Sudan’s protest movement on Thursday said it received a new, joint proposal from the African Union and Ethiopia for a solution to the crisis in Sudan.   In recent weeks, Ethiopia and the AU have been mediating between the military council and the pro-democracy movement demanding civilian rule. Talks collapsed when Sudanese security forces cleared a protest camp in the capital, Khartoum, earlier this month. The deadly clampdown killed at least 128 people cross the county, according to protest organizers. Authorities say the toll is at 61, including three security forces.   Protest leaders, represented by the coalition Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change, said in a brief statement they have a draft of a proposed agreement with the military council, based on an a previous initiative from Ethiopia for a power-sharing agreement. The military council took over the country after massive protests drove longtime autocratic president Omar al-Bashir from power in April.   Ethiopia’s initiative was built on previous agreements between the military and the protesters. It also tackled the disputed makeup of the sovereign council, proposing a 15-member body with eight civilian and seven military members, with a rotating chairmanship.   All the civilians in the proposed …

The United Nations has denounced the Taliban for publicly threatening to turn media outlets in Afghanistan into military targets, stressing freedom of the press is critical and civilians should never be deliberately targeted with violence. The Islamist insurgent group earlier this week warned Afghan television and radio stations against airing government-funded advertisements and gave them one week to stop the campaign. In a statement issued Monday, the Taliban warned media organizations that refuse to stop the “propaganda” they will be considered “military targets” and not independent news outlets, and staff working for them will not be safe. “I unequivocally condemn this threat and call for it to be rescinded, as words must never be met with violence. The only acceptable challenge to words is to advance a better argument,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). The messages in question call on Afghans to inform authorities if they see any suspicious Taliban activities. The “reprehensible threats”, said Yamamoto, “delegitimize the Taliban and deprive it of any claim to represent the people of Afghanistan.” He stressed that media workers are civilians and their fundamental right to operate in an environment free from any threat must …

A new rehabilitation center on the Kenyan coast is working to help heroin addicts quit drugs and turn their lives around. The new facility, run by the Kenya Red Cross, opened six months ago in the remote village of Lamu. As Ruud Elmendorp reports from Lamu, the center is renewing hope for addicts, many of whom have easy access to hard drugs and often turn to a life of crime. …

World leaders are heading to the Japanese city of Osaka for this year’s G-20 summit, which starts Friday. The G-20 is aimed at promoting financial stability and sustainable growth, but as Henry Ridgwell reports, many of its members have sharply differing views on issues like trade and climate change. …

Warning: A graphic image in this report may be disturbing for some viewers. A photo of a father and daughter from El Salvador who drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande into the United States has caused a public outcry. Meanwhile employees of a U.S. house-goods retailer walked out Wednesday in protest of the company’s sale of bedroom furniture for use in border camps where immigrant children are detained. U.S. President Donald Trump blamed the Democrats Wednesday for the crisis at the border. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports the U.S. House and Senate have each passed their own version of a humanitarian aid package for the immigrants. …

A father and daughter from El Salvador were found dead Monday after they tried to cross the Rio Grande River from Mexico into the United States. A photo of their bodies published first by the Mexican newspaper La Jornada, has become widely circulated by news organizations and on social media, boosting attention on the circumstances of migrants who face long wait times for adjudication of asylum cases at the border. It also sparked debate about whether it is appropriate to share such sensitive images. According to reports from La Jornada and the Associated Press, Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez was frustrated and tired of waiting for an opportunity to request U.S. asylum and made the decision Sunday night to try to cross the river with his wife and daughter. Ramirez was able to get the 23-month-old girl to the other side of the river, but when he went back across to help his wife, the girl went into the water. He tried to save her but both were swept away by the river’s strong currents. A worker enters the migrant shelter where Tania Vanessa Avalos has been receiving assistance since her husband and their daughter drowned Sunday when the family tried …

NATO is considering beefing up European air and missile defenses and ramping up its war games plans should Russia fail to respect a Cold War-era nuclear missile treaty by August, alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Wednesday. The United States gave notice in February of its intention to withdraw from the landmark 1987 pact unless Russia destroyed its new SSC-8 missile. NATO allies believe the system contravenes the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, which is considered to be a cornerstone of European nuclear security. Speaking after a meeting of defense ministers in Brussels, Stoltenberg said Russia showed no sign of returning to compliance before the U.S. deadline and “NATO is preparing for a world without the INF treaty.” The ministers discussed “potential measures such as our exercises program, as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. We will also look further at our air and missile defenses and conventional capabilities,” he said. Stoltenberg declined to give details, but underlined that NATO had “no intention to deploy new land-based nuclear missiles in Europe.”  Asked earlier Wednesday if the military alliance might use its nascent missile defense shield to counter the new Russian missiles, Stoltenberg said he wouldn’t divulge “exactly what we will do because …

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved bipartisan legislation to address the humanitarian crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border with more than $4 billion in supplemental funds and new requirements for the care of detained migrants, especially children. The 84-8 vote came amid renewed scrutiny of the Trump administration’s treatment of minors in its custody and amid widespread revulsion over the deaths of a father and daughter from El Salvador who perished trying to cross the Rio Grande River into the United States. “There is no longer any question that the situation along our southern border is a full-blown humanitarian and security crisis,” Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama said, adding that there was “no excuse” for delay in addressing the situation. “Inaction is simply not an option for those who care about alleviating the suffering of desperate children and families seeking refuge in the United States,” Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy said. The Republican-led Senate approved the bill after voting down a House version that also boosted funds for U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other federal agencies stretched to the breaking point by border arrivals totaling more than 100,000 a month, the highest numbers recorded in more than a decade. …

Facebook is agreeing to help French police identify hate speech suspects, in what the French government is celebrating as a global first.   France’s digital affairs minister, Cedric O, said that Facebook will provide authorities “IP addresses to help identify authors of hateful content.” Speaking on broadcaster France-Info, he expressed hope that the cooperation could be expanded to other countries.   Facebook said in a statement that it will help provide “basic information in criminal hate speech cases” to French authorities but will “push back if (the request) is overbroad, inconsistent with human rights, or legally defective.”   Like many countries, France has been battling violent and racist content online, and has been hit by deadly extremist attacks in recent years.   The move came after Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg came to Paris last month and met with French President Emmanuel Macron. …

Inside a locked vault at Johnson Space Center is treasure few have seen and fewer have touched. The restricted lab is home to hundreds of pounds of moon rocks collected by Apollo astronauts close to a half-century ago.  And for the first time in decades, NASA is about to open some of the pristine samples and let geologists take a crack at them with 21st-century technology. What better way to mark this summer’s 50th anniversary of humanity’s first footsteps on the moon than by sharing a bit of the lunar loot. “It’s sort of a coincidence that we’re opening them in the year of the anniversary,” explained NASA’s Apollo sample curator Ryan Zeigler, covered head to toe in a white protective suit with matching fabric boots, gloves and hat. “But certainly the anniversary increased the awareness and the fact that we’re going back to the moon.” With the golden anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s feat fast approaching – their lunar module Eagle landed July 20, 1969, on the Sea of Tranquility – the moon is red-hot again.    After decades of flip-flopping between the moon and Mars as the next big astronaut destination, NASA aims to put astronauts …

Britain’s Prince William says it would be “absolutely fine” if one of his children came out as gay though he’d worry about how the public response. William made the comment on Wednesday while visiting a London nonprofit group that works with young LGBT people who are homeless or living in hostile environments. A participant in a group discussion at the Albert Kennedy Trust asked him, “If your child one day in the future said, ‘Oh I’m gay, oh I’m lesbian’ whatever, how would you react?” William replied that would be “obviously absolutely fine by me.” The father of three said: “It worries me not because of them being gay. It worries me as to how everyone else will react and perceive it, and then the pressure is then on them.” …

Pope Francis on Wednesday expressed sadness over the fate of the father and young daughter who drowned in the Rio Grande while trying to cross into the United States. “With immense sadness,  the Holy Father has seen the images of the father and his baby daughter who drowned in the Rio Grande River while trying to cross the border between Mexico and the United States,” the Vatican’s interim spokesman, Alessandro Gisotti, said in a statement. “The pope is profoundly saddened by their death, and is praying for them and for all migrants who have lost their lives while seeking to flee war and misery,” he said. Photographs, which have been widely published around the world, show the bodies of a father and his 23-month-old daughter face down along the banks of the Rio Grande near Matamoros, Mexico, across the river from Brownsville, Texas. Earlier, in off-the-cuff comments during his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square, the pontiff complimented the people of Mexico for being “so welcoming to migrants. God bless you.” A group of Mexicans attending the audience cheered and waved a Mexican flag in response. Francis has frequently been vocal in his support of Mexico’s efforts to help migrants …

A beauty pageant winner is accusing Gambia’s former dictator of raping her four years ago. The young woman is one of several now coming forward and accusing Yahya Jammeh of sexual violence while he was in power. Jammeh fled into exile in the reclusive nation of Equatorial Guinea in 2017 after losing the presidential election and initially refusing to step down.   The young woman, Fatou Jallow, plans to testify before Gambia’s truth and reconciliation commission that is investigating crimes committed during Jammeh’s rule.   Human Rights Watch described Jammeh as a sexual predator who lavished gifts on young women and their families before violently attacking them.   The human rights organization says it will take international pressure for Jammeh to be extradited from Equatorial Guinea.   …

Zimbabwe says its practice of dehorning rhinos is bearing fruit, as it has kept poachers at bay and allowed the rhino population to gradually increase. Matobo Park — about 500 kilometers southwest of Harare — is home to both the endangered black rhino and the threatened southern white rhino. Elusive as they are today, rhinos are on the increase in Matobo, in part because of a policy to protectively remove their horns.   Poachers kill the animals to obtain the horn, which in traditional Chinese medicine is believed to have healing powers, although there is little evidence to support this. Verity Bowman is director of Dambari Wildlife Trust, a wildlife conservation research organization, one of the NGOs taking part in anti-rhino poaching efforts with the government.  “The dehorning, of course, removes the incentive to poachers and increases the risk, for a low reward. And in small populations, we feel it is the way to go, and it has made a big difference to Matopo National Park by having all animals dehorned,” Bowman said. Priscah Mupfumira, Zimbabwe’s environment, tourism and wildlife minister, told delegates at the just-ended African Union  (AU) United Nations (UN) Wildlife Economy Summit that her country is winning the …

As the United States and China tussle over tit-for-tat tariffs, another trade spat between West and East is quietly playing out, one pitting Malaysian palm oil against European fighter jets. When the European Union announced in March that it would phase out the use of palm oil as a transport biofuel by 2030 over environmental concerns, the world’s two largest palm oil exporters — Indonesia and Malaysia — were quick to react, threatening to lodge complaints with the World Trade Organization. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told Reuters that the EU risked starting a trade war over “grossly unfair” policies that smacked of protectionism, then named the first potential casualty. He said that if the EU went through with the phase-out, Malaysia would turn away from European defense contractors and look to China to fill its order for new fighter jets, a deal likely worth upwards of $1 billion. It remains to be seen how Malaysia’s brinkmanship will play out. The Malaysia Palm Oil Council warns that the new EU rules could deliver a “significant” blow to the industry, which it says contributed 6% to the country’s GDP in 2017. Upwards of 12% of the palm oil it exports goes …

Authorities in Pakistan say three suicide bombers assaulted a regional police headquarters in a southwestern district Wednesday, triggering a firefight that killed a security officer and the assailants. Two policemen were also wounded in the attack in Loralai, a remote town in Baluchistan province.  The early morning militant raid began with a suicide bomber detonating his explosives at the entry gate, enabling his partners to storm the high-security building, a local police official told VOA requesting anonymity.  Police guards inside the compound swiftly engaged the attackers and the ensuing shootout killed one bomber while the other blew himself up, the official explained.  The outlawed Pakistani Taliban militant group in a message to reporters claimed credit for plotting the attack but gave no other details. Security forces and civilian targets routinely come under attack in Baluchistan, a natural resource-rich region. The province has been the scene of a low-level insurgency being waged by ethnic Baluch separatist groups. Militants linked to a local affiliate of the Islamic State terrorist group also operate in the province and routinely carry out of attacks against security targets as well as the minority Shi’ite Hazara community which is mostly based in the provincial capital of Quetta.  …

China and a group of Southeast Asian countries, long at odds over control of the sea between them, aim to finish phase one of a maritime code of conduct within months after 17 years of trying to resolve Asia’s widest-reaching sovereignty dispute. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China have probably talked enough to eliminate any sticky points in the code – issues touching on who owns which islands, for example – to approach a first reading by their major annual meeting in November, scholars in Asia say. A code would help guide ships away from mishaps and resolve any accidents in the vast, crowded South China Sea without giving any government express priority. A June 9 collision between Philippine and Chinese vessels, backed by growing regional pressure on China, gave new impetus to signing a code. “If you’re looking at the code of conduct since 2002, that’s about 17 years, so that would be a very big milestone if that would pass,” said Eduardo Araral, associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s public policy school. “There should be momentum when the leaders meet again in November,” he said. “That will probably be on the agenda …

European countries have been hit with an early summer heat wave, which has authorities scrambling to activate plans to protect their populations from the effects of sweltering heat and humidity. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports on how the Europeans are coping with temperatures hovering around 40 degree Celsius.  …