World

  FILE - A Pakistani waits to open an internet page on a desktop in Lahore, Pakistan, Aug. 19, 2024. Pakistan's top cleric has declared that virtual private networks, or VPNs, are unlawful. WASHINGTON — Pakistan\'s top cleric has declared that virtual private networks, or VPNs, are unlawful, igniting a debate on privacy rights and access to information amid a government crackdown on the internet. Allama Raghib Naeemi, head of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), issued a decree saying it makes no difference whether a VPN is registered or unregistered. “If attempts are made to access indecent or immoral sites, character assassination is done, statements are being made against national security, or if various incidents of religious b...

  FILE - Chinese 100 yuan banknotes sit on a bank counter in Beijing, March 30, 2016. The Chinese currency has plummeted since former U.S. President Donald Trump was elected to another term on Nov. 5. new delhi — The Chinese yuan has plummeted since U.S. President-elect Donald Trump\'s victory, and finance experts are questioning why the Chinese government is not doing more to defend the currency. "The slide in the yuan\'s value reflects the negative expectations of the world towards China-U.S. relations after the recent victory of Donald Trump, as well as some misperception in the international market towards China\'s growth," Wang Wen, dean of Renmin University\'s Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, told VOA. The yuan...

  FILE - This picture taken on October 12, 2015 shows the C-Lion1 submarine telecommunications cable being laid to the bottom Baltic Sea from a military base in Helsinki, Finland. It was one of two cables in the Baltic Sea that had been cut in recent days. VILNIUS, Lithuania — Lithuania\'s Navy said on Tuesday it had increased monitoring of its waters after an undersea communications cable connecting the country with Sweden had been damaged. An assessment is now being carried out along with allies, a spokesperson for the Lithuanian armed forces told Reuters. The cable was one of two fiber-optic cables in the Baltic Sea which were severed in recent days, raising suspicions of sabotage by bad actors, countries and companies involved said on Monday. A spokesperson for Areli...

  U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the G20 Summit at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Nov. 18, 2024. RIO DE JANEIRO — With just two months remaining in President Joe Biden’s administration, the United States is ramping up financial, military and diplomatic support for Kyiv’s effort to defend itself against Russian aggression. At the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where Biden and leaders of 20 of the world’s largest economies are meeting, U.S. officials are pushing for the “strongest possible” language on Ukraine, deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told VOA during a briefing Monday. Western diplomats have renewed their push for stronger criticism on Moscow following Russia’s weekend airstrike, its largest on Ukrainian territory ...

  U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left, and Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro shake hands after signing a military intelligence-sharing deal at Camp Aguinaldo military headquarters in Quezon City, Philippines, Nov. 18, 2024. MANILA, Philippines — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday condemned China\'s dangerous actions against the Philippines and renewed a warning that the United States would defend its treaty ally if Filipino forces come under an armed attack in the increasingly volatile waters. During a visit to the Philippine province of Palawan next to the disputed South China Sea, Austin was asked if the strong U.S. military support to the Philippines would continue under incoming President Dona...

  Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks during a press conference in Tehran on Nov. 19, 2024. The Foreign Ministry harshly criticized new sanctions placed on Iran by the European Union and U.K. over the support Tehran gives Russia for its war on Ukraine. TEHRAN, IRAN — Iran\'s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday slammed as unjustified the new sanctions by the European Union and United Kingdom against Tehran over its support for Russia\'s war on Ukraine. "While the president of Ukraine has admitted that no Iranian ballistic missiles have been exported to Russia, the measures of the European Union and United Kingdom in applying sanctions against Iran cannot be justified," ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement....

  Thousands of people gather outside New Zealand's parliament to protest a proposed law that would redefine the country's founding agreement between Indigenous Maori and the British Crown, in Wellington November 19, 2024. SYDNEY — A nine-day march to protest race relations laws in New Zealand ended Tuesday with a rally of more than 40,000 perople in the capital, Wellington. Introduced last week by New Zealand\'s center-right government, the Treaty Principles Bill, would enshrine a narrower legal interpretation of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi. The right-leaning government says a bill - or a proposed law reform - would allow political and constitutional questions raised by the Treaty of Waitangi to be decided by lawmakers instead ...

  China's President Xi Jinping, left, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attend the G20 summit at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Nov. 18, 2024. The two also met Tuesday on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro. China has asked Germany to support efforts to resolve a dispute between the European Union and Beijing over electric vehicle tariffs. Last month, the EU decided to raise tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China to as much as 45.3%. Beijing has been negotiating with the EU to repeal the tariffs and sees Germany – the bloc\'s biggest economy and Beijing\'s largest trading partner in Europe – potentially playing a key role. In a meeting Tuesday on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, China\'s President Xi Jinping told G...

  This frame grab taken from video footage circulating on Chinese social media on Nov. 19, 2024 shows the scene where a car crashed outside the Yong'an primary school in Changde. (AFP photo / Chinese social media) BEIJING — A driver in an SUV plowed into students and pedestrians outside a primary school in southern China on Tuesday, leaving several people injured, state media said, as worries spread over a spate of violent attacks in the country over the past week. CCTV and other state media reported the SUV hit people outside a primary school in Changde city in Hunan province as students were coming in for the day. Many were injured, CCTV reported and police said they were sent to the hospital "as soon as possible," with none having sustained life-threatening injuries. Po...

  FILE - Members attend a session of the advisory Shura Council in Doha, Qatar, Oct. 26, 2021. Qataris have voted away the right to elect their own legislators, ending a short-lived experiment with participatory democracy in a region where authoritarian leadership is the norm. At the same time, voters have enshrined the role of international mediator in the constitution of the Persian Gulf nation, which has hosted peace talks involving parties ranging from the Taliban to Hamas to Israel. In a referendum held earlier this month, voters approved a package of constitutional amendments that revoked an earlier change providing for two-thirds of the seats in the nation’s legislature, the Shura Council, to be filled through popular elections. The Qatar News Agency said more than 90%...