Feed aggregator

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will kick off a three-day visit to China Saturday, aiming to double down on Germany’s deep economic ties with China amid rising trade tension between Beijing and the European Union.  Making his first trip to China since his government released its first China strategy in July, stressing the need to lower economic dependence on China, Scholz will be accompanied by executives from major German companies, such as Siemens, Volkswagen, and Bayer, and three Cabinet ministers.   Some analysts say bilateral economic relations will be the main focus of Scholz’s trip.  “He will try to focus on the positive things in the German-China relationship and try to foster more partnership and cooperation in critical areas relevant to key German industries,” Max Zenglein, chief economist at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin, told VOA in a video interview Wednesday. The visit comes as some key German industries see falling revenues in China. According to automobile company data reported by Reuters Wednesday, several German premium carmakers have seen China sales fall significantly in the year’s first quarter, with Mercedes-Benz and Porsche showing double-digit percentage falls in their sales in China.   In addition, a recent report by the New York-based research firm Rhodium Group found that Germany’s automotive industry faces fierce Chinese competition, with German companies’ market share in China falling 4% since 2018.  “The losses have come mainly from volume producer Volkswagen, which sold fewer cars in China in 2023 than it did in 2013,” the report said, adding that the market share of Volkswagen’s Chinese venture fell to the lowest point in a decade even though the overall passenger vehicle market in China grew by 5.6%.  Instead of reevaluating their approach to the Chinese market, Rhodium Group found that some of these companies have reinvested the profits they made in China in the country “in a push to remain competitive.”   Zenglein said Scholz will likely focus on helping some German companies that rely heavily on China to maintain their economic interests in the country during his visit.  Scholz may feel the need to “signal to the corporate sector that he is willing to give the appropriate political flanking for their economic interests,” he told VOA.  Other experts say some German companies are struggling to adapt to changes taking place in the Chinese market because they have become too reliant on the benefits the market offers. “At a time when the German economy is facing pressure from multiple fronts, including the country’s need to support Ukraine and the sluggish economic performance, the German government will try to maintain a close economic and trade relationship with China in the short term so German products can keep selling to the Chinese market,” said Zhang Junhua, a senior associate at the European Institute for Asian Studies in Brussels.  However, he said he thinks these efforts will contradict the German government’s call for companies to reduce economic dependence on China.  “Since Germany’s economic performance remains sluggish, the government has to give in to pressure from the business sector and make compromises on executing the China Strategy, which urges German companies to de-risk from China,” Zhang told VOA by phone.  German companies 'swim against the international trend' Meanwhile, the EU has launched a series of antisubsidies investigations against green energy products imported from China, including electric vehicles and wind turbines.  EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said the bloc needed a more systematic approach to handle the investigations. “We need to do it before it is too late, [and] we can’t afford to see what happened on solar panels happening again on electric vehicles, wind or essential chips,” she said Tuesday, referring to China’s dominance in the European solar panel market.  In response, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said Thursday that it resolutely opposed the EU investigations, calling them “a protectionist act that harms the level playing field in the name of fair competition.”  “China will closely monitor the European side's subsequent movements and reserves the right to take all necessary measures,” the ministry said in a statement.   While Scholz’s chief economic adviser, Joerg Kukies, said Berlin supports the EU’s antisubsidy probe into Chinese electric vehicles at a think tank event in Berlin last September, Scholz told German business weekly Wirtschaftswoche in an interview the same month that he is “not convinced” about the need for the EU to impose tariffs on Chinese EVs. "Our economic model should not be based or rely on protectionism - but on the attractiveness of our products,” Scholz said in the interview. In Zenglein’s view, some German companies’ growing investment in China is “swimming against the international trend. “The trend is driven by capital-intensive sectors like automotive and chemical,” Zenglein said. According to the Rhodium Group report, major German carmakers such as Volkswagen and German chemical group BASF continue to increase their investments in China. Russia, green energy industries While bilateral economic relations will dominate the agenda of the trip, Zenglein and Zhang both said they think Scholz will still try to express German concern about China’s close partnership with Russia and their uneasiness about Chinese overcapacity in the green energy industries.  “Germany’s concern about China’s partnership with Russia will be a main element of the discussion because Scholz has a strong opinion about this,” Zhang told VOA. “But since Germany doesn’t have effective measures to pressure Beijing, Scholz’s warning won’t have much influence on how China evaluates its partnership with Russia.”  In Zenglein’s view, Scholz will try to “brush over” concerns about geopolitical risks quickly. “He will try not to get too hung up on the negative aspects of bilateral relations that might be counterproductive to positive developments in the bilateral economic relations,” he 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.

Port-au-Prince, Haiti — Jameson Jacques has been living in a makeshift shelter in Haiti's capital with his three children since gang members torched his house, killing his parents. Like him, many people in Port-au-Prince have been enduring a hellish daily routine a month after the announcement of a transitional governing council -- yet to be finalized -- meant to put the country back on the road toward some semblance of order, and eventually toward holding elections. The city is a dangerous and chaotic place these days. Walking down the street it is frighteningly easy to get caught up in random violence -- muggings, kidnappings, carjackings, rape or gunfire as gangs attack police, each other or innocent bystanders. "Port-au-Prince has become unlivable," said Jacques. "If I had money I already would have left for some provincial town with my three kids." Haiti has suffered from grinding poverty, political instability and natural disasters for decades, and now it is grappling with a wave of violence from powerful gangs that control most of the city and much of the country. Starting in late February these gangs teamed up to attack strategic sites in Port-au-Prince, such as police stations, government ministry buildings, the airport and the seaport in a violent drive to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Henry is unpopular and unelected -- he was appointed by president Jovenel Moise shortly before his assassination in 2021. Henry announced on March 11 that he would step down to make way for a presidential transition council -- tasked with appointing a new prime minister and government and leading Haiti toward elections. The slain president was never replaced and Haiti has not voted since 2016. But the council has yet to be formed, with repeated delays stemming from disagreements among parties that are due to be represented on it and with the outgoing Henry government. Fleeing violence Meanwhile people have to deal with life in a city that is 80% controlled by gangsters who are better armed than the police. "I am living a nightmare. For weeks I have not been able to go to the city center," said Junior Fontus, a drinks vendor who had to move his business to the Education Ministry building, which has become a shelter for Haitians displaced by all the violence. "Without my business how am I going to feed my five children and pay for their schooling?" he asked. In March alone gang violence prompted some 53,000 people to flee from the city. "I used to say I would not leave the country. I advised young people not to leave, saying it was better to pool our savings and start a business," said Charles Jean Wilderson, a 38-year-old businessman. "But now," he added, "a young person that leaves is doing the right thing." Shortages In Port-au-Prince, gangs rule and police struggle to defend themselves against an enemy that is more numerous and better armed. The United Nations has called the situation catastrophic, with 1,554 dead and 826 wounded in the first three months of the year. Haiti was devastated by an earthquake in 2010 that killed more than 220,000 people, and it depends largely on imports and humanitarian aid to survive. But the gangs shut down the airport and the seaport in recent weeks, leading to shortages of food, medicine and other basics. The health system is on the verge of collapse, and the few hospitals still operating are overwhelmed. In the space of about five weeks starting in late February, La Paix University Hospital in Port-au-Prince admitted 194 people with gunshot wounds, said Paul Junior Fontilus, a doctor who works there. It is also short on blood for transfusions. "It is very difficult to get fuel and oxygen to take care of our patients," said Fontilus. "Thanks to aid from some of our partners, we manage to get by. But I don't know how long this can go on."

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.

Osaka, Japan — One of the largest wooden structures ever built is taking shape in Osaka but hopes that Expo 2025 will unite the world are being dogged by cost blowouts and a lack of public enthusiasm. The imposing circular centerpiece will be crowned by a 20-meter-high sloping canopy, designed by top architect Sou Fujimoto, known as the "Grand Roof." It has a circumference of a staggering 2 kilometers and 161 countries and territories will show off their trade opportunities and cultural attractions at pavilions within the vast latticed ring. A crane hoisted a block of beams into place this week as organizers said construction was largely on schedule, one year before visitors will be welcomed. Expo 2025 global PR director Sachiko Yoshimura maintained that global participants would be "united" by the event even though there are conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere. Russia will not be among the participants at Expo 2025, which will run from April 13 to October 13. "Of course, there are so many crises around the world, but we want everybody to actually get together and think about the future and sustainability," Yoshimura said. It has also met a lukewarm response in Japan, where promotion is ramping up and the red-and-blue Expo 2025 mascot "Myaku-Myaku" -- billed by the official website as "a mysterious creature born from the unification of cells and water" -- is ever-present. A recent Kyodo News survey found that 82% of Japanese companies, sponsors and others involved said "fostering domestic momentum" would be a challenge. Ballooning budget The construction budget has ballooned 27% from 2020 estimates to $1.5 billion due to inflation and Japan's chronic worker shortage. Some say the costs are also hard to justify when 6,300 people are still in evacuation centers and hotels after an earthquake on New Year's Day devastated parts of central Japan. Fujimoto's "Grand Roof" alone has a price tag of 35 billion yen and has been slammed by opposition leader Kenta Izumi as "the world's most expensive parasol." The "Grand Roof" and other structures are temporary, with no clear plan for them other than organizers saying they will be reused or recycled. The site on an artificial island in Osaka Bay will be cleared after the Expo, with plans to build a resort there containing Japan's first casino. Jun Takashina, deputy secretary general of the Japan Association for Osaka 2025, acknowledged budget and regulatory "struggles" among foreign participants but said organizers would help make sure the displays are ready in time. Among the most hotly anticipated attractions are flying electric cars, which take off vertically, showcasing the event's technological and environmental aspirations. But the vehicles -- subject to reams of regulations -- will be a "kind of experiment," Yoshimura said. More than 1.2 million tickets have already been sold, and organizers hope to attract 28.2 million visitors, including 3.5 million from abroad. That would be 4 million more than the last World Fair in Dubai but pales in comparison to the 64 million people who attended the 1970 Expo in Osaka, a record until it was overtaken by Shanghai in 2010. Future like science fiction The first world fair to celebrate culture and industrial progress was held in London in 1851, with the Eiffel Tower built for the 1889 Paris World Fair. Osaka academic Shinya Hashizume, a specialist in architecture history and town planning, said he was amazed as a 10-year-old when he saw a "future that looked like science fiction" at the 1970 Expo. The first film in IMAX format was shown at that event and visitors could admire rocks brought back from the moon. "Those six months were extraordinary for Osaka. Simply put, the whole town was having a party," he said. The advent of mass tourism and hyper-connected societies may have since lessened the attraction, but some Osaka residents still think it's a good idea. Kosuke Ito, a 36-year-old doctor, said it would "strengthen the economy." However, Yuka Nakamura, 26, said she might be put off by adult entry fees ranging from $25 to $50 a day.

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.

Port Sudan, Sudan — Millions displaced and on the brink of famine. Sexual and ethnic violence. Infrastructure destroyed. Aid workers say a year of war between rival generals in Sudan has led to catastrophe, but the world has turned away. The northeast African country is experiencing "one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory" and "the largest internal displacement crisis in the world," the United Nations says. It is also on track to become "the world's worst hunger crisis." Aid workers have called it the "forgotten war" affecting a country of 48 million -- more than half of whom they say need humanitarian assistance. "People have been killed and raped and assaulted and detained and beaten and taken away for months at a time. We're used to it," said Mahmud Mokhtar, who helped provide volunteer social services in the Khartoum area during the war before finally fleeing to Cairo. Experts see no end in sight to the fighting, which began on April 15 last year between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Since then, thousands of people have been killed, including up to 15,000 in one West Darfur town alone, according to U.N. experts. More than 8.5 million have had to flee their homes to seek safety elsewhere in Sudan or across borders in neighboring countries. The war "is brutal, devastating and shows no signs of coming to an end," said veteran Sudan expert Alex de Waal. But even if the violence stops now, "the state has collapsed, and the path to rebuilding it is long and fraught," de Waal said. Before the bombing and pillaging began, Sudan was already one of the world's poorest countries. Yet the U.N. says that by January, its humanitarian response scheme had only been 3.1% funded and can barely reach one of every 10 people in need. 'Milestone of shame' "Before the start of the war, there were dozens of international organizations responding across the country," according to Christos Christou, international president of the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF). "Now, there are almost none." The health system has all but collapsed, and most agricultural land -- the leading employer and once touted as a model for African development -- is out of commission, researchers have said. Gibril Ibrahim, finance minister in the army-aligned government, said in early March that Sudan had lost "80% of its income." Days later, the situation became even more precarious when the energy minister declared force majeure over a "major rupture" on an oil pipeline. Oil exports, via neighboring South Sudan, account for tens of millions of dollars in earnings each month. For desperate civilians, virtually all that remains is mutual aid: volunteers organizing soup kitchens, evacuation plans and emergency health care. "The world continues to look the other way," said Will Carter, Sudan country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, which alongside MSF is one of the few humanitarian organizations still operating there. The war's anniversary is "a milestone of shame," he said, charging that the international community "has allowed this catastrophe to worsen." On the ground, the RSF now controls most of the capital and the western Darfur region. The paramilitaries descended from the feared Janjaweed militia, unleashed by former strongman Omar al-Bashir's government to quash an ethnic rebellion. The International Criminal Court (ICC) charged Bashir with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes dating from 2003, but Sudanese authorities never handed him over following his overthrow in 2019 after mass protests. 'Pure evil' During the current war, government forces have used their air power to bomb targets on the ground but failed to gain back much territory and have been blamed for striking civilians. "A final victory is out of the question," said a former army officer, requesting anonymity to speak freely. Sudanese analyst Mohammed Latif agreed, telling AFP a win "is impossible" at this point for either side. "Their troops are tired and their supplies drained," Latif said. There has, however, been no shortage of abuses against civilians, rights groups say. "What is happening is verging on pure evil," Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, said earlier in the war. Most recently, the army has taken over homes in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman, according to a pro-democracy lawyers' committee, after similar seizures by the RSF earlier in the fighting. The lawyers' committee, like other volunteer groups across Sudan, has spent the past year painstakingly documenting violations including summary killings, the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and the forced conscription of children. The ICC, currently investigating ethnic-based killings primarily by the RSF in Darfur, says it has "grounds to believe" both sides are committing atrocities. International mediation efforts yielded only truce announcements that were quickly violated. A U.N. Security Council call last month for a cease-fire also failed to end the war, as did Western sanctions. The war is "a vortex of transnational conflicts and global rivalries that threaten to set a wider region aflame," said de Waal. Both sides have sought regional support, experts say, and the United Arab Emirates has been painted as the RSF's main foreign backer, though its leaders deny it. Washington has signaled talks could restart around April 18, but army-aligned prosecutors have since moved against civilian leaders the international community had looked to as potential partners. Still, according to de Waal, "it should not be difficult to reach a consensus across Africa and the Middle East that state collapse is in no one's interest." Against those complex realities, Amer Sohaiel, a displaced man taking shelter in Darfur's Abu Shouk camp, has a simple hope, "that God will help us achieve peace this year."

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina's highest criminal court reported a new development Thursday in the elusive quest for justice in the country's deadliest attack in history — the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center headquarters — concluding Iran had planned the attack and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group had executed the plans. In a ruling obtained by The Associated Press, Argentina's Court of Cassation deemed Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, responsible for the bombing in Buenos Aires that leveled the community center, killing 85 people, wounding 300 and devastating Latin America's biggest Jewish community. The court said the attack came in retaliation for Argentina reneging on a nuclear cooperation deal with Tehran. Alleging Iran's "political and strategic" role in the bombing, the Argentine court paved the way for victims' families to bring lawsuits against the Islamic Republic. In the past three decades, Iran has not turned over citizens convicted in Argentina. Interpol arrest warrants have led nowhere. "The significance of these grave human rights violations for the international community as a whole invokes a state's duty to provide judicial protection," the ruling said, declaring the bombing of the Argentine Jewish Mutual Aid Association community center a "crime against humanity." The court decision came as no shock. Argentina's judiciary has long maintained Iran was behind the attack, chilling relations between the countries — particularly after the collapse of a joint investigation. Iran has denied involvement. A spokesperson for Hezbollah, Israel's archenemy on its northern border, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. What some said they found shocking, rather, was the court's failure to provide concrete evidence of Iran's direct involvement or shed new light on the case after 30 years of setbacks and scandals. "I would never rule Iran out, it's certainly on the list of suspects, but let's do something specific to rule it in," said Joe Goldman, who co-authored a book about the winding investigations into the Jewish community center attack as well as bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires that killed more than 20 people in 1992. "That would be a serious investigation that we haven't seen." The court singled out top Iranian officials and paramilitary Revolutionary Guard commanders in its determination that Iran carried out the bombings in response to Argentina scrapping three contracts that would have provided Tehran with nuclear technology in the mid-1980s. Its conclusions were based on confidential intelligence reports. Past inquiries into the bombings have turned up indictments, not just against Iranian officials but also two former Argentine presidents. In 2015, the chief prosecutor in the case was mysteriously found dead in his bathroom the day before he was to go public with claims that top Argentine officials had conspired with Iran to cover up responsibility for the bombing. Over the years, witnesses have been threatened and bribed. On Thursday, the Court of Cassation reduced by two years the six-year sentence of an Argentine judge accused of paying a witness $400,000, and upheld other sentences against former prosecutors. Thursday's ruling comes just months ahead of the event's 30th anniversary. Even as the case has stalled for years, Argentine authorities have timed big announcements to coincide with anniversaries of the bloody attack. When marking 25 years since the attack, Argentina designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization and froze the group's financial assets. Representatives from Argentina's Jewish community, home to some 230,000 Jews, praised Thursday's court ruling as "historic, unique in Argentina." "It's politically opportune," added Jorge Knoblovits, the president of Argentina's umbrella Jewish organization, pointing to renewed scrutiny of Iran's support for militant groups following Hamas' devastating October 7 attack on Israel. But for the relatives of those killed in the bombings, the ruling was just a grim reminder of their anguish as the case remains open. "We hope one day complete justice and truth will come," said Memoria Activa, an association of families of victims of the attack. "And that these judges will stop profiting from our dead." 

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.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Twenty years ago this month, photos of abused prisoners and smiling U.S. soldiers guarding them at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison were released, shocking the world. Now, three survivors of Abu Ghraib will finally get their day in U.S. court against the military contractor they hold responsible for their mistreatment. The trial is scheduled to begin Monday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, and it will be the first time that Abu Ghraib survivors are able to bring their claims of torture to a U.S. jury, said Baher Azmy, a lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights representing the plaintiffs. The defendant in the civil suit, CACI, supplied the interrogators who worked at the prison. The Virginia-based contractor denies any wrongdoing and has emphasized throughout 16 years of litigation that its employees are not alleged to have inflicted any abuse on any of the plaintiffs in the case. The plaintiffs, though, seek to hold CACI responsible for setting the conditions that resulted in the torture they endured, citing evidence in government investigations that CACI contractors instructed military police to "soften up" detainees for their interrogations. Retired Army Gen. Antonio Taguba, who led an investigation into the Abu Ghraib scandal, is among those expected to testify. His inquiry concluded that at least one CACI interrogator should be held accountable for instructing military police to set conditions that amounted to physical abuse. There is little dispute that the abuse was horrific. The photos released in 2004 showed naked prisoners stacked into pyramids or dragged by leashes. Some photos had a soldier smiling and giving a thumbs up while posing next to a corpse, or detainees being threatened with dogs, or hooded and attached to electrical wires. The plaintiffs cannot be clearly identified in any of the infamous images, but their descriptions of mistreatment are unnerving. Suhail Al Shimari has described sexual assaults and beatings during his two months at the prison. He was also electrically shocked and dragged around the prison by a rope tied around his neck. Former Al-Jazeera reporter Salah Al-Ejaili said he was subjected to stress positions that caused him to vomit black liquid. He was also deprived of sleep, forced to wear women's underwear and threatened with dogs. CACI, though, has said the U.S. military is the institution that bears responsibility for setting the conditions at Abu Ghraib and that its employees weren't in a position to be giving orders to soldiers. In court papers, lawyers for the contractor group have said the "entire case is nothing more than an attempt to impose liability on CACI PT because its personnel worked in a war zone prison with a climate of activity that reeks of something foul. The law, however, does not recognize guilt by association with Abu Ghraib." The case has bounced through the courts since 2008, and CACI has tried roughly 20 times to have it tossed out of court. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2021 ultimately turned back CACI's appeal efforts and sent the case back to district court for trial. In one of CACI's appeal arguments, the company contended that the U.S. enjoys sovereign immunity against the torture claims, and that CACI enjoys derivative immunity as a contractor doing the government's bidding. But U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, in a first-of-its kind ruling, determined that the U.S. government can't claim immunity when it comes to allegations that violate established international norms, like torturing prisoners, so CACI as a result can't claim any derivative immunity. Jurors next week are also expected to hear testimony from some of the soldiers who were convicted in military court of directly inflicting the abuse. Ivan Frederick, a former staff sergeant who was sentenced to more than eight years of confinement after a court-martial conviction on charges including assault, indecent acts and dereliction of duty, has provided deposition testimony that is expected to be played for the jury because he has refused to attend the trial voluntarily. The two sides have differed on whether his testimony establishes that soldiers were working under the direction of CACI interrogators. The U.S. government may present a wild card in the trial, which is scheduled to last two weeks. Both the plaintiffs and CACI have complained that their cases have been hampered by government assertions that some evidence, if made public, would divulge state secrets that would harm national security. Government lawyers will be at the trial ready to object if witnesses stray into territory they deem to be a state secret, they said at a pretrial hearing April 5. Judge Brinkema, who has overseen complex national security cases many times, warned the government that if it asserts such a privilege at trial, "it better be a genuine state secret." Jason Lynch, a government lawyer, assured her, "We're trying to stay out of the way as much as we possibly can." Of the three plaintiffs, only Al-Ejaili, who now lives in Sweden, is expected to testify in person. The other two will testify remotely from Iraq. Brinkema has ruled that the reasons they were sent to Abu Ghraib are irrelevant and won't be given to jurors. All three were released after periods of detention ranging from two months to a year without ever being charged with a crime, according to court papers. "Even if they were terrorists, it doesn't excuse the conduct that's alleged here," she said at the April 5 hearing.

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.

Israel is keeping up its war in Gaza but is also preparing for scenarios in other areas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, amid concern that Iran was preparing to strike Israel in response for the killing of senior Iranian commanders. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Thursday denied his sons that were killed in an Israeli strike this week were fighters for the group. He said "the interests of the Palestinian people are placed ahead of everything." Has the conflict reached an inflection point? VOA's Lori Lundin put the question to Elliott Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. Russian missiles and drones destroyed a large electricity plant near Kyiv on Thursday. And using microrobots to battle cancer and other diseases.

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.

President Joe Biden hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday, aiming to send a clear message to Beijing that it must stop behaving aggressively against its South China Sea neighbors. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports.

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.

washington — Plans by the Taliban to block access to Facebook are a further attempt to curtail freedom of speech and silence critics in Afghanistan, according to journalists and activists. The proposal was announced by the Taliban’s acting minister of telecommunication and information technologies, Najibullah Haqqani. In an interview with TOLO News, Haqqani said his ministry was preparing a policy “either to restrict or block” access to Facebook in Afghanistan. Haqqani said that blocking the social media platform was “in the interest of the nation.” He added that because Afghan youth are too uneducated to use Facebook in a “positive way,” using it “is a waste of time and money.” Afghan journalists and activists, however, see the proposal as an attempt to further curtail free expression and media freedoms. The proposed policy is a continuation of the Taliban’s “repressive restrictions,” said one Kabul-based journalist, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals. The journalist said that “by blocking Facebook, they [the Taliban] want to limit journalists from sharing news and information and silence activists and [government] critics.” The journalist said that restrictions on social media would have negative impact. With news already being censored across the country, many people turn to Facebook for information, he said. The Committee to Protect Journalists, a press freedom group, said in a statement said that the Taliban’s plan “would further impede the free flow of information in the country.” According to Statista, an online statistics database, Afghanistan has 3.15 million active social media users, and Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms. Since the Taliban takeover in 2021, social media platforms have been increasingly used by journalists and others to share information. Facebook also fills a gap left by the closure of hundreds of news outlets. Since 2021, hundreds of media outlets have closed, said media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, and the Taliban have imposed repressive restrictions on independent media in the country.   These include bans on transborder media, including VOA, its sister network RFE/RL and the BBC. The Taliban also issued media directives and ordered news outlets and journalists to coordinate with officials when preparing content and reporting on events. But can the Taliban block social media? It is technically possible to restrict or block Facebook, said Pervaiz Dostiyar, an information technology specialist, adding that the platform is banned in China and Iran. “But it is difficult to ban Facebook since there are always ways to access the platform, such as using VPN,” or virtual private network, he added. The Taliban have had a wide presence on some social media platforms, including X and WhatsApp. Hamid Obaidi, a former journalism lecturer at Kabul University and the head of the Afghanistan Journalists Support Organization, told VOA that the Taliban have been using social media as the main channel for their “propaganda,” but now they want to restrict it for others. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has cracked down on the Taliban’s accounts. Agence France-Presse earlier reported how Meta closed accounts labeled “Taliban” or “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” and two of its state-run media groups. Meta said it was acting to comply with U.S. law that lists the Taliban as a “terrorist organization.” Those fighting to protect rights in Afghanistan also rely heavily on the platforms. “Activists use social media in their struggle against the Taliban. They are trying to curtail the protests against them,” said Obaidi, who is now in Germany. Rahela Kaveer, an Afghan women’s rights activist in the U.S., told VOA that the Taliban’s proposal shows that the group is afraid of any information being shared. “They want to silence voices raised against their crime that they committed against women in Afghanistan,” she said. The rights organization Human Rights Watch has found that the Taliban “systematically violated the rights of women and girls” in Afghanistan. Women are barred from secondary and university education, work and traveling long distances without a close male relative, and are even blocked from going to public parks and gyms. Since the Taliban takeover, female activists have protested the repressive measures, often using social media to convey their message to the Afghan and international communities. “They do not want the people and the world to know about the women’s situation in Afghanistan,” Kaveer said. No further details have been provided about the proposed Facebook ban, and it is not clear when it will be reviewed or enacted. Ehsanullah Aruobzai and Lina Rozbih from VOA's Afghan Service contributed to this report. This article originated in VOA's Afghan Service.