GENEVA — The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, is warning that children in Gaza are facing a mental health crisis and are in desperate need of psychosocial support, which is largely unavailable under the security and humanitarian conditions prevailing in the war-torn enclave. “The only way to have this mental health and psychosocial support delivered at scale is with a cease-fire,” said Jonathan Crickx, who is UNICEF’s chief of Communication and Advocacy-State of Palestine. “Palestinian... Читать дальше...
washington — In an interview at VOA this week marking the third anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, spoke about the worsening humanitarian crisis there. Andrews said the junta continues to strike mainly civilian targets, with Russia standing out as the primary source of weapons. Andrews also spoke about the need for coordination between the U.S. and its allies to impose stronger sanctions on the junta, and the need... Читать дальше...
atlanta, georgia — A court filing Friday discloses that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is involved in a "personal relationship" with a special prosecutor she hired for the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump, but she argues there are no grounds to dismiss the case or to remove her from the prosecution. Willis hired special prosecutor Nathan Wade in November 2021 to assist her investigation into whether the Republican former president and others... Читать дальше...
washington — The personal data of hundreds of journalists in Mexico was stolen and released in late January, Mexican officials announced this week, in a massive leak that underscores security concerns in a country considered among the most dangerous in the world for reporters. International press freedom groups said the leak could put journalists at risk. At least 324 journalists were affected by the leak, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which called for an immediate investigation into the incident. Читать дальше...
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury said Friday it had imposed sanctions on four Iran- and Hong-Kong based companies for providing materials and technology to Iran's ballistic missile and drone programs, and on a Hong Kong-based firm for selling Iranian commodities. The Treasury also said it had imposed sanctions on six officials of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp's Cyber Electronic Command for malicious cyber activities against critical infrastructure in the United States and elsewhere. As a result of the sanctions... Читать дальше...
In a rare intervention, a senior U.S. official has urged Britain to reassess the size of its armed forces, given the numerous threats the West faces. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the official's comments echo concerns of senior military commanders in Britain.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — More than 100 Rohingya immigrants have escaped from a detention center in Malaysia after a protest, with one confirmed killed in a road accident, officials said Friday. This was the second time in two years that such a breakout occurred. In 2022, 528 Rohingya refugees staged a protest and escaped from detention in northern Penang state. Six were killed while trying to cross a highway, and most of the others were rearrested. Immigration Department Director-General Ruslin... Читать дальше...
NAIROBI, Kenya — A vehicle loaded with gas exploded and set off an inferno that burned homes and warehouses in Kenya's capital early Friday, injuring more than 270 people and killing at least three with the toll expected to rise. A number of residents were likely inside their homes when the fire reached their houses late in the night, government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said. An explosion of a truck with an unknown registration number and loaded with gas ignited the huge fireball, and a flying... Читать дальше...
London — London's High Court on Thursday threw out Donald Trump's lawsuit against a British private investigations firm over the "Steele dossier" which alleged ties between Trump's election campaign and Russia. Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, had brought a data protection lawsuit against Orbis Business Intelligence about claims in a dossier written by its co-founder, former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. Judge Karen Steyn ruled that the... Читать дальше...
U.S. President Joe Biden is weighing responses to the death of three U.S. service members in Jordan in a Sunday drone strike the White House attributed to Iranian-backed militias. The attack has many U.S. lawmakers concerned about increasing U.S. military involvement in the Middle East following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Katherine Gypson and Saqib Ul Islam have more.
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a U.S. territory in the Pacific, is the only place in the United States where Chinese nationals can enter without a visa for up to 14 days. Now some in Congress want to shut that program down. VOA’s Jessica Stone reports.
The U.S. says it needs to see "fundamental changes" before resuming funding to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. The U.S. and 15 other donor countries suspended aid after Israel alleged that agency staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas terror attack. VOA's Cindy Saine reports.
state department — Three years after the February 1, 2021, coup, military rule in Myanmar has created a growing humanitarian crisis with 2.6 million people displaced and more than 18 million in need. In response, humanitarian organizations are seeking a record $994 million to support relief efforts in Myanmar in 2024, according to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “We condemn in the strongest possible terms the military regime’s ongoing atrocities and human rights violations... Читать дальше...
New polls show that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is increasingly unpopular, and a majority of Israelis surveyed say he must step down once the war ends. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem. Camera: Ricki Rosen
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida — The "cone of uncertainty" produced by the National Hurricane Center to forecast the location and ferocity of a tropical storm is getting an update this year to include predictions for inland areas, where wind and flooding are sometimes more treacherous than damage to the coasts. The Miami-based hurricane center said Thursday on the X social media platform that the new, experimental forecast tool will be ready around August 15, just before the traditional peak of the hurricane season that begins June 1. Читать дальше...
