UNITED NATiONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Friday to briefly extend the arms embargo on Sudan’s western Darfur region while negotiations continue on a contentious U.S. proposal to expand the embargo throughout the country to pressure the warring parties to end their more than three-year conflict.
The uphill struggle the United States and its allies face during the monthlong extension was evident in speeches after the vote. Russia, which holds veto power in the council and backs the Sudanese government in its fight against paramilitary forces, vowed to prevent any expansion of the arms embargo.
Moscow made its “red lines” clear during closed negotiations, Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Anna Evstigneeva said. “We will not allow even a hint of broadening the restrictions by the council on Sudan.”
The Security Council imposed an arms embargo on the vast Darfur region after violence erupted in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the authoritarian government in Khartoum, then led by Omar al-Bashir. The government responded with air attacks and a ground offensive by local nomadic Arab militias known as the Janjaweed, who are accused of mass killings and rapes. Up to 300,000 people died in the conflict and 2.7 million fled their homes.
At a council meeting on Aug. 24, the United States urged a countrywide arms embargo to push the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces to negotiate an end to fighting that began in April 2023. The current war has killed at least 59,000 people, though aid groups warn the number could be much higher. It has displaced some 13 million people and pushed parts of the country into famine, creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Evstigneeva asked why the U.S. was trying to expand the arms embargo now when government forces “have a definite advantage on the ground,” and not in 2023 when the RSF was threatening the capital, Khartoum, and other cities.
It is the government that guarantees the country’s unity and institutions, and protects its civilians, she said.
China’s deputy U.N. ambassador Sun Lei warned that extending the embargo would worsen the humanitarian situation and might lead to the fragmentation of Sudan, which would threaten regional stability.
Sudan’s U.N. Ambassador Al-Harith Mohamed told the council that a total arms embargo goes against the U.N. Charter’s guarantee that countries have the right to self-defense and their armed forces have the right to produce and acquire weapons to protect their sovereignty.
But U.S. deputy ambassador Jeffrey Bartos said another long-term extension of the Darfur embargo “is not an option,” calling it outdated and “insufficient to address the realities of the war today.” The council also needs to sanction people who commit “horrific actions,” including sexual violence, kidnapping for ransom and attacks on humanitarian personnel, he said.
“Inaction means more suffering and death,” Bartos warned. “That is unacceptable, and we refuse to rubber stamp another year of maintaining the status quo.”
He reiterated the U.S. call for an end to the flow of arms to the belligerents from external parties. And he decried the attacks on aid convoys, pointing to last week's loss of over 50 metric tons of aid in an aerial attack on clearly identified World Food Program trucks in South Kordofan.
WFP acting director Carl Skau said in an interview with The Associated Press during his recent visit to Sudan that a lack of funding has forced the agency to reduce the number of people it assists from about 5 million at the beginning of the year to 3.5 million. “We risk now having to cut even further,” he warned.
“The world keeps sending weapons when they should be sending food and shelter, and when the focus and the energy and effort should really be on trying to bring an end to this conflict,” Skau said.
Fay Abuelgasim contributed to this report from Cairo
A fish vendor cleans fish at a market in Khartoum, Sudan, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)
A fish vendor pushes a trolley at a fish market, in Khartoum, Sudan, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s quest to host an Africa Recording Academy headquarters got a boost Friday when Recording Academy officials said key milestones had been completed, and Kenyan artists will travel to the U.S. next month to get acquainted with the international music business.
Academy President Panos A. Panay, speaking after a meeting with Kenyan President William Ruto on Wednesday, said Africa’s place in the global music industry was a project that cannot be measured by a single launch date, but by the work being put into building a foundation. The California-based Recording Academy is the organization that presents the Grammy Awards.
The academy now wants to expand its presence in Africa by establishing an Africa Recording Academy headquarters, which Kenya is bidding to host alongside Nigeria and South Africa. The Kenyan government has invested $3.9 million toward hosting the hub.
At a panel discussion Friday with various creative economy actors, Panay said the introduction of the best African music performance category in the Grammys and the establishment of the American Music Mentorship Program in partnership with the U.S. State Department, is part of the milestones achieved in the African music industry.
Panay said expanding the global reach of African music was a process like that of gardening where all the necessary conditions have to be in place before the final harvest.
“For things to happen, you need conditions, you need persistence. You need pruning,” he said.
Panay said plans were underway to enroll more African members in the Recording Academy, noting that Grammy Award winners are chosen through a peer-voting process rather than by a jury.
The Recording Academy has been working to expand and diversify its voting body by reaching out to underrepresented communities. Since 2019, the Academy has reported significant growth among voters from different racial backgrounds, including a 100% increase in Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, a 90% increase in Black voters and a 43% increase in Latino voters.
At the 2026 Grammy Awards, Bad Bunny won album of the year, making history as the first time a Spanish-language album has taken home the top prize.
Four years ago, the Grammys introduced the Best African Music Performance category and later formed an American Music Mentorship Program in partnership with the U.S. State Department.
Ruto, speaking Wednesday during a business summit, said the investment in the African hub to be hosted by Kenya was aimed at transforming Kenya’s creative economy into a viable source of income for artists.
“It is about attracting studios, labels, platforms and investors, and making Kenya a permanent center of African creative production,” he said.
The center will provide more opportunities on the international stage for African artists.
Manuel Abud, CEO of the Latin Recording Academy, said Africa’s push to establish a stronger presence within the Grammys should be viewed as a long-term project.
He compared it to the development of the Latin Recording Academy, saying it also took years to build the structures and networks needed to establish a strong presence in the global music industry.
Abud, Panay and Media Executive Nicholas Weinstock have been on a weeklong meet and greet in Nairobi as part of the U.S. Embassy-Kenya creative economy collaboration.
In this photo taken with a smartphone, The Recording Academy President Panos A. Panay, right, poses with Kenyan content creator Andrew 'Dru' Thiga on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP Photo/Jackson Njehia)
In this photo taken with a smartphone, The Recording Academy President Panos A. Panay, left, The Latin America Recording Academy CEO Manuel Abud, center, and Nicholas Weinstock, right, pose with a staff member from the U.S. embassy on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP Photo/Jackson Njehia)
In this photo taken with a smartphone, The Latin America Recording Academy CEO Manuel Abud, The Recording Academy President Panos A. Panay, and Carla Benini, the acting deputy chief of mission for the U.S. Embassy, participate in a panel on Kenya's creative economy Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP Photo/Jackson Njehia)
In this photo taken with a smartphone, Manuel Abud, CEO of The Latin America Recording Academy, left, and Panos A. Panay, president of the Recording Academy, right, share a moment during a breakfast meet and greet with Kenyan actors Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP Photo/Jackson Njehia)
