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This is VOA News. I'm Joe Ramsey.
The top U.S. and British diplomats on Wednesday made a rare visit to Ukraine and announced a billion and a half dollars more in aid for Kyiv. AP correspondent Sagar Meghani reports. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British counterpart David Lammy went together to the Ukrainian capital in a show of support and announced the aid, much of which is aimed at boosting an energy grid Russia's been hammering before the winter. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials used the visit to reup pleas for Western nations to allow the use of long-range weapons they've provided deeper inside Russia. Blinken noted throughout the war, "We have adjusted and adapted as needs have changed, as the battlefield has changed." Sagar Meghani, Washington. U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday called the Israeli military's killing of an American activist in the West Bank "totally unacceptable" and said Israel must do more to make sure it never happens again. Israel has taken responsibility for the death, and Biden said the U.S. government expects continued access to the criminal investigation into the shooting. The 26-year-old who was also a Turkish national was shot dead on Friday at a protest march in an area where Palestinians have been repeatedly attacked by far-right Jewish settlers. Israel has said her death was accidental. An Israeli strike hit an UNWRA school building sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday, killing ten and wounding several others, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. People could be seen gathering human remains, some of which were placed in blankets and some in plastic bags. A man with severe wounds to his leg was seen being placed into an ambulance. This is VOA News. Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday faced the day after a rocky debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, looking to regain his footing with 54 days until Election Day. Trump stepped off a different debate stage not even three months ago, having watched U.S. President Joe Biden deliver a performance that led him to end his bid. It was Trump on the defensive end by the end of Tuesday night after Harris controlled much of the 90-minute debate. The former president, though, insisting he won the night. Thousands of African schools and two dozen countries have been closed due to conflict and insecurity affecting the education of millions of children. An international aid agency warns children who are not in school are at risk. Mohammed Yusuf reports. Millions of African children are without education, as schools struggle to cope with the impact of armed conflict and insecurity. The Norwegian Refugee Council says that as of June 2024, more than 14,300 schools were closed in 24 African countries. Countries with the most closures were Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria and Niger. Mohammed Yusuf, VOA News, Nairobi. A 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck Morocco in September a year ago in one of the poorest and most undeveloped parts of the country. [residents say, uh] Reports, rather, say many residents still live in plastic tents or have been forced to relocate. Lisa Bryant reports. "This is my house. It was affected by the earthquake." Tour guide Abdesamat El Gzouri showed a reporter his damaged home in Amizmiz, a town at the foot of the High Atlas Mountains. Parts of Amizmiz were reduced to rubble. El Gzouri says his house is now being renovated. "... people getting back to their houses. Some, they reinforce their house(s), some, they renovate. Some, they rebuild. But still, we have people living in tents." A father of four, El Gzouri says he's happy that children are back at school. He's less certain about the future of his town and region in the months and years to come. Lisa Bryant, VOA News. South Africa's second largest political party said on Wednesday an education bill that would give the government more control over white minority language schools is a threat to the country's new government of national unity. The bill seeks to give the government the power to determine language and admission policies in schools, something currently determined by school governing bodies consisting mostly of parents and community leaders. Find more online at voanews.com or download the VOA News mobile app. I'm Joe Ramsey, VOA New(s). |