VOA NEWS

February 4, 2019

VOA news. I'm Christopher Cruise reporting.



Officials in the Bahamas have put the death toll from a Haitian migrant boat sinking at 28.

The Royal Bahamas Defense Force said they were able to rescue 17 survivors, including two found stranded on a cay on Sunday. The bodies of the other victims were found in the sunken boat or floating in the water.

The U.S. Coast Guard helped with the rescue efforts.

The boat sank Saturday about 10 kilometers off the Abaco Islands, just north of the Bahamas.



Turnout is reported to be heavy as El Salvador votes for a new president.

Polls leading up to Sunday's election favored the ex-mayor of San Salvador, Nayib Bukele.

All four candidates are promising the same things to voters, including more economic opportunities and efforts to tackle gangs and crime. El Salvador has one of the world's highest murder rates.



Thousands of people gathered Sunday in Bolivar Plaza in Caracas, Venezuela. They want to hear opposition leader Juan Guaidó announce when humanitarian aide will be delivered to the crisis-ridden country.

Guaidó told supporters on [Sunday] Saturday, that is, that the opposition would start collecting humanitarian aid in Brazil, Colombia and an unnamed Caribbean island.

He called on the military to allow the aid into the country.

The United States has said it would transport aid to Venezuela at Guaidó's request.

President Nicholás Maduro has refused to accept aid because he believes it opens the way for a U.S.-led military intervention.

Thousands of Guaidó's supporters carrying flags and blowing horns converged on a handful of locations around Caracas in support of his call for early elections and the establishment of a transitional government.



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Pope Francis has made dialogue with Islam one of the cornerstones of his papacy. Since he became pope in 2013, he has visited several countries with large Muslim populations.

On Sunday, he became the first pope to go to the Arabian Peninsula when he visited the United Arab Emirates.

Correspondent Sabina Castelfranco has more from Rome.

Pope Francis was invited by Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan to take part in an inter-faith conference.

The pope will spend less than 48 hours in the United Arab Emirates and is due to make only two public addresses during the visit.

Pope Francis released a video message this week ahead of his visit.

He paid tribute to the United Arab Emirates as "a land that is trying to be a model of coexistence, of human brotherhood, and a meeting place among diverse civilizations and cultures, where many find a safe place to work and live freely in the respect of diversities."

The pope will celebrate an open-air mass in Abu Dhabi's Zayed Sports City on Tuesday.



Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Sunday with a delegation of U.N. ambassadors before they visited the Lebanese border, where Israel uncovered Hezbollah infiltration tunnels.

Netanyahu expressed his anger with the U.N.

"In the U.N. General Assembly this year alone, there were 20 resolutions against Israel; six against the rest of the world which includes Syria, includes Iran and so on. So it's obviously absurd."

The prime minister said Israel would stop all the aggression whether from Lebanon, Syria or from Iran.



President Trump is refusing to rule out the possibility of another partial government shutdown to win congressional approval of funding for a wall along the southern border with Mexico. He spoke on Sunday in an interview with CBS News.

He also talked about his young son Barron and whether he would let his now 12-year-old son play football.

Associated Press correspondent Tim McGuire reports.

In an interview aired on CBS "Face the Nation," President Trump said he wouldn't steer his 12-year-old son Barron into playing tackle football nor would he stand in his way if he does want to play.

"I just don't like the reports that I see coming out having to do with football. I mean it's a dangerous sport."

Back in 2017, the president said, "They're ruining the game" with rules changes that made football less violent.

Trump on this Super Ball Sunday, now says he would like to see even more safety changes.

"I thought the equipment would get better, and it has. The helmets have gotten far better but it hasn't solved the problem."



You can find more on these and other late breaking and developing stories, from around the world, around the clock, at voanews.com and on the VOA news mobile app. I'm Christopher Cruise, VOA news.