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DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza — Children in sandals trudge through water contaminated with sewage and scale growing mounds of garbage in Gaza's crowded tent camps for displaced families. People relieve themselves in burlap-covered pits, with nowhere nearby to wash their hands. In the stifling summer heat, Palestinians say the odor and filth surrounding them is just another inescapable reality of war — like pangs of hunger or sounds of bombing. The territory's ability to dispose of garbage, treat sewage and deliver clean water has been virtually decimated by eight brutal months of war between Israel and Hamas. This has made grim living conditions worse and raised health risks for hundreds of thousands of people deprived of adequate shelter, food and medicine, aid groups say. Hepatitis A cases are on the rise, and doctors fear that as warmer weather arrives, an outbreak of cholera is increasingly likely without dramatic changes to living conditions. The U.N., aid groups and local officials are scrambling to build latrines, repair water lines and bring desalination plants back online. COGAT, the Israeli military body coordinating humanitarian aid efforts, said it's engaging in efforts to improve the "hygiene situation." But relief can't come soon enough. "Flies are in our food," said Adel Dalloul, a 21-year-old whose family settled in a beach tent camp near the central Gaza city of Nuseirat. They wound up there after fleeing the southern city of Rafah, where they landed after leaving their northern Gaza home. "If you try to sleep, flies, insects and cockroaches are all over you." More than a million Palestinians had been living in hastily assembled tent camps in Rafah before Israel invaded in May. Since fleeing Rafah, many have taken shelter in even more crowded and unsanitary areas across southern and central Gaza that doctors describe as breeding grounds for disease — especially as temperatures regularly reach 32 degrees Celsius. "The stench in Gaza is enough to make you kind of immediately nauseous," said Sam Rose, a director at the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. Conditions are exacting an emotional toll, too. Anwar al-Hurkali, who lives with his family in a tent camp in the central Gazan city of Deir al-Balah, said he can't sleep for fear of scorpions and rodents. He doesn't let his children leave their tent, he said, worrying they'll get sick from pollution and mosquitoes. "We cannot stand the smell of sewage," he said. "It is killing us." Basic services breakdown The U.N. estimates nearly 70% of Gaza's water and sanitation plants have been destroyed or damaged by Israel's heavy bombardment. That includes all five of the territory's wastewater treatment facilities, plus water desalination plants, sewage pumping stations, wells and reservoirs. The employees who once managed municipal water and waste systems have been displaced, and some killed, officials say. This month, an Israeli strike in Gaza City killed five government employees repairing water wells, the city said. Despite staffing shortages and damaged equipment, some desalination plants and sewage pumps are working, but they're hampered by lack of fuel, aid workers say. A U.N. assessment of two Deir al-Balah tent camps found in early June that people's daily water consumption — including drinking, washing and cooking — averaged under 2 liters, far lower than the recommended 15 liters a day. COGAT said it's coordinating with the UN to repair sewage facilities and Gaza's water system. Israel has opened three water lines "pumping millions of liters daily" into Gaza, it said. But people often wait hours in line to collect potable water from delivery trucks, hauling back to their families whatever they can carry. The scarcity means families often wash with dirty water. This week, Dalloul said, he lined up for water from a vendor. "We discovered that it was salty, polluted, and full of germs. We found worms in the water. I had been drinking from it," he said. "I had gastrointestinal problems and diarrhea, and my stomach hurts until this moment." The World Health Organization declared an outbreak of hepatitis A that, as of early June, had led to 81,700 reported cases of jaundice — a common symptom. The disease spreads primarily when uninfected people consume water or food contaminated with fecal matter. Because wastewater treatment plants have shut down, untreated sewage is seeping into the ground or being pumped into the Mediterranean Sea, where tides move north toward Israel. "If there are bad water conditions and polluted groundwater in Gaza, then this is an issue for Israel," said Rose, of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. "It has in the past prompted actions by Israel to try and ameliorate the situation." COGAT said it's working on "improving waste management processes" and examining proposals to establish new dumps and allow more garbage trucks into Gaza. Where can garbage go? Standing barefoot on a street in the Nuseirat refugee camp, 62-year-old Abu Shadi Afana compared the pile of garbage next to him to a "waterfall." He said trucks continue to dump rubbish even though families live in tents nearby. "There is no one to provide us with a tent, food, or drink, and on top of all of this, we live in garbage?" Afana said. Trash attracts bugs he's never seen before in Gaza — small insects that stick to his skin. When he lies down, he said, he feels like they're "eating his face." There are few other places for the garbage to go. When Israel's military took control of a 1-kilometer buffer zone along its border with Gaza, two main landfills east of the cities of Khan Younis and Gaza City became off-limits. In their absence, informal landfills have developed. Displaced Palestinians running out of areas to shelter say they've had little choice but to pitch tents near trash piles. Satellite images from Planet Labs analyzed by The Associated Press show that an informal landfill in Khan Younis that sprung up after October 7 appears to have doubled in length since January. Since the Rafah evacuation, a tent city has sprung up around the landfill, with Palestinians living between piles of garbage. Cholera fears Doctors in Gaza fear cholera may be on the horizon. "The crowded conditions, the lack of water, the heat, the poor sanitation — these are the preconditions of cholera," said Joanne Perry, a doctor working in southern Gaza with Doctors Without Borders. Most patients have illnesses or infections caused by poor sanitation, she said. Scabies, gastrointestinal illnesses and rashes are common. More than 485,000 diarrhea cases have been reported since the war's start, WHO says. "When we go to the hospital to ask for medicine for diarrhea, they tell us it is not available, and I go to buy it outside the hospital," al-Hurkali said. "But where do I get the money?" COGAT says it's coordinating delivery of vaccines and medical supplies and is in daily contact with Gaza health officials. COGAT is "unaware of any authentic, verified report of unusual illnesses other than viral illnesses," it said. With efforts stalled to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, Dalloul says he's lost hope that help is on the way. "I am 21 years old. I am supposed to start my life," he said. "Now I just live in front of the garbage." 

NOGALES, Mexico — Ana Ruiz was dismayed seeing migrants from some countries released in the United States with orders to appear in immigration court while she and other Mexicans were deported on a one-hour bus ride to the nearest border crossing. "They're giving priority to other countries," Ruiz, 35, said after a tearful phone call to family in Mexico's southern state of Chiapas at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter. The shelter's director says it is receiving about 100 deportees a day, more than double what it saw before President Joe Biden issued an executive order that suspends asylum processing at the U.S.-Mexico border when arrests for illegal crossings reach 2,500 a day. The asylum halt, which took effect June 5 and has led to a 40% decline in arrests for illegal crossings, applies to all nationalities. But it falls hardest on those most susceptible to deportation — specifically, Mexicans and others Mexico agrees to take (Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans). Lack of money for charter flights, sour diplomatic ties and other operational challenges make it more difficult to deport people to many countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the U.S. is working with countries around the world to try to get them to accept more of their deported citizens, citing challenges from diplomatic relations to the slowness in production of travel documents. "The reality is that it is easier to remove individuals to certain countries than other countries," he said in an interview Wednesday in Tucson, Arizona. "We do remove individuals to Senegal, we do remove individuals to Colombia, we do remove individuals to India. It can be more difficult." Mexicans accounted for 38% of border arrests in May, down from 85% in 2011 but still the highest nationality by far. The Border Patrol's Tucson sector has been the busiest corridor for illegal crossings for much of the last year. Last month, nearly three of every four arrests there were of Mexicans, helping explain why the asylum ban has had more impact in Arizona. U.S. authorities say the seven-day average of daily arrests in the Tucson sector fell below 600 this week from just under 1,200 on June 2. Border agents in Arizona have been severely tested since late 2022 by nationalities that are difficult to deport — first from Cuba and later Mauritania, Guinea and Senegal. Many cross near Lukeville, about a four-hour bus ride to a major processing center in Tucson. Many Mexicans cross illegally much closer to Tucson in Nogales, Arizona, some by climbing over a wall with ladders made from material at a seatbelt plant on the Mexican side to try to disappear into homes and businesses within seconds. Others turn themselves in to border agents to claim asylum, entering through gaps in the wall that are being filled in. On Tuesday, a group of 49 predominantly Mexican migrants were waiting for agents. Some are taken to the Border Patrol station in Nogales, where they can be held for six days if they express fear of being deported under the asylum halt and seek similar forms of protection that would allow them to remain but that have a much higher bar, such as the U.N. Convention Against Torture. Most are taken to a cluster of giant white tents near Tucson International Airport, which opened in April 2021 for unaccompanied children. It now has space for 1,000 people, including single adults and families, who sleep on foam mattresses or raised beds. On Tuesday, about a dozen people who said they feared deportation sat on benches in a cavernous room to hear instructions on the screening interview, which includes a four-hour window to call attorneys or others to prepare. They were then directed to one of 16 soundproof phone booths. The Tucson processing center didn't even conduct screenings before Biden's asylum halt. That resulted in more migrants being released with orders to appear in U.S. immigration court, a practice that has plummeted in recent weeks. The screenings by asylum officers take about 90 minutes by phone. Many migrants who fail interviews are deported to Nogales, a sprawling city in the Mexican state of Sonora, and end up at San Juan Bosco, where a giant fan in a former chapel offers relief from blistering summer heat. Francisco Loureiro, who runs the shelter in a hardscrabble hillside neighborhood, said word has gotten out among Mexicans that they will be deported if they surrender to agents to seek asylum and that more will try to avoid being captured. He said one deported migrant accepted a smuggler's offer outside the shelter Tuesday to try to sneak across undetected. Ruiz said she did not get a chance to explain to an asylum officer that she feared returning to Mexico because of cartel violence. "They were very direct, yes-or-no questions. You couldn't explain why you were afraid," she said. Mayorkas said complaints about the screening predate Biden's June order. "I have confidence in our agents and officers that they are abiding by the guidelines, that our guidelines are strong," he said. Anahi Sandoval, 30, said she tried to avoid capture after crossing the border in Nogales and was abandoned by her smuggler in the desert. She said she fled Chiapas after she and her husband, who owned a doors-and-windows business, refused to be extorted by gangs; her husband was killed and she left her daughter with a relative. "The Colombians get a pass but not the Mexicans," said Sandoval, who failed her screening interview. "It makes me angry." Araceli Martinez, 32, said she fears returning home with her 14-year-old daughter to a physically abusive husband, but no one asked her and she didn't know that she had to ask until she was on a bus to Mexico. Previously, Border Patrol agents had to ask migrants if they feared returning home. Under new rules, migrants must ask unprompted or express obvious signs of distress, such as crying. Martinez was eager to spread a message to others: "People come thinking there is asylum, but there isn't."

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — When Ngarauru Mako told her family she was calling off Christmas festivities in favor of celebrating Matariki, the Māori new year holiday that's experiencing a renaissance in New Zealand, her children didn't believe her. "We grew up with Christmas because it was just what you did, but I realized it wasn't my thing," said Mako, who is Māori, a member of New Zealand's Indigenous people. "I just decided myself to cancel Christmas, be the Grinch, and take on Matariki." Now in its third year as a nationwide public holiday in New Zealand, Matariki marks the lunar new year by the rise of the star cluster known in the Northern Hemisphere as the Pleiades. The holiday is seeing a surge in popularity, even as political debates about race in New Zealand have grown more divisive. Accompanying the holiday's rise is a tension between those embracing Indigenous language and culture, and a vocal minority who wish to see less of it. "For much of our past, since the arrival of settlers to this land, mostly out of Great Britain, we've really looked to mimic and build our identity off Great Britain," said Rangi Mātāmua, professor of Mātauranga Māori -– Māori knowledge — at Massey University and an adviser to the government on Matariki. "But I think as we've moved a number of generations on, Aotearoa New Zealand is starting to come of age in terms of our understanding of our identity," he added, using both the Māori and English names for the country. When New Zealand established the national day in 2022, it became the first nation in the world to recognize an Indigenous-minority holiday, scholars including Mātāmua believe. But many did not know what it was. Even so, 51% of people did something to mark the day, official figures show, and that number grew to 60% in 2023. Matariki falls on a different midwinter date each year based on the Māori lunar calendar; in 2024 it was officially celebrated June 28.   A 700-year-old tradition that fell out of observance in modern times — even among the 1 million Māori who make up New Zealand's population of 5 million -– the fortunes of Matariki changed over the past few decades, as Māori language, culture and traditions saw a passionate resurgence. "Māori culture has been oppressed for a long, long time. We lost our reo — our language — nearly, we nearly lost our identity," said Poropiti Rangitaawa, a musician who performed Māori songs this month at a family Matariki celebration outside of Wellington, the capital city. "But with the hope of our people, our old people, our ancestors, they have brought it up and now it's really strong." The carnival day at Wainuiomata where Rangitaawa played was one of many events New Zealanders of all ethnicities attended to mark Matariki. Some attended predawn ceremonies where steam from food is released to "feed the stars" and lists of names are read remembering the dead and those born since the last celebration. Dotted around Wellington were remembrance spots — in the back room of a church, in a garden -– where visitors displayed notes to those they had lost: a dad, an aunt, a cat. "It's only just now that I'm realizing Matariki is about the stars, and I love the fact that they've got a star for the ones we've lost in the year," said Casey Wick, attending a celebration with her family. For many, a growing knowledge of the holiday has come through their children, which is typical of New Zealand's Indigenous movement. Protests in the 1970s seeking recognition of the language gave rise to Māori language pre-schools whose first generation of graduates are fluent speakers. Every elementary school in New Zealand now recognizes Matariki, and many this month hosted shared meals for families to celebrate. Children come home singing the names of the nine Matariki stars to the tune of the Macarena. "I learn more from her about Matariki than I could ever give to her," said Liana Childs, whose daughter Akaylia, 9, recited the stars of the cluster perfectly. The family is not Māori, Childs said, but they studied the Māori seasons, which guide the planting of crops and when to hunt. "I think it's just brought us closer together as a family," she said. The political climate for Māori language and culture, however, is complicated. Words in the language are now commonplace in conversations, but Māori has its detractors, too. Matariki was established as a national day under New Zealand's previous center-left government, which urged the country to embrace Māori culture. The government, however, was often decried for doing little to address woeful economic, health and justice issues for Māori that became entrenched after New Zealand was colonized in the 19th century. A change of government last October meant a new era for Matariki. The party leading the current center-right coalition supports the day, but one of its coalition partners does not. The government has also pledged to scrap some policies recognizing Māori that were passed by its predecessors, getting rid of a Māori health agency that prioritized Indigenous New Zealanders, who die younger than people of non-Maori descent; reversing a movement to grant Māori names to government agencies, some of which have already reverted to their English titles; and halting plans for shared management of public utilities with Māori tribes. One of the governing parties has provoked a fresh debate about New Zealand's founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi -– signed between Māori tribes and the British Crown in 1840 -– with the suggestion that modern interpretations have given Māori too many rights. The rumblings about a revisited treaty have prompted protest marches. "Governments will come and governments will go," said Mātāmua, the professor. "Matariki existed before government, and it will continue to exist after the current government." Māori language and culture almost died out when earlier politicians opposed their expression, Mātāmua said, but in a nation where many are now enthusiastic about it, any government trying to curtail the celebration would learn "that perhaps trying to put this genie back in the bottle would be very, very difficult." At the Matariki celebration in Wainuiomata, Tash Simpson stood with friends at a stall that fused Māori and Kenyan crafts. "We're stronger now. Our people are more knowledgeable now," she said of political threats to Māori. "But now we know what's coming and we're ready."

boston — Top Chinese leaders will gather in Beijing next month for a key political meeting that will likely reveal details of China's attempts to boost and reform its troubled economy. The Third Plenum, originally expected to be held last autumn, will occur July 15-18. The party conclave will "examine issues related to comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization," according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency. The announcement comes as China struggles to raise economic growth back to pre-pandemic levels, with consumption remaining low and troubles in the property sector persisting. Data from China's National Bureau of Statistics show that property investment fell 10.1% in the first five months of 2024 from a year ago. New home prices have also been dropping for almost a year. Meanwhile, consumption in the world's second-largest economy remains persistently weak, with retail sales increasing only 2.3% in April. Some economists predict consumer confidence in China will remain low throughout 2024. Some analysts say the significant delay in holding the key party conclave suggests a lack of consensus over how to address the long list of domestic economic challenges that China is facing. "My best guess is that the Third Plenum will propose measures to address the housing market, the restructuring or re-profiling of local government debt, and weak household consumption," Michael Pettis, an expert on the Chinese economy at Peking University, wrote in a report for business consultancy Global Source Partners. Some experts say that instead of initiating a big structural reform to the Chinese economy, Chinese authorities will focus on boosting consumer and business confidence and rolling out some fiscal reform. "The Chinese government will try to reassure foreign investors, build up confidence in the labor market, and roll out measures to tackle the fiscal crisis at the local level," said Dexter Roberts, director of China affairs at the University of Montana's Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center. Ahead of the Third Plenum, Chinese state media have been highlighting the government's efforts to boost domestic consumption. Xinhua reported that a consumer goods trade-in program the government initiated in March had triggered a rise in sales of cars and home appliances, while another report talked about Beijing's attempt to boost consumer demand in the tourism and automobile sectors. Chinese President Xi Jinping also tried to reassure investors that China will always remain "open." "We will ... form a more market-oriented, legal and international business environment," he said during a speech marking the 70th anniversary of the government's "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence," which guide China's foreign relations. Some analysts say Beijing aims to implement the policy agenda that Xi set out for China during the 20th Party Congress in October 2022. "I think the key theme is likely to be trying to [roll out] structural reforms that help China to become an industrial innovation superpower and boost productivity to combat lagging growth and increase sustainability," Neil Thomas, a fellow for Chinese politics at the New York-based Asia Society Policy Institute, told VOA by phone. Apart from the domestic challenges, China is also facing mounting economic pressure posed by foreign countries. The United States has been coordinating with some of its allies, including Japan and the Netherlands, to restrict China's access to advanced technologies, such as semiconductor chips. Meanwhile, the U.S. and European Union have both imposed tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China, while Canada is considering following suit. To cope with this pressure, China has begun to emphasize letting scientific and technological innovation drive the economy. During a major science and tech conference in Beijing on June 24, Xi said China needs to "strengthen top-level design and overall planning" and "expedite high-level sci-tech self-reliance" to help China become a leading country in science and technology by 2035. "The country must further enhance its sense of urgency and intensify its efforts in sci-tech innovation, so as to secure a leading position in sci-tech competition and future development," he said during the conference. Some experts say Xi's emphasis on science and technology innovation likely suggests the Chinese government will pour more funding into research and development, offer tax incentives for tech companies, and introduce policies during the Third Plenum aimed at fostering a robust innovation ecosystem. "This will involve creating more favorable conditions for venture capital and private equity investments and improving access to financing for startups and innovative enterprises," Lizzi Lee, a fellow on the Chinese economy at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis, told VOA in a written response. Apart from doubling down on the key role of innovation, Xi said China must further centralize the power of leading scientific and technological innovation in the Chinese Communist Party. Lee said the Chinese government needs to ensure "innovation can thrive within the parameters set by the party" while fostering an environment where "bottom-up, grassroots innovations can emerge." Judging from the wide range of domestic and international challenges China faces, Thomas in New York said, one of Xi's top priorities will be to strengthen his position in the Chinese Communist Party and further enhance his leadership of the country. "I expect there'll be further institutional reforms to more deeply embed the party and Xi's leadership over the Chinese economy," he told VOA. 

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VIENTIANE, LAOS — As Beijing weaves its web of roads and railways through Southeast Asia, a massive Chinese-financed infrastructure project in Laos is quietly reshaping the region’s geopolitical landscape. The $6 billion China-Laos railway, which opened in December 2021 and will soon provide a direct route from Kunming, China, to the Gulf of Thailand through connections with previously existing rail lines in those countries, stands as a symbol of Beijing's ambitious regional expansion strategy. Initially planned with 32 stations, the railway currently boasts 10 passenger stations and 10 freight stations, with further expansion in progress. The railway is managed by the Laos-China Railway Company, a joint venture in Vientiane. Laos holds a 30% stake through the Lao National Railway State Enterprise, with Chinese state-owned enterprises, led by China State Railway Group Company Ltd., covering the remainder. Funding includes a 60% loan from Eximbank of China and 40% equity investment from each nation. Laos' $1.79 billion share includes $730 million in equity and $1.06 billion in debt, supplemented by a $480 million Eximbank of China loan and $250 million from the state budget. While the project promises economic growth for Laos, it is also part of China's strategic Belt and Road Initiative aimed at extending the country's influence. Daniele Carminati, a visiting lecturer at Bangkok’s Mahidol University International College, acknowledged the potential economic benefits of increased Chinese investment in Laos. He said that while there are opportunities for local employment and business growth near railway stations, there is also the risk of deepening dependence on China. "China will still have a major role in the operations of the railways, and this can result in political influence, even if passively. Laos could hardly take a tough stance with China because there is a lot to lose," he told VOA by email. Given Laos’ location bordering China, a tough stance would be unlikely anyway, he said. "It is sensible for Laos to 'accept its status' and try to reap the benefits accordingly," he said. The influx of Chinese investment may bring short-term gains, but the long-term consequences could entrench Laos in a cycle of debt and subservience. Grace Stanhope, a research associate in the Lowy Institute’s Indo-Pacific Development Centre told VOA, "The railway was intended to increase economic activity and facilitate cross-border exports and tourism for Laos. However, reports indicate that most of the exports on the railway to China are from Chinese companies operating in Laos, rather than Laos-owned businesses." According to Laos-China Railway Company figures, the Laos-China Railway recorded over 10,000 trains and 8.7 million passengers from January to May, a 17.5% increase over last year. Looking ahead, Laos and Thailand are preparing to initiate a trial run of a Vientiane-Bangkok railway link on July 13-14, with plans for it to become the first rail link between Thailand and China. Influence at the local level Despite regulations requiring payments in Lao kip, railway stations display prices in both kip and Chinese yuan. Vendors often accept yuan, given the high number of Chinese tourists and business travelers, said Phetsamone ‘Mone’ Vilaysack, a cashier at a small shop in the Vientiane train station. "The train and its operation are mostly run by Chinese companies, it makes sense that we should allow them to pay in yuan," Mone told VOA. A train hostess, who asked to remain anonymous, said she was unaware of the currency law but was instructed by her employer to ask for payments in kip first but accept yuan. "When customers pay, I always tell them the price in kip first. If they say they have only yuan, I allow them to use it," she said. She said that since she started working for the Laos-China Railway in early 2022, there has been a massive increase in Chinese visitors. "There are so many businessmen from China traveling by train now. I can recognize some of them. I guess they must have some big businesses in Vientiane or Bokeo," she said. "When I see them, I know they would pay in yuan." Bokeo is the one of the most controversial areas in the region. It is home to the biggest Chinese-run special economic zone in Laos and is well known as a drug trafficking center with allegations of human trafficking, forced labor, prostitution, and illegal scam rings and gambling. Jeuan, who prefers to be known by his nickname, has operated a restaurant in the Bokeo zone since 2021 but lives with his family in China, close to Laos' northernmost border. "I often use the train to cross to Laos. It’s fast and cheap. It’s not necessary for us [his family] to move to Laos. I can just invest here," he told VOA at the Vientiane station while waiting for his train to Bokeo. Jeuan said he travels to Bokeo and Vientiane up to three times a month, personally handling business paperwork with local authorities. "I can consider investing in more businesses in Bokeo, or even Thailand, if the train will go there in the future," he said. Regional influence, debt concerns Meanwhile, concerns over the railway's financial implications loom large. Financed largely through Chinese loans, the project has raised apprehensions about Laos’ mounting debt to China, estimated to be over half of Laos' external debt, exceeding 100% of its gross domestic product, according to Stanhope. Critics also say such projects could spur increasing alignment of Lao economic and political decisions with Chinese interests and that the project increases Beijing's leverage over Lao infrastructure and resources, potentially compromising Laos' sovereignty. "The main challenges, beyond technical ones, would be for China to build a credible/persuasive narrative ensuring they will not take advantage of their role while respecting the receiving countries' sovereignty, aware that the United States and allies will keep warning the region of such risks," Carminati wrote in his email. The project is part of China’s vision for the Kunming–Singapore Railway, also known as the Pan-Asia Railway, a flagship BRI project in mainland Southeast Asia. The vision includes three routes linking Kunming to Singapore via Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia. Carminati cited the potential geopolitical impact of extending the line all the way south to Malaysia and Singapore. Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore would not stop defending their national interests, he wrote, "but it is hard to deny that ... a softer stance is expected if these major infrastructure projects are to be completed, maintained, and 'exploited' in the long term."

KATHMANDU, Nepal — At least nine people, including three children, were killed after heavy monsoon rains in west Nepal triggered landslides, an official said on Saturday. Five members of a family were sleeping when their house was washed away by a landslide in Malika village in Gulmi district, about 250 kilometers west of Kathmandu, according to Dizan Bhattarai, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Rescue and Reduction Management Authority. "Bodies of all five have been recovered," Bhattarai told Reuters, adding that the family included two children. In neighboring Syangja district, one woman and her 3-year-old daughter died in a landslide that swept away their house, while in Baglung district, which borders Gulmi, two people were killed in another landslide. At least 35 people across Nepal have died in landslides, floods and lightning strikes since mid-June when annual monsoon rains started. Rains normally continue until mid-September. Landslides and flash floods are common in mostly mountainous Nepal during the monsoon season and kill hundreds of people every year. 

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Early, seesawing results released Saturday in Iran’s presidential election put the race between reformist Masoud Pezeshkian and hard-liner Saeed Jalili, with the lead trading between the two men while a runoff vote appeared likely. The early results, reported by Iranian state television, did not initially put either man in a position to win Friday's election outright, potentially setting the stage for a runoff election to replace the late hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi. It also did not offer any turnout figures for the race yet — a crucial component of whether Iran's electorate backs its Shiite theocracy after years of economic turmoil and mass protests. After counting more than12 million votes, Pezeshkian had more than 5 million while Jalili held 4.8 million. Another candidate, hard-line speaker of the parliament Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, had some 1.6 million votes. Shiite cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi had more than 95,000 votes. Voters faced a choice between the three hard-line candidates and the little-known reformist Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon. As has been the case since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women and those calling for radical change have been barred from running, while the vote itself will have no oversight from internationally recognized monitors. The voting came as wider tensions have gripped the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups that Tehran arms in the region — such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels — are engaged in the fighting and have escalated their attacks. Meanwhile, Iran continues to enrich uranium at near weapons-grade levels and maintains a stockpile large enough to build — should it choose to do so — several nuclear weapons. There had been calls for a boycott, including from imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi. Mir Hossein Mousavi, one of the leaders of the 2009 Green Movement protests who remains in house arrest, also has refused to vote with his wife, his daughter said. There’s also been criticism that Pezeshkian represents just another government-approved candidate. One woman in a documentary on Pezeshkian aired by state TV said her generation was “moving toward the same level” of animosity with the government that Pezeshkian’s generation had in the 1979 revolution. Iranian law requires that a winner gets more than 50% of all votes cast. If that doesn’t happen, the race’s top two candidates will advance to a runoff a week later. There’s been only one runoff presidential election in Iran’s history: in 2005, when hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad bested former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. The 63-year-old Raisi died in the May 19 helicopter crash that also killed the country’s foreign minister and others. He was seen as a protege of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a potential successor. Still, many knew him for his involvement in the mass executions that Iran conducted in 1988, and for his role in the bloody crackdowns on dissent that followed protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by police over allegedly improperly wearing the mandatory headscarf, or hijab. Despite the recent unrest, there was only one reported attack around the election. Gunmen opened fire on a van transporting ballot boxes in the restive southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, killing two police officers and wounding others, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. The province regularly sees violence between security forces and the militant group Jaish al-Adl, as well as drug traffickers.

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LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivian President Luis Arce said Friday a former general planned to "take over" the government and become president in a failed coup, and he denied that the Andean nation was in an economic crisis. In an interview with The Associated Press, the embattled leader denied once again that Wednesday's attack on the government palace was a "self-coup" designed to garner him political points. "I didn't escape. I stayed to defend democracy," Arce said. Arce washed his hands of claims by relatives of the 21 people detained by the government that they were innocent of attempting a coup and had been tricked by ex-Gen. Juan Jose Zúñiga. "It's a problem of those who were involved, it's not the government's problem," Arce told AP. Arce said also his government has been "politically attacked" by his one-time ally turned rival, former President Evo Morales, saying the infighting has snarled legislative activities and hamstrung his government confronting economic problems. Despite that, he said, Bolivia's economy is growing and his administration is working to "diversify" means of producing, investing in things like lithium and industrializing. Bolivia has the largest reserves of lithium — a metal known as "white gold" and considered essential in the green transition — in the world that has gone largely untapped, in part due to government policy. Arce said the government "has taken action" to address intermittent gasoline and dollar shortages and other hurdles ailing the South American nation's economy. "Bolivia has an economy that's growing. An economy in crisis doesn't grow," he said. He said it was "completely normal" for Bolivians to run to stockpile food in supermarkets and make a run on ATMs upon seeing an emerging coup in the capital, instead of following his call to take to the streets in support of the government. He said Bolivians were traumatized by the political turmoil in 2019 that led Morales to resign as president and flee and also caused 37 deaths. "Where there is a political situation, this rupture, a coup d'état, of course people will be scared that there won't be food … so they'll go get money to go stock up," Arce said. He added that the government was investigating if the attack was organized by the country's political opposition. That same day, Arce's governmental minister, Eduardo del Castillo, said the government claimed that there were "snipers who did not arrive in time to the Murillo square" where the coup was staged.

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Yemen's Houthi militant group on Friday claimed responsibility for attacking a Liberia-flagged vessel in the Red Sea that a maritime agency said had survived five missiles. The Houthis said they also targeted three other vessels including two in the Mediterranean. The Iran-aligned Houthis say their attacks on shipping lanes are in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and the militant Islamist group Hamas. Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesperson, said in a televised statement that the group launched ballistic missiles at the Delonix, an oil tanker, and that it took a "direct hit." However, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations monitor said earlier in the day that the ship, which was targeted 278 kilometers northwest of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, reported no damage and was heading northward. Saree also said the Houthis attacked the Ioannis ship in the Red Sea, as well as the Waler oil tanker and the Johannes Maersk vessel in the Mediterranean. He said the Johannes Maersk, which is owned by Maersk, the world's second-largest container carrier, was targeted because it belongs to "one of the most supportive companies for the Zionist entity and the most that violates ban decision of access to the ports of occupied Palestine." International shipping has been disrupted since November by attacks in the region launched by the Houthis. Many vessels have opted to avoid the Red Sea route to the Suez Canal, taking the longer journey around the southern tip of Africa instead. 

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Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia — Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene declared victory early Saturday in parliamentary elections, after a contest dominated by deepening public anger about corruption and the state of the economy.  People across the vast, sparsely populated nation of 3.4 million, sandwiched between China and Russia, voted Friday to elect 126 members of the State Great Khural.  With 100 percent of votes counted by machine, the prime minister told a press conference in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, a few hours after polls closed that his ruling Mongolian People's Party (MPP) had won a majority of seats.  "According to the pre-results, the Mongolian People's Party has 68 to 70 seats," he said.  The vote, he said, represented a "new page" in "democratic debate."  The votes were being counted by hand, and an official result was expected later Saturday.  If the preliminary results hold, the MPP will see its overall share of parliamentary seats fall, from a supermajority of 79% in 2020 to about 54% in the new one.  Results tallied by local media outlet Ikon based on official data also showed the MPP winning 68 seats, with the main opposition Democratic Party winning 42.  The minor anti-corruption HUN party won eight, Ikon reported.  Voter turnout was 69.3% nationally, a screen at the country's Electoral Commission headquarters showed.  Julian Dierkes, a professor at the University of British Columbia and an expert on Mongolian politics, wrote that "everything points to a reduced MPP majority with a surprisingly strong showing" by the Democratic Party.  "The relatively strong turnout," he said, also suggests "desire for some change." Deep frustration  Analysts had expected the MPP to retain the majority it has enjoyed since 2016 and govern for another four years.  They say the party can credit much of its success to a boom in coal mining that fueled double-digit growth and dramatically improved standards of living, as well as to a formidable party machine and a weak, fractured opposition.  Yet there is deep public frustration over endemic corruption, as well as the high cost of living and lack of opportunities for young people who make up almost two-thirds of the population.  There is also a widespread belief that the proceeds of the coal-mining boom are being hoarded by a wealthy elite – a view that has sparked frequent protests.  Broad spectrum  The streets of Ulaanbaatar, home to almost half of Mongolia's population, have been decked out this week with colorful campaign posters touting candidates from across the political spectrum, from populist businessmen to nationalists, environmentalists and socialists.  Parties are required by law to ensure that 30% of candidates are women in a country where politics is dominated by men.  Preliminary results Saturday suggested that 25% of seats in the new parliament would be held by women, up from 17% in 2020.  The MPP is the successor to the communist party that ruled Mongolia with an iron grip for almost 70 years.   It remains popular, particularly among rural, older voters, and commands a sprawling, nationwide campaign apparatus.

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LAJAS BLANCAS, Panama — Panama's President-elect Jose Raul Mulino announced Friday that he wanted an agreement with the United States on deporting migrants who cross into the world's busiest migration route, the perilous Darien Gap, along his country's border with Colombia. In a visit to the jungle region, Mulino said he would discuss the possible deal with a U.S. delegation, led by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, that's expected to attend his inauguration next week. The 65-year-old lawyer, who will take the reins of Panama on Monday, promised during his campaign to shut down the Darien Gap, calling the daily crossings "an odyssey that does not have a reason to exist.” More than half a million people traversed the corridor last year, and 186,000 people are estimated to have crossed so far in 2024, with most of the migrants hailing from Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and China. Until now, Panama has helped speedily bus the migrants across its territory so they can continue their journey north — and reports of abuses, human rights violations and testimonies of deaths along the route have persisted. “I hope to sign a respectful and dignified agreement with the United States so the two countries can begin the repatriation processes of all these people who are accumulated here,” Mulino said during the visit Friday.  He did not elaborate on the details of such an agreement or say how the migrants would be deported to their home countries. “I’ve seen other crises in the Darien, but this is the worst I’ve seen. It breaks my heart to see children my grandchildren's age ask me for a bottle of water,” he told a news conference at the migrant camp of Lajas Blancas.  The migrant route through the narrow isthmus grew exponentially in popularity in recent years with the help of criminal gangs and migrant smugglers who made it an affordable, if dangerous, pathway for hundreds of thousands of people. The popularity of the Darien also grew after countries, under pressure from the U.S. government, imposed visa restrictions on various nationalities, including Venezuelans and Peruvians, to stop migrants flying into the country just to continue toward the U.S. border. Still, masses of people took the challenge and set out on foot through the jungle spanning the Colombia-Panama border. A crossing that initially could take a week or more was whittled to two or three days as the path became more established and entrepreneurial locals set up a range of support services. Mulino, who was accompanied by members of his future Cabinet, visited a temporary reception center where thousands of migrants arrive every week, including pregnant women and children. On Thursday night, migrants staying in the camp of Lajas Blancas after crossing the Darien recounted their economic and security difficulties, and several expressed their support of Mulino's plans to close the migration route. Mulino "will have to close it,” said Pedro Monte, a Venezuelan migrant who lost his wife on the way to the Darien Gap. "It’s the most dangerous thing ... there are thieves, there are deaths. It’s a pity that people lose their lives there.” Mulino has said he will deport migrants who continue crossing the Darien, but experts caution it will be a difficult and expensive task.  “With the government we have [in Venezuela], we never had a life,” another migrant, Jorbys Ocampo, told The Associated Press. He left his family and 8-year-old daughter in Venezuela's coastal city of Maracaibo. “My daughter was born with a heart problem," he said. "There are no supplies, there is no money, there is not enough for anything. “It would be good if they gave more legal ways for people to migrate and to not have to make this terrible journey,” Ocampo said. Asked what would happen if the Darien Gap was closed, he said, “If they close it on one side, it will open on another.”