Ugandan and Rwandan officials failed to reach agreement Saturday on most of the contentious issues between them: mutual allegations of destabilizing actions, protection of the rights and freedoms of each other’s nationals, and resumption of cross-border activities. After failing to find a resolution after eight hours of closed-door meetings, the matters will now be referred back to the respective heads of state. “The armed groups that are operating here in Uganda and are getting support,” said Rwanda’s foreign affairs minister, Olivier Nduhungirehe. “We have discussed and we have provided information, we have provided names. We have also addressed the issue of Rwandans who are arbitrarily arrested and illegally detained and also tortured in this country.” Uganda’s foreign minister, Sam Kutesa, responded to those allegations and listed some of Uganda’s own grievances against its neighbor.   “Issues like attempts to infiltrate our security agencies,” Kutesa said. “Issues like the closure of the border by Rwanda. We also talked about Rwandans who have been arrested here for illegal activities and some of them deported. For Uganda, clearly, we shall never support any force destabilizes or intends to destabilize our neighbors including Rwanda.”  While Rwanda expressed hope that the issues can be resolved …

Several thousand people took part in Thailand’s biggest protest since a 2014 coup on Saturday after authorities moved to ban a party that has rallied opposition to the government of former military ruler Prayuth Chan-ocha. The demonstration in Bangkok, called just a day earlier by Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, a 41-year-old billionaire, revived memories of the spasms of street protest that have roiled the Thai capital periodically during the past two decades of political turbulence. But there was no sign of any attempt to block the biggest demonstration since Prayuth seized power in 2014 on promises to end such unrest. “This is just the beginning,” Thanathorn told the cheering crowd that spilled across walkways and stairways close to the MBK Centre mall, in the heart of Bangkok’s shopping and business district. Thanathorn has emerged as the most outspoken opponent of the government headed by Prayuth, 65, since an election in March that the opposition said was manipulated to favour the army. Thailand’s election panel has asked the Constitutional Court to dissolve the Future Forward party, accusing it of infringing the laws governing political parties by accepting multi-million dollar loans from Thanathorn. Last month, the Constitutional Court disqualified Thanathorn …

A Congolese city at the center of the Ebola epidemic has again come under attack from rebels, leaving at least six people dead. Witnesses said Saturday that the rebels from the Ugandan-based group known as ADF had launched an assault in Beni overnight. The attack comes just days after Congo’s military began stepping up its efforts to fight armed groups in the area. Repeated attacks by ADF rebels and other armed groups have disrupted efforts to contain the Ebola virus outbreak in eastern Congo, which has killed more than 2,200 people. Anger over the continued attacks also has erupted into violent demonstrations in Beni. Late last month, residents burned the town hall and stormed the United Nations peacekeeping mission in protest.   …

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has rejected a $13.5 billion settlement that Pacific Gas & Electric struck just last week with thousands of people who lost homes, businesses and family members in a series of devastating fires that drove the nation’s largest utility into bankruptcy. The decision announced Friday in a five-page letter to PG&E CEO William D. Johnson marks a major setback in the utility’s race to meet a June 30 deadline to emerge from bankruptcy protection. The San Francisco-based company needs to pull a deal off to be able to draw from a special fund created by the Democratic governor and state lawmakers to help insulate utilities if their equipment sparks other catastrophic fires. The risks have escalated during the past few years amid dry, windy conditions that have become more severe in a changing climate. In his letter, Newsom said the proposed settlement announced last week does not achieve the goal of addressing what he considers its most important elements, providing safe and reliable power to PG&E customers. “In my judgment, the amended plan and the restructuring transactions do not result in a reorganized company positioned to provide safe, reliable, and affordable service,” he said. He went on …

A court in Sudan convicted former President Omar al-Bashir of money laundering and corruption on Saturday, sentencing him to two years in prison. That’s the first verdict in a series of legal proceedings against al-Bashir, who is also wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and genocide linked to the Darfur conflict in the 2000s. The verdict came a year after Sudanese protesters first began their revolt against al-Bashir’s three-decade authoritarian rule. During that time, Sudan landed on the U.S. list for sponsoring terrorism, and the economy has been battered by years of mismanagement and American sanctions. Before the verdict was read, supporters of al-Bashir briefly disrupted the proceedings and were pushed out of the courtroom by security forces. Al-Bashir, 75, has been in custody since April, when Sudan’s military stepped in and removed him from power after months of nationwide protests. The uprising eventually forced the military into a power-sharing agreement with civilians. The former strongman was charged earlier this year with money laundering, after millions of U.S. dollars, euros and Sudanese pounds were seized in his home shortly after his ouster. The Sudanese military has said it would not extradite him to the ICC. …

An international aid agency says insurgents who kidnapped six humanitarian workers in northeast Nigeria in July claim to have killed four of them.   Action Against Hunger said Friday the latest claim brings the number of fatalities to five, with the first hostage killed in September.   The aid agency called for the “immediate release of our staff member, Grace, who remains in captivity.” The agency said in a statement that in July “an employee of Action Against Hunger, two drivers, and three health ministry personnel were kidnapped while delivering humanitarian aid to extremely vulnerable people in Borno State.” “Action Against Hunger condemns these latest killings in the strongest terms and deeply regrets that calls for the release of the hostages have not been acted upon,” the group said.    The militants are believed to be members of the Islamic State in West Africa Province, a splinter group from Boko Haram. Action Against Hunger says it is currently providing food assistance every month to approximately 300,000 people in northeast Nigeria who have no access to livelihoods and food.   In addition, the group says its teams are reaching thousands more with lifesaving health and nutrition services. …

The Xinjiang regional government in China’s far west is deleting data, destroying documents, tightening controls on information and has held high-level meetings in response to leaks of classified papers on its mass detention camps for Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities, according to four people in contact with government employees there. Top officials deliberated how to respond to the leaks in meetings at the Chinese Communist Party’s regional headquarters in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, some of the people said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of fears of retribution against themselves, family members and the government workers. The meetings began days after The New York Times published last month a cache of internal speeches on Xinjiang by top leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping. They continued after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists worked with news organizations around the world including The Associated Press to publish secret guidelines for operating detention centers and instructions on how to use technology to target people. The Chinese government has long struggled with its 11-million-strong Uighur population, an ethnic Turkic minority native to Xinjiang, and in recent years has detained 1 million or more Uighurs and other minorities in the camps. Xinjiang officials and …

U.S. House Democrats are one big step away from impeaching President Donald Trump. After 14 hours of contentious partisan debate, the House Judiciary Committee on Friday approved formal charges alleging Trump abused the power of his office and obstructed congressional efforts to investigate him. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson looks ahead to the final vote on impeachment on the House floor   …

Britain “deserves a break from wrangling, a break from politics and a permanent break from talking about Brexit,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Friday, after his Conservative Party won what Johnson described as an “extraordinary” election.” “Let the healing begin,” the prime minister said. Johnson focused his campaigning efforts on the slogan –  “Get Brexit Done.”  He said the parliamentary majority for his Conservative Party will allow him to push through a previously rejected divorce deal with the European Union and carry out Brexit by January 31, 2020. He thanked Labour Party supporters who voted for the Conservative Party for the first time and promised a “One Nation Conservative government.”   “I say thank you for the trust you have placed in us and in me and we will work round the clock to repay your trust and to deliver on your priorities with a Parliament that works for you,” Johnson said. The British leader, who accepted the Queen’s offer earlier Friday to form a government, said there is no one definition for one nation conservatism, “but broadly it refers to the idea the Conservative Party should act for everybody in the UK. That means policies that work for …

During Pope Francis’ recent visit to Japan, Harumi Suzuki stood where his motorcade passed by holding a sign that read: “I am a survivor.” Katsumi Takenaka stood at another spot, on another day, holding up his banner that read, “Catholic child sexual abuse in Japan, too.” The two are among a handful of people who have gone public as survivors of Catholic clergy sexual abuse in Japan, where values of conformity and harmony have resulted in a strong code of silence. But as in other parts of the world, from Pennsylvania to Chile, Takenaka and Suzuki are starting to feel less alone as other victims have come forward despite the ostracization they and their family members often face for speaking out. Their public denunciation is all the more remarkable, given Catholics make up less than 0.5% of Japan’s population. To date, the global abuse scandal has concentrated on heavily Catholic countries, such as Ireland, the U.S. and now, many countries in Latin America. All of which could explain why the Catholic hierarchy in Japan has been slow to respond to the scandal, which involves not only children being sexually abused but adults in spiritual direction — an increasingly common phenomenon …

Georgia election officials are set to begin a mass purge of inactive voters from the state’s voting rolls on Monday. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in October released a list of over 313,000 voters whose registrations were at risk of being cancelled, about 4% of the state’s total registered voters. Those voters were mailed notices in November and had 30 days to respond in order to keep their registration intact. Walter Jones, a spokesman for the secretary of state’s office, said the purge would take place overnight Monday into Tuesday. He said the exact number and names of voters removed wouldn’t be known until then and that more information would be made available after. Voter purges in Georgia became a hot-button issue during last year’s race for governor between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp, who won the race. Kemp served as secretary of state before being elected governor and oversaw some of the most aggressive voter purges in the country during his tenure. Over 1.4 million voter registrations were canceled in Georgia between 2012 and 2018. While some of the people removed from the rolls had either moved or died, others were removed for simply not voting …

Since the 1970s more than 4 million Vietnamese have immigrated to America. Most of them are on America’s West Coast, but a large group live in Texas and Louisiana in America’s Deep South. That’s where Theresa Nguyen ended up in 1979 when she came here with her family. VOA’s Tra Mi has her story. …

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon jumped to the highest level for the month of November since record-keeping began in 2015, according to preliminary government data published Friday. Destruction of the world’s largest tropical rainforest totaled 563 square km (217.38 square miles) in November, 103% more than in the same month last year, according to the country’s space research agency INPE. That would bring total deforestation for the period from January to November to 8,934 square km, 83% more than in the same period in 2018 and an area almost the size of Puerto Rico. The data released by INPE was collected through the DETER database, a system that publishes alerts on fires and other types of developments affecting the rainforest. The DETER numbers are not considered official deforestation data. That comes from a different system called PRODES, also managed by INPE. PRODES numbers released last month showed deforestation rose to its highest in more than a decade this year, jumping 30% from 2018 to 9,762 square km. Deforestation usually slows around November and December during the Amazon region’s rainy season. The number for last month was unusually high. Researchers and environmentalists blame right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro for emboldening ranchers and loggers …

The United States and China have agreed on the terms of the first phase of a trade deal that would reduce some U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods while boosting Chinese purchases of American farm, energy and manufactured goods and addressing some U.S. complaints about intellectual property practices.    Following are details of the deal released by both sides. The broad outlines were similar to a deal in principle announced by Trump in October that was dominated by increased Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural goods.   Tariffs    The United States will not proceed with 15% tariffs scheduled to go into effect Sunday on nearly $160 billion worth of Chinese goods, including cellphones, laptop computers, toys and clothing.    China canceled its retaliatory tariffs scheduled to take effect that same day, including a 25% tariff on U.S.-made autos.    The United States will cut by half the tariff rate it imposed on September 1 on a $120 billion list of Chinese goods, to 7.5%    U.S. tariffs of 25% on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods will remain unchanged, providing U.S. negotiating leverage for a second phase of negotiations next year.   Trade deficit    U.S. officials say China agreed to increase purchases of American products and services by at least $200 billion …

Growing up along the U.S.-Mexico border, hotel clerk Joe Luis Rubio never thought he’d be trying to communicate in Portuguese on a daily basis. But with hundreds of Brazilians crossing from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, each week, the Motel 6 by the airport has become a stepping stone for thousands of the Portuguese speakers on a 6,000-mile (9,500 km) journey from Brazil to El Paso to America’s East Coast. “Thank God for Google Translate or we’d be lost,” says Rubio. The quiet migration of around 17,000 Brazilians through a single U.S. city in the past year reveals a new frontier in the Trump administration’s effort to shut down the legal immigration pathway for people claiming fear of persecution. Like hundreds of thousands of families from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, known collectively as the Northern Triangle, Brazilians have been crossing the border here and applying for asylum. They now make up a quarter of immigrants apprehended in El Paso, the most commonly apprehended migrants after Mexicans. Nationwide, some 18,000 Brazilians were apprehended in the fiscal year ending in October, a 600% increase from the previous high in 2016. Brazilians crossing in the El Paso Sector, which covers southern New Mexico and …

A Wisconsin judge on Friday ordered that the registration of up to 234,000 voters be tossed out because they may have moved, a victory for conservatives that could make it more difficult for people to vote next year in the key swing state. The judge sided with three voters represented by a conservative law firm who argued the state elections commission should have immediately deactivated any of the roughly 234,000 voters who didn’t respond to an October mailing within 30 days. The voters were flagged as having potentially moved. Ozaukee County Judge Paul Malloy denied a request by elections commission attorneys to put his decision on hold. He ordered the state Elections Commission to follow the law requiring voters who didn’t respond to be deactivated. “I can’t tell them how to do that, they’re going to have to figure that out,” Malloy said of the commission deactivating the voters. Commission spokesman Reid Magney said in an email to The Associated Press that staff will analyze the judge’s decision and consult with commission members on next steps. He didn’t elaborate. The judge’s ruling comes in the early stages of the case and is expected to be immediately appealed. It’s likely to …

Editor’s note: We want you to know what’s happening, and why and how it could impact your life, family or business, so we created a weekly digest of the top original immigration, migration and refugee reporting from across VOA. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com. Border declines A spike in people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization earlier this year has been reversed. Washington officials report a sixth consecutive month of declines in apprehensions in southwestern U.S. states. Apprehensions have fluctuated wildly during the Trump administration. Returning from refuge After a decade in exile, some Zimbabwean refugees recently returned to their home country from Botswana, where the government told them they could register for voluntary repatriation by the end of the year or be expelled. Some people say they are afraid to leave, however. One supporter of Zimbabwe’s opposition said, “People might think that Zimbabwe, maybe, after the change of government, it has changed. But the government that is ruling is still the same government.” Fighting flu season Amid heightened concerns for the health of migrants in U.S. custody, the Trump administration is rejecting an offer of free flu vaccinations from a group of physicians. From the Feds …

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Friday that Ethiopia will receive $3 billion from the World Bank to help strengthen reforms in its traditionally state-controlled economy. Two days ago, the International Monetary Fund said it had reached a preliminary agreement for a three-year, $2.9 billion financing package to support Ethiopia’s economic reforms. Abiy did not give more details on the World Bank funding. He said on his Twitter account that unnamed development partners have pledged more than $3 billion in addition to the World Bank and IMF funding. The money will go toward macroeconomic, structural and sectoral reforms, he said. “This reaffirms both Governments’ and donors’ partnership to transition Ethiopia to a prosperous and peaceful nation,” Abiy wrote. Ethiopia’s State Minister of Finance, Eyob Tekalign Tolina, did not say when World Bank funds will be released, but told Reuters that once approved, the World Bank loan would also be disbursed over a three-year period. The World Bank Ethiopia office did not respond to messages seeking comment. Abiy promised to open the economy to private investment when he took office in 2018, aiming to modernize banking and telecoms and help provide jobs for more of Ethiopia’s 105 million people.   …

The State Department has made public a Before President Donald Trump’s executive order, issued in September, refugees had long been placed in U.S. communities based on consultations between federal, state and local officials, as well as nonprofit agencies that assist with refugee resettlement. The executive order allows state and local governments to refuse to accept refugees if they decline to send letters of consent to the State Department. Refugees typically benefit from a support system in assigned resettlement cities that can serve as an initial inducement to stay. Once they arrive in the U.S., however, they are free to move wherever they choose, including to a state that has not consented to accept refugees. Hypothetically, if a refugee family would rather be in Florida instead of their assigned destination in Arizona, the state cannot object to the family’s moving there, but the family may forgo services that would have been provided to them in Arizona. The executive order will apply to resettlement activities beginning June 1, 2020. …

A hunter has gunned down a collared elephant in Botswana, the first illegal killing since the country lifted a five-year ban on hunting the animals.  The killing has conservationists concerned but not opposed to elephant hunting, as Botswana has a growing elephant population that sometimes comes into conflict with humans.   Botswana’s government said the elephant was shot in the tourism resort of Ngamiland by a licensed citizen in the company of a professional hunter and wildlife officers. The elephant was wearing a collar put on for research purposes.   Action will be taken against the perpetrators, including revoking their licenses, the government said. The hunters said the elephant herd charged, which resulted in the shooting of the collared bull. A herd of elephants is seen grazing at a wild life area outside Kasane in the northeastern corner of Botswana, Sept. 20, 2018. Neil Fitt of the Kalahari Conservation Society said it was odd for a collared animal to be shot. “It should in reality never happen,” Fitt said. “If a professional hunter is doing his job properly, he should not get himself or his clients in a position that they have to do proactive work. It is unacceptable for elephants or any other animal …

Central American countries are teaming up to conserve the region’s five great forests as part of a regional climate action plan released at U.N. climate talks in Madrid this week, the alliance behind the effort said. The coalition of governments, indigenous people, green groups and others announced a plan to protect 10 million hectares of forests and degraded land inside those forests — an area roughly the size of Guatemala — by 2030. In the last 15 years, three of the forests have been reduced by almost one-quarter in size, with illegal cattle ranching responsible for more than 90% of recent deforestation, it said. Measures planned to safeguard the forests include bolstering agencies that look after protected areas, tracing beef to verify it has been legally produced, cracking down on cross-border cattle trafficking, helping ranchers find other ways to earn a living, and reforesting land where trees have been cut down. Jeremy Radachowsky, regional director for the Wildlife Conservation Society, a partner in the project, said financing would come from multiple sources, including Central American countries, donor governments and a dedicated fund that will be created for indigenous and community forests. The five forests, spanning from Mexico to Colombia, are …

A measles epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 5,000 people this year, according to a report by the World Health Organization.  The agency says there are a quarter million suspected measles cases in the country and all provinces have been affected, making it one of world’s fastest and largest moving epidemics.  As VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo reports, the WHO and DRC government are carrying out an immunization campaign to combat the crisis. …