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Two environmental activists glued themselves to a dinosaur display at Berlin’s Natural History Museum on Sunday to protest what they said was the German government’s failure to properly address the threat of climate change.

The women used superglue to attach themselves to poles holding up the skeleton of a large four-legged dinosaur that lived tens of millions of years ago.

“Unlike the dinosaurs, we hold our fate in our own hands,” protester Caris Connell, 34, said as museum visitors milled around the display. “Do we want to go extinct like the dinosaurs, or do we want to survive?”

Fellow activist Solvig Schinkoethe, 42, said that as a mother of four she feared the consequences of the climate crisis.

“This peaceful resistance is the means we have chosen to protect our children from the government’s deadly ignorance,” she said.

The museum didn’t immediately comment on the protest.

The activists were part of the group Uprising of the Last Generation, which has staged numerous demonstrations in recent months, including blocking streets and throwing mashed potatoes at a Claude Monet painting.
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Germany and the European Union are considering adding Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to the list of terrorist organizations, German Foreign Minister Annalina Baerbock said on Sunday.   

Last week, Germany announced that it would impose tougher sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran outside of the EU sanctions package.  

In an interview Sunday with a German news agency, Baerbock added, “We are also examining how we can list the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.”   

Baerbock’s comments come a day after Hossein Salami, the head of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards, warned protesters that Saturday would be their last day of taking to the streets, signaling that security forces might intensify their crackdown on nationwide protests. 

The Revolutionary Guards are a part of Iran’s military charged with protecting the country’s Islamic political system. It also controls a huge business empire active in almost all sectors of Iran’s economy.      

Iran has been gripped by protests since the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police last month, posing one of the boldest challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution. 

Iran has accused countries that have expressed support for the protests of meddling in its internal affairs. 

In her interview Sunday, Baerbok also said there are currently no negotiations to revive the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Western countries and Iran.   

The U.S. State Department designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization in April, 2019.   

Some material for this article came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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Three men were injured early Sunday when a pro-democracy vigil outside the Iranian Embassy in Berlin was attacked, German police said.

An officer guarding the property saw several men, whose faces were covered with scarves, tearing down flags and banners from a trailer parked outside.

They then sought to rip open the door of the trailer, and a scuffle and argument erupted between four men who were inside and the attackers.

The men from the trailer chased the other group — and were then attacked by them, police said. Three of the men from the vehicle were injured, with two needing hospital treatment.

The attackers fled by car.

The trailer had posters on it with slogans such as “Women, Life, Freedom,” which has been commonly used in anti-government protests in Iran, German media reported.

There have been large protests in Germany and other European countries in solidarity with women-led demonstrations in Iran sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini.

The Iranian protests, now in their sixth week, are the biggest seen in the Islamic Republic for years. 
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Several thousand black-clad fascist sympathizers chanted and sang in praise of the late Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on Sunday as they marched to his crypt, 100 years after Mussolini entered Rome and completed a bloodless coup that gave rise to two decades of fascist rule.

The crowd of 2,000 to 4,000 marchers, many sporting fascist symbols and singing hymns from Italy’s colonial era, was larger than in the recent past, as the fascist nostalgics celebrated the centenary of the March on Rome.

On October 28, 1922, black-shirted fascists entered the Italian capital, launching a putsch that culminated two days later when Italy’s king handed Mussolini the mandate to start a new government.

The crowd in Predappio, Mussolini’s birthplace and final resting place in the northern Emilia-Romagna region, also was apparently emboldened by the fact that a party with neo-fascist roots is heading an Italian government for the first time since World War II.

Organizers warned participants, who arrived from as far away as Rome, Belgium and the United States, not to flash the Roman salute used by the Fascists, or they would risk prosecution. Still, some couldn’t resist as the crowd stopped outside the cemetery where Mussolini is buried to listen to prayers and greetings from Mussolini’s great-granddaughter, Orsola.

“After 100 years, we are still here to pay homage to the man this state wanted, and who we will never stop admiring,” Orsola Mussolini said, to cheers.

She listed her great-grandfather’s accomplishments, citing an infrastructure boom that built schools, hospitals and public buildings, reclaimed malaria-infested swamps for cities, and the extension of a pension system to nongovernment workers. She was joined by her sister Vittoria, who led the crowd in a prayer.

The crowd gave a final shout of “Duce, Duce, Duce!” Mussolini’s honorific as Italy’s dictator.

Anti-fascist campaigners held a march in Predappio on Friday to mark the anniversary of the liberation of the town — and to prevent the fascists from marching on the exact anniversary of the March on Rome.

Inside the cemetery on Sunday, admirers lined up a handful at a time to enter his crypt, tucked away in a back corner. Each was given a memory card signed by his great-grandaughters with a photo of a smiling Mussolini holding his gloved hand high in a Roman salute. “History will prove me right,” the card reads.

Italy’s failure to fully come to terms with its fascist past has never been more stark than now, as Italy’s new premier, Giorgia Meloni, seeks to distance her far-right Brothers of Italy party from its neo-fascist roots.

This week, she decried fascism’s anti-democratic nature and called its racial laws, which sent thousands of Italian Jews to Nazi death camps, “a low point.” Historians would also add Mussolini’s alliance with Nazi Germany and Japan in World War II and his disastrous colonial campaign in Africa to fascism’s devastating legacies.

Now in power, Meloni is seeking a moderate course for a new center-right government that includes Matteo Salvini’s League party and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia. But her victory gives far-right activists a sense of vindication.

“I would have voted for Lucifer if he could beat the left,” said organizer Mirko Santarelli, who heads the Ravenna chapter of the Arditi, an organization that began as a World War I veterans group and has evolved to include caretaking Mussolini’s memory. “I am happy there is a Meloni government, because there is nothing worse than the Italian left. It is not the government that reflects my ideas, but it is better than nothing.”

He said he would like to see the new Italian government do away with laws that prosecute incitement to hatred and violence motivated by race, ethnicity, religion and nationality. It includes use of emblems and symbols — many of which were present in Sunday’s march.

Santarelli said the law punishes “the crime of opinion.”

“It is used as castor oil by the left to make us keep quiet. When I am asked my opinion of Mussolini, and it is clear I speak well of him, I risk being denounced,” Santarelli said.

Lawyer Francesco Minutillo, a far-right activist who represents the organizers, said Italy’s high court established that manifestations are permissible as long as they are commemorative “and don’t meet the criteria that risks the reconstitution of the fascist party.”

Still, he said, magistrates in recent years have opened investigations into similar manifestations in Predappio and elsewhere to make sure they don’t violate the law. One such case was closed without charges last week.

To avoid having their message misrepresented, Santarelli asked the rank and file present not to speak to journalists. Most complied.

A young American man wearing a T-shirt with a hand-drawn swastika inside a heart and the words “Brand New Dream,” plus a fascist fez, said he had timed his European vacation to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the March on Rome so he could participate in the march in Predappio. He declined to identify himself, other than to say he was from New Jersey, and lamented there was no fascist group back home to join.

Rachele Massimi traveled with a group four hours from Rome on Sunday to participate in the event, bringing her 3-year-old who watched from a stroller.

“It’s historic,” Massimi said. “It’s a memory.”
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For web: PRAGUE (AP) — Tens of thousands of Czechs gathered in the capital on Sunday to demonstrate their solidarity with Ukraine and their support for democratic values. 

The rally took place in reaction to three recent anti-government demonstrations where other protesters demanded the resignation of the pro-Western coalition government of conservative Prime Minister Petr Fiala for its support for Ukraine. Those earlier rallies also protested soaring energy prices and opposed the country’s membership in the European Union and NATO. 

The organizers of the earlier rallies are known for spreading Russian propaganda and opposing COVID-19 vaccinations. 

The people who turned out Sunday in Prague waved the Czech, Ukrainian and EU flags while displaying slogans that read “Czech Republic against fear” and “We will manage it.” 

Sunday’s rally at central Wenceslas Square was organized by a group called Million Moments for Democracy, which was behind several rallies in support of Ukraine following the Feb 24 Russian invasion. The group also previously held massive rallies against the former prime minister, populist billionaire Andrej Babis, calling him a threat for democracy. 

The group said the anti-government protests, which united the far right with the far left. exploited the people’s fear of inflation and the war in Ukraine and were trying to undermine democracy. 

Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, thanked those at the rally in a video message. She said her country has been facing “the darkest moment in its history” but added hope that Russia’s aggression won’t succeed. 

 
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King Charles III announced Sunday he would hold a reception ahead of next month’s COP27 climate summit after being advised not to attend by the government.

Buckingham Palace said the event on November 4 would gather over 200 “international business leaders, decision makers and NGOs” two days before the summit begins in Egypt.

The Palace said the event was to mark the end of the UK’s hosting of COP26.

Charles has long backed environmental causes and spoke at the COP26 event in Glasgow in 2021.

But Downing Street said Friday that the monarch will not go to COP27 after the previous UK government led by Liz Truss advised him it was not the “right occasion” for him to attend.

British PM Rishi Sunak has also decided not to go, instead focusing on domestic issues.

The UK’s COP26 Minister Alok Sharma told The Sunday Times that he was “pretty disappointed that the prime minister is not going”, saying attendance would send a signal about the UK’s “renewed commitment on this issue.”

The Sunday Times reported earlier that Charles was expected to host an event with Sunak set to make a speech.
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Thousands of demonstrators defied an official ban to march Saturday against the deployment of new water storage infrastructure for agricultural irrigation in western France, some clashing with police.

Clashes between paramilitary gendarmes and demonstrators erupted with Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin reporting that 61 officers had been hurt, 22 seriously.

“Bassines Non Merci,” which organized the protest, said around 30 demonstrators had been injured. Of them, 10 had to seek medical treatment and three were hospitalized.

The group brings together environmental associations, trade unions and anti-capitalist groups against what it claims is a “water grab” by the “agro-industry” in western France.

Local officials said six people were arrested during the protest and that 4,000 people had turned up for the banned demonstration. Organizers put the turnout at 7,000.

The deployment of giant water “basins” is underway in the village of Sainte-Soline, in the Deux-Sevres department, to irrigate crops, which opponents claim distorts access to water amid drought conditions.

Around 1,500 police were deployed, according to the prefect of the Deux-Sevres department Emmanuelle Dubee.

Dubee said Friday she had wanted to limit possible “acts of violence,” referring to the clashes between demonstrators and security forces that marred a previous rally in March. 

The Sainte-Soline water reserve is the second of 16 such installations, part of a project developed by a group of 400 farmers organized in a water cooperative to significantly reduce water usage in the summer.

The open-air craters, covered with a plastic tarpaulin, are filled by pumping water from surface groundwater in winter and can store up to 650,000 square meters of water. 

This water is used for irrigation in summer, when rainfall is scarcer. 

Opponents claim the “mega-basins” are wrongly reserved for large export-oriented grain farms and deprive the community of access to essential resources.
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Marine archaeologists in Sweden say they have found the sister vessel of a famed 17th century warship that sank on its maiden voyage and is now on display in a popular Stockholm museum.

The wreck of the royal warship Vasa was raised in 1961, remarkably well preserved, after more than 300 years underwater in the Stockholm harbor. Visitors can admire its intricate wooden carvings at the Vasa Museum, one of Stockholm’s top tourist attractions.

Its sister warship, Applet (Apple), was built around the same time as the Vasa on the orders of Swedish King Gustav II Adolf.

Unlike the Vasa, which keeled over and sank just minutes after leaving port in 1628, the sister ship was launched without incident the following year and remained in active service for three decades. It was sunk in 1659 to become part of an underwater barrier mean to protect the Swedish capital from enemy fleets.

The exact location of the wreck was lost over time but marine archaeologists working for Vrak — the Museum of Wrecks in Stockholm — say they found a large shipwreck in December 2021 near the island of Vaxholm, just east of the capital.

“Our pulses spiked when we saw how similar the wreck was to Vasa,” said Jim Hansson, one of the archaeologists. “Both the construction and the powerful dimensions seemed very familiar.”

Experts were able to confirm that it was the long-lost Applet by analyzing its technical details, wood samples and archival data, the museum said in a statement on Monday.

Parts of the ship’s sides had collapsed onto the seabed but the hull was otherwise preserved up to a lower gun deck. The fallen sides had gun ports on two different levels, which was seen as evidence of a warship with two gun decks.

A second, more thorough dive was made in the spring of 2022, and details were found that had so far only been seen in Vasa. Several samples were taken and analyses made, and it emerged that the oak for the ship’s timber was felled in 1627 in the same place as Vasa’s timber just a few years earlier.

Experts say the Vasa sunk because it lacked the ballast to counterweigh its heavy guns. Applet was built broader than Vasa and with a slightly different hull shape. Still, ships that size were difficult to maneuver and Applet probably remained idle for most of its service, though it sailed toward Germany with more than 1,000 people on board during the Thirty Years’ War, the Vrak museum said.

No decision has been taken on whether to raise the ship, which would be a costly and complicated endeavor.
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China has emerged as an even more prominent player in world affairs as a result of the crisis in Ukraine and the weakening of Russia, but not necessarily to its advantage, says a Warsaw-based analyst.

The two major events that have “shaped or reshaped Europe’s attitude towards China” are the war in Ukraine and how China reacted to it, and the 20th Chinese communist party congress and its outcome, Ireneusz Bil, chairman of the Warsaw-based Amicus Europae Foundation, said in a phone interview with VOA. The foundation was established by former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski.

If attitudes toward Beijing were hardened due to its stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the latest policy pronouncements and the lineup of the new leadership at the Chinese party congress lends the EU an additional reason to recalibrate its former largely welcoming approach, Bil said.

Under these circumstances, China’s expanded role in international affairs and in a potentially enlarged footprint in Europe, including in Central and Eastern Europe, will be accompanied with increased scrutiny and greater “vigilance,” according to the analyst.

Europe will be more aware of the consequences of the technological exchanges and investments from China than it was before, more vigilant in the screening process, Bil said, compared with the previous experience when “there was no second thought on Chinese investment into the EU.”

Now, people will look at “who’s behind [Chinese investments], what kind of technology they will have access to, what kind of infrastructure they will have access to, what security risks are behind it,” Bil said.

Given these developments, the German government’s recent decision to send a chancellor-led delegation to Beijing and to allow a Chinese state-owned company stakes in the port of Hamburg is viewed with strong reservation in Poland and most other Central and Eastern European countries, Bil told VOA.

Bil described Berlin’s choice as “a unilateral decision to go so quickly after the 20th party congress” that “could be seen as lending support to rising authoritarianism in China.”

“This is not welcomed in Poland, and I think in a majority of EU — as I said, here Germany is seen as under-performing versus Russia, so now their effort to build some kind of new relationship with China is being seen as not in the interest of the whole of the European Union,” he said.

Bil added that whether this action is in the interest of Germany itself is also questionable, judging from the opposition put forth by Germany’s security agencies, among other groups.

Germany and France — bigger countries in the EU — “have overlooked our [most Central and Eastern European countries] interest and our opinions vis-a-vis Russia, you can imagine that we are now seeing a ‘mirror effect’ in their relations with China,” he said. “This has led to a crisis of trust, towards Germany — and their understanding of the change of [the] geostrategic map.”

At the center of Germany and the EU’s relations with China is to what extent each country, and the EU as a whole, rely on China for its economic well-being. At this week’s policy roundtable organized by the European Parliament’s Research Service in Brussels, two analysts say that dependency is “overblown.”

Jacob Kirkegaard is senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund (GMF) in Brussels and nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) in Washington, D.C. He noted at the event held Thursday that the Ukraine crisis has led European nations to look carefully at potential consequences of a fallout with China, in the event Beijing takes similar actions against Taiwan, as Russia did against Ukraine.

“China is a bigger economy, so sanctioning China following a military invasion of Taiwan is going to be a bigger deal than sanctioning Russia, no doubt about that,” Kirkegaard said.

Although undoubtedly there’s going to be a very large contingent of “European industrial interests who will cry that it’s going to be a disaster,” the reality is, he said, “as we have seen during the pandemic, as we have seen now with the gas dependency on Russia,” the global supply chain possesses much more flexibility, “and the actual true long-term dependencies on China will turn out to be a lot lower than we think,” Kirkegaard said.

Ulrich Jochheim, a policy analyst in the external policies unit of the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) who earlier worked as an economic desk officer for Germany and China in the European Commission, agrees.

“Our [German] export to China makes up less than 10%,” relatively insignificant compared to “a figure of 30% — more or less — for Australia, and 42% in the case of Taiwan,” he pointed out at Thursday policy roundtable.

Earlier this month, the EU identified China as a “tough competitor” at its foreign ministers meeting, known as the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC).

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky described the gathering as providing a platform for “very good and very consensual internal deliberation among EU foreign ministers” about the EU-China relations.

“There is no formal or agreed public outcome of this debate and we do not comment on details of internal debates,” he wrote, in response to VOA’s request for comment. “As customary, the High Representative Josep Borrell as the chairman commented publicly after the meeting and he indeed spoke about ‘a tough competitor, tougher and tougher, and a systemic rival.'”

Lipavsky continued: “I only have one thing to add — there is a cleared-eyed assessment of China and the recognition that the EU is having the biggest leverage, when acting in unity both internally and externally with like-minded partners. As for Czechia, we appreciated the debate, and we will support continuation of it.”

The Czech Republic currently holds the EU presidency.
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U.S. firm Westinghouse Electric Co will build Poland’s first nuclear power plant, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday, confirming a long-awaited decision aiming to reduce the country’s carbon emissions and phase out coal.   

With Russia waging war in neighboring Ukraine, Poland’s choice of a partner from the United States underlines the emphasis Warsaw places on relations with Washington at a time when its security is in the spotlight.   

“We confirm our nuclear energy project will use the reliable, safe technology of @WECNuclear,” Morawiecki said on Twitter.   

Westinghouse was competing with South Korea’s state-owned Korea Hydro Nuclear Power, which submitted an offer in April. Warsaw was also talking to French companies about the project.   

“U.S. partnership on this project is advantageous for us all: we can address the climate crisis, strengthen European energy security, and deepen the U.S.-Poland strategic relationship,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in a tweet.   

Harris worked to help Westinghouse secure the contract together with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, engaging with Morawiecki several times over the past year, a White House official said. The project would create thousands of American jobs, the official added.   

The selection of Westinghouse and of the United States sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin “about the strength and the meshing together of a U.S.-Poland alliance,” a senior U.S. government official said.   

Warsaw had been seeking a partner to build 6-9 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear capacity and provide up to 49% equity financing for the project. It planned to choose the technology for the first three reactors by the end of 2022, with the first set to start its operations in 2033.   

“We understand that the decision will be for the first three reactors and it is our expectation that Poland intends to eventually construct six AP1000 reactors from Westinghouse and will make a formal decision about the second set of three at a later date,” the U.S. official said.   

Sources have said that Poland would choose the technology first, which would indicate who the partner would be, and discuss the details of the contract afterwards. 
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Editor’s note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch.    

Russia and Ukraine trade allegations at Security Council

Russia called three meetings of the Security Council this week to press its allegations against Ukraine and its Western allies that they are building dirty bombs to use against Russia and to deny that Moscow had received drones from Iran in violation of a Security Council resolution. Western countries said the dirty bomb meetings were a waste of time and accused Russia of using the council to promote Kremlin disinformation. They have asked the U.N. to send investigators to Ukraine to examine drone debris to determine their origin.

In a private session, International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Grossi updated the council on his efforts to establish a de-militarized protection zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The Russian-occupied facility has been repeatedly shelled during the conflict and has raised fears of a nuclear incident or accident.

Difficult winter ahead for millions of Syrians

The United Nations appealed Tuesday for more money and access to needy Syrians, as winter sets in and a cholera outbreak strains limited resources. At least 14.6 million people need assistance – more than at any other time during the 11-year civil war. In January, the U.N. Security Council will consider renewing the authorization for the cross-border aid operation from Turkey into northwest Syria. Russia has long sought to end the operation, and the already difficult negotiations will take place against the backdrop of council divisions intensified by the war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, a new study of U.N. contracts in Syria found that a large share of donor funds went to companies owned by individuals with troubling human rights records or associated with the Bashar al-Assad regime. The report, by U.K.-based nongovernmental organization Syrian Legal Development Program and the Observatory of Political and Economic Networks, said nearly half of U.N. procurement funds went to “risky” or “highly risky” suppliers.

UNEP: Greenhouse gases need to be drastically cut by 2030

Ten days before leaders meet at the COP27 climate review conference in Egypt, the U.N. Environment Program warned Thursday that the window for preventing a climate catastrophe is quickly closing. The agency’s latest Emissions Gap Report says greenhouse gas emissions must be cut by 45% by 2030 to stop climate change. UNEP says the world is falling far short of the Paris climate agreement goals, with no credible pathway for limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century.

Rights expert calls for new strategy on Myanmar

The U.N. special rapporteur for Myanmar warns that unless the international community changes how it deals with the military junta in that country, the already catastrophic situation will only get worse. Tom Andrews told VOA in an interview this week that countries should form a coalition to implement a coordinated strategy to deprive the military of arms, fuel for their aircraft, financing and the legitimacy the junta seeks.

He singled out Myanmar’s civil society, human rights defenders and journalists as “heroes” who are risking their lives to document atrocities and deserve international support. The junta, he said, has committed crimes against humanity and war crimes.

More atrocities without peace in Ethiopia’s Tigray

A commission of independent U.N. experts examining rights violations and atrocities in the war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region said Friday that without an end to the fighting, the risk of further atrocity crimes is growing. The U.N. International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia said that Ethiopian, Eritrean and Tigrayan forces have all committed violations in the hostilities that began two years ago, several of which rise to war crimes and crimes against humanity.  

Read more on the humanitarian crisis in Tigray:

WHO: Blockade of Humanitarian Aid to Tigray Puts Millions at Risk of Deadly Diseases

In brief

—  The International Organization for Migration said Monday that at least 5,684 migrants have died on European migration routes since the start of 2021. The agency said the numbers of deaths are rising on routes across the Mediterranean, on land borders to Europe and within the continent. The IOM said this highlights the need for more legal and safe pathways for migration.

— As protests across Iran enter their seventh week, the U.N. said Friday it is increasingly concerned about reports of increasing fatalities. Spokesman Stephane Dujarric condemned “all incidents that have resulted in death or serious injury to protestors” and reiterated that security forces must “avoid all unnecessary or disproportionate use of force against peaceful protestors.” The U.N. has called for accountability and for the Iranian authorities to respect human rights, women’s rights and the rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression and freedom of association.

—  The U.N. has expressed concern about outbreaks of cholera and watery diarrhea in at least 29 countries this year, including most recently, Haiti, Syria, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. The situation is even more worrying, as the World Health Organization said recently there is a shortage of cholera vaccines due to the high number of outbreaks.

Good news

On Thursday, the governments of Lebanon and Israel signed separate letters with the United States delineating the maritime border, ending a yearslong dispute. The signing took place at the U.N. peacekeeping premises in south Lebanon. The letters will be deposited with the United Nations. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the agreement can promote increased regional stability and enhanced prosperity for both nations. The deal between the two enemies that have fought multiple wars removes a hurdle to each country being able to exploit hydrocarbon fields along the border.

Quote of note

“A war without witnesses, as you know, can be terrible.” 

Radhika Coomaraswamy, a member of the three-person U.N. International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia to reporters Friday on the need for access to conflict areas in northern Ethiopia.

What we are watching next week

On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council will hold an informal meeting on the weeks of protests in Iran sparked by the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The United States and Albania have called the meeting to highlight “the ongoing repression of women and girls and members of religious and ethnic minority groups in Iran.” Briefers will include Nobel Laureate and human rights defender Shirin Ebadi and Javaid Rehman, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Iran.
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The wave of young men fleeing Russia to avoid forced service in the Ukraine war has created a conundrum for the nation’s neighbors, which are torn between a desire to encourage resisters to President Vladimir Putin’s war effort and a fear of admitting Russian agents bent on undermining their societies.

The result has been a mishmash of responses across Europe, with some countries such as Georgia, Germany and Armenia welcoming the draft evaders, and others – such as the Baltic countries, Poland and Finland – slamming shut their doors.

Estimates of the number of men who have fled Russia since Putin announced a partial mobilization September 21 range as high as 400,000, on top of the several hundred thousand Russians who had left since the beginning of the war in February because of increasingly harsh restrictions on basic freedoms.

The exodus has tested the patience and capacity of neighboring countries, several of which were already straining to accommodate more than 5 million Ukrainians who have fled to EU countries in the face of the Russian military assault.

Feelings toward the new arrivals are complicated by the fact that many are reluctant to admit they are avoiding conscription and say they are simply coming to enjoy a neighboring country’s hospitality. That has led to mixed feelings, particularly in Georgia, which considers its breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to have been under Russian occupation since 2008.

A few are more forthright, such as one man who received his draft notice immediately after crossing the Larsi checkpoint into Georgia. He asked to be identified only as Igor for fear of Russian retaliation.

“I will try to hide, I will resist. Better to serve years in prison than go to war and die or kill others,” he told VOA. “If they send me to Ukraine, I will probably choose the way of sabotage.”

An August poll by the National Democratic Institute, a nonprofit American NGO, found a majority of Georgians believe Russia is acting to tear their country apart and 76 percent said Russia is a major threat to its neighbors. Nevertheless, the Georgian government doesn’t consider the Russian draft evaders a threat to the nation’s security, although President Salome Zourabichvili has suggested a possible revision of the visa rules with Russia.

Security risks

The analysis is very different in Latvia, whose foreign minister, Edgars Rinkevics, told VOA the fleeing Russians “are security risks, those are counterintelligence risks. Those are risks of penetration, not only of people who are fleeing but also people who could be used for further covert operations.”

Estonia’s foreign minister, Urmas Reinsalu, expressed similar concerns, telling VOA he would advise all countries “to be very cautious about whom they are letting in from Russia, and whom not.”

“Officials of Ukraine tell us that the saboteurs and operatives of the Russian security services entered Ukraine months, years before the war,” he said. “Also, many of the operatives of [the] Russian security services responsible for poisonings, explosions, et cetera, used tourist visas and false identities.”

Moral perspective

Aside from security concerns, Baltic leaders base their judgment on what they call a “moral perspective.” They say Russia is a state sponsor of terrorism and is committing war crimes in a “genocidal” war in Ukraine.

“It would be immoral to accept business or even leisure activities of the aggressor state’s citizens as if nothing has happened,” Reinsalu said. “There is a genocide going on, sponsored literally by the tax money of these people who would like to go in any direction to leave Russia.”

Countries like his also say there is no proof that the majority of would-be refugees are legitimately fleeing political persecution rather than military obligations or the discomfort of economic sanctions.

Viola von Cramon, who represents Germany in the European Parliament, told VOA she believes protection and asylum from the Russian government should be granted to those who need it. But she also called for proper security checks and clearances.

“There are people who had to flee, but they are not all dissidents. There are also opportunists who were benefiting from the regime, and there will be a lot of FSB agents as well,” she said, referring to the Russian intelligence agency.

Fight for hearts and minds

Several European countries, including France, Hungary, Luxembourg and Austria, share the view of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has said the Ukraine conflict “is not the war of the Russian people. This is the war of Vladimir Putin.”

They believe far-reaching restrictions on admissions of Russians could not only endanger those who face real threats at home but also prompt a nationalistic backlash, estranging future generations of Russians and causing the West to lose their “hearts and minds.”

Leaders from Eastern European and Nordic countries acknowledge the risks of a hardline policy toward those fleeing Russia but have little faith that the Russian people can be persuaded to share their values.

Indeed, a recent survey by independent Moscow-based pollster Levada Center – which was labeled a “foreign agent” by Moscow in 2016 — found that support in Russia for the military campaign in Ukraine stood at 72 percent in September, down only slightly from earlier in the war.

“We can of course argue about the percentage, but the ‘hearts and minds’ of the Russian people – as opinion polls are showing – are with Vladimir Putin,” Rinkevics said. “The choice is not how to transform Russia. The only choice now is how to defeat Russia.”

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis is also skeptical about the “hearts and minds” argument.

“We got a 2008 war in Georgia, a 2014 occupation of Crimea and now we have a full-scale war in Ukraine,” he told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in an August 31 interview. “So that’s how many hearts and minds we’ve won in Russia. It’s time to wake up.”

While EU leaders struggle to agree on how to treat the Russian emigres, they moved in September to suspend a visa agreement that has facilitated entry to the EU’s Schengen zone for millions of Russians since 2007.

The Kremlin dismissed decisions like that as “hysteria.” Russia did not officially close its borders after September 21, as had been feared by many rushing out of the country.
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Norwegian climber Kristin Harila on Friday abandoned for now her bid to scale the world’s 14 highest peaks in record time, after China refused to grant her a permit for the final two.

Harila had until November 4 to conquer the summits of Shishapangma and Cho Oyu in Tibet to make history and beat the world record.

The record was set in 2019 by Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja, who scaled the 14 “super peaks” above 8,000 meters (26,247 feet) in just six months and six days.

“It is over for now,” Harila, 36, wrote in an Instagram message with emojis of broken hearts and floods of tears.

“We have left no stone unturned in this process and have exhausted every possible avenue to make this happen, but unfortunately due to reasons out of our control we were unable to get the permits in time,” she said.

But the mountaineer, who is on a quest to change how the climbing world views female athletes, vowed to complete her dizzying challenge and make history in 2023.

“In times of adversity one has to find inner strength, which is why I am letting you all know that I am coming back, and I WILL complete this record next year!” she wrote.

Harila, currently in Kathmandu, Nepal, had just a week left to ascend 8,027-meter Shishapangma and Cho Oyu’s 8,201 meters.

But she was refused permission to enter Tibet by the Chinese authorities, who have ruled the region since the 1950s and are accused by rights groups of violently repressing the majority ethnic Tibetan population.

China has rarely issued climbing permits in tightly controlled Tibet in recent years and all but sealed its borders during the coronavirus pandemic.

Harila is a native of Vadso in Norway’s far north, where the highest point is 633 meters. 
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A Cypriot delegation in Lebanon on Friday for talks on maritime border delineation between the two countries said any disputes during that process could be easily resolved.

“There is no problem between Lebanon and Cyprus that cannot be resolved easily,” said Cypriot special envoy Tasos Tzionis, after meeting with outgoing Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

Lebanon and Cyprus reached a maritime border agreement in 2007, but it was never ratified by Lebanon’s parliament and therefore never went into force.

Cyprus delineated its maritime exclusive economic zone vis-a-vis Israel in 2010. Lebanon and Israel officially delineated their contested sea boundary Thursday, following years of U.S.-mediated indirect talks.

Aoun said the next step following that achievement would be defining Lebanon’s maritime boundaries with northern neighbor Syria and resuming talks with Cyprus to the west.

A planned visit this week to Damascus by a top Lebanese delegation was indefinitely postponed after the Syrian government told Beirut it was “not the right time.”

Lebanon’s deputy speaker of parliament and border negotiator Elias Bou Saab said Friday said Syria was still the priority.

“We will not delineate with Cyprus until we communicate with Syria,” Bou Saab told reporters at the presidential palace.
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When Russia invaded Ukraine, Russian journalists who continued to work independently in the country came under significant pressure — so much so that many have been forced to leave. Anush Avetisyan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. VOA footage by David Gogokhia.
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The White House says the Biden administration supports the people of Iran and their right to peaceful protests — and that there may be cooperation between Iran and Russia in cracking down on Iranian protesters. VOA Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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The Minsk City Court has sentenced journalist Ales Lyubyanchuk to three years in prison amid a crackdown on independent media and civil society in Belarus under authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko.

The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAZh) said Thursday that Judge Alena Ananich had sentenced the journalist after finding him guilty of creating an extremist group and taking part in its activities.

BAZh demanded that Belarusian authorities immediately release Lyubyanchuk, saying his incarceration was “retaliation for his journalistic activities.”

Lyubyanchuk, who cooperated with various media outlets, including Poland’s Belsat news agency, actively covered nationwide mass protests sparked by an August 2020 presidential poll that Lukashenko said he won but the opposition said was rigged.

He was arrested several times over his coverage of the protests at the time and subsequently stopped his journalistic activities. However, in late May, Lyubyanchuk was arrested.

The Minsk-based Vyasna (Spring) human rights center has recognized him as a political prisoner.

The sentence came a day after the court sentenced noted investigative journalist Syarhey Satsuk to eight years in prison on charges of bribe-taking, inciting social hatred and abuse of office.

Satsuk, who also has been recognized by Belarusian human rights organizations as a political prisoner, rejected all the charges, calling them groundless.

Currently, 32 Belarusian journalists are in custody, many of whom have been jailed since the August 2020 presidential election.

Thousands have been detained during countrywide protests over the results, and there have been credible reports of torture and ill-treatment by security forces. Several people have died during the crackdown.

Lukashenko, in power since 1994, has refused to negotiate with the opposition, and many of its leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country.

The United States, the European Union and several other countries have refused to acknowledge Lukashenko as the winner of the vote and have imposed several rounds of sanctions on him and his regime, citing election fraud and the crackdown.
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In a foreign policy speech Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Western nations of trying to dominate the world, saying the coming decade will be one of the most dangerous since the end of World War II. 

In a lengthy speech in Moscow during the opening session of Valdai Discussion Club’s annual foreign affairs forum, Putin characterized the West as aggressively, desperately seeking to “single-handedly govern humanity.” He said people of the world no longer want to put up with it. 

He said the West is playing a dangerous, bloody and dirty game, and blamed Western aggression for, in his words, “the incitement of war in Ukraine … provocations around Taiwan, the destabilization of the global food and energy markets,” and the destruction of the European gas pipelines. 

The Reuters news agency later cited the White House as saying Putin’s comments were not new and did not indicate a change in his strategic goals, including in Ukraine. 

Analysts say Putin’s annual speech has traditionally provided the best insight into the Russian president’s view of the world and geopolitics.  

Putin said the world is at a “historical turning point,” and the “period of undivided dominance of the West in world affairs is coming to an end.” He said, “Russia is not challenging the elites of the West, Russia is just trying to defend its right to exist.” 

During a question-and-answer session, Putin spoke about the conflict in Ukraine — which he continued to refer to as Russia’s “special military operation.” Russia invaded Ukraine February 24 and has faced Western sanctions over the offensive. 

Putin said he thinks “all the time” about the casualties Russia has suffered but that the operation “ultimately benefits Russia and its future.” 

During the session, Putin ruled out the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, saying it would “make no sense at all to us — either in political or military terms.” 

He said Ukraine and the West accused Russia of military escalation to “influence neutral countries,” which he maintained had failed. 

Putin also called on the International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring team in Ukraine to inspect Ukraine’s nuclear sites “as fast as possible,” reiterating Moscow’s claims — without evidence — that Kyiv is preparing to use a “dirty bomb” in the conflict. 

He said Ukraine is “doing everything to cover up traces of this preparation.” 

A dirty bomb is a conventional bomb laced with radioactive, biological or chemical materials which are spread in an explosion. 

The United Nations Security Council discussed Russia’s allegations at a closed-door meeting Tuesday. 

Ukraine and its Western allies have strongly denied the accusations, and suspect they are being made as a pretext for some type of escalation in the war in Ukraine. 

U.S. President Joe Biden has warned that the use of tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine would be a “very serious mistake.” 

Some information for this report was provided by the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Press. 

 
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Sweden has historically been viewed as Europe’s most welcoming country for refugees, but observers say that changed in 2015 when the government decided to close its borders.

The election in September of a new government steered by the far-right Sweden Democrats has further tightened migration policy.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s Moderate Party, the Liberals and Christian Democrats constitute Sweden’s new ruling coalition. But observers say the Sweden Democrats, who have neo-Nazi roots and won the largest number of parliamentary seats, hold enormous sway over the coalition, setting far-reaching policies on migration and other key issues.

Observers say the Sweden Democrats have further stroked anti-immigrant sentiment over rising violence, some of which occurred in migrant communities.

Rights advocates criticize a deal the coalition and Sweden Democrats reached called the Tido Agreement, which gives the Sweden Democrats a powerful say in drafting new laws. The deal proposes a drastic reduction in the quota of refugees coming into Sweden, from 5,000 per year to just 900; consideration of an end to the permanent residence permit system; and the possible return of people who have “not integrated.”

It also tightens requirements for Swedish citizenship and reduces the right to family reunification to the minimum set at the European Union level.

Contradictory position

John Stauffer, legal director and deputy executive director of the Stockholm-based Civil Rights Defenders organization, says the Tido Agreement contradicts the human rights norms to which Sweden is bound by focusing on “harsher sentencing measures, undermining the rule of law and making it more difficult to be a refugee or asylum-seeker,” he told The Local, an online publication.

He says the deal’s proposals should be challenged, including stop-and-search zones, easier surveillance, elimination of benefits for newly arrived immigrants, and the detention of asylum-seekers while their asylum applications are processed, among others.

Swedish migration expert Anna Lundberg, a professor in sociology of law at nearby Lund University, told VOA that the Tido Agreement is not a legally binding document, and that it’s unreasonable to implement these suggestions within given time frames.

“It’s easy to say that you should aim at the EU minimum level,” she said, “but it’s not so clear what this minimum level actually means. … I assume that the government is also interested in considering knowledge about how legislation works in practice, if they want to achieve effect with their legislative changes. In that case, a thorough work is needed on the root of the problems they wish to solve.”

Law-abiding Afghan refugees in Malmo, who suffered religious persecution at home and in neighboring Iran, told VOA they felt particularly vulnerable to the proposals because they cannot return to either country, where they would face likely death at the hands of the Taliban and Islamic Republic rulers.

“I can understand their concern,” Lundberg said. “Young people who have sought protection in Sweden without their guardians have been very badly affected by the restrictive changes in both law and legal application after 2015. Now that the new government is talking about a paradigm shift, I assume they want to clean the slate through collective regularization programs so that these young people can make a life for themselves.”

Rights advocates point out that it is not Afghan youth who are involved in gun violence and gang crime in Sweden, but such incidents may involve second- or third-generation migrants. They allege that arguments for stricter migrant controls are used by the far-right Sweden Democrats to distort perceptions.
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Greece is ready to “extend a hand of friendship” to neighbor and regional rival Turkey, Greece’s prime minister said Thursday, while also accusing Turkey’s president of whipping up anti-Greek sentiment at home. 

Tensions have escalated between the two NATO allies, which are divided over a series of issues and have come to the brink of war three times in the last half century. 

“My wish is that, even with delay, our neighbors will choose the road of de-escalation, of legality, of peaceful coexistence without rhetorical outbursts but with constructive actions,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said after meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Athens. 

“On my side, they will always find me ready to extend a hand of friendship. We don’t have any room for further needless sources of tension,” Mitsotakis said, adding that differences must be resolved peacefully. “That is what our people want, that is what the Greek people want, that is what the Turkish people want, that is what all of Europe wants.” 

Disputes between Greece and Turkey include sea boundaries in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean that affect energy exploration rights. Turkey has also blasted Greece for maintaining a military presence on eastern Greek islands that it says violates international treaties. 

Greece counters that it faces a direct threat from Turkey, which has a significant military presence on the Turkish coast opposite the islands, and it has reacted with horror to statements from Turkish officials implying the sovereignty of some inhabited Greek islands could be disputed. 

“It should not be that NATO partners question each other’s sovereignty,” Scholz said in a brief joint press conference with Mitsotakis after their meeting. “All issues must be resolved through dialogue and on the basis of international law. And we are very much in agreement on that.” 

Mitsotakis said it was “truly a shame” that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “can’t see that he is walking into a dead end when he poisons his people with lies against Greece. Because our neighbors and all our allies know that the Greek islands do not threaten anyone.” 

The German chancellor said it was “in the interest of all neighbors” to exploit the economic potential of the Mediterranean “for the benefit of their respective populations. I got the impression in my conversation that Greece is very willing to do this. And we can and should have confidence in that.” 

 
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The European Central Bank piled on another outsized interest rate hike aimed at squelching out-of-control inflation, increasing rates Thursday at the fastest pace in the euro currency’s history and raising questions about how far the bank intends to go with the threat of recession looming over the economy.

The 25-member governing council raised its interest rate benchmarks by three-quarters of a percentage point at a meeting in Frankfurt, matching its record increase from last month and joining the U.S. Federal Reserve in making a series of rapid hikes to tackle soaring consumer prices.

“Inflation remains far too high and will stay above our target for an extended period,” ECB President Christine Lagarde told reporters after the meeting. Bank policymakers “expect to raise interest rates further to ensure the timely return of inflation” to the 2% target.

She pointed to continued rate hikes despite the bank expecting “further weakening in the remainder of this year and the beginning of next year.”

The ECB has now raised rates for the 19-country euro area by a full 2 percentage points in just three months, distance that took 18 months to cover during its last extended hiking phase in 2005-2007 and 17 months in 1999-2000.

Central banks around the world are rapidly raising interest rates that steer the cost of credit for businesses and consumers. Their goal is to halt galloping inflation fueled by high energy prices tied to Russia’s war in Ukraine, post-pandemic supply bottlenecks, and reviving demand for goods and services after COVID-19 restrictions eased. The Fed raised rates by three-quarters of a point for the third straight time last month.

Quarter-point increases have usually been the norm for central banks. But that was before inflation spiked to 9.9% in the eurozone, fueled by higher prices for natural gas and electricity after Russia cut off most of its gas supplies during the war in Ukraine.

Inflation in the U.S. is near 40-year highs of 8.2%, fueled in part by stronger growth and more pandemic support spending than in Europe.

Inflation robs consumers of purchasing power, leading many economists to pencil in a recession for the end of this year and the beginning of next year in both the U.S. and the 19 countries that use the euro as their currency.

Some analysts foresee a half-point increase at the last rate-setting meeting of the year in December and think the bank may pause after that.

The ECB predicts inflation falling to 2.3% by the end of 2024.

Higher rates can control inflation by making it more expensive to borrow, spend and invest, lowering demand for goods. But the concerted effort to raise rates has also raised concerns about their impact on economic growth and on markets for stocks and bonds. Years of low rates on conservative investments have pushed investors toward riskier holdings such as stocks, a process that is now going into reverse, while rising rates can lower the value of existing bond holdings.

The head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, has warned that tightening monetary policy “too much and too fast” raises the risk of prolonged recessions in many economies. The IMF forecasts that global economic growth will slow from 3.2% this year to 2.7% next year.

The ECB also must keep an eye on the euro’s sagging value against the U.S. dollar, although the ECB says it does not target any particular exchange rate. A weaker euro worsens inflation by raising the price of imported goods. The euro rose above parity with the dollar on Wednesday but remains near its lowest levels in 20 years.

Reasons for the dropping exchange rate include higher U.S. interest rates that attract money into investments priced in dollars and, more broadly, the dwindling prospects for Europe’s economy. Europe is facing headwinds from the loss of cheap Russian natural gas and an economic slowdown in key trade partner China.

ECB rate hikes, other things being equal, could support the euro by lessening the interest rate gap with the U.S.

The ECB’s benchmark for short-term lending to banks now stands at 2%, a level last seen in March 2009.
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Ukraine’s state energy company said Thursday it was limiting electricity use in multiple regions of the country after Russian attacks overnight targeting energy infrastructure.

Ukrenergo said damage from the strikes included equipment in the central part of the country. It said restrictions on power use are necessary to avoid network overloads and to make it easier to fix damaged facilities.

The new attacks on Ukrainian energy sites came as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked workers in the energy sector for their efforts to stabilize the power grid.

“No matter what the enemy does, our task is to break its plans and protect Ukraine. And this is not just someone’s task, it concerns not only energy workers or anyone else. Conscious energy consumption is now needed by all Ukrainians,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Wednesday.

A Russia-installed official in Crimea said Thursday an overnight drone attack targeted a thermal power plant in the Russia-annexed peninsula.

The official said there was no threat to the power supply there and that there were no casualties.

Nuclear exercises

The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday remotely observed exercises by its strategic nuclear forces that are meant to simulate a response to a “massive nuclear strike.”

Russian state television showed video of Putin observing the drills on a huge television screen, with comments from military leaders. In the broadcast, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the drills involved a nuclear submarine, long-range aircraft and multiple practice launches of ballistic and cruise missiles.

The White House said Tuesday that Russia had given notice it was going to stage the annual exercises, called “Grom” or “Thunder.” They come as NATO began its own annual nuclear exercise, known as “Steadfast Noon,” on Monday.

For several days, Russian officials have alleged that Ukraine is planning to develop and use a so-called dirty bomb in its conflict with Russia.

Dirty bombs combine conventional explosives with radioactive material and are designed to spread radioactivity that can cause massive death and contamination.

The U.N. Security Council discussed Russia’s allegations at a closed-door meeting Tuesday.

Ukraine and its Western allies have strongly denied the allegations, and suspect they are being made as a pretext for some type of escalation in the war in Ukraine.

Speaking from alliance headquarters in Brussels Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called the accusations “absurd” and “blatantly false,” and he warned Russia not to use false pretexts to escalate the war.

U.S. President Joe Biden issued a similar warning Tuesday. When asked by a reporter if he thought Russia was using the dirty bomb allegations to set up a “false flag” operation and deploy a dirty bomb of its own, he said, “Russia would be making an incredibly serious mistake for it to use tactical nuclear weapons.”

Iranian drones

Biden met Wednesday with Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the White House. Herzog had indicated he planned to share intelligence with the U.S. president about Iranian drones being used by Russian forces in Ukraine.

Herzog’s office said Israel has images showing similarities between drones shot down in Ukraine and those Iran tested in 2021. Ukraine and its Western partners have said Russia’s recent use of drones to attack Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, involves Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones.

Iran has denied supplying them to Russia, and Russia has denied using them in Ukraine. Kyiv has asked the U.N. to send experts to examine the debris, and the United States, Britain, France and Germany have also written to the U.N. supporting an investigation.

Russia called another meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to discuss whether the U.N. secretariat has the authority to send experts to Ukraine under the U.N. Charter and Security Council Resolution 2231, which restricts transfers of certain items to and from Iran.

“The secretariat needs to respond to requests of member states, but to act on the basis of a clear explicit mandate and the U.N. Charter, not on the basis of the desires of certain countries,” Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said of Ukraine and the Western states’ letters.

Iran’s envoy said his country has taken a neutral position on the war and has consistently advocated for peace.

“Iran has never provided the parties with weapons for use in the Ukraine conflict, either before or after the conflict,” Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani told council members.

The U.N.’s top lawyer told the council that the secretary-general is tasked with reporting twice a year on the implementation of Resolution 2231, including findings and recommendations.

“Absent further guidance by the Security Council, the secretary-general will continue to prepare these reports in the manner that they have been prepared to date,” U.N. legal counsel Miguel de Serpa Soares told the council.

The U.N. has not said it would deploy experts to Ukraine and has only gone so far as to say it is ready to assess any information a member state provides it, as in past reports.

In 2017 and 2021, the U.N. investigated allegations that Iran supplied drones to Houthi rebels in Yemen, which were used in attacks on Saudi Arabia. Last year, the U.N. team went to Israel to inspect Iranian drones that had infiltrated Israeli air space.

“It is thus well-established that it is well within the authority of the secretary-general to investigate allegations of violations of Resolution 2231,” U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said.

Russia has called for yet another council meeting Thursday to discuss its debunked claims that Ukraine and the United States are planning to infect migratory birds, bats and even mosquitos with lethal pathogens, and then deploy them to infect Russian troops and/or civilians.

VOA’s U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stressed Wednesday that the Biden administration supports the people of Iran, and said there may be cooperation between Iran and Russia in dealing with Iranian protesters.

“We stand with the brave citizens and the brave women of Iran who right now are demonstrating to secure their basic rights,” Jean-Pierre told reporters.

She said the United States is “concerned that Moscow may be advising Tehran on best practices to manage protests, drawing on Russia’s extensive experience in suppressing open demonstrations.”

Jean-Pierre added that the evidence that Iran is helping Russia in the war in Ukraine is “clear and public.”

Ukraine and its Western partners, including the United States, have said drones used by Russian forces to attack Ukraine in recent weeks were supplied by Iran. Russia has denied using Iranian drones and Iran has denied supplying them to Russia.

“Iran and Russia are growing closer the more isolated they become,” Jean-Pierre said. “Our message to Iran is very, very clear: Stop killing your people and stop sending weapons to Russia to kill Ukrainians.”

At the same briefing Wednesday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Russia and Iran are working together to violate the human and civil rights of Iranians and to endanger the lives of Ukrainians.

“The United States stands with Iran — Iranian women and with all the citizens of Iran who are inspiring the world with their bravery. We will continue taking action to impose costs on those who commit violence against peaceful protesters or otherwise seek to suppress their very, very basic rights.”
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Ahead of COP27, Namibian and European Union officials say they have reached an agreement for Namibia to export rare earth materials to the EU.

According to Erasmus Shivolo, commissioner of mines at Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, the EU is interested in developing the mining of minerals like lithium, cobalt and graphite, which are currently mined on a small scale in the country.

Per Shivolo, “The EU is the one saying, ‘Well, Namibia has got certain minerals that are critical to the energy transition and therefore we want to explore opportunities in working together to develop projects in that space.’ ”

This possible agreement comes at a time when Western nations are seeking sources besides China for these minerals, which are used to make batteries for mobile phones, electric cars and other technology.

Shivolo added that the EU is also interested in Namibia’s ambitious plan to become a producer of “green hydrogen,” a clean power source that could be used by industry and to power electric vehicles.

The commissioner pointed to the promises made at COP26, the 2021 U.N. climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, as one important factor: “Everyone, almost everyone who has signed up to COP26 has made a commitment to reduce carbon emission in their respective countries by a certain percentage.”

He added that “it is not a surprise that countries who are the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are interested to do this because they need to clean up their environments.”

The head of the EU delegation to Namibia, Sinikka Antila, told VOA that Namibia and the EU are working on a memorandum of understanding. She said the memorandum is an outgrowth of an African Union-EU summit that took place last year in Brussels.

She confirmed that the agreement had not yet been signed, but will be soon, and said that both the president of the EU Commission and Namibian President Hage Geingob “agreed that we will start on building a partnership on sustainable raw materials and the green hydrogen.”

Antila pointed to another factor speeding up the EU’s pursuit of alternative energy sources – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “This situation makes it even more important now, because the fact is we have to get rid of the dependency on Russian gas because Russia is not a reliable partner at the moment,” she said.

According to Antila, the agreement may be signed as soon as November, during the COP27 conference in Egypt.

However, in Namibia, the agreement may spark new anxieties. Abraham Noabeb, community liaison for the Black Business Leadership Network of Namibia, said he worries that foreign companies involved in the EU projects may simply use Namibia for its raw materials.

“The mining sector is not Namibian,” he said. “It is in Namibia but it is not Namibian. The mines that are in Namibia are owned by foreigners, foreign nationals and foreign multinational companies and corporations. They are the ones who own these mines.”

Noabeb called for the government to review its policies and make sure locals have a stake in any mineral exploration projects going forward.
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