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Manama, Bahrain — A missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels hit an Antigua- and Barbuda-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden, the latest assault on shipping in the region. The missile hit the ship's forward station late Saturday, starting a fire that those on board later put out, the private security firm Ambrey said. A second missile fired at the ship missed and people "on board small boats in the vicinity opened fire on the ship during the incident," Ambrey added, though no one was hurt onboard. The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center similarly reported the attack and fire in the same area off Aden, saying "damage control is underway." Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the attack in a prerecorded video message Sunday, saying the vessel had been targeted with both missiles and drones. He identified the vessel as the Norderney, a ship that tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press showed was still in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday afternoon. Saree also claimed unreported attacks on a warship and another vessel in the Arabian Sea, without providing any evidence to support his claim. The Houthis have exaggerated some of their attacks since launching their campaign. The Houthis, who seized Yemen's capital nearly a decade ago and have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition since shortly after, have been targeting shipping throughout the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. They say the attacks are aimed at stopping the war and supporting the Palestinians, though the attacks often target vessels that have nothing to do with the conflict. The war in Gaza has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians there, while hundreds of others have been killed in Israeli operations in the West Bank. It began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking around 250 others hostage. The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, killed three sailors, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration. A U.S.-led airstrike campaign has targeted the Houthis since January, with a series of strikes May 30 killing at least 16 people and wounding 42 others, the rebels say. But while gaining more attention internationally, the secretive group has cracked down on dissent at home. Eleven Yemeni employees of United Nations agencies and others working for aid groups have been detained by the Houthis under unclear circumstances, as the rebels face increasing financial pressure and airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition. The rebels also recently sentenced 44 people to death.

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The number of adults in the United States identifying as something other than heterosexual is holding steady at about 7.2%, and the two presidential candidates are taking note. VOA senior Washington correspondent Carolyn Presutti tells us how they are trying to attract that population.

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.

Port-au-Prince, Haiti — Haiti's new prime minister, Garry Conille, left the hospital Sunday in stable condition after being admitted for a respiratory issue one day earlier, two government sources told AFP. Conille shared a video clip Sunday afternoon, addressing the camera while standing, telling viewers: "I am posting this video to assure you that I am fine." A government source, speaking anonymously, had told AFP that the prime minister had suffered an asthma attack. Conille, 58, was appointed to the premiership by Haiti's Presidential Transitional Council on May 29 and was sworn in only last Monday. The job before him is monumental: to relieve the political, security and humanitarian crises devastating the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and to pave the way for the first elections since 2016. "After a week of intense activity," Conille "suffered a slight illness on the afternoon of Saturday, June 8, 2024, and went to hospital for treatment," a statement by the prime minister's press office said Saturday. A medical doctor by training, Conille served as Haiti's premier for a short period in 2011-2012 and was until recently regional director for the U.N. aid agency UNICEF. Since his appointment as prime minister, he has been holding a series of meetings with stakeholders and representatives, while working with the Council on forming a cabinet. In his video Sunday, Conille promised that his cabinet would be completed this week. Gang violence has long wracked Haiti, but at the end of February armed groups launched coordinated attacks on strategic sites in Port-au-Prince, claiming they wanted to overthrow the unelected and unpopular Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Henry, who had been running the country since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021, eventually agreed to resign and hand over power to the nine-member transitional council. Before his collapse on Saturday, Conille visited the international airport in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince, praising the efforts of the security forces which had enabled flights to resume after being halted for more than three months due to gang attacks. The violence has severely affected food security and humanitarian access, with much of the capital in the hands of gangs accused of abuses including murder, rape, looting and kidnappings. Last year, a U.N.-backed security force to be led by Kenya was promised as a boost to the struggling Haitian police, but its deployment has been repeatedly delayed. On Sunday the east African country's president, William Ruto, said Kenyan police will deploy probably within weeks. Kenya is scheduled to send 1,000 officers for the mission alongside personnel from several other countries.

Beijing — A top executive at a major Chinese state-backed investment company is under investigation for corruption, the government's anti-corruption body said Sunday, as an unrelenting crackdown on graft sweeps through the finance sector. Xu Zuo, vice president at China Citic Group, is "suspected of serious disciplinary and legal violations," the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in an online statement, without giving further details. Citic Group is a vast state-run investment conglomerate with the equivalent of over $1.5 trillion in total assets as of last year, according to its official website. Xu, a senior economist with a background in overseas acquisitions and restructuring, has been on the firm's executive committee since 2019. Chinese President Xi Jinping has waged a near-constant crackdown on official corruption since coming to power over a decade ago. Proponents say the campaign encourages clean governance, while critics argue it also serves as a vehicle for Xi to purge political rivals. Anti-graft bodies have trained their sights on the financial sector in recent months, including banking, insurance and state-owned enterprises. Last month, Bai Tianhui, the former general manager at another huge state-backed asset management firm, Huarong, was sentenced to death after being found guilty of taking over 1.1 billion yuan ($151.8 million) in bribes.

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.

Washington — U.S. officials expect the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy democracies to send a tough new warning next week to smaller Chinese banks to stop assisting Russia in evading Western sanctions, according to two people familiar with the matter. Leaders gathering at the June 13-15 summit in Italy hosted by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are expected to focus heavily during their private meetings on the threat posed by burgeoning Chinese-Russian trade to the fight in Ukraine, and what to do about it. Those conversations are likely to result in public statements on the issue involving Chinese banks, according to a U.S. official involved in planning the event and another person briefed on the issue. The United States and its G7 partners — Britain, Canada France, Germany, Italy and Japan — are not expected to take any immediate punitive action against any banks during the summit, such as restricting their access to the SWIFT messaging system or cutting off access to the dollar. Their focus is said to be on smaller institutions, not the largest Chinese banks, one of the people said. Negotiations were still ongoing about the exact format and content of the warning, according to the people, who declined to be named discussing ongoing diplomatic engagements. The plans to address the topic at the G7 were not previously reported. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The U.S. Treasury Department had no immediate comment, but Treasury officials have repeatedly warned financial institutions in Europe and China and elsewhere that they face sanctions for helping Russia skirt Western sanctions. Daleep Singh, deputy national security adviser for international economics, told the Center for a New American Security this week that he expected G7 leaders to target China's support for a Russian economy now reoriented around the war. "Our concern is that China is increasingly the factory of the Russian war machine. You can call it the arsenal of autocracy when you consider Russia's military ambitions threaten obviously the existence of Ukraine, but increasingly European security, NATO and transatlantic security," he said. Singh and other top Biden administration officials say Washington and its partners are prepared to use sanctions and tighter export controls to reduce Russia's ability to circumvent Western sanctions, including with secondary sanctions that could be used against banks and other financial institutions. Washington is poised to announce significant new sanctions next week on financial and nonfinancial targets, a source familiar with the plans said. This year's G7 summit is also expected to focus on leveraging profits generated by Russian assets frozen in the West for Ukraine's benefit. Russia business moves to China's small banks Washington has so far been reluctant to implement sanctions on major Chinese banks – long deemed by analysts as a "nuclear" option – because of the huge ripple effects it could inflict on the global economy and U.S.-China relations. Concern over the possibility of sanctions has already caused China's big banks to throttle payments for cross-border transactions involving Russians, or pull back from any involvement altogether, Reuters has reported. That has pushed Chinese companies to small banks on the border and stoked the use of underground financing channels or banned cryptocurrency. Western officials are concerned that some Chinese financial institutions are still facilitating trade in goods with dual civilian and military applications. Beijing has accused Washington of making baseless claims about what it says are normal trade exchanges with Moscow. The Biden administration this year began probing which sanctions tools might be available to it to thwart Chinese banks, a U.S. official previously told Reuters, but had no imminent plans to take such steps. In December, President Joe Biden signed an executive order threatening sanctions on financial institutions that help Moscow skirt Western sanctions. The U.S. has sanctioned smaller Chinese banks in the past, such as the Bank of Kunlun, over various issues, including working with Iranian institutions. China and Russia have fostered more trade in yuan instead of the dollar in the wake of the Ukraine war, potentially shielding their economies from possible U.S. sanctions.

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.

Israel freed four hostages over the weekend in a raid on a refugee camp in Gaza. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said Israeli forces killed at least 274 Palestinians in the operation. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to return to the region this week in another push for a cease-fire. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has the story.

Jerusalem — Benny Gantz, a centrist member of Israel's three-man war Cabinet, announced his resignation on Sunday. The move does not immediately pose a threat to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who still controls a majority coalition in parliament. But the Israeli leader becomes more heavily reliant on his far-right allies. Gantz, a popular former military chief, joined Netanyahu's government shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in a show of unity. His presence also boosted Israel's credibility with its international partners. Gantz has good working relations with U.S. officials. Gantz had previously said he would leave the government by June 8 if Netanyahu did not formulate a new plan for postwar Gaza.

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New York — “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” the fourth installment in the Will Smith-Martin Lawrence action-comedy series, opened with an estimated $56 million in theaters over the weekend, handing Hollywood a much-needed summer hit and Smith his biggest success since he slapped Chris Rock at the Academy Awards. Expectations were all over the map for “Ride or Die” given the dismal moviegoing market thus far this summer and Smith’s less certain box-office clout. In the end, though, the Sony Pictures release came in very close to, or slightly above, its tracking forecast. “Ride or Die,” produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, is Smith’s first theatrical test since his 2022 slap of Rock earned him a 10-year Oscar ban. The “Bad Boys” film was in development at the time and was momentarily put on hold, but ultimately went forward with about a $100 million production budget. Smith starred in the Apple release “Emancipation,” but that film — released in late 2022 — was shot before the slap and received only a modest theatrical release before streaming. This time around, Smith largely avoided soul-searching interviews looking back on the Oscars and instead went on a whistle-stop publicity tour of red carpets from Mexico to Saudi Arabia, where he attended what was billed as the country's first Hollywood premiere. The 55-year-old Smith, who for years was one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, appeared on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon," the YouTube series “Hot Ones" and Friday, made a surprise appearance at a Los Angeles movie theater. Given that “Bad Boys” trailed May disappointments like “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” and “The Fall Guy” – both of which struggled to pop with ticket buyers despite very good reviews – the “Ride or Die” opening counts as a critical weekend win for the movie business. “The fact that a movie overperformed is the best possible news,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “It seems like all we’ve been doing over the past few weeks and almost since the beginning of the year, with a couple of exceptions, is try to figure out why seemingly well-marketed, well-reviewed movies have underperformed. This ignites the spark that the industry has been waiting for.” “Ride or Die” still didn’t quite manage to match the opening of the previous “Bad Boys” film: 2020’s “Bad Boys for Life.” That movie, released in January 2020, debuted with $62.5 million. After the pandemic shut down theaters, it was the highest grossing North American release of that year, with $204 million domestically. “Ride or Die” added $48.6 million internationally. Though reviews were mixed (64% on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences gave the film a high grade with an “A-” CinemaScore. Black moviegoers accounted for 44% of ticket buyers, the largest demographic. In the film, which comes 29 years after the original, Smith and Lawrence reprise their roles as Miami detectives. The plot revolves around uncovering a scheme to frame their late police captain (Joe Pantoliano). In one of the movie's most notable scenes, Lawrence slaps Smith and calls him a “bad boy.” Movie theaters will need a lot more than “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” though, to right the ship. Ticket sales are down 26% from last year and more than 40% below pre-pandemic totals, according to Comscore. A big test comes next weekend with the release of Pixar’s “Inside Out 2.” After sending several Pixar releases straight to Disney+, the studio has vowed a lengthy, traditional theatrical rollout this time. Last weekend’s top film “The Garfield Movie,” slid to second place. Also from Sony, the family animated comedy collected $10 million in ticket sales over its third weekend, bringing its domestic gross to $68.6 million. The weekend's other new wide release, “The Watchers," failed to click with moviegoers. The horror film, directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan, daughter of M. Night Shyamalan, is about a stranded 28-year-old artist in Ireland. Following poor reviews, the Warner Bros. release grossed $7 million in 3,351 theaters. That allowed “If,” the Ryan Reynolds imaginary friend fantasy, to grab third place in its fourth weekend of release, bringing the Paramount Pictures cumulative domestic total to $93.5 million. Rounding out the top five was “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” which added $5.4 million in its fifth weekend of release. It has grossed $150 million domestically and $360 million worldwide. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday. 1. “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” $56 million. 2. ”The Garfield Movie," $10 million. 3. “If,” $8 million. 4. “The Watchers,” $7 million. 5. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” $5.4 million. 6. “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” $4.2 million. 7. “The Fall Guy,” $2.7 million. 8. “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” $2.4 million. 9. “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” $1.9 million. 10. “The Strangers: Chapter 1,” $1.8 million.

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.

Paris — Carlos Alcaraz came back to defeat Alexander Zverev 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 on Sunday and win the French Open for his third Grand Slam title. Alcaraz is a 21-year-old from Spain who grew up watching countryman Rafael Nadal win trophy after trophy at Roland Garros — a record 14 in all — and now has eclipsed Nadal as the youngest man to collect major championships on three surfaces. Nadal was about 1½ years older when he did it. Sunday's victory — in which he trailed two sets to one, just as he had in the semifinals against Jannik Sinner on Friday — allowed Alcaraz to add the clay-court championship at Roland Garros to his triumphs on hard courts at the U.S. Open in 2022 and on grass at Wimbledon in 2023. Alcaraz is now 3-0 in Grand Slam finals. Zverev dropped to 0-2 in major title matches. The 27-year-old from Germany was the runner-up at the 2020 U.S. Open after blowing a two-set lead against Dominic Thiem. This time, Zverev lost after surging in front by reeling off the last five games of the third set. Alcaraz's level dipped during that stretch and he seemed distracted by a complaint over the condition of the clay at Court Philippe Chatrier, telling chair umpire Renaud Lichtenstein it was "unbelievable." But Alcaraz reset himself and surged to the finish, taking 12 of the last 15 games while being treated by a trainer at changeovers for an issue with his left leg. No. 3 Alcaraz and No. 4 Zverev were making their first appearance in a French Open final. Indeed, this was the first men's title match at Roland Garros since 2004 without Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer. Nadal lost to Zverev in the first round two weeks ago; Djokovic, a three-time champion, withdrew before the quarterfinals with a knee injury that required surgery; Federer is retired. There were some jitters at the outset. Zverev started the proceedings with a pair of double-faults — walking to the sideline to change rackets after the second, as though the equipment was the culprit — and eventually got broken. Alcaraz lost serve immediately, too, framing a forehand that sent the ball into the stands — which he would do on a handful of occasions — and double-faulting, trying a so-so drop shot that led to an easy winner for Zverev, then missing a backhand. Let's just say they won't be putting those initial 10 minutes in the Louvre. A lot of the 4-hour, 19-minute match was patchy, littered with unforced errors. Alcaraz managed to come out strong in the fourth set, grabbing 16 of the first 21 points to move out to a 4-0 edge, including one brilliant, sliding, down-the-line forehand passing winner that he celebrated by thrusting his right index finger overhead in a "No. 1" sign, then throwing an uppercut while screaming, "Vamos!" No, he is not ranked No. 1 at the moment — Sinner makes his debut at the top spot on Monday — but he has been before and, although a "2" will be beside Alcaraz's name next week, there is little doubt that he is as good as it gets in men's tennis right now.