Voice of America’s immigration news

washington — The future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program remains in limbo with another court hearing set for October 10. Judges from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments on the case, initiated in 2018 by Texas and other Republican-led states seeking to end DACA. The program offers temporary protection from deportation and work permits to undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children who are often referred to as "Dreamers." The case centers on whether DACA exceeds presidential authority, immigration advocates from the coalition "Home is Here" said during a recent conversation with reporters. "Our response to that is that presidential authority in the area of immigration, and particularly the discretion exercised by the executive branch, is very broad and certainly encompasses the type of program that DACA is, which is now a regulation," Nina Perales, vice president of litigation at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said during the call. A central issue in the case is whether Texas and other states have the standing to sue. Texas and other Republican-led states have argued that DACA has harmed them financially because they are spending resources on education, health care and other services on undocumented immigrants who were allowed to remain in the country illegally. But Perales, who will be one of the attorneys arguing the case in October, said that "Texas cannot show any injury as a result of DACA" because recipients contribute to their communities and states by paying taxes and more. A final decision could take a while, said Perales, who noted the 5th Circuit could take "as long as 18 months" to rule. And the case could end in several ways: The 5th Circuit might dismiss the case, send it back to the lower court or rule against DACA, which could then be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. "One possible scenario is that the 5th Circuit decides [U.S. District] Judge [Andrew] Hanen didn't evaluate the evidence properly and sends the case back to [him]," she said. If that happens, Perales said, DACA recipients might benefit from the current case's legal state, which allows recipients to continue renewing their DACA benefits while awaiting the courts' final resolution. The Biden administration continues to accept new applications but does not process them. How we got here Former President Barack Obama, frustrated with congressional inaction on the Dream Act, created DACA by executive order in 2012. Some DACA recipients arrived legally, but their families later overstayed their visas; others arrived by crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization. They are now in their mid-20s to late 30s, and they come from around the world. In 2018, Texas and other Republican-led states sued the federal government, arguing not only that they were being harmed financially but also that only Congress has the authority to grant immigration benefits. In 2022, the Biden administration revised the program in hopes of satisfying one of the arguments made in federal courts by Republican-led states — that the program was not created properly. Biden officials issued the new version of DACA in late August. It went through a period of public comments as part of a formal rule-making process to increase its odds of surviving this legal battle. In a February 2023 statement, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, wrote in a statement on his website that "the Obama and Biden programs are practically indistinguishable in both the negative harms that they will have on this country and in the illegal means used to implement them. I am therefore calling for the new DACA rule to end in the same way that the Obama-era rule did: struck down as unlawful." But DACA has support. In October 2022, a coalition of dozens of influential corporations, including Apple, Amazon, Google and Microsoft, sent a letter to Republicans and Democrats in Congress urging a bipartisan solution for the almost 600,000 immigrants who are enrolled in DACA. According to the Migration Policy Institute, DACA has "improved recipients' employment outcomes, increased the labor force participation rates of those who are eligible, decreased their unemployment rates, and boosted earnings for those with the lowest incomes." MPI's analysis shows that DACA holders contribute "nearly $42 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product each year and add $3.4 billion to the federal balance sheet." Bruna Bouhid-Sollod, a former DACA recipient and current senior political director at United We Dream, highlighted the emotional impact of the uncertainty. "The importance of making [the impact] really clear is really important. … DACA recipients and their families are dealing with an extreme amount of stress," she said. With renewal periods lasting just two years, many recipients are in constant limbo, unsure if their work permits and deportation protections will remain intact. There is a lot at stake, according to immigration lawyers and advocates. "Unless you're living in it … you don't think about the impact it has on the people that are waiting for their lives to be decided by this case," Bouhid-Sollod said.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the sea Thursday morning, South Korea's military said, days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to put his nuclear force fully ready for battle with its rivals.  South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a brief statement that the launch took place off North Korea's eastern coast but gave no details, such as how far the weapon traveled.  Japan's prime minister's office also alerted on its X account that North Korea had launched a suspected ballistic missile, but it did not provide details.  The launch was North Korea's first public weapons firing in more than two months. On July 1, North Korea claimed to have tested a new tactical weapon capable of delivering a "super-large" 4.5 ton-class warhead.  In a speech Monday, Kim said he would redouble efforts to make his nuclear force fully ready for combat with the United States and its allies. He said North Korea faced "a grave threat" because of what he called "the reckless expansion" of a U.S.-led regional military bloc that is now developing into a nuclear-based one.  Kim has made similar vows numerous times, but his latest threat came as outside experts believe North Korea will perform a nuclear test explosion or long-range missile test-launches ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November.  Last week, North Korea also resumed launches of trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea.  Since 2022, North Korea has significantly accelerated its weapons testing in a bid to perfect its capabilities to launch strikes on the U.S. and South Korea. The U.S. and South Korea have responded by expanding military drills that North Korea calls invasion rehearsals.  Last month, Kim had held off from missile tests or other provocative military demonstrations as the United States and South Korea conducted large-scale summertime military exercises. North Korea issued statements berating the allies for raising tensions. 

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were abducting and eating pets, repeating during a televised debate the type of inflammatory and anti-immigrant rhetoric he has promoted throughout his campaigns. There is no evidence that Haitian immigrants in an Ohio community are doing that, officials say. But during the debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump specifically mentioned Springfield, Ohio, the town at the center of the claims, saying that immigrants were taking over the city. "They're eating the dogs. They're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there," he said. Harris called Trump "extreme" and laughed after his comment. Debate moderators pointed out that city officials have said the claims are not true. Trump's comments echoed claims made by his campaign, including his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, and other Republicans. The claims attracted attention this week when Vance posted on social media that his office has "received many inquiries" about Haitian migrants abducting pets. Vance acknowledged Tuesday it was possible "all of these rumors will turn out to be false." Officials have said there have been no credible or detailed reports about the claims, even as Trump and his allies use them to amplify racist stereotypes about Black and brown immigrants. While president, Trump questioned why the U.S. would accept people from "s—hole" countries such as Haiti and some in Africa. His 2024 campaign has focused heavily on illegal immigration, often referencing in his speeches crimes committed by migrants. He argues immigrants are responsible for driving up crime and drug abuse in the United States and taking resources from American citizens. Here's a closer look at how the false claims have spread. How did this get started? On September 6, a post surfaced on X that shared what looked like a screengrab of a social media post apparently out of Springfield. The retweeted post talked about the person's "neighbor's daughter's friend" seeing a cat hanging from a tree to be butchered and eaten, claiming without evidence that Haitians lived at the house. The accompanying photo showed a Black man carrying what appeared to be a Canada goose by its feet. That post continued to be shared on social media. On Monday, Vance posted on X: "Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country. Where is our border czar?" he said. The next day, Vance posted again on X about Springfield, saying his office had received inquiries from residents who said "their neighbors' pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants. It's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false." Other Republicans shared similar posts. Among them was Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who posted a photo of kittens with a caption that said to vote for Trump "So Haitian immigrants don't eat us." Hours before Trump's debate with Harris, he posted two related photos on his social media site. One Truth Social post was a photo of Trump surrounded by cats and geese. Another featured armed cats wearing MAGA hats. A billboard campaign launched by the Republican Party of Arizona at 12 sites in metropolitan Phoenix plays off the false rumors. The billboard image resembles a Chick-fil-A ad, portraying four kittens and urging people to "Vote Republican!" and "Eat Less Kittens." Chick-fil-A said the party didn't reach out to the restaurant chain before running the ad, declining to comment further. In a statement, the state party said the ad humorously underscores the need for border security. What do officials in Ohio say? The office of the Springfield city manager, Bryan Heck, issued a statement knocking down the rumors. "In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community," Heck's office said in an emailed statement. Springfield police on Monday told the Springfield News-Sun that they had received no reports of stolen or eaten pets. Governor Mike DeWine held a news conference Tuesday to address the influx of Haitian immigrants to Springfield. He said he will send state troopers to Springfield to help local law enforcement deal with traffic issues and is earmarking $2.5 million over two years to provide more primary health care to immigrant families. DeWine declined to address the allegations, deferring comment to local officials. But he repeatedly spoke in support of the people of Haiti, where his family has long operated a charity. What do we know about a separate case 281 km away? An entirely unrelated incident that occurred last month in Canton, Ohio, quickly and erroneously conflated into the discussion. On Aug. 26, Canton police charged a 27-year-old woman with animal cruelty and disorderly conduct after she "did torture, kill, and eat a cat in a residential area in front (of) multiple people," according to a police report. But Allexis Ferrell is not Haitian. She was born in Ohio and graduated from Canton's McKinley High School in 2015, according to public records and newspaper reports. Court records show she has been in and out of trouble with the law since at least 2017. Messages seeking comment were not returned by several attorneys who have represented her. She is being held in Stark County jail pending a competency hearing next month, according to the prosecutor's office. What do advocates for Haitian immigrants say? The posts create a false narrative and could be dangerous for Haitians in the United States, according to Guerline Jozef, founder and executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a group that supports and advocates for immigrants of African descent "We are always at the receiving end of all kind of barbaric, inhumane narratives and treatments, specifically when it comes to immigration," Jozef said in a phone interview. Her comments echoed White House national security spokesman John Kirby. "There will be people that believe it, no matter how ludicrous and stupid it is," Kirby said. "And they might act on that kind of information, and act on it in a way where somebody could get hurt. So it needs to stop." What is the broader context of Haitians in Ohio and the United States? Springfield, a city of roughly 60,000, has seen its Haitian population grow in recent years. It's impossible to give an exact number, according to the city, but it estimates Springfield's entire county has an overall immigrant population of 15,000. The city also says that the Haitian immigrants are in the country legally under a federal program that allows for them to remain in the country temporarily. Last month the Biden administration granted eligibility for temporary legal status to about 300,000 Haitians already in the United States because conditions in Haiti are considered unsafe for them to return. Haiti's government has extended a state of emergency to the entire country due to endemic gang violence.

TOPEKA, Kansas — State and local election officials from across the country on Wednesday warned that problems with the nation's mail delivery system threaten to disenfranchise voters in the upcoming presidential election, telling the head of the U.S. Postal Service that it hasn't fixed persistent deficiencies.  In an alarming letter, the officials said that in the past year, including the just-concluded primary season, mailed ballots that were postmarked on time were received by local election offices days after the deadline to be counted. They also noted that properly addressed election mail was being returned to them as undeliverable, a problem that could automatically send voters to inactive status through no fault of their own, potentially creating chaos when those voters show up to cast a ballot.  The officials also said that repeated outreach to the Postal Service to resolve the issues had failed and that the widespread nature of the problems made it clear these were "not one-off mistakes or a problem with specific facilities. Instead, it demonstrates a pervasive lack of understanding and enforcement of USPS policies among its employees."  The letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy came from two groups that represent top election administrators in all 50 states.  "We have not seen improvement or concerted efforts to remediate our concerns," they told DeJoy.  "We implore you to take immediate and tangible corrective action to address the ongoing performance issues with USPS election mail service," they added. "Failure to do so will risk limiting voter participation and trust in the election process."  'Ready to deliver' The Postal Service on Wednesday reiterated DeJoy's assurances that it's well positioned to swiftly deliver election mail despite being in the midst of a network modernization that has caused some delivery hiccups. Mail is being delivered in 2.7 days on average, officials said.  However, the Postal Service is urging voters not to procrastinate.  "We are ready to deliver. We were successful in 2020 delivering a historic volume of mail-in ballots; also in 2022 and will do so again in November 2024," Adrienne Marshall, director of election mail and government services, said in a statement.  The two groups, the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors, said local election officials "in nearly every state" are receiving timely postmarked ballots after Election Day and outside the three to five business days USPS claims as the standard for first-class mail.  The letter comes less than two weeks after DeJoy said in an interview that the Postal Service was ready to handle a flood of mail ballots expected as part of this November's presidential election and as former President Donald Trump continues to sow doubts about U.S. elections by falsely claiming he won in 2020.  That year, amid the global pandemic, election officials reported sending just more than 69 million ballots in the mail, a substantial increase from four years earlier.  While it's likely that number will be smaller now, many voters have embraced mail voting and come to rely on it. And both Democrats and Republicans have launched efforts to push supporters to vote early, either in person or by mail to "bank" their votes before Election Day on November 5.  Officials in rural states have been critical of the Postal Service for years as it has consolidated mail-processing centers to cut its costs and financial losses.  Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, the recent past president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, sent his own letter in recent days to DeJoy. He said nearly 1,000 ballots from his state's August 6 primary election couldn't be counted because they arrived too late or without postmarks — and more continue to come in.  "The Pony Express is more efficient at this point," Schwab posted on the social media platform X in late August.  Schwab and other Kansas election officials also have said some ballots arrive on time but without postmarks, which keeps them from being counted under Kansas law. What's more, Schwab told DeJoy, local postal clerks have told election officials that they can't add postmarks later even if it's clear that the Postal Service handled the ballot ahead of the mail-in deadline.  Schwab has promoted the use of local ballot drop boxes for voting in advance, breaking with other Republicans who have suggested without evidence that they can be sources of fraud. Schwab has long said the boxes are more secure than the U.S. mail.  "Keep your ballot out of the hands of the federal government!" he advised voters in a post on X after the August primary. 

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washington — Threats from China, Russia and North Korea have fueled debate in Washington about whether the United States should consider redeploying tactical nuclear weapons to the Indo-Pacific region, with leading U.S. Senate members expressing opposing views. Earlier in May, Republican Senator Roger Wicker, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, put forward a military spending plan that included the idea of redeploying U.S. tactical nuclear arms that were withdrawn from South Korea more than three decades ago. Another Republican, Senator James Risch, who is the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told VOA Korean last month in an email statement that the U.S. should “explore options for returning nuclear weapons to the Pacific theater for the purpose of strengthening extended deterrence." The term “extended deterrence” refers to the U.S. commitment to respond in kind to a nuclear attack on South Korea. Drawing a contrast, Democratic Senator Jack Reed, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters Monday in a phone conference that he didn't think that U.S. tactical nuclear weapons should be redeployed to the Korean Peninsula, adding that it could provoke a “major response from the Chinese.”   Redeployment of nukes The U.S. government has made it clear that the U.S. does not plan to redeploy its tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula. “We believe that the only effective way to reduce nuclear threats on the peninsula is by curbing the proliferation of nuclear weapons,” a State Department spokesperson said in an emailed statement to VOA last week. In 1991, the U.S. withdrew from South Korea all of its nuclear weapons, or about 100, according to some studies. The U.S. has been closely watching the growing military cooperation among China, Russia and North Korea, especially in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It has identified the three nations as threats to stability in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. On August 22, the White House confirmed to VOA that a new “nuclear employment guidance” had been issued. The terms of the classified document are not public, but The New York Times quoted two senior administration officials as saying that it “seeks to prepare the United States for possible coordinated nuclear challenges from China, Russia and North Korea." "The guidance issued earlier this year is not a response to any single entity, country, nor threat,” White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in an email to VOA. “We have repeatedly voiced concerns about the advancing nuclear arsenals of Russia, PRC [China] and the DPRK [North Korea].” Vipin Narang, who recently served as the acting assistant secretary of defense for space policy, said in an August forum held by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies that the United States may need to seek “a change in the size or posture” of nuclear forces to deal with threats from China, Russia and North Korea. Growing threats In South Korea, there is growing uneasiness about the U.S. capability to protect South Korea from North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile weapons. North Korea’s state Korean Central News Agency on Sunday released a photo showing the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, inspecting a new 12-axle transporter erector launcher (TEL), which could be used to launch a new, longer missile to potentially attack the United States. The next day, in a speech celebrating the country’s founding anniversary, Kim vowed to increase the number of nuclear weapons “exponentially.” Amid these geopolitical tensions, U.S.-based experts appear to be divided about whether the U.S. should redeploy tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula.     Richard Lawless, former deputy undersecretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security, said the idea that South Korea would be intimidated by China, Russia or South Korea from even beginning a discussion on the subject with Washington “is failed logic.” “Many Americans continue to fail to appreciate the threat of North Korea and China, typically playing down the latter.” Robert Peters, a research fellow for nuclear deterrence and missile defense at the Heritage Foundation, told VOA Korean via email that he supported the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea. “I’m concerned about the credibility of our deterrent in the face of North Korean nuclear expansion and Chinese nuclear breakout,” Peters said, adding that stationing nonstrategic nuclear weapons within the theater gives the U.S. president “far more optionality when crafting a deterrence message during times of acute crisis or conflict than if he or she could rely solely on strategic nuclear weapons.” Opposing views But Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation, said he was against redeploying U.S. tactical nuclear weapons. “Placing such high-value weapons in a static, fixed bunker makes a very tempting preemptive target for North Korea,” Klingner told VOA Korean on Tuesday via email. “During a crisis, it could even lower deterrence by making Pyongyang more likely to initiate a preemptive attack on the bunker prior to the weapons being deployed on mobile launch platforms.” Gary Samore, former White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction during the Obama administration, said he didn't support the redeployment of U.S. nuclear weapons to South Korea.     “From a strictly military standpoint, the U.S. can enforce extended deterrence with nuclear-armed submarines and long-range bombers that North Korea cannot defend against,” Samore told VOA Korean on Tuesday via email. “Politically, redeployment of U.S. nuclear weapons in South Korea would be controversial with some Korean political parties and the Korean public and would increase tensions in the region, especially with China and North Korea, and even between South Korea and Japan,” Samore said. Sydney Seiler, who until last year was the national intelligence officer for North Korea on the U.S. National Intelligence Council, told VOA Korean via email Tuesday that “there is a consensus among [U.S. and South Korean] leaders and their senior national security advisers that such a redeployment is unnecessary at this time.”      The Chinese Embassy in Washington told VOA in an email Tuesday that the Chinese “firmly oppose any country’s attempt to use the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue to harm China’s strategic security interests.”     “It is hoped that the U.S. can abandon the cold war mentality and hegemonic logic, adopt a rational and responsible nuclear policy, stop nuclear sharing, extended deterrence, expanding nuclear alliance, and other negative moves, and play a constructive role in maintaining regional and global peace and stability,” Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said Tuesday in a written statement via email, responding to an inquiry from VOA Korean.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump met for what could be their first and only debate on Tuesday. Early numbers suggest that more than 60 million people tuned in to watch the matchup. Dora Mekouar explores whether the debate changed people’s minds about who to vote for.

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.

Abuja, Nigeria — The two-day pan-African AI conference co-hosted by the United States concluded Wednesday in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial hub. Hundreds of delegates including public officials, tech leaders, policy makers academics and entrepreneurs attended the conference to hold talks about the development and use of safe, secure and trustworthy AI systems in Africa. The U.S. deputy secretary of state, Kurt Campbell, spoke at the summit about the opportunity at hand. "A global technology revolution is well under way — the race to develop and deploy new technologies, including artificial intelligence, is already shaping everything about our lives," said Campbell. "We aim to foster collaborations between the United States and Africa AI researchers, policy makers and industry leaders, so that we can work together to drive innovation and address common challenges. This will enable us to share the benefits of AI globally." The conference is a significant step in Africa's technological future. Campbell said artificial intelligence can be used to address problems like global health, food security, education, energy and climate change, and asserted the conference has provided the ground for African voices in AI to shape emerging global AI systems. "I cannot overstate Africa's growing importance in the global technology landscape," said Campbell. "By developing human capital and strengthening research and innovation ecosystems and building and AI ready institutional and regulatory environment, we can help AI work for Africa. The African Union's landmark AI strategy sets the roadmap for African countries to harness AI's potential to achieve developmental aspirations in education, health, agriculture, infrastructure, peace and security and good governance." In July, the African Union launched the continent's Artificial Intelligence Strategy, saying AI is pivotal in transforming Africa into a global technology hub, and it called on member states to adopt the strategy. On Tuesday, Nigeria's minister of communication, innovation and digital economy, Bosun Tijani, announced a $61,000 grant for Nigeria's brightest AI startups. "For us to truly harness artificial intelligence for our collective benefits, we must be deliberate and collaborative in our approach," said Tijani. "We just ensure that our digital transformation journey is inclusive, equitable and human focused." Africa currently represents 2.5% of the global AI market, according to the Artificial Intelligence for Development Africa, or AI4D. But analysts say with more talks about safe use, AI applications could boost Africa's economy by $2.9 trillion by the year 2030 with Kenya, South Africa and Nigerian markets taking the lead.

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United Nations — The U.N. Security Council unanimously renewed for another year an arms embargo on parties in the Darfur region of Sudan, where the war between rival generals has intensified in recent months, exacerbating a dire humanitarian crisis. Sudan’s envoy welcomed the extension but urged the council to go further and sanction the entire Rapid Support Forces militia, the rival of the government-backed Sudanese Armed Forces. “The militia, in its entirety, really needs to be listed, because it fulfills all the conditions,” Ambassador Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed said. “There also needs to be an end to the financing of the militia.” The RSF as it is known, has captured most of Darfur, and a battle has been going on since May over North Darfur’s capital, El Fasher, which is the only Darfuri regional capital not to have fallen to the RSF. Sudan’s military has repeatedly accused the United Arab Emirates of supplying the RSF with arms and ammunition smuggled in through neighboring Chad. The UAE strongly denies the accusations. A report by a United Nations panel of experts earlier this year said there was substance to media reports that cargo planes originating in the UAE capital had landed in eastern Chad with arms, ammunition and medical equipment destined for the paramilitary group. At the meeting, Sudan’s envoy accused the UAE of profiting from his nation’s natural resources, including gold and uranium, and he urged the Security Council to act. “We are calling for clear measures to be taken against those who seek to sabotage the Sudanese economy — namely businesses and companies whose headquarters are in the UAE,” Mohamed said. “The repetition of baseless allegations does not make them true,” Emirati Ambassador Mohamed Abushahab told the council. He urged the army, known as the SAF, to show “political courage” and participate in peace talks to end the war. The SAF sat out U.S.- and Saudi-brokered talks in Geneva in August because the UAE was invited to participate. The United States led the negotiations in the council on the renewal of the Darfur arms embargo, which was first put in place in 2004 during the genocide carried out by Arab Janjaweed fighters against non-Arab ethnic groups in Darfur. Janjaweed fighters make up elements of today's RSF. “Renewing the sanctions measures will restrict the movement of arms into Darfur and sanction individuals and entities contributing to, or complicit in, destabilizing activities of Sudan,” U.S. envoy Robert Wood said. “All of this is critical to helping end the escalating conflict, alleviate humanitarian catastrophe and put Sudan back on the path to stability and security.” The U.S. also has proposed that the Security Council sanction two RSF commanders, but their designation remains in limbo after Russia put a hold on it on August 31. Rights groups said the embargo renewal did not go far enough and should include the whole of Sudan. “The council should correct this failure as soon as possible and expand the arms restrictions to cover all of Sudan, to limit the flow of arms and curb widespread atrocities being committed in the country,” said Human Rights Watch’s Jean-Baptiste Gallopin. Sudan is facing a massive humanitarian crisis as a result of the war between the rival generals that began in April 2023. More than 10 million people have fled their homes in search of safety, and last month, international monitors confirmed famine in North Darfur. Across the country, the United Nations says, 26 million people are in crisis levels of hunger. Human rights violations are also rife. In June, the RSF and SAF were added to an annual U.N. blacklist for perpetrators of grave violations against children. They were named for violations committed last year, including the killing and maiming of children, for attacking schools and hospitals, and in the case of the RSF, for sexual violence and recruiting and using children in their ranks.

Blantyre, Malawi    — Malawi has recently recorded the sudden deaths of dogs that consumed meals prepared from maize husks contaminated with aflatoxins. Veterinary experts say the country has recorded 450 dog deaths since April, when the first cases were identified in Malawi’s commercial city, Blantyre. Aflatoxins are toxic substances produced by fungi that grow on pet food ingredients like peanuts, corn and other grains. Experts warn that the accumulation of those toxins in an animal’s body can lead to liver damage, blood clotting and, in severe cases, death.  Timothy Banda is the veterinary clinic manager at the Blantyre Society for the Protection and Care of Animals, which has been testing the dogs. He told VOA that symptoms include a yellowish tint on the dog‘s skin, hemorrhagic diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, and sometimes vomiting. "For the past two, three weeks, we haven’t received any death from the problem," he said. "But from the time it started somewhere around April up to somewhere around early August, the estimations could be somewhere around 450 dogs so far have died.”  He said the aflatoxin contamination was suspected after it was observed that the dogs were not responding to treatment.  “Under normal circumstances, once we started the right treatment, we could get good results, but in this scenario, they were all dying despite whatever treatment was given. Nothing could work out,” Banda said. Banda said the affected dogs were those fed with nsima, a thick porridge prepared from maize or maize husks.  Alfred Manda, a resident of Chirimba township, told VOA that he lost three dogs in August.  “The kind of food I mostly give out to my dogs is nsima flour made from leftover maize called madeya," he said. "To me, I thought it was a healthy diet. I wish I knew earlier. I could have done things better to save my dogs, but unfortunately this is the sad reality that I have faced.”     Health experts warn that aflatoxins can also cause tumors in the livers of animals and humans. But health officials in Malawi, where maize is the staple food, have not reported any human deaths resulting from consuming contaminated maize.  In Zambia, media reports indicate over 400 dogs died in July after consuming maize meal contaminated with aflatoxins.  Malawi authorities are advising dog owners to switch to alternative foods, such as rice, until the problem is contained.

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MEXICO CITY — Mexico's Senate voted early Wednesday to overhaul the country's judiciary, clearing the biggest hurdle for a controversial constitutional revision that will make all judges stand for election, a change that critics fear will politicize the judicial branch and threaten Mexico's democracy.  The approval came in two votes after hundreds of protesters pushed their way into the Senate on Tuesday, interrupting the session after it appeared that Morena, the governing party of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, had lined up the necessary votes to pass the proposal.  Judicial employees and law students had protested for weeks, saying the plan, under which all judges would be elected, could threaten judicial independence and undermine the system of checks and balances.  The legislation sailed through the lower chamber, where Morena and its allies hold a supermajority, last week. Approval by the Senate posed the biggest obstacle and required defections from opposition parties.  Both of the Senate votes were 86-41. The chamber erupted into cheers and chants of "Yes, we could!"  The legislation must now be ratified by the legislatures of at least 17 of Mexico's 32 states. The governing party is believed to have the necessary support after major gains in recent elections. Oaxaca's legislature became the first to ratify it just hours after the Senate's approval.  President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who takes office October 1, congratulated lawmakers on passing the overhaul.  The election of judges "will strengthen the delivery of justice in our country," Sheinbaum wrote on the social media platform X. "The regime of corruption and privileges each day is being left farther in the past and a true democracy and true rule of law are being built."  López Obrador acknowledged Wednesday that many are against the plan, but said that "it's incredibly important to put an end to corruption and impunity. We're going to make a lot of progress when the people can freely elect judges, magistrates and ministers." Some experts and observers, however, have suggested that the overhaul could have the opposite effect, and allow corrupt individuals and criminals to have more sway over the justice system.  On Tuesday evening, just hours after the governing party appeared to have wrangled the votes it needed, protesters with pipes and chains broke into the Senate chamber.  The protesters said lawmakers were not listening to their demands.  "The judiciary isn't going to fall," yelled the protesters, waving Mexican flags and signs opposing the overhaul. They were joined by a number of opposition senators as they chanted in the chamber. Others outside roared when newscasters announced the Senate was taking a recess.  Among them was Alejandro Navarrete, a 30-year-old judicial worker who said he and his colleagues, "knowing the danger the reform represents," came to call on the Senate to strike down the proposal.  "They have decided to sell out the nation and sell out for political capital they were offered. We felt obligated to enter the Senate," he said, carrying a Mexican flag. "Our intention is not violent, we didn't intend to hurt them, but we intend to make it clear that the Mexican people won't allow them to lead us into a dictatorship."  López Obrador, a populist long averse to independent regulatory bodies who has ignored courts and attacked judges, says the plan would crack down on corruption by making it easier to punish judges. Critics say it would handicap the judiciary, stack courts with judges favoring the president's party, allow anyone with a law degree to become a judge and even make it easier for politicians and criminals to influence courts.  It has spooked investors and prompted U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar to call it a risk to democracy and an economic threat. 

AMMAN — Jordan's moderate Islamist opposition made significant gains in Tuesday's parliamentary election, initial official results showed on Wednesday, boosted by anger over Israel's war in Gaza.  The Islamist Action Front (IAF) also benefited from a new electoral law that encourages a bigger role for political parties in the 138-seat parliament, though tribal and pro-government factions will continue to dominate the assembly.  The IAF, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, won up to a fifth of the seats under the revamped electoral law, which for the first time allocated 41 seats for parties, according to preliminary figures seen by Reuters and confirmed by independent and official sources.  "The Jordanian people have given us their trust by voting for us. This new phase will increase the burden of responsibility for the party towards the nation and our citizens," Wael al Saqqa, head of the IAF, told Reuters.  The IAF win allowed it to capture 31 seats for the first time since parliamentary life was revived in 1989 after decades of martial law. The party has emerged as the largest political grouping in parliament.  "The elections reflect the desire for change and those who voted were not necessarily all Islamists but wanting change and had become fed up with the old ways," said Murad Adailah, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood.  The IAF, the only effective grassroots opposition, praised the authorities for not meddling in polls.  Adailah told Reuters their win was a "popular referendum" that backs their platform of support for the militant Palestinian group Hamas, their ideological allies, and their demand to scrap the country's peace treaty with Israel.  In a country where anti-Israel sentiment runs high, they have led some of the largest protests in the region in support of Hamas in what their opponents say allowed them to increase their popularity.  Hamas has been designated a terror group by the U.S., U.K., EU and others.    The election represents a modest step in a democratization process launched by King Abdullah as he seeks to insulate Jordan from the conflicts at its borders and speed up the slow pace of political reforms.  Under Jordan's constitution, most powers still rest with the king who appoints governments and can dissolve parliament. The assembly can force a cabinet to resign by a vote of no confidence.  The monarch hopes nascent political parties under the new law will help pave the way for governments that emerge from parliamentary majorities.  The voting system still favors sparsely populated tribal and provincial regions over the densely populated cities mostly inhabited by Jordanians of Palestinian descent, which are Islamist strongholds and highly politicized.  Turnout among Jordan's 5.1 million eligible voters in Tuesday's poll was low at 32.25%, initial official figures showed, up slightly from 29% at the last election in 2020.  The Muslim Brotherhood has been allowed to operate in Jordan since 1946. But it fell under suspicion after the Arab Spring, which saw Islamists pitted against established powers in many Arab countries.

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MOSCOW — A Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russians and an American blasted off Wednesday for an express trip to the International Space Station.  The space capsule atop a towering rocket set off at 1623 GMT from Russia's manned space launch facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, and was scheduled to dock with the space station three hours later, in contrast to some missions that last for days.  The mission commander is Alexei Ovchinin, with Russian compatriot Ivan Vagner and American Donald Pettit in the crew.  The blast-off took place without obvious problems and the Soyuz entered orbit eight minutes after liftoff, a relief for Russian space authorities after an automated safety system halted a launch in March because of a voltage drop in the power system.  On the space station, Pettit, Vagner and Ovchinin will join NASA's Tracy Dyson, Mike Barratt, Matthew Dominick, Jeanette Epps, Butch Wilmore, and Suni Williams, and Russians Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, and Oleg Kononenko. 

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris faced each other for the first time Tuesday night in a combative debate as the two presidential candidates clashed over issues including immigration, foreign policy and abortion. Moments after the debate, Taylor Swift told her 283 million Instagram followers that she will be voting for Vice President Harris in the Nov. 5 election. We’ll talk to a political analyst for perspective on whether the debate or the endorsement could change the equation. Americans are commemorating remembering the lives lost on September 11, 2001, when al-Qaida operatives hijacked planes killing nearly 3,000 people. And dangerous zoo animals are washing up in a northeastern Nigerian community.