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White House — President Joe Biden will host his second and final Quad leaders’ summit in his home state of Delaware on September 21, the White House announced Thursday.  Biden is planning to host the three other leaders of the group, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan. The summit will be held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, happening concurrently in New York.  The leaders are expected to enhance cooperation including the existing Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness, a key initiative aimed at countering China’s aggression in the South China Sea.  "The Quad Leaders Summit will focus on bolstering the strategic convergence among our countries, advancing our shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, and delivering concrete benefits for partners in the Indo-Pacific in key areas," said White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre in a statement Thursday.  Biden hosted the first Quad leaders’ summit at the White House in 2021. The group has since met twice more in person in Japan. In a reflection of the importance of the group, Biden has hosted all the leaders for subsequent state visits at the White House.  India was scheduled to host this year, but the four leaders agreed that New Delhi will instead do so in 2025.  “President Biden’s visit to India in September 2023 for the G20 summit meant that it was difficult for him to return to India in January 2024, on the sidelines of India’s Republic Day in January 2024, as per India’s original planning,” said Aparna Pande, director of the Hudson Institute’s Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia.  Both India and the U.S. then became caught up in their own electoral cycles, making travel and summit-hosting respectively challenging, Pande told VOA.  With Biden and Kishida set to leave office, the Wilmington summit will be the last gathering of the current leaders. Whoever wins the U.S. November election, whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump, will be invited to the Delhi summit next year.

Nairobi, Kenya — The International Crisis Group says Islamic State in Somalia has become an important financial influence for terrorism, and a report suggests the leader of the branch might become the new overall head of the militant group. IS-Somalia is not as active on the battlefield as its local counterpart, the al-Qaida-linked terror group al-Shabab, which controls large parts of southern and central Somalia, but it is building relations with other IS branches, the International Crisis Group said in a report released Thursday. In addition, the report says, IS-Somalia is able to finance terror operations in other African countries. Omar Mahmood, a senior researcher with the International Crisis Group, or ICG, said IS-Somalia plays a bigger role outside Somalia than al-Shabab does. "Al-Shabab is by far and away a bigger threat,” Mahmood said. “But at the same time, Islamic State Somalia has, one, persisted despite some significant odds against it. And two, it's carved out a role for itself within the wider Islamic State network, particularly when it comes to serving as a financial hub between some of the affiliates and other parts of the Islamic State." The ICG said the Islamic State restructured its African operations in 2020, placing affiliates from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique under the watch of IS headquarters in Somalia’s Puntland region. IS-Somalia is reported to have between 100 and 400 fighters stationed in the northern part of the country. According to ICG, about half of the fighters are believed to be foreigners. Early this year, Puntland authorities arrested six Islamic State members who were Moroccans; they were later deported. According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, since May of this year, the group has been increasingly active and has waged several attacks against security forces and business centers. IS-Somalia has also increased its activities in the port city of Bosaso and its surroundings, carrying out an extortion racket that it uses to support its fighters and activities. Richard Tuta, a Kenyan counterterrorism expert, said Somalia’s weak central government has enabled Somalia to be the financial hub of the IS group. "Somalia ... does not have strong institutions, so it's easy for such institutions to be compromised,” Tuta said. “It's easy to undertake both illegal and legal ways of fundraising towards terrorism activity. And because of the country's strategic location, it has a porous border, surrounded by an ocean, which is very hard to keep [under] surveillance." In May, the U.S. carried out airstrikes in Somalia targeting IS leader Abdulqadir Mumin. Mumin survived. Mahmood said that if Mumin becomes the overall head of Islamic State, his rise would signal the group's growing influence in Africa. "Now whether he's actually the head of the movement is something that's disputed,” Mahmood said. “There's a couple other figures that are thrown out there as well. And so that's a bit uncertain. It would be quite a big jump ... for the Islamic State to designate someone on the African continent, but it would also symbolize the growing role of Islamic State within ... the African continent." Puntland authorities have arrested dozens of IS members in the Bari region. Some have been handed jail terms. Others were executed for their involvement in terror activities and the deaths of civilians or government security forces. The ICG called for cooperation between the Somali government in Mogadishu and Puntland regional authorities to tackle IS-Somalia and urged outside actors to pay closer attention to the group’s activities.

new york — New York City Police Commissioner Edward Caban said he would resign Thursday, one week after it emerged that his phone was seized as part of a federal investigation that touched several members of Mayor Eric Adams' inner circle. Caban said he made the decision to resign after the "news around recent developments" had "created a distraction for our department," according to an email to the police department obtained by The Associated Press. "I am unwilling to let my attention be on anything other than our important work, or the safety of the men and women of the NYPD," he added. It was not immediately clear who will replace Caban as police commissioner. Inquiries to the police department were not returned. Caban was one of several high-ranking city officials whose electronic devices were seized last week by federal investigators, according to people familiar with the matter. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation. The subject of the investigation, which is being led by U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan, remains unclear. It was not immediately clear whether federal authorities were seeking information linked to one investigation or several. Federal authorities are also investigating Caban's twin brother, James Caban, who runs a nightclub security business, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person could not publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. Edward Caban, 57, had been in charge of the nation's largest police department for about 15 months. Of Puerto Rican heritage, he was the first Latino to lead the 179-year-old NYPD. Other officials whose devices were recently seized include First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright; Philip Banks, the deputy mayor for public safety; his brother David Banks, the city's schools chancellor; and Timothy Pearson, a mayoral adviser and former high-ranking NYPD official. The searches added to a flurry of investigative activity around Adams' administration and his campaign. Adams, a first-term Democrat, was subpoenaed in July, eight months after federal agents seized his cell phones and an iPad while he was leaving an event in Manhattan. Federal authorities haven't publicly accused him or any officials of any crimes, and Adams has denied any wrongdoing. The investigation that led to Caban's devices being seized is not believed to be tied to a probe that led federal investigators to seize Adams' devices last November, according to two people familiar with the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. On Tuesday, Adams acknowledged that the sudden increase in federal scrutiny had "raised a lot of questions and a lot of concerns." Caban joined the department as a patrol officer in 1991 in the Bronx, where he grew up. His father, retired Detective Juan Caban, had served with Adams, a former police captain, when they were both on the city's transit police force. Three of Caban's brothers were also police officers. Caban worked in precincts across the city, rising to sergeant, lieutenant, captain, executive officer, commanding officer, deputy inspector and inspector. He was the department's first deputy commissioner, second-in-command, before being named commissioner last year. Caban replaced Keechant Sewell, the first woman to lead the force. She resigned 18 months into a tenure clouded by speculation that she was not truly in control of the department after Adams appointed ex-NYPD chief Philip Banks as his deputy mayor of public safety. She is now the senior vice president of security and guest experience for the New York Mets. From January 1 to September 1, the department tallied 243 murders, compared with 279 in the same period last year. Burglary, grand larceny and auto thefts were also down. At the same time, there was a 17.8% spike in reported hate crimes, 11.1% jump in rapes and smaller increases in some other categories. Caban was also criticized for his handling of officer discipline. In April, he declined to take any internal department disciplinary action against two involved in the fatal 2019 shooting of a Black man, Kawaski Trawick, inside his Bronx apartment. Caban said the officers "acted within the law" and that the city's police watchdog agency waited too long to bring administrative charges. In August, Caban upheld a department administrative trial judge's recommendation to drop a disciplinary case against Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, who was accused of ordering officers to void the November 2021 arrest of a retired officer who previously worked for him. The trial judge, Rosemarie Maldonado, said the watchdog agency didn't have jurisdiction to investigate the case.

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 — More than six months after a crucial security deal between Washington and some Pacific Island nations was signed into law, key features of the Compacts of Free Association have not been implemented, raising questions in the region about U.S. commitment to its Pacific partners in the face of an increasingly assertive Beijing. In March, the passage of the Compacts of Free Association, or COFA, extended $7 billion in economic aid over 20 years to three Pacific Island nations: Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands. Additionally, COFA says Washington provides for their defense and can deny China access to their territorial waters, a maritime area larger than the continental United States. Since then, however, some parts of the deal have yet to be implemented, including services and health benefits for veterans who live on the islands. Currently, veterans must travel to nearby islands such as Guam or as far away as Hawaii to get the help they need. “The Biden-Harris administration has failed” to deliver veterans services to these Pacific Island nations, said Arkansas Republican Bruce Westerman, who is chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee, during an oversight hearing on COFA this week. The U.S. State Department also has yet to establish a mandatory new office dedicated to diplomacy with the three islands. In addition, Washington’s federal programs and services agreement with Palau has not been renewed, and the current agreement expires on September 30. Federal services in limbo range from welfare benefits and food stamp programs to the U.S. Postal Service and veterans’ health benefits. “Many of our veterans living in Palau are suffering,” Hersey Kyota, Palau’s ambassador to the U.S., told the Indian and Insular Affairs Subcommittee in the oversight hearing, Tuesday. Palau is home to around 20,000 people; with that small population, it has the highest per capita rate of U.S. military volunteers. Kyota said at least three Palauan veterans have died by suicide since January. “They need medication; they need to travel to Guam or Hawaii, but most of them do not have enough resources to pay for their own ticket,” he said. Andrew Harding of the Heritage Foundation said the delays play to Beijing’s advantage. “The implementation process is failing,” Harding told VOA. “If we really want to prove that we are the preferred partner in the Pacific, especially to our COFA partners, we can’t have these types of questions be raised.” Greg Brown, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said, “This doesn’t look good. Now, it’s hurry up and wait, and who are we waiting for? We're waiting for ourselves. We're waiting for the Americans." At the hearing on Tuesday, Anka Lee, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, acknowledged the critical need for U.S. engagement with Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. “We know that the PRC is aggressive. They are pushing very hard, and we have to compete with them toe to toe,” he said to lawmakers, using the acronym for China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China. During the oversight hearing, Taylor Ruggles, the senior COFA adviser at the U.S. State Department, blamed some of the delay on communication issues between the White House and Congress and a focus on rolling out additional embassies in other Pacific Island nations such as Vanuatu. He said there’s an interagency meeting this week to get all the federal agencies together to move the process forward. That meeting, the second this year, is scheduled for Thursday. The first was held in April. Dr. Miguel H. Lopez, assistant undersecretary for health at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, said this week the department would “provide a comprehensive model of care” to Pacific veterans that is equal to treatment veterans receive in the continental United States. Ambassadors to Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands told lawmakers at the hearing that they received letters from the Veterans Administration Monday night, just hours before the oversight hearing. “The [veterans] agreement calls for a one-year duration. We’re within six to seven months now, and we have not heard anything,” said Jack Soram, the Federated State of Micronesia ambassador to the United States. “We don’t have that much time. Veterans need this help,” said Representative Ed Case, a Democrat from Hawaii.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government on Thursday responded to Venezuela's disputed July presidential election by imposing sanctions against 16 allies of President Nicolas Maduro, accusing them of obstructing the vote and carrying out human rights abuses.  Those targeted by the Treasury Department include the head of the country's high court, leaders of state security forces and prosecutors. The move came days after the departure into exile of Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the former diplomat who represented the main opposition parties and claimed to have won the July 28 presidential election by a wide margin.  Venezuela's electoral authorities declared Maduro the victor hours after polls closed, but unlike previous elections, they never released detailed vote tallies to back up their claim. Global condemnation over the lack of transparency prompted Maduro to ask Venezuela's high court, stacked with ruling party loyalists, to audit the results.  The court reaffirmed his victory.  Experts from the United Nations and the Carter Center, which at the invitation of Maduro's government observed the election, determined the results announced by electoral authorities lacked credibility.

LANSING, Kansas — The shuttered Kansas prison where the killers chronicled in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood were executed is now a tourist attraction.  Starting Friday, former wardens and corrections officers will lead two-hour tours of the stone-walled building in Lansing that first began housing inmates in the 1860s, The Kansas City Star reported.  The building, originally called the Kansas State Penitentiary, was without purpose after the Kansas Department of Corrections opened the newly constructed Lansing Correctional Facility in 2020. But instead of demolishing it, the Department of Corrections transferred control of the building to the Lansing Historical Society and Museum.  Upcoming events include a car show inside the prison walls later this month.  “We’re expecting the prison to open up to large crowds who want to know what went on inside those walls,” Debra Bates-Lamborn, president of the society, said after state prison officials handed over the keys this week.  For years, the prison carried out executions by hanging at the gallows — a site that visitors will not be able to access during tours. Since removed from prison grounds, the wooden gallows are now disassembled and under the state’s custody.  Among the notable inmates executed at the prison were Richard “Dick” Hickock and Perry Smith, who were convicted of murdering four members of the Clutter family on Nov. 15, 1959, in the family's home near Holcomb, Kansas.  Capote, along with his close friend and fellow writer Harper Lee, visited the prison while doing research for the book about the killings. Hickock and Smith were executed in April 1965, among the last inmates to be hanged in the state.  One spot on the tour is the Chow Hall, where the late country music legend Johnny Cash performed for inmates in 1970.  “Johnny Cash has always said that audiences in prisons are the most enthusiastic audience he’s ever played to,” Bates-Lamborn said.  The prison tour is modeled off of a similar tour in Missouri. About a year ago, a state lawmaker approached the Lansing Historical Society and Museum with the idea of preserving the prison by converting it into a tourist attraction.  Bates-Lamborn said she and another board member made the trip to Jefferson City to tour the Missouri State Penitentiary, which has been open for tours since 2009.  “Afterwards, I thought ours is a shoo-in and we’re so much better,” she said.  Tours of the facility will be held on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and are scheduled to run until October 26. Since the facility has no heat or electricity, the tours stop over the winter and will return in the spring.

NEW YORK — Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on additional sex crimes charges ahead of his retrial in New York, Manhattan prosecutors said at a hearing Thursday.  The indictment will remain under seal until Weinstein's arraignment on the new charges, which is scheduled for September 18.  Weinstein, 72, is recovering from emergency heart surgery Monday at a Manhattan hospital to remove fluid on his heart and lungs and was not at Thursday's hearing.  Prosecutors retrying Weinstein's overturned rape conviction disclosed last week that they had begun presenting to a grand jury evidence of up to three additional allegations against Weinstein, dating as far back as the mid-2000s.  They include alleged sexual assaults at the Tribeca Grand Hotel, now known as the Roxy Hotel, and in a Lower Manhattan residential building between late 2005 and mid-2006, and an alleged sexual assault at a Tribeca hotel in May 2016.  Because the indictment is under seal, it was not known whether the new charges involved some or all of the additional allegations.  Prosecutors had been seeking to retry Weinstein after New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges earlier this year and ordered a new trial.  It remains to be seen whether the new charges will be included in the retrial, as prosecutors hope, or handled as a separate case by the court.  The new charges come after prosecutors in Britain announced last week that they would no longer pursue charges of indecent assault against Weinstein, who was the most prominent villain of the #MeToo movement in 2017 when women began going public with accounts of his behavior.  Weinstein, who co-founded the film and television production company Miramax, has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.  At Thursday's hearing, Judge Curtis Farber ruled that because of Weinstein's health concerns, he will be allowed to remain at Bellevue Hospital indefinitely instead of being moved back to the city's Rikers Island jail complex.  Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office had signaled for months that new charges were imminent against Weinstein, who was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, having produced films such as Pulp Fiction and The Crying Game.  In July, prosecutors told a judge they were actively pursuing claims of rape that occurred in Manhattan within the statute of limitations.  They said some potential accusers who were not ready to come forward during Weinstein's first New York trial had indicated they were now willing to testify.  New York's highest court threw out Weinstein's 2020 conviction in April after determining the trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations from other women that were not part of the case.  Prosecutors have said one of the accusers in that case, Jessica Mann, is prepared to testify against him again. It's unclear if the second accuser, Mimi Haley, would participate. Her lawyer, Gloria Allred, declined to comment.  The Associated Press does not generally identify people alleging sexual assault unless they consent to be named, as Haley and Mann did.  Weinstein, who had been serving a 23-year sentence in New York when his conviction was quashed, was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape.  His 16-year prison sentence in that case still stands, but his lawyers appealed in June, arguing he did not get a fair trial in Los Angeles. Weinstein has remained in custody in New York's Rikers Island jail complex while awaiting the retrial.

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.

Nairobi, Kenya — A U.S. Marine Corps general who commands forces in Africa says stability and support programs for Somalia are in the works as the country prepares for the withdrawal of African Union troops in December. General Michael Langley, head of the U.S. Africa Command, said that after meeting this past weekend with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his top military official, Major General Ibrahim Sheikh Muhyadin Addow, he’s confident the country can manage its own security after the December withdrawal of the African Union Transitional Mission in Somalia, known as ATMIS. Langley's remarks, in a virtual briefing to reporters Thursday, came 2 1/2 years after the multidimensional mission was authorized by the U.N. Security Council, in part to help stabilize the country following years of insurgency by the militant group al-Shabab. Langley said that Somali authorities have told him military operations in the southern and central parts of the country are focused on liberating some areas from the militants and stabilizing others. “The operations are ebbing and flowing,” Langley said. “I’ll just use some of their narratives. They have a young army, it’s a building army, so there are some successes and some setbacks, but I think the morale across the forces is building and they are very enthusiastic they’re going to be able to keep al-Shabab back on their heels going forward in future operations.” In a briefing to the Security Council in June, Mohamed el-Amine Souef, head of ATMIS, told the council that the threat posed by al-Shabab remains unpredictable. Citing a recent attack on Somali security forces in the Galmudug region, and a mortar attack on the ATMIS camp in Baidoa, he said the group still retains the ability to conduct devastating assaults. Although Somali forces supported by ATMIS have achieved significant gains in the fight against al-Shabab, support from international partners is essential to maintain the momentum, he said. After visiting Somalia, Langley arrived in Kenya, which contributes troops to ATMIS, where he said he plans to engage with the Kenyan military leadership to explore future prospects on how to help the Somali army hit its operational objectives. “They have been a tremendous partner with the Somali national army, institutionalizing, professionalizing, helping them to be able to operate in various areas, collaborating along the border to ensure the defeat of al-Shabab,” Langley said. In West Africa, U.S. troops recently withdrew from Niger, where they were ordered to leave after a military junta took power. Juntas that took power by force also rule Mali and Burkina Faso. Langley said the way forward on security cooperation across the Sahel is still to be determined, but added that U.S. forces will stay engaged. “In the interim, yes, we are pivoting to some degree on like-minded countries with democratic values and shared objectives and shared challenges across the coast of West Africa,” he said. “So yes, we are in talks with Cote D’Ivoire, in talks with Ghana and Benin, as well as we start to reset and calibrate some of our assets.” He said those countries are facing threats from terrorist groups like al-Qaida and Islamic State, which initially operated in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, but are now moving toward other countries across the region.

The U.S. presidential race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump remains tight. But Harris has opened a sizable lead over Trump among one group of voters — women, who vote at higher rates than men. As VOA’s Dora Mekouar reports, Harris’ late entry into the race widened the political parties’ gender gap.

Pope Francis is in Singapore for the final leg of his tour of Asia and Oceania. It has been the longest and farthest trip of his tenure, taking in four countries and covering more than 30,000 kilometers. He has delivered a message of interfaith harmony throughout, and as Adam Hancock has been finding out, that theme will be prominent during his stay in the Southeast Asian financial hub.

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's government on Thursday summoned the envoys of Britain, France, Germany and the Netherlands over their accusations that Tehran supplied short-range ballistic missiles to Russia to use against Ukraine. State-run IRNA news agency reported that the country's foreign ministry summoned the envoys separately on Thursday to strongly condemn the accusations. IRNA said the ministry also condemned Britain, France, and Germany for issuing a joint statement against Iran and called it an "unconventional and non-constructive statement." The joint statement, issued Tuesday, condemned the alleged transfer of missiles, calling it "an escalation by both Iran and Russia" and "a direct threat to European security." The three countries also announced new sanctions against Iran, including the cancellation of air services agreements with Iran, which will restrict Iran Air's ability to fly to the U.K. and Europe. IRNA said that Iran's foreign ministry told the envoys that their insistence on taking such positions is seen as part of the West's ongoing hostile policy against the Iranian people. The actions will "be met with an appropriate response from the Islamic Republic of Iran." U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week that Iran had ignored warnings that the transfer of such weapons would be a profound escalation of the conflict. He told reporters during a trip to London that dozens of Russian military personnel had been trained in Iran to use the Fath-360 close-range ballistic missile system, which has a maximum range of 120 kilometers.

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.

Wrightwood, California — Firefighters battling three major wildfires in the mountains east of Los Angeles took advantage of cooler weather Wednesday as they slowly gained the upper hand, but not before dozens of homes were destroyed and thousands of people were forced to evacuate. California is only now heading into the teeth of the wildfire season but already has seen nearly three times as much acreage burn than during all of 2023. The wildfires have threatened tens of thousands of homes and other structures across Southern California since they accelerated during a triple-digit heat wave over the weekend. No deaths have been reported, but at least a dozen people, mainly firefighters, have been treated for injuries, mostly heat-related, authorities said. In the small community of Wrightwood, about 90 minutes outside Los Angeles, authorities implored residents to flee the exploding Bridge Fire, which has burned more than a dozen homes in the area. Resident Erin Arias said she was racing up the mountain when she got the order to leave and did, grabbing her passport and dog. On Wednesday, she and her husband doused water on the roof of their still-standing home. Their cat was missing, she said. "It's absolutely scary," Arias said, looking at the burned embers of her neighbor's home. "We're really lucky." UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said the fire moved extraordinarily fast across complex terrain, likely giving residents less time to evacuate than usual and surprising even seasoned fire officials. The Bridge Fire "had to go up mountain sides, burn down slope, jump across valleys, burn across new ridges, and then make it down slope again at least two other times in effectively one burning period," he said. The full extent of the damage caused by the fires remained unclear. The three blazes are: — The Airport Fire in Orange County, which has burned more than 91 square kilometers. The fire was 5% contained Wednesday night and was reportedly sparked by heavy equipment operating in the area. Orange County Fire Capt. Steve Concialdi said eight firefighters have been treated for injuries, mostly heat-related. One resident suffered smoke inhalation and another burns, he said. Several homes burned in El Cariso Village. — The Line Fire in the San Bernardino National Forest, which was 18% contained Wednesday and had charred 148 square kilometers. The blaze has injured three firefighters. Authorities said it was caused by arson in Highland. A suspect was arrested Tuesday. — The Bridge Fire east of Los Angeles, which grew tenfold in a day and has burned 202 square kilometers, torched at least 33 homes and six cabins and forced the evacuation of 10,000 people. The cause of the fire is not yet known. It remained zero percent contained Wednesday night. Gov. Gavin Newsom sent National Guard troops in to help with evacuations, and the White House said President Joe Biden was monitoring the situation. In El Cariso Village, a community of 250 people along Highway 74 in Riverside County, an Associated Press photographer saw at least 10 homes and several cars engulfed in flames. Orange County Fire Authority Incident Commander Kevin Fetterman said the blaze has been difficult to tame because of the terrain and dry conditions and because some areas hadn't burned in decades. More than 5,500 homes in Riverside County were under evacuation orders, affecting more than 19,000 residents. Several recreational cabins and structures in the Cleveland National Forest have been damaged. In San Bernardino County, some 65,600 homes and buildings were under threat by the Line Fire, and residents along the southern edge of Big Bear Lake were told to leave Tuesday. The Line Fire blanketed the area with a thick cloud of dark smoke, which provided shade for firefighters trying to get ahead of winds expected later Wednesday, said Fabian Herrera, a spokesperson for those battling the Line Fire. A man from the town of Norco suspected of starting the Line Fire on Sept. 5 was arrested and charged with arson, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said. Officials did not specify what was used to start the fire. Investigators collected evidence from the man's vehicle and home that suggests he could have been involved in starting other fires, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said Wednesday. On the Nevada border with California near Reno, the Davis Fire forced thousands of people to evacuate over the weekend, destroyed one home and a dozen structures and charred nearly 23 square kilometers of timber and brush along the Sierra Nevada's eastern front. Rich Meyr and Evelyn Kelley were the first arrivals at an evacuation center set up Wednesday at a recreation center in south Reno. Both said they refused to evacuate previous fires but decided to play it safe this time. "My son's wedding is Saturday. I threw all the flowers and gowns in the RV and we left. It looks like a garden shop inside that RV," Kelley said. "But who wants to burn alive?" More than 600 firefighters kept the blaze from growing Wednesday despite high winds that grounded all aircraft that had dropped retardant on the flames over the past two days. The fire was about 30% contained Wednesday night.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy visited Kyiv, Ukraine, this week, where they announced nearly $1.5 billion in additional aid. Kyiv in turn requested the two nations lift restrictions on using Western weapons to strike targets in Russia. VOA Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze reports. Lesia Bakalets contributed to this report. (Camera: Daniil Batushchak, Vladyslav Smilynets)