Delhi gasps under 'eye-burning' smog amid worst pollution crisis - Al Jazeera English

Millions of people in India's capital have started their day choking through "eye-burning" smog, as the city government put restrictions on the number of private vehicles on Delhi roads amid an air pollution crisis.

Pollution levels are so high that schools have been shut, flights have been cancelled and a public emergency declared as experts say the air in New Delhi is similar to smoking up to 50 cigarettes a day.

"I have a headache every day I wake up. It's suffocating to breathe sometimes. And inflammation in the nostrils and all. And eyes also. Like it kind of burns," Ankusha Kushi, a student, told AFP news agency.

As Delhi residents woke up on Monday, levels of particulates measuring less than 2.5 microns - so tiny they enter deep into the respiratory tract - were at 613 micrograms per cubic metre of air, according to the US embassy in Delhi. The World Health Organization's (WHO) recommended safe daily maximum is a reading of 25.

Air pollution at this level can aggravate heart and lung disease and also poses serious risk to the respiratory systems of the general population.

A poisonous haze envelops New Delhi every winter, caused by vehicle fumes, industrial emissions and smoke from agricultural burning in neighbouring northern states of Punjab and Haryana.

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The current crisis - the worst in three years - prompted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to announce a range of measures to fight what he described as "unbearable pollution".

Authorities in Delhi have ordered half the city's private cars to be taken off the road, based on an odd-even registration plate system - a decision many experts said was not enough and "too little, too late".

Delhi's seven million motorbikes and scooters, public transport and cars carrying only women were exempt from the restrictions.

"There is smoke everywhere and people, including youngsters, kids, elderly are finding it difficult to breathe," Kejriwal said in a video posted on Twitter.

Analysis: New Delhi smog threatens health of Indian residents

As smog levels exceeded those of Beijing by more than three times, authorities also parked a van with an air purifier near the Taj Mahal - the iconic 17th-century marble mausoleum 250km (150 miles) south of Delhi - in a bid to clean the air in its surrounds, the Press Trust of India reported.

The air quality index, measuring levels of PM 2.5, tiny particulate matter in the air, deteriorated to above 900 on Sunday, way over the 500-level that qualifies as "severe-plus".

Aside from the harm it was doing to the lungs of some 40 million people living in the capital region, the smog was so bad more than 30 flights were diverted from Delhi airport due to poor visibility.

Schools, which were closed on Friday last week, remained shut on Monday, and city-wide construction was halted until Tuesday in Delhi and surrounding areas.

Kejriwal said authorities were also distributing about 5 million face masks to schoolchildren.

Kejriwal, who likened Delhi to a "gas chamber" on Friday, said his city had done its part to curb pollution and that the burning of wheat stubble residue on farms outside the capital was responsible for the smog.

But Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar accused Kejriwal of politicising the issue, while an MP from the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dismissed the odd-even car rule as a "stunt" and said he planned to ignore it.

I agree Ashutosh. Pollution due to stubble burning is not in our hands though we r distributing masks to our Delhiites to reduce its ill-effects on the health of our people. However, lets try to reduce pollution due to local sources as much as we can. https://t.co/JWhmbXmwfo

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 4, 2019

Al Jazeera's Anchal Vohra reporting from Delhi said the conditions were really bad. "The air is unbreathable," she said.

Talking about the new measures she said they were expected to help "a little".

"A huge part of the pollution is vehicular pollution, so if you halt the number of vehicles, then yes I believe it should help."

"But the large part of this pollution is because of farmers burning the stubble in neighbouring states which are also fighting pollution, but there is no political consensus ... no clear directions as to what the government plan is.

"[So] as long as farmers keep burning the stubble, and in winter the pollution is expected to be high," Vohra  added.

 An Indian farmer burns crop stubble in a farm at a village on the outskirts of Amritsar [EPA]

India has faced a mounting pollution crisis over the past decade.

Fourteen Indian cities including the capital are among the world's top 15 most polluted cities, according to the WHO.

Experts warn that both state and national governments need to go beyond short-term remedies and tackle major pollution causes if air quality is to improve in the long term.

Amid lack of apparent inaction from the government, angry residents in Delhi protested outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence on Saturday.

On Sunday, Modi's top bureaucrat held meetings with officials from Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi to tackle the crisis.

Stop-gap solutions "can't be a substitute for addressing the major long-term chronic sources of air pollution," Daniel Cass, senior vice president for environmental health of global non-profit Vital Strategies, told AFP.

He said emissions restrictions should be imposed on motorbikes and scooters, which are heavily used in Delhi but exempted from the odd-even scheme, and called for more public transport investment.

Changing agricultural practices, switching electricity generation sources and accelerating the conversion of home-heating from charcoal to natural gas were also key measures in the pollution fight, Cass said.

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2019-11-04 08:58:00Z
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Britain's snap election is unlikely to make Brexit any clearer, analysts say - CNBC

Pro Brexit anti European Union Leave protesters demonstrating in Westminster on what, prior to another Brexit Day extension, would have been the day the UK was scheduled to leave the EU, and instead political parties commence campaigning for a General Election on 31st October 2019 in London, England, United Kingdom.

Mike Kemp | In Pictures | Getty Images

Will the upcoming U.K. election put an end to more than three years of Brexit uncertainty? Maybe not, experts say.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's deal was approved, in principle, by British lawmakers last month but political wrangling in Westminster led to the U.K. leader pausing his Brexit bill and opposition parties agreeing to an election.

Johnson said "the way to get Brexit done" was to have the national vote in December, but political analysts argue that he might be wrong.

Quentin Peel, an associate fellow at the think tank Chatham House told CNBC Friday that there is a "pretty good chance we won't" have clarity on Brexit after the election. Victoria Hewson, head of regulatory affairs at another think tank called The Institute of Economic Affairs, said this is "the most unpredictable election ever."

UK 'profoundly divided'

U.K. voters are still profoundly divided over EU membership, with the 2016 referendum itself producing a 51.89% result for leave and 48.11% for remain.

This division is now mirrored in the country's political system. The U.K. has traditionally been dominated by two main parties: the pro-business Conservative Party and the pro-social justice Labour party. However, both of them have failed to come up with a united position on Brexit. As a result, some of their party members have defected into other political groups or been expelled altogether.

Robert Colvile, director of the Centre for Policy Studies, told CNBC that there are now five parties "that matter."

Apart from the traditional two, Colvile was referring to: The Liberal Democrats — which is openly campaigning to stop Brexit altogether; the Brexit Party — whose leader, Nigel Farage, supports a no-deal breakup from the EU; and the Scottish National Party (SNP) — a pro-EU party based in Scotland.

"The Brexit vote will be split," Peel from Chatham House said. His theory is based on the fact that the Brexit Party supports what it calls a "clean" breakup from the EU and the Conservative Party is arguing that the country should leave the EU but with the deal that Johnson negotiated.

At the same time, "Labour's position is extremely obscure," Hewson from The Institute of Economic Affairs said. The party has said that it will look to negotiate another exit agreement with the EU and put it to a new referendum. Under this scenario, Brexit would likely take a lot longer to happen.

"It comes down to a numbers game," Hewson said.

In the event of a hung parliament then Colvile from the Centre for Policy Studies argued that a second referendum on the country's EU membership is the most likely option.

"If an election doesn't work (to solve the Brexit impasse), a second referendum is the last possibility," he said.

The polls have been wrong before

The U.K.'s voting system also adds another layer of complexity. The first-past-the-post electoral system tends to lend support to the bigger political parties.

The Conservative Party, under the leadership of Johnson, could get as much as 36% of the votes, according to a YouGov poll conducted in late October. It would be followed by Labour with 22% of support, the Liberal democrats with 19%, the Brexit Party with 12% and the SNP with 4% of votes.

However, these percentages would not necessarily translate to seats in the House of Commons with the electoral system the U.K. has.

Previous polls have proven to be wrong too. Ahead of the 2016 referendum, most polls expected that the U.K. would vote to stay in the European Union. In 2017, polls ahead of a snap election also forecast a large majority for the Conservative Party, which did not materialize.

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2019-11-04 07:52:44Z
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Hong Kong protests: Knife attacker bites man's ear after stabbing four - BBC News

At least four people have been injured in a knife attack at the site of a pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong.

The attack happened at the Cityplaza mall in the Tai Koo district on Hong Kong Island, local media reports said.

One of the injured had his ear partially bitten off by an as-yet unidentified male attacker, who was subdued by passersby in the mall.

Cityplaza was the scene of one of the protests on Sunday linked to an ongoing pro-democracy campaign in Hong Kong.

The campaign began in March with demonstrations against a bill that would have allowed extradition from Hong Kong to mainland China but evolved into broader demands.

Local media reports suggested the attacker targeted pro-democracy protesters who had gathered earlier at the Cityplaza mall. The attack came after he had argued with a couple. He injured at least four people before being beaten up by an angry crowd and arrested, the reports said.

Among those injured was a local councillor, Andrew Chiu Ka-yin, whose ear was severed. Images from the scene appeared to show the attacker lunging at Mr Chiu and biting his ear.

• A quick guide to the Hong Kong protests

The South China Morning Post quoted another victim, a woman, as saying the suspect took out a knife after arguing with her sister and her husband, who were also injured. The Hong Kong Free Press reported that that attacker was a Mandarin-speaking pro-Beijing supporter.

Hong Kong's wave of pro-democracy protests continued on Saturday, with police firing tear gas into crowds of demonstrators who had gathered days after a high profile activist, Joshua Wong, was banned from standing in local elections.

Five months into the protests, China's leaders signalled this week that they were preparing to change how they administered Hong Kong.

The protests have become a call for universal suffrage for the territory - the right of almost all adults to vote in elections.

Shen Chunyao, the director of the Hong Kong, Macau and Basic Law Commission, told reporters that officials were looking at ways to "perfect" how Hong Kong's chief executive was appointed and removed. He did not elaborate on what exactly might change.

Last month, the leader of one of Hong Kong's largest pro-democracy groups was taken to hospital after being attacked, apparently with hammers. Photographs on social media showed Jimmy Sham of the Civil Human Rights Front lying in the street, covered in blood.

From hospital, the activist said he "remained committed to the ideal of peaceful non-violence".

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2019-11-03 14:03:45Z
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In A Remote Arctic Outpost, Norway Keeps Watch On Russia's Military Buildup - NPR

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Norwegian Pvt. Ivan Sjoetun sits in the border post where Russian land can be seen out the window. The post is in the far northeast corner of Norway and offers a commanding view of this starkly beautiful area some 250 miles above the Arctic Circle. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

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Claire Harbage/NPR

There are precisely 525 stairs from the icy waters of the Barents Sea to the top of the observation post in the far northeast corner of Norway, along the Russian border. It's a steep climb, but once you reach the apex, there's a good chance one of the young Norwegian conscripts manning the outpost will have a platter of waffles — topped with strawberry jam and sour cream, a Norwegian favorite — waiting.

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These waffles were made by Sander Bader, 19, in the observation post where he and other privates stay while they keep an eye on the Russian border activities. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

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Claire Harbage/NPR

The border post, OP 247, offers a commanding view of this starkly beautiful area some 250 miles above the Arctic Circle. To the east, on the other side of the border, is a Russian observation post and a coast guard facility. Directly ahead, across the Barents Sea, is the small Norwegian island of Vardo, which houses a U.S.-funded military surveillance radar system.

"Apparently it's annoying the Russians a lot," says Capt. Sigurd Harsheim, commander of Jarfjord border company, because the radar installation helps keep an eye on Russian movements in the High North. "Basically you have good control of the entire Barents Sea and everything around it ... and I think part of the irritation is that it's American built."

There's good reason recently to keep a line of sight on Russia, whose sheer land mass overwhelms the seven other Arctic nations. Warming temperatures are opening up shipping lanes and uncovering the polar region's abundant natural resources. And now several nations are engaging in a military buildup of the Arctic. Russia is upgrading its military capabilities with new fighter jets and navy vessels, and its submarines are pushing farther into the North Atlantic. Norwegian military officials say Russia is also carrying out cruise missile tests and live-fire military exercises. That is forcing its neighbor, Norway, and other NATO members to rethink their military strategy in the region.

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More than 500 stairs are built into the side of the mountain where the Norwegian military observation post is located near the Russian border. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

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Claire Harbage/NPR

"[The Russians] are rebuilding the Northern Fleet, building new submarines; they're flying more; they are exercising more in the northwest of Russia with their battalions," Norwegian Defense Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen tells NPR.

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A number of countries crowd the Arctic. Marked here are Porsangermoen, a Norwegian military camp; Vardo, an island in Norway where the U.S. has funded a military radar system; the Norwegian observation post 247 that overlooks Russia; and Kola Peninsula, the home of Russia's Northern Fleet. Sean McMinn/NPR hide caption

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Sean McMinn/NPR

The center of Russia's Arctic military activities is the Kola Peninsula, in the far northwest of the country, next to Norway. "Out on the Kola Peninsula ... you'll see that ... they're modernizing and rebuilding and also building new facilities," says Maj. Brynjar Stordal, a spokesman for the Norwegian Joint Headquarters. "There's a lot more activity and more new equipment. And we also see that the tactics are becoming more advanced."

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Capt. Sigurd Harsheim stands at the base of the mountains where the observation post sits. Russia is steadily building up military bases and its nuclear arsenal in the Arctic. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

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Claire Harbage/NPR

The heavily militarized Kola Peninsula is also a base for the Russian navy's Northern Fleet, says Thomas Nilsen, a journalist who covers the region for the Independent Barents Observer online newspaper, based in Kirkenes, Norway.

"This is the home of the nuclear-powered submarines. This is the home of the [Russian] Spetsnaz special marine forces," Nilsen says. He says the Kola Peninsula is also a key training area for Russia's new weapons such as nuclear-powered cruise missiles and the nuclear-powered underwater drone.

Nilsen says Russia's buildup is due in part to its deteriorated trust with the West and to protecting military assets in the High North, including its natural resources. Ninety percent of Russia's natural gas exports come from Yamal Peninsula in the Arctic.

"We always have to remember that for Russia, the Arctic is economically and enormously important," Nilsen says. "So the Arctic has a much stronger role in Russia's national thinking than in any of the other Arctic states, including Norway."

The Russian government, meanwhile, has long expressed concerns about NATO's expansion near its borders. In June 2018, the Russian Embassy in Oslo complained that a Norwegian request for more U.S. troops "could cause growing tensions, triggering an arms race and destabilizing the situation in northern Europe."

Still, the extent of Moscow's aggression in the region has taken Western nations by surprise. In the years after the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, the U.S. and NATO shuttered Arctic bases and moved weaponry and other assets out of the region. The Arctic region was peaceful, as Russia stopped being a concern, says Col. Joern Erik Berntsen, the commander of Norway's Finnmark Land Defense. That changed in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea.

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Two privates walk on the mountain just outside the border post. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

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Claire Harbage/NPR

"The operations in the Ukraine was kind of a game-changer for NATO and for us," he says. "The security situation in the world has definitely changed; we are more or less back where we were before the fall of the wall."

We are more or less back where we were before the fall of the wall.

Joern Erik Berntsen, commander of Norway's Finnmark Land Defense

Berntsen says after Russia's actions in Crimea, Norway needed to reexamine its security situation. It went on a buying spree, acquiring submarines from Germany and dozens of F-35 fighter jets from the United States. Norway is also rebuilding and rearming some of its own bases.

One of those is Porsangermoen, the world's northernmost military camp, set among rolling hills and ponds in the county of Finnmark. In October, about 1,400 Norwegian troops carried out military exercises at the camp. There was snow on the ground, and a cold wind sliced through layers of clothing. Part of their training was how to fight under winter conditions.

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Snow falls on artillery battery near the Porsangermoen military base, where soldiers participate in military exercises in northern Norway. It is the world's northernmost military camp. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

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Claire Harbage/NPR

"Fighting during winter conditions is probably the hardest you can do," says Platoon Commander Lt. Benjamin Thompson. "That demands a lot of training."

Thompson, wearing a partially white camouflage uniform, says he has also had to train U.S. troops that have been rotating into the country over the past couple of years. The U.S. has hundreds of service members, mainly Marines, stationed farther south in Norway.

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Platoon Commander Lt. Benjamin Thompson at Norway's military base. "Fighting during winter conditions is probably the hardest you can do," he said. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

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Claire Harbage/NPR

"They were struggling in the beginning but after a while they became really good and learned a lot of important things to do during wintertime to be able to survive," he says.

Norway has lobbied the U.S. and other NATO allies for a stronger presence and more military exercises in the Arctic. Last year, Norway was the key staging ground for Trident Juncture, one of the NATO's biggest military exercises since 2002.

Two years ago, NATO reestablished an Arctic command, now out of Norfolk, Va., and the U.S. Navy recommissioned the 2nd Fleet to counter Russian activity in the North Atlantic.

Norway's defense minister, Bakke-Jensen, is pleased. "We have been working through NATO and with the U.S. to bring attention back to the North Atlantic, to these areas," he tells NPR. "We are satisfied with the new command structure; we are satisfied with the command control in Norfolk."

What we don't want to do is to back into a military conflict or military arms race, or back into militarization of the Arctic if we don't have to.

James Townsend, Center for a New American Security

In September, the U.S. flew a B-2 stealth bomber over the Arctic. James Townsend, who spent two decades working on NATO policy at the U.S. Department of Defense, says the mission helped send a signal to the Russians.

"The B-2 was showing that we can fly up there and showing the Russians that we will fly up there," he says. "It was a training thing on the one hand, but it's also a deterrent message to the Russians too."

Townsend, now with the Center for a New American Security, says it is important for the U.S. to know what's going on in the Arctic, but not get spooked by Russia's buildup.

"What we don't want to do is to back into a military conflict or military arms race, or back into militarization of the Arctic if we don't have to," he says.

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In October, about 1,400 Norwegian troops carried out military exercises at the camp. Part of their training was how to fight under winter conditions. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

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Claire Harbage/NPR

Berntsen of the Finnmark Ground Defense says too large a U.S. military presence in the Arctic could provoke Russia. For now, he says, it is best to build up Norway's forces and be ready to defend itself from its eastern neighbor.

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2019-11-03 13:41:00Z
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'It is a zone of death, and we're complicit': Why Evangelicals are upset with Trump's Syria policy - USA TODAY

Deirdre Shesgreen USA TODAY

Published 8:11 AM EST Nov 3, 2019

WASHINGTON – When Bassam Ishak heard that Vice President Mike Pence had secured a cease-fire in Syria – one that included protections for religious minorities – he felt a wave of optimism that his family back home would be safe. 

But in the weeks since that deal was announced in Turkey on Oct. 17, Ishak's hometown in northern Syria has nearly emptied, with Christians and Kurds fleeing amid fears of persecution by Turkish-backed militias.

When he announced the cease-fire, Pence emphasized Turkey's commitment to shield religious and ethnic minorities in the region. But Ishak and others say extremist paramilitary groups have not adhered to the U.S.-brokered deal, continuing their attacks and terrifying residents in their path. 

"They are frightened. These are communities who grew up hearing stories about the genocide against their people by Turkey in 1915," said Ishak, who left Syria in 2011 and now lives in Washington.  

He was referring to the Seyfo massacre, the little-known slaughter of an estimated 300,000 Christians by the Ottomans during World War I.

"For them to see this happening is like history repeating itself. This is why they’re fleeing," Ishak told USA TODAY. The 60-year-old Syriac Christian last visited his home in 2018; he now represents the Syrian Democratic Council, the political arm of the U.S-allied Syrian Democratic Forces, in Washington.

Ishak's fears help explain why the unfolding crisis in Syria has sparked such a visceral reaction from Christian leaders in the U.S., prompting some of President Donald Trump's most stalwart defenders to voice outrage over his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northeast Syria. Critics say Trump's move gave Turkey the green light to invade Syria and betrayed the Kurdish forces, known as the SDF, America's chief ally in the fight against the Islamic State terrorist group.

Now, some predict there will be an "ethnic cleansing" against the U.S.-allied Kurds, as well as the Yazidis and other minorities in northern Syria.

There is not a precise count of the number of Christians living in this region, but some experts put the figure at about 100,000. The region is diverse, with Arabs, Kurds, Yazidis and others living in relative harmony. The SDF, which is also an ethically mixed force, gained control of this region after the Syrian civil war broke out. Now, however, Turkey has moved in and Syrian government forces, under the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad, are also vying for control. 

Trump and other top White House officials have strongly defended the decision to withdraw U.S. troops stationed on the Turkey-Syria border. And they say the cease-fire has mostly held  – staving off more severe violence. 

"The Turkish leaders made real commitments to the vice president and me when we were on the ground" in Ankara, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News on Oct. 30. Pompeo traveled with Pence for the Oct. 17 negotiations with Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Pompeo said the Trump administration would continue to monitor the situation and make sure Turkey complies with the agreement. And he said he has not received reports of a genocide in the making.

The administration has also authorized $50 million in assistance for Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities in northeast Syria.

A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to provide a candid assessment, said the White House has received conflicting reports from inside Syria, and officials are "very aware" of the possibility that targeted violence could spiral. 

"We certainly would not declare an ethnic cleansing right now," this official said. "But we are aware, very aware, of the possibility and have been very clear that that's not something we're willing to tolerate."

The situation in Syria is not just a fraught foreign policy problem. It also has domestic political consequences. If Evangelicals become disenchanted with Trump over his Syria policy, it could cost him dearly in the 2020 election. White Evangelical voters supported Trump by an overwhelming margin in the 2016 election, 80 percent to 16 percent, and they have remained deeply loyal amid a cascade of controversies. 

But Trump's decision to withdraw most U.S. forces from Syria opened a rift. Perhaps the most notable criticism came from televangelist Pat Robertson, who slammed Trump's decision and said the president was "in danger of losing the mandate of heaven.” 

"... The president, who allowed (Washington Post journalist Jamal) Khashoggi to be cut in pieces without any repercussions whatsoever, is now allowing the Christians and the Kurds to be massacred by the Turks,” Robertson said during an Oct. 7 episode of his Christian Broadcasting Network show, the 700 Club.

Others have raised their voices as well. An American Christian missionary in Syria, David Eubank, has been posting near-daily photos and videos on Twitter, displaying the unfolding crisis in real time and pleading for Trump to reverse course.

In an Oct. 30 video, the former U.S. Army special forces ranger, describes helping Kurds and Christians who have abandoned their homes in northern Syria.

"... It is a zone of death, and we're complicit," says Eubank, the founder of Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian group that assists ethnic minorities in war zones. "We stepped out of the way knowing and publicly admitting what would happen." 

Trump administration officials have tried to quiet the Evangelical storm, reaching out to leaders privately and publicly.

Victoria Coates, Trump's deputy national security adviser for Middle East and North African affairs, recently went on American Family Radio, to address concerns raised by the show's host Tony Perkins, a powerful conservative Christian leader.  

A spokesman for the Family Research Council, the group Perkins' leads, did not respond to a request for comment. But during his Oct. 22 show, Perkins noted that while the region is predominantly Muslim,  "some of the longest consistent Christian communities in Christendom are there and I think ... it's important that they stay there."

After the U.S.-brokered cease-fire, Turkey and Russia agreed to conduct joint patrols along the Turkey-Syria border. Until Turkey's incursion, that swath of territory had been under Kurdish control, and experts say the Kurds had governed it democratically – giving residents more freedoms than in much of the rest of the region. 

But now, Amnesty International and other human rights groups say Erdogan's government has started deporting Syrian refugees, who fled to Turkey during Syria's ongoing civil war, back into northern Syria – even though many of them came from other parts of the war-torn country.

The Turkish government has argued that the Syrians are voluntarily returning to a "safe zone" they established with their military incursion. But advocates say it is anything but safe, and Amnesty International said it has documented cases of refugees being coerced to return. 

"I believe that we are already seeing the beginning of ethnic cleansing," said Amy Austin Holmes, a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Middle East Initiative.

"(Erdogan's) plan is to replace those people who have fled with the refugees from Turkey," she said. "It’s a mess basically, and nobody is willing to stand up to Turkey." 

The Trump administration official said the White House supports efforts to repatriate refugees if they are willing. But "we are not supportive" of forcing millions of Syrians to move "to places that they were not originally from."

"We do not have clarity" right now of Turkey's actions and intentions, this person said.

Holmes, who has worked in Syria and recently interviewed Kurdish fighters and Syrian civilians, has highlighted the historic connection to the 1915 Seyfo massacre in interviews with Syriac Christians. 

"We view the Turkish threat as an existential threat against us," Elizabeth Gawyria, a Syriac Christian whose family survived the Seyfo massacre, tells Holmes in a March video posted on Twitter.

"They want to take us from our homeland again," said Gawyria, a political leader in northeastern Syria who recently came to Washington to lobby for U.S. help as her community copes with Turkey's invasion.

Holmes and others hope the pressure, internationally and domestically, will prompt Trump to reverse course and send troops not just to protect Syrian oil fields in eastern Syria but also the Syrian people who live further north. 

“I think it is morally bankrupt if the U.S. military is used to protect the oil fields, while we allow our allies to be ethnically cleansed by Turkey,” Holmes said.

Eubanks was similarly blunt in his Oct. 30 video. 

"We have to get re-engaged," he said. And U.S. officials have to stop calling the Turkish-controlled area in northeastern Syria a "safe zone."

Kurds and Christians, he said, are calling it a "genocide zone."

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2019-11-03 13:12:07Z
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Iraqi protesters block roads, shutting offices and schools - Al Jazeera English

Demonstrators have shut down major streets in Iraq's capital, intensifying a weeks-long protest movement calling for an overhaul of the political system amid growing anger over poor governance and lack of economic opportunity.

In a move that appeared to follow a tactic adopted by protesters in Lebanon, where similar demonstrations have been under way since October 17, demonstrators in Baghdad on Sunday blocked key roads, highways and intersections.

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"Roads closed by order of the people," read a banner in a road that was blocked with burning tyres and barbed wire.

University-age demonstrators, meanwhile, stopped traffic by parking cars in the middle of main thoroughfares, as police officers manning nearby checkpoints looked on without intervening.

Other students took part in sit-ins at their schools, while the country's national teachers union extended the strike they launched last week. Engineering, doctors and lawyers' syndicates have all backed the demonstrations.

Al Jazeera's Natasha Ghoneim, reporting from Baghdad, said the day was "anything but a typical start to the work week".

"Teachers are on strike, [classes] in Baghdad and other cities are cancelled," Ghoneim said, adding that students were later expected to stage a protest in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad.

"In the eastern portion of Baghdad, the roads are an absolute mess. Protesters are blocking many major intersections, they are lighting tyres on fire making it difficult for people to get to work. As a result, various government offices and businesses have been closed." 

Demonstrators also blocked roads in the country's south, as schools and government offices closed for the day. South of Basra, they blocked the highway leading to the Umm Qasr port, after security forces attempted to disperse a sit-in a day earlier.

In the eastern city of Kut, Tahseen Nasser, a 25-year-old protester, told AFP news agency: "We decided to cut the roads as a message to the government that we will keep protesting until the corrupt people and thieves are kicked out and the regime falls,"

"We're not allowing government workers to reach their offices, just those in humanitarian fields," including hospitals and police officers, he said.

Elections pledge

For a week in early October, ongoing grievances over poor governance, high unemployment and inadequate public services prompted tens of thousands of Iraqis in the capital, Baghdad, and across the country's south to take to the streets to protest against the country's ruling elite and the political system established after the United States-led invasion in 2003.

The mass demonstrations, which erupted again late last month after a three-week hiatus, have been met with a harsh response by security forces, who have used tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition against those protesting.

Last month, a government-appointed inquiry tasked with investigating the killings during the first wave of protests found that security forces had used excessive force. Some 250 people have been killed since the turmoil began.

Iraq protests: Tuk-tuk drivers making an impact

Since the protests restarted on October 25 after a brief lull, there have been near-continuous clashes on two bridges leading to the heavily-fortified Green Zone, the headquarters of the government and home to several embassies.

Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi met with top security officials late Saturday, stressing the need to preserve peace, security and the safety of the protesters.

President Barham Salih said last week he would approve a snap parliamentary vote once a new electoral law is passed, adding that Abdul Mahdi was willing to resign once political leaders agreed on a replacement.

Although he promised to present a draft of the new elections bill to parliament this week, the president gave no clear timeframe as to when elections might be held.

The pledges have seemingly failed to quell the unrest.

Despite Iraq's vast oil wealth, nearly 60 percent of the country's 40 million people live on less than $6 a day, World Bank figures show.

Millions lack access to adequate healthcare, education, clean water and electricity, with much of the country's infrastructure in tatters.

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/11/iraqi-protesters-block-roads-shutting-offices-schools-191103112201084.html

2019-11-03 12:10:00Z
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Hong Kong mall knife attack 'wounds four' - BBC News

At least four people have been injured in a knife attack in Hong Kong, local media report.

The attack happened at the Cityplaza mall in the Tai Koo district on Hong Kong Island, the reports say.

The attacker - a man who has not yet been identified - was reportedly subdued by people in the mall.

Cityplaza had been the scene of one of the protests on Sunday linked to the ongoing pro-democracy campaign, with riot police in attendance.

• A quick guide to the Hong Kong protests

The campaign initially began with protesters demonstrating against proposals to allow extradition to mainland China.

Warning: This story contains images that may be upsetting for readers

These proposals have now been dropped, but the protests widened to include more demands, including the implementation of complete universal suffrage (the right of almost all adults to vote in elections).

What happened at Cityplaza?

Local media report that the attack on Sunday evening was prompted by political differences.

The attacker injured at least four people before being beaten up by an angry crowd and arrested, the reports say.

Among those injured was local councillor Andrew Chiu Ka-yin, the South China Morning Post said. His ear was severed.

The paper quoted another victim, a female, as saying the suspect brought out a knife after an argument with her sister and her husband. They were also injured.

The Hong Kong Free Press reported that that attacker was a Mandarin-speaking pro-Beijing supporter, and that police later dispersed the crowd.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50281914

2019-11-03 12:06:56Z
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