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Three opposition groups that were invited by the prime minister for talks on forming a new government with the ruling party – which lost its parliamentary majority at last month’s elections – have announced they will not attend. The development increases the likelihood that the prime minister will fail to win a vote of confidence in his proposed cabinet, which would then lead to an opposition coalition coming to power, as has been expected since the 15 October elections. Dziękuję, nie skorzystam. pic.twitter.com/1YNEjfy7on — Robert Biedroń (@RobertBiedron) November 22, 2023 Despite the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS), which has ruled Poland since 2015, losing its majority in the Sejm, the more powerful lower house of parliament, it remains the largest single party. Therefore, in keeping with tradition, President Andrzej Duda gave it the first opportunity to form a government. However, all other parties had previously ruled out working with PiS, so its prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, was always seen as having little chance of success. Nevertheless, he last week appealed to three opposition groups – the centre-right Third Way (Trzecia Droga), The Left (Lewica) and far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) – to join PiS in a “non-partisan government of balance” with a programme made up of “the most valuable elements” of each of their agendas. The PM has appealed to opposition groups to join him in a new "cross-party, non-partisan government" after his ruling PiS party lost its parliamentary majority. He proposed a programme containing "the most valuable elements" from each group's ideas https://t.co/I5lS7U06oM — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 17, 2023 This week, Morawiecki sent formal invitations to the groups to attend talks at his chancellery on Thursday and Friday. However, leading figures from all three have publicly declared they will not attend. “On behalf of The Left, I would like to inform you that we are not going anywhere,” tweeted the head of the group’s parliamentary caucus, Krzysztof Gawkowski. “Thanks, but no thanks,” added one of the group’s leaders, Robert Biedroń. Mirosław Suchoń, head of Third Way’s parliamentary caucus, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that they had received Morawiecki’s invitation and would be responding to inform him that “we are not going to this meeting”. He noted that his group has already signed a coalition agreement with The Left and the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), the largest opposition group, to form a new government and would be proceeding with those plans. The opposition groups likely to form the next government have signed a coalition agreement They pledged to: – restore rule of law – annul the near-total abortion ban – depoliticise public media – prosecute anti-LGBT hate speech – separate church and state https://t.co/lwQvGGok8s — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 10, 2023 Meanwhile, Sławomir Mentzen, one of the leaders of Confederation, tweeted this morning that he “certainly won’t go” to the meeting with Morawiecki, whom he described as “a completely unreliable man”. “I have nothing to talk about with Mateusz Morawiecki,” said Mentzen. “I said throughout the campaign that I was going to the elections to end PiS’s rule, not to extend it, so what should I talk about?” Morawiecki has pledged to name a proposed cabinet by the end of this week, which then must be appointed by President Duda no later than 27 November. They then have two weeks to present a programme, which is put to a vote of confidence in the Sejm. If they win that vote, the new government is established. But if, as appears almost certain, they fail to obtain a majority, then the Sejm nominates its own candidate for prime minister. That is likely to be Donald Tusk, leader of KO. We answer 12 questions about Poland's new government, including: 1. How will it be formed? 2. Will it be stable? 3. How will it tackle rule of law and abortion? 4. Can it unlock EU funds? 5. Will it face presidential vetoes? Read our full analysis here⬇️https://t.co/oLK33waftV — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 23, 2023 Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support. Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.	Europe Politics
Afghanistan is the world’s fastest-growing maker of methamphetamine, a report from the United Nations drug agency said Sunday. The country is also a major opium producer and heroin source, even though the Taliban declared a war on narcotics after they returned to power in August 2021. The United Nations’ Office on Drugs and Crimes, which published the report, said meth in Afghanistan is mostly made from legally available substances or extracted from the ephedra plant, which grows in the wild. The report called Afghanistan’s meth manufacturing a growing threat to national and regional health and security because it could disrupt the synthetic drug market and fuel addiction. It said seizures of meth suspected to have come from Afghanistan have been reported from the European Union and east Africa. Annual meth seizure totals from inside the country rose from less than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) in 2019 to nearly 2,700 kilograms (6,000 pounds) in 2021, suggesting increased production, the report said. But it couldn’t give a value for the country’s meth supply, the quantities being produced, nor its domestic usage, because it doesn’t have the data. Angela Me, the chief of the UNODC’s Research and Trend Analysis Branch, told The Associated Press that making meth, especially in Afghanistan, had several advantages over heroin or cocaine production. “You don’t need to wait for something to grow,” said Me. “You don’t need land. You just need the cooks and the know-how. Meth labs are mobile, they’re hidden. Afghanistan also has the ephedra plant, which is not found in the biggest meth-producing countries: Myanmar and Mexico. It’s legal in Afghanistan and it grows everywhere. But you need a lot of it.” Me said it was too early to assess what impact the Taliban’s drug crackdown has had on meth supplies. A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, Abdul Mateen Qani, told the AP that the Taliban-run government has prohibited the cultivation, production, sale and use of all intoxicants and narcotics in Afghanistan. He said authorities have destroyed 644 factories and around 12,000 acres of land where prohibited narcotics were cultivated, processed or produced. There have been more than 5,000 raids in which 6,000 people have been arrested. “We cannot claim 100% that it is finished because people can still do these activities in secret. It is not possible to bring it to zero in such a short time,” said Qani. “But we have a four-year strategic plan that narcotics in general and meth in particular will be finished.” A U.N. report published in November said that opium cultivation since the Taliban takeover increased by 32% over the previous year, and that opium prices rose following authorities’ announcement of a cultivation ban in April 2022. Farmers’ income from opium sales tripled from $425 million in 2021 to $1.4 billion in 2022. The 2022 report also said that the illicit drug market thrived as Afghanistan’s economy sharply contracted, making people open to illegal cultivation and trafficking for their survival. Afghans are dealing with drought, severe economic hardship and the continued consequences of decades of war and natural disasters. The downturn, along with the halt of international financing that propped up the economy of the former Western-backed government, is driving people into poverty, hunger, and addiction. An Afghan health official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said around 20,000 people are in hospitals for drug addiction, mostly to crystal meth. Of these patients, 350 are women. He said children are also being treated, but did not give the number nor their ages.	Asia Politics
Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm. Samy Magdy, Associated Press Samy Magdy, Associated Press Leave your feedback CAIRO (AP) — A raging conflict in Sudan has driven more than 3 million people from their homes, including over 700,000 who fled to neighboring countries, the U.N. said Wednesday. The United Kingdom announced sanctions on the warring factions, amid growing concerns the country is sliding into a “full-scale civil war.” Sudan has plunged into chaos since mid-April when monthslong tensions between the military and its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere across the northeastern African nation. The conflict derailed Sudanese hopes of restoring the country’s fragile transition to democracy, which had begun after a popular uprising forced the military’s removal of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. A coup, led by the military and RSF, disrupted the democratic transition in October 2021. More than 2.4 million people have fled their homes to safer areas inside the country, according to the International Organization for Migration. Around 738,000 others crossed into neighboring countries, the agency said. Egypt is hosting the largest number of those who fled — more than 255,500 people — followed by Chad with more than 238,000 and South Sudan with around 160,800, the IOM said. More than 62,000 people fled to Ethiopia, more than 16,700 to the Central African Republic and around 3,000 to Libya, it added. More than 72 percent of those displaced were from Khartoum and around 9 percent from West Darfur province, both places where the clashes have been largely centered, the IOM said. The IOM said that 65 percent of those who fled into neighboring countries were Sudanese nationals and the rest were foreigners and refugees who were forced to return to their home countries. READ MORE: At least 22 killed in airstrike in Sudanese city amid fighting between rival generals The fighting continued Wednesday in parts of Khartoum. Plumes of smoke could be seen rising over the city center, where residents said the military attacked a building allegedly used by RSF members. The conflict has turned Khartoum and other urban areas into battlefields. Members of the paramilitary force have occupied people’s houses and other civilian properties since the conflict broke out, according to residents and activists. There have also been reports of widespread destruction and looting across Khartoum and the nearby city of Omdurman. The sprawling region of Darfur saw some of the worst bouts of violence in the conflict with the fighting turning into ethnic clashes, according to the U.N. The RSF and allied Arab militias rampaged through the region, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes, according to rights groups. Entire towns and villages were burned to the ground and looted, especially in West Darfur province. The clashes have killed more than 3,000 people and wounded more than 6,000 others, Health Minister Haitham Mohammed Ibrahim said in televised comments last month. The casualty tally is likely much higher, according to doctors and activists. International and regional efforts have so far failed to establish a cease-fire that could allow humanitarian agencies to provide support to civilians still trapped in the conflict. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned over the weekend that the country was on the brink of a “ full-scale civil war.” Earlier this week, a regional meeting floated the idea of deploying troops to Sudan to protect civilians. The Quartet Group, which met Monday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, called for a summit of the Eastern Africa Standby Force, a 10-member regional bloc, to consider the proposal. The Quartet Group is a subcommittee of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD, an eight-member East African bloc. It is headed by Kenyan President William Ruto, who called for an unconditional cease-fire in Sudan and the establishment of a humanitarian zone to help deliver humanitarian aid. Sudan’s military delegate, who was in Addis Ababa, didn’t attend Monday’s meeting and accused Ruto, the chair of the Quartet, of siding with the paramilitary force because of his alleged business ties with the family of the RSF commander. Sudan’s government, which is controlled by the military, reiterated its calls to replace the Kenyan leader as the chair of the Quartet. There was no immediate comment from Kenya. Its government, however, denied the accusations last month and said Ruto, who was appointed by the IGAD over the Sudanese military’s objection, was neutral. Sudan’s government also denounced the proposal to deploy foreign troops, and said any foreign forces on Sudanese territory would be considered “aggressors.” It also criticized comments by Ethiopia’s prime minister who called for imposing a no-fly zone over Sudan. The leaders of South Sudan, Chad, Eritrea, Libya and Ethiopia arrived Wednesday afternoon in Cairo to attend a meeting for Sudan’s neighboring countries, Egypt’s state-run Al-Ahram reported. The meeting, which Egypt is hosting Thursday, aims at establishing “effective mechanisms” to help find a peaceful settlement to the conflict, according to the Egyptian presidency. The regional diplomacy comes as talks between warring factions in the Saudi Arabian coastal city of Jeddah repeatedly failed to stop the fighting. The Jeddah talks were brokered by Saudi Arabia and the United States. The U.K. government meanwhile imposed sanctions on six firms with links with the military and the RSF, as part of international pressure on the warring factions to stop fighting. The sanctions announced Wednesday are nearly identical to that imposed by the U.S. on both sides last month. The British Foreign Office said that the sanctioned firms include Al Junaid, a lucrative gold mining company, owned by the family of the paramilitary force commander Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. Also sanctioned are GSK Advance Ltd and Tradive General Trading L.L.C., which is based in the United Arab Emirates. Both firms are allegedly front companies controlled by the Dagalo family. Jack Jeffery contributed to this report. Support Provided By: Learn more World Jun 25	Africa politics
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea threatened Friday to take “unprecedently” strong action against its rivals, soon after South Korea announced a series of planned military drills with the United States to hone their joint response to the North’s increasing nuclear threats. North Korea has halted weapons testing activities since its short-range missile firing on Jan. 1, though it launched more than 70 missiles in 2022 — a record number for a single year. Friday’s warning suggests the North’s testing could resume soon over its rivals’ military training, which it views as an invasion rehearsal. “In case the U.S. and South Korea carry into practice their already announced plan for military drills that (North Korea), with just apprehension and reason, regards as preparations for an aggression war, they will face unprecedentedly persistent and strong counteractions,” the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by state media. The statement accused South Korea and the United States of planning more than 20 rounds of military drills, including their largest-ever field exercises. It called South Korea and the United States “the arch-criminals deliberately disrupting” regional peace and stability. “This predicts that the situation in the Korean Peninsula and the region will be again plunged into the grave vortex of escalating tension,” the statement said. It didn’t specify which U.S.-South Korean military trainings it was referring to. But North Korea has typically slammed all major regular military drills between Washington and Seoul as a practice to launch an invasion and responded with its own weapons tests. Some experts say North Korea has used various South Korea-U.S. drills as a chance to test and perfect its weapons systems. They say North Korea would eventually aim to use its enlarged nuclear arsenal to win international recognition as a legitimate nuclear state and win sanctions relief and other concessions. Seoul and Washington have said their training is defensive in nature. Earlier Friday, Heo Tae-keun, South Korea’s deputy minister of national defense policy, told lawmakers that Seoul and Washington will hold an annual computer-simulated combined training in mid-March. Heo said the 11-day training would reflect North Korea’s nuclear threats, as well as unspecified lessons from the Russia-Ukraine War. Heo said the two countries will also conduct joint field exercises in mid-March that would be bigger than those held in the past few years. The allies had downsized or canceled some of their regular drills in recent years to guard against the COVID-19 pandemic and support now-dormant diplomacy on North Korea’s nuclear program. Earlier Friday, Seoul officials said that South Korea and the U.S. will hold a one-day tabletop exercise next week at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, to sharpen a response to a potential use of nuclear weapons by North Korea. The exercise, scheduled for Wednesday, would set up possible scenarios where North Korea uses nuclear weapons, explore how to cope with them militarily and formulate crisis management plans, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. Seoul’s security concerns about North Korea’s nuclear program deepened after Pyongyang last year adopted a law that authorizes the preemptive use of nuclear weapons, and tested nuclear-capable missiles that put South Korea within striking distance. In response to the intensifying North Korean threats, South Korea and the United States have expanded their joint military drills and stepped up pressure on the North to abandon its nuclear program. In January, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the U.S. would also increase its deployment of advanced weapons such as fighter jets and bombers to the Korean Peninsula. During their annual meeting in November, Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-Sup agreed to conduct tabletop exercises annually and further strengthen the alliance’s information sharing, joint planning and execution. Austin reiterated a warning that any nuclear attack against the U.S. or its allies would result in the end of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s regime.	Asia Politics
NAACP joins mounting calls for cease-fire in Middle East The NAACP has joined growing calls for political leaders to demand an end to the violence in the Middle East as the Israel-Hamas war rages in the Gaza Strip. Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the 114-year-old organization, said in a statement this week that the violence overseas has ripple effects across the entire world. “We know that hate anywhere is a threat to safety everywhere. Black America has, and will continue to stand in solidarity with the communities grieving innumerable loss, both in the Middle East and right here in the United States,” Johnson said. Since the initial Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that prompted Israel’s declaration of war, more than 1.5 million residents in Gaza have been internally displaced. And more than 11,200 Palestinians have died since the fighting began, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. More than 1,200 people in Israel were killed in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, and 240 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by Palestinian militants, according to The Associated Press. Only five have been freed so far. As the violence continues to unfold overseas, there is also a rising threat in the United States, Biden administration Homeland Security officials told lawmakers Wednesday. “Hamas’s attack on Israel, along with other recent events, have sharpened the focus of potential attacks on targeted individuals and institutions perceived as symbolic of or tied to the conflict,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. “Our top concern stems from lone offenders inspired by — or reacting to — the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, as they pose the most likely threat to Americans, especially Jewish, Muslim, and Arab American communities in the United States,” FBI Director Christopher Wray added. In his statement, Johnson said the violence must stop. “The NAACP urges our global leaders to reach an agreement that respects all people’s right to peace and security,” he said. “We will not stop fighting for a world where we are all able to live free from the evils of hatred and violence.” Johnson’s statement comes at a time when some leaders and voters alike have been demanding the U.S. call for a cease-fire. Democrats like Reps. Cori Bush (Mo.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) and Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.), among others, introduced the Ceasefire Now resolution last month. Protests have erupted in Washington, D.C., and around the country as voters demand President Biden join in the calls for the violence to end. Biden has not joined demands for a cease-fire, though this week more than 400 employees of his administration signed an open letter demanding he join the calls. He has instead backed humanitarian pauses, a more limited suspension of fighting in certain places to allow for humanitarian aid to enter and civilians to exit. Biden has also warned that longer term Israeli occupation would be a “mistake,” while largely supporting its military operations aimed at taking out Hamas. He told reporters Wednesday it was “not realistic” to expect Israel to stop its military actions, given the ongoing threat posed by Hamas. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.	Middle East Politics
Israel's Netanyahu says he wants Eritrean migrants involved in violent clashes to be deported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he wants Eritrean migrants involved in a violent clash in Tel Aviv to be deported immediately and has ordered a plan to remove all of the country's African migrants. The remarks came a day after bloody protests by rival groups of Eritreans in south Tel Aviv left dozens of people injured. Eritreans, supporters and opponents of Eritrea's government, faced off with construction lumber, pieces of metal and rocks, smashing shop windows and police cars. Israeli police in riot gear shot tear gas, stun grenades and live rounds while officers on horseback tried to control the protesters. The violence on Saturday returned to the fore the issue of migrants, which has long divided Israel. Its resurgence comes as Israel is torn over Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan, and supporters cite the migrant issue as a reason why the courts should be reined in, saying they have stood in the way of pushing the migrants out. "We want harsh measures against the rioters, including the immediate deportation of those who took part," Netanyahu said in a special ministerial meeting called to deal with the aftermath of the violence. He requested that the ministers present him with plans "for the removal of all the other illegal infiltrators," and noted in his remarks that the Supreme Court struck down some measures meant to coerce the migrants to leave. Under international law, Israel cannot forcibly send migrants back to a country where their life or liberty may be at risk. Ahead of an official visit to Cyprus, Netanyahu said the ministerial team was seeking to deport 1,000 supporters of the Eritrean government who were involved in Saturday's violence. "They have no claim to refugee status. They support this regime," Netanyahu said. "If they support the regime so much, they would do well to return to their country of origin." About 25,000 African migrants live in Israel, mainly from Sudan and Eritrea, who say they fled conflict or repression. Israel recognizes very few as asylum seekers, seeing them overwhelmingly as economic migrants, and says it has no legal obligation to keep them. The country has tried a variety of tactics to force them out, including sending some to a remote prison, holding part of their wages until they agree to leave the country or offering cash payments to those who agree to move to another country, somewhere in Africa. Critics accuse the government of trying to coerce the migrants into leaving. Migrants' supporters say Israel, a country founded upon the ashes of the Holocaust and built up by Jewish refugees, should welcome those seeking asylum. Opponents claim migrants have brought crime to the low-income southern Tel Aviv neighbourhoods where they have settled. On Sunday, Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited the site of the unrest, voicing his support for the police and calling for those who broke the law to be placed in detention until they are deported. "They don't need to be here. It's not their place," he said. Some people heckled Ben-Gvir as he walked with a police escort, telling him to "go home." Saturday's clashes came as Eritrean government supporters marked the 30th anniversary of the current ruler's rise to power, an event held near the Eritrean embassy in south Tel Aviv. Eritrea has one of the world's worst human rights records and migrants in Israel and elsewhere say they fear death if they were to return. Critics see Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan as a power grab meant to weaken the courts and limit judicial oversight on government decisions and legislation. Supporters say it is meant to restore power to elected legislators and rein in what they say is an interventionist and liberal-leaning justice system. Similar protests involving rival Eritrean groups have been also popping up in other countries. On Saturday, Norway's second-largest city Bergen, witnessed clashes between supporters and opponents of the Eritrean government during a rally commemorating the country's independence day. Norwegian authorities said government opponents threw bottles and stones at rally participants. Large numbers of police forces with shields and visors fanned out on the streets, and parts of Bergen's city center were cordoned off because of the violence. Over 100 people were involved in the clashes and at least three people were detained, while one person was injured, Norwegian authorities said. In early August, Swedish media reported that about 1,000 protesters stormed an Eritrean festival in Stockholm, the capital, setting booths and cars on fire and using rocks and sticks as weapons, leaving at least 52 people injured and more than 100 people detained. Eritera's President Isaias Afwerki, 77, has been in power since 1993 after the country won independence from Ethiopia following a long guerrilla war. There have been no elections and no free media, and exit visas are required for Eritreans to leave the country. Many young people are forced into military service with no end date, human rights groups and United Nations experts say. ------ Associated Press writer Jari Tanner contributed to this report from Helsinki. CTVNews.ca Top Stories Ottawa police say the two men killed and six others injured in an evening shooting outside a convention centre in Ottawa's south end were attending a wedding at the time of the shooting. A violent clash between two groups shut down traffic in a northeast Calgary neighbourhood Saturday evening. A delegation of Canadian military veterans, RCMP officers and first responders gathered in Nova Scotia Sunday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Canada's response to the deadly crash of Swissair Flight 111. Las Vegas residents on Sunday were drying out after two days of heavy rainfall that flooded streets, prompted various water rescues, shut down a portion of Interstate 15 south of the city and possibly resulted in at least one death. Tens of thousands of people gathered for the Burning Man festival remained stranded in the Nevada desert on Sunday after storms that swept through the area, as authorities investigated a possible death and worked to open exit paths by the end of the Labor Day weekend. Disney wants to narrow the scope of its federal lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis to just a free speech claim that the Florida governor retaliated against the company because of its public opposition to a state law banning classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he wants Eritrean migrants involved in a violent clash in Tel Aviv to be deported immediately and has ordered a plan to remove all of the country's African migrants. Housing is the least affordable than it has been in about four decades in the U.S. But buying or renting a home might be even less affordable now if it weren’t for the continuing impact of remote and hybrid workers that resulted from the pandemic, according to a recent study by Fannie Mae. While math-related anxiety can start as early as kindergarten for some kids, there are strategies to make math enjoyable for all students, according to an expert. - 'The landlords have no accountability': Wrongfully evicted B.C. woman wins tenancy branch battle, but says former landlord refuses to pay up A B.C. woman says she was awarded tens of thousands of dollars by the Residential Tenancy Branch after a wrongful eviction, but is yet to see a cent of it from her former landlord. - Ottawa police say the two men killed and six others injured in an evening shooting outside a convention centre in Ottawa's south end were attending a wedding at the time of the shooting. - A violent clash between two groups shut down traffic in a northeast Calgary neighbourhood Saturday evening. - A deal Canada struck this year to stem the flow of asylum seekers entering from the U.S. was, at first glance, a quick success: Within days, the number of people caught at unofficial crossings along the border dwindled to a trickle. But five months later, the overall number of people filing refugee claims in Canada has risen instead of falling. - To her fans, Tamara Lich is a proud Canadian and a lioness of the movement behind the 'Freedom Convoy' protests. To the Crown, she is a nefarious actor who deliberately helped lead blockades that tormented residents and pushed the country to a state of national emergency. For that she faces multiple charges and is scheduled to face her first day in court on Tuesday. - Evacuation orders have been issued in British Columbia's Interior by the Cheslatta Carrier Nation and the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako due to the Wells Creek wildfire. - Tens of thousands of people gathered for the Burning Man festival remained stranded in the Nevada desert on Sunday after storms that swept through the area, as authorities investigated a possible death and worked to open exit paths by the end of the Labor Day weekend. - Disney wants to narrow the scope of its federal lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis to just a free speech claim that the Florida governor retaliated against the company because of its public opposition to a state law banning classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. - Two people were hospitalized following a 3.5-hour Russian drone barrage on a port in Ukraine's Odessa region on Sunday, officials said. The attack on the Reni seaport comes a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the resumption of food shipments from Ukraine. - A bus carrying pilgrims to the Iraqi city of Karbala overturned north of Baghdad on Saturday, killing 18 people, medical officials said. - Pope Francis sent a special greeting to China's 'noble' people on Sunday, giving them a special shout-out at the end of a Mass celebrated in neighbouring Mongolia during the first-ever papal visit that was largely overshadowed by Beijing and its crackdown on religious minorities. - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he wants Eritrean migrants involved in a violent clash in Tel Aviv to be deported immediately and has ordered a plan to remove all of the country's African migrants. - Canada has its eyes on Asia and the lucrative trade markets in the Indo-Pacific region as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau heads to the region for a week of international summits and bilateral meetings. - Canada's housing crunch is the result of decades of poor policy stemming from the federal government leaving the issue to the provinces in the 1980s, according to one former deputy prime minister. - NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he 'absolutely' feels he has the leverage to angle for action on his party's policy priorities, thanks to the Liberals' recent drop in the polls. - Will updated COVID vaccines work against latest variant? Canadian scientists monitor global research Federal scientists will be monitoring global research to determine the effectiveness of updated vaccines against the latest COVID-19 variant, BA.2.86, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada say. - People who are precariously employed face a 20 per cent higher risk of premature death than those with secure employment, according to a new study by Swedish researchers. - French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Sunday that disposable vapes will soon be banned in the country as part of a national anti-smoking plan. - Dozens of cities in Europe could reach net zero carbon emissions within the next 10 years by incorporating nature into their urban infrastructure, according to new research. - Canada on Friday unveiled draft rules for a law designed to compel Alphabet's Google and Meta Platforms pay news outlets, saying Ottawa was addressing the companies' concerns that they may be facing an uncapped liability. - India's moon rover has completed its walk on the lunar surface and been put into sleep mode less than two weeks after its historic landing near the lunar south pole, India's space mission said. - It seemed wistfully appropriate, somehow, that news of Jimmy Buffett's death emerged at the beginning of the Labor Day weekend, the demarcation point of every American summer's symbolic end. - Metallica postponed Sunday's concert in Arizona after the band said lead singer James Hetfield tested positive for COVID-19. - He's most often associated with Boston, the hometown of his legendary rock band, but Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler has a soft spot in his heart for the Hawaiian island of Maui. The singer, who has a home on the island, wants vacationers to return to Maui to help the island's economy -- devastated by wildfires last month -- recover. - Household debt rises to $2.34 trillion in Canada as average credit card balance jumps to $4,000: TransUnion report A recent report from TransUnion shows a 4.2 per cent increase in Canadian household debt compared to the previous year, while the average credit card balance now stands at $4,000 - Housing is the least affordable than it has been in about four decades in the U.S. But buying or renting a home might be even less affordable now if it weren’t for the continuing impact of remote and hybrid workers that resulted from the pandemic, according to a recent study by Fannie Mae. - Food ads have long made their subjects look bigger, juicier and crispier than they are in real life. But some consumers say those mouth-watering ads can cross the line into deception, and that's leading to a growing number of lawsuits. - While math-related anxiety can start as early as kindergarten for some kids, there are strategies to make math enjoyable for all students, according to an expert. - From US$300 studded headboards to custom-made cabinets to disguise your mini-fridge, students are spending big bucks to decorate their dorm rooms, adding yet another layer to the soaring costs of college. - The viral trend of "Barbie Botox" that has women as young as in their 20s rush for toxin-based procedures to mimic the looks of the movie's lead actress Margot Robbie may lead to resistance among users and hinder medical use in future, doctors cautioned. - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 36 points, including going 14-of-16 at the free-throw line, as Canada fended off Spain 88-86 on Sunday at the FIBA men's basketball World Cup. - Runaway Formula One leader Max Verstappen secured a record 10th straight win with victory at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, with a Red Bull one-two on Ferrari's home track. - Mohamed Salah put aside intense speculation about his future by scoring again for Liverpool in its dominant 3-0 win over Aston Villa that made it three straight victories in the Premier League for Jurgen Klopp's team on Sunday. - Kia has recalled nearly 20,000 vehicles in Canada due to issues with trunk latches. This comes after the company recalled around 320,000 cars in the U.S. - Kia is recalling about 320,000 cars in the U.S. to fix a problem that could prevent the trunk from being opened from the inside. - Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton warned his rivals he had 'unfinished business' after extending his contract at Mercedes.	Middle East Politics
NEW YORK -- Being a centenarian hasn’t slowed down Viola Ford Fletcher’s pursuit of justice. In the last couple of years, Fletcher has traveled internationally, testified before Congress and supported a lawsuit for reparations — all part of a campaign for accountability over the massacre that destroyed Tulsa, Oklahoma’s original “Black Wall Street” in 1921, when she was a child. Now, at age 109, Fletcher is releasing a memoir about the life she lived in the shadow of the massacre, after a white mob laid waste to the once-thriving Black enclave known as Greenwood. The book will be published by Mocha Media Inc. on Tuesday and becomes widely available for purchase on Aug. 15. In a recent interview with The Associated Press, she said fear of reprisal for speaking out had influenced years of near-silence about the massacre. “Now that I’m an old lady, there’s nothing else to talk about,” Fletcher said. “We decided to do a book about it and maybe that would help.” Her memoir, “Don’t Let Them Bury My Story,” is a call to action for readers to pursue truth, justice and reconciliation no matter how long it takes. Written with graphic details of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre that she witnessed at age seven, Fletcher said she hoped to preserve a narrative of events that was nearly lost to a lack of acknowledgement from mainstream historians and political leaders. “The questions I had then remain to this day,” Fletcher writes in the book. “How could you just give a mob of violent, crazed, racist people a bunch of deadly weapons and allow them — no, encourage them — to go out and kill innocent Black folks and demolish a whole community?” “As it turns out, we were victims of a lie,” she writes. Tensions between Tulsa’s Black and white residents inflamed when, on May 31, 1921, the white-owned Tulsa Tribune published a sensationalized news report of an alleged assault by a 19-year-old Black shoeshine on a 17-year-old white girl working as an elevator operator. With the shoeshine under arrest, a Black militia gathered at a local jail to prevent a lynch mob from kidnapping and murdering him. Then, a separate violent clash between Black and white residents sparked an all-out war. Over 18 hours, between May 31 and June 1, the enlarged mob carried out a scorched-earth campaign against Greenwood. The death toll has been estimated to be as high as 300. More than 35 city blocks were leveled, an estimated 191 businesses were destroyed, and roughly 10,000 Black residents were displaced. In her memoir, Fletcher writes of the bumpy ride out of town in a horse-drawn buggy, as her family escaped the chaos. She witnessed a Black man being executed, his head exploded like “a watermelon dropped off the rooftop of a barn." The shooter had also fired his shotgun at her family’s buggy. “We passed piles of dead bodies heaped in the streets,” she writes in the book. “Some of them had their eyes open, as though they were still alive, but they weren’t.” Victims’ descendants believed that, once the conspiracy of silence around it was pierced decades later, justice and reparations for Tulsa’s Black community would follow. That hasn't happened just yet — Fletcher and two other centenarian survivors are currently plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the city of Tulsa. Ike Howard, Fletcher’s grandson and co-author of the memoir, said systemic racism has prevented Tulsa’s Black community from fully recovering from the massacre. “They want to be made whole,” Howard said. “We speak for everybody that went through a similar situation, who are not here to tell their stories.” “You can learn a lot from ‘Don’t Let Them Bury My Story.’ And we know that history can repeat itself if you don’t correct and reconcile issues,” he added. Fletcher notes in her memoir just how much history she has lived through — from several virus outbreaks preceding the coronavirus pandemic, to the Great Depression of 1929 and the Great Recession of 2008 to every war and international conflict of the last seven decades. She has watched the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. lead the national Civil Rights Movement, seen the historic election of former President Barack Obama and witnessed the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2020, Howard purchased his grandmother a brand new color TV for her birthday. Several months later, on Jan. 6, the images of the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol following the historic election of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris retraumatized her. “With that horrific scene, all of what occurred back in 1921 in Greenwood came flooding back into my mind,” Fletcher writes in the book. In the AP interview, Fletcher attributed her active lifestyle at an advanced age to her reliance on faith and family. While in New York last month to publicize the book with Howard and her younger brother, 102-year-old Hughes Van Ellis, Fletcher saw the cover of her memoir advertised on jumbo screens in Times Square. Van Ellis, a massacre survivor and World War II veteran whose words from his 2021 testimony to Congress serve as the foreword to his sister’s memoir, said he believes justice is possible in his lifetime. “We’re getting pretty close (to justice), but we aren’t close enough,” he said. “We’ve got a lot more work to do. I have to keep on battling. I’m fighting for myself and my people.” ___ Aaron Morrison is a member of AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aaronlmorrison.	Human Rights
KEIR Starmer appears to be launching a charm offensive against Scottish voters by travelling across the Border 232 per cent more often since the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon. Analysis of press coverage of the Labour leader’s trips to Scotland suggests Starmer is averaging an appearance north of the Border nearly once a month. According to analysis by The National, he has made 0.85 trips a month since the beginning of the year. All his trips this year have come after Sturgeon announced she was standing down as leader of the SNP on February 15. His first appearance came just days after the shock resignation at the Scottish Labour conference on February 19. After that, he visited Cambuslang at the beginning of March and took a trip to Caithness towards the end of the month. He had an overnight trip from May 25 taking in visits to Kirkcaldy before hitting Rutherglen, where his party hopes to gain a new seat in an expected by-election. In 2022, the Labour leader visited Scotland just three times – a rate of 0.25 visits per month. It appears Labour want to boost Starmer’s profile north of the Border, where he suffers from poor and apparently declining popularity ratings. His trips to Scotland also appear not to have improved his popularity among Scottish voters. Pollsters at Redfield and Wilton have tracked his approval rating in Scotland since December last year – and found it to be in decline. Figures released by the company show his current net approval rating at minus 3% – compared with a positive rating of more than 10% late last year. At the next election, Labour need to win more than 130 seats to form a government with the slimmest of majorities – a feat which, if achieved, would outshine Tony Blair’s historic 1997 landslide victory. But he has been accused of using Scotland as a “photo op” and failing to speak out about Westminster vetoing Scottish legislation like the Deposit Return Scheme and the Gender Recognition Reform Bill. “Where was Starmer when the Tories were riding roughshod over the Scottish Parliament to veto the Gender Recognition Reform Bill? “Or giving themselves unprecedented new powers to veto the Deposit Return Scheme? Where will he be when these powers are inevitably used again? “Walking down a high street with a rosette and photographer won’t cut it. “Scotland needs politicians who will stand up for Scotland’s democracy, and so far Starmer has refused to do so.” A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: “Poll after poll shows that the people of Scotland are turning to Labour to deliver the change that Scotland needs. “Keir Starmer will be a Prime Minister for all of the United Kingdom and is committed to standing up for the people of Scotland.”	United Kingdom Politics
- President Cyril Ramaphosa admitted the ANC was also to blame for dividing the country. - Ramaphosa was speaking at the 40th anniversary celebrations of the non-racial, anti-apartheid organisation, the United Democratic Front. - Former finance minister Trevor Manuel also attended the event and called for the defence of the country's Constitution. President Cyril Ramaphosa, speaking at the United Democratic Front's (UDF) 40th-anniversary event, conceded that Indian, coloured and white citizens "feel excluded" in South Africa's political life, saying the ANC was also to blame. Ramaphosa addressed the UDF's anniversary celebrations at the Johannesburg City Hall on Sunday, where the event's theme was about reigniting non-racialism and active citizenship to reclaim the supremacy of the country's constitutional democracy, which speakers at the event warned was "in peril". Ramaphosa — enthusing at how the slogan "UDF unites, apartheid divides" was used in the 1980s to "bury" the repressive regime — called poverty and unemployment "the enemies of the people" that needed defeating through non-racialism in "finding solutions so that our people can live a better life". He railed against his party, the ANC, for being part of dividing South Africa along ethnic, racial and gender lines. "We should not use this opportunity [of the UDF's relaunch] just to dissect what the problems are. We should use this opportunity to recall the activism that we were taught by the UDF," Ramaphosa said. He added: The UDF was formed in August 1983 in response to banned political formations and the apartheid government's constitutional amendment plans to create lower houses, consisting of only Indian and coloured citizens in the then parliament, further excluding black Africans, and dividing the marginalised races. Nearly 600 organisations — including trade unions, religious formations, non-racial sports bodies and community leaders, among other groupings — formed the UDF. The organisation stopped operating in 1991 after the unbanning of the ANC, PAC and other anti-apartheid groups. The UDF relaunched recently to influence the country's socio-political direction. In his address, former North West premier Popo Molefe, an erstwhile UDF leader who is part of its current steering committee, echoed Ramaphosa's sentiments, asserting that political parties were mobilising citizens along racial lines. WATCH: UDF steering committee member and former North West Premier Popo Molefe says, in SA's political landscape, "traditional black parties" tend to promote"anti-white sentiment", while "those [parties] that are predominantly white reinforce anti-black sentiment".@News24 pic.twitter.com/zg7UxilHbx— Khaya Sibulele Koko ???? (@khayakoko88) August 20, 2023 "Daily, we are witnesses to concerted efforts by anti-democratic forces to reverse the advances towards nation-building that we had begun making. Political parties of all stripes are not helping to consolidate our democracy, accountability and provision of [sustainable] basic services. "Instead, they spend valuable time shouting at one another [and] neglecting their constitutional obligations," Molefe said. Former finance minister Trevor Manuel – a former UDF leader – said the country should celebrate and protect the Bill of Rights enshrined in the Constitution, regardless of which party won elections. WATCH: Former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel says he hopes the relaunch of the United Democratic Front (UDF), which commemorates its 40th anniversary today, will reignite SA's passion for non-racialism. Manuel is a #UDF40thAnniversary steering committee member. @News24 pic.twitter.com/vh7YdgVPV9— Khaya Sibulele Koko ???? (@khayakoko88) August 20, 2023 "The reignition [of the UDF] is not to establish a new party; it is about understanding who we are [as South Africans] and the fire that should burn inside all of us," Manuel told News24. South Africa's former presidents, Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe, also attended the festivities, and were seated alongside anti-apartheid activist Sophie de Bruyn, the only surviving leader of the four women who led the historic 9 August 1956 women's march against the former regime.	Africa politics
JINDERIS, Syria -- A baby girl who was born under the rubble of her family’s earthquake-shattered home has left the hospital and gone to her new home, where she was with her paternal aunt’s family Monday. The girl had been at the hospital since hours after the Feb. 6 earthquake. She was discharged Saturday and her aunt and uncle adopted her and gave her a new name, Afraa, after her late mother. Afraa's mother died in the quake along with her father and four siblings. A day after the infant arrived at the hospital, officials there named her Aya — Arabic for “a sign from God.” Afraa’s story has been widely shared in news reports and people from around the world have offered to help her, with some saying they would like to adopt her. However, the relatives who took her in said that, however hard their circumstances, the best place for the infant is with family. On Monday, Afraa was being cared for by her uncle, Khalil al-Sawadi, who is now living with relatives in the town of Jinderis in northern Syria after his home was also destroyed in the earthquake. Al-Sawadi and his wife have four daughters and two sons and now Afraa will be living with her cousins. “She is one of my children now. I will not differentiate between her and my children,” al-Sawadi, who is also a cousin of the newborn's parents, told The Associated Press on Monday while sitting cross-legged holding Afraa and surrounded by his six children. “She will be dearer than my children because she will keep the memory alive of her father, mother and siblings.” He added that days after Afraa was born, his wife gave birth to a daughter, Attaa. While in the hospital in the nearby town of Afrin, the director’s wife has been breast-feeding Afraa. Judicial officials in Afrin had taken over the case of Afraa after the girl drew international attention and some people came to the hospital claiming they are related to her although they had different family names than Afraa and her mother. For days, al-Sawadi was worried that someone might kidnap her and he visited her frequently at the hospital. A hospital official said Afraa was handed over to her aunt's family days after a DNA test was conducted to make sure the girl and her aunt are biologically related. “It was sad and some nurses wept” when she was taken from the hospital, said Dr. Hani Maarouf who had taken care of Afraa since she was brought to the facility. He added that the baby girl was in very good health when she was released. Rescue workers in Jinderis discovered the dark-haired baby girl more than 10 hours after the quake as they were digging through the wreckage of the five-story apartment building where her parents lived. Al-Sawadi recounted how he rushed out of his home when the earthquake happened and found that the nearby building where Afraa's family lived had been reduced to a pile of rubble. Along with others from the area, al-Sawadi said they dug through the rubble in heavy rain for hours until he grew tired and sat to rest nearby. Shortly afterward, someone called him to identify a dead woman whom they found under the rubble. He told people around that she was his cousin, Afraa. Then, they started hearing a child crying and frantically removed the sand that covered the baby, whose umbilical cord was still still connected to her mother. Al-Sawadi said he took a razor from his pocked and cut the umbilical cord and handed the girl to another cousin and they rushed her to a nearby hospital where he was told that the girl was in good health. They drove to another hospital in the nearby town of Afrin where they were told it was full and unable to take more patients. They continued to a second hospital, which was also full, before reaching the children's hospital where she was kept until Saturday. He said during the chaos after they pulled Afraa from under the rubble, al-Sawadi thought that the newborn was a boy and told the doctor to name “him” after her late father Abdullah Turki Mleihan. They later found out it was a girl. He said that the girl was kept in hospital for nearly two weeks until the paperwork for her adoption was done. The devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake with its epicenter in Turkey’s southeastern Kharamanmaras province struck in the early hours of Feb. 6, followed by multiple aftershocks. Many communities in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria were reduced to piles of broken concrete and twisted metal. More than 44,000 people have been reported dead, a toll expected to rise as search teams find more bodies. The earthquake destroyed dozens of housing units in the town of Jinderis, where Afraa’s family had been living since 2018. Afraa’s father, Abdullah Turki Mleihan, was originally from the village of Khsham in eastern Deir el-Zour province, but left in 2014 after the Islamic State group captured the village, Saleh al-Badran, an uncle of Afraa’s father, said earlier this month. “I will raise her in a way that she will not feel in need for anything,” said al-Sawadi, who buys and sells cars. Surrounded by his children, al-Sawadi asked them if he should give away Afraa to the well-wishers offering to adopt her and they said in one voice, “No.” ___ Mroue reported from Beirut.	Middle East Politics
The Taliban banned Afghan women from working at the United Nations in Afghanistan this week, adding another restriction to the long list the Taliban has imposed on Afghan women since retaking power in August 2021. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said any ban on Afghan women working for the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, would be "unacceptable and frankly inconceivable," in a statement after the Taliban order was issued. "This is the latest in a disturbing trend undermining the ability of aid organizations to reach those most in need. It goes without saying, but unfortunately, it does need saying, that female staff are essential for the United Nations to deliver life-saving assistance," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement Tuesday. The U.N. provides lifesaving assistance to the Afghanistan population, which has become even more necessary since the Taliban regained power in 2021. Several international aid organizations that had been operating in the country left after the Taliban took power and stopped providing assistance as a result of the new government. "Such orders, as we saw today, violate the fundamental rights of women and infringe upon the principle of non-discrimination. Female staff members are essential to ensure the continuation of the U.N. operations on the ground in Afghanistan," Dujarric said Tuesday. The order comes after the Taliban imposed a series of other restrictions on Afghan women over the past year. In 2022, the Taliban restricted women and girls' access to education. The Taliban also restricted Afghan women's ability to work for international aid organizations in December 2022, but, until this week, that did not apply to women working for the .U.N mission. Before this week's decree, the Taliban attempted to intimidate women working for the U.N. by accusing them of breaking dress code by not wearing hijabs. The Taliban also tried to intimidate Afghan women working for different U.N. offices across the country by contacting them directly to threaten them or passing the message to family members asking them to stop working. Several Afghan women working for the U.N. have already experienced restrictions on their movements, including harassment, intimidation and detention. The additional restriction further isolates Afghan women and poses a problem for the Taliban, which relies on support from the U.N. Many women's rights activists believe the Taliban is using the ban on Afghan women as a tool to get more leverage from the international community. "They are certainly trying to remove women from every aspect of society, either its simple presence in the society or working environment," activist Mariam Maroof Arvin told ABC News. "Taliban also use these restrictions as a tool to gain more from international community in terms of aid and to push them to accept their demands." The Taliban has not faced severe consequences for the restrictions they've placed on Afghan women over the past year. Western countries like the U.S. and international organizations like the U.N. have condemned the actions by the Taliban, but little action has been taken beyond that. "I hope this time the organizations defending women rights and international community as a whole won't give up to Taliban's demand and stand firm against them. That will be the only way out of these evil demands. I hope everyone come together in protecting women rights," Arvin said.	Middle East Politics
As I write this, I have images juxtaposed in my mind on top of the photos and videos that are coming out now. They are the images of past tragedies: children’s dust-covered and blood-streaked faces; mothers crying silently; and rescue teams desperately digging through rubble—often with their bare hands. Like an evil creature from the most horrific of nightmares, the deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake on February 6 destroyed hundreds of miles of homes and lives in southern Turkey and decimated a population that was already in many ways decimated in Syria. I know the areas impacted by the earthquake well. The southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep is where my charity, International Network for Aid Relief & Assistance (INARA), has its Turkey office based, and is where all our staff and beneficiaries live. In my years as a CNN senior international correspondent, that border zone is where I spent weeks on end covering everything from refugees flooding across, to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)’s takeovers of areas in Syria, to the relentless bombing of the miserable Syrian rebel-held swath of Idlib. Turkey, well equipped to deal with the aftermath of natural disasters, has mobilized its emergency teams and military. On the ground, international rescue teams continue to arrive from the United States, Ukraine, Lebanon, Japan, and more, as many countries pledge their support for the victims in Turkey and Syria. However, whether the level of international response will be enough or not is yet to be seen. The earthquake has already killed more than 19,000 people. The scale of the crisis is incredibly vast. Turks and Syrians in Turkey have posted countless messages on social media about the lack of rescue efforts in certain areas, and people I know have messaged that their friends are still trapped under the rubble. While aid increasingly flows into Turkey from around the world by air, land, and sea, areas on the other side of the border in Syria’s rebel-controlled areas are seeing none of that. Syrians impacted by the earthquake in northwest Syria have already endured a twelve-year war, hunger, cold, and a pandemic. They have long felt and, in fact, been abandoned by the international community. Since the earthquake rocked the region, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been pleading to international agencies and the world’s governments to provide much-needed support to implement effective search and rescue operations in the vital first seventy-two hours of the crisis. In a continuation of what has become a daily reality throughout the last twelve years, NGOs have to beg and plead for funding for Syria, but never come close to hitting their targets. On the ground, the Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets—experts in saving lives in the aftermath of bombings—has been leading the search and rescue efforts. However, this level of destruction all at once eclipses their capacity. The White Helmets and other volunteer groups are suffering from a lack of everything that they could possibly need, including a shortage of diesel to run their heavy machinery, a lack of shelters for those now out in the cold and snow, and a lack of winterization kits. While local organizations rush to deliver humanitarian assistance—a drop in the bucket of what is needed—there has yet to be a single official rescue team dispatched by governments across one particular border into Syria. In fact, there has not been anything going across that border at all. Despite having several functioning border crossings between Turkey and northwest Syria, there is only one lone border crossing that has been authorized by the United Nations (UN) Security Council to deliver UN aid to rebel-held Idlib and the 4.1 million people who live there, many of whom are originally from elsewhere, having fled bombings by the Bashar al-Assad regime, Russia, and Iran multiple times. The border crossing’s existence has always been heavily politicized, with the threat of a Russian veto looming every six to twelve months as the Assad government in Damascus continues to insist that all aid to Syria should come through the capital. Right now, that border crossing is not functional. The UN has said that, while the crossing itself is intact, the roads leading to it are either closed or damaged—all of which leaves this rebel-held region at the mercy of its meager resources and a government that wants to wipe its population off the map. The Assad government-controlled areas, like Aleppo and Lattakia, have also been impacted in devastating fashion. Hundreds have lost their lives there, since there is a severe lack of infrastructure or ability to launch rescue operations despite being under Assad regime control. However, aid has arrived in Damascus from countries like Iraq, Iran, and Russia. In theory, Damascus could be an entryway to reach all Syrians in need, but that’s hardly about to happen, given that access to humanitarian aid has become one of the biggest geopolitical cards. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on Russia and all international actors to put pressure on the Assad regime to allow aid to reach everyone in the country. This is tragically laughable, since the international voices that did not work to stop the Assad government from bombing its people are hardly going to be effective in getting the regime to feed and keep its people warm. To quote a Syrian friend in the hours after the earthquake struck: “It did what the Assad regime and Russians wanted to do to us all along.” Arwa Damon is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and a former senior international correspondent at CNN. Further reading Fri, Jan 13, 2023 US sanctions on Syria aren’t working. It’s time for a new sanctions approach that minimizes humanitarian suffering and increases leverage. MENASource By Before making concessions, the United States can increase its leverage in Syria by dedicating resources to make use of the smart sanctions that US policymakers have already developed. Mon, Jan 23, 2023 MENASource By The December 2022 meeting in Russia is the first of many that may ultimately result in a direct encounter between Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Bashar al-Assad. Thu, Feb 10, 2022 A perpetrator of Syrian crimes against humanity went free in France. Here’s why it shouldn’t happen again If the scope for changing the course of events in Syria is limited, it’s honorable to take a stand against the abominable crimes of the Bashar al-Assad regime. It would be a great pity for France to be seen as a safe haven for Assad’s accomplices.	Middle East Politics
Former Polish president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Lech Wałęsa will face trial in Poland on accusations that he falsely testified not to have signed documents relating to his alleged cooperation with the communist authorities. If found guilty, he faces up to three years in prison. While Wałęsa, now aged 80, is a symbol of opposition to Poland’s communist regime, having led the Solidarity movement that helped topple it, he has also long faced accusations that he previously cooperated with the security services. Those claims have often been made by conservative figures, including many linked to the Law and Justice (PiS) party that has ruled Poland since 2015. Wałęsa, who is a prominent opponent of PiS, has always denied such claims and suggested that any documents indicating otherwise are forgeries. The Lech Wałęsa Institute has threatened to sue Poland's education minister after he said schools should teach that Wałęsa was a communist agent as well as leader of the Solidarity movement that helped bring down the communist regime https://t.co/GEVtB315vH — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) September 6, 2020 Two years ago, prosecutors – who during PiS’s time in power have been under the authority of prosecutor general and justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro – charged Wałęsa with making false statements when he testified that he did not sign documents agreeing to work with the security services. Today, they announced that they have filed an indictment, meaning the former president will face trial. The case in question stems from statements made by Wałęsa in 2016 during an investigation by the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), a state historical body that also has prosecutorial powers. The proceedings, in which the former Polish president testified as a witness and was treated as an injured party, were launched after documents carrying his signatures were found in the home archives of former communist interior minister Czesław Kiszczak. Lech Wałęsa has been charged by prosecutors with making false statements in relation to longstanding claims that, before leading the Solidarity movement which helped bring down communism in Poland, he collaborated with the communist security services https://t.co/MGPl4Gt4nr — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 2, 2021 The documents indicated that Wałęsa, working under the code name Bolek, signed a commitment to collaborate with the communist Security Service (SB), as well as payslips and informant’s notes. The former president had told the media at the time the documents were discovered that they had been falsified. The purpose of the IPN’s investigation was to verify whether a crime of document forgery had been committed and to identify possible perpetrators. During its course, Wałęsa testified he did not sign the documents. “After being shown a number of documents…he denied having drafted or signed any of the more than fifty documents shown to him,” a spokesman for the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw, Szymon Banna, told news website Onet. Lech Wałęsa's rights were violated as a result of the Polish government’s overhaul of the judiciary, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled It ordered Poland to pay him damages and take steps to address "systemic violations" of judicial independence https://t.co/QAOaTjtQ0F — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 23, 2023 Wałęsa admitted, however, that in the case of one letter found in the file, with handwritten notes and the signature “Lech Wałęsa”, there is a high degree of probability it was his handwriting and signature. However, the prosecutors found – after comparing the documents from the file with others confirmed as being written and signed by Wałęsa and consulting forensic handwriting experts – that in the case of over 50 documents, Wałęsa’s testimony was false. “The Institute [of Forensic Research] issued a conclusive assessment stating that the documents from the personal file and the work file of the secret collaborator alias ‘Bolek’ were drawn up by the former president,” said Banna. “The experts confirmed that he had drawn up or personally signed: a handwritten undertaking to cooperate with the Security Service in December 1970, handwritten receipts for money for information provided to SB officers, as well as more than 30 handwritten informant’s notes,” the spokesman added. Prokuratura Okręgowa w Warszawie zarzuca byłemu prezydentowi Lechowi Wałęsie składanie fałszywych zeznań w kwietniu 2016 roku podczas przesłuchania w warszawskim oddziale Instytutu pamięci Narodowej.https://t.co/4K8tQsKZmQ — Portal i.pl (@portal_ipl) November 30, 2023 In response to today’s announcement that he had been indicted, Wałęsa published a statement on Facebook describing the accusations against him as “terrible insults and monstrous lies” that must be disproven “line by line”. In further remarks to news website Wirtualna Polska, the former president reiterated that he “maintains the documents were forged”. He added that he was not yet sure if he would appear at the trial “because these are not courts [anymore]” – a reference to the PiS government’s overhaul of the judiciary. Earlier this week, Wałęsa won a case against Poland before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which found that PiS’s judicial reforms had violated Wałęsa’s rights in a case relating to accusations that he collaborated with the communists. Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support. Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.	Europe Politics
You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles Inside Housing’s Build Social campaign is calling for the UK to build 100,000 social rent homes a year. But how much would it cost? What would the economic impact be? And can the country afford it? Peter Apps reports. Illustration by Michael Parkin It isn’t hard to make a social case for social housing. Whether it is the ever-lengthening housing waiting lists, increasingly unaffordable private rents, or the terrifying rise in homeless families over the past decade, plenty of numbers point to the need for much more affordable housing. The problem is paying for it in an era of soaring build costs, higher interest rates and vast state debt, following the pandemic and last year’s energy bill relief. As Inside Housing’s Build Social campaign calls on politicians to commit to 100,000 social rented homes a year across the UK, it is important to ask: can the country really afford this commitment? There is no point sugar-coating the state of public finances. The country’s debt rose to £2,537bn at the end of the last financial year – more than 100% of GDP for the first time since 1961. Both the Conservatives and Labour have committed to getting this debt down, which means new spending will have to come from new taxes, which neither is keen to impose. It is becoming much more expensive to build social rented housing, thanks to rising borrowing costs for providers and higher construction costs. A general slowdown in the housing market and vast financial commitments elsewhere also diminish the amount social landlords can invest from their own resources. One source at a London-based housing association says build costs have increased to £400,000 per house, up about 70% from the mid-2010s. Providers can borrow about £100,000 per unit against the rents which will ultimately be paid on a new home and invest some money from their own surpluses. However, to make social rent stack up, they will need grant from the state to the tune of about £200,000 a unit. Grant rates in London currently top out at about £60,000 a unit. This means a lot more money will be needed to build more social rented housing. Another source, based in the North of England, gives an estimate of £70,000 to £80,000 grant needed per home, but it is still plain to see that to get to 100,000 social homes a year will take a lot of state cash. The fiscal rules both political parties are signed up to near enough rule this out. But are these rules good economics? “Most economists would say that a rule which simply says you’ve got to get debt down is very blunt and pretty suboptimal, because it stops you making sensible investments that would actually be good value for money in the long run,” says Ian Mulheirn, an economist and research associate at the Resolution Foundation. Social rented housing is good value in the long run in several ways. First, and most obviously, benefit expenditure. The shortage of social housing means an increasing number of people who need benefits to help cover the cost of their rent live in private rented housing. According to analysis by the New Economics Foundation (NEF), England paid £9.75bn to private landlords in housing benefit last year and will pay £57.7bn over the next five. If these claimants were to move to social rented housing, where rents are cheaper, the benefit bill would fall immediately. In fact, the government’s own analysis shows that social housing pays back 69% of the grant used to build it within 30 years, and 110% within 60 years through reduced housing benefit expenditure. Local authorities spend £1.6bn annually on temporary accommodation for homeless families. This outlay is particularly high in London boroughs, where the cost of this housing is enormous. These households would be some of the first to move into any new social homes, adding another immediate saving for the state. A report published this month by academics at University College London estimated that a boost of £4bn annually to expenditure on social rented housing would deliver a net saving to the exchequer of £1.5bn a year, due to reduced costs not just in benefits, but also homelessness services and healthcare expenditure. It said this figure was likely to be an underestimate because of the added beneficial effects on economic growth and productivity, employment and disability benefits, acute and chronic health, the criminal justice system, educational attainment and life chances. Building new social housing will also be a driver of economic growth in its own right. This was the conclusion of A New Economic Case for Social Housing, a 2020 report commissioned by Shelter Scotland. The report found that investment of £2.2bn in social rented homes in the country would produce £12bn in income to the state, through the economic activity and enhanced productivity which resulted from their construction. In a downturn, where private house builders will step back, this argument becomes even stronger: building social homes keeps activity going in an industry that is at risk of becoming dormant. “One of the limitations of the pro-social housing argument is that because supply chains are limited, the additional social housebuilding activity would, to some degree, tend to displace private building. “In government, that issue of displacement is something that is quite widely believed,” says Mr Mulheirn. “That’s much less of a problem if you use social housing as a countercyclical tool to keep the industry moving in a downturn.” Social rented housing can also make a difference in areas where private investment is less willing to enter. £1.6bn Amount local authorities spend annually on temporary accommodation for homeless families £9.75bn Figure England paid to private landlords in housing benefit last year £12bn Amount produced in income to the state for an investment of £2.2bn in social rented homes “There’s a market-making element to social housing. If we have stability regarding rent and capital subsidy, housing associations can invest in areas and improve them, which then brings private investment in,” says Steve Coffey, chief executive of Torus and chair of Homes for the North. Social rented housing also has no ongoing subsidy. The rents charged will, over time, generate a surplus and pay back the money spent on building it. Gordon MacRae, assistant director at Shelter Scotland and a contributor to the 2020 report, explains: “Post Right to Buy [which was scrapped in Scotland in 2014], that asset can’t be sold off. It gives the state a revenue stream that will pay off the debt and allow you to fund new building work and retrofit, going forward.” This is a model which works successfully in many European countries. “Housing is infrastructure that supports long-term economic growth, apart from the more direct social value, but unlike other forms of infrastructure, it pays for itself through rent,” adds Professor Ken Gibb, director of the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence and a professor of housing economics at the University of Glasgow. “It should not be treated as or accounted for in the same way as other capital projects that do not automatically pay for themselves.” This broad economic argument – that expenditure on social rented housing pays for itself over the long term – is not new. In 2015, a report by Capital Economics, a Wolfson Prize-winning consultancy, came to similar conclusions. The report, commissioned by the National Federation of ALMOs and campaign group Shout, said a programme of building 100,000 social rented homes per year would result in the country being £900bn wealthier by 2065-66. This sum is equivalent to four-fifths of current spending on the National Health Service in England. “Investment in new social rent housing offers a solution that is fiscally sustainable and economically efficient,” it said. Andrew Evans, the consultancy’s managing economist, tells Inside Housing that the fundamental drivers have not changed in the eight years since the report was written. “Obviously, borrowing is more expensive now, but we’re looking over 30 to 40 years and we’d expect rates to fall again in that time. The main driver of that economic case still holds, certainly over the long term,” he argues. “We’ve treated housing needs as an individual, personal responsibility and lost that sense that housing a nation is part of the collective responsibility” Why do politicians and Treasury officials not buy into this logic? One reason is a worry about what international markets think of borrowing. As was evident from Liz Truss’ disastrous Mini Budget, raising debt levels can spook international investors. “One of the things politicians worry about is that gilt market investors will look at the gross amount of outstanding debt and that they will get spooked if that gets too high,” says Mr Mulheirn. “At the end of the day, international debt markets are a beauty parade, and if they look at you and think your government debt is consistently going up in an unsustainable manner, then the fear is that they’re going to say, ‘No thanks.’” But an ambitious social rent building programme is several orders of magnitude different from a £72bn package of energy bill relief and unfunded tax cuts. Even if the Treasury doesn’t want to spend on social rented housing upfront, there is more it could do. “Even if it saves money on housing benefit in the long term, governments tend to plan on a three to five-year horizon, so expecting us to get to the grant funding necessary for 90,000 social rented homes a year any time soon probably isn’t realistic,” says Jamie Ratcliff, chief communities and sustainability officer at Sovereign Network Group, referring to the Build Social target for England. “If they haven’t got a whole load of money, they basically need to try and pull every lever they can to try and make the environment more appealing.” This includes longer-term certainty over future rent-setting and longer-term Affordable Homes Programmes, to allow providers to invest with confidence, he says. Economics are only ever one part of the story, though. Politics matters, too. “I don’t think preventative arguments – that by spending now you will save in the future – attract politicians, who don’t have such a long electoral timeline,” says Professor Gibb. Shelter Scotland’s Mr MacRae adds that political pressure is rarely present for investment in social housing to get priority. “If the government doesn’t repair a motorway, they get the blame, but for two generations, we’ve treated housing need as an individual, personal responsibility and lost that sense that housing a nation is part of the collective responsibility.” He adds that the 25% cut to the social housing budget last year shows that despite its ambitious target of 110,000 homes in 10 years, the Scottish government still does not appreciate the value of social rented housing. “The government knows what it needs to do, but it doesn’t seem to have a plan to make it happen,” he says. Even if the Scottish government did want to invest more, it would struggle to on its own, as it cannot borrow in its own right and is reliant on the settlement it receives from the UK Treasury. So all eyes will stay on Westminster. There, politicians recently promised “long-term decisions for a brighter future”. Economically or socially, a major programme of building social rented housing would fit that bill. For all political parties to commit to funding a substantial programme of homes for social rent in their manifestos at the next general election. This includes: ● 90,000 social rented homes a year over the next decade in England. ● 7,700 social rented homes a year in Scotland. ● 4,000 social rented homes a year in Wales. Inside Housing commits to: ● Work to amplify the voices of people who need social housing, including families living in temporary housing and overcrowded conditions.	United Kingdom Politics
Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum has issued a defiant message on Twitter after soldiers announced a coup overnight in the West African nation. Trouble began early on Wednesday when troops from the presidential guard took him captive. His foreign minister has said the takeover does not have the backing of the whole military, but the army chief has now said he backs the junta. Mr Bazoum is a key Western ally in the fight against Islamist militants. The US and France, the former colonial power, both have military bases in the uranium-rich country - and have condemned the coup. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called up Mr Bazoum promising Washington's "unwavering support" and the UN, the European Union and Russia have all called for the president's immediate release. The 64-year-old, who was elected Niger's president two years ago, took to Twitter on Thursday morning to say: "The hard-won achievements will be safeguarded. All Nigeriens who love democracy and freedom will see to it." After delays due to heavy rain early in the morning, coup supporters took to the streets of the capital, Niamey, some gathering outside the National Assembly. Some in the crowd had Russian flags, while others held up hand-written signs saying: "Down with France" and "Foreign bases out". Others gathered outside the headquarters of the president's PNDS Tarraya party, with footage showing them stoning and setting fire to vehicles. They accuse the party of corruption and not doing enough to improve the security situation and end the long-running jihadist insurgency. Two neighbouring countries, Mali and Burkina Faso, have experienced coups triggered by Islamist uprisings in recent years. In both countries the new military leaders have moved closer to Russia after falling out with France, which also previously ruled Niger. A number of well-known pro-Kremlin commentators on Telegram - one of the few major social media platforms not banned in Russia - have been posting comments in support of the coup, saying it is an opportunity for Russia and Wagner to get into Niger. For the moment, there is no evidence of any Russian involvement in this takeover. Moscow has urged all sides to resolve the dispute peacefully. The junta has reprimanded France for violating the closure of the country's borders after a military plane landed at an air-force base on Thursday morning. It is not clear at the moment who is really in charge of Niger. The takeover was announced by a spokesman, Col Maj Amadou Abdramane, who said the takeover was instigated by the deteriorating security situation "and poor economic and social governance". All the different branches of the security forces were represented during the late-night announcement on national television - an indication that the military is united behind the coup. The turn of events has split people in Niger - and some are shocked and upset. While it was under way on Wednesday, hundreds of the president's supporters defied the soldiers to to protest and call for the military to return to the barracks. They dispersed after warning shots were fired - the only gunfire heard in this bloodless seizure of power. They have said they will not accept the coup but it is not clear how they will oppose it. They have not called any more streets protests for the time-being. This coup is yet further bad news for French and Western efforts to restore stability to the part of West Africa known as the Sahel. When neighbouring Mali chose to partner up with Russia's Wagner Group in place of the French, Paris moved its centre of operations in the region to Niger. This coup, even if it turns out to be short-lived, has shown that even Niger cannot necessarily be relied on to be a permanent safe base. Western influence in the region is shrinking like a water pool in the dry season. The governments in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali have all decided they would rather work with Russia's brutal Wagner mercenaries than any Western force. Wagner's primary interests in Africa have appeared to be more about enriching themselves and extending the Kremlin's influence than following the Western goals of trying to nurture better governance. For the two major insurgent groups in the region, those linked to so-called Islamic State and al-Qaeda, this is good news. They thrive on instability, poor governance and local resentment of the government. So a coup in Niger is likely to further hamper efforts to contain them. Niger's Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou has called on the population to oppose the takeover. In an interview with the channel France24, he said that the situation could still be resolved through dialogue and said envoys sent from neighbouring Nigeria were talking to the military. Benin's President Patrice Talon is also on a mediation mission on behalf of the West African regional bloc, Ecowas. The vast arid country on the edge of the Sahara desert - one of the world's poorest nations - has experienced four coups since independence from France in 1960, as well as numerous attempted coups.	Africa politics
Democratic senators call on Biden to press Israel to allow more Gaza aid The senators made an "urgent call" for "sustained humanitarian aid in Gaza." More than a dozen Democratic senators are calling on President Joe Biden to do more to get Israel to protect innocent civilians in Gaza and to press for more humanitarian aid into the enclave -- the latest sign that pressure is mounting on the administration to exert influence to curb the unfolding humanitarian crisis. One, Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, is joining progressive Democrats in calling for a cease-fire. In a letter to President Joe Biden on Monday, 13 senators made an "urgent call for humanitarian assistance for Palestinian civilians in Gaza" following Hamas' surprise terror attacks on Israel on Oct. 7. More than 1,200 people were killed in Israel during the initial terror attack, according to Israeli officials. More than 13,000 people have been killed in retaliatory operations in Gaza since, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. "We encourage you to work with international partners to achieve expeditious implementation of a plan for sustained humanitarian aid in Gaza," the Democratic senators wrote in the letter. "We hope you'll join us in encouraging our ally Israel to take immediate steps to help provide critical humanitarian aid to the innocent civilians in Gaza, including re-opening the Kerem Shalom border crossing [in southern Gaza] to allow life-saving water, food, and fuel to reach vulnerable civilians." The Democrats who signed the letter include Sens. Merkely, Tammy Baldwin, Tim Kaine, Chris Van Hollen, Dick Durbin, Brian Schatz, Michael Bennet, Martin Heinrich, Peter Welch, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Ed Markey and Jeanne Shaheen. The White House hasn't responded to ABC News' request for comment on the letter. Earlier this month, the White House said Israel agreed to put in place four-hour daily humanitarian pauses on its attack on Hamas in northern Gaza. Israel's bombing campaign and total siege of the neighboring Gaza Strip has complicated efforts to deliver aid to the area. At the White House press briefing Monday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the daily humanitarian pauses, at U.S. urging, are "happening on a regular basis" and have extended up to seven hours a day in some cases. Kirby said the administration is hopeful these humanitarian pauses can help with the safe release of the hundreds of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza. "If you're going to secure the release of hostages -- and we certainly hope we're going to be able to do that soon -- you got to make sure they can get from where they are to safety and do that as safely as possible, which means you're going to have to have at least a temporary localized stop in the fighting to allow them to move," Kirby said at the White House press briefing. The senators sent the letter the same day that Biden said he believed a deal is near to free some of the more than 200 hostages. The administration said that 10 Americans unaccounted for are believed to be among the hostages. Biden said Tuesday that "we're now very close" on a deal to release the hostages being held by Hamas, but the president did not discuss more details. Also in the letter, the Democratic senators shared their concern for the long-term effects of the war. "We are concerned that increased and prolonged suffering in Gaza is not only intolerable for Palestinian civilians there but will also negatively impact the security of Israeli civilians by exacerbating existing tensions and eroding regional alliances," the senators wrote. They called on the president to develop a plan to end Hamas' influence in Gaza and help build "hope for the future." The U.S. has designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. "We worry the current trajectory of the conflict moves us further away from our shared goals of ending Hamas's threat and removing them from power in Gaza, bringing hostages home, and achieving sustainable peace in the region through a two-state solution," the senators wrote. "Mr. President, it is in our national interest that you clearly articulate that vision. To these ends, we urge you to define a U.S. vision for the future of Israel and Palestine as well as the role our country will play in encouraging a peaceful resolution and rebuilding." On Monday, Sen. Merkley posted to X that a cease-fire is needed, but it "must accomplish other essential objectives, including the release of all hostages and a massive influx of humanitarian aid." Merkley joined Durbin, the second-highest ranking Democrat in the Senate, in his call earlier this month for a cease-fire. Durbin was the first senator to call for a cease-fire in Gaza, saying on CNN that a cease-fire should be contingent on the release of hostages. Humanitarian groups have urged Israel to call off the evacuation of the northern part of Gaza and agree to a cease-fire, even as the country has asserted a right to defend itself against Hamas -- a right the Biden administration endorses. The White House has favored humanitarian pauses over a cease-fire. "We don't support a cease-fire," Kirby said at a White House press briefing last week. "We think that's going to benefit Hamas."	Middle East Politics
BRUSSELS -- Poland must clarify allegations that its consulates in Africa and Asia sold temporary work visas to migrants for thousands of dollars each in a scheme that could undermine free travel in Europe, a senior European Union official said Tuesday. European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas said that travel within the 27-nation ID-check free travel zone known as the Schengen area relies on trust between the members, which include most EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. “What happens in a Schengen state affects the functioning of all Schengen countries. That is why the alleged cases of fraud and corruption in the Polish visa system are extremely worrying,” Schinas told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France. “If third-country nationals have been allowed the right of free movement within Schengen, without respecting the appropriate conditions and procedures, this would amount to a violation of EU law, in particular the EU visa code,” he said. Schinas’s remarks come just as Poland’s right-wing ruling party campaigns for Oct. 15 elections. Migration is a hot election topic and the governing Law and Justice is facing questions about the alleged scheme just as it seeks a third term in office. Polish authorities, including the ruling party leader, insist there is no scandal. They say that seven people have been arrested in the ongoing investigation and that there were fewer than 300 cases of irregularities. But Poland’s main opposition leader, Donald Tusk, has accused Law and Justice of hypocrisy for allegedly admitting large numbers of foreign workers despite its anti-migrant rhetoric and a new border wall. Tusk – a former prime minister and once a top EU official himself – and Polish media allege that the government admitted about 130,000 Muslim migrants last year through the supposed scheme despite heated statements aimed chiefly at non-Christians. Poland’s Interior Ministry said that “less than 30,000 workers from Muslim countries came last year.” The European Commission is the EU’s executive branch, and it polices the application of the bloc’s laws. Schinas said the commission is seeking answers to several questions. “We want to have clarity, for instance on the numbers and types of visas and consular posts affected, as well as the whereabouts of the visa holders,” he said. “We also want clarity on the structural measures that the Polish authorities are taking to ensure that the system is protected against any possible fraud and corrupt behavior,” Schinas said. He added: “We need full clarity to reinstate trust.” According to the EU statistics agency Eurostat, Poland issued some 700,000 “first residence” permits last year to citizens of 148 non-EU countries, making it the bloc’s top issuer of permits. The recipients were meant to stay in Poland, but ID-check free travel makes it easy to move around. Migration is also a hot topic more broadly after major European political groups met last week to prepare their campaign strategies for EU-wide elections next June. Schinas and commission President Ursula von der Leyen are part of the conservative European People’s Party, the biggest bloc in the EU parliament. They want to woo the party of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni into the fold and have taken a tougher line on migrants recently. ___ Associated Press writer Monika Scislowska in Warsaw contributed to this report.	Europe Politics
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australia could commit to more ambitious climate targets if there is a clear pathway The Prime Minister was asked why a wealthy nation such as Australia could not commit to a more ambitious emissions reduction target than the already legislated 43 per cent. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has suggested a more ambitious emissions reduction target could be on the cards if there is a clear pathway to achieve it. Late last year the Labor Party passed its landmark Climate Change Bill which enshrines a 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2050 into law. In an interview on Sunday Mr Albanese was asked why Australia, a wealthy nation, could not simply upgrade its targets. Stream more Australian news with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2023 > “Look, it could be but you've got to have a pathway to get there,” he told The Daily Aus podcast. “Plucking a figure out does not change the fact that two things are needed. “One, we need to reduce our emissions and we need to do that to every extent possible. “But secondly, as well, you won't win support for that if, when you walked in this room, you flick the switch and the light didn't go on. You need a transition.” The Prime Minister used the opportunity to spruik his government’s climate change credentials, highlighting a number of achievements made under Labor. “And what happened during the former government was you had four gigawatts leave the system of supply and only one gigawatt came in,” he said. “Now we have a $20 billion Rewiring the Nation program to bring the grid into the 21st century. “We have a plan to support renewables and to support that shift which is there. “We have a plan to support electric vehicles. We have a plan to support energy efficiency.” Our climate change bill will give the whole country certainty and allow us to deliver on our plan to create jobs, cut emissions and deliver cheaper energy. pic.twitter.com/yV9Yd0Txiz— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) August 3, 2022 At the time the Climate Change Bill was passed, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the legislation puts Australia on a credible path to net zero. “The passage of the Climate Change legislation sends a message to the world that Australia is serious about driving down emissions, and serious about reaping the economic opportunities from affordable renewable energy,” he said last year. “Legislating these targets gives certainty to investors and participants in the energy market and will help stabilise our energy system. “It also strengthens transparency and accountability through the annual climate change statement and will ensure public debate informs government decisions.”	Australia Politics
GORIS: Thousands of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh streamed into Armenia Monday as a deadly blast rocked a fuel depot in the rebel enclave and Azerbaijan and ally Turkey hailed Baku’s victory over the majority ethnic Armenian area. Meanwhile, Russia hit back at embattled Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan after he blamed Moscow for the swift defeat of the breakaway territory. Several days after the fighting, the first refugees arrived in Armenia on Sunday and 6,650 people have so far entered, Yerevan said on Monday. Reporters saw the refugees crowding into a humanitarian hub set up in a local theatre in the city of Goris to register for transport and housing. “We lived through terrible days,” said Anabel Ghulasyan, 41, from the village of Rev, known as Shalva in Azeri. Over 200 injured in fuel depot explosion She arrived in Goris with her family by minibus, carrying her belongings in bags. An explosion at a fuel depot wounded more than 200 people, according to Armenian separatist authorities which have been supplying those seeking to leave the territory with petrol and diesel. “As a result of the explosion in the fuel warehouse, the number of injured exceeds 200. The health condition of the majority is severe or extremely severe,” the region’s rights ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan said on social media. “The medical capacities of (Nagorno-Karabakh) are not enough,” he added, calling for air ambulances to be allowed to land. An official had earlier indicated there were fatalities without giving a toll. Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars in the last three decades over Nagorno-Karabakh, a majority ethnic Armenian enclave within the internationally recognised border of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan launched a lightning operation on September 19 to seize control of the territory, forcing the separatists to lay down their arms under the terms of a ceasefire agreed the following day. It followed a nine-month blockade of the region by Baku that caused shortages of key supplies. The separatists have said 200 people were killed in last week’s fighting. Baku announced two of its soldiers also died when a mine hit their vehicle on Sunday. Azerbaijan’s state media said officials held a second round of peace talks with Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian community aimed at “reintegrating” them. But on the road heading to Armenia, more and more residents from the region appeared to be trying to get out as the witnesses said cars were snarling up in traffic. At the refugee centre in Goris, Valentina Asryan, a 54-year-old from the village of Vank who fled with her grandchildren, said her brother-in-law was killed and several other people were injured by Azerbaijani fire. “Who would have thought that the ‘Turks’ would come to this historic Armenian village? It’s incredible,” she said, referring to the Azerbaijani forces. Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2023	Europe Politics
British cruise missiles were used in significant Ukrainian attack on Russian submarine British cruise missiles were used in significant Ukrainian attack on Russian submarine The UK gave Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine's armed forces earlier in the year. They are able to be fired by Ukrainian aircraft, with a range of more than 150 miles. Ukraine used British cruise missiles in a significant attack against the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet in occupied Crimea, Sky News understands. A Russian submarine and warship were damaged in the pre-dawn barrage on the Sevastopol shipyard - potentially the largest strike against Russian naval targets of the war. A Ukrainian and a Western source said that British Storm Shadow cruise missiles were deployed. Kim 'fires questions about rockets' at Russian official - latest updates Images on social media captured explosions and flames ripping through the shipyard against a night sky in the very early hours of Wednesday morning. Russia said 10 cruise missiles were fired against the facility, with seven being shot down by air defences. It said an attack by three unmanned boats was also thwarted. Ukraine confirmed it struck Russian naval targets and port infrastructure in the city of Sevastopol, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, but has not officially said how. However, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk, the head of the Ukrainian Air Force, posted an image on his Telegram channel of the burning shipyard, with the caption: "And while the occupiers are 'storming' and they are still recovering from the night cotton [Ukrainian slang for explosions] in Sevastopol, thank you to the pilots of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for their excellent combat work!" The UK gave Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine's armed forces earlier in the year. They are able to be fired by Ukrainian aircraft, with a range of more than 150 miles. Smoke rises from the shipyard in Sevastopol France has also supplied the Ukrainian military with cruise missiles. "It was Storm Shadow," one of the sources said. Britain's Ministry of Defence has not yet made a comment. Admiral Sir Ben Key, the head of the Royal Navy, was asked about the Sevastopol attack during a speech at an arms fair in London. He did not talk about any specifics and was not asked about the potential involvement of missiles given by the UK, but he said: "[The Ukrainians] are demonstrating what can be done through innovative thought processes and a willingness to take risk. "As we have seen in a number of various areas, some really significant adaptations of tactics, techniques and capabilities in order to try and generate a capability advantage over the Russians and I really applaud that." This is the first known successful attack against a Russian submarine of the war. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea and a major Black Sea port, said on Telegram that at least 24 people were injured. "All emergency services are working on the site, there is no danger to civilian objects in the city," Mr Razvozhayev wrote. The strategic shipyard on the peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, builds and repairs ships and submarines of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Read more: Which weapons could North Korea sell to Russia? More than 30 Russian drones launched on Kyiv Ukraine 'recaptures Black Sea oil platforms' An ambulance leaves the area adjacent to the shipyard that was reportedly hit by Ukrainian missile attack The fleet has launched numerous drone and missile attacks on Ukraine. Mr Razvozhayev posted a night-time photo of flames engulfing what seemed to be port infrastructure. Russian Telegram channels posted videos and more photos of massive flames at a facility alongside the water. Rob Lee, a military analyst, posted a series of videos and images on social media purporting to show the strike. He cited another social media channel as identifying the submarine that had allegedly been at the dry dock as being the Black Sea Fleet's Rostov-on-don Project 636.3 diesel submarine. The landing ship was identified as the Russian Baltic Fleet's Minsk Project 775 Ropucha-class large landing ship.	Europe Politics
Just before she left for school on the afternoon of 16 September last year, nine year-old Zin Nwe Phyo was thrilled to be given a new pair of sandals by her uncle. She made him a cup of coffee, put on the shoes and headed off to school, a 10-minute walk away in the village of Let Yet Kone in central Myanmar. Shortly afterwards, her uncle recalls, he saw two helicopters circling over the village. Suddenly they started shooting. Zin Nwe Phyo and her classmates had just arrived at the school and were settling down with their teachers, when someone shouted that the aircraft were coming their way. They began running for cover, terrified and crying out for help, as rockets and ammunition struck the school. "We did not know what to do," said one teacher, who had been inside a classroom when the air strikes began. "At first I did not hear the sound of the helicopter, I heard the bullets and bombs hitting the school grounds." "Children inside the main school building were hit by the weapons and began running outside, trying to hide," said another teacher. With her class she managed to hide behind a big tamarind tree. "They fired right through the school walls, hitting the children," said one eyewitness. "Pieces flying out of the main building injured children in the next building. There were big holes blown out of the ground floor." Their attackers were two Russian-made Mi-35 helicopter gunships, nicknamed "flying tanks" or "crocodiles" because of their sinister appearance and protective armour. They carry a formidable array of weapons, including powerful rapid-fire cannon, and pods that fire multiple rockets, which are devastating to people, vehicles and all but the strongest buildings. In the two years since Myanmar's military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government, air strikes like this have become a new and deadly tactic in a civil war that is now a brutal stalemate across much of the country, conducted by an air force which has in recent years grown to about 70 aircraft, mostly Russian and Chinese-made. It's hard to estimate how many have died in such air attacks because access to much of Myanmar is now impossible, making the conflict's true toll largely invisible to the outside world. The BBC spoke to eyewitnesses, villagers and families over a series of phone calls to find out how the attack on the school unfolded. The firing continued for around 30 minutes, eyewitnesses said, tearing chunks out of the walls and roofs. Then soldiers, who had landed in two other helicopters nearby, marched in, some still shooting, and ordered the survivors to come out and squat on the ground. They were warned not to look up, or they would be killed. The soldiers began questioning them about the presence of any opposition forces in the village. Inside the main school building three children lay dead. One was Zin Nwe Phyo. Another was seven-year-old Su Yati Hlaing - she and her older sister were being brought up by their grandmother. Their parents, like so many in this region, had moved to Thailand to seek work. Others were horribly injured, some missing limbs. Among them was Phone Tay Za, also seven years old, crying out in pain. The soldiers used plastic bin liners to collect body parts. At least 12 wounded children and teachers were loaded on to two trucks commandeered by the military and driven away to the nearest hospital in the town of Ye-U. Two of the children later died. In the fields skirting the village, a teenage boy and six adults had been shot dead by the soldiers. This is a country that has long been at war with itself. The Burmese armed forces have been fighting various insurgent groups since independence in 1948. But these conflicts were low-tech affairs, involving mainly ground troops in an endless tussle for territory in contested border regions. They were often little different from the trench warfare of a century ago. It was in 2012 in Kachin state - just after the air force had obtained its first Mi-35 gunship - that the military first used aerial weapons extensively against insurgents. Air strikes were also used in some of the other internal conflicts which kept burning throughout Myanmar's 10-year democratic interlude, in Shan and Rakhine states. However, since the February 2021 coup, the army has suffered heavy casualties in road ambushes carried out by the hundreds of so-called People's Defence Forces, or PDFs - volunteer militias that were established after the junta crushed peaceful protests against the coup. So it has been forced to rely on air support - bombing by aircraft suitable for ground attack; or air mobile operations like the one at Let Yet Kone, where gunships blast targets before soldiers arrive to kill or capture any opposition forces they find. Your device may not support this visualisation There were at least 600 air attacks by the military between February 2021 and January 2023, according to a BBC analysis of data from the conflict-monitoring group Acled (Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project). Casualties from these strikes are difficult to estimate. According to the clandestine National Unity Government or NUG, which leads opposition to the military regime, air attacks by the armed forces killed between 155 civilians between October 2021 and September 2022. The resistance groups are poorly armed, with no capacity to fight back against the air strikes. They have adapted consumer drones to launch their own air attacks, dropping small explosives on military vehicles and guard posts, but to limited effect. It is not clear why Let Yet Kone was targeted by the army. It is a poor village of around 3,000 inhabitants, most of them rice or groundnut farmers, set in the scrubby brown landscape of central Myanmar's dry zone, where water is scarce outside of the monsoon season. It is in a district called Depayin where resistance to the coup has been strong. Depayin has seen many armed clashes between the army and PDFs, although not, according to residents, in Let Yet Kone. At least 112 of the 268 attacks recorded by NUG were in southern Sagaing, where Depayin is located. A spokesman for the military government said after the school attack that soldiers had gone to the village to check the reported presence of fighters from a PDF and from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and that they had come under fire from the school. This account is contradicted by every eyewitness who spoke to the BBC. The military has produced no evidence of insurgent activity at the school. The school had been set up only three months earlier in the Buddhist monastery at the northern edge of the village. It taught around 240 pupils. Residents told the BBC that it is one of more than 100 schools in Depayin which are now being run by communities opposing military rule. Teachers and health workers were among the earliest supporters of the civil disobedience movement. In one of the first and most widely-supported acts of defiance against the coup, state workers vowed to withdraw all co-operation with the new military government. As a result a lot of schools and health centres are now being run by communities, not the government. Phone Tay Za's mother says she heard the shooting and explosions start about 30 minutes after she had seen her son off to school. But, like Zin Nwe Phyo's uncle, she assumed it could not be the target of the helicopter gunships. "After the sound of the heavy guns firing died down I headed toward the school", she said. "I saw children and adults squatting on the ground with their heads lowered. The soldiers were kicking those who turned their heads up." She begged the soldiers to let her look for her son. They refused. "You people care when your own get shot," one told her, "but not when it happens to us." Then she heard Phone Tay Za calling out to her, and they let her go to him inside the ruined classroom. "I found him in a pool of blood with eyes blinking slowly. He said, 'mom, just kill me please.' I told him he would be fine. 'You will not die'." "I cried my heart out, shouting 'how dare you do this to my son'. The whole monastery compound was in absolute silence. When I shouted, it echoed through the buildings. A soldier yelled at me not to scream like that and told me to stay still where I was. So I sat there in the classroom for about 45 minutes with my child in my arms. I saw three children's dead bodies there. I did not know whose children they were. I could not look at their faces." Phone Tay Za died shortly afterwards. The soldiers refused to let his mother keep his body and took it away. The bodies of Zin Nwe Phyo and Su Yati Hlaing were also taken by the military, before their families could see them, and later secretly cremated. A thousand kilometres away in Thailand Su Yati Hlaing's parents were working their shifts in the electronic components factory when they heard that the military had attacked their village. "My wife and I were in agony. We could not concentrate on our work anymore," her father said. "It was around 2:30 in the afternoon so we could not leave. We kept working, with heavy hearts. Colleagues asked us if we were ok. My wife could not hold her tears anymore and started crying. We decided to not do the usual overtime that day and asked our team leader to go back to our room." Later that evening they got a call from Su Yati Hlaing's grandmother telling them she had been killed. The attack in Let Yet Kone drew international rebuke and horror, but the air strikes continued. On 23 October air force jets bombed a concert in Kachin State commemorating the anniversary of the start of the KIA insurgency. Survivors say three huge explosions ripped through the large crowd which had gathered for the event, killing 60 people, including senior KIA commanders and a popular Kachin singer. Many more are thought to have died in the following days after the army blocked the evacuation of those who had been seriously injured in the attack. At the other end of the country the air force bombed a lead mine in southern Karen State, close to the border with Thailand, on 15 November, killing three miners and injuring eight others. The junta spokesman justified the attack on the grounds that the mining was illegal, and in an area controlled by the insurgent Karen National Union. And only last month, the air force bombed the main base of the insurgent Chin National Front, next to the border with India. It also launched air strikes which hit two churches in Karen State, killing five non-combatants. This increased capacity for aerial warfare is being sustained by continued support from Russia and China after the coup, despite many other governments ostracising Myanmar's military regime. Russia, in particular, has stepped up to become its strongest foreign backer. Russian equipment, like the Mi-35 and the agile Yak-130 ground attack jets, are central to the air campaign against insurgents. China has recently supplied Myanmar with modern FTC-2000 trainers, aircraft which are also well-suited for a ground attack. The high death toll in such attacks has drawn the attention of war crimes investigators. The Myanmar armed forces have often been accused of such crimes in the past - often abuses by ground troops, particularly against the Rohingyas in 2017. But the use of air power brings with it new types of atrocities. For the survivors of Let Yet Kone, the nightmare did not end on 16 September. They say many of the children and some of the adults are still traumatised by what they saw that day. The military has continued to target their village, attacking it again three more times, and burning down many of the houses. This is a poor community. They do not have the resources to rebuild, and in any case they do not know when the soldiers will be back to burn them again. "Children are everything for their parents," says one local militia leader. "By killing our children, the military has crushed them mentally. And I must say they have succeeded. Even for me, I will need a lot of motivation to carry on the revolutionary fight now." Su Yati Hlaing's parents are still in Thailand, unable to return after their daughter's death. They cannot afford the cost of the journey, nor the risk of losing the factory jobs they had always hoped would give their little girl a better life. "There were many things I had imagined," says her mother. "I imagined that when I finally went back I would live happily with my daughters, I would cook for them, whatever they wanted. I had so many dreams. I wanted them to be wise and educated, as much as we, their parents, are uneducated. They were just about to begin their journey. My daughter did not even get our affection and warmth closely, because we were away so long. Now, she is gone for forever." The BBC analysed attack data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (Acled), which collects reports of incidents related to political violence and protests around the world. Aerial attacks have been defined as conflict events involving aircraft in specific locations either during an armed clash or as an independent strike. The data covers the period 1 February 2021 to 20 January 2023. Additional reporting: BBC Burmese Data analysis: Becky Dale Production: Lulu Luo, Dominic Bailey Design: Lilly Huynh	Asia Politics
ROME -- Matteo Messina Denaro, a convicted mastermind of some of the Sicilian Mafia’s most heinous slayings, died on Monday in a hospital prison ward, several months after being captured as Italy’s No. 1 fugitive and following decades on the run, Italian state radio said. Rai state radio, reporting from L'Aquila hospital in central Italy, said the heavy police detail that had been guarding his hospital room moved to the hospital morgue, following the death of Messina Denaro at about 2 a.m. Doctors had said he had been in a coma since Friday. Reputed by investigators to be one of the Mafia’s most powerful bosses, Messina Denaro, 61, had been living while a fugitive in western Sicily, his stronghold, during at least much of his 30 years of eluding law enforcement thanks to the help of complicit townspeople. His need for colon cancer treatment led to his capture on Jan. 16, 2023. Investigators were on his trail for years and had discovered evidence that he was receiving chemotherapy as an out-patient at a Palermo clinic under an alias. Digging into Italy’s national health system data base, they tracked him down and took him into custody when he showed up for a treatment appointment. His arrest came 30 years and a day after the Jan. 15, 1993, capture of the Mafia’s “boss of bosses,’’ Salvatore “Toto” Riina in a Palermo apartment, also after decades in hiding. Messina Denaro himself went into hiding later that year. While a fugitive, Messina Denaro was tried in absentia and convicted of dozens of murders, including helping to plan, along with other Cosa Nostra bosses, a pair of 1992 bombings that killed Italy’s leading anti-Mafia prosecutors — Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. Prosecutors had hoped in vain he would collaborate with them and reveal Cosa Nostra secrets. But according to Italian media reports, Messina Denaro made clear he wouldn’t talk immediately after capture. When he died, “he took with him his secrets” about Cosa Nostra, state radio said. After his arrest, Messina Denaro began serving multiple life sentences in a top-security prison in L’Aquila, a city in Italy’s central Apennine mountain area, where he continued to receive chemotherapy for colon cancer. But in the last several weeks, after undergoing two surgeries and with his condition worsening, he was transferred to the prison ward of the hospital where he died. His silence hewed to the examples of Riina and of the Sicilian Mafia’s other top boss, Bernardo Provenzano, who was captured in a farmhouse in Corleone, Sicily, in 2006, after 37 years in hiding — the longest time on the run for a Mafia boss. Once Provenzano was in police hands, the state’s hunt focused on Messina Denaro, who managed to elude arrest despite numerous reported sightings of him. Dozens of lower-level Mafia bosses and foot soldiers did turn state’s evidence following a crackdown on the Sicilian syndicate sparked by the assassinations of Falcone and Borsellino, bombings that also killed Falcone’s wife and several police bodyguards. Among Messina Denaro’s multiple murder convictions was one for the slaying of the young son of a turncoat. The boy was abducted and strangled and his body was dissolved in a vat of acid. Messina Denaro was also among several Cosa Nostra top bosses who were convicted of ordering a series of bombings in 1993 that targeted two churches in Rome, the Uffizi Galleries in Florence and an art gallery in Milan. A total of 10 people were killed in the Florence and Milan bombings. The attacks in those three tourist cities, according to turncoats, were aimed at pressuring the Italian government into easing rigid prison conditions for convicted mobsters. When Messina Denaro was arrested, Palermo’s chief prosecutor, Maurizio De Lucia, declared: “We have captured the last of the massacre masterminds.”	Europe Politics
Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm. Aaron Morrison, Associated Press Aaron Morrison, Associated Press Leave your feedback When President Joe Biden signs a proclamation on Tuesday establishing a national monument honoring Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, it will mark the fulfillment of a promise Till’s relatives made after his death 68 years ago. The event is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. ET. Watch in the player above. The Black teenager from Chicago, whose abduction, torture and killing in Mississippi in 1955 helped propel the civil rights movement, will be seen as more than just a cause of that movement, said Till’s cousin the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr. “We are resolute that it now becomes an American story and not just a civil rights story,” Parker told The Associated Press, ahead of a planned proclamation signing ceremony at the White House. With the stroke of Biden’s pen, the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, located across three sites in two states, will be federally protected places. But Till’s family members, along with a national organization seeking to preserve Black cultural heritage sites, say their work protecting the Till legacy continues. They hope to raise money to restore the sites and develop educational programming to support their inclusion in the National Park System. READ MORE: Biden will establish a national monument for Emmett Till, Black teen lynched in 1955 White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Monday that the Till national monument will be the Biden-Harris administration’s fourth designation that reflects their “work to advance civil rights.” The move comes as conservative leaders, mostly at the state and local levels, push legislation that limits the teaching of slavery and Black history in public schools. The Democratic president’s administration “will continue to speak out against hateful attempts to rewrite our history and strongly oppose any actions that threaten to divide us and take our country backwards,” Jean-Pierre said. Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said the federal designation is a milestone in a yearslong effort to preserve and protect places tied to events that have shaped the nation and that symbolize national wounds. “We believe that not until Black history matters will Black lives and Black bodies matter,” he said. “Through reckoning with America’s racist past, we have the opportunity to heal.” The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund has provided $750,000 in grant funding since 2017 to help rescue sites important to the Till legacy. With its partners, the Andrew Mellon Foundation and the Lilly Endowment Inc., Leggs said an additional $5 million in funding has been secured for specialized preservation of the sites. Biden’s proclamation protects places that are central to the story of Emmett Till’s life and death at age 14, the acquittal of his white killers by an all-white jury and his late mother’s activism. In the summer of 1955, Mamie Till-Mobley put her son Emmett on a train to her native Mississippi, where he was to spend time with his uncle and his cousins. In the overnight hours of Aug. 28, 1955, Emmett was taken from his uncle’s home at gunpoint by two vengeful white men. Emmett’s alleged crime? Flirting with the wife of one of his kidnappers. Three days later, a fisherman on the Tallahatchie River discovered the teenager’s bloated corpse — one of his eyes was detached, an ear was missing, his head was shot and bashed in. Till-Mobley demanded that Emmett’s mutilated remains be taken back to Chicago for a public, open casket funeral that was attended by tens of thousands of people. Graphic images taken of Emmett’s remains, sanctioned by his mother, were published by Jet magazine and propelled the civil rights movement. At the trial of his killers in Mississippi, Till-Mobley bravely took the witness stand to counter the perverse image of her son that defense attorneys had painted for jurors and trial watchers. Altogether, the Till national monument will include 5.7 acres (2.3 hectares) of land and two historic buildings. The Mississippi sites are Graball Landing, the spot where Emmett’s body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River just outside of Glendora, Mississippi, and the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi, where Emmett’s killers were tried. There is already the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner, which received philanthropic funding to expand programming and pay staff who interface with visitors. At Graball Landing, a memorial sign installed in 2008 had been repeatedly stolen and was riddled with bullets. An inch-thick bulletproof sign was erected at the site in October 2019. The Illinois site is Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, where Emmett’s funeral was held in September 1955. In a statement emailed to the AP, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin saluted Mamie Till-Mobley’s courage to have the nation and the world bear witness to the scourge of racial hatred. The monument, he said, helps “ensure that Emmett Till’s story is not forgotten.” The Till national monument will join dozens of federally recognized landmarks, buildings and other places in the Deep South, in the north and out west that represent historical events and tragedies from the civil right movement. For example, in Atlanta, sites representing the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., including his birth home and Ebenezer Baptist Church, are all part of the National Park Service. READ MORE: Mississippi community honors Emmett Till with new statue The designation often requires public and private entities to work together on developing interpretation centers at each of the sites, so that anyone who visits can understand the site’s significance. The hiring of park rangers is supported through partnerships with the National Park Foundation, the park service’s official nonprofit, and the National Parks Conservation Association. Increasingly, the park service includes sites “that are part of the arc of justice in this country, both telling where we’ve come from, how far we’ve come, and frankly, how far we have to still go,” said Will Shafroth, the president and CEO of the National Park Foundation. That’s where Leggs’ African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and the Till family’s work remains — to raise enough money so that the sites are properly maintained and have the staffing needed to educate the public. For Parker, who was 16 years old when he witnessed Emmett’s abduction, the Till monument proclamation begins to lift the weight of trauma that he has carried for most of his life. Tuesday is the anniversary of Emmett’s birth in 1941. He would have been 82. “I’ve been suffering for all these years of how they’ve portrayed him — I still deal with that,” Parker, 84, said of his cousin Emmett. “The truth should carry itself, but it doesn’t have wings. You have to put some wings on it.” Associated Press writers Joshua Boak and Darlene Superville contributed to this report. Support Provided By: Learn more Politics Mar 29	Human Rights
The Arakan Army (AA) seized Pauktaw in Rakhine State at around 7 a.m. on Thursday, prompting the junta’s military to launch air strikes and naval attacks on the town, according to residents. The AA seized the Pauktaw Township Police Station at around 8 p.m. on Wednesday evening before managing to take control of all regime departmental offices and capture Pauktaw town, which is in Sittwe District on Myanmar’s western coast. “The junta’s military sent two helicopter gunships at around 9:20 a.m. They dropped bombs and fired machine guns. The people had to hide in trenches they had prepared. No one dared to run out of their homes,” said U Bo, a 39-year-old resident of Pauktaw. With the town left in ruins, most residents opted to remain in the trenches, but that changed when junta navy ships opened fire on the town at around 1 p.m. “Then we all fled into the villages, away from the waterways, as the navy ships fired continuously,” said a man who fled on a motorcycle, carrying an elderly relative with him. No clashes broke out on the ground, the residents said, but as the AA had already taken control of the town, the junta military responded with the heavy air and naval attacks. Conflict analysts said that as Pauktaw is located close to Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, the seizure of the town will likely be seen as a threat by the junta. They warned that the AA will face serious challenges in holding the town and extending its operations there, as the regime will likely make great efforts to retake it. The Irrawaddy tried to reach AA spokesperson Khaing Thu Kha for comment, but he did not reply. AA officers on the ground confirmed the seizure of Pauktaw and said their troops are committed to holding it. Emergency teams from nearby towns said they had heard reports that Pauktaw residents had been injured, and expressed regret at not being able to reach the town due to the junta’s restrictions on traveling on roads linking towns and cities in Rakhine State. In the first 24 hours of its offensive operation in Rakhine State, which was launched on Monday, the AA seized over 40 junta military and police outposts, the armed group said in a statement. On Wednesday, in addition to the Pauktaw Township Police Station, the AA seized a police station in Tain Nyo Village, Mrauk-U Township, and another in Kyauk Ni Maw Village, Ramree Township. Pauktaw is the first town the AA has captured since the current operation began. The AA’s operation in Rakhine State was launched in harmony with Operation 1027, which continues to spread across northern Shan State and has made headlines since it was launched by the tripartite Brotherhood Alliance in late October. The alliance comprises the AA, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army.	Asia Politics
Commando unit jailbreak Ex-Guinean dictator Camara from Conakry prison Former Guinean dictator Moussa Dadis Camara was on Saturday broken out of prison by a heavily armed commando during an operation that sparked heavy gunfire in the capital Conakry. Issued on: A group of masked and heavily armed soldiers reportedly arrived at the prison at around 04h00UT and entered by force. They declared they "had come to free Captain Dadis Camara", one source told the AFP newswire service. Inside, the group headed towards the former leader's cell, appearing to already know its location, and took him and other detainees to an unknown location, the source said. At least two other former officials currently on trial alongside Dadis Camara over a 2009 massacre during his presidency were also taken from the central prison. It remains unclear whether Dadis Camara had escaped of his own free will. Breaking🔴: Former head of the Guinean junta Moussa Dadis #Camara and at least two of his co-accused in the trial of the September 28, 2009 massacre managed, this Saturday, November 4 at dawn, to escape from the largest prison in #Conakry. pic.twitter.com/nwhUnMCLCl— Samson Kasujja (@SamKasujja) November 4, 2023 'Life in danger' According to Dadis Camara's lawyer, Jocamey Haba, "The attorney general confirmed to me that my client had been taken out of prison by heavily armed men," raising the possibility that he was taken against his will. "I continue to think he was kidnapped. He has confidence in the justice of his country, which is why he would never try to escape," he added, referring to the trial against Camara currently under way. The lawyer said his client's life was "in danger". The sound of gunfire could be heard before dawn in Kaloum – a central district located on a peninsula that houses the presidency, several top government and administrative offices as well as the military headquarters and the main prison. No flights have taken off from Conakry's international airport on Saturday morning as air traffic staff reportedly could not get to the airport from Kaloum, where they often spend the night. In September 2021, Guinea underwent a coup when Colonel Mamady Doumbouya stormed the presidential palace with soldiers and overthrew civilian president Alpha Condé by force. It has been led by the junta since. Several Guinean news sites quickly reported that Saturday events were not another coup, but that a heavily armed commando unit had attacked the central prison. 2009 Conakry stadium massacre Dadis Camara has been detained since going on trial in September 2022. He and about 10 other former military and government officials are accused over a 2009 massacre carried out by security forces loyal to the then-junta leader. The killing of 156 people and the rape of at least 109 women started at a political rally in a Conakry stadium on September 28, 2009 and continued in the days that followed, according to a UN-mandated inquiry. Camara – who himself came to power in a coup in December 2008 – and his co-defendants are charged with murder, sexual violence, torture, abduction and kidnapping. They face life imprisonment if convicted. The trial opened in September last year at the request of junta leader, Colonel Doumbouya. After his coup, Doumbouya promised to rebuild the Guinean state and make justice his "compass". Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morningSubscribe	Africa politics
A few days into lockdown, Rishi Sunak started asking difficult questions during Cabinet. Why weren’t they talking about the harm caused by school closures? His children, he said, would be fine: they were being taught by a mum who has a Stanford MBA. But what about single, working parents? Where was the plan to help them? As a new chancellor, he assumed that in such a crisis, there would be a room somewhere packed with officials, calculating the trade-offs and focusing on those hit by the side effects of lockdown. Sunak told me later that, after learning that this work had not been done, he urged Boris Johnson to level with the public about the likely consequences of the lockdowns; to say there would be bad, as well as good. “I was like: ‘you need to go into it knowing that that is what might happen. You've got to prepare the country for it, make sure that everyone is on board. And if you're not, don't run away from it!” he told me last summer. Not only that but Sunak was told to stick to the official script (“I wasn't allowed to talk about the trade off", he said), and discouraged from making any formal inquiries, even inside government, into the likely post-lockdown damage. “So I'd say a lot of stuff to him in private. This is me being new to it. So I didn’t put 50 things in the system.” To raise a query about lockdown harm with the civil service – or put it in "the system" – would be seen to be making political trouble. “There's some written record of everything. Generally, people leak. And it causes problems.” By then, Sunak told me, anyone showing concern was seen as a political threat. “Everything I did was seen through the prism of: ‘you're trying to be difficult’ or whatever. Or be leader." Calls for restraint dismissed Sunak wasn’t being paranoid. The Lockdown Files show that they really were out to get him. “What’s Rishi’s dilemma?” asks Matt Hancock at one stage. “Whether to stop the virus, or tilt at the party & show ankle to the hard right?” Such language, by then, had become common: in their messages, anyone calling for restraint on lockdown policies was seen to be either a Right-winger, or trying to win the votes of Right-wingers. When Sir Alok Sharma, as business secretary, seeks to soften the diktats planned for business he is accused by Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, of being driven by “pure Conservative ideology”. It wasn’t meant as a compliment. The "fear" messaging deployed at huge cost by the Government also horrified Sunak: he couldn’t see what good it would achieve, given how people were already heeding the rules. But he could see the harm. “It was wrong to scare people like that,” he told me later. “Survey data across Europe showed that our country was by, far and away, the least likely to get back to normal. All the survey evidence was that everyone was too scared to go and do things again. We have a consumption-driven economy, so that would have been very bad.” Sunak sought to repair the damage with an opposite message: to go back outside, to "eat out to help out". But this was seen by No 10 as an act of war. The Lockdown Files show Hancock attacking Sunak’s policy as “Eat out to help the virus get about” in the autumn of 2020. This, too, shows a mindset that only grows: within a few months, anyone seeking to soften the blow of lockdown is seen as almost pro-virus. “Why are Treasury against everything that helps fight the disease?” he asks during the second lockdown. And if people like Sunak were villains, what did that make those who advocated restrictions? “U r a hero. Never forget it,” Michael Gove tells Hancock late one evening, seemingly apropos of nothing. “You are the true unsung COVID hero,” Hancock replies. “You were the swing vote in the big calls & chose life”. These exchanges offer a fascinating insight into how politicised it had all become, and how some ministers can come to see each other. They were fighting a battle with only two sides; to choose the virus, or choose life. No support from Cabinet By the second lockdown, Sunak had been worn down. Some of his critics had accused him of incubating the second wave with his eat out scheme and he had found no serious support in the Cabinet for arguing against needless restrictions. Outnumbered, he toned down his resistance to the delight of the pro-lockdown ministers. “I think we are in the final stages of the Treasury lockdown-scepticism,” says James Bethell, a health minister, a few weeks into the second lockdown “It's such a bancrupt [sic] view of the world.” Sunak saw his defeat as a learning experience. He had been naïve to rely on moral or public health arguments to say that the public should be informed about the risks of lockdown: ministers wanted to sell it as a policy, were in campaign mode and refused to acknowledge negatives. The refusal to commission a cost-benefit analysis of lockdown was, Sunak thought, politically, economically and morally indefensible. By then, he was on the path to resignation. He meanwhile thought hard about the structure of government: why basic safeguards had been so easy to sweep aside. Some governments are legally obliged to run cost-benefit analyses: to calculate, weigh up and publish the likely long-term and short-term effects of any public health measure. But under lockdown, “no one is incentivised to be the person who is optimising for something other than saving people's lives in the short term,” Sunak told me. The Lockdown Files expose a toxic culture where any minister or civil servant asking "awkward" questions knew they were liable to be briefed against, sidelined or ostracised. By the time a fourth lockdown was threatened over the omicron variant, Sunak switched tactics and used political methods. He insisted upon a Cabinet meeting to discuss lockdown - and liaised with ministers before to make sure a majority were against it. He sought to change the political balance of risk, so Johnson had more to lose politically if he did press ahead with another lockdown. This time, Sunak succeeded. What Sunak learned from all this was that, in a pandemic, public health arguments do not wash. Political arguments do. His first efforts to soften lockdown failed, for reasons we see in the WhatsApp messages. But his later efforts were successful. He comes across well from the Lockdown Files – but he’s one of the few Tories who do. This will be why, as Prime Minister with an election to win, he will be in no rush for the official Covid inquiry. He knows, better than anyone, what the inquiry is likely to find about all too many of his fellow MPs.	United Kingdom Politics
The Auschwitz museum has issued a statement condemning the use of the Holocaust for political purposes after Poland’s ruling party featured the former German Nazi death camp in a video criticising an upcoming anti-government march by the opposition. “The instrumentalisation of the tragedy of people who suffered and died in the German Nazi Auschwitz camp – by either side of the political conflict – is an insult to the memory of the victims,” tweeted the museum’s official account. “It is a sad, painful and unacceptable manifestation of the moral and intellectual corruption of public debate,” they added. Instrumentalizacja tragedii ludzi, którzy cierpieli i ginęli w niemieckim nazistowskim obozie Auschwitz – po jakiejkolwiek stronie politycznego sporu – uwłacza pamięci ofiar. To smutny, bolesny i niedopuszczalny przejaw moralnego i intelektualnego zepsucia debaty publicznej. — Muzeum Auschwitz (@MuzeumAuschwitz) May 31, 2023 The museum’s statement did not refer directly to any political group or specific occurrence. However, it was published just over an hour after the conservative ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party had broadcast a new video featuring Auschwitz, in which over one million people, most of them Jews, were killed during World War Two. Ethnic Poles were the second largest group of victims. In the clip, PiS presented a tweet from earlier this week by Tomasz Lis, a prominent journalist and commentator who is critical of the government and supportive of the opposition but is not formally associated with any party. Lis had written, in response to a new law creating a commission to investigate Russian influence that critics say will be used by the government against the opposition: “A chamber [komora] will be found for [President Andrzej] Duda and the Duck [Kaczor, a derisive nickname for PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński].” PiS and its supporters claim that Lis was threatening that Duda and Kaczyński would be sent to a gas chamber. In its new video, the party suggests that his words will be the slogan for a mass opposition march planned to take place on Sunday. — Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (@pisorgpl) May 31, 2023 Lis himself, who has since deleted the tweet, claims that his words had been “twisted and manipulated by PiS propaganda”. The term he used for chamber, komora, does have various meanings in Polish. Historically it was a used to refer to a storage room, for example, and can suggest a closed, windowless space. Lis later tweeted that he had been using the word to mean a solitary confinement cell in a prison. However, komora is most commonly associated in Polish with the gas chambers (komory gazowe) that Nazi Germany used to murder millions of Jews and others during World War Two, including at Auschwitz, which was located in German-occupied Poland. A deputy interior minister, Maciej Wąsik, argued that “in Poland, ‘chamber’ [komora] is associated only with the gas chamber”. He called for the justice minister to request that prosecutors investigate Lis’s remarks. Lis yesterday said he was “very sorry for his post about a ‘chamber’. Obviously I was thinking about a cell but I should have predicted that people of ill will would adopt an absurd interpretation. I hope that Duda and Kaczyński will pay for their crimes against democracy, but I wish them [good] health and a long life”. Bardzo przepraszam za mój wpis o „ komorze”. To oczywiste, ze myślałem o celi, ale powinienem był przewidzieć, że ludzie złej woli przyjmą interpretację absurdalną. Liczę na to, że panowie Duda i Kaczyński zapłacą za swe zbrodnie przeciw demokracji, ale po ludzku życzę im zdrowia… — Tomasz Lis (@lis_tomasz) May 30, 2023 Regardless of the true meaning and intent behind Lis’s original tweet, PiS’s response today received widespread criticism from opposition politicians as well as many commentators, including some conservative figures normally sympathetic towards the government. One opposition party, Agreement (Porozumienie), announced that it would today submit a notification to prosecutors alleging that the ruling party had committed a crime by publishing the video, though it has not yet specified which law they believe was broken. The chief of PiS’s election campaign, Tomasz Poręmba, however, accused such critics of being “hypocrites” as they had failed to react to Lis’s original threat to “send Kaczyński and Duda to the chamber”. A number of politicians and commentators reserved particular criticism for Anna Zalewska, a PiS MEP and former education minister, who shared the video on Twitter with the comment “Für Deutschland” (“For Germany”). "Für Deutschland"? #Marsz4czerwca — Anna Zalewska 🇵🇱 (@AnnaZalewskaMEP) May 31, 2023 That phrase, once spoken by Donald Tusk, the leader of Civic Platform (PO), the largest opposition party, is often quoted without context by PiS and its supportive media to suggest that Tusk represents German rather than Polish interests. Tusk is the leading figure behind a march planned in Warsaw this Sunday, which is the anniversary of the first partially free elections in 1989 after the fall of the communist regime. The PO leader called for all other opposition parties to join the event, which he says will be a protest against the “high prices, theft and lies” the government is responsible for. The other main centrist, centre-right and left-wing opposition groups have confirmed they will be present. Opposition leader Tusk says the ruling PiS party is supported by – and shares a similar mentality with – unemployed men who drink and beat women and children The remarks – now deleted from his party's social media – show "how he perceives Poles", says PiS https://t.co/rvakXlIxgz — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) May 12, 2023 Main image credit: PiS/Twitter (screenshot) Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.	Europe Politics
Niger: UN chief demands president’s immediate and unconditional release A group of officers from all branches of the military made the television announcement late on Wednesday, after members of the president’s own guard detained him inside his offices in the capital Niamey. According to news reports, the attempted coup does not have the backing of the entire military, but the head of the army has announced that he supports the move. End assault against democracy Addressing reporters at UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday morning, António Guterres once again strongly condemned the attempted military takeover and the “assault against the democratically-elected government”. The UN supports the efforts of the West African bloc ECOWAS and the African Union (AU) “to restore democracy.” President Bazoum issued a defiant tweet of his own on Thursday, saying that “the hard-won achievements will be safeguarded. All Nigeriens who love democracy and freedom will see to it.” Mr. Guterres said he had spoken to the president on Wednesday to express the UN’s full solidarity. Addressing the coup plotters in Niger directly to camera, the UN chief demanded they stop obstructing democratic governance, and respect the rule of law. ‘Disturbing trend’ After coups in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso in recent years, provoked by the rise of jihadist terrorist groups across the entire Sahel region, the Secretary-General noted that the events in Niamey were part of “a disturbing trend”. “Successive unconstitutional changes of government are having terrible effects on the development and lives of civilian populations. This is particularly glaring in countries already affected by conflict, violent extremism and terrorism, as well as the devastating effects of climate change.” The UN’s human rights chief Volker Türk said in a statement that he was “shocked and distressed” by the coup attempt, adding that every step must be taken to restore constitutional order.	Africa politics
Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm. Ebrahim Noroozi, Associated Press Ebrahim Noroozi, Associated Press Rahim Faiez, Associated Press Rahim Faiez, Associated Press Leave your feedback CHAHAK, Afghanistan (AP) — Another strong earthquake shook western Afghanistan on Wednesday morning after an earlier one killed more than 2,000 people and flattened whole villages in Herat province in what was one of the most destructive quakes in the country’s recent history. The magnitude 6.3 earthquake on Wednesday was about 28 kilometers (17 miles) outside Herat, the provincial capital, and 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It triggered a landslide that blocked the main Herat-Torghondi highway, Information Ministry spokesman Abdul Wahid Rayan said. READ MORE: Death toll from western Afghanistan earthquakes soars over 2,000 Janan Sayiq, a spokesman for the Afghan Taliban government’s national disaster authority said Wednesday’s earthquake killed at least one person and injured around 120 others. The aid group Doctors Without Borders said Herat Regional Hospital received 117 who got injured in Wednesday’s temblor. The group, also known by its French acronym MSF, said it sent additional medical supplies to the hospital and was setting up four more medical tents at the facility. “Our teams are assisting in triaging emergency cases and managing stabilized patients admitted in the medical tents,” MSF said on X, formerly known as Twitter. Wednesday’s quake also flattened all 700 homes in Chahak village, which was untouched by the tremors of previous days. Now there are mounds of soil where dwellings used to be. But no deaths have been reported so far in Chahak because people have taken shelter in tents this week, fearing for their lives as tremors continue to rock Herat. Villagers are distraught over the loss of their homes and livestock, often their only possessions, and worry about the coming harsh winter months. Some said they had never seen an earthquake before and wondered when the shaking of the ground would stop. Many said they have no peace of mind inside the tents for fear the “ground will open and swallow us at any moment.” The epicenter of Saturday’s quake — also of the same magnitude 6.3 — was about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the provincial capital, and several aftershocks have been strong. Taliban officials said more than 2,000 had died across Herat after the earlier quakes. They subsequently said the quakes killed and injured thousands but didn’t give a breakdown of casualties. Besides rubble and funerals after Saturday’s devastation, there is little left of the villages in the region’s dusty hills. Survivors are struggling to come to terms with the loss of multiple family members and in many places, living residents are outnumbered by volunteers who had come to search the debris and dig mass graves. In Naib Rafi, a village that previously had about 2,500 residents, people said almost no one was still alive besides men who were working outside when the quake struck. Survivors worked all day with excavators to dig long trenches for mass burials. On a barren field in the district of Zinda Jan, a bulldozer removed mounds of earth to clear space for a long row of graves. “It is very difficult to find a family member from a destroyed house and a few minutes to later bury him or her in a nearby grave, again under the ground,” said Mir Agha, from the city of Herat, who had joined hundreds of volunteers to help the locals. Nearly 2,000 houses in 20 villages were destroyed, the Taliban have said. The area hit by the quakes has just one government-run hospital. On Tuesday, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Zinda Jan was the worst-affected area, with more than 1,300 people killed and nearly 500 people still reported missing. He said U.N. satellite imagery also indicated extreme levels of destruction in the district of Injil. “Our humanitarian colleagues warn that children are particularly vulnerable and have suffered severe psychological distress from the earthquake,” he said. READ MORE: Mental health among women in Afghanistan is deteriorating, UN report finds Earthquakes are common in Afghanistan, where there are a number of fault lines and frequent movement among three nearby tectonic plates. Afghans are still reeling from recent quakes, including the magnitude 6.5 earthquake in March that struck much of western Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, and an earthquake that hit eastern Afghanistan in June 2022, flattening stone and mud-brick homes and killing at least 1,000 people. Zabihullah Mujahid, the main spokesman for the Taliban government, listed the countries that have so far aided the people affected by the quake in Herat, in a statement posted on X. He said Iran sent 15 vehicles loaded with aid alongside support and technical teams, while Turkey sent medical teams food, non-food items and medicine. The United Arab Emirates and Turkmenistan also helped with food, medicine, and clothes. He added a technical team of 49 members from Kazakhstan is assisting those affected by the quake. In his post, Mujahid said Saudi Arabia provided financial assistance to the people of Herat while China donated $200,000 in cash aid through the Afghan Foreign Affairs ministry. Neighboring Pakistan is among the countries that have offered assistance but the delivery of its humanitarian aid has been on hold since Monday. On Wednesday morning, the pledged supplies had yet to leave Pakistan. Authorities were waiting for “clearance” from the Taliban, two government officials in Islamabad said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Ties between the two countries have come under pressure since Pakistan announced a deadline for undocumented migrants, including 1.7 million Afghans living illegally in the country, to leave before Oct. 31 to avoid arrests and forced deportation. Faiez reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report. Support Provided By: Learn more	Asia Politics
German authorities conducted nationwide searches of 54 locations across seven federal states connected to the Islamic Center of Hamburg (IZH) on Thursday morning, the Interior Ministry said. In a statement, the ministry said the IZH was suspected of "acting against constitutional order" and of "supporting [the] terror organization Hezbollah." No arrests were made during the raids, which were carried out to secure evidence on the suspicion that the Hamburg center and affiliated groups back the activities of Hezbollah. What have German politicians said? Interior Minister Nancy Faeser of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) said the IZH had long been under surveillance by German intelligence services and has been categorized as "Islamist." "We have the Islamist scene in our sights," she said following the early morning raids. "Especially now, at a time when many Jews feel particularly threatened, it's important to state: we do not tolerate Islamist propaganda or antisemitic and anti-Israel agitation," Faeser added. "Now especially is the time to be on high alert and for a tough approach. This is why we are following every reasonable suspicion seriously." SPD politician Andy Grote, the interior senator for the city-state of Hamburg, called the raids a "hard blow" against the IZH whose time, he said, "has run out." "The sooner the IZH disappears from Hamburg entirely, the better," he said. "Today, we've come a great deal closer to that." Grote said that intelligence services in Hamburg have long been warning of the "extremist tendencies" of the IZH and have "kept up the pressure." "I'm pleased that the federal interior ministry is pushing strongly for a ban. I am confident that this process will be concluded thoroughly and that the IZH will soon be closed." What is the Islamic Center of Hamburg? Germany's domestic intelligence services believe that the IZH, considered an extension of the Iranian regime in Germany, has a large influence over certain mosques and associations, or even controls them. One mosque operated by the IZH is the Imam Ali Mosque in Hamburg, known as the Blue Mosque. The controlling association was founded in 1953 by Iranian immigrants. According to the Interior Ministry, its activities are aimed at spreading the Iranian revolutionary ideas. While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing. mf/rt (dpa, AFP, Reuters)	Europe Politics
JERUSALEM, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Thursday it was time to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and that there would be broad support to form a unity government led by Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party. Centrist Lapid, who served briefly as prime minister last year, said he believed a large majority of the 120 lawmakers in the Knesset, or parliament, would sign on to such a coalition. He made his comments as Israel pressed on with its military offensive in Gaza following Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 rampage through southern Israel. "The time has come - we need to establish a national reconstruction government. Likud will lead it, Netanyahu and the extremists will be replaced, over 90 members of the Knesset will be partners in the coalition for healing and reconnection," Lapid wrote on social media platform X. Netanyahu's Likud is the largest party in Israel's ruling coalition, which includes ultra-nationalist and religious parties. Together they control 64 seats in parliament. Lapid refused to join Netanyahu's war cabinet at the start of the war, though other centrist lawmakers agreed to do so and help manage the conflict. "I hear those saying this is not the time. We waited 40 days, there is no more time. What we need now is a government that will deal with nothing other than security and the economy," Lapid wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "We can't afford another election cycle in the coming year in which we continue to fight and explain why the other side is a disaster." Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch, Editing by Timothy Heritage Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.	Middle East Politics
The White House has condemned events outside an Israeli-style falafel shop in Philadelphia that became the focus of marchers at a “Flood Philly for Gaza” rally who chanted, “You can’t hide, we charge you with genocide” on Sunday. It was “antisemitic and completely unjustifiable to target restaurants that serve Israeli food over disagreements with Israeli policy,” said deputy press secretary Andrew Bates. He said the behavior “reveals the kind of cruel and senseless double standard that is a calling card of antisemitism”. Video showed protesters chanting outside Goldie, a kosher restaurant owned by American Israeli chef Michael Solomonov. Earlier, Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, condemned the protest as “blatant act of antisemitism – not a peaceful protest”. “I can’t believe I even have to say this but targeting businesses simply because they’re Jewish owned is despicable. Philadelphia stands against this sort of harassment and hate,” said Democratic congressman Brendan Boyle on X. Philadelphia has seen sustained pro-Palestinian rallies in recent weeks. Last month, a group of protesters gathered outside Laser Wolf, a Middle Eastern restaurant owned by the same restaurant group as Goldie. Solomonov first came to prominence with Zahav, an Israeli restaurant he opened in Philadelphia in 2008. His food empire has expanded with a number of Israeli- and Jewish-style restaurants in the city. He has come under fire from pro-Palestinian activists for various ties to Israeli institutions. After the 7 October Hamas attacks, he pledged to donate 100% of sales from his restaurants to a non-profit Israeli medical aid group. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the protest on Sunday was led by the Philly Palestine Coalition. Marchers had made their way through the city center, at times turning their attention to supporters of the city’s NFL team who were watching football in bars on Sunday evening. “While you’re watching, bombs are dropping,” they shouted.	Middle East Politics
Ukrainian troops have launched renewed attacks around Bakhmut’s northern and southern flanks in recent days, leading some analysts to speculate that they may be trying to encircle Russia’s forces. “Wagner’s men went into Bakhmut like rats into a mousetrap,” Oleksandr Syrskyi said. Advancing through the eastern town of Bakhmut, the Wagner mercenaries have been likened to rats trapped in a mousetrap, as expressed by the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces. Recent days have witnessed Ukrainian troops launching renewed assaults on Bakhmut’s northern and southern flanks, leading analysts to speculate on their potential strategy of encircling Russia’s forces. Oleksandr Syrskyi, in describing the situation, stated, “Wagner’s men went into Bakhmut like rats into a mousetrap.” In a localized counter-offensive operation, Ukraine has reportedly reclaimed approximately 7.7 square miles (20 sq km) to the north and south of the city. However, despite these gains, Moscow’s forces, led by the Wagner Group, have managed to advance further into the heart of Bakhmut. Providing insight into the situation, Hanna Malyar, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, emphasized that the developments in Bakhmut should not be viewed in isolation, as they do not form part of a broader planned counter-offensive by Kyiv. Malyar stated on the Telegram messaging app, “For example, within a few days, our troops liberated about 20 sq km from the enemy in the north and south of the suburbs of Bakhmut. At the same time, the enemy is advancing somewhat in Bakhmut itself, completely destroying the city with artillery.” South of Bakhmut, Ukrainian forces are believed to have made progress through a wooded area south of the village of Invanivske, moving toward Klishchiivka—a village previously claimed to be captured by Wagner in January. To the north, confrontations have been reported in the highlands surrounding the Berkhovskoye reservoir. Grey Zone, a prominent Russian military blogger associated with Wagner, recently asserted that Ukraine’s newly established positions provide them with an advantageous tactical vantage point. This enables them to effectively conduct reconnaissance and employ various types of weaponry against Russian troops situated in the valley below. Western officials confirmed on Wednesday that Ukraine successfully halted Russia’s westward advancement along the Donets-Donbas canal. Furthermore, Ukraine’s General Staff disclosed that Russia has suffered over 200,000 casualties since the commencement of the conflict over a year ago. Remarkably, only three NATO armies—the United States, Turkey, and France—have more soldiers than the number of Russians killed or wounded in Ukraine. Despite these heavy losses, Moscow has amassed a force exceeding 200,000 troops to defend the extensive 600-mile front line in anticipation of Kyiv’s counter-offensive, according to estimates from Western sources. A Western official added, “Stalin famously noted that quantity has a quality of its own. I think quality has a quality of its own, and it’s particularly important with regard to the actual ability to effectively defend, also attack, and the ability to actually be coherent to react to Ukrainian moves.”	Europe Politics
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said Moscow’s relations with North Korea have reached a “new level”, as concern grows over deepening military ties between the two countries amid the war in Ukraine. Speaking on Thursday in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, Lavrov hailed last month’s summit in Russia’s far east between Vladimir Putin and the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, as evidence that bilateral ties were at a “qualitatively new, strategic level”. Lavrov also thanked Pyongyang for its support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as US officials claimed North Korean weapons were being sent to help the Russian war effort. “We highly value your principled, unambiguous support for Russia’s actions in connection with the special military operation in Ukraine,” he said, according to Russia’s RIA news agency. Lavrov arrived in North Korea on Wednesday on a visit that is expected to lay the foundations for a Putin-Kim summit in Pyongyang – with a date yet to be decided – that could see the heavily sanctioned countries agree to even closer military and economic cooperation. Lavrov’s visit comes weeks after Kim travelled to Russia by armoured train to meet Putin for talks that are thought to have focused on weapon supplies and Russian help with North Korea’s space programme. Last week, the White House said arms shipments had already started, with North Korea delivering more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia in recent weeks. Moscow said Washington had no evidence to support the allegations. Beyond Parallel, a website run by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said satellite images showed continued activity around a North Korean port near the border with Russia, and indicated that at least six sea crossings had taken place between the two countries since late August. Earlier, it released satellite images showing what it termed an “unprecedented” buildup of train traffic along Russia’s border with North Korea. The flurry of activity “likely indicates North Korea’s supply of arms and munitions to Russia”, the group said in a report. Analysts believe North Korea will have demanded a high price for the weapons, as well as access to Russian aerospace and military technology. The regime in Pyongyang has twice failed to place a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit, with a third attempt expected to take place this month. Kim used his first trip outside North Korea since the Covid-19 pandemic, to describe relations with Moscow his “number one priority”, adding and that he saw the war in Ukraine as an attempt to challenge “hegemonist forces” seeking to undermine Russia’s security. In response, the US and its allies in the region, South Korea and Japan, have stepped up their military cooperation. On Thursday, the US and South Korean navies joined four other countries, including Canada, for anti-mine exercises off South Korea’s coast, the defence ministry said. In addition, a US B-52 bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons landed this week at Cheongju airport, about 100km south of Seoul, the Yonhap news agency reported.	Asia Politics
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a leader of the Khalistan movement and the head of the banned organisation Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), has released a video once again, in which he issued a threat to disrupt Air India flights on November 19. In a video bearing the Sikhs For Justice watermark, Pannun can be heard saying, "We urge the Sikh community to refrain from traveling on Air India. As part of a global blockade on November 19, we will not allow Air India to operate. We advise all members of the Sikh community not to use Air India services from November 19, as it may pose a risk to your life." He also issued a warning to the Indian government, stating that the Indira Gandhi Airport would be shut down on November 19. "This November 19 coincides with the World Terror Cup's final," Pannun mentioned, referring to the Cricket World Cup 2023 final scheduled to take place in Ahmedabad on the same day. "On that day, the world will witness India's oppression of the Sikh community, and the airport's name will be changed to Shahid Beant Singh, Shahid Satwant Singh Khalistan Airport once Punjab achieves independence," he added. Beant Singh and Satwant Singh were the bodyguards responsible for the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at her residence in New Delhi on October 31, 1984. Pannun asserted that the struggle for Punjab's independence has already commenced with the Khalistan referendum, and he believes that Indian tanks and artillery cannot prevent its realization. Pannun had earlier threatened to target Modi Stadium Gurpatwant Singh Pannun had earlier issued a threat to India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the alleged disrespect towards Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. A pre-recorded call by Pannun, in which he issued the threats during the increasing tensions between Canada and India, had gone viral on social media. He had warned of severe repercussions on behalf of his Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) organisation. Pannun had also mentioned that he was planning an attack on the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where the first match of the ICC World Cup 2023 took place on October 5. “On Shaheed Nijjar’s assassination, we are going to use ballot against your bullet. We are going to use the vote against your violence. "This October, it will not be the World Cricket Cup. It will be the beginning of the World Terror Cup. The message is from Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the SFJ general council,” Pannun said on the call. (We are on WhatsApp. To get latest news updates, Join our Channel. Click here)	India Politics
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- When the International African American Museum opens to the public Tuesday in South Carolina, it becomes a new site of homecoming and pilgrimage for descendants of enslaved Africans whose arrival in the Western Hemisphere begins on the docks of the lowcountry coast. Overlooking the old wharf in Charleston at which nearly half of the enslaved population first entered North America, the 150,000-square-foot (14,000-square-meter) museum houses exhibits and artifacts exploring how African Americans’ labor, perseverance, resistance and cultures shaped the Carolinas, the nation and the world. It also includes a genealogy research center to help families trace their ancestors’ journey from point of arrival on the land. The opening happens at a time when the very idea of Black people’s survival through slavery, racial apartheid and economic oppression being quintessential to the American story is being challenged throughout the U.S. Leaders of the museum said its existence is not a rebuttal to current attempts to suppress history, but rather an invitation to dialogue and discovery. “Show me a courageous space, show me an open space, show me a space that meets me where I am, and then gets me where I asked to go,” said Dr. Tonya Matthews, the museum’s president and CEO. “I think that’s the superpower of museums,” she said. “The only thing you need to bring to this museum is your curiosity, and we’ll do the rest.” The $120 million facility features nine galleries that contain nearly a dozen interactive exhibits of more than 150 historical objects and 30 works of art. One of the museum’s exhibits will rotate two to three times each year. Upon entering the space, eight large video screens play a looped trailer of a diasporic journey that spans centuries, from cultural roots on the African continent and the horrors of the Middle Passage to the regional and international legacies that spawned out of Africans' dispersal and migration across lands. The screens are angled as if to beckon visitors towards large windows and a balcony at the rear of the museum, revealing sprawling views of the Charleston harbor. One unique feature of the museum is its gallery dedicated to the history and culture of the Gullah Geechee people. Their isolation on rice, indigo and cotton plantations on coastal South Carolina, Georgia and North Florida helped them maintain ties to West African cultural traditions and creole language. A multimedia, chapel-sized “praise house” in the gallery highlights the faith expressions of the Gullah Geechee and shows how those expressions are imprinted on Black American gospel music. On Saturday, the museum grounds buzzed with excitement as its founders, staff, elected officials and other invited guests dedicated the grounds in spectacular fashion. The program was emceed by award-winning actress and director Phylicia Rashad and included stirring appearances by poet Nikky Finney and the McIntosh County Shouters, who perform songs passed down by enslaved African Americans. “Truth sets us free — free to understand, free to respect and free to appreciate the full spectrum of our shared history,” said former Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley, Jr. who is widely credited for the idea to bring the museum to the city. Planning for the International African American Museum dates back to 2000, when Riley called for its creation in a State of the City address. It took many more years, through setbacks in fundraising and changes in museum leadership, before construction started in 2019. Originally set to open in 2020, the museum was further delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as by issues in the supply chain of materials needed to complete construction. Gadsden’s Wharf, a 2.3-acre waterfront plot where it’s estimated that up 45% of enslaved Africans brought to the United States in the late 18th and early 19th centuries walked, sets the tone for how the museum is experienced. The wharf was built by Revolutionary War figure Christopher Gadsden. The land is now part of an intentionally designed ancestral garden. Black granite walls are erected on the spot of a former storage house, a space where hunched enslaved humans perished awaiting their transport to the slave market. The walls are emblazoned with lines of Maya Angelou’s poem, “And Still I Rise.” The museum’s main structure does not touch the hallowed grounds on which it is located. Instead, it is hoisted above the wharf by 18 cylindrical columns. Beneath the structure is a shallow fountain tribute to the men, women and children whose bodies were inhumanely shackled together in the bellies of ships in the transatlantic slave trade. To discourage visitors from walking on the raised outlines of the shackled bodies, a walkway was created through the center of the wharf tribute. “There’s something incredibly significant about reclaiming a space that was once the landing point, the beginning of a horrific American journey for captured Africans,” said Malika Pryor, the museum’s chief learning and education officer. Walter Hood, founder and creative director of Hood Design Studios based in Oakland, California, designed the landscape of the museum’s grounds. The designs are inspired by tours of lowcountry and its former plantations, he said. The lush grounds, winding paths and seating areas are meant to be an ethnobotanical garden, forcing visitors to see how the botany of enslaved Africans and their descendants helped shape what still exists today across the Carolinas. The opening of the Charleston museum adds to a growing array of institutions dedicated to teaching an accurate history of the Black experience in America. Many will have heard of, and perhaps visited, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in the nation’s capital, which opened in 2016. Lesser known Afrocentric museums and exhibits exist in nearly every region of the country. In Montgomery, Alabama, The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration and the corresponding National Memorial for Peace and Justice highlight slavery, Jim Crow and the history of lynching in America. Pryor, formerly the educational director of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, said these types of museums focus on the underdiscussed, underengaged parts of the American story. “This is such an incredibly expansive history, there’s room for 25 more museums that would have opportunities to bring a new curatorial lens to this conversation,” she said. The museum has launched an initiative to develop relationships with school districts, especially in places where laws limit how public school teachers discuss race and racism in the classroom. In recent years, conservative politicians around the country have banned books in more than 5,000 schools in 32 states. Bans or limits on instruction about slavery and systemic racism have been enacted in at least 16 states since 2021. Pryor said South Carolina’s ban on the teaching of critical race theory in public schools has not put the museum out of reach for local elementary, middle and high schools that hope to make field trips there. “Even just the calls and the requests for school group visits, for school group tours, they number easily in the hundreds,” she said. "And we haven’t formally opened our doors yet.” When the doors are open, all are welcome to reckon with a fuller truth of the Black American story, said Matthews, the museum president. “If you ask me what we want people to feel when they are in the museum, our answer is something akin to everything,” she said. “It is the epitome of our journey, the execution of our mission, to honor the untold stories of the African American journey at one of our nation’s most sacred sites.” ___ Aaron Morrison is a New York-based member of AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aaronlmorrison.	Human Rights
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The wall of a major dam in southern Ukraine collapsed Tuesday, triggering floods, endangering Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and threatening drinking water supplies as both sides in the war scrambled to evacuate residents and blamed each other for the destruction. Ukraine accused Russian forces of blowing up the Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power station on the Dnieper River in an area that Moscow controls, while Russian officials blamed Ukrainian bombardment in the contested area. It was not possible to verify the claims. The potentially far-reaching environmental and social consequences of the disaster quickly became clear as homes, streets and businesses flooded downstream and emergency crews began evacuations; officials raced to check cooling systems at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant; and authorities expressed concern about supplies of drinking water to the south in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. Both Russian and Ukrainian authorities brought in trains and buses for residents. About 22,000 people live in areas at risk of flooding in Russian-controlled areas, while 16,000 live in the most critical zone in Ukrainian-held territory, according to official tallies. Neither side reported any deaths or injuries. The dam break added a stunning new dimension to Russia’s war in Ukraine, now in its 16th month. Ukrainian forces were widely seen to be moving forward with a long-anticipated counteroffensive in patches along more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of front line in the east and south. It was not immediately clear whether either side benefits from the damage to the dam, since both Russian-controlled and Ukrainian-held lands are at risk. The damage could also hinder Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the south and distract its government, while Russia depends on the dam to supply water to Crimea. Although Kyiv officials claimed Russia blew up the dam to hinder the counteroffensive, observers note that crossing the broad Dnieper would be extremely challenging for the Ukrainian military. Other sectors of the front line are more likely avenues of attack, analysts say. Even so, Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the alleged Russian destruction of the dam “betrays a lack of confidence, a lack of confidence, a profoundly defensive measure, the lack of confidence in Russia’s longer-term prospects” in the war. Experts have previously said the dam was in disrepair, which could also have led to the breach. David Helms, a retired American scientist who has monitored the reservoir since the start of the war, said in an email that it wasn’t clear if the damage was deliberate or simple neglect from Russian forces occupying the facility. But Helms also noted a Russian history of attacking dams. Authorities, experts and residents have expressed concern for months about water flows through — and over — the Kakhovka dam. After heavy rains and snow melt last month, water levels rose beyond normal levels, flooding nearby villages. Satellite images showed water washing over damaged sluice gates. Amid official outrage, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he convened an urgent meeting of the National Security Council. He alleged Russian forces set off a blast inside the dam structure at 2:50 a.m. (2350 GMT Monday) and said about 80 settlements were in danger. Zelenskyy said in October his government had information that Russia had mined the dam and power plant. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it “a deliberate act of sabotage by the Ukrainian side … aimed at cutting water supplies to Crimea.” Both sides warned of a looming environmental disaster. Ukraine’s Presidential Office said some 150 metric tons of oil escaped from the dam machinery and that another 300 metric tons could still leak out. Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s President’s Office, posted a video showing swans swimming near an administrative building in the flooded streets of Russian-occupied Nova Kakhovka, a city in the Kherson region where some 45,000 people lived before the war. Other footage he posted showed flood waters reaching the second floor of the building. Ukraine’s Interior Ministry urged residents of 10 villages on the Dnieper’s right bank and parts of the city of Kherson downriver to gather essential documents and pets, turn off appliances, and leave, while cautioning against possible disinformation. The Russian-installed mayor of occupied Nova Kakhovka, Vladimir Leontyev, said it was being evacuated as water poured into the city. Ukraine’s nuclear operator Energoatom said via Telegram that the damage to the dam “could have negative consequences” for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is Europe’s biggest, but wrote that for now the situation is “controllable.” The U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency said there was “no immediate risk to the safety of the plant,” which requires water for its cooling system. It said that IAEA staff on site have been told the dam level is falling by 5 centimeters (2 inches) an hour. At that rate, the supply from the reservoir should last a few days, it said. The plant also has alternative sources of water, including a large cooling pond than can provide water “for some months,” the statement said. Ukrainian authorities have previously warned that the dam’s failure could unleash 18 million cubic meters (4.8 billion gallons) of water and flood Kherson and dozens of other areas where thousands of people live. The World Data Center for Geoinformatics and Sustainable Development, a Ukrainian nongovernmental organization, estimated that nearly 100 villages and towns would be flooded. It also reckoned that the water level would start dropping only after five-seven days. A total collapse in the dam would wash away much of the broad river’s left bank, according to the Ukraine War Environmental Consequences Working Group, an organization of environmental activists and experts documenting the war’s environmental effects. Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that “a global ecological disaster is playing out now, online, and thousands of animals and ecosystems will be destroyed in the next few hours.” Video posted online showed floodwaters inundating a long roadway; another showed a beaver scurrying for high ground from rising waters. The incident also drew international condemnation, including from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who said the “outrageous act … demonstrates once again the brutality of Russia’s war in Ukraine.” Ukraine controls five of the six dams along the Dnieper, which runs from its northern border with Belarus down to the Black Sea and is crucial for the country’s drinking water and power supply. Ukraine’s state hydro power generating company wrote in a statement that “The station cannot be restored.” Ukrhydroenergo also claimed Russia blew up the station from inside the engine room. Leontyev, the Russian-appointed mayor, said numerous Ukrainian strikes on the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant destroyed its valves, and “water from the Kakhovka reservoir began to uncontrollably flow downstream.” Leontyev added that damage to the station was beyond repair, and it would have to be rebuilt. Ukraine and Russia have previously accused each other of targeting the dam with attacks. ___ Associated Press writer Danica Kirka in London contributed. ___ Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine	Europe Politics
Dissent over US policy in the Israel-Hamas war stirs unusual public protests from federal employees President Joe Biden and Congress are facing some unusually public challenges over their support for Israel’s offensive against Hamas WASHINGTON -- Federal government workers from the State Department to NASA are circulating open letters demanding that President Joe Biden pursue a cease-fire in Israel’s war against Hamas. Congressional staffers are picking up microphones in front of the Capitol, speaking out to condemn what they say is the silence of lawmakers about the toll on Palestinian civilians. As the deaths soar in Gaza, Biden and Congress are facing unusually public challenges from the inside over their support for Israel’s offensive. Hundreds of staffers in the administration and on Capitol Hill are signing on to open letters, speaking to reporters and holding vigils, all in an effort to shift U.S. policy toward more urgent action to stem Palestinian casualties. “Most of our bosses on Capitol Hill are not listening to the people they represent,” one of the congressional staffers told the crowd at a protest this month. Wearing medical masks that obscured their faces, the roughly 100 congressional aides heaped flowers in front of Congress to honor the civilians killed in the conflict. The objections coming from federal employees over the United States' military and other backing for Israel's Gaza campaign is partly an outgrowth of the changes happening more broadly across American society. As the United States becomes more diverse, so does the federal workforce, including more appointees of Muslim and Arab heritage. And surveys show public opinion shifting regarding U.S. ally Israel, with more people expressing unhappiness over the hard-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. After weeks of seeing images of bloodied children and fleeing families in Gaza, a significant number of Americans, including from Biden’s Democratic Party, disagree with his support of Israel’s military campaign. A poll by The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in early November found 40% of the U.S. public believed Israel’s response in Gaza had gone too far. The war has roiled college campuses and set off nationwide protests. As of late this past week, one open letter had been endorsed by 650 staffers of diverse religious backgrounds from more than 30 federal agencies, organizers said. The agencies range from the Executive Office of the President to the Census Bureau and include the State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of Defense. A Biden political appointee who helped organize the multiagency open letter said the president's rejection of appeals to push Netanyahu for a long-term cease-fire had left some federal staffers feeling “dismissed, in a way.” “That’s why people are using all sorts of dissent cables and open letters. Because we’ve already gone through the channels of trying to do it internally,” this person said. The letter condemns both the Hamas killings of about 1,200 people in Israel in the militants' Oct. 7 incursion and the Israeli military campaign, which has killed more than 11,500 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The letter calls for the U.S. to push for a cease-fire and a release of hostages held by Hamas and of Palestinians that the signers say are unjustly detained by Israel, as well as greater action overall on behalf of Gaza’s civilians. The organizers of the executive branch and congressional protests all spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity, citing fear of professional and other repercussions. The federal employees speaking up in opposition to the U.S. policy appear to be seeking a balance, raising their objections in a way that doesn't deprive them of a seat at the table and risk their careers. Some current and former officials and staffers said it’s the public nature of some of the challenges from federal employees that is unusual. It worries some, as a potential threat to government function and to cohesion within agencies. The State Department has an honored tradition of allowing formal, structured statements of dissent to U.S. policy. It dates to 1970, when U.S. diplomats resisted President Richard Nixon’s demands to fire foreign service officers and other State Department employees who signed an internal letter protesting the U.S. carpet-bombing of Cambodia. Ever since, foreign service officers and civil servants have used what is known as the dissent channel at moments of intense policy debate. That includes criticism of the George W. Bush administration’s prosecution of the war in Iraq, the Obama administration’s policies in Syria, the Trump administration’s immigration restrictions on mainly Muslim countries and the Biden administration's handling of the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. But dissent cables, which are signed, are classified and not for public release. In State Department tradition, at least, if “for whatever reason a criticism or complaint were not taken into account or were not believed to be sufficient to change policy, well, then, it was time to move on. It was done,'' said Thomas Shannon, a retired career foreign service officer who served in senior positions at the State Department. "It was time to salute, and execute." Shannon was briefly interim secretary of state in the Trump administration. There, he fended off a recommendation from White House spokesman Sean Spicer that State Department staffers who signed a dissent cable against President Donald Trump’s so-called Muslim ban should quit. Growing diversity of the State Department’s workforce is a positive, Shannon said. But “in the foreign service as in military service, discipline is real and it’s important,” he said, citing the need for consistent, cohesive foreign policy. “I guess I’m just saying I’m not a fan of open letters,” Shannon said. State Department officials say several expressions of dissent have made their way through the formal channels to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. One State Department official, 11-year veteran Josh Paul, quit late last month to protest the administration's rush to provide arms to Israel. Blinken addressed internal opposition to the administration's handling of the Gaza crisis in a departmentwide email to staffers this past Monday. “We’re listening: what you share is informing our policy and our messages,” he wrote. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the dissent was welcome. “One of the strengths of this department is that we do have people with different opinions,” he said. Unlike the dissent cables, the multiagency open letter and another endorsed by more than 1,000 employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development have been made public. They also are anonymous, with no names of signers publicly attached to them. The USAID letter with 1,000 staffers backing it, which was given to The Washington Post, Foreign Policy and others, calls for an immediate cease-fire. But one longtime USAID staffer said it distressed some of the agency's staffers, including some who are Jewish, by not addressing the Hamas killings of civilians in Israel. The delivery of the letter to news organizations also seemed outside the agency's tradition of handling matters internally in a consultative way, the staffer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. In comparison, an internal State Department memorial for all civilians killed since Oct. 7, organized by Muslim, Christian and Jewish employee organizations, brought more solace, and seemed to bring colleagues of diverse outlooks and backgrounds closer together, that USAID staffer said. The organizers of the multiagency open letter said they acted out of frustration after other efforts, particularly a tense meeting between White House officials and Muslim and Arab political appointees, seemed to have no effect. Staying silent, or resigning, would shirk their responsibility to the public, the staffer said. “If we just leave, there's never going to be any change." ___ Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva and AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.	Middle East Politics
Please note: This is not a public comment – only the Guardian can see your message. Our writers will monitor these messages and respond to some in this live blog, but unfortunately they will not be able to respond to every message. Wed 6 Dec 2023 09.57 ESTFirst published on Wed 6 Dec 2023 04.16 EST Johnson rejects claims he could not make up his mind about lockdown Q: To what extent did you appreciate by the night of Sunday 15 March that a lockdown was essential. It was not imposed until Monday 23 March. And it was going to be technically complicated. Was it a) you deciding a lockdown was essential, but it would take; or b) you starting planning for one, but delaying the final decision to later. Johnson says he was “increasingly reconciled” to the fact that he would have to do a huge amount more to suppress the virus. The complications were enormous, he says. His state of mind was – “I’m now more or less in virus fighting mode”. Q: But you were not entirely like that? Here are messages showing that you were still opposed to lockdown. You would have been inhuman if you had not oscillated. But is it fair to say you made your oscillation clear to all around you. Johnson says it was his job to consider all the implication and to “test the policy”. These messages refer to a conversation with the chancellor where they considered the downsides. It would have been “negligent” not to consider those factors, he says. But this “did not in any way divert us from the crescendo of actions that we took”. Q: This is a poor example of executive function. You could not make up your own mind. Johnson objects. For the first time, almost, he seems to be getting angry. He had the chancellor with him, he says. He was told there was a risk to the UK bond markets. He had to go through the arguments. Q: You talked at this time about the danger of killing everyone to save “bedblockers”. Keith shows an extract from a note of a meeting. Johnson says this was an indication of the cruelty of the decison he had to take. If he said something like that, it was to illustrate the point. The comment was not designed to broadcast, he says. Q: When you decided to lockdown, did you consider if there was a clear argument against lockdown? Johnson says he did. But he gave that argument “pretty short shift”. He says he thought the job of government was to protect life. If there had been no lockdown, what was happening in Italy would have happened here. He goes on: I had no other tool – literally nothing else. Many commentators have criticised the inquiry for assuming that the lockdown was a good thing, and for not considering the downsides. But Keith has regularly been asking government witnesses, as he has just been asking Johnson, why they did not delay lockdown so they could see if the voluntary “stay at home” order was working. Johnson claims he can't remember why he met Evgeny Lebedev at No 10 days before lockdown Keith asks about Johnson’s meeting with Evgeny Lebedev, the Evening Standard owner, in the week before the lockdown was formally announced. Why did it take place? Johnson claims he cannot remember, but he says he thinks it was about Covid. As owner of a London paper, Lebedev had to know what was happening, he says. Neither Keith nor Johnson name Lebedev. Keith does not press Johnson about this. It is widely assumed that this meeting took place to discuss Lebedev’s peerage, which at the time was being blocked by the House of Lords Appointments Commission. Johnson did not have face to face meeting with other newspaper owners at this point, and indeed people were being advised to avoid any unnecessary face to face meetings. Johnson rejects claims he could not make up his mind about lockdown Q: To what extent did you appreciate by the night of Sunday 15 March that a lockdown was essential. It was not imposed until Monday 23 March. And it was going to be technically complicated. Was it a) you deciding a lockdown was essential, but it would take; or b) you starting planning for one, but delaying the final decision to later. Johnson says he was “increasingly reconciled” to the fact that he would have to do a huge amount more to suppress the virus. The complications were enormous, he says. His state of mind was – “I’m now more or less in virus fighting mode”. Q: But you were not entirely like that? Here are messages showing that you were still opposed to lockdown. You would have been inhuman if you had not oscillated. But is it fair to say you made your oscillation clear to all around you. Johnson says it was his job to consider all the implication and to “test the policy”. These messages refer to a conversation with the chancellor where they considered the downsides. It would have been “negligent” not to consider those factors, he says. But this “did not in any way divert us from the crescendo of actions that we took”. Q: This is a poor example of executive function. You could not make up your own mind. Johnson objects. For the first time, almost, he seems to be getting angry. He had the chancellor with him, he says. He was told there was a risk to the UK bond markets. He had to go through the arguments. Q: You talked at this time about the danger of killing everyone to save “bedblockers”. Keith shows an extract from a note of a meeting. Johnson says this was an indication of the cruelty of the decison he had to take. If he said something like that, it was to illustrate the point. The comment was not designed to broadcast, he says. Johnson says he does not recall Hancock calling for immediate lockdown on 13 March, as he claims he did Q: Over the weekend of 14-15 March 2020 there was a change of strategy. Some people like Dominic Cummings were pushing for change. You know about the likely impact on the NHS. Why wasn’t the Department of Health and Social Care pushing for a different approach? It was still pushing for the “squashing the sombrero, herd immunity” strategy? Johnson says they knew at that point they had to act. They still thought they had “a bit of time”, and that was what the Sage paper from 12 March seemed to say. The shift on 13 March was about timing, he says. There was “a confluence of opinion”, he says. On Saturday 14 March he was talking to Prof Sir Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance. By 13 March Sage had realised something needed to be done, he says. Q: Until Cummings talked about plan B, no one at DHSC said a new approach was needed. Johnson says the Sage meeting was where the view changed. Q: Matt Hancock says he called you on Friday 13 March and said there should be an immediate lockdown. Do you recall that? Johnson says he does not. It has been a long time, he says. As the inquiry heard last week, there is no written evidence to support Hancock’s claim he made this call. Hancock did not even mention it in the book he wrote about the pandemic. Johnson says on 12 March there was a press conference where he said a large number of people might die. It was “a pretty grim press conference”, he says. He says they were asked about the way through. Sir Patrick Vallance said that they wanted to flatten the curve, with some measure of herd immunity a good outcome by the autumn. He says Vallance said it might not be necessary or desirable to stop everyone getting the virus. Here is our live blog of that press conference. He says at this point people thought the government wanted to let the virus spread unchecked. That is not what the government wanted, he says. He says they had to do quite a lot of work to clear up that mess. He says they hoped herd immunity would be “a byproduct” of what they were doing.	United Kingdom Politics
By the time the bombs went off inside the Kabul Longan Hotel on the afternoon of Dec. 12, 2022, the armed insurgents had already filmed their last words. Cradling pistols and posing beside a lounge chair heaped with ammunition, grenades, and explosives, two young militants, dressed inconspicuously in a hooded sweatshirt and a brown sherpa jacket, pointed to the sky and pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. Since the Taliban reclaimed leadership over Afghanistan in 2021, this hotel, located in the central district of the Afghan capital of Kabul, had become well-known for its popularity among a growing number of Chinese businessmen who’d started visiting the country, offering investment and financial support to an increasingly embattled administration. What ensued on that midwinter afternoon was a violent siege that resulted in at least 21 casualties—three dead and 18 injured—as the gunmen detonated two bags filled with explosives and opened fire on Chinese guests. The insurgents were eventually killed by local security forces, according to the Taliban-run administration, and the next day China urged its citizens to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible. For the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), a regional affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) that later claimed responsibility for the incident, it was a success. Later that week, the official IS newsletter Al-Naba celebrated the Longan Hotel attack as an onslaught that “spread terror and panic among the ranks of the communist Chinese,” “put threats towards China into action on the ground,” and “[initiated] the journey of vengeance” against Beijing. Its supposed crimes? Supporting the Taliban government and “killing, arresting, and torturing Uyghur Muslims.” In recent months, ISIS-K—otherwise known by the initialism ISKP—has adopted an increasingly bellicose position toward China. What started as a campaign to undermine Chinese support for the Islamist group’s Taliban rivals has transformed into targeted condemnation of the East Asian superpower itself. Now that vitriol has boiled over into violence. And with targeted attacks against Chinese citizens in Afghanistan likely to continue, Beijing’s prospects in the country are looking more and more perilous. ISIS-K’s strategic shift was ratified on Feb. 19, when the group collated all of its developing anti-China narratives into one comprehensive document: a 117-page propaganda pamphlet, focussed on China and the oppression of Uyghur Muslim minorities, that experts say is intended to be a guidebook for all jihadist groups. The day before, ISIS-K had released a 48-minute video that declared the liberation of Uyghurs as “one of our greatest objectives.” Whereas previously the group’s animosity was focused almost exclusively on the Taliban, the United States, and the governments of both Afghanistan and Pakistan, the ISIS-K media machine is now turning its crosshairs toward Beijing, highlighting allegations of genocide against Uyghurs and encouraging supporters to retaliate by committing violence against Chinese interests. In Afghanistan, those calls are being answered. On January 11, ISIS-K militants followed up on the Longan Hotel siege and killed at least 20 people in a failed suicide bombing targeting the Afghan foreign ministry facility in Kabul, where a Chinese delegation was reportedly due to meet with the Taliban sometime during the day. Weeks later, in their nearly hourlong video titled “We Killed Those Whom You Protect,” the group warned of further attacks against Chinese nationals, diplomats, and aid workers in Afghanistan, claiming to be the only jihadist organisation that is actually fighting back against Uyghur oppression. “We will not only terrorise and kill the Chinese infidels but also ensure the freedom and happiness of all the Muslims of East Turkistan,” said the narrator of the video, referring to the Chinese region of Xinjiang, where the Chinese government is thought to have detained more than 1 million Uyghurs in what the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has said constitutes serious human rights violations and potential crimes against humanity. Lucas Webber, co-founder and editor of the Militant Wire research network, has been noticing this trend in the Islamist group’s messaging. Following the fall of Kabul and the return of the Taliban to power, he watched closely as ISIS-K emerged, in terms of both words and later actions, as the foremost anti-China force within jihadist circles. As their propaganda apparatus became more centralised and focussed, members of the group started looking beyond China’s foreign relations with the Taliban and digging deeper into the nation’s domestic policies and history, particularly in relation to Uyghurs in Xinjiang. What they found there, said Webber, was an opportunity. While it might seem improbable that an extremist organisation as notorious as ISIS-K would peg their flag to a globally recognised human rights cause, Webber noted that the group has realised the potency of Uyghur oppression as a recruitment tool, as well as a way to promote their brand on an international scale: by tapping into one of the most infamously grotesque cases of human rights abuses facing Muslims anywhere in the world. “The Uyghur issue is one of the bigger issues of Muslim oppression,” Webber said. “And so they [ISIS-K] have been looking to exploit this and leverage it to grow their appeal and to essentially show that ‘we’re the only group taking action, we’re the only group consistently speaking out… We’re going to keep issuing threats, criticisms, launching attacks, and focusing on this issue.’” Webber described the Longan Hotel siege as a “turning point”: the first time ISIS-K militants put their words into action and launched a direct attack against Chinese interests. It was also likely an augury of things to come. Given the recent escalation of the group’s hostile rhetoric, Webber wagered “very good odds” that ISIS-K violence against Chinese people will continue. “They’re making their strategy explicit in ramping up attacks against diplomatic missions, foreign nationals, and they’re threatening foreign humanitarian NGOs,” he said. “So I think you’ll see more attacks on these types of targets.” There aren’t many countries that have committed to working alongside the Taliban government, but China is one. Since the official takeover of Afghanistan on Aug. 15, 2021, the Chinese government has publicly engaged in friendly, bilateral interaction with Taliban authorities, even going as far as to lobby for them in international formats like the UN, while providing them with humanitarian and military assistance, according to the Jamestown Foundation. More recently, Beijing has also shown conspicuous interest in pouring investment into the country in the hopes of exploiting its vast natural resources. Afghanistan boasts an estimated $1 trillion worth of untapped mineral deposits, including copper, gold, iron, and lithium—a lucrative bit of pay dirt for anyone who might be able to withdraw the materials safely. In early January, a Chinese firm signed a 25-year contract for oil extraction in the country. Meanwhile, another Chinese state-owned company is reportedly looking to resume a project to mine the world’s second largest copper deposit from a barren region just south of Kabul, after more than a dozen years of inactivity. These hardening business ties have precipitated an influx of Chinese nationals into Afghanistan, and raised the hopes of a Taliban government that is finding itself increasingly beleaguered by ongoing economic struggles and a spiralling humanitarian crisis. At the same time, however, the country’s security under Taliban rule has started to look increasingly shaky—due in no small part to constant insurrections from ISIS-K, who have entrenched themselves as “the primary rivals” of the Taliban and attacked Chinese targets in a bid to rattle Beijing’s nerves. “They [ISIS-K] are trying to undermine China’s confidence in the Taliban’s ability to provide security,” Webber said. “They want to undermine, and essentially damage, anything that could strengthen the Taliban's governing position.” This tactic was applied with devastating success during the raid on the Longan Hotel. The day before the attack, on Dec. 11, 2022, Chinese Ambassador to Kabul Wang Yu met with Afghanistan’s deputy foreign minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai at the Taliban-run foreign ministry to express his “satisfaction over the overall security in Afghanistan.” Forty-eight hours later, Chinese citizens were being urged to flee. Iftikhar Firdous, founding editor of the Khorasan Diary, described the hotel siege as “the most important operation for ISKP in 2022… the apex of a timely and carefully devised terrorist operation.” “[ISKP] were the first IS branch to harm a significant number of Chinese nationals, potentially having a galvanising effect on other IS branches in other regions,” Firdous told VICE World News. More directly, he added, the siege “visibly expose[d] Taliban’s lack of security and intelligence as well as ISKP capabilities of planning such an operation” against Chinese nationals. As a scare tactic, it worked. In response to the attack, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin urged the Taliban to “take resolute and strong measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens, institutions and projects in Afghanistan.” In January, following both the hotel raid and the blast outside Afghanistan’s foreign ministry, China again implored the Islamist group to provide greater security to Chinese nationals inside the country, promising to provide them with modern weapons in return. It was ISIS-K’s more recent video and propaganda pamphlet, though, both released in the past fortnight, that established the group’s anti-China agenda more decisively than ever before. As Firdous explained, the pamphlet constituted, for the first time, “a whole book featuring China and the Taliban as [ISKP’s] main rivals in Afghanistan, which is set to become one of the main publications in the region and a reference for all jihadist groups.” As a priority, ISIS-K is now actively addressing and recruiting militants in other such groups, including the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP): a Uyghur Islamic extremist organisation founded in western China. While the two groups have previously been known to work in close alliance—issuing propaganda in the Uyghur language, exchanging personnel and military advice, and planning joint attacks—ISIS-K has more recently started to criticise TIP for what they see as a failure to follow through on pledges of Uyghur liberation. Firdous pointed out that for ISIS-K, though, the Uyghur issue is just one part of a greater mission, and pretext for the group “to more broadly start its long-lasting campaign against China in Afghanistan and in the region.” While the group’s terrorist activities are mostly confined to Afghanistan and Pakistan, its vision is global: to support the toppling of what it sees as corrupt governments in Muslim nations, incite terrorist attacks in the West, and reinstate an Islamic caliphate. ISIS-K has emerged as the Islamic State’s strongest proponents of an international jihad. As a result, the scope of their operations has widened. On Sep. 9, 2022, an ISIS-K media group, Tawhid News, published a statement in which militants threatened to destroy oil and gas pipelines running overland from Central Asia to China in a bid to sabotage the country’s energy infrastructure and cripple its economy. The group has also hinted at future attacks against Russian, American, and Indian targets. These are just threats. But as Webber pointed out, ISIS-K has form when it comes to putting its money where its mouth is. He cites past instances where he’d noticed an uptick in vitriol against countries like Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, only for militants from the group to strike those targets. The Longan Hotel attack was a continuation of that trend. If ISIS-K is taken at its word, then the violence is far from finished. China is rapidly losing confidence in the security of Afghanistan, the Taliban are scrambling to repel IS activities within the country’s borders—largely through night raids and extrajudicial detentions and killings—and ISIS-K militants are capitalising on the disharmony to sow further conflict and advance their extreme jihadist agenda. The resultant chaos has cast a cloud of uncertainty over the stability of Beijing’s prospects in the country. And while it’s difficult to anticipate exactly what the next few weeks and months might hold—the element of surprise is a key part of ISIS-K’s military strategy, after all—both Webber and Firdous seem confident about one thing: There will be blood, and it will more than likely be Chinese nationals who shed it. “It is reasonable to assess that ISKP is going to attack foreign nationals again,” Firdous said. “And with China being among the most involved countries in Afghanistan, its citizens and interests are primary targets.” Follow Gavin Butler on Twitter.	Middle East Politics
Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm. Hyung-Jin Kim, Associated Press Hyung-Jin Kim, Associated Press Leave your feedback SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country has built its first-ever military spy satellite and that he planned to launch it on an undisclosed date, state media reported Wednesday. Previous missile and rocket tests have demonstrated that North Korea can send satellites into space, but many experts question whether it has cameras sophisticated enough to use for spying from a satellite because only low-resolution images were released after past test launches. During his visit to the country’s aerospace agency Tuesday, Kim said that having an operational military reconnaissance satellite is crucial for North Korea to effectively use its nuclear-capable missiles. Kim cited what he described as serious security threats posed by “the most hostile rhetoric and explicit action” by the United States and South Korea this year, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. He likely hopes to pressure his rivals on issues including joint military drills and international economic sanctions on North Korea. Kim said “the military reconnaissance satellite No. 1” had already been built and ordered officials to speed up preparations for its launch. He said North Korea must launch several satellites to establish an intelligence-gathering capability, KCNA said. North Korea has said its ongoing run of weapons tests, including its first test-launch of a solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile designed to strike the U.S. mainland last week, are a response to joint military exercises between the United States and its regional allies South Korea and Japan. North Korea has carried out about 100 missile tests since the start of last year, including about 30 this year. READ MORE: North Korea says it tested new solid-fuel long-range missile The U.S. and South Korean militaries have been expanding combined drills in response to North Korea’s growing nuclear threats. This week, the allies launched a 12-day aerial exercise involving some 110 warplanes and staged a one-day naval missile defense exercise with Japan. Spy satellites are among an array of major weapons systems that Kim publicly vowed to develop during a major ruling Workers’ Party conference in January 2021. Kim also pledged to build solid-propellant ICBMs, nuclear-powered submarines, hypersonic missiles and multi-warhead missiles. North Korea has since conducted tests of such weapons, but observers say those high-tech weapons are still in development stages. After North Korea launched a test satellite last December, it publicized black-and-white photos showing a space view of South Korean cities. Some civilian experts in South Korea said at the time the photos were too crude for a surveillance purpose and that they were likely capable of only recognizing big targets like warships at sea or military installations on the ground. Kim’s sister and senior North Korean official Kim Yo Jong said the test satellite carried a commercial camera because there was no reason to use an expensive, high-resolution camera for a single-shot test. Kim Jong Un said one of the objectives for its spy satellite is acquiring an ability to “use pre-emptive military force when the situation demands.” Tuesday’s KCNA dispatch focused on U.S. military assets like aircraft carriers and long-range bombers that have been deployed in South Korea in recent months, but made no mention of possible targets in the mainland U.S. That could imply that North Korea intends to use its reconnaissance satellites to identify key targets in South Korea, including U.S. military bases, in order to attack them with short-range missiles. Putting a reconnaissance satellite into orbit would require a long-range rocket. The U.N. bans such launches by North Korea because it views them as cover for testing its long-range ballistic missile technology. In response to a question posed by The Associated Press, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said North Korea’s launch of a spy satellite would threaten regional peace and violate multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions banning any ballistic launches by the North. It said South Korea will work closely with the international community to get North Korea to face consequences when it commits provocations. Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said North Korea will likely inform international maritime and telecommunication authorities of its launch plans, likely sometime between May and September. North Korea placed its first and second Earth observation satellites into orbit in 2012 and 2016, but foreign experts say neither transmitted imagery back to North Korea. The U.N. issued sanctions over those launches. North Korea has avoided fresh U.N. sanctions for its recent ballistic missile tests in 2022 and this year because U.N. Security Council permanent members Russia and China didn’t support U.S. and others’ attempts to toughen sanctions on the North. Support Provided By: Learn more World Mar 21	Asia Politics
KYIV, Ukraine -- Russia said Saturday its forces destroyed three Ukrainian naval drones being used in an attempt to attack a key bridge linking Russia to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula, forcing its temporary closure for a third time in less than a year. One naval drone was destroyed late Friday and two others early Saturday morning, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry. There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials. The Kerch bridge, which is a key supply route for Kremlin forces in Russia's war with Ukraine, has come under repeated attack since Russia launched its full-scale invasion. An explosion in October, which Russian authorities said was caused by a truck bomb, left three people dead. A further attack on the bridge in July, killing a couple and seriously wounding their daughter, left a span of the roadway hanging perilously. The bridge connecting Crimea and Russia carries heavy significance for Moscow, both logistically and psychologically, as a key artery for military and civilian supplies and as an assertion of Kremlin control of the peninsula it annexed in 2014. On Saturday afternoon, one civilian was killed and two wounded during shelling of Russia’s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Two Ukrainian drones attacked the region's Valuysky district, causing minor damage to a private home and car, while another drone was intercepted by Russian air defense in the Grayvoronsky district. A woman was also wounded Saturday during shelling of a village in the neighboring Kursk region, also bordering Ukraine, regional Gov. Roman Starovoit said. He blamed Ukraine for the shelling. Ukrainian authorities, which generally avoid commenting on attacks on Russian soil, didn’t say whether they launched the attacks. Drone strikes and shelling on the Russian border regions are a regular occurrence. Meanwhile, four people were wounded in the Ukrainian shelling of the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, Moscow-installed mayor Aleksei Kulemzin said Saturday. Donetsk is the regional capital of the eastern Ukrainian province of the same name, which was among the four Ukrainian provinces illegally annexed by Russia in September. The city came under the control of Russia-backed separatists in 2014. The Ukrainian military said in a regular update Saturday that over the previous 24 hours, Russia had launched four missile strikes and 39 airstrikes, in addition to 42 attacks from multiple rocket launchers. One person was killed and two were wounded during shelling of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region on Saturday, according to Gov. Oleh Prokudin. Farther north, a 32-year-old police investigator was killed and two other people were wounded when shells hit the town of Seredyna-Buda in the northeastern Sumy region. Four people were wounded during artillery shelling and drone attacks in the Nikopol district of the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to regional Gov. Serhii Lysak. Elsewhere in the province, Kryvyi Rih Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said the anti-aircraft defense in the central Ukrainian city, which is President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown, had successfully thwarted a strike, without specifying the nature of the attack. A missile hit an apartment on the first floor of a multistory building in the eastern city of Kramatorsk but there were no casualties, Donetsk regional Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said. U.K. military officials said Saturday that Russia risks splitting its forces in an attempt to prevent a Ukrainian breakthrough in Ukraine’s south. According to British intelligence, Ukrainian forces continued to take offensive action on the Orikhiv axis in southern Ukraine, with units reaching the first Russian main defensive line. Zelenskyy said Saturday that Ukrainian forces were “on the move," after Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar announced Friday that Kyiv’s troops were advancing in the Zaporizhzhia region. Russian President Vladimir Putin will host Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks next week, the Kremlin announced Friday, just over six weeks after Moscow broke off a deal brokered by Ankara and the U.N. that allowed Ukrainian grain to reach world markets safely despite the 18-month war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin and Erdogan would meet Monday in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi. ___ Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine	Europe Politics
Rahul Gandhi To File Appeal In SC For Stay On Conviction In Defamation Case: Congress Rahul Gandhi is likely to move the Supreme Court 'very soon' against the Gujarat High Court order rejecting his plea Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is likely to move the Supreme Court 'very soon' against the Gujarat High Court order rejecting his plea for a stay on his conviction in a defamation case. Party sources said the petition may be filed in the Supreme Court within this week as work on it is underway. Asked about it at a party briefing, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said an appeal will be filed very soon. "It will be very soon. It is under preparation. Nearest future, you will come to know of that," he said. Singhvi is also the lawyer appearing for Rahul Gandhi in the case. Gandhi was disqualified as a Member of Parliament on March 24, 2023 after a Gujarat court convicted him and sentenced him to a two-year imprisonment on charges of criminal defamation for comments he made about the Modi surname. A stay on Gandhi's conviction could pave the way for his reinstatement as a Lok Sabha MP. However, he has not received any relief from either the sessions court or the Gujarat High Court. Meanwhile, BJP MLA Purnesh Modi, the complainant in the defamation case, has filed a caveat in the Supreme Court seeking that he be heard if the Congress leader moves a plea challenging the high court verdict. The Congress on Wednesday held 'silent' protests in various part of the country to express solidarity with Rahul Gandhi. In a setback to 53-year-old Gandhi, Justice Hemant Prachchhak of the high court had dismissed the appeal of Gandhi saying 'it is now the need of the hour to have purity in politics”. The high court also noted that the representatives of the people should be "men of clear antecedent" and that a stay on conviction is not a rule, but an exception resorted to only in rare cases and there was no reasonable ground to stay his conviction. The Congress later said it will move the Supreme Court against the verdict and alleged that the government is finding 'newer techniques' to throttle his voice as it is rattled by his speaking the truth. Purnesh Modi, a former minister in the Gujarat government, had filed the criminal defamation case in 2019 against Gandhi over his 'How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?' remark made during an election rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019. A metropolitan magistrate's court in Surat on March 23 this year sentenced the former Congress president to two years in jail after convicting him under Indian Penal Code sections 499 and 500 (criminal defamation). Following the verdict, Gandhi, elected to the Lok Sabha from Wayanad in Kerala in 2019, was disqualified as a Member of Parliament under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act.	India Politics
Portugal will hold a snap parliamentary election – its second in as many years – on 10 March, the president has announced after Tuesday’s abrupt resignation of the Socialist prime minister amid a corruption investigation. In an address late on Thursday, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said he would disband parliament, where the Socialist party has a majority of seats, only after the final vote on the 2024 budget bill, due on 29 November. The house approved the bill on first reading on 31 October. Rebelo de Sousa made his decision public during a national televised address after he met with the nation’s Council of State, an advisory body made up of former politicians and other veteran public figures of renown. This came after he had met with the leaders of the parties in parliament on Wednesday. Rebelo de Sousa said allowing lawmakers to pass the budget would enable the government “to meet the expectations of many Portuguese” and deploy EU recovery funds in projects. He said the government will remain in power for now, but that the election was needed to provide “clarity and direction to overcome an unexpected void that surprised and disturbed the Portuguese”. The budget includes lower income tax rates for the middle class, social benefits focused on the poorest and a 24% jump in public investment to spur slowing economic growth. By law, an election needs to be held within 60 days of the publishing of the presidential decree dissolving parliament. Prime minister António Costa, a Socialist, has led Portugal since 2015 and won a landslide election just last year. But he stepped down as PM on Tuesday after prosecutors detained his chief of staff in an investigation into alleged illegalities in his government’s handling of lithium and hydrogen projects. Prosecutors said Costa was also the target of a related investigation. He has denied wrongdoing. Some of those detained in the investigation appeared before a Lisbon court on Thursday. They were suspected of crimes of corruption and influence-peddling, prosecutors said. Since coming to power in 2015 in the aftermath of a debt crisis and international bailout, Costa has presided over a period of strong economic growth during which his successive governments quashed the budget deficit and reduced the debt burden, winning praise in Europe for sound fiscal policies.	Europe Politics
A recent Ukrainian drone raid on a military airfield well inside Russia cleared the base of combat aircraft and was a new embarrassment to Kremlin claims the national airspace is impenetrable, but hard proof of Australian drones launched by behind-the-lines agents carried out the attack is limited. Ukraine’s national intelligence agency the SBU on Sunday in comments to Kyiv Post said strike drones launched by its operatives hit the military territory of Kursk regional airport in a nighttime raid, damaging four Su-30 fighter jets, one MiG-29 fighter jet, two Pantsir-S1 close-range air defense systems and a radar from a long-range S-300 surface-to-air missile system. According to an unnamed SBU officer speaking to the RBC-Ukraine news platform, 16 drones were used in the attack of which 3 were shot down. Operators from the SBU’s 13th Division, Counterintelligence carried out the strike, he said. Russia’s Defense Ministry acknowledged the attack took place. Saturday afternoon videos of multiple explosions in the vicinity of Kursk air base were widely circulating in Russian social media. Usually between 10 and 15 distinct explosions were reported. A military source told Kyiv Post “several dozen” Russian service personnel were killed or wounded, and ammunition storage facilities and military equipment was “seriously damaged.” In the immediate wake of the attack, the type of drone used by the Ukrainians was not made public. On Saturday afternoon the Russian military blogger Fighterbomber published an article stating Australia-manufactured SYPAQ drones carried out the strikes, crediting their wooden construction and small size for successful penetration of the airfield’s dense air defenses. The Kursk airfield’s air defense network, he wrote, included “standard” jammers of the GPS and Starlink satellite systems, multiple vehicle-mounted Pantsir missile/cannon systems, searchlights and machine guns equipped with night-vision devices and tracer ammunition. In past Ukrainian attacks on similarly defended air bases deep inside Russia, useful hits by the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s (AFU) preferred weapon, a Chinese-made Murgin-5 commercial drone modified to carry explosives, and the size of a small airplane, have typically been limited to one or two impacts. Practically all other drones operated by Ukraine lack the range to hit targets well inside Russia. Pro-Kremlin information platforms on Monday and Tuesday claimed the strike was ineffective and that subsequent commercial satellite images of the base proved no damage to any aircraft or facilities. Tyler Rogoway, an aviation analyst, said it wasn’t possible to be sure from the satellite photos taken by Planet Labs Inc. whether the strike was successful or failed. As of Monday, Aug. 28, the Kursk military airfield was empty of all aircraft, those images showed. Photo © 2023 Planet Labs inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission. pic.twitter.com/Oyd83xl661— Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) August 28, 2023 As of Tuesday, aside from the Fighterbomber report, no source had corroborated that SYPACs had carried out the Kursk airfield attack. As a drone flies Kursk airport and its military airfield are some 100-120 km distant from Ukraine-controlled territory. If SKYPAQ drones hit the Kursk military airfield, they almost certainly were launched by Ukrainian agents from a site or sites inside Ukraine’s Sumy region proximate to the heavily militarized Russian border or, potentially, from a location inside Russian Federation territory. In contrast to the Murgin-5 and larger, metal-constructed aircraft, the albatross-sized wooden SKYPAQ, an aircraft light enough for a man to pick up easily, is according to military media reports effectively invisible to most if not all Russian air defense systems, which were designed to locate and intercept combat aircraft constructed almost totally out of metal with weights in multiples of tons. Ukraine’s military started receiving Australian drones in the Spring of 2023. The SYPAQ drone has a maximum payload capacity of 5kg and can stay in the air for 1 to 3 hours depending on payload weight. The drone’s maximum advertised range is 120 kilometers. Delivery of SKYPAQ drones to Ukraine was announced in Canberra in March 2023 as part of ongoing Australian military assistance to Ukraine. The aircraft was developed in partnership with the Australian Army. Manufactured in Melbourne and delivered to Ukraine disassembled, the kit looks like a package of just-bought IKEA furniture pieces. To remote-controlled aircraft enthusiasts and model builders, the SKYPAQ drone looks very much like a 20th-century balsa wood model plane before gluing it together. By April 2022, Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) operators had flown 60 cardboard drone sorties. The Military TV information platform, in April, reported the AFU would likely use the aircraft for supply delivery, bomb deployment and reconnaissance. Although constructed largely of reinforced cardboard covered with weather-proof wax, the drone reportedly is controlled by a “military grade guidance system that requires no user input,” the report said. By the standards of the Russo-Ukraine War, where a civilian off-the-shelf drone with limited range can cost $10-50,000 before expensive retrofitting for military use, the Australian cardboard drone’s unit price, ready-to-fly, is cheap: between $670-3,350 (US), depending on mission configuration, the security information news platform Military TV reported. In March 2023, The Australian newspaper reported Ukraine would receive 100 cardboard drone kits a month. The Australian system by some metrics compares favorably with the US-made Switchblade 300 drone, a smaller and more sophisticated aircraft but with a shorter 10 km. range, and a cost of $6,000 a piece, not including a $50,000 launcher. Ukrainian army S-300 operators have told Kyiv Post troops consider the American system relatively user-friendly and more likely to score a hit thanks to semi-autonomous targeting technology but limited in range and equipped with a warhead too small to reliably damage Russian army armored vehicles or troops in bunkers. You can also highlight the text and press Ctrl + Enter	Europe Politics
Tokyo CNN — Japan on Friday unveiled a new national security plan that signals the country’s biggest military buildup since World War II, doubling defense spending and veering from its pacifist constitution in the face of growing threats from regional rivals. In an early evening televised address in Tokyo, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the government had approved three security documents – the National Security Strategy (NSS), the National Defense Strategy, and the Defense Force Development Plan – to bolster Japan’s defense capabilities amid an increasingly unstable security environment. The new measures include provisions that would enable Japan to possess “counterstrike capabilities,” the ability to directly attack another country’s territory in the event of an emergency and under specific circumstances, Kishida said. The Prime Minister earlier in December instructed his defense and finance ministers to secure funds to increase Japan’s defense budget to 2% of current GDP in 2027, according to Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada. In taking the new defense initiatives, Japan is bending the interpretation of its post-World War II constitution, which put constraints on its Self-Defense Forces in that they can only be used for what their name implies, defending the Japanese homeland. But Tokyo is facing its most hostile security situation in decades. With its defense overhaul, Japan describes one of those rivals – China – as its “biggest strategic challenge,” public broadcaster NHK reported Friday. Long-time rival China has been been growing its naval and air forces in areas near Japan while claiming the Senkaku Islands, an uninhabited Japanese-controlled chain in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, as its sovereign territory. Chinese ships have been making frequent forays near the islands, which it calls the Diaoyus, while Japan scrambles warplanes almost daily in response to Chinese planes nearing its airspace. Meanwhile, China has been upping its military pressure on Taiwan, the self-ruled island whose security Japanese leaders have said is vital to the security of Japan itself. In August, that pressure included Beijing firing five missiles that landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone near Taiwan in response to the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei. From its west, Japan has been watching the buildup of North Korea’s missile arsenal. Pyongyang has tested missiles on 34 occasions this year, including firing one over Japan in October for the first time in five years, an act Kishida called “outrageous.” To the north of Japan, a Russian buildup on islands there since the beginning of the war in Ukraine and bellicose rhetoric from Moscow has only added to the apprehension in Tokyo that it may need to defend its territories from several threats at once. While Japan is regarded to have one of the world’s most modern and powerful militaries, its weaponry has been designed to strike enemies near its islands. But the new defense strategy, which public broadcaster NHK said earlier this week would give Tokyo arms like US-made Tomahawk missiles, that could strike the bases from which possible foes like China, North Korea or Russia could strike Japanese territory. According to Self-Defense Force officials, Japan’s current missile defense systems can only engage an incoming target once it comes within range of about 31 miles (50 kilometers). But China, for instance, has missiles that can be launched from a wide range of warplanes from distances as far away as 186 miles (300 kilometers). Tokyo says any new long-range weapons it may acquire would not be “first strike” weapons, but would only be used if a foe first attacked Japan. Tokyo’s new defense strategy drew praise from its No. 1 ally, the United States, which shares a mutual defense treaty with Japan and is pledged to defend Japanese territory from attack. The United States also operates several large military installations in Japan, including Yokosuka Naval Base, home to the US Navy’s 7th Fleet. “We welcome the release of Japan’s updated strategy documents … which reflect Japan’s staunch commitment to upholding the international rules-based order and a free and open Indo-Pacific,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement. “We support Japan’s decision to acquire new capabilities that strengthen regional deterrence, including counterstrike capabilities,” Austin said. Experts say Japanese forces are vital to any potential US military operations against China should hostilities break out. “The Japanese military is incredibly capable. … In a time of large-scale conflict in East Asia, including a possible conflict in the Taiwan Strait, Japan would have a very important and capable role to play,” said Ankit Panda, a Stanton senior fellow in the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Japan will be a very important partner especially for the United States, in a moment of conflict in East Asia.” Given the scope of the changes to Japanese defense policy, the country’s main opposition party on Friday said Kishida hadn’t done enough to talk through the changes with them. “There has been no provision of information, no explanations, and no discussion with the public or the Diet, even though we are deciding on things that will significantly change Japan’s post-war security policy,” Kenta Izumi, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said at a press conference. But Panda and others have warned there are no checks on what is a fast-paced arms race in Asia – and that fuels regional instability. “I think this will continue to intensify threat perceptions in both Pyongyang and Beijing. And we’ll continue to see these dynamics spiral in East Asia. Where we have no measures of restraint. We have no arms control,” Panda said. As reports of the Japanese defense buildup have surfaced over the past few months, China has warned Tokyo of possible consequences of increasing its military power. In a regular press briefing in early December, China’s Foreign Ministry accused Japan of “hyping up regional tensions to seek military breakthroughs,” and said Japan needs to “earnestly reflect on its history of aggression, respect the security concerns of Asian neighbors, act prudently in the field of military security, and do more things that are conductive to regional peace and stability.” An editorial in the Chinese state-run tabloid Global Times on Wednesday blasted the new security policy even before it was unveiled. “The signal it releases is undoubtedly very dangerous,” it said. “Using this to guide the national security strategy will definitely lead Japan into a dangerous and barbaric drift, and the end is a huge dark vortex. We advise Japan to take it easy,” Global Times said. Much of the tensions between China and Japan center on Taiwan. For more than 70 years the two sides have been governed separately, but that hasn’t stopped China’s ruling Communist Party from claiming the island as its own – despite having never controlled it. Last December, the late former Japan Prime Minster Shinzo Abe proclaimed that “a Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency, and therefore an emergency for the Japan-US alliance,” calling on Chinese leader Xi Jinping to “never make a misjudgment” on this – a statement that reverberated across East Asia. But analysts say it wasn’t until China launched military drills around Taiwan in August and fired those missiles into Japan’s exclusive economic zone that Tokyo really sat up and took notice of Beijing’s designs on the island. “It was a wake-up call,” according to professor Kuo Yu-Jen of Taiwan’s National Sun Yet-Sen University who specializes in Japan defense policy. “It drew their attention and concern to how Taiwan’s security is relevant to Japan’s own security.” Given Taiwan’s strategic location on the first island chain – a string of US-friendly territories crucial to US foreign policies – and alongside a key global shipping lane, were the island to fall under Beijing’s control, it could potentially jeopardize Japan’s economic lifeline and give China’s navy unfettered access to the Western Pacific. “Japan’s position is clear and steadfast – Taiwan is fundamental to its own security; it is not merely a stress point in its bilateral relations with China,” Yasuhiro Matsuda, an international politics professor at University of Tokyo and a former Defense Ministry senior researcher, told CNN. CNN’s Tetsu Sukegawa contributed to this report.	Asia Politics
NICOSIA: Turkish Cypriot forces assaulted UN peacekeepers on Friday as they attempted to block the construction of a controversial road in the buffer zone dividing Cyprus, the UN mission on the island said. The incident occurred in Pyla, a village in the UN-patrolled Green Line that slices between the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot statelet in the north. The United Nations mission had on Thursday warned the Turkish Cypriot authorities against "unauthorised construction activities inside the UN buffer zone". But it said its peacekeepers had come under attack on Friday as they tried to block the construction of the road that encroaches on the buffer zone. "The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus condemns the assaults against UN peacekeepers and damage to UN vehicles by personnel from the Turkish Cypriot side this morning," UNFICYP said in a statement. It said the incident occurred inside the buffer zone near Pyla, outside the southern coastal town of Larnaca. "Threats to the safety of UN peacekeepers and damage to UN property are unacceptable and constitute a serious crime under international law which will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," the UN mission said. An official said Turkish Cypriot police and military in plain clothes had punched a peacekeeper and assaulted a dozen others by "pushing them back violently". - 'Faits accomplis' - A tractor was used to drag a UN vehicle out of the way and major damage had been caused to three vehicles, said the source who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity. In its statement, the UN mission urged the Turkish Cypriot side to "respect the mission's mandated authority inside the UN buffer zone, refrain from any actions that could escalate tensions further, and withdraw all personnel and machinery from the UN buffer zone immediately". UNFICYP said it was determined to block any construction work and would remain in the area. "The mission is monitoring the situation closely and remains committed to ensuring calm and stability are maintained in the area," it said. Cyprus government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis accused the Turkish side of trying to create new "faits accomplis" at Pyla by constructing a road connecting the "occupied village of Arsos with a forward illegal military outpost". He said it was "an attempt at a very serious violation of the status quo". European Union member Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish forces occupied the island's northern third in response to a military coup sponsored by the junta then in power in Greece. The statehood of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus that Turkish Cypriot leaders proclaimed in 1983 is recognised only by Turkey. Efforts to reunify the eastern Mediterranean island have been at a standstill since the last round of UN-backed talks collapsed in 2017.	Europe Politics
- Truss resigned in October, becoming the shortest-serving prime minister in British history. - Her radical tax-cutting budget roiled financial markets, sank the pound, took British pension plans to the brink of collapse and led to a revolt within her own Conservative Party. - "I am not claiming to be blameless in what happened, but fundamentally I was not given a realistic chance to enact my policies by a very powerful economic establishment, coupled with a lack of political support," she wrote. LONDON — Former U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss is blaming a "powerful economic establishment" for bringing her chaotic 44-day tenure to an end last year. Truss resigned in October, becoming the shortest-serving prime minister in British history, after her radical tax-cutting budget roiled financial markets, sank the pound, took British pension plans to the brink of collapse and led to a revolt within her own Conservative Party. In a 4,000-word essay published by the Sunday Telegraph, Truss argued that she was never given a "realistic chance" to implement the £45 billion ($54 billion) tax-cutting agenda she and Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng put forward. In her first public remarks since leaving office, Truss stood by her economic policies, claiming they would have increased growth and brought down public debt over time, and blamed both the country's economic institutions and her own party for her downfall. "I am not claiming to be blameless in what happened, but fundamentally I was not given a realistic chance to enact my policies by a very powerful economic establishment, coupled with a lack of political support," she wrote. She added that she had assumed her "mandate would be respected and accepted" and had "underestimated the extent" of resistance to her economic program. Truss was elected leader of the Conservative Party in September, defeating her eventual successor Rishi Sunak, after garnering 81,326 votes from party members following the ousting of Boris Johnson. The U.K. population exceeds 67 million. "Large parts of the media and the wider public sphere had become unfamiliar with key arguments about tax and economic policy and over time sentiment had shifted leftward," she added. Current Business Secretary Grant Shapps, formerly Home Secretary under Truss, told the BBC on Sunday that Truss' approach "clearly wasn't the right one," but gave credit to her longer-term vision. "I think she makes a perfectly valid point that somebody has obviously got to be agitating for and making the good arguments for the reasons why a lower tax economy in the long run can be a very successful economy," Shapps added. Specter of 'Trussonomics' During her leadership campaign last summer, Truss took aim at the Bank of England, promising radical reform of a central bank she alleged was failing in its mandate to control inflation, and threatening to review its remit. She also railed against what she dubbed "Treasury orthodoxy," in particular projections that large unfunded tax cuts could exacerbate inflation and compress growth in the long run. Upon taking office and with a cost-of-living crisis escalating, Truss promptly sacked the most senior civil servant in the Treasury, Tom Scholar. As the Bank of England tried to combat spiraling inflation by raising interest rates and introducing quantitative tightening in order to slow the economy, Truss and Kwarteng's fiscal plans set out to spur growth by cutting taxes for the wealthiest portions of society and jumpstarting spending. The government and the central bank were essentially working against one another. Truss also broke from tradition by cutting the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, which usually publishes economic forecasts on the likely impact of government policy alongside budget statements, out of the process. The financial markets, in particular the bond market, recoiled upon the announcements of large scale unfunded tax cuts with no apparent impact assessment, sending mortgage rates skywards and forcing the Bank of England to intervene to prevent a collapse of many British pension funds. Michael Saunders, a former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, told CNBC on Monday that Truss was brought down because the financial markets did not deem her policies credible, and this was "almost totally her own fault." "The idea that there is a sort of left-wing establishment made up of everybody in Liz Truss' universe — markets, central bank, OBR, everybody else — that's just not an idea to take seriously," he said. "She went out of her way to undermine her own credibility, sacking Tom Scholar, disparaging comments about the Bank of England, taking the OBR out of the forecast process. She was acting as if winning a majority of the Conservative Party membership gave her economic credibility, and it most clearly doesn't." Current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government vowed to restore this credibility upon taking over in October, and quickly reversed Truss' entire economic agenda. In November, Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt announced a £55 billion program of tax rises and spending cuts as he looked to plug a substantial hole in the country's public finances. However, Truss retains the support of a number of Conservative members of Parliament, including high-profile backbenchers such as Jacob Rees-Mogg, a consistently outspoken critic of Sunak's government, and former party chairman Jake Berry. Her economic agenda also saw her to a comprehensive victory over Sunak among party members only last summer. Saunders, now a senior policy advisor at Oxford Economics, said reigniting the debate within the Conservative Party after the markets rejected Truss' agenda could erode trust from prospective investors that the governing party is truly committed to economic stability. "The fact that the Conservative Party still needs to have this debate itself will worry investors looking at the U.K., because it will lead them to question how deep and solid is the Conservatives' commitment to stability-oriented policies — the suggestion and the sense that this is what Conservative MPs and members, in their hearts, would really like to do," he said. "International investors will look at that and question whether a government which represents those interests can be trusted to stick to stability-oriented policies." Pension fund collapse The central bank said pension funds were hours from collapse when it decided to intervene in the U.K. long-dated bond market in late September, just a week after Truss' budget announcement. The plunge in bond values caused panic in particular for Britain's so-called liability-driven investment funds (LDIs), which hold substantial quantities of U.K. gilts and are owned predominantly by final salary pension plans. In her essay, Truss claimed that she was not warned about the risks to financial stability contained in the LDI market. In an article Sunday in the New Statesman, former Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke implied that Truss' version of events suggest that the LDI market's frailties caused the market turmoil, when in reality, the surge in government bond yields caused the LDI problems. "There might be a debate about the role and regulation of LDIs (although we should not ignore the consequence of prohibiting LDIs would mean much higher pension contributions from employers and/or employees) but the fundamental problem was that gilt yields surged because the bond market thought the U.K. government had taken leave of its senses," Gauke wrote. "Truss complains that she was not warned of the LDI risks. For argument's sake, let us accept this as true. But she was certainly warned about the risks of pursuing an aggressive tax-cutting Budget without showing how the public finances were going to be put on a sustainable footing."	United Kingdom Politics
While the commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army, General René Schneider, was dying in the Military Hospital in Santiago on October 22, 1970, after being shot three times by right-wing extremists, U.S. president Richard Nixon called his national security advisor, Henry Kissinger. The objective was to oversee an operation aimed at preventing the inauguration of the elected president, the socialist Salvador Allende, which was scheduled for November 3. After the military failed to take power following the attack on Schneider, Kissinger told the U.S. leader that the Chilean military turned out to be “a pretty incompetent bunch,” according to declassified documents released Tuesday by the U.S. National Security Archive, which the institution’s senior analyst, Peter Kornbluh, includes in the recently published 50th anniversary Chilean edition of his book The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability. Five weeks before Allende was due to assume the presidency, Nixon had ordered a CIA-backed plot to block the socialist’s inauguration. When Kissinger explained the theory that the military would not take advantage of the social chaos resulting from the Schneider assassination attempt to seize power, Nixon replied: “They are out of practice.” “The [congressional] election is tomorrow and the inauguration is [November] third. What they could have done is prevent the Congress from meeting. But that hasn’t been done. It’s close, but it’s probably too late,” Kissinger says in the declassified “telcon” with Nixon on October 23, 1970. When he finally addresses the attempt on Schneider’s life — the original plan was to kidnap him, not assassinate him — Kissinger posits to Nixon that there was “a turn for the worse, but it hasn’t triggered anything else.” “The next move should have been a government takeover [by the military], but that hasn’t happened.” Washington’s aim was to create a “coup climate” in Chile. Kornbluh, director of the Chile Documentation Project at the Washington-based U.S. National Security Archive, notes that in the conversation between Kissinger and Nixon, “they say nothing that alludes to regret over the assassination of General Schneider; they are totally focused on the incompetence of the Chilean military, which failed to execute the coup to seize power, shut down Congress and block Allende’s inauguration.” When the call from Kissinger came in, Nixon had already received the CIA report on the attempt against General Schneider. “The plot was to pay for and support an action against Schneider, because he was commander-in-chief, the highest-ranking military officer, and a supporter of the Constitution and, therefore, the elections and their results. The other lower-ranking generals could not mobilize their troops without his permission. Without that, General Camilo Valenzuela was able to climb the ladder,” notes Kornbluh. The Chilean government has formally requested that U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration publish documentation from 1973 and 1974 on what was said in the Oval Office before and after the coup led by Augusto Pinochet. “We still don’t know what President Nixon saw on his desk the morning of the military coup,” Chile’s ambassador to the United States, Juan Gabriel Valdés, said during an interview with EFE. “There are details that remain of interest to [Chileans], that are important for us to reconstruct our own history.” Kornbluh has also backed the petition: “If not now, on the 50th anniversary, when?” Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition	Latin America Politics
Editor’s Note: Joe Biden is President of the United States. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN. Tonight, Jews around the world will gather around the seder table to celebrate Passover. They will recount the miraculous story of the Jewish people’s exodus from slavery in Egypt to freedom. It is a timeless, powerful story of faith, hope and redemption that has inspired oppressed people everywhere for generations. But Passover is more than just a recounting of the past. It is also a cautionary tale of the present and our future as a democracy. As Jews read from the Haggadah about how evil in every generation has tried to destroy them, antisemitism is rising to record levels today. According to the FBI, more than half of religious hate crimes in America in 2021 targeted Jews and were motivated by antisemitism. The Anti-Defamation League similarly found that in 2022 antisemitic incidents in America reached their highest levels on record since it started tracking incidents more than 40 years ago. We see this evil across society. Terrorist attacks on synagogues. Bricks thrown through windows of Jewish businesses. Antisemitic flyers left on the front lawns of Jewish homes. Swastikas on cars and cemeteries. Antisemitic graffiti and acts in elementary, middle and high schools. Jewish students harassed on college campuses. Jews wearing religious attire beaten and shot on streets. Antisemitic conspiracy theories rampant online. Antisemitic tropes treated as honest public debate. Celebrities spouting antisemitic hate. All of it – flagrant embraces of extremism in public life. These acts are unconscionable and despicable. They carry in them terrifying echoes of the worst chapters in human history. And they’re not only a strike against Jews, they’re also a threat to other minority communities and a stain on the soul of our nation. To the Jewish community, I want you to know that I see your fear, your hurt and your concern that this venom is being normalized. I decided to run for President after I saw it in Charlottesville, when neo-Nazis marched from the shadows spewing the same antisemitic bile that was heard in Germany in the 1930s. Rest assured that I am committed to the safety of the Jewish people. I stand with you. America stands with you. Under my presidency, we continue to condemn antisemitism at every turn. Failure to call out hate is complicity. Silence is complicity. And we will not be silent. As the Passover holiday teaches, our work starts with the sacred duty to remember. Last year, I visited Israel once again to reaffirm America’s unshakeable commitment to its security. I returned to Yad Vashem to honor the 6 million murdered Jews, to keep alive the truth and horror of the Holocaust and to remind us all of our shared responsibility to make real the promise of “Never Again.” It was a promise my father first instilled in me at our family dinner table, educating my siblings and me about the horrors of the Shoah. It’s a lesson I’ve passed on to my own children and grandchildren by taking them to Dachau, a concentration camp in Nazi Germany, to understand for themselves the depths of this evil and the culpability of indifference. And it’s a message that Jill and I have continued, along with Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, by bringing Holocaust survivors to the White House and to the State of the Union – so the entire nation bears witness. But Passover teaches that remembering is not enough; we must also speak out. The word “Haggadah” means “telling” – and it reminds us of our moral obligation to state clearly and forcefully that this scourge of antisemitism must stop. That’s why I appointed Deborah Lipstadt – a Holocaust expert – as our first Ambassador-level Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism around the world. The Second Gentleman – the first Jewish spouse of a vice president in our history – has also been a leading voice against antisemitism and visited Poland and Germany to promote Holocaust awareness. And I hosted the first United We Stand Summit at the White House, convening governmental and non-governmental leaders from across the country to declare that hate-fueled violence can have no safe harbor in America. But as we speak out, we must also act. Central to the seder are actions, rituals and reenactments that help us feel the exodus experience and collectively reinforce the truth that words alone are insufficient. That’s why I signed a bipartisan law to help state and local law enforcement better identify and respond to hate crimes. And the Justice Department has made combating hate crimes one of its top priorities. My administration also secured the largest-ever increase in funding for the physical security of nonprofits, including synagogues, Jewish community centers and Jewish day schools. Because nobody should have to fear walking down the street wearing symbols of their faith. We’ll also be releasing the first-ever national strategy to counter antisemitism, which will outline comprehensive actions the federal government will undertake, and that reflects input from over a thousand Jewish community stakeholders, faith and civil rights leaders, state and local officials and more. Taking action also means reinforcing that Jewish culture and values are essential to the fabric of America. That’s why we hosted the first High Holiday reception at the White House and lit the first permanent White House Hanukkah menorah in our nation’s history. But government alone cannot root out antisemitism and hate. All Americans, including businesses and community leaders, educators, students, athletes, entertainers and influencers must help confront bigotry in all its forms. We must each do our part to create a culture of respect in our workplaces, in our schools, on our social media and in our homes. Because hate never goes away, it only hides until it is given just a little oxygen. And it is our obligation to ensure that hate doesn’t grow or become normalized. It is our duty to preserve and protect the sacred ideals enshrined in our Constitution: religious freedom, equality, dignity and respect. That is the promise of America. And that is the story of Passover – a story of redemption, resilience and unity. A story of people coming together with a shared faith, a shared hope for a better tomorrow and a shared resolve to reach the Promised Land. We were reminded of this enduring story in the aftermath of the hostage-taking at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, last year. Hate did not pierce a community’s goodness and grace. Heroic law enforcement officials were joined by local faith leaders, including an imam and Baptist minister who offered their help. The nearby Catholic Church opened its doors to the hostages’ families. At sunset, a group of Muslim women, friends of the rabbi’s wife, arrived with the rabbi’s favorite foods. They hugged and wept and held strong together. That’s the America that I know. From darkness, we find joy and hope and light. Rather than driving us apart, faith can move us together. Not just faith in a higher power, but faith to see each other as we should – as fellow human beings. As we celebrate Passover, let us reflect that like the four children in the Haggadah, despite our differences we sit at the same table, as one people, one nation, one America. Let us join hands across faiths, races, and backgrounds to make clear that evil will not win; hate will not prevail; and antisemitism will not be the story of our time. Let us remember, speak out and act to restore the soul of America together.	Human Rights
An unprecedented bilateral nuclear declaration that Washington and Seoul just announced may not be enough to assuage South Koreans' worries about a U.S. pledge to protect them from North Korea's nuclear attacks as it was designed to do, according to experts. U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol presented the Washington Declaration on Wednesday at a post-summit news conference. With it, the U.S. agreed to "make every effort to consult with the ROK on any possible nuclear weapons employment on the Korean Peninsula" and reassured "the U.S. commitment to extended deterrence" using "the full range of U.S. capabilities, including nuclear." The ROK stands for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea. Extended deterrence is described by the U.S. military as the American commitment "to deter and, if necessary, to respond" to attacks on its allies and partners "across the spectrum of potential nuclear and non-nuclear scenarios." This commitment is often described as providing a "nuclear umbrella" to those allies and partners. Washington also agreed in the declaration to regularly deploy strategic assets such as nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to South Korea. Biden and Yoon also agreed to establish the Nuclear Consultation Group (NCG), a joint body that will meet regularly to discuss nuclear and strategic planning for contingencies in and around the divided Korean Peninsula. The U.S. has a similar nuclear planning group within the multilateral body of NATO. But South Korea's participation in U.S. nuclear planning through the newly announced NCG would be the first agreement Washington has made with a single non-nuclear state to let it in on its nuclear decision-making process. At the press conference, Yoon said the NCG would raise extended deterrence to a new level. He said, "Under the nuclear umbrella, our extended deterrence was a lot lower." He continued, "Now it's an unprecedented expansion and strengthening of the extended deterrence strategy under the Washington Declaration, which will create the NCG. The implementation and the response at this level has never thus far been this strong." Unresolved issues The Washington Declaration and the NCG are "useful and productive steps," according to Elbridge Colby, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Strategy and Force Development and the cofounder of The Marathon Initiative, a Washington-based institution focused on providing foreign and defense policy recommendations. However, he continued, these developments "do not appear sufficient to address the fundamental quandary facing the alliance — the growth of North Korea's nuclear and long-range missile program." He added, "Washington and Seoul should be prepared to work together to come up with more dramatic measures to meet this very real and indeed growing challenge." The measures, while designed to deter North Korean attacks, do not address how the alliance aims to reduce North Korea's provocations that have been increasing anxiety among South Koreans. North Korea conducted a record number of ballistic missile tests last year and continued its launches this year, including three intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). In February it conducted what it said was a drill of a super-large multiple rocket launcher able to attack South Korea with tactical nuclear weapons. In January, Yoon floated the idea of Seoul having nuclear weapons only to dismiss his remarks later, even though polls suggested that more than 70% of South Koreans would support their nation developing its own nuclear weapons or the return of nuclear weapons to the county. The U.S. withdrew nuclear weapons in 1991. Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, said, "In the minds of Washington and Seoul, [the declaration] will mean they are strengthening deterrence and therefore security." He continued, "But seen from Pyongyang, this will likely be another sign that the United States and South Korea are a growing threat, and that North Korea will have to continue to develop more nuclear weapons to defend itself." He added, "This is a big dilemma — the dynamics of the two sides continuing to strengthen their capabilities to improve security also drives the decisions that will be seen to increase the risks. The deterrence wheel continues to turn and turn with no solution to the underlying problem." Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of the North Korean leader, vowed on Saturday local time to enhance Pyongyang's "nuclear war deterrent" in response to the Washington Declaration. Referring to Biden as "an old man with no future," without naming him, and naming Yoon while calling him "a fool," Kim said the declaration "fabricated by the U.S. and south Korean authorities" will "expose" the "peace and security of Northeast Asia and the world … to more serious danger." Experts said the U.S.-South Korean alliance must consider greater regional threats from China as well as draw up bigger trilateral defense plans with Japan. "The NCG is mainly focused on the Korean Peninsula, but it is important to understand that security coordination has to look at the broader regional picture to include coordination with Tokyo," said Toby Dalton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It would be natural in that context to look broadly at perceived threats in the Indo-Pacific, to include those from China, and to discuss plans and capabilities," he said. Nuclear assurance and reliance Dalton added the NCG "is largely about alliance cohesion and being responsive to ROK interests for stronger coordination on nuclear matters." Gary Samore, former White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction during the Obama administration, said the same about the Washington Declaration establishing the NCG. He said, "The main purpose was to reassure the South Korean government and the South Korean public that the U.S. is committed to extended deterrence to protect South Korea against North Korean nuclear and missile threats." He continued, "Deterrence is already very strong. [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un knows that any attack on the South, whether conventional or nuclear, would be met with a very strong response from the ROK and from the U.S." At the press conference, Biden said, "A nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies or partners — is unacceptable and will result in the end of [the] regime, were it to take such an action." Under the renewed U.S. pledge to protect, South Korea agreed to have "full confidence in U.S. extended deterrence commitment" and "enduring reliance on the U.S. nuclear deterrent." Seoul also agreed to abide by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). Kristensen said, "The most important goal for the United States has probably been to try to dampen South Korean ideas about developing its own nuclear weapons." No nukes By agreeing to rely on U.S. nuclear deterrence and follow its obligations under the NPT, Seoul effectively has renounced pursuing its own nuclear weapons program, according to experts. At the same time, by reassuring its extended deterrence commitment, Washington dismissed a possibility of stationing U.S. nuclear weapons in South Korea. "The Biden administration has made clear that nuclear weapons will not be deployed to South Korea, but that Seoul will be closely tied to planning efforts as well as how South Korean conventional capabilities will be integrated into any U.S. nuclear operation," said Terence Roehrig, a professor of national security and Korea expert at the U.S. Naval War College. "The big question is whether the Washington Declaration will quell the calls in South Korea for its own nuclear weapons, and that remains to be seen." Kristensen said, "The South might feel better for a while but will probably continue to express doubts about the security commitment." Joint nuclear body In place of its own nuclear program, South Korea opted to participate in U.S. nuclear planning through the NCG, which experts said is a significant development that will increase Seoul's say in American nuclear planning for contingences on the peninsula. However, Scott Snyder, director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, said a challenge is "the ability of the envisioned NCG to stay ahead of future North Korean military developments." He continued, "The U.S.-South Korea nuclear consultation group must demonstrate a capability to stay ahead of North Korea's capability as they continue to expand." The scope of South Korea's role in U.S. nuclear planning decisions would depend on how NCG agreements are implemented, including which agencies and who will be in charge, according to experts. How much say South Korea has on U.S. decisions is "a question that can only be answered in the implementation of the agreement," said Samore. "We have the commitment from the U.S. to consult, jointly plan, exchange information. But we don't know exactly how that will be translated into action until this consulting group is set up and begins to operate."	Asia Politics
July 1st, 2023, marks the fifth time Spain has assumed the presidency of the Council of the European Union since joining the EU in 1986. The presidency is responsible for the functioning of the Council, which serves as the co-legislator alongside the European Parliament. It rotates among EU member states every six months, with the position held by a national government. It should be noted that the presidency is often mistakenly referred to as the “president of the European Union.” The main tasks of the presidency include chairing council meetings, setting agendas, establishing work programs, and facilitating dialogue within the Council and with other EU institutions. Spain has previously held the presidency in 1989, 1995, 2002, and 2010. However, this year’s presidency presents additional challenges due to the upcoming Spanish elections scheduled for the end of July 2023. The socialists faced a defeat in a regional ballot at the end of May 2023, further complicating the situation. Despite these challenges, Spain’s repeated occupation of this significant role underscores its importance within the EU. The relationship between Spain and Europe has been long and complex. While Spain was a European and even a global superpower in the 16th and 17th centuries, the downfall of the Spanish empire in the 1800s marked a change in Europe’s perception of Spain. Throughout the 20th century, Spain aspired to be considered as European as other countries, despite facing structural and social struggles, mainly due to its economy heavily relying on agriculture. Spain’s association with the EU began in the 1960s when economic cooperation between Spain and Europe first began. It eventually led to Spain’s accession to the EU on January 1, 1986, alongside Portugal. Spanish diplomacy has always focused on two additional axes: Latin American and North African countries, especially Morocco. This ambition to open the EU to these territories and assert itself in the European sphere, traditionally dominated by France and Germany, has become a priority for Spain. Many Spanish citizens believe that Europe played a crucial role in their economic development. Spain initially benefited from regional subsidies in 1992, receiving 25% of European funds allocated to fragile regions. From 1994 to 2004, Madrid received 50% of European cohesion grants, facilitating the development of its transportation systems. Similar grants were provided for post-COVID-19 redevelopment efforts. However, it is essential to acknowledge that Spain is currently experiencing the rise of far-right movements and right-wing populism, posing an alternative view to the pro-European sentiment. The movements and proponents for it believe that the EU has infringed on the national sovereignty of the people, and rather than having those politicians run the country, the people should be given more power. Written by Imane MoumenShare this:	Europe Politics
ED Alleges Another Rs 175 Crore Bribes In Rice Milling 'Scam' Of Chhattisgarh Over the last few months, the federal probe agency has claimed to have unearthed a coal levy, a liquor duty and an illegal online betting app 'scam' in the state that has a Congress government led by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday alleged another 'scam' in poll-bound Chhattisgarh as it claimed that a former managing director of the state MARKFED and an office-bearer of a local rice millers' association generated Rs 175 crore bribes for the "benefit of higher powers". Over the last few months, the federal probe agency has claimed to have unearthed a coal levy, a liquor duty and an illegal online betting app 'scam' in the state that has a Congress government led by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. The ED has alleged that in all these instances, kickbacks worth crores of rupees were generated through a nexus of local politicians and bureaucrats. It has arrested a number of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, a police official and some others in these above-mentioned cases till now. In the latest custom rice-milling special incentive 'scam', the ED has alleged in a statement that it has found a similar nexus following searches conducted in the central Indian state against former MARKFED MD Manoj Soni, some office-bearers of the state rice millers' association, including treasurer Roshan Chandrakar, district marketing officers (DMOs) and a few rice millers, on Oct. 20 and 21. The agency said its criminal action under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) stems from a complaint filed by the income-tax department before a court in state capital Raipur, where the tax department had alleged that the office-bearers of the Chhattisgarh rice millers' association "colluded" with officers of the state marketing federation limited (MARKFED) and "hatched a conspiracy to misuse the special incentive where Rs 40 per quintal of paddy was paid by the state government to rice millers for custom milling of rice". The state is known as the rice bowl of the country due to a high volume of paddy production. The ED said this amount of Rs 40 was 'exorbitantly' increased to Rs 120 per quintal of paddy and this was paid in two instalments of Rs 60 each. "The office-bearers of the Chhattisgarh state rice millers' association under the leadership of its treasurer Chandrakar, in connivance with Soni, MD of MARKFED, started collecting a kickback amount of Rs 20 per instalment for each quintal of paddy milled from the rice millers. "The details of the rice millers who have paid the cash amounts were sent by the district rice millers' association to the concerned DMO," the ED has found. The DMOs, upon receiving the bills of the rice millers, cross-checked those with the details received from the district rice millers' association concerned and this information was then passed on to the MARKFED head office, it said. The bills of "only those rice millers who have paid a cash amount" to the association were cleared by the MD, MARKFED for payment, it has alleged. The ED probe has found that on the basis of the increase in the special allowance from Rs 40 to Rs 120 per quintal, payments of Rs 500 crore were released, generating "kickbacks" of Rs 175 crore, which were collected by Chandrakar with the active assistance of Soni for the benefit of "higher powers". The agency has said it has seized "incriminating" documents, digital devices and "unaccounted cash" amounting to Rs 1.06 crore during the raids. The 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly will go to polls in two phases on November 7 and Nov. 17 and the counting of votes will be taken up on Dec. 3. In Chhattisgarh, the electoral battle is largely between the two main national parties -- Congress and BJP.	India Politics
Reforms Introduced To Put Economy Back On Track: Pakistan Interim Finance Minister The government had expedited the execution of IMF and World Bank-recommended reforms across various initiatives, she said. Pakistan's interim Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar has said that the caretaker government has introduced reforms, including for the implementation of the IMF's bailout programme, to put the cash-strapped country’s economy back on track to progress, according to a media report on Sunday. Her remarks came ahead of a visit by the International Monetary Fund team to Pakistan, to hold talks with the officials of the country for the release of $710 million, second tranche of a $3 billion loan to the cash-strapped country. The IMF programme’s implementation was on a steady course during the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the caretaker minister announced on the sidelines of a meeting with the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry representatives on Saturday, just four days before the official review of the IMF's $3 billion Standby Arrangement. The finance minister was joined by high-ranking tax officials at the meeting. Dawn reported that Akhtar said the IMF team is scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on Nov. 2. She said that Pakistan has successfully met all agreed-upon targets for the first quarter of FY24, and all proposed measures have been effectively put into action. The minister said the caretaker government has taken additional steps that are beneficial for the nation. “Not all our actions are solely for the IMF,” she said. The government, she said, had expedited the execution of IMF and World Bank-recommended reforms across various initiatives and an economic revival programme had been finalised. “We will soon upload the draft programme report on the ministry website,” she said, adding that the essence of the programme is to achieve sustainable growth led by the private sector. She outlined key components of a strategic plan to bolster the nation’s economy, including the implementation of national credit schemes for small and medium enterprises and the establishment of an export-import bank. The minister affirmed that the caretaker government is implementing stringent measures to revive the economy and expressed confidence in the rapid improvement of the country’s economic situation. She also noted significant growth in various sectors during the first quarter, indicating a robust resurgence in economic activities. On inflation, she stated that it was on a downward trajectory. She clarified that while inflation has been reined in, it could resurface due to external factors such as rising commodity prices. She also disclosed that electricity and gas prices have been adjusted to reflect market rates and will continue to be revised in accordance with market fluctuations.	Asia Politics
- Summary - Russia carries out new wave of air strikes - Ukraine says a military target and Odesa port hit - Kyiv comes under heavy attack for second successive night KYIV, May 29 (Reuters) - Russia put five aircraft out of action in an attack on a military target in western Ukraine and caused a fire at the Black Sea port of Odesa in heavy air strikes early on Monday, Ukrainian officials said. Kyiv came under intense attack for the second successive night but said that most of the drones and missiles fired at the capital overnight had been shot down. Explosions rocked Kyiv again as the capital came under fire again on Monday morning. "Emergency services have responded to a call near the centre of the capital. The attack on Kyiv continues. Don't leave the shelters!" Mayor Vitaly Klitschko wrote on the Telegram messaging app as residents ran to shelters in metro stations. The attacks were part of a new wave of increasingly frequent and intense air strikes launched by Moscow this month as Kyiv prepares to launch a counteroffensive to try to take back territory occupied by Russian forces. In a rare acknowledgement of damage suffered at a military "target", Ukraine did not name the site or sites hit in the western region of Khmelnitskiy but said work was under way to restore a runway and five aircraft were taken out of service. A large military airfield was located in the region before the war. "At the moment, work is continuing to contain fires in storage facilities for fuel and lubricants and munitions," the Khmelnitskiy region governor's office said. Ukraine's military said the attack on Odesa port had caused a fire and damaged infrastructure but did not specify whether the damage threatened grain exports. Ukraine is an important global grain supplier and the port is vital for shipping agricultural products abroad. It is also one of three included in a U.N.-brokered deal on the safe export of grain via the Black Sea. "A fire broke out in the port infrastructure of Odesa as a result of the hit. It was quickly extinguished. Information on the extent of the damage is being updated," the military's southern command said on Facebook. UKRAINIAN COUNTERATTACK EXPECTED Russia, which began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine just over 15 months ago, did not immediately comment on the attacks. Reuters was not able to independently verify the reports on the scale of the attacks. After months of attacks on energy facilities, Russia is now increasingly targeting military facilities and supplies to try to disrupt Ukraine's preparations for its counterattack, Kyiv says. Moscow says Ukraine has stepped up drone and sabotage attacks against targets inside Russia as Kyiv prepares for the counteroffensive. Ukraine said it had shot down 29 of the 35 drones and 37 of 40 cruise missiles fired overnight by Russia. The Kyiv military administration said its air defences had shot down over 40 of the "targets" fired at it in what was Russia's 15th air assault on the city this month. "Another difficult night for the capital," mayor Klitschko said on Telegram. The attack follows the largest drone barrage launched on Kyiv the previous night, which killed one person and injured several. In Sunday's attack, 36 drones were downed over Kyiv. "With these constant attacks, the enemy seeks to keep the civilian population in deep psychological tension," said Serhiy Popko, the head of the city's military administration. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.	Europe Politics
NORTH MITROVICA, Kosovo, Sept 24 (Reuters) - A group of about 30 "heavily armed" men opened fire at Kosovo police in a northern Kosovo village early on Sunday, killing a policeman, and the same armed men also stormed a nearby Serbian Orthodox monastery in the first such major regional violence since May, Kosovo officials said. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and the interior minister Xhelal Svecla blamed the attack on police in the village and the storming of the monastery on "Serbia-sponsored criminals". The Serbian Orthodox Church Diocese of Raska-Prizren said masked men forced their way into the monastery near Banjska in an armoured vehicle. Priests and pilgrims locked themselves inside the monastery's temple for safety, the diocese said, adding that gunfire was occasionally heard and that the armed men were moving around the monastery's courtyard. It couldn't immediately be determined if anybody was wounded or killed at the monastery. There was no immediate reaction on the incident from Serbian officials. President Vucic was expected to give a statement soon. "There are at least 30 people heavily armed. They are professionals, with military and police background," said Kurti, who earlier described the group as 'terrorists'. He said the attackers were surrounded by Kosovo police at the monastery who urged them to surrender. Local media reported that border police had closed two key border crossings with Serbia. Head of the UN mission in Kosovo, Caroline Ziadeh, expressed deep sorrow over the loss of life of the police officer and condemned the incident in the strongest terms. Tensions have been running run high in Kosovo, the former Serbian province, since clashes in May, when more than 90 NATO peacekeeping soldiers and some 50 Serb protesters were injured in northern Kosovo. Ethnic Albanians form more than 90% of the population in Kosovo, with Serbs being the majority only in its northern region where a Serb-majority municipalities association is planned. NATO troops, along with members of the EU police force EULEX and Kosovo police, could be seen patrolling the road leading to Banjska after the incident, according to a Reuters reporter. EU-sponsored talks on normalising relations between the two former wartime foes Serbia and Kosovo stalled last week, with the bloc blaming Kurti for failing to set up the association of Serb-majority municipalities which would give them more autonomy. read more Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; writing by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Jamie Freed and Bernadette Baum Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.	Europe Politics
Putin made the comments Monday as Ukraine pressed on with its counteroffensive to reclaim occupied territories, just days after the Kremlin began deploying the weapons to Belarus. Biden denounced Putin’s move to station tactical nuclear weapons in his close neighbor and ally as “totally irresponsible” Saturday, and he seemed to reiterate his concerns about Putin’s threats Monday. “When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado River drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy,” Biden told a group of donors in California on Monday, Reuters reported. “They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. It’s real,” Biden said, according to the news agency. Putin said Friday that the first tactical nuclear weapons have been deployed to Belarus and that the rest of the batch will be delivered before the end of the year. He first announced the move in March, raising fears of renewed nuclear escalation months after fears he might resort to using the weapons first began to crescendo. It is Moscow’s first transfer of such weapons outside the country’s borders since the fall of the Soviet Union. Washington’s official position has been consistent — that it has no reason to adjust its own nuclear posture and that there is no indication Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons. Since the start of his invasion of Ukraine, Putin has repeatedly threatened to unleash Russia’s powerful nuclear arsenal should its sovereignty or territorial integrity be threatened. Kremlin hawks and propagandists regularly threaten to send nuclear missiles into Western capitals, especially as Russia’s campaign failed to bring battlefield victories. But despite having publicly signaled multiple red lines — most notably in the occupied Crimean Peninsula — Moscow has largely played down a wave of attacks on its territory that it has blamed on Kyiv, helping ease fears of a nuclear conflict in recent months. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu warned Tuesday that Ukraine was planning to strike Russia and Crimea with long-range weapons supplied by the West. The use of such weapons outside Ukraine, Shoigu said, would mean “full involvement of the United States and Great Britain” in the conflict and “immediate strikes on decision-making centers on the territory of Ukraine.” Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, whose regime Putin propped up after pro-democracy protests in 2020, said last week that Moscow had provided his country with nuclear weapons three times more powerful than those used to bomb the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Belarus is not officially a party to the war in Ukraine, although Moscow used its territory to launch the full-scale invasion last year. It does not possess its own nuclear weapons after it transferred the stock it inherited from the Soviet era to Russia in the 1990s. Meanwhile, Ukraine pressed on with the long-awaited counteroffensive it launched this month to reclaim occupied territory. Kyiv said Monday its forces had liberated eight settlements in an advance on the war’s southeastern front lines, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily recorded address that his forces were moving forward in some areas and defending their positions in others. “We have no lost positions. Only liberated ones,” Zelenskyy said. “They have only losses.” However, his defense minister, Hanna Maliar, warned in a Telegram post late Monday that it was “quite difficult” for Ukrainian troops to advance, “because the enemy threw all its forces to stop the offensive.” “We must prepare for the fact that it will be a tough duel,” Maliar said.	Europe Politics
Clashes in eastern Syria between Arab tribal fighters and US-backed Kurdish-led fighters have left several people, including civilians, dead and others wounded, opposition activists and pro-government media have said. The clashes, which continued on Wednesday, are among the worst in years in the region along the border with Iraq, where hundreds of United States troops have been based since 2015 to help in the fight against the ISIL (ISIS) armed group. The clashes first broke out on Monday, a day after the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) detained the commander and several members of the Deir Az Zor Military Council, a group that had been allied with the SDF, at a meeting they invited them to in the northeastern city of Hassakeh. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, reported that 10 Arab tribesmen and three SDF fighters were killed in clashes in the villages of Hrejieh and Breeha. Another activist collective that covers news in the region, Deir EzZor 24, said eight civilians, including a nine-year-old boy, were killed in the village of Hrejieh, where the fighting was the most intense. Thirteen fighters belonging to Arab tribes were also killed, it said. The pro-government Sham FM radio station said 10 people were killed in Hrejieh and Breeha and that dozens of civilians were wounded as well. Resentment between Arab and Kurdish fighters Arab tribesmen in the eastern province of Deir Az Zor were angered by the detention of Ahmad al-Khbeil, better known as Abu Khawla, who heads the Military Council, which was allied with the SDF in its years-long battle against ISIL in Syria. On Wednesday, a joint statement issued on behalf of the SDF and the Military Council said that Abu Khawla had been removed from his position as commander, adding that he had been dismissed, along with four other leaders, for alleged involvement in “multiple crimes and violations”, including drug trafficking. The confrontation has appeared to bring earlier resentments to the surface, as Arabs in the area voiced concern that Kurdish groups in the region may “erase its Arab identity”. It also raised concerns of more divisions between Kurdish and Arab fighters in eastern Syria, where ISIL once enjoyed a wide presence and there are fears that it could take hold again. Abu Khaled, a local journalist living in the Deir Az Zor countryside, told Al Jazeera the clashes reminded him of the violence that had transformed the Syrian uprising in 2011 into an all-out war. “Because of the hot weather, families usually sleep on rooftops or in the fields, but they have avoided that for fear of being caught by a stray bullet,” he said. “The main fear for civilians here is that international coalition warplanes could target them to bolster the SDF under the pretence of fighting ISIL and Iranian cells,” he continued. “People are afraid of the SDF taking control of the territory, and thus erasing its Arab identity.” Tribal condemnation Arab tribes in Deir Az Zor have been vocal in their opposition to the SDF, with tribal leader Hasan al-Dabei accusing the SDF of using the clashes to encroach on more land. “How can the US back a group that has been classified as terrorists [by Turkey] and is occupying Arab lands, plundering its riches, recruiting child soldiers?” he asked. “We only want to return to our homes, and our hearts burn for what the SDF has done to our lands, from demographic engineering to changing our education curriculum and imposing their own traditions.” The tribes issued statements of condemnation and expressed their willingness to participate in combat operations and to back the Military Council against the SDF. A video circulated on social media showed members of the Bakr tribe gathered in the village of al-Harijiyeh in Deir Az Zor’s countryside, demanding the release of Abu Khawla and giving the US-backed forces 12 hours to deliver. The recent tensions between the SDF and the Military Council began earlier this summer after Abu Khawla feared the council in Deir Az Zor would be replaced by the Sanadid Military Group, an affiliate of the SDF. Clashes broke out between the members of the Military Council and SDF forces on July 25 after the former opposed the transfer of members belonging to the Sanadid east of the Euphrates River in Deir Az Zor. Additional reporting by Ali Haj Suleiman in Idlib, Syria.	Middle East Politics
MILAN -- Donatella Versace slammed the Italian government for what she described as anti-gay policies in a heartfelt and personal speech that referenced her late brother, Gianni Versace, while receiving a fashion award this weekend. “Our government is trying to take away people’s rights to live as they wish," Versace said in a speech Sunday night, citing in particular a government policy that allows only the biological parent in same-sex couples to be officially recognized as the parent. “They are restricting our freedoms,” she said. “We must all fight for freedom, in a time that still sees trans people suffering terrible violence, a time when children of same-sex couples are not considered their children, a time when minority voices are attacked by new laws,'' Versace said. The speech received a standing ovation from a fashion crowd at La Scala, where Versace received a humanitarian award. Gay rights activists praised her for clearly challenging the government’s actions, but called on the entire fashion community to do more. “Donatella Versace was the first person in Italy to be so clear and explicit in the face of the government’s homophobic politics,’’ said Franco Grillini, a longtime gay rights activist. “She is one of the most important names in fashion, and I invite others to follow her example.” Besides blocking recognition of children of same-sex couples, Premier Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government is pushing through legislation that would ban seeking a surrogate abroad, making it punishable with prison terms and stiff penalties. A 2004 law already banned surrogacy within Italy. The head of Italy’s Gay Party also praised Versace’s support and called on her to back their campaign to get a a referendum on gay marriage on the Italian ballot. They hope to begin gathering signatures in January, aware that “this parliamentary majority does not want to give us rights.” Italy approved same-sex civil unions in 2016, the last major Western country to do so. “Donatella Versace’s declaration is important (...) She made clear how this government is diminishing freedoms and rights for the LGBTQ community,’’ said Fabrizio Marrazzo, spokesman for the Gay Party and the referendum for egalitarian marriage. “We ask her to support us, in particular the campaign to make marriage for lesbians, gays and trans people the same as for everyone else.” Versace, who has been creative director of the fashion house founded by her brother since his 1997 murder, was accompanied to the awards by Alessandro Zan, the Democratic Party lawmaker who drafted legislation expanding anti -discrimination protections to the LGBTQ community. The legislation was stalled even before the Meloni government took office. In a touching moment, Versace also recalled the day her brother Gianni came out to her. “I was 11 years old when my brother Gianni told me he was gay. For me it changed nothing. I loved him and I didn’t care who he loved,’’ she told the crowd.	Europe Politics
The United States imposed sanctions on several top Malian officials this week, saying they facilitated activities of the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary unit that recently staged a brief mutiny against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts say the sanctions are meant to send a message to the Malian government. Mali's military government Wednesday criticized the sanctions on high-ranking members of the army accused of facilitating Wagner Group activities in the country, as Mali continues its decade-long fight against Islamist militants. A statement was read on state TV station ORTM by presenter Mah Camara, and later posted to the station's Facebook page. "These new measures, contrary to international law, which we strongly condemn, add to the long list of aggressive measures, acts of intimidation, blackmail and hostile campaigns against Mali,” the statement said in French. The statement also accused the United States of having "actively contributed to the spread of terrorism and weapons in the Sahel.” On Monday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the travel and financial sanctions against Mali's minister of defense, Colonel Sadio Camara, as well as Colonel Alou Boi Diarra, Mali's chief of staff of the air force, and Colonel Adama Bagayoko, the Malian Air Force deputy chief of staff. The statement says the officers were sanctioned for "facilitating the deployment and expansion" of the Wagner Group's activities in Mali. Mali has been under military rule since a 2020 coup, and Wagner has been present in the country since 2021, assisting the junta. The U.S. sanctioned the head of Wagner in Mali in May, after the United Nations released a report on a 2022 massacre in Moura, Mali, allegedly committed by the Malian army working with Wagner soldiers. Daniel Eizenga, a researcher at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, spoke via a messaging application about the sanctions. He said the sanctions will add a layer of scrutiny for any U.S. person or anyone engaged with the U.S. financial system wishing to do business in Mali or with the Malian government, but that the sanctions are also largely symbolic. "This is really about recognition,” Eizenga said. “The United States government is making a decision in these sanctions to say that we do not recognize these authorities as a legitimate government. In fact, we are sanctioning them, and refusing to do business with them, because they have acted in a way that is contrary to the interests of Malian citizens." The junta has widespread support in Bamako and in much of southern Mali but several outspoken critics of the government have been arrested. Additionally, reporting on the army's alleged participation in massacres and extrajudicial killings in the center and north of the country has been censored. The military government took France 24 and Radio France International off the air in Mali after they reported on another massacre, this one around the Diabaly area of central Mali, in 2022. Authorities also asked the U.N. peacekeeping mission to Mali, MINUSMA, to leave the country following a report this past May from the U.N. human rights office on the Moura incident. Kalilou Sidibe, political analyst and professor of political science and international relations in Bamako, told VOA that he considers the Malian government response "measured" compared to past actions toward France. During a months-long diplomatic falling out with France, the Malian government expelled the French ambassador, asked French troops to leave the country, and accused France of spying. Sidibe said that the U.S. remains one of Mali's largest development partners, and he believes relations between the two countries, and popular views on the U.S. in Mali, are not likely to worsen significant because of the sanctions. Malian public opinion is not going to change suddenly, he said, because these sanctions don't target the population directly, they target certain leaders. Malian leaders, including interim President Assimi Goita, went to St. Petersburg, Russia, this week for an African leaders’ summit. Mali has received several shipments of weapons and equipment from Russia since the junta took over in 2020.	Africa politics
The 120,000 ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will leave for Armenia as they do not want to live as part of Azerbaijan and fear ethnic cleansing, the leadership of the breakaway region told Reuters on Sunday. The Armenians of Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but beyond Baku's control since the breakup of the Soviet Union, were forced to declare a ceasefire on Sept. 20 after a lightning 24-hour military operation by the much larger Azerbaijani military. Azerbaijan says it will guarantee their rights and integrate the region but the leadership of the Armenians in Karabakh told Reuters that they would leave. Azerbaijan has repeatedly denied any intention to harm them. "Our people do not want to live as part of Azerbaijan. Ninety-nine point nine percent prefer to leave our historic lands," David Babayan, an adviser to Samvel Shahramanyan, the president of the self-styled Republic of Artsakh, told Reuters. He said it was unclear when the Karabakh Armenians would move down the Lachin corridor which links the territory to Armenia, where Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has faced calls to resign for failing to save Karabakh. "The fate of our poor people will go down in history as a disgrace and a shame for the Armenian people and for the whole civilized world," Babayan said. "Those responsible for our fate will one day have to answer before God for their sins." The process of giving up the weapons of the ethnic Armenian fighters is underway, Babayan said. Evacuation of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh The exodus of so many people from Karabakh ushers in yet another twist to the tumultuous history of mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh, which over the centuries has come under the sway of Persians, Turks, Russians, Ottomans, and Soviets. It could also change the delicate balance of power in the South Caucasus region, a patchwork of ethnicities crisscrossed with oil and gas pipelines where Russia, the United States, Turkey, and Iran are jostling for influence. Azerbaijan, which is mainly Muslim, has said the Armenians, who are Christian, can leave if they want. Pashinyan has said they should stay unless it is unsafe for them to remain. Medical evacuations from the breakaway region are expected on Sunday. Ambulances evacuated some of the wounded from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, Russian news agency Interfax reported on Sunday, citing Armenia's health ministry. "Ambulances with medical workers are transporting 23 wounded from Nagorno-Karabakh who are in serious and extremely serious condition," the ministry said. The vehicles have already crossed the bridge on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, it added. With thousands of the Karabakh Armenians left without food, ethnic Armenian authorities in the region said late on Saturday that about 150 tons of humanitarian cargo from Russia and another 65 tons of flour shipped by the International Committee of the Red Cross had arrived in the region. Armenia says it will welcome refugees Armenia is ready to accept all ethnic Armenian compatriots from Nagorno-Karabakh and the likelihood is rising that they will leave, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an address to the nation on Sunday. "The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh still face the danger of ethnic cleansing," Pashinyan said, TASS reported. "Humanitarian supplies have arrived in Nagorno-Karabakh in recent days, but this does not change the situation." "If real living conditions are not created for the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in their homes and effective mechanisms of protection against ethnic cleansing, then the likelihood is increasing that the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will see expulsion from their homeland as the only way out." "Our government will lovingly welcome our brothers and sisters from Nagorno-Karabakh," Pashinyan said. Pashinyan also said that the security blocks of which Armenia was a member had been ineffective, clearly criticism of Russia, Yerevan's main big-power ally.	Europe Politics
PARIS -- More than 100,000 people marched in Paris on Sunday to protest against rising antisemitism in the wake of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, representatives of several parties on the left, conservatives and centrists of President Emmanuel Macron's party as well as far-right leader Marine Le Pen attended Sunday’s march in the French capital amid tight security. Macron did not attend, but expressed his support for the protest and called on citizens to rise up against “the unbearable resurgence of unbridled antisemitism.” Paris authorities deployed 3,000 police troops along the route of the protest called by the leaders of the Senate and parliament’s lower house, the National Assembly, amid an alarming increase in anti-Jewish acts in France since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas after its Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. France has the largest Jewish population in Europe, but given its own World War II collaboration with the Nazis, antisemitic acts today open old scars. Holding a French flag, Robert Fiel said marching against antisemitism is “more than a duty.” “It's a march against violence, against antisemitism, against all (political extremes) that are infiltrating the society, to show that the silent majority does exist,” the 67-year-old said. Family members of some of the 40 French citizens killed in the initial Hamas attack, and of those missing or held hostage, also took part in the march, which Paris police said drew 105,000 participants. Patrick Klugman, a lawyer and a member of “Freethem” committee working to obtain the release of people held by Hamas and other groups in Gaza, said the large participation in the march is meaningful and symbolic in reassuring Jewish communities in France. “I am very proud of my country because of this mobilization,” Klugman said. “I feel less alone than in the past weeks and days.” Yonathan Arfi, the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France known as CRIF said he was encouraged Sunday's show of support, but the question remains, he told French broadcaster BFM at the march, “what will be done (against antisemitism) tomorrow?” Tomer Sisley, an Israeli and French actor insisted the massive show of solidarity proves that majority of French citizens are against violence and hate against any religious and ethnic group. “We’re not Jews, we’re not Muslims, we’re not Christians,” Sisley said. "We are French and we are here to show that we are all together.” French authorities have registered more than 1,000 acts against Jews around the country in the month since the conflict in the Middle East began. In a letter addressed to the French on Sunday, Macron vowed that perpetrators will be prosecuted and punished. “A France where our Jewish fellow citizens are afraid is not France,” Macron said in the letter, published in Le Parisien newspaper. He called on the country to remain “united behind its values ... and work for peace and security for all in the Middle East.” Macron said he will attend “in my heart and in spirit,” but not in person. “My role is to build unity of the country and to be firm on values,” Macron said Saturday on the sidelines of Armistice Day commemorations to mark the end of World War I. French far-right leader Marine Le Pen attended Sunday's march amid fierce criticism that her once-pariah National Rally party has failed to shake off its antisemitic heritage despite growing political legitimacy. After arriving to the march with the president of the party, Jordan Bardella, Le Pen dismissed critics and said that she and the party members are “exactly where we need to be.” She called on other politicians “to take a break from fomenting political controversies” during the march. As of Saturday, officials counted 1,247 antisemitic acts since Oct. 7, nearly three times as many as in the whole of 2022, according to the Interior Ministry. France has largely banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations, although supporters have marched in several French cities in the past weeks, including thousands demanding a cease-fire in Gaza in an authorized protest in Paris last Sunday. ———— Surk contributed from Nice, France. Video journalist Nicholas Garriga in Paris contributed reporting.	Europe Politics
The deputy premier of the German state of Bavaria, Hubert Aiwanger, has been asked to explain his role in a schoolboy anti-Semitic pamphlet. The populist conservative leader denies writing the Auschwitz pamphlet which mocked the Holocaust but he has admitted having it 35 years ago. Conservative Premier Markus SÃ¶der has asked Mr Aiwanger to reply to 25 questions on the controversy. Bavaria holds key elections on 8 October. Mr SÃ¶der met the leader of his coalition partner, Freie WÃ¤hler (Free Voters), on Tuesday and called for full transparency. He said there was "no place for anti-Semitism in the Bavarian government". The state parliament has demanded an emergency statement. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for clarification too, after the newspaper revelations of Mr Aiwanger's schoolboy activities emerged at the weekend in the left-leaning SÃ¼ddeutsche Zeitung. The general secretary of the chancellor's centre-left party, Kevin KÃ¼hnert, made clear when Germans talked about anti-Semitism it required "utmost vigilance and nobody should have a tactical relationship with it". When the story of the leaflet first broke, Mr Aiwanger's initial reaction was to claim it was just a politically motivated media campaign against him. Then he simply denied writing it, saying it was someone else. The typewritten pamphlet talked of a fictitious competition to find "who is the biggest traitor to the Fatherland", with a first prize of a "free flight through the chimney in Auschwitz". The Auschwitz extermination camp was at the heart of the Nazi genocide of six million Jews in World War Two. Of 1.1 million people murdered at Auschwitz, about a million were Jews. The deputy premier later admitted that "one or several" copies of the leaflet were in his schoolbag in Mallersdorf-Pfaffenberg in Lower Bavaria when he was a teenager in the late 1980s. He appeared unable to remember if he had distributed the anti-Semitic material himself but said he found the contents "disgusting and inhumane". His brother, Helmut Aiwanger, said he had written the pamphlet when he was still a boy and now regretted his actions. "I was totally furious at the time as I'd failed school and was torn apart from my circle of friends." Apart from vague speculation from Helmut Aiwanger that his brother was "possibly" trying to gather up the leaflets to minimise harm, it is still unclear why the leaflets were in the schoolboy's bag. No information about the subsequent school disciplinary procedure has been released. Many of Germany's newspapers are asking whether the immature, schoolboy scribblings of a teenager's brother should bring down a politician decades later. But there is universal agreement the pamphlet's content is far from trivial. Making jokes about concentration camps is out of bounds even for the far right and can have legal ramifications in Germany, where denying the Holocaust is a crime. Ordinarily Mr Aiwanger is eloquent and known for his fiery, populist style but in this case he has stayed tight-lipped, answering questions at one press conference simply with a brusque "next question". This has not left anyone with an impression of full disclosure or repentance. He is not known for expressing anti-Semitic views but he has flirted with rhetoric reminiscent of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), including talk of "taking back our country". He is now under pressure from Bavaria's premier to respond to a situation that appears to be spiralling out of control. Mr SÃ¶der says he wants to remain in coalition with Mr Aiwanger's party but he is evidently furious this row has blown up so soon before key elections. At a beer-hall election rally in Bavaria he made snide jokes clearly aimed at Mr Aiwanger. Free Voters are set to win 11-14% of the vote in six weeks' time but if their support implodes Mr SÃ¶der's conservative Christian Social Unionwould be in trouble. The Bavarian leader's ambitions for one day taking on the role of German chancellor are already being dashed by poor poll numbers. Without Free Voters his party would have the tricky task of trying to win over the left-leaning Green Party, a hate figure for many Bavarian conservatives. With key votes in eastern German states next year and national elections in 2025, what happens in Bavaria in October's election will have a big impact in German politics. The AfD has reached record poll numbers of more than 20% across Germany, and the conservatives in Bavaria have a difficult balancing act. If they stray too far into nationalist territory, as some believe Mr Aiwanger has done, centrist voters will be scared off. But many right-wingers in Bavaria clearly believe they can fight off the AfD by mimicking its far-right rhetoric. While the political future of the Free Voters leader has come in for scrutiny, so too has the newspaper's handling of the story. In its headline, SÃ¼ddeutsche Zeitung's website reported that the deputy premier was said to have written the pamphlet, although his denial was only carried behind a paywall for subscribers to see it.	Europe Politics
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea launched a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters Wednesday, its neighbors said, two days after the North threatened “shocking” consequences to protest what it called a provocative U.S. reconnaissance activity near its territory. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff says the launch was made on Wednesday morning but gave no further details such as how far the weapon flew. Japan's Defense Ministry said it also detected a possible ballistic missile launch by North Korea. The launch, the North's first weapons firing in about a month, came after North Korea earlier this week released a series of statements accusing the United States of flying a military plane close to North Korea to spy on the North. The United States and South Korea dismissed the North’s accusations and urged it to refrain from any acts or rhetoric that raises animosities. In a statement Monday night, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean sister Kim Jong Un, claimed that the U.S. spy plane flew over the North’s eastern exclusive economic zone eight times earlier in the day. She claimed the North scrambled warplanes to chase away the U.S. plane. “A shocking incident would occur in the long run in the 20-40 kilometer section in which the U.S. spy planes habitually intrude into the sky above the economic water zone” of North Korea, Kim Yo Jong said. North Korea has made numerous similar threats over alleged U.S. reconnaissance activities, but its latest statements came amid heightened animosities over North Korea’s barrage of missile tests earlier this year.	Asia Politics
The Belarus Red Cross is facing a global backlash as its secretary general has admitted involvement in bringing Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied areas to Belarus. Both Ukraine and the Belarusian opposition have condemned the transfer as unlawful deportations. Calls for international war crimes charges for the authoritarian Belarus leader have been raised. The actions of the Belarus Red Cross drew stern criticism from the Geneva-based International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Belarus has been Moscow’s closest ally since Russia's invasion started in February 2022, with its leader Alexander Lukashenko allowing the Kremlin to use Belarusian territory to send troops and weapons into Ukraine. Lukashenko has also welcomed a Russian military presence in Belarus and the deployment of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons there. Belarusian opposition figures have accused Lukashenko of facilitating the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to Belarus, allegations Minsk angrily rejected. A report aired on Wednesday by the state Belarus 1 TV channel showed Dzmitry Shautsou, the secretary general of the Belarus Red Cross, visiting the Russian-held Ukrainian city of Lysychansk in the Luhansk region. In the footage, he says the organisation was actively involved in bringing Ukrainian children to Belarus for “health improvement” purposes. “The Belarus Red Cross has taken — and is taking and will be taking — an active part in it,” Shautsou said. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) “to issue an arrest warrant" for Shautsou, saying that he "has publicly confessed to the crime of unlawful deportation of children from occupied areas of Ukraine”. Last month Belarusian opposition activist Pavel Latushka said he had provided the ICC with material allegedly detailing the forced transfer of 2,100 Ukrainian children from at least 15 Russia-occupied Ukrainian cities to Belarus with Lukashenko’s approval. In May, the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office announced an investigation into the forced transfers. Belarusian authorities have confirmed hosting more than 1,000 children, aged 6-15, from Russian-held parts of Ukraine for health reasons. The first group of 350 children arrived in April, officials said, without providing further details. Shautsou from the Belarus Red Cross said he was working with a state-backed charity foundation to make “the children forget the horrors of the war and just rest, feel that there's an island of happiness.” 'Risk damaging trust' The Belarus Red Cross is the biggest humanitarian organisation in Belarus and is part of the international Red Cross. The IFRC said it had learned about Shautsou’s visit to Donbas through the media. The Geneva representatives stated they had referred the issue to an independent compliance committee, which investigates any “alleged breaches of integrity”. “These actions risk damaging the trust of our work in supporting communities in need,” the federation said in a statementExternal link published on their website. It stressed that the Belarus Red Cross secretary general didn’t speak on behalf of the federation “and his statements do not represent our views”. In March, the ICC issued warrants for both Russian President Vladimir Putin and his commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova. Judges in The Hague said they found “reasonable grounds to believe” that the two were responsible for the war crimes of unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. Moscow has angrily rejected the move. European Parliament members on Tuesday called on the ICC “to consider a similar arrest warrant" for Lukashenkо. In compliance with the JTI standards	Europe Politics
Moscow has pledged its "complete support" for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, says Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Mr Lavrov, who is on an official trip to North Korea, also thanked the country for its support in Ukraine. His ongoing trip sets the stage for a possible visit to North Korea by President Vladimir Putin. Last week, the US said North Korea had begun sending large shipments of arms to Russia for use in Ukraine. Mr Lavrov's two-day visit follows on the heels of Mr Kim's days-long visit to Russia in September - his first trip abroad since the pandemic - where he met with Mr Putin to discuss "possibilities" for military cooperation. Earlier in July, Russia's defence minister also visited North Korea and was shown the country's latest weapons, including the Hwasong intercontinental ballistic missile. At an official reception on Wednesday, Mr Lavrov pledged Moscow's "complete support" for Mr Kim and accused the US and its allies of unleashing a "war against the Russian federation". He also said he was there to discuss implementing the arrangements made when Mr Putin and Mr Kim met last month, but did not elaborate further. It is unclear if Mr Lavrov would meet with Mr Kim during his current trip, like he did on his last visit to Pyongyang in 2018. However Washington had warned that Moscow is buying weapons from Pyongyang for its war against Ukraine, and said any help from the North would violate United Nations resolutions. On Friday, the US released intelligence and evidence, which it said showed the transfer of ammunition and artillery had already started. Satellite images showed 300 containers had been shipped from the North Korean port of Nanjin to Dunay on Russia's east coast in early September, and then transported to a military warehouse near Tikhoretsk, close to the Ukrainian border. Moscow would be keen on North Korean arms due to their compatibility with Russian weapon systems, experts earlier told the BBC. North Korea has a large stockpile of arms, due to its unresolved conflict with the South. The two countries are technically still at war. International sanctions and pandemic restrictions - which have only begun loosening recently - have left North Korea's economy in a dire state, with the country short of essentials like food and medicine. Some analysts believe Mr Kim would have asked for humanitarian aid during the alleged arms deal with Russia in September. Still, some think that Pyongyang may be reluctant to hand over too much ammunition given their relative lack of resources. Over the past six months, both North Korea and Russia have pledged to deepen ties with each other as both countries have become increasingly isolated on the world stage.	Asia Politics
Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images toggle caption Israeli soldiers gather around tanks lined up in southern Israel near the border with Gaza on Sunday amid a cease-fire following weeks of battles between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants. Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images Israeli soldiers gather around tanks lined up in southern Israel near the border with Gaza on Sunday amid a cease-fire following weeks of battles between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants. Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images TEL AVIV, Israel — Families in Israel with loved ones still held by Hamas were hopeful that a third hostages-for-prisoners swap on Sunday would go ahead as planned after the Palestinian Islamist militant group nearly backed out of the previous day's exchange. The latest trade of captives — the next-to-last under the original four-day cease-fire deal between the two sides — comes amid signs of rising violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces killed five people in an operation overnight at a refugee camp there. Three others were killed elsewhere in the territory, according to the Palestinian health ministry. On Saturday, the second exchange of captives came close to unraveling over what Hamas said were Israeli violations of terms of the truce that has briefly halted the fighting in Gaza. Israel denies such violations. Hours after 13 Israelis and four Thais were to have been freed, Egyptian and Qatari officials announced that the swap was back on track. After their release, Israel freed 39 Palestinian prisoners. On the first day of the pause in fighting on Friday, 13 Israelis were exchanged for 39 Palestinians in Israeli jails. Eleven foreign laborers, 10 Thais and a Filipino, were also set free. Oren Ziv/AFP via Getty Images toggle caption Relatives of prominent Palestinian prisoner Israa Jaabis, center, welcome her at her home in east Jerusalem early Sunday after detainees were released from Israeli jails in exchange for hostages released by Hamas. Oren Ziv/AFP via Getty Images Relatives of prominent Palestinian prisoner Israa Jaabis, center, welcome her at her home in east Jerusalem early Sunday after detainees were released from Israeli jails in exchange for hostages released by Hamas. Oren Ziv/AFP via Getty Images The hostages are just some of the about 240 people seized during Hamas' Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,200 people. In response, Israel launched a massive campaign of airstrikes and ground assaults on Gaza that has killed nearly 15,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry. Among the captives freed on Sunday was 9-year-old Emily Hand. Her father, Thomas Hand, had been informed she was killed in the attack only to be told later that her body was not found among the victims. "We can't find the words to describe our emotions after 50 challenging and complicated days," Thomas Hand said in a statement to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. Hatem Ali/AP toggle caption English teacher Tariq Al-Annabi holds a class in a United Nations-run school in Rafah, Gaza Strip, on Sunday — the third day of a temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel. Hatem Ali/AP English teacher Tariq Al-Annabi holds a class in a United Nations-run school in Rafah, Gaza Strip, on Sunday — the third day of a temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel. Hatem Ali/AP In Gaza, which has been pounded for nearly seven weeks by a relentless Israeli bombardment before the temporary truce went into effect, humanitarian groups were rushing aid to civilians while the situation on the ground was still relatively quiet. Israeli military officials issued a warning on Sunday to civilian Palestinians inside Gaza, ordering them to remain in the south and not to travel within a half-mile of the border with Israel. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported at least eight Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli soldiers over the last 24 hours in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to The Associated Press. "It's good that we have a truce in Gaza, but there is no truce in the West Bank," said Basil Abu Nasr a shopkeeper in the Qalandiya refugee camp near Ramallah. "They still raid our villages, they still raid our refugee camps...make arrests and attack people." Aman Naf'a, whose husband has been jailed by the Israelis, told NPR that violence by the Israeli military and settlers angers many of her Palestinian neighbors. "We want the whole world to see what they are doing to us," Naf'a told NPR. The Israeli military said its soldiers killed five Palestinians in a gun battle in the Jenin refugee camp and arrested a Palestinian suspected of killing an Israeli father and son earlier this year. In an appearance on the social media site X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday, Israel Defense Forces Maj. Doron Spielman said the IDF was trying to limit threats to Israeli civilians after Hamas's deadly attack. Tanya Habjouqua/NOOR for NPR toggle caption Basil Abu Nasr, a merchant in the Qalandiya refugee camp in the Israeli occupied West Bank said violence was rising. "There is no truce in the West Bank," he said. Tanya Habjouqua/NOOR for NPR Basil Abu Nasr, a merchant in the Qalandiya refugee camp in the Israeli occupied West Bank said violence was rising. "There is no truce in the West Bank," he said. Tanya Habjouqua/NOOR for NPR "We are focused on Gaza but this has been a multi-front war over the last five weeks," Spielman said. He also pointed to threats from Hezbollah, an anti-Israel militia backed by Iran operating in southern Lebanon. Israeli officials have said they plan to resume their full-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza once the temporary truce ends. In a statement early Sunday, United Nations officials said they hoped the cease-fire would be extended. "The longer the pause lasts, the more aid humanitarian agencies will be able to send in and across Gaza," the U.N. statement said. According to the U.N., more aid trucks rolled into Gaza on Saturday, including 61 that reached areas in the north hit hard by Israel's ground-and-air offensive in the weeks ahead of the cease-fire. Ambulances also reached the Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, where the evacuation of patients and medical workers was still underway. Under the original terms of the truce, a swap of captives on Monday would be the last. But Israel said it's willing to extend the deal for up to 10 days if Hamas continues releasing hostages. Citing an unnamed official Egyptian source, Al Qahera News said Egypt, Qatar and the United States, which played key roles in brokering the temporary truce, were making efforts to prolong the cease-fire. NPR's Brian Mann reported from Ramallah in the West Bank. NPR's Scott Neuman contributed from Tel Aviv.	Middle East Politics
- U.S. official in Jerusalem condemns Gaza's rocket attacks on Israel - Dozens of Hamas militants infiltrated from the Gaza Strip; Israeli intelligence taken by surprise - Israeli defense minister approves mobilization of IDF reserve forces - Hamas official speaks in response to 'aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque' as rockets strike Israel - Israeli army strikes Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip - Woman killed, terrorist infiltration from Gaza, strike on Tel Aviv Dozens of Palestinian militants infiltrate Israel from Gaza and are holding civilians hostage as rocket sirens sound across the country ■ One woman killed in rocket attack ■ Police source says shootout with militants underway at police station ■ Military reservists protesting judicial overhaul announce they will return to duty as IDF strikes Hamas targets in Gaza - U.S. official in Jerusalem condemns Gaza's rocket attacks on Israel - Dozens of Hamas militants infiltrated from the Gaza Strip; Israeli intelligence taken by surprise - Israeli defense minister approves mobilization of IDF reserve forces - Hamas official speaks in response to 'aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque' as rockets strike Israel - Israeli army strikes Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip - Woman killed, terrorist infiltration from Gaza, strike on Tel Aviv WASHINGTON - The U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs said it "unequivocally condemned the attack of Hamas terrorists and the loss of life that has incurred. We urge all sides to refrain from violence and retaliatory attacks. Terror and violence solve nothing." Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh issued a statement on Saturday morning following the organization's attack on Israel, saying that his militants "are leading a heroic campaign aimed at defending Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, the holy places and the [Palestinian] prisoners." He added that the main reason for the attack is the aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque that reached its peak in the last few days. WASHINGTON - While speaking on the recent wave of attacks launched by Gaza, Israel Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog noted that Hamas is a U.S.-designated terror organization, and said "we expect the free world to unequivocally condemn it and support Israel's right to self-defense." WASHINGTON - The U.S. Embassy said it is closely monitoring the security situation, adding it “is aware that there have been casualties as a result of these incidents.” “U.S. citizens are reminded to remain vigilant and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness as security incidents, including mortar and rocket fire, often take place without warning,” the embassy said, adding that its personnel are currently sheltering in place. 'The United States stands with Israel': U.S. official 'sickened' by attacks on civilians in Israel's south Stephanie Hallett, the chargé d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, issued a second statement condemning the recent wave of rockets across Israel on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Saturday. "Sickened by the images coming out of southern Israel of dead and wounded civilians at the hands of terrorists from Gaza. The United States stands with Israel." The Israeli government is set to convene a cabinet meeting at 17:00 P.M. Also, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai will hold a situation assessment at 10:00 A.M. at the Israel Police national headquarters. Israeli Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai announced in a statement that "We're in a state of war. We are under a massive attack from the Gaza Strip. There are currently 21 active high confrontation locations in southern Israel. The Yamam counterterrorism unite is at the scene… The entire southern region is closed [for civilian movement]." The organization leading the struggle against the Netanyahu government’s judicial overhaul announced Saturday that “in light of the serious security situation that began this morning, all protests scheduled this evening across the country have been cancelled.” The statement released by the official “Struggle Headquarters” added: “we offer strength to all of citizens and our full support to the IDF and security forces. We call on everyone who is summoned to report to duty, to stand and volunteer to protect the safety and health of the residents of Israel.” Earlier on Saturday, the protest organizations Brothers and Sisters in Arms and Forum 555, which unite reservists opposed to the judicial overhaul, called on all their followers to return to duty Former Prime Minister and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid was briefed by Maj. Gen. Avi Gil, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's military secretary. "Israel is in a state of emergency. We will support the government in any decisive military response," a statement by Lapid's office said. WASHINGTON - Stephanie Hallett, the chargé d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, denounced the recent wave of rocket attacks against Israel on Saturday in the first comment from a U.S. official on the incident. "I condemn the indiscriminate rocket fire by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians. I am in contact with Israeli officials, and fully support Israel's right to defend itself from such terrorist acts." Palestinian militants infiltrated the southern Israeli towns of Netivot and Ofakim. A source in police says they are holding civilians hostage in Ofakim. Dozens of terrorists infiltrated Israel from the Gaza Strip on Saturday, and a number of gunfights are currently underway in several localities in the south. Terrorists reportedly entered an Israeli police station in Sderot, and a shootout is taking place there, according to a police official. Residents in the Israeli communities along the Gaza border confirmed an exchange of gunfire between Israeli security forces and armed men is taking place in the streets. Residents are locking themselves in their homes, according to a spokesman for the Sderot municipality in Israel's south. Israeli protest group Kaplan Force cancels Tel Aviv demonstration after wave of rockets batter Israel The Israeli protest organization Kaplan Force canceled its scheduled Saturday night demonstration in Tel Aviv in light of the hail of rocket fire on cities across Israel. "We support the IDF and the security forces who are doing their job at this difficult time, and wish for the restoration of peace and security," the group announced in a statement. As of the early morning hours, it seems as if Hamas has declared war on Israel. The organization launched a surprise attack that included launching hundreds of rockets into Israel's south and central districts, and the infiltration of dozens of terrorists into communities near the Gaza Strip border. One Israeli woman has been reported killed in Kfar Aviv and a building in southern Ashkelon was damaged. Initial reports indicate that the militants used paragliders and forcibly broke through gates used by IDF forces near the Gaza Strip border. Residents reported and took videos showing squads of Hamas militants marching into the southern city of Sderot. Another video record showed a van filled with armed militants brandishing their weapons. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai spoke Saturday morning on a rocket attack which struck a park in central Israel, and confirmed that no residents were injured in the incident. “A large tree was struck, lots of shrapnel, lots of apartments that were damaged, luckily no one injured,” said Huldai, standing in the street covered in shattered glass from car windows. “I won’t give my opinion [on the security situation] let those who need to their work do their work to get out of danger. We were informed just after it happened, and we are now here, at the homes seeing what needs to be done. See, the electricity company is already here,” he said, gesturing to workers checking out a building next to the park. “This is where we live,” he said. Amid a wave of rocket fire from Gaza on Israel, a number of IDF reservist protesters and pilots against the Netanyahu government's judicial overhaul have decided to resume their reserve duties. Many troops are now on their way to their respective squadrons. At this point, it remains unclear what percentage of reservists are returning to duty, but it appears to be a significant amount. The protest organizations Brothers and Sisters in Arms and Forum 555, which unite reservists opposed to the judicial overhaul, called on all their followers to return to duty Amid a wave of rocket fire on Israel, Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas' military wing, issued a statement that "we warned the enemy not to continue his aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque." He added that "this is only the first stage" of Hamas' renewed efforts against Israel. Deif continued: "The age of the enemy's aggression without a response is over. I call on Palestinians everywhere in the West Bank and within the Green Line to launch an attack without restraint. Go to all the streets. I call on Muslims everywhere to launch an attack." The Israeli army struck a number of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday following a wave of rocket fire from the coastal enclave on cities across Israel. Rocket sirens were activated across central and southern Israel, and the Israeli army reported a terrorist infiltration from Gaza, in the early hours of Saturday morning. A person was wounded in Kfar Aviv when their vehicle was hit, and a building in southern Ashkelon was damaged. A woman was critically wounded by a rocket attack on southern Israel, and later died. Three people were also wounded in the central Israeli city of Ramle, one lightly and two seriously. Additionally, a building in Tel Aviv sustained damage from rocket shrapnel. Israeli police reported that power lines were on the ground and warned residents to stay away remain indoors. Residents near the Gaza border reported shooting toward their houses, and the Israeli army issued an announcement later in the day asking Israeli residents in Gaza border communities to remain inside due to a suspected terrorist infiltration.	Middle East Politics
In one of the most devastating blows of the war so far, Ukraine says it took out a whole chunk of Russia’s naval leadership in a single missile attack, which killed the commander of the notorious Black Sea Fleet. Vice Admiral Viktor Sokolov was allegedly killed in Friday’s missile strike on the Black Sea Fleet’s HQ in Crimea, which was illegally occupied by Russia in 2014. Sokolov, who was drafted in to beef up the faltering navy last year, was attending a meeting of top naval and military figures when the missile crashed into the building in Sevastopol, according to the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine. The Spetsnaz unit claims that 34 officers in total were killed in the explosion. A huge plume of black smoke was seen billowing from the building last Friday in one of Ukraine’s most stunning missile assaults of the war. The direct hit on the naval command center was a symbolic blow for Russia as the Black Sea Fleet has been a source of national pride since it was established by Catherine the Great in 1783. President Vladimir Putin fired the commander of the fleet last year after it suffered a series of embarrassing setbacks including the sinking of its lead warship, the Moskva, and an attack on its air base in Crimea that saw eight warplanes destroyed. Sokolov, who previously held a prestigious role at the head of a military academy, was brought back into active service to reinstate pride in the Black Sea Fleet. His death—compounded by those of so many of his colleagues—right in the heart of the fleet’s operation would represent a severe blow to that pride. Over the weekend, rumors on social media began to suggest that Sokolov had been caught up in the explosion. The Special Operations Forces posted its confirmation on Telegram on Monday. “After the attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters, 34 officers, including the Commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, lost their lives, with an additional 105 occupants sustaining injuries. The headquarters building is beyond repair,” the Telegram statement read. The special forces unit did not name any of the other victims of the attack by one of the Storm Shadow air-launched missiles donated by Britain and France earlier this year. Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, previously said Col. Gen. Alexander Romanchuk, the commander of Russian forces on the southern front, and Lt. Gen. Oleg Tsekov were seriously wounded in the attack. Ukraine has been desperate to prove that it can make serious gains in the remainder of the fighting season before winter sets in and, in particular, Kyiv wants to show the skeptical West that it is capable of retaking Crimea.	Europe Politics
Rare Outcry Against Hamas in Gaza i24 News – Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip held a number of rallies denouncing the Hamas terror group ruling over the coastal enclave and demanding improvements to their quality of life. Gaza \| Demonstrations in several towns in Gaza demanding better life conditions from the Hamas authorities especially with regard to the electricity part and to allow them municipality elections. 1. Jabalyah Refugee Camp pic.twitter.com/zAjmY5xAS0 Related coverageAugust 1, 2023 4:37 pm — Younis Tirawi \| يونس (@ytirawi) July 30, 2023 The long-brewing discontent among Gazans living under the yoke of the Islamist terrorist group was magnified in recent weeks by power shortages that left residents with only a few hours of electricity a day. “Where is the electricity and where is the gas?” the protesters chanted at a refugee camp, repeating the refrain of “for shame. For shame.” Footage showed protesters torching Hamas flags and denouncing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh. However, local sources told i24NEWS that the volume of the protests appeared to be overstated in some of the reports on social media and in Israeli outlets, as well as that at least one of the protests was fueled first and foremost by grievances against local authorities. The protest in Khan Yunis was apparently sparked by a deadly incident where a bulldozer belonging to the municipality caused the death of a local resident in the process of demolishing an allegedly illegal structure. Subsequently, Khan Yunis mayor Alaa al-Batta stepped down, followed by the resignation of the entire municipal council. The tensions in the Hamas-ruled territory came amid efforts to effect a reconciliation between the terrorist group and the Palestinian Authority, the body in control of the Palestinian territories in the West Bank. Abbas and Haniyeh met in Cairo earlier in the day as part of a summit brokered by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. Last week the two met in Ankara, in a summit arranged by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Both occasions were boycotted by the Islamic Jihad and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, two of the most extremist of all Palestinian terror factions.	Middle East Politics
A four-year-old Israeli-American girl who was kidnapped by Hamas during its 7 October attack in southern Israel was among the 17 hostages released by the group on Sunday. Avigail Idan was just three at the time she was taken hostage from her home, where her parents were attacked and killed by Hamas gunmen. She turned four while she was held hostage by Hamas. President Joe Biden said she had been through a "terrible trauma". Speaking to reporters, he said that those around Avigail will be surrounding her with "love and care." "Today she's free, and Jilly [first lady of the US Jill Biden] and I, together with so many Americans, are praying for the fact that she is going to be alright," he said. President Biden said Sunday's hostage releases was result of "intensive US diplomacy", adding he was hopeful that more American hostages will be released in the coming days. "We continue to press and expect that additional Americans will be released as well," he said, adding "we will not stop working until every hostage is returned to their loved ones". Fourteen of the 17 hostages were IsraelI and three of them were Thai nationals. Among the 14 Israelis nine of them were children. Avigail was in the Kfar Aza kibbutz on 7 October and escaped from the house she was in during the attacks. She was taken in by her neighbours, the Brodutch family, but they were also abducted by Hamas. Some members of the Brodutch family were among the hostages released on Sunday, including four-year-old Oria, his eight-year-old brother Yuval and their 10-year-old sister Ofri. Their mother, 40-year-old Hagar Brodutch was also released. The other released hostages include Chen Almog-Goldstein, 48, and her children Tal, eight, Gal, 11, and Agam, 17, who were abducted from their homes in Kfar Aza on the day of the attack. Chen's husband, Nadav, and their 20-year-old daughter, Yam, were killed by Hamas. Also released were sisters Dafna and Ela Elyakim, aged 15 and eight respectively. They were taken from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on the day of the attack, and were part of a family group whose capture was live-streamed by the attackers themselves. The other hostages released were 25-year-old Roni Krivoi - a dual Israeli-Russian national, working as a sound engineer at the Supernova musica festival, 84-year-old Elma Avraham who had lived at Nahal Oz for nearly 50 years prior to her kidnap, and 62-year-old Adrienne Aviva Seigel who was taken from her home in Kfar Aza along with her husband Keith, aged 64. Israel's prison service meanwhile has confirmed the release of 39 Palestinian prisoners as part of the four-day truce between Hamas and Israel. More on Israel-Gaza war - Follow live: Latest updates - Watch: Moment Israeli boy reunites with dad after hostage ordeal - Gaza Strip mapped: Life in Gaza under siege - Explained: Who are the released hostages? - Israel-Gaza briefing: When truce ends, the decisive next phase of war begins - History behind the story: The Israel-Palestinian conflict	Middle East Politics
By Kim Han-joo SEOUL, July 13 (Yonhap) -- The government will start follow-up discussions with Japan after President Yoon Suk Yeol asked Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to include South Korean experts in monitoring the planned release of radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, an official said Thursday. Yoon made the request during a bilateral summit with Kishida in Vilnius, Lithuania, on the sidelines of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit Wednesday, saying the health and safety of the people should be the top considerations in releasing the water into the sea. Park Ku-yeon, the first deputy chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, said during a daily briefing on the Fukushima issue that the working-level talks would be carried out as soon as possible. "President Yoon Suk Yeol has repeatedly stressed the basic position regarding the contaminated water issue, which is that the health and safety of the people are the top priority," Park said. Park further mentioned that discussions would be conducted through various methods, including additional contact between high-level officials who participated in the summit. The two leaders held a 30-minute discussion, the sixth of its kind. During the meeting, Yoon asked that the discharge be immediately stopped if the concentration of radioactive material in the water exceeds standard level, and that Japan promptly inform South Korea. Kishida replied that he will do everything possible to ensure the safety of the water release and not discharge any water that could harm the health of the Japanese and South Korean people or the environment, according to a press release. [email protected] (END) - BTS' Jungkook to perform in 'Good Morning America' 2023 Summer Concert Series - BTS member Jungkook's debut solo song features American rapper - (Yonhap Feature) N. Korean defectors say ordeal in China worsened due to COVID-19 pandemic - (LEAD) (Yonhap Feature) N. Korean defectors say ordeal in China worsened due to COVID-19 pandemic - (LEAD) Father, grandmother detained on charges of killing, abandoning baby without mom knowing - (Yonhap Feature) N. Korean defectors say ordeal in China worsened due to COVID-19 pandemic - (LEAD) (Yonhap Feature) N. Korean defectors say ordeal in China worsened due to COVID-19 pandemic - (LEAD) Yoon to attend NATO summit in Lithuania, visit Poland - S. Korea publishes hard copies of English report on N. Korea's human rights - (3rd LD) Father, grandmother detained on charges of killing, abandoning baby without mom knowing - (6th LD) N. Korea fires ICBM, raises tensions after U.S. spy plane accusations - (2nd LD) Subway, bus fares in Seoul to rise by 150 won, 300 won - (4th LD) N. Korea fires ICBM, raises tensions after U.S. spy plane accusations - (LEAD) N. Korea confirms test-firing of Hwasong-18 solid-fuel ICBM - (2nd LD) N. Korea confirms test-firing of Hwasong-18 solid-fuel ICBM	Asia Politics
KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's forces have recaptured a village in the country’s east after intense battles with Russian troops, the military said Friday as the invaded nation pursues a multi-pronged counteroffensive. The village of Andriivka is located about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of the Russian-occupied city of Bakhmut, the scene of the longest battle of Russia's war on Ukraine. Its liberation would represent another gain for Kyiv in Ukraine's campaign to oust Moscow's troops from territory they captured. The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces announced the reclaiming of Andriivka early Friday. There was no confirmation or comment from Russia authorities. Ukrainian forces launched their much-anticipated counteroffensive more than three months ago. The reported victory in the Donetsk province village illustrates progress and the challenges they face even with supplies of NATO-standard gear and Western weapons. The approaching wet weather of winter will likely slow Ukrainian advances. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to visit Washington next week as Congress debates whether to approve more aid for Ukraine. The 3rd Assault Brigade said it took Andriivka after surrounding the Russian garrison in the village during what it described as a “lightning operation” and destroying it over two days. It called the successful action a breakthrough on the southern flank of Bakhmut and “key to success in all further directions.” The brigade initially contested a statement by Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar saying the village was reclaimed but confirmed early Friday that it had recaptured Andriivka. “It was difficult and yesterday’s situation changed very dynamically several times,” Maliar said. Maliar said Ukraine had regained 50 square kilometers (19 square miles) of land around Bakhmut since the start of the counteroffensive in June. The eight months of fighting for control of Bakhmut, a city known for salt mining that is now in complete ruins, comprised the longest and likely bloodiest battle of the war in Ukraine. Russian forces led by mercenaries from the Wagner Group captured Bakhmut in May. In late June, Wagner leader Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin led his fighters from eastern Ukraine and into Russia as part of a short-lived mutiny. Prigozhin and several of his top lieutenants died in a plane crash while traveling between Moscow and St. Petersburg last month. Ukrainian forces are trying to envelop Bakhmut from the south and the north and have gained ground meter by meter (yard by yard) in the past three months.Military analysts and U.S. officials have questioned the expenditure of forces around the city, but Ukrainian military leaders have said they were successfully exhausting Russian forces by keeping them fixed in position. Andriivka is located between the settlements of Kurdiumivka and the heights of Klischiivka in the Donetsk region, where fighting has been especially intense. Ukraine's General Staff said Ukrainian forces also inflicted heavy losses on Russian troops in the nearby village of Klishchiivka as part of the counteroffensive. The recapture of Andriivka comes weeks after an important tactical victory for Ukrainian forces in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, where they punctured through Russia’s first line of defense and recaptured the village of Robotyne. The gains in the south are considered more strategically significant since they bring Ukraine's troops closer to the shores of the Sea of Azov, where they could try to cut the land corridor to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014. Isolating Crimea would divide the Russian-occupied territory in southern Ukraine and undermine Russian supply lines. ___ Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine	Europe Politics
The IDF on Sunday unveiled its military moves and intelligence process which led to revealing Hamas’s 55-meter-long tunnel at Al-Shifa Hospital. According to the IDF, close to the time when the IDF was weighing entering Al-Shifa, there was Shin Bet and IDF intelligence which indicated that Hamas forces were in the Qatar facility and the MRI facility of the complex. Eventually, the IDF would find many items of terror infrastructure in many places, but the IDF Shaldag special forces’ original mission was to get to those two facilities as quickly as possible, starting with the Qatari facility. How the IDF entered Al-Shifa Hospital The IDF entered the complex by blowing through a side wall, as opposed to the main entrance, near a booby-trapped pickup truck to get to the Qatar facility as quickly as possible. Eventually, a mix of drones and special units searching for the tunnel found a suspicious-looking small covered structure. The IDF destroyed the structure with a D9 bulldozer, and only after destroying it, was the IDF able to detect the hidden top of the tunnel. Once it found the tunnel, the IDF used various technologies to inspect the tunnel, finding it had a long spiral stairwell. Eventually, the IDF arrived deep into the tunnel and was stopped by thick reinforced doors. The IDF was working on a plan to breach the doors to continue to follow the tunnel, either to other tunnels or out into open areas. IDF intelligence estimates that Hamas battalion commanders used such tunnels from Al-Shifa’s strategic location and large size, to easily maneuver between different neighborhoods and fronts without the IDF being able to track them from the air. More tunnels likely to be found, Israeli intel indicates Further, intelligence estimates indicate that other tunnels are likely to be found shortly. The IDF also gave a more exact distance of 50-100 meters from Al-Shifa for its location of the bodies of multiple Israelis taken by Hamas on October 7, whose remains have been brought back to Israel. It was unclear how long the IDF would remain in control of Al-Shifa and would continue to uncover aspects of Hamas’s use of the area for terror purposes. But if in the first 24 hours of the operation, the IDF was considering wrapping up the inspections within days, it seems now that the IDF will take much longer to continue to meticulously uncover all Hamas connections to the area. It is unclear when and if the hospital will return to service any earlier than whenever the full-on stage of the war ends. This is a developing story.	Middle East Politics
Dutch election: Anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders wins dramatic victory Veteran anti-Islam populist leader Geert Wilders has won a dramatic victory in the Dutch general election, with almost all votes counted. After 25 years in parliament, his Freedom party (PVV) is set to win 37 seats, well ahead of his nearest rival, a left-wing alliance. "The PVV can no longer be ignored," he said. "We will govern." His win has shaken Dutch politics and it will send a shock across Europe too. But to fulfil his pledge to be "prime minister for everyone", he will have to persuade other parties to join him in a coalition. His target is 76 seats in the 150-seat parliament. Mr Wilders, 60, harnessed widespread frustration about migration promising "borders closed", and he put on hold his promise to ban the Koran. He was in combative mood in his victory speech: "We want to govern and... we will govern. [The seat numbers are] an enormous compliment but an enormous responsibility too." Before the vote, the three other big parties ruled out taking part in a Wilders-led government because of his far-right policies. But that might change because of the scale of his victory. The left-wing alliance under ex-EU commissioner Frans Timmermans has come a distant second with 25 seats, according to a forecast based on 94% of the vote. He made clear he would have nothing to do with a Wilders-led government, promising to defend Dutch democracy and rule of law. "We won't let anyone in the Netherlands go. In the Netherlands everyone is equal," he told supporters. That leaves third-placed centre-right liberal VVD under new leader Dilan Yesilgöz, and a brand new party formed by whistleblower MP Pieter Omtzigt in fourth. Mr Wilders made a direct appeal to his political rivals to work together, and both Ms Yesilgöz and Mr Omtzigt congratulated him on his success. Although Ms Yesilgöz doubts Mr Wilders will be able to find the numbers he needs, she says it is up to her party colleagues to decide how to respond. Before the election she insisted she would not serve in a Wilders-led cabinet, but did not rule out working with him if she won. Mr Omtzigt said initially his New Social Contract party would not work with Mr Wilders, but now says they are "available to turn this trust [of voters] into action". A Wilders victory will send shockwaves around Europe, as the Netherlands is one of the founding members of what became the European Union. Nationalist and far-right leaders around Europe praised his achievement. In France, Marine Le Pen said it "confirms the growing attachment to the defence of national identities". Mr Wilders wants to hold a referendum to leave the EU, dubbed a "Nexit", although he recognises there is no national mood to do so. He will have a hard time convincing any major prospective coalition partner to sign up to that. He tempered his anti-Islam rhetoric in the run-up to the vote, saying there were more pressing issues at the moment and he was prepared to "put in the fridge" his policies on banning mosques and Islamic schools. The strategy was a success, more than doubling his PVV party's numbers in parliament. During the campaign Mr Wilders took advantage of widespread dissatisfaction with the previous government, which collapsed in a disagreement over asylum rules. For political scientist Martin Rosema from the University of Twente, it was one of several gifts that had been handed to Mr Wilders on a plate in a matter of months. Another was that the centre-right liberal leader had opened the door to working with him in coalition. "We know, also from international precedent, that radical right-wing parties fare worse when they're excluded," he said. Migration became one of the main themes, and Mr Wilders made clear on Wednesday he intended to tackle a "tsunami of asylum and immigration". Last year net migration into the Netherlands more than doubled beyond 220,000, partly because of refugees fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But the issue has been aggravated by a shortage of some 390,000 homes. At the Hague headquarters of Ms Yesilgöz's VVD, supporters had been preparing to raise their glasses at the prospect of the Netherlands' first female prime minister. But there was a collective gasp of disbelief when the exit polls flashed up on the screens and they huddled over their phones trying to understand what went wrong. Ms Yesilgöz took over as centre-right leader when the country's longest-serving prime minister, Mark Rutte, bowed out of politics in July. She came to the Netherlands as a seven-year-old refugee from Turkey but has adopted a hard line on immigration. Some politicians and Muslim figures have accused her of opening the door to the far right by refusing to rule out working with Geert Wilders. Ms Yesilgöz, 46, had tried to distance herself from the Rutte government in which she was justice minister, but ultimately she was unable to live up to the opinion polls. Right up to the eve of the election, almost half of the electorate were being described as floating voters. Many of those may well have decided not to back her. A measure of Mr Wilders' success in winning over voters came from one Muslim voter in The Hague who said: "If he wasn't so opposed to Muslims, I'd be interested in him." Hours before the vote, Mr Wilders was buoyant about his chances, telling the BBC. "I think it's the first time ever in Holland that in one week we gained 10 seats in the polls." He was realistic about the uphill task he faced in forming a government led by him, but he said he was a positive person and victory would make it "difficult for the other parties to ignore us". Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox.	Europe Politics
Gustavo Dudamel’s focus on hair was apparent on his first day at the New York Philharmonic as heir apparent. The 42-year-old conductor, famous for his bushy locks, magnetic personality and an ability to boost audiences, thought back to his 2007 debut with the orchestra. “I came here still with black hair,” Dudamel said during a news conference Monday on the stage of David Geffen Hall, “And then immediately it was a connection — it was an artistical, deep, soul connection.” His once-dark tresses were closely cropped and salt-and-pepper speckled. Dudamel talked about his maturation as he prepares to become music director for the 2026-27 season. “When I was 24 — 23, 24, 25 — it was crazy. I was a wild animal, not only because my hair was huge,” he said. “Right now, yes, I’m not anymore a young promise, but I’m still young. ... With the time, with experience, you change a lot, but I keep that wild, wild animal Gustavo that is always there — and only with less hair now.” Dudamel, the first Latino to lead the oldest of the major American orchestras, recalled growing up in Venezuela. “My father played the trombone in a salsa band,” he said. “I wanted to play salsa. That was my dream as a kid. At the beginning, I was not dreaming about the symphony orchestra.” He enrolled in El Sistema, Venezuela’s music education program, at a young age. Showing charm and humor, he spoke at Monday's news conference about how he conducted the New York Philharmonic when he was 8 or 9 — while listening to recordings. “At home, for my family. For a good audience — for my puppets,” Dudamel said. “I rehearsed. I said, ‘This is not good.’” His first trip to New York was in 1995 with Venezuela’s national student orchestra. “We were blessed because we came for only one night,” he said. “There was a storm, a snowstorm, and we had to stay one more day.” Dudamel became music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra in 1999. served as principal conductor of Sweden’s Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra from 2007-12 and took over as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the 2009-10 season. He announced Feb. 7 he will give up the LA role in 2026 when he assumes the New York podium from Jaap Van Zweden, who departs after the 2023-24 season. Wearing a suit and dress shirt but no tie as he sat beside New York Philharmonic CEO Deborah Borda, Dudamel said the city “can enrich my soul, my spirit as an artist and as a citizen of the world.” Dudamel cited José Antonio Abreu, Daniel Barenboim, Claudio Abbado and Simon Rattle as mentors. He name-checked many predecessors as New York music director, including Leonard Bernstein, whose baton Dudamel accidently broke during his debut run. About 30 musicians from the New York Philharmonic attended the news conference and a reception after, welcoming Dudamel with hugs and handshakes. When he guest-conducted the orchestra last May, the players gave him Widow Jane bourbon from Brooklyn as part of the wooing. Dudamel, who currently calls Barcelona home, spoke fluently English and Spanish, at one point quipping: “I wanted to answer in Italian.” He hopes to change a mentality that classical music “is is only for rich people.” “Young people get afraid (of) classical, because this feels a little bit like the old car or vintage,” he said. “Music is made in the moment. Even if Beethoven wrote ... in 1807 a symphony, this music that we are playing is happening right now, so it’s not any more music from that time; it’s music from this time.” After at first declining to speak of Venezuela’s economic and political turmoil, Dudamel criticized his nation’s government in 2017 for suppressing protests. Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro then canceled the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra’s U.S. tours. “I have nothing at present physically with the orchestra. We have been in contact all the time,” Dudamel said. “The orchestra is in amazing shape. I had the chance to see them a few months ago. It’s my orchestra. It’s my family. ... I hope in the near future we will be doing thousands of things again together.” Dudamel pushed for the 2007 establishment of the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles. At Monday's news conference, he sidestepped whether he hoped for a similar program in New York and said he would have to learn more about the community. He tried to avoid answering whether he would root for the Yankees or Mets. “Cardenales,” Dudamel said, referring to the Venezuela team from his hometown of Barquisimeto. “I played a lot of baseball. I was good.”	Latin America Politics
Australia sends $33 million in military drones to Ukraine and imposes new sanctions to mark one year since President Vladimir Putin's invasion Australia has ramped up its support for Ukraine by sending $33 million in military drones and imposing new sanctions on a further 90 people and 40 entities on the first anniversary of President Vladimir Putin's invasion. Australia will send an army of military drones to Ukraine and increase sanctions on Russia in preparation for an expected spring offensive from President Vladimir Putin. The latest pledge comes 365 days since President Putin announced the “special military operation” launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The military drones will help the Ukrainian forces gain battlefield intelligence and prepare for an expected increase in aggression from the Russian troops after President Putin celebrated the February 24 anniversary. Defence Minister Richard Marles will announce the $33 million package on Friday along with a range of sanctions to inhibit Russian entities and powerbrokers helping President Putin’s war effort. “In response to requests, Australia is providing more Uncrewed Aerial Systems to the Ukrainian government," Defence Minister Richard Marles said in a statement. "This support will provide a battlefield intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability to the Ukrainian Armed Forces as they continue to fight against the unwarranted aggression of Russia. "The Ukrainian people have shown immense bravery and determination in defending their homeland against Russia's illegal invasion, and Australia will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes." Australia will also expand its current targeted financial sanctions and travel bans to include a further 90 people and 40 entities helping President Putin’s war. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the new round of sanctions was “targeting those in the Russian government who are helping prolong this war, those financing this war, and those spreading mistruths to justify this war”. “Australia’s sanctions regime against Russia is our largest. This reflects our support for the people of Ukraine and for the fundamental norms of sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Senator Wong said. Australia has now imposed sanctions and travel bans on over 1,000 different people and entities. The $33 million drone package takes Australia’s total military support – which includes 90 Bushmaster vehicles, six M777 155mm lightweight towed howitzers and 28 M113AS4 Armoured Vehicles – to $510 million in helping Ukraine’s army and the millions of displaced residents. The announcement of the drone package also coincides with the graduation of the first round of Australian-trained Ukrainian soldiers. Last month the Federal Government sent 70 Defence Force personnel to Europe to help train 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers in the United Kingdom. “This announcement coincides with the first graduation of Australian-trained Ukrainian soldiers as part of a UK-led multinational training effort to the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” Mr Marles said. “They leave with skills and knowledge that will save lives when they take up the fight against Russia.” The increased support follows Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko telling Sky News Australia more aid was needed to force the Russian troops back. "Last year it was about defending Ukraine. This year it is helping Ukraine win, it is helping democracy win," he told Sharri Markson. “What’s important is that we design a plan that Australia comes up with systematic and consistent support and that should happen in military efforts.”	Australia Politics
(ATTN: UPDATES with additional remarks by Yoon; CHANGES headline) By Lee Haye-ah SEOUL, July 4 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed Tuesday to never yield to the blackmail of political strikers and illegal protesters, his spokesperson said, after the country's largest umbrella labor group launched a two-week strike. Yoon made the remark while presiding over a government meeting on economic policy directions for the second half of the year, while also calling for the removal of "killer regulations" that deter investment by businesses, according to Lee Do-woon. "The president stressed that the Yoon Suk Yeol government will never bow to the blackmail of people who take the people and the people's economy hostage and stage political strikes and illegal protests, and will respond firmly," Lee said during a press briefing. "The president also said that if by any chance they expect to gain something through illegal protests or strikes, they would be better off completely giving up those expectations under the Yoon Suk Yeol government," he added. The tough remarks come a day after the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), South Korea's largest umbrella labor group, launched a two-week general strike to protest the Yoon government's labor policies. The strike, which will run through July 15, is aimed at rallying public support for the ouster of the Yoon government, demanding a hike in the minimum wage and stopping the government's "pro-chaebol and anti-labor" policies, among other things, according to the KCTU. Yoon has adopted a zero tolerance approach to large-scale strikes that threaten to disrupt the economy, with his administration issuing back-to-work orders against striking truckers last year. "The president said it is the government's role to work to normalize and establish a just system across all sectors, and once again called for the active attitude of public officials to fight against the resistance of those with vested interests, in the spirit of the Constitution," Lee said. During the meeting held at the former presidential compound of Cheong Wa Dae, Yoon also called for boldly removing "killer regulations" that deter the investment decisions of businesses, saying that only then will the private sector invest more and establish the basis for future growth. "I believe the second half of this year will be an important inflection point showing the potential of the South Korean economy, which has grown a step further while overcoming crises," he said, citing recent positive indicators, such as inflation falling from over 6 percent to the 2 percent range, and last month's turnaround from a trade deficit to a surplus. "Uncertainties remain in the external realm, and there are still forces that refuse change, but we will have to demonstrate the innovation capabilities built so far so the people can feel the results," he added. Yoon stressed the need to increase exports, including by correcting rules and systems that go against the global trend, and revisited the subject of "cartels with benefits," a reference to corrupt forces in and outside the government. "Structures that share the benefits by building cartels, instead of gaining benefits and rights through a fair and just compensation system, must be strictly destroyed," he said. "Cartels with benefits may look nice on the outside, but they are easily, conveniently and continuously plundering the people, and all public officials must not be afraid to confront them or turn a blind eye to them." Yoon especially pointed to monopolistic and oligopolistic industrial structures, and "cartels with benefits" sharing government subsidies, saying such behavior should be reviewed thoroughly in the budget allocation process and removed completely. He also lamented that various economic bills have been held up in the National Assembly, including a bill aimed at establishing fiscal rules. "I ask all ministers to look only to the people and do everything possible to ensure these essential economic and public livelihood bills quickly take effect," he said. The meeting brought together ministers and vice ministers from 18 ministries and officials from the National Economic Advisory Council, as well as the Presidential Advisory Council on Science and Technology. [email protected] (END) - BTS' Jungkook to make official solo debut next month - BTS' Jungkook tops iTunes charts of 83 countries with 'Still With You' - (profile) Conservative professor tapped to lead unification ministry - Hyundai Group chief seeks to visit N. Korea's Mt. Kumgang - (3rd LD) National Assembly passes bill requiring hospitals to report births of newborns - (profile) Conservative professor tapped to lead unification ministry - Hyundai Group chief seeks to visit N. Korea's Mt. Kumgang - (3rd LD) National Assembly passes bill requiring hospitals to report births of newborns - (LEAD) S. Korea under 1st heat wave warning of year - (4th LD) Couple confesses to strangling newborn to death in Geoje, police say - BTS' Jungkook tops iTunes charts of 83 countries with 'Still With You' - House committee calls for trilateral defense cooperation between S. Korea, Japan and U.S. - (LEAD) S. Korea cuts 2023 economic growth outlook to 1.4 pct amid uncertainties - Police investigating 193 unregistered baby cases; 11 confirmed dead - (LEAD) Police investigating 193 unregistered baby cases; 12 confirmed dead	Asia Politics
Sir Keir Starmer has launched a scathing attack on Suella Braverman over her recent controversial remarks on homelessness - warning Rishi Sunak that "without a serious home secretary... he cannot be a serious prime minister". Speaking during a debate on Tuesday's King's Speech, the Labour leader slammed her claims that living on the street was a "lifestyle choice", instead calling it a "political choice" resulting from the scrapping of government housing targets and not enough new homes being built. Politics live: Tories joke about Johnson and Truss as MPs debate King's Speech Sir Keir also appeared to reference other contentious comments by Ms Braverman, including her description of pro-Palestine protests at "hate marches", saying using security issues as "a platform for her own ambitions" was making the job of the police even harder. The prime minister failed to defend his home secretary during his response, even after being pressed further by Labour shadow minister Sir Chris Bryant, who asked whether he agreed with Ms Braverman on homelessness or whether she should be sacked. Instead, Mr Sunak claimed the "actions" of the Conservative government had seen rough sleeping fall by a third and the Homelessness Reduction Act had helped "relieve or prevent" over 640,000 people from being homeless. During the debate, Sir Keir criticised the King's Speech as "a missed opportunity", calling Mr Sunak's pitch as the change candidate for the next election "ridiculous posturing". The Labour leader dubbed the government plans revealed by the King today as "more of the same sticking plaster politics", adding: "Today we reach something of a new low because they're not even pretending to govern anymore. "They've given up on any sense of service. They see our country's problems as something to be exploited, not solved." But the Labour leader saved his real ire for Ms Braverman and issued a warning to the prime minister over her recent controversies. "We needed a King's Speech that would draw a line under 13 years of Tory decline, a King's Speech for national renewal and a serious plan for growth," he said. "But instead, we have a party so devoid of leadership, it is happy to follow a home secretary who describes homelessness as a lifestyle choice and believes that the job of protecting us all from extremists - the most basic job of government - is legitimate terrain for her divisive brand of politics." Read more: What exactly did Braverman say about homeless people? Sir Keir added: "As director of public prosecutions, I worked closely with the police and counter-terrorism forces. Their job is hard enough already without the home secretary using it as a platform for her own ambitions. "And so I say to the prime minister, think very carefully about what she is committing your government to do and think very carefully about the consequences of putting greater demands on public servants at the coalface of keeping us safe. "Because without a serious home secretary, there can be no serious government and he cannot be a serious prime minister." Is Starmer preparing for Braverman as Tory leader? Did we just witness a taste of the fierce Commons battles to come after the next general election? The most blistering attack of Sir Keir Starmer's speech in the debate on the King's Speech was not directed at Rishi Sunak, but at Suella Braverman. Plenty of MPs believe the home secretary's controversial attacks on "hate marches" and rough sleepers making a "lifestyle choice" are all about playing to the Tory gallery ahead of a leadership campaign. Some MPs even claim Ms Braverman is goading Mr Sunak into sacking her so she can launch a leadership bid before the general election. So it's highly significant the Labour leader launched such a harsh attack on the home secretary. Does he anticipate facing her across the despatch box if he wins the election? Throughout Sir Keir's attacks, Mr Sunak's body language is highly revealing. He makes no eye contact with her and makes no attempt to shake his head during the onslaught. And then, when the Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant joins the attack on Ms Braverman and challenges the PM to sack her if he disagrees with her "lifestyle choice" slur, he doesn't even mention her and praises the veterans' minister Johnnie Mercer instead. So is she on borrowed time in the Cabinet ahead of launching a leadership bid? As soon as Mr Sunak finished his speech, she hurried out of the chamber. Will she have relished Sir Keir's attack on her? Almost certainly. And what about the lack of support for her from the PM? Good or bad news for her? Probably bad news in the short-term, but probably not in the long-term, namely after the next election - when she no doubt hopes to be doing battle with Sir Keir across the despatch box. While Mr Sunak did not have a response on the home secretary, who sat next to him throughout Sir Keir's speech, he had lots to say about Labour's plans for if they get into government. He said the policies would lead to "higher inflation, more strikes, more immigration and higher borrowing", and he said they would "give into inflation busting demands from their union paymasters", calling such a move "dangerous". The prime minister also claimed Sir Keir "stands for the same old ideas", while the government was "focused on the long-term decisions that will provide a better and brighter future for everyone". Read more: Will the pro-Palestinian march on Armistice Day go ahead? Mr Sunak also trumpeted a number of his government policies announced in today's speech, including: New licenses for gas and oil fields A new bill to phase out smoking Introducing whole-life orders for the most horrific murders A new legal framework to enable self-driving cars to be used on Britain's roads. "This King's Speech builds on the strong foundation of economy well on its way to recovery," added the prime minister. "It rejects big government and instead backs people and businesses to thrive. "It strengthens society with historic measures to support the nation, health and education. It secures our streets and borders with tougher sentences for criminals and powers for police. "And above all this, King's Speech delivers change. Change in our economy. Change in our society. Change in our communities. It takes long-term decisions for a brighter future."	United Kingdom Politics
The United Nations says its humanitarians will not leave Afghanistan and will continue delivering lifesaving aid despite Taliban restrictions on Afghan women’s work for nongovernmental organizations. “The humanitarian community does not go on strike,” Martin Griffiths, a top U.N. official for humanitarian affairs, told representatives of member states on Wednesday. The announcement comes as some international aid agencies have suspended their operations in Afghanistan to protest a December 24, 2022, order by the de facto Taliban government banning local women from working for NGOs. The Taliban say the restrictions on women’s work and education are temporary until they figure out how this can be done within religious confines. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, an intergovernmental body of 48 majority Muslim countries, and many Muslim scholars have condemned the Taliban’s restrictions on women as inherently against Islamic values. Griffiths, who traveled to Afghanistan last week urging Taliban officials to reverse the ban, said some immediate exceptions have been offered for women to work in the health and education sectors. “Where exceptions exist, we will work,” he added. "This year, the U.N. has appealed for $4.6 billion in humanitarian response to the crisis in Afghanistan. The funding, if provided by donors, will be used to assist 28 million Afghans, 6 million of whom are close to famine, Griffiths said. Last year, donors met nearly 60% of the $4.4 billion the U.N. requested for the Afghanistan appeal. Despite the U.N.’s readiness to continue operating in the country, it is unclear how donors will respond to providing funding to a country under a system that women’s rights groups have called gender apartheid. Donors’ dilemma The United States, European countries and other donors have refused to recognize the Taliban government. They have imposed sanctions and have warned that there would be costs for the group’s misogynistic policies. Over the past 18 months, the United States has given about $2 billion in humanitarian assistance to U.N. agencies and other relief organizations to feed and assist millions of Afghans who have been pushed to extreme poverty. “The Taliban regime’s institutionalized abuse of women raises the important question for policymakers of whether the United States can continue providing aid to Afghanistan without benefiting or propping up the Taliban,” the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in a report on Thursday. Taliban authorities extract revenue from aid money to Afghanistan in the form of tax, license fees and administrative expenses, SIGAR said. Germany, another major humanitarian donor to Afghanistan, has voiced concerns about whether aid can be delivered without violating humanitarian principles. “It is clear to us that if women cannot continue to work and cannot participate in the implementation of humanitarian aid, then very fundamental humanitarian principles are being violated, principles that must be adhered to in the allocation of humanitarian aid,” German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Andrea Sasse told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday. “The measures by the Taliban violate all of these principles. As the federal government, we are discussing how to respond to this behavior on the part of the Taliban,” Sasse said. Sweden, which gave roughly $32 million in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan in 2022, may provide a similar amount this year but a decision will be made in March. “We still hope that the edict will be rescinded, since it presents a serious obstacle to the delivery of principled humanitarian aid,” Rebecca Hedlund, a spokesperson for Swedish representation at the U.N., told VOA. The State Department did not respond to written questions about whether Washington is considering reducing or ending humanitarian aid to a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Condemning the Taliban’s ban on women, the United States this week announced additional visa restrictions on unnamed Taliban officials and members of their families. “We continue to coordinate closely with allies and partners around the world on an approach that makes clear to the Taliban that their actions will carry significant costs and close the path to improved relations with the international community,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Wednesday. Activists have questioned the effectiveness of U.S. visa restrictions on Taliban leaders, saying most Taliban officials are already under a U.N. travel ban.	Human Rights
KYIV, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Ukrainian troops are facing a new Russian onslaught in the largely destroyed eastern city of Avdiivka, while making some progress on their counteroffensive in the southern theatre, senior military officials said on Thursday. General Valery Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's commander-in-chief, posted a video on Telegram in which he appeared to be conferring with officers in Avdiivka and in Kupiansk, a town further north where Russian forces have intensified attacks in recent weeks. "The enemy is not relenting in attempts to break through our defences and surround (Avdiivka)," Zaluzhniy wrote in a commentary attached to the video. "The enemy is actively bringing in assault units and large amounts of armoured equipment and using aircraft and artillery." Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesperson for the southern group of Ukrainian forces, told national television there was constant pressure on Avdiivka, about 20 km (12 miles) west of the Russian-held city of Donetsk. "They regrouped and launched new assaults there," he said. Russian forces subjected Avdiivka to fierce attacks last week, but the shelling had tapered off in the last few days. Avdiivka has become a watchword for Ukrainian resistance. The town, known for its large coking plant, held out in 2014 against Russian-backed separatists who secured swathes of eastern Ukraine and it. And like Bakhmut to the northeast, captured by Russian forces in May, it has endured months of attacks since Russia's full-scale February 2022 invasion. Officials say some 1,600 residents remain from a pre-war population of 32,000. Kupiansk was recaptured by Ukrainian troops late last year in a lighting advance through the country's northeast, but Russian forces have stepped up attacks in a bid to retake it. Zaluzhniy said Ukrainian forces around Kupiansk were "maintaining their defence in the most difficult of conditions". Russia's accounts of the fighting said its forces had destroyed a command point near Avdiivka and repelled 11 Ukrainian attacks near Kupiansk. Spokesperson Shtupun said Ukrainian troops engaged in the country's four-month-old counteroffensive had made a degree of headway in the southern theatre, where they are trying to advance to the Sea of Azov to sever a land bridge linking Russian positions in the east and south. He said troops had advanced 400 metres (a quarter mile) to the southwest of the village of Verbove in Zaporizhzhia region. Verbove is a few kilometres east of Robotyne, a village recaptured by Ukraine last month in the southward drive. The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S. think tank and non-profit research group, said Ukrainian forces appeared to have broken through on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in the southern Kherson region. Kyiv did not comment on the report. When Ukrainian troops retook parts of Kherson region last year, Russian forces abandoned its biggest city, also called Kherson. They now shell the city from the opposite bank. Read Next Reporting by Olena Harmash and Ronald Popeski; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Lincoln Feast Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.	Europe Politics
Reports of a Ukrainian breakthrough on the front line of the war have been denied by Russia - even though the claim was made by pro-Russia sources. Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group fighting on the Russian side, accused regular Russian troops of abandoning positions around Bakhmut. And Russian military bloggers reported Ukrainian advances or troop movements in several areas on Thursday. But the Kremlin denied Ukraine had made any significant advances. In a statement, Russia's defence ministry said: "The individual declarations on Telegram about a 'breakthrough' on several points on the frontline do not correspond to reality." "The general situation in the special military operation zone is under control," it added, using Russia's term for the invasion. The Institute for the Study of War said Ukrainian forces had probably made gains in the eastern city of Bakhmut, forcing Russian troops back in some areas of the front by around two kilometres (1.2 miles). And the US-based think tank said the Russian defence ministry acknowledging "the Ukrainian counterattacks uncharacteristically quickly" - by denying them - indicated "increased panic". On Friday morning, the exiled mayor of Melitopol reported a large explosion in the centre of the city in south-eastern Ukraine, which has been occupied by Russia since start of the war. It's not known what caused the blast. But the Ukrainian air force made 14 strikes on Russian forces and military equipment on Thursday, Ukraine's armed forces said. Alongside the air strikes, Ukraine said it destroyed nine Russian drones and carried out successful attacks on dozens of military targets - including artillery units, an ammunition warehouse and air defence equipment. Ukraine's president said on Thursday it was too early to start a counteroffensive. "With [what we already have] we can go forward and, I think, be successful," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview for public service broadcasters who are members of Eurovision News, like the BBC. "But we'd lose a lot of people. I think that's unacceptable. So we need to wait. We still need a bit more time." The Wagner boss Prigozhin - who has repeatedly clashed with Russian authorities - said the situation "on the flanks" at Bakhmut was "developing in line with the worst of the predicted scenarios". "The territories that we have been taking for many months at the cost of the blood and lives of our brothers-in-arms, covering dozens or hundreds of metres a day, are now being abandoned, practically without a fight, by those who should be holding our flanks," he said. Pro-Kremlin Russian war correspondent Sasha Kots claimed that Kyiv's much-anticipated counteroffensive had begun. Ukrainian tanks were on the Kharkiv ring road heading towards the border with Russia, he said, quoting "trusted" sources. His claims could not be independently verified. "There are low loaders in the columns carrying Western [tank] models among others," Kots added. "In other words," he said, "Kiev [Kyiv] has decided to aggravate the situation along the northern front in parallel with the start of offensive actions on the flanks of Artyomovsk [Bakhmut]." Another Russian war correspondent, Alexander Simonov, wrote on Telegram that Ukrainian forces had broken through near the village of Bohdanivka, close to Bakhmut, taking "several square kilometres" of ground. Ukrainian military analyst Oleksandr Musivenko said Kyiv recognised that the anticipated counteroffensive might not necessarily defeat Russia "in all occupied areas". He told Ukrainian NV radio there was every possibility the war could continue into next year. "It all depends on how the battles develop. We can't guarantee how the counteroffensive will develop," he said. An unnamed senior US military official told CNN that Ukrainian forces were preparing for a major counteroffensive by striking targets such as weapons depots, command centres and armour and artillery systems to prepare the field for advancing forces. Ukraine's spring 2022 counteroffensive in the southern and north-eastern parts of the country was also preceded by air attacks to "shape" the battlefield. But the shaping operations could take many days before the planned offensive gets underway, CNN quoted the senior US military official as saying. Western officials estimate between 20,000 and 30,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded at Bakhmut, while Ukraine's military has also paid a heavy price. Russia's defence ministry also said it had stopped several Ukrainian attacks throughout Thursday and said an ongoing battle near Malynivka, in eastern Donetsk, involved both air and artillery forces. Since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February of last year, thousands of civilians and combatants have been killed or injured, cities and towns have been destroyed in fighting, and nearly 8.2 million Ukrainians have been registered as refugees in Europe, with 2.8 million of them in Russia.	Europe Politics
Fairfield Mayor Frank Carbone no longer running in NSW State election after huge Labor election pledge for his community Fairfield Mayor Frank Carbone has dropped his independent candidacy in the upcoming state election. Popular mayor and former Labor man Frank Carbone will no longer run against his old party in the New South Wales State election. Mr Carbone was widely expected to mount a campaign as an independent in the safe Labor seat of Cabramatta or neighbouring Fairfield, in Sydney's south-west and west respectively, but announced on Wednesday he would not be running. The Fairfield Mayor posed a significant challenge to the safe Labor seat given his personal popularity in the area, which would have put the Opposition at risk of losing a much-needed electorate. But he told Sky News Australia’s Julia Bradley that it wasn’t his job to “become Chris Minns’ nemesis or to give Dominic Perrottet the premiership”. After lengthy discussions with NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Labor leader Chris Minns, Mr Carbone was left unsatisfied with the government’s commitment to improving funding in his area. “I was willing to sacrifice my position as Mayor and run for state if it meant that there was some serious commitments to improving the quality of life of people here in Fairfield,” he told Ms Bradley. “I didn’t want to be used as a political pawn by anybody. I was happy to be used if it meant my community got funding, and it didn’t happen.” Mr Carbone has long argued the government has neglected the seats of Fairfield and Cabramatta because they are considered safe Labor seats. His candidacy was an attempt to force the government’s hand into acting on providing services to his community. Two sticking points for Mr Carbone were WestInvest and the Fairfield Hospital, which Labor leader Chris Minns pledged a $115 million upgrade to on Wednesday morning. WestInvest is a $5 billion funding program delivered to 15 eligible local government areas in Western Sydney. Mr Carbone does not believe Fairfield has received its fair share. “You look at all the marginal seats – when it comes to Leppington, Riverstone, Camden, Penrith, Parramatta – they all got $200 million each,” he said. “Fairfield only got $26 million… despite having the same population and more population than some of those.” The Coalition were unwilling to budge on WestInvest, with Mr Perrottet claiming the funding was determined by an independent committee. Fairfield Mayor Frank Carbone will NOT contest the NSW election on March 25— Lachlan Kennedy (@lachlan_kennedy) March 7, 2023 He says after speaking with @Dom_Perrottet it became clear that âno funding was now available or committed to our Cityâ. That removed the incentive to run against Labor#nswpol @10NewsFirstSyd pic.twitter.com/iSLaWHy1lW The lack of funding commitment he received from the Perrottet government combined with the Labor leader’s $115 million election promise was what tipped Mr Carbone into dropping his candidacy. “Dominic Perrottet had an opportunity, I was willing to sacrifice my position as Mayor if it meant my community got more resources but I wasn’t going to be used as a political pawn,” he said. It was a big decision for the Fairfield Mayor, telling Sky News Australia he had nearly 1,000 campaign corflutes already made up. Mr Carbone was also an instrumental force in the election of Dai Le – his former deputy mayor – to the federal seat of Fowler at last year's federal election.	Australia Politics
The Swedish government is examining whether it could make setting the Quran or other holy books on fire illegal, as recent Quran burnings have damaged Sweden's security, Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told Aftonbladet paper on Thursday. An Iraqi immigrant to Sweden burned the Quran outside a Stockholm mosque last week, causing outrage in the Muslim world and condemnation from the Pope. The Swedish Security services said such action left the country less safe. The police denied several applications earlier this year for protests that were set to include burning the Quran, citing security concerns, but courts have since overturned the police's decisions, saying such acts are protected by Sweden's far-reaching freedom of speech laws. Sweden's justice minister said on Thursday that the government is analyzing the situation and whether the law needs to be changed. "We have to ask ourselves whether the current order is good or whether there is reason to reconsider it," Strommer told Aftonbladet. Sweden's NATO bid at risk He added that Sweden had become a "prioritized target" for attacks. "We can see that the Quran burning last week has generated threats to our internal security," he said. The incident has also damaged Sweden's bid to join NATO, with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan saying his country cannot ratify Sweden's application before Quran burnings are stopped.	Europe Politics
Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm. Vanessa Gera, Associated Press Vanessa Gera, Associated Press Leave your feedback WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland is holding an election Sunday that many view as its most important one since the 1989 vote that toppled communism. At stake are the health of the nation’s democracy, its legal stance on LGBTQ+ rights and abortion, and the foreign alliances of a country on NATO’s eastern flank that has been a crucial ally to Ukraine. Political experts say the election will not be fully fair after eight years of governing by a conservative nationalist party that has eroded checks and balances to gain more control over state institutions, including the courts, public media and the electoral process itself. Opponents of the ruling Law and Justice party fear it could be their last chance to preserve the constitutional system won at great cost through the struggle of many Poles, from former President Lech Walesa to the millions who supported his Solidarity movement. The election “will decide the future of Poland as a country of liberal democracy, a system that has been a guarantor of Polish success for the last three decades,” the editor of the Rzeczpospolita newspaper, Boguslaw Chrabota, wrote in a Friday editorial. Supporters of the ruling party, however, are afraid that if Law and Justice is voted out, the opposition would take the country in a more liberal direction, including with new laws legalizing abortion and civil unions for same-sex partners. Women in Poland currently have the right to abortions only in cases of rape or incest, or if there is a threat to their life or health. “I’m afraid that I’ll wake up after the elections and there will be such a change that, for example, abortion will be promoted (and) LGBT,” said civil servant Bozena Zych, 57, after leaving a Catholic church located in a hipster area of Warsaw filled with gay-friendly establishments. Zych said she went to the Church of the Holiest Savior with a friend to pray for Law and Justice to win a third-straight term. Churches, even Poland’s holiest Jasna Gora shrine in Czestochowa, have held prayers in recent weeks for candidates who support Christian values. Citizens who want a more liberal Poland also mobilized with two massive marches this year. Some interviewed in recent days by The Associated Press became very emotional or fought back tears as they described what they regard as corruption, democratic backsliding, propaganda and bitter divisions in Polish society since Law and Justice came to power in 2015. READ MORE: Hundreds of thousands march against Poland’s government to show support for democracy “What has happened in Poland is a nightmare,” said Maryla Kowalewska, 75. “Let’s hope there is a total change in this country.” Recent polls show Law and Justice has more support than any other single party, but not enough to reach the majority in Parliament it would need to govern alone. It could be forced to seek support from a far-right party, Confederation, that is hostile to Ukraine. The polls show that three opposition groups — Civic Coalition, Third Way and New Left — could together get a majority of seats in Parliament. The largest is the centrist Civic Coalition led by Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister and former European Union president. Tusk has vowed to restore the rule of law and to rebuild ties with the EU that became severely strained under Law and Justice. The EU is withholding billions of euros in COVID-19 pandemic recovery funds from Warsaw, citing rule of law violations. Small shifts for or against the smaller parties could significantly impact what coalitions will be possible after election day. “So we have this situation of two sides who think that these are very high-stakes elections, two sides very determined and energetic. The emotions are very high, but the playing field is not even,” said Jacek Kucharczyk, the president of the Institute of Public Affairs, a Warsaw-based think tank. The main reason for the imbalance is Law and Justice’s control of taxpayer-funded state media, which it uses to constantly bash opponents, Kucharczyk argued. But other factors could play a role in the election’s outcome, including the party’s political control over the electoral administration and the chamber of the Supreme Court that will validate the election. Amid the huge interest in the election, more than 600,000 Poles abroad registered to vote, three times more than in 2015, the Foreign Ministry. The ministry also said it had “immediately dismissed” its spokesman, Lukasz Jasina, for saying that not all polling stations would be able to count all the votes before the deadline for submitting them, which would cause them to be invalidated. The ministry said in a statement late Friday that it was prepared to carry out the vote abroad, and that Jasina was fired for spreading “false information.” There is also a high level of state ownership in the Polish economy, and the ruling party has built up a system of patronage, handing out thousands of jobs and contracts to its loyalists. Wojciech Przybylski, editor-in-chief of Visegrad Insight, a policy journal focused on Central Europe, said the practice threatens the ability of the middle class to advance socially “without special connections to politics.” That could in turn could threaten the foundations of the “economic miracle” Poland has experienced in the post-communist era, he said. The country is now the EU’s sixth-largest economy. Law and Justice’s nationalist policies also have harmed Poland’s relations with key allies. While Poland has been a staunch ally of neighboring Ukraine since Russia invaded and a transit hub for Western weapons, relations chilled over the Ukrainian grain that entered Poland’s market. With tensions rising, and as the Confederation party’s numbers grew, Poland’s prime minister said his country was no longer sending weapons to Kyiv. “They quarreled with everyone, with the EU, with NATO, with everyone,” said Ludmila, a 68-year-old who opposes Law and Justice. She wouldn’t give her last name, saying that the country was moving in an authoritarian direction and she didn’t feel safe doing so. “This is unacceptable, it cannot continue like this.” “Poland will be as lonely as in 1939,” the year World War II broke out, she added. Support Provided By: Learn more	Europe Politics
The first UN investigator to be allowed to visit Guantánamo has called on the US government to provide urgent rehabilitation treatment for the men it tortured in the wake of 9/11 to repair their severe physical and psychological injuries and meet its commitments under international law. In an interview with the Guardian, the UN monitor on human rights while countering terrorism, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, said that the US had a responsibility to redress the harms it inflicted on its Muslim torture victims. Existing medical treatment, both at the prison camp in Cuba and for detainees released to other countries, was inadequate to deal with multiple problems such as traumatic brain injuries, permanent disabilities, sleep disorders, flashbacks and untreated post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “These men are all survivors of torture, a unique crime under international law, and in urgent need of care,” she said. “Torture breaks a person, it is intended to render them helpless and powerless so that they cease to function psychologically, and in my conversations both with current and former detainees I observed the harms it caused.” In February, Ní Aoláin was granted unprecedented access to the detention center at Guantánamo where 30 men are still held today. In the report of her four-day visit, she found that the failure to provide specialist care focusing on redressing the long-term impact of torture had a cumulative effect that amounted to “cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment” in violation of the US government’s obligations under international conventions. “Without exception, each individual I met exhibits medical conditions relating to the physical harm they experienced from rendition and torture, or profound psychological distress such as anxiety, depression, extreme trauma and suicidal ideation,” Ní Aoláin told the Guardian. The most extreme abuses occurred up to 20 years ago during the CIA’s post-9/11 torture program of Muslim terror suspects. At least 119 men had torture methods inflicted on them, euphemistically known as “enhanced interrogation techniques”. The UN special rapporteur said that despite the passage of time the physical and psychological fall-out was ongoing. “The dividing line between past and present is very narrow for these men. In some, it is non-existent: they inhabit bodies that are profoundly harmed by acts of torture,” she explained. Ní Aoláin, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and at Queens University in Belfast, said that paradoxically the US was a world leader in devising treatment for torture survivors. The US military, as well as academic centers working with asylum seekers from around the globe, had advanced scientific understanding of how to help victims cope. Yet the knowledge gained by the US was not applied to those subjected to its own torture. “The US has some of the best torture treatment facilities and capability in the world, it exports it to others,” she said. “But regrettably that hasn’t been used for the men currently detained at Guantánamo, and not a single man who has been released from the detention facility has had adequate rehabilitation.” A key demand made by the UN rapporteur is that the detainees should be treated by independent medical personnel. Currently, they are seen by military doctors who wear uniform – that alone is triggering. “For these detainees, uniform is associated with a profound lack of trust and a history of misuse of medical treatment. A person who has been tortured can lose their trust in the entire system,” she said. The CIA’s torture program was created in 2002 by two psychologists, James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, basing the plan partly on experiments on dogs which when given electric shocks developed “learned helplessness”. The UN monitor was allowed to visit all categories of Guantánamo detainee including the group of five so-called “high-value” individuals who are accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks. She is not naming those she met, nor giving details of their condition, for privacy reasons. Some detainees have publicly talked about their long-lasting torture-induced problems. Ammar al Baluchi, one of the “high-value prisoners”, has revealed through his lawyer that he suffers from traumatic brain injury from having been subjected to “walling” where his head was smashed repeatedly against the wall. His symptoms include headaches, dizziness, difficulty thinking and performing simple tasks. The impairments are expected to worsen over time, his lawyer said, adding that his client is also unable to sleep for more than two hours at a time having been sleep-deprived as a torture technique. Ní Aoláin argued that helping US torture victims overcome their ailments is the right thing to do on a number of levels. It is right for the individuals themselves who have for too long been left to suffer alone. It is right for the US, which has had its standing around the world as a human rights leader damaged as a result of its rendition program, and because of Guantánamo which she said acts as a symbol of torture. It is right too, she insisted, for the families of the 2,977 people who were murdered on 9/11 with whom she said she has a “profound and personal commitment”. Ní Aoláin said that one of the pillars of her UN mandate was that victims of terrorism have a right to remedy and accountability for the murder of their loved ones. Torture, she said, had stripped 9/11 victims’ families of that right. By authorizing torture, the US had in effect ensured that the families will never have their day in court because the cases against those charged with planning 9/11 have become snarled up in legal arguments over evidence obtained under duress. Defenders of the US torture program have often justified the practice in the name of the victims. But Ní Aoláin said the opposite was true – the victims were betrayed. “The victims of terrorism have lost their right to the ultimate remedy for the violations of their loved ones on 9/11 – a trial,” she said. “What was done in the aftermath of 9/11 was not just harmful to the men, it was deeply, profoundly harmful to the families themselves.”	Human Rights
By Federica Pascale \| EURACTIV.it Est. 2min 09-11-2023 Content-Type: News News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Italy’s average annual pay is €22,839, but while male workers have an average of €26,227 in their pay envelope, female workers have €18,305. [Shutterstock/Olivier Le Moal] Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram There was a nearly €8,000 difference between the average wages of men and women in 2022 in comparison to 2021, when it was around €6,700, the Observatory on Private Sector Employees of the National Social Security Institute (INPS) wrote in their annual report, adding that this number will only keep widening. Italy’s average annual pay is €22,839, but while male workers have an average of €26,227 in their pay envelope, female workers have €18,305. By comparison, in 2021, the average income of a man was €25,958, while a woman’s average income was €19,218, a difference of €6740. The report also broke down the numbers in the different territories of Italy. Between the Islands and the northeast, the difference is €7,333. The gender pay gap in Italy is growing but is not particularly marked compared to other OECD countries. However, the picture is aggravated by the fact that Italian workers receive very low salaries compared to the average in other countries. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Italian gender pay gap stands at 8.7% compared to an average of 11.9%. The countries worse off, according to the OECD, are the United States, France and Germany. In Italy, there are also more male workers (57.2%) than female workers, mainly because women face challenges in carrying on working and having a family and are often forced to give up their career, or take part-time jobs. The pay differential by gender is “significantly correlated with the greater presence of part-time work among females”, INPS points out. Last year, 21% of male employees had at least one part-time working relationship, while among females the share of female employees with at least one part-time job in the year was around 49%. (Federica Pascale \| Euractiv.it) Read more with EURACTIV Sweden’s radical left pins foreign minister over Israel comments Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Topics Politics The Capitals	Europe Politics
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the Palestinian Authority on Sunday for spreading the fiction that Hamas didn’t carry out a massacre of Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, instead blaming Israel for the slaughter. “Today, the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah said something utterly preposterous. It denied that it was Hamas that carried out the horrible massacre at the nature festival near Gaza. It actually accused Israel of carrying out that massacre. This is a complete reversal of truth,” Netanyahu said. On Sunday, the PA denied that Hamas terrorists, despite themselves documenting their massacre, were responsible for the deaths of some 350 young people at the Nova music festival, blaming instead “Israeli helicopters.” According to a statement from the PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs distributed to the United Nations and foreign ministries worldwide: “The preliminary investigation by the Israeli police proved that on October 7 Israeli helicopters bombed Israeli citizens who participated in the nature festival…. The result of this investigation casts doubt on the Israeli reports regarding the destruction and killing that took place in that area.” The PA based its assertions on an Oct. 18 Haaretz report, which referred to an investigation of the massacre and which cited an unnamed Israeli police official saying that the investigation found that an IDF combat helicopter arrived at the scene and fired at the terrorists, inadvertently hitting some of the revelers. The Israel Police repudiated the Haaretz report entirely on Sunday, saying the probe in question only focused on the heroism of officers on Oct. 7. “Contrary to the publication, the police investigation does not refer to the activity of the IDF forces, and therefore no indication was given of any harm to civilians caused by any aerial activity at the site,” according to a statement by the Israel Police Spokesperson’s Office. “Particularly at this time, we call on the media to show responsibility in their reporting, and to base their journalism on official sources only,” added the statement. Netanyahu took the opportunity to reiterate that the PA cannot be given control of the Gaza Strip. “My goal is that the day after we destroy Hamas, any future civil administration in Gaza does not deny the massacre, does not educate its children to become terrorists, does not pay for terrorists and does not tell its children that their ultimate goal in life is to see the destruction and dissolution of the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said. Israel’s position puts it at odds with that of the United States, which has repeatedly said it wants to see the PA placed in charge of the Gaza Strip. In a Washington Post op-ed on Saturday, US President Joe Biden reaffirmed his administration’s stance that “Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority, as we all work toward a two-state solution.” A spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office put a positive spin on Biden’s comments, saying that Washington and Jerusalem see eye-to-eye on the need to remove Hamas from the equation. “[Biden] was adamant in that column that Hamas’s control of the Gaza Strip must end and that whatever comes after must not allow Gaza or the West Bank to be platforms for terrorism. That is entirely consistent with our declared war aims for the demilitarization, de-radicalization and sustainable reconstruction of the Gaza Strip,” PMO Spokesman Eylon Levy told JNS. “I would note the [US] president said that Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited, ultimately, under a revitalized Palestinian Authority and I don’t think that word was there by accident,” he added. Levy made clear that an unreformed, terror-sponsoring PA, which has now “gone full 9/11 truther on the facts of the massacre,” is not a suitable candidate to govern Gaza. “An entity that pays financial incentives to terrorists to perpetrate attacks against Israel with the so-called Pay-for-Slay scheme is not consistent with the goal of making sure that Gaza does not export terrorism,” he said. “Our partners, whoever is involved in rebuilding the Gaza Strip after Hamas, must fight terrorism. It cannot be an entity that funds terrorism,” added Levy. Israel Today Membership Monthly Membership Yearly Membership Save 18% Per Month. Six Months Membership Save 9% Per Month.	Middle East Politics
Husain interviewed Eylon Levy for BBC Radio 4′s Today programme on Monday morning, and tension quickly built as she started to ask him about the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. The hospital became one of the main focal points of the Israel-Hamas war after it was struck by Israeli air strikes. Israel claims the militant group used the hospital complex for military purposes, and has now published video footage which it says supports its allegations. This footage has not been independently verified. Husain reminded Levy that hospitals are protected under humanitarian law, and any attack on a hospital must be proportionate to the military advantage gained. She explained: “Through your actions, a major hospital – the biggest and most important hospital in this part of Gaza – has been taken completely out of service aside from the few patients who remain.” Levy replied: “And we are outraged that Hamas has jeopardised that humanitarian status and put the lives of so many people at risk by converting it for military purposes. “You mention proportionality – I think that’s very important. On October 7, Israel suffered the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust. It was the deadliest attack in world history after 9/11.” Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 200 others hostage, according to the latest official Israeli estimates. Israel then declared war, put Gaza under siege, and launched an air strike campaign. Gaza officials say more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed. Husain cut in: “There are hundreds of thousands of people who live in Gaza, and two-thirds of the casualties are women and children.” “These are numbers that you are citing from Hamas,” Levy replied. The BBC presenter hit back: “They are from the Gaza health ministry, and I don’t know if you have a separate assessment, in past conflicts the Gaza health ministry – which yes, is run by Hamas – the figures they have put forward have not been any different from the figures that Israel has accepted at the end of previous conflicts. “They’re also consistent with six weeks of bombardment.” Levy asked the presenter how many Gaza claims have been killed were Hamas fighters in the last six weeks. “Why don’t you tell us how many you think your bombardments have killed and what proportion are women and children? How many?” She replied. Levy repeatedly said the health ministry in Gaza is Hamas, and claimed it “has a history of lying and making things up”. He alleged the ministry has also denied that Hamas have abducted anyone on October 7. Husain replied: “The ministry has generally released the names of the people who have been killed, and you have access to those records, don’t you? I know Israel has a lot of information on who lives in [Gaza] and where they live, and that’s why they’re able to warn in advance [before the ground invasion]. “If you don’t have your own assessment of how many people exactly you’ve killed and what proportion is women and children, then what other source do you expect people to use except the health ministry?” Levy said the international community should not believe Hamas as an organisation. The spokesperson also maintained Israel’s attacks are proportionate to the “threat of a genocidal terrorist group promising to perpetrate more massacres”. Husain then redirected the conversation onto the West Bank, which is not controlled by Hamas but is still a Palestinian territory. She asked about the rising number of deaths in the area – only for Levy to push back. He said: “Mishal, you asked a question about Israel’s proportionality to defeat the campaign in the Gaza Strip in response to the October 7 massacre, and I’m trying to answer your question.” She replied: “We’ve spent much of this interview on the subject of Gaza.” Levy said: “Are you satisfied that Israel’s response is proportionate?” Husain said: “Why are so many Palestinians dying in the West Bank?” Levy asked again: “I want to know if the answer I gave you is satisfactory.” Husain replied: “It’s not for me to say if an answer is satisfactory.” “OK, well I hope the answer I’ve given you about Israel’s proportionate response has been satisfactory,” Levy replied. Husain asked: “Are you not willing to answer questions about the West Bank?” Levy said Hamas has been trying to escalate the conflict out of Israel’s borders, and suggested he was not familiar with the numbers of deaths in West Bank. “Perhaps you should be as the Israeli government spokesperson,” Husain replied, to which Levy said Israel is focused on destroying Hamas.	Middle East Politics
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles toward the East Sea Wednesday, the latest show of its military capabilities during the 11-days-long joint drills between the U.S. and South Korea. The U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise is expected to wrap up Thursday morning local time. “South Korea’s military detected several cruise missiles fired at 10:15 a.m. from South Hamgyong province towards the East Sea,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told ABC News. North Korea’s military provocation took place just as the Amphibious Assault Ship USS Makin Island arrived in South Korea to join the large-scale landing exercises for the joint drills. Pyongyang relentlessly fired various types of missiles the last ten days, consistent with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister’s vow on March 7 to "take appropriate, quick and overwhelming actions" to the joint military exercise North Korea has always complained about. Starting with two submarine-launched cruise missiles on March 12, North Korea gradually raised the level of provocation by launching two short range ballistic missiles last Tuesday, a suspected Intercontinental ballistic missile last Thursday, and a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday. North Korea’s state media KCNA explicitly referred to Sunday’s launch as a "drill to send a stronger warning to the enemy who expanded their war drills for aggression." Their reporting included a picture of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un overseeing the test with his daughter. “We should look at how North Korean media keeps using the term ‘combat arrangement’ in recent reports about their missiles,” Park Wongon, professor of North Korean Studies at Ewha Womans University, told ABC News. “The regime wants to show off that their weapons are far past the experimental stage and ready for the actual battlefield.” North Korea’s cruise missiles don’t violate the United Nations Security Council resolutions, and are considered not as threatening as the ballistic missiles, but cannot be overlooked in the region for they are not easy to detect and intercept when flying at a low altitude.	Asia Politics
Buildings have caught fire in Sudan's capital after heavy fighting between the army and rival forces. Videos posted online on Sunday showed the iconic Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company Tower engulfed in flames. "This is truly painful," said Tagreed Abdin, an architect of the building, in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Air strikes and ground battles have continued in Khartoum and other towns and cities since fighting broke out in April. Over one million people have been forced to flee the country, the UN has said. Located near the River Nile, the 18-storey oil firm skyscraper is one of the most recognisable landmarks in Khartoum. Ms Abdin said it defined the skyline of the city, and lamented "such senseless destruction". It is not yet clear what caused the building's cone-like structure, which has a glass facade, to catch fire. There have been no reports of injuries or deaths. The violence in Sudan began on 15 April, triggered by a power struggle between the leaders of the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). It followed days of tension as members of the RSF were redeployed around the country in a move that the army saw as a threat. The Sudan War Monitor, which provides analysis of the conflict, said the RSF had attacked areas controlled by the army on Saturday, including an office block at the justice ministry. Several government buildings are reported to have caught fire as a result of the attack. The RSF said the army carried out the attacks, including on the 18-storey skyscraper. The army has not yet commented. The former vice president of the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, Fadl Abdullah, told BBC Arabic that building had been constructed at a cost of about $20m (Â£16m), and its destruction was a "very great financial loss". Attacks on army premises continued into Sunday, witnesses told AFP news agency. Residents in a southern district of the city - where the army was targeting RSF bases - told AFP they heard "huge bangs" as they woke up. Health authorities announced on Sunday that all the main hospitals in Khartoum - as well as the Darfur region - were out of service. Nawal Mohammed, 44, who lives at least 3km (1.8 miles) from clashes in the capital, said the doors and windows of her family home shook with the force of explosions. She described the battles on Saturday and Sunday as "the most violent since the war began". According to a group of pro-democracy lawyers, the fighting had killed "dozens of civilians" in Khartoum since Friday. Fighting was also reported in the city of El-Obeid, some 400km (250 miles) south of the city. The RSF has been fighting to take control of the capital, and the military's air strikes have been aimed at weakening RSF positions. The conflict has killed around 7,500 people and displaced more than five million.	Africa politics
SEOUL, Oct 31 (Reuters) - North Korea's recent closing of its diplomatic missions in Angola and Uganda was a sign that the reclusive country is struggling to make money overseas because of international sanctions, South Korea's unification ministry said on Tuesday. Both Angola and Uganda have forged friendly ties with North Korea since the 1970s, maintaining military cooperation and providing rare sources of foreign currency such as statue-building projects. But on Monday, Pyongyang's state media outlet KCNA said its ambassadors paid "farewell" visits to Angolan and Ugandan leaders last week, and local media in both African countries reported the shutdown of the North's embassies there. Seoul's unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said the pullout reflected the impact of international sanctions aimed at curbing funding for the North's nuclear and missile programs. "They appear to be withdrawing as their foreign currency earning business has stumbled due to the international community's strengthening of sanctions, making it difficult to maintain the embassies any longer," the ministry said in a statement. "This can be a sign of North Korea's difficult economic situation, where it is difficult to maintain even minimal diplomatic relations with traditionally friendly countries." North Korea has formal relations with 159 countries, but had 53 diplomatic missions overseas, including three consulates and three representative offices, until it pulled out of Angola and Uganda, according to the ministry. Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported last week, citing unnamed sources, that North Korea was planning to shut down at least 10 diplomatic missions, including a consulate in Hong Kong, largely because of economic difficulties. Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Additional reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Gerry Doyle Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.	Africa politics
BEIJING: Chinese naval vessels set sail this weekend to participate in joint manoeuvres with the Russian military, Chinese defence authorities said on Sunday. Ties between Moscow and Beijing have grown closer since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, a move China has not condemned. The two have ramped up defence contacts, including joint military drills in recent months. The latest air-and-sea exercises will take place in the Sea of Japan and are aimed at “safeguarding strategic maritime routes”, the Chinese Ministry of Defence had said on Saturday. The Chinese military has sent five warships, including a guided-missile destroyer, it added in the statement published on Sunday, without specifying when the drills will take place. Air-and-sea exercises will take place in the Sea of Japan, aiming at ‘safeguarding strategic maritime routes’ China and Russia carried out a joint air patrol over the Seas of Japan and East China last month, and the flights prompted South Korea to deploy fighter jets as a precaution. It was the sixth such China-Russia patrol in the area since 2019. China’s defence minister Li Shangfu this month advocated boosting naval cooperation with Russia. Beijing has emerged as Moscow’s most important ally since the Ukraine war began. China says it is a neutral party in the conflict but its refusal to condemn the invasion has led to accusations from Ukraine’s allies that it is favouring Russia. Codenamed “Northern/Interaction-2023”, the drill marks enhanced military cooperation between China and Russia and is taking place as Beijing continues to rebuff US calls to resume military communication. On Saturday, the ministry said Russian naval and air forces would participate in the drill taking place in the Sea of Japan. This would be the first time both Russian forces take part in the drill, state newspaper Global Times cited military observers as saying. Gromkiy and Sovershenniy, two Russian warships taking part in the Sea of Japan drill, had earlier this month conducted separate training with the Chinese navy in Shanghai on formation movements, communication and sea rescues. Before making port at the financial hub of Shanghai, the same ships had sailed passed Taiwan and Japan, prompting both Taipei and Tokyo to monitor the Russian warships. Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2023	Asia Politics
BJP Or Congress Or Fractured Verdict? Madhya Pradesh All Set For Counting Of Votes On Sunday The state saw a record voter turnout of 77.82%, 2.19% more than the 2018 elections, the official said. The fate of the candidates locked in EVMs for 230 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh will be unsealed on Sunday as arrangements for counting of votes are ready, a top poll official said on Saturday. Many exit polls have kept the incumbent BJP ahead of the Congress in what was a straight contest between two main parties. Assembly polls were held in the state in a single phase on Nov. 17. The state saw a record voter turnout of 77.82%, 2.19% more than the 2018 elections, the official said. The counting for all 230 assembly seats in MP will begin at 8 am on Sunday (Dec. 3) at 52 district headquarters amid tight security. “All necessary preparations for the counting have been made,” he said. Chief Electoral Officer of Madhya Pradesh Anupam Rajan said that 77.15 polling per cent was recorded through the electronic voting machines (EVMs). If postal ballots are added, the polling percentage goes up to 77.82, which is 2.19% points more than the previous polls (2018), when turnout was 75.63%, Rajan said. A total of 692 tables have been placed for the counting of postal ballots in all districts, while 4,369 tables have been set up to place the EVMs, he said. According to Rajan, postal ballots will be counted between 8 am and 8.30 am, after which the counting of votes through EVMs will begin in the presence of officials and political parties’ authorised agents. Soon after the postal ballots are counted, its result will be declared candidate-wise by the officials concerned and the exercise will be followed after the completion of each round of counting, he said. At 26, Jhabua seat will see the highest number of counting rounds, while the lowest number of 12 rounds will be held in Sevda constituency in Datia district, he said. “All arrangements have been made for conducting the counting and all the district returning officers, police commissioners and superintendent of police were directed to follow necessary security protocols. The government has declared the day of counting a ‘dry’ day, during which all wine and liquor shops shall remain closed,” he said. A three-tier security arrangement will be in place and only people holding valid passes will be allowed to enter the counting centres, he said. Rajan said that 51,259 citizens above 80 years and 12,093 physically challenged voters polled from home this time. He said about 3.04 lakh personnel engaged in polling work exercised their franchise through postal ballots. The EVMs will decide the electoral fate of 2,533 candidates who were in the fray for the 230 assembly seats, including political bigwigs like Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his predecessor and rival Kamal Nath, in a poll that was largely a bipolar battle between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress. Of the 230 seats, 47 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and 35 for Scheduled Castes. Besides CM Chouhan (from Budhni seat) and state Congress president Nath (Chhindwara), the EVMs will also decide the fate of three BJP Union ministers – Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Patel and Faggan Singh Kulaste. It will also decide the political fortunes of BJP general secretary Kailash Vijaywrgiya who contested from Indore-1 and three Lok Sabha MPs of the saffron party – Rakesh Singh, Ganesh Singh and Riti Pathak. Besides main contenders Congress and the BJP, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) are among the other players that fielded their candidates. The number of votes garnered by these candidates will also be a crucial factor in deciding the winner from any constituency. The electioneering saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, Union minister Rajnath Singh, CM Chouhan addressing rallies to drum up support for the saffron party’s nominees. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Digvijaya Singh and Nath were among the key leaders of the opposition party who held rallies to canvass for their nominees.	India Politics
- Russian drones had "for Moscow" and "for the Kremlin" written on them, Ukraine said. - The messages suggest they were retaliation for an alleged Ukraine attack on the Kremlin. - Ukraine denies attempting any attack, and experts say it might have been staged by Russia itself. Drones launched against Ukraine had "for Moscow" and "for the Kremlin" written on them, Ukraine's military said, suggesting they were meant as revenge, after Russia accused Ukraine of a drone attack on its capital. Russian said on Wednesday that two drones were flown at the Kremlin, but were shot down. It claimed it was an assassination attempt against President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine denied any involvement, and some experts say the alleged attack could have been staged by Russia itself. Even so, Russian military forces appear to be retaliating. The military chief of Ukraine's Kyiv region said on Thursday that Russia had launched its most intense attack on the Ukrainian capital so far this year. And Ukraine's Operational Command South shared photos of two drones on Facebook, saying they were among 15 that Russia launched at the south Ukrainian port city of Odessa overnight on Wednesday. The drones had "for Moscow" and "for the Kremlin," written on them, according to a translation by CNN. Operational Command South said the messages showed the apparent "reason for the attack." 12 of the drones fired towards Odessa were destroyed by Ukraine's defenses, and three more hit dormitories of an educational institution in the city, Operational Command South said, adding that no one was hurt. Ukraine's Air Force said 24 drones were fired by Russia on Wednesday night, and that it destroyed 18 of them. Experts and Western officials have cast doubt on the Kremlin attack. Washington DC-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War said in a Wednesday update that Russia "likely staged this attack in an attempt to bring the war home to a Russian domestic audience and set conditions for a wider societal mobilization." It said there were "several indicators" to suggest it was staged by Russia, including the fact that the drones were able to get so far without being shot down, and the fact that the official Russian response was so coordinated compared to other attacks against Russia during the war. Experts also told Insider that they were skeptical about Russia's account. Some said that the drones could have been sent by Ukraine as a warning or as proof of how it can penetrate Kremlin defenses, while others said Russia could have been behind it. A senior UK defence source told Sky News that it appeared to have been staged by Russia. "Anything is possible, but there is no benefit to Ukraine doing it, there is no military advantage, everyone knows Putin doesn't stay in the Kremlin and the motives are all really in Russia's favour," they said.	Europe Politics
Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR toggle caption A family of survivors is taken by volunteer drivers from their home. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR A family of survivors is taken by volunteer drivers from their home. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR BEIT KAMA JUNCTION, Israel — The kosher McDonald's is closed. So is every other restaurant at this gas station watering hole. But this dusty highway rest stop is where Israelis are rushing to help. The disaster zone is not far away — where hundreds of Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip killed hundreds of Israeli civilians and soldiers and took hostages this past weekend. There are still Hamas gunmen loose. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR toggle caption Israeli soldiers and civilians at the gas station and kosher McDonald's in Beit Kama Junction, near Sderot, Israel. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR Israeli soldiers and civilians at the gas station and kosher McDonald's in Beit Kama Junction, near Sderot, Israel. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR But there's a rickety tabletop where volunteer drivers are coordinating rescue missions, speeding into towns and communities and spiriting out families amid a mass evacuation of Israelis along the Gaza border. One volunteer driver is Ronit Sela, a longtime advocate of Palestinian rights. "When Israeli Jews know that I help Palestinians, they often view me as somebody who chose a side," she says. "As a human rights activist, I can say that I chose humanity. And right now there are families with kids, and disabled people, who are just in panic and they need to be evacuated to a safe place." Dairy farmer and army reservist Dudik Laniado, 64, went to an evacuated Israeli community to feed and milk the cows, and rescue his nephew's dog, Pluto. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR toggle caption Israeli soldiers and vehicles at a gas station. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR Israeli soldiers and vehicles at a gas station. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR "There's one organization that is not really being helpful right now. It's the government. We don't understand what's going on. Where are they?" says Amir Tibon, the dog's owner, and a journalist for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. "What happened here is the biggest failure in the history of the state of Israel." The highway rest stop is also for Israeli soldiers on their way to the front lines for a potential ground invasion, not knowing if they'll come back alive. A religious Jewish man offers them blessings. He puts his hands on their heads and recites a biblical blessing: May God bless you and protect you. May God lift up His face and grant you peace. One by one, he gives the soldiers a long hug. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR toggle caption A religious Jewish man offers soldiers blessings and prayers. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR A religious Jewish man offers soldiers blessings and prayers. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR toggle caption One by one, a religious Jewish man gives soldiers a long hug. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR One by one, a religious Jewish man gives soldiers a long hug. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR toggle caption An Israeli military helicopter flies above the highway rest stop at Beit Kama Junction. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR An Israeli military helicopter flies above the highway rest stop at Beit Kama Junction. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR toggle caption Ronit Sela, a longtime advocate of Palestinian rights, volunteers as a driver. "As a human rights activist, I can say that I chose humanity. And right now there are families with kids, and disabled people, who are just in panic and they need to be evacuated to a safe place," she says. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR Ronit Sela, a longtime advocate of Palestinian rights, volunteers as a driver. "As a human rights activist, I can say that I chose humanity. And right now there are families with kids, and disabled people, who are just in panic and they need to be evacuated to a safe place," she says. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR toggle caption Tamara Abramov, 72 years old, was rescued from her home as Gaza fighters were beaten back. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR Tamara Abramov, 72 years old, was rescued from her home as Gaza fighters were beaten back. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR toggle caption Young activists outside a gas station near Sderot, Israel, play music and pass out food to soldiers. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR Young activists outside a gas station near Sderot, Israel, play music and pass out food to soldiers. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR toggle caption Israeli soldiers and vehicles at gas station. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR Israeli soldiers and vehicles at gas station. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR toggle caption Fire burns after an apparent rocket attack on an open field, following a convoy that was entering its last run to rescue a family from Sderot. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR Fire burns after an apparent rocket attack on an open field, following a convoy that was entering its last run to rescue a family from Sderot. Tanya Habjouqa/NOOR for NPR	Middle East Politics
Anti-mining protests that have roiled Panama for the last two weeks turned deadly on Tuesday when a man allegedly shot and killed two demonstrators, according to police. A chilling video posted by bystanders on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed a disheveled elderly man apparently frustrated with the logjam trying to force the protestors to remove a barrier blocking the Pan American highway about 50 miles south of the capital, before pulling out a pistol and opening fire. Panama’s National Police later said they arrested the suspected gunman at the scene of the shooting. The unusual scene of violence is the latest flashpoint in some of the largest protests to hit the Central American nation since Panamanians flooded the streets en masse to demonstrate against the dictatorship of Manuel Noriega in the 1980s. For weeks, tens of thousands of protestors have vented their fury at a controversial mining contract given to Minera Panama, the local subsidiary of a Canadian mining company, to extract copper, a key component in electric car batteries. The contract allows Canada’s First Quantum Minerals to restart an open-pit copper mine surrounded by rain forest for the next 20 years, with the possibility of extending for another 20 years. Environmentalists say the mine could contaminate drinking water and devastate tracts of the 32,000 acres the company negotiated use of, in exchange for yearly payments of $375 million. Panama’s government has promised, however, that the mine will bring thousands of jobs in addition to the badly needed revenue. First Quantum Minerals did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on the protests. ‘Panamanians are suffering’ Opposition to the mine has united environmentalists, indigenous groups and teachers’ and construction unions who see allegations of backroom dealings between the government and the mining company as further evidence of widespread official corruption. The protestors accuse the government of selling off the nation’s natural resources at the same moment many Panamanians have been hit with the costs of rising inflation and are feeling the impacts of climate change. “Panamanians are suffering from lack of water, suffering from droughts, principally in the central provinces, animals that die, harvests that don’t happen,” environmental activist Martita Cornejo told CNN en Español. “The government did not guage the opposition from Panamanian society to a mining contract.” But former US ambassador to Panama John Feeley said while much of the outrage is real, the new contract announcement has also presented an opportunity for some groups to try to force their own concessions and win sweetheart deals from the government. “This is the horrible thing about Panama: Even when you protest corruption, you are probably facilitating it as well,” he said. Weeks of road blocks set up by protesters have shut down the country, preventing farmers from bringing crops to market and sequestering Panamanians in their homes. According to Panama’s association of company executives, the standstill inflicts $80 million in daily losses to local businesses. Celebrations to mark Panama’s independence from Colombia in 1903 were also widely cancelled last week. Panama’s President Laurentino Cortizo has defended the mining deal after its announcement on October 20, saying the agreement would create jobs and revenue for Panama. The mine had provided a rare economic bright spot for Panama where tourism has been slow to recover from the pandemic and the drought has reduced traffic though the Panama Canal, which is expected to a cause a drop of revenue of $200 million in 2024. “We made the right decision, not the easiest one,” Cortizo said. “After a difficult and complicated negotiation for more than two years, a contract was agreed in 2023 between the company Minera Panama and the Panamanian State, which guarantees much better terms and conditions for the country.” But as the protests have dragged on, Panama’s government has offered concessions that have done little to deflate the crisis: Last week, congress passed a moratorium on all future metal mining and Cortizo called for a nationwide referendum in December on the controversial project. In 2017, Panama’s Supreme Court declared another contract to operate the copper mine as unconstitutional, forcing the mining company and government to renegotiate the deal. Opponents now say they are hopeful that an announcement by Panama’s Supreme Court this week that it is examining the legality of the contract could once again kill the deal. Whatever the resolution to the crisis, it may be too late to repair the damage done to Panama’s reputation in the region as a rare bastion of political and economic stability.	Latin America Politics
Premier Dominic Perrottet rejects Scott Morrison's claims over remaining NSW public service vaccine mandates Dominic Perrottet has categorically dismissed former prime minister Scott Morrison’s claims the Premier has the power to drop sweeping vaccine mandates. New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet has rejected multiple claims made by former prime minister Scott Morrison about the state’s remaining vaccine mandates. In an exclusive interview with Sky News Australia’s Sharri Markson on Monday, Mr Morrison said the Premier could drop the restrictions on public servants despite Mr Perrottet declaring he did not “have the power”. Mr Morrison said vaccine mandates were the state governments’ “responsibility” while adding that “of course premiers can do something” about the remaining orders. But the NSW Premier doubled down and said all ongoing employment restrictions both in the private sector and sections of the public service were the responsibility of employers. “There is no public health order in place, these are dealt with on workplace health and safety by the employer,” Mr Perrottet said on Tuesday. “In relation to the NSW public service I’ve made my position very clear, those public health orders are not in place, those mandates have been removed. “Ultimately the advice I’ve received from the Department of Premier and Cabinet is that in certain areas it is a matter for the employer not a matter for me.” Mr Perrottet had previously indicated his vehement opposition to vaccine mandates. He told 2GB’s Ben Fordham that his position on the controversial policy was driven by evidence which he said indicated vaccines had no “impact at all on transmission of COVID”. On Tuesday, he again declared there “should not be” vaccine restrictions in workplaces of “low risk” as he passed the buck back to the Commonwealth government over ongoing mandates in care facilities. “My expectation and what’s to happen in the NSW public service in the main is those mandates have been removed,” Mr Perrottet said. “But ultimately the federal government had those provisions in place in aged care, in disability services and today we still have provisions in place in NSW in areas of healthcare as well where on the advice of the health professionals those provisions are put in place.” Mr Morrison on Monday said the federal government “did not support any other mandate” except those placed on aged and disability care facilities. But he also revealed the National Cabinet’s expert advisory panel, the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, had not recommended any sweeping vaccine requirements. “The expert medical panel that guided and advised throughout the pandemic, they never agreed to widescale vaccine mandates,” Mr Morrison said. “Individual states went down that path, the federal government and the medical expert advisory panel…never recommended to National Cabinet, never once, that those broad mandates should be applied.” But Mr Perrottet again disputed Mr Morrison’s claims, telling reporters on Tuesday: “That’s not my understanding and I spoke to (Health) Minister (Brad) Hazzard this morning in relation to that.” The comments come amid growing backlash within the community over ongoing requirements for many emergency service workers, health professionals and teachers to be vaccinated. While there are no NSW government public health orders requiring COVID-19 vaccinations, some workplaces including sections of the public service still have their own mandates. The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation no longer requires vaccine doses. However the expert medical panel does recommend the 2023 booster for adults whose last COVID-19 infection or booster was six months ago or longer.	Australia Politics
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is set to vote on Thursday to condemn a ban on Afghan women working for the UN in Afghanistan and call upon the Taliban administration to “swiftly reverse” its crackdown on the rights of women and girls. The resolution to be voted on — drafted by the United Arab Emirates and Japan and seen by Reuters — describes the ban as “unprecedented in the history of the United Nations” and asserts “the indispensable role of women in Afghan society”. Diplomats said it is expected to be adopted. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favour and no vetoes by Russia, China, the United States, Britain or France to pass. The draft resolution says the ban on Afghan women working for the UN “undermines human rights and humanitarian principles.” Earlier this month, the Taliban began enforcing the ban on Afghan women working for the UN after stopping most women working for humanitarian aid groups in December. Since toppling the Western-backed government in 2021, they have also tightened controls on women’s access to public life, including barring women from university and closing girls’ high schools. The Taliban say they respect women’s rights in accordance with their strict interpretation of Islamic law. Taliban officials said decisions on female aid workers are an “internal issue.” The draft Security Council resolution demands that all parties allow full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access “regardless of gender” and “stresses the urgent need to continue addressing the dire economic and humanitarian situation.” It also “recognises the need to help address the substantial challenges facing Afghanistan’s economy, including through efforts to enable the use of assets belonging to Afghanistan’s central bank for the benefit of the Afghan people”. The US froze billions of the bank’s reserves held in America and later transferred half of the money to a trust fund in Switzerland overseen by the US, Swiss and Afghan trustees. The draft resolution also stresses “the critical importance” of the UN’s continued presence across Afghanistan.	Human Rights
There is great interest in the foreign policy that Argentina’s new President, Javier Milei, will implement when he assumes office at the Casa Rosada on December 10th. His initial actions, since winning against Peronist Sergio Massa in the November 19th elections, provide insight into what might be his approach. Former US President Donald Trump was one of the first to congratulate Javier Milei. Trump expressed his enthusiasm on Truth Social, stating, “I am very proud of you. You will change your country and make Argentina great again.” The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, also congratulated Milei, which can be seen as an endorsement. Peskov expressed Moscow’s desire to further develop relations with Argentina. Additionally, even though the new right-wing President had promised to review trade relations with Beijing, calling them “vexatious”, congratulations also came from China’s Xi Jinping. Despite receiving congratulations laced in self-interest, Milei’s early actions were guided by Realpolitik. Lacking a majority in Parliament, Milei needs more presentable alliances on the international front, which is why his first trip abroad, in late November, was to the United States. Reuters confirmed that President Biden will not be present at the inauguration of Argentina’s new President. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed a strong desire to support Argentina, and the country could receive financing through the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust, as announced by Kristalina Georgieva, Director-General of the IMF, on Reuters. The future government’s designated Minister of Economy, Luis “Toto” Caputo, recently held crucial meetings in Washington to discuss the Argentine economy. During his visit, he met with Michael Kaplan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for the Western Hemisphere, and Jay Shambaugh, the Under Secretary for International Affairs. It is worth noting that the Treasury’s viewpoint holds great importance, as the United States is the primary shareholder of the IMF. In fact, the International Monetary Fund’s executive board only votes on Argentina with Washington’s endorsement. Caputo proposed to both the IMF and the Treasury an even more drastic adjustment than the organization had requested in the first instance, in addition to structural reforms that the IMF has long demanded. Buenos Aires requires immediate funds as Argentinian Central Bank reserves are depleted. It is crucial for Milei to swiftly renegotiate with the IMF as there is a pending disbursement of US $6.5 billion. Caputo presented Milei’s program to the Treasury, primarily based on a 5% GDP fiscal adjustment in 2024, state reform, privatizations, and deregulations. The newly elected President also met with Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, along with former US President Bill Clinton and Biden’s representative for Latin America, Christopher Dodd. John Kirby, the White House Spokesperson, mentioned that they are interested in understanding Milei’s ideas and policies and keeping communication channels open. Although Milei denies that climate change is man made, the meetings with the Biden administration, which diverge on this issue as well as on policies towards Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, were considered “positive” by both sides. In addition to the United States, the Argentine President-elect expressed his desire to establish “privileged and priority” relations with Israel. Argentina’s new administration positions itself as one of the most pro-Israeli governments in the country’s history. This stance is unique at a time when other Latin American nations, such as Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Bolivia, have expressed solidarity not just with the Palestinian people but even with the Hamas terrorist group. It is noteworthy that before his inauguration on December 10th, Milei has scheduled a visit to Israel. On the Latin American front, Brazilian President Lula da Silva is concerned about the future of Mercosur after the defeat of Sergio Massa and his Peronist party. Lula da Silva relied heavily on Massa as a key partner in their shared efforts within Mercosur. Currently, as Brazil presides over the common market for Latin America, which includes Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, a sensitive agreement with the European Union is being negotiated. However, this agreement is now in danger of being abandoned. During his election campaign, Milei mentioned several times the possibility of Argentina withdrawing from the negotiations and even leaving Mercosur in case of his victory. During a recent meeting with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira in Brasilia, Diana Mondino, Argentina’s future Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced that Argentina would not join the BRICS group, which originally comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and is being expanded. This statement ends any speculation about Argentina’s possible inclusion in the group. The big question looming over Milei’s presidency is his governing style. According to Benjamin Gedan, the Director of the Argentina Project at the Wilson Center in Washington, Milei is likely to moderate his program to broaden his support among the public and other political parties. If he does not, however, the country may face political deadlock, with trade unions resorting to social unrest and riots. This scenario would be costly for Argentina, but Milei’s economic proposals are not entirely unhinged. Recently, Peter Fischer, the head of the economic editorial staff of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, wrote an article on Milei’s election titled “Abolishing the Central Bank is a good idea”. In his article, Fischer suggests that dollarization may be the only practical solution for Argentina to tackle inflation. He also emphasizes that we should not judge Argentina’s new President by the same standards that apply in Switzerland. It is easy to see why Milei will have a tough job when he becomes the leader of Casa Rosada on December 10th. He will have to govern a country already in a state of decay. According to the most recent analyses and projections inflation has reached 143% and is set to rise to 200% by the end of the year. To address price distortions, combat inflation and satisfy the preferences of Argentines, who already save in dollars and conduct real estate transactions in US currency, Milei suggests two apparently unorthodox measures: the adoption of the US dollar as the official currency, and the elimination of the national Central Bank. According to The Economist, there is much skepticism regarding Argentina’s plan to dollarize its economy across the international community. However, Steve Hanke, Professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, is confident in Milei’s plan, “Argentina must dollarize to solve its problems. Historically, the countries that have done so have achieved lower inflation rates, smaller fiscal deficits, lower levels of debt than gross domestic product, fewer banking crises, and higher real growth rates than comparable countries that have instead left a free hand to central banks.” We will soon learn who is making the right assessment.	Latin America Politics

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