China

JAKARTA, Indonesia — The Indonesian government plans to permanently relocate thousands of residents after a series of eruptions of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki volcano which killed nine people and damaged thousands of houses, officials said. Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, located on Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara province, erupted on Sunday night, followed by smaller eruptions on Monday and Tuesday, and remains on the highest volcanic alert status. …

LONDON — Russia is “flagrantly violating” its agreements with the OPEC oil cartel by concealing the true amount of oil it is producing and selling, according to a new report that says the profits are funding Moscow’s war on Ukraine. The investigation by the Ukrainian Center for Defense Reforms asserts that Russia is breaching an OPEC agreement to cut oil production. The think tank is chaired …

Russia is “flagrantly violating” its agreements with the oil cartel OPEC by concealing the true amount of oil it is producing and selling, according to a new report that says the profits are funding Moscow’s war on Ukraine. Henry Ridgwell reports. …

In countries experiencing war or internal conflict, attacks on journalists are happening with impunity. Watchdog groups say most killings of journalists in recent years have gone unresolved. With Liam Scott, Cristina Caicedo Smit has the story. …

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — An Iranian official claimed Tuesday that Iranian-German prisoner Jamshid Sharmahd died before Tehran could execute him — directly contradicting the country’s earlier announcement he had been put to death. The comment by Asghar Jahangir came after Germany shut down all three Iranian consulates in the country over Sharmahd’s death, leaving only the embassy in Berlin open. Germany later disputed Jahangir’s remark. …

As the wars in both Gaza and Lebanon drag on, the burden on Israeli reservist soldiers is growing. Some say they don’t believe the government has their best interests at heart and are choosing not to show up for reserve duty. Linda Gradstein reports from Jerusalem. Camera: Ricki Rosen …

Palestinian health officials said Tuesday a series of Israeli airstrikes killed at least 30 people in the Gaza Strip. One strike late Monday hit a house where displaced families were sheltering in Beit Lahiya, killing at least 20 people, the officials said. Other deadly strikes took place in Gaza City, Zuweida and Deir al-Balah. Israel’s military said Tuesday its forces had killed militants and militant …

Ukraine’s military said Tuesday it shot down two Russian guided missiles as well as 48 of the 79 drones that Russian forces used in overnight attacks. The intercepts took place over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy and Zhytomyr regions, the Ukrainian air force said. Ivan Fedorov, governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, said Tuesday a Russian attack killed at least six people and …

KYOTO, JAPAN — The world’s first wooden satellite, built by Japanese researchers, was launched into space on Tuesday, in an early test of using timber in lunar and Mars exploration. LignoSat, developed by Kyoto University and homebuilder Sumitomo Forestry, will be flown to the International Space Station on a SpaceX mission, and later released into orbit about 400 km (250 miles) above the Earth. Named after …

BEIJING — In an unusual warning, China’s navy told young officers and personnel that they could get ensnared by online dating scams and virtual gambling if they let down their guard, exposing themselves to security risks and undermining the military. Addressing those born from 1990 who are “becoming the core of the army,” the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy said in a social media post that …

[[ Near-universal concern and condemnation has followed Israel’s formal announcement to the United Nations that it will not cooperate with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, after Israel’s parliament voted to cut ties last week. In Washington, at the U.N. and on the ground, officials and residents are raising alarms over the disintegrating humanitarian situation in Gaza and elsewhere. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell …

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Jasmine Chen has been married for two years, but the idea of having children is not part of her plans. The 28-year-old bank teller who lives in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou said raising children in China is just too expensive. “Even though anyone can raise children, regardless of their economic situation, I would want to make sure that I could give …

The death toll in Lebanon surpassed 3,000 Monday in the 13-month-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with the vast majority killed since hostilities dramatically escalated in mid-September and Israel invaded south Lebanon on October 1. The Lebanese health ministry said more than 13,000 people have also been wounded. More than a million people have been displaced in the tiny country. Israel says the dead include …

washington — Pyongyang may have bet all its chips on its relationship with Moscow by committing the lives of its soldiers to fight for Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine, according to analysts. North Korean soldiers are gearing up for an anticipated battle in the Russian border region of Kursk. According to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine on Saturday, more than 7,000 North Korean soldiers in the …

abu dhabi, united arab emirates — The United Arab Emirates opened its annual oil-and-gas summit on Monday as it plans to increase the country’s energy output as global prices stay volatile and world politics remain uncertain ahead of the U.S. presidential election. The massive Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference comes after the UAE just last year hosted the United Nations COP28 climate talks. Those …

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine military opened two weeks of combat drills Monday that will include seizing an island in the disputed South China Sea and likely be frowned upon by China. More than 3,000 Filipino army, navy and air force personnel will take part in the maneuvers, which Philippine military officials said were not directed against any country. China has rapidly expanded its military and …

New York — Russia refused to confirm its plans for North Korean troops it reportedly plans to deploy in its fight against Ukraine, during a confrontation with the United States Monday at the U.N. Security Council. “I heard the statement [of the Russian envoy], as did others in this room, but the one question still remains that that statement does not address, and that is whether …

At 21 years old, Noah Soulay is a grown man. He is tall, slim and speaks English with an American accent. He says he lived in New York for some time as a child. He is now incarcerated in Syria. When he was 12, Soulay’s stepfather brought him and his mother here from Trinidad and Tobago to join Islamic State. At the height of its …

People who were once the world’s most feared terrorists are in Syrian camps and jails without trials, and so are their children   …

UNESCO – the U.N. agency for the protection of cultural heritage – says it is concerned that museums in Sudan are being looted during the ongoing civil war. VOA gained access to one damaged and apparently ransacked museum. VOA’s Henry Wilkins has more from The House of the Khalifa in the city of Omdurman. …

Malaysia has sent a complaint letter to Vietnam over its alleged expansion of a South China Sea reef that both countries claim as their own, two officials told Reuters, in a rare bilateral escalation not involving China. The move brings to light another of the multiple disputes in the strategic waterway, most of which China claims sovereignty over, with Beijing involved in frequent altercations with …

BANGKOK — The independence of central banks is being challenged and they have come under more pressure lately than at any time in the past decade, the Bank of Thailand chief said, according to a speech transcript released on Monday. “Central bank independence in many countries, including Thailand, is being challenged despite having done a reasonable job over past decades,” Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput said in remarks …

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Two of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards died in a gyroplane crash in the southeastern region on Monday, the semi-official Fars news agency cited the force’s public relations department as saying. The accident happened near Sirkan, a city in the province of Sistan-Baluchustan bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan, which has long been the site of frequent clashes between Iranian security forces and Sunni militants …

Israel’s foreign ministry said Monday the country formally notified the United Nations that it will not cooperate with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, once new Israeli legislation goes into effect early next year. The move follows the Israeli parliament’s approval of legislation severing ties with the agency and banning it from operating in Israel. “Despite the overwhelming evidence we submitted to the UN …