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Secretary of State Blinken to Meet with French President Macron

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in France, his latest stop in a multination tour, where he will meet Friday with President Emmanuel Macron, following up on U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent meetings with allies in the region to boost transatlantic relations. “During this trip to engage with the United States’ oldest ally, Secretary Blinken will emphasize the importance of maintaining transatlantic cooperation, addressing our joint response to the ongoing health crisis, tackling the climate crisis, and highlighting the strength of our long-standing bilateral partnership,” the State Department said Thursday in a statement. France’s President Emmanuel Macron addresses the media as he arrives on the first day of the EU summit at the European Council Building in Brussels, Belgium, June 24, 2021.France continues to be “a steadfast partner in the fight against terrorism,” the State Department said, adding the two countries “agree on the need to hold Russia accountable for its aggressive and destabilizing activities, including in Ukraine.” The U.S. and France collaborate on issues like “human rights, economic coercion and corruption” to counter the People’s Republic of China’s efforts to “erode the values and institutions that undergird the rules-based international order.” The U.S. “will continue to work with France in implementing climate finance to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy to achieve net-zero emissions by midcentury,” said the State Department. Earlier Thursday while in Berlin, Blinken said the United States and Germany are partnering to counter Holocaust denial and antisemitism, an effort the secretary of state said would “ensure that current and future generations learn about the Holocaust and also learn from it.” Media cover U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas as they talk inside the Holocaust Memorial, in Berlin, Germany, June 24, 2021.Speaking at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, Blinken said Holocaust denial and antisemitism go hand in hand with homophobia, xenophobia, racism and other forms of discrimination, and have become “a rallying cry for those who seek to tear down our democracies.” “That’s why we have to find innovative ways to bring the history of the Holocaust to life, not only to understand the past, but also to guide our present and to shape our future,” the top U.S. diplomat said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and German Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas are served beers as they arrive to speak at a youth outreach event at the Clarchens Ballhaus in Berlin, June 24, 2021.He and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas signed a document on the partnership. Blinken said the two governments would work to strengthen education and counter denial and distortion, helping public servants and young people understand the Holocaust and antisemitism in depth and to feel a responsibility to stop atrocities. “This dialogue will help us remember all that can be lost, but also help us to see all that we can save if we choose — if we choose — to stand up rather than stand by,” said Blinken. Libya talks Earlier on Thursday, Blinken and Libyan interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dabaiba held talks in Berlin following an international conference focused on supporting Libya’s transition to a permanent, stable government.  Wednesday’s conference, hosted by Germany and the United Nations, included officials from 17 countries and reinforced support for national elections in Libya scheduled for late December.  A senior U.S. State Department official told reporters Wednesday that the elections are important “not just to legitimize a long-term, credible Libyan government,” but also to help achieve the goal of carrying out an existing call for all foreign fighters to leave the country.  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, speaks as he meets with Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dabaiba, right, at the Berlin Marriott Hotel in Berlin, Germany, June 24, 2021.An official statement from conference attendees said that “all foreign forces and mercenaries need to be withdrawn from Libya without delay,” but on that point Turkey noted its reservations.  The senior State Department official said Turkey sees its personnel in Libya acting as trainers based on an agreement it had with a previous interim government, the U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord.  Libya has experienced political instability since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi from power. Rival governments operated in separate parts of the country for years before a cease-fire deal in October that included a demand for all foreign fighters and mercenaries to leave Libya within 90 days.     At a news conference following Wednesday’s conference, Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush said there was progress toward the exit of the foreign fighters and that “hopefully within the coming days mercenaries from both sides are going to be withdrawn.”  Defeating Islamic State will be the focus of an upcoming conference co-hosted by Blinken and Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio in Rome. The top U.S. diplomat will also participate in a ministerial meeting in Italy to discuss Syria and the humanitarian needs in that country.     Blinken is also scheduled to visit the Vatican, where Philip Reeker, acting assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs, said the agenda includes combating climate change and human trafficking. 

Germany’s Greens Dip as Christian Democrats Pledge Painless Climate Action

Germany’s Green party was riding high in opinion polls until recently, but signs are now emerging of voters worrying how climate-action policies could impact their livelihoods and lives.  
 
And the old political tactic by traditional parties of labeling the Greens as a nagging, didactic “prohibition party” is beginning to resonate once again.  
 
Christian Democrat leader Armin Laschet has been quick to seize on the Greens’ call for a hike in gas prices, accusing them of wanting to punish poor motorists and of being too ready to ignore the needs of less-well-off Germans living in the countryside and small towns.
 
The Greens are falling back in the opinion polls just weeks after overtaking Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives to become momentarily the most popular party in Germany. In May, the Greens surged past the Social Democrats to capture second place in European parliamentary elections, fueling their hopes of pulling off an era-defining performance in Germany’s September elections and even of securing the chancellorship in a coalition government.
 
But their popularity is dipping, prompting some commentators to question whether Germans are ready to be as green as the Greens, despite a recent poll.
 
And the party is not being helped by new questions over the professional ethics of their co-leader, Annalena Baerbock, also the party’s candidate for chancellor in September, say commentators.  
 
“It’s an embarrassing series of mistakes,” according to columnist Silke Mertins, writing for German daily Die Tageszeitung, a paper sympathetic to the Greens.  
 
“It is highly unprofessional that the Greens did not put their candidate through their paces in order to find precisely such errors and to know their weak points. What did the campaign team think that the competition was throwing cotton balls?” he said. He added: “The Greens were widely praised for their professional approach.  Now it turns out, however, that this praise was premature.”  
 
The Greens’ opponents have been quick to try to capitalize on the missteps. CDU federal vice-president Thomas Strobl has reproached Baerbock for undermining her own moral standards. He said it is surprising that Baerbock forgot to report the additional party income.  “That is very difficult to reconcile,” he said.FILE – Germany’s Green party co-chair, Annalena Baerbock, a candidate for chancellor, gives an interview before her party’s federal delegates’ conference, in Berlin, Germany, June 10, 2021.Baerbock was forced also to acknowledge breaking parliamentary rules by failing to declare thousands of euros she received from her party in addition to her salary as a federal lawmaker. The lapses have allowed critics to cast doubt on whether the 40-year-old is ready for the highest office.
 
The impact has been immediate — Baerbock’s popularity has plummeted by 12% and she is now trailing the CDU’s Laschet, who only weeks ago was seen as a weak and lackluster candidate for the chancellorship. The latest monthly opinion survey by polling institute INSA puts the Greens’ voter support at 20%, well behind the CDU’s 28%.
 
The Greens fared poorly in a recent regional election in the impoverished eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, where the Greens secured just under 6% of the vote — much less than forecast. The CDU did much better than predicted.  
 
Nonetheless earlier this month at a digital Green party conference, where members formally endorsed her as their chancellor candidate, Baerbock declared: “For the first time in decades, real change is in the air.” And she says she remains optimistic that the country is ready for a shake-up after Angela Merkel.  
 
Merkel announced in October 2018 that she would be stepping down as chancellor in 2021. She has served as chancellor since 2005 and her decision followed a series of election reversals for the CDU. “After the pandemic, the focus must be on revitalizing this country together,” Baerbock said.
 
At the conference she and co-leader Robert Habeck managed to see off quietly rebellious members who wanted even more ambitious climate-action goals and much higher carbon dioxide emission pricing and taxes. FILE – North Rhine-Westphalia’s State Premier Armin Laschet, a candidate for chancellor of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, speaks at the regional CDU assembly in Duesseldorf, Germany, June 5, 2021.Habeck and Baerbock, who took over as party leaders in 2018, have been credited for maturing green policies, making them more business friendly, and for transforming the party from being an insignificant, impractical fringe player into a front-rank sophisticated political force. They have been helped by voters placing climate action high on the list of political priorities, according to polling data. The Greens are in coalition governments in 12 of Germany’s 16 state parliaments, seven of them alongside the Christian Democrats.
 
And party members are keen to win greater political power. “I have never seen the Greens this hungry to shape Germany’s future. After nearly sixteen years of sitting on the opposition benches, they are determined to take the chancellor’s office,” Roderick Kefferpütz, a German Green strategist, wrote in a commentary for the Atlantic Council, a New York-based think tank.  
 
To counter accusations of being a party that wants to spoil lifestyles and upset livelihoods, the co-leaders frequently stress that the party is one of “Freiheit nicht Vorschrift” — freedom not regulation. But that has not stopped their political opponents from labeling them sticklers for tighter regulations.  
 
As with other European Green parties, Germany’s Greens face an electoral dilemma. By proposing higher green taxes and measures that will make transportation, energy, and home heating more expensive, helping to shift the economy away from dependency on fossil fuels, they risk prompting a backlash, largely from middle-class and lower-income workers, as well as pensioners who can ill afford to bear the expense. But tempering green policies risks alienating climate-action activists and young urban supporters.
 
Whoever forms the next government in Germany will have no choice but to press on with climate-action measures. In April, Germany’s highest court ruled that a 2019 federal law mandating that the country reduces carbon emissions to nearly zero by 2050 does not go far enough. “The provisions irreversibly offload major emission reduction burdens on to periods after 2030” and on those who are now young, the court decided.  
 
The law has to be revised by the end of next year, front loading cuts in emissions. Laschet has pledged to do so. Unveiling this week, the election manifesto of the CDU and its sister Bavarian party, the Christian Social Union, he said: “We combine consistent climate protection with economic strength and social security.”
 
The group set out brand goals to invest in technologies, from artificial intelligence and quantum computing to hydrogen and solar power, while promoting growth. But the bloc leaders also said climate policies to reduce levels of carbon dioxide “must be economical” and they ruled out higher fuel taxes, bans on diesel cars and flights and speed restrictions on highways, saying climate-neutral policies can be achieved through technological innovation.  
 
“You can do green politics without the Greens,” Markus Söder, Bavarian state premier and CSU leader said.
 

Lawyer Says Death of McAfee Surprised US Mogul’s Family

Authorities in Spain say that a judge has ordered an autopsy on the remains of John McAfee, the gun-loving antivirus pioneer, cryptocurrency promoter and occasional politician who died in a cell pending extradition to the United States for allegedly evading millions in unpaid taxes.
A court spokeswoman for the Catalonia region said Thursday that a forensic team would need to perform toxicology tests on McAfee’s body to determine the cause of death and that results could take “days or weeks.”
Authorities have said that everything at the scene indicated that the 75-year-old tycoon killed himself.  
The judicial investigation is being handled by a court in Martorell, a town northwest of Barcelona with jurisdiction over the prison where McAfee died. The spokeswoman wasn’t authorized to be identified by name in media reports.
McAfee’s Spanish lawyer, Javier Villalba, said the entrepreneur’s death had come as a surprise to his wife and other relatives, adding he would seek to get “to the bottom” of his client’s death.
“This has been like pouring cold water on the family and on his defense team,” Villalba told The Associated Press on Thursday. “Nobody expected it, he had not said goodbye.”
Although Villalba said that he had no evidence of any foul play, he blamed the death on “the cruelty of the system” for keeping a 75-year-old behind bars for economic and not blood-related crimes after judges refused to release him on bail.
“We had managed to nullify seven of the 10 counts he was accused of and even so he was still that dangerous person who could be fleeing Spain if he was released?” the lawyer said. “He was a world eminence, where could he hide?”
Spain’s National Court on Monday ruled that McAfee should be extradited to the U.S. to face charges for evading more than $4 million in the fiscal years 2016 to 2018. The judge dropped seven of the 10 counts in the initial indictment.
Villalba said that McAfee had learned about the ruling shortly after on Monday and that his death on Wednesday didn’t come in the heat of the moment. He also said that the legal team had been preparing with him an appeal to avoid being extradited.
A penitentiary source told AP that McAfee was sharing a cell in the Brians 2 jail where he had been put in preventive detention since he was arrested in October last year on a U.S. warrant, but that at the moment of his death he had been alone.
Prosecutors in Tennessee accused McAfee of failing to report income from promoting cryptocurrencies while he did consulting work, earnings made in speaking engagements and for selling the rights to his life story for a documentary. The criminal charges carried a prison sentence of up to 30 years.
The British-born entrepreneur led an eccentric life after selling his stake in the antivirus software company named after him in the early 1990s. He twice made long-shot runs for the U.S. presidency.
McAfee often professed his love for drugs and guns in public remarks. And some of his actions landed him in legal trouble beyond Tennessee, from Central America to the Caribbean. In 2012, he was sought for questioning in connection with the murder of his neighbor in Belize, but was never charged with a crime.

US, Germany Launch Effort to Counter Holocaust Denial

The United States and Germany are partnering to counter Holocaust denial and antisemitism, an effort U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said will “ensure that current and future generations learn about the Holocaust and also learn from it.”Speaking Thursday at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, Blinken said Holocaust denial and antisemitism go hand in hand with homophobia, xenophobia, racism and other forms of discrimination, and have become “a rallying cry for those who seek to tear down our democracies.”“That’s why we have to find innovative ways to bring the history of the Holocaust to life, not only to understand the past, but also to guide our present and to shape our future,” Blinken said.He and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas signed a document on the partnership. Blinken said the two governments would work to strengthen education and counter denial and distortion, helping public servants and young people understand the Holocaust and antisemitism in depth and to feel a responsibility to stop atrocities.“This dialogue will help us remember all that can be lost, but also help us to see all that we can save if we choose — if we choose — to stand up rather than stand by,” Blinken said.Libya conferenceEarlier Thursday, Blinken and Libyan interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dabaiba held talks in Berlin on the heels of an international conference focused on supporting Libya’s transition to a permanent, stable government. “I’m so pleased to have this opportunity to see you, to see the foreign minister, to see your delegation, especially after the very good, good day we had yesterday, which I think demonstrated again the very strong support on the part of the international community, the United Nations for Libya, for a strong, positive future as a unified, independent, stable country without any foreign interference,” Blinken said at the start of Thursday’s meeting. Wednesday’s conference, hosted by Germany and the United Nations, included officials from 17 countries and reinforced support for national elections in Libya scheduled for late December.   A senior U.S. State Department official told reporters Wednesday that the elections are important “not just to legitimize a long-term, credible Libyan government,” but also to help achieve the goal of carrying out an existing call for all foreign fighters to leave the country. “A fully empowered, legitimate Libyan government will be in a much stronger position to turn to some of these foreign actors and say, ‘Thank you very much, it’s our country now and we’d like to be the ones to define the security cooperation relationships that we’re going to have and not have them imposed on us,’” the official said.  An official statement from conference attendees said, “all foreign forces and mercenaries need to be withdrawn from Libya without delay,” but on that point Turkey noted its reservations. The senior State Department official said Turkey sees its personnel in Libya acting as trainers based on an agreement it had with a previous interim government, the U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord. Libya has experienced political instability since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi from power.  Rival governments operated in separate parts of the country for years before a cease-fire deal in October that included a demand for all foreign fighters and mercenaries to leave Libya within 90 days.     ‘Real world’ solution
At a news conference following Wednesday’s conference, Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush said there was progress toward the exit of the foreign fighters and that “hopefully within the coming days mercenaries from both sides are going to be withdrawn.”  A senior U.S. State Department official told reporters that achieving that goal is an important step that now “has to be made operational.” “There’s a process here, and saying, ‘All means all and they all leave tonight – why haven’t they left tonight?  Will they leave tomorrow night?’ is not, frankly, a realistic approach in a real-world situation such as Libya,” the official said.   Next stop France, then Italy
Blinken is on a multi-nation tour that next brings him to France to meet with President Emmanuel Macron, following up on U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent meetings with allies in the region to boost transatlantic relations.“This is really an opportunity for Secretary Blinken to reiterate the president’s message and speak with our oldest ally about areas of cooperation, including global security, again, recovery from the pandemic, and repairing and modernizing our alliances,” Philip Reeker, acting assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs, told reporters Monday.     Defeating Islamic State will be the focus of a conference co-hosted by Blinken and Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio in Rome. The top U.S. diplomat will also participate in a ministerial meeting in Italy to discuss Syria and the humanitarian needs in that country.            Blinken is also scheduled to visit the Vatican, where Reeker said the agenda includes combating climate change and human trafficking.

EU Chief Vows Action Against Hungary’s Anti-LGBT Measure

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday slammed an anti-LGBT measure passed by Hungary’s Parliament as “a shame” that goes against the fundamental values of the European Union. FILE – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks in Ankara, Turkey, April 6, 2021.The bill, approved last week by Hungary’s right-wing ruling coalition in Parliament, would ban any educational programs, advertisements, books, movies or television programs depicting homosexuality or other gender minorities in a positive light. All except one right-wing opposition party boycotted the vote. The ruling party defends the legislation, saying it is designed to prevent pedophilia. But human rights groups say it will be used to harass and stigmatize Hungarian citizens based on sexual orientation and gender identities. Speaking to reporters in Brussels, von der Leyen said the Hungarian bill clearly discriminates against people on the basis of their sexual orientation. She has asked commissioners of the EU’s executive branch to write a letter to Hungarian officials expressing the commission’s concerns before the bill enters into force. Von der Leyen said this is a matter of fundamental human rights, and she “will use all the powers of the commission to ensure that the rights of all EU citizens are guaranteed, whoever you are and wherever you live.” 
 

Warning Shots Fired at British Destroyer in Black Sea, Russia Says

Russian forces said they fired warning shots Wednesday at a British Royal Navy destroyer taking part in a U.S.-led naval exercise in the Black Sea near Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.Russia’s Defense Ministry said the action was taken because the HMS Defender entered 3 kilometers into Russia’s territorial waters. Britain says no shots were fired toward the vessel.According to a Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson, a Russian patrol boat fired the shots at the destroyer and a Su-24M warplane dropped four high-explosive fragmentation bombs near the ship. The action came just hours after Russian officials condemned the war games, code-named Sea Breeze, involving vessels from 32 countries, including the United States, other NATO members and Ukraine.Britain’s Ministry of Defense dismissed Moscow’s characterization of the incident and denied any warning shot had been fired at the HMS Defender.  British defense officials told reporters in London that as far as they are concerned the Russians were engaging in a gunnery exercise and that the Royal Navy warship was “conducting innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters in accordance with international law.”In a statement posted before the incident on the Twitter account of the Russian embassy in Washington, officials said, “The scale and aggressive nature of the ‘Sea Breeze’ exercises in no way helps with the real challenges of ensuring security in the Black Sea region.” The tweet also warned the exercise would “increase the risk of unintentional incidents.”Valery Gerasimov, head of the Russian army’s general staff, also had warned Britain and the United States against the “provocative” presence of NATO warships near Russia’s borders. During a conference on international security in Moscow Wednesday, he said British warship HMS Dragon, a guided missile destroyer, had flouted international maritime rules by sailing in what Russia claims as territorial waters near Crimea in October.Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov, left, speaks with Russia’s ambassador to the United States before a news conference after the U.S.-Russia summit, in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021.British officials said it was “categorically untrue” that the HMS Dragon broke any maritime laws and denied Russian claims that it had been chased away by Russian forces. Gerasimov also accused the USS John S. McCain, an American destroyer, of trespassing in Russian waters in the Sea of Japan off Vladivostok in November.At the same conference, Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defense minister, warned of growing tensions between Moscow and Western countries. “The world is rapidly plunging into a new standoff,” he said at the conference being attended by officials from Armenia, Belarus, Serbia and some African states.In a statement about Wednesday’s incident, Russian defense officials claimed the HMS Defender, a guided missile destroyer, was instructed to turn back but that it failed to respond. Moscow said it had summoned the British defense attaché at the Britain embassy in the Russian capital over the incident.“The destroyer was warned in advance that weapons would be fired in case of a violation of the Russian state borders. It disregarded the warning,” the ministry said in the statement. “As a result of joint actions of the Black Sea Fleet and the Border Service of the Russian Federal Security Service, HMS Defender left the territorial sea of the Russian Federation at 12.23 p.m.” The incident occurred near Cape Fiolent off the Crimean coast.Warships from the U.S. Sixth Fleet, based in Naples, Italy, have been leading the annual Sea Breeze exercise in the Black Sea. This year’s drill, the 21st, is the biggest to date. More than 30 ships have been deployed, along with 40 aircraft and 5,000 troops. It concludes July 10.“The United States is proud to partner with Ukraine in co-hosting the multinational maritime exercise Sea Breeze, which will help enhance interoperability and capabilities among participating nations,” Kristina Kvien, chargé d’affaires at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine, said Monday. “We are committed to maintaining the safety and security of the Black Sea,” she added.On Monday, Britain’s Defense Ministry announced it is transferring two minesweepers to the Ukrainian Naval Forces, as part of a $1.7 billion agreement with Kyiv to upgrade Ukraine’s navy. The memorandum for the deal was signed on board the HMS Defender. Under the deal, Britain is to help Ukraine build two naval bases, one in the Azov Sea and one in the Black Sea. 

Libya Conference Focuses on Elections, Security

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Berlin for talks Wednesday with German leaders and to take part in a conference on Libya’s political future. Germany and the United Nations are hosting the Berlin conference, seeking to build on earlier efforts to bring about a lasting halt in fighting in Libya and support a stable government.  ”We have an opportunity that we have not had in recent years to really help Libya move forward as a safe, secure, sovereign country,” Blinken said after a morning meeting with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.Speaking to reporters alongside Maas, Blinken said there was consensus on what steps to take to best help Libya, mainly ensuring the implementation of a cease-fire and the departure of foreign forces from the country.U.S. Special Envoy for Libya Richard Norland told reporters Monday that the conference would provide momentum for steps that need to be taken soon for elections to be held in December, including establishing a constitutional and legal basis for the vote.  WATCH: State Dept. correspondent Cindy Saine’s report Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 11 MB480p | 16 MB540p | 20 MB720p | 42 MBOriginal | 729 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioPolitical instability
Libya has experienced political instability since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi from power. Rival governments operated in separate parts of the country for years before a cease-fire deal in October that included a demand for all foreign fighters and mercenaries to leave Libya within 90 days, or about 3 months.      “On the foreign forces, you’re quite right that forces have not departed yet, and our basic position is we should not wait until after the elections to try to make some progress on this goal,” Norland said. “One of the reasons elections are so important is so that a fully empowered, credible, legitimate Libyan government can turn to foreign actors and say, ‘It’s time to take your troops out.’”      Norland said those attending the Berlin conference would also discuss “destabilizing actions by armed groups and terrorism,” citing recent attacks in Libya claims by Islamic State militants.  Holocaust awareness
Blinken and Maas are due to reconvene Wednesday to focus on the need to counter those who are denying or distorting the Holocaust.Blinken said Tuesday they would discuss “how we can ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust are never forgotten.”U.S. Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues Cherrie Daniels told reporters Monday that promoting greater education about the Holocaust, its consequences and its origins will help government officials and the public “recognize modern manifestations of anti-Semitism and even other forms of hatred” and push back against them.     “As knowledge of the Holocaust wanes, nefarious individuals, organizations, and occasionally governments engage in Holocaust denial and distortion for all manner of ends,” Daniels said.    Islamic State
Defeating Islamic State will be the focus of another conference co-hosted by Blinken and Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio as Blinken visits Rome on a later stop during his European trip. Blinken is also due to take part in a ministerial meeting in Italy concerning Syria and the humanitarian needs in that country.   
The European trip also takes Blinken to France to meet with President Emmanuel Macron, following up on U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent meetings with allies in the region to boost trans-Atlantic relations.   “This is really an opportunity for Secretary Blinken to reiterate the president’s message and speak with our oldest ally about areas of cooperation, including global security, again, the pandemic’s — recovery from the pandemic, and repairing and modernizing our alliances,” Acting Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker told reporters Monday.     Blinken is also scheduled to visit the Vatican, where Reeker said the agenda for meetings includes combatting climate change and human trafficking.

Blinken Arrives in Berlin for Libya Conference 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Berlin for talks Tuesday with German leaders and to take part in a conference on Libya’s political future. Germany and the United Nations are hosting Wednesday’s Berlin conference, seeking to build on earlier efforts to bring about a lasting halt in fighting in Libya and support a stable government.  Wheels up for my visit as Secretary to Germany, France, and Italy. First stop, Berlin, where I’ll be engaging with our partners to further peace and stability through the Berlin II dialogue. Looking forward to a productive trip! U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives at the Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Schonefeld, Germany, June 23, 2021, to travel to Berlin. Blinken begins a week long trip to Europe traveling to Germany, France and Italy.  
Norland said those attending the Berlin conference would also discuss “destabilizing actions by armed groups and terrorism,” citing recent attacks in Libya claims by Islamic State militants.    U.S. State Department officials also highlighted the need to counter those who are denying or distorting the Holocaust, which will be the subject of talks between Blinken and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas this week.    “As knowledge of the Holocaust wanes, nefarious individuals, organizations, and occasionally governments engage in Holocaust denial and distortion for all manner of ends,” U.S. Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues Cherrie Daniels told reporters.  Daniels said promoting greater education about the Holocaust, its consequences and its origins will help government officials and the public “recognize modern manifestations of anti-Semitism and even other forms of hatred” and push back against them.  Defeating Islamic State will be the focus of another conference co-hosted by Blinken and Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio as Blinken visits Rome on a later stop during his European trip. Blinken is also due to take part in a ministerial meeting in Italy concerning Syria and the humanitarian needs in that country.  The European trip also takes Blinken to France to meet with President Emmanuel Macron, following up on U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent meetings with allies in the region to boost trans-Atlantic relations.  “This is really an opportunity for Secretary Blinken to reiterate the President’s message and speak with our oldest ally about areas of cooperation, including global security, again, the pandemic’s — recovery from the pandemic, and repairing and modernizing our alliances,” Acting Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker told reporters Monday.    Blinken is also scheduled to visit the Vatican, where Reeker said the agenda for meetings includes combatting climate change and human trafficking. 

Blinken Heads Back to Europe for Meetings on Libya, Defeating Islamic State

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading back to Europe, this time to Germany, France and Italy, to discuss a range of bilateral issues and attend meetings on Libya and combating the Islamic State terrorist group. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington. Produced by: Marcus Harton 
 

Belarus Says Western Sanctions Border ‘Declaration of Economic War’

Belarus perceives planned Western sanctions against the eastern European country as a near declaration of economic war, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.
 
The ministry issued the statement one day after the United States, the European Union, Britain and Canada said they would place sanctions on several top Belarusian officials in response to Belarus’s forced landing of a passenger plane last month to arrest a dissident journalist.
 
The EU also said it was planning to impose economic sanctions targeting key Belarusian export commodities, such as potash and petroleum products.
 
“[The EU] continues purposeful destructive actions against the population in order, allegedly, to “dry up the regime financially. In fact, this borders on a declaration of economic war,” the ministry said.
 
Belarusian flight controllers on May 23 ordered a Ryanair jet en route to Lithuania from Greece to land in Minsk, where journalist Raman Pratasevich, a passenger, was arrested.
 
Pratasevich co-founded a channel on a messaging app that helped organize protests against the government of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.  
 
Since his arrest, the 26-year-old journalist has been seen on state television tearfully atoning for his actions and praising Lukashenko, prompting Lukashenko’s critics to say Pratasevich was forced to make the remarks.
  

After Big Election Victory, Armenia’s Leader Calls for Reconciliation

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is calling for reconciliation after winning a snap election held in a bid to unite a nation deeply polarized in the wake of its defeat in a recent conflict with Azerbaijan.  Jonathan Spier narrates this report from Pablo Gonzalez in Yerevan and Ricardo Marquina in Moscow.Camera: Pablo Gonzalez 
Produced by: Ricardo Marquina  

EU Investigates Google’s Advertising Business

The European Union announced Tuesday it is once again investigating Google for what could be anti-competitive activities in digital advertising.The investigation will try to determine if Google is harming competitors by restricting third party access to user data that could better target advertising.”We are concerned that Google has made it harder for rival online advertising services to compete in the so-called ad tech stack,” European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.Google said it would cooperate in the investigation.”Thousands of European businesses use our advertising products to reach new customers and fund their websites every single day. They choose them because they’re competitive and effective,” a Google spokesperson said.The EU has fined Google more than $9.5 billion over the past decade for restricting third parties from online shopping, Android phones and online advertising.In the past year, online ads generated $147 billion in revenue for the U.S.-based company.Google’s ad business also is facing scrutiny in the U.S., where several states and the U.S. Justice Department are suing the company for alleged anti-competitive behavior.  

Spain to Pardon Catalan Separatist Leaders

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his government on Tuesday would pardon nine jailed leaders of the Catalonia region’s 2017 move for independence.
 
Sanchez told a group of civil society leaders in Barcelona that his Cabinet would approve the pardons.
 
Opposition parties have said they would challenge the pardons in court. Opinion polls showed a slim majority of the public opposed the pardons.
 
Spain’s Supreme Court sentenced nine Catalan leaders to jail in 2019 for sedition and other offenses, with the sentences ranging from nine to 13 years.
 
The government in Madrid had banned Catalonia from holding its independence referendum, but the leaders went ahead with the vote anyway. The pro-independence side scored an overwhelming victory. The poll was boycotted by most unionists.
 
Sanchez said in his address Monday that for the two sides to move forward, “someone must make the first step.”
 
The current regional leader in Catalonia, Pere Aragones, welcomed the pardons as an initial move, but said he would push for amnesty and a new, authorized independence referendum.
 
The pardons do not affect the status of former regional leader Carles Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium shortly after the 2017 referendum and was not among those convicted.

Hitler’s ‘War of Annihilation’ Caught Stalin by Surprise

“On Saturday, the day before the war, we met with friends in the park,” Red Army engineer Col. Il’ya Grigoryevich Starinov noted years later. “Orchestras and brass bands played, people danced, and we were happy. It was lovely and pleasant,” he wrote in his memoir Over the Abyss. It was 21 June 1941 and Starinov was in the town of Brest — a strategic town earmarked to be captured on the first day of Operation Barbarossa, the code name for the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Within hours, Brest would be rocked by infantry gunfire and artillery bombardments. Eighty years ago Tuesday more than three million German soldiers advanced on an 1,800-mile front from Estonia to Ukraine and invaded communist Russia, taking autocrat Joseph Stalin by surprise, despite warnings from Britain’s wartime leader Winston Churchill and from some Soviet military commanders and spies. Stalin reckoned Adolf Hitler wouldn’t invade for another year and he had only started a few weeks earlier to redeploy Red Army divisions to the western front. Operation Barbarossa was the biggest military operation in history and Hitler and his generals started the meticulous planning for it nine months earlier. As far as Hitler was concerned, it was to be a “war of annihilation” — against Jews and Slavs, both considered subhuman by the German Führer.  Eight decades on, Germany has been marking the 80th anniversary of an invasion some military historians say lost Hitler the Second World War. Buoyed by the ease of their Blitzkrieg victories over France and Poland, Hitler and his senior generals underestimated the caliber of the Red Army, the superiority of Russian tanks and the resolve of ordinary Russians, says British broadcaster and author Jonathan Dimbleby in a new book on the invasion, Barbarossa: How Hitler Lost the War. But Hitler’s strategic miscalculation was far from the mind of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier Friday when opening a Barbarossa exhibition in Berlin. He said the anniversary offered an opportunity to rethink events in 1941 when German soldiers unleashed “hatred and violence” and the war moved “towards the madness of total annihilation.”German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier addresses the media at his residence Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany, Friday, May 28, 2021. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier announces he will seeks for a second term.“From the very first day, the German campaign was driven by hatred: by antisemitism and anti-Bolshevism, by racial mania against the Slavic and Asian peoples of the Soviet Union. As difficult as it may be for us, we must remember this,” he said. An estimated 27 million people, including 14 million civilians, were “murdered, beaten to death, allowed to starve to death or worked to death” by the Wehrmacht and SS Death Squads, or Einsatzgruppen, Steinmeier said. Germany, he added, had for too long suppressed the “unprecedented brutality and gruesomeness” of its soldiers during the war with the Soviet Union. “It weighs on us that our fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers were involved in these crimes,” he said.  Muted remembrance While Germany has had high-profile events to mark the anniversary, Russian commemorations Tuesday will be more low-key and muted — in contrast to the pomp and circumstance afforded other notable wartime events, especially of Red Army triumphs.  In 2018, the 75th anniversary of the Russian victory at Stalingrad was marked with somber memorials and patriotic military parades with President Vladimir Putin highly visible throughout the ceremonies as well as during the lead up to them. On Friday, a Kremlin spokesman said the media would be informed of any special events in due course, but supplied no details of any major commemoration plans for Putin.  Even so, as in other years, the anniversary of Barbarossa, known as the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow, will be marked with candlelit parades and the laying of wreaths in most Russian towns and cities. Some commentators suggest Operation Barbarossa doesn’t fit so well with the Kremlin’s efforts the past few years to rehabilitate Stalin. Nine days before the invasion, the Kremlin ordered Moscow radio to assure listeners there was no prospect of a German invasion. An official TASS report dismissed “rumors” of a coming German attack as “clumsy propaganda” spread by countries hostile to Soviet Russia. Even as the offensive unfolded, Stalin still thought it was a provocation by German generals. “I’m sure Hitler isn’t aware of this,” Stalin told military aides. In the months preceding the invasion, which was originally codenamed ‘Otto,’ Hitler and his generals massed seven armies, consisting of 120 divisions, along a line stretching from the Gulf of Finland to the Black Sea. The invasion force included 600,000 vehicles, 750,000 artillery pieces and nearly two thousand aircraft. More than a hundred landing strips were prepared in Nazi-occupied Poland for an invasion that would trigger three and half years of bloodshed and barbarity.  German officers and men were told little of where eventually they would be heading, but many guessed. Secrecy was the order of the day. To try to disguise what was happening from the Soviets, German troops in some populated areas were ordered to wear civilian clothes; tanks and troop movements were made under the cover of darkness. “We ourselves became aware around 20 June that war against the Russians was a possibility,” infantrymen Gerhard Gortz noted in a journal quoted by historian Robert Kershaw in his book War Without Garlands. That was just two days before the invasion got underway. “There was a feeling in the air. No fires were allowed, and one could not walk about with torches or cause any noise,” he added.  As he scribbled in his diary, Russian trains were still transporting raw materials and agricultural produce to Germany, exports agreed in the nonaggression pact Hitler and Stalin struck in 1939. German infantryman, Theo Scharf, observed on the eve of battle: “Oil tank trains rolled continuously westward, past us, from the oil fields on the Soviet side.” Russian military commanders bordering the frontier were aware of the German military buildup, according to Kershaw, but no orders were issued by Moscow for them to raise their state of readiness and “where measures were taken on the initiative of individual staffs, they were ordered to be reversed,” he says.  Russian historian Dimitrij Wolkognov, who was a Red Army officer during the war, later wrote: “Stalin was like God on earth. He alone said, ‘the war will not happen now.’ It was his isolated belief, and he wanted to believe it.”  As bombs rained down on Soviet positions and Wehrmacht infantrymen and German tanks launched their assault, Russian units on the front were ordered to observe and not to act as the attack was still viewed in Moscow as a provocation. Nazi forces advanced quickly into Russia rapidly. But within six months the hubristic offensive sputtered after the Wehrmacht suffered at least 800,000 casualties and the Soviets six times that number. The winter took its toll of German soldiers who had not been supplied with cold-weather clothing.  As the invasion got underway, a German platoon commander noted in his journal that almost 129 years before, Emperor Napoleon had launched his Russian campaign. “We all know what happened. Will we do better?”  They didn’t and Hitler’s gamble failed, sealing Germany’s fate in the Second World War. 

US Seeks to Extradite Turkish Businessman Over Fraud Charges

The United States will seek to extradite a Turkish businessman from Austria so he can appear before a U.S. judge in Utah, where he is facing charges of conspiring to commit money laundering and wire fraud, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday.   Sezgin Baran Korkmaz laundered more than $133 million in fraud proceeds through bank accounts that he controlled in Turkey and Luxembourg, the Justice Department said in a statement. Korkmaz, it said, was arrested in Austria on Saturday at the department’s request, following the unsealing of a superseding indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit money laundering, wire fraud and obstruction of an official proceeding. Reuters was not immediately able to identify Korkmaz’s lawyers for comment. The businessman is also being investigated by Turkey, where prosecutors in December detained 10 executives working at Korkmaz’s companies, after Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) said the companies were used for money laundering, Turkish state-news agency Anadolu reported. The Turkish ambassador to Austria told Dogan News agency on Sunday that Korkmaz was detained on Saturday in a town about 260 kilometers (160 miles) from Vienna and that Turkey had initiated an extradition process with Austrian authorities.   The Turkish Foreign Ministry did not return a call for comment.   It was not immediately clear where Korkmaz would be extradited. He is believed to have left Turkey in December before the police raids. U.S. prosecutors say the fraud proceeds stemmed from a scheme involving the filing of false claims for more than $1 billion in renewable fuel tax credits for the production and sale of biodiesel by Utah-based Washakie Renewable Energy LLC. Washakie could not immediately be reached for comment. Korkmaz and co-conspirators allegedly used the proceeds from the scheme to buy the Turkish airline Borajet, hotels in Turkey and Switzerland, a yacht named the Queen Anne and a villa and an apartment on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, the Justice Department said. 

EU, US, UK, Canada Join Forces to Slap Sanctions on Belarus

The United States, the European Union, Britain and Canada joined forces Monday to impose sanctions on several senior officials in Belarus over the forced diversion to Minsk of a passenger plane traveling between two EU countries last month. Asset freezes and travel bans were also imposed on a number of officials linked to the security crackdown that continues to rock the country some 10 months after President Alexander Lukashenko was returned to power in elections branded by the EU and others as “fraudulent.” “We are united in our deep concern regarding the Lukashenko regime’s continuing attacks on human rights, fundamental freedoms, and international law,” the four said in a joint statement. FILE – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends a meeting with top officials in Minsk, Jan. 26, 2021.”We are committed to support the long-suppressed democratic aspirations of the people of Belarus and we stand together to impose costs on the regime for its blatant disregard of international commitments,” they said. The EU hit seven people and one entity over the “forced and unlawful” landing of the Ryanair plane, which was traveling from Greece to Lithuania when it was ordered to stop in Minsk, where authorities arrested Raman Pratasevich, a dissident journalist who was one of the passengers.  The four called on Minsk to cooperate with an international probe into the incident, immediately release all political prisoners, and “enter into a comprehensive and genuine political dialogue” with the democratic opposition and civil society. FILE – Belarusian dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich gestures while speaking at a news conference at the National Press Center of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Minsk, Belarus, June 14, 2021.Among those targeted by the United States were close Lukashenko associates, those accused of helping to violently suppress peaceful protests since last year and others alleged to have orchestrated fraud during the elections. At a meeting in Luxembourg, EU foreign ministers also prepared a series of economic measures that are aimed at hitting Lukashenko and his allies. EU leaders are expected to endorse them at a summit in Brussels on Thursday. The EU has gradually ratcheted up sanctions since Lukashenko — dubbed the last dictator in Europe — won a sixth term last August.  But the 27-nation bloc has taken a harder approach since the Ryanair incident, and over the country’s alleged use of migrants to pressure neighboring Lithuania, which has provided a safe-haven to Belarusian opposition figures and is one of Lukashenko’s most vocal critics. Among their actions Monday, the ministers imposed travel bans and asset freezes on 78 Belarus officials and froze the assets of 8 “entities,” which are usually companies, banks or associations. It means that a total of 166 people and 15 entities are now under EU restrictive measures. “This decision was made in view of the escalation of serious human rights violations in Belarus and the violent repression of civil society, democratic opposition and journalists,” a statement said. FILE – European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks during a news conference at the European Council building, in Brussels, May 10, 2021.EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who chaired the meeting, said the economic sanctions “are going to hurt … the economy of Belarus heavily.” The measures are likely to include action against the export of potash — a common fertilizer ingredient — tobacco industry exports and petroleum products, among others. “We will no longer just sanction individuals. We will now also impose sectoral sanctions — meaning that we will now get to work on the economic areas that are of particular significance for Belarus and for the regime’s income,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said. “We want to make very, very clear to Lukashenko that there is no going back,” Maas said. Maas said the 27 EU countries stand united on sanctions. “We are really very, very determined not to budge, not just today — nothing about this will change in the coming weeks and months,” he said. FILE – Gabrielius Landsbergis speaks to the media in Vilnius, Lithuania, Oct. 11, 2020.Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said EU countries had thought only a month ago that it still might be possible to reason with Lukashenko but that “the mood is different now.” Landsbergis accused Minsk of “weaponizing” migration flows. He said about 500 people are sheltering in Lithuania, most from Iraq, and that Belarus border guards brought 30 refugees to the border in recent days. He said Lithuania has limited capacity for them and is building a tent camp. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main opposition challenger who fled Belarus after the vote, welcomed the new measures, saying that “the EU and the entire civilized world have set a goal to stop Lukashenko and the escalation of violence.” “The EU sanctions would raise not only external, but also internal pressure on Lukashenko … and will make it more costly for his main sponsor, the Kremlin, to maintain the Belarusian regime,” she said. Tsikhanouskaya said the Ryanair incident shows that “Lukashenko’s regime has become a threat not only to citizens of Belarus but also to international security.” 
 

France’s Far Right Suffers Setback in Regional Vote  

Europe’s surging far-right has suffered election setbacks recently — in Germany’s eastern state of Saxony, where Chancellor Angela Merckel’s ruling conservatives prevailed … and in France, where the National Rally party did less well than expected in the first round of regional polls Sunday. From the eastern French town of Montbeliard, Lisa Bryant reports for VOA that a year before presidential elections, the vote was marked by record-low turnout.Camera: Lisa Bryant

Spanish PM Announces Pardons for 9 Catalonian Separatists

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Monday he will pardon nine imprisoned Catalan separatists charged with sedition over their roles in a 2017 referendum on Catalan independence.The announcement came during a speech in Catalonia’s capital, Barcelona, about the future of the region.Sánchez said his Cabinet would approve the pardons Tuesday.  Twelve separatists were convicted and given long prison sentences for their roles in holding the banned secession referendum in 2017. They then declared independence a few days after the results. Unionists boycotted the referendum, which was held amid a large police presence intent on stopping it.One of the separatists, Oriol Junqueras, said pardons were being given because the government feared involvement in the cases by the European Union, which he said would likely have overturned the convictions.”With this action, we materially get nine people out of prison, but we symbolically add millions and millions of people to coexistence,” Sánchez said during his speech.The pardons have been a divisive issue in the rest of Spain, with national polling indicating 60% of Spaniards oppose them.Earlier this month, thousands opposed to the pardons took to the streets in Madrid to protest the idea and call for Sánchez’s resignation.

Bachelet: Poverty, Inequality, Injustice Eroding Human Rights Worldwide

U.N. human rights chief Michele Bachelet has issued a stark warning that rising poverty, inequality, injustice and the erosion of democratic values were gravely setting back the cause of human rights around the world. Bachelet addressed delegates at the opening of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s three-week session.In her opening remarks, Bachelet called for action to stop what she called the most wide-reaching and severe cascade of human rights setbacks in our lifetime.The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights backed up her assertion by zipping through the human rights records of dozens of countries around the world.No region escaped her withering gaze. She noted the Council would hold special interactive dialogues on several places of specific concern, including Iran, Myanmar, Venezuela and the occupied Palestinian territories. She expressed alarm at the sharp increase in violence and civilian harm in Afghanistan and warned the imminent withdrawal of international forces was creating fear for the future. She deplored the deterioration of freedoms of expression in Belarus and said reports of continued arbitrary arrests and torture of human rights activists was of great concern.“In the Tigray region of Ethiopia, I am deeply disturbed by continued reports of serious violations of international humanitarian law and gross human rights violations and abuses against civilians by all parties to the conflict, including extrajudicial executions; arbitrary arrests and detentions; sexual violence against children as well as adults; and forced displacement,” said Bachelet.In many other parts of Ethiopia, Bachelet warned alarming incidents of deadly ethnic and inter-communal violence and displacement were increasing polarization to a more dangerous level. She urged dialogue throughout the country to address these grievances. Even powerful, permanent members of the U.N. Security Council did not escape condemnation. The high commissioner criticized the application of China’s National Security Law in Hong Kong. She noted this was having a chilling impact on the territory’s civic and democratic space.  She reiterated her request for access to China’s Xinjiang region where an estimated one million Uyghur Muslims allegedly are being held in abusive internment camps.“In the Russian Federation, I am dismayed by recent measures that further undermine people’s right to express critical views, and their ability to take part in the parliamentary elections scheduled in September. Earlier this month, following closed hearings, a court in Moscow ruled that the Anti-Corruption Foundation led by the imprisoned opposition figure Aleksei Navalny was an “extremist organization.” she said.She urged Russia to uphold civil and political rights and to refrain from branding ordinary individuals, journalists, and non-governmental organizations as extremist or foreign agents. Bachelet called for concerted action to recover from these grave human rights setbacks. She said societies must restore systems of justice, reduce inequalities and lift people out of poverty through human rights-based development to create better, more resilient societies for future generations. 

Rainstorms Bring Relief as Europe Suffers Deadly Heat Wave

Thunderstorms brought a much-needed cooldown to parts of Western Europe over the weekend as the continent sweltered under its first summer heat wave. Dozens of people were reported drowned as they sought relief from the heat.Forecasters predicted further downpours Monday moving westward toward Poland, which has seen five days of unusually hot weather.Germany’s national weather service DWD said temperatures in the west and north of the country dropped from over 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) over the weekend to about 20 C (68 F) after a night of heavy rain.After days of soaring temperatures, France was lashed by violent thunderstorms that sent a belltower crashing into the nave of a village church in central France. The storm also tore through vineyards and flooded homes and public buildings.Winds reached 137 kilometers per hour (85 mph) in Champagne country, felling trees and ripping off roofs. Huge hail stones damaged cars and homes in the east, and the French national weather service registered 44,000 lightning flashes on Saturday alone.No deaths linked to the storms have been reported but several countries reported drownings as people sought relief in pools, lakes and rivers.At least 15 people drowned in Poland over the weekend, which was also the hottest so far this year with temperatures reaching 35 C (96 F) — a rare occurrence in June. Rescuers say the most frequent causes of drownings are recklessness, overestimating one’s swimming abilities and going into the water after drinking alcohol.Police in the Netherlands said two bodies were found in recent days at different locations in the Waal River, a branch of the Rhine. There was no immediate confirmation of their identities, but authorities in neighboring Germany have been searching for two girls, aged 13 and 14, who went missing while swimming in the Rhine near Duisburg last week. A third teen was pulled out of the river Wednesday but couldn’t be resuscitated.In total, more than a dozen people have drown in Germany over the past week.Police in Austria said a 26-year-old man died Sunday after jumping from a 40-meter (131-foot) cliff at Wolfgangsee lake.Moscow has also been hit with a heat wave this week, with temperatures spiking above 30 C (86 F) on Sunday. Russia’s weather agency Rosgidromet warned Sunday that the unusually hot weather, with temperatures 7 C to 10 C higher than normal, is likely to persist in the Russian capital and the surrounding region through Friday.Russia’s public health watchdog recommended that employers cut working hours by one hour if the temperature indoors reaches 28.5 C, (83 F); by two hours if it reaches 29.5 C (85 F) and four hours if it reaches 30.5 C (87 F). There is little air-conditioning in Russia.

Turkey Pushes for Role in Afghanistan After US Pullout 

Turkey is seeking to play a vital role in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US forces by offering to provide security to Kabul’s international airport. But Ankara faces formidable obstacles.FILE – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a joint news conference with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Athens, Greece, May 31, 2021.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says the operation and security of Afghanistan’s Kabul airport are vital not only to the country but also to the survival of all diplomatic missions, including Turkey’s.  Cavusoglu made the comments Sunday at an international meeting at the Turkish sea resort of Antalya.  Attending the Antalya meeting, Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad  Haneef Atmar said he supports Turkey’s offer to provide security to Kabul’s airport. “We welcome it, and we will support it. We believe that this will be essential for the continuation of Turkish and NATO, as well as the international community’s support to Afghanistan,” he said.But Atmar played down any military role for Pakistan in the Turkish mission.Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — speaking at the NATO summit — said Hungarian and Pakistan forces would assist Turkey in providing security to the Kabul airport.  FILE – U.S President Joe Biden (R) speaks with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan prior to a plenary session of a NATO summit at NATO headquarters in Brussels, June 14, 2021. (Photo by Olivier Matthys / Pool / AFP)The Taliban has said it opposes any foreign forces remaining in Afghanistan, but Ankara believes it can overcome such opposition.  While the Turkish military is part of U.S.-led NATO operations in Afghanistan, it has avoided armed confrontations.  Hikmet Cetin, who served as NATO’s senior civilian representative in Afghanistan, says Turkey has successfully maintained good relations with all sides in the conflict. “When I was there, of course, I [talked] sometimes with the young generation of the Taliban. They respect Turkey very much because the relation between Turkey and Afghanistan started during the 1920s. But [the] Taliban, they were disagreeing with Turkey being part of the foreign military forces, part of NATO,” he said.Turkey is looking to its close allies Pakistan and Qatar to use their influence over the Taliban to ease their opposition to the proposed Turkish role.  FILE – Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in Islamabad, Pakistan, April 7, 2021.On Monday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Mehmood Qureshi said Erdogan had invited Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan for talks on Afghanistan. Qureshi warned the Afghanistan peace process was at a critical stage. The Taliban is stepping up its military operations across the country as American forces withdraw, a process that is due to be completed by September 11.  Turkish officials are in talks with Washington for financial and logistical support.  With Turkey’s relations with its many of its Western allies strained and in need of repair, the country’s airport initiative could provide crucial common ground, says Huseyin Bagci, head of the Foreign Policy Institute in Ankara. “It’s very risky, but nothing can be better for American-Turkish relations to put Turkish troops in Kabul airport.  The key problem is [the] Taliban but they can make a deal,” he said.Analysts warn that with formidable obstacles remaining in the way of Turkey’s plans for the Kabul airport mission, time is running out before the September 11 deadline for U.S. withdrawal.  

Russian-Estonian Film ‘Minsk’ Examines 2020 Crackdown in Belarus 

A Russian-Estonian film ‘Minsk’ looks at the Belarus government’s crackdown on protesters in August 2020. The movie – all 90 minutes of it – was filmed in one shot and will be released in time for the one-year anniversary of the brutal events. Iryna Solomko has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.Camera: Iryna Solomko  

Suspect Arraigned in Killing of American Student in Russia

A court in central Russia on Sunday arraigned a suspect on murder charges in the death of an American woman who was studying at a local university.The body of 34-year-old Catherine Serou was found Saturday in a wooded area near the city of Nizhny Novgorod, 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Moscow. She had been missing since Tuesday.Her mother, Beccy Serou, of Vicksburg, Mississippi, told U.S. National Public Radio that her daughter had last texted her: “In a car with a stranger. I hope I’m not being abducted.”State news agency RIA-Novosti cited the local court as saying the suspect gave her a ride in his car, then took her to the wooden area and beat her and stabbed her “in the course of a dispute.” Russian news reports have identified the suspect as Alexander Popov and said he had a record of violent crimes.He faces up to life in prison if convicted of murder.Serou moved from California to Russia in 2019 to study law at Lobachevsky University in Nizhny Novgorod, news reports said.Beccy Serou told NPR that her daughter was in a hurry to get to a clinic Tuesday and may have gotten into a passing car.“I think that when she saw that the person wasn’t driving to the clinic, but instead was driving into a forest, she panicked,” Beccy Serou said.