After six years on the run, the former president of Spain’s Catalonia region may come home to govern after his party won a close second in regional elections. But an investigation into his alleged ties to the Kremlin may prevent his return. Marcus Harton narrates this report from Ricardo Marquina in Barcelona. Alfonso Beato contributed.
…

…

STATE DEPARTMENT — Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Kurt Campbell is hosting China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu in Washington on Thursday. The talks are aimed at maintaining open communication channels to prevent miscalculations and unintended conflicts, especially during times of tension.

Following two hours of face-to-face discussions, officials from the United States and the People’s Republic of China will have a working lunch at the State Department. Later in the afternoon, U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer will continue discussions with Ma.

The visit by Ma Zhaoxu follows U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Shanghai and Beijing in April. Officials said it builds on U.S.’s intensive diplomacy with the PRC to responsibly manage competition in the relationship, even in areas where the two countries disagree.  

“As we continue to take actions to protect our interests and values and those of our allies and partners, we are also using face-to-face diplomacy with the PRC to clearly and directly communicate our positions and intentions, and make progress on bilateral, regional, and global issues that matter to the American people and the world,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA.  

A spokesperson from PRC’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Ma will also “interact and communicate with representatives from various sectors in the U.S.” during his visit to the U.S. from May 30 to June 2.

While in Beijing last month, Blinken voiced “serious concern” regarding China’s support for Russia’s defense industry, warning Chinese leaders that Washington could impose sanctions over the matter.

China has defended its approach to Russia, saying it is only engaged in normal economic exchanges with a major trading partner. 

Wednesday, Campbell renewed the U.S. warnings. He said Chinese support was helping to revitalize Russia’s military capabilities, including long-range missiles, artillery, drones and battlefield tracking.

During his visit to Brussels, the State Department’s second-highest diplomat emphasized the urgent need for European and NATO countries “to send a collective message of concern to China about its actions, which we view are destabilizing in the heart of Europe.”

The latest U.S.-China talks occur just days after China conducted a large-scale, two-day military exercise involving 111 aircraft and 46 naval vessels around Taiwan. Washington has strongly urged Beijing to exercise restraint and has reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for China and Taiwan Mark Lambert met virtually with PRC’s Director-General for Boundary and Ocean Affairs Hong Liang on May 23.  During this meeting, Lambert expressed profound concerns regarding People’s Liberation Army joint military drills in the Taiwan Strait and around Taiwan.  
…

…

the Pentagon   — The first Ukrainian pilots have completed F-16 fighter jet training at a military base in Arizona, with others soon to follow this summer.

“The first batch has graduated, and other Ukrainian pilots are finishing their training here by the end of August,” Arizona National Guard spokesperson Capt. Erin Hannigan told VOA.

The graduates include a handful of Ukrainian pilots who had trained at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, according to a U.S. official who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity because of security sensitivities.

Out of an abundance of caution for the pilots’ safety, officials declined to provide an exact number of how many had graduated or the number of those who remain in F-16 training.

The 162nd Wing at Morris is considered the Air National Guard’s premier F-16 training unit and houses the Air Force’s only school dedicated to training pilots from more than 20 countries on the fighter.

Kyiv pleaded for Western aircraft when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of their country in February 2022. In August 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden approved a plan for Western allies to send F-16s to Ukraine once pilot training was complete.

Last August, Ukraine was gaining momentum in the conflict against Russia, but that was before a monthslong delay by Congress to approve new military assistance for Kyiv.

Since then, Ukrainian officials reported that troops were forced to ration supplies as ammunition ran low. Analysts say Russia has capitalized on Kyiv’s disadvantage to make gains on the battlefield.

Last month, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said his country’s promised jets would be delivered to Kyiv by the end of the year. 
…

Ukrainian officials say Russia’s invasion has turned thousands of Ukrainian children trapped in occupied territories into hostages, while others have been deported to Russia and forced into reeducation programs and adoption. Anna Chernikova reports from Kyiv on Ukraine’s efforts to bring them home. VOA footage by Vladyslav Smilianets.
…

…

Jurors are deliberating in a criminal case against U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump. He is charged with falsifying financial records to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. Campaigning continued outside the New York courthouse. VOA’s Scott Stearns reports. Camera: Michael Eckels.
…

…

State Department — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to Moldova, pledging $135 million to enhance energy security and counter Russian disinformation during his visit to Chisinau.

During Wednesday’s visit, Blinken announced that up to $85 million in USAID funding will subsidize equipment to strengthen Moldova’s national power grid and facilitate greater electricity trade with Romania, Ukraine, and the broader European market. He also unveiled additional aid for Moldova, a pro-Western country facing renewed threats from Russia. 

“Today, I’m announcing that we’ll be working with our Congress to provide an additional $50 million to further advance these efforts from reforming the energy and agricultural sectors to pushing back and further against disinformation,” said Blinken during a joint press conference with Moldova President Maia Sandu. 

“That in turn will bolster the ability of Moldova to resist Russian interference, to hold free and fair elections to continue down the path to the European Union and Western integration to create more economic opportunity,” he said. 

Blinken’s trip comes amid concerns over Russia’s military presence in Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria region. Moldova has accused Russia of waging a hybrid war through election interference and disinformation campaigns aimed at toppling the government and hindering its EU aspirations. Russia denies these accusations. 

Sandu welcomed Blinken’s second visit in two years as “a strong sign of support.”  

“Through unity and with the support of our partners, we will stand by our people and move forward,” Sandu said during the press conference. 

She also expressed gratitude for U.S. support to both Moldova and Ukraine. Since Russia’s 2022 invasion, the Biden administration has directed billions of dollars in weapons assistance to Ukraine, which Sandu said “also makes Moldova safer and more resilient.” 

Historically, Moldova’s heavy reliance on outside energy resources has made the country vulnerable to external disruptions and price fluctuations, delaying its progress toward sustainable economic development. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has further exacerbated Moldova’s energy challenges by driving up electricity and gas prices and creating sector instability. 

Since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the United States has provided Moldova with $774 million in assistance, including $300 million through USAID, to support energy security. 

NATO, Ukraine 

After Chisinau, Blinken is heading to Prague for NATO foreign ministers’ meetings, where “a substantial show of support for Ukraine” is expected, according to U.S. officials. 

On Wednesday, Blinken said the U.S. is working hard to deliver more air defenses to Ukraine as it defends itself against intensifying Russian attacks. 

But Blinken, along with other officials from the Biden administration, said Washington does not encourage or enable the use of U.S.-supplied weapons to strike inside Russia. 

“Ukraine has to make its own decisions about the best way to effectively defend itself,” Blinken said. ‘’We’re going to make sure that it has the equipment it needs.” 

This week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged the alliance’s members to lift some of the restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western weapons, potentially enabling their use for strikes directly on Russian soil. 

“The right to self-defense includes hitting legitimate targets outside Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said Monday at a NATO meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria. 

The United States will host a NATO summit in Washington from July 9 to July 11. 

Blinken said there will be “very strong deliverables” in terms of Ukraine’s further integration with the Atlantic alliance. 

Thirty-two countries have either completed or will soon complete bilateral security agreements with Ukraine.
…

…

Washington — Justice Samuel Alito is rejecting calls to step aside from Supreme Court cases involving former President Donald Trump and Jan. 6 defendants because of the controversy over flags that flew over his homes.

In letters to members of Congress on Wednesday, Alito said his wife was responsible for flying an upside-down U.S. flag over his home in 2021 and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag at his New Jersey beach house last year.

Neither incident merits his recusal, he wrote.

“I am therefore duty-bound to reject your recusal request,” he wrote.

The court is considering two major cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Trump supporters on the Capitol, including charges faced by the rioters and whether Trump has immunity from prosecution on election interference charges.

Alito has rejected calls from Democrats in the past to recuse on other issues.

The New York Times reported that an inverted American flag was seen at Alito’s home in Alexandria, Virginia, less than two weeks after the attack on the Capitol. The paper also reported that an “Appeal to Heaven” flag was flown outside of the justice’s beach home in New Jersey last summer. Both flags were carried by rioters who violently stormed the Capitol in January 2021 echoing Trump’s false claims of election fraud.

Alito said he was unaware that the upside-down flag was flying above his house until it was called to his attention. “As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but for several days, she refused,” he wrote in nearly identical letters to Democrats in the House and Senate.
…

Reykjavik — A new volcanic eruption has begun on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwestern Iceland, the country’s meteorological office said Wednesday, shortly after authorities evacuated the nearby town of Grindavik.

“An eruption has started near Sundhnuksgigar, north of Grindavik,” the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said in a statement, almost three weeks after the end of a previous eruption that had been ongoing since March 16.

“The eruption plumes reach a height of at least 50 metres,” it added.

The nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, Iceland’s biggest tourist attraction, said it had also evacuated its facilities on Wednesday.

The eruption was the fifth to occur on the peninsula since December.

The IMO had reported “intense earthquake activity” prior to Wednesday’s eruption.

In addition, it had reported the accumulation of 20 million cubic metres of magma in the magma chamber below Svartsengi, where a power plant that supplies electricity and water to around 30,000 people on the peninsula is located.

The Svartsengi plant was evacuated and has largely been run remotely since the first eruption in the region in December, and barriers have been built to protect it. 

Most of the 4,000 residents of the nearby town of Grindavik were permanently evacuated in November, prior to the eruptions in December, January, February and March.

Lava flowed into the streets of Grindavik during the January eruption, engulfing three homes. 

But a few die-hard residents had returned to live in neighborhoods less at risk from lava flow.

On Monday evening, the Met Office had said that “about 400 earthquakes” had been measured in the past seven days near the Sundhnuksgigar crater row.

Until March 2021, the Reykjanes peninsula had not experienced an eruption for eight centuries.

Volcanologists now believe a new era of seismic activity has begun in the region.
…

…

…

…

With five months until the November election and no diplomatic solution in sight for wars in Ukraine and Gaza, President Joe Biden, who in 2020 ran on a campaign to end “forever wars,” is shifting voters’ attention away from American entanglements abroad by focusing on domestic priorities. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has the story.
…

…

…

…

Harassment, arrests, declining trust and economic constraints make the work of journalists in the United States tough. The country’s media are mostly free from interference, but the U.S. still dropped 10 points on the World Press Freedom Index in 2024. VOA’s Cristina Caicedo Smit and Michael Lipin have the story, as narrated by Caicedo Smit. Videographer: Keith Lane
…

Tbilisi, Georgia — Georgia’s parliament on Tuesday overrode the president’s veto of a controversial foreign agent law, despite protests at home and criticism in Western capitals, including a U.S. threat to impose sanctions.

The new measure is officially called the “Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence.” However, opponents have dubbed it the “Russian law,” a reference to Russia’s foreign agent law, which requires anyone who receives support from outside Russia, or is seen as acting under “foreign influence,” to register as foreign agents.

The Georgian law requires civil society organizations, media and other entities receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign interests. The law primarily targets U.S. and European Union democracy assistance programs.

President Salome Zourabichvili vetoed the legislation on May 18, but it was widely expected that the ruling Georgian Dream party’s parliamentary majority would override the veto.

Georgian Dream reintroduced the law in April, a year after it abandoned in March 2023 after it sparked mass protests.

Protesters view the law as a move by the government to tilt the country toward Moscow, even though polls show more than 80% of Georgians support Georgia’s path toward EU membership and 73% endorse the country’s bid to join NATO.

General elections in October will determine whether the Georgian Dream party remains in power for a fourth term. Georgian nongovernmental organizations say the foreign agent law may hinder international organizations’ ability to observe the October vote. While the government claims the law promotes transparency, local NGOs and Georgia’s Western partners view it as targeting Western funding for Georgian civil society.

“Having no chances of victory in the upcoming general elections in October if they are conducted freely and fairly, [Bidzina] Ivanishvili” — Georgian Dream’s shadow leader — “is tightening his grip on power through harsh authoritarian measures and is openly driving the country into Russian influence,” former Georgian ambassador to the United States David Sikharulidze told VOA outside the parliament building in Tbilisi.

“It’s very much in line with Putin’s tactics,” he said.

“This law is a Russian law in essence and spirit, which contradicts our constitution and all European standards,” Zourabichvili said in her veto statement.

Zourabichvili, whose election as president in 2018 was supported by Georgian Dream, has increasingly found herself at odds with the party.

Apprehension over the domestic and foreign policy trajectory of Georgia’s government has grown since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Official Tbilisi refused to side with Ukraine publicly or to join sanctions against Moscow, while attacking Ukrainian officials publicly and echoing anti-Western rhetoric.

In addition, U.S. lawmakers have raised concerns about Georgia’s role in helping Russia evade Western sanctions.

For more than a month and a half, tens of thousands of Georgians have taken to the streets to protest the foreign agent law, the largest protests the country has seen since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

“Georgian people have erupted in protest. They deserve more than just statements from the Western partners,” Sikharulidze said.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced sanctions against those “responsible for undermining democracy in Georgia.”

“The Department of State is implementing a new visa restriction policy for Georgia that will apply to individuals who are responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy in Georgia, as well as their family members,” Blinken said in a statement. “This includes individuals responsible for suppressing civil society and freedom of peaceful assembly in Georgia through a campaign of violence or intimidation.”

Georgian Dream officials dismissed the visa restrictions as interference in Georgia’s internal affairs.

“The blackmail with visa restrictions are nothing but a crude attempt to limit the independence and sovereignty of Georgia,” the Georgian Dream party said in a statement, labeling the move “anti-Georgian.”

For their part, European Union officials have warned that adopting the foreign agent law would jeopardize Georgia’s bid for EU membership.

“The law of foreign influence is not in line with EU values. If the law is enacted, it will impact Georgia’s EU path,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

Georgian officials have dismissed the critical voices in Washington and Brussels as part of what they call the “Global War Party,” which one Georgian Dream MP described to a British podcaster as a “‘force akin to the Freemasons.”
…

Africa’s Sahel has become the epicenter of global terrorism, prompting nations to intensify efforts to counter the violence through military training such as the Flintlock 2024 drills in Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Analysts, however, say that addressing economic deficiencies in the region would be a more effective deterrent. Senanu Tord reports from Tamale, Ghana.
…