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KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo said that 50,000 doses of mpox vaccine from the United States arrived in the country on Tuesday, a week after the first batch arrived from the European Union. Adults in Equateur, South Kivu and Sankuru, the three most-affected provinces, will be vaccinated first, starting on October 2, said Cris Kacita Osako, coordinator of the DRC's Monkeypox Response Committee. Last week, the first batch of mpox vaccines arrived in the capital, Kinshasa, the center of the outbreak. The 100,000 doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine, manufactured by the Danish company Bavarian Nordic, were donated by the EU through HERA, the bloc's agency for health emergencies. Another 100,000 were delivered over the weekend. The 50,000 doses from the U.S. will be of the same JYNNEOS vaccine. The 250,000 doses are just a fraction of the 3 million doses authorities have said are needed to end the mpox outbreaks in the DRC, the epicenter of the global health emergency. EU countries pledged to donate more than 500,000 others, but the timeline for their delivery remained unclear. Since the start of 2024, there have been 5,549 confirmed mpox cases across the continent, with 643 associated deaths, representing a sharp escalation in infections and fatalities compared with previous years. The cases in the DRC constituted 91% of the total number. Most mpox infections in the DRC and Burundi, the second-most-affected country, are in children under age 15. Last week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization launched a continentwide response plan to the outbreak of mpox, three weeks after the World Health Organization declared outbreaks in 12 African countries a global emergency. The DRC issued an emergency approval of the vaccine, which has already been used in Europe and the United States in adults. For the moment, the rollout will be reserved for adults, with priority groups being those who have been in close contact with infected people and sex workers, Africa CDC Director-General Dr. Jean Kaseya told reporters last week. The European Medicines Agency is examining additional data to be able to administer it to children ranging in age from 12 to 17, which could happen at the end of the month, HERA Director-General Laurent Muschel said. The next batch of mpox vaccines will come from Japan and could arrive as early as this weekend, Kacita Osako told the AP, without specifying how many doses.

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Turkey is undertaking a massive expansion of its navy to make it one of Europe's largest naval powers. The buildup is alarming some of its neighbors, but Ankara insists it is purely defensive and meant to meet Turkey’s growing regional commitments. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.

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.

London — Google lost its final legal challenge on Tuesday against a European Union penalty for giving its own shopping recommendations an illegal advantage over rivals in search results, ending a long-running antitrust case that came with a whopping fine.  The European Union’s Court of Justice upheld a lower court’s decision, rejecting the company’s appeal against the $2.7 billion penalty from the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s top antitrust enforcer.  "By today’s judgment, the Court of Justice dismisses the appeal and thus upholds the judgment of the General Court," the court said in a press release summarizing its decision.  The commission's punished the Silicon Valley giant in 2017 for unfairly directing visitors to its own Google Shopping service to the detriment of competitors. It was one of three multibillion-dollar fines that the commission imposed on Google in the previous decade as Brussels started ramping up its crackdown on the tech industry.  “We are disappointed with the decision of the Court, which relates to a very specific set of facts,” Google said in a brief statement.  The company said it made changes in 2017 to comply with the commission’s decision requiring it to treat competitors equally. It started holding auctions for shopping search listings that it would bid for alongside other comparison shopping services.  “Our approach has worked successfully for more than seven years, generating billions of clicks for more than 800 comparison shopping services,” Google said.  At the same time, the company appealed the decision to the courts. But the EU General Court, the tribunal's lower section, rejected its challenge in 2021 and the Court of Justice’s adviser later recommended rejecting the appeal.  European consumer group BEUC hailed the court's decision, saying it shows how the bloc's competition law “remains highly relevant" in digital markets.  "Google harmed millions of European consumers by ensuring that rival comparison shopping services were virtually invisible," director general Agustín Reyna said. “Google’s illegal practices prevented consumers from accessing potentially cheaper prices and useful product information from rival comparison shopping services on all sorts of products, from clothes to washing machines.” 

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.

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SINGAPORE — When Pope Francis arrives Wednesday in Asia's financial powerhouse Singapore for the last leg of a four-nation tour, he is expected to bring his message of unity and hope to one of the world's richest nations. The 11-day trip, which earlier took him to Indonesia,Papua New Guinea and East Timor, is the longest for the 87-year-old pontiff since becoming head of the Catholic Church in 2013. Francis will be the second pope to visit Singapore, after a five-hour stopover by the late John Paul II in 1986. Here's what to know about Pope Francis' three-day stay in Singapore: Why is Francis visiting Singapore? Singapore was originally part of Francis' travel plans to the region in 2020 but it was derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The island city-state at the tip of the Malay peninsula has a small population of just under 6 million people and lacks natural resources, but it is a heavyweight in regional and international affairs. Astute leadership, its strategic location and reputation as one of the most open and least corrupt economies had transformed Singapore into a bustling financial giant and maritime and aviation hubs in just 59 years after independence. Singapore is a strategic U.S. partner but also maintains close ties with China. Ethnic Chinese account for about three-quarters of its residents followed by minority Muslims and Indians. According to a 2020 Singapore population census, Buddhists make up about 31%. About a fifth of the population claimed no religious belief, while Christians account for almost 19% and Muslims about 15%. Singapore has four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil, reflecting its multicultural identity and heritage. "Singapore and the Holy See share a common interest in promoting interfaith dialogue and understanding. Pope Francis' state visit is also the first papal visit to Singapore in almost 40 years," Singapore's Foreign Ministry said. In a city ranked as one of the most expensive to live in, Singapore's Cardinal William Goh said that key themes frequently emphasized by Francis such as human dignity, inclusiveness, interreligious dialogue, family values, the need to manage artificial intelligence responsibly and care for the environment were of particular relevance. "As such, Pope Francis' visit is highly anticipated and warmly welcomed not only by the Catholic faithful, but also by the wider society." Goh said in a written response to The Associated Press. "After the apostolic visit is done, I pray that Singapore will be filled with hope — a profound, divine hope." What's on the pope's itinerary? After flying in from Dili, East Timor, on Wednesday, Pope Francis will hold a private meeting with members of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). On Thursday, he will receive an official welcome at Parliament House and meet Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and President Tharman Shanmugaratnam. He will also meet government officials, civil society and the diplomatic corps at the National University of Singapore. The highlight will be a public Mass at the 55,000-seat National Stadium in the evening. Those attending include Catholics from neighboring Malaysia and Brunei. Francis will make a tour around the stadium pitch to greet the faithful in his Popemobile before delivering his homily. On the last day, Francis will visit elderly residents at the St. Theresa's Home. He will also hold an interreligious meeting with youths at the Catholic Junior College. How influential is the church in Singapore? The church marked 200 years in Singapore in 2021. The Archdiocese of Singapore was formed in 1972, seven years after Singapore's independence. Diplomatic relations with the Holy See were established in 1981. In Singapore's early years, Cardinal Goh said the church's work in education and health care were important contributors to national development. "Many of the country's top leaders in both the public and private spheres were formed in Catholic schools; and many basic health care needs were provided by Church-run health care institutions," he wrote on the Vatican News website. The church supports 395,000 Catholics in Singapore with its 29 parish churches, three devotional churches, 53 schools, 47 humanitarian organizations and two health care institutions. Goh said the church holds frequent dialogue with the government, which views it as an important contributor and shaper of Singapore's social fabric. Goh, Singapore's first cardinal installed by Francis in 2022, is a member of two Presidential Councils that advise the government on matters relating to racial and religious harmony and minority rights. "As the final stop on this apostolic journey, Singapore stands as a testament to peaceful coexistence in a modern, multicultural, and multi-religious society," Goh wrote in his reply to the AP. "This reflects the spirit of unity and diversity that Pope Francis has emphasized throughout his pontification."

SYDNEY — Australia will ban children from using social media with a minimum age limit as high as 16, the prime minister said Tuesday, vowing to get kids off their devices and "onto the footy fields." Federal legislation to keep children off social media will be introduced this year, Anthony Albanese said, describing the impact of the sites on young people as a "scourge." The minimum age for children to log into sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok has not been decided but is expected to be between 14 and 16 years, Albanese said. The prime minister said his own preference would be a block on users aged below 16. Age verification trials are being held over the coming months, the center-left leader said, though analysts said they doubted it was technically possible to enforce an online age limit. "I want to see kids off their devices and onto the footy fields and the swimming pools and the tennis courts," Albanese said. "We want them to have real experiences with real people because we know that social media is causing social harm," he told national broadcaster ABC. "This is a scourge. We know that there is mental health consequences for what many of the young people have had to deal with," he said. Australia's conservative opposition leader Peter Dutton said he would support an age limit. "Every day of delay leaves young kids vulnerable to the harms of social media and the time for relying on tech companies to enforce age limits," he said. 'Easy to circumvent' But it is not clear that the technology exists to reliably enforce such bans, said the University of Melbourne's associate professor in computing and information technology, Toby Murray. "We already know that present age verification methods are unreliable, too easy to circumvent, or risk user privacy," he said.  Analysts warned that an age limit may not in any case help troubled children. It "threatens to create serious harm by excluding young people from meaningful, healthy participation in the digital world," said Daniel Angus, who leads the digital media research centre at Queensland University of Technology. "There is logic in establishing boundaries that limit young people's access," said Samantha Schulz, senior sociologist of education at the University of Adelaide. "However, young people are not the problem and regulating youth misses the more urgent task of regulating irresponsible social media platforms. Social media is an unavoidable part of young people's lives." The prime minister said parents expected a response to online bullying and harmful material present on social media. "These social media companies think they're above everyone," he told a radio interviewer. "Well, they have a social responsibility and at the moment, they're not exercising it. And we're determined to make sure that they do," he said. Australia has been at the forefront of global efforts to regulate social media platforms, with its online safety watchdog bumping heads notably with Elon Musk's X over the content it carries.  

BEIJING — The United States and China held theater-level commander talks for the first time on Tuesday, Chinese authorities said, amid efforts to stabilize military ties and avoid misunderstandings, especially in regional hot spots such as the South China Sea. Washington seeks to open new channels of regular military communication with Beijing since ties sank to a historic low after the United States downed a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon last year. Admiral Sam Paparo, head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, held a video telephone call with his counterpart Wu Yanan of the Southern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command's areas of responsibility include the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, two hot spots for regional tension that are also flashpoints in U.S.-China bilateral ties. Both sides had an "in depth exchange of views on issues of common concern," the Chinese defense ministry said in a readout. Paparo urged the PLA "to reconsider its use of dangerous, coercive, and potentially escalatory tactics in the South China Sea and beyond," the Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that described the exchange as "constructive and respectful." He also stressed the importance of continued talks to clarify intent and reduce the risk of misperception or miscalculation. The call followed a meeting in Beijing last month between U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese leader Xi Jinping's leading military adviser, at which the talks were agreed. U.S. and Chinese troops were also taking part in large-scale military exercises led by the Brazilian Armed Forces this week in the Brazilian city of Formosa in the state of Goiás. American and Chinese troops had not trained side by side since 2016, when Beijing participated in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, or Rimpac, led by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. Most two-way military engagements between the U.S. and China were suspended for almost two years after Nancy Pelosi, then speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, visited Taiwan in August 2022. "I certainly worry about an unintended conflict between our military forces, an accident, an accidental collision," Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to China, told the magazine Foreign Policy in an online interview. Later this week, the United States plans to send a senior Pentagon official to a major security forum in China.

BATON ROUGE, La. — Tropical Storm Francine churned in the Gulf of Mexico with increasing strength and was expected to reach hurricane status on Tuesday before reaching landfall in Louisiana. A storm surge warning was in effect for an area stretching from just east of Houston to the mouth of the Mississippi River south of New Orleans, according to the National Hurricane Center. Such a warning means there's a chance of life-threatening flooding. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry urged residents "not to panic, but be prepared" and heed evacuation warnings. Forecasters said Francine's landfall in south Louisiana was expected Wednesday afternoon as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 155-175 kph. "We do not want people to wait to the last minute to get on the road and then run out of fuel," Landry said. "We put a lot of information throughout the summer, throughout hurricane season, so that people can be prepared. The more prepared we are, the easier it is for us." 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. Over the weekend, a 22-story building in Lake Charles that had become a symbol of storm destruction was imploded after sitting vacant for nearly four years, its windows shattered and covered in shredded tarps. Francine's storm surge on the Louisiana coast could reach as much as 10 feet (3 meters) from Cameron to Port Fourchon and into Vermilion Bay, forecasters said. "It's a potential for significantly dangerous, life-threatening inundation," said Michael Brennan, director of the hurricane center, adding it could also send "dangerous, damaging winds quite far inland." He said landfall was likely somewhere between Sabine Pass — on the Texas-Louisiana line — and Morgan City, Louisiana, 350 kilometers to the east. Louisiana officials urged residents to immediately prepare while "conditions still allow," said Mike Steele, spokesperson for the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. "We always talk about how anytime something gets into the Gulf, things can change quickly, and this is a perfect example of that," Steele said. Residents of Baton Rouge, Louisiana's capital, began forming long lines as people filled gas tanks and stocked up on groceries. Others filled sandbags at city-operated locations to protect homes from possible flooding. "It's crucial that all of us take this storm very seriously and begin our preparations immediately," Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome said, urging residents to stock up on three days of food, water and essentials. A mandatory evacuation was ordered for seven remote coastal communities by the Cameron Parish Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness. They include Holly Beach, a laid-back stretch dubbed Louisiana's "Cajun Riviera," where many homes sit on stilts. The storm-battered town has been a low-cost paradise for oil industry workers, families and retirees, rebuilt multiple times after past hurricanes. In Grand Isle, Louisiana's last inhabited barrier island, Mayor David Camardelle recommended residents evacuate and ordered a mandatory evacuation for those in recreational vehicles. Hurricane Ida decimated the city three years ago, destroying 700 homes. Officials warn that flooding, along with high winds and power outages, is likely in the area beginning Tuesday afternoon through Thursday. In New Orleans, Mayor LaToya Cantrell urged residents to prepare to shelter in place. "Now is the time to finalize your storm plans and prepare, not only for your families but looking out for your neighbors," she said. City officials said they were expecting up to 15 centimeters inches of rain, gusty winds and "isolated tornado activity" with the most intense weather likely to reach New Orleans on Wednesday and Thursday. The hurricane center said Francine was last about 205 kilometers south-southeast of the mouth of the Rio Grande, and about 690 kilometers south-southwest of Cameron, with top sustained winds of about 100 kilometers per hour. It was moving north-northwest at 7 kph. As rain fell Monday in northern Mexico, more than a dozen neighborhoods in Matamoros — across the border from Brownsville, Texas — flooded, forcing schools to close Monday and Tuesday. Marco Antonio Hernandez Acosta, manager of the Matamoros Water and Drainage Board, said they were waiting for Mexico's federal government to provide pumps to drain affected areas. The storm was expected to move in north-northeast motion through Monday evening and then accelerate to the northeast beginning Tuesday before nearing the upper Texas and Louisiana coastlines Wednesday.  

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HANOI, VIETNAM — Emergency workers raced to evacuate thousands of people from severe floods Tuesday after Typhoon Yagi swept through northern Vietnam, killing 63 people and leaving 40 missing. Yagi struck Saturday with winds in excess of 149 kilometers per hour, making it the most powerful typhoon to hit northern Vietnam in 30 years according to meteorologists. The storm downed bridges, tore roofs off buildings, damaged factories and triggered widespread flooding and landslides. The north of the country, densely populated and a major manufacturing hub for global tech firms including Samsung, is now battling historic flooding, meteorologists said. Authorities have issued flood and landslide warnings for 429 communes across 17 northern provinces.  One-story homes in parts of Thai Nguyen and Yen Bai cities were almost completely submerged in the early hours of Tuesday, with residents waiting on the roofs for help. Rescue forces were trying to reach residential areas to retrieve older people and children. On social media, relatives of those stuck in floodwater posted desperate pleas for help and supplies. In Hanoi, communities along the swollen and fast-moving Red River, which flows through the capital, were also partially under water, with people forced to evacuate in boats. Downtown Hoan Kiem District was forced to relocate 460 people on Tuesday. Crops including bananas, guavas and corn, which are usually sold in nearby markets, were all flooded. 'Lost everything' Phan Thi Tuyet, 50, who lives close to the river, said she had never experienced such high water. "I have lost everything, all gone," she told AFP, clutching her two dogs.  "I had to come to higher ground to save our lives. We can not bring with us any of the furniture. Everything is under water now." As well as the dead and missing, flooding and landslides have also injured at least 752 people, officials at the ministry of agriculture said Tuesday. Authorities stopped heavy vehicles crossing a major bridge over the Red River in central Hanoi Tuesday and suspended a train line across Long Bien bridge as the water level rose. The action followed the dramatic collapse of a bridge higher up the river in northern Phu Tho province Monday. Pictures showed half of the 375-meter Phong Chau bridge gone. Five people who were crossing the bridge at the time have been rescued, but eight others were still missing Tuesday, authorities said. Forecasters warned central Hanoi would be affected by flooding later Tuesday. Hanoi authorities said more than 25,000 trees in the city had been uprooted in the storm. Huge trunks blocked key roads in the city centre, creating large traffic jams. At least 24 people were killed as Yagi tore through southern China and the Philippines before hitting Vietnam. Typhoons in the region are forming closer to the coast, intensifying more rapidly, and staying over land longer due to climate change, according to a study published in July.

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