News in Brief

Date: 19 September 2021 - 22:46

News ID: ۹۴۵۸۶

DEL RIO, Texas (AP) – The United States could begin flying some of the thousands of Haitian migrants who have crossed from Mexico into a Texas border camp back to their poverty-stricken homeland on Sunday. Thousands have been living under and near a bridge in the Texas border city of Del Rio, and many of them said they will not be deterred by the U.S. plans. Some said the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti and the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse make them afraid to return to a country that seems more unstable than when they left. “In Haiti, there is no security,” said Fabricio Jean, a 38-year-old Haitian who arrived in Texas with his wife and two daughters. “The country is in a political crisis.” A U.S. official told The Associated Press that the U.S would likely fly migrants out of the country starting Sunday on five to eight flights a day. Another official expected no more than two flights a day. The first official said operational capacity and Haiti’s willingness to accept flights would determine the number of flights. Both officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

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WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – More Americans are finding it hard to put food on their tables after the federal government ended its enhanced unemployment and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments last week. The funding was essential for millions of Americans as they were trying to ride out the Covid-19 pandemic and the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Experts are saying that there will be a dramatic increase in SNAP applications as many people continue to struggle more than anticipated. Nearly 11 million people were receiving $600 per week in unemployment benefits, according to the UK’s economic research firm Oxford Economics. However, following the cutoff, around 8.9 million people will not be able to receive any more unemployment benefits while another 2.1 million had their benefits cut by $300 a week. Pandemic-related SNAP benefits will also expire by Sept. 30. Since December, SNAP recipients have been receiving a 15% rise, nearly $27 on top of an emergency allotment that gave households $95 a month.

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BANGKOK (AFP) – Hundreds of protesters drove through Bangkok’s streets on Sunday to mark the 15th anniversary of a military coup that ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. The billionaire ex-premier -- now living in self-exile -- has remained a prominent figure in the country’s politics since the military deposed his government on September 19, 2006. Unloading a massive cardboard model of a tank for their “cars against tanks” protest, rallygoers honked car horns to call for the resignation of Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha, a former army chief who came to power in a 2014 coup. “Fifteen years have passed, we are still here to fight,” shouted Nattawut Saikuar, a politician long associated with Thaksin, to a sea of supporters waving “Kick out Prayut” flags.
“No matter how many coups there are, it cannot stop us... No matter how good capacity their tanks are, it cannot stop the fighting hearts of the people.” Thailand has seen more than a dozen coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932 by its putsch-happy military -- often staged in the name of protecting the powerful royal family.

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MOSCOW (Dispatches) – Russians voted in the final stretch of a three-day parliamentary election that the governing party is expected to win. The expected win by the United Russia party in Sunday’s polls is a proof of support for President Vladimir Putin. The party that backs Russia’s 68-year-old leader remains more popular than its closest rivals on the ballot – the Communist Party and nationalist LDPR party – which often back the Kremlin. United Russia holds nearly three-quarters of the State Duma’s 450 seats. That dominance last year helped the Kremlin pass constitutional reforms that allow Putin to run for two more terms as president after 2024, potentially staying in power until 2036. The election ran until 18:00 GMT on Sunday when polling stations closed in the European exclave of Kaliningrad. It was the last national vote before the 2024 presidential election. Putin, who turns 69 next month, has not said if he will run.

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CONAKRY (Dispatches) – Guinea’s junta that seized power in a coup early this month has defied international pressure for the release of detained former president Alpha Conde and a return to civilian rule. Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, who seized power in Guinea on September 5, told a delegation of West African leaders he was not concerned about new sanctions imposed by the regional bloc to pressure a swift transition to constitutional rule, the junta’s spokesman said. Two representatives from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met with Doumbouya in Conakry on Friday after the 15-member body decided to freeze the financial assets of the junta and their relatives and bar them from traveling. Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara and Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo, who paid a one-day visit to the Guinean capital, asked the coup leader to release Conde and hold new elections in six months. Ouattara had reportedly been hoping to leave Guinea with Conde.