From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Philip Alexiou reporting.

President Donald Trump says if China won't solve the problem of North Korea, "we will."

"China has a great influence over North Korea," the president said, speaking these words to London's Financial Times.

He also said, "And China will either decide to help us with North Korea, or they won't." "And if they don't, it won't be good for anyone, " the president said.

Trump is hosting [President] Chinese President Xi Jinping at the U.S. leader's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday for a two-day summit.

North Korea's nuclear program will certainly be on the docket, but so far nothing seems to work when it comes to getting the North to stop its nuclear missile program.

U.S. experts warn North Korea is planning its sixth nuclear test. Tokyo calling a February North Korean ballistic missile launch over the Sea of Japan "intolerable."

Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said Sunday that President Trump has not blocked her from verbally attacking Russia even as he continues to assail U.S. news media for its reporting on congressional and legal investigations into whether his aides colluded with Russian officials to help him win the election.

"The president has not once called me and said, 'Don't beat up on Russia'," Haley told that to ABC News.

Haley said Russia's 2014 seizure of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula was wrong, as well as Moscow's continuing involvement supporting pro-Russian fighters in eastern Ukraine battling Kyiv's forces.

Russian police arresting about two dozen protesters on Sunday in Moscow, a week after more than 1,000 others were detained during a large-scale rally organized by a leading critic of President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian state news agency reporting that Sunday's arrests were made while protesters tried to conduct unauthorized marches toward the Kremlin from two public squares in Moscow.

This is VOA news.

As Afghan security forces continue their military operations against the Taliban and Islamic State-backed militants in the country, the government planning to improve its security forces in the next few years to help beat the growing threat posed by militant groups, according to Afghan officials.

As part of a four-year security plan, Kabul is planning to beef up the country's elite Special Forces and efforts are underway to improve its air force.

The plan would double the special operation forces currently serving in the capacity of a military division of 17,000 troops. A new military corps is to be created within the Afghan National Army structure to accommodate the growing number of elite forces.

As the U.S. Senate prepares for a confirmation vote on Republican President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, Democratic opposition continuing to mount.

Three more Democratic senators announcing their opposition to Gorsuch, setting up a confrontation with Republicans.

On Sunday, on NBC's Meet The Press, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer - the Democratic Party - became disenchanted with Gorsuch during his confirmation hearings.

"What happened was that when Gorsuch refused to answer the most rudimentary questions in the hearings after there were many doubts about him to begin with, he wouldn't even answer whether he supported Brown v. Board, even Judge Roberts, who was very reticent, did that. There was a seismic change in my caucus. And it's highly, highly unlikely that he'll get 60. That's right."

But Republicans control the Senate by a 52-to-48 margin. But if Democrats can garner 41 votes, they would be able to sustain the filibuster. But as of Friday, 36 Democrats said they would support the move.

A new study finds a steep increase in the number of women dying from drug overdoses around the world. VOA's Lisa Schlein has more.

The report finds governments do not pay enough attention to the huge and growing problem of drug abuse among women. The International Narcotics Control Board, which monitors implementation of U.N. international drug control treaties, says women get short shrift when it comes to the enactment of gender-sensitive policies.

INCB President Werner Sipp tells VOA one-third of global drug users are women, but only one-fifth receive treatment. He says there tends to be a gender bias against women as they often are punished more harshly for drug-related offenses than men.

The report calls for alternative measures to punishment and conviction for minor drug crimes among women. It recommends more investment in treatment and rehabilitation programs, education and social integration.

Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva.

For all your news and information, go to voanews.com. I'm Philip Alexiou in Washington.

That's the latest world news from VOA.