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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.

taipei, taiwan — Taiwanese singer and activist Panai called Saturday — at one of the most prestigious entertainment events in the Chinese-speaking world — for people not to forget China's bloody 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters at Tiananmen Square.  Chinese artists in recent years have largely stayed away from Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards given renewed tension between democratically governed Taiwan and China, which views the island as its own territory, and the reference to Tiananmen is unlikely to endear Beijing to the ceremony.  Taking the stage after winning for best Taiwanese language album at the ceremony in Taipei, Panai said this was the 35th anniversary of the awards.  "The Tiananmen Square incident is also exactly 35 years old, let's not forget," she said.  Chinese tanks rolled into the square before dawn on June 4, 1989, to end weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations by students and workers. Public discussion of what happened is taboo in China, though it is freely talked about in Taiwan.  China says it "long ago" reached a clear conclusion about the events of 1989, and China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  Panai has campaigned for years for the rights of Taiwan's Indigenous people.  "Democracy is a lengthy and not an easy journey, we are pressured as we don't know if we will be bullied by a 'bigger' power," she told reporters backstage after her win.  "The reason why I mentioned that event on stage is because Taiwan's democracy is a process that all of us need to cherish; our freedom and freedom of speech is what we need to protect."  No Chinese singers attended this year's awards, despite several high-profile nominations, including Xu Jun winning for best composer.  Another Chinese singer, Jude Chiu, did arrive in Taiwan but returned to the country before the awards for health reasons, Taiwan's official Central News Agency reported.  While Taiwan has only 23 million people, its pop music scene has an outsized cultural influence across East Asia, especially in China, in part due to creativity unencumbered by censorship.  The awards celebrate not only Mandopop but artists singing in Taiwanese — also known as Hokkien — Hakka and Indigenous languages like Bunun, a visible sign of the Taiwan government's efforts to promote once suppressed tongues. 

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.

toronto — Canada's second largest airline, WestJet, says it has cancelled at least 150 flights affecting 20,000 passengers beginning Saturday after the union of maintenance workers announced it has gone on strike.  The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association said its members started to strike Friday evening because the airline's "unwillingness to negotiate with the union" made it inevitable.  The strike came after the federal government issued a ministerial order for binding arbitration on Thursday. That followed two weeks of turbulent discussions with the union on a new deal.  On Thursday, WestJet said the union "confirmed they will abide by the direction. Given this, a strike or lockout will not occur, and the airline will no longer proceed in cancelling flights."  The surprise strike affecting international and domestic flights is happening during the Canada Day long weekend.  Calgary, Alberta-based WestJet said it was "extremely outraged" and will hold the union 100% accountable for the unnecessary stress and costs.  In an update to its membership, the union negotiating committee referenced an order by the Canada Industrial Relations Board that does not explicitly bar any strikes or lockouts as the tribunal undertakes arbitration. 

helsinki — Estonia's ruling center-right Reform Party has chosen Climate Minister Kristen Michal to replace outgoing leader Kaja Kallas as prime minister of the Baltic country Saturday.  The unanimous decision to nominate Michal was made following a closed-door meeting by the party's governing board, only two days after the European Union tapped Kallas to become the bloc's new foreign policy chief.  Kallas, Estonia's first female prime minister since January 2021, currently heads a three-party coalition government. Under her leadership, the Reform Party won overwhelmingly the March 2023 general election.  She has proposed an extraordinary party meeting to elect her replacement as a party chairman on July 14, with Michal expected to take over after his main rival Defense Minister and former Prime Minister Hanno Pevkur bowed out Friday.  Michal's nomination for Estonia's top job will then have to be approved by President Alar Karis and the 101-seat Riigikogu, or Parliament, where the coalition holds a comfortable majority.  He has been serving as the minister for climate affairs since April last year.  Estonia under Kallas' rule has been one of Europe's most vocal backers of Ukraine following the Russian invasion that started in February 2022.  "The people of Estonia need assurance that our home and land are protected and that the country is well-run," Michal said in a press statement following the party meeting, adding that national security would remain a key issue for the new Cabinet in the country of 1.3 million that neighbors Russia.  The 48-year-old Michal, a former economics and justice minister, also vowed to improve the country's economic competitiveness as prime minister. He also hinted that the current 4-year government program the coalition had already agreed on would likely be revised under his leadership.  The climate minister is a seasoned politician who has been active among the ranks of the Reform Party, Estonia's key political establishment, since the late 1990s. Apart from Cabinet posts, Michal has served as Reform's party secretary, a member of Tallinn City Council and an adviser to ex-prime minister Siim Kallas, Reform's co-founder and Kaja Kallas' father.  He is known for a long and acclaimed political career focused on Estonia's internal affairs but lacks international experience — almost the complete opposite of Kaja Kallas who has excelled on international arenas with her foreign experience but was clearly out of her comfort zone in domestic politics, leading to a major dip in her popularity among Estonians.  Kallas acknowledged Michal's strong domestic political experience as an asset. He is "much stronger in political tactics than I've ever been," she told news portal Delfi on Saturday.  The Reform Party said that Kallas will represent Estonia as a prime minister at the NATO summit in Washington in July. 

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NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania — Mauritanians went to the polls Saturday to elect their next president, with the incumbent Mohamed Ould Ghazouani widely expected to win after positioning Mauritania as a strategic ally of the West in a region swept by coups and violence.  Ghazouani, who is seeking reelection on the pledge of providing security and economic growth, is a former army chief and the current president of the African Union. He came to power in 2019 following the first democratic transition in the country's history, and Saturday promised to respect the results of the vote.  "The last word belongs to the Mauritanian voters," Ghazouani said after voting in Ksar, the suburb of the capital. "I commit myself to respecting their choice."  Although his opponents accused him of corruption and mismanagement, he remains popular among Mauritanians who see him as a beacon of stability. The vote is taking place in a particularly tense regional climate, with Mauritania's neighboring countries shaken by military coups and jihadi violence.  "We must not let ourselves be fooled by the slogans of the candidates who are not reassuring," said Marieme Brahim, a 38-year-old company executive, who voted for Ghazouani. "Mauritania must vote for continuity and stability and its security in a troubled environment, and it is not these candidates without experience in governance who will give us confidence."  Some 2 million people are eligible to vote in a nation of 5 million. Ghazouani is facing six opponents, including an anti-slavery activist, leaders of several opposition parties, and a neurosurgeon who accused the government of corruption and clientelism.  Mauritania is rich in natural resources such as iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, gold, oil and natural gas. It is poised to become a gas producer by the end of the year, with the planned launch of the BP-operated Greater Tortue Ahmeyin offshore gas project at the border with Senegal.  Yet almost 60% of the population live in poverty, according to the United Nations, working as farmers or employed in the informal sector. With few economic opportunities for young people at home, many are attempting to cross the Atlantic to reach Europe, and some are even trying to get to the United States through Mexico.  Mohamed Lemine Ould Moktar, 45, who voted for an opposition candidate, has two young sons who remain unemployed despite having university diplomas.  "I just voted for change, we have had enough of identical regimes which squander the people's assets and maintain corruption," said Ould Moktar. "Just look at more than 40,000 young Mauritanians take the path of immigration to the United States by jumping the border wall between Mexico and the United States. This is why I am voting for change."  Saturday's vote was unfolding peacefully, according to observers, with the polls due to close at 7 p.m. Partial results were expected Sunday.  "We have not noticed any anomalies or problems," declared Taghiyouallah Ould Ledhem, spokesperson for CENI, the independent electoral commission. "People are voting smoothly and easily, we have not received any complaints so far." 

WASHINGTON — U.S., European and Arab mediators are pressing to keep stepped-up cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militants from spiraling into a wider Middle East war that the world has feared for months. Hopes are lagging for a cease-fire anytime soon in Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza that would calm attacks by Hezbollah and other Iranian-allied militias. With that in mind, American and European officials are delivering warnings to Hezbollah, which is far stronger than Hamas but seen as overconfident, about taking on the military might of Israel, current and former diplomats say. They are warning that the group should not count on the United States or anyone else being able to hold off Israeli leaders if they decide to execute battle-ready plans for an offensive into Lebanon. And Hezbollah should not count on its fighters' ability to handle whatever would come next. On both sides of the Lebanese border, escalating strikes between Israel and Hezbollah, one of the region's best-armed fighting forces, appeared at least to level off this past week. While daily strikes still pound the border area, the slight shift offered hope of easing immediate fears, which had prompted the U.S. to send an amphibious assault ship with a Marine expeditionary force to join other warships in the area in hopes of deterring a wider conflict. It's not clear whether Israel or Hezbollah has decided to ratchet down attacks to avoid triggering an Israeli invasion into Lebanon, said Gerald Feierstein, a former senior U.S. diplomat in the Middle East. Despite this past week's plateauing of hostilities, “it certainly seems the Israelis are still ... arranging themselves in the expectation that there will be some kind of conflict ... an entirely different magnitude of conflict," he said.  The message being delivered to Hezbollah is “don't think that you're as capable as you think you are,” he said. Beginning the day after Hamas' October 7 terror attacks on Israel triggered the war in Gaza, Hezbollah has launched rockets into northern Israel and vowed to continue until a cease-fire takes hold. Israel has hit back, with the violence forcing tens of thousands of civilians from the border in both countries. Attacks intensified this month after Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander and Hezbollah responded with some of its biggest missile barrages. U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths used the word “apocalyptic” to describe a war that could result. Israel and Hezbollah, the dominant force in politically fractured Lebanon, have the power to cause heavy casualties. “Such a war would be a catastrophe for Lebanon," U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said as he met recently with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon. “Another war between Israel and Hezbollah could easily become a regional war, with terrible consequences for the Middle East.” Gallant, in response, said, “We are working closely together to achieve an agreement, but we must also discuss readiness on every possible scenario.” Analysts expect other Iran-allied militias in the region would respond far more forcefully than they have for Hamas, and some experts warn of ideologically motivated militants streaming into the region to join in. Europeans fear destabilizing refugee flows. While Iran, which is preoccupied with a political transition at home, shows no sign of wanting a war now, it sees Hezbollah as its strategically vital partner in the region — much more so than Hamas — and could be drawn in. "Obviously if it does look like things are going seriously south for the Israelis, the U.S. will intervene,” Feierstein said. “I don't think that they would see any alternative to that.” While the United States helped Israel knock down a barrage of Iranian missiles and drones in April, it likely would not do as well assisting Israel's defense against any broader Hezbollah attacks, said General Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It is harder to fend off the shorter-range rockets that Hezbollah fires routinely across the border, he said. The Israeli army is stretched after a nearly nine-month war in Gaza, and Hezbollah holds an estimated arsenal of some 150,000 rockets and missiles capable of striking anywhere in Israel. Israeli leaders, meanwhile, have pledged to unleash Gaza-like scenes of devastation on Lebanon if a full-blown war erupts. White House senior adviser Amos Hochstein, President Joe Biden's point person on Israel-Hezbollah tensions, has not been successful so far in getting the two sides to dial back the attacks. The French, who have ties as Lebanon's former colonial power, and other Europeans also are mediating, along with the Qataris and Egyptians. White House officials have blamed Hezbollah for escalating tensions and said it backs Israel’s right to defend itself. The Biden administration also has told the Israelis that opening a second front is not in their interest. That was a point hammered home to Gallant during his latest talks in Washington with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Austin, CIA Director William Burns, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Hochstein and others. “We’re going to continue to help Israel defend itself; that’s not going to change,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said. “But as for a hypothetical — specifically with respect to the northern border line ... again, we want to see no second front opened, and we want to see if we can’t resolve the tensions out there through diplomatic processes.” White House officials, however, are not discounting the real possibility that a second front in the Mideast conflict could open. In conversations with Israeli and Lebanese officials and other regional stakeholders, there is agreement that “a major escalation is not in anybody’s interest,” a senior Biden administration official said. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly about White House deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity, bristled at the “purported logic” of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah arguing that Israel would see an end to Hezbollah attacks by reaching a cease-fire agreement with Hamas in Gaza. But the official also acknowledged that an elusive cease-fire deal in Gaza would go a long way in quieting tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border.

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JERUSALEM — Humanitarian workers have started moving tons of aid that piled up at a United States-built pier off the Gaza coast to warehouses in the besieged territory, the United Nations said Saturday, an important step as the U.S. considers whether to resume pier operations after yet another pause due to heavy seas. It was not clear when the aid might reach Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where experts have warned of the high risk of famine as the war between Israel and Hamas militants is in its ninth month. This is the first time trucks have moved aid from the pier since the U.N.’s World Food Program suspended operations there due to security concerns on June 9. Millions of pounds of aid have piled up. In just the last week, more than 4.5 million kilograms (10 million pounds) were moved ashore, according to the U.S. military. A WFP spokesperson, Abeer Etefa, told The Associated Press this is a one-time operation until the beach is cleared of the aid and is being done to avoid spoilage. Further U.N. operations at the pier depend on U.N. security assessments, Etefa said. The U.N. is investigating whether the pier was used in an Israeli military operation last month to rescue three hostages. If WFP trucks successfully bring the aid to warehouses inside Gaza, that could affect the U.S. military’s decision whether to reinstall the pier, which was removed due to weather Friday. U.S. officials said they were considering not reinstalling the pier because of the possibility that the aid would not be picked up. Even if the U.N. decides to keep transporting aid from the pier into Gaza, lawlessness around humanitarian convoys will be a further challenge to distribution. The convoys have come under attack in Gaza. While most aid deliveries come by land, restrictions around border crossings and on what items can enter Gaza have further hurt a population that was already dependent on humanitarian aid before the war. The June 9 pause at the pier came after the Israeli military used a nearby area to fly out hostages after their rescue in a raid that killed more than 270 Palestinians, prompting a U.N. review over concerns that aid workers’ safety and neutrality may have been compromised. Battles continue More than 37,800 Palestinians have been killed in the war since it began with Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its toll. The ministry said the bodies of 40 people killed by Israeli strikes had been brought to local hospitals over the past 24 hours. At least two people were killed and six injured, including a child, in a strike in Bureij camp in central Gaza. The October 7 Hamas attack killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and another 250 people were taken hostage. Israeli forces have been battling Palestinian militants in an eastern part of Gaza City over the last week. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled their homes, according to the U.N. “It’s like the first weeks of the invasion,” one resident, Mahmoud al-Masry, said of the intensity of the fighting. “Many people were killed. Many houses were destroyed. They strike anything moving.” The Israeli military acknowledged an operation against Hamas fighters in Shijaiyah and Saturday noted “close-quarters combat.” Elsewhere, thousands of Palestinians who remained in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah fled Friday for Muwasi, a crowded coastal tent camp designated by the Israeli army as a safe zone. Some told the AP they evacuated because Israeli gunfire and missiles had come close to where they were sheltering. Over 1.3 million Palestinians have fled Rafah since Israel’s incursion into the city in early May, while aid groups warn there are no safe places to go. With the heat in Gaza reaching over 32 degrees Celsius (89 Fahrenheit), many displaced people have found tents unbearable. The territory has been without electricity since Israel cut off power as part of the war, and Israel also stopped pumping drinking water to the enclave. “Death is better than it, it is a grave,” said Barawi Bakroun, who was displaced from Gaza City, as others fanned themselves with pieces of cardboard.

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SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — Air tankers and helicopters helped douse flames from the sky as nearly 200 firefighters on the ground battled a wildfire northeast of Phoenix on Friday that threatened scores of homes and forced dozens of residents to evacuate. Authorities expanded the evacuation area in a subdivision on the northeast outskirts of Scottsdale, closed roads and shut down part of a nature preserve as gusty winds continued to fan the flames in extremely hot, dry conditions. But there were no immediate reports of injuries or structure damage, Arizona fire officials said. Near Phoenix, where the high reached 43.3 degrees Celsius (110 Fahrenheit) Friday, about 60 residents evacuated homes in the Boulder Heights subdivision overnight after the human-caused fire broke out about 2:30 p.m. Thursday. Fire officials said they were investigating exactly what sparked the blaze about 8 kilometers (5 miles) east of Carefree, just outside northern Scottsdale on the edge of the Tonto National Forest. Dubbed the Boulder View Fire, it has burned about 13 square kilometers (5 square miles) with zero containment, authorities said. “The southeast side of the fire remained active throughout the night producing 20-to-40-foot flame lengths in areas,” Tiffany Davila, a spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, said in a statement. “Additional resources were redirected to that side of the fire last night to begin structure protection and help crews start firing operations to tie the fire into nearby roads," she said. The Red Cross set up an evacuation center at a high school in Scottsdale, and shelters for horses and other large animals were established at several locations, including the rodeo grounds at nearby Cave Creek. Scottsdale officials closed part of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve as a precaution but said there was no immediate threat. The air tankers armed with red retardant and helicopters hauling giant buckets of water helped ground crews keep the flames away from power lines in the area so far, fire officials said. The National Weather Service said above-normal temperatures will persist well into next week, with many lower desert locations seeing highs near or exceeding 43.3 degrees C (110 F) each afternoon. Meanwhile in central Oregon, fire officials were releasing some crews from the lines south of Bend because conditions have improved, and the threat posed by a wildfire to the community around La Pine has decreased after hundreds were evacuated earlier this week. Firefighters said Friday they had dug fire lines around nearly half of the Darlene 3 fire, near La Pine, which has now burned an estimated 15.5 square kilometers (6 square miles) and was listed at 42% containment. And in Central California, about 200 firefighters were making progress on a large blaze that has burned an estimated 23.3 square kilometers (9 square miles) about 97 kilometers (60 miles) east of Fresno. It was the only one still burning of 18 fires that were sparked by lightning along the western edge of the Sierra Nevada when a storm moved through this week, officials said.

NEW DELHI — Five Indian soldiers were killed when a military tank they were traveling in sank while crossing a river in the remote region of Ladakh, which borders China, officials said Saturday. The tank sank early Saturday due to sudden increase in the water levels of Shyok River during a military training activity, according to an Indian army command center statement. It said the accident took place in Saser Brangsa near the Line of Actual Control that divides India and China in the Ladakh region. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh called it an “unfortunate accident.” “We will never forget exemplary service of our gallant soldiers to the nation. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. The nation stands firm with them during this hour of grief,” Singh wrote on the social platform X. The Indian and Chinese militaries have been locked in a standoff in Ladakh since May 2020, when they clashed along their land border in the region, with 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers killed. The skirmish turned into a long-running standoff in the rugged mountainous area, where each side has stationed tens of thousands of military personnel. New Delhi and Beijing have held a series of diplomatic and military talks to resolve their worst military conflict in decades. The border dispute between India and China dates to the 1950s, and the two sides fought a war over it in 1962.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Tropical Storm Beryl chugged toward the southeast Caribbean on Saturday as forecasters warned it was expected to strengthen into a dangerous major hurricane before reaching Barbados late Sunday. A major hurricane is considered Category 3 or higher when it has winds of at least 178 kilometers per hour (111 miles per hour). Hurricane watches were in effect for Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, while a tropical storm watch was issued for Martinique and Tobago. Beryl's center is forecast to pass about 45 kilometers (26 miles) south of Barbados, said Sabu Best, director of the island's meteorological service's director. On Saturday, Beryl was located about 1,320 kilometers (820 miles) east-southeast of Barbados, with maximum sustained winds of 100 kph (65 mph). It was moving west at 37 kph (23 mph). “Rapid strengthening is now forecast,” the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. Warm waters are fueling Beryl, with ocean heat content in the deep Atlantic the highest on record for this time of year, according to Brian McNoldy, University of Miami tropical meteorology researcher. Beryl is the strongest June tropical storm on record that far east in the tropical Atlantic, noted Philip Klotzbach, Colorado State University hurricane researcher. “We need to be ready,” Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley said in a public address late Friday. “You and I know when these things happen, it is better to plan for the worst and pray for the best.” She noted that thousands of people are in Barbados for the Twenty20 World Cup cricket final, with India and South Africa playing in the capital, Bridgetown, on Saturday. Beryl is the second named storm in what is predicted to be a busy hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30 in the Atlantic. Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Alberto came ashore in northeast Mexico with heavy rains that resulted in four deaths.

Bangkok — Crime empires embedded in Asia’s “Golden Triangle” border areas are getting richer and more powerful, blurring the lines between the illicit economy and the legitimate one as they diversify from drugs to wildlife trafficking, cyber scams and money laundering, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The Golden Triangle, which cuts across the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar, is home to an array of transnational crime organizations that run multibillion-dollar enterprises with virtual impunity — and they are embracing new technology to make more profit. Myanmar, which borders five countries, has long been the epicenter of many illegal Asia-Pacific trades. It has sunk into chaos since a 2021 coup, allowing crime groups to flourish in the lack of governance, especially in remote Shan State, which borders Thailand to the south and China to its east. “Some of the challenges in Myanmar are really at the heart of the criminality we are seeing in and around the Golden Triangle,” said Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC deputy regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. “At the same time, Myanmar’s border areas are now much more connected to the rest of the region, and the spillover into Southeast Asia is growing,” he told VOA. Fortunes carved out on unfettered methamphetamine production are now being multiplied with cyber scam parks and illicit wildlife trafficking — including bear bile and elephant ivory into southern China — and then laundered through casinos, the U.N. agency said in its annual World Drug Report earlier this week. In the absence of serious law enforcement threats to their empires, the criminal networks working alongside armed groups in the Golden Triangle are getting bigger and more sophisticated in the ways they wash their money. They have been using an “underground banking infrastructure” of casinos, crypto and traditional currency exchanges to clean billions of dollars, Hofmann said. “The line between the formal economy and criminal business is increasingly blurred, and corruption weakens governance systems in the region,” he said. Increased Golden Triangle meth production is pushing drugs into new markets, as the price of yaba — addictive caffeine-laced meth pills taken across the Mekong River — crumbles to as low as $1 to $2 per pill, or less than a can of coke. But cheaper meth has not come with “fluctuations in purity,” the study stated, driving up addiction rates in a region with limited resources and patchy political will for drug treatment and rehabilitation. “There is a stronger focus now on a more balanced approach to drug control, taking into account both supply and demand of illicit drugs,” Hofmann said. “But as drugs are getting cheaper and more accessible, including for very poor and young people, it is clear much more needs to be done in resourcing prevention and treatment systems that take care of those amongst the most vulnerable parts of society,” he said. Myanmar’s conflict and chaos have exacerbated poverty in the border areas, in turn driving a surge in opium poppy production by poor rural communities. Just this week, Myanmar’s Home Affairs Minister Lieutenant General Yar Pyae said in a statement: "In 2023, Myanmar saw a slight increase in illegal opium poppy cultivation. Therefore, the persuasion by the Myanmar Tatmadaw, Myanmar Police Force, and various departments to local ethnic communities in drug prevention efforts through educational activities has led to the destruction of a total of 6,181 acres of poppy fields during the 2023-2024 opium poppy cultivation season. The alternative development management sector is continuously carrying out the implementation of opium alternative development activities, the crop substitution sector, and the livestock breeding sector." Yet, Myanmar is now the world’s number one opium producer, as the Taliban cracks down on poppy cultivation — the base ingredient of heroin — in Afghanistan, the study said. The report also warned of mounting environmental damage caused by the rampant meth trade. While there are no studies in hard-to-reach areas, the UNODC said as a rule, every kilogram of methamphetamine produced creates 5 to 10 kilograms of toxic chemical waste. Thailand alone burned upwards of 340 tons of seized narcotics in December and a further 20 tons on June 26, world drug day. The kingdom has launched a renewed drug crackdown, but methamphetamine, ketamine and heroin continue to pour through its borders and ports to the rest of Southeast Asia. “The drug producers are still operating along the borders, pumping out hundreds of thousands of pills a day,” Krisanaphong Poothakool, a prominent criminologist and former senior Thai police officer, told VOA. The latest seizures with new packets of branding point to new players entering the meth trade, as traffickers get increasingly skillful in the way they move their drugs. “Producers in Thailand are also making the pills on the go in moving vehicles. It’s nearly impossible to intercept them all,” he said. Insulated from crackdowns by remote Golden Triangle locations, alliances with powerful armed groups and easily corrupted officials, the crime organizations of Southeast Asia show no sign of slowing down. Security experts warn that cyber scams with bases in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia have made new fortunes for the crime lords and are becoming increasingly advanced with artificial intelligence and the reach of the internet. "We are only at the beginning of a technology-driven revolution of the criminal ecosystem here, with implications for people far beyond this region," Hofmann said.

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GIMHAE AIR BASE, South Korea — The United States wrapped up its first multidomain exercise with Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea on Saturday, a step forward in Washington's efforts to strengthen and lock in its security partnerships with key Asian allies in the face of growing threats from North Korea and China. The three-day Freedom Edge increased the sophistication of previous exercises with simultaneous air and naval drills geared toward improving joint ballistic-missile defense, anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and other skills and capabilities. The exercise, which is expected to expand in years to come, was also intended to improve the countries' abilities to share missile warnings — increasingly important as North Korea tests ever-more sophisticated systems. Other than Australia, Japan and South Korea are the only U.S. partners in the region with militaries sophisticated enough to integrate operations with the U.S. so that if, for example, South Korea were to detect a target, it could quickly relay details so Japanese or American counterparts could respond, said Ridzwan Rahmat, a Singapore-based analyst with the defense intelligence company Janes. “That’s the kind of interoperability that is involved in a typical war scenario,” Rahmat said. “For trilateral exercises like this, the intention is to develop the interoperability between the three armed forces so that they can fight better as a cohesive fighting force.” Such exercises also carry the risk of increasing tensions, with China regularly denouncing drills in what it considers its sphere of influence, and North Korea already slamming the arrival of the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier group in the port of Busan — home to South Korea’s navy headquarters and its Gimhae Air Base — in preparation for Freedom Edge as “provocative” and “dangerous." On Wednesday, the day after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visited the Roosevelt in Busan, becoming the first sitting South Korean president to board a U.S. aircraft carrier since 1994, North Korea tested what it said was a multiwarhead missile, the first known launch of the developmental weapon, if confirmed. South Korea’s military said a joint analysis by South Korean and U.S. authorities assessed that the North Korean missile launch failed. The defense cooperation involving Japan and South Korea is also politically complex for Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, due to the lingering resentment over Imperial Japan’s brutal occupation of Korea before and during World War II. The two countries have the largest militaries among American allies in East Asia — and together host some 80,000 American troops on their territories — but the U.S. has tended to work with them individually rather than together due to their history. Kishida's increase of defense spending and cooperation with South Korea have generally been well received by the Japanese public but has caused friction with the right wing of his own party, while Yoon's domestic appeal has weakened, but he has stayed the course. “South Korea’s shift under the Yoon administration toward improving its relations with Japan has been extremely significant,” said Heigo Sato, international politics professor and security expert at Takushoku University in Tokyo. Both leaders are seen to be trying to fortify their defense relationships with Washington ahead of the inauguration of a new president, with South Korean officials saying recently that they hope to sign a formal security framework agreement with the U.S. and Japan this year that would lock in a joint approach to responding to a possible attack from North Korea. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has also long been working to increase cooperation between South Korea and Japan — something that many didn't think was possible at the start of his presidency, said Euan Graham, a defense analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. “Credit where it’s due — the fact that it’s happening is a significant achievement from the administration’s regional policy,” he said. Former U.S. President Donald Trump caused friction with both allies during his time in office by demanding greater payment for their hosting of U.S. troops while holding one-on-one meetings with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Under Biden, Washington is seeking to solidify its system of alliances, both with increasingly sophisticated exercises and diplomatic agreements, Graham said. Tensions with North Korea are at their highest point in years, with the pace of Kim Jong Un’s weapons programs intensifying, despite heavy international sanctions. China, meanwhile, has been undertaking a massive military buildup of nuclear and conventional weapons, and now has the world’s largest navy. It claims both the self-governing island of Taiwan and virtually the entirety of the South China Sea as its own territory and has increasingly turned to its military to press those claims. China and North Korea have also been among Russia’s closest allies in its war against Ukraine, while Russia and China are also key allies for North Korea, as well as the military leaders of Myanmar who seized power in 2021 and are facing ever-stiffer resistance in that country’s civil war. In Pyongyang this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim concluded a mutual defense pact, agreeing to come to the other's aid in the event of an attack, rattling others in the region. Despite a greater number of ships overall, China still only has three aircraft carriers compared to the U.S. fleet’s 11 — probably the most effective tool a country has to bring vast amounts of power to bear at a great distance from home. China’s advantage, however, is that its primary concern is the nearby waters of the Indo-Pacific, while Washington’s global focus means that its naval assets are spread widely. Following the exercises in the East China Sea with Japan and South Korea, the Roosevelt is due to sail to the Middle East to help protect ships against attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. That has made strong security partnerships even more important, not only with Japan and South Korea but with Australia, the Philippines, Taiwan and others in the region, and building those up has been a priority for the Biden administration.

Despite the war, schools across Ukraine are celebrating the end of the academic year. Some of them have a military air to them. About 7,000 Ukrainian teenagers are studying in more than 20 military academies around the country. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story. Videographer: Yuriy Dankevych.