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islamabad, pakistan — Global eradication efforts have "cornered” polio in a “few pockets” of Pakistan and Afghanistan, the last two countries where the virus continues to paralyze children. Experts hailed the progress being made in tackling the “outbreak-prone” disease during a virtual briefing last week to mark a decade since India was declared polio-free in March 2014. “We have Pakistan and Afghanistan [where polio is] still endemic, but the virus is cornered in very few pockets in very few districts of these two countries,” said Dr. Ananda Bandyopadhyay, deputy director of polio technology, research and analytics at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “The virus is gasping in these last corridors,” Bandyopadhyay said. Pakistan has reported two wild poliovirus cases this year, while the number stood at six in 2023. Afghanistan has yet to detect a polio case this year and recorded six cases last year. Experts credited continued efforts to vaccinate populations with pushing polio to the verge of extinction. Wild poliovirus affects young children and can paralyze them in severe cases or can be deadly in certain instances. The paralytic disease is the only currently designated public health emergency of international concern. Hamid Jafari, director of polio eradication for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, told the event that until 2020, about 13 families of wild poliovirus had spread across the neighboring countries. Since then, only two families have survived, and they remain endemic to Pakistan “in a very small geographic area” in southern parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa border province and in eastern Afghanistan, he said. While the “historic reservoirs” have been cleared of the virus in Pakistan and Afghanistan, transmission is now surviving in “exceptionally hard-to-reach” populations, making it difficult for polio teams to inoculate children there, he said. Jafari said "militancy and extensive population movement" across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and keeping track of those populations, were the kinds of "last-mile challenges that we have.” “The genetic cluster that seems to be on its way out and getting eliminated is in the heart of the area of militancy in Pakistan,” he said. Jafari noted that India’s polio program did not face the same militancy challenge that Afghanistan's did until the Taliban takeover in August 2021, and that it remains a significant problem in Pakistan in the last stages of eradicating the virus. Bandyopadhyay said successes against the poliovirus in both countries raise hope it is on the verge of extinction there. He said clinicians “observed similar trends” even in the countries that “saw polio’s disappearing act.” “Initially, we would have multiple families or lineages of the virus … and then you saw that disappearing act,” he said. Jafari said that lessons learned in India had been applied to Nigeria, which was declared polio-free in June 2020. He added that many of “these practices were instilled in the program” in Pakistan and Afghanistan. WHO has said that cases caused by wild poliovirus have dropped by more than 99% since 1988, from an estimated 350,000 in more than 125 endemic countries to just two endemic countries as of October 2023. It attributed the decline to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, led by the WHO, the U.N. Children’s Fund, Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Jay Wenger, director of the polio program at the Gates Foundation, said that even though Afghanistan and Pakistan had reported a handful of cases, global efforts against the virus must continue. “As we get to the end of the [polio program], it’s critical to finish. We usually say if there is polio anywhere, it's a threat to everywhere,” he said.

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou is visiting China to help build social and cultural links on a trip that might include a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping despite heightened tensions. Ma left Taipei with a student group Monday on an 11-day trip that underlines continued interactions in education, business and culture despite Beijing's threat to use military force against the self-governing island democracy to achieve unification. Toward the end of his second term in 2015, Ma held a historic meeting with Xi in Singapore, which has close contacts with both sides. The meeting — the first between the leaders of China and Taiwan in more than half a century — produced few tangible outcomes and Ma's Nationalist Party lost the next presidential election to Tsai Ing-wen of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party. Current Vice President Lai Ching-te, despised by Beijing for his opposition to unification, was elected as Tsai's successor in January, although the Nationalists recovered a narrow majority in the legislature. Ma's itinerary includes a visit to Beijing, where there is heavy speculation he might meet with Xi, who says he remains open to Taiwanese politicians who proclaim that the island and the mainland, which split during a civil war in 1949, belong to a common Chinese nation. Taiwan's official Central News Agency quoted Hsiao Hsu-tsen, who directs Ma’s foundation, as saying he hopes Ma will have the chance to meet with "an old friend,” but gave no details. Taiwanese are largely opposed to political unification with China, and the island is boosting military relations with allies such as the U.S. and Japan while maintaining close economic ties with the mainland.

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Washington — The United States is backing a year-old intelligence assessment that health problems affecting, and in some cases incapacitating, hundreds of American personnel around the world are not the result of a weapon wielded by a U.S. adversary. The White House, the Pentagon and the State Department Monday stood by a March 2023 report by the National Intelligence Council that concluded it is “very unlikely” the adverse symptoms known as Havana Syndrome were caused by enemy operatives, despite a new investigation that suggests a notorious Russian intelligence unit may be to blame. “The intelligence community has not concluded that,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, defending the conclusions of the 2023 assessment. But Jean-Pierre also said the White House has not stopped looking at the issue, which in some cases has forced U.S. personnel to retire. “We’ve taken this very seriously,” she said. “We are going to do everything that we can … We're going to continue to do a comprehensive examination of the effects here that we're seeing and the potential causes." A joint investigation unveiled late Sunday by CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Germany’s Der Spiegel and The Insider, found there is reason to believe that the U.S. intelligence assessment came to the wrong conclusion. Pointing to travel documents, mobile phone records, eyewitness testimony and interviews with multiple U.S. officials and victims, the news organizations concluded there is a high likelihood that Russia is to blame. Specifically, the investigation tied numerous reports of Havana Syndrome with the presence of members of Unit 29155 of Russia’s military intelligence service, known for its role in sabotage and assassinations. It also found that many of the symptoms are consistent with the impact of sound or radio-frequency-based directed energy weapons. Additionally, the investigation found members of GRU Unit 29155 received awards and promotions for their work on such weapons. At the White House, Jean-Pierre referred additional questions about Havana Syndrome to the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). ODNI, the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency, or DIA, on Monday all declined to respond to VOA’s request for comment. But both ODNI and DIA pointed to the Worldwide Threat Assessment issued by U.S. intelligence agencies last month. “Most IC [intelligence community] agencies have concluded that it is very unlikely a foreign adversary is responsible for the reported AHIs [anomalous health incidents],” the assessment said, using the U.S. government terminology for Havana Syndrome. “IC agencies have varying confidence levels because we still have gaps given the challenges collecting on foreign adversaries — as we do on many issues involving them,” the assessment added, noting intelligence analysts continue to monitor developments “in areas we have identified as requiring additional research and analysis.” U.S. officials have recorded about 1,500 cases of Havana Syndrome since staff at the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba, first reported unexplained illnesses in 2016. Victims in Cuba, Russia, China, Poland, Austria and even the United States have reported a variety of symptoms, including nausea and dizziness, debilitating headaches and memory problems. An initial investigation pointed to the possibility that at least some of those suffering symptoms were impacted by some sort of weapon, findings that were supported by a 2022 report by a panel of experts. "Pulsed electromagnetic energy, particularly in the radiofrequency range, plausibly explains the core characteristics," the 2022 report said. But that same year, U.S. intelligence officials began backing off the hypothesis that the mystery ailments were the result of a weapon. The CIA, for example, said it appeared most of the cases could be "reasonably explained" by medical conditions or environmental and technical factors. Russia on Monday rejected the conclusions of the investigation by CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Germany’s Der Spiegel, and The Insider. “This is nothing more than a groundless accusation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Russia’s TASS news agency. “This is not a new subject at all,” Peskov said. “From the very beginning it was somehow tied to accusing the Russian side of it but nobody has ever published or voiced any convincing support to these unfounded accusations.” Still, there have been reports of new cases. The Pentagon Monday confirmed one of them, involving a U.S. defense official who was struck with symptoms “similar to those reported in anomalous health incidents" during a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania last July. Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters the individual was not part of the delegation attending the summit with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. "I'm not aware that the secretary's delegation was at risk," Singh said, adding that Austin “has confidence in the intelligence community.” As for the possibility that Russian agents, or those working for other U.S. adversaries, may be deploying a directed-energy weapon, "We'd always be concerned,” Singh said. “We'd always be concerned of any type of impact to our servicemembers, to our civilians that causes health defects, health impacts,” she said in response to a question from VOA. State Department officials Monday said there would be no repercussions for any employees speaking against the U.S. intelligence findings and noted those affected by Havana Syndrome have been given access to medical care and compensation through the HAVANA ACT, signed into law in 2021. “The safety and security of our personnel remains the top priority of the secretary and we are doing everything possible to help those affected,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

Russia continued its barrage of drone and missile strikes across Ukraine over the weekend, particularly targeting energy infrastructure. Anna Chernikova in Kyiv provides an update and talks about how Ukrainians marked the recapture of Kyiv region on the second anniversary. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues a reshuffle of top aides and advisors. VOA’s Carla Babb reports on the ongoing support and opposition in the U.S. Congress over continued military aid for Ukraine. It’s not just ammunition shortages faces shortages in Ukraine, but also soldiers. Myroslava Gongadze has details on how more Ukrainian women are enlisting in the armed forces.

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RIA Novosti distorted the U.N. report on the human rights situation in Ukraine, covering only alleged violations by Kyiv while omitting the bulk of the report, which focused on violations by Moscow.

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Israeli forces withdraw from Shifa hospital in Gaza after two weeks as Benjamin Netanyahu’s government faces the biggest public protests since October 7th. Plus, a look at Easter in the Holy Land, an update from Kyiv and elections in Turkey.

Verified X user pushes 2021 photo of Russian military parade, and alarmist claim, to mislead followers about routine Russian naval exercises in the Red Sea.

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has promised the “best possible” security for Chinese nationals working in his country as Islamabad repatriated the remains Monday of five workers from China, killed last week in an attack. On March 26, five Chinese workers and their Pakistani driver died when a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden car into their bus. The workers were traveling to the Chinese-funded Dasu hydropower project in the remote region of Kohistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when they came under attack in Bisham, about 4-hours north of the capital Islamabad. In a visit to Dasu, Monday, with Jiang Zaidong, Beijing’s ambassador to Islamabad, Sharif met the Chinese workers at the hydropower project and assured them of “fool-proof” security arrangements. “I will not rest until we have put in place the best possible security measures for your security. Not only in Dasu, [but] all over Pakistan,” Sharif said, adding that, this was his promise to the people of China, and to the Chinese leadership including President Xi Jinping. After the attack last Tuesday, Pakistan quickly put together a joint investigation team to probe the incident as well as an inquiry committee to examine security measures for Chinese citizens working in the country. Sharif assured the Chinese nationals that his government “will not waste any time to act on the recommendations of the inquiry committee.” Since 2015 a special military unit that includes thousands of personnel as well local police contingents have been providing security for Chinese nationals working on the nearly $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Popularly known as CPEC, the mega-project is part of Beijing's global Belt and Road Initiative. A team of Chinese investigators is working with Pakistani officials to ascertain the facts surrounding last week's deadly attack. Speaking at a regular news briefing Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin reiterated Beijing’s demand to find and punish the perpetrators of the attack. “China firmly supports Pakistan in looking into what happened with utmost resolve and effort, bringing the perpetrators and whoever’s behind the attack to justice,” Wang said. The spokesperson added that Beijing supports Pakistan in “doing everything possible to protect the safety and security of Chinese personnel, projects, and institutions in Pakistan.” Referring to those responsible for the attack, Sharif promised workers at Dasu that his government will “make sure that exemplary punishment is given to them.” Muhammad Imran, the district police officer of Shangla which includes Bisham — the site of last Tuesday's attack — told VOA that security has increased on the Karakoram Highway. “We are trying our best to give robust security to [the] Chinese as well as to [foreign] tourists who travel this route frequently,” Imran said. However, he refused to say how many additional personnel had been called to provide enhanced security. Remains repatriated Earlier on Monday, a Pakistani military plane carrying the bodies of the five Chinese victims of the attack arrived in the city of Wuhan, China. Chaudhry Salik Hussain, minister for overseas Pakistanis and human development, accompanied the remains. Before the plane departed, Pakistan’s President Asif Zardari, and army chief Gen. Asim Munir, along with Sharif took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at a military air base near the capital. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Banned Pakistani militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban that was behind several recent deadly attacks in Pakistan denied involvement. In July 2021, 13 people including nine Chinese nationals were killed in a suicide attack on their convoy as they travelled to Dasu – Pakistan’s largest hydroelectric project. In 2022, an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan handed the death penalty to two men accused of facilitating the deadly attack.

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Tens of thousands of people have fled Ecuador in the last several months amid an unprecedented surge in gang violence. Rising crime, along with lack of economic opportunities, have more Ecuadorians setting their sights on a better life in the United States. For VOA, reporter Austin Landis caught up with a group of Ecuadorian migrants transiting north through Colombia. Videographer: Jorge Calle

Washington — Alex Murdaugh, the South Carolina lawyer convicted in a high-profile trial last year of murdering his wife and son, was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Monday for financial crimes.  Murdaugh, 55, scion of an elite family of judges and attorneys, is already serving a life sentence for the June 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, 22, at the family hunting estate.  Murdaugh pleaded guilty last year to state charges of stealing millions of dollars from clients of his prominent personal injury firm, and was sentenced to 27 years in prison.  He was back in court on Monday for sentencing on federal charges of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and money laundering.  District Judge Richard Gergel sentenced Murdaugh to 40 years in prison, to be served concurrently with the 27 years he already received.  Murdaugh pleaded guilty to the federal charges in September, at which time U.S. Attorney Adair Boroughs said the disbarred lawyer's "financial crimes were extensive, brazen, and callous."  "He stole indiscriminately from his clients, from his law firm, and from others who trusted him," Boroughs said.  Murdaugh's televised three-week murder trial last year captivated viewers nationwide and outside the country.  Evidence from his son's cellphone indicated Murdaugh was the only person with them at the estate's dog kennels several minutes before Maggie was killed with an assault rifle and Paul with a shotgun.  Murdaugh denied killing his wife and younger son, but admitted stealing millions of dollars from clients of his law firm to feed an opioid addiction.  Even before the trial finished, Netflix and HBO rushed out docu-dramas on the case.

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London — A new law against hate speech came into force in Scotland on Monday, praised by some but criticized by others who say its sweeping provisions could criminalize religious views or tasteless jokes. The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act makes it an offense to stir up hatred with threatening or abusive behavior based on characteristics including age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and transgender identity. Racial hatred was already banned under a law dating from 1986. The maximum sentence is seven years in prison. The legislation does not specifically ban hatred against women. The Scottish government says that will be tackled by a separate forthcoming law against misogyny. Scottish Minister for Victims and Community Safety Siobhian Brown said the new law would help build “safer communities that live free from hatred and prejudice.” “We know that the impact on those on the receiving end of physical, verbal or online attacks can be traumatic and life-changing,” she said. “This legislation is an essential element of our wider approach to tackling that harm.” Critics argue that the law will have a chilling effect on free speech, making people afraid to express their views. The legislation was passed by the Scottish Parliament almost three years ago but has been delayed by wrangling over its implementation. Veteran human rights activist Peter Tatchell said the law was well-intended but vague, relying on “subjective interpretation” of what constitutes abuse and allowing people to report alleged offenses anonymously. The Scottish National Party-led government in Edinburgh says the legislation includes free speech protections, including a specific guarantee that people can still “ridicule or insult” religion. “The threshold of criminality in terms of the new offenses is very, very high indeed,” First Minister Humza Yousaf said. “Your behavior has to be threatening or abusive and intended to stir up hatred.” “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling, who has called the law “ludicrous,” is among critics who say it could be used to silence what are known as “gender-critical” feminists, who argue that rights for trans women should not come at the expense of those who are born biologically female. In a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, Rowling referred to several prominent trans women as men. Misgendering could be an offense under the new law in some circumstances. “I’m currently out of the country, but if what I’ve written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment,” Rowling wrote. Scottish National Party lawmaker Joanna Cherry, another critic of the law, said that “if you are a woman, you have every right to be concerned.” “Biological sex is not included as a protected characteristic in the act, despite women being one of the most abused cohorts in our society,” she wrote in The National newspaper. Meanwhile, police organizations are concerned the law will trigger a flood of reports over online abuse. David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said the law could “cause havoc with trust in police.” And the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents wrote to lawmakers to express worry that the law could be “weaponized” by an “activist fringe.” The law is the latest case of Scotland's semi-autonomous government, which is led by the pro-independence SNP, diverging from the Conservative U.K. administration in London. In 2022, the Scottish Parliament passed a law allowing people to change their legally recognized gender through self-declaration, without the need for medical certification. The gender-recognition legislation was vetoed by the British government, which said it conflicted with U.K.-wide equalities legislation that, among other things, guarantees women and girls access to single-sex spaces such as changing rooms and shelters.