Vientiane, Laos — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived early Saturday in Laos, where he will attend a regional meeting and hold talks with his Chinese counterpart, part of a multination Asia visit aimed at reinforcing ties with regional allies in the face of an increasingly assertive Beijing. The top U.S. diplomat is due to meet China’s Wang Yi on the sidelines of an Association …
Harris urges Netanyahu to end Gaza war; Trump says he’ll solve it if elected
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump offered competing views on the war in Gaza as they met separately with Israel’s prime minister this week. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports. Warning: This video includes graphic images that some may find disturbing. …
Harris urges Netanyahu to end war; Trump says he’ll resolve it if elected
washington — Likely U.S. election rivals Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump offered competing views on Israel’s conduct in its war in Gaza, as they separately met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week. While reiterating support for Israel’s right to self-defense “from Iran and Iran-backed militias,” and condemning Hamas as a “brutal terrorist organization,” Harris delivered a forceful call to immediately reach …
Southeast Asia aims to attract remote workers with new visa scheme
bangkok — Countries in Southeast Asia are hoping to boost their economies by luring long-staying professionals with digital nomad visas. In recent years East and Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan have launched digital nomad visas, which allow remote workers to live and work within their borders. International tourism and foreigners’ spending contributes significantly to these countries’ economies. Indonesia launched its KITAS E33G visa, …
Gaza mediators, Israeli spy chief to meet in Rome, Egyptian media say
Cairo — Egyptian, Qatari and U.S. mediators are to meet with Israeli negotiators in the Italian capital on Sunday in the latest push for a Gaza truce, Egyptian state-linked media said. “A four-way meeting between Egyptian officials and their American and Qatari counterparts, in the presence of Israel’s intelligence chief, will be held in Rome on Sunday to reach an agreement on a truce in Gaza,” …
US defers removal of some Lebanese, citing Israel-Hezbollah tensions
washington — The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security. …
Netanyahu to meet Trump in talks seeking to ease tensions
Washington — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit former U.S. President Donald Trump at Trump’s Florida resort on Friday, a meeting that could ease recent tensions between leaders who forged a close alliance during Trump’s years in the White House. Netanyahu’s visit to Trump, the Republican nominee in the 2024 U.S. presidential race, comes a day after meetings in Washington with Democratic President Joe Biden …
Typhoon Gaemi wreaked most havoc in country it didn’t hit directly – the Philippines
BEIJING — What was Typhoon Gaemi was heading to inland China on Friday after weakening to a severe tropical storm soon after making landfall on the east coast the previous night. The storm felled trees, flooded streets and damaged crops in China but there were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage. Five people died in Taiwan, which Gaemi crossed at typhoon strength on Thursday …
Pakistan boosts security of Chinese workers amid growing terrorism
Islamabad — “We have never seen a Chinese reaction like this one,” says regional security affairs analyst Ahmed Rashid, referring to Beijing’s persistent public demand that Pakistan ensure the safety of Chinese nationals since a March 26 suicide attack killed five Chinese workers there. As Pakistan fights a resurgent wave of terrorism that has killed hundreds of local civilians and security personnel this year, officials insist …
‘Sabotage’ hits French trains hours before Olympics
PARIS — Arson attacks scrambled France’s high-speed rail network for tens of thousands of passengers on Friday, after what officials called premeditated acts of “sabotage” just hours before the Paris Olympics opened. Friday’s attacks were launched as the French capital was under heavy security ahead of the Games opening ceremony, with 300,000 spectators and an audience of VIPs expected at the event. The fires that affected …
China, Russia pledge to counter ‘extra-regional forces’ in Southeast Asia
Vientiane, Laos — China and Russia’s foreign ministers met their Southeast Asian counterparts Friday after vowing to counter “extra-regional forces,” a day before Washington’s top diplomat was due to arrive. Wang Yi and Sergei Lavrov were attending a three-day meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc in the Laos capital of Vientiane. Both held talks with counterparts from the bloc, while Wang …
Arsonists attack French railways hours before Olympic ceremony
PARIS — Vandals targeted France’s high-speed train network with a series of coordinated actions that brought major disruption to some of the country’s busiest rail lines ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony Friday. The state-owned railway operator said arsonists had targeted installations along the lines connecting Paris with cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in west and Strasbourg in the east. It urged …
Vietnam Communist Party chief’s funeral draws thousands of mourners
HANOI, Vietnam — Thousands of mourners gathered in Hanoi on Friday for the second day of the funeral of the man who dominated Vietnamese politics for over a decade, Communist Party general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. His death, at 80, last week in Hanoi marked the start of a succession struggle within the party that will likely to continue until the all-important National Party Congress of …
Brazil apologizes for post-WWII persecution of Japanese immigrants
Sao Paulo — The Brazilian government on Thursday apologized for human rights violations in the persecution and incarceration of Japanese immigrants in the years after World War II. “I want to apologize on behalf of the Brazilian state for the persecution your ancestors suffered, for all the barbarities, atrocities, cruelties, tortures, prejudice, ignorance, xenophobia and racism,” said Eneá de Stutz e Almeida, president of the Amnesty …
Netanyahu’s speech to Congress seen as unlikely to shift US policy on Israel-Hamas war
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech on Wednesday to Congress highlighted US partisan divisions on his conduct of the war against the Hamas terror group, and some of his differences with President Joe Biden on how best to secure Israel’s future. VOA’s Michael Lipin looks at how Netanyahu’s address and Biden’s decision last weekend not to run for reelection may affect US policy on the …
Biden, Netanyahu meet to discuss Gaza war and cease-fire talks
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met separately with Israel’s leader Thursday at the White House — as a sensitive moment in the Gaza conflict collided with an unprecedented moment in American politics. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also plans to meet on Friday with former President Donald Trump. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington. …
Rights advocates cite uptick in Uyghur refugee detentions in Turkey
Washington — Over the past three weeks, Shirali Abdurehim, a 39-year-old Uyghur honey seller in Istanbul, has been detained in an immigration detention center. Abdurehim, a father of nine children, has lived in Turkey with his wife since 2013 as a refugee after fleeing repression in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China. He is one of at least a dozen Uyghurs who have been …
US, Taiwan, China race to improve military drone technology
washington — This week, as Taiwan was preparing for the start of its Han Kuang military exercises, its air defense system detected a Chinese drone circling the island. This was the sixth time that China had sent a drone to operate around Taiwan since 2023. Drones like the one that flew around Taiwan, which are tasked with dual-pronged missions of reconnaissance and intimidation, are just a …
2 years after Ukrainian POW prison attack, survivors and leaked UN analysis point to Russia as culprit
kyiv, ukraine — The former prisoners of war still puzzle over the strange events leading up to the night now seared into their memories, when an explosion ripped through the Russian-controlled Olenivka prison barracks and killed so many comrades two years ago. Among the survivors: Kyrylo Masalitin, whose months in captivity and long beard age him beyond his 30 years. Arsen Dmytryk, the informal commander of …
North Korean charged in ransomware attacks on US hospitals
Kansas City, Kansas — A man who officials say worked for one of North Korea’s military intelligence agencies has been indicted for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to hack American health care providers, federal prosecutors announced Thursday. A grand jury in Kansas City, Kansas, indicted Rim Jong Hyok, who is accused of laundering ransom money and using the money to fund additional cyberattacks on defense, …