Moscow — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday warned the United States that if Washington deployed long-range missiles in Germany, then Russia would station similar missiles in striking distance of the West.

The United States said on July 10 that it would start deploying long-range missiles in Germany from 2026 in preparation for a longer-term deployment that will include SM-6, Tomahawk cruise missiles and developmental hypersonic weapons.

In a speech to sailors from Russia, China, Algeria and India to mark Russian navy day in the former imperial capital of St. Petersburg, Putin warned the United States that it risked triggering a Cold War-style missile crisis with the move.

“The flight time to targets on our territory of such missiles, which in the future may be equipped with nuclear warheads, will be about 10 minutes,” Putin said.

“We will take mirror measures to deploy, taking into account the actions of the United States, its satellites in Europe and in other regions of the world.”

Putin, who sent his army into Ukraine in 2022, casts the war as part of a historic struggle with the West, which he says humiliated Russia after Soviet Union fell in 1991 by encroaching on what he considers Moscow’s sphere of influence.

Ukraine and the West say Putin is engaged in an imperial-style land grab. They have vowed to defeat Russia, which currently controls about 18% of Ukraine, including Crimea, and parts of four regions in eastern Ukraine.

Russia says the lands, once part of the Russian empire, are now again part of Russia and that they will never be given back.

Cold War?

Russian and U.S. diplomats say their diplomatic relations are worse even that during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and both Moscow and Washington have urged de-escalation while both have made steps toward escalation.

Putin said that the United States was stoking tensions and had transferred Typhon missile systems to Denmark and the Philippines, and compared the U.S. plans to the NATO decision to deploy Pershing II launchers in Western Europe in 1979.

The Soviet leadership, including General Secretary Yuri Andropov, feared Pershing II deployments were part of an elaborate U.S.-led plan to decapitate the Soviet Union by taking out its political and military leadership.

“This situation is reminiscent of the events of the Cold War related to the deployment of American medium–range Pershing missiles in Europe,” Putin said.

The Pershing II, designed to deliver a variable-yield nuclear warhead, was deployed to West Germany in 1983.

In 1983, the ailing Andropov and the KGB interpreted a series of U.S. moves including the Pershing II deployment and a major NATO exercise as signs the West was about to launch a preemptive strike on the Soviet Union.

Putin repeated an earlier warning that Russia could resume production of intermediate and shorter range nuclear-capable missiles and then consider where to deploy them after the United States brought similar missiles to Europe and Asia.
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LONDON — When Donald Trump suggested during the 2016 presidential campaign that he might not honor a U.S. commitment to defend other NATO countries if they were attacked, it triggered alarm throughout the trans-Atlantic alliance.

With Trump’s “America First” rhetoric drawing cheers from fervent supporters, the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is once again on the agenda. But this time, European leaders acknowledge the alliance must evolve to meet the challenges of the 21st century and say they are ready to shoulder more responsibility for their own defense.

A lot has changed in eight years.

First, Trump’s presidency forced Europe to recognize that U.S. military support was no longer guaranteed, then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine underscored the threat on its eastern border. Meanwhile, the U.S. has increasingly focused on China’s expansion in the Asia-Pacific, as well as Iran and North Korea.

“Confronted with powers such as Russia and China, and a United States whose pivot to Asia seems inevitable, no matter who wins the next election, we Europeans need to do more to ensure our own security,” Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, wrote last weekend in The Times of London.

After relying on U.S. leadership of NATO to protect them with overwhelming nuclear and conventional capability for the past 75 years, European nations must take on a larger role in funding and leading the 32-nation alliance because their interests are increasingly diverging from those of the United States.

“We are talking about a NATO which the United States is still part of, but which the United States is no longer the indispensable leader (of),” said Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director-general of the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank focused on defense and security. “I mean, that is what JD Vance and Donald Trump are talking about. They’re talking about a NATO that is transformed and one in which the Europeans take the greatest share of the burden.”

NATO grew out of secret talks among U.S. officials after World War II about how to supply military equipment to Western Europe and ensure a coordinated response to any attack by the Soviet Union. The 12 founding members signed the North Atlantic Treaty on April 4, 1949.

NATO’s military structure is headed by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, who is also the commander-in-chief of American forces in Europe. The U.S. is expected to spend almost twice as much on its military this year as all the other alliance members combined, according to NATO statistics.

Trump’s skepticism about NATO was underlined last week when he named Vance as his running mate. Vance has opposed U.S. support for Ukraine, has criticized European nations for slashing defense spending since the Cold War, and said it’s time for “Europe to stand on its own feet.”

Europe got another wakeup call on Sunday when President Joe Biden, whose strong support for NATO was cemented during standoffs with the Soviet Union in the 1970s, said he would not seek reelection. Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, has backed the administration’s position on NATO and aid to Ukraine, but she entered politics long after the Cold War and is better known for her work on domestic issues.

“The question is whether she will have that same strong trans-Atlantic view that’s kind of part of her blood in the way that Biden had it,” said Armida van Rij, an expert on European security policy at the Chatham House think tank in London.

Trump’s threat to renege on NATO’s collective security guarantee, a cornerstone of the alliance, is based on his belief that member states aren’t living up to their funding commitments, forcing U.S. taxpayers to subsidize Europe’s defense.

That argument has weakened since 2016.

Twenty-three of the alliance’s 31 non-U.S. members will meet or exceed their commitment to spend at least 2% of economic output on defense this year, up from just three 10 years ago, according to figures compiled by NATO. Overall, the non-U.S. members now spend 2.02% of gross domestic product on defense, compared with 3.4% by the U.S.

Besides that, the European Union has ambitious plans to boost its defense industry in response to the threat posed by Russia’s war on Ukraine. France’s President Emmanuel Macron has urged European nations to seek more independence on airspace defense and relocate production to the continent rather than purchasing material off the shelf from American arms merchants.

The EU plans center on streamlining arms procurement and to increasingly produce them within the 27-state bloc in a multibillion-dollar pivot away from the United States.

The risks for Europe, as well as the United States, are evolving. It’s not just about Russian tanks on Europe’s borders. NATO, as a defensive alliance, must also consider the threats posed by Iran, China and North Korea and be prepared for cyber warfare and foreign interference in elections, as well as conventional military attacks, van Rij said.

That means European nations need to increase troop numbers, upgrade equipment such as tanks, fighter planes and transport aircraft, and improve their ability to counter technological threats, she said. “We need to look at this not as Trump-proofing, but as future-proofing European security and the NATO alliance as a whole,” van Rij said. “Because yes, while there are concerns about U.S. engagements in Europe … — and the JD Vance appointment as Trump’s running mate has only accelerated concerns — there is a bipartisan focus on China, which in the medium- to longer-term could mean that we see resources being reallocated elsewhere.”

One model may be NATO’s newest members, Finland and Sweden, which joined the alliance to bolster their security in the face of Russian aggression.

As historically non-aligned nations, they were forced to develop strategies to fight off any Russian incursion largely on their own, equipping their militaries with a full range of capabilities sometimes missing in NATO countries that are used to relying on the U.S. for commanders and battle plans. Both have military service, important weapons industries and large standing armies.

“The Finnish defense people would say … we planned up to now to fight Russia by ourselves, now NATO is definitely a bonus…,” Chalmers said. “NATO countries have the opposite problem. They’re so used to thinking about fighting with others and particularly fighting with the Americans, they sometimes get out of the habit of thinking about fighting for themselves.”

The risks of over-reliance on the U.S. were highlighted this year when the House of Representatives blocked $61 billion of military aid for Ukraine for months while conservative Republicans argued the government should focus on domestic border security and the nation’s rising debt.

While the funding was eventually approved, the delay left Ukraine short of ammunition and hardware as Russia launched a brutal spring offensive.

A second Trump presidency would bring that mindset to the White House.

“Today … we peer apprehensively across the Atlantic at a worst case in which an erratic, ignorant, self-obsessed prospective U.S. president might cut us loose,” historian Max Hastings wrote in The Times. “Trump is right about one big thing: behind an American shield, since the 1950s Europeans have enjoyed an almost free ride. This is now over, and Vladimir Putin is licking his lips.”
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Helsinki, Finland — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will visit China from Friday to Tuesday for a trip that analysts say aims to repair the rift caused by Rome’s withdrawal last year from China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global infrastructure and transportation plan sometimes called the New Silk Road.

China’s foreign ministry said Thursday that during her trip, Meloni would hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang and Chairman of China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee Zhao Leji.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella plans to visit China in October. Analysts say the trips show that Rome hopes to repair relations damaged when Italy became the first country to pull out of the BRI since it was launched in 2013. 

Meloni has long been critical of the partnership, calling the decision to join the BRI a “serious mistake” that had not delivered promised economic benefits to Italy.

Italy is China’s fourth-largest trading partner in the European Union, and China is Italy’s largest trading partner in Asia, with bilateral trade at $80 billion, mostly Chinese exports to Italy.

Italian data show exports to China reached nearly $18 billion in 2022 from $14 billion in 2019, while Chinese exports to Italy nearly doubled during that same period from more than $34 billion to more than $62 billion.

Despite Meloni’s criticism of the BRI, China’s state media Global Times on Thursday suggested that the withdrawal from BRI did not reflect her own views.

It quoted Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of European Studies researcher Zhao Junjie saying: “This visit once again demonstrates that Italy’s withdrawal from the BRI was not due to a reluctance to cooperate with China or Meloni’s own political beliefs, but rather due to the huge pressure from the US and other major Western powers at the time.”

Under some pressure from the European Union and the United States, Meloni’s new government in December made a low-key exit from the BRI, which was seen as a major blow to Xi’s global ambitions and the failure of the BRI in Europe. The Chinese side also kept a low profile and didn’t publicly criticize Italy’s withdrawal.

Francesco Galietti, adjunct professor of political risk analysis at Rome’s Luiss University and co-founder and CEO of consulting agency Policy Sonar, told VOA, “It’s unclear whether she’s taken note of this and thought about her own ‘hedging’ strategy. She should have. For while Italy is world famous for geopolitical yo-yoing, she’s the current G7 chair. Moreover, it’s only been a few months since Italy opted out of China’s BRI, so by all accounts, relations should be delicate right now. And yet, reading the tea leaves is all but simple.”

Emanuele Scimia, an Italian foreign affairs journalist and analyst and contributing foreign policy writer for the South China Morning Post, says the visit is more an attempt to balance the Meloni administration’s concerns about China’s market distortions and support for Russia’s war against Ukraine with Italy’s need to attract Chinese investments, especially in new technologies such as electric vehicles.

“Italy is a trade-oriented country and does not want an economic and geopolitical confrontation with China,” Scimia told VOA. “They see China as a key export market but at the same time are worried by the flow of Chinese-dumped and -subsidized goods.

“The majority of Italy’s companies are small- and medium-sized, which are less equipped to resist Chinese unfair competition. And the signing of the BRI MoU [memorandum of understanding] in 2019 has not substantially improved Italy’s trade deficit with China,” Scimia said. “The reality is that the BRI agreement only benefited Beijing in political terms, creating friction between Rome and Washington.”

The visit underscores the fact that China remains a key geopolitical actor, said Beatrice Nicolini, a history professor at the Catholic University of Sacred Heart in Milan.

“Despite exiting the BRI, Italy aims to keep an open dialogue with Beijing,” she told VOA. “Meloni is navigating a delicate balance, seeking to avoid aligning too closely with either the United States or China. This strategy of ‘equidistance’ reflects Italy’s geographical position at the heart of the Mediterranean.”

But Beijing’s increasingly close relations with Moscow after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine have made improving ties with China trickier for EU nations like Italy, which are supporting Kyiv and its defense, said Christopher Lamont, a professor of international relations at Tokyo International University.

“It is also important to keep in mind that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to complicate China’s relationships with European capitals, and Meloni’s visit could also be seen from Beijing as an opportunity to foster greater influence in this context,” he told VOA.

Earlier this month, NATO, of which Italy is a founding member, accused China of being a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

China has consistently denied supplying weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine and says it has strict controls on dual-use technology that could be put to military purposes.

Some information for this report came from Reuters. 
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Dakar, Senegal — Mali’s army and its Russian allies suffered a major setback and significant losses on Saturday while fighting separatists in the country’s north, a spokesman for the rebels told AFP. 

The West African nation’s military leaders, who took power in a 2020 coup, have made it a priority to retake all of the country from separatist and jihadi forces, particularly in Kidal, a pro-independence northern bastion. 

“Azawad fighters are in control in Tinzaouaten and further south in the Kidal region,” said Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesman for an alliance of predominantly Tuareg separatist armed groups called CSP-DPA. 

“Russian mercenaries and Malian armed forces have fled,” he added. “Others have surrendered.” 

He also shared videos of numerous corpses of soldiers and their allies. 

“The Malian army has retreated,” a local politician told AFP, citing at least 17 dead in a provisional toll. 

“The CSP people are still in Tinzaouaten. The army and Wagner are no longer there,” he said, referring to the Russian mercenary group.  

Fighting also took place further south toward Abeibara, the politician said.  

A former United Nations mission worker in Kidal said: “At least 15 Wagner fighters were killed and arrested after three days of fighting” adding that “the CSP rebels have taken the lead in what happened in Tinzaouaten.”  

Mossa Ag Inzoma, a member of the separatist movement, claimed that “dozens and dozens” of Wagner fighters and soldiers had been killed and taken prisoner. 

Fighting on a scale not seen in months broke out Thursday between the army and separatists in the town of Tinzaouaten, near the border with Algeria, after the army announced it had taken control of In-Afarak, a commercial crossroads in Kidal.  

Mali has been unsettled by violence by jihadi and criminal groups since 2012. 

A junta led by Colonel Assimi Goita took power in 2022 and broke the country’s traditional alliance with France, in favor of Russia. 
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HAVANA — Havana residents watched from shore on Saturday as Russian warships arrived for the second time in as many months in a visit that Cuba called routine. 

Cuban authorities fired shots into the air to signal their welcome, while curious fishermen watched from Havana’s waterside promenade as the ships advanced up the bay. Russian residents were also among the few up early to see the fleet’s arrival. 

The patrol ship Neustrahimiy, training vessel Smolniy and support vessels, all from the Baltic Fleet, are scheduled to depart on Tuesday. 

A brief statement by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces described their arrival as routine. 

A Russian nuclear submarine, frigate and support ships in June also flexed Moscow’s muscles in the port of Havana, less than 160 kilometers (99.4 miles) from Florida. 

“Russia’s deployments in the Atlantic pose no direct threat or concern to the United States,” a U.S. Northern Command spokesperson said, adding the command monitored all approaches to North America. 

Tensions between the United States and Russia have increased since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and Russian naval activity — though routine in the Atlantic — has ratcheted up because of U.S. support for Ukraine, U.S. officials say. 

Simultaneously, relations between Cold War allies Russia and Cuba have markedly improved as the Communist-run country battles an economic crisis it charges is due mainly to U.S. sanctions. 

High-level contacts between the countries have increased to a level not seen since the fall of Cuba’s former benefactor, the Soviet Union, with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel visiting Moscow four times. 

Russia has sent oil, flour and increasing numbers of tourists to the Caribbean nation, which is short of cash and goods. Citizens suffer through daily power outages and other travails, resulting in scattered protests and record migration. 

Ana Garces, a 78-year-old retiree, told Reuters she remembered the Soviet Union was the only country to help Cuba during the 1962 missile crisis, the peak of tensions with Washington, when the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war. 

“We are very grateful,” she said. “Why should we not receive it with open arms? This is friendship. All kinds of ships have entered here.” 

“It shows how other countries do support us and takes away a little of the world’s mentality about our country,” said her husband, 71-year-old retiree Rolando Perez. 
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HANOI, Vietnam — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Vietnam on Saturday to pay his respects following the death of Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong, underlining warmer ties between the countries a half-century since they fought a brutal war.

Blinken arrived in Hanoi late Saturday after attending a regional summit in Laos and visited the family home of Trong, a Marxist-Leninist ideologue who as party chief was Vietnam’s most powerful figure for 13 years and who died last week at 80.

Trong’s “bamboo diplomacy” trod a delicate balancing act between rival superpowers the United States and Communist neighbor China, helping to elevate Vietnam’s ties with both of its two biggest trade partners.

Blinken greeted Trong’s family before lighting an incense stick in front of a shrine displaying the general secretary’s photo. He then stood for a moment with his hands clasped in a show of respect.

He wrote a page-long message in a condolence book and, during conversations with Trong’s family, conveyed the condolences of President Joe Biden.

Trong’s two-day state funeral, which ended Friday, drew more than 250,000 Vietnamese mourners in ceremonies in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and his home in Dong Anh on the outskirts of the capital, state media reported.

Blinken’s brief visit comes at a sensitive time for U.S.-Vietnam relations, which have improved of late given shared concerns about China’s growing regional clout and interest from U.S. investors in a country with an economy that grew an average 5.8% annually during Trong’s time in office.

During a visit by Biden to Hanoi last year, the U.S. and Vietnam upgraded ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has promoted Vietnam as a “friend-shoring” destination to shift U.S. supply chains away from China.

On Friday, the U.S. Commerce Department is set to announce whether to upgrade Vietnam to market economy status, something Hanoi has long sought.

The upgrade is opposed by U.S. steelmakers, Gulf Coast shrimpers, honey farmers and members of the U.S. Congress representing them, but backed by retailers and some other business groups.

After visiting Trong’s home, Blinken also met Vietnam’s president, To Lam, the former internal security agency chief who has assumed Trong’s duties, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Blinken told Lam Trong was a “visionary leader” who built a lasting bridge between the two countries and showed the world they could move forward despite their difficult past.

In his meeting with the prime minister, Blinken said one of the highlights of the Biden administration was its elevation of its strategic ties with Hanoi.
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VIENTIANE, LAOS — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized Beijing’s “escalating and unlawful actions” in the South China Sea at a summit on Saturday, where his Russian counterpart said Washington has stoked anxiety in its plan for a nuclear deterrence with ally Seoul for the Korean peninsula.

Blinken singled out China over its coast guard’s hostile actions against U.S. defense treaty ally the Philippines in the South China Sea, but he also lauded the two countries for their diplomacy after Manila completed a resupply mission earlier on Saturday to troops at a disputed shoal, unimpeded by China.

Blinken was attending the security-focused ASEAN Regional Forum on Saturday alongside diplomats of major powers that included Russia, India, China, Australia, Japan and the European Union, which included discussions on the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and tension in the South China Sea.

The Philippines’ small troop presence on a grounded former U.S. navy ship at the Second Thomas Shoal has for years angered China, which has clashed repeatedly with the Philippines over its resupply missions, causing regional concern about an escalation that could potentially lead to U.S. intervention.

The two sides this week reached an arrangement over how to conduct those missions.

“We are pleased to take note of the successful resupply today of the Second Thomas Shoal,” Blinken told foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, the host of the meetings in Laos.

“We applaud that and hope and expect to see that it continues going forward.”

Blinken held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the gathering, in their sixth meeting since June 2023, when Blinken’s visit to Beijing marked an improvement in strained ties between the world’s two biggest economies.

Blinken discussed Taiwan with Wang and concerns about Beijing’s recent “provocative actions,” included a simulated blockade during the inauguration of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, a senior U.S. State Department official said.

They agreed to continue progress on military-to-military ties, the official said, adding Blinken also discussed Beijing’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base and warned of further U.S. action against Chinese firms, but received no commitment from Wang.

China’s foreign ministry had no immediate statement on the meeting.

Korean peninsula

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the forum said guidelines on the operation of U.S. nuclear assets on the Korean peninsula, officially aimed at establishing an integrated deterrence to North Korean threats, were adding to regional security concerns.

“So far we can’t even get an explanation of what this means, but there is no doubt that it causes additional anxiety,” Russia’s state-run RIA news agency quoted Lavrov as saying.

“They are actively inflaming the atmosphere around the Korean peninsula, militarizing their presence there and conducting exercises that are frankly aimed at being ready for military action,” he said, according to Interfax.

War in Gaza

Blinken said earlier the United States was “working intensely every single day” to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza and find a path to more enduring peace and security.

His remarks followed those of Retno Marsudi, the foreign minister of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, who said the need for sustainable peace was urgent.

Retno also said international law should be applied to all, a veiled reference to recent decisions by two international courts over Israeli’s Gaza offensives.

“We cannot continue closing our eyes to see the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza,” Retno said.

The fighting has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians in Gaza since Israel launched its incursion, according to Palestinian health authorities, who do not distinguish between fighters and noncombatants.

Israeli officials estimate that 14,000 fighters from militant groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have been killed or captured, out of an estimated force of more than 25,000 at the start of the war, which began when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250 others, according to Israeli tallies.

Myanmar fighting

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged Myanmar’s military rulers to take a different path and end an intensifying civil war, pressing the generals to abide by their commitment to follow ASEAN’s peace plan.

The conflict pits Myanmar’s well-equipped military against a loose alliance of ethnic minority rebel groups and an armed resistance movement that has been gaining ground and testing the generals’ ability to govern.

The junta largely ignored the peace effort, and ASEAN has hit a wall as all sides refuse to enter dialogue.

“We see the instability, the insecurity, the deaths, the pain that is being caused by the conflict,” Wong told reporters. “My message from Australia to the regime is, this is not sustainable for you or for your people.”

An estimated 2.6 million people have been displaced by fighting. The junta has been condemned for its air strikes on civilian areas and accused of atrocities, which it has dismissed as Western disinformation.

ASEAN issued a communique on Saturday stressing it was united behind its peace plan and condemned violence against civilians, urging all sides in Myanmar to end hostilities and start dialogue.

ASEAN also welcomed unspecified practical measures to reduce tension in the South China Sea and prevent accidents and miscalculations, while urging all parties to halt actions that could complicate and escalate disputes.
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In the U.S. presidential campaign, Democrats say former President Donald Trump will destroy democratic institutions if he’s reelected in November. But Trump’s Republican Party says it is Democrats who are thwarting democracy by pressuring President Joe Biden to quit the race after party primary elections were over. VOA’s Dora Mekouar explores whether any one president really has the power to destroy democracy.
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BUDAPEST, HUNGARY — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Saturday that Russia’s leadership was “hyper rational” and that Ukraine would never be able to fulfill its hopes of becoming a member of the European Union or NATO.

Orban, a nationalist in power since 2010, made the comments during a speech in which he forecast a shift in global power away from the “irrational” West toward Asia and Russia.

“In the next long decades, maybe centuries, Asia will be the dominant center of the world,” Orban said, mentioning China, India, Pakistan and Indonesia as the world’s future big powers.

“And we Westerners pushed the Russians into this bloc as well,” he said in the televised speech before ethnic Hungarians at a festival in the town of Baile Tusnad in neighboring Romania.

Orban, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, has sharply differed from the rest of the bloc by seeking warmer ties with Beijing and Moscow, and he angered some EU leaders when he went on surprise visits to Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing this month for talks on the war in Ukraine.

He said that in contrast to the “weakness” of the West, Russia’s position in world affairs was rational and predictable, saying the country had shown economic flexibility in adapting to Western sanctions since it invaded Crimea in 2014.

Orban, whose own government has passed several anti-LGBT measures, said Russia had gained clout in many parts of the world by severely restricting LGBTQ+ rights.

“The strongest international appeal of Russian soft power is its opposition to LGBTQ,” he said.

He added that Ukraine would never become a member of the EU or NATO because “we Europeans do not have enough money for that.”

“The EU needs to give up its identity as a political project and become an economic and defense project,” Orban said.

The EU opened membership talks with Ukraine late last month, although a long and tough road lies ahead of the country before it can join the bloc.

A declaration at the end of the NATO summit this month said the alliance will support Ukraine on “its irreversible path” toward membership.
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Paris — Seven out of 10 French high-speed trains will run Saturday on three key routes, a day after saboteurs paralyzed much of the train network as the Olympic Games started in Paris.

No immediate claim of responsibility was made for the coordinated overnight arson attacks on cabling boxes at junctions strategically picked out north, southwest and east of the French capital where the Olympics opening ceremony was staged on Friday night.

Rail workers thwarted an attempt to destroy safety equipment on a fourth line in what the SNCF rail company called a “massive attack.”

“On the North, Brittany and South-West high-speed lines, seven out of 10 trains on average will run with delays of one to two hours,” SNCF said in a statement.

It said SNCF agents worked all night under difficult conditions in the rain to improve traffic on high-speed lines affected by the acts of sabotage.

“At this stage, traffic will remain disrupted on Sunday on the North axis and should improve on the Atlantic axis for weekend returns,” it said.

“Customers will be contacted by text message and email to confirm the running of their trains.”

SNCF estimated that about 250,000 passengers were affected Friday. Junior transport minister Patrice Vergriete said 800,000 could face the fallout over the three days.

The coordinated attacks were staged at 4 a.m. (0200 GMT) early Friday.
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VIENTIANE, Laos — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, shortly before meeting his Chinese counterpart on Saturday, urged Southeast Asian countries to help address challenges including Beijing’s “escalating and unlawful actions” in the South China Sea.

Blinken also called the civil war in Myanmar “heartbreaking” and stressed to foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) the need to work together to tackle issues like the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, North Korea’s missile programs.

Though Blinken singled out China’s over its actions against U.S. defense ally the Philippines in the South China Sea, he lauded both countries for their diplomacy hours after Manila completed a resupply mission to troops in an area also claimed by Beijing.

The troop presence has for years angered China, which has clashed repeatedly with the Philippines over Manila’s missions to troops on a navy ship grounded at the Second Thomas Shoal, causing regional concern about an escalation.

The two sides this week reached an arrangement over how to conduct those missions.

“We are pleased to take note of the successful resupply today of the Second Thomas shoal, which is the product of an agreement reached between the Philippines and China,” Blinken told ASEAN counterparts.

“We applaud that and hope and expect to see that it continues going forward.”

Gaza situation ‘dire’

Blinken will hold talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi after Saturday’s security-focused ASEAN Regional Forum in Laos, which will be attended by top diplomats of major powers including Russia, Australia, Japan, the European, Britain and others.

Blinken also said the United States was “working intensely every single day” to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza and find a path to more enduring peace and security.

His remarks follow those of Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, who said the need for sustainable peace was urgent. “We cannot continue closing our eyes to see the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza,” she said.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged Myanmar’s military rulers to take a different path and end an intensifying civil war, pressing the generals to abide by their commitment to follow ASEAN’s five-point consensus peace plan.

The conflict pits Myanmar’s well-equipped military against a loose alliance of ethnic minority rebel groups and an armed resistance movement that has been gaining ground and testing the generals’ ability to govern.

The junta has largely ignored the ASEAN-promoted peace effort, and the 10-member bloc, of which Myanmar is a member, has hit a wall as all sides refuse to enter into dialogue.

“We see the instability, the insecurity, the deaths, the pain that is being caused by the conflict,” Wong told reporters.

“Fundamentally, my message from Australia to the regime is, this is not sustainable for you or for your people. And we would urge them to take a different path and to reflect the five-point consensus that ASEAN has put in place.”

An estimated 2.6 million people have been displaced by fighting. The junta has been condemned for excessive force in its air strikes on civilian areas and accused of atrocities, which it has dismissed as Western disinformation.
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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico’s governor on Wednesday signed a law that prohibits discrimination against people wearing Afros, curls, locs, twists, braids and other hairstyles in the racially diverse U.S. territory.

The move was celebrated by those who had long demanded explicit protection related to work, housing, education and public services.

“It’s a victory for generations to come,” Welmo Romero Joseph, a community facilitator with the nonprofit Taller Salud, said in an interview.

The organization is one of several that had been pushing for the law, with Romero noting it sends a strong message that “you can reach positions of power without having to change your identity.”

While Puerto Rico’s laws and constitution protect against discrimination, along with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, a precedent was set in 2016 when a U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed a discrimination lawsuit and ruled that an employer’s no-dreadlock policy in Alabama did not violate Title VII.

Earlier this year, legislators in the U.S. territory held a public hearing on the issue, with several Puerto Ricans sharing examples of how they were discriminated against, including job offers conditional on haircuts.

It’s a familiar story to Romero, who recalled how a high school principal ordered him to cut his flat top.

“It was a source of pride,” he said of that hairstyle. “I was a 4.0 student. What did that have to do with my hair?”

With a population of 3.2 million, Puerto Rico has more than 1.6 million people who identify as being of two or more races, with nearly 230,000 identifying solely as Black, according to the U.S. Census.

“Unfortunately, people identified as black or Afro descendant in Puerto Rico still face derogatory treatment, deprivation of opportunities, marginalization, exclusion and all kinds of discrimination,” the law signed Wednesday states.

While Romero praised the law, he warned that measures are needed to ensure it’s followed.

On the U.S. mainland, at least two dozen states have approved versions of the CROWN Act, which aims to ban race-based hair discrimination and stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.”

Among those states is Texas, where a Black high school student was suspended after school officials said his dreadlocks fell below his eyebrows and ear lobes, violating the dress code.

A March report from the Economic Policy Institute found that not all states have amended their education codes to protect public and private high school students, and that some states have allowed certain exceptions to the CROWN Act.

A federal version was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022, but it failed in the Senate. In May, Democratic lawmakers reintroduced the legislation.
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BOISE, Idaho — The U.S. government will invest $240 million in salmon and steelhead hatcheries in the Pacific Northwest to boost declining fish populations and support the treaty-protected fishing rights of Native American tribes, officials announced Thursday.

The departments of Commerce and the Interior said there will be an initial $54 million for hatchery maintenance and modernization made available to 27 tribes in the region, which includes Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska.

The hatcheries “produce the salmon that tribes need to live,” said Jennifer Quan, the regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region. “We are talking about food for the tribes and supporting their culture and their spirituality.”

Some of the facilities are on the brink of failure, Quan said, with a backlog of deferred maintenance that has a cost estimated at more than $1 billion.

“For instance, the roof of the Makah Tribe’s Stony Creek facility is literally a tarp. The Lummi Nation Skookum Hatchery is the only hatchery that raises spring Chinook salmon native to the recovery of our Puget Sound Chinook Salmon,” and it is falling down, Quan said.

Lisa Wilson, secretary of the Lummi Indian Business Council, said salmon are as important as the air they breathe, their health and their way of life. She thanked everyone involved in securing “this historic funding.”

“Hatchery fish are Treaty fish and play a vital role in the survival of our natural-origin populations while also providing salmon for our subsistence and ceremonies,” she said in a statement. “If it weren’t for the hatcheries and the Tribes, nobody would be fishing.”

The Columbia River Basin was once the world’s greatest salmon-producing river system, with at least 16 stocks of salmon and steelhead. Today, four are extinct and seven are listed under the Endangered Species Act. Salmon are a key part of the ecosystem, and another endangered Northwest species, a population of killer whales, depend on Chinook salmon for food.

Salmon are born in rivers and migrate long distances downstream to the ocean, where they spend most of their adult lives. They then make the difficult trip back upstream to their birthplace to spawn and die.

Columbia Basin dams have played a major part in devastating the wild fish runs, cutting off access to upstream habitat, slowing the water and sometimes allowing it to warm to temperatures that are fatal for fish.

For decades, state, federal and tribal governments have tried to supplement declining fish populations by building hatcheries to breed and hatch salmon that are later released into the wild. But multiple studies have shown that hatchery programs frequently have negative impacts on wild fish, in part by reducing genetic diversity and by increasing competition for food.

Quan acknowledged the hatcheries “come with risks” but said they can be managed to produce additional fish for harvest and even to help restore populations while minimizing risks to wild fish.

“Hatcheries have been around for a long time, and we’ve seen the damage that they can do,” Quan said.

Still the programs have gone through a course correction in recent years, following genetic management plans and the principles established by scientific review groups, she said. “We are in a different place now.”

It will take habitat restoration, improved water quality, adjustments to harvest and other steps if salmon are going to recover, but so far society has not been willing to make the needed changes for that to happen, she said. Add in the impacts of climate change, and the calculus of bad and good hatchery impacts changes further.

“We need to start having a conversation about hatcheries and how they are going to be an important adaptation tool for us moving forward,” Quan said.

Greg Ruggerone, a salmon research scientist with Natural Resources Consultants Inc. in Seattle, said the key is to determine how to better harvest hatchery salmon from rivers without harming the wild salmon that are making the same trek to spawning grounds. Robust harvests of hatchery fish will help ensure that the federal government is meeting its treaty obligations to the tribes, while reducing competition for wild fish, Ruggerone said.

“A big purpose of the hatcheries in the Pacific Northwest is to provide for harvest — especially harvest for the tribes — so there is a big opportunity if we can figure out how to harvest without harming wild salmon,” Ruggerone said.

Every hatchery in the Columbia River basin was built to mitigate the effects of the hydropower dams built in the region, said Becky Johnson, the production division director for the Nez Perce Tribe’s Department of Fisheries Resource Management.

Most were built in the 1960s, 1970s or earlier, she said.

“I’m super excited about this opportunity. Tribal and non-tribal people benefit from them — more salmon coming back to the basin means more salmon for everyone,” Johnson said. “It’s critical that we have fish and that the tribal people have food. Tribal members will tell you they’re fighting hard to continue to hang on to fish, and they’re never going to stop that fight.”
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Vientiane, Laos — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived early Saturday in Laos, where he will attend a regional meeting and hold talks with his Chinese counterpart, part of a multination Asia visit aimed at reinforcing ties with regional allies in the face of an increasingly assertive Beijing.

The top U.S. diplomat is due to meet China’s Wang Yi on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers meeting being held in Vientiane.

Blinken has prioritized promoting a “free and open” Asia-Pacific region – a thinly veiled criticism of China’s regional economic, strategic and territorial ambitions.

During a series of ASEAN meetings, “the secretary’s conversations will continue to build upon the unprecedented deepening and expansion of U.S.-ASEAN ties,” the State Department said in a statement shortly before Blinken touched down in Vientiane.

This is Blinken’s 18th visit to Asia since taking office more than three years ago, reflecting the fierce competition between Washington and Beijing in the region.

He notably arrived two days after the foreign ministers of China and Russia met with those from the 10-nation ASEAN bloc – and each other – on the sidelines of the summit.

Wang and Blinken would “exchange views on issues of common concern,” China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Friday.

Blinken is expected to “discuss the importance of adherence to international law in the South China Sea” at the ASEAN talks, according to the U.S. State Department.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Signing an agreement with Russia to stop the war with Ukraine would amount to signing a deal with the devil, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as pressure mounts on the country to seek an end to more than two years of fighting. 

A deal would only buy time for Russian President Vladimir Putin to strengthen his army and usher in another,potentially more violent chapter in the war, Mykhailo Podolyak told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday. 

“If you want to sign a deal with the devil who will then drag you to hell, well, go for it. This is what Russia is,” Podolyak said when asked about the prospects for a peace deal for Kyiv, whose forces are locked in a bloody war of attrition with Moscow’s troops in eastern Ukraine. 

“If you sign anything today with Russia, that will not lose the war and will not be legally responsible for mass crimes, this will mean that you have signed yourself a ticket to continue the war on a different scale, with other protagonists, with a different number of killed and tortured people,” he said. 

Morale appears to be eroding

It is a view held across Zelenskyy’s camp and reflected broadly among Ukrainians. But it also increasingly comes up against the current of Western pressure, as Kyiv continues to face difficult front-line conditions against Moscow’s larger, better equipped army, as well as uncertainty over the level of future political support from Ukraine’s closest ally, the U.S. 

War fatigue also appears to be eroding the morale of Ukrainians, who have struggled with constant bombardment, electricity outages and the loss of loved ones. A poll by the Kyiv International Institute for Sociology found that the number of Ukrainians opposed to territorial concessions to Russia in exchange for peace has continued to fall. It was 55% in July, compared with 74% in December. 

Even Zelenskyy hinted at a willingness to negotiate with Russia for the first time since the 2022 full-scale invasion, suggesting Moscow should send a delegation to the next global peace summit, which is expected in November. 

But Podolyak insisted that an agreement now would only delay greater violence. 

“Yes, it can be a freeze of the conflict for a certain time. But this means that the Russian Federation will work on its mistakes and update its own army,” he said. “An aggressor country did not come to the territory of Ukraine to sign a peace agreement. That’s nonsense!” 

A lasting peace that works for Ukraine would ensure a steady erosion of Russian military might encompassed by the “three tools” often reiterated by Zelenskyy: increased military support, effective economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure to isolate Russia. 

As he spoke, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was in China, one of Russia’s closest allies, on a mission to forge closer ties. Podolyak said the goal was to provide explanations for Ukraine’s positions and for why China should play a more “active intensive function in ending the war on the terms of international law.” 

On good terms with both US parties

Few countries are watching the twists and turns of the U.S. presidential election more intently than Ukraine. But Zelenskyy is confident that his government has established good relations with both sides in the U.S. election, Podolyak said. 

“Ukraine has fine relations … with both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party,” he explained. “It’s not a matter of personal relationships, only on the candidate-leader level. This is a question of the institutional relations between the parties of the United States and the parties and institutions of Ukraine.” 

Some leading Republican politicians, including Republican nominee Donald Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, have voiced support for withdrawing vital American military support to Ukraine, and Trump is often portrayed as favoring Russian leader Vladimir Putin. 

Zelenskyy, however, took Trump’s nomination as an opportunity and had a phone call with him shortly after the Republican National Convention. Podolyak asserted that the phone call between the two was positive. 

As for the Democratic Party, Podolyak said he has “great sympathy” for President Joe Biden’s administration despite what he said was its slow decision-making regarding Ukraine. 

“But they made all the decisions that Ukraine needed, one way or another: arms supplies to Ukraine; additional permits for strikes on the border territories of the Russian Federation; global diplomatic and informational support of Ukraine, and so on.” 

Whichever party emerges victorious from the November election, Podolyak asserted that Ukraine will continue to have strong relations with the U.S. 

“Regardless of who will be the head of the White House, I don’t see a scenario where it is possible to stop aid to Ukraine,” he said. 
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WASHINGTON — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Friday he will return to the Pennsylvania town where he narrowly survived an assassination attempt, while Vice President Kamala Harris capped her weeklong bid to become the Democratic presidential nominee with former president Barack Obama’s endorsement.

“I WILL BE GOING BACK TO BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA, FOR A BIG AND BEAUTIFUL RALLY,” former president Trump wrote on his Truth Social site, without providing details on when or where the rally would take place.

Harris, the first Black woman and first Asian American to serve as vice president, swiftly consolidated Democratic support after President Joe Biden tapped her to succeed him Sunday. A handful of public opinion polls this week have shown her beginning to narrow Trump’s lead.

A Friday Wall Street Journal poll showed Trump holding 49% support to Harris’ 47% support, with a margin of error of three percentage points. A poll by the newspaper earlier this month had shown Trump leading Biden 48% to 42%.

‘Couldn’t be prouder to endorse you’

Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, endorsed Harris on Friday, adding their names to a parade of prominent Democrats who coalesced behind Harris’ White House bid after Biden, 81, ended his reelection campaign under pressure from the party.

“We called to say Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” Obama told Harris in a phone call posted in an online video by the campaign.

‘We’re gonna have some fun with this’

Smiling as she spoke into a cellphone, Harris expressed her gratitude for the endorsement and their long friendship.

“Thank you both. It means so much. And we’re gonna have some fun with this, too,” said Harris, who would also be the nation’s first female president if she prevails in the November 5 election.

Barack Obama, the first Black U.S. president, and Michelle Obama remain among the most popular figures in the Democratic Party, almost eight years after he left office. A Reuters/Ipsos poll early this month showed that 55% of Americans — and 94% of Democrats — viewed Michelle Obama favorably, higher approval than Harris’ 37% nationally and 81% within the party.

The endorsement could help boost support and fundraising for Harris’ campaign, and it signals Obama is likely to get on the campaign trail for Harris.
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nairobi, kenya — The U.S. government has sanctioned three rebel leaders accused of fomenting political instability, conflicts and civilian displacement in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Thursday imposed sanctions on Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance, a rebel group accused of seeking to overthrow the government and driving political instability in the DRC. Nangaa was previously targeted with sanctions in 2019.

Washington also sanctioned Bertrand Bisimwa, the leader of the March 23 movement rebel group, for destabilization and human rights violations. Charles Sematama, deputy military leader of another rebel group, Twirwaneho, was also sanctioned.

‘They are standing with them’

Great Lakes region political researcher and analyst Ntanyoma Rukumbuzi said the United States is trying to show it cares about the DRC and wants to punish those who want to create instability in the central African nation.

“The U.S. wants to convince the Congolese, the general audience, that they are standing with them and paying attention to what is happening in the DRC,” said Rukumbuzi. “They can still do something to push or force the rebel groups to stop fighting. As you can see, some of these sanctions seem to disregard and overlook the entire complexity of the violence in eastern DRC.”

In a statement, the U.S. government said the action it is taking reinforces its commitment to hold accountable those who seek to perpetuate instability, violence and harm to civilians to achieve their political goals.

The M23 as a group is also under U.S. sanctions. For several years, it has been fighting the Congolese army and other rebel groups in the east of the country. According to United Nations estimates, more than 7.2 million Congolese are displaced due to conflicts.

Oliver Baniboneba, a Congolese refugee living in Uganda, said U.S. sanctions won’t end the suffering of the Congolese.

There is a country with money that is supporting Nangaa, said Baniboneba. “It will continue to fund him, and the killing goes on,” he said.

High hopes for sanctions

The Congolese government has accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group, a claim denied by Kigali. Rukumbuzi also said the sanctions won’t stop the operations of the rebel groups.

“They have been fighting for several reasons,” said Rukumbuzi. “There are different individuals and groups who have something to fight for. It may disturb them and try to understand and possibly try to dispatch roles to different individuals, but this won’t stop the rebels from fighting.”

The U.S. hopes the sanctions against the leaders and groups will change their violent ways and persuade them to find a peaceful means to address their grievances instead of killing and displacing innocent people from their homes.
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