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This is VOA News. I'm Joe Ramsey.
Israel is withdrawing some forces from Gaza to shift to more targeted operations against Hamas and is partially returning reservists to civilian life to help the economy as the war looks set to last well into the new year, an Israeli official said. The official said toppling U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas remained an objective of the offensive in the Palestinian enclave and some of the five brigades withdrawn will prepare for a possible flare-up of a second front against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The U.S. Navy says an aircraft carrier will soon be returning home after an extended deployment defending Israel. The AP's Ed Donahue reports. The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group was sent to the eastern Mediterranean to be within striking distance of Israel since the day after Hamas's attack in October. They repeatedly intercepted incoming ballistic missiles and attack drones fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen. The Ford and its accompanying warships will be replaced by the amphibious assault ship, the USS Bataan, and two accompanying warships. The Ford and the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier have been part of a two-carrier presence monitoring the Israel-Hamas war. Ed Donahue, Washington. Israel's Supreme Court has struck down a key component of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contentious judicial overhaul. The decision decision threatens to reopen the fissures in Israeli society that preceded the country's ongoing war against U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas. Those divisions were largely put aside while the country focuses on the war in Gaza, which was triggered by a bloody cross-border attack by Hamas. Monday's court decision could reignite those tensions which sparked months of protests against the government and rattled the cohesion of the powerful military. This is VOA News. Japan has dropped its highest-level tsunami alert issued following a series of major earthquakes on Monday, but it is telling residents of coastal areas not to return to their homes as deadly waves could still come. The quakes, the largest of which had a magnitude of 7.6, started a fire and collapsed buildings in the west coast of Japan's main island Honshu. Authorities said people are trapped in buildings that collapsed in the quake and a fire has broken out in one city. Tsunami warnings were also issued for parts of North Korea and Russia. U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement his administration was in touch with Japanese officials and ready to provide any necessary assistance for the Japanese people. [No abora...] No abnormalities have been detected at nuclear power plants in Japan following Monday's magnitude 7.6 earthquake. VOA's Kim Lewis has more. Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said at an emergency press conference in Tokyo on Monday that the closest utilities facility to the quakes epicenter was among those reporting no damage. He says, quote, "beginning with the Shika nuclear power, there are currently no reported irregularities with nuclear power plants," unquote. Hayashi added that the authorities were still checking the extent of damage and warned residents to prepare for possible further quakes. Kim Lewis, VOA News. More Americans are worried about overseas issues in 2024 compared to last year. AP correspondent Shelley Adler reports. In this time of war overseas, more Americans think foreign policy should be a top U.S. priority in 2024. That's according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. It finds that international concerns and immigration rising in importance with the public. Those concerns are still overshadowed by long-standing economic worries, with some 76 percent of adults saying they want the government to work on issues related to the economy this year. I'm Shelly Adler. The British government says the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in 2023 fell by more than a third from the previous year. It's the first decline since current record keeping began. The 30,000 crossings recorded in preliminary figures was down 36 percent from more than 45,000 in 2022, but the number was the second highest since 2018 and about 1,000 above the total in 2021. A union representative for border officers said Monday the drop in crossings is likely to be a "glitch" due to weather and larger numbers are expected this year. I'm Joe Ramsey, VOA New(s). |