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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.

U.S. officials say that the United States is continuing talks with Nigerien officials, has not withdrawn any of U.S. military personnel from Niger and does not rule out a continued U.S. military presence there.

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 National Library was looted Wednesday by armed gangs terrorizing the Caribbean nation's capital, Port-au-Prince, its director told AFP.  Dangelo Neard said the history of Haiti — the Western Hemisphere's second-oldest republic — was being threatened.  "I was told that the thugs are taking away the institution's furniture. They also ransacked the building's generator," Neard said.  "Our documentary collections are in danger," he said. "We have rare documents over 200 years old, with importance to our heritage, which risk being burned or damaged by bandits." Armed groups control most of Port-au-Prince and swaths of countryside in the absence of a functioning government and continued delays in establishing a promised transitional authority.  After several days of diminishing violence, attacks picked up again in several neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince since Monday.  The attack on the National Library comes after an attack and looting of the National School of Arts.  The country's national police said in a statement Tuesday that they were "determined and committed to restoring order and peace."  Haiti has been rocked by a surge in violence since February, when its powerful criminal gangs teamed up to attack police stations, prisons, the airport and the seaport.  They are seeking to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has been in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021. The country has no sitting parliament, with its last election in 2016.  The country also has been wracked for decades by poverty, natural disasters, political instability and gang violence, with Moise's assassination setting off months of spiraling insecurity even before February's clashes.  Unelected and unpopular, Henry announced on March 11 that he would step down as part of an internationally brokered plan to make way for a so-called transitional council.  But weeks later the council has yet to be officially formed and installed amid disagreement among the political parties and other stakeholders due to name the next prime minister — and because of doubts over the very legality of such a council.  "The problem with time is that we spent two and a half years with Ariel Henry who did nothing, and now in two weeks we want to do a lot of things," council member Leslie Voltaire told AFP.  He also blamed regional body CARICOM for rushing the formation of the council, though he said it would be stood up by Thursday and elect a prime minister within a week. 

Kampala — Uganda's constitutional court has declined to annul or grant a permanent injunction against the enforcement of the country’s anti-gay law. In their ruling Wednesday, the judges said the law does infringe on some fundamental human rights. Lawyers representing members of Uganda's LGBT community described the ruling as retrogressive.  The petitioners in the case had sought to have the court decide whether the anti-gay law passed in 2023 violates the principle of equal protection under the law for all Ugandans. But, to their dismay, the panel of five judges led by Uganda’s Deputy Chief Justice Richard Buteera had this to announce. “We decline to nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 in its entirety; neither would we grant a permanent injunction against its enforcement.”  In their ruling Wednesday, the Constitutional Court judges had noted that the law was meant to protect children especially in cases where recruitment and targeting of children has been reported. However, the judges did rule that the law does infringe on some rights, specifically parts of the law that would effectively deny members of the LGBT community access to health services such as anti-HIV treatment. “We find that Section 3(2) C violates their rights to health while article 9 and 11, (2d) of the Anti-Homosexuality Act are inconsistent with the right to adequate standard of living and the right to health,” said Judge Buteera. The ruling nullified those sections of the act. Lawyer Nicholas Opio described the whole ruling as an inherently faulty judgment of the court. He argues that the court's decision makes it legal and lawful to discriminate against LGBT people. “That it is legal to exclude the LGBTI community from participating in the affairs of their country simply on the basis of public sentiments and alleged cultural values.  What is to say you have access to health when your very existence is being challenged and being declared unconstitutional? I think that it is a failed attempt at a balancing act," he said. Eric Ndawula, an LGBT activist, told VOA that the community was let down by the court. “They did not have facts. But rather they were looking at perceptions. They were looking at what the (local) media was saying, rather than what the actual facts were. If you are talking about recruitment but you do not have any evidence of recruitment except statements from an individual that have not been substantiated. It is a sad day,” said Ndawula. The petitioners can appeal the matter to Uganda’s Supreme Court. The Anti-Homosexuality Act, which took effect last May, says engaging in acts of homosexuality is punishable with life imprisonment. The law also imposes the death penalty for what it calls “aggravated homosexuality,” including sexual relations involving people infected with HIV, as well as sex with people categorized as vulnerable, including minors and the elderly. The law has been denounced by gay activists and many foreign governments, including the Biden administration, as a violation of human rights.

JERUSALEM — Israel war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Wednesday called for national elections in September, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government faces pressure at home and abroad over the war in Gaza. "We must agree on a date for elections in September, toward a year to the war if you will," Gantz said in a televised briefing. "Setting such a date will allow us to continue the military effort while signaling to the citizens of Israel that we will soon renew their trust in us." Thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets in recent days demanding new elections. Many have criticized Netanyahu and expressed anger at his government's handling of the 134 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza six months into the war. Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, has repeatedly ruled out early elections, which opinion polls suggest he would lose, saying that to go to the polls in the middle of a war would only reward Hamas, the Islamist movement that ruled Gaza. His Likud party on Wednesday said Gantz must "stop engaging in petty politics" during the war. "Elections now will bring about paralysis, division, harm to the fighting in Rafah and a fatal blow to the chances of a hostage deal," Likud said. Gantz, a former army general, joined Netanyahu's government in the early days of the war as a gesture of political unity during the crisis. Polls suggest his party would come out on top in any election and he would be the favorite to take over as premier. Netanyahu has pledged to bring the hostages home, as well as destroy Hamas, although it is unclear how Israel would be able to do so, and experts doubt that it is even possible. Israel's unrelenting air, ground and sea assault has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, and led to a humanitarian catastrophe. Surveys indicate that most Israelis disapprove of Netanyahu's leadership since the Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel on October 7, in which some 1,200 people were killed and scores of hostages taken, according to Israeli tallies. If left unchanged, the next vote for parliament is set for October 27, 2026, per Israel's Central Elections Committee.

At least nine dead and 900 injured after an earthquake strikes Taiwan, just one day after Joe Biden and Xi Jinping talk. The world is still reeling from Tuesday’s killing of workers from the World Central Kitchen in Gaza, and the Ukrainian foreign minister visits Brussels, and politics in Thailand.

Turkey's nationwide local elections this week dealt Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party its worst electoral defeat, signaling what analysts say is a momentous change in Turkey’s political direction. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.

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.

GENEVA — Human rights experts warn the always-shaky security situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is deteriorating further, as armed violence by Congolese and foreign forces battling for control of the region intensifies and threatens to spread throughout the country and beyond. “As insecurity reaches some of the most alarming levels in recent years, I fear that the enjoyment of human rights in the country will come to a screeching halt,” said Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights. The high commissioner was one of several human rights experts who participated in an interactive dialogue on the situation in the DRC which began Tuesday and dipped over into Wednesday at the U.N. Human Rights Council. “Since our last update to the council in October, the pervasive armed conflict, particularly in the eastern part of the country, has continued to take a heavy human toll,” Türk said. “I also remain extremely concerned about the spread of conflict and violence in the DRC throughout the region, as well as active involvement of other regional actors in eastern DRC. The cost of this situation for the population is catastrophic,” he said. A report by the U.N. Joint Human Rights Office has documented 2,110 human rights violations and abuses across the DRC between October 1, 2023, and March 15, 2024.  It finds 59 percent were committed by armed groups, and includes summary executions, conflict-related sexual violence, abductions of civilians and forced recruitment of children. “Many of these serious human rights violations could amount to atrocity crimes, and perpetrators and their accomplices must be held to account,” said Türk. During the same period, he said, the DRC’s army or its proxies were responsible for violations of international human rights or humanitarian law including extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and destruction of private property. “On several occasions, they attacked positions of the United Nations Stabilization Mission (MONUSCO),” noting that U.N. troops are slated to withdraw from the country this year at the request of the Congolese government.   He warned that “without a rapid build up of national armed forces in areas where populations depended on MONUSCO, the security vacuum could be filled by armed groups, with dire consequences for civilians.” The concerns were shared by Bintou Keita, the special representative of the U.N. secretary-general in the DRC, and the head of MONUSCO. She deplored the worsening human rights and security climate in the DRC, particularly in the territories of Masisi, Nyiragongo, and Rutshuru, in North Kivu province.  That, she said, was “due to the intensification of clashes between the M23, which is supported by the Rwandan armed forces, and the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”  “The M23, in particular, has continued to conquer large swathes of Congolese territory, driving more than one-and-a-half million Congolese from their homes,” she added. Recurring attacks on peacekeepers and difficult access to combat zones hinder the support that the U.N. and humanitarian organizations can give to civilians in need, she said.  Congo defends end to death penalty moratorium During their dialogue, the human rights experts expressed concern about the government’s decision to lift the moratorium on the death penalty and urged Congolese authorities to reverse their decision. That did not sit well with the DRC’s minister for human rights, Albert Fabrice Puela.  He told the council that his government had decided to bring back the death penalty “in order to deter all these warlords and rid our army of all treacherous soldiers who commit atrocities against the population.” “This measure of lifting the government’s moratorium as well as that of the state of siege is a response to the cry of distress of the entire population who are fed up with these abuses,” he said. He spoke in detail about the progress made by the government in the promotion and protection of human rights, including in reforming the country’s electoral process, the promotion of women’s rights, as well as the promotion and equality of gender. “However, all these efforts are being severely affected by the continuing situation of war imposed on us by the negative forces supported by Rwanda,” he said, noting that U.N. reports and independent observers have accused Rwanda of serious crimes of human rights and international humanitarian law “as well as in the plundering of natural resources” in eastern DRC. The DRC’s president has reiterated his willingness to engage constructively with Rwanda, he said, but said that was "subject to the immediate cessation of hostilities, and the immediate withdrawal of the M23 from the occupied areas.” James Ngango, Rwanda’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, rejected the charges and retorted that “The situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo constitutes a security threat in the region and to Rwanda in particular.” “Rwanda deplores the grave human rights violations against Congolese communities who are at risk of genocide in eastern DRC,” he said, adding that Rwanda believes that the conflict can only “be addressed through peaceful means,” not military means. His assessment was affirmed by High Commissioner Türk, who said, “The human tragedy in the DRC will never be solved by military action alone.” “It is time to invest in dialogue.  It is time to invest in restoring and rebuilding the rule of law.  And it is time to invest in peace,” he said.

islamabad — The United Nations has warned that delivering life-saving aid to millions of people in Afghanistan could be “severely impeded” as donors have given only 6% of the humanitarian funding appeal for 2024. Indrika Ratwatte, the humanitarian coordinator for the impoverished country, has urged the international community to redouble its commitment and increase financial support for the Afghan people. According to a U.N. statement released on Tuesday, Ratwatte expressed “deep concern” over the current funding levels and noted that the U.N. had secured just $290 million of the $3.06 billion requirements. “Such a significant gap between existing needs and available funding will severely impede the delivery of life-saving assistance,” the statement said. U.N. agencies estimate that more than half of the population in Afghanistan needs humanitarian assistance, citing frequent natural disasters and years of war. They caution that the lack of donor funding is aggravating one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. The return of the fundamentalist Taliban to power in 2021 has compounded challenges facing humanitarian operations in the country. De facto Afghan authorities have banned many women from public and private workplaces, including the United Nations, and forbidden teenage girls from attending schools beyond the sixth grade. The Taliban have rejected persistent international calls to reverse curbs on women, saying their governance is aligned with Afghan culture and Islamic principles. Critics blame Taliban restrictions for contributing to the humanitarian crisis and discouraging foreign donors. The World Food Program stopped food assistance for 10 million Afghans in 2023 because of a massive funding shortfall. The Taliban have dismissed claims their misogynistic policies are jeopardizing the flow of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, alleging donors are politicizing the aid. “We don't need their assistance. Spare us from their [foreigners’] harm,” Taliban chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a recent social media-hosted seminar.

New Orleans — The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments this month about presidential immunity and whether former President Donald Trump can be tried on charges that he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The high court’s decision will determine how some of the presumptive GOP nominee’s legal cases advance in an election year where he is facing 91 felony charges across four trials. They include the willful retention of national defense information in violation of the Espionage Act. “Donald Trump is trying to show that a U.S. president is immune from criminal prosecution while acting in an official capacity,” University of Georgia political scientist Charles Bullock told VOA. “But I think, at the heart of this matter, is just how broadly Trump and his lawyers define ‘official capacity,’” Bullock explained. “They are defining it very broadly at the moment. Trump says a president should be completely immune while president, but the three-judge circuit panel that ruled against him posed the question: ‘Well, what if the president hired a hitman to take out one of their rivals? Is that in an official capacity, and are they immune from prosecution then, as well?’ I think we’d all say, of course not!” Many Republicans continue to back Trump This month’s case before the Supreme Court, which includes three Trump appointees, involves federal charges that Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election by spreading false information about voter fraud and by pressing Vice President Mike Pence to reject legitimate results when they were presented to Congress. That congressional certification of electoral votes on January 6, 2021, was disrupted by Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol. For that attack, Trump is facing a charge of obstructing an official proceeding. The former president argues he was acting in an official capacity at the time, and therefore cannot be charged. In its filing to the Supreme Court, Trump’s team wrote, “The president cannot function, and the presidency itself cannot retain its vital independence, if the president faces criminal prosecution for official acts once he leaves office.” “A denial of criminal immunity would incapacitate every future president with de facto blackmail and extortion while in office,” the filing continues, “and condemn him to years of post-office trauma at the hands of political opponents.” A Politico Magazine/Ipsos poll last month found that 70% of voters — including nearly half of Republicans — reject Trump’s argument that presidents should be immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office. Republican voter Jeff Williams from Valparaiso, Indiana, believes charges against Trump show he is being unfairly targeted by Democrats. “It looks to me like these are all cases of Democrat-affiliated prosecutors in Democratic-leaning districts hoping for Democratic-slanted juries that will vote against Trump simply because they don’t like him,” Williams told VOA. “Do I think a president should have total immunity from the law? No way,” Williams said. “But have I seen any evidence that suggests President Trump is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? Absolutely not. This feels like a witch hunt.” “Half of the country is going to have to justify voting for a criminal this year!” “I can’t believe this is the situation we find ourselves in,” said Democratic voter Deborah Theobald of Woodstock, Georgia. “Half of the country is going to have to justify voting for a criminal this year!” Fifty-five percent of Americans responding to a Reuters/Ipsos poll say they would not vote for Donald Trump if he was convicted of a felony by a jury, while 58% said they would not cast their ballot for the former president if he was currently serving time in prison. “If a person has committed a crime while in office, and even a serious crime before office, then I think they should be prosecuted just as any other American would be,” said Rebecca Urrutia, a Connecticut mother who voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020. “Anyone who says that a president should have immunity from a prosecuted crime doesn’t stand for the Constitution or our country,” she said. “The president is a citizen and servant of our country, not a king or emperor, and if you break the law, I can’t vote for you.” Impacting the coming election It’s a turning point for the U.S. legal system and a pivotal political moment for Trump, says Robert Collins, a Dillard University professor of urban studies and public policy. “Polling has shown that whether he is convicted or not has huge implications for the 2024 presidential election,” Collins told VOA. “But, outside of how these cases are ruled, the longer they go on, the more likely Trump avoids a guilty ruling in advance of Election Day.” Independent voters are a pivotal group in swing states, with more than one-third telling a Politico Magazine/Ipsos poll that they are less likely to support Trump if he is convicted. “But if a conviction doesn’t come in time for the election — or too close to the election for voters to change their mind — then Republican voters might stick with him,” Collins said. “And, if he wins the election, and is convicted afterwards, then he’ll make the case that as the sitting president, he’s able to pardon himself. It’s a dangerous situation.” Melbourne, Florida voter Jillian Dani backed Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020 and says the results of his criminal cases will have a big impact on how she votes in November. “On one hand, I wouldn’t vote for a felon,” Dani told VOA. “But on the other hand, I’m worried this is a witch hunt against someone the Democratic Party fears. I believe Clinton and Biden were criminals, too, but they weren’t convicted. If Trump isn’t convicted either, then why should he be treated differently?”