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As Russia ramps up its offensive in eastern Ukraine, officials with the U.S. command in Eastern Europe say it’s urgent for NATO to be ready for a possible confrontation. VOA’s Eastern Europe bureau chief Myroslava Gongadze talked to the U.S. and Polish commanders during a U.S. Army transfer of authority ceremony in Boleslawiec, Poland. VOA footage and video editing by Daniil Batushchak.

Blantyre, Malawi — A new report finds that gaps in family laws in most African countries are fueling discrimination of women and girls. The report from the international NGO Equality Now says laws that favor men in matters of sex, marriage and inheritance, among other issues, leave many women in despair. The study, released to coincide with the United Nations-declared International Day of the Family on Wednesday, highlights how legal frameworks and customary practices in 20 African countries have fueled discrimination in marriage, divorce, custody and property rights. Esther Waweru is a senior legal adviser at Equality Now and co-author of the report. She spoke with VOA from Kenya on how gaps in family laws have affected the lives of women in Africa. “Take a case of Sudan for instance, where women cannot initiate divorce, unlike men. So, it therefore means that the woman will be trapped in a marriage that they don’t want to live [in], just because they can’t initiate a divorce,” she said. Waweru said in some countries where women initiate a divorce, they are not allowed to take custody of the children from a previous marriage when they remarry. In Malawi, the report notes that courts have ruled rape does not extend to marriage. It says customary law in Malawi presumes perpetual consent to sex within marriage and that a wife can deny her husband sex only when she is sick or legally separated. While in Tanzania, the report says marital rape is only criminalized upon separation. It also says customary and religious laws in countries like Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Nigeria undermine women and girls in matters of inheritance, as they receive less than men and boys. Hala Alkarib is the executive director for Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa. She told VOA from Ethiopia that the legal imbalance in many African countries leaves women feeling helpless. “Imagine that you are not treated equally and discriminated against. It automatically goes without saying you are typically poor. You are exposed to violence systematically. You are dehumanized and undermined. You don’t have equal access to opportunities. You are subjected to different forms of sexual violence, and your dignity is compromised,” said Alkarib. Francis Selasini is the executive director for Network Against Female Genital Mutilation in Tanzania. He said communities also play a role in undermining or sidestepping laws meant to protect women. He cited issues of genital mutilation in northern parts of Tanzania, where he said communities have changed tactics to protect their traditional norms. “For example, initially they were mutilating girls from 10 and above, for the reason of preparing her for marriage. But nowadays, they are mutilating even babies. They are doing so because they would like to defeat the legal process. Because they know if they mutilate babies, babies will not be able to take them to court. They will not be able to report,” he said. Waweru of Equality Now says although many countries have ratified key international treaties that protect women’s rights, existing domestic laws make implementation and enforcement of these treaties difficult.  She calls upon African states to fully align their family laws and their practices with international human rights standards.

Tbilisi, Georgia — Hundreds of protesters donning gas masks and protective goggles shut down streets in Tbilisi on Tuesday after Georgia’s parliament passed a so-called “foreign influence” law that critics call a copy of Russia’s foreign agent law, heavily relied upon by the Kremlin to suppress dissent. Ruling Georgian Dream party lawmakers approved the legislation despite warnings from Washington and Brussels that such a move might threaten Georgia’s partnership with the West. For over a month, tens of thousands of Georgians have flooded the streets to protest the legislation in the largest rallies the country has seen since the nation's independence from the Soviet Union. Protester Giorgi Iashvili was just 20 when he was called up as a reservist in 2008 to fight in the war that Russian military and Moscow-backed-separatist forces launched against his country. Sixteen years later he finds himself once again rallying against Russia's ongoing efforts to subjugate his country, this time, he says, with tacit assistance of the Georgian government itself. As a young cybersecurity professional, Iashvili firmly believes enactment of the foreign agent law is inexorably pushing the country, a fifth of which is already occupied by Russia, deeper into Russia's orbit. "In 2008, Russia attacked Georgia directly and conventionally. In recent years, however, it has resorted to hybrid methods — disinformation, influence operations, borderization [creeping annexation], infiltration, and cyber campaigns,” he told VOA’s Georgian Service. “Both this law and recent events are evidently part of this hybrid warfare." Like many of his young fellow protesters in Georgia’s capital Tuesday, Iashvili appeared hopeful amid unsettling circumstances. "I believe that a significant part of our society remains vigilant against these threats and refuses to fall victim to these information operations,” he said. “The current wave of protests serves as confirmation." Targets foreign funding Georgia’s foreign influence law requires civil society organizations, media and others that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign interests. The law primarily targets U.S. and European Union democracy assistance programs. The public's discontent with the government has been simmering gradually. The Georgian Dream-led government, now in its third term, is said to be controlled by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire who amassed his wealth in 1990s Moscow and has since strategically appointed loyalists to key government positions. Ivanishvili rejects that accusation, as do the Georgian Dream officials who also deny that they’re quietly working to support Russian efforts to undermine Georgian democracy. The government has long conducted a two-pronged foreign policy, working with Western partners to appease its overwhelmingly pro-European population while simultaneously warming up to Moscow under the pretext of preventing another conflict. It has claimed publicly to be moving the country in a westward direction while fomenting anti-Western sentiment domestically. While Georgia’s ruling government has allowed a large number Russian men fleeing the military draft to enter the country, it has refused entry to members of Russia’s military opposition and failed to join Western countries imposing sanctions on Russia. Georgian Dream leaders blame the war in Ukraine on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, putting their government at odds with the West. Georgian authorities have criticized their Ukrainian counterparts and repeatedly accused Ukraine and its Western supporters of attempting to embroil Georgia in the conflict, labeling them the "global war party." “The protests are not merely about a Russian law,” Helen Khoshtaria, the leader of the Droa opposition party, told VOA. “It's about the survival of Georgia and its aspiration to remain a free, European nation, which Ivanishvili has jeopardized. He openly stated that the enemies of this country are not Russia, its actual enemy ... but the U.S. and the EU, when the overwhelming majority of this country, the entire nation, holds the opposite belief.” Giorgi Vashadze, the leader of the Strategy Agmashenebeli opposition party, told VOA: "We aspire to be part of the European Union. We envision a Georgia without Russia, without Russian oligarchs." US anti-Nazi law cited The Georgian government has staunchly defended the law, calling it similar to the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA — a comparison U.S. officials reject. Enacted in 1938 to unmask Nazi propaganda in the United States, FARA requires people to disclose to the Justice Department when they advocate, lobby or perform public relations work in the United States on behalf of a foreign government or political entity. “Our appeal to the U.S. is to think about partnership and not take counterproductive steps,” Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said after meeting with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien in Tbilisi on Wednesday. The protests have taken place almost every day since the beginning of April. For the first time in years, those taking to the streets are self-organized grassroots activists without a leader or political party behind them. Georgian authorities have arrested dozens of demonstrators over the past few days. Dozens have been assaulted or intimidated by riot police, prompting widespread condemnation by local watchdogs and Georgia’s Western partners. "They have detained scores of youth and representatives of civil society,” former State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Buka Petriashvili told VOA. “We are witnessing the establishment of Ivanishvili's autocratic regime and obstruction of Georgia's path toward the European Union. Georgia will never accept the blocking of its path toward the European Union and will fight until we prevail."

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

China, France, and Spain are the largest extractors of uranium in Niger. China is also the single largest harvester of Nigeria’s lithium. A Nigerian subsidiary of a U.S. private firm Chevron is involved in that country’s oil production.

The U.S. is planning on sending over one billion dollars' worth of military aid to Israel even as Israel is planning on military action in Rafah. This comes as aid trucks headed to Gaza were looted in the West Bank and Israel released a video they say shows Hamas militants in a UN compound. A look at Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Kyiv, including his stint on stage as a guitar player in a rock band in a Kyiv bar. A conversation about Iran’s nuclear program amid conflict with Israel and a look at the plight of internally displaced people.

NEW YORK — A jury was chosen on Wednesday to determine whether U.S. Senator Robert Menendez broke the law in what federal prosecutors have called a yearslong bribery scheme to benefit the governments of Egypt and Qatar, as well as himself.  Opening statements in the trial of New Jersey's senior senator are expected to begin later in the day before U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein in Manhattan. The trial could last into early July.  Twelve jurors and six alternates were chosen, including an investment banker, a commercial litigator, a retired economist, a doctor and multiple therapists. Jury selection took about 2½, and more than 130 prospective jurors were excused.  Menendez, 70, faces 16 criminal charges including bribery, fraud, acting as a foreign agent and obstruction.  He is being tried alongside New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes. The senator's wife, Nadine Menendez, 57, is scheduled to be tried on July 8, with the delay resulting from what her lawyers called a serious medical condition.  All the defendants have pleaded not guilty. The bribery trial is the senator's second. His first ended in 2017 in a mistrial after jurors deadlocked.  Prosecutors are expected to detail what they consider a complex and sordid array of corruption that lasted from 2018 to 2023.  The Menendezes are accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from Hana, Daibes and insurance broker Jose Uribe, in exchange for the senator's providing political favors and aid to Egypt and Qatar.   Prosecutors have said the senator promised to help Egypt obtain arms sales and other aid, helped Hana obtain a lucrative monopoly on certifying that meat exports to Egypt conformed to Islamic law, and tried to help Daibes secure millions of dollars from a Qatari investment fund.  Menendez, a Democrat, also was accused of trying to interfere in a federal criminal case against Daibes in New Jersey and in state criminal cases involving two of Uribe's associates.  Prosecutors have said FBI agents found more than $480,000 of cash in the Menendezes' home, much stashed in clothing, closets and a safe.  Bribes also included more than $100,000 in gold bars and a $60,000 Mercedes-Benz convertible, according to prosecutors.  Uribe pleaded guilty in March to bribery and fraud, and he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.  While Nadine Menendez is not yet on trial, her husband's lawyers have suggested his defense might include an effort to blame her for withholding information and making him believe his activities were lawful.  Robert Menendez became a senator in 2006. Before being indicted, he would have been favored in his Democratic-leaning state to win a fourth full Senate term in November.  But any reelection bid now would be a long shot, reflecting recent polls of voters that show overwhelming disapproval of Menendez's job performance.  Menendez has suggested that he would try if acquitted to run as an independent. Only 9% of voters polled in March by Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill said they would prefer him to another Democrat or a Republican.  The senator has resisted calls to resign made from across the political spectrum but gave up leadership of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee after his indictment last September.  Stein admonished jurors to ignore media coverage of the trial. "If something comes up," the judge said, "switch off." 

Paris — France has declared a state of emergency in its overseas Pacific territory of New Caledonia after deadly protests by native-born, pro-independence activists who oppose efforts to expand the voting rights of French residents on the archipelago. Mainland France is glued to the events thousands of kilometers away — where fires were still burning Wednesday after two straight days of rioting that killed several people and left hundreds more wounded. Protesters have looted shops and torched cars and buildings, in the worst violence to hit the area in decades. Police have arrested hundreds, and French authorities extended a nighttime curfew. Sparking the anger is a measure to amend France’s constitution to give voting rights to French residents who have lived in New Caledonia for at least a decade. It passed France’s lower house on Wednesday. Both chambers of parliament still must vote a final time for it to become law. Pro-independence activists in the Pacific territory, including many indigenous Kanaks, strongly oppose the move, saying it will dilute their voice. “We feel oppressed, we’re angry,” one woman told Caledonia TV. She questioned whether people in France were listening to Kanaks like herself. But other residents support the constitutional change — or just want peace to return. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has called for dialogue with the territory’s political actors to find a solution on the future of New Caledonia, which was once under French colonial rule. It is now a semi-autonomous territory. In three referendums over the years, its voters rejected independence from France.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Washington — The United States on Wednesday imposed visa restrictions on more than 250 members of the Nicaraguan government and levied sanctions on three Nicaraguan entities in retaliation for "repressive actions" and a failure to stem migrant smuggling through the Central American country. Senior administration officials told reporters that the officials subject to visa restrictions included police and paramilitary officials, prosecutors, judges and public higher education officials. At the same time, the Departments of State, Homeland Security, and the Treasury issued a joint alert to notify airlines and travel agents about the ways smuggling and human trafficking networks are exploiting legitimate transportation services to facilitate illegal migration to the United States through Nicaragua. "Actions by the Nicaraguan government are of grave concern. President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo have put in place permissive-by-design migration policies," the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. The Nicaraguan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Increasingly migrants have been flying into Nicaragua and then heading north overland to the U.S.-Mexico border as some smugglers have promoted the route through social networks. Many migrants in recent years have started their journeys in Brazil or other South American countries, but flying into Nicaragua avoids the often perilous journey through the jungle region known as the Darien Gap on the Colombia-Panama border. The administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has struggled with record numbers of migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border and, as he runs for reelection in November, voters have increasingly said that immigration is a top concern. Senior Biden administration officials told reporters on a Wednesday conference call that sanctions would be levied against a Russian training center operating in Managua since October 2017 that enabled anti-democratic behavior and repression. A press release from the Treasury Department said Nicaragua was one of Russia's "main partners" in Central America and the training center provided specialized courts to the Nicaraguan National Police (NNP), which the statement called "a repressive state apparatus, carrying out extrajudicial killings, using live ammunition against peaceful protests, and even participating in death squads." In addition, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two gold companies it said were "government affiliated." Gold is Nicaragua's top commodity export, the Treasury announcement said, and "this action aims to degrade the ability of the Ortega-Murillo regime to manipulate the sector and profit." Reuters was not immediately able to reach the companies for comment. Migrant apprehensions on the border halved from December to March, according to U.S. government data, in part because of increased enforcement by Mexican authorities, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has said.

Chattogram, Bangladesh — The 23 crew members of MV Abdullah, which was released on April 14 after 33 days of captivity by Somali pirates, met their families Tuesday afternoon as the vessel reached the Chattogram Port in Bangladesh.  The crew members received a warm welcome when vessel MV Jahan Moni-3, carrying them from Kutubdia in Cox's Bazar, reached New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT)-1.  Relatives waiting for the sailors' safe return had gathered at the port jetty with flowers.  Abdun Nur Khan Asif, younger brother of the chief officer, Atiqullah Khan, said, "I can't express in words how happy we are that my elder brother is back. The whole family was waiting for this day."  Ibrahim Khalilullah, a sailor, thanked the Bangladeshi people and the authorities for ensuring their safe return.  State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury told VOA that all the sailors on the ship are in sound health. "After being freed, they went to Dubai, from there they came to Bangladesh with the goods. The sailors are physically and mentally healthy and very well," he said.  Mizanul Islam, media adviser of KSRM, owner of the hijacked vessel, said the crew members will go to their respective homes and that care was taken to send them to their destinations safely.  The ordeal began on March 12 when the MV Abdullah was seized by Somali pirates about 600 nautical miles off the Somali coast en route from Mozambique to Dubai.  The pirates took control of the vessel and its crew, holding them until a ransom of $5 million facilitated their release on the night of April 13.  The vessel, which was hijacked for 33 days, first arrived at the outer anchorage of the Al-Hamriya Port in the United Arab Emirates on April 21 and anchored at the UAE port on the evening of April 22.   It departed for Bangladesh on April 28 after unloading 55,000 metric tons of coal.  When asked about the process of rescuing the ship, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said, "We are an international maritime country. We have friendly relations with everyone, including the U.S. Coast Guard, the European Union. When a ship using an international route falls under the hands of pirates, all kinds of agencies and countries, including maritime, cooperate."  The state minister added, "And the pirates of the country that hijacked it also have a security issue. So, the pressure that was created by combining everything was of great help in saving the ship. Our dialogues, the pressure of the international community contributed to the rescue of the ship."  On behalf of Deputy Managing Director of KSRM Group Shahriar Jahan, Mizanul Islam told VOA, "It was a challenge for us to bring back the ship and the sailors safely and soundly. ... We had past experience. In 2010, one of our ships was captured by Somali pirates. Using this experience, we were able to bring the sailors back unharmed."  New crew members took charge of the MV Abdullah on Tuesday and sailed for the United Arab Emirates.  This story originated in VOA's Bangla Service. Some information for this report came from UNB Wires.

Washington — The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on two commanders of Sudan's paramilitary force, vowing pressure to stop the unit from an offensive on the Darfur city of el-Fasher. The Treasury Department said it was freezing any U.S. assets and criminalizing transactions with Ali Yagoub Gibril, Central Darfur commander of the Rapid Support Forces, and an RSF major general involved in operational planning, Osman Mohamed Hamid Mohamed. "The RSF military operation to encircle and besiege el-Fasher, North Darfur, has endangered the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. "We stand ready to take additional measures against those individuals and institutions that actively escalate the war — including any offensive actions on el-Fasher," he said. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday also voiced alarm over reports of heavy fighting in densely populated areas as the RSF seeks control of el-Fasher, the last major city in Darfur not under its control. Tens of thousands of people have died, and millions have been displaced since war broke out in April 2023 between Sudan's army and the RSF after their head generals refused a plan to integrate. The United States has led diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting but has seen limited success and leverage, with RSF commanders unlikely to hold major assets in the West affected by sanctions. The RSF and Sudan's armed forces are seen as both wanting to secure a battleground victory, and each side has received support from outside players. The U.S. special envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello, is again traveling around the Middle East and Africa this week in hopes of making progress. The United States has accused both sides of war crimes and charged that the RSF has carried out ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity against the indigenous African-origin people of Darfur. The RSF's predecessor, the Janjaweed militia, carried out a scorched-earth campaign in the arid western region that the United States at the time described as genocide.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Tbilisi, Georgia, in protest of the parliament's passage Tuesday of what critics call a Russian-style foreign agent law. The ruling party approved the legislation despite warnings from Washington and Brussels that such a move might threaten Georgia’s partnership with the West. VOA Georgian Service’s Ani Chkhikvadze has more details from Tbilisi.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

WASHINGTON — The White House will send an unofficial delegation to Taiwan this weekend for the inauguration of the island's democratically elected president, the Biden administration announced Wednesday, in a move that is certain to upset China but unlikely to draw excessive responses from Beijing as the two countries try to stabilize relations. A senior White House official said the move is in line with longstanding U.S. practice to send the delegation — which includes two former senior officials and a scholar — to the inauguration ceremony Monday. Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party will take office, succeeding Tsai Ing-wen of the same party. Beijing, which sees Taiwan as part of Chinese territory and vows to seize the island by force if necessary to achieve unification, sees Lai as a supporter of Taiwan's independence and has long opposed any official contact between Washington and Taipei. "In what ways the U.S. deals with the new Taiwan authorities on May 20 and afterwards will affect (the) cross-Strait situation and also the China-U.S. relations in the future," Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said Tuesday before the announcement, referring to the Taiwan Strait. "So we urge the U.S. side to act on President Biden's commitment of not supporting Taiwan independence," he said. The U.S. delegation will be in Taipei "to represent the American people," the White House official told reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the trip before it was announced. The official called Taiwan "a model for democracy not only in the region but also globally." Despite an absence of formal relations with Taiwan, the U.S. is the island's strongest ally and is obligated under a 1979 law to help Taiwan protect itself from invasion. It's unclear how Beijing would respond to an unofficial U.S. delegation at the Taiwanese inauguration, but "Beijing will be the provocateur should it choose to respond with additional military pressure or coercion," the U.S. official said, adding that the administration is not predicting how China would respond. Beijing has repeatedly warned Washington not to meddle with Taiwan's affairs, which it says are a core interest for China because it is a matter of sovereignty and territorial integrity. Beijing sees Washington's support for Taiwan as provocative. The U.S. insists any differences be resolved peacefully and opposes any unilateral changes by either side to the status quo. "We do not support Taiwan independence," the administration official said. "We support cross-Strait dialogue." Taiwan has topped the agenda in U.S.-China relations, which have soured over issues ranging from trade, cybersecurity and human rights to spying. The Biden administration, in its competition with China, has engaged in "intense diplomacy" aimed at preventing tensions from spiraling out of control. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have recently visited China in the administration's latest effort to keep communications open and minimize misunderstanding. Shortly after Lai was elected in January, President Joe Biden sent an unofficial delegation to Taipei to meet Lai, drawing protests from Beijing. Members of Congress also have traveled to Taiwan to meet the president-elect. Plans are underway for a congressional delegation to visit Taiwan shortly after the inauguration. Beijing reiterated its claim over Taiwan immediately after Lai was elected and said "the basic fact that Taiwan is part of China will not change." Days later, Nauru, a tiny Pacific nation, severed its diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which now is recognized by 12 governments, including the Vatican. Since then, Beijing has criticized a U.S. destroyer's passage through the Taiwan Strait. The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said the USS Halsey "conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit on May 8 through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law." Navy Senior Capt. Li Xi, speaking for China's Eastern Theater Command, accused the U.S. of having "publicly hyped" the passage of the ship and said the command "organized naval and air forces to monitor" the ship's transit. Meanwhile, in a push to avoid Taiwan's global recognition, Beijing said this week that it would not agree to Taiwan's participation in this year's World Health Assembly, an annual meeting by the World Health Organization that could boost Taiwan's visibility on the world stage. "China's Taiwan region, unless given approval by the central government, has no basis, reason or right to participate in the World Health Assembly," said Wang Wenbin, speaking for the Chinese foreign ministry. Wang also said Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party, which came into power in 2016, has been "hellbent on the separatist stance" of Taiwan's independence and that Beijing has "sufficient reason and a solid legal basis" to bar Taiwan from the global organization. Here's the bipartisan delegation that the White House is sending to Taiwan this weekend: — Laura Rosenberger, chair of the American Institute in Taiwan, a nonprofit, private corporation established under a 1979 law to manage America's unofficial relations with Taiwan. — Brian Deese, a former director of the National Economic Council in the Biden administration. — Richard Armitage, a former deputy secretary of state under President George W. Bush. — Richard Bush, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who previously served as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan.