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Panama has begun deporting migrants who cross the dangerous Darien Gap from Colombia into Panama as part of an agreement with the United States signed in July. Veronica Villafane narrates this story by Oscar Sulbaran.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, Yuliia Lebedynska moved to Brussels with her daughter and granddaughter. She was an entrepreneur in Ukraine but in Belgium, she found herself in a Ukrainian women’s choir.  Valentina Vasileva has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: David Gogokhia  

The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, has been indicted on multiple corruption charges by the U.S. government. Aron Ranen has the story from the Big Apple.

BRUSSELS — s the war in Ukraine enters a critical period, the European Union has decided that it must take responsibility for what it sees as an existential threat to security in its own neighborhood and is preparing to tackle some of the financial burden, perhaps even without the United States. EU envoys have been working in Brussels this week on a proposal to provide Ukraine with a hefty loan package worth up to $39 billion. It was announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a trip to Kyiv last Friday. “Crucially, this loan will flow straight into your national budget," she told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “It will provide you with significant and much-needed fiscal space. You will decide how best to use the funds, giving you maximum flexibility to meet your needs.” Zelenskyy wants to buy weapons and bomb shelters and rebuild Ukraine's shattered energy network as winter draws near. In international matters, particularly involving major conflicts, the EU rarely moves ahead without the U.S., but it hopes this decision will encourage others to come forward. Russian troops and an election close in Almost 1,000 days since their full-scale invasion, Russian forces are making advances in the east. Ukraine’s army has a shaky hold on part of the Kursk region in Russia, which has provided a temporary morale boost, but as casualties mount it remains outmanned and outgunned. On the political front, Zelenskyy hopes to secure support for a “victory plan” that might force Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. He’s trying to persuade U.S. President Joe Biden and other allies to help strengthen Ukraine’s hand in any future talks. But a U.S. election looms, and polls suggest that Donald Trump might return to the White House in January. Trump has been critical of U.S. aid to Ukraine. On Wednesday, he said Zelenskyy should have made concessions to Putin before the invasion began in February 2022. Most of the 27-nation EU fears that a Putin victory would lead to deep uncertainty. Russia’s armed forces are depleted and currently incapable of another war, but the prospect of a future land grab in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania or Poland remains. Reworking a G7 loan plan The EU loans are part of a plan by the Group of Seven major industrialized nations to take advantage of interest earned on about $250 billion worth of frozen Russian assets, most of them held in Europe. These windfall profits are estimated at around $5 billion to $6 billion a year. The profits underpin the G7 plan. The EU would stump up $20 billion, the U.S. $20 billion, and Canada, Japan and the U.K. $10 billion together, for a combined total of $50 billion. The scheme expires at the end of the year, before the next U.S. president takes office. Now, amid differences over how long the Russian asset freeze should be guaranteed, the EU has decided to go it alone. Its offer of up to $39 billion in loans accounts for almost the entirety of the U.S. share as well. The U.S. wants to ensure that the assets are locked away for at least three years to guarantee the income. But EU member Hungary insists this should only happen in 6-month increments. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán styles himself as a peacemaker and is too close to Putin for many of his partners' comfort. The other 26 EU countries feel they must move now because time is running out. Evolving alliance with the United States The U.S. election is just weeks away. The Europeans are wary of Trump’s unpredictability and are testing scenarios to help protect themselves from the kind of battering, like tariff hikes, their economies received during his past presidency. But they also see the Democrats as more inward looking these days. Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act left European leaders fuming over rules that favored American products. China and war in the Middle East are the foreign policy priorities of Democrat or Republican candidates alike, and for now the U.S. is in the grip of election campaign fever. The EU hopes that Vice President Kamala Harris, if she is elected president, would enter the loan program as previously planned and reduce the EU's financial burden. But that remains an open question for now, and EU members say Ukraine’s position is too precarious to hesitate. Political delays in the U.S. Congress last year over a $60 billion support package starved Ukrainian troops of weapons and ammunition for months, resulting in “real consequences on the battlefield,” in the words of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. Pressing ahead on pressing needs Helping Ukraine in military terms is a challenge for the Europeans. They could not do it alone, and cannot match the U.S. transport, logistics and equipment superiority, despite progress in ramping up their defense industries to supply arms and ammunition. But the world’s biggest trading bloc does wield economic might. It has already given Ukraine about $132 billion since the full-scale invasion started. Within weeks it appears ready to provide tens of billions more, even though going it alone is not in the EU's DNA. “I do not know what the Americans, the United States with the new presidency, will do or not,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday. But, he said, “as long as the Ukrainians want to resist, we have to support them. Otherwise, we will make a historical mistake.” The Biden administration did announce Wednesday that the U.S. will send Ukraine a major military aid package, including cluster bombs and an array of rockets, artillery and armored vehicles. A U.S. official also said billions of dollars more in assistance would arrive over the coming months. Meanwhile, deliberations on the EU's share of the G7 loan package will be high on the agenda of a summit of the bloc's leaders in Brussels on October 17-18.

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT — Israel will continue to discuss cease-fire proposals for Lebanon in the days ahead, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday, as Washington warned that further escalation would only make it harder for civilians on both sides to return home. Israel's foreign minister on Thursday rejected global calls for a cease-fire with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group and pressed ahead with airstrikes that have killed hundreds in Lebanon and heightened fears of a regional war. An Israeli strike on Friday killed nine members of a family, including four children, in the Lebanese border town of Shebaa, mayor Mohammad Saab told Reuters. Israeli attacks have killed more than 600 people in Lebanon since Monday, the health ministry says. Hezbollah said it had fired rockets into Israel on Friday at Kiryat Ata near the city of Haifa some 30 kilometers from the border, and the city of Tiberias, declaring the attacks a response to Israel strikes on villages, cities and civilians. Though Israeli air defenses have shot down many of Hezbollah's rockets, limiting the damage they've done, the group's attacks have shut down normal life across much of northern Israel as more areas fall into its crosshairs. The Israeli military said it had intercepted four unmanned aircraft that crossed from Lebanese territory into the maritime space off the coast of Rosh Hanikra at the Lebanese border. The conflict between Israel and the heavily armed Hezbollah is their worst in more than 18 years and part of the spillover that has swept through the Middle East as a result of the Gaza War. Syrian state media reported that an Israeli airstrike on Friday killed five soldiers in Syria, where Israel has intensified a years-long campaign aimed at rolling back the influence of Iran and Hezbollah. The United States and France proposed on Wednesday an immediate 21-day truce across the Lebanese-Israeli border, and said negotiations continued, including on the sidelines of a United Nations meeting in New York. Netanyahu said on Friday that Israeli teams had meetings to discuss the U.S. ceasefire proposals on Thursday and would continue discussions in the days ahead, adding that he appreciated the U.S. efforts. "Our teams met [September 26] to discuss the U.S. initiative and how we can advance the shared goal of returning people safely to their homes. We will continue those discussions in the coming days," he said in a statement. On Thursday, after Netanyahu left for New York where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly, his office issued a statement saying the prime minister had ordered Israeli troops to continue fighting with full force in Lebanon. His statement made no reference to the comments of Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who on Thursday rejected ceasefire proposals, or other Israeli politicians who have echoed that position, saying only that there had been "a lot of misreporting around the U.S.-led ceasefire initiative." Blinken stresses importance of cease-fire  Israel says its campaign aims to secure the return home of tens of thousands of Israelis who have been forced to evacuate areas near the Lebanese border over the last year of hostilities. Hezbollah began firing at Israel on October 8 as the Gaza war began, declaring solidarity with the Palestinians. Hezbollah has said it will only cease fire when Israel's Gaza offensive ends. In Lebanon, more than 90,000 people have been reported as newly displaced this week, according to the U.N. International Organization for Migration, or IOM, adding to more than 111,000 already uprooted by the conflict. The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said 30,000 people had crossed from Lebanon into Syria in the last few days, 80% of them Syrians. Well over a million Syrians fled to Lebanon during the Syrian civil war that erupted in 2011. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israel further escalation would only make it harder for civilians to return home on both sides of the border, the State Department said. "The Secretary discussed the importance of reaching an agreement on the 21-day cease-fire across the Israel-Lebanon border," the State Department said in a statement on Thursday, referring to talks between Blinken and Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer. "He underscored that further escalation of the conflict will only make that objective [of civilian return] more difficult." The State Department added that Blinken also discussed efforts to reach a cease-fire in Gaza and steps that Israel needs to take to improve delivery of humanitarian assistance in the enclave where nearly the entire 2.3 million population is displaced and faces a hunger crisis.  

NEW YORK — Donald Trump is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as public tensions have been rising between the two over Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion.  Trump said Zelenskyy asked for the meeting. The visit is set for about 9:45 a.m. Eastern Time at Trump Tower in New York, less than a day after Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s Democratic opponent, met with the Ukrainian leader and expressed unwavering support.  “I look forward to seeing him tomorrow,” Trump said in a press conference Thursday. “I believe I will be able to make a deal between President [Vladimir] Putin and President Zelenskyy, quite quickly.”  The meeting is highly anticipated and comes as Election Day nears, with Trump and Harris taking sharply different positions on backing Ukraine in the third year of its war with Russia.  Trump argues Putin would never have invaded had he been president while derisively calling Zelenskyy a “salesman” for getting U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump has in recent days praised Russia’s historic military victories and insisted the U.S. needs “to get out” and end its involvement with Ukraine.  Friday's meeting almost wasn't scheduled despite Zelenskyy’s office saying something had been planned during the Ukrainian leader’s visit to the U.N. General Assembly, during which he is making his endgame pitch to allies.  In an interview with The New Yorker magazine that was published earlier this week, Zelenskyy implied Trump does not understand and oversimplifies the conflict. The Ukrainian leader said Trump's running mate JD Vance was “too radical” and had essentially advocated for Ukraine to “make a sacrifice” by “giving up its territories.”  Trump ripped Zelenskyy and Ukraine on two separate occasions this week. Speaking Wednesday in North Carolina, Trump referred to Ukraine as “demolished” and its people as “dead.”  “Any deal — the worst deal — would’ve been better than what we have now,” Trump said. “If they made a bad deal, it would’ve been much better. They would’ve given up a little bit and everybody would be living, and every building would be built and every tower would be aging for another 2,000 years.”  Meanwhile, Harris on Thursday stood alongside Zelenskyy and said Trump's push for Ukraine to quickly cut a deal to end the war were “not proposals for peace,” but “proposals for surrender.” Trump on Thursday said he was not advocating for a surrender.  While Trump and Vance have long been skeptics of U.S. backing for Ukraine, other Republican allies of the former president have backed Kyiv's defense against Moscow's invasion and argue supporting Ukraine is in America's interest.  One ally of both Ukraine and Trump is Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. At a closed-door meeting Zelenskyy had with senators on Capitol Hill, also on Thursday, Graham stood up and said he had been talking to Trump about the Ukrainian president, according to a person familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss the private meeting.  Graham told those in the room he would talk to Zelenskyy privately about his conversations with Trump, the person said. As the meeting came to a close, Graham pulled Zelenskyy aside and the two had a private conversation.  Graham is close to the former president, despite an on-again-off-again relationship, and has often played a role as an intermediary on various subjects. He did not respond to a message seeking comment Thursday. 

Johannesburg — This week at U.N. meetings in New York, the United States said that two African countries should have permanent seats on one of the world’s major decision-making bodies, the United Nations Security Council. For years, numerous African leaders have called for the continent to have representation on the U.N. Security Council, which since World War II has had just five permanent members: the U.S., France, the UK, Russia and China. This week, the top representative of one of those permanent seats, U.S. President Joe Biden, threw his weight behind the idea. However, there was one major caveat, which Kenyan analyst Cliff Mboya said is not going over well on the continent. The new African members would not have veto power on decisions. “We’ve already seeing a lot of backlash… like this is a big joke, the question is what is the point in joining the Security Council if you don’t have veto powers, what are you going to do there?” asked Mboya. That could play in China’s favor, as it has long positioned itself as a fellow developing country and leader of what’s become known as the Global South, while disparaging the West for its colonial past, said Mboya, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg. “So I don’t think this helps the U.S. and the West in terms of perception and narratives, and it will only embolden African countries to lean more to the East because it just speaks to the hypocrisy," he said. "China’s been able to, you know, build this coalition of emerging and developing countries against the U.S. and Western-led world order.” But Paul Nantulya, a research associate with the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, said he thought the announcement was a “win’’ for U.S. diplomacy and would mostly be welcomed by African nations as it opens the door to further negotiations. “Regarding China, China has been very, you know, kind of like sitting on the fence. So rhetorically China has said all the right things, supporting Africa’s, what it calls Africa’s legitimate interests in the United Nations, including the United Nations Security Council,” he said. But its plan for that has been hazy, he added. “When it comes to specific details, in terms of whether China supports permanent African representation on the council with veto power, when it comes to that China has not articulated a position.” Among those in New York this week calling for U.N. reform was South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. He said, quote: “Africa and its 1.4 billion people remain excluded from its key decision-making structures.” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also called for reform, saying the UNSC hasn’t kept up with a changing world and Africa is underrepresented. Some African countries want veto power in the Security Council dispensed with entirely. If there is reform, and Africa gets the two seats on the Security Council that the U.S. proposes, key contenders could include the continent’s largest economy, South Africa; most populous country, Nigeria; or North African heavyweight Egypt, Nantulya told VOA. However, analysts say any future process of adding African countries as permanent members is likely to face hurdles, as there will be problems reaching consensus. Nantulya said some African politicians think it could even drive a wedge between countries on the continent. There are also concerns the U.S. statement could just be rhetoric — and so far no timeline has been given regarding the next steps. Under U.N. rules, any change to Security Council membership would need approval from two-thirds of the General Assembly, including all five permanent members.

TOKYO — Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba was set on Friday to become Japan's next prime minister after winning a closely fought contest in his fifth and final attempt to lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The 67-year-old prevailed over hardline nationalist Sanae Takaichi in a run-off vote in what was one of the most unpredictable leadership elections in decades with a record nine candidates in the field. The leader of the LDP, which has ruled Japan for almost all of the post-war era, is essentially assured of becoming the next premier because of its majority in parliament. The scramble to replace current premier Fumio Kishida was sparked in August when he announced his intention to step down over a series of scandals that plunged the LDP's ratings to record lows. "We must believe in the people, speak the truth with courage and sincerity, and work together to make Japan a safe and secure country where everyone can live with a smile once again," an emotional Ishiba said in a brief speech to lawmakers after the result. Ishiba must quell anger at home over rising living costs and navigate a volatile security environment in East Asia fueled by an increasingly assertive China and nuclear-armed North Korea. His approach to diplomacy with Japan's closest ally, the United States, will be in focus given he has repeatedly called for a more balanced relationship. In his campaign, he also called for the creation of an Asian NATO, an idea that could draw ire from Beijing and has already been dismissed by a senior U.S. official as hasty. U.S. ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, congratulated Ishiba in a post on X saying he looked forward to working with him to strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance. Ishiba entered parliament in 1986 after a short banking career, but his outspoken views have earned him enemies in the LDP. He was sidelined by outgoing prime minister Kishida, instead becoming a dissenting voice in the party who enjoyed broad support from the public and rank-and-file members. He has rebelled on policies including the increased use of nuclear energy and has criticized his party for not allowing married couples to use separate surnames. His contrarian views and spats with colleagues contributed to four previous failed leadership bids. He has said this was his "final battle."

PATNA, India — Dozens of children drowned while bathing in rivers and ponds in rituals that were part of a three-day Hindu festival in eastern India's Bihar state, officials said. Heavy monsoon rains recently had raised the levels of waterways across the state.  At least 46 people, including 37 children, drowned in separate incidents across the state's 15 districts, a statement from Bihar's disaster management department said. Authorities have recovered 43 bodies so far, and the three missing people are presumed to be dead. During the annual festival, mothers fast for 24 hours for the well-being of their children. The women are sometimes accompanied by their children when they visit rivers and ponds for cleansing rituals. The festival concluded Thursday. The state government has announced a compensation of 400,000 rupees ($4,784) for the families of each of the dead. Deadly accidents like drownings and stampedes during religious festivals are common in India. In July, at least 121 people were killed after severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India.

United Nations — Sudan’s de facto ruler said Thursday that he wants to end the war in his country, but he said he will not sit with his rival general unless he withdraws his fighters. "We are keen on stopping the war and restoring peace and security, without any pre-conditions," Army Chief Abdel-Fattah al Burhan told reporters in New York, where he was attending U.N. General Assembly meetings. However, he stated several conditions for talks to start. "We will never sit with Hemedti unless his forces pull out, and unless they implement what we agreed to," he said referring to his rival, the head of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as "Hemedti." Once allies in Sudan's transitional government following a 2021 coup, the two generals have turned into bitter rivals for power. On April 15, 2023, fighting erupted between their forces in the capital, Khartoum. It has since spread across Sudan, resulting in widespread atrocities and killing. Burhan was asked about new fighting that erupted between his forces and the RSF in Khartoum on Thursday, but did not offer any new details. Earlier Thursday, Burhan addressed the U.N. General Assembly annual debate. He used most of his speech to talk about the war in his country. Not to be outdone, his rival, Hemedti, issued a "General Assembly speech" of his own, on the social media platform X. Ten million people have been displaced and half of Sudan’s population, 26 million people, are struggling with crisis levels of food insecurity.  Famine was confirmed in August in Sudan’s Darfur region, which has seen heavy fighting. At least 14 other areas of Sudan are considered at risk of famine in the coming months. "The food gap is there, but it hasn’t reached the level of famine yet," Burhan told reporters. Regarding efforts by the United States and Saudi Arabia to bring the parties to the negotiating table in Switzerland in August, the army chief said it didn’t happen because "external parties interfered" with the process. The Sudanese military accuses the United Arab Emirates of arming and equipping the RSF. The UAE was invited to a meeting in Switzerland in August and Burhan did not attend. He said he was also not happy with how the invitation was sent to him – in his personal capacity, not as head of state. He added that any peace process should be purely Sudanese-led. Asked about a July phone call he had with the leader of the UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Burhan said he told the Emirati that the RSF has received either direct or indirect assistance from the UAE in the forms of weapons and training. He said MBZ, as the UAE leader is known, "promised to reconsider the situation." A report by a U.N. 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 RSF. Publicly, the UAE denies that it arms the RSF and says it has only sent humanitarian aid to Sudan.

METETI, Panama — Migrant crossings through the treacherous Darien Gap that connects Panama to Colombia are down by over a third in the year's first nine months, a Panamanian border official said on Thursday, crediting heightened security by the new government. Between January and September 25, 259,712 migrants arrived in Panama through the Darien, a 35% decrease compared with the same period in 2023, said Alexis de Gracia, head of the National Border Service's eastern brigade, citing official data. Panamanian authorities attribute the drop to stricter security measures implemented by the government of President Jose Raul Mulino since he took office on July 1. The new government's efforts include the closing of some routes through the jungle passage and increasing deportations with U.S. support. The data also come nearly four months after U.S. President Joe Biden instituted a broad asylum ban on migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Panama has become a transit route for hundreds of thousands of migrants, most of them seeking to reach the United States. Last year, a record 520,000 migrants - most of them Venezuelans -- crossed the Darien in search of better opportunities in the north. In July, Mulino's first month in office, 20,519 migrants crossed the Darien, down 34% from June and less than half of the number of migrants who crossed in the same month last year. In August there were 19% fewer crossings compared with the previous month and five times fewer compared with the same month in 2023, according to official data. Some analysts are skeptical the government's measures will succeed in the medium term without addressing the root causes of migration, while some also fear the measures could make travel even more dangerous for migrants. Further, "there is the possibility that they use other routes," De Gracia said, and the government's measures could have pushed migrants to use routes from Colombia through the Caribbean in lieu of the Darien Gap.