China

Myanmar’s economy is expected to shrink by 1% in the current fiscal year, the World Bank said Wednesday, sharply downgrading its economic forecast as severe floods compounded the challenges facing the conflict-torn country. In June, the bank had projected Myanmar’s economy would grow 1% during the current fiscal year, which ends in March 2025, but warned of increasing poverty and escalating violence. The country of …

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s previous Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun was stopped from attempting suicide while in detention over last week’s martial law, officials said, as police were reported to be raiding President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office Wednesday in their intensifying investigation. The main liberal opposition Democratic Party also plans to submit a new motion to impeach Yoon for his Dec. 3 declaration that …

NEW YORK — The senior United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Gaza said Tuesday that the situation is “utterly devastating,” and more political will is urgently needed to get enough aid to desperate Palestinians in Gaza.  “I have said this to the [Security] Council — there’s no substitute, no system can and will substitute or compensate for an absence or lack of political will,” Sigrid Kaag said. …

A national security review of Nippon Steel’s $15 billion bid for U.S. Steel is ongoing and President Joe Biden will see what it yields before making a decision on whether to block it, the White House said on Tuesday, cautioning he still opposes the tie-up. The statement comes after shares of U.S. Steel tumbled more than 10% on Tuesday afternoon following a Bloomberg report suggesting …

As Syrians danced in the streets over President Bashar al-Assad’s fall from power, Anwar Etnesh drove his car into the dense traffic clogging the route from his hometown Daraa north to Damascus. Hordes of Syrians like Etnesh were heading to Syria’s capital to celebrate the end of the Assad family’s rule. But Etnesh was on a mission to find his 55-year-old cousin, whom Assad soldiers …

Washington — Calls are mounting around the world to safeguard Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities following the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime by Islamist rebels.  Concerns particularly focus on the future of the Alawite community, a sect from which the Assad family originates. The swift offensive that led to the capture of Damascus was headed by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or …

Following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, a Turkish-backed Syrian militia is moving against Kurdish forces of the YPG in Syria, which the U.S. supports. Ankara accuses the armed group of being affiliated with militants fighting Turkey and promises to prevent the group from exploiting a power vacuum in Syria. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. …

Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense spokesperson said on Tuesday that the current naval deployment by China in the region extending from Japan’s southern islands to the South China Sea is the largest since the military exercises surrounding Taiwan prior to the 1996 Taiwanese presidential election.    “This poses a significant threat to us,” the spokesman said. Notably, the Chinese military has not yet provided public explanations about …

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — A former South Korean defense minister was formally arrested Wednesday over his alleged collusion with President Yoon Suk Yeol and others in imposing martial law last week, as authorities investigate whether their acts amount to rebellion.  Martial law, the first in more than 40 years, lasted only about six hours but has triggered a domestic firestorm and large street protests. Yoon and …

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Defense officials in Taiwan say China has deployed nearly 90 naval and coast guard vessels in waters stretching from islands in the south of Japan to the South China Sea. The deployment is the largest to regional waters in almost three decades, Taiwanese officials say, and part of what appears to be a military exercise. China has not yet commented on the movements …

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the witness stand for the first time on Tuesday in his long-running corruption trial, saying he was being hounded for his hawkish security policies. Netanyahu, 75, is Israel’s first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime. He is testifying at the same time Israel is engaged in a war in Gaza and facing possible …

Palestinian medics said Tuesday that Israeli airstrikes killed at least 25 people in the Gaza Strip. The medics said strikes hit a multi-story building in the Beit Hanoun area in northern Gaza, and that most of those killed were from the same family. The latest attacks came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was an “additional doorway” open to securing a …

Russian state media say Moscow has granted asylum to ousted Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, who reports say landed in Moscow after escaping from Damascus Sunday. The Kremlin was a key supporter of Assad in his government’s brutal attempts to defeat rebels, and that memory may make it difficult for Moscow to regain its foothold in Syria, which until a few days ago appeared unshakable. Elizabeth …

SEOUL, South Korea — While South Korean protesters have long employed songs, dances and chants, customized light sticks popular with K-pop fans have emerged as an effective new tool for demonstrators calling for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Tens of thousands of protesters have braved near sub-zero temperatures and gathered outside the National Assembly in the capital of Seoul since Yoon’s failed martial law …

The collapse of the Syrian regime and the influx of thousands of families into Kurdish areas, particularly in Derik, has led to an economic crisis in these regions. As a result, the value of the dollar has risen sharply, significantly impacting the livelihoods of both local residents and newly arrived immigrants. View the full story here. …

Turkish warplanes launched three airstrikes near the Qara Quzaq Bridge, a strategic bridge that connects the eastern Euphrates to the western Euphrates. The strikes, targeting Kurdish security forces, resulted in the deaths of one member of the Internal Security Forces and two traffic police officers. These strikes, along with ongoing attacks by Turkish-backed Syrian armed groups on areas governed by the Kurdish Autonomous Administration, have …

washington — U.S. diplomats and military officials have intensified their outreach to groups vying to chart a new course for Syria, as well as to Syria’s neighbors, in an effort to ensure the fall of the regime of former President Bashar Assad does not give way to a more unstable and dangerous future. A number of key meetings took place Monday in Jordan, where senior U.S. …

KILIS / IZMIRl, TURKEY — Hundreds of Syrian refugees lined up Monday at Turkey’s southern Oncupinar border crossing in Kilis province to return to their homeland after the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Syrians who spoke to VOA Turkish said they were happy to soon be back in their country, as they saw a new beginning there. Muhammed Taha, who crossed into Turkey in 2014, …

BANGKOK — One of the most powerful ethnic minority armed groups battling Myanmar’s army has claimed the capture of the last army outpost in the strategic western town of Maungdaw, gaining full control of the 271-kilometer (168-mile) border with Bangladesh. The capture by the Arakan Army makes the group’s control of the northern part of Rakhine state complete and marks another advance in its bid for …

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — FILE – A recruiter talks with an applicant at a booth at a job fair at a shopping center in Beijing, on June 9, 2023. A record of more than one in five young Chinese are out of work, their career ambitions at least temporarily derailed by a depressed job market as the economy struggles to regain momentum after its long bout with …

Following the overthrow Sunday of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, Israel has seized control of a demilitarized buffer zone in the Golan Heights and attacked weapons factories near Damascus. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem. …

The Biden administration is shoring up its CHIPS Act funding agreements before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20. Trump has previously disparaged the CHIPS Act and called for higher tariffs instead of subsidies to incentivize companies to build semiconductor factories. What would be the future of TSMC under the Trump administration? See the full story here. …

Without hesitation and after more than 13 years in exile, hundreds of Syrian refugees rushed to return to their country this week in the hope of reuniting with their families and reestablishing their lives. Joan Cabasés Vega spoke with some of the refugees from the Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria. See the full story here. …

The number of people who successfully registered for China’s 2025 national public service exam reached a historic high of 3.416 million. For many young people, securing a position as a civil servant has become the preferred choice for a stable career, particularly in light of China’s economic uncertainties and intense pressures in the job market. See the full story here. …