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Kampala, Uganda — Police were out in force on the empty streets of the Ugandan capital Kampala on Tuesday ahead of a planned anti-corruption rally that has been banned by the authorities. President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the East African country with an iron fist for almost four decades, had warned the demonstrators at the weekend they were "playing with fire." Three opposition lawmakers were remanded in custody late Monday, police said, after opposition leader Bobi Wine said his National Unity Platform (NUP) headquarters was "under siege" by police and army officers. The call to action over corruption has been organized online, drawing inspiration from the mostly Gen-Z led anti-government protests in neighboring Kenya that have roiled the country for a month. "We are the youths and heart of our country and we are not letting down our country," leading Ugandan protester Shamim Nambasa told AFP on Monday. Posters shared online ahead of the rallies urged demonstrators to "march on parliament." But police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke said the authorities will "not allow a demonstration that will risk peace and security of the country." In the capital, AFP journalists said there were roadblocks on mostly quiet streets, especially near Kampala's business district, heavily manned by officers in anti-riot gear with some wearing camouflage uniforms. A heavy police presence also remained in place around the NUP headquarters, an AFP journalist said. On Monday three lawmakers with the opposition group were detained by police on "various offenses and remanded to prison," according to the police spokesperson who did not give further details on the charges. Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, had made calls on Monday to support the rallies. "We want a country where we all belong not for the few in power," he said. A NUP spokesperson confirmed three legislators, named as Francis Zaake, Charles Tebandeke and Hassan Kirumira, along with seven others connected to the party, had been detained. Tuesday's march has been organized on social media by young Ugandans with the hashtag #StopCorruption. Graft is a major issue in Uganda, with several major scandals involving public officials, and the country is ranked a lowly 141 out of 180 countries on Transparency International's corruption index.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris lauded President Joe Biden for his service to the country in her first public appearance on Monday since he dropped out of the race. We take a look at why 2024 in the U.S. is so much like 1968. We talk to Barbara A. Perry, a professor in presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. And As Paris gets ready to host the Olympic Games, as well as millions of visitors from all over the world, French restaurants are looking forward serving up some of their famous cuisine.

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.

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 — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has not yet won the Democratic Party's support for her presidential candidacy, but she has the endorsement of U.S. President Joe Biden, along with several senior Democrats, after his withdrawal from the race on Sunday. If chosen by the party, and elected president, analysts agree Harris would likely continue the Biden administration's foreign policy, including the management of one of the most tense and consequential relationships — that with China.  When she first became vice president, Harris, a former U.S. senator and attorney general for California, was considered by many analysts to be somewhat of a novice in foreign policy. Over the past 3 ½ years as vice president, she has visited more than 19 countries and met with more than 150 foreign leaders, according to the White House website. VOA compiled some of Harris's remarks on China policy during her tenure as vice president and earlier as a U.S. senator. US-China economic relations In September 2023, Harris traveled to attend the ASEAN summit in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. After the meeting, she spoke about U.S.-China relations and Indo-Pacific policy on CBS's “Face the Nation.” "We, as the United States, in our policy, it is not about decoupling, it is about de-risking. It is about understanding," she said. "It's not about pulling out, but it is about ensuring that we are protecting American interests, and that we are a leader in terms of the rules of the road, as opposed to following others' rules," Harris said. China's economic downturn "It's no secret that China is experiencing economic problems,” she said during the “Face the Nation" interview. “And what you will find — certainly in my conversations with American business leaders — is that they are looking at the future in terms of their capital investments and taking into account which countries are engaged in practices that are about abiding by the rule of law and international rules and norms in a way that they can be guaranteed that there will be some stability so they can make long-term investments." "There is increasingly an understanding that China may not be the best bet when you are looking for stability, when you are looking for an investment in a place where there is an adherence to and respect for international rules and norms," Harris added. International aid During her visit to Africa in March 2023, at a news conference with Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, Harris reiterated her call for "all bilateral official creditors to provide a meaningful debt reduction for Zambia" — an oblique reference to China, Zambia’s top foreign creditor. However, she stressed that "our presence here is not about China." US-China relations Harris' first meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping was at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok in 2022, when she held brief talks with Xi and stressed the importance of maintaining "open lines of communication to responsibly manage the competition between our countries." Taiwan In a September 2022 meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Harris reaffirmed that the U.S. would continue to support Taiwan and oppose any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo. The White House said Harris underscored that the effort to preserve peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is an essential element of a free and open Indo-Pacific region.  During a visit to Japan that same month, she said aboard the destroyer USS Howard at Yokosuka Naval Base, "We have witnessed disturbing behavior in the East China Sea and in the South China Sea, and most recently, provocations across the Taiwan Strait." China considers Taiwan to be a breakaway province that must one day reunite with the mainland, by force if necessary, and often sends military air and watercraft nearby to assert its claim to the self-governing island.  South China Sea During her visit to Japan, Harris commented on China's aggression in the South China Sea. "China is undermining key elements of the international rules-based order. China has challenged the freedom of the seas. China has flexed its military and economic might to coerce and intimidate its neighbors," she said. "We will continue to fly, sail, and operate undaunted and unafraid wherever and whenever international law allows," Harris added. Beijing claims most of the South China Sea as its own, putting it in conflict with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Chinese ships on several occasions this year used water cannons and blocked its rivals’ ships in the disputed territories.    Last year on “Face the Nation,” Harris said, "What is happening in terms of unprovoked actions against the Philippine interests in the South China Sea is significant and we have been very clear that we stand with the Philippines.” Beijing and Manila on Sunday announced a deal they say aims to stop the clashes. China's human rights, Hong Kong During her tenure as a U.S. senator for California, Harris actively pushed for legislation to uphold human rights in Hong Kong, which analysts say has seen its autonomy gradually stripped away by Beijing.     In 2019, she co-sponsored the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act introduced by Republican Senator Marco Rubio, which aims to promote human rights in Hong Kong and sanction officials involved in "undermining Hong Kong's fundamental freedoms and autonomy." The bill was later signed into law by then-President Donald Trump. Xinjiang Harris also co-sponsored and facilitated the passage of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019, which became law in 2020. The bill authorizes the United States to impose sanctions on "foreign individuals and entities responsible for human rights violations in Xinjiang," China’s westernmost province that is home to the ethnic Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim minority.         China denies there are any rights violations in Xinjiang. Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.

washington — The United States is looking to boost intelligence collection in the Arctic and enhance cooperation with allies in the region, to prevent Russia and China from exploiting the cold and icy northern region at America’s expense. The mandate, part of the Pentagon’s just-released 2024 Arctic Strategy, comes as U.S. defense officials warn climate change is melting Arctic ice that used to keep adversaries at bay, and there are indications of growing Russian-Chinese cooperation in the region. “In the Arctic, the strategic can quickly become tactical,” said Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, briefing reporters at the Pentagon. “Ensuring that our troops have the training, the gear and the operating procedures for the unique Arctic environment [may] be the difference between mission success and failure,” she added. The newly unveiled strategy calls for expanding the types of surveillance and intelligence capabilities that the U.S. military employs elsewhere in the world to the far north, where frigid temperatures can interfere with their operation. Specifically, the strategy outlines the need for more ground-based sensors, space-based sensors and long-range radar to better pick up on activity by U.S. adversaries. The U.S. is also looking to increase its unmanned aerial reconnaissance capabilities and its communication capabilities. Hicks said the U.S. has already invested tens of millions of dollars in such capabilities, but that more is needed. “The Arctic’s vast distances, especially in North America, make supporting infrastructure vital for Arctic operations and presence,” according to the new strategy. “However, much of the legacy Cold War-era infrastructure has declined over time due to the harsh environment, lack of investment, and climate change-driven permafrost thawing and coastal erosion.” One bonus for the new Arctic strategy, according to U.S. defense officials, is the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, which means every Arctic nation except for Russia is now part of the Western alliance. U.S. officials have repeatedly praised Swedish and Finnish capabilities in the Arctic, and the strategy envisions additional joint exercises and cooperation, which could be required to counter an uptick in Russian and Chinese activities in the region. “It's very noticeable and concerning,” Hicks said. “The Russians, of course, have, even as they've continued their operation, their war in in Ukraine, they've been continuing to invest in their infrastructure throughout the Arctic region that they can access,” she said. “And then we've seen much more PRC [People’s Republic of China] activity, both in terms of so-called research, but because of their civil fusion, we always have concern that there's a military aspect to that.” There have also been signs of increased cooperation between Russia and China. The two countries conducted a joint naval patrol near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands last August, prompting the U.S. to deploy four naval destroyers and patrol aircraft as a precaution. But Iris Ferguson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Arctic, told reporters Monday that those types of Russian and Chinese efforts are just the tip of the iceberg. “We've seen an uptick, an uptick in their cooperation over the last couple of years,” Ferguson said. “We see China investing in a lot of Russian energy in order to not only have them supply that energy to the PRC, but also that is helping embolden some of Russia's activity in Ukraine.” Ferguson sought not to overplay the threat, saying Russian-Chinese cooperation in the Arctic is “somewhat superficial in nature still, especially from a military perspective.” However, Pentagon officials expect the Russian-Chinese military relationship to evolve, noting the growing level of Chinese military research in the Arctic and Beijing’s attempts to “internationalize” and influence the region as a whole. “We see them operating more regularly in the last several years from a military perspective. Even just a couple of weeks ago, there were several Chinese warships off of the coast of Alaska,” Ferguson said. “They are our long-term pacing challenge and I think that that includes in the Arctic.” The Russian and Chinese embassies in Washington have yet to respond to requests for comment.

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 — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in Washington late Monday, the day after President Joe Biden announced he was withdrawing from the U.S. presidential race – a decision that added another layer of uncertainty to U.S.-Israel relations at a crucial moment in the Gaza war. Without a cease-fire agreement in place, many had questioned the timing of Netanyahu’s visit when it was announced in June. Now, facing a potential shift in American politics, the Israeli leader aims to lay the groundwork for the next American administration. “I will seek to anchor the bipartisan support that is so important for Israel,” Netanyahu said as he departed Israel. “I will tell my friends on both sides of the aisle that regardless of who the American people choose as their next president, Israel remains America's indispensable and strong ally in the Middle East.” While publicly Netanyahu aims for the appearance of neutrality in the now likely match between potential Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, there is little doubt whom Netanyahu is rooting for, said Jonathan Rynhold, head of the Department of Political Studies at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University. “Republicans in general are more supportive of Israel's security agenda,” he told VOA. “They're more forgiving of Israel's right-wing government and its policies towards the Palestinians.” That's especially true of Trump, whose administration’s pro-Israeli policies were “quite extraordinary” and “created a sugar high” for the country, said Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. negotiator for the Middle East who is now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Trump brokered the Abraham Accords that normalized Israel’s diplomatic ties with some of its Arab neighbors – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. Trump also moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem and recognized Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights. While in the U.S., Netanyahu is requesting to meet with Trump, in part to dismiss claims that there are tensions between him and the former president, said Nimrod Goren, senior fellow for Israeli affairs at the Middle East Institute. Trump soured on Netanyahu when the prime minister congratulated Biden on his win in 2020. The former president has also warned Israel to “get back to peace and stop killing people.” The Trump campaign has not responded to VOA for confirmation on Netanyahu’s request for a meeting. Netanyahu meeting Harris Harris will meet with Netanyahu this week at the White House, separate from the prime minister’s planned meeting with Biden, her aide told VOA. “Throughout her career, the vice president has had an unwavering commitment to the security of Israel,” the aide said. Harris also has strong ties to the country’s Jewish community. Her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, is Jewish and has played a key role in the administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism. However, instead of presiding over the Senate chamber during Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on Wednesday, Harris will travel to Indianapolis, Indiana, to speak in front of the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta. The optics of applauding Netanyahu would not fly well amid anger over Gaza from progressives, Arab Americans and American Muslims who traditionally vote for Democratic candidates. Dozens of congressional Democrats in Congress are also expected to boycott the speech. Gestures aside, a Harris presidency would unlikely yield a significant change in Middle East policy, Carnegie’s Miller told VOA, and would remain relatively “mainstream when it comes to supporting the U.S.-Israeli relationship.” But Harris would be “far tougher, certainly rhetorically, on Israeli settlement activity, and much more, much more sympathetic to Palestinian suffering and Palestinian rights,” he said. Harris’ comments in office have been largely in line with Biden on key foreign policy issues and it’s unclear whether she’ll manifest her own doctrine if elected. Compared to Biden, who has an extraordinarily clear, integrated and well-thought-out American grand strategy, “she's a blank slate, really, on a foreign policy,” Rynhold said. Netanyahu’s domestic goals With the Israeli Knesset nearing a three-month recess, Netanyahu is aiming to advance his own domestic political goals, and a cease-fire deal could be the silver lining, Goren said. “There may be a political timing that will enable Netanyahu to make a move once the Knesset is in recess, without having that lead to immediate coalition breakdown,” he said. “That could not be done until the Knesset comes back to operation." U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that a deal was within reach. However, Goren and other analysts said they were skeptical the cease-fire deal would extend beyond phase one: a six-week pause in fighting in exchange for some of the hostages held by Hamas.

UNITED NATIONS — The top U.N. envoy for Syria told the Security Council on Monday that the threat of terrorism is "resurging" with attacks by Islamic State extremists set to double this year, endangering civilians already facing a "protracted state of displacement and dire humanitarian conditions." U.N. Special Envoy Geir Pedersen said Syria is "riddled with armed actors, listed terrorist groups, foreign armies and front-lines" 13 years after President Bashar Assad's crackdown on peaceful protests against his government turned to civil war. Nearly a half-million people have died in the conflict and half the country's pre-war population of 23 million has been displaced. The Islamic State group declared a self-styled caliphate in a large swath of territory in Syria and Iraq that it seized in 2014. It was declared defeated in Iraq in 2017 following a three-year battle that killed tens of thousands of people and left cities in ruins, but its sleeper cells remain in both countries. Pedersen warned the Security Council of Syria's delicate security situation. "The threat of regional conflict cascading over Syria has not abated, particularly with an uptick in Israeli strikes on Syria," Pedersen said. Israel has attacked targets in Syria linked to Iran for years, but the strikes have escalated over the past five months as the war in Gaza and conflict between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israeli forces on the Lebanon-Israel border continue. U.S. deputy ambassador Robert A. Wood blamed Iran, Assad's greatest regional supporter, for the violence in Syria. "Iran and its proxies and partners have only brought death and destruction and do nothing to help the Syrian people," Wood said, calling on Assad to curb Iran's influence. The Syrian, Iranian and Russian ambassadors to the U.N. strongly condemned Israel's strikes on Syria. Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeed Iravani said the attacks "flagrantly violate international humanitarian law" and are a "serious threat to regional peace and security." He said Israel's strikes add to the chaos created by Syria's civil war. Over 16 million people in Syria currently need humanitarian assistance and 7.2 million remain displaced in the "worst humanitarian crisis since the start of the conflict," Ramesh Rajasingham, coordination director in the U.N. humanitarian office, told the council. He added that "severely reduced humanitarian funding" exacerbates Syrians' suffering during months of extreme heat, when rainwater dries up and a lack of basic sanitation infrastructure increases the risk of water-borne diseases. In rebel-held northwest Syria, over 900,000 people, more than half children, are not receiving "critical water and sanitation support," Rajasingham said. Rajasingham and Pedersen called for increased humanitarian access to Syria and international funding. The 2024 U.N. humanitarian appeal for $4 billion remains only 20% funded, "seriously constraining" humanitarian work, Rajasingham said. On the political front, Pedersen urged the Security Council to pursue Syrian-led peace negotiations with the involvement of "all major international stakeholders," in line with a unanimously adopted 2015 resolution by the council. "The conflict is ultimately a political one that can only be resolved when the Syrian parties are able to realize their legitimate aspirations," Pedersen said. Last week, Syria announced that all 185 candidates from Assad's Baath party won parliamentary seats in the country's elections, a seven-seat increase to the party's majority. Pedersen said the elections are "not a substitute" for the political process outlined in the 2015 Security Council resolution, while Wood called the elections a "sham" and a "rubber stamp on Bashar Al-Assad's continued dictatorship." Wood said the U.S. "will not normalize relations with the Syrian regime or lift sanctions absent an authentic and enduring political solution."

Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington this week with a scheduled speech to Congress and meeting at the White House. The Israeli prime minister is landing in the middle of U.S. political turmoil following President Joe Biden’s decision Sunday to withdraw from the presidential race, which could add another layer of uncertainty to U.S.-Israel relations at a crucial moment in the Gaza war. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this preview.

St. Louis — A Missouri judge on Monday overturned the conviction of Christopher Dunn, who has spent more than 30 years in prison for a killing he has long contended he didn't commit. The ruling is likely to free Dunn from prison, but it wasn't immediately clear when that would happen. He has been serving a sentence of life without parole. St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser's ruling came several weeks after he presided over a three-day hearing on Dunn's fate. Dunn, now 52, was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1990 shooting of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore filed a motion in February seeking to vacate the guilty verdict. A hearing was in May. Sengheiser, in his ruling, wrote that the "Circuit Attorney has made a clear and convincing showing of 'actual innocence' that undermines the basis for Dunn's convictions because in light of new evidence, no juror, acting reasonably, would have voted to find Dunn guilty of these crimes beyond a reasonable doubt." Dunn's attorney, Midwest Innocence Project Executive Director Tricia Rojo Bushnell, said she was "overjoyed" by the judge's ruling. "Now, Chris looks forward to spending time with his wife and family as a free man," Bushnell said in a statement. The Missouri Attorney General's Office opposed the effort to vacate Dunn's conviction. Lawyers for the state said at the May hearing that initial testimony from two boys at the scene who identified Dunn as the shooter was correct, even though they later recanted as adults. "That verdict was accurate, and that verdict should stand," Assistant Attorney General Tristin Estep said at the hearing. Spokesperson Madeline Sieren said the Attorney General's Office will appeal. The decision in Dunn's case came days after Sandra Hemme was freed from a western Missouri prison after serving 43 years for a murder that a judge determined she didn't commit. Bailey's office also opposed Hemme's release. A Missouri law adopted in 2021 lets prosecutors request hearings when they see evidence of a wrongful conviction. While Bailey's office is not required to oppose such efforts, he also opposed another effort in St. Louis that resulted in Lamar Johnson being freed last year after serving 28 years for a murder case in which a judge ruled he was wrongfully convicted. Rogers was shot May 18, 1990, when a gunman opened fire while he was with a group of other teenage boys outside a home. DeMorris Stepp, 14, and Michael Davis Jr., 12, both initially identified Dunn as the shooter. In a recorded interview played at the hearing, Davis said he lied because he thought Dunn was affiliated with a rival gang. Stepp's story has changed a few times over the years, Gore said at the hearing. Most recently he has said he did not see Dunn as the shooter. Gore said another judge previously found Stepp to be a "completely unreliable witness" and urged Sengheiser to discount him altogether. Dunn has said he was at his mother's home at the time of the shooting. Childhood friend Nicole Bailey testified that she spoke with him by phone that night and he was on a phone at his mother's house. Estep, the assistant attorney general, said that alibi could not be trusted and Dunn's story has shifted multiple times over the years. Dunn did not testify at the hearing. The 2021 law has resulted in the the release of two men who each spent decades in prison. In addition to Johnson, Kevin Strickland was freed in 2021 after more than 40 years for three killings in Kansas City after a judge ruled he was wrongfully convicted in 1979. Another hearing is next month for Marcellus Williams, who narrowly escaped lethal injection and is now facing another execution date. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell filed a motion in January to vacate the conviction of Williams, who was convicted in the fatal stabbing of Lisha Gayle in 1998. Bell's motion said three experts determined that Williams' DNA was not on the handle of the butcher knife used in the killing. Williams was hours from execution in 2017 when then-Gov. Eric Greitens halted it and appointed a board of inquiry to examine his innocence claim. The board never issued a ruling, and Gov. Mike Parson, like Greitens a Republican, dissolved it last year. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled this month that Parson had the authority to dissolve the board and set a new execution date of Sept. 24.

REHOBOTH BEACH, Delaware — President Joe Biden's "symptoms have almost resolved completely" from COVID-19, according to his physician, as the president on Monday remained out of public view for the fifth straight day. Biden called into the Wilmington, Delaware, headquarters of his former campaign during a visit by Vice President Kamala Harris, whose bid for the White House has been endorsed by Biden. The president sought to pep up the staff, urging them to give "every bit" of their "heart and soul" to Harris. Biden also vowed to be "out on the road" campaigning for his vice president. "If I didn't have COVID, I'd be standing there with you," said Biden, whose voice sounded a touch gravelly. The president was last seen in public late Wednesday after arriving at a U.S. air base in Dover, Delaware, after testing positive for COVID-19 while campaigning in Las Vegas earlier in the day. He then motorcaded to his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Biden's physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, said that the president had completed his 10th dose of the COVID-fighting medication Paxlovid on Monday morning and continued to perform all of his presidential duties. "His symptoms have almost resolved completely. His pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and temperature remain absolutely normal," O'Connor wrote. "His oxygen saturation continues to be excellent on room air. His lungs remain clear." The White House said Biden received separate briefings on Monday from homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall and national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Both briefings were conducted virtually. Biden's public schedule for the week has remained clear as he recovers from the virus, but he said in his letter on Sunday that he planned to deliver an address to the nation this week to discuss his decision to end his candidacy. According to his official schedule, Biden is planning to return to the White House on Tuesday. Biden plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House this week, according to a person familiar with the president's schedule who was not authorized to comment publicly. Biden also plans to meet at the White House later this week with the families of Americans who are still being held hostage in Gaza, according to a statement from the group of families who met privately with Sullivan earlier Monday. It would be the second time that Biden has met with the families. The families again publicly urged Israel and Hamas to come to an agreement on a cease-fire deal that would release their loved ones. Biden in late May proposed a three-phased deal aimed at returning remaining hostages taken by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and could potentially lead to a permanent truce to end the nine-month war in Gaza. "We're going to keep working to an end to the war in Gaza," Biden said during his call-in to the campaign headquarters. "I'll be working really closely with the Israelis and with the Palestinians to try to work out how we can get the Gaza war to end, and Middle East peace, and get all those hostages home. I think we're on the verge of being able to do that."