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State Department — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is headed to Riyadh for regional talks Monday and Tuesday on humanitarian assistance in Gaza, a post-war roadmap for the Palestinian territories, and stability and security in the Middle East. “The secretary will discuss ongoing efforts to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza that secures the release of hostages and how it is Hamas that is standing between the Palestinian people and a cease-fire,” the State Department said. Blinken will participate in a ministerial meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional alliance of Arab countries bordering the Persian Gulf that is convening in Saudi Arabia’s capital. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told ABC’s “This Week” show Sunday that the United States is continuing to push for a six-week cease-fire in the nearly seven-month war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas militants. The cease-fire talks have been going on for months, and despite periodic signals that a deal might be close, Kirby gave no indication of new progress in the discussions. He said Israel has assured U.S. officials it will not send ground troops into the southern Gaza city of Rafah without fully hearing U.S. concerns that such an attack would endanger the lives of more than 1 million Palestinians who are sheltering there. Kirby said that a makeshift Mediterranean Sea pier being constructed on the Gaza shoreline could be completed in two or three weeks so that more humanitarian aid can be transported into the narrow territory to help feed famished Palestinians. Gaza, post-war roadmap The humanitarian crisis in Gaza remains dire, despite an increase in daily aid and Israel beginning to utilize a northern crossing and Ashdod Port for humanitarian deliveries. The United States is collaborating with partners to establish a maritime humanitarian corridor; however, these efforts are insufficient as the entire population of Gaza faces the risk of famine and malnutrition. U.S. officials have stated that Washington is committed to advancing lasting peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians, including through practical steps aimed at establishing a Palestinian state that exists alongside Israel. Barbara Leaf, an assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs at the State Department, said at a recent briefing, "The West Bank and Gaza must be reunified under the Palestinian Authority. A revitalized Palestinian Authority is essential to delivering results for the Palestinian people in both the West Bank and Gaza and establishing the conditions for stability.” Washington has also made clear that Hamas should not play a role in such governance. Analysts, however, say there are many hurdles to the U.S. vision. Michael Hanna, the program director at the International Crisis Group, noted that the current Israeli government has shown a "total rejection of the idea of a two-state solution." Moreover, "the physical reality has changed so dramatically since 1967 that it makes the possibility of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state almost an impossibility." He told VOA, "There's no real assurance" that countries in the Middle East are particularly committed to post-war reconstruction in the Gaza Strip. “It's very difficult for many of these regional parties to engage politically at the moment while the war rages on." Prospects for Saudi-Israel normalization The Biden administration continues to work on a potential agreement that could lead to normalization of relations with Israel, even as some officials and analysts consider it a remote possibility. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the two-state solution and the return of the Palestinian Authority to control Gaza, demands that are widely supported by the international community. The Saudis have demanded, as a prerequisite, to see an Israeli commitment to the two-state solution. "If Netanyahu's positions do not change, he will probably not be able to deliver normalization with Saudi Arabia. It may be that a U.S.-Saudi offer for such a normalization will be publicly made, so when Israelis go to the polls, they can take this option into account," Nimrod Goren, a senior fellow for Israeli affairs at the Middle East Institute, told VOA in an email. US reviews alleged IDF units' rights violations Blinken’s scheduled meetings in the Middle East come as the U.S. evaluates new information from the Israeli government to determine whether to blacklist certain Israeli military units. These units are accused of violating the human rights of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank before the October 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel. Critics have pointed out that the State Department's “slow rolling” in making its decision highlights the special treatment that Israel continues to receive. Ken Bredemeier contributed to this report.

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PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Armed men ambushed and kidnapped a senior judge in Pakistan’s restive northwest, a police official said Sunday. Around 15 men on motorbikes intercepted Judge Shakirullah Marwat’s vehicle as he was travelling toward Dera Ismail Khan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said police official Faheem Khan. The assailants set the car on fire before fleeing with him. The driver was not harmed, Khan said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Saturday evening’s assault, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, who made the province their stronghold. It’s unusual for militants in the northwest to target a judge of Marwat’s seniority, who normally travels with tight security. The militants have generally attacked security personnel or infrastructure. Khan said a search operation had been launched for the judge and a counter-terrorism team had joined the investigation. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in violence, mostly blamed on the TTP, since the group unilaterally ended a cease-fire with the central government in November 2022. Last weekend, gunmen opened fire at customs officials, killing two and wounding three others in Dera Ismail Khan.

HOLDENVILLE, Okla. — At least two people, including a child, died in tornadoes that swept through Oklahoma, authorities said Sunday as emergency crews assessed the extensive damage to homes and businesses from the high winds, hail and flooding.  Dozens of reported tornadoes have wreaked havoc in the nation's midsection since Friday, with flood watches and warnings in effect Sunday for Oklahoma and other states — including Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas.  In Oklahoma, a tornado ripped through Holdenville, a town of about 5,000 people, late Saturday, killing two people, and injuring four others, Hughes County Emergency Medical Services said in a statement Sunday. Holdenville is roughly 129 kilometers (80 miles) from Oklahoma City.  “My prayers are with those who lost loved ones as tornadoes ripped through Oklahoma last night,” Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a statement.  He issued an executive order Sunday declaring a state of emergency in 12 counties due to the fallout from the severe weather as crews worked to clear debris and assess damage from the severe storms that downed power lines.  Nearly 33,000 customers were without power in Oklahoma as of Sunday morning, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks electric utility outages. In Texas, nearly 67,000 customers were without power.  Significant destruction from the storm was reported in the southern Oklahoma community of Sulphur and well as around Marietta, where a hospital was damaged, according to the Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management.  Residents in other states were also digging out from storm damage. A tornado in suburban Omaha, Nebraska, demolished homes and businesses Saturday as it moved for kilometers through farmland and into subdivisions, then slammed an Iowa town.  Fewer than two dozen people were treated at Omaha-area hospitals, said Dr. Lindsay Huse, health director of the city’s Douglas County Health Department.  “Miraculous” she said, stressing that none of the city’s injuries was serious. Neighboring communities reported a handful of injuries each.  The tornado damage started Friday afternoon near Lincoln, Nebraska. An industrial building in Lancaster County was hit, causing it to collapse with 70 people inside. Several were trapped, but everyone was evacuated, and the three injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said.  One or possibly two tornadoes then spent around an hour creeping toward Omaha, leaving behind damage consistent with an EF3 twister, with winds of 217 to 266 kilometers per hour (135 to 165 mph), said Chris Franks, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s Omaha office.  Ultimately the twister slammed into the Elkhorn neighborhood in western Omaha, a city of 485,000 people with a metropolitan-area population of about 1 million.  Staci Roe surveyed the damage to what was supposed to be her “forever home,” which was not even two years old. When the tornado hit, they were at the airport picking up a friend who was supposed to spend the night.  “There was no home to come to,” she said, describing “utter dread” when she saw it for the first time.  Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds spent Saturday touring the damage and arranging for assistance for the damaged communities. Formal damage assessments are still underway, but the states plan to seek federal help.   

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Rome — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced Sunday she will be a candidate at June's European elections in a bid to boost support for her Brothers of Italy party, though she will not take up a seat if elected.  The June 6-9 European Parliament vote is a key test of strength for her 18-month-old rightist coalition.  "We want to do in Europe what we did in Italy... create a majority that brings together the center-right forces and send the left into opposition," Meloni told cheering party faithful at a party conference in the coastal city of Pescara to set out EU policies and launch the campaign.  Meloni, whose party traces its roots to Benito Mussolini's Fascist group, called for Italy to leave the euro zone when in opposition and her 2022 election raised concerns in some European capitals.  However, she has followed a broadly pro-European, orthodox line in office, particularly on foreign policy matters such as Ukraine and the Middle East.  Her party is Italy's most popular with 27% of support, according to recent polls, ahead of the opposition Democratic Party (PD) on around 20% and the left-leaning 5-Star Movement on 16%.  Meloni will be the first name on the ballot for Brothers of Italy in all five of Italy's constituencies for the EU election, but pledged she would not use "a single minute" of her time as prime minister to campaign.  PD leader Elly Schlein announced last week she would also run, as did Antonio Tajani, head of the centrist Forza Italia party which is in the ruling coalition.  All three leaders hope to win votes of people who take little interest in politics but are attracted by names of party chiefs on the ballot.  Assuming they are elected, Meloni, Schlein and Tajani are expected to give up their seats, making way for runner-up candidates. 

lima — At age 75, one of Latin America’s most storied journalists had been looking forward to weaving into books the fragmented threads of more than four decades of investigative reporting that exposed high-level abuse of power in Peru and abroad. In an illustrious career, Gustavo Gorriti has endured death threats from drug traffickers, survived Peru's harrowing Shining Path insurgency and a kidnapping by silencer-toting military intelligence agents during a 1992 presidential power grab. Then an aggressive lymphatic cancer struck, wasting the former five-time national judo champion's robust physique. Diagnosed in August, Gorriti was in the final drips of two months of chemotherapy in December when a different kind of body blow landed. A smear campaign — amplified by complicit, cowed or indifferent broadcast and print media — portrayed the self-styled “intelligence agent for the people” as Public Enemy No. 1, a ruthless, egotistical victimizer of innocents. Gorriti is clear on who is behind it: A cabal of “kleptocrats” in Peru's political and business elites who are in prosecutorial peril due in large part to his crowning gumshoe achievements. Their aim: “to liquidate all gains in the war on corruption." With his hair gone from the chemo, his trademark white beard down to “like three hairs," Gorriti said he "looked like a pathetic Fu Manchu.” He was so debilitated “I only wanted to sleep,” he said in an interview on the terrace of his Lima apartment. But indignation stirred the pugilistic reporter to action, marshaling his team at IDL-Reporteros, an online news site, to mount a vigorous, detailed defense. “You don’t get to choose when you go to war,” he said. Then it got worse. By March 27, Gorriti was facing a criminal investigation in a bizarrely framed bribery case, accused of “favoring" two anti-corruption prosecutors with publicity. “Of course it's not true,” one of the prosecutors cited, José Domingo Pérez, told The Associated Press. “This is a blatant attempt to muzzle one of Latin America’s best investigative reporters, the outlet that he has founded, and, by extension, any journalist who would dare to speak truth to power in Latin America," The Washington-based National Press Club said in a statement co-signed by seven press and human rights groups. The Committee to Protect Journalists and France-based Reporters without Borders also protested. The case could hurt prosecutions in an epic bribery scandal implicating five former presidents and Keiko Fujimori, the eminence grise of Peruvian politics and a perennial presidential candidate who came within a hair of winning the job in 2021. Her trial is set for July 1.  It was Fujimori's father, Alberto, whose agents kidnapped Gorriti to silence him as the autocrat shuttered Congress by force in a 1992 presidential power grab. An international outcry got the reporter promptly released. The prosecutor now targeting Gorriti has demanded his communications with Pérez and fellow anti-corruption prosecutor Rafael Vela from 2016-2021. Gorriti is refusing, citing reporter's privilege, but fears he could get a judicial order. After years of democratic backsliding, “a loose coalition of corrupt actors" has captured enough institutions that referee Peruvian political life to weaponize them against rivals, said Steven Levitsky, co-author of “How Democracies Die” and a Harvard professor. “And that’s exactly what’s happening with Gustavo.” Gorriti's enemies have been trying to discredit him — including with claims he sympathizes with leftist terrorists — since he began unmasking politicians bribed by the Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht in Latin America's biggest corruption scandal ever. Dubbed “Lava Jato” after a Brazilian car wash, it saw roughly $788 million in bribes associated with more than 100 public works projects paid in 12 countries including Argentina, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Guatemala and Venezuela; $29 million went to Peruvian officials from 2005-2014, according to the U.S. Justice Department. To unearth its machinations outside Brazil, Gorriti recruited reporters from multiple countries and personally traveled there. Ensuing prosecutions have varied by country. If not for pressure from Gorriti’s team and other journalists, the Peruvian cases might have faltered, said Pérez, the anti-corruption prosecutor. “In 2017, the chief prosecutor's office didn't want to investigate Keiko Fujimori,” he added. Gorriti won hero status, standing ovations at book fairs and hugs in the street. But with Lava Jato cases now coming to a head – every elected 21st-century Peruvian president is implicated – gatherings outside Gorriti’s home and IDL Reporteros offices have taken on a different, sinister tone: Street toughs hurling insults and even bagged excrement. The probe of Gorriti was solicited by an unusual alliance of the party of Keiko Fujimori and its longtime nemesis, that of former President Alan García. Ensnared in the Odebrecht scandal over rail projects, García shot himself in the head in 2019 rather than surrender to police after Uruguay's embassy denied him refuge. His loyalists claim Gorriti and the anti-corruption prosecutors "criminally entrapped” him. That's absurd, says Gorriti. After the suicide, reporters determined that García told friends and family he would take his life to avoid public humiliation. The frenzy of demands for Gorriti’s head flow from unsubstantiated tales slung by Jaime Villanueva, a former adviser to a suspended chief national prosecutor. Villanueva unleashed the accusations after coming under investigation for alleged crimes including bribery and influence-trafficking and agreed to testify against his former boss in exchange for favorable treatment. Neither he nor the prosecutor who launched the investigation against Gorriti, Alcides Chanchay, responded to AP interview requests.  After working with then-chief prosecutor Patricia Benavides to try to choke anti-corruption efforts, Villanueva counseled lawmakers on crippling judicial independence, Gorriti says. “The guy had a trajectory Judas Iscariot would have envied.” In the citation for a 1998 press freedom award, the Committee to Protect Journalists called Gorriti “Latin America's top investigative reporter.” International pressure could certainly help now. Gorriti is regaining strength after good results from immunotherapy begun in February. His hair has mostly grown back. But the relative silence of Peruvians worries him. They generally despise the president, Dina Boluarte, and Congress. Polls show more than nine in 10 want them gone. But political gridlock has delayed new elections. Pedro Castillo, the last elected president, was impeached in 2022 for trying to dissolve Congress. Troops then killed at least 40 people in ensuing protests. Peruvians are demoralized by all the corruption and still addled from the COVID-19 pandemic, Gorriti says. No country suffered a higher per-capital death rate. And they've had six presidents in six years. If Gorriti were to wind up jailed, perhaps Peruvians might again be stirred to action. Suppressing an intermittent cough, Gorriti expressed hope his case can mark a milestone for freedom of expression and democracy. As he told Colombian journalist Maria Jimena Duzan in a recent podcast, “If I need to do battle in my old age, well, so be it. Old folks can fight, too.”

DHAKA — Schools in Bangladesh reopened Sunday despite a heatwave continuing to sweep the South Asian nation, with temperatures expected to climb above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in the days ahead, according to the weather department.  Schools that had closed last week reopened on what is the first day of the week in Bangladesh, despite the latest 72-hour heat alert being extended until April 30.  Due to the recent holidays to mark Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, students received extended leave, including for the heat alert, leading schools to worry about students' preparations for year-end exams.  "Our academic activities are being hampered due to this long break including Ramadan and Eid holidays. This is the time for academic studies for final exams at the end of the year," Bornali Hossain, principal of Meherunnesa Girls' School, told Reuters Television.  "We will try our best to catch up till the government provides the next directive."  Daily assemblies will not be held until further notice, and the portion of class activities held outside the classroom and exposed to sunlight will be limited, the education ministry said.  Parents are still worried about the health of their children, however.  "The weather is unbearable. What will happen if my daughter gets sick?" asked Sumana Ahmed, the mother of a six-year-old.  Scientists say climate change is contributing to more frequent, severe and longer heatwaves during the summer months.  The authorities have been encouraging residents to stay indoors and drink water.  "My home is far. My younger daughter's class breaks early, but the elder one is still in   school. Both of our two-way journeys by buses are tiresome due to the unbearable heatwave," said Kamrun Nahar, a mother of two students. 

BEIJING/TOKYO — China's coast guard confronted Japanese lawmakers in waters claimed by both countries in the East China Sea, China's embassy in Tokyo and Japanese media said Sunday, the latest in a series of maritime disputes involving China and its neighbors.  Chinese vessels took unspecified law enforcement measures, the embassy said in a statement, adding that it had lodged solemn representations for what it called "infringement and provocation" by Japan near tiny, uninhabited islands that Beijing calls the Diaoyu and Tokyo calls the Senkaku.  The Japanese group, including former Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, was on an inspection mission organized by the city of Ishigaki in Okinawa prefecture, according to the Chinese embassy and Japanese public broadcaster NHK.  Japan and China have repeatedly faced off around the Japan-administered islands. China also has escalating run-ins with the Philippine navy in disputed areas of the South China Sea, where Beijing's expansive maritime claims conflict with those of several Southeast Asia nations.  Inada's group spent three hours near the islands Saturday, using drones to observe the area, and the Japanese coast guard vessel sought to fend off the Chinese coast guard, NHK said.  "The government and the public are aware of the severe security situation," said Inada, a senior official of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, according to NHK. "The Senkaku are our sovereign territory, and we need to go ashore for research."  It was the first such inspection trip to the area involving a member of Japan's parliament since 2013, NHK reported.  Officials of Japan's foreign ministry were not immediately available for comment outside of working hours.  China strongly urged Japan to abide by what it called a consensus reached between the two countries, stop political provocations, on-site incidents and hyping up public opinion, the embassy said.  It asked Japan to "return to the right track of properly managing contradictions and differences through dialog and consultation, so as to avoid further escalation of the situation." 

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HARARE — From ancient fertilizer methods in Zimbabwe to new greenhouse technology in Somalia, farmers across the heavily agriculture-reliant African continent are looking to the past and future to respond to climate change. Africa, with the world's youngest population, faces the worst effects of a warming planet while contributing the least to the problem. Farmers are scrambling to make sure the booming population is fed. With more than 60% of the world’s uncultivated land, Africa should be able to feed itself, some experts say. And yet three in four people across the continent cannot afford a healthy diet, according to a report last year by the African Union and United Nations agencies. Reasons include conflict and lack of investment. In Zimbabwe, where the El Nino phenomenon has worsened a drought, small-scale farmer James Tshuma has lost hope of harvesting anything from his fields. It's a familiar story in much of the country, where the government has declared a $2 billion state of emergency and millions of people face hunger. But a patch of green vegetables is thriving in a small garden the 65-year-old Tshuma is keeping alive with homemade organic manure and fertilizer. Previously discarded items have again become priceless. “This is how our fathers and forefathers used to feed the Earth and themselves before the introduction of chemicals and inorganic fertilizers,” Tshuma said. He applies livestock droppings, grass, plant residue, remains of small animals, tree leaves and bark, food scraps and other biodegradable items like paper. Even the bones of animals that are dying in increasing numbers due to the drought are burned before being crushed into ash for their calcium. Climate change is compounding much of sub-Saharan Africa’s longstanding problem of poor soil fertility, said Wonder Ngezimana, an associate professor of crop science at Zimbabwe’s Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology. “The combination is forcing people to re-look at how things were done in the past like nutrient recycling, but also blending these with modern methods," said Ngezimana, whose institution is researching the combination of traditional practices with new technologies. Apart from being rich in nitrogen, organic fertilizers help increase the soil’s carbon and ability to retain moisture, Ngezimana said. “Even if a farmer puts synthetic fertilizer into the soil, they are likely to suffer the consequences of poor moisture as long as there is a drought,” he said. Other moves to traditional practices are under way. Drought-resistant millets, sorghum and legumes, staples until the early 20th century when they were overtaken by exotic white corn, have been taking up more land space in recent years. Leaves of drought-resistant plants that were once a regular dish before being cast off as weeds are returning to dinner tables. They even appear on elite supermarket shelves and are served at classy restaurants, as are millet and sorghum. This could create markets for the crops even beyond drought years, Ngezimana said. A greenhouse revolution in Somalia In conflict-prone Somalia in East Africa, greenhouses are changing the way some people live, with shoppers filling up carts with locally produced vegetables and traditionally nomadic pastoralists under pressure to settle down and grow crops. “They are organic, fresh and healthy,” shopper Sucdi Hassan said in the capital, Mogadishu. “Knowing that they come from our local farms makes us feel secure." Her new shopping experience is a sign of relative calm after three decades of conflict and the climate shocks of drought and flooding. Urban customers are now assured of year-round supplies, with more than 250 greenhouses dotted across Mogadishu and its outskirts producing fruit and vegetables. It is a huge leap. “In the past, even basic vegetables like cucumbers and tomatoes were imported, causing logistical problems and added expenses,” said Somalia’s minister of youth and sports, Mohamed Barre. The greenhouses also create employment in a country where about 75% of the population is people under 30 years old, many of them jobless. About 15 kilometers from the capital, Mohamed Mahdi, an agriculture graduate, inspected produce in a greenhouse where he works. “Given the high unemployment rate, we are grateful for the chance to work in our chosen field of expertise,” the 25-year-old said. Meanwhile, some pastoralist herders are being forced to change their traditional ways after watching livestock die by the thousands. “Transitioning to greenhouse farming provides pastoralists with a more resilient and sustainable livelihood option,” said Mohamed Okash, director of the Institute of Climate and Environment at SIMAD University in Mogadishu. He called for larger investments in smart farming to combat food insecurity. A more resilient bean in Kenya In Kenya, a new climate-smart bean variety is bringing hope to farmers in a region that had recorded reduced rainfall in six consecutive rainy seasons. The variety, called “Nyota" or "star” in Swahili, is the result of a collaboration between scientists from the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, the Alliance of Bioversity International and research organization International Center for Tropical Agriculture. The new bean variety is tailored for Kenya’s diverse climatic conditions. One focus is to make sure drought doesn’t kill them off before they have time to flourish. The bean variety flowers and matures so quickly that it is ready for harvesting by the time rains disappear, said David Karanja, a bean breeder and national coordinator for grains and legumes at KALRO. Hopes are that these varieties could bolster national bean production. The annual production of 600,000 metric tons falls short of meeting annual demand of 755,000 metric tons, Karanja said. Farmer Benson Gitonga said his yield and profits are increasing because of the new bean variety. He harvests between nine and 12 bags from an acre of land, up from the previous five to seven bags. One side benefit of the variety is a breath of fresh air. “Customers particularly appreciate its qualities, as it boasts low flatulence levels, making it an appealing choice,” Gitonga said.

Beijing — Aerial photos posted by Chinese state media on Sunday showed the wide devastation of a part of the southern city of Guangzhou after a tornado swept through the day before, killing five people, injuring dozens of others and damaging more than a hundred buildings.  As businesses and residents began cleaning debris, the images showed block upon block of devastation in the hardest hit areas with a few clusters of buildings standing amid the destruction, a truck overturned on its side and cars crushed by rubble. Some buildings had their sheet metal roofs torn off.  The tornado, which knocked out power in the area, also injured 33 people on Saturday, officials said.  Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong province and a manufacturing hub near Hong Kong. The tornado that struck during an afternoon thunderstorm that also brought hail damaged 141 factory buildings, according to authorities.  They said no homes were destroyed, although a news website under the Southern Media Group reported that some had broken windows.  The tornado hit several villages in Guangzhou's Baiyun district. In one, packing material known as “pearl cotton” hung from buildings and trees, a report on the Southern Media website said. It blew into the compound of a nearby furniture company, where workers took shelter in a private home after the metal roof was ripped off their building, the news website reported.  Workers were rolling up the material to be carted away for disposal on Sunday.  The disaster hit one week after heavy rains and flooding killed at least four people in Guangdong province.  U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited Guangzhou during an official visit to China earlier in the month. The city, formerly known as Canton, also recently held the Canton Fair, a major export and import exhibition that draws buyers from around the world.  In September, two tornadoes killed 10 people in Jiangsu province in eastern China.

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BEIRUT — French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné arrived in Lebanon Sunday as part of diplomatic attempts to broker a de-escalation in the conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border.  Séjourné was set to meet with United Nations peacekeeping forces in south Lebanon and with Lebanon's parliament speaker, army chief, foreign minister and caretaker prime minister.  The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has exchanged strikes near-daily with Israeli forces in the border region — and sometimes beyond — for almost seven months against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hezbollah ally Hamas in Gaza.  Israeli strikes have killed more than 350 people in Lebanon, most of them fighters with Hezbollah and allied groups but also including more than 50 civilians. Strikes by Hezbollah have killed 10 civilians and 12 soldiers in Israel.  A French diplomatic official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak to journalists, said the purpose of Séjourné’s visit was to convey France’s “fears of a war on Lebanon” and to submit an amendment to a proposal Paris had previously presented to Lebanon for a diplomatic resolution to the border conflict.  Western diplomats have brought forward a series of proposals for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. Most of those would hinge on Hezbollah moving its forces several kilometers from the border, a beefed-up Lebanese army presence and negotiations for Israeli forces to withdraw from disputed points along the border where Lebanon says Israel has been occupying small patches of Lebanese territory since it withdrew from the rest of south Lebanon in 2000.  The previous French proposal would have involved Hezbollah withdrawing its forces 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border.  Hezbollah has signaled a willingness to entertain the proposals but has said there will be no deal in Lebanon before there is a cease-fire in Gaza. 

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KYIV — Russian drones early Sunday struck the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv, setting a hotel ablaze and damaging energy infrastructure, the local Ukrainian governor reported, while ammunition shortages continued to hobble Kyiv's troops in the more than 2-year-old war.  Vitaliy Kim, the governor of Ukraine's southern Mykolaiv province, said that Russian drones "seriously damaged" a hotel in its namesake capital, sparking a fire that was later extinguished. Kim also reported that the strike damaged heat-generating infrastructure in the city, but gave no details. He added that there were no casualties.  Russian state agency RIA carried claims that the strike on Mykolaiv targeted a shipyard where naval drones are assembled, as well as a hotel housing "English-speaking mercenaries" who have fought for Kyiv. The RIA report cited Sergei Lebedev, described as a coordinator of local pro-Moscow guerrillas. His claim could not be independently verified.  Also on Sunday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry said that 17 Ukrainian drones were downed overnight over four regions in the country's southwest. Three drones were intercepted near an oil depot in Lyudinovo, an industrial town some 230 kilometers (143 miles) north of the Ukrainian border, Gov. Vladislav Shapsha said.  One of the Ukrainian drones damaged communications infrastructure in Russia's southern Belgorod province, which borders Ukraine, Gov. Vyachaslav Gladkov said later on Sunday. There were no immediate reports of casualties.  Russian shelling on Saturday and overnight wounded at least seven civilians across Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials. A 36-year-old woman was pulled alive from the rubble after Russian shells on Sunday morning destroyed her home in the northeastern Kharkiv region, the local administration reported. Her 52-year-old neighbor was also rushed to hospital with a stomach wound, the administration said.  The Donetsk and Kharkiv regions have seen fierce clashes in recent weeks as Russian forces seek to grind out gains along the more than 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, while ammunition shortages have increasingly hamstrung Ukraine's defenses.  Russian troops "will likely make significant gains in the coming weeks" while Kyiv awaits much-needed arms from a huge U.S. aid package to reach the front, a Washington-based think tank said.  In its latest operational assessment, the Institute for the Study of War said that Moscow's forces have opportunities to push forward around Avdiivka, the eastern city they took in late February after a grueling, montshlong fight, and threaten nearby Chasiv Yar. Its capture would give Russia control of a hilltop from which it can attack other key cities forming the backbone of Ukraine's eastern defenses.  Despite this, the think tank assessed that neither of these efforts by Moscow are likely to cause Kyiv's defensive lines to collapse.  A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman on Sunday confirmed that Moscow's troops had taken a village some 15 kilometers (9 miles) north of Avdiivka, days after the institute reported on its likely capture early on Thursday. That day's assessment described Moscow's gains as "relatively quick but still relatively marginal," adding that Russian troops had advanced by no more than 5 kilometers (3 miles) over the previous week.  U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he was immediately rushing badly needed weaponry to Ukraine as he signed into law a $95 billion war aid measure that also included assistance for Israel, Taiwan and other global hot spots.  The announcement marked an end to the long, painful battle with Republicans in Congress over urgently needed assistance for Ukraine, with Biden promising on Wednesday that U.S. weapons shipment would begin making the way into Ukraine within hours. 

Jerusalem — Diplomatic efforts increased on Sunday to reach a long sought-after truce and hostage-release deal in Gaza, as Israel carried out further airstrikes and shelling on the war-battered territory. A new video of two hostages being held by Hamas militants since the group's October 7 attack prompted fresh outrage in Israel, where protesters have piled pressure on the government to reach a deal. Global opposition to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has also been growing, with world leaders and aid groups warning that a looming Israeli invasion of the southernmost city of Rafah would lead to massive civilian causalities. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas appealed to the United States on Sunday to stop Israel from invading Rafah, which he said would be "the biggest disaster in the history of the Palestinian people." The U.S. — Israel's main ally and weapons supplier — was the only nation capable of preventing Israel from "committing this crime," Abbas told a global economic summit in Saudi Arabia. Hamas said on Saturday it was studying a new Israeli counterproposal for truce and hostage release, a day after media reports said an Egyptian delegation was in Israel in a bid to jump-start stalled negotiations. Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate a new truce ever since a one-week halt to the fighting in November saw 80 Israeli hostages exchanged for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Hamas has previously insisted on a permanent ceasefire — a condition that Israel has rejected. However, the Axios news website, citing two Israeli officials, reported that Israel's latest proposal includes a willingness to discuss the "restoration of sustainable calm" in Gaza after hostages are released. It is the first time in the nearly seven-month war that Israeli leaders have suggested they are open to discussing an end to the war, Axios said. 'Momentum' for truce talks Abbas spoke at a World Economic Forum (WEF) summit that opened Sunday in Riyadh, which U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and high-ranking officials from other countries trying to broker a ceasefire are also due to attend. While there is no Israeli participation, other key players will discuss the truce talks and humanitarian situation in Gaza, WEF president Borge Brende said. There was "some new momentum now in the talks around the hostages, and also for... a possible way out of the impasse we are faced with in Gaza," he said. The war began with Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack which resulted in the deaths of about 1,170 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 34,454 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Israel estimates that 129 hostages seized by militants on October 7 are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead. The Gaza health ministry on Sunday reported at least 66 deaths in the past 24 hours. In central Gaza, Mohammed al-Hattab said he found his 1-year-old boy in the rubble after an Israeli air strike hit the Nuseirat refugee camp over the weekend. The boy is being treated for a fractured skull, while his 2-year-old daughter's face was "completely disfigured" in the strike, he told AFP. Israel carried out air strikes and shelling in Gaza overnight, hitting three houses in the southern city of Khan Yunis, an AFP correspondent said Sunday, also reporting strikes on Gaza City and Rafah. The Israeli military said its jets struck dozens of terror targets including "launch sites, armed terrorists and observation posts." Most of Gaza's population has taken refuge in Rafah, according to the U.N., many in makeshift shelters after fleeing violence elsewhere. Despite international outcry, Israel has vowed to invade the city, where Israel's military says Hamas is holding hostages. On the side of a tent in Rafah on Saturday, a Palestinian wrote a message to the thousands of protesters on U.S. university campuses. "Thank you, students in solidarity with Gaza, your message has reached," it read. 'End the bloodshed' A heated rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday night was the latest held by protesters demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ensure the release of the hostages. Just hours earlier, the armed wing of Hamas released a video featuring two of the hostages, Keith Siegel and Omri Miran, who appeared to speak under duress. "Keep protesting, so that there will be a deal now," Miran said in the footage. "We are in danger here, there are bombs, it is stressful and scary," said Siegel, a 64-year-old U.S. citizen. Omri Miran's father Dani called on Hamas to "show humanity" and release the hostages. "The world wants to see an end to the bloodshed," he told the Tel Aviv demonstration. U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA has warned that "famine thresholds in Gaza will be breached within the next six weeks" if a massive amount of food aid does not reach the territory. A British ship set sail toward Gaza on Saturday which is planned to house hundreds of U.S. troops building a temporary floating pier off the coast to help deliver aid.