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DHAKA — Rush-hour traffic returned to the streets of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Wednesday, as a curfew was eased after four days of nationwide shutdown that followed deadly protests led by university students against quotas in government jobs. Offices reopened and broadband internet was largely restored, although social media continued to be suspended, days after the clashes between protesters and security forces killed almost 150 people. The country has been relatively calm since Sunday, when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of an appeal from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government and directed that 93% of jobs should be open to candidates on merit. Bangladesh's mainstay garment and textiles industries, which supply to major Western brands, also began reopening some factories after a pause in production during the curfew. "All our factories are open today. Everything is going smoothly," said S.M. Mannan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. The stock exchange opened too, as well as banks, after remaining shut the past two days. Residents of Dhaka were out on the streets, some making their way to offices as public buses also began running in some places. "It was a hassle to reach the office on time," said Shamima Akhter, who works at a private firm in the capital. "Some roads are still blocked for security reasons. Don't know when everything will get normal." Local news websites, which had stopped updating since Friday, were back online too. Bangladesh authorities had shut mobile internet and deployed the army on the streets during the curfew that was imposed from midnight on Saturday. The government said curfew restrictions would be relaxed for seven hours on Wednesday and Thursday, and offices would also be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Student demands Analysts say the student action has given fresh impetus to Hasina's critics, months after she won a fourth-straight term in power in January in a national election boycotted by the main opposition party. "The informal federation of government critics appears deeper and wider than before the election, which presents a serious challenge to the ruling party," said Geoffrey Macdonald at the United States Institute of Peace. Hasina, 76, is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh, who led the country's movement for independence from Pakistan. The earlier 56% job quotas included a 30% reservation for families of veterans of the 1971 independence war, which critics said favored supporters of Hasina's Awami League. Hasina's government had scrapped the quotas in 2018, but a high court ruling reinstated the them last month. Students were furious because quotas left fewer than half of state jobs open on merit amid an unemployment crisis, particularly in the private sector, making government sector jobs with their regular wage hikes and perks especially prized. Hasina has blamed her political opponents for the violence and her government said on Tuesday that it would heed the Supreme Court ruling. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party has denied any involvement in the violence and accused Hasina of authoritarianism and a crackdown on her critics, charges denied by her government. Protesting students have given the government a fresh 48-hour ultimatum to fulfill four other conditions of an eight-point list of demands, and said they would announce their next steps on Thursday. "We want the government to meet our four-point demand, including restoration of internet, withdrawal of police from campuses, and opening universities (which have been closed for a week)," protest coordinator Nahid Islam said.

As Taiwan hosts annual military exercises this week, it is also holding air raid drills to raise public awareness about how to respond to an attack from China and where to seek shelter. Officials want this year’s exercises to be as realistic as possible. VOA’s William Yang has more from Taipei. (Camera: William Yang)

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KATHMANDU — A plane crashed Wednesday just after taking off from Nepal's capital, killing 18 people and injuring a pilot who was the lone survivor. Police official Basanta Rajauri said authorities have pulled out all 18 bodies. The pilot has injuries to his eyes but his life is not in any danger, said a doctor at Kathmandu Medical College Hospital, where the pilot is being treated. The doctor spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak to media. A press statement issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said the Saurya Airlines domestic plane, which was scheduled to head to the resort town of Pokhara, took off at 11:11 a.m. local time from Kathmandu airport and turned right but crashed moments later in the eastern section of the airport. It is monsoon rain season in Kathmandu but was not raining at the time of the crash. Visibility was low across the capital, however. The Kathmandu airport, the main airport serving Nepal, is located inside a valley surrounded by mountains on most sides. It is considered a challenging airport for pilots and bigger planes have to come through an opening on the mountain to land. It is right next to the city, and is surrounded by houses and neighborhoods. The bodies have been taken to the T.U. Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu for autopsy. The airline manifest showed there were two pilots and 17 passengers on board. The crew and 16 passengers were Nepali nationals and one passenger was identified as a Yemeni national. Tribhuvan International Airport, the main airport in Nepal for international and domestic flights, has been closed as emergency crew and investigators began their work. Saurya Airlines operates the Bombardier CRJ 200 on domestic routes.  In 2019, a Bangladeshi airliner crashed at Tribhuvan airport, killing 51 people while 20 on board survived. An investigation confirmed the plane was misaligned with the runway and its pilot was disoriented and tried to land in "sheer desperation" when the plane crashed. In 2015, a Turkish Airlines jet landing in dense fog skidded off a slippery runway at the airport. The plane was carrying 238 people but there were no serious injuries. 

Paris — Tennis star Coco Gauff will join LeBron James as a flag bearer for the U.S. Olympic team at Friday's opening ceremony. Gauff, the reigning U.S. Open champion, is set to make her Olympic debut at the Paris Games and will be the first tennis athlete to carry the U.S. flag. She and James were chosen by Team USA athletes. "I mean, for me, the Olympics is a top priority. I would say equal to the Grand Slams. I wouldn't put it above or below, just because I've never played before. This is my first time," Gauff said earlier this year. "Obviously, I always want to do well, try to get a medal." Gauff and James, the 39-year-old leading scorer in NBA history, both compete in sports that are outside the traditional Olympic world and get attention year-round, not just every four years. The 20-year-old Gauff made the American team for the Tokyo Games three years ago as a teenager but had to sit out those Olympics because she tested positive for COVID-19 right before she was supposed to fly to Japan. Now Gauff, who is based in Florida, is a Grand Slam title winner in singles and doubles. She won her first major championship in New York in September, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the singles final of the U.S. Open, then added her first Grand Slam doubles trophy at the French Open this June alongside Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic. The same clay courts at Roland Garros used for the French Open will be where matches are going to be held for the Paris Olympics. The draw to set the brackets is Thursday, and play begins on Saturday. Gauff is seeded No. 2 in singles, matching her current WTA ranking behind No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland, and will be among the medal favorites. She and her usual doubles partner, Jessica Pegula, are seeded No. 1 in women's doubles. It's possible Gauff could also be entered in mixed doubles, but those pairings have not been announced yet. "I'm not putting too much pressure on it, because I really want to fully indulge in the experience," Gauff said about her Olympics debut. "Hopefully I can have the experience multiple times in my lifetime, (but) I'll treat it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience."

Paris — What was expected to be a simple coronation of Salt Lake City as the 2034 Winter Olympic host turned into complicated Olympic politics Wednesday, as the IOC pushed Utah officials to end an FBI investigation into a suspected doping coverup. The International Olympic Committee is angry about an ongoing U.S. federal investigation of suspected doping by Chinese swimmers who were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Games despite positive drug tests. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted Chinese explanations for the tests, and U.S. officials are now investigating that decision under an anti-conspiracy law passed after the Russian doping scandal at the Sochi Winter Games. President Thomas Bach wants to make sure WADA is the sole authority on Olympic doping cases, especially with the Sumer Olympics headed to Los Angeles in 2028. The IOC added a clause to Salt Lake's host contract, demanding that local organizers - including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox - push to shut down the federal investigation or risk losing the Olympics. Cox and others promised to lobby the U.S. president and Congress. "We agree that if the United States does not support or violates the World Anti-Doping Federation's rules, that they can withdraw the Games from from us and from the United States, " Cox said after the announcement. "That was the only way that that we could we could guarantee that we would get the Games." Even in the world Olympic diplomacy, it was a stunning power move to force government officials to publicly agree to do the IOC's lobbying.  After getting the Utah contingent's agreement on the clause, the IOC formally awarded the 2034 Winter Games to Salt Lake in an 83-6 vote.  The capital city of Utah was the only candidate after the IOC gave Salt Lake City exclusive negotiating rights last year in a fast-tracked process. The campaign team presenting the bid on stage to IOC members included Cox, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and Alpine ski great Lindsey Vonn. Back home, a 3 a.m. public watch party gathered to see the broadcast from Paris. The clause inserted into the contract requires Utah officials to to work with current and future U.S. presidents and members of Congress "to alleviate your concerns" about the federal investigation into doping. The IOC clause allows the Olympic body to terminate Salt Lake City's deal if the authority of WADA was undermined on U.S. territory.  WADA's role is under scrutiny for accepting a Chinese investigation that declared all 23 swimmers were contaminated by traces of a banned heart medication in a hotel kitchen. Three Chinese gold medals in the Tokyo Olympic pool were won by swimmers implicated in the case. Some are also competing in Paris next week. The case an be investigated in the U.S. under federal legislation named for a whistleblower of Russian state doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. The IOC and WADA lobbied against passing the law, known as the Rodchenkov Act, which gives U.S. federal agencies wide jurisdiction of doping enforcement worldwide ahead of Los Angeles hosting the 2028 Summer Games. "We will work with our members of Congress," Gov. Cox told Bach and IOC voters ahead of the 2034 vote, "we will use all the levers of power open to us to resolve these concerns." Salt Lake City first hosted the Winter Games in 2002. That bid was hit with a bribery scandal, which led to anti-corruption reforms at the IOC. Future U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney was brought in to clean up the Games, which went off well despite tightened security. The Games were the biggest international sports event hosted by the U.S. following the Sept. 11 attacks five months earlier. "I am sorry for you, and for us, that this issue arose now," Bach said, addressing the Salt Lake City delegation ahead of the vote. It is an Olympic tradition for lawmakers and even heads of state to come to an IOC meeting and plead their case to be anointed as an host city. Russian President Vladimir Putin did it in 2007, speaking in English to secure the 2014 Winter Games for Sochi. British Prime Minister Tony Blair made a key intervention in 2005 to help win the 2012 Olympics for London. U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Copenhagen in 2009 did not help in Chicago's losing cause for the 2016 Summer Games that went to Rio de Janeiro. For its second turn, Salt Lake City will get almost 10 full years to prepare — the longest lead-in for a modern Winter Games — amid longer-term concerns about climate change affecting snow sports and reducing the pool of potential hosts. Salt Lake City opted to target 2034 and so avoided potential commercial and logistical clashes with the 2028 Summer Games being hosted by Los Angeles. It will be the fifth Winter Games in the U.S. Before Salt Lake City in 2002, there was Lake Placid in 1980 and 1932, and Squaw Valley — now known as Olympic Valley — in 1960. In a separate decision earlier in Paris, the 2030 Winter Games was awarded — with conditions — to France for a regional project split between ski resorts in the Alps and the French Riviera city Nice. That project needs official signoff from the national government being formed, and the Prime Minister yet to be confirmed, after recent elections called by President Emmanuel Macron. He helped present the 2030 bid Wednesday to IOC members. 

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.

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.

Abuja — The Nigerian military has rescued Ehi Abdul, one of the “Chibok girls” whose kidnapping by Boko Haram militants in 2014 generated worldwide attention. Authorities say the rescue operation late last month rescued 330 other captives and highlights the ongoing efforts to combat insurgents and rehabilitate victims in northeastern Borno state. Ehi Abdul, a Chibok schoolgirl kidnapped along with 275 others nearly a decade ago, is finally free. She spent about 10 years in the Sambisa Forest, where she says she was forced to marry eight Boko Haram fighters and bear them two children. Abdul and other former captives were handed over to the Borno state government on Monday after a month of health care and reintegration. Now 27, Abdul explains how she was discovered, and suggests some of the remaining Chibok girls may not want to return. She says, “Soldiers stopped us and asked where we were going. We told them we were visiting, and that's how we were rescued...” She says, “I haven't met some of my Chibok colleagues, while others don't want to leave... “Now that I am out, I can continue with my Islamic education,” she adds. Though now overrun by security forces, Boko Haram's presence in Nigeria's northeast inflicted years of terror. Girls were kidnapped, forced into marriages, and lived in constant fear. Another woman rescued, Fatima Abdul, recounted her harrowing experience living in the Sambisa Forest. She says, “Life there is suffocating. There’s no food, no water. Even Boko Haram fighters are suffering. “And they beat us for no reason.” Abdul says she has four children by different men. The Nigerian military’s continuous efforts, including this rescue, Operation Hadin Kai, aim to destroy Boko Haram's hideouts in the Sambisa Forest and restore normalcy in the northeast. Over the past two weeks, over 600 victims have been rescued. Muhammad Abdullahi, a Nigerian Navy captain, says the military is taking care of the former captives. "For those that are rescued, the responsibility from the military is that we carry out documentation as we call it, on receiving them; we clothe them as you can see. And of course, for the children, we also administer through our military medical team, we administer vaccination and immunization," he said. Wahidi Shuaibu, a major general in the Nigerian military, and commandant of Operation Hadin Kai, says the country remains dedicated to rescuing those still in captivity. "The theater will continue to do its best to rescue the remaining Chibok girls still in captivity in line with the strategic ideas of the chief of defense staff and the chief of army staff," he said. More than a decade of Boko Haram brutality ravaged Nigeria's Northeast, leaving tens of thousands dead and many kidnapped, including the Chibok girls taken in 2014. Although not completely eradicated, counterterrorism efforts have weakened Boko Haram and reduced attacks.

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.

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.

Berlin, Germany — Forced to choose between its ambitious climate goals and a major loss of electric vehicle market share to China, the European Union opted to protect its carmakers. But analysts say the long-term effect on efforts to reduce greenhouse gases remains to be seen. Provisional duties of up to 37.6% on Chinese-made EVs imposed by the EU earlier this month “might slow sales of EVs,” which are a key component of any plan to slow the rate of climate change, acknowledged Miranda Schreurs, professor at the Technical University of Munich, in an interview. “It probably does have to do with concerns about the tariffs and also concerns about the [extent to which] Europe is really supporting the transition to EVs right now,” said Schreurs, who specializes in environment and climate policy, including energy transitions. “That can have a negative impact if European consumers feel like the Green Deal is hurting them rather than helping them. … And many people are much more worried about inflation and their pockets … so there’s the question of what will the public accept?” The EU imposed the new duties, which come on top of an existing 10% tariff, after accusing Beijing of offering “unfair subsidization” that threatened economic injury to Europe’s own electric vehicle makers. The bloc said China-made EVs were selling at prices 20% lower than those of their European counterparts. Beijing retaliated last week with an anti-dumping probe into EU imports that singled out Danish, Dutch and Spanish pork firms. Schreurs said the trade dispute reflects major changes in the global auto market based on growing awareness of the threat posed by climate change and the potential of electric vehicles to eliminate a major source of the gases that are heating the planet. “China, which wasn’t a big international player in terms of automobile exports, has become the dominant player – the biggest player – in EV exports in the last several years,” she told VOA. “This is putting a lot of pressure on European manufacturers of automobiles.” Boosted by government policies and subsidies, China’s BYD overtook Tesla to become the world’s top EV maker last year. Some projections say Chinese-made EVs could account for 15% to 25% of all such vehicles sold in the EU by next year. Any slowdown in the sales of EVs will inevitably impact the continent’s so-called Green Deal, which aims to slash greenhouse gases in the transport sector, mainly by boosting the share of EVs. EU planning calls for emissions to be cut by 37.5% compared with 1990 levels by 2030, and for only zero-emission vehicles to be sold by 2035. However, many analysts believe the tariffs will have only a modest effect on the rate of conversion to EVs, and Schreurs said a dampening of enthusiasm for EVs could prompt more people to switch to public transportation, which would do even more to cut emissions. Wan-Hsin Liu, senior researcher at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, told VOA the short-term price increase will be there, but “still far away from a price shock” that would deter consumers. “Even due to these countervailing duties, Chinese [battery electric vehicle] producers will not just transfer the whole duty costs to consumers completely,” said Liu, whose research focuses on China and innovation. Over the long term, she said, the price increase will still be manageable and other non-Chinese EV producers can make up for any reduction in sales from China. Schreurs said China could also help itself by shifting more of its auto-making to Europe, where about 13.8 million people work in the EU automotive industry, including 3.5 million in direct and indirect manufacturing, data from the European Commission shows. “If China is investing in Europe in a way that it’s creating jobs, it can also decrease tensions” with the EU, she said. “The support for [Chinese EVs] will be stronger both from the public and government officials.” Several Chinese EV makers are moving in that direction. Chery Auto signed a joint venture with Spain’s EV Motors to open a manufacturing site in Catalonia, while BYD will build its first EV production base in Hungary. Liu said a larger shift of that kind would not have to translate into fewer jobs in China, where officials have set a goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2060. “The market demand [for EVs] would only rise, so it doesn’t necessarily mean that [Chinese EV makers] build a factory in Europe and would then automatically close a factory in China,” she said. “These different kind of factories would serve different kinds of markets … so it does not mean green jobs in China will suffer.” Schreur said both China and Europe need green jobs “and to do this in a way that also reduces the footprint tied to the manufacturing of cars.” Consequently, “perhaps it makes more sense that the prices of [China-made] cars are raised somewhat right now.” The provisional tariffs remain subject to trade negotiations in November, and both Schreur and Liu believe the EU and China will be able to resolve some of their differences at that time. But Liu voiced some reservations. “China currently perceives the EU’s investigation and decision on EVs and others as protectionist measures with the goal to protect solely the domestic industry,” she said. “China thinks that the responsibility for causing a potential trade war lies within the EU.” In the end, she said, the outcome will depend on both sides’ willingness to compromise.

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.

SYDNEY — The trilateral AUKUS alliance and the growing strategic importance of the Indian Ocean are the focus of a multinational defense conference starting in Australia on Wednesday. The United States, Britain and Australia are developing military capabilities under the 2021 AUKUS partnership, while tensions in the Indo-Pacific region are bringing focus to the Quad diplomatic partnership, between Australia, India, Japan and the United States. The Indian Ocean Defense and Security 2024 conference in Perth, Western Australia, is bringing together senior Australian and international government, military and industry leaders. The event is hosted by the Western Australian government.  It will examine how the the AUKUS pact between the United States, Britain and Australia affects the four-nation Quad diplomatic partnership between Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. The origins of the Quad alliance date back to Australia’s response to the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Analysts say the AUKUS and Quad groupings share concerns over China’s increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.  Beijing has maritime disputes with several countries and a land boundary conflict with India. Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, chief of the Australian navy, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Wednesday that, China is one of several areas of discussion at the Perth defense summit. “This is an opportunity to bring defense, political senior leadership and industry leadership into one room to discuss the role of the state of Western Australia and the importance of the Indian Ocean to the security, prosperity (and) economic wellbeing of the great nation of Australia," he said. "So, it is much broader than the issue of China, which tends to overshadow many things in our region.” Western Australia covers a third of the Australian continent.  Its coastline is vast, stretching for more than 20,000 kilometers, including islands. The state has several key naval and air force bases. The trilateral AUKUS accord is widely seen as a counter to China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Beijing has been strident in its criticism of the pact, insisting that Australia and its allies had “gone down a dangerous road for their own selfish political gains.”   Officials in Beijing have said previously that the Quad grouping was formed "to contain China.” Australia’s left-leaning government is seeking to stabilize ties with China, the country’s major trading partner, after years of diplomatic friction over various geopolitical and trade disputes.