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Hi, I'm VOA's Alexis Strope with your worldwide news update.
U.S. President Joe Biden met with the leaders of Japan and South Korea on Friday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru. The three sought to cement their diplomatic progress ahead of a new Trump administration that many fear could upend alliances worldwide. Biden sees close ties among the three as a hedge against aggressive steps by China in the region, a view Beijing rejects. "I truly believe cooperation of our countries will be the foundation to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific for many years to come ..." The meeting between Washington and two of its closest Asian allies came as U.S. relations with Beijing are expected to grow more confrontational after Donald Trump's January 20 inauguration, given his promises of sharp tariff hikes on Chinese goods. An Israeli airstrike flattened a building near one of Beirut's busiest traffic junctions on Friday while diplomatic efforts to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah ramp up. Reuters correspondent Angela Johnston reports. On Thursday, the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon handed over a draft cease-fire proposal to Lebanon's parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, two sources told Reuters. Hezbollah has endorsed Berri to negotiate. The group is armed and financed by Iran, and Berri met with senior Iranian official Ali Larijani on Friday. "We are not looking to sabotage anything. We are after a solution to the problems," Larijani said. On the Israeli side, The Washington Post reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is rushing to advance a cease-fire, the aim being to deliver an early foreign policy win to President-elect Donald Trump. He's expected to be strongly pro-Israel. Israel's campaign has forced more than one million people to flee their homes in Lebanon and has ignited a humanitarian crisis. That was Reuters correspondent Angela Johnston. This is VOA News. The Biden administration has some business to complete before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office. AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports. When he addressed the nation after Trump's win, "Let's make every day count." The president noted his administration's achieved a lot, and many of the effects won't be felt for years. "The road ahead is clear, assuming we sustain it." Trump has pledged to undo much of the work, like rescinding unspent funds in Biden's climate and health care law. So the current administration's trying to make sure the money keeps flowing, doling out billions in grants. And on Ukraine, where Trump has criticized Biden's pledge to send more aid. "Every dollar that the Congress gave to him, authorized him to spend, he will spend." National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and the Pentagon note it will take a lot of work to get those billions of dollars in weapons to Ukraine before Trump is sworn in. Sagar Meghani, Washington. Pakistani authorities have declared a health emergency in the country's east due to smog. Smog has choked Punjab for weeks, sickening nearly 2 million people and shrouding vast swaths of the province in a toxic haze. On Friday, a government minister announced measures to combat the growing crisis. They include canceling time off for medical staff, shuttering all education institutions, and shutting down the cities of Lahore and Multan. After weeks of trying to empty and abandon gold mines, South African police are trying to get illegal miners out of a diffused shaft by cutting off supplies. Desperate relatives of the miners gathered there after a minister said the government would "smoke them out." Reuters correspondent Olivia Zollino has more. One decomposed body was brought up on Thursday, police said. And it's unclear whether those remaining were unwilling or unable to get out. In the past few weeks of crackdown, more than 1,000 miners have resurfaced from the shaft, which descends vertically for more than a mile. They'd entered illegally in search of leftover gold. Illegal mining has plagued South Africa for decades through small-time pilfering and organized criminal networks. It costs South Africa's government and industry hundreds of millions of dollars annually in lost sales, taxes and royalties, according to an estimate by a mining industry body. That was Reuters correspondent Olivia Zollino. Mexico's president has lashed out at Moody's ratings service after it downgraded the Mexican government's debt outlook to "negative." Moody's said newly approved laws in Mexico could weaken the judiciary branch and checks and balances. It also mentioned the possibility that the government will have to transfer more money to shore up the highly-indebted state-owned oil company Pemex. President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday that ratings agencies often have this "bias of origin" against her party's economic policies. That wraps up this update, but the world and news never stop. For additional updates, visit our website. I'm Alexa Strope, VOA News. |