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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.

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.

New Delhi — Sri Lanka will hold its first presidential election since the country sank into a deep economic crisis two years ago. The vote to be held September 21, will be a referendum on the reforms that have helped stabilize the economy but also led to hardship for millions in the island nation.     After the Election Commission announced the polls on Friday, President Ranil Wickremesinghe filed as an independent candidate. He had taken charge in 2022, after widespread protests forced his predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to resign.     His rise to the top job had disappointed the protesters, analysts say. “This is an election that people are really looking forward to because it will restore a government with the mandate of the people which was lost two years ago following the popular uprising against the government led by Rajapaksa, who was blamed for massive economic mismanagement and corruption,” Jehan Perera, a political analyst in Colombo told VOA.     Wickremesinghe had been elected as president by Parliament, largely with the support of lawmakers from Rajapaksa’s party.     Economic issues will dominate the five-week campaign in a country that was ranked as a middle-income nation before it faced virtual bankruptcy and defaulted on its foreign debt.     Wickremesinghe is credited with putting the economy on the path to recovery with the help of a $2.9 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund. The economy is expected to grow 3% this year after shrinking by 7.3% two years ago. The severe shortages of fuel, cooking gas, food and medicines that the country witnessed two years ago have eased and the hourslong daily power cuts have ended.    But austerity measures imposed by his government to rescue the economy have been deeply unpopular. Taxes have been hiked on businesses and professionals and massive subsidies for electricity and other utilities have been slashed.     As a result, millions of ordinary Sri Lankans face plummeting standards of living.   “Prices have risen threefold since 2022, but for a vast majority of people incomes are still the same. While it is true that there are no long lines for food and gas now, that is because people cannot really afford to buy much,” Perara said.     An April World Bank report said that poverty rates have continued to rise in the country, with an estimated 25.9% of Sri Lankans living below the poverty line last year.     Opposition parties have been critical of what they call “hard reforms” imposed on the country.     Wickremesinghe’s main rival is expected to be Sajith Premadasa, who heads the country’s main opposition party. Anura Dissanayake, who leads a leftist party that has gained popularity in the last year, is expected to be another contender for the top job.       “The opposition says it will relieve the austerity measures and will renegotiate part of the IMF program, but it is not yet clear what exactly they are proposing,” Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Center for Policy Alternatives in Colombo told VOA. “Polls conducted over the last month suggest that the public mood is also one of disapproval of the reforms.”      Saravanamuttu also calls the presidential election critical for democracy – it will be the first vote to be held in the country since the economic collapse triggered political turmoil.     Local elections due to be held last year were postponed indefinitely after the government said it had no money to conduct a nationwide vote.

Islamabad — “We have never seen a Chinese reaction like this one,” says regional security affairs analyst Ahmed Rashid, referring to Beijing’s persistent public demand that Pakistan ensure the safety of Chinese nationals since a March 26 suicide attack killed five Chinese workers there. As Pakistan fights a resurgent wave of terrorism that has killed hundreds of local civilians and security personnel this year, officials insist they can keep a few thousand Chinese nationals safe. A major ally of China, Pakistan has seen billions of dollars in much-needed energy and infrastructure projects pour in through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor — the flagship project of Beijing’s global Belt and Road infrastructure initiative. The project, popularly known as CPEC, however, has suffered as Islamist militants and Baloch insurgents fighting the Pakistani state target Chinese nationals and projects. Since 2017, at least 19 Chinese nationals have been killed in Pakistan. The March suicide attack in Besham, a town in northwestern Pakistan, came days after militants stormed a government compound in Gwadar, home to a Chinese-built deep-sea port in the southwest. Keen to save one of its most critical bilateral relationships, Pakistan quickly revamped protocols, promising “fool-proof” security for Chinese citizens in meetings with the Chinese leadership. In June, Pakistan also announced a new nationwide anti-terrorism campaign after a visiting senior Chinese official told Pakistani politicians “the primary factor shaking the confidence of Chinese investors is the security situation.”   "This is a very serious issue because for the first time we have had in the last few months some very strong, tough statements from the Chinese, criticizing its biggest ally in the region, Pakistan," said Rashid. What’s new? A dedicated military division and special provincial police units provide security to Chinese nationals and projects in Pakistan. Local intelligence units keep a record of where the foreigners live and work. Chinese nationals usually move between cities in bullet-proof vehicles with a police escort. One percent of the cost of any project involving Chinese workers is budgeted for security. “There is pressure,” a counterterrorism officer said while speaking to VOA on background about the new push in Pakistan to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel and projects. Large-scale projects are often cut off from nearby towns to limit public access, while locals hired to work at sites secured with barbed wires and cameras must clear police background checks. Since the Besham attack, the Ministry of Interior has created a so-called foreigners security cell to streamline coordination among provinces. A new Special Protection Unit of police in Islamabad now protects Chinese nationals in the capital. Police personnel are undergoing renewed training and having equipment audited, while security checks on roads near where the Chinese live or work have increased, officials tell VOA. “Another element that has been added since then [the Besham attack] is kinetic,” said a senior provincial law enforcement officer speaking to VOA on background. “There is improved record-keeping of area residents. So that we are aware of who lives there.” “The probability of local support and facilitation is very high in our spectrum, and we try to keep identifying such people so that we can preempt it,” the official said. Chinese help Pakistani officials reject reports that China has sought to deploy its own security personnel in Pakistan but say law enforcement cooperation between the two countries already exists. “They have extended support to the establishment of SPU [Special Protection Unit],” Aitzaz Goraya, provincial counterterrorism chief in Baluchistan, told VOA. “They have promised some equipment for it, too. Some has arrived and some is on the way. Such a process is ongoing, at least in Balochistan.” Authorities say they hope to complete a “safe city” program in Gwadar by the end of the year. The project includes installing hundreds of cameras controlled from a centralized command center in the key port town to surveil residents as guards keep an eye on the situation from watchtowers. Resentment Heightened security for Chinese workers is also a source of resentment among locals in parts of Pakistan. In Gwadar, where the Pakistani military controls security, impoverished locals have staged mass protests in recent years, complaining of a lack of involvement in Chinese-funded development projects, and of loss of livelihood and limited mobility. “All the shops and roadside restaurants close along the five- to six-kilometer-long distance when the Chinese travel from the port to the airport. This happens two to three times a week,” said Naeem Ghafoor, a local activist. The new nationwide anti-terror offensive named Azm-e-Istehkam faces intense opposition in the militancy-hit northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where residents have experienced mass displacement and destruction of infrastructure in past military operations. Security affairs expert Rasheed says Pakistan cannot ensure the security of Chinese workers without providing basic facilities to its own citizens first. “There is a chronic need to involve civil society,” said Rashid. “It’s not just that the army can deal with this on its own or the police can. This needs development. It needs better facilities.” Fulfilling decades-old promises of development may still take years as Pakistan struggles to bring its economy on track with bailouts from the International Monetary Fund. Still, Goraya believes Pakistan can keep its promise of providing security to the Chinese. “They [terrorists] don’t have anything that we don’t,” Goraya said. “If we follow the SOPs [Standard Operating Procedures] and don’t deviate from it, we can do it.”

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.

Vientiane, Laos — China and Russia's foreign ministers met their Southeast Asian counterparts Friday after vowing to counter "extra-regional forces," a day before Washington's top diplomat was due to arrive. Wang Yi and Sergei Lavrov were attending a three-day meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc in the Laos capital of Vientiane. Both held talks with counterparts from the bloc, while Wang also met with new British Foreign Secretary David Lammy. On Thursday Wang and Lavrov agreed to work together in "countering any attempts by extra-regional forces to interfere in Southeast Asian affairs," according to Moscow's foreign ministry. They also discussed implementing "a new security architecture" in Eurasia, Lavrov said in a statement, without elaborating. According to a readout from Chinese state news agency Xinhua, Wang said Beijing was "ready to work with Russia to... firmly support each other, safeguard each other's core interests." China is a close political and economic ally of Russia, and NATO members have branded Beijing a "decisive enabler" of Moscow's war in Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to arrive in Vientiane on Saturday morning for talks with ASEAN foreign ministers. Blinken has made Washington's alliances in Asia a top foreign policy priority, with the aim of "advancing a free and open" Indo-Pacific -- a veiled way of criticizing China and its ambitions. But Blinken shortened his Asia itinerary by a day to be present for Thursday's White House meeting between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Wang and Blinken will meet in Laos, a spokeswoman for Beijing's foreign ministry said, to "exchange views on issues of common concern." South China Sea dispute On Friday Wang met ASEAN foreign ministers and hailed Beijing's deepening economic ties with the region. For the customary joint handshake, Wang stood next to Myanmar's representative Aung Kyaw Moe, permanent secretary to the foreign affairs ministry. The ASEAN bloc has banned Myanmar's junta from high-level meetings over its 2021 coup and crackdown on dissent that have plunged the country into turmoil. Lavrov also met ASEAN counterparts at the venue in Vientiane but did not take questions from journalists. ASEAN ministers are expected to issue a joint communique after the three-day meeting. One diplomatic source said the joint communique is being held up by lack of consensus over the wording of the paragraphs on the Myanmar conflict and disputes in the South China Sea. Beijing claims the waterway -- through which trillions of dollars of trade passes annually -- almost in its entirety despite an international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. Several Southeast Asian countries have competing claims. 

NORWICH, Conn. — Veteran diplomat Martin S. Indyk, an author and leader at prominent U.S. think tanks who devoted years to finding a path toward peace in the Middle East, died Thursday. He was 73. His wife, Gahl Hodges Burt, confirmed in a phone call that he died from complications of esophageal cancer at the couple's home in New Fairfield, Connecticut. The Council on Foreign Relations, where Indyk had been a distinguished fellow in U.S. and Middle East diplomacy since 2018, called him a "rare, trusted voice within an otherwise polarized debate on U.S. policy toward the Middle East." A native of Australia, Indyk served as U.S. ambassador to Israel from 1995 to 1997 and from 2000 to 2001. He was special envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations during former President Barack Obama's administration, from 2013 to 2014. When he resigned in 2014 to join The Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, it had symbolized the latest failed effort by the U.S. to forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. He continued as Obama’s special adviser on Mideast peace issues. "Ambassador Indyk has invested decades of his extraordinary career to the mission of helping Israelis and Palestinians achieve a lasting peace. It’s the cause of Martin’s career, and I’m grateful for the wisdom and insight he’s brought to our collective efforts," then-Secretary of State John Kerry said at the time, in a statement. In a May 22 social media post on X, amid the continuing war in Gaza, Indyk urged Israelis to "wake up," warning them their government "is leading you into greater isolation and ruin" after a proposed peace deal was rejected. Indyk also called out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in June on X, accusing him of playing "the martyr in a crisis he manufactured," after Netanyahu accused the U.S. of withholding weapons that Israel needed. "Israel is at war on four fronts: with Hamas in Gaza; with Houthis in Yemen; with Hezbollah in Lebanon; and with Iran overseeing the operations," Indyk wrote on June 19. "What does Netanyahu do? Attack the United States based on a lie that he made up! The Speaker and Leader should withdraw his invitation to address Congress until he recants and apologizes." Indyk also served as special assistant to former President Bill Clinton and senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs at the National Security Council from 1993 to 1995. He served as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs in the U.S. Department of State from 1997 to 2000. Besides serving at Brookings and the Council on Foreign Relations, Indyk worked at the Center for Middle East Policy and was the founding executive director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Indyk's successor at the Washington Institute called him "a true American success story." "A native of Australia, he came to Washington to have an impact on the making of American Middle East Policy and that he surely did -- as pioneering scholar, insightful analyst and remarkably effective policy entrepreneur," Robert Satloff said. "He was a visionary who not only founded an organization based on the idea that wise public policy is rooted in sound research, he embodied it." Indyk wrote or co-wrote multiple books, including Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East and Master of the Game: Henry Kissinger and the Art of Middle East Diplomacy, which was published in 2021. 

Baghdad — Several rockets were launched Thursday and Friday against bases hosting troops from the U.S.-led anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq and Syria, security officials and a war monitor said. Such attacks were frequent early in the war between Israel and Hamas Palestinian militants in Gaza but since then have largely halted. "Four rockets fell in the vicinity" of Ain al-Assad base in Anbar province, an Iraqi security source said. Another security official said an attack occurred with "a drone and three rockets" that fell close to the base perimeter. A United States official said initial reports indicated that projectiles landed outside the base without causing injuries or damage to the base. All sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media. At least one rocket also fell near a base of the coalition in the Conoco gas field in Deir Ezzor province of eastern Syria, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor. The Observatory said a blast was heard in the area but there were no immediate reports of casualties. The rocket was fired from "zones under the control of pro-Iranian militia" groups, said the monitor, which relies on sources inside Syria. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack. Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq have largely halted similar attacks on U.S.-backed troops in recent months. The latest attack come after a security meeting this week between Iraqi and U.S. officials in Washington on the future of the international anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq. Iran-backed groups have demanded a withdrawal. The U.S. Defense Department said Wednesday "the delegations reached an understanding on the concept for a new phase of the bilateral security relationship." This would include "cooperation through liaison officers, training, and traditional security cooperation programs." On July 16, two drones were launched against Ain al-Assad base, with one exploding inside without causing injuries or damage. A senior security official in Baghdad said at the time he believed the attack was meant to "embarrass" the Iraqi government before the security meeting. For more than three months, as regional tensions soared over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, United States troops were targeted by rockets and drones more than 175 times in the Middle East, mainly in Iraq and Syria. The Islamic Resistance of Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-backed groups, claimed the majority of the attacks, saying they were in solidarity with Gaza Palestinians. In January, a drone strike blamed on those groups killed three U.S. soldiers in a base in Jordan. In retaliation, U.S. forces launched dozens of strikes against Tehran-backed fighters. Since then, attacks against U.S. troops have largely halted. Baghdad has sought to defuse tensions, engaging in talks with Washington on the future of the U.S.-led coalition's mission in Iraq. The U.S. military has around 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria with the international coalition. The coalition was deployed to Iraq at the government's request in 2014 to help combat the Islamic State group, which had taken over vast swathes of Iraq and neighboring Syria. Islamic State remnants still carry out attacks and ambushes in both countries. 

ATLANTA — Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama have endorsed Kamala Harris in her White House bid, giving the vice president the expected but still crucial backing of the nation's two most popular Democrats. The endorsement, announced Friday morning in a video showing Harris accepting a joint phone call from the former first couple, comes as Harris continues to build momentum as the party's likely nominee after President Joe Biden's decision to end his reelection bid and endorse his second-in-command against Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump. It also highlights the friendship and potentially historic link between the nation's first Black president and the first woman, first Black woman and first person of Asian descent to serve as vice president, who is now vying to break those same barriers at the presidential rank. "We called to say Michelle and I couldn't be prouder to endorse you and do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office," the former president told Harris, who is shown taking the call as she walks backstage at an event, trailed by a Secret Service agent. Said Michelle Obama, "I can't have this phone call without saying to my girl, Kamala, I am proud of you. "This is going to be historic," she added. Harris, who has known the Obamas since before his election in 2008, thanked them for their friendship and said she looks forward to "getting there, being on the road" with them in the three-month blitz before Election Day on November 5. "We're gonna have some fun with this too, aren't we?" Harris said. The Obamas are perhaps the last major party figures to endorse Harris formally — a reflection of the former president's desire to remain, at least publicly, a party elder operating above the fray. The Obamas remain prodigious fundraising draws and popular surrogates at large campaign events for Democratic candidates. According to an Associated Press survey, Harris already has secured the public support of a majority of delegates to the Democratic National Convention, which begins August 19 in Chicago. The Democratic National Committee expects to hold a virtual nominating vote that would, by August 7, make Harris and a yet-to-be-named running mate the official Democratic ticket. Biden endorsed Harris within an hour of announcing his decision last Sunday to end his campaign amid widespread concern about the 81-year-old president's ability to defeat Trump. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Whip Jim Clyburn, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton followed in the days after. The Obamas, however, trod carefully as Harris secured the delegate commitments, made the rounds among core Democratic constituencies and raised more than $120 million. The public caution tracks how the former president handled the weeks between Biden's debate debacle against Trump and the president's eventual decision to end his campaign: Obama was a certain presence in the party's maneuvers, but he operated quietly. Barack Obama's initial statement after Biden's announcement did not mention Harris. Instead, he spoke generically about coming up with a nominee to succeed Biden: "I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges," the former president wrote. Both Obamas campaigned separately for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020, including large rallies on the closing weekends before Election Day. They delivered key speeches at the Democrats' convention in 2020, a virtual event because of the coronavirus pandemic. The former president's speech was especially notable because he unveiled a full-throated attack on Trump as a threat to democracy, an argument that endures as part of Harris' campaign.

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PARIS — France's high-speed rail network was hit Friday with widespread and "criminal" acts of vandalism including arson attacks, paralyzing travel to Paris from across the rest of France and Europe only hours before the grand opening ceremony of the Olympics. French officials described the attacks as "criminal actions" and said they were investigating whether they were linked to the Olympic Games. The disruptions as the world's eye was turning to Paris were expected to affect a quarter of a million people on Friday and endure through the weekend, and possibly longer, officials said. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote on the social media platform X that France's intelligence services have been mobilized to find the perpetrators. Attal characterized them as "acts of sabotage," which were "prepared and coordinated." There were no known reports of injuries. Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete described people fleeing from the scene of fires and the discovery of incendiary devices. "Everything indicates that these are criminal fires," he said. The incidents paralyzed several high-speed lines linking Paris to the rest of France and to neighboring countries, Vergriete said, speaking on BFM television, Vergriete. The French national rail company SNCF said that areas affecting rail track intersections were intentionally targeted by the arsonists in the overnight attacks to double the impact. "For one fire, two destinations were hit," the company's CEO, Jean-Pierre Farandou. It was "a premeditated, calculated, coordinated attack" that indicates "a desire to seriously harm" the French people, Farandou said. The attack occurred against a backdrop of global tensions and heightened security measures as the city prepared for the 2024 Olympic Games. Many travelers were planning to converge on the capital for the opening ceremony, and many vacationers were also in transit. As Paris authorities geared up for a spectacular parade on and along the Seine River, three fires were reported near the tracks on the high-speed lines of Atlantique, Nord and Est. The disruptions particularly affected Paris' major Montparnasse station, where the station's hall was full of travelers. The Paris police prefecture "concentrated its personnel in Parisian train stations" after the "massive attack" that paralyzed the TGV high-speed network, Laurent Nuñez, the Paris police chief, told France Info television. Many passengers at the Gare du Nord, one of Europe's busiest train stations, were looking for answers and solutions on Friday morning. All eyes were on the central message boards as most services to northern France, Belgium and the United Kingdom were delayed. "It's a hell of a way to start the Olympics," said Sarah Moseley, 42, as she learned that her train to London was an hour late. "They should have more information for tourists, especially if it's a malicious attack," said Corey Grainger, a 37-year-old Australian sales manager on his way to London, as he rested on his two suitcases in the middle of the station. Government officials denounced the acts, though they said there was no immediate sign of a direct link to the Olympics. National police said authorities were investigating the incidents. French media reported a major fire on a busy western route. Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera said authorities were working to "evaluate the impact on travelers, athletes, and ensure the transport of all delegations to the competition sites" for the Olympics. Speaking on BFM television, she added, "Playing against the Games is playing against France, against your own camp, against your country." She did not identify who was behind the vandalism. Passengers at St. Pancras station in London were warned to expect delays of around an hour to their Eurostar journeys. Announcements in the departure hall at the international terminus informed travelers heading to Paris that there was a problem with overhead power supplies. SNCF said it did not know when traffic would resume and feared that disruptions would continue "at least all weekend." SNCF teams "were already on site to carry out diagnostics and begin repairs," but the "situation should last at least all weekend while the repairs are carried out," the operator said. SNCF advised "all passengers to postpone their journey and not to go to the station," specifying in its press release that all tickets were exchangeable and refundable. Valerie Pecresse, president of the regional council of the greater Paris region, speaking from Montparnasse station, said "250,000 travelers will be affected today on all these lines." Substitution plans were underway, but Pecresse advised travelers "not to go to stations." The troubles comes ahead of an opening ceremony has been planned for later Friday in which 7,000 Olympic athletes are due to sail down the Seine past iconic Parisian monuments such as Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Louvre Museum, and the Musee d'Orsay.

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KYIV, Ukraine — Russia overnight attacked Ukrainian energy facilities in two regions with drones, disrupting electricity supplies, Ukraine's national power grid operator said Friday. Power supplies have, however, been already restored to most consumers in the northern Chernihiv and Zhytomyr regions, Ukrenergo said. Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 20 out of the 22 Russian attack drones launched overnight, Ukraine's air force chief said. Most of the drones were shot down in the Kherson, Sumy, Zhytomyr and Chernihiv regions. The governor of the Chernihiv region said that some infrastructure and a dormitory were damaged during the attack on the town of Nizhyn, without giving further details. Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine's energy sector have intensified since the spring, resulting in blackouts in many regions and forcing Kyiv to start large-scale electricity imports from the European Union. 

MELBOURNE, Australia — At least 26 people were reportedly killed by a gang in three remote villages in Papua New Guinea's north, United Nations and police officials say. "It was a very terrible thing … when I approached the area, I saw that there were children, men, women. They were killed by a group of 30 young men," acting Provincial Police Commander in the South Pacific island nation's East Sepik province James Baugen told Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Friday. Baugen told the ABC that all the houses in the villages had been burned and the remaining villagers were sheltering at a police station, too scared to name the perpetrators. "Some of the bodies left in the night were taken by crocodiles into the swamp. We only saw the place where they were killed. There were heads chopped off," Baugen said, adding that the attackers were hiding and there were no arrests yet. U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement Wednesday that the attacks happened on July 16 and July 18. "I am horrified by the shocking eruption of deadly violence in Papua New Guinea, seemingly as the result of a dispute over land and lake ownership and user rights," Turk said. Turk said at least 26 people had reportedly died, including 16 children. "This number could rise to over 50, as local authorities search for missing people. In addition, more than 200 villagers fled as their homes were torched," Turk said. The Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary in the capital Port Moresby did not immediately respond to The Associated Press's request for comment on Friday. East Sepik Governor Allan Bird said violence across this diverse nation of more than 10 million people, who are mostly subsistence farmers, had escalated in the past decade. Police were under-resourced and rarely intervene, Bird said. Papua New Guinea has more than 800 Indigenous languages and has been riven by tribal conflicts over land for centuries. Most of the country's land belongs to tribes rather than individuals. With no clear borders, territorial disputes never end. These conflicts have become increasingly lethal in recent decades as combatants move from bows and arrows to assault rifles. Mercenaries are increasingly becoming involved. Blake Johnson, an analyst at the Australian Security Policy Institute think tank, said while the East Sepik slayings appeared to be a "particularly gruesome event, it is not the first instance of mass murder this year" in Papua New Guinea. "Escalation of violence between groups, often leading to retaliatory murder is, at best, culturally accepted and at worst encouraged," Johnson said. Law enforcement officers lacked the resources and training to police most of the country, he said. "The country is took big, too harsh and too difficult to navigate, and we don't even know how many people live in these places," Johnson said. Papua New Guinea's tribal fighting attracted international attention in February, when at least 26 combatants and an unconfirmed number of bystanders were killed in a gunbattle in Enga province. Ongoing conflict complicated an emergency response in May when a landslide in the same province devastated at least one village. The Papua New Guinea government said more than 2,000 people were killed, while the United Nations estimated the death toll at 670. Internal security problems in Papua New Guinea, the South Pacific's most populous country after Australia, has become a battle line for China's struggle against U.S. allies for influence in the region. Australia, Papua New Guinea's former colonial master and its most generous provider of foreign aid, signed a bilateral security pact last year that targets its nearest neighbor's growing security concerns, while Beijing also reportedly wants to ink a policing agreement with Port Moresby. In 2022, China struck a secretive security pact with Papua New Guinea's near-neighbor Solomon Islands in 2022, which included police aid and has raised concerns that a Chinese naval base could be established in the South Pacific.

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HANOI, Vietnam — Thousands of mourners gathered in Hanoi on Friday for the second day of the funeral of the man who dominated Vietnamese politics for over a decade, Communist Party general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. His death, at 80, last week in Hanoi marked the start of a succession struggle within the party that will likely to continue until the all-important National Party Congress of Vietnam's Communist Party in 2026. Trong's coffin, draped in the red and yellow of Vietnam's flag, was laid beneath his smiling portrait and dozens of medals at the National Funeral House in Hanoi on Thursday. All flags in the southeast Asian nation flew at half staff during the two-day period of national mourning, while all sports and entertainment were suspended. He will be buried at Mai Dich cemetery, the final resting place for military heroes and senior party officials, later Friday. Top Communist Party officials paid tribute, including President To Lam, who took over as caretaker general secretary a day before Trong's death was announced. Thousands of people, many of whom who had traveled from far-flung provinces, queued up in Hanoi late into Thursday to light incense and pay their respects. Politburo member Luong Cuong said Thursday that his death was "an extremely huge, irreparable loss to the Party, the state, the people and his family." South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo; Wang Huning, the fourth-ranked leader in the Chinese Communist Party; former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga; Cuban National Assembly President Esteban Lazo Hernandez; and Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval were among those in attendance on Thursday. U.S. president Joe Biden had said earlier that Trong was a "champion of the deep ties" between Americans and the Vietnamese. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a statement on Telegram that Trong would be remembered as a "true friend" of Russia who made a "great personal contribution" to the improvement of ties between the two nations. Trong, who studied in the Soviet Union from 1981 to 1983, was the first Vietnamese Communist Party chief to visit the White House. He advocated a pragmatic foreign policy of "bamboo diplomacy," a phrase he coined that refers to the plant's flexibility, bending but not breaking in the shifting headwinds of geopolitics. Vietnam is unlikely to abandon that approach, under which it has pursued pragmatic cooperation with its much larger and more powerful neighbor China while maintaining good ties with other countries like the U.S., Japan and India, said Gregory B. Poling, who heads the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Trong, a Marxist-Leninist ideologue, viewed corruption as the single gravest threat to the party's legitimacy. He launched a sweeping anti-corruption campaign known as "blazing furnace," which has singed both business and political elites. Since 2016, thousands of party officials have been disciplined. They included former presidents Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Vo Van Thuong and the former head of parliament, Vuong Dinh Hue. In all, eight members of the powerful Politburo were ousted on corruption allegations, compared to none between 1986 and 2016. The anti-graft campaign was led by then-top security official To Lam until he was made president in May after his predecessor resigned amid corruption allegations. Lam is likely to keep playing a dual role as the president and the caretaker party chief until 2026, said Poling. He added that Lam is the current favorite to get a full term as Trong's successor, but there is no guarantee. Also unclear is what direction the anti-corruption movement will take in the short term without Trong. "But in the long term, it does seem like it'll inevitably wind down because it was so linked to his legacy, his program," he said. Poling also said that without a leader of Trong's stature, different factions in the party may struggle to resolve their differences. "They'll have to figure out what the future looks like, which is a necessary first step to passing on power to the next generation," he said.

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Sao Paulo —  The Brazilian government on Thursday apologized for human rights violations in the persecution and incarceration of Japanese immigrants in the years after World War II. "I want to apologize on behalf of the Brazilian state for the persecution your ancestors suffered, for all the barbarities, atrocities, cruelties, tortures, prejudice, ignorance, xenophobia and racism," said Eneá de Stutz e Almeida, president of the Amnesty Commission, an advisory board of Brazil's Ministry of Human Rights that analyzes amnesty and reparation requests to victims of political persecution in the country. The board approved the apology plea in a session in Brasilia attended by members of the Brazilian government and prominent members of the Japanese community. Flags of both countries were displayed on the table where the speakers sat. A report by the Amnesty Commission acknowledged that 172 immigrants were sent to a concentration camp off the coast of São Paulo, where they were mistreated and tortured from 1946-48. "The documents indisputably demonstrate the political persecution and justify the declaration of political amnesty for the Japanese community and their descendants," said the commission's rapporteur, Vanda Davi Fernandes de Oliveira. The reparation request was filed in 2015 by the Okinawa Kenjin of Brazil Association, which stated that after the outbreak of World War II, members of the Japanese community were mistreated and discriminated against. Brazil joined the Allies in 1942 and cut diplomatic relations with Japan, after which the Brazilian government confiscated Japanese-owned properties and immigrants were not allowed to gather or speak Japanese publicly. Mario Jun Okuhara, who documented the persecution and supported the complaint, said his ancestors were imprisoned, tortured and accused of being spies and saboteurs. "They were not at war; they were struggling to survive, seeking a place in the sun, and educating their Brazilian-born children," Okuhara said Thursday. "Japanese immigrants shouldn't be held responsible for the errors of their government during the war. They were civilians working in agriculture and other sectors, fully integrated into Brazilian society." Brazil is home to the world's largest Japanese community outside Japan, with more than 2.7 million Japanese citizens and their descendants. The first ships from the Asian country arrived in Brazil in 1908, and immigration peaked between World War I and II. Okuhara said the ceremony represented a moment to honor their ancestors and bring some emotional comfort to the Japanese community. "We can't erase the atrocities committed against our parents and grandparents, but we can learn from these sad episodes and prevent them from happening again to anyone, regardless of their origin or ethnicity," he said. 

TOKYO — Heavy rain in the past week has triggered floods and landslides in Japan, disrupting transportation and forcing residents to take shelter on safer ground. Four people were missing Friday, including two police officers. The rain had subsided in Yamagata and Akita prefectures Friday, but the area was still at risk of flooding and landslides. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged people to "put safety first." According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, one person was missing Thursday in Yuzawa city in Akita prefecture after being hit by a landslide at a road construction site. In Akita city, rescuers were searching for an 86-year-old man whose bicycle and helmet were found floating by a river, media reports said. Rescue workers in Yokote city evacuated 11 people from a flooded area with the help of a boat. In Shinjo city in Yamagata prefecture just south of Akita, two police officers were missing after reporting from a patrolling vehicle that they were being swept away by floodwaters. A police vehicle half filled with water was found by the swollen river, the agency said. Thirty-seven people were stranded at a flooded nursing home in the city. More than 10 centimeters of rain fell in the hardest-hit Yuza and Sakata towns in Yamagata within an hour earlier Thursday. Thousands of residents have been advised to take shelter at higher and safer grounds, but it was not immediately known how many people took that advice. Yamagata Shinkansen bullet train services were still partially suspended Friday, according to East Japan Railway Company. The Japan Meteorological Agency forecast up to 20 centimeters of more rainfall in the region through Friday evening, urging residents to remain cautious.