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JAKARTA, Indonesia — At least 12 people died and 18 are missing after torrential rain caused a landslide in an illegal gold mine over the weekend in Indonesia's Sulawesi island, officials said on Monday. The landslide on Sunday morning in Suwawa district, Gorontalo province, killed miners and residents living near the illegal mine, said Heriyanto, head of the local rescue agency. Five survivors had been evacuated, he said, adding that a rescue team was searching for 18 missing people on Monday. "We have deployed 164 personnel, consisting of the national rescue team, police and military personnel, to search for the missing people," Heriyanto said. However, rescuers must walk about 20 kilometers to reach the landslide site and were being hampered by thick mud over the road and continuing rain in the area, Heriyanto said. "We will try to use an excavator once it's possible," he said. Photos of the affected village shared by the agency showed some houses were flattened by the landslide. Indonesia's disaster agency (BNPB) said the landslide has damaged several houses and one bridge. BNPB also warned residents that rain is still expected in some areas in Gorontalo province on Monday and Tuesday and urge people to be alert in case there's a further disaster. A landslide in South Sulawesi killed at least 18 people in South Sulawesi in April, caused by high-intensity rains. Torrential rain which triggered flash floods and mud slides killed more than 50 people in Indonesia's West Sumatra province in May.

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.

WASHINGTON — As NATO prepares to convene on Tuesday a three-day summit in Washington to celebrate its 75th birthday, the alliance is reinforcing its support for Ukraine in the ongoing war with Russia. During a news conference with a handful of reporters Sunday previewing the summit, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said all NATO members want peace, and that can be achieved if Russian President Vladimir Putin understands he cannot win on the battlefield. “The quickest way to end this war is to lose the war,” he said. “But that that will not bring peace. That will bring occupation.” Stoltenberg outlined key measures NATO would take, including the establishment of a dedicated command in Germany, enhanced financial and military aid, and bilateral security agreements. Stoltenberg emphasized these initiatives while addressing the complexities of Ukraine's potential NATO membership and the alliance's united front against Russian aggression. The precise language of the final agreement of the summit regarding Ukraine’s NATO membership is still under negotiation, he said. In April, Stoltenberg said the alliance did not expect to offer Ukraine NATO membership during the summit, but rather a “bridge” to membership. At the summit, that “bridge” will encompass five essential components: Security assistance command: NATO is setting up a new command in Germany, with logistical hubs in Eastern Europe, to coordinate international security assistance for Ukraine. This will involve 700 personnel led by a three-star NATO general, according to Stoltenberg. Stoltenberg said there have been differences among allies about “the approach or types of weapons Ukraine should be delivered.” Those differences create bureaucratic delays, and the goal is to make delivery faster and easier. “This new command will have a very robust mandate, so there will be no need for consensus on each and every delivery,” he said. Financial pledge: Since February 2022, NATO allies have provided around $43 billion annually in military support to Ukraine. The upcoming summit is expected to extend this commitment for another year, laying a foundation for future support. Immediate weapon deliveries: Announcements on delivering more weapons and ammunition, particularly air defense systems, are anticipated at the summit to bolster Ukraine's defense. While the secretary general did not offer specifics, a senior U.S. official indicated that announcements can be expected from NATO allies this week regarding the provision of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine. Bilateral security agreements: Twenty NATO allies will have signed bilateral security agreements with Ukraine by the start of the summit, offering additional security guarantees and reinforcing collaborative defense efforts. Interoperability: Efforts are underway to align Ukrainian armed forces with NATO standards, including a joint training center in Poland and programs on military acquisitions and procurement. Hungary won’t participate or obstruct Stoltenberg addressed concerns about Hungary's stance on Russia's war in Ukraine and its potential to block NATO decisions. He recounted a recent visit to Budapest, where he secured an agreement with Prime Minister Viktor Orban ensuring that Hungary will not obstruct the proposed support measures for Ukraine. Budapest will not participate in the new NATO security assistance command for Ukraine but will fulfill its other NATO obligations and contribute to the common budget, Stoltenberg said. The secretary general highlighted NATO's diverse engagements with Moscow even after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He noted a recent conversation between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, underscoring the routine nature of such contacts. Stoltenberg said NATO must function cohesively in developing new defense strategies, emphasizing unity despite differing perspectives, such as those represented by leaders like Orban. Future relationship with the US Stoltenberg is confident that the United States would continue to be a staunch NATO ally regardless of future election outcomes, attributing past criticisms by former president Donald Trump primarily to defense spending issues rather than NATO itself. He emphasized that any secretary general must be able to work with all leaders within the alliance, comparing NATO to a big family that every now and then has arguments and disagreements. Stoltenberg recounted his experience working with presidents Barak Obama, Trump, and Joe Biden, noting that despite differing political leadership, the U.S. has remained a steadfast and committed NATO ally.

MANILA, Philippines — Japan and the Philippines signed a key defense pact Monday allowing the deployment of Japanese forces for joint military exercises, including live-fire drills, to the Southeast Asian nation that came under brutal Japanese occupation in World War II but is now building an alliance with Tokyo as they face an increasingly assertive China. The Reciprocal Access Agreement, which similarly allows Filipino forces to enter Japan for joint combat training, was signed by Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in a Manila ceremony witnessed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. It would take effect after ratification by the countries’ legislatures, Philippine and Japanese officials said. Kamikawa called the signing of the defense agreement “a groundbreaking achievement" that should further boost defense cooperation between Japan and the Philippines. “A free and open international order based on the rule of law is the foundation of regional peace and prosperity," she said. "We would like to work closely with your country to maintain and strengthen this.” Kamikawa and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara later held talks with their Philippine counterparts on ways to further deepen relations. The defense pact with the Philippines is the first to be forged by Japan in Asia. Japan signed similar accords with Australia in 2022 and with Britain in 2023. Under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the Japanese government has taken steps to boost its security and defensive firepower, including a counterstrike capability that breaks from Japan’s postwar principle of focusing only on self-defense, amid threats from North Korea and China’s growing assertiveness. It’s doubling defense spending in a five-year period to 2027 in a move to bolster its military power and make Japan the world’s third-biggest military spender after the United States and China. Many of Japan’s Asian neighbors, including the Philippines, came under Japanese aggression until its defeat in World War II and Japan’s efforts to bolster its military role and spending could be a sensitive issue. Japan and the Philippines, however, have steadily deepened defense and security ties. Kishida’s moves dovetail with Marcos’ effort to forge security alliances to bolster the Philippine military’s limited ability to defend Manila’s territorial interests in the South China Sea. The busy sea passage is a key global trade route which has been claimed virtually in its entirety by China but also contested in part by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. The United States has also been strengthening an arc of military alliances in the Indo-Pacific to better counter China, including in any future confrontation over Taiwan, and reassure its Asian allies. Japan and the Philippines are treaty allies of the U.S. and their leaders held three-way talks in April at the White House, where President Biden renewed Washington’s “ironclad” commitment to defend Japan and the Philippines. Japan has had a longstanding territorial dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea. Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy ships, meanwhile, have been involved in a series of tense confrontations in the South China Sea since last year. In the worst confrontation so far, Chinese coast guard personnel armed with knives, spears and an axe aboard motorboats repeatedly rammed and destroyed two Philippine navy supply vessels on June 17 in a chaotic faceoff in the disputed Second Thomas Shoal that injured several Filipino sailors. Chinese coast guard personnel seized seven navy rifles. The Philippines strongly protested the Chinese coast guard’s actions and demanded $1 million for the damage and the return of the rifles. China accused the Philippines of instigating the violence, saying the Filipino sailors strayed into what it called Chinese territorial waters despite warnings. Japan and the United States were among the first to express alarm over the Chinese actions and call on Beijing to abide by international laws. Washington is obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

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.

Tokyo — Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike won a landslide victory to secure a third term, official election results showed Monday, in a rare triumph for a woman in Japan's male-dominated politics. The outcome from Sunday's vote is also a relief to unpopular Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which backed Koike despite her not being a member. Koike, 71, a former minister and television anchor who has governed one of the world's biggest cities since 2016, garnered 42.8 percent of votes, results showed. Her nearest rival was independent candidate Shinji Ishimaru, 41, the former mayor of Akitakata in western Japan, who secured 24.3 percent to pull off a surprise second place. Koike's main challenger had been thought to be another woman, former opposition lawmaker, model and TV anchor Renho, 56, who goes by one name, but she garnered just 18.8 percent. Koike declared victory late Sunday, vowing to strengthen Tokyo's welfare, economy and natural disaster management, while acknowledging challenges like inflation and Japan's low birth rate. "With Tokyoites' strong support, I was assigned to lead this great city," Koike told supporters in the megacity of 14 million people. "I have to upgrade efforts of Tokyo's reforms, and as I appealed in my election campaign, I will protect Tokyo residents' lives and livelihoods," she said. Japan has never had a woman prime minister and a large majority of lawmakers are men, although Tokyo accounts for a 10th of the national population and a fifth of the economy. The Tokyo vote comes after new government data showed the birth rate hit a record low of 1.20 last year, with Tokyo's figure 0.99 — the first Japan region to fall below one. Koike and her major rivals pledged to expand support for parenting, with the former promising government subsidies for epidurals. A record 56 people were standing in the election, not all of them serious, with one dressing as "The Joker" and calling for polygamy to be legalized.

An alliance of French left-wing parties was on course Sunday to become the biggest parliamentary bloc by beating the far right and President Emmanuel Macron's coalition, according to surprise projected results. No one group won an absolute majority in the poll, plunging France into political limbo with no clear path to forming a new government, two days before a major NATO summit and three weeks before the Paris Olympics. We talk to Frédéric Mérand, professor and chair of the political science department at the University of Montreal. A memorial concert was held in Kenya's capital Nairobi on Sunday for those killed in anti-government protests. And four people came out of isolation after a year in a simulated Mars habitat to study what it would be like.

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SEOUL, South Korea — A workers' union at Samsung Electronics in South Korea is set to stage a three-day strike from Monday and has warned it could take further action against the country's most powerful conglomerate at a later date. The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), whose roughly 28,000 members make up over a fifth of the firm's workforce in South Korea, is demanding the company improve its performance-based bonus system and give workers an extra day of annual leave. It is not immediately clear how many workers will join the strike, but the union's poll found about 8,100 members saying they would do so as of Monday morning. Lee Hyun-kuk, a senior union leader, said in a YouTube broadcast last week that another round of strikes could occur once the three-day stoppage is over if the workers' demands are not heard. The union plans to hold a rally on Monday morning near Samsung's headquarters in Hwaseong, south of Seoul. Analysts, however, say the strike is unlikely to have a major impact on chip output as most production at the world's biggest memory chipmaker is automated. Last month, the union staged a walkout by using annual leave, its first such industrial action, but the company at the time said there was no impact on production or business activity. Though it will have little impact on output, the labor movement shows decreased staff loyalty at one of the world's top chipmakers and smartphone manufacturers, analysts say, adding another problem for Samsung as it navigates cutthroat competition in chips used for artificial intelligence applications. Samsung estimated on Friday a more than 15-fold rise in its second-quarter operating profit, as rebounding semiconductor prices driven by the AI boom lifted earnings from a low base a year ago, but its share price performance has been lagging behind South Korean chip rival SK Hynix.

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Mina, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia on Monday warned of a temperature spike in Mecca as Muslim pilgrims wrapped up the hajj in searing conditions, with more than a dozen heat-related deaths confirmed. One of the world's largest religious gatherings unfolded during the oven-like Saudi summer again this year, and authorities recorded more than 2,700 cases of "heat exhaustion" on Sunday alone, the Saudi health ministry said. On Monday, according to the Saudi weather service, temperatures reached 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit) at Mecca's Grand Mosque, where pilgrims were circling the Kaaba, the large black cubic structure towards which all Muslims pray. In nearby Mina, where a spokesman for the national meteorology service said the temperature was 46C, other pilgrims threw stones at three concrete walls, a ritual known as "stoning the devil" that is the last major step of the hajj, while struggling under the burning sun. Jordan's foreign ministry said on Sunday that 14 Jordanian pilgrims had died "after suffering sun stroke due to the extreme heat wave", and that 17 others were "missing.” Iran reported the deaths of five pilgrims but did not specify the cause, while Senegal's foreign ministry said that three others had died. An Indonesian health ministry official, currently in Saudi Arabia, said on Monday that 136 Indonesian pilgrims had died during the hajj including at least three of heat stroke. Karwan Stoni, official spokesperson for pilgrims from Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, told AFP on Monday that 13 pilgrims had died, including 11 women. Heat was "one of the main reasons" for the deaths, along with heart attacks, he said, adding that 12 of the dead did not have official hajj permits and so could not access air-conditioned spaces made available by Saudi authorities.  "The holy sites today record the highest temperatures since the beginning of hajj... that may reach 49 degrees Celsius, and we advise the guests of God not to be exposed to the sun," the Saudi health ministry said, according to state-affiliated Al-Ekhbariya channel. The ministry on Sunday recorded 2,764 cases of heat exhaustion due to sun exposure and "non-compliance with guidelines," which include taking shelter from the sun during the afternoon. "Prevention is the most important, and the commitment of pilgrims not to go out at peak times except when necessary, or to use an umbrella, would reduce the incidence of heat exhaustion," its statement said. "Our health guidelines for the coming days are clear and easy: carry an umbrella, drink water regularly, and avoid exposure to the sun." 'Really hard day' The hajj is increasingly affected by climate change, according to a Saudi study published last month that said temperatures in the area where rituals are performed were rising 0.4C each decade. Pilgrims in Mina on Monday poured bottles of water over their heads as authorities handed out cold drinks and fast-melting chocolate ice cream. Azza Hamid Brahim, a 61-year-old pilgrim from Egypt, described seeing motionless bodies on the roadside as she made her way to and from the three concrete walls. "The ambulances didn't know which way to turn. It looked like Judgment Day, the end of time," she said. "It was a really hard day. We said to ourselves: 'That's it, we're going to die' because of the heatwave." Arzu Farhaj of Pakistan said she struggled to find help for a woman who was lying on the roadside. The woman looked to be without anyone accompanying her, "and the people were passing by," Farhaj said, adding she was unable to get security staff to call an ambulance for her. The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and all Muslims with the means must perform it at least once. It occurs according to the Islamic lunar calendar, shifting forward each year in the Gregorian calendar.  Around 1.8 million pilgrims took part this year, 1.6 million of them from abroad, according to Saudi authorities. Hosting the hajj is a source of prestige for the Saudi royal family, and King Salman's title includes "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" in the cities of Mecca and Medina. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler, said on Sunday that Saudi officials had committed "to provide everything that will serve those who visit the Two Holy Mosques and help them perform their worship in security and reassurance.” The health ministry said it would "closely follow cases of heat exhaustion" and ensure pilgrims "can complete their hajj journey in full health.”

Niamey, Niger — U.S. troops have completed a withdrawal from their base in Niger's capital of Niamey and will fully depart from Agadez in the north before a Sept. 15 deadline set by the country's military rulers, both countries said Sunday. Niger's military leaders scrapped a military cooperation deal with Washington in March, after seizing power in a July 2023 coup. The United States had around 650 soldiers in Niger as part of anti-jihadist missions in several Sahel nations of West Africa, including a major drone base near Agadez. "The defense ministry of Niger and the U.S. Defense Department announce that the withdrawal of American forces and equipment from the Niamey base 101 is now completed," the two countries said in a statement. A final flight carrying U.S. troops was due to leave Niamey late Sunday. The U.S. presence had stood at around 950 troops, and 766 soldiers have left Niger since the military ordered their departure, AFP learned at a ceremony at the base attended by Niger's army chief of staff Maman Sani Kiaou and US General Kenneth Ekman. "American forces are now going to focus on quitting airbase 201 in Agadez," the statement said, insisting that the withdrawal would be completed by September 15 as planned. Niger had already ordered the withdrawal of troops from France, the former colonial power and traditional security ally, and has strengthened ties with Russia which has provided instructors and equipment. On Saturday, Germany's defense ministry also said it would end operations at its airbase in Niger by August 31 following the breakdown of talks with military leaders. A similar shift has taken place in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso, which are also ruled by military leaders and faced with violence from jihadist groups.

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BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived in Beijing Monday for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Orban's press chief told state news agency MTI. "Prime Minister Viktor Orban's peace mission continues," Bertalan Havasi was quoted as saying. This is Orban's third surprise overseas trip since Hungary took over the European Union's rotating presidency at the beginning of July, after he traveled to Ukraine and Russia last week on what he called a "peace mission." His trip to Moscow drew strong rebukes from his allies. Hungary, under right-leaning Orban, has become an important trade and investment partner for China, in contrast with some other European Union nations seeking to become less dependent on the world's second-largest economy. Orban's visit also came days before a NATO summit that will address further military aid for Ukraine against what the Western defense alliance has called Russia's "unprovoked war of aggression." Hungary's foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, was accompanying Orban on the China trip, according to photographs on Szijjarto's Facebook page. The foreign ministry canceled late last week a meeting for Monday in Budapest with Germany's foreign minister and Szijjarto, a German foreign ministry official said Friday. Orban, a critic of Western military aid to Ukraine who has the warmest relations of any EU leader with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said last week he recognized he had no EU mandate for the trip to Moscow, but that peace could not be made "from a comfortable armchair in Brussels."

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