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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.

The U.S. warned Russia that Crocus City Hall was a potential target of a terror attack weeks in advance, officials say.

BANGKOK — Panicked passengers jumped into the sea to escape a raging ferry fire in the Gulf of Thailand early Thursday, and all 108 people on board were safe.  The overnight ferry from Surat Thani province was about to arrive at Koh Tao, a popular tourist destination off the Thai coast, when one of the passengers suddenly heard a crackling sound and smelled smoke.  Maitree Promjampa said he saw billowing smoke and fire less than five minutes later, and that was when people started shouting and rang the alarm.  "We could barely get the life vests in time," he told The Associated Press. "It was chaotic. People were weeping … I also teared up."  Of the 108 people on the ferry, 97 were passengers, Surat Thani officials said on Facebook. The province's public relations department posted that everyone was rescued with no casualties.  Videos showed people hurrying out of the ferry's cabin while putting on life vests, as thick black smoke swept across the ferry. It was later engulfed in fire.  Maitree, a Surat Thani resident who often travels to Koh Tao for work, said several boats came to their rescue around 20 minutes after they called for help, but the boats could not get close to the ferry out of fear of explosions. He said people had to jump into the sea to be rescued. Videos showed the ferry was also carrying several vehicles.  "Everyone had to help themselves," he said.  Officials said the fire was since brought under control. It began in the engine, but the cause is being investigated. The ferry did not sink.  The ferry from Surat Thani to Koh Tao carries both commuters and tourists. Koh Tao is about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the coast. 

There is no evidence the video shows Punjabi police officers. Reliable news outlets reported the police officers in the video were from Peshawar. The reports do not mention the nationality of the alleged criminal.

WASHINGTON — Migrant children who wait in makeshift camps along the U.S.-Mexico border for Customs and Border Protection officers to process them are in the agency's custody and are subject to a long-standing court-supervised agreement that set standards for their treatment, a judge ruled. The issue of when the children are officially in CPB custody is particularly important because of the 1997 court settlement on how migrant children in U.S. government custody must be treated. Those standards include a time limit on how long the children can be held and services such as toilets, sinks and temperature controls. Wednesday's ruling means the Department of Homeland Security must quickly process the children and place them in facilities that are "safe and sanitary." The border camps have become a flashpoint between immigrant advocates and the federal government. The U.S. has said smugglers send migrants to the camps and argued that the children are not yet in CPB custody because they haven't been arrested. Advocates say the U.S. government has a responsibility for the children and that CBP often directs migrants to the camps, sometimes even driving them there. Children traveling alone must be turned over within 72 hours to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. That agency generally releases them to family in the United States while an immigration judge considers asylum. Asylum-seeking families are typically released in the U.S. while their cases wind through courts. "This is a tremendous victory for children at open air detention sites, but it remains a tragedy that a court had to direct the government to do what basic human decency and the law clearly require," Neha Desai, senior director of immigration at the National Center for Youth Law, said in a statement. "We expect CBP to comply with the court's order swiftly, and we remain committed to holding CBP accountable for meeting the most rudimentary needs of children in their legal custody, including food, shelter, and basic medical care." The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee's decision could have far-reaching implications because of the changing face of who is coming to the United States. Decades ago, the typical person attempting to enter the U.S. was an adult male from Mexico seeking work. Now, families with children are increasingly making perilous journeys to the border seeking a new life. Caring for children puts different stresses on federal agencies more historically more geared toward adults. The legal challenge focuses on two areas in California: one between two border fences in San Diego and another in a remote mountainous region east of San Diego. Migrants who cross the border illegally wait under open skies or sometimes in tents or structures made of tree branches while short on food and water. When the number of migrants was particularly high last year, they waited for several days for CBP agents to arrest and process them. Gee ruled that the Customs and Border Protection's juvenile coordinator must maintain records on minors held in the agency's custody for more than 72 hours and that includes any time the minors spend in the camps. The agency must make sure that the treatment of minors at open-air sites complies with the 1997 agreement, Gee wrote. Gee set a May 10 deadline for the juvenile coordinator to file an interim report about the number of minors held in open-air sites and how the agency was complying with the judge's order.

ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s Islamist Taliban rulers Thursday sentenced two people to 15 years each for engaging in political activity, while a third person was flogged 30 times and jailed for similar charges.   The de facto government in Kabul, yet to be formally recognized by the international community, has banned all political parties and activities nationwide, deeming them as unIslamic. The Taliban Supreme Court said in a statement that Thursday’s judicial actions were carried out in the southern province of Kandahar. Without further details, it said a fourth individual was sentenced to eight months for “moral corruption.” The reclusive Taliban supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, lives and governs the country from Kandahar, which is known as the birthplace and political base of his fundamentalist group. "There is no Sharia basis for political parties to operate in the country. They do not serve the national interest, nor does the nation appreciate them,” Abdul Hakim Sharaee, the Taliban minister of justice, said while announcing the ban on political activities last year. Until the Taliban seized power in August 2021, around 70 major and small political parties were formally registered with the ministry.   Akhundzada is governing the impoverished, war-ravaged South Asian nation through his strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia. He has banned girls from attending schools beyond the sixth grade and forbidden most Afghan women from public and private workplaces.   The Taliban have carried out flogging of hundreds of men and women in sports stadiums in the presence of onlookers for what they call “moral crimes” such as adultery, running away from home, and robbery. Several convicted murderers have also been executed publicly.   Late last month, Akhundzada said he was determined to enforce the Islamic criminal justice system across Afghanistan, including the public stoning of women for adultery. The United Nations decried his announcement as disturbing.    The U.N. and other global monitors have consistently criticized worsening human rights conditions after the Taliban takeover, demanding that they reverse their restrictions on women and civil liberty. The Taliban took control of Afghanistan as the United States and NATO withdrew all their troops in August 2021 after nearly two decades of war with Taliban insurgents.

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 2024 New York International Auto Show kicked off in Manhattan in late March — and visitors have until April 7 to admire some of the coolest new car technology. Evgeny Maslov has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Michael Eckels.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump won their parties' presidential primaries in the Midwestern state of Wisconsin this week. With both their nominations secured, the candidates are fighting for a general election win in Wisconsin, which is one of a handful of swing states that could decide the 2024 race. VOA's Scott Stearns reports the campaigns are working to win the support of Black voters in Wisconsin.

President Biden talks to Prime Minister Netanyahu on Thursday as the rift deepens between the two leaders after the deaths of aid workers earlier in the week. An update from Brussels as NATO celebrates 75 years while shelling continues in Kharkiv. Plus, politics in Turkey following recent elections.

washington — Any resentment among Central Asian leaders over China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority was swept aside during recent tours of the region by the chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the Chinese minister of public security. The warm welcome given the Chinese officials reflects the region’s growing economic ties with Beijing and its uneasiness with Russia — the region’s longtime guarantor against domestic rebellion — as that country struggles on the battlefield in Ukraine.  Fears that Moscow’s territorial ambitions may extend to other former Soviet republics have been reinforced by a backlash against Central Asians in Russia following the March 22 attack on a Moscow music venue, which killed at least 140 people and injured nearly 100. Russian media have reported a spike in hate crimes and violence against migrants from Central Asia since the attack, which prompted Russian authorities to detain more than a dozen suspects, the majority of whom have links to the region. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Islamic State-Khorasan Province, a branch of the Islamic State terrorist group that is active in South-Central Asia, primarily Afghanistan, and includes Central Asian members. Central Asian economies have historically depended on remittances from migrant laborers in Russia. But according to Salih Hudayar of the Washington-based East Turkistan Government in Exile — a group that advocates for China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region — Central Asian leaders are deepening ties with China despite its well-documented human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples. He told VOA that the willingness of some Central Asian regional governments to do business with Chinese officials, including those in Xinjiang, whose majority Muslim ethnic Uyghurs have deep ties across Central Asia, is driven by the lack of international action over rights abuses on the ground. "The tepid responses from powers like the U.S. and the EU have not only failed the people of East Turkistan [Xinjiang] but have also encouraged Central Asian countries to deepen their ties with China," said Hudayar, adding that economic gains from doing business with China outweigh any ethical considerations. The U.S. and European Union have officially labeled China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang as genocide, while the U.N. Human Rights Office has stated that China’s actions in Xinjiang could constitute crimes against humanity, including arbitrary detention, forced labor, forced sterilization, and widespread surveillance targeting Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities. China denies these accusations, dismissing them as lies concocted by U.S.-led anti-China forces seeking to contain China’s development.  Chinese official Erkin Tuniyaz, chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, led the first delegation in meetings with Kyrgyz President Sadir Japarov in Bishkek on April 1, following discussions with Uzbek and Kazakh leaders the previous week. An ethnic Uyghur who has himself been sanctioned by the U.S. government for his alleged role in human rights abuses, Tuniyaz led discussions on cooperation in trade, mining, cultural exchanges and humanitarian aid.  Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong held security talks with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev that same day.  According to Temur Umarov, an expert on China and Central Asia at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Central Asian leaders' readiness to overlook human rights abuses to enhance economic and security ties with China stems from their own styles of governance. “It's important to keep in mind that all Central Asian countries are authoritarian, and the same concerns that the U.S. has toward the situation in China also apply to the regimes in Central Asian countries,” Umarov told VOA. “So, in this regard, I don’t see why Central Asian countries would even consider such allegations from the U.S. toward China as a factor affecting their relationship with China.  "They're pragmatic in their foreign policy,” he added. “They clearly understand that without China, the development of their own economies and political stability is impossible to imagine." Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said during his meeting with Tuniyaz that he had recently been in the Xinjiang capital of Ürümqi, where his delegation “had very good negotiations regarding the prospects for Kazakhstan’s cooperation with China as a whole and, of course, with Xinjiang province.” According to Umarov, Xinjiang's crucial role in Central Asian countries' economic cooperation with China underscores its current and future importance to them, as China's assistance in diversifying their global economic connections increases. “All of the logistic hubs and energy exports from Central Asia to China go through Xinjiang,” Umarov said. “All of the businesses that have branches in Central Asia and all the investment projects, the majority of them originate from Xinjiang. “So, in fact, what we call the China-Central Asia relationship is, in most cases, the Xinjiang-Central Asia relationship,” he said. “So, I think that’s also important to keep in mind.” Official statistics show China has become the primary trade partner for all five Central Asian states. According to Kazakh media, bilateral trade reached $31.5 billion last year, with Xinjiang contributing over 64%, or $20.3 billion. “China is one of the region’s main trading partners and a key investor into Central Asia,” said Genevieve Donnellon-May, a research associate at Asia Society Policy Institute told VOA. “At the same time, there may be interest from Central Asian leaders’ in reducing reliance on Russia.”

Washington — A Georgia judge on Thursday rejected Donald Trump’s bid to dismiss criminal charges in the state's 2020 election interference case against him, which the Republican former U.S. president argued violate his free speech rights. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee found that the indictment alleges statements by Trump and 14 others charged in the case were made "in furtherance of criminal activity" and are not protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Trump and the other defendants have been charged with racketeering and other offenses over their effort to overturn Trump's defeat in Georgia to Democratic President Joe Biden. They have pleaded not guilty. The case is one of four criminal prosecutions Trump faces as the November 5 election nears. His first trial, related to hush money payments to a porn star, is due to get underway in New York later this month. “President Trump and other defendants respectfully disagree with Judge McAfee’s order and will continue to evaluate their options regarding the First Amendment challenges," Steve Sadow, Trump's lead lawyer on the Georgia case, said in a statement. A spokesperson for the Fulton County District Attorney's Office, which is prosecuting the case, declined to comment. The Georgia charges focus on attempts to assemble an alternate slate of presidential electors pledged to vote for Trump despite Biden's win in the state, and Trump's January 2021 phone call urging the state's top election official to "find" enough votes to overturn his narrow defeat. McAfee's ruling is a signal he will continue moving the case toward trial even as Trump and eight co-defendants continue their efforts to disqualify Fani Willis, the prosecutor overseeing the case. A Georgia appeals court is set to decide whether to take up that issue in the coming weeks. McAfee said it will be up to a jury to determine if Trump and other defendants, which include his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, acted with criminal intent.   He said the defendants may be able to revive their challenge as additional evidence is revealed.   Trump has other pending challenges to the case, including a claim that he is immune from charges tied to official actions he took as president. 

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.

Madrid — Spain’s announcement this week that it will recognize a Palestinian sovereign state by July could mark a major turning point with other European states poised to follow Madrid’s lead, analysts say. Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told Spanish media Tuesday Spain would recognize Palestine diplomatically by July. On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares confirmed the plan, saying it would help an independent Palestine’s entry into the United Nations. Ignacio Molina, a specialist on Spanish foreign affairs at the Real Elcano Institute, a Madrid research group, said both domestic political and foreign policy reasons had led Spain to say it would recognize Palestinian sovereignty. The catalyst was the attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy Tuesday by Israeli forces in which seven aid workers were killed, sparking outrage in Spain. Prime Minister Sanchez Wednesday branded as “insufficient” and “unacceptable” the response from Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, who said Israeli forces had “unintentionally” killed the aid workers. The NGO that employed them is run by Spanish-American celebrity chef José Andrés. “In terms of domestic politics, Spain’s government is composed of a left-wing coalition government which has been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause,” Molina told VOA. “The far-left Podemos and now Sumar parties in the coalition had not been involved in foreign policy until now but the Spanish government has been more vocal on the issue of Gaza.” In terms of foreign policy, Spain wants to demonstrate leadership on the international stage by encouraging other EU states to recognize an independent Palestinian state, Molina said. “Palestine is one of the few issues in which Spain can make progressive foreign policy. It gives Spain a leadership role in the EU. Spain has a peculiar position internationally with links between the Arab and Latin America which gives it a certain moral authority on this issue,” he said. Madrid did not recognize Israel diplomatically until 1986, after Spain joined the EU. The role of history Spain’s position on Israel has been linked to the events of the 20th century. During the long dictatorship of Generalissimo Francisco Franco from 1939 until 1975, Spain maintained close links to Arab nations. “Spain did not take part in the Second World War, so it did not have the same moral obligations over the Holocaust as other Western countries to recognize Israel and for domestic reasons, Madrid wanted good relations with Arab countries to supply petroleum,” Molina said. But Spanish policy has also been influenced by centuries of history. In 1492, under the Alhambra Decree, Catholic monarchs King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella ordered Jews to leave Spain or convert to Christianity. More than 500 years later, in 2015, Madrid sought to make amends with an apology and offered Sephardic Jews Spanish citizenship. Today Spain has a small Jewish community of about 50,000 people, compared with the 500,000 who live in France. Meanwhile, about 2.3 million Muslims, many of Moroccan origin, live in Spain according to figures from the Spanish statistics institute. In 2014, under the then-ruling conservative People’s Party, the Spanish parliament approved a symbolic motion in favor of the Palestinian state. Since the October attack by Hamas on Israel and the subsequent war, marches in support of the Palestinian people have been held in Spanish cities on a regular basis. Compared to other nations in Western Europe, there have been far fewer pro-Israel demonstrations. A survey by Simple Logica published in January by eldiario.es, a left-leaning news site, found 60.7% of Spaniards condemned the Israeli offensive in Gaza and 57.9% agreed with the Spanish government’s call for a cease-fire. Separatist sympathies Within Spanish society, there is sympathy for the Palestinian cause because Basques and Catalans see their own struggle for nationhood against Spain as similar to the Palestinian fight against Israeli occupation. “I think of myself as a Basque person rather than Spanish. We have always identified with the Palestinians as they have been oppressed by the Israelis as we were oppressed by the Spanish,” Igor Otxoa, of the Guernica Palestine organization, told VOA. “If Spain recognizes Palestine, it is a start, but it does not mean that it will break off relations with Israel. Spanish companies are still selling arms to Israel and other goods.” Spain’s Jewish community criticized the government's decision to recognize Palestinian statehood. “We consider that the recognition of the Palestinian state should be reached from a consensus between all members of the EU. ... Talking of two states, when one wants to push you into the sea, is difficult,” the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain told VOA in a statement. Last month, Spain, along with Ireland, Malta and Slovenia, issued a joint statement saying they were “ready to recognize Palestine.” Vanessa Frazier, the current president of the U.N. Security Council and Malta’s ambassador to the U.N., said this week that she has received a letter from the Palestinian Authority asking to be recognized as a full member of the United Nations and that the letter has been circulated to Security Council members. Nine out of the 27 EU member states recognize a sovereign Palestine. In 2014, Sweden became the first member of the bloc to recognize a Palestinian state. Malta and Cyprus did so before they joined the EU. Some Eastern European states did so when they were members of the Soviet Union, but Hungary and the Czech Republic have since emerged as close allies of Israel. Apart from Spain, domestic political reasons may prevent Ireland and Belgium from formally recognizing the Palestinian state in the short term, observers said. Ireland faces a general election next year and Belgium has a coalition government that is not united on the issue. Malta and Slovenia are more likely to follow Madrid's example.

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.