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Hi, I'm VOA's Alexis Strope with your worldwide news update.
U.S. President Joe Biden met with China's leader Xi Jinping for the last time Saturday on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Biden talked in broad brushstrokes about where the relationship between the two countries has gone. He reflected not just on the past four years, but on the decades the two have known each other. "We haven't always agreed, but our conversations have always been candid and always been frank. We have never kidded one another. We've been level with one another. And I think that's vital. These conversations prevent miscalculations, and they ensure the competition between our two countries will not veer into conflict." Xi was already looking ahead to President-elect Donald Trump and his "America first" policies, saying Beijing is "ready to work with a new administration." During the meeting, Xi cautioned the U.S. to make the wise choice to keep relations stable. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine must do all it can to ensure the war with Russia ends next year through diplomacy. He said the conflict could end more quickly under Trump's leadership. Reuters correspondent Lucy Fielder has more. With the policy of the team that will head the White House now, he said "the war will end sooner." However, Zelenskyy said Russian President Vladimir Putin was not interested in agreeing to a peace deal. Moscow's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva said on Thursday Russia would be open to negotiations on an end to the war if they were initiated by Trump, though he added that these would have to acknowledge, quote, "realities on the ground." Moscow uses this phrase to mean Ukraine would have to cede four regions that Russian forces have partly occupied and that Russia has claimed in their entirety. Zelenskyy has repeatedly said that peace cannot be established until all Russian forces are expelled and all territory captured by Moscow is returned. That was Reuters correspondent Lucy Fielder. This is VOA News. Protesters in Georgia's Russia-backed breakaway region of Abkhazia declined on Saturday to leave the parliament building which they stormed the previous day, a departure proposed by the region's president as a condition for resigning. Reuters correspondent Olivia Zollino reports. They occupied the building in protest of an investment agreement with Moscow. Abkhazian opposition leaders said the agreement would allow for investment projects by Russian legal entities. They added that it would price locals out of the property market by allowing far more Russian money to flow in. Protesters used a truck to smash through the metal gates surrounding the capital's parliament. Video from the scene then showed people climbing through windows after prying off metal bars and chanting in the corridors. Moscow said on Friday it was following the, quote, "crisis situation" with concern and urged Russian citizens to avoid travel to Abkhazia. That was Reuters correspondent Olivia Zollino. Lebanese state media says Israeli ground forces have reached their deepest point in Lebanon since invading six weeks ago, but they pulled back after battles with Hezbollah militants. Elsewhere in Lebanon, a strike killed a couple and their four children. In Israel, the military says a Hezbollah rocket struck a synagogue and hurt two civilians. The clashes and further bombardment came as Lebanese and Hezbollah officials study a draft proposal presented by the U.S. on ending the war. Lebanon's Health Ministry says 80 percent of the more than 3,400 people killed in Lebanon by Israeli fire have died in the past eight weeks. A knife attack at a vocational school in eastern China leaves at least eight dead. AP correspondent Nayan Kim reports. A 21-year-old male with the surname, Xu, was detained at the scene in Wuxi. Xu had failed his exams and could not graduate, according to police, and was dissatisfied about his pay at an internship. This is the second mass deadly attack in China just this week after a man drove his car into people at a sports center in Zhuhai, killing at least 35. Police said the driver was unhappy with his divorce settlement. China has seen increasing attacks in which members of the public are targeted at random, sparking questions about public violence and mental health in the country. I'm Nayan Kim. Health officials say they have confirmed the first U.S. case of a new form of mpox that was first seen in eastern Congo. Authorities said Saturday the risk to the public is low. The person had traveled to eastern Africa and was treated in California. Officials say the symptoms are improving. Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new form of mpox in Africa that was spread through close contact, including through sex. Most of the cases have been in central and eastern Africa. Cases involving travelers have been reported in Germany, India, Kenya, Sweden, Thailand, Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom. That wraps up this update, but the world and news never stop. For additional updates, visit our website. I'm Alexis Strope, VOA News. |