VOA NEWS

May 3, 2015

From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David Byrd reporting. Thousands rally in Baltimore, Maryland, after charges are filed against six police officers there.



Protesters marched to Baltimore City Hall on Saturday, chanting "no justice, no peace" amid heavily armed police and National Guard troops.

But the mood was largely celebratory following Friday's announcement of charges against six police officers in the death of a 25-year-old black man last month. Freddie Gray died of spinal injury suffered while in police custody April 12.

His death led to days of protests which turned violent Monday after his funeral. Clashes that day and night between police and protesters led to the arrests of more than 200 people and injuries of at least 20 police officers.

Saturday's rally was the largest scale organized gathering since State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby filed the felony charges ranging from assault to murder. Organizers described it as a "victory rally."



Officials say the death toll has passed 6,600 after a 7.8-magnitude quake hit Nepal last week. Most of those killed were in and around the capital city, Kathmandu.

Two days after any signs of life had been detected among the mountains of rubble that litter the capital, Nepal's Home Ministry official Laxmi Dhakal said Saturday that unless survivors were caught in an air pocket, there is not much hope.

Two survivors, a 15-year-old boy and a woman in her 20s, were rescued from the rubble on Thursday. Thousands of people are still missing.

Survivors are urging the government and aid groups to move faster to get much-needed relief supplies to those who need it.



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A 20-member delegation from Afghanistan is headed to Qatar to hold two days of talks with Taliban representatives aimed at ending Afghanistan's long war.

A Taliban statement said eight people would attend talks in Doha on behalf of the insurgents.

Previous efforts to open dialogue with the Taliban have collapsed.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, elected last year, has pushed for peace talks with the Taliban as U.S. and NATO forces ended their combat mission in the country at the beginning of this year.



The U.S. Central Command says it is investigating claims that a U.S.-led airstrike in northern Syria killed at least 52 civilians, including seven children.

U.S. Major Curt Kellogg, speaking Saturday, said authorities are seeking information to corroborate the casualties, first reported by the British-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The group also reported that 13 people are missing.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said the strikes on the Aleppo provincial village of Bir Mahli occurred early Friday as Syrian rebels and Kurdish militiamen battled Islamic State jihadists nearby.



Nigeria's military says it has rescued 234 women and children kidnapped by Boko Haram in the country's northeast.

A military official says the latest rescue took place Thursday in the Sambisa forest.

It was not immediate clear whether any of the rescued females included students who were kidnapped from a boarding school in Chibok a year ago.



President Obama used his weekly address to re-emphasize a plan to expand higher education and reading programs to younger Americans.

The president said that all Americans have a responsibility to make sure that all children have pathways to success.

"In a global economy, we've got to help ensure that everyone, of every age, in every zip code - urban and rural - has the chance to learn the skills that lead directly to a good job."

Earlier this week, the president challenged mayors, libraries and school leaders to help every student get a library card and have access to the Internet.

Mr. Obama said that making sure children receive a good education is the surest way to show them that their lives matter.



And at the 141st running of the Kentucky Derby in Churchill Downs, Kentucky, that is, American Pharoah won with Victor Espinoza aboard. Firing Line was second, with Dortmund third.

It was Espinoza's second straight Kentucky Derby win and his third overall.

A record crowd of 170,513 people watched the race.

The second jewel of the Triple Crown, the Preakness, is in two weeks in Baltimore, Maryland.



I'm David Byrd.

That's the latest world news from VOA.