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NEW YORK — A Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges stemming from an alleged plot to assassinate an American politician in retaliation for the killing of Iran's Revolutionary Guards top commander Qassem Soleimani.  Asif Merchant, 46, entered his plea to one count of attempting to commit terrorism across national boundaries and one count of murder for hire at a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Levy in Brooklyn.  The judge ordered that Merchant be detained pending trial.  Federal prosecutors say Merchant spent time in Iran before traveling to the United States to recruit people for the plot.  Merchant told a confidential informant he also planned to steal documents from one target and organize protests in the United States, prosecutors said.  The defendant named Donald Trump as a potential target but had not conceived the scheme as a plan to assassinate the former president, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.  Court papers do not name the alleged targets, and no attacks were made. As president, Trump had in 2020 approved the drone strike on Soleimani.  There are no suggestions that Merchant was tied to an apparent assassination attempt on Trump at his Florida golf course on Sunday, or a separate shooting of the Republican presidential candidate at a rally in Pennsylvania in July.   Merchant was arrested in Texas on July 15.  Iran's mission to the United Nations said in August that the "modus operandi" described in Merchant's court papers ran contrary to Tehran's policy of "legally prosecuting the murder of General Soleimani."

Paris — Thousands of people protested sexual violence across France this past weekend, as two high-profile cases rock the country: one involving a woman who was allegedly drugged and raped by dozens of men for years; the other targeting a once-beloved French clergyman, who fought for the rights of the homeless.   In French cities like Marseille and Nantes, both men and women took part in demonstrations calling for an end to sexual violence.   They carried signs with messages like “No, to the culture of rape,” and “Gisele, we believe you” — in support of 72-year-old Gisele Pelicot.   Pelicot’s former husband is on trial in the southern city of Avignon, accused of drugging her and recruiting dozens of men to rape her over nearly a decade.   Speaking to reporters on Monday, Pelicot thanked the protesters and other supporters. They have given her force, she said, to fight for all those who are victims of sexual violence.   The Avignon trial is only the latest of a raft of sexual violence accusations targeting famous French actors and other figures.  Most recently, the spotlight has been on Abbe Pierre, once a crusader for the homeless. For years one of the most popular personalities in France, the priest died in 2007 at the age of 94. But in recent weeks, multiple allegations have surfaced that he sexually assaulted women in France and other countries over the decades. There are now efforts to strike his name from the charities he founded, as well as from parks and streets named after him.   Speaking to reporters Friday, Pope Francis said Abbe Pierre did a lot of good, but was also a sinner — and such things must be spoken about, not hidden.   The head of the French bishop’s association has since said that at least some French bishops had known about the cleric’s alleged abuses for decades. 

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.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury Department imposed on Monday sanctions on two Georgian government officials and two members of the country’s pro-Russian far-right movement who it said were involved in violent crackdowns on protests.   Large street protests erupted in Georgia over a "foreign agent" law, which the South Caucasus country's parliament passed in May despite criticism, including from U.S. officials, that it was Kremlin-inspired and authoritarian.  A Treasury statement said the financial sanctions on Monday targeted Georgia's Chief of the Special Task Department Zviad Kharazishvili and his deputy, Mileri Lagazauri, who oversaw security forces who violently suppressed the spring protests.  "The violence perpetuated by the Special Task Department included the brutal beatings of many attendees of the non-violent protests against the new foreign influence law, including Georgian citizens and opposition politicians," the Treasury said.  It added that Kharazishvili was personally involved in the physical and verbal abuse of protesters.  Also targeted were Konstantine Morgoshia, founder of media company Alt-Info, and associated media personality Zurab Makharadze, Treasury said, accusing them of amplifying disinformation and spreading hate speech and threats.  The dispute around the foreign agents law was seen as a test of whether Georgia, for three decades among the more pro-Western of the Soviet Union's successor states, would maintain its Western orientation or move closer to Russia.  The Georgian Dream party that controls parliament said the legislation was needed to ensure transparency in foreign funding of NGOs and protect the country's sovereignty.  Washington has long criticized the law and launched a review into bilateral cooperation with Georgia.  The Biden administration has previously imposed visa bans on members of Georgian Dream, members of parliament, law enforcement and private citizens over the law and the protests. 

Washington — U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said on Monday he is "personally fully committed" to ensuring all 2024 presidential election ballots are delivered in a timely fashion and vowed to respond to concerns raised by state and local officials. A group of about three dozen election officials from the National Association of State Election Directors and other groups on Wednesday raised serious concerns about USPS's ability to deliver millions of ballots for the 2024 presidential election, citing questions "about processing facility operations, lost or delayed election mail, and front-line training deficiencies impacting USPS’s ability to deliver election mail in a timely and accurate manner."   DeJoy said in a letter released on Monday that he would hold a call with state officials to address specific concerns. The officials said that, despite repeated meetings with USPS election staff, "we have not seen improvement or concerted efforts to remediate our concerns."   DeJoy said the USPS Office of Inspector General is auditing its plants and delivery units and will report any election mail issues they discover "and we will address those issues expeditiously." Starting Oct. 1, USPS will deploy ballot monitors and others in processing, retail and delivery units "to reinforce and amplify our policies and procedures on the ground" USPS said on average it is currently delivering mail in 2.7 days but continues "to recommend as a common-sense measure that voters should mail their completed ballot before Election Day, and at least one week prior to their state’s deadline." The inspector general has said 46% of votes were cast by mail in the November 2020 presidential election, compared with 21% in the 2016 election. USPS said in the 2020 general election, it delivered 99.89% of ballots from voters to election officials within seven days. Voting by mail in some states is set to start in the coming weeks.

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.

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

Abuja, Nigeria — Nigerian authorities said 281 inmates escaped after devastating floods brought down a prison’s walls in the country's northeast. A major dam collapsed on Sept. 10, unleashing severe flooding that left 30 people dead and over a million displaced, and prompted evacuations across the state of Borno.   Officers attempted to evacuate the city of Maiduguri's main prison last week when they found out that the prisoners had escaped, Umar Abubakar, spokesperson for the Nigeria Correctional Services said in a statement Sunday night.   “The floods brought down the walls of the correctional facilities including the Medium Security Custodial Centre, as well as the staff quarters in the city,” Abubakar said. Security personnel were able to recapture seven of the inmates and an operation is still ongoing to locate the rest, he said.  The collapse caused some of the state’s worst flooding since the same dam collapsed 30 years ago. The state government said the dam was at capacity due to unusually high rains.   Two years ago, heavy flooding in Nigeria killed more than 600 people across the country. West Africa has experienced some of the heaviest flooding in decades this year, affecting over 2.3 million people, a threefold increase from 2023, according to the U.N.

Vienna — Saudi Arabia plans to scrap light-touch oversight of its nuclear facilities by the U.N. atomic watchdog and switch to regular safeguards by the end of this year, the kingdom said on Monday, a step the watchdog has long been calling for. Saudi Arabia has a nascent nuclear program that it wants to expand to eventually include activities like proliferation-sensitive uranium enrichment. It is unclear where its ambitions end, since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said for years it will develop nuclear weapons if regional rival Iran does. Riyadh has yet to fire up its first nuclear reactor, which allows its program to still be monitored under the Small Quantities Protocol (SQP), an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency that exempts less advanced states from many reporting obligations and inspections. "The kingdom ... has submitted a request to the agency in July 2024 to rescind the Small Quantities Protocol and implement to the full Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement," Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told the IAEA's annual General Conference, speaking through an interpreter. "We are currently working with the agency to finalize all necessary subsidiary agreements for the SQP to be effectively rescinded by the end of December of this year." Prince Abdulaziz announced a year ago that his country had decided to scrap the SQP but he did not say when it would switch and there were no immediate signs that it was following through. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has been calling on the dozens of states that still have SQPs to amend or rescind them, calling them a "weakness" in the global non-proliferation regime. The IAEA has for years been in talks with Riyadh on making the switch to a Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement that covers issues like inspections in countries that have ratified the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. "Saudi Arabia's decision to rescind its Small Quantities Protocol increases [the IAEA]'s ability to verify the peaceful use of nuclear material in the country," Grossi said on social media platform X, adding he commended Riyadh for the move. Neither Grossi nor Prince Abdulaziz mentioned the Additional Protocol, a supplementary agreement that allows more thorough oversight than the CSA, including snap inspections by the agency. While the IAEA would like Saudi Arabia to sign the Additional Protocol, it has been unclear whether it will.

Lausanne, Switzerland — World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe is the highest profile of the seven candidates to have declared on Monday their bid to succeed International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach. Coe will face stiff opposition from, among others, Kirsty Coventry, bidding to become the first woman and African to head the IOC, and cycling boss David Lappartient. The election will be at the IOC Session in Athens, which runs from March 18-21 next year.   Bach, 70, is standing down after serving 12 years. The German announced at the end of the Paris Games that he would not be seeking another term.  The other four candidates include two from Asia  another continent never to have had an IOC president — Jordan's Prince Faisal al-Hussein and gymnastics chief Morinari Watanabe. Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior, whose father of the same name was IOC president from 1980-2001 and transformed it into a commercial powerhouse, and a surprise entrant, ski federation president Johan Eliasch, round up the candidates. First up for the septet is presenting their respective programs to the IOC members at the turn of the year. "The candidates will present their programs, in camera, to the full IOC membership on the occasion of a meeting to be held in Lausanne (Switzerland) in January 2025," read a short IOC statement unveiling the candidates. There will be a transition period post-election — not something Bach enjoyed when he succeeded Jacques Rogge in 2013  with the new president and his team assuming control in June.

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.

Frankfurt-Oder, Germany — Germany on Monday expanded border controls to the frontiers with all its nine neighbors in hopes of curbing the flow of irregular migrants, a move that has sparked protests from other EU members. Federal police in high-visibility vests braved rains at road and highway crossings for spot checks of passenger cars, buses and other vehicles, asking to see people's identity papers and checking the trunks of some cars. Germany lies at the heart of Europe and of the visa-free Schengen zone, which is designed to allow the free movement of people and goods, long a core idea of the European project. Berlin announced the sweeping measure last week following a string of deadly extremist attacks that have stoked public fears and boosted support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Poland and Austria have been among countries to complain about the move, which is set to last an initial six months. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the step aimed to limit irregular migration and "put a stop to criminals and identify and stop Islamists at an early stage." The controls slowed traffic, but some people voiced support. Elle Rendigs, 70, who was headed from Germany to the French city of Strasbourg, said she hoped the stepped-up policing would bring "a bit more security." Border controls with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland were already in place before the crackdown was announced. These have now been expanded to Germany's borders with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. Faeser said the government hoped to minimize the impact on people living and working in border regions, promising "coordination with our neighboring countries." On the Polish border, a small group of protesters stood near the bridge at Frankfurt on the Oder, one waving a placard that called for "Open worlds, open minds, open borders." The controls on the way into Frankfurt, on the German side, were "not good for the city," local resident Waltraut, 77, told AFP. Germany expanded the border controls after a string of suspected Islamist attacks stirred concerns over immigration. Last month, a man on a knife rampage killed three people and wounded eight more at a festival in the western city of Solingen. The Syrian suspect, who has alleged links to the Islamic State group, had been due to be deported but managed to evade authorities. With national elections looming next year, the attacks put intense political pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government to toughen its stance on migrants and asylum seekers. As well as increasing the extent of controls at its borders, Germany has presented plans to speed up deportations to European partners. Under EU rules, asylum requests are meant to be handled by the country of arrival. The system has placed a huge strain on countries on the European periphery, where leaders have demanded more burden-sharing. Under the new crackdown, spot controls can be carried out within 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the border, said Daniel Rosin, a spokesman for police in Kehl, across the border from Strasbourg. Police will operate not only along the roads, but on "trams and cross-border trains" connecting the two countries, Rosin said. Covering hundreds of extra kilometers of borderland will "definitely not be possible to do without any gaps," German police union leader Andreas Rosskopf told broadcaster RBB. He said it remained to be seen "how successful it actually is in curbing migration and people smuggling." Rene Hemmert, 69, traveling from France to Germany, said the controls remind him "of when I was younger," before the Schengen zone was established. "I think it's a good thing because of all the problems we have, with immigration," said Hemmert. "It's the same as in France, they should do the same."

Authorities in Nairobi are trying to tackle the Kenyan capital’s chronic and worsening air pollution. With help from the U.S. Agency for International Development, authorities are placing sensors that can monitor air quality around the densely populated city. Victoria Amunga reports from Nairobi. Camera: Jimmy Makhulo