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SYDNEY — Australia’s first female Muslim federal lawmaker is defending deradicalization programs after the police shot dead a teenager who stabbed a man at the weekend. Authorities in Western Australia say the 16-year-old boy had been part of a program to counter online deradicalization since he was 14. The teenage assailant had told associates in a text message that he was going “on the path of jihad tonight for the sake of Allah.” Later, in the car park of a hardware store in the Western Australian city of Perth, he used a kitchen knife to stab a man. The 16-year-old boy was killed by police. His victim was wounded. Authorities said the boy had voluntarily taken part in the government funded Countering Violent Extremism program since 2022 after he caused an explosion in a toilet at his high school.   He had received treatment for mental health issues as well as extremist tendencies. Western Australia Police Commissioner Col Blanch told reporters the deradicalization program was “highly successful but, sadly, it’s not perfect.” The project includes working with families, counselling, the involvement of religious leaders, and mental health components. The program is based on the work of Youth Minister Anne Aly, the first female Muslim lawmaker to be elected to federal Parliament in Canberra. She told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that despite the death of the teenager she believes the deradicalization program is effective. “We are always reviewing, as we should, practice in this space.  But I will say that these programs work because I have seen them work," she said. "I do not think that we should be going, ‘Oh, these programs do not work,’ and walking away from them, but for the vast majority they do work.” Investigators have had found no connection between the boy shot dead in Perth and an alleged network of teenage extremists in Sydney, on the other side of the Australian continent. There, a 16-year-old boy was charged with committing a terrorist act after a bishop and three other people were stabbed at a Sydney church on April 15. In the investigation that followed, six more teenagers were charged with terror-related offenses. Australia has worked with the United States to build deradicalization programs in Indonesia for those convicted of terrorism-related crimes.   However, critics have said that some convicted militants have refused to take part in the voluntary schemes. In Britain, there are several deradicalization initiatives for people who have been involved in extremist activity. Programs designed to steer individuals away from militant ideology have been set up in other countries, including Pakistan, Germany and the United States.

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.

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.

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil — The mayor of a major city in southern Brazil on Tuesday pleaded with residents to comply with his water rationing decree, given that some four-fifths of the population is without running water, a week after major flooding that has left at least 90 people dead and more than 130 others missing. Efforts were continuing to rescue people stranded by the floods in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, as more rain was forecast for the region into next week. The capital, Porto Alegre, has been virtually cut off, with the airport and bus station closed and main roads blocked because of the floodwaters. The floods in Brazil are among extreme weather events being seen around the world. Yoga teacher Maria Vitória Jorge's apartment building in downtown Porto Alegre is flooded, so she's leaving it behind, having withdrawn about $1,600 from her savings to rent an apartment for herself and her parents elsewhere in the state. “I can’t shower at home, wash the dishes or even have drinkable water,” the 35-year-old Jorge said in her car as she prepared to travel. She had just a gallon of water for the 200-kilometer drive to the city of Torres, so far unaffected by the floods. Five of the Porto Alegre's six water treatment facilities aren’t working, and Porto Alegre Mayor Sebastião Melo on Monday decreed that water be used exclusively for “essential consumption.”  “We are living an unprecedented natural disaster, and everyone needs to help,” Melo told journalists. “I am getting water trucks to soccer fields and people will have to go there to get their water in bottles. I cannot get them to go home to home.”  The most urgent need is drinking water, but food and personal hygiene products are also in short supply. Other Brazilian states are mobilizing trucks with donations bound for Rio Grande do Sul.  There were long lines and empty shelves at supermarkets in Porto Alegre on Tuesday. Some people have tried to buy bottled water since the weekend, and when they could find it, their purchases were limited to two five-liter bottles. Public health experts say there is also growing risk of disease as much of the region remains submerged, warning that cases of dengue fever and leptospirosis, a bacterial disease, could rise sharply within days. Adriano Hueck on Tuesday was attempting to retrieve medicine stocked at a friend’s warehouse, which is partially flooded. “If we can save some of it, there’s still a chance it can be useful in hospitals,” said 53-year-old Hueck, who then pointed toward another part of the city. “My house is somewhere there. You can’t even see its roof now.” Like Jorge, the yoga teacher, Rio Grande do Sul residents who can flee are doing so, amid fears of shortage and disease. However, it's difficult for many to leave Porto Alegre with main access roads blocked by floodwaters. The city's airport and main bus terminal are filled with water and closed for the foreseeable future.  Close to the airport, about 100 people from a nearby slum set up tents on the road, hoping to return to their shacks on small boats to try to save some of their belongings. Some roasted chunks of meat on improvised grills. The downpour has stopped for now, but a looming cold front will bring more severe rain starting Tuesday night, mainly in the southern part of the state, according to the National Meteorological Institute. Rainfall could exceed 150 millimeters by early Wednesday. Late Monday, Rio Grande do Sul Gov. Eduardo Leite issued an alert for several cities close to the huge Patos Lagoon. The floodwaters in Porto Alegre and other cities pass through the lagoon to the sea. “The water level will rise and it will affect you,” he said in a video broadcast on his social media channels. “Please, believe the alerts and help us save lives. Let's reduce the damage so we can be together to rebuild.” Porto Alegre's metropolitan region is one of Brazil's largest, home to around 4 million people.  Damage from the rains has already forced more than 150,000 people from their homes. An additional 50,000 have taken refuge in schools, gymnasiums and other temporary shelters.  Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited Rio Grande do Sul for a second time Sunday, accompanied by Defense Minister José Múcio, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad and Environment Minister Marina Silva, among others.  Authorities said Monday that they are concerned about the risks of hypothermia, as the temperature should drop to 10 C Wednesday. On Tuesday, Melo issued a plea for more donations of blankets.  And it isn’t just residents who are at risk. “Our personnel have been wet for five days, shivering in the cold, staying up all night, in deficient sanitary conditions, because we’re sharing the same facilities with the displaced,” Gen. Hertz Pires do Nascimento, the army commander of Brazil’s southern region, told journalists. During Mass at the Vatican on Sunday, Pope Francis said he was praying for the state’s population. Security is another concern. Rio Grande do Sul’s public security secretariat said in a statement that police will beef up operations to prevent looting and theft. Brazil's national guard is mobilizing to the state to reinforce security. “Even a boat was stolen this morning from the people working on the rescue. Jet Skis and houses were looted. This is deplorable and must be denounced,” Paulo Pimenta, Lula’s spokesperson, said Tuesday at a news conference. The flood disaster is also likely to affect the South American country's food supplies. Rio Grande do Sul produces 70% of a basic Brazilian foodstuff: rice.  “With the rains, I think we’ve definitely delayed the harvest in Rio Grande do Sul. So, if needed to balance production, we’ll have to import rice, import beans,” Lula said in a radio interview at Brazil's public broadcaster.

Israeli troops seized control of Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday in what the White House described as a limited operation, as fears mount of a full-scale invasion of the southern city as talks with Hamas over a cease-fire and hostage release remain on a knife's edge. We talk to James Gelvin a professor in the department of history at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and has written extensively on the history of the modern Middle East. Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up his two-day visit to France Tuesday — his first trip to Europe in five years. TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance are suing the U.S. And what is that sperm whale saying? Scientists say they may have found a path to understand their language.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation must make sweeping changes to address widespread sexual harassment and other misconduct, according to an independent report released on Tuesday that raises questions about the future of the banking regulator's leadership. The report, prompted by a Wall Street Journal investigation, cited accounts from more than 500 people, including some who alleged FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg had engaged in bullying and verbal abuse. Overall, the report by law firm Cleary Gottlieb paints a picture of an agency at which sexual harassment, racial discrimination and bullying were pervasive at every level and tolerated by senior leaders for years, while complaints about misconduct were met with retaliation. "For far too many employees and for far too long, the FDIC has failed to provide a workplace safe from sexual harassment, discrimination, and other interpersonal misconduct," the report said, adding that those accused of misconduct were frequently reassigned new roles. Underscoring the agency's toxic culture, officials tasked with addressing the problems exposed by the WSJ reports were themselves the subject of misconduct claims, the Cleary Gottlieb report found. The findings sparked renewed calls for the ouster of Gruenberg, a Democrat who has been a senior leader at the agency for nearly two decades. Representative Patrick McHenry, a Republican who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, called for Gruenberg's resignation following the report, saying it made clear the agency needs new leadership. "The FDIC needs to be fixed. The women and men who work there deserve better,” Sherrod Brown, chair of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, said in a statement. “Chair Gruenberg must accept responsibility and must immediately work to make fundamental changes to the agency and its culture." Some employees described Gruenberg as "harsh" and "aggressive," as well as prone to losing his temper, the report said. In speaking with investigators, Gruenberg said he never recalled acting inappropriately. The report said some employees reported positive interactions with him and saw his nature as more "prosecutorial." In a statement to staff, Gruenberg said the report was "sobering" and he vowed to implement its recommendations. He said he was ultimately responsible for everything that happened at the agency and apologized for any shortcomings. "I again want to express how very sorry I am," he added. The report recommends the appointment of new officials devoted to changing the FDIC's culture and hiring an independent third party to assist in the transition, although it did not consider whether top leaders should resign. It also called on the agency to establish an anonymous hotline to report misconduct and abuse, develop a more timely and transparent process for handling complaints, and take steps to ensure victims are protected and supported. While the report found that Gruenberg's aggressive conduct was not a root cause of the more severe issues at the agency, it was skeptical of his ability to oversee the necessary dramatic overhaul. "As the FDIC faces a crisis relating to its workplace culture, Chairman Gruenberg’s reputation raises questions about the credibility of the leadership’s response to the crisis and the 'moral authority' to lead a cultural transformation," the report stated. The departure of Gruenberg, who was appointed by President Joe Biden in 2022, could imperil the administration's efforts to impose stricter financial rules, including a pending regulatory proposal on bank capital requirements, which has sparked a backlash from Republicans and industry representatives. A White House spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. If Gruenberg steps down or is removed, agency bylaws stipulate that FDIC Vice Chair Travis Hill, a Republican, take over, and the agency's board would be evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.

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WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has been holding up certain Boeing-made arms shipments to Israel, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, in what two of them said was an apparent political message to the close U.S. ally. The shipments, which have been delayed for at least two weeks, involved Boeing-made Joint Direct Attack Munitions, which convert dumb bombs into precision-guided ones, as well as Small Diameter Bombs. The sources did not elaborate further, including on the political nature of the holdups. But they come at a time when Washington is publicly pressuring Israel to postpone its planned offensive in Rafah until after it has taken steps to avert civilian casualties. The White House and Pentagon declined comment. The news of a delayed arms shipment was first reported by Axios over the weekend and Politico first reported on the types of arms delayed and the reasoning on Tuesday. Without addressing whether there had been a holdup in arms shipments, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reaffirmed that Washington's commitment to Israel's security was "ironclad." Still, when asked about the reports on the arms holdups, she added: "Two things could be true, in the sense of having those conversations, tough, direct conversations with our counterparts in Israel ... in making sure citizens lives are protected ... and getting that commitment." The Pentagon said on Monday that there had not been a policy decision to withhold arms from Israel, America's closest Middle East ally. Still, the delays appeared to be the first since Biden's administration offered its full support to Israel following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 others were abducted. About 133 of them are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's campaign to destroy Hamas has led to a seven-month-long military campaign that has killed a total of 34,789 Palestinians, most of them civilians, the Gaza Health Ministry said. The conflict has also left many of Gaza's 2.3 million people on the brink of starvation and sparked protests in the U.S. demanding that universities and Biden withdraw support for Israel - including the provision of weaponry. A senior Israeli official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, did not confirm any specific holdup in arms supplies but appeared to take the reports in stride: “As the prime minister has already said, if we have to fight with our fingernails, then we’ll do what we have to do.”

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.

The U.S. is expressing optimism that a cease-fire agreement in Gaza is within reach, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a proposed deal that Hamas said it had accepted. Israeli forces went ahead with a limited operation in eastern Rafah, prompting Hamas to warn there will be no cease-fire if that military action continues. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has the latest.

PENTAGON — The U.S. Army has confirmed that a U.S. soldier was arrested last week during an unauthorized visit to the Russian far eastern port city of Vladivostok, one of two recently detained Americans in Russia. Army spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said Tuesday Staff Sergeant Gordon C. Black had been stationed in South Korea and signed out on permanent change of station leave on April 10 en route to Fort Cavazos, Texas. Instead of returning to the continental United States, Black flew through China to Vladivostok for “personal reasons.” “Black did not request official clearance, and [the Department of Defense] did not authorize his travel to China and Russia, Smith added.  U.S. officials told VOA he appeared to have traveled to Russia to see a woman whom he was romantically involved with. Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Tuesday the Army is investigating the incident and that any leave to Russia was “strictly prohibited,” according to the Department of Defense’s foreign clearance guide. The White House said on Tuesday it confirmed “two separate cases" of U.S. citizens being detained in Russia, without identifying the second detainee. Russian officials identified the second American as William Russell Nycum. He was detained 10 days ago in Moscow on petty hooliganism and alcohol charges, according to the Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti. "The State Department is actively seeking consular access to both individuals, neither of whom are in Russia on behalf or in affiliation with the U.S. government," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. A Russian Ministry of Interior official informed the U.S. Embassy in Moscow on May 3 that Black was arrested a day earlier in Vladivostok for theft of personal property. Smith said the Army has no further information about the charge at this time and that Black will remain in a pretrial detention facility until his next hearing.  According to RFE/RL a TikTok account of Black’s romantic partner, Vladivostok native Aleksandra Vashchuk, contains numerous videos of the couple together in South Korea. In one video, Black is wearing his U.S. Army fatigues and kisses the camera of a woman, presumably Vashchuk, as she speaks in Russian. RFE/RL says Vashchuk refers to Black as her husband and affectionately as “pindos,” a Russian slang word for Americans that roughly translates to “Yankee punk.” The Associated Press reports that unnamed officials say Black is accused of stealing from his “girlfriend.” The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Michael McCaul, said he is "deeply concerned" by reports of the detainment. "Putin has a long history of holding American citizens hostage," McCaul said in a post shared on X. "A warning to all Americans — as the State Department has said, it is not safe to travel to Russia." Among those being held are journalists Alsu Kurmasheva of RFE/RL and Evan Gershkovich of The Wall Street Journal, who have been detained on charges that they, their employers and their supporters reject as politically motivated.  Also being held is Paul Whelan, who in 2020 was convicted and sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges, which he and the U.S. government have repeatedly rejected.

WASHINGTON — The federal judge in Florida presiding over the classified documents prosecution of former President Donald Trump has canceled the May 20 trial date, postponing it indefinitely.  The order from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had been expected in light of still-unresolved issues in the case and because Trump is on trial in a separate case in Manhattan charging him in connection with hush money payments during the 2016 presidential election. The New York case involves several of the same lawyers representing him in the federal case in Florida.  In a five-page order, Cannon said on Tuesday that it would be imprudent to finalize a new trial date now, casting further doubt on federal prosecutors' ability to bring Trump to trial before the November presidential election.  Trump faces dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, classified documents that he took with him after he left the White House in 2021, and then obstructing the FBI's efforts to get them back. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.  Trump faces four criminal cases as he seeks to reclaim the White House, but outside of the New York prosecution, it's not clear that any of the other three will reach trial before the election.  The Supreme Court is weighing Trump's arguments that he is immune from federal prosecution in a separate case from special counsel Jack Smith charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, have also brought a separate case related to election subversion, though it's not clear when that might reach trial. 

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.