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Traditional cooking fuels and technologies are among the major sources of household air pollution in sub-Saharan Africa, with severe health consequences for the population, according to the World Bank. Now, an initiative to promote climate-friendly cooking in the region is introducing stoves that use less charcoal and firewood to improve air quality. Juma Majanga reports from Nakuru, Kenya

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.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the only thing preventing a ceasefire is Hamas as he is in the Middle East for the 8th time since October 7th. It’s been confirmed that the Malawian Vice President has been killed in a plane crash in the country’s north. A look at Ukraine as a controversial battalion has been given permission to use American weapons in the fight against Russia. Press freedom in Russia and the United States. A new law in Vermont aimed at recouping some of the costs of climate change.

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.

ISLAMABAD — A United Nations diplomat has encouraged the Taliban to attend a conference on Afghanistan later this month, stating that it would help return much-needed global attention to the crisis-ridden country.  Malick Ceesay, the head of the Pakistan-based liaison office for the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), told an unofficial dialogue between religious scholars from the two countries that the Ukraine war and Gaza hostilities had dramatically shifted the international attention from Afghanistan. “And that’s a concern for the United Nations. We don’t want Afghanistan to be forgotten,” Ceesay said at the Tuesday meeting, hosted by the independent Center for Research and Security Studies in the Pakistani capital. “We are hopeful that this time around, the Islamic Emirate will send its representatives (to Doha) to be able to engage with the international community in a constructive and effective manner,” the U.N. diplomat said, using the official title of the Taliban government in Kabul.  The two-day U.N. conference of special envoys on Afghanistan will commence in Doha, Qatar, on June 30. According to a U.N. spokesperson, it aims to increase international engagement with the Taliban and Afghanistan at large "in a more coherent, coordinated and structured manner.” The meeting will be the third in the tiny Gulf nation's capital since U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched the process in May 2023. He did not invite the Taliban to the first session, and Afghanistan’s de facto rulers declined an invitation to attend the second this past February. The Taliban have publicly stated their intention to send a delegation to the "Doha III" conference, saying they have shared their conditions with the U.N. and will make a formal announcement after reviewing its “final agenda.”  While they have not revealed their conditions, the Taliban had asked the U.N. in the run-up to the second Doha meeting that their delegates would be accepted as the sole official representatives of the country, meaning that Afghan civil society representatives, women’s rights activists, and members of opposition groups would not be present.  They also sought a meeting between their delegation and the U.N. at “a very senior level.” Guterres rejected the conditions as unacceptable. The international community has not recognized the Taliban government as Afghanistan’s legitimate rulers, and the country remains under U.N. sanctions.  Ceesay said Tuesday that the Taliban’s restrictions on women’s access to education and employment and a lack of inclusivity in the Taliban government continue to raise questions about the Afghan authorities’ legitimacy.  “These are all tied together. The Islamic Emirate leadership knows that this is the reason why the recognition is not coming,” he said. The Muslim U.N. diplomat criticized the Taliban's assertion that their treatment of women aligns with Islamic law. “Islam never says that women should not go to school, and Islam never says that women should not go to work. Which (version of) Islam and which Quran says that? It's not found in there,” he added.  Ceesay said that UNAMA is engaging with all Afghans to help them achieve a broad-based governance system that includes everybody.   “Islamic Emirate is doing a fairly notable job on that, but we want it to increase more so that every Afghan citizen will feel that they belong to the country and the government belongs to them, not just one-sided, 90% one ethnicity. That’s not fair,” he stated. The conservative Taliban are ethnically Pashtun, the majority community in Afghanistan. Ceesay said the Taliban have allowed Afghan females to work in some public offices related to passport, immigration, healthcare, and agriculture. But those concessions have been "overshadowed" due to bans on the remaining women's access to employment and girls’ education beyond grade six, he added. The reclusive Taliban supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, who governs the country through edicts based on his harsh interpretation of Islam, has dismissed international criticism and calls for reforming his policies.  In the run-up to the third Doha conference, pro-Taliban social media activists have posted audio of a recent speech by Akhundzada in which he vowed not to budge on his stance under foreign pressure, come what may.  “Who are you to meddle in our land, system, and policies? I am not here to take your orders nor will I take a single step with you or deal with you regarding the Sharia (Islamic law),” Akhudzada said.

GENEVA  — The Office of the U.N. high commissioner for human rights is accusing both Israel and Hamas of actions that “may amount to war crimes” during Israel’s military operation to secure the release of four hostages in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza on Saturday. “We are profoundly shocked at the impact on civilians of the Israeli forces’ operation,” Jeremy Laurence, the high commissioner’s spokesperson, said Tuesday, noting that hundreds of Palestinians, “many of them civilians, were reportedly killed and injured.” “The manner in which the raid was conducted in such a densely populated area seriously calls into question whether the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution, as set out under the laws of war, were respected by the Israeli forces,” he told journalists in Geneva. According to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health, 274 Palestinians were killed and 698 injured in Nuseirat refugee camp during the Israeli raid. “Our Office is also deeply distressed that Palestinian armed groups continue to hold many hostages, most of them civilians, which is prohibited by international humanitarian law,” Laurence said. “Furthermore, by holding hostages in such densely populated areas, the armed groups doing so are putting the lives of Palestinian civilians, as well as the hostages themselves, at added risk from the hostilities. “All these actions, by both parties, may amount to war crimes,” he said. Responding to criticism of its operation, Israel’s military said it had attacked “threats to our forces in the area,” and that a special forces officer was killed in the operation. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz was more blunt in his rebuke of critics, posting a statement saying, “only Israel’s enemies complained about the casualties of Hamas terrorists and their accomplices.” Some 120 hostages reportedly remain in Gaza, with 43 pronounced dead. A total of 116 hostages of some 250 that were abducted by Hamas militants during its brutal attack on Israel October 7 have been freed. “The fact that the four hostages are now free is clearly very good news. These hostages should never have been taken in the first place. That is a breach of international humanitarian law,” Laurence said, adding: “they must be freed — all of them, promptly.” At the same time, he admonished Palestinian armed groups for “holding hostages in densely populated areas.” “Not only are the armed groups putting the lives of Palestinians themselves at risk, but they also are putting the lives of the hostages at risk,” he noted. Responding to the “horrific images of death and devastation” following Israel’s military operation, U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths described the Nuseirat refugee camp as the “epicenter of the seismic trauma that civilians in Gaza continue to suffer.” “Seeing shrouded bodies on the ground, we are reminded that nowhere is safe in Gaza,” Griffiths said in a social media post. “Seeing bloodied patients being treated on hospital floors, we are reminded that health care in Gaza is hanging by a thread.” Following the attack on June 8, the World Health Organization conducted an assessment mission to Al Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza. The mission found 270 health workers providing care to an estimated 700 patients. Before the war, Al Aqsa served an estimated 150 inpatient patients daily.

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.

White House  — The last time leaders of the world’s seven richest economies met, at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan in 2023, they denounced China’s rising economic security threats and vowed to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion for as long as it takes. This week in Apulia, Italy, U.S. President Joe Biden wants the group to restrain the same two adversaries while continuing to tackle common global challenges, including infrastructure funding and AI, or artificial intelligence. However, a shift to the right of the European political landscape following EU parliamentary elections could complicate his plans. The U.S. is aiming for the G7 to agree on a united front against Chinese overcapacity, when production of goods exceeds demand, in key green technologies and a mechanism to use Russian frozen assets to aid Ukraine’s war efforts, a source familiar with Biden’s plans told VOA. On Russia, Biden is pushing a plan to give Kyiv tens of billions of dollars up front, using interest from the approximately $280 billion in Russian assets immobilized in Western financial institutions. Weeks after announcing new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, or EVs, and other strategic industries, Biden also wants leaders to confront Beijing’s practice of flooding global markets with cheap exports in those industries. Much work still needs to be done on both fronts, and officials are scrambling to agree on a final communique before the summit ends. Shifting political landscape in Europe With far-right parties gaining support in the European Parliament elections over the weekend, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have been weakened, while G7 host Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni consolidated her power. The European far-right has divergent views on China and Russia, adding another layer of uncertainty to the G7’s posture. A key factor: whether Ursula von der Leyen can keep her job as president of the European Commission for another five years. “If von der Leyen remains the likely candidate, we can expect continuity on the G7 agenda — she has been forward-leaning on Ukraine and on China,” said Liana Fix, a fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations. While von der Leyen is in a strong position, her second term is not guaranteed. Snap French parliamentary elections in late June, as announced by Macron on Sunday following his party’s loss in the parliamentary election, could be the wild card, Fix told VOA. With the prospects of a far-right government, Macron may be hesitant to confirm von der Leyen just a few days before the French elections. Russian retaliation Moscow sees the freezing of its assets by Western financial institutions following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine as theft. It has threatened to retaliate, should the G7 agree to adopt the plan pushed by Biden. The plan will provide Kyiv with a loan of up to $50 billion, which will be paid back to Western allies using interest earned from Russian assets, estimated at $3 billion a year or more until it is paid, or Moscow agrees to pay reparations. It’s a more aggressive plan than the EU agreed to in May, which would provide Ukraine with the interest income as it is generated annually. It’s also riskier — there’s no guarantee that Russian assets would be immobilized for the duration it takes to repay the loan. Under EU rules, the sanctions regime that freezes the funds must be unanimously renewed every six months by the bloc’s 27 member states. The push comes as Moscow's forces gained strategic advances on the battlefield, and amid war funding fatigue settling deeper among American and European taxpayers. A deal will be an important signal of transatlantic unity against Russia ahead of the NATO summit in Washington next month and give a measure of relief as Kyiv faces the prospects of a changing political landscape in the U.S. and Europe. “This used to be partly about (former president Donald) Trump-proofing support to Ukraine, but may now also be about (Marine) Le Pen-proofing it, considering the possibility of (the far-right) National Rally (political party) winning the French parliamentary election in a few weeks,” said Armida van Rij, director of the Europe program at Chatham House. The prospects of more populist, Putin-friendly politicians coming to power in Europe may help further galvanize support for Biden’s loan plan for Ukraine, she told VOA. Concern over Chinese overcapacity “There is no question that the U.S. and Europe share the concern that China is trying to export its way out of its domestic industrial overcapacity problem,” said Desmond Lachman, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. G7 finance ministers have highlighted Beijing’s “comprehensive use of non-market policies and practices” and said they will consider “steps to ensure a level playing field, in line with World Trade Organization principles.” Just as “Trump's greater economic nationalism has forced Biden to be more protectionist,” the rise of right-wing European parties could add more urgency to address Chinese overcapacity, Lachman told VOA. However, it’s unclear if the G7 can agree on how it would do that. EU members that consider China a major export market, particularly Germany and France, are anxious to avoid a trade war. The European Commission is expected to soon announce planned tariffs on Chinese EVs. The action could prompt retaliation from Beijing, which accuses the West of hyping overcapacity claims to blunt China’s competitive edge. AI, migration and international development Italy’s Meloni has made AI a key priority of her G7 presidency and invited Pope Francis to a special session to highlight the Rome Call for AI Ethics. The initiative urges governments and companies to follow the six ethical principles for AI: transparency, inclusion, responsibility, impartiality, reliability, as well as security and privacy. Leaders will discuss how AI impacts labor, sustainable development, foreign policy, disinformation, and election interference. A strategic partnership with Africa to curb migration to Europe is another key theme of Meloni’s G7 presidency. In January, she launched the “Mattei Plan,” an international investment initiative to boost development in the continent, in line with the G7’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, which is also known as PGI. PGI was launched at the G7 2021 summit as “Build Back Better World,” echoing the Biden administration's domestic agenda. The goal is to mobilize $600 billion in private infrastructure funding by 2027 as an alternative to the Chinese Belt and Road initiative that has increased Beijing’s political clout in developing countries. PGI is now focused on developing economic corridors, including the Lobito Corridor that connects the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and Angola, and the Luzon Corridor in the Philippines. Following the U.N. Security Council resolution on a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, the G7 is also expected to again voice its support for peace talks in Gaza. The president is scheduled to leave for Italy on Wednesday, the day after his son Hunter Biden was found guilty on federal charges of obtaining a gun in 2018 while allegedly addicted to drugs. 

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.

WILMINGTON, Del. — Jurors resumed deliberations Tuesday in the criminal case against Hunter Biden over a gun President Joe Biden's son bought in 2018 when prosecutors say he was in the throes of a crack cocaine addiction.  The jurors had deliberated for less than an hour on Monday afternoon before leaving the federal courthouse in Delaware. They are weighing whether Hunter Biden is guilty of three felonies in the case pitting him against his father's Justice Department in the middle of the Democratic president's reelection campaign.  Prosecutors spent last week using testimony from Hunter Biden's ex-wife and former girlfriends, photos of him with drug paraphernalia and other tawdry evidence to make the case that he lied when he checked "no" on the form at the gun shop that asked whether he was "an unlawful user of, or addicted to" drugs.  "He knew he was using drugs. That's what the evidence shows. And he knew he was addicted to drugs. That's what the evidence shows," prosecutor Leo Wise told jurors in his closing argument Monday.  Hunter Biden's substance abuse struggles after the 2015 death of his brother, Beau, are well documented. But the defense has argued that he did not consider himself an "addict" when he bought the gun.  Hunter Biden's lawyers have sought to show he was trying to turn his life around at the time, having completed a rehabilitation program at the end of August 2018. The defense called three witnesses, including Hunter's daughter Naomi, who told jurors that he seemed be improving in the weeks before he bought the gun.  And the defense told jurors that no one witnessed Hunter Biden using drugs during the 11 days he had the gun before Beau's widow, Hallie, found it in Hunter's truck and threw it in a trash can. Defense attorney Abbe Lowell suggested that prosecutors were presenting circumstantial evidence like a magician might present a card trick, trying to get jurors to focus on one hand and ignore the other.  "With my last breath in this case, I ask for the only verdict that will hold the prosecutors to what the law requires of them" — a verdict of not guilty, Lowell said in his final pitch to jurors.  But prosecutors have shown jurors text messages sent in the days after the gun purchase in which Hunter Biden told Hallie he was waiting for a dealer and smoking crack. Hallie and Hunter briefly dated after Beau's death. Prosecutors have also said they found cocaine residue on the pouch in which Hallie put the gun before tossing it in a trash can outside an upscale grocery store.  First lady Jill Biden, the president's brother James and other family members watched from the first row of the courtroom as the defense rested its case on Monday without calling Hunter Biden to the witness stand. The first lady has been in court almost every day since the trial began last week.  Before the case went to the jury, the prosecutor urged jurors to focus on the "overwhelming" evidence against Hunter Biden and pay no mind to members of the president's family sitting in the courtroom.  "All of this is not evidence," Wise said, extending his hand and directing the jury to look at the gallery. "People sitting in the gallery are not evidence."  The defense has tried to poke holes in the case by pressing the prosecution's witnesses on their recollection of certain events. Hunter Biden's lawyer told jurors they should consider testimony from Hallie and another ex-girlfriend "with great care and caution," noting their immunity agreements with prosecutors in exchange for their testimony.  The proceedings have played out in the president's home state, where Hunter Biden grew up and where the family is deeply established. Joe Biden spent 36 years as a senator in Delaware, commuting daily to Washington, and Beau Biden was the state's attorney general.  Hunter Biden did not testify but jurors repeatedly heard his voice when prosecutors played audio excerpts of his 2021 memoir "Beautiful Things," in which he talks about hitting bottom after Beau's death, and descending into drugs and alcohol before his eventual sobriety in 2019.  Hunter Biden had hoped last year to resolve a long-running federal investigation into his business dealings under a deal with prosecutors that would have avoided the spectacle of a trial so close to the 2024 election. Under the deal, he would have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses in California and avoided prosecution in the gun case in Delaware if he stayed out of trouble for two years.  But the deal fell apart after U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was nominated by Trump, questioned unusual aspects of the proposed agreement, and the lawyers could not resolve the matter.  Attorney General Merrick Garland then appointed top investigator David Weiss, Delaware's U.S. attorney, as a special counsel last August, and a month later Hunter Biden was indicted.  Hunter Biden has said he was charged because the Justice Department bowed to pressure from Republicans who argued the Democratic president's son was getting special treatment.  Under that deal, prosecutors would have recommended two years of probation. In the gun case, the three counts carry up to 25 years in prison, though the sentence would ultimately be up to the judge and it's unclear whether she would put him behind bars if he's convicted. s report. 

A drone equipped with a painting hose is being deployed against stubborn graffiti in hard-to-reach areas. Natasha Mozgovaya has more in this week’s episode of LogOn.

The destruction of the Kakhovka dam a year ago [June 2023] in southern Ukraine put the water supply of hundreds of thousands of people at risk, including residents of Kushuhum in the Zaporizhzhia region. With the region now in Ukrainian hands, Kushuhum officials say people are returning to their homes and making water issues worse. Eva Myronova has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Oleksadnr Oliynyk