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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.

New York — A Congolese teenager appealed to the U.N. Security Council Wednesday to protect children in his country, where conflict between the military and armed groups in the country’s east is exacting an appalling toll on children. “I ask you all to take up the cause of defending children’s rights internationally and in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” the 16-year-old boy, whose identity was protected, told a meeting focusing on children and armed conflict through an interpreter. Last year, the United Nations verified almost 4,000 grave violations against children in the Central African nation, where armed groups have been vying for years with the military for control over the country’s vast natural resources. More than 1,800 children were recruited by armed groups last year, according to the annual U.N. report that verifies violations against children. Sixteen armed groups operating in the country were named and shamed for a range of offenses, from abducting and forcibly recruiting children, to maiming and killing them. The Congolese armed forces were listed for committing rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, but the U.N. noted they have taken formal steps aimed at preventing such abuses. More than 650 children were verified to have been killed or maimed last year, the majority by three armed groups — CODECO, the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, and M23. Thirty child casualties were attributed to the army and police. The teenager who addressed the Security Council spoke of how he was abducted, beaten and forcibly recruited by an armed group on his way to school one day with two friends. “We cried and trembled, begging them to let us go home to our families, but they wouldn’t listen,” he recounted. “That’s when they started whipping us and keeping us in the bush. We were heavily guarded, and they had orders to kill anyone who tried to flee. I had to leave school to serve this armed group by force.” His job was to steal food from farmers’ fields. “During the fighting, many [child recruits] were exposed to being killed by the enemy, and others were killed by their groups themselves, for fear they would divulge their secrets if caught by the military,” he said. After three years in the bush and losing hope of ever seeing his family again, one day he took his chance and escaped while out searching for food. Found by the army, he was taken into custody and briefly sent to a military prison. He went through demobilization rehabilitation and has now returned to school. But not all children are as fortunate. “Girls were also abducted,” he said. “Some became wives of the chiefs, while others were taken by other soldiers.” Spiraling sexual violence The United Nations report says sexual violence was perpetrated against 279 girls and two boys last year — including rape, gang rape, forced marriage and sexual slavery. “The use of sexual violence as a modus operandi of armed groups is spiraling,” Ted Chaiban, UNICEF deputy executive director, told the council. "During my recent visits to the DRC, I met with adolescent girls who had run away with their siblings when their villages were attacked, and who now headed their households,” he said. Chaiban said it is especially worrying that the conflict is intensifying at the same time the large U.N. peacekeeping mission is beginning to leave the country, at the government’s request. "There is a very real risk that the humanitarian crisis in the DRC could soon become a catastrophe,” he said. It is not just children who are experiencing horrific abuse. Women are also subjected to staggering rates of sexual violence. In Goma, capital of North Kivu province, instances of sexual violence in the first half of 2024 were double the amount recorded over the same time last year, from 7,500 reported cases to 15,000, said Francois Moreillon, the International Committee of the Red Cross’s head of delegation in DRC. “Anyone with a gun feels that he can do whatever he wants,” he told reporters. Moreillon recounted how a woman that the ICRC had treated after being raped told caregivers that she and other women were taking condoms with them into the forest when they went to collect firewood — a prime time for women to be attacked. She said they hoped to persuade their potential rapists to wear them so they could prevent sexually transmitted diseases and lessen the anger of their husbands, who often leave women after finding out they have been raped. The Congo has one of the largest internal displacement crises in the world, with more than 7 million people affected.

London — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrived in his home country of Australia a free man Wednesday after agreeing to a plea deal with U.S. prosecutors over espionage charges, ending a 14-year legal odyssey. Supporters of the 52-year-old journalist and political activist welcomed his release, but said the prosecution sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom. Assange received an emotional welcome as he arrived at Canberra Airport by private jet Wednesday morning. He was embraced by his wife Stella, and his father, John Shipton, before punching the air as he was cheered by a group of supporters gathered nearby. "Julian wanted me to sincerely thank everyone. He wanted to be here, but you have to understand what he's been through. He needs time. He needs to recuperate," Stella Assange told reporters at a press conference in Australia's capital. She thanked his supporters around the world. "It took millions of people. It took people working behind the scenes. People protesting on the streets for days and weeks and months and years. And we achieved it," she said. Assange spends years in prison Assange spent more than five years in London's high-security Belmarsh Prison as he fought a legal battle over extradition to the United States. Britain's High Court finally ruled in May that he could appeal the extradition order. That decision prompted the U.S. Department of Justice, British and Australian authorities, and Assange's legal team to expedite negotiations on a deal in which Assange pleaded guilty to one charge of espionage. He was flown Monday evening from London to the U.S. Pacific territory of Saipan, where a brief hearing at a U.S. District Court on Tuesday concluded the prosecution. Assange was sentenced to the equivalent of the time he had already spent in prison and was free Wednesday morning. Defense criticizes US prosecutors Assange's lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, criticized U.S. prosecutors' pursuit of a conviction. "In order to win his freedom, Julian pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit espionage for publishing evidence of U.S. war crimes, human rights abuse and U.S. wrongdoing around the world. This is journalism. This is the criminalization of journalism," said Robinson. "And while the plea deal does not set a judicial precedent — it's not a court decision — the prosecution itself sets a precedent that can be used against the rest of the media," Robinson said at the press conference in Canberra on Wednesday. 'Democracy demands this' U.S. prosecutors charged Assange in 2019 with 17 counts of espionage and one count of hacking, relating to the publication of stolen diplomatic cables covering the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Wikileaks said the material revealed abuses by the U.S. military. Campaigners for press freedom say Assange was simply doing his job. "Essentially what he does is what all journalists want to do: expose incompetence, expose wrongdoing and hold the power to account. Because essentially, democracy demands this. I mean, without this, we wouldn't have democracy," said Abdullahi Tasiu Abubakar, a senior lecturer in journalism at City, University of London. US State Department defends US' action The U.S. Department of Justice has not yet commented on the plea deal. The State Department defended the United States' actions. "I do think it is important when we talk about Julian Assange to remind the world that the actions for which he was indicted and for which he has now pled guilty are actions that put the lives of our partners, our allies and our diplomats at risk, especially those who work in dangerous places like Afghanistan and Iraq," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Wednesday. "The documents they published gave identifying information of individuals who were in contact with the State Department that included opposition leaders, human rights activists around the world, whose positions were put in some danger because of their public disclosure," Miller added. "It also chilled the ability of American personnel to build relationships and have frank conversations with them." Australian PM lobbies for release Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who personally lobbied U.S. President Joe Biden to allow Assange's release, welcomed the plea deal. "Regardless of your views about his activities — and they will be varied — Mr. Assange's case has dragged on for too long. I have said repeatedly that there was nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration. "We have used all appropriate channels. This outcome has been the product of careful, patient and determined work, work I am very proud of," Albanese told lawmakers on Tuesday. Supporters say they'll seek pardon Assange spent seven years in self-imposed confinement in Ecuador's embassy in London from 2012, as he evaded unrelated rape charges filed by Swedish prosecutors, which were later dropped. Assange said he always believed the U.S. was seeking his extradition. He was arrested by British authorities for breach of bail after the Ecuadorian Embassy ejected him in 2019. Assange was held in Belmarsh Prison as he fought U.S. attempts to secure his extradition. Assange's supporters say they will seek a full pardon of his espionage conviction and have vowed to fight for the principle of press freedom.

Warsaw, Poland — Ukrainian officials are embracing what will be a detailed and tortuous process of negotiations following the official opening of EU accession talks this week, saying they have already made major strides toward qualifying for a status that would cement their place in Western Europe. While the process that began Tuesday at a ministerial-level meeting in Luxembourg can take years or even decades, the Kyiv government has declared its commitment to work diligently to meet the bloc’s exacting standards in areas ranging from agricultural policy to human rights. This process “is not something to which Ukraine has come unprepared,” said Ukrainian legislator Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, a former vice-prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, in an interview with VOA. She said the country has undergone significant transformation under an association agreement concluded with the EU in 2017, especially in the process of securing a visa-free regime. Ukraine was formally approved as a candidate for EU membership in June 2022, just months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country. Moldova, which was approved as an EU candidate at about the same time as Ukraine, also began accession talks on Tuesday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised Ukraine for its efforts to date in an address to the Ukrainian parliament in November 2023, saying that the country has “made great strides, much greater than anyone expected from a country at war.” Klympush-Tsintsadze emphasized the need for consolidated efforts from all sectors of society and political factions if Ukraine is to continue its progress toward EU membership. “It will be difficult without a real change in the civil service and public administration of Ukraine, without the engagement of all the possibilities of civil society, different political parties, and stakeholders, and having a very honest conversation with society about some of the very difficult steps,” she said. Those steps require Ukraine, like any membership candidate, to bring its laws and standards into line with those of the EU in 35 policy areas, known as chapters, ranging from the free movement of goods through fisheries, taxation, energy and the environment to judicial rights and security. Each of the chapters must be negotiated to the satisfaction of all 27 existing EU members, making for a complex and drawn-out process. Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Economy Tatiana Berezhna echoed her colleague's sentiments about Ukraine’s readiness for the long road ahead. She noted in an interview with VOA that Ukraine “has already managed to screen the implementation of European legislation.” Berezhna, who is responsible for negotiating the chapters on employment, social issues, and the free movement of workers, stated that since the application, Ukraine has done its homework and is now “ready to proceed with negotiations.” Already this year, Ukrainian officials have participated in several explanatory sessions with representatives of the European Commission. “Now that the negotiations have started, we will have a series of meetings on all the clusters of legislation,” Berezhna said. “We understand that it's a long process; however, we are eager to reunite with our European family.” Wojciech Przybylski, the head of a policy forecasting unit at the Warsaw-based think tank Visegrad Insight, compared the path ahead for Ukraine to that of Poland, which completed its EU membership negotiations in just five years. He pointed out that the negotiations for Ukraine's membership opened just before Hungary, which opposes Ukraine’s bid for admission and further EU enlargement generally, takes the helm of the EU for the next six months. “We know there will be a slowdown or a pause in the cycle, but this will come back as a topic under the Polish EU presidency in January,” said Przybylski, who believes the EU must be enlarged if it is to survive and thrive. “Fortunately, right now, there is a political momentum building up. We need to grow this political support and the network of those who will politically sponsor enlargement.” With Ukraine as ground zero in Europe’s biggest armed conflict since World War II,   Przybylski said he sees enlargement as “the peace project in Europe and the EU as an instrument of peacebuilding in Europe.” EU membership for Ukraine, he added, will be a key component of that process.

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Tehran, Iran — Former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday threw his weight behind reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, two days ahead of a snap presidential vote to replace the late Ebrahim Raisi. Rouhani, a moderate politician who preceded Raisi in office, said Pezeshkian — the only reformist on the ballot — could "remove the shadow of sanctions" that have battered the Iranian economy since the collapse of a landmark nuclear deal. "On Friday, we should vote for someone who is determined to remove the shadow of sanctions from the Iranian people," Rouhani said in a video message published by the reformist Shargh daily, praising Pezeshkian's "honesty" and "loyalty." The election was brought about by Raisi's death in a helicopter crash last month. Rouhani, whose government had negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal with the United States and other powers, said Pezeshkian appeared "determined to revive" the accord that fell through after Washington unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018, reimposing biting sanctions. Diplomatic efforts have since faltered to revive the deal, which aimed to curb Tehran's nuclear activity in return for sanctions relief. Pezeshkian, 69, is an outspoken heart surgeon who has represented the northwestern city of Tabriz in parliament since 2008. He is among the leading contenders in Iran's six-way presidential race along with conservative parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. Reformist figures, including former president Mohammad Khatami and ex-foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, have endorsed Pezeshkian's candidacy. On Tuesday, Khatami said the upcoming vote was "an opportunity" for "change," with Pezeshkian a "righteous, justice-seeking, anti-corruption and meritocratic" leader. Other candidates in the running include conservative Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, Cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi and incumbent Vice President Amirhossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi, the ultraconservative head of the Martyrs' Foundation.

LA PAZ, BOLIVIA — Bolivian armed forces took over the capital's central square Wednesday, and an armored vehicle rammed through the entrance to the presidential palace followed by soldiers, igniting fears of a military coup. Bolivian President Luis Arce denounced the "irregular mobilization" of some army units in La Paz and former leader Evo Morales accused a top general of plotting a coup. Heavily armed soldiers and armored vehicles were seen gathering in the central square, Plaza Murillo, while a Reuters witness saw an armored vehicle pushing into the presidential palace, which sits on the square, and soldiers rushing in. "The three chiefs of the armed forces have come to express our dismay. There will be a new cabinet of ministers, surely things will change, but our country cannot continue like this any longer," General Juan Jose Zuniga told a local TV station. Zuniga addressed reporters in the square prior to the assault on the national palace. "Stop destroying, stop impoverishing our country, stop humiliating our army," he said in full uniform, flanked by soldiers, insisting the action being taken was supported by the public. Morales, who has publicly split with Arce although both belong to the same socialist movement, said his supporters would mobilize in support of democracy. He accused Zuniga of seeking to stage a coup and announced a general work stoppage, including a call to block roadways. "We will not allow the armed forces to violate democracy and intimidate people," Morales said.

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.

DES MOINES, Iowa — A house that was teetering on the edge of an eroding riverbank near a Minnesota dam collapsed into the river in the latest jarring example of extreme weather gripping the upper Midwest.  Video shows the house owned by the Barnes family falling into the flood-swollen Blue Earth River near Mankato on Tuesday night. The dam's west abutment failed Monday, sending the river around the dam and eroding the bank where the home sat. The family had evacuated the house before the collapse.  "It's been a very scary and hard situation," Jenny Barnes, whose family has run the nearby Dam Store for decades, told KARE-TV on Tuesday before the house fell into the river. She also was worried about the store.  "That's our life, as well. That's our business; that's our livelihood. It's everything to us," Barnes said.   A swath through Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota has been under siege from flooding because of torrential rains since last week, while also suffering through a scorching heat wave. Up to 46 centimeters of rain have fallen in some areas, pushing some rivers to record levels. Hundreds of people were rescued, homes were damaged and at least two people died after driving in flooded areas.  Tornado warnings, flash flooding and large hail Tuesday night added insult to injury for some Midwesterners. The National Weather Service said several tornadoes were reported in Iowa and Nebraska. The service was assessing damage to some buildings, crops and trees to confirm whether tornadoes touched down. No major injuries were reported.  The weather service also extended flood warnings for multiple rivers in the region. On Tuesday, floodwaters breached levees in Iowa, creating dangerous conditions that prompted evacuations.  Preliminary information from the weather service shows the recent flooding brought record-high river levels at more than a dozen locations in South Dakota and Iowa, surpassing previous crests by an average of about (1 meter). The Big Sioux River reached nearly 12 meters in Hawarden, Iowa, on Saturday and nearly 14 meters in Sioux City, Iowa, on Monday, exceeding previous highs by 1.5 to 2.1 meters, respectively.  Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in anticipation of Missouri River flooding.  In South Dakota, Kathy Roberts lost nearly everything she had when she escaped flooding Sunday night with her cat and the clothes on her back, KTIV-TV reported.  "I heard screaming outside and looked outside and I had neighbors that had water rushing into their place and water was slowly rising in my driveway," Roberts said.   In the residential development where Roberts lived in North Sioux City, streets, utility poles and trees collapsed, and some homes were washed off their foundations. There was no water, sewer, gas or electrical service in that area, Union County Emergency Management said Tuesday in a Facebook post.  South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said in a post on the social platform X Tuesday night that people needed to stay out of the area unless escorted by public safety officials.  "We are working on a schedule for families to get their belongings," Noem said. "Until then, downed power lines, sinkholes, and other threats make it too dangerous to go in alone."  The sheriff's office in Monona County, near the Nebraska border, said the Little Sioux River breached levees in several areas. In neighboring Woodbury County, the sheriff's office posted drone video on Facebook showing the river overflowing the levee and flooding land in rural Smithland. No injuries were immediately reported.  In the Sioux City, Iowa, area, water spilled over the Big Sioux River levee, damaging hundreds of homes, officials estimated. And the local wastewater treatment plant has been so overwhelmed by the floodwaters that officials say they're having to dump about 3.8 million liters of untreated sewage per day into the Missouri River.  As new areas were flooding this week, some cities and towns were cleaning up after the waters receded while others downstream were piling sandbags and taking other measures to protect against the oncoming swelled currents.  Many streams, especially with additional rainfall, may not crest until later this week as the floodwaters slowly drain down a web of rivers to the Missouri and Mississippi. The Missouri will crest at Omaha on Thursday, said Kevin Low, a weather service hydrologist. 

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.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrived in his home country of Australia a free man Wednesday – after agreeing to a plea deal with U.S. prosecutors over espionage charges. The deal ends an extraordinary 14-year legal odyssey. Supporters of Assange welcomed his release but say the prosecution sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.

WASHINGTON — Reality TV star Paris Hilton called for greater federal oversight of youth care programs at a U.S. House of Representatives committee hearing on Wednesday as she described her traumatic experience in youth care facilities. Hilton, 43, the great-granddaughter of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton, has spoken publicly about the emotional and physical abuse she endured when she was placed in residential youth treatment facilities as a teen. In remarks to the committee on Wednesday, she described being taken from her bed in the middle of the night at age 16 and transported across state lines to a residential facility where she experienced physical and sexual abuse. "This $23 billion industry sees this population [of vulnerable children] as dollar signs and operates without meaningful oversight," she said. "There's no education in these places; there's mold and blood on the walls," she said in response to lawmaker questions. "It's horrifying what these places are like. They're worse than some dog kennels." Hilton said private equity firms that have taken a greater stake in the industry in recent years focus on maximizing profits, prompting them to hire unqualified workers. "They're caring more about profit than the safety of children," she said. Hilton first described her experience at a Utah facility in 2021 and has been a vocal advocate for greater oversight of the system. "These programs promised 'healing, growth, and support,' but instead did not allow me to speak, move freely, or even look out of a window for two years," Hilton told the committee. "My parents were completely deceived, lied to and manipulated by this for-profit industry, so you can only imagine the experience for youth who don't have anyone checking in on them." Several lawmakers agreed that more federal oversight was necessary. "We must always be concerned about fraud and guard against Wall Street vultures snatching public funds to line their pockets," Democratic Representative Bill Pascrell said. "We cannot allow the private equity octopus to reach its tentacles into child services."

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court appears poised to allow emergency abortions in Idaho when a pregnant patient's health is at serious risk, according to Bloomberg News, which said a copy of the opinion was briefly posted Wednesday on the court's website.  The document suggests the court will conclude that it should not have gotten involved in the case so quickly and will reinstate a lower court order that had allowed hospitals in the state to perform emergency abortions to protect a pregnant patient's health, Bloomberg said. It does not appear likely to fully resolve the issues at the heart of the case.  The Supreme Court acknowledged that a document was inadvertently posted Wednesday. That document was quickly removed.  "The Court's Publications Unit inadvertently and briefly uploaded a document to the Court's website. The Court's opinion in Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States will be issued in due course," court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe said in a statement.  The case would continue at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals if the Supreme Court dismisses the proceedings.  WATCH: Are abortion laws in Idaho hurting maternal health care? The finding may not be the court's final ruling because the justices' decision has not been officially released.  The Biden administration sued Idaho, arguing that hospitals must provide abortions to stabilize pregnant patients in rare emergency cases when their health is at serious risk.  Most Republican-controlled states began enforcing restrictions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago. Idaho is among 14 states that outlaw abortion at all stages of pregnancy with very limited exceptions. Idaho argued its ban does allow abortions to save a pregnant patient's life and that federal law does not require the exceptions to expand.  The opinion briefly posted would reverse the Supreme Court's earlier order that allowed the Idaho law to go into effect, even in medical emergencies, while the case played out. Several women have since needed medical airlifts out of state in cases in which abortion is routine treatment to avoid infection, hemorrhage and other dire health risks, Idaho doctors have said.  The Supreme Court's eventual ruling could have ripple effects on emergency care in other states with strict abortion bans. Reports of pregnant women being turned away from U.S. emergency rooms spiked after the Supreme Court's 2022 ruling overturning the constitutional right to abortion, according to federal documents obtained by The Associated Press.  The Justice Department's lawsuit came under a federal law that requires hospitals accepting Medicare to provide stabilizing care regardless of a patient's ability to pay. The law is the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA.  Nearly all hospitals accept Medicare, so emergency room doctors in Idaho and other states with bans would have to provide abortions if needed to stabilize a pregnant patient and avoid serious health risks such as the loss of reproductive organs, the Justice Department argued.  Idaho argued that its exception for a patient's life covers dire health circumstances and that the Biden administration misread the law to circumvent the state ban and expand abortion access.  Doctors have said Idaho's law has made them fearful to perform abortions, even when a pregnancy is putting a patient's health severely at risk. The law requires anyone who is convicted of performing an abortion to be imprisoned for at least two years.  A federal judge initially sided with the Democratic administration and ruled that abortions were legal in medical emergencies. After the state appealed, the Supreme Court allowed the law to go fully into effect in January.

The streets of Nairobi are calm a day after deadly protests over a new tax law on the same day that the Kenyan military begins its peacekeeping mission in Haiti. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s visit to Washington continues as evidence of Hamas weapons factories comes to light. An update from Kyiv on Russia’s invasion, and a look back at a previous Russian aggression in a former Soviet republic.

Nairobi, Kenya — Four hundred Kenyan security officers arrived in Haiti on Tuesday, part of a contingent of international police forces sent to quell gang violence and restore democratic rule in the Caribbean nation. At the same time, protests over proposed tax increases in Kenya turned violent as demonstrators stormed the parliament building, and clashes with police turned deadly. Some of the protesters question the point of sending police to Haiti when there is such unrest in Kenya.   "They went yesterday to Haiti but it's so ironic because back at home here, we don't have peace, the police themselves are fighting us … but we have taken our police to Haiti to fight people from other nationalities, when at home we are not at peace,” one protester named Denish said. “I think the government tries to tell us we don't have a voice, we don't have a say."  Kelvin Moses was not a protester Tuesday, but he echoed those views.  "For me it's a double-edged sword, because you can't take some troops out of the country when the same country is facing instability, so it's like you are trying to help a neighbor whereas your house is on fire,” he said. “So, for me it's self-centered … we don't know what procedures have been taken, there was a court order which halted the same process from going on, but the government has bulldozed its way to send troops to Haiti."  Speaking at a send-off ceremony earlier this week, Kenyan President Willam Ruto told police officers departing for Haiti their mission will help lasting peace return to the conflict-ravaged country.  "This mission is one of the most urgent, important and historic in the history of global solidarity. It's a mission to affirm the universal values of the community of nations and a mission to take a stand for humanity," Ruto said at the ceremony.  Last year, a United Nations Security Council resolution approved the Kenyan-led mission to help tackle violence and restore peace in the mostly gang-controlled nation. But earlier this year the High Court of Kenya ruled against the deployment, saying it was unconstitutional. Issues cited by the court include the lack of a "reciprocal agreement" between the countries.   The Kenyan government eventually secured that agreement, but the same people who sued the government recently filed another lawsuit seeking to block the deployment. The High Court has yet to make a ruling.   Javas Bigambo, a Kenyan lawyer and governance consultant, expressed concern over the possible fallout following a decision.  "In the event this issue is settled as unconstitutional again, what then will befall the Kenyan government, especially on the part of the executive; the issue of security officers being deep in mission in Haiti and perhaps being demanded they'd be recalled back to base, back to the country, it's something that will leave a very bad taste in the mouth of the leadership of the country," Bigambo said.  Bigambo told VOA that while this mission puts Kenya on the global map as a player in international peacekeeping, all Kenyan eyes will be on Haiti to see whether the police are making a difference.  "The success of this mission or its failure is what now will determine whether there was wisdom and appropriateness in the deployment of Kenyan police forces to Haiti,” Bigambo said. “Secondly, the way the peace mission will be handled and how the number of casualties that will emerge or fail to emerge from the deployment will also count among the major success factors.”   In a televised address to the nation late Tuesday evening, Ruto condemned protesters' storming of the parliament as treasonous and a threat to national security.  In a subsequent address to the nation Wednesday, the Kenyan president said that after reflecting on the content of the finance bill, and listening to the people who are against it, he decided not to sign it. His deputy Rigathi Gachagua appealed to the demonstrators to call off planned protests Thursday.

Severe shortages of water have affected millions of people in the Indian capital, New Delhi, which has coped with a searing heat wave in recent weeks. It is one of several Indian cities that are running low on water. From New Delhi, Anjana Pasricha reports, experts are calling for better water management practices in the country to manage a scarce resource.

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.