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The number of Washington-based journalists covering the Capitol for local news outlets is dwindling. As the beat shrinks, so, too, does the ability of these regional reporters to hold elected officials to account, media advocates say. VOA's Cristina Caicedo Smit and Liam Scott have the story, narrated by Caicedo Smit.

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.

Nairobi — The number of people who have lost their lives in devastating floods in Kenya since March has risen to 188, with dozens still missing, the interior ministry said on Thursday. Torrential rains in Kenya and other countries in East Africa have caused deadly havoc, with floods and landslides forcing people from their homes, destroying roads, bridges and other infrastructure. "As a result, the country has regrettably recorded 188 fatalities due to severe weather conditions," the ministry said in a statement. It added that 125 people had been reported injured and 90 people were currently missing, while 165,000 have been displaced. On Wednesday, nearly 100 tourists were among people marooned after a river overflowed in Kenya's famed Maasai Mara wildlife reserve following a heavy downpour. The ministry said rescuers had successfully evacuated 90 people by ground and air in the Masai Mara, where lodges and safari camps were flooded after the River Talek overflowed. The ministry said rescuers had successfully evacuated 90 people by ground and air in the Masai Mara, where lodges and safari camps were flooded after the River Talek overflowed. The area is currently inaccessible with bridges washed away, Narok West sub-county administrator Stephen Nakola told AFP, adding that about 50 camps in the reserve have been affected, putting more than 500 locals temporarily out of work. There are no fatalities but communities living around the area have been forced to move away. "Accessing the Mara is now a nightmare and the people stuck there are really worried, they don't have an exit route," Nakola said, adding that waterborne diseases were likely to emerge. "I am worried that the situation could get worse because the rains are still on." In the deadliest single incident in Kenya, dozens of villagers were killed when a dam burst on Monday near Mai Mahiu in the Rift Valley, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) north of the capital, Nairobi. The interior ministry said 52 bodies had been recovered and 51 people were still missing after the dam disaster. Kenyan President William Ruto on Tuesday announced he was deploying the military to evacuate everyone living in flood-prone areas. Opposition politicians and lobby groups have accused Ruto's government of being unprepared and slow to respond to the crisis despite weather warnings, demanding that it declare the floods a national disaster. "Kenya's government has a human rights obligation to prevent foreseeable harm from climate change and extreme weather events and to protect people when a disaster strikes," Human Rights Watch said Thursday. The HRW statement said events such as flooding are "particularly threatening for marginalized and at-risk populations, including older people, people with disabilities, people in poverty, and rural populations". The United States and Britain have issued travel warnings for Kenya, urging their nationals to be cautious amid the extreme weather. The downpours have also left a trail of destruction across other East African countries, including neighboring Tanzania, where at least 155 people have been killed in flooding and landslides. The heavy seasonal rains have been amplified by the El Nino weather pattern — a naturally occurring climate phenomenon typically associated with increased heat worldwide, leading to drought in some parts of the world and heavy rains elsewhere. The disaster in Kenya and other nations has sparked an outpouring of condolences and pledges of solidarity with the affected families from all over the world. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "deeply distressed" to hear of the loss of lives from heavy flooding in Burundi, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania and other parts of East Africa, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. "The [U.N.] secretary-general is extremely concerned about the impacts of El Nino-triggered extreme weather, which risk further devastating communities and undermining their livelihoods."

Sydney — Pro-Palestinian students at four Australian campuses say they will permanently occupy university land until their demands for divestment are met. The protests have been called by activists in solidarity with their counterparts in the United States. Australian students say they see themselves “part of this global wave” of pro-Palestinian activism. The protests have, so far, been peaceful, although some Jewish students say they feel intimidated by the rallies. The Australian Union of Jewish Students in New South Wales state told local media that antisemitism was forcing many of its members to avoid going to classes and many were “scared” to go to campus. In response, protest organizers said that antisemitism had no place in their campaign. A university spokesperson said the protest camp was being carefully monitored and that threatening chants or slogans would not be tolerated. At the University of Sydney, there have been verbal disputes between pro-Palestinian students and others who oppose their actions. Student activists at four Australian campuses want their universities to divest from all activities that support Israel, as well as a cease-fire and the end of Australian government ties to Israel. All four universities told local media they supported the rights of students and staff to protest peacefully in accordance with Australian law. Antony Loewenstein is a Jewish Australian and author of the best-selling book The Palestine Laboratory. He told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the students support their counterparts in the United States. “There were a lot of Jewish students and others," he said. "There were Muslims, there were Christians. What they are protesting, yes, is partly what is happening in Gaza, of course, in solidarity with students across the U.S. but also the connections between Sydney University and frankly many Australian universities with defense companies.” Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have continued at universities across the U.S. and there have been counterprotests by activists supporting Israel. Police officers have massed in Los Angeles on the campus of the University of California. telling pro-Palestinian protesters to leave or face arrest. Last month, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the country could consider a highly conditional recognition of a Palestinian state. The Canberra government would expect a cease-fire in the war in Gaza, the return of Israeli hostages held by the militant group Hamas, and the exclusion of Hamas from any future Palestinian government as preconditions for recognition.

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.

Seoul, South Korea — South Korea raised its terror alert level for five diplomatic missions Thursday, South Korean media reported, warning North Korea could attempt to attack South Korean diplomats overseas. The reports said South Korea’s National Counter Terrorism Center raised the country’s terror watch level to “alert” status, the second-highest level in the four-tier system, indicating a “high possibility of a terrorist attack.” South Korean officials recently received intelligence that North Korea was planning to harm South Korean diplomats, the reports said, without disclosing the exact nature of the alleged threat. The targeted diplomatic missions include South Korean embassies in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, as well as consulates in the Far Eastern Russian city of Vladivostok and the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang. South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to VOA’s request for comment. The two Koreas remain technically in a state of war, since their 1950s conflict ended in a truce instead of a peace treaty. However, it has been decades since major, sustained hostilities. North Korea has a long history of terror attacks and political assassinations against South Korea. In 1983, North Korea bombed a hotel in Rangoon, Burma, now Yangon, Myanmar, during a visit by South Korea’s then-president Chun Doo-hwan. Although Chun survived, 21 others were killed. In 1988, North Korean agents blew up a South Korean civilian airliner, killing 115 people. After the airliner attack, the United States formally placed North Korea on its list of state sponsors of terrorism. Pyongyang was removed from the list in 2008 amid negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. In 2017, the United States reinstated North Korea on the terror sponsor list after American college student Otto Warmbier died shortly after being released from North Korean custody. That year, North Korea also assassinated Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, during a brazen attack at a Malaysian airport. North Korea has denied involvement in any terrorist activities. It has not commented on the South’s latest accusations.

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.

Manila, Philippines — Manila summoned a senior Chinese envoy on Thursday to protest a water cannon incident that damaged two Philippine vessels during a patrol in the South China Sea. A coast guard vessel and another government boat were damaged in the April 30 incident near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, according to the Philippines' foreign ministry. Manila and Beijing have a long history of territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and the neighbors have been involved in several maritime incidents in recent months as they assert their rival claims in the strategic waterway. The latest, near the China-controlled Scarborough Shoal, occurred during a mission to resupply Filipino fishermen. Zhou Zhiyong, the number two official at the Chinese Embassy, was summoned by Manila over "the harassment, ramming, swarming, shadowing and blocking, dangerous maneuvers, use of water cannons, and other aggressive actions of China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia vessels," according to a statement from the foreign ministry. "China's aggressive actions, particularly its water cannon use, caused damage" to the Philippines' vessels, the ministry added, demanding that the Chinese boats immediately leave the shoal and its vicinity. The Philippines said the pressure in Tuesday's water cannon incident was far more powerful than anything previously used, and that it tore or bent metal sections and equipment on the Philippine vessels. Thursday's diplomatic protest was the 20th lodged by Manila this year, and 153rd since President Ferdinand Marcos came to power in mid-2022, the foreign ministry said. The Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China's coast guard had previously said it "expelled" the two Philippine ships from its waters near Huangyan Island, the Chinese name for Scarborough Shoal. The shoal has been a flashpoint between the two countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Major military exercise China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries, including the Philippines, and an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. The triangular chain of reefs and rocks that make up Scarborough Shoal lies 240 kilometers west of the Philippines' main island of Luzon and nearly 900 kilometers from Hainan, the nearest major Chinese land mass. Since seizing the shoal, Beijing has deployed its coast guard and other vessels that Manila says harass Philippine ships and prevent its fishermen from accessing the rich lagoon. The latest incident came as the Philippines and the United States held a major annual military exercise that has infuriated Beijing. Manila and Washington have a mutual defense treaty and recent confrontations between Philippine and Chinese vessels have fueled speculation of what would trigger it. President Marcos said last month that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had given assurances that the treaty would be invoked if another "foreign power" killed a Filipino soldier.

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.

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's National Assembly voted Thursday to approve a bill backed by the ruling and opposition parties to launch a fresh probe into the deadly Halloween crowd crush in the capital Seoul in 2022. An earlier bill, which was backed the opposition-led parliament without the support of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), was vetoed by President Yoon Suk Yeol in January. The latest bill is a compromise that removes granting full investigative power to the panel, which Yoon had objected to, according to his office. Under the bill, a committee made up of members recommended by two major parties and a chair chosen by them through consultations will look into the tragedy. The passage of the bill comes after Yoon met opposition leader Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party for talks on Monday following the PPP's crushing general election defeat last month. It also comes amid growing pressure on authorities, including from relatives of the victims, to hold those responsible to account. A spokesperson for Yoon on Wednesday welcomed the agreement reached between the ruling and opposition parties on the bill as indicating a return to cooperation in politics. The Halloween crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon district in 2022 killed nearly 160 people and relatives of the victims as well as the United Nations Human Rights Committee have since called for an independent inquiry. A police investigation published early last year concluded that a lack of preparation and an inadequate response were the main factors behind the deadly crush. In January, South Korean prosecutors indicted the former head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, charging him with contributing through negligence to the crush. No senior government figures, including the interior and safety minister, have resigned or been sacked so far over the crush.