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Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Vientiane, Laos — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived early Saturday in Laos, where he will attend a regional meeting and hold talks with his Chinese counterpart, part of a multination Asia visit aimed at reinforcing ties with regional allies in the face of an increasingly assertive Beijing. The top U.S. diplomat is due to meet China's Wang Yi on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers meeting being held in Vientiane. Blinken has prioritized promoting a "free and open" Asia-Pacific region – a thinly veiled criticism of China's regional economic, strategic and territorial ambitions. During a series of ASEAN meetings, "the secretary's conversations will continue to build upon the unprecedented deepening and expansion of U.S.-ASEAN ties," the State Department said in a statement shortly before Blinken touched down in Vientiane. This is Blinken's 18th visit to Asia since taking office more than three years ago, reflecting the fierce competition between Washington and Beijing in the region. He notably arrived two days after the foreign ministers of China and Russia met with those from the 10-nation ASEAN bloc – and each other – on the sidelines of the summit. Wang and Blinken would "exchange views on issues of common concern," China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Friday. Blinken is expected to "discuss the importance of adherence to international law in the South China Sea" at the ASEAN talks, according to the U.S. State Department.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a divided U.S. Congress Wednesday, with many Democratic lawmakers boycotting his speech and protesters surrounding the U.S. Capitol. But congressional Republicans said the speech was key to reaffirming the U.S. commitment to its Middle Eastern ally in the midst of the 10-month-old war with Hamas. Netanyahu’s speech to Congress was as much an address to the Israeli and Arab worlds about Israel’s goals as it was an address to the American public about the importance of U.S. support of Israel. VOA Flashpoint: Global Crises host Steve Karesh speaks with Avi Melamed, author and former Israeli intelligence officer and negotiator, for a look at how Netanyahu’s message was received at home. In addition to addressing the U.S. Congress, Netanyahu also met with U.S. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and 2024 Republican nominee for President, Donald Trump. What did the trip achieve? Professor Michael Provence, who teaches modern Middle East history, focusing on the 20th century Arab East, at the University of California, San Diego shares his insight. Scott Paul, Oxfam America Associate Director of Peace and Security discusses the ongoing humanitarian concerns in Gaza after it released a scathing report on conditions there. Plus, Agusta University political science professor discusses the latest developments in the 2024 U.S. Presidential election following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

KYIV, Ukraine — Signing an agreement with Russia to stop the war with Ukraine would amount to signing a deal with the devil, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as pressure mounts on the country to seek an end to more than two years of fighting.  A deal would only buy time for Russian President Vladimir Putin to strengthen his army and usher in another,potentially more violent chapter in the war, Mykhailo Podolyak told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday.  "If you want to sign a deal with the devil who will then drag you to hell, well, go for it. This is what Russia is," Podolyak said when asked about the prospects for a peace deal for Kyiv, whose forces are locked in a bloody war of attrition with Moscow's troops in eastern Ukraine.  "If you sign anything today with Russia, that will not lose the war and will not be legally responsible for mass crimes, this will mean that you have signed yourself a ticket to continue the war on a different scale, with other protagonists, with a different number of killed and tortured people," he said.  Morale appears to be eroding It is a view held across Zelenskyy's camp and reflected broadly among Ukrainians. But it also increasingly comes up against the current of Western pressure, as Kyiv continues to face difficult front-line conditions against Moscow's larger, better equipped army, as well as uncertainty over the level of future political support from Ukraine's closest ally, the U.S.  War fatigue also appears to be eroding the morale of Ukrainians, who have struggled with constant bombardment, electricity outages and the loss of loved ones. A poll by the Kyiv International Institute for Sociology found that the number of Ukrainians opposed to territorial concessions to Russia in exchange for peace has continued to fall. It was 55% in July, compared with 74% in December.  Even Zelenskyy hinted at a willingness to negotiate with Russia for the first time since the 2022 full-scale invasion, suggesting Moscow should send a delegation to the next global peace summit, which is expected in November.  But Podolyak insisted that an agreement now would only delay greater violence.  "Yes, it can be a freeze of the conflict for a certain time. But this means that the Russian Federation will work on its mistakes and update its own army," he said. "An aggressor country did not come to the territory of Ukraine to sign a peace agreement. That's nonsense!"  A lasting peace that works for Ukraine would ensure a steady erosion of Russian military might encompassed by the "three tools" often reiterated by Zelenskyy: increased military support, effective economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure to isolate Russia.  As he spoke, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was in China, one of Russia's closest allies, on a mission to forge closer ties. Podolyak said the goal was to provide explanations for Ukraine's positions and for why China should play a more "active intensive function in ending the war on the terms of international law."  On good terms with both US parties Few countries are watching the twists and turns of the U.S. presidential election more intently than Ukraine. But Zelenskyy is confident that his government has established good relations with both sides in the U.S. election, Podolyak said.  "Ukraine has fine relations ... with both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party," he explained. "It's not a matter of personal relationships, only on the candidate-leader level. This is a question of the institutional relations between the parties of the United States and the parties and institutions of Ukraine."  Some leading Republican politicians, including Republican nominee Donald Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, have voiced support for withdrawing vital American military support to Ukraine, and Trump is often portrayed as favoring Russian leader Vladimir Putin.  Zelenskyy, however, took Trump's nomination as an opportunity and had a phone call with him shortly after the Republican National Convention. Podolyak asserted that the phone call between the two was positive.  As for the Democratic Party, Podolyak said he has "great sympathy" for President Joe Biden's administration despite what he said was its slow decision-making regarding Ukraine.  "But they made all the decisions that Ukraine needed, one way or another: arms supplies to Ukraine; additional permits for strikes on the border territories of the Russian Federation; global diplomatic and informational support of Ukraine, and so on."  Whichever party emerges victorious from the November election, Podolyak asserted that Ukraine will continue to have strong relations with the U.S.  "Regardless of who will be the head of the White House, I don't see a scenario where it is possible to stop aid to Ukraine," he said. 

WASHINGTON — Nearly two weeks after Donald Trump's near assassination, the FBI confirmed Friday that it was indeed a bullet that struck the former president's ear, moving to clear up conflicting accounts about what caused his injuries after a gunman opened fire at a Pennsylvania rally. "What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject's rifle," the agency said in a statement. The FBI statement marked the most definitive law enforcement account of Trump's injuries and followed ambiguous comments earlier in the week from Director Christopher Wray that appeared to cast doubt on whether Trump had been hit by a bullet. Wray's comment drew fury from Trump and his allies and further stoked conspiracy theories that have flourished on both sides of the political aisle amid a lack of information following the July 13 attack. Until now, federal law enforcement agents involved in the investigation, including the FBI and Secret Service, had repeatedly refused to provide information about what caused Trump's injuries. Trump's campaign has also declined to release medical records from the hospital where he was first treated or to make the doctors there available for questions. Updates have instead come either from Trump himself or from Trump's former White House doctor, Ronny Jackson, a staunch ally who now represents Texas in Congress. Though Jackson has been treating Trump since the night of the attack, he has come under considerable scrutiny and is not Trump's primary care physician. The FBI's apparent reluctance to immediately vouch for the former president's version of events — along with the ire he and some supporters have directed at the bureau in the shooting's aftermath — has raised fresh tension between the Republican nominee and the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency, which he could soon exert control over again. Questions persist Questions about the extent and nature of Trump's wound began immediately after the attack, as his campaign and law enforcement officials declined to answer questions about his condition or the treatment he received after he narrowly escaped an attempted assassination by a gunman with a high-powered rifle. Those questions have persisted despite photos showing the trace of a projectile speeding past Trump's head, photographs that show Trump's teleprompter glass intact after the shooting, and the account Trump himself gave in a Truth Social post within hours of the shooting saying he had been "shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear." "I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin," he wrote. Days later, in a speech accepting the nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Trump described the scene in detail, while wearing a large, white, gauze bandage over his right ear. "I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard, on my right ear. I said to myself, 'Wow, what was that? It can only be a bullet,'" he said. But the first medical account of Trump's condition didn't come until a full week after the shooting, when Jackson released his first letter last Saturday evening. In that letter, he said the bullet that struck Trump had "produced a 2-cm-wide wound that extended down to the cartilaginous surface of the ear." He also revealed that Trump had received a CT scan at the hospital. But federal law enforcement involved in the investigation, including the FBI and Secret Service, had declined to confirm that account. And Wray's testimony offered apparently conflicting answers on the issue. "There's some question about whether or not it's a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear," Wray testified, before he seemed to suggest it was indeed a bullet. "I don't know whether that bullet, in addition to causing the grazing, could have also landed somewhere else," he said. FBI clarification The following day, the FBI sought to clarify matters with a statement affirming that the shooting was an "attempted assassination of former President Trump which resulted in his injury, as well as the death of a heroic father and the injuries of several other victims." The FBI also said Thursday that its Shooting Reconstruction Team continues to examine bullet fragments and other evidence from the scene. Jackson, who has been treating the former president since the night of the July 13 shooting, told The Associated Press on Thursday that any suggestion Trump's ear was bloodied by anything other than a bullet was reckless. In his letter Friday, Jackson insisted "there is absolutely no evidence" Trump was struck by anything other than a bullet and said it was "wrong and inappropriate to suggest anything else." He wrote that at Butler Memorial Hospital, where the GOP nominee was rushed after the shooting, he was evaluated and treated for a "Gunshot Wound to the Right Ear." The FBI declined to comment on the Jackson letters. Asked if the campaign would release those hospital records or allow the doctors who treated him there to speak, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung blasted the media for asking. 

RIO DE JANEIRO — Finance ministers from leading rich and developing nations agreed Friday to strive toward effectively taxing the super rich, a joint ministerial declaration said. "With full respect to tax sovereignty, we will seek to engage cooperatively to ensure that ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed," the declaration said after the two-day meeting in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil has made a proposal to impose a 2% minimum tax on billionaires a top priority of its presidency of the Group of 20, ahead of the November 18-19 summit in Rio. While the final declaration stops short of agreeing on a specific global tax, Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad nevertheless called it a "significant step forward." "We were always optimistic about this result, but it really exceeded our initial expectations," Haddad told reporters. Brazil's proposal to tax billionaires has divided G20 nations. France, Spain and South Africa have expressed support, while the U.S. is against. "Tax policy is very difficult to coordinate globally, and we don't see a need or really think it's desirable to try to negotiate a global agreement on that," U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told journalists Thursday. Money transfers Governments fear the super rich would transfer their money to tax havens if a country individually adopted such a tax, said economist Rogério Studart, a senior fellow at the Brazilian Center for International Relations think tank. "When action is done collectively, everyone wins. When there is fragmentation, many lose," Studart said. The richest 1% have amassed $42 trillion in new wealth over the past decade, nearly 36 times more than the entire bottom 50% of the world's population, according to an Oxfam analysis released Thursday ahead of the finance ministers meeting. Billionaires currently pay the equivalent of 0.3% of their wealth in taxes, according to a report by Gabriel Zucman, commissioned by Brazil. A 2% tax would raise $200 billion to $250 billion per year globally from about 3,000 individuals, money that could fund public services such as education and health care as well as the fight against climate change, the report said. Zucman, who is the founding director of the Paris-based EU Tax Observatory, celebrated the outcome of the finance ministers meeting. "For the first time in history, there is now a consensus among G20 countries that the way we tax the super rich must be fixed, and a commitment to work together for this. It's an important step in the right direction," he said in a statement. Nongovernmental organizations also welcomed the declaration, while encouraging further action at the G20 summit in November. Extreme weather events made more likely by climate change are expected to cost "trillions of dollars every year, and it is outrageous to expect that the regular taxpayer should pay for it," Camila Jardim, an international politics specialist with Greenpeace Brazil, said in a statement. Brazil has put inequality, poverty and hunger at the heart of its presidency of the G20. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defended the need for increased taxation of the world's richest in Rio on Wednesday when he unveiled plans for a global alliance against hunger and poverty. Brazil is also pushing for changes in global governance institutions and advocating for a sustainable energy transition. On the sidelines of the discussions around taxation, Haddad and Yellen on Friday announced the launch of a climate partnership between Brazil's Ministry of Finance and the U.S. Treasury. It will seek "to address today's most pressing environmental challenges and strengthen the region's green economy," Yellen said, citing efforts to bolster clean energy supply chains and improve the integrity and effectiveness of the voluntary carbon market.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Friday he will return to the Pennsylvania town where he narrowly survived an assassination attempt, while Vice President Kamala Harris capped her weeklong bid to become the Democratic presidential nominee with former president Barack Obama's endorsement. "I WILL BE GOING BACK TO BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA, FOR A BIG AND BEAUTIFUL RALLY," former president Trump wrote on his Truth Social site, without providing details on when or where the rally would take place. Harris, the first Black woman and first Asian American to serve as vice president, swiftly consolidated Democratic support after President Joe Biden tapped her to succeed him Sunday. A handful of public opinion polls this week have shown her beginning to narrow Trump's lead. A Friday Wall Street Journal poll showed Trump holding 49% support to Harris' 47% support, with a margin of error of three percentage points. A poll by the newspaper earlier this month had shown Trump leading Biden 48% to 42%. 'Couldn't be prouder to endorse you' Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, endorsed Harris on Friday, adding their names to a parade of prominent Democrats who coalesced behind Harris' White House bid after Biden, 81, ended his reelection campaign under pressure from the party. "We called to say Michelle and I couldn't be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office," Obama told Harris in a phone call posted in an online video by the campaign. 'We're gonna have some fun with this' Smiling as she spoke into a cellphone, Harris expressed her gratitude for the endorsement and their long friendship. "Thank you both. It means so much. And we're gonna have some fun with this, too," said Harris, who would also be the nation's first female president if she prevails in the November 5 election. Barack Obama, the first Black U.S. president, and Michelle Obama remain among the most popular figures in the Democratic Party, almost eight years after he left office. A Reuters/Ipsos poll early this month showed that 55% of Americans — and 94% of Democrats — viewed Michelle Obama favorably, higher approval than Harris' 37% nationally and 81% within the party. The endorsement could help boost support and fundraising for Harris' campaign, and it signals Obama is likely to get on the campaign trail for Harris.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — No chairs. Missing blackboards. A lack of bathrooms. Schools in Haiti's capital and beyond are crumbling as gang violence deepens poverty and disrupts basic government services while the state education system faces a $23 million deficit. "The country needs help," said Yasmine Sherif, executive director of the U.N. global fund Education Cannot Wait, for education in emergencies and crises. On Friday, she announced a $2.5 million grant that is expected to help nearly 75,000 children via cash transfers, school feeding programs and other initiatives. Sherif was in Haiti as part of a three-day trip during which she visited schools and met with teachers, principals, state officials and civil society members. She pleaded with the European Union and countries including France and the U.S. to help close the educational deficit as she noted the effect violence has had on education. "My main concern is security," she said. Gangs killed or injured more than 2,500 people in the first three months of the year, with violence disrupting life in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and elsewhere. At least 919 schools remain closed in Port-au-Prince and in the central region of Artibonite because of gang violence. The closures have affected more than 150,000 students, according to the U.N. "Education is part of the solution," Sherif said. "That would end extreme poverty, extreme violence, and create political stability and create a reliable workforce." Gang violence also has left 580,000 people homeless across Haiti, with many crowding into makeshift shelters or taking over schools, causing them to shut down. Schools that remain operational are increasingly forced to take students from other institutions that have shuttered. The Jean Marie Vincent School in central Port-au-Prince, for example, has accepted students from a dozen other schools. "We're confronting enormous problems," said its principal, Charles Luckerno. "We're not the only ones." He said that when classes end for the day, people left homeless by gang violence stream into the school and sleep in the yard. "That also creates very bad hygienic problems," said Luckerno, who nevertheless allows them to stay. "We are human. We cannot throw them out." Williamson Bissainthe, a 22-year-old high school student who is preparing to take his final exam to graduate, lamented the state of some schools. "A lot of schools are missing benches or chairs. Teachers do not show up on time. The hardest part of this is that there are no bathrooms," he said. "I hope that the generation that comes after me doesn't have to go through the same suffering," he said. Private schools are out of reach for many in Haiti, a country of more than 11 million people, with more than 60% earning less than $2 a day. Among those who have been forced to flee their homes is Megane Dumorcy, 20, who also is preparing to graduate. She would like to become an agronomist, but education has been a challenge. "The insecurity has had a huge impact on my life," she said, noting that some students have been forced to leave their backpacks behind as they flee gangs. "The state should find a solution for that. We shouldn't be living in a country where our movement is limited." She said her school is only half built and lacks a library, a computer room, a blackboard and chairs. She does research on her phone when needed. Another blow to Haitian schools was a program that the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden launched in late 2022 that allows Haitians and people from a handful of other countries to enter the U.S. on humanitarian grounds. "A lot of teachers left," said Frantz Erine, deputy principal at the Jean Marie Vincent School.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump offered competing views on the war in Gaza as they met separately with Israel's prime minister this week. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports. Warning: This video includes graphic images that some may find disturbing.

washington — NASA's rover Perseverance on Mars has made what could be its most astonishing discovery to date: possible signs of ancient life on the Red Planet. The six-wheeled robotic explorer came across an intriguing, arrow-shaped rock dubbed "Cheyava Falls" that may harbor fossilized microbes from billions of years ago, when Mars was a watery world. Perseverance drilled into the enigmatic rock to collect a core sample on July 21, as it traversed Neretva Vallis, an ancient river valley. The samples carefully stowed beneath the rover's belly are destined to eventually return to Earth, where they will undergo more comprehensive analysis. "Cheyava Falls is the most puzzling, complex, and potentially important rock yet investigated by Perseverance," project scientist Ken Farley of Caltech said Thursday. Three compelling clues have scientists buzzing. White calcium sulfate veins run the length of the rock, a telltale sign that water once flowed through it. Between these veins is a reddish middle area, teeming with organic compounds, as detected by the rover's SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) instrument. Finally, tiny off-white splotches ringed with black, reminiscent of leopard spots, contain chemicals that suggest energy sources for ancient microbes, according to scans by the PIXL (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry) instrument. "On Earth, these types of features in rocks are often associated with the fossilized record of microbes living in the subsurface," said David Flannery, an astrobiologist and member of the Perseverance science team from the Queensland University of Technology in Australia. The quest to confirm ancient Martian life is far from over, however. The real test will come when Perseverance's precious rock samples are returned to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return Program, a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency slated for the 2030s. While there are alternative explanations for these findings that do not involve microbes, there is a tantalizing chance that Perseverance's core sample might contain actual fossilized microbes — potentially making history as the first proof of life beyond Earth. "We have zapped that rock with lasers and X-rays and imaged it literally day and night from just about every angle imaginable," said Farley. "Scientifically, Perseverance has nothing more to give. To fully understand what really happened in that Martian river valley at Jezero Crater billions of years ago, we'd want to bring the Cheyava Falls sample back to Earth, so it can be studied with the powerful instruments available in laboratories," he explained.

washington — Likely U.S. election rivals Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump offered competing views on Israel’s conduct in its war in Gaza, as they separately met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week. While reiterating support for Israel’s right to self-defense “from Iran and Iran-backed militias,” and condemning Hamas as a “brutal terrorist organization,” Harris delivered a forceful call to immediately reach a cease-fire. “As I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done,” Harris said Thursday during remarks that followed a photo opportunity with Netanyahu where she appeared polite but firm and businesslike. Reiterating her commitment to a two-state solution, Harris projected an empathetic tone on “the scale of human suffering” of the Palestinian people. “What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating — the images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time,” she said. “We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent,” Harris vowed. In an apparent nod to the large swath of Democratic voters who are angry at the Biden administration’s staunch support for Israel’s military campaign, Harris said, “I see you and I hear you,” while appealing to the American people to “acknowledge the complexity, the nuance and the history of the region.” Her grave and measured remarks stand in stark contrast to ad-libbed comments from Trump, who blamed the Biden administration for the turmoil in the Middle East and baselessly claimed that he would quickly resolve the Gaza conflict if elected. “If we win, it’ll be very simple. It’s all going to work out and very quickly,” Trump told reporters gathered at his Florida residence Friday as he began his meeting with Netanyahu. “If we don’t, you’re going to end up with major wars in the Middle East and maybe a third world war. You are closer to a third world war right now than at any time since the Second World War,” he said. “You’ve never been so close, because we have incompetent people running our country.” Saying that he was “very good to Israel, better than any president's ever been,” Trump highlighted pro-Israel policies during his first term, including brokering the Abraham Accords that normalized Israel’s diplomatic ties with some Arab neighbors, moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights. Trump soured on Netanyahu in January 2021 after the Israeli leader congratulated Biden for winning the 2020 election, which the former president falsely insists he won. He has since repeatedly criticized Netanyahu publicly over the Gaza war. On Friday, the two appeared to have mended their relationship, with Trump forcefully pulling the Israeli leader’s arm to hold his body close as he shook his hand. Eager for cease-fire Both Harris and Trump are eager for a cease-fire and impatient with Netanyahu’s prosecution of the war, but for sharply different reasons. “Harris wants Netanyahu to prioritize the humanitarian crisis and minimize civilian casualties. Trump wants Israel to win decisively — and quickly— before he takes office,” said Laura Blumenfeld, Middle East analyst at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies. Harris sees it as a “moral issue,” she told VOA, while Trump views it as a “mess.” Warning: This video includes graphic images that some may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised. Eager to win back progressive and young voters, as well as Muslim and Arab American voters angry at the Biden administration’s policy on Gaza, Harris may strive for a more balanced approach. “Harris’s approach to Gaza would embrace the gray ‘complexity’ of the Middle East, in contrast with Biden’s, which was characterized by a bright clarity that at times could be interpreted as blinding,” Blumenfeld said. Their approaches may differ more in style than in substance, but “managing emotions among the traumatized parties in the Middle East can make or break a peace agreement.” Polls show more Americans opposing than supporting Israel’s military action in Gaza, particularly Democrats. In the more than 290 days since the October 7 Hamas attack that killed roughly 1,200 Israelis, Israel’s military response has killed more than 39,000 people, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health authority. In May, Israel estimated the toll at 30,000. Still, whoever wins the November election, a new administration in Washington could bring some shift in U.S.-Israel relations, whether or not Netanyahu stays in power, said Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. negotiator for the Middle East who is now with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Whoever is prime minister is going to have to deal with, on one hand perhaps a more critical Democratic approach under Kamala Harris, and an unpredictable one under President Trump,” he told VOA. While a second Trump administration would be “definitely supportive” of Israel, Miller said the notoriously transactional Trump “instrumentalizes his relations.” “When people are useful to him, he praises them, and when they're not, he can easily abandon them,” he said. “He's very, very unpredictable.”

nairobi, kenya — The U.S. government has sanctioned three rebel leaders accused of fomenting political instability, conflicts and civilian displacement in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control on Thursday imposed sanctions on Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance, a rebel group accused of seeking to overthrow the government and driving political instability in the DRC. Nangaa was previously targeted with sanctions in 2019. Washington also sanctioned Bertrand Bisimwa, the leader of the March 23 movement rebel group, for destabilization and human rights violations. Charles Sematama, deputy military leader of another rebel group, Twirwaneho, was also sanctioned. 'They are standing with them' Great Lakes region political researcher and analyst Ntanyoma Rukumbuzi said the United States is trying to show it cares about the DRC and wants to punish those who want to create instability in the central African nation. “The U.S. wants to convince the Congolese, the general audience, that they are standing with them and paying attention to what is happening in the DRC," said Rukumbuzi. "They can still do something to push or force the rebel groups to stop fighting. As you can see, some of these sanctions seem to disregard and overlook the entire complexity of the violence in eastern DRC." In a statement, the U.S. government said the action it is taking reinforces its commitment to hold accountable those who seek to perpetuate instability, violence and harm to civilians to achieve their political goals. The M23 as a group is also under U.S. sanctions. For several years, it has been fighting the Congolese army and other rebel groups in the east of the country. According to United Nations estimates, more than 7.2 million Congolese are displaced due to conflicts. Oliver Baniboneba, a Congolese refugee living in Uganda, said U.S. sanctions won't end the suffering of the Congolese. There is a country with money that is supporting Nangaa, said Baniboneba. "It will continue to fund him, and the killing goes on," he said. High hopes for sanctions The Congolese government has accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group, a claim denied by Kigali. Rukumbuzi also said the sanctions won't stop the operations of the rebel groups. "They have been fighting for several reasons," said Rukumbuzi. "There are different individuals and groups who have something to fight for. It may disturb them and try to understand and possibly try to dispatch roles to different individuals, but this won't stop the rebels from fighting." The U.S. hopes the sanctions against the leaders and groups will change their violent ways and persuade them to find a peaceful means to address their grievances instead of killing and displacing innocent people from their homes.

bangkok — Countries in Southeast Asia are hoping to boost their economies by luring long-staying professionals with digital nomad visas. In recent years East and Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan have launched digital nomad visas, which allow remote workers to live and work within their borders. International tourism and foreigners’ spending contributes significantly to these countries’ economies. Indonesia launched its KITAS E33G visa, known as the remote worker visa, earlier in 2024. Bali, the holiday island hotspot, is one of the most popular destinations for digital nomads in the country. Dustin Steller, from the U.S. state of Missouri, works remotely as the owner of his marketing company and has lived in Bali for two years. “I immediately fell in love with the culture, the food, the lifestyle and the people – both locals and expats,” he told VOA. Bali has become a popular “place to base” for social media influencers and cryptocurrency investors in recent years. With cheaper living costs than in Western countries, living in Bali allows professionals to build their businesses while spending less. “Bali offers tremendous opportunity for serious nomads who want to connect with like-minded people,” Steller told VOA. “Bali is the Silicon Valley of tech, AI and crypto,” he added. “There are highly intelligent people doing some good work here. I have found the community of likeminded entrepreneurs is bigger and more concentrated here in Bali.” Malaysia released its digital nomad visa in 2022, while the Philippines reportedly has plans to announce its own scheme. Remote workers who travel have existed since the development of the internet and the availability of global travel, but the term “digital nomad” has only been popularized in recent years. Five years ago, the digital nomad visa scheme didn’t exist. Estonia became the first country to launch such a scheme in 2020 while many people began working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a recent survey on YouGov, digital nomads favor countries in Asia for their vibrant work culture, solid infrastructure such as reliable internet and modern facilities, and flexible options for visas. The top 15 countries among people from Singapore include Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and Cambodia, all Southeast Asian countries. Now Thailand is the latest country in the region to launch its own version of a digital nomad visa. The Destination Thailand Visa (DTV), available since July 15, allows digital nomads, freelancers and remote workers to live, work and travel in the country for up to 180 days per entry and is valid for five years. Applicants can attain the visa if they participate in Thailand’s “soft power” activities, including Muay Thai boxing, and short-term education courses. The fee for the visa is $270, while applicants must be able to show proof of funds equating to approximately $13,855 in savings. For many remote workers, living in Thailand is an exciting prospect. Samantha Haselden, a British expat who owns an IT business with her husband in the United Arab Emirates, is looking into applying. “We’ve been going to Thailand for years. My aunt and uncle retired there; it always feels like home. We’ll be visiting Thailand in a few weeks and will be seeing a solicitor that deals with visas and see what he thinks of our chances of being accepted are,” she told VOA. “We’re in our late 40s. Never fancied Bali because it looks like a place for under 25-year-olds,” she added. Members of several Thailand-visa Facebook groups have also praised Thailand’s quick internet speed, low cost of living, great food and friendly people as reasons for wanting to apply for the DTV visa. But since the announcement, the high volume of interest on social media has provided more questions than answers over eligibility. VOA contacted Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment on this but has yet to receive a response. For Thailand, the importance of overseas arrivals benefiting its economy is evident. Tourism accounted for 11.5% of the country’s overall GDP in 2019 with a record year of 39 million visitors. Thailand is forecasting 36 million arrivals for 2024 and a record-breaking 41 million in 2025. The Thai government also relaxed visa requirements for visitors from 93 countries to enter the country for 60 days. Previously, visitors from dozens of countries were allowed a 30-day stay, and some had to apply for a visa prior to arrival. Gary Bowerman, a tourism analyst based in Kuala Lumpur, says Thailand’s visa exemptions are aimed at boosting its economy. “Thailand’s challenge is to expand the high-yield composition of its tourism base. While it leads Southeast Asia by a long way in terms of visitor arrivals, per-visitor spend[ing] remains comparatively low. These measures are designed to attract more visitors who will stay longer, travel more widely and spend more in different locations,” he told VOA. But questions remain about whether Thailand could suffer from “overtourism.” The term is used when mass tourism disrupts everyday life for residents. Spain has seen street protests against overtourism in multiple locations, including Barcelona and Madrid. Complaints centered on high rental prices, which prompted the Spanish government to ban short-term rentals from 2028. Pravit Rojanaphruk, a veteran journalist at Khaosod English, thinks it's too soon for Thailand to worry about such growth. “Real estate may go up, particularly in Bangkok, and make it less affordable for some locals. But we are far from there, considering that 100 million people visited France in 2023, while only 28 million visited Thailand despite both countries having roughly the same land size and population,” he told VOA.

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Kencho Shacha Gozdi, Ethiopia — Weeping families packed homes in a southern remote part of Ethiopia on Friday to bid farewell to relatives killed following a devastating landslide, as authorities announced three days of mourning.   Mudslides triggered by heavy rain in the tiny locality of Kencho Shacha Gozdi killed at least 257 people, U.N. humanitarian agency, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), citing local authorities, said Friday, but warned that the death toll could reach 500.   It is already the deadliest landslide on record in the Horn of Africa nation with rescuers continuing the grim search for bodies.  Things may yet worsen, the OCHA said.  "As more rain is expected, we should not be surprised to see more of these kinds of emergencies hitting Ethiopia," OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said.  "In that context, we need to sound the alarm on the level of funding available to respond. … international support to humanitarian agencies working in Ethiopia is urgent."  A few kilometers from the hillside that came crashing down on the villagers, distraught families washed the bodies of the victims clawed from the mounds of earth, before wrapping them with shawls ahead of the burial ceremony.   "My heart is filled with joy because I found my wife's body," Ketema Kelsaye, 32, told AFP, his clothes and hands still smudged with mud.   "I wept and searched for five days with shovels and my bare hands in the mud but couldn't find" her body, he said. "Properly burying her has brought relief to my grief."  Ethiopia's parliament announced three days of mourning to start Saturday.   The period of remembrance would allow "comfort to their relatives and all the people of our country," it said in a statement, shared by the state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation.  The Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission said earlier Friday that humanitarian aid and rehabilitation was "well underway" in the region.  It said a "structure for emergency disaster response coordination and integration" had been established, adding that 6,000 people needed to be relocated.  OCHA had said that more than 15,000 people needed to be evacuated because of the risk of further landslides, including small children and thousands of pregnant women or new mothers.  Aid had begun arriving, it said, including four trucks from the Ethiopian Red Cross Society.  Officials said most of the victims were buried when they rushed to help after a first landslide, which followed heavy rains Sunday in the area that lies about 480 kilometers (300 miles) from the capital Addis Ababa.  "The bodies recovered on the first day were easily identified because their limbs were intact," 40-year-old Iyasu Zumayunga told AFP on Friday.   "After we dug them out, we washed their faces. Then we asked which families they belonged to."  International offers of condolences have flooded in, including from the African Union, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is Ethiopian.  Africa's second most populous nation is often afflicted by climate-related disasters and more than 21 million people, or about 18% of the population, rely on humanitarian aid due to conflict, flooding or drought.