Blantyre, malawi — Malawi's Vice President Saulos Chilima was arrested in November of 2022 after being named among 84 individuals suspected to have received bribes from a U.K.-based businessman, Zuneth Sattar. Malawi's Anti-Corruption Bureau accused Chilima of receiving kickbacks from Sattar in exchange for government contracts. However, early this month, Director of Public Prosecutions Masauko Chamkakala filed a notice to the High Court to drop the case in which Chilima had not taken a plea after 18 months. Читать дальше...
The US and Turkey have resumed security cooperation talks, and analysts say Turkish forces are poised to fill a vacuum should American forces pull out of Syria. Pentagon officials say there are no plans for a withdrawal, but analysts point to signs it may happen. Meanwhile, the speculation is causing concern among Kurdish forces in Syria. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
Maputo — Mozambique’s ruling Frelimo party picked Daniel Francisco Chapo, the 47-year-old governor of a southern province, to be its candidate for October’s presidential election, after heated internal debates that lasted three days. Sunday’s selection of Chapo halted speculation that President Filipe Nyusi planned to cling to power at the conclusion of his term through an amendment to the constitution. Nyusi said the endorsement puts an end to a soap opera of rumors, including talk of a possible third term. Читать дальше...
Jerusalem — Israel is sending a delegation back to Cairo for more talks on the details of a cease-fire. The Israeli move came a day after Hamas made a surprise announcement that it accepted an Egyptian cease-fire proposal that Israel had previously accepted. But on Tuesday, Israeli officials said that the terms Hamas accepted are not the same as those in the original Egyptian proposal, and that the changes that Hamas is demanding make it impossible for Israel to agree. Israeli officials said... Читать дальше...
Harare — Faced with an inability to access offshore credit lines — due to defaulting on previous loans — the government of Zimbabwe is appealing to its diaspora population and foreigners to invest in the Southern African nation. Some citizens in the diaspora are skeptical that their investments would pay off. The government says the Zimbabwe Investment Summit, held Thursday to Saturday in South Africa, was meant to present the Southern African nation positively to the world. Speaking at the conference... Читать дальше...
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Tuesday his country will not back off from building a much-delayed gas pipeline with Iran. “We will not let anyone use their veto,” Dar said at a press briefing Tuesday, without naming the United States. Pakistan and Iran signed a Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement in June of 2009 for a pipeline that would supply 750 million to 1,000 million cubic feet per day of gas to energy-starved Pakistan from Iran's South Pars Field. While Iran claimed... Читать дальше...
Geneva — U.N. humanitarian agencies say both the Rafah and Karem Shalom crossings into the Gaza Strip are “closed to goods and people” in both directions, essentially cutting off a lifeline for more than 2 million civilians in the embattled Palestinian territory. “We currently have no physical presence at the Rafah crossing as our access to go to that area for coordination has been denied by COGAT,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. COGAT... Читать дальше...
He was once the most powerful man in Taiwan. But today, the statues of Taiwan’s late President Chiang Kai-shek are at the center of the island’s heated debate about how to reflect on its authoritarian past. VOA’s William Yang has more on this story from Taipei.
Heavy metal music is controversial in some conservative societies but quite popular in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country. As VOA’s Dave Grunebaum reports, heavy metal has a home in Indonesia.
Limited medical resources in Africa force some patients to travel abroad for specialized surgeries. Now, a new special surgery institute has opened in Ghana to try and help. Senanu Tord reports from Accra, Ghana.
The divide between left and right is one of the most fundamental markers in politics. But have you ever stopped to think about why we use those directional terms to describe ideological camps? It may surprise you to learn that this terminology traces back to the seating arrangements of French revolutionaries over 200 years ago.
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan said Tuesday that recent militant attacks in the country, including a deadly suicide car bombing on Chinese engineers, were planned from “terrorist sanctuaries” in Afghanistan. Major-General Ahmed Sharif, spokesperson for Pakistan’s military, leveled the allegations during a live broadcast news conference. He said Afghanistan’s Taliban government has failed to prevent the use of Afghan soil for cross-border terrorism despite repeated protests and sharing of “solid evidence” with them through diplomatic channels. Читать дальше...
BEIRUT — The United States has repatriated 11 of its citizens from sprawling camps in northeastern Syria that house tens of thousands of family members of suspected Islamic State militants, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday. The repatriation was the largest Washington has carried out from the camps to date, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. Five of the 11 citizens brought back were children, and one non-U.S. citizen child — the 9-year-old sibling of one of the other children — was also brought with them. Читать дальше...
Methane leaking from fossil fuel production is among the top contributors to climate change. Now a leading environmental scientist is hoping to provide more accurate and consistent findings of methane emissions with the launch of a technologically advanced satellite. VOA’s Julie Taboh has more, in this week’s episode of LogOn. (Produced by: Adam Greenbaum)
Jakarta, Indonesia — The sounds from guitars strumming and drums beating sears through the air. Crowds dance in circles while thumping their heads back and forth. Some 38,000 fans attended Hammersonic this past weekend, according to organizers of Southeast Asia’s largest annual heavy metal music festival. Featuring 55 bands, the event is held in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim majority country. One of the groups performing, Lamb of God, was barred from performing... Читать дальше...
