Swedish police on Sunday arrested two people and detained around 10 people after a violent riot broke out at a protest involving a burning of the Quran, police said.

The protest was organized by Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika, whose protests — which have included public desecrations of the Muslim holy book — have sparked outrage across the Middle East.

Sunday’s protest was held in a square in the southern city of Malmo, which has a large immigrant population, and according to public broadcaster SVT around 200 people had showed up to watch.

“Some onlookers have shown upset feelings, after the organizer burned writings,” police said in a statement.

“The mood was at times heated,” the statement said, adding that a “violent riot” occurred at 1:45 pm (1145 GMT).

According to police, the event had ended after the organizer left but a group of people remained at the scene.

About 10 people were detained for disturbing the public order and another two were arrested, suspected of violent rioting.

Local media reported that some onlookers threw rocks at Momika, and video from the scene showed some trying to break through the cordon before being stopped by police.

In another video a man could be scene trying to stop the police car that transported Momika from the location by getting in front of it.

Through a series of demonstrations, Momika has sparked anger directed at Sweden and diplomatic tensions between Sweden and several Middle Eastern countries.

The Swedish government has condemned the desecrations of the Quran while noting the country’s constitutionally protected freedom of speech and assembly laws.

Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July, starting fires within the compound on the second occasion.

Swedish envoys have also been summoned in a slew of Middle Eastern nations. 

In mid-August, Sweden’s intelligence agency heightened its terror alert level to four on a scale of five, noting that Sweden had “gone from being considered a legitimate target for terrorist attacks to being considered a prioritized target.”

Sweden also decided to beef up border controls in early August.

In late August, neighboring Denmark — which has also seen a string of public desecrations of the Quran — said it plans to ban Quran burnings.

Sweden has meanwhile vowed to explore legal means of stopping protests involving the burning of texts in certain circumstances.
…

The governor of the German state of Bavaria said Sunday that he will let his deputy stay in office despite a furor that started with allegations he was responsible for an antisemitic flyer when he was a high school student 35 years ago.

Governor Markus Soeder, a leading figure in Germany’s center-right opposition, said he had concluded that it would be “disproportionate” to fire Hubert Aiwanger, his deputy and coalition partner, but Aiwanger needs to rebuild confidence with the Jewish community and others.

Bavaria is holding a state election in just over a month. Soeder’s decision drew sharp criticism from political opponents and a cautious response from a Jewish leader.

On Aug. 25, the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that, when Aiwanger was a teenager, he was suspected of producing a typewritten flyer calling for entries to a competition titled “Who is the biggest traitor to the fatherland?”

It listed, among other things, a “1st prize: A free flight through the chimney at Auschwitz.”

Aiwanger, 52, said last weekend that one or more copies of the flyer were found in his school bag but denied that he wrote it. His older brother came forward to claim that he had written it.

Aiwanger has acknowledged making unspecified mistakes in his youth and offered an apology but also portrayed himself as the victim of a “witch hunt.” He stuck to that tone on Sunday, saying at a campaign appearance that his opponents had failed with a “smear campaign” meant to weaken his conservative party.

The deputy governor’s crisis management has drawn widespread criticism, including from Soeder.

On Tuesday, Soeder demanded that Aiwanger answer a detailed questionnaire, and his deputy delivered the answers Friday. Soeder said he had a long conversation with Aiwanger on Saturday evening.

Over the past week, there was a steady drip of further allegations about Aiwanger’s behavior in his youth, including claims that he gave the Hitler salute, imitated the Nazi dictator and had Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” in his school bag. Aiwanger described the latter as “nonsense,” said he didn’t remember ever giving the Hitler salute and did not rehearse Hitler’s speeches in front of the mirror.

On Thursday, Aiwanger said: “I deeply regret if I have hurt feelings by my behavior in relation to the pamphlet in question or further accusations against me from my youth. My sincere apologies go first and foremost to all the victims of the (Nazi) regime.”

Soeder told reporters in Munich that the apology was “overdue, but it was right and necessary.” He said that Aiwanger’s answers to his questions “weren’t all satisfactory,” but that he had distanced himself again from the flyer and given repeated assurances he didn’t write it.

“In the overall assessment — that there is no proof, that the matter is 35 years ago, and that nothing comparable has happened since — a dismissal would be disproportionate, from my point of view,” Soeder said.

But leaders of Bavaria’s governing coalition agreed “it is important that Hubert Aiwanger work on winning back lost trust,” and should hold talks with Jewish community leaders, Soeder added. He said that was discussed Sunday with Bavarian and German Jewish leaders.

One of them, Munich Jewish community leader Charlotte Knobloch, said in a statement that Aiwanger “must restore trust and make clear that his actions are democratically and legally steadfast.” She said recent days had been “an enormous strain.”

The allegations put Soeder, who is widely thought to have ambitions to challenge center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the 2025 national election, in an awkward position.

Aiwanger leads the Free Voters, a party that is a conservative force in Bavaria but has no seats in Germany’s national parliament. He has been the state’s deputy governor and economy minister since 2018, when his party became the junior partner in a regional government under Bavaria’s long-dominant center-right Christian Social Union.

Soeder, the CSU leader, made clear again Sunday that he wants to continue the coalition with the Free Voters, a more or less like-minded party, after the Oct. 8 state election. He dismissed the idea of switching to a coalition with the environmentalist Greens.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser accused Soeder of putting political tactics first.

“Mr. Aiwanger has neither apologized convincingly nor been able to dispel the accusations convincingly,” she told the RND newspaper group. Instead, she said, he has styled himself as a victim “and doesn’t think for a second of those who still suffer massively from antisemitism.”

“That Mr. Soeder allows this damages the reputation of our country,” she added.
…

Ukraine shot down 22 of the 25 Iranian-made Shahed drones Russia launched into the southern Odesa region early Sunday, Ukraine’s Air Force posted on Telegram early Sunday.

Odesa houses ports that are vital for Ukraine’s grain shipments, following the collapse of U.N.-brokered deal that allowed Ukraine to ship its grain through the Black Sea.

It was not immediately clear whether one of the ports had been hit in the Russian attack on Ukraine.

There were no immediate comments from Russia.

One of Ukraine’s richest men was taken into custody Saturday on suspicion of fraud and money laundering.

Ihor Kolomoisky’s arrest comes as Kyiv is trying to show progress in its wartime crackdown on corruption.

A Ukrainian court set Kolomoisky’s bail at $14 million, but his defense lawyers said he would not post bail, broadcaster Radio Liberty reported; instead he will remain in custody for two months while he appeals the ruling, whose legality he questions.

Kolomoisky was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2021 “due to his involvement in significant corruption.” The U.S. suspects that Kolomoisky and a partner laundered money through the United States, which Kolomoisky denies.

He supported then-candidate Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the 2019 presidential elections in Ukraine.

In his nightly video address Saturday, President Zelenskyy thanked “Ukrainian law enforcement officials for their resolve in bringing to a just outcome each and every one of the cases that have been hindered for decades.”

Zelenskyy has made it a priority to crush graft and illicit financial dealings among officials and well-connected businessmen. Kolomoisky, one of Ukraine’s billionaire oligarchs, is the most prominent figure to have become a target. Zelenskyy is moving to equate wartime corruption with treason.

The White House has noted the progress Ukraine has made in combatting graft and in safeguarding the autonomy of crucial government institutions.

In a meeting with a delegation of the heads of Ukrainian anti-corruption institutions Friday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan underscored the vital importance of independent, impartial law enforcement and judicial institutions to any democratic society. He also reiterated Washington’s steadfast support for anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine and “for Ukraine’s brave defense of its democracy against Russian aggression.”

‘We are on the move’

Zelenskyy touted Ukraine’s steady advances against Russian forces Saturday and derided Western criticism of Ukraine’s grinding counteroffensive.

“Ukrainian forces are moving forward. Despite everything, and no matter what anyone says, we are advancing, and that is the most important thing. We are on the move,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

His comments come amid U.S. concerns about the slow pace of the operation and Western reports questioning Ukrainian strategy in the three-month counteroffensive.

Ukrainian forces have retaken about a dozen villages but no major settlements. Their advances are being impeded by myriad Russian minefields and subsequent defensive lines.

John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator, told reporters Friday that Ukraine made “notable progress” in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, though he cautioned it “is not beyond the realm of the possible that Russia will react” to Ukraine’s push.

Ukrainian troops advance

In its daily battlefield update, the Ukrainian military reported no new breakthroughs but said its troops broke through Russia’s outer defense perimeter and continued to advance toward Melitopol, a major Russian-occupied urban center in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar acknowledged Friday that Kyiv’s troops, who have been trudging through heavily mined areas for almost three months, had now run into major defensive Russian fortifications.

“Where we have already moved to the next line … the enemy is much more fortified there and, in addition to the mining, we also see concrete fortifications, for example, under the main commanding heights, and our armed forces have to overcome a lot of obstacles in order to move forward,” she said.

Kirby noted that Ukrainians are aware there are tough battles ahead and added that detractors of the Ukrainian counteroffensive are not “helpful to the overarching effort to make sure that Ukraine can succeed, and they are.”

Russia says it thwarts attack

Russia said early Saturday it had thwarted a naval drone attack on a bridge that links the Russian mainland with the Crimean Peninsula.

In messages posted to Telegram, the Russian Defense Ministry said three semisubmersible unmanned boats, “sent by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge” were destroyed in the Black Sea — one late Friday and two early Saturday.

The bridge was built after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Completed in 2018, the bridge has been targeted throughout Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including an attack in July that caused major damage to the bridge and killed two people.

Grain deal talks scheduled

Two cargo vessels have sailed from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports despite fears of Russian attacks, maritime officials said Saturday.

Ukraine’s infrastructure minister says the Anna-Theresa, a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier carrying 56,000 metric tons of pig iron, left the Ukrainian port of Yuzhny on Friday. A second vessel, the Ocean Courtesy, left the same port with 172,000 metric tons of iron ore concentrate.

The minister said the vessels sailed through a temporary corridor for civilian ships from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports to the Bosporus. The ships are using the interim corridor established by Ukraine’s government after Russia quit the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a wartime agreement aimed at ensuring safe grain exports from Ukraine.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the talks are part of an effort to revive the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met Friday with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow to discuss grain exports ahead of the Erdogan-Putin meeting.

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

Girls with big white hair bows and boys in blazers held hands as they lined up for their first day back to school in Moscow, with parents watching proudly and, for some including Sergei Angelov, anxiously.

Like children across Russia, Angelov’s 12-year-old daughter will study the country’s new militarized curriculum, amid Moscow’s grinding assault in Ukraine that has seen increasingly frequent strikes on the Russian capital.

“We are living in difficult times,” the 39-year-old driver said.  “All sorts of things are happening and can happen.”

Nineteen months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his troops in Ukraine, drones now hit Moscow almost daily.

The conflict has spilled to schools, with a new program designed to instill the Kremlin’s version of events in Ukraine to younger generations.

Since the beginning of the offensive Russia had already introduced patriotic lectures called “Important Conversations.”

For the start of the new school year, Putin taught the flagship lecture in front of 30 teenagers selected for their academic achievements.

“We were absolutely invincible” during World War II, Putin said, “and we are the same now.”

The Russian leader also opened a new school via video-call in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which was razed to the ground last spring before being seized by the Russian army.

Moscow-installed officials, who since the city’s capture have undertaken to erase Ukrainian symbols from public spaces, rolled out a long Russian flag across the center of the city.

‘Courage and heroism’

Russian children’s updated school program includes basic military training, reviving a Soviet-era subject that had long been abandoned.

Teachers are also to use a new history textbook praising the offensive, written under the curation of Putin’s hardliner ally Vladimir Medinsky.

More than 2,000 kilometers east in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, local history teacher Tatiana Barabanova applauded the course book, whose cover features Putin’s flagship bridge linking annexed Crimea to Russia’s mainland.

“Young people are disorientated by various mass fakes slandering our country,” she said, using terms reminiscent of Putin’s speeches.

“In this new textbook, there are very clear examples of courage and heroism,” she said.

The book praises Russia’s assault on Ukraine and features sections explaining Moscow was “saving peace” in 2014 when it annexed Crimea.

Her colleague, first aid and sports teacher Yelena Sobachkina, meanwhile, showed off gas masks and plastic hands with fake wounds that will be used in the new primary military preparation courses.

“They will understand what military service is like,” Sobachkina said, adding it was aimed at 15- to 18-year -olds.

She said the school would also introduce the teens to “tactical training and theoretical training of combat drones.”

Sobachkina plans to bring soldiers from the Ukraine front to speak to her students.

‘Prepare the children’

Sergei Varalov welcomed the prospect of seeing his child getting more teaching on the conflict in Ukraine.

“The political situation is such that the whole world has collapsed on us,” the 55-year-old builder said.

He also expressed support for military trainings and increased patriotic education.

“We need to prepare (the children),” he said, while clarifying, “I am not saying that it should be like North Korea.”

Back in Moscow, 83-year-old Nina Ivanova, watched her grandson start his new job as a teacher.

The pensioner hoped the job would “relieve him from the army” in the event that Russia would introduce another mobilization.

In the crowd, painter Irina Dobrokhotova, just back from annexed-Crimea, was dropping her son Daniil to school.

“There are reasons for concerns … You just need to be prepared for anything and not be afraid,” Dobrokhotova said.

But she added: “Everyone is hoping for the best.”           
…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy touted Ukraine’s steady advances against Russian forces Saturday and derided Western criticism of Ukraine’s grinding counteroffensive.  

“Ukrainian forces are moving forward. Despite everything, and no matter what anyone says, we are advancing, and that is the most important thing. We are on the move,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app. 

Zelenskyy’s comments come amid U.S. concerns about the slow pace of the operation and Western reports questioning Ukrainian strategy in the three-month counteroffensive.  

Ukrainian forces have retaken about a dozen villages but no major settlements. Their advances are being impeded by myriad Russian minefields and subsequent defensive lines. 

John Kirby, National Security Council spokesman, told reporters Friday that Ukraine made “notable progress” in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, though he cautioned it “is not beyond the realm of the possible that Russia will react” to Ukraine’s push.   

In its daily battlefield update, the Ukrainian military reported no new breakthroughs but said its troops broke through Russia’s outer defense perimeter and continued to advance toward Melitopol, a major Russian-occupied urban center in the Zaporizhzhia region. 

Ukraine’s military reported 45 combat clashes on the front lines since midday Friday and said fighting raged in the east where Ukrainian troops had repelled multiple Russian attacks. 

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar acknowledged Friday that Kyiv’s troops, who have been trudging through heavily mined areas for almost three months, had now run into major defensive Russian fortifications.  

“Where we have already moved to the next line … the enemy is much more fortified there and, in addition to the mining, we also see concrete fortifications, for example, under the main commanding heights, and our armed forces have to overcome a lot of obstacles in order to move forward,” she said.  

Kirby noted that Ukrainians are aware there are tough battles ahead and added that detractors of the Ukrainian counteroffensive are not “helpful to the overarching effort to make sure that Ukraine can succeed, and they are.”  

There are fears the West’s support could begin to fade as colder and wetter weather sets in, slowing the pace on the battlefield later in the year. The West has poured billions of dollars to support the counteroffensive and Kyiv says it needs more. 

Kirby also said he could not confirm reports Friday that Russia’s nuclear-capable Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles had been put on combat duty.  

The Sarmat reportedly can carry up to 15 nuclear warheads. Known to NATO military allies by the codename “Satan,” the missile reportedly has a short initial launch phase, which gives little time for surveillance systems to track its takeoff. 

Weighing more than 200 tons, the Sarmat has a range of about 18,000 kilometers and was developed to replace Russia’s older generation of intercontinental ballistic missile that dates to the 1980s. 

Russia says it thwarts attack

Russia said early Saturday it thwarted a naval drone attack on a bridge that links the Russian mainland with the Crimean Peninsula.     

In messages posted to Telegram, the Russian Defense Ministry said three semisubmersible unmanned boats, “sent by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge” were destroyed in the Black Sea — one late Friday and two early Saturday.   

The bridge was built after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Completed in 2018, the bridge has been targeted throughout Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including an attack in July that caused major damage to the bridge and killed two people.   

Ukraine claimed responsibility for the July strike but so far has not commented on Russia’s claim it prevented another attack.   

Ukraine’s anti-corruption efforts   

Ukrainian state security officials named Ukrainian tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky as a suspect in a fraud and money laundering case, the SBU security service said Saturday. 

Zelenskyy has made it a priority to crush graft and illicit financial dealings among officials and well-connected businessmen. Kolomoisky, one of Ukraine’s richest men, is the most prominent figure to have become a target. Zelenskyy is moving to equate wartime corruption with treason.  

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met Friday with a delegation of the heads of Ukrainian anti-corruption institutions, including the director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, Semen Kryvonos, Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Oleksandr Klymenko, and Vira Mykhailenko, the chief justice of the High Anti-Corruption Court, according to the White House.  

The officials discussed the progress Ukraine has made in combatting graft and in safeguarding the autonomy of crucial government institutions.   

Sullivan underscored the importance of independent, impartial law enforcement and judicial institutions to any democratic society. He also reiterated Washington’s steadfast support for anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine and “for Ukraine’s brave defense of its democracy against Russian aggression.” 

Efforts to revive grain deal

Two cargo vessels have sailed from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports despite fears of Russian attacks, maritime officials said Saturday.  

Ukraine’s infrastructure minister says the Anna-Theresa, a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier carrying 56,000 metric tons of pig iron, left the Ukrainian port of Yuzhny on Friday. A second vessel, the Ocean Courtesy, left the same port with 172,000 metric tons of iron ore concentrate.  

The minister said the vessels sailed through a temporary corridor for civilian ships from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports to the Bosporus. The ships are using the interim corridor established by Ukraine’s government after Russia quit the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a wartime agreement aimed at ensuring safe grain exports from Ukraine.  

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the talks are part of an effort to revive the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal.  

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow on Friday to discuss grain exports ahead of the Erdogan-Putin meeting.  

For nearly a year, the initiative helped facilitate the export of nearly 33 million metric tons of grain and other foodstuffs from Ukraine via the Black Sea, helping to bring down global food prices, which spiked after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia was also receiving help in facilitating its own grain and fertilizer exports.  

VOA’s United Nations Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this story. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.   
…

A controversial investment deal with China has failed to meet Italy’s expectations, Rome’s top diplomat said Saturday ahead of a visit to Beijing, as speculation mounts that Italy will withdraw. 

In 2019, the highly indebted economy became the only nation from the G7 club of industrialized countries to take part in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitious program, consisting of massive investments in infrastructure such as ports, railways and airports, aims to improve trade ties between Asia, Africa and Europe. 

Critics say the plan is a Trojan horse to increase Beijing’s influence. 

The deal is due to be renewed automatically in March 2024 unless Italy withdraws this year. 

“We want to continue to work closely with China, but we must also analyze exports; the Belt and Road Initiative has not produced the results we were hoping for,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told an economic forum. 

Tajani said Italian exports to China in 2022 were worth 16.5 billion euros ($17.8 billion), whereas the figures for France and Germany were much higher at 23 billion and 107 billion euros respectively. 

Tajani will meet Chinese authorities during his trip to Beijing from Sunday to Tuesday and prepare a planned visit by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that some experts believe will confirm Italy’s exit from the deal. 

The withdrawal “has likely already been agreed in principle with Chinese authorities,” Lorenzo Codogno, a former chief economist at the Italian treasury, said in a note. 

Meloni “will make the official announcement during her state visit to Beijing, expected by mid-October, as a sign of respect for China’s leadership,” but the Italian parliament will have the final say, he added. 

Meloni’s predecessor Mario Draghi froze the agreement and blocked large-scale Chinese investment in sectors deemed of strategic importance.  
…

Two cargo vessels have left Ukraine despite Russian threats and are in the Black Sea, maritime officials said Saturday.

The Anna-Theresa, a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier holding 56,000 tons of pig iron, left the Ukrainian port of Yuzhny on Friday and is now close to Bulgarian territorial waters, said Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov.

A second vessel — the Ocean Courtesy, traveling under a Marshall Islands flag — left the same port on Friday with 172,000 tons of iron ore concentrate. That ship arrived at the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta shortly before noon on Saturday, according to the global ship tracking website MarineTraffic. The website did not state whether the vessel is set to move on from the Romanian port.

The two vessels sailed through a temporary corridor for civilian ships from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports to the Bosporus, Kubrakov said on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter. The corridor goes along the western shores of the Black Sea, avoiding international waters and instead using those controlled by NATO members Romania and Bulgaria.

On Saturday, authorities at the Bulgarian port of Varna did not confirm whether the Anna-Theresa will enter the port or continue to the Bosporus Strait.

The ships were the third and fourth vessels that used the interim corridor established by Ukraine’s government after Russia halted a wartime agreement aimed at ensuring safe grain exports from Ukraine. The vessels had been docked in Ukrainian Black Sea ports since before Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

Their departure coincided with the official announcement of a meeting on Monday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The high-level talks in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi come just over six weeks after Moscow broke off a deal brokered by Ankara and the United Nations that allowed Ukrainian grain to reach world markets safely despite the 18-month war.
…

Ukrainian state security officials named powerful businessman Ihor Kolomoisky as a suspect in a fraud and money laundering case, the SBU security service said on Saturday.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made cracking down on corruption a priority as Ukraine battles Russia’s 18-month-old invasion. Kolomoisky, one of Ukraine’s richest men, is the most prominent figure to have become a target.

Zelenskyy, who rose to prominence as a comedian and played the role of president on a show aired on a Kolomoisky-owned TV channel, has denied having personal ties to the businessman.

“It was established that during 2013-2020, Ihor Kolomoisky legalized more than half a billion hryvnias [$14 million] by withdrawing them abroad and using the infrastructure of the controlled banks,” the SBU said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

Kolomoisky could not be reached for comment.

The security service published pictures of a group of detectives at the door of his home, with Kolomoisky receiving and signing documents.

Kolomoisky is a former owner of leading Ukrainian bank PrivatBank, which was nationalized in late 2016 as part of a major clean-up of the country’s banking system.

Earlier this year security officials searched Kolomoisky’s home in connection with a separate investigation into embezzlement and tax evasion at the country’s two largest oil companies, which were partially owned by the businessman.

Kolomoisky owned an array of assets in the energy, banking and other sectors, including one of Ukraine’s most influential television channels.

The United States sanctioned Kolomoisky in 2021 “due to his involvement in significant corruption.” U.S. authorities have also alleged Kolomoisky and a business partner laundered stolen funds through the United States. Kolomoisky has denied any wrongdoing.
…

Russian authorities on Friday declared journalist Dmitry Muratov, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, to be a foreign agent, continuing the country’s moves to suppress critics and independent reporting.

Russian law allows for individuals and organizations receiving funding from abroad to be declared foreign agents, a pejorative term that potentially undermines their credibility with the Russian public. The status also requires designees to mark any publications with a disclaimer stating they are foreign agents.

Muratov was chief editor of Novaya Gazeta, which was widely respected abroad for its investigative reporting and was frequently critical of the Kremlin. Muratov was a co-laureate of the 2021 Nobel prize; he later put up his Nobel medal for auction, receiving $103.5 million which he said would be used to aid refugee children from Ukraine.

After Russia enacted harsh laws to punish statements that criticized its military actions in Ukraine or were found to discredit Russian soldiers, Novaya Gazeta announced it would suspend publication until the conflict ended.

Many of its journalists started a new publication called Novaya Gazeta Europe that is based in Latvia.

In recent years, Russia has methodically targeted people and organizations critical of the Kremlin, branding many as “foreign agents.” It has has branded some as “undesirable” under a 2015 law that makes membership in such organizations a criminal offense.

It also has imprisoned prominent opposition figures including anti-corruption campaigner AlexeyAl Navalny, who is President Vladimir Putin’s most persistent domestic foe, and dissidents Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin.
…

Britain’s Education Department has ordered more than 150 schools to shut down buildings constructed with RAAC, a type of concrete that is prone to collapse. The decision came just days before the fall term is set to start, drawing ire from parents, teachers and politicians.

A roof beam gave way over the summer, prompting the British government to examine the risks of RAAC, Schools Minister Nick Gibb told the BBC recently. The past few months have seen a number of instances where buildings containing RAAC suddenly failed, both at schools and elsewhere.

Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, or RAAC, is lightweight and was used in construction until the mid-1990s. RAAC has a lifespan of about 30 years.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan described the government’s decision as a “cautious approach.” She reassured the public that most affected schools would remain open because the faulty concrete was found in limited areas.

But some campuses face total closure, sending teachers and parents scrambling for alternatives from relocating students to neighboring schools to reviving coronavirus-era distance learning.

Part of the shock of the government’s announcement is that it has long known about the risks of RAAC. More than 50 school buildings with RAAC have been closed in the past over safety concerns.

In June, the watchdog group National Audit Office reported about the dangers that school buildings constructed with RAAC pose to students and teachers. It cited a strong likelihood of injury or death from a building imploding.

These developments follow six months of teachers’ strikes across the United Kingdom spurred by charges of underfunding and poor government outreach.

Critics from all sides describe the mass closures as a debacle. Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said in a statement that the situation reflected “gross government incompetence … ”

In the run-up to the general election expected in 2024, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will have to consider how to win the public’s confidence and counter ridicule over his efforts in infrastructure and education.

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
…

Poland plans to double its armed forces to 300,000 by 2035 with a combination of professional soldiers and volunteers. As Lesia Bakalets reports, Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine has triggered a huge number of Poles from all walks of life to sign up as volunteers. Camera: Daniil Batushchak
…

In July, a group of 56 European and American lawmakers sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, demanding a tougher Western policy toward Serbia, primarily regarding its relations with Kosovo.

“We are asking for balance and proportionality to return in dealing with Kosovo and Serbia,” the Western officials wrote, adding that the current approach is not working.

Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence, which it declared in 2008, and tensions have been a constant between the two countries since then. This year, there have been several flare-ups in northern Kosovo, where the ethnic Serbs are a majority of the population.

The letter was followed by articles in U.S. and German media outlets, such as CNN and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, criticizing the West for perceived appeasement of Serbia, a Western Balkan country that the United States and its allies hope to persuade to join in sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine.

For Richard Kraemer, a fellow at the U.S. Foreign Policy Research Institute, the Western media coverage is no surprise: “These modest displays of discontent with Belgrade indicate that certain Western leaders are fed up with [Serbian President Aleksandar] Vucic’s manipulative shenanigans.”

On the other hand, Bodo Weber, political analyst and senior associate at the Democratization Policy Council in Berlin, said he does see the letter as evidence that the West is changing course toward Serbia or Vucic.

“That change would be welcome, but unfortunately, we don’t see such a turnaround in sight. Rather, the letter of a few Western parliamentarians attracted the attention of the Western media, which normally rarely write about the region,” Weber said in a written response to questions from VOA.

During a press conference in Belgrade at the beginning of August, Vucic claimed that he personally — and not the country — is being criticized for not recognizing the independence of Kosovo and for “defending the interests of the Serbian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.”

U.S. Ambassador to Belgrade Christopher Hill defended the U.S. approach to relations with Vucic’s government in an exclusive interview with VOA’s Serbian Service.

“You have policies not just for success but because they are the right policies to have,” Hill said. “We weigh our interest in formulating a policy, and we proceed with it on the idea that this is the right thing for our government to do.”

Belgrade’s ties with Russia

Serbia is formally seeking EU membership and has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations, yet it has maintained its historically friendly relations with Moscow.

“Everyone should join sanctions, certainly countries aspiring to join Europe,” Hill said. “We think that is the right thing to do and would like to see Serbia do the same and march toward Euro-Atlantic systems.”

Johanna Deimel, a German expert on the Balkans, pointed to published reports, based on a leaked U.S. intelligence document, that Serbia has quietly agreed to provide arms to Ukraine for its defense against the Russian invasion.

“On one hand, Belgrade has been criticized for refusing to join the EU sanctions against Russia, and on the other hand, it seems that, for example, arms deliveries to Ukraine are helping to turn a blind eye elsewhere,” she said.

She also said efforts to align Serbia more closely with the West are complicated by Russian influence in the region’s media and its investments in the energy sector in the Balkans.

Kraemer noted that Serbia is almost entirely dependent on natural gas supplies from Russia and maintains trade and military ties with Moscow, while pro-Russian sentiments are high in the country.

The West “has bent over backwards to try and lure Belgrade into the transatlantic fold with carrots while looking from the sidelines at Serbia’s proxy status vis-a-vis the Kremlin’s Balkan agenda,” he said.

“Why they thought this would work, considering Vucic’s overt refusal to get on board concerning Ukraine, remains a mystery to me.”

In the July letter, the U.S. and EU lawmakers criticized Vucic for close ties and support to Milorad Dodik, the nationalist president of the Republic of Srpska in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dodik has been sanctioned by the United States for “undermining the Dayton peace accords,” a U.S.-sponsored agreement that ended the Balkan war in the 1990s.

Another obstacle to better relations between Belgrade and the West is the pro-Russian stance of Serbian spy chief Aleksandar Vulin, who has been sanctioned by the United States for alleged involvement in illegal arms shipments, drug trafficking and misuse of public office.

“The Treasury Department’s sanctioning of Vulin — unprecedented as he is a sitting Serbian government official — can be rightly interpreted as a warning,” Kraemer said. “It remains to be seen whether Washington and its partners have the gumption to sanction others of similar ilk to Vulin.”

In his interview with VOA, Hill said the dispute over Vulin, whom Vucic has refused to sack, has not derailed the Western outreach to Belgrade.

“Our sanctions are not against the institutions but on the individual. We continue to work with Serbia in areas where we can find agreement,” he said.

The issue of Kosovo

U.S.-Serbian relations are also troubled by Belgrade’s refusal to recognize the sovereignty of Kosovo, which declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, almost a decade after U.S.-led NATO forces intervened to stop the ethnic cleansing of ethnic Albanians by the Serbian government.

A U.S. State Department study concluded that at least 6,000 Kosovar Albanians had been the victims of mass murder by Serbian forces in 1999.

The latest tensions flared in April when ethnic Serbs boycotted local elections held in northern Kosovo, where they are a majority. That led to the election of ethnic Albanian mayors, who moved into their offices with the help of Kosovo’s riot police.

Serbs tried to prevent the new mayors from taking over the premises, but the police fired tear gas to disperse them. Serbs engaged in fierce clashes with NATO peacekeepers, leaving more than 50 rioters and 30 international troops injured.

The election boycott followed a collective resignation by Serb officials from the area, including administrative staff, judges and police officers, in November 2022.

During EU-mediated talks between Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, the two were reported to have reached an agreement in Ohrid, a lake town in neighboring North Macedonia, to normalize their relations.

However, this agreement has not been implemented, and each side accuses the other of stalling the process.

According to Deimel, the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina “needs a complete reset.”

“It is incomprehensible to me why Josep Borell, the head of European diplomacy, and others praised the ‘Ohrid Agreement’ so much,” Deimel said. “It was a serious attempt, a concrete German-French proposal on the table, and then Vucic walks out the door and says that he did not sign the agreement.”

Hill said that the Kosovo issue is of some urgency and that progress toward its resolution is necessary.
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Russian officials said Friday that air defenses intercepted drones heading toward three of the country’s western regions, while satellite images indicated that a major drone barrage earlier in the week destroyed at least two Ilyushin Il-76 military transport planes at a Russian air base.

Regional governors said defense systems stopped three drones in the Kursk, Belgorod and Moscow regions.

Moscow airports briefly halted flights but no major damage or injuries were reported, according to Russian authorities.

Drones aimed at targets inside Russia — and blamed by Moscow on Ukraine — have become almost a daily occurrence as the war has entered its 19th month and Kyiv’s forces pursue a counteroffensive. Recently, the drones have reached deeper into Russia.

Kyiv officials normally neither claim nor deny responsibility for attacks on Russian soil.

The apparent Ukrainian strategy is to unnerve Russia and pile pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Associated Press was unable to determine whether the drones are launched from Ukraine or inside Russia.

Meanwhile, satellite images analyzed by AP show that suspected Ukrainian drone attacks late Tuesday destroyed at least two Ilyushin Il-76 military transport planes at a Russian air base.

The images taken Thursday show Princess Olga Pskov International Airport, which is a dual military-civilian airport about 700 kilometers north of the Ukrainian border and near Estonia and Latvia.

The four-engine Il-76 is the workhorse of the Russian military’s airlift capacity, able to land and take off in rugged conditions. The Russian military is believed to have over 100 of them in its fleet.

The AP analysis, conducted Friday, showed what appeared to the blackened hulks of two Il-76s on separate parking pads on the air base’s apron. One included the plane’s tail, the other appeared to show pieces of another aircraft. Fire damage could be seen around the pad.

Eleven other Il-76s had been moved off their parking pads into different positions on the airport’s taxiways, possibly in an attempt to make it more difficult for them to be struck again. One was on the runway itself. Another Il-76 remained on the pad, though it wasn’t clear why.

Local reports said Ukrainian drone attacks on the air base had damaged four Il-76s.

The satellite image was taken at 1303 GMT Thursday. Videos on social media Thursday night showed anti-aircraft fire going around the air base again, though it remained unclear whether it was another attack.

The air base at Pskov was initially targeted Tuesday night, but cloud cover prevented satellites from getting an unobstructed picture.

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country had developed a weapon that hit a target 700 kilometers away, apparently referencing the air base attack. He described the weapon as being produced by Ukraine’s Ministry of Strategic Industries but gave no other details.

The Kremlin’s forces have targeted Ukraine with numerous salvos of Iranian-made exploding drones in the war over the past year.
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Tesla on Friday unveiled a restyled Model 3 with a longer driving range in China and other markets including Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Japan, putting pressure on rivals who are expected to announce new electric vehicles in the next few days.

In China, the world’s largest auto market, the refreshed version of the Model 3 came with a starting price 12% higher than the previous, base rear-wheel drive model, reversing a trend toward price cuts which had sparked a price war between Tesla and its Chinese EV rivals.

The updated version of the Model 3 was Tesla’s first new or restyled car since it launched its global best-seller, the Model Y, in 2020. Tesla plans to start production of its Cybertruck later this year.

The rollout of the Model 3 in China and markets to which Tesla exports from its manufacturing hub there suggested that its Shanghai plant would be first to make the model. Tesla also makes the Model 3 at its plant in Fremont, California.

The new Model 3 promises a longer driving range for China, according to the company’s website. The standard version has a rated range of 606 kilometers based on China’s testing standards. That’s about 9% higher than the base model it replaces in China.

Tesla said it had started taking orders and would begin deliveries in China in the fourth quarter. In Australia, deliveries were set for January.

Tesla sold 64,285 China-made electric vehicles in July, down 31% from a month earlier, the most recent data from the China Passenger Car Association showed.

In a statement issued by its China operations, Tesla said the new model featured a better acoustic system, an improved and more comfortable interior and a display screen for back-seat passengers. Images of the exterior showed small changes that gave the sedan a sleeker front and new headlights.

The Tesla announcement came days before the Munich auto show where German automakers are expected to announce a run of new EVs. Those include a new version of the Volkswagen VOWG_p.DE ID.7 and a new electric CLA model sedan from Mercedes MBGn.DE.

Reuters first reported last November that Tesla was developing a revamped version of the Model 3 in a project codenamed “Highland.” People involved in the project said it was aimed at cutting production costs and boosting the appeal of the model.

In China, the new Model 3 starts at $35,807.78, the company’s website showed Friday.
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The adoption of a law to criminalize defamation in Bosnia’s republic of Srpska has oppositional lawmakers, media watchdogs and the EU concerned. For VOA News, Aid Mrsic has the story. Camera: Dragan Stegic
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Some analysts warn that the choice of countries selected for induction into the BRICS bloc suggests the grouping as a whole may be headed on a path toward decreased tolerance for public dissent and debate.

The five-nation developing bloc, which comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, announced on August 24 the admission of six countries into its fold: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Their membership is expected to become effective in January 2024.

Of the six states, four — Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and Iran — have a history of heavily clamping down on dissenting voices. Their inclusion draws them closer to Russia and China, both known as authoritarian regimes that allow little engagement by independent civil society groups.

Neil Melvin, director of International Security Studies at London-based Royal United Security Institute, the U.K.’s oldest defense and security policy group, told VOA the selection of these six nations from among some 40 applicants reflected the disparate interests of the existing BRICS members.

“Argentina is there because of its neighbor Brazil. Russia and China also want to bring in Iran. And Egypt is there primarily because of the centrality of the hydrocarbon sector to many of the BRICS countries. And, for South Africa, it likely wanted Ethiopia because of its centrality for African diplomacy,” he said. The African Union is headquartered in Addis Ababa.

“We do see a group of countries that certainly have a democracy problem, and this is strengthening non-democratic trends in the BRICS, and a human rights problem,” Melvin said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has cited Ethiopia, Iran and China among the 10 most censored countries for journalists in the world. Like political analysts, the advocacy group wants openness on the part of BRICS leaders.

Guillen Kaiser, CPJ’s advocacy and communications director, told VOA that because BRICS makes up “a significant portion of the world’s population,” it is imperative for member states, “many of which are repressive regimes,” to accept that their people want to be informed.

“The public wants transparency and accountability. Journalists provide this every day, with reporting that moves markets and allows people to make informed decisions,” she said. “BRICS leaders must accept that ultimately, their chokehold on the flow of information isn’t grounded in reality and it is in their interest to embrace a free press.”

Melvin noted that the BRICS expansion follows Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the refusal by some countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America to join the United States and most of Europe in retaliatory sanctions.

The expansion, he said, might be a signal of the bloc’s resolve to lead a new kind of Global South movement to broaden its legitimacy. “But I think this is going to be a very difficult agenda because it is relatively easy to complain about the existing [world] order.”

Melvin said if BRICS expects to offer an alternative to the West, it will have to address the challenges faced by its incoming members — an economic crisis in Argentina and massive debts faced by Ethiopia and Egypt.

“The West has been struggling with this for many years,” he said. “So, can China, Russia and the rest actually put something together? That’s the question they have put on themselves, and they’re going to have to answer that.”

Mandeep Tiwana, chief officer for evidence and engagement at CIVICUS, a global civil society alliance, told VOA that many of the newly inducted BRICS members have a record of suppressing human rights and dismantling the democratic aspirations of their people.

“BRICS is, in a sense, trying to reframe global governance,” Tiwana said. “Because when you have governments that are totalitarian in nature, it is going to create more challenges for people around the world rather than resolve challenges or create a better life for all.”

Tiwana said with Russia and China having disproportionate influence within the bloc, it is still not clear whether democratic states like Brazil, India and South Africa can have a positive influence on the other members.

“The leaders have not openly spoken about this, and our research shows that four of the countries BRICS is admitting have serious civic space restrictions, and so it doesn’t augur well for people-centered decision-making when you practically have no independent civil society in these countries,” he said.

“Our hope is that countries with democratic traditions within the BRICS alliance can influence the others to be more open to civil society so they can involve people in their decision-making.”

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said BRICS would expand more in the future.

This story originated in VOA’s English to Africa Service.
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Ukrainian troops using Android mobile devices are coming under attack from Russian hackers, who are using a new kind of malware to try to steal information critical to the ongoing counteroffensive.

Cyber officials from the United States, along with counterparts from Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand, issued a warning Thursday about the malware, named Infamous Chisel, which aims to scan files, monitor communications and “periodically steal sensitive information.”

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, describes the new malware as “a collection of components which enable persistent access to an infected Android device … which periodically collates and exfiltrates victim information.”

A CISA report published Thursday shared additional technical details about the Russian campaign, with officials warning the malware could be employed against other targets.

Thursday’s warning reflects “the need for all organizations to keep their Shields Up to detect and mitigate Russian cyber activity, and the importance of continued focus on maintaining operational resilience under all conditions,” said Eric Goldstein, CISA executive assistant director for cybersecurity, in a statement.

According to the report by the U.S. and its allies, the malware is designed to persist on a system by replacing legitimate coding with other coding from outside the system that is not directly attached to the malware itself.

It also said the malware’s components are of “low to medium sophistication and appear to have been developed with little regard to defense evasion or concealment of malicious activity.”

Ukraine’s SBU security agency first discovered the Russian malware earlier in August, saying it was being used to “gain access to the combat data exchange system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

Ukrainian officials said at the time they were able to launch defensive cyber operations to expose and block the Russian efforts.

An SBU investigation determined that Russia was able to launch the malware attack after capturing Ukrainian computer tablets on the battlefield.

Ukraine attributed the attack to a cyber threat actor known as Sandworm, which U.S. and British officials have previously linked to the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence service.
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It started as one man’s hobby, but watching Russian cargo ships on the Bosphorus Strait and spotting those that are busting sanctions by carrying illegal cargo from occupied ports in Ukraine has become a crucial resource for global media and others who monitor compliance.

From his terrace, Yoruk Isik captures with his camera another Russian cargo ship passing Istanbul’s Bosphorus waterway from the Black Sea to European markets and beyond. It started as a hobby, but for Isik, a regional political analyst, monitoring the ships has become a personal passion.

“I am interested in Russian foreign policy, and watching ships on the Bosphorus really gives clues about Russian foreign policy and what they are engaging in, what they are planning to do in the coming months,” he said. 

With the Bosphorus waterway narrowing to a few hundred meters, monitoring ships is relatively easy. Isik records the name of the ships, the cargo, and the flag it is sailing under. He works with an international network of volunteers and nongovernment organizations that share data online on the movement of Russian cargo ships.

The information is crucial for world media and others who monitor compliance. 

Isik’s website, bosphorusobserver.com, has become an important go-to resource for media including Reuters news agency, which uses his photos. With sanction-busting ships often turning off their Automatic Identification System or AIS that allows them to be tracked by international authorities, monitoring efforts by people like Isik are vital, said George Voloshin, a global financial crime expert at ACAMS, a U.S.-based watchdog.

“I think this (ship monitoring) is very valuable because, actually, a common technique is to manipulate your AIS signal by resample just turning down your transponder or trying to manipulate it, interfere with it so that a ship appears to be in a different place in a different location. So, all those leads are potentially valuable,” he said.

Voloshin said such monitoring helped expose Russia’s exports of stolen Ukrainian grain and coal from Black Sea ports that it occupied in Ukraine, much of which Isik recorded passing through the Bosphorus waterway.

Moscow denies accusations that it is busting sanctions.

The waters off Istanbul are under limited Turkish jurisdiction and are an international hub for hundreds of empty cargo ships and tankers that frequently change owners. Experts say this makes tracking difficult and creates conditions favorable to those seeking to circumvent a long list of sanctions.

Adding to the difficulties in applying the sanctions is Turkey’s refusal to enforce them. Ankara says it is not bound by them.

Trade between Russia and Turkey has surged since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“Russia is the world’s most sanctioned country. So, most of the people who are engaged in trade with Russia, they are trying to hide their activities because they are worried that somehow some sanctions will come back and haunt them,” said, the Bosphorous Observer analyst Yoruk Isik.

In 2015, Isik exposed Russia’s export of arms by sea to the Syrian government for its fight against rebels. Now, he spends most of his spare time tracking ships, which he expects to continue for many years, as Russia shows no signs of changing its behavior.
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It started as one man’s hobby, but watching Russian cargo ships on the Bosphorus Strait and spotting those that are busting sanctions by carrying illegal cargo from occupied ports in Ukraine has become a crucial resource for global media and others who monitor compliance. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak named Grant Shapps as his new defense minister Thursday following the resignation of defense chief Ben Wallace. 

Shapps had been serving as secretary of energy security.

Wallace, who led Britain’s military response to the war in Ukraine, signaled his intention to step down last month and issued a formal letter of resignation Thursday after four years on the job.

Wallace said the defense ministry is “more modern, better funded and more confident” than when he took the post in 2019.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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Russian officials said Thursday the country’s air defenses shot down a Ukrainian drone flying toward Moscow.

The Russian defense ministry said the drone was destroyed over the Voskresensky district.

Sergei Sobyanin, Moscow’s mayor, said on Telegram there were no reports of casualties or damage.

Ukraine on Wednesday launched a wave of drone attacks aimed at six Russian regions, including hitting an airport near Russia’s border with Estonia and Latvia.  That drone ignited a huge blaze and damaged four Il-76 military transport planes, which can carry heavy machinery and troops, the Russian news agency Tass reported, quoting emergency officials.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the Russian military would undoubtedly analyze “how this was done in order to take appropriate measures to prevent these situations in the future.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Ukraine was relying on foreign help because the drones “simply would not be able to fly such a distance without carefully researched information from Western satellites.”

Meanwhile, Moscow’s forces hit Kyiv with drones and missiles with what Ukrainian officials described as a “massive, combined attack” that killed two people with falling debris.

Sergei Popko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, described Russia’s attack on the Ukrainian capital as the biggest since the spring, even as Ukraine’s air defenses shot down more than 20 drones and missiles.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Fiji will sign a defense agreement with France, after the Cabinet of the Pacific Islands nation approved the deal, Fiji’s government said in a statement Thursday.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron in July toured the Pacific Islands, where France has overseas territories, denouncing predatory behavior by big powers in a region where China is extending trade and security ties.

Macron’s advisers say France can be an “alternative” and help island nations diversify their partnerships without becoming too reliant on one single country.

A statement from the Fiji Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday said its Cabinet had discussed defense cooperation between Fiji and France and approved a Status of Forces Agreement.

Areas covered by the agreement include joint defense technology research, training, logistical support and emergency and humanitarian assistance.

“The agreement provides a framework for cooperation and assistance through military exchanges and the sharing of expertise between the Republic of Fiji military force and the defense force of the French Republic,” the statement said.

A joint document would be signed by both parties, it said.

France’s embassy in Fiji did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fiji and France began negotiations for a Status of Forces Agreement in 2016, under the Bainimarama government. China instead became a major donor of military vehicles, vessels and other defense equipment around 2018.

The government of Sitiveni Rabuka, elected last year, has shifted attention to the United States and Australia.

France has recently worked with Fiji, Australia and the United States on illegal fishing patrols in the Pacific Ocean.

Rabuka said last week the Pacific Islands should be a “zone of peace, a zone of non-aligned territories”, adding that he hopes the rivalry between the United States and China in the region does not develop into a military conflict or build-up.

The Pacific Islands, pivotal during World War II, are again at the center of a geopolitical contest: Solomon Islands has a security pact with China, while Papua New Guinea signed a defense cooperation deal with the United States.
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England will bring forward the start of its autumn flu and COVID-19 vaccination programs as a precautionary step after the identification of highly mutated COVID variant BA.2.86, which has been found in Britain. 

Scientists have said BA.2.86, an offshoot of the omicron variant, was unlikely to cause a devastating wave of severe disease and death, given immune defenses built up worldwide from vaccination and prior infection. 

However, Britain’s health ministry said annual vaccination programs for older and at-risk groups would start a few weeks earlier than planned in light of the variant. 

“As our world-leading scientists gather more information on the BA.2.86 variant, it makes sense to bring forward the vaccination program,” junior health minister Maria Caulfield said in a statement. 

The variant was first detected in Britain on August 18, and vaccinations will start on September 11, with care home residents and people at highest risk to receive the shots first. 

It is not currently categorized as a “variant of concern” in Britain, and the health ministry said there was no change to wider public health advice. 

The variant was first spotted in Denmark on July 24 after the virus that infected a patient at risk of becoming severely ill was sequenced. It has since been detected in other symptomatic patients, in routine airport screening, and in wastewater samples in a handful of countries. 

England has been without coronavirus restrictions since February 2022, but UK Health Security Agency Chief Executive Jenny Harries said new variants were expected.

“There is limited information available at present on BA.2.86, so the potential impact of this particular variant is difficult to estimate,” Harries said in a statement. 

“As with all emergent and circulating COVID-19 variants … we will continue to monitor BA.2.86 and to advise government and the public as we learn more.”
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United Nations sanctions on Mali will end on Thursday after Russia vetoed a renewal of the measures me that targeted anyone violating or obstructing a 2015 peace deal, hindering aid delivery, committing rights abuses or recruiting child soldiers.

Independent U.N. sanctions monitors reported to the Security Council this month that Mali’s troops and its foreign security partners, believed to be Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, are using violence against women and other “grave human rights abuses” to spread terror.

Thirteen Security Council members voted in favor of a resolution, drafted by France and the United Arab Emirates, to extend the U.N. sanctions and independent monitoring for another year. Russia cast a veto, while China abstained from the vote.

Russia then instead proposed extending U.N. sanctions in Mali for one final year, but immediately ending the independent monitoring now. It was the only country to vote yes, while Japan voted no and the remaining 13 members abstained.

Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood told the council that Russia wanted to eliminate the independent monitoring “to stifle publication of uncomfortable truths about Wagner’s actions in Mali, which require attention.”

In response, Russia’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told Reuters that was speculation and resembled “paranoia,” adding that Russia was “upholding the interests of the affected country — Mali, as the council is supposed to do.”

The U.S. has also accused Wagner, which has about 1,000 fighters in Mali, of engineering an abrupt request by the junta for a 13,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force to leave. The decade-long operation is due to shutdown by the end of the year.

Mali’s junta, which seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021, teamed up with Wagner in 2021 to fight an Islamist insurgency. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a plane crash in Russia last week and President Vladimir Putin then ordered Wagner fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state.

Mali’s military junta wrote to the Security Council earlier this month to ask for the sanctions to be lifted.

The current annual mandate for the U.N. sanctions regime and independent monitoring will expire Thursday. Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia made clear that Russia would not discuss the issue any further after the two votes Wednesday.

The council established the Mali sanctions regime in 2017, which allowed it to impose travel bans and asset freezes. There are currently eight people subjected to the U.N. sanctions measures. The independent monitors reported to the council twice a year on implementation and potential new designations. 
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