This is VOA news. I'm David Byrd reporting in Washington.
President Donald Trump laid out his plan for reopening the federal government on Saturday. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it a "non-starter."
Speaking at the White House, the president outlined the plan that includes his demand of nearly $6 billion for a border wall with Mexico.
"The plan includes $5.7 billion for a strategic deployment of physical barriers, or a wall. This is not a 2,000-mile concrete structure from sea to sea. These are steel barriers in high priority locations."
The president's plan also includes three years of legislative relief for so called Dreamers, people whose parents brought them into the country illegally when they were children as well as holders of temporary protected status who cannot return to their home country because of natural disaster or physical threat.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that Trump's proposals had been previously rejected and do not represent a good faith effort to restore certainty to people's lives.
Scores of migrants are reported missing in two separate incidents off the coasts of Libya and Morocco, with as many as 170 people feared drowned.
The International Organization for Migration reports that 117 people were missing when their dinghy [san] sank, that is, off the coast of Libya.
In another incident, 53 migrants who left Morocco in a dinghy were reported missing after what a survivor said was a collision in the western Mediterranean.
Separately, the German charity Sea Watch said it had rescued 47 people at sea, including 8 unaccompanied minors from a rubber boat in distress north of the Libyan city of Zuwara.
This is VOA news.
The Democratic Republic of Congo's top court has rejected an appeal over the outcome of the disputed presidential election, ruling that the challenge was unfounded
Judge Noel Kilomba said that runner-up Martin Fayulu, who launched the court action, did not prove that the results of the December 30th vote announced by the Election Commission were false.
Fayulu had said that opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi, who was declared the provisional winner, had made a power-sharing agreement with former President Joseph Kabila. That's a charge that both Kabila and Tshisekedi had denied.
Yellow vest protests continued across France for the 10th week in a row Saturday.
As Reuters Lauren Anthony reports, the protests were mostly peaceful in Paris, but there were clashes elsewhere in the country.
Marchers congregated near the French Parliament and moved through the city's Left Bank. This time, the demonstrations were largely peaceful though many shops were shut in case of trouble.
There were calls for Macron to resign from the crowds and some had made coffin-shaped placards in commemoration of the 10 deaths since the protests began. The deaths were mainly due to accidents when demonstrators obscured roads.
The yellow vests were named after the fluorescent jackets for French motorists must have in their vehicles, their protest begun in November over fuel tax hikes which were later scrapped.
Lauren Anthony of Reuters.
Thousands of women gathered in cities in the United States and around the world Saturday for the third annual Women's March to demand gender equality and other changes.
But as AP's Julie Walker reports, some controversies surrounded a march in New York.
At a downtown rally organized by the Women's March New York City, protester Laura Loomer ambushed the stage, yelling that they don't represent Jewish people and it's a Nazi march.
"The women's march is the real Nazi march."
She was escorted away and earned a rebuke from organizer Agunda Okeyo. "We're doing today is we're going to uplift each other and we're going to make sure we stay positive."
The controversy stems from Women's March co-leader Tamika Mallory's refusal to denounce nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan who is known partly for his anti-Semitic rhetoric.
Julie Walker, New York.
Somali military officials said Saturday that upwards of 70 al-Qaeda-affiliated fighters were killed when they tried to overrun a government military base and were hit by a subsequent airstrike near Somalia's southern port city of Kismayo.
A U.S. military statement said its planes had killed 52 of the militants. The action by U.S. forces came four days after a raid on a Nairobi hotel and office compound claimed by al-Shabab, in which 21 people were killed.
For more, log on to our website voanews.com. I'm David Byrd, VOA news.
