Southern California slammed with debris flows, mudslides

Posted on by SeeUS

After days of heavy rain, the strongest storm of the year brought dangerous debris flows and rock- and mudslides across Southern California on Friday, including in several areas that last month were ablaze with devastating fires.

Some areas in the region received as much as 12 centimeters of rain this week, the National Weather Service said.

“There are plenty of reports of debris flow,” meteorologist Scott Kleebauer of the weather service said Friday.

The scorched earth left behind by the fires is now particularly vulnerable to the water-fueled rock- and mudslides, as the vegetation that once anchored the soil was burned away.

While this week’s rain is beginning to ease, that does not mean the slides will stop. The drenched soil can continue to move even after the rain subsides.

Parts of the iconic Pacific Coast Highway were shut down Thursday because of flooding and mudslides.

In Pacific Palisades, a highway intersection was under a meter of sludge.

Photographs posted on social media showed parked cars in Pacific Palisades covered in mud up to their windows. Bulldozers have been assigned to the area to clean up the muck.

In one harrowing experience Thursday, a member of the Los Angeles Fire Department was driving along the Pacific Coast Highway when a debris flow swept his vehicle into the ocean. Erik Scott, a spokesperson for the fire department, said the driver was able to get out of his vehicle and reportedly suffered only minor injuries.

In Sierra Madre, a city of 10,000 that was the site of last month’s Eaton Fire, a boulder-strewn mudslide damaged several homes.

“It happened very quickly but it was very loud, and you could even hear the ground or feel the ground shaking,” Bull Duvall, who has lived in Sierra Madre for 28 years, told The Associated Press. City officials issued an evacuation order warning residents that emergency responders would not enter locations with active mud and debris flows.

The National Weather Service confirmed Friday that a weak tornado hit a mobile home community Thursday in Oxnard, California. There were no reports of deaths or injuries at Country Club Mobile Estates, but property damage included ripped roofs and downed power lines.

The rain was badly needed in the region, much of which is still suffering from drought.

In nearby Nevada, Las Vegas was glad to see rain Thursday, after enduring more than 200 days without precipitation. A National Weather Service Las Vegas post said, “Las Vegas has officially measured 0.01 inch of rainfall this morning, effectively ending our dry streak of 214 days without measurable rain.”
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Ukraine, US weigh critical minerals agreement

Posted on by SeeEU

Ukraine’s vast reserves of critical minerals give it the potential to be a strategic supplier for the West. President Donald Trump is considering a deal that would continue U.S. support for Ukraine in the war against Russia in exchange for access to its minerals. That proposed agreement is set for discussion at the Munich Security Conference. Myroslava Gongadze has the story from Warsaw, with reporting from Anna Chernikova in Kyiv.
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Intelligence agencies close in on Islamic State caliph

Posted on by SeeAF

WASHINGTON — A growing number of countries think they have unmasked the man running the Islamic State terror group’s global operations.

A report issued this week by the United Nations Sanctions Monitoring Team, based on U.N. member state intelligence, said there is “growing confidence” that the IS caliph is Abdul Qadir Mumin, who also heads the terror group’s branch in Somalia.

The importance of Mumin to IS’s global operations has not been in doubt. Previous U.N. intelligence reports suggested he had been elevated to lead the Islamic State’s general directorate of provinces, essentially giving him control over the group’s African affiliates.

But by late last year, officials with U.S. Africa Command told VOA they assessed reports that Mumin was the group’s emir to be credible.

That assessment seems to be gaining traction, with many U.N. member states agreeing that IS is trying to adapt to realities on the ground in Iraq and Syria that make moving key officials and functions elsewhere advantageous.

“It may signify a deliberate pivot toward a more decentralized operational structure, further from the core conflict zone,” the report said.

Not all countries that contributed intelligence for the report are in agreement.

Some remain unconvinced that the terror group, also known as ISIS or Daesh, would readily forsake its core territory in Iraq and Syria. Others question whether IS would allow itself to be led by someone who cannot credibly claim to be descended from the Prophet Muhammad, a criterion applied to past leaders.

Survival, however, may be more important.

Since the deaths of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019 and his successor in 2022, the terror group has sought to protect its leaders by hiding their identity and by minimizing public appearances.

The group has publicly referred to its current leader only by his nom de guerre, as Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, which signifies he has the required lineage.

“Maybe they have now got so used to the fact that the emir, or the caliph, is never seen or heard,” said Edmund Fitton-Brown, a former U.N. counterterrorism official who is a senior adviser for the Counter Extremism Project.

“Maybe they say Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi is the name we are giving to the caliph,” Fitton-Brown told VOA. “Nobody will ever know that he’s Somali. Nobody will ever hear an African accent. Nobody will ever see an African person.”

Already, Abu Hafs has outlasted his direct predecessor, who died after ruling for about six months.

And if Abu Hafs is Somalia’s Mumin, he also has managed to survive at least one attempt on his life — a U.S. airstrike in May 2024.

This week’s report from the U.N. said that since that strike, Mumin has “taken measures to limit the group’s exposure to unnecessary external attention.”

It also described Mumin’s base of operations, Buur Dhexaad, as a series of caves and defensive structures in the Cal Miskaad range of Somalia’s Golis Mountains, which are thought to provide protection from Western airstrikes.

That assumption is being put to the test as Buur Dhexaad appears to be the same area targeted by a new round of U.S. airstrikes earlier this month.

U.S. officials said those strikes successfully killed Ahmed Maeleninine, a key external operations leader, and 13 IS operatives.

IS-Somalia

The U.N. report warned that IS-Somalia, under Mumin’s leadership, has continued to gain influence while strengthening its finances.

Intelligence shared from member states indicated IS-Somalia expanded its extortion activities in parts of Somalia under its control and has, in turn, invested the money in improving its military capabilities, including unmanned drones for surveillance and suicide attacks.

But the affiliate, which saw its forces surge thanks to an influx of foreign fighters, has seen its growth slow of late.

The report said IS-Somalia saw a spike in defections due to “difficulties in integrating fighters into narrow clan-based structures, cultural barriers and the severity of conditions.”

Efforts to intercept would-be foreign fighters before they can reach Somalia also have taken a toll.

Syria and Iraq

Key members of IS’s leadership may be seeking refuge in Somalia, but there are no indications the terror group has given up its designs on retaking territory in Syria and Iraq.

The U.N. report said the terror group still maintains about 1,500 to 3,000 fighters across the two countries, with most operating out of Syria.

There are also indications that IS has found ways to take advantage of the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad this past December.

Some U.N. member states’ intelligence agencies said some IS operatives leaped into action even as the lead Syrian insurgent group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), launched its assault on the Assad regime.

One IS operative, they said, infiltrated the al-Hol displaced-persons camp in northeastern Syria and sneaked out experienced IS fighters by replacing them with teenage boys.

The same operative is thought to have reactivated an IS brigade at al-Hol “tasked with intelligence-gathering, training young people for operations, recruiting and managing funds.”

Additionally, the report warned of IS launching increasingly sophisticated attacks against the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

IS in Iraq has been weakened by Iraqi counterterrorism pressure, including an operation in August that killed the group’s deputy wali (governor) and 13 other leaders. But the U.N. report said IS “maintained the ability to operate and replace field commanders.”

Afghanistan presence

U.N. member states continue to raise concerns about the IS affiliate in Afghanistan, known as IS-Khorasan or ISIS-K.

The report called IS-Khorasan “the most serious threat” to Afghanistan, noting the group’s ability to infiltrate the country’s Taliban rulers and exploit dissatisfaction, especially among poppy farmers and ethnic Tajiks, with the Taliban’s rule.

U.N. member states assessed IS has about 4,000 to 6,000 operatives across Afghanistan, and that it is also building capabilities while seeking to bring in more fighters from Central Asia.

To make the journey easier, IS-Khorasan set up smuggling routes into Afghanistan through Turkey and through Iran, according to the report.

The report noted the ability of IS-Khorasan to reach into Europe and recruit minors.

“The increasing frequency of foiled plots underscored the group’s determination and capacity to conduct attacks of high lethality on European soil, primarily against soft targets and large crowds,” it said.

Harun Maruf, Mohamed Olad Hassan and Carla Babb contributed to this report.
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Argentina court issues international arrest warrant for Myanmar military leader

Posted on by SeeEA

washington — A court in Argentina has issued an international arrest warrant for Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the commander in chief of Myanmar’s military, for his role in the 2017 genocide against the Rohingya.

The court’s decision, announced Thursday, also lists two civilian leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and 22 other military officials. 

Min Aung Hlaing, who leads Myanmar’s military junta after seizing power in a 2021 coup, is at the center of the warrants issued by the court in Buenos Aires. The charges against him include aggravated murder, torture and sexual violence linked to the military’s brutal crackdown on the Rohingya population in Rakhine State, located in western Myanmar bordering with Bangladesh. 

The Myanmar junta has yet to officially respond to the warrants from the Argentine court. However, in response to VOA’s inquiry, junta spokesperson General Zaw Min Tun dismissed Argentina’s legal authority over Myanmar.

“Does Argentina even know Myanmar? The Myanmar government knows Argentina. If Argentina wants to legally criticize Myanmar, it must have judicial authority in the country. I suggest you focus on filling your own vacant judicial positions first,” the spokesperson said in response to a VOA inquiry on the junta’s Viber press group. 

Since the case was filed in 2019 under the principle of universal jurisdiction, the junta has consistently rejected Argentina’s involvement, maintaining that foreign courts have no authority to prosecute Myanmar’s leaders over the Rohingya issue. The principle of universal jurisdiction allows national courts to prosecute individuals for serious crimes that violate international law. 

Legal efforts, court decision  

The Burmese Rohingya Organisation U.K. (BROUK), which filed the initial complaint in 2019, praised the court’s ruling as a victory for justice.  

“This is a victory for the Rohingya and for international justice,” said Tun Khin, president of BROUK, according to a Friday press statement. “It shows that no one is above the law, not even the military leaders who have committed genocide.”  

In 2017, Myanmar’s army launched a brutal offensive against the Muslim Rohingya population in Rakhine State, which is located on the country’s western coast off the Bay of Bengal. The offensive followed attacks on police outposts by insurgent groups.  

The military’s response involved mass killings, sexual violence and widespread destruction of villages, forcing more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. The United Nations and human rights organizations have described the military’s actions as a genocide.  

Late last year, the International Criminal Court also issued an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing for crimes against humanity. 

While the warrant from Argentina for Min Aung Hlaing is a major development, the court’s decision on other leaders has sparked debate.  

In December 2023, BROUK requested arrest warrants for military officials only, presenting evidence related to their roles in the genocide. No evidence was submitted for Aung San Suu Kyi, who served as state counselor and de facto leader of Myanmar during the 2017 military offensive against the Rohingya, or for former civilian President Htin Kyaw.

However, in June 2024, the Argentine prosecutor included them in his request. BROUK then asked the court to reconsider issuing warrants for these civilians, given Burma’s political context, but the court dismissed the request.  

Aung San Suu Kyi has been imprisoned since the military took power in the 2021 coup.  

Implications of warrant  

Tomas Quintana, an Argentinian human rights lawyer and former U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar and a key figure in the case, explained the court’s stance.  

“We felt that at this stage in the investigation, it was not appropriate to seek arrest warrants for civilian leaders like Aung San Suu Kyi,” he told VOA’s Burmese Service in an exclusive interview. “But the court sided with the prosecutor, deciding to include civilians in the warrants.”  

Quintana said the ruling was based on legal strategy and evidence available at the time. 

Aung San Suu Kyi’s role in the genocide is still under investigation by the Argentine court. While the court initially focused on the direct perpetrators of the violence — the military leaders, including Min Aung Hlaing — it later sided with prosecutors to explore the civilian leaders’ responsibility as well. 

“This decision marks a shift in international accountability,” Quintana said. “It is the first time Burma [Myanmar] has been held accountable in a court of law for crimes against the Rohingya.”  

The investigation, which has spanned four years, was supported by survivor testimonies and documentation from the United Nations Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar.  

The Argentine court’s decision is expected to lead to an Interpol “red notice,” which would request the detention of Min Aung Hlaing and other Myanmar military leaders worldwide. 

While the arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing is a significant step, Quintana said there are still challenges ahead.  

“Myanmar’s military regime controls the country, so executing these warrants remains difficult,” he said. He called for international cooperation to ensure that officials were held accountable.  

“The United Nations and the global community must work together to enforce these decisions.”  

Despite the setback in including Aung San Suu Kyi in the arrest warrant, the warrants are a powerful symbolic ruling for the Rohingya people, Quintana said, adding that it is also a crucial step in the long process of justice.
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At Munich conference, Vance warns European allies of ‘threat from within’

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U.S. Vice President JD Vance warned European leaders at the security conference in Munich, Germany, of the “threat from within,” arguing that their governments are censoring far-right speech and failing to control migration. His remarks came amid allies’ alarm over President Donald Trump’s decision to begin peace talks with Russia. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
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13 people arrested in Croatia for illegally disposing of hazardous waste

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ZAGREB, CROATIA — Thirteen people suspected of illegally importing and disposing of hazardous waste have been arrested in Croatia, the European Union’s law enforcement agency said Friday. 

The main suspects, two Croatian nationals, are considered high-value targets by Europol, said an agency statement. They are believed to have orchestrated the illegal hazardous waste imports from Italy, Slovenia and Germany to Croatia. 

Rather than being properly treated, the waste was simply dumped and buried, Europol said. The statement added that at least 35,000 metric tons (38,580 U.S. tons) of waste were illegally disposed of resulting in a profit of at least $4.2 million. 

The waste was declared as recyclable plastic waste but was “legally considered dangerous waste,” Europol said. Croatian authorities believe the criminal network also illegally buried and dumped medical waste from Croatian companies, it said. 

Croatian anti-corruption authorities said in a statement of their own Friday that they have launched an investigation into 10 people and four legal entities suspected of criminal conspiracy, crimes against the environment, tax evasion and money laundering. They said they will seek to keep seven people detained, the state-run HRT television said. 

The Croatian office tasked with fighting organized crime and corruption said illegal waste disposal has inflicted damage on the environment, including changes in the land configuration that affected plant and tree growth, release of toxic particles in the soil and air, and potential negative effect on people’s health. 

Croatia has suffered “considerable ecological damage” and still unspecified material damage, the Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime said in a statement. 

Europol said the suspects abused the infrastructures of legal businesses. They would first offer lower prices for disposal and then falsify documentation to transport their cargo to Croatia, allegedly for recycling. 

Waste trafficking enables criminal networks to obtain huge profits while often causing irreparable damage to the environment, the agency said.
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Russian- and Soviet-born coaches still shaping US figure skating’s future

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The tragic deaths of Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov in a plane crash late last month in Washington have shone a spotlight on the role of Russian- or Soviet-born coaches in the world of competitive figure skating. Their influence has shaped a generation of American skaters, raising the question: Why have these coaches been so successful in the U.S.? Maxim Adams has the story. Video editor: Serge Sokolov, Anna Rice  
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Philippines increases defense efforts amid ongoing tension with China

Posted on by SeeEA

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — The Philippines is increasing efforts to strengthen defense cooperation with several like-minded democracies amid ongoing tensions with China in the disputed South China Sea. 

Manila is trying to conclude major defense pacts with Canada and New Zealand and explore possibilities of expanding joint military drills with the United States, its main defense partner.

Analysts say the development is part of Manila’s effort to counter China’s aggressive maritime activities near several disputed reefs in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost the entirety as its territory.  

“The Philippines is trying to boost their capabilities to sufficiently deter China by putting a lot of emphasis on the Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States while broadening the net of cooperation to other like-minded democracies,” said Collin Koh, a maritime security expert at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.  

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. described the defense pacts with Canada and New Zealand as part of Manila’s efforts to “build and strengthen” alliances with like-minded countries.  

“The status of visiting forces agreement with New Zealand is an important part of … both countries’ and multilateral countries’ initiatives to resist China’s unilateral narrative to change international law,” he told journalists on the sideline of an event on Feb. 6.  

Meanwhile, the Canadian ambassador to the Philippines, David Hartman, said at a press event on Feb. 7 that the visiting forces agreement would enable Canada to “have even more substantive participation in joint and multilateral training exercises and operations with the Philippines and allies” in the Indo-Pacific region.  

Some Philippine analysts describe the signing of the agreements as part of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s efforts to “reset” the country’s long-term strategic interests. 

As China continues to challenge different countries’ territorial claims across the Pacific region, “the Philippines’ efforts to consolidate more agreements with allies fits Manila’s need to defend its maritime territories and safeguard the freedom of navigation in the region,” Joshua Espena, a resident fellow at the Philippine-based International Development and Security Cooperation, told VOA by phone.  

Since about one-third of global trade passes through the South China Sea, Koh in Singapore said other democratic countries view signing defense agreements with the Philippines as a way to safeguard their strategic and economic interests in the Indo-Pacific region.

While the Philippines’ efforts to strengthen defense cooperation with other democracies may not fundamentally change China’s behaviors in the South China Sea, “it is still a concern for China when you have so many partners being militarily involved with Manila,” Koh told VOA by phone.  

Apart from negotiating defense pacts with Canada and New Zealand, the Philippines is also looking to expand joint military exercises with the United States.  

During a call on Tuesday, the Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. and U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown talked about the “military modernization initiatives, Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement sites and increasing the scope and capacity of joint exercises in the Philippines,” according to U.S. Joint Staff Spokesperson Navy Capt. Jereal Dorsey. 

In addition to the discussions, the Philippines has conducted a series of joint drills with the U.S. and Canada since last week, a development that China said undermines “peace and stability in the South China Sea.”

While countries around the world are bracing for uncertainties extending from the foreign policy of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, some experts say recent developments suggest the U.S. may continue to uphold its defense partnership with the Philippines.  

“The people [that] the Trump administration has put into key security roles are mostly China hawks, so they see the China threat as being very real, and the Philippines remains on the front line [of that threat,]” said Raymond Powell, director of Stanford University’s Sealight project, which tracks Chinese maritime activities across the Indo-Pacific region.  

He said the Philippines may “stand to gain” from the Trump administration’s foreign policy direction. Manila “may have one of the strongest arguments” to convince the U.S. to shift resources to the Indo-Pacific region because “they are on the front line,” Powell told VOA by phone.   

As the U.S. and the Philippines continue to uphold their defense cooperation, China has described the partnership as “extremely dangerous.” 

“China will not sit idly by when its security interests are harmed or threatened,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said during a regular press conference on Wednesday.

To counter the Chinese coast guard’s aggressive operations in the South China Sea, Brawner Jr. said Wednesday that the Philippines hoped to buy two more submarines and BrahMos missiles in India. The Reuters news agency reported that New Delhi is expected to sign a $200 million missile deal with Manila in 2025. 

Powell said the additional missiles could strengthen the Philippines’ deterrence against China, while Manila may need to put a lot of effort into familiarizing its military forces with the submarines.   

Despite Philippine President Marcos Jr.’s recent attempt to “offer a deal” to reduce tension in the South China Sea, Powell said Beijing’s aggressive posture will make it hard for the proposal to materialize.

“We’re seeing much heavier [Chinese] Coast Guard and militia activity around Scarborough Shoal, and I don’t see a lessening of tension there,” he said, adding that tensions between Beijing and Manila in the South China Sea will likely “plateau” in the near future.
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Taiwan pledges chip talks and investment in bid to ease Trump’s concerns 

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TAIPEI — Taiwan President Lai Ching-te pledged on Friday to talk with the United States about President Donald Trump’s concerns over the chip industry and to increase U.S. investment and buy more from the country, while also spending more on defense.

Trump spoke critically about Taiwan on Thursday, saying he aimed to restore U.S. manufacturing of semiconductor chips and repeating claims about Taiwan having taken away the industry he wanted back in the United States.

Speaking to reporters after holding a meeting of the National Security Council at the presidential office, Lai said that the global semiconductor supply chain is an ecosystem in which the division of work among various countries is important.

“We of course are aware of President Trump’s concerns,” Lai said.

“Taiwan’s government will communicate and discuss with the semiconductor industry and come up with good strategies. Then we will come up with good proposals and engage in further discussions with the United States,” he added.

Democratic countries including the United States should come together to build a global alliance for AI chips and a “democratic supply chain” for advanced chips, Lai said.

“While admittedly we have the advantage in semiconductors, we also see it as Taiwan’s responsibility to contribute to the prosperity of the international community.”

Taiwan is home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, TSMC, a major supplier to companies including Apple and Nvidia, and a crucial part of the developing AI industry.

TSMC is investing $65 billion in new factories in the U.S. state of Arizona, a project begun in 2020 under Trump’s first administration.

TSMC’s Taipei-listed shares closed down 2.8% on Friday, underperforming the broader market, which ended off 1.1%.

A senior Taiwan security official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity in order to speak more freely, said if TSMC judged it was feasible to increase its U.S. investment, Taiwan’s government would help in talks with the United States.

TSMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The official added that communications between Taiwan and U.S. economic, security and defense officials at present was “quite good” and “strong support from the United States can be felt”.

US support

The United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, but is the democratically governed island’s most important international backer and arms supplier.

Trump cheered Taiwan last week after a joint U.S.-Japan statement following Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s visit to Washington called for “maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” and voiced support for “Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations.”

But Taiwan also runs a large trade surplus with the United States, which surged 83% last year, with the island’s exports to the U.S. hitting a record $111.4 billion, driven by demand for high-tech products such as semiconductors.

Lai said that the United States is Taiwan’s largest foreign investment destination, and that Taiwan is the United States’ most reliable trade partner.

Trump has also previously criticized Taiwan, which faces a growing military threat from China, for not spending enough on defense, a criticism he has made of many U.S. allies.

“Taiwan must demonstrate our determination to defend ourselves,” Lai said, adding his government is working to propose a special budget this year to boost defense spending from 2.5% of its GDP to 3%.

His government is involved in a standoff with parliament, where opposition parties hold a majority, over cuts to the budget, including defense spending.

“Certainly, more and more friends and allies have expressed concern to us, worried whether Taiwan’s determination for its self-defense has weakened,” Lai said.

 
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Pope Francis taken to hospital for bronchitis treatment

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ROME — Pope Francis was taken to hospital on Friday morning for tests and to continue treatment of his ongoing bronchitis, the Vatican said.

“This morning, at the end of his audiences, Pope Francis was admitted to the Policlinico Agostino Gemelli for some necessary diagnostic tests and to continue his treatment for bronchitis, which is still ongoing, in a hospital environment,” it said in a statement.

Francis, 88, has been pope since 2013 and has suffered from influenza and other health problems several times over the past two years.

Earlier this month, Francis told pilgrims at a weekly audience that he was suffering from a “strong cold,” which the Vatican later described as bronchitis.

The pope has been keeping up his daily schedule of appointments despite his illness, taking meetings at the Vatican residence where he lives. Before going to hospital on Friday, the pope had an official meeting with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Francis suffered two falls recently at his Vatican residence, bruising his chin in December and injuring his arm in January.

Rome’s Gemelli hospital, the largest in the city, has a special suite for treating popes. Francis spent nine days there in June 2023, when he had surgery to repair an abdominal hernia. 
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As Germany election looms, far-right German party continues to gather support

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German voters head to the polls this month for an election that will determine who the country’s new chancellor will be. The Feb. 23 poll is a snap election, following the collapse of center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government last year.

The far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, founded in 2013, appears to be gathering strength and support across the country and has emerged as a factor in the election.

The party’s popularity has been fueled by dissatisfaction with the large numbers of immigrants in the country. While AfD has evolved to focus its attention on other issues, including the immediate lifting of sanctions against Russia, immigration remains its central theme.

Alice Weidel, AfD’s first candidate for chancellor, is a staunch supporter of so-called “remigration,” a term used to describe the mass deportation of immigrants.

Political analysts say Weidel has little chance of becoming chancellor, but as AfD’s popularity has risen, it has forced politicians to rethink their conversations and debates about immigration.

AfD won its first parliamentary seats in 2017, with 12.6% of the votes.  In 2021, the party had only 10.3% of the votes.  It has supporters across the country and its politicians have been elected to 14 of Germany’s 16 state legislatures.

Its emergence as a political force occurs at the same time that other far-right parties are rising in Europe, including Austria’s Freedom Party and the National Rally in France.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press. 
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Trump hosts India’s leader, inks US defense, energy sales

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US President Donald Trump on Thursday made a range of energy and defense agreements with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his first visit to the White House in Trump’s second term. But the gains were offset by Trump’s threat to impose reciprocal tariffs on trading partners, something India sought to evade. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House.
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Category 5 cyclone nears Western Australia coast

Posted on by SeeEA

sydney — Category 5 Cyclone Zelia swirled toward Australia’s minerals-rich western coast Friday, with predicted gusts of up to 290 kilometers per hour sparking emergency warnings and port closures.

Forecasters said the slow-moving, severe tropical cyclone was moving south  toward Port Hedland — one of the world’s busiest iron ore loading ports — with landfall expected in the afternoon.

“Very destructive winds of up to 290 kilometers per hour (180 miles per hour) are likely close to the center of the cyclone as it crosses the coast,” the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said.

It warned residents of a possible dangerous storm tide as the cyclone made landfall.

“Tides are likely to rise significantly above the normal high tide mark with damaging waves and dangerous flooding of some low-lying areas close to the shoreline,” it said in an update.

The cyclone was forecast to land near Port Hedland — about 17 hours’ drive north of the state capital, Perth — before tracking inland across sparsely populated mining and cattle country.

Initially arriving as a Category 5 cyclone, Zelia was expected to weaken to a Category 4 later in the evening.

Pilbara Ports said it had cleared vessels and shut down operations at major minerals export centers Port Hedland and Port Dampier as well as the oil and gas shipping port of Varanus Island.

Emergency services in Western Australia told people still in the cyclone’s path to shelter in the strongest part of their homes, warning it was now too late to attempt to leave.

The northwest coast of Western Australia is the most cyclone-prone region in the country, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

It also has “the highest incidence of cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere.” 

The region holds significant deposits of iron ore, copper and gold, and is home to some of Australia’s largest mining operations.

Mining group Rio Tinto said its ships and trains had been cleared from ports in the area.

“It is too early to say how long port and rail operations will be closed and what the impact will be,” it said in a statement Thursday.
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Jailed Georgian journalist: ‘I will not bow to this regime’

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WASHINGTON — “I will not bow to this regime,” writes Mzia Amaglobeli from pre-trial detention in the city of Batumi in Georgia.

The 49-year-old journalist has been in custody since January 11 and on a hunger strike since January 12 over her detention.

Amaglobeli was attending a protest where demonstrations were calling for fresh elections and objecting to the government’s suspension of Georgia’s EU accession plans.

At first, police detained Amaglobeli for putting a sticker on a wall. She was released, only to be arrested later that day for slapping a police officer.

Georgia’s prime minister and other government officials have said that Amaglobeli should end her hunger strike and apologize for her actions.

But media watchdogs believe her arrest is connected to her journalism.

Journalist previously threatened

Amaglobeli is the founder of the websites Batumelebi and Netgazeti, which focus on political news, investigations and corruption. Both Amaglobeli and her media group have come under pressure and threats previously for their work.

Amaglobeli’s health has declined after being on a hunger strike for a month, and she is being held in a private clinic under a doctor’s supervision, but she remains in custody.

Nestan Tsetskhladze, a friend and colleague, told VOA that the journalist plans to remain on her hunger strike until March 4, when she is due to appear in court.

“She is on hunger strike in protest, to show that she won’t tolerate this regime,” Tsetskhladze told VOA. “She is not going to live by this regime’s agenda. That is her goal.”

Amaglobeli has also written of her position in a letter last month to colleagues that was shared with media.

“Today it is me, tomorrow it could be anyone who dares to dream of a just, democratic European Georgia, untouched by Russian influence, unshaken by oppression,” wrote Amaglobeli. “I will not bow to this regime. I will not play by its rules.”

Hundreds arrested

The journalist is one of hundreds of people to be arrested since parliamentary elections in October resulted in nationwide protests.

The country’s ruling Georgian Dream party officially won the election with around 54% of the vote, but the results were challenged by then-President Salome Zourabichvili and opposition parties, who claimed the elections were rigged.

Observers, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said there were reports of voter irregularities.

At the time, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, a member of Georgian Dream, called on Zourabichvili to turn over any evidence of rigging to authorities. He said he believed she did not have such evidence.

A fresh wave of protests started on November 28, when Kobakhidze announced a suspension of all negotiations with the European Union on Georgia’s EU accession until 2028.

Police have responded to the protests with force, using water cannons against demonstrators, hundreds of whom have been detained, beaten and treated inhumanely, according to Transparency International Georgia.

In Amaglobeli’s case, the journalist’s legal team says she was mistreated after her second arrest. They say that the police officer whom she slapped was trying to physically abuse her, that he spat in her face and did not let her use the restroom for several hours. Additionally, lawyers were not allowed to see the journalist for three hours.

Amaglobeli faces charges of assaulting a police officer. If found guilty, she could face up to seven years in prison.

Transparency International Georgia has said a video of the interaction shows the slap “lacked sufficient force to cause harm,” and doesn’t meet the standard for a formal charge.

Gulnoza Said of the Committee to Protect Journalists told VOA that it is a “very serious press freedom violation that she is in detention.”

Rachel Denber, deputy director of the Human Rights Watch Europe and Central Asia division, said that, so far, no investigations have taken place into cases of riot police using excessive force or alleged mistreatment of protesters in custody.

“Suddenly, this is where the authorities are putting all of their time and resources and vigor — to punish one person who is a journalist and who has a record of being outspoken,” Denber told VOA.

Tsetskhladze, the journalist’s friend, believes the government’s treatment of Amaglobeli is meant to be a warning for other independent media outlets and journalists in Georgia.

“They are punishing not only Mzia, who slapped a police officer, but also the media outlets she funded, the media in general, journalists and all critical, free people in this country,” he told VOA.

At least 50 journalists have been attacked, obstructed and beaten during the protests. Some were hospitalized and their equipment was damaged, according to the Mapping Media Freedom platform.

This story originated in VOA’s Georgian Service.
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Federal judge pauses Trump order restricting gender-affirming care for trans youth

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BALTIMORE — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s recent executive order aimed at restricting gender-affirming health care for transgender people under age 19.

The judge’s ruling came after a lawsuit was filed earlier this month on behalf of families with transgender or nonbinary children who allege their health care has been compromised by the president’s order. A national group for family of LGBTQ+ people and a doctors organization are also plaintiffs in the court challenge, one of many lawsuits opposing one of the many executive orders Trump has issued.

Judge Brendan Hurson, who was nominated by former President Joe Biden, granted the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order following a hearing in federal court in Baltimore. The ruling, in effect for 14 days, essentially puts Trump’s directive on hold while the case proceeds. The restraining order could also be extended.

Shortly after taking office, Trump signed an executive order directing federally run insurance programs to exclude coverage for gender-affirming care. That includes Medicaid, which covers such services in some states, and TRICARE for military families. Trump’s order also called on the Department of Justice to vigorously pursue litigation and legislation to oppose the practice.

The lawsuit includes several accounts from families of appointments being canceled as medical institutions react to the new directive.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs argue Trump’s executive order is “unlawful and unconstitutional” because it seeks to withhold federal funds previously authorized by Congress and because it violates anti-discrimination laws while infringing on the rights of parents.

Like legal challenges to state bans on gender-affirming care, the lawsuit also alleges the policy is discriminatory because it allows federal funds to cover the same treatments when they’re not used for gender transition.

Some hospitals immediately paused gender-affirming care, including prescriptions for puberty blockers and hormone therapy, while they assess how the order affects them.

Trump’s approach on the issue represents an abrupt change from the Biden administration, which sought to explicitly extend civil rights protections to transgender people. Trump has used strong language in opposing gender-affirming care, asserting falsely that “medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex.”

Major medical groups such as the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics support access to gender-affirming care.

Young people who persistently identify as a gender that differs from their sex assigned at birth are first evaluated by a team of professionals. Some may try a social transition, involving changing a hairstyle or pronouns. Some may later also receive puberty blockers or hormones. Surgery is extremely rare for minors.
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Pentagon chief calls on NATO partners to increase role in Europe’s defense

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PENTAGON — U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has called for NATO’s European members to increase their role in the defense of Europe as the United States focuses on defending the alliance’s Pacific flank.

It is a move that he says will likely require European allies to significantly increase defense spending from 2% of GDP to about 5% of GDP.

“We can talk all we want about values. Values are important, but you can’t shoot values, you can’t shoot flags, and you can’t shoot strong speeches. There is no replacement for hard power,” Hegseth told reporters on Thursday at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Last year, NATO’s European allies collectively spent 2% of their GDP, amounting to about $380 billion, for the first time after setting a 2% defense spending goal in 2014. The U.S. currently spends about 3.5% of its GDP on defense. Canada, the other non-European NATO ally, currently spends about 1.4% of its GDP on defense.

“NATO is a great alliance, the most successful defense alliance in history, but to endure for the future, our partners must do far more for Europe’s defense,” Hegseth said. He emphasized that deterrence of Chinese aggression “in the Pacific is one that really can only be led by the United States.”

He said the U.S. does not seek conflict with China, nor does it feel that conflict with China is inevitable, but he contended the administration must work with allies to ensure deterrence in the Indo-Pacific is “hard power deterrence, not just reputational.”

Russia-Ukraine war

On Wednesday, Hegseth said keeping Ukraine’s pre-invasion boundaries is an “unrealistic objective” in its war against Russian aggression, as was the expectation that Ukraine would join NATO. He advocated for a negotiated end to the war with security guarantees backed by European and non-European troops that would not include U.S. forces.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Ukraine’s potential membership in NATO and whether it should concede any territory should not be decided before peace talks start, referring to Hegseth’s comments as “concessions” made by the United States.

“Vladimir Putin responds to strength,” Hegseth said on Thursday when asked whether the U.S. was decreasing Ukraine’s leverage.

“No one’s going to get everything that they want, understanding who committed the aggression in the first place,” he added, referring to Putin.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reiterated his support for higher defense spending and appeared to defend Hegseth’s comments on Ukraine not joining the alliance. Rutte said on Thursday that while NATO must “make sure that Vladimir Putin never ever tries again to attack Ukraine,” he said, “it has never been a promise to Ukraine that as part of a peace deal, they would be part of NATO.”

The European Union’s top diplomat warned that any peace deal struck between the United States and Russia — without Ukraine or the EU — will fail.

“Trump says that the killing should stop. Putin can stop the killing by stopping bombing Ukraine. This is doable if there is a will,” said Kaja Kallas, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy. She added that any agreement without Ukraine at the table amounts to appeasement.

Kallas’ comments reflected those of many NATO allies at Thursday’s meeting following U.S. President Donald Trump’s call with Putin and Trump’s signaling that talks on Ukraine between the two were imminent.

After Thursday’s NATO ministerial gathering, Hegseth travels to Poland for what the Pentagon said will be talks with leaders about “bilateral defense cooperation, continued deterrence efforts along NATO’s eastern flank and Poland’s leadership as a model ally in defense investment and burden-sharing in NATO.”

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Turkey awaits possible breakthrough in long war with Kurdish separatists

Posted on by SeeEU

Kurds in Turkey are expecting their imprisoned leader to announce a ceasefire soon, ending decades of war between Kurdish rebels and the Turkish government. But Turkey’s president has not made clear what terms he’s willing to accept. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
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AI-driven biometric fraud surges in Africa, fueling financial crimes

Posted on by SeeAF

Nairobi, Kenya — A new report says the emergence of cheap artificial intelligence tools is leading to a wave of biometric fraud in Africa. The report says fraudsters are using AI to create fake documents, voices, and images that facilitate identity theft and financial crimes. 

In July 2024, Japhet Ndubi, a Kenyan journalist, lost his phone and could not trace it. He replaced the SIM card, bought a new phone, and went on with his life.

Four days later, while on a lunch break, he received a text alerting him that he had sent money to a certain number.

“Now I am using a new phone. When I saw money was sent to a certain number, I was surprised because I have my phone here. I called Safaricom to inquire, ‘How come some money is sent to a certain number without my authorization?’ It’s when they told me, ‘Are you sure you are not the one who has withdrawn? Because we see a transaction has been carried out and sent to this number, and we can see you have used your fingerprints to withdraw the money,’” he said.

The fraudsters even took out a loan that took him months to pay off. Authorities never made an arrest even though his phone was recovered.

Nudbi was a victim of biometric fraud — a type of criminal activity where someone copies another person’s unique characteristics, like their voice or fingerprints, to impersonate them and gain access to their devices or financial accounts.

Smile ID is a U.S.-based company with offices in Kenya that develops software to protect people’s privacy. A report it released late last month says cases of document forgery and deepfakes are on the rise across Africa, as are simpler phishing attempts — all in an effort to steal money from innocent victims.

The Smile ID researchers found that fraudsters especially targeted vulnerable people in low-literacy regions through phishing, data breaches, and making purchases through illicit sources.

Stolen data is then exploited to create fraudulent bank accounts to be used for money laundering operations.

Joshua Kumah, a Ghanaian, received a fake text claiming that money had been transferred to his mobile banking account. The text led to him losing control of his account and SIM card.

“The person told me to follow a short code that the money would be transferred back to him, so I did that without paying attention to the details. So, by the time I realized it was already too late, I had already given him access to my sim card, so I had to report to cancel that sim card. So, I lost the money I had on that sim. I had to start all over again,” he said.

Ndubi is still in shock at how his fingerprints were used to access money through his mobile phone. He says that has changed how he uses the device.

“I was very surprised that they were able to use fingerprints, and I kept asking the telecom provider how they were able to access it but they were not able to tell me. So, I even lost faith in the Mpesa mobile banking application; actually, I have never used it,” he said.

To prevent fraud, authorities and businesses now sometimes insist that people present themselves physically and produce valid identification cards to prove their identities.

As for average Kenyans, many are trying to avoid using mobile apps on their phones, and are checking with banks and telecom operators about any transactions made in and out of their accounts. 
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US aircraft carrier collides with merchant ship near Egypt

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WASHINGTON — The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman was involved in a collision at sea with a merchant vessel near Port Said, Egypt, the Navy said Thursday.

The collision occurred late Wednesday while both ships were moving. It did not result in flooding or injuries aboard the carrier, and there was no damage to the ship’s propulsion systems, the Navy said in a statement.

None of the crew on the merchant ship, the Besiktas-M, were injured either, according to a defense official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that had not yet been made public.

The Truman, which is based in Norfolk, Virginia, deployed in September to the Mediterranean and the Middle East. It had just completed a port call in Souda Bay, Greece.
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Thai lawyers’ council to investigate alleged killing by soldiers

Posted on by SeeEA

Bangkok — An influential lawyers’ association in Thailand said Thursday it is launching an investigation into the alleged killing of a Myanmar man by Thai soldiers last year, a move it says could lead to lawsuits against any officers involved.

The Lawyers Council of Thailand, which accredits the country’s attorneys, announced the probe after accepting a formal complaint about the case from Fortify Rights, an international advocacy group that previously carried out an investigation into the case.

In a report published last year, Fortify Rights alleged that three unidentified soldiers brutally beat Aung Ko Ko to death with bamboo rods in Baan Tai village, near the Myanmar border, on January 12, 2024, after disputing his membership in a security patrol team made up of local civilians.

The courts never charged any soldiers in the case, but convicted another civilian and Myanmar national, Sirachuch, who goes by one name, with manslaughter in September. Fortify Rights claims Sirachuch is being used as a scapegoat. Sirachuch has said he saw the soldiers attack Aung Ko Ko.

“After the Lawyers Council has taken the complaint, we will then investigate the nature and circumstances of the death of Aung Ko Ko. After that, we will take appropriate legal action,” Council President Wichien Chubthaisong told a press conference in Bangkok announcing the move.

“We will set up a subcommittee to conduct a fact-finding operation, hoping this will lead to the consideration of legal aid services and ensure that justice prevails for the family of Aung Ko Ko,” he added.

“Everyone has the right to have their human rights protected and respected under the law. Citizens in general should not be punished arbitrarily,” the chairman said.

Afterward, Wichien told VOA the evidence that Fortify Rights has gathered implicating the army appeared credible and that the council could pursue civil or criminal charges against any soldiers it identifies as suspects.

“With credible evidence and a strong case, I think what we can continue to do is to prosecute other people involved in this case,” he said.

Neither the Royal Thai Armed Forces nor the Royal Thai Police, which investigated Aung Ko Ko’s death last year and filed the charges that led to Sirachuch’s conviction, replied to VOA’s requests for comment.

Fortify Rights says the army has denied any responsibility for Aung Ko Ko’s death, both to local media and a House of Representatives committee hearing, claiming he was tortured on the Myanmar side of the border before his body was dumped on Thai soil.

The rights group denies the army’s claim and says it undermines the authorities’ case against Sirachuch, which rests on Thailand having jurisdiction over an attack by Sirachuch on Aung Ko Ko in Thailand.

Sirachuch, who is now serving a prison sentence of three years and four months, confessed to striking Aung Ko Ko once on the back and twice on the shins.

Fortify Rights, though, says that falls well short of manslaughter. It says the post-mortem report by the hospital that examined Aung Ko Ko’s body states he died of “head injuries caused by physical assault,” and that three eyewitnesses to the attack, Sirachuch included, claim it was the soldiers who beat Aung Ko Ko on the head.

“This is a grave miscarriage of justice at multiple levels and we are very heartened to see Thai leaders like Dr. Wichien willing to take a closer look at this case,” Fortify Rights CEO Matthew Smith said at Thursday’s press conference.

Afterward, Smith said his group pursued the council’s help because of its influence and connections with Thai authorities, especially its links to the Department of Special Investigation, or DSI. The department is a special Ministry of Justice unit that investigates some of the country’s highest profile and sensitive cases, including those that may involve public corruption and abuse of power. Wichien is on the department’s board of special cases, which guides its work and is chaired by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

“So, the fact that the Lawyers Council is willing to take a closer look at this case, we hope, is one important step closer to DSI also doing a formal investigation,” Smith told VOA.

“This is the type of situation where DSI can get involved and actually uncover the truth and ensure actual justice takes place,” he added. “In some ways, DSI can unravel coverups, and DSI has the skills and ability and the influence and power to ensure justice in these really difficult cases.”

In its report on Aung Ko Ko’s death, Fortify Rights says it interviewed 23 people during its investigation, including witnesses, acquaintances and relatives, and spoke with local police. It says he had been living in Thailand for many years and was a well-known member of the community’s civilian security team, known locally as Chor Ror Bor, which is trained and organized by Thai authorities.

The report says the soldiers who detained Aung Ko Ko the day he died, and who later beat him, disputed his membership in the team, even after other members arrived to vouch for him. After the attack, it adds, Aung Ko Ko, badly bruised and bloodied, was being helped to the Myanmar border by other locals, on orders from the soldiers, when he collapsed and died of his wounds.
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Archaeologists unearth remains of Roman basilica on site of new London skyscraper

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LONDON — Work to give 21st-century London yet another skyscraper has uncovered traces — in fact chunks — of the city’s origins almost 2,000 years ago. 

Archaeologists exploring the site of a planned 32-story office tower announced Thursday that they have unearthed the remains of a Roman basilica that once stood at the heart of the city known as Londinium. 

Excavations in the basement of a building slated to be demolished for the tower at 85 Gracechurch St. uncovered flint, brick and ragstone walls and foundations, up to 1 meter (over 3 feet) wide, 4 meters (13 feet) deep and two millennia old. 

Sophie Jackson of Museum of London Archaeology called it “one of the most significant discoveries” in years in London’s oldest quarter, the City – the square-mile financial district where modern glass high-rises stand atop the remnants of Victorian, medieval and even earlier structures. 

What’s been uncovered are the foundations of a two-story building, almost as big as an Olympic swimming pool. It was constructed between 78 and 84 A.D., about three decades after Roman troops invaded Britain and some 20 years after forces of the Celtic warrior queen Boudicca sacked the fledgling settlement. 

The basilica was part of the forum — the social, political and commercial heart of Roman London — where people went to shop, mingle, seek justice and hear the latest edicts from political leaders. The newly discovered remains are believed to form part of the tribunal, a raised area of the forum where politicians and officials made decisions about the city’s governance. 

It’s the “beating heart of the city,” said Andrew Henderson-Schwartz, head of public impact at Museum of London Archaeology. “It kind of towers above the city. And so it’s a real symbol of Roman power and authority. 

“We’re talking about the early stages of London here, but it’s a real sign of investment in the city, even in its early infancy,” he said. 

Developer Hertshten Properties, which owns the site and has planning permission for a new office tower, has agreed to incorporate the remains into its plans and put them on display in a visitor center. 

Henderson-Schwartz said the extent of the “absolutely massive” foundations discovered in several test pits suggests an “extraordinary” level of preservation. 

Further digging could answer intriguing questions, including why the original forum was only used for 20 years before being replaced by a much larger one, which remained in use until the collapse of Roman rule in Britain three centuries later. Items such as writing tablets, styluses, and even ancient trash could give glimpses into the daily lives of Roman Londoners. 

Property developers in Britain routinely have to consult archaeologists as part of their planning process, a practice that has uncovered finds from Saxon jewelry to medieval ice skates to the skeletons of 14th-century plague victims. 

The latest discovery adds to the scant traces of Roman London that can be seen around the city, including a section of ancient wall, a portion of amphitheater beneath the Guildhall and a temple to the god Mithras which lies incongruously under the modern headquarters of information company Bloomberg. 

“We do have these little windows into Roman London that are all over the city,” Henderson-Schwartz said. “But this is really in some ways the site that connects them all together. This is the heart of Rome in London, where all the decisions were made.” 
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UNICEF says armed men in eastern DR Congo raped hundreds of children

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Dakar, Senegal — Armed men in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo raped hundreds of children and recruited child soldiers at unprecedented levels, the U.N. children’s fund said Thursday, as the conflict in the mineral-rich region intensified in recent weeks.

“In the North and South Kivu provinces, we are receiving horrific reports of grave violations against children by parties to the conflict, including rape and other forms of sexual violence at levels surpassing anything we have seen in recent years,” UNICEF’s Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement.

“One mother recounted to our staff how her six daughters, the youngest just 12 years old, were systematically raped by armed men while searching for food,” Russell added.

More than 100 armed groups are vying for control of Congo’s mineral-rich east in a decades-long conflict that has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. The M23 rebels — the most prominent armed group in the region— captured Goma, the region’s largest city, in late January in a major escalation of the yearslong fighting with government forces.

During the week of Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, health facilities in the restive region reported 572 rape cases, a more than fivefold increase compared to the previous week, Lianne Gutcher, Chief of Communications at UNICEF in the Democratic Republic of Congo, told The Associated Press. 170 of those treated were children, she added.

Armed men perpetrated the rapes but it was unclear what specific armed group or army they belonged to, Gutcher said. “It is suspected that all parties to the conflict committed sexual violence,” she added.

Last week, the United Nations Human Rights Council launched a commission that will investigate the atrocities, including rapes and summary executions, committed by both Congo’s army and M23 in eastern Congo since the beginning of the year.

On Monday, 84 Congolese soldiers accused of murder, rape and other crimes against civilians in the country’s conflict-battered east were put on trial.
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China’s fuel demand may have passed its peak, IEA says

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London — China’s demand for road and air transport fuels may have passed its peak, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Thursday, citing data showing that the country’s consumption of gasoline, gasoil and jet fuel declined marginally in 2024. 

Combined consumption of the three fuels in China last year was at 8.1 million barrels per day (bpd), which was 200,000 bpd lower than in 2021 and only narrowly above 2019 levels, the IEA said in a monthly report. 

“This strongly suggests that fuel use in the country has already reached a plateau and may even have passed its peak,” it said. 

After decades of leading global oil demand growth, China’s contribution is sputtering as it faces economic challenges as well as making a shift to electric vehicles (EVs). 

The decline in China’s fuel demand is likely to accelerate over the medium term, which would be enough to generate a plateau in total China oil demand this decade, according to the Paris-based IEA. 

“This remarkable slowdown in consumption growth has been achieved by a combination of structural changes in China’s economy and the rapid deployment of alternative transportation technologies,” the IEA said. 

A slump in China’s construction sector and weaker consumer spending reduced fuel demand in the country, it said, adding that uptake of EVs also weighed.  

New EVs currently account for half of car sales and undercut around 250,000-300,000 bpd of oil demand growth in 2024, while use of compressed and liquified natural gas in road freight displaced around 150,000 bpd, it said. 
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Chinese apps face scrutiny in US but users keep scrolling 

Posted on by SeeUS

Seoul — As a high school junior in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, Daneel Kutsenko never gave much thought to China.

Last month, though, as the U.S. government prepared to ban TikTok – citing national security concerns about its Chinese ownership – Kutsenko downloaded RedNote, another Chinese video-sharing app, which he felt gave him a new perspective on China.

“It just seems like people who live their life and have fun,” Kutsenko told VOA of RedNote, which reportedly attracted hundreds of thousands of U.S. users in the leadup to the now-paused TikTok ban.

Kutsenko’s move is part of a larger trend. Even as U.S. policymakers grow louder in their warnings about Chinese-owned apps, they have become a central part of American life.

TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, boasts 170 million U.S. users. China’s AI chatbot DeepSeek surged to the top of Apple’s App Store rankings, including those in the United States, for several days after its release last month.

Another major shift has come in online shopping, where Americans are flocking to digital Chinese marketplaces such as Temu and Shein in search of ultra-low prices on clothes, home goods, and other items.

According to a 2024 survey by Omnisend, an e-commerce marketing company, 70% of Americans shopped on Chinese platforms during the past year, with 20% doing so at least once a week.

Multifaceted threat

U.S. officials warn that Chinese apps pose a broad range of threats – whether to national security, privacy, human rights, or the economy.

TikTok has been the biggest target. Members of Congress attempting to ban the app cited concerns that China’s government could use TikTok as an intelligence-gathering tool or manipulate its algorithms to push narratives favorable to Beijing.

Meanwhile, Chinese commerce apps face scrutiny for their rock-bottom prices, which raise concerns about ethical sourcing and potential links to forced labor, Sari Arho Havrén, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based research organization, said in an email conversation with VOA.

“It raises questions of how sustainably these products are made,” Havrén, who focuses on China’s foreign policy and great power competition, said. Moreover, he said, “the pricing simply kills local manufacturers and businesses.”

Many U.S. policymakers also warn Chinese apps pose greater privacy risks, since Chinese law requires companies to share data with the government on request.

‘Curiosity and defiance’

Still, a growing number of Americans appear unfazed. Many young people in particular seem to shrug off the privacy concerns, arguing that their personal data is already widely exposed.

“They could get all the data they want. And anyway, I’m 16 – what are they going to find? Oh my gosh, he goes to school? There’s not much,” Kutsenko said.

Ivy Yang, an expert on U.S.-China digital interaction, told VOA many young Americans also find it unlikely that they would ever be caught up in a Chinese national security investigation.

“What they’re chasing is a dopamine peak. They’re not thinking about whether or not the dance videos or the cat tax pictures they swipe on RedNote are going to be a national security threat,” Yang, who founded the New York-based consulting company Wavelet Strategy, said.

Yang said the TikTok ban backlash and surge in RedNote downloads may reflect a shift in how young Americans see China – not just as a geopolitical rival, but as a source of apps they use in daily life.

She also attributes their skepticism to a broader cultural mindset – one shaped by a mix of curiosity, defiance, and a growing distrust of institutions, including conventional media.

Jeremy Goldkorn, a longtime analyst of U.S.-China digital trends and an editorial fellow at the online magazine ChinaFile, said growing disillusionment with America’s political turmoil and economic uncertainty has intensified these shifts.

“It makes it much more difficult for, particularly, young people to get worked up about what China’s doing when they feel so horrified about their own country,” Goldkorn said during a recent episode of the Sinica podcast, which focuses on current affairs in China.

Polling reflects this divide. A 2024 Pew survey found 81% of Americans view China unfavorably, but younger adults are less critical – only 27% of those under 30 have strongly negative views, compared to 61% of those 65 and older.

Digital barrier

While Chinese apps are expanding in the United States, in many ways the digital divide remains as impenetrable as ever.

China blocks nearly all major Western platforms and tightly controls its own apps, while the U.S. weighs new restrictions on Chinese tech.

Though President Donald Trump paused the TikTok ban, his administration has signaled broader efforts to curb China’s tech influence.

Trump officials have hinted they could take steps to regulate DeepSeek, the Chinese digital chatbot.

The Trump administration also recently signaled it intends to close a trade loophole that lets Chinese retailers bypass import duties and customs checks.

Broader challenges

Even as Washington debates how to handle the rise of Chinese apps, some analysts say the conversation risks obscuring the deeper issue of the broader role of social media itself.

Rogier Creemers, a specialist in digital governance at Leiden University, told VOA that while Chinese apps may raise valid concerns for Western countries, they are just one part of a larger, unaddressed problem.

“There’s a whole range of social ills that emerge from these social media that I think are far more important than anything the Chinese Communist Party could do,” he said, pointing to issues like digital addiction, declining attention spans, and the way social media amplifies misinformation and political unseriousness.

“And that would apply whether these apps are Chinese-owned or American-owned or Tajikistani-owned, as far as I’m concerned,” he added.

The United States, Creemer said, has taken a more hands-off approach to regulating online platforms, in part due to strong free speech protections and pushback by the tech industry.

Apps or influence?

For millions of Americans, the bigger debates about China and digital influence barely register when they open TikTok.

Kutsenko said neither he nor his friends have strong opinions about U.S.-China tensions. They just wanted an alternative to TikTok – one that felt fun, familiar, and easy to use.

It’s a sign that while policymakers see Chinese apps as part of a growing tech rivalry, for many Americans they’re just another way to scroll, shop, and stay entertained, no matter where they come from.
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