Southeast Asia’s online scamming industry and the human trafficking behind it keeps growing. Experts say there are hundreds of thousands of victims. Dave Grunebaum reports. Video: VOA. Graphic video: Pertubuhan Kebajikan Al-Ehsan Islamiah Malaysia. Warning: Video includes disturbing content. …
Sudan’s ambassador to Russia praises Moscow for vetoing UN resolution that would have halted violent war in Sudan
The Russian veto blocked a U.N. resolution calling for a halt to hostilities in Sudan, where a civil war has killed at least 66,000, destroyed civil institutions, causing widespread hunger, disease, sexual violence and a refugee crisis with more than 11 million people displaced. …
Georgian opposition leader arrested, beaten unconscious as Tbilisi protests continue
Prominent Georgian opposition leader and former journalist Nika Gvaramia is recovering after being beaten unconscious by police Wednesday amid pro-Europe protests in Tbilisi, according to his lawyer. Gvaramia, head of the Akhali party under the Coalition for Change umbrella, was detained Wednesday during police searches of opposition parties’ headquarters in the Georgian capital, according to media reports. Gvaramia was repeatedly hit in the stomach until …
Rights groups, Western governments urge Azerbaijan to release human rights defender
Baku, Azerbaijan / Washington — International rights organizations and Western governments are calling on the Azerbaijani government to release prominent human rights defender Rufat Safarov. “The arrest of Rufat Safarov on trumped-up fraud and hooliganism charges is another glaring example of the Azerbaijani authorities’ relentless efforts to silence dissenting voices in the country,” Amnesty International said in a Wednesday statement. Safarov, a former prosecutor who heads …
France’s Macron to serve out office term, name new prime minister soon
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron vowed Thursday to stay in office until the end of his term, due in 2027, and announced that he will name a new prime minister within days following the resignation of ousted Prime Minister Michel Barnier. Macron came out fighting a day after a historic no-confidence vote at the National Assembly left France without a functioning government. He laid blame …
Displaced Syrian Kurds face dire conditions amid intensified fighting
Humanitarian aid efforts are underway for tens of thousands of Syrians displaced by a surge in fighting between rebels and the government in northwest Syria. Many of the internally displaced persons, or IDPs, come from the Aleppo, Afrin and Shahba regions and are fleeing to Raqqa and Tabqa in the north and east of Syria. Resources are stretched thin, though, according to an official from …
UN chief: Time for serious negotiations in Syria
UNITED NATIONS — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday that developments in Syria over the last week are “grave and dramatic,” and it is “high time” for all parties in the country to “engage seriously” to resolve the nearly 14-year-long conflict. “Tens of thousands of civilians are at risk in a region already on fire,” Guterres told reporters. “We are seeing the bitter fruits of a …
Ukraine looks back with regret at 1994 deal requiring it to give up nukes
This month marks 30 years since Ukraine signed an agreement to give up its nuclear arsenal, the world’s third largest at the time. With Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearing the three-year mark, Kyiv now calls the agreement with Moscow short-sighted. VOA Ukrainian’s Tatiana Vorozhko looks at the history of the deal. Videographer: Iurii Panin …
In Southeast Asia’s scam centers, human trafficking worsens
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — The young man has been handcuffed to the ceiling, beaten until his buttocks turned purple, and received electric shocks to his feet. That’s how his captors treat him inside a scam compound in Myanmar where he has been trapped since October, according to his mother, who showed VOA a photograph sent by her son’s captors of what she says is his beaten …
Pacific Islands call on International Court to force climate action
Pacific Island nations are arguing before the International Court of Justice, calling for an advisory opinion on the legal obligations of countries to fight climate change. This comes after COP29, where richer nations pledged $300 billion in annual climate finance by 2035, a figure critics say is insufficient. As VOA’s Jessica Stone reports, the cost of climate inaction is most acute for Pacific Islanders. Camera: …
Syrian rebels capture second major city
Syria’s military said it has withdrawn its forces from the central city of Hama after intense fighting with insurgent forces, marking another major defeat for President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s ongoing civil war. The army issued a statement Thursday that it was redeploying its troops outside Hama to protect the city’s civilian population. The rebels said earlier Thursday they had entered the city and …
Syrian rebel gains threaten to raise tensions among Turkey, Iran, Russia
Turkish-backed Syrian rebels’ lightning victories are threatening to stoke tensions among Turkey, Iran and Russia — the main outside players in Syria’s 13-year-long civil war. But some analysts predict diplomacy could prevail, as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. …
Ukraine, Russian diplomats trade barbs at Malta summit
Ta’Qali, Malta — Ukraine’s foreign minister called Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov a “war criminal” Thursday as they both attended an international summit in Malta, the latter’s first visit to an EU member since the 2022 invasion. Ukraine’s Andriy Sybiga also accused Moscow of being “the biggest threat to our common security” as the two foreign ministers sat on the same huge table at a meeting …
On its 30th anniversary, Ukraine calls 1994 Budapest Memorandum ‘a monument to short-sightedness’
WASHINGTON — Thirty years ago, leaders of the United States, Britain Russia and Ukraine met in Budapest, Hungary, and signed a memorandum that provided security assurances to Ukraine in exchange for it giving up its nuclear arsenal, then the world’s third largest. Today, nearly three years after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian officials are calling the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances “a monument …
Syrian rebels say they have begun to enter crucial city of Hama
AMMAN, Jordan — Syrian rebels said on Thursday they had started pushing into Hama, a major city where pro-government forces backed by intense Russian airstrikes are trying to stave off a new rebel victory and halt the insurgents’ lightning advance. Rebel commander Hassan Abdul Ghany posted on social media that the insurgents had begun to penetrate Hama. State media had earlier reported that pro-government forces …
The troubled history of South Korean presidents
Seoul, South Korea — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is now facing impeachment after a shock bid to suspend civilian rule. But he is far from the first South Korean president to see his rule descend into acrimony and scandal. Here is a recap of the downfalls of previous South Korean leaders. 2016: Park impeached, jailed In December 2016, Park Geun-hye, president since 2013, was …
Prime Minister Barnier to resign as France’s political crisis deepens
PARIS — French Prime Minister Michel Barnier will resign on Thursday after far-right and leftist lawmakers voted to topple his government, plunging the euro zone’s second-largest economy deeper into political crisis. Barnier, a veteran politician who was formerly the European Union’s Brexit negotiator, will be the shortest-serving prime minister in modern French history after he hands in his resignation at around 10 a.m. No French government …
South Korea’s ruling party opposes impeachment of president over martial law debacle
Seoul, South Korea — Leaders of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s political party say they will not back a motion by the opposition party to impeach the embattled president over his short-lived attempt to impose martial law. Han Dong-hun, the leader of the conservative People Power Party, called Yoon’s shock decision this week “unconstitutional” when speaking to reporters Thursday, and said he had asked the …
Azerbaijan denounces diplomatic criticism of human rights
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry denounced on Wednesday criticism by Western ambassadors of the country’s human rights record, saying the diplomats’ comments amounted to interference in its judicial system. A ministry statement posted on the Telegram messaging app said ambassadors from the United States, European Union and Switzerland made the comments at an event in Baku, referring to the detention of journalists and “political activists.” The statement …
ASEAN ministers to discuss Myanmar at Thailand meeting, Indonesia says
JAKARTA, INDONESIA — Members of the Southeast Asian regional bloc ASEAN are planning to hold a ministerial meeting in Thailand later this month to discuss the crisis in member-nation Myanmar, Indonesia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Roy Soemirat told reporters Thursday. At the invitation of current ASEAN host Laos, the meeting will talk about ways to approach the crisis which has gripped Myanmar since a 2021 military coup, …
Hong Kong leader sacks 2 senior officials in aim to ‘do better’
HONG KONG — Hong Kong leader John Lee said on Thursday he had replaced two senior officials in an unexpected move that he said would maximize social and economic benefits and help the city “catch up” with other tourism destinations. Hong Kong has struggled to revive its appeal among international tourists after sometimes violent mass protests in 2019 and strict travel rules imposed during the COVID-19 …
Mosul residents worry violence in Syria will spill into Iraq
Residents and authorities in the Iraqi city of Mosul are concerned that a recent offensive by rebel groups in northwestern Syria could spill across the border and reignite fighting in Northwestern Iraq, an area controlled by Islamic State militants from 2014 to 2017. VOA’s Kawa Omar reports from Mosul. Bezhan Hamdard narrates the story. …
Israelis tormented knowing hostages remain in Gaza
Many Israelis will remember 2024 as the year that more than 100 Israeli hostages spent in captivity after being kidnapped by Hamas last year. Until the hostages are free, some analysts say Israelis remain trapped in the trauma of October 7. Linda Gradstein reports from Jerusalem. VOA footage: Ricki Rosen. …
From VOA Russian: Experts address strategic context of situation in Kursk region
An operation by Ukraine launched on August 6 captured dozens of towns and villages and gained control of about 1,000 square kilometers in Russia’s Kursk region. Gradually, Russia has pushed Ukrainian forces out of about half of the territory they captured. Our correspondent spoke to experts about how the military situation in the region could affect the initial positions taken in future peace talks between …