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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.

BELGRADE, Serbia — An attacker with a crossbow wounded a Serbian police officer guarding the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade on Saturday, Serbia’s interior ministry said. The officer responded by fatally shooting the assailant. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said in a statement that the attacker shot a bolt at the officer, hitting him in the neck. He said the officer than "used a weapon in self-defense to shoot the attacker, who died as a result of his injuries.” The policeman was conscious when he was transported to Belgrade's main emergency hospital, where an operation to remove the bolt from his neck will be performed, it said.The identity of the attacker is still being determined. "All the circumstances of the attack and possible motives are being investigated,” Dacic said. Serbia has maintained close relations with Israel amid its armed intervention in Gaza.

ISLAMABAD — The Taliban on Saturday ruled out any discussions on “internal issues” of Afghanistan, including women’s rights, with international envoys at a crucial United Nations-hosted meeting in Doha, Qatar. Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government spokesperson and head of its delegation attending the conference in the capital of the Gulf state, said before his visit to Doha that the two-day talks commencing Sunday would primarily center on Afghan economic issues and counternarcotics efforts. “We acknowledge women are facing issues, but they are internal Afghan matters and need to be addressed locally within the framework of Islamic Sharia,” Mujahid told a news conference in the capital, Kabul, when asked whether Afghan women’s rights would be on the meeting agenda. “Our meetings, such as the one in Doha or with other countries, have nothing to do with the lives of our sisters, nor will we allow them to interfere in our internal affairs,” he noted. Special envoys from around two dozen countries, including the United States, will gather in Doha Sunday to interact with Taliban representatives for the first time since U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres initiated what is referred to as the "Doha process" a year ago. The dialogue is aimed at developing a unified and coherent international approach to increase engagement with the fundamentalist Afghan authorities. The Taliban stormed back to power in August 2021 as the U.S.-led foreign forces departed the country after almost two decades of involvement in the Afghan war. They have imposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, banning girls from schools beyond the sixth grade and many Afghan women from public and private workplaces, including the U.N., among other restrictions on their freedom. The international community has refused to formally recognize the male-only Taliban government until it removes the restrictions on women and girls. The Taliban defend their governance, saying it is aligned with Afghan culture and Islamic law. They were not invited to the first Doha meeting in May 2023, and they refused an invitation to the second in February. Both events were hosted by Guterres himself. The U.N. is under fire for excluding women Afghan representatives from Sunday’s talks. The decision has triggered outrage among global human rights groups and female rights advocates, who argue that the Taliban’s curbs on women and girls should be a central focus of any discussions about the future of Afghanistan. Mujahid defended the decision to skip previous Doha talks, saying Taliban representatives were invited only for limited interactions and they were refused a meeting with the U.N. secretary-general. He said that other groups promoting “violence and disharmony” in Afghanistan also were invited to those sessions as representatives of the country despite Taliban objections. “Now the [Taliban] conditions have been accepted that this time it will not happen,” Mujahid claimed. The U.N. spokesperson announced on Friday that Rosemary DiCarlo, its undersecretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, will host the Doha meeting of special international envoys on behalf of Guterres and raise women’s issues. In addition, Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York that DiCarlo and special international envoys will meet on Tuesday with representatives of Afghan civil society, including human rights and women's organizations and advocates — a day after the two-day session with the Taliban ends. “The undersecretary-general will raise the rights of women and girls, human rights in general, and political inclusion in the discussions in Doha that she will be having with the de facto [Taliban] authorities,” Dujarric said. “The ultimate objective of the process is an Afghanistan at peace with itself and its neighbors, fully integrated into the international community and meeting its international obligations, including on human rights, and particularly on the rights of women and girls,” Dujarric said. Mujahid insisted that the Taliban's participation in Sunday’s Doha meeting would mutually benefit Afghanistan and the world and help restore the country’s dialogue with the West. The U.S. and Western countries at large have isolated the Taliban over their harsh treatment of Afghan women and other human rights concerns. They moved their diplomatic missions to Doha after the Taliban takeover, terminated economic development aid for the country, and isolated the Afghan banking sector over terrorism-related sanctions on many leaders of the de facto government in Kabul. However, most of Afghanistan’s neighbors, including China, Iran and Pakistan, and many regional countries such as Russia and Turkey have retained their embassies and increased diplomatic engagement with the Taliban. The Taliban maintain they have restored peace in war-torn Afghanistan, and their crackdown on narcotics, including a nationwide ban on poppy cultivation, has almost ended illicit drug production in the country. The U.N. has endorsed those claims, stating that the prohibition has resulted in a 95% decrease in drug production in a country that was previously the world's largest producer.

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Tehran, IRAN — Iran on Saturday warned that "all Resistance Fronts," a grouping of Iran and its regional allies, would confront Israel if it attacks Lebanon. The comment from Iran's mission to New York comes with fears of a wider regional war involving Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement. The two sides have engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire since the war in Gaza began. Such exchanges have escalated this month, alongside bellicose rhetoric from both sides. Israel's military said plans for a Lebanon offensive had been "approved and validated," prompting Hezbollah to respond that none of Israel would be spared in a full-blown conflict. In a post on social media platform X, the Iranian mission said it "deems as psychological warfare the Zionist regime's propaganda about intending to attack Lebanon." But, it added, "should it embark on full-scale military aggression, an obliterating war will ensue. All options, incl. the full involvement of all Resistance Fronts, are on the table." The war in Gaza began in October when Hamas Palestinian militants attacked southern Israel. Iran, which backs Hamas, has praised the attack as a success but has denied any involvement. Alongside Hezbollah's attacks on northern Israel, Iran-backed rebels in Yemen have repeatedly struck commercial ships in the Red Sea area in what they say are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians. Iran also backs other groups in the region. The Islamic republic has not recognized Israel since the 1979 revolution that toppled Iran's United States-backed shah. Fears of regional war also soared in April, after an air strike that leveled Iran's consulate in Damascus and killed seven Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals. Iran hit back with an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel on April 13 and 14. Iran's state media later reported explosions in the central province of Isfahan as U.S. media quoted American officials saying Israel had carried out retaliatory strikes on its arch-rival. Tehran downplayed the reported Israeli raid.

Geneva — Gazans are forced to live in bombed-out buildings or camp next to giant piles of trash, a United Nations spokesperson said Friday, denouncing the "unbearable" conditions in the besieged territory. Louise Wateridge from UNRWA, the U.N. agency supporting Palestinian refugees, described the "extremely dire" living conditions in the Gaza Strip. "It's really unbearable," she told reporters in Geneva, via video-link from central Gaza. Wateridge, who returned Wednesday after four weeks outside the territory, said that even in that time the situation had "significantly deteriorated." "Today, it has to be the worst it's ever been. I don't doubt that tomorrow again will be the worst it's ever been," she said. Nearly nine months into the war between Israel and Hamas, Wateridge said, the Gaza Strip had been "destroyed." She said she had been "shocked" on returning to Khan Yunis in central Gaza. "The buildings are skeletons, if at all. Everything is rubble," she said. "And yet people are living there again.” "There's no water there, there's no sanitation, there's no food,” she said. “And now, people are living back in these buildings that are empty shells," with sheets covering the gaps left by blown-out walls. With no bathrooms, "people are relieving themselves anywhere they can." “Adding misery” The war in Gaza started with Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 37,700 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. Wateridge said the struggle to bring fuel into Gaza and distribute it safely was having an impact on the ability to deliver aid. "Without the fuel, the humanitarian response really grinds to a halt," she said. About 150 meters (490 feet) away from where she was speaking, she said, a pile of around 100,000 tons of waste was building up, with makeshift tents pitched all around it. "The population is living among it," she said. "With the temperatures rising, it's really adding misery to the living conditions." Friends “unrecognizable” Wateridge said that before the war, sanitation units would clear all the trash from refugee camps to landfill sites. Now, appeals to the Israeli authorities for access to the landfill sites were frequently denied, she said. And lacking fuel meant that even when access was granted, trucks could not go in to clear out the mess. Wateridge said food insecurity in the territory was having a visible effect on the population. "When I see my colleagues, my friends here, they're visibly unrecognizable because having such unsustained access to food for so long, you start to age, you look unhealthy, your skin changes color," she said. "Waiting for death” Thursday saw the first medical evacuations from Gaza into neighboring Egypt since the Rafah border crossing was closed in early May, when Israeli forces took over the Palestinian side. The World Health Organization says 10,000 patients need to be evacuated from Gaza for treatment. Wateridge said one of her own UNRWA colleagues, Abdullah, had to wait for two months before being evacuated in April. He was injured in a strike and had his legs amputated in late February. Since then, he had spent weeks in the devastated Al Shifa hospital — once Gaza's largest medical complex — when it was under siege. And he spent two months waiting in a medical tent, "some days waiting for death," she said. "Multiple times, he very nearly lost his life." Wateridge said that in late April, she visited Abdullah with a colleague who "donated her blood on the spot to him to keep him alive.” "It is not acceptable for people to be experiencing this and be treated like this,” she said.

La Paz, BOLIVIA — Three suspected leaders of a failed coup against Bolivian President Luis Arce were remanded in custody on Friday for six months, the country's top prosecutor said. Former army chief Juan Jose Zuniga, former head of navy Juan Arnez, and Alejandro Irahola, former head of the army's mechanized brigade, will be held in a high-security prison not far from the capital, La Paz. "This pretrial detention ordered by the judge will undoubtedly set a precedent and is a good signal for the investigation to move forward," said Attorney General Cesar Siles. The three officers face charges of engaging in an armed uprising and terrorism and face up to 20 years in prison, Siles said on state television. A total of 21 active, retired and civilian military personnel were arrested in connection with Wednesday's attempted coup, in which troops and tanks were deployed in the heart of the capital, where they tried to break down a door of the presidential palace. Zuniga said his goal was to "restructure democracy" in Bolivia. He was soon captured, and the troops pulled back. In an unusual twist, Zuniga claimed he was following Arce's orders and that the president had hoped for the coup to trigger a crackdown that would boost his popularity. Arce denied the allegations. "How could one order or plan a coup on oneself?" he told reporters. Tensions in the Andean nation have been rising in recent weeks over surging prices, shortages of dollars and fuel, and a feud between Arce and powerful former president Evo Morales ahead of the 2025 election. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced Thursday that he would soon visit his Arce to support him following the unrest. Russia "strongly" condemned the attempted military coup, its foreign ministry said Thursday, warning against "destructive foreign interference" in the South American country. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres "welcomes the peaceful resolution of the situation," his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said, having earlier expressed alarm over the abortive coup. Condemnations of the coup bid also poured in from Madrid, Washington and across Latin America. Bolivia, which has a long history of military coups, has in recent weeks been rocked by an economic crisis due to a drop in natural gas production, its main source of foreign currency until 2023. The country has had to reduce fuel imports, and there is a shortage of dollars, which has triggered protests by powerful unions of merchants and freight transporters. Gustavo Flores-Macias, a professor of government at Cornell University in New York, told AFP the failed coup was "a symptom of a significant and broad discontent" in the country. For now, "we must carefully evaluate how widespread the discontent is within the armed forces," he said, adding that Arce's government was facing "a critical moment of weakness." Bolivia is also deeply polarized after years of political instability, and the ruling Movement Towards Socialism party is riven by internal conflict between supporters of Arce and his former mentor, Morales.

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI — Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille left Port-au-Prince on Friday to travel to Washington and New York, as freshly deployed Kenyan police officers began patrolling the city as part of a U.N.-backed mission to battle armed gangs that have taken over the capital. Conille's office said he would travel with Foreign Minister Dominique Dupuy, Finance Minister Ketleen Florestal and Chief of Staff Nesmy Manigat, while Justice Minister Carlos Hercule would stay as acting prime minister on his behalf. "The delegation will have important work meetings with officials from international financial institutions, among others. It will also inspect Haiti's embassy in Washington," theoffice said, without giving further details. A spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council said Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer would meet with Conille on Monday. The United States is the principal financial backer of a Kenya-led international security force the United Nations has ratified be sent to Haiti to help its police battle armed gangs that have plunged the country into a humanitarian crisis. Haiti's former government first requested the force in 2022, and a first deployment of Kenyan police arrived this week, although it is unclear when the rest of the force — expected to number over 2,500 — is set to arrive. As armed khaki-clad Kenyan police in bullet-proof jackets and helmets patrolled the city in black armored vans, Port-au-Prince residents said they hoped the force could stop the indiscriminate killings and allow business to restart. "We need peace. If the Kenyan police forces are here, it's so we can return to the lives we used to have. We hope they've come to work seriously," said resident Kloud Dine. "We need the Kenyans here a while because the gang members make us suffer too much," added Louise Baret, a painter. "Enough is enough." In a video shared on social media on Wednesday, gang leader Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier rallied armed men, telling them to fire on Kenyan police and pledging to fight to the death: "I don't care if they are white or black. If they're not Haitian and they're on Haitian soil, they're invaders," he said. Over half a million people have fled their homes due to the violence, and around half the population is going hungry.

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.

MOSCOW — A Ukrainian drone attack on a house in a Russian border village killed five people, including two children, the regional governor said Saturday. The drone hit a house in the village of Gorodishche, a tiny village in Russia's Kursk region, just a few meters from the border with Ukraine. "To our great grief, five people were killed ... including two small children. Another two members of the family are in a serious condition," Kursk governor Alexei Smirnov said in a post on Telegram. The attack was with a "copter"-style drone, he added, a small device that can be fitted to carry grenades or other explosives that are dropped over targets. Both sides have used drones, including larger self-detonating craft with ranges of up to hundreds of kilometers, extensively throughout the conflict which began in February 2022. Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russian territory this year, targeting both energy sites that it says fuel Russia's military, as well as towns and villages just across the border. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a major new land offensive on Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region last month in what he said was an operation to create a "buffer zone" and push Ukrainian forces back to protect Russia's border Belgorod region from shelling. The Kursk region, where Saturday's attack occurred, lies further north, across from Ukraine's Sumy region, which Kyiv controls. 

Washington — American forces destroyed seven drones and a control station vehicle in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen over the past 24 hours, the U.S. military said Friday. The strikes were carried out because the drones and the vehicle "presented an imminent threat to U.S. coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region," the U.S. Central Command said in a statement on social media platform X. The Iran-backed Houthis have been targeting vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 2023 in attacks they say are in solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. On Friday, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for attacks on four vessels, including a "direct hit" on the Delonix tanker in the Red Sea after an operation involving a number of ballistic missiles. However, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said five missiles were fired on Friday in "close proximity" to this vessel, which it said reported no damage.  The Delonix was located around 277 kilometers northwest of the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida when it was attacked, according to UKMTO, which is run by Britain's Royal Navy. The Houthis also claimed attacks on the Waler oil tanker and Johannes Maersk container ship in the Mediterranean Sea and the Ioannis bulk carrier in the Red Sea. The United States in December announced a maritime security initiative to protect Red Sea shipping from Houthi attacks, which have forced commercial vessels to divert from the route that normally carries 12% of global trade. CENTCOM said its strike on Friday was carried out "to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure." "This continued malign and reckless behavior by the Iranian-backed Houthis threatens regional stability and endangers the lives of mariners across the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden." The attacks have sent insurance costs spiraling for vessels transiting the Red Sea and prompted many shipping firms to take the far longer passage around the southern tip of Africa instead. 

BADINGILO and BOMA NATIONAL PARKS, South Sudan — Seen from the air, they ripple across the landscape — a river of antelope racing across the vast grasslands of South Sudan in what conservationists say is the world's largest land mammal migration. The country's first comprehensive aerial wildlife survey, released Tuesday, found about 6 million antelope. The survey over a two-week period last year in two national parks and nearby areas relied on spotters in airplanes, nearly 60,000 photos and tracking more than a hundred collared animals over about 120,000 square kilometers. The estimate from the nonprofit African Parks, which conducted the work along with the government, far surpasses other large migratory herds such as the estimated 1.36 million wildebeests surveyed last year in the Serengeti straddling Tanzania and Kenya. But they warned that the animals face a rising threat from commercial poaching in a nation rife with weapons and without strong law enforcement. "Saving the last great migration of wildlife on the planet is an incredibly important thing," said Mike Fay, a conservation scientist who led the survey. "There's so much evidence that the world's ecosystems are collapsing, the world resources are being severely degraded and it's causing gigantic disruption on the planet." The east African nation is still emerging from five years of fighting that erupted in 2013 and killed nearly 400,000 people. Elections scheduled for last year were postponed to this December, but few preparations are in place for those. Violence continues in some areas, with some 2 million people displaced and 9 million — 75% of the population — reliant on humanitarian aid, according to the United Nations. The migration is already being touted as a point of national pride by a country trying to move beyond its conflict-riddled past. Billboards of the migration recently went up in the capital of Juba, and the government has aspirations that the animals may someday be a magnet for tourists. South Sudan has six national parks and a dozen game reserves covering more than 13% of the terrain. The migration stretches from east of the Nile in Badingilo and Boma parks into neighboring Ethiopia — an area roughly the size of the U.S. state of Georgia. It includes four main antelope, the white-eared kob — of which there are some 5 million — the tiang, the Mongalla gazelle and bohor reedbuck. The survey said some animals have increased since a more limited one in 2010. But it described a "catastrophic" decline of most non-migratory species in the last 40 years, such as the hippo, elephant and warthog. Associated Press journalists flying over the stunning migration of thousands of antelope last week saw few giraffes and no elephants, lions or cheetahs. Trying to protect the animals over such a vast terrain is challenging. In recent years, new roads have increased people's access to markets, contributing to poaching. Years of flooding have meant crop failures that have left some people with little choice but to hunt for food. Some 30,000 animals were being killed each month between March and May this year, African Parks estimated. The government hasn't made a priority of protecting wildlife. Less than 1% of its budget is allocated to the wildlife ministry, which said it has few cars to move rangers around to protect animals. Those rangers say they haven't been paid a salary since October and are outgunned by poachers. South Sudan President H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit said the country is committed to turning its wealth of wildlife into sustainable tourism. He called on the Ministry of Wildlife to prioritize training and equipping rangers to fight poaching. Matthew Kauffman, a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey and a professor of zoology at the University of Wyoming, said the work fits a growing global effort "to map these migrations." One benefit is to be smarter when landscapes are developed to make way for these seasonal movements, he said. Villagers near the parks told AP they mostly hunted to feed their families or to barter for goods. A newly paved road between Juba and Bor — the epicenter of the illegal commercial bushmeat trade — has made it easier for trucks to carry large quantities of animals. Bor sits along the Nile, about 45 kilometers from Badingilo Park. In the dry season, animals coming closer to the town to drink are vulnerable to killing. Officials at the wildlife ministry in Bor told AP the killing of animals had doubled in the last two years. Even when those involved in the industry are caught, the consequences can be minor. A few years ago, when wildlife rangers came to arrest Lina Garang for selling animals, she said they let her go, instead telling her to conduct business more discreetly. Garang, 38, said her competition has only grown, with 15 new shops opening along her strip to buy and sell animals. Part of the challenge is that there is no national land management plan, so roads and infrastructure are built without initial discussions about where best placed. The government's also allocated an oil concession to a South African company in the middle of Badingilo that spans nearly 90% of the park. African Parks is trying to square modernizing the country with preserving the wildlife. The organization has been criticized in the past for not engaging enough with communities and taking an overly militarized approach in some of the nearly two dozen areas it manages in Africa. The group says its strategy in South Sudan is focused on community relations and aligning the benefits of wildlife and economic development. One plan is to create land conservancies that local communities would manage, with input from national authorities. African Parks has set up small hubs in several remote villages and is spreading messages of sustainable practices, such as not killing female or baby animals. Peter Alberto, undersecretary for the ministry of wildlife, conservation and tourism, said the government hopes the migration can become a point of pride, and reshape how the world thinks of South Sudan. As for tourism, that may take a while. There aren't hotels or roads to host people near the parks, and the only option is high-end trips for what one tour company official called a "high-risk" audience. There's fighting between tribes and attacks by gunmen in the area, and pilots told AP they've been shot at while flying. Will Jones, chief exploration officer for Journeys by Design, a U.K.-based tour company, charges roughly $150,000 per person for a weeklong tour in South Sudan. He said there isn't strong demand. Locals trying to protect the wildlife say it's hard to shift people's mentality. In the remote village of Otallo on the border with Ethiopia, young men have started buying motorbikes. What had been an all-day trip on foot to cross the border to sell animals now takes just five hours, allowing them to double the number of animals they take and make multiple trips. One of them, Charo Ochogi, said he'd rather be doing something else but there are few options, and he's not worried about the animals disappearing. "The kob isn't going to finish. They'll reproduce," he said.

NEW YORK — It's not just a book. Back in the 1450s, when the Bible became the first major work printed in Europe with moveable metal type, Johannes Gutenberg was a man with a plan. The German inventor decided to make the most of his new technology — the movable-type printing press — by producing an unprecedented version of the scripture for wealthy customers who could interpret Latin: leaders of the Catholic Church. Though he planned on printing 150 Bibles, increasing demand motivated him to produce 30 extra copies, which led to a total of 180. Currently known as the "Gutenberg Bibles," around 48 complete copies are preserved. None is known to be kept in private hands. Among those in the United States, a paper Bible can be seen at the Morgan Library & Museum, in New York City. Two more copies in vellum lie in the underground vaults, next to 120,000 other books. Why should anyone — religiously observant or not — feel compelled to see a Gutenberg Bible up close? Here's a look at how its printing influenced the history of books and the religious landscape. And what a 500-year-old volume can still reveal. What is a Gutenberg Bible? The term refers to each of the two-volume Bibles printed in Gutenberg's workshop around 1454. Before that, all existing Bibles were copied by hand. The process could take up to a year, said John McQuillen, associate curator at the Morgan Library. In contrast, it is believed that Gutenberg completed his work in about six months. Each Gutenberg Bible has nearly 1,300 pages and weighs around 60 pounds. It's written in Latin and printed in double columns, with 42 lines per page. Most were printed on paper. A few others on animal skin. When a Bible came off the press, only the black letters were printed. Hand decorations and bindings were added later, depending on each buyer's taste and budget. Some ornamentations were added in Germany. Others in France, Belgium or Spain. Therefore, each Gutenberg Bible is unique, McQuillen said. Why were these Bibles a turning point? Gutenberg's invention produced a massive multiplication of complete copies of biblical texts. The first impact was among scholars and learned priests who had easier access than ever before, said Richard Rex, professor of Reformation History from the University of Cambridge. "This massive multiplication even led to the wider adoption of the term 'Bible' (Biblia) to describe the book," Rex said. "Medieval authors and others do speak sometimes of 'the Bible', but more commonly of 'scripture.'" Psychologically, Rex said, the appearance of the printed text — its regularity, precision and uniformity — contributed to a tendency to resolve theological arguments by reference to the biblical text alone. Later on, the printing of Bibles in vernacular languages — especially from Luther's Bible (early 1520s) and Tyndale's New Testament (mid 1520s) onwards — affected the way that ordinary parishioners related to religion and the clergy. The limits of literacy still meant that access to the Bible was far from universal. Gradually, though, religious leaders stopped being its main interpreters. "The phenomenon of lay people questioning or interpreting the biblical text became more common from the 1520s onwards," Rex said. "Although the early Protestant Reformers, such as Luther, emphasized that they did not seek to create an interpretative 'free for all,' this was probably the predictable consequence of their appeal to 'scripture alone.'" More than a book Three times per year, a curator from the Morgan Library turns the page of the Gutenberg Bible on display. It's leaves not only tell a tale of scripture, but of those who possessed it. A few years ago, by studying its handmade initials, McQuillen was the one to figure out the origin of its decoration: a German monastery that no longer exists. Similarly, in the 2000s, a Japanese researcher found little marks on the surface of the Old Testament's paper copy. Her findings revealed that those leaves were used by Gutenberg's successors for their own edition, printed in 1462. "For as many times as the Gutenberg Bible have been looked at, it seems like every time a researcher comes in, something new can be discovered," McQuillen said. "This book has existed for 500 years. Who are the people that have touched it? How can we talk about these personal histories in addition to the greater idea of what printing technology means on a European or global scale?" he said. Among the thousands of Bibles that J. P. Morgan acquired, owners made various annotations. Individual names, birth dates, details that reflect a personal story. "A Bible is now sort of a book on the shelf," McQuillen said. "But at one point, this was a very personal object." "In a museum setting, they become art and a little bit distanced, but we try to break that distance down."

ABUJA, Nigeria — Yunusa Bawa spends a lot of time talking about the vaccine for the human papillomavirus that is responsible for nearly all cases of cervical cancer. But on most days, only two or three people allow their daughters to be vaccinated in the rural part of Nigeria where he works. The challenge in Sabo community, on the outskirts of the capital of Abuja, is the unfounded rumor that the HPV vaccine will later keep young girls from giving birth. "The rumor is too much," said Bawa, 42. As more African countries strive to administer more HPV vaccines, Bawa and other health workers tackle challenges that slow progress, particularly misinformation about the vaccine. The World Health Organization's Africa office estimates that about 25% of the population still has doubts about it — reflecting concerns seen in some other parts of the world in early campaigns for the vaccine. A common sexually transmitted virus, HPV can cause cervical cancer, certain other cancers and genital warts. In most cases, the virus doesn't cause any problems, but some infections persist and eventually lead to cancer. Across Africa, an average of 190 women died daily from cervical cancer in 2020, accounting for 23% of the deaths globally and making it the leading cancer killer among women in the WHO Africa region of 47 countries. Eighteen of the 20 countries with the highest rate of cervical cancer cases in the world are in Africa. Yet the region's HPV vaccination rate has been low. More than half of Africa's 54 nations – 28 – have introduced the vaccine in their immunization programs, but only five have reached the 90% coverage that the continent hopes to achieve by 2030. Across the region, 33% of young girls have been vaccinated with HPV. It's a stark contrast to most European countries, where both girls and boys have been receiving HPV shots. Part of why Africa has a high burden of cervical cancer is because of limited access to screening for women, said Emily Kobayashi, head of the HPV Program at the vaccines alliance Gavi. "The elimination strategy is a long game ... but we know that vaccination is the strongest pillar and one of the easiest to implement," Kobayashi said. But "it is one thing to introduce the vaccine, but if the vaccine remains in the fridge, it doesn't prevent cervical cancer," said Charles Shey Wiysonge, head of the vaccine-preventable diseases program in the WHO's Africa region. He said information must be provided by people "who are trusted, people who are close to the communities." There is a long history of vaccine hesitancy in many African countries that is sometimes linked to a lack of trust in government, as one study published in the Nature science journal in May found, giving room for conspiracy theories and misinformation from social media influencers and religious leaders. In Zimbabwe, where cervical cancer is the most frequent cancer among women, a group of mostly women known as Village Health Workers have been trained to raise awareness about cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine in rural areas. But they fight a high level of hesitancy among religious sects that discourage followers from modern medicines, asking them to rely instead on prayers and "anointed" water and stones. The women who eventually agree to be screened for cervical cancer do so in secret, said Zanele Ndlovu, one of the health workers on the outskirts of Bulawayo city. For a deeply religious country like Zimbabwe, "the spiritual leaders have so much influence that a lot of our time is taken trying to educate people about the safety of vaccines, or that they are not ungodly," Ndlovu said. There are also success stories in Africa where authorities have achieved up to a 90% vaccination rate. One example is Ethiopia, which relies heavily on religious leaders, teachers and hotline workers. In Rwanda, the first African country to implement a national HPV vaccination program in 2011, the coverage rate has reached 90%. Hesitancy is less of an issue due to vigorous awareness work that has relied on school-based campaigns and community outreach programs, said Dr. Theoneste Maniragaba, director of the cancer program at Rwanda Biomedical Center. Mozambique has deployed school-based programs, a door-to-door approach and mobile outreach for girls in hard-to-reach areas that has helped it reach 80% coverage rate with the first of two doses. In Tanzania, where the HPV vaccine has been in use since at least 2018, authorities in April launched a campaign to target over 5 million girls and further raise coverage, which has reached 79% of girls with the first dose. One of Africa's largest HPV vaccination drives targeting girls recently kicked off in Nigeria, which has procured nearly 15 million doses with the help of the U.N. children's agency. It will target girls ages 9–14 with single doses that the WHO's African immunization advisory group has said is as effective as the regular two doses. One challenge is explaining the HPV vaccination to girls ahead of the onset of sexual activity, especially in conservative societies, said Dr. Aisha Mustapha, a gynecologist in northern Kaduna state. Mustapha has been successfully treated for cervical cancer. She said the experience helps in her meetings with religious leaders and in community outreach programs in Kaduna, where she leads the Medical Women Association of Nigeria. They try to make the girls feel comfortable and understand why the vaccine is important, she said. That sometimes requires comic books and lots of singing. "The (cervical) cancer … is no respecter of any identity," she said. "The vaccine is available, it is free, it is safe and effective."

BEIRUT — After more than eight months of low-scale conflict, Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah are threatening all-out war. The United States and the international community are lobbying for calm and hopeful for a diplomatic solution. They have not been successful so far and time for a political settlement could be expiring. Should war break out, Israel would face a much more formidable foe in Lebanon than it faced in Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel last week that his group has new weapons and capabilities, and it has published surveillance drone footage taken deep inside northern Israel that showed the port of Haifa and other sites far from the Lebanon-Israel border. A look at how Hezbollah became what many call the strongest non-state force in the region. What is Hezbollah? Founded in 1982 during Lebanon's civil war, Hezbollah's initial objective was ending Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon. It achieved that in 2000. Shiite Muslim Hezbollah is part of a collection of Iranian-backed factions and governments known as the Axis of Resistance. It was the first group that Iran backed and used as a way to export its brand of political Islamism. In its early days the group attacked U.S. targets, causing Washington to designate it a terrorist organization. "Iran's support has helped Hezbollah consolidate its position as Lebanon's most powerful political actor as well as the most-equipped military actor supported by Iran in the whole of the Middle East," said Lina Khatib, the director of the SOAS Middle East Institute in London. Hezbollah fighters ambushed an Israeli patrol in 2006 and took two Israeli soldiers hostage. Hezbollah and Israel fought a monthlong war that ended in a draw but Israeli bombardment wreaked widespread destruction in southern Lebanon. Israel's objective was eliminating Hezbollah but the Lebanese group came out stronger and became a key military and political power on Israel's northern border. Domestic opponents have criticized Hezbollah for maintaining its arsenal and for coming to dominate the government. Hezbollah's reputation also suffered when it briefly seized a section of Beirut in May 2008 after the Lebanese government took measures against its private telecommunications network. Hezbollah's military capabilities have also surged, and it has played a key role in the Syrian civil war, keeping President Bashar al-Assad in power. And it has helped train Iran-backed militias in Syria and Iraq, as well as Yemen's Houthi rebels. What are Hezbollah's military capabilities? Throughout its latest conflict with Israel, Hezbollah has gradually introduced new weapons to its arsenal, especially after Israel began its ground invasion of the southern city of Rafah in Gaza in early May. While Hezbollah initially began launching Cornet anti-tank missiles and salvos of Katyusha rockets, it later started using rockets with heavy warheads, and eventually introduced explosive drones and surface-to-air missiles for the first time. Nasrallah said the drones are locally manufactured, with many at their disposal. The group notably released the two videos of footage from drones over Haifa and other sites in northern Israel, showing critical civilian and military infrastructure in a move intended to showcase new access and capabilities and deter Israeli attack. In a televised address last week, Nasrallah said that the group will continue resorting to this tactic. "We now have new weapons. But I won't say what they are," he said. "When the decision is made, they will be seen on the front lines." How does Hezbollah compare to other Iranian-backed groups? Hezbollah is the Arab world's most significant paramilitary force with a robust internal structure as well as a sizeable arsenal. Israel sees it as its most direct threat, and estimates that it has an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles, including precision-guided missiles. In recent years, Hezbollah sent forces to Syria to help fellow Iranian ally President Bashar Assad against armed opposition groups. It also supported the growth of Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, Yemen and Syria. Khatib of the SOAS Middle East Institute in London likened Hezbollah to a "big brother" of fledgling Iranian-backed groups that "do not enjoy the same level of infrastructure or discipline." Hezbollah is bound to Iran by doctrine. However, its relationship with Hamas, an offshoot of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood movement, is based on pragmatism. In recent years, some Hamas officials, including its former second-in-command, Saleh al-Arouri, have since moved to Lebanon, where they have Hezbollah's protection and a presence across Lebanon's multiple Palestinian refugee camps. Arouri was killed in an Israeli drone strike in a southern Beirut suburb in January. Who Is Hassan Nasrallah? Born in 1960 into a poor Shiite family in the Beirut suburb of Bourj Hammoud and later displaced to south Lebanon, Nasrallah studied theology and joined the Amal movement, a Shiite political and paramilitary organization, before becoming one of Hezbollah's founders. He became Hezbollah's leader in 1992 after his predecessor was killed in an Israeli strike. Idolized by many for presiding over Israel's withdrawal from the south and leading the 2006 war, his image appears on billboards and on gadgets in souvenir shops in Lebanon, Syria and other countries across the Arab world. But he also faces opposition among Lebanese who accuse him of tying their country's fate to Iran. Nasrallah is also considered to be pragmatic, able to make political compromises. He has lived in hiding for years, fearing Israeli assassination, and delivers his speeches from undisclosed locations.