Month: September 2023

Armenian political analyst on Baku’s intentions JAMnews  JAMnews

Artsakh is lost after being abandoned by Armenia, Russia and the …  Armenian Weekly

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, September 21, 2023  Critical Threats Project

Arrest of Ruben Vardanian JAMnews  JAMnews

Armenia and Azerbaijan: ex-Soviet neighbours and enemies  FRANCE 24 English

Give us 5 minutes, and we’ll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Authorities in the western Ukrainian region of Vinnytsya ordered an evacuation early on Saturday, saying an infrastructure site had been struck in a Russian attack.

“At this time there is no need for a general evacuation, apart from the immediate area around the site of the hit, said Vasyl Polishchuk, head of administration for the town of Kalynivka, according to the town’s website.

It did not say what target had been struck or what weapon had been used. Regional Governor Serhiy Borzov had reported the hit on an unspecified infrastructure site, a term Ukrainian officials sometimes use to refer to facilities involved in power generation or other industries.

Earlier reports said drones had been operating in the area.

Migrants were stranded in Mexico on Friday miles from the U.S. border after the freight train they were traveling on top of abruptly stopped, amid the ongoing suspension of dozens of northbound trains over fears around migrant safety.

Hundreds of migrants were seen by a Reuters witness aboard a stationary train in a desert-like area near Villa Ahumada, some 123 km (76.43 miles) from the border town of Ciudad Juarez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

“They’re treating us like animals,” said Sasha Pacheco, who was on the stationary train, surrounded by her family including an infant.

“We’re in a desert, there’s only one tree… we’re just an hour (from our destination), but it would take a day walking with a baby.

“Why would they take us if they’re going to do this to us?” she asked, adding that there were no options to get buses or taxis from their current spot.

Sixty northbound cargo trains run by Mexico’s Ferromex were stopped last week, after about half a dozen migrants suffered death or injury. The company later said it restarted some routes where there was no known “heightened risk.”

Banners on the side of the train stopped in Villa Ahumada read, “Thank you Ferromex,” put up by migrants who had been initially grateful that the trains had begun the journey.

Grupo Mexico, which owns Ferromex, could not immediately be reached about the sudden train stoppage with migrants aboard near Villa Ahumada.

Earlier in the day, a spokesperson said they had no additional updates to share about the exact number of trains still stopped.

“Concentrations of migrants continue to be monitored, and trains are moved, ensuring continuity of traffic, but avoiding high risks for people and for operations,” they said.

Venezuelan migrant Marlon Vera, who’d been traveling for two months, told Reuters that the train he was traveling on had stopped for several days before being halted once again near Villa Ahumada.

“We’re here… without food, water, facing the cold, the heat,” he said.

The stoppage of trains in the past week has caused around $1 billion worth of goods to be stuck at the border.

Meanwhile, further east, in the border city of Piedras Negras that sits opposite Eagle Pass, Texas, Venezuelan migrant Jose Julian said on Friday he had similarly been stranded while traveling aboard the cargo trains.

He said he had climbed aboard a freight train along with some 2,000 other migrants in Monterrey several days ago, but somewhere past Torreon, the train stopped.

“They left us in the middle of the desert,” he said, speaking on the banks of the Rio Grande river. “They didn’t care that there were children.”

He said it took 10 hours on foot to reach the next town, and in total three days to make it to the border.

For years, migrants trying to reach the United States have crisscrossed Mexico on cargo trains. Collectively, such trains have become known as “La Bestia,” (The Beast), for the risks riding via rail represented.

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