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Many Israeli and Palestinian children are suffering from trauma because of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the ensuing eight months of war between the two sides. Therapists in both communities say the emotional scars could linger for years. Linda Gradstein reports from Jerusalem.

SHANGHAI, China — Novo Nordisk is facing the prospect of intensifying competition in the promising Chinese market, where drugmakers are developing at least 15 generic versions of its diabetes drug Ozempic and weight loss treatment Wegovy, clinical trial records showed. The Danish drugmaker has high hopes that demand for its blockbuster drugs will surge in China, which is estimated to have the world's highest number of people who are overweight or obese. Ozempic won approval from China in 2021, and Novo Nordisk saw sales of the drug in the greater China region double to $698 million last year. It is expecting Wegovy to be approved this year. But the patent on semaglutide, the active ingredient in both Wegovy and Ozempic, expires in China in 2026. Novo is also in the midst of a legal fight in the country over the patent. An adverse court ruling could make it lose its semaglutide exclusivity even sooner and turn China into the first major market where Novo is stripped of patent protection for the drugs. Those circumstances have drawn several Chinese drugmakers to the fray. At least 11 semaglutide drug candidates from Chinese firms are in the final stages of clinical trials, according to records in a clinical trial database reviewed by Reuters. "Ozempic has witnessed unprecedented success in mainland China … and with patent expiry so close, Chinese drugmakers are looking to capitalize (on) this segment as soon as possible," said Karan Verma, a health care research and data analyst at information services provider Clarivate. Front-runner Hangzhou Jiuyuan Gene Engineering has already developed one treatment that it says has "similar clinical efficacy and safety" as Ozempic and applied for approval for sale in April. The company has not published efficacy data and did not respond to a request for information. The company said in January that it expected approval in the second half of 2025, but it cautioned that it would not be able to commercialize the drug before Novo's patent expires in 2026, unless a Chinese court makes a final ruling that the patent is invalid. The Danish company's semaglutide patent is expiring in China far ahead of its expiry in key markets such as Japan, Europe and the U.S. Analysts attribute variations in patent expiry timelines to term extensions Novo has won in specific regions. Even more pressing for Novo is the China patent office's 2022 ruling that the patent is invalid for reasons related to experimental data availability, which the company has challenged. China's top court said it was not able to say when verdicts are likely ready. A Novo spokesperson said it "welcomes healthy competition" and was awaiting a court decision on its patent case. The spokesperson did not answer follow-up queries on the matter. Other Chinese drugmakers who are running the final stages of clinical trials for Ozempic generics include United Laboratories, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group, Huadong Medicine and a subsidiary of Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group. CSPC said in May it expected approval for its semaglutide diabetes drug in 2026. Brokerage Jefferies estimated in an October report that semaglutide drugs from United Laboratories will be launched for diabetes in 2025 and obesity in 2027. United Laboratories did not respond to a request for comment. Impact on prices The number of adults who are overweight or obese in China is projected to reach 540 million and 150 million, respectively, in 2030, up 2.8 and 7.5 times from 2000 levels, according to a 2020 study by Chinese public health researchers. If shown to be as safe and effective as Novo's, Chinese drugmakers’ products will increase competition and bring down prices, analysts say. Goldman Sachs analysts estimated in an August report that generics could lead to a price reduction of around 25% for semaglutide in China. The weekly Ozempic injection costs around $100 for each 3mL dose through China's public hospital network, Clarivate's Verma said. Novo acknowledges the intensifying competition. "In 2026 and 2027 we might see a few more players showing up due to the clinical trials" in progress, Maziar Mike Doustdar, a Novo executive vice president, told investors in March, referring to the China market. But he also questioned the capability of some of the players to provide meaningful volumes, adding, "We will watch it as we get closer." Novo also faces competition from internationally well-known firms, including Eli Lilly, whose diabetes drug Mounjaro received approval from China in May. HSBC analysts expect China's approval this year or in the first half of 2025 for Lilly's weight loss drug with the same active ingredient. Eli Lilly did not reply to a request for a comment on Chinese approval of the drug, which in the U.S. is called Zepbound. Supplies of both Wegovy and Zepbound remain constrained, but the companies have been increasing production. Zuo Ya-Jun, general manager of weight loss drugmaker Shanghai Benemae Pharmaceutical, said a product being competitive would depend on distinguishing features such as efficacy, durability of the treatment and a company’s sales abilities. "It will be a market with fierce competition, but who will be [the leader] is hard to say," she 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.

WASHINGTON — A bill to safeguard access to contraceptives failed to advance in a U.S. Senate vote on Wednesday, after congressional Democrats forced the vote in a bid to focus public attention on reproductive rights ahead of the November election.  The Right to Contraception Act, which would protect birth control access nationwide, got 51 votes in support and 39 against, but fell short of the chamber's 60-vote threshold for advancing to a full debate.  The fight over reproductive rights is a flashpoint in U.S. politics, especially since the Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the decision that had recognized a national right to abortion access.   Last month, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump came under fire after comments that political rivals said suggested he would consider banning birth control, leading him to respond publicly that he would not support such a move.  Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer on Wednesday pointed to several states, including Nevada and Virginia, where Republican governors have vetoed efforts to protect legal access to contraception, saying that showed a need for federal legislation.  "We are kidding ourselves if we think the hard right will stop at overturning Roe," he said.  Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives said they would attempt a legislative maneuver to force a vote on the same bill, though they faced slim chance of success in the Republican-controlled chamber.  "Republicans have a choice to make: They can put aside their MAGA ideology and join us [to] get this bill passed, or they can triple down on their anti-freedom extremism in full view of the American people," House Democrat Katherine Clark said on Tuesday.  Republican Representative Marc Molinaro, who won his district in 2022 by just 1.6%, said on Wednesday that he would cosponsor the legislation, the first Republican to do so.  Some Senate Republicans criticized the push.  "It's an election year in which a Democratic incumbent president is running behind, so a decision has been made to raise abortion to a high profile," said Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, referring to President Joe Biden. "You can't normalize a procedure where the intent is to end a life."  In a May Reuters/Ipsos survey of 3,934 U.S. residents 18 and older, 37% said Biden has a better approach to abortion, compared to 27% who said the same about Trump.  Schumer said Democrats would also vote on a bill next week to protect in vitro fertilization, which Senate Republicans previously voted against after an Alabama court made the fertility treatment used by millions of Americans to conceive effectively illegal in the state. 

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 — U.S. House Republicans issued criminal referrals Wednesday against President Joe Biden's son and brother, accusing them of making false statements to Congress as part of the Republicans' yearlong impeachment inquiry.  The Republican leaders of the House Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary and Ways and Means committees sent a letter to the Justice Department recommending the prosecution of Hunter Biden and James Biden and accusing them of making a "conscious effort" to undermine the House's investigation.  Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden's attorney, said in a statement that the referrals are "nothing more than a desperate attempt by Republicans to twist Hunter's testimony so they can distract from their failed impeachment inquiry and interfere with his trial."  James Biden 's lawyer, Paul Fishman, echoed that sentiment, calling it a "baseless partisan action," and reiterated that his client has "always maintained that Joe Biden never had any involvement in his business dealings."  Accused of lying to gun dealer The referrals to Attorney General Merrick Garland and special counsel David Weiss add to the legal challenges facing Hunter Biden, who is now on trial in a federal court in Delaware for three felony charges stemming from the purchase of a gun in October 2018. The 54-year-old has been accused by prosecutors of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days.  On Capitol Hill, the Republicans pursued their wide-ranging investigation into Hunter Biden, separate from that federal case, are trying to tie the Democratic president to his son's business dealings. Both Hunter and James Biden sat for hourslong interviews with lawmakers even as they failed to uncover evidence directly implicating Joe Biden in any wrongdoing.  Representative Jason Smith, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said testimony from IRS whistleblowers shows that Hunter Biden lied to Congress at least three times in his February 28 deposition.  "I think the Justice Department needs to look at that and act accordingly. When you lie to Congress, that is a serious violation of the law. It's a felony," said Smith. "The president's son should not be treated any differently than any other American."  The Justice Department, which will ultimately decide whether to take up the criminal referrals, declined to comment.  Inquiry becomes political liability The focus on the Biden family resulting from Hunter Biden's federal trial and the impeachment inquiry has proved to be a political and personal liability for the president. The proceedings are unfolding as the 2024 White House election looms, and allies of Joe Biden worry about the toll it will take on him. He is deeply concerned about the health and sustained sobriety of his only living son.  Since former President Donald Trump's conviction on charges in New York, Republican leaders have assailed the Justice Department for what they claim is a "two-tiered" system of justice that targets conservatives. They play down the department's current prosecution of Hunter Biden and the fact that other prominent Democrats have faced federal investigation during Joe Biden's presidency.  House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that if Garland "wishes to demonstrate he is not running a two-tiered system of justice and targeting the president's political opponents, he will open criminal investigations into James and Hunter Biden," under the false statements and perjury statutes.  The false statements in question, according to the House committee chairmen, include references Hunter Biden made about what position he held at a corporate entity that received millions of dollars from foreign clients. The president's son also "relayed an entirely fictitious account" about text messages between him and his Chinese business partner in which Hunter Biden allegedly invoked his father's presence with him as part of a negotiation tactic, according to the Republican investigation.  There is also a focus on statements James Biden made about whether the president, while a private citizen, met with a former Biden family business partner.  House Democrats said Republicans are resorting to criminal referrals because their impeachment push has effectively flamed out despite 17 months of investigating the Biden family.  "This agonizingly protracted and completely fruitless investigation has proven only that President Biden was not part of, did not profit from, and took no official actions to benefit his family members' business ventures," Representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said in a statement Wednesday. 

Washington — U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday congratulated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his election victory, and Washington said it looked forward to further cooperation with New Delhi to ensure a free Indo-Pacific region. "The friendship between our nations is only growing as we unlock a shared future of unlimited potential," Biden said in a posting on social media platform X. Modi, whose National Democratic Alliance retained power with a surprisingly slim majority in voting results announced on Tuesday, said he had received a call from Biden. "[I] Conveyed that India-U.S. comprehensive global partnership is poised to witness many new landmarks in the years to come. Our partnership will continue to be a force for global good for the benefit of humanity," Modi said on X. The United States and India have deepened ties in recent years given shared concerns about China's growing power, even though New Delhi has maintained its long-standing relationship with Russia despite the war in Ukraine, and human rights issues. In a statement issued shortly after Biden's congratulatory message, the U.S. State Department said Washington looked forward "to continuing to further our partnership with the Indian government to promote prosperity and innovation, address the climate crisis, and ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region." State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Tuesday called the U.S.-Indian relationship "a great partnership," although the U.S. had concerns about human rights, which it would continue to raise openly with New Delhi. Ties have been tested by the discovery of assassination plots against Sikh nationalists in Canada and the United States. In November, U.S. authorities said an Indian government official had directed the plot in the attempted murder of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist and dual citizen of the United States and Canada. Last month, the U.S. ambassador to India said Washington was satisfied so far with India's moves to ensure accountability in the alleged plots, but many steps were still needed and there must be consequences for what was a "red line for America." Political analysts say Washington has been restrained in public criticism of Modi because it hopes India will act as a counterweight to an expansionist China.

Geneva — The World Health Organization said Wednesday a person in Mexico had died in the first confirmed human case globally of infection with the H5N2 variant of bird flu. The patient, who died on April 24 after developing fever, shortness of breath, diarrhea and nausea, had "no history of exposure to poultry or other animals" and "multiple underlying medical conditions," the WHO said. Mexican health authorities reported the confirmed case of human infection with the virus to the U.N. health body on May 23, after a 59-year-old was taken to a hospital in Mexico City. The WHO said the case was the "first laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with an influenza A(H5N2) virus reported globally". The source of exposure to the virus was unknown, the WHO said, although cases of H5N2 have been reported in poultry in the country. According to the U.N. health body, H5N2 cases affected poultry in the state of Michoacan in March, with other outbreaks identified in the state of Mexico. But it said establishing a link between the human case and the poultry infections was so far impossible, estimating the risk to people as "low." A different variant of bird flu, H5N1, has been spreading for weeks among dairy cow herds in the United States, with a small number of cases reported among humans. But none of the cases are human-to-human infections, with the disease instead jumping from cattle to people, authorities have 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.

On June 4, President Biden issued a sweeping order under section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act claiming that allows him to “suspend the entry” of most migrants who cross the border between ports of entry, echoing a similar order issued by President Trump in November 2018. Like the Trump action in 2018, Biden’s […]

The post Biden’s New Changes to the Asylum Process: What You Need to Know appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Atlanta — An appeals court has halted the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump and others while it reviews the lower court judge's ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to remain on the case. The Georgia Court of Appeals' order on Wednesday prevents Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee from moving forward with pretrial motions as he had planned while the appeal is pending. While it was already unlikely that the case would go to trial before the November general election, when Trump is expected to be the Republican nominee for president, this makes that even more certain. The appeals court on Monday docketed the appeals filed by Trump and eight others and said that "if oral argument is requested and granted" it is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 4. The court will then have until mid-March to rule, and the losing side will be able to appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court. A spokesperson for Willis declined to comment on the appeals court ruling. A Fulton County grand jury in August indicted Trump and 18 others, accusing them of participating in a sprawling scheme to illegally try to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Four defendants have pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors, but Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty. It is one of four criminal cases against Trump. Trump and eight other defendants had tried to get Willis and her office removed from the case, arguing that a romantic relationship she had with special prosecutor Nathan Wade created a conflict of interest. McAfee in March found that no conflict of interest existed that should force Willis off the case, but he granted a request from Trump and the other defendants to seek an appeal of his ruling from the state Court of Appeals. McAfee wrote that "an odor of mendacity remains." He said "reasonable questions" over whether Willis and Wade had testified truthfully about the timing of their relationship "further underpin the finding of an appearance of impropriety and the need to make proportional efforts to cure it." He said Willis could remain on the case only if Wade left, and the special prosecutor submitted his resignation hours later. The allegations that Willis had improperly benefited from her romance with Wade resulted in a tumultuous couple of months in the case as intimate details of Willis and Wade's personal lives were aired in court in mid-February.

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.

There is no vaccine for the latest identified strain of bird flu, and the routine practice of stockpiling vaccines is no indication of “planning a manmade pandemic.”

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.

Turkey is supplying weapons to Ukraine as Kyiv works to resolve its ammunition shortage. A Turkish weapons manufacturer is teaming with the U.S. to open a munitions factory, while another Turkish firm is set to open a drone factory in Ukraine. From Istanbul, Dorian Jones reports.