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We cover the aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel in Gaza six months ago. The UN has warned of a potential famine in the Palestinian territories, and the White House is discussing US-Israel policy. This week on the Inside Story - Israel Hamas: Six Months of War.

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.

Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is preparing for battles outside of Gaza plus an update on death of three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Heavy shelling in Kyiv, as the funding debate in congress won’t go away. And leaders from the U.S., Japan and The Philippines sit down for a trilateral summit

Washington — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told U.S. lawmakers Thursday the United States does not have to confront serious global challenges alone, saying Tokyo is upgrading its military capabilities to support its ally. In a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, Kishida urged the U.S. to continue its role upholding the international order and addressed skepticism among some Republican lawmakers about continuing aid to Ukraine.  “The leadership of the United States is indispensable. Without U.S. support, how long before the hopes of Ukraine would collapse under the onslaught from Moscow?” Kishida asked during his speech.  Japan has provided $12 billion in aid to Ukraine, including anti-drone detection systems. Kishida also hosted a conference for Ukraine’s economic growth.  U.S. lawmakers in support of aid to Ukraine have suggested a failure to confront Russia will send a message to China that it can expand its own ambitions in Taiwan.  “Across the region, America’s closest regional allies like Australia and South Korea understand the PRC (People’s Republic of China) poses the greatest long-term strategic threat to a free and open Indo-Pacific. But they also understand that what happens in Europe or the Middle East in the near term matters an awful lot to Asia,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement following Kishida’s address.  A $96 billion supplemental security package providing aid to Ukraine and Indo-Pacific countries confronting Chinese aggression, passed the Democratic-majority Senate but has been stalled for months in the House of Representatives, which is narrowly controlled by Republicans.  Kishida’s plea to U.S. lawmakers comes as part of a three-day state visit to Washington. On Wednesday, Kishida met with President Joe Biden and announced a number of new defense partnerships between the two countries.  The decades-long alliance between the U.S. and Japan is widely seen as key to countering Chinese aggression. Kishida acknowledged the partnership with the U.S. and broader regional alliances Thursday.  “Without the presence of the United States, how long before the Indo-Pacific would face even harsher realities?” Kishida said in his address. “Our alliance serves as a force multiplier and together with these like-minded countries, we are working to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he 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.

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.

London — The wife of Julian Assange said Thursday her husband's legal case "could be moving in the right direction" after President Joe Biden confirmed the U.S. may drop charges against the imprisoned WikiLeaks founder. It came as supporters in several cities rallied to demand the release of Assange, on the fifth anniversary of his incarceration in London's high-security Belmarsh prison. Biden said Wednesday that his administration is "considering" a request from Australia to drop the decade-long U.S. push to prosecute Assange for publishing a trove of classified American documents. The proposal would see Assange, an Australian citizen, return home rather than be sent to the U.S. to face espionage charges. Officials have not provided more details, but Stella Assange said the comments are "a good sign." "It looks like things could be moving in the right direction," she told the BBC, saying the indictment was "a Trump legacy and really Joe Biden should have dropped it from day one." Assange has been indicted on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over his website's publication of classified U.S. documents almost 15 years ago. American prosecutors allege that Assange, 52, encouraged and helped U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks published, putting lives at risk. Australia argues there is a disconnect between the U.S. treatment of Assange and Manning. Then-U.S. President Barack Obama commuted Manning's 35-year sentence to seven years, which allowed her release in 2017. Assange's supporters say he is a journalist protected by the First Amendment who exposed U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Assange has been in prison since 2019 as he fought extradition, having spent seven years before that holed up in Ecuador's London embassy to avoid being sent to Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual assault. The relationship between Assange and his hosts eventually soured, and he was evicted from the embassy in April 2019. British police immediately arrested and imprisoned him in Belmarsh for breaching bail in 2012. The U.K. government signed an extradition order in 2022, but a British court ruled last month that Assange can't be sent to the United States unless U.S. authorities guarantee he won't get the death penalty. A further court hearing in the case is scheduled for May 20. Assange was too ill to attend his most recent hearings. Stella Assange has said her husband's health continues to deteriorate in prison and she fears he'll die behind bars.

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.

BAMAKO, Mali — Mali's ruling junta has issued a decree suspending all political activities until further notice, saying it needs to preserve public order, a move that follows last year's decision to call off elections indefinitely.  Junta spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga read out the statement on state television late Wednesday evening, while the country was celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan in which observant Muslims fast from dawn until dusk.  Mali has experienced two coups since 2020, amid a wave of political instability that has swept across West and Central Africa. The country has battled a worsening insurgency by jihadi groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group for over a decade.  Col. Assimi Goita, who took charge after a second coup in 2021, promised to return the country to democracy in early 2024. But in September, the junta canceled elections scheduled for February 2024 indefinitely, citing the need for further technical preparations.  Analysts said the move was likely a backlash against political figures, civil society and students who have expressed frustration with the junta's repeated moves to delay the nation's transition back to democratic rule.  "Recent weeks saw mounting pressure by political parties and figures," Rida Lyammouri of the Policy Center for the New South, a Morocco-based think tank, told The Associated Press. "For the first time, the public and politicians have publicly criticized junta leaders and accused them of a lack of seriousness."  Mali previously relied on French troops to help push back the insurgents. Amid growing frustration over the lack of progress, the ruling junta ordered French troops out and turned to Russian contractors instead for security support. The last French forces departed in August 2022 after almost a decade of operations in Mali. 

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON — Opposition candidates are accusing Chad’s military ruler, General Mahamat Idriss Deby, of flouting election rules and launching his campaign before the official starting date of April 14. Deby, the transitional president who seized power after the death of his father in 2021, is attempting to cement his rule with a victory in Chad’s presidential election on May 6. The general said on state TV Wednesday that if elected as Chad's president, he will maintain peace and develop the central African state, adding that he would fight what he called endemic poverty by creating jobs and funding youth agricultural projects. Several hundred people, a majority from Deby’s Patriotic Salvation Movement party, applauded as he told them that more than 200 opposition political parties and about 1,000 civil society groups have agreed to support him. Deby encouraged them to immediately begin campaigning for him. Lydie Beassemda, a presidential candidate of The Party for Democracy and Full Independence of Chad, accused Deby of disrespecting Chad's electoral code by launching his campaign early. April 14 is the date set by Chad’s Constitutional Council for campaigning to begin. Beassemda said nine opposition challengers notified the National Agency for the Management of Elections that Deby launched campaigning early. The agency said it is examining several complaints from opposition candidates but provided no details. Beassemda urged Chad's 8 million registered voters not to be intimidated by Deby, who wants to continue the role of his father, Idriss Deby Itno. The 37-year-old Deby was proclaimed head of an army junta after rebels killed his father in 2021 after more than 30 years in power. The presidential election in May is meant to be a transition back to democracy. Deby initially promised an 18-month transition period after he seized power. He later appointed himself as the head of a transitional government. Opposition parties say he uses the military to suppress the opposition. Opposition candidates urged Chadians to be vigilant and report suspected election malpractices to the National Agency for the Management of Elections. They also called for the international community to take note that Deby is not respecting democratic norms by campaigning before the official start date. The nine candidates challenging Deby in the election, including pro-democracy figure Success Masra, who now serves as transitional prime minister, say Deby does not want to lose his family's grip on power. Deby says he will respect the verdict of the ballot and hand over power if he is defeated. The Constitutional Council set the first round of voting for May 6 and the second round for June 22.

Washington — A surge of confidence by supporters of the Islamic State terror group — reflected in a series of online threats against Europe combined with its deadly attack on a concert hall in Russia — is giving security officials in the United States cause for concern. National security and law enforcement officials have long been worried about small groups or individuals drawing inspiration from terror plots around the world to conduct attacks in the U.S. But FBI Director Christopher Wray is set to tell lawmakers Thursday that something more worrisome may be in the works. “Now increasingly concerning is the potential for a coordinated attack here in the homeland, akin to the ISIS-K attack we saw at the Russia Concert Hall a couple weeks ago,” Wray warns in prepared testimony, using an acronym for the Islamic State’s Afghan affiliate. Just days ago, police agencies across Europe boosted security after media outlets linked to Islamic State, also known as IS or ISIS, posted calls to attack stadiums hosting Champions League soccer matches this week in Madrid, London and Paris. The FBI warning also signals a potential shift in U.S. thinking about the possible reach of IS and its Afghan affiliate, which claimed responsibility for the March 22 attack on the Crocus City concert hall outside Moscow. The attack killed 145 people. Following the incident, the Department of Homeland Security said it had no specific or credible intelligence to suggest IS had the ability to threaten the United States.  And multiple U.S. military and intelligence officials have said that while IS has ambitions to carry out attacks, there have been no indications IS or any of its global affiliates has the capability to reach into the U.S. homeland. The terror group is "struggling in many ways to mount a major capability that is relevant to the United States," said National Counterterrorism Center Director Christine Abizaid recently. She spoke during an appearance on the In the Room podcast with terrorism analyst Peter Bergen. Other warnings have focused on the threat to U.S. targets outside the United States. "ISIS-Khorasan retains the capability and will to attack U.S. and Western interests abroad in as little as six months and with little to no warning," General Michael “Erik” Kurilla, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East and South Asia, told a Senate committee hearing last month. For now, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is urging Americans to be wary. “The U.S. continues to be in a heightened threat environment,” a DHS spokesperson told VOA Wednesday in response to questions about the IS threats to various European venues. “DHS continues to work with our partners to evaluate the threat environment, provide updates to the American public, and protect our homeland,” the spokesperson added. “We urge the public to stay vigilant and to promptly report suspicious activity to their local law enforcement.”  

Washington — O.J. Simpson, the American football star and actor who was acquitted in a sensational 1995 trial of murdering his former wife but was found responsible for her death in a civil lawsuit and was later imprisoned for armed robbery and kidnapping, has died at the age of 76. Simpson, cleared by a Los Angeles jury in what the U.S. media called "the trial of the century," had died on Wednesday after a battle with cancer, his family posted on social media on Thursday. Simpson avoided prison when he was found not guilty in the 1994 stabbing deaths of former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles. Simpson later served nine years in a Nevada prison after being convicted in 2008 on 12 counts of armed robbery and kidnapping two sports memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel. Nicknamed "The Juice," Simpson was one of the best and most popular athletes of the late 1960s and 1970s. He overcame childhood infirmity to become an electrifying running back at the University of Southern California and won the Heisman Trophy as college football's top player. After a record-setting career in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Simpson parlayed his football stardom into a career as a sportscaster, advertising pitchman and Hollywood actor in films including the "Naked Gun" series. All that changed after Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldman were found fatally slashed in a bloody scene outside her Los Angeles home on June 12, 1994. Simpson quickly emerged as a suspect. He was ordered to surrender to police but five days after the killings, he fled in his white Ford Bronco with a former teammate - carrying his passport and a disguise. A slow-speed chase through the Los Angeles area ended at Simpson's mansion and he was later charged in the murders. What ensued was one of the most notorious trials in 20th century America and a media circus. It had everything: a rich celebrity defendant; a Black man accused of killing his white former wife out of jealousy; a woman slain after divorcing a man who had beaten her; a "dream team" of pricy and charismatic defense lawyers; and a huge gaffe by prosecutors. Simpson, who at the outset of the case declared himself "absolutely 100 percent not guilty," waved at the jurors and mouthed the words "thank you" after the predominately Black panel of 10 women and two men acquitted him on Oct. 3, 1995. Prosecutors argued that Simpson killed Nicole in a jealous fury, and they presented extensive blood, hair and fiber tests linking Simpson to the murders. The defense countered that the celebrity defendant was framed by racist white police. The trial transfixed America. In the White House, President Bill Clinton left the Oval Office and watched the verdict on his secretary's TV. Many Black Americans celebrated his acquittal, seeing Simpson as the victim of bigoted police. Many white Americans were appalled by his exoneration. Simpson's legal team included prominent criminal defense lawyers Johnnie Cochran, Alan Dershowitz and F. Lee Bailey, who often out-maneuvered the prosecution. Prosecutors committed a memorable blunder when they directed Simpson to try on a pair of blood-stained gloves found at the murder scene, confident they would fit perfectly and show he was the killer. In a highly theatrical demonstration, Simpson struggled to put on the gloves and indicated to the jury they did not fit. Delivering the trial's most famous words, Cochran referred to the gloves in closing arguments to jurors with a rhyme: "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." Dershowitz later called the prosecution decision to ask Simpson to try on the gloves "the greatest legal blunder of the 20th century." "What this verdict tells you is how fame and money can buy the best defense, can take a case of overwhelming incriminating physical evidence and transform it into a case riddled with reasonable doubt," Peter Arenella, a UCLA law professor, told the New York Times after the verdict. "A predominantly African-American jury was more susceptible to claims of police incompetence and corruption and more willing to impose a higher burden of proof than normally required for proof beyond a reasonable doubt," Arenella said. After his acquittal, Simpson said that "I will pursue as my primary goal in life the killer or killers who slayed Nicole and Mr. Goldman... They are out there somewhere... I would not, could not and did not kill anyone." The Goldman and Brown families subsequently pursued a wrongful death lawsuit against Simpson in civil court. In 1997, a predominately white jury in Santa Monica, California, found Simpson liable for the two deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in damages. "We finally have justice for Ron and Nicole," Fred Goldman, Ron Goldman's father, said after the verdict. Simpson's "dream team" did not represent him in the civil trial in which the burden of proof was lower than in a criminal trial - a "preponderance of the evidence" rather than "beyond a reasonable doubt." New evidence also hurt Simpson, including photographs of him wearing the type of shoes that had left bloody footprints at the murder scene. After the civil case, some of Simpson's belongings, including memorabilia from his football days, were taken and auctioned off to help pay the damages he owed. On Oct. 3, 2008, exactly 13 years after his acquittal in the murder trial, he was convicted by a Las Vegas jury on charges including kidnapping and armed robbery. These stemmed from a 2007 incident at a casino hotel in which Simpson and five men, at least two carrying guns, stole sports memorabilia worth thousands of dollars from two dealers. Simpson said he was just trying to recover his own property but was sentenced to up to 33 years in prison. "I didn't want to hurt anybody," Simpson, donning a blue prison jumpsuit with shackles on his legs and wrists, said at his sentencing. "I didn't know I was doing anything wrong." Simpson was released on parole in 2017 and moved into a gated community in Las Vegas. He was granted early release from parole in 2021 due to good behavior at age 74.   His life saga was recounted in the Oscar-winning 2016 documentary "O.J.: Made in America" as well as various TV dramatizations. Orenthal James Simpson was born in San Francisco on July 9, 1947. He contracted rickets at age 2 and was forced to wear leg braces until he was 5 but recovered so thoroughly that he became one of the most celebrated football players of all time. During nine seasons for the Buffalo Bills and two for the San Francisco 49ers, Simpson became one of the greatest ball carriers in NFL history. In 1973, he became the first NFL player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. He retired in 1979. Simpson also became an advertising pitchman, best known for years of TV commercials for Hertz rental cars. As an actor, he appeared in movies including "The Towering Inferno" (1974), "Capricorn One" (1977) and the "The Naked Gun" cop spoof films in 1988, 1991 and 1994, playing a witless police detective. Simpson married his first wife, Marguerite, in 1967 and they had three children, including one who drowned in the family's swimming pool at age 2 in 1979, the year the couple divorced. Simpson met future wife Nicole Brown when she was a 17-year-old waitress and he was still married to Marguerite. Simpson and Brown married in 1985 and had two children. She later called police after incidents in which he struck her. Simpson pleaded no contest to spousal abuse charges in 1989.

Washington — U.S. President Joe Biden is hosting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the White House Thursday, aiming to send China a clear message to halt its aggressive behavior against its neighbors in the South China Sea. The trilateral summit comes amid increased tension between Manila and Beijing. In recent weeks, Chinese Coast Guard ships have taken provocative actions to block resupply missions for Philippine soldiers stationed on the Second Thomas Shoal, who guard Manila’s sovereignty claims over the Spratly Islands. These so-called gray zone tactics of intimidation fall dangerously close to triggering a mutual defense treaty between Washington and Manila and will be a focus in Thursday’s summit. Key to the discussions is working toward a shared understanding on what constitutes gray zone attacks and the treaty’s enforcement threshold. “We continue to coordinate very closely the question of China’s so-called gray zone tactics, its coercive tactics, and what the implications of those might be,” a senior administration official said in response to VOA’s question during a briefing Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity. The U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty extends to “armed attacks on Philippines Armed Forces, public vessels, or aircraft,” the official underscored. “That includes its Coast Guard, and that includes anywhere in the South China Sea.” Biden and Kishida will show Marcos a “clear demonstration of support and resolve,” the official said. Leaders will convey that they “stand shoulder to shoulder with Marcos, ready to support and work with the Philippines at every turn.” Gray zone tactics China’s gray zone tactics have blurred the lines of what is traditionally seen as armed attacks by using force that may not be intentionally lethal, such as military-grade lasers, acoustic devices, high-pressure water cannon, or simply ramming into ships, said Gregory Poling, director of the Southeast Asia Program and Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The problem is that these things are only non-lethal in a statistical sense,” Poling told VOA. “But if you do it enough, you will kill somebody.” Manila and Washington would then need to determine whether to invoke mutual defense under the treaty, he added. Both sides are realizing that “China has blurred the lines so much with its Coast Guard and militias,” he added, saying, “We can't treat China the way we treat normal armed actors, that China intentionally hides its military force behind civilians, and that we need to be more flexible in our responses.” Discussions are ongoing under the Maritime Security Framework signed by the U.S. and the Philippines in 2022. Known also as “Bantay Dagat,” or “Guardian of the Sea” in Tagalog, the agreement aims to improve regional maritime domain awareness and confront maritime challenges together. Last year, the U.S. and Philippine secretaries of defense established guidelines reaffirming that “an armed attack in the Pacific, including anywhere in the South China Sea, on either of their public vessels, aircraft, or armed forces — which includes their Coast Guards — would invoke mutual defense commitments under Articles IV and V of the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty.” “Recognizing that threats may arise in several domains — including land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace — and take the form of asymmetric, hybrid, and irregular warfare and gray-zone tactics, the guidelines chart a way forward to build interoperability in both conventional and non-conventional domains,” the Biden administration said in a statement. Dialogue with Beijing Ahead of their trilateral summit with Marcos, Biden and Kishida insist on fostering dialogue with Beijing, even as the U.S. and Japan ramp up defense ties. In their latest phone conversation in April, Biden said he discussed with Chinese President Xi Jinping the “best way to reduce the chances of miscalculation and misunderstanding.” “Our alliance we have with Japan — is purely defensive in nature,” he said during a joint press conference Wednesday with Kishida. “It’s not aimed at any one nation or a threat to the region. And it — it doesn’t have anything to do with conflict. And so, this is about restoring stability in the region. And I think we have a chance of doing that.” Speaking through an interpreter Wednesday, Kishida said he and Biden “agreed that our two countries will continue to respond to challenges concerning China through close coordination.” “At the same time, we confirmed the importance of continuing our dialogue with China and cooperating with China on common challenges,” he added. Biden and Kishida announced initiatives to enhance bilateral defense ties and maritime cooperation in the South China Sea, as well as air defense. “For the first time, Japan and the United States and Australia will create a network system of air missile and defense architecture,” Biden said. Similar announcements with the Philippines are expected Thursday. Beijing said it opposes “cobbling together exclusive groupings and stoking bloc confrontation in the region.” “Such practices: patching up small blocs, stirring up confrontation under the excuse of cooperation, upholding peace and order in name but flexing military muscle and stoking chaos in nature, do not meet the trend for peace and development and run counter to the regional countries’ shared aspiration for stability and development,” Liu Pengyu, a Chinese Embassy spokesperson in the U.S., said in a statement to VOA. The U.S.-Japan-Philippines trilateral is the first gathering of its kind, part of Biden’s strategy to stitch together existing bilateral alliances into these so-called “minilaterals” to amplify U.S. influence in Asia. Last year, he hosted a similar meeting with Japan and South Korea to deal with the threat from North Korea.