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state department — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on his latest mission to contain the Gaza war, said displaced Palestinians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow, and Israel has agreed to allow a United Nations mission to evaluate the situation in war-ravaged northern Gaza. "As Israel's campaign moves to a lower intensity phase in northern Gaza and as the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] scales down its forces there, we agreed today on a plan for the U.N. to carry out an assessment mission,” Blinken told reporters during a Tuesday news conference in Tel Aviv. “It will determine what needs to be done to allow displaced Palestinians to return safely to homes in the north. The top diplomat also urged Israeli leaders to prevent further harm to Palestinian civilians. "The daily toll on civilians in Gaza, particularly on children, is far too high," he said. International Court of Justice hearings Later this week, the International Court of Justice will conduct hearings on a case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and seeking an emergency suspension of its military campaign. The United States believes the case is meritless and that it distracts from Israel's efforts to fight threats from Hamas militants and other Iran proxies, including Hezbollah and the Houthis, according to Blinken. "We want this war to end as soon as possible," he said. "But it's vital that Israel achieves its very legitimate objectives of ensuring that October 7 can never happened again." Israeli President Isaac Herzog has rejected the genocide charge filed at the International Court of Justice, calling the accusation "atrocious and preposterous." Gaza's future On Tuesday, Blinken held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Herzog, Foreign Minister Israel Katz, and other senior officials from Israel's war Cabinet in Tel Aviv. "The Secretary and Prime Minister discussed ongoing efforts to secure the release of all remaining hostages and the importance of increasing the level of humanitarian assistance reaching civilians in Gaza," according to a statement from the State Department. "In this regard, the Secretary welcomed the appointment of Sigrid Kaag as the UN's Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, pledging close cooperation with her in this new capacity," the statement added. Blinken has stressed the potential for Israel to win acceptance from Arab neighbors by seeking a path toward establishing a Palestinian state as a means to resolve the longstanding conflict. Netanyahu has firmly rejected the two-state solution. The West Bank and Gaza should be united under a Palestinian-led governance that Hamas militants play no role in, according to the postwar roadmap envisioned by Washington. But some analysts are skeptical and play down the prospect. "I don't see how the Palestinian Authority will go back into Gaza and assume any kind of meaningful control over what is left of Gaza. They're having a very hard time maintaining control, even in the West Bank," Khaled Elgindy, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told VOA on Tuesday. Blinken also met on Tuesday with the families of some of the hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza. And he relayed to Israeli leaders some of what he heard from other leaders in the region during stops in Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Gaza health officials say more than 23,000 Palestinians, a large percentage of them women and children, have been killed in Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip. In a statement following talks with Blinken on Monday, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman underscored the importance of halting military operations in the Gaza Strip and the need to create conditions for restoring peace and stability. When asked about U.S.-led talks to normalize the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Israel, Blinken said there is "a clear interest" in Saudi Arabia, as well as in the region, in pursuing that goal but that "it will require that the conflict end in Gaza, and it will also clearly require that there be a practical pathway to a Palestinian state." Saudi Arabia has paused the diplomatic talks to normalize ties with Israel amid the military conflict between Hamas militants and Israeli forces. Escalation in no one's interest After an Israeli airstrike killed a key Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon on Monday — the latest sign of a possibly widening conflict in the Middle East — Blinken told reporters it is clearly not in the interest of Israel, Lebanon or Hezbollah to see an escalation outside Gaza. Hezbollah has identified the commander as Wissam al-Tawil. Last week, senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri was killed in a drone strike in Beirut. Hamas and Hezbollah are both U.S. designated terrorist organizations, and both are backed by Iran, whose militant allies in Syria, Iraq and Yemen have been carrying out longer-range attacks against Israel. The United States has urged Israel to shift to smaller-scale military operations in Gaza but has continued to support Israel in refusing Arab demands for a cease-fire in the three-month war. Israel has vowed to continue the war until it believes the threat of Hamas attacks has been eradicated and the militant group no longer controls Gaza, a narrow strip of territory along the Mediterranean Sea. Israel began its military campaign to wipe out Hamas after Hamas fighters crossed into southern Israel on October 7. Israel said about 1,200 people were killed and about 240 captives taken in the terror attack. Cindy Saine contributed to this report. Some material for this report came from Reuters and The Associated Press.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the country’s ability to engage with Russia militarily has depended on Western support. With some of that aid now in limbo or drying up, this year could be especially difficult for Kyiv. VOA’s Andriy Borys spoke with military and diplomatic analysts about where the war stands, and where it could be headed. Anna Rice narrates the story.

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washington — A group of armed men stormed a public television station in Ecuador during a live broadcast Tuesday and threatened staff. At least one person is believed to have been injured, according to one regional media analyst. The attack on TC Television network in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, was captured by the station's own broadcast before the live feed was cut about 15 minutes into the raid. At around 2 p.m. local time, masked individuals broke into the headquarters, yelling that they had bombs. Sounds that appeared to be gunshots could be heard and footage circulated on social media showing journalists crouched on the studio floor. The raid comes one day after President Daniel Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency amid the kidnappings of at least seven police officers by gang members and a prison break by a gang leader. Adolfo Macias, who heads a gang known as Los Choneros, disappeared on Sunday from a maximum-security prison. In the TC Television case, police were deployed to the studio and made around a dozen arrests, according to the news outlet Teleamazonas. At least two suspects are believed to have fled, the media group said. Footage shared on social media by the police showed several suspects cuffed and face down on the studio floor. Cesar Ricaurte, executive director of the press freedom group Fundamedios, told VOA that at least one person is believed to be seriously injured. While the footage feed of the station was cut early into the raid, audio could still be heard. "You could hear the audio .... of gunshots, shouts from the workers. After about 30 minutes, members of the police and the armed forces entered and tried to take control of the channel," Ricaurte said. Journalists urged to take safety steps Earlier Tuesday, Ecuadorian authorities confirmed that a series of attacks had occurred around the country, including explosions and the kidnapping of several police officers. Ricaurte told VOA there had been requests to reinforce security of media groups but added that he did not know of any "explicit and concrete threat." Fundamedios on social media condemned the raid and called for the country's journalists to take safety measures. Media should try "not to expose themselves unnecessarily, and to act in the most responsible way in the dissemination of information regarding the critical security situation in our country," a statement by the group on X said. Some information in this report came from Reuters and the Associated Press.

new york — The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations said Tuesday that the Palestinian Authority could seek full United Nations membership this year. “This is an investment in peace and an investment in saving the two-state solution,” Ambassador Riyad Mansour told reporters at the United Nations. In November 2012, the U.N. General Assembly voted to upgrade the Palestinians’ status to that of a nonmember observer state, allowing its envoy to participate in debates and U.N. organizations but without a vote. The Palestine Liberation Organization was recognized as an observer entity in 1974. Mansour said the Palestinian Authority, with the backing of Arab states, would start mobilizing support to go to the U.N. Security Council, which holds the key to membership because it must back a request before it can go to the General Assembly for a final decision. That means at least nine council members must vote in favor of the move, and none of the permanent five members can veto it. The United States is a permanent council member and has overwhelmingly used its veto over the decades to block actions that would negatively impact Israel or that Israel does not support. Washington’s longstanding policy has been that final status issues must be resolved through direct negotiations between the parties in order to reach a two-state solution. In 2012, when the Palestinians’ status was upgraded in the General Assembly, the U.S. was one of only nine countries, including Israel, and the only permanent council member that voted against it. “The obstacle is in the Security Council,” Mansour acknowledged. “We need to find a solution to that obstacle and to remove it from the path so that the State of Palestine assumes its rightful place as member state of the United Nations.” Mansour said Arab foreign ministers will meet in mid-March, which could be an important moment in deciding when they would move toward the Security Council. He noted that the U.S. is in an election year, which would also play a role in timing. “Maybe things need to be done before May, before we go into full swing of elections,” he said of the U.S. presidential race. But as the war between Israel and Hamas enters its fourth month, Mansour said the top priority remains achieving a cease-fire. “If you want peace, start with a cease-fire. Cease-fire. Cease-fire. And cease-fire, now,” he said at a related meeting in the General Assembly, holding up a small sign with the words. At the same meeting, Israel’s envoy said a cease-fire would only help keep Hamas in power in the Gaza Strip, which it has ruled since 2007. “A cease-fire is a victory for Hamas. Nothing more,” said Ambassador Gilad Erdan. “It is an opportunity for Hamas to rearm, regroup and recommit as they declare the atrocities of October 7 a greenlight for Hamas to continue their reign of terror in Gaza.” He lashed out at the United Nations, saying it does not care about Israeli victims of Hamas, only the Palestinians in Gaza. The U.S.-designated terror group triggered the war with Israel when its fighters infiltrated southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking some 240 others hostage. About 100 hostages have since been freed. “To the U.N., Israeli victims are probably not victims,” Erdan said. “The U.N. has become another tool of war in the arsenal of terrorists, and every single U.N. agency and body has been weaponized against Israel.” Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said Guterres is “obsessed” with protecting all civilians caught in the conflict. “He has been calling for the protections of all civilians from the beginning,” Dujarric said. “He has been calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all Israeli hostages. And as you know, he met with families, and he has been doing whatever he can to facilitate their return. I think our work on behalf of civilians in Gaza is also fairly transparent to all.” The situation in Gaza is dire. The Hamas-run Health Ministry says more than 23,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 60,000 injured. The United Nations says 1.9 million people have been displaced, hunger is severe, and disease is on the rise. On Tuesday, the U.N. department of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) said that since January 1, its partners have requested 20 aid convoys for clearance to move in Gaza. Fifteen were denied, and two were unable to proceed because of delays or routes that were impassable. When VOA asked who denied the requests, Dujarric said it was the Israeli authorities. OCHA said three convoys went to northern Gaza but with modifications to the plans, which impacted their operations. The U.N. Security Council is due to discuss the situation in Gaza on Friday in an open meeting. On January 23, the council will also hold a ministerial-level meeting on the crisis. Several Arab and Muslim foreign ministers are expected to fly in for the session as they press for a cease-fire, more humanitarian aid to Gaza and an end to the forced displacement of nearly 2 million Palestinians.

London — China's arrest of a man allegedly working as a spy for Britain could be retaliation, analysts say.   The case, which was announced on Monday by China's Ministry of State Security, comes amid growing and vocal concern in Britain over Beijing and the security threat the communist country poses. It also follows last year's arrest of a British parliamentary researcher on suspicion of spying for China.  According to a post Monday on the ministry's official WeChat social media account, Britain's MI6 intelligence agency recruited a man surnamed Huang in 2015, who has since then passed 17 pieces of intelligence to and recruited personnel for the agency using spy equipment provided by the British government.  Chinese authorities did not reveal Huang's nationality or gender but said the alleged spy was from an unspecified "third country" and underwent recruitment and training in Britain and other locations. They also said the individual was working under the guise of being an overseas consultant. The ministry did not provide evidence to support the claims nor disclose Huang's current condition or whereabouts. But it did say that state security "promptly reported and arranged consular visits, protecting Huang's lawful rights in accordance with the law." When contacted by VOA, Britain's Foreign Office on Tuesday replied: "It is our longstanding policy to neither confirm nor deny claims relating to intelligence matters." Peter Humphrey, a former journalist who later worked for more than a decade as a fraud investigator for Western firms in China, said the case looks like "a complete joke." "Firstly, I think this is the continuation of Beijing's attack on Western consultancies. Secondly, I think Beijing is trying to find a case to throw back at us because we have caught them doing things in the U.K., America, Belgium, etc.," Humphrey told VOA in a telephone interview. "Beijing is desperately looking for a case to throw back at us." The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday said a Chinese American U.S. Navy service member was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay a $5,500 fine after pleading guilty in October to taking bribes to give sensitive military information to a Chinese intelligence officer. Britain has accused Chinese spies of targeting officials in key ministries, while China has unveiled multiple cases accusing foreign citizens, including British and Americans, of espionage. In September, The Times newspaper reported that Britain's intelligence agency arrested British parliamentary researcher Chris Cash on suspicion of spying for China. Cash has close ties to Minister of Parliament Alicia Kearns, the current chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Tom Tugendhat, the former defense secretary and security minister. Another policy researcher working in the British Parliament, who asked to remain anonymous in an interview with VOA because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the issue, said the level of security at parliament has changed since Cash was arrested.  "Within about a month, they changed their entire security protocols. And so now the application process is completely different," the researcher said, adding that the golden age of British-China relations is dead.  Benedict Rogers, co-founder and chair of the Britain-based rights group Hong Kong Watch, told VOA the accusations made by China not only worsen Sino-British relations but also significantly impact foreign citizens and companies operating in China.  "Whether there is any truth in China's allegations or whether it is a tit-for-tat retaliation in response to allegations of Chinese espionage activities in Westminster remains to be seen, but either way, this incident contributes to a more risky and dangerous environment for British citizens doing business in or traveling to China," he said.  David Moore, a policy researcher at the British Parliament, said Britain shouldn't fear retaliation from the Chinese government. "About time we need to crack down on Chinese espionage, whether it be trying to infiltrate our institutions or on our streets with Chinese police stations that have been operating across the Western world," he told VOA referring to alleged policing by Chinese security forces in foreign countries including the U.S.  In a speech in July at the British Embassy in Prague, the head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service said China was their single most important strategic focus. "We now devote more resources to China than anywhere else, reflecting China's increasing global significance." VOA reached out to the Chinese Embassy in London for comment, but by the time of publication, no response had been received.  Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.

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WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers came back into session this week after a three-week holiday break to continue work toward a deal on border security in return for Republican votes to send more aid to Ukraine. “We are closer to an agreement than we have been since the beginning of these talks,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, one of the lead negotiators on the deal, told reporters Tuesday. “I wish that we weren't in this position. I wish that Senate Republicans supported Ukraine aid because they believe in Ukraine,” he said. “I wish that we weren't conditioning support for Ukraine upon the resolution of the most difficult issue in American politics — immigration reform.” The White House’s $106 billion national security supplemental request also includes funding for border security as well as nearly $14 billion in aid to Israel and funding for Taiwan to combat the threat posed by China. Senate negotiators continued meeting remotely throughout the three weeks Congress was out of session. “We are working very hard to come up with an agreement to improve our situation at the border. But it's also important to remember the world is literally at war,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters Tuesday. “This is the most serious international situation we have faced since the Berlin Wall came down. We need to pass the supplemental, and there needs to be a strong border provision part of it.” The United States has dedicated more than $100 billion to arming and supporting Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, and President Joe Biden has asked Congress to approve an additional $60 billion. Republicans in Congress have become increasingly skeptical about the need to continue underwriting Ukraine's defense. The Pentagon announced on December 27 a new $250 million security assistance package for Ukraine, which included additional munitions for surface-to-air missiles systems, artillery rounds and more air defense components. The Pentagon still has $4 billion available to provide Ukraine with military aid, but no funds are available to replenish the U.S. military's stockpiles. Officials tell VOA that no new aid packages are expected until Congress provides more funding. Republicans in the Senate have conditioned approval of any additional money for Ukraine on the simultaneous strengthening of immigration rules aimed at reducing the number of people illegally entering the United States at its southern border and expelling some who are already in the country. According to multiple news organizations, an estimated 300,000 people crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in December 2023. That estimate marks the highest recorded number of U.S.-Mexico border crossings. Even if an agreement passes in the Senate, it might not survive in the House, where Republicans hold a very narrow majority. A significant group of Republican House members oppose additional aid to Ukraine, and the party in early October voted out a speaker who partnered with Democrats to pass legislation. Last week, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson led a delegation of 60 House Republicans to visit the U.S.-Mexico border at Eagle Pass, Texas. “If President Biden wants a supplemental spending bill focused on national security, it better begin with defending America’s national security,” Johnson told reporters at a news conference on the border. Republicans have proposed their own legislation, H.R. 2, which would resume construction of a border wall as well as impose new restrictions on asylum-seekers. VOA Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb contributed reporting.

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On January 15, the 2024 U.S. presidential election season will officially kick off with the Iowa caucuses. Republican candidates including Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, and Vivek Ramaswamy will seek to unseat the current front-runner, former President Donald Trump, as the party’s eventual nominee to challenge incumbent President Joe Biden in November’s general election. (Produced by: Alex Gendler)

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WASHINGTON — A recent cyber kidnapping incident involving a Chinese exchange student in Utah appears to be part of an international pattern in which unknown perpetrators, often masquerading as Chinese police or government officials, target Chinese students around the world and extort their families for upwards of tens of thousands of dollars. In late December, 17-year-old Chinese student Kai Zhuang was reported missing near Salt Lake City, only to be found days later alone and freezing in a tent in the mountains. Authorities have said the case was part of an apparent cyber kidnapping scheme to scam his family in China out of $80,000. Cyber kidnapping is when perpetrators pretend to have abducted someone to coerce their family into paying a ransom. “At the heart of it are the heartstrings of the victim, who is told to go run and hide, and the heartstrings of the people who think their loved one is actually in the possession of kidnappers,” said Theresa Payton, CEO of cybersecurity company Fortalice Solutions. “Virtual kidnapping is, at its very root, manipulative. It is coercive. It is emotionally draining and complex,” said Payton, who is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. On January 3, just days after Kai Zhuang was found, the FBI issued a warning about criminals impersonating Chinese police officers to defraud Chinese people based in the United States, especially Chinese students. Around the world VOA has learned that the cyber scams aren’t targeting only Chinese students studying in the United States. Over the past year, Chinese students studying abroad in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan have also been targeted by cyber kidnapping scams and other cybercrime schemes, VOA found. In these countries, the perpetrators also often pretended to be Chinese police officers or government officials. Cybersecurity experts said this tactic indicates criminals are leveraging China’s authoritarian system, in which deference to and fear of the police are the norm, to their advantage. “Chinese people are naturally afraid of the police,” said Han Jiang Du Diao Seng, a pharmacist based in the United States who runs accounts on YouTube and Weibo that are popular among Chinese exchange students. Han Jiang Du Diao Seng has helped four Chinese students caught up in cyber kidnapping scams, he said. In his experience, he said, scammers posing as government officials tend to approach Chinese students and first ask if they recently received money from their family in China. If the student says yes, he said, the scammer either claims the money was transferred illegally or that their family is being targeted by criminals, before requiring the student to halt contact with their family during an investigation — all of which is a ploy to then extort money from the family. Left their homes In the incidents Han Jiang Du Diao Seng worked on, he said, the criminals coerced all the students to leave where they lived and go stay at a hotel, which helped convince their parents that they were actually kidnapped. He said that these criminals may be taking advantage of the fact that Chinese parents may be less likely to report the incidents to American police — in part due to language barriers but also due to general distrust among Chinese people of the American police. Chinese state media regularly depict American police as violent and irresponsible. “You have a fear of government involvement and law enforcement involvement because the relationship to the government is different,” cybersecurity expert Joseph Steinberg said, referring to people from authoritarian countries such as China. There is no clear data on the number of cyber kidnapping cases in the United States or around the world, cybersecurity experts told VOA, but incidents seem to be rising. Technological advancements, particularly with artificial intelligence, risk making the schemes even easier to perpetrate, they said. There are different tiers of sophistication in these cybercrime syndicates, according to Payton. At the lower end, perpetrators may use an auto dialer to target random people in hopes of getting a few hundred dollars, she said. More sophisticated schemes At the upper end, perpetrators use artificial intelligence algorithms to identify targets and deepfake technology to create photos and audio intended to make victims believe their loved one has actually been kidnapped, Payton said. “You do not actually have to be technically minded to get into this type of crime. You just have to be a twisted, evil individual,” she said. AI advancements mean perpetrators don’t even need to speak the same language as their victims, according to Steinberg, who is based in New York City. “AI is only going to get better, and that means that the attacks will only be more and more realistic,” he told VOA. Some cybercriminals are just after a quick buck, Steinberg said. “But you have some that are after the big dollars and will spend the time to do the research,” he said. That may help explain why Chinese exchange students apparently are being specifically targeted. Payton said that given the complex relationship between the Chinese government and its citizens, as well as other factors such as culture, history and economics, “it is conceivable that global criminal syndicates engaging in such activities as virtual kidnapping may perceive young Chinese adults studying abroad as more susceptible to fall prey to this crime,” Payton said. In Canada in February 2023, regional police said Chinese students had been swindled out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by scammers claiming to be Chinese government officials. Similar incidents have played out in Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom. It is not clear whether the perpetrators of any of these crimes are linked in any way. The investigation into the recent Utah incident is ongoing, and it is not clear whether the perpetrators imitated Chinese officials. China’s embassy in Washington did not respond to that question when VOA reached out for comment. Warnings from embassies and police The embassy did urge Chinese citizens in the U.S., especially those studying in the country, to boost safety awareness, take necessary precautions, and stay vigilant against "virtual kidnapping" and other forms of telecom and online fraud. In the span of two months in Japan last summer, at least six Chinese students were targeted in cyber kidnapping schemes, local police said. The Chinese Embassy in Tokyo issued a warning about the scams in August, urging Chinese citizens in the country to “be wary” and “vigilant.” Local British police issued a warning about cyber scams targeting Chinese students in September, and the Australian government released a similar warning a month later. “These criminal syndicates demonstrate a profound understanding of human behavior, potentially leveraging fear tactics to manipulate individuals into compliance and their families into making payments. They are targeting all demographics, but the trend appears to indicate they favor targeting Chinese exchange students studying abroad,” Payton said. To avoid falling victim to these kinds of schemes, cybersecurity experts recommended families set up a password to verify one another’s identity over the phone during these kinds of scenarios. “The cyber kidnapping scam very much can happen to anybody, and that’s what people need to be aware of,” Steinberg said.

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washington — The United States is pushing back its planned return of astronauts to the surface of the Moon from 2025 to 2026, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Tuesday. Artemis, named after the sister of Apollo in Greek mythology, was officially announced in 2017 as part of the US space agency's plans to establish a sustained presence on Earth's nearest space neighbor, and apply lessons learned there for a future mission to Mars. Its first mission, an uncrewed test flight to the Moon and back called Artemis 1, took place in 2022, after several postponements. Artemis 2, involving a crew that doesn't land on the surface, has been postponed from later this year to September 2025, Nelson told reporters. Artemis 3, in which the first woman and first person of color are to set foot on lunar soil at the Moon's south pole, should now take place in September 2026. "Safety is our top priority, and to give Artemis teams more time to work through the challenges," said Nelson. NASA is also looking to build a lunar space station called Gateway where spacecraft will dock during later missions. Elon Musk's SpaceX has won the contract for a landing system for Artemis 3 based on a version of its prototype Starship rocket, which remains far from ready. Both of its orbital tests have ended in explosions. Delays to Starship have knock-on effects because the spacesuit contractor needs to know how the suits will interface with the spacecraft, and simulators need to be built for astronauts to learn its systems. And the Artemis 1 mission itself revealed technical issues, such as the heat shield on the Orion crew capsule eroded in an unexpected way, and the ground structure used to launch the giant SLS rocket sustained more damage than expected. As of March 2023, NASA has agreed to pay approximately $40 billion to hundreds of contractors in support of Artemis, the same watchdog found. A key difference between the 20th-century Apollo missions and the Artemis era is the increasing role of commercial partnerships, part of a broader strategy to involve the private companies in space exploration to reduce costs and to make space more accessible.

Madrid — Doctors were carrying out an autopsy on Jose Ruben Zamora Marroquin when they detected small signs that the journalist was hanging on to life.  The founder of El Periodico, an independent newspaper in Guatemala, had been kidnapped, drugged, and left for dead.  Quickly, medics revived Zamora to fight again for the free press he holds so dear.  The incident in 2008 was perhaps the worst ordeal for the journalist's family members, who for decades have lived with the consequences of Zamora's crusade for press freedom, in a country marked by repression.  In an interview with VOA, Zamora's son Ramon detailed the many ways that assailants targeted his father: car bombings, repeated kidnapping attempts, and legal cases, including the one the journalist is currently fighting while being held in a Guatemalan prison.  "This has had a cost on our family without a doubt. There has been a lot of stress and uncertainty," Ramon Zamora told VOA, adding there is no doubt that everyone in his family has suffered a form of post-traumatic stress.  The anthropologist has lived in exile in Miami since April because he, too, fears arrest. It is not the first time the 34-year-old has moved away from his home country over security fears.  "We have spent years without family and now my father is in prison facing new charges. It all adds up," he said.  That seems an understatement when Ramon Zamora relates the chilling history of attacks against his 67-year-old father.  Ruben Zamora, whom the Spanish newspaper El Mundo has described as an "icon of the free press in Central America," is among many journalists in the tiny Central American state of 17 million who risk their lives.  Last year, five journalists were murdered, says Dagmar Thiel, U.S. director of the non-governmental press freedom organization Fundamedios.  Bernardo Arevalo, the country's newly elected president who is due to take office Sunday, has vowed to fight corruption and halt the exodus of journalists, judges, lawyers and prosecutors.  Thiel said Guatemalan journalists faced a difficult climate after a 2007 Special Commission Against Impunity was created to investigate corruption and genocide.  "They prosecuted almost 1,500 people and convicted 400 of them. [These people] fought back. There was this pacto de los corruptos, (pact of the corrupt) of organized crime, corporate interests and politicians. Of course, journalists were the first to be attacked for telling the truth," she told VOA.  For Zamora, the latest attacks are legal rather than physical. A court has convicted the journalist of money laundering and sentenced him to six years in prison in a trial denounced by press freedom groups. The prosecution had originally sought 40 years over a string of charges including money laundering, influence peddling and racketeering. All accusations that Zamora denies.  In October, a Guatemalan appeals court overturned that sentence, but Zamora, who has been in pre-trial custody since July 2022, faces new charges of obstructing the actions of the government and falsifying documents. He is due to stand trial in February.  And after nearly three decades of publishing, his paper shut down in May.  Under Zamora, El Periodico had built a strong reputation for its journalism. But it was targeted from its conception.  In 1996, while Zamora and other members of the founding team were discussing plans at a restaurant, a grenade was thrown at his car outside.  "He was not injured but shaken up by what happened," said his son, Ramon.  Seven years later, in 2003, authorities carried out a raid on Zamora's house. The family left the country, but Zamora stayed.  It was a decision that nearly cost him his life.  In August 2008, he was kidnapped and drugged, and his naked body was dumped about 80 kilometers from the capital, Guatemala City.  "A woman called the police to tell them she had found this body. Doctors thought he had died of hypothermia," Ramon Zamora recalled.  "They took his body to the morgue. They carried out an autopsy and to do that they needed to take out liquids from his body."  It saved the journalist's life.  "The doctors noted signs that he was feeling pain and that meant he must still be alive," Ramon Zamora said.  Four men were later jailed for the kidnapping. But the masterminds behind the kidnapping have never been traced, Ramon Zamora told VOA.  The younger Zamora, who lectures at the Valle de Guatemala University, said there also had been an attempt to kidnap him in 2013.  "We respect my father for his decision to stay and to continue fighting. But it has had a cost. The real issue is living with security guards all the time and to know the days and hours in which it is safe to move and the places you can go," the son told VOA. Ramon Zamora added that despite being imprisoned, his father remains in good spirits.  "We can send him 100 quetzales ($13) each week so he can speak on the telephone. Some members of the family can visit. But he has lost about 40 pounds [since] the start of his imprisonment," he said. "His eyesight suffered at first because of the poor light. He keeps writing a blog."  In a blog post dated December 30, Zamora detailed his life in a military hospital, where he is kept in an isolation cell with only one hour for exercise per day. That space to exercise measures just three meters by three meters.  He details how he is woken at 3 a.m. to travel to the hospital with other prisoners. They are accompanied by six guards, and he is handcuffed throughout.  Despite everything the family has been through, Ramon Zamora said it has been worth it.  "The only option is an independent press, which is critical and strong," he said. "After all the attacks on the press, the best response is more journalism. We can only get this if we have readers who support free journalism to create just societies." 

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A crippling fuel leak forced a U.S. company on Tuesday to give up on landing a spacecraft on the moon. Astrobotic Technology's lander began losing fuel soon after Monday's launch. The spacecraft also encountered problems keeping its solar panel pointed towards the sun and generating solar power. "Given the propellant leak, there is, unfortunately, no chance of a soft landing on the moon," Astrobotic said in a statement. Astrobotic had been targeting a lunar landing on Feb. 23, following a roundabout, fuel-efficient flight to the moon. It could have been the first U.S. moon landing in more than 50 years, and the first by a private company. A second lander from a Houston company is due to launch next month. Only four countries have pulled off a successful moon landing. The company said the new goal was to keep the lander operating as long as possible in space, in order to learn as much as possible for its next mission a year or so from now. Flight controllers managed to keep the spacecraft pointed toward the sun and its battery fully charged, with another 40 hours of operations anticipated. The Pittsburgh-based company did not elaborate on why the Peregrine lander's propellant system failed just hours into the flight. NASA paid Astrobotic $108 million to fly its experiments to the moon on this mission, part of the agency's commercial lunar program.