Rural Daily

20Nov

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Vietnam receives first US military aircraft

By RFA Staff2024.11.19 A batch of five Beechcraft T-6C Texan II - the first military aircraft provided by the U.S. to Vietnam - has arrived in Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City, witnesses told Radio Free Asia. One witness, who didn’t want to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, said he saw five training aircraft, all painted with Vietnamese air force markings, at the civilian airport in the southern hub but was told they’d be moved to a military airbase soon. The flight tracking website Flightradar24 said the first of them landed at around midday on Monday after a nearly two-hour flight from Don Mueang airport in Bangkok where it had made a transit. The Beechcraft T-6 Texan II is a single-engine turboprop aircraft built by Textron Aviation used for pilot training, ...

Urban mosquito sparks malaria surge in East Africa

19Nov

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World

Urban mosquito sparks malaria surge in East Africa

FILE - Ruth Kavere, 65, demonstrates how to use a mosquito net with her granddaughter Faith, 3, in Mukuli, Kenya, on March 7, 2023. Bed nets are less effective against an invasive urban mosquito that is thriving in East Africa and bites earlier in the evening. NAIROBI, KENYA — The spread of a mosquito in East Africa that thrives in urban areas and is immune to insecticide is fueling a surge in malaria that could reverse decades of progress against the disease, experts say. Africa accounted for about 95% of the 249 million malaria cases and 608,000 deaths worldwide in 2022, according to the most recent data from the World Health Organization (WHO), which said children under 5 accounted for 80% of deaths in the region. But the emergence o...

19Nov

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World

China's Xi highlights 'Global South' measures at G20

China's President Xi Jinping attends the second session of the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Nov. 18, 2024. Washington — Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a range of measures to boost global development in his remarks Monday at G20 Summit meetings in Rio de Janeiro — highlighting Beijing’s support for its global infrastructure project, the Belt and Road, and a joint technology initiative to support so-called “Global South” nations. Xi said the “Open Science International Cooperation Initiative” would be spearheaded by China, Brazil, South Africa and the African Union to ensure that technological advances benefit less developed, underdeveloped and developing nations. "China supports the G20 in ...

19Nov

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World

Central African Republic applauds extension of peacekeepers' mandate

FILE - Moroccan peacekeepers from the U.N. Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) patrol in Bangassou, Feb. 3, 2021. The force's mandate has been extended until November 2025. Yaounde, Cameroon — Political parties and civil society groups in the Central African Republic are welcoming the U.N. Security Council\'s decision to extend the mandate of the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission, or MINUSCA. Civil society groups say the U.N. peacekeeping troops will protect civilians from rebels during parliamentary and local elections that have now been rescheduled for April 6. Blandine Ikom, a member of the C.A.R’s Coalition of Civil Society Groups, said she expected U.N. tr...

19Nov

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World

Russia vetoes UN cease-fire resolution for Sudan

Russia's Permanent Representative speaks during a meeting of the UN Security Council addressing the continuing conflict between Russia and Ukraine at U.N. headquarters in New York City, November 18, 2024. Russia vetoed a United Nation resolution Monday calling for an immediate cease-fire between Sudan’s warring parties and the delivery of humanitarian aid to millions of Sudanese. Russia was the only Security Council member that voted against the cease-fire resolution. China, Russia’s ally, supported the resolution, drafted by the United Kingdom and Sierra Leone. Russian Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told the council that Moscow vetoed the resolution because Sudan’s government should be “solely” responsible for what happ...

19Nov

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World

UN Security Council calls for urgent aid to Gaza

Palestinians line up to receive bread outside a bakery in Khan Yunis, Nov. 18, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. State Department — Members of the United Nations Security Council, including the United States and the United Kingdom, urged an immediate increase in aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, warning that the humanitarian situation there is worsening. Meanwhile, the United States warned Turkey on Monday against hosting Hamas leadership, saying there can be “no more business as usual” with what the U.S. designates as a terrorist organization. Several media reports indicate that senior members of Hamas\' leadership outside of Gaza have been in Turkey in recent days after being asked to leave Qatar. State Departme...

19Nov

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World

Youths at UN climate talks push through anger to fight for hope

From left, Huang Jiangcheng of China, Fareed Mohammed Felemban of Saudi Arabia and Thanh Theerapasiri of Thailand, are pictured after speaking at a youth session during the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Nov. 18, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. BAKU, Azerbaijan — Young people who attend the U.N. climate talks have a lot to be angry about. They\'ve lost loved ones and months of school. They\'ve lost homes and family farms and connections to their families\' native lands. They haven\'t lost hope, though. Not yet. “It has become so tiring for me to be just a poster child,” said Marinel Ubaldo, who by age 16 had watched two back-to-back supersized typhoons destroy entire communities in her native Philippines. Missing a chunk of high school in the af...

19Nov

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World

Greece to repay chunk of bailout debt early

Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaks during a plenary session at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Nov. 13, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Greece will make an early repayment of 5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) in bailout-era debt in 2025, Mitsotakis said in Athens on Nov. 18. Athens, Greece — Greece will make an early repayment of 5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) in bailout-era debt in 2025, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told a banking conference in Athens on Monday, describing the move as a signal of the country\'s fiscal recovery. “This ... underscores our confidence in public finances and reflects our commitment to fiscal discipline,” Mitsotakis said. Finance Ministry officials say they plan to reduce debt through primary surp...

19Nov

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World

Russia increases arms trade with UN-embargoed nations to feed Ukraine war

FILE - Firefighters help a woman evacuate from a residential building destroyed by a Russian drone strike, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct. 17, 2022. Local authorities said the weapon used was an Iranian-made Shahed-136. Russia has been buying artillery shells and missiles from North Korea, buying drones and ballistic missiles from Iran and strengthening ties with the Taliban in Afghanistan to sustain its war in Ukraine. All three governments are under U.N. embargoes that prohibit arms trade and financial dealings with the countries to curtail weapons proliferation and human rights abuses. Russia, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, has also provided diplomatic support to Iran and North Korea, including by vetoing sanctions. Iran Ir...

19Nov

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World

US Sudan envoy meets army chief Burhan on first visit

FILE - U.S. Envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello attends a press briefing on sidelines of Sudan peace talks at the U.S. Mission in Geneva, Aug. 23, 2024. dubai/washington — The U.S. special envoy to Sudan traveled to the African country for the first time on Monday to seek an increase in the flow of aid to millions of people in need and an end to a devastating war. Tom Perriello, who was named Washington\'s envoy for Sudan in February, traveled to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, the de facto capital for the army-led government. It marked the first visit to the country by a senior U.S. official since the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out in April 2023 and the U.S. embassy was evacu...