President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged NATO on Wednesday to send Ukraine a clear signal at a summit next month that it can join the military alliance when Russia’s war on his country ends.

In a speech to parliament on Ukraine’s Constitution Day, he suggested global leaders should stop thinking about how Moscow would react when making decisions about Ukraine and described Russia’s political and military leaders as “bandits.”

He then set out what Kyiv expects of the July 11-12 NATO summit in Lithuania after holding talks in the Ukrainian capital with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.

“We understand that we cannot be a member of NATO during the war, but we need to be sure that after the war we will be,” Zelenskyy told a joint press conference.

“That is the signal we want to get — that after the war, Ukraine will be a member of NATO.”

Zelenskyy said Kyiv also hoped to receive security guarantees at the summit to help protect Ukraine until it is accepted as a NATO member.

Duda said Poland and Lithuania were doing all they could to help Ukraine secure its goals as soon as possible. The two countries are big supporters of Ukraine, and Vilnius is buying NASAMS air defense systems for Kyiv from a Norwegian company.

“We are trying to ensure that the decisions made at the summit clearly indicate the perspective of membership. We are conducting talks on this issue with our allies,” Duda said.

Though Ukraine wants to join as quickly as possible, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is divided over how fast that step should be taken.

Membership obstacles

Western governments such as the United States and Germany are wary of moves they fear could take the alliance closer to entering an active war with Russia, which has long seen NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe as evidence of Western hostility.

“Some states and world leaders still, unfortunately, look back at Russia when making their own decisions,” Zelenskyy said in his speech to parliament. “This can be called an absurd and shameful self-limitation of sovereignty, because Ukrainians proved that Russia should not be feared.”

Russia has occupied swaths of territory in eastern and southern Ukraine, but Kyiv has launched a counteroffensive to try to retake that land.

Zelenskyy reiterated that Kyiv would not accept any peace proposals that would lock in Russian gains and turn the war into a frozen conflict.

Some NATO states have expressed concern about the arrival of Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, in Belarus after leading an aborted mutiny.

Prigozhin has gone into exile in Belarus, Ukraine’s northern neighbor, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wagner fighters would be offered the choice of relocating there.

“The presence of the Wagner Group in Belarus is a very significant signal which, in our opinion, NATO should definitely pay attention to,” Nauseda said. “Questions arise as to why these troops were relocated there. A group of experienced mercenaries can always pose a potential danger.”
…

U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin had “absolutely” been weakened inside his country by last weekend’s short-lived mutiny led by mercenary Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.

But Biden, speaking to reporters at the White House, said it was “hard to tell” the extent to which Putin had been diminished.

“He’s clearly losing the war in Iraq,” Biden said, meaning to refer to Putin’s 16-month war against Ukraine. “He’s losing the war at home. And he has become a bit of a pariah around the world. And it’s not just NATO. It’s not just the European Union. It’s Japan. It’s … 40 nations.”

Prigozhin intended to try to capture Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia’s general staff, during a visit to a southern region that borders Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported. But Russia’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, found out about the plan two days before it was to be executed, according to Western officials, forcing Prigozhin to move ahead with his rebellion more quickly than he had planned.

Prigozhin arrived in Belarus on Tuesday at the invitation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a Putin ally who claimed that he had to talk the Russian leader out of killing Prigozhin in retribution for the Wagner Group’s advance on Moscow last Saturday. Prigozhin called off the rebellion against Putin and his defense leaders well short of a confrontation with Russian troops on the outskirts of the capital.

Lukashenko on Saturday negotiated with Putin over Prigozhin’s departure for Belarus, but it still is not clear where Prigozhin is in Belarus, how many fighters accompanied him or how long he plans to stay there.

Putin has promised Prigozhin’s safety in Belarus, and according to Belarusian state media, the authoritarian Lukashenko has urged Putin to not kill Prigozhin.

“I said to Putin, ‘We could waste [Prigozhin], no problem. If not on the first try, then on the second.’ I told him, ‘Don’t do this,’” Lukashenko said during a meeting with security officials, according to state media.

Western countries have sanctioned Lukashenko, 68, for cracking down on opposition figures and allowing Russia to attack Ukraine last year from Belarusian territory, while more recently letting Russia store tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus for possible use in the conflict in Ukraine.

While pledging that Prigozhin would be safe in Belarus, Putin has expressed mixed views about the Wagner Group since the rebellion against his authority and the leadership of the Russian Defense Ministry. Putin has characterized Wagner’s leaders as traitors but said the rank-and-file mercenaries “really showed courage and heroism” in their fight against Kyiv’s forces.

Prigozhin’s arrival in Belarus came as Putin said Tuesday that Moscow had paid $1 billion between May 2022 and May 2023 to fully fund the Wagner mercenary fighters, contrary to claims by Prigozhin that he had financed his mercenaries.

“The content of the entire Wagner Group was fully provided by the state, from the Ministry of Defense, from the state budget. We fully funded this group,” Putin told defense officials in televised remarks. Russia once denied the existence of the Wagner Group, but it has advanced Russia’s interests in several African and Middle Eastern countries.

Many of the Wagner fighters in Ukraine were convicted criminals freed from Russian prisons on the promise that if they fought in neighboring Ukraine for six months, the remaining portions of their sentences would be rescinded.

As it has turned out, however, many of the Wagner recruits were poorly trained, were ill-equipped for warfare on the front lines in Ukraine and were quickly killed.

In addition to Russia’s payments of salaries and incentive awards to the Wagner troops, Putin said Prigozhin’s food and catering business was paid nearly another $1 billion to feed Russian troops.

“I do hope that as part of this work, no one stole anything, or let’s say, stole less. But we will, of course, investigate all of this,” Putin said of the state’s funding of Wagner and Prigozhin’s catering company.

Prigozhin said earlier this year that he had always financed Wagner but had looked for additional funding after Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine.

Prigozhin said Monday that his troops’ advance on Moscow had not been an attempt to overthrow the Russian government and that he remained a patriot. Prigozhin for weeks had complained that Russian defense officials had not provided his troops enough ammunition.

Putin has assailed the Wagner advance on Moscow as an armed rebellion and ordered that Wagner lose its heavy weaponry while its fighters either join the regular armed forces or accept exile in Belarus.

Russia’s Federal Security Service announced Tuesday that it was closing an investigation into the armed mutiny.

In a statement carried by Russian news agencies, the FSB said those involved “ceased activities directed at committing the crime.” Not prosecuting the fighters was part of an agreement late Saturday that ended the mutiny.

Russia’s Defense Ministry also said Tuesday that the Wagner Group was preparing to transfer heavy military equipment to the Russian military.

The U.S. intelligence community “was aware” that the mutiny orchestrated by Prigozhin “was a possibility” and briefed Congress “accordingly” before it began, according to a source familiar with the issue, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Biden said earlier this week, “We made clear we were not involved. We had nothing to do with this.” Biden’s message that the West was not involved was sent directly to the Russians through various diplomatic channels, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. He did not characterize Russia’s response.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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France’s government on Wednesday announced heightened police presence around Paris and other big cities and called for calm after scattered violence erupted over the death of a 17-year-old delivery driver who was shot and killed during a police check. 

The death prompted nationwide concern and widespread messages of indignation and condolences, including from soccer star Kylian Mbappe. 

It also triggered unrest in multiple towns around Paris. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 31 people were arrested, 25 police officers injured and 40 cars burned in overnight unrest. 

The tensions focused around the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where lawyers say 17-year-old Nael M. was killed Tuesday during a traffic check. The police officer suspected of firing on him was detained and faces potential manslaughter charges, according to the Nanterre prosecutor’s office. 

The Nanterre neighborhood where Nael lived remained tense Wednesday morning, with police on guard and burned car wreckage and overturned garbage bins still visible in some areas. 

Nael’s mother appealed online for a silent march on Thursday in her son’s honor, near the scene of his death. 

Videos purported to be of the incident were “extremely shocking,” Darmanin said, pledging a full investigation. The images show two police officers leaning into the driver-side window of a yellow car, before the vehicle pulls away as one officer fires into the window. The car is later seen crashed into a post nearby. 

“I call for calm and truth,” Darmanin said. 

He said 1,200 police were deployed overnight and 2,000 would be out in force Wednesday in the Paris region and around other big cities to “maintain order.” 

Deadly use of firearms is less common in France than in the United States. Tuesday’s death unleashed anger in Nanterre and other towns, including around housing projects where many residents struggle with poverty and discrimination and feel police abuse is under-punished. 

A lawyer for Nael’s family, Yassine Bouzrou, told The Associated Press they want the police officer pursued for murder instead of manslaughter, and want the investigation handed to a different region because they fear Nanterre investigators won’t be impartial. 

The lawyers refuted a reported statement by the police that their lives were in danger because the driver had threatened to run them over. 

Mbappe, who grew up in the Paris suburb of Bondy, was among those who were shocked by what happened. 

“I hurt for my France. Unacceptable situation. All my thoughts go to the family and loved ones of Nael, this little angel gone much too soon,” he tweeted. 

The government will hold a security meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss next steps, Darmanin said. 

The victim was wounded by a gunshot and died at the scene, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. A passenger in the car was briefly detained and released, and police are searching for another passenger who fled. 

Several people have died or sustained injuries at the hands of French police in recent years, prompting demands for more accountability. France also saw protests against racial profiling and other injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by police in Minnesota. 
…

South Korea has for the first time placed sanctions on a former South Korean national for setting up business entities to bypass United Nations Security Council resolutions against North Korea and its nuclear weapons program.

Choi Chon Gon is suspected of engaging in illicit financial deals on behalf of Pyongyang, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Wednesday, including co-investing in a Russia-based trade company, Epsilon, with a North Korean.

Choi fled South Korea while under investigation by local authorities, Yonhap reports, and is now based in Vladivostok, having acquired Russian citizenship.

The 66-year-old set up a front company, Hanne Ulaan, in Mongolia in 2019 through which authorities in Seoul believe he acquired goods for Pyongyang, including foodstuffs, estimated to be worth more than $7.6 million.

South Korea also put sanctions for the first time on his North Korean accomplice, So Myong, of North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank in Vladivostok, and the company they co-invested in, Epsilon, as well as Hanne Ulaan in Mongolia.

North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank, responsible for the regime’s overseas currencies, was placed under sanction by the United Nations Security Council in 2017.

Seoul hopes that by casting a wide sanctions net centered around Choi, they can prevent the former national from accessing South Korean financial resources, as well as raise awareness of the group’s operations.

Choi and Hanne Ulaan were mentioned in a U.N. Security Council Sanctions Committee panel of experts’ report in 2021 which noted that Mongolian authorities had frozen $13,800 in funds after documents flagged their suspected ties to North Korea.
…

Politicians from the Five Eyes alliance are meeting in the New Zealand capital, Wellington, where migration and security are top of the agenda. The grouping includes the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The Five Eyes alliance is an intelligence-sharing accord among five English-speaking democracies. British Home Secretary Suella Braverman is among those attending meetings in Wellington, New Zealand. 

War and China likely on agenda

The war in Ukraine and China’s growing assertiveness are expected to be discussed at the five-country ministerial talks Wednesday in Wellington. Also on the agenda in the New Zealand capital are cyber security, child sex abuse, and foreign espionage at universities. Delegates are also expected to discuss migration and labor mobility schemes between alliance countries. 

Anne-Marie Brady is a professor in the department of Political Science and International Relations at New Zealand’s University of Canterbury. 

She told VOA Wednesday that the Five Eyes alliance has an important part to play in maintaining global security. 

“Because the rules based international order is under such threat by the behavior of Russia and China and the way they misuse their positions in international organizations such as the (U.N.) Security Council, that is leading to increasing prominence of groupings of interested states,” said Brady. “That relationship of the five countries in Five Eyes is very important and relevant in a very challenging international environment.”   

Alliance formed after war

The Five Eyes alliance began between the United States and Britain in the aftermath of the Second World War. Over the next decade, it was expanded to include Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It has had a reputation for secrecy. 

Earlier this year, it blamed China for recent cyber-attacks targeting “critical infrastructure” in the U.S. Beijing responded by accusing the English-speaking alliance of spreading disinformation.   

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has been in China this week on an official visit. Tuesday, he met Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both leaders acknowledged the importance of the bilateral relationship.  They discussed trade, international relations and the war in Ukraine.   

Hipkins said in a statement that his country’s “relationship with China is one of our most significant and wide-ranging.” 

New Zealand’s exports to China are worth more than $12.8 billion, or a quarter of the country’s total export earnings, according to government data.  
…

Latest developments:

Pope Francis' peace envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi traveled to Moscow weeks after a visit to Kyiv, with the Vatican saying he seeks "a solution to the tragic current situation" of the war in Ukraine.





The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, arrived in Belarus days after an aborted mutiny.

Ukrainian officials said Wednesday a Russian missile attack on the city of Kramatorsk killed at least nine people and injured more than 50 others.  

Emergency services posted photos of rescue teams searching through the rubble at the site that included a restaurant.

Kramatorsk is located west of the front lines where fighting is taking place in Donetsk province in eastern Ukraine.

A Russian strike on the city’s railway station in April 2022 killed 63 people.

Ukraine also reported a Russian missile strike Tuesday in Kremenchuk, which came exactly a year after a Russian attack there killed at least 20 people at a shopping mall.

“Each such manifestation of terror proves over and over again to us and to the whole world that Russia deserves only one thing as a result of everything it has done — defeat and a tribunal, fair and legal trials against all Russian murderers and terrorists,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Tuesday.

Air defense 

Lithuania said Wednesday it is buying two Norwegian-made NASAMS air defense systems for Ukraine’s military. 

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda announced the deal as he visited Kyiv for talks with Zelenskyy. 

“The NASAMS launchers will reach Ukraine in the near future,” Nauseda said on Facebook. 

Zelenskyy welcomed the move, tweeting that he was grateful to the Lithuanian leader. 

“This is an important and timely contribution to protecting Ukraine’s sky and saving lives of Ukrainians,” Zelenskyy said. 

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

The United States on Tuesday accused companies in the United Arab Emirates, the Central African Republic and Russia of engaging in illicit gold deals to help fund the mercenary fighters of Russia’s Wagner Group.

The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement it has sanctioned four companies linked to Wagner and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, that it alleged were used to help pay the paramilitary’s forces fighting in Ukraine and undertaking operations to support Russian interests in Africa.

“The Wagner Group funds its brutal operations in part by exploiting natural resources in countries like the Central African Republic and Mali. The United States will continue to target the Wagner Group’s revenue streams to degrade its expansion and violence in Africa, Ukraine, and anywhere else,” Brian Nelson, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in the statement.

The State Department said the sanctions were unrelated to Wagner’s short-lived mutiny last weekend against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow’s defense leadership for its handling of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The sanctions block any assets the companies hold in the U.S. and prohibit them from engaging in new deals in the U.S.

Wagner has fought in Libya, Syria, the Central African Republic, Mali and other countries, and has fought some of the bloodiest battles of the 16-month war in Ukraine, including at Bakhmut. Wagner was founded in 2014 after Russia illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula and started supporting pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

The sanctions were imposed on Central African Republic-based Midas Ressources SARLU and Diamville SAU; UAE-based Industrial Resources General Trading; and Russia-based DM, a limited liability company.

Russia’s embassy in Washington and Industrial Resources did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Reuters could not immediately reach a spokesperson for Midas Ressources, Diamville or Limited Liability Company DM.

Andrey Nikolayevich Ivanov, a Russian national, was also sanctioned. The Treasury Department accused him of being an executive in the Wagner Group and said he worked closely with senior Malian officials on weapons deals, mining concerns and other Wagner activities in the country.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.
…

As a veteran correspondent for National Public Radio, Sylvia Poggioli spent the bulk of her 41-year career at the American broadcaster living and reporting in Italy.  

Now, as she moves into retirement, the Rhode Island-born journalist is watching with interest at how the change in Italy’s government is affecting the media and some of the key issues she has covered there over the years, including immigration.  

Last October, Giorgia Meloni — head of Fratelli d’Italia, or the Brothers of Italy party — became prime minister of Italy, the country’s first far-right leader since the end of World War II. 

Under her administration, the government has blocked humanitarian ships that rescue migrants from docking at Italian ports and ordered the Milan City Council to stop recognizing same sex partners on birth registers. 

Globally, Italy is not often top of mind for press freedom advocates, but a rise in lawsuits, changes at the state broadcaster and a decline in government press briefings are raising concerns.

“There are a lot of frustrating things here. It’s not all ‘White Lotus’ life,” Poggioli told VOA, referring to the television show set at a Sicilian resort. ”Especially Rome — it’s not an easy city. But I’m used to it. I call it home.” 

Poggioli first moved to Italy after college on a Fulbright Scholarship. 

She got her start in journalism in the early 1980s as a correspondent for NPR at a time when she said the outlet “was considered sort of on the liberal fringe.”   

One of her first major stories: a mafia assassination of a prosecutor in Sicily.   

Other stories from her early years include the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981 and the Achille Lauro hijacking in 1985, when Palestinian terrorists seized an Italian cruise ship in the Mediterranean Sea.   

Her work eventually brought her to the Balkans, where she covered wars in countries including Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo and Serbia.  

Looking back, the Rome-based Poggioli is proudest of her coverage of immigration and refugee issues, including the migrant crisis facing countries including Italy and Greece.  

“Those have been the most consequential events that I’ve covered,” she said.

When she retired in March, she was the longest-serving reporter on NPR’s international desk.   

“For many, her name is synonymous with NPR,” the outlet wrote in a statement announcing the reporter’s departure.

Poggioli is exiting a career in journalism just as the industry faces new challenges in Italy.    

One of the most striking aspects for Poggioli is how inaccessible to the media Meloni has made herself. Press conferences are few and far between.   

“There haven’t been any specific curbs or crackdowns,” Poggioli said. “But there’s a lot of wariness, I’d say, about a government that doesn’t make itself accessible to the press.” 

More concerning is the use of lawsuits to target reporters. At least four members of the current government, including Meloni, have filed lawsuits against journalists and outlets over their coverage, according to the free expression group Article 19.

The Italian Embassy in Washington did not reply to VOA’s email requesting comment.   

In Italy, “investigative journalists are still very much under pressure, and they face threats and lawsuits, and are often overwhelmed by them,” Jessica White, who researches European media freedom at Freedom House, told VOA. “This is a real concern for press freedom in the country. And it also results in higher levels of self-censorship.”  

White is the author of a June Freedom House report looking at conditions for media in Italy and five other European countries.

Despite the challenges, the threat to press freedom in Italy is minor compared with elsewhere. In terms of media freedom, the country ranks 41 out of 180 countries, according to Reporters Without Borders.

To Poggioli, another noteworthy shift is taking place at the state-run broadcaster.

Whenever there’s a change of government in Italy, Poggioli said, the new leadership traditionally installs its own people at the upper levels of state broadcaster RAI.

But, she said, “it’s been more drastic this time.” 

In late May, The Guardian reported that Meloni’s government was exerting “ruthless” influence at RAI.

“They want to take control of Rai and change the narrative to their way of thinking,” one anonymous source told The Guardian.

Several RAI executives and reporters have resigned, with some citing government pressure.  

Among them is former RAI Chief Executive Carlo Fuortes, who in his resignation letter said, “Since the beginning of 2023, there has been a political conflict concerning me and my position, which is weakening Rai and the public service.”  

Still, one source at RAI, who requested anonymity to speak freely about their employer, told VOA they haven’t experienced significant changes.

“The thing is the left has dominated the cultural language for decades,” they said. ”Now the right wants to gain some lost points.” 

RAI did not reply to VOA’s email requesting comment. 

The changes facing the state broadcaster may underscore the significance of outlets like NPR.   

Investing in public media “helps bridge information gaps and fosters an informed citizenry, which is vital for a well-functioning democracy,” Karen Rundlet, who works at the journalism nonprofit the Knight Foundation, told VOA.  

For Poggioli, public broadcasting opened the door to her career.

“I saw a good portion of the world and some very nice experiences. And unfortunately, as journalists, we also cover a lot of really depressing stories too,” she said. “But it’s been a really good ride.”  
…

A portrait of an unnamed woman by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt sold for 85.3 million pounds ($108.4 million) on Tuesday, setting a record price for any work of art sold at an auction in Europe, London-based auction house Sotheby’s said.  

The painting, which had been given a guide price of 65 million pounds ($82.9 million), was sold after a tense 10-minute bidding war as auctioneer Helena Newman, Sotheby’s head of impressionist and modern art, eked out the final bids in half-million pound increments.

Described by Newman as a “technical tour de force, full of boundary-pushing experimentation, as well as a heartfelt ode to absolute beauty,” the painting titled “Dame mit Fächer” (“Lady with a Fan”) was still on an easel in Klimt’s studio when he died in February 1918.

“It was created when he was still in his artistic prime and brings together all the technical prowess and creative exuberance that define his greatest work,” she said.

The fall of the hammer at 74 million pounds broke the tension, triggering a collective exhalation in the room and a round of applause. The total price includes fees.

The painting sold to a Hong Kong-based art advisory firm, bidding on behalf of a collector based there.

The previous highest price for a painting sold at auction in Europe was Claude Monet’s “Le Bassin Aux Nympheas” in 2008 at $80.4 million, while the record for any work of art sold at auction in Europe was set by Alberto Giacometti’s bronze “Walking Man I,” which went for $104.3 million in 2010.  

Sotheby’s said the painting was one of a small number of Klimt’s portraits in private collections. It is now the most expensive Klimt artwork sold at auction anywhere in the world.

It was last offered for sale nearly 30 years ago, when it was acquired by the family of the present owner for $11.6 million, according to the auction house.
…

A blistering new report by the U.N. human rights office shows that nobody in Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine is without fault and that Ukrainian civilians have been arbitrarily detained by both warring parties, but that the Russian Federation is guilty of most of the crimes and cases of abuse.

The report, which was issued Tuesday, covers a 15-month period from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, to May 2023. The documented material is based on 1,136 interviews with victims, witnesses and others, 274 site visits and 70 visits to official places of detention run by Ukrainian authorities.

Authors of the report note that Ukraine gave them “unimpeded confidential access” to official places of detention and detainees, with one exception. They say “the Russian Federation did not grant us such access, despite our requests.”

The report documents more than 900 cases of arbitrary detention of civilians, including children, and elderly people. It says the majority of these — 864 cases — were perpetrated by the Russian Federation, “many of which amounted to enforced disappearances.”

Matilda Bogner heads the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. Speaking from Uzhhorod in western Ukraine, she said her team did not document any cases of arbitrary detention committed by the mercenary Wagner Group because “they do work under the overall control of the army in Russia.”

She noted a previous report published in March had documented cases of arbitrary detention, torture and ill treatment and executions of prisoners of war by the Wagner Group. She added, “None of these cases related to civilian detainees.”

The report documents the summary execution of 77 civilians while they were arbitrarily detained by the Russian Federation.

Bogner said, “It is a war crime to execute a civilian after detention. It is also a gross violation of international human rights law.

“In terms of the 77 public executions, I could not say that it is the tip of the iceberg. I think we have documented a large number of them,” she said. “Clearly, we have not documented them all, but I do not think that there are thousands and thousands of cases that we are not aware of.”

She pointed out that the human rights mission had not documented any summary executions of civilian detainees by the Ukrainian forces.

The report says civilians detained by the Russian authorities in territories under their occupation were perceived as supporters of Ukraine. It says they were held incommunicado, often in deplorable conditions.

The report accuses the Russian armed forces and other authorities of having “engaged in widespread torture and ill-treatment of civilian detainees” and in some cases of subjecting them to sexual violence. It said that torture was used to force victims who were detained in Russian-occupied territory to confess to helping Ukrainian armed forces.

The U.N. monitors have documented 75 cases of arbitrary detention by Ukrainian security forces, “mostly of people suspected of conflict-related offenses.” They note that many of these cases also amounted to enforced disappearances.

The monitors documented that “over half of those arbitrarily detained were subjected to torture or ill-treatment by Ukrainian security forces.” Most of these cases, they say, occurred while people were being interrogated after their arrest.

Authors of the report deplore the lack of accountability for these crimes and the failure of Russian authorities to investigate allegations of arbitrary detention and abuse of civilians by Russian armed forces.

They criticize a law approved by the Russian parliament that would potentially exempt from criminal liability perpetrators of international crimes in occupied regions of Ukraine, “if they are committed to protect the interests of the Russian Federation.”

The report notes the Ukrainian government has convicted 23 people, including 19 in absentia, on allegations of civilian detentions by the Russian Federation.

It says, however, “We are not aware of any completed criminal investigations by Ukrainian authorities into its own security forces for such violations.”
…

Italy’s culture and tourism ministers have vowed to find and punish a tourist who was filmed carving his name and that of his apparent girlfriend in the wall of the Colosseum in Rome, a crime that resulted in hefty fines in the past.

Video of the incident went viral on social media. The message reading “Ivan+Haley 23” appeared on the Colosseum at a time when residents already were complaining about hordes of tourists flooding the Eternal City in record numbers this season.

Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano called the writing carved into the almost 2,000-year-old Flavian Ampitheater “serious, undignified and a sign of great incivility.” He said he hoped the culprits would be found “and punished according to our laws.”

Italian news agency ANSA noted that the incident marked the fourth time this year that such graffiti was reported at the Colosseum. It said whoever was responsible for the latest episode risked $15,000 in fines and up to five years in prison.

Tourism Minister Daniela Santanche said she hoped the tourist would be sanctioned “so that he understands the gravity of the gesture.” Calling for respect for Italy’s culture and history, she vowed: “We cannot allow those who visit our nation to feel free to behave in this way.”

In 2014, a Russian tourist was fined $25,000 and received a four-year suspended jail sentence for engraving a big letter ‘K’ on a wall of the Colosseum.

The following year, two American tourists were also cited for aggravated damage after they carved their names in the monument.

Italian tourism lobby Federturismo, backed by statistics bureau ISTAT, has said 2023 is shaping up as a record for visitors to Italy, surpassing pre-pandemic levels that hit a high in 2019.

Outside the Colosseum on Tuesday, visitors called for such monuments to be protected and preserved.

“There is a rich history here. It helps us learn from the past,” Diego Cruz, an American student, said.

Güldamla Ozsema, a computer engineer visiting from Turkey, said his country also had difficulty protecting its monuments from disrespectful tourists.

“I really get angry with them, with this behavior,” Ozsema said.
…

While Ukrainian pilots could soon be training to fly U.S.-made F-16s, analysts say the jet fighters won’t be seen on the battlefield anytime soon. In the meantime, the Ukrainian military is using a variety of aircraft in the field. Anna Kosstutschenko has the story. VOA footage by Pavel Suhodolskiy.
…

Russia’s Federal Security Service announced Tuesday it was closing an investigation into the armed mutiny by Yevgeny Prigozhin and members of his Wagner mercenary group.

In a statement carried by Russian news agencies, the FSB said those involved “ceased activities directed at committing the crime.”

Not prosecuting the fighters was part of an agreement late Saturday that brought the mutiny to an end.

Russia’s defense ministry also said Tuesday that the Wagner group was preparing to transfer heavy military equipment to the Russian military.

Prigozhin’s whereabouts were not clear Tuesday.

Flight tracking websites showed a jet linked to Prigozhin landed in Belarus on Tuesday.

The Wagner leader had said he would go to Belarus as part of a deal brokered by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to end the mutiny.

Putin address

In a speech to the Russian nation, Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday excoriated the organizers of the Wagner rebellion, calling them “traitors.” 

The Russian leader said the organizers lied to their own people and “pushed them to death, under fire, to shoot their own,” deflecting Wagner fighters’ culpability for storming the southern city of Rostov, which they temporarily seized on their way toward Moscow.

Putin invited the Wagner soldiers and their commanders, whom he called “patriots,” to join the Russian military by signing with the Russian Ministry of Defense or with other law enforcement agencies. He also gave them the option if they wanted to go back to their families and friends or to move to Belarus should they choose.

The Russian leader made no mention of Prigozhin. However, he said the organizers of this rebellion betrayed “their country, their people, betrayed those who were drawn into the crime.”

He also said that through this revolt, the organizers gave Russian enemies what they wanted — “Russian soldiers to kill each other, so that military personnel and civilians would die, so that in the end Russia would lose … choke in a bloody civil strife.”

Putin also said he had deliberately let Saturday’s 24-hour mutiny by the Wagner militia go on as long as it did to avoid bloodshed, and that it had reinforced national unity.

“Time was needed, among other things, to give those who had made a mistake a chance to come to their senses, to realize that their actions were firmly rejected by society, and that the adventure in which they had been involved had tragic and destructive consequences for Russia and for our state,” he said.

Prigozhin on Monday made his first public comments since the brief rebellion he launched against Russia’s military leadership.

“We did not have the goal of overthrowing the existing regime and the legally elected government,” he said in an 11-minute audio message released on the Telegram messaging app.

Instead, Prigozhin said, he called his actions “a march to justice” triggered by a deadly attack on his private, Kremlin-linked military outfit by the Russian military. “We started our march because of an injustice,” the Wagner chief said, claiming that the Russian military had attacked a Wagner camp with missiles and then helicopters, killing about 30 of its men. Russia denied attacking the camp.

Prigozhin claimed the Wagner group was the most effective fighting force in Russia “and even the world.” He said the way Wagner had been able to take control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don without bloodshed and the way it sent an armed convoy to within 200 kilometers (124 miles) of Moscow was a testament to the effectiveness of its fighters.

Russian intelligence services were investigating whether Western spy agencies played a role in the aborted mutiny, the TASS news agency quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying Monday.

The U.S. intelligence community “was aware” that the mutiny orchestrated by Prigozhin “was a possibility” and briefed the U.S. Congress “accordingly” before it began, said a source familiar with the issue, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden said, “We made clear we were not involved, we had nothing to do with this.” Biden’s message that the West was not involved was sent directly to the Russians through various diplomatic channels, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. He did not characterize Russia’s response.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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A German court gave Rupert Stadler, the former head of Audi, a suspended sentence along with a fine Tuesday as he became the highest-ranking executive to be convicted in connection with an emissions cheating scandal. 

As part of a plea deal, the court gave Stadler a 21-month suspended sentence and ordered him to pay $1.2 million. 

Prosecutors did not accuse Stadler of orchestrating the system in which Audi’s parent company, Volkswagen, admitted it used software to rig emissions tests in 11 million diesel vehicles to make them seem less polluting. 

Stadler admitted to continuing to allow vehicles potentially equipped with the software to be sold even after learning about the scam. 

The court gave co-defendant Wolfgang Hatz, a former manager at Audi and Porsche, a two-year suspended sentence along with a $438,000 fine.  An Audi engineer received a 21-month suspended sentence and a $55,000 fine. 

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters 
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Latest developments:            

President Joe Biden said Monday that the United States had "nothing to do" with Wagner's revolt against the Russian military leadership. "This was part of a struggle within the Russian system," Biden said, adding that he was briefed "hour by hour" on the developments by his national security team and allies.  





A new U.S. military aid package for Ukraine, worth up to $500 million, will be announced as soon as Tuesday. The package will include ground vehicles for Ukraine's counteroffensive, two U.S. officials said.   

Ukrainian officials advocated Monday for gaining membership in the NATO alliance, as NATO leaders prepare to gather for a July summit in Lithuania. 

“There is every reason to take strong steps on Ukraine’s NATO membership perspective,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted after a discussion with Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly.  “We are working with all allies to achieve the best possible result for Ukraine and the Euro-Atlantic security.” 

NATO members agreed in 2008 that Ukraine would eventually join NATO, and the alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg has reiterated that stance throughout the conflict that Russia launched in Ukraine last year. 

But Stoltenberg has said Ukraine joining NATO will not happen while the conflict is ongoing and said last week that in the preparations for the summit in Vilnius, “we’re not discussing to issue a formal invitation.” 

“At the summit, we will agree a multi-year package of assistance, and upgrade our political ties with Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said Monday during a visit to Lithuania.  “This will bring Ukraine closer to its rightful place in NATO.” 

Zelenskyy visits troops  

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with troops and handed out awards during a visit to the eastern region of Donetsk. 

Zelenskyy said in his nightly address that the troops included those involved in the long-fought battle in Bakhmut. 

“I thank everyone who is now fighting for Ukraine, who is preparing for combat, who is on combat missions, who is at combat posts… All those who are recovering from injuries,” Zelenskyy said. 

EU support 

European Union countries agreed Monday to increase their military aid for Ukraine by $3.8 billion to more than $13 billion.  

The European Peace Facility (EPF), which EU countries contribute to according to the size of their economies, has already allocated some $5 billion in military aid for Ukraine. This package is separate from the EU’s budget, which is not allowed to finance military operations.    

“Today’s decision will again ensure that we have the funding to continue delivering concrete military support to our partners’ armed forces,” the bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, who had requested the increase, said in a statement.  

“The facility has proven its worth. It has completely changed the way we support our partners on defense. It makes the EU and its partners stronger,” he said.  

Hungary’s foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, said Monday it would not lift a block on a $546 million tranche of the existing fund until Kyiv removes blacklisted Hungarian bank OTP from a list of companies Kyiv calls “international sponsors” of Russia’s war in Ukraine.  

Hungary has branded the bank’s inclusion “scandalous.” 

The EPF, established in 2021, was designed for the EU to help developing countries buy military equipment. But the 27-member EU quickly decided to use it also to get weapons to Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in February 2023. The fund allows EU countries that supply weapons and ammunition to Ukraine to claim a portion of the cost. 

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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The White House said Monday it was “too soon to tell” whether the dramatic events of this weekend in Russia will change the course of the conflict in Ukraine, or international relations in general. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House.
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An Amsterdam museum that severed ties with St. Petersburg’s Hermitage collection after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year has been renamed and on Monday announced partnerships with renowned galleries in London, Paris and Washington. 

Starting in September, the Hermitage Amsterdam will be called H’ART Museum. It has established partnerships with the British Museum, Centre Pompidou and the Smithsonian American Art Museum to bring art to the historic building on the banks of the Dutch capital’s Amstel River. 

“It’s an exciting new step for us, a contemporary and future-proof model,” museum director Annabelle Birnie said in a statement. 

She said the museum’s program will be “multi-voiced, reflecting the times we live in” and will range from major art exhibitions to smaller presentations. 

The first major show — scheduled to open midway through 2024 — will be a partnership with Paris’ Centre Pompidou focused on Wassily Kandinsky, the Russian-born artist who became a French citizen and died in France in 1944. 

The museum originally opened in 2009 and drew extensively on the huge art collection of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg to stage exhibitions. However, last year it ended the relationship, saying: “With the invasion of the Russian army in Ukraine, a border has been crossed. War destroys everything.” 
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A court in Serbia released three police officers from Kosovo who were detained near the disputed border between the former war foes, but a Serbian negotiator said Monday that the trio still faced further legal action.

The officers returned to Kosovo after a court in the central Serbian town of Kraljevo said they would be allowed to remain free pending any additional proceedings. They were charged with illegal possession of weapons and explosive devices, the court said.

The officers were detained in mid-June. Serbia says the three crossed into the country from Kosovo, while Kosovar authorities insisted they were kidnapped inside Kosovo and transferred to a Serbian prison.

The United States and the European Union had joined Kosovo’s government in demanding their freedom.

Serbia’s chief negotiator with Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, said the officers’ release from detention was a court decision “and not a political one.” An investigation and their possible prosecution will continue, Petkovic said.

Kosovo’s president, Vjosa Osmani, thanked the United States for securing the policemen’s release “after the act of aggression that Serbia did in Kosovo.” Officials said they wanted Serbia held responsible for the alleged incursion into Kosovo’s territory.

“Even though we are joyous that they get to return to their families, this abduction consists of a serious human rights violation & must be reprimanded,” Prime Minister Albin Kurti tweeted.

Serbia and its former province, Kosovo, have been at odds for decades, with Belgrade refusing to recognize Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence. Western efforts to resolve the crisis have increased recently to avert possible instability in the Balkans as war rages in Ukraine.

Tensions between the two countries flared anew late last month after Kosovo police seized local municipal buildings in Serb-majority northern Kosovo to install ethnic Albanian mayors who were elected in an April election that Serbs overwhelmingly boycotted.

Violent clashes and the detention of the police officers stirred fears of a renewal of a 1998-99 conflict that left more than 10,000 people dead, mostly Kosovar Albanians.

Serbia has demanded that Kosovo special police units and the mayors pull out from the northern region bordering Serbia and also for several ethnic Serbs who were detained in Kosovo in recent weeks to be released. The Serbian government also heightened army readiness and threatened military intervention over the alleged “torture” of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo.

In response to Kosovo taking over the municipal buildings, the United States canceled the country’s participation in a U.S.-led military exercise, and top Western officials halted high-level visits to Pristina.

Last week, the European Union summoned the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia to Brussels to urge them to defuse the situation. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell hailed Monday’s release of the officers.

Borrell warned that the EU’s executive commission and member countries were ready to take political and financial measures against Serbia and Kosovo if they did not commit to a de-escalation.

He did not list specific expected steps or possible measures but said the 27-nation bloc had “bodies that work on that” and “means to execute.”

Borrell on Monday repeated that holding fresh local elections in four Serb-majority municipalities was essential to reducing the tensions.

The U.S. and most EU members have recognized Kosovo’s independence, while Russia and China have backed Belgrade’s claim to the territory. Serbia lost control over Kosovo after NATO intervened in 1999 to stop the war, forcing Belgrade to end a brutal crackdown against separatist ethnic Albanians.
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Britain’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda will cost $215,035 per person, according to the first detailed government assessment of a high-stakes promise to tackle record numbers of people arriving in small boats. 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government wants to send thousands of migrants more than 6,400 kilometers to Rwanda as part of a deal with the central African country agreed to last year. 

The government sees the plan as central to deterring asylum seekers arriving in small boats from France. Sunak has made this one of his five priorities amid pressure from some of his own Conservative lawmakers and the public to resolve the issue, with his party well behind the main opposition Labour Party in opinion polls ahead of a national election due next year. 

In an economic impact assessment published on Monday, the government said the cost of deporting each individual to Rwanda would include costs such as an average $133,485 payment to Rwanda for hosting each asylum-seeker, $28,000 for the flight and escorting, and $22,882 for processing and legal costs. 

Home Secretary (interior minister) Suella Braverman said these costs must be considered alongside the impact of deterring others trying to reach Britain and the rising cost of housing asylum-seekers. 

Unless action is taken, Braverman said that the cost of housing asylum seekers will rise to $13.9 billion a year, up from about $4.5 billion currently. 

“The economic impact assessment clearly shows that doing nothing is not an option,” she said. 

The government said the potential savings were “highly uncertain,” but estimated that to break even the plan would need to have the effect of deterring almost two in five people arriving on small boats. 

Labour said the economic assessment was a “complete joke” and it failed to accurately say what the overall cost of the plan would be. 

The Scottish National Party accused the government of spending an “astronomical” amount of money deporting desperate people while failing to help people in Britain with the rising costs of mortgages and food bills. 

On Thursday, the Court of Appeal will hand down its judgment on whether the Rwanda flights are lawful. 

The first planned flight last June was blocked by a last-minute ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, which imposed an injunction preventing any deportations until the conclusion of legal action in Britain. 

In December, the High Court in London ruled the policy was lawful, but that decision is being challenged by asylum seekers from countries including Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Iran and Vietnam along with some human rights organizations. 

Last year, a record 45,000 people came to Britain in small boats across the Channel, mainly from France. Over 11,000 have arrived so far this year.
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Western leaders say that the failed mutiny by the Russian mercenary Wagner Group over the weekend reveals the weakness of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Several thousand Wagner fighters seized Russian military facilities in Rostov-on-Don and Voronezh, south of Moscow, over the weekend. Putin described the group’s actions as treason and a “stab in the back” for Russians.

Wagner forces were advancing on the Russian capital when the mutiny was suddenly called off after an apparent intervention by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a Russian ally. The Kremlin said no charges would be brought against Wagner, although it has since said that an investigation is ongoing.

Wagner forces have played a central role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the group’s leader, has purportedly fled to Belarus following the abandoned mutiny. In an audio message released Monday he said that the action was called off to avoid bloodshed.

Putin’s ‘monster’

At a meeting of European foreign ministers on Monday in Luxembourg, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the attempted mutiny revealed weakness in Putin’s leadership.

“The most important conclusion is that the war against Ukraine — launched by Putin and the monster that Putin created with Wagner — the monster is biting him now. That monster is acting against his creator. The political system is showing fragilities, and the military power is cracking. So, this is an important consequence of the war in Ukraine,” Borrell told reporters.

Belarus border

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki visited the 400-kilometer border that Poland shares with Belarus. Security has been stepped up along the EU’s borders with Belarus following the weekend’s events.

“Everything that is happening there [in Russia] is characterized by a high level of unpredictability. We don’t know, and no one in the world knows, what were the real reasons behind the events … the upcoming weeks will probably show us,” Morawiecki told reporters Sunday.

Britain noted that Prigozhin had questioned Putin’s justification for the invasion of Ukraine.

“The Russian government’s lies have been exposed by one of President Putin’s own henchmen,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told lawmakers Monday.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg echoed that view.

“The events over the weekend are an internal Russian matter and yet another demonstration of the big strategic mistake that President Putin made with his illegal annexation of Crimea and the war against Ukraine. As Russia continues its assault, it is even more important to continue our support to Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.

Ukraine opportunities

Addressing whether Ukraine could take advantage of the turmoil in Russia, General Philip Breedlove, the former commander of U.S. European Command, urged a measured response from Kyiv.

“Certainly, this begins to open some doors of opportunity, but we don’t go rushing headlong through them. We take them as they are applicable to the plan that Ukraine has already set out,” Breedlove told Reuters.

Kurt Volker, the former U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations and former U.S. ambassador to NATO, said it was vital that Ukraine continue to push back invading Russian forces.

“I think what Ukraine needs to do is press every advantage it has to use this moment to get its territory back. Then as this war eventually stabilizes and presumably on the border, I think NATO is going to have to come back to the idea of Ukrainian membership in NATO,” Volker told Reuters.

China

Russian ally China has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday that Beijing supported Putin.

“The incident of the Wagner group … is Russia’s internal affair,” spokesperson Mao Ning said. “As Russia’s friendly neighbor and comprehensive strategic partner of coordination for the new era, China supports Russia in maintaining national stability and achieving development and prosperity.”

Military aid

Australia announced on Monday an additional $73.5 million in military aid for Ukraine, including military vehicles, ammunition and humanitarian funding. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the weekend’s events made it clear the invasion of Ukraine was failing.

“The Russian illegal invasion of Ukraine has been a disaster for the people of Ukraine, most importantly, but it has also been a disaster for the people of Russia,” Albanese said in a televised statement.

European Union member states agreed Monday to boost a special fund used to finance military aid for Ukraine by $3.8 billion, raising its ceiling to more than $13 billion.

EU leaders are due to meet later this week to discuss further support for Ukraine.
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Russia experienced the most serious threat to its stability in decades when the mercenary Wagner group mutinied, and its leader threatened to storm Moscow in an unprecedented challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s rule. The episode was brief, lasting fewer than 24 hours, but leaves big questions about the direction of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine and of Putin’s political future. Jonathan Spier narrates this report from the VOA Moscow Bureau.
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UNESCO member states meet later this week on the Biden administration’s bid to rejoin the Paris-based U.N. scientific and cultural body, a move that will inject hundreds of millions of welcome dollars into its coffers and give the United States a say in shaping programs ranging from climate change to education and artificial intelligence.

Few expect any surprises on the outcome of the deliberations, which will be held at an extraordinary UNESCO session Thursday and Friday. There have been no reports of serious objections by the agency’s 193 members, although China and Russia have offered some critical and cautionary remarks.

Yet even as many welcome Washington’s move to rejoin over concern that competitors like China are filling the void, some observers wonder how long that welcome will last. Next year’s U.S. presidential elections are looming, potentially ushering in another administration hostile to UNESCO’s policies and membership.

Still others suggest Israel, which similarly defunded and ultimately left the body, should follow Washington’s footsteps in returning.

UNESCO itself has given an enthusiastic thumbs up to the U.S. request to rejoin earlier this month. Secretary-General Audrey Azoulay — who has taken pains to erase perceptions UNESCO was biased against Israel and woo Washington back — called it “a historic moment.”

“The reason why the U.S. is coming back is a strong signal that UNESCO’s mandate is more relevant than ever,” said UNESCO’s New York office head, Eliot Minchenberg, in an interview, laying out a raft of UNESCO programs reflecting U.S. priorities including fighting antisemitism and Holocaust education.

“In the absence of the U.S., of course others have stepped up and helped, but it is definitely not the same as the U.S. presence and engagement — both financially, diplomatically and politically,” he added.

Also welcome are U.S. dues that once accounted for 22% of UNESCO’s budget. The Biden administration has proposed slowly paying off the $619 million in arrears, starting with $150 million in 2024 dues and back payments.

French baguettes and the Everglades

Located not far from the Eiffel Tower, the small agency — known officially as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization —runs a raft of programs from promoting education and free press, to fighting against climate change and antisemitism.

Many know it best for helping to preserve and showcase the cultural and physical heritage of member states. French baguettes, Tunisian harissa, Finnish sauna culture and Colombian marimba music have all landed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

More than a thousand sites have also made UNESCO’s World Heritage List, including two dozen in the U.S., from the Statue of Liberty to the Everglades and Yellowstone national parks.

Even today, some U.S. universities and other private groups continue collaborating with UNESCO.

That includes the Massachusetts-based nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists, whose deputy director for climate and energy programs, Adam Markham, says without membership the U.S. cannot weigh in on key discussions around climate change and World Heritage sites.

China

“You’re seeing China taking a lot of leadership roles,” said Markham, who can still participate in scientific meetings as a member of a nongovernmental organization. “I’m not saying that’s a good thing or a bad thing. It’s just changing the geopolitical relationships that the U.S. has with other UNESCO partners.”

The U.S. first quit UNESCO in 1984 under the Reagan administration, over corruption concerns and an allegedly pro-Soviet tilt. It rejoined under another Republican president, George W. Bush, then suspended dues under Democrat Barack Obama, when Palestine became a member.

In 2018, President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out altogether over perceived anti-Israel bias and management issues, with Israel following suit.

Now, politics are again driving America’s return — this time, over concerns Beijing may otherwise have an outsized say in sensitive programs like artificial intelligence.

“Joe Biden’s administration has realized that the empty chair policy is incompatible with the defense of the country’s interests and that its absence from this forum ends up serving those of its great rival, China,” wrote France’s Le Monde newspaper in an editorial — even as it warned against Washington’s “fickleness.”

“The succession of departures and returns can only raise questions about the durability of the…decision, less than two years before a presidential election that could bring the party of ultra-nationalist retreat back to the White House” it added, referring to the Trump administration.

Israel next?

China’s ambassador to UNESCO has indicated Beijing was ready to work with a newly rejoined Washington. But the state-backed China Daily was blunter.

“Whether the U.S. will play a positive role in the agency remains a conjecture,” it wrote in an editorial. “If… its return is just for regaining its own influence against that of China in the organization, the U.S. will likely just be a troublemaker.”

Russia’s foreign ministry said it, too, was willing to welcome back the U.S., but warned Washington needed to follow UNESCO’s rules and “should pay back its astronomical debt unconditionally and in full.”

In Israel, Michael Freund, a former communications advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, cast the U.S. return as a “fiasco” and UNESCO “as an appalling club,” in an opinion in The Jerusalem Post.

But the newspaper’s own editorial suggested Israel might consider rejoining the agency — picking which programs to support while boycotting others — to counter Palestinian “disinformation.”

Mixed reactions over UNESCO have been sounding in the U.S. as well.

“Returning to UNESCO is a waste of time and money, and not an effective riposte to China,” John Bolton, a former national security advisor under President Trump, wrote in the New York Post. He called on Congress, with the House of Representatives now controlled by Republicans, to block UNESCO funding and said no current Republican presidential candidate appeared to support rejoining the agency.

But Markham, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, says he saw a different reaction when he spoke recently to a group of historic preservationists in New Jersey.

“The one thing they burst out spontaneously in applause was when I said the US had announced it was going back to UNESCO,” he said. “And I’m certain there were Republicans as well as Democrats in that audience.”
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Australia’s highest court on Monday dismissed Russia’s application for an injunction that would have prevented Moscow’s embassy being evicted from a site in the national capital Canberra.

In dismissing the application, High Court Justice Jayne Jagot described Russia’s challenge on constitutional grounds to a law terminating the lease as “weak” and “difficult to understand.”

Parliament passed emergency legislation on June 15 that terminated Russia’s lease on the largely empty block on security grounds because the new embassy would have been too close to Parliament House.

Russia’s lawyer Elliot Hyde had argued that the Ambassador Alexey Pavlovsky would not have confidence in the integrity and security of a consular building already on the site if the embassy was not allowed to maintain possession until the challenge to the validity of the lease termination was decided.

Elliot said a man who has been living on the site in a portable cabin at least since last week was a security guard protecting the compound. The man had been described in the media as a Russian diplomat.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he welcomed the High Court decision and expected the Russians to leave the site.

“The court has made clear that there is no legal basis for a Russian presence to continue on the site at this time, and we expect the Russian Federation to act in accordance with the court’s ruling,” Albanese told reporters.

The Russian Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Previously, Russia had accused Australia of “Russophobic hysteria” for canceling the lease of the site in Canberra’s diplomatic quarter where Moscow wanted to build a new embassy. The current Russian Embassy is in the Canberra suburb of Griffith and its operations are unaffected.

The security guard left the site after the decision. He was carrying bags and was collected by a car with diplomatic license plates, media reported.

Australian National University international law expert Don Rothwell said an examination of the published list of accredited Russian diplomats in Australia revealed there were only three male diplomats who could be the man guarding the embassy site.

Given Elliot’s description of the squatter as a guard, Rothwell doubted the man had diplomatic immunity, which could have prevented Australian authorities removing him from the site.

“If the Commonwealth [government] issued an order to this individual — we’ll call him the security guard — to leave, as soon as he left the Commonwealth could then seek to completely secure the site and ensure that no one else could enter,” Rothwell said.

Australian Federal Police last week declined to explain why the man had not been removed from the contested site as a trespasser.
…

With nearly all of the votes counted, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his New Democracy party won just over 40 percent, giving him the mandate to press ahead with promises to remake the Greek economy and rebrand the nation among the European Union.

A Harvard-educated former banker, Mitsotakis crushed his leftist rival, Alexis Tsipras, by 22 percentage points. In a victory speech, Mitsotakis vowed to get back to work fast.

“I am grateful for the resounding faith that has been expressed,” Mitsotakis said in his victory speech. “I cannot promise miracles, but I will remain true to my duty… to be committed, diligent, and humble.”

Turnout was low with only half the country’s 9 million voters casting ballots. Experts suspect that may have contributed to smaller, fringe parties emerging from obscurity to take centerstage in Greece’s political process.

In all, eight parties cleared the 3 percent threshold to enter the nation’s legislature.

Among the new entries: the Spartans. Named after the formidable warriors of Sparta in ancient Greece, the new party advocates tighter migration policies, stoking fears that the country will be overrun by asylum-seekers escaping war and conflicts.

It is believed that the Spartans are an offshoot of the Golden Dawn party, whose neo-Nazi leaders have been imprisoned since 2020 for targeting left-wing politicians, activists, homosexuals and migrants.

Sunday’s vote comes after one of the worst migrant boat sinkings — that left at least 80 asylum-seekers dead and hundreds more missing — making illegal migration a heated topic of public debate.

As a result, the role of the Greek coast guard and whether the tragedy could have been avoided came into question.

Mitsotakis is to be sworn in Monday, and Greece’s new lawmakers will make their debut in Parliament days later.
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