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With less than a month to go until the U.S. presidential election, the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees have a busy week ahead. Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are both scheduled to continue rallying supporters in key states, amid warnings that the rhetoric is becoming more inflammatory. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports. …
Washington — SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket can return to flight for a mission planned for Monday to launch the European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft from Florida, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said Sunday. Elon Musk’s company, which has engaged in a public quarrel with the FAA in recent weeks, said Sunday it is planning the liftoff for 10:52 a.m. ET (1452 GMT) from Cape Canaveral. “The SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle is authorized to return to flight only for the planned Hera mission scheduled to launch on Oct. 7 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida,” the FAA said Sunday. The agency said it has “determined that the absence of a second stage reentry for this mission adequately mitigates the primary risk to the public in the event of a recurrence of the mishap experienced with the Crew-9 mission.” The FAA on Sept. 30 said SpaceX must investigate why the second stage of its Falcon 9 malfunctioned after a NASA astronaut mission, grounding the launch vehicle for the third time in three months. The malfunction caused the booster to fall into a region of the Pacific Ocean outside of the designated safety zone that the FAA approved for the mission. Hera is set to study the effects of the 2022 impact that NASA’s DART spacecraft had with the asteroid Dimorphos in a test of a planetary defense system — the first time a spacecraft managed to alter the motion of any celestial body. Dimorphos is a moonlet of Didymos, which is defined as a near-Earth asteroid. The Hera mission is expected to provide data for future asteroid deflection missions with an eye toward redirecting objects that could pose a future collision threat for Earth. Falcon 9 launched DART in 2021. The FAA on Sept. 17 proposed fining SpaceX $633,000 for violating agency rules ahead of two 2023 Falcon 9 launches. “They’ve been around 20 years, and I think they need to operate at the highest level of safety,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said on Sept. 24. SpaceX took issue with Whitaker’s comments, saying the company is the “safest, most reliable launch provider in the world, and is absolutely committed to safety in all operations.” Whitaker defended the FAA’s decision to delay a planned September Starship 5 launch, noting that SpaceX failed to complete a timely sonic boom analysis as required. The FAA has said it does not expect a license … “US aviation authority OKs SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle for Monday flight” →
Minneapolis, Minnesota — A Minnesota man was arrested after allegedly threatening to “shoot up” a Minneapolis synagogue, officials announced Saturday. Staff at Temple Israel reported to the Minneapolis Police Department on Sept. 11 that they had received several phone calls from a person threatening to “shoot up” the synagogue. Then Thursday, a special police detail assigned to provide extra patrols around Temple Israel ahead of the Jewish new year and the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel were notified of a man outside with a firearm. He fled the area, but officers arrested a 21-year-old man the next day. “Everyone in Minneapolis has the right to feel safe in their communities, and we will ensure our Jewish neighbors are protected as they celebrate the holy days,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian Chief O’Hara said at a news conference. “We take all threats made against our religious institutions seriously and will continue to hold the individuals accountable who threaten any of our city’s houses of worship.” O’Hara said officers learned the man had used a phone app to mask his voice as he made repeated threats against the synagogue. Officers did not recover a gun. The man was arrested for making “terroristic threats” and charges will be referred to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. O’Hara said officers had not found evidence the threat was motivated by antisemitism, but he said the timing of the threats was concerning. “Since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, the worst terrorist attack on our Jewish community since the Holocaust, our police officers have been present where a whole lot of hateful rhetoric has been said against our residents, against members of our community, simply because they are Jewish,” O’Hara said. …
London — A record 973 migrants crossed the Channel on small boats on the same day in which four died while attempting the journey from France to England, U.K. Home Office figures showed Sunday. The figure for Saturday is the highest single-day number of migrants making the cross-Channel journey this year, surpassing the previous high of 882 set on June 18. On the same day, a two-year-old boy and three adults died after overloaded boats got into trouble during the dangerous crossing attempted by several thousand every year. The tragedies bring the number of migrants who have died attempting Channel crossings this year to 51, according to Jacques Billant, France’s prefect for the Pas-de-Calais region. Over 26,600 migrants have crossed the Channel on small boats in 2024 according to U.K. Home Office figures. Saturday’s deaths were likely caused due to the victims being crushed in overloaded dinghies, according to authorities and prosecutors. U.K. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said Saturday that it was “appalling that more lives have been lost in the Channel.” “Criminal smuggler gangs continue to organize these dangerous boat crossings,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “The gangs do not care if people live or die — this is a terrible trade in lives.” Keir Starmer’s new Labour government has been at pains to reduce cross-Channel arrivals in small boats, a key issue in this year’s general election in July. The government has repeatedly pledged to “smash the gangs” of people smugglers who organize the perilous journeys. …
Kyiv, Ukraine — Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said on a surprise visit to Kyiv on Sunday that his country will invest 400 million euros ($440 million) in advanced drone development with Ukraine and deliver more F-16s in the coming months. More than 2-1/2 years since the start of the Russian full-scale invasion, Ukraine is fighting to thwart Russia’s troops as they inch forward in the east and attack critical infrastructure ahead of the winter months. “The war, of course, is intensifying every day, and Ukraine is setting up more brigades who all need support, who all need military equipment. We need to have this continuous flow of support,” Brekelmans told Reuters in Kyiv. The drone action plan will combine Ukraine’s innovation and Dutch knowledge to improve technology used on the battlefield, he said. “We will focus on different types of drones, so both surveillance drones, more defensive drones, but also the attack drones, because we see that Ukraine needs those more offensive drones also to target military facilities,” Brekelmans said. Around half of the investment will be spent in the Netherlands, while the rest will be split between Ukraine and other countries, he added. If the developed drones are successful, more funding will be available to scale up production, according to the defense minister. The Netherlands has pledged 10 billion euros ($11 billion) in military support for Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion and spent around 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) so far. Air defense After visiting the city of Kharkiv, pummeled by Russian glide bombs Saturday, Brekelmans said attacking military targets in Russia was the only way to defend the city. Ukraine has asked its partners to give it permission to use their weapons to strike targets deep in Russia and provide it with more air defenses. The Netherlands has contributed to its air defense support by driving international partners to supply Ukraine with F-16 jets and pledging 24 of them. The first batch of planes from the Netherlands is already operating in Ukrainian airspace, according to the minister, while the others will be delivered “in the upcoming months and maybe beginning of next year.” The country is also delivering reserve parts, ammunition and fuel for jets as it seeks to expand pilot training opportunities through meeting with partner countries and private sector players like Lockheed Martin to keep jets operational, he said. The Netherlands has … “Dutch defense minister pledges $440M for drone action plan with Ukraine” →
Reuters — Chinese hackers accessed the networks of U.S. broadband providers and obtained information from systems the federal government uses for court-authorized wiretapping, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. Verizon Communications, AT&T and Lumen Technologies are among the telecoms companies whose networks were breached by the recently discovered intrusion, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter. The hackers might have held access for months to network infrastructure used by the companies to cooperate with court-authorized U.S. requests for communications data, the Journal said. It added that the hackers had also accessed other tranches of internet traffic. China’s foreign ministry responded Sunday that it was not aware of the attack described in the report but said the United States had “concocted a false narrative” to “frame” China in the past. “At a time when cybersecurity has become a common challenge for all countries around the world, this erroneous approach will only hinder the efforts of the international community to jointly address the challenge through dialog and cooperation,” the ministry said in a statement to Reuters. Beijing has previously denied claims by the U.S. government and others that it has used hackers to break into foreign computer systems. Lumen Technologies declined to comment, while Verizon and AT&T did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Journal said the attack was carried out by a Chinese hacking group with the aim of collecting intelligence. U.S. investigators have dubbed it “Salt Typhoon.” Earlier this year, U.S. law enforcement disrupted a major Chinese hacking group nicknamed “Flax Typhoon,” months after confronting Beijing about sweeping cyber espionage under a campaign named “Volt Typhoon.” China’s foreign ministry said in its statement that Beijing’s cybersecurity agencies had found and published evidence to show Volt Typhoon was staged by “an international ransomware organization.” …
Paris — Crowds were participating in pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests and memorial events across the world Sunday on the eve of the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel. Sunday’s events follow massive rallies that took place Saturday in several European cities, including London, Berlin, Paris and Rome. Other events are scheduled through the week, with an expected peak Monday, the date of the anniversary. In Australia, thousands of people protested Sunday in support of Palestinians and Lebanon in various cities, while a pro-Israeli rally also took place in Melbourne. Samantha Gazal, who came to the rally in Sydney, said she was there “because I can’t believe our government is giving impunity to a violent extremist nation and has done nothing. … We’re watching the violence play out on livestream, and they’re doing nothing.” In Melbourne, supporters of Israel held up posters showing Israeli hostages who are still missing. “We feel like we didn’t do anything to deserve this,” said Jeremy Wenstein, one of the participants. “We’re just supporting our brothers and sisters who are fighting a war that they didn’t invite.” At a rally in Berlin, near the Brandenburg Gate, hundreds of pro-Israeli demonstrators set off up the famed Unter den Linden behind a banner that read “Against all antisemitism,” accompanied by a police escort. With many Israel flags waving overhead, some Jewish leaders led a song about “shalom” — peace — while marchers chanted “Free Gaza from Hamas!” and “Bring them home,” referring to hostages still held in the Gaza strip. Some in the crowd held up photos of hostages still held by Hamas. Photos of several women featured the word “Kidnapped” in German. Memorial events organized by the Jewish community for those killed in the Oct. 7 attack and prayers for those still in captivity were also to be held in Paris and London on Sunday afternoon. Security forces in several countries warned of heightened levels of alert in major cities, amid concerns that the escalating conflict in the Middle East could inspire new terror attacks in Europe or that some of the protests could turn violent. On Sunday, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her “full solidarity” with police, the day after security forces used tear gas and water cannons to disperse violent demonstrators in Rome. Meloni firmly condemned clashes between a few pro-Palestinian demonstrators and law enforcement officers, saying it was “intolerable that dozens of … “Pro-Palestinian, pro-Israeli crowds rally globally on eve of Oct. 7 anniversary “ →
miami — People across Florida were given notice Sunday that Milton, for now just a tropical storm off the coast of Mexico, could intensify rapidly into a major hurricane before slamming midweek into the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast. Tropical Storm Milton’s center was about 1,385 kilometers west-southwest of Tampa, Florida, early Sunday, heading east at 7 kph with maximum sustained winds of 95 kph, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. “Milton is moving slowly but is expected to strengthen rapidly,” the center said. “There is increasing confidence that a powerful hurricane with life-threatening hazards will be affecting portions of the Florida west coast around the middle of this week.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday that while it remains to be seen just where Milton will strike, it’s clear that Florida is going to be hit hard — “I don’t think there’s any scenario where we don’t have major impacts at this point.” “You have time to prepare — all day today, all day Monday, probably all day Tuesday to be sure your hurricane preparedness plan is in place,” the governor said. “Know your evacuation zone — there will be mandatory and voluntary evacuations.” DeSantis said as many as 4,000 National Guard troops are helping the Florida Division of Emergency Management and the Florida Department of Transportation to remove debris, and he declared a state of emergency in 35 counties ahead of Milton. He said Floridians should prepare for more power outages and disruption. “All available state assets … are being marshaled to help remove debris,” DeSantis said. “We’re going 24-7 … it’s all hands on deck.” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell defended her agency’s response to the destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene after Republicans’ false claims, amplified by former President Donald Trump, created a frenzy of misinformation across devastated communities. “This kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people and it’s really a shame we’re putting politics ahead of helping people,” Criswell told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. It’s created fear and mistrust among residents against the thousands of FEMA employees and volunteers on the ground across the southeast, she said. Despite this, Criswell said the agency is already preparing for Milton, well before it’s clear exactly where it will move across the Florida peninsula this week. “We’re working with the state there to understand what their requirements are going to be, so we can have those in place before it makes landfall,” … “Tropical Storm Milton could hit Florida as a major hurricane midweek “ →
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Rescue teams from Bosnia’s neighbors and European Union countries on Sunday were joining efforts to clear the rubble and find people still missing from floods and landslides that devastated parts of the Balkan country. Bosnia sought EU help after a heavy rainstorm overnight on Friday left entire areas under water and debris destroyed roads and bridges, killing at least 18 people and wounding dozens. Officials said that at least 10 people are still unaccounted for, many of them in the village of Donja Jablanica, in southern Bosnia, which was almost completely buried in rocks and rubble from a quarry on a hill above. Residents there have said they heard a thundering rumble and saw houses disappear before their eyes. Luigi Soreca, who heads the EU mission in Bosnia, said on X that the EU stands with Bosnia and that teams are arriving to help. Bosnia is a candidate country for membership in the 27-nation bloc. Authorities said Croatian rescuers have already arrived while a team from Serbia is expected to be deployed in the afternoon, followed by a Slovenian team with dogs. Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Czechia and Turkey have also offered help, a government statement said. Sunday is the date of a local election in Bosnia. Election authorities have postponed voting in the flood-hit regions, but the flooding has overshadowed the vote across the country. Ismeta Bucalovic, a resident of Sarajevo, Bosnia’s capital, said, “We are all overwhelmed by these flooding events. We all think only about that.” Impoverished and ethnically divided, Bosnia has struggled to recover after the brutal war in 1992-95. The country is plagued by political bickering and corruption, stalling its EU bid. …
Los Angeles — For more than two decades, the low rent on Marina Maalouf’s apartment in a blocky affordable housing development in Los Angeles’ Chinatown was a saving grace for her family, including a granddaughter who has autism. But that grace had an expiration date. For Maalouf and her family it arrived in 2020. The landlord, no longer legally obligated to keep the building affordable, hiked rent from $1,100 to $2,660 in 2021 — out of reach for Maalouf and her family. Maalouf’s nights are haunted by fears her yearslong eviction battle will end in sleeping bags on a friend’s floor or worse. While Americans continue to struggle under unrelentingly high rents, as many as 223,0000 affordable housing units like Maalouf’s across the U.S. could be yanked out from under them in the next five years alone. It leaves low-income tenants caught facing protracted eviction battles, scrambling to pay a two-fold rent increase or more, or shunted back into a housing market where costs can easily eat half a paycheck. Those affordable housing units were built with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, or LIHTC, a federal program established in 1986 that provides tax credits to developers in exchange for keeping rents low. It has pumped out 3.6 million units since then and boasts over half of all federally supported low-income housing nationwide. “It’s the lifeblood of affordable housing development,” said Brian Rossbert, who runs Housing Colorado, an organization advocating for affordable homes. That lifeblood isn’t strictly red or blue. By combining social benefits with tax breaks and private ownership, LIHTC has enjoyed bipartisan support. Its expansion is now central to Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ housing plan to build 3 million new homes. The catch? The buildings typically only need to be kept affordable for a minimum of 30 years. For the wave of LIHTC construction in the 1990s, those deadlines are arriving now, threatening to hemorrhage affordable housing supply when Americans need it most. “If we are losing the homes that are currently affordable and available to households, then we’re losing ground on the crisis,” said Sarah Saadian, vice president of public policy at the National Low Income Housing Coalition. “It’s sort of like having a boat with a hole at the bottom,” she said. Not all units that expire out of LIHTC become market rate. Some are kept affordable by other government subsidies, by merciful landlords or by states, … “As affordable housing disappears, states scramble to shore up the losses “ →
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday announced he will appoint 21 new cardinals of the global Catholic Church, in an unexpected push to influence the powerful group of churchmen that will one day choose his successor. The ceremony to install the new appointees, known as a consistory, will be held on December 8, the 87-year-old pope announced during his weekly noon-time prayer with pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter’s Square. It will be the tenth consistory called by the pope since his election 11 years ago as the first pontiff from Latin America. Although popes may choose to appoint cardinals at any time, Francis’s decision to make new appointments now comes as something of a surprise. As of the pope’s announcement there were 122 cardinals under 80 and able to vote in a future conclave. Church law technically limits the number of such cardinals to 120, but recent popes have frequently gone above that number. Two of the cardinals currently able to vote in a conclave will age out by the end of the year. A further 13 will cross the threshold through the end of 2025. All cardinals, regardless of their age, are allowed to take part in pre-conclave meetings, known as General Congregations, giving them a say in the type of person they think the younger cardinals should choose. Cardinals rank second only to the pope in the Church hierarchy and serve as his closest advisers. Due to their historical power and influence, they are still called the princes of the Church, although Francis has told them not to live like royalty and to be close to the poor. …
KYIV, Ukraine — One person has died after Russian forces attacked Ukraine overnight with 87 Shahed drones and four different types of missiles, officials said Sunday. A 49-year-old man was killed in the Kharkiv region after his car was hit by a drone, said regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov. A gas pipeline was also damaged and a warehouse set alight in the city of Odesa, Ukrainian officials reported. Ukraine’s air force said in a statement that air defenses had destroyed 56 of the 87 drones and two missiles over 14 Ukrainian regions, including the capital, Kyiv. Another 25 drones disappeared from radar “presumably as a result of anti-aircraft missile defense,” it said. The barrage comes a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that he will present his “victory plan” at the October 12 meeting of the Ramstein group of nations that supplies arms to Ukraine. Zelenskyy presented his plan to U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington last week. Its contents have not been made public but it is known that the plan includes Ukrainian membership in NATO and the provision of long-range missiles to strike inside Russia. In a statement Sunday, the Ukrainian leader paid tribute to the country’s troops, which he also described as “preparing [for] the next Ramstein.” “They demonstrate what Ukrainians are capable of when they have enough weapons and sufficient range,” he said in a statement on social media. “We will keep convincing our partners that our drones alone are not enough. More decisive steps are needed — and the end of this war will be closer.” …
paris — French President Emmanuel Macron called Saturday for a halt on arms deliveries to Israel for use in Gaza, provoking a sharp response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also criticized Netanyahu’s decision to send troops into ground operations in Lebanon. “I think that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza,” Macron told French broadcaster France Inter. “France is not delivering any,” he added during the interview, which was recorded Tuesday. Macron reiterated his concern over the conflict in Gaza that is continuing despite repeated calls for a cease-fire. “I think we are not being heard,” he said. “I think it is a mistake, including for the security of Israel,” he said, adding that the conflict was leading to “hatred.” His comments brought a swift response from Netanyahu. “As Israel fights the forces of barbarism led by Iran, all civilized countries should be standing firmly by Israel’s side,” Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office. “Yet, President Macron and other Western leaders are now calling for arms embargoes against Israel. Shame on them.” Israel was fighting a war on several fronts against groups backed by arch-foe Iran, the statement added. “Is Iran imposing an arms embargo on Hezbollah, on the Houthis, on Hamas and on its other proxies? Of course not,” Netanyahu said. All three groups are backed by Tehran and form part of its “axis of resistance” against Israel. “This axis of terror stands together. But countries who supposedly oppose this terror axis call for an arms embargo on Israel. What a disgrace!” Netanyahu said Israel would win even without their support. “But their shame will continue long after the war is won,” he said. “Rest assured, Israel will fight until the battle is won — for our sake and for the sake of peace and security in the world.” Cease-fire call French President Macron said avoiding an escalation in Lebanon was a “priority.” “Lebanon cannot become a new Gaza,” he added. And he returned to the subject Saturday in a speech to a conference of French-speaking nations in Paris. While both Paris and Washington had called for a cease-fire, said Macron, “I regret that Prime Minister Netanyahu has made another choice, has taken this responsibility, in particular, for ground operations on Lebanese soil.” The 88 members of the International Organization of La … “Macron criticizes Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations” →
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BUTLER, Pennsylvania — Donald Trump returned on Saturday to the Pennsylvania fairgrounds where he was nearly assassinated in July, holding a sprawling rally before a massive crowd in a critical swing state Trump hopes to return to his column in November’s election. The former president and Republican nominee picked up where he left off in July when a gunman tried to assassinate him and struck his ear. He began his speech with, “As I was saying,” and gestured toward an immigration chart he was looking at when the gunfire began. The Trump campaign worked to maximize the event’s headline-grabbing potential with just 30 days to go and voting already underway in some states in his race against his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Musician Lee Greenwood appeared on stage and serenaded him with God Bless the USA, frequently played at his rallies, and billionaire Elon Musk spoke for the first time at a Trump rally. “We fought together. We have endured together. We have pushed onward together,” Trump said. “And right here in Pennsylvania, we have bled together. We’ve bled.” ‘This is a must-win’ Trump needs to drive up voter turnout in conservative strongholds like Butler County, an overwhelmingly white, rural-suburban community, if he wants to win Pennsylvania in November. Harris, too, has targeted her campaign efforts at Pennsylvania, rallying there repeatedly as part of her aggressive outreach in critical swing states. At the beginning of the rally, Trump asked for a moment of silence to honor firefighter Corey Comperatore, who died as he shielded family members from gunfire. Opera singer Christopher Macchio sang Ave Maria after a bell rung at the same time that gunfire began on July 13. Standing behind protective glass that now encases the stage at his outdoor rallies, Trump called the would-be assassin “a vicious monster” and said he did not succeed “by the hand of providence and the grace of God.” There was a very visible heightened security presence, with armed law enforcers in camouflage uniforms on roofs. One of the most anticipated guests of the evening was Musk, who climbed onto the stage on Saturday jumping and pumping his fists in the air after Trump introduced him as a “great gentleman” and said he “saved free speech.” “President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America,” said Musk, who endorsed Trump after the assassination attempt. “This … “Trump returns to site of first assassination attempt for campaign rally” →
miami — A storm system that was brewing in the Gulf of Mexico earlier Saturday has strengthened into Tropical Storm Milton, with forecasters warning it could intensify into a hurricane headed to Florida next week. Tropical Storm Milton is about 355 kilometers north-northeast of Veracruz, Mexico, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said in a 1:25 p.m. EDT advisory. Though no coastal watches or warnings were in effect, the hurricane center said the Florida Peninsula, the Florida Keys, Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula and the northwestern Bahamas should monitor the system’s progress. The storm is forecast to strengthen and bring the risk of life-threatening impacts to portions of Florida’s West Coast next week, with hurricane and storm-surge watches likely being in effect Sunday. Parts of Florida are expected to have heavy rainfall beginning Sunday. The rainfall will bring the risk of flash, urban, and areal flooding, along with some river flooding. “There is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and wind impacts for portions of the west coast of the Florida Peninsula beginning late Tuesday or Wednesday. Residents in these areas should ensure they have their hurricane plan in place, follow any advice given by local officials, and check back for updates to the forecast,” the center said. Looking farther east, Leslie has strengthened into a hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean but isn’t threatening land, forecasters said. The storm was located Saturday about 1,170 kilometers west-southwest of the southernmost Cabo Verde Islands and had maximum sustained winds of 120 kph. There were no coastal watches or warnings in effect. Meanwhile, Hurricane Kirk remained a Category 4 major hurricane, and waves from the system were affecting the Leeward Islands, Bermuda, and the Greater Antilles, forecasters said. The storm’s swells were expected to spread to the East Coast of the United States, the Atlantic Coast of Canada and the Bahamas on Saturday night and Sunday. Forecasters warned the waves could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions. Kirk was expected to weaken starting Saturday, the center said. Though there were no coastal warnings or watches in effect for Kirk, the center said those in the Azores, where swells could hit Monday, should monitor the storm’s progress. Kirk was about 1,570 kilometers east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands with maximum sustained winds of 209 kph. The storms churned as rescuers in the U.S. Southeast searched for people unaccounted for after Hurricane Helene struck last week, … “Tropical Storm Milton forms in Gulf of Mexico, could become hurricane” →
budapest, hungary — Thousands of protesters gathered outside the headquarters of Hungary’s public media corporation Saturday to demonstrate against what they say is an entrenched propaganda network operated by the nationalist government at taxpayer expense. The protest was organized by Hungary’s most prominent opposition figure, Peter Magyar, and his upstart TISZA party, which has emerged in recent months as the most serious political challenge for Prime Minister Viktor Orban since he took power nearly 15 years ago. Magyar, whose party received nearly 30% of the vote in European Union elections this summer and is polling within a few points of the governing Fidesz party, has been outspoken about what he sees as the damage Orban’s “propaganda factory” has done to Hungary’s democracy. “What is happening here in Hungary in 2024, and calling itself ‘public service’ media, is a global scandal,” Magyar told the crowd in Budapest on Saturday. “Enough of the nastiness, enough of the lies, enough of the propaganda. Our patience has run out. The time for confrontation has come.” Observers say press freedom under threat Both Hungarian and international observers have long warned that press freedom in the Central European country was under threat, and that Orban’s party has used media buyouts by government-connected business tycoons to build a pro-government media empire. Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders estimates that such buyouts have given Orban’s party control of some 80% of Hungary’s media market resources. In 2021, the group put Orban on its list of media “predators,” the first EU leader to earn the distinction. On Saturday, Balazs Tompe, a protester who traveled several hours to attend the demonstration, called the state media headquarters a “factory of lies.” “The propaganda goes out at such a level and is so unbalanced that it’s blood boiling, and I think we need to raise our voices,” he said. “It’s nonsense that only government propaganda comes out in the media that is financed by the taxpayers.” ‘Public only hears from one side’ A retired teacher from southern Hungary, Agnes Gera, said dissenting voices were censored from the public media, limiting Hungarians’ access to information about political alternatives. “It’s very burdensome and unfortunate that the system works this way where the public only hears from one side and don’t even know about the other side,” she said. Magyar demanded the resignation of the public media director, and echoed complaints from many opposition politicians that they … “Hungarians protest state media ‘propaganda factory,’ demand unbiased press” →
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paris — Several people, including a child, died while trying to cross the English Channel from France to England, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said Saturday. Attempts to cross the channel in small, overloaded boats are frequent despite strong currents in what is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. “Smugglers have the blood of these people on their hands and our government will step up the fight against these mafias that organize these deadly crossings,” Retailleau said on social media platform X. Fourteen people were on the boat. One was flown by helicopter to a hospital after a search and rescue operation was conducted Saturday morning, local maritime authorities said. The incident was the latest in a series this year, including one last month in which 12 migrants died when their boat capsized in the channel. …
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran has emerged as a twofold concern for the United States as it nears the end of the presidential campaign. Prosecutors allege Tehran tried to hack figures associated with the election, stealing information from former President Donald Trump’s campaign. And U.S. officials have accused it of plotting to kill Trump and other ex-officials. For Iran, assassination plots and hacking aren’t new strategies. Iran saw the value and the danger of hacking in the early 2000s, when the Stuxnet virus, believed to have been deployed by Israel and the U.S., tried to damage Iran’s nuclear program. Since then, hackers attributed to state-linked operations have targeted the Trump campaign, Iranian expatriates and government officials at home. Its history of assassinations goes back further. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran killed or abducted perceived enemies living abroad. A history of hacks For many, Iran’s behavior can be traced to the emergence of the Stuxnet computer virus. Released in the 2000s, Stuxnet wormed its way into control units for uranium-enriching centrifuges at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, causing them to speed up, ultimately destroying themselves. Iranian scientists initially believed mechanical errors caused the damage. Ultimately though, Iran removed the affected equipment and sought its own way of striking enemies online. “Iran had an excellent teacher in the emerging art of cyberwarfare,” noted a 2020 report from the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Saudi Arabia. That was acknowledged by the National Security Agency in a document leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in 2015 to The Intercept, which examined a cyberattack that destroyed hard drives at Saudi Arabia’s state oil company. Iran has been suspected of carrying out that attack, called Shamoon, in 2012 and again in 2017. There also were domestic considerations. In 2009, the disputed reelection of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparked the Green Movement protests. Twitter, one source of news from the demonstrations, found its website defaced by the self-described “Iranian Cyber Army.” There’s been suspicion that the Revolutionary Guard, a major power base within Iran’s theocracy, oversaw the “Cyber Army” and other hackers. Meanwhile, Iran itself has been hacked repeatedly. They include the mass shutdown of gas stations across Iran, as well as surveillance cameras at Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison and even state television broadcasts. Low costs, high rewards Iranian hacking attacks, given their low cost and high reward, likely will continue as … “Hacks against US campaign latest examples of Iran targeting adversaries” →
kyiv, ukraine — Ukrainian forces said they shot down a Russian fighter plane Saturday while Russia claimed it made gains in Ukraine’s east. The Russian bomber was shot down near the city of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk province, head of the Kostiantynivka Military Administration Serhiy Horbunov was quoted as saying by Ukraine’s public broadcaster, Suspilne. Photos showed charred remains of an aircraft after it landed on a house that caught fire. Also in the partially occupied Donetsk province, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed Saturday that it had taken control of the village of Zhelanne Druhe. If confirmed, the capture would come three days after Ukrainian forces said they were withdrawing from the front-line town of Vuhledar, some 33 kilometers (21 miles) from Zhelanne Druhe, following a hard-fought two-year defense. Although unlikely to change the course of the war, the loss of Vuhledar is indicative of Kyiv’s worsening position, in part the result of Washington’s refusal to grant Ukraine permission to strike targets deep inside Russian territory and preventing Kyiv from degrading Moscow’s capabilities. Zelenskyy to present victory plan to allies Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that he will present his “victory plan” at the Oct. 12 meeting of the Ramstein group of nations that supplies arms to Ukraine. “We will present the victory plan — clear, concrete steps towards a just end to the war. The determination of our partners and the strengthening of Ukraine are what can stop Russian aggression,” he wrote on X, adding that the 25th Ramstein meeting would be the first to take place at the leaders’ level. Zelenskyy presented his plan to U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington last week. Its contents have not been made public but it is known that the plan includes Ukraine’s membership in NATO and the provision of long-range missiles to strike inside Russia. Russia shells southern Ukraine Meanwhile, two people died in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said. Ukraine’s air force said Russia had launched three guided missiles and 13 attack drones at Ukraine overnight into Saturday. It said the missiles were intercepted, three drones were shot down over the Odesa region and 10 others were lost. Nine people were wounded when a Ukrainian drone struck a passenger bus in the city of Horlivka in the partially occupied Donetsk region, the city’s Russian-installed Mayor Ivan Prikhodko said. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that air … “Ukraine shoots down Russian bomber in Donetsk” →
washington — Transgender rights, the regulation of “ghost guns” and the death penalty highlight the Supreme Court’s election-season term that begins Monday, with the prospect of the court’s intervention in voting disputes lurking in the background. The justices are returning to the bench at a time of waning public confidence in the court and calls to limit their terms to 18 years that have wide support, including the backing of Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the party’s White House nominee. Whether by design or happenstance, the justices are hearing fewer high-profile cases than they did in recent terms that included far-reaching decisions by the 6-3 conservative majority on presidential immunity, abortion, guns and affirmative action. The lighter schedule would allow them to easily add election cases, if those make their way to the high court in the run-up to the Nov. 5 election between Republican Donald Trump and Harris, or its immediate aftermath. “I think there are legal issues that arise out of the political process. And so, the Supreme Court has to be prepared to respond if that should be necessary,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson told CBS News last month in an interview to her promote new memoir Lovely One. The court’s involvement in election disputes might depend on the closeness of the outcome and whether the justices’ intervention would tip the outcome, David Cole, the outgoing legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said at a recent Washington event. “I don’t think the court wants to get involved, but it may have to,” Cole said. The court turned away multiple challenges from Trump and his allies to the results of the 2020 election that he lost to Biden. It’s been nearly a quarter-century since the Supreme Court effectively decided the 2000 presidential election, in which Republican George W. Bush edged Democrat Al Gore. When the justices gather Monday morning on a date set by federal law, they will shake hands with each other as they always do. Just after 10 o’clock, they will emerge from behind freshly cleaned heavy red drapery and take their seats on the curved mahogany bench, Chief Justice John Roberts in the center chair and his eight colleagues seated in order of seniority. There are likely to be smiles and shared private jokes. But the friendliness of that moment will not sweep away tensions that have barely been concealed. During … “Supreme Court opens new term with election disputes looming” →
In the United States, nearly 24 million immigrants are eligible to vote in November’s presidential election, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. census data. VOA’s Jeff Swicord spoke with two naturalized citizens about the choices they are making in this vote. …
beijing — The European Commission’s decision to press ahead with tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles threatens to undermine decades of cooperation between China and the EU, and endangers climate-change goals, Xinhua news agency said on Saturday. On Friday, the EU said it would push forward with hefty tariffs on China-made EVs, even after the bloc’s largest economy Germany rejected them. The dispute is its biggest trade row with Beijing in a decade. State-run Xinhua said the move revealed a “deep-seated protectionist impulse.” “Instead of fostering co-operation, these tariffs risk sparking a trade conflict that could harm not only China-EU relations but also Europe’s own ambition for a green transition,” it said. “The path forward is clear: Protectionist tariffs must be abandoned in favor of continued negotiations.” European imports of Chinese-made EVs have soared in recent years, raising concerns among some domestic EV producers that they could suffer significant losses from a wave of cheap Chinese electric vehicles. The proposed duties on EVs built in China of up to 45% would cost carmakers billions of extra dollars to bring cars into the bloc and are set to be imposed from next month for five years. The Commission, which oversees the bloc’s trade policy, has said the tariffs would counter what it sees as unfair Chinese subsidies after a yearlong anti-subsidy investigation. It said on Friday, however, that it would continue talks with Beijing. A possible compromise could be to set minimum sales prices. China’s Commerce Ministry has expressed strong opposition to the planned tariffs, calling them “unfair, non-compliant and unreasonable.” It has launched a challenge to them at the World Trade Organization. In what has been seen as retaliatory moves, Beijing this year launched probes into imports of EU brandy, dairy and pork products. The U.S. imposes a 100% duty on imported Chinese EVs. …
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Mozelos, Portugal — Portugal, the world’s leading cork producer, is finding new uses for the material, from footwear to furniture, as demand for wine bottle stoppers wanes. Producers highlight the environmentally friendly properties of cork, which is lightweight, recyclable, waterproof and fire-resistant, to encourage its use in diverse settings. Cork is obtained by stripping the bark of cork oak trees every nine years in a careful process that allows the tree to regenerate and grow, making the industry naturally sustainable. The material has “a negative carbon footprint because it comes from a tree that captures CO2 day and night”, Antonio Rios de Amorim, the CEO of the world’s largest cork producer Corticeira Amorim, told AFP. The push to diversify comes as global sales of wine decline, reducing demand for cork wine stoppers which have long faced competition from cheaper plastic stoppers and screw tops. “Periods of slowdown must be used to question what we do,” said Amorim, whose ancestors founded Corticeira Amorim 154 years ago in the northern village of Mozelos, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of second city Porto. Booster rockets, metro seats Thanks to cork’s cell-like structure, the material is elastic and highly impermeable, making it suitable to make shoes as well as ties, pants and other clothes. Furniture designers are also increasingly drawn to the material. British designer Tom Dixon has called it a “dream material” and put out a range of dark cork furniture that includes tables, stools and shelves using cork from Portugal. The Lisbon metro in 2020 replaced the fabric lining on all seats of its train fleet with cork, an easier to maintain material. Builders have been drawn to the material because of its unique thermal insulation and sound absorption properties. Cork is also finding its way into space. It is used in thermal protection coating on booster rockets because of its resistance “to strong variations in temperature”, said Amorim. Making wine bottle stoppers, however, remains the main activity for Portugal’s cork industry, which employs around 8,000 people. Corticeira Amorim makes some six billion cork wine bottle stoppers per year, almost all of them for export mainly to Chile, France and the United States. It accounts for 70 percent of the global market share for cork stoppers and posted sales of 985 million euros (one billion dollars) in 2023, slightly lower than in the previous year. Traditional methods Cork is made from the … “Portugal looks to put new twist on cork industry “ →