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Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Paris, France — G7 environment ministers committed on Tuesday to ramp up the production and deployment of battery storage technology, an essential component for increasing renewable energy and combating climate change.   Here is how and why batteries play a vital role in the energy transition:    Growing demand Batteries have been central to the rise of electric vehicles (EVs) but are also critical to wind and solar power because of the intermittent nature of these energy sources.   Surplus electricity must be stored in batteries to stabilize distribution regardless of peaks in demand, or breaks in supply at night or during low winds.    Battery deployment in the energy sector last year increased more than 130 percent from 2022, according to a report released last week by the International Energy Agency (IEA).     The main markets are China, the European Union and the United States.  Following closely are Britain, South Korea, Japan and developing nations in Africa, where solar and storage technology is seen as the gateway to energy access.   Six-fold goal To triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030 -- a goal set at the UN climate conference in December -- the IEA says a six-fold increase in battery storage will be necessary.   Clean energy is essential to reduce emissions from burning fossil fuels and to hope to keep the international target of restricting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.    The total storage capacity required to achieve this target is an estimated 1,500 gigawatts by 2030.   Of this, 1,200 GW will need to be supplied by batteries. Cost challenges In less than 15 years, the cost of batteries has fallen by 90 percent.   "The combination of solar PV and batteries is today competitive with new coal plants in India. And just in the next few years, it will be cheaper than new coal in China and gas-fired power in the United States," IEA chief Fatih Birol said last week.    "But still the pace is not fast enough to reach our goals in terms of climate change and energy security."   Costs will have to come down further, he said, while calling for supply chains to be diversified.    Most batteries are currently produced by China.    But some 40 percent of planned battery manufacturing projects are in the United States and Europe, according to the IEA.    If those projects are realized, they would be nearly sufficient to meet the needs of those countries. Metal matters Another thorny issue is the availability of critical metals like lithium and cobalt that are essential to make batteries.   Experts say the development chemical alternatives could complement the dominant lithium-ion technology.   "Transition in the technology will reduce the amount of lithium" needed, said Brent Wanner, head of the IEA's power sector unit, adding, "this includes shifting to sodium-ion batteries."  Beyond 2030, high-density solid-state batteries that offer a longer lifespan are expected to become commercially available.  There are other storage options, although not as widely applicable or available as batteries. Pumped storage hydropower has long been used in the hydroelectric sector. The transformation of electricity into hydrogen, which can be stored and transported, is a new technology expected to become more readily available.  Be flexible Renewable energy is not entirely reliant on storage and measures can be taken to improve the flexibility of its production to meet demands.    Industry and governments are gearing up for the transition.    The European Union's Energy Regulators Agency called on member states in September to assess their "flexibility potential" based on estimates that renewables will need to double by 2030.    Such a rise requires greater "flexibility" in grids, meaning energy can be stored and distributed consistently despite fluctuating production and demand.    The G7 said Tuesday it would not only support more production and use of battery storage, but promote technological advancements in the sector as well as grid infrastructure.  

LONDON — The Scottish government will face a no-confidence vote Wednesday, one it is expected to win after First Minister Humza Yousaf said he would resign. Yousaf's resignation Monday came just 13 months after he replaced Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland's leader and sparks another leadership contest in the Scottish National Party. The crisis in the SNP gives an opportunity for the U.K. opposition Labour Party to regain ground ahead of a national election expected this year. The motion of no confidence in the government was submitted by Scottish Labour last week, after Yousaf said he was ending a coalition with the Scottish Green Party. Scottish parliament listings showed the vote was scheduled for Wednesday. Facing a separate vote of no confidence in his own position as first minister, Yousaf said he would step down as Scotland's leader, as opposition parties, including the Greens, lined up to vote against him. That vote now won't take place. However, Labour's wider motion of no confidence in the whole government is set to be opposed by the Greens, meaning that it will likely fail and that the SNP will have chance to form a new minority government under another leader. Former leader John Swinney has said he is considering standing, while Yousaf's former leadership rival Kate Forbes is seen as a possible candidate. If the Labour no confidence motion passes, it will result in the resignation of the government and likely Scottish elections thereafter. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said it would be a democratic outrage for the SNP to choose another leader — and thus First Minister — without a parliamentary election.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

London — A smiling and healthy-looking King Charles returned to public duties on Tuesday for the first time since he was diagnosed with cancer in February, telling patients at a treatment center for the disease in London that he was "all right."  Buckingham Palace announced on Friday that doctors were sufficiently pleased with the 75-year-old king's response to treatment for the unspecified form of cancer that he would be able to resume some public-facing engagements.  The first of these saw the king and his wife Queen Camilla visit the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre where he looked cheerful, waving to those gathered outside on his arrival.  "I'm all right, thank you," Charles told one patient, while he said to another that he would be having treatment himself later.  The visit also marked Charles becoming the new patron of the Cancer Research UK charity, and was designed to help raise awareness of the importance of early diagnosis of the disease.  Charles' health issues began in January when it was revealed that he would be admitted to hospital to have a corrective procedure for a benign enlarged prostate.  The following month, the palace said tests had uncovered the presence of a "form of cancer," but gave no further details beyond saying it did not involve his prostate.  He has rested and undergone treatment since then, continuing with official state duties in private. He was well enough to greet well-wishers after an Easter church service at the end of March. Although his diary will be carefully managed to minimize any risks to his health, the palace said he might attend some annual events such as the “Trooping the Colour” military parade in June, as well as commemorations to mark the 80th anniversary of the World War Two D-Day landings, also in June.  The palace has confirmed Charles and Camilla will host a state visit by the Japanese Emperor Naruhito and his wife Empress Masako in late June.  Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesman said the king's return was "great news." "We all continue to wish him a full and speedy recovery as he returns to public duty," the spokesman told reporters.  Charles' illness came less than 18 months after he succeeded his mother Queen Elizabeth. His nephew Peter Phillips has said the monarch, who is known for his desire to keep busy, had found the limitation imposed by his treatment frustrating.  Also absent has been Charles' daughter-in-law Kate, wife of his son and heir Prince William, who is undergoing preventative chemotherapy after tests in the wake of major abdominal surgery revealed cancer had been present.

SHANGHAI — The first scientist to publish a sequence of the COVID-19 virus in China staged a sit-in protest outside his lab after authorities locked him out of the facility — a sign of the Beijing's continuing pressure on scientists conducting research on the coronavirus. Zhang Yongzhen wrote in an online post Monday that he and his team had been suddenly notified they were being evicted from their lab, the latest in a series of setbacks, demotions and ousters since the virologist published the sequence in January 2020 without state approval. When Zhang tried to go to the lab over the weekend, guards barred him from entering. In protest, he sat outside on flattened cardboard in drizzling rain, pictures from the scene posted online show. News of the protest spread widely on Chinese social media and Zhang told a colleague he slept outside the lab — but it was not clear Tuesday if he remained there. "I won't leave, I won't quit, I am pursuing science and the truth!" he wrote in a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo that was later deleted. In an online statement, the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center said that Zhang's lab was being renovated and was closed for "safety reasons." It added that it had provided Zhang's team an alternative laboratory space. But Zhang wrote online that his team wasn't offered an alternative until after they were notified of their eviction, and that the lab offered didn't meet safety standards for conducting their research, leaving his team in limbo. Zhang's latest difficulty reflects how China has sought to control information related to the virus: An Associated Press investigation found that the government froze meaningful domestic and international efforts to trace it from the first weeks of the outbreak. That pattern continues to this day, with labs closed, collaborations shattered, foreign scientists forced out and Chinese researchers barred from leaving the country. When reached by phone on Tuesday, Zhang said it was "inconvenient" for him to speak, saying there were other people listening in. In an email Monday to collaborator Edward Holmes seen by AP, Zhang confirmed he was sleeping outside his lab after guards barred him from entering. An AP reporter was blocked by a guard at an entrance to the compound housing Zhang's lab. A staff member at the National Health Commission, China's top health authority, said by phone that it was not the main department in charge and referred questions to the Shanghai government. The Shanghai government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Zhang's ordeal started when he and his team decoded the virus on Jan. 5, 2020, and wrote an internal notice warning Chinese authorities of its potential to spread — but did not make the sequence public. The next day, Zhang's lab was ordered temporarily shut by China's top health official, and Zhang came under pressure by Chinese authorities. Around the time, China had reported several dozen people were being treated for a respiratory illness in the central city of Wuhan. Possible cases of the same illness had been reported in Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan involving recent travelers to the city. Foreign scientists soon learned that Zhang and other Chinese scientists had deciphered the virus and called for him to publish. Zhang published his sequence of the coronavirus on Jan. 11, 2020, despite a lack of government permission. Sequencing a virus is key to the development of test kits, disease control measures and vaccinations. The virus eventually spread to every corner of the world, triggering a pandemic that disrupted lives and commerce, prompted widespread lockdowns and killed millions of people. Zhang was later awarded prizes in recognition for his work. But Zhang's publication of the sequence also prompted additional scrutiny of his lab, according to Holmes, Zhang's collaborator and a virologist at the University of Sydney. Zhang was removed from a post at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and barred from collaborating with some of his former partners, crippling his research. "Ever since he defied the authorities by releasing the genome sequence of the virus that causes COVID-19 there has been a campaign against him," Holmes said. "He's been broken by this process and I'm amazed he has been able to work at all."

Images of African senior citizens walking a fashion runway created a buzz on social media, with AI-generated pictures challenging traditional depictions of elderly Africans. VOA’s Karina Choudhury has all the looks in this week’s episode of LogOn. Videographer: Samuel Okocha

Kenyan start-up is producing water for dry communities literally out of air. The company Majik Water uses an Indian-built device that pulls humidity out of the air using an electrostatic filter. With the technology, it is able to supply up to 500 liters of water per day in arid regions. Victoria Amunga reports from Nairobi. (Camera and Produced by: Jimmy Makhulo)

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

ISLAMABAD  — Taliban authorities in Afghanistan said Tuesday that an overnight attack on a Shiite mosque in a western region bordering Iran had killed at least six people, including a child.      An Interior Ministry spokesman reported that an “unknown armed person” stormed the mosque in the Guzara district in Herat province and sprayed worshippers with bullets before fleeing.      "Six civilians were martyred and one was injured," Abdul Mateen Qani said on social media platform X.      No one immediately claimed responsibility for the deadly shooting, but suspicions fell on a regional Islamic State affiliate known as Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), or Daesh.     The extremist Sunni group has taken credit for plotting almost all recent attacks on Shi’ite mosques, hospitals, and public gatherings in the country.      Hassan Kazemi Ghomi, the Iranian ambassador in Kabul, condemned Monday’s attack, calling IS-K a “common external threat” to both countries and the region at large.      "We consider Afghanistan our partner in the fight against terrorism, and cooperation in this area will be a top priority,” Ghomi, also the special presidential envoy for Afghanistan, wrote on X.      The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, denounced the mosque shooting.     “Investigations and accountability for perpetrators and protection measures for Afghanistan’s Shi'a communities are urgently needed,” the UNAMA stated on X.      IS-K has also routinely plotted deadly bomb attacks against leaders and prominent religious scholars linked to the ruling Taliban.      The violence has increased since the then-insurgent Taliban reclaimed power in 2021 when the United States and NATO withdrew their troops from Afghanistan after 20 years of war with the Taliban. 

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu is expected to strengthen ties with China following the landslide win by his party in recent parliamentary elections. The polls, held under the shadow of rivalry between India and China for influence in the archipelago, are being seen as a setback for India’s bid to limit Beijing’s presence in the Indian Ocean region. Anjana Pasricha in New Delhi has a report.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.