China

Israel continues its airstrike campaign on Lebanon in what Israel says are ongoing operations against Hezbollah. This, as Hezbollah launches more rocket attacks into Israel. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has this story. …

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement fired heavy rocket barrages at Israel on Sunday, and the Israeli military said houses had been destroyed or set alight near Tel Aviv, after a powerful Israeli airstrike killed at least 29 people in Beirut the day before. Israel also struck Beirut’s Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs, where intensified bombardment over the last two weeks has coincided with signs of progress in U.S.-led …

Taipei, Taiwan   — Taiwan’s foreign minister, Lin Chia-lung, wrapped up a weeklong trip to Europe Sunday after meeting European lawmakers in Brussels and overseeing efforts to deepen bilateral cooperation in developing drone technology between Taiwan and Lithuania. Analysts say the trip was part of Taiwan’s ongoing efforts to deepen engagement with European countries and reflected the current administration’s attempt to focus on facilitating practical and …

BRISBANE, Australia — Australian Elvis Smylie shot a 4-under 67 to win the 54-hole Australian PGA on Sunday by two shots after a final round shootout with his compatriot and former mentor Cameron Smith. Smylie finished on 14-under 199, two ahead of Smith who had a 2-under final round 69. Smith’s LIV tour teammate Mark Leishman and Australian Anthony Quayle shared third place on 11 under …

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — Iran plans to hold talks about its disputed nuclear program with three European powers on Nov. 29 in Geneva, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday, days after the U.N. atomic watchdog passed a resolution against Tehran.   Iran reacted to the resolution, which was proposed by Britain, France, Germany and the United States, with what government officials called various measures …

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A prominent Cambodian environmentalist was arrested along with five others while investigating illegal logging in a national park, a rights group and a government official said Sunday. Ouch Leng, who was awarded a 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize for his activism, was arrested Saturday in northeastern Stung Treng province, the rights group Licadho said in a statement. The activists have documented an increase …

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel said Sunday that the body of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates has been found after he was killed in what it described as a “heinous antisemitic terror incident.” The statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel “will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death.” There was …

JAYAPURA, Indonesia — On the southeastern coast of the city of Jayapura, Petronela Merauje walked from house to house in her floating village inviting women to join her the next morning in the surrounding mangrove forests. Merauje and the women of her village, Enggros, practice the tradition of Tonotwiyat, which literally means “working in the forest.” For six generations, women from the 700-strong Papuan population there …

TEHRAN, Iran — As Iran faces increasing tensions with the West and turmoil at home, a new exhibition at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art is displaying Western artwork including pieces not seen by the public in at least a decade. The unveiling of the exhibition Eye to Eye has drawn numerous women, their hair uncovered, to the underground galleries of the museum in Tehran’s Laleh …

SADO, Japan — Japan held a memorial ceremony on Sunday near the Sado Island Gold Mines despite a last-minute boycott of the event by South Korea that highlighted tensions between the neighbors over the issue of Korean forced laborers at the site before and during World War II. South Korea’s absence at Sunday’s memorial, to which Seoul government officials and Korean victims’ families were invited, is …

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said Saturday she has contracted an assassin to kill the president, his wife and the House of Representatives speaker if she herself is killed, in a brazen public threat that she warned was not a joke. Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin referred the “active threat” against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to an elite presidential guards force “for immediate proper …

AMMAN, JORDAN — A gunman was dead and three policemen injured after a shooting near the Israeli Embassy in neighboring Jordan, a security source and state media said Sunday. Police shot a gunman who had fired at a police patrol in the Rabiah neighborhood of Amman, state news agency Petra reported, citing public security, adding investigations were ongoing. Jordanian police had earlier cordoned off an area …

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN — United Nations climate talks adopted a deal to inject at least $300 billion annually in humanity’s fight against climate change, aimed at helping poor nations cope with the ravages of global warming in tense negotiations in the city where industry first tapped oil. The $300 billion will go to developing countries who need the cash to wean themselves off the coal, oil and …

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN — Wealthy countries raised their offer of climate finance to $300 billion a year at COP29 on Saturday, raising hopes of a deal with developing nations that had dismissed an earlier proposal as insufficient to address the impacts of global warming.  The United Nations climate summit had been scheduled to finish on Friday but ran into an extra day as negotiators from nearly 200 …

Iraqi national security officials on Saturday said they arrested the top-ranking Islamic State figure in Iraqi Kurdistan.  Azad Shakhi, the so-called emir of the Kurdistan faction of Islamic State, which is also known as IS, ISIS or ISIL, was detained in Kirkuk province alongside six other suspected terrorists, one of whom blew himself up amid the siege on their hideout.  “The detainees were working underground …

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Yasmin Eid coughs and covers her face, cooking a small pot of lentils over a fire fed with twigs and scrap paper in the tent she shares with her husband and four young daughters in the Gaza Strip. It was their only meal Wednesday — it was all they could afford. “My girls suck on their thumbs because of how hungry …

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN — In the sprawling pavilion section of the United Nations climate talks, where countries, nonprofits and tech companies use big, flashy signs to get the attention of the thousands of people walking through, small aqua and purple beverage cans sit conspicuously on a counter at the Singapore display. Those who approach learn that the cans are beer — a brand call NEWBrew — and …

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A ban on New Zealanders wearing or displaying symbols of gang affiliation in public took effect on Thursday, with police officers making their first arrest for a breach of the law three minutes later. The man was driving with gang insignia displayed on the dashboard of his car, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told 1News. The prohibition on displaying gang insignia anywhere outside …

BEIRUT — A powerful Israeli airstrike targeted central Beirut on Saturday, security sources said, shaking the Lebanese capital as Israel pressed its offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. At least four people were killed and 23 wounded in the attack in Beirut’s Basta neighborhood, Hezbollah’s al-Manar broadcaster reported, citing the health ministry. Lebanon’s National News Agency said early on Saturday that the attack resulted in a …

UNITED NATIONS — Myanmar’s desperate military junta is ramping up attacks on villages that have fallen to opposition groups, carrying out beheadings, gang rapes and torture, with women, children and the elderly among the victims, the U.N. independent human rights investigator for Myanmar said in a new report. Thomas Andrews, a former U.S. congressman from Maine, said in the report to the U.N. General Assembly circulated …

European allies in the Baltic region are investigating how two fiber optic data cables were severed earlier this week — with suspicion falling on a Chinese vessel in the area. Germany has said the incident was clearly sabotage. As Henry Ridgwell reports, Western nations have warned of a sharp increase in so-called hybrid attacks by adversaries on key infrastructure. Camera: Henry Ridgwell …

Chinese hackers are positioning themselves in U.S. critical infrastructure IT networks for a potential clash with the United States, a top American cybersecurity official said Friday. Morgan Adamski, executive director of U.S. Cyber Command, said Chinese-linked cyber operations are aimed at gaining an advantage in case of a major conflict with the United States. Officials have warned that China-linked hackers have compromised IT networks and …

RIO DE JANEIRO — As the world’s two largest economies vie for influence in South America, Brazil sits at the heart of the global power struggle. The choices the country makes in the coming years could reshape the region’s economic and political trajectory, according to analysts. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Brazil for a state visit and the G20 Summit marked the 50th anniversary …

London — European allies in the Baltic region are investigating how two fiber-optic data cables were severed earlier this week, with suspicion falling on a Chinese vessel in the area. Germany has said the incident was clearly sabotage.  The Danish navy said this week it is following the Yi Peng 3, a Chinese bulk carrier, as it moves through the Baltic Sea. As of Friday, marine …