BBC在线收听下载:美国总统特朗普限制合法移民入籍或拿绿卡

I'm Stuart Mackintosh with the BBC News, hello.

People in the Maldives are voting in a presidential election that international observers and opposition groups fear will not be free or fair. Jill McGivering reports. President Abdulla Yameen is promising further economic development with Chinese cash. There are concerns too about the elections themselves with some watchdogs as well as political dissenters highlighting a lack of transparency and media restrictions. His main rival promises greater democracy, but many key opposition figures are in jail or in exile. Earlier this year, President Yameen imposed a state of emergency which was widely condemned by foreign governments and sparked a political crisis in the islands.

The Trump administration wants to make it harder for foreigners living in the US who qualify for public benefits to gain permanent residency. Under the new rules, immigrants could be denied their green card. More from Paddy Maguire. This latest move by the Trump administration is a sharp departure from 20 years of immigration policy, while US federal law has always required those seeking green cards to prove they can support themselves financially. It is the first time the government has proposed considering non-cash public benefits when assessing a potential immigrants' eligibility. Those deemed likely to become dependent on government assistance could be denied their permanent papers. The decision could force millions of poor immigrants to choose between accepting help with food, housing and medicine or pursuing their legal right to remain in the US.

Lawyers for a woman who's accused the US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault say she's agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee chairman had given Christine Blasey Ford until today to decide whether she wanted to proceed. Doctor Ford has accused Mr. Kavanaugh of trying to rape her in the 1980s. He denies the allegations. Kathleen Parodis, a new york lawyer, told the BBC it wasn't uncommon for women to come forward with such allegations only many years later. I think all of the evidence is that when women are victims of sexual assault, very frequently, the very first thing they wanna do is to try to put it out of their minds. I'm sure that some women are victims of assault. They never mention it. They never do anything. They may or may not tell anybody, but they don't wanna confront it and for various reasons some women decide to confront it, to report it, to take steps long after the event.

World News from the BBC.