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I'm VOA's Joe Ramsey with your world wide news update.
The Israeli military on Wednesday ordered another evacuation in central Gaza ahead of an offensive in the area even as Israel and the militant group Hamas appear to inch closer to a cease-fire. Talks to broker the cease-fire and hostage release deal have restarted after a months-long pause. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Wednesday he would meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's Mideast envoy Adam Boehler at his home in Jerusalem. Boehler, a former aide to Jared Kushner, met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week. The deal on the table includes a six-week pause in fighting in which Hamas would release 30 hostages in exchange for Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. A U.S. government funding plan has collapsed days before what could be a Christmastime shutdown after President-elect Donald Trump abruptly rejected a bipartisan deal. AP correspondent Sagar Meghani reports. Trump is telling House Speaker Mike Johnson and the GOP to essentially renegotiate a new deal before Friday's deadline to keep the government open. In a statement, Trump and VP-elect J.D. Vance say, "Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH." Trump is making an almost unrealistic proposal to pair the continuation of government funding with a much more controversial provision to boost America's debt limit, something the GOP routinely rejects. Hours earlier, Senate Democratic Chief Chuck Schumer had hailed the funding deal, but many Republicans had been waiting on Trump to signal how they should vote. But a massive deal rank-and-file GOP lawmakers blasted for its increased spending. Sagar Meghani, Washington. This is VOA News. The U.S. Supreme Court said on Wednesday it will hear arguments next month over the constitutionality of the federal law that could ban TikTok in the United States if its Chinese parent company doesn't sell it. The justices say they will hear arguments on January 10 about whether the law impermissibly restricts speech in violation of the First Amendment. The law enacted in April set a January 19 deadline for TikTok to be sold or else face a ban in the U.S. It's unclear how quickly a decision might come. The justices could act after the arguments to keep the law from taking effect pending a final ruling. A New York resident pled guilty on Wednesday to helping establish a secret Chinese police station in Manhattan. AP correspondent Julie Walker reports. New Yorker Chen Jinping pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government for helping establish a secret Chinese police station located in a nondescript building in Chinatown. Prosecutors say Jinping helped the Chinese government locate pro-democracy activists and intimidate them to return home. In 2022, the FBI raided the station, which was operated as a local branch of China's Ministry of Public Security. China is believed to be operating secret police stations in countries around the globe, but the Justice Department has said the arrests in connection with the Manhattan one were the first of their kind. China denies the secret police stations. Julie Walker, New York. The aftermath of Cyclone Chido has led to accusations that Paris has neglected its far-flung overseas territories like Mayotte, leaving them with little protection when natural disasters strike. Reuters correspondent Diane To reports. Mayotte was already struggling with overcrowding, illness and poverty before the devastating Cyclone Chico swept through the French region. But these problems are now being compounded in what one French senator called an "abandoned territory." The majority of the population on the Indian Ocean archipelago today live below the national poverty rate. The situation is made more difficult by uncertainty around Mayotte's exact population. While official statistics put it at 321,000, many believe it's much higher due to undocumented immigration. The government is also unable to give an accurate death tally days after the storm. Officials say hundreds or even thousands could be dead. Reuters correspondent Diane To. 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. |