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How to draw in an American president? India is at the center of the Trump administration鈥檚 strategic vision for countering a rising China in Asia. But the country鈥檚 real allure may be the promise of adoring crowds.

Should adoption agencies be able to discriminate against LGBTQ families? Some say that the way forward is to set aside differences and focus on a common desire to help children.

Many of the costs of the coronavirus for China are immediately apparent, but some are not. One thing to monitor going forward is any impact on the country鈥檚 assertive campaign to extend its influence internationally.聽

A West Virginia mining company is piloting a vital recycling program: It's transforming an environmental pollutant into valuable minerals. Imagination is the ultimate resource.

A meal service for seniors has started slipping extra nourishment into its deliveries 鈥� cards with verses and sonnets. Call it soul food.

Three years ago, the African Union declared with grand purpose that its 55 member states wanted to 鈥渟ilence the guns鈥� on the continent. War violence was taking too heavy a toll on plans for prosperity. Since then, the regional body has mediated in three conflicts (Madagascar, Sudan, and Central African Republic). On Saturday, the AU could claim its biggest success yet in South Sudan.

In that war-ravaged country, the two main political rivals, President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar, plan to set up an interim 鈥渦nity government.鈥� Their power-sharing agreement, given a final push at a recent AU security summit, calls for merging their respective forces into a national army of 83,000 and holding an election in three years.

If the deal sticks, it would end seven years of civil war in Africa鈥檚 youngest nation. South Sudan was carved out of Sudan after a 2011 referendum. Two years after independence, it erupted into conflict, driven mainly by ethnic differences. Nearly 400,000 lives have been lost and a third of the population has been displaced. Floods, famine, and lately a locust swarm have worsened South Sudan鈥檚 conditions.

Previous attempts at a political deal have failed, but they did leave a shaky truce that has lessened violence since 2018. A breakthrough came this month when President Kiir made a big concession. He agreed to cut the number of states from 32 to 10. This will reduce the 鈥渆thnic gerrymandering鈥� of political entities that now favor his majority Dinka group. Mr. Machar鈥檚 ethnic group, the Nuers, welcomed the move. But the concession has been complicated by the president also creating three administrative areas on top of the 10 states.

The two men still have much to negotiate, especially in joining militias. They will be nudged along by the AU鈥檚 mediating skills. If South Sudan can silence its guns, that success may help end other conflicts in Africa. The AU鈥檚 once-inconceivable goal could then be an inspiration for conceiving an even grander future for Africa.

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