New Delhi — India has begun delivery of supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines as the two countries tighten defense and strategic ties amid rising tensions between the East Asian nation and China over maritime disputes in the South China Sea. The BrahMos missiles are being acquired by the Philippines under a $ 375 million deal signed in 2022. "Now we are also exporting BrahMos missiles. The first batch of this missile is going to the Philippines today,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Friday at an election rally. Читать дальше...
In Eswatini, only 46% of girls complete secondary education, according to UNICEF, with pregnancy and poverty being major contributing factors. A new mentorship program for young rural girls, STEM Sisters, is designed to buck these trends by teaching coding, robotics, and engineering, opening doors to careers and opportunities they never knew existed. Nokukhanya Musi reports.
SYDNEY — Scientists from Australia and the United Kingdom are developing genomic sequencing technology to save parrots caught in the illegal wildlife trade. They say their forensic methods are similar to a database used by INTERPOL, the international police organization. Parrots are among the most trafficked birds in the illegal international wildlife trade. By using samples from feathers or a speck of blood, researchers from the Australian National University and King’s Forensics in the... Читать дальше...
Mount Hampden, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwean authorities responded swiftly to the recent decline in the new gold-backed currency by apprehending illicit moneychangers and closing the bank accounts of businesses accused of exclusively dealing in U.S. dollars. On Monday, Zimbabwe business owners pleaded with parliamentary committees to ask the government to stop arresting moneychangers and re-open the bank accounts of companies accused of only accepting foreign currency. "This is an inception process of a monetary policy shift," said Sekai Kuvarika... Читать дальше...
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said that the United States is looking into allegations of human rights abuses by Israel in its operations against Hamas in Gaza. Two people were seen being taken into custody during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Columbia University on Monday. A prosecutor told jurors that Donald Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public. The statement came Monday... Читать дальше...
NEW YORK — Columbia University held virtual classes Monday on the sixth continuous day of student protests over the Israel-Hamas conflict. University president Nemat “Minouche” Shafik sent an email to the Columbia community announcing that classes would be held virtually. “The decibel of our disagreements has only increased in recent days,” Shafik wrote. “These tensions have been exploited and amplified by individuals who are not affiliated with Columbia who have come to campus to pursue their own agendas. Читать дальше...
Farmers in rural Malawi are learning to move away from over-dependence on maize, the country’s primary staple crop. A local charity Never Ending Food is teaching farmers about 200 types of food crops they can grow and eat. Lameck Masina reports from Lilongwe.
Istanbul/Washington — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh and his delegation last weekend in Istanbul amid growing criticism in Turkey of his government's stance on the Israel-Hamas war. There was no news conference after the meeting. Erdogan’s office released a statement on the topics discussed with Haniyeh, who lives in exile in Qatar. According to the statement, Erdogan and the Hamas leader talked about "Israel's attacks on Palestinian territory... Читать дальше...
Marijuana is a rare consensus issue in politically divided America, with polls showing that 88 percent of Americans support at least partially legalizing the drug. But cannabis advocates say neither of the leading presidential candidates are capitalizing on shifting attitudes. VOA Correspondent Scott Stearns has our story.
united nations — The head of the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, said Monday that 3 million Haitian children impacted by rampant gang violence need humanitarian assistance, including thousands who are at risk of death from severe malnutrition. "Each day, children are being injured or killed," Catherine Russell told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council. "Some are being recruited, or they are joining armed groups out of sheer desperation." The murder rate in Haiti has soared this year, with... Читать дальше...