Southeast Asia bears brunt of US trade curbs on Uyghur forced labor
BANGKOK — Southeast Asia is bearing the mounting brunt of U.S. trade curbs aimed at stemming the forced labor of ethnic minority Uyghurs in China, with billions of dollars in blocked exports, the latest U.S. trade figures show. Economists and…
Nigeria rolls out long-anticipated malaria vaccine
ABUJA, NIGERIA — Nigeria officially launched its malaria vaccination campaign this week to protect millions of children from the deadly disease, focusing heavily on high-risk states. The first 846,000 doses of the R21 malaria vaccine arrived in Abuja, Nigeria, on…
North Korean troops in Ukraine would be escalation, France warns
KYIV, UKRAINE — The involvement of North Korean regular troops to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would be a serious escalation of the war, France and Ukraine’s foreign ministers said at a joint press conference in Kyiv on Saturday. France’s…
Italy warns G7 defense ministers of ‘incompatible’ world visions
NAPLES, ITALY — Defense ministers of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies kicked off their meeting on Saturday with host country Italy warning that the global security framework is growing increasingly precarious because of competing visions of the world. The…
Aging farmers face extreme temperatures as they struggle to maintain Japan’s rice crop
KAMIMOMI, Japan — In the remote village of Kamimomi in Japan’s western Okayama prefecture, a small group of rice farmers began their most recent harvest in sweltering heat, two weeks sooner than usual. The prefecture is called “the Land of…
Pressure grows for nations to deliver on promised biodiversity targets at UN conference
Two years after reaching a historic biodiversity agreement, countries will gather next week to determine whether they are making progress on efforts to save Earth’s plant and animal life. The agreement signed by 196 countries at the United Nations Biodiversity…
Dense breasts can make it harder to spot cancer on a mammogram
When a woman has a mammogram, the most important finding is whether there’s any sign of breast cancer. The second most important finding is whether her breasts are dense. Since early September, a new U.S. rule requires mammography centers to…
Drone maker DJI sues Pentagon over Chinese military listing
WASHINGTON — China-based DJI sued the U.S. Defense Department on Friday for adding the drone maker to a list of companies allegedly working with Beijing’s military, saying the designation is wrong and has caused the company significant financial harm. DJI,…
Russia, Ukraine each bring home 95 prisoners of war in swap brokered by UAE
Russia and Ukraine carried out a new exchange of prisoners of war on Friday, each side bringing home 95 prisoners in an agreement in which the United Arab Emirates acted as mediator. Russia’s Defense Ministry, in a post on the…
Ukraine media outlets, businesses targeted with false bomb threats
Emails threatening terror attacks led to the evacuation of hundreds of businesses, media outlets and foreign embassies in Ukraine this week. Ukrainian national police searched dozens of properties targeted by the threat, including the Kyiv office of VOA sister network…