The U.S. Supreme Court denied a bid Tuesday by former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be removed from the ballot in Wisconsin and Michigan for the Nov. 5 election. Kennedy has said he wants voters who would have backed him to cast ballots for the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump. 

The court declined Kennedy’s emergency requests to order the Wisconsin Elections Commission and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to take him off the ballot in those states. Michigan and Wisconsin are among a handful of closely contested states expected to decide the outcome of the race between Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris.  

Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch dissented from the decision concerning the Michigan ballot only. No other justice publicly dissented. 

Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist known by his initials RFK Jr., has sought the Supreme Court’s intervention in his attempts to stay on the ballot in some states while dropping off others. In September, the Supreme Court rejected his bid to be restored to the ballot in New York. 

Kennedy suspended his campaign in August and endorsed the former president’s candidacy. Kennedy has urged his supporters everywhere to back Trump and has withdrawn from the ballot in a number of Republican-leaning states.  
…

A U.S. judge on Tuesday dismissed a Republican lawsuit seeking to force election battleground state Pennsylvania to strengthen its procedures for verifying ballots submitted by military and overseas voters. 

Six Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives seeking reelection on November 5 had sued Pennsylvania’s top election officials on September 30. The Republicans had argued that the state was improperly exempting overseas voters from a requirement that their identity documents be verified, creating a vulnerability for fraudulent votes to be submitted. 

Pennsylvania is one of a handful of closely contested states that are expected to decide the outcome of the U.S. presidential race pitting Republican Donald Trump against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. 

U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner dismissed the case in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, deciding that the plaintiffs had waited too long to file their complaint given that Pennsylvania’s procedures had been in place for years.

The suit was one of dozens around the country in which Republicans have challenged voting procedures or sought to purge voter rolls in what they call a push to ensure that people do not vote illegally. That legal blitz has been faltering. In the past three weeks, Trump allies have been dealt at least 11 court losses. 

Conner also said Erick Kaardal, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, had not provided evidence that there had been foreign influence over Pennsylvania’s overseas ballots. The judge wrote that when he pressed Kaardal for such evidence during an October 18 hearing, the lawyer “effectively conceded that all he had was ‘concerns.'” 

“Plaintiffs cannot rely on phantom fears of foreign malfeasance to excuse their lack of diligence,” Conner wrote. 

“We don’t want votes from Iran or Russia or invalid votes counting,” Kaardal had told the hearing in Harrisburg federal court over a motion to dismiss the case filed by the Democratic National Committee and Pennsylvania’s top elections official. 

The Election Research Institute, a conservative group whose lawyer Karen DiSalvo brought the case alongside Kaardal, said the plaintiffs were disappointed by the dismissal and were considering options for appeal. 

Judges in the election battleground states of Michigan and North Carolina this month also rejected lawsuits filed by the Republican National Committee seeking to block votes from some Americans living overseas. 

In those cases, the Republicans argued the states improperly allowed U.S. citizens living abroad who had never lived in those states to vote there. 
…

Madrid — Torrential rains caused by a cold front moving across southeastern Spain flooded roads and towns on Tuesday, prompting authorities in the worst-hit areas to advise citizens to stay at home and avoid all non-essential travel. 

Spain’s state weather agency AEMET declared a red alert in the eastern Valencia region and the second-highest level of alert in parts of Andalusia in the south, where a train derailed due to the heavy rainfall, although no one was injured. 

Footage showed firefighters rescuing trapped drivers amid heavy rain in the Valencian town of Alzira and flooded streets with stuck cars. 

Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to climate change. Meteorologists believe the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe. 

AEMET expected Valencia to take the brunt of the storm, with forecasts of more than 90 mm of rain in less than one hour, or 180 mm in under 12 hours. 

Schools, courthouses and other essential services were suspended in Carlet and some other nearby towns in the Valencia region. 

Local emergency services requested the help of UME, a military unit specialized in rescue operations, in the area of Utiel-Requena, where farmers’ association ASAJA said the storm was causing significant damage to crops. 

The storm first struck Andalusia. In El Ejido, a Mediterranean city known for its sprawling greenhouses, a hailstorm broke hundreds of car windscreens, flooded the streets and damaged the mostly plastic greenhouse infrastructure. 

In Alora, also in Andalusia, the Guadalorce river overflowed and 14 people there had to be rescued by firefighters, authorities said. Alora topped AEMET’s ranking on Tuesday with 160 mm of rainfall.
…

BERLIN — Thousands of German workers launched nationwide strikes to press for higher wages on Tuesday, compounding problems for companies worried about staying globally competitive as high costs, weak exports and foreign rivals chip away at their strengths. 

The strikes by unionized workers in the nearly 4-million strong electrical engineering and metal industries hit companies such as Porsche, BMW and Mercedes. 

Also this week, car giant Volkswagen could announce plans to shut three plants on home soil for the first time in its 87-year history, as well as mass layoffs and 10% wage cuts for workers who keep their jobs. 

A worsening business outlook in Europe’s largest economy has piled pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s rickety coalition government, which could be on the verge of collapse ahead of federal elections next year as policy cracks widen. 

Scholz hosted a meeting with business leaders on Tuesday, including Volkswagen boss Oliver Blume, to discuss strategies for bolstering Germany’s industrial sector. 

The three-hour closed-door meeting in Berlin was aimed at exploring policy measures to drive growth, protect industrial jobs, and reinforce Germany’s position as a global industrial hub, government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said in a statement. 

The talks mark the beginning of a broader initiative by the German government, with follow-up discussions planned for Nov. 15, Hebestreit added. 

In a sign of government dysfunction, his finance minister has also announced a separate summit on the same day. 

Germany has a long history of so-called “warning strikes” during wage negotiations, but they come at a time of employers’ deepening concerns about the future. A leading business group said a survey of companies pointed to Germany experiencing another year of economic contraction in 2024 and no prospect of growth next year. 

“We are not just dealing with a cyclical, but a stubborn structural crisis in Germany,” said Martin Wansleben, managing director of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry that conducted the survey. 

“We are greatly concerned about how much Germany is becoming an economic burden for Europe and can no longer fulfill its role as an economic workhorse,” he said. 

A separate survey by the VDA auto industry association suggested the transformation of the German car industry could lead to 186,000 job losses by 2035, of which roughly a quarter have already occurred. 

“Europe — especially Germany — is losing more and more international competitiveness,” said the VDA report, which also stated that German companies paid up to three times more for electricity than their U.S. or Chinese rivals, while facing higher taxes and increasing bureaucratic burdens. 

Workers want share 

The International Monetary Fund joined those calling for reforms in Germany, suggesting the government ditch a constitutionally enshrined borrowing cap known as the debt brake so it can boost investment.  

While the debt brake is supported by Finance Minister Christian Lindner, he is at odds with Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who has called for a multibillion-euro fund to stimulate growth. 

“The economic policy debate is where it belongs: right at the top of the agenda,” Lindner said on X. “We have no time to lose.” 

The meetings with Lindner and Scholz have prompted companies and industry associations to air their gripes. The chemicals lobby VCI lamented “poor framework conditions” and high energy costs faced by its members, and called on Scholz to make “groundbreaking decisions” to unleash competitiveness. 

Reinhold von Eben-Worlee, from the association of family-run companies, compared the plight of Germany’s Mittelstand firms to a marathon runner weighed down by a heavy rucksack of high taxes and social security contributions, and red tape. 

Tuesday’s strikes were orchestrated by the powerful IG Metall union, which also staged a walkout during the night shift at Volkswagen’s plant in the city of Osnabrueck, where workers worry the site may be shutting down. 

Approximately 71,000 workers participated in Tuesday’s strike, impacting around 370 companies across Germany, according to a spokesperson for IG Metall. 
…

LOS ANGELES — Teri Garr, the quirky comedy actor who rose from background dancer in Elvis Presley movies to co-star of such favorites as Young Frankenstein and Tootsie, has died. She was 79. 

Garr died Tuesday of multiple sclerosis “surrounded by family and friends,” publicist Heidi Schaeffer said. Garr battled other health problems in recent years and underwent an operation in January 2007 to repair an aneurysm. 

Admirers took to social media in her honor, with writer-director Paul Feig calling her “truly one of my comedy heroes. I couldn’t have loved her more” and screenwriter Cinco Paul saying: “Never the star, but always shining. She made everything she was in better.” 

The actor, who was sometimes credited as Terri, Terry or Terry Ann during her long career, seemed destined for show business from her childhood. 

Her father was Eddie Garr, a well-known vaudeville comedian; her mother was Phyllis Lind, one of the original high-kicking Rockettes at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Their daughter began dance lessons at 6 and by 14 was dancing with the San Francisco and Los Angeles ballet companies. 

She was 16 when she joined the road company of West Side Story in Los Angeles, and as early as 1963 she began appearing in bit parts in films. 

She recalled in a 1988 interview how she won the West Side Story role. After being dropped from her first audition, she returned a day later in different clothes and was accepted. 

From there, the blonde, statuesque Garr found steady work dancing in movies, and she appeared in the chorus of nine Presley films, including Viva Las Vegas, Roustabout and Clambake. 

She also appeared on numerous television shows, including Star Trek, Dr. Kildare and Batman, and was a featured dancer on the rock ‘n’ roll music show Shindig, the rock concert performance T.A.M.I. and a cast member of The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. 

Her big film break came as Gene Hackman’s girlfriend in 1974’s Francis Ford Coppola thriller The Conversation. That led to an interview with Mel Brooks, who said he would hire her for the role of Gene Wilder’s German lab assistant in 1974’s Young Frankenstein — if she could speak with a German accent. 

“Cher had this German woman, Renata, making wigs, so I got the accent from her,” Garr once recalled. 

The film established her as a talented comedy performer, with New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael proclaiming her “the funniest neurotic dizzy dame on the screen.” 

Her big smile and off-center appeal helped land her roles in Oh God! opposite George Burns and John Denver, Mr. Mom (as Michael Keaton’s wife) and Tootsie in which she played the girlfriend who loses Dustin Hoffman to Jessica Lange. 

Although best known for comedy, Garr showed in such films as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Black Stallion and The Escape Artist that she could handle drama equally well. 

She had a flair for spontaneous humor, often playing David Letterman’s foil during guest appearances on NBC’s Late Night With David Letterman early in its run. 

Her appearances became so frequent, and the pair’s good-natured bickering so convincing, that for a time rumors cropped up that they were romantically involved. Years later, Letterman credited those early appearances with helping make the show a hit. 

It was also during those years that Garr began to feel something in her right leg. It began in 1983 and eventually spread to her right arm. By 1999 the symptoms had become so severe that she consulted a doctor. The diagnosis: multiple sclerosis. 

For three years Garr didn’t reveal her illness. 

“I was afraid that I wouldn’t get work,” she explained in a 2003 interview. “People hear MS and think, ‘Oh, my God, the person has two days to live.'” 

After going public, she became a spokeswoman for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, making humorous speeches to gatherings in the U.S. and Canada. 

“You have to find your center and roll with the punches because that’s a hard thing to do: to have people pity you,” she said in 2005. “Just trying to explain to people that I’m OK is tiresome.” 

She also continued to act, appearing on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Greetings From Tucson, Life With Bonnie and other TV shows. She also had a brief recurring role on Friends in the 1990s as Lisa Kudrow’s mother. After several failed romances, Garr married contractor John O’Neill in 1993. They adopted a daughter, Molly, before divorcing in 1996. 
…

Washington — Resisting pressure from Beijing to publicly reject independence for Taiwan, the Biden administration underscores there is no change in its “one China” policy which takes no stand on the issue.

“We do not support Taiwan independence. We expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion,” a senior administration official told VOA Tuesday, underscoring long-standing U.S. policy on the thorny issue. “We oppose unilateral changes to the status quo by either side.”

The confirmation followed reports that during their last in-person meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping asked U.S. President Joe Biden to change the language the administration uses when discussing its position on Taiwan independence.

On the sidelines of the APEC meeting near San Francisco last November, Xi reportedly told Biden he wants the U.S. to use language stating it “opposes” instead of “does not support” independence for Taiwan, the current phrase used in U.S. official statements.

The administration has been “consistent on our long-standing one China policy,” the official said. Under the policy, the U.S. acknowledges but does not endorse Beijing’s view that it has sovereignty over Taiwan. It considers Taiwan’s status as unsettled.

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

Beijing’s push for stronger language is not new. Ahead of the Biden-Xi meeting last year, VOA reported that Foreign Minister Wang Yi also made the request in his meetings with U.S. counterparts.

The Chinese have been asking for this shift, and in some instances falsely asserting that the U.S. position is to oppose Taiwanese independence, said Zack Cooper, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

“I find it unlikely that the United States will take this advice without some substantial concession from China on its own position about Taiwan,” Cooper told VOA. “I doubt this will get any traction in Washington unless it is part of a longer-term conversation about de-escalating tensions across the Taiwan Strait.”

Biden and Xi likely to meet again in person next month in South America, where both are expected to attend an APEC meeting in Lima, Peru, and a G-20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It will likely be Biden’s last meeting with the Chinese leader before leaving office in January.

“It will probably be an opportunity for the two leaders to say goodbye and for their teams to wrap up a couple of loose ends, perhaps including an announcement or two on people-to-people issues,” said Cooper.

Beijing is no doubt gearing up for a change in U.S. administration ahead of the election between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Both have vowed to be tough on China, with Trump saying he would impose “150% to 200%” tariffs on China if it sought to blockade Taiwan.

Flared tensions

Cross-strait tensions have flared many times in recent years. On Sunday, Taiwan’s defense ministry said Chinese warplanes and warships carried out another “combat patrol” near the island, following Beijing’s threat to respond with countermeasures to a $2 billion arms sale by the United States.

The administration announced it approved the package last week, which includes its first delivery of three National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, advanced weapons that have been battle-tested in Ukraine.

Despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, the U.S. is Taiwan’s strongest unofficial ally and Washington is legally bound by the Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taipei with the means to defend itself.

China “strongly condemns” the sale. “We will take resolute countermeasures and take all measures necessary to firmly defend national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity,” said a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson. 

VOA’s Nike Ching contributed to this story.
…

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday launched a massive exercise of the country’s nuclear forces featuring missile launches in a simulation of a retaliatory strike, as he continued to flex the country’s nuclear muscle amid spiraling tensions with the West over Ukraine. 

Speaking in a video call with military leaders, Putin said that the drills will simulate top officials’ action in using nuclear weapons and include launches of nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles. 

Defense Minister Andrei Belousov reported that the exercise is intended to practice “strategic offensive forces launching a massive nuclear strike in response to a nuclear strike by the enemy.” 

Putin, who has repeatedly brandished the nuclear sword as he seeks to deter the West from ramping up support for Ukraine, emphasized on Tuesday that Russia’s nuclear arsenal remains a “reliable guarantor of the country’s sovereignty and security.” 

“Taking into account growing geopolitical tensions and emerging new threats and risks, it’s important for us to have modern strategic forces that are always ready for combat,” he said, reaffirming that Russia sees nuclear weapons use as “the ultimate, extreme measure of ensuring its security.” 

Putin noted that Moscow will continue to modernize its nuclear forces, deploying new missiles that have a higher precision, quicker launch times and increased capabilities to overcome missile defenses. 

As part of Tuesday’s drills, the military test-fired a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk launch pad at the Kura testing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Defense Ministry said. The Novomoskovsk and Knyaz Oleg nuclear submarines test-fired ICBMs from the Barents Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk, while nuclear-capable Tu-95 strategic bombers carried out practice launches of long-range cruise missiles. 

The ministry said that all the missiles reached their designated targets. 

Last month, the Russian leader warned the U.S. and NATO allies that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied longer-range weapons for strikes deep inside Russia would put NATO at war with his country. 

He reinforced the message by announcing a new version of the nuclear doctrine that considers a conventional attack on Russia by a nonnuclear nation that is supported by a nuclear power to be a joint attack on his country — a clear warning to the U.S. and other allies of Kyiv. 

Putin also declared that the revised document envisages possible nuclear weapons use in case of a massive air attack, holding the door open to a potential nuclear response to any aerial assault — an ambiguity intended to deter the West. 

Tuesday’s maneuvers follow a series of other drills of Russia’s nuclear forces. 

Earlier this year, the Russian military held a joint nuclear exercise with Moscow’s ally Belarus, which has hosted some of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons.
…

DANBURY, Conn. — Longtime Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon was released from prison early Tuesday, after serving a four-month sentence for defying a subpoena in the congressional investigation into the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.

Bannon left the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, according to Kristie Breshears, a spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Prisons. He planned to hold a news conference later in the day in Manhattan, his representatives said. He’s also expected to resume his podcast Tuesday.

Bannon, 70, reported to the prison July 1 after the Supreme Court rejected his bid to delay the prison sentence while he appeals his conviction.

A jury found Bannon guilty in 2022 of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition with the Jan. 6 House Committee and a second for refusing to provide documents related to his involvement Trump’s efforts to overturn his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race.

When he began serving his sentence in July, Bannon called himself a “political prisoner.”

“I am proud of going to prison,” he said at the time, adding that he was standing up Attorney General Merrick Garland and a “corrupt” Justice Department.

Trump, a Republican, is seeking to regain the presidency in next week’s election against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

A federal appeals court panel upheld Bannon’s convictions in May. Bannon is now asking the full appeals court to hear his case. His legal team had argued that the congressional subpoena was invalid because Trump had asserted executive privilege. Prosecutors, though, say Bannon had left the White House years before and Trump had never invoked executive privilege in front of the committee.

Bannon faces additional criminal charges in New York state court, alleging he duped donors who gave money to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Bannon has pleaded not guilty to money laundering, conspiracy, fraud and other charges. A trial in that case is scheduled to begin in December.
…

Berlin — Germany has recalled its ambassador to Iran over the reported execution of German-Iranian national Jamshid Sharmahd and summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires to voice Berlin’s protest against the killing, the German foreign office said on Tuesday.

“We have sent our strongest protest against the actions of the Iranian regime & reserve the right to take further action,” the foreign ministry said in a post on X.

Germany’s ambassador in Tehran demarched to the Iranian foreign minister and protested in the strongest possible terms the murder of Jamshid Sharmahd, the post said, adding that German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock subsequently recalled the ambassador to Berlin for consultations.

Iran executed Iranian-German national Jamshid Sharmahd after he was convicted of carrying out terrorist attacks, Iranian state media said on Monday.

Sharmahd, who also holds U.S. residency, was sentenced to death in 2023 on charges of “corruption on earth,” a capital offence under Iran’s Islamic laws.

He was accused by Iran of heading a pro-monarchist group accused of a deadly 2008 bombing and planning other attacks in the country.

His daughter Gazelle Sharmahd, also on X, demanded proof for his execution and called for the immediate return of her father.

 
…

London — Adidas has reached an out-of-court settlement with rapper Ye to end all legal proceedings between them, the sportswear brand said on Tuesday, adding that no money changed hands in the agreement.

Adidas and Ye had been embroiled in multiple lawsuits for the past two years, since the German company ended a partnership with the rapper previously known as Kanye West over antisemitic comments he made.

“There isn’t any more open issues, and there is no… money going either way, and we both move on,” CEO Bjorn Gulden told reporters on a conference call, declining to give further details of the deal.

“There were tensions on many issues, and… when you put the claims on the right side and you put the claims on the left side, both parties said we don’t need to fight anymore and withdrew all the claims,” Gulden added.

 
…

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed sweeping tariffs if elected for a second term: a 20% universal tax and 60% tax on goods from China. He argues that the policy will help create jobs, shrink the national debt and boost government revenue for public services, such as child care. Most economists, however, agree that it is ultimately U.S. consumers who will pay more. Economists also warn of unintended ripple effects that could do more harm than good to the U.S. economy. This explainer video explores how increased tariffs might affect U.S. buyers, domestic and foreign producers, and the budget.
…

Berlin — Germany needs both structural reforms and more investment in public infrastructure to overcome recession, the European head of the International Monetary Fund said in an interview with Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

“Without a functioning infrastructure, there can be no productive economy,” Alred Kammer told the paper in an interview published on Tuesday.

In order to mobilize more money, it would also make sense to revise the current credit rules, Kammer said. “We at the IMF already calculated this some time ago: The debt brake can be relaxed – and the government debt ratio will still continue to fall.”

Finance Minister Christian Lindner has insisted on sticking with Germany’s debt brake, which restricts the budget deficit to 0.35% of gross domestic product, despite a forecast second year of recession and a sluggish growth outlook.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck, on the other hand, recently proposed a multibillion-euro fund to stimulate investment and remedy growth.

Asked whether Lindner or Habeck was right in the German government’s fundamental dispute, Kammer responded that “a lot would be gained if politicians clearly communicated what their strategy is in the medium and long term.”

This was particularly true for the climate-friendly restructuring of the country.

“Companies will only invest if they know what is going to happen in the next ten to 15 years,” Kammer said.
…

WASHINGTON/BEIJING/TAIPEI — Chinese President Xi Jinping asked U.S. President Joe Biden last year to change the language the United States uses when discussing its position on Taiwanese independence, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the private conversation.

During last November’s Biden-Xi meeting near San Francisco, Xi and his aides asked Biden and his team to tweak the language in U.S. official statements.

China wanted the U.S. to say “we oppose Taiwan independence,” rather than the current version, which is that the United States “does not support” independence for Taiwan, said the people, who requested anonymity to speak about private diplomatic exchanges they participated in or were briefed on.

Xi’s aides have repeatedly followed up and made the requests in the months since, according to two U.S. officials and another person familiar with the exchanges.

The U.S. has declined to make the change.

The White House responded to a request for comment with a statement that repeated the line that Washington does not support Taiwan independence. “The Biden-Harris administration has been consistent on our long-standing One China policy,” the statement read.

China’s foreign ministry said: “You should ask this question to the U.S. government. China’s position on the Taiwan issue is clear and consistent.”

Taiwan’s foreign ministry declined comment.

The defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists.

The Republic of China remains Taiwan’s formal name and the government says it has no plans to change that given they are already a sovereign, independent state and Beijing has no right to claim Taiwan as its own.

Sensitive issue

For several years, Chinese diplomats have pushed the United States to make changes to how it refers to Taiwan’s status, which remains the most sensitive area in U.S.-China relations. The unusually direct and renewed push at the leader level has not been reported previously.

The United States severed official relations with the government in Taipei in 1979 but is bound by law to provide democratically governed Taiwan with the means to defend itself. China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.

It was not clear why Xi chose to raise the issue with Biden, but he has made opposition to Taiwan independence a focus of his time in office and China’s military has significantly ramped up its activities around the island in recent years.

The Biden administration regards the proposed language change as a non-starter.

Taiwan was briefed on the recent overtures at a high level by Washington, said one of the sources.

Leaders in Beijing “would love it if Joe Biden said very different things about Taiwan than he says, no doubt,” said one senior Biden administration official, adding that Biden would stick with the standard U.S. formulation for talking about Taiwan independence.

During his time in office, Biden has upset the Chinese government with comments that appeared to suggest the United States would defend the island if it were attacked, a deviation from a long-held U.S. position of “strategic ambiguity.”

Change would reverberate

A change by the U.S. to say that it opposes Taiwanese independence would reverberate through the trade-rich Asia Pacific and with U.S. partners, competitors and adversaries alike.

Officials from two governments in the region told Reuters they would interpret any such change in wording as a change in U.S. policy toward less support for Taipei’s defense and diplomatic aspirations at a time when Beijing has ramped up military pressure.

China has over the past five years staged almost daily military activities around Taiwan. Earlier this month, Beijing held a day of war games using what Taiwan said was a record 153 military aircraft as part of drills simulating blockading ports and assaulting maritime and ground targets.

Any switch in language could also be seen signaling a shift in U.S. policy from supporting the resolution of Taiwan’s future through peaceful talks to one suggesting the United States stands against Taiwanese aspirations regardless of the circumstances at play.

Opinion polls in Taiwan show most people support maintaining the status quo, neither seeking to join with China nor establishing a new state.

In 2022, the State Department changed its website on Taiwan, removing wording both on not supporting Taiwan independence and on acknowledging Beijing’s position that Taiwan is part of China, which angered the Chinese. It later restored the language on not supporting independence for the island.

The two leaders are expected to speak again before Biden’s term in office ends in January, talks that may come by phone or on the sidelines of next month’s G20 summit in Brazil or APEC summit in Peru. APEC is one of few international forums where both Taiwan and China take part.

The Democratic president will hand over the tense Taiwan issue to his successor, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican former President Donald Trump, following the Nov. 5 election.
…

PENTAGON — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday that military cooperation between North Korea and Russia “poses a significant security threat to the international community.”

The comments at a Cabinet meeting in Seoul followed Yoon saying Monday that the deployment of North Korean troops to the battlefield in Ukraine could happen “more quickly than anticipated,” according to South Korean intelligence assessments.

The U.S. Defense Department said Monday that North Korea has sent about 10,000 troops to train in Russia, more than tripling the previous estimate. 

“We believe that the DPRK has sent around 10,000 soldiers in total to train in eastern Russia that will probably augment Russian forces near Ukraine over the next several weeks,” deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters at the Pentagon, using an abbreviation for North Korea’s official name. 

“A portion of those soldiers have already moved closer to Ukraine, and we are increasingly concerned that Russia intends to use these soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk oblast, near the border with Ukraine,” she added.

Earlier on Monday, NATO confirmed that 3,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia to help Moscow fight its war against Ukraine and have also been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region where Kyiv’s forces invaded in a surprise attack in August and still hold territory.

“The deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is a threat to both Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters in Brussels after NATO officials and diplomats received a briefing from a South Korean delegation of intelligence and military officials. 

The NATO secretary general said the deployment of North Korean troops was a sign of “growing desperation” on the part of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Rutte added that more than 600,000 Russian forces have been killed or wounded since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The Pentagon did not provide further details on the type of troops or equipment that North Korea had sent with their troops. When pressed by VOA on what types of capabilities these troops could bring, Singh said, “It’s additional bodies on the battlefield.”

“If we see DPRK troops moving in and towards the front lines, they are co-belligerents in the war,” she warned.

Russia and North Korea have boosted their political and military alliance since Moscow’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Gen. David Allvin, the chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, told VOA Friday at a Military Reporters and Editors conference that increased cooperation between the two malign actors is “certainly a cause for more consideration and investigation.”

The Kremlin had dismissed reports about a North Korean troop deployment as “fake news.” But Putin last week did not deny that North Korean troops were currently in Russia and said that it was up to Moscow to decide how to deploy them as part of a mutual defense security pact he signed with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June.

At odds with Putin’s comments, a North Korean representative to the United Nations in New York last week characterized the reports of Pyongyang’s deployment of troops in Russia as “groundless rumors.” 

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will host his South Korean counterpart, Kim Yong-Hyun, on Wednesday at the Pentagon, where the two are expected to discuss the North Korean troops who are now in Russia.

Drone warfare 

Ukrainian officials said Tuesday that Russian aerial attacks killed at least four people in the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine.

Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said on Telegram the attack destroyed two houses and damaged about 20 others.

Russian attacks overnight also targeted Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, injuring at least six people, according to Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration.

Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said falling debris from a downed Russian drone ignited a fire at a residential building.

In the Dnipropetrovsk region in central Ukraine, officials said a Russian rocket attack killed one person.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday it shot down seven Ukrainian drones overnight, including two over the Belgorod region, two over Bryansk, two over Kursk and one over the Black Sea.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram the Ukrainian attack damaged several residential buildings.

Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters
…

Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos on Monday defended the newspaper’s decision not to endorse a U.S. presidential candidate after a report that more than 200,000 people had canceled their digital subscriptions following the move.

The decision blocked an endorsement of Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris, the National Public Radio report said, and many people in messages on the newspaper’s website criticized Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon.com and rocket company Blue Origin.

Bezos, in an opinion piece late on Monday, said “most people believe the media is biased” and the Washington Post and other newspapers needed to boost their credibility.

No candidate was informed or consulted about the decision and that there was “no quid pro quo,” Bezos said, adding that there was no connection between the decision and a meeting between Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Blue Origin’s CEO on the same day.

“Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election,” Bezos wrote. “What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it’s the right one.”

The subscription cancellations as of midday represented about 8% of the paper’s paid circulation of 2.5 million subscribers, which includes print as well, reported NPR, which said a series of columnists had resigned their positions in protest.

The Washington Post declined to comment on the report when contacted by Reuters.

In a post on Friday, William Lewis, The Washington Post’s publisher and CEO, said the newspaper would not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in the Nov. 5 election, nor in any future presidential election.

“We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates,” Lewis wrote.

“The Washington Post’s decision not to make an endorsement in the presidential campaign is a terrible mistake,” wrote 20 columnists in an opinion piece on the Post’s website, adding that it “represents an abandonment of the fundamental editorial convictions of the newspaper that we love.”
…

state department — Top diplomatic and military officials from the United States and South Korea are set to convene in Washington this Thursday as the two allies closely monitor and express concerns about North Korea’s deployment of about 10,000 troops to Russia.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials and analysts say that China could be displeased by Russia’s growing influence over North Korea, and that if Beijing chose, it could restrict exports of materials that Pyongyang might use for munitions production.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will co-host South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul and Minister of Defense Kim Yong-hyun to coordinate on pressing security threats facing the alliance.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told VOA during Monday’s briefing that high on the agenda would be discussion of “North Korea’s expanding relationship with Russia,” which includes the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia;  various other provocative actions by North Korea in recent months; and the U.S. commitment to security in the Indo-Pacific region.

The consultation between Washington and Seoul will come two weeks after establishment of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, a group formed by the United States, South Korea, Japan and other allies to better coordinate enforcement of sanctions against North Korea.

The group said that while “the path to dialogue” with North Korea remained open, it was committed to “safeguard the global nonproliferation regime and address the threat arising from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s [DPRK, North Korea’s official name] weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, which are in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.”

Some analysts suggest that by sending troops to support Russia’s war on Ukraine, North Korea may gain an opportunity to test the effectiveness of its ballistic missiles and munitions.

“We have communicated with the PRC about this matter to make clear that we are concerned about it, and that they ought to be concerned about this destabilizing action by two of its neighbors, Russia and North Korea,” Miller added. He was referring to People’s Republic of China.

Victor Cha, Korea chair at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that while China has been supportive of Russia’s war in Ukraine, North Korea’s involvement introduces an unsettling dynamic.

“For one,” Cha said, “China does not like Russia to have so much influence over North Korea.”

Cha added that Beijing could take specific actions, such as curbing exports of petroleum coke to North Korea, which can be used in munitions production.

“According to recent public reports, imports of this good [used for steel production] have dramatically increased while overall trade has only slowly started to return to normal,” he said.

Defense Department spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Austin would also meet with his South Korean counterpart Wednesday, when he will host Kim at the Pentagon for the 56th U.S.-ROK Security Consultative Meeting. ROK refers to South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea.

VOA Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb contributed to this report.
…

RABAT, Morocco — Morocco’s King Mohammed VI welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron to Morocco on Monday, kicking off a state visit with a series of bilateral agreements, including major investments in renewable energy and transportation.

Macron’s trip to Morocco — his first in six years — comes as immigrants, including North Africans, face continued scrutiny in France and while France reassesses its role in its former colonies throughout Africa. Morocco has historically been a key economic and security partner, but relations between the two countries have often been fragile.

Among the objectives of Macron’s visit, the Elysee Palace said, is “to rebuild the exceptional partnership that links our two countries.”

French and Moroccan flags on Monday flew throughout the capital, where crowds lined the streets to watch the motorcade containing Macron, his wife and members of Morocco’s royal family drive to one of their palaces.

Macron and Mohammed VI, who used a cane to walk, later oversaw a ceremonial signing of 22 agreements to facilitate future investments as well as cultural and scientific partnerships. The investments are worth a total of 10 billion euros and include expanding Morocco’s high-speed rail line southward to Marrakech, which the country hopes to complete before it holds events for the FIFA World Cup in 2030.

Also included were plans to develop green hydrogen, wind farms and water projects, which Morocco has identified as needed to help insulate the country from the effects of climate change.

In the days leading up to the visit, Moroccan publications lauded the “warm reunion” and a “new honeymoon” between the two countries.

Warmer ties

Macron changed France’s long-standing public position and backed Morocco’s autonomy plan for the disputed Western Sahara. Doing so endeared France to Morocco but alienated it from Algeria, which hosts refugee camps governed by the pro-independence Polisario Front and considers Morocco an occupying power.

France and Morocco have historically partnered on issues ranging from counterterrorism to migration. Morocco is the top destination for French investment in Africa and France is Morocco’s top trade partner. Morocco imports French cereals, weapons and renewable energy infrastructure, like turbines. France imports goods from Morocco including tomatoes, cars and airplane parts.

Moroccans are among the largest foreign-born communities in France, where North African immigrants are a key political constituency and a focal point of debates about the roles of Islam and immigration in French society.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, a member of the French delegation in Morocco this week, has pushed for the country to take a hard-line approach toward immigration and seek deals with countries like Morocco to better prevent would-be migrants from crossing into Europe.

On Macron’s last visit to Morocco, he and King Mohammed VI inaugurated Al Boraq, Africa’s first high-speed rail line, made possible by French financing and trains manufactured by the French firm Alstrom. The rail line currently functions from central to northern Morocco, running from Kenitra to Tangiers. The extension will more than double its length.

Despite close ties, relations have at times been fragile between France and Morocco, which was a French protectorate from 1912 to 1956. In 2021, Morocco suspended consular relations after France momentarily reduced the number of visas offered to Moroccans in protest of its refusal to provide documents needed to deport people who migrated to France without authorization. France later reversed the decision.

Relations between the two countries soured further that year, when a 2021 report revealed Morocco’s security services had used Israeli spyware to infiltrate the devices of activists and politicians, including Macron. Morocco denied and sued over the allegations. 
…

Washington — A former U.S. Marine was sentenced to seven years in prison Monday for his role in a white supremacist plot to destroy power facilities. 

Jordan Duncan, 29, pleaded guilty in North Carolina in June to aiding in the manufacture of a firearm. 

Duncan and four other men, including two other ex-Marines, were arrested in 2020 in connection with what authorities described as a neo-Nazi plot to sow chaos by targeting the power grid. 

“We have now brought to justice all five of the defendants involved in a self-described ‘modern day SS,’ who conspired, prepared, and trained to attack America’s power grid in the name of violent white supremacist ideology,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. 

FBI Director Christopher Wray said the group was “inspired by racially motivated violent extremism.” 

“If the defendants had been able to carry out an attack it could have caused suffering to thousands of American citizens,” Wray said. 

The other four defendants were previously sentenced to prison terms between 21 months and 10 years. 

According to court documents, two members of the group were active on “Iron March,” a neo-Nazi online forum, until it was closed in 2017. They also recruited the other three people involved. 

The group accumulated firearms and produced a video of live-fire training in the desert near Boise, Idaho, that ended with the phrase “Come home white man” as the final frame. 

Components of the power grid in the northwestern United States were listed as potential targets in handwritten notes found in the possession of one of the conspirators. 
…

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services on Monday confirmed the death of a middle-aged eastern Iowa resident from Lassa fever.

The individual had recently returned from travel to West Africa, where it is believed the person contracted the virus, the state health department said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working to confirm the diagnosis of Lassa fever, the state health department said. The CDC said it assesses the risk to the general public to be extremely low.

Lassa fever is a viral disease common in West Africa, but rarely seen in the United States.

There have been eight travel-associated cases of Lassa fever in the United States in the past 55 years, according to the Iowa health department.

In West Africa, the Lassa virus is carried by rodents and spread to humans through contact with urine or droppings of infected rodents.

About 100,000 to 300,000 cases of Lassa fever and 5,000 related deaths occur in West Africa each year, according to the CDC.
…

TBILISI — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived in Georgia on Monday after having congratulated the ruling party on its victory in an election which the opposition says was marred by voting violations. 

Georgia’s electoral commission said Georgian Dream won Saturday’s election with nearly 54% of the vote, but opposition parties disputed the results and called for protests. 

The election results are a blow for pro-Western Georgians who had cast the vote as a choice between a ruling party that has deepened ties with Russia and an opposition aiming to fast-track integration with Europe. 

Orban congratulated Georgian Dream party on their victory on Saturday.  

“The people of Georgia know what is best for their country, and made their voice heard today!” he wrote on X. 

Orban was accompanied on his visit to Georgia by Hungary’s finance, economy and foreign ministers.  

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto wrote on Facebook on Monday the Georgian result was an “ugly defeat” for liberals. 

Hungary — which currently holds the presidency of the EU Council — has angered fellow members of the EU and NATO with its determination to maintain close ties with Russia despite the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. 

The European Union, the United States and NATO have called for a full investigation of alleged election irregularities. Georgian Dream and the electoral commission say the vote was free and fair. 

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili called the result a “Russian special operation,” accused the ruling party on Monday of resorting to Russian-style tactics and propaganda, and called for Georgians to take to the streets on Monday evening.  

The Kremlin on Monday denied any Russian interference in the vote, saying it was the West, not Moscow, that was trying to destabilize the situation. 

In July, Orban stoked controversy when he traveled on what the Hungarian government has described as a “peace mission” to Moscow and Beijing during Hungary’s presidency without coordinating with its EU partners. 

 
…