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The Nature news team recently published an analysis of the retraction rates of academic articles by institutions around the world over the past decade. The analysis found that from 2014 to 2024, Jining First People’s Hospital ranked first in the world in the global retraction rate ranking, with a total retraction rate of more than 5%, which is 50 times the global average. Among the top 10 institutions, another six are from China.
Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
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U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policy has raised expectations of mass deportations to Mexico. However, the shelters in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, that were prepared to receive hundreds of migrants are practically empty.
Click here for the full story in Spanish.
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ROME — Nations cheered a last gasp deal reached Thursday to map out funding to protect nature, breaking a deadlock at United Nations talks seen as a test for international cooperation in the face of geopolitical tensions.
Rich and developing countries worked out a delicate compromise on raising and delivering the billions of dollars needed to protect species, overcoming stark divisions that had scuttled their previous meeting in Cali, Colombia, last year.
Delegates stood and clapped in an emotionally charged final meeting that saw key decisions adopted in the final minutes of the last day of rebooted negotiations at the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization headquarters in Rome.
COP16 President Susana Muhamad of Colombia hailed the fact that countries worked together for a breakthrough, enabling progress “in this very fragmented and conflicted world,” she said.
“This is something very beautiful because it’s around protecting life that we have come together, and there cannot be anything higher than that,” she said.
The decision comes more than two years after a landmark deal to halt the destruction of nature this decade and protect the ecosystems and wildlife that humans rely on for food, climate regulation, and economic prosperity.
One million species are threatened with extinction, while unsustainable farming and consumption destroy forests, deplete soils and spread plastic pollution to even the most remote areas of the planet.
The agreement on Thursday is seen as crucial to giving impetus to the 2022 deal, which saw countries agree to protect 30% of the world’s land and seas.
Talks were also seen as a bellwether for international cooperation.
The meeting comes as countries face a range of challenges, from trade disputes and debt worries to the slashing of overseas aid.
Washington, which has not signed up to the U.N.’s Convention on Biological Diversity, sent no representatives to the meeting.
“Our efforts show that multilateralism can present hope at a time of geopolitical uncertainty,” said Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s minister of environment and climate change.
Ousseynou Kasse of Senegal, speaking on behalf of the Africa Group, also threw support behind global cooperation.
“We believe that this is the way that can save the world, and we must continue down this path,” he said.
Countries must be “accountable to our children, to the generations to come,” he added.
The failure to finalize an agreement in Cali was the first in a string of disappointing outcomes at environmental summits last year.
A climate finance deal at COP29 in Azerbaijan in November was slammed by developing countries, while separate negotiations about desertification and plastic pollution stalled in December.
Countries have already agreed to a goal to deliver $200 billion a year in finance for nature by 2030, including $30 billion a year from wealthier countries to poorer ones.
The total for 2022 was about $15 billion, according to the OECD. The main debate in Cali and later Rome was over developing countries’ calls for the creation of a specific biodiversity fund, which has seen pushback from the EU and other wealthy nations, who have argued against multiple funds.
The agreement reached in Rome leaves it to the 2028 COP to decide whether to set up a specific new fund under the U.N. biodiversity process, or to name a potentially reformed existing fund to play that role.
One achievement in Cali was the creation of a new fund to share profits from digitally sequenced genetic data from plants and animals with the communities they come from.
The fund, officially launched on Tuesday, is designed for large firms to contribute a portion of their income from developing things like medicine and cosmetics using this data.
Delegates in Cali also approved the creation of a permanent body to represent the interests of Indigenous people.
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WASHINGTON — The number of migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in February is on pace to be at or near a record monthly low, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson and two other sources told Reuters.
The U.S. Border Patrol is on pace to have arrested around 8,500 migrants at the border in February as the end of the month nears, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said. Two other sources said the monthly total would be at or near a record low.
President Donald Trump, a Republican, took an array of actions to deter illegal immigration after returning to the White House on January 20, saying a crackdown was needed after high levels of migration under his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.
Trump’s moves included implementing a sweeping ban on asylum at the border and surging military troops to assist border security.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Trump administration over the ban earlier this month, arguing it violated U.S. asylum law and international treaties.
The Trump administration also struck new agreements with Mexico and Central American countries to accept U.S. deportees from other nations and has sent some migrants to a camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
U.S. Border Patrol’s monthly enforcement statistics go back to 2000. The lowest monthly total on record is currently April 2017, when the agency arrested 11,127 at the start of Trump’s first term.
While the number of border arrests similarly dipped at the start of Trump’s 2017-21 presidency, they rebounded in the months and years that followed.
The February projection would be a steep drop from the 141,000 migrant arrests in February 2024 and down from 29,000 in January, according to U.S. government figures.
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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a test-launch of strategic cruise missiles and ordered full readiness to use nuclear attack capability to ensure the most effective defense for the country, state media announced Friday.
The test was designed to warn “enemies, who are seriously violating the security environment of the (country) and fostering and escalating the confrontation environment” and to demonstrate “readiness of its various nuke operation means,” KCNA news agency said.
“What is guaranteed by powerful striking ability is the most perfect deterrence and defense capacity,” KCNA quoted Kim as saying.
The missile launch was conducted on Wednesday over the sea off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula, it said.
South Korea’s military said on Friday it had detected signs of missile launch preparations on Wednesday and tracked several cruise missiles after they were launched around 8 a.m. local time (2300 GMT Tuesday) over the sea.
North Korea has pursued the development of strategic cruise missiles over several years, intended to deliver nuclear warheads.
That type of missile tends to bring less alarm and condemnation from the international community than ballistic missiles because they are not formally banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The Security Council has banned the North from ballistic missile and nuclear weapons development and imposed a number of sanctions for violations.
The report of the missile test came in the same week that Kim made back-to-back visits to military schools, driving home the message of loyalty and the importance of ideological and tactical training of young military officers.
Kim did not mention any country by name when he spoke of warning the enemies but has kept up harsh rhetoric against the United States and South Korea despite comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that he would be reaching out to him.
Trump and Kim held unprecedented summit meetings during the U.S. president’s first term.
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Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, on Thursday called for the group’s disarmament and disbandment. VOA Kurdish spoke to locals in Diyarbakir, Turkey’s largest Kurdish-majority city. While many residents supported Ocalan’s message of peace, others wondered whether his call would be met by real steps by the Turkish government to address the Kurdish question.
Click here for the full story in Kurdish.
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U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would impose 25% tariffs on imported goods from Canada and Mexico next week as he originally planned, contending the two neighboring countries are still not doing enough to curb the flow of drugs into the United States.
In addition, Trump said on his Truth Social media platform that he also was hitting China with another 10% levy next Tuesday on its exports to the U.S., on top of the 10% tariff he imposed earlier this month. China quickly matched the first Trump tariff with one of its own on U.S. exports.
“Drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels,” Trump said. “A large percentage of these Drugs, much of them in the form of Fentanyl, are made in, and supplied by, China.”
Trump first announced the tariffs on Canada and Mexico, two of the U.S.’s closest allies and trading partners, earlier this month.
But he delayed imposition of the tariffs until March 4 after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would send 10,000 troops to her country’s northern border to help the U.S. control drug trafficking. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would name a “fentanyl czar” to deal with the issue.
Sheinbaum, whose trade-dependent economy sends 80% of its exports to the U.S., said earlier this week, “We’re expecting to reach a deal with the United States,” but that if a deal is not reached, Mexico could impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S.-made products.
When Trump first announced the hefty U.S. tariff on Canadian imports, Trudeau said it was “entirely unjustified” and promised to impose a 25% tax starting March 12 on U.S. steel and aluminum products exported to Canada. Canada is the top exporter of both metals to the U.S.
Economists say the tariffs Trump is imposing are likely to boost retail prices for consumers and the cost of materials for businesses. Mexico, Canada and China, in that order, are the three biggest national trading partners with the U.S., although collectively, the 27-nation European Union is larger than all three.
Trump, at the first Cabinet meeting of his new presidential term on Wednesday, said he would “very soon” announce a 25% tariff on EU exports to the U.S.
With Trump signaling the new tariff on goods sent to the U.S., the EU vowed to respond “firmly and immediately” to “unjustified” trade barriers and suggested it would impose its own tariffs on U.S. imports if Trump proceeded with his.
Trump, in his Truth Social announcement, said reciprocal tariffs on nations that levy taxes on U.S. exports were still set to take effect on April 2. He has also hinted at putting tariffs on automobile imports, lumber, pharmaceutical products and other goods.
Many economists have repeatedly warned that tariffs could lead to higher prices, boosting troublesome inflation in the U.S. Trump has acknowledged there could be short-term pain for Americans but he has contended that tariffs would ultimately be beneficial to the U.S. economy, the world’s largest.
Trump says the tariffs he is imposing would be an incentive for foreign companies to do more manufacturing in the United States to avoid the tariffs on overseas shipment of their products to the U.S.
More immediately, Trump is focused on the flow of drugs into the U.S.
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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — South Korea’s spy agency said Thursday that North Korea appears to have sent additional troops to Russia after its soldiers deployed on the Russian-Ukraine fronts suffered heavy casualties.
The National Intelligence Service said in a brief statement it was trying to determine how many more troops North Korea has deployed to Russia.
The NIS also assessed that North Korean troops were redeployed at fronts in Russia’s Kursk region in the first week of February, following a reported temporary withdrawal from the area. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an address on Feb. 7, confirmed a new Ukrainian offensive in Kursk and said North Korean troops were fighting alongside Russian forces there.
North Korea has been supplying a vast number of conventional weapons to Russia, and last fall it sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia, according to U.S., South Korean and Ukraine intelligence officials.
North Korean soldiers are highly disciplined and well trained, but observers say they’ve become easy targets for drone and artillery attacks on Russian-Ukraine battlefields because of their lack of combat experience and unfamiliarity with the terrain.
In January, the NIS said about 300 North Korean soldiers had died and 2,700 had been injured. Zelenskyy earlier put the number of killed or wounded North Koreans at 4,000, although U.S. estimates were lower at around 1,200.
Earlier Thursday, South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, citing unidentified sources, reported that an additional 1,000 to 3,000 North Korean soldiers were deployed to Kursk between January and February.
South Korea, the United States and their partners worry that Russia could reward North Korea by transferring high-tech weapons technologies that can sharply enhance its nuclear weapons program. North Korea is expected to receive economic and other assistance from Russia, as well.
During talks in Saudi Arabia last week, Russia and the U.S. agreed to start working toward ending the war and improving their diplomatic and economic ties. Ukrainian officials weren’t present at the talks. That marked an extraordinary shift in U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump and a clear departure from U.S.-led efforts to isolate Russia over its war in Ukraine.
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Tshisekedi’s government invited the U.S. and EU to purchase minerals directly from the DRC, bypassing Rwanda-backed M23 fighters. There was no request for U.S. troops to intervene in the conflict.
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JOHANNESBURG — The Group of 20 major economies has been instrumental in coordinating the response to crises like the COVID pandemic. But top officials from the U.S. and several other member states skipped the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in South Africa this week, raising questions about the group’s continued relevance in a splintered global environment.
The two-day meeting in Cape Town ended without a communique, with current G20 leader South Africa saying there was not sufficient consensus to issue one.
In his opening remarks at the event, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa referred to the fractured geopolitical climate and stressed the importance of international cooperation.
“At this time of global uncertainty and escalating tension, it is now more important than ever that the members of the G20 should work together,” Ramaphosa said. “The erosion of multilateralism presents a threat to global growth and stability.”
He said the G20 finance ministers meeting had to address major issues like climate change financing, ensuring debt sustainability for developing countries, and Africa’s need to process its own critical minerals for inclusive growth.
But it appeared the world’s largest economies were not able to find common ground on a number of issues. South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana noted this wasn’t the first time.
“The issue of the communique and the absence of it is not something new,” Godongwana said. “To my knowledge, I mean, since the Russia-Ukraine war, it has been difficult to find a joint communique. Now, new differences have emerged on a number of other topics.”
Climate adaptation funding was one of the areas where there was a “difference of opinion,” he said.
The finance ministers meeting was beset with similar problems faced by last week’s G20 foreign ministers meeting in Johannesburg, which laid bare the discord in current geopolitics.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent skipped the event amid a spat with host country South Africa, and after the U.S. criticized the themes around climate change and “solidarity, equality and sustainability.”
The finance chiefs of other large economies, including Japan, India and China also sat it out. However, all of them, including the U.S., sent representation at various levels.
Still, the absence of some top officials underscores global divisions sparked by Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the “America First” administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, said Professor Alex van den Heever of the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
“I think that this has caused a sort of a general review of how people see global issues,” van den Heever said, “with people becoming a lot more insular and not really looking at sort of global social solidarity in any way, shape or form – largely looking to look after their own situation.”
However, Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer, Rachel Reeves, who was in Cape Town for the meeting, added to Ramaphosa’s call for unity, posting on social media platform X, “Productive and successful collaboration with our international partners is front of mind, now more than ever.”
Asked about the issue of tariffs, Godongwana said there had been, “general agreement against protectionism” at the G20 meeting.
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WASHINGTON — As U.S. President Donald Trump moves forward with an expanding net of tariffs, including an additional 10% for Chinese imports starting next week, industry insiders and experts say closing existing loopholes and workarounds that companies use to avoid trade taxes is also key.
One practice that so far has helped companies from China — and others — to avoid being hit with tariffs is transshipment, or the transfer of goods to a second country, where the “Made in China” label is switched for another.
Berwick Offray, a ribbon manufacturer in the northeastern state of Pennsylvania, has first-hand experience with the practice. Founded in 1945, the company prides itself on its pledge to keep its products “Made in the USA” and its position as one of the largest manufacturers of ribbons in the world.
Earlier this month, the company sued a U.S. importer, TriMar Ribbon, for allegedly buying ribbons produced in China that were shipped to the United States through India to illegally avoid being subject to tariffs.
Ribbons made in China are cheaper and sold at below market value prices in the United States.
“The current allegations allege that TriMar imported ribbons from China into the United States through transshipment in India, and did not declare the correct country of origin upon entry,” said a notice issued from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, when the agency agreed to investigate the case.
Daniel Pickard, an expert on international trade and an attorney at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, which represents Berwick Offray, said there have been numerous cases of transshipment, especially when it comes to products from China.
“We have assisted several clients in submitting allegations to CBP against importers of products that have been transshipped from China through third countries such as Thailand, India and Canada,” Pickard told VOA. “Our clients typically are the U.S. manufacturers of those products that are competing against the Chinese imports that are engaged in evasion of duties.”
According to CBP data, there are currently 221 investigations of Chinese-made products suspected of transshipment tariff evasion.
Tariffs and loopholes
In early February, the Trump administration rolled out 10% blanket tariffs on all Chinese goods. On March 4, Chinese imports will face an additional 10% tariff.
While Trump has worked to reduce potential workarounds, including his executive order on reciprocal tariffs on trading partners, U.S. lawmakers have introduced measures to close the loopholes that would allow Chinese products to evade the president’s increased fees.
Republican Senator Rick Scott introduced the Stopping Adversarial Tariff Evasion Act on Jan. 31, aiming to strengthen enforcement mechanisms to ensure foreign manufacturers comply with customs and duties.
The legislation builds on efforts from Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, who introduced a bill in December intended to hold China accountable for tariff evasion by establishing a task force and reporting mechanisms to deal with instances of financial crime.
Jayant Menon, a senior fellow at the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said the second Trump presidency will foster even more efforts to monitor tariff evasion and inspect products for compliance.
“While it is increasingly difficult to determine where a product is really made these days, given increasing globalization and widespread production under global supply chain, increased scrutiny can help with identifying bypass attempts,” Menon said.
“If bypass attempts are suspected, rightly or wrongly, then the country as a whole may be penalized with new tariffs,” he said.
Pickard said he expects more investigations will be launched by the new administration. He also looks forward to more efforts to counter discriminatory practices affecting U.S. companies.
“We anticipate CBP will increase its enforcement efforts as to the widespread customs fraud involving Chinese products,” he said.
Many stakeholders in the industry, Pickard said, are hoping to see these issues met with criminal prosecutions.
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GENEVA — The U.N. human rights chief warned of the risk of a further escalation of the war in Sudan on Thursday and said there was a growing risk of deaths from starvation on a wide scale.
Volker Türk’s warning came a day after the U.N. World Food Program has temporarily stopped distributing food aid in a famine-struck camp for displaced people in Sudan’s North Darfur amid escalating violence.
“Sudan is a powder keg, on the verge of a further explosion into chaos, and at increasing risk of atrocity crimes and mass deaths from famine,” he told the Human Rights Council in Geneva. “The danger of escalation has never been higher.”
War erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.
Already, famine conditions have been reported in at least five locations in Sudan, including displacement camps in Darfur, according to the United Nations.
Türk said that recent moves by the RSF towards establishing governing authority in areas it controls were likely to “further entrench divisions and the risk of continued hostilities.”
He also noted continued supplies of weapons to the warring parties from outside the country, including more advanced arms.
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BUCHAREST, ROMANIA — Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are charged with human trafficking in Romania, left for the United States after authorities lifted travel restrictions imposed as part of the case, an official said Thursday.
The brothers — who are dual U.S.-British citizens and have millions of online followers — were arrested in late 2022 and indicted last year on charges they participated in a criminal ring that lured women to Romania, where they were sexually exploited.
Andrew Tate was also charged with rape. They deny the allegations. In December, a court ruled that the case couldn’t go to trial because of multiple legal and procedural irregularities on the part of the prosecutors.
The case, however, remained open, and there is also another ongoing investigation against them in Romania. Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, said in a statement Thursday that prosecutors approved a request to change the travel restrictions on the Tates but didn’t say who made the request.
The brothers are still required to appear before judicial authorities when summoned. “The defendants have been warned that deliberately violating these obligations may result in judicial control being replaced with a stricter deprivation of liberty measure,” the statement said.
Andrew Tate, 38, a former professional kickboxer and self-described misogynist who has amassed more than 10 million followers on X, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors in Romania have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him.
He and Tristan Tate, 36, are vocal supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump. The Tates’ departure came after Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu said this month that an official in the Trump administration expressed interest in the brothers’ case at the Munich Security Conference.
The minister insisted no pressure was applied to lift restrictions on the Tates after a Financial Times report on the meeting caused a stir in Romania. The Bucharest Court of Appeal’s decision that the Tate case could not proceed was a huge setback for DIICOT, but it didn’t mean the defendants could walk free, and the case hasn’t been closed.
Last August, DIICOT also launched a second case against the brothers, investigating allegations of human trafficking, the trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor, influencing statements and money laundering. They have denied those charges as well.
The Tate brothers’ legal battles aren’t limited to Romania. Late last year, a U.K. court ruled that police can seize more than $3.3 million to cover years of unpaid taxes from the pair and freeze some of their accounts. Andrew Tate called it “outright theft” and said it was “a coordinated attack on anyone who dares to challenge the system.”
In March, the Tate brothers appeared at the Bucharest Court of Appeal in a separate case after U.K. authorities issued arrest warrants over allegations of sexual aggression in a case dating back to 2012-2015. The appeals court granted the U.K. request to extradite the Tates, but only after legal proceedings in Romania have concluded.
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Anticipation is growing in Russia for a summit – yet to be scheduled – between U.S. President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. On the streets of Moscow, many Russians welcome what they see as a thaw in relations with Washington, and what some hope is the beginning of the end of their country’s isolation from the West. Jonathan Spier narrates this report.
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washington — As more countries enact cybercrime legislation, analysts warn that efforts to combat legitimate concerns could also allow for easier targeting of critics.
Analysts have warned that amendments in Pakistan and Myanmar in recent months could add to already repressive environments.
Some point to Nigeria as a test case. Since passing its cybercrime law in 2015, watchdogs have documented 29 cases of journalists being charged, including four who were charged in a Lagos court in September.
“What we are seeing is a steady criminalization of journalists around the world, and it’s a huge threat to press freedom,” said Jonathan Rozen, a senior researcher at the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ.
In Pakistan, the government in January amended the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act of 2016 (PECA). Authorities said the changes would curb cybercrime, online harassment and the spread of hateful content that could instigate violence.
Pakistan’s federal information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said the law was needed “to regulate social media.”
“Countries across the world have some codes or standards under which social media operate, but there was none in our country,” he told reporters last month.
The amendment led to protests by journalists and civil society, who said the changes would make it easy for authorities to prosecute people whose opinions are not in line with those of the government.
Analysts pointed to broad terms, including definitions of “unlawful” content and “person,” with the latter now including state institutions and corporations.
Another amendment proposed the creation of a Digital Rights Protection Authority that can remove content from social media platforms.
Critics and media rights groups worry this could expose journalists and social media users to increased restrictions and legal action, restrict dissent and open doors for the powerful military establishment to target and harass civilians.
Before the reforms, watchdogs recorded more than 200 cases of journalists being investigated since PECA was passed.
Joshua Kurlantzick, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the changes in Pakistan’s cybercrime law would make an “already repressive online atmosphere even worse and restrictive.”
Pakistan’s military has imposed a “much tougher crackdown” in the past year, said Kurlantzick.
“They have gone well out of their way to target individuals, civil rights activists, journalists, and use anti-freedom laws to target those people, and often put them in jail,” he said.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information did not respond to VOA’s request for comment.
Similar concerns are shared in Myanmar, where the junta last July passed an expansive cybercrime law. The law targeted virtual private networks, or VPNs, that allow internet users to circumvent blocked websites and censorship.
The junta said the new law was needed to protect against cyberattacks and cybercrimes that could threaten the country’s stability.
Since seizing power in a coup in February 2021, Myanmar’s military has revoked broadcast licenses, blocked access to websites and jailed journalists. The country is the third worst jailer of journalists, with 35 detained, according to the latest CPJ data.
An expert with the Myanmar Internet Project, a digital rights group, told VOA at the time that the law was more focused on suppressing rights than protecting the public.
“All the provisions of the law are designed to suppress rather than protect the public,” the expert, who asked to be identified only as U Han, said. “We believe that the junta will use this bill as a weapon prepared for this purpose.”
Kurlantzick, however, believes the military would struggle to restrict the online space.
“Myanmar’s military has no power to restrict online dissent anymore, as 70% of the country is in control of the opposition groups,” he said. “The government, which can’t provide power, water or other services even in the biggest cities, doesn’t have the ability to crack down on the internet now.”
In Nigeria, the 2015 Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act has been used to file cases against journalists who investigate corruption. But the government has made some reforms based on civil society and press freedom group recommendations.
Two sections of the cybercrime law had been of particular concern because of the “very broad and vague wording” that allowed the arrest of journalists for sending what were deemed “annoying” or “defamatory” messages, said CPJ’s Rozen.
Changes made in 2024 narrowed the language.
“It constrained the opportunity for authorities to arrest journalists only if the messages were knowingly false, or if it was causing a breakdown of law or causing a threat to life,” said Rozen, who added that other areas remain “overly broad and could be abused.”
One section he cited allows for law enforcement to access information from service providers without a court order.
Nigeria’s police have used this to access data of journalists, said Rozen, noting that four journalists are currently facing prosecution under the cybercrime act.
Rozen agrees that “misinformation and disinformation are challenges for society, but what is being observed,” he said, “is a criminalization of journalists on accusations that they are sharing false information, and in many cases, this is used as a shorthand to smother or crush” dissenting voices.
With more reporting and publishing taking place online, the tools some governments use to suppress journalists are adapting to the modernization of the industry, Rozen said.
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NOUADHIBOU, MAURITANIA — Eager students from throughout west Africa raise their hands as teachers guide them through math and classical Arabic. Then they race outdoors to meet their parents, who clean houses, drive informal taxis or gut sardines in Chinese factories.
Outside, government billboards urge these families and others to fight “migrant smuggling,” showing overcrowded boats navigating the Atlantic’s thrashing waves. Inside, posters warn the ocean can be deadly.
Such messaging is hard to escape in Nouadhibou, Mauritania’s second-largest city and a launch point on an increasingly popular migrant route toward Europe. As authorities strengthen security measures on long-established routes, migrants are resorting to longer, more perilous ones. From Mauritania, they risk hundreds of kilometers of sea and howling winds to reach Spain’s Canary Islands.
The route puts new strain on this port city of 177,000 people at the edge of the Sahara. Outdated infrastructure and unpaved roads have not kept pace as European and Chinese investment pours into the fishing industry, and as migrants and their children arrive from as far away as Syria and Pakistan.
The school for children of migrants and refugees, set up in 2018 as an early response to the growing need, is the kind of program envisioned as part of the $219 million accord the European Union and Mauritania brokered last year.
The deal — one of several that Europe has signed with neighboring states to deter migration — funds border patrol, development aid and programs supporting refugees, asylum-seekers and host communities.
It’s a response to rising alarm and anti-migration politics in Europe. Nearly 47,000 migrants arrived on boats in the Canaries last year, a record “fueled by departures from Mauritania, even as flows from other departure points declined,” according to the EU border agency Frontex. Almost 6,000 were unaccompanied children under 18.
Tracking deaths at sea is difficult, but the Spanish nonprofit Walking Borders says at least 6,800 people died or went missing while attempting the crossing last year. Conditions are so harsh that boats drifting off course can end up in Brazil or the Caribbean.
Though many praise initiatives that fulfill migrants and refugees’ overlooked needs, few believe they will be effective in discouraging departures for Europe — even the head of the group that runs the Nouadhibou school.
“We can’t stop migration,” said Amsatou Vepouyoum, president of the Organization for the Support of Migrants and Refugees, the city’s leading migrant aid group. “But through raising awareness, we want to improve the conditions under which people leave.”
Preparing for an uncertain future
The organization years ago surveyed the migrant population and found that education was one of the biggest barriers to integration in Mauritania.
Bill Van Esveld, a children’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that’s true around the world. Many countries that migrants and refugees pass through erect bureaucratic hurdles to school access, he said.
“Without literacy or numeracy, how can you advocate for yourself as someone who has human rights in today’s world?” Van Esveld said.
Mauritania’s Education Ministry in a January directive affirmed that refugee children have the right to attend public school. But that hasn’t applied for many migrants who don’t qualify as refugees and face difficulty enrolling because they lack birth certificates, residency papers or school records.
The school for Nouadhibou’s migrant and refugee children ages 5 to 12 runs parallel to Mauritania’s school system and teaches a similar curriculum as well as Arabic, aiming to integrate children into public classrooms by sixth grade.
Families often don’t plan to stay in Mauritania, but parents still describe the school as a lifeline for kids’ futures, wherever they will be.
“Sometimes life’s circumstances leave you somewhere, so you adapt, and what ends up happening leads you to stay,” Vepouyoum said.
Weak oversight and worried parents
From Europe’s perspective, funneling aid toward such initiatives is part of a larger effort to persuade people not to migrate. Some experts say it also demonstrates a disconnect between political goals and on-the-ground realities.
“The European Union always announces these big sums, but it’s very difficult to figure out how the money is actually spent,” said Ulf Laessing, the Sahel program director at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a German think tank.
Both the school and the Organization for the Support of Migrants and Refugees have had their work highlighted by the EU and member states, along with United Nations agencies. None have said how much money they have spent on the school or on other programs aimed at migrants in Mauritania.
The school said it also charges students based on what families can afford so it can pay rent on its two-story cinderblock building and utilities, Vepouyoum said.
But four parents, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they worried about their children getting kicked out, said the baseline monthly fee of $15 per child was too much.
“If you can’t pay, they’ll kick you out,” a father of two students from Mali said.
He said many parents want to give children opportunities they lacked in their home countries. He has heard from other parents that enrolling in school is easier in the Canary Islands, but limited access to education is also a problem there.
The school in Nouadhibou says it has educated over 500 students. It has not tracked the number who continue on toward Europe.
Pressures to move on
Times are changing in Nouadhibou. Community leaders and business owners worry that increasing competition for jobs has fueled suspicion toward foreign-born communities.
That includes workers from neighboring Senegal and Mali who settled in the city years ago. Aid groups say outreach is easier among long-term migrants because newcomers worry about drawing attention to themselves — sometimes because they’re looking for smugglers to help them move on, said Kader Konate, a community leader from Mali.
Many migrants say they just need help.
“We are doing this because we feel have no other choice,” Boureima Maiga said.
The 29-year-old graduate with a teaching degree fled Mali as extremist violence escalated. On many days, he waits at the Nouadhibou port alongside hundreds of other migrants, hoping for work in fish factory “cold rooms.”
But without residency or work visas, they are often turned away, or have pay withheld — an abuse they fear would bring retaliation if reported.
Maiga feels trapped in a country where deep racial divisions between Arab and Black Africans make integration nearly impossible, with discrimination by employers widespread. He is unsure where to go next.
“Just let me work. I can do a lot of jobs,” he said. “Everyone knows how to do something.”
Meanwhile, every day, he picks up his nieces at a Catholic school, hoping it will give them a life beyond such worries.
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TOKYO — The number of babies born in Japan fell to a record low of 720,988 in 2024 for a ninth consecutive year of decline, the health ministry said on Thursday, underscoring the rapid aging and dwindling of the population.
Births were down 5% on the year, despite measures in 2023 by former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government to boost child-bearing, while a record number of 1.62 million deaths meant that more than two people died for every new baby born.
Although the fertility rate in neighboring South Korea rose in 2024 for the first time in nine years, thanks to measures to spur young people to marry and have children, the trend in Japan has yet to show an upturn.
Behind Japan’s childbirth decline are fewer marriages in recent years, stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, said Takumi Fujinami, an economist at the Japan Research Institute.
Although the number of marriages edged up 2.2% to 499,999 in 2024, that came only after steep declines, such as a plunge of 12.7% in 2020.
“The impact could linger on in 2025 as well,” Fujinami said.
Unlike some Western countries, only a few of every 100 babies in Japan are born out of wedlock, suggesting a stronger correlation between marriages and births.
News this week that South Korea’s fertility rate rose to 0.75 in 2024 from 0.72 in 2023 suggested the neighboring nation’s demographic crisis might have turned a corner.
In Japan, the most recent data shows the corresponding figure for the average number of babies a woman is expected to have during her reproductive life came in at 1.20 in 2023.
While it was too early for any meaningful comparison between the figures in the two countries, Fujinami warned, it was important for both to improve job opportunities and close the gender gap to encourage young people to marry and have children.
Experts believe South Korea’s positive turn resulted from government support in the three areas of work-family balance, childcare and housing, as well as a campaign for businesses to nudge employees towards parenthood.
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WASHINGTON — The U.S. FBI on Wednesday accused North Korea of being behind the theft of $1.5 billion worth of digital assets last week, the largest crypto heist in history.
“(North Korea) was responsible for the theft of approximately $1.5 billion in virtual assets from cryptocurrency exchange, Bybit,” the FBI said in a public service announcement.
The bureau said a group called TraderTraitor, also known as the Lazarus Group, was behind the theft.
It said they were “proceeding rapidly and have converted some of the stolen assets to Bitcoin and other virtual assets dispersed across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains.”
“It is expected these assets will be further laundered and eventually converted to fiat currency,” the FBI added.
Lazarus Group gained notoriety a decade ago when it was accused of hacking into Sony Pictures as revenge for The Interview, a film that mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
North Korea’s cyber-warfare program dates back to at least the mid-1990s.
It has since grown to a 6,000-strong cyber-warfare unit known as Bureau 121 that operates from several countries, according to a 2020 U.S. military report.
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US President Donald Trump says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be at the White House on Friday to sign an agreement granting the US access to Ukraine’s lucrative rare earth minerals. But Ukraine’s leader says a few outstanding issues remain. White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington.
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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — A new survey by Chinese media shows that housing rents in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen have fallen to 2015–2017 levels, while rents in Guangzhou, Chengdu and Tianjin have dropped to the early 2010s levels.
Analysts attribute the decline in rents to falling household incomes, which have weakened demand.
Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
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ABUJA, NIGERIA — Nigeria’s National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) warns that terrorist groups are getting more sophisticated — using new technologies and exploiting political and economic grievances to expand their operations. In response, authorities have launched a review of the national anti-terrorism strategy to address emerging threats.
The official anti-terror strategy document was first developed in 2014 and revised two years later. Authorities say this latest revision is necessary to reflect evolving security threats and ensure counterterrorism measures remain effective.
“The tactics used by non-state actors keep evolving and have become highly unpredictable,” said Major General Adamu Garba Laka, the national coordinator of the Counter Terrorism Center. “Nigeria is grappling with the challenges of insecurity, thanks to the efforts made by personnel and agencies in charge of securing the lives of citizens, which has ensured the decline in the number of such incidences.”
The review comes three months after Nigerian authorities warned that a new terror group, Lakurawa, has emerged in the northwest region.
Authorities say terrorist organizations are increasingly using advanced technology — such as encrypted messaging apps, social media recruitment campaigns and drones — to enhance their operations.
They also exploit poverty, political grievances and weak law enforcement in remote areas to recruit fighters and spread their ideology.
Laka said the updated strategy will redefine the roles of government agencies involved in counterterrorism efforts.
For well over a decade, Nigeria has struggled to curb violence from terrorist groups, including Boko Haram and its offshoot, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Since 2009, more than 35,000 people have been killed, and at least 2 million have been displaced.
Although the overall number of terrorism-related deaths has declined in recent years, threats persist because of persistent poverty and poor governance.
Security analyst Chidi Omeje said the increasing sophistication of terror groups is not surprising.
“I don’t see it as something that we didn’t expect. That’s the reality of emerging security,” said Omeje. “They have these links with terror networks, so they’ll naturally grow in these proficiencies. So, it’s up to us to devise ways to counter those technologies they’re using.”
Last month, terrorists attacked a military base near Nigeria’s border with Niger, killing 20 soldiers.
Security analyst Ebenezer Oyetakin argues that beyond reviewing counterterrorism strategies, authorities need to uncover terrorism financiers.
“When you take a look at the operation of al-Qaida, you compare it with ISIS — the way they move in their convoy — and then you compare it with Boko Haram, you’ll see the semblance, which means they’re too dynamic, they’re not just a bunch of illiterates that are trying to make ends meet,” said Oyetakin. “We should look for those behind them rather than contending with policies that are not sincerely being implemented.”
Africa has become the global epicenter of terrorism, accounting for the highest number of terror-related deaths in 2023.
Last April, Nigeria hosted the African Counter-Terrorism Summit, bringing together hundreds of experts and policymakers to develop a continent-wide strategy against terror groups.
But for now, Nigerian authorities say their focus remains on strengthening the country’s resilience against terrorism.
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Three years after Russian troops drove everyone in the village into a school basement for a month, the people of Yahidne, Ukraine, continue to repair and rebuild their homes. Lesia Bakalets visited this community about 90 kilometers north of Kyiv. Camera: Vladyslav Smilianets.
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united nations — U.N. Security Council members expressed deep concern Wednesday over the announcement earlier this week by the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that it plans to establish a parallel governing authority in parts of the country under its control.
“This is a dangerous step that fuels further fragmentation in Sudan and derails ongoing efforts toward peace and dialogue,” said Algeria’s Deputy Ambassador Toufik Koudri on behalf of the three African members of the council plus Guyana. “We call for these actions to be reversed and urge the RSF and their allies to put the unity and national interests of Sudan above all other considerations.”
The RSF and allied political and armed groups signed a 16-page “charter” in Kenya over the weekend to establish a governing authority. The rebels control much of western Sudan, including most of the Darfur region.
Council diplomats said the African members — Algeria, Sierra Leone and Somalia — have proposed a draft statement for the council’s consideration expressing “grave concern” over the development, reaffirming its commitment to Sudan’s unity and urging the parties to engage in negotiations. It would require the consensus of all 15 members.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Monday that the RSF’s move could deepen the nearly two-year-old civil war.
Nearly every council member expressed concern and disapproval of the RSF’s move, which comes as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have been making progress in its bid to recapture districts in the greater Khartoum area, including Omdurman and Khartoum North.
“We support the restoration of civilian governance in a peaceful, unified Sudan. In this regard, we support efforts to promote a civilian political dialogue to foster a political process,” said U.S. political coordinator John Kelley. “Attempts by the RSF and aligned actors to establish a government in RSF-controlled territory in Sudan are unhelpful for the cause of peace and security in Sudan and risk a de facto partition of the country.”
“Respect for Sudan’s [U.N.] Charter rights — its unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity — is vital and will be necessary for a sustainable end to this war,” said British Ambassador Barbara Woodward.
She said Foreign Secretary David Lammy plans to convene 20 states and international organizations in London in April for talks on supporting a peaceful way forward for Sudan.
South Korea’s envoy warned of the potential consequences of a fragmented Sudan, which is the continent’s third-largest country by size and home to 50 million people.
“The disintegration of such a vast, large nation would have profound and lasting ramifications and repercussions on the peace and prosperity of neighboring states and the wider region,” said Ambassador Hwang Joonkook.
Sudan’s envoy, Al-Harith Idriss al-Harith Mohamed, criticized Kenya for allowing the signing of the RSF’s charter in its country, saying the agreement seeks to dismantle his country.
“I reiterate that neither President William Ruto nor the government of Kenya has recognized any independent entity in the Sudan or elsewhere,” Kenya’s Ambassador Erastus Lokaale responded in the council.
“Kenya believes strongly in availing the opportunity for dialogue and negotiations to diverse groups of Sudanese society and has remained consistent in its commitment to facilitate the expansion of Sudanese consensus across the political divide towards achieving a swift end to the conflict in the Sudan,” said Lokaale.
Fighting continues
The SAF-backed authorities have presented their own road map for ending the war that includes an inclusive national dialogue, the formation of a caretaker transitional government and the selection of a civilian prime minister.
“We call on the United Nations and the [U.N. secretary-general’s personal Sudan] envoy to support this road map, because it’s the practical and realistic means to end the crisis,” Mohamed said.
On Monday, the RSF announced a new assault on North Darfur’s embattled capital, El-Fasher, which is still held by the Sudanese military.
“But any ceasefire is rejected if El Fasher’s siege is not lifted,” Mohamed added. “The rebels, within any agreement, must withdraw from the areas they continue to occupy because they target civilians and deliberately kill them.”
The fighting in El Fasher, specifically in and around Zamzam displaced person’s camp, has caused the World Food Program to temporarily pause its distribution of critical food and nutrition assistance to the famine-affected camp.
WFP said Wednesday that Zamzam’s market was destroyed by shelling, further hurting residents’ ability to access food. About a half million people live in the camp.
On Monday, Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, said it was also halting health and nutrition work at Zamzam because of insecurity.
The United Nations says more than 12 million people have been displaced by the fighting between Sudan’s two rival generals, and nearly half the country’s population is experiencing acute hunger.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
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Special Agent Clint Hill, a member of the Secret Service detail assigned to protect President John F. Kennedy the day he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, has died at age 93. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh, who interviewed Hill several times over the years, has the story.
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