By MIKE CORDER

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court on Monday convicted a leader of the feared Janjaweed militia of playing a leading role in a campaign of atrocities committed in the Sudanese region of Darfur more than 20 years ago — including ordering mass executions and bludgeoning two prisoners to death with an ax.

Related Articles

Rescuers in India search for missing after landslides kill 24 in Darjeeling region

How American views on Israel and antisemitism have changed since Oct. 7

US Treasury sanctions Mexican companies accused of aiding Sinaloa cartel’s fentanyl production

Greta Thunberg is among flotilla activists deported from Israel. Others remain in prison

Hurricane Priscilla lashes western Mexico with heavy rain and strong winds

It was the first time the court has convicted a suspect of crimes in Darfur. The three-judge panel ruled that the atrocities, including mass murders and rapes, were part of a government plan to snuff out a rebellion there.

Ali Muhammad Ali Abd–Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, wearing a suit and tie and listening through a headset, showed no emotion as Presiding Judge Joanna Korner read out 27 guilty verdicts. He will be sentenced at a later date. He faces a maximum life sentence.

He was convicted of crimes for leading Janjaweed militia forces in Darfur that went on a campaign of killing and destruction in 2003-2004.

“He encouraged and gave instructions that resulted in the killings, the rapes and destruction committed by the Janjaweed,” Korner said, adding that the verdicts were unanimous.

Abd–Al-Rahman was transferred to ICC custody in 2020, after surrendering in Central African Republic. He pleaded innocent to charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity when his trial opened in April 2022 and argued he was not the person known as Ali Kushayb. The judges rejected that defense, saying he even identified himself by his name and nickname in a video when he surrendered.

“Finally a victory for justice, and justice for the victims of Darfur,” Enaam al-Nour, a Darfur rights defender and journalist, said of the verdict.

The court’s prosecution office also welcomed the conviction.

“It sends a resounding message to perpetrators of atrocities in Sudan, both past and present, that justice will prevail, and that they will be held accountable for inflicting unspeakable suffering on Darfuri civilians, men, women and children,” Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said in a statement.

A court under intense pressure

The verdicts came as allegations of atrocities and famine continue to emerge from Sudan in a new conflict. In July, the ICC’s deputy prosecutor told the United Nations that war crimes and crimes against humanity continue in Sudan’s vast western Darfur region where civil war has raged for more than two years.

Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman attends a hearing at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (Piroschka van de Wouw/Pool Photo via AP)

The convictions were a success for the court that has been under intense pressure since issuing arrest warrants last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes they allegedly committed in Gaza. Netanyahu and Gallant reject the allegations. The Trump administration has slapped the ICC’s top prosecutors and others at the court with sanctions.

Separately, the court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, has stepped aside from his position while an independent panel investigates sexual misconduct claims made against him.

Mass killings and other atrocities

The judges ruled that Abd-Al-Rahman was a senior commander in the Janjaweed militias during the Darfur conflict that erupted when rebels from the territory’s ethnic central and sub-Saharan African community launched an insurgency in 2003, complaining of oppression by the Arab-dominated government in the capital, Khartoum.

Then-President Omar al-Bashir’s government responded with a scorched-earth campaign of aerial bombings and raids by the Janjaweed, who often attacked at dawn, sweeping into villages on horseback or camelback.

Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes in Darfur over the years. Al-Bashir has been charged by the ICC with crimes including genocide, but he has not been handed over to face justice in The Hague, despite being ousted from power and detained.

Al-Bashir is being held in a military-run detention facility in northern Sudan, his lawyer Mohamed al-Hassan al-Amin told The Associated Press on Monday. A former defense minister who is also wanted by the ICC has been released, he said.

During the trial, judges heard from 56 witnesses who described horrific violence and the use of rape as a weapon to terrorize and humiliate.

Abd-Al-Rahman was also found guilty of ordering the summary executions of scores of prisoners in March 2004 and of personally killing captive civilians, beating two men to death with an ax, Korner said.

Defense lawyers called 17 witnesses and argued that Abd-Al-Rahman was not a militia leader, but rather “a no one” who had no involvement in the Darfur conflict.

A new bloody conflict in Darfur

Conflict now rages in Sudan between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces — born out of the Janjaweed militias — and Sudan’s military. Tensions erupted in 2023 between the two previous allies that were meant to oversee a democratic transition after a 2019 uprising.

A political activist and former minister in the post-Bashir government, Khalid Omar, hailed the verdict, saying it has brought justice to Darfur victims. He called for handing over other wanted suspects to the ICC, including al-Bashir.

“Justice for the victims will come, even if it takes some time,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

The fighting has killed at least 40,000 people, according to the World Health Organization, and displaced as many as 12 million. More than 24 million face acute food insecurity, according to the World Food Program.

Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch, noted the “long-awaited landmark conviction for serious crimes in Darfur.”

“With the current conflict in Sudan producing new generations of victims and compounding the suffering of those targeted in the past, the verdict should spur action by governments to advance justice by all possible means,” Evenson said.

Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.

City Limits rounds up the latest housing and land use-related events, public hearings and affordable housing lotteries that are ending soon.

The Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation, which monitors construction impacts and quality of life issues related to the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project in downtown Brooklyn, will meet Thursday. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Welcome to City Limits’ NYC Housing Calendar, a weekly feature where we round up the latest housing and land use-related events and hearings, as well as upcoming affordable housing lotteries that are ending soon.

Know of an event we should include in next week’s calendar? Email us.

Upcoming Housing and Land Use-Related Events:

Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 6:30 p.m.: The City Club of New York will host a panel discussion, “Betting on Development? The Promise and Perils of Casinos in New York,” on Zoom. More here.

Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 10 a.m.: The City Planning Commission will meet to vote on the following land use applications: St. Raymond Demapping, MTA 125th and Lexington Rezoning, 1551 Broadway MiD Signage Text Amendment and SP, Barbey Building, 29th Street Towers, Fashion Tower, Furcraft Building, Lefcourt Clothing Center, 1720 Atlantic Avenue Rezoning, 699 – 703 Lexington Avenue Rezoning, Brooklyn CD 5 Walk to Park Site Selection/Acquisition, Queens CD 3 Walk to Park Site Selection/Acq., and 242 Seigel Street Bulk Authorization. The CPC will also hold public hearings on: Praise Tabernacle, NYCTA Tuskegee Airmen Way City Map Change, Coney Island Business Improvement District, and Herkimer-Williams. More here.

Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 10 a.m.: The NYC Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Sitings and Dispositions will meet regarding land use applications for Claremont House (1640 Anthony Avenue, Bronx) and Averne East (Queens). More here.

Thursday, Oct. 9 at 8:30 a.m.: The Urban Land Institute (ULI) will host a panel conversation on housing, development, and the mayoral race. More here.

Thursday, Oct. 9 at 9:30 a.m.: The NYC Council’s Committee on Health will vote on a bill that require building owners to test their cooling towers at least as frequently as every month when the towers are in use. More here.

Thursday, Oct. 9 at 9:30 a.m.: The NYC Council’s Committee on General Welfare will meet regarding several bills, including one that would require the city to report on the availability of air conditioning in homeless shelters, and another that would cap to portion of household income CityFHEPS voucher holders pay. More here.

Thursday, Oct. 9 at 9:30 a.m.: The NYC Council’s Committee on Contracts will meet regarding three bills related to city human services contracts, including those overseen by the Department of Homeless Services. More here.

Thursday, Oct. 9 at 10:30 a.m.: The NYC Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises will meet. More here.

Thursday, Oct. 9 at 10:30 a.m.: The NYC Council’s Committee on Land Use will meet. More here.

Thursday, Oct. 9 at 10:30 a.m.: The NYC Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings will meet regarding two bills: one that would require  biennial inspections of steam radiators in apartments where a child under 6 resides and in the common areas of such buildings; the other would require the city’s housing lottery system to notify users about updates to their applications. More here.

Thursday, Oct. 9 at 3 p.m.: The Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation, which monitors construction impacts and quality of life issues related to the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project in downtown Brooklyn, will hold a public meeting. More here.

NYC Affordable Housing Lotteries Ending Soon: The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) are closing lotteries on the following subsidized buildings over the next week.

1584 Fulton Street Apartments, Brooklyn, for households earning between $94,663 – $227,500 (last day to apply is 10/7)

417 Rutland Road Apartments, Brooklyn, for households earning between $96,583 – $227,500 (last day to apply is 10/8)

624 Metropolitan Avenue Apartments, Brooklyn, for households earning between $135,978 – $189,540 (last day to apply is 10/8)

202 Tillary Street Apartments, Brooklyn, for households earning between $32,538 – $174,960 (last day to apply is 10/10)

1840 Harrison Avenue Apartments, Bronx, for households earning between $102,172 – $227,500 (last day to apply is 10/10)

Marcus Garvey C-E, Brooklyn, for households earning between $41,692 – $140,630 (last day to apply is 10/13)

The post NYC Housing Calendar, Oct. 6-13 appeared first on City Limits.

By MAYA SWEEDLER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly two years after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel and the country’s ensuing invasion of the Gaza Strip, Americans are more divided on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than they were before the war – and concerns are mounting about the safety of Jewish communities at home.

Related Articles

US Treasury sanctions Mexican companies accused of aiding Sinaloa cartel’s fentanyl production

Greta Thunberg is among flotilla activists deported from Israel. Others remain in prison

Hurricane Priscilla lashes western Mexico with heavy rain and strong winds

Fishermen in Trinidad and Tobago fear for their lives and jobs after US strikes in the Caribbean

The new leader of Japan’s ruling party, poised to be first female prime minister, faces challenges

The partisan split in public opinion on Israel predates the current war with Hamas, but recent polling suggests that some Americans have lost sympathy with the Israelis over the course of the war. Even as Israel and Hamas begin indirect talks over a U.S.-proposed peace plan that’s drawn international support, these shifts in public opinion could outlast the current conflict.

The war has amplified debates in the U.S. not just about foreign policy, but also about the safety and visibility of Jewish communities in America, where fears of discrimination are rising alongside growing divides over Israel. The same polls show that U.S. adults are also concerned about anti-Muslim sentiment, but there hasn’t been a similarly dramatic shift. High-quality polling of Muslim or Arab Americans is rare, in part because of small sample sizes.

Jewish community leaders and security experts stressed the need for security during periods of heightened visibility, such as the High Holidays, after multiple attacks against Jews in the U.S. this year. Those worries were thrown into even sharper relief last Thursday when an attacker drove a car into people outside a synagogue in England on the holiest day of the Jewish year, leading to two deaths.

In its most recent annual survey of Jewish Americans conducted in October and November 2024, the American Jewish Committee, a nonpartisan advocacy group that seeks to broadly represent Jews in the U.S. and abroad, found that about 7 in 10 respondents said they thought Jews in the United States were less secure than a year earlier.

“The number one reason given for why they feel less secure as Jews in America was the Israel-Hamas war,” said Holly Huffnagle, the Director of Antisemitism Policy at AJC.

A growing divide on the U.S.-Israel relationship

Over the last few decades, Americans of both parties have generally been more sympathetic toward the Israelis than the Palestinians.

FILE – A student wrapped in an Israeli flag listens to Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered on campus at the University of Texas at Austin, April 30, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

That’s changed since the war began. American sympathy for Israelis hit an all-time low in 2025, falling beneath 50% for the first time in almost 25 years of Gallup’s annual tracking of this measure, driven largely by drop-offs among Democrats and independents.

Sympathy for the Palestinians has also increased in Gallup’s polling, with about one-third of U.S. adults saying they sympathize more with the Palestinians this year.

In a recent survey, the Pew Research Center found that just 31% of Americans thought the U.S. was providing the “right amount” or “not enough” military assistance to Israel in its military conflict with Hamas, although large shares said there was “too much” support or expressed uncertainty.

This parallels deep dissatisfaction with the Israeli government’s handling of the war. About half of Americans say the military response from Israel in the Gaza Strip has “gone too far” in the most recent AP-NORC survey. Two years ago, shortly after Hamas launched its assault on Israel in which the group killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, that figure was 40%.

In a Washington Post poll of Jewish Americans conducted in early September, about half also said they disapproved of the military action Israel has taken in Gaza, with an even higher share, 61%, saying they think Israel has committed war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.

While partisanship has long been a dividing line on views of Israel, age is an increasingly noticeable cleavage. Pew found that about 4 in 10 adults under 30 thought the U.S. was providing “too much” aid to Israel, compared to about one-third of adults overall. And an AP-NORC poll from March found that younger Americans were less likely to say Israel and the U.S. were “close allies.” About one-quarter of adults under 30 said Israel was a close ally, compared to around half of adults over the age of 60.

Rising concern about treatment of American Jews

As attitudes toward Israel shift, new concerns about American Jews are emerging.

In 2018, 11 Jewish Americans were killed in Pittsburgh in the deadliest attack on a Jewish community in the U.S., prompting the AJC to relaunch its antisemitism survey to see whether the shooting had served as a “wake-up call” for American Jews, Huffnagle said. The share of Americans who say there is at least some discrimination against Jews has risen since 2021, according to Pew.

In subsequent surveys, older Americans of both parties were more likely than younger Americans to say there is at least “some” discrimination against Jews. And in 2024, Pew found the share of Americans who said there was “a lot” of discrimination against Jews had doubled compared since 2021.

Between 2021 and 2025, the share of adults who said they were “very” or “somewhat” satisfied with how Jewish people are treated fell from about half to 42%, according to Gallup. That represented the biggest decrease in total satisfaction among the eight racial or ethnic groups Gallup asked about.

Anti-Muslim language has also emerged in the New York City mayoral race, where Zohran Mamdani would become the city’s first Muslim mayor if elected. Concern about discrimination against Muslims was about as high as concerns about discrimination against Jews in the 2024 Pew survey. And similar shares of U.S. adults said they were “satisfied” with the treatment of Jewish and Arab people, according to Gallup.

Jewish Americans express new worries

These concerns are particularly acute for many Jewish Americans. The AJC found in its 2024 survey that about 9 in 10 Jews said antisemitism in the U.S. had increased in the previous five years and since the Oct. 7 attacks.

Dusk falls as children play at a temporary tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The survey also found that many Jewish Americans are modifying behavior. When asked whether they had avoided three specific actions out of fear of antisemitism — including actions that publicly identified them as a Jew in physical spaces or online — 56% of respondents said they had avoided at least one. Three years ago, that figure was 38%.

Fracture points are emerging within Jewish communities too. Protests on college campuses and relating to Israel have included Jewish Americans on both sides, and Jewish organizations have made statements in support of and in opposition to U.S. and Israeli handling of the war in Gaza. In recent months, however, Jewish-American organizations have been more vocal about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Even though the conflict is far away, the war has put some American Jews with connections to Israel in a challenging position.

One is Nathalie Shushan, 33, who lives in Manhattan and is of Egyptian-Jewish heritage. Since the war began, she’s felt afraid to talk to people who might not agree with her on Israel. “You want to be able to open a sincere dialogue in order to kind of bridge this gap,” she said. “It feels really hopeless and sometimes it feels really scary to like, try and engage in that way.”

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday sanctioned a network of companies and their affiliates that allegedly supplied precursor chemicals to make fentanyl to a faction of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.

A dozen Mexico-based companies and eight of the people managing them were accused of using their pharmaceutical, laboratory, chemical, cleaning and real estate businesses to purchase the chemicals and provide them to the Sinaloa cartel’s “Chapitos” faction, run by sons of the former Sinaloa leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Related Articles

Trump’s use of the National Guard sets up a legal clash testing presidential power

CDC stops recommending COVID-19 shots for all, leaves decision to patients

Social Security Administrator Frank Bisignano is named to the newly created position of IRS CEO

Groups sue EPA over canceled $7 billion solar program intended to help poorer Americans

Trump and Infantino: How a friendship is shaping the World Cup

One of the businesses, Sumilab, previously faced sanctions in 2023 by the Biden administration, but was able to maintain its “corporate structure” through a number of other front companies, Treasury officials wrote in a statement. The Monday measures freeze all assets in the U.S. and block U.S. transactions with the businesses and people sanctioned.

The cartel is among an expanding number of Latin American criminal groups that the Trump administration has designated as foreign terrorist organizations, part of an ongoing effort to more aggressively go after drug-trafficking groups.

“President Trump has made clear that stopping the deadly flow of drugs into our country is a top national security priority,” Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley wrote in a statement. “The Treasury Department is committed to dismantling the complex financial networks that support these terrorist organizations.”

The Sinaloa cartel and other criminal organizations receiving the foreign terrorist organization designation in recent months differ from others seen as terrorist groups because they’re largely non-political and more focused on raking in profit.

Despite that, Trump said last week that his administration was in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, following strikes on boats allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean that has set much of Latin America on edge.