China

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine government personnel transported food and other supplies Saturday to a shoal occupied by a Filipino navy contingent but closely guarded by Beijing’s forces in the South China Sea. No confrontations were reported, Philippine officials said.  It was the first Philippine government supply trip to the Second Thomas Shoal, which has been the scene of increasingly violent confrontations between Chinese and Philippine forces …

beirut — TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – A rocket strike Saturday on a soccer field killed at least 11 children and teens, Israeli authorities said, in the deadliest strike on an Israeli target along the country’s northern border since the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah erupted. It risked unleashing a broader regional war. Israel blamed the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah for the strike in the Israeli-controlled Golan …

Lyon, France — The head of Iraq’s delegation said Olympic chiefs had rejected their request not to display Israel’s flag next to Iraq’s during the Paris Games. Iraq’s men’s football team beat Ukraine 2-1 Wednesday in Lyon and lost 3-1 to Argentina on Saturday. “When we arrived at Lyon Stadium [Wednesday], we found the Iraqi flag displayed next to the Israeli flag,” despite Israel’s team not …

Istanbul, Turkey — Turkey staged new artillery strikes against Kurdish separatist positions in northern Iraq, the defense ministry and Iraqi sources said Saturday. While President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this month said operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, in Iraq were coming to an end, a security source in northern Iraq said the latest overnight shelling was “intense.” “In line with our right to self-defense …

TEHRAN, Iran — A heat wave blanketing Iran has forced authorities to cut operating hours at various facilities Saturday and order all government and commercial institutions to shutter the following day as hospitals received over 200 people for heatstroke treatment. The temperature ranged from 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) to 42 C (about 107 F) in the capital, Tehran, according to weather reports. State-run IRNA …

HANOI, Vietnam — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Vietnam on Saturday to pay his respects following the death of Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong, underlining warmer ties between the countries a half-century since they fought a brutal war. Blinken arrived in Hanoi late Saturday after attending a regional summit in Laos and visited the family home of Trong, a Marxist-Leninist ideologue who as …

VIENTIANE, Laos — Southeast Asia’s top diplomats on Saturday condemned violence in Myanmar’s ongoing civil war and urged for “practical” means to defuse rising tensions in the South China Sea during the last of the three-day regional talks with allies that included the United States, Russia and China. Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith of Laos, which currently chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, hailed …

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israel’s military ordered the evacuation Saturday of a crowded part of Gaza designated as a humanitarian zone, saying it is planning an operation against Hamas militants in Khan Younis, including parts of Muwasi, a makeshift tent camp where thousands are seeking refuge. The order comes in response to rocket fire that Israel says originates from the area. It’s the second evacuation …

TOKYO — Depending on whom you ask, the bones that have been sitting in a Tokyo repository for decades could be either leftovers from early 20th-century anatomy classes, or the unburied and unidentified victims of one of the country’s most notorious war crimes.  Activists, historians and other experts who want the government to investigate links to wartime human germ warfare experiments met last weekend to mark …

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — The International Olympic Committee apologized Saturday for a gaffe during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics in which South Korean athletes were incorrectly introduced as North Korean. As the South Korean delegation sailed down the Seine River in the French capital, they were introduced with the official name for North Korea: “Republique populaire democratique de Coree” in French, then “Democratic People’s …

Vientiane, Laos — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived early Saturday in Laos, where he will attend a regional meeting and hold talks with his Chinese counterpart, part of a multination Asia visit aimed at reinforcing ties with regional allies in the face of an increasingly assertive Beijing. The top U.S. diplomat is due to meet China’s Wang Yi on the sidelines of an Association …

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump offered competing views on the war in Gaza as they met separately with Israel’s prime minister this week. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports. Warning: This video includes graphic images that some may find disturbing. …

washington — Likely U.S. election rivals Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump offered competing views on Israel’s conduct in its war in Gaza, as they separately met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week. While reiterating support for Israel’s right to self-defense “from Iran and Iran-backed militias,” and condemning Hamas as a “brutal terrorist organization,” Harris delivered a forceful call to immediately reach …

bangkok — Countries in Southeast Asia are hoping to boost their economies by luring long-staying professionals with digital nomad visas. In recent years East and Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan have launched digital nomad visas, which allow remote workers to live and work within their borders. International tourism and foreigners’ spending contributes significantly to these countries’ economies. Indonesia launched its KITAS E33G visa, …

Cairo — Egyptian, Qatari and U.S. mediators are to meet with Israeli negotiators in the Italian capital on Sunday in the latest push for a Gaza truce, Egyptian state-linked media said.  “A four-way meeting between Egyptian officials and their American and Qatari counterparts, in the presence of Israel’s intelligence chief, will be held in Rome on Sunday to reach an agreement on a truce in Gaza,” …

washington — The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security. …

Washington — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit former U.S. President Donald Trump at Trump’s Florida resort on Friday, a meeting that could ease recent tensions between leaders who forged a close alliance during Trump’s years in the White House.  Netanyahu’s visit to Trump, the Republican nominee in the 2024 U.S. presidential race, comes a day after meetings in Washington with Democratic President Joe Biden …

BEIJING — What was Typhoon Gaemi was heading to inland China on Friday after weakening to a severe tropical storm soon after making landfall on the east coast the previous night. The storm felled trees, flooded streets and damaged crops in China but there were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage. Five people died in Taiwan, which Gaemi crossed at typhoon strength on Thursday …

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Islamabad — “We have never seen a Chinese reaction like this one,” says regional security affairs analyst Ahmed Rashid, referring to Beijing’s persistent public demand that Pakistan ensure the safety of Chinese nationals since a March 26 suicide attack killed five Chinese workers there. As Pakistan fights a resurgent wave of terrorism that has killed hundreds of local civilians and security personnel this year, officials insist …

HANOI, Vietnam — Thousands of mourners gathered in Hanoi on Friday for the second day of the funeral of the man who dominated Vietnamese politics for over a decade, Communist Party general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. His death, at 80, last week in Hanoi marked the start of a succession struggle within the party that will likely to continue until the all-important National Party Congress of …

Sao Paulo —  The Brazilian government on Thursday apologized for human rights violations in the persecution and incarceration of Japanese immigrants in the years after World War II. “I want to apologize on behalf of the Brazilian state for the persecution your ancestors suffered, for all the barbarities, atrocities, cruelties, tortures, prejudice, ignorance, xenophobia and racism,” said Eneá de Stutz e Almeida, president of the Amnesty …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech on Wednesday to Congress highlighted US partisan divisions on his conduct of the war against the Hamas terror group, and some of his differences with President Joe Biden on how best to secure Israel’s future. VOA’s Michael Lipin looks at how Netanyahu’s address and Biden’s decision last weekend not to run for reelection may affect US policy on the …

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met separately with Israel’s leader Thursday at the White House — as a sensitive moment in the Gaza conflict collided with an unprecedented moment in American politics. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also plans to meet on Friday with former President Donald Trump. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington. …