Hindus across India and other South Asian countries, dressed mostly in white, smeared or sprayed friends and relatives with brightly colored powder Friday as millions celebrated the return of spring during Holi, the festival of colors.
Friday is a nationwide holiday in India, so people can participate in the raucous, joyfully messy celebration, which usually lands on the last full moon of the lunar month heralding the end of winter.
In neighboring Nepal, festival activities began Thursday and stretched across two days. The boisterous festival is observed in other South Asian countries and by many in the Indian diaspora.
Holi is one of India’s biggest festivals, and millions of people make nostalgic journeys to their hometowns to celebrate with loved ones by lighting bonfires on festival eve, which signifies the triumph of good over evil. Gathering around the flames, family members sing, dance and pray to Hindu gods.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted Holi greetings to the nation on social media Friday. In a post on X, Modi wrote about the important benefits of the festival in bringing people together.
“Happy Holi to all of you. It is my wish that this holy festival full of joy and happiness infuses new enthusiasm and energy in everyone’s life and also deepens the color of unity of the countrymen,” Modi posted in Hindi.
In one New Delhi park so many people hurled colored powder at one another that the air took on a rainbow haze, while others danced in the streets to music blaring from speakers. Water guns were the weaponry of choice for groups of young men who chased festival participants, already drenched in a variety of hues, through public parks and side streets.
Children took aim from a greater distance, perched on rooftops or balconies, where they flung water balloons filled with colored pigments and glitter at the revelers below.
The annual event also celebrates the mythical love affair between the Hindu god Krishna and his consort Radha. On a larger scale, it signifies rebirth and rejuvenation across Hindu culture.
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ISLAMABAD — Pakistan officials confirmed Friday that 31 people, including 23 security personnel, lost their lives in Tuesday’s train hijacking by armed militants in the country’s restive Balochistan province.
In a news briefing, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said 18 off-duty military and paramilitary Frontier Corps personnel, three railway staff and five civilian passengers were among those killed in the initial attack.
Five Frontier Corps personnel were also killed in the attack and the ensuing battle with militants.
Separatist militants from Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a designated terror group, took over the Jaffar Express near Sibi hours after it left the provincial capital, Quetta, on Tuesday.
In the clearance operation that lasted more than 30 hours, the Pakistan military said it killed 33 BLA terrorists.
Chaudhry, director general of military public relations, said 354 passengers were freed, 37 of whom were injured.
Officials also revised the tally of passengers on the train downward to 425 from 440.
Speaking alongside Chaudhry, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said 425 tickets were sold for the cross-country train. However, passengers could board at any station along the roughly 1,600-kilometer route, which, Bugti said, largely explained the gap between the number of passengers and those rescued.
“Maybe some did not travel; some were boarding later, maybe some of those who ran [from the terrorists] lost their way, and maybe some got caught [by the terrorists],” the chief minister said.
Blaming neighbors
Tuesday’s attack marked a dramatic escalation in the separatist insurgency that has seen a sharp increase in violence in recent months. In 2024, the BLA and other Baloch separatist groups killed nearly 400 people in over 500 attacks.
Pakistani officials blamed archrival India, accusing it of providing support to anti-Pakistan militants in Afghanistan, a charge New Delhi quickly rejected.
“We strongly reject the baseless allegations made by Pakistan,” Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters.
Bugti and Chaudhry reiterated the claim that Tuesday’s attack was orchestrated by militants with bases in Afghanistan, a charge Afghan foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi rejected Thursday.
Intelligence failure?
Pakistani officials acknowledged there was a security threat, but rejected questions that the brazen hijacking in the heavily militarized province was an intelligence failure.
“There was a threat in the general area,” said Chaudhry, adding that it was not specifically about an attack on the train.
“There are thousands of intelligence success stories too behind [such incidents], which you don’t know — incidents that did not happen because our intelligence was successfully able to detect them,” he said.
The military spokesperson said law enforcement agencies have conducted 11,654 intelligence-based operations across the country so far this year. Nearly 60,000 such operations were conducted nationwide last year, he said.
Resource-rich Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest and least-populated province, where members of the ethnic Baloch minority say they face discrimination and exploitation by the government in Islamabad.
In the last 15 months, 1,250 terrorists from various groups have been killed in Pakistan, along with 563 security personnel, Chaudhry said.
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Relations between Russia and China are indeed closer than at any point since the 1950s, but they are shaped more by pragmatism, economic necessity and shared opposition to Western influence than by deep trust or historical affinity.
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WASHINGTON — When Naveeda Khoshbo published her book of political analysis in 2019, she received widespread praise and recognition.
For many, “it was the first time that they were reading a book written by a young woman,” she said.
So, when she received a text message from a friend and fellow journalist in November 2024, telling her the Taliban had banned her book, she was shocked.
Khoshbo, 33, said she can’t figure out why the book, “Siyasi Jaj” or “Political Analysis,” was banned, saying “it did not address any sensitive topics.”
Published by the Peace Publish Center in Kabul, her book covers political events and processes from 2001 to 2019.
But last year it was included in a list circulated on social media of more than 400 books banned by the Taliban.
The list covers a range of topics: democracy, the arts, literature, poetry, history, religion, governance, rights and freedoms.
The Taliban’s deputy minister for the Ministry of Information and Culture, Zia-ul Haq Haqmal, told media his department had identified 400 books deemed “against Afghanistan’s national interest and Islamic values.”
‘Hostility is directed at women’
Khoshbo believes her book also was banned because it was written by a woman. She is now based in London.
“I believe their hostility is directed at women, and for them, the books written by women are the first to be targeted, regardless of their content,” she said.
About a dozen titles in the book ban are by women, or they were translated by women. Other titles include the book by Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, “I am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education.”
The Taliban, who seized power in August 2021, have imposed strict measures against women in Afghanistan, barring them from education, work, long-distance travel and participating in public life.
Afghan writer Nazeer Ahmad Sahaar told VOA the Taliban jettison anything they see as contrary to their ideology.
“Anything that is against the Taliban’s political and religious beliefs and narrative is banned under the Taliban,” said Sahaar.
The author has written more than a dozen books. One of those, “Waziristan: The Last Stand” is also on the list of banned publications.
Sahaar sees the book ban as part of a larger crackdown on “women, the press and freedom of expression.”
Sahaar said the ban on books, though, is of little surprise.
“It was evident that they would impose restrictions in many areas,” he said.
Alongside the book ban and restrictions imposed on women, the Taliban return has led to restrictions on freedom of expression.
Media outlets work under rules that are not always clear about what can and cannot be covered, and in some cases must submit coverage for review before publication.
The Taliban also imposed restrictions on printing books.
An owner of a printing press in the eastern province of Nangarhar, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, told VOA that the provincial Directorate of Information and Culture instructed publishers not to print anything without prior permission.
“In a meeting with publishers, the Taliban officials said that ‘if you are publishing any book, you must first obtain permission from the directorate,'” said the business owner.
The owner said that businesses are struggling under the Taliban, but there is an increased demand for books, particularly ones that are banned.
“The Taliban’s restrictions have sparked social and cultural resistance,” he said, with people seeking ways to oppose the limitations, including by reading prohibited books.
‘It reflects the fear’
Abdul Ghafoor Lewal, an Afghan writer and former diplomat, told VOA the Taliban’s actions reveal fear of any opposition.
“It reflects the fear authoritarian regimes have of freedom of expression, books and knowledge,” said Lewal.
Khoshbo said the Taliban’s ban would not stop her and other women from writing and participating in social and political life.
“The Taliban can’t suppress our voices by “banning books,” said Khoshbo, but “women can’t be erased from society and politics.”
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Washington — While some youth in China admit to spending an excessive amount of time on the internet, many are skeptical about new government proposals aimed at regulating the time young Chinese spend online and on social media sites.
In conversations at China’s annual political meetings that wrapped up in Beijing this week, retired international basketball star Yao Ming, called for some limits on internet access for young people in China. Yao was advocating for a plan that would mandate children turn off all electronics for one full day every academic semester and get outside and exercise.
Officials also called for tighter controls of online gaming and cited concerns about harmful online content, warning that excessive internet use is hurting the physical health and academic performance of Chinese minors under the age of 18.
China already has some of the world’s tightest internet controls, with tens of thousands of websites, foreign social media sites and content blocked. It also has a massive online population.
On social media in China some commenters praised the efforts, but many expressed frustrations with what they viewed to be an inherent contradiction within the policies. Some noted that children are already in school most of the day and rely on internet resources to complete assignments.
“Schools should assign less homework that requires phone check-ins and online research,” wrote one user from northern Hebei Province.
“Minors get home around 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. at night, so when do they even have time to use social media?” wrote another user from Beijing.
A college student in Beijing, who spoke with VOA on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic, said she agreed with officials’ concerns, but added that policies like the one suggested by Yao are likely to have a limited impact.
“Chinese teenagers and young people are absolutely addicted to the internet. You can find people walking on the streets looking at their phones everywhere and all the time. We use the internet to do almost everything,” the student told VOA.
“I don’t really think proposals to limit internet accessibility for young people would be effective. The addiction is always hard to get rid of, so how can a ‘limit day’ alleviate the excessive internet use?” the student said, using the word “addiction” to describe the excessive use of the internet.
According to the “2024 China Game Industry Minor Protection Report” released by the Game Working Committee of the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association, as of December 2023, the number of internet users in China under the age of 18 reached 196 million, with the percentage of minors who are on the internet and can access it reaching 97.3%.
Will Wang, a Chinese student attending college in the United States, said when he returns home in Beijing during school break his impression is that the internet is used heavily in everyday life, and that teenagers are very active on social media platforms.
“There’s definitely a significant increase in screen and internet usage across all ages in China…many Chinese teenagers are deeply engaged with TikTok, RedNote, Bilibili, and many internet platforms,” Wang said in a written response to VOA.
Amid the busy academic and personal lives of young Chinese, the internet provides them with a rare space for privacy, which Wang said is fueling high levels of internet use.
“Most Chinese teenagers don’t have a lot of private space for themselves at home or at school so [the] internet is the only option, especially with their busy schedules––nearly every kid has to attend some sort of classes or studying-related activities outside of school,” Wang said. “For teenagers, if anything, [the] internet makes them more connected with their friends and the world.”
Xu Quan, a media commentator based in Hong Kong, said online spaces can have a positive effect on children, who are often overwhelmed with parental and educational expectations.
“Contrary to what some might think, the internet helps them deal with stress to a certain extent. If you were to remove the internet from their lives, that would actually be harmful to their physical and mental well-being,” Xu told VOA.
The recent proposals to limit internet use build on previous regulations regarding youth internet use. In October 2020, China revised the “Law on the Protection of Minors,” adding an “internet protection” chapter requiring that social media, gaming and live streaming platforms implement tools to limit their excessive use. The law targeted gaming addictions in particular.
A 2021 notice required strict limits on gaming time allotments for children under 18. The regulation banned gaming between the hours of 10 p.m. and 8 a.m., and limited minors to no more than one hour of gaming per day on weekdays or two hours per day on weekends.
During Chinese New Year this year, Tencent Games issued a “limited play order” for minors. During the 32-day break from academics, teenagers were only permitted to play the company’s games for a total of 15 hours.
However, all of these regulations can be circumvented through using or creating accounts belonging to adults, who are not subject to the restrictions.
Despite previous momentum, A Qiang, who used to work in the Chinese media industry, thinks proposals from the recently concluded political meetings in Beijing are just talk and won’t lead to any concrete policy change.
The real way forward, he argues, is by lessening burdens impacting the quality of minors’ lives offline such as intense academic pressure.
The problem is not that they have too much freedom online but have too little freedom offline, he said.
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WASHINGTON — A second Iranian ship that Western news reports have named as part of a scheme to import a missile propellant ingredient from China is heading to Iran with a major cargo load, an exclusive VOA analysis has found. Ship-tracking websites show the Iranian-flagged cargo ship Jairan departed China on Monday, a month later than the expected departure cited by one of the news reports.
The Jairan was named in January and February articles by The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and CNN as one of two Iranian cargo ships Tehran is using to import 1,000 metric tons of sodium perchlorate from China. The three news outlets cited unnamed Western intelligence sources as saying the purported shipment could be transformed into enough ammonium perchlorate — a key solid fuel propellant component — to produce 260 midrange Iranian missiles.
The other Iranian cargo ship named in the news reports, the Golbon, completed a 19-day journey from eastern China to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on Feb. 13. During the trip, it made a two-day stop at southern China’s Zhuhai Gaolan port and delivered an unknown cargo to Iran, according to ship-tracking website MarineTraffic.
Both the Golbon and the Jairan are sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department as vessels operated by the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, which itself is sanctioned for being what the State Department has called “the preferred shipping line for Iranian proliferators and procurement agents.”
As the Golbon sailed from China to Iran in late January and early February, the Jairan’s automatic identification system transponder — a device that transmits positional and other data as part of an internationally mandated tracking system — reported the vessel as being docked at eastern China’s Liuheng Island.
In a joint review of the Jairan’s AIS data on MarineTraffic and fellow ship-tracking website Seasearcher, VOA and Dubai-based intelligence analyst Martin Kelly of EOS Risk Group determined that the Jairan reported no significant draught change while docked at Liuheng Island through February and into early March. That meant the Iranian vessel was sitting at the almost same depth in the water as when it arrived in eastern China late last year, indicating it had not been loaded with any major cargo since then.
The Jairan remained at Liuheng Island until March 3, when it headed south toward Zhuhai Gaolan and docked at the port on March 8. Two days later, the Jairan departed, reporting its destination as Bandar Abbas with an expected arrival of March 26. The Iranian ship also reported a significant draught change upon leaving Zhuhai Gaolan, transmitting data showing it was sitting more than 2 meters deeper in the water and indicating it had taken on a major cargo at the port, Kelly told VOA.
As of Friday, local time, the Jairan was in the waters of Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago, heading southwest toward the Singapore Strait.
The U.S. State Department had no comment on the Jairan’s departure from China when contacted by VOA. Iran’s U.N. mission in New York did not respond to a similar VOA request for comment, emailed on Tuesday.
Last month, the State Department told VOA it was aware of the January news reports by The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal regarding Iran’s purported use of the Golbon and Jairan to import sodium perchlorate from China.
A spokesperson said the State Department does not comment on intelligence matters but “remains focused on preventing the proliferation of items, equipment, and technology that could benefit Iran’s missile or other weapons programs and continues to hold Iran accountable through sanctions.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded to the news reports in a Jan. 23 press briefing, asserting that China abides by its own export controls and international obligations and rejects other countries’ imposition of what Beijing considers illegal unilateral sanctions.
In the past month, Chinese state media have made no reference to the Jairan, while China’s social media platforms also have had no observable discussion about the Iranian ship, according to a review by VOA’s Mandarin Service.
In its Jan. 22 report, The Financial Times cited “security officials in two Western countries” as saying the Jairan would depart China in early February, but it did not leave until March 10.
Gregory Brew, a senior Iran analyst at the Eurasia Group, a New York-based political risk consultancy, said Iran may have wanted to see if the Golbon could complete its voyage from China without being interdicted before sending the Jairan to follow it.
“Ships carrying highly sensitive materials related to Iran’s missile industry, which is under U.S. sanctions, are at risk of interception, and the Iranians likely are conscious of that,” Brew said.
Eight Republican U.S. senators led by Jim Risch and Pete Ricketts sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the purported Iran-China chemical scheme dated Feb. 4, urging him to work with global partners of the U.S. “to intercept and stop the shipments currently underway” if the press reports proved accurate.
There was no sign of the Golbon being intercepted on its recent China to Iran voyage.
Responding to VOA’s query about the letter, a U.S. State Department press officer said: “We do not comment on Congressional correspondence.” Ricketts’ office also did not respond to a VOA inquiry about whether Rubio has responded to the senators’ letter.
VOA’s Mandarin Service contributed to this report.
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The Afghan Taliban have rejected Pakistan’s allegation that Tuesday’s deadly hostage-taking of a train was planned and directed from Afghan soil.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called Pakistan’s assertions “baseless,” in a statement Thursday.
“We categorically reject baseless allegations by Pakistani army spokesperson linking attack on a passenger train in Balochistan province with Afghanistan,” foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said in a statement posted on X.
Militants linked with the banned Baloch Liberation Army attacked a passenger train Tuesday near Sibi, Balochistan, taking hundreds hostage.
At least 21 passengers and four paramilitary troops died in the attack. The military claimed the killing of 33 terrorists.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director general of the Pakistani military’s media wing Inter Services Public Relations, had earlier said attackers collaborated with partners in Afghanistan.
“During the operation, these terrorists were in contact with their supporters and masterminds in Afghanistan via satellite phone,” Chaudhry told a private news channel as he declared the clearance operation over Wednesday night.
Later, the military’s media wing reiterated the assertion.
“Intelligence reports have unequivocally confirmed that the attack was orchestrated and directed by terrorist ringleaders operating from Afghanistan, who were in direct communication with terrorists throughout the incident,” a statement from the ISPR said.
Rebutting the claim, Balkhi said Islamabad must address internal issues.
“[We] urge Pakistani side to focus on resolving their own security and internal problems instead of such irresponsible remarks,” the Taliban foreign ministry spokesperson said.
Tuesday’s attack marked a dramatic escalation in the separatist insurgency that has ravaged Balochistan for nearly two decades.
The militants blew up tracks, bringing the train with nearly 450 passengers to a halt in a tunnel, where they stormed it.
Survivors told VOA the attackers singled out security personnel and ethnic Punjabi passengers, shooting many.
“Pakistan expects the Interim Afghan Government to uphold its responsibilities and deny use of its soil for terrorist activities against Pakistan,” the military said in written comments to the media Wednesday, repeating an increasingly frequent demand.
On Thursday, the spokesperson for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Shafqat Ali Khan, repeated Islamabad’s stance.
“We urge Afghanistan to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers, of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and cooperate with the government of Pakistan to bring all those who are concerned with this attack, including the real sponsors of terrorism, to justice,” Khan told media at the weekly briefing.
Balkhi rejected the allegation that Baloch separatists have put down roots across the border.
“No members of Balouch opposition have presence in Afghanistan, nor have they ever had or have any links with the Islamic Emirate,” Balkhi said in his post on X. The Taliban refer to their government as the Islamic Emirate.
Pakistan has seen a sharp increase in terrorism in the last year, with deaths rising by nearly 45% in 2024 from the year before.
The country now ranks second on the Global Terrorism Watchlist with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, an ideological offshoot of the Afghan Taliban, and the separatist Baloch Liberation Army emerging as the deadliest outfits.
Speaking at a United Nations Security Council meeting on Afghanistan this week, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Munir Akram, said Kabul was failing to rein in Baloch separatists.
“The Kabul authorities have failed to address the threat posed to the region and beyond by other terrorist groups, such as al Qaida, the TTP and Baloch terrorists, including the BLA and the Majeed Brigade, which are present in Afghanistan,” the Pakistani envoy said Monday.
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CHARLEVOIX, QUEBEC — Top diplomats from the Group of Seven leading industrial nations gathered Thursday in Charlevoix, Quebec, as host country Canada outlined its top agenda, focusing on achieving a “just and lasting peace in Ukraine” and strengthening security and defense partnerships as the G7 marks 50 years.
During the opening remarks, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said, “Peace and stability is on the top of our agenda, and I look forward to discussing how we can continue to support Ukraine in the face of Russia’s illegal aggression.”
Joly also emphasized the importance of addressing maritime security challenges, citing threats such as “growing the use of growing shadow fleets, dark vessels” and “sabotage of critical undersea infrastructure.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he hopes a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine could take place within days if the Kremlin agrees. He also plans to urge G7 foreign ministers to focus on ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
The G7 talks in Quebec follow U.S.-Ukraine talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where Ukraine said it is ready to accept a U.S. proposal for “an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire.”
“Ukraine is committed to moving quickly toward peace, and we are prepared to do our part in creating all of the conditions for a reliable, durable, and decent peace,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote Wednesday in a post on social media platform X.

He added that “Ukraine was ready for an air and sea ceasefire,” and “welcomed” the U.S. proposal to extend it to land.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia supports the U.S. ceasefire proposal in principle, but key details still need to be worked out.
“Ceasefire, they can’t be coming with conditions, because all these conditions just blur the picture. Either you want to end this war, or you don’t want to end this war, so we need to be very firm,” said European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas during an interview with CNN International.
“What we need to keep in mind is that Russia has invested, like over 9% of its GDP on the military, so they would want to use it,” Kallas said, adding the European nations “are massively increasing” their “defense investments.”
The G7 talks bring together ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. 
Rubio has underscored the need for monitors if a ceasefire is implemented. He told reporters on Wednesday that “one of the things we’ll have to determine is who do both sides trust to be on the ground to sort of monitor some of the small arms fire and exchanges that could happen.”
Beyond Ukraine, G7 foreign ministers also discussed China’s role in global security, Indo-Pacific stability, and maritime security behind closed doors.
Rubio is expected to have a pull-aside meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya on Thursday.
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Western politicians have repeatedly called on China to limit or cease tacit support for Russia’s bloody war against Ukraine. In response, China’s leadership insists it is committed to peace and respect for the territorial integrity of other nations.
But unlike most United Nations member states, China has never condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and their military-diplomatic partnership — from joint bomber flights near the U.S. state of Alaska to votes in the U.N. Security Council — has only helped the Kremlin overcome its international isolation.
While President Donald Trump has said he has good personal relations with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, there is a consensus among experts in Washington that the China-Russia partnership poses a threat to U.S. interests, and that while Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, tried to establish a strategic dialogue with China, the Trump team appears to be prioritizing normalized ties with Russia while punishing China over trade.
As the White House talks about the possibility of restoring economic cooperation with Russia, some of its officials are hinting at lifting or reducing the sanctions Washington has imposed on Moscow in recent years.
Charles Hecker, an expert on Western-Russian economic ties and risks, and author of the book Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia, says some Western companies will quickly return to Russia if sanctions are lifted, particularly those involved in energy, metals and minerals.
“There’s only so much oil in Norway, and there’s only so much oil in Canada; the rest of it is in some countries that have a very high-risk environment,” Hecker told VOA’s Russian Service. “And so, these kinds of companies are accustomed to business in these sorts of places, and they have the internal structures to help protect them. You know, there are energy companies doing business in Iraq right now. And I don’t want to compare Russia and Iraq, but they are high-risk environments.” 
Still, Hecker cautions, their return to doing business in Russia wouldn’t signal an overall U.S.-Russian rapprochement — let alone a fracturing of Sino-Russian relations.
“I think it will be very difficult for the West to pull Russia away from China,” he said.
“Allowing Western companies back into Russia doesn’t necessarily change President Putin’s hostility towards the West. President Putin remains antagonistic towards a Western-dominated political and economic system, and he has said over and over again that he wants to create an alternative political and economic environment – an alternative to the West.
“Part of that alternative includes China,” he added. “You have never heard President Putin say anything ideologically against China. And the two are now important energy partners.”
Limited popular domestic appeal
U.S.-based FilterLabs analyzes public sentiment in regions where polling is problematic. According to a recently published assessment of popular attitudes expressed on Russian and Chinese social media networks, Sino-Russian relations are “full of underlying tensions, mistrust, and diverging interests.”
One of the report’s authors, Vasily Gatov, told VOA its research found that “the Chinese and Russian populations are far from happy with this alliance of their authorities.”
“China does not perceive Russia as a reliable, safe and equal partner,” he said. “Russia annexed the Amur Region from China; Russia adopted a completely colonial policy towards China during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Therefore, in my opinion, it is entirely possible to consider historical frictions as a vulnerability.”
A media analyst at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Gatov also noted that, despite the Kremlin’s expectations, China’s economic presence inside Russia today remains “several times smaller” than that of either Europe or the U.S. before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Thus, while Russian and China have overlapping interests, they are not “marching in lockstep.”
“They are very different, they have very different geopolitical focuses, very different political philosophies,” he said.
Other experts, however, question the Filterlabs findings, warning that random Russian and Chinese opinions online are of limited value, especially as those casting the insights aren’t likely to influence policy.
“People who have the time and desire to comment on things on social media do not have much influence on how state policy is conducted,” Alexander Gabuev, director of the Berlin-based Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, told VOA. “And these people certainly do not have much influence on whether China transfers components for Russia’s weapons or takes certain military technologies from it, since the people who comment on this simply do not have real knowledge of what is actually happening.”
Gabuev added that “the Chinese leadership has reasons to think that they have something to take from Russia in terms of military technology,” suggesting that China is extremely interested in gaining Russian experience in countering Western weapons during Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Does Trump see China as a threat?
One critical question about whether Washington’s improved ties with Russia will loosen the Sino-Russian pact, say some analysts, is how Trump perceives China.
Ali Wyne, senior research and advocacy advisor on the U.S. and China at the International Crisis Group, describes Trump as an anomaly for U.S. policy.
“Widespread bipartisan agreement in Congress and from one administration to the next [is] that China is American’s foremost strategic competitor,” he said. But “President Trump, in many ways, is the most prominent dissenter from this alleged China consensus.”
“He doesn’t view President Xi [Jinping] in adversarial terms,” Wyne said. “He actually calls President Xi a ‘dear friend’ of his. And he believes that his personal rapport with President Xi will be the decisive dynamic in setting — or resetting — the U.S.-China relationship over the next four years.”
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The state of Texas has the third-largest Asian American population in the U.S. Chinese Americans in the Lone Star State have roots that trace back for generations, just like those of their counterparts on the nation’s East and West coasts. While the history of these Texans might not be as well known, their stories are just as intertwined with America’s. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has more on this story.
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DHAKA, BANGLADESH — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is getting a first-hand look at the situation of more than 1 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh as fears mount of serious aid cuts across the world following Washington’s decision to shut down USAID operations.
Bangladesh’s foreign affairs adviser, Touhid Hossain, welcomed Guterres at Dhaka’s main airport on Thursday. Guterres’s four-day visit — his second to Bangladesh — is seen as crucial after the announcement of possible aid cuts by the World Food Program, or WFP, and others in the aftermath of the USAID shuttering.
Bangladesh’s interim government — which came to power last August after a mass uprising ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina — hopes the visit will boost international efforts to mobilize aid for the Rohingya refugees and attract new global attention to their crisis.
A letter from the U.N. food agency earlier this month said cuts to food rations could take effect from next month at Cox’s Bazar, home to dozens of camps housing Rohingya refugees. The WFP said the food rations could be reduced to $6, from the current $12.50 per month — unless adequate funding is secured.
According to WFP spokesperson Kun Li, if the WFP is unable to secure sufficient funding — $81 million to sustain operations through the end of the year, including $15 million needed for April — it will have no choice but to reduce rations starting in April.
Ahead of Guterres’ visit, Amnesty International urged the international community to urgently step up and deliver the necessary support to avoid the devastating impact on the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
“The funding shortfall will only exacerbate the existing desperate shortage of essential supplies and services in the camps,” said Smriti Singh, regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International.
“The Rohingya community in Cox’s Bazar have little alternative but to rely on WFP aid,” Singh said, adding that the Bangladesh government prohibits the refugees from leaving the camps and finding jobs.
Guterres and Bangladesh’s interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, are to visit Cox’s Bazar district on Friday. On Saturday, the two will hold talks at Yunus’ office in Dhaka, the country’s capital, and jointly talk to reporters afterward.
Bangladesh’s interim government has said that the end of USAID payments would stop other projects in the country but that funding for Rohingya refugees would continue to flow.
The U.S. has been the top donor to Bangladesh for Rohingya refugees, providing the United Nations with emergency food and nutrition assistance. The U.S. usually provides almost half of the aid money spent on the humanitarian response to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, which provided about $300 million in 2024.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have lived in Bangladesh for decades and about 70,000 crossed the border from Myanmar in 2024. During fighting with the military junta, the opposition force known as the Arakan Army effectively took over the Rakhine state where Rohingya were displaced and took shelter in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh says repatriation of the refugees to Myanmar, which has been accused in an international court of genocide against Rohingya, is the ultimate solution of the crisis, but complexities over verification and other diplomatic and political issues have made the future of the refugees bleak.
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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Thursday that China has deepened its influence campaigns and infiltration against the democratic island, pledging measures to tackle Beijing’s efforts to “absorb” Taiwan.
Taiwan has accused China of stepping up military drills, trade sanctions and influence campaigns against the island in recent years to force the island to accept Chinese sovereignty claims.
Speaking to reporters after holding a meeting with senior security officials, Lai said Beijing had used Taiwan’s democracy to “absorb” various members of society, including organized crime groups, media personalities, and current and former military and police officers.
“They (China) are carrying out activities such as division, destruction, and subversion from within us,” Lai told a news briefing broadcast live from the presidential office.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Citing government data, Lai said 64 people were charged for Chinese espionage last year, three times more than in 2021. He said the majority of them were current or former military officials.
“Many are worried that our country, hard-earned freedom and democracy and prosperity will be lost, bit by bit, due to these influence campaigns and manipulation,” Lai said.
By making these efforts, Lai said China constituted what Taiwan’s Anti-Infiltration Act defined as “foreign hostile forces.”
The president proposed 17 legal and economic countermeasures, including the strict review of Taiwan visits or residency applications by Chinese citizens, and proposals to resume the work of the military court.
Lai also said his government would make “necessary adjustments” to the flows of money, people and technology across the strait. He did not elaborate.
In addition, he said the government would issue “reminders” to Taiwanese actors and singers performing in China on their “statements and actions,” a response to what Taipei sees as an ongoing Chinese campaign to pressure pop stars to make pro-Beijing comments.
“We have no choice but to take more active actions.”
China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.
Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s people can decide their future.
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TEHRAN, IRAN — China, Iran and Russia conducted joint naval drills Tuesday in the Middle East, offering a show of force in a region still uneasy over Tehran’s rapidly expanding nuclear program and as Yemen’s Houthi rebels threaten new attacks on ships.
The joint drills, called the Maritime Security Belt 2025, took place in the Gulf of Oman near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil passes. The area around the strait has in the past seen Iran seize commercial ships and launch suspected attacks in the time since President Donald Trump first unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
The drill marked the fifth year the three countries took part in the drills.
This year’s drill likely sparked a warning late Monday from the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, which said there was GPS interference in the strait, with disruptions lasting for several hours and forcing crews to rely on backup navigation methods.
“This was likely GPS jamming to reduce the targeting capability of drones and missiles,” wrote Shaun Robertson, an intelligence analyst at the EOS Risk Group. “However, electronic navigation system interference has been reported in this region previously during periods of increased tension and military exercises.”
US-patrolled waters
Russia’s Defense Ministry identified the vessels it sent to the drill as the corvettes Rezky and the Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov, as well as the tanker Pechenega. China’s Defense Ministry said it sent the guided-missile destroyer Baotou and the comprehensive supply ship Gaoyouhu. Neither offered a count of the personnel involved.
Neither China nor Russia actively patrol the wider Middle East, whose waterways remain crucial for global energy supplies. Instead, they broadly cede that to Western nations largely led by the U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet. Observers for the drill included Azerbaijan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates — with the Americans likely keeping watch as well.
However, China and Russia have deep interests in Iran. For China, it has continued to purchase Iranian crude oil despite facing Western sanctions, likely at a discount compared with global prices. Beijing also remains one of the top markets for Iranian imports.
Russia, meanwhile, has relied on Iran for the supply of bomb-carrying drones it uses in its war on Ukraine.
Iran highlights drills
The drills marked a major moment for Iran’s state-run television network. It has aired segments showing live fire during a night drill and sailors manning deck guns on a vessel. The exercises come after an Iranian monthslong drill that followed a direct Israeli attack on the country, targeting its air defenses and sites associated with its ballistic missile program.
While Tehran sought to downplay the assault, it shook the wider populace and came as a campaign of Israeli assassinations and attacks have decimated Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” — a series of militant groups allied with the Islamic Republic. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was also overthrown in December, further weakening Iran’s grip on the wider region.
All the while, Iran has increasingly stockpiled more uranium enriched at near-weapons-grade levels, something done only by atomic-armed nations. Tehran has long maintained its program is for peaceful purposes, even as its officials increasingly threaten to pursue the bomb.
Iran’s nuclear program has drawn warnings from Israel and the U.S., signaling that military action against the program could happen. But just last week, Trump sent a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei seeking a new nuclear deal. Iran says it hasn’t received any letter but still issued a flurry of pronouncements over it.
Houthis renew threats
As a shaky ceasefire holds in Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they were resuming attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, as well as the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects the two waterways.
The rebels’ secretive leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, warned Friday that attacks against Israel-linked vessels would resume within four days if Israel didn’t let aid into Gaza. As the deadline passed Tuesday, the Houthis said they were again banning Israeli vessels from the waters off Yemen.
Although no attacks were reported, it has put shippers on edge. The rebels targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, since November 2023.
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NEW DELHI — India and Mauritius have upgraded their ties, say leaders of both countries — a move analysts say is aimed at increasing New Delhi’s influence in the Indian Ocean as it seeks to counter China’s expanding footprint in the region.
The announcement of upgraded ties came during a two-day visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Mauritius, an island nation that sits along vital seaways in the western Indian Ocean.
Modi, who was chief guest at Mauritius’s National Day celebrations on Wednesday, said that the countries had elevated ties to the status of “enhanced strategic partnership.”
Following talks with Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, both leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to a “free, safe, secure and open Indian Ocean.”
Mauritius conferred the country’s highest civilian honor on Modi, and the prime ministers signed eight pacts to boost cooperation in several sectors including maritime security.
Modi announced that New Delhi would invest about $11 million in several community development projects and that India will cooperate in building a new parliament for Mauritius, calling it a gift “from the mother of democracy.”
China trade with Mauritius on rise
While India has long enjoyed good relations with Mauritius, where 70% of the population is of Indian origin, analysts said Modi’s visit came amid a recognition that India needs to step up its engagement with a country that is called the gateway to the Western Indian Ocean and Africa, and where Beijing’s presence has grown.
“China’s rise in the island has been quite phenomenal and it is now one of the most important economic players in Mauritius,” according to Harsh Pant, the vice president of studies at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. “So, to offset that, it is necessary for India to have constant engagement with Mauritius and help them build capacities in areas such as health, education, and maritime capabilities to demonstrate that it can assist in meeting such challenges.”
In 2019, China signed a free trade agreement with Mauritius that went into effect in 2021. A page for Mauritius on China’s Foreign Ministry website that outlines relations states that the two have a strategic partnership. Bilateral trade between the two countries hit $1.1 billion, a 10.1% increase from the previous year, according to the website.
As the region becomes a hotspot for geopolitical competition, India and China have stepped up efforts to build ties with Indian Ocean countries.
Underlining India’s naval cooperation with Mauritius, an Indian navy contingent participated in the National Day parade and an Indian warship — the INS Imphal, a stealth guided-missile destroyer — paid a visit to the capital, Port Louis.
Last year, India helped Mauritius build an airstrip and a jetty in Agalega — two tiny islands covering 25 square kilometers that are located north of the main island. Although Mauritius has said that the facilities are not for military use, they give India a foothold to monitor traffic in the western Indian Ocean, say analysts.
“India’s construction of logistics infrastructure on Agalega Island underlines both Mauritius’s enduring geopolitical significance in the Indian Ocean and Delhi’s growing maritime stakes in regional security,” political analyst C. Raja Mohan wrote in the Indian Express newspaper.
India backs Chagos handover
Indian officials have also said that New Delhi would support a planned deal between Britain and Mauritius to hand over control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius that is being finalized. One of the islands on the archipelago, Diego Garcia, has been home to a joint U.K.-U.S. military base since the 1970s. British media have reported that Britain will cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands and lease back Diego Garcia from Mauritius to allow the military base to remain.
“We support Mauritius in its stance on its sovereignty over Chagos, and this is obviously in keeping with our long-standing position with regard to decolonization and support for sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries,” Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri said Saturday while announcing plans that Modi will soon also visit the Maldives.
Although officials have made no comment, analysts point out that India backs the continuation of the military base in Diego Garcia. Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was “inclined” to go along with the deal between Mauritius and Britain over the future of the base.
“From New Delhi’s standpoint, it helps if there is some American presence there because it balances out the strategic realities of the region,” said Pant.
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HANOI, VIETNAM — Singapore and Vietnam on Wednesday agreed to enhance cooperation in subsea cables, finance, and energy, marking an upgrade in their relations to Vietnam’s highest level, during a visit by its Communist Party Chief To Lam to the city-state.
Singapore is the third Southeast Asian nation, after Malaysia and Indonesia, with which Vietnam has established a “comprehensive strategic relationship.”
In a joint statement released following the upgrade, Lam and Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong witnessed the exchange of six agreements and discussed cooperation in undersea cable development, digital connectivity, and cross-border data flows.
Southeast Asian countries, a major junction for cables connecting Asia to Europe, aim to expand their networks to meet the surging demand for AI services and data centers. Vietnam alone plans to launch 10 new submarine cables by 2030.
In December, Reuters reported that Singaporean asset manager Keppel and Vietnamese conglomerate Sovico Group were discussing plans for new undersea fiber-optic cables to boost the region’s data center industry, according to sources familiar with the matter.
In April last year, Vietnam’s state-owned telecom company Viettel and Singapore’s Singtel announced a preliminary agreement to develop an undersea cable linking Vietnam directly to Singapore, although no construction contract has been announced yet.
The two leaders also discussed green development, industrial parks expansion, and peace and stability in the region. Singapore pledged to support Vietnam in developing international financial centers, the joint statement said.
Singapore ranks among Vietnam’s top foreign investors, having invested $10.21 billion last year, which accounted for 27% of Vietnam’s total foreign investment, official data showed.
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ISLAMABAD — Security sources said Wednesday a Pakistani military operation rescued 155 passengers and killed 27 terrorists, a day after an attack on a train in Pakistan’s restive southwestern Balochistan province.
The Jaffar Express, with roughly 450 people on board, was traveling north from Quetta, Balochistan, to Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, when it came under a bomb and gun attack Tuesday.
The train has been blocked in a tunnel near Sibbi, Balochistan since Tuesday afternoon.
Injured in the initial attack, the driver of the train has died. At least 37 injured people are in hospitals for treatment.
The Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, quickly claimed responsibility for the brazen attack. In a statement to media, the banned separatist militant group claimed to be holding more than 200 hostages, which it said were security and intelligence personnel.
Without sharing details about the number of hostages or their background, security sources said Wednesday that potential suicide bombers were holding hostages in three different places.
Suicide bombers are wearing suicide jackets, security sources said, adding that suicide bombers were using innocent people as human shields.
Threatening to kill the hostages, BLA demanded the release of political prisoners, missing persons, and what it called resistance workers held in Balochistan prisons. In the statement released hours after the attack, the group gave authorities 48 hours to comply.
Reaction
Officials have not publicly responded to BLA’s demands.
“The attack on Jaffar Express is an attack on national security and will be responded to with full force,” Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said, condemning the attack.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the Ramadan attack shows, “terrorists have no link with Islam, Pakistan or Balochistan.”
Freed passengers shaken by the incident told media they heard a blast and gunfire soon after the train entered a tunnel.
“Don’t look back,” Shafiq-ul-Rehaman said armed men who boarded the train told passengers, ordering them to leave with their families.
“We took cover under the seats,” Ghulam Nabi, another freed passenger, told media about the moments soon after the attack.
Earlier, Imran Hayat, divisional superintendent railways in Quetta told VOA that 70 passengers had arrived at Paneer train station Tuesday evening, about 6 kilometers from the site of that attack.
Militants said they released dozens of women, children and Baloch passengers early on. However, security sources say the military rescued all 155 passengers freed so far.
Difficult terrain
Although just around 150 kilometers from the provincial capital Quetta, the scene of the attack, located in barren mountains, is hard to reach.
“So far, it’s no foot on the ground,” railway official Hayat told VOA, noting the inability of railway staff to reach the scene.
“It’s a no signal area. They [attackers] stopped the train at a spot where there is no signal support,” Hayat said.
Provincial spokesperson Shahid Rind, earlier, told media that security forces, a rescue train and ambulances had been dispatched.
An emergency was declared at the government hospital in Sibbi, to facilitate receiving the injured.
BLA surges
The United States and Pakistan have both designated BLA as a terrorist group.
According to the Global Terrorism Index 2025 released last week, Pakistan experienced a 45% increase in terrorism deaths last year, compared to 2023. That is the largest year-to-year rise in more than a decade. The BLA emerged as one of the top two militant groups driving the increase.
According to the report, the separatist group launched 504 attacks in 2024, compared to 116 in 2023. Deaths in the attacks surged from 88 in 2023 to 388 in 2024.
The separatist group has been fighting a deadly insurgency against the Pakistani state, accusing it of exploiting the rich natural resources of the impoverished province. The group also opposes Chinese investment in Balochistan, which is home to the China-funded Gwadar port and the country’s biggest, yet largely unused airport.
Both Pakistan and China reject the claims that their joint ventures are depriving ethnic Baloch from economic opportunities and their share in the province’s mineral wealth.
Security sources have said those involved in Tuesday’s attack are based in Afghanistan. Islamabad has blamed several recent attacks on militants present on Afghan soil. Afghan Taliban routinely deny providing sanctuary to anti-Pakistan fighters.
Recent attacks
Since the beginning of the year, the BLA has ramped up attacks on security forces, settlers and workers, primarily from the eastern Punjab province.
Earlier this month, a female suicide bomber detonated her explosive devices near a military convoy in Balochistan’s Kalat district, killing at least one security worker and injuring four others.
Last month, BLA insurgents ambushed a bus transporting a paramilitary force in Kalat and killed 18 of those on board.
Days later, a roadside bomb blast killed 11 coal miners in the city, while the BLA took credit for attacking a military vehicle securing a supply convoy for a mining company operated by China.
Pakistani authorities reported the convoy was passing through Kalat when it came under attack, resulting in injuries to eight security personnel.
Murtaza Zehri of VOA Urdu Service contributed to this report from Quetta.
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BANGKOK — Human rights advocates say at least some of the eight ethnic minority Uyghurs who remain in Thailand’s custody since authorities deported 40 others to China last month are at risk of the same fate.
After weeks of denying it was planning to repatriate any of the 48 Chinese Uyghurs it had held since arresting them for illegal entry in 2014, Thailand abruptly turned 40 of them over to China on Feb. 27.
The United States, United Nations and international rights groups strongly condemned Thailand for sending Uyghurs back to China. They say it violates Thailand’s international treaty obligations and, as of 2023, its own domestic law against deporting people to countries where they face a good chance of being abused or tortured.
The United States and others have accused Beijing of genocide over its treatment of the Turkic-speaking Muslim minority Uyghurs in China’s western Xinjiang province. The United Nations says their treatment may amount to crimes against humanity. Beijing denies the allegations.
The Thai and Chinese governments have said nothing about the eight Uyghurs who were not sent back to China last month. The two governments have ignored VOA requests for comment.
But rights groups tell VOA they have confirmed that all eight remain in Thai custody — three in immigration detention without charge, with the other five serving prison sentences since 2020 for robbery and attempted escape from a detention center.
They say the five in prison face the greatest risk of being deported once their prison terms end.
“After they complete their sentence, they have to come back to the immigration detention centers. That is … worrisome, because if there [is] the push from the Chinese again, these five people might be the most vulnerable group of people that will be deported again,” Kannavee Suebsang, an opposition lawmaker and deputy chair of the House of Representatives Committee on Legal Affairs, Justice and Human Rights, told VOA.
He said their sentences are due to end in 2029.
Rights groups, though, say the five could face a forced return to China much earlier than that if they are added to the lists of prisoners pardoned by Thailand’s king on royal holidays each year.
‘We are very concerned’
In a statement addressing the Feb. 27 deportations posted online the day after, the Thai government said China had in fact asked for the return of 45 “Chinese nationals,” referring to the Uyghurs. Krittaporn Semsantad, program director for the Peace Rights Foundation, a Thai rights group, says that number appears to include the five Uyghurs still in prison in Thailand — a sign, she believes, that China wants them returned as well.
“So, yes, we are very … concerned,” she told VOA. “It could be very high risk and very high chance that these five will be sent back after they finish their sentence.”
For the eight Uyghurs still in Thai custody, “the danger is not passed yet,” agreed Polat Sayim, an ethnic Uyghur living in Australia and the executive committee vice chair of the World Uyghur Congress.
Chalida Tajaroensuk, who heads Thailand’s People’s Empowerment Foundation, another local rights group, echoed their concerns.
She told VOA she visited the five Uyghurs in prison the day after the 40 were deported and said they were terrified of being forced back to China as well.
“They are afraid, and they also cried. They don’t want to go back,” she said.
‘We need to closely monitor’
The rights groups told VOA that their sources in the Thai government and inside its detained centers have told them the other three Uyghurs also remain in Thailand, in the custody of the Bureau of Immigration.
Neither China nor Thailand has explained why they were not deported along with the 40 last month. Unlike the five Uyghurs in prison, Kannavee and the rights groups say these three, who also hail from China, claimed to have come from other countries when they were first caught in Thailand, which may have helped to spare them from being sent back.
“But still we need to also closely monitor about the situation of the three, because they [have] already been disclosed, I mean their information has been disclosed that they are [from] the same group of the Uyghurs,” said Kannavee, who previously worked for the U.N.’s refugee agency in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand.
He was referring to the more than 300 Uyghurs Thailand caught entering the country illegally in 2014 as they sought to make their way to Turkey, where some had relatives, and other countries.
Of that group, Thailand deported 173 mostly women and children to Turkey in 2015 but sent 109, most of them men, back to China days later. Those sent back to China have not been heard from since.
Following the rebukes over last month’s deportations, the Thai government said Beijing had assured it that the Uyghurs would be treated well and that Bangkok could send envoys to check up on them regularly.
Rights groups and opposition lawmakers such as Kannavee, though, say they take little comfort in Beijing’s promises and still hope to persuade the Thai government to let the eight Uyghurs who remain in its custody settle elsewhere.
‘We don’t have a country’
Thai officials initially claimed that no other country had offered to take in the Uyghurs but later acknowledged that some had, without naming them, and that Thailand turned them down for fear that China might retaliate.
The Reuters news agency has reported that Australia, Canada and the United States all offered to resettle the Uyghurs.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department told VOA on Sunday it had been working with Thailand for years to avoid their return to China, “including by consistently and repeatedly offering to resettle the Uyghurs in other countries, including, at times, the United States.”
Sayim, of the World Uyghur Congress, said those countries should keep their offers open for the eight Uyghurs Thailand still holds, and continue putting pressure on the Thai government to accept.
“We don’t have [a] country. That’s why we have to ask European countries if they can help. … Always we asking [the] U.S., Canada, U.K., Germany, Australia if they could make a decision and take them,” he said. “The Thai government shouldn’t give these people back to China. They know it’s not good when they go back.”
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ISLAMABAD — Militants attacked a cross-country passenger train Tuesday in Pakistan’s restive southwestern Balochistan province, taking many hostages.
Authorities say the Jaffar Express was traveling north from Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, to Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, when it came under intense fire hours after departure.
The train was carrying roughly 450 passengers, including security personnel.
Citing security sources, state broadcaster PTV reported militants were holding passengers hostage in the train, which was trapped inside a tunnel. A clearance operation was ongoing.
The Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, quickly claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement to media, the banned separatist militant outfit said it had blown up tracks and taken passengers hostage.
Emergency situation
Earlier, Pakistan Railways officials confirmed to VOA that the train driver had been injured.
“Mobile and wireless signals are not working, and unfortunately we are not able to get in touch with the crew,” railway deputy controller Muhammad Sharifullah in Quetta told VOA.
Provincial spokesperson Shahid Rind said security forces, a rescue train and ambulances had been dispatched. Located in barren, mountainous terrain, the scene of the attack is hard to reach.
An emergency has been declared at the government hospital in Sibbi to receive the injured.
BLA surges
According to the Global Terrorism Index 2025 released last week, Pakistan experienced a 45% increase in terrorism deaths last year, compared with 2023. That is the largest year-to-year rise in more than a decade. The BLA emerged as one of the top two militant groups driving the increase.
The separatist group has been fighting a deadly insurgency against the Pakistani state, accusing the government of robbing the province of its rich natural resources. The group also opposes Chinese investment in the province.
Pakistan and China reject the claims that their joint ventures are depriving ethnic Baloch from economic opportunities and their share of the province’s mineral wealth.
Recent attacks
Since the beginning of the year, the BLA has ramped up attacks on security forces and settlers and workers primarily from the eastern Punjab province.
Earlier this month, a female suicide bomber detonated her explosive devices near a military convoy in Balochistan’s Kalat district, killing at least one security personnel and injuring four others.
Last month, BLA insurgents ambushed a bus transporting paramilitary forces in Kalat and killed 18 of those on board.
Just days later, a roadside bomb blast killed 11 coal miners in the city while the BLA took credit for attacking a military vehicle securing a supply convoy for a mining company operated by China. Pakistani authorities reported that the convoy was passing through Kalat when it came under attack, resulting in injuries to eight security personnel.
VOA’s Urdu Service’s Murtaza Zehri in Quetta contributed to this report.
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OKUMA, Japan — The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant’s radiation levels have significantly dropped since the cataclysmic meltdown 14 years ago Tuesday.
Workers walk around in many areas wearing only surgical masks and regular clothes.
It’s a different story for those who enter the reactor buildings, including the three damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. They must use maximum protection — full facemasks with filters, multi-layered gloves and socks, shoe covers, hooded hazmat coveralls and a waterproof jacket, and a helmet.
As workers remove melted fuel debris from the reactors in a monumental nuclear cleanup effort that could take more than a century, they are facing both huge amounts of psychological stress and dangerous levels of radiation.
The Associated Press, which recently visited the plant for a tour and interviews, takes a closer look.
Cleaning 880 tons of melted fuel debris
A remote-controlled extendable robot with a tong had several mishaps including equipment failures before returning in November with a tiny piece of melted fuel from inside the damaged No. 2 reactor.
That first successful test run is a crucial step in what will be a daunting, decades-long decommissioning that must deal with at least 880 tons of melted nuclear fuel that has mixed with broken parts of internal structures and other debris inside the three ruined reactors.
Akira Ono, chief decommissioning officer at the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which manages the plant, says even the tiny sample gives officials a lot of information about the melted fuel. More samples are needed, however, to make the work smoother when bigger efforts to remove the debris begin in the 2030s.
A second sample-retrieval mission at the No. 2 reactor is expected in coming weeks.
Operators hope to send the extendable robot farther into the reactor to take samples closer to the center, where overheated nuclear fuel fell from the core, utility spokesperson Masakatsu Takata said. He pointed out the target area as he stood inside the inner structure of the No. 5 reactor, which is one of two reactors that survived the tsunami. It has an identical design as No. 2.
Hard to see, breathe or move
Radiation levels are still dangerously high inside the No. 2 reactor building, where the melted fuel debris is behind a thick concrete containment wall. Earlier decontamination work reduced those radiation levels to a fraction of what they used to be.
In late August, small groups took turns doing their work helping the robot in 15- to 30-minute shifts to minimize radiation exposure. They have a remotely controlled robot, but it has to be manually pushed in and out.
“Working under high levels of radiation (during a short) time limit made us feel nervous and rushed,” said Yasunobu Yokokawa, a team leader for the mission. “It was a difficult assignment.”
Full-face masks reduced visibility and made breathing difficult, an extra waterproof jacket made it sweaty and hard to move, and triple-layered gloves made their fingers clumsy, Yokokawa said.
To eliminate unnecessary exposure, they taped around gloves and socks and carried a personal dosimeter to measure radiation. Workers also rehearsed the tasks they’d perform to minimize exposure.
The mission stalled early on when workers noticed that a set of five 1.5-meter pipes meant to push the robot into the reactor’s primary containment vessel had been arranged in the wrong order.
A camera on the robot also failed because of high radioactivity and had to be replaced. The workers’ highest individual radiation dose was more than the overall average but still far below anything approaching a 100-millisievert five-year dose limit.
Even so, a growing number of workers are concerned about safety and radiation at the plant, said Ono, the decommissioning chief, citing an annual survey of about 5,5,00 workers.
In 2023, two workers splashed with contaminated sludge at a water treatment facility suffered burns and were hospitalized, though they had no other health problems.
Making sure it’s safe
Yokokawa and a plant colleague, Hiroshi Ide, helped in the 2011 emergency and work as team leaders today. They say they want to make the job safer as workers face high radiation in parts of the plant.
On the top floor of the No. 2 reactor, workers are setting up equipment to remove spent fuel units from the cooling pool. That’s set to begin within two to three years.
At the No. 1 reactor, workers are putting up a giant roof to contain radioactive dust from decontamination work on the top floor ahead of the removal of spent fuel.
To minimize exposure and increase efficiency, workers use a remote-controlled crane to attach pre-assembled parts, according to TEPCO. The No. 1 reactor and its surroundings are among the most contaminated parts of the plant.
What’s next?
Workers are also removing treated radioactive wastewater. They recently started dismantling the emptied water tanks to make room to build facilities needed for the research and storage of melted fuel debris.
After a series of small missions by robots to gather samples, experts will determine a larger-scale method for removing melted fuel, first at the No. 3 reactor.
Experts say the hard work and huge challenges of decommissioning the plant are just beginning. There are estimations that the work could take more than a century. The government and TEPCO have an initial completion target of 2051, but the retrieval of melted fuel debris is already three years behind, and many big issues remain undecided.
Ide, whose home in Namie town, northwest of the plant, is in a no-go zone because of nuclear contamination, still has to put on a hazmat suit, even for brief visits home.
“As a Fukushima citizen, I would like to make sure the decommissioning work is done properly so that people can return home without worries,” he said.
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MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by police at Manila’s international airport Tuesday on order of the International Criminal Court in connection with a case of crime against humanity filed against him, the Philippine government said.

Duterte was arrested after arriving from Hong Kong and police took him into custody on orders of the ICC, which has been investigating the massive killings that happened under the former president’s deadly crackdown against illegal drugs, President Ferdinand Marcos’ office said in a statement.

The Manila office of the International Police received an official copy of the arrest warrant from the global court and the notice for an arrest warrant was served to the former president, the government said.

It was not immediately clear where Duterte was taken by the police. The government said the 79-year-old former leader was in good health and was examined by government doctors.

“He’s now in the custody of authorities,” the government said.

The ICC began investigating drug killings under Duterte from Nov. 1, 2011, when he was still mayor of the southern city of Davao, to March 16, 2019, as possible crimes against humanity. Duterte withdrew the Philippines in 2019 from the Rome Statute in a move human rights activists say was aimed at escaping accountability.

The Duterte administration moved to suspend the global court’s investigation in late 2021 by arguing that Philippine authorities were already looking into the same allegations, arguing the ICC — a court of last resort — didn’t have jurisdiction.

Appeals judges at the ICC ruled in 2023 the investigation could resume and rejected the Duterte administration’s objections. Based in The Hague, the Netherlands, the ICC can step in when countries are unwilling or unable to prosecute suspects in the most heinous international crimes, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who succeeded Duterte in 2022 and became entangled in a bitter political dispute with the former president, has decided not to rejoin the global court. But the Marcos administration has said it would cooperate if the ICC asks international police to take Duterte into custody through a so-called Red Notice, a request for law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and temporarily arrest a crime suspect.
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The Central Asia Program at George Washington University recently had a special exhibition for Central Asian women and art during the International Women’s Day celebrations.

Carpets and other items woven by Afghan women at home sell well in U.S. markets, businesspeople who spoke to VOA said. One vendor said online sales aren’t bad.

Click here for the full story in Uzbek.
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During China’s Two Sessions, Beijing has ramped up pressure on Taiwan. On Sunday, a People’s Liberation Army delegate warned that “Taiwan independence is a dead end,” and Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s claim that “Taiwan’s only designation at the UN is China’s Taiwan Province” was echoed by several Taiwanese celebrities on Weibo. In response, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council took an unusually tough stance, condemning these celebrities and vowing to investigate them under relevant regulations.

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HONG KONG/MANILA — Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said in Hong Kong that he was ready for possible arrest amid reports the International Criminal Court (ICC) was poised to issue a warrant over his years-long “war on drugs” that killed thousands.

The “war on drugs” was the signature campaign policy that swept Duterte to power in 2016 as a maverick, crime-busting mayor, who delivered on promises he made during vitriolic speeches, to kill thousands of narcotics dealers.

The office of the current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Monday no official communication had been received from Interpol yet, but indicated Duterte could be handed over.

“Our law enforcers are ready to follow what law dictates, if the warrant of arrest needs to be served because of a request from Interpol,” Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro told reporters.

It was not immediately clear how long Duterte would stay in China-ruled Hong Kong – which is not a party to the ICC. Duterte was in the city to speak at a campaign rally attended by thousands of Filipino workers, hoping to boost support for his senatorial candidates in upcoming Philippine midterm elections.

“Assuming it’s (warrant) true, why did I do it? For myself? For my family? For you and your children, and for our nation,” Duterte told the rally, justifying his brutal anti-narcotics campaign.

“If this is truly my fate in life, it’s OK, I will accept it. They can arrest me, imprison me.

“What is my sin? I did everything in my time for peace and a peaceful life for the Filipino people,” he told the cheering crowds in Hong Kong’s downtown Southorn Stadium, appearing with his daughter, the Philippines Vice President Sara Duterte.

An elite Hong Kong police unit for protecting VIPs was stationed in the vicinity of the hotel where Duterte is staying, according to a Reuters witness.

The Hong Kong government’s security bureau and police gave no immediate response to a request for comment.

The Philippines presidential office dismissed speculation that Duterte might evade the law by visiting Hong Kong, while appealing to Duterte’s supporters to allow the legal process to take its course.

During a congressional hearing last year into his bloody crackdown on drugs, Duterte said he was not scared of the ICC and told it to “hurry up” on its investigation.

The firebrand Duterte unilaterally withdrew the Philippines from the ICC’s founding treaty in 2019 when it started looking into allegations of systematic extrajudicial killings.

More recently, the Philippines has signaled it is ready to cooperate with the investigation in certain areas.
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AHMEDABAD, India — Hundreds of roofs in the informal settlements of India’s western Gujarat state have been painted in a reflective, white coating over the last two months to try to keep their occupants cooler as the hottest time of year approaches.

The effort, which involves 400 households in Ahmedabad, is part of a global scientific trial to study how indoor heat impacts people’s health and economic outcomes in developing countries – and how “cool roofs” might help.

“Traditionally, home is where people have come to find shelter and respite against external elements,” said Aditi Bunker, an epidemiologist at the University of Heidelberg in Switzerland who is leading the project, supported by the UK-based Wellcome Trust.

“Now, we’re in this position where people are living in precarious housing conditions, where the thing that was supposed to be protecting them is actually increasing their exposure to heat.”

As climate change has made India’s summers more extreme, Ahmedabad has suffered temperatures in excess of 46 C (115 F) in recent years.

In the Vanzara Vas slum in the Narol area of the city, which has more than 2,000 dwellings, most of them airless, one-room homes, residents that are part of the project, such as Nehal Vijaybhai Bhil, say they have already noticed a difference.

“My refrigerator doesn’t heat up anymore and the house feels cooler. I sleep so much better and my electricity bill is down,” said Bhil, whose roof was painted in January.

Across the world, heatwaves that, prior to the industrial revolution, had a 1-in-10 chance of occurring in any given year are nearly three times as likely, according to a 2022 study in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

By painting roofs with a white coating that contains highly reflective pigments such as titanium dioxide, Bunker and her team are sending more of the sun’s radiation back to the atmosphere and preventing it from being absorbed.

“In a lot of these low socioeconomic homes, there’s nothing to stop the heat transfer coming down — there’s no insulation barrier from the roof,” Bunker said.

Before joining Bunker’s experiment, Arti Chunara said she would cover her roof with plastic sheets and spread grass over them.

Some days, she and her family sat outside for most of the day, going into the house only for two to three hours when the heat was bearable.

The trial in Ahmedabad will run for one year, and scientists will collect health and indoor environment data from residents living under a cool roof – and from those who do not.

Other study sites are in Burkina Faso, Mexico and the island of Niue in the South Pacific, spanning a variety of building materials and climates.

Early results from the Burkina Faso trial, Bunker said, show that cool roofs reduced indoor temperature by between 1.2 C in tin- and mud-roofed homes, and 1.7 C in tin-roofed homes over two years, which subsequently lowered residents’ heart rates.
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