From Washington, this is VOA news. Hello, I'm Steve Miller.

Thousands of protesters marched and gathered at State House on Saturday in a call for Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to stand down.

The demonstrators angrily chanted and carried banners calling for Mugabe to step aside as they surrounded the leader's official residence.

Charles who wouldn't use his last name was among those protesters. "... must go today. Today, must go today. Not tomorrow. Want him to go today."

Mugabe is under military house arrest after he fired his longtime deputy and appeared to position his wife to succeed him.

He is said to be resisting efforts to step aside.

Tom Terkel reports that Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri says he intends to return to Lebanon and take part in Independence Day celebrations.

Hariri spoke to reporters Saturday after meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. Hariri added that he will make his political stance clear upon his arrival.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun refused to accept Hariri's resignation that was made through a TV broadcast in Saudi Arabia and accused the kingdom of holding Hariri against his will.

Tom Terkel, VOA news.

An Egyptian court has ordered Mahinour el-Masry and another defendant to remain in custody pending trial on charges of participating in an illegal protest against the government's transfer of two strategic Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

The court ordered that they remain detained until it reconvenes December 30.

El-Masry and four other activists are on trial over charges of protesting illegally in June. The presidency has since ratified the transfer of the islands.

This is VOA news.

The Indian lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or LGBT, community says there is renewed optimism as the country's Supreme Court reviews a colonial era law that criminalizes gay sex. Anjana Pasricha reports.

The beat of drums was louder and the chanting and dancing more exuberant as the gay community marched at the annual Queer Pride in the Indian capital this week.

The reason: a recent landmark judgment by the Supreme Court which declared privacy is a fundamental right that must protect among other things sexual orientation.

Anjali Gopalan, founder of Naz Foundation, which is at the forefront of the legal battle for gay rights, says the judgment will have an important bearing when the Supreme Court reviews the archaic law called Section 377.

"If someone from the LGBT community, for example, is raped, it's really difficult for them go and register a case because Section 377 is in place, because they are not seen as part of society. So therefore, if we have a law which protects them, at least they have a recourse."

That was VOA's Anjana Pasricha.

Pascale Davies reports that almost 200 nations kept a 2015 global agreement to tackle climate change on track Saturday.

The Bonn meeting was under the shadow of U.S. President Donald Trump's decision in June to withdraw from the Paris accord and instead promote the coal and oil industry.

As the U.S. slowly withdraws from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, some expected China will fill the vacuum, particularly given President Xi Jinping's drive to increase China's influence abroad.

But the talks haven't done much to confirm the theory.

Delegates and diplomats are telling Reuters that China didn't dominate talks in a way some predicted, focusing on mostly domestic policy instead.

One delegate said that even if they aren't dominating talks, China's still done more than many other countries, pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into renewable energies.

Reporter Pascale Davies.

Fotis Kafatos, a Greek molecular biologist who had a distinguished academic career in both the U.S. and Europe and became the founding president of the European Research Council, has died.

Kafatos was known for his research on malaria and for sequencing the genome of the mosquito that transmits the disease.

He was 77.

Sri Lankan police have arrested 19 people after a clash between individuals from the majority Buddhist and minority Muslim communities. Four people were injured.

This year, tensions have been growing between the two communities.

From Washington, I'm Steve Miller.

That's the latest world news from VOA.