Cyprus on Saturday hailed the full lifting of a U.S. arms embargo on the ethnically divided island nation as a milestone reaffirming increasingly tighter bilateral bonds that serve to bolster stability in the turbulent east Mediterranean region.

President Nicos Anastasiades tweeted his gratitude to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, New Jersey Democrat Robert Menendez, for helping to lift the embargo.

Turkey, which maintains more than 35,000 troops in the northern third of Cyprus, condemned the decision. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry urged the U.S. to reconsider, warning that the move would harm efforts for a Cyprus peace deal, lead to an arms race on the island and undermine regional stability.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in in a statement that Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined Cyprus met the conditions to allow for “exports, re-exports and transfers of defense articles … for the fiscal year 2023.”

The U.S. will assess annually whether Cyprus complies with conditions for the embargo lift, including implementing anti-money laundering regulations and denying Russian military vessels access to ports for refueling and servicing.

Cyprus barred Russian warships from using its ports in early March following the invasion of Ukraine.

The conditions are enshrined in the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act that the U.S. Congress passed in 2019. The law underscores U.S. support for closer ties among Greece, Cyprus and Israel based on recently discovered offshore gas deposits.

The U.S. enacted the embargo in 1987 to prevent a potential arms race from harming peace talks with the Mediterranean island nation’s breakaway Turkish Cypriots. Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup aimed at union with Greece.

Barred access to U.S. weapons, Cyprus turned to Russia to procure Mi-35 attack helicopters, T-80 tanks and Tor-M1 anti-aircraft missile systems.
…

Thousands of people spent London’s coldest night in months huddled in line to view the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, and authorities warned Saturday that arriving mourners face a 16-hour wait.

Police arrested a man after what the force described as a “disturbance” Friday night in Parliament’s Westminster Hall, where the queen’s coffin is lying in state, draped in her Royal Standard and capped with a diamond-studded crown.

Parliamentary authorities said someone got out of the queue and tried to approach the coffin on its platform. The Metropolitan Police force said a man was detained for a suspected public-order offense.

The tide of people wanting to say goodbye to the queen has grown steadily since the public was first admitted to the hall on Wednesday. On Friday, authorities temporary halted letting more visitors join the end of the line, which snakes around Southwark Park some 5 miles (8 kilometers) from Parliament.

Overnight, volunteers distributed blankets and cups of tea to people in line as the temperature fell to 6 degrees Celsius (43 degrees Fahrenheit). Despite the weather, mourners described the warmth of a shared experience.

“It was cold overnight, but we had wonderful companions, met new friends. The camaraderie was wonderful,” Chris Harman of London said. “It was worth it. I would do it again and again and again. I would walk to the end of the earth for my queen.”

People had myriad reasons for coming, from affection for the queen to a desire to be part of a historic moment. Simon Hopkins, who traveled from his home in central England, likened it to “a pilgrimage.”

“(It) is a bit strange, because that kind of goes against my grain,” he said. “I’ve been kind of drawn into it.”

Honoring their patience, King Charles III and Prince William made an unannounced visit to greet people waiting to file past Elizabeth’s coffin. The two senior royals shook hands and thanked the mourners in the miles-long queue near Lambeth Bridge.

Charles has made several impromptu walkabouts since he became king on Sept. 8, in an attempt to meet as many of his subjects as possible.

Members of the public kept silently streaming into Westminster Hall even as the queen’s four children — Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward — stood vigil around the flag-draped coffin for 15 minutes on Friday evening. A baby’s cry was the only sound.

Before the vigil, Edward said the royal family was “overwhelmed by the tide of emotion that has engulfed us and the sheer number of people who have gone out of their way to express their own love, admiration and respect (for) our dear mama.”

All eight of Queen Elizabeth II’s grandchildren are due to stand vigil beside her coffin on Saturday. Charles’ sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, will attend along with Princess Anne’s children, Zara Tindall and Peter Philips; Prince Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie; and the two children of Prince Edward – Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn.

William, who after his grandmother’s death is now the heir to the throne, will stand at the head of the coffin and Harry at the foot. Both princes, who are military veterans, will be in uniform.

Most senior royals hold honorary military roles and have worn uniforms to commemorate the queen. Harry, who served in Afghanistan as a British army officer, wore civilian clothes during the procession of the queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace because he is no longer a working member of the royal family. He and his wife Meghan quit royal duties and moved to the United States in 2020.

The king, however, has requested that both William and Harry wear their military uniforms at the Westminster Hall vigil.

People queuing to see the queen have been of all ages and come from all walks of life. Many bowed before the coffin or made a sign of the cross. Several veterans, their medals shining in the spotlights, offered sharp salutes. Some people wept. Others blew kisses. Many hugged one another as they stepped away, proud to have spent hours in line to offer a tribute, even if it lasted only a few moments.

On Friday, the waiting time swelled to as long as 24 hours. The mourners included former England soccer captain David Beckham, who lined up for almost 12 hours to pay his respects. Wearing a white shirt and black tie, he bowed briefly to the coffin before moving out of Westminster Hall.

“We have been lucky as a nation to have had someone who has led us the way her majesty has led us, for the amount of time, with kindness, with caring and always reassurance,” Beckham told reporters afterwards.

The lying-in-state is due to continue until Monday morning, when the queen’s coffin will be borne to nearby Westminster Abbey for a state funeral, the finale to 10 days of national mourning for Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. Elizabeth, 96, died at her Balmoral Estate in Scotland on Sept. 8 after 70 years on the throne.

Hundreds of heads of state, royals and political leaders from around the world are flying to London to attend the funeral, including U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako. Charles is set to hold audiences Saturday with incoming prime ministers, governor generals of the realms and military leaders.

After the service at the abbey, the late queen’s coffin will be transported through the historic heart of London on a horse-drawn gun carriage. It will then be taken in a hearse to Windsor, where the queen will be interred alongside her late husband, Prince Philip, who died last year.

Hundreds of troops from the British army, air force and navy took part in an early-morning rehearsal on Saturday for the final procession. As troops lined The Long Walk, a picturesque path leading to Windsor Castle, the thumping of drums echoed into the night as marching bands walked ahead of a hearse.

London police said the funeral will be the largest single policing event the force has ever handled, surpassing even the 2012 Summer Olympics and the Platinum Jubilee in June celebrating the queen’s 70-year reign.

“The range of officers, police staff and all those supporting the operation is truly immense,” said Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy.
…

Hanging out with Richard Nixon’s daughter Tricia at a White House supper-dance. Swapping stories with Ronald Reagan about horseback riding. Bending the ears of Donald Trump and Joe Biden about climate change. 

King Charles III, who became head of state following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, has made the acquaintance of 10 of the 14 U.S. presidents who have held office since he was born in 1948. 

He was just 10 when he checked off his first president in 1959. That was when Dwight Eisenhower visited the queen and her family at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where she died on September 8 after a 70-year-reign. 

“I guess you can’t start too early,” said Barbara A Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. She noted that Charles’ grandson, Prince George, was a toddler when Kensington Palace released a photograph of him shaking hands with Barack Obama during the president’s trip to London in 2016. 

Charles never met Harry Truman, Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy, Perry said. 

His encounters with U.S. presidents included what he recalled as an “amusing” weekend visit to Nixon White House in 1970 with his sister Anne, when the 20-year-old future king — one of the world’s most eligible bachelors — sensed there was an effort afoot to set him up. 

“That was the time when they were trying to marry me off to Tricia Nixon,” he later recalled. 

The king has chatted up presidents on his visits to the U.S. and met others when they traveled in the United Kingdom. He was in the company of Trump, Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush when he represented the British monarchy at the state funeral for former President George H.W. Bush in 2018 in Washington. 

Charles met Biden last year at a climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland. 

The royal has visited America about 20 times since that memorable first trip in the Nixon years, he told CNN last year. 

The royal siblings had been invited to Washington by Nixon’s daughters and son-in-law, Tricia Nixon, Julie Nixon Eisenhower and her husband, David Eisenhower, grandson of President Eisenhower, for that three-day visit in July 1970. 

The young VIPs had a packed schedule that included frolicking at the Camp David presidential retreat, a nighttime tour of Washington’s monuments, museum visits, a luncheon cruise down the Potomac River to George Washington’s estate at Mount Vernon, Virginia, a dance on the South Lawn for 700 guests, and a Washington Senators baseball game. 

Charles and Nixon also met in the Oval Office. But if the president had his heart set a union between his family and the royals, it wasn’t meant to be. 

In June 1971, less than a year after Charles’ visit, Tricia married longtime beau Edward Cox in the White House Rose Garden. A decade later, in July 1981, Charles married Lady Diana Spencer. They divorced in 1996. 

Nixon, himself, had pushed for Charles to visit the U.S. for the perceived public relations bonanza, according to a January 1970 memo he sent his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger. 

“I think this could do an enormous amount of good for U.S.-British relations,” Nixon said. He wrote that he’d been told that Charles “is the real gem” of the royal family and “makes an enormously favorable impression wherever he goes.” 

Charles returned the praise in a thank-you note. 

“The kindness shown to us at the White House was almost overwhelming and for that we are immensely grateful,” the prince wrote to Nixon. “Both my sister and I take back to Britain the most heartwarming evidence of what is known as the special relationship between our two countries and of the great hospitality shown to us by you and your family.” 

Many of the former Prince of Wales’ conversations with recent U.S. presidents centered on his interest in tackling climate change. Charles has campaigned for the environment for 50 years, but he acknowledged after becoming king that his new role requires that he set aside his activism on that and other issues. 

Charles, 73, and Biden, 79, discussed global cooperation on the climate crisis last year while both attended a summit in Glasgow, Scotland. They also met at Buckingham Palace in June 2021 at a reception the queen hosted before a world leaders’ summit in Cornwall. 

Biden rejoined the 2015 Paris climate agreement after Trump as president withdrew the U.S. from the accord. 

Biden and the king spoke on Wednesday, with Biden offering his condolences over the queen. 

Trump has said that during his visit with Charles, the former prince “did most of the talking” and pressed him on climate during a scheduled 15-minute meeting that stretched to 90 minutes in 2019 at Charles’ residence in London. 

During a three-day visit to Washington in 2011, Charles, an advocate of environmentally friendly farming, met with President Obama. In a speech, he praised Michelle Obama’s campaign against childhood obesity and hunger, and U.S. manufacturers’ efforts to produce healthier foods. 

He criticized U.S. government subsidies for large-scale agriculture and encouraged increased business and government support for organic and environmentally friendly food production. 

In his toast at a White House dinner in 2005, the future king told President George W. Bush that the world looks to the United States “for a lead on the most crucial issues that face our planet and, indeed, the lives of our grandchildren. 

“Truly, the burdens of the world rest on your shoulders,” he said. 

In the remarks, Charles also said the trip reminded him of his first visit to America, “when the media were busy trying to marry me off to Tricia Nixon.” 

Visiting with Reagan in the Oval Office in 1981, the two discussed their interest in horseback riding as a steward brought tea. But it was not served the British way. 

Of the experience, Reagan later wrote in his diary: 

“The ushers brought him tea — horror of horrors they served it our way with a tea bag in the cup. It finally dawned on me that he was just holding the cup and finally put it down on the table. I didn’t know what to do,” Reagan confessed. 
…

Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed Friday to press his attack on Ukraine despite Ukraine’s latest counteroffensive and warned that Moscow could ramp up its strikes on the country’s vital infrastructure if Ukrainian forces target facilities in Russia.

Speaking to reporters Friday after attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Uzbekistan, Putin said the “liberation” of Ukraine’s entire eastern Donbas region remained Russia’s main military goal and that he sees no need to revise it.

“We aren’t in a rush,” the Russian leader said, adding that Moscow has only deployed volunteer soldiers to fight in Ukraine. Some hardline politicians and military bloggers have urged the Kremlin to follow Ukraine’s example and order a broad mobilization to beef up the ranks, lamenting Russia’s manpower shortage.

Russia was forced to pull back its forces from large swaths of northeastern Ukraine last week after a swift Ukrainian counteroffensive. Ukraine’s move to reclaim control of several Russian-occupied cities and villages marked the largest military setback for Moscow since its forces had to retreat from areas near the capital early in the war.

In his first comment on the Ukrainian counteroffensive, Putin said: “Let’s see how it develops and how it ends.”

He noted that Ukraine has tried to strike civilian infrastructure in Russia and “we so far have responded with restraint, but just yet.”

“If the situation develops this way, our response will be more serious,” Putin said.

“Just recently, the Russian armed forces have delivered a couple of impactful strikes,” he said in an apparent reference to Russian attacks earlier this week on power plants in northern Ukraine and a dam in the south. “Let’s consider those as warning strikes.”

He alleged, without offering specifics, that Ukraine has attempted to launch attacks “near our nuclear facilities, nuclear power plants,” adding that “we will retaliate if they fail to understand that such methods are unacceptable.”

Russia has reported numerous explosions and fires at civilian infrastructure in areas near Ukraine, as well munitions depots and other facilities. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for some of the attacks and refrained from commenting on others.

Putin also sought Friday to assuage India’s concern about the conflict in Ukraine, telling Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Moscow wants to see a quick end to the fighting and alleging that Ukrainian officials won’t negotiate.

“I know your stand on the conflict in Ukraine and the concerns that you have repeatedly voiced,” the Russian leader told Modi. “We will do all we can to end that as quickly as possible. Regrettably, the other side, the leadership of Ukraine, has rejected the negotiations process and stated that it wants to achieve its goals by military means, on the battlefield.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says it’s Russia that allegedly doesn’t want to negotiate in earnest. He also has insisted on the withdrawal of Russian troops from occupied areas of Ukraine as a precondition for talks.

Putin’s remarks during the talks with Modi echoed comments the Russian leader made during Thursday’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping when Putin thanked him for his government’s “balanced position” on the Ukraine war, while adding that he was ready to discuss China’s unspecified “concerns” about Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Putin said he and Xi “discussed what we should do in the current conditions to efficiently counter unlawful restrictions” imposed by the West. The European Union, the United States and other Western nations have put sanctions on Russian energy due to the war in Ukraine.

Xi, in a statement released by his government, expressed support for Russia’s “core interests” but also interest in working together to “inject stability” into world affairs. China’s relations with Washington, Europe, Japan and India have been strained by disputes about technology, security, human rights and territory.

Zhang Lihua, an international relations expert at Tsinghua University, said the reference to stability “is mainly related to China-U.S. relations,” adding that “the United States has been using all means to suppress China, which forced China to seek cooperation with Russia.”

China and India have refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine while increasing their purchases of Russian oil and gas, helping Moscow offset the financial restrictions imposed by the U.S. and its allies.

Putin also met Friday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss bolstering economic cooperation and regional issues, including a July deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations that allowed Ukrainian grain exports to resume from the country’s Black Sea ports.

Speaking at the Uzbekistan summit on Friday, Xi warned his Central Asian neighbors not to allow outsiders to destabilize them. The warning reflects Beijing’s anxiety that Western support for democracy and human rights activists is a plot to undermine Xi’s ruling Communist Party and other authoritarian governments.

“We should prevent external forces from instigating a color revolution,” Xi said in a speech to the leaders of Shanghai Cooperation Organization member nations, referring to protests that toppled unpopular regimes in the former Soviet Union and the Middle East.

Xi offered to train 2,000 police officers, to set up a regional counterterrorism training center and to “strengthen law enforcement capacity building.” He did not elaborate.

His comments echoed longtime Russian grievances about the color-coded democratic uprisings in several ex-Soviet nations that the Kremlin viewed as instigated by the U.S. and its allies.

Xi is promoting a “Global Security Initiative” announced in April following the formation of the Quad by the U.S., Japan, Australia and India in response to Beijing’s more assertive foreign policy. U.S. officials complain it echoes Russian arguments in support of Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.

Central Asia is part of China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative to expand trade by building ports, railways and other infrastructure across an arc of dozens of countries from the South Pacific through Asia to the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was formed by Russia and China as a counterweight to U.S. influence. The group also includes India, Pakistan and the four ex-Soviet Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Iran is on track to receive full membership.
…

Investigators searching through a mass burial site in Ukraine have found evidence that some of the dead were tortured, including bodies with broken limbs and ropes around their necks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday.

The site near the northeastern city of Izium, recently recaptured from Russian forces, appears to be one of the largest discovered in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy spoke in a video he rushed out just hours after the exhumations began, apparently to underscore the gravity of the discovery. He said more than 440 graves have been found at the site but that the number of victims was not yet known.

Digging in the rain, workers hauled body after body out of the sandy soil in a misty pine forest near Izium. Protected by head-to-toe suits and rubber gloves, they gently felt through the decomposing remains of the victims’ clothing, seemingly looking for identifying items.

Associated Press journalists who visited the site saw graves marked with simple wooden crosses. Some of the markers bore people’s names and had flowers hanging from them.

Before digging, investigators with metal detectors scanned the site for explosives, and soldiers strung red and white plastic tape between the trees.

Zelenskyy said hundreds of civilian adults and children, as well as soldiers, had been found near Izium’s Pishchanske cemetery after being tortured, shot or killed by artillery shelling.

He cited evidence of atrocities, such as a body with a rope around its neck and broken arms. In another sign of possible torture, one man was found with his hands tied, according to Serhiy Bohdan, the head of Kharikiv police investigations, and Ukraine’s commissioner for human rights, Dmytro Lubinets.

Ukrainian authorities warned that their investigation was just beginning, and the scale of the killings could rise dramatically.

“The harsh reality indicates that the number of dead in Izium may be many times higher than the Bucha tragedy,” Oleg Kotenko, an official with the Ukrainian ministry tasked with reintegrating occupied territories, said on Telegram.

Bucha is a Kyiv suburb where authorities have said 458 bodies were found after a 33-day Russian occupation. Authorities say they have uncovered the bodies of more than 1,300 people elsewhere, many in mass graves in the Kyiv-area forest.

Zelenskyy, who visited the Izium area Wednesday, said the discoveries showed again the need for world leaders to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.

Meanwhile, in his first public comments on Ukraine’s recent battlefield gains, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to press on with the war and warned that Moscow could ramp up its strikes on the country’s vital infrastructure if Ukrainian forces target facilities in Russia.

“If the situation develops this way, our response will be more serious,” Putin told reporters Friday after attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Uzbekistan.

Russia has reported numerous explosions and fires at civilian infrastructure sites near Ukraine, as well munitions depots and other facilities. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for some of the attacks and refrained from commenting on others.

The “liberation” of Ukraine’s entire eastern Donbas region remained Russia’s main military goal, Putin said.

“We aren’t in a rush,” he said, adding that Russia has only deployed volunteer soldiers to fight in Ukraine.

Some hardline Russian politicians and military bloggers have lamented manpower shortages and urged the Kremlin to follow Ukraine’s example and order broad mobilization to beef up the ranks.

Ukrainian forces gained access to the site near Izium after recapturing the city and much of the wider Kharkiv region in a lighting advance that suddenly shifted the momentum in the nearly seven-month war. Ukrainian officials also found evidence of torture elsewhere in the region.

The U.N. human rights office said it would investigate, and the human rights group Amnesty International said the discovery of the mass burial site confirmed “our darkest fears.”

“For every unlawful killing or other war crime, there must be justice and reparation for victims and their families and a fair trial and accountability for suspected perpetrators,” said Marie Struthers, the group’s director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Most of the people buried at the site were believed to be civilians, but a marker on one mass grave said it contained the bodies of 17 Ukrainian soldiers.

Russian officials distanced themselves from responsibility for the site.

The Khariv region’s Russian-installed governor, Vitaly Ganchev, told Russia’s state-run Tass news agency that Ukrainian, not Russian, forces were responsible for civilian casualties in Izium. Tass also quoted a member of Russia’s parliament, Alexander Malkevich, claiming that Ukrainian troops had abandoned their dead, so Russian forces buried them.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, the war continued to claim lives and wreak destruction.

Ukraine’s presidential office said Russian shelling killed five civilians and wounded 18 in a 24-hour span. Missile strikes were also reported, with Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih among the targets for a third consecutive day Friday. Air raid sirens howled in the capital, Kyiv.

More killings targeting pro-Russian separatist officials were reported in areas under their control. Separatist authorities said a blast killed the prosecutor-general and his deputy of the self-proclaimed republic in the Luhansk region. Moscow-backed authorities said two Russian-installed officials were also killed in Berdyansk, a city in the Zaporizhzhia region occupied earlier in the war. And local authorities reported three people were killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on an administrative building in Russian-occupied Kherson.

To bolster the Ukrainian offensive, the Biden administration announced another $600 million package of military aid.

Izium resident Sergei Gorodko said that among the hundreds buried in individual graves were dozens of adults and children killed in a Russian airstrike on an apartment building, some of whom he pulled out of rubble “with my own hands.”

Izium was a key supply hub for Russian forces until they withdrew in recent days. Izium city council member Maksym Strelnikov told reporters that hundreds of people had died during the fighting and after Russia seized the town in March. Many couldn’t be properly buried, he said.

His claims could not be immediately verified, but similar scenes have played out in other cities Russian forces captured, including Mariupol.

Ukraine’s national police chief, Ihor Klymenko, said “torture chambers” have been found in the Kharkiv region’s recaptured towns and villages. The claim could not be independently verified.

Seven Sri Lankan students who fell into Russian hands in Kupiansk, also in the Kharkiv region, have also said that they were held and mistreated, he said.

“They are scared, they were abused,” Klymenko said. They include “a woman who can barely speak” and two people with torn toenails.
…

Turkish media and LGBTQ groups are questioning a decision by the country’s regulator to classify a video from a coalition of conservative groups as a public service announcement.

The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK) voted to list a video promoting an event scheduled for Istanbul on Sunday as a public service announcement.

The video shows pictures of Pride parades in Turkey, as a narrator calls for people who are “against the LGBT impositions and propaganda” and want to see an end to “global and imperialist lobbies who want to abolish gender, reduce the human generation, and destroy the family unit,” to join the rally.

The video was produced by the Unity in Ideas and Struggle Platform, a group of about 150 conservative nongovernmental organizations.

Critics, including some members of the RTUK board, say the video contains hostile language and could result in attacks on the LGBTQ community.

RTUK did not respond to VOA’s request for comment.

The Unity in Ideas and Struggle Platform has denied promoting hate speech. In a tweet, its head, Kursat Mican, blamed misinformation for the criticism over the video.

“This meeting is not against LGBTI+ individuals,” Mican said in response to an open letter from a parent whose child is gay. “We want to put an end to this trend that threatens the existence of humanity by raising awareness against LGBTI+ propaganda and imposition. We have no other intention than this, beyond that it is a needless assumption.”

Ilhan Tasci, an opposition member of RTUK’s board who voted against the decision, told VOA he believes the video could lead to hate crimes and so should not be broadcast as a public service announcement.

“If something bad happens to some people from the LGBTQ community tomorrow after this public service announcement, which makes them a target, will the RTUK’s president take responsibility?” Tasci said.

Under law, RTUK has the power to list informative or educational content from public institutions and nongovernmental organizations as public service announcements if it deems them to be in the public interest.

The regulator advises radio and TV channels to broadcast the announcements, but media outlets have editorial discretion over what they use.

RTUK shared the video on its website but did not upload it to YouTube, where it often shares public service announcements.

Tasci says the RTUK president has discretion over what is posted to the regulator’s social media accounts.

YouTube guidelines define hate speech as content that “incites hatred or violence against groups based on protected attributes such as age, gender, race, caste, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status.” In the case of violation, the platform removes the content.

At a panel Thursday, RTUK President Ebubekir Sahin said the media can play a role “in the escalation of hate crimes.” He did not reference the regulator’s decision at the event.

“It is not possible for us to accept the normalization of hate speech and its imposition on society through the media. Hate speech in traditional media is on the rise. At the same time, we unfortunately see that the new media and social media are having the same discourse,” Sahin said.

Several journalism organizations criticized RTUK’s decision.

“Supporting a protest that marginalizes a certain group and supports hostility towards them is definitely not an acceptable attitude. It is an outright contradiction that RTUK paves the way for an anti-LGBTQ public service announcement to be broadcast on TV channels,” Gokhan Durmus, chair of the Journalists Union of Turkey, told VOA.

Yildiz Tar, a journalist and coordinator for KAOS GL — a LGBTQ rights organization and news portal — said the decision appears to reflect a wider policy in Turkey.

“For a long time, there have been lynching calls and campaigns on social media targeting LGBTQ+ people,” Tar told VOA. “With this public service advertisement, the government has said that ‘these lynching calls and hate speeches are our policy.’”

“LGBTQ+ people are portrayed as a community that needs to be fought and destroyed in this country,” Tar said.

Kerem Dikmen, a legal coordinator for KAOS GL, said the RTUK decision contradicts its regulatory role.

“RTUK, as a regulatory body, needs to take measures to prevent hate speech. But it took and executed a decision that would spread hate speech, contrary to its full responsibility, and this is completely illegal,” Dikmen told VOA.

“It is forbidden for LGBTQ+ people to organize Pride Parades in Turkey, and they are prevented from having picnics by the police. But this group can have a protest that spreads hate speech, and this is a political disposition,” Dikmen said.

Pride events have been banned in Turkey since 2015. When a parade took place in Istanbul in 2021, police arrested hundreds of people, including several journalists.

In its 2021 report on human rights in Turkey, the U.S. State Department found “LGBTQI+ individuals experienced discrimination, intimidation and violent crimes.”

This story originated in VOA’s Turkish Service. 
…

King Charles and his siblings stood vigil by the coffin of their late mother Queen Elizabeth II on Friday as tens of thousands of mourners queuing to pay their final respects as she lies in state were told they faced a wait of up to 24 hours.  

Charles, Princess Anne, Princes Andrew and Edward, attired in military uniforms, stood in silence with their heads bowed for the 15-minute vigil at the historic Westminster Hall where the coffin of the late monarch has been lying since Wednesday. 

Most of the other members of the British royal family, including some of the queen’s great-grandchildren, watched from a gallery. 

Tens of thousands of people of all ages and from all walks of life have filed past the coffin in a constant, solemn stream to pay tribute to the queen, who died in Scotland on September 8 at age 96 after a 70-year reign. 

Despite the warning of how long it would take to reach the building, mourners continued to join a well-organized line that stretched along the south bank of the Thames, then over the river to Parliament’s Westminster Hall, knowing their wait would last through the night when temperatures were forecast to be cold. 

“We have been overwhelmed by the tide of emotion that has engulfed us and the sheer number of people who have gone out of their way to express their own love, admiration and respect to such a very special and unique person,” Prince Edward, the queen’s youngest son, said in a statement. 

Rosie Beddows, 57, from Sussex, had queued with her husband and son, and happened to pass by the coffin when it was being guarded by the royal family.  

“It was absolutely amazing, so moving, so beautiful. It was an incredibly long day, but we saw the king,” she said, sounding elated. “I can’t believe it. I think he’s going to be a brilliant king.”  

Despite the warning of lengthy queues, repeated across local rail stations, people had flooded into Southwark Park to join the line, many in high spirits. In contrast, those who emerged from Westminster Hall were quiet, reflective and a little stiff.  

Among their number was former England soccer captain David Beckham, who looked tearful as he waited to file past the coffin, having queued for more than 13 hours on his own, snacking on crisps, sweets and doughnuts.  

“We were all here celebrating her majesty today and it didn’t matter how long we were there,” said Beckham. “We were there for a reason. And everyone was together. It was a special few hours.” 

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, in London for the funeral, was another of those who visited Westminster Hall on Friday, stopping to curtsy as she filed past the coffin. 

More than 750,000 people in total are expected to file past the coffin ahead of the state funeral on Monday, which presidents, prime ministers, royalty and other world leaders are due to attend.  

U.S. President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and the leaders of Australia, Canada and Jamaica will join the emperor of Japan among the congregation. 

London’s police force said the funeral would be the biggest security operation it has ever undertaken.  

Visit to Wales 

Charles, who acceded to the throne on his mother’s death, earlier visited Wales on Friday, the last stage of a tour of the United Kingdom to acknowledge his status as the new monarch and head of state and to greet the public.  

Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Queen Consort, attended a service at Cardiff’s Llandaff Cathedral, then talked with cheering well-wishers outside.  

Wales has a particular significance for the new king, who for five decades preceding last week’s accession had the title Prince of Wales. 

There were a few anti-monarchy protesters outside Cardiff Castle, where Charles met Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford.  

Similar small protests have been held outside parliament in London and in Edinburgh over the past days, although Charles has enjoyed a surge in support since he succeeded Elizabeth.  

Defender of faiths 

Later, the new king returned to London to meet faith leaders at Buckingham Palace, where he said he was determined to be “sovereign of all communities.” 

As monarch and Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Charles holds the title “Defender of the Faith,” but he said he his saw his role as stretching beyond his own strong Christian beliefs, and that he had a duty to protect diversity. 

“By my most profound convictions, therefore – as well as by my position as sovereign – I hold myself bound to respect those who follow other spiritual paths, as well as those who seek to live their lives in accordance with secular ideals,” he told the faith leaders.  

“I am determined, as king, to preserve and promote those principles across all communities, and for all beliefs, with all my heart.” 

Following the vigil of the queen’s children on Friday, her eight grandchildren, including the new Prince of Wales, William, and his brother Prince Harry will stand vigil at the coffin on Saturday evening. 

In an adjustment to protocol, both Harry and his uncle Prince Andrew have been allowed to wear military uniforms when they take their turns, royal officials said.  

Both are war veterans, but so far only “working royals” have appeared in uniform while Andrew and Harry have appeared in processions in morning suits after they lost their honorary military titles when they stepped back from public royal duties.
…

The death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II last week has sparked renewed debate in many Commonwealth countries, most of them former British colonies, about their future ties to the monarchy. 

Britain wasn’t alone in proclaiming a new king upon the death of Elizabeth. Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Jamaica are among 14 other nations where King Charles III is the new head of state. Echoing the ceremonies in London, proclamation ceremonies were held in several capitals, from Nassau in the Bahamas to Suva in Fiji.

Fifty-six countries are members of the Commonwealth, an association of mostly former British colonies. In 2018, the organization agreed to appoint Charles as its head upon the death of Queen Elizabeth II, prompting anger among some members, especially in the Caribbean.

“The death of Queen Elizabeth absolutely will mark a turning point,” said Sonjah Stanley Niaah of the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, in an interview with VOA on Wednesday.

“Many countries have really been considering their own role, their own place in the commonwealth. And I think that now that Queen Elizabeth has passed, there is going to be certainly more of a move to disassociate themselves from the commonwealth,” Niaah said.

Republicanism

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, an avowed republican who was elected in May, wants a referendum on removing the British monarch as head of state in the next parliament.

“It’s not appropriate now … to talk about constitutional change. What is appropriate right now is to commemorate the life of service of Queen Elizabeth II,” Albanese told reporters this week.

Antigua and Barbuda, as well as St. Lucia, both in the Caribbean, have expressed similar plans. For the first time, the government of the Bahamas this week said such a referendum was possible.

“The only challenge with us moving to a republic is that I can’t, as much as I would wish to do so, I can’t do it without you all to consent. I would have to have a referendum and hear what the people have to say to me … it is our people who will have to decide,” Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis said September 9.

A poll taken in August, before the queen’s death, showed that 56% of Jamaicans are in favor of removing the British monarch as head of state. 

In November last year, the Caribbean Island of Barbados became a republic, severing ties with the British monarchy. Guy Hewitt, a former high commissioner to the U.K., told VOA he did not believe the Barbadian people disliked the monarchy.

“I make the point that Barbados’ journey to a republic was not a rejection of the queen or of monarchy, but more so an affirmation of a right toward self-determination,” Hewitt said.

New members

This year Togo and Gabon, both former French colonies in Africa, joined the Commonwealth – evidence the organization is not in decline, Hewitt said.

“What we have seen is in the post-independence era, rather than the commonwealth getting smaller, it’s actually getting bigger. Charles, as the new head of the commonwealth, worked closely with his mother as the Prince of Wales, traveled extensively around the commonwealth in his own right, championing causes like sustainable development and environmental protection,” Hewitt said.

“It has started to feel somewhat antiquated, and it may be that King Charles is able to inject – as his mother did – some dynamism some new direction and a new sense of purpose for the Commonwealth of nations,” Hewitt added.

Slavery

Intrinsic to the debate is the legacy of colonial rule. Britain and other European nations enslaved millions of Africans until the 19th century, forcing them to work on plantations in the Caribbean and the Americas. Critics argue the monarchy’s wealth is partly based on profits from the slave trade.

“This commonwealth of nations, that wealth belongs to England. That wealth is something we never shared in. So, for us in Jamaica, the monarchy is a harsh reminder of our unfortunate past,” Bert Samuels of the Reparation Council of Jamaica told Associated Press.

The monarchy has expressed sorrow over colonial abuses, but Britain has not formally apologized. Visiting Jamaica earlier this year, Prince William addressed the issue at a gala dinner hosted by Jamaican governor-general. “Slavery was abhorrent, and it should never have happened,” William told the audience.

Reparations

That does not go far enough, said Sonjah Stanley Niaah of the University of the West Indies. “An apology is necessary. We must see remorse and we must see a time when reparations become important in the ways in which we move forward as former colonies.”

“There is a critical mass of us in in the former colonies who are aware that a relationship in terms of the Commonwealth means very little to the real day-to-day conditions of persons who dwell in these countries. And so, I think that there is more awareness about reparatory justice, there is more awareness about the role that that slavery still plays in today’s society,” Niaah told VOA.

That apology should come from the British government, Hewitt said.

“Yes, there is a need for those colonial powers to take responsibility for what they have done. But in the case of the head of the Commonwealth or the king of the United Kingdom and its other realms, that is not their constitutional responsibility.” 

“The discussion around reparations is not one that I think can be taken to the doorstep of Buckingham Palace. It is one that has to be taken to Downing Street,” Hewitt said.

Some of the information in this report came from Reuters and Associated Press.
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The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said Friday she plans to make a weekend visit to Armenia, where a cease-fire held for a second day after an outburst of fighting with neighboring Azerbaijan that killed more than 200 troops from both sides.

Pelosi told reporters in Berlin she would travel to Armenia on Saturday with a delegation that includes Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who is of Armenian descent. Pelosi declined to give further details about the trip, saying that traveling members of the Congress “don’t like to be a target.”

“In any case, it is all about human rights and respecting the dignity and worth of every person,” she said.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said the situation on the border with Azerbaijan has remained quiet since the cease-fire took effect at 8 p.m. Wednesday, and no violations were reported.

The cease-fire declaration followed two days of heavy fighting that marked the largest outbreak of hostilities in nearly two years.

Speaking in parliament Friday, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that at least 135 Armenian troops were killed in the fighting, revising his earlier statement that 105 died in combat. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said Friday it had lost 77.

Edvard Asryan, the chief of the General Staff of the Armenian armed forces, said at a briefing for foreign ambassadors in Yerevan that the Azerbaijani forces had forged 7.5 kilometers into Armenian territory near the town of Jermuk, a spa resort in southern Armenia.

Asryan said that the Azerbaijani troops also went 1-2 kilometers into Armenian territory near the village of Nerkin Hand in the Syunik province and the village of Shorja in the Gegharkunik province.

He noted that the Azerbaijani forces have remained in those areas.

The ex-Soviet countries have been locked in a decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is part of Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994.

During a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan reclaimed broad swaths of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent territories held by Armenian forces. More than 6,700 people died in the fighting, which ended with a Russia-brokered peace agreement. Moscow deployed about 2,000 troops to the region to serve as peacekeepers under the deal.

Pashinyan said his government has asked Russia for military support amid the latest fighting under a friendship treaty, and also requested assistance from the Moscow-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization. The security grouping of ex-Soviet nations responded by deploying a team of top officials to Armenia.

Pashinyan called Russian President Vladimir Putin when the hostilities erupted, and they had another call Friday to discuss the situation.

Yerevan’s plea for help has put the Kremlin in a precarious position as it has sought to maintain close relations with Armenia, which hosts a Russian military base, and also develop warm ties with energy-rich Azerbaijan.

Putin on Friday is scheduled to meet with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in the Uzbekistan city of Samarkand. The Russian leader is also set to have talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country has strongly backed Azerbaijan.

Speaking at the summit, Aliyev accused Armenia of “a large-scale military provocation” that derailed efforts to negotiate a peace treaty. “The Armenian provocation has dealt a heavy blow to the process of normalizing ties between our countries,” Aliyev said.

Pashinyan told lawmakers earlier this week that Armenia is ready to recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity in a future peace treaty, provided that it relinquishes control of areas in Armenia its forces have seized.

The opposition saw the statement as a sign of Pashinyan’s readiness to submit to Azerbaijani demands and recognize Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Thousands of angry protesters besieged the government’s headquarters and the country’s parliament during the past two days, accusing Pashinyan of treason. Protests were also held in other Armenian cities.
…

President Joe Biden plans to meet at the White House on Friday with family members of WNBA star Brittney Griner and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan, both of whom remain jailed in Russia, the White House announced Thursday.

“He wanted to let them know that they remain front of mind and that his team is working on this every day, on making sure that Brittney and Paul return home safely,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at Thursday’s press briefing at the White House.

The separate meetings are to be the first in-person encounter between Biden and the families and are taking place amid sustained but so far unsuccessful efforts by the administration to secure the Americans’ release. The administration said in July that it had made a “substantial proposal” to get them home, but despite plans for the White House meetings, there is no sign a breakthrough is imminent.

“While I would love to say that the purpose of this meeting is to inform the families that the Russians have accepted our offer and we are bringing their loved ones home — that is not what we’re seeing in these negotiations at this time,” Jean-Pierre said.

She added: “The Russians should accept our offer. The Russians should accept our offer today.”

Griner has been held in Russia since February on drug-related charges. She was sentenced last month to nine years in prison after pleading guilty and has appealed the punishment. Whelan is serving a 16-year sentence on espionage-related charges that he and his family say are false. The U.S. government regards both as wrongfully detained, placing their cases with the office of its top hostage negotiator.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken took the unusual step of announcing two months ago that the administration had made a substantial proposal to Russia. Since then, U.S officials have continued to press that offer in hopes of getting serious negotiations underway, and have been following up through the same channel that produced an April prisoner swap that brought Marine veteran Trevor Reed home from Russia, said a senior administration official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in advance of Thursday’s formal announcement.

The negotiations, already strained because of tense relations between Washington and Moscow over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have also been complicated by Russia’s apparent resistance to the proposal the Americans put on the table.

The Russians, who have indicated that they are open to negotiations but have chided the Americans to conduct them in private, have come back with suggestions that are not within the administration’s ability to deliver, said the administration official, declining to elaborate.

The administration has not provided specifics about its proposal, but a person familiar with the matter previously confirmed it had offered to release Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer who is imprisoned in the U.S. and who has long been sought by Moscow. It is also possible that, in the interests of symmetry, Russia might insist on having two of its citizens released from prison.

Biden spoke by phone in July with Griner’s wife, Cherelle, and with Whelan’s sister, Elizabeth, but both families have also requested in-person meetings. On Friday, Biden plans to speak at the White House with Cherelle Griner and with the player’s agent in one meeting and with Elizabeth Whelan in the other, according to the official.

The meetings are being done separately so as to ensure that each family has private time with the president. But the fact that they are happening on the same day shows the extent to which the two cases have become intertwined since the only deal that is presumably palatable to the U.S. is one that gets both Americans — a famous WNBA player and a Michigan man who until recently was little known to the public — home together at the same time,

In the past several months, representatives of both families have expressed frustration over what they perceived as a lack of aggressive action and coordination from the administration.

Cherelle Griner, for instance, told The Associated Press in an interview in June that she was dismayed after the failure of a phone call from her wife that was supposed to have been patched through by the American Embassy in Moscow left the couple unable to connect on their fourth anniversary.

Whelan’s relatives have sought to keep attention on his case, anxious that it has been overshadowed in the public eye by the focus on the far more prominent Griner — a two-time Olympic gold medalist and seven-time WNBA all-star. They also conveyed disappointment when Whelan, despite having been held in Russia since December 2018, was not included in a prisoner swap last April that brought home Reed.

Friday’s meetings were scheduled before news broke this week of an unconnected trip to Russia by Bill Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who has been a veteran emissary in hostage and detainee cases. Administration officials reacted coolly to that trip, with State Department spokesman Ned Price saying Wednesday that dialogue with Russia outside the “established channel” risks hindering efforts to get Griner and Whelan home.

Administration officials say work on hostage and detainee cases persists regardless of whether a family receives a meeting with the president, though there is also no question such an encounter can help establish a meaningful connection.

Biden met in the Oval Office in March with Reed’s parents after the Texas couple stood with a large sign outside the White House calling for their son’s release. The following month, he returned home.
…

Media groups seeking to take over smaller rivals will have to make sure that their deals ensure media pluralism and safeguard editorial independence under draft rules announced by the European Commission on Friday.

The Media Freedom Act (MFA) is part of the European Union’s strategy to prevent political interference in media outlets and spying on journalists. It also requires state advertising to media service providers to be transparent and non-discriminatory.

The proposed rules come amid worries about media freedom in Hungary, Poland and Slovenia and foreign interference in countries holding national elections.

“Democracy will work only if journalists have the means and the necessary protection to keep in check those in power and those with power, be it political or economic actors,”

Commission Vice President Vera Jourova told a news conference.

“This law should be seen as a piece of a broader puzzle. It is part of our efforts to protect democracy at large and to bring some order in our digital information space,” she said.

The rules will apply to TV and radio broadcasters, on-demand audiovisual media services, press publications and very large online platforms and providers of video-sharing platforms.

They will need to be thrashed out with EU countries and lawmakers before they can become law in a process likely to take a year or more.

The proposed rules require regulators to examine whether the merging companies would remain economically sustainable if there was no deal.

There are safeguards against the use of spyware against media, journalists and their families. The EU executive and a new European Board for Media Services can offer their opinions on whether the two criteria have been met.
…

Berlin on Friday took control of the German operations of Russian oil firm Rosneft to secure energy supplies which have been disrupted after Moscow invaded Ukraine.

Rosneft’s German subsidiaries, which account for about 12% of oil refining capacity in the country, were placed under trusteeship of the Federal Network Agency, the economy ministry said in a statement.

“The trust management will counter the threat to the security of energy supply,” it said.

The seizures come as Germany is scrambling to wean itself off its dependence on Russian fossil fuels. Moscow has stopped natural gas deliveries to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

The move covers the companies Rosneft Deutschland GmbH (RDG) and RN Refining & Marketing GmbH (RNRM) and thereby their corresponding stakes in three refineries: PCK Schwedt, MiRo and Bayernoil.

Fears had been running high particularly for PCK Schwedt, which is close to the Polish border and supplies around 90% of the oil used in Berlin and the surrounding region, including Berlin-Brandenburg international airport.

The refineries’ operations had been disrupted as the German government decided to slash Russian oil imports, with an aim to halt them completely by year’s end.

By taking control of the sites, the German authorities can then run the refining operations using crude from countries other than Russia.

Energy earthquake

Russia’s war in Ukraine has set off an energy earthquake in Europe and especially in Germany, with prices skyrocketing as Moscow dwindled supplies.

Germany has found itself severely exposed given its heavy reliance on Russian gas.

Moscow had also built up a grip over Germany’s oil refineries, pipelines and other gas infrastructure through energy giants Rosneft and Gazprom over the years.

Energy deals with Russia were long seen as part of a German policy of keeping the peace through cooperation with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime.

The cheap energy supplied by Russia was also key in keeping German exports competitive. As a result, the share of Russian gas in Germany had grown to 55% of total imports before the Ukraine war.

But that approach has come back to haunt Germany.

In early April, the German government took the unprecedented step of temporarily taking control of Gazprom’s German subsidiary, after an opaque transfer of ownership of the company sent alarm bells ringing in Berlin.

Germany has also been scrambling to find new sources of energy as deliveries from Russia have dwindled in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

The German government has also taken the stark step of firing up mothballed coal power plants, while putting two of its nuclear power plants on standby through April, rather than phasing them out completely as planned by year’s end.
…

European Union lawmakers on Thursday declared that Hungary has become “a hybrid regime of electoral autocracy” under the leadership of its nationalist government, and that its undermining of the bloc’s democratic values had taken Hungary out of the community of democracies.

In a resolution that passed 433-123 with 28 abstentions, the parliamentarians raised concerns about Hungary’s constitutional and electoral systems, judicial independence, possible corruption, public procurement irregularities, LGBTQ+ rights, as well as media, academic and religious freedoms.

The lawmakers said that Hungary — which its populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban characterizes as an “illiberal democracy” — has left behind many of the democratic values of the bloc. In part, they blamed the other 26 EU member countries for turning a blind eye to possible abuses during Orban’s 12 years in office.

The vote is the latest in a series of showdowns between the EU’s institutions and Orban’s government in Budapest. The bloc’s executive arm, the European Commission, is expected to announce Sunday that it is prepared to suspend payments of some EU money to Hungary over its alleged violations.

The French Greens parliamentarian who chaperoned the resolution through the assembly, Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield, said “for the first time, an EU institution is stating the sad truth, that Hungary is no longer a democracy.”

In the text, the lawmakers condemned “the deliberate and systematic efforts of the Hungarian government to undermine the founding values of the Union.”

The vote is highly symbolic in that it sets Hungary apart from other EU countries in its alleged failure to uphold values enshrined in the EU treaty like “respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.”

But the vote, which came during a plenary session in Strasbourg, France, doesn’t impose any penalty on Orban’s government, nor does it bind other EU countries into taking any particular actions.

Delbos-Corfield said Orban and the ruling Fidesz party “have put their time and effort into tearing apart the fabric of democracy and ripping up the rule of law instead of supporting their citizens.”

“The costs for Hungarian citizens are clear: They are having their rights removed and opportunities undermined, all while their state is stripped apart by autocrats and oligarchs,” she said.

Lawmakers opposing a report on the resolution said it contains “subjective opinions and politically biased statements, and reflects vague concerns, value judgments and double standards.”

Hungary’s foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, said Thursday during a news conference in Budapest that Hungarian voters had “decided in four parliamentary elections in a row what kind of future they want for the country” by electing Orban and his party.

“We resent that some people in Strasbourg and Brussels think that the Hungarian people are not mature enough to decide their own future,” Szijjarto said.

Hungary has long been on a collision course with its European partners. It has routinely blocked joint statements, decisions and events, ranging from high-level NATO meetings with Ukraine to an EU vote on corporate tax and a common EU position on an Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire.

The government in Budapest has opposed some EU sanctions against Russia, notably a freeze on the assets of Russia’s Orthodox Church patriarch, as well as energy-related sanctions against Moscow.

Members of the European Commission are meeting Sunday, when they are expected to announce a cut in Hungary’s EU funding unless it takes action to end its democratic backsliding.

Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn said says suspending around 70% of the funding to Hungary in some EU programs, notably related to public contract procurement, “can be considered proportionate.” It’s unclear how much money that would involve.

A full suspension of EU funds is unlikely. Any action must be approved by the member countries, and this requires a “qualified majority,” which amounts to 55% of the 27 members representing at least 65% of the total EU population. Some EU lawmakers have expressed concerns that if Italy’s far right wins the country’s Sept. 25 election it could be difficult to establish that majority.
…

A mass grave with more than 440 bodies was discovered in Izium, in northeastern Ukraine, where Russian forces were ousted just days ago, Ukrainian officials said Thursday.

“I can say it is one of the largest burial sites in a big town in liberated [areas] … 440 bodies were buried in one place,” Serhiy Bolvinov, the chief police investigator for Kharkiv region, told Sky News, according to Reuters. “Some died because of artillery fire … some died because of airstrikes.”

A Ukrainian counteroffensive pushed Russian troops from the region last weekend. The Russians had been occupying the city in the Kharkiv region. Ukrainian officials said the troops left behind large amounts of ammunition and equipment, Reuters reported.

Reuters could not immediately verify the Ukrainian claim, and there was no immediate public comment from Russia on the allegation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had visited the recently recaptured city on Wednesday, said the Russians were responsible. He likened the discovery in Izium to a similar event in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, during the early stages of the Russian invasion in late February.

“Russia is leaving death behind it everywhere and must be held responsible,” Zelenskyy said in a video address late Thursday. He said he would release more information about the mass burial site in Izium on Friday.

Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Russian forces of perpetrating war crimes there. Russia has denied targeting civilians or committing war crimes.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden announced another $600 million arms package for Ukraine, the 21st time the Defense Department has pulled weapons and other equipment off the shelves to deliver to Ukraine, the White House said.

‘Fighting for their future’

Biden used the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows the president to authorize the transfer of excess weapons from U.S. stocks.

The memo does not detail how the money would be used, but The Associated Press reported it would include more of the same types of ammunition and equipment that have helped Ukrainian forces beat back Russian forces in portions of the east and south.

“With admirable grit and determination, the people of Ukraine are defending their homeland and fighting for their future,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “The capabilities we are delivering are carefully calibrated to make the most difference on the battlefield and strengthen Ukraine’s hand at the negotiating table when the time is right.”

The U.S. has sent about $15.1 billion in security assistance to the Kyiv government since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Earlier Thursday, the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s board of governors adopted a resolution demanding that Russia end its occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, diplomats who attended a closed-door meeting on Thursday in Vienna said.

The resolution adopted by the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) calls on Russia to “immediately cease all actions against, and at, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and any other nuclear facility in Ukraine,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. (RFE/RL is a sister network of Voice of America.)

The 35-member board passed the resolution with 26 votes in favor, two against, and seven abstentions, diplomats said, adding that Russia and China voted against it.

The resolution also says the military occupation of the plant significantly increases the risk of a nuclear accident that would endanger the population of Ukraine, neighboring states and the international community.

Russia’s mission to the IAEA said “the Achilles’ heel of this resolution” was that it said nothing about the systematic shelling of the plant.

Some accused of grain theft

Also, the U.S. imposed new economic sanctions on an array of Russians, including some whom it accused of stealing Ukrainian grain, an official who allegedly has directed the deportation of tens of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, and relatives of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

“The United States continues to hold the Russian government to account for its war against Ukraine,” Blinken said.

The top American diplomat said those targeted include major Russian defense entities, key advanced-technology firms that support Russia’s defense industrial base and financial infrastructure, a Russian military intelligence agency and individuals linked to human rights abuses.

Additional sanctions were levied on Kadyrov, who already had been blacklisted by the U.S. since 2017. The new blacklist also targets three of Kadyrov’s wives and three of his adult daughters.

Blinken said Maria Lvova-Belova was sanctioned for her efforts to deport Ukrainian children to Russia.

He said the sanctions targeted “key Russia-installed authority figures in Ukrainian territories currently controlled by the Russian military,” along with 31 defense, technology and electronics entities, “to further constrain Russia’s advanced technology industries and their contribution to Russia’s defense industrial base.”

Blinken said those targeted included 22 Russian proxy officials, including five who have overseen the seizure or theft of hundreds of thousands of tons of Ukrainian grain.

The sanctions freeze any U.S. assets held by those blacklisted and prohibits U.S. individuals or companies from doing business with them.

In Kyiv, Zelenskyy hosted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for talks that she said would include “getting our economies and people closer while Ukraine progresses” toward membership in the European Union.

Ukraine applied to join the EU in late February, days after Russia launched its invasion.  The EU granted Ukraine candidacy status in June.

Zelenskyy used part of his latest nightly address to criticize Russian cruise missile strikes on the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, which he said hit a reservoir dam with “no military value” that hundreds of thousands of civilians depend on.

The Ukrainian leader also said almost the entire Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine was “de-occupied” after Ukrainian forces took back large areas in a counteroffensive in the past two weeks.

RFE/RL contributed to this report. Some information came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
…

Armenia and Azerbaijan appear to have negotiated a cease-fire in the past day, pausing fighting that has reportedly killed more than 170 troops on both sides since fighting erupted earlier this week.

Armenian officials announced the cease-fire starting Wednesday in a television broadcast. There has been no confirmation from Azerbaijan’s government.

“We welcome the cessation of hostilities between Azerbaijan and Armenia and will continue to work with the parties to seek to cement it,” tweeted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday.

The renewed fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia has stoked fears of further military escalation in the decades-old conflict. Experts warn the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis facing Europe might complicate peace efforts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia, both former Soviet Union republics in the Caucasus, have accused each other of restarting violence that has been the worst fighting in two years.

Armenia said Azerbaijani forces shelled towns and villages along the border, forcing its military to respond. Azerbaijan’s military argued its infrastructure was first targeted by Armenia.

Both militaries have reported heavy casualties, but the exact numbers have not been verified by independent sources.

Russia, which is a close ally of Armenia, called for restraint and quickly brokered a cease-fire after the outbreak of hostilities. But it failed to hold with clashes across the border continuing the next day.

‘Frozen conflict’

The two neighbors have been fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but has been controlled by ethnic Armenians supported by Yerevan since a six-year war that ended in 1994.

The last time they fought was in 2020. Azerbaijan reclaimed significant territory in Nagorno-Karabakh during that war which also lasted six weeks and came to an end with a cease-fire brokered by Russia.

With no comprehensive peace treaty to the satisfaction of the warring sides, despite years-long efforts, the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia has remained unresolved to this day.

That’s why many scholars describe it as a “frozen conflict,” which is usually characterized by sporadic skirmishes that could potentially restart the war at any moment, thus creating uncertainty and instability.

Reason behind renewed fighting

New clashes came at a time when Russia, the traditional broker between Azerbaijan and Armenia, is struggling in its effort to militarily subdue Ukraine.

Armenia is in a military alliance with Russia through the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which is composed of former Soviet nations. The country is home to a Russian military base. Russia also has close ties with oil-rich Azerbaijan.

On Tuesday, Blinken spoke to the leaders of both countries by phone, urging them to cease hostilities and stressing that the U.S. and Western partners “would push for an immediate halt to fighting and a peace settlement.”

Blinken expressed his concern over the shelling in Armenia during those calls, according to a statement by State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

The spokesperson reiterated to journalists during Wednesday’s briefing that they are “particularly disturbed by continued reports of civilians being harmed inside Armenia.”

The Biden administration also dispatched its senior adviser for the Caucasus, Ambassador Philip Reeker, to the region.

“For our part, we do remain deeply engaged. Ambassador Reeker met with President Aliyev yesterday in Baku. We remain committed to doing all we can to promote a peaceful and prosperous future for the South Caucasus,” Price said.

Experts tell VOA that the latest fighting has included not just Nagorno-Karabakh as in previous exchanges, but also reported shelling inside Armenia.

“This represents a serious escalation that has brought immediate international attention, including calls from Secretary of State Blinken to the leaders of both countries,” said Max Hoffman, senior director of the national security program at the Center for American Progress.

Pointing to the shift in momentum on the battlefield in Ukraine that appears to be working against Russia, he argued that Azerbaijan is trying to “take advantage of Russia’s perceived diminished ability to intervene forcefully,” and press the Armenians into handing over territories more rapidly.

Laurence Broers, who has more than 20 years’ experience as a researcher of conflicts in the South Caucasus, agrees. In written comments to VOA, the associate fellow with Chatham House in London described it as Azerbaijan seeking to enforce its vision of a peace agreement.

Baku’s natural gas leverage

Azerbaijan is rich in oil and natural gas resources. According to its country profile on International Energy Agency’s website, Azerbaijan has an estimated 1.3 trillion cubic meters of proven natural gas reserves.

Russia has recently reduced gas supplies to parts of Europe through the Nord-Stream 1 pipeline in retaliation against Western economic sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen clinched a deal with Azerbaijan in July to double the gas supply to Europe by 2027 saying, “this will help compensate for cuts in supplies of Russian gas.”

Baku recently said it plans to increase natural gas exports to Europe by 30% this year as the European Union strives to reduce its energy dependence on Russia amid the Ukraine war.

Experts tell VOA that the agreement between Baku and Brussels affirmed Azerbaijan’s role as a reliable EU partner.

But the country is also pursuing policies that could benefit Moscow. Azerbaijan news media reported last week that Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan signed the Baku Declaration, a trilateral cooperation deal on logistics, to affirm their commitment to the International North-South Transport Corridor.

The goal of the project is said to attract the cargo flows from India, Iran and Persian Gulf nations through Russian territory to Europe.

“The deal is symbolic for Russia’s interests in the sense that it provides alternative connectivity for Moscow given the collapse of its Western vectors and markets,” said Broers of Chatham House in written comments to VOA.

Turkey’s position

Turkey has close cultural and ethnic ties with Azerbaijan. Baku used Turkish-made armed drones in the war in 2020, when Azerbaijan reclaimed large swaths of land in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.

Turkey does not have diplomatic relations with its other neighbor, Armenia, and the border between the two countries has remained closed since 1993, when Ankara sealed it in support of Azerbaijan during the war over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Turkey and Armenia are also at odds over mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I. Armenia and some other countries, including the United States, recognize the events of 1915 as genocide.

Ankara continued to support Baku after recent clashes, accusing Armenia of provocations.

Security analyst Max Hoffman says the six-week war in 2020 was a victory for Turkey in the sense that it boosted the country’s image at home and the reputation of Turkish drones to markets abroad. Turkey’s Bayraktar drones are also used by the Ukrainian army against Russia.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking at a rally in Ankara on Wednesday, warned that “Armenia’s attitude towards Azerbaijan would have consequences.”

He accused Armenia of violating the agreement reached after the fighting in 2020.

Risks for the wider region

Experts predict that even if the renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia subside, more will be likely to follow.

“There is no effective deterrent to the use of force in the South Caucasus today. The region’s security architecture is in crisis,” Boers told VOA, warning that the conflict in the South Caucasus could see other regional actors such as Russia and Turkey get dragged into the fighting.

“A wider conflict could become quite anarchic once the conflicting interests of Russia, Turkey, Iran and regional states are taken into consideration,” he said.

Although broader recognition of a mutual interest in regional stability could lead to a brokered diplomatic resolution, Boers suggested, that would require “all actors to take a pragmatic, strategic approach to their relations.”

“We are not seeing that,” he told VOA.

This story originated in VOA’s Turkish Service.
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The European Commission, the legislative arm of the European Union, released a 60-page proposal Wednesday that would ban products made by forced labor, a measure to stop goods tainted with forced labor from entering and exiting the union’s market.

The proposed regulation was published one year after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen introduced the initiative in her 2021 State of the Union speech.

“The proposal covers all products, namely those made in the EU for domestic consumption and exports, and imported goods, without targeting specific companies or industries,” the European Commission said in a statement.

The release of the proposal follows a new U.S. law called the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which bans products made with forced labor from Xinjiang, a western Uyghur region in China. Enforcement of the U.S. legislation began in June.

The details

While the European Commission’s forced labor proposal is generally similar to the U.S. law, it does not specify a region such as Xinjiang. Instead, the proposal is much broader and applies to all products made globally, including from within the EU’s borders.  

Some critics say the European version is weak because it lacks a clear procedure for an entire industry, and it does not have a targeted regional ban, said Koen Stoop, EU representative of the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress.

“The draft text raises concern about whether the proposal is meaningfully drafted to address state-imposed forced labor (such as Uyghur forced labor),” Stoop told VOA in an email. “We hope amendments will be made to strengthen the regulation.”

The proposal seeks to address the problem of forced labor globally, stating, “The use of forced labor is widespread in the world. It is estimated that about 27.6 million people were in forced labor in 2021.”

“This proposal will make a real difference in tackling modern-day slavery, which affects millions of people around the globe. Our aim is to eliminate all products made with forced labor from the EU market, irrespective of where they have been made. Our ban will apply to domestic products, exports and imports alike,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission’s executive vice president and commissioner for trade.

Lengthy process 

Rights groups expect the legislative process from proposal to adoption to be a lengthy one since the European Parliament and the council need to agree on a final text.

“There is no time limit on the ‘first reading’ at the Parliament and council, so it depends on how fast they can reach an agreement, both amongst and between themselves,” Stoop told VOA. “This usually takes at least a year. But even when the law is adopted, it will take two years to enter into force. So, taken together, it will take at least three years for the ban to start being enforced.”

Each EU member state will implement the law by assessing forced labor risks based on many different sources of information.

“These may include submissions from civil society, a database of forced labor risks focusing on specific products and geographic areas, and the due diligence that companies carry out,” stated the European Commission.

“Competent authorities and customs will work hand in hand to make the system robust. We have sought to minimize the administrative burden for businesses, with a tailor-made approach” for small and midsized enterprises, Dombrovskis said. “We will also further deepen our cooperation with our global partners and with international organizations.”

China and forced labor accusations 

While China is not singled out by the EU proposal, the United States, the United Nations and rights groups have accused China of using Uyghur forced labor and have said Beijing’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in Xinjiang constitutes crimes against humanity. Rights groups hope the European Commission’s proposal will specifically address Uyghur forced labor.

“We’re certainly encouraged by steps taken by the commission, and we want to see a proposal that’s up for the task when it comes to combating forced labor in the Uyghur region,” Peter Irwin, senior program officer for advocacy and communications at the Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project, told VOA in an email. “The law needs to include procedures to compel companies to remove this kind of state-imposed forced labor from their supply chains.”

China has repeatedly denied accusations of forced labor as U.S.-propagated “lies of the century” designed to use criticism over Xinjiang to contain China.

On Thursday, in response to the EU proposal, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing, “There’s no so-called ‘forced labor’ in China. We firmly oppose using the so-called ‘forced labor’ or any Xinjiang-related issue to interfere in China’s internal affairs.”

Activists outside China, however, see the proposal as a boon for Uyghurs who live in China.

“This resolution adds to the growing economic pressure on the Chinese government to dismantle its system of state-sponsored forced labor in the Uyghur region, as well as to end corporate complicity in these abuses,” said Jewher Ilham, forced labor project coordinator at the Washington-based Worker Rights Consortium.

By banning products made with forced labor, Ilham told VOA, the EU aligns its market with global standards and other legislatures.
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Russia’s war on Ukraine has seen scores of hospitals and clinics bombed, and frequent power cuts that can turn off lifesaving machines. Medical aid groups are using a Kenyan-manufactured breathing device for premature babies that works without electricity, helping save vulnerable newborns in countries affected by conflict. Victoria Amunga reports from Nairobi, Kenya. Camera – Jimmy Makhulo.
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The U.N. nuclear watchdog’s board of governors has adopted a resolution demanding that Russia end its occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, diplomats who attended a closed-door meeting on Thursday in Vienna said.

The resolution adopted by the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) calls on Russia to “immediately cease all actions against, and at, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and any other nuclear facility in Ukraine.”

The 35-member board passed the resolution with 26 votes in favor, two against, and seven abstentions, diplomats said, adding that Russia and China voted against.

The resolution also says the military occupation of the plant significantly increases the risk of a nuclear accident that would endanger the population of Ukraine, neighboring states, and the international community.

The Russian military and the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom should suspend all activities at the nuclear plant and hand control back to Ukrainian authorities, the resolution said.

Russia’s mission to the IAEA said “the Achilles’ heel of this resolution” was that it said nothing about the systematic shelling of the plant.

“The reason is simple — this shelling is carried out by Ukraine, which is supported and shielded by Western countries in every possible way,” it said in a statement.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, has repeatedly come under fire in recent weeks, raising grave concerns at the IAEA. Moscow and Kyiv have blamed each other for the attacks.

An IAEA delegation visited the plant earlier this month and reported that the site had been damaged by the shelling.

The power plant was completely shut down at the weekend, and power lines have been restored to ensure the cooling of nuclear fuel rods and waste, which is essential to prevent a meltdown.

Some information for this report came from Reuters.
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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will meet U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House Friday, with trade, energy, and security all on the agenda. What’s not officially on the program, but will likely be discussed, analysts say, are the two democracies’ differences over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Ramaphosa’s first visit to the White House comes as the Biden administration seeks to re-engage with Africa in the wake of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent visit to the continent, during which he launched Washington’s new Africa strategy.

During the trip in August, Blinken stressed that the U.S. sees Africa as an equal partner.

However, at their meeting in Pretoria, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor accused Western nations of “bullying” Africa in trying to get countries to condemn the invasion of Ukraine.

Bob Wekesa, director of the African Center for the Study of the United States at South Africa’s University of Witwatersrand, said the differences between the two countries were evident at the two top diplomats’ talks.

“At that meeting it was very clear that South Africa and the U.S. were on different paths and trajectories as regards many issues,” he said.

Wekesa said Ukraine will likely come up again when Biden and Ramaphosa meet Friday and predicted the two leaders will have a “difficult” discussion on the issue.

“The U.S., having taken a very clear position on supporting Ukraine, to kind of eject Russian forces from Ukraine, will be lobbying South Africa quite hard to kind of change [its] tune,” he said.

South Africa abstained from a U.N. vote earlier this year to condemn Russia’s invasion. Afterward, Biden phoned Ramaphosa. A White House statement after the call said Biden had “emphasized the need for a clear, unified international response to Russian aggression in Ukraine.”

Steven Gruzd, head of the African Governance and Diplomacy Program at the South African Institute of International Affairs, said Ramaphosa and Biden will discuss other issues as well, but added that the Ukraine topic cannot be avoided. 

“On the agenda will be trade and investment, issues like climate change and food security, energy, peace and security in Africa, and of course what’s not officially on the agenda but will certainly be talked about is the war in Ukraine and the differing positions of South Africa and the U.S. on that particular conflict,” he said.

Gruzd said he thought the Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act, which passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and is now being considered by the Senate, would also come up in the two leaders’ conversation.

African countries see the act, which would sanction nations that trade with Russia, as an attempt to punish them for not voting with the U.S. on Ukraine.

In December, Biden is set to host the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan heads to Uzbekistan Thursday to attend a meeting of Eurasian security group, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.  Erdogan is attending at the invitation of Russian president Vladimir Putin. The meeting comes as Erdogan’s relations with Putin are under growing scrutiny by its Western allies as they seek to tighten sanctions on Russia.

The loyalties of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are likely to face growing scrutiny from his traditional Western allies with his attendance Friday of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Uzbekistan. 

The Russian and Chinese-led Eurasian security group is dubbed by some critics an anti-Western alliance. 

Erdogan’s attendance and a scheduled meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, the third in as many months, will fuel questions over Turkey’s Western loyalties, says Asli Aydintasbas, a visiting scholar with the Brookings Institution think tank.

“Erdogan likes to do this balancing act, and it serves a purpose. He wants to signal to the West that he has other options. Turkey has grown rather close to Russia, particularly economically, rather dependent on Russia,” Aydintasbas said. “Not only has Ankara not joined the Western sanctions, but it has also continued to trade with Russia and has received Russian finances.”   

Some analysts say trade with Russia is increasingly crucial to Turkey’s crisis-ridden economy, which could prove vital to Erdogan, who faces reelection next year. Friday’s talks between Putin and Erdogan are expected to focus on trade. 

Maria Shagina of the International Institute for Strategic Studies says with Western countries seeking to tighten sanctions on Moscow, Erdogan is also becoming increasingly important to Putin.

“Russia is running out of good friends here. They have China, India they can pivot to, but the room for maneuver, where Beijing (and) New Delhi would have an appetite to face secondary sanctions, is just not there,” Shagina said. “So, it’s important for Moscow to have another friend in need, and Ankara, unlike Beijing, Ankara is actually more risk prone.”

Erdogan this month called for the easing of some sanctions on Russia. But Ankara insists it is not violating U.S. international sanctions and is taking a balanced approach toward Russia and Ukraine, with Turkish armament companies continuing to supply Kyiv. 

Erdogan’s stance toward Russia is expected to top the agenda of talks if the Turkish president meets with U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of next week’s United Nations General Assembly in New York. But analyst Aydintasbas says Biden faces a dilemma with Ankara.   

“Washington is doing its own balancing act when it comes to Erdogan. They don’t like the fact he has not joined Western sanctions on Russia. On the other hand, they don’t want to push Turkey further toward Russia,” Aydintasbas said. “So, they’ve refrained from speaking out.”

With both European Union and Washington expected to step up efforts to tighten sanctions on Russia, analysts warn Turkey’s balancing act with Russia could prove increasingly difficult to sustain. 
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is hosting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for talks Thursday in Kyiv that von der Leyen said would include “getting our economies and people closer while Ukraine progresses towards accession.”

Ukraine applied to join the European Union in late February, days after Russia launched its invasion.  The EU granted Ukraine candidacy status in June.

“In Kyiv, for my 3rd visit since the start of Russia’s war. So much has changed. Ukraine is now an EU candidate,” von der Leyen tweeted.

In Uzbekistan, the Ukraine conflict was on the agenda for talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Ji Xinping.

Zelenskyy used part of his latest nightly address to criticize Russia cruise missile strikes on the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, which he said hit a reservoir dam with “no military value” that hundreds of thousands of civilians depend on.

The Ukrainian leader also said almost the entire Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine is “de-occupied” after Ukrainian forces took back large areas in a counteroffensive.

The gains included retaking the city of Izium where Zelenskyy traveled Wednesday to meet with soldiers and thank them for their efforts.

“Ukrainian forces continue to consolidate their control of newly liberated areas of Kharkiv Oblast,” Britain’s defense ministry said Thursday.  “Russian forces have largely withdrawn from the area west of the Oskil River.”

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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Tens of thousands of people have lined up to view the coffin of Britain’s late Queen Elizabeth II as she lies in state in Westminster Hall ahead of her funeral next week.

Her body was taken in a solemn procession from Buckingham Palace, where it had remained overnight after being transported to England from Scotland, to Westminster. The coffin, adorned with the imperial state crown and the royal standard, was carried by the same horse-drawn gun carriage that had borne the bodies of her mother and father.

King Charles III walked behind the coffin, joined by his sons, William and Harry, and his siblings, Anne, Andrew and Edward.

Tens of thousands of people watched from the roadside to catch a final glimpse of the monarch, offer a last goodbye and witness firsthand an extraordinary piece of history unfolding. Most watched in silence. Some threw flowers. Some quietly wept.

U.S. citizen Silver Klajnscek, who lives in London, spoke to VOA after the procession passed.

“There’s such a respect for — I don’t know a better way to put it, but pomp and circumstance in this country — that really pulls people together. And it’s really an honor to be a part of it,” she said.

Gun salutes echoed across the capital. In London’s Hyde Park, thousands more people watched the procession on big screens.

Under late summer sunshine, the procession arrived in Westminster 38 minutes after leaving Buckingham Palace. It is a journey the queen had made so many times before, across seven decades on the British throne stretching back to the government of Winston Churchill.

Her coffin was carried into Westminster Hall by guardsmen from the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, who had been flown back from Iraq for the occasion. The queen was their company commander.

At Westminster Hall, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Dean of Westminster David Hoyle read prayers at the service. Those in attendance for the historic event included Catherine, Princess of Wales, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Camilla, Queen Consort.

At the end of the brief service, the queen’s body officially lay in state — and the doors of the great hall opened for the public to mourn their monarch.

Outside, lines of people several kilometers long had formed. They could face a wait of up to 27 hours to reach Westminster Hall.

“I haven’t had any sleep whatsoever. I’m just going with the energy that’s within. I feel very uplifted, very calm and happy. Happy to be able to show my last respects to the queen,” 61-year-old Stephen Holdgate said.

“She’s been there my entire life. She’s like a grandmother,” London resident Neil Martin told VOA.

Nearby, Bryony Stevenson waited in line with her 3-month-old baby.

“It’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime occasions,” Stevenson said. “My little one was born a Jubilee baby, and it’s important for us to make this occasion, because it’s a huge part of history.”

Westminster Hall was built in 1097. It hosted King Henry VIII’s coronation banquet in 1509; the trial of Guy Fawkes in 1606, who plotted to blow up parliament; and the trial of King Charles I in 1649 following the English Civil War. For the next four days, the hall is playing no less a historic role in this ancient kingdom.

Elizabeth died Sept. 8 at Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands, a place she cherished and where Charles became king.

The queen’s funeral is scheduled for Monday at Westminster Abbey, with numerous world leaders expected to attend. The coffin will then be taken to Windsor for the committal service, where the queen’s husband, Prince Philip, was laid to rest in April 2021.

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

Her coffin was carried into Westminster Hall by guardsmen from the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, who had been flown back from Iraq for the occasion. The queen was their company commander.
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The body of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II was taken from Buckingham Palace Wednesday to Westminster Hall, where she will lie in state for four days ahead of her funeral. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday that the number of coronavirus deaths worldwide last week was the lowest reported in the pandemic since March 2020, marking what could be a turning point in the years-long global outbreak.

At a press briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world has never been in a better position to stop COVID-19.

“We are not there yet, but the end is in sight,” he said, comparing the effort to that made by a marathon runner nearing the finish line. “Now is the worst time to stop running,” he said. “Now is the time to run harder and make sure we cross the line and reap all the rewards of our hard work.”

In its weekly report on the pandemic, the U.N. health agency said deaths fell by 22% in the past week, at just over 11,000 reported worldwide. There were 3.1 million new cases, a drop of 28%, continuing a weeks-long decline in the disease in every part of the world.

Still, the WHO warned that relaxed COVID testing and surveillance in many countries means that many cases are going unnoticed. The agency issued a set of policy briefs for governments to strengthen their efforts against the coronavirus ahead of the expected winter surge of COVID-19, warning that new variants could yet undo the progress made to date.

“If we don’t take this opportunity now, we run the risk of more variants, more deaths, more disruption, and more uncertainty,” Tedros said.

The WHO reported that the omicron subvariant BA.5 continues to dominate globally and comprised nearly 90% of virus samples shared with the world’s biggest public database. In recent weeks, regulatory authorities in Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere have cleared tweaked vaccines that target both the original coronavirus and later variants including BA.5.

Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19, said the organization expected future waves of the disease, but was hopeful those would not cause many deaths.

Meanwhile in China, residents of a city in the country’s far western Xinjiang region have said they are experiencing hunger, forced quarantines and dwindling supplies of medicine and daily necessities after more than 40 days in a lockdown prompted by COVID-19.

Hundreds of posts from Ghulja riveted users of Chinese social media last week, with residents sharing videos of empty refrigerators, feverish children and people shouting from their windows.

On Monday, local police announced the arrests of six people for “spreading rumors” about the lockdown, including posts about a dead child and an alleged suicide, which they said “incited opposition” and “disrupted social order.”

Leaked directives from government offices show that workers are being ordered to avoid negative information and spread “positive energy” instead. One directed state media to film “smiling seniors” and “children having fun” in neighborhoods emerging from the lockdown.

The government has ordered mass testing and district lockdowns in cities across China in recent weeks, from Sanya on tropical Hainan island to southwest Chengdu, to the northern port city of Dalian.
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