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1 Former comfort woman Kil Un-ock who was forced to serve the Japanese troops as a sexual slave during World War II, attends a rally against the visit by Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe to the United States, in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea.       2 A small temple structure is seen undamaged amidst rubble of damaged buildings at the heritage town of Bhaktapur, following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake which struck the Himalayan nation of Nepal on April 25.       3 A boy sits inside a tent on open ground, after Saturday's earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal.       4 A combination image by NASA from the Mercury Atmosphere and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS) instrument aboard NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft shows the surface of the planet Mercury in this image released on April 28, 2015.     5 Wearing traditional Korean dress...

1.  Nepalese police personnel carry earthquake survivor Pemba Tamang (C) on a stretcher after his rescue from a destroyed hotel building in Kathmandu. Rescuers pulled the 15-year-old boy alive from the rubble, bringing a rare moment of joy to the ruined capital city, five days after the disaster which killed nearly 6,000 people.  2 Vietnamese veterans gather for a parade celebrating the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War which is also remembered as the fall of Saigon, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.      3 Members of the National Guard patrol along Baltimore's Inner Harbor area in the aftermath of rioting following Monday's funeral for Freddie Gray, who died in police custody in the Maryland city.       4 Books about Pakistan's Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who survived a Taliban attack, are displayed at a bookstore in Islamabad.  A Pakistani court on Thu...

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  A spokesman for Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said the rescue Tuesday of 200 girls and 93 women is a major breakthrough in the fight against terrorism.  Reuben Abati said it also reaffirms Jonathan’s promise to rescue the girls alive. He said the news is so big that it will gladden the hearts of all peace lovers around the globe.   Abati would not say whether the rescue had come too late following Jonathan’s loss during the March 28 election to challenger Muhamadu Buhari.   He said the rescue is more important to Jonathan than political ambition. “Whatever is the real identity of the girls in terms of whether they are the girls from Chibok or girls from anywhere, I think that this is a major breakthrough in the fight against terror. It is a reaffirmation of President Jonathan’s commitment which he has stated again and again that his administration will ensure that the girls are rescued and will do everything possible to ensure t...

  The head of PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, says young women and girls are disproportionally affected by HIV. Dr. Deborah Birx said seven thousand young women are infected each week with the AIDS virus – mostly in Africa. ▶ 0:00:00     🔇 X Playlist Download It’s been 34 years since HIV/AIDS was officially declared an epidemic. While much progress has been made in recent years through treatment and prevention, younger generations remain vulnerable to the virus. And there are a lot more young people today than when the epidemic began as the global population rises. Nowhere can that be seen more clearly than in sub-Saharan Africa. Ambassador Birx is helping to lead an effort protect women and girls and change the course of the epidemic. She said, “People have known for a while that women and girls, particularly young women’s incidence of disease and prevalence of disease is much higher than their...

  The first spacecraft to orbit Mercury, the closest planet to our Sun, will run out of fuel and crash on its surface Thursday, ending its 11-year mission. The half-ton orbiter known by its acronym MESSENGER was launched in August 2004 on a mission to study Mercury’s chemical composition, geology and magnetic field. MESSENGER spiraled through the inner solar system for seven years before reaching its destination. Inserting MESSENGER into orbit proved to be a challenging task, due to the sun’s gravity, intense heat and effects of solar radiation pressure.     WATCH: NASA video MESSENGER flies over Mercury  https://youtu.be/oSOv0-iWWwQ Among other scientific data, MESSENGER discovered the presence of frozen water in deep craters sitting in permanent shadow, as well as a mysterious dark material that could consist of organic compounds. During its last month in orbit, MESSENGER sent back to NASA the best high-resolution images so far of Mercury’s desolate, moon...

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  BEIJING— China will hold joint naval drills with Russia in mid-May in the Mediterranean Sea, the first time the two countries will hold military exercises together in that part of the world, the Chinese Defense Ministry said on Thursday. China and Russia have held naval drills in Pacific waters since 2012. The May maneuvers come as the United States ramps up military cooperation with its allies in Asia in response to China's increasingly assertive pursuit of maritime territorial claims. A total of nine ships from the two countries will participate, including vessels China now has on anti-piracy patrols in waters off Somalia, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng told a monthly news briefing. "The aim is to deepen both countries' friendly and practical cooperation, and increase our navies' ability to jointly deal with maritime security threats," Geng said. "What needs saying is that these exercises are not aimed at any third...

  Residents of a destroyed home in Ratomatey scavenge for corn in the rubble.   A woman, extricated from the rubble of her home after being trapped for five days, was carried to the roadside to await transportation to a medical center. She was thought to have a broken back. NEWZ SINDHUPOLCHOK, NEPAL— The small fishing village of Majigaon, on the banks of the Indravati River, 100 kilometers (60 miles) by road from Kathmandu, exists on few maps. Now, it has literally been wiped off the map. Not a single structure still stands in Majigaon. All 50 stone and wood homes tumbled in an instant last Saturday when the magnitude-7.8 quake struck Nepal. Majigaon is one of numerous villages and hamlets in the hardest-hit Sindhupolchok district to suffer total devastation. A VOA news crew reached Majigaon Thursday after traveling for hours in an off-road vehicle over earthquake-damaged roads just cleared of landslides and then hiking down a steep path on a terraced padd...

The death toll from Saturday's earthquake in Nepal has risen to nearly 5,500 people, officials said Thursday, as teams continued digging through rubble and aid groups worked to get much needed supplies to survivors. U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos was due to arrive in Nepal for a three-day visit to assess relief operations.  The U.N. launched an urgent appeal Wednesday for $415 million dollars to provide shelter for 500,000 people who are sleeping out in the open, as well as medicine, water and food for millions affected by the earthquake.  It said the disaster destroyed 70,000 houses and damaged more than half a million others. Also Wednesday, President Barack Obama discussed aid efforts in a telephone call with Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala. The U.S. is providing more than $10 million for both immediate efforts such as clean water and search and rescue operations, and for long term recovery efforts. Meanwhile, people in Nepal's capital ...

A young Kenyan activist is part of a fast-moving low cost-movement that is tackling the impact of global warming at the local level.  Winnie Asiti is a board member comprised of young climate leaders that distribute small-scale grants to young, marginalized activists in global warming hotspots—from the Philippines to Iraq. In its first two years, Global Greengrants’ Next Generation Climate Board reported it contributed $110,000 in 24 grants to 23 groups in 17 countries.  Described by her colleagues as a rising star of the next generation of environmental leaders she reflects on how she became a climate activist. “I drew my inspiration from a lot of things. I joined the university environment club -- through that I got to interact with other like-minded young people. In 2006, climate change negotiations were being hosted by Kenya, and we all got an opportunity as university students to go to the meetings as volunteers and as observers. We got interested in clim...

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    ASTANA— Veteran Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, elected for a new five-year term over the weekend, on Wednesday reappointed loyalist Karim Masimov as prime minister, at a time when growth in the oil-fueled economy is slowing down. Nazarbayev, 74, has ruled the Central Asian nation with sweeping powers and little tolerance of dissent since 1989, when he became its Communist Party boss. On April 26, he won a new five-year term in a snap election, receiving 97.75 percent of the vote. The Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe said there was a lack of credible opposition and voters had no genuine choice in the vote. Nazarbayev has promoted market reforms and attracted $200 billion in foreign direct investment, turning his steppe nation of 17 million into the second-largest economy in the former Soviet Union and No. 2 post-Soviet oil producer after Russia. "I believe we have to preserve the continuity of the government's work," Na...

A Russian diplomat in Pyongyang has confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un accepted Moscow’s invitation to Russia’s Victory Day, the Brazilian ambassador to Pyongyang said. Recently, the Kremlin told VOA's Korean Service it was “working through all the logistical questions” with North Korea for Kim’s visit. But Pyongyang has not commented on the trip. Russia invited world leaders, including Kim, to the May 9 ceremony in Moscow marking the 70th anniversary of Russia’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. Roberto Colin, Brazil's ambassador to North Korea, said Russian diplomats in Pyongyang were preparing for the visit. “My Russian colleague has confirmed the invitation and the acceptance of the leader," Colin said in an email this week to VOA's Korean service. "The Russians are very active here, and my guess is that the marshal will travel to Moscow.” The ambassador said North Korean officials refused to comment on Kim’s trip. “My local...

DAKAR— In Togo, the opposition is challenging the provisional results from Saturday's presidential poll. Those results show President Faure Gnassingbe winning a third term. Togo’s electoral commission says President Faure Gnassingbe got just under 59 percent of votes against four challengers. Opposition leader Jean Pierre Fabre got 35 percent. Fabre’s party rejected the results as fraudulent Wednesday. The party says Fabre is the rightful winner by its count. Fabre says they will "mobilize." "This coup will not stand.  We can't let people stay in power because they can do this. That time is over. They violated the law, electoral commission's procedure and the April 24th accord. We cannot accept it," said Fabre. International observer missions gave Saturday’s poll marks of approval, but vote counting was held up by accusations of fraud from the opposition. Disputes over results of Togo's last two presidential elections led to vi...

BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI— A senior U.S. diplomat arrived in Burundi on Wednesday to try to help halt escalating unrest and defuse the country's biggest crisis in years, set off by President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term. Police in the east African nation have clashed for four days with protesters who say Nkurunziza's plan to run again in the June 26 election violates the constitution and threatens a peace deal that ended the ethnically-fueled civil conflict. Before arriving, Tom Malinowski, U.S. assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, wrote on Twitter: "Disappointed President Nkurunziza violating Arusha Accord." He added it was not too late for a "peaceful democratic path." In response, presidential media adviser Willy Nyamitwe told Reuters: "This is not neutral, but we are in a democratic process and anyone is free to have his own point of view." A senior State Department offic...

More than 1,000 demonstrators marched through downtown Baltimore on Wednesday in what Police Commissioner Anthony Batts called an "extremely peaceful" protest demanding more justice for African-Americans. The crowd marched from the city's main train station to City Hall and back again. Police said they fully expected everyone to heed the city's overnight curfew. Other marches were held in Washington, Boston and New York City, where police arrested demonstrators who tried to disrupt downtown traffic. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan declared Baltimore safe Wednesday, following two nights of demonstrations sparked by the death of a young African-American man in police custody. Commuters packed buses and subways, and public schools reopened. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra played a free outdoor concert. But the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox played a baseball game in an empty stadium. Police said they needed to deploy elsewhere in the city and...

Branch at Voice of America. A short version of this story was originally published in The Philadelphia Inquirer on the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. All I could see were the thousands of hollow eyes looking in despair as the cargo vessel pulled away from its berth along the Saigon River. This moment, so calm and so quiet, was punctured nightly when I woke up, breaking out in a sweat, after seeing that those hollow eyes were my own. For years after the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, the scene played out every night in my sleep as a reminder of how close I had come to being left behind as communist forces entered the city. I was 17 at the time. The Vietnam War had been raging my entire life, as well as my parents' entire lives. Born and raised in North Vietnam, my parents moved south as the Geneva Convention in 1954 divided the country. The division ended up splitting family members, some who took up arms fighting for communism in the North and...

We’re counting down the five most popular songs in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart, for the week ending May 2, 2015. After a week of chart fireworks, the Top Five quiets down, with one song making a return trip. Let’s open in fifth place, where Fetty Wap drops a slot with “Trap Queen.” The New Jersey rapper has only one eye…the result, he says, of a childhood bout of glaucoma. Fetty says he contracted it in both eyes. The doctor was able to save only one, but he says today he doesn’t even think about it unless someone points it out. Down a slot to fourth place goes Maroon 5 with “Sugar.” Adam Levine and his band just got a recording invitation from another big star… Last week, Sia  mentioned on Australian radio that she’s written a new song, “Step By Step.” She says that she’s pitching it to Bruno Mars…and Maroon 5. Sia also says her next album, This Is Acting , is ready to go. The Weeknd is our prodigal son this week, rebounding three slots to third place wit...