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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.

The Justice Department has announced criminal charges against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other militants in connection with the Oct. 7 rampage in Israel. In Ukraine, at least 51 people were killed and more than 230 wounded on Tuesday, when Russia struck a military institute in the central town of Poltava with two missiles. In South Korea, a growing number of women are opting out of having children, and egg-freezing is emerging as a trend that allows women to delay parenthood while keeping their options open for the future.

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.

Peace continues to elude Gaza as the conflict there speeds toward the one-year mark, with public rage over the recent killing of hostages, fears over the spread of polio — and amid all this, ongoing, delicate negotiations helmed by Washington. Anita Powell files from the White House.

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.

Kano, Nigeria — At least 81 people died and several were missing after an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants in Nigeria's northeastern Yobe State, local officials told AFP on Tuesday.  "Around 150 suspected Boko Haram terrorists armed with rifles and RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] attacked Mafa ward on more than 50 motorcycles around 1600 hours on Sunday," said Abdulkarim Dungus, a Yobe state police spokesperson.  "They killed many people and burnt many shops and houses. We are yet to ascertain the actual number of those killed in the attack."  Dungus said it appeared to be a revenge attack "for the killing of two Boko Haram terrorists by vigilantes from the village."  Bulama Jalaluddeen, a local official, said at least 81 people were killed in the attack.  Fifteen bodies had already been buried by their relations by the time soldiers reached Mafa for the evacuation of the corpses, said the official. "In addition to these, some unspecified number of dead victims from nearby villages who were caught up in the attack were taken and buried by their kinsmen before the arrival of the soldiers," added the official. "Many people are still missing and their whereabouts unknown."  Boko Haram and other extremist groups have waged a 15-year insurgency in northeastern Nigeria that has killed more than 40,000 people.  Central and northwestern Nigeria have been plagued for years by gangs of criminals known as "bandits" who raid villages, kill and abduct residents, and burn homes after looting them.  By working alongside these gangs, militant groups have increasingly established a presence in central Niger state, officials and analysts say. 

French law enforcement accuse Durov of withholding information critical to criminal investigations. There is no evidence suggesting U.S. involvement in his arrest.

rome — The Arch of Constantine, a giant ancient Roman arch next to the Colosseum, was damaged after a violent storm hit Rome, conservation authorities said on Tuesday.  In a statement to Reuters, which first reported on the accident, the Colosseum Archaeological Park confirmed that the monument had been hit by lightning.   The triumphal arch was built in the fourth century A.D. to celebrate the victory of Constantine — the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity — over his rival, Maxentius.   It is about 25 meters high and in the same pedestrian area where the Colosseum stands, a major tourist hotspot.  "A lightning strike hit the arch right here and then hit the corner, and we saw this fly off," a tourist told Reuters, pointing to a large block of stone on the ground.  Reuters video images showed other blocks of stone and rubble lying around the monument and archaeological park staff  collecting them.  "All fragments were recovered and secured. Damage assessments have already begun and the analyses will continue tomorrow morning," the archaeological park said.  The arch was hit on its southern side, where conservation work had started two days ago and which will now also focus on repairing the damage, it said.   The accident took place during a heavy thunderstorm that felled trees and branches and flooded several streets of the Italian capital.  The Civil Protection agency said 60 millimeters of rain fell on central Rome in less than one hour, about as much as would normally fall in a month during autumn.  The freak weather was a so-called "downburst," Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said, referring a severe storm featuring powerful downward winds, the kind believed to have caused the sinking of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch's yacht last month off Sicily.   "The event that hit Rome is truly unprecedented, because it was so powerful and concentrated in a very short time and in some areas of the city, starting from the historic center," Gualtieri said in a statement.  

new york — A federal judge on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump's request to intervene in his New York hush money criminal case, thwarting the former president's latest bid to overturn his felony conviction and delay his sentencing. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied Trump's lawyers permission to file paperwork asking the U.S. District Court in Manhattan to take control of the case. He said they had failed to satisfy the burden of proof required for a federal court to seize the case from the state court where Trump was convicted in May. The ruling leaves Trump's case in state court, where he is scheduled to be sentenced September 18. Trump's lawyers had sought to move the case to federal court so they could then seek to have the verdict overturned and the case dismissed in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling granting ex-presidents immunity from prosecution for official acts. Hellerstein, who denied Trump's request last year to move the case to federal court, said nothing about the Supreme Court's July 1 ruling affected his "previous conclusion that the hush money payments" at issue in Trump's case "were private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority." Hellerstein sidestepped a defense argument that Trump had been the victim of "bias, conflicts of interest, and appearances of impropriety" at the hands of the judge who presided over the trial in state court, Juan M. Merchan. "This Court does not have jurisdiction to hear Mr. Trump's arguments concerning the propriety of the New York trial," Hellerstein wrote in a four-page decision. Instead, Hellerstein noted, Trump can pursue a state appeal or, after exhausting that path, seek review from the U.S. Supreme Court. "It would be highly improper for this Court to evaluate the issues of bias, unfairness or error in the state trial," Hellerstein wrote. "Those are issues for the state appellate courts." Hellerstein's ruling came hours after Trump's lawyers filed paperwork seeking his permission to pursue federal court intervention. Trump's lawyers had initially asked the federal court to step in last week, but their papers were rejected because they hadn't first obtained Hellerstein's permission to file them, as required. Messages seeking comment were left with Trump's lawyers and the Manhattan district attorney's office, which prosecuted the case. Earlier in the day Tuesday, Manhattan prosecutors raised objections to Trump 's effort to delay post-trial decisions in the case while he sought to have the federal court step in. The Manhattan district attorney's office argued in a letter to the judge presiding over the case in state court that he had no legal obligation to hold off on post-trial decisions and wait for Hellerstein to rule. Prosecutors urged the trial judge, Juan M. Merchan, not to delay his rulings on two key defense requests: Trump's call to delay sentencing until after the November election, and his bid to overturn the verdict and dismiss the case in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling. Merchan has said he will rule September 16 on Trump's motion to overturn the verdict. His decision on delaying sentencing has been expected in the coming days. Trump was convicted in May of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels, whose affair allegations threatened to disrupt his 2016 presidential run. Trump has denied her claim and said he did nothing wrong. Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years behind bars. Other potential sentences include probation or a fine.

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.

Windhoek, Namibia — Wildlife conservationists, scientists and researchers in Namibia and Southern Africa have warned of impending legal action to halt the culling of wildlife as a "mitigation strategy" to address hunger. Hunger affects about 700,000 people in Namibia, according to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization — especially in rural Namibia — and it has worsened because of the drought facing the southern African region. Officials there have started a wildlife cull — a selective killing of wild animals to save the remaining herds and habitat — and in this instance, some of the meat will be shared with communities in need. The cull, which began August 14, targets 723 animals: 30 hippos, 60 buffalo, 50 impala, 100 blue wildebeest, 300 zebras, 83 elephants and 100 eland antelopes. But the Namibian cabinet decision requiring the country's ministry of environment to aid the government's drought relief effort has drawn the ire of conservationists and made international headlines. It's also dividing public opinion on the timing of the decision and the logistics of culling and distributing the meat to affected communities, who are severely affected by drought. Conservationist Izak Smit said Namibia's constitution makes provision for the protection of its natural wildlife and heritage, and the cull could have detrimental effects on the balance of wildlife in their environment. "It's very irresponsible to do so after a drought before the rainy season when you actually need the population to procreate in order to bounce back from the drought," Smit said. "And also culling means that you do not allow nature to take its course by weeding out the weak genetic material through natural selection, from which the best genetic pool will then emerge on the other side after the draught when the rainy season again starts." Opponents threatened legal action if Namibia authorities do not stop the cull on the grounds that it is detrimental to Namibia's natural resources, not sustainable, and not justifiable and unscientific. Herbert Jauch, of the Economic and Social Justice Trust, said a court of law may not be the right avenue to resolve the disagreement between the government and the conservationist, which seems to be centered on the need to protect Namibia's Desert Adapted Elephants, which are a huge tourism attraction and an iconic heritage wildlife species in the country. "Their chances are not really good," Jauch said. "If there are scientific reasons, and from what I heard so far, this is largely around the desert elephants, then that should certainly be discussed with the ministry. But I think the principle is quite understandable that in drought years you might have to reduce the population." Romeo Muyunda, a spokesperson for Namibia's Ministry of Environment, said the cull has been blown out of proportion and Namibia's Desert Adapted Elephants are not the target of elephants earmarked for culling. "We have millions of wildlife species in the country, approximately over 3 million animals in the country," Muyunda said. "So, 723 does not even make up 1% of the total population that we have. Another example we have is the 24,000 elephants that we have in Namibia, we are only going to cull 83 elephants, and it still doesn't make 1% of the population of elephants especially given the fact that elephants are currently the main concern here." The animals intended for culling will be stored at various meat processing factories in the country and will be distributed through the drought relief program. It will be headed by the office of the prime minister in a joint effort to address drought and hunger in the country. Namibia's cull has made international headlines, and conservationists are concerned it may create a harmful precedent for other African countries that do not have as successful conservation products as Namibia.