Zhuhai, China — Stealth fighter jets and attack drones took center stage as China's largest air show officially opened on Tuesday, an opportunity for Beijing to showcase its growing military might to potential customers and rivals alike. China has poured resources into modernizing and expanding its aviation capabilities as it faces off against the United States and others around regional flashpoints like Taiwan. Record numbers of Chinese warplanes have been sent around the self-ruled democratic island, which Beijing claims as its territory, over the past few years. The star of Airshow China, which showcases Beijing's civil and military aerospace sector every two years in the southern city of Zhuhai, is the new J-35A stealth fighter jet. Its inclusion in the airshow suggests it is nearly ready to enter operation, which would make China the only country other than the United States to have two stealth fighters in action, experts said. The J-35A is lighter than China's existing model, the J20, and looks more similar in design to a US F-35. A group of J20s performed a display flight on Tuesday morning, flying in a diamond formation across a grey sky. State news agency Xinhua quoted military expert Wang Mingzhi as saying the combination of the two models greatly enhances the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF)'s "ability to conduct offensive operations in high-threat and contested environments." Attack drones The airshow will feature a dedicated drone zone for the first time, reflecting their increased prominence in warzones, including Ukraine. The SS-UAV -- a massive mothership that can rapidly release swarms of smaller drones for intelligence gathering, as well as strikes -- will be on display in Zhuhai, according to the South China Morning Post. In October the United States unveiled sanctions targeting China-based companies linked to the production of drones that Russia has deployed in Ukraine. Moscow and Beijing have deepened military and defense ties since Russia's invasion of its neighbor three years ago, and the secretary of its Security Council, Sergei Shoigu, is due to visit Zhuhai. This year the show's focus is squarely on the military sector, as it coincides with the 75th anniversary of the PLAAF, but China's burgeoning space industry will also be showcasing developments. A model of a homegrown reusable space cargo shuttle will debut at the show, Xinhua reported on Monday. Named Haoloong, the shuttle is designed to be launched on a commercial rocket, and then dock with China's space station Tiangong. "It can re-enter the atmosphere, fly and land horizontally at a designated airport, allowing for recovery and reuse," Xinhua said. Beijing has poured huge resources into its space program over the past decade in an effort to catch up to traditional space powers the United States and Russia.

Johannesburg  — President-elect Donald Trump talked tough on China during his campaign, vowing to impose higher and sweeping tariffs on imports from the Asian giant. Beijing will now also be closely watching the incoming administration’s movements further afield, in Africa, where U.S.-China rivalry is high. Experts disagree on what a second Trump term will mean for Beijing’s ambitions on the continent, with some saying it could be a boon for China – Africa’s biggest trade partner – if the U.S. pursues an isolationist, “America First” agenda that mostly ignores the region. But Tibor Nagy, who served as Trump’s Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 2018 to 2021 has a different perspective. He said Trump grasped how powerful a player China had become on the continent. “It was the Trump administration that was the first to kind of recognize the existential threat that China poses,” Nagy told VOA. “We were on the front lines of that in Africa, and we saw what the Chinese were doing,” said Nagy, who also served as the U.S. ambassador to Guinea and Ethiopia during the administrations of presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Nagy told VOA he does not think the incoming Republican administration will neglect Africa because it sees China as a threat to U.S interests there. He also said the continent is a major source of critical minerals attractive to both superpowers. Nagy credits the first Trump administration with introducing policies on the continent intended to counter China's influence. “We had … the right focus because we made it about the youth. You know, our premise was that Africa is going to be undergoing a youth tsunami with the population doubling by 2050. And that more than anything, what the youth really wanted was jobs,” he said. To this end, Nagy says, the first Trump administration set up Prosper Africa in 2018, an initiative designed to assist American companies doing business in Africa, and he expects the incoming administration will remain engaged there. “Africa remains very much the front lines,” he said. “The United States is extremely concerned about our strategic minerals, and when a hostile power has a lock on strategic minerals, that's really not very good when you need the strategic minerals for your top-end technology and for weapon systems.” But Christian-Geraud Neema, Africa editor for the China-Global South Project, is skeptical and said a second term for Trump could be an opportunity for Beijing. “Looking at his first term, Trump didn't show much interest in Africa, which is likely to be the case still now,” he told VOA. “Only a few countries will matter — countries whose resources or position matter to the U.S. national security interests.” “China will have room to maneuver and increase its influence in so many ways,” he added. Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, echoed this. “I doubt that Africa will be a featured priority for Trump,” she told VOA in an emailed response, adding that the United States’ absence on the continent “will boost the prominence of the Chinese position by its presence.” Lobito corridor future Views on how successfully President Joe Biden’s administration has engaged with Africa are also mixed. Many analysts said regardless of whether the Democrats or the Republicans are in office, the continent is usually an afterthought in U.S. foreign policy, which does not differ much from one administration to the next. The current administration said it was “all in on Africa,” when Biden hosted dozens of heads of state at his first African Leaders Summit in 2022, an event seen as an attempt at reasserting U.S. influence in the face of a rising China. Yet, “African leaders or the African Union were not consulted about the agenda of the 2022 US-Africa Leaders Summit. This was also the case with the US’s Africa strategy,” wrote Christopher Isike, the director of African Centre for the Study of the United States at the University of Pretoria, in an article co-signed by Samuel Oyewole, political science postdoctoral research fellow at the university While Trump never traveled to Africa as president, top Biden administration officials did visit the continent, including the vice president. Biden is also expected to travel to Angola before the end of his term in December. Under Biden, the U.S. agreed to develop the Lobito Corridor and Zambia-Lobito rail line, a project described by the State Department as “the most significant transport infrastructure that the United States has helped develop on the African continent in a generation.” The rail line is seen as part of a transcontinental vision connecting the Atlantic and Indian oceans. The undertaking is to be financed through a joint agreement calling for the U.S., African Development Bank, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and the European Union to support Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zambia. Observers see it as an attempt to compete with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s global infrastructure project the Belt and Road Initiative, which has built railways, ports and roads across Africa. There is concern among some analysts that Trump could pull back from this. “Existing bilateral and multilateral business partnerships … such as the Lobito Corridor … might wane significantly during the next Trump administration,” said Oluwole Ojewale, a Nigerian analyst with the Institute for Security Studies, in an email to VOA. “When that happens China will gain significant mileage in areas where the US Government’s exit creates a vacuum on the continent,” he added. But Nagy disagreed, saying the Lobito Corridor is the “kind of project which would have come right out of the Trump administration.” Therefore, there’s likely to be continuity, he added, noting: “The deal is done. Again, I can't speak for President Trump, or the people who are going to be coming in … but it's logical.” ‘Other Friends’ When asked how African leaders will navigate the next Trump administration, Sun said they could play the U.S. and China against each other. “Africa could highlight its role in the US-China great power competition in order to strengthen its position in the US grand strategy,” she said in an email to VOA. But she is doubtful African leaders will take that route because it “will carry the effect of being forced to choose, which I doubt that Africa will want to do.” However, at least one African politician has already alluded to this option. Kenya’s Raila Odinga, who is in the running to take over as chair of the African Union Commission next year, was blunt in his assessment of how African governments would handle a more isolationist U.S. under Trump. “If he does not want to work with Africa,” Odinga told Agence France-Presse last week, “Africa has got other friends.”

white house — President Joe Biden and President Prabowo Subianto met Tuesday at the White House, marking the 75th anniversary of U.S.-Indonesia relations, part of a multination visit by the newly inaugurated leader of Southeast Asia's largest economy. "I will work very hard to strengthen Indonesia and United States relationship," said Prabowo, who goes by his first name. Biden said he looks forward to deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the highest level among nontreaty allies, which the two countries signed in 2023. "That includes deepening our security cooperation," he said before their meeting. In brief remarks to the press, Biden twice raised an issue of concern for Washington: freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. He said he wanted to strengthen the U.S. partnership with Indonesia, "by advancing [a] free and open Indo-Pacific." "We'll discuss, also, global challenges, including in Gaza and the South China Sea," he said. China's nine-dash line The White House meeting came days after Prabowo's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, where Indonesia and China signed a series of agreements valued at about $10 billion and focusing on infrastructure, green energy, digital technology and agriculture. "In the present situation, geopolitical and geoeconomic, Indonesia and China have become very close partners in many, many fields," Prabowo said. One of the deals is to jointly develop fisheries, and oil and gas exploration in waters around Indonesia's Natuna Islands where China's "nine-dash line" marking its expansive claims in the South China Sea overlaps with Indonesia's Exclusive Economic Zone. Critics say the agreement risks implicitly validating China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, which, according to the United Nations, has no basis in international law. VOA asked the White House whether Biden was specifically referring to this deal in his meeting with Prabowo. "We continue to encourage Indonesia to work with their legal experts to make sure any agreement they make with the PRC [People's Republic of China] is in accordance with international law, especially the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea," said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Beijing claims the major shipping route almost entirely, infringing into the EEZs of Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines. All but Indonesia formally dispute the Chinese claim while Taiwan makes a claim to the sea similar to Beijing's. "It's a big deal for Indonesia," as a non-claimant country in the South China Sea dispute that supports the concept of a "free and open Indo-Pacific," said Klaus Heinrich Raditio, author on South China Sea issues and lecturer at Indonesia's Driyarkara School of Philosophy. "People will question our position," he told VOA. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry clarified Sunday that it remains firm in rejecting China's nine-dash line. Beijing's claim, Jakarta said, "does not comply" with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and "therefore has no bearing" on Indonesia's sovereignty and jurisdiction over the North Natuna Sea. Jakarta's agreement with Beijing highlights a "new phase of building the China-Indonesia community with a shared future," according to the joint statement. This reference supports "China's vision of a new global order that is anti-Western hegemony," Raditio said. It's unclear whether this language was an intentional signaling of a geopolitical shift or merely an overlook from a new administration eager to bolster ties with great powers. The Indonesian Embassy in Washington has not responded to VOA's queries. "Most likely, it is a bureaucratic mistake," Raditio said. "We put too much attention on economic cooperation. How many investments that we can attract from China? We kind of sideline other important issues." Prabowo's outreach to Trump Just as important to Jakarta as the White House meeting is Prabowo's outreach to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Jakarta is gearing up for Trump's new administration that begins in January. "Wherever you are, I'm willing to fly to congratulate you personally, sir," Prabowo said in a call to Trump that was posted Monday on his social media. The Trump team has not responded to VOA's queries on the conversation. U.S. foreign policy under Trump "may become more transactional and more focused on elements related to U.S.-China, competition," said Andreyka Natalegawa, associate fellow for the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The downside risk of this as it relates to Southeast Asian countries, is that it may limit some of the decision-making space they have in their diplomatic affairs," Natalegawa said. Prabowo has voiced ambitions to raise Indonesia's international profile and has made early foreign policy moves, including a surprise decision to join Southeast Asia's largest economy to the BRICS bloc. BRICS, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is a growing group of emerging economies seen as a counterweight to the West. In October, BRICS added Indonesia as one of the group's 13 new "partner countries." The move could be a shift away from the position taken by Prabowo's predecessor, Joko Widodo, who took in massive amounts of infrastructure investments from Beijing but remained mostly nonaligned geopolitically. The White House visit marks a milestone for Prabowo, who was barred from entering the U.S. under the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations over his role in abducting activists of the 1998 "Reformasi" movement that ousted President Suharto, Prabowo's then father-in-law. The Trump administration lifted the visa ban for then-Defense Minister Prabowo, for his visit in 2020.

MOSCOW — The key task for Russia and China is to counter any attempt by the United States to contain their countries, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin told China's foreign minister on Tuesday. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose steep tariffs on China and other countries, raising fears of a trade war and the United States casts China as its biggest competitor and Russia as its biggest nation-state threat. China's Xi Jinping and Putin in May pledged a "new era" of partnership between the two most powerful rivals of the United States, which they cast as an aggressive Cold War hegemon sowing chaos across the world. Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing that the strong relations between Moscow and Beijing were a stabilizing influence on the world. "I see the most important task as countering the policy of 'dual containment' of Russia and China pursued by the United States and its satellites," Shoigu was quoted as saying by Russian state news agencies. Xi and Putin believe the post-Cold War era of extraordinary U.S. dominance is crumbling after the perceived humiliations of the 1991 Soviet collapse and centuries of European colonial dominance of China.

CATARROJA, Spain — Thousands of students in Spain's eastern Valencia region returned to classes on Monday, two weeks after floods killed over 200 people and devastated towns in the area. Controversy over the regional government's handling of the floods still rages, and a teachers' union accused it of exaggerating the number returning and leaving the clean-up to teachers and pupils. Twenty-three people remain missing in the Valencia region after heavy rains caused rivers to overflow, sending tides of muddy water through densely populated city suburbs, drowning people in cars and underground car parks, and collapsing homes. A total of 47 schools in 14 affected municipalities reopened to more than 22,000 children on Monday, the region's education department said. Last week, it said it expected around 70% of students in the worst-affected areas to return this week. "The schools that have opened their doors today have followed cleaning and disinfection protocols to ensure maximum safety for students, teachers and staff," it added. But the regional teachers' union STEPV said it believed that the numbers returning on Monday were lower, without providing an alternative figure. Spokesperson Marc Candela said many schools were not ready to resume lessons, adding: "Teachers and parents are cleaning the schools with their own materials such as brooms." Educators wanted professional cleaning crews to sanitize facilities, as was done during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. Parents are also worried about their children's emotional states, said Ruben Pacheco, head of the regional federation of parents' associations, FAMPA: "Families are exhausted, suffering psychologically, and nothing should be decided without consulting them so as not to generate more discomfort than they've already suffered." Candela said the department had held an online course for teachers last week with recommendations for psychological care, but had not dispatched additional counselors. Carolina Marti, head teacher at a school in Castellar-Oliveral, said it had received 60 children from neighboring towns, while five teachers were on medical leave. She said children and teachers were struggling to reach the school as many roads remained impassable.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Fazlur Rehman asserted on Saturday that a conspiracy was hatched to create unrest in the country. In Peshawar, Rehman stated, “The efforts were made to harm the country. But the JUI-F had fought the battle to save the country. We had dismantled the enemies by fighting for the sake of ... Read more

The post JUI-F Chief Fazlur Rehman Alleges Conspiracy to Unsettle Country, appeared first on Pakistan Tribune.

SANTIAGO, Chile — It's Friday night in Santiago, and 15 people gather around a table, sharing a bottle of wine as the smell of tobacco and incense fill the air. Black candles burn on top of an altar decorated with chalices and knives. The members of the Temple of Satan are about to start a ritual.  Five years after the Satanic Temple of the United States made headlines — and unleashed a wave of panic — when it was designated a church, a similar organization in Chile, a conservative country where half of its population of 18 million identifies as Catholic, is asking the government to be recognized legally as a religious association.  Scholars, believers and residents consulted by The Associated Press note that Chile, where a long-lasting tradition of Catholicism has played a leading role in public discussions, is experiencing a crisis of faith, following revelations of multiple sexual abuse scandals within the Catholic Church over the years.  "These types of organizations now feel that they have greater support to challenge what was virtually impossible before," said Luis Bahamondes, a professor at the Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Chile. And that's because, "until very recently, the Catholic Church enjoyed an unprecedented power. It had an opinion on everything: politics, economics, geopolitics, sexuality and education."  No sacrifices, devil worship Despite its name, the Temple of Satan: Satanists and Luciferians of Chile does not embark on sacrifices nor ask its congregants to worship the devil. Among its 100 members are people who work as publicists, firefighters, police officers, lawyers and psychologists, and who have found in the organization a way to defy moral norms, dogmas and religious impositions.  While they embrace the term Satanist, they don't revere or believe in Satan. Instead, they worship rationality, individualism, pleasure and the mundane life.  Rather than gods, they praise humankind.  "You are the owner of your present and future, there is no God that makes decisions for you," said Haborym, a spokesperson for the group, during a walk through tombs and mausoleums at the General Cemetery of Santiago. He noted that the figure of Satan is purely symbolic and their rituals are performed "to bring out the emotions and leave the intellect aside."  Haborym and other members of the Temple of Satan in Chile spoke on condition their real names not be used, particularly with many holding public-facing jobs, citing growing threats.  While Hollywood movies like "Rosemary's Baby" and TV series such as "True Detective" helped to portray the idea of Satanists as linked to sacrifice, evil, pain and death, modern groups like Chile's Temple of Satan are strongly against animal abuse, prohibit the affiliation of people with criminal records, see pleasures as a delight rather than a sin, and do not express their opinions unless asked.  "We don't want people killing in the name of Satan," said Haborym.  How to join In order to join Chile's Temple of Satan, applicants are requested to go through a lengthy process that includes filling out a form, showing proof of not having a criminal record, being interviewed by a special commission and, finally, being evaluated by a psychologist.  Once they are accepted, members can choose a new name — normally that of a demon or fallen angel — with which they will be identified inside the temple and among other associates.  Founded in 2021, Chile's Temple of Satan has 100 members, and more than 400 people applied to join in the past few weeks, said Haborym. The interest spiked at the end of July, when the group formally requested that the country's Ministry of Justice legally recognize it as a religious association.  A media frenzy followed, unleashing a heated debate and causing a stir among Chile's main religious denominations.  "The history of Satanism is well known [and] it has often been the cause of tragedies," the leaders of several churches in Chile, including the Catholic, Anglican, Jewish and Evangelical, said in a joint statement.  Following in the steps of the Church of Satan, founded in 1966 by Anton Szandor LaVey, modern Satanists praise skepticism and logic over celestial or supernatural beings. Its followers are free to formulate their own beliefs, rites and spiritual practices.  Many self-described Satanists and Luciferians are atheists. Others say they are witches or believe in the power of magic.  "We do accept that there are certain bases, both academic and esoteric, that give meaning to our existence and reality," said Azazel, who quit Judaism four years ago and, one year later, founded the Temple of Satan of Chile.  His words resonate in the darkness of the chamber and are interspersed with chants, clapping, mantras and readings of passages from the Satanic Bible and the Bible of the Adversary, the main guidelines of the group.  Disappointed worshippers Just like Azazel, others have turned to the Temple of Satan out of disappointment with traditional religions. The new congregants include not only occultists and esotericists, but also Catholics, Jews, Protestants and Evangelicals.  "In Satanism there are no solutions or absolute truths. You are your own god and you create your own reality," said Kali Ma, a dentistry student who was born and raised in a Jehovah's Witness family. "If we compare both, Jehovah's Witnesses are the real sect," she said. "They don't let you do certain things, they tell you how to dress, what to do, how to behave, whether or not to grow a beard."  Nestor da Costa, an expert in secularism and religion at the Catholic University of Uruguay, said the influx of people seeking answers through different perspectives might be linked to the search for less dogmatic approaches.  "It may be a readjustment of the religious side of people who leave Catholicism but continue to believe in something," he said.  It is unclear if the Chilean government will legally recognize the Temple of Satan as a legitimate religious association, but its very existence has already helped to spark a discussion that until recently was unthinkable in this conservative society.  Demanding recognition is the ultimate expression of everything praised by Satanic aesthetics: the rebellion against the status quo and the breakup with deep-rooted traditions.  "We comply with everything that is requested of us as a religious entity," says Haborym. "So there would be no reason to reject us beyond the fact that we're a controversial figure." 

IQUIQUE, Chile — Over a thousand years ago, the hundreds of giant geoglyphs carved into the desert in northern Chile were a bustling scene. They marked sources of water in the vast arid landscape and were where locals came together to trade skins, animals and fish. Now the carvings are scarred with hundreds of tire tracks from motorcycles and off-road vehicles tearing through the art creations in the landscape and permanently disfiguring them. "It's practically destroyed by motorcycles, off-roaders," said Jose Barraza, general director of the regional national patrimony office. He said various groups were trying to preserve the site to prevent any more destruction - but also without restoring it to its former glory, to show the error of people's ways in the future. "[It] will be an example that shows future generations what not to do with our heritage, no matter how painful or how much anger, discomfort or resentment we feel towards it," he said. Local resident Angelo Araya says the community has been working with a local museum and authorities to try and "put an end to the destruction." The goal, Araya says, is to stop motorcycle and off-road vehicles from damaging the site further and "to make everyone aware that this is not just a heritage site, but that it belongs to all of us." The site has gone through many phases, going from a place to barter, to an abandoned site, to one where people were looking for gold. Eventually Chile's national forests association CONAF turned the area into part of the Pampa del Tamarugal National Reserve. Sand board instructor Franco Diaz said the government should physically close off access to the sites as the geoglyphs are difficult to spot. "If a jeep driver goes behind the hill, he won't notice if there's a geoglyph," Diaz said. "They should close the perimeter and protect these sites that are over 1,000 years old."

Taiwan was on "alert" as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier to its south on Sunday, the self-ruled island's defense ministry said.

Summer Institute 2023: Modern China in Three Keys Application

Obuchi Student Scholarship Application

United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Manila this week to "advance security objectives" and meet Filipino and American troops, the US State Department said on Wednesday, November 13.

United Nations — The U.N. Secretary-General appealed Monday to developed nations to make good on their promise of $100 billion a year to support climate action in developing countries, ahead of a November climate review conference in Egypt.   “Funding for adaptation and resilience must represent at least half of all climate finance,” Antonio Guterres told reporters.    Ministers, climate experts and civil society representatives are meeting this week in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, to prepare the agenda for the November meeting, known as COP27, which will take place in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh from November 6 to 18.    The United Nations says G-20 countries account for 80% of global emissions, but they have been slow to deliver on their $100 billion annual pledge.   “Taken together, current pledges and policies are shutting the door on our chance to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius, let alone meet the 1.5-degree goal,” he said of the benchmarks set in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.    The U.N. warns that failure to reach those goals would spell climate catastrophe.   “The world can’t wait,” he added. “Emissions are at an all-time high and rising.”   Guterres said every government, business, investor and institution must step up with concrete climate action plans.    “I am urging leaders at the highest level to take full part in COP27 and tell the world what climate action they will take nationally and globally,” the U.N. chief said.    U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry is among the leaders in Kinshasa this week.   

ABUJA, Nigeria — Armed men broke into a boarding school in northwestern Nigeria early Saturday and seized 15 children as they slept, police told The Associated Press, about 48 hours after nearly 300 students were taken hostage in the conflict-hit region. School abductions are common in Nigeria's northern region, especially since the 2014 kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls by Islamic extremists in Borno state's Chibok village shocked the world. Armed gangs have since targeted schools for kidnap ransoms, resulting in at least 1,400 abducted since then. The gunmen in the latest attack invaded the Gidan Bakuso village of the Gada council area in Sokoto state about 1 a.m. local time, police said. They headed to the Islamic school where they seized the children from their hostel before security forces could arrive, Sokoto police spokesman Ahmad Rufa'i told the AP. One woman was also abducted from the village, Rufa'i said, adding that a police tactical squad was deployed to search for the students. The inaccessible roads in the area, however, challenged the rescue operation, he said. "It is a remote village (and) vehicles cannot go there; they (the police squad) had to use motorcycles to the village," he said. Saturday's attack was the third mass kidnapping in northern Nigeria since late last week, when more than 200 people, mostly women and children, were abducted by suspected extremists in Borno state. On Thursday, 287 students were also taken hostage from a government primary and secondary school in Kaduna state. The attacks highlight a security crisis that has plagued Africa's most populous country. Kidnappings for ransom have become lucrative across Nigeria's northern region, where dozens of armed gangs operate. No group claimed responsibility for any of the abductions. While Islamic extremists who are waging an insurgency in northeastern Nigeria are suspected of carrying out the kidnapping in Borno state, locals blamed the school kidnappings on herders who had been in conflict with their host communities before taking up arms. Nigeria's Vice President Kashim Shettima, meanwhile, met with authorities and some parents of the abducted students in Kaduna state Saturday and assured them of efforts by security forces to find the children and rescue them.

In this interview, MECA's Ziad Abbas discusses his organization's work to bring aid, clean water and creative outlets to Palestinian children in need.

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The Jerusalem Post Podcast - Travel Edition, Episode E94.

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[MSF] An alarming number of children suffering from severe malaria have been admitted to Aweil state hospital, where Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) runs the paediatric and maternity wards, in Northern Bahr El-Ghazal state, South Sudan, over the past three months. Malaria admissions to the children's ward began to increase in June and, by September, up to 400 children a week were being admitted to the paediatric department with severe malaria - more than double the numbers compared to September the

[VOA] Johannesburg -- President-elect Donald Trump talked tough on China during his campaign, vowing to impose higher and sweeping tariffs on imports from the Asian giant. Beijing will now also be closely watching the incoming administration's movements further afield, in Africa, where U.S.-China rivalry is high.

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The production of solar energy by means of panels installed on small farmers’ properties or on the roofs of community organisations is starting to directly benefit more and more farmers in Chile. This energy enables technified irrigation systems, pumping water and lowering farmers’ bills by supporting their business. It also enables farmers’ cooperatives to share […]

The government has brushed aside reports of former finance minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong making the cut as new chairman of the Bank of Thailand (BoT) board, saying nothing has been made official yet.

Russia's lower house of parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to ban what authorities cast as pernicious propaganda for a child-free way of life, hoping to boost a faltering birth rate. - REUTERS

[Radio Dalsan] The Somali Council of Ministers has reappointed General Odowa Yusuf Raage as Commander of the Somali Armed Forces, replacing General Ibrahim Muhyiddin, during an emergency meeting held in Mogadishu on Sunday night.

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Halevi gave this message after the IDF killed 1,000 Hamas terrorists in the northern Gazan city and additionally captured another 1,000 terrorists.

Iran's state media said al-Ruwaili headed a high-level Saudi military delegation in Tehran and met Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri.

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On November 6, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the second round of polio vaccinations in the Gaza Strip has been completed. A total of 556,744 children under ten years of age received the mOPV2 vaccine along with a dose of vitamin A to ensure immunization. However, due to rampant hostilities from the Israeli […]

Physical diseases have symptoms, or marks, by which they may be diagnosed. In fact, that is how we become aware that we are sick: We identify something unusual about our health. We recognize the telltale signs that something is wrong. The same is true of false teaching. Those infected by it will manifest certain characteristics.

Amid unprecedented global challenges and a growing list of countries in crisis, there is an existential threat to decades of development gains—with the global community marked by intensified armed conflict, forced displacements, and the debilitating effects of climate crises. One in five children worldwide lives in or flees from conflict. The number of crisis-affected children […]

On October 11, the United Nations (UN) and its affiliated organizations hosted a conference discussing the increasingly dangerous and exploitative environment that plagues the internet and what can be done to protect children from being exposed to it. Speakers at this conference detailed the developing technologies that threaten children, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), which […]

Children in northern Syria are suffering from hunger, illness, and malnutrition as a result of poverty, poor living conditions for most families, and the collapse of purchasing power amid the soaring prices of all essential food commodities. Displacement and a lack of job opportunities make this worse. Nour al-Hammoud, a 5-year-old girl whose family was […]

Simon Cowell gets candid about 'punching' 90's popstarRecord executive, Simon Cowell has spilled shocking details about indulging into a physical fight with one of the biggest boy band stars of the 90s.The revelation was made in a newly released documentary Boybands Forever, featuring renowned...

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