The Trump administration has obligated about $177m of the State Department's $205m Human Rights and Democracy Fund to 43 awards backing conservative and right-wing causes abroad, the Guardian reports, doing so just before the 30 September deadline and despite holds placed by Democratic senators. The awards include $40m for a consortium led by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (a US anti-communist non-profit), plus projects on white Afrikaner rights in South Africa, opposition to Brazil's supreme court, and aid to ideological allies in Europe. Democrats say this misuses money meant to defend human rights and could strain ties with democratic allies, while the State Department says the programs remain under review and will be vetted under standard grant rules.