World

  This Himawari satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) taken and released on October 30, 2024 shows typhoon Kong-rey as it develops over the West Pacific. taipei/taiwan — Taiwan expects Super Typhoon Kong-rey to make landfall on Thursday along the sparsely populated east coast, issuing a warning on Wednesday ahead of the powerful storm which will bring heavy rain and strong winds across a swath of the island. Packing gusts of nearly 300 kph, the storm has strengthened into a super typhoon and is expected to further intensify before hitting land in Taitung county, according to U.S. Navy\'s Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The storm is then forecast to cross Taiwan\'s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and ...

  FILE - A Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) launches from the guided missile cruiser USS Cape St. George (CG 71) in operation in the Mediterranean Sea on March 23, 2003. SYDNEY — Australia said it was boosting its missile defense capability amid "significant concerns" about China\'s test of an ICBM in the South Pacific, and will bolster weapons stockpiles and exports to security partners as the region enters a new "missile age." Minister for Defense Industry Pat Conroy said in a speech on Wednesday that Australia was increasing its missile defense and long-range strike capability, and would cooperate with security partners the United States, Japan and South Korea, to contribute to regional stability. "Why do we...

  FILE - Armed Al-Shabab fighters patrol in Mogadishu, Somalia, June 29, 2009. A prosecutor told a federal jury in Manhattan that Cholo Abdi Abdullah plotted an attack for four years that he hoped to carry out on behalf of the terrorist organization al-Shabab. NEW YORK — A Kenyan man who plotted a 9/11-style attack on a U.S. building was training as a commercial pilot in the Philippines when his plans were interrupted, a federal prosecutor told a New York jury Tuesday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jon Bodansky told a federal jury in Manhattan that Cholo Abdi Abdullah plotted an attack for four years that he hoped to carry out on behalf of the terrorist organization al-Shabab. He said Abdullah was almost finished with his two-year pilot trainin...

  FILE - A man walks by a display of surveillance technologies for the Chinese tech company Huawei during Security China 2023 in Beijing, Wednesday, June 7, 2023. A Treasury Department rule is meant to prevent U.S. investment in certain technologies in China. The Treasury Department on Monday finalized a new rule meant to prevent U.S.-based people and companies from investing in the development of a range of advanced technologies in China, thereby preventing Beijing from accessing cutting-edge expertise and equipment. The rule, which implements an executive order signed by President Joe Biden in 2023, focuses particularly on advanced semiconductors and microelectronics and the equipment used to make them, technology used in quantum comput...

  FILE - Somalia's Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 27, 2024. Somalia has declared an Ethiopian diplomat working in Mogadishu a persona non grata. In a statement issued on Tuesday, Somalia\'s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the diplomat of engaging in "activities incompatible with his diplomatic role." The diplomat, Ali Mohamed Adan, who is a counselor at Ethiopia\'s embassy in Mogadishu, was ordered to leave Somalia within 72 hours of receiving the notice. Somalia did not specify the actions allegedly committed by Ali, but the statement said they "constitute a breach of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations." VOA\'s Horn of Afric...

  FILE - A street with entertainment facilities is seen in Bangkok, Thailand, March 18, 2020. A new draft bill now aims to introduce entertainment complexes and casinos throughout the country in hopes it will give its economy and tourism a much-needed boost. Bangkok — Thailand is hoping that a new draft bill that aims to introduce entertainment complexes and casinos throughout the country will give its economy and tourism a much-needed boost. Experts say the prospect of building casinos brings both benefits and risks to the Southeast Asian country. Thai officials announced last week that they expect a draft of the Entertainment Complex Act will be submitted to the Cabinet later this year and deliberated in parliament in the early part of ...

  FILE - A colleague of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna holds a photograph of her during an event to honor her at a makeshift memorial for fallen Ukrainian soldiers, at Independence Square in Kyiv, on Oct. 11, 2024. washington — Investigations into the death in Russian custody of Viktoria Roshchyna are being hampered by Moscow’s refusal to return the body of the 27-year-old Ukrainian journalist. Ukraine earlier this month announced that Roshchyna had died in Russian custody on September 19. She had been due to be returned as part of a prisoner release. Petro Yatsenko, from the Ukrainian Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, said that Roshchyna’s body was supposed to be repatriated on October 18, according to a...

  Cars are being swept away by the water, after floods preceded by heavy rains caused the river to overflow its banks in the town of Alora, Malaga, Spain, Oct. 29, 2024. Madrid — Torrential rains caused by a cold front moving across southeastern Spain flooded roads and towns on Tuesday, prompting authorities in the worst-hit areas to advise citizens to stay at home and avoid all non-essential travel. Spain\'s state weather agency AEMET declared a red alert in the eastern Valencia region and the second-highest level of alert in parts of Andalusia in the south, where a train derailed due to the heavy rainfall, although no one was injured. Footage showed firefighters rescuing trapped drivers amid heavy rain in the Valencian town of Alzira...

  FILE - People displaced from eastern areas of Sudan's al-Jazira state arrive at Gedaref city on Oct. 27, 2024. Migration experts said on Oct. 29 that Sudan's displacement crisis is worsening as fighting continues and civilians face hunger and sexual violence. GENEVA — The International Organization for Migration warned Tuesday that Sudan’s displacement crisis is worsening as increasing numbers of people flee fighting, hunger and sexual violence, thereby threatening “regional instability. “The scale of this displacement and the corresponding humanitarian needs grows every day,” Amy Pope, IOM director general, told journalists in Geneva on a video link from Port Sudan. “Throughout this year, Sudan has been the world’s largest di...