Biden to Host Japan PM Kishida, Philippines President Marcos

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for a White House summit next month amid growing concerns about North Korea’s nuclear program, provocative Chinese action in the South China Sea and differences over a Japanese company’s plan to buy an iconic American steel company. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a statement on Monday said the first-ever U.S.-Japan-Philippines leaders’ summit is an opportunity to highlight the countries’ “growing economic relations, a proud and resolute commitment to shared democratic values and a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.” The three leaders have no shortage of issues to discuss. The announcement came as North Korea’s state media reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a live-fire drill of nuclear-capable “super-large” multiple rocket launchers designed to target South Korea’s capital. The North Korean claim followed the South Korean and Japanese militaries reporting on Monday that they had detected North Korea firing multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward waters off its eastern coast, adding to a streak of weapons displays that have raised regional tensions. The U.S.-Japan relationship is facing a rare moment of friction after Biden announced last week that he opposes the planned sale of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel of Japan. Biden argued in announcing his opposition that the U.S. needs to “maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steelworkers.” Nippon Steel announced in December that it planned to buy U.S. Steel for $14.1 billion in cash, raising concerns about what the transaction could mean for unionized workers, supply chains and U.S. national security. Meanwhile, long-running Philippines-Chinese tensions have come back into focus this month after Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels collided in the disputed South China Sea. The Chinese coast guard ships and accompanying vessels blocked the Philippine coast guard and supply vessels off the disputed Second Thomas Shoal and executed dangerous maneuvers that caused two minor collisions between the Chinese ships and two of the Philippine vessels, Philippine officials said. A small Philippine marine and navy contingent has kept watch onboard a rusting warship, the BRP Sierra Madre, which has been marooned since the late 1990s in the shallows of the Second Thomas Shoal. China also claims the shoal lying off the western Philippines and has surrounded the atoll with coast guard, navy and other ships to press its claims and prevent … “Biden to Host Japan PM Kishida, Philippines President Marcos”

Q&A: TikTok Owner Is Essentially ‘Subsidiary’ of China’s Communist Party, US Lawmaker Says  

washington — The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill March 13 that, if enacted into law, would give ByteDance, the Chinese owner of the TikTok social media app, 180 days to divest its U.S. assets or face a ban over concerns about national security, including Beijing’s ability to access Americans’ private information through the company ByteDance denies it would provide such private data to the Chinese government, despite reports indicating such information could be at risk. VOA sat down on the day the bill passed with Republican Representative Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on state, foreign operations and related programs, and co-chair of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, to hear why he supported the bill and why he’s calling for faster military support for Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as a breakaway province that must one day reunite with the mainland, by force if necessary. This year marks the 45th anniversary of Congress’ enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act, which outlines nondiplomatic relations between Washington and Taipei in the wake of formal U.S. recognition of Beijing as the government of China. The act states that the U.S. must provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. VOA: The House just passed a bill that would require ByteDance to divest TikTok. Did you support this bill? U.S. Representative Mario Diaz-Balart: I absolutely did. … It has strong bipartisan support. And there’s also been a lot of misinformation about it. People say that it’s to ban TikTok. No, it’s basically saying you have to divest from, in essence, being controlled by the Communist Party of China. We would have never allowed, during the Soviet empire, the Soviet Union to control, to own, one of the major networks in the United States – ABC, NBC, CBS. Why? Because it’s a threat to national security. In this case, it’s even more dramatic because they [the Chinese] have access not only to getting into people’s homes, but to actually get information from the American people. And they’ve been pretty good and very aggressive at doing that. And so TikTok needs to be divested. That’s the least that we should be requiring, and if so, then they can continue to function. But we cannot allow for this to function, getting information from the American people to an entity that is in essence … “Q&A: TikTok Owner Is Essentially ‘Subsidiary’ of China’s Communist Party, US Lawmaker Says  “

US Says NKorea Shipped 10,000 Containers of Munitions to Russia

Jung Pak, the U.S. Senior Official for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, told VOA on Monday that there have been at least 10 instances where North Korean missiles have been used on the battlefield in Ukraine. Pak told VOA’s Nike Ching that the U.S. still assesses North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is not currently planning an imminent attack on Washington’s allies, South Korea and Japan. …

Austin Hosts First In-Person Ukraine Defense Contact Group of 2024

Ramstein, Germany — Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is in Germany to build upon the international community’s military support for Ukraine, even as the U.S. Congress has yet to approve additional funding for Kyiv. This is Austin’s first international trip since he was hospitalized on Jan. 1 due to complications from surgery to treat his prostate cancer in late December. On Tuesday, he will host another round of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), which brings together officials from more than 50 nations to coordinate their Ukraine efforts.  Ukrainian forces have continued to fight back against Russian forces in the east while inflicting “considerable damage” to Russian forces in the Black Sea. However, Moscow— with the help of North Korea and Iran — has drastically ramped up its defense production capacity, forcing Ukraine to retreat from some battles due to ammunition shortages, according to a senior defense official, who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity ahead of the UDCG.  “Ukraine is heavily outgunned on the battlefield. We’ve received reports of Ukrainian troops rationing or even running out of ammunition on the front lines,” said the official.  The U.S. has contributed about $44 billion in security assistance for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, with allies and partners also committing more than $44 billion in that time frame. But the U.S. military has run out of congressionally approved funds for replenishing its weapons stockpiles sent to Ukraine, and leadership in the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has so far refused to bring new aid for Ukraine up for a vote. Last week, the United States announced its first new round of military aid for Ukraine since late December, in what defense officials have called an “ad hoc” package made possible through U.S. Army procurement savings. The military assistance package is valued at up to $300 million and will provide Ukraine with immediate air defense, artillery and anti-tank capabilities, along with more ammunition for HIMARS and 155-mm artillery rounds. But officials say it is unclear if there will be future procurement savings to produce another extraordinary package of aid. “This is not a sustainable solution for Ukraine. We urgently need congressional approval of a national security supplemental,” the senior defense official said. “There isn’t a way that our allies can really combine forces to make up for the lack of U.S. support,” the official added. The emphasis on ammunition and … “Austin Hosts First In-Person Ukraine Defense Contact Group of 2024”

VOA Interview | US Says NKorea Shipped 10,000 Containers of Munitions to Russia

STATE DEPARTMENT — The United States disclosed Monday that North Korea has dispatched at least 10,000 containers loaded with military munitions to Russia in support of its war in Ukraine. This number surpasses the 7,000 containers estimated by the South Korean defense chief earlier in the day. Jung Pak, the U.S. Senior Official for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), told VOA on Monday that there have been at least 10 instances where North Korean missiles have been used on the battlefield in Ukraine. She expressed deep concern about the increasing ties between Russia, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and the DPRK. Earlier on Monday, North Korea launched several ballistic missiles into the sea for the first time in two months, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Seoul for the Summit for Democracy hosted by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. Despite these “unfortunate” and “concerning” developments, Pak told VOA the U.S. still assesses North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is not currently planning an imminent attack on Washington’s allies, South Korea and Japan. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity. VOA: North Korea has fired several ballistic missiles at a time when South Korea is hosting the Summit for Democracy, and a few days after the U.S. and South Korea finished their military exercises. Do you still believe that a direct attack from North Korea against Japan and South Korea is not imminent? Jung Pak, U.S. Senior Official for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: I still do. Ballistic missile launches are something that the DPRK has been doing: 69 in 2022, several dozen last year. And this is their latest set of launches. And it was unfortunate that they did it when the secretary was in Seoul for the Summit for Democracy. We still assess that DPRK’s leader, Kim Jong Un, is not looking at an imminent attack or near-term attack. I think Kim Jong Un probably knows what that would likely mean in response. But we are very concerned about the level of activity, weapons advancements, and the increasing alignment with Russia over the past couple of years. VOA: Just to clarify, does the U.S. not see any signs of North Korea planning some form of lethal military action against South Korea in the coming months? Pak: We’re always on the lookout for any kind of dangerous activities. But … “VOA Interview | US Says NKorea Shipped 10,000 Containers of Munitions to Russia”

EU Adopts Act to Safeguard Media

washington — The European Parliament has adopted a media freedom act designed to protect journalists and their work from political and economic interference. The idea for the European Media Freedom Act was introduced in 2022 after the EU raised concerns about media pluralism in countries such as Hungary and Poland. The act is focused on independence, stable funding of public service media, and transparency of media ownership. It also includes protections for journalists from harassment by authorities, regulation of spyware used to target journalists, and measures to protect journalistic sources. Media rights organizations including the Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Press Institute largely welcomed the act but also said the text’s language and standards could be stronger. One core issue in the act is media capture. This can happen through government efforts to control or pressure public service media outlets, the retaliatory use of state advertising allocations, or media outlet takeovers by government allies in the business world. In Hungary, for example, a media conglomerate consolidated nearly 500 outlets into a foundation and put them under the control of a foundation run by supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.  Oliver Money-Kyrle, of the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI), viewed the act’s focus on media capture as an important step in responding to what he said was a “growing crisis.” One way the act will do this is by having governments distribute any media advertising revenue in an objective and nondiscriminatory manner and providing transparent annual reports about how funds are distributed. But the clause has exemptions for “subnational” governments, said Money-Kyrle, who leads IPI’s Europe Advocacy and Programs department. Local authorities that oversee territories with populations of fewer than 100,000 are exempt. Not extending the requirements to these places is a “missed opportunity,” Money-Kyrle told VOA. The act will also establish the European Board for Media Services, which will be made up of international media regulators. The board will examine cases of governments threatening editorial independence and media pluralism. The board will have power to intervene and demand justification and explanation from national governments or from member state media regulators, said Money-Kyrle. Responsibility for enforcement of the act will fall to member states to ensure that their laws fit regulations, said Tom Gibson, of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Gibson, who is the CPJ EU representative and advocacy manager for CPJ, said the act would “put pressure” on member … “EU Adopts Act to Safeguard Media”

US, Japan Urge Nations Not to Deploy Nuclear Weapons in Orbit

WASHINGTON — The United States and Japan on Monday proposed a U.N. Security Council resolution stressing that nations should comply with a treaty that bars putting nuclear weapons in space, a message that appeared aimed at Russia.  Washington believes Moscow is developing a space-based anti-satellite nuclear weapon whose detonation could cause havoc by disrupting everything from military communications to phone-based ride services, a source familiar with the matter has said.  Russia, a party to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty that bars putting “in orbit around the earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction,” has previously said it opposes deploying nuclear weapons in space.  Russia’s defense minister has also denied it is developing such a weapon. Deploying a nuclear weapon in orbit is barred by the treaty; developing one, however, is not prohibited.   In their resolution seen by Reuters, the United States, the only nation to use a nuclear weapon in war, and Japan, the only nation attacked with one, urged countries bound by the treaty not to place such weapons into space and also not to develop them.  Reports about possible Russian development emerged after a Republican lawmaker on February 14 issued a cryptic statement warning of a “serious national security threat.” The clearest public sign Washington thinks Moscow is working on such a weapon was a White House spokesman’s February 15 comment that the lawmaker’s letter was related to a space-based anti-satellite weapon that Russia was developing but had not deployed, and that would violate the Outer Space Treaty. …

No Brain Injuries Among ‘Havana Syndrome’ Patients, New Study Finds

Washington — An array of advanced tests found no brain injuries or degeneration among U.S. diplomats and other government employees who suffer mysterious health problems once dubbed “Havana syndrome, ” researchers reported Monday. The National Institutes of Health’s nearly five-year study offers no explanation for symptoms including headaches, balance problems and difficulties with thinking and sleep that were first reported in Cuba in 2016 and later by hundreds of American personnel in multiple countries. But it did contradict some earlier findings that raised the specter of brain injuries in people experiencing what the State Department now calls “anomalous health incidents.” “These individuals have real symptoms and are going through a very tough time,” said Dr. Leighton Chan, NIH’s chief of rehabilitation medicine, who helped lead the research. “They can be quite profound, disabling and difficult to treat.” Yet sophisticated MRI scans detected no significant differences in brain volume, structure or white matter — signs of injury or degeneration — when Havana syndrome patients were compared to healthy government workers with similar jobs, including some in the same embassy. Nor were there significant differences in cognitive and other tests, according to findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. While that couldn’t rule out some transient injury when symptoms began, researchers said it’s good news that they couldn’t spot long-term markers on brain scans that are typical after trauma or stroke. That “should be some reassurance for patients,” said study co-author Louis French, a neuropsychologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center who treats Havana syndrome. “It allows us to focus on the here and now, to getting people back to where they should be.” A subset, about 28%, of Havana syndrome cases were diagnosed with a balance problem called persistent postural-perceptual dizziness, or PPPD. Linked to inner-ear problems as well as severe stress, it results when certain brain networks show no injury but don’t communicate properly. French called it a “maladaptive response,” much like how people who’ve slouched to alleviate back pain can have posture trouble even after the pain is gone. The Havana syndrome participants reported more fatigue, posttraumatic stress symptoms and depression. The findings are the latest in an effort to unravel a mystery that began when personnel at the U.S. embassy in Cuba began seeking medical care for hearing loss and ear-ringing after reporting sudden weird noises. Early on, there was concern that Russia or another … “No Brain Injuries Among ‘Havana Syndrome’ Patients, New Study Finds”

Trump’s Lawyers Say Impossible for Him to Post Bond Covering $454 Million Civil Fraud Judgment

New York — Donald Trump’s lawyers told a New York appellate court Monday that it’s impossible for him to post a bond covering the full amount of his $454 million civil fraud judgment while he appeals. The former president’s lawyers wrote in a court filing that “obtaining an appeal bond in the full amount” of the judgment “is not possible under the circumstances presented.” With interest, Trump owes $456.8 million. In all, he and co-defendants including his company and top executives owe $467.3 million. To obtain a bond, they would be required to post collateral worth $557 million, Trump’s lawyers said. A state appeals court judge ruled last month that Trump must post a bond covering the full amount to pause enforcement of the judgment, which is to begin on March 25. Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in February that Trump, his company and top executives, including his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., schemed for years to deceive banks and insurers by inflating his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and make deals. Among other penalties, the judge put strict limitations on the ability of Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, to do business. Trump is asking a full panel of the state’s intermediate appellate court to stay the judgment while he appeals. His lawyers previously proposed posting a $100 million bond, but appeals court judge Anil Singh rejected that. A stay is a legal mechanism pausing collection while he appeals. A real estate broker enlisted by Trump to assist in obtaining a bond wrote in an affidavit filed with the court that few bonding companies will consider issuing a bond of the size required. The remaining bonding companies will not “accept hard assets such as real estate as collateral,” but “will only accept cash or cash equivalents (such as marketable securities).” “A bond of this size is rarely, if ever, seen. In the unusual circumstance that a bond of this size is issued, it is provided to the largest public companies in the world, not to individuals or privately held businesses,” the broker, Gary Giulietti, wrote. Trump appealed on Feb. 26, a few days after the judgment was made official. His lawyers have asked the Appellate Division of the state’s trial court to decide whether Engoron “committed errors of law and/or fact” and whether he abused his discretion or “acted in excess” of his jurisdiction. Trump wasn’t required to … “Trump’s Lawyers Say Impossible for Him to Post Bond Covering $454 Million Civil Fraud Judgment”

US Supreme Court Examines Government Efforts to Curb Online Misinformation

Washington — The US Supreme Court was hearing arguments on Monday in a social media case involving free speech rights and government efforts to curb misinformation online. The case stems from a lawsuit brought by the Republican attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri, who allege that government officials went too far in their efforts to get platforms to combat vaccine and election misinformation. A lower court last year restricted some top officials and agencies of President Joe Biden’s administration from meeting and communicating with social media companies to moderate their content. The ruling was a win for conservative advocates who allege that the government pressured or colluded with platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to censor right-leaning content under the guise of fighting misinformation. The order applied to a slew of agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State Department and Justice Department as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The decision restricted agencies and officials from meeting with social media companies or flagging posts containing “free speech” protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution. Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry hailed the “historic injunction” at the time, saying it would prevent the Biden administration from “censoring the core political speech of ordinary Americans” on social media. He accused federal officials of seeking to “dictate what Americans can and cannot say on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other platforms about COVID-19, elections, criticism of the government, and more.” The order could seriously limit top government agencies from notifying the platforms about false or hateful content that can lead to harmful consequences. But the ruling said that the government could still inform them about posts involving criminal activity, national security threats and foreign attempts to influence elections. In addition to communications with social media companies, the ruling also restricted agencies from “collaborating, coordinating, partnering” with groups such as the Election Integrity Partnership, a coalition of research institutions that tackle election-related falsehoods. Some experts in misinformation and First Amendment law criticized the ruling, saying authorities needed to strike a balance between calling out falsehoods and veering towards censorship or curbing free speech. …

Back to the Moon – Part 1

After the Apollo program ended, the US took a long hiatus from lunar exploration. What happened during this time, and what has NASA been doing? This documentary by the Voice of America’s Russian service explores the multiple attempts to return to the Moon, the space developments that laid the foundation for future concepts, and the birth of the Artemis lunar program. …

Russian Opposition Activists in Seattle Remember Navalny as Putin Claims Victory

In Seattle, there were no polling stations for Russian citizens to join the worldwide movement known as “Noon Against Putin,” a symbolic protest of the re-election of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Instead, they commemorated opposition leader Alexey Navalny and wrote letters to the growing list of political prisoners in Russia. Natasha Mozgovaya has the story. …

First Charter Flight With US Citizens Fleeing Haiti Lands in Miami

MIAMI — A charter flight carrying dozens of U.S. citizens fleeing spiraling gang violence in Haiti landed Sunday in Miami, U.S. State Department officials said. More than 30 U.S. citizens were on the government-chartered flight, officials said in a statement. It arrived in the Miami International Airport after the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince earlier this month urged U.S. citizens to leave “as soon as possible” as chaos grips Haiti. Haiti’s main airport in Port-au-Prince remains closed following gang attacks that have raged through Haiti for weeks, pushing many people to the brink of famine. Government and aid agencies this weekend reported looting of aid supplies as the situation worsened. The State Department announced Saturday that it would offer limited charter flights for American citizens from the less chaotic northern city of Cap-Haïtien. Officials said they could not provide ground transportation to Cap-Haïtien and that U.S. citizens should consider the charter flights “only if you think you can reach Cap-Haïtien airport safely.” “We encourage U.S. citizens still in Haiti who seek to depart to contact the Department of State using the crisis intake form on our website if they have not already done so,” the agency said. People taking the U.S. government-coordinated flights must sign a promissory bill agreeing to reimburse the government. The State Department said government officials in Miami were helping the newly arrived evacuees to determine their next steps. The U.S. military last week flew in additional forces to bolster security at the U.S. Embassy, which is in a neighborhood largely controlled by gangs. …

European Far-Right Firebrand Prevented From Speaking at Swiss Event

Berlin — A prominent European far-right figure was prevented from giving a speech at an event in Switzerland and thrown out of the region where it was taking place. Martin Sellner of the Identitarian Movement said in a video posted on social media network X, formerly Twitter, that he had been invited by a local group, Junge Tat (Young Deed), to “talk about remigration and the ethnic vote” and what happened at a recent meeting in Germany that prompted a string of large protests there. Remigration refers to the return, sometimes forced, of non-ethnically European immigrants back to their place of racial origin. Sellner, who comes from neighboring Austria, said that a few minutes after he started speaking at the event Saturday, the electricity was turned off and he was taken to a police station, then told he was thrown out of Aargau canton (state) and escorted to Zurich. Regional police said in a statement that they tracked down the Junge Tat event in the small town of Tegerfelden on Saturday after receiving several tips. They found some 100 people at the venue and said that, after the landlady found out about the contents of the planned meeting, she canceled the contract for it. Police said they told organizers to end the event, but they didn’t obey. Without identifying Sellner by name, they said the speaker was held and ordered out of the region “to safeguard public security” and prevent confrontations with opponents. Germany has seen large protests of the far right following a report that extremists met in Potsdam in November to discuss the deportation of millions of immigrants, including some with German citizenship. Sellner presented his “remigration” vision for the deportation of immigrants there. That meeting has prompted widespread criticism of the Alternative for Germany party, some of whose members reportedly attended. The party has sought to distance itself from the event, while also decrying the reporting of it. …

AFP Journalist Among 50 Detained at Kurdish Event in Turkey

Istanbul — Around 50 people including an AFP journalist were detained by police Sunday in Istanbul on the sidelines of the Kurdish New Year celebrations, witnesses said.   AFP video journalist Eylul Yasar was preparing to film the celebrations of the Kurdish New Year when she was arrested at a checkpoint, journalists and lawyers at the scene reported. She was released after being handcuffed and held by police for more than six hours, along with another 14 people locked up in the same van. Yasar said she had been arrested and taken away in a police van after objecting to an “intrusive” and “brutal” body search. She and the others being held in her van were insulted by police, she said, who called them “pig droppings, terrorists, traitors.” Two journalists from the Bianet news site who were filming the arrests said they were beaten and thrown to the ground by police. A statement from Agence France-Presse said: “AFP deplores the detention of our journalist Eylul Yasar who was just doing her job. “While it welcomes her release, AFP calls on the Turkish authorities to respect the rights of journalists and to treat them with respect.” Erol Onderoglu, correspondent with media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in Turkey, denounced Yasar’s “arbitrary arrest, which prevented her from doing her job.” He had earlier said that around 50 people who came to attend the celebrations, which normally include traditional dances and a large bonfire, were also arrested at the site. An AFP photographer said the bonfire had been canceled. Many Kurds, who make up about a fifth of Turkey’s estimated 85 million people, say they face significant discrimination in the country. The former leading figure of the main pro-Kurdish party, Selahattin Demirtas, was imprisoned in 2016 for “terrorist propaganda,” while more than a hundred mayors of Kurdish localities saw elections canceled in the last municipal vote in 2019. Turkey has repeatedly insisted that it does not discriminate against Kurds as a minority but rather opposes the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an organization banned by Ankara and its Western allies as a terrorist organization. According to the RSF, Turkey last year ranked in 164th place out of 180 countries on its index of press freedom. That marks a drop of 16 places from 2022. …

Blinken Arrives in South Korea to Attend Democracy Summit

Seoul, South Korea — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived Sunday in South Korea on the first stop of a brief Asia tour also including the Philippines, as Washington moves to reinforce ties with two key regional allies. Blinken landed Sunday afternoon ahead of the third Summit for Democracy on Monday, an initiative of U.S. President Joe Biden, which Seoul is hosting this week. Before arriving in Seoul, Blinken made a brief stop in Bahrain, where he spoke to King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa about efforts to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza. The summit, which runs from March 18-20 will bring together government officials, NGOs and civil society members.   Seoul is one of Washington’s key regional allies, and the United States has stationed about 27,000 American soldiers in the South, to help protect it against the nuclear-armed North. Seoul’s conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol has boosted ties with Washington and sought to bury the historical hatchet with former colonial power Japan to better guard against Pyongyang’s threats. Blinken will meet South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, the ministry said, for discussions that will cover how to boost the alliance, as Washington and Seoul explore how to improve their so-called “extended deterrence” against North Korea. The democracy summit has attracted some criticism due to its selective invitation list, which excludes countries that consider themselves democratic, such as Thailand and Turkey. After Seoul, Blinken heads to Manila, a trip that will reaffirm “our unwavering commitment to the Philippine ally,” according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. He will talk with local officials including President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. — issues with China including disputes over the South China Sea are likely to top the agenda. The U.S. is redoubling efforts to improve longstanding ties with regional allies such as Manila, in an effort to counterbalance China. Beijing recently accused Washington of using the Philippines as a “pawn” in the dispute over the South China Sea, after a series of clashes around bitterly-contested islets in the waters. China claims almost the entire waterway, brushing aside competing claims from a host of Southeast Asian nations and an international ruling that has declared its stance baseless. The South China Sea is strategically vital for several countries — including China — providing a key route for the import and export of essential fuel, food and other goods. China has rapidly grown its naval forces in recent … “Blinken Arrives in South Korea to Attend Democracy Summit”

As Trump Remarks Ignite New Controversy, Biden Reaches Fundraising Milestone

U.S. lawmakers reacted to a series of controversial remarks made by Republican presidential Candidate Donald Trump on Saturday. And while Democratic President Joe Biden wasn’t on the campaign trail over the weekend, his reelection bid also made headlines. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias explains. …

Is the West Waging a Proxy War in Ukraine?

For as long as the U.S. and its Western allies have been sending military assistance to Ukraine, Moscow has accused the West of using Ukraine to fight a proxy war against Russia. But, as Maxim Adams reports, the reality is much more complicated. VOA footage and video editing by Elena Matusovsky. …