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This is VOA News. I'm Joe Ramsey.
Israeli forces seized the main border crossing between Egypt and southern Gaza on Tuesday, shutting down a vital aid route into the Palestinian enclave that's already on the brink of famine. Reuters correspondent Emma Jehle reports. Aid trucks were seen lined up on the road in Egypt's Rafah on Tuesday after Israel took control of the Palestinian side of the main border crossing. The United Nations and other international aid agencies said the closing of the two crossings into southern Gaza, Rafah and Israeli-controlled Karem Shalom, had virtually cut off the already devastated enclave from outside aid. The seizure of the Rafah crossing, where more than one million displaced Palestinian civilians are holed up, came despite weeks of calls from the U.S. and others for Israel to hold off from a big offensive in Rafah. The crossing was also the only exit point for those needing to leave Gaza for medical treatment unavailable inside the enclave. Reuters correspondent Emma Jehle. U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday warned the threat of anti-Semitism is growing in remarks honoring the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust as his support for Israel's assault on Gaza divides his Democratic Party. "This hatred continues to lie deep in the hearts of too many people in the world and requires our continued vigilance and outspokenness." Biden spoke seven months to the day after the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 by Israeli tallies, in what Biden has called the "deadliest days for Jews since the Holocaust." U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has been holding up certain Boeing-made arms shipments to Israel, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in what is an apparent political message to Israel. This is VOA News. The judge in Donald Trump's hush money trial denied a request for a mistrial during witness testimony on Tuesday. AP Correspondent Julie Walker reports. While Judge Juan Merchan agreed with the defense that Stormy Daniels gave more detail than she should have. During her testimony, he also said Trump's lawyers should have objected more. At one point, Merchan even raised an objection. Jurors appeared riveted as Daniels offered a detailed and at times graphic account of a sex encounter in 2006 Trump has denied. She was paid $130,000 by Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to stay quiet about it. Trump denies charges of falsifying business records to hide hush money payments. Julie Walker, New York. Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog will continue talks aimed at ending an impasse on many issues between them and should strike a deal on a package of measures soon, the watchdogs chief Rafael Grossi said on Tuesday as he returned from Iran trip. The International Atomic Energy Agency faces a range of difficulties in Iran, including the fact Tehran only implemented a small fraction of what Grossi thought it committed to in a "Joint Statement" on future cooperation they made in March 2023, and the few concrete steps taken stopped in June of last year. A U.S. soldier detained in Russia traveled there while on leave despite a prohibition by the Department of Defense and State Department, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. Reuters correspondent Rachel Faber reports. It says he traveled to Russia through China without military clearance. Russian officials say the soldier, who the U.S. Army identified as Staff Sergeant Gordon Black, was arrested on charges of theft. Black had been assigned to Camp Humphreys in South Korea most recently and was set to return to Texas. The Army said the Russian Interior Ministry informed the U.S. on May 3 that Black had been arrested the day earlier for theft of personal property. The Russian Interior Ministry said a 32-year-old woman had filed a complaint against the 34-year-old suspect. The two had met in South Korea and Black came to Russia to visit her, the ministry said. The two had an argument and she later filed a police report accusing him of stealing money, it said. Reuters correspondent Rachel Farber. Rescuers rushed to evacuate people stranded by devastating floods across the southern Brazilian states of Rio Grande do Sul on Tuesday, with 90 reported dead and desperate survivors seeking food and basic supplies. Many people were sleeping on the roadside and told Reuters they were going hungry. Entire families were seen [living] leaving on foot, carrying belongings in backpacks and shopping carts. I'm Joe Ramsey, V... |