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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate voted late Tuesday to send legislation to President Joe Biden that would require Chinese owner ByteDance to divest the popular short video app's U.S. assets within about nine months or face a Ban. The measure, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday, has been driven by concerns that China could access Americans' data or surveil them with the app and Biden has said he will sign it into law. "For years we've allowed the Chinese Communist party to control one of the most popular apps in America that was dangerously shortsighted," said Senator Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee. "A new law is going to require its Chinese owner to sell the app. This is a good move for America." TikTok, which says it has not shared and would not share U.S. user data with the Chinese government, has argued the law amounts to a ban that would violate the U.S. free speech rights of its users. The company did not immediately comment but over the weekend, it told its employees that it would quickly go to court to try to block the legislation. "We'll continue to fight, as this legislation is a clear violation of the First Amendment rights of the 170 million Americans on TikTok... This is the beginning, not the end of this long process," TikTok told employees on Saturday in an email seen by Reuters. The Senate voted 79 to 18 in favor of the bill. 

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.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haitian police deployed tear gas to move people back from a security perimeter around the National Palace while soldiers gripping rifles patrolled the international airport's diplomatic entrance on Tuesday, ahead of a planned change of government. The palace has come under repeated fire from gangs that have paralyzed the capital, Port-au-Prince. A nine-member presidential transition council is to be sworn in at the palace, and although no date has been announced, rumors circulated that it could happen this week. The council is expected to name an interim prime minister and help set up a government that will eventually organize elections in the Caribbean island nation. "Whether or not you're installed, this message is for you: Brace yourselves," gang leader Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier ominously warned in a Tuesday video shared on social media. Cherizier has called for toppling the government. The U.S. military said on Tuesday it bolstered defenses at its embassy. Outgoing Prime Minister Ariel Henry has for more than a year called for international troops to help police fight the gangs. But plans moved slowly and were eventually paused when he announced in March his plan to step down, pending a new interim government. Since then, attacks have escalated, and the transition has lagged. Port-au-Prince resident Jerry Louis expressed cautious optimism. "The presidential council will be able to stabilize the country, but the international community must accept it," he said in an interview. Motorcycle driver Paolo, who did not share his last name, pointed to lawlessness as a major obstacle. The presidential council "has to put in place a minimum of security so that the population can go about its business," he said. Gangs are accused of perpetrating widespread rape, ransom kidnappings and indiscriminate killings. The conflict has seen hundreds of thousands internally displaced, and millions pushed into acute hunger while key ports remain closed.

SEOUL, South Korea — A North Korean delegation led by the cabinet minister for international trade is visiting Iran, the North's official media said on Wednesday in a rare public report of an exchange between the two countries believed to have secret military ties. The minister for external economic relations, Yun Jong Ho, left Pyongyang on Tuesday by air leading a ministry delegation to visit Iran, the North's KCNA news agency said. It gave no other details. North Korea and Iran have long been suspected of cooperating on ballistic missile programs, possibly exchanging technical expertise and components for their manufacture. Iran has provided ballistic missiles to Russia for use in its war with Ukraine, Reuters reported in February. North Korea is also suspected of supplying Russia with missiles and artillery, although both countries have denied the allegation. Yun has previously worked on the country's ties with Syria, according to South Korean government database. Yun has been active in the country's increasing exchanges with Russia, earlier this month leading a delegation to visit Moscow, according to KCNA.

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 — Israel has taken significant steps in recent weeks on allowing aid into Gaza, the U.S. special envoy for humanitarian issues said on Tuesday, but considerable work remains to be done as the risk of famine in the enclave is very high. David Satterfield declined to say whether Washington was satisfied by Israel's moves, weeks after U.S. President Joe Biden demanded action to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying conditions could be placed on U.S. support for close ally Israel if it did not implement a series of "specific, concrete and measurable" steps. "Israel has taken significant steps in these last two and a half weeks," Satterfield told reporters. "There is still considerable work to be done. But progress has been made." The risk of famine throughout war-devastated Gaza, especially in the north, is "very high," he said, calling for more to be done to get aid to those in need in that part of the tiny, densely populated Palestinian territory. The United Nations has long complained of obstacles to getting aid in and distributing it throughout Gaza in the six months since Israel began an aerial and ground offensive against Gaza's ruling Islamist militant group Hamas. Israel's military campaign has reduced much of the territory of 2.3 million people to a wasteland with an unfolding humanitarian disaster. The war was sparked in October, when Hamas stormed into southern Israel. The head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said on Tuesday that the daily average number of trucks entering Gaza during April was 200 and that there had been a peak on Monday of 316. "We have always stressed that we were in a man-made situation, and it can only be addressed by political will and decisions, and the last few days show this is possible," he told reporters. "The more we sustain this, the more we will have a positive impact." There was also now a focus on garbage collection, he added, especially in southern Gaza, in a bid to avoid disease outbreaks as the warmer weather approaches. UNRWA has been described by top U.N. officials as the backbone of aid operations in Gaza. But earlier this year, Israel accused 12 UNRWA staff of taking part in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks that triggered the Gaza war. Israel's allegations led 16 countries to pause or suspend funding of $450 million to UNRWA. Lazzarini said UNRWA has enough funding to pay for operations until June. However, funding by the U.S., UNRWA's biggest donor at $300 million to $400 million a year, has been suspended by the U.S. Congress until at least March 2025. "If it is a lasting suspension, it will have sustainable impact on the agency. If it is a temporary suspension, I do believe we can find a temporary solution with some donors stepping in," Lazzarini said. He also said there has been an "extraordinary kind of grassroots solidarity" with UNRWA, which had raised $100 million from online public donations in the past six months.

washington — The White House on Tuesday unveiled an updated national strategy on suicide prevention that includes more emphasis on health equity and diversity and the mental-health impact of social media, revising its decade-old plan amid a national rise in suicide rates. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff launched the new strategy at the White House, which he prefaced with words of comfort and encouragement. "It's OK to talk about this, as tough as this topic is," he said. "So, that's why it's good that we're all here today together. It's important we do this, because as we all know, suicide affects everyone. Doesn't matter your age, race, gender or where you live. It impacts all of us." The U.S. remains in a small clique of about 40 mostly high-income nations that have national plans to combat a menace that has left no society unscarred. In a push for more countries to develop national strategies in 2018, the World Health Organization noted that "only a few countries in the low-income and middle-income categories have adopted a national suicide prevention strategy, even though 79% of suicides occur in these settings." American health professionals told VOA a national plan is essential to tackling the problem.  "The new national strategy focuses on a "whole of society" approach, which is unique —and critical — because no single entity alone can reduce suicide rates. But together, we have a real opportunity for impact," Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, told VOA in an email. Doctors who worked with the White House on the plan noted that not all its recommendations are strictly medical. Many are social and involve being more open about a matter that is often seen as taboo.  "When it comes to a national strategy, you're actually looking to employ a multipronged approach," Dr. Christine Moutier, chief medical officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, told VOA. "So, you would be looking to increase your mental health professional workforce that is culturally aligned with the population. "But you'd also be looking to other things that low- and middle-income countries can do more readily, such as increasing interpersonal connectedness in schools and in workplaces — really these community-based approaches that have been found to be incredibly effective at reducing suicides. So, things like addressing loneliness, addressing interpersonal violence." American actor Ashley Judd, who spoke at the White House on Tuesday, also stressed the importance of legitimizing mental illness. Her mother, musician Naomi Judd, committed suicide in 2022.  "She won several Grammys, and she left country music better than she found it," Judd said of her mother, who was 76. "She also lived most of her life with an untreated and undiagnosed mental illness that lied to her and stole from her. And it stole from our family, and she deserved better." Another issue the updated plan wrestled with is a uniquely American one. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 55% of American suicides are committed with firearms.  "There is a very strong section on firearm suicide prevention in the national strategy," Moutier said, noting that the federal strategy mentions the important role of state-level red flag laws that would restrict firearms access for buyers who may harm themselves or others.  The new strategy also emphasizes the value of "lived experience" — the validity of survivors' stories and those of their loved ones, who are scarred by the suicide.  Musician Aloe Blacc spoke Tuesday of how he uses music to heal after the 2018 suicide of his close friend, Swedish electronica artist Tim Bergling – better known by his stage name, Avicii. On the anniversary of his friend's death, Blacc recorded a version of his hit, "Wake Me Up."He also recorded a version he sang in Mandarin and Spanish.  And on Tuesday, Blacc, sitting in the high-ceilinged, marble-walled room on the White House campus, burst into spontaneous song. His warm tenor filled the cavernous room as he sang a gospel standard, "This Little Light of Mine." "Just remember," he said. "You are the light." Blacc offered some simple advice to those who themselves may be struggling or know someone who is.  "I want to encourage all of us here today and all of us watching to recognize the role that we can play, the positive role that we can play in someone else's life," he said.  Or, as Wesolowski said, "The most important thing we can do is show up. ...The action of reaching out is more important than the words you say, and sometimes it can make all the difference." The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention shared with VOA this list of international suicide hotlines.

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.

UNited Nations — Actor and U.N. Goodwill Ambassador Danai Gurira told diplomats Tuesday that finding a child to sexually abuse in a conflict zone can cost less than one dollar. She urged policymakers to curb the illicit flow of weapons as one way to prevent these crimes. “Eighty cents. When was the last time you handled 80 cents?” the Zimbabwean American actor and playwright asked Security Council members. “Paid for something that was all that it cost? It is not even enough to buy a packet of gum in this day and age, but it can buy you a child to rape at a so-called maison de tolérance in a camp for internally displaced people in Eastern DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo].” The United Nations recorded 3,688 verified cases of rape, gang rape and abductions in conflict zones in 2023 — an increase of 50% over 2022. About 70% to 90% of such incidents involved small arms and light weapons. Nearly all the victims were women and girls. Many survivors of sexual violence do not come forward, so the U.N. says this is just a fraction of the real numbers. “The actors committing sexual violence at such high rates in Sudan, the DRC, Ethiopia or Haiti are armed to the teeth, flagrantly violating arms embargoes,” an angry Gurira said. “We hear so much about disruptions to the global supply chain, but the weapons keep flowing.” Women and young girls suffered from rape and sexual violence at the hands of at least 58 state and nonstate armed groups in 21 conflict areas around the world last year, Pramila Patten, the U.N. Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, told the council. “We cannot condemn the perpetrators of sexual violence in our speeches while continuing to fund and arm them through our supply chains,” she said of the ease of access to weapons. She said her office’s latest report highlights an “unprecedented level of lethal violence” used to silence rape survivors. “In 2023, reports of rape victims being subsequently killed by their assailants surfaced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Myanmar, demonstrating the need to strengthen forensic capabilities, investigations and accountability processes that ensure the protection of victims and witnesses,” Patten said. She said those who assisted survivors often suffered retaliation. “Armed actors threatened health care workers in Sudan, and reprisals against human rights defenders were reported in South Sudan, the DRC and elsewhere,” Patten said. Niemat Ahmadi, founder and president of the Darfur Women Action Group, told the council that the year-old war between rival generals in Sudan has unleashed devastating suffering on women. “Women and girls have been raped multiple times, sometimes in front of their fathers, husbands and sons in an effort to break their will and destroy their dignity,” she said. “These women and girls have no protection, no access to humanitarian or medical assistance, and nowhere to turn for help.” She said with health care in a state of collapse and humanitarian aid obstructed, it is very difficult for survivors to access reproductive health and other critical services. “We hear that there are less than a dozen obstetricians and gynecologists left working in Khartoum,” Ahmadi said. “Further, the fear of retaliation for speaking up has made it impossible for many survivors to come forward.” Fears are growing of a new battle in Sudan’s war, with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) reportedly either close to El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur where their rival Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) are positioned, or already inside its eastern and northeastern neighborhoods. More than 800,000 civilians are in the city. After the council meeting, Ahmadi told VOA that if an attack happens, the result will be “devastating atrocities,” because the people have nowhere to escape. “I hope that policymakers, member states of the Security Council, the United States government, will take a step to exercise pressure over the warring parties to stop the attack on El Fasher and stop the attack in Sudan and Darfur everywhere, so vulnerable people can receive humanitarian assistance,” she said. In the early 2000s, Darfur saw large-scale ethnic violence, crimes against humanity and genocide when Arab "Janjaweed" militias targeted the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic African groups. The Janjaweed fighters are part of the RSF.

Artificial intelligence surrounds U.S. political life, from fundraising to campaign advertising. Some lawmakers are looking to better police the use of generative content in this year’s presidential election as they say it threatens voter confidence in what is real. VOA correspondent Scott Stearns reports.

London — French authorities say a 7-year-old girl was among five migrants who drowned in the English Channel on Tuesday just hours after British lawmakers voted through legislation aimed at deterring asylum-seekers from making the crossing. Local officials said the inflatable dinghy carrying some 112 people hit a sandbank after leaving a beach near the village of Wimereux. “A few hundred meters from the shore, the engine stopped, and several people fell into the water,” said Jacques Billant, prefect of the French Pas-de-Calais region. “Despite this complex and delicate situation, 57 people who were still in the inflatable boat remained on board. Not willing to be rescued, they managed to restart the engine and decided to continue their sea route towards Britain,” Billant told reporters. Such is the determination of the migrants to reach British shores. Over 6,300 people have made the journey across the English Channel in small boats so far this year. The tragedy happened early Tuesday morning, a few hours after British lawmakers passed legislation that the government hopes will allow it to deport asylum-seekers arriving in small boats across the English Channel to Rwanda for processing. The migrants would be processed in the African state and have no right to return to Britain, even those granted refugee status. The legislation effectively orders the courts to ignore existing British laws or international treaties that could block the deportations. Britain’s Supreme Court ruled the policy was illegal in November 2023, as there was a risk that refugees could be sent from Rwanda back to their countries of origin. It is unclear if further legal challenges could delay the flights. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the prospect of being sent thousands of kilometers away to Rwanda will deter migrants from making the journey to Britain. “The first flight will leave in 10 to 12 weeks. Now, of course, that is later than we wanted. But we have always been clear that processing will take time,” Sunak said Monday evening after the legislation passed. The government argues the policy is moral, as it aims to end the dangerous journeys operated by people smugglers. But both the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the High Commissioner for Human Rights have called for Britain to rethink the legislation. “By shifting the responsibility for refugees, reducing the U.K. courts’ ability to scrutinize removal decisions, restricting access to legal remedies in the U.K. and limiting the scope of domestic and international human rights protections for a specific group of people, this new legislation seriously hinders the rule of law in the U.K., and it sets a perilous precedent globally,” Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said at a news briefing Tuesday in Geneva. Under the deal, Britain pays Rwanda at least $458 million over five years, with extra payments on top worth tens of thousands of dollars for each migrant sent to the country. The opposition Labour Party has called it an "expensive gimmick" that won’t work. The passing of the legislation after years of wrangling and court battles is being seen as a political victory for Sunak. Whether the policy deters migrants from making the deadly journeys across the English Channel remains to be seen. Migrant support groups dispute Sunak’s claims that the policy will stop the boats. “We will not see the boats stop because of this [Rwanda policy]. We will see more deaths, we will see more dangerous risks being taken,” Kay Marsh of the migrant charity Samphire told 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.

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

washington — The South Korean government says it will push ahead with its foreign policy agenda despite a crushing defeat in parliamentary elections at the hands of a liberal opposition party that promises to push back against President Yoon Suk Yeol's foreign and security policies. South Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday that the Yoon government will press on with its security cooperation with the U.S. and Japan in bilateral settings and in a trilateral framework. Seoul will "cooperate closely" with the U.S. and Japan to carry out agreements made at a trilateral Camp David summit in August, the spokesperson said in an email to VOA's Korea Service. Those policies were developed in response to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. The spokesperson said the Yoon administration will also "continue to strengthen its partnership" with countries in the Indo-Pacific region “to support universal values that include freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and human rights." The ruling People Power Party (PPP) lost the general election on April 10, securing only 108 seats in the 300-seat National Assembly. The opposition Democratic Party (DP) won 175 seats but fell short of securing the 200 or more needed for a supermajority that would have allowed them to advance bills for passage without the PPP. Four independent parties secured the rest of the seats. Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation, said, "The opposition party is expected to step up its criticism of Yoon's foreign policies since it favors a more accommodating stance toward Pyongyang and Beijing, resistance to improving relations with Japan and greater independence from U.S. policies." Klingner, who served as the CIA's deputy division chief for Korea from 1996 to 2001, continued, "But such policies have less public support due to the failed U.S. and South Korean summits with North Korea in 2018-19, Pyongyang's rejection of all requests for dialogue and escalating provocations." North Korea said through its state-run KCNA on Tuesday that it had conducted its first nuclear counterattack simulation drills. The DP mounted criticism against the Yoon administration on Sunday for what it described as China exclusionary policies. It urged the administration to "abandon its biased foreign and security policies," said a report by The Korea Herald based in Seoul. The Rebuilding Korea Party, a DP partner that won 12 seats in the National Assembly, slammed Yoon for what it called his "one-sided foreign policies centered on the U.S. and Japan," according to the report. On Friday, Yoon called DP leader Lee Jae-myung and proposed to meet with him for the first time since he took office in May 2022, according to South Korean media. Lee lost the presidential election to Yoon nearly two years ago. The presidential office told the press on Saturday the details and time of their meeting are undetermined. Evans Revere, a former State Department official with extensive experience negotiating with North Korea, said, "The Democratic Party, together with its opposition partners, may try to use its budget-setting and investigatory powers in the National Assembly to slow or otherwise limit the ruling party's ability to easily pursue its foreign policy and national security agenda." He continued, "The DP may also try to use dialogue with the ruling party and the Blue House [former presidential residence] to express a willingness to compromise on domestic economic and social legislation in return for changes to President Yoon's foreign policy agenda." He added, "But President Yoon's commitment to his foreign policy agenda is highly principled and deeply felt, and it seems unlikely that he would yield to such an opposition party." At a conference that Yoon hosted Monday in Seoul for South Korean diplomats assigned overseas, he described the administration's "global pivotal state diplomacy" as the country's "signature policy." He credited the policy for key achievements such as an upgrade in the country's alliance with the United States and normalization of relations with Japan. Yoon has pursued his vision for the country to become the "global pivotal state" since taking office in 2022. It calls for South Korea to promote freedom, democracy and the rules-based international order. Robert Rapson, who served as charge d'affaires and deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul from 2018 to 2021, said it remains to be seen whether the DP and its affiliates can force adjustments on external issues such as Japan, China and North Korea, as well as economic security policy. “But they plan to give it a try, it seems." VOA’s Kim Hyungjin contributed to this report.