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SANTA FE, New Mexico — A New Mexico judge brought a sudden, stunning end Friday to the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin, dismissing it in the middle of the actor's trial.  Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice - meaning it cannot be filed again - based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors. She said evidence in the shooting in 2021 of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust” had been withheld from the defense Baldwin cried, hugged his two attorneys, gestured to the front of the court, then turned to hug his crying wife, Hilaria. He climbed into an SUV outside the Santa Fe courthouse without speaking to reporters. Baldwin, 66, could have been sentenced to 18 months in prison if convicted. “The late discovery of this evidence during trial has impeded the effective use of evidence in such a way that it has impacted the fundamental fairness of the proceedings,” Marlowe Sommer said. “If this conduct does not rise to the level of bad faith, it certainly comes so near to bad faith to show signs of scorching.” Marlowe Sommer had paused the trial earlier Friday while she considered the defense motion to dismiss the case over the withheld evidence. The defense argued that prosecutors had hidden evidence about ammunition that might have been related to the shooting. Defense attorneys said they should have had the ability to determine the importance of the evidence.  The prosecution said that the ammunition was not connected to the case and had not been hidden. The issue emerged Thursday on the second day of the actor’s trial during defense questioning of sheriff’s crime scene technician Marissa Poppell. Baldwin attorney Alex Spiro asked whether a “good Samaritan” had come into the sheriff’s office with the ammunition earlier this year after the trial of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer, for her role in Hutchins’ death. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison on an involuntary manslaughter conviction, which she is now appealing. Baldwin’s legal team said the Santa Fe sheriff's office took possession of the live rounds as evidence in the case but failed to list them in the "Rust" investigation file or disclose their existence to defense attorneys. They also alleged the rounds were evidence that the bullet that killed Hutchins came from Seth Kenney, the movie's prop supplier. Kenney has denied supplying live ammunition to the production and has not been charged in the case. "The state's withholding of the evidence was willful and deliberate," Marlowe Sommer said in delivering her decision. "Dismissal with prejudice is warranted to ensure the integrity of the judicial system and the efficient administration of justice." Erlinda Johnson, one of the state prosecutors, had resigned from the case earlier Friday.

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.

Blantyre, Malawi  — A political party led by Vice President Saulos Chilima, who died in a plane crash last month, is withdrawing from the governing Tonse Alliance led by President Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party. Leaders of the United Transformation Movement made the announcement Friday at a news conference at the party's headquarters in the capital, Lilongwe. United Transformation Movement spokesperson Felix Njawala said the party believes leaving Malawi's governing Tonse Alliance is what the party's president, the late Vice President Saulos Chilima, would have done if he were alive.  Njawala said although Chilima partnered with the Malawi Congress Party, he faced a lot of problems with the alliance, including being arrested, rebuked and sometimes ignored.  Njawala said they have agreed today that they should pull out from the alliance.    Njawala said the party would now shift its focus to the 2025 elections. He asked everyone who is wishing for the good of the country, including young people, to help the party fulfill the agenda of Chilima, who he said was making Malawi a better and prosperous nation.   "Our friends in Kenya are calling themselves Gen Z," said Njawala. "These are people who were born from 1995 and you also should not fear and get tired, but you should take part to support the UTM party, which has carried the vision of Saulos Chilima."  Chilima and President Lazarus Chakwera signed the Tonse Alliance in 2020 to unseat then-President Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party after the Malawi court nullified the 2019 elections that Mutharika had won.   The UTM party has become the third partner to pull out from the governing alliance, which at one time included nine political parties.  Political analyst George Phiri is a former lecturer of political science at the University of Livingstonia in northern Malawi.   "Looking at how this alliance has been managed or governed, one would likely think that the move that UTM has made now has been made late," said Phiri. "They would have moved out from the alliance already while the late Dr. Saulos Chilima was still the vice president of his country."   Phiri said members of the alliance have long cried foul over the failure of the leadership to call meetings involving partners.  "Because they were expecting to be meeting regularly in order to monitor how the alliance government was moving," said Phiri. "But seemingly it shows that the Malawi Congress Party stole the show for the alliance and didn't want these other parties to participate in decision making for the alliance government."  Phiri said the withdrawal of UTM technically means the end of the Tonse Alliance because the agreement for the alliance was signed by leaders of two parties; UTM and MCP.  VOA sought a comment from the MCP but has yet to receive a response.   UTM's Secretary General Patricia Kaliati said the members of the party's executive committee are expected to endorse the decision at a meeting on July 19. 

washington — A top U.S. House member has pledged to work with a coalition of rights groups to be a special advocate for Jimmy Lai, the founder of Hong Kong Next Media, and is urging the Hong Kong government to release Lai from prison as soon as possible. Lai and his newspaper, Apple Daily, which has been out of operation for three years, supported Hong Kong's 2019 pro-democracy movement that was later crushed by China's national security law (NSL) in Hong Kong. Lai, a British citizen, was arrested on fraud charges in August 2020. He has been in prison and denied bail since December 2020. He also faces charges under Hong Kong's national security law of "conspiracy to collude with foreign forces" and "conspiracy to publish incitement." Representative Jamie Raskin, ranking member on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, will advocate for Lai through the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission’s Defending Freedoms Project, he announced in a statement first reported by VOA’s Mandarin Service. “The Chinese Communist Party — like other authoritarian regimes — abuses government power by suppressing and persecuting dissent,” Raskin said in a statement to VOA. “Jimmy Lai’s detention underscores how the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] silences critics to exert power over Hong Kong. I’m proud to sponsor Mr. Lai and demand that the CCP immediately release him and stop attacking pro-democracy advocates.” No immunity In a statement in February, the Hong Kong government responded to critics of the Lai case. “The suggestion that certain individuals or groups should be immune from legal consequences for their illegal acts is no different from advocating a special pass to break the law, and this totally runs contrary to the spirit of the rule of law,” the statement read, according to the Hong Kong Free Press. The Lantos commission launched the Defending Freedoms Project (DFP) in December 2012, collaborating with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and Amnesty International USA. It has since expanded to include Reporters Without Borders, Freedom House, Freedom Now, Scholars at Risk, PEN America and the Senate Human Rights Caucus. According to DFP, members of Congress sponsoring a prisoner receive a detailed toolkit for advocacy, which includes writing letters to prisoners and their families, giving speeches and publishing op-eds. They can also initiate legislative actions, hold discussions or hearings, and petition executive departments like the State Department and the White House for support. By taking on a case, lawmakers can help secure releases, reduce sentences, improve prison conditions and raise awareness of unjust laws. According to Raskin, Lai was arrested for his criticism of the Chinese Communist Party through his work as a publisher and pro-democracy advocate. “At 76 years of age, Lai has been held in prolonged solitary confinement since December 2020, for entirely peaceful conduct, in exercise of his fundamental freedoms. His age and diabetes diagnosis raise serious concerns about his physical well-being. He faces a potential life sentence under the NSL, depending upon the outcome of his current trial,” Raskin said in the statement. Freedom House applauded the representative for advocating on behalf of Lai and commended his efforts. “We thank Congressman Raskin for serving as Mr. Lai’s advocate, and we will continue to call for the immediate release of Mr. Lai and all Hong Kong’s political prisoners,” Annie Boyajian, vice president of policy and advocacy at Freedom House, said in a written statement to VOA.   'Beijing fears truth tellers' According to Boyajian, Freedom House is proud to serve as an official partner of the Defending Freedoms Project and to advocate for the release of political prisoners around the world, including Lai. “Mr. Lai is guilty of nothing more than attempting to exercise and protect fundamental rights in Hong Kong. His imprisonment and the trumped-up charges against him are evidence of just how much Beijing fears truth tellers,” Boyajian said. According to Raskin, Lai is being prosecuted under the controversial NSL for his journalism and his pro-democracy activities, in clear violation of his rights to freedom of expression and to a fair trial. Since Beijing implemented Hong Kong's NSL in 2020, U.S. lawmakers from both parties have increasingly voiced concerns about Hong Kong's diminishing autonomy and are seeking additional measures to pressure its government. In March, the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed the "Maintenance of National Security Ordinance," derived from Article 23 of the basic law, targeting treason, sedition, espionage and foreign interference. Violators face life imprisonment. These legislative actions have also raised concerns within the U.S. executive branch and Congress about the further erosion of freedoms in Hong Kong. The White House informed Congress on July 10 that the national emergency regarding Hong Kong would remain in effect after July 14 this year. The Trump administration declared the situation in Hong Kong a national emergency by executive order on July 14, 2020, and the Biden administration has upheld this order since taking office. As a result, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will continue to require that all goods originating in Hong Kong be marked with "China" as the country of origin. Hong Kong fires back The Hong Kong special administrative region government immediately responded Thursday, condemning and opposing the U.S. decision. They accused the U.S. government of using the national emergency to politicize human rights issues, disregard the rule of law and slander Hong Kong's implementation of the national security law. Other U.S. House members expressed support for Lai through introduction of a bill in April to rename a section of the street in front of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in downtown Washington as "Jimmy Lai Way." There has been no progress since the bill was introduced in April by New Jersey Representative Chris Smith, chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), and Representative Tom Suozzi from New York. Additionally, in January, Smith and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, respectively the chair and co-chair of the CECC, announced the nominations of Lai, Xu Zhiyong, Ding Jiaxi and Ilham Tohti for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. The letter sent to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee highlighted that all four individuals were being arbitrarily detained by Chinese authorities and sentenced to life or long prison terms for exercising their rights guaranteed by international law.

washington — Military exercises under way this week between China and Belarus are seen by experts as a response to NATO's growing interest in the Asia-Pacific region and a signal that China's involvement in Europe will continue to grow. Just one day before the start of this week's NATO summit where Japan and South Korea were major participants, China began 11 days of anti-terrorism exercises with Belarus in Brest, a city on the border with NATO member Poland. Belarus has been a crucial supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, which borders both Belarus and Poland. The drills, collectively titled "Eagle Assault 2024," were designed to increase military interoperability and allow the two states "to work out the issues of night landing, overcoming water obstacles, and conducting operations in a populated area," according to a statement from the Belarusian Ministry of Defense. As the exercises continued, military representatives from China and Belarus met over the course of two days to discuss joint logistics, further entrenching the two sides' ability to collaborate in military affairs. During a regular news conference on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said questions about the implications of the drills on NATO and Polish security should be referred to "competent authorities." Chinese military collaboration with Belarus "does not target any particular country," he said. The exercises reflect deepening ties between China and Belarus, the newest country to join the Chinese- and Russian-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Its president, Alexander Lukashenko, recently participated in high-level meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Following talks in Beijing on Monday between Wang and his Belarusian counterpart, the Chinese foreign minister "expressed China's willingness to deepen high-level exchanges, strengthen strategic synergy and deepen all-round cooperation with Belarus to advance their all-weather, comprehensive strategic partnership," Chinese state media reported. The countries also agreed to "oppose external interference and resist unilateral bullying," Chinese state news channel CGTN said. 'Tremendous progress' in ties In a comment to VOA, Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, wrote that since the expansion of China's Belt and Road Initiative to Belarus, political solidarity and trade between the two countries has seen "tremendous progress." Reflecting on the significance of Belarus to China, she added, "Belarus [offers] China strong support in Eastern Europe and the Global South." The two countries are united by their support for Russia's war on Ukraine, authoritarian political systems and general discontent with the Western-led international order. China often directs its diplomatic efforts to similar states, notably maintaining an alliance with North Korea and a "no limits" strategic partnership with Russia. Exercises with Belarus point to a larger shift in Chinese foreign policy, with China's focus on Eastern Europe as a frontier for engagement developing in recent months. During his landmark European tour in May, Xi made stops in Serbia and Hungary. He has committed to building a "Chinese-Serbian community with a shared future in the new era" and has elevated relations with Hungary to an "all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership." As China has developed ties with Eastern Europe, it has continued to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine, offering Russia an economic buffer against Western sanctions and providing Russia with dual-use technology that may be used in weapons aimed at Ukraine. "China has supported Russia for its war in Ukraine in many clandestine ways, but Beijing remains fearful that it will be punished with Western sanctions if it starts giving overt military support to Russia," Eoin Micheál McNamara, a researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, wrote in a comment to VOA's Mandarin Service. "Supporting Belarus, a close ally of Moscow, is signaling to the West that China is prepared to get involved with military cooperation close to EU and NATO borders," he added. NATO 'acting like a bully' China's objection to NATO's involvement with South Korea and Japan is clear. Lin, in a Tuesday news conference, said that the alliance "keeps reaching beyond its boundary, expanding its mandate, stoking confrontation and acting like a bully on the world stage. … NATO should not use China to justify its insertion into the Asia-Pacific and attempt to disrupt regional dynamics." Analysts say the military collaboration with Belarus in particular marks a new chapter in China's European foreign policy objectives. "China has been very cautious and careful about extending military presence to Europe, or areas traditionally seen as close to NATO's core area," Sun wrote. "This joint exercise changes that. Given the timing, the exercise is evidently linked to the NATO summit in Washington that has Japanese and Korean participation. It is tit-for-tat."  Ali Wyne, senior research and advocacy adviser for U.S.-China at the International Crisis Group, wrote to VOA: "With the United States reinvigorating its core alliances and partnerships in Europe and Asia — and increasingly working to integrate those relationships — China seeks to demonstrate that it can assemble coalitions of its own, including by deepening its ties with U.S. competitors and adversaries, promulgating its Global Security Initiative, and expanding groupings such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization."    Michal Bogusz, an analyst at the Polish Center of Eastern Studies, views the Eagle Assault exercise and increasing collaboration between Beijing and Belarus as a part of a global expansion of informal relationships among authoritarian regimes.  "After Putin's visit to [North Korea] and the support he gave to this Chinese ally, now Beijing is supporting Belarus, a Russian ally. This also should make [it clear] that Putin's visit in Pyongyang was from the beginning coordinated with Xi Jinping, and the China-Russia de facto alliance is not only getting stronger but also more aggressive," Bogusz wrote to VOA's Mandarin Service.   Beijing, Moscow and Minsk will meet at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in 2025, with China assuming the organization's rotating presidency for the coming year.

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.

UNITED NATIONS — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres declared on Friday that there is no alternative to the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency, and 118 countries backed the relief organization as indispensable, amid stepped up efforts by Israel to dismantle it.  The U.N. Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, provides education, health care and aid to millions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Since war erupted nine months ago between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, U.N. officials have stood by UNRWA as the backbone of aid operations.  "My appeal to everyone is this: Protect UNRWA, protect UNRWA staff, and protect UNRWA's mandate — including through funding," Guterres told an UNRWA conference in New York on Friday. "Let me be clear: There is no alternative to UNRWA."  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long called for UNRWA to be dismantled, accusing it of anti-Israeli incitement. Israel's parliament is currently considering designating UNRWA as a terrorist organization.  Several countries halted their funding to UNRWA following accusations by Israel that some of the agency's staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war. Most donors have since resumed their funding, while the U.N. is conducting an internal investigation.   UNRWA has been hit hard during the conflict in Gaza: 195 staff have been killed.   "UNRWA is also being targeted in other ways," Guterres said. "Staff have been the subject of increasingly violent protests and virulent misinformation and disinformation campaigns.  "Some have been detained by Israeli security forces, and subsequently reported mistreatment and even torture," he said, adding that in the West Bank the presence and movements of UNRWA staff have been severely restricted by Israel.  The Israeli military has said that it acts according to Israeli and international law and that those it arrests get access to food, water, medication and proper clothing.  Israel accuses UNRWA of complicity with Hamas, saying the militant Islamist group was embedded within the U.N. agency's infrastructure.  UNRWA was created by the U.N. General Assembly in 1949 following the first Arab-Israeli war.   Jordanian U.N. Ambassador Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud said on Friday ahead of the pledging event that 118 countries had signed on to a joint statement supporting UNRWA and its work.  

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.

Washington — The temporary pier set up to deliver needed humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza may have already made its last delivery. U.S. defense officials Friday said that no date has been set to re-anchor the pier after an attempt to connect it to the Gaza shore on Wednesday failed due to a combination of technical issues and bad weather. "It's something that we are assessing day by day," Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters. "We know for the next few days there are going to be higher sea states that would not allow a re-anchoring to be possible," she said. "I just don't have more information to provide on when and if a re-anchoring date has been or will be possible, if a re-anchoring does happen." The temporary pier, also known as Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, or JLOTS, has been sitting at the Israeli port of Ashdod since late last month due to bad weather and rough seas. Despite weather and technical issues, the Pentagon credits the temporary pier with helping to deliver more than 8,000 metric tons of aid from the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus to Gaza since operations began in mid-May. "We're very proud of our service members and all those supporting this effort and who have enabled vital humanitarian assistance to get into those in Gaza who need it most," Singh said. "Without a doubt, lives have been saved because of their work and commitment under very challenging conditions." Still, the effort to get aid into Gaza using the temporary pier has generated some criticism, with delivery of the aid to civilians hampered by fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror group. The United Nations suspended delivery of aid coming over the pier on June 9, following an Israeli hostage rescue operation that killed more than 270 Palestinians, pointing to a danger to its staff. Israel and the United States denied allegations that the pier was used during the rescue operation, but U.N. officials voiced concerns that even the perception that the pier was involved could endanger their humanitarian mission. As a result, much of the aid was stuck at a staging area on the beach, failing to get to hundreds of thousands of Gazans facing what humanitarian groups have described as a food emergency. There are also questions about what will happen to additional aid still sitting in Cyprus or on U.S. ships waiting to be taken into Gaza. The Pentagon said Friday if the pier does not resume operations, it will find other ways to get aid into Gaza. "What we are committed to is making sure that every single piece of aid, metric ton of aid, that is in Cyprus is moved into Gaza," Singh said. One option, according to the Pentagon, would be to get use the port of Ashdod, a delivery method Singh said is in a "proof-of-concept stage right now." Singh also said there would be ongoing coordination with the Israeli government on other ways to expand aid delivery. Pentagon officials have repeatedly portrayed the effort to deliver aid via the pier as a temporary solution to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and have characterized the mission as a success even though it has been in operation for a total of only about 20 days due to weather and technical issues. "[The pier] has enabled the development of Cyprus as a port for inspections and deliveries directly into Gaza," Singh said. "The deployment of this pier has also helped secure Israeli commitment to opening additional crossings into northern Gaza," she said. "Since the opening of these crossings, we've seen more trucks moving from Jordan directly into northern Gaza to help alleviate the dire humanitarian conditions." The pier was first shut down in late May due to storms, just days after it began operation. Deliveries resumed on June 8. But U.S. Central Command again detached the pier in late June to prevent expected rough seas from causing fresh damage.

KIGALI, RWANDA — Three candidates are vying for the presidency in Rwanda, where incumbent President Paul Kagame has won every election since 2000 and is widely expected to win again Monday. At a recent campaign rally, Kagame told supporters much has been done but more is possible if he is reelected. “There are roads, electricity and many other infrastructures that we have achieved,” Kagame said in Kinyarwanda, “but we still want to achieve more. We will do that with your help, starting with the elections we have on July 15.” The 66-year-old Rwanda Patriotic Front leader is expected to cruise to an easy victory. One reason, according to critics, is that he has ruled with a firm hand and stifled dissent. But another, say analysts, is the way he’s been able to guide the East African country toward internal peace since the 1994 genocide, when an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu extremists. Eric Ndushabandi, a political science and international relations professor at the University of Rwanda and an associate researcher at the Louvain University in Brussels, said Kagame’s support has been buoyed by his efforts to address Rwandans’ need for security and stability after the genocide. “The language, practice and success around stabilization and security, mainly in internal politics, it is joining the expectations and aspirations of many Rwandans after this tragic and historical background,” Ndushabandi said. He also said there is a big gap between the presidential candidates in terms of popularity, ideology, means and capacity. The challengers Democratic Green Party candidate Frank Habineza said he is in the race again this year because the incumbent president has been in office too long. Habineza last ran against Kagame in 2017. He told VOA that he’s campaigned in 24 of the country’s 30 districts so far and that voters have been more enthusiastic this time around. “I am giving them hope that after 30 years, we really need to see a different way of living, different political programs, different thinking and a different vision,” he said. “We are not going to destroy the good things that have been done before, but we want to give them better hope and a better future.” Independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana, a journalist turned politician, also said he respects how far the country has come but wants to be seen as someone who can move it forward even more. This is also his second bid for the top job. He says the innovative ideas and initiatives in his campaign manifesto have received coverage in 50 articles. Other candidates were barred from the race by the National Electoral Commission for various reasons. One was a fierce Kagame critic, Diane Rwigara, who the commission said did not provide a criminal record statement and did not collect the minimum number of supporters’ signatures. Rwigara expressed her disappointment on the X social media platform, where she told Kagame, “This is the second time you cheat me out of my right to campaign, why won’t you let me run.” Critics and rights groups have long accused Kagame of silencing opposition voices and creating a climate of fear that discourages dissent in general. Issues, economy While support for Kagame remains generally strong on the streets of Kigali, some Rwandans say they’d like to see issues such as joblessness addressed. “You see the progress this country has achieved by the leader who’s in charge. We wish that whoever is elected should not destroy what has been achieved but to continue it,” Theoneste Gatari, a Kigali resident, told VOA in Kinyarwanda. Azabe Belton, another Kigali resident, said, “The youth make up most Rwandans. We want the person who’ll be elected to set up projects that help the youth get jobs because most of them are completely unemployed.” According to the World Bank, the unemployment rate in Rwanda was 14.9% in 2023. While the bank lauded the resiliency of the country’s economy, which boasted a 7.6% growth rate in the first three quarters of 2023, it also said that public debt had increased significantly in recent years. Teddy Kaberuka, an economic analyst, said Rwanda is a growing economy trying to attract industries and factories that can produce and provide jobs. But the challenge, he said, is that “we are still having huge portions of the population [that] may be educated but not qualified [for manufacturing jobs]. Those are long-term investments that any government needs to address because it’s not in one year that you can create a pool of skilled people.” Kaberuka said Rwanda is a country under construction that has gone through three economic phases since the genocide. The first 10 years, he said, were about laying a foundation for development by building security and institutions, providing basic needs for the population and allowing people to heal. The second phase was about investing in development. The third phase was about weathering the COVID-19 pandemic, which wreaked havoc around the globe. All that took place under the leadership of Kagame. Now, Kaberuka said, Rwanda is entering a new phase, one in which voters will decide who they trust to move the country forward.

geneva — The United Nations on Friday said delegations from both of Sudan’s warring parties turned up for a second day of cease-fire talks in Geneva aimed at protecting civilians and providing humanitarian aid to millions of people devastated by the conflict. The talks got off to a rocky start Thursday when one of the delegations failed to show up. Without revealing which party didn’t appear, U.N. spokesperson in Geneva Alessandra Vellucci told journalists that the talks now are underway. “I can confirm that some of the discussions are taking place,” she said. “I cannot give you the details on which warring party has showed up or not. What I can tell you is that the engagements continue today. So, we will see how it goes.” The U.N. spokesperson noted that the Sudanese delegations are not meeting face-to-face but are engaging in so-called “proximity talks,” with Ramtane Lamamra, the personal envoy of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, shuttling between the two delegations. Vellucci said that even though one delegation did not arrive on the first day, the U.N. mediator still was able to hold talks with representatives of the party that did appear. After 15 months of brutal warfare, Vellucci suggested that a day’s delay in the negotiations was less important than the fact that senior representatives from both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have accepted Lamamra’s invitation to get on with discussions. “We urged them to participate because, as you all know, we have also spoken about this here on this podium,” she said. “The humanitarian situation in Sudan is deteriorating by the day. So, we really need to look at the devastating impact that this has on the civilian population. And we urge the delegations to rise up to this challenge and engage in constructive discussions.” Since rival generals triggered the conflict in mid-April 2023, the United Nations reports nearly 19,000 people have been killed and 33,000 injured. The war has also created the world’s worst displacement crisis. Latest reports find it has displaced 12.7 million people — 10.5 million still living inside Sudan and 2.2 million who have become refugees in five neighboring countries. The World Food Program warns that some 18 million people are suffering from acute hunger, with 755,000 people on the brink of famine. The World Health Organization reports nearly 15 million people need urgent health assistance, with many suffering from deadly infectious diseases and others from chronic ailments including cancer and diabetes. On-again, off-again cease-fire talks between the SAF and RSF in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah broke down at the end of last year, making these latest efforts to halt the catastrophic escalation of this brutal war more crucial than ever. In a Thursday briefing to journalists at United Nations headquarters in New York, spokesperson for the secretary-general, Stephane Dujarric, warned against raising expectations about the talks. “We and others have been trying to move this process forward,” he said. “We need to give it a little bit of breathing room and that’s why we’re not trumpeting all of this.” The format of the talks is based on two Security Council resolutions that express concerns over the spreading violence in Sudan. Resolution 2724 calls for Personal Envoy Lamamra “to use his good offices with the parties” to coordinate regional peace efforts, while Security Council Resolution 2736 urges the parties to de-escalate in El Fasher and “allow and facilitate unfettered humanitarian access across the country and ensure the protection of civilians.” El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State and last SAF stronghold in the region, is the scene of a fierce battle being waged for its control by RSF fighters. The Security Council resolutions call on the parties to the conflict to seek “an immediate cessation of hostilities, leading to a sustainable resolution of the conflict, through dialogue.” Vellucci told journalists the focus of the talks is “to ensure the distribution of humanitarian assistance to all the Sudanese population in need and to ensure the protection of civilians across Sudan.” “The two delegations are comprised of senior representatives who have been delegated by the leaders of the warring parties to participate in the talks. And the delegations are composed of humanitarian, security and military experts,” she said. “So, that is what I can tell you about the delegation and the delegation level.” The U.N. spokesperson added that it was not clear how long the talks would last. “For the moment, the talks are continuing, and we will see how long they will continue,” she said. What is important, she added, is that “the warring parties identify and agree on ways to protect and assist the civilian population, possibly by agreeing on local cease-fires.”

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.

Nearly 4 million Ukrainians are internally displaced since Russia’s invasion. As of early May, nearly 150,000 of them were living in the Khmelnytskyi region, west of Kyiv. Some of them say they aren’t waiting for the war to end and are building new lives where they are. Tetiana Kukurika has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Sergiy Rybchynski.

President Biden wraps up the NATO summit in Washington with more pledges of arms for Ukraine, but no clear timeline for Kyiv to join the alliance. Hungary’s right-wing leader and Putin ally, Viktor Orban visits with Donald Trump. An update from Kyiv, deadly landslides in Nepal, the Pakistani military and a look at negotiations to end the Sudanese civil war.