda has changed under President Paul Kagame, praised by many for bringing relative peace and stability but also vilified by others for his intolerance of dissent. What happened in 1994? An estimated 800,000 Tutsi were killed by extremist Hutu in massacres that lasted more than 100 days. Some moderate Hutu who tried to protect members of the Tutsi minority were also targeted. The killings were ignited when a plane carrying then-President Juvénal Habyarimana, a member of the majority Hutu, was shot down on April 6, 1994, over Kigali. The Tutsi were blamed for downing the plane and killing the president. Enraged, gangs of Hutu extremists began killing Tutsi, backed by the army and police. Many victims — including children — were hacked to death with machetes. Kagame's rebel group, the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front, managed to stop the killings, seized power and has since, as a political party, ruled Rwanda. Kagame's government and genocide survivor organizations have often accused France of training and arming militias and troops that led the rampage, sometimes saying they expect a formal apology. A report commissioned by Macron in 2019 and published in 2021 concluded that French authorities failed to see where Habyarimana's regime, which France supported, was headed and were subsequently too slow to acknowledge the extent of the killings. However, the report cleared France of any complicity in the massacres. What came after the genocide? After Kagame seized power, many Hutu officials fled into exile or were arrested and imprisoned for their alleged roles in the genocide. Some escaped to neighboring Congo, where their presence has provoked armed conflict. In the late 1990s, Rwanda twice sent its forces deep into Congo, in part to hunt down Hutu rebels. Some rights groups accused Rwanda's new authorities of revenge attacks, but the government has slammed the allegations, saying they disrespect the memory of the genocide victims. Kagame, who grew up as a refugee in neighboring Uganda, has been Rwanda's de facto ruler, first as vice president from 1994 to 2000, then as acting president. He was voted into office in 2003 and has since been reelected multiple times. What's the political landscape like? Rwanda's ruling party is firmly in charge, with no opposition, while Kagame's strongest critics now live in exile. Kagame won the last presidential election, in 2017, with nearly 99% of the vote after a campaign that Amnesty International described as marked by suppression and a "climate of fear." Critics have accused the government of forcing opponents to flee, jailing or making them disappear while some are killed under mysterious circumstances. Rights groups cite serious restrictions on the internet, as well as on freedom of assembly and expression. Some claim Kagame has exploited alleged Western feelings of guilt over the genocide to entrench his grip on Rwanda. Now a candidate in the upcoming July presidential election, Kagame has cast himself in the role of a leader of a growing economy marked by technological innovation, with his supporters often touting Rwanda as an emerging business hub in Africa. What about reconciliation? Rwandan authorities have heavily promoted national unity among the majority Hutu and the minority Tutsi and Twa, with a separate government ministry dedicated to reconciliation efforts. The government imposed a tough penal code to punish genocide and outlaw the ideology behind it, and Rwandan ID cards no longer identify a person by ethnicity. Lessons about the genocide are part of the curriculum in schools. However, a leading survivors' group points out that more needs to be done to eradicate what authorities describe as "genocide ideology" among some Rwandans. What does Rwanda look like today? The streets of Kigali are clean and free of potholes. Littering is banned. Tech entrepreneurs flock here from far and wide. Stylish new buildings give the city a modern look and an innovation center aims at nurturing local talent in the digital culture. But poverty is rampant outside Kigali, with most people still surviving on subsistence farming. Tin-roofed shacks that dotted the countryside in 1994 remain ubiquitous across Rwanda. The nation is young, however, with every other citizen under the age of 30, giving hope to aspirations for a post-genocide society in which ethnic or tribal membership doesn't come first. Corruption among officials is not as widespread as among other governments in this part of Africa, thanks in part to a policy of zero-tolerance for graft.  Are there troubles on the horizon? Though mostly peaceful, Rwanda has had troubled relations with its neighbors. Recently, tensions have flared with Congo, with the two countries' leaders accusing one another of supporting various armed groups. Congo claims Rwanda is backing M23 rebels, who are mostly Tutsi fighters based in a remote area of eastern Congo. The M23 rebellion has displaced hundreds of thousands in Congo's North Kivu's province in recent years. Rwanda says Congo's military is recruiting Hutu men who took part in the 1994 massacres. U.N. experts have cited "solid evidence" that members of Rwanda's armed forces were conducting operations in eastern Congo in support of M23, and in February, amid a dramatic military build-up along the border, Washington urged Rwandan authorities to withdraw troops and missile systems from Congo. In January, Burundi, whose troops are fighting alongside the Congolese military in eastern Congo, closed its border with Rwanda and started deporting Rwandans. This happened not long after Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye accused Rwanda of backing Congo-based rebels opposed to his government. Rwanda denies the allegation. Rwanda has also been in the news recently over a deal with Britain that would see migrants who cross the English Channel in small boats sent to Rwanda, where they would remain permanently. The plan has stalled amid legal challenges. In November, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled the plan was illegal, saying Rwanda is not a safe destination for asylum-seekers.

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.

wilmington, delaware — President Joe Biden's reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee said Saturday that they raised more than $90 million in March and ended the year's first quarter with $192 million-plus in cash on hand, further stretching their money advantage over Donald Trump and the Republicans.  The Biden campaign and its affiliated entities reported collecting $187 million from January through March and said that 96% of all donations were less than $200.  That total was bolstered by the $26 million-plus that Biden reported raising from a March 28 event at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan that featured former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.   Trump and the Republican party announced earlier in the week that they raised more than $65.6 million in March and closed out the month with $93.1 million. As the incumbent in 2020, Trump had a huge campaign treasury when he lost to Biden.   Trump's campaign said it raised $50.5 million from an event Saturday with major donors at the Florida home of billionaire investor John Paulson, setting a single-event fundraising record.  Campaign fundraising reports filed with the Federal Election Commission detailing donations from Saturday's event are not expected until a mid-July filing date. Biden's campaign says the pace of donations has allowed it to undertake major digital and television advertising campaigns in key states and to work with the DNC and state parties to better mobilize would-be supporters before the November election.  The campaign said the $192 million-plus as of March 31 was the highest total ever by any Democratic candidate. About 1.6 million people have donated to the campaign since Biden announced in April 2023 that he was seeking a second term. The campaign raised more than $10 million in the 24 hours after the president's State of the Union speech in early March.  "The money we are raising is historic, and it's going to the critical work of building a winning operation, focused solely on the voters who will decide this election – offices across the country, staff in our battleground states, and a paid media program meeting voters where they are," Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement. She scoffed at "Trump's cash-strapped operation that is funneling the limited and billionaire-reliant funds it has to pay off his various legal fees."  Trump campaign officials have said they do not expect to raise as much as the Democrats but will have the money they need. The Biden campaign says its strong fundraising shows enthusiasm for the president, defying his low approval ratings and polls showing that most voters would rather not see a 2020 rematch. 

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A search was under way in Pakistan's northwest after gunmen ambushed and opened fire on a police vehicle, killing two people and injuring two more, an official said Saturday. The assault took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan and has borne the brunt of militant violence since the Pakistani Taliban unilaterally ended a cease-fire with the central government in November 2022. The province is a former stronghold of the militant group, which is also known as the TTP and allied with the Afghan Taliban. Police officer Tariq Khan said the attackers shot and killed a deputy superintendent and a constable in Lakki Marwat district. Heavy police reinforcements arrived at the scene, but the assailants had fled. Khan did not say how many attackers there were. Umar Marwat, a militant commander from the district, claimed responsibility for the attack and alleged the deputy superintendent had been active in operations against the TTP in the area. The TTP spokesperson has not issued a statement about the assault so far. In a separate incident, in the province's Bajaur tribal district, one police officer was killed and another was injured on Saturday in a roadside blast. Police official Zahid Khan said the initial investigation suggested it was an improvised explosive. Also Saturday, Pakistan's army said that security forces killed eight militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Dera Ismail Khan district. According to an official statement, the eight men died after an intense exchange of fire in the Friday night operation. The army alleged they were actively involved in activities against security forces and the targeted killing of civilians. The statement said that weapons, ammunition, and explosives were recovered from the slain militants. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack in Lakki Marwat and offered his condolences to victims' families. He praised the army for its operation in Dera Ismail Khan.

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.

LONDON — A journalist for an independent Iranian media outlet in London stabbed outside his home last week has returned to work, saying "the show must go on." Pouria Zeraati, a presenter for Iran International, needed hospital treatment for leg wounds suffered in the March 29 attack. The 36-year-old said the stabbing was a "warning shot." "The fact that they just stopped in my leg was their choice," he told ITV News. "They had the opportunity to kill me because the way the second person was holding me and the first person took the knife out, they had the opportunity to stop anywhere they wanted,” he added. Zeraati said he had returned to work Friday, adding: "Whatever the motive was, the show must go on." London's Metropolitan Police say the two suspects went straight from the scene in southwest London to Heathrow Airport and left the U.K. "within a few hours." Detectives were considering whether "the victim's occupation as a journalist at a Persian-language media organization based in the U.K." could have prompted the assault. Iran's charge d'affaires in the U.K., Mehdi Hosseini Matin, however, said Tehran denied "any link" to the attack. The Metropolitan Police has previously disrupted what it has called plots in the U.K. to kidnap or even kill British or Britain-based individuals perceived as enemies of Tehran. The Iranian government has declared Iran International a terrorist organization. The U.K. government last year unveiled a tougher sanctions regime against Iran over alleged human rights violations and hostile actions against its opponents on U.K. soil.

BUGESERA, Rwanda — Anastasie Nyirabashyitsi and Jeanette Mukabyagaju think of each other as dear friends. The women's friendship was cemented one day in 2007, when Mukabyagaju, going somewhere, left a child behind for Nyirabashyitsi to look after. This expression of trust stunned Nyirabashyitsi because Mukabyagaju, a Tutsi survivor who lost most of her family in the Rwandan genocide, was leaving a child in the hands of a Hutu woman for the first time since they had known each other. "If she can ask me to keep her child, it's because she trusts me," Nyirabashyitsi said recently, describing her feelings at the time. "A woman, when it comes to her children, when someone trusts you with (her) children, it's because she really does." It wasn't always like that. Nyirabashyitsi and Mukabyagaju are both witnesses to terrible crimes. But, in the government-approved reconciliation village where they have lived for 19 years, they have reached a peaceful coexistence from opposite experiences. Nyirabashyitsi, 54, recalled the helpless Tutsis she saw at roadblocks not far from the present reconciliation village, people she knew faced imminent death when the Hutu soldiers and militiamen started systematically killing their Tutsi neighbors on the night of April 6, 1994. The killings were ignited when a plane carrying then-President Juvénal Habyarimana, a Hutu, was shot down over Kigali. The Tutsi were blamed for downing the plane and killing the president. An estimated 800,000 Tutsis were killed by extremist Hutus in massacres that lasted over 100 days in 1994. Some moderate Hutus who tried to protect members of the Tutsi minority were also targeted. One victim was a woman who had been a godmother to her child, and later she saw the woman's body dumped in a ditch, Nyirabashyitsi remembers. "It was so horrible, and it was even shameful to be able [to] see that," she said. "For sure, we had no hope of living. We thought that we would also be killed. How could you see that and then think you will be alive at some point?" As for Mukabyagaju, she was a 16-year-old temporarily staying in the southern province of Muhanga while her parents lived in Kigali. When she couldn't shelter at the nearest Catholic parish, she hid in a latrine for two months, without anything to eat and drinking from trenches, until she was rescued by Tutsi rebels who stopped the genocide. "I hated Hutu so much to the point that I could not agree to meet them," she said, adding that it took a long time "to be able even think that I can interact with a Hutu." The women are neighbors in a community of genocide perpetrators and survivors 40 kilometers outside the Rwandan capital of Kigali. At least 382 people live in Mbyo Reconciliation Village, which some Rwandans cite as an example of how people can peacefully coexist 30 years after the genocide. More than half the residents of this reconciliation village are women, and their projects — which include a basket-weaving cooperative as well as a money saving program — have united so many of them that it can seem offensive to inquire into who is Hutu and who is Tutsi. An official with Prison Fellowship Rwanda, a Kigali-based civic group that's in charge of the village, said the women foster a climate of tolerance because of the hands-on activities in which they engage regularly. "There's a model we have here which we call practical reconciliation," said Christian Bizimana, a program coordinator with Prison Fellowship Rwanda. "Whenever they are weaving baskets, they can engage more, talk more, go into the details. We believe that by doing that ... forgiveness is deepened, unity is deepened." In Rwanda, a small East African country of 14 million people, women leaders have long been seen as a pillar of reconciliation, and Rwandans can now "see the benefits" of empowering women to fight the ideology behind genocide, said Yolande Mukagasana, a prominent writer and genocide survivor. Two of three members of Mbyo Reconciliation Village's dispute-resolution committee are women, and they have been helpful in resolving conflicts ranging from domestic disputes to communal disagreements, residents say. The women's activities set an example for children and "promote the visibility of what really this village is like in terms of practical unity and reconciliation," said Frederick Kazigwemo, a leader in the village who was jailed nine years on charges of genocide-related crimes. He said of the friendship between Nyirabashyitsi and Mukabyagaju: "It pleases my heart. It's something that I could have never imagined. ... It gives me hope (for) what will happen in future." Eighteen women are actively involved in basket weaving, meeting as a group at least once a week. Nyirabashyitsi and Mukabyagaju sat next to each other one recent morning as they made new baskets. A collection of their work was displayed on a mat nearby. "When we came here the environment was clouded by suspicion. It wasn't easy to trust one another," Nyirabashyitsi said. "For example, it wasn't easy for me to go to Jeanette's house, because I had no idea what she was thinking about me. But after time, the more we lived together, that harmony and that closeness came." Nyirabashyitsi and Mukabyagaju were among the first people to arrive in the village when it was launched in 2005 as part of wider reconciliation efforts by Prison Fellowship Rwanda. The organization, which is affiliated with the Washington-based Prison Fellowship International, wanted to create opportunities for genocide survivors to heal in conditions where they can regularly talk to perpetrators. There are at least eight other reconciliation villages across Rwanda. President Paul Kagame's rebel group, the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front, stopped the genocide after 100 days, seized power and has since ruled Rwanda unchallenged. Rwandan authorities have heavily promoted national unity among the majority Hutu and the minority Tutsi and Twa, with a separate government ministry dedicated to reconciliation efforts. The government has imposed a tough penal code to prosecute those it suspects of denying the genocide or promoting the "genocide ideology." Some observers say the law has been used to silence critics who question the government. Rwandan ID cards no longer identify a person by ethnicity. Lessons about the genocide are part of the curriculum in schools.

london — Airline passengers in parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland faced travel disruptions Saturday due to flight cancellations as a storm swept across both countries and left thousands of Irish homes with power outages.  The disruption caused by Storm Kathleen, named by the Irish Meteorological Service and the 11th named storm of the 2023-24 season, has affected flights at airports across Ireland and the U.K., including Manchester Airport and Belfast City Airport.  Dublin Airport said travelers due to fly were being advised to check with their airline for travel updates after weather conditions at other airports led to some cancellations and flight diversions.  EasyJet said that due to the impact of the storm, some flights to and from the Isle of Man and Belfast International had been unable to operate Saturday.  "We are doing all possible to minimize the impact of the weather disruption," the airline said in a statement to Reuters.  EasyJet said it was providing customers whose flights were cancelled with the option to transfer to an alternative flight or receive a refund, hotel accommodation and meals.  In Scotland, rail and ferry services were also affected and faced disruption due to Storm Kathleen with Scottish rail services implementing temporary speed restrictions earlier in the day.  Strong winds associated with the storm also led to several power outages across the country, with approximately 34,000 homes, farms and businesses impacted, Irish power supplier ESB Networks said.  "ESB Networks crews are mobilized in impacted areas and responding to power outages where safe to do so," the company said in an update Saturday.  

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso — In the suburbs of Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou, lucrative strawberry farming is supplanting traditional crops like cabbage and lettuce and has become a top export to neighboring countries. Prized as "red gold" in the Sahel, strawberry crops brought in some $3.3 million from 2019 to 2020, according to agricultural support program PAPEA. In their January to April season, strawberries "take the place of other crops," Yiwendenda Tiemtore, a farmer in the working-class Boulmiougou district on the city outskirts, told AFP. Tiemtore has been busy harvesting the red fruit since dawn, before temperatures rise to 40 degrees Celsius. He harvests about 25 to 30 kilograms of Burkina's popular strawberry varieties, "selva" and "camarosa," every three days, watering his plots from wells. Cultivating strawberries, which thrive on ample sunlight and water, might come as a surprise in this semi-arid West African country. But Burkina Faso leads the region's strawberry production, growing about 2,000 tons a year. Despite being prized by local customers, more than half is exported to neighboring countries. "We receive orders from abroad, particularly from Ivory Coast, Niger and Ghana," said market gardener Madi Compaore, who specializes in strawberries and trains local growers. "Demand is constantly rising and the prices are good." In season, strawberries tend to be sold at a higher price than other fruit and vegetables, fetching $5 per kilogram. Production has remained strong despite insecurity in the country, including from jihadi violence and the repercussions of two coups in 2022. As well as in Ouagadougou, strawberry production is prominent in Bobo-Dioulasso — Burkina's second city — even though "the sector's not very well organized" there, Compaore said. Since the 1970s "You might think it's an oddity to grow strawberries in a Sahelian country like Burkina Faso, but it's been a fixture since the 1970s," Compaore added. The practice began when a French expatriate introduced a few plants to his garden in the country. Now more and more people are growing them. "It's our red gold. It's one of the most profitable crops for both growers and sellers," he explained. Seller Jacqueline Taonsa has no hesitation in swapping from apples and bananas to strawberries in season. "With the heat, it's hard to keep strawberries fresh for long," said Taonsa, who cycles around Ouagadougou neighborhoods balancing a salad bowl on her head. "So, we take quantities that can be sold quickly during the day," she explained. That usually amounts to about 5 or 6 kilograms. Adissa Tiemtore used to be a full-time fruit and vegetable seller. She has mainly switched to selling woven loincloths now but takes up her strawberry business again in season because of the lucrative margins, as high as "200-300%." "I start strawberry selling again when they're in season to make a bit of money and satisfy my former customers, who continue to ask for them," she said. "We go round the different growers depending on what day they're harvesting. That way we get enough to sell every day during the three fruit-producing months," she said. The end of April spells the end of the bonanza. "We go back to our other activities, and we wait for next season," Tiemtore said. 

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.

ISFAHAN, Iran — A top military commander Saturday renewed Iran's promise to retaliate after an airstrike earlier this week widely blamed on Israel destroyed Iran's Consulate in Syria, killing 12 people, including two elite Iranian generals.  General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran's joint chief of staff, told mourners gathered for the funeral of General Mohammad Reza Zahedi that Iran will decide when and how to stage an "operation" to take revenge. Zahedi was the highest-ranking commander slain in Monday's attack.  "The time, type, plan of the operation will be decided by us, in a way that makes Israel regret what it did," he said. "This will definitely be done."  The attack on an Iranian diplomatic compound was a significant escalation in a long-running shadow war between the two archenemies, and Israel has been bracing for an Iranian response.  In all, 12 people were killed in the strike: seven Iranian Revolutionary Guard members, four Syrians and a Hezbollah militia member.  On Friday, the commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, General Hossein Salami, warned that "our brave men will punish the Zionist regime," escalating threats against Israel.  Tensions have flared against the backdrop of the six-month-old Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and raised renewed fears of a broader regional conflict. The Islamic militant group Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for 17 years, is one of Iran's proxies, along with Lebanon's Hezbollah militia and Yemen's Houthi rebels.  Both Hezbollah and the Houthis have carried out attacks along the fringes of the Gaza war, with Hezbollah engaging in daily cross-border exchanges with Israel and the Houthis frequently targeting Red Sea shipping.  Bagheri made the comments in Isfahan, Zahedi's hometown, about 440 kilometers (270 miles) south of the capital Tehran. 

Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo — Militia gunmen attacked a village in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 15 people, local officials and residents said. Scores of civilians have been killed this year in attacks blamed on the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO) armed group, which rival groups accuse of mining gold in the region. The latest attack was on the village of Galay in Ituri province. "They just started firing on everybody," Innocent Matukadala, an administrative official for Banyali Kilo district, that includes the village, told AFP. Matukadala said there were at least 15 people dead, but the toll could rise as many people jumped into the Ituri River to escape the attack and were missing. One emergency services official who requested anonymity said 16 bodies had been brought to the village square, including seven women. The Action Against Hunger (ACF) aid group this week suspended its work in parts of the Ituri province because of increased attacks blamed on CODECO and other groups. The ACF director for DR Congo, Florian Monnerie, said the armed groups had threatened his workers. A United Nations peacekeeping force for DR Congo that is meant to leave by the end of the year still has hundreds of troops in Ituri seeking to prevent violence. CODECO has thousands of fighters with the declared aim of protecting the Lendu ethnic group from rivals among the Hema, but it has also fought the DR Congo army. A conflict between the two communities between 1999 and 2003 left thousands dead. After more than a decade of relative calm, fighting surged again in 2017. Thousands have died and more than 1.5 million people have fled their homes, according to the U.N.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The now-aging hippies who took over a derelict naval base in Copenhagen more than 50 years ago and turned it into a freewheeling community known as Christiania want to boot out criminals who control the community's lucrative market for hashish by ripping up the cobblestone street where it openly changes hands.  Over the years, there have been many attempts to halt the illegal hashish sales that have often ended in violent clashes between criminal gangs and police, with trading then quickly resuming. On Saturday, residents started digging up Pusher Street, after which they can receive government money earmarked for the area's renovation.  Just after 10 a.m., two children living in Christiania, Emilia and Sally, lifted the first cobblestone from the infamous street in a symbolic move. A large crowd gathered at the scene erupted in applause as the heavy stone was showed around.  Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard, who was present at the ceremony, said he believes that the excavation of Pusher Street and the individual cobblestones has high symbolic value.  "For more than 40 years, Christiania and the illegal sale of drugs out here has been a huge thorn in the side of the established society," Hummelgaard told Danish broadcaster TV2. "But now we have reached the point where the Christianians have also had enough of the (criminal) gangs."  The plan is to create "a new Christiania without the criminal hashish market," said Mette Prag, coordinator of a new public housing project in the enclave. Prag, who has lived in Christiania for 37 years, likened it to "a village."  "We don't want the gangsters anymore," said Hulda Mader, who has lived in Christiania for 40 years. Once the illegal trade is gone, "there might be some people selling hashish afterward, but it's not going to be in the open."  After the cobblestones are removed, new water pipes and a new pavement will be laid on Pusher Street and nearby buildings will be renovated. That is the first step in an overall plan to turn the hippie oasis into an integrated part of the Danish capital area, although "the free state" spirit of creativity and community life is to be maintained.  Hippies create community For years, Danish authorities have been breathing down the necks of the downtown community.  In 1971, squatters took over the abandoned military facility and set up a neighborhood dedicated to the flower-power ideals popular at the time of free cannabis, limited government influence, no cars and no police. Since then, successive Danish governments have wanted to close Christiania because of the open sale of hashish, among other things, often leading to tense relations.  To begin with, the residents, called Christianites, disregarded laws by building houses without permits and often ignoring utility bills. Outsiders could only move into the community if they were related to someone already living there.  The residents eventually were given the right to use the land, but not to own it. After more than four decades of locking horns with authorities, they were given control over their homes in 2011, when the state sold the 84-acre (24-hectare) enclave for 125.4 million kroner ($18.2 million) to a foundation owned by its inhabitants. Currently, nearly 800 adults and about 200 children live there, according to Prag, with up to 25% of the residents above the age of 60.  The following year, it was decided to erect public housing for up to 300 people. Construction is expected to start in 2027.  Prag said they want "younger people, more families" to move in who are willing to participate in community activities to keep the spirit of Christiania alive, complete with buildings painted in psychedelic colors and stray dogs.  Area becomes tourist attraction Over the years, Christiania has become one of Copenhagen's biggest tourist attractions, a magnet for Danes as well as foreigners. Some come to be offended by the open sale of hashish — authorities for years tolerated the hashish trade on Pusher Street — and others to buy weed. Christiania banned hard drugs in 1980.  In 2004, police began cracking down on drug-related activities — worth millions according to police — controlled by the Hells Angels and the outlawed Loyal to Family. Even when police arrested dealers and fined customers, the illegal sales resumed soon afterward.  In August of last year, drug-related tensions escalated when a turf war apparently led to a shooting in which one man died and several people were wounded.  Residents have tried to stop the sales on Pusher Street themselves by tearing down the dealers' booths, but they mushroomed back. Residents blocked access to the street with huge shipping containers, but masked men removed them.  Residents drive out criminals Fed up with criminals, residents decided in August that something had to be done, knowing that the government had said that getting rid of the organized hashish sales was "an important prerequisite" before Christiania could get 14.3 million kroner ($2.1 million) earmarked for the renovation work.  Now, Christiania hopes that, by inviting ordinary people to come and help dig up Pusher Street, the sales will stop once and for all, and the community can remain an alternative yet legal part of Copenhagen without criminals.  "You can come and have a cobblestone" as a souvenir, Mader said with a smile. 

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.

Some U.S. voters were waiting for a third political party to announce its presidential ticket before they decided on the Democratic or Republican nominee. VOA Senior Washington Correspondent Carolyn Presutti tells us what they will do now that the No Labels group dropped plans to post a unity ticket. Camera:  Adam Greenbaum