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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 …

Washington — Japan has grounded its fleet of V-22 Osprey aircraft again after an incident last Sunday where one of the hybrid helicopter-aircraft tilted unexpectedly and hit the ground while trying to take off. The V-22 was taking part in the joint U.S. military exercise Keen Sword and carrying 16 passengers, including three U.S. service members. During takeoff it “became unstable as it swayed from side …

Israel said Sunday it launched a ground raid into Syria, seizing a Syrian it claimed was involved in Iranian networks supporting militants in the region.   The Israeli raid into Syria was its first during the current 13-month Middle East conflict. Syria did not immediately confirm the operation.  The Israeli army did not say where the raid occurred or when, but identified the man seized …

Tehran — Iran’s president said Sunday a potential cease-fire between its allies and Israel “could affect the intensity” of Tehran’s response to Israel’s recent strikes on Iranian military sites.  “If they [the Israelis] reconsider their behavior, accept a cease-fire and stop massacring the oppressed and innocent people of the region, it could affect the intensity and type of our response,” Masoud Pezeshkian said, quoted by state …

UNITED NATIONS — Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been transformed from a local armed group with limited capabilities to a powerful military organization with support from Iran, Iraqi armed groups, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants and others, U.N. experts said in a new report.  The Iranian-backed Houthis have exploited the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and worked to enhance their status in Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” to gain popularity …

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — After over a year of war in Gaza, Palestinian fishermen gather along the coastline, desperately casting their nets in hopes of catching enough for their families amid widespread hunger.   Since Israel began a military onslaught in Gaza after Hamas’ October 2023 attack, Israeli restrictions in the waters off the enclave have made life almost impossible for fishermen, who no longer …

CAIRO — Palestinian officials say an Israeli drone strike on a clinic in northern Gaza where children were being vaccinated for polio wounded six people, including four children. The Israeli military denied responsibility. The alleged strike occurred Saturday in northern Gaza, which has been encircled by Israeli forces and largely isolated for the past year. Israel has been carrying out another offensive there in recent weeks …

Washington — American B-52 bombers have arrived in the Middle East, the U.S. military said Saturday, a day after Washington announced their deployment in a warning to Iran. “B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers from Minot Air Force Base’s 5th Bomb Wing arrived in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility,” the military command for the Middle East and surrounding countries said in a post on social media. …

seoul — North Korean state media released a white paper Sunday accusing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol of exposing his country to the danger of nuclear war through his policies toward the North.  The document, compiled by North Korea’s Institute of Enemy State Studies and released by state news agency KCNA, criticized Yoon’s “reckless remarks” about war, abandoning elements of an inter-Korean agreement, engaging in …

Tel Aviv, Israel — Hundreds of protesters in Tel Aviv, Israel, voiced their frustration with the government Saturday for failing to secure a truce to bring the remaining hostages in Gaza home.  Flag-waving demonstrators in the country’s commercial hub held placards with slogans including “Deal now,” “Stop the war” and “We won’t abandon them,” and beat drums and chanted “Why are they still in Gaza?”   …

BATROUN, Lebanon — Israeli naval forces captured a senior Hezbollah operative in north Lebanon, an Israeli military official said Saturday, as the conflict between the Iran-backed group and Israel showed few signs of easing.  Earlier on Saturday, Lebanese authorities said it was investigating whether Israel was behind the capture of a Lebanese sea captain who was taken away by a group of armed men who had …

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK — Achieving justice in the targeted killings of journalists is a difficult task made even more complicated in cases that take place in wartime, experts say. On a global scale, 85% of journalist killings around the world since 2006 remain unsolved, according to a report released by UNESCO on Saturday. In 2013, the United Nations declared November 2 the International Day to End Impunity …

Tokyo — Nearly 200,000 people in western Japan were urged to evacuate Saturday as authorities warned of landslides and floods, while the remnants of a tropical storm trickle over the country. The Japan Meteorological Agency said “warm, moist air… was causing heavy rainfall with thunderstorms in western Japan” partly due to Kong-rey, which was downgraded to an extratropical low-pressure system from a typhoon. The city of …