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U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says Hamas does not appear poised to attack U.S. forces who are building a pier off the Gaza coast to deliver aid to the war-torn strip by sea. A mortar attack targeted the pier site earlier but caused no injuries. VOA Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb reports.

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islamabad — Pakistan on Friday witnessed the launch of its first lunar satellite aboard China’s historic mission to retrieve samples from the little explored far side of the moon in a technologically collaborative mission that signals deepening ties between the countries. China’s largest rocket, a Long March-5, blasted off from the Wencheng Space Launch Center on Hainan Island at 09:27 UTC, ferrying China’s 8-metric-ton Chang’e-6 probe. If successful, the uncrewed mission will make China the first country to retrieve samples from the moon’s largely unexplored South Pole, also known as the “far side” of the moon that is not visible from Earth. Chang’e-6 will spend 48 hours digging up 2 kilograms of surface samples before returning to a landing spot in Inner Mongolia. In 2018, China achieved its first unmanned moon landing on the far side with the Chang'e-4 probe, which did not retrieve samples. India became the first country to land near the moon’s South Pole in August with its Chandrayaan-3. Chang’e-6 is carrying cargo from Pakistan, Italy, France and the European Space Agency. According to the Institute of Space Technology (IST) in Islamabad, Pakistan’s lunar cube satellite named ICUBE-Qamar (or ICUBE-Q for short) will be placed into lunar orbit within five days, circling the moon for three to six months, photographing the surface for research purposes. IST engineers say ICUBE-Q is also designed to "obtain lunar magnetic field data; establish a lunar magnetic field model and lay the foundation for subsequent international cooperation on the moon.” IST developed the iCUBE-Qamar satellite in collaboration with the country’s space agency SUPARCO and China’s Shanghai University. Qamar, which means moon in Urdu, is the nuclear-armed South Asian nation’s first mission in space. The iCUBE-Q orbiter has two optical cameras that will gather images of the lunar surface. 'Milestone' The mission’s launch from China was carried live on Pakistan state television. Calling it a "milestone,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said it would help the country build capacity in satellite communications and open new avenues for scientific research, economic development and national security, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Information. The Pakistan-China friendship, Sharif said, has “gone beyond borders to reach space,” according to the official statement. Beijing is one of Islamabad’s closest allies. Pakistan is home to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a multibillion-dollar development project that is part of Beijing’s Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative. Pakistan’s navy in late April launched its first Hangor-class submarine, built jointly with China, with a ceremony in China’s Wuhan province. According to the Washington-based U.S. Institute of Peace, Beijing is Islamabad’s leading supplier of conventional and strategic weapons platforms. China is also the dominant supplier of Pakistan’s higher-end offensive strike capabilities, the report found. Some information for this report came from Reuters. 

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.

geneva — Warning of a bloodbath should Israeli forces attack Rafah, U.N. agencies are making contingency plans to provide health care and other essential aid to the besieged population in the southern Gaza city. “Despite measures, the ailing health system will not be able to withstand the potential scale of devastation that the incursion will cause,” said Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative for occupied Palestinian territories. “With more than 1.2 million people crammed in Rafah, an operation will result in worsening the humanitarian catastrophe,” he said. Speaking from Jerusalem Friday, Peeperkorn told journalists in Geneva that an assault on Rafah will trigger a new wave of displacement, which “will lead to more overcrowding, reduced access to essential food, water and sanitation services, and increased infectious disease outbreaks.” WHO reports most health care facilities in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed amid repeated attacks and airstrikes by Israeli forces. It says the health system is barely surviving, with 12 out of 36 hospitals and 22 out of 88 primary health care facilities only partially functional. The U.N. health agency says three small hospitals in Rafah that currently are partially operational “will become unsafe to be reached by patients, staff, ambulance and humanitarians when hostilities intensify.” Peeperkorn said, “Every time we have seen when there is a military incursion in places in the north, in Gaza city, or Khan Younis, these hospitals very quickly become not reachable. So, they go from being partly functional very quickly to nonfunctional.” As part of contingency efforts in southern Gaza, WHO and partners are setting up a new field hospital in Al Mawasi in Rafah and a large warehouse in the central Gaza city of Deir Al Balah, from where medical supplies can be quickly sent to facilities in the Middle Area and North Gaza. Plans are underway to set up other warehouses where medical supplies can be prepositioned. Nasser Medical Complex, the most important hospital in south Gaza, was severely damaged and put out of commission amid heavy fighting and bombing in Khan Younis. Peeperkorn said the complex is being refurbished and that hospital staff have completed the first phase of restoration, “including cleaning and ensuring essential equipment is functioning.” He noted that the emergency ward, the maternity ward, nine operating theaters, intensive care unit and several other departments now are partially operational. “I want to really say that this contingency plan is a Band-Aid. It will absolutely not prevent the expected substantial additional mortality and morbidity caused by a military operation,” he said. “We do not want to make those plans. I want to make it very clear: We do not want to make these plans. We all, of course, hope and expect that this military incursion will not happen and that we will move to a sustained cease-fire.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that Israeli forces would invade Rafah regardless of the outcome of ongoing hostage release negotiations with Hamas. Netanyahu vowed to eliminate Hamas following the militant group’s attack on Israel on October 7, which resulted in the killing of some 1,200 people and 250 being taken hostage. In a statement Wednesday, Martin Griffiths, the U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs warned that “a ground operation in Rafah will be nothing short of a tragedy beyond words.” “For the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled to Gaza’s southernmost point to escape disease, famine, mass graves and direct fighting, a ground invasion would spell even more trauma and death,” he said. Aid agencies agree there have been recent improvements in bringing more aid into Gaza but say that it still is not enough and “the risk of famine is not over.” “Rafah is at the heart of the humanitarian operations in Gaza,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). “It is where dozens of aid organizations store their lifesaving supplies that they deliver to civilians across the Gaza Strip. Rafah is central to the U.N. and partners’ ongoing efforts to provide food, water, health, sanitation, hygiene, and other critical support to people,” he said. For example, he notes that the U.N. Population Fund operates clinics for sexual and reproductive health at field hospitals in Rafah; UNICEF and partners treat acutely malnourished children at more than 50 sites in Rafah; the World Food Program distributes nutrition supplements to children under 5, pregnant and breastfeeding women in Rafah. “Most importantly, there are hundreds of thousands of civilians who have fled to Rafah to escape bombardment, an imminent famine and disease,” he said. Laerke told journalists that he had no idea whether it was possible to move 1.2 million people out of Rafah to a so-called safe place in advance of a military incursion by Israel. However, he scotched any suggestion of U.N. involvement in such a scheme. “The United Nations is not part of any planning and will not participate in any ordered non-voluntary evacuation of people,” adding that “I have not in my experience, limited as it is, ever seen this amount of people voluntarily move overnight.”

Washington has made clear that Kyiv cannot use long-range missiles to strike within Russian territory. U.S. said Russia’s targeting and killing of at least 14 civilians in Ukraine with North Korea-supplied long-range missiles motivated Biden’s decision to help Ukraine’s defense by sending ATACMS.

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden has called for the release of all imprisoned journalists — including three American reporters — who have been jailed over their work, in a Friday statement commemorating World Press Freedom Day. “Journalism should not be a crime anywhere on Earth,” Biden said in the statement. “On World Press Freedom Day, the United States calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all journalists who have been put behind bars for simply doing their jobs. And we call for the protection of journalists everywhere, including during military operations.” At the end of 2023, 320 journalists were jailed for their work around the world, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. That total includes three American journalists: Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva in Russia, and Austin Tice in Syria. Gershkovich, a Russian correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, has been jailed since March 2023 on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny. The State Department has also declared him wrongfully detained. “We’re so proud of him. I can’t believe he’s holding up so well. And he works so, so hard to be able to keep his spirits up,” Gershkovich’s sister Danielle said at a Friday in Washington Friday commemorating World Press Freedom Day. Danielle said her family manages to stay in touch with Evan through letters. “I get a letter from him — it’s like Christmas morning. And I hear his voice in my head when I’m reading it. And it just feels like I get to chat to my brother. It's a lifeline to my parents and I,” she said at the event, which was held at The Washington Post headquarters. Since his jailing, Russian authorities have not publicly revealed any evidence to substantiate the spying accusations against Gershkovich, who was accredited by Russia’s Foreign Ministry to work in the country. The reporter will be held in pretrial detention until at least June. Meanwhile, Kurmasheva, a Prague-based editor at VOA’s sister outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, has been jailed for more than six months and is also set to be held in pretrial detention until at least June. The dual U.S.-Russian national traveled to Russia in May 2023 for a family emergency. Her passports were confiscated when she tried to leave the country in June 2023. She was waiting for them to be returned when she was arrested in October 2023. Kurmasheva stands accused of failing to self-register as a so-called “foreign agent” and spreading what Moscow views as false information about the Russia military. The journalist and her employer reject the charges against her. “She’s the mom of two wonderful young women who had to grow up awfully quickly over the last six months that she's been in prison,” RFE/RL President Stephen Capus said at the event. In a prerecorded video message, Kurmasheva’s 15-year-old daughter Bibi called for her mother’s immediate release. “My mom, Alsu, has been behind bars in Russia for six months now, because she is a journalist,” she said. “My sister and I are so proud of her, and we miss her so, so much. She needs to be freed immediately so she can come home to us. Free Alsu.” Press freedom groups have criticized the State Department for not yet declaring Kurmasheva wrongfully detained, which would open additional resources to help secure her release. Russia’s Washington embassy did not immediately reply to VOA’s email requesting comment. This year’s World Press Freedom Day takes place against a backdrop that experts say is concerning for journalists around the world. “Media freedom is under siege,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday in a statement. “Without facts, we cannot fight mis- and dis-information. Without accountability, we will not have strong policies in place. Without press freedom, we won’t have any freedom. A free press is not a choice, but a necessity.” In particular, the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas has led to the deadliest period for journalists since the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, began gathering data in 1992. As of Friday, at least 97 journalists have been killed since the war began, including 92 Palestinians, two Israelis, and three Lebanese, according to CPJ. “Journalists are civilians, so they need to be protected as any civilian is during a war zone. They shouldn’t be targeted,” CPJ chief Jodie Ginsberg said at the event on Friday. New York-based CPJ has accused Israel of targeting journalists, which the Israeli government has denied. About half of the world’s population is set to vote in national elections in 2024, which has press freedom experts concerned about the safety of reporters and potentially harmful effects for press freedom. “This year is going to be really indicative not just of the future of a free press, but the future of democracy, because how we treat our media in the run-up to these elections is a litmus test for how the other freedoms that we enjoy, and the other democratic rights we enjoy, are likely to be treated afterwards,” Ginsberg said. Discussions about press freedom tend to center on the negative, but Clayton Weimers, the head of the U.S. office of Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, said it’s also important to recognize governments that are defending press freedom. “World Press Freedom Day should be a celebration of the values of the free press,” Weimers said. RSF on Friday released its annual press freedom index, which ranks 180 countries and territories in terms of media freedom. Norway and Denmark topped the list this year. “There’s no freedom without press freedom,” Weimers said. “It’s the freedom on which all the others are based.”

Malawi is grappling with an unprecedented rise in the water level of its largest body of water, Lake Malawi. Authorities say nearly 90% of the beach area has been submerged, damaging property and crops. Lameck Masina reports from Mangochi.

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.

OTTAWA — An official probe found evidence of foreign interference in Canada's last two federal elections, but the results of the votes were not affected, and the electoral system was robust, according to initial findings released on Friday. The findings in the interim report confirm Trudeau's assertion that China tried to meddle in the elections to no avail. The commission will release its final report by the end of this year. Beijing has repeatedly denied any interference. "Acts of foreign interference did occur during the last two federal general elections, but they did not undermine the integrity of our electoral system," said commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue, who is leading the independent public inquiry. The Foreign Interference Commission was set up last year by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government under pressure from opposition legislators unhappy about media reports on China's possible role in the elections. The commission is mandated to investigate allegations of foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections. "Our system remains sound. Voters were able to cast their ballots, their votes were duly registered and counted, and there is nothing to suggest that there was any interference whatsoever in this regard," Hogue said in a statement. "Nonetheless, the acts of interference that occurred are a stain on our electoral process and impacted the process leading up to the actual vote," she said.

VOA Connect Episode 329 - Unraveling the music within and beyond.

Fred’s Lounge, open exclusively on Saturday mornings, has been a vibrant hub for Cajun culture since 1946, hosting lively Cajun bands and preserving this rich heritage. Reporter | Camera: Aaron Fedor, Producer: Kathleen McLaughlin, Editor: Kyle Dubiel

Gravelly Point, managed by the National Park Service and nestled along the George Washington Memorial Parkway, offers a haven for bikers, walkers, and picnickers, while also being renowned as one of the prime spots in the nation for airplane-watching. Camera | Editor | Producer: Philip Alexiou

Refik Anadol, an artist at the forefront of data painting and AI-generated art, explores the fusion of technology and creativity. By leveraging machine-learning algorithms, Anadol is known for innovative media works and showcases the creative potential of AI. Camera | Producer | Editor: Genia Dulot

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.

OTTAWA — Canadian police charged three people on Friday with the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in the province of British Columbia in June 2023, Canadian media said, citing court documents.  Nijjar, 45, was shot to death outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a large Sikh population.  The news of his death came days after the White House expressed concern about the reported role of the Indian intelligence service in assassination plots in Canada and the United States.  The presence of Sikh separatist groups in Canada has long frustrated New Delhi. Nijjar was labeled a terrorist by India.  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in September that Canadian authorities were pursuing allegations linking Indian government agents to the death of Nijjar, a Canadian citizen. New Delhi rejected Trudeau's claim as absurd.  CTV and Global News first reported the news of those arrested on Friday, with CTV saying all three were Indian nationals.  Neither the RCMP nor the Indian mission in Ottawa were immediately available for comment.  Canada had been pressing India to cooperate in its investigation.  Last November, U.S. authorities said an Indian government official had directed the plot in the attempted murder of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist and dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada.  Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, in charge of Canadian law enforcement agencies, did not directly confirm the arrests but told reporters the probe into Nijjar's murder was "still an active police operation."  The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation earlier cited a source saying investigators had identified the suspects in Canada some months ago and had been keeping them under tight surveillance. 

Abuja, Nigeria — Nigerian authorities said Thursday they have arrested the mastermind of a 2022 terrorist attack on a moving train that killed 10 passengers. Police arrested Ibrahim Abdulahi, who is also known as “Mande,” during a raid in January at the Abuja-Kaduna road flyover near Rido junction, Police Force public relations officer Olumuyiwa Adejobi told journalists. "The suspect confessed to being the leader of the kidnap syndicate terrorizing Abuja-Kaduna highway," Adejobi said. Police had received a tip-off about Abdulahi’s whereabouts, Adejobi said, adding that Mande admitted to participating in several deadly attacks on citizens, including the kidnapping of 20 Greenfield University students in Kaduna in 2021 and the 2022 attack on the train. On March 28 of that year, armed terrorists bombed the passenger train traveling from Abuja to Kaduna and opened fire on passengers. Ten people were killed, and the attackers abducted at least 61 passengers. The abductees were freed many months later. The attack sparked fear and widespread criticism of the government. Authorities shut down the train service for nine months and, when they reopened it, provided improved security and escorts on each trip. Security analyst Senator Iroegbu praised the arrest but said authorities must be more proactive. "What actually Nigerians want is to be sure that never [happens] again,” Iroegbu said “They [shouldn’t] wait till people get kidnapped before they start taking actions, whether militarily or through ransom payments. Nigerians want the kidnappings to end.” Insecurity is one of the major problems standing in the way of prosperity in Africa’s most-populous country. In the past year, gangs have kidnapped more than 4,700 people, according to security consulting firm SBM Intelligence. Last month, Nigeria’s president said the country would no longer pay ransom to armed gangs to free hostages and pledged that gangs will face the full force of security agencies. Many victims and relatives of those in captivity are hoping the decision does not ruin their chances of rescuing their loved ones.

VOA marks World Press Freedom Day with a conversation with the director of Reporters Without Borders. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin does not think that Hamas is planning to attack American troops. Israeli reaction to college protests, plus elections in Chad and an update from Kyiv.