((PLAYBOOK SLUG:   RUSSIA ECON RUBLE

HEADLINE: 

TEASER:  The Bank of Russia, which has struggled to keep the country’s economy on track since the invasion of Ukraine, will hold an emergency meeting Tuesday

PUBLISHED AT: 08/14/23 at 6:31p   

BYLINE:   Rob Garver

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SCRIPT EDITORS:   Page, Megan Duzor

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Nearly 18 months after launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian government is facing significant economic challenges, with the country’s currency, the ruble, plunging in value on global markets.

On Monday, the ruble’s value accelerated its monthslong decline against benchmark currencies, like the U.S. dollar. With the Russian central bank calling an emergency meeting for Tuesday, the exchange rate was above 100 to the dollar, a roughly 30% decline in value since the beginning of the year.

Russia also revealed that the country’s current account balance, which tracks the relative value of goods and services exported from and imported to the country, had fallen to $5.4 billion in the second quarter of the year, a 93% year-over-year decline. The shrinking number, which suggests a significant decline in exports, is a bad sign for an economy that is largely reliant on the export of commodities such as fossil fuels and grain.

Economic realignment

After Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his country’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the country was immediately placed under myriad sanctions by a broad alliance of the world’s largest economies.

The economic sanctions on Russia have only increased over time, especially with the recent imposition of a price cap on Russian oil and gas, which makes it very difficult for Moscow to sell its most lucrative exports on the open market without offering a significant discount to prevailing prices.

In response to both the international sanctions regime and the Kremlin’s need to continue supplying its invading army, Russia has taken steps to significantly reorient its economy toward the support of the war effort. The result has been the transition of significant productive capacity away from commercially lucrative production and toward military hardware and materials.

Kremlin comments

In an article written for the government-run media organization Tass on Monday, Kremlin presidential aide Maxim Oreshkin acknowledged that the drop in the ruble’s value is a challenge but insisted that the currency’s value will recover quickly.

“The current exchange rate has largely deviated from fundamental levels, though it is expected to normalize in the near future,” Oreshkin wrote. “A weak ruble complicates the economy’s structural transformation and negatively influences real household earnings. A strong ruble is in the interests of the Russian economy,” he said.

In the same article, Oreshkin pinned the blame for the ruble’s slide on the Russian central bank, which has been working to stabilize the nation’s economy in the wake of the invasion.

“Soft monetary policy is the main source for the ruble’s weakening and acceleration of inflation. The Central Bank has all necessary tools for normalizing the situation as early as in the near future and lowering lending rates to sustainable levels,” Oreshkin wrote.

For its part, the Bank of Russia, as the country’s central bank is known, has blamed the ruble’s weakness on declining demand for Russia’s exports and an increased demand for the imports that remain available to Russian consumers, a claim supported by the country’s declining current account surplus.

Central bank struggles

The Bank of Russia has had an extremely difficult job in the wake of the invasion, attempting to stabilize the country’s currency and to keep the economy on track.

In the weeks following the invasion, after the value of the ruble began to plummet, the central bank announced a sharp increase in interest rates, which did much to preserve the ruble’s value on the global market.

Russia entered the war with large foreign currency reserves, held in banks around the world, which might have allowed it to purchase rubles on the open market during times of stress, helping to keep its value stable. However, international sanctions blocked Moscow’s access to much of its holdings.

At first, the Russian economy appeared surprisingly resilient in the face of sanctions. At one point in 2022 — even after the beginning of the invasion and the imposition of sanctions — the ruble was among the world’s best-performing currencies.

However, preserving that resilience has been difficult, as Russia has been forced to rely increasingly on China for trade, and to rely on a shadowy network of countries and corporations willing to purchase Western goods and resell them into Russia in violation of international sanctions.

Possible action

The Bank of Russia said Monday that its leaders would hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to address the ruble’s decline. The expectation is that the bank will authorize a significant hike in interest rates to shore up the currency’s value. The bank said on its website that an announcement of any decision would be made at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Moscow time.

The ruble recovered somewhat on global currency markets after the central bank’s announcement, however by late Monday afternoon, it continued to trade at more than 100 rubles to the dollar, significantly above its price from the previous trading session.
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Romania aims to double the monthly transit capacity of Ukrainian grain to its flagship Black Sea port of Constanta to 4 million metric tons in the coming months, particularly via the Danube River, Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu said.

Ukraine is one of the world’s top grain exporters and Russia has been attacking its agricultural and port infrastructure after refusing to extend a year-old safe passage grain corridor brokered by the United Nations and Turkey. The attacks included Ukraine’s inland Danube ports of Reni and Izmail. 

Before Russia pulled out of the safe passage corridor, the Danube ports accounted for around a quarter of Ukraine’s grain exports. Grain is loaded onto barges at the ports, shipped downriver through territorial waters of European Union and NATO-member Romania, and onwards from Romania’s Black Sea port of Constanta.

By hiring more staff to ease the passage of vessels into the Danube’s Sulina canal and by finalizing connecting infrastructure projects — many of them EU-funded — Romania could increase the transit capacity, Grindeanu told reporters.

“I have underlined the importance of Romanian rail, road and naval transport routes to maintain a constant flow for Ukrainian exports,” Grindeanu said after a meeting with representatives of the EU, the United States, Moldova and Ukraine in the Danube town of Galati.

“It was a good meeting which will lead us through the agreed measures to raise grain transit capacity from over 2 million tons per month at present to almost 4 million tons in the coming months.”

Grindeanu said Romania’s Danube administration agency will have 60 pilots to take ships in and out of the Sulina canal by the end of August. An EU-funded project to make sailing possible at night on Sulina will likely be completed in October, he said. 

“When all these investments are made and the number of pilots increases, Romanian ports of Galati and Braila will automatically be used alongside Reni and Izmail.”

Present at the meeting, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the Danube remained “one of the key and attractive logistics routes for export of Ukrainian agricultural products.”

“Ukraine also is interested in the possibility to organize additional places for roadside trans-shipment of vessels in the territorial waters in Romania in particular near the port of Constanta and near Sulina channel,” he said.

“We also asked Romanian side to ensure that at least 14 vessels per day to and from Ukrainian ports on the Danube through Sulina channel will be processed.” 
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Britain’s government Monday rejected claims that it was slow to evacuate asylum-seekers from a barge moored off the south coast of England once traces of the bacteria that causes Legionnaire’s disease were found in the ship’s water system.

In the latest critique of the government’s ballyhooed efforts to control migration and reduce the cost of housing a rising number of asylum-seekers, local health officials said over the weekend that the barge operator was told about the bacteria last Monday — the day before asylum-seekers were moved onto the Bibby Stockholm.

But Health Secretary Steve Barclay said ministers weren’t informed about the bacteria until Thursday and they took “very quick action.”

The Home Office, the central government department that oversees migration, moved all 39 men who were being housed on the ship into other accommodation on Friday.

Questions about the government’s response to the bacteria issue came after immigration dominated the weekend news, with a surge of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats during a period of good weather and at least six people dying when one boat sank off the coast of France. More than 1,600 people arrived in England on 30 boats from August 10-12, the government said Monday.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping the boats a key goal as he looks for issues that will bolster voter support for his Conservative Party, which is trailing badly in opinion polls, ahead of a general election that is expected to take place next year.

Part of that strategy is a plan to move asylum-seekers from hotel accommodations onto barges and disused military bases to make it less attractive for people to come to the U.K. and to cut the cost of housing those who seek shelter in Britain. Sunak also wants to deport people who enter the country illegally to Rwanda, though that plan has been stalled by court challenges.

The British government says it is spending about 6 million pounds ($7.6 million) a day on hotel rooms for 51,000 asylum-seekers. The number of people requesting asylum in Britain jumped to more than 167,000 at the end of last year, from about 45,000 in 2018, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

Ultimately the government hopes to house up to 500 adult men on the Bibby Stockholm.

Legionnaires’ disease is a serious respiratory infection caused when people inhale tiny water droplets containing the bacteria. It is not transmitted person-to-person but is found in the cooling systems of large buildings and water lines that aren’t in regular use. While symptoms are similar to the flu, Legionnaires’ disease can be treated with antibiotics.

The finger-pointing surrounding the bacteria is just the latest setback for the plan to move asylum-seekers onto the Bibby Stockholm. Fire officials previously raised concerns about safety precautions on the barge, and migrant rights advocates questioned whether it was appropriate to house people fleeing war and persecution in such cramped conditions.

In a reflection of simmering tensions even among Conservatives, former Home Secretary Priti Patel on Monday accused the government of being “secretive” and ”evasive” in its plans to house asylum-seekers at a former Royal Air Force base in Wethersfield, which is near her constituency in eastern England.

In a letter marked ”Urgent” and addressed to the present Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick, Patel laid bare her frustration with the government’s failure to provide details about the plan after the Daily Telegraph reported that the former military bases could be used for three to five years, or even longer. Patel said she had asked a series of parliamentary questions but had received “no definitive answer.”

”They’ve bypassed the usual planning requirements, claimed the site is temporary for emergency use only and now we see they’ve been planning to use the site for five years,” she wrote on X, the site formerly known as Twitter. “This is unacceptable.”
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The United States announced Monday a new security assistance package valued at $200 million for Ukraine. U.S. officials say it’s the first installment of a $6.2 billion aid package previously authorized under presidential drawdown authority guaranteeing the speedy delivery of existing Pentagon stockpiles to Ukraine.

The aid includes air defense munitions, artillery rounds, anti-armor capabilities, and additional mine-clearing equipment, said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who plays a central role in coordinating drawdowns, said in a statement.

Two U.S. officials told the Reuters news agency last Monday that the U.S. government would commit the $6.2 billion in funds to Ukraine after discovering a Pentagon accounting error that had overvalued billions of dollars of aid.

In May, the Pentagon said it had mistakenly overvalued U.S. weaponry shipped to Kyiv by inputting “replacement value” instead of “depreciated value” to calculate the billions’ worth of ammunition, missiles and other equipment it sent to Ukraine. The accounting error works to Kyiv’s benefit because more equipment can be sent.

Washington is currently working on a supplemental budget request to continue aid to Kyiv, the U.S. officials said.

“Every day, Russia is killing Ukrainian civilians and destroying civil infrastructure, while also weaponizing hunger and contributing to global food insecurity through its destruction of Ukraine’s civilian ports and grain infrastructure,” Blinken said in his statement.

“Russia started this war and could end it at any time by withdrawing its forces from Ukraine and stopping its brutal attacks. Until it does, the United States and our allies and partners will stand united with Ukraine, for as long as it takes,” he added.

Ukrainian officials said Monday a Russian aerial attack on the southern port city of Odesa injured at least three people.

The military also said air defenses downed all 15 drones Russia used in the attack, as well as eight sea-based missiles, but that falling debris caused damage on the ground.

Firefighters battled several fires that broke out as a result of the falling rocket fragments, the regional governor, Oleh Kiper, said on Telegram.

Watch related video by Heather Murdock from Odesa:

Russian shelling Sunday killed at least seven people, including a 23-day-old girl, and injured at least 22 others in Ukraine’s Kherson region.

“Her brother, who was only 12 years old, was taken to the hospital. Unfortunately, they could not save him. He died from severe wounds. The children’s mother, her name was Olesia, she was only 39 years old, died. My condolences,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

Black Sea

Black Sea ports are trying to clear a backlog of cargo vessels around the waterway. Dozens of ships dropped anchor in various Black Sea ports after Russia’s navy fired warning shots Sunday at a Palau-flagged cargo vessel headed to the Ukrainian port of Izmail.

There is growing unease among insurers and shipping companies. They fear that war premiums could rise to cover the heightened risk of ships becoming damaged or sinking in the area.

The cost of a Black Sea war risk premium, which is typically renewed every seven days and is in addition to annual insurance expenses, was estimated at tens of thousands of dollars per ship for the voyage.

“The security guarantees given to shipping by both sides under the BSGI (Black Sea Grain Initiative) are no longer in effect, which means that the Ukrainian Black Sea ports are effectively blockaded and out of use for commercial vessels,” Norwegian ship insurer Gard said in an advisory note last week. It added that Ukrainian sea ports in the northwestern area were no longer categorized as “safe” ports contractually.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry on Monday condemned what it called gross violations of international law by Russia’s navy after the warning shots were fired.

A Ukrainian foreign ministry statement called on the international community to “take decisive action to prevent Russian Federation’s actions that impede the peaceful passage of vessels through the Black Sea.”

Ukraine also urged its partners to “strengthen their efforts to preserve the functioning of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which is crucial to ensuring global food security.”

In July, Russia withdrew from the Black Sea grain agreement, which had allowed shipments to sail safely across the waterway.

The Russian defense ministry said Sunday the shots were fired because the captain of the Sukru Okan had ignored demands from the warship to stop. After firing the shots, Russian military troops descended from a helicopter onto the cargo ship.

After Russian forces inspected the Sukru Okan, the vessel was allowed to proceed to Izmail, the defense ministry said. Izmail is the main export route for Ukrainian agricultural products.

China-Russia

Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu is visiting Russia and Belarus in a show of support for those nations which the West has sought to isolate over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Li Monday began the six-day trip. He is scheduled to deliver an address at the Moscow Conference on International Security and meet with defense leaders from Russia and other nations, the defense ministry said on its social media account, citing spokesperson Col. Wu Qian.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will deliver remarks on the topic of the “Majority World countries’ search for ways to development outside Western mechanisms, including strengthening multilateral associations of a new type,” Russia’s official TASS news agency reported.

It said representatives from about 100 countries and eight international organizations had been invited to attend.

Some information in this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
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Australia and England clash in the Women’s World Cup semi-finals on Wednesday in Sydney in the latest installment of a long-standing sporting rivalry between the countries.

Co-hosts Australia have the nation behind them for the first World Cup semi-final in their history and Stadium Australia will be heaving with an anticipated crowd of about 80,000.

Their heart-stopping penalty shootout win over France in the quarter-finals on Saturday was one of the most-viewed television sporting events in Australia in almost two decades.

But England are the European champions and will be favorites to reach the final of the World Cup for the first time, even if they must face down a hostile crowd.

It was put to England’s Dutch coach Sarina Wiegman that she probably did not fully appreciate the enormity of a match between Australia and England.

“It’s going be really big,” she said, with Spain or Sweden awaiting the winner.

“But now I’ve had a couple of questions about that so it’s probably going to be bigger than I imagined now.

“I’ll talk to my players and staff and see what that rivalry is.”

The storied sporting rivalry between Australia and England has already witnessed several episodes this year.

Australia won both the men’s and women’s Ashes cricket series. Australia’s netball team then rubbed salt in English wounds by beating them in the recent World Cup final.

England football captain Millie Bright understands how much it means to fans of both countries.

“I don’t think you can’t look forward to that game,” she told reporters after England came back from a goal down to defeat Colombia 2-1 in the quarter-finals.

“This is the biggest tournament in the women’s game to date so what a game to be a part of.”

She added: “We’re not just coming here to compete; we’re coming here to get the job done and we’ve shown that in our mentality and character in every single game.”

Teammate Lauren Hemp, who scored the equalizer against Colombia, said: “Australia, bring it on.

“It’s going to be a packed stadium with so many Australian fans, but we know if we play at our best we are unstoppable.”

England will again be without the banned Lauren James, but they did not miss her in a convincing performance against Colombia in front of a crowd roaring on the South Americans.

Perfectly primed

England may be ranked six places above the Matildas in the FIFA rankings but the home side are riding on a wave of excitement and acclaim.

They have used the support to lift them in difficult moments and will be banking on more of the same at the imposing Stadium Australia.

They also go into the game after defeating England 2-0 away in an April friendly, ending the Lionesses’ proud 30-match unbeaten run.

Australia also have striker and skipper Sam Kerr back in the frame after a calf injury.

Coach Tony Gustavsson’s biggest decision will be whether to start the prolific Chelsea forward.

He has named an unchanged side in their last three games, but Kerr played 65 minutes against France and it looks increasingly likely she will play a full part.

“What’s good is that we have continuity in what we’re doing,” said Gustavsson.

“We have a clear playing style, so we don’t really need to train to be tactically prepared.

“It’s more about making sure we’re mentally and physically prepared for the semi-final. These players are on a mission.”

Vice-captain Steph Catley said they were “just primed for this moment.”

“We’ve got a perfect little balance of a core group that understand the gravity of the situations and a small group of younger players who might not understand the gravity, which is kind of bliss,” she told reporters.

“You’ve got their confidence and their flair, and then we’ve got mature [players] bringing an understanding to moments like that.”
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Polish authorities arrested two Russians and charged them with espionage for allegedly distributing propaganda material on behalf of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group.

Poland’s Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said Monday on social media that the country’s internal security service and police arrested the Russians, and that the accused had distributed the materials in the cities of Krakow and Warsaw.

Polish authorities said the Russians distributed about 300 leaflets with links to Wagner recruitment websites and were in possession of 3,000 pro-Wagner items.

The Russians were identified only as Aleksiej T. and Andriej G., and were due to receive up to $5,000 for their activities, authorities said.

Poland has said it will deploy 10,000 troops to the area along its border with Belarus amid concerns about the presence of Wagner fighters training in Belarus.

Some information for this story came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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All 105 soccer fans suspected of being involved in extensive clashes in the Greek capital that ended in the death of a 29-year-old AEK Athens supporter have been ordered to be detained pending their trial, authorities said Sunday.

Three examining magistrates and two prosecutors questioned the detained fans in batches — 30 on Friday, 40 on Saturday and 35 on Sunday — and decided each day whether to detain them pending trial. One suspect, who is hospitalized under guard, gave a deposition to a visiting magistrate.

The 102 Croat citizens and three Greeks have all denied any culpability in the fatal stabbing of Michalis Katsouris.

He died from a stab wound and 10 others were injured when scores of Croatian supporters wielding wooden clubs and metal bats attacked bystanders outside AEK’s Opap Arena Aug. 7, police said.

A Champions League qualifier between AEK and Dinamo Zagreb that was due to be held last week was called off by UEFA, soccer’s governing body in Europe, because of the violence.

Authorities will be able to search cellphone signals at the two sites of the clashes — outside AEK’s stadium and at a metro station — to determine any other involvement.

Prosecutors slapped blanket charges, a total of 11, on the 105 fans. Four of the charges are felonies — including premeditated murder and membership of a criminal organization — and the rest misdemeanors.

The suspects will be dispersed among several jails across the country.

UEFA’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, will meet Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday morning. They will then both meet with ministers, the head of Greece’s Football Federation and the owners of the four largest soccer clubs — AEK, Olympiakos, Panathinaikos and PAOK Thessaloniki.

Wednesday, the UEFA Super Cup final between Manchester City and Sevilla will be held at Olympiakos’ stadium near Piraeus.
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Paris prosecutors Sunday took over the investigation into the deaths of at least six migrants whose boat sank trying to cross the Channel between France and England, as police hunted the traffickers responsible.

Prosecutors in the channel port of Boulogne opened an investigation Saturday, hours after the tragedy, but the investigation was switched to Paris, officials in both offices told AFP.

Six Afghan men died when a migrant boat thought to have been carrying up to 66 people bound for England sank in the Channel in the early hours of Saturday.

Most of those on board were Afghans with some Sudanese “and a few minors,” said the French coastal authority Premar. British and French coastguard rescued 59 people, but the death toll remains provisional.

Although the sea search was called off at nightfall Saturday, vessels passing through the Channel Sunday were urged to be vigilant. Premar stressed Sunday: “We don’t know if we’re really looking for anyone.”

On Saturday, France’s junior minister for the sea, Herve Berville, denounced the “criminal traffickers” he said were behind the deaths, promising to fight their smuggling networks.

On Sunday, around 200 people, gathered in Calais to the port to pay tribute to those who had died.

They marched behind a large banner listing the names of the 376 migrants that activists say have died attempting the perilous Channel crossing since 1999.

“These people are dying to general indifference,” said a statement from “Deces” (Death) an alliance of associations who organize the burial or the repatriation of the victims of the crossings.

The statement denounced the government for continually harassing migrants and denying them their basic rights and asked if the authorities in England and France would allow the survivors of Saturday’s shipwreck to be reunited with their families.

Migrants undeterred  

Despite the dangers, other migrants camped along the north coast of France, remain determined to attempt the crossing.

“Crossing the Channel, it’s playing with our lives,” Hajji Mahmud said, from one makeshift campsite at Loon-Plage.

But since neither the French nor the British authorities were willing to help, he added, “We’ll suffer until we manage to cross.”

The Channel between France and Britain is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and strong currents are common.

Around 1,000 migrants are on the northern French coast waiting for an opportunity to cross the Channel, according to the authorities.

More than 100,000 migrants have crossed the Channel on small boats from France to southeast England since Britain began publicly recording the arrivals in 2018, official figures revealed Friday.

French authorities have stepped up patrols and other deterrent measures after London agreed in March to send Paris hundreds of millions of euros annually toward the effort.  

The numbers still attempting the crossing have piled pressure on British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government, which has made “stopping the boats” a key priority ahead of general elections due next year.

Last year saw a record 45,000 migrants make the crossing.
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Greek prosecutors Sunday charged 35 more people in connection with the fatal stabbing of a young Greek football fan before a Champions League game, taking the total to face charges over the incident to 105.

Of that number, 102 are from Croatia and suspected of links with the ‘Bad Blue Boys,’ hard-line supporters of Dinamo Zagreb who traveled to Greece last Monday, the day before their side’s Champions League qualifier against AEK Athens.

The others are two Greeks and an Albanian. Authorities are hunting for another Greek national, also suspected of being involved in the fatal attack, according to the same judicial source.

Michalis Katsouris, 29, died after being stabbed in a mass brawl which erupted on the streets of the Greek capital.

Following his death, UEFA postponed Tuesday’s third-round qualifier between the two sides until August 19.

Those remanded in custody have all denied involvement in the death of Katsouris.  

Charges they face include murder, involvement in a criminal organization and illegal possession of weapons.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday welcomed a recent Saudi-led summit on a peace settlement to end the fighting in Ukraine and called for further diplomatic efforts.

Representatives from around 40 countries, including China, Germany, India and the United States, took part in last weekend’s gathering in Jeddah, though Russia was not invited.

“It makes sense for us to continue these talks, because they increase the pressure on Russia to realize that it has taken the wrong path and that it must withdraw its troops and make peace possible,” Scholz said in his annual summer interview with German broadcaster ZDF.

Similar international talks to discuss a path toward peace also took place in Copenhagen in June.

Scholz called the talks in Denmark and Saudi Arabia, held at the level of foreign policy advisers, “very special.”

“They are very important and they are really only the beginning,” Scholz said.

Ukraine on Monday said it was “satisfied” with the Saudi summit during which Kyiv sought to drum up support for its 10-point peace plan, including the full withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.

Moscow, meanwhile, said a peace settlement was only possible if Kyiv put down its arms.

More than a year after Russia’s invasion, Ukraine launched a highly anticipated counteroffensive in June after stockpiling Western weapons. But it has struggled to make headway in the face of stiff Russian resistance.

Kyiv has repeatedly asked Berlin for long-range Taurus cruise missiles to boost its efforts, but Germany has so far resisted amid concerns the weapons could reach Russian territory and widen the conflict.

Scholz reiterated in the interview that Germany was now the second-biggest supplier of military assistance to Ukraine after the United States.

But on the issue of sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine, the chancellor remained vague.

“As in the past, we will always review every single decision very carefully, what is possible, what makes sense, what can be our contribution,” Scholz said.
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Poland’s ruling party wants to ask voters in a referendum whether they support accepting “thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa” as part of a European Union relocation plan, the prime minister said Sunday, as his conservative party seeks to hold onto power in an October parliamentary election.

Mateusz Morawiecki announced the referendum question in a new video published on social media. It indicated that his party, Law and Justice, is seeking to use migration in its election campaign, a tactic that helped it take power in 2015.

Poland is hosting more than a million Ukrainian refugees, who are primarily white and Christian, but officials have long made clear that they consider Muslims and others from different cultures to be a threat to the nation’s cultural identity and security.

EU interior ministers in June endorsed a plan to share out responsibility for migrants entering Europe without authorization, the root of one of the bloc’s longest-running political crises.

The Polish government wants to hold the referendum alongside the parliamentary election, scheduled for Oct. 15. Morawiecki said that the question would say: “Do you support the admission of thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa under the forced relocation mechanism imposed by the European bureaucracy?”

The video announcing the question includes scenes of burning cars and other street violence in western Europe. A Black man licks a huge knife in apparent anticipation of committing a crime. Party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski then says, “Do you want this to happen in Poland as well? Do you want to cease being masters of your own country?”

Leaders have announced two other questions in recent days. One will ask voters for their views on privatizing state-owned enterprises and the other will ask if they support raising the retirement age, which Law and Justice lowered to 60 for women and 65 for men.

The questions are set up to depict the opposition party, Civic Platform, as a threat to the interests of Poles. The pro-business and pro-EU party, which governed from 2007 to 2015, raised the retirement age during its time in power, favored some privatization and signaled a willingness to accept a few thousand refugees before it lost power. 

The video takes aim directly at Civic Platform leader Donald Tusk, a former president of the European Council. “Tusk is the greatest threat to our security, he is the greatest threat to Poland’s security,” Morawiecki says. “Let’s not let Tusk — as an envoy of the Brussels elites — demolish security in Poland.”

Europe’s asylum system collapsed eight years ago after well over a million people entered the bloc — most of them fleeing conflict in Syria — and overwhelmed reception capacities in Greece and Italy, in the process sparking one of the EU’s biggest political crises.

The 27 EU nations have bickered ever since over which countries should take responsibility for people arriving without authorization, and whether other members should be obliged to help them cope.

Initially Poland was neither an entry country nor a destination country for migrants and refugees. It became a front-line state two years ago when migrants began crossing from Belarus, something European authorities view as an effort by the Russian ally to generate turmoil in Poland and other European countries.

Poland responded by building a large wall on its border. It has recently increased its military presence on the border, fearing an uptick in migration and other possible instability.

As well as disagreements over migration, Law and Justice has long been in conflict with the EU over a perception by the bloc that the Warsaw government has been eroding democratic norms.
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The Russian defense ministry said Sunday that a Russian warship fired warning shots on a Palau-flagged cargo vessel headed to the Ukrainian port of Izmail.

The ministry said the shots were fired because the captain of the Sudru Okan had ignored demands from the warship to stop. After firing the shots, Russian military descended from a helicopter onto the cargo ship.

After Russian forces inspected the Sudru Okan, the vessel was allowed to proceed to Izmail, the defense ministry said. Izmail is main export route for Ukrainian agricultural products.

Russia withdrew from a Black Sea grain agreement in July.

Meanwhile in the Kherson region Sunday, Russian shelling killed at least five people, including a days-old baby, Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko announced on messaging app Telegram.

“A husband, wife and their 23-day-old daughter were killed by enemy artillery fire,” Klymenko posted. He said the couple’s 12-year-old son had been hospitalized in critical condition.

Meanwhile, two men were killed in the village of Stanislav and another was injured, Klymenko said.

Russian troops withdrew from Kherson last year, but they continue to target the area.

Russia shot down a Ukrainian drone Sunday over Russia’s southwestern Belgorod region, according to Tass, the Russian state news agency. No fatalities or damages were reported.

Also Sunday, the British defense ministry said there was “a realistic possibility” that Russia was no longer funding the Wagner Group, owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who openly called for a rebellion in June against Russia’s leadership.

The ministry said the Wagner Group may be looking to Belarus for funding, but Wagner’s “sizable force would be a significant and potentially unwelcome drain on modest Belarusian resources.”

On Saturday, Russia’s foreign ministry said it thwarted Ukraine’s rocket strike on the Crimean Bridge, calling it a “terrorist attack” and vowing retaliation.

Ukrainian forces targeted the Crimean Bridge and several other unspecified targets Saturday on the Crimean Peninsula with S-200 rockets and drones, but there were no casualties or damage, according to Russia’s defense ministry.

The 19-kilometer-long bridge that connects Russian-annexed Crimea to Russia has come under repeated attack from Ukrainian forces since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Meanwhile, the British defense ministry said Saturday that Russian troops fighting in Ukraine are about to get a break from the fighting. In its daily intelligence update, the ministry said that early in July the commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army was fired, probably partially because he said elements of his forces “needed to be relieved.”

The ministry said Russia is “likely” redeploying airborne forces’ units from the Kherson region to the heavily contested Orikhiv sector in Zaporizhzhia oblast.  The report said the 58th Combined Arms Army has been engaged in combat since June.

In addition, the defense ministry report said the arrival of the airborne forces’ units will also allow the 70th and 71st Motor Rifle Regiments, which have been under heavy fire, to take a break from the front line. However, this move, according to the report, “will likely leave Russia’s defenses near the east bank of the Dnipro River weaker, where they’re increasingly harassed by Ukrainian amphibious raids.”

Belarus provocations

Poland said Saturday that it has increased the number of troops on its border with Belarus as a deterrent amid “destabilizing” efforts by its pro-Russian neighbor.

Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak visited some of the troops recently deployed close to the Belarusian border.

He said this week that up to 10,000 Polish Army and Territorial Defense troops will be stationed on the border with Belarus. Some will be in active training and patrolling, others on standby.

Two Belarusian military helicopters briefly entered Poland’s airspace last week, a move considered by Warsaw to be a provocation.

Polish Defense Minister Blaszczak said that such actions by Belarus “pose a threat to our security” and for that reason Poland is building up its “deterrence potential.”

According to analysts, Poland has become the personification of the “collective enemy of Russia” due to its support for Ukraine and because Western military equipment sent to Ukraine goes through Poland.

Belarusian independent analyst Valery Karbalevich told The Associated Press that “Moscow very much doesn’t like that it is Poland that insists on new sanctions, advocates for Kyiv and actively supports Ukraine’s accession to the EU and NATO.”

Poland is also concerned about the presence in Belarus of Wagner mercenaries and about sending migrants to the border in an act of “hybrid warfare” aimed at creating instability in the West.

Russian airstrikes

An elderly woman and a police officer were killed early Saturday by Russian shelling on a settlement in Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine and Zaporizhzhia in the south. Twelve others were injured, Ukrainian officials said.

On Friday, Russia’s airstrikes also targeted civilian infrastructure in western Ukraine, killing an eight-year-old child. In a statement late Friday, France condemned the attacks as “war crimes and must not go unpunished,” France’s foreign ministry said in a statement late on Friday.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would reinforce its military support to Ukraine, notably in strengthening air defense capacities, in close cooperation with its partners.

“France’s support to Ukrainian and international jurisdictions to fight against the impunity of crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine remains total,” the statement read.

US-Ukraine

The White House says it is committed to training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s in the United States once such training programs in Europe have reached capacity.

White House spokesman John Kirby said at a press briefing Friday it is important to speed up the process of pilot training on the military aircraft as well as caring for maintenance and other logistics.

“It’s going to be a while before jets can show up in Ukraine and for them to be integrated into the air fleet,” he said. “And it’s not just a function of the transfer of actual airframes, but, as you mentioned, the appropriate training for pilots as well as setting up all the maintenance, logistics and sustainment efforts.”

Kirby noted that that English language training for Ukrainian specialists is also critical.

“All the tech manuals are in English and all the controls inside the aircraft are in English,” said Kirby. “And so, a pilot is going to have to have at least some basic proficiency in the language.

The Biden administration has asked Congress to provide more than $13 billion in emergency defense funding to Ukraine and an additional $8 billion for humanitarian support through the end of the year.

The White House supplemental spending request for Ukraine may prove to be too much for Republicans, who are facing great pressure from the party’s presidential frontrunner, Donald Trump, who has a tepid attitude toward the war, while a recent CNN poll indicated declining support for the effort among some voters.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a new round of sanctions Friday, targeting prominent members of Russia’s financial elite, along with a Russian business association.

“Wealthy Russian elites should disabuse themselves of the notion that they can operate business as usual while the Kremlin wages war against the Ukrainian people,” said the deputy secretary of the treasury, Wally Adeyemo. “Our international coalition will continue to hold accountable those enabling the unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.”

Some information in this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press, and Agence France-Presse. 
…

Russia shot down a Ukrainian drone Sunday over Russia’s southwestern Belgorod region, according to Tass, the Russian state news agency. No fatalities or damages were reported.

Also Sunday, the British Defense Ministry said there is “a realistic possibility” that Russia is no longer funding the Wagner Group, owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who openly called for a rebellion in June against Russia’s leadership.

The ministry said the Wagner Group may be looking to Belarus for funding, but Wagner’s “sizable force would be a significant and potentially unwelcome drain on modest Belarusian resources.”

On Saturday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it thwarted Ukraine’s rocket strike on the Crimean Bridge, calling it a “terrorist attack” and vowing retaliation.

Ukrainian forces targeted the Crimean Bridge and several other unspecified targets Saturday on the Crimean Peninsula with S-200 rockets and drones, but there were no casualties or damage, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry.

The 19-kilometer-long bridge that connects Russian-annexed Crimea to Russia has come under repeated attack from Ukrainian forces since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Meanwhile, the British Defense Ministry said Saturday that Russian troops fighting in Ukraine are about to get a break from the fighting. In its daily intelligence update, the ministry said that early in July the commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army was fired, probably partially because he said elements of his forces “needed to be relieved.”

The ministry said Russia is “likely” redeploying airborne forces’ units from the Kherson region to the heavily contested Orikhiv sector in Zaporizhzhia oblast. The report said the 58th Combined Arms Army has been engaged in combat since June.

In addition, the Defense Ministry report said the arrival of the airborne forces’ units will also allow the 70th and 71st Motor Rifle Regiments, which have been under heavy fire, to take a break from the front line. However, this move, according to the report, “will likely leave Russia’s defenses near the east bank of the Dnipro River weaker, where they’re increasingly harassed by Ukrainian amphibious raids.”

Belarus provocations

Poland said Saturday that it has increased the number of troops on its border with Belarus as a deterrent amid “destabilizing” efforts by its pro-Russian neighbor.

Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak visited some of the troops recently deployed close to the Belarus border.

He said this week that up to 10,000 Polish Army and Territorial Defense troops will be stationed on the border with Belarus. Some will be in active training and patrolling, others on standby.

Two Belarus military helicopters briefly entered Poland’s airspace last week, a move considered by Warsaw to be a provocation.

Polish Defense Minister Blaszczak said that such actions by Belarus “pose a threat to our security” and for that reason Poland is building up its “deterrence potential.”

According to analysts, Poland has become the personification of the “collective enemy of Russia” due to its support for Ukraine and because western military equipment sent to Ukraine goes through Poland.

Belarusian independent analyst Valery Karbalevich told The Associated Press that “Moscow very much doesn’t like that it is Poland that insists on new sanctions, advocates for Kyiv and actively supports Ukraine’s accession to the EU and NATO.”

Poland is also concerned about the presence in Belarus of Wagner Group mercenaries and about sending migrants to the border in an act of “hybrid warfare” aimed at creating instability in the West.

Russian airstrikes

An elderly woman and a police officer were killed early Saturday by Russian shelling on a settlement in Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine and Zaporizhzhia in the south. Twelve others were injured, Ukrainian officials said.

On Friday, Russia’s airstrikes also targeted civilian infrastructure in western Ukraine killing an 8-year-old child. In a statement late Friday, France condemned the attacks as “war crimes and must not go unpunished,” France’s foreign ministry said in a statement late on Friday.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would reinforce its military support to Ukraine, notably in strengthening air defense capacities, in close cooperation with its partners.

“France’s support to Ukrainian and international jurisdictions to fight against the impunity of crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine remains total,” the statement read.

U.S.-Ukraine

The White House says it is committed to training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s in the United States once such training programs in Europe have reached capacity.

White House spokesman John Kirby said at a press briefing Friday it is important to speed up the process of pilot training on the military aircraft as well as caring for maintenance and other logistics.

“It’s going to be a while before jets can show up in Ukraine and for them to be integrated into the air fleet,” he said. “And it’s not just a function of the transfer of actual airframes, but … the appropriate training for pilots as well as setting up all the maintenance, logistics and sustainment efforts.”

Kirby noted that English language training for Ukrainian specialists is also critical.

“All the tech manuals are in English and all the controls inside the aircraft are in English,” said Kirby. “And so, a pilot is going to have to have at least some basic proficiency in the language.”

The Biden administration has asked Congress to provide more than $13 billion in emergency defense funding to Ukraine and an additional $8 billion for humanitarian support through the end of the year.

The White House supplemental spending request for Ukraine may prove to be too much for Republicans, who are facing great pressure from the party’s presidential front-runner, Donald Trump, who has a tepid attitude toward the war, while a recent CNN poll indicated declining support for the effort among some voters.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a new round of sanctions Friday, targeting prominent members of Russia’s financial elite, along with a Russian business association.

“Wealthy Russian elites should disabuse themselves of the notion that they can operate business as usual while the Kremlin wages war against the Ukrainian people,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo. “Our international coalition will continue to hold accountable those enabling the unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.”

Some information in this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press, and Agence France-Presse.
…

The post-pandemic travel boom and the high ticket prices that come with it show no signs of slowing well into next year, despite economic uncertainty and dwindling household savings.

While questions linger about how much longer consumers will continue to indulge, airlines, hotels and analysts say travel has remained a top priority instead of the “nice to have” purchase as in years past.

International travel reached around 90% of pre-pandemic levels this year, according to the International Air Transport Association. The rebound was led by visitors to Southern Europe from cooler climates despite soaring temperatures and included swaths of American tourists flying overseas.

TUI, one of the world’s biggest holiday firms, on Wednesday reported its first post-pandemic net profit on the back of robust bookings and travel demand in the three months to the end of June.

“In the wake of the pandemic, a number of folks have reset their priorities and have focused on splurging on travel,” said Dan McKone, a senior partner at strategy consultancy L.E.K. Consulting.

That desire may even strengthen next year, according to travel tech firm Amadeus, whose recent survey showed that 47% of respondents said international travel was a high-priority discretionary spending category for 2023 and 2024, compared with 42% who ranked it as such the previous year. Amadeus sampled travelers from Britain, France, the United States, Germany and Singapore.

Those trends lifted quarterly earnings of travel companies, with cruise operators like Royal Caribbean reporting record results in recent weeks. Travel operators Booking Holdings and Airbnb said revenue was up 27% and 18%, respectively, and air carrier Delta and hotel giant Marriott International forecast strong future demand.

German carrier Lufthansa said that bookings for the rest of the year currently exceed 90% of the pre-pandemic level and that the summer season is extending into October. United Airlines is expanding Pacific coverage this autumn with new flights to Manila, Hong Kong, Taipei and Tokyo.

Overall, global passenger demand is estimated to grow 22% year-on-year in 2023 and 6% in 2024, Moody’s investor service said on Tuesday. Ticket prices, which in some cases have increased by double-digit percentages since the pandemic, are unlikely to plummet.

“Everyone is pricing against demand, and this is the basic economic equation,” Jozsef Varadi, CEO of budget carrier Wizz Air, told Reuters. “We are in a high-input cost environment. So, that puts pressure on pricing.”

Travelers to Europe and Asia are not expected to see substantial price relief this autumn, said Hayley Berg, lead economist at online travel agency Hopper.

She expects air fares on long-haul international routes to remain high until supply outpaces pre-pandemic levels, demand normalizes and jet fuel prices decline further.

The weak spot is U.S. domestic travel, as the end of COVID-19 testing restrictions has unleashed pent-up demand by Americans to take vacations overseas.

“They said earlier in the year, ‘Look, I’m going to do that international trip that we’ve been meaning to do,’ and that’s created a lot of crowded places with Americans in Europe,” Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel told Reuters.

International inbound travel to the United States in May rose 26% year over year to 5.37 million visitors but is still about 20% lower than pre-pandemic visitor volumes reported in May 2019, according to the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office.

Average domestic airfare is currently $246 round-trip, down 8% from 2022, according to travel booking app Hopper.

Executives said U.S. hotel rooms may become more expensive due to lack of supply, but softening demand may moderate that effect.

“Growth is expected to remain higher internationally than in the U.S. and Canada, where we’re seeing a return to more normal seasonal patterns,” said Marriott CFO Kathleen Oberg.

Looking ahead, some airline groups like British Airways owner IAG said it is unclear whether demand can be sustained. Analysts have said dwindling consumer savings could cause a downturn in spending if inflation fails to let up.
…

An investigation has been launched into the death of a Pakistani porter near the peak of the world’s most treacherous mountain, a Pakistani mountaineer said Saturday.  

The investigation was prompted by allegations that dozens of climbers eager to reach the summit walked past the porter after he was gravely injured in a fall. 

The accusations surrounding events on July 27 on K2, the world’s second-highest peak, overshadowed a record established by Norwegian climber Kristin Harila and her Sherpa guide Tenjin. By climbing K2 that day, they became the world’s fastest climbers, scaling the world’s 14 highest mountains in 92 days. 

Harila rejected any responsibility for the death of the porter, Mohammed Hassan, a 27-year-old father of three who slipped and fell off a narrow trail in a particularly dangerous area of K2 known as the bottleneck.  

In an Instagram post Friday, she wrote that no one was at fault in the tragic death. 

Two other climbers on K2 that day, Austrian Wilhelm Steindl and German Philip Flaemig, aborted their climb because of weather, but they said they reconstructed the events later by reviewing drone footage. 

The footage showed dozens of climbers passing a gravely injured Hassan instead of coming to his rescue, Steindl told The Associated Press on Saturday. He alleged the porter could have been saved if the other climbers, including Harila and her team, had given up attempts to reach the summit. 

Steindl added that the footage shows “a man trying to rub (Hassan’s) chest, trying to keep him warm, to keep him alive somehow. You can see that the man is desperate.” 

“There is a double standard here,” Steindl said. “If I or any other Westerner had been lying there, everything would have been done to save them. Everyone would have had to turn back to bring the injured person back down to the valley.” 

Steindl said July 27 was the only day in this season on which conditions were good enough for mountaineers to reach the summit of K2, which explains why there were so many climbers who were so eager to get to the top. 

“I don’t want to kind of directly blame anybody,” Steindl said. “I’m just saying there was no rescue operation initiated and that’s really very, very tragic because that’s actually the most normal thing one would do in a situation like that.” 

Harila told Sky News that Hassan had been dangling from a rope, head down, after his fall at the bottleneck, which she described as “probably the most dangerous part of K2.” She said that after about an hour, her team was able to pull him back onto the trail. 

At some point, she and another person from her team decided to continue to the top while another team member stayed with Hassan, giving him warm water and oxygen from his own mask, the climber said. 

Harila said she decided to continue moving toward the summit because her forward fixing team also had run into difficulties, which she did not further detail in the interview. 

An investigation has been launched into Hassan’s death, said Karrar Haidri, the secretary of the Pakistan Alpine Club, a sports organization that also serves as the governing body for mountaineering in Pakistan. The investigation is being conducted by officials in the Gilgit-Baltistan region that has jurisdiction over K2, Haidri said. 

Anwar Syed, the head of Lela Peak Expedition, the company that Hassan was working for, said he died about 150 meters (490 feet) below the summit. He said several people tried to help, providing oxygen and warmth, to no avail. 

Syed said that because of the bottleneck’s dangerous conditions, it would not be possible to retrieve Hassan’s body for his family. He said his company had given money to Hassan’s family and would continue to help but did not elaborate. 

Steindl visited Hassan’s family and set up a crowd-funding campaign. After three days, donations reached more than $125,000 Saturday. 

“I saw the suffering of the family,” Steindl told AP. “The widow told me that her husband did all this so that his children would have a chance in life, so that they could go to school.” 
…

Armenia called on the U.N. Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on the worsening humanitarian situation in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is mostly populated by Armenians. 

In his letter to the president of the U.N. Security Council, sent Friday and released by Armenia’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday, Armenian U.N. Ambassador Mher Margaryan said the people of Nagorno-Karabakh were “on the verge of a full-fledged humanitarian catastrophe.” 

Since December, Azerbaijan has blockaded the only road leading from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, severely restricting the delivery of food, medical supplies and other essentials to the region of about 120,000 people. 

“The Armenian government asks for the intervention of the U.N. Security Council, as the main body responsible for maintaining international peace and security, to prevent mass atrocities, including war crimes, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and genocide,” Margaryan wrote. 

Former prosecutor’s appeal

Armenia’s appeal comes after the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court warned Tuesday that Azerbaijan is preparing genocide against ethnic Armenians in its Nagorno-Karabakh region and called for the U.N. Security Council to bring the matter before the international tribunal. 

“There is a reasonable basis to believe that a genocide is being committed,” Luis Moreno Ocampo wrote in his report, noting that a U.N. convention defines genocide as including “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction.” 

“There are no crematories and there are no machete attacks. Starvation is the invisible genocide weapon. Without immediate dramatic change, this group of Armenians will be destroyed in a few weeks,” the report said. 

Armenian enclave

Nagorno-Karabakh is a region within Azerbaijan that came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian military in separatist fighting that ended in 1994. Armenian forces also took control of substantial territory around the region. 

Azerbaijan regained control of the surrounding territory in a six-week war with Armenia in 2020. A Russia-brokered armistice that ended the war left the region’s capital, Stepanakert, connected to Armenia only by a road known as the Lachin Corridor, along which Russian peacekeeping forces were supposed to ensure free movement. 

A government representative in Azerbaijan dismissed the report from Ocampo, who was the ICC’s first prosecutor, telling The Associated Press it “contains unsubstantiated allegations and accusations.” 
…

At least six people died and more than 50 were rescued after a migrant boat trying to cross the Channel from France capsized early on Saturday, local authorities said.

Local Mayor Franck Dhersin said a vast rescue operation was launched about 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) as dozens of migrant boats tried to make the crossing at the same time.

“Several of the boats were facing serious difficulties,” he told Reuters. “Near [the coastal town of] Sangatte they unfortunately found dead bodies.”

The maritime prefecture confirmed that there had been at least six deaths and said search and rescue operations were ongoing.

The channel between France and Britain is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and currents are strong, making it dangerous for crossing on small boats.

Human traffickers typically overload rickety dinghies, leaving them barely afloat and at risk of being lashed by the waves as they try to reach British shores.

“We saved 54 people, including one woman,” said Anne Thorel, a volunteer who was on one of the rescue boats, describing the migrants’ frantic efforts to bail water out of their sinking vessel using their shoes.

“There were too many of them on the [migrant] boat,” she told Reuters by phone as she returned to the shore.

Thorel, who shared a picture of migrants on the rescue boat, wrapped in survival blankets, said no one died on the boat she was involved with rescuing.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said junior Maritime Affairs Minister Herve Berville would head to Calais, close to where one of the migrant boats capsized. “My thoughts are with the victims,” she posted on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Britain’s coast guard said it sent a lifeboat from Dover to assist with the rescue, along with a coast guard rescue team and ambulance staff.

A U.K. Border Force vessel and two lifeboats rescued all those on board another small boat in the channel in a separate incident on Saturday, the British coast guard added.

U.K. government figures show that the number of migrant channel crossings since the start of 2018 exceeded 100,000 this week. The number so far this year stands at nearly 16,000.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government has spent the week making announcements about its efforts to reduce the number of asylum seekers, hoping to win support from voters as the ruling Conservative Party trails in opinion polls.

British interior minister Suella Braverman said her “thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the tragic loss of life,” and that her officials had been working with French authorities.
…

Alessia Russo fired England into the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup in a 2-1 win against Colombia on Saturday.

The Arsenal striker’s second-half goal completed a come-from-behind win for the Lionesses after Leicy Santos had given the Colombians a first-half lead.

Lauren Hemp equalized before halftime, and Russo struck the winner in the 63rd minute as England advanced to the semifinals for the third straight time. It will face co-host Australia for a spot in the final.

Sarina Wiegman is also a step closer to her second consecutive Women’s World Cup final after her Netherlands team was runner-up to the United States in 2019.

England lost in the semifinals in 2015 and 2019, going out to Japan and the United States, respectively.

Wiegman led the Lionesses to victory in the European Championship last year, having won that competition with Netherlands in 2017.

With many of the favorites, including the United States, Germany, France and Japan, already eliminated, England will be increasingly confident that it can win its first Women’s World Cup.

It showed character to come back from Santos’ goal in the 44th at Stadium Australia, as well as cope with a partisan crowd that was hugely in favor Colombia.

Then there was the physical approach of their opponents, who weighed in with a number of heavy challenges. Rachel Daly was sent to the ground after one particularly strong tackle in the first half, and Alex Greenwood was caught in the face by Mayra Ramirez’ trailing arm.

Yet it was Colombia that suffered an early blow when Carolina Arias injured her left knee and had to be substituted. Later in the half she was seen sobbing on the bench after receiving treatment.

England created the clearer chances, with Russo and Daly forcing saves from goalkeeper Catalina Perez.

The game burst into life as it neared halftime, with the crowd going wild when Santos gave Colombia an unexpected lead.

Taking the ball on the right of the box, her effort flew directly toward goal, catching out England keeper Mary Earps and dipping under the bar.

It sparked an eruption of noise, while Colombia’s substitutes ran to join in the celebrations with Santos and the rest of the players.

If going behind for the first time in the tournament came as a shock to England, it didn’t show.

In response, the Lionesses produced arguably their most composed play as they controlled possession and probed Colombia’s half.

They evened the score after a mistake by Perez in the seventh minute of first-half stoppage time.

The keeper should have easily gathered the ball when Russo mis-controlled the box but let it slip out of her grasp and Hemp poked it over the line.

Russo’s winner came after England had dominated the second half without managing to open up Colombia’s defense.

Georgia Stanway collected the ball about 40 meters from goal and slipped a pass to the striker, who held off a challenge from Daniela Arias before firing low into the far corner from a tight angle.

Colombia had made history by securing a place in the last eight for the first time and was the last remaining team from the Americas in the tournament.

But it couldn’t find an equalizer, with Lorena Bedoya Durango’s long-range effort the closest it came to sending the game into extra time.

England will play Australia in Sydney on Wednesday.
…

Iran is getting a boost to its status as an international arms supplier.

Tehran hosted defense ministers from Bolivia and Belarus in July and early August to discuss military cooperation with its fellow anti-American allies.

Bolivia later said it is interested in obtaining Iranian drone technology, while U.S. research group the Institute for the Study of War said the visit likely indicates Belarus wants to do the same.

The U.S. and Ukraine say Iranian drones have been a key weapon for Russia in the war it has waged against Ukraine since last year, something both Moscow and Tehran have denied.

James Rogers, a war historian who advises the United Nations and NATO on drone warfare and serves as executive director of Cornell University’s Tech Policy Institute, discussed Iran’s efforts to expand the market for its drones in this week’s edition of VOA’s Flashpoint Iran podcast.

The following transcript of Rogers’ August 6 interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

VOA: What can you say about the strength of international demand for Iran’s military drone industry?

James Rogers, Cornell Tech Policy Institute: The demand for Iranian drones is growing at a record rate. And this is something that is happening globally. It’s not just an Iranian phenomenon. Any nation that has pivoted its industry toward the production of drones is seeing a massive increase in demand for those systems. Turkey is another example. China also produces a large array of drone systems.

As I said to the United Nations Security Council in August 2022, we are starting to worry about the current and future state of international security. By our latest calculations, my colleagues and I think around 113 nation states have access to military drone technologies or have a military drone program. And that is just the nation states. We believe at the very least that 65 violent nonstate actor groups have access to these systems as well. So this is the proliferation of violent airpower globally.

VOA: What is making Iranian drones particularly appealing to countries like Bolivia and maybe even Belarus?

Rogers: It is a question that is steeped in history and goes back to the 1980s. So Iran, after the shah is deposed [in the 1979 Islamic revolution], is left with these big-ticket, high-tech items of piloted aircraft and tanks. But with the withdrawal of Western technical support for these systems [after the revolution], they are pretty much useless. And any pilot who could fly away, did.

Iran is left in a very difficult situation. It quickly gets embroiled in the Iran-Iraq War and it needs to have the capacity to fight that war. So from the early 1980s, Iran turns towards these cheaper, easier to manufacture, easy to use systems that will give them a rudimentary, albeit powerful, air power capability. And this is where the drones are born. So Iran is not new to this game. They have been developing drones for decades.

Skipping ahead to the current day, we can see that Iranian drones are having a massive impact in Russia’s offensive war against Ukraine. This war has acted as a shop window for Iran, showing just how powerful its Shahed 136 and Shahed 131 loitering munitions can be, in terms of fulfilling Russian military aims. This is exactly why other countries want to buy Iranian drones, because they believe the drones are effective systems and want to get a slice of that pie.

VOA: Russia’s ally, Belarus, apparently is interested in having Iranian drones produced on its territory, according to a report by the Institute for the Study of War this month. Belarus did not immediately confirm that report. What do you think is the reality?

Rogers: There are two points to make. First, there is a relationship between Belarus and Iran in which Iranian drones are being launched, we believe, from Belarus into Ukraine. That likely means there are Iranian personnel either inside Belarus training Russian operatives or stationed further back inside Russia. Either way, we can see that there already is a direct link between these Iranian military systems and Belarus.

Second, one problem Russia has had is making sure that there are secure supply lines of Iranian drones. Russia needs hundreds, if not thousands, of them. Securing those supplies has become incredibly difficult because the U.S. has put very stringent and heavily enforced trade embargoes on Russia and Iran. So how do you get around this?

One of the options is to build a Shahed 136 loitering munition factory in Belarus. Then you can make the drones exactly where you are firing from, and you are reducing the distance from the tail of your logistics to the teeth of your firepower. That is exactly what Russia is going to want to do to make gains in the war against Ukraine.

VOA: Looking elsewhere, Bolivia has said publicly that it is interested in Iranian drones. How likely is it that Bolivia will acquire them?

Rogers: It is certainly a possibility. We have seen attempts by Bolivia and Venezuela to strengthen their connections with Iran as allies against what they see as the imperialism of the United States and the West. So sharing expertise and even military equipment is plausible. In Venezuela, they were talking about building Iranian drone factories there 12 years ago. Some reports say these have become quite successful drone factories.

For me, it is a worrying prospect. We have seen the proliferation of drones across Europe. We are increasingly seeing that proliferation across Africa. We saw that Iran supplied drone systems to Ethiopia [in 2021] when the West and the United States would not get involved in their civil war against Tigray rebels. So, what we are seeing now is the even further spread of drone systems to South America.

VOA: Bolivia says it wants these drones to monitor its border regions. How concerning would its acquisition of Iranian drones be for the security of the region and the U.S.?

Rogers: For the United States, it will be a worrying prospect. Iranian operatives, training and technology will follow these military systems into Bolivia if it purchases them. Iranians would be involved in training Bolivian officials or officers in piloting these drone systems.

But it all depends on what type of Iranian drone they purchase. Bolivia’s Defense Minister Edmundo Novillo Aguilar has said that these drones would be used to monitor its border regions and provide real time footage for its armed forces. If that is the case, there is less to worry about.

If these are armed systems or loitering munitions that have an extended range of up to 2,500 kilometers, that brings a number of targets theoretically into range. Argentina is more worried about this. It shares a border with Bolivia and has demanded more information and transparency about what drone systems the Bolivians want to buy. Argentina wants to know what capability would be bordering it. Because of this, Argentina is looking to acquire Israeli systems. [Editor’s note: Argentina signed a contract to buy Israeli company Uvision’s Hero-120 and Hero-30 loitering munitions in December.] So, you can see ideological divides playing out through the different acquisitions of military technologies across South America.  
…

Russia said Saturday that it had downed 20 Ukrainian drones near the Crimean Peninsula.

Meanwhile, the British Defense Ministry said Saturday that Russian troops fighting in Ukraine are about to get a break from the fighting.  In its daily intelligence update, the ministry said that early in July the commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army was fired, probably partially because he said elements of his forces “needed to be relieved.”

The ministry said Russia is “likely” redeploying airborne forces’ units from the Kherson region to the heavily contested Orikiv sector in Zaporizhzhia oblast. The report said the 58th Combined Arms Army has been engaged in combat since June.

In addition, the Defense Ministry report said the arrival of the airborne forces’ units will also allow the 70th and 71st Motor Rifle Regiments, which have been under heavy fire, to take a break from the front line. However, this move, according to the report, “will likely leave Russia’s defenses near the east bank of the Dnipro River weaker, where they’re increasingly harassed by Ukrainian amphibious raids.”

The White House says it is committed to training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s in the U.S. once such training programs in Europe have reached capacity.

White House spokesperson John Kirby said at a press briefing Friday that it is important to speed up the process of pilot training on the military aircrafts as well as caring for maintenance and other logistics.

“It’s going to be a while before jets can show up in Ukraine and for them to be integrated into the air fleet,” he said. “And it’s not just a function of the transfer of actual airframes, but the appropriate training for pilots as well as setting up all the maintenance, logistics and sustainment efforts.”

Kirby noted that Western countries — Denmark and the Netherlands in particular — work together on developing a training program for Ukrainian pilots, and that English language training for Ukrainian specialists is critical.

“All the tech manuals are in English and all the controls inside the aircraft are in English,” said Kirby. “A pilot is going to have to have at least some basic proficiency in the language.

“All that we can say is that there’s a multi-step process, and we’re committed to helping our allies move that process along as quickly as it possibly can.”

Corruption

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry on Friday said it was not involved in a purchase of low-quality uniforms worth $950,000 after the director of a textile company was arrested for selling unfit gear for Ukraine’s Territorial Defense.

The textile company won three state contracts in 2022 to supply uniforms, which, according to laboratory tests, proved unseasonable for winter combat the Ministry of Interior said.

The director of the company faces up to 12 years in prison and is banned from holding certain positions for three years. Law enforcement is currently collecting information on others involved in the scheme.

According to the Defense Ministry’s statement, the contracts were concluded between the factory and a military unit without the ministry’s involvement.

“Departments of the Defense Ministry were NOT INVOLVED in the procurement process of identifying the need, finding a contractor, concluding a contract, and monitoring the implementation of technical conditions,” the press statement said, emphasizing that the ministry has “zero tolerance for corruption.”

According to an investigative report by Ukrainian outlet Dzerkalo Tyzhnia on Thursday, the Defense Ministry purchased $33 million worth of “winter” clothes for the military from a Turkish company in 2022.

The associated contracts were reportedly tampered with during shipment to inflate the price, and the clothes turned out to be unusable for winter weather conditions.

Earlier Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Telegram that he was firing directors of the country’s regional military recruitment centers amid concerns of corruption — ranging from illegal enrichment to the transportation of draft-eligible men across the border in the middle of a wartime ban.

Zelenskyy said the new appointments would be offered to war veterans.

“This system should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery during war is treason,” he said.

So far, Ukrainian security services have cracked down on graft, charging senior officials with 112 criminal cases of bribery and engaging in corrupt practices. An additional 33 suspects are about to be charged.

Kyiv is battling corruption while fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion and hopes to join the European Union.

Russian airstrikes

Russia’s latest airstrikes targeting civilian infrastructure in western Ukraine and killing one child constitute “war crimes and must not go unpunished,” France’s foreign ministry said in a statement late on Friday.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would reinforce its military support to Ukraine, notably in strengthening air defense capacities, in close cooperation with its partners.

“France’s support to Ukrainian and international jurisdictions to fight against the impunity of crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine remains total,” the statement read.

Earlier Friday, Russian airstrikes killed an 8-year-old boy in western Ukraine, while Ukrainian drones targeted Moscow for a third consecutive day.

Several explosions were heard across Kyiv early Friday. Mayor Vitali Klitschko had urged residents to go to air raid shelters and Ukrainian officials had issued a nationwide air raid alert.

Ukraine shot down a missile Friday near a children’s hospital in the city. Debris from the missile fell near the Kyiv hospital, but there were no reported injuries.

US aid

The Biden administration has asked Congress to provide more than $13 billion in emergency defense funding to Ukraine and an additional $8 billion for humanitarian support through the end of the year.

The White House supplemental spending request for Ukraine may prove to be too much for Republicans, who are facing great pressure from the party’s presidential frontrunner, Donald Trump, who has a tepid attitude toward the war, while a recent CNN poll indicated declining support for the effort among some voters.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a new round of sanctions Friday, targeting prominent members of Russia’s financial elite, along with a Russian business association.

“Wealthy Russian elites should disabuse themselves of the notion that they can operate business as usual while the Kremlin wages war against the Ukrainian people,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo. “Our international coalition will continue to hold accountable those enabling the unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.”

As a result of the latest batch of sanctions, Adeyemo said, “all property, and interests in property, of the persons named in the fresh sanctions who are in the United States, or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, are blocked.”

Some information in this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
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China’s plans to build a new embassy near the Tower of London have stalled following local opposition to what would be the biggest diplomatic compound in Britain.

The borough of Tower Hamlets, the local government council in London responsible for the area, blocked the project in February, citing concerns about the increased risk of terror attacks, protests and traffic in an area visited by millions of tourists each year.

Chinese authorities had until Thursday to appeal the decision to the U.K. government but did not, Tower Hamlets said.

“If the applicant wanted to appeal through the public inquiry procedure then they would have already needed to have given notice to us as the local planning authority,” Tower Hamlets said in a statement. “We haven’t received any such notification from the applicant.”

China’s plans called for comprehensive redevelopment of a 5.2-acre site that was home to the Royal Mint from 1811 to 1968, demolishing some of the existing buildings and restoring others. The new embassy compound would include some 57,000 square meters of floor space, including offices, a cultural exchange building and 225 apartments.

That’s about 18% bigger than the new U.S. Embassy in London, which opened in 2018 with 48,000 square meters of space.

While Tower Hamlets planning officials recommended authorizing the project, the borough council voted on Feb. 10 to refuse planning permission.

The Chinese Embassy in London called on the British government to intervene.

“It is the international obligation of the host country to provide facilitations and support for the construction of diplomatic premises,” the embassy in a statement. “We urge the U.K. side to fulfill its relevant international obligations.”

British authorities did not comment on the Chinese Embassy proposal, which in theory could come before the central government, where the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities oversees the planning system.

But the government said it takes its “obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations extremely seriously and we will continue to do so,” and stressed that planning decisions are made by local councils, which give applicants the opportunity to appeal.

There is growing concern in the U.K. about Chinese investments in critical infrastructure, as well allegations that it has attempted to influence British politicians and university researchers.

The decision in February to block the embassy project came four months after a pro-democracy protester had to be rescued by police after he was dragged onto the grounds of the Chinese consulate in Manchester. After that incident, Britain’s foreign secretary summoned the Chinese ambassador’s deputy to his office and demanded an explanation.

The Tower Hamlets council said the proposed embassy compound would strain local police resources, increase road congestion and have a negative impact on the area surrounding Tower of London.

“The proposed embassy would result in adverse impacts on local tourism, due to concerns over the effect of potential protests, acts of terrorism and related security mitigation measures on the sensitive backdrop of nationally significant tourist attractions,” the council said in announcing its decision.
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Since Russia’s Wagner Group paramilitary forces moved to Belarus after their failed mutiny in July, that country’s three NATO neighbors – Poland, Lithuania and Latvia – have been building up their border defenses and preparing for a range of possible provocations. 

In the case of Lithuania, authorities are planning for contingencies including infiltration of hostile migrants, cross-border shootings and a repetition of recent Belarusian helicopter flights that crossed into Polish airspace. Plans are also underway to close some border crossings.

Rustamas Liubajevas, the commander of Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service, assessed the current threat and described the measures taken to improve his service’s readiness in an interview Friday with VOA Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze.

The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: Thank you very much, General, for this opportunity. So, what is the situation on the Polish-Lithuanian-Belarusian border? 

Rustamas Liubajevas, commander of the State Border Guard Service of Lithuania: I would probably say that the situation is stable, however very tense, because we can see that Belarus is actively participating in the aggression against Ukraine. And the security situation in our region is very tense also because of the presence of the Wagner Group in Belarus.

VOA: In response to Wagner presence in Belarus, Poland recently sent an additional 2,000 troops to the border. Lithuania is planning to do something as well in that regard.

Liubajevas: Absolutely right. We plan to increase border security in terms of deploying additional resources, human resources, technical equipment. The border is being now surveilled, while on high alert, because we still believe that there might be certain provocations at the border organized by [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko’s regime together with the Kremlin regime, of course, also with participation of Wagner persons. Well, we also will increase our staff number at the border with Belarus.

VOA: There was a question of possibly closing the border. What is the status of that?

Liubajevas: Apparently, the decision will be taken to close down two of six border crossing points. But we’re talking about those at the border with Belarus used for cars to cross the border. I think it’s very important to be in very close contact with the partners like Poland, Latvia, also Estonia. And the decision will be taken together with the countries of the region.

VOA: Does it mean that other countries would close their border crossing as well with Belarus?

Liubajevas: At least, this was discussed on the highest level between the countries. There was an agreement to have additional consultations in case of provocations. We also have a border with the Russian Federation, as you might know. So this will be further discussed, and apparently an appropriate decision will be taken.

VOA: How close is your cooperation with other NATO countries in this regard?

Liubajevas: I would say very good cooperation, everyday contacts, exchange of information, exchange of intelligence as well. That proved to be a very, very good tool. And next week or one week later, we are also planning to have a trilateral meeting with Poland and Latvia on the level of border guard services in order to discuss further cooperation in case of provocations or aggregation of the security situation at the border.

VOA: You mentioned provocation. What kind of provocation are you expecting? 

Liubajevas: Well, we have identified a number of scenarios. For example, this might be a big group of migrants who might well act very aggressively and use weapons against border guards, infiltration of the smaller groups into Lithuania. Intentional border violations, like the one made just a couple of days ago at the border between Belarus and Poland, made by helicopter. So it might be persons, might be vehicles, it might be aircraft. So, also it might be shooting from the Belarusian territory at border guards on our side. We have identified courses of action for border guards — how they should act in that or another situation. We also plan to carry out, I would say, tactical exercises very soon together with our partners. 

VOA: How are you seeing Wagner mercenaries right now – as a threat?

Liubajevas: I would not overestimate the risks. We have to take a really good note of their presence, because they are a destabilization factor in the region. However, I would not overestimate the capacities and capabilities of the Wagner Group. And while I would not really expect open military aggression against an EU and NATO country, however, the risk of death and provocations, incidents at the border remains very high.

VOA: For a couple of years, your country, Poland, Estonia, other countries bordering Russia and Belarus have been experiencing this border crisis or border tension. How has the life of your unit changed since that started? And how much effort are you putting into changing and training new forces?

Liubajevas:  First of all, I have to say that the security system we have in our country proved to be very efficient, even taking into account those challenges of the last year starting from the pandemic, regular migration crisis, war in the neighborhood of Lithuania, and the security situation. We are much stronger than three and four years ago, from the technical perspective, because we have invested quite a lot of financial resources in order to strengthen our capacity and capabilities. And two or three years ago, we theoretically could speak about cooperation, and we had, well, some formal agreements, nice papers. But now we know that the system works. It works very good. And we are much stronger. 

VOA: And the last question, about Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine: How does it change the perspective and thinking in your country and other countries about the risks that Russia is posing to the region?

Liubajevas: Well, it has definitely changed, drastically, the mentality, changed the perception of the security situation by the public, as well as by the law enforcement community. From our perspective, speaking about border guards, we started to pay much more attention to the national security issues. In accordance with our national legislation, the State Border Guard Service became part of the national defense forces in case of military conflict, in case of aggression. So it’s a little bit challenging, but we really see now the high need of that work.
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IPVM, a U.S.-based security and surveillance industry research group, says the Chinese surveillance equipment maker Dahua is selling cameras with what it calls a “skin color analytics” feature in Europe, raising human rights concerns. 

In a report released on July 31, IPVM said “the company defended the analytics as being a ‘basic feature of a smart security solution.'” The report is behind a paywall, but IPVM provided a copy to VOA Mandarin. 

Dahua’s ICC Open Platform guide for “human body characteristics” includes “skin color/complexion,” according to the report. In what Dahua calls a “data dictionary,” the company says that the “skin color types” that Dahua analytic tools would target are ”yellow,” “black,” and ”white.”  VOA Mandarin verified this on Dahua’s Chinese website. 

The IPVM report also says that skin color detection is mentioned in the “Personnel Control” category, a feature Dahua touts as part of its Smart Office Park solution intended to provide security for large corporate campuses in China.  

Charles Rollet, co-author of the IPVM report, told VOA Mandarin by phone on August 1, “Basically what these video analytics do is that, if you turn them on, then the camera will automatically try and determine the skin color of whoever passes, whoever it captures in the video footage. 

“So that means the camera is going to be guessing or attempting to determine whether the person in front of it … has black, white or yellow — in their words — skin color,” he added.  

VOA Mandarin contacted Dahua for comment but did not receive a response. 

The IPVM report said that Dahua is selling cameras with the skin color analytics feature in three European nations. Each has a recent history of racial tension: Germany, France and the Netherlands.

‘Skin color is a basic feature’

Dahua said its skin tone analysis capability was an essential function in surveillance technology.  

 In a statement to IPVM, Dahua said, “The platform in question is entirely consistent with our commitments to not build solutions that target any single racial, ethnic, or national group. The ability to generally identify observable characteristics such as height, weight, hair and eye color, and general categories of skin color is a basic feature of a smart security solution.”  

IPMV said the company has previously denied offering the mentioned feature, and color detection is uncommon in mainstream surveillance tech products. 

In many Western nations, there has long been a controversy over errors due to skin color in surveillance technologies for facial recognition. Identifying skin color in surveillance applications raises human rights and civil rights concerns.  

“So it’s unusual to see it for skin color because it’s such a controversial and ethically fraught field,” Rollet said.  

Anna Bacciarelli, technology manager at Human Rights Watch (HRW), told VOA Mandarin that Dahua technology should not contain skin tone analytics.   

“All companies have a responsibility to respect human rights, and take steps to prevent or mitigate any human rights risks that may arise as a result of their actions,” she said in an email.

“Surveillance software with skin tone analytics poses a significant risk to the right to equality and non-discrimination, by allowing camera owners and operators to racially profile people at scale — likely without their knowledge, infringing privacy rights — and should simply not be created or sold in the first place.”  

Dahua denied that its surveillance products are designed to enable racial identification. On the website of its U.S. company, Dahua says, “contrary to allegations that have been made by certain media outlets, Dahua Technology has not and never will develop solutions targeting any specific ethnic group.” 

However, in February 2021, IPVM and the Los Angeles Times reported that Dahua provided a video surveillance system with “real-time Uyghur warnings” to the Chinese police that included eyebrow size, skin color and ethnicity.  

IPVM’s 2018 statistical report shows that since 2016, Dahua and another Chinese video surveillance company, Hikvision, have won contracts worth $1 billion from the government of China’s Xinjiang province, a center of Uyghur life. 

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission determined in 2022 that the products of Chinese technology companies such as Dahua and Hikvision, which has close ties to Beijing, posed a threat to U.S. national security. 

The FCC banned sales of these companies’ products in the U.S. “for the purpose of public safety, security of government facilities, physical security surveillance of critical infrastructure, and other national security purposes,” but not for other purposes.  

Before the U.S. sales bans, Hikvision and Dahua ranked first and second among global surveillance and access control firms, according to The China Project.  

‘No place in a liberal democracy’

On June 14, the European Union passed a revision proposal to its draft Artificial Intelligence Law, a precursor to completely banning the use of facial recognition systems in public places.  

“We know facial recognition for mass surveillance from China; this technology has no place in a liberal democracy,” Svenja Hahn, a German member of the European Parliament and Renew Europe Group, told Politico.  

Bacciarelli of HRW said in an email she “would seriously doubt such racial profiling technology is legal under EU data protection and other laws. The General Data Protection Regulation, a European Union regulation on Information privacy, limits the collection and processing of sensitive personal data, including personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin and biometric data, under Article 9. Companies need to make a valid, lawful case to process sensitive personal data before deployment.” 

“The current text of the draft EU AI Act bans intrusive and discriminatory biometric surveillance tech, including real-time biometric surveillance systems; biometric systems that use sensitive characteristics, including race and ethnicity data; and indiscriminate scraping of CCTV data to create facial recognition databases,” she said.  

In Western countries, companies are developing AI software for identifying race primarily as a marketing tool for selling to diverse consumer populations. 

The Wall Street Journal reported in 2020 that American cosmetics company Revlon had used recognition software from AI start-up Kairos to analyze how consumers of different ethnic groups use cosmetics, raising concerns among researchers that racial recognition could lead to discrimination.  

The U.S. government has long prohibited sectors such as healthcare and banking from discriminating against customers based on race. IBM, Google and Microsoft have restricted the provision of facial recognition services to law enforcement.  

Twenty-four states, counties and municipal governments in the U.S. have prohibited government agencies from using facial recognition surveillance technology. New York City, Baltimore, and Portland, Oregon, have even restricted the use of facial recognition in the private sector.  

Some civil rights activists have argued that racial identification technology is error-prone and could have adverse consequences for those being monitored. 

Rollet said, “If the camera is filming at night or if there are shadows, it can misclassify people.”  

Caitlin Chin is a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank where she researches technology regulation in the United States and abroad. She emphasized that while Western technology companies mainly use facial recognition for business, Chinese technology companies are often happy to assist government agencies in monitoring the public.  

She told VOA Mandarin in an August 1 video call, “So this is something that’s both very dehumanizing but also very concerning from a human rights perspective, in part because if there are any errors in this technology that could lead to false arrests, it could lead to discrimination, but also because the ability to sort people by skin color on its own almost inevitably leads to people being discriminated against.”  

She also said that in general, especially when it comes to law enforcement and surveillance, people with darker skin have been disproportionately tracked and disproportionately surveilled, “so these Dahua cameras make it easier for people to do that by sorting people by skin color.”  
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Despite U.S. efforts to curb migration, the flow of migrants at Mexico’s northern border continues. But it’s not just people from Central and South American nations. Veronica Villafane narrates this story by Vicente Calderon in Tijuana and Victor Hugo Castillo in Reynosa. Camera: Vicente Calderon and Victor Hugo Castillo.
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