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Hezbollah and Israel remain on the brink of all-out war. Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets into Israel and Israel says it killed a top Hezbollah commander. Joe Biden has delivered his final address as U.S. president to the U.N. General Assembly. Biden used his wide-ranging address on Tuesday to speak to the need to end the Middle East conflict and highlight U.S. and Western allies’ support for Kyiv after Russia’s invasion. The World Food Program warns that hundreds of thousands of starving Sudanese could die without urgent international assistance. And using dynamite to trim trees in Denmark.

Taipei, Taiwan — Youth unemployment in China climbed to nearly 19% in August, its highest level so far this year, according to official data. Analysts say that the higher level of youth unemployment is driving more college graduates to enroll in graduate schools to escape the job search as the world’s second-largest economy struggles. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, or NBS, late last week, the unemployment rate among 16- to 24-year-olds rose from 17.1% in July to 18.8% in August. One big reason for the uptick in joblessness, the NBS said, is that nearly 12 million students graduated from Chinese universities this June, heightening competition in an already tough job market.   Postgraduates overtake graduates “The job market has shrunk, and at the same time there are still so many graduates. Too many people are idling every day,” said Lin Chan-Hui, an assistant professor of the General Education Center at Feng Chia University in Taiwan. “Another way out is to return to school to study further and temporarily escape the competitive workplace.” Some Chinese universities say they are seeing more postgraduate students than undergraduates. According to the state-backed digital publication The Paper, the number of graduate students at Lanzhou University exceeded the total number of undergraduate students for the first time. Lanzhou University is located in the capital of northwestern China’s Gansu Province.  In eastern China’s coastal Zhejiang Province, the Zhejiang University of Technology shows 5,382 new graduate students were admitted this year, beating out the number of new undergraduate students by 40.     The trend was already picking up at more famous Chinese universities last year.   Last December, Beijing’s Tsinghua University said the number of undergraduate freshmen in the previous academic year was 3,760, while the number of master's and doctoral students was 12,069.  Shanghai’s Fudan University in October 2023 reported 15,000 undergraduate students and nearly 37,000 graduate students. China's Ministry of Education said that last year there were more than 47 million people enrolled in higher education institutes, 1.3 million were graduate students, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Lei, a higher education consultant in Shenzhen, who due to the sensitivity of the subject only gave his surname, told VOA the trend of higher education is moving toward "college graduates who don’t go to graduate school would immediately become unemployed" amid China's economic slowdown. "On one hand, studying in graduate school can really help you find a job. On the other hand, it’s also an avoidance mentality,” Lei said. Wandering masters and doctors Feng Chia University’s Lin said that having an undergraduate degree is not enough in fields like technological innovation and scientific research, so it is still necessary to get a postgraduate degree in certain fields. On the other hand, he said, China has too many people getting doctorates and master’s degrees and not enough technical and vocational education so there will be "fierce competition for upper-level work, but no one does the lower-level work."  Highly educated young people are not willing to engage in grassroots work, Lin said, so there will be more and more "wandering masters and doctors."  Lin said the geopolitical tension between China and the U.S. has also made studying abroad for a postgraduate degree harder, so more students choose a domestic one instead. Chinese netizens seem to agree that waiting for the job market to improve is their best hope. A Hunan netizen on China’s Weibo social media platform under the name "Da Ke Ya Tang" said: "The market will not be able to provide so many jobs in the foreseeable future, so we have to leave the problem to the future."  "If colleges and universities cannot adapt to the country's demand for innovative and pioneering talents and reform the way students are trained, more employment pressure may accumulate in society in a few years," writer Wang Guojin said in a post on Weibo. COVID students coping? A PhD student in Shanghai who, due to the sensitivity of the subject, only gave his surname Zeng, told VOA the increase in master's and doctoral students is also because many graduate students went to college during the COVID-19 pandemic and are struggling to adapt. Zeng blames remote learning for their struggles with social interaction and the skills needed to compete in the job market.   "This group of college students obviously lacks some socialization skills, at least in recruitment interviews,” Zeng said. “They can't reach the same level as the previous students.” Zeng adds that monthly stipends for master's and doctoral students ranges from roughly $143 to $700 and Chinese universities encourage entrepreneurship by providing funds to start small projects through competitions.   “Who wouldn’t want to continue their studies and earn money at the same time?” she asked. Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Donald Trump on Tuesday pledged to stop U.S. businesses from shipping jobs overseas and to take other countries' jobs and factories by relying heavily on sweeping tariffs to boost auto manufacturing — despite warnings that domestic consumers would pay more and a lack of specifics about how his plans would work. "I want German car companies to become American car companies. I want them to build their plants here," Trump declared during a speech in Savannah, Georgia. Trump added that, if elected, he'd put a 100% tariff on every car imported from Mexico and that the only way to avoid those charges would be for an automaker to build the cars in the U.S. His ideas, if enacted, could cause a huge upheaval in the American auto industry. Many automakers now build smaller, lower-priced vehicles in Mexico — facilitated by a trade agreement Trump negotiated while president — or in other countries because their profit margins are slim. The lower labor costs help the companies make money on those vehicles. German and other foreign automakers already have extensive manufacturing operations in the U.S., and many now build more vehicles here than they send. BMW, for instance, has an 8 million-square-foot campus in South Carolina that employs 11,000 people building more than 1,500 SUVs per day for the U.S. and 120 export markets. Mercedes and Volkswagen also have large factories here. If German automakers were to increase production here, they likely would have to take it from factories in Germany, which then would run below their capacity and be less efficient, said Sam Abuelsamid, principal research analyst for Guidehouse Insights. "It makes no sense," he said. Trump proposes 'new American industrialism' — without specifics Trump has proposed using tariffs on imports and other measures to boost American industry — even as economists have cautioned that U.S. consumers would bear the costs of tariffs and other Trump proposals like staging the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. The former president laid out a broad array of economic proposals during a speech in the key swing state of Georgia, promising to create a special ambassador to help lure foreign manufacturers to the U.S. and further entice them by offering access to federal land. Additionally, he called for lowering the U.S. corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%, but only for companies that produce in the U.S. Harris, the Democratic nominee, wants to raise the corporate tax rate to 28%. It had been 35% when Trump became president in 2017, and he later signed legislation lowering it. "We're putting America first," Trump said. "This new American industrialism will create millions and millions of jobs." Trump also suggested wiping away some environmental regulations to boost energy production, saying America has "got the oil, it's got the gas. We have everything. The only thing we don't have is smart people leading our country." Tuesday's series of economic proposals raised a lot of questions, but the former president hasn't given specific answers on his ideas, which could substantially affect their impact and how much they cost. He has not specified, for example, whether his U.S.-focused corporate tax cuts would apply to companies that assemble their products domestically out of imports. Trump also suggested he would use a newly created envoy, and his own personal efforts, to recruit foreign companies. But he had a spotty record in the White House of attracting foreign investment. In one infamous case, Trump promised a $10 billion investment by Taiwan-based electronics giant Foxconn in Wisconsin, creating potentially 13,000 new jobs, that the company never delivered. His calls to offer federal land, meanwhile, might clash with Bureau of Land Management restrictions on foreign entities looking to lease lands. It also wasn't clear whether companies from China would be excluded, given Trump's longtime accusations that China is hurting American business.

washington — A man who authorities say staked out Donald Trump for 12 hours on his golf course in Florida and wrote of his desire to kill him was indicted Tuesday on an attempted assassination charge.  Ryan Wesley Routh had been initially charged with two federal firearms offenses. The upgraded charges contained in a five-count indictment reflect the Justice Department's assessment that he methodically plotted to kill the Republican nominee, aiming a rifle through the shrubbery surrounding Trump's West Palm Beach golf course on an afternoon Trump was playing on it. Routh left behind a note in which he described his intention, prosecutors said.  Court records show the case has been assigned to Aileen Cannon, a Trump-appointed federal judge who generated intense scrutiny for her handling of a criminal case charging Trump with illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. She dismissed that case in July, a decision now being appealed by special counsel Jack Smith's team.  The attempted assassination indictment had been foreshadowed during a court hearing Monday in which prosecutors successfully argued for the 58-year-old Routh to remain behind bars as a flight risk and a threat to public safety.  They alleged that he had written of his plans to kill Trump in a handwritten note months before his September 15 arrest in which he referred to his actions as a failed "assassination attempt on Donald Trump" and offered $150,000 for anyone who could "finish the job." That note was in a box that Routh had apparently dropped off at the home of an unidentified witness months before his arrest.  The person opened the letter, took a photograph of the front page of the letter, addressed "Dear World," and contacted law enforcement after the attempted assassination.  Prosecutors also said Routh kept in his car a handwritten list of venues in August, September and October at which Trump had appeared or was expected to be present.  The charge of attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate carries a potential life sentence in the event of a conviction.   The potential shooting was thwarted when a member of Trump's Secret Service protective detail spotted a partially obscured man's face and a rifle barrel protruding through the golf course fence line, ahead of where Trump was playing.   The arrest came two months after Trump was shot and wounded in the ear in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service has acknowledged failings leading up to that shooting but has said that security worked as it should have to thwart the potential attack in Florida.  The initial charges Routh faced in a criminal complaint accused him of illegally possessing his gun in spite of multiple felony convictions and with possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. It is common for prosecutors to bring preliminary and easily provable charges upon an arrest and then add more serious offenses later as the investigation develops. 

UNITED NATIONS — U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Tuesday he had sensed a greater willingness by Iranian officials to engage with the agency in a more meaningful way after talks in New York, and that he hoped to travel to Tehran in October. Several long-standing issues have dogged relations between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency, including Tehran's barring of uranium-enrichment experts on the inspection team and its failure for years to explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites. Grossi held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, one of the key architects to the 2015 accord that limited Iran's ability to enrich uranium in return for a lifting of Western sanctions, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. "What I see is an expressed willingness to reengage with us in a more meaningful fashion," Grossi told Reuters in an interview. With nuclear diplomacy largely stalled between the Iranian presidential election and the U.S. one on Nov. 5, Iranian and European officials have met in New York to test their mutual willingness to reduce tensions amid Tehran's disputed nuclear program, its role in Ukraine and mounting regional tensions. Grossi said he wanted to make real progress in restoring proper technical discussions with Iran quickly and was aiming to travel to Tehran in October to meet with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. "Of course, now we have to give content and substance to this because we are not starting from zero. We have had [a] relatively protracted process without replies to some of the questions we have," he said. "We also need to calibrate together with them how we go through this period where they are waiting to see what is going to happen with their other partners, starting with the United States." IAEA board resolutions ordering Iran to cooperate urgently with the investigation into the uranium traces and calling on it to reverse its barring of inspectors have brought little change, and quarterly IAEA reports seen by Reuters on Aug. 29 showed no progress. Development of Iran's nuclear program has also advanced. By the end of the quarter, the latest IAEA reports showed Iran had completed installation of eight new cascades at Fordow but had not brought them online. At its larger underground site at Natanz, which is enriching up to 5% purity, it had brought 15 new cascades of other advanced models online. "Iran has kept a regular pace without accelerating too much, but it continues," Grossi said, adding that the Fordow cascades remained offline. Iran has stepped up nuclear work since 2019, after then-U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned an agreement reached under his predecessor, Barack Obama. When asked about the prospects of a revival of nuclear talks, Grossi said the preparatory work needed to start now, notably for the IAEA to get the necessary clarity on Iran's activities since it reduced cooperation with the agency. "I think we need to, or the ambition should be to get results in a different way, because the old way is simply not going to be possible anymore," he said, adding that he foresaw a more active role for the agency.

Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continued Tuesday, as Israel kept up its attacks on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. Lebanese officials say more than 550 people have been killed in the strikes. Linda Gradstein reports from Jerusalem. Camera: Ricki Rosen.

Washington — China, which has long influenced Myanmar’s ethnic armed groups, is pressuring the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA — part of the Three Brotherhood Alliance that includes the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Arakan Army (AA) — to avoid aligning with other opposition forces that China perceives as Western-backed, experts say. The MNDAA, also known as the Kokang ethnic armed group, whose members are Mandarin-speaking Han Chinese native to Kokang, reposted a statement on social media confirming their alliance with China. “Our political red line is not to form alliances or work together with those who are against China,” read the statement, which was briefly posted Sept. 4 and reposted on Sept. 19. Analysts say that Beijing’s pressure on ethnic armed groups, especially the MNDAA, reflects its strategic interests in maintaining control over Myanmar’s political landscape. Strategically located along Myanmar’s northeastern border with China, the MNDAA is being pushed to sever ties with opposition forces that Beijing views as having U.S. support. China used its economic and political leverage when it reportedly cut off trade and supplies to Laukkai, the capital of the Kokang region, to create distance between the MNDAA and the National Unity Government (NUG) — the pro-democracy shadow government leading the fight against the ruling junta. “The MNDAA’s statement is a follow-up to China’s warning that the ‘three bottom lines’ must not be crossed,” said Than Soe Naing, a veteran political analyst based in Myanmar. The “three bottom lines,” articulated by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in August, call for Myanmar to avoid civil strife, remain part of ASEAN, and prevent external interference.  According to a political analyst based in Yangon who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, there is a perception in China that the National Unity Government and certain resistance forces, as well as some ethnic armed organizations, are close to the United States and are receiving U.S. support. “This policy reflects China’s emphasis on preventing external forces from interfering in Burma's affairs, which Beijing views as critical to its regional strategy,” said political analyst Than Soe Naing, using an alternative name for Myanmar. So far, Beijing has not commented on the MNDAA’s statement, despite the group’s request for China’s help to resolve the conflict and its willingness to cease fighting and cooperate with Beijing to negotiate a solution to Myanmar’s crisis. Myanmar also has not commented on the MNDAA’s statement. Meanwhile, Myanmar’s military continues airstrikes in northern Shan State. According to a Sept. 24 MNDAA social media post,a recent strike killed one civilian and injured 16 in Lashio, former headquarters of the junta’s Northeastern Command.  Beijing’s interests in Myanmar Frequent visits by Chinese officials to Myanmar have reinforced perceptions that Beijing is siding with Myanmar’s military because it perceives the opposition groups to be in alignment with the United States, observers say. “China sees the NUG and the People’s Defense Forces as Western-backed entities, and for China, that is a red line,” said Thomas Kean, senior consultant for Myanmar at the International Crisis Group. According to Hla Kyaw Zaw, a China-based expert on China-Myanmar relations, Myanmar offers China a valuable connection to the Indian Ocean, providing an essential trade route that would allow Beijing to compete more effectively in the region with the United States. “If Myanmar is stable, China’s southwestern land-locked provinces will have a safe and secure outlet to the sea,” Hla Kyaw Zaw explained. “Beijing wants these initiatives to move forward quickly.” China is the largest investor in Myanmar, and the internal conflict is “not conducive to foreign investment and trade,” according to a Stimson Center report.   That said, Kean told VOA that despite MNDAA’s public stance on China, the group may still maintain limited cooperation with resistance forces to secure its territorial interests. Nan Lwin, head of the Myanmar China studies program at the Institute for Strategy and Policy - Myanmar, said, “If China is to be credible for the Myanmar peace process, it will need to have a multi-country approach.” Balancing act for opposition Earlier this year, the National Unity Government, or NUG, issued its first formal policy statement on Beijing, pledging to safeguard Chinese investments and enterprise as resistance forces continue to gain ground in areas near the Chinese border.  However, the Yangon-based analyst who spoke on the condition of anonymity said this policy is insufficient to win over China, which seeks complete control in the region and wants to prevent any outside influence, particularly from the United States, near its strategic access point to the Indian Ocean. “The more the conflict escalates on its border, the greater the risk of disagreements between China and the U.S. on Myanmar,” Kean said.  

Taipei, Taiwan — A report released on Wednesday finds that Hong Kong's national security law, enacted in July 2020, has eroded academic freedom in the former British colony. The report, co-authored by Human Rights Watch, and the Washington-based advocacy organization Hong Kong Democracy Council, said university authorities have imposed greater control and limitations on student activities and that students and faculty members are increasingly exercising self-censorship to avoid getting into trouble. "Students, academics, and administrators, especially those from Hong Kong studying contemporary socio-political issues, feel as if they are living under a microscope," the report says. Some analysts say the opaque definition of what constitutes a violation of the security law has created a chilling effect among students and faculty members at Hong Kong universities. "When the red line isn't clear, there will be a pervasive sense of fear, and students and faculty members will try to make adjustments to ensure they don't get into trouble," Maya Wang, the associate China director at Human Rights Watch, told VOA by phone. The report said Hong Kong's eight public universities have been managed by people who hold views favored by Beijing following the imposition of the law in 2020. Since then, university officials have increased crackdowns on student unions and banned symbols or events viewed as promoting pro-democracy values. "University officials have punished students for holding peaceful protests and gatherings, and have broadly censored student publications, communications, and events," the report reads. Wang at Human Rights Watch said since many college students and academics were involved in 2019 protests over an extradition bill, one of the Chinese government's priorities following the implementation of the law is to "impose ideological control" over universities. "The decline of academic freedom in Hong Kong's universities is part of Beijing's attempt to impose ideological control over the entire city," she told VOA. Exercising self-censorship Most of the 33 students and academics interviewed for the report said self-censorship is a common practice at universities in Hong Kong, especially on socio-political topics related to China and Hong Kong. "They do this when expressing themselves in classrooms, when writing and researching academic articles, and when inviting speakers for academic conferences," the report says, adding that academics teaching Hong Kong and China current affairs feel "especially vulnerable." In some cases, university officials have asked academics in the social science field to stop offering courses on topics that Beijing considers sensitive. Others face censorship imposed by university administrators or academic publishers. Some academics said the prevalence of self-censorship at universities in Hong Kong will reduce international understanding of the dynamics in China. "Hong Kong was always an important space that gives the international community some insight into what's happening in Hong Kong and the broader China, but that space is now rapidly disappearing," Lokman Tsui, a research fellow at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab and a former journalism professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told VOA by phone. The law's negative impact on academic freedom in Hong Kong seems to differ between academics in different fields. "Some said [the NSL] affected everything they do; others said it has very little impact," the report says. Since university management is stacked with supporters of the Chinese government's position, the report says university administrators have worked with Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to harass, intimidate or even remove academics voicing different opinions. "The government does that by defaming and intimidating those academics perceived to hold liberal or pro-democracy views in the state-owned media and denying or not issuing visas to foreign academics expressing such opinions," the report says, adding that universities would then fire, let go or deny tenure to these academics. Human Rights Watch and Hong Kong Democracy Council said the Chinese government's efforts to "cleanse" universities in Hong Kong have led to a "harmonization" of opinion in academia in Hong Kong. They also help amplify Chinese and Hong Kong authorities' claim that pro-democracy voices are now "in the minority." "The Chinese government's overall intention has been to 'cleanse' the universities [and] the result is a sanitized version of higher education compliant with the Party's views, which so far continues to deliver a high-caliber education," the report says.

Washington — China, which has long influenced Myanmar’s ethnic armed groups, is pressuring the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA — part of the Three Brotherhood Alliance that includes the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Arakan Army (AA) — to avoid aligning with other opposition forces that China perceives as Western-backed, experts say. The MNDAA, also known as the Kokang ethnic armed group, whose members are Mandarin-speaking Han Chinese native to Kokang, reposted a statement on social media confirming their alliance with China. “Our political red line is not to form alliances or work together with those who are against China,” read the statement, which was briefly posted Sept. 4 and reposted on Sept. 19. Analysts say that Beijing’s pressure on ethnic armed groups, especially the MNDAA, reflects its strategic interests in maintaining control over Myanmar’s political landscape. Strategically located along Myanmar’s northeastern border with China, the MNDAA is being pushed to sever ties with opposition forces that Beijing views as having U.S. support. China used its economic and political leverage when it reportedly cut off trade and supplies to Laukkai, the capital of the Kokang region, to create distance between the MNDAA and the National Unity Government (NUG) — the pro-democracy shadow government leading the fight against the ruling junta. “The MNDAA’s statement is a follow-up to China’s warning that the ‘three bottom lines’ must not be crossed,” said Than Soe Naing, a veteran political analyst based in Myanmar. The “three bottom lines,” articulated by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in August, call for Myanmar to avoid civil strife, remain part of ASEAN, and prevent external interference.  According to a political analyst based in Yangon who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, there is a perception in China that the National Unity Government and certain resistance forces, as well as some ethnic armed organizations, are close to the United States and are receiving U.S. support. “This policy reflects China’s emphasis on preventing external forces from interfering in Burma's affairs, which Beijing views as critical to its regional strategy,” said political analyst Than Soe Naing, using an alternative name for Myanmar. So far, Beijing has not commented on the MNDAA’s statement, despite the group’s request for China’s help to resolve the conflict and its willingness to cease fighting and cooperate with Beijing to negotiate a solution to Myanmar’s crisis. Myanmar also has not commented on the MNDAA’s statement. Meanwhile, Myanmar’s military continues airstrikes in northern Shan State. According to a Sept. 24 MNDAA social media post,a recent strike killed one civilian and injured 16 in Lashio, former headquarters of the junta’s Northeastern Command.  Beijing’s interests in Myanmar Frequent visits by Chinese officials to Myanmar have reinforced perceptions that Beijing is siding with Myanmar’s military because it perceives the opposition groups to be in alignment with the United States, observers say. “China sees the NUG and the People’s Defense Forces as Western-backed entities, and for China, that is a red line,” said Thomas Kean, senior consultant for Myanmar at the International Crisis Group. According to Hla Kyaw Zaw, a China-based expert on China-Myanmar relations, Myanmar offers China a valuable connection to the Indian Ocean, providing an essential trade route that would allow Beijing to compete more effectively in the region with the United States. “If Myanmar is stable, China’s southwestern land-locked provinces will have a safe and secure outlet to the sea,” Hla Kyaw Zaw explained. “Beijing wants these initiatives to move forward quickly.” China is the largest investor in Myanmar, and the internal conflict is “not conducive to foreign investment and trade,” according to a Stimson Center report.   That said, Kean told VOA that despite MNDAA’s public stance on China, the group may still maintain limited cooperation with resistance forces to secure its territorial interests. Nan Lwin, head of the Myanmar China studies program at the Institute for Strategy and Policy - Myanmar, said, “If China is to be credible for the Myanmar peace process, it will need to have a multi-country approach.” Balancing act for opposition Earlier this year, the National Unity Government, or NUG, issued its first formal policy statement on Beijing, pledging to safeguard Chinese investments and enterprise as resistance forces continue to gain ground in areas near the Chinese border.  However, the Yangon-based analyst who spoke on the condition of anonymity said this policy is insufficient to win over China, which seeks complete control in the region and wants to prevent any outside influence, particularly from the United States, near its strategic access point to the Indian Ocean. “The more the conflict escalates on its border, the greater the risk of disagreements between China and the U.S. on Myanmar,” Kean said.  

new york — Caroline Ellison, a former top executive in Sam Bankman-Fried's fallen FTX cryptocurrency empire, was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday after she apologized repeatedly to everyone hurt by a fraud that stole billions of dollars from investors, lenders and customers.  U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said Ellison's cooperation was "very, very substantial" and "remarkable."  But he said a prison sentence was necessary because she had participated in what might be the "greatest financial fraud ever perpetrated in this country and probably anywhere else" or at least close to it.  He said in such a serious case, he could not let cooperation be a get-out-of-jail-free card, even when it was clear that Bankman-Fried had become "your kryptonite."  "I've seen a lot of cooperators in 30 years here," he said. "I've never seen one quite like Ms. Ellison." She was ordered to report to prison on November 7.  Ellison, 29, pleaded guilty nearly two years ago and testified against Bankman-Fried for nearly three days at a trial last November.  At sentencing, she emotionally apologized to anyone hurt by the fraud that stretched from 2017 through 2022.  "I'm deeply ashamed with what I've done," she said, fighting through tears to say she was "so so sorry" to everyone she had harmed directly or indirectly.  She did not speak as she left Manhattan federal court, surrounded by lawyers.  In a court filing, prosecutors had called her testimony the "cornerstone of the trial" against Bankman-Fried, 32, who was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to 25 years in prison.  In court Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon called for leniency, saying her testimony was "devastating and powerful proof" against Bankman-Fried.  The prosecutor said Ellison's time on the witness stand was very different from Bankman-Fried, who she said was "evasive, even contemptuous, and unable to answer questions directly" when he testified.  Attorney Anjan Sahni asked the judge to spare his client from prison, citing "unusual circumstances," including her off-and-on romantic relationship with Bankman-Fried and the damage caused when her "whole professional and personal life came to revolve" around him.  FTX was one of the world's most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, known for its Superbowl TV ad and its extensive lobbying campaign in Washington before it collapsed in 2022.  U.S. prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried and other executives of looting customer accounts on the exchange to make risky investments, make millions of dollars of illegal political donations, bribe Chinese officials, and buy luxury real estate in the Caribbean.  Ellison was chief executive at Alameda Research, a cryptocurrency hedge fund controlled by Bankman-Fried that was used to process some customer funds from FTX.  As the business began to falter, Ellison divulged the massive fraud to employees who worked for her even before FTX filed for bankruptcy, trial evidence showed.  Ultimately, she also spoke extensively with criminal and civil U.S. investigators.  Sassoon said prosecutors were impressed that Ellison did not "jump into the lifeboat" to escape her crimes but instead spent nearly two years fully cooperating.  Since testifying at Bankman-Fried's trial, Ellison has engaged in extensive charity work, written a novel, and worked with her parents on a math enrichment textbook for advanced high school students, according to her lawyers.  They said she also now has a healthy romantic relationship and has reconnected with high school friends she had lost touch with while she worked for and sometimes dated Bankman-Fried from 2017 until late 2022. 

A U.S. House of Representatives panel held Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt Tuesday for failing to answer lawmakers’ questions about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. VOA’s congressional correspondent, Katherine Gypson, has more from Washington, with Amadullah Archiwal contributing.

washington — Afghan women and their international supporters are calling for the inclusion of women in any negotiations on the future of Afghanistan amid the Taliban's increasing restrictions on women in the country. In a side event on the eve of the United Nations General Assembly, co-hosted by Ireland, Indonesia, Switzerland and Qatar together with the Women's Forum on Afghanistan, women's activists called on the international community to stand with Afghan women in the face of the Taliban's repressive measures. Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep, who participated in the meeting, said Afghan women have been stripped of their rights under the Taliban. "A bird may sing in Kabul but a girl may not, and a woman may not in public," she said. "This is extraordinary. This is a suppression of the natural law. This is odd." Streep was referring to the Taliban's newly imposed morality law that prohibits women from speaking aloud in public. "Whenever an adult woman leaves her home out of necessity, she is obliged to conceal her voice, face, and body," the new law states. U.N. human rights experts say the Taliban's law issued last month would further restrict women's rights. "It reinforces and expands existing discriminatory policies, such as mandatory dress codes, the requirement for women to have a male guardian [mahram], and the segregation of men and women in public spaces," the U.N. human rights experts said in an August 30 news release. Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have imposed repressive measures on women in Afghanistan, including banning them from getting secondary and university education, and barring them from working with government and nongovernmental organizations. Under the Taliban, girls and women are not allowed to travel long distances without a male relative and may not go to parks, public baths and gyms. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a side meeting at UNGA that the Taliban's treatment of women can be compared to "some of the most egregious systems of oppression in recent history." "We will continue to amplify the voices of Afghan women and call for them to play a full role in the country's life, both inside its borders and on the global stage," he said. Yousafzai demands end to discrimination Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai said at the UNGA that discrimination against women should stop in Afghanistan. "A threat to girls rights in Afghanistan is a threat to girls everywhere," Yousafzai said in a Facebook post. "I want us to push our leaders to hold the Taliban accountable for their crimes against humanity. Let's act for our common future."

The Uncommitted National Movement that began as a protest against President Joe Biden’s policies on the war in Gaza last week announced they will not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate. Another pro-Palestinian group “Abandon Harris” says they’re working to ensure her defeat. Could these movements impact election results in battleground states? White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara brings this story from Michigan, the state with the highest percentage of Arab Americans.

Joe Biden used his final presidential address before the U.N. General Assembly to urge unity in the face of challenges that include conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from New York.

Abuja, Nigeria — Nigeria has joined the growing calls by Africans leaders for permanent representation on the United Nations Security Council. On the sidelines of the 79th U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, Nigerian Defense Minister Mohammed Badaru said such a change would promote fairness and inclusivity. "We have been in 41 different United Nations’ missions to provide security across the world,” Badaru said. “Based on that background and the effort of Africa, we also call on the United Nations to reform the Security Council so that Africa can have a permanent seat. It is time. We deserve it for justice and for equity." Other African nations also are clamoring for change. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday said, "Placing the fate of the world’s security in the hands of a select few when it is the vast majority who bear the brunt of these threats is unjust, unfair and unsustainable." Similarly, Kenyan President William Ruto criticized the multilateral system, saying, "It has proven inadequate." Many African countries were still under colonial rule at the time the Security Council was established. In 2005, the African Union adopted the so-called Ezulwini Consensus in Ethiopia for Africa to have at least two permanent and five nonpermanent seats at the U.N. council. To date, though, the U.N. General Assembly elects five new members from different geographical zones for two-year terms on the council. Africa has three rotational seats on the 15-member council. The founder of Security Watch Africa Initiative, Patrick Agbambu, said Africa needs to be united to make a good representation. "The biggest threat to Africa getting that seat is Africa itself,” Agbambu said. “Africa does not have a united front; they do not have a common voice to be able to push two countries or one country forward. You can't go for such with a divided house. “As it stands, the various blocs in the African Union seem very divided, with each having a very strong opposition to the other. So, the world is just watching Africa," he said. Last week, the United States, one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, said it is open to having two African seats on the council but without the veto power of the original permanent members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the U.S. Security analyst Senator Iroegbu said African representation on the Security Council is the right call but warned that it wouldn’t solve all problems. "Nigeria stands in the right mix because it's one of the most important countries in Africa and it's the most populous nation in Africa, with huge economic potential,” he said. “But just being a member of [the] U.N. Security Council doesn't guarantee stability at home if all the factors causing insecurity are not well addressed."