From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Anne Ball reporting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered a pause in Moscow's airstrikes on Syrian rebels. The five-hour window will let civilians escape from fighting near Damascus.

Russia's defense minister said starting Tuesday the Russian stand-down would run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time, "with the goal of avoiding civilian casualties."

Putin's order comes two days after the rocky (shaky) start of a 30-day cease-fire across Syria, which was unanimously demanded by the U.N. Security Council. Fighting has continued in Eastern Ghouta outside Damascus, with at least 10 people killed on Monday, according to activists.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration's unusual bid to bypass a federal appeals court and get the justices to intervene in a program that protects hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation.

Now the case affecting so-called "Dreamers" will have to work its way through the lower courts before any Supreme Court ruling is possible. Congressional efforts to address the issues has stalled.

The Supreme Court's decision on DACA wasn't surprising. It's highly unusual for the Supreme Court to hear a case before the lower court has consider it. But DACA supporters hailed the decision as significant.

Trump told the governors' meeting the issue needs to be fixed.

Russia has blocked a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have called out Iran for violating an arms embargo against Yemen's Houthi rebels.

This is VOA news.

The Nigerian government has confirmed that 110 female students from the remote town of Dapchi are missing after suspected Boko Haram militants attacked their school one week ago today.

For VOA, Chika Oduah reports from Dakar that while Nigerian authorities initiated an intensive search operation, there is anger about how this could happen again.

Information Minister Lai Mohammed visited the community Sunday. "The total register of the students that came to school on that Monday was 906 but as at today, about 110 of them cannot be accounted for."

The Bring Back Our Girls movement is back on the streets in Lagos and Abuja, demanding answers from the government.

Aisha Yesufu, one of the faces of the Bring Back Our Girls movement, says the similarities between Chibok in 2014 and Dapchi in 2018 are too striking.

"We've had this before. Didn't we learn anything?"

South Korea President Moon Jae-in Monday said the United States should lower the threshold for talks with North Korea, and Pyongyang should show a willingness to discuss denuclearization.

He made the comments during a meeting with China's vice premier in Seoul.

The White House Sunday said any talks with North Korea must result in Pyongyang giving up its nuclear program.

Friday, Washington imposed another large package of sanctions on the North, a move Pyongyang criticized for provoking a confrontation.

The U.N. secretary-general on Monday decried the human rights situation of the Rohingya Muslims, saying they were one of the most discriminated against populations in the world.

António Guterres called for unfettered humanitarian access in Rakhine state in the country of Burma, also known as Myanmar.

"Deprived of nationality, they have been subjected to extreme brutality by military forces and others, and cast out of their homes and country in a clear example of ethnic cleansing."

He said the international community needed to "come together to support the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of refugees to their areas of origin or choice in accordance with international standards."

I'm Anne Ball, VOA news.

That's the latest world news from VOA.