VOA常速英语:700多名受校医性侵女性与南加州大学达成8.52亿和解协议

Final election results show Israel in political deadlock once again, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his opponents falling short of a governing majority. The election commission says, with 100 percent of the votes counted, that Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and his natural allies have won 52 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel's parliament. If no one is able to assemble a 61-seat majority in weeks of negotiations, then Israel will go to elections for a fifth time in roughly two years.

A giant backhoe and a squadron of tugboats are still trying to release a cargo ship that's wedged into the Suez Canal and creating a major traffic jam on one of the world's most crucial trade routes. AP's Karen Chammas reports. Dredgers, tugboats and even a backhoe failed to free the giant cargo ship Ever Given, which ran aground in the narrow man-made canal. The ships waiting to pass have now reached 150 as losses to global shipping mounted. Even with the aid of high tides, authorities have been unable to push the Panama-flagged container vessel aside and then looking for new ideas to free it. In a sign of the turmoil, the blockage is caused the ship's Japanese owner even offered a written apology. Suez expert Lars Jensen says the ramifications of the blockage are huge. "The longer this lasts, the higher the risk that we are gonna see massive congestion problems in the European ports, say, a week to two weeks from now." I'm Karen Chammas.

The death toll from last month's winter storm and blackouts in the state of Texas has almost doubled. AP's Ed Donahue reports. Earlier this month, the state with the initial number of deaths at 57, warning it could go higher. The Texas Department of State Health Services now says 111 people died - a majority of them from hypothermia. The number could continue to rise. Many homes went without power or drinkable water for days after subfreezing temperatures, failing power plants and record demand for heat pushed the electric grid in Texas to the breaking point. More than four million customers lost power. The number of dead from the storm exceeded 2017's Hurricane Harvey, which killed 68 people in Texas. I'm Ed Donahue.

The University of Southern California has agreed to an $852 million settlement with more than 700 women who have accused the college's longtime campus gynecologist of sexual abuse. Attorney John Manly announced the settlement on behalf of hundreds of Dr. George Tyndall's victims. Tyndall, who worked at the school for nearly three decades, faces 35 criminal counts of alleged sexual misconduct at the university's student health center. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd, VOA news.