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Paris — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday arrived in France on a state visit hosted by Emmanuel Macron where the French leader will seek to push his counterpart on issues ranging from Ukraine to trade. Xi's arrival for the visit marking 60 years of diplomatic relations between France and China was the start of his first trip to Europe since 2019 which will also see him visit Serbia and Hungary. But Xi's choice of France as the sole major European power to visit indicates the relative warmth in Sino-French relations since Macron made his own state visit to China in April 2023 and acknowledges the French leader's stature as an EU powerbroker. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said the plane carrying Xi had touched down in Paris. The leader of the one-party Communist state of more than 1.4 billion people, accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, was to be welcomed at Paris Orly airport by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. Xi is to hold a day of talks in Paris on Monday — also including EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen — followed by a state banquet hosted by Macron. Tuesday will see Macron take Xi to the Pyrenees mountains to an area he used to visit as a boy for a day of less public and more intimate talks. A key priority of Macron will be to warn Xi of the danger of backing Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, with Western officials concerned Moscow is already using Chinese machine tools in arms production. Beijing's ties with Moscow have, if anything, warmed after the invasion and the West wants China above all not to supply weapons to Russia and risk tipping the balance in the conflict. "It is in our interest to get China to weigh in on the stability of the international order," said Macron in an interview with the Economist published on Thursday. "We must, therefore, work with China to build peace," he added. Macron also said in the same interview Europe must defend its "strategic interests" in its economic relations with China, accusing Beijing of not respecting the rules on international trade. But he acknowledged in an interview with the La Tribune Dimanche newspaper that Europeans are "not unanimous" on the strategy to adopt as "certain actors still see China essentially as a market of opportunities" while it "exports massively" to Europe. The French president had gladdened Chinese state media and troubled some EU allies after his 2023 visit by declaring that Europe should not be drawn into a standoff between China and the United States, particularly over democratic, self-ruled Taiwan. China views the island as part of its territory and has vowed to take it one day, by force if necessary. "The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must be followers and adapt ourselves to the American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction," Macron said at the time, warning against a "bloc versus bloc logic." Rights groups are urging Macron to bring up human rights in the talks, accusing China of failing to respect the rights of the Uyghur Muslim minority and keeping dozens of journalists behind bars. "President Macron should make it clear to Xi Jinping that Beijing's crimes against humanity come with consequences for China's relations with France," said Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch. The group said human rights in China had "severely deteriorated" under Xi's rule. However, analysts are skeptical that even with the lavish red carpet welcome and trip to the bracing mountain airs of the Col du Tourmalet over 2,000 meters (6,560 feet) above sea level on Tuesday Macron will be able to exercise much sway over the Chinese leader. The other two countries chosen by Xi for his tour, Serbia and Hungary, are seen as among the most sympathetic to Moscow in Europe. "The two core messages from Macron will be on Chinese support to Russia's military capabilities and Chinese market-distorting practices," said Janka Oertel, director of the Asia program at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "However, both messages are unlikely to have a significant impact on Chinese behavior: Xi is not on a mission to repair ties, because from his point of view all is well."

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Islamabad — Afghanistan’s hardline Taliban leaders have threatened to militarily suppress unprecedented violent public protests in a northeastern border region against a nationwide ban on poppy cultivation. The unrest erupted last Friday when the Taliban’s anti-narcotics forces began destroying poppy fields in Badakhshan province, prompting angry farmers to resist it with the support of local residents. Multiple sources confirmed Sunday that Taliban security forces used firearms to disperse the demonstrators, killing two of them during the two days of protests. Videos circulating on social media showed residents chanting slogans against reclusive Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, who has banned poppy cultivation across Afghanistan through a religious decree. VOA could not ascertain the authenticity of the footage independently. While Taliban authorities claimed Sunday the situation had returned to normal, residents said tensions were running high, and they were waiting for a high-powered government team to address their complaints. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an overnight official announcement that their army chief, Qari Fasihuddin, a Badakhshan native, would lead the team to thoroughly investigate the violence and circumstances leading to it. Mujahid said that an anti-poppy campaign in Badakhshan was under way in line with Akhundzada’s decree to prevent the cultivation of the illegal crop and its smuggling. “This decree extends to all regions without exception. Regrettably, there have been incidents where offenders attempted to attack the security forces involved in the fight against poppy cultivation, resulting in tragic events,” he said. Fasihuddin reportedly warned on Sunday that he would be compelled to deploy additional military forces to “quell the rebellion” if the demonstrations persist. He reiterated the Taliban's resolve to eradicate poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and vowed to achieve this goal, come what may. Badakhshan and surrounding Afghan provinces are ethnically non-Pashtun regions. The province borders Tajikistan and Pakistan. The Taliban, who represent the country’s majority Pashtun population, were unable to take control of these provinces during their first stint in power in the 1990s. Following their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have successfully established control over all 34 Afghan provinces. However, some experts argue that the public uprising in Badakhshan highlights the potential obstacles that the Taliban may face in maintaining their authority. The international community has not yet formally recognized the Taliban government, citing its restrictions on Afghan women’s access to education and work, among other human rights concerns. Afghanistan has faced dire economic problems since the Taliban takeover nearly three years ago. The Afghan banking sector largely remains isolated, and terrorism-related sanctions on Taliban leaders continue to deter donors from resuming financial assistance for development programs. The restrictions have fueled unemployment and economic problems for the poverty-stricken country’s estimated 40 million population. The World Bank noted in its latest report released on Thursday that the Taliban’s ban on opium cultivation precipitated a staggering $1.3 billion loss in farmers' incomes. Citing U.N. estimates, the report said that the opiate economy’s value has contracted by 90 percent, while the area under cultivation declined by 95 percent, costing Afghans 450,000 jobs at the farm level alone. The World Bank report noted that Afghanistan's economic outlook remains uncertain, with the threat of stagnation looming large until at least 2025. “For a sustainable future, Afghanistan needs to address harmful gender policies, invest in health and education, and focus on the comparative advantages it has in the agricultural and extractive sectors,” it said. Afghanistan used to be the world's largest opium-poppy producer until the Taliban imposed the ban on cultivation in early 2022. The ban strictly prohibits the cultivation, production, usage, transportation, trade, export, and import of all illicit drugs in Afghanistan. Afghan poppy farming accounted for 85% of global opium production until recently, according to United Nations estimates.

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.

PANAMA CITY — Panamanians began voting Sunday in an election that has been consumed by unfolding drama surrounding the country's former president, even though he is not on the ballot.  Before the sweltering sun set in, voters in the normally sleepy Central American nation lined up outside of polling stations, set to weigh promises of economic prosperity and migratory crackdowns with a corruption scandal.  "Panama's election will be one of the most complex in its modern history. The vote is marked by increased political fragmentation and social discontent under outgoing President Laurentino Cortizo," said Arantza Alonso, senior analyst for the Americas at the risk consulting firm Verisk Maplecroft before the polling.  The presidential race remained in uncertain waters until Friday morning, when Panama's Supreme Court ruled that leading presidential contender José Raúl Mulino was permitted to run. It said he was eligible despite allegations that his candidacy wasn't legitimate because he wasn't elected in a primary.  Mulino joined the race late, replacing former President Ricardo Martinelli as the candidate for the Achieving Goals party. The fiery Martinelli was barred from running in March after he was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for money laundering.  Martinelli has dominated much of the race, campaigning for his former running mate from inside the walls of the Nicaraguan Embassy, where he took refuge in February after receiving political asylum.  While lacking Martinelli's spunk, Mulino has coasted on his connection to the ex-president. He is rarely seen without his blue "Martinelli Mulino 2024" cap and promised to help Martinelli if elected.  Juan José Tinoco, a 63-year-old bus driver, was among those in line outside a polling station in a seaside area of Panama City. He said he planned to vote for Mulino, because it was the closest thing he could get to Martinelli, adding that he earned a decent amount of money under the former president's leadership.  "We have problems with health services, education, we have garbage in the streets ... and corruption that never goes away," Tinoco said. "We have money here, this is a country that has lots of wealth, but we need a leader who dedicates himself to the needs of Panama."  Mulino promised to usher in a humming economy seen under Martinelli, and stop migration through the Darien Gap, the perilous jungle region overlapping Colombia and Panama that was traversed by a half million migrants last year.  His message resonated with many voters tired of the political establishment in Panama, which was roiled for weeks last year by mass anti-government protests.  The protests targeted a government contract with a copper mine, which critics said endangered the environment and water at a time when drought has gotten so bad that it has effectively handicapped trade transit through the Panama Canal.  Trailing Mulino are former President Martín Torrijos and two candidates from previous elections, Ricardo Lombana and Rómulo Roux. 

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Washington — A driver died after crashing a car into the exterior gate of the White House late Saturday, the US Secret Service said.    "Shortly before 10:30pm a vehicle traveling at a high speed collided with an outer perimeter gate on the White House complex," the service said in a statement on social media platform X, adding there was "no threat" to the White House itself.    Officers arriving at the scene "attempted to render aid to the driver who was discovered deceased," the statement said.    The Secret Service, along with the police and fire departments of the District of Columbia, have launched an investigation into the fatal crash, according to Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.    He added there was "no threat or public safety implications".    In January, authorities detained another person who crashed a vehicle into the exterior gate of the same complex.    The White House has seen a string of high-profile trespassing incidents in recent years, prompting the construction of a higher, tougher metal fence around the iconic mansion's perimeter in 2020.

Nairobi — Kenya said Sunday that the death toll from weeks of devastating rains and floods had risen to 228 and warned that there was no sign of a let-up in the crisis. While Kenya and neighboring Tanzania escaped major damage from a tropical cyclone that weakened after making landfall on Saturday, the government in Nairobi said the country continued to endure torrential downpours and the risk of further floods and landslides. In western Kenya, the River Nyando burst its banks in the early hours of Sunday, engulfing a police station, school, hospital and market in the town of Ahero in Kisumu County, police said. There were no immediate reports of casualties but local police said water levels were still rising and that the main bridge outside Kisumu on the highway to Nairobi was submerged. Weeks of heavier than usual seasonal rains, compounded by the El Nino weather pattern, have wreaked chaos in many parts of East Africa, a region highly vulnerable to climate change. More than 400 people have been killed and several hundred thousand uprooted from their homes in several countries as floods and mudslides swamp houses, roads and bridges. "It's a serious situation and we should not take it lightly," Kenyan government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said at a briefing on the crisis on Sunday. 'Concerns of wider humanitarian crisis' Across the border, the Tanzania Meteorological Authority declared that Tropical Cyclone Hidaya, which had threatened to pile on more misery, had "completely lost its strength" after making landfall on Mafia Island on Saturday. "Therefore, there is no further threat of Tropical Cyclone 'Hidaya' in our country," it said. Tanzania remains one of the countries worst hit by the floods, with 155 people dead since early April. In Kenya, Mwaura said while the cyclone had weakened, it had caused strong winds and waves on the coast and heavy rains were likely to intensify from later Sunday. One fisherman had perished and another was missing, he added. Across the nation, the disaster has claimed the lives of 228 people since March with 72 still missing, according to government figures. More than 212,000 people have been displaced, with Mwuara saying many were "forcibly or voluntarily" evacuated. The government has ordered anyone living near major rivers or dams to leave the area or face "mandatory evacuation for their safety," with many dams or reservoirs threatening to overflow. Mwaura also warned of the risk of waterborne diseases, with one case of cholera reported as well as incidents of diarrhea. Jagan Chapagain, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said on X on Saturday that forecasts of more rains raised "serious concerns about a wider humanitarian crisis." The Kenyan government has been accused of being unprepared and slow to respond to the crisis despite weather warnings, with the main opposition Azimio party calling for it to be declared a national disaster. President William Ruto said in an address to the nation on Friday that the weather picture remained "dire," blaming the calamitous cycle of drought and floods on a failure to protect the environment. In the deadliest single incident in Kenya, 58 people perished when a dam burst on Monday near Mai Mahiu in the Rift Valley north of Nairobi, the interior ministry said. Several dozen remain missing. Rescuers are also hunting for 13 people still missing after a boat capsized in Tana River County, killing seven, the ministry said. 

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TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his government has voted unanimously to shut down the local offices of Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera.  Netanyahu announced the decision on X, formerly Twitter, but details on the implications of the step on the channel, when it would go into effect or whether the measure was permanent or temporary were not immediately clear.  There was no immediate comment from the channel headquarters in Doha, Qatar. An Al Jazeera correspondent on its Arabic service said the order would affect the broadcaster's operations in Israel and in east Jerusalem, where it has been doing live shots for months since the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war in Gaza.  It would not affect Al Jazeera's operations in the Palestinian territories, the correspondent said.  Israeli media said the vote allows Israel to block the channel from operating in the country for 45 days, according to the decision.  "My government decided unanimously: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will close in Israel," Netanyahu posted on X. Al Jazeera as vehemently denied that it incites against Israel.  The decision escalated Israel's long-running feud against Al Jazeera. It also threatened to heighten tensions with Qatar, which owns the channel, at a time when the Doha government is playing a key role in mediation efforts to halt the war in Gaza.  Israel has long had a rocky relationship with Al Jazeera, accusing it of bias against it.  Al Jazeera is one of the few international media outlets to remain in Gaza throughout the war, broadcasting bloody scenes of airstrikes and overcrowded hospitals and accusing Israel of massacres. Israel accuses Al Jazeera of collaborating with Hamas.  Al Jazeera, the Doha-based broadcaster funded by Qatar's government, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  While Al Jazeera's English operation often resembles the programming found on other major broadcast networks, its Arabic arm often publishes verbatim video statements from Hamas and other militant groups in the region. It similarly came under harsh U.S. criticism during America's occupation of Iraq after its 2003 invasion toppled director Saddam Hussein.  It remains unclear how such an order would be enforced by Israel. 

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.

Jerusalem — Israel's Holocaust commemorations this year have a searing significance for six elderly survivors now deeply scarred by the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7 that sparked the ongoing Gaza war. The killing and kidnapping spree by Palestinian infiltrators on a Jewish holiday morning shook the sense of security of Israelis - not least, those who had witnessed the state emerge as a safe haven after the Nazi genocide. For Bellha Haim, 86, the upheaval is especially profound. Her grandson Yotam — like her, a resident of a village near the Gaza border — was taken hostage by Hamas and managed to escape, only to be accidentally shot dead by Israeli soldiers. The trauma drove Haim to return to her native Poland, which she had fled with her family as a child during World War II, and where she will on Monday take part of the "March of the Living" at the site of the Auschwitz death camp. The annual ceremony is timed to coincide with Israel's Holocaust memorial day. "I never went back, and I wasn't convinced to go back," she said during a meeting with other survivors ahead of the trip. "But this time, when they told me that they were connecting the Holocaust and what I call the 'Holocaust of October 7' — because then in the Holocaust we [Jews] were not a united people, we didn't have a country, and suddenly this pride of mine that has been broken, my pride in my people and my country that was shattered in front of my eyes — I said, 'This time I will break my oath and I will go out.'" As a teenager, Yotam had taken part in the annual Auschwitz vigil and Haim said she saw the event as a chance for communion with him and other victims of the Hamas attack. "I will go out in the name of Yotam, who marched there when he was in high school, and I will go out there to shout out the cry of the slain, of the babies, of all my good friends that I will never meet again,” she said. Arabic yelling and gunfire Among those joining her will be 90-year-old Daniel Louz, whose hometown Kibbutz Beeri lost a tenth of its residents to the Palestinian attackers. In some ways, he said, that ordeal was worse for him than the European war, when he escaped Nazi roundups in his native France although half his family perished in Poland. After he awoke to the sound of Arabic yelling and gunfire, "I was constantly busy with surviving and figuring out what to do," Louz said. "In France, as a child, I suffered all kinds of post-traumas that I’ve learned to cope with. But in Beeri, it was the first time that I felt the fear of death." A neighboring house was riddled with bullets. Louz's was untouched. He says he imagined the souls of the 6 million Holocaust victims steering Hamas away from him. "They probably wanted me to be here to tell this story," he said, weeping. Other Holocaust survivors participating in the March of the Living include Smil Bercu Sacagiu, 87, whose home was hit by a rocket from Gaza, and Jacqueline Gliksman, 81, whose home was torched by a Palestinian infiltrator. "What was left, and luckily the terrorist didn’t see it, is my grandchildren," she said, referring to gold figurines on a necklace she was wearing. "That's the only thing I have left." Before he was seized, Haim's grandson left a text message: "They’re burning down my house. I smell gas. I'm scared." She said that reminded her of a Holocaust-era song in Yiddish, invoking centuries of pogroms, with the refrain "fire, Jews, fire." A veteran campaigner for peace with the Palestinians, Haim said she would no longer pursue that activism. "I'm not able to," she said. "Now what interests me is only my people.”

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — Tanzania said a cyclone that made landfall on Saturday has lost its strength and was no longer a threat to the country.    Tropical Cyclone Hidaya had triggered heavy rains and winds as it rolled towards Tanzania and neighboring Kenya, countries already battered by torrential downpours and floods that have left more than 400 people dead across East Africa in recent weeks.   In a statement published early Sunday on X, the Tanzania Meteorological Authority said that Hidaya had "completely lost its strength" after making landfall on Mafia Island in the Indian Ocean on Saturday.    "Therefore, there is no further threat of Tropical Cyclone 'Hidaya' in our country," it added.    Beaches on the Indian Ocean coast were deserted, shops were closed and marine transport suspended in the Zanzibar archipelago as the country braced for the cyclone.    As it approached, the storm had caused much heavier rainfall than normal in coastal areas but no casualties or damage were reported.    At least 155 people have died in Tanzania as heavier-than-usual torrential rains linked to the El Nino weather pattern triggered floods and landslides last month.    In neighboring Kenya, which had also taken precautions for the cyclone, a total of 210 people have been killed in flood-related incidents.   

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.