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N'Djamena, Chad — Severe flooding in Chad since July has claimed 503 lives and affected around 1.7 million people since July, the United Nations said Saturday in its latest assessment of the disaster.  The floods have destroyed 212,111 houses, flooded 357,832 hectares of fields, and drowned 69,659 heads of cattle, said the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Chad.  All of the country's provinces have been hit, Chad's water and energy minister Marcelin Kanabe Passale told journalists Saturday morning, warning of more trouble to come.  "The waters of the Logone and Chari rivers have reached a critical height likely to cause obvious serious flooding in the coming days," Passale said.  N'Djamena, Chad's capital, is located where the Logone and Chari rivers flow into each other.  Passale recommended that all water from private wells be treated with chlorine before consumption.  A flood-monitoring committee had been set up to "assess the risks associated with the pollution of drinking water supplies and rising river levels," he added.  The U.N. warned in early September of the impact of "torrential rains and severe flooding" in the wider region, particularly in Chad, calling for immediate action and funding to tackle climate change.  This summer has been the hottest recorded globally since records have been kept, with a slew of record temperatures, heatwaves, drought and severe flooding. 

BALTIMORE — Federal agents on Saturday boarded a vessel managed by the same company that managed a cargo ship that caused a deadly bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, the FBI confirmed. In statements, spokespeople for the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland confirmed that authorities boarded the Maersk Saltoro. The ship is managed by Synergy Marine Group. "The Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division and Coast Guard Investigative Services are present aboard the Maersk Saltoro conducting court authorized law enforcement activity," statements from both the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office said Saturday morning. Authorities did not offer further specifics. The Washington Post first reported on federal authorities boarding the ship. The raid came several months after investigators conducted a similar search of the Dali, the cargo ship that crashed into the bridge. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department alleged that Dali owner Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and manager Synergy Marine, both of Singapore, recklessly cut corners and ignored known electrical problems on the vessel, which lost power multiple times minutes before it crashed into a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March. The Justice Department said mechanical and electrical systems on the massive ship had been “jury-rigged” and improperly maintained, culminating in the power outages and a cascade of other failures that left its pilots and crew helpless in the face of looming disaster. The ship was leaving Baltimore for Sri Lanka when its steering failed because of the power loss. Six members of a road work crew were killed when the bridge crumbled into the water. The collapse also snarled commercial shipping traffic through the Port of Baltimore for months before the channel was fully reopened in June. The Justice Department is seeking to recover more than $100 million the government spent to clear the underwater debris and reopen the city’s port. The companies filed a court petition days after the collapse seeking to limit their legal liability in what could become the most expensive marine casualty case in history. Justice Department officials said there is no legal support for that bid to limit liability and pledged to vigorously contest it. In its lawsuit, which also seeks punitive damages, the Justice Department argued that vessel owners and operators need to be "deterred from engaging in such reckless and exceedingly harmful behavior." That includes Grace Ocean and Synergy themselves because the Dali has a "sister ship," authorities wrote in the claim. The two companies "need to be deterred because they continue to operate their vessels, including a sister ship to the Dali, in U.S. waters and benefit economically from those activities," the lawsuit says. Darrell Wilson, a Grace Ocean spokesperson, confirmed that the FBI and Coast Guard boarded the Maersk Saltoro in the Port of Baltimore on Saturday morning. Wilson has previously said the owner and manager "look forward to our day in court to set the record straight." Like the Dali, the Singapore-flagged Saltoro was built by Hyundai in 2015. According to the Justice Department lawsuit, major issues with the Dali’s electrical system might have resulted from excessive vibrations on the ship that can loosen wires and damage connections. A prior captain of the vessel had reported “heavy vibration” in his handover notes in May 2023, saying he had made similar reports to Synergy in the past, according to the complaint. The lawsuit noted cracked equipment in the engine room and pieces of cargo shaken loose. The ship’s electrical equipment was in such bad condition that an independent agency stopped further electrical testing because of safety concerns, according to the lawsuit. The ship had also experienced power outages while it was still docked in Baltimore. Those blackouts are considered “reportable marine casualties” that must be reported to the U.S. Coast Guard, which authorities say never happened. The Dali, which was stuck amid the wreckage of the collapse for months before it could be extricated and refloated, departed Norfolk, Virginia, on Thursday afternoon en route to China on its first international voyage since the March 26 disaster. Justice Department officials refused to answer questions Wednesday about whether a criminal investigation into the bridge collapse remains ongoing. FBI agents boarded the Dali in April.

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.

WILMINGTON, N.C. — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump returned to North Carolina on Saturday, stumping in the southern battleground state that both Democrats and Republicans are treating as increasingly critical to victory in November. But the former president campaigned in Wilmington, along the state's southern coast, without Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, the Republican gubernatorial nominee and one of the former president's top surrogates in the state, following a CNN report about his alleged posts on a pornography website’s message board. Robinson has denied writing the posts, which include lewd and racist comments, saying Thursday that he wouldn’t be forced out of the race by “salacious tabloid lies.” Trump's campaign has appeared to distance itself from Robinson in the wake of the CNN reporting, which the AP has not independently verified, saying in a statement to the AP that Trump “is focused on winning the White House and saving this country" and calling North Carolina “a vital part of that plan," without mentioning Robinson. While Robinson won his Republican gubernatorial primary in March, he’s been trailing in several recent polls to Democratic nominee Josh Stein, the state’s attorney general. State Republican officials have stood by Robinson, whose decision to keep campaigning could threaten Republican prospects in other key races, including Trump’s efforts in a battleground state he previously won twice. Democrats have seized on the opportunity to highlight Trump's ties to Robinson, with billboards showing the two together, as well as a new ad from Vice President Kamala Harris ' campaign highlighting the Republican candidates' ties as well as Robinson's support for a statewide abortion ban without exceptions. According to Harris' campaign, it's their first ad effort related to tying Trump to a down-ballot race. Outdoor rally Trump's first outdoor rally since the second apparent attempt to assassinate him was at a Wilmington airport, where a large American flag hung from a crane, with hundreds of chairs and standing room for many more spectators. Bulletproof glass surrounded the area on stage, a new precaution for outdoor venues the Secret Service implemented after a bullet grazed Trump's ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Charlie Kimball, a 46-year-old former construction worker from Burgaw, who said he is on disability, dismissed the allegations against Robinson as “fake news." “That’s his personal life. Who cares?” Kimball said. “It’s all hearsay. … It’s not true. It’s all speculation. Where’s the proof?" A Republican has carried North Carolina in every general election since 1976 save one, when Barack Obama won the state in 2008. Trump won there in both his previous campaigns but by less than 1.5 percentage points over Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, the closest margin of any state that Trump won. That's part of why Democrats see the state as winnable this fall. With neither Senate seat up for grabs, the gubernatorial contest has been North Carolina's marquee down-ballot race this year. Robinson has become a natural top surrogate for Trump in the state and a frequent presence at campaign events there, appearing with the nominee as recently as last month at an event. Trump has long praised Robinson, who is Black, referring to him as “Martin Luther King on steroids." Endorsing Robinson ahead of the Republican gubernatorial primary, Trump continued: “I think you’re better than Martin Luther King. I think you are Martin Luther King times two.” State up for grabs While more visits have been made by presidential contenders to the Rust Belt battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, both Harris and Trump have made multiple trips to North Carolina, highlighting the state’s importance. Following Biden’s departure from the race in July, Trump held his first large-scale rally there, turning his full focus toward Harris. Wilmington is home to New Hanover County, which Biden won in 2020. But his margin over Trump in the county was among his slimmest in the state. Julia Novotny, 55, of Wilmington, said she's come around to supporting Trump after initial reservations because of allegations that he's been sexually abusive to women, which he denies. “He’s classy, he’s a gentleman, he looks good in a suit, and he has strong values,” Novotny said. “Everybody makes mistakes, and whether he did or didn’t, I don’t know, but you know what? Leave him alone. He’s a good man. He wants to change this country. Our country is in the dirt, and the only man who pulls us out is Donald Trump.”

PHOENIX — Vice President Kamala Harris is stepping up her efforts to win over voters who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, enlisting prominent members of the faith to make the case in pivotal Arizona that Donald Trump does not align with the church's values. Her state campaign announced on Thursday an advisory committee to formalize the outreach to current and former members of the church, widely known as the Mormon church. With nearly 450,000 church members in Arizona, about 6% of the state's population, Latter-day Saints and former church members could prove critical in what will likely be an extremely close race. Latter-day Saints have traditionally voted Republican and are likely to remain part of the GOP coalition. Clustered in solidly Republican states, they have long been a major force in GOP primaries and local politics across the West, but they have not held much sway in national elections. In 2020, about seven in 10 Mormon voters nationally supported Trump, according to AP VoteCast, while about one-quarter backed Democrat Joe Biden. Core to Harris’ strategy is preventing Trump from running up big margins with demographic groups that favor him. While she is unlikely to win anything close to a majority of Latter-day Saints, picking up a small share of their votes would make a big difference in a state with a recent history of tight elections. Biden won by just under 10,500 votes in 2020. Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes won by just 280 in 2022. Constitution and faith Latter-day Saints supporting Harris in Arizona make a faith-based appeal for backing the Democratic ticket despite any reservations, pointing to church teaching that the U.S. Constitution is divinely inspired. “The Constitution is a tenet of our faith, and we certainly shouldn't be voting for people who have shown a disdain for it,” said Joel John, a former Republican state lawmaker who will serve as a co-chair of the committee. “And we certainly shouldn't be supporting someone who tried to overthrow it on January 6.” John said that explains how his faith guides his own support for Harris but emphasized he's not speaking on behalf of the church and doesn't judge Latter-day Saints who vote differently. The Salt Lake City-based church does not endorse candidates or political parties, but John said Latter-day Saints are encouraged to elect politicians who are “good, honest and wise." He said those are moral traits that Trump lacks and that transcend any policy differences they might have with Harris, such as her economic plans or position on gun rights. Halee Dobbins, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, said Democrats have “allowed progressive policies to erode traditional values." “President Trump has consistently stood with believers by protecting religious institutions, appointing constitutionalist Justices, and defending Christian values nationally and abroad,” Dobbins said in a statement. “He has made it a priority to protect religious communities, not fight against them.” Trump behavior While many conservative-leaning religious voters warmed to him long ago, Trump has struggled to win over Latter-day Saints. For many members of the church, Trump's penchant for foul language and demeaning rhetoric toward women and people of color clashes with the church's values of humility, morality and compassion. It has not helped that Trump has feuded with U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, among the best known members of the church, and former U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. In Arizona, Latter-day Saints make up an outsize share of the population in metro Phoenix's East Valley, a suburban area where ticket-splitting voters have rejected Trump-backed Republicans, helping to push a reliable GOP state into a battleground. Mesa, Arizona's third-largest city with more than 500,000 people, traces its modern history to a settlement founded by pioneers from the faith in the 1800s. Church members also settled in swaths of rural Arizona and their descendants remain deeply rooted there. Voting on morals Democratic efforts to woo Latter-day Saints are not new. Hillary Clinton in 2016 drew parallels between Trump's pledge to stop Muslim immigration and the history of religious persecution against Latter-day Saints. Biden went further four years later, investing in organizing church members as Harris is trying to do now. The “social expectation" for members of the faith to align with conservatives is strong, but Harris has an opening in particular to win over younger Latter-day Saints, who, like the country at large, are more diverse, said Brittany Romanello, an anthropologist, Mellon postdoctoral fellow and faculty associate at Arizona State University. Her research includes culture and identity of Latter-day Saints. “Mormons have been shown to have this attitude that they aren’t just voting based on party affiliation only,” said Romanello, who was raised in the church but is no longer practicing. “They’re voting based on morals.”

london — The Chaser, a news website run by Hong Kong journalists in Britain, says Google informed the diaspora media outlet that its company email was being targeted by "government-backed attacks."   China is presumed to be behind the attacks, something Beijing denies. Analysts say the case highlights the growing difficulties Hong Kong journalists face both at home and overseas.  On Tuesday, The Chaser published a report about the incident on its website, including a screenshot of the email from Google about the government-backed attack. The email listed the severity of the attack as high.  According to Google, only 0.1% of users worldwide have been subjected to similar attacks. Google also pointed out that it cannot rule out that the warning may be a false alarm, but the company believes it has detected suspicious activities.  These could include attempts to steal passwords or personal information through emails containing harmful attachments, harmful software download links or links to fake websites.  VOA reached out to Google for more details on the attack but has yet to receive a response.  'There is no way out' The Chaser said it immediately reviewed all online security measures after receiving the notice and has taken the necessary protective actions.  The Chaser said in a statement, "At a time when Hong Kong's press is mired in the White Terror, the invisible black hand has unscrupulously reached out to the diaspora media overseas.  "Our team members are from Hong Kong and came to the UK three years ago, hoping to continue chasing news on free soil. In today's turbulent world of press freedom in Hong Kong, there is no way out. Our team strongly condemns all threats to press freedom and pledges to remain at our posts."  VOA efforts to seek a response from China's Embassy in Britain were unsuccessful, but the Chinese Embassy in Washington denied that China was involved in the cyberattack.   "China firmly opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyberattacks in accordance with law. Without valid evidence, they jumped to an unwarranted conclusion and made groundless accusations against China," the embassy said in an emailed statement Thursday. "It is extremely irresponsible and is a complete distortion of facts. China firmly opposes this."  Last month, The Chaser released an investigative report that said the Chinese Embassy in Britain had pressured Dragons Teaching, a British publishing house, in 2018 to remove the phrase "Republic of China" from chapters about Taiwan in Chinese textbooks. The Republic of China is Taiwan's official name.   Beijing is relentless in its global campaign to quash any recognition of the democratically ruled island — no matter how small.    The publishing house eventually gave in to pressure from Beijing, according to the report from The Chaser. The textbooks are used in exams for secondary school courses in Britain. The Chinese Embassy in Britain has declined to comment on the incident and report, though other British media picked up the story.  Journalists report harassment  The cyberattack comes as journalists in Hong Kong are under increasing pressure.  Last week, the Hong Kong Journalists Association said that from June to August of this year, dozens of journalists, their families, employers, landlords or neighbors were harassed and intimidated in different ways on the internet and in their daily lives, which was unprecedented.  Benson Wong, a Hong Kong political scholar living in Britain, doesn't believe the attacks on The Chaser and other Hong Kong journalists are purely coincidental, especially as China's National Day is approaching.  "From their point of view, it is understandable that the national security and intelligence units would do some things or do some 'homework' as part of their performance," he said.  He said he believes the attack is meant to send a signal that Hong Kong journalists who make critical remarks about China cannot expect to be safe from interference or even attacks just because they move overseas.  VOA reached out to Britain's National Cyber Security Center for comment on the attack but has yet to receive a response.  Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.

washington — The killing of a Japanese schoolboy in southern China has sparked worry among Japanese expatriots living in China, while online comments from Chinese people show reactions ranging from shock to cynicism.  The 10-year-old boy, surnamed Shen, was stabbed by a 44-year-old man while the boy was on his way to class on the morning of September 18 near a Japanese school in the southern city of Shenzhen, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.  The child, whose father is Japanese and mother is Chinese, was a Japanese national, according to the ministry. He was taken to a hospital and later died of his injuries.  The boy was attending Shenzhen Japanese School, an international school built to serve the children of Japanese expatriots living in the region, an industrial hub where many Japanese firms, especially auto companies, set up factories decades ago. Only Japanese citizens are qualified to go to this school.  A Shenzhen local newspaper said the suspect, surnamed Zhong, acted alone and was arrested by police on site.  The same report said Zhong has confessed to stabbing the boy. Zhong, who has a previous criminal record, was released on bail by local police on suspicion of “damaging public telecommunications facilities” in 2015 and was detained on suspicion of “fabricating facts and disturbing public order” in 2019, according to the report.  Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed his condolences in a tweet on X, calling it “an extremely despicable crime,” and strongly urged China “to provide an explanation of the facts of the situation.” The stabbing was the third high-profile attack on a foreigner in China in recent months.  In June, a Chinese man wounded a Japanese woman and her child in a stabbing attack in front of a school bus in the eastern city of Suzhou. The man also stabbed a Chinese bus attendant who tried to intervene, and the attendant later died of her injuries.  Also in June, four U.S. college instructors teaching in the northeastern city of Jilin were stabbed while visiting a public park. The American teachers suffered minor injuries and have since returned to the United States.  The Chinese Foreign Ministry said these attacks are “isolated incidents” and said they would safeguard expatriots’ security in China.  However, the Chinese government is notoriously secretive about criminal investigations. Very little information has been published about the two attacks in June beyond the suspects’ last names and their employment status.  Nicholas Burns, the United States ambassador to China, criticized Beijing’s limited release of specifics and said that he was actively pressing for more details.   Japanese firms, especially auto companies with a presence in China, have warned their workers to stay vigilant.  Toshiba and Toyota have told their staff to take precautions against any possible violence. Panasonic is offering its employees free flights home. Mitsubishi and Nissan have communicated with their Japanese employees in China to ease their worries and offered counseling services.  Consequence of xenophobia propaganda  Meanwhile, Chinese people have shown contrasting reactions in their online comments about the latest stabbing incident.    Some expressed shock, sadness and anger. A few local residents in Shenzhen laid flowers and notes of apology to the deceased child outside the Japanese school.  A user called “sara jon” said on X, “Aren’t you heartbroken when you hear the boy’s mother cry. This is a terrorist attack, this is Hamas.” Another X user called “Jamy felando” said, “Poor child, hope he gets peace now and hope the devil goes to hell!”  On China’s X-like but censored social platform Weibo, many expressed cynicism and indifference, viewing the attack in light of atrocities committed during Japan's invasion of China 80 years ago.  “The boomerang of the Japanese invaders finally came back to their own people,” wrote a Weibo user called yaxuefensitangtaijia. “If they had not invaded China and massacred the Chinese, perhaps there would be less extreme anti-Japanese sentiment today.”   Someone else said in agreement: “How many Chinese children died when Japan invaded China?”  It’s not clear if Zhong deliberately chose to commit his crime on September 18, a date considered by many Chinese as “national humiliation day.” The Japanese army officially launched its invasion of China on September 18, 1931, leading to a 14-year-long war and estimated casualties of 10 million military and civilians.  Some Chinese say long-lasting anti-Japan propaganda by the Chinese government led to the violence toward Japanese people. A user called “still typhoon” compared the propaganda to poison on Weibo: “The poison has backfired. Xenophobia and extreme nationalism are rampant online now.”  On Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that “China and Japan reached a consensus” on the discharge of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant, bringing to an end a diplomatic dispute that had rumbled on for more than two years.  Beijing had been bashing Tokyo for causing "a major nuclear safety issue with cross-border implications," when Tokyo started discharging treated radioactive water from the site in August 2023.  It also announced a blanket ban on all aquatic products from Japan. The anti-Japan sentiment reached a climax in August when official Chinese news media lashed out against Japan relentlessly. 

moscow — Russia and China started naval exercises in the Sea of Japan on Saturday, Russian news agencies cited Russia's Pacific Fleet as saying.  "A joint detachment of warships of the Pacific Fleet and Chinese Navy set out from Vladivostok to conduct the joint Russian-Chinese "Beibu/Interaction - 2024" naval exercise," the RIA news agency quoted the Pacific Fleet as saying.  The exercises will include anti-aircraft and anti-submarine weapons, RIA reported.  Russia and China practiced missile and artillery firing this month as part of Ocean-2024 naval drills, which Russian President Vladimir Putin cast as a bid to counter the United States in the Pacific. 

paris — The French presidential palace unveiled a new center-right government Saturday, more than two months after elections that produced a hung parliament and deepened political divisions as France grapples with economic and diplomatic challenges.  Conservative French Prime Minister Michel Barnier put together the government after weeks of difficult negotiations, and President Emmanuel Macron approved it. The new government was announced at the presidential palace.  A left-wing coalition secured the most seats in June-July elections but failed to win an outright majority. The 38-member Cabinet announced Saturday includes primarily ministers from Macron's centrist alliance and the conservative Republicans party.  Jean-Noel Barrot is the new foreign minister, a centrist politician from MoDem known for his work in digital transformation and European affairs. He brings extensive experience in navigating complex international issues, notably within the European Union.  The new finance minister is Antoine Armand, an emerging figure in French politics now tasked with steering France's fiscal policies and managing the upcoming 2025 budget amid pressure from Brussels to address France's mounting debt.  Sebastien Lecornu retains his post as defense minister. He has been instrumental in bolstering France's military capabilities, including modernizing defense systems and managing military aid to Ukraine. His leadership in defense will be crucial as France navigates its role within NATO and handles rising geopolitical tensions over the wars in Ukraine and the Mideast.  The interior minister’s job goes to Bruno Retailleau, a staunch conservative who will now handle critical domestic issues such as national security, immigration, and law enforcement.  Barnier's ability to govern effectively is under scrutiny, with his political opponents on the left vowing to challenge him at every turn. The party of far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon, France Unbowed, held protests Saturday against his government and calls Barnier's appointment a rejection of the voters' will.  Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally said it would monitor the government closely and has enough votes in parliament to bring it down but expressed willingness to cooperate on key budgetary issues. 

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washington — President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida discussed diplomacy with China and their shared concerns over "coercive and destabilizing activities" in the South China Sea during a meeting on Saturday at the Quad Leaders Summit in Wilmington, Delaware, the White House said.  Biden and Kishida also reiterated their resolve to maintain peace across the Taiwan strait and commitment to developing and protecting technologies such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors, the White House said. 

WILMINGTON, Delaware — U.S. President Joe Biden is showcasing the Indo-Pacific partnership he has nurtured since taking office as he hosts the leaders of Australia, Japan and India in his hometown Saturday with an eye on his legacy as well.  When Biden entered the White House, he looked to elevate the so-called Quad, which until then had only met at the foreign minister level, to a leader-level partnership as he tried to pivot U.S. foreign policy away from conflicts in the Middle East and toward threats and opportunities in the Indo-Pacific. This weekend's summit is the fourth in-person and sixth overall gathering of the leaders since 2021.  Biden put a personal touch on the engagement — potentially the last of the group before he leaves office on January 20 — by opening his home in Wilmington, Delaware, to each of the leaders and hosting a joint meeting and formal dinner at the high school he attended more than 60 years ago.  Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida came for the meetings before their appearances at the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week.  “You guys have heard the president say many times that all politics is personal, all diplomacy is personal,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters as meetings were set to get underway.  “And developing personal relationships has been core to his approach to foreign policy as president. So, opening his home to the leaders of India, Japan and Australia is a way of him showing, not just saying, but these leaders matter to him.”  Biden welcomes Albanese to his home On Friday afternoon, Biden welcomed Albanese to his home on a pond in a wooded area several miles west of downtown. Saturday's agenda included hosting Kishida and Modi and bringing all the leaders together for talks at Archmere Academy in nearby Claymont.  Sullivan described the vibe of the meeting with Albanese as “two guys — one at the other guy’s home — talking in broad strokes about where they see the state of the world.” He said Biden and Albanese also swapped stories about their political careers.  Reporters and photographers were prohibited from covering Biden’s individual meetings with the leaders, and Biden does not plan to do a news conference — a question-and-answer appearance that is typical at such international summits.  As part of the summit, the leaders were set to announce new initiatives to bolster maritime security in the region — with enhanced coast guard collaboration through the Pacific and Indian oceans — and improve cooperation on humanitarian response missions. The measures are meant to serve as a counterweight to an increasingly assertive China.  Sullivan said he expected Biden and Modi would discuss Modi's recent visits to Russia and Ukraine as well as economic and security concerns about China. Modi is the most prominent leader from a nation that maintains a neutral position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  Sullivan said Biden would underscore “that countries like India should step up and support the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity” and that “every country, everywhere, should refrain from supplying inputs to Russia’s war machine.”  Biden, Kishida say farewell The gathering was also an opportunity for Biden and Japan's Kishida to bid each other farewell. Biden and Kishida, who are both stepping away from office amid sliding public support, count the tightening of security and economic ties among the U.S., Japan and South Korea as one of their most significant accomplishments. The two leaders sat down for their wide-ranging, one-on-one conversation on Saturday morning.  The improved relations between Japan and South Korea, two nations with a deep and complicated history that have struggled to stay on speaking terms, have come amid worrying developments in the Pacific, including strides made by North Korea in its nuclear program and increasing Chinese assertiveness.  Biden commended Kishida for demonstrating “courage and conviction in strengthening ties” with South Korea, according to the White House. They also discussed China's “coercive and destabilizing activities" in the Pacific, Russia's war against Ukraine, and emerging technology issues.  The U.S. and Japan are negotiating through a rare moment of tension in the relationship. Biden, as well as presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, have opposed a $15 billion bid by Japan’s Nippon Steel to take over American-owned U.S. Steel.  Biden administration officials indicated this week that a U.S. government committee's formal assessment of the proposed deal has yet to be submitted to the White House and may not come until after the November 5 election.  Sullivan pushed back against speculation that the expected timing of the report could suggest Biden is having second thoughts about his opposition to the deal.  The Biden administration promised that the leaders would issue a joint statement containing the strongest-ever language on China and North Korea to be agreed upon by the four countries.  The White House said the leaders would also roll out an announcement related to Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative, a long-running passion project of the president and his wife, Jill Biden, aimed at reducing cancer deaths. The Bidens’ son Beau died in 2015 at age 46 of brain cancer.  White House officials said the leaders will unveil details about a new collaboration aimed at reducing cervical cancer in the Indo-Pacific.  As Biden’s time in office draws down, the White House also was celebrating the bipartisan, bicameral formation of a “Quad Caucus” in Congress meant to ensure the longevity of the partnership regardless of the outcome of the November election. 

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Kenyan President William Ruto arrived in Haiti on Saturday as the United Nations considers how to best support a peacekeeping mission of resource-strapped Kenyan and Jamaican forces that are struggling to contain the gangs terrorizing the Caribbean nation.  Ruto stepped off the plane, walking past armed officers on a small patch of red carpet flanked by other officials. He headed to a Kenyan base at the airport where he was expected to meet with some of the police officers who are battling the gangs.  Kenya was the first nation to send forces as part of a larger effort by the U.N. to offer international support to Haiti, which descended into turmoil following the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.  About 400 Kenyan police are in Haiti. Earlier this month, about two dozen police officers and soldiers from Jamaica arrived in the country. But the United States and other countries have said that the forces aren't enough and lack resources to take on gangs, which control about 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince.  The mission is expected to have a total of 2,500 personnel, with the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin and Chad also pledging to send police and soldiers, although it wasn't clear when that would happen.  While the U.S. has suggested a U.N. peacekeeping force, the idea would be far-fetched and controversial given the cholera and sexual abuse cases that occurred when United Nations troops were last in Haiti.  Meanwhile, a U.N. human rights expert warned on Friday that gang violence is spreading across Haiti and that Haiti's National Police still lack the "logistical and technical capacity" to fight gangs, which continue to expand into new territory.  Ruto's visit also comes days after Haiti created a provisional electoral council long sought by the international community to facilitate the first general election held in the country since 2016.  In the power vacuum left by Moise's assassination, gangs have seized more and more power. Many hope a general election will also help restore order to Haiti alongside the peacekeeping mission. 

Washington — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted an invitation from CNN to participate in another debate against Donald Trump on October 23 and urges her Republican rival to face her less than two weeks ahead of the November 5 presidential election, the Democratic candidate's campaign said on Saturday.  "Vice President Harris is ready for another opportunity to share a stage with Donald Trump, and she has accepted CNN's invitation to a debate on October 23. Donald Trump should have no problem agreeing to this debate," Jen O'Malley Dillon, the chair of the Harris campaign, said in a statement.  Asked about Harris' acceptance of the CNN invitation, a Trump spokesperson referred to the Republican former president's prior statements that there would be no more debates.  Harris and Trump debated each other for the first time on September 10, in a contest that polls showed was won by the Democratic nominee.  Trump last week said he would not participate in another debate against Harris before the election.  "THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!" the former president wrote on his social media site Truth Social last Thursday.  Trump debated President Joe Biden in June before his matchup against Harris.  Biden's shaky performance in that debate rattled Democrats and prompted strategists to ask whether their party should take the unprecedented step of replacing the 81-year-old president as their candidate.  Biden withdrew from the race for the White House in July. 

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washington — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday will visit the U.S. ammunition factory that is producing one of the most critically needed munitions for Ukraine's fight to fend off Russian ground forces.  Zelenskyy is expected to go to the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in the state of Pennsylvania to kick off a busy week in the United States shoring up support for Ukraine in the war, according to two U.S. officials and a third familiar with Zelenskyy's schedule who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that were not yet public. The Ukrainian leader also will address the United Nations General Assembly annual gathering in New York and travel to Washington for talks on Thursday with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.  The Scranton plant is one of the few facilities in the country to manufacture 155 mm artillery shells. They are used in howitzer systems, which are towed large guns with long barrels that can fire at various angles. Howitzers can strike targets up to 15- 20 miles (24-32 kilometers) away and are highly valued by ground forces to take out enemy targets from a protected distance.  Ukraine has already received more than 3 million of the 155 mm shells from the U.S.  Still pushing for permission With the war now well into its third year, Zelenskyy has been pushing the U.S. for permission to use longer range missile systems to fire deeper inside of Russia.  So far he has not persuaded the Pentagon or White House to loosen those restrictions. The Defense Department has emphasized that Ukraine can already hit Moscow with Ukrainian-produced drones, and there is hesitation on the strategic implications of a U.S.-made missile potentially striking the Russian capital.  Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia would be "at war" with the United States and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range weapons.  At one point in the war, Ukraine was firing between 6,000 and 8,000 of the 155 mm shells per day. That rate started to deplete U.S. stockpiles and drew concern that the level on hand was not enough to sustain U.S. military needs if another major conventional war broke out, such as a potential conflict over Taiwan.  In response, the U.S. has invested in restarting production lines and is now manufacturing more than 40,000 155 mm rounds a month, with plans to hit 100,000 rounds a month. During his visit, Zelenskyy is expected meet and thank workers who have increased production of the 155 mm rounds over the past year.  Two of the Pentagon leaders who have pushed that increased production through — Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, and Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon's top weapons buyer — are also expected to join Zelenskyy at the plant, as is Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania. US largest donor of aid The 155 mm rounds are among the scores of ammunition, missile, air defense and advanced weapons systems the U.S. has provided Ukraine — everything from small arms bullets to advanced F-16 fighter jets. The U.S. has been the largest donor to Ukraine, providing more than $56 billion of the more than $106 billion NATO and partner countries have collected to aid in its defense.  Even though Ukraine is not a member of NATO, commitment to its defense is seen by many European nations as a must to keep Putin from further military aggression that could threaten bordering NATO-member countries and result in a much larger conflict.