China

Taipei, Taiwan — In the past year an economic downturn, persistent youth unemployment and a property crisis have plagued China at home. Abroad, Beijing has expanded its cooperation with Russia despite warnings from Western leaders that a closer alliance between the two countries is a source of growing concern. In 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin held three bilateral meetings. The two …

Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi has been temporarily released from prison on medical grounds, her lawyer said Wednesday. Mostafa Nili said on the social media platform X the release would last three weeks and was connected to an operation Mohammadi had last month to remove a benign tumor. Mohammadi has been imprisoned since November 2021 in relation to her work against the wearing of …

Palestinian medics said Israeli airstrikes killed at least five people Wednesday in the central Gaza Strip. The Israeli military also said Wednesday it made a number of arrests after Israeli settlers attacked several towns in the occupied West Bank. The Israel Defense Forces said the violence included settler attacks on the village of Beit Furik where settlers hurled stones and wounded two border police. Settler …

BANGKOK — More than 30,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to severe flooding in southern Thailand, where the death toll climbed to 29, officials said Wednesday. Days more heavy rain are forecast in the area, which has already been battered by torrential floodwaters, with more than 155,000 households currently affected, according to the Thai government’s public relations department. Five southern provinces have …

BANGKOK — A second major Myanmar ethnic rebel group has said it is ready for Beijing-mediated talks with the junta to end more than a year of renewed fighting that has ravaged areas along the Chinese border. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), with about 8,000 available fighters, has fought the Myanmar military for more than a decade for autonomy for the Kokang ethnic minority …

Seoul, South Korea — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief declaration of martial law appeared to backfire Wednesday, as lawmakers prepared to begin impeachment proceedings and one of the country’s largest labor unions launched an indefinite general strike demanding his resignation. In a late-night televised address, Yoon announced martial law, claiming it was necessary to “eradicate anti-state forces” and “protect constitutional order.” The declaration marked …

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Taiwan’s top China policymaker on Wednesday said Chinese military threats would only drive the two sides further apart, as state media in the island’s giant neighbor warned of a strong response to a U.S. visit by Taiwan’s president. China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has expressed anger at President Lai Ching-te’s weekend trip to Hawaii on his way to …

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te arrived in Tuvalu on Wednesday, a Tuvalu official said, reinforcing ties with the remote Pacific Island nation on the front line of climate change. “Taiwan’s president and his delegation arrived this morning in Tuvalu,” a Tuvalu government official told Reuters. Lai flew in on a private jet from the Marshall Islands and will stay in Tuvalu for the day before leaving …

United Nations — The United Nations said Tuesday that tens of thousands of Syrians have been displaced in the recent fighting between rebels and the government in northwest Syria as the rebels rapidly make territorial gains. “While thousands have arrived in the central and southern regions of the country, many are trapped at front lines, unable to seek safety in other areas in the country,” Adam …

WASHINGTON — Chinese hackers blamed for compromising U.S. telecommunications infrastructure and spying on American presidential campaigns and American officials are still entrenched in those systems, according to senior U.S. officials who warn it could be years before the hackers are kicked out. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the FBI on Tuesday urged U.S. telecommunication companies and their customers to take additional precautions, …

Syrian rebels advancing against government forces pushed close on Tuesday to the major city of Hama, rebels and a war monitor said, after their sudden capture of Aleppo last week rocked President Bashar al-Assad.   Rebels and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said insurgents had captured villages including Maar Shahur a few miles north of the city. Syrian state media said reinforcements …

The success of Syrian rebels against Damascus forces in the last few days is offering Turkey an opportunity to secure key strategic goals in Syria. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. …

BANGKOK — Laos is straining under soaring inflation rates made worse by the stress of massive loans owed mostly to China for a series of megaprojects that have yet to pay off. The tiny landlocked nation of nearly 8 million has already deferred some payments. But economists and analysts say Beijing may start asking for a stake in Laotian land, resources and infrastructure as compensation, which …

HANOI, Vietnam — A court in Vietnam on Tuesday upheld a death sentence for real estate tycoon Truong My Lan after rejecting her appeal against a conviction for embezzlement and bribery in a high-profile $12 billion fraud case, state media reported.   Lan, the chairwoman of real estate developer Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, was sentenced to death in April for her role in what was Vietnam’s …

BANGKOK — Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Tuesday presided over a parade that saw the queen lead hundreds of military personnel in honor of his 72nd birthday.  It was the first such ceremony in Bangkok’s vast Royal Plaza in 16 years.  Birthdays celebrated in 12-year cycles are considered especially auspicious in Thai culture, with the sixth cycle — celebrating 72 years — holding special significance. Vajiralongkorn’s …

Palestinian officials said Tuesday that Fatah and the militant group Hamas were close to an agreement on a plan for administering post-war Gaza. The plan would see Fatah, which governs part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, jointly appointing a committee of up to 15 politically independent technocrats to administer the Gaza Strip. The officials said the plan …

Taipei, Taiwan — Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has been actively advocating for the establishment of a collective security alliance in Asia similar to that of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Europe and North America. Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party set up a new committee in November specifically to discuss this “Asian NATO” concept. However, such an ambitious plan is unlikely to take place under …

The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced on Monday that it had identified more than 200 phishing cyberattacks conducted by the Islamic Republic of Iran, aiming at acquiring top Israeli officials’ personal data. Israel says it has informed the targeted officials of the attack.   See the full story here.   …

Washington — Rebel forces and allied militants launched a significant offensive last week against Syrian government forces in northwestern Syria, capturing Aleppo, the country’s second-largest city. This marks the largest escalation in Syria’s civil war since it began in 2011. Aleppo, once known as Syria’s economic capital, had been controlled by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government since 2016, when government forces, aided by Iranian-backed militias and …

In the largest escalation in the Syrian war in years, Syrian rebels have taken considerable ground, including most of Syria’s second city, Aleppo, and continue to fight towards the city of Hama. VOA’s Heather Murdock reports from Istanbul with Moawia Atrash and Ahmad Fallaha in Idlib and Aleppo, Syria. …

ANKARA, TURKEY — The recent rapid advance by opposition fighters in Syria shows that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must reconcile with his own people and hold dialogue with the opposition, the Turkish foreign minister said Monday.  At a joint news conference in Ankara with his Iranian counterpart, Hakan Fidan said Turkey and Iran, which support opposing sides in Syria’s civil war, have agreed to resume diplomatic …

Manila, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday the presence of a Russian attack submarine in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea was “very worrisome.” “That’s very concerning. Any intrusion into the West Philippine Sea, of our EEZ, of our baselines, is very worrisome,” Marcos told reporters, referring to part of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ maritime …

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia has urged Chinese companies to refrain from using it as a base to “rebadge” products to avoid U.S. tariffs, its deputy trade minister said on Monday, amid increasing export restrictions and concerns of a U.S.-China trade war.  Washington is expected to further curb exports to Chinese semiconductor toolmakers and sales of certain chipmaking equipment, including products manufactured in Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, …

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia and Canada on Monday signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that aims to strengthen economic ties between the two G20 members, three years after negotiations began. The agreement will take effect in 2026 and was signed in Jakarta by trade ministers of both countries. Indonesia’s trade minister, Budi Santoso, said Indonesia appreciated Canada’s support for its plan to prioritize its critical …