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Washington — Accepting a cease-fire deal with Israel should be a "no-brainer" for Hamas, but the motivations of the militants' elusive Gaza-based leadership remain unclear, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late Friday. Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has announced that its delegation will return to Cairo Saturday to resume long-running talks brokered by Egypt and Qatar that would temporarily halt Israel's offensive in return for freeing hostages. "We wait to see whether, in effect, they can take yes for an answer on the cease-fire and release of hostages," Blinken said. "The reality in this moment is the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a cease-fire is Hamas." Noting that the militants "purport to represent" the Palestinian people, Blinken said: "If it is true, then taking the cease-fire should be a no-brainer. "But maybe something else is going on, and we'll have a better picture of that in the coming days," he said. Blinken pointed to difficulties negotiating with Hamas, which the United States considers a terrorist group and does not engage with directly and which Israel has vowed to eliminate. "The leaders of Hamas that we're indirectly engaged with — through the Qataris, through the Egyptians — are, of course, living outside of Gaza," Blinken said. "The ultimate decision-makers are the folks who are actually in Gaza itself with whom none of us have direct contact." Blinken was addressing the McCain Institute's Sedona Forum in Arizona days after he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top leaders on his latest visit to the Middle East. Rafah assault still threatened Ahead of his talks with Blinken, Netanyahu vowed to push ahead with an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah regardless of the outcome of truce negotiations. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has repeatedly warned Israel against moving on Rafah, where an estimated 1.2 million Palestinians have taken shelter. Blinken said that Israel, which counts on the United States for military and diplomatic support, has yet to present "a credible plan to genuinely protect the civilians who are in harm's way." "Absent such a plan, we can't support a major military operation going into Rafah because the damage it would do is beyond what's acceptable," Blinken said. Global criticism of the war's toll on civilians has mounted, as has pressure on the Biden administration. The war broke out after Hamas's October 7 attack that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The militants also took some 250 hostages, of whom Israel estimates 130 remain in Gaza, including 30 believed to be dead. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 34,622 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's Health Ministry. Saudis want progress “as soon as possible” Blinken on Monday held his latest meeting with Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to discuss potential normalization with Israel. "He's made it clear that he wants to do something on normalization, and he'd like to do it as soon as possible," but only if conditions are met, Blinken said. Before Hamas's October 7 attacks, Netanyahu had seen growing Arab recognition of Israel as a key legacy, and Saudi Arabia, the guardian of Islam's two holiest sites, would be the most coveted prize. But Saudi Arabia has made clear it wants a pathway to a Palestinian state, a prospect long resisted by Netanyahu and adamantly opposed by his far-right allies. "I believe that there can be a Palestinian state with necessary security guarantees for Israel," Blinken said. "And to some extent, I think you'd have Israelis who would like to get to real separation. Well, that is one way to do it." While in Saudi Arabia, Blinken said that the United States was nearly ready with a set of security promises sought by the kingdom in return for normalization with Israel.

KYIV, UKRAINE — Russia launched an overnight drone attack on Ukraine's Kharkiv and Dnipro regions, injuring at least six people and hitting critical infrastructure, commercial and residential buildings, regional officials said on Saturday. The Ukrainian Air Force said the Russian forces launched 13 Shahed drones targeting the regions in the northeast and center of the country. The air defense units downed all the drones, the Air Force commander said. However, debris from the downed drones struck civilian targets in Kharkiv in the northeast, injuring four people and sparking a fire in an office building, the regional governor said. Oleh Synehubov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said a 13-year-old child and a woman were being treated at a hospital. Two other women were treated on site. Emergency services were bringing the fire under control, he said. In the industrial Dnipropetrovsk region, two people were wounded, said Serhiy Lysak, the regional governor. He said a critical infrastructure facility and three houses were damaged.

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VIENTIANE, LAOS — Large numbers of Laotian workers, facing poor economic conditions, are seeking work in Thailand, South Korea and Japan, bringing Laos millions of dollars in repatriated salaries but exposing the workers to debt traps and human trafficking. Laos has the region’s lowest minimum wage, a problem exacerbated by inflation and a substantially depreciating currency, the kip. It also is increasingly dependent on China because of debt and substantial Chinese investments in Laos' energy sector. Meanwhile, government reports say a shortage of skilled workers – which the Energy and Mines Ministry attributes to a "brain drain" and insufficient funding – hampers domestic hydropower and mining projects. The Lao Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare reported last year that of the 303,391 Lao workers overseas, 100,230 acquired jobs legally, while 203,161 sought employment in neighboring countries without proper permits. A report published in February by the Vientiane Times said approximately 228,000 Laotians were working in Thailand, including 70,000 without permits. Another 13,000 were working in South Korea, the report said. These figures do not include large numbers of migrant workers who illegally cross the borders into neighboring countries, especially China. There is little recorded data available on Lao migrant workers in China. However, it is reported that some Laotians cross the border for weekly and seasonal jobs in China from some districts in the northern Luang Namtha province, according to a spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok. "Such migrant workers use passports and border passes to cross borders but find irregular work in China through Lao and Chinese brokers. The authorities of both countries, as well as their families, are unaware of their status of working and living in China," the spokesperson said. "They cannot even locate the specific areas where they are employed and residing. This doubles their vulnerability to the risk of abuse and exploitation." Traffickers, he said, use media channels such as TikTok to lure workers and use deception, brokers, and peer pressure to entice them into fraudulent schemes. Many Lao migrant workers are routinely promised good-paying jobs in online services or in cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, the primary challenge for work migration to South Korea is that Laotian migrant workers must pay all the costs before departure, including domestic travel, new passports -- which can take months to obtain -- and recruitment agency fees. Workers also must pay back the agencies, which deduct extra fees from their monthly salaries, the IOM spokesperson told VOA. A 19-year-old recent high school graduate from Luang Prabang told VOA he could make about $560 a month in South Korea, more than twice what he could make in Laos. He said his brothers, all with bachelor’s degrees, are barely making $375 a month and had advised him to skip college and find a job abroad. In October, Laos raised its minimum wage from $61 per month to $75 in the face of inflation, which hit 40% last year and was around 25% in this year’s first quarter. Government’s financial gains from migrant workers Lao workers abroad send back to Laos an average of over $35.5 million monthly, totaling $426 million annually, according to government reports from mid-2023. In July, Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone highlighted the importance of remittances for the Lao government, announcing initiatives to promote employment opportunities domestically and internationally by decentralizing job placement centers, modernizing job search services, and promoting self-employment. "We've established 18 job placement service points at the provincial level, 36 at the district level, and engaged four domestic and foreign job placement service enterprises," Sonexay  told the National Assembly. "Efforts include modernizing the job search service mechanism, connecting databases of Lao and foreign workers, and integrating worker salary information with systems like TaxRis," he said, referring to the government’s tax collection system. Additionally, in October, Laos and South Korea initiated a project to streamline cross-border money transfers, with plans for expansion to Thailand and Japan, led by the Lao Labor Ministry, the Bank of Laos, Lao Foreign Commercial Bank, and South Korea’s Global Loyalty Network Company. Not cost-free These benefits to Laos come at a cost, though. Despite promised higher pay for work abroad, deceptive recruitment practices often lead to exploitation and debt bondage because of upfront fees and unclear agreements, said Matthew Friedman, head of the Hong Kong-based Mekong Club, an antislavery organization. "They often don't really know what they're getting into. They then sign agreements without fully understanding what they're signing or interest rates and fees," Friedman said from his temporary location in Singapore. In South Korea, typically Seoul or Busan, workers become ensnared by debt, unable to leave until debts are cleared, he said. Lao workers, mostly young adults or teenagers who are increasingly migrating to Thailand in search of higher-paying jobs as construction workers, waiters, or maids, often face exploitation and unsafe conditions, according to the IOM. Despite legal employment agreements between Thailand and Laos, illegal migration continues as loopholes within the legislative frameworks and tracking systems of both countries facilitate the entry of undocumented workers. The most recent case, on March 3, unfolded in Udon Thani, in northeast Thailand about 75 kilometers from the Laotian border, where local police rescued an 18-year-old Lao woman working as a maid from alleged severe abuse by her employer.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

NAIROBI, Kenya — The torrential rains and deadly floods that have hit Kenya since March have been some of the most catastrophic in the country in recent years. At least 169 people have died due to the heavy rains, with at least 91 missing, according to the latest government figures. In the most tragic single event, at least 48 people were killed on Monday after water blew through a blocked river tunnel under a railway line in southwestern Kenya, causing a flash flood. The rain has displaced more than 190,000 people and damaged roads and other infrastructure. The devastating rains are a result of a mix of factors, including the country's seasonal weather patterns, human-caused climate change as well as natural weather phenomena. Here's how they combined to create the deadly deluge. What is Kenya's 'long rains' season? Kenya and some other parts of eastern Africa have two main rainfall periods: the "long rains" season of March to May, and the "short rains" season of October to December. The "long rains" season is when most of the country's average annual rainfall occurs. It's often characterized by torrential rains, and sometimes goes up to June. In its forecast for this year's "long rains" season, the Kenya Meteorological Department predicted above-average rainfall in many parts of the country, with occasional storms in some. It also warned of flash floods, landslides, mudslides and other impacts. Last year's "short rains" season was characterized by severe storms in many parts of the country, particularly in November. Lamu, Mombasa and Garissa counties received nearly three times their long-term average rainfall, according to the meteorological department. Why is the rain so intense this time? The frequency, patterns and intensity of rainfall in Kenya are influenced by naturally occurring climate systems like the Indian Ocean Dipole. The Indian Ocean Dipole is a swinging of sea surface temperatures that makes the western Indian Ocean warmer than average then colder than average than those of the eastern Indian Ocean. It has positive, neutral and negative phases. The positive phase causes heavy rainfall in areas west of the Indian Ocean, such as Kenya, and droughts in Indonesia and Australia. While many people have linked the current floods to the naturally occurring El Nino weather phenomenon, research shows that the climate event has little influence on rainfall over East Africa during the "long rains" season, said Joyce Kimutai, research associate at Imperial College London. El Nino is the warming of the ocean over the Pacific Ocean, which changes the routes for storms and it can cause heavy rainfall in some parts of the world and droughts in others. But in Kenya's case, it's highly likely that the positive Indian Ocean Dipole and climate change explain the ongoing flood-inducing rainfall, she said. Warmer oceans caused by the hotter atmosphere increase evaporation, and air holding more moisture can produce more intense rainfall. In an analysis in December last year, Kimutai and colleagues from World Weather Attribution, a group of scientists that analyze whether climate change played a role in extreme weather, found that human-caused climate change had made last year's "short rains" season in Kenya and other parts of eastern Africa up to two times more intense. When will the 'long rains' end? It's become difficult to predict long-term weather in Kenya in recent years, as the onset and duration of dry and wet seasons increasingly change. The Kenya Meteorological Department expects the "long rains" season to continue into June. In its latest seven-day weather forecast, which it released Monday, the department said it expects rainfall to continue in several parts of the country, with heavy downpour likely to occur in six regions, as well as flooding in low-lying areas and landslides in steep slopes. 

PARIS — Freshly cooked bread, select cheeses and a broad veggie offer will be among the meals to be offered to athletes and visitors during the 2024 Paris Olympics — including, of course, gourmet dishes created by renowned French chefs. About 40,000 meals are expected to be served each day during the Games to the more than 15,000 athletes from 200 different countries housed at the Olympic village. Visitors, too, will be able to enjoy some specially created snacks at the different venues. French food services company Sodexo Live!, which was selected to oversee the catering at the athletes' village and 14 venues of the Paris Games, said it has created a total of 500 recipes, which will notably be offered at a sit-down eatery for up to 3,500 athletes at the village, meant to be the "world's largest restaurant." "Of course, there will be some classics for athletes, like pasta," said Nathalie Bellon-Szabo, global CEO of Sodexo Live! But the food will have a "very French touch." Athletes will also have access to "grab and go" food stands, including one dedicated exclusively to French cuisine cooked up by chefs. Renowned French chef Amandine Chaignot, who runs a restaurant and a café-bistro in Paris, on Tuesday unveiled one of her recipes based on the iconic croissant. "I wanted the recipe I suggested to be representative of the French terroir, but I wanted athletes to enjoy it at the same time," she told The Associated Press. "It was quite obvious for me to make a croissant that I could twist. So, you have a bit of artichoke puree, a poached egg, a bit of truffle and a bit of cheese. It's both vegetarian and still mouthwatering." Every day, during the July 26-August 11 Games, a top chef — including some awarded with Michelin stars — will cook in front of the athletes at the Olympic Village, "so they'll be able to chat and better understand what French cuisine is about — and to understand a bit of our culture as well," Chaignot said. Daily specials will be accompanied by a wide range of salads, pastas, grilled meat and soups. Cheeses will include top quality camembert, brie and sheep's milk-based Ossau-Iraty from southwestern France. The Olympic Village will also feature a boulangerie producing fresh baguettes and a variety of other breads. "The idea is to offer athletes the chance to grab a piping-hot baguette for breakfast," said baker Tony Doré, who will be working at the Olympic Village's main restaurant. Athletes will even be able to participate in daily bakery trainings, and learn to make their own French baguette, said Doré. In an effort to provide as many options as possible, meals offered will revolve around four cuisines: French, Asian, African and the Caribbean and international food. Paris 2024 organizers have promised to make the Games more sustainable and environment-friendly — and that includes efforts to reduce the use of plastic. To this effect, the main restaurant at the village will use only reusable dishes. Additionally, organizers say all meals will be based on seasonal products and 80% will come from France. Plant-based food will represent 60% of the offer for visitors at the venues, including a "vegetarian hot-dog," said Philipp Würz, head of Food and Beverage for the Paris 2024 Committee. There's "a huge amount of plant-based recipes that will be available for the general public to try, to experience and, hopefully, they will love it," said Würz. The urban park at the Place de la Concorde, in central Paris, will offer visitors 100% vegetarian food — a first in the Games' history. The place will be the stage for Paris 2024's most contemporary sporting disciplines: BMX freestyle, 3x3 basketball, skateboarding and breakdancing.

DUESSELDORF, Germany — Herbert Rubinstein was 5 years old when he and his mother were taken from the Jewish ghetto of Chernivtsi and put on a cramped cattle wagon waiting to take them to their deaths. It was 1941, and Romanians collaborating with Germany's Nazis were rounding up tens of thousands of Jews from his hometown in what is now southwestern Ukraine. "It was nothing but a miracle that we survived," Rubinstein told The Associated Press during a recent interview at his apartment in the western German city of Duesseldorf. The 88-year-old Holocaust survivor is participating in a new digital campaign called #CancelHate. It was launched Thursday by the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also referred to as the Claims Conference. It features videos of survivors from around the globe reading Holocaust denial posts from different social media platforms. Each post illustrates how denial and distortion can not only rewrite history but perpetuate antisemitic tropes and spread hate. "I could never have imagined a day when Holocaust survivors would be confronting such a tremendous wave of Holocaust denial and distortion, but sadly, that day is here," said Greg Schneider, executive vice president of the Claims Conference. "We all saw what unchecked hatred led to — words of hate and antisemitism led to deportations, gas chambers and crematoria," Schneider added. "Those who read these depraved posts are putting aside their own discomfort and trauma to ensure that current and future generations understand that unchecked hatred has no place in society." The Claims Conference's new digital campaign comes at a time when antisemitic incidents, triggered by Hamas' deadly attack on Israel on October 7 and Israel's ensuing military campaign in Gaza, have increased from Europe to the U.S. and beyond, to levels not seen in decades, according to major Jewish organizations. Hamas and other militants abducted around 250 people in the attack and killed around 1,200, mostly civilians. They are still believed to be holding around 100 hostages and the remains of some 30 others. The war has ground on with little end in sight: the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says Israel's offensive in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, displaced around 80% of the population and pushed hundreds of thousands of people to the brink of famine. The war has inflamed tensions around the world and triggered pro-Palestinian protests, including at college campuses in the U.S. and elsewhere. Israel and its supporters have branded the protests as antisemitic, while critics of Israel say it uses such allegations to silence opponents. The launch of the Claims Conference campaign also comes days before Yom HaShoah — Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day — on Monday. In one of the videos, Rubinstein reads out a hate post — only to juxtapose it with his personal testimony about his family's suffering during the Holocaust. "'We have all been cheated, lied to, and exploited. The Holocaust did not happen the way it is written in our history books,'" he reads and then says: "That is a lie. The Holocaust happened. Unfortunately, way too many members of my family died in the Holocaust." Rubinstein then continues to talk about his own persecution as a Jewish child during the Holocaust. While forced into the ghetto of Cernisvtsi, his family managed to obtain forged Polish identity documents, which were the only reason he and his mother were taken off the cattle train in 1941. They fled and hid in several eastern European countries until the war ended in 1945. After that, they briefly went back to his hometown, only to find out that his father, who had been forced into the Soviet Red Army during the war, had been killed. They moved on to Amsterdam, where his mother married again, and eventually settled in Duesseldorf. "I lived through the Holocaust. Six million were murdered. Hate and Holocaust denial have returned to our society today. I am very, very sad about this and I am fighting it with all my might," Rubinstein says at the end of the video. "Words matter. Our words are our power. Cancel hate. Stop the hate." Even at his old age, Rubinstein, who calls himself an optimist, says he will continue fighting antisemitism every single day. And he has a message, especially for the young generation of Jews. "Don't panic," Rubinstein says. "The good will win. You just have to do something about it."

MEXICO CITY — If a woman wins Mexico's presidency on June 2, would she rule with gender in mind? The question has been raised by academics, humans rights organizations and activists ahead of the voting that will likely elect Mexico's first female president for the term 2024-30. Out of three candidates, the frontrunner is Claudia Sheinbaum, who has promised to keep President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's legacy on track. Next comes Xóchitl Gálvez, representing several opposition parties, one of which is historically conservative. The triumph of Sheinbaum or Gálvez, however, would not guarantee their support for certain gender-related policies. In a country of more than 98 million Catholics, neither of the two leading candidates has shared specific proposals on abortion. Both have suggested equality and protection measures for women amid a wave of violence and femicide. Here's a look at some of the challenges that Mexico's next president would face regarding abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. What's the current abortion landscape? Twelve of Mexico's 32 states have decriminalized abortion, most of them in the past five years. One more will join them after its legislature complies with a recent court's ruling, demanding a reform in its penal code. A few more states allow abortion if the mother's life is in danger, and it is legal nationwide if the pregnancy is the result of rape. Mexico's Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that national laws prohibiting abortions are unconstitutional and violate women's rights. The ruling, which extended Latin America's trend of widening abortion access, happened a year after the U.S. Supreme Court went in the opposite direction, overturning the 1973 ruling that established a nationwide right to abortion. Although the Mexican ruling orders the removal of abortion from the federal penal code and requires federal health institutions to offer the procedure to anyone who requests it, further state-by-state legal work is pending to remove all penalties. In most of the states where it has been decriminalized, abortion-rights activists say they face persistent challenges in trying to make abortion safe, accessible and government-funded. To address restrictions and bans, dozens of volunteers — known as "acompañantes" — have developed a nationwide network to share information on self-managed medication abortions following guidelines established by the World Health Organization. Could a new government strike down the constitutional right to abortion in Mexico? Whoever wins, the next president would not directly affect abortion legislation, since each state has autonomy over its penal code. However, the president could indeed have an impact as a moral authority among the members of his or her party, said Ninde Molina, lawyer at Abortistas MX, an organization specializing in abortion litigation strategies. "Much of the governors' behavior emulates what the president does," Molina said. She's among the activists who worry that neither Sheinbaum nor Galvez have shared specific proposals addressing abortion, LGBTQ+ rights and the protection of migrants. "Such lukewarm proposals send the message that these are not fundamental rights," Molina said. And though she wouldn't immediately worry about a setback on abortion policy, the scenario would change if López Obrador or Sheinbaum manage to get the approval of a judiciary reform aiming to replace the current judges with new ones elected by popular vote. "The court is also in danger," Molina said. "People may find this (electing the judges) attractive, but they don't realize what it entails." If, for example, an abortion case reaches the Supreme Court and its current composition has changed, then a setback could indeed happen, Molina said. What do the conservatives think? Isaac Alonso, from Viva México Movement, which supported right-wing activist Eduardo Verástegui' s presidential aspirations, thinks that neither Sheinbaum nor Gálvez represent Mexico's conservative interests. In his ranks, he said, no one is in favor of criminalizing women who have abortions. But since they firmly believe that abortion is unjustifiable, they would hope for government policies that encourage births through improvements in the adoption system. Rodrigo Iván Cortés, director of the National Family Front, an anti-abortion group, said the current administration could not be considered an ally. "Before 2018, abortion had only been approved in Mexico City," he said. "It is very relevant to say how the Supreme Court, under the leadership of Arturo Saldívar, had an ideological bias," said Cortés about a judge who currently advises Sheinbaum. Still, he said, despite who wins the elections, his organization will continue "to take care of the first and fundamental of rights: life." What's needed to rule with a feminist perspective? "Just because a woman wins does not guarantee a gender perspective at all," said Pauline Capdevielle, an academic from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. "In fact, what we are seeing are strategies by conservative sectors to create a façade of feminism that opposes the feminist tradition." A true change, Capdevielle said, would start by integrating feminists into the government. "It is not about putting women where there were none, but about politicizing these issues and really promoting a transformation." Some feminists have shown support for Sheinbaum, but both she and López Obrador have also received criticism for their lack of empathy towards women who protest against gender violence. Amnesty International and other organizations have denounced excessive use of force against women during International Women's Day protests and say that Mexican women's right to protest has been stigmatized. According to Capdevielle, some of the issues that need to be addressed in Mexico's gender agenda are reproductive justice and women's participation in political processes. "The right to get an abortion must be consolidated," she said. "It is far from being a reality for all women." Comprehensive sexual education, access to contraceptives and the rights of the LGBTQ+ community should be prioritized as well, Capdevielle said. What about LGBTQ+ rights? "The needs of this community are not likely to figure prominently in Mexico's presidential elections," said Cristian González Cabrera, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. Gay and transgender populations are regularly attacked and killed in Mexico, a nation marked by its "macho" culture and highly religious population. Human rights organization Letra S documented more than 500 homicides of LGBTQ+ people in the last six years, 58 of them in 2023. The latest deaths came in 2024, with the murder of three members of the transgender community. This group, along with migrants, are particularly vulnerable to attacks, Gonzalez Cabrera said. "LGBT migrants continue to suffer abuse from criminal groups and Mexican officials," he said. "Too often, these human rights violations are not effectively investigated or punished." Sheinbaum said in 2023 that, as Mexico City's mayor, she created a special unit for trans people and said that her dream would be to continue fighting on behalf of sexual diversity, but did not go into specifics. As for Gálvez, she showed support for women "from the sexual diversity," but also did not delve into specifics. González Cabrera highlights that since 2022 all Mexican states recognize same-sex marriage, but some LGBTQ+ rights are not yet guaranteed nationwide. "There are 11 states where the legal recognition of gender identity for trans people is not possible through administrative means, despite a Supreme Court's ruling recognizing this right," he said. For there to be an agenda in favor of the LGBTQ+ population, González Cabrera said, a government should approach the communities' organizations to learn about their needs, allocate resources to address violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity, support LGBTQ+ migrants and encourage local governments to align their legislation with the court's rulings on their rights.

KASHAN, Iran — The historic Kashan bazaar in central Iran once sat on a major caravan route, its silk carpets known the world over. But for the weavers trying to sell their rugs under its ancient arches, their world has only unraveled since the collapse of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers and wider tensions with the West. Rug exports, which exceeded $2 billion two decades ago, have plummeted to less than $50 million in the last year in the Persian calendar that ended in March, according to government customs figures. With fewer tourists coming and difficulties rising in making international transactions, Iranian rugs are going unsold as some weavers work for as little as $4 a day. "Americans were some of our best customers," said Ali Faez, the owner of one dusty carpet shop at the bazaar. "Rugs are a luxury product and they were eager to buy it and they used to make very good purchases. Unfortunately, this has been cut — and the connection between the two countries for visitors to come and go has gone away." Kashan's rug-weaving industry has been inscribed in UNESCO's list of the world's "intangible cultural heritage." Many of the weavers are women, with the skills needed for the Farsi weaving style passed down from generation to generation, using materials like vine leaves and the skins of pomegranate fruit and walnuts to make the dyes for their threads. A single rug can take months to make. For decades, Western tourists and others would pass through Iran, picking up rugs as gifts and to take back home. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the U.S. increased sanctions on Iran's theocratic government over the U.S. Embassy siege, Tehran's links to militant attacks and other issues. But in 2000, the outgoing administration of former President Bill Clinton lifted a ban on the import of Iranian caviar, rugs and pistachios. "Iran lives in a dangerous neighborhood," then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said at the time. "We welcome efforts to make it less dangerous." By 2010, with concerns rising over Iran's nuclear program, the U.S. again banned Iranian-made Persian rugs. But in 2015, Iran struck a nuclear deal with world powers which greatly reduced and drastically lowered the purity of Tehran's stockpile of enriched uranium. The rug trade was allowed once again. Three years later, in 2018, then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal. Since then, Iran began enriching uranium at near-weapons-grade levels and has been blamed for a series of attacks at sea and on land, including an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack targeting Israel last month. For the carpet weavers, that's meant their wares were once again banned under U.S. law. "It started when Trump signed that paper," Faez told The Associated Press, referring to the renewed sanctions. "He ruined everything." Abdullah Bahrami, the head of a national syndicate for handwoven rug producers, also blamed the collapse of the industry on the Trump sanctions. He put the value of exports to the U.S. as high as $80 million annually prior to the sanctions. "The whole world used to know Iran by its rugs," Bahrami told the state-run IRNA news agency in March. Making things worse is what carpet sellers see as a drop in tourists to Kashan as well. High-value American and European tourism in Iran has largely stopped, the daily Shargh newspaper warned last year. Ezzatollah Zarghami, Iran's minister of tourism, insisted in April that 6 million tourists visited the country over the last 12 months, though that likely includes religious pilgrims as well as Afghans and Iraqis with less spending money. But even those tourists that do show up face the challenge of Iran's financial system, where no major international credit card works. "I had a Chinese customer the other week. He was struggling to somehow make the payment because he loved the rug and didn't want to let go of it," Faez said. "We have to pay a lot of commission to those who can transfer money and have bank accounts abroad. Sometimes they cancel their orders because they don't have enough cash with them." The collapse of the rial currency has left many Iranians also unable to purchase the handwoven rugs. Wages in the industry are low, leading to a growing number of Afghan migrants working in workshops around Kashan as well. Designer Javad Amorzesh, one of just a few of Kashan's old-school artists, said his orders have fallen from 10 a year to just two. He has laid off staff and now works alone in a cramped space. "Inflation rose every hour. People were hit repeatedly by inflation," he said. "I used to have four to five assistants in a big workshop." Offering a bitter laugh alone in his workshop, he added, "We've been left isolated."

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NAIROBI, KENYA — Torrential rains that caused widespread flooding and landslides across Kenya in recent weeks, killing at least 210 people, are forecast to worsen over the rest of this month, President William Ruto said Friday. The floods have wreaked havoc, destroying homes, roads, bridges and other infrastructure across Kenya, East Africa's largest economy. The death toll exceeds that from floods triggered by the El Nino weather phenomenon late last year. "Sadly, we have not seen the last of this perilous period, as the situation is expected to escalate. Meteorological reports paint a dire picture," Ruto said on Kenyan television. "Kenya may face its first-ever cyclone." Cyclone Hidaya is expected to make landfall in Tanzania, Kenya's southern neighbor, on Saturday, bringing with it waves almost eight meters high and 165-kph winds, the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre said. Floods have killed more than 160 people in Tanzania since the beginning of April, Tanzania's government spokesperson Mobhare Matinyi said. "This cyclone, named Hidaya, that could hit anytime now, is predicted to cause torrential rain, strong winds and powerful and dangerous waves," Ruto said. Earlier this week, Ruto ordered those living in landslide-prone areas to leave for safer ground. The government has asked people living near 178 dams and water reservoirs, now close to overflowing, as well as those in informal settlements close to rivers and streams, to evacuate. Ruto said the reopening of all schools for the upcoming term, which was meant to start this week, would be postponed until further notice. The Nairobi government has set up 115 camps to host people displaced by the flooding, and is working closely with donors and humanitarian organizations to provide food and non-food supplies to those affected, he said. Opposition leaders and rights groups have criticized Ruto's administration for its response to the disaster. On Thursday, Human Rights Watch accused authorities of failing to put in place a timely national response plan, despite warnings from the Kenya Meteorological Department a year ago about the likely impact of flooding caused by El Nino. 

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WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen argues that a fractured democracy can have destructive effects on the economy — an indirect jab at Donald Trump. Yellen delivered an address Friday in Arizona, using economic data to paint a picture of how disregard for America's democratic processes and institutions can cause economic stagnation for decades. Yellen, taking a rare step toward to the political arena, never mentioned Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, by name in her speech for the McCain Institute's Sedona Forum, but she hinted at the former president's potential impact if he regains the White House. Her remarks serve as a sort of warning for business leaders who may overlook Trump’s disregard for modern democratic norms because they prefer the former president's vision of achieving growth by slashing taxes and stripping away regulations. Yellen acknowledged that democracy "doesn’t seem like typical terrain for a treasury secretary," but she added that "democracy is critical to building and sustaining a strong economy." "The argument made by authoritarians and their defenders that chipping away at democracy is a fair or even necessary trade for economic gains is deeply flawed," she said. "Undercutting democracy undercuts a foundation of sustainable and inclusive growth." She pointed to a study suggesting that democratization increases gross domestic product per capita by around 20% in the long run. Yellen cited the insurrection on January 6, 2021, as a day when democracy came under threat as "rioters, spurred on by a lie, stormed the Capitol." Trump, who made false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, has been charged with conspiring to overturn the election, among four criminal cases he is facing. He denies any wrongdoing. And though Yellen didn't specifically cite Trump's comments, he again undermined the tradition of a peaceful transfer of power this week when he refused to commit to accepting this year's presidential results in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Farther from home, Yellen cited other global threats to democracy such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Trump and those associated with him say they want to centralize the government’s powers within the Oval Office, such that he might subject people or companies that cross him to investigations, lawsuits and other penalties. That approach could undermine the rule of law that has enabled America's market-based economy to thrive. In her speech, Yellen pointed to China as a cautionary example and warned that its future growth is "far from certain." She said the absence of some democratic pillars will "continue to pose challenges as China navigates the transition to an advanced economy." Yellen's speech comes when there is speculation that if Trump regains the White House he may put political pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower its benchmark interest rate, which stands at a two-decade high of roughly 5.3%. Fed Chair Jerome Powell this week said gaining confidence to lower rates "will take longer than previously expected." "As chair of the Federal Reserve, I insisted on the Fed’s independence and transparency because I believe it matters for financial stability and economic growth," Yellen said in her speech. "Recent research has been consistent with my belief: It has shown that greater central bank independence is associated with greater price stability, which contributes significantly to long-term growth." A representative from the Trump campaign did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment. Other leading economists and academics are challenging the right’s claims to the mantles of economic growth and liberty. The Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, a friend of Yellen’s, last month published a book entitled The Road to Freedom. Stiglitz, in an interview, said Trump has preyed on people’s economic insecurities after decades of inequality and the erosion of the middle class. "The economic state is what creates the fertile field for these demagogues," Stiglitz said. "If they were feeling their incomes were going up rather than down, I don’t think they would find Trump attractive." In a paper released this week, Vanessa Williamson, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, said that businesses should be more concerned about the rule of law and democratic values. She argued that there need to be stronger nonpartisan business associations and that CEOs and executives need to be fully aware of how a move away from democracy could hurt their bottom lines. There is "indisputable evidence of the economic costs of democratic decline," she said. "These costs include stagnation, policy instability, cronyism, brain drain, and violence."

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Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.