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US Places Sanctions on Men Tied to Russian Ultranationalist Group

The United States imposed sanctions Wednesday on two backers of an “ethnically motivated violent extremist group” called the Russian Imperial Movement, or RIM, one of whom visited the United States to make connections with far-right and white nationalist groups.

The U.S. Treasury Department named the two as Stanislav Shevchuk, a Europe-based representative of RIM, who traveled to the United States in 2017 seeking connections with “extremist” groups, and Alexander Zhuchkovsky, a Russia-based supporter of RIM, who has used his Russia-based social media platform to fundraise and recruit for the group.

Since 2014, Zhuchkovsky has raised more than $3.4 million to purchase weapons and military equipment for RIM and other pro-Russian fighters in the Donbas region in Ukraine and facilitated the travel of RIM fighters to the region, the Treasury said.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Zhuchkovsky has continued using his social media accounts and online payment methods to purchase military equipment and supplies for Russian fighters carrying out the invasion and fighting in the Donbas, it added.

“The Russian Imperial Movement has sought to raise and move funds using the international financial system with the intent of building a global network of violent groups that foster extremist views and subvert democratic processes,” Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement.

The Treasury said it also imposed sanctions on Swede Anton Thulin for his pursuit of terrorist training even after serving his prison sentence for his 2017 attacks in Sweden, which it said showed he continues to be a terrorism threat.

Ukrainian Orphan Finds New Home and Hope in America

Phil and Kristie Graves are a U.S.couple from Maryland and parents of three biological children and an adopted girl with special needs from Armenia. Recently, they decided to adopt a six-year-old girl with special needs from Ukraine. But that was before the Russian invasion. Anush Avetisyan has the story.
Videographer: Dmytri Shakhov  

Allies to Discuss Ukraine’s Defense Needs

U.S. Defense Minister Lloyd Austin is leading a meeting of dozens of his counterparts from NATO member states and other parts of the world Wednesday to discuss their latest efforts to boost military aid to Ukraine in the face of the nearly four-month Russian invasion.

The talks are taking place on the sidelines of a NATO defense ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

A virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group last month drew representatives from nearly 50 nations and pledges of new aid packages. Ukrainian officials continue to urge international partners to send more weapons, especially heavy artillery, in order to help Ukrainian forces, match up against Russia.

“The question is what do the Ukrainians need to continue the success they’ve already seen in slowing down and thwarting that Russian objective and that’ll be a major focus for the defense ministers,” a senior U.S. defense official said ahead of Wednesday’s meeting.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters Tuesday that Ukraine “should have more heavy weapons.” He said Ukraine’s forces “absolutely depend on that to be able to stand up against the brutal Russian invasion.”

‘Donbas is the key’

The talks come as Russian forces push to gain full control of the eastern industrial city of Sievierodonetsk, located in the Donbas region that Russia has declared to be its main focus of its operation in Ukraine.

“Hanging in there in Donbas is crucial,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message late Tuesday. “Donbas is the key to deciding who will dominate in the coming weeks.”

Russia now controls about 80% of Sievierodonetsk and has destroyed all three bridges leading out of it, Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said Tuesday.

With Russia’s destruction of bridges, Haidai acknowledged that a mass evacuation of civilians from Sievierodonetsk now is “simply not possible” because of Moscow’s relentless shelling and fighting in the city.

He said Ukrainian forces have been pushed to the outskirts of the city because of “the scorched earth method and heavy artillery the Russians are using.”

But Haidai told The Associated Press that Russian forces had not blocked off access to the city, leaving Ukraine with “an opportunity for the evacuation of the wounded, communication with the Ukrainian military and local residents.”

Population down to 12,000

About 12,000 of the city’s original population of 100,000 remain, with 500 civilians sheltering in the Azot chemical plant, which is being shelled by the Russians.

Russian Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev said a humanitarian corridor will be opened Wednesday to evacuate civilians from the chemical plant, but that they will be taken to the town of Svatovo, which is under control of Russian and separatist forces.

Slowly, but relentlessly, Russia appears to be gaining the upper hand in the fight for control of the Donbas region, which encompasses the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces of Ukraine that Russia recognizes as independent states.

Russia seized Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, and Kyiv’s forces have been fighting pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region since then.

Some material in this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press, and Agence France-Presse.

UK Cancels First Flight to Deport Asylum Seekers to Rwanda

Britain has canceled its first deportation flight to Rwanda after a last-minute intervention by the European Court of Human Rights, which decided there was “a real risk of irreversible harm” to the asylum-seekers involved. 

The flight had been scheduled to leave Tuesday evening, but lawyers for the asylum-seekers launched a flurry of case-by-case appeals seeking to block the deportation of everyone on the government’s list. 

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss had said earlier in the day that the plane would take off no matter how many people were on board. But after the appeals, no one remained. 

The decision to scrap the Tuesday flight caps three days of frantic court challenges as immigration rights advocates and labor unions sought to stop the deportations. The leaders of the Church of England joined the opposition, calling the government’s policy “immoral.” 

Earlier in the day, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had emphatically defended the plan. “We are going to get on and deliver” the plan, Johnson declared, arguing that the move was a legitimate way to protect lives and thwart the criminal gangs that smuggle migrants across the English Channel in small boats. 

The prime minister announced an agreement with Rwanda in April in which people who entered Britain illegally would be deported to the East African country. In exchange for accepting them, Rwanda would receive millions of pounds (dollars) in development aid. The deportees would be allowed to apply for asylum in Rwanda, not Britain. 

Opponents have argued that it is illegal and inhumane to send people thousands of miles to a country they don’t want to live in. Britain in recent years has seen an illegal influx of migrants from such places as Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Iraq and Yemen. 

Activists have denounced the policy as an attack on the rights of refugees that most countries have recognized since the end of World War II. 

Politicians in Denmark and Austria are considering similar proposals. Australia has operated an asylum-processing center in the Pacific Island nation of Nauru since 2012.

US Open Will Allow Russian, Belarusian Tennis Players

Citing “concern about holding individual athletes accountable for the actions and decisions of their governments,” the U.S. Tennis Association will let Russian and Belarusian tennis players participate in the U.S. Open later this summer.

Wimbledon will still maintain the ban on those athletes, which will include the world’s No. 1 player, Daniil Medvedev. Medvedev is the defending U.S. Open champion.

Wimbledon starts June 27 in England. The U.S. Open starts August 29 in New York.

Players from Russia and Belarus will participate under a neutral flag.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Russian athletes have been banned from competing in a variety of sports, including soccer’s World Cup qualifying playoffs.

Some information in this report comes from The Associated Press and Reuters.

London Marks 5 Years Since Deadly Grenfell Tower Fire

London has marked the fifth anniversary of the deadly Grenfell Tower inferno that killed 72 in Britain’s deadliest residential fire since World War II.

In a subsequent investigation, the 23-story residential building was found to have widespread flaws in building regulations.

Among the events marking the anniversary was a memorial service held Tuesday at Westminster Abbey, including 72 seconds of silence and a wreath laying.

“The bereaved survivors and residents that I have spoken to are clear if nothing changes, those who lost their lives will have died in vain, and they are not prepared to accept that,” solicitor Imran Khan told the congregation at Westminster Abbey.

The fire was started by an electrical problem in a refrigerator, but a combustible cladding system retrofitted to the tower’s external walls was the main factor in the relentless spread of the deadly flames.

Some information in this report comes from Reuters.

Five Nations Revive 51-year-old Security Pact Amid China Threat

Britain and four Asian members of the Commonwealth have announced efforts to expand and re-energize the Five Powers Defense Arrangements (FPDA), a 51-year-old series of mutual assistance agreements embracing the U.K, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand and Britain.

At its core, the pact commits the members to consult with one another in the event or threat of an armed attack on any of the FPDA members and to mutually decide what measures should be taken, jointly or separately. There is no specific obligation to intervene militarily.

The pact was established in 1971, following the termination of the United Kingdom’s defense guarantees for what was then known as Malaya.

The issue arose at a breakfast meeting of the Five Power Defense Ministers’ Meeting — which is the core body of the FPDA — on the sidelines of the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue which ended in Singapore on Sunday.

“At the FDMM, the Ministers discussed ways to deepen existing cooperation in conventional domains, as well as grow collaboration in non-conventional and emerging domains, to ensure that the FPDA remained relevant in addressing contemporary security challenges,” Singapore’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

“The FDMM also discussed the important role of the FPDA in building confidence, promoting a rules-based international order, and providing reassurance amidst a climate of heightened geopolitical tensions,” it said.

Malaysia’s senior minister for defense, Hishammuddin Hussein, said at the meeting that his “biggest concern is unintended incidents and accidents that may spiral out of control and make it bigger than what it is.”

Though he did not mention any country by name, the most immediate security threats in the region include a possible attack on Taiwan by China and an accident involving North Korean nuclear missiles.

“If these platforms [such as the FPDA] did not exist, there wouldn’t be any opportunity to manage incidents that do sometimes go out of control,” Hussein said.

Besides Hussein, those attending the meeting were Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen, Australia Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles, New Zealand Defense Minister Peeni Henare and British High Commissioner to Singapore Kara Owen. All five reaffirmed their commitment to the FPDA.

“Australia is deeply committed to the FPDA,” Marles told journalists at the venue. “It’s not something we take for granted.”

Marles also said FPDA is looking at maritime security and counterterrorism, as well as how to work together to deal with humanitarian issues and the securing of supply chains.

“All of these are fields in which we can work to give the FPDA modern relevance, which we are really keen to do,” he said.

The renewed interest in FPDA follows the establishment in 2007 of the Quad — an informal security dialogue involving Australia, India, Japan, and the United States — and AUKUS, a 2021 security pact among the United States, Britain and Australia.

Despite those newer arrangements, Marles said FPDA remains relevant because it “is based on 50 years of history.”

“AUKUS and the Quad have their roles, and we’re obviously committed to that architecture as well, but something which is as enduring as the FPDA is really precious to Australia.”

Singapore’s Ministry of Defense said that FPDA will continue to promote regional cooperation and contribute constructively to the regional security architecture through regular exercises, dialogues and platforms for professional interaction.

Besides Taiwan and the North Korean nuclear threat, there is also continuing concern in the region about China’s expansive claim to jurisdiction over most of the South China Sea.

“Indeed, the contemporary context of the FPDA leads inescapably to the South China Sea, where China is rubbing up against Malaysia’s offshore claims, raising the possibility that external aggression and conventional warfare could again revisit Southeast Asia,” wrote Euan Graham, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Security at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) in Singapore.

“As the powers cast five wary sets of eyes on the next 50 years, it is far from clear that their long-term vision is aligned,” Graham wrote on the Shangri-La Dialogue website.

Kremlin: Britain Should Talk to Separatist Leaders Regarding UK Nationals Sentenced to Death

The Kremlin says the United Kingdom should address the leaders of separatist-controlled parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk region and not Moscow over two Britons sentenced to death last week for fighting alongside Ukrainian forces against Russian troops in eastern Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Tuesday that British authorities had not turned to Moscow regarding the fate of Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner who, along with Moroccan national Saaudun Brahim, were sentenced to death on June 9 for “mercenary activities” by what separatists called the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People’s Republic.

“They should address the authorities of the country that pronounced the sentences, and that is not the Russian Federation,” Peskov said.

Britain, the United Nations, Ukraine, and Germany have condemned the death sentences.

Aslin’s family said he and Pinner were living in Ukraine when the war broke out in February and “as members of Ukrainian armed forces, should be treated with respect just like any other prisoners of war.”

The father of Saaudun Brahim said on June 13 that his son is also a Ukrainian citizen and should be treated accordingly.

Britain has condemned the sentencing of its citizens as an “egregious breach” of the Geneva Convention, under which prisoners of war are entitled to combatant immunity and should not be prosecuted for participating in hostilities.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on June 14 that she would do whatever was necessary to secure the release of the two.

“I have assured the families that I will do what is most effective to secure their release and I am not going to go into our strategy live on air…The best route is through the Ukrainians,” she told BBC Radio.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on June 11 that she believed the separatist authorities would ultimately act rationally, “for they are well aware of the irreparable implications for them and for the Russians if they take any wrong steps against these three of our soldiers.”

Among U.N. member states, only Russia recognizes the entire Ukrainian province of Donetsk as the Donetsk People’s Republic. The territory is internationally recognized as part of Ukraine.

Crowds Returned to Milan Furniture Fair After 2-year Hiatus 

Italy’s furniture and design industry embraced the Milan Furniture Fair after a two-year pandemic delay with unapologetic, over-the-top statement pieces, multi-purpose furnishings adapted to small spaces, and sustainable creations by young designers pushing the industry toward a greener path. 

After a surprising pandemic redecorating boom, the industry is looking to an uncertain future. There are raw materials shortages, higher transport costs and general economic uncertainty generated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sales of Italian furnishings surged to 16 billion euros (about $16.7 billion) in 2021, a 16% increase over 2019 and 25% more than 2020. 

Despite the murky outlook, the world’s premiere furniture and design fair, known in Italian as Salone del Mobile, kept the focus on innovation as it recorded a rebound in attendance during six days of previews that closed Sunday. 

“Attendance was above expectations,” reaching some 400,000 at both Salone and collateral events that spill out into the city, said Alessia Cappello, Milan’s top economic development official. Two-thirds were from overseas. 

Eye-catching novelties included an oversize gild-framed non-fungible token (NFT); benches that convert to workstations or shaded beds for the homeless; and an elegant, dignified walker whose purpose was disguised by its sculpted shape. 

“It was fantastic to be back at Salone del Mobile,” said Alana Stevens, president of the U.S. furniture maker Knoll. “Much more than a fair, rather a gathering of an incredible global community of those passionate about design. The intersection of designers, artists and the business of design was inspiring.” 

German fashion designer Philipp Plein unveiled his inaugural furniture collection in collaboration with the Dutch brand Eichholtz, which has furnished many of Plein’s own homes in Europe and the United States. 

Plein’s entry into home design closes a circle for the designer, whose first enterprise was designing dog beds. Fittingly, the new collection includes a leather dog bed on a golden frame for a well-appointed pooch. 

“He represents over-the-top luxury, and people want that right now,” said Eichholtz COO Robin Goemans. 

Jet-setters aspiring to Plein’s rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic can settle into a curved velvet sofa with gold studding. They can admire their wardrobe on a marble-pedestal clothing rack fit for a diva, and their sneaker collection in a standing trunk with mirrored interior. A marble table doubles as a pingpong table, and unique NFTs are digitalized into logoed mirrors. 

Plein is just the latest fashion brand to enter the world of furniture design starting in the early 1990s, often by way of homes collections featuring bedding, pillows and towels close to their textile roots. 

“The fashion world understood at a certain point that design was able to capture the popular imagination in a way that was extremely interesting also for clothing brands,” said Marco Sammicheli, director of design at the Triennale design museum. 

On the sidelines of Salone, Sammicheli curated a show at the Triennale of the Memphis Group, a postmodern design movement founded by Ettore Sottsass that made its world debut at the Milan Furniture Fair in 1981. 

The movement pushed the limits between the commercial and the artistic, tensions that still exist between the trade fair, with its commercial aims, and the myriad collateral events where the focus is often more on artistic statements. 

“Memphis is the example that gives the best interpretation of Italian design after Olivetti and before Alessi,” Sammicheli said, referring to the Olivetti business machine manufacturer best known for its typewriter, and the Alessi tableware and décor brand. 

Alessi celebrated its 100th anniversary at Salone with a cutlery collaboration with the late Off-White designer Virgil Abloh. It held an exhibition looking at the family-owned company’s journey from a metal factory to a laboratory for design, and a dinner where invited guests included some of the 300 designers who have worked with the brand in recent decades. 

Abloh’s three-piece cutlery set, dubbed “Occasional Object,” features an industrial design reminiscent of a mess kit, with a carabiner to clip the pieces together and onto the body as a fashion extension easily paired with the popular Off-White 200-centimeter industrial belt. 

Nigerian designer Lani Adeoye won top prize at the SaloneSatellite event with the walker she designed for her grandfather, who rejected the more standard, medical-looking versions. An interlocking arch that represents unity gives her walker a sculptural flair, and the cording made out of water hyacinth connects local artistry with sustainable materials. 

“He is a dignified man who worked at the bank for many years and finds it embarrassing to be out with a walker,” said the 32-year-old designer. “You can have it in your environment, and it looks artistic. No one knows it is a walker.”

Satellite is open to designers under 35 years old, and aims to help them develop relationships with manufacturers and find ways to realize projects that were developed “in full liberty, without needing to take into account production processes,” said Maria Porro, president of Salone. 

The younger generation’s natural hewing to sustainable materials and processes also presents a challenge to the wider industry. Bigger brands are more often heralding sustainable materials. 

That included recycled plastics in the latest iterations of Kartell’s famed Louis Ghost chair by Philippe Starck, but also the Re-Chair collaboration with illy coffee that is made from discarded coffee pods, alleviating somewhat the guilt of the home capsule consumer. 

Knoll introduced an oak chair, bench and stool series by Antonio Citterio called Klismos. Cotton chord is woven into a seat with a light elastic give, and the wood is notched together, so it doesn’t require glue, typically sourced from petroleum products. Leather cushions filled with vegetable fibers are optional. 

While responsibly sourced materials are important, Porro said, the real challenge to the industry is to reduce its energy footprint, doing things like replacing electric light with natural light and producing by order instead of creating stock. Toward that end, the Federlegno association of Italian furniture makers joined the UN Global Compact committing to responsible business practices during the 60th Salone last week. 

“We need sustainable production, that is the real challenge,” Porro said. “It is a question of culture.”

New Saudi-Sponsored Golf Tour Roils US Golf

A startup professional golf tour backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has roiled the usually staid world of professional golf — the PGA Tour — in the United States.

The PGA suspended 17 professional players last week for participating in the inaugural Saudi tournament, which began June 9.

The new tour, the LIV Golf Invitational Series, has caused controversy for months, in large part because critics of the Saudi regime’s policies claimed it was a way to launder the reputation of the country’s monarchy, particularly that of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The crown prince has been held in disrepute internationally since at least 2018, when agents of his government allegedly assassinated journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi embassy in Istanbul and dismembered his body to hide the evidence. The CIA later concluded that Salman ordered the killing.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who, as a candidate in 2019, declared that Saudi Arabia should be considered a “pariah” state based on its record of human rights abuses, including the Khashoggi killing, is currently attempting a rapprochement with the Saudi regime. He is expected to visit Riyadh in July.

A new approach

The Roman numerals in the new tour’s name — LIV, or 54 — refer to its format. Unlike the traditional PGA Tour, which typically involves four rounds of golf totaling 72 holes, LIV Golf consists of just three rounds, for a total of 54 holes.

LIV Golf markets itself as taking a fresh approach to a sport steeped in history, decorum and understatement. Its tournaments feature loud music, a team format and “shotgun” starts in which all teams begin play at the same time at different holes.

The new tour also offers large purses. On Saturday, South African golfer Charl Schwartzel won the tournament’s top individual prize of $4 million. Schwartzel’s side also won the team competition, splitting an additional $3 million between the four of them.

The Saudis are also reportedly paying top players undisclosed appearance fees, which in some cases might exceed the prize money on offer at specific tournaments.

Indeed, the amount of money the Saudis are pouring into LIV Golf appears be a major reason it has been able to separate well-known players, including Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed, from the PGA Tour.

LIV ‘leverage’

Early this year, American golfer Phil Mickelson, one of the most popular and successful players of his generation, sparked anger after a biographer quoted him weighing the pros and cons of playing in the new league.

Characterizing the Saudi leadership as “scary,” Mickelson said, “We know they killed Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it?”

Mickelson went on to say that he has joined LIV Golf because he saw the new league as a way to force change on the PGA Tour, which he characterized as “manipulative” and “coercive,” toward players.

“The Saudi money has finally given us that leverage,” he said.

Mickelson was immediately dropped by a number of high-profile sponsors. He later apologized and withdrew from professional golf for months. However, he was on hand when the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational London tournament kicked off June 9 in Hemel Hempstead, England.

Dueling statements

As the LIV event began, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan sent a letter to the tour members announcing that 17 players had been suspended for their participation. Ten of them had already voluntarily resigned their PGA Tour membership.

“These players have made their choice for their own financial-based reasons,” a decision, he wrote, that “disrespects you, our fans and our partners.”

He added: “I am certain our fans and partners — who are surely tired of all this talk of money, money and more money — will continue to be entertained and compelled by the world-class competition you display each and every week, where there are true consequences for every shot you take and your rightful place in history whenever you reach that elusive winner’s circle.”

LIV Golf responded immediately with a statement of its own.

“Today’s announcement by the PGA Tour is vindictive and it deepens the divide between the Tour and its members,” it said. “It’s troubling that the Tour, an organization dedicated to creating opportunities for golfers to play the game, is the entity blocking golfers from playing. This certainly is not the last word on this topic. The era of free agency is beginning as we are proud to have a full field of players joining us in London, and beyond.”

‘Staggering’ amount of money

John A. Fortunato, a professor at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business, told VOA that the question of “free agency” in golf is not new. Some European players, for example, play in PGA Tour events in the U.S. but also participate in non-PGA events in Europe.

Fortunato, the author of the book Making the Cut: Life Inside the PGA Tour System, also said that freedom from the PGA’s participation rules is probably not the main driver behind some players opting for the LIV, he said.

“The amount of money is staggering,” he said. Indeed, Schwartzel’s $4 million purse in the LIV opener dwarfed the approximately $1.5 million that Rory McIlroy took home for winning a PGA Tour event in Canada on the same weekend.

Television deals and sponsors

Fortunato said the new league’s long-term success will hinge in part on getting television networks to cover its tournaments — a task that will be difficult in the U.S., given that most major broadcast networks as well as cable sports giant ESPN have long-standing relationships with the PGA Tour.

He said another factor will be how two “major” tournaments in the U.S. that are not run by the PGA Tour decide to address the issue of LIV participation.

One of those tournaments, the U.S. Open, begins Thursday, June 16, and appears poised to allow LIV participants to play. But that may be in part because the organizers did not have time to develop a policy toward the new tour.

The next Masters Tournament, held by the Augusta National Golf Club, will not take place until spring 2023. The Masters could prevent LIV participants from playing in Augusta.

“That’s the big domino that I’m watching,” Fortunato said. “And that is the thing that the PGA Tour, I think, is most hoping for.”

Rebranded McDonald’s Restaurants Open in Russia

After many Western companies left Russia in response to its aggression against Ukraine, Moscow opened the first of the restaurants that are meant to replace those of the American fast food giant McDonald’s. The rebranded Russian version — some call it a knockoff — aims not only to serve hamburgers but to affirm Russia’s self-sufficiency and defiance. Marcus Harton narrates this report from Moscow.

UK Reports 104 More Cases of Monkeypox, Mostly in Men

British health officials have detected another 104 cases of monkeypox in England in what has become the biggest outbreak beyond Africa of the normally rare disease.

The U.K.’s Health Security Agency said Monday there were now 470 cases of monkeypox across the country, with the vast majority in gay or bisexual men. Scientists warn that anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, is susceptible to catching monkeypox if they are in close, physical contact with an infected person or their clothing or bed sheets.

According to U.K. data, 99% of the cases so far have been in men and most are in London.

In May, a leading adviser to the World Health Organization said the monkeypox outbreak in Europe and beyond was likely spread by sex at two recent raves in Spain and Belgium.

Last week, WHO said 1,285 cases of monkeypox had been reported from 28 countries where monkeypox was not known to be endemic. No deaths have been reported outside of Africa. After the U.K., the biggest numbers of cases have been reported in Spain, Germany and Canada.

WHO said many people in the outbreak have “atypical features” of the disease which could make it more difficult for doctors to diagnose. The U.N. health agency also said while close contact can spread monkeypox, “it is not clear what role sexual bodily fluids, including semen and vaginal fluids, play in the transmission.”

Meanwhile, countries in Africa have reported more than 1,500 suspected cases including 72 deaths from eight countries. Monkeypox is considered endemic in Central and West Africa.

Bachelet to Step Down When Term as UN Rights Commissioner Ends August 31 

U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet says she will step down as high commissioner when her term ends in late August. She disclosed this information, without a detailed explanation, at the opening of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s 50th session.

Following her review of global human rights developments to the council, Bachelet told journalists in Geneva that she was retiring for personal reasons. She said her decision has nothing to do with criticisms over a recent trip to China.

Human rights activists have criticized her for failing to condemn Beijing’s forced incarceration of nearly two million Uyghurs in Xinjiang during her visit.

Bachelet told the media that she had informed U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres two months before she went to China that she would not be seeking a second term.

“He told me that he would love me to continue but I explained to him that because of personal reasons, I need to…I am not a young woman anymore and after a long and rich career, I want to go back to my country, to my family … After being so many years a minister, president, high commissioner, I think it is time. It is time to go back,” she said.

Previously, in her speech to the council, Bachelet addressed the barrage of criticism leveled at her. Bachelet said she had discussed specific human rights concerns with senior officials in China. These included government policies for countering terrorism, the protection of the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, and legal protection for women.

“I also raised concerns regarding the human rights situation of the Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, including broad arbitrary detention and patterns of abuse, both in the VETC [Vocational Education and Training Centers] system and in other detention facilities. My office’s assessment of the human rights situation in Xinjiang is being updated. It will be shared with the government for factual comments before publication,” she said.

One critic was Rushan Abbas, founder and executive director of the Washington-based organization Campaign for Uyghurs. Abbas recently said Bachelet made a “mockery” of the U.N. human rights office by adopting Beijing’s narrative. He called for her to resign, saying in a tweet she neglects her mandate and the U.N.’s founding principles.

Human rights activists have repeatedly demanded that Bachelet release her long-awaited report on China’s human rights abuses. The high commissioner said the report would be issued before she left office. Beijing denies the accusations of rights abuses.

In her lengthy presentation to the council, the high commissioner reported widespread violations were destroying and impoverishing the lives of countless millions of people in all regions of the world.

She focused on the war in Ukraine, which she said continued to destroy the lives of many, causing havoc and destruction. She noted the horrors inflicted on the civilian population would leave an indelible mark for generations to come.

She condemned Russia, which invaded Ukraine on February 24, for arbitrarily arresting large numbers of antiwar protesters. She called the increase in censorship and restrictions on independent Russian media regrettable.

Asim Kashgarian contributed to this report.

Zelenskyy: Ukrainian, Russian Forces Battle for ‘Every Meter’ in Sievierodonetsk

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his forces and those from Russia are fighting for “literally every meter” in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, while pleading to international partners that Ukraine “needs modern missile defense systems.”  

In his latest nightly video message, Zelenskyy said Russia’s “key tactical goal” has not changed, with Russian forces also pushing toward Lysychansk, Bakhmut, Slovyansk, to the west and southwest of Sievierodonetsk.

Zelenskyy’s adviser Mykahilo Podolyak tweeted Monday that “to end the war we need heavy weapons parity.”  He listed several categories of weapons, including 1,000 howitzers, 300 multiple launch rocket systems, 500 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles and 1,000 drones.

‘Contact Group of Defense Ministers meeting is held in Brussels on June 15,” Podolyak said. “We are waiting for a decision.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is convening the meeting at NATO headquarters.  A virtual meeting of the group last month drew representatives from 47 countries, NATO and the European Union. 

Austin said after the May talks that the group was “intensifying our efforts” and working to deepen coordination with Ukraine “so that Ukraine can sustain and strengthen its battlefield operations.”

Britain’s defense ministry said Monday that in recent days the battle around Sievierodonetsk “has continued to rage.”

The ministry said Russia’s ability to carry out river crossing operations will likely be one of the most important factors in the war in the coming months.

“To achieve success in the current operational phase of its Donbas offensive, Russia is either going to have to complete ambitious flanking actions, or conduct assault river crossings,” it said.

Russian forces bombarded a chemical plant sheltering hundreds of soldiers and civilians in Sievierodonetsk on Sunday, but the Luhansk regional governor said the plant remained under Ukrainian control.

Russia claims it already controls 97% of the Luhansk province. But capturing the industrial city of Sievierodonetsk, with a prewar population of 100,000, remains crucial to Moscow’s broader goal of controlling the eastern Donbas region, which encompasses the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces.

Russia seized Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and Kyiv’s forces have been fighting pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region since then.

Leonid Pasechnik, the head of the separatist-declared Luhansk People’s Republic, acknowledged, “Sievierodonetsk is not completely 100% liberated. So, it’s impossible to call the situation calm in Sievierodonetsk, that it is completely ours.”

Some information in this report came from Reuters and The Associated Press.  

Amnesty Accuses Russia of War Crimes in Kharkiv, Killing Hundreds

Amnesty International on Monday accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine, saying attacks on Kharkiv, many using banned cluster bombs, had killed hundreds of civilians.  

“The repeated bombardments of residential neighborhoods in Kharkiv are indiscriminate attacks which killed and injured hundreds of civilians, and as such constitute war crimes,” the rights group said in a report on Ukraine’s second-largest city.   

“This is true both for the strikes carried out using cluster (munitions) as well as those conducted using other types of unguided rockets and unguided artillery shells,” it said.   

“The continued use of such inaccurate explosive weapons in populated civilian areas, in the knowledge that they are repeatedly causing large numbers of civilian casualties, may even amount to directing attacks against the civilian population.” 

Bombs and land mines

Amnesty said it had uncovered proof in Kharkiv of the repeated use by Russian forces of 9N210 and 9N235 cluster bombs and scatterable land mines, all of which are banned under international conventions. 

Cluster bombs release dozens of bomblets or grenades in mid-air, scattering them indiscriminately over hundreds of square meters (yards).  

Scatterable land mines combine “the worst possible attributes of cluster munitions and antipersonnel land mines,” Amnesty said. 

Unguided artillery shells have a margin of error of over 100 meters. 

The report, entitled “Anyone Can Die At Any Time,” details how Russian forces began targeting civilian areas of Kharkiv on the first day of the invasion on February 24. 

The “relentless” shelling continued for two months, wreaking “wholesale destruction” on the city of 1.5 million. 

“People have been killed in their homes and in the streets, in playgrounds and in cemeteries, while queueing for humanitarian aid, or shopping for food and medicine,” said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s senior crisis response adviser. 

“The repeated use of widely banned cluster munitions is shocking, and a further indication of utter disregard for civilian lives. 

“The Russian forces responsible for these horrific attacks must be held accountable.” 

‘She stood no chance’

Kharkiv’s Military Administration told Amnesty 606 civilians had been killed and 1,248 wounded in the region since the conflict began.   

Russia and Ukraine are not parties to the international conventions banning cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines. 

But, Amnesty stressed, “international humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate attacks and the use of weapons that are indiscriminate by nature.  

“Launching indiscriminate attacks resulting in death or injury to civilians, or damage to civilian objects, constitutes war crimes,” it said.   

One of the witnesses Amnesty spoke to had survived cancer, only to lose both her legs in a Russian cluster bomb attack. 

Olena Sorokina, 57, was outside her building when flying shrapnel hit her. She lost one leg instantly and the other had to be amputated later. 

A neighbor with her was killed on the spot. The latter’s daughter said the shrapnel tore through the building.  

“Even if mum had been inside her home she would have been hit. She stood no chance in the face of such bombing,” she said. 

Amnesty investigated 41 Russian strikes that killed at least 62 people and wounded at least 196. It spoke to 160 people in Kharkiv over two weeks in April and May, including survivors, victims’ relatives, witnesses and doctors. 

Ukraine says it has launched more than 12,000 war crimes probes since the war began. 

Pro-Russian Separatists Uphold Foreigners’ Death Sentences

A pro-Russian separatist leader in eastern Ukraine said Sunday he would not alter the death sentences handed to two Britons and a Moroccan for fighting with the Ukrainian army. 

“They came to Ukraine to kill civilians for money. That’s why I don’t see any conditions for any mitigation or modification of the sentence,” Denis Pushilin, the leader of the separatist Donetsk region, which tried them, told reporters. 

Pushilin said the court had “issued a perfectly fair punishment” to the three fighters. 

He also accused British Prime Minister Boris Johnson of ignoring their fate and failing to contact the separatist authorities. 

Pushilin was speaking at a press conference attended by AFP in Mariupol, the capital of the breakaway area, as part of a trip organized by the Russian defense ministry to the battle-scarred Ukrainian city which was captured by Russian and separatist forces in May. 

On Friday, Johnson’s spokesman said he was “appalled” by the death sentences handed down to Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner and Moroccan Brahim Saadun. 

“It is clear they were Ukrainian armed forces members and are therefore prisoners of war,” and not mercenaries as the separatist authorities in Donetsk accuse them of being, the spokesman said. 

According to the families of Aslin and Pinner, the two men have been living in the country since 2018.

On Friday, the United Nations expressed concern over the death sentences handed down against the prisoners by pro-Russian rebels.

Ukraine Hails Teen Drone Operator Who Spied Russian Armor

As Russian tanks and trucks rumbled close to their village, a Ukrainian teenager and his father stealthily launched their small drone into the air.

Working as a team, they took bird’s-eye photos of the armored column moving toward Kyiv and pinpointed its coordinates, swiftly messaging the precious information to the Ukrainian military.

Within minutes, artillery batteries rained shells down on the invading forces, with deadly effect.

Andriy Pokrasa, 15, and his dad, Stanislav, are being hailed in Ukraine for their volunteer aerial reconnaissance work in the early days of the invasion, when Russian troops barreling in from the north made an ultimately failed attempt to take the capital and bring the country to its knees.

For a full week after the Feb. 24 invasion, the pair made repeated sorties with their drone — risking capture or worse had Russian troops been aware of their snooping.

“These were some of the scariest moments of my life,” Andriy recounted as he demonstrated his piloting skills for an Associated Press team of journalists.

“We provided the photos and the location to the armed forces,” he said. “They narrowed down the coordinates more accurately and transmitted them by walkie-talkie, so as to adjust the artillery.”

His father was happy to leave the piloting to the boy.

“I can operate the drone, but my son does it much better. We immediately decided he would do it,” Stanislav Pokrasa, 41, said.

They aren’t sure how many Russian targets were destroyed using information they provided. But they saw the devastation wrought on the Russian convoy when they later flew the drone back over the charred hulks of trucks and tanks near a town west of Kyiv and off a strategically important highway that leads to the capital.

“There were more than 20 Russian military vehicles destroyed, among them fuel trucks and tanks,” the father said.

As Russian and Ukrainian forces battled furiously for control of Kyiv’s outskirts, Ukrainian soldiers finally urged the Pokrasa family to leave their village, which Russian troops subsequently occupied.

With all adult men up to age 60 under government orders to stay in the country, the elder Pokrasa couldn’t join his wife and son when they fled to neighboring Poland.

They came back a few weeks ago, when Andriy had finished his school year.

“I was happy that we destroyed someone,” he said. “I was happy that I contributed, that I was able to do something. Not just sitting and waiting.”

Life Goes On as Ukraine Army Holds War Weddings

Air raid sirens wailed and one of the brides wore camouflage trousers as the Ukrainian army took a break from frontline fighting in the east to hold a double wedding Sunday.

Two young couples who met just months earlier while serving in the army tied the knot together Sunday in the small city of Druzhkivka, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from frontline zones where Ukrainian forces are battling Russian invaders.

The sun shone and soldiers carried bouquets in a brief interlude from heavy fighting as Russians intensify efforts to push out Kyiv’s forces in the east.

One of the brides, Khrystyna Lyuta, a 23-year-old contract soldier with the rank of private first class, wore camouflage trousers and army boots with a traditional red Ukrainian blouse embroidered with flowers.

“I’ve got used to this uniform,” she explained of her choice of outfit.

She met her husband Volodymyr Mykhalchuk, 28, just two months ago, when he was mobilized. They live around five kilometers from each other in the same southwestern Vinnytsia region but might never have met if it had not been for the war.

“War is war, but life goes on,” Lyuta explained their decision to marry.

“This was not a hasty decision,” said Volodymyr.

“The main thing is that we love each other and we want to be together.”

The other bride, Kristina (no last name given), 23, who works in the signal corps, opted for a traditional long white dress with red folk embroidery to marry Vitaliy Orlich, also 23, a sniper.

“I believe that this is about creating a new family — it doesn’t matter where it happens or how,” she said.

The grooms both wore soldiers’ uniforms.

The couples were set to return to serve in the war zone on the same day.

“I can’t give them free days as such. The only thing is that they won’t be on the frontline, they will stay in the rear,” the brigade’s commander Oleksandr Okhrimenko told AFP.

Neither couple had family present but they said relatives had been understanding.

Kristina said that her husband had spoken to her mother online and “she already calls him a son”.

The soldiers were from the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade, which has been fighting Russian-backed forces in Donbas since May.

The young couples married in front of a registry office, which had closed due to the war.

The quiet street had few cars and occasional trams. Sandbags were piled up in front of cafe and shop windows.

‘There’s no time’

The couples went through traditional rituals such as stepping together onto an embroidered towel, symbolizing togetherness.

The brigade’s chaplain gave them an Orthodox Christian blessing, flicking holy water and placing crowns on their heads, on the day of a major Church holiday, the Festival of the Holy Trinity.

The Priest in a khaki cassock, Yuriy Zdebskiy, told AFP that “it’s the first marriage in the brigade in wartime”, since Russia launched its invasion on February 24.

“Now it’s wartime and there’s no time for big celebrations,” he said.

The infantry brigade’s commander, Okhrimenko, has the right to certify marriages under martial law.

He said the location for the weddings “was chosen primarily for security reasons”.

Druzhkivka is about 40 kilometers as the crow flies from three fronts, as Russian troop threaten the towns of Slovyansk to the northeast, Bakhmut to the east and Horlivka to the southeast.

Hours later, AFP reporters heard shelling and saw smoke rising as the two sides exchanged fire close to Bakhmut.

Even in relatively untouched Druzhkivka, shelling earlier this month tore apart private houses and crashed through the roof of a Baptist church in one street.

During the wedding, air raid sirens went off three times, an AFP reporter heard.

None of those attending reacted. Many war-hardened locals now ignore warnings to go to shelters unless there is an obvious threat.

France Centrists, New Far-Left Running Neck-and-Neck in Legislative Polls

France’s ruling centrists and a new far-left alliance are neck-and-neck in the first round of legislative elections Sunday, with the far-right third in the lineup. Initial projections put the Ensemble or “Together” party of French President Emmanuel Macron and the left-wing NUPES coalition with just over a quarter of all votes apiece, amid record abstentions.

It’s hard to find a supporter of centrist President Emmanuel Macron and his party in a working-class neighborhood in northeastern Paris.

Martine Barratte, leaving a polling station with her husband and eight-year-old daughter, has just cast her ballot for a left-wing coalition and its leading force, Jean-Luc Melenchon.

“I’ve got big hopes…I wish a better world for my daughter. Social issues and ecology are linked together. I think Melenchon is the one because he’s got loads of teams around him. Men and women who think, who are looking forward to changing things, because we need to change,” she said.

Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the far-left France Unbowed party, is not on the ballot. But he has managed to forge an unlikely alliance among normally squabbling leftist parties. If they win the majority of National Assembly or lower house seats, Melenchon hopes to force President Emmanuel Macron to choose him as prime minister.

Vianney Mosser voted for the leftist alliance, known as the New Ecological and Social Popular Union, or NUPES. Mosser says he doesn’t agree with everything on their platform. But he doesn’t want Macron to have an absolute majority.

Ahead of this first round, polls showed the NUPES and Macron’s centrist Ensemble or Together coalition neck-and-neck. The far right, which only has a few lower house seats, also stands to gain.

Analyst Lisa Thomas-Darbois, of the Paris-based Montaigne Institute research group, says both the far-right and the far-left want to be a real counter force to proposed and controversial reforms by Macron, who was reelected in April for a second five-year term.

Still a number of voters are underwhelmed with Macron. They backed him only to block his far-right presidential rival.

Retiree Ally Shetty is also voting for the leftist alliance. Shetty says she thinks they’d do a better job fighting unemployment. Her daughter, who has a master’s degree, can’t find work.

Macron and his party warn a far-left win could undermine key reforms and reduce France’s competitiveness. A recent poll shows that while most French want a political counter force to the president’s centrists in parliament, most do not want far-left leader Melenchon as prime minister.

Rebranded McDonalds Restaurants Reopen in Russia 

The first of dozens of restaurants taken over after the iconic fast-food chain McDonald’s pulled out of Russia has reopened in Moscow, under new ownership and a new name: Tasty and That’s It.

Owners of the new chain, whose name in Russian is Vkusno and Tochka, say initially 15 rebranded restaurants will reopen across Russia, with more to come in coming months.

Dozens of Russians lined up on Sunday at the famous Moscow location where McDonald’s first opened its doors 30 years ago to try out the new burgers and fries.

Oleg Paroyev, chief executive of the company taking over the McDonald’s facilities, said they planned to reopen 200 restaurants in Russia by the end of June and all 850 locations nationwide by the end of the summer.

“Our goal is that our guests do not notice a difference either in quality or ambience,” Paroyev was quoted as telling a news conference.

Paroyev said the new chain will keep its old McDonald’s interior but will remove any references to its old name.

The reopening of the fast-food outlets is seen as one test of whether and how Russia’s economy can withstand Western sanctions imposed after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

At the time of its withdrawal from Russia, McDonald’s said it employed 62,000 workers across the country.

Information from AFP was used in this report.

UK’s New Northern Ireland Trade Rules Will Not Break Law, Minister Says 

Legislation that Britain will unilaterally bring forward on Monday to scrap some of the rules that govern post-Brexit trade with Northern Ireland will not break international law, minister Brandon Lewis said on Sunday.

“The legislation that we will outline tomorrow is within the law; what we are going to do is lawful and it is correct,” the Northern Ireland Secretary told Sky News.

When Britain left the EU, Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed a protocol that effectively left Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market and customs union to preserve the open border with Ireland specified in the Good Friday peace agreement.

Any unilateral move by London to override the treaty will inflame a simmering argument with the European Union.

Ireland’s Sinn Fein, the nationalist party that won a historic victory in the Northern Ireland Assembly election last month, said on Sunday Britain would “undoubtedly” break the law by imposing unilateral changes to the protocol.

Lewis said however the protocol needed to be changed because it was “fundamentally undermining” the Good Friday agreement.

He said it was disrupting the lives of people in Northern Ireland, was stopping government institutions functioning, and was not respecting the UK’s own internal market. 

Lewis declined to say how the protocol would be changed, but said the government would set out the legal basis on which it was bringing forward the legislation.

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said London could work with Dublin and Brussels to improve the application of the protocol.

“There is a willingness here, there is a willingness to engage by the European Commission, but the British government has refused to engage,” she told Sky News from Dublin.

“It has not been constructive, it has sought a destructive path, and is now proposing to introduce legislation that will undoubtedly breach international law.”

Kyiv’s Bitter Summer: War, Guilt and Last Kisses

In the outdoor gym on Venice Beach, the name given to an inviting stretch of sand on the majestic Dnieper River that courses through the capital of Ukraine, Serhiy Chornyi is working on his summer body, up-down-up-downing a chunky hunk of iron.

The aim of his sweat and toil isn’t to impress the girls in their bright summer bikinis. Working out is part of his contribution to Ukraine’s all-hands-on-deck war effort: The National Guardsman expects to be sent eastward to the battlefields soon and doesn’t want to take his paunch with him for the fight against Russia’s invasion force.

“I’m here to get in shape. To be able to help my friends with whom I’ll be,” the 32-year-old said. “I feel that my place is there now. … There is only one thing left: to defend. There is no other option, only one road.”

So goes Kyiv’s bitter summer of 2022, where the sun shines but sadness and grim determination reign, where canoodling couples cannot be sure that their kisses won’t be their last as more soldiers head to the fronts; where flitting swallows are nesting as people made homeless weep in blown-apart ruins, and where the peace is deceptive, because it’s shorn of peace of mind.

After Russia’s initial assault on Kyiv was repelled in the invasion’s opening month, leaving death and destruction, the capital found itself in the somewhat uncomfortable position of becoming largely a bystander in the war that continues to rage in the east and south, where Russian President Vladimir Putin has redirected his forces and military resources.

The burned-out hulks of Russian tanks are being hauled away from the capital’s outskirts, even as Western-supplied weapons turn more Russian armor into smoking junk on battlefronts. Cafes and restaurants are open again, the chatter and the chink of glasses from their outdoor tables providing a semblance of normalcy — until everyone scoots home for the 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew, less constraining than it used to be when Kyiv had seemed at risk of falling.

Sitting on a lawn, savoring wine with friends one evening this week, Andrii Bashtovyi remarked that it “looks like there’s no war but people are talking about their friends who are injured or who are mobilized.” He recently passed his military medical check, meaning he could soon be thrown into combat, too.

“If they call me, I need to go to the recruiting center. I’ll have 12 hours,” said the chief editor of The Village online magazine, which covers life, news and events in Kyiv and other unoccupied cities.

Air raid alarms still sound regularly, screeching shrilly on downloadable phone apps, but they’re so rarely followed by blasts — unlike in pounded front-line towns and cities — that few pay them much mind. Cruise missile strikes that wrecked a warehouse and a train repair workshop on June 5 were Kyiv’s first in five weeks. Dog walkers and parents pushing strollers ambled unperturbed nearby even before the flames had been extinguished.

Many, but by no means all, of the 2 million inhabitants who Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said had fled when Russian forces tried to encircle the city in March are now returning. But with soldiers falling by the hundreds to the east and south, the surreal calm of Kyiv is laced with nagging guilt.

“People are feeling grateful but asking themselves, ‘Am I doing enough?'” said Snezhana Vialko, as she and boyfriend Denys Koreiba bought plump strawberries from one of the summer-fruit vendors who have deployed across the city, in neighborhoods where just weeks ago jumpy troops manned checkpoints of sandbags and tank traps.

Now greatly reduced in numbers and vigilance, they generally wave through the restored buzz of car traffic, barely glancing up from pass-the-time scrolling on phones.

With the peace still so fragile and more treasured than ever, many are plowing their energy, time, money and muscle into supporting the soldiers fighting what has become a grinding war of attrition for control of destroyed villages, towns and cities.

Trained as a chef and now working as a journalist, Volodymyr Denysenko brewed up 100 bottles of spicy sauce, using his home-grown hot peppers to enliven the troops’ rations. He dropped them off with volunteers who drive in convoys from Kyiv to the fronts, laden with crowdfunded gun sights, night-vision goggles, drones, medical kits and other badly needed gear.

“All Ukrainian people must help the army, the soldiers,” he said. “It’s our country, our freedom.”

Penny Taylor Calls for Griner’s Release at Hall of Fame Induction

Penny Taylor used her induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame to call for the release of her former WNBA Phoenix Mercury teammate Brittney Griner, noting it’s been 114 days since the seven-time WNBA All-Star was detained.

“BG is our family,” Taylor said in asking President Biden’s help freeing Griner. “She’s yours too. The entire global sport community needs to come together to insist that she be a priority.”

The two-time Olympic gold medalist has been detained Feb. 17 after vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis were allegedly found in her luggage at an airport near Moscow.

Taylor also wished her wife, Diana Taurasi, a happy 40th birthday after playing Friday night in a Mercury win and then traveling to Tennessee to escort her to the induction ceremony. Taylor helped Australia win two Olympic silver medals in 2004 and 2008. She also won three WNBA titles in 2007, 2009 and 2014 and was a three-time All-Star.

“If you continue to work hard, you too may be up here,” Taylor said to Taurasi.

DeLisha Milton-Jones wrapped up her acceptance speech calling to bring Griner home. DePaul coach Doug Bruno noted Griner has been a big part of USA Basketball’s Olympic success.

“Brittney is a great human being,” Bruno said. “No one deserves what Britney’s going through. Enough is absolute enough. It’s time for the powers that be to bring Brittney home.”

Other inductees included Becky Hammon, Debbie Antonelli, Wayland Baptist star Alice “Cookie” Barron as a veteran player, Paul Sanderford who coached Western Kentucky to three Final Fours and coach Bob Schneider who ranked third all-time with 634 Division II victories.

The hall also honored Title IX as one of the Trailblazers of the Game award at its 50th anniversary. Barron, who flew to games between 1954-1957 with the Flying Queens literally flying to away games while the men traveled by bus, made a call to everyone listening.

“I want to implore all of us to keep a very close watch on Title IX,” Barron said. “The doors are open. We must never let them close.”

Milton-Jones, now head coach at Old Dominion, capped her four-year career at Florida as the 1997 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and All-American. She led the Gators to four straight NCAA Tournament berths, including the Elite Eight in 1997.

The fourth overall pick in the 1999 WNBA draft played 17 seasons in the league. When she retired in 2016, she held the league record for most games played with 499 for Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York, Washington and San Antonio. She helped the Los Angeles Sparks win back-to-back WNBA titles in 2001 and 2002.

Milton-Jones also helped the U.S. win Olympic gold in 2000 and 2008, missing the 2004 Athens Games with an injury. She played in Spain, Italy, Turkey, South Korea, the Czech Republic and Republic. in 2005, she was interim coach of the Los Angeles Stars in the American Basketball Association, becoming only the second female to coach a men’s pro team.

Her family made T-shirts and visors to help her commemorate this moment, and Milton-Jones said this helped put Riceboro, Georgia, on the map.

Hammon couldn’t attend with her WNBA-leading Las Vegas Aces playing against the Sparks on Saturday night in Los Angeles.

Bruno has coached 36 seasons at DePaul with 24 NCAA Tournament berths. He also has helped win six gold medals with USA Basketball.

Italy Finds 7 Bodies at Scorched Crash Site of Helicopter

Italian rescuers on Saturday found the bodies of seven people, including four Turkish and two Lebanese businessmen, who died when their helicopter crashed in a heavily forested, mountainous area in north-central Italy during a storm, authorities said.

Colonel Alfonso Cipriano, who heads an air force rescue coordination unit that led the search since Thursday, said rescuers were tipped off to the crash site after a mountain runner reported seeing what he thought was a part of the mangled chopper during an excursion on Mount Cusna on Saturday morning.

Air crews confirmed the site, and ground crews initially found five bodies, and then the other two, Cipriano told The Associated Press. The location was in a hard-to-reach valley and the chopper remains were hidden to air rescuers from the lush tree cover, but some branches were broken and burned, he said.

The helicopter disappeared from radar Thursday morning as it flew over the province of Modena in the Tuscan–Emilian Apennines. Electric storms had been reported in the area at the time, Cipriano said. The chopper was carrying seven people, including four Turkish citizens, two Lebanese and the Italian pilot, from Lucca to Treviso to visit a tissue paper production facility.

The two Lebanese were identified in Lebanon as Shadi Kreidi and Tarek Tayah, both executives at INDEVCO, an international manufacturing and industrial consultancy group. The two were said to be on a business trip.

Tayah’s wife, Hala, was killed two years ago in the massive explosion at Beirut’s port, which took the lives of more than 215 people and injured thousands. Their daughter, Tamara, who was 11 at the time, was one of the few victims who met French President Emmanuel Macron when he flew to Beirut following the blast, gifting him a pin shaped like the map of Lebanon made by her mother, a jeweler, and getting an emotional hug in return.

Tarek and Hala Tayeh had two other children besides Tamara.

The Turks on board worked for Turkish industrial group Eczacibasi, which said they were taking part in a trade fair.

Eczacibasi confirmed in a statement with “great pain and sadness” that its director of factories, director of hygienic papers at its Yalova province factory, director of investment projects and production director at its Manisa province factory had died in the crash and relayed their condolences.

The crash site was about 10 kilometers from where rescuers initially began searching based on the last cellular pings from the passengers’ phones. Cipriano said it might have taken hours more or even days to locate the site had it not been for the runner’s tip, given the difficult, lush terrain.