Spain’s conservative People’s Party said on Monday it believed it could break a political deadlock and form a government after the hard-right Vox hinted it will not insist on being part of a coalition in exchange for its support.

Vox on Sunday said its 33 lawmakers would “support a majority” for the right-wing bloc in the Spanish parliament’s lower house to stop the Socialists (PSOE) making pacts with Catalan and Basque separatists and forging what the hard-right party has described as “a government of national destruction.”

The gesture will clear the way for other minor parties that objected to Vox’s involvement to support the PP in an investiture vote, PP’s general coordinator Elias Bendodo said.

“The rules of the game have changed and therefore the parties which had previously taken up positions (now face) different circumstances,” Bendodo told Radio COPE on Monday.

But Bendodo’s claim was swiftly rebutted by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), which said on the social media platform X that its position had not changed. The PNV has said it would not negotiate with the PP to form a government involving Vox.

Spain’s election last month ended in a stalemate with neither right-wing nor left-wing blocs winning enough seats for a majority.

The PP and Vox, seen as potential coalition partners during the campaign, earned a combined 170 seats in the 350-seat lower house, falling short of the 176 lawmakers needed to secure a parliamentary majority.

Since it won the most seats, Spain’s King Felipe VI is expected to give the PP the first stab at forming a government when parliament is convened on Aug. 17.  

The PNV, which has five seats, has previously supported the PP, most notably in when 2018 it allowed former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy´s minority government to get the budget approved.

But the party has in recent years developed closer ties with the Socialists (PSOE), forming coalitions in several municipalities in the Basque Country. 

The PP may also need to secure support from Coalicion Canaria, which has one seat and has said it could support either bloc, though not one ushering Vox into government.

Vox did not respond to a Reuters request to clarify its statement. But a party source said it meant it would not seek cabinet positions in exchange for parliamentary support, nor would it block support for the PP from the PNV which it has opposed in the past because of its policies promoting Basque language and culture.

Vox’s gesture to set aside its ambitions to form part of a coalition government was agreed in “secret meetings” with the PP, Isabel Rodriguez, spokesperson for the acting Socialist government, said in a video distributed to media.

Rodriguez said Vox had agreed to set aside its ambitions in return for pledges from the PP on dialing down climate change action and policies on gender violence and LGBT rights.

The PSOE, which together with ally Sumar won 152 seats, also have a route to power, but it will require difficult negotiations with Catalan separatists including the hardline Junts which says it will want a fresh vote on independence in return. 
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LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

Russian shelling in Kherson and Kharkiv has killed at least three people total and wounded three others
U.K. Defense Ministry says attacks by Russian air forces are waning in effectiveness in latest assessment of war
Russia called the Jeddah peace talks on Ukraine a doomed attempt by the West to rally the Global South behind Kyiv, the state news agency TASS reported.

A Ukrainian woman was killed in Russian attacks on the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, local officials said.

Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on his Telegram messaging app account that the shelling had started around midnight and lasted for several hours.

Meanwhile, at least two people were killed and three others wounded in Russian shelling of border areas in the Kharkiv region of northeast Ukraine, Reuters reported, quoting Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office.

The news agency says 22 Ukrainian soldiers have returned home as part of the latest in a series of prisoner exchanges on Monday, also quoting Yermak.

Yermak said the released service members included two officers, sergeants and privates who fought in different parts of the front. Some of them were wounded.

In its latest assessment on the war in Ukraine, Britain’s defense ministry Monday said Russia’s air force continues to deploy “considerable resources” in support of ground operations in Ukraine, “but without operational effect.”

The ministry says Russian tactical combat aircraft have typically carried out over 100 missions a day, but they are almost always restricted to Russian-controlled territory

“due to the threat from Ukrainian air defenses.”

The assessment also said that while Russian attack helicopters had proved effective at the start of Ukraine’s southern counter-offensive that began in June, it appears to be less able “to generate effective tactical airpower in the south.

Peace talks end in Saudi Arabia

Separately, the Jeddah summit on finding a peaceful end to Russia’s war against Ukraine concluded Sunday, with participants agreeing to continue discussions toward peace, according to a closing statement released by host Saudi Arabia.

Senior officials from 42 countries participated in the two-day Jeddah peace summit, but none were from Russia.

Ukraime’s Yermak, on Sunday called talks held in Jeddah “very productive,” while Moscow called the meeting a doomed attempt to sway the Global South behind Kyiv.

The high-level talks included delegates from the world economies of the BRICS group, Brazil, India, China and South Africa.

The head of Brazil’s delegation, foreign policy adviser Celso Amorim, stressed, however, that “any real negotiation must include all parties,” including Russia, according to a copy of his statement shared with AFP.

“Although Ukraine is the biggest victim, if we really want peace, we have to involve Moscow in this process in some form,” he said.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan led Washington’s delegation at Jeddah, a senior White House official said.

Western officials and analysts said Saudi diplomacy had been important in securing China’s presence at the talks.

Under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom has kept ties with both sides presenting itself as a mediator and seeking a bigger role on the world stage.

In his nightly video address from Jeddah, Zelenskyy said, “The greater the consolidation of the world for the sake of restoring a just peace is, the sooner an end will be put to the bombs and missiles with which Moscow wants to replace the norms of international law.”

Russia was not involved in this weekend’s talks and said it wouldn’t be part of the summit planned for the fall.

Beyond its Western backers, Ukraine hoped to garner diplomatic support from more Global South countries, including Brazil, India, South Africa and Turkey emphasizing how food prices have risen after Russia quit the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal last month and began attacking Ukrainian port facilities.

Some information for this story came from Reuters.
…

More than 1,000 firefighters were on Sunday battling a wildfire in central Portugal that has destroyed 7,000 hectares (17,000 acres) of land and slightly injured 11 people.

Temperatures were above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in some regions of Portugal and authorities said wildfire risks would remain “very high or at maximum level across the entire country” over the coming days.

Around 7,000 hectares were destroyed in the district of Castelo Branco in the center of the country but the commander of the firefighting operation, Jose Gulherme, said the potential risk from the blaze could be as high as “more than 20,000 hectares.”

“It’s a very extensive area with many isolated homes and villages,” he told journalists, adding that the fire perimeter already extended 60 kilometers (40 miles).

Smoke and ash from the blaze, which started on Friday, had spread more than 130 kilometers east on Saturday to the town of Fatima, where Pope Francis was holding a service at a revered Catholic shrine with more than 200,000 pilgrims.

A further 400 firefighters were deployed to battle a separate wildfire in Odemira, near the southwest coast.

Civil security official Tiago Bugio said the flames in Odemira were being beaten back on Sunday. Two fronts were still active but a third, which had been heading toward the southern tourist mecca of the Algarve, was now under control.

Authorities warned the risk of wildfires remained extremely high across the country.

In neighboring Spain, at least five water bomber planes were deployed to a large-scale fire that threatened homes near the southern cities of Puerto Real and Cadiz, a popular tourist destination.

On the northeastern coast of Spain, a blaze that started on Friday in Catalonia and destroyed nearly 600 hectares of land, was mostly under control on Sunday despite strong winds.

Early assessments by government suggest over 1,000 hectares have been blackened by fires in Spain over the last three days.

Temperatures in the southernmost Andalusia region approached nearly 40C on Sunday and the country was bracing for a further heat wave on Monday.
…

Dust and rubble fill the street as an excavator tears off chunks of concrete from an old apartment building.

Bystanders and former residents watch from afar as construction equipment tears down the structure.

Among the bystanders is Ibrahim Ozaydin, 30, a former resident. He watches the demolition not with worry, but with relief, as his building was marked by officials as unsafe months ago.

Ozaydin and his family were shocked to learn that the municipality deemed his building uninhabitable.

“We decided to build our own house,” he told The Associated Press as he watched his former home being torn down. “Instead of living in a poorly built house, let us take our own precautions.”

The sight of construction vehicles demolishing buildings became engrained in Turkish minds six months ago today, after a devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Kahramanmaras and 10 other provinces in southern Turkey on the morning of Feb. 6.

More than 50,000 people died, and hundreds of thousands were left homeless, sheltering in tents and other temporary accommodation.

The International Labor Organization estimates that some 658,000 people were left jobless. As for the material cost, some 300,000 buildings were damaged. Survivors needed to be rescued, rubble to be cleared and buildings on the verge of collapse torn down.

Yet this latest demolition is taking place in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest metropolis, far away from the earthquake zone. This time the building wasn’t torn down as part of search-and-rescue efforts, but to prevent such harrowing scenes in the future.

The building was occupied only by Ozaydin and his extended family, who also owned a shop on the ground floor. The family managed to relocate their shop and build a new, sturdier house at a different location, but theirs is an exceptional story in a city where hundreds of thousands of buildings are at risk and property prices are soaring.

Istanbul lies atop a major fault line, one which experts warn could break at any moment. In a bid to prevent damage from any future quake, both the national government and local administrations are racing against time to alleviate the pain of the February quake while also preparing their cities for potential disasters in the future.

However, even preparedness can fall victim to political rivalry: the authorities in opposition-held Istanbul municipality and the national government in Ankara cannot agree on the exact number of buildings at risk of crumbling in the event of an earthquake. But both put the figure at hundreds of thousands.

After the February tragedy, the Istanbul municipality headed by Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a prominent figure in the opposition to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, earmarked for demolition 318 buildings housing more than 10,000 people.

Bugra Gokce, an official with the Istanbul municipality overseeing the demolition, said, “We are identifying buildings at risk of collapse and fortifying others, all to reduce the potential loss of life.”

During a heated campaign right before his re-election to a third decade in power, Erdogan pledged to construct 319,000 new homes within the year. He attended many groundbreaking ceremonies as he persuaded voters that only he could rebuild lives and businesses.

“It’s easy to say, ‘we are building this many square meters atop a hill’ or ‘5,000 residences are being built somewhere,” adds Gokce, in an apparent jab at the national government’s urban transformation programs. “We are also doing that. But if you’re not also reducing the risk to existing buildings in the city, it is nothing more than urban expansion.”

Both experts and Erdogan critics argue that the sheer scale of February’s destruction was due to the president’s weak enforcement of building codes amidst a construction boom that helped drive economic growth.

Ankara launched several programs aimed at inspecting damaged buildings both in and outside the 11 provinces hit by the earthquake. Meanwhile, victims have been offered both financial aid and a chance to resettle in public housing projects built by the Housing Development Administration of Turkey, or TOKI.

Although many promises were made by both the ruling party and the opposition in the leadup to the elections in May, those still in the earthquake-affected provinces are demanding faster action.

Lawyer Mehmet Ali Gumus in Hatay province, one of the worst hit by the earthquake, told The Associated Press that people were starting to lose hope. He said there were no signs of reconstruction in Hatay, and that the emergency shelter situation in Antakya, Hatay’s most populated city, was deteriorating by the day.

People are living in metal shipping containers and tents in sweltering heat that can reach up to 42 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit) without any access to air conditioning. Residents must also contend with flies, snakes and other wildlife while living outdoors, according to Gumus.

Another health risk is the rubble from collapsed buildings, which is being dumped on farmland, shores and even right outside encampments where survivors are staying.

“Everyone around me says that we survived the earthquake, but they’ll be dealing with cancer in 5-10 years because of the asbestos (from the rubble),” adds Gumus.

In a social media post on July 15, the Hatay governor’s office stated that levels of asbestos in the rubble are safe and below the “regulatory limit.” Results showing low amount of asbestos taken from samples collected in debris dumping grounds were also posted.

While Hatay residents deal with the elements and other environmental hazards, their future remains uncertain.

“There were concrete statements before the elections, but afterwards we stopped hearing anything concrete,” continues Gumus, claiming that the government has not committed to securing new houses for victims or even to fortifying their existing residences. “Six months after the disaster we should be talking about newly built residences, not lines of people waiting for water,” he adds.

Another Hatay resident, Bestami Coskuner, was leaving for the western province of Izmir because of the power cuts and water shortages in his hometown.

“Tap water is not potable, but people use it to wash. Pipes burst daily, and power is cut two or three times a day,” Coskuner told The Associated Press. He said water was rationed, and some who drank from the tap came down with serious illnesses.

“You can’t easily drink water. In a place where you can’t easily drink water, how are you going to make any decisions? Even bottled water tastes bad in Hatay,” he added.

Victims of the earthquake have already had to deal with the aftermath of a disaster, the worst cost of living crisis in decades, and a highly polarizing election. They’ll have only had a brief break from politics as Turkey heads to hotly contested municipal elections in March. Erdogan, fresh off his victory in national elections last May, has vowed to take back the metropolitan cities he lost in 2019.

One of Erdogan’s campaign strategies had been a focus on providing housing and aid in the earthquake regions. The government made sure to provide amenities, shelter, and financial aid for earthquake victims.

His perceived support for the victims was one of the factors that enabled Erdogan’s party to hold on to power in most of the provinces hit by the earthquake, despite accusations of being responsible for the devastation with his lax enforcement of building codes and the perception of poor emergency response by the government.

Experts like professor Naci Gorur, a geologist and member of the Science Academy, have been warning of a potential earthquake in Istanbul and other provinces for years. He told the Associated Press that the “steps taken were far outweighed by those not taken,” and that Istanbul is not ready for a potential earthquake with the current state of structures and building codes.

Gorur described the soil in the affected regions as causing buildings to “resonate,” making it even more difficult for such structures to stay intact during earthquakes. The quake occurred in a seismically active area known as the East Anatolian fault zone, which has produced damaging earthquakes in the past, such as the 7.4 magnitude quake near Istanbul in 1999, in which an estimated 18,000 people died.

“We could have prepared the whole of Turkey for an earthquake, not just Istanbul, if we had started working with the ministry to make our at-risk provinces earthquake-resistant. If we had distanced ourselves from politics, if policies were not left to the whims of new administrations, and if there had been a serious budget and determination,” said Gorur.

“I have no doubts as to government’s good intentions, but if you are going to do something, do it properly. You don’t rush things like these,” he said, adding that instead of rushing permanent buildings, the government should have focused on maintaining temporary residences while conducting proper studies for the building of permanent structures which comply with “scientific principles.”
…

Iraq on Sunday called on the United States and Britain to extradite former officials accused of facilitating the theft of $2.5 billion in public funds in one of the country’s biggest-ever corruption cases.

Iraq’s judiciary issued arrest warrants at the beginning of March for four men, including a former finance minister and staff members of former Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, who Baghdad says all live outside the country.

Haider Hanoun, the head of the Iraqi Commission for Integrity, called Sunday on “competent authorities in the United States and the United Kingdom to cooperate in executing the arrest warrants issued against them,” without specifying where the suspects are located.

He said in a statement that Interpol had issued Red Notices against Kadhemi’s Cabinet director Raed Jouhi and personal secretary Ahmed Najati, both of whom hold American citizenship.

Another Red Notice has been issued for former finance minister Ali Allawi, “who holds British citizenship,” Hanoun added.

An Interpol Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant but asks authorities worldwide to provisionally detain people pending possible extradition or other legal actions.

The fourth suspect, the former premier’s media adviser Mushrik Abbas, “currently resides in the United Arab Emirates,” according to Hanoun, who said he did not know if Abbas held another nationality.

“We hope that they (London and Washington) will cooperate and extradite the suspects,” said the official.

Allawi, a respected politician and academic, resigned in August last year. When the scandal broke a few months later, he denied all responsibility.

The case, which has been dubbed “the heist of the century,” sparked outrage in oil-rich but corruption-plagued Iraq.

At least $2.5 billion was stolen between September 2021 and August 2022 through 247 checks that were cashed by five companies.

The money was then withdrawn in cash from the accounts of these companies, most of whose owners are on the run.

Kadhemi has previously defended his record on fighting corruption, saying his government had discovered the case, launched an investigation and taken legal action.

The four men are accused of “facilitating the embezzlement of sums belonging to the tax authorities.”

The country’s current Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani has vowed to crack down on corruption since his appointment in late October.
…

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

At least 50% of the 30,000 Russian paratroopers deployed to Ukraine in 2022 have likely been killed or wounded, the U.K. Defense Ministry wrote in its intelligence update on Aug. 6.
Russia called the Jeddah peace talks on Ukraine a doomed attempt by the West to rally the Global South behind Kyiv, the state news agency TASS reported.
Russia has military and technical capabilities to eliminate threats to security in the Black Sea, the TASS news agency quoted Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov saying Sunday. His comments came after Ukrainian sea drones attacked a Russian warship near the Russian port of Novorossiysk and a Russian tanker near Crimea.

Ukraine’s armed forces using missiles struck the Chonhar bridge connecting occupied Crimea and the occupied part of the Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine, while Russia pummeled western Ukraine with drones and missiles Sunday.

At least six people were killed from Russian and Ukrainian shelling overnight, while at least four others were injured.

The Chonhar bridge attack came after Ukrainian naval drones struck a Russian fuel tanker and another vessel near the Crimean Kerch bridge overnight from Friday to Saturday, halting traffic.

The strikes on these ground lines of communication could create severe logistical challenges for Russian forces in southern Ukraine and facilitate the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said a drone was shot down Sunday south of Moscow, while Moscow’s Vnukovo airport suspended flights the same day.

Meanwhile, Russia followed through on its promise to retaliate for Ukrainian drone attacks on the oil tanker.

Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 70 drones and missiles, including cruise missiles from aircraft over the Caspian Sea and Iranian-made, Shahed-136/131 strike UAVs.

At least 10 Russian missiles appear to have broken through Ukraine’s air defenses in the overnight attack.

Russian airstrikes targeted a blood transfusion center in the town of Kupiansk in the eastern Kharkiv region late Saturday.

“There are dead and wounded,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on his Telegram channel. Kupiansk is a railway hub fewer than 16 kilometers from the front line. Zelenskyy said rescue workers were extinguishing a fire at the scene and described the strike as a “war crime.”

Zelenskyy did not specify how many casualties there were or whether they were military or civilian.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Jeddah summit

Zelenskyy’s head of staff Andriy Yermak called talks held in Jeddah “very productive,” Sunday, while Moscow called the meeting a doomed attempt to sway the Global South behind Kyiv. Senior officials from 42 countries participated in the two-day Jeddah peace summit on Ukraine.

According to officials, no final declarations will be released. Instead, Saudi Arabia, hosting the summit in the Saudi port of Jeddah, would present a plan for further talks, with working groups to discuss issues such as global food security, nuclear safety and prisoner releases.

A European official described the talks as positive and said there was “agreement that respect of territorial integrity and [the] sovereignty of Ukraine needs to be at the heart of any peace settlement.”

The high-level talks included delegates from the world economies of the BRICS group, Brazil, India, China and South Africa but not Russia.

The head of Brazil’s delegation, foreign policy adviser Celso Amorim, stressed however, that “any real negotiation must include all parties,” including Russia, according to a copy of his statement shared with AFP.

“Although Ukraine is the biggest victim, if we really want peace, we have to involve Moscow in this process in some form,” he said.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan led Washington’s delegation at Jeddah, a senior White House official said.

Ukraine and Western diplomats expressed hope that the meeting in the port city of Jeddah will be an opportunity for officials to agree on key principles to inform any peace agreement that would end Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

Western officials and analysts said Saudi diplomacy had been important in securing China’s presence at the talks.

Under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, the kingdom has kept ties with both sides presenting itself as a mediator and seeking a bigger role on the world stage.

In his nightly video address from Jeddah, Zelenskyy commented “the greater the consolidation of the world for the sake of restoring a just peace is, the sooner an end will be put to the bombs and missiles with which Moscow wants to replace the norms of international law.”

Russia said it will not be involved in this weekend’s talks or the summit planned for the fall.

Beyond its Western backers, Ukraine hopes to garner diplomatic support from more Global South countries, including Brazil, India, South Africa and Turkey.

Part of Ukraine’s strategy to gain support from such countries reportedly will be to emphasize how food prices have risen after Russia quit the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal last month and began attacking Ukrainian port facilities.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
…

Exiled opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko met in Poland on Sunday, on the eve of the third anniversary of their unsuccessful post-election protests, to display unity and plan strategy including the issuance of “New Belarus” passports.

Set up in August 2022 by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the self-declared government-in exile has opened more than 20 alternative embassies and information centers abroad.

Tsikhanouskaya, 40, a former English teacher who fled after running against Lukashenko in a 2020 vote critics called rigged, said the opposition would seek international recognition for the alternative passports.

Speaking at a hotel in Warsaw to several hundred activists, including independent media and civic groups, Tsikhanouskaya urged opposition forces abroad to unite and support the creation of a “New Belarus” movement.

“Unfortunately, the past three years have taught us to always prepare for the worst. We are used to the fact that the strongest desire is not enough to change a rotten system,” she said at the opposition’s second annual gathering after last year’s meeting in Lithuania. 

“We are used to the fact that due to the regime’s policy, our peaceful Belarus is today called an aggressor country – and put on the same level as Russia.” 

Russia used ally Belarus as a launchpad for its invasion of Ukraine. 

Tsikhanouskaya said the opposition was organizing initiatives to promote Belarusian-language theater, book printing and education. 

“This allows us to preserve our identity – and to pass on our national values to the new generation of Belarusians,” Tsikhanouskaya said.

Russia has long been the de facto first language, with use of Belarusian viewed by authorities as being pro-opposition.

Protests over Lukashenko’s 2020 election win, which was officially a landslide, lasted for several months before being snuffed out by security forces, triggering a mass exodus of Belarusians.  

Lukashenko has ruled Belarus with an iron first since 1994, using security forces to intimidate, beat and jail his foes or force them to flee abroad. 

Tsikhanouskaya’s husband Syarhei Tsikhanouski has been in jail since 2020 after being barred from taking part in the election that his wife contested instead.
…

Lina Hurtig’s converted her penalty and Sweden knocked the United States out of the World Cup 5-4 on penalties after a scoreless draw at the Women’s World Cup.

U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher fruitlessly argued she had saved Hurtig’s attempt, but it was ruled over the line. The stadium played Abba’s “Dancing Queen in the stadium as the Swedes celebrated.

The United States, which has a record four World Cup titles overall and was trying to win an unprecedented third consecutive tile, was eliminated in the Round of 16 for the first time in team history.

The Americans’ worst finish had been third place, three times.

“I am proud of the women on the field,” said U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski. “I know we were criticized for the way we played, and for different moments in the group stage. I think we came out today and showed the grit, the resilience, the fight. The bravery showed we did everything we could to win the game. And, unfortunately, soccer can be cruel sometimes.”

It was the first match at this World Cup to go to extra time.

Two-time World Cup participant Julie Ertz was in tears after the match.

“We didn’t put anything in the back of the net,” she sobbed. “The penalties was tough as well. It’s just emotional because it’s probably my last game ever. It’s just tough. It’s an emotional time. It obviously sucks. Penalties are the worst.”

It was the was the fourth time a U.S. match at the World Cup went to extra time. All of the three previous matches went to penalties, including the 2011 final won by Japan. The U.S. won on penalties in a 2011 quarterfinal match against Brazil, and in the 1999 final at the final at the Rose Bowl against China.

Sweden knocked the United States out of the 2016 Olympics in the quarterfinals on penalties.

Sweden goes on to the quarterfinals to play Japan, the 2011 World Cup winner, which defeated Norway 3-1 on Saturday night.

Sweden has never won a major international tournament, either the World Cup or the Olympics. The closest the team has come is World Cup runner-up in 2003. They finished in third in the 1999, 2011 and 2019 editions, and won silver medals in the last two Olympics.

The Americans struggled through group play with just four goals in three matches. They were nearly eliminated last Tuesday by first-timers Portugal, but eked out a 0-0 draw to fall to second in their group for just the second time at a World Cup.

The Americans looked far better against Sweden, dominating possession and outshooting the Swedes 5-1 in the first half alone. Lindsey Horan’s first-half header hit the crossbar and a second-half blast was saved by goalkeeper Zecira Musovic, who had six saves in regulation.

Sweden won all three of their group games, including a 5-0 rout of Italy in its final group match. Coach Peter Gerhardsson made nine lineup changes for the match, resting his starters in anticipation of the United States.

It was tense from the opening whistle.

Naeher punched the ball away from a crowded goal on an early Sweden corner kick. Three of the Swedes’ goals against Italy came on set pieces.

Trinity Rodman’s shot from distance in the 18th minute was easily caught by Musovic, who stopped another chance by Rodman in the 27th.

Horan’s header off Andi Sullivan’s corner in the 34th hit the crossbar and skipped over the goal. Horan was on target in the 53rd minute but Musovic dove to push it wide. Horan crouched to the field in frustration while Musovic was swarmed by her teammates.

The United States was without Rose Lavelle, who picked up her second yellow card of the tournament in the group stage finale against Portugal and has to sit out against Sweden.

In Lavelle’s absence, Andonovski started Emily Sonnett, who was making her first start for the team since 2022. The addition of Sonnett allowed Horan to move up higher in the midfield.

Sweden pressed in the final 10 minutes of regulation. Sofia Jakobsson, who came in as a substitute in the 81st minute, nearly scored in the 85th but Naeher managed to catch it for her first save of the tournament.

Neither Caroline Seger of Megan Rapinoe started the match, but Rapinoe came in as a sub for Alex Morgan in the first overtime period.

Seger, whose 235 appearances for Sweden are the most for any woman in Europe, was on the bench to start the match. The 38-year-old has been struggling with a calf problem all year and trained alone in the two days of practice leading into the showdown with the U.S.

Rapinoe, also 38, previously announced that this would be her last World Cup. She has taken on a smaller role for the Americans in her final tournament. She was a substitute in the United States’ first and third games of group play and didn’t get off the bench in the middle match. She made her 200th appearance for the national team at the World Cup.
…

Heavy rains in Paris have led to the cancellation on Sunday of a swimming event in the River Seine that was to be a test for next year’s Summer Olympics, but Games organizers say the waterway will be better prepared in 2024.

The Open Water Swimming World Cup event was canceled because “the water quality in the Seine has remained below acceptable standards for safeguarding swimmers’ health,” French Swimming Federation (FFN) said in a statement Sunday.

Water quality falls below acceptable standards when rains cause overflows of untreated waste into the Seine. France’s capital city is spending massively on water-management projects that officials say will make pollution caused by storms less frequent.

Brigitte Legaré, sport manager at the Paris Olympics organization committee, said “unfortunately, this morning when we took the [water quality] reading that came out after 24 hours, we were still slightly above the limits. We’re not very far.”

World Aquatics’ President Husain al-Musallam said the organization is “disappointed… but the health of our athletes must always be our top priority.

“World Aquatics remains excited at the prospect of city-centre Olympic racing for the world’s best open water swimmers next summer. However, this weekend has demonstrated that it is absolutely imperative that robust contingency plans are put in place,” he said in the statement.

The Seine is the venue for marathon swimming at the Games next summer and the swimming leg of the Olympic and Paralympic triathlon.

Paris Olympics organizers and the city’s authorities said in a joint statement Sunday that “in recent weeks, water quality in the Seine has regularly reached the levels required for competitions to be held on the dedicated site, demonstrating the significant progress made.”

They said water quality will be closely monitored in the coming days in the hope that triathletes can race in the Seine during a test event scheduled on August 17-20.

“By 2024, new infrastructure will be delivered to further improve rainwater treatment to improve water quality,” they said.

Those public works include a giant underground reservoir in Paris that will stock excess water during storms, so it doesn’t have to be spilled untreated into the river and can be treated later.

Pierre Rabadan, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of sports, said “we’re in an outdoor sport subject to climatic variations, weather conditions and that brings uncertainties. We’re going to deal with these uncertainties.”

When new water cleanup facilities will be ready, “we’ll be able to regulate even exceptional phenomena like the one we’re facing today,” he said.

Paris Games organizers also say the schedule for Olympic events in the river can be adjusted next year if the water quality doesn’t allow them to take place on their original dates.

Their statement said the recent weather was “exceptional,” with the Paris region seeing its heaviest summer rainfalls since 1965.
…

Pope Francis closed an international festival of Catholic Youth on Sunday with a huge outdoor Mass and his own “I have a dream” speech, saying it was for world peace, especially for Ukraine.   

About 1.5 million people attended his closing Mass at a riverside park in the Portuguese capital, the Vatican said, quoting local authorities. Many of the faithful slept outdoors, having attending a vigil there on Saturday night, and they gathered in sweltering heat.   

Speaking after the Mass, the 86-year-old Francis urged the young people to take the fraternal experiences of the six-day jamboree back home and apply them to their daily lives.   

“Dear friends, allow me, this old man, to share with you young people a dream that I carry within me: it is the dream of peace, the dream of young people praying for peace, living in peace and building a peaceful future,” Francis said.   

“As you return home, please continue to pray for peace. What is more, you are a sign of peace for the world, showing how different nationalities, languages and histories can unite instead of divide. You are the hope of a different world,” he said.   

He asked them to think of the young people who could not come to the event because of the world’s many armed conflicts and wars, adding: “In thinking of this continent, I feel great sorrow for beloved Ukraine, which continues to suffer greatly.”

Francis, who was returning to Rome on Sunday evening after an event to thank volunteers at the World Youth Day festival, met a delegation of 15 young people from Ukraine during his trip.   

10,000 priests on hand 

Sunday’s Mass was concelebrated by 700 bishops and 10,000 priests, who distributed communion to the huge crowd.   

Marina Sylvester, 22, from the pope’s native Argentina, was one of hundreds of thousands of young people who spent the night in the riverside area.   

She woke up at dawn and by 7 a.m. she was already showing off her dance moves as a well-known Portuguese priest DJ, Guilherme, played upbeat songs. “It has been one of the best experiences of my life,” she said.   

The pope announced that the next World Youth Day would be held in Seoul, South Korea in 2027.   

One of the recurring themes of the pope’s visit was social media and its potentially negative effects on young people.  

During the week, Francis urged them to beware the false happiness lurking in the virtual world and at another event, the young people themselves reflected on their anxieties, enslavement to the “tyranny” of social media and yearning to save the planet.   

The trip took place in the shadow of a report six months ago by a Portuguese commission said at least 4,815 minors were sexually abused by clergy — mostly priests — over seven decades in the country.   

It was just one in a series of reports around the world that have exposed clerical sex abuse and rattled the Catholic Church in recent years.   

Francis said on Wednesday the Church needs a “humble and ongoing purification” to deal with the “anguished cries” of victims of clerical sexual abuse, and met privately with 13 victims. 

 
…

Slovenia has faced the worst natural disaster in its history, Prime Minister Robert Golob said Saturday, after devastating floods caused damage estimated at half a billion euros ($550 million).

Devastating floods Thursday and Friday killed three people and destroyed roads, bridges and houses in the small Alpine country. Two thirds of the territory had been affected, Golob said.

The floods were “the biggest natural disaster” in Slovenia’s history, Golob said Saturday after a meeting of the country’s National Security Council. “Luckily, last night was easier than the one before.”

After three weather-related deaths were reported Friday, Slovenian media said Saturday that one more person was found dead in the capital, Ljubljana. Police have yet to confirm the report.

The floods were caused by torrential rains Friday, which caused rivers to swell swiftly and burst into houses, fields and towns. Slovenia’s weather service said a month’s worth of rain fell in less than a day.

Experts say extreme weather conditions are partly fueled by climate change. Parts of Europe saw record heat and battled wildfires during the summer.

Golob said road and energy infrastructure were hit particularly hard, as well as hundreds of homes and other buildings. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes and many had to be rescued by helicopters or firefighters in boats.

Slovenia’s army has joined the relief effort, with troops reaching cut-off areas in the north to help.

Photos from the scene showed entire villages under water, outdoor camping sites destroyed, cars stuck in mud and children’s toys crammed against fences.

The STA news agency reported that major roads in parts of Slovenia also remained partially closed Saturday because of the flooding, including the main highway through the country. Dozens of bridges have also collapsed, and the authorities urged people not to go anywhere until the damage is fully assessed.

Several severe storms in the Alpine nation earlier in the summer blew off roofs, downed thousands of trees and killed one person in Slovenia and four others elsewhere in the region.

Flash floods were reported also in neighboring Austria, where some 80 people were forced temporarily to leave their homes in the southern Carinthia province.
…

Pope Francis visited the Portuguese town of Fatima to pray for peace at a shrine Saturday known for apocalyptic prophesies of hell, peace and Soviet communism that have found new relevance with Russia’s war in Ukraine.

But for the third time during his trip to Portugal for World Youth Day, Francis ditched his prepared remarks and didn’t even recite a prayer written for the occasion pleading for peace. The prayer had been expected to be a highlight of Francis’ visit to Fatima, given the shrine’s century-old affiliation with exhortations of peace and conversion in Russia.

Francis instead “prayed silently for peace, with pain,” while meditating for a long period before a statue of the Virgin Mary, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said. The Vatican later tweeted the prayer.

The unusual morning unfolded at the shrine where, according to legend, three young peasant children in 1917 saw visions of the Madonna. The apparitions turned the small town nestled in the fields of vineyards, olive groves and fruit orchards north of Lisbon into one of the most popular Marian pilgrimage sites in the world, drawing millions of visitors each year.

On Saturday, an estimated 200,000 turned out for Francis’ visit, packing the central esplanade long before the red-tinted moon set and the sun rose. Nearby wildfires turned the sky smoky black and sent ash snowing down on the crowd.

Francis’ visit marked a side trip from his main program in Lisbon to preside over the World Youth Day Catholic festival. The featured protagonists in Fatima were also young, including some young people with disabilities who read aloud prayers and young inmates who were allowed to attend. Babies were out in force, as parents offered them up to Francis to bless as he looped through the crowd in his popemobile.

“We are here with great joy,” said Maria Florido, a 24-year-old Spaniard who also saw Francis in Lisbon. “We woke up very early to come here and see the pope … and we’re here with great enthusiasm.”

The Fatima story dates to 1917, when according to tradition, Portuguese siblings Francisco and Jacinta Marto and their cousin Lucia said the Virgin Mary appeared to them six times and confided to them three secrets. The first two described an apocalyptic image of hell, foretold the end of World War I and the start of World War II, and portended the rise and fall of Soviet communism.

In 2000, the Vatican disclosed the long-awaited third secret, describing it as foretelling the May 13, 1981, assassination attempt against St. John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square, which fell on the anniversary of the original vision.

According to later writings by Lucia, who became a nun and died in 2005, Russia would be converted and peace would reign if the pope and all the bishops of the world consecrated Russia to the “Immaculate Heart of Mary.” Lucia later claimed that John Paul fulfilled that prophecy during a 1984 Mass, even though he never specified Russia in the prayer.

Fatima has long captivated Catholics because of its blending of mystical, Marian apparitions, apocalyptic prophesies about the rise and fall of Soviet communism and the death of a pope. While Saturday’s wildfires and related ashfall were easily explained, they also harked back to another element of the Fatima phenomenon, an unusual weather phenomenon known as the “Miracle of the Sun.”

According to legend, on Oct. 13, 1917, the Fatima “seers” predicted that the Virgin would perform a miracle that day, and tens of thousands of people flocked to Fatima. They saw what witnesses reported as a vision of the sun “spinning” in the sky and zigzagging toward Earth.

Francis’ visit to Fatima fell on the anniversary of another odd weather phenomenon at a Marian church closely related to Fatima: According to that church legend, on Aug. 5, 1655, it snowed outside St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome, where Francis always goes to pray before an icon of Mary at the end of each trip.

Vatican Media had said before the trip that Francis would pray for peace in Ukraine and the world while in Fatima. It seemed logical, given Francis had already consecrated Russia and Ukraine to Mary in a prayer for peace following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, essentially fulfilling Sr. Lucia’s exhortation.

In the prayer tweeted by the @Pontifex account but not read aloud, Francis didn’t name either country but consecrated the church and world, “especially those countries at war,” to Mary. “Open paths where it seems that none exist,” he wrote. “Loosen the tangles of self-centeredness and the snares of power.”

Fatima Bishop Jose Ornelas made a prayer for Ukraine explicit in his remarks. “We associate ourselves to Your Holiness’ prayer for peace, for which this sanctuary is profoundly identified, thinking in particular of the war in Ukraine and so many other conflicts in the world,” he said.

In explaining the changes, Vatican spokesperson Bruni said Francis “always addresses firstly the people he meets, as a shepherd, and speaks accordingly.” The 86-year-old Francis often deviates from his prepared remarks, even more when speaking in his native Spanish. Bruni denied the changes had any other serious reason, including with Francis’ eyesight.

Francis has been hospitalized twice this year, including in June when he spent nine days in the hospital recovering from abdominal surgery to repair a hernia and remove scar tissue on his intestine. Saturday was perhaps the most grueling day of his five-day visit to Portugal, given the round-trip helicopter ride to Fatima and a planned prayer vigil that wasn’t expected to begin until his usual bedtime in Rome.
…

Niger’s new military junta has asked for help from the Russian mercenary group Wagner as the deadline nears for it to release the country’s ousted president or face possible military intervention by the West African regional bloc, according to an analyst.

The request came during a visit by a coup leader, General Salifou Mody, to neighboring Mali, where he contacted someone from Wagner, Wassim Nasr, a journalist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, told The Associated Press. He said three Malian sources and a French diplomat confirmed the meeting first reported by France 24.

“They need [Wagner] because they will become their guarantee to hold onto power,” he said, adding that the group is considering the request. A Western military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, told the AP they have also heard reports that the junta asked for help from Wagner in Mali.

Niger’s junta faces a Sunday deadline set by the regional bloc known as ECOWAS to release and reinstate the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who has described himself as a hostage.

Defense chiefs from ECOWAS members finalized an intervention plan Friday and urged militaries to prepare resources after a mediation team sent to Niger Thursday wasn’t allowed to enter the city or meet with the junta leader, General Abdourahamane Tchiani.

After his visit to Mali, run by a sympathetic junta, Mody warned against a military intervention, vowing that Niger would do what it takes not to become “a new Libya,” Niger’s state television reported Friday.

Niger has been seen as the West’s last reliable counterterrorism partner in a region where coups have been common in recent years. Juntas have rejected former colonizer France and turned toward Russia. Wagner operates in a handful of African countries, including Mali, where human rights groups have accused its forces of deadly abuses.

One can’t say there’s a direct Russian implication in Niger’s coup, but “clearly, there’s an opportunistic attitude on the part of Russia, which tries to support destabilization efforts wherever it finds them,” French foreign affairs ministry spokesperson Anne-Claire Legendre told broadcaster BFM Friday. For days after Niger’s junta seized power, residents waved Russian flags in the streets.

The spokesperson described Wagner as a “recipe for chaos.”

Some residents rejected the junta’s claims.

“It’s all a sham,” said Amad Hassane Boubacar, who teaches at the University of Niamey. “They oppose foreign interference to restore constitutional order and legality. But on the contrary, they are ready to make a pact with Wagner and Russia to undermine the constitutional order. … They are prepared for the country to go up in flames so that they can illegally maintain their position.”

On Saturday, France’s foreign affairs minister, Catherine Colonna, said the regional threat of force was credible and warned the putschists to take it seriously. “Coups are no longer appropriate. … It’s time to put an end to it,” she said. The ministry said France supports “with firmness and determination” the ECOWAS efforts and called for Bazoum and all members of his government to be freed.

Niger’s military leaders have been following the playbook of Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso, also run by a junta, but are moving faster to consolidate power, Nasr said: “[Tchiani] chose his path, so he’s going full on it without wasting time because there’s international mobilization.”

One question is how the international community will react if Wagner comes in, he said. When Wagner came into Mali at the end of 2021, the French military was ousted soon afterward after years of partnership. Wagner was later designated a terrorist organization by the United States, and international partners might have a stronger reaction now, Nasr said.

Much more is at stake in Niger, where the United States and other partners have poured hundreds of millions of dollars of military assistance to combat the region’s growing jihadi threat. France has 1,500 soldiers in Niger, although coup leaders say they have severed security agreements with Paris, and the U.S. has 1,100 military personnel there.

It’s unclear what a regional intervention would look like, when it would begin or whether it would receive support from Western forces. Niger’s junta has called on the population to watch for spies, and self-organized defense groups have mobilized at night to monitor cars and patrol the capital.

“If the junta were to dig in its heels and rally the populace around the flag — possibly even arming civilian militias — the intervention could morph into a multifaceted counterinsurgency that ECOWAS would not be prepared to handle,” said a report by the Hudson Institute.
…

On the battlefields of Ukraine, the fog of war plagues soldiers. Far from the fighting, a related and just as disorienting miasma afflicts those who seek to understand what’s happening in the vast war.

Disinformation, misinformation and absent information all cloud civilians’ understanding. Officials from each side denounce devious plots being prepared by the enemy, which never materialize. They claim victories that can’t be confirmed — and stay quiet about defeats.

None of this is unique to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Any nation at war bends the truth — to boost morale on the home front, to rally support from its allies, to try to persuade its detractors to change their stance.

But Europe’s largest land war in decades — and the biggest one since the dawn of the digital age — is taking place in a superheated information space. And modern communications technology, theoretically a force for improving public knowledge, tends to multiply the confusion because deceptions and falsehoods reach audiences instantly.

“The Russian government is trying to portray a certain version of reality, but it’s also being pumped out by the Ukrainian government and advocates for Ukraine’s cause,” said Andrew Weiss, an analyst at the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace.

The ‘fog’ is not a new development

Even before the war began, confusion and contradictions were rife.

Russia, despite massing tens of thousands of soldiers on the border, claimed it had no intent of invading. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy consistently downplayed the likelihood of war — an alarming stance to some Western allies — although the defense of Kyiv showed Ukrainian forces were well-prepared for just that eventuality.

Within a day of the war’s start on Feb. 24, 2022, disinformation spread, notably the “Ghost of Kyiv” tale of a Ukrainian fighter pilot who shot down six Russian planes. The story’s origin is unclear, but it was quickly backed by Ukrainian official accounts before authorities admitted it was a myth.

One of the most flagrant cases of disinformation arose in the war’s second week, when a maternity hospital in the besieged city of Mariupol was bombed from the air. Images taken by a photographer for The Associated Press, which had the only foreign news team in the city, appalled the world, particularly one of a heavily pregnant woman being carried on a stretcher through the ruins.

The brutal attack flew in the face of Russian claims that it was hitting only targets of military value and was avoiding civilian facilities. Russia quickly launched a multipronged and less-than-coherent campaign to tamp down the outrage.

Diplomats, including Russia’s United Nations ambassador, denounced AP’s reporting and images as outright fakes. It claimed that a patient interviewed after the attack — who was standing and appeared uninjured — and the woman on the stretcher were the same person and that she had been a crisis actor. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov alleged Ukrainian fighters were sheltering in the hospital, making it a legitimate target.

A week later, Mariupol’s main drama theater was destroyed in an airstrike even though the word “children” was written in Russian in large letters in two spots around the theater to show that civilians were sheltering there. The blast killed as many as 600 people.

Russia denied the attack, claiming again that Ukrainian fighters were sheltering inside and that the fighters themselves blew up the building.

Russia makes its own claims about its progress

The Russian ministry almost daily makes claims of killing dozens or hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers, claims that cannot be confirmed and are widely believed to be inflated.

In January, the Defense Ministry bragged that its forces killed as many as 600 Ukrainian soldiers in a missile attack on buildings in the city of Kramatorsk, where the soldiers were temporarily billeted. However, journalists, including an AP reporter who went to the site the next day, found the buildings without serious damage and no sign of any deaths.

Russia said the purported attack was in retaliation for a Ukrainian strike on a Russian base that killed at least 89, one of the largest known single-incident losses for Russia.

Sometimes the fact of shocking destruction cannot be denied, but who caused it is disputed. When a renowned cathedral in Odesa was heavily damaged in July, Ukraine said it was hit by a Russian missile; Russia said it was hit by the remnants of a Ukrainian defense missile.

The disastrous collapse in May of the Kakhovka dam, which was under Russian control, brought vehemently competing accounts from Russia — which claimed it was hit by Ukrainian missiles — and Ukraine, which alleged Russian forces blew it up. An AP analysis found Russia had the means and motive to destroy the dam, which was the only remaining fixed crossing between the Russian- and Ukrainian-held banks of the Dnieper River in the front-line Kherson province.

Both sides play at demonizing the other with claims of the other’s devious plans. Sometimes one alleges the other side is preparing a “false flag” attack, as when Ukraine claimed Russia planned missile strikes on its ally Belarus to blame Ukraine and to draw Belarus’ troops into the war.

Russia and Ukraine both invoke the specter of nuclear disaster. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu grabbed worldwide attention in October with claims that Ukraine was preparing a “dirty bomb” — a conventional explosive that spreads radioactive material. Zelenskyy in turn has repeatedly warned that Russia has planted explosives to cause a catastrophe at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which it occupies. Corroborating evidence of either is absent.
…

Japan scored its 14th goal of the Women’s World Cup and conceded its first Saturday, beating Norway 3-1 to reach the quarterfinals for the fourth time.

Hinata Miyazawa sealed the win with her fifth goal of the tournament in the 81st minute to remain the leading scorer. Risa Shimizu’s 50th-minute goal followed an Ingrid Syrstad Engen own goal in the first half to help give Japan its fourth straight win of the tournament.

Guro Reiten headed a superb goal for Norway in the 21st minute to end Japan’s flawless defensive performance and leave the teams locked 1-1 a halftime.

After beating Spain 4-0 with only 23% of possession in its group-stage finale, Japan once again was a tactical chameleon in the round of 16 — playing with more than 60% of possession in a commanding performance.

Japan traded its regular blue uniform for pastel colors Saturday, pink and purple. The softer color scheme did nothing to dull its attacking style; it pressed forward from the start and had its first corner after two minutes.

While it was ineffective, it was an early declaration of intent. With long balls or sharp, quick passing, Japan continually pressed forward. Norway, which conceded only one goal in group play, often seemed rattled at the back.

When the defense finally yielded, it was in unusual circumstances. In the 15th minute, Miyazawa curled the ball in from depth on the left and Engen extended her leg to parry the ball. She managed only to deflect it wide of Aurora Mikalsen in goal for the eighth own goal of the tournament.

Japan seemed well on top, but in the 21st minute, and from the first time in the match Norway had threatened, Vilda Boe Rise got away on the right, took the ball to the byline and crossed to the middle where Guro Reiten stood tall and headed wide of the diving Ayaka Yamashita into the left corner.

The goal came entirely against the run of play. After a half-hour, Japan had 183 completed passes to Norway’s 88, had more than 60%, five shots on goal. Miyazawa, Aoba Fujino, Jun Endo and others had been threatening.

Shimizu’s winner came in the 50th minute as Japan pushed forward again from halfway. Miyazawa tried to hold up the ball near goal, lost possession to Boe Risa, who tried a back pass but rolled the ball into the path of Shimizu rushing in from the right to score.

Miyazawa produced a copybook finish in the 81st, running onto a superb through ball and directing her shot wide of Mikalsen.

Norway and Japan had met once before at a World Cup, in 1999, when Norway won 4-0.
…

Latest developments:

Saturday intelligence update on Ukraine from the Britain’s Ministry of Defense says strike on 113-meter-long Russian landing ship, the Olenegorsky Gornyak, was the largest naval vessel damaged since sinking of the Moskva in April of last year.
Poland has detained another person suspected of being a member of a Russian spy network, bringing the total number of people detained as part of an investigation to 16, Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said Friday. 
The direct channel between the Russian Agricultural Bank and J.P. Morgan, as part of the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal, was closed on August 2, RIA news agency said Friday, citing Russia's Foreign Ministry. 
U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Chris Christie met Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and toured ravaged villages. He said seeing the “cruelty” and “inhumanity” of war impressed upon him the need for continuing U.S. support of Ukraine against Russia.  

Russian maritime officials confirmed Saturday that a Ukrainian sea drone attack has damaged a sanctioned Russian tanker near a strategic bridge that links Crimea with Russia’s mainland, suspending traffic and ferry transport services.

According to Russian media reports, the tanker was approaching the Kerch Strait that links the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, when it was hit by Ukrainian drones.

“The SIG tanker … received a hole in the engine room near the waterline on the starboard side, preliminarily as a result of a sea drone attack,” Russia’s Federal Marine and River Transport agency said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

The chemical tanker was sanctioned by the United States in 2019 for helping provide jet fuel to Russian forces in Syria.

News of the attack follows another that seriously damaged a Russian warship at a Black Sea naval base.

Ukrainian forces have said they are breaking through the Russian southern front line of defense, moving to the “intermediate one,” Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar reported Friday.

According to Maliar, Ukraine is prioritizing its counteroffensive operations in the country’s south, while for Russia, the focus is the east.

Most Russian resources are currently concentrated near Kupiansk, Kharkiv oblast, as Moscow seeks to retake the territories liberated by Ukrainian forces last fall, Maliar said. “It is important for them both from a moral and a military point of view.”

Jeddah summit

Chinese Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui will participate in the Saudi Arabia- initiated Jeddah talks on the peaceful settlement in Ukraine, China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said Friday.

“China is willing to work with the international community to continue to play a constructive role in promoting a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine,” Wang Wenbin, ministry spokesperson, said in a statement.

Ukraine and Western diplomats hope the meeting this weekend in the port city of Jeddah will be an opportunity for officials to agree on key principles to inform any peace agreement that would end Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

About 40 countries are set to be represented at the session, but the biggest diplomatic prize would be an endorsement from China, which has kept close economic and diplomatic ties with Russia — and so far, has rejected international calls to condemn the invasion.

China was invited to a previous round of talks in Copenhagen in late June but did not attend.

Ukraine and its allies are optimistic the Jeddah summit will help ramp up global support for a peace plan in Ukraine.

In his nightly video address Friday, Zelenskyy expressed hope the discussions in Jeddah would lay the groundwork for an upcoming “peace summit” with leaders from around the world this fall. The aim is to endorse the principles based on Zelenskyy’s 10-point formula for a peace settlement. 

“It is very important that the world sees: a fair and honest end to Russian aggression will benefit everyone in the world. Everyone!” said Zelenskyy.  “Liberating Ukrainian land from the occupiers means restoring full respect for international law and the U.N. Charter. Eliminating all threats created by Russia to Ukrainian and global security means returning peace to international relations and stability to global life. I am grateful to everyone who supports the peace formula and has already joined the joint efforts for the full implementation of the formula,” he added.

The main discussions at the Jeddah summit will take place Saturday and Sunday.

Russia says it will not be involved in this weekend’s talks or the summit planned for the fall.

Beyond its Western backers, Ukraine hopes to garner diplomatic support from more Global South countries, including Brazil, India, South Africa and Turkey.

Part of Ukraine’s strategy to gain support from such countries will reportedly be to emphasize how food prices have risen after Russia quit the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal last month and began attacking Ukrainian port facilities.

That facet of the conflict has been a top priority for U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who pressed all countries Thursday at the United Nations to tell Moscow to stop using the Black Sea as blackmail after Russia killed the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Russian warships

During the night of Aug. 3-4, a Russian warship was seriously damaged in a Ukrainian naval drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea navy base at Novorossiysk.

A Ukrainian intelligence source said the Olenegorsky Gornyak, a Russian navy landing ship with about 100 Russian servicemen on board, had been hit by a sea drone carrying 450 kilograms of TNT.

“As a result of the attack, the Olenegorsky Gornyak received a serious breach and currently cannot conduct its combat missions,” a source told Reuters, adding that the operation had been carried out by Ukraine’s Security Service and the navy. “All the Russian statements about a ‘repelled attack’ are fake,” the source said.

Video footage verified by Reuters shows the Olenegorsky Gornyak being towed to shore by a tug, listing heavily to its left side.

Earlier, Russia’s Defense Ministry said two Ukrainian sea drones had been repelled in the waters outside the base and that the drones had been destroyed. It made no mention of any damage in its short statement. 

The port, which handles 2% of the world’s oil supply and exports grain, temporarily interrupted maritime traffic before resuming normal operations, according to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium which operates an oil terminal there.

It is the first time a Russian commercial port has been targeted in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Navalny sentencing

In an interview Friday with VOA, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield expressed strong discontent with the announcement by a Russia court Friday of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s additional 19-year prison term on extremism charges.

“Sad but not surprised,” the U.S. ambassador said. “It is clear that the Russian government, that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, that this authoritarian government will use any means to restrict the voices of the opposition, restrict the voices of criticism. Navalny represents that. He is being held in an unacceptable way. He should not have been in this court system, and we condemn the actions of the Russian government as it relates to him,” she said.

VOA U.N Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this story. Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
…

Saudi Arabia was set to host talks on Russia’s war on Ukraine on Saturday in the latest flexing of its diplomatic muscle, though expectations are mild for what the gathering might achieve. 

The meeting of national security advisers and other officials in the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah underscores Riyadh’s “readiness to exert its good offices to contribute to reaching a solution that will result in permanent peace,” the official Saudi Press Agency said Friday.  

Invitations were sent to around 30 countries, Russia not among them, according to diplomats familiar with the preparations. 

The SPA report said only that “a number of countries” would attend. 

It follows Ukraine-organized talks in Copenhagen in June that were designed to be informal and did not yield an official statement. 

Instead, diplomats said the sessions were intended to engage a range of countries in debates about a path towards peace, notably members of the BRICS bloc with Russia that have adopted a more neutral stance on the war in contrast to Western powers.

Speaking Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the wide range of countries represented in the Jeddah talks, including developing countries which have been hit hard by the surge in food prices triggered by the war. 

“This is very important, because on issues such as food security, the fate of millions of people in Africa, Asia, and other parts of the world directly depends on how fast the world moves to implement the peace formula,” he said.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter which works closely with Russia on oil policy, has touted its ties to both sides and positioned itself as a possible mediator in the war, now nearly a year and a half old.

“In hosting the summit, Saudi Arabia wants to reinforce its bid to become a global middle power with the ability to mediate conflicts while asking us to forget some of its failed strategies and actions of the past, like its Yemen intervention or the murder of Jamal Khashoggi,” said Joost Hiltermann, Middle East program director for the International Crisis Group.

The 2018 slaying of Khashoggi, a Saudi columnist for The Washington Post, by Saudi agents in Turkey once threatened to isolate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

But the energy crisis produced by the Ukraine war elevated Saudi Arabia’s global importance, helping to facilitate his rehabilitation.

Moving forward Riyadh “wants to be in the company of an India or a Brazil, because only as a club can these middle powers hope to have impact on the world stage,” Hiltermann added.

“Whether they will be able to agree on all things, such as the Ukraine war, is a big question.”

‘Balancing’ 

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, failing in its attempt to take Kyiv but seizing swathes of territory that Western-backed Ukrainian troops are fighting to recapture.

Beijing, which says it is a neutral party in the conflict but has been criticized by Western capitals for refusing to condemn Moscow, announced Friday it would participate in the Jeddah talks.

“China is willing to work with the international community to continue to play a constructive role in promoting a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin.

India has also confirmed its attendance in Jeddah, describing the move as in line “with our longstanding position” that “dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward.” South Africa said it too will take part.

Saudi Arabia has backed U.N. Security Council resolutions denouncing Russia’s invasion as well as its unilateral annexation of territory in eastern Ukraine.

Yet last year, Washington criticized oil production cuts approved in October, saying they amounted to “aligning with Russia” in the war.

In May, the kingdom hosted Zelensky at an Arab summit in Jeddah, where he accused some Arab leaders of turning “a blind eye” to the horrors of Russia’s invasion.

In sum, Riyadh has adopted a “classic balancing strategy” that could soften Russia’s response to this weekend’s summit, said Umar Karim, an expert on Saudi politics at the University of Birmingham.

“They’re working with the Russians on several files, so I guess Russia will deem such an initiative if not totally favorable then not unacceptable as well.”     
…

Pope Francis presided over a Way of the Cross reenactment at a Lisbon park on Friday before hundreds of thousands of flag-waving pilgrims, part of a global Catholic youth festival. 

The rite commemorating Jesus Christ’s suffering and death is one of the highlights of World Youth Day festivities, a six-day international Catholic jamboree. 

Pilgrims shrieked and waved as the pontiff, surrounded by bodyguards, slowly drove by in his popemobile to the stage set up at the hillside Eduardo VII park for the event. 

The 86-year-old pope, wearing a white cassock, paused several times to have babies brought to him, and he kissed them on the head. 

Many national flags fluttered in the huge crowd, estimated by local authorities at 800,000 people. 

The pope, who now uses a wheelchair or walking stick to get around, urged the pilgrims not to be afraid of love. 

“Loving is risky. You have to take the risk of loving. It’s a risk, but it’s worth taking,” he said. 

The crowd then watched solemnly as a group of 50 young people from more than 20 countries carried a large cross and performed a 90-minute choreography that represented each stage of Christ’s last moments. 

“Every moment we spend with the Holy Father is exciting. It motivates us to keep our faith,” Pedro Puac, 27, of Guatemala, told AFP.  

‘Like a priest’ 

The pope, who arrived in Portugal on Wednesday, began his day by hearing confessions from three people from Italy, Spain and Guatemala who were in Lisbon for the festival. 

One of the youths, Francisco Valverde, 21, from Cordoba in southern Spain, told reporters that the Argentine Jesuit had quickly put him at ease. 

“I didn’t feel any type of shame, any pressure at any moment,” he said, adding the pope was “like a priest in any parish in any town.” 

Francis, who has made concern for the poor a hallmark of his papacy, also visited a community center in Lisbon’s impoverished Serafina neighborhood. 

Local residents applauded and cheered as the pope arrived. 

Francis high-fived a little boy in a wheelchair who was waiting outside before entering to thank the charity workers for helping others. 

Since becoming pope in 2013, he has made a point of visiting Rome’s poorest neighborhoods and was well-known for his visits to slums in Buenos Aires when he was archbishop of the Argentine capital. 

Rosaries and water bottles

On Saturday, the pope will travel to the Catholic shrine of Fatima in central Portugal and then celebrate an open-air vigil in the evening at a riverside park in a Lisbon suburb. 

He will deliver a Mass on Sunday in Lisbon on the last day of his five-day visit to Portugal, when temperatures are forecast to soar to 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 degrees Fahrenheit). 

Local authorities have repeatedly urged pilgrims to drink plenty of water. 

Registered participants received rucksacks containing reusable water bottles and sunhats, along with a rosary. 

World Youth Day, created in 1986 by John Paul II, is the largest Catholic gathering in the world and features a wide range of events, including concerts and prayer sessions. 

This edition, initially scheduled for August 2022 but postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, will be the fourth for Francis after Rio de Janeiro in 2013, Krakow in 2016 and Panama in 2019.
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Tensions are high along the Poland-Belarus border after two Belarusian helicopters entered Polish air space. Poland’s army has moved additional troops and combat helicopters close to the border and there is increasing talk about the possibility of military incursion. Eastern Europe chief Myroslava Gongadze traveled to the border and has this report.
Camera: Daniil Bratushchak
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U.S. bank JPMorgan this week stopped processing payments for the Russian Agricultural Bank, Russia said Friday, as it demanded action from Washington to help Russian grain and fertilizer reach global markets.

JPMorgan had handled some Russian grain export payments for the past few months with reassurances from Washington. However, that cooperation stopped this week, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Friday.

“The direct channel between the Russian Agricultural Bank and JPMorgan … was closed on Aug. 2,” foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova was quoted by Russian media as saying.

The United Nations, the U.S. State Department and JPMorgan declined to comment.

Moscow had allowed the safe export of Ukraine grain via the Black Sea for the past year under a deal it quit on July 17. Russia has a list of demands it wants met before it will return to the arrangement.

Under a related pact, also brokered in July 2022, U.N. officials agreed to help Russian food and fertilizer exports reach global markets.

“As soon as this is done, this deal will immediately be renewed,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday.

A key Russian demand has been the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank to the SWIFT international payments system. It was cut off by the European Union in June 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Zakharova, the foreign ministry spokesperson, said the West and the United Nations “tried to present (payment processing by JPMorgan) as a working alternative to SWIFT.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on Thursday that Washington would continue to do “whatever is necessary” to ensure Russia can freely export food if the Black Sea grain deal was revived.

While Russian exports of food and fertilizer are not subject to Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has said restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance have hindered shipments.

US says Russia has strong exports

Top U.S. State Department sanctions official James O’Brien said on Friday that Russia needed to be clear about what it was asking for and what constituted success, suggesting it should be how much food and fertilizer reaches the world.

“It has put forth a number of different demands and all of them having to do with various Russian institutions not getting services from the private sector,” he told reporters. “We have made clear that we’re prepared to help on any of these matters.”

“Russia is exporting record amounts of grain,” O’Brien said. “So if the measurement is food for the globe … Russia’s complaints amount to minor allegations about a system that is working very well.”

Russia may export at least 55 million metric tons of grain in the 2023/24 marketing season, slightly less than the estimated record-breaking 57 million metric tons in the 2022/23 season, Russia’s Grain Union said last month.

Ukrainian exports for the 2022/23 season were almost 49 million metric tons, according to Agriculture Ministry data. Nearly 33 million metric tons of that was shipped under the Black Sea deal.
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