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VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday pleaded for an end to violence and civilian deaths in North Kivu, a conflict-stricken province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.  At least seven people were killed there on Friday and Saturday after people took to the streets to protest a surge in deadly attacks by suspected Islamist rebels.  "Painful news continues to arrive of attacks and massacres carried out in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo," Francis told crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square.  "I appeal to national authorities and the international community to do everything possible to stop the violence and safeguard the lives of civilians," he said during his Sunday Angelus message.  The pope deplored the "many Christians" killed in the conflict, saying "they are martyrs."  Francis also renewed calls for peace in Ukraine, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Sudan, Myanmar "and anywhere people suffer from war."  

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Berlin — German police said Sunday they shot and wounded a man who was threatening them with an axe and a firebomb in the northern city of Hamburg, hours before it hosted a match in the Euro 2024 soccer tournament.  Police officers opened fire after the man refused to lay down the ax, hitting him in the leg, German news agency dpa reported, citing Hamburg police. German media published images of a person lying in the street surrounded by paramedics and police officers.  The incident occurred in the downtown St. Pauli area of the northern port city, which was thronged with fans ahead of Sunday's soccer match between the Netherlands and Poland.  The police spokesman said there was no initial indication that the incident was related to the soccer game.  German authorities have put police on high alert during the tournament, which began on Friday and runs through July 14, for fear of possible fan violence and terrorist attacks.  On Friday, police shot to death an Afghan man after he fatally attacked a compatriot and later wounded three people watching the televised game between Germany and Scotland in a town in eastern Germany. Police said Sunday that the motive for that attack was still unclear. 

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MELBOURNE, Australia — Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday promised a new pair of giant pandas to a zoo and urged Australia to set aside its differences with Beijing at the outset of the first visit to the country by China's second-highest ranking leader in seven years.  China's most powerful politician after President Xi Jinping arrived late Saturday in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia state, which has produced most of the Australian wine entering China since crippling tariffs were lifted in March that had effectively ended a 1.2 billion Australian dollar ($790 million) a year trade since 2020.  Li's trip has focused so far on the panda diplomacy, rebounding trade including wine and recovering diplomatic links after China initiated a reset of the relationship in 2022 that had all but collapsed during Australia's previous conservative administration's nine years in power.  Relations tumbled over legislation that banned covert foreign interference in Australian politics, the exclusion of Chinese-owned telecommunications giant Huawei from rolling out the national 5G network due to security concerns, and Australia's call for an independent investigation into the causes of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Beijing imposed an array of official and unofficial trade blocks in 2020 on a range of Australian exports including coal, wine, beef, barley and wood that cost up to AU$20 billion ($13 billion) a year.  All the trade bans have now been lifted except for Australian live lobster exports. Trade Minister Don Farrell predicted that impediment would also be lifted soon after Li's visit with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.  Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Li's visit was the result of "two years of very deliberate, very patient work by this government to bring about a stabilization of the relationship and to work towards the removal of trade impediments."  "We will cooperate where we can, we will disagree where we must and we will engage in our national interest," Wong said before joining Li at Adelaide Zoo, which has been home to China-born giant pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni since 2009.  Li announced that the zoo would be loaned another two pandas after the pair are due to return to China in November.  "China will soon provide another pair of pandas that are equally beautiful, lively, cute and younger to the Adelaide Zoo, and continue the cooperation on giant pandas between China and Australia," Li said in Mandarin, adding that zoo staff would be invited to "pick a pair."  Wong thanked Li for ensuring that pandas would remain the zoo's star attraction.  "It's good for the economy, it's good for South Australian jobs, it's good for tourism, and it is a signal of goodwill, and we thank you," Wong said.  Li's visit is the first to Australia by a Chinese premier in seven years and marks an improvement in relations since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's center-left Labor Party was elected in 2022.  Li noted that Albanese in November was the first Australian prime minister to visit China since 2016.  "China-Australia relations were back on track after a period of twists and turns," Li said on arrival on Saturday, according to a translation released by the Chinese Embassy in Australia on Sunday. "History has proven that mutual respect, seeking common ground while shelving differences and mutually beneficial cooperation are the valuable experience in growing China-Australia relations."  Hundreds of pro-China demonstrators, human rights protesters and democracy activists gathered outside the zoo before Li's visit.  Among the protesters was former Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui, who fled to Australia three years ago to avoid a prison sentence for his activism. He said the panda offer was a cynical move to soften China's image and to distract from the government's human rights failings.  "It's a public relations move by the Chinese regime and, disappointingly, the Australian government is reciprocating by welcoming him and shaking hands," Hui said.  Hui said Li showed cowardice by entering the zoo by a rear entrance while most of the protesters and China supporters had gathered at the main entrance. But Hui and other protesters were able to shout slogans at Li from a distance inside the zoo.  Li's agenda became more contentious after he left Adelaide and arrived in the national capital, Canberra, late Sunday for Parliament House meetings on Monday with Albanese and other political figures. Li will visit a Chinese-controlled lithium processing plant in resource-rich Western Australia state on Tuesday.  Albanese has said he will raise with Li recent clashes between the two countries' militaries in the South China Sea and Yellow Sea that Australia argues endangered Australian personnel.  Albanese will also raise the fate of China-born Australian democracy blogger Yang Hengjun, who was given a suspended death sentence by a Beijing court in February. Australia is also concerned for Hong Kong-Australia dual national Gordon Ng, who was among 14 pro-democracy activists convicted by a Hong Kong court last month for national security offenses.  Li's visit to Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia's processing plant south of the Western Australia capital of Perth will underscore China's interest in investing in critical minerals. The plant produces battery-grade lithium hydroxide for electric vehicles.  Australia shares U.S. concerns over China's dominance in the critical minerals, which are essential components in the world's transition to renewable energy sources.  Citing Australia's national interests, Treasurer Jim Chalmers recently ordered five Chinese-linked companies to divest their shares in the rare earth mining company, Northern Minerals.  Asked if Chinese companies could invest in processing critical minerals in Australia, Wong replied that Australia's foreign investment framework was "open to all."  "We want to grow our critical minerals industry," Wong said.  Australia is the second stop of Li's tour after New Zealand, and will end in Malaysia.

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Islamabad — Afghanistan’s Taliban government said Sunday it will send a delegation to the two-day United Nations conference on Afghanistan, set to commence in Doha, Qatar, June 30. This will mark the first time the de facto Afghan rulers will attend a gathering of international envoys on Afghanistan since U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres started the process over a year ago, aimed at developing a coherent and unified world approach to engagement with the Taliban. Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief Taliban spokesman, told an Afghan television channel Sunday that their government had held internal discussions on the agenda for the third Doha conference and agreed to participate. “We will announce the composition of the delegation later, God willing. We believe this will serve the interest of Afghanistan,” Mujahid said in his interview, aired by TOLO News. He defended the decision and did not mention any conditions from their government, saying they consider any meetings facilitating humanitarian aid and investment in Afghanistan to be crucial. The U.N. has stated that the third Doha meeting aims to increase international engagement with the Taliban and Afghanistan at large "in a more coherent, coordinated and structured manner.” Guterres did not invite the Taliban to the first Doha meeting in May 2023, and the Afghan rulers refused an invitation to the second this past February. The fundamentalist Taliban had asked the U.N. during the lead-up to the second Doha meeting to only recognize their delegates as the country's official representatives. This meant that Afghan civil society leaders and women's rights activists would not be allowed to be present. The Taliban authorities also sought a meeting between their delegation and the U.N. at “a very senior level.” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres rejected the conditions. The international community does not recognize the Taliban government, as many of its top leaders remain under terrorism-related U.N. sanctions. Mujahid did not specify any conditions for their involvement in the forthcoming Doha conference. Curbs on women Sunday’s Taliban announcement comes amid persistent calls from Afghan and global rights monitors to ensure women’s representation at the table in the Doha meeting, with women’s and girls’ rights at the center of discussions. The hardline Taliban stormed back to power in Afghanistan almost three years ago, imposing sweeping curbs on women’s right to education and public life at large in line with their harsh interpretation of Islam. Afghan girls ages 12 and older are banned from attending secondary school, while women are prohibited from public and private workplaces, including the U.N., except for Afghan health care and a few other sectors. Women are not allowed to travel long distances by road or air unless accompanied by a close male relative and are banned from visiting public places such as parks, gyms, and bathhouses. The elusive Taliban supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has rejected international criticism of his governance, including restrictions on women, as an interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs. The Taliban's ban on educating girls reached 1,000 days last week, with UNICEF, denouncing it as a "sad and sobering milestone and demanding its immediate removal. “For 1.5 million girls, this systematic exclusion is not only a blatant violation of their right to education but also results in dwindling opportunities and deteriorating mental health," UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said. The Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 has led to the worsening of economic and humanitarian conditions in the impoverished nation of more than 40 million people, reeling from years of war and the devastation of natural disasters. The World Food Program estimates that more than a quarter of the population needs food assistance for survival. “More than 12 million people in Afghanistan do not know where their next meal will come from,” the U.N. agency stated.

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London — The UK general election is being watched closely after stark warnings that rapid advancements in cyber-tech, particularly AI, and increasing friction between major nations threaten the integrity of 2024's landmark votes. "These rogue and unregulated technological advances pose an enormous threat to us all. They can be weaponized to discriminate, disinform and divide," the head of Amnesty International Agnes Callamard said in April. The UK election on July 4 -- four months before the United States -- will be seen as the "guinea pig" for election security, said Bruce Snell, cyber-security strategist at US firm Qwiet AI, which uses AI to prevent cyber-attacks. While AI has grabbed most of the headlines, more traditional cyber-attacks remain a major threat. "It's misinformation, it's disruption of parties, it's leakage of data and attacking specific individuals," said Ram Elboim, head of cyber-security firm Sygnia and a former senior operative at Israel's 8200 cyber and intelligence unit. State actors are expected to be the main threat, with the UK already issuing warnings about China and Russia. "The main things are maybe to promote specific candidates or agendas," said Elboim. "The second is creating some kind of internal instability or chaos, something that will impact the public feeling." The UK has an advantage over the United States due to the short time period between announcing and holding the election, giving attackers little time to develop and execute plans, said Elboim. It is also less vulnerable to attacks on election infrastructure as voting is not automated, he added. Deepfakes But hacking of institutions remains a threat, and the UK has already accused China of being behind an attack on the Electoral Commission.  "You don't have to disrupt the main voting system," explained Elboim. "For example, if you disrupt a party, their computers or a third party that affects that party, that's something that might have an impact."  Individuals are most at risk of being targeted, he added. Any embarrassing information could be used to blackmail candidates. But it is more likely the attacker will simply leak information to shape public opinion or use the hacked account to impersonate the victim and spread misinformation. Former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith, a fierce Beijing critic, has already claimed that Chinese state actors have impersonated him online, sending fake emails to politicians around the world. However, it is the increased scope for using AI to create and distribute misinformation that is the real unknown quantity in this year's elections, said Snell. The spread of "deepfakes" -- fake videos, pictures or audio -- is of prime concern. "The levels of potential for fakery are just tremendous. It's something that we definitely didn't have in the last election," said Snell, calling the UK a "guinea pig" for 2024's votes. He highlighted software that can recreate someone's voice from a 30-second sample, and how that could be abused. Labour's health spokesman Wes Streeting has said he was a victim of deepfake audio, in which he appeared to insult a colleague. Bot farms Snell advised authorities to focus on a "shortcut" solution of "getting awareness out there, having people understand that this is the issue." Other software can be used to make fake pictures and videos, despite filters on many AI applications designed to prevent the depiction of real people. "AI is, while very sophisticated, also extremely easy to fool" into creating images of real people, said Snell. AI is also being used to create "bots", which automatically flood social media with comments to shape public opinion. "The bots used to be really easy to spot. You'd see things like the same message being repeated and parroted by multiple accounts," said Snell. "But with the sophistication of AI now... it's very easy to generate a bot farm that can have 1,000 bots and every one have a varying style of communication," he added. While software already exists to check if videos and pictures have been generated using AI to a "high level of competency", they are not yet used widely enough to curb the problem. Snell believes that the AI industry and social media firms should therefore take responsibility for curbing misinformation "because we're in a brave new world where the lawmakers have no idea what's going on."

Paris — Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned on Sunday that President Emmanuel Macron's unexpected decision to dissolve the National Assembly and call for snap legislative elections could backfire and plunge the country into chaos. Macron called the snap vote, to be held in two rounds on June 30 and July 7, after his centrist alliance was trounced by the far-right National Rally (RN) in last Sunday's European Parliament ballot. Sarkozy, the conservative former president who was in office from 2007 to 2012 and remains an important political figure, said possible chaos triggered by the dissolution of the assembly might be challenging to get out of, according to a report in the Journal du Dimanche.  "Giving the floor to the French people to justify the dissolution is a curious argument since this is precisely what more than 25 million French people have just done at the polls", Sarkozy, who is on friendly terms with Macron, said in reference to the European elections on June 9. "The risk is great they confirm their anger rather than reverse it," he said. A poll on Saturday appeared to support his concerns. The OpinionWay-Vae Solis poll conducted for Les Echos and Radio Classique forecast RN would lead in the first round of the parliamentary election with 33% of the vote, ahead of the Popular Front, the alliance of left-wing parties, with 25%. Macron's centrist camp had 20%. Thousands marched in Paris and cities across France on Saturday to protest against the far-right National Rally (RN) ahead of the upcoming elections.

Mina, Saudi Arabia — Pilgrims performed Sunday the last major ritual of the hajj, the "stoning of the devil", in western Saudi Arabia, as Muslims the world over celebrated the Eid al-Adha holiday. Beginning at dawn, the 1.8 million Muslims undertaking the pilgrimage this year threw seven stones at each of three concrete walls symbolizing the devil in the Mina valley, located outside Mecca, the holiest city in Islam. The ritual commemorates Abraham's stoning of the devil at the three spots where it is said Satan tried to dissuade him from obeying God's order to sacrifice his son. The stoning ritual has been witness to multiple stampedes over the years, most recently in 2015 when up to 2,300 worshippers were killed in the worst hajj disaster. The site has been revamped since then to streamline the movement of the large crowds. Roads leading to the concrete walls were nevertheless packed early Sunday, with some pilgrims visibly struggling under the morning sun.  Some sat on the side of the road to rest and drink water, while others stretched out on the ground, apparently exhausted. On Saturday, temperatures reached 46 degrees Celsius (114.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in Arafat, where pilgrims performed hours of outdoor prayers. One treatment center in the area recorded 225 cases of heat stress and fatigue, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. That figure was not comprehensive. Last year more than 10,000 cases of heat-related illnesses were documented during the hajj, 10 percent of which were heat stroke, a health ministry spokesman told AFP. "It was very, very hot," Rohy Daiseca, a 60-year-old Gambian living in the United States, told AFP on Saturday night as pilgrims collected stones to throw. "Alhamdulillah (praise be to God), I put a lot of water on my head and it was OK." Worshippers have tried to take the grueling conditions in stride, seizing what for many is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to pray at Islam's holiest shrines. "I am so happy that I can't describe my feelings," said Amal Mahrouss, a 55-year-old woman from Egypt. "This place shows us that we are all equal, that there are no differences between Muslims around the world." One of the five pillars of Islam, the hajj must be performed at least once by all Muslims with the means. This year's figure of 1.8 million pilgrims is similar to last year's, and Saudi authorities said on Saturday that 1.6 million of them came from abroad. Feast of the sacrifice The stoning ritual coincides with Eid al-Adha, or the feast of the sacrifice, which honors Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son before God offered a sheep instead. Worshippers typically slaughter a sheep and offer part of the meat to the needy. This year's hajj and Eid al-Adha holiday have been clouded by the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.  "We don't feel the Eid holiday because our brothers in Gaza are oppressed under the (Israeli) occupation," said Najem Nawwar, a 43-year-old Egyptian pilgrim. King Salman invited 2,000 Palestinians to the hajj at his own expense including relatives of Gazans who have sought refuge elsewhere. But Saudi authorities have warned no political slogans would be tolerated during the pilgrimage. That has not stopped many worshippers from voicing solidarity with Palestinians. "We pray for them... and for the liberation of Palestine, so that we have two holidays instead of one," said Wadih Ali Khalifah, a 32-year-old Saudi pilgrim. In a message to hajj pilgrims on Saturday, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said "the ironclad resistance of Palestine and the patient, oppressed people of Gaza... must be fully supported in every way."

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.

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.

MOSCOW — Security forces stormed a detention center in southern Russia on Sunday, killing inmates who had taken two members of staff hostage, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported Sunday. The hostages at the pretrial detention center in Rostov-on-Don were uninjured, said RIA Novosti, citing Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service. It said that the hostage-takers had been "liquidated," with other local news outlets reporting that at least some of the prisoners had been killed. Earlier, state news agency Tass, citing unnamed sources in law enforcement, had said that six hostage-takers were in the central courtyard of the Rostov region's Detention Center No. 1, armed with a penknife, a rubber baton and a fire ax. The prisoners include men accused of links to the Islamic State group, it said. IS have carried out a number of attacks on Russian soil in recent years, including most recently in March when gunmen opened fire on a crowd at a concert hall in suburban Moscow, killing 145 people.

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NAIROBI, Kenya — Piles of firewood surrounded Jane Muthoni in her kitchen made of iron sheets. The roof, walls and wooden pillars were covered in soot. As she blew on the flame for tea, the 65-year-old was engulfed in smoke. "I've used firewood all my life," she said. "Sometimes I usually cough from inhaling the smoke, and my eyes itch, but there's nothing I can do about it. I don't have money to even buy charcoal." She was unaware of the lasting toll on her health. But experts are. Respiratory diseases have been the most prevalent diseases in Kenya for the past several years and are on the rise, according to government authorities, with 19.6 million reported cases last year. Burning biomass such as firewood is the largest contributor to those diseases, said Evans Amukoye, a scientist with the Kenya Medical Research Institute's respiratory diseases research center. "One can have itchy eyes, coughs while inhaling the smoke, and for serious cases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, you find that you cannot walk as your lungs have become tight," Amukoye said. The disease is caused by indoor or outdoor air pollution or smoking. Data from Kenya's health ministry shows that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is responsible for 1.7% of deaths in the country. People in low-income areas are diagnosed with respiratory diseases later in life compared to middle-class people in urban areas with better awareness and access to health care, Amukoye said. Families in informal neighborhoods and rural areas are the most affected as most people rely on firewood or fossil fuels for cooking. Women hunched over a smoking fire at stalls for tea or snacks is a common sight in the capital, Nairobi, and beyond. The government's 2022 Demographic and Health Survey showed a high dependence on traditional fuels for cooking in Kenya. The number of households relying on biomass like firewood increased from 4.7 million to 6.7 million between 2020 and 2022. Economist Abraham Muriu said he believes the increase in Kenyans using firewood is a result of economic shocks caused by reduced incomes during the COVID pandemic and ongoing high inflation. "Firewood is readily available and the most accessible fossil fuel, especially in rural areas," Muriu said. He said more Kenyans in urban areas have likely resorted to using firewood or charcoal, too, as prices and taxes rise. Blackened sacks of charcoal are openly on sale at some Nairobi intersections, and the hunt for firewood across the country is constant. Mercy Letting, 33, a businesswoman in Nairobi's Kasarani neighborhood was using charcoal to make meals for customers in the first six months after opening her restaurant early last year. With time, it affected her health. "I am asthmatic, so whenever I used charcoal to cook the smoke would always trigger an attack, forcing me to spend part of my daily earnings on medication. This happened five times," she said. She found it expensive, spending 4,500 Kenyan shillings ($33) per month to buy a sack of charcoal. "I eventually had to buy an 'eco-friendly' cooker, which has been great for my health and good for business." It requires less charcoal. Letting also bought an induction burner, which she said is faster in cooking and more efficient as she spends only 50 Kenyan shillings ($0.38) per day on electricity. Although companies pursue "clean cooking" options, high prices remain an obstacle to many Kenyans. "If we want to deliver a truly clean and efficient solution to users across Africa, it needs to be affordable for them," said Chris McKinney, the chief commercial officer at BURN Manufacturing, which describes itself as a "modern cookstove" company based on the outskirts of Nairobi. "This has been the key barrier to scaling for us," he said.