Feed aggregator

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.

HONG KONG — China must reprioritize economic growth and reforms and boost investor confidence by leveling the playing field for all companies in the country, a European business group said Wednesday.  With "business confidence now at an all-time low" over lagging domestic demand and overcapacity in certain industries, the annual European Business in China Position Paper called on China to open its economy and allow a more free market to determine resource allocation. It also recommended introducing policies to boost domestic demand.  Profit margins in China are at or below the global average for two-thirds of the companies surveyed earlier in the year, according to the paper published Wednesday by the European Chamber of Commerce in China.  In August, China filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over European Union tariffs on electric vehicles made in China. It also launched anti-dumping and subsidies investigations of European dairy products, brandy and pork exports. The tit-for-tat actions have raised fears that a trade war may break out.  Many European businesses are deciding that the returns on investments in the world's second-largest economy are not worth the risks, due to issues including China's economic slowdown and a politicized business environment.  "For some European headquarters and shareholders, the risks of investing in China are beginning to outright the returns, a trend that will only intensify if key business concerns are left unaddressed," Jens Eskelund, president of China's European Union Chamber of Commerce, said in a message at the beginning of the paper.  The European Chamber's paper proposes over 1,000 recommendations for China to resolve challenges and problems faced by European businesses operating in the country and boost investor confidence. Among them are calls for China to refrain from punishing companies for the actions of their home governments. Others include ensuring that policy packages for attracting foreign investment are followed by implementation, and refraining from "erratic policy shifts."  The report also recommended that the EU proactively engage with China and keep its responses "measured and proportionate" when disagreements arise. 

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.

LONDON/DAKAR — Among the dozens of Wagner mercenaries presumed dead after a lethal battle with Tuareg rebels during a desert sandstorm in Mali in July were Russian war veterans who survived tours in Ukraine, Libya and Syria, according to interviews with relatives and a review of social media data. The loss of such experienced fighters exposes dangers faced by Russian mercenary forces working for military juntas, which are struggling to contain separatists and powerful offshoots of Islamic State and Al Qaeda across the arid Sahel region in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. The Mali defeat raises doubts over whether Moscow, which has admitted funding Wagner and has absorbed many of its fighters into a defense ministry force, will do better than Western and U.N. troops recently expelled by the juntas, six officials and experts who work in the region said. By cross-referencing public information with online posts from relatives and fighters, speaking to seven relatives and using facial recognition software to analyze battlefield footage verified by Reuters, the news agency was able to identify 23 fighters missing in action and two others taken into Tuareg captivity after the ambush near Tinzaouaten, a town on the Algerian border. Several of the men had survived the siege of Bakhmut in Ukraine, which Wagner's late founder Yevgeny Prigozhin called a "meat grinder." Others had served in Libya, Syria and elsewhere. Some were former Russian soldiers, at least one of whom had retired after a full-length army career. Grisly footage of dead fighters has now circulated online, and some of relatives told Reuters the bodies of their husbands and sons had been abandoned in the desert. Reuters could not confirm how many of the men it identified were dead. Margarita Goncharova said her son, Vadim Evsiukov, 31, was first recruited in prison where he was serving a drug-related sentence in 2022. He rose through the ranks in Ukraine to lead a platoon of 500 men, she said. After coming home, he worked as a tailor but struggled with survivor's guilt and secretly traveled to Africa in April to join his former commander, she said. "He wanted to fly to Africa many times. I discouraged him as much as I could," Goncharova said in an interview with Reuters. "I told him 'fate has given you a once-in-a-million chance. You can start your life again; you've won such a crazy lottery'." The Russian Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Wagner did not respond to requests for comment for this story. After Prigozhin died in August last year, Wagner employees were invited to join a newly created group called the Africa Corps, under the defense ministry, "to fight for justice and the interests of Russia," according to the Africa Corps channel on social-media platform Telegram. On the channel, Africa Corps says about half its personnel are former Wagner employees who it allows to use Wagner insignia. Wagner's social media channels remain active. The Russian government has not publicly commented on the Tinzaouaten battle. Mali's armed forces-led government said the defeat had no impact on its goals. The Malian Armed Forces "are committed to restoring the authority of the state throughout the country," army spokesman Colonel Major Souleymane Dembele told Reuters. Wagner has acknowledged heavy losses in the Mali ambush but gave no figure. The Malian army, which fought alongside the Russians, also did not give a toll. Tuareg rebels, who are fighting for an independent homeland, said they had killed 84 Russians and 47 Malians. Reuters could not independently establish how many were killed in battle. One video, out of more than 20 sent to Reuters by a Tuareg rebel spokesman, showed at least 47 bodies, mostly white men, in military-style uniforms lying in the desert. Reuters verified the location and date of the video. Mikhail Zvinchuk, a prominent blogger close to the Russian defense ministry, said on social media platform RuTube in August that the defeat showed Wagner fighters who arrived from Ukraine had underestimated the rebels and the Al Qaeda fighters. Missing in action Wagner-linked Telegram accounts named two of the dead as Nikita Fedyakin, the administrator of The Grey Zone, a popular Wagner-focused Telegram channel with over half a million subscribers, and Sergei Shevchenko, who the accounts described as the unit commander. Reuters could not verify the identity of Shevchenko. Reuters separately identified 23 Wagner operators missing in Mali via relatives who posted in an official Wagner Telegram chat group, checking the names against social media accounts, publicly available data and facial recognition software. All the relatives received calls from Wagner recruiters on Aug. 6 to notify them their men were missing in action, they said in the chat group. Lyubov Bazhenova told Reuters she had no idea her son Vladimir Akimov, 25, who had briefly served in Russia's elite airborne forces as a conscript, had signed up. She was angry with Wagner for sharing no further information about his fate or the whereabouts of his body. She said letters to the prosecutor's office, defense ministry and foreign ministry had gone unanswered. Facial-recognition software was used to identify another two men captured by Tuareg fighters, based on photographs and videos of the ambush site published by Tuareg sources. The Tuareg rebels posted videos and photos of the two captives on social media. Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesman for the rebel alliance, confirmed the men were in rebel captivity as of late August. One of the missing fighters, Alexei Kuzekmaev, 47, had no military experience, his wife Lyudmila Kuzekmaeva told Reuters. "Neither my hysterics, nor tears, nor persuasion - nothing helped. He just confronted me a month before he left home. He said 'I bought a ticket and will be leaving.'" Among the most experienced men was Alexander Lazarev, 48, a Russian army veteran who served in wars against Chechen separatists in the 1990s and 2000s, according to his wife's posts in the Wagner channel. She declined to comment. Lazarev appears in many photos on the Russian Facebook equivalent VKontakte wearing military uniform, with symbols linked to several army subdivisions. Parastatal mercenary force Democratic governments in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger were overthrown since 2020 in a series of coups driven by anger with corrupt leaders and a near decade of failed Western efforts to fight insurgencies that have killed thousands and displaced millions. The military juntas have kicked out French and U.S. troops and U.N. peacekeepers. In Africa, Wagner emerged in Sudan in 2017 as the deniable face of Russian operations. Its enterprises soon ranged from protecting African coup leaders to gold mining and fighting jihadists. Wagner is also active in Central African Republic. It first appeared in Mali in late 2021. Wagner's fortunes rose and fell last year. In May, the group led Russia to its first significant Ukrainian battlefield victory in almost a year with the capture of Bakhmut. But after his criticism of Russian military leaders and his effort to lead a rebellion weeks after the Bakhmut victory, Prigozhin died in a fiery plane crash in August. The Kremlin has rejected as an "absolute lie" U.S. officials' claim that Putin had Prigozhin killed. Eric Whitaker, the top U.S. envoy to Burkina Faso until retiring in June, who previously served in Niger, Mali and Chad, said the Putin administration has achieved complete control over the Wagner brand in the post-Prigozhin era. "Africa Corps earns (the Russian government) hard-currency payments from host governments for its services and also gains a significant sources of revenue from gold derived from its activities in the Sahel," he said. Russian mercenary activity soared in Mali after Africa Corps was formed, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), a U.S.-based crisis-monitoring group. Based on media reports and social media documenting, the data shows violent events linked to Russian mercenaries rose 81% and reported civilian fatalities rose 65% over the past year, compared to the year before Prigozhin's death. Wagner does not publish recruitment figures. Jędrzej Czerep, an analyst at Warsaw-based think tank Polish Institute of International Affairs, estimated that around 6,000 Russian mercenaries serve in Africa, while three diplomatic sources said about 1,500-2,000 were in Mali. "When Africa Corps started to promote and recruit, they were flooded with applications," said Czerep. "Being sent to one of the African missions was seen as far safer than Ukraine," he said. Tuareg spokesman Ramadane said the rebel alliance was preparing for more clashes. Further losses could eventually drive Russia out, said Tibor Nagy, the top U.S. envoy to Africa in 2019, when Wagner withdrew from northern Mozambique months after around a dozen of its men were killed during a conflict with an Islamic State affiliate. "They were out of there very quickly," said Nagy. Wagner has not publicly commented on its plans in Mali.  

Taipei, Taiwan — As China is set to host bilateral talks with the Philippines this month, their South China Sea dispute is expanding from sea to air, increasing the risk of military confrontation, analysts warn. The Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Daily newspaper on Monday published an article warning that “China-Philippines relations stand at a crossroads” over the South China Sea dispute. The warning came after Filipino Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo told reporters at a diplomatic reception on September 4 that Beijing will host the next round of the Bilateral Consultative Mechanism meetings designed to manage differences between the two countries. Manalo did not say on which date the talks would start this month but expressed hope the two countries would discuss an incident in late August when coast guard ships from both sides collided at a disputed shoal. Both countries blame the other for the collision, though video released by the Philippine coast guard appears to show the Chinese coast guard ship ramming their vessel, BRP Teresa Magbanua. It was the second such collision of their coast guard ships in August at the disputed atoll. Vincent Kyle Parada, a former defense analyst for the Philippine Navy and a graduate student at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, says the frequency of the sea clashes is pushing the two sides to expand their operations to the air. “Over the past few weeks, China has been actively working to disrupt resupply missions to the ship and crew, to the point that after one such failed attempt, the Philippine government announced that essential supplies reached critical levels,” he told VOA Mandarin. “Manila did manage to resupply BRP Teresa Magbanua through a helicopter, signaling this potential shift.” Parada added, “This potential shift from maritime to aerial resupply emissions in the future is obviously a risk because China has also been escalating aerial operations in the South China Sea. “Beijing would increase its aerial presence in the Spratlys and send fighter jets to its artificial islands for extended deployments. I think the goal there really would be to make aerial resupply emissions an incredibly dangerous policy option for Manila. That way, it limits Manila's ability to sustain a long-term presence in the disputed territories.” According to the latest data from the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has lodged 176 diplomatic protests with the Chinese government, which claims almost the entire South China Sea, putting it in conflict with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and researcher at Xuanyuan (Hong Kong) Science and Technology Exchange Center, says any Chinese military moves in the airspace over the South China Sea are due to what he calls “illegal expansion” by the Philippines. "Whether it's Scarborough Shoal, Second Thomas Shoal or Sabina Shoal, these are all China's sovereign territories,” he told VOA Mandarin, repeating Beijing’s claims. “If the Philippines wants to conduct patrols or resupply by air, this in itself is violating the security of China's airspace, and China will inevitably take certain measures to intercept it.” An article published on September 2 by the Beijing-based think tank South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative says since 2024, the Philippines has "repeatedly dispatched military aircraft to invade the islands and reefs of Spratly Islands and Macclesfield Bank" and also sent military aircraft to carry out airdrops and replenishment missions over the sea, indicating that "air intrusion is becoming another major path for the Philippines to cause trouble in the South China Sea." The article warned that if the Philippines insists on carrying out an "air invasion," China will have to take corresponding measures, and "once there is friction or even collision, the consequences will be much more serious than the collision with a ship." Su Tzu-yun, a research fellow and director at the Division of Defense Strategy and Resources in Taiwan, says China is more likely to take coercive actions in the air, making it difficult for the Philippines to defend its sovereignty. "China may first take measures to interfere, as it does with the United States and Australian military aircraft, and it will scatter thermal flares to interfere so that Philippine helicopters may not be able to get close," Su told VOA Mandarin. “It may use jets to create turbulence, meaning it uses air from the jet tail to interfere with the Philippine helicopter when it’s flying.” Su says Beijing is taking more aggressive interception actions, which greatly increase the risk of accidental conflict. “The number of Chinese ships has increased. Second, coupled with the previous conflict between China and the Philippines in the sea, which caused injuries to Philippine coast guards, and now it threatens to use stronger means against the Philippine so-called aircraft, so it is moving the definition of gray zone operations closer to the direction of war.” Philippine National Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro in August said the Philippines plans to purchase 40 new multirole fighter jets and mid-range missiles to strengthen its territorial defense, Reuters reported. The U.S. in July repeated its commitment to the Philippines’ security after China’s increasingly assertive actions in the South China Sea. US reiterates 'ironclad' commitment to Philippines amid China actions in South China Sea. Parts of the disputed South China Sea are believed to be rich in oil and gas, and the waters are an important transit point for trillions of dollars in annual shipping. The Hague-based intergovernmental Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 unanimously ruled that China’s claim to almost all the South China Sea had “no legal basis,” which Beijing rejected. Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report. Some information for this report came from Reuters.

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.

KARAWANG, Indonesia — Rahmat Hidayat lost his job when the shoe factory he worked for closed down last year in the industrial town of Karawang in Indonesia's West Java.   The 44-year-old now earns less than half of what he used to make by selling grilled meatballs. Unable to afford his wife's diabetes medication, Rahmat picks herbs to make a tonic instead.  Like Rahmat, millions of working to middle class Indonesians have become poorer, largely due to an increase in layoffs and a drop in the number of job opportunities since the pandemic.  This trend bodes ill for the outlook for Southeast Asia's biggest economy — household consumption accounts for over half of gross domestic product — as well as the widely held investment thesis that an expanding middle class will drive Indonesia's ambition to become a high-income nation by 2045.  It also poses a challenge for the incoming administration of President Prabowo Subianto, who won a February election by a landslide on promises to boost economic growth and create 19 million of jobs. Prabowo takes office on Oct. 20.  "Pushing the economy to grow higher with weak consumption is difficult," said Mohammad Faisal, an economist at the Jakarta-based Center of Reform on Economics.  The government classifies those who spend between $132 to $643 a month as middle class, based on a World Bank criteria. This group is key to economic growth as their spending accounts for nearly 40% of private consumption, and more than 80% if combined with the aspiring middle class, who spend $57 to $132.   The size of the middle class, however, has dropped from 21.5% of the total population in 2019 to 17.1% in 2024, according to official data released last month.  Even though Indonesia's economy has bounced back after the pandemic, with growth of around above 5% a year since 2022 amid generally low inflation, this shrinking middle class is likely to pressure future growth, as the government will have to contend with lower tax revenues and a possibly more subsidies, said Jahen Rezki, an analyst from the University of Indonesia.   "In the long run, if the middle class dwindles, it will certainly be a big burden for the state," he said.  Big state spending  One of the main reasons for the demise of the middle class is the changing labour market.  A large portion of the foreign investment coming into Indonesia has targeted industries such as mining, which are becoming much less labour intensive as more cutting-edge technology is deployed.  Also, stronger competition from lower cost destinations such as China, especially in the textile sector, has squeezed factories, leading to lay offs that the textile association said were the worst in the last decade.   Prabowo's brother and adviser Hashim Djojohadikusumo said the incoming government will help the middle class by creating millions of new jobs from projects like the $28 billion free meals programme and the building of millions of homes.   "We want to create a lot of small, medium and micro entrepreneurs, for example through our housing program. We want to build 3 million units of houses, in villages and cities. That's to create middle class," he told Reuters recently.   However, how much the next government is able to spend on welfare schemes might be limited, especially next year when a large amount of government debt is due to mature, said Teguh Yudo Wicaksono, an economist at Islam Internasional Indonesia University.  For former factory worker Rahmat, the best help the government can give is a handout he can use to expand his food business, as it has become increasingly difficult to find a job.  His wife Fatimah said her children often ask for their favorite spicy meat dish, but she can only afford to feed them instant noodles with eggs most of the time.  "I could only tell my kids to please wait until dad got his fair compensation from the factory, we will cook a delicious meal again," she said.  

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.

BATON ROUGE, La. — Hurricane Francine barreled early Wednesday toward Louisiana and is expected to make landfall in coming hours as forecasters raised threats of potentially deadly storm surge, widespread flooding and destructive winds on the northern U.S. Gulf coast. Francine drew fuel from exceedingly warm Gulf of Mexico waters to jump from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane on Tuesday night. The National Hurricane Center said Francine might even reach Category 2 strength with winds of 155 to 175 kph before crashing into a fragile coastal region that still hasn't fully recovered from a series of devastating hurricanes since 2020. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry warned at midday Tuesday — when Francine was still a tropical storm — that residents around south Louisiana and in the heavily populated state capital of Baton Rouge and nearby New Orleans — should "batten down all the hatches" and finish last preparations before a 24-hour window to do so closed. Once Francine makes landfall, Landry said, residents should stay in place rather than venture out into waterlogged roads and risk blocking first responders or utility crews working to repair power lines. The governor said the Louisiana National Guard is being deployed to parishes that could be impacted by Francine. They are equipped with food, water, nearly 400 high-water vehicles, about 100 boats and 50 helicopters to respond to the storm, including possible search-and-rescue operations. Francine was centered Wednesday morning about 395 kilometers southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana, and was moving northeast at 17 kph with maximum sustained winds of 90 150 kmh, the Miami-based hurricane center said. Some additional strengthening is expected Wednesday morning and then Francine is expected to weaken quickly after it moves inland. A hurricane warning was in effect along the Louisiana coast from Cameron eastward to Grand Isle, about 80 kilometers south of New Orleans, according to the center. A storm surge warning stretched from the Mississippi-Alabama border to the Alabama-Florida border Such a warning means there's a chance of life-threatening flooding. In downtown New Orleans, cars and trucks were lined up for blocks on Tuesday to collect sandbags from the parking lot of a local YMCA. CEO Erika Mann said Tuesday that 1,000 bags of sand had already been distributed by volunteers later in the day to people hoping to protect homes from possible flooding. One resident picking up sandbags was Wayne Grant, 33, who moved to New Orleans last year and was nervous for his first potential hurricane in the city. The low-lying rental apartment he shares with his partner had already flooded out in a storm the year before and he was not taking any chances this time around. "It was like a kick in the face, we've been trying to stay up on the weather ever since," Grant said. "We're super invested in the place, even though it's not ours." Francine is the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. There's a danger of life-threatening storm surge as well as damaging hurricane-force winds, said Brad Reinhart, a senior hurricane specialist at the hurricane center. There's also the potential for 10 to 20 centimeters of rain with the possibility of 30 centimeters locally across much of Louisiana and Mississippi through Friday morning, Reinhart said. The hurricane center said parts of Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle were at risk of "considerable" flash and urban flooding starting Wednesday, followed by a threat of possible flooding later in the week into the lower Mississippi Valley and lower Tennessee Valley as the soggy remnants of Francine sweep inland. Francine is taking aim at a Louisiana coastline that has yet to fully recover since hurricanes Laura and Delta decimated Lake Charles in 2020, followed a year later by Hurricane Ida. A little over three years after Ida trashed his home in the Dulac community of coastal Louisiana's Terrebonne Parish – and about a month after he finished rebuilding – Coy Verdin was preparing for another hurricane. "We had to gut the whole house," he recalled in a telephone interview, rattling off a memorized inventory of the work, including a new roof and new windows. Verdin, 55, strongly considered moving farther inland, away from the home where he makes his living on nearby Bayou Grand Caillou. After rebuilding, he said he's there to stay. "As long as I can. It's getting rough, though," he said. Francine's storm surge on the Louisiana coast could reach as much as 3 meters from Cameron to Port Fourchon and into Vermilion Bay, forecasters said. They said landfall was likely somewhere between Sabine Pass — on the Texas-Louisiana line — and Morgan City, Louisiana, about 350 kilometers to the east.

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.

In the U.S. presidential election, the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, Donald Trump, clashed with his Democratic Party rival, Kamala Harris, Tuesday evening over issues such as abortion, immigration and foreign policy. VOA’s chief national correspondent Steve Herman has details from the candidates’ first debate in Philadelphia.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

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.

HANOI, VIETNAM — Typhoon Yagi severely damaged a large number of factories and flooded warehouses in northern Vietnam's export-oriented industrial hubs, forcing plants to shut, with some expected to take weeks to resume full operations, executives said. The typhoon, the strongest in Asia this year, made landfall in Vietnam's northern coast on Saturday and was still causing deadly floods and landslides on Wednesday, killing dozens and ravaging key infrastructure, including power networks and roads. The disruptions could affect global supply chains as Vietnam hosts large operations of multinationals that mostly export their products to the United States, Europe and other developed countries. In the coastal city of Haiphong, one of the areas worst hit by the typhoon, 95% of businesses were expected to resume some activities on Tuesday, the body managing Haiphong industrial zones said on its website. "Many businesses had their roofs blown off, some walls were torn and collapsed, gates, fences, signs, camera systems, garages and sliding metal doors were overturned, water flooded into factories," said a report on its website. In the DEEP C industrial zones, which host factories in Haiphong and the neighboring province of Quang Ninh, 20 out of 150 investors' plants will be out of service for at least a few weeks, said Bruno Jaspaert, head of DEEP C industrial zones. Based on a review of his clients, he expected power consumption at those facilities would remain one-third below normal for weeks or months because many companies were busy rebuilding their damaged factories. Goods ready for export or delivery to clients were flooded in warehouses in the area, companies said. In another industrial park in Haiphong, South Korea's LG Electronics said it had partly resumed work on Tuesday, although the factory's walls were crushed on Saturday and a warehouse with refrigerators and washing machines had been flooded. "Many of them are gone with the wind," said Calvin Nguyen, head of Vietnamese logistics firm WeDo Forwarding Co., referring to products that were to be delivered to the United States and the European Union, without specifying which goods. The company's three warehouses in Haiphong had their roofs blown off and on Wednesday were still flooded, he said. The industry ministry did not reply to a request for comment. Power cuts Power outages were still affecting several areas in the north, as Vietnam's state-owned power distributor EVN worked to restore dozens of damaged electricity lines. In Quang Ninh, along the coast north of Haiphong, many factories still had no electricity or water service, Jaspaert said. Chinese solar panel maker Jinko Solar's factory in Quang Ninh was severely damaged, one of its workers said, noting on Tuesday work had not resumed as windows had been smashed and the roof had been blown away. Jinko was not immediately available for a comment. Far from the coast, the industrial hubs of Thai Nguyen and Bac Giang which host large factories of multinationals such as Samsung Electronics and Apple supplier Foxconn were also facing severe flooding. Samsung's large facilities in Thai Nguyen had not been visibly affected on Tuesday evening, according to a Reuters witness. Water was receding on Wednesday in the province, about 60 kilometers north of Hanoi, but more rain was expected.

JAKARTA, INDONESIA — During his three-day visit to Indonesia last week, Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, urged Indonesians to live up to the promise represented by the nation’s own motto — “Unity in Diversity.” While praising Indonesia’s constitution, which guarantees religious freedom, Francis also warned in an address following a meeting with President Joko Widodo that the diversity of the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation can also lead to conflict. Francis emphasized the importance of interfaith dialogue to eliminate prejudices and build mutual respect. “This is indispensable for meeting common challenges, including that of countering extremism and intolerance, which through the distortion of religion attempt to improve their views by using deception and violence,” Francis said.   Indonesia’s statistical agency says that 87% of the country’s 280 million people are Muslim. However, 2.9% of the total population is Catholic, making its Christian community the third largest in Asia after the Philippines and China. Indonesia’s struggle against religious intolerance Despite legal guarantees of religious freedom, which includes a Religious Harmony bill signed into law in 2016, research by Human Rights Watch indicates a flare-up of religious intolerance. Examples include the imprisonment of Jakarta’s Christian governor for blasphemy in 2016, violence against religious minorities; and problems faced by some Christian groups seeking to secure building permits for churches. Novi from Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, a Catholic, who traveled to Jakarta to witness Pope Francis' visit to Istiqlal Mosque, hopes the visit can encourage a revival of religious tolerance in the country. “I’m really sad when I hear news reports saying that churches faced difficulties in setting up a church and require approval of the majority from the surrounding community and municipal and provincial office,” she said.  In 2006, a group of religious and community leaders established the Religious Harmony Forum (FKUB), dedicated to protecting religious harmony, including making recommendations to the mayor or regent on the construction of any new house of worship. [ But according to Andreas Harsono, a senior Indonesian researcher at Human Rights Watch, the forum has been politicized over the years. In hopes of quelling religious intolerance, Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said a new presidential regulation is being developed that will no longer allow the FKUB to recommend the establishment of a house of worship. That right will remain with the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Andreas Harsono of the Human Rights Watch sees this as a "step in the right direction.” "The FKUB recommendations are proven to be the most damaging of the 2006 regulations on religious harmony. The religious harmony regulation basically makes the so-called majority have veto power over the minorities in Indonesia. It's turning Indonesia into an intolerant Muslim-majority country,” he said. Halili Hasan, executive director of the SETARA Institute, agrees with abolishing the FKUB’s right to recommend. He added that FKUB has not been able to prevent and handle various violations of freedom of religion and belief. SETARA Institute is a think tank that advocates for democracy and human rights in Indonesia and releases an annual report on the condition of freedom of religion and belief. The report in 2023 listed at least 65 places of worship that experienced disturbances throughout that year, ranging from objections to the construction of a house of worship to the sealing off of places of worship. That compares to 50 such incidents in the previous year. Still, the Ministry of Religious Affair’s Religious Harmony Index survey for 2023 found a steady increase in religious harmony from 2020 to 2023. The index was scored from 0 to 100, with 100 being the most harmonious. The national score for 2023 was 76.02, the highest score recorded in the last five years.  Eli Trisiana is a Muslim and government civil servant who came to see Pope Francis. "We need to hold a heart-to-heart dialogue with those deemed religious intolerant,’’ Eli Trisiana said. ‘’We cannot deal with them using violence. I think that is the best method to solve differences of opinion. In Islam there are verses taught to us that reconcile with non-believers, which is "unto you your religion and unto me my religion." Interfaith dialogue During an interfaith dialogue at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, 87-year-old Pope Francis met with representatives of Indonesia’s six officially recognized religions — Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Protestantism and Catholicism — along with a representative for traditional beliefs. Francis and the grand imam of the Istiqlal Mosque, Nasaruddin Uma,r signed a ‘Human Fraternity” document declaring their commitment to interfaith harmony. The document calls for religious leaders to overcome two serious crises faced by the world: dehumanization and climate change. The grand imam said he won’t let this signing be in vain and that he plans to follow up with a future plan of action that supports interfaith dialogue and true religious harmony. 

Tehran, Ian — Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, is to visit neighboring Iraq on Wednesday as he moves to deepen already close ties on his first foreign visit since taking office. Pezeshkian has vowed to make relations with neighboring countries a priority as he seeks to ease Iran's international isolation and mitigate the impact of U.S.-led sanctions on its economy. His visit comes after Western powers on Tuesday announced fresh sanctions on Iran for supplying Russia with short-range missiles for use against Ukraine. It also comes amid turmoil in the Middle East sparked by the war in Gaza, which has drawn in Iran-backed armed groups around the region and complicated Baghdad's ties with Washington. On Tuesday night, an explosion was heard at the base of a U.S.-led anti-militant coalition at the Baghdad international airport, according to Iraqi security officials. A spokesperson for the Iranian-backed Ketaeb Hezbollah (Hezbollah Brigades) in Iraq said the Tuesday night attack aimed to "disrupt the Iranian president's visit to Baghdad." Ties between Iran and Iraq, both Shiite-majority countries, have grown closer since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 toppled the Sunni-dominated regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Pezeshkian has directly linked shoring up ties to sanctions pressure. "Relations with neighboring countries ... can neutralize a significant amount of pressure of the sanctions," he said last month. Iran has suffered years of crippling Western sanctions, especially after its arch-foe the United States, under then-president Donald Trump, unilaterally abandoned a landmark nuclear deal between the Islamic republic and major powers in 2018. Pezeshkian, who assumed the presidency in late July, has made the top diplomat who negotiated the 2015 deal, Mohammad Javad Zarif, his vice president for strategic affairs as part of his bid for a more open Iran.

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.