Feed aggregator

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.

The Independent Task Force on the Application of National Security Memorandum-20 to Israel submitted this report on April 18, 2024.

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.

The Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to move ahead with $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, bringing the bill to the brink of passage after months of delays and contentious internal debate over how involved the United States should be abroad. We talk with University of Southern California professor Robert English about the aid. What began last week when students at a New York Ivy League school refused to end their protest against Israel’s war with Hamas had turned into a much larger movement by Tuesday as students across the nation set up encampments, occupied buildings and ignored demands to leave. A new robot allows doctors to produce safer and more accurate lung cancer diagnoses.

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 U.S. Senate voted late Tuesday to send legislation to President Joe Biden that would require Chinese owner ByteDance to divest the popular short video app's U.S. assets within about nine months or face a Ban. The measure, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday, has been driven by concerns that China could access Americans' data or surveil them with the app and Biden has said he will sign it into law. "For years we've allowed the Chinese Communist party to control one of the most popular apps in America that was dangerously shortsighted," said Senator Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee. "A new law is going to require its Chinese owner to sell the app. This is a good move for America." TikTok, which says it has not shared and would not share U.S. user data with the Chinese government, has argued the law amounts to a ban that would violate the U.S. free speech rights of its users. The company did not immediately comment but over the weekend, it told its employees that it would quickly go to court to try to block the legislation. "We'll continue to fight, as this legislation is a clear violation of the First Amendment rights of the 170 million Americans on TikTok... This is the beginning, not the end of this long process," TikTok told employees on Saturday in an email seen by Reuters. The Senate voted 79 to 18 in favor of the bill. 

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.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haitian police deployed tear gas to move people back from a security perimeter around the National Palace while soldiers gripping rifles patrolled the international airport's diplomatic entrance on Tuesday, ahead of a planned change of government. The palace has come under repeated fire from gangs that have paralyzed the capital, Port-au-Prince. A nine-member presidential transition council is to be sworn in at the palace, and although no date has been announced, rumors circulated that it could happen this week. The council is expected to name an interim prime minister and help set up a government that will eventually organize elections in the Caribbean island nation. "Whether or not you're installed, this message is for you: Brace yourselves," gang leader Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier ominously warned in a Tuesday video shared on social media. Cherizier has called for toppling the government. The U.S. military said on Tuesday it bolstered defenses at its embassy. Outgoing Prime Minister Ariel Henry has for more than a year called for international troops to help police fight the gangs. But plans moved slowly and were eventually paused when he announced in March his plan to step down, pending a new interim government. Since then, attacks have escalated, and the transition has lagged. Port-au-Prince resident Jerry Louis expressed cautious optimism. "The presidential council will be able to stabilize the country, but the international community must accept it," he said in an interview. Motorcycle driver Paolo, who did not share his last name, pointed to lawlessness as a major obstacle. The presidential council "has to put in place a minimum of security so that the population can go about its business," he said. Gangs are accused of perpetrating widespread rape, ransom kidnappings and indiscriminate killings. The conflict has seen hundreds of thousands internally displaced, and millions pushed into acute hunger while key ports remain closed.

SEOUL, South Korea — A North Korean delegation led by the cabinet minister for international trade is visiting Iran, the North's official media said on Wednesday in a rare public report of an exchange between the two countries believed to have secret military ties. The minister for external economic relations, Yun Jong Ho, left Pyongyang on Tuesday by air leading a ministry delegation to visit Iran, the North's KCNA news agency said. It gave no other details. North Korea and Iran have long been suspected of cooperating on ballistic missile programs, possibly exchanging technical expertise and components for their manufacture. Iran has provided ballistic missiles to Russia for use in its war with Ukraine, Reuters reported in February. North Korea is also suspected of supplying Russia with missiles and artillery, although both countries have denied the allegation. Yun has previously worked on the country's ties with Syria, according to South Korean government database. Yun has been active in the country's increasing exchanges with Russia, earlier this month leading a delegation to visit Moscow, according to KCNA.

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 — Israel has taken significant steps in recent weeks on allowing aid into Gaza, the U.S. special envoy for humanitarian issues said on Tuesday, but considerable work remains to be done as the risk of famine in the enclave is very high. David Satterfield declined to say whether Washington was satisfied by Israel's moves, weeks after U.S. President Joe Biden demanded action to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying conditions could be placed on U.S. support for close ally Israel if it did not implement a series of "specific, concrete and measurable" steps. "Israel has taken significant steps in these last two and a half weeks," Satterfield told reporters. "There is still considerable work to be done. But progress has been made." The risk of famine throughout war-devastated Gaza, especially in the north, is "very high," he said, calling for more to be done to get aid to those in need in that part of the tiny, densely populated Palestinian territory. The United Nations has long complained of obstacles to getting aid in and distributing it throughout Gaza in the six months since Israel began an aerial and ground offensive against Gaza's ruling Islamist militant group Hamas. Israel's military campaign has reduced much of the territory of 2.3 million people to a wasteland with an unfolding humanitarian disaster. The war was sparked in October, when Hamas stormed into southern Israel. The head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said on Tuesday that the daily average number of trucks entering Gaza during April was 200 and that there had been a peak on Monday of 316. "We have always stressed that we were in a man-made situation, and it can only be addressed by political will and decisions, and the last few days show this is possible," he told reporters. "The more we sustain this, the more we will have a positive impact." There was also now a focus on garbage collection, he added, especially in southern Gaza, in a bid to avoid disease outbreaks as the warmer weather approaches. UNRWA has been described by top U.N. officials as the backbone of aid operations in Gaza. But earlier this year, Israel accused 12 UNRWA staff of taking part in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks that triggered the Gaza war. Israel's allegations led 16 countries to pause or suspend funding of $450 million to UNRWA. Lazzarini said UNRWA has enough funding to pay for operations until June. However, funding by the U.S., UNRWA's biggest donor at $300 million to $400 million a year, has been suspended by the U.S. Congress until at least March 2025. "If it is a lasting suspension, it will have sustainable impact on the agency. If it is a temporary suspension, I do believe we can find a temporary solution with some donors stepping in," Lazzarini said. He also said there has been an "extraordinary kind of grassroots solidarity" with UNRWA, which had raised $100 million from online public donations in the past six months.

washington — The White House on Tuesday unveiled an updated national strategy on suicide prevention that includes more emphasis on health equity and diversity and the mental-health impact of social media, revising its decade-old plan amid a national rise in suicide rates. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff launched the new strategy at the White House, which he prefaced with words of comfort and encouragement. "It's OK to talk about this, as tough as this topic is," he said. "So, that's why it's good that we're all here today together. It's important we do this, because as we all know, suicide affects everyone. Doesn't matter your age, race, gender or where you live. It impacts all of us." The U.S. remains in a small clique of about 40 mostly high-income nations that have national plans to combat a menace that has left no society unscarred. In a push for more countries to develop national strategies in 2018, the World Health Organization noted that "only a few countries in the low-income and middle-income categories have adopted a national suicide prevention strategy, even though 79% of suicides occur in these settings." American health professionals told VOA a national plan is essential to tackling the problem.  "The new national strategy focuses on a "whole of society" approach, which is unique —and critical — because no single entity alone can reduce suicide rates. But together, we have a real opportunity for impact," Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, told VOA in an email. Doctors who worked with the White House on the plan noted that not all its recommendations are strictly medical. Many are social and involve being more open about a matter that is often seen as taboo.  "When it comes to a national strategy, you're actually looking to employ a multipronged approach," Dr. Christine Moutier, chief medical officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, told VOA. "So, you would be looking to increase your mental health professional workforce that is culturally aligned with the population. "But you'd also be looking to other things that low- and middle-income countries can do more readily, such as increasing interpersonal connectedness in schools and in workplaces — really these community-based approaches that have been found to be incredibly effective at reducing suicides. So, things like addressing loneliness, addressing interpersonal violence." American actor Ashley Judd, who spoke at the White House on Tuesday, also stressed the importance of legitimizing mental illness. Her mother, musician Naomi Judd, committed suicide in 2022.  "She won several Grammys, and she left country music better than she found it," Judd said of her mother, who was 76. "She also lived most of her life with an untreated and undiagnosed mental illness that lied to her and stole from her. And it stole from our family, and she deserved better." Another issue the updated plan wrestled with is a uniquely American one. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 55% of American suicides are committed with firearms.  "There is a very strong section on firearm suicide prevention in the national strategy," Moutier said, noting that the federal strategy mentions the important role of state-level red flag laws that would restrict firearms access for buyers who may harm themselves or others.  The new strategy also emphasizes the value of "lived experience" — the validity of survivors' stories and those of their loved ones, who are scarred by the suicide.  Musician Aloe Blacc spoke Tuesday of how he uses music to heal after the 2018 suicide of his close friend, Swedish electronica artist Tim Bergling – better known by his stage name, Avicii. On the anniversary of his friend's death, Blacc recorded a version of his hit, "Wake Me Up."He also recorded a version he sang in Mandarin and Spanish.  And on Tuesday, Blacc, sitting in the high-ceilinged, marble-walled room on the White House campus, burst into spontaneous song. His warm tenor filled the cavernous room as he sang a gospel standard, "This Little Light of Mine." "Just remember," he said. "You are the light." Blacc offered some simple advice to those who themselves may be struggling or know someone who is.  "I want to encourage all of us here today and all of us watching to recognize the role that we can play, the positive role that we can play in someone else's life," he said.  Or, as Wesolowski said, "The most important thing we can do is show up. ...The action of reaching out is more important than the words you say, and sometimes it can make all the difference." The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention shared with VOA this list of international suicide hotlines.

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.

UNited Nations — Actor and U.N. Goodwill Ambassador Danai Gurira told diplomats Tuesday that finding a child to sexually abuse in a conflict zone can cost less than one dollar. She urged policymakers to curb the illicit flow of weapons as one way to prevent these crimes. “Eighty cents. When was the last time you handled 80 cents?” the Zimbabwean American actor and playwright asked Security Council members. “Paid for something that was all that it cost? It is not even enough to buy a packet of gum in this day and age, but it can buy you a child to rape at a so-called maison de tolérance in a camp for internally displaced people in Eastern DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo].” The United Nations recorded 3,688 verified cases of rape, gang rape and abductions in conflict zones in 2023 — an increase of 50% over 2022. About 70% to 90% of such incidents involved small arms and light weapons. Nearly all the victims were women and girls. Many survivors of sexual violence do not come forward, so the U.N. says this is just a fraction of the real numbers. “The actors committing sexual violence at such high rates in Sudan, the DRC, Ethiopia or Haiti are armed to the teeth, flagrantly violating arms embargoes,” an angry Gurira said. “We hear so much about disruptions to the global supply chain, but the weapons keep flowing.” Women and young girls suffered from rape and sexual violence at the hands of at least 58 state and nonstate armed groups in 21 conflict areas around the world last year, Pramila Patten, the U.N. Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, told the council. “We cannot condemn the perpetrators of sexual violence in our speeches while continuing to fund and arm them through our supply chains,” she said of the ease of access to weapons. She said her office’s latest report highlights an “unprecedented level of lethal violence” used to silence rape survivors. “In 2023, reports of rape victims being subsequently killed by their assailants surfaced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Myanmar, demonstrating the need to strengthen forensic capabilities, investigations and accountability processes that ensure the protection of victims and witnesses,” Patten said. She said those who assisted survivors often suffered retaliation. “Armed actors threatened health care workers in Sudan, and reprisals against human rights defenders were reported in South Sudan, the DRC and elsewhere,” Patten said. Niemat Ahmadi, founder and president of the Darfur Women Action Group, told the council that the year-old war between rival generals in Sudan has unleashed devastating suffering on women. “Women and girls have been raped multiple times, sometimes in front of their fathers, husbands and sons in an effort to break their will and destroy their dignity,” she said. “These women and girls have no protection, no access to humanitarian or medical assistance, and nowhere to turn for help.” She said with health care in a state of collapse and humanitarian aid obstructed, it is very difficult for survivors to access reproductive health and other critical services. “We hear that there are less than a dozen obstetricians and gynecologists left working in Khartoum,” Ahmadi said. “Further, the fear of retaliation for speaking up has made it impossible for many survivors to come forward.” Fears are growing of a new battle in Sudan’s war, with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) reportedly either close to El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur where their rival Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) are positioned, or already inside its eastern and northeastern neighborhoods. More than 800,000 civilians are in the city. After the council meeting, Ahmadi told VOA that if an attack happens, the result will be “devastating atrocities,” because the people have nowhere to escape. “I hope that policymakers, member states of the Security Council, the United States government, will take a step to exercise pressure over the warring parties to stop the attack on El Fasher and stop the attack in Sudan and Darfur everywhere, so vulnerable people can receive humanitarian assistance,” she said. In the early 2000s, Darfur saw large-scale ethnic violence, crimes against humanity and genocide when Arab "Janjaweed" militias targeted the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic African groups. The Janjaweed fighters are part of the RSF.

Artificial intelligence surrounds U.S. political life, from fundraising to campaign advertising. Some lawmakers are looking to better police the use of generative content in this year’s presidential election as they say it threatens voter confidence in what is real. VOA correspondent Scott Stearns reports.