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I'm VOA's Joe Ramsey with your worldwide news update.
Moscow is warning the U.S. over letting Ukraine strike Russian soil with longer-range weapons. AP correspondent Sagar Meghani reports. American officials say President Biden's shifting policy and easing limits on what Ukraine can hit with U.S.-provided systems. He'd ruled out the move for months over fears it would lead to a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says the decision adds fuel to the fire. Deputy White House National Security Advisor Jon Finer says Moscow itself is to blame. "The fire was lit by Russia's invasion." Finer's not confirming the shift, which comes after North Korean forces arrived in Russia and are apparently deploying to help push Ukrainian troops out of a border region. U.K. security expert Patrick Bury figures that helped drive the shift. But "I think it's too late to have a major strategic effect." Sagar Meghani, Washington. The U.S. on Monday imposed sanctions on organizations and firms involved in illegal settlement development in the occupied West Bank, including a well-established decades-old group that has close ties with Israeli leadership. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Amana, the largest organization involved in illegal settlement development in the West Bank and its subsidiary. Amana is already sanctioned by Britain and Canada and it is one of the major funders and supporters of unauthorized settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Settlement tracking group Peace Now says its assets are valued at around 600 million Israeli shekels, or about $160 million, and that it has a yearly budget stretching into tens of millions of shekels. This is VOA News. Brazil is pushing for concerted action to alleviate hunger as it hosts a summit of the Group of 20 leading economies amid global uncertainty over two major wars and incoming U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva welcomed foreign leaders to Rio de Janeiro's modern art museum Monday and delivered an opening address that focused on fighting food insecurity. Heightened global tensions and uncertainty about an incoming Trump administration had already tempered expectations for a strongly worded statement addressing the conflicts in the Middle East and between Russia and Ukraine. A search and rescue effort is ongoing in Tanzania's commercial capital after a building collapse on Saturday killed at least 13 people. That's according to authorities who say dozens of others have been rescued so far. Reuters correspondent Jillian Kitchener reports. Crews search tirelessly for survivors still trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. More than a dozen people were killed and more than 80 were rescued, according to the country's president, after a four-story building in the city's Kariakoo market collapsed on Saturday morning. Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa on Monday told reporters, rescuers remain determined: "This operation will not stop; it will go on until we can confirm that all the business people who were here have been rescued. We will be grateful to God if we manage to bring them all out alive." Tapping sounds were heard on Sunday from within the rubble of the building, according to the BBC. Building collapses are not uncommon in many African cities, where weak construction standards and lax enforcement persist. Reuters correspondent Jillian Kitchener. Russia vetoed a U.N. resolution on Monday calling for an immediate cease-fire in the war between Sudan's military and paramilitary forces and delivery of humanitarian aid to millions in desperate need. Russia's ally China supported the resolution sponsored by Britain and Sierra Leone, along with all other U.N. Security Council members. Russia told the council it vetoed the resolution because it should be solely the government of Sudan that should be responsible for what happens in the country. Sudan plunged into conflict in April, 2023 when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders erupted in the capital, Khartoum, and spread to other regions, including western Darfur, which was racked by bloodshed and atrocities in 2003. That wraps up this update, but the world and news never stop. For additional updates visit our website, voanews.com. I'm Joe Ramsey, VOA News. |