QUETTA, Pakistan — A Pakistani man suspected of killing his U.S.-born 15-year-old daughter in a so-called honor killing after she apparently refused to stop sharing videos on TikTok appeared in court Thursday in the southwestern city of Quetta, police said.

The shooting happened on a street in the southwestern city of Quetta on Tuesday. The suspect, Anwar ul-Haq, initially said that unidentified gunmen shot and killed his daughter before he confessed to the crime Wednesday, police official Babar Baloch said.

“Our investigation so far has found that the family had an objection to her dressing, lifestyle and social gathering,” another police investigator, Zohaib Mohsin, said. “We have her phone. It is locked,” he told Reuters. “We are probing all aspects, including honor killing.”

The family had recently returned to Balochistan province in predominantly Muslim Pakistan, a nation with conservative social norms, having lived in the United States for about 25 years, Baloch said.

The suspect has U.S. citizenship, the officer said. He said Haq had told him his daughter began creating “objectionable” content on the social media platform TikTok when she lived in the United States.

He told police that she continued to share videos on the platform after returning to Pakistan. Baloch said the main suspect’s brother-in-law had also been arrested in connection with the killing.

Police said they had charged Haq with the killing. They did not offer proof of Haq’s U.S. citizenship except for the suspect’s own testimony and declined to say whether the U.S. Embassy had been informed of the incident.

His family declined to respond to a Reuters request for comment.

More than 54 million people use TikTok in Pakistan, a nation of 241 million. The government has blocked the video-sharing app several times in recent years over content moderation.

Islamabad often takes issue with what it terms “obscene content” with the social media platform, which has lately started complying with requests from Pakistan to remove certain content.

Over 1,000 women are killed each year in Pakistan at the hands of community or family members over perceived damage to “honor,” according to independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

That could involve eloping, posting social media content, fraternizing with men, or any other infraction against conservative values relating to women.
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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — The Lunar New Year, also called the Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival in China, is traditionally celebrated with tables piled with food and red envelopes filled with cash for children.

In past years, smoke from outdoor fire pits filled the air throughout the morning and afternoon, as people burned paper money to ensure that even the ancestors can feel the financial boon that the biggest holiday of the year usually brings to the living.

In recent years, however, China’s economic slowdown has altered the atmosphere of Chinese New Year. Facing increasing financial burdens, young people are reexamining long-held traditions as they welcome the Year of the Snake, opting for more frugal alternatives during this year’s eight-day-long national holiday.

A 30-year-old legal worker from Shanghai, who did not want to use his name for fear of reprisal, told VOA that stores selling trinkets and supplies for the holiday appeared unusually deserted.

He said people appear to be forgoing large purchases, which manifests mostly in the custom of giving money-filled red envelopes — the color symbolizes good luck and prosperity in the new year.

“As with goods purchased for the new year, red envelopes have become more simple and less thick,” the Shanghai resident said.

He told VOA he usually gives his niece an envelope with around $140 inside, but this year, he plans to give her $90.

Talk on social media

Frustration with the economy is being expressed on social media — young people are saturating online threads with images and comments describing the pressure and criticism they will encounter during the holiday.

An account on RedNote called “I don’t give a damn about the banana” posted a series of funny images detailing the levels of anxiety young, unmarried and unemployed people will face during the holiday.

“You haven’t earned any money but you still have to give the younger kids a red envelope,” the user wrote, over a picture of a woman giving a small bill to a cat.

Many others offer advice to ease fears of being scrutinized by the family.

“Unique-me” wrote on the Chinese social media platform Weibo: “Now the economy is not good, it’s good to just have an income. If you are in a difficult situation, you can admit that you don’t make much. There is no need to be generous. Just show your appreciation. Those who have opinions about you because of the size of your red envelope, let them have opinions.”

Faced with economic woes, some local governments are advocating frugality. Baise City, Guangxi, suggested that the amount of money in a red envelope should not exceed $3.

The initiative also encourages the younger generation to give their elders “blessing gifts” with commemorative significance or emotional value instead of red envelopes.

This move has attracted widespread attention, with many social media users expressing their support for the program’s positive impact on financial and mental health. Some suggested that blessing gifting be promoted nationwide.

Workplace anxiety

The size of red envelopes exchanged in the workplace and increasing leniency on new year vacation day allowances have stoked fears of job insecurity among employees.

“The economic downturn is not only reflected in my meager salary, but also in the red envelopes given by the boss every year,” “Life with Greed” said on Weibo.

A user called “Let’s try to be happy” commented on Weibo: “My company is in a slump. New Year gifts have not been issued. In previous years, the maximum New Year holiday was 20 days, but this year it was more than a month. I don’t know what it will be like next year. It feels like it is on the verge of bankruptcy.”

A 39-year-old government worker in Dalian, who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity because of security fears, said despite having a family and a stable job, she will limit her holiday spending.

“We have to reduce some unnecessary expenses, such as buying less candy and snacks, and we try to buy simple things outside when worshiping,” the wife and mother said.

The changes in Chinese Spring Festival customs are affected by many factors, but the economy is most critical, said Sun Guoxiang, a professor in the international affairs and business department at Nanhua University in Taiwan.

“The economic downturn has led to a decline in consumption capacity. Young people pay more attention to rational consumption and actual needs, which reduces the relatively high-cost parts of traditional Spring Festival customs,” Sun said, adding that pressure from family about issues that include work, marriage and education cannot be ignored as drivers of this trend.

He said the future of Chinese New Year and how it will be celebrated will depend heavily on China’s development and whether the country can overcome its current economic decline.
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GENEVA — The U.N. human rights chief appealed on Thursday for $500 million in funding for 2025 to support its work, such as investigating human rights abuses around the world from Syria to Sudan, warning that lives hang in the balance.

The U.N. human rights office has been grappling with chronic funding shortages that some worry could be exacerbated by cuts to U.S. foreign aid by President Donald Trump. The annual appeal is for funds beyond the allocated U.N. funds from member states’ fees, which make up just a fraction of the office’s needs.

“In 2025, we expect no let-up in major challenges to human rights,” High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told member states in a speech at the U.N. in Geneva.

“I am very concerned that if we do not reach our funding targets in 2025, we will leave people … to struggle and possibly fail, without adequate support,” he said.

He said any shortfall would mean more people remain in illegal detention; that governments are allowed to continue with discriminatory policies; violations may go undocumented; and human rights defenders could lose protection.

“In short, lives are at stake,” Turk said.

The human rights office gets about 5% of the regular U.N. budget, but the majority of its funding comes voluntarily in response to its annual appeal announced on Thursday.

Western states give the most, with the United States donating $35 million last year or about 15% of the total received in 2024, followed by the European Commission, U.N. data showed. Still, the office received only about half of the $500 million it sought last year.  
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PRAYAGRAJ, INDIA — At least 30 people were killed and many more injured in a stampede at the world’s largest religious gathering early Wednesday, police said, as millions of pilgrims rushed to dip in sacred waters during the Maha Kumbh festival in northern India.

Police officer Vaibhav Krishna in Prayagraj city said another 60 injured were rushed to hospitals.

Wednesday was a sacred day in the six-week Hindu festival, and authorities expected a record 100 million devotees to engage in a ritual bath at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers. Hindus believe that a dip at the holy site can cleanse them of past sins and end the process of reincarnation.

The stampede happened when pilgrims tried to jump barricades erected for a procession of holy men, Uttar Pradesh state’s top elected official, Yogi Adityanath, said in a televised statement.

The event’s main draw is the thousands of ash-smeared Hindu ascetics who make massive processions toward the confluence to bathe.

Indian authorities took more than 16 hours to release casualty figures, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged the loss of lives, calling the incident “extremely sad” and extending his condolences.

“Suddenly there was pushing in the crowd, and we got trapped. A lot of us fell down and the crowd went uncontrolled,” the Press Trust of India news agency quoted pilgrim Sarojini as saying. “There was no chance for escape, there was pushing from all sides,” she said.

Distressed families lined up outside a makeshift hospital, desperate for news of missing loved ones. Clothes, blankets and backpacks were strewn around the site of the stampede.

Millions continued to throng the 4,000-hectare pilgrimage site despite the stampede, even as police urged them over megaphones to avoid the confluence. Adityanath urged people to take baths at other riverbanks instead.

“The situation is now under control, but there is a massive crowd of pilgrims,” Adityanath said, adding that 90 million to 100 million pilgrims were at the site.

About 30 million people had taken the holy bath by 8 a.m. Wednesday, he said.

The Maha Kumbh festival, held every 12 years, started on Jan. 13. Authorities expect more than 400 million people to throng the pilgrimage site in total. Nearly 150 million people have already attended, including Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah and celebrities like Coldplay’s Chris Martin.

A sprawling tent city has been built on the riverbanks to accommodate the millions of visitors, with roads, electricity and water, 3,000 kitchens and 11 hospitals.

About 50,000 security personnel are stationed in the city to maintain law and order and manage crowds, and more than 2,500 cameras monitor crowd movement and density so officials can try to prevent such crushes.

Several opposition leaders criticized the federal and the state government, both led by Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party, and blamed the stampede on “mismanagement” and “VIP culture” — the latter referring to what they say is preferential treatment for politicians and celebrities.

“The government should make better arrangements to meet the needs of common devotees,” Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi wrote on social platform X.

The 45-day festival is a significant cultural event for India’s Hindus, who make up nearly 80% of the country’s more than 1.4 billion people. It’s also a prestige event for Modi, whose ruling party boasts of promoting Hindu cultural symbols.

The Maha Kumbh festival has had stampedes in the past. In 2013, at least 40 pilgrims who were taking part in the festival were killed in a stampede at a train station in Prayagraj.

Deadly stampedes are relatively common around Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas. In July at least 116 people died, most of them women and children, when thousands at a religious gathering in northern India stampeded at a tent camp in Hathras town. 
…

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on semiconductors. How do analysts and people from Taiwan’s chip industry view the potential tariffs?  

Click here for the full story in Mandarin. 
…

ISLAMABAD — A senior World Health Organization official cautioned Wednesday that the eradication of polio in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the only countries where the paralytic virus persists, is threatened by the suspension of funding from the United States.

In an online news conference, Hanan Balkhy, regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, emphasized the crucial role of U.S. financial contribution to the organization’s surveillance efforts for polio and all other communicable diseases, particularly within her region.

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an unprecedented 90-day suspension of almost all foreign aid to give his administration the time to evaluate whether to continue funding the numerous humanitarian, development and security programs that receive U.S. assistance.

On his first day back in the White House, Trump announced he was withdrawing the United States from WHO.

His executive order accused the United Nations agency of mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health crises, as well as failing “to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”

Balkhy referred to Trump’s announcement to withdraw from WHO as “very unfortunate” and highlighted that the U.S. has been a “major” supporter of her organization’s work in the Eastern Mediterranean region for decades.

“The U.S. funding was indeed decisive in fighting polio, eradicating polio. Currently, we are in the last round of eradicating polio in the last two countries in the world: Afghanistan and Pakistan,” the Saudi physician said through an interpreter.

“We hope that our collaboration with our partners will enable us to achieve our goal of fully eradicating polio in these countries during this final stage,” she added.

Balkhy emphasized WHO’s dedication to safeguarding the world against the resurgence of polio.

In 2024, Pakistan reported 73 cases of the paralytic poliovirus, while Afghanistan reported 25 cases. Although there have been no additional polio cases in Afghanistan so far, Pakistani officials confirmed the first poliovirus infection of 2025 last week.

Balkhy attributed efforts led by WHO to contain what she described as the “inevitable” spread of polio in Gaza due to the destruction of its sewage and sanitation services.

She stated they are prepared to discuss the reforms the United States plans to propose and carry out necessary internal assessments to help advance the organization’s work.

“Funding shortfalls in 2024 have already led to devastating cuts to lifesaving health operations. We ask for your support in amplifying our message — help us save lives, restore health systems and bring hope to millions,” Balkhy said.
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BEIJING — Lunar New Year festivals and prayers marked the start of the Year of the Snake around Asia and farther afield on Wednesday — including in Moscow.

Hundreds of people lined up in the hours before midnight at the Wong Tai Sin Taoist temple in Hong Kong in a bid to be among the first to put incense sticks in the stands in front of the temple’s main hall.

“I wish my family will be blessed. I hope my business will run well. I pray for my country and wish people peace. I hope this coming year is a better year,” said Ming So, who visits the temple annually on the eve of the Lunar New Year.

The holiday — known as the Spring Festival in China, Tet in Vietnam and Seollal in Korea — is a major festival celebrated by diaspora communities around the world. The snake, one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, follows the just-ended Year of the Dragon.

The pop-pop-pop of firecrackers greeted the new year outside Guan Di temple in Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, followed by lion dances to the rhythmic beat of drums and small cymbals.

Ethnic Chinese holding incense sticks in front of them bowed several times inside the temple before sticking the incense into elaborate gold-colored pots, the smoke rising from the burning tips.

Many Chinese who work in bigger cities return home during the eight-day national holiday in what is described as the world’s biggest annual movement of humanity. Beijing, China’s capital, has turned into a bit of a ghost town, with many shops closed and normally crowded roads and subways empty.

Traditionally, Chinese have a family dinner at home on New Year’s Eve and visit “temple fairs” on the Lunar New Year to watch performances and buy snacks, toys and other trinkets from booths.

Many Chinese take advantage of the extended holiday to travel in the country and abroad. Ctrip, an online booking agency that operates Trip.com, said the most popular overseas destinations this year are Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, the United States, South Korea, Macao and Vietnam.

Russians cheered, waved and took smartphone photos of a colorful procession with drummers, costumed dancers and large dragon and snake figures held aloft that kicked off a 10-day Lunar New Year festival in Moscow on Tuesday night.

Visitors shouted “Happy New Year” in Russian and expressed delight at being able to experience Chinese food and culture in Moscow, including folk performances and booths selling snacks and artwork.
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In Pakistan, where public schools often lack resources, middle-class families in the city of Karachi are choosing to pay extra to send their children to private schools, hoping they will receive a better education. VOA’s Sidra Dar talks to one of these families in this report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard. Camera: Muhammad Khalil
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Bangkok — Commercial fishing fleets have been playing a key role in trafficking parts of tigers poached in Malaysia, according to research released Wednesday that could help enforcement efforts to save the critically endangered cat.

The fishing boats are part of a network of routes used by sophisticated teams of poachers to move parts of illegally killed Malayan Tigers and other poached animals to Vietnam, according to the study by conservation organizations Panthera and ZSL, in conjunction with Malaysia’s Sunway University.

Through interviews with more than four dozen people involved in the operations, including poachers and those who brokered sales of the illicit goods, researchers found that fishing boats were able to carry larger consignments, cheaper, and less likely to be checked by customs than land or air routes.

“To really crack a problem and insert the right intervention that’s going to have any impact you have to understand the thing, inside out,” said Panthara’s Rob Pickles, the lead author of the study, in a phone interview from Kuala Lumpur. “That’s what we hope that this study does — contribute to that depth of understanding of the problem, to allow us to tailor the interventions.”

From a population estimated at some 3,000 tigers in the middle of the 20th century, the latest estimates are that there are only about 150 of the cats left in Malaysia. The big cats already have gone extinct in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam over the last 25 years.

In addition to poaching, tigers have lost much of their habitat to deforestation, and they have been falling victim in recent years to the canine distemper virus while a major source of food, the wild boar, has been decimated by the African swine fever virus.

“It’s their last gasp,” Pickles said. “This is the last chance to turn things around.”

The tigers live in the forests of peninsular Malaysia, which is connected by land to Thailand to the north. They have also been targeted by poachers from Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand, but researchers said the Vietnamese teams operate on a “different order of magnitude.”

Almost all from the poor, rural and rugged province of Quang Binh, where many took to the jungles to escape relentless American bombing during the Vietnam War, the poachers use well-honed bushcraft skills to live as small teams in the forests for three to five months at a time on poaching excursions.

They capture wild tigers with heavy steel snares made of wires as thick as a person’s index finger, as well as other animals.

Once caught, the tigers are killed and processed largely for their bones, which are boiled for days until they become a gelatinous glue-like substance that is pressed into small blocks and sold for perceived medicinal benefits. Claws and teeth are used to make amulets.

As Malaysia went on lockdown during the COVID pandemic, poaching operations came to a near standstill. The researchers were able to use the time to find and interview more than 50 individuals involved in the operations for the study, which was done in two phases, concluding in 2024.

Researchers learned that fishing boats were also used to carry bear paws and bile, live civets, wild boar tusks and meat, pangolins, monitor lizards and turtles.

One person told researchers the fishing boats were ideal to send larger items like tiger skins.

“Nobody checks,” the interviewee was quoted as saying. “In addition, people can go back by boat, so many things also can be brought back by this route.”

Malaysia and Vietnam have both been increasing maritime controls recently, making trafficking by fishing boats riskier.

Malaysian authorities have also had success in catching poachers and have substantially increased punishments for wildlife crime in recent years, though the study also found that the managers who send the teams into the forests are rarely caught and can easily recruit replacements.

Researchers also learned that many Vietnamese poachers take on significant debt to travel to Malaysia.

They recommend that, in addition to focusing more on fishing boats, authorities should target potential poachers in their home villages in Quang Binh with information about the increasing risks and diminishing returns, to try and dissuade them from coming to Malaysia in the first place.

Officials in Malaysia and Vietnam, both of which were celebrating public holidays this week, did not respond to requests for comment on the survey and its recommendations.

“We can’t arrest our way out of a problem or over-rely on the criminal justice system,” said ZSL’s Gopalasamy Reuben Clements, a co-author of the report.

“We need to explore other approaches, such as highly targeted behavioral change interventions, that can run in parallel to arrests and prosecutions.”
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PRAYAGRAJ, India — Several people were feared dead and many more injured in a stampede early Wednesday as tens of thousands of Hindus rushed to take a holy bath in the river at the massive Maha Kumbh festival in northern India’s Prayagraj city, local media reported.

Distressed families lined up outside a makeshift hospital inquiring about their missing relatives, rescuers were helping the injured and police tried to manage the crowds. 

People’s belongings like clothes, blankets and backpacks were strewn around the scene of the stampede. It was not immediately clear what triggered the panic or how many people had been hurt. Some local news websites said 10 people had died. 

Wednesday was a sacred day during the six-week festival, and authorities were expecting a record 100 million devotees to engage in a ritual bath at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers. The ritualistic bathing’s main draw are thousands of ash-smeared Hindu ascetics who arrive in massive processions towards the confluence to take a holy dip in the waters.

The incident did not appear to have deterred millions of Hindu pilgrims who continued to throng the site even as police officials urged them over megaphones to keep away from the confluence.

Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of the Uttar Pradesh state, also urged people to not head toward the confluence and instead take baths at other riverbanks. Adityanath, in a post on social platform X, did not make any reference to the stampede but warned people not to “pay attention to any rumors.”

The Maha Kumbh festival, held every 12 years, started on Jan. 13 and is the world’s largest religious gathering. Authorities expect more than 400 million people to throng the pilgrimage site in total.

Hindus believe that a dip at the confluence of three rivers — two worldly and one mythical — will cleanse them of their past sins and end their process of reincarnation.

Indian authorities have touted the festival as the world’s largest religious gathering. Nearly 150 million people have already attended the festival, including the likes of Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah and celebrities like Coldplay’s Chris Martin.

Authorities built a sprawling tent city on the riverbanks to accommodate visitors. It has 3,000 kitchens and 150,000 toilets, plus roads, electricity and water, communication towers and 11 hospitals.

About 50,000 security personnel are stationed in the city to maintain law and order and manage crowds. Authorities also installed more than 2,500 cameras, some powered by AI, to send crowd movement and density information to four central control rooms, where officials can quickly deploy personnel to avoid stampedes.

In 2013, at least 40 pilgrims who were taking part in the same festival were killed in a stampede at a train station in Prayagraj.

Deadly stampedes are relatively common around Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with shoddy infrastructure and few safety measures. In July at least 116 people died, most of them women and children, when thousands at a religious gathering in northern India stampeded at a tent in Hathras town. 
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BANGKOK — Singapore-based petroleum company Interra Resources is being accused by an activist group in Myanmar of complicity in alleged war crimes committed by Myanmar’s military government.

The group Justice for Myanmar said Interra Resources’ majority stake in energy company Goldpetrol makes it complicit in war crimes because Goldpetrol produces and sells millions of barrels of oil that benefits the country’s military government.

In a report released Wednesday, Justice for Myanmar said Interra holds 60% of the Goldpetrol Joint Operating Company. The report describes the venture as one of the few remaining companies in Myanmar still extracting oil from the country’s onshore fields since the military overthrew a democratically elected government in February 2021, setting off a civil war that has killed thousands of civilians and displaced over 3 million people.

“Interra Resources must take action now so that it is consistent with its international human rights responsibilities. This necessarily involves stopping the supply of crude oil to the junta. It needs to decide the most responsible way to do this, and it may involve suspending operations or divestment,” Yadanar Maung, a Justice for Myanmar spokesperson, told VOA ahead of the report’s release.

Interra did not reply to VOA’s requests for comment.

Justice for Myanmar said Interra’s annual reports and leaked financial statements from Goldpetrol reveal that all of Goldpetrol’s oil production goes to the state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) — more than 2.3 million barrels from 2021 to 2023, the last full year of available data.

Those sales, the group said, have been earning Interra record profits. It said the firm reported $24.5 million and $19.1 million in crude oil sales to MOGE in 2022 and 2023, respectively, far more than in any of the previous five years. The average annual profits for the previous five years is $12.9 million.

Citing in its report anonymous sources with knowledge of Goldpetrol’s operations and the country’s oil supply chains, Justice for Myanmar said the crude Goldpetrol is pumping out of its two fields heads to the Mann refinery in the country’s Magwe region, which supplies the area’s military bases with jet fuel and other refined oil products.

The refinery sits in the heart of Myanmar’s military weapons-making hub, between an air force base and a gunpowder mill.

Since the coup, the military claims it has been fighting so-called “terrorists” — armed rebel groups — with proportionate force to restore peace and order.

But United Nations experts and others have repeatedly accused the junta of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. As the junta continues to lose ground to armed rebel groups across the country, the U.N. said, it is resorting ever more to indiscriminate artillery and airstrikes on civilian areas, destroying scores of churches, schools and clinics and razing whole villages.

Conflict data collected by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a U.K.-based research group, show a gradual drop in armed clashes since late 2023 but a rise in air and drone strikes, including a record 345 in October.

A military airstrike in January on a village under rebel control in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, which borders Magwe, reportedly killed about 40 people, including women and children.

Justice for Myanmar said Interra bears some of the responsibility.

“Interra Resources is complicit in the junta’s international crimes through the supply of crude oil. This oil fuels Myanmar military operations that indiscriminately target civilians and amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Yadanar Maung said.

“The domestic production of fuel is particularly important for the junta, given the impact of sanctions against junta banks and its aviation fuel supply chain,” the spokesperson added.

The U.S. and other Western governments have imposed sanctions on a number of Myanmar banks and firms owned by or in business with the country’s miliary since the coup in 2021, including some handling jet fuel sales and supplies.

Besides urging Interra to consider suspending its Myanmar operations or selling off its shares in Goldpetrol, Justice for Myanmar said Singapore’s stock exchange should investigate Interra for any breaches of its rules. Trading in another listed firm was halted in 2021 because of its operations in Myanmar, which the exchange had designated a “sanctioned nation.”

The stock exchange did not reply to VOA’s requests for comment.

Justice for Myanmar said Interra told the activist group ahead of the report’s launch that Goldpetrol’s contract with MOGE requires it to sell all its crude oil to the government, and that the joint venture has continued supplying MOGE after the coup to fulfill its “contractual obligations.”

The group said Interra declined to comment on how that oil was being used.

Amnesty International, which has also investigated Myanmar’s jet fuel supply chains, said the military’s airstrikes continue to devastate civilian areas, driving even schools to build bomb shelters.

“Airstrikes are only becoming more frequent, and aviation fuel remains a key asset for the Myanmar military, which is why we continue to call for states and companies to suspend shipments,” Amnesty International’s Myanmar researcher Joe Freeman told VOA.

The group said public pressure has convinced some of the foreign firms along Myanmar’s jet fuel supply chain to pull out but said their exit does not always solve the problem.

“After that departure, either local companies with even closer ties to the Myanmar military entered the scene or regional companies with limited international operations —and for the most part, immune to sanctions — came in to fill the void. We have seen this happen in a number of business sectors in Myanmar,” Freeman said.

Goldpetrol’s other shareholder that owns the remaining 40% stake in the company is North Petroleum International, a subsidiary of the China North Industries Group Corporation, a Chinese state-owned weapons conglomerate doing business worldwide as NORINCO.

China has been the Myanmar military’s main weapons supplier since the coup, along with Russia. It also has billions of dollars invested in Myanmar’s energy sector, including parallel oil and gas pipelines that stretch across the country from the Bay of Bengal to China’s Yunnan province.

China North Industries Group did not reply to VOA’s request for comment.
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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — As China’s economy slows, consumer behavior during the Lunar New Year has also changed. Many Chinese netizens have expressed concerns about the pressure of celebrating the holiday, especially among the younger generation, who are cutting back on unnecessary spending. The highlights of past Spring Festivals — red envelopes, gift exchanges and even holiday plans — are all being affected.

Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
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SYDNEY — Firefighters were desperately trying to stop a cluster of fast-moving blazes in southeast Australia on Tuesday, as thousands of acres of national park burned and a farming community was forced to evacuate.

Lightning strikes on Monday evening ignited several fires in the Grampians National Park, a forested mountain range about 300 kilometers west of Victoria’s state capital Melbourne.

A separate fast-moving fire in Little Desert National Park in the west of the state has torn through almost 65,000 hectares in less than 24 hours, emergency services said, scorching an area almost as large as Singapore.

That fire had forced the evacuation of rural Dimboola before threat levels were downgraded on Tuesday afternoon.

“I’m incredibly thankful that no lives have been lost and we have no reports of injury either,” emergency management commissioner Rick Nugent told reporters.

Chris Hardman from Forest Fire Management Victoria warned that weather conditions over the next few days are increasing the possibility the fires will spread.

“Right now firefighters are planning to do everything in their powers to protect communities,” he said.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Kevin Parkyn said stifling heatwave conditions would settle over parts of Victoria on Saturday, escalating fire risks.

“When we look at the next seven to 10 days, the main message is that there will be a hot dome over Victoria.

“Once we get into the weekend don’t be surprised if we see heatwave conditions unfold across the state, and continue to intensify into next week.

“The landscape is dry, and if we continue to see these hot conditions, it will continue to dry the landscape out further.”

Hotter temperatures are fueling increasingly severe natural disasters across Australia, researchers have found.

Scientists have documented a marked increase in extreme fire weather across the country since the 1950s.

The unprecedented “Black Summer” bushfires of 2019-2020, for example, killed 33 people and millions of animals, razed vast tracts of forest and blanketed major cities in thick smoke.
…

State Department — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with his British counterpart, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, on Monday to discuss a range of pressing global issues and joint initiatives aimed at promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific that is secure and stable.

“They affirmed the depth of the U.S.-UK Special Relationship and the crucial nature of our partnership in addressing issues like the conflict in the Middle East, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and China’s malign influence,” State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.

The U.K. government said that Lammy and Rubio look forward to meeting in person soon.

“They both welcomed the opportunity for the UK and the US to work together in alignment to address shared challenges including the situation in the Middle East, Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine, the challenges posed by China and the need for Indo-Pacific security,” the British statement read.

The call between Rubio and Lammy came amid a report by The Guardian that China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, is expected to visit Britain next month for the first U.K.-China strategic dialogue since 2018.

In Beijing, Chinese officials did not confirm Wang’s plans to visit the U.K. but noted what they described as “sound and steady growth” in relations between the two countries.

“China and the U.K. are both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and major economies in the world,” Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, stated during a briefing on Monday. She added it is in the common interest of the two countries to enhance strategic communication and deepen political mutual trust.

Wang is expected to attend the Munich Security Conference between Feb. 14 and 16, making it likely that his visit to the U.K. will take place either before or after the event.

In the past, U.S. Secretaries of State have typically attended the high-profile annual gathering at the Munich Security Conference.

The State Department has not responded to VOA’s inquiry about whether Rubio plans to hold talks with Wang during the conference.

Last week, the State Department outlined U.S. policy toward China under President Donald Trump’s administration. 

“Strategic competition is the frame through which the United States views its relationship with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The United States will address its relationship with the PRC from a position of strength in which we work closely with our allies and partners to defend our interests and values,” the State Department said on Jan. 20.
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WASHINGTON — It took Susan Salih about eight hours to travel from Kabul, Afghanistan, to Peshawar, Pakistan, to take a scholarship exam the Pakistani government offers to Afghan students.

Salih, 25, and a group of other young Afghan women who took the exam at the Institute of Management Sciences in Peshawar told VOA that despite being able to take the test online, they traveled, accompanied by family members, to sit for the exam in person “to not miss the opportunity.”

“I hope this will pay off at least for those girls who now have the chance [to pursue their higher education],” said Salih, who could not pursue her dream of a post-graduate degree in Afghanistan after the Taliban banned women from attending universities in 2022.

Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission said about 5,000 young women were among 21,000 applicants for the 2,000 scholarships announced for Afghan students.

These scholarships are part of the 4,500 Allama Muhammad Iqbal Scholarships for Afghan Students, the commission said.

The Pakistan government said the undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships are fully funded, covering tuition fees, hostel dues, and living, book and travel allowances.

Tests for the scholarships took place in-person and online on Saturday and Sunday in Peshawar and Quetta.

Muhammad Waqar Khan, senior project manager at the Higher Education Commission, said students will be “short-listed” for scholarships based on merit.

“After this [the tests], we will conduct interviews” with those students, Khan said.

Pakistani officials earlier told VOA on the condition of anonymity that the Taliban agreed to let female students pursue higher education in Pakistan, provided that their male guardians are granted visas to accompany them.

But the Taliban, who seized power of Afghanistan in 2021, denied Monday that they reached any “conditional agreement” regarding the scholarships.

The Taliban have “no agreement with Pakistan or any other country regarding scholarships for girls. … Such unfounded claims are propaganda by certain malicious groups against the Islamic Emirate,” said a statement posted on the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education website.

The Taliban banned women from traveling long distances without a chaperone, working with the government and nongovernment organizations, and going to public baths, beauty salons and public parks.

Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission said the scholarships aim to “strengthen [the] bilateral relationship” between the two countries.

Salih said these scholarships offer Afghan women hope.

“We want to be a beacon of hope for those still in Afghanistan,” said Salih, adding that “even in tough times and with many limitations, there is always hope and a path forward.”

Ayaz Gul contributed to this report.
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In mid-January, a wave of U.S. users migrated to China’s platform Xiaohongshu due to the TikTok ban, engaging in an unexpected “cost-of-living comparison” with Chinese users. Despite higher wages, many Americans found their living expenses made life harder than in China. However, analysts caution that such comparisons, while straightforward, may not align with more rigorous economic data.

Click here for the full report in Mandarin.
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ISLAMABAD — Pakistan is pressing ahead with amendments to its digital crimes act to stem what it says is an influx of fake news. But media rights groups warn the changes, if passed, will suppress freedom of expression by exposing journalists and social media users to legal action.

New amendments to the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (2025), commonly known as PECA, call for a three-year prison term and a fine of over $7,000 for spreading fake and false information.

The amendments also broaden the definition of content that authorities can block and set up four new bodies to regulate online content.

The amended law now awaits passage in the Senate after its Standing Committee on Interior approved the amendments Monday. The National Assembly, the lower house of the country’s bicameral parliament, passed the amended bill last Thursday as opposition members and journalists walked out in protest.

“The fact that [the] interior ministry is involved in this clearly shows that this is being turned into a national security matter,” said Nayyar Ali, secretary of the National Press Club that represents journalists in Islamabad and neighboring Rawalpindi.

The law

Originally promulgated as Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (2016), PECA, as it is commonly known, was meant to curb cybercrime, online harassment, and the spread of hateful content that could instigate violence.

Media and human rights groups call the law “draconian” and say successive governments have used it to muzzle dissent.

Press freedom groups have recorded more than 200 incidents of journalists and media persons investigated since PECA became law in 2017.

The latest changes to the law come just days before Pakistan marks a year since its elections last Feb. 8 were marred by allegations of widespread fraud.

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, one of the most popular leaders, remains in jail and his party is deprived of its share of seats reserved for women and minorities.

However, his supporters continue to run a formidable online campaign when most TV channels avoid saying the leader’s name.

“State and private players have been able to tame mainstream media,” said journalist Arifa Noor about the decline in press freedom over the past several years. “It has pushed a considerable amount of the commentary and reporting onto social media, and this is why they now want to go after social media.

“They can’t tame it and they want to tame it,” she said.

Pakistan ranks a low 152 out of 180 countries on Reporters without Borders’ global press freedom index, where 1 shows the best media environment. Freedom House ranks it “not free” for internet freedoms.

Amendments

PECA (2025) as approved by the national assembly expands the definition of unlawful content to include information that is false, harmful, and damages the reputation of a person including members of the judiciary, armed forces, parliament or a provincial assembly.

It also broadens the definition of “person” to include state institutions and corporations.

Critics worry this will muzzle dissent and open doors for the powerful military to target civilians.

Minister for Information for Punjab province Azma Bukhari rejected the concerns as “undue.”

“The [military] institution also belongs to this country,” he said. “If the institution has an objection over someone, should it not object [just] because it’s an institution?”

The amendments come as Pakistan’s military routinely faces criticism online for its role in civilian affairs as well as for its alleged interference in political affairs, which it denies. Faced often with smear campaigns, the military’s top brass has repeatedly called for a crackdown on “digital terrorism.”

“What we need is strong civil laws that treat defamation as a civil problem,” Noor said.

The amended law stipulates a punishment of up to three years in prison and a fine of more than $7,000 for intentionally disseminating information that a person knows or believes is “false or fake and likely to cause or create a sense of fear, panic or disorder or unrest in general public or society.”

“What is fake news? They don’t bother to define it,” Noor, the journalist, said. “They want to call everything that they don’t like fake news.”

Journalists’ bodies say the impact of the amended law will not be limited to social media content makers.

“All the media is digital now,” said Ali, secretary of the National Press Club, as mainstream media outlets and prominent journalists use social media to deliver information that can draw state backlash if delivered on TV channels.

New powers

The bill proposes creating a Digital Rights Protection Authority, a Social Media Complaint Council, a Social Media Protection Tribunal and a National Cyber Crime Investigation Authority.

Decisions made by the tribunal can only be challenged in the Supreme Court, bypassing the traditional appeals process that includes provincial high courts.

Punjab information minister Bukhari defended the amendment saying, “we are giving access to the highest forum in the country.” However, the Press Club’s Ali said most citizens do not have the financial means to approach the country’s top court through lawyers.

Bukhari, who has been a target of an AI-generated smear campaign, told VOA that Pakistan needs such a law.

“Those who deal in fake news should be fearful of this law,” she said. “Those who file with checks and balances should not worry.”

However, Noor said journalists are also caught in a bind when government officials give contradictory information that causes the spread of false information.

Rushed passage

Some journalists’ bodies have said they support government efforts to regulate digital spaces, however they are questioning the speedy passage of the amended law in the National Assembly and approval of amendments by the Senate committee.

Expressing concern over the chilling effects of the amendments, the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan as well as Amnesty International last week called on the government to consult journalist bodies before turning the bill into law.

In a statement Thursday, the Joint Action Committee, a coalition of major media bodies of the country “rejected any PECA amendments that are passed or approved without consultation with media bodies.”

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists has called for nationwide protests on Tuesday afternoon.
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ISLAMABAD — A diplomat from Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban cautioned the United States on Monday against threatening retaliatory measures in response to detentions of U.S. nationals in the country.

“Our policy is to reach a solution through peaceful means,” Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban ambassador to Qatar, told VOA in written remarks. 

He spoke two days after the new U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened that Washington may place a “very big bounty” on Taliban leaders, suggesting they might hold more American hostages in the country than previously known. 

Last week, the de facto Afghan authorities released two Americans, Ryan Corbett and William McKenty, in exchange for a Taliban member serving a life sentence in a U.S. federal prison on drug and terrorism charges. The swap was negotiated by former President Joe Biden’s administration. 

“In the face of pressure and aggression, the jihad [holy war] of the Afghan nation in recent decades is a lesson that everyone should learn from,” Shaheen stated. 

The Taliban have not revealed how many foreigners are still in their custody in Afghanistan. However, relatives and U.S. officials report the detention of at least two additional Americans. They are George Glezmann, a former airline mechanic, and Mahmood Habibi, a naturalized American. 

“Just hearing the Taliban is holding more American hostages than has been reported,” Rubio wrote on social media platform X on Saturday. “If this is true, we will have to immediately place a VERY BIG bounty on their top leaders, maybe even bigger than the one we had on bin Laden.” 

The chief U.S. diplomat did not elaborate or specify the number of Americans being detained in Afghanistan. 

Washington offered a bounty of $25 million for information leading to the capture or killing of Osama bin Laden for planning the deadly Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States. Congress subsequently authorized the secretary of state to increase the bounty to a maximum of $50 million. 

U.S. forces searched for bin Laden in Afghanistan for years before finding his hideout and killing him in neighboring Pakistan in 2011. 

Meanwhile, a former Canadian soldier detained by the Taliban was freed Sunday after more than two months of imprisonment in a deal brokered by Qatar. 

“I just spoke with David Lavery upon his safe arrival in Qatar from Afghanistan. He is in good spirits,” Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly announced on X. Joly credited the tiny Gulf nation’s prime minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani with helping in Lavery’s release. 

“Thank you to my Qatari counterpart, @MBA_AlThani_, for helping facilitate the release of our Canadian citizen,” she wrote. 

The Taliban waged a lethal insurgency in Afghanistan that persisted for nearly two decades, ultimately regaining power in 2021, mere days before a hasty and chaotic withdrawal of all U.S.-led Western troops from the country along with thousands of Afghan allies. 

Taliban leaders have since imposed their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, banning girls from attending school beyond the sixth grade, prohibiting most women from workplaces, and blocking women’s access to public life at large. 

The United Nations has designated the restrictions as “gender apartheid,” and the international community has refuted the Taliban’s request for legitimacy to their government due to their severe treatment of the female Afghan population. 

The restrictions stem from numerous decrees issued by the reclusive Taliban supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, from his base in the southern city of Kandahar, with his aides defending the government as in line with Sharia. 

Last week, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague announced that he had applied for arrest warrants for Akhundzada and Afghanistan’s chief justice, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, accusing them of persecuting women and girls. 

The Taliban rejected the allegations as baseless and condemned the arrest warrants for their leaders as “devoid of just legal basis, duplicitous in nature and politically motivated.”
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand will introduce looser visa rules to allow holiday makers to work remotely while visiting the country, to boost its tourism sector and economy, it said on Monday.

Erica Stanford, Immigration Minister said in a statement that the visitor visa would change from Jan. 27 to allow people to work while traveling in the country.

“This is a brand-new market of tourist New Zealand can tap into. We want people to see our country as the ideal place to visit and work while they do it,” she said.

She added in a press conference following the announcement that she was unsure how many people would take up the opportunity, but digital nomad visas had been “extraordinarily popular” overseas and that New Zealand was targeting people who would like the opportunity to work and travel here.

“I expect in their time here that they will spend longer than they normally would, they will spend more because they’re here for longer, and the thing that we’re really hoping, is that they fall in love with the place,” she said.

New Zealand’s economy sank into a technical recession in the third quarter of 2024 and the government is looking for ways to boost growth. The tourism sector has not fully bounced back from the closure of borders during the COVID-19 pandemic with international visitors at around 86% of 2019 levels.

“The government’s ambition is that new visa rules will put New Zealand boldly on the map as a welcoming haven for the world’s talent,” said Nicola Willis, Minister of Economic Growth.

“We hope that in some cases, it will encourage those people and the firms they represent to consider doing more business with New Zealand in the future,” Willis added.
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Doha, Qatar — A Canadian ex-soldier detained by the Taliban government in Afghanistan was freed Sunday after over two months of imprisonment in a deal brokered by Qatar, a source with knowledge of the release told AFP.

David Lavery was detained by Taliban authorities in Kabul in November 2024 and had made headlines three years earlier helping in the evacuation of Afghans during the withdrawal of U.S. and allied forces from the country.

“Lavery has been released from Afghanistan and is now in Doha, Qatar,” the source said on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations, adding his freedom “was secured following a request from the Canadian government to Qatar.”

“Qatari mediators coordinated with senior Canadian officials and utilized their contacts in Afghanistan to dispatch a medical team to Kabul to assess Lavery’s condition and provide care, while also facilitating contact between Lavery and his family,” the source said.

“Following a breakthrough in the talks, Mr. Lavery (is) in Doha now united with his family. He underwent a medical assessment upon his arrival,” the source added.

In 2021, Lavery helped an estimated 100 Afghans flee Kabul during the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. and allied forces.

He spent decades in the Canadian military and is said to have been a key member of its elite Joint Task Force 2 special operations unit.

More recently, Lavery has reportedly operated a private security firm in Kabul.

The former soldier’s release follows the liberation last week by the Taliban government of two U.S. citizens from prison in return for an Afghan fighter held in the United States, in another deal brokered by Qatar.

Ryan Corbett, who had been detained in 2022, and William McKenty were released in exchange for Khan Mohammed, who was convicted of narco-terrorism by a U.S. court.

The Afghan foreign ministry said Mohammed was “an Afghan fighter” who had been “imprisoned in America.”

Two other U.S. citizens are believed to remain in detention in Afghanistan, former airline mechanic George Glezmann and naturalized American Mahmood Habibi.

Gas-rich Qatar hosted Taliban representatives during years of peace talks with the United States leading up to the 2021 withdrawal and in recent years has hosted rounds of Afghan dialogue which the Taliban authorities joined in June 2024.
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New Delhi — India celebrated its 76th Republic Day on Sunday with a colorful parade displaying its military might and cultural diversity on a boulevard in the heart of country’s capital. Indonesian president was the guest of honor. 

Tens of thousands of people lined the road on a cold Sunday morning to watch the long parade to mark the anniversary of the official adoption of India’s Constitution on Jan. 26, 1950, nearly three years after independence from British colonial rule. 

Soldiers from India’s military and paramilitary, along with their bands, marched as the country’s leaders and other guests watched. Various floats displayed India’s cultural diversity with one showcasing the Maha Kumbh festival, the ongoing massive Hindu festival touted as the world’s largest religious gathering. 

The parade took place on Rajpath Avenue, built by India’s former British rulers and lined by huge lawns, canals and rows of trees. The avenue was redeveloped as part of the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Indian independence and renamed Kartavayapath, or the Boulevard of Duty, in 2022. 

Visiting Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto attended the event as the chief guest and was flanked by India’s president and prime minister. A 342-member band and marching contingent from the Indonesian National Armed Forces joined the parade, the first time the ASEAN country’s troops have joined any foreign parade. 

India traditionally invites foreign leaders to witness the spectacle. French President Emmanuel Macron was the guest of honor last year and former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2015. Ten Southeast Asian leaders watched the parade in 2018. 

Sukarno, Indonesia’s first president and the leader of the country’s independence struggle, was the chief guest at India’s first Republic Day celebration in 1950. 

Thousands of men and women in colorful costumes played marches, performed traditional dances and pulled motorbike stunts during the 90-minute parade. It also showcased India’s domestically built defense equipment and military systems, including tanks, infantry combat vehicles, radar systems and missile systems. 

Some 5,000 artists, carrying traditional props like spears, swords and drums, performed over 40 dance forms from different parts of India in a cultural performance that lasted about 10 minutes. The parade ended with a fly-past by air force fighters, including Rafale jets, transport planes and helicopters. 

The parade was broadcast live by television networks. Republic Day parades also took place in state capitals and other cities across India amid massive security arrangements. 

In Srinagar, the main city of disputed Kashmir, armed police and soldiers patrolled as regional officials celebrated Republic Day. Hundreds of people braved winter chills to witness the parade amid additional security, with police and soldiers checking vehicles and frisking pedestrians. 

India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. 
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Top Taliban officials met Iran’s foreign minister Sunday to discuss tensions along their shared border, the treatment of Afghan refugees in Iran and water rights. 

It was the first visit by an Iranian foreign minister to the Afghan capital since 2017. 

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was committed to the return of some 3.5 million Afghan refugees and had no intention of interfering in its neighbor’s domestic politics, according to a statement from the Afghan government’s deputy spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat. 

He also called for the full implementation of the Helmand River water treaty, which envisions shared water resources, the statement said. 

Acting Prime Minister Hassan Akhund asked Iran to treat Afghan refugees with respect and said it was not feasible to manage a large-scale repatriation within a short period. He also said incidents such as the execution of Afghans in Iran provoked public sentiment. 

Araghchi also met Afghanistan’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, and Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob. 

Earlier Sunday, Iran’s official IRNA news agency quoted Araghchi as saying he hoped for more economic ties and improved relations with Afghanistan, citing some “ups and downs.” 

Iran doesn’t formally recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan, which seized power in 2021 as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew from the country following two decades of war. 

But Tehran maintains political and economic ties with Kabul and has allowed the Taliban to manage Afghanistan’s Embassy in Iran’s capital. 
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MELBOURNE, Australia — There’s all sorts of ways beyond merely the score to measure just how dominant Jannik Sinner was while outplaying and frustrating Alexander Zverev during the 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory Sunday that earned the 23-year-old Italian a second consecutive Australian Open championship. 

The zero break points Sinner faced. Or the 10 he accumulated. The 27-13 advantage in points that lasted at least nine strokes. Or the way Sinner accumulated more winners, 32 to 25, and fewer unforced errors, 27 to 45. The way Sinner won 10 of the 13 points that ended with him at the net. Or the way he only let Zverev go 14 of 27 in that category, frequently zipping passing shots out of reach. 

Well, here’s is one more bit of evidence: what Zverev said about Sinner. 

“I’m serving better than him, but that’s it. He does everything else better than me. He moves better than me. He hits his forehand better than me. He hits his backhand better than me. He returns better than me. He volleys better than me,” Zverev said. “At the end of the day, tennis has five or six massive shots — like, massive factors — and he does four or five of them better than me. That’s the reason why he won.” 

High praise from a guy who is, after all, ranked No. 2. Sinner has held the No. 1 spot since last June and is not showing any signs of relinquishing it. This was the first Australian Open final between the men at No. 1 and No. 2 since 2019, when No. 1 Novak Djokovic defeated No. 2 Rafael Nadal — also in straight sets. 

“It’s amazing,” Sinner said, “to achieve these things.” 

The “things” include being the youngest man to leave Melbourne Park with the trophy two years in a row since Jim Courier in 1992-93, and the first man since Nadal at the French Open in 2005 and 2006 to follow up his first Grand Slam title by repeating as the champion at the same tournament a year later. 

Sinner was asked later whether he felt more relief or excitement when he raised his arms after the last point was his. 

“This one was joy. We managed to do something incredible this time, because the situation I was in was completely different from a year ago here,” he said. “I had more pressure.” 

Probably true, but it’s hard to tell. 

Go to the start of 2024 and take stock. In that span, Sinner has won three of the five major tournaments, including the U.S. Open in September, meaning he now has claimed three straight hard-court Slams. His record is 80-6 with nine titles. His current unbeaten run covers 21 matches. 

“There’s always something that can get better,” said one of his two coaches, Simone Vagnozzi. “He is playing really well right now and everything comes easily. But there will be tough moments ahead.” 

The only thing that’s clouded the past 12 months for Sinner, it seems, is the doping case in which his exoneration was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency. He tested positive for a trace amount of an anabolic steroid twice last March but blamed it on an accidental exposure involving two members of his team who have since been fired. Sinner initially was cleared in August; a hearing in the WADA appeal is scheduled for April. 

“I keep playing like this because I have a clear mind on what happened,” Sinner said Sunday. “I know if I would be guilty, I would not play like this.” 

While he became the eighth man in the Open era (which began in 1968) to start his career 3-0 in Grand Slam finals, Zverev is the seventh to be 0-3, adding this loss to those at the 2020 U.S. Open and last year’s French Open. 

Those earlier setbacks both came in five sets. This contest was not that close. Not at all. 

“I’ll keep doing everything I can,” Zverev said, “to lift one of those trophies.” 

Just before Zverev began speaking into a microphone during the trophy ceremony, a voice cried out from the stands, making reference to two of the player’s ex-girlfriends who accused him of physical abuse. 

During the match, there truly was only one moment that contained a hint of tension. It came when Zverev was two points from owning the second set at 5-4, love-30. But a break point — and a set point — never arrived. 

A year ago, Sinner went through a lot more trouble to earn his first major, needing to get past Novak Djokovic — who quit one set into his semifinal against Zverev on Friday because of a torn hamstring — before erasing a two-set deficit in the final against 2021 U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev. 

This time, Sinner applied pressure with an all-around style that does not really appear to have holes. 

“The facts speak for themselves,” Zverev said. “He’s in a different universe right now.” 
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Seoul — South Korean prosecutors indicted impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol Sunday for being the “ringleader of an insurrection” after his abortive declaration of martial law, ordering the suspended leader to remain in detention. 

Yoon plunged the country into political chaos with his December 3 bid to suspend civilian rule, a move which lasted just six hours before lawmakers defied armed soldiers in parliament to vote it down. 

He was impeached soon after, and earlier this month became the first sitting South Korean head of state to be arrested. 

That came after a weekslong holdout at his residence, where his elite personal security detail resisted attempts to detain him. 

In a statement, prosecutors said they had “indicted Yoon Suk Yeol with detention today on charges of being the ringleader of an insurrection.” 

He has been held at the Seoul Detention Center since his arrest, and the formal indictment with detention means he will now be kept behind bars until his trial, which must happen within six months. 

The indictment was widely expected after a court twice rejected requests by prosecutors to extend his arrest warrant while their investigation proceeded. 

“After a comprehensive review of evidence obtained during investigations [prosecutors] concluded that it was only appropriate to indict the defendant,” they said in a statement. 

The need to keep Yoon behind bars was justified by a “continued risk of evidence destruction,” they said. 

The specific charge — being the ringleader of an insurrection — is not covered by presidential immunity, they added.  

‘Process of accountability’ 

The opposition hailed the indictment. 

“We need to hold not only those who schemed to carry out an illegal insurrection, but also those who instigated it by spreading misinformation,” said lawmaker Han Min-soo. 

Without providing evidence, Yoon and his legal team have pointed to purported election fraud and legislative gridlock at the opposition-controlled parliament as justification for his declaration of martial law. 

Yoon has vowed to “fight to the end”, earning the support of supporters who have adopted the “stop the steal” rhetoric associated with U.S. President Donald Trump. 

“This indictment will provide a sense of relief, reaffirming that the constitutional order is functioning as it should,” said Bae Kang-hoon, co-founder of political think tank Valid. 

Yoon also faces a series of Constitutional Court hearings, to decide whether to uphold his impeachment and strip him formally of the presidency. 

If the court rules against Yoon, he will lose the presidency and an election will be called within 60 days. 
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