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Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

TOKYO — Rescue workers searched for at least six people missing Sunday after heavy rain pounded Japan's northcentral region of Noto, triggering landslides and floods and leaving one person dead in a region still recovering from a deadly January 1 earthquake. The Japan Meteorological Agency on Saturday issued the highest alert level for heavy rain across several cities in the Ishikawa prefecture, including hard-hit cities Suzu and Wajima on the northern coast of the Noto peninsula. The agency has since downgraded the heavy rain alert and kept landslide and flooding warnings in place. In Suzu, one person died and another was missing after being swept in floodwaters. Another went missing in the nearby town of Noto, according to the prefecture. In Wajima, rescue workers were searching for four people missing following a landslide at a construction site. They were among 60 construction workers repairing a tunnel damaged by January's quake. The FDMA said another person was missing due to floods at a different location in the city. NHK footage at a coastal area of Wajima showed a wooden house torn and tilted after it was apparently hit by a landslide. No injuries were reported from the site. In Noto town, two people were seriously injured by a landslide while visiting their quake-damaged home. At least 16 rivers in Ishikawa breached their banks as of Saturday afternoon, according to the Land and Infrastructure Ministry. Residents were urged to use maximum caution against possible mudslides and building damage. By late afternoon Saturday, about 1,350 residents were taking shelter at designated community centers, school gymnasiums and other town facilities, authorities said. About 50 centimeters of rain has fallen in the region over the last three days, due to the rainbands that cause torrential rain above the Hokuriku region, JMA said. "Heavy rain is hitting the region that had been badly damaged by the Noto earthquake, and I believe many people are feeling very uneasy," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi. Hayashi said the government "puts people's lives first" and its priority was search and rescue operations. He also called on the residents to pay close attention to the latest weather and evacuation advisories and take precautions early, adding that the Self Defense Force troops have been dispatched to Ishikawa to join rescue efforts. A resident in Wajima told NHK that he has just finished cleaning his house from the quake damage and it was depressing to now see it flooded by muddy water. A number of roads flooded by muddy water were also blocked. Hokuriku Electric Power Co. said more than 5,000 homes were still without power Sunday. Traffic lights were out in the affected areas. Many homes were also without water supply. Heavy rain also fell in nearby northern prefectures of Niigata and Yamagata, threatening flooding and other damages and suspending train operations, including the Yamagata Shinkansen bullet trains, officials said. A 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck the region on January 1, killing more than 370 people and damaging roads and other key infrastructure. Its aftermath still affects the local industry, economy and daily lives.

berlin — The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is predicted to come first in an election in Brandenburg on Sunday, seeking to build on gains in other eastern states this month and beat Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats in a traditional stronghold. The AfD became the first far-right party to win a state election in Germany since World War II, in Thuringia, on September 1 and just missed first place in Saxony. It is one of several far-right groups in Europe capitalizing on worries over an economic slowdown, immigration and the Ukraine war -- concerns that are particularly strong in formerly Communist-run eastern Germany. The party, which is unlikely to be able to govern because it is polling short of a majority and other parties would refuse to work with it, is also seeking to gain from discontent over infighting in Scholz's three-party federal coalition. "We urgently need a thorough course correction so the country does not go to the dogs," the AfD's lead candidate in Brandenburg, Hans-Christoph Berndt, said at a campaign event earlier this month. An AfD victory in the state election would be a particular embarrassment for the Social Democrats (SPD), which has won elections in Brandenburg and governed the state of 2.5 million people since reunification in 1990. It would also raise further questions about the suitability of Scholz, the least popular German chancellor on record, to lead the party into next year's election. Brandenburg's popular SPD premier Dietmar Woidke has mostly shunned campaigning with Scholz, who lives in the state's capital, Potsdam. In an unusual move, Woidke has also criticized the behavior and policies of the ruling coalition. Instead, he has sought to highlight economic success stories during the five years since the last state election such as the opening of a TeslaTSLA.O factory and Brandenburg airport -- which serves Berlin and is now Germany's third most important aviation hub. Narrow the gap In recent weeks, the SPD has managed to narrow the gap with the AfD, opinion polls have shown. A poll published by pollster Forschungsgruppe Wahlen on Thursday put the AfD on 28% in Brandenburg with the SPD just one point behind on 27%, followed by the conservatives on 14% and the new leftist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) on 13%. "My greatest challenge in this legislative period ... to not allow right-wing extremists to have anything to say in this country ever again," Woidke said at a campaign event on Tuesday. He has threatened to resign if his party comes in behind the AfD. AfD party leader Tino Chrupalla said Scholz should do the same. "It is high time this government suffer the consequences after this state election," Chrupalla said. Both of Scholz's junior coalition partners, the Free Democrats and the Greens, look set to struggle to win the 5% needed to enter the state parliament, polls show. At a national level, the three parties in Scholz's coalition are now collectively polling less than the opposition conservatives although political analysts say much could change before the federal election due in September 2025. 

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's Marxist-leaning leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, grabbed a commanding early lead on Sunday in his bid to become the next president of the debt-ridden country seeking to elect a leader to bolster its fragile economic recovery. Dissanayake won about 53% of a million votes counted so far in the election, Sri Lanka's Election Commission data showed. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa was second at 22%, ahead of President Ranil Wickremesinghe in third place. About 75% of the eligible 17 million people in the Indian Ocean island nation cast their votes in Saturday's election, according to the poll body. Dissanayake contested as candidate for the National People's Power alliance, which includes his Marxist-leaning Janatha Vimukthi Peremuna party that has traditionally backed stronger state intervention, lower taxes and more closed market economic policies. Although JVP has just three seats in parliament, the 55-year-old Dissanayake has been boosted by his promises of tough anti-corruption measures and more pro-poor policies. He presented himself as the candidate of change, promising to dissolve parliament within 45 days of coming to power in order to seek a fresh mandate for his policies in the general elections. "After a long and arduous campaign, the results of the election are now clear," Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said on X. "Though I heavily campaigned for President Ranil Wickremasinghe, the people of Sri Lanka have made their decision, and I fully respect their mandate for Anura Kumara Dissanayake." This was Sri Lanka's first election since the economy buckled in 2022 under a severe foreign exchange shortage, leaving the country unable to pay for imports of essentials including fuel, medicine and cooking gas. Thousands of protesters marched in Colombo in 2022 and occupied the president's office and residence, forcing then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee and later resign. Buttressed by a $2.9 billion bailout program from the International Monetary Fund, the economy has posted a tentative recovery, but the high cost of living was still a critical issue for many voters. Although inflation cooled to 0.5% last month from a crisis high of 70%, and the economy is forecast to grow in 2024 for the first time in three years, millions remain in poverty, with many pinning hopes of a better future on the next leader. The winner will have to ensure Sri Lanka sticks with the IMF program until 2027 to get its economy on a stable growth path, reassure markets, repay debt, attract investors and help a quarter of its people climb out of poverty. In his manifesto, Dissanayake, known for his ability to deliver stirring speeches, has pledged to slash taxes that would impact fiscal targets, leaving investors and market participants worried about his economic policies. However, during campaign speeches he has taken a more conciliatory approach, saying any changes would be undertaken in consultation with the IMF and that he is committed to ensuring repayment of debt.

Jerusalem — Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera said that Israeli forces raided its office in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and issued a 45-day closure order. "There is a court ruling for closing down Al Jazeera for 45 days," an Israeli soldier told Al Jazeera's West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari, the network reported, citing the conversation which was broadcast live. "I ask you to take all the cameras and leave the office at this moment," the soldier said. Footage showed heavily armed and masked troops entering the office. The broadcaster said the soldiers did not provide a reason for the closure order. The move was the latest Israeli action against Al Jazeera. Last week Israel's government announced it was revoking the press credentials of Al Jazeera journalists in the country, four months after banning the channel from operating inside Israel. The shutdown had not affected broadcasts from the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, from which Al Jazeera still covers Israel's war with Palestinian militants. The Israeli military has repeatedly accused journalists from the Qatari network of being "terrorist agents" in Gaza affiliated with Hamas or its ally, Islamic Jihad. Al Jazeera denies the Israeli government's accusations and claims that Israel systematically targets its employees in the Gaza Strip.

CLAYMONT, Delaware — President Joe Biden told Indo-Pacific allies on Saturday that he believes China's increasing military assertiveness is an effort to test the region at a turbulent moment for Beijing. Biden's comments were caught by a hot mic after he and fellow leaders of the so-called Quad delivered opening remarks before the press at a summit he's hosting near his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. He said his administration sees Beijing's actions as a "change in tactic, not a change in strategy." China is struggling to pull up an economy pummeled by the coronavirus pandemic and has seen an extended slowdown in industrial activity and real estate prices as Beijing faces pressure to ramp up spending to stimulate demand. "China continues to behave aggressively, testing us all across the region, and it's true in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, South China, South Asia and the Taiwan Straits," Biden told Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. "At least from our perspective, we believe (Chinese President) Xi Jinping is looking to focus on domestic economic challenges and minimize the turbulence in China's diplomatic relationships, and he's also looking to buy himself some diplomatic space, in my view, to aggressively pursue China's interest," Biden added. Starting with a trade war that dates back to 2018, China and the United States have grown at odds over a range of issues, from global security, such as China's claims over the South China Sea, to industrial policy on electric vehicle and solar panel manufacturing. The administration has repeatedly voiced concerns about Chinese aggression toward Taiwan and more recently on the frequent clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels in disputed areas of the South China Sea. At the summit, the leaders agreed to expand the partnership among the coast guards of the Quad nations to improve interoperability and capabilities, with Indian, Japanese and Australian personnel sailing on U.S. ships in the region. But U.S. officials would not say if those transits would include the contested South China Sea. China also has longtime territorial disputes involving other claimants including Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. U.S. officials worry about China's long-stated goals of unifying Taiwan with China's mainland and the possibility of war over Taiwan. The self-ruled island democracy is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory. The leaders in a joint declaration issued following their talks expressed "serious concern about the militarization ... and coercive and intimidating maneuvers in the South China Sea." Biden last month dispatched his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, to Beijing for three days of talks with Chinese officials. Sullivan during that visit also met with Xi. Both governments are eager to keep relations on an even keel ahead of a change in the U.S. presidency in January. And both sides have said they remain committed to managing the relationship, following up on a meeting between Xi and Biden in San Francisco last November. The concerns about China were raised as Biden showed off a slice of his Delaware hometown to the leaders of Australia, Japan and India. When Biden began his presidency, he looked to elevate the Quad to a leader-level partnership as he tried to pivot U.S. foreign policy away from conflicts in the Middle East and toward threats and opportunities in the Indo-Pacific. This weekend's summit is the fourth in-person and sixth overall gathering of the leaders since 2021. "It will survive way beyond November," Biden told the leaders. The president, who has admitted to an uneven track record as a scholar, also seemed tickled to get to host a gathering with three world leaders at the school he attended more than 60 years ago. He welcomed each of the leaders individually for one-on-one talks at his nearby home before they gathered at the school for talks and a formal dinner. "I don't think the headmaster of this school thought I'd be presiding over a meeting like this," Biden joked to fellow leaders. Albanese, Modi and Kishida came for the summit before their appearances at the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week. "This place could not be better suited for my final visit as prime minister," said Kishida, who like Biden, is set to soon leave office. Earlier, the president warmly greeted Kishida when he arrived at the residence on Saturday morning and gave the prime minister a tour of the property before they settled into talks. White House officials said holding the talks at the president's house, which sits near a pond in a wooded area several miles west of downtown, was intended to give the meetings a more relaxed feel. Sullivan described the vibe of Biden's one-on-one meeting with Albanese, who stopped by the house on Friday, as "two guys — one at the other guy's home — talking in broad strokes about where they see the state of the world." He said Biden and Albanese also swapped stories about their political careers. The Australian leader remarked that the visit had given him "insight into what in my view makes you such an extraordinary world leader." Modi also stopped by the house on Saturday to meet with Biden before the leaders gathered for their joint talks. "There cannot be a better place than President Biden's hometown of Wilmington to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Quad," Modi said. Biden and Modi discussed Modi's recent visits to Russia and Ukraine as well as economic and security concerns about China. Modi is the most prominent leader from a nation that maintains a neutral position on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

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N'Djamena, Chad — Severe flooding in Chad since July has claimed 503 lives and affected around 1.7 million people since July, the United Nations said Saturday in its latest assessment of the disaster.  The floods have destroyed 212,111 houses, flooded 357,832 hectares of fields, and drowned 69,659 heads of cattle, said the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Chad.  All of the country's provinces have been hit, Chad's water and energy minister Marcelin Kanabe Passale told journalists Saturday morning, warning of more trouble to come.  "The waters of the Logone and Chari rivers have reached a critical height likely to cause obvious serious flooding in the coming days," Passale said.  N'Djamena, Chad's capital, is located where the Logone and Chari rivers flow into each other.  Passale recommended that all water from private wells be treated with chlorine before consumption.  A flood-monitoring committee had been set up to "assess the risks associated with the pollution of drinking water supplies and rising river levels," he added.  The U.N. warned in early September of the impact of "torrential rains and severe flooding" in the wider region, particularly in Chad, calling for immediate action and funding to tackle climate change.  This summer has been the hottest recorded globally since records have been kept, with a slew of record temperatures, heatwaves, drought and severe flooding. 

BALTIMORE — Federal agents on Saturday boarded a vessel managed by the same company that managed a cargo ship that caused a deadly bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, the FBI confirmed. In statements, spokespeople for the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland confirmed that authorities boarded the Maersk Saltoro. The ship is managed by Synergy Marine Group. "The Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division and Coast Guard Investigative Services are present aboard the Maersk Saltoro conducting court authorized law enforcement activity," statements from both the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office said Saturday morning. Authorities did not offer further specifics. The Washington Post first reported on federal authorities boarding the ship. The raid came several months after investigators conducted a similar search of the Dali, the cargo ship that crashed into the bridge. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department alleged that Dali owner Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and manager Synergy Marine, both of Singapore, recklessly cut corners and ignored known electrical problems on the vessel, which lost power multiple times minutes before it crashed into a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March. The Justice Department said mechanical and electrical systems on the massive ship had been “jury-rigged” and improperly maintained, culminating in the power outages and a cascade of other failures that left its pilots and crew helpless in the face of looming disaster. The ship was leaving Baltimore for Sri Lanka when its steering failed because of the power loss. Six members of a road work crew were killed when the bridge crumbled into the water. The collapse also snarled commercial shipping traffic through the Port of Baltimore for months before the channel was fully reopened in June. The Justice Department is seeking to recover more than $100 million the government spent to clear the underwater debris and reopen the city’s port. The companies filed a court petition days after the collapse seeking to limit their legal liability in what could become the most expensive marine casualty case in history. Justice Department officials said there is no legal support for that bid to limit liability and pledged to vigorously contest it. In its lawsuit, which also seeks punitive damages, the Justice Department argued that vessel owners and operators need to be "deterred from engaging in such reckless and exceedingly harmful behavior." That includes Grace Ocean and Synergy themselves because the Dali has a "sister ship," authorities wrote in the claim. The two companies "need to be deterred because they continue to operate their vessels, including a sister ship to the Dali, in U.S. waters and benefit economically from those activities," the lawsuit says. Darrell Wilson, a Grace Ocean spokesperson, confirmed that the FBI and Coast Guard boarded the Maersk Saltoro in the Port of Baltimore on Saturday morning. Wilson has previously said the owner and manager "look forward to our day in court to set the record straight." Like the Dali, the Singapore-flagged Saltoro was built by Hyundai in 2015. According to the Justice Department lawsuit, major issues with the Dali’s electrical system might have resulted from excessive vibrations on the ship that can loosen wires and damage connections. A prior captain of the vessel had reported “heavy vibration” in his handover notes in May 2023, saying he had made similar reports to Synergy in the past, according to the complaint. The lawsuit noted cracked equipment in the engine room and pieces of cargo shaken loose. The ship’s electrical equipment was in such bad condition that an independent agency stopped further electrical testing because of safety concerns, according to the lawsuit. The ship had also experienced power outages while it was still docked in Baltimore. Those blackouts are considered “reportable marine casualties” that must be reported to the U.S. Coast Guard, which authorities say never happened. The Dali, which was stuck amid the wreckage of the collapse for months before it could be extricated and refloated, departed Norfolk, Virginia, on Thursday afternoon en route to China on its first international voyage since the March 26 disaster. Justice Department officials refused to answer questions Wednesday about whether a criminal investigation into the bridge collapse remains ongoing. FBI agents boarded the Dali in April.

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WILMINGTON, N.C. — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump returned to North Carolina on Saturday, stumping in the southern battleground state that both Democrats and Republicans are treating as increasingly critical to victory in November. But the former president campaigned in Wilmington, along the state's southern coast, without Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, the Republican gubernatorial nominee and one of the former president's top surrogates in the state, following a CNN report about his alleged posts on a pornography website’s message board. Robinson has denied writing the posts, which include lewd and racist comments, saying Thursday that he wouldn’t be forced out of the race by “salacious tabloid lies.” Trump's campaign has appeared to distance itself from Robinson in the wake of the CNN reporting, which the AP has not independently verified, saying in a statement to the AP that Trump “is focused on winning the White House and saving this country" and calling North Carolina “a vital part of that plan," without mentioning Robinson. While Robinson won his Republican gubernatorial primary in March, he’s been trailing in several recent polls to Democratic nominee Josh Stein, the state’s attorney general. State Republican officials have stood by Robinson, whose decision to keep campaigning could threaten Republican prospects in other key races, including Trump’s efforts in a battleground state he previously won twice. Democrats have seized on the opportunity to highlight Trump's ties to Robinson, with billboards showing the two together, as well as a new ad from Vice President Kamala Harris ' campaign highlighting the Republican candidates' ties as well as Robinson's support for a statewide abortion ban without exceptions. According to Harris' campaign, it's their first ad effort related to tying Trump to a down-ballot race. Outdoor rally Trump's first outdoor rally since the second apparent attempt to assassinate him was at a Wilmington airport, where a large American flag hung from a crane, with hundreds of chairs and standing room for many more spectators. Bulletproof glass surrounded the area on stage, a new precaution for outdoor venues the Secret Service implemented after a bullet grazed Trump's ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Charlie Kimball, a 46-year-old former construction worker from Burgaw, who said he is on disability, dismissed the allegations against Robinson as “fake news." “That’s his personal life. Who cares?” Kimball said. “It’s all hearsay. … It’s not true. It’s all speculation. Where’s the proof?" A Republican has carried North Carolina in every general election since 1976 save one, when Barack Obama won the state in 2008. Trump won there in both his previous campaigns but by less than 1.5 percentage points over Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, the closest margin of any state that Trump won. That's part of why Democrats see the state as winnable this fall. With neither Senate seat up for grabs, the gubernatorial contest has been North Carolina's marquee down-ballot race this year. Robinson has become a natural top surrogate for Trump in the state and a frequent presence at campaign events there, appearing with the nominee as recently as last month at an event. Trump has long praised Robinson, who is Black, referring to him as “Martin Luther King on steroids." Endorsing Robinson ahead of the Republican gubernatorial primary, Trump continued: “I think you’re better than Martin Luther King. I think you are Martin Luther King times two.” State up for grabs While more visits have been made by presidential contenders to the Rust Belt battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, both Harris and Trump have made multiple trips to North Carolina, highlighting the state’s importance. Following Biden’s departure from the race in July, Trump held his first large-scale rally there, turning his full focus toward Harris. Wilmington is home to New Hanover County, which Biden won in 2020. But his margin over Trump in the county was among his slimmest in the state. Julia Novotny, 55, of Wilmington, said she's come around to supporting Trump after initial reservations because of allegations that he's been sexually abusive to women, which he denies. “He’s classy, he’s a gentleman, he looks good in a suit, and he has strong values,” Novotny said. “Everybody makes mistakes, and whether he did or didn’t, I don’t know, but you know what? Leave him alone. He’s a good man. He wants to change this country. Our country is in the dirt, and the only man who pulls us out is Donald Trump.”

PHOENIX — Vice President Kamala Harris is stepping up her efforts to win over voters who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, enlisting prominent members of the faith to make the case in pivotal Arizona that Donald Trump does not align with the church's values. Her state campaign announced on Thursday an advisory committee to formalize the outreach to current and former members of the church, widely known as the Mormon church. With nearly 450,000 church members in Arizona, about 6% of the state's population, Latter-day Saints and former church members could prove critical in what will likely be an extremely close race. Latter-day Saints have traditionally voted Republican and are likely to remain part of the GOP coalition. Clustered in solidly Republican states, they have long been a major force in GOP primaries and local politics across the West, but they have not held much sway in national elections. In 2020, about seven in 10 Mormon voters nationally supported Trump, according to AP VoteCast, while about one-quarter backed Democrat Joe Biden. Core to Harris’ strategy is preventing Trump from running up big margins with demographic groups that favor him. While she is unlikely to win anything close to a majority of Latter-day Saints, picking up a small share of their votes would make a big difference in a state with a recent history of tight elections. Biden won by just under 10,500 votes in 2020. Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes won by just 280 in 2022. Constitution and faith Latter-day Saints supporting Harris in Arizona make a faith-based appeal for backing the Democratic ticket despite any reservations, pointing to church teaching that the U.S. Constitution is divinely inspired. “The Constitution is a tenet of our faith, and we certainly shouldn't be voting for people who have shown a disdain for it,” said Joel John, a former Republican state lawmaker who will serve as a co-chair of the committee. “And we certainly shouldn't be supporting someone who tried to overthrow it on January 6.” John said that explains how his faith guides his own support for Harris but emphasized he's not speaking on behalf of the church and doesn't judge Latter-day Saints who vote differently. The Salt Lake City-based church does not endorse candidates or political parties, but John said Latter-day Saints are encouraged to elect politicians who are “good, honest and wise." He said those are moral traits that Trump lacks and that transcend any policy differences they might have with Harris, such as her economic plans or position on gun rights. Halee Dobbins, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, said Democrats have “allowed progressive policies to erode traditional values." “President Trump has consistently stood with believers by protecting religious institutions, appointing constitutionalist Justices, and defending Christian values nationally and abroad,” Dobbins said in a statement. “He has made it a priority to protect religious communities, not fight against them.” Trump behavior While many conservative-leaning religious voters warmed to him long ago, Trump has struggled to win over Latter-day Saints. For many members of the church, Trump's penchant for foul language and demeaning rhetoric toward women and people of color clashes with the church's values of humility, morality and compassion. It has not helped that Trump has feuded with U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, among the best known members of the church, and former U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. In Arizona, Latter-day Saints make up an outsize share of the population in metro Phoenix's East Valley, a suburban area where ticket-splitting voters have rejected Trump-backed Republicans, helping to push a reliable GOP state into a battleground. Mesa, Arizona's third-largest city with more than 500,000 people, traces its modern history to a settlement founded by pioneers from the faith in the 1800s. Church members also settled in swaths of rural Arizona and their descendants remain deeply rooted there. Voting on morals Democratic efforts to woo Latter-day Saints are not new. Hillary Clinton in 2016 drew parallels between Trump's pledge to stop Muslim immigration and the history of religious persecution against Latter-day Saints. Biden went further four years later, investing in organizing church members as Harris is trying to do now. The “social expectation" for members of the faith to align with conservatives is strong, but Harris has an opening in particular to win over younger Latter-day Saints, who, like the country at large, are more diverse, said Brittany Romanello, an anthropologist, Mellon postdoctoral fellow and faculty associate at Arizona State University. Her research includes culture and identity of Latter-day Saints. “Mormons have been shown to have this attitude that they aren’t just voting based on party affiliation only,” said Romanello, who was raised in the church but is no longer practicing. “They’re voting based on morals.”

london — The Chaser, a news website run by Hong Kong journalists in Britain, says Google informed the diaspora media outlet that its company email was being targeted by "government-backed attacks."   China is presumed to be behind the attacks, something Beijing denies. Analysts say the case highlights the growing difficulties Hong Kong journalists face both at home and overseas.  On Tuesday, The Chaser published a report about the incident on its website, including a screenshot of the email from Google about the government-backed attack. The email listed the severity of the attack as high.  According to Google, only 0.1% of users worldwide have been subjected to similar attacks. Google also pointed out that it cannot rule out that the warning may be a false alarm, but the company believes it has detected suspicious activities.  These could include attempts to steal passwords or personal information through emails containing harmful attachments, harmful software download links or links to fake websites.  VOA reached out to Google for more details on the attack but has yet to receive a response.  'There is no way out' The Chaser said it immediately reviewed all online security measures after receiving the notice and has taken the necessary protective actions.  The Chaser said in a statement, "At a time when Hong Kong's press is mired in the White Terror, the invisible black hand has unscrupulously reached out to the diaspora media overseas.  "Our team members are from Hong Kong and came to the UK three years ago, hoping to continue chasing news on free soil. In today's turbulent world of press freedom in Hong Kong, there is no way out. Our team strongly condemns all threats to press freedom and pledges to remain at our posts."  VOA efforts to seek a response from China's Embassy in Britain were unsuccessful, but the Chinese Embassy in Washington denied that China was involved in the cyberattack.   "China firmly opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyberattacks in accordance with law. Without valid evidence, they jumped to an unwarranted conclusion and made groundless accusations against China," the embassy said in an emailed statement Thursday. "It is extremely irresponsible and is a complete distortion of facts. China firmly opposes this."  Last month, The Chaser released an investigative report that said the Chinese Embassy in Britain had pressured Dragons Teaching, a British publishing house, in 2018 to remove the phrase "Republic of China" from chapters about Taiwan in Chinese textbooks. The Republic of China is Taiwan's official name.   Beijing is relentless in its global campaign to quash any recognition of the democratically ruled island — no matter how small.    The publishing house eventually gave in to pressure from Beijing, according to the report from The Chaser. The textbooks are used in exams for secondary school courses in Britain. The Chinese Embassy in Britain has declined to comment on the incident and report, though other British media picked up the story.  Journalists report harassment  The cyberattack comes as journalists in Hong Kong are under increasing pressure.  Last week, the Hong Kong Journalists Association said that from June to August of this year, dozens of journalists, their families, employers, landlords or neighbors were harassed and intimidated in different ways on the internet and in their daily lives, which was unprecedented.  Benson Wong, a Hong Kong political scholar living in Britain, doesn't believe the attacks on The Chaser and other Hong Kong journalists are purely coincidental, especially as China's National Day is approaching.  "From their point of view, it is understandable that the national security and intelligence units would do some things or do some 'homework' as part of their performance," he said.  He said he believes the attack is meant to send a signal that Hong Kong journalists who make critical remarks about China cannot expect to be safe from interference or even attacks just because they move overseas.  VOA reached out to Britain's National Cyber Security Center for comment on the attack but has yet to receive a response.  Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.

washington — The killing of a Japanese schoolboy in southern China has sparked worry among Japanese expatriots living in China, while online comments from Chinese people show reactions ranging from shock to cynicism.  The 10-year-old boy, surnamed Shen, was stabbed by a 44-year-old man while the boy was on his way to class on the morning of September 18 near a Japanese school in the southern city of Shenzhen, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.  The child, whose father is Japanese and mother is Chinese, was a Japanese national, according to the ministry. He was taken to a hospital and later died of his injuries.  The boy was attending Shenzhen Japanese School, an international school built to serve the children of Japanese expatriots living in the region, an industrial hub where many Japanese firms, especially auto companies, set up factories decades ago. Only Japanese citizens are qualified to go to this school.  A Shenzhen local newspaper said the suspect, surnamed Zhong, acted alone and was arrested by police on site.  The same report said Zhong has confessed to stabbing the boy. Zhong, who has a previous criminal record, was released on bail by local police on suspicion of “damaging public telecommunications facilities” in 2015 and was detained on suspicion of “fabricating facts and disturbing public order” in 2019, according to the report.  Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed his condolences in a tweet on X, calling it “an extremely despicable crime,” and strongly urged China “to provide an explanation of the facts of the situation.” The stabbing was the third high-profile attack on a foreigner in China in recent months.  In June, a Chinese man wounded a Japanese woman and her child in a stabbing attack in front of a school bus in the eastern city of Suzhou. The man also stabbed a Chinese bus attendant who tried to intervene, and the attendant later died of her injuries.  Also in June, four U.S. college instructors teaching in the northeastern city of Jilin were stabbed while visiting a public park. The American teachers suffered minor injuries and have since returned to the United States.  The Chinese Foreign Ministry said these attacks are “isolated incidents” and said they would safeguard expatriots’ security in China.  However, the Chinese government is notoriously secretive about criminal investigations. Very little information has been published about the two attacks in June beyond the suspects’ last names and their employment status.  Nicholas Burns, the United States ambassador to China, criticized Beijing’s limited release of specifics and said that he was actively pressing for more details.   Japanese firms, especially auto companies with a presence in China, have warned their workers to stay vigilant.  Toshiba and Toyota have told their staff to take precautions against any possible violence. Panasonic is offering its employees free flights home. Mitsubishi and Nissan have communicated with their Japanese employees in China to ease their worries and offered counseling services.  Consequence of xenophobia propaganda  Meanwhile, Chinese people have shown contrasting reactions in their online comments about the latest stabbing incident.    Some expressed shock, sadness and anger. A few local residents in Shenzhen laid flowers and notes of apology to the deceased child outside the Japanese school.  A user called “sara jon” said on X, “Aren’t you heartbroken when you hear the boy’s mother cry. This is a terrorist attack, this is Hamas.” Another X user called “Jamy felando” said, “Poor child, hope he gets peace now and hope the devil goes to hell!”  On China’s X-like but censored social platform Weibo, many expressed cynicism and indifference, viewing the attack in light of atrocities committed during Japan's invasion of China 80 years ago.  “The boomerang of the Japanese invaders finally came back to their own people,” wrote a Weibo user called yaxuefensitangtaijia. “If they had not invaded China and massacred the Chinese, perhaps there would be less extreme anti-Japanese sentiment today.”   Someone else said in agreement: “How many Chinese children died when Japan invaded China?”  It’s not clear if Zhong deliberately chose to commit his crime on September 18, a date considered by many Chinese as “national humiliation day.” The Japanese army officially launched its invasion of China on September 18, 1931, leading to a 14-year-long war and estimated casualties of 10 million military and civilians.  Some Chinese say long-lasting anti-Japan propaganda by the Chinese government led to the violence toward Japanese people. A user called “still typhoon” compared the propaganda to poison on Weibo: “The poison has backfired. Xenophobia and extreme nationalism are rampant online now.”  On Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that “China and Japan reached a consensus” on the discharge of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant, bringing to an end a diplomatic dispute that had rumbled on for more than two years.  Beijing had been bashing Tokyo for causing "a major nuclear safety issue with cross-border implications," when Tokyo started discharging treated radioactive water from the site in August 2023.  It also announced a blanket ban on all aquatic products from Japan. The anti-Japan sentiment reached a climax in August when official Chinese news media lashed out against Japan relentlessly. 

moscow — Russia and China started naval exercises in the Sea of Japan on Saturday, Russian news agencies cited Russia's Pacific Fleet as saying.  "A joint detachment of warships of the Pacific Fleet and Chinese Navy set out from Vladivostok to conduct the joint Russian-Chinese "Beibu/Interaction - 2024" naval exercise," the RIA news agency quoted the Pacific Fleet as saying.  The exercises will include anti-aircraft and anti-submarine weapons, RIA reported.  Russia and China practiced missile and artillery firing this month as part of Ocean-2024 naval drills, which Russian President Vladimir Putin cast as a bid to counter the United States in the Pacific. 

paris — The French presidential palace unveiled a new center-right government Saturday, more than two months after elections that produced a hung parliament and deepened political divisions as France grapples with economic and diplomatic challenges.  Conservative French Prime Minister Michel Barnier put together the government after weeks of difficult negotiations, and President Emmanuel Macron approved it. The new government was announced at the presidential palace.  A left-wing coalition secured the most seats in June-July elections but failed to win an outright majority. The 38-member Cabinet announced Saturday includes primarily ministers from Macron's centrist alliance and the conservative Republicans party.  Jean-Noel Barrot is the new foreign minister, a centrist politician from MoDem known for his work in digital transformation and European affairs. He brings extensive experience in navigating complex international issues, notably within the European Union.  The new finance minister is Antoine Armand, an emerging figure in French politics now tasked with steering France's fiscal policies and managing the upcoming 2025 budget amid pressure from Brussels to address France's mounting debt.  Sebastien Lecornu retains his post as defense minister. He has been instrumental in bolstering France's military capabilities, including modernizing defense systems and managing military aid to Ukraine. His leadership in defense will be crucial as France navigates its role within NATO and handles rising geopolitical tensions over the wars in Ukraine and the Mideast.  The interior minister’s job goes to Bruno Retailleau, a staunch conservative who will now handle critical domestic issues such as national security, immigration, and law enforcement.  Barnier's ability to govern effectively is under scrutiny, with his political opponents on the left vowing to challenge him at every turn. The party of far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon, France Unbowed, held protests Saturday against his government and calls Barnier's appointment a rejection of the voters' will.  Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally said it would monitor the government closely and has enough votes in parliament to bring it down but expressed willingness to cooperate on key budgetary issues.