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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.

Jurors are deliberating in a criminal case against U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump. He is charged with falsifying financial records to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. Campaigning continued outside the New York courthouse. VOA’s Scott Stearns reports. Camera: Michael Eckels.

Amid the ongoing Gaza war, Norway, Ireland and Spain have formally recognized the state of Palestine this week. As expected, Palestinians welcomed the move, while Israel sharply condemned it. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem. VOA footage by Ricki Rosen.

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.

Time is the one of the most important factors in saving people who have been sexually trafficked. Swiftly relocating them away from harm is key to survival.  VOA Senior Washington Correspondent Carolyn Presutti has this exclusive story about a couple of American pilots and their secret missions to get victims to safety.

Turkey's longest-running peaceful protest entered its thousandth week in May. A group known as the Saturday Mothers holds a silent vigil each week, demanding justice for relatives who disappeared after being detained by security forces. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.

On a visit to Moldova Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced an additional $135 million in aid to help the eastern European republic fight Russian disinformation and strengthen its energy resilience. Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports.

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.

In Georgia, leaders of political opposition and the president are leading protests against the foreign agent bill, which critics say threatens the nation’s EU membership and could become a tool of political oppression in the hands of the governing party.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Another U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone went down in Yemen, images purported to show Wednesday, as Yemen's Houthi rebels continued attacks on shipping around the Red Sea over the Israel-Hamas war. The Houthis released footage they said showed the aircraft being targeted with a surface-to-air missile in a desert region of Yemen's central Marib province. It marked the third such downing this month alone. Images analyzed by The Associated Press showed the MQ-9 on its belly in the barren desert, its tail assembly disconnected from their rest of its body. At least one hatch on the drone appeared to have been opened after it landed there, though the drone remained broadly intact without any clear blast damage. One image included Wednesday's date. The drone did not appear to carry any markings. Authorities in Marib, which is held by allies of Yemen's exiled government, did not acknowledge the drone. A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, told the AP that "the U.S. Air Force has not lost any aircraft operating within U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility." The official declined to elaborate. The CIA also is believed to have flown Reaper drones over Yemen, both to monitor the war and in its campaign against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen's local affiliate of the militant group. The CIA declined to comment when reached by the AP. Reapers cost around $30 million apiece. They can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet (about 15,000 meters) and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land. The Houthis in recent months have stepped up attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, demanding that Israel end the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage. On Wednesday, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree acknowledged the rebels attacked the bulk carrier Laax on Tuesday. Two missile attacks twice were reported on the Marshall Islands-flagged, Greek-owned ship Tuesday in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, with a private security firm saying radio traffic suggested the vessel took on water after being struck. "The crew are reported safe, and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call," according to the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center.

Kharkiv, Ukraine, has been under sustained fire from Russia for nearly a month. Despite the civilian casualties and destruction of energy infrastructure, most residents are still there. Lesia Bakalets talked to some women about why they decided to stay.

State Department — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to Moldova, pledging $135 million to enhance energy security and counter Russian disinformation during his visit to Chisinau. During Wednesday’s visit, Blinken announced that up to $85 million in USAID funding will subsidize equipment to strengthen Moldova’s national power grid and facilitate greater electricity trade with Romania, Ukraine, and the broader European market. He also unveiled additional aid for Moldova, a pro-Western country facing renewed threats from Russia. “Today, I'm announcing that we'll be working with our Congress to provide an additional $50 million to further advance these efforts from reforming the energy and agricultural sectors to pushing back and further against disinformation,” said Blinken during a joint press conference with Moldova President Maia Sandu. “That in turn will bolster the ability of Moldova to resist Russian interference, to hold free and fair elections to continue down the path to the European Union and Western integration to create more economic opportunity,” he said. Watch related report by Veronica Balderas Iglesias: Blinken’s trip comes amid concerns over Russia's military presence in Moldova's breakaway Transnistria region. Moldova has accused Russia of waging a hybrid war through election interference and disinformation campaigns aimed at toppling the government and hindering its EU aspirations. Russia denies these accusations. Sandu welcomed Blinken’s second visit in two years as "a strong sign of support." "Through unity and with the support of our partners, we will stand by our people and move forward," Sandu said during the press conference. She also expressed gratitude for U.S. support to both Moldova and Ukraine. Since Russia's 2022 invasion, the Biden administration has directed billions of dollars in weapons assistance to Ukraine, which Sandu said "also makes Moldova safer and more resilient." Historically, Moldova’s heavy reliance on outside energy resources has made the country vulnerable to external disruptions and price fluctuations, delaying its progress toward sustainable economic development. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has further exacerbated Moldova’s energy challenges by driving up electricity and gas prices and creating sector instability. Since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the United States has provided Moldova with $774 million in assistance, including $300 million through USAID, to support energy security. NATO, Ukraine After Chisinau, Blinken is heading to Prague for NATO foreign ministers’ meetings, where “a substantial show of support for Ukraine” is expected, according to U.S. officials. On Wednesday, Blinken said the U.S. is working hard to deliver more air defenses to Ukraine as it defends itself against intensifying Russian attacks. But Blinken, along with other officials from the Biden administration, said Washington does not encourage or enable the use of U.S.-supplied weapons to strike inside Russia. “Ukraine has to make its own decisions about the best way to effectively defend itself,” Blinken said. ‘’We're going to make sure that it has the equipment it needs.” This week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged the alliance's members to lift some of the restrictions on Ukraine's use of Western weapons, potentially enabling their use for strikes directly on Russian soil. “The right to self-defense includes hitting legitimate targets outside Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said Monday at a NATO meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria. The United States will host a NATO summit in Washington from July 9 to July 11. Blinken said there will be “very strong deliverables” in terms of Ukraine’s further integration with the Atlantic alliance. Thirty-two countries have either completed or will soon complete bilateral security agreements with Ukraine.

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.

Brussels — Action must be taken immediately to address the humanitarian crisis in the Sahel or other countries will be drawn in and it will "become a problem for the world," a UNHCR official warned Wednesday. The volatile situations in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso risks overflowing into neighboring countries, the U.N. refugee agency's director for west and central Africa, Abdouraouf Gnon-Konde told AFP in an interview in Brussels. "The Gulf of Guinea, Togo, Benin, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire are already suffering because of the spiral of insecurity and the humanitarian situation — the same with Mauritania, the same with Algeria," he said. "If we don't act now, if we don't respond now, if we don't find a way to remain there, stay and continue to remain engaged, finding a solution, then somehow those countries will be overwhelmed, the state will be overwhelmed, and it will become a problem for the world," he said. The official was on a visit to Brussels to stress to EU officials the need to stay focused on the African regions where some 10.5 million people have been displaced by conflict, even as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza dominate international news. "Despite all the change, all the crises that we see in the world, despite all the conflict that we have, things are happening in the Sahel and that merits our attention," Gnon-Konde said. The day before, he participated in an EU-hosted donors' conference for the Sahel. At the event, the European Commission pledged 201 million euros ($218 million) for vulnerable people in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Nigeria. Military regimes in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali have pushed out troops from France, the former colonial ruler, and are increasingly turning to Russia for support as they battle jihadist insurgencies, causing wariness from Western donors. Gnon-Konde said, for UNHCR, "it doesn't matter who is in charge" in those countries, as the most important thing was to respond to the needs of the civilian populations. He added that Chad, located between Niger and Sudan, was emerging as "a testing case" for countries in the region, international donors and the U.N.   Chad — which has just announced its first government after three years of military rule — is hosting nearly one million Sudanese refugees and "there is a risk that that number will increase by the end of the year," the UNHCR director said.

Washington — Justice Samuel Alito is rejecting calls to step aside from Supreme Court cases involving former President Donald Trump and Jan. 6 defendants because of the controversy over flags that flew over his homes. In letters to members of Congress on Wednesday, Alito said his wife was responsible for flying an upside-down U.S. flag over his home in 2021 and an "Appeal to Heaven" flag at his New Jersey beach house last year. Neither incident merits his recusal, he wrote. "I am therefore duty-bound to reject your recusal request," he wrote. The court is considering two major cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Trump supporters on the Capitol, including charges faced by the rioters and whether Trump has immunity from prosecution on election interference charges. Alito has rejected calls from Democrats in the past to recuse on other issues. The New York Times reported that an inverted American flag was seen at Alito's home in Alexandria, Virginia, less than two weeks after the attack on the Capitol. The paper also reported that an "Appeal to Heaven" flag was flown outside of the justice's beach home in New Jersey last summer. Both flags were carried by rioters who violently stormed the Capitol in January 2021 echoing Trump's false claims of election fraud. Alito said he was unaware that the upside-down flag was flying above his house until it was called to his attention. "As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but for several days, she refused," he wrote in nearly identical letters to Democrats in the House and Senate.