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The Israeli Supreme Court, in a landmark decision, said that the ultra-orthodox are not exempt from military service. Protesters in Nairobi have raided parliament over a new tax and budget bill. An update from Kyiv as Ukraine proceeds with EU accession negotiations and two high-ranking Russians are accused of war crimes. Plus, the latest on Julian Assange and Evan Gershkovich.

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.

New York — The situation in the Gaza Strip remains catastrophic and there is a high and sustained risk of famine across all of Gaza as long as the Israel-Hamas war continues and humanitarian access is restricted, a United Nations-backed food security report concluded Tuesday. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, found that nearly a half-million Gazans are on the brink of famine, while 745,000 are facing emergency levels of hunger. Overall, the experts said about 96% of Gazans — some 2.15 million people — are currently facing high levels of acute food insecurity that will continue at least through the end of September. Fears of a famine in northern Gaza, projected in the IPC analysis conducted in February, have been averted for now. The analysts said the quantity of food deliveries and nutrition services provided to the north have increased, temporarily alleviating the hunger situation. But the danger remains, with 225,000 people still in emergency or catastrophe levels of food insecurity. In southern Gaza, especially in the Rafah governorate where more than 1 million Palestinians fled seeking safety in the spring, some 70,000 people are one step away from famine and another 70,000 are in emergency levels of food insecurity, the IPC said. The latest IPC update is based on data collected remotely from May 27 to June 4 by more than 35 experts from 27 agencies, applying standard IPC protocols. The IPC does not declare famine but provides the evidence for an official declaration to be made. “To truly turn the corner and prevent famine, adequate and sustained levels of humanitarian assistance must be provided, including: greater availability of fresh food and better nutritional diversity, clean water and sanitation, access to health care and the rebuilding of clinics and hospitals,” the World Food Program said in a statement following the report’s release. “A broad, multi-sectoral response is urgently needed.” The IPC experts noted that after eight months of war and a poor diet and sanitary conditions, Gazans are more vulnerable, which can increase the probability of famine occurring. The IPC — which comprises about 18 different U.N. and non-U.N. agencies — said only an end to the fighting and sustained humanitarian access can reduce the risk of famine from happening in Gaza. Israel denies that it obstructs aid delivery into Gaza, saying it is the United Nations and aid agencies that are not delivering aid fast enough. Under increased U.S. and international pressure, Israel has started allowing more aid to flow into Gaza, including the north. The Israel Defense Forces, or IDF, recently began daily tactical pauses of military activity along the road from the Kerem Shalom crossing into southern Gaza so humanitarians could move aid convoys. A breakdown in public law and order, however, has impeded aid workers’ ability to collect aid from Kerem Shalom. The U.N. says criminal activities and the risk of theft and robbery have prevented their collecting any aid from Kerem Shalom since June 18. “As the latest IPC report makes alarmingly clear, humanitarian needs inside Gaza are catastrophic, and humanitarian assistance must be scaled up and reach all in need across all of Gaza,” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said at a U.N. Security Council meeting Tuesday about the situation in the Middle East. She said the Biden administration continues to press Israel to create better conditions to facilitate aid delivery inside Gaza, including to improve the mechanism that coordinates aid deliveries with the Israeli military to prevent attacks on aid convoys. “The figures in this report are a shameful testament to the failure of world leaders to heed earlier warnings and hold Israel to account for its deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war,” said Sally Abi Khalil, international charity Oxfam’s regional director for the Middle East. “The slight improvement of conditions in the north shows that Israel can end human suffering when it chooses — but just as quickly those gains can vanish when access is again constrained, as the report warns it is now.”

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.

Campaigners in Georgia are seeking to highlight past atrocities committed by invading Russian troops and allied militias during the early 1990s, which they say should have acted as a warning of the dangers posed by Russia, long before Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Henry Ridgwell reports from Tbilisi.

An underwater drone is using artificial intelligence to help survey the Great Barrier Reef as a widespread mass coral bleaching unfolds across the world's most extensive reef ecosystem. Deana Mitchell has our story in this week’s episode of LogOn.

WASHINGTON — The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on nearly 50 entities and people it accused of moving billions of dollars for Iran's military.  The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said those targeted on Tuesday constitute a "shadow banking network" used by Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), both of which are under U.S. sanctions.  The network helped the MODAFL and IRGC — which earn money notably from the sale of oil and petrochemicals — gain access to the international financial system and process the equivalent of billions of dollars since 2020, the Treasury said.  The Treasury said the revenue generated by the MODAFL and IRGC through networks of Iranian exchange houses and foreign cover companies supported the provision of weapons and funding to Iran's proxy groups, including Yemen's Houthi group, and the transfer of drones to Russia for use in the war against Ukraine.  Washington has issued rafts of sanctions targeting Iranian drones and the Houthis, who have been launching drone and missile strikes in shipping lanes since November in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in Israel's war in Gaza.  "We continue to work with allies and partners, as well as the global financial industry, to increase vigilance against the movement of funds supporting terrorism," Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in the statement.  Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately comment on the action.  Tuesday's action targeted dozens of companies in Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Marshall Islands, as well as Iran and Turkey-based firms.   The Treasury said the MODAFL Supply Division uses exchange houses in Iran that manage numerous cover companies registered in jurisdictions such as Hong Kong or the UAE to launder revenue, including from oil sales conducted by Sahara Thunder, which the U.S. imposed sanctions on in April.  The Treasury at the time accused Sahara Thunder of being a front company that oversees MODAFL's commercial activities in support of the IRGC and Russia's war in Ukraine, playing a key role in Iran's design, development, manufacture and sale of thousands of drones.  The move freezes the U.S. assets of banned companies and individuals, and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. Those that engage in certain transactions with them also risk being hit with sanctions.

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.

ISLAMABAD — Thousands of people in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan took to the streets Tuesday to celebrate their national team's first-ever entry into the cricket World Cup semifinals by beating Bangladesh. Video from several cities, many bordering Pakistan, showed joyous rallies in the streets early in the morning, with reports of celebratory gunfire by fans in some areas, including the capital, Kabul.   The celebrations erupted shortly after the Afghan team completed a dramatic eight-run victory over the Bangladeshi side in a rain-affected, low-scoring match in St. Vincent in the West Indies late Monday.   “It’s something of a dream for us as a team…it’s unbelievable. I don’t have the words to describe my feelings,” Rashid Khan, the Afghan team captain, said after the match. “I’m sure it’s going to be a massive celebration back home. It’s a massive achievement for us. The country will be very proud.”  Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul telephoned Khan and congratulated him on the landmark victory, his office said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Authorities in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar officially ordered residents to celebrate the cricket team’s success inside their homes and avoid taking to the streets and roads for security reasons. Hibatullah Akhundzada, the reclusive supreme leader of the Taliban, lives and governs the country from Kandahar, issuing edicts based on his strict interpretation of Islamic law, which includes restrictions on women’s and girls' rights and freedom of movement. Afghanistan scored 115 runs in their allotted 20 overs, but weather conditions led Bangladesh to chase a revised target of 114 runs in 19 overs under relevant cricketing rules.   Khan and Afghan pacer Naveen ul Haq displayed a brilliant bowling performance, bagging four wickets each and dismissing the Bangladeshi team for 105 in 17.5 overs.   Afghanistan will now face South Africa in the first semi-final in Tarouba, West Indies. Its historic semifinal appearance came two days after it surprised the world by scoring its first-ever victory over Australia, the cricketing superpower, in the Twenty20 World Cup jointly hosted by the United States and West Indies.   The Afghan victory has eliminated Australia from the tournament. After losing its crucial match to India earlier on Monday, Australia needed Bangladesh to defeat Afghanistan to advance to the semifinals. Cricket began to gain popularity in Afghanistan following the ouster of the Taliban in 2001 by a U.S.-led military invasion of the country. Afghans, who had been living in refugee camps in Pakistan, are credited with bringing the game to their impoverished South Asian nation.   Afghanistan joined the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2017. Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the national team has mostly trained and played outside the country. The international community has not formally recognized the Taliban government mainly for restricting Afghan women’s access to education, employment, sports, and public life at large. The curbs have prompted some countries to boycott bilateral cricket competitions with Afghanistan.   Australia has declined to play Afghanistan several times.   This past March, Australian cricketing officials canceled a three-match series due to take place in the United Arab Emirates in August. They referenced government advice that the situation for women and girls was deteriorating in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. The rare World Cup success of the national team and the resulting celebrations in Afghanistan contrast with the country's deepening economic, humanitarian, and human rights crises caused by years of war and natural disasters.