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British Foreign Secretary David Cameron met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington to help push for a new aid package for Ukraine. He also met with former President Donald Trump in Florida, as VOA's Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from the State Department.

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 — Speaker Mike Johnson will delay sending the House's articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate this week as planned after Republican senators requested more time Tuesday to build support for holding a full trial. The sudden change of plans cast fresh doubts on the proceedings, the historic first impeachment of a Cabinet secretary in roughly 150 years. Seeking to rebuke the Biden administration's handling of the southern border, House Republicans impeached Mayorkas in February but delayed sending the articles while they finished work on government funding legislation. Johnson had planned to send the impeachment charges to the Senate on Wednesday evening. But as it became clear that Democrats, who hold the majority of the chamber, had the votes to quickly dismiss them, Senate Republicans requested that Johnson delay until next week. They hoped the tactic would prolong the process. While Republicans argued Tuesday that forgoing a full Senate trial would break precedent, most Senate Republicans voted to do just that when Donald Trump, the former president, was impeached a second time on charges he incited an insurrection in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Their effort to halt the proceedings failed. Trump was ultimately acquitted in the Senate trial. "Our members want to have an opportunity not only to debate but also to have some votes on issues they want to raise," said South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the second-ranking Republican Senate leader. Under procedural rules, senators are required to convene as jurors the day after the articles of impeachment are transmitted for a trial. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. D-N.Y., who has decried the impeachment push as a sham, suggested Democrats still plan to deal with the charges quickly. "We're ready to go whenever they are. We are sticking with our plan. We're going to move this as expeditiously as possible," Schumer said. "Impeachment should never be used to settle policy disagreements," he told reporters earlier Tuesday. House Republicans charged in two articles of impeachment that Mayorkas has not only refused to enforce existing law but also breached the public trust by lying to Congress and saying the border was secure. Democrats — and a few Republicans — say the charges amount to a policy dispute, not the Constitution's bar of high crimes and misdemeanors. "Ultimately, I think it's virtually certain that there will not be the conviction of someone when the constitutional test has not been met," said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah. Still, with elections approaching, Republicans want to force Congress to grapple with the Biden administration's handling of the southern border as long as possible. "I think there are a lot of Democrats who really want to avoid the vote. I don't blame them. I mean, this is the number one issue on the minds of Americans," Thune said. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who is facing a tough reelection bid in Ohio, pointed to Republican senators rejecting a bipartisan deal aimed at tamping down the number of illegal border crossings from Mexico. "Instead of doing this impeachment — the first one in 100 years — why are we not doing a bipartisan border deal?" Brown said. Before Mayorkas, only one U.S. Cabinet official had ever been impeached. Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876. A House investigation found evidence that he had received kickback payments while administering government contracts.

ORSK, Russia — Russia and Kazakhstan ordered more than 100,000 people to evacuate after swiftly melting snow swelled rivers beyond bursting point in the worst flooding in the area for at least 70 years.  The deluge of melt water overwhelmed scores of settlements in the Ural Mountains, Siberia and areas of Kazakhstan close to rivers such as the Ural and Tobol, which local officials said had risen by meters in a matter of hours to the highest levels ever recorded.  Late on Tuesday, levels of the Ural River in Orenburg, a city of around 550,000, reached 9.31 meters (30.54 feet) exceeding the critical level of 9.30 meters (30.51 feet), the regional governor said. He urged residents in areas at risk to evacuate.  "I am calling for caution and for those in flooded districts to evacuate promptly," Denis Pasler said on Telegram.  City residents paddled along roads as though they were rivers. Dams and embankments were being strengthened.   Upstream on the Ural, floodwaters burst through an embankment dam in the city of Orsk last Friday.  Regional officials said water levels in Orsk had subsided by 21 centimeters (.68 feet) and now stood at 9.07 meters 29.75 feet), still well over the official danger level of about 7 meters (22.96 feet). Russia's Emergencies Ministry said water levels had declined in a number of areas but described the situation as "still difficult."  The Ural is Europe's third-longest river, which flows through Russia and Kazakhstan into the Caspian.  Evacuation order  Sirens in Kurgan, a city on the Tobol River, a tributary of the Irtysh, warned people to evacuate immediately. Regional officials said floodwaters would continue to rise for three days and predicted a "difficult situation" until the end of April.  A state of emergency was also declared in Tyumen, a major oil-producing region of Western Siberia, the largest hydrocarbon basin in the world. Russian news agencies said Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov had arrived in the city as part of a regional tour assessing flood danger.  "The difficult days are still ahead for the Kurgan and Tyumen regions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "There is a lot of water coming."  Tyumen is about 200 kilometers (124.27 miles) north of Kurgan.  President Vladimir Putin spoke to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, where more than 86,000 people have been evacuated because of the flooding. Tokayev said the flooding was probably the worst in 80 years.  The most severely hit areas are Atyrau, Aktobe, Akmola, Kostanai, Eastern Kazakhstan, Northern Kazakhstan and Pavlodar regions, most of which border Russia and are crossed by rivers originating in Russia such as the Ural and the Tobol.  Russians beg for help In Russia, anger boiled over in Orsk when at least 100 Russians begged the Kremlin chief for help and chanted "shame on you" at local officials who they said had done too little.  The Kremlin said Putin was being updated on the situation but had no immediate plans to visit the flood zone as local and emergency officials were doing their best to tackle the deluge.   In Kurgan, a region with 800,000 residents, drone footage showed traditional Russian wooden houses and the golden kupolas of Orthodox Churches stranded alongside an expanse of water.   Russian officials have said some people ignored calls to evacuate. Kurgan Governor Vadim Shumkov urged residents to take the warnings seriously.  "We understand you very well: It is hard to leave your possessions and move somewhere at the call of the local authorities," Shumkov said. "It's better that we laugh at the hydrologists together later and praise God for the miracle of our common salvation. But let's do it alive."  In Kurgan, water levels were rising in the Tobol. Russia said 19,000 people were at risk in the region.   Rising waters were also forecast in Siberia's Ishim River, also a tributary of the Irtysh, which along with its parent, the Ob, forms the world's seventh-longest river system.  It was not immediately clear why this year's floods were so severe as the snow melt is an annual event in Russia. Scientists say climate change has made flooding more frequent worldwide. 

LONDON — Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs, who proposed the existence of the so-called "God particle" that helped explain how matter formed after the Big Bang, has died at age 94, the University of Edinburgh said Tuesday. The university, where Higgs was emeritus professor, said he died Monday following a short illness. Higgs predicted the existence of a new particle, which came to be known as the Higgs boson, in 1964. He theorized there must be a subatomic particle of certain dimension that would explain how other particles — and therefore all the stars and planets in the universe — acquired mass. Without something like this particle, the set of equations physicists use to describe the world, known as the standard model, would not hold together. Higgs' work helps scientists understand one of the most fundamental riddles of the universe: how the Big Bang created something out of nothing 13.8 billion years ago. Without mass from the Higgs, particles could not clump together into the matter we interact with every day. But it would be almost 50 years before the particle's existence could be confirmed. In 2012, in one of the biggest breakthroughs in physics in decades, scientists at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, announced that they had finally found a Higgs boson using the Large Hardron Collider, the $10 billion atom smasher in a 17-mile (27-kilometer) tunnel under the Swiss-French border. The collider was designed in large part to find Higgs' particle. It produces collisions with extraordinarily high energies in order to mimic some of the conditions that were present in the trillionths of seconds after the Big Bang. Higgs won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work, alongside Francois Englert of Belgium, who independently came up with the same theory. Edinburgh University Vice Chancellor Peter Mathieson said Higgs, who was born in Newcastle, was "a remarkable individual – a truly gifted scientist whose vision and imagination have enriched our knowledge of the world that surrounds us." "His pioneering work has motivated thousands of scientists, and his legacy will continue to inspire many more for generations to come." Born in Newcastle, northeast England, on May 29, 1929, Higgs studied at King's College, University of London, and was awarded a doctorate in 1954. He spent much of his career at Edinburgh, becoming the Personal Chair of Theoretical Physics at the Scottish university in 1980. He retired in 1996. One highlight of Higgs' career came in the 2013 presentation at CERN in Geneva where scientists presented in complex terms — based on statistical analysis unfathomable to most laypeople — that the boson had been confirmed. He broke into tears, wiping down his glasses in the stands of a CERN lecture hall. "There was an emotion — a kind of vibration — going around in the auditorium,'' Fabiola Gianotti, the CERN director-general told The Associated Press. "That was just a unique moment, a unique experience in a professional life.'' "Peter was a very touching person. He was so sweet, so warm at the same time. And so always interested in what other people had to say,'' she said. "Able to listen to other people … open, and interesting, and interested." Joel Goldstein, of the School of Physics at the University of Bristol, said: "Peter Higgs was a quiet and modest man, who never seemed comfortable with the fame he achieved even though this work underpins the entire modern theoretical framework of particle physics." Gianotti recalled how Higgs often bristled at the term "God particle" for his discovery: "I don't think he liked this kind of definition," she said. "It was not in his style."

Phnom Penh, Cambodia — Threats by the Cambodian government to take legal action against journalists are increasing, sparking concerns about constraints on press freedom, says an annual report by the Cambodian Journalists Association (CamboJA).  The group monitors incidents of harassment and restrictions on journalists. Pressure on independent media outlets has increased since the government of former Prime Minister Hun Sen began cracking down on political dissent before the 2018 general election. Several independent media outlets have closed since then, and six media licenses were revoked in 2023, compared to two cases in 2022.  In “Cambodian Journalism Situation Report 2023,” released on March 20, CamboJA recorded 32 cases of harassment of 59 journalists, six of them women. In 2022, CamboJA recorded 35 cases of harassment against 54 journalists, eight of them women. Legal action was involved in 15 of the 32 cases. These included lawsuits, license revocation, arrests or threats of legal action. At least five journalists were sued, charged with crimes or imprisoned.  “We caution against drawing any firm conclusions from these numbers,” the report said, adding that some journalists “are understandably afraid to report for fear of further reprisal.” Nop Vy, executive director of CamboJA, told VOA Khmer that harassment has had a significant impact on journalists’ performance and writing. He said this affects people’s rights to access information to get comprehensive information. “When journalists do not have the time or ability to write in-depth information, quality information helps the society. People cannot get information about various aspects of the society in every aspect,” he said. Nop Vy urged the government to prosecute those who harass or intimidate journalists and to end the impunity that has permitted the harassment to continue. Ministry of Information spokesman Tep Asnarith challenged the report’s findings, citing ministry data showing that journalists were able to carry out their responsibilities in all parts of the country last year. “Tens of thousands of journalists, as well as more than 2,000 traditional and modern media outlets, have been working to cover, produce and disseminate all forms of information, as well as to report freely and safely at all times by professional manner, with transparency and gaining the trust and support of the general public,” he said.  At an editors’ forum in December, Prime Minister Hun Manet said the achievements and success of the government are due to the participation of journalists in partnership with the government. He said the government has always promoted freedom of expression and the press, as well as encouraged more capacity building in the field of journalism and the strengthening of media professionalism and ethics. CamboJA launched a new website in March that will report on journalist harassment, provide quarterly and annual updates on the status of journalists, provide data sources, and support advocacy efforts for press freedom. Press freedom advocate Reporters Without Borders ranked Cambodia 147th out of 180 countries in 2023 for its escalation of government persecutions of the independent media. Ser Davy in Phnom Penh contributed to this report.  

washington — Taiwan Navy Commander Admiral Tang Hua said during a trip to Maryland that the self-governing island wants more cooperation with the U.S. and other countries amid military pressure from China.   But as to whether or not he would hold direct talks with U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti, as reported by Reuters, Tang said he would not comment so as to avoid China's protest causing trouble to the U.S. side. Speaking to VOA on Monday at this year's Sea-Air-Space Conference hosted by the Navy League of the U.S. at National Harbor, outside of Washington, Tang said he would meet with navy personnel from the U.S. and other countries.  "I think the People's Liberation Army's problem with Taiwan is not just about Taiwan," he said. "It may be in the East China Sea or the South China Sea. It is a global issue, not an issue specifically targeting Taiwan."  Taiwan split from China in 1950 after the nationalists lost to the communists and fled to the island, where they established a government that eventually became a democracy.   China claims Taiwan is a breakaway province that must one day reunite with the mainland, by force if necessary.   China also has territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea and claims most of the South China Sea as its own, putting it in conflict with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.  The U.S. supports a "One China" policy that Beijing is the only recognized government of China while maintaining non-diplomatic relations with Taiwan and vowing to defend its right to self-governance.   In response to a Reuters question at a briefing March 29 about the Taiwan Navy chief's trip to the U.S., Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said China firmly opposes "military collusion between the U.S. and Taiwan."  He urged the U.S. to "immediately stop official interactions and military contact with Taiwan, and refrain from sending any wrong message to 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces."   Tang said other countries' navies at the conference were also looking to partner up.   "Not only are the U.S. military, but also the navies of various countries here. In fact, regarding much of our current cooperation, you just heard them talk about many things, including manpower issues, shipbuilding issues, and demand and cooperation, so I think on these occasions, everyone is seeking opportunities for cooperation and integration," he said.  Tang, along with Rear Admiral Chung-Hsing Wei, defense attache with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S., and the visiting Taiwan delegation attended meetings and speeches of naval leaders from the U.S. and other countries.  He also visited the booths of major U.S. military manufacturers at the exhibition, including Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, and inquired about weapons and equipment with companies that have procurement projects with Taiwan.   This included General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, which produced four MQ-9B "SkyGuardian" drones for Taipei.   A senior official from the company also told him that he will join a U.S. Taiwan Business Council delegation to visit Taiwan in early June.  Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.

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.

Blantyre, Malawi   — Police in Malawi have arrested a newspaper journalist over an online story published last year exposing fraudulent activities involving a corruption suspect charged with conspiracy to defraud the Malawi government.   The journalist, Macmillan Mhone, who works for the daily Nation Newspaper in Blantyre, was arrested Monday following the story he allegedly wrote in August of last year when he was working for the online publication Malawi24. The story exposed fraudulent activities involving corruption suspect Abdul Karim Batatawala, who was charged with conspiracy to defraud the Malawi government.  Mhone's lawyer, Joseph Lihoma, told VOA on Tuesday that Mhone was yet to be charged.   Mhone's preliminary charges include conduct likely to cause breach of peace and cause public alarm.    The arrest comes two months after another local investigative journalist, Gregory Gondwe, went into hiding following a tip from military sources about plans to arrest him for writing a story about corruption in the military.  Several press freedom advocates and human rights campaigners, including the Committee for Protection of Journalists and the Media Institute for Southern Africa — known as MISA-MALAWI — have condemned Mhone's arrest.    Golden Matonga, the chairperson for the Media Institute for Southern Africa in Malawi, called on police to release the journalist without conditions.     "Malawi is one of [the] beacons of hope for democracy," said Mantonga. "To see this backsliding of our democracy is saddening for us in the journalism profession and also for everyone who wished our democracy to continue to grow."  In a statement, MISA-Malawi also said the story in question does not cause fear or public alarm.  Pearson Nkhoma, the director of the board of the online publication Malawi24, where the story was published, said police have arrested Mhone based on wrong information because he never wrote the story.  "If anyone has a screenshot indicating that Macmillan has the byline, then those people are basically lying," he said.  Nkhoma said it is surprising that police have arrested someone who no longer works for Malawi24 on the matter concerning the publication.    VOA did not get a comment from the police because calls to the national police spokesperson went unanswered. 

WASHINGTON — The United States is welcoming South Korean sanctions imposed on Russian vessels suspected of transporting weapons from North Korea, despite Russian protests.  “We applaud the recent actions taken by the ROK to disrupt and expose arms transfers between the DPRK and Russia – including the sanctions … on two Russian vessels involved in arms transfers to Russia,” a State Department spokesperson said. “It is important for the international community to send a strong, unified message that the DPRK must halt its irresponsible behavior, abide by its obligations under U.N. Security Council resolutions, and engage in serious and sustained diplomacy,” the spokesperson said Friday via email to the VOA Korean Service. South Korea on April 2 unilaterally sanctioned two Russian vessels involved in delivering military supplies from North Korea to Russia.   The next day at a press briefing, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called Seoul’s move “an unfriendly step” that “leads only to escalation of tensions” and “will affect South Korea-Russia relations in a negative way.”  She said Moscow would respond to the sanctions but did not specify how.  On Friday, Russia said it had summoned South Korea’s ambassador.   The South Korean sanctions followed Russia’s veto of a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for the annual extension of the U.N. experts panel that monitors sanctions on North Korea. The panel’s mandate ends at the end of April. The ties between Pyongyang and Moscow have been growing since a summit in September. Since then, North Korea has been providing munitions that Russia needs to fight its war in Ukraine. “The ROK government getting involved in applying sanctions, seizures, and other active counterproliferation authorities and capabilities against the North is a huge step forward in joint cooperation to counter, protect and contain the DPRK regime’s weapons exports,” said David Asher, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.    Asher worked on disrupting North Korea’s illicit financial, trading and weapons of mass destruction networks under the George W. Bush administration. In an email to VOA on Monday, Asher added, “I fully expect ROK-U.S.-Japan cooperation to expand in counterproliferation, including the identification and targeting of weapons supply networks using intelligence operations, law enforcement, and sanctions.” A day after announcing the sanctions, Seoul said it had seized a vessel that was suspected of violating U.N. sanctions on North Korea. South Korea said it was investigating the DEYI, a cargo ship that was en route to Russia from North Korea via China, after seizing it in waters off the South Korean port city of Yeosu. “This reinforces that countries can implement U.N. sanctions, on their own, as they have responsibility to do so,” especially after Russia blocked the U.N. experts panel’s mandate, said Anthony Ruggiero, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Ruggiero has over 19 years working on financial sanctions and proliferation issues, including ones involving North Korea. There is a broad international and domestic set of legal authorities that countries like South Korea could rely on to go after illicit exports and maritime activities by North Korea, but it is a matter of “whether countries are willing to stop” vessels making illegal actions, Ruggiero said during a telephone interview on Monday.  A U.N. Security Council resolution passed in 2017 authorizes member states to seize, inspect, freeze and impound vessels in their territorial waters found to be conducting illicit activities with Pyongyang and carrying banned goods from North Korea.   A State Department spokesperson told VOA’s Korean Service on Thursday that the U.S. is “coordinating closely with the ROK in its investigation of this ship in connection with U.N. sanctions violations.” “Despite Russia’s veto of the 1718 Committee Panel of Experts mandate in order to bury reporting on its violation of U.S. Security Council resolutions, U.N. sanctions on the DPRK remain in place, and all U.N. member states are still required to implement them,” the spokesperson said. Nate Evans, the spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the U.N., said Monday that U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield will travel to South Korea and Japan next week to discuss ways to monitor international sanctions on North Korea. South Korea estimated in March that North Korea has shipped about 7,000 containers full of munitions to Russia since last year. The U.S. assessed the same month the number of containers to be 10,000. Joshua Stanton, an attorney based in Washington who helped draft the Sanctions and Policy Enforcement Act in 2016, told VOA on Monday via email that Seoul could seize ships carrying weapons from North Korea to Russia if certain criteria are met.  Seoul could do so “if South Korea has reasonable cause to believe that the vessel is engaged in sanctions evasion, and if one of the following conditions is also met: the [vessel’s] flag state consents, the vessel is stateless, or the ship enters a South Korean port.”

WHITE HOUSE — Families of American Israeli hostages demanded an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, saying it is the only means to win the release of their loved ones who have been held by Hamas since the militant group attacked Israel on Oct. 7. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, the families said they are working with the Biden administration to “encourage all our parties to reach a deal.” Only by doing so, “the horror” that the civilians of Gaza have been experiencing for the last six months can also come to an end, said Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen. The White House briefed the families on the Biden administration’s efforts to secure the release of all hostages and an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, during a meeting earlier Tuesday with Vice President Kamala Harris. “The Vice President underscored that President [Joe] Biden and she have no higher priority than reuniting the hostages with their loved ones,” according to a White House readout of the meeting. “She also reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to bring home the remains of those who have been tragically confirmed to be deceased.” The U.S. is pushing Hamas to accept a deal with Israel to halt fighting in Gaza for six weeks while releasing some of the more than 130 hostages held by the U.S.-designated terror group in exchange for Israel freeing hundreds of Palestinians it has jailed.   U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that a “very serious” proposal was presented to Hamas in Cairo last weekend and “should be accepted.” “The ball is in Hamas’ court,” Blinken said. “The world is watching to see what it does.” One of the hostage families rejected efforts to separate the hostage release from military de-escalation in Gaza.  “These two things must be linked. No conversation about the region should be had without it starting with ‘133 hostages must come home,’” said Jonathan Polin, father of American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the dozens who were kidnapped during a music festival in Israel on Oct. 7. The hostage families expressed sympathy for the Palestinians in Gaza. “You can believe, as we do, that it is horrible that innocent civilians in Gaza are suffering,” said Rachel Goldberg, Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s mother. “And at the same time, you can also know that it is horrible and against international law, for hostages to be held against their will.” About 1,200 people were killed during the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas. Around 250 were taken hostage. As of mid-February, 112 hostages had been freed, most during a weeklong cease-fire in November, while 36 more are believed to have died or been killed in Gaza during the six months of fighting. No cease-fire deal as Ramadan ends President Biden had originally set the beginning of Ramadan, which started on March 10, as the deadline for another Israel-Hamas cease-fire. In response to VOA’s question during the White House briefing Tuesday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan blamed Hamas for the fact that the Muslim month of fasting is set to end on Wednesday with still no cease-fire. “The world should say at this moment to Hamas, ‘It's time. Let's go. Let's get that cease-fire,'” he said. “We're ready. I believe Israel is ready and I think Hamas should step up to the table and be prepared to do so as well.” Sullivan said that as of Tuesday morning, Qatari negotiators facilitating the cease-fire talks had not received a response from Hamas on whether they’ll accept the latest U.S. proposal presented in Cairo over the weekend by CIA Director Bill Burns.  The proposal was sent days after a tense phone call between Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu, during which the U.S. president pressed the Israeli prime minister “to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home.” From the Israeli perspective, Netanyahu has flexibility in negotiating the number of Palestinian terrorists to be released as part of the deal, said Jonathan Rynhold, head of the Department of Political Studies at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University. “There's much less flexibility on permanent cease-fire, on things that Israel would believe would give Hamas a military advantage,” he told VOA.  Israel’s counter-offensive in Gaza has killed more than 33,000 people, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to Gaza health officials. The Israeli military says several thousand Hamas fighters are among those killed.

Nairobi, Kenya — Kenyan doctors held new demonstrations Tuesday in their push for better pay and working conditions. The doctors are demanding a commitment from the government to fulfill collective bargaining agreements signed in 2017, but President William Ruto says the country has no money to pay the doctors and asked them to return to work. Thousands of striking doctors and medical trainees chanted, “The doctors united, shall never be defeated,” as they protested outside the Kenyan Parliament. Led by officials of Kenya’s main health care professionals union, the doctors want the government to honor the agreement. “The government has not implemented critical components of this collective bargaining agreement and instead, they have begun to violate it outrightly." said Davji Atellah, secretary-general of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union. "Despite the inflation, despite the challenges [and] changes on all the other civil servants and public servants, doctors and other health workers have remained without it being considered,' Atellah said. "Instead, we realized that the new doctor interns that are being posted, their salaries were reduced by 91%.” President William Ruto has asked the doctors to call off the strike and go back to work, saying the government is struggling with a huge wage bill and cannot afford to review their salaries. “I am telling our friends, the doctors, that we mind about them. We value the service they give to our nation. But we have to live within our means,” Ruto said. Opposition lawmakers who joined the striking doctors Tuesday accuse the president of using the wage bill as an excuse to deny doctors their due pay at a time when there is exorbitant spending in government. “The doctors must not be paid yesterday, they must not be paid tomorrow, but they must be paid today," said Paul Ongili, also known as “Babu Owino,” an opposition member of parliament. "Ruto took loans, and Ruto is collecting taxes. And those taxes must be used to pay these doctors. Ruto is vicariously liable for all the deaths occurring in the hospitals, for all the deaths occurring in this country, because he has refused to pay the doctors.” Another opposition member, Otiende Amollo, said there was support for the strike. “We want to reassure you that we stand with you, and we stand with your right under the constitution to peacefully demonstrate. Nobody has the authority to outlaw a peaceful demonstration by doctors,” Amollo said. Irene Kenyatta, a final year medical student at the University of Nairobi, was among those who joined the doctors in the demonstrations. “I’m fighting for my future. I went to school to have a bright future. It can’t be the moment that I’m going to finish school you are telling me that I can’t have the bright future after all," she said. "I have invested a lot. If I want a bright future, I have to get the bright future, even if it means coming to the streets to fight for my rights.” The 2017 Kenyan doctors' strike that lasted 100 days is the longest in the country’s history.  Implementation of the collective bargaining agreement that ended that strike is the cause of the current strike, now in its fourth week.

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.

Environmental and human rights activists are calling on the Nigerian government to withhold approval of Shell’s plans to sell off its operations in the Niger Delta — unless the oil giant does more to tackle pollution in the region caused by the industry. Henry Ridgwell reports.

Turkey has announced restrictions on trade with Israel and Turkish Airlines has suspended flights to the country as a consequence of the war in Gaza. As Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, the moves come as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reverses his rapprochement efforts, which proved unpopular among voters in last month’s elections

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.

U.S. voters say the economy is one of their biggest concerns in this year’s presidential election. VOA correspondent Scott Stearns looks at how candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump are approaching an economy that the U.S. Labor Department says is adding jobs and lifting wages.

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.

Many Muslims follow a set of religious dietary laws, and businesses that serve food allowed under these laws are described as "halal." For Muslims in Western countries, finding a halal restaurant can be a challenge, but an app is making it much easier. VOA’s Valdya Baraputri reports. Camera: Rendy Wicaksana