At the U.N. General Assembly in New York, U.S. President Joe Biden sought to convince world leaders that his vision of American leadership and multilateral approach to foreign policy will help solve the world’s most pressing problems. He again denounced Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine as a violation of a core tenet of the U.N. Charter. VOA White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report from New York.
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Tourism industry watchers say one of the top overseas destinations for US travelers this summer was Britain, where Americans helped the recovery of the British tourism industry after the crisis caused by the COVID pandemic. Marcus Harton narrates this report from Umberto Aguiar in London. (Camera and Produced by Umberto Aguiar)
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A Moscow court on Tuesday declined to hear an appeal by The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich against a ruling that extended his pretrial detention by three months, according to Russian state media.

Gershkovich has been in detention since his arrest in March on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny. The U.S. government has said the journalist is wrongfully detained. 

The court decision marks the latest setback in the legal fight for the reporter, whose pretrial detention has been extended twice — the first being in May.

That pre-trial detention was supposed to expire May 29 but it was extended to August and then again to November.

With his appeal rejected, his pretrial detention will now last until at least November 30. 

No date has been set for his trial. 

Gershkovich failed in two previous appeals against his pretrial detention.

Press freedom groups have condemned the court’s latest decision.   

“The latest denial of Evan Gershkovich’s appeal is disappointing but unsurprising. Gershkovich is a Kremlin hostage, so we can’t expect any remedy to come from the Russian legal system,” Clayton Weimers, the head of Reporters Without Borders’ U.S. bureau, said in a statement.

Gershkovich appeared in public Tuesday for the first time in months at the court hearing. In photos from the courtroom, he appeared in a glass box surrounded by Russian security officials with covered faces. 

Gershkovich’s lawyers tried to challenge the extension of his pretrial detention, but the judge declined to consider their appeal, citing unspecified procedural violations. 

Wearing a yellow sweatshirt and jeans, he smiled occasionally to members of the media who were briefly allowed inside the courtroom. 

Russia’s embassy in Washington did not immediately reply to a VOA email requesting comment.

The U.S. ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, was present at the hearing on Tuesday. 

“The U.S. position remains unwavering. The charges against Evan are baseless. The Russian government locked Evan up for simply doing his job. Journalism is not a crime,” Tracy told reporters outside the courthouse.

“Evan is fully aware of the gravity of his situation, yet he remains remarkably strong,” Tracy added.

The ambassador last visited Gershkovich in jail on Friday. After her visit, the U.S. Embassy in Russia said, “He remains strong and is keeping up with the news.” 

 
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Evidence suggests a deadly explosion at a busy market in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka this month was caused by an errant missile fired by Ukraine, the The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Ukraine has said the Sept. 6 blast, which killed at least 16 people, was caused by a Russian missile.

“Evidence collected and analyzed by The New York Times, including missile fragments, satellite imagery, witness accounts and social media posts, strongly suggests the catastrophic strike was the result of an errant Ukrainian air defense missile fired by a Buk launch system,” the newspaper reported.

It quoted air defense experts as saying missiles such as the one that hit Kostiantynivka can go off course for a variety of reasons, including an electronic malfunction or having a guidance fin that is damaged or sheared off during launch.

It said security camera footage showed the missile flew into Kostiantynivka from the direction of Ukrainian-held territory, not from behind Russian lines.

The New York Times also cited evidence showing that minutes before the strike, the Ukrainian military had launched two surface-to-air missiles towards the Russian front line from the town of Druzhkivka, 16 kilometers northwest of Kostiantynivka.

It quoted two witnesses who said they had seen the missiles being fired from Druzhkivka in the direction of the Russian front line around the time of the strike. One was quoted as saying the missiles went in the direction of Kostiantynivka.

The newspaper said measurements of holes caused by the explosion and fragments found at the scene were consistent with the 9M38 missile, which is fired by the mobile Buk anti-aircraft vehicle.

The Buk system is used both by Ukraine and Russia.

Reuters could not independently verify the report. A Ukrainian presidential aide did not immediately respond to requests by Reuters for comment.

The New York Times quoted a spokesperson for Ukraine’s armed forces as saying the country’s security service was investigating the incident, and under national law could not comment further.

A spokesperson for Ukraine’s military command referred Reuters to that comment cited in the New York Times story.
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Azerbaijan said on Tuesday that six of its citizens had been killed by land mines in two separate incidents in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and blamed “illegal Armenian armed groups” for laying the deadly mines.

Karabakh, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, has an overwhelmingly ethnic Armenian population and broke from Baku’s control in the early 1990s after a war. Azerbaijan recaptured swathes of land in and around it in a 2020 war.

Baku said four interior ministry staff had been killed when their truck was blown up by a mine near a tunnel construction site. Another mine had killed two civilians, also in a truck, it said.

There was no immediate response from the ethnic Armenians authorities in Karabakh whom Azerbaijan wants to disband to allow it to re-integrate the territory. Armenia said on Monday that accusations that its own armed forces had placed mines on Azerbaijani territory were false.

The landmine incidents occurred a day after badly needed food and medicine was delivered to Karabakh along two roads simultaneously, a step that looked like it could help ease mounting tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Ties remain severely strained, however.

Azerbaijan’s defense ministry on Tuesday accused “illegal Armenian armed groups” of jamming the GPS navigation of a passenger jet flying from Tbilisi in Georgia to Baku.

Ethnic Armenians in Karabakh called the allegation “an absolute lie” designed to distract attention from what they called “the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the illegal blockade” of Karabakh by Baku.

That was a reference to months of Azerbaijani restrictions on the Lachin corridor — the only road linking Armenia with Karabakh — which had until the last few days not allowed in aid on the grounds that the route was purportedly being used for arms smuggling.

Armenia’s foreign ministry said on Monday that Azerbaijan’s diplomatic stance looked like it was preparing the ground for a military escalation.

Both sides say they remain committed to settling their differences via a peace deal.
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Italy’s government passed toughened asylum laws Monday as the country faces a surge in migrant arrivals on its southern shores.

The new measures will allow for the extended detention of migrants awaiting asylum decisions, from the current three months to an initial six months — with the possibility of an extension up to 18 months.

“That will be all the time needed not only to make the necessary assessments, but also to proceed with the repatriation of those who do not qualify for international protection,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said at the start of the meeting, according to Reuters. The Cabinet also approved the creation of more detention centers in remote areas.

In the past week, almost 10,000 migrants have landed on the small Italian island of Lampedusa, which has a population of 6,000 people. Most have crossed the Mediterranean Sea on small boats from Tunisia, a journey of just over 100 kilometers. Italian authorities say a further 180 migrants arrived on Monday. Conditions are dire, with migrants sleeping on the streets because the reception centers are full.

Claudine Nsoe, a 29-year-old mother of two young children from Cameroon, arrived on Lampedusa on a small boat last week, after an arduous two-day journey.

“I hope that the situation improves and that they let us leave from here, because the living conditions are not easy. We sleep in the open air, in the sun and in the cold. There is no food … and there are children,” Nsoe told Reuters.

EU plan

European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen joined Meloni on a visit to Lampedusa on Sunday and promised a tough response.

“We have an obligation as part of the international community. We have fulfilled it in the past, and we will do so today and in the future. But we will decide who comes to the European Union and under what circumstances, and not the smugglers and traffickers,” von der Leyen told reporters.

The EU commission president outlined a 10-point plan to try to ease the pressure on Italy, including a bigger role for the bloc’s border agency Frontex in identifying and repatriating migrants who don’t qualify for asylum.

The plan is unlikely to have a big effect, said Camino Mortera-Martinez of the Brussels-based policy group the Center for European Reform.

“When it comes to substantive points and content of things that the Commission can do — or the European Union even can do — about this problem, there is absolutely nothing new. We see von der Leyen’s 10-point plan that she offered Italy, and we see the same things that we’ve been seeing for the past 10 years,” Mortera-Martinez told VOA.

Naval mission

Italy’s prime minister said the migrants must be stopped at the source “with a European mission, including a naval one if necessary, in agreement with the North African authorities to stop the departure of the boats.”

“Assess in Africa who is or is not entitled to asylum and accept in Europe only those who actually have the right according to international conventions,” Meloni said in a televised statement on Sunday.

The European Union signed a strategic partnership with Tunisia in July worth $1.1 billion in return for a crackdown on human traffickers and tightened border controls.

Human rights concerns

Human rights groups have expressed concerns over Tunisia’s treatment of refugees and say Europe must offer a more humane response. In 2023, alone, more than 2,000 people have died attempting the crossing between North Africa and Europe, according to the United Nations.

Andrea Costa, manager of the Baobab Experience charity, which offers support to migrants in Italy, said the tightened laws will only force migrants to make riskier journeys.

“The key is to invest in reception rather than rejection. These people have set off on a very difficult and harsh journey with a high mortality rate. You don’t stop them by putting up walls. You don’t stop them by closing borders or with naval blockades. Welcoming them is the best answer you can give,” Costa told Reuters.

EU disunity

EU member states are struggling to agree on a New Pact on Migration and Asylum, which the bloc says would create a “fairer, efficient and more sustainable migration and asylum process.”

Under current EU laws, migrants must apply for asylum in the country where they first arrive, adding to the pressure on front-line states. Several Eastern European countries, such as Hungary and Poland, are refusing to accept refugee quotas to share the burden of countries like Italy.

“We are a continent united in many things. Migration is not one of them. Or if it is, it’s basically on the consensus that we have to protect the borders,” said Mortera-Martinez.

“But if we don’t agree on something beyond that, then we will basically damage our own [European Union] project and that’s going to be, in my view, particularly visible after the elections in 2024,” she said.

With those European elections scheduled for June, analysts say right-wing populist parties are looking to capitalize on voter discontent over Europe’s handling of migration.
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Italy’s government Monday passed measures to build new migrant detention centers and allow for the rapid deportation of failed asylum-seekers. Italy is facing another surge in migrant arrivals on the small island of Lampedusa. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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At the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva Monday, the legal team for jailed American journalist Evan Gershkovich called on member states to prioritize his case.

Speaking to the U.N.’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions, the lawyers and advocacy group Article 19 said that Gershkovich’s “wrongful detention violates his human rights under international law.”

The statement comes one day before a hearing scheduled in Moscow on Tuesday on Gershkovich’s appeal against the extension of his pretrial detention.

The Wall Street Journal reporter’s original pretrial detention was scheduled to expire on May 29 but has since been extended until November 30.

Ahead of that hearing, the U.S. ambassador to Russia visited Gershkovich in jail last Friday, marking the latest in what have been infrequent consular visits since he was detained on espionage charges in March.

The recent consular visit by Ambassador Lynne Tracy is only the fourth such visit granted since Gershkovich’s arrest nearly six months ago.

In a Friday post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, the U.S. Embassy in Russia said, “He remains strong and is keeping up with the news —including his parents’ appearance at the UN this week.”

On September 13, Gershkovich’s mother, father and sister joined U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield at a press conference, where she called on Moscow to immediately release the journalist.

Thomas-Greenfield urged the international community and U.N. member states to “stand with us, to stand on the side of justice, and to condemn Russia’s flagrant violations of international law.”

During the press conference, Gershkovich’s family members urged global leaders to prioritize Gershkovich’s plight during the U.N. General Assembly, which is taking place this week in New York.

The Russian Embassy in Washington did not respond to VOA’s request for comment.

During the comments at U.N. headquarters on Monday, Article 19 and lawyers representing the Journal urged states to “bring Evan home and condemn Russia for attacking and jailing journalists for doing their jobs.”

The statement was delivered during the interactive dialogue with the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at the 54th Session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

“Evan’s wrongful detention violates his human rights under international law, is an affront to the free press, and is designed to stop journalists from exercising their right of free expression,” the statement said. “Each day that Russia continues to wrongfully detain Evan is another day that Russia keeps him from writing the insightful, enlightening and independent journalism that has been the hallmark of his career.”
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China’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, hailed his country’s “strategic cooperation” with Russia as he opened talks Monday in Moscow with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and other officials.

Wang’s visit to the Russian capital came after two days of talks over the weekend in Malta with U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan. Wang’s talks with Russian officials are expected to last through Thursday.

In his initial remarks, Wang noted Chinese and Russian commitment to a “multipolar world” and a “more just world order,” terms Beijing and Moscow use to counter the perceived domination of world affairs by the United States.

“China and Russia, as leading global powers and permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, bear special responsibility for maintaining global strategic stability and global development,” Wang said. “The more violent the unilateral actions of hegemony and bloc confrontation become, the more important for us to keep up with the times, show a sense of duty as great powers, and further fulfill our international obligations.”

He stressed that Russia-China cooperation “isn’t directed against anyone and isn’t influenced by any other countries.”

China has attempted to straddle a fine line in commenting on Russia’s war on Ukraine, saying that while Ukraine’s territory must be respected, the West needs to consider Russia’s security concerns about NATO expansion. Beijing has accused the U.S. of prolonging the fighting by providing arms to Ukraine, weaponry that the U.S. says Kyiv needs to fight Moscow’s forces.

Lavrov emphasized “the importance of Russian-Chinese cooperation for ensuring justice in world affairs, for ensuring a balance of interests in the processes that are developing in a variety of directions.” He said Russia and China will coordinate their efforts during this week’s U.N. General Assembly and other international forums.

Wang discussed Ukraine in his weekend meetings with Sullivan, although specifics of their talks were not released. Both sides described the talks as candid, substantive and constructive as they try to stabilize their rocky relationship and manage differences over security, trade, technology and human rights.

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press. 
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American Bohdan Olinares was born in Ukraine and moved to the U.S. with his parents at age two, but when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, he immediately joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. A former U.S. Marine, he spent six months in Ukraine and was almost killed in the Donetsk region. Anna Rice narrates his story. VOA footage and video editing by Bogdan Osyka.
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Badly needed food and medicines were delivered to Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday along two roads simultaneously, a step that could ease mounting tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had sent trucks via the Lachin corridor leading from Armenia into the mountain enclave from the southwest, and the Aghdam road from Azerbaijani government-held territory to the northeast.

“We are extremely relieved that many people reliant on humanitarian aid will finally receive much-needed support in the coming days,” said Ariane Bauer, ICRC’s regional director for Europe and Central Asia.

“People are queuing hours for bread,” she said, adding that she hoped aid convoys would continue “not just today but in the weeks to come, so that we can regularly get aid to those who need it.”

She said the deliveries had been made possible by agreement between the rival authorities.

Azerbaijan had virtually cut traffic from Armenia since December, alleging it was being used to smuggle arms. That triggered food shortages in Karabakh and aggravated tensions with Yerevan.

In a statement on Facebook, the Karabakh administration said around 23 tons of flour as well as medical and hygiene products had arrived in the region.

Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said in a statement that it had agreed to the ICRC shipments, and that it was ready to ensure the parallel use of the two roads.

Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but has an overwhelmingly ethnic Armenian population that broke from Baku’s control in the early 1990s after a war, relying on support from Armenia through the Lachin corridor.

In another war in late 2020, Azerbaijan recaptured swathes of land in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, establishing effective control over the corridor.

Baku has insisted that Karabakh must reopen an access route from Azerbaijani territory that has been blocked since 1988, and earlier this month a single Russian aid truck entered Karabakh along that road.

Monday’s delivery fulfilled the other side of an agreement between Yerevan and Baku, but wider tensions remain.

The two countries frequently exchange fire along their closed and heavily fortified border and Armenia has in recent weeks repeatedly accused Azerbaijan of massing troops around Karabakh, an allegation Azerbaijan has denied.

The Armenian state news agency Armenpress said on Sunday that one person in Karabakh had been wounded by firing from Azerbaijani positions. Azerbaijan accused Karabakh forces of building fortifications near the front line and said it had taken “urgent measures” to stop them from doing so.
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Two cargo ships arrived at one of Ukraine’s ports over the weekend, using a temporary Black Sea corridor established by Kyiv following Russia’s withdrawal from a wartime agreement designed to ensure safe grain exports from the invaded country’s ports.

Two Palau-flagged bulk carriers, Aroyat and Resilient Africa, docked Saturday at the seaport of Chornomorsk in the southern Odesa region, according to an online statement by the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority. The vessels are the first civilian cargo ships to reach one of the Odesa ports since Russia exited the grain deal.

Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, said in an online statement Saturday that the two ships will be delivering some 20,000 tons of wheat to countries in Africa and Asia.

For months, Ukraine, whose economy is heavily dependent on farming, was able to safely export its grain from Black Sea ports under a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to ensure safe shipments. But Russia withdrew from the deal on July 17, with Kremlin officials arguing their demands for the facilitation of Russian food and fertilizer shipments had not been met.

Following the withdrawal, the Russian defense ministry said it would regard any vessels in the Black Sea headed to Ukrainian ports as military targets.

Since then, Kyiv has sought to reroute transport through the Danube River, and road and rail links into Europe. But transport costs that way are much higher. Some European countries have balked at the consequential local grain prices, and the Danube ports can’t handle the same volume as seaports.

The interim corridor in the Black Sea, which Kyiv has asked the International Maritime Organization to ratify, was opened on Aug. 10 as United States and Ukrainian officials warned of possible Russian attacks on civilian vessels. Sea mines also make the voyage risky, and ship insurance costs are likely to be high for operators.

Ukrainian officials said the corridor will be primarily used to evacuate ships stuck in the Ukrainian ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdennyi since the war broke out. Kubrakov said Saturday that five vessels have since used the corridor to leave Ukrainian ports.

After tearing up the grain deal, Russia intensified attacks on the southern Odesa region, targeting its port infrastructure and grain silos with missiles and drones.

On Sunday, Ukraine’s Air Force Command reported another attack overnight in which the Odesa region was the main target. Russian forces fired 10 cruise missiles and six Iranian-made Shahed drones, the statement said. All drones and six missiles were downed, while the rest hit an agricultural facility in the Odesa region.
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Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov on Sunday released new video footage in which he smiled and recommended everyone practice sport, in an apparent move to quash speculation about his ill health.

Speculation has swirled for months that the hugely influential 46-year-old head of Chechnya accused by rights groups of running a “totalitarian regime” might be ill. 

On Sunday, two videos appeared on Kadyrov’s Telegram channel.

Wearing a raincoat, he was seen in the first video strolling in an unidentified location. He smiled but his face appeared puffy.

In the second video he was heard speaking Chechen and then saying in Russian, “Practice sport.”

“I strongly recommend that everyone who cannot distinguish the truth from lies on the internet go for a walk, get some fresh air and put their thoughts in order,” said the words accompanying the videos. “The rain can be wonderfully invigorating.”

It was not possible to immediately establish when the videos were recorded but the footage was published following unconfirmed reports on social media that the Chechen leader was in a coma.

Kadyrov has been one of the most enthusiastic supporters of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine and his battalions have fought alongside regular Russian forces there.

The former rebel warlord turned Kremlin ally has long referred to himself as Vladimir Putin’s “footsoldier.”

Elected president of Chechnya in 2007, Kadyrov has ruled majority-Muslim Chechnya with widespread evidence of extra-judicial killings and torture of his opponents.
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Climate activists sprayed orange and yellow paint on the columns of Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate on Sunday to push demands for a stop to the use of fossil fuels by 2030.  

“Members of the so-called ‘Last Generation’ sprayed the columns on the east side of the Brandenburg Gate with orange paint from fire extinguishers during the morning,” Berlin police said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

It added that police officers noticed a hydraulic lift was being operated at the gate and they kept the protesters from scaling the landmark building. They arrested all 14 protesters at the site and launched an investigation into property damage.

The Last Generation, a Germany-based group within the Europe-wide A22 network that includes Britain’s Just Stop Oil, has made headlines in Germany with hundreds of road blocks by protesters who glued themselves to the tarmac.

Their action has triggered a law-enforcement crackdown by Germany’s federal states.  

The Last Generation posted pictures of the spray-painting on X.  

“We will not stop our protest unless a pivot is initiated. We have to exit oil, natural gas and coal by 2030 at the latest,” it said.  

Germany aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2045, but it missed annual targets for the last two years.
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European Union Commision President Ursula von de Leyen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni toured a migrant center Sunday on the small Italian island of Lampedusa.

The center was recently overwhelmed with almost 7,000 migrants in a 24-hour period, a total that is nearly equivalent to the number of people who live on the island.

Residents of Italy’s southernmost island say they are frustrated with the steady stream of arrivals on their tiny island.

The island has struggled for years to manage the arrivals.

Lampedusa is less than 160 kilometers from Tunisia, making it a logical first stop for the migrants who are looking for a better life in Europe and elsewhere.

Many make the journey in rickety boats and they are often rescued by the coast guard.  Many do not survive the journey.  The latest victim was a 5-month-old baby, officials say.

Meloni, who was elected last year, promised to end the mass migrations.

Television footage of the politicians’ trip to the island showed them talking to residents.

Italy’s right-wing government recently allocated close to $50 million to help Lampedusa manage the massive influx of migrants. Some residents say that sum is not enough.
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“We must prepare ourselves for a long war in Ukraine,” NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with Germany’s Funke media group published Sunday.

“Most wars last longer than expected when they first begin,” he said. 

“We are all wishing for a quick peace,” Stoltenberg said, “but at the same time, we must recognize if [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians stop fighting, their country will no longer exist.”

Meanwhile, Russia targeted Ukraine’s Odesa region early Sunday with a combined drone and missile attack, hitting an agricultural facility, Ukraine’s Air Forces said on the Telegram messaging app.

The extent of the damage was not immediately clear.

Also Sunday, Ukraine launched a drone attack on Crimea and Moscow.

A regional Crimean official said a drone hit a fuel tank, causing a fire that was extinguished.

The drones over Moscow interfered with air traffic over the capital. 

The British Defense Ministry said Sunday in its daily intelligence update on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that Russia is “likely” reinforcing its defenses around the occupied town of Tokmak in southern Ukraine.

The town is 16 kilometers from the front line and Tokmak is being outfitted to become a “lynchpin” of Russia’s second main line of defenses.

Attention to the town’s defenses “likely indicates Russia’s growing concern about Ukrainian tactical penetrations of the main defensive line to the north.”

Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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The beer is flowing and millions of people are descending on the Bavarian capital to celebrate the official opening of Oktoberfest.

With the traditional cry of “O’zapft is” — “It’s tapped” — Mayor Dieter Reiter inserted the tap in the first keg at noon on Saturday, officially opening the 18 days of festivities.

Revelers decked out in traditional lederhosen and dirndl dresses trooped to Munich’s festival grounds Saturday morning, filling the dozens of traditional tents in anticipation of getting their first 1-liter mug of beer.

Minutes before the first keg was tapped, to cheers from the crowd, Bavarian Gov. Markus Soeder asked festivalgoers if they were ready for Oktoberfest to begin.

“I can only say one thing: This is the most beautiful, biggest, most important festival in the world,” he said.

The Oktoberfest has typically drawn about 6 million visitors every year. The event was skipped in 2020 and 2021 as authorities grappled with COVID-19, but it returned in 2022.

A 1-liter mug costs between 12.60 euros and 14.90 euros ($13.45 to $15.90) this year, an increase of around 6% from last year.

This year’s Oktoberfest, the 188th edition, runs through Oct. 3. 
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un discussed practical issues in stepping up military cooperation with Russia’s defense minister, state KCNA news agency said Sunday.

During his visit to Russia, Kim inspected Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers, hypersonic missiles and warships Saturday, accompanied by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Kim’s trip comes at a time when “a fresh heyday of friendship and solidarity and cooperation is being opened up in the history of the development of the relations between the DPRK and Russia,” KCNA said, using North Korea’s official name.

Kim met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday and discussed military matters, the war in Ukraine and deepening cooperation.

Kim and Shoigu “exchanged their constructive opinions on the practical issues arising in further strengthening the strategic and tactical coordination, cooperation and mutual exchange between the armed forces of the two countries and in the fields of their national defense and security,” KCNA reported.

Shoigu told Russian media earlier that Moscow is discussing joint military exercises with North Korea.

On Friday, South Korea and the U.S. said military cooperation between North Korea and Russia would violate U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang and that the allies would ensure there was a price to pay.

Russia has gone out of its way to publicize the visit and to drop repeated hints about the prospect of military cooperation with North Korea, which was formed in 1948 with the backing of the Soviet Union.

Kim also toured Russia’s Pacific Sea Fleet equipped with strategic nuclear submarines among other military vessels, KCNA said, quoting him as praising the fleet for its contribution to peace in the region.

Earlier this month, North Korea launched its first operational “tactical nuclear attack submarine.”  
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Ukrainian forces made progress Saturday in their offensive against Russian troops in the east and south, a military spokesperson said, as the two militaries disputed who controlled the village of Andriivka. 

General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s land forces, posted a video to Telegram showing a scorched, desolate landscape that he said proved his forces had captured the village.  

Andriivka is unrecognizable, a correspondent for Ukraine’s Hromadske radio said. It is “so badly destroyed that soldiers do not even know where to place the pole with the Ukrainian flag,” Yanina Lvutina said on the radio’s website. 

Ukraine considers Andriivka crucial to regaining the nearby, also-destroyed city of Bakhmut. 

Russia’s Defense Ministry disputed Ukraine’s claim to Andriivka. Reuters was unable to verify either battlefield report. 

Meanwhile, airstrike alarms sounded at midday throughout Ukraine as the country’s military warned of the threat of ballistic attacks on population centers, including Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and the Zaporizhzhia, and Odesa regions.  

A series of blasts were reported in the Kharkiv region, although information on casualties or damage was not immediately available.  

Also Saturday, Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told Reuters that Ukraine’s drone production has increased by more than 100 times since last year.   

Ukraine is also testing artificial intelligence systems, he said, that can detect targets kilometers away, as well as guide drones despite disruptions from electronic warfare measures. 

“There will be more drones, more attacks, and fewer Russian ships. That’s for sure,” he said, noting the recent attacks on Russian naval targets in the Black Sea. 

‘We’ve made significant progress’

In his nightly video address on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked his nation’s allies for their continued support in the fight against the Russian invasion. 

“This week, we’ve made significant progress in implementing existing defense agreements and other support packages,” he said. 

“Denmark, thank you for the new defense package, which is already the 12th package. Equipment, ammunition, and missiles for our air defense,” he said. “Germany, thank you for the new batch of military aid. Belgium, your participation in our pilot training is approved. Thank you! Norway, your decision to provide additional funding for Ukraine’s recovery. It’s crucial. Thank you!”   

He also singled out the United States and South Korea for their support. 

President Joe Biden will host Zelenskyy in Washington on Thursday in their third meeting at the White House.  

British warn of cruise missiles

Finally, in its daily intelligence update Saturday, the British Defense Ministry warned of the “realistic possibility” that Russia will resume using air-launched cruise missiles against Ukrainian infrastructure targets in the winter.   

The ministry said Russia has likely created a “significant stockpile” of the missiles, since open-source reports indicate that Russia began reducing its use of the missiles in April. 

The report also said the missiles “were at the heart” of most strike missions that Russia launched against Ukraine’s national energy infrastructure between last October and March. They allowed Russia to release munitions “from deep within Russian territory.”  

Some information in this article came from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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Two cargo vessels were bound for Ukrainian ports on Saturday, becoming the first ships to use a temporary corridor to sail into Black Sea ports and load grain for African and Asian markets, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said. 

Ukraine last month announced a “humanitarian corridor” in the Black Sea to release ships trapped in its ports since the start of the war in February 2022 and to circumvent a de facto blockade after Russia abandoned the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allowed Kyiv to export grain. 

Five vessels have so far left the port of Odesa, using the corridor that hugs the western Black Sea coast near Romania and Bulgaria. 

Ukraine, a leading global food producer and exporter, also wants to use the corridor for its food exports. 

The bulk carriers, Resilient Africa and Aroyat, were making their way through the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports to load almost 20,000 tons of wheat for Africa and Asia, Kubrakov said. 

Data from ship tracking company MarineTraffic showed that the Aroyat was at Ukraine’s Chornomorsk port, while the other vessel was en route in the Black Sea.  

Ukraine’s Agriculture Ministry said on the Telegram messaging app that the wheat would be shipped to Egypt and Israel. 

“While the U.N. is not involved in the movement of those vessels, we welcome all efforts for the resumption of normal trade, especially of vital food commodities that help supply and stabilize global food markets,” a U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. 

“We continue our efforts to facilitate exports for agricultural products from both Ukraine and the Russian Federation,” the official said. 

The loadings are a test of Ukraine’s ability to reopen shipping lanes at a time when Russia is trying to re-impose its de facto blockade, having abandoned the grain deal in July. Moscow has launched frequent drone and missile attacks on the Ukrainian grain export infrastructure.  

The Black Sea grain deal was brokered by the U.N. and Turkey in July 2022 to combat a global food crisis worsened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine and Russia are among the world’s top grain exporters. 

Ukraine made several attacks in recent days using sea drones and missiles on Russia’s Black Sea naval fleet in and around the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014. 
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Hundreds gathered in central London on Saturday to mark the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in police custody in Iran last year, sparking worldwide protests of the country’s conservative Islamic theocracy.

Chanting “Women! Life! Freedom!,” the crowds held her portrait and rallied around the memory of a young woman who died on September 16, 2022, after she was arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s mandatory headscarf law. Similar protests took place in Italy, Germany and France.

“We’re calling on everyone to remember those killed, but also continue the fight, because this fight has to go to the end. Mahsa Jina Amini and the many others cannot have died in vain,″ said Maryam Namazie, an Iranian human rights activist in the U.K.

“We have to have a better society as the result of this huge, Herculean fight.″

In Iran, authorities sought to prevent the anniversary from reigniting the protests that gripped the country last year. Amini’s father was detained outside his home after the family indicated that they planned to gather at her grave for a traditional service of commemoration, the Kurdish rights group Hengaw said. People in downtown Tehran reported a heavy security presence, and security forces were seen in western Iran, where the Kurdish minority staged large protests last year.

Hengaw reported a widespread general strike in Kurdish areas on Saturday, circulating video and photos that appeared to show streets largely empty and shops shuttered. Human Rights Activists in Iran, another group that closely follows events within the country, also reported the general strike. There was no acknowledgement of the strike in state media.

Videos on social media purported to show tear gas being fired in Mashhad and Karaj, a satellite city of Tehran. The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran also reported the tear gas being used. Iranian state media did not acknowledge any such incidents.

Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman from the western region, died three days after she was arrested by morality police, allegedly for violating laws that require women to cover their hair in public. While authorities said that she suffered a heart attack, Amini’s supporters said she was beaten by police and died as a result of her injuries.

Her death triggered protests that spread across the country and rapidly escalated into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s four-decade-old Islamic theocracy.

Authorities responded with a violent crackdown in which more than 500 people were killed and upwards of 22,000 others were detained, according to rights groups. The demonstrations largely died down early this year, but there are still widespread signs of discontent. For several months, women could be seen openly flaunting the headscarf rule in Tehran and other cities, prompting a renewed crackdown over the summer.

Activists around the world sought to renew the protests on the anniversary of Amini’s death.

On Saturday, about 100 protesters gathered in front of the Iranian Embassy in Rome under the “Women, life, freedom,” banner.

“Now it is important that all the world start again to demonstrate in the streets, because what we want is to isolate this regime and, in particular, we want to push all the states not to have political and economic agreements with Iran,” protester Lucia Massi said.

In Paris, Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced that a garden in the French capital now carried Amini’s name. The mayor called Amini an Iranian resistance hero and said Paris “honors her memory and her battle, as well as those of women who fight for their freedom in Iran and elsewhere.”

The Villemin Garden that now also bears Amini’s name is in Paris’ 10th district, next to a canal with popular boat tours for tourists.

Iran blamed last year’s protests on the United States and other foreign powers, without providing evidence, and has since tried to downplay the unrest even as it moves to prevent any resurgence.

The protests were partly fueled by the widespread economic pain Iranians have suffered since then-President Donald Trump withdrew from a nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran. But that suffering also may have made it difficult to sustain prolonged demonstrations, as many Iranians struggle to make ends meet.

President Joe Biden issued a lengthy statement on Friday acknowledging the anniversary of Amini’s death, and the United States announced new sanctions on Iranian officials and entities. U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly also noted the anniversary and imposed new sanctions on Iranian officials.

Soheila Sokhanvari, an Iranian-British artist, moved to the U.K. to study a year before the 1979 revolution that brought Iran’s conservative Islamic leaders to power. She was in London preparing for a solo exhibition on pre-revolutionary feminist icons last year when she heard about Amini’s death.

The protests that followed marked the first time the world has seen “a revolution which is instigated by women,” she told The Associated Press earlier this month.

“But I think what’s really important about this protest is that Iranian men, for the first time in the history of Iran, they’re actually standing with women and they’re supporting the women and they’re showing respect for the women,” she said. “That’s very original, and it’s never happened in the history of Iran.”
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A Ukrainian minister told Reuters that the future of Ukraine’s battle against Russia holds “more drones, more attacks and fewer Russian ships.”  

Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Ukraine’s drone production has increased by more than 100 times since last year.   

Fedorov also told the news agency that Ukraine is testing artificial intelligence systems that can detect targets kilometers away, as well as guide drones despite disruptions from electronic warfare measures.  

Meanwhile, the British Defense Ministry, in its daily intelligence update on Ukraine, said there is a “realistic possibility” that Russia will resume using air-launched cruise missiles against Ukrainian infrastructure targets in the winter.   

The ministry’s update said that Russia has likely created a “significant stockpile” of the missiles, since open-source reports indicate that Russia began reducing its use of the missiles in April. 

“Russian leaders have highlighted efforts to increase the rate of cruise missile production,” the ministry said.  

The report also said the missiles “were at the heart” of most strike missions that Russia launched against Ukraine’s national energy infrastructure between last October and March. They allowed Russia to release munitions “from deep within Russian territory.”  

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock spoke Friday in Washington, and both reiterated their long-term support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. 

Speaking to reporters following their talks, Blinken said Germany and the U.S., along with dozens of other nations around the world, are committed to providing military, economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. He said they also discussed Ukraine’s long-term ability not only to survive but to thrive following Russia’s invasion. 

Baerbock echoed Blinken’s remarks, saying support for Ukraine goes beyond arms deliveries to include humanitarian issues and repairing infrastructure. She said she discussed with Blinken how the U.S. and Germany can coordinate their assistance to Ukraine even more closely. 

The two top diplomats were asked about Ukraine’s ongoing requests for long-range missile systems that could reach deep into Russia and the West’s reluctance to provide them.  

Baerbock said Germany and other NATO allies have told Ukraine from the beginning of Russia’s invasion that arms supplies would be limited to Ukraine’s self-defense and reclaiming territory within Ukraine.  

The German foreign minister has been in the United States much of this week. She traveled to Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday, visiting an air base where German pilots are trained. She met Thursday with U.S. lawmakers to discuss their continued support for Ukraine.

Ukraine grain shipments 

Blinken said he and Baerbock also discussed the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which Russia ended in July, and alternatives to getting grain out of Ukraine and to developing nations that need it.  

Following a meeting on Friday in Bucharest with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, Romanian Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu said the nation planned to double the monthly transit capacity for Ukrainian grain through its Constanta port to 4 million metric tons in the coming months.  

Speaking at a joint news conference, Kubrakov said they hope to double the port’s capacity by the beginning of October, which could help Ukraine solve at least 50% of its export issues. 

Ukraine military advances 

Ukraine’s military said Friday it has recaptured the village of Andriivka, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of the key front-line, Russian-occupied city of Bakhmut, following intense battles with Russian troops. 

The latest victory in Ukraine’s protracted, multipronged counteroffensive comes just days ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s expected visit to Washington. 

Also Friday, Britain’s Defense Ministry confirmed that a missile strike targeting the naval headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Crimea earlier this week delivered a blow that may have crippled portions of the facility for weeks or possibly months to come. 

The landing ship Minsk and the Kilo 636.3 class submarine Rostov-on-Don were undergoing maintenance at the Sevmorzavod shipyard in the base’s dry docks when the missiles hit during a predawn strike Wednesday. 

Open-source evidence, the ministry said, “indicates the Minsk has almost certainly been functionally destroyed, while the Rostov has likely suffered catastrophic damage.”

According to the ministry’s report, any effort to get the submarine up and running would likely take many years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. 

In addition, the British ministry said there is also “a realistic possibility” that the intricate task of removing the damaged vessels from the dry docks could put the docks out of commission for months and present Russia “with a significant challenge in sustaining fleet maintenance.” 

According to the British ministry, the Rostov was one of the four Black Sea fleet’s cruise-missile capable submarines that “have played a major role in striking Ukraine and projecting Russian power across the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean.” 

Zelenskyy White House visit 

Friday’s developments precede Zelenskyy’s anticipated arrival in Washington next week as the U.S. Congress continues to debate $21 billion more in aid to Ukraine to support its fight against Russia. 

U.S. lawmakers are increasingly divided over whether to provide Ukraine with more aid. President Joe Biden is seeking $13 billion in military aid and $8 billion in humanitarian aid, but some Republican lawmakers oppose sending more aid to Ukraine. 

Zelenskyy is expected to meet with Biden next week at the White House after the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York. 

Although Ukraine’s counteroffensive push against the Russian invasion has been slower than expected, Zelenskyy celebrated Thursday what he described as Ukraine’s destruction of a Russian air defense system on the annexed Crimean Peninsula. 

“A special mention should be made to the entire personnel of the Security Service of Ukraine as well as our naval forces,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video message. “The invaders’ air defense system was destroyed. Very significant, well done!” 

Some information in this article came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers and other warplanes Saturday from Russia’s Pacific fleet.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and other leading military officials gave Kim a tour of the bombers and warplanes after the North Korean leader’s arrival in the Far Eastern Russian city of Artyom.

The items the Russians showed Kim are weapons that Russia has used in its invasion of Ukraine.

Later Saturday, Kim and Shoigu traveled to Vladivostok to inspect more inventory, including a weapons-laden frigate.

Kim’s trip to Russia has included more than four hours of talks with President Vladimir Putin and raised alarms about what the two countries want from each other and what kinds of deals the two will strike.
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The war in Ukraine is likely to be the big topic for a second year when leaders gather at the U.N. General Assembly next week, but many developing countries are hoping to shine a light on issues important to them, including development, the economy and climate.

This year’s general assembly will take place after Asian countries met in Indonesia for the ASEAN summit, G20 leaders gathered in India, and developing countries in the Group of 77 plus China met in Cuba. After a busy September, several high-profile leaders are skipping New York, but more than 140 heads of state and government are attending.

With the world literally on fire in places, there will be plenty to talk about.

“We will be gathering at a time when humanity faces huge challenges – from the worsening climate emergency to escalating conflicts, the global cost-of-living crisis, soaring inequalities and dramatic technological disruptions,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters ahead of the high-level week. “People are looking to their leaders for a way out of this mess.”

War in Ukraine

Guterres said the war in Ukraine is aggravating geopolitical divisions.

“And so, the solution — a peace in Ukraine, in line with [the] U.N. Charter, and in line with international law — would be very important to allow for geopolitical divisions to be reduced,” he said. “But those geopolitical divisions have other dimensions. And one of my main concerns is that we see the risk of fragmentation.”

The war is certain to be a feature during the week, with media attention on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is scheduled to attend the U.N. General Assembly in person for the first time since Russia invaded his country in February 2022. Last year a special exception was made for him to address the gathering in a prerecorded video because he could not travel to New York.

In addition to his General Assembly speech Tuesday, he is expected to attend a high-level U.N. Security Council meeting the next day on Ukraine. Zelenskyy has previously only briefed the council remotely since the war started. There is also potential for some diplomatic drama, if Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov represents his country at the meeting and the two leaders come face-to-face in the same room.

Richard Gowan, U.N. director at the International Crisis Group, says Zelenskyy is likely to get a lot of press attention, but he should be careful not to overshadow the priorities of other leaders, especially from the developing world.

“I think this is a great opportunity for Zelenskyy to talk to the wider world about Ukraine’s situation and try and push back against some of the Russian propaganda about the war,” he told VOA. “However, Zelenskyy has to be conscious that there are a lot of leaders from developing countries who have problems of their own – such as debt and poor economic growth – and they want to talk about those topics, and not just the war between Russia and Ukraine.”

Push for SDGs

What leaders from developing nations are hoping for is real action on sustainable development, climate mitigation and adaptation, and pandemic prevention and preparedness. There will be separate summits on all those issues during the week.

Guterres will kick off the high-level week with a two-day summit on Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs.

In 2015, leaders pledged to work toward progress on 17 goals that aim to end hunger and extreme poverty. Now at the half-way point to the 2030 deadline, only 15% of the SDGs are on track. The rest are either making too little progress or backsliding to pre-2015 levels.

“This is in part due to the lingering drag of the COVID-19 pandemic, the highest level of armed conflict globally since 1945, and climate-related disasters, as well as inflation and the rising cost of living,” said Astra Bonini, U.N. senior sustainable development officer.

The number of people living in extreme poverty rose for the first time in a generation with the onset of the pandemic. The U.N. says if present trends continue, a staggering 575 million people will remain trapped in extreme poverty by the end of this decade and 600 million will be facing hunger.

Guterres told reporters that getting the SDGs back on track is his main objective during the week. A big part of that is financing, and he hopes to secure an ambitious commitment of $500 billion a year from nations to help “rescue” the SDGs.

“I’m very hopeful that the SDG Summit will indeed represent a quantum leap in the response to the dramatic failures that we have witnessed until now in relation to the implementation of the SDGs,” he said.

Leaders are expected to adopt a political declaration at the start of Monday’s summit committing “to bold, ambitious, accelerated, just and transformative actions” to meet the targets by the end of this decade.

On Wednesday, the secretary-general is convening a climate ambition summit, bringing together government leaders with representatives from business and civil society. He has repeatedly warned that time is running out to prevent a climate catastrophe.

On the health front, leaders will discuss lessons learned from COVID-19 during the pandemic prevention, preparedness and response meeting, also on Wednesday. In addition to focusing on elements like vaccination programs and supporting healthcare systems, the meeting will look at the health inequalities and inequities among countries that need attention.

“If COVID-19 taught us nothing else, it’s that when health is at risk, everything is at risk,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organization director-general, of the social, economic and political impacts of the pandemic.

Out of the spotlight

“The gathering itself isn’t the game, the game is what happens on the sidelines and behind-the-scenes that matters when everyone is in town,” said Richard Goldberg of the Washington-based research group Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

To that point, there will be hundreds of meetings on the sidelines of the General Assembly. There will be bilateral meetings between leaders – Secretary-General Guterres usually has more than a hundred of those himself. Smaller meetings on pressing issues will also take place. Look for the humanitarian situation in Sudan, the security crisis in Haiti, and how to help Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh to be a focus in smaller format sessions.

There will also be a ministerial meeting Monday hosted by the European Union, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League to see what’s possible on relaunching the stalled Middle East peace process. Israel and the Palestinians have not been invited.

U.S. President Joe Biden is the only leader from the five U.N. Security Council powers attending this year’s General Assembly. The British prime minister and the French, Russian and Chinese presidents are sitting out the gathering for various reasons.

“That’s a missed opportunity for the U.S.,” FDD’s Goldberg says.

President Biden will speak Tuesday morning, laying out U.S. priorities.

“He will address the General Assembly, where he will reaffirm our country’s leadership in countering threats to international peace and security, protecting human rights, and advancing global prosperity and development,” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters Thursday.

She said the United States will also reaffirm its commitments to the SDGs and discuss how they are working to meet them.

With a packed week and much on the line, the world’s citizens will be looking to leaders to take action to improve their daily lives and safeguard their future.
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