Day: September 29, 2019

About 350,000 treasure hunters from all over the world, have been scouting out a large area in the Rocky Mountains stretching from Northern New Mexico to Montana, looking for a hidden treasure. As the story goes, all one needs to do to find the loot, is to decipher the nine clues in a poem written by wealthy art collector and entrepreneur Forrest Fenn, who says he collected and hid the treasure years ago. Its lore became wildly popular after he had written a book called “The Thrill of the Chase,” talking about his life and the treasure.  While many believe the treasure is real, others think it’s a hoax. VOA’s Penelope Poulou visited the area and spoke with Fenn about the meaning of it all

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A fleet of luxury, high-performance cars seized from the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president have been auctioned off for more than $23 million.

The 25 cars were seized by Swiss authorities after an investigation into money laundering.   They once belonged to Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who is also vice president to Equatorial Guniea’s 40-year ruler President Theodora Obiang.

Among the cars sold Sunday were Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Bentleys, Rolls Royces and a McLaren.

A rare white Lamborghini Veneno Roadster, one of only nine built, sold  for $8.3million to an anonymous buyer.

Proceeds from the auction will go to a charity to fund social programs in the tiny oil-rich Central African country.

Obiang’s luxury lifestyle has draw foreign ire before. Last year, Brazilian officials seized $16 million in cash and high-end watches from a delegation traveling with Obiang.

He was given a three-year suspended sentence by a French court for spending millions of dollars of public funds on a Paris apartment, a private jet and a fleet of luxury cars.

Earlier, he entered into a $30 million settlement with U.S. authorities who accused him of using looted public funds to buy a California mansion and a vast collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia, including the crystal-encrusted white glove from Jackson’s “Bad” world tour.

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The drizzle had stopped by the time anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny bounded to the stage to cheers in a packed downtown Moscow square, where at least 20,000 anti-government protesters assembled to demand an end to prosecutions tied to earlier mass protests.

Russian Opposition Stages New Moscow Rally After Summer of Protests

The rally was the first major effort by liberal political groups and allied parties since elections earlier in the month that ended up being a catalyst for the biggest wave of sustained anti-government rallies in nearly a decade

The overcast sky and unseasonably cold September weather didn’t deter the tens of thousands of protesters to assemble to voice their opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin and to call for the release of 13 anti-government activists still being held in jail in Moscow. Four others have been freed but remain under investigation.

It was the first mass event Navalny has appeared since he was released last month from jail where he had been held for 30 days for organizing unauthorized public gatherings.

The chants of “Let Them Go” and “Putin is a Thief” were heard throughout an afternoon during which the police maintained a low presence for a protest that had had been granted a rare legal permit by Moscow city authorities. More than 1,000 people were detained in July and August during the largest demonstrations since Vladimir Putin’s re-election to the presidency in 2012. Those protests had not been sanctioned and at their height they saw as many as 60,000 turn out to brave harsh police crackdowns.

In 2012, the anti-Putin protests, sparked by allegations of electoral fraud and frustration over Vladimir Putin’s return to the Kremlin for a third presidential term, eventually fizzled out, with anti-government activists worn down by an uncompromising Kremlin. Protesters Sunday expressed some worry the same fate will befall the new wave of demonstrations.

But 36-year-old Lisa, a freelancer working in the education sector, said she isn’t allowing that to deter her from joining the protests now.

“There is no way of staying at home, no way of observing and not taking any action,” she told VOA. “It is too much. I have not been to any gatherings for years. But now I can’t stand just staying at home. I prefer not to think about 2102 but live in the here and now,” she added.

Police estimated the crowd at 20,000 — organizers put the figure higher at 25,000.

Political activist Navalny, widely seen as the key opposition figure in a protest movement that has brought together groups spread across the spectrum, from Communists and liberals to Russian nationalists and others of no fixed ideology, says now is not like 2012, when a Kremlin crackdown exhausted anti-government protesters.

Speaking to VOA and other reporters, he said: “The most important thing we saw today is that protests supporting political prisoners are not niche anymore. You remember such meetings in 2012-2014. They were small. And there were just a few of them. Now we see the defense of political prisoners is the main political subject. More and more people are getting involved, many of whom were never interested in politics before. It is very important and we’re at the beginning. What we see now is totally different, in terms of the size and duration. Previous protests rapidly faded. Now new people are getting involved.”

To the crowd, who chanted along with him, Navalny said: “We should be confident of our power.” He asked the crowd why they thought the Kremlin had released some activists. “Because they have a conscience? Because they are ashamed? Because they have children? No, because they’re afraid that their popularity ratings were dropping,” he answered.

Earlier, Ilya Azar, a journalist and activist, told the flag and placard-waving crowd: “Looking back to the protest in 2011-2012 there was no such solidarity of civil society as we can see now. This is fantastic.” She said the strength of the movement had intimidated the authorities into releasing jailed activists.

One of those freed, Alexey Minyaylo, who released from custody after prosecutors dropped rioting charges against him, told VOA he believed civil society has matured since 2012-2014. “In 2012 there were very high expectations but we were not ready for a real fight and when we were hit, we just stood back and did nothing. Now we can take hits and still act.”

Tatiana Lazareva, an activist and onetime TV host who lost her job after participating in anti-Putin protests, says the issues now and in 2012 are the same — honest elections and honest trials.  But “people are starting to realize that they’re living worse. The important thing is that people are starting to understand there’s no sense just to blame Putin, they have to do something themselves.”

Lazareva acknowledges there’s a disconnect between Moscow and St. Petersburg, where the protest movements are stronger, and the countryside. She argues the protest movement has to do more to reach out. “Big cities attract brave people who come to achieve something. People here are different. People who afraid of something or afraid to overcome something stay in their hometowns,’ she says.

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A prominent bodyguard to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman was shot and killed in what authorities described as a personal dispute, state TV reported Sunday, offering few details in an incident that shocked the kingdom.

Tributes poured in across social media for Maj. Gen. Abdulaziz al-Fagham, with many including images of the bodyguard at work. One included him bending down to apparently help tie the shoes of King Salman, the 83-year-old ruler of the oil-rich kingdom.

Details remained vague. The first official word of his death came in a single tweet by Saudi state television.

“Maj. Gen. Abdulaziz al-Fagham, bodyguard of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, was shot dead following a personal dispute in Jiddah,” the tweet read.

Hours later, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said a friend of al-Fagham shot and killed him, wounding another Saudi and a Filipino worker. Security forces responded and a gunfight erupted. In it the shooter was killed and five members of the security forces were wounded, the news agency reported.

The daily newspaper Okaz, while offering no details on the shooting that led to his death, described al-Fagham in a headline as: “The Keeper of Kings.”

Officials in the kingdom did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

Gun crimes are rare in Saudi Arabia, where strict Islamic law sees convicted killers and drug smugglers routinely executed. In 2017, there were 419 reported homicides, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. Saudi Arabia is home to more than 30 million people.

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China’s president has presented national medals and honorary titles to 42 people.

Xi Jinping bestowed the awards upon the honorees in a lavish ceremony Sunday in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.

Among the recipients was Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine Tu Youyou.

Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin was awarded a friendship medal.

The ceremony comes ahead of the celebrations Tuesday commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
 

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Riot police have thrown tear gas and cordoned off part of a street at Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay shopping belt after a large crowd started to amass for an anti-China rally ahead of Tuesday’s National Day celebrations.

Protesters chanted slogans and heckled police as they were pushed back behind a police line. The atmosphere is tense as police warned the crowd they were taking part in an illegal assembly. Officers fired tear gas canisters after some protesters threw bottles and other objects in their direction.

Police earlier searched some protesters and several people were detained. The crowd has swelled to more than 1,000 people, with many spilling into adjacent streets. 

Supporters of Beijing rally

Earlier, hundreds of pro-Beijing supporters in Hong Kong on Sunday sang the Chinese national anthem and waved red flags ahead of China’s National Day to counter pro-democracy protests that have challenged Beijing’s rule.

The show of support for Beijing came after another day of violence in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory that sparked fears of more ugly scenes that could embarrass Chinese President Xi Jinping as his ruling Communist Party marks its 70th year in power Tuesday. Pro-democracy advocates have called for a major rally to coincide with the celebrations in Beijing.

Police on Saturday fired tear gas and water cannons after protesters threw bricks and firebombs at government buildings following a massive rally in downtown Hong Kong. The clashes were part of a familiar cycle since protests began in June over a now-shelved extradition bill and have since snowballed into an anti-China movement with demands for democratic reforms. 

Protesters are planning to march Tuesday despite a police ban. Many said they will wear mourning black in a direct challenge to the authority of the Communist Party, with posters calling for Oct. 1 to be marked as “A Day of Grief.” 

Later Sunday, protesters also plan to gather for an “anti-totalitarianism” rally against what they denounced as “Chinese tyranny.” Similar events are being organized in more than 60 cities worldwide including in the U.S., U.K., Australia and Taiwan.

Hong Kong’s government has scaled down National Day celebrations in the city, canceling an annual firework display and moving a reception indoors.

Despite security concerns, the government said Sunday that Chief Executive Carrie Lam will lead a delegation of more than 240 people to Beijing Monday to participate in the festivities. She will be represented by Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung in her absence and return to the city Tuesday evening.

Lam held her first community dialogue with the public Thursday in a bid to diffuse tensions but failed to persuade protesters, who vowed to press on until their demands including direct elections for the city’s leader and police accountability are met.

Several hundred people, many wearing red and carrying Chinese flags and posters, gathered at a waterfront cultural center in the city Sunday and chanted “I am a citizen of China.” They sang the national anthem and happy birthday to China. They were later bused to the Victoria Peak hilltop for the same repertoire. 

Organizer Innes Tang said the crowd, all Hong Kong citizens, responded to his invitation on social media to “promote positivity and patriotism.” He said they wanted to rally behind Chinese sovereignty and urged protesters to replace violence with dialogue.

“We want to take this time for the people to express our love for our country China. We want to show the international community that there is another voice to Hong Kong” apart from the protests, he said.

China Awards National Medals, Honorary Titles

China’s president has presented national medals and honorary titles to 42 people. 

Mobs of pro-Beijing supporters have appeared in malls and on the streets in recent weeks to counter pro-democracy protesters, leading to brawls between the rival camps. 

Losing freedoms

Many people view the extradition bill, that would have sent criminal suspects to mainland China for trial, as a glaring example of the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy under the “one country, two systems” policy when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

China has denied chipping away at Hong Kong’s freedom and accused the U.S. and other foreign powers of fomenting the unrest to weaken its dominance.

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Austrians began voting Sunday in snap elections, in which the conservatives look set to triumph but face difficulties finding a partner to govern after a corruption scandal brought down their last coalition with the far-right.

The People’s Party (OeVP) led by 33-year-old Sebastian Kurz is predicted to win around 33 percent, up slightly from the last elections two years ago but not enough to form a majority government.

Kurz has “nothing to win, but a lot to lose,” Die Presse daily warned in an editorial Saturday. “Even with a nice plus on Sunday, it is more difficult for him than in 2017,” it said, adding there was no partner that quite suited any more.

With 6.4 million people eligible to vote, polling stations across the country opened at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT). They will close by 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) when first projections are expected. 

Far-right troubles

The parliamentary elections were brought about by the “Ibiza-gate” corruption scandal that engulfed Kurz’s far-right coalition partner in May, after 18 months in government together.

Experts have predicted “whizz-kid” Kurz could once again partner up with the Freedom Party (FPOe) in a re-run of the coalition that has been touted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and other nationalists as a model for all of Europe.

But fresh allegations of wrongdoing have shaken the far-right over the past week.

Prosecutors confirmed Thursday they were investigating Heinz-Christian Strache, who resigned as FPOe leader and vice-chancellor in May because of “Ibiza-gate,” over fraudulent party expense claims.

The FPOe’s current leader, Norbert Hofer, has said he won’t tread gently if any wrongdoing is confirmed, leading to worries that supporters of Strache, who led the party for 14 years and remains influential, could stay away from the polls in protest.

Kurz himself has also warned that left-leaning parties could gain more than predicted and then band together to form a coalition without him.

“If there is just a little shift… then there will be a majority against us,” Kurz told supporters at a final rally in Vienna on Saturday.

Climate matters 

Unlike in 2017, the top voter concern is not immigration but the climate.

Tens of thousands of people marched Friday in Vienna and other Austrian cities to demand the government fight climate change.

The protests were part of global demonstrations led by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and the biggest yet in the Alpine country of 8.8 million.

Against this backdrop, Austria’s Greens, who failed to get into parliament in 2017 in shock results, look set to make the biggest inroads Sunday.

They are tipped to garner 13%, up 10 percentage points from two years ago.

It remains to be seen if Kurz, a former law student who has enjoyed a rapid ascent through the ranks in Austrian politics, tries to woo them and another small party, the liberal NEOs, to form a partnership.

Prominent concerns

Unsurprisingly given the reason the election was called, corruption in public life and party financing have also been prominent themes in the campaign, as well as more bread-and-butter issues like social care.

Another option for Kurz could be to form a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPOe).

With a predicted historic low of around 22%, the SPOe was neck and neck with the FPOe before the troubles this week as the country’s second strongest party.

Since World War II, either OeVP or SPOe have always governed, and for 44 years in total the two ruled together, but it was Kurz who ended their last partnership, leading to the 2017 polls.

He has also floated the idea of ruling in a minority government. But this would potentially continue political uncertainty and could even trigger another election.

Either way, negotiations between parties are expected to take months again. Ultimately, President Alexander Van der Bellen, a former Greens leader, will need to approve any government. 

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Students at an American charity school in Liberia almost lost their institution to a notorious sex abuse scandal, forcing the academy to close. Then a new, Liberian-run organization formed to re-open the school. In Monrovia, Monique John follows one student on her first day back in class. This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.
 

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