Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

Check here each week to keep up with the latest from John MacArthur's pulpit at Grace Community Church.

port louis, mauritius — Mauritius held a parliamentary election Sunday in which Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth and his main rivals all promised to tackle a cost-of-living crisis in the Indian Ocean archipelago. Polls closed at 6 p.m. local time (1400 GMT) and results were expected Monday, according to the country's electoral body. The country of about 1.3 million people markets itself as a link between Africa and Asia, deriving most of its revenues from a flourishing offshore financial sector, tourism and textiles. Mauritius also receives aid from China. It has forecast 6.5% economic growth this year compared with 7.0% last year but many voters are not feeling the benefits. Jugnauth's Alliance Lepep coalition has promised to raise minimum wages, increase pensions and reduce value-added tax on some basic goods. It says it will use payments from the U.K. under an October agreement for Britain to cede the Chagos Islands while retaining the U.S.-U.K. Diego Garcia air base. "The alliance led by the prime minister is selling the economic prosperity card, with promises of more money to different segments of the population," said political analyst Subash Gobine. The opposition has also pledged to increase pensions as well as introduce free transport and internet services and reduce fuel prices. It is dominated by the Alliance du Changement coalition led by Navin Ramgoolam and two other parties running in the Linion Reform alliance, whose leaders, Nando Bodha and Roshi Bhadain, plan to alternate as prime minister if they win. Voters were picking lawmakers for the 62 seats in parliament for the next five years, from a list of 68 parties and five political alliances. Music instructor Ivan Mootooveeren, 41, who cast his ballot at a polling center in the capital, Port Louis, told Reuters he was voting for the opposition because the country needed a new direction. Another voter, David Stafford, 36, said young people would make the difference in the election. He did not say who he was voting for but added that people were looking for economic innovation and job opportunities as much as fiscal changes. Arvin Boolell, deputy leader of the Labour Party, a member of the opposition coalition, told Reuters voter turnout had likely exceeded 75%. The electoral body could not be immediately reached to give an official figure for turnout. Whichever party or coalition gets more than half the seats in parliament also wins the prime minister's post. Earlier this month, Jugnauth's government blocked social media platforms until a day after the election, citing national security concerns after conversations between public figures were leaked. It lifted the ban a day later after opposition parties criticized the move.

PORT LOUIS — Mauritius incumbent prime minister Pravind Jugnauth said on Monday that his political alliance was headed for a huge defeat following Sunday's parliamentary election. "L'Alliance Lepep is heading towards a huge defeat. I have tried to do what I can for the country and the population. The population has decided to choose another team. I wish good luck to the country," Jugnauth told reporters. Voters went to the polls to elect lawmakers for the 62 seats in parliament for the next five years, from a list of 68 parties and five political alliances. Whichever party or coalition gets more than half the seats in parliament also wins the prime minister's post.

Niamey, Niger — Nine members of an armed rebel movement seeking the release of Niger's ousted president surrendered Monday, officials in the north of the military-ruled country said.  The rebel Patriotic Liberation Front (FPL) was set up in August 2023, a month after Niger's democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, was overthrown in a military coup.  Since then, Bazoum has been imprisoned with his wife, Hadiza, at the presidential palace in Niamey.  An official from Agadez governorate told AFP, "Nine FPL fighters repented and handed over their weapons and ammunition on Monday during a ceremony in the presence of General Ibra Boulama," who is the governor of the region. FPL members began surrendering at the start of the month after discreet negotiations by "influential local personalities," the Air-Info media outlet reported.  On November 1, FPL spokesman Idrissa Madaki and three other members turned themselves in separately in two towns near the Libyan border, according to Niger's army and national television.  Last week, FPL leader Mahmoud Sallah was "provisionally stripped" of his nationality as were seven members of the Bazoum regime who were suspected of "terrorist bomb attacks."  Sallah had claimed responsibility for attacking the army in the north and disabling part of a crucial pipeline carrying crude oil to Benin in June. He had also threatened to attack strategic sites.  Another rebel movement also demanding Bazoum's release, the Patriotic Front for Justice (FPJ), has held since June the military prefect of northeastern Bilma and four of his security team, who were kidnapped after an ambush.  Authorities in Niger, which is also battling attacks by jihadist groups, have stepped up security in recent weeks, with military patrols, checks and searches of vehicles.

Nigeria has recorded 1,035 confirmed cases of Lassa fever out of 8,569 suspected cases, and 174 deaths in 28 states across 129 local government areas as of October 13, 2024. The country also recorded 380 confirmed cases of Cerebrospinal Meningitis out of 4,915 suspected cases and 361 deaths in 24 states across 174 LGAs in

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A soldier for Yemen's exiled government opened fire on Saudi troops as they exercised in eastern Yemen, killing two of them and wounding another in a rare insider attack during the kingdom's nearly decadelong war there, officials said Saturday. The assault in eastern Hadramawt province comes as a yearslong cease-fire between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthi rebels largely has held despite the militants' ongoing attacks against shipping in the Red Sea corridor. While the Houthis did not claim the attack, at least one Houthi official praised it as being "the beginning and an indication of a harsh future awaiting the invaders." Meanwhile, U.S. warplanes carried out new strikes targeting Houthi positions that lasted into early Sunday morning, the American military said. The strikes come after the militants likely shot down yet-another American reconnaissance drone over the country. The attack on the Saudi troops took place Friday night in Seiyun, a city some 500 kilometers east of Sanaa. As troops worked out at a Saudi-led base there, the soldier opened fire, killing an officer and a noncommissioned officer, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said, citing a military statement. "The Joint Forces Command underscores that this 'Lone Wolf' cowardly attack does not represent the honorable members of the Yemeni Ministry of Defense," the statement added. The dead and the other wounded Saudi solider have been brought back to the kingdom, it added. Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the leader of Yemen's successionist Southern Transitional Council, identified the soldier who carried out the attack as belonging to the First Military Region, which is based out of Seiyun. Police in the area published pictures of the soldier, saying there was a 30-million-Yemeni-rial reward for information leading to the soldier's arrest. That's worth around $15,000 on the black market. Authorities offered no motive for the attack. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the militant group's Yemen branch, long has operated around Hadramawt. However, the group did not immediately claim the attack. A recent United Nations expert report has said that the al-Qaida group and the Houthis have begun to "coordinate operations directly with each other." The Houthis meanwhile did not claim the attack either. However, Houthi official Hamid Rizq praised the attack in a message on the social platform X, claiming it came from "the feeling of oppression" over Saudi troops being stationed in the area. "The heroic operation is the beginning and an indication of a harsh future awaiting the invaders," Rizq wrote. Yemen has been mired in a decadelong war since the Houthis swept into Sanaa from their northern strongholds in September 2014. A Saudi-led coalition entered the war on behalf of Yemen's exiled government in 2015. The war further internationalized, with Iran backing the Houthis with weapons and support that cemented the conflict into a yearslong stalemate. The war has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more. A cease-fire that expired in October 2022 largely has held in the time since, however, even as the Houthis have seized on the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and Israel's invasion of Lebanon. On Saturday night, Houthi-run media reported U.S. airstrikes targeting areas around Sanaa. The airstrikes continued into Sunday morning and also included sites in Amran province just outside of the capital, the Houthis said. The rebels offered no immediate damage assessment from the strikes. The U.S. military later told The Associated Press on Sunday it conducted airstrikes "on numerous Iran-backed Houthi weapons storage facilities within Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen." It described the sites as housing advanced conventional weapons used to target military and civilian ships in the Red Sea corridor but offered no other immediate details. The U.S. military has targeted radar stations, military bases and drone and missile launch sites since beginning its ongoing airstrike campaign against the Houthis in January. 

BAKU, Azerbaijan — The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said Tuesday he's hopeful that meetings this week with Iranian officials, including the country's new president, can lead to a breakthrough in monitoring the country's nuclear program, a longstanding issue that has gained new urgency as Israel has twice struck Iran amid rising tensions in the Middle East. Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, will travel to Iran on Wednesday to meet for the first time with President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was elected in July. Grossi said he hopes to build on positive discussions he had with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during the U.N. General Assembly in September. "We have a problem that we need to solve," Grossi said in an interview at the U.N. climate conference in Azerbaijan. "That is this gap, this lack of confidence, which we should not allow to grow into a self-fulfilling prophecy of using nuclear facilities as targets." He added: "There has been a bit of a dire straits dynamic with Iran that we want to go beyond." Iran is rapidly advancing its atomic program while increasing stockpiles of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, all in defiance of international demands, according to the IAEA. Iran says its program is for energy purposes, not to build weapons. Grossi's visit comes as Israel and Iran have traded missile attacks in recent months after more than a year of war in Gaza, which is governed by Hamas, a group supported by Iran. Grossi noted that international law prohibits the attack of nuclear facilities and "it's obvious that is something that can have radiological consequences." The Biden administration said last month that it had won assurances from Israel that it would not attack nuclear or oil sites. A 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers put limits on Iran's nuclear program, which the West fears could be used to make nuclear weapons. The deal included the lifting of economic sanctions on Iran. But that deal collapsed after Donald Trump's administration in 2018 pulled the United States from it. That led Iran to abandon all limits put on its program and enrich uranium to up to 60% purity. When asked if the IAEA feared Iran may be developing a bomb, Grossi said he didn't "have any information that would sustain that." He added that inspectors' job was not to "judge intentions," but rather verify that what Iran says about its nuclear program was true. Trump's reelection last week raises questions about whether and how the incoming administration and Iran may engage. Grossi said he had worked with the first Trump administration, which he said engaged in "seamless, professional work," and looked forward to looking with Trump's second administration. "Circumstances have changed in that the problem has grown bigger than it was," said Grossi. "The problem of not finding a solution."

"He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Heb. 11:6).

All who come to God in faith will receive the reward of eternal life.

We've seen that without faith it's impossible to please God. And the first step in faith is believing that God exists. In addition, we must also believe that He answers our prayers—more specifically, that He redeems those who come to Him in faith.

Scripture repeatedly tells us that God not only can be found, but also desires to be found. David said to his son Solomon, "If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever" (1 Chron. 28:9). The Lord says in Jeremiah 29:13, "You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." Jesus said, "Everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened" (Luke 11:10).

At first glance those verses may seem to contradict Paul's teaching that "there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside" (Rom. 3:11-12), and Jesus' statement that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws him (John 6:44). But really they're two sides of the same theological coin.

On one side you see man believing God and receiving Christ for salvation. On the other you see God enabling man to do so. Prior to salvation, a person is spiritually dead and utterly incapable of responding to the gospel. God must grant him or her saving faith. That's why the Bible contains statements like, "To you it has been granted for Christ's sake . . . to believe in Him" (Phil. 1:29); "As many as had been appointed to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48); and "The Lord opened [Lydia's] heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul" (Acts 16:14).

God is the Great Rewarder, extending His love and grace to all who call upon Him. "Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed" (Rom. 10:11).

Suggestions for Prayer

If you've been praying for someone's salvation, don't become discouraged. Only God can grant saving faith, but He gives us the privilege of participating in His redemptive work through faithful prayer and evangelism (Rom 10:1).

For Further Study

Memorize Ephesians 2:8-9.

From Drawing Near by John MacArthur Copyright © 1993. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.

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BEIJING — Police in central China imposed traffic curbs at the weekend to halt a viral craze in which thousands of university students borrowed shared bikes to ride overnight to the city of Kaifeng in search of breakfast. The "Night Riding Army," as some participants described it, clogged a highway on Friday, pictures posted on social media showed, a surge in turnout for a rolling flash mob that had been gathering riders for months. "Last night's 'Night Riding Army' was spectacular!" one rider posted. "Two lanes were opened, but that simply was not enough: The cycling army accounted for four!" The event was part of a trend of young Chinese traveling on the cheap - "like special forces" - and spending as little as possible at a time of scarce job prospects, when wages are under pressure. The riders traveled on a straight road more than 60 km (37 miles) long beside the Yellow River that links Zhengzhou, the largest city in Henan province, with Kaifeng, an ancient capital famed for its soup dumplings. The trend was set off in June, Chinese media said, after four women college students chronicled their ride on social media to eat dumplings in the morning. "The Night Ride to Kaifeng: Youth is priceless, enjoy it in time," was the hashtag on social media for the ride, which state broadcaster CMG said tens of thousands of students had completed by the weekend. Key to its success was a glut of shared bikes, which can be rented for as little as $1.95 a month. Pictures posted by riders showed thousands of the bikes had overrun downtown Kaifeng by Saturday. In addition to the traffic controls, the largest bike-sharing platforms, Hellobike, DiDi Bike, and Mobile, said their vehicles would lock down if ridden out of a designated zone, while media told the students to grow up. "Youthful freedom does not mean following the trend and indulging oneself," one news outlet admonished in a comment. "Kaifeng is worth arriving slowly and savoring carefully," read the headline of another. Chinese authorities have cracked down on other spontaneous gatherings. Last month, police turned out in force in the commercial hub of Shanghai to deter a repeat of 2023 Halloween celebrations in which some revelers wore costumes poking fun at issues such as the stock market, youth unemployment and tough COVID-19 curbs.

HONG KONG — Merchants and consumers alike found the Singles' Day shopping festival Monday less shiny than in years past as e-commerce firms look abroad for growth. The annual event named by the numeric form of its Nov. 11 date was started by e-commerce platform Alibaba, which offered attractive discounts to entice shoppers to spend big. The extravaganza has since expanded to other platforms like JD.com and Pinduoduo in China as well as abroad. While Singles’ Day was previously a one-day event, shopping platforms in China now kickstart the festival weeks ahead to drum up sales volume. The festival has also traditionally been regarded as a barometer of consumer sentiment. But amid China’s lagging domestic economy, dragged down by a real estate crisis and deflationary pressures, consumers no longer go all out on purchases during the shopping extravaganza. “I only spent a few hundred yuan on daily necessities,” said Wang Haihua, who owns a fitness center in Beijing. Wang said that the prices offered on e-commerce platforms during Singles’ Day are not necessarily cheaper than usual. “They’re all tricks and we’ve seen through it over the years,” she said. Zhang Jiewei, a 34-year-old who runs a barber shop in Xi’an city, echoed Wang’s sentiments, saying that he no longer trust Singles’ Day promotions as some merchants tend to raise the usual price of a product before offering a discount, giving consumers the illusion they are getting a deal. “I used to buy a lot two or three years ago and I even purchased a mobile phone (during Singles’ Day),” he said. “I stopped doing that following the pandemic because of less income. I am not going to buy anything this year,” Zhang added. Some experts say that Beijing’s recent stimulus measures have had little impact to boost consumer confidence. “People are not interested in spending and are cutting back on big-ticket items,” said Shaun Rein, founder and managing director of China Market Research Group in Shanghai. “Since October 2022, the weak economy means that everything has been on discount year-round, 11.11 is not going to bring in more discounts that the month before.” Rein said he expects low growth for the Singles’ Day shopping festival as consumers tighten their spending in anticipation of difficult economic times ahead. Categories such as sportswear and fitness, however, have been doing well as customers “trade down a Gucci bag for Lululemon sportswear,” he said. Platforms like JD.com and Alibaba, which operates e-commerce platforms Taobao and Tmall, previously used to publish the value of transactions made during the festival, but have since stopped revealing the total figure. While yearly growth used to be in the double digits, estimates of recent figures have dwindled to low single-digit growth. Syntun, a data provider, estimated that last year’s gross merchandising volume sales across major e-commerce platforms grew just 2% to $156.40 billion, a far cry from double-digit growth before COVID-19. Merchants who typically take part in the Singles’ Day shopping festivals say the costs of participation no longer pay off, amid high advertising fees and unsatisfactory sales. Zhao Gao, who owns a garment factory in eastern Zhejiang province, said that after paying advertising costs to e-commerce platforms he would only break even after sales. “The platforms have so many rules for promotions and customers have become more skeptical,” he said. “As a merchant, I no longer participate in the Singles’ Day promotions.” Another merchant, Du Baonian who runs a food company processing mutton in Inner Mongolia, said that overall sales in the past year have fallen 15% as consumers downgraded and reduced consumption. Du said that while he still takes part in the Singles’ Day promotions, the higher expenses do not typically generate returns because of sluggish sales. “We are seeing shrinking revenue, but advertisement on the platform can help us to maintain our leading sales position,” he said, adding that he was considering advertising on more e-commerce platforms to target more consumers. Meanwhile, e-commerce platforms grappling with a slowing domestic market have also turned to overseas markets to seek new growth, offering promotions like global free shipping and allowing merchants to sell globally with ease. Alibaba, for example, said in a blog post on its Alizila site that some 70,000 merchants saw sales double with global free shipping. In markets like Singapore and Hong Kong, new customers also doubled, Alibaba said.

wellington, new zealand — New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made a “formal and unreserved” apology in Parliament on Tuesday for the widespread abuse, torture and neglect of hundreds of thousands of children and vulnerable adults in care. “It was horrific. It was heartbreaking. It was wrong. And it should never have happened,” Luxon said, as he spoke to lawmakers and a public gallery packed with survivors of the abuse. An estimated 200,000 people in state, foster and faith-based care suffered “unimaginable” abuse over a period of seven decades, a blistering report released in July said at the end of the largest inquiry ever undertaken in New Zealand. They were disproportionately Māori, New Zealand’s Indigenous people. “For many of you it changed the course of your life, and for that, the government must take responsibility,” Luxon said. He said he was apologizing for previous governments too. In foster and church care — as well as in state-run institutions, including hospitals and residential schools — vulnerable people “should have been safe and treated with respect, dignity and compassion," he added. “But instead, you were subjected to horrific abuse and neglect and, in some cases, torture.” The findings of the six-year investigation believed to be the widest-ranging of comparable probes worldwide were a “national disgrace,” the inquiry's report said. New Zealand's investigation followed two decades of such inquiries around the globe as nations struggle to reckon with authorities’ transgressions against children removed from their families and placed in care. Of 650,000 children and vulnerable adults in New Zealand's state, foster, and church care between 1950 and 2019 — in a country that today has a population of 5 million — nearly a third endured physical, sexual, verbal or psychological abuse. Many more were exploited or neglected. “We will never know that true number,” Chris Hipkins, the leader of the opposition, told Parliament. “Many people entering into state and faith-based institutions were undocumented. Records were incomplete, they've gone missing, and in some cases, yes, they were deliberately destroyed.” In response to the findings, New Zealand’s government agreed for the first time that historical treatment of some children in a notorious state-run hospital amounted to torture — a claim successive administrations had rejected. “I am deeply sorry that New Zealand did not do better by you. I am sorry you were not believed when you came forward to report your abuse,” Luxon said. “I am sorry that many abusers were not made to face justice which meant that other people experienced abuse that could have been prevented.” His government was working on 28 of the inquiry's 138 recommendations, Luxon said, although he did not yet have concrete details on financial redress, which the inquiry had exhorted since 2021 and said could run to billions of dollars. Luxon was decried by some survivors and advocates earlier Tuesday for not divulging compensation plans alongside the apology. He told Parliament a single redress system would be established in 2025. He did not, however, suggest a figure for the amount the government expected to pay. “There will be a big bill, but it's nothing compared to the debt we owe those survivors and it must not be the reason for any further delay,” said Hipkins, the opposition leader. Survivors began to arrive at Parliament hours before the apology, having won spots in the public gallery — which only seats about 200 people — by ballot. Some were reluctant to accept the state's words, because they said the scale of the horror was not yet fully understood by lawmakers and public servants. Jeering was so loud during an apology from the country's solicitor-general that her speech was inaudible. Others called out or left the room in tears while senior public servants from relevant health and welfare agencies spoke before Luxon's remarks. Survivors invited to give speeches were required to do so before Luxon's apology — rather than in response to it, said Tu Chapman, one of those asked to speak. “Right now I feel alone and in utter despair at the way in which this government has undertaken the task of acknowledging all survivors,” she told a crowd at Parliament. The abuse "ripped families and communities apart, trapping many into a life of prison, incarceration, leaving many uneducated,” said Keith Wiffin — a survivor of abuse in a notorious state-run boys' home. “It has tarred our international reputation as an upholder of human rights, something this nation likes to dine out on.” The inquiry's recommendations included seeking apologies from state and church leaders, among them Pope Francis. It also endorsed creating offices to prosecute abusers and enact redress, renaming streets and monuments dedicated to abusers, reforming civil and criminal law, rewriting the child welfare system and searching for unmarked graves at psychiatric facilities. Its writers were scathing about how widely the abuse — and the identities of many abusers — were known about for years, with nothing done to stop it. “This has meant you have had to re-live your trauma over and over again,” said Luxon. “Agencies should have done better and must commit to doing so in the future.” He did not concede that public servants or ministers in his government who had denied state abuse was widespread when they served in previous administrations should lose their jobs. Luxon has also rejected suggestions by survivors that policies he has enacted which disproportionately target Māori — such as crackdowns on gangs and the establishment of military-style boot camps for young offenders — undermine his government's regret about the abuse. Māori are over-represented in prisons and gangs. In 2023, 68% of children in state care were Māori, although they are less than 20% of New Zealand's population. “It's not enough to say sorry,” said Fa’afete Taito, a survivor of violent abuse at another state-run home, and a former gang member. “It's what you do to heal the wounds of your actions and make sure it never happens again that really counts.”

Zhuhai, China — Stealth fighter jets and attack drones took center stage as China's largest air show officially opened on Tuesday, an opportunity for Beijing to showcase its growing military might to potential customers and rivals alike. China has poured resources into modernizing and expanding its aviation capabilities as it faces off against the United States and others around regional flashpoints like Taiwan. Record numbers of Chinese warplanes have been sent around the self-ruled democratic island, which Beijing claims as its territory, over the past few years. The star of Airshow China, which showcases Beijing's civil and military aerospace sector every two years in the southern city of Zhuhai, is the new J-35A stealth fighter jet. Its inclusion in the airshow suggests it is nearly ready to enter operation, which would make China the only country other than the United States to have two stealth fighters in action, experts said. The J-35A is lighter than China's existing model, the J20, and looks more similar in design to a US F-35. A group of J20s performed a display flight on Tuesday morning, flying in a diamond formation across a grey sky. State news agency Xinhua quoted military expert Wang Mingzhi as saying the combination of the two models greatly enhances the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF)'s "ability to conduct offensive operations in high-threat and contested environments." Attack drones The airshow will feature a dedicated drone zone for the first time, reflecting their increased prominence in warzones, including Ukraine. The SS-UAV -- a massive mothership that can rapidly release swarms of smaller drones for intelligence gathering, as well as strikes -- will be on display in Zhuhai, according to the South China Morning Post. In October the United States unveiled sanctions targeting China-based companies linked to the production of drones that Russia has deployed in Ukraine. Moscow and Beijing have deepened military and defense ties since Russia's invasion of its neighbor three years ago, and the secretary of its Security Council, Sergei Shoigu, is due to visit Zhuhai. This year the show's focus is squarely on the military sector, as it coincides with the 75th anniversary of the PLAAF, but China's burgeoning space industry will also be showcasing developments. A model of a homegrown reusable space cargo shuttle will debut at the show, Xinhua reported on Monday. Named Haoloong, the shuttle is designed to be launched on a commercial rocket, and then dock with China's space station Tiangong. "It can re-enter the atmosphere, fly and land horizontally at a designated airport, allowing for recovery and reuse," Xinhua said. Beijing has poured huge resources into its space program over the past decade in an effort to catch up to traditional space powers the United States and Russia.

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, battered in parliamentary elections last month, has survived a rare runoff vote against the opposition to remain the country's leader but he still faces turmoil ahead. One of his top priorities is dealing with the aftermath of a major corruption scandal in the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party, in which dozens of lawmakers from the party are alleged to have pocketed profits from event ticket sales as kickbacks. Ishiba also now has a much-emboldened, opposition eager to push through policies long stymied by the LDP. Support ratings for his Cabinet have fallen to about 30%. Here is a look at what's happening in Japan's tumultuous politics, and what it might mean for Ishiba and his government as they prepare to navigate a second term of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Why did the vote in parliament take place? A parliamentary vote for a new leader is mandatory within 30 days of a general election. In the past that was mostly ignored as the head of the LDP usually enjoyed a majority in the Lower House, the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber parliament. This time, though, because Ishiba's LDP and its junior coalition partner lost its majority in the recent election, the runoff on Monday couldn't be avoided — the first in 30 years. What's next for the prime minister? Opposition's top leader, Yoshihiko Noda, has noted that nearly half of all lower house steering committees are now headed by the opposition. That’s a huge change from the pre-election domination of the LDP, which controlled all but three of the 27 committees. “We are going to have a new landscape in Japanese politics,” Noda said. Twelve of the committees in key areas, including budget, political reforms, national security and legal affairs, will be headed by Noda’s Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and two other main opposition groups. What's certain is that the era of LDP’s one-sided rule is over, for now, and the opposition has a chance to achieve policies long opposed by the ruling conservatives, including on issues like gender equality and diversity. Noda last Friday said a legal committee that is now headed by his party’s gender equality chief, Chinami Nishimura, is aiming to achieve a civil code revision to allow married couples the option of keeping separate surnames. That change has been stalled by LDP conservatives for 30 years despite widespread support by the public and a United Nations panel on discrimination against women. Who is the opposition kingmaker? Yuichiro Tamaki is head of the conservative Democratic Party for the People, which quadrupled its seats to 28 in the election. The vote elevated his party from a fringe group to a major player. He is now being cast as a potential key to Ishiba’s survival. A Harvard-educated former Finance Ministry bureaucrat, the 55-year-old Tamaki has seen success by pushing for the raising of a basic tax-free income allowance and an increase of take-home wages. His messages on social media have appealed to younger voters, who have long been ignored by LDP policies catering to conservative elderly. Ishiba apparently seems to find Tamaki’s 28-member DPP an attractive partner to secure a majority. The two parties, which have common ground in some areas — including support for greater nuclear energy use and a stronger military — have started policy talks. Ishiba met with both Tamaki and Noda on Monday but Tamaki may be cautious about moving too close to a scandal-plagued LDP ahead of another election next year. Noda is struggling to form a unified opposition to force a change of government, which he says is his next goal. What does this mean for Ishiba's government? For Ishiba, the “hung parliament” requires him to win over opposition forces so he can push his policies. While considered unstable, it might also provide a chance for a more consensus-based policy making process, experts say. “I’m taking the current situation positively as a chance to get our opposition voice heard more carefully,” Tamaki said. Ishiba also faces challenges of restoring unity in his own party. A number of senior LDP lawmakers are waiting to overthrow Ishiba, though their priority is to resolidify their footholds, not infighting — and nobody is eager to do damage control at this difficult time anyway. “The [Ishiba] administration is quite unstable. ... He will have to get opposition parties' cooperation every time he wants to get a bill approved, which could stall policies,” said University of Tokyo political science professor Yu Uchiyama. And even if Ishiba survives politically in the coming months, there could be a call for his replacement ahead of next elections. “Japan is likely to return to a period of short-lived government,” Uchiyama said. How does this affect Japan's diplomacy, security and ties with Trump? Ishiba congratulated Trump hours after his victory and in a brief telephone conversation, they agreed to closely work together to further elevate their alliance. While experts say Trump understands the importance of U.S.-Japan relations, he may — as he did in his first administration — pressure Japan to pay more for the cost of 50,000 U.S. troops in Japan or to buy more expensive American weapons. Trump's possible tariff proposals could also hurt Japanese exporters. Ishiba on Saturday renewed his pledge to pursue an ongoing military buildup plan under a strategy that calls for a counter-strike capability with long-range cruise-missiles. He has long advocated a more equal Japan-U.S. security alliance but could face difficulty pursuing those plans. ‘’It will be a fantastic experiment to see if a national unity government can get Japan through until the next election,” said Michael Cucek, an expert in Japanese politics at Temple University in Japan.  

Washington — Following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, leaders in the Uyghur American community are advocating for renewed U.S. attention on human rights abuses in Xinjiang in northwest China, where Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities have reportedly faced severe repression. Advocates urge Trump to continue his administration’s previous measures against China, citing the impact of his first-term policies on Uyghur rights. During Trump’s first term, his administration formally labeled China’s actions in Xinjiang as genocide, leading to sanctions on Chinese officials and entities connected with alleged abuses, including mass detentions, forced labor and sterilizations. China has consistently denied accusations of abuses against ethnic minorities, asserting its policies aim to combat extremism and terrorism. Nury Turkel, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, pointed to the bipartisan support for Uyghur rights, underscoring that these concerns resonate across both U.S. legislative and executive branches. “[Uyghur rights] concerns extend beyond typical human rights issues. They have profound national security implications tied to America’s long-term economic and strategic security,” Turkel told VOA. Turkel expressed cautious optimism that Trump’s new administration will build on its previous actions, referencing the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act and the genocide designation. “I am optimistic that the incoming administration will take concrete steps to address these urgent concerns affecting Uyghurs, as it had previously,” he said. VOA contacted the Trump campaign for a comment regarding the new administration’s plans for Uyghur rights in China but did not receive a response at the time of publication. Renewed calls for action Uyghur American leaders plan to press Trump’s administration to bolster sanctions on Chinese officials and entities involved in abuses against Uyghurs, with the hope of strengthening the U.S. response. “I anticipate that the Trump administration will impose additional sanctions on Chinese officials and entities responsible for atrocity crimes against the Uyghurs, potentially strengthening U.S. efforts to confront these abuses,” Turkel added. Rushan Abbas, executive director of the Washington-based Campaign for Uyghurs, emphasized the need for strict enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act of 2021. “Uyghurs are enduring a genocide, and Americans should know that addressing the genocide of Uyghurs is not just a foreign policy matter; it’s about preventing the U.S. from becoming complicit through the consumption of Chinese products tainted by forced labor,” Abbas told VOA. “[I]t’s about stopping China from using Americans’ hard-earned money to fuel their imperial ambitions and undermine the United States, and rejecting foreign intimidation on U.S. soil.” Salih Hudayar, prime minister of the Washington-based East Turkistan Government in Exile, echoed these sentiments, urging the Trump administration to formally recognize the region — referred to as Xinjiang by China but called East Turkistan by many Uyghurs —as an occupied nation. “An independent East Turkistan would directly challenge China’s ambitions for dominance across Central Asia and the Indo-Pacific, safeguarding American and broader global interests,” Hudayar told VOA. He suggested appointing a special coordinator for Uyghur issues to demonstrate U.S. support for Uyghur rights and those of other minorities in the region. Current policy challenges Despite calls for stronger actions, Uyghur American advocates remain concerned that economic and strategic interests with China may take precedence. Turkel highlighted that various advocacy groups have influenced the U.S. response to Uyghur issues in recent years. “Climate activists have lobbied for closer cooperation with China on environmental initiatives; pro-engagement China watchers have advocated a softer, more conciliatory approach to 'lower the temperature' in U.S.-China relations; and business interests have warned of the economic risks of escalating tensions, pushing for policies that protect U.S.-China trade relations,” he said. “These pressures have contributed to a more nuanced stance and a quieter approach to human rights and Uyghur-related policies.” Turkel added, “While steps like the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act were commendable [during the Biden administration], the focus on Uyghur rights has often been eclipsed by broader geopolitical priorities,” pointing to how shifting U.S. economic priorities have impacted the response. Addressing transnational repression In addition to actions on Uyghur rights, Uyghur American leaders are urging the Trump administration to address transnational repression by China, specifically targeting covert operations that intimidate Uyghur Americans on U.S. soil. “The administration should take immediate steps to multiply the efforts to counter transnational repression by Chinese authorities, particularly targeting the presence of covert Chinese police stations and agents who monitor and intimidate Uyghur Americans and China dissidents in the U.S.,” Abbas said. Abbas noted Trump’s efforts in securing hostage releases in his first term, urging him to prioritize Uyghur detainees held in China. “China continues to detain Uyghur [American] family members and community leaders as a tactic to silence Uyghurs abroad … with many forced to self-censor to protect their families,” she said, advocating for strong U.S. efforts to secure their release and end repression tactics targeting Uyghurs in the diaspora.

white house — President Joe Biden and President Prabowo Subianto met Tuesday at the White House, marking the 75th anniversary of U.S.-Indonesia relations, part of a multination visit by the newly inaugurated leader of Southeast Asia's largest economy. "I will work very hard to strengthen Indonesia and United States relationship," said Prabowo, who goes by his first name. Biden said he looks forward to deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the highest level among nontreaty allies, which the two countries signed in 2023. "That includes deepening our security cooperation," he said before their meeting. In brief remarks to the press, Biden twice raised an issue of concern for Washington: freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. He said he wanted to strengthen the U.S. partnership with Indonesia, "by advancing [a] free and open Indo-Pacific." "We'll discuss, also, global challenges, including in Gaza and the South China Sea," he said. China's nine-dash line The White House meeting came days after Prabowo's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, where Indonesia and China signed a series of agreements valued at about $10 billion and focusing on infrastructure, green energy, digital technology and agriculture. "In the present situation, geopolitical and geoeconomic, Indonesia and China have become very close partners in many, many fields," Prabowo said. One of the deals is to jointly develop fisheries, and oil and gas exploration in waters around Indonesia's Natuna Islands where China's "nine-dash line" marking its expansive claims in the South China Sea overlaps with Indonesia's Exclusive Economic Zone. Critics say the agreement risks implicitly validating China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, which, according to the United Nations, has no basis in international law. VOA asked the White House whether Biden was specifically referring to this deal in his meeting with Prabowo. "We continue to encourage Indonesia to work with their legal experts to make sure any agreement they make with the PRC [People's Republic of China] is in accordance with international law, especially the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea," said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Beijing claims the major shipping route almost entirely, infringing into the EEZs of Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines. All but Indonesia formally dispute the Chinese claim while Taiwan makes a claim to the sea similar to Beijing's. "It's a big deal for Indonesia," as a non-claimant country in the South China Sea dispute that supports the concept of a "free and open Indo-Pacific," said Klaus Heinrich Raditio, author on South China Sea issues and lecturer at Indonesia's Driyarkara School of Philosophy. "People will question our position," he told VOA. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry clarified Sunday that it remains firm in rejecting China's nine-dash line. Beijing's claim, Jakarta said, "does not comply" with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and "therefore has no bearing" on Indonesia's sovereignty and jurisdiction over the North Natuna Sea. Jakarta's agreement with Beijing highlights a "new phase of building the China-Indonesia community with a shared future," according to the joint statement. This reference supports "China's vision of a new global order that is anti-Western hegemony," Raditio said. It's unclear whether this language was an intentional signaling of a geopolitical shift or merely an overlook from a new administration eager to bolster ties with great powers. The Indonesian Embassy in Washington has not responded to VOA's queries. "Most likely, it is a bureaucratic mistake," Raditio said. "We put too much attention on economic cooperation. How many investments that we can attract from China? We kind of sideline other important issues." Prabowo's outreach to Trump Just as important to Jakarta as the White House meeting is Prabowo's outreach to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Jakarta is gearing up for Trump's new administration that begins in January. "Wherever you are, I'm willing to fly to congratulate you personally, sir," Prabowo said in a call to Trump that was posted Monday on his social media. The Trump team has not responded to VOA's queries on the conversation. U.S. foreign policy under Trump "may become more transactional and more focused on elements related to U.S.-China, competition," said Andreyka Natalegawa, associate fellow for the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The downside risk of this as it relates to Southeast Asian countries, is that it may limit some of the decision-making space they have in their diplomatic affairs," Natalegawa said. Prabowo has voiced ambitions to raise Indonesia's international profile and has made early foreign policy moves, including a surprise decision to join Southeast Asia's largest economy to the BRICS bloc. BRICS, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is a growing group of emerging economies seen as a counterweight to the West. In October, BRICS added Indonesia as one of the group's 13 new "partner countries." The move could be a shift away from the position taken by Prabowo's predecessor, Joko Widodo, who took in massive amounts of infrastructure investments from Beijing but remained mostly nonaligned geopolitically. The White House visit marks a milestone for Prabowo, who was barred from entering the U.S. under the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations over his role in abducting activists of the 1998 "Reformasi" movement that ousted President Suharto, Prabowo's then father-in-law. The Trump administration lifted the visa ban for then-Defense Minister Prabowo, for his visit in 2020.

Witness reports and Iran’s systematic use of punitive psychiatry to undermine dissent contradict government claims that the woman had a mental health crisis and was not protesting enforcement of the country’s mandatory dress code.

Not less than 13 persons have reportedly died after a mining site collapsed in Bassa local government area of Plateau State. Chairman of the local government, Joshua Riti, who confirmed ths incident, said it occurred on November 10. He added that seven of the deceased hail from Bassa LGA, NAN reports. “This is an unfortunate […]

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warsaw, poland — Polish President Andrzej Duda marked Independence Day on Monday with a call for sustained U.S. commitment to Europe's security in view of Russian aggression in the region and argued that Ukraine's pre-2014 borders should be restored. Weighing on the minds of many is the war across Poland's border in Ukraine, and an expectation that Donald Trump's return to the White House will bring a change in the security situation in the region. Some fear Trump could end the U.S. commitment to NATO or make a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin that could result in a permanent loss of territory for Ukraine and encourage Russia to attack other nations. Others believe Trump could persuade Putin to stop the fighting. Duda, who has had friendly relations with Trump, said in a speech in Warsaw that Europe will continue to need U.S. protection. “It is a pipe dream — as some people think — that Europe can ensure its own security today,” Duda said. He emphasized that the security guarantees of successive U.S. presidents are extremely important in times of resurgent Russian imperialism. “Today we have no doubts that for the security of Europe and the world, it is necessary to strengthen Euro-Atlantic ties,” Duda said. He said the territorial integrity of all countries, especially Ukraine, should be respected and it “must return to its borders from before the Russian attack, not only the one in 2022 but also the first one, in 2014." Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Later in a news conference, Duda said he had spoken to Trump and that they would meet before the inauguration in January. Duda spoke as Poland marked the 106th anniversary of its restored independence at the end of World War I after more than a century of being partitioned and ruled by Russia, Germany and Austro-Hungary. The date of Nov. 11 carries powerful weight for a nation where the trauma of losing national sovereignty endures. In Warsaw, tens of thousands of people took part in a march organized by nationalist groups that has sometimes seen violent clashes in past years but passed without major incident Monday. Organizers estimated turnout at 250,000 while city hall put it at 90,000. Police said they detained 75 people and seized banned items from participants, including pyrotechnic materials, knives, telescopic batons and brass knuckles. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the conservative Law and Justice party, which governed Poland from 2015-2023 and is seeking a comeback, joined the march with other party members.

CATARROJA, Spain — Thousands of students in Spain's eastern Valencia region returned to classes on Monday, two weeks after floods killed over 200 people and devastated towns in the area. Controversy over the regional government's handling of the floods still rages, and a teachers' union accused it of exaggerating the number returning and leaving the clean-up to teachers and pupils. Twenty-three people remain missing in the Valencia region after heavy rains caused rivers to overflow, sending tides of muddy water through densely populated city suburbs, drowning people in cars and underground car parks, and collapsing homes. A total of 47 schools in 14 affected municipalities reopened to more than 22,000 children on Monday, the region's education department said. Last week, it said it expected around 70% of students in the worst-affected areas to return this week. "The schools that have opened their doors today have followed cleaning and disinfection protocols to ensure maximum safety for students, teachers and staff," it added. But the regional teachers' union STEPV said it believed that the numbers returning on Monday were lower, without providing an alternative figure. Spokesperson Marc Candela said many schools were not ready to resume lessons, adding: "Teachers and parents are cleaning the schools with their own materials such as brooms." Educators wanted professional cleaning crews to sanitize facilities, as was done during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. Parents are also worried about their children's emotional states, said Ruben Pacheco, head of the regional federation of parents' associations, FAMPA: "Families are exhausted, suffering psychologically, and nothing should be decided without consulting them so as not to generate more discomfort than they've already suffered." Candela said the department had held an online course for teachers last week with recommendations for psychological care, but had not dispatched additional counselors. Carolina Marti, head teacher at a school in Castellar-Oliveral, said it had received 60 children from neighboring towns, while five teachers were on medical leave. She said children and teachers were struggling to reach the school as many roads remained impassable.

LONDON — British writer Samantha Harvey won the Booker Prize for fiction on Tuesday with "Orbital," a short, wonder-filled novel set aboard the International Space Station that ponders the beauty and fragility of the Earth. Harvey was awarded the 50,000-pound ($64,000) prize for what she has called a "space pastoral" about six orbiting astronauts, which she began writing during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The confined characters loop through 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets over the course of a day, trapped in one another's company and transfixed by the globe's ever-changing vistas. "To look at the Earth from space is like a child looking into a mirror and realizing for the first time that the person in the mirror is herself," said Harvey, who researched her novel by reading books by astronauts and watching the space station's live camera. "What we do to the Earth we do to ourselves." She said the novel "is not exactly about climate change, but implied in the view of the Earth is the fact of human-made climate change." She dedicated the prize to everyone who speaks "for and not against the Earth, for and not against the dignity of other humans, other life." "All the people who speak for and call for and work for peace — this is for you," she said. Writer and artist Edmund de Waal, who chaired the five-member judging panel, called "Orbital" a "miraculous novel" that "makes our world strange and new for us." Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, noted that "in a year of geopolitical crisis, likely to be the warmest year in recorded history," the winning book was "hopeful, timely and timeless." Harvey, who has written four previous novels and a memoir about insomnia, is the first British writer since 2020 to win the Booker. The prize is open to English-language writers of any nationality and has a reputation for transforming writers' careers. Previous winners include Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Hilary Mantel. De Waal praised the "crystalline" writing and "capaciousness" of Harvey's succinct novel — at 136 pages in its U.K. paperback edition, one of the shortest-ever Booker winners. "This is a book that repays slow reading," he said. He said the judges spent a full day picking their winner and came to a unanimous conclusion. Harvey beat five other finalists from Canada, the United States, Australia and the Netherlands, chosen from among 156 novels submitted by publishers. American writer Percival Everett had been the bookies' favorite to win with "James," which reimagines Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" from the point of view of its main Black character, the enslaved man Jim. The other finalists were American writer Rachel Kushner's spy story "Creation Lake"; Canadian Anne Michaels' poetic novel "Held"; Charlotte Wood's Australian saga "Stone Yard Devotional"; and "The Safekeep" by Yael van der Wouden, the first Dutch author to be shortlisted for the Booker. Harvey is the first female Booker winner since 2019, though one of five women on this year's shortlist, the largest number in the prize's 55-year history. De Waal said issues such as the gender or nationality of the authors were "background noise" that did not influence the judges. "There was absolutely no question of box ticking or of agendas or of anything else. It was simply about the novel," he said before the awards ceremony at Old Billingsgate, a grand former Victorian fish market in central London. Founded in 1969, the Booker Prize is open to novels originally written in English published in the U.K. or Ireland. Last year's winner was Irish writer Paul Lynch for post-democratic dystopia "Prophet Song." Lynch handed Harvey her Booker trophy at the ceremony, warning her that her life was about to change dramatically because of the Booker publicity boost. Harvey said she was "overwhelmed" but remained down-to-earth about spending her prize money. She said she'd disburse "some of it on tax. I want to buy a new bike. And then the rest — I want to go to Japan."

Manila, Philippines — Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said the International Criminal Court (ICC) should 'hurry up' with its probe of his war on drugs, remaining firm in his defense of the brutal campaign as he said the investigation should start immediately. "I'm asking the ICC to hurry up, and if possible, they can come here and start the investigation tomorrow," Duterte said in a congressional inquiry on his war on drugs. "If I am found guilty, I will go to prison." According to police data, more than 6,200 people died in anti-drug operations under Duterte's presidency, during which police typically said they had killed suspects in self-defense. Human rights groups believe the real toll to be far greater, with thousands more users and small-time peddlers killed in mysterious circumstances by unknown assailants. "I assume full responsibility for whatever happened in the actions taken by law enforcement agencies of this country to... stop the serious problem of drugs affecting our people," said Duterte, who served as president from 2016 to 2022. The ICC last year cleared the way for an investigation into the several thousand deaths and other suspected rights abuses. The Philippines withdrew from the ICC in March 2019. Appeals judges at the ICC subsequently ruled prosecutors still had jurisdiction over the alleged crimes because they occurred when the Philippines was an ICC member.