U.S. President Joe Biden launched his whirlwind European diplomatic tour on a conciliatory note, saying Friday that the rollout of a security deal between the United States, Britain and Australia that cut out longtime ally France was “clumsy.”

“What happened was, to use an English phrase – what we did was clumsy,” Biden said. “It was not done with a lot of grace,” he acknowledged, next to French President Emanuel Macron in Rome ahead of the G-20 summit. The two spoke to reporters following their meeting which was notably held at Villa Bonaparte, the French Embassy to the Vatican, instead of a neutral venue.

The Indo-Pacific AUKUS security deal provides Australia with U.S. nuclear-powered submarines.  But buying U.S. subs meant Canberra cancelled the $65 billion deal it previously made with Paris for traditional submarines.

The diplomatic fallout was swift: Paris temporarily recalled its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra, saying they were not consulted in advance of the AUKUS deal.

“I was under the impression that France had been informed long before that the deal was not coming through,” Biden said Friday. “Honest to God, I did not know that you had not been.”

This modest concession matters, said Leslie Vinjamuri, director of the U.S. and the Americas program at Chatham House. 

“It’s pretty clear that both Biden and Macron have a lot to lose and wish this relationship to work,” she said. “So, they are finding ways to signal that, including in this case an acknowledgment that stops short of an apology.”

Biden earlier committed to supporting France in their counterterrorism effort in the Sahel, where instability triggers waves of African migrants to aim for Europe.

“Clearly the U.S. made a tough call on how to deal with France in the run-up to this decision and, ultimately, the AUKUS partnership stands and France is outside of it,” Vinjamuri said.

Other key meetings 

Earlier Friday, Biden met with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, a potential key ally in transatlantic relations at a time when German Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to leave office and Macron remains politically embattled at home.

They and other leaders will gather at the G-20 summit of the world’s wealthiest nations, hosted this year by Italy, which begins Saturday.

“Italy really is an anchor in southeastern Europe for the United States,” said Rachel Ellehuus, deputy director and senior fellow with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 

The White House said Biden thanked Draghi for Italy’s support following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, including by temporarily housing more than 4,000 Afghans who were on route to the U.S. in August. The leaders discussed challenges to security in the Mediterranean region and reaffirmed the importance of NATO’s efforts to deter and defend against threats.

Biden is also expected to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the summit’s sidelines. Erdogan recently threatened to expel the U.S. and nine other Western ambassadors over their support of a jailed Turkish philanthropist over charges of espionage, terrorism and attempts to overthrow the government – allegations that Western observers have called absurd.

“This meeting is important for President Biden to send some messages to Turkey about what is and is not acceptable behavior from a NATO ally, what his expectations are for Turkey being a partner in everything from follow-on security challenges from Afghanistan to Turkey’s role in the Black Sea region and Turkey’s performance in NATO,” Ellehuus said.

Observers, journalists and international partners have repeatedly asked when Biden will meet one-on-one with the leader of the country the U.S. considers its main adversary: China. But Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend the G-20 summit in person, nor the climate conference that will follow immediately after, in Glasgow. 

The White House has confirmed Biden and Xi will meet virtually before the year’s end.
…

Pope Francis issued an urgent appeal Friday to world leaders ahead of the U.N. climate conference to take “radical decisions” to protect the environment and prioritize the common good rather than nationalistic interests.

Francis delivered the “Thought for the Day” on the British Broadcasting Corp.’s morning radio program ahead of the Oct. 31-Nov. 13 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

In the message, Francis urged political leaders not to waste the opportunity created by the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic to change course and chart a future based on a sense of shared responsibility for a common destiny.

“It means giving priority to the common good, and it calls for a change in perspective, a new outlook, in which the dignity of every human being, now and in the future, will guide our ways of thinking and acting,” Francis said. “The most important lesson we can take from these crises is our need to build together, so that there will no longer be any borders, barriers or political walls for us to hide behind.”

Francis has made caring for God’s Creation one of the hallmarks of his papacy. In 2015, ahead of the last U.N. climate conference in Paris, he penned the first-ever ecological encyclical, “Praised Be,” in which he denounced how the “perverse” profit-at-all-costs global economic model had exploited the poorest, ravaged Earth’s natural resources and turned the planet into an “immense pile of filth.”
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An 18-member group of nations, including the United States and United Kingdom, has expressed “deep concern” over what it calls the Russian government’s “intensifying harassment of independent journalists and media outlets” in the country.

In a statement issued on October 28 under the name of the Media Freedom Coalition, was also signed by Ukraine and North Macedonia, along with Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

The statement said that “media freedom is vital to the effective functioning of free and open societies and is essential to the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Russian authorities have been accused of increasingly cracking down on independent media outlets, civil society groups, rights activists, and others, using legislations on “undesirable” individuals or groups, as well as the so-called “foreign agents” law.

The 18-nation statement said Russian authorities continue in 2021 to “systematically detain journalists and subject them to harsh treatment while they reported on protests in support of imprisoned opposition figure Aleksei Navalny.”

READ ALSO: Navalny Dedicates His Sakharov Prize to World’s Corruption Fighters

It also said the office of student magazine Doxa was searched in April in relation to “spurious charges, and four editors were then subjected to severe restrictions on their freedom.”

Other cases cited by the group included a June 29 raid by Russian authorities on the apartments of staff members of investigative news website The Project (Proekt), a move made on the same day the site published an investigation into alleged corrupt practices by Russia’s interior minister.

The statement added that Russian occupation authorities in Crimea have held Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) freelance correspondent Vladyslav Yesypenko since March “and have reportedly tortured him in detention.”

“On July 15, Yesypenko was indicted on specious charges and faces up to 18 years’ imprisonment,” it said.

Yesypenko, a dual Russian-Ukrainian citizen who contributes to Crimea.Realities, was detained on suspicion of collecting information for Ukrainian intelligence. He had worked in Crimea for five years reporting on the social and environmental situation on the peninsula before being detained.

A court in Simferopol on July 15 formally charged him with possession and transport of explosives. He pleaded not guilty and faces up to 18 years in prison if convicted.

RFE/RL President Jamie Fly at the time described the case as the latest example of the Kremlin’s campaign to target independent media outlets and called it “a mockery of justice.”

The statement by the 18-nation group also said that on October 8, Russian authorities applied the “media foreign agent” label to the international investigative journalism project Bellingcat, known for its investigation of the poisoning of Navalny.

“In an unambiguous effort to suppress Russians’ access to independent reporting, the Russian government introduced onerous labeling requirements for so-called ‘media foreign agents’ last year.

“Since then, it has charged RFE/RL with more than 600 violations, resulting in fines totaling more than $4.4 million,” the statement said.

“It increasingly appears the Russian government intends to force RFE/RL to end its decades-long presence in Russia, just as it has already forced the closure of several other independent media outlets in recent years.”

In addition, it said, authorities have applied the media foreign agent label to independent Russian outlets operating within or near Russia’s borders. “While concerns related to freedom of expression and the safety of journalists in Russia have intensified, they are not new. We stand in solidarity with independent Russian journalists who assume personal risk in carrying out their professional activities, and we honor the memory of those reporters whose intrepid work has cost them their lives.”

The statement urged Russia to comply with its international human rights commitments and obligations and “to respect and ensure media freedom and safety of journalists.”
…

The Belarusian interior ministry on Friday classified three of the country’s most popular opposition social media channels as extremist organizations, meaning that people can face up to seven years in prison for subscribing to them.

Social media channels such as Telegram messenger were widely used during mass street protests against President Alexander Lukashenko last year both to coordinate demonstrations and share footage of a violent police crackdown.

The NEXTA news outlet, run by a Belarusian exile in Poland, has three channels on Telegram, including NEXTA Live, which has nearly 1 million subscribers in a country of 9.5 million.

“The Ministry of Internal Affairs has made a decision to recognize a group of citizens carrying out extremist activities through the Telegram channels NEXTA, NEXTA-Live and LUXTA, an extremist organization and prohibiting its activities,” the ministry said in a statement.

Previously, anyone who reposted material from NEXTA risked a fine or detention for 30 days. But the new classification means subscribers could be prosecuted for participating in an extremist organization and be jailed for up to seven years.

“1.4 million more extremists appeared in Belarus today,” NEXTA wrote in a tweet. “Ministry of Internal Affairs recognized telegram channels NEXTA, NEXTA Live and LUXTA as ‘extremist formations’. This means that criminal cases can be opened against creators, administrators and subscribers in #Belarus.”

Protests erupted last year after a presidential election that Lukashenko’s opponents say was blatantly rigged to keep the veteran leader in power.

Tens of thousands of people were detained and human rights activists say more than 800 people are now in jail as political prisoners since the protests.

The authorities have recently taken reprisals against citizens who voice dissent online. Hundreds of people were detained and face prison terms for making disrespectful comments about a KGB officer who died in a shootout in Minsk last month.
…

Efforts by Chinese diplomats to stop cultural events deemed critical of the government in Beijing have met with mixed results in Europe, succeeding in Germany but being rebuffed by a city government in Italy.

The incident in Germany concerned a new book, Xi Jinping — The Most Powerful Man in the World, by two veteran German journalists, Stern magazine’s China correspondent Adrian Geiges, and Die Welt newspaper publisher Stefan Aust.

Confucius Institutes at two German universities had planned online events on Oct. 27 to coordinate with the book’s launch. But the book’s publisher, Piper Verlag of Munich, said the events were canceled at short notice “due to Chinese pressure.”

The company accused Feng Haiyang, the Chinese consul general in Düsseldorf, of intervening personally to quash the event at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Duisburg and Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

At Leibniz University in Hannover, the Tongji University in Shanghai — which jointly operates the Confucius Institute there — forced the cancellation of an event, according to the company. Neither the publisher nor the institute offered details on what triggered the cancellation.

The institutes, run by China’s education ministry, are seen by Beijing as a way to promote its culture. Many Western countries have become wary of the influence the institutes exert on campuses by subsidizing classes, travel and research.

Dozens of Confucius Institutes have been closed or are closing in Europe and Australia. At least 29 shuttered in the U.S. after the State Department in August 2020 designated the Confucius Institute U.S. Center as a “foreign mission” of the Chinese government.

In a statement, Piper Verlag quoted a Confucius Institute employee as saying that “One can no longer talk about Xi Jinping as a normal person, he should now be untouchable and unspeakable.”

Felicitas von Lovenberg, head of Piper Verlag, called the cancellation of the events “a worrying and disturbing signal.”

Aust of Die Welt said the incident confirmed the book’s basic thesis: “For the first time, a dictatorship is in the process of overtaking the West economically, and is now also trying to impose its values, which are against our freedom, internationally.”

The book presented China in a very differentiated way as it also talked about China’s success in overcoming poverty, co-author Geiges said. “Apparently, such balanced reports are no longer enough for Xi Jinping. Stories are no longer enough — he now wants a cult around his person internationally, just as he does in China itself.”

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Berlin said events at Confucius Institutes were planned to bring about better understanding between the two peoples, and they “should build on the basis of comprehensive communications between the partners.”

China supports the development of the institutes as “a platform to understand China comprehensively and objectively,” the embassy spokesperson added. “But we strongly object to any politicization of academic and cultural exchange.”

Both Confucius Institutes said in their respective statements that there were different views between the German and Chinese partners, making it impossible to carry on. The Institute for East Asian Studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen had expressed interest in hosting the event, according to the university’s Confucius Institute.

German human rights activist David Missal told VOA Cantonese there has always been pressure from the Chinese side when it comes to critical events, but the tactics were rarely exposed. He took it as a positive development that these incidents are coming to light.

“I think this is the only way to fight this kind of influence in a democracy — you have to make these things public, make them transparent, and then there will be political responses to these incidents,” Missal said.

Reinhard Bütikofer, a German member of the European Parliament who is critical of China, said the next German federal government must draw clear lines about its China policy. “Chinese censorship at German universities? Does not work at all. These so-called ‘Confucius’ institutes, which are in fact CCP aides, have no future,” he tweeted.

Earlier this month, the Chinese Embassy in Rome attempted to stop a critical art show, but failed.

A museum in Brescia, an Italian city about 100 kilometers east of Milan, will continue with its plans to open a solo exhibition of the work of Australia-based Chinese exiled activist Badiucao. Scheduled to run from Nov. 13-Feb. 13, the exhibition is entitled “China is [not] near.” It will feature the artist’s work criticizing issues such as China’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its crackdowns in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

The Chinese Embassy in Rome sent the Brescia city council a message on Oct. 21, contending that Badiucao’s works twisted facts, spread false information, would mislead the Italian people’s understanding of China while seriously damaging Chinese people’s feelings, and jeopardize friendly relations between China and Italy, according to Italy’s ANSA news agency.

Brescia Mayor Emilio Del Bono told the Il Foglio newspaper the show will not be canceled, adding, “I think it is important to show that you can stay friends while criticizing some things.”

Badiucao told VOA Mandarin via phone on live TV that he was not surprised by the embassy’s position. “I am very excited that the city government and the museum stood strongly with me. I can say very confidently that my exhibition will not be canceled. I will not amend my exhibits or commit any self-censorship.”

VOA Cantonese asked the Chinese Embassy in Rome for comments but received no response.

This story originated in VOA’s Cantonese Service.
…

It is only a matter of time before China’s plan to replace the United States as the world’s preeminent military becomes reality, a top U.S. general warned, calling on the Washington and its allies to speed efforts to counter Beijing’s bid for dominance.

General John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Washington’s second-most-senior military officer, called the rapid rise of the Chinese military “stunning.”

“The pace they’re moving and the trajectory that they’re on will surpass Russia and the United States if we don’t do something to change it,” he told the Defense Writers Group on Thursday, responding to a question from VOA.

“We have to do something,” he added.

The warning from Hyten, who is set to retire next month, comes a day after the top U.S. military officer publicly confirmed that China tested a hypersonic weapon system in July, sending a glider around the world at five times the speed of sound.

General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Bloomberg Television on Wednesday the Chinese test was “very concerning.”

“I don’t know if it’s quite a Sputnik moment, but I think it’s very close to that,” Milley added, referring to Russia’s launch of the world’s first artificial satellite in the 1950s. The feat sparked the space race that dominated the next several decades.

Like Milley, Hyten refused to share details of the Chinese hypersonic test, saying the information remained classified.

But he did acknowledge that simply by conducting such a test, China was sending a message.

“All the hypersonic weapons they’re building, all of the nuclear weapons they’re building, are not meant for their own population,” Hyten said of China. “It is meant for the United States of America, and we have to assume that, and we have to plan for that.”

Hyten expressed confidence that for now, America’s own hypersonic program is more advanced, though he raised concerns that even that could be changing.

“In the last five years, maybe longer, the United States has done nine hypersonic tests,” Hyten told reporters. “The Chinese have done hundreds.”

“Single digits versus hundreds is not a good place,” he said.

Hyten also repeated concerns he first voiced as commander of U.S. Strategic Command, that the U.S. capability to defend against hypersonic weapons, from China and Russia, needs work.

“The most important thing about defending yourself against hypersonics is not the weapon. It is not building your own hypersonics. It’s building a sensor that can see hypersonics,” he said. “Right now, we don’t have the sensors.”

Hyten said one way to boost visibility would be for the U.S. to work with allies to create an integrated network of ground-based and space-based systems to track the high-speed weapons.

But building such a capability will take time, and Hyten warned its development could get bogged down by the Pentagon’s growing bureaucracy, which he said continues to slow critical programs, despite recent efforts to boost efficiency.

Hyten said another way to counter hypersonic weapons would be to turn to lasers, which travel at the speed of light.

“We’ve finally reached the point in technology in lasers that it has reached the maturity that it can actually be lethal on incoming missile threats,” Hyten said. “We need to invest in that.”

Russia

Despite concerns about China’s rapidly progressing military prowess, Hyten said that for the moment, Russia remains the biggest existential threat to the U.S.

“Russia is still the most imminent threat, simply because they have 1,500 deployed nuclear weapons, plus or minus, and China’s got roughly 20% of that,” the general said in response to a question from VOA. “So, you have to worry about Russia in the near term.”

“They already have operational hypersonic capabilities with nuclear weapons on it,” Hyten said of Russia. “And they continue to experiment with hypersonics, but not nearly at the pace of China, not anywhere close to the pace of China.” 
…

On a sunny afternoon near the hamlet of Bidnija in Malta, a small crowd gathered by the side of a rural road to remember one of the country’s best-known journalists. 

It has been four years this October since Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed in a bombing just a short distance from her home. 

But despite international attention to the journalist’s death and her work uncovering corruption, little has changed in terms of Malta’s press freedom environment, analysts and local journalists say. 

Barriers to access, the use of lawsuits as a form of harassment and an over-reliance on state funding are all cited as ongoing issues. Rights groups have also said that Malta’s two main parties dominate media ownership — and by extension, press coverage itself. 

Caruana Galizia was widely known in Malta, where her Running Commentary blog had an online readership to rival Malta’s established newspapers. She was known as a journalist unafraid to upset the status quo in her reporting on alleged corruption. 

“Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination was an incredible shock to the nation,” Caroline Muscat, founder of The Shift news website, told VOA. “It was almost spectacular, in the sense that it was so clearly a message that was being sent to anybody who dared to question corruption.” 

It took a while for Malta’s journalists to come to terms with the killing, said Herman Grech, editor-in-chief of the Times of Malta. 

“It was quite possibly the biggest blow we’ve ever had,” Grech told VOA. “Daphne was not somebody random. Everybody knew Daphne Caruana Galizia. Everybody knew her writing, and everybody knew what she stood for. She was, I would say, loved and resented in equal measure.” 

A court in February sentenced one person to 15 years in prison for his role in the killing. And in August 2021, Yorgen Fenech, one of Malta’s wealthiest businessmen, was indicted on murder charges. Fenech is pleading not guilty.

An official public inquiry into her death in July found that Maltese authorities “created an atmosphere of impunity, generated by the highest echelons.” 

The inquiry made recommendations, including setting up a police unit that focuses on journalists at serious risk and amending the Constitution to recognize journalism as a pillar of democracy that the state has a responsibility to safeguard. 

Ensuring those recommendations are implemented has become a focus for media rights groups. 

“What we want to see is proper press freedom reform that really leads to an improvement in the situation here for journalists,” said Tom Gibson, the European Union representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists. 

Gibson, along with members of Article 19, Reporters Without Borders and other press freedom groups, met with local journalists and officials including Prime Minister Robert Abela and Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa while in Malta to mark the anniversary of Caruana Galizia’s death. 

Abela committed to working with press freedom organizations on legislation regarding the use of lawsuits against journalists, Gibson told VOA. He said the prime minister also pledged that media affiliated with his Labour Party would not run campaigns against journalists during upcoming elections. 

“I think Prime Minister Abela wants to show to us that he is going to put in place reforms,” Gibson said. “Now what we would want to show to him is that we will track these reforms and come back to him, if they don’t work.” 

Malta’s Washington embassy spokesperson told VOA the government is committed to addressing the recommendations in the public inquiry. 

“The government is determined that the necessary legal and institutional reforms are carried out and that journalists are better protected,” the representative told VOA. “Media freedom is fundamental for our society.” 

Journalists Grech and Muscat said some reforms have been implemented, but largely the situation has not improved. To Grech, the heart of the problem is that the government does not acknowledge the importance of the media. 

“The government just simply does not understand the role of the media for democracy,” Grech said. “The most important thing is that the government has to acknowledge that the media is the fourth pillar of democracy.” 

Muscat said another problem is the reliance even independent news outlets have on government advertising and state funding. The issue was raised in the public inquiry report, which said that such reliance risks exposing outlets to pressure. 

Despite the challenging environment, journalists have not been deterred. 

Three weeks after Caruana Galizia’s death, Muscat founded The Shift, an online investigative news site. 

“Immediately, I felt that we needed to send a message back to the perpetrators, that you can’t do this to one of us, and even if you do, then you will not silence the story,” Muscat said. “And that’s what we’ve been doing for the last four years.” 

Muscat said The Shift continues to face barriers to access, including to government events that other news outlets can attend. 

But despite that, “we are absolutely determined to make sure that there is a positive outcome following [Daphne’s] assassination,” Muscat said. “At least she would not have died in vain.”
…

The Vatican on Thursday canceled the planned live broadcast of U.S. President Joe Biden meeting Pope Francis, the latest restriction to media coverage of the Holy See that sparked complaints from White House- and Vatican-accredited journalists.

The live broadcast of Biden’s Friday visit was trimmed to cover just the arrival of the president’s motorcade in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the revised plan reflected the “normal procedure” established during the coronavirus pandemic for all visiting heads of state or government.

That protocol also has meant an 18-month ban on any independent media being in the room for the beginning and end of the audience, as would normally be the case for a visiting head of state.

Canceled was the live coverage of Biden actually greeting Francis in the palace Throne Room, as well as the live footage of the two men sitting down to begin their private talks in Francis’ library, at which time the cameras would have stopped running.

Edited footage to come

The Vatican said it would provide edited footage of the encounter after the fact to accredited media. Bruni didn’t say why the Vatican had originally announced fuller live coverage only to dial it back on the eve of the visit.

Biden, the second Catholic U.S. president, has met Francis three previous times, but this will be his first as president.

The audience was being closely monitored since U.S. bishops are scheduled to meet in a few weeks for their annual fall convention, with one of the agenda items inspired by conservatives who contend that Biden’s support for abortion rights should disqualify him from receiving Communion. Though any document that emerges from the bishops’ conference is not expected to mention Biden by name, it’s possible there could be a clear message of rebuke.

Francis has strongly upheld the church’s opposition to abortion, calling it murder. But he has said bishops should be pastors, not politicians. As a result, the Biden-Francis body language could have given a clue about their mindsets going into the meeting.

The Vatican has provided live television coverage for the visits of major heads of state for years, including President Donald Trump, and had scheduled such coverage Friday for Biden and for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who is also in Rome for a Group of 20 meeting.

Asked to comment on Vatican access during a gaggle with reporters on Air Force One, the White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said the administration was “actively engaged” in the issue and would see what Friday brings. 

“The United States will always advocate for access for the free press, and especially for our good friends in the American press who travel with us on these long flights over, to be able to capture and chronicle the president’s engagements,” he said.

Sense of the visit

It is during those moments in the pope’s library that reporters can view the gifts that are exchanged, watch as the formal photograph is taken and overhear remarks as the leaders arrive and depart to get a sense of how the visit is going. Only the pope’s official photographer and Vatican video journalists are now allowed in. 

The Vatican correspondents association has protested the cancellation of such pool access and several media outlets, including The Associated Press, formally complained about Thursday’s dropping of the live Biden-pope broadcast and asked for an explanation. 

The head of the White House Correspondents’ Association, Steven Portnoy of CBS News Radio, expressed disappointment at the lack of live coverage as well as the absence of independent media access. Biden is traveling with his own pool of reporters who would normally be allowed into the pope’s library for the beginning and end of the audience alongside reporters accredited to the Vatican. 

In a series of tweets, Portnoy noted that the White House traveling pool was fully vaccinated and that such a substantial meeting between a Catholic president and the head of the 1.3 billion-member Catholic Church “demands independent coverage.”
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U.S. President Joe Biden is used to scrutiny over how he reconciles his strong Roman Catholic faith — particularly around issues of gender, sexuality and reproduction — with his duty to lead an explicitly secular government. 

On Friday, he will face those questions anew in a meeting at the Vatican with Pope Francis, the Catholic leader who once guided the Biden family through personal grief and who perches permanently behind the president’s shoulder in a framed photo that overlooks the Oval Office. 

The two have met three times and exchanged letters, administration officials said, and Biden met with both of Francis’ predecessors. During a visit to the United States in 2015, Biden has said, the pope took time to talk with the future president and his family not long after the death of Biden’s son Beau. 

This papal audience will not be filmed live. On Thursday, the Vatican canceled a planned live broadcast of the meeting, which Biden will attend before heading to the meeting of G-20 nations in Rome and, after that, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. 

This is more than just a visit between two powerful men with millions of fans and at least as many critics. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said this meeting, while primarily personal, will also cover important policy issues. The White House said the two, accompanied by first lady Jill Biden, will “discuss working together on efforts grounded in respect for fundamental human dignity, including ending the COVID-19 pandemic, tackling the climate crisis and caring for the poor.” 

“First, there’ll be the obvious personal dimension,” Sullivan said. “… And they will have a chance just to reflect, each of them, on their view of what’s happening in the world. On policy issues, of course, in the international realm, they’ll be talking about climate and migration and income inequality and other issues that are very top of mind for both of them.” 

The abortion question 

Sullivan did not say whether the two men would discuss abortion, but on this issue, they are clearly divided. The Catholic Church unambiguously opposes abortion. Biden, who says he doesn’t personally agree with the procedure, has as president resisted efforts by states and courts to limit access to abortion. 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the two are likely to have “a warm and constructive dialogue” that will focus instead on their points of agreement.

On abortion, she said, Biden’s views are clear. 

“You are familiar with where the president stands,” she said. “He’s somebody who stands up for and believes that a woman’s right to choose is important.” 

This issue is a wedge between Biden and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which plans to meet in coming weeks to debate whether politicians who support abortion should be barred from taking Holy Communion. 

Massimo Faggioli, a Villanova University theology professor and author of Joe Biden and Catholicism in the United States, said this meeting could also affect the conflict between Biden and those conservative American clerics. Biden is only the second Catholic president, Faggioli noted, but circumstances are different now. 

“John Kennedy was not an embattled Catholic at war with his bishops, as is the case for Joe Biden,” he told VOA. “And there are high stakes in this meeting and in the (climate) summit in Glasgow a few days later, because both the pope and Joe Biden have very high, on their list of priorities, climate change.” 

Separating church and state 

And, Faggioli said, it’s not just the president who wants to draw a line between the Church and politics. 

“The Vatican and Pope Francis are actively trying to protect Joe Biden’s access to the sacraments — not protecting Joe Biden’s policies, especially on abortion, but they’re protecting Joe Biden’s access to the sacrament because they are afraid that if the sacraments are used to make a political statement, the U.S. Catholic Church will lose its catholicity, which means essentially, not being a sectarian church,” he said. 

“It will be the elephant in the room, probably,” he said. “But they agree on this idea that Catholicism is a big tent that should not be defined by political affiliations, and even less, partisan loyalties.” 

The White House stresses that this meeting is primarily personal.

“I think the president’s faith is, as you all know, is quite personal to him,” Psaki said. “His faith has been a source of strength through various tragedies that he has lived through in his life. Many of you who have served on pool duty know that he attends church every weekend, and certainly I expect he will continue to do that. So, the fact that this is his — will be his fourth meeting — he has a very personal relationship with Pope Francis.”

And, as the White House has also stressed, the president is willing to meet with other spiritual titans. Earlier this week, Biden hosted Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of 200 million Eastern Orthodox Christians. 

“Our president here is a man of faith and man of vision, and we know that he will offer to this wonderful country and to the world the best leadership and direction within his considerable power,” Bartholomew said, after a 45-minute meeting with Biden in the Oval Office. 

More importantly, the patriarch noted, the two men used their massive platforms to push for something that other major faith leaders are also embracing: widespread vaccination. 

This story contains information from The Associated Press. 

 
…

A new British research ship, named for British broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, has arrived in London to call attention to climate change ahead of next week’s Glasgow climate summit.

The 129-meter RSS Sir David Attenborough has completed sea trials and is ready for service. It sailed up the Thames River on Wednesday to be part of a three-day public celebration hosted by the British Antarctic Survey to raise awareness of the importance and relevance of polar science and why it matters to everyday life.

In a launch event on the ship Thursday, Attenborough, known for his documentaries on nature and the planet, reminded people of the dangers caused by climate change and called for action from delegates attending the summit next week in Glasgow.

Commissioned by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and operated by the British Antarctic Survey, the new research platform will transform how U.K. teams conduct ship-borne science in polar regions.

The vessel enjoys a bit of infamy as well. As it was being built in 2016, NERC decided to open the naming of the ship to the public through an internet vote. The winning name was Boaty McBoatface.

The vote was overruled in favor of naming it for Attenborough, but an unmanned research submarine carried on the ship bears the name Boaty McBoatface, out of respect for the popular vote.

The ship will embark on its first Antarctic mission later this year. It has a crew of about 30 and can accommodate up to 60 scientists.​

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
…

Russia is warning Turkey over arms sales to Ukraine after a Turkish-made drone attacked Russian-backed rebels in Ukraine.

A Kremlin spokesman has warned that Turkey’s ongoing arms sales to Ukraine threaten to destabilize the region.

The warning follows Kyiv’s release of the video Tuesday showing a Turkish-made drone used for the first time against Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Independent defense analyst Arda Mevlutoglu said Kyiv sees the Turkish drones as a potential game changer in its fight against separatists, which it has been battling since 2014.

“A single armed drone equipped with a couple of bombs may destroy a whole defense battery, or a very expensive electronic warfare system, or take out some armed vehicles. So, that asymmetry provides capabilities to armies facing significant threats such as Ukraine,” said Mevlutoglu.

Kyiv has purchased several Turkish drones and this month announced an agreement to build more in Ukraine itself – a prospect that analyst Ozgur Unluhisarcikli of the George Marshall Fund said will alarm Moscow. Turkish-made drones played a key role in Azerbaijan’s victory last year against the Armenian army over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.

“The drones Turkey provided to Azerbaijan were a decisive factor in the battle, and Russia knows this,” said Unluhisarcikli.

Turkey has also, according to analysts, successfully used its drones in Syria and Libya.

Ankara is also seeking to cash in on the success of its drones with reported sales to Ethiopia and Morocco now pending. But analyst Mevlutoglu warns the Ukrainian drone sales pose a significant risk to Turkey.

“Turkey has good relations with Russia, especially in the energy sector. Russia is building a nuclear power plant in Turkey, and we have cooperation in Syria. So, Turkey has good relations with Moscow. On the other hand, we have very good relations with Ukraine, as [is] evident in the defense sector. In the event of a conflict between Ukraine and Russia, Turkey would find itself in an extremely difficult situation,” said Mevlutoglu.

But some observers suggest Ankara could see its drone sales to Ukraine as powerful leverage over Moscow in a number of regional disputes that are going on between the two.
…

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry spoke in London Thursday ahead of next week’s climate summit in Glasgow, saying that addressing the climate crisis is the only choice, and the cost of not doing so is far greater than the cost of taking action.

Kerry said the effects of climate change are being felt now. He said, “The planet is already at its hottest and least stable point in 125,000 years and people are dying because of that.” He said some of the impact is already irreversible.

“Is all the world fully aligned with what science says we must do to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis?” he asked.  “In two words: not yet. But more countries than ever before are stepping up.”

The 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow opens Sunday. Many environmental activists, policymakers and scientists say the meeting is crucial for securing concrete commitments to the targets set in the 2015 Paris climate accord.

The accord aims to reduce carbon emissions to hold down the rise in global temperatures, while helping countries adapt to the changing climate.

Kerry, speaking at the London School of Economics, stressed that all the science and mathematics shows the cost of sitting idle far outstrips the cost of taking action. He cited numerous studies showing the marketplace opportunities of a “green’ economy.  

But he said there is still a gap, and most of the responsibility for closing that gap lies with the top 20 economies of the world, “all of whom are responsible for 80 percent of all the emissions.”

Kerry said to prevent a climate catastrophe, scientists say the world must cut its global greenhouse gas emissions by at least 45 percent by 2030, in order to get to net zero by 2050. He said, “We head to Glasgow in that context, and I head to Glasgow, an optimist.”

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse.
…

British sailors will begin training aboard Canadian icebreakers in a new agreement that reflects the United Kingdom’s heightened interest in developing a more robust Arctic military capability. 

Britain is just the latest nation to focus fresh attention on the far north as climate change opens the region to new opportunities for navigation and resource exploitation. Countries as diverse and distant as China, Turkey and India are also eyeing the region.

The U.K.-Canada agreement, signed earlier this month, calls for British sailors to train aboard Canada’s fleet of 20 Coast Guard icebreakers as they crunch their way through the Arctic ice sheets, clearing the way for other vessels to access the once-fabled Northwest Passage.

“The sharing of the Canadian Coast Guard’s wide experience and expertise will mean British sailors are better-equipped when sailing to the frozen region,” the Royal Navy said in a formal statement.

The Canadians, for their part, hope to benefit from the Royal Navy’s “operational experience and expertise,” according to a statement from Canada’s Coast Guard commissioner.

Nuclear submarines 

While lacking Canada’s long experience in the ice, Britain has other assets to bring to an enhanced relationship in the region, most notably a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines that can remain under the ice far longer than anything Canada possesses.

“While Canada naturally retains the primary responsibility for the defense of the Canadian Arctic, it has never had all the hardware necessary” including nuclear submarines says Adam Lajeunesse, a top Canadian expert in Arctic security. In military circles, nuclear submarines are often referred to as SSNs.

“As has long been the case, Canada needs American or British support since it lacks the SSNs needed to test sensor networks or respond to trespassers,” Lajeunesse told VOA. “For their parts, the U.S. and British will need Canadian participation.”

Canadian defense expert Jeffrey Collins, an assistant political science professor at the University of Prince Edward Island, agreed that Britain “has plenty of submarine experience in the Arctic.” But, he said, “gaining surface naval Arctic experience is a must if they are intent on being a player in the region in terms of strengthening its post-Brexit U.S. alliance.”

According to Samuel Jardine, a fellow at the Washington-based Arctic Institute, Canada balked at the U.K.’s offer of Royal Navy assets such as the submarines to help it patrol the Arctic.

“The latest agreement between the Canadian Coast Guard and British Royal Navy on Arctic cooperation and training is progress, but a far cry from where security cooperation should be from the U.K.’s perspective,” he said in an interview.

Jardine said the main obstacle to U.K.-Canada cooperation is the British and American view that the Northwest Passage is international waters, while Canada claims it as Canadian territory. Jardine said that as climate change pushes back the Arctic ice cap, disagreements between Britain and Canada could further threaten Arctic cooperation.

So far, however, both nations have participated constructively in international research in the region, including on projects such as the Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate, or MOSAiC.

“Scientifically both the U.K. and Canada enjoy an extensive cooperative relationship in the Arctic,” Jardine said. “Particularly on research surrounding climate change, an issue that both states have placed as a key pillar of their domestic and foreign policy agendas.”

Britain’s post-Brexit strategy 

While the reasons for Canada’s interest in the Arctic are obvious, Britain’s interest has been heightened by its pursuit of a geostrategic realignment following its departure from the European Union.

“A prerequisite recognized in U.K. government circles for Britain’s post-Brexit ‘Pacific tilt’ to succeed is a peaceful and stable ‘high north,’ — which, after all, sits on Britain’s doorstep,” Jardine said.

“An Arctic that is increasingly militarized and a venue for ‘great power’ competition imperils London’s ability to marshal and direct the hard and soft power assets needed to make its Indo-Pacific project an economic and strategic success.”

The Arctic partnership with Canada also meshes with Britain’s post-Brexit goal of building closer ties with other Commonwealth members, as does its participation with the United States in the recent AUKUS agreement that will provide nuclear submarines to Australia.

Other countries have made calculations similar to Britain’s and are pursuing observer status with the Arctic Council, a group of eight nations ringing the Arctic Circle who convene to resolve disputes and address common concerns. The members are Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States. Observer status is enjoyed by another 13 countries including Poland and Singapore.

China’s Arctic goals

China, with its globe-spanning quest to secure long-term access to natural resources, acquired observer status in the Arctic Council in 2013 and, five years later, declared itself a “near-Arctic state,” raising eyebrows, given that it is almost 1,500 kilometers from the Arctic Circle.

Also in 2018, Beijing’s State Council Information Office issued a policy white paper declaring that China “hopes to work with all parties to build a ‘Polar Silk Road’ through developing the Arctic shipping routes,” Reuters reported. 

Lajeunesse said the Arctic powers are unlikely to see Chinese naval vessels in the region any time soon. “More likely, the West will see a hybrid threat emerge in the form of Chinese fishing fleets and quasi-state vessel operations.”

“Canada and the U.S. will need to expand joint monitoring of the Arctic Ocean to keep track of these ships (and others that may be there),” Lajeunesse said, “ensuring that there are not violations of our waters, illegal fishing, or other activity that may need to be monitored or controlled.”

The prospect of accelerating climate change has other countries looking northward as well.

India, which is closer to the equator than to the Arctic Circle, has had observer status on the Arctic Council since 2013. Earlier this year, it released a draft Arctic policy calling for scientific research, “sustainable tourism” and resource exploration in the region, according to The Hindu newspaper. 

Turkey also has sponsored scientific expeditions to both the north and the south polar regions and is seeking observer status on the Arctic Council as well.
…

Here’s a look at what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top diplomats have been doing this week:   

Sudan 

The United States called on Sudanese military forces to release all civilian leaders in detention, amid growing international condemnation of the military takeover. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken underscored the U.S. support for a civilian-led transition to democracy while speaking to Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok after his release from military custody. 

Sudanese Security Forces Arrest 3 Leading Pro-Democracy Activists 

Iran 

The United States said it is prepared to return to Vienna for talks aimed at restoring a 2015 Iran nuclear deal that has been stalled for months, adding it is possible to “quickly reach and implement an understanding on return to mutual full compliance with the JCPOA.” Iran said Wednesday it would resume talks with world powers about its nuclear development program by the end of November.  

Iran Agrees to Resume Nuclear Talks

First ‘X-gender’ passport

The U.S. State Department announced Wednesday it has issued the first U.S. passport with an X-gender marker for nonbinary, intersex and gender-nonconforming people. The move follows a commitment to ensure “the fair treatment of LGBTQI+ U.S. citizens, regardless of their gender or sex.” 

US State Department Issues First ‘X-Gender’ Passport 

Digital security

The State Department is creating a new Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy to focus on tackling cybersecurity challenges at a time of growing threats from opponents. There will also be a new special envoy for critical and emerging technology, who will lead the technology diplomacy agenda with U.S. allies.   

US State Department Creates Bureau to Tackle Digital Threats 

Taiwan 

The United States encouraged all United Nations member states to join the U.S. in supporting Taiwan’s “robust, meaningful participation throughout the U.N. system” and in the international community, consistent with Washington’s “One China” policy. Calling Taiwan “a democratic success story,” Blinken said Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the U.N. system is “not a political issue, but a pragmatic one.” China said Taiwan has no right to join the United Nations.

US Calls for Renewed Taiwan Participation at UN 

On the 50th anniversary of the adoption of U.N. Resolution 2758, a senior U.S. official said the international community benefits from “Taiwan’s expertise to address some of today’s most difficult global challenges,” while explaining how China is misusing U.N. Resolution 2758 to block Taiwan from participating in the U.N. system.

Turkey 

U.S. officials said the Biden administration seeks cooperation with Turkey, a NATO ally, on common priorities but will not shy away from addressing disagreements while promoting the rule of law and respect of human rights globally. The remarks came after Turkey declared 10 ambassadors from Western countries “persona non grata” for calling for the release of Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala. 

Turkey to Banish 10 Western Ambassadors, Erdogan Says 
…

Eyes in Beijing and Moscow are trained on Central Asia, prompted by the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

The security threat in Afghanistan and the desire to shut off Central Asia from other powers, such as the U.S., is motivating Beijing and Moscow to cooperate and gloss over their differences, according to Emil Avdaliani, director of Middle East Studies at Georgian think tank Geocase.

“They purposefully avoid forming an alliance as that — as Moscow and Beijing argue — would constrain their foreign policies rather than create better conditions for coordination,” Avdaliani told VOA.

While China is the economic power in the Central Asian region, Russia plays more of a role as security guarantor, according to Avdaliani.

In the three decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Beijing’s gradual engagement with Central Asian countries had been focused on the economic front, with state-backed investments in hydrocarbons, mineral extraction, pipeline construction, transportation, power generation and, recently, industrialization of non-energy fields. China also has developed security coordination with regional powers through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Main security backer

Moscow has been the dominant security partner for the countries within the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization framework and has been the largest supplier of arms. Russia remains the main security backer of Central Asia, accounting for 62 percent of the regional arms market, while its economic dominance dropped from 80 percent of the region’s total trade in the 1990s ($110 billion) to just two-thirds that of Beijing ($18.6 billion).

“Lately there has been a trend of China becoming a security player, too,” Avdaliani told VOA. “First, there are reports of a Chinese military base in Tajikistan and perhaps some security presence in the north of Afghanistan. China is also increasingly engaged in military drills with Central Asia states.”

Beijing’s arms transfers through donations and sales to the regional countries, such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, were modest until 2014. Since that year, China has ramped up arms transfers to the region, according to a Wilson Center report this year.

China built its Tajik military outpost in 2016, with facilities in the country’s mountainous Gorno-Badakhshan province near the Afghan border.

Other bordering nations

In addition to Russia, China has cooperated with Pakistan and Iran, countries that border Central Asia, and have economic, security or political interests in that region.

Another regional power is India, which, like China, aims to maintain security in Afghanistan. India worries about a spillover of the insurgency into the disputed territory of Kashmir, which borders Afghanistan.

“Beijing is clearly the dominant power in Central Asia, with India likely to lose some of the influence it used to enjoy over Kabul as a result of the substantial aid it provided before the U.S. withdrawal,” said Alexander Cooley, director of the Harriman Institute at Columbia University.

China’s relationship with India has been tense as a result of border clashes and India’s embrace of the Quadrilateral strategic grouping, Cooley told VOA.

The grouping, also known as the QUAD, is a strategic dialogue among the United States, India, Japan and Australia that involves coordination and cooperation among the member countries, all of which have strained relationships with China.

China-Russia security agenda

Beijing’s and Moscow’s security agendas are complementary, according to Cooley, and can be mutually accommodated because each views the region as key to its own security, and neither wishes for the United States to return.

“Russia is concerned about potential instability on Central Asian borders, maintaining security cooperation with the Central Asian states and curbing the influx of refugees into Eurasia,” Cooley told VOA. “China is primarily concerned with ensuring that the Taliban clamp down on Uyghur groups residing near the border and securing the Afghan and Tajik borders with Xinjiang.”

Russia may not be happy, though, Cooley said, about China’s recently increased security footprint in Central Asia — including the military facility in Tajikistan, expanded military exercises with the Central Asian states, surveillance technologies “transferred” to Central Asian cities and increased activities by Chinese private security companies to help protect Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure projects.

“But the two countries have every reason to reject talk of ‘competition’ and emphasize their joint opposition to U.S. hegemony and the U.S.-led liberal international order,” Cooley underscored.
…

Iran said Wednesday it would resume talks with world powers about its nuclear development program by the end of November.

There was no immediate confirmation of new negotiations from the other parties to the 2015 international pact aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear arms development.

The agreement then included the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union, but former U.S. president Donald Trump pulled out of it in 2018 and reimposed economic sanctions against Iran.

Trump said at the time the provisions of the deal were not tough enough to deter Tehran’s nuclear arms program.

Since then, Iran has said it has ramped up its enrichment of uranium to a 60% purity level, but not to the 90% enrichment level that is considered weapons grade. Iran has over recent years continually denied it intends to assemble nuclear weapons and says its nuclear development is for peaceful purposes. 

On Wednesday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri, who serves as Tehran’s chief nuclear negotiator, wrote on Twitter, “We agree to start negotiations before the end of November. Exact date would be announced in the course of the next week.” 

The EU and the world powers have been hard-pressed to get negotiations restarted since the election of a hard-liner in Tehran — President Ebrahim Raisi. 

U.S. President Joe Biden has said he is willing to restart talks if Iran is willing to adhere to its earlier commitments on the nuclear agreement and end its stepped-up enrichment of uranium. 

But Vienna-based talks between the U.S. and Iran conducted through intermediaries made little headway before being interrupted by Raisi’s election. The talks have been suspended for the last four months. 

Robert Malley, U.S. special representative to Iran, on Monday warned Iran that the U.S. had undisclosed “other options” if Iran’s nuclear work advances, although he said the Biden administration preferred diplomacy. 

Some of the material in this story came Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 

 
…

The Cumbre Vieja volcano continued erupting Wednesday for the 38th consecutive day, and geologists say it could continue for as long as three months.

The Canary Islands Volcanology Institute, known as Involcan, posted a video to its Twitter account showing fountains of lava during an eruption.

The Associated Press reported that Wednesday’s eruption followed the collapse of the inner cone at the mouth of the volcano, causing lava overflows and landslides on Tuesday.

The European Union’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service said more than 70 earthquakes occurred Tuesday night, one of them of magnitude 4.8.

Copernicus calculated that lava flowing from the volcano had covered more than 906 hectares of the island and had destroyed at least 2,162 buildings.

About 7,500 people have been forced to leave their homes since the volcano began erupting a month ago. 

Scientists say the volcano is more active than ever.

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

Leaders of Germany’s newly-installed Bundestag – the lower house parliament – said Wednesday they will not extend the “epidemic situation of national scope” when it expires next month, though certain public health measures will remain to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The declaration of the health emergency allows the federal and state governments to order key coronavirus prevention measures without the approval of parliament. It was first established by the Bundestag in March 2020 and has been repeatedly extended.

But speaking to reporters in Berlin, leaders of the Social Democrat Party (SPD) – winners of last month’s parliamentary elections and likely members of the new government – said they plan to let the designation expire when it lapses November 25.  

They said even though COVID-19 infection rates are on the rise, the situation had fundamentally changed, most significantly because about two-thirds of the population had been vaccinated against the virus that causes COVID-19.

But SPD Parliamentary Group Deputy Chairman Dirk Wiese said that November 25 will not be a “freedom day” from all COVID-19 safety measures, and the nation needs to go through the coming winter responsibly. He said the group agreed to transitional arrangements that will allow German states to enact “low-impact safeguards” until the beginning of spring.”

But Wiese said that one thing is certain, “there will no more be school closures, lockdowns or curfews again, as these measures are also disproportionate in the current situation.”

The lawmakers said some measures, like obligatory mask wearing in public spaces, restrictions on entry to certain venues to only those who have been vaccinated or financial support for workers who have been hit hard by the pandemic, will stay in place until March.

In addition, individual states can still decide to implement stricter measures, if needed.

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

British Court to Rule on Assange Extradition Request
…

A British court will consider this week whether Julian Assange, founder of the Wikileaks website, can be extradited to the United States on charges of hacking and theft. The two-day hearing is scheduled to begin Wednesday in London’s high court. 

U.S. prosecutors appealed a British district court verdict from January, which ruled that Assange should not be extradited because it was possible he could commit suicide in a maximum-security U.S. prison.

That premise will be challenged by prosecutors, said lawyer Nick Vamos, a former head of extradition at Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service, now a partner at London-based law firm Peters & Peters. 

“What the U.S. government (has) now done is come forward with a specific assurance about exactly how, where and in what condition he will be detained. So, provided his medical condition and his risk of suicide hasn’t changed, then you would assume that the U.S. government (has) met the test that the district judge in the first judgment set them,” Vamos told VOA. 

Other developments since the January ruling could affect the case. Sigurdur Thordarson, a former Wikileaks insider-turned-FBI informant, has said he fabricated evidence used by the prosecution. 

Meanwhile last month, Yahoo News published a story alleging the CIA plotted to kidnap or even kill Assange in 2017 when he sought asylum at the Ecuadorean embassy in London. Yahoo said the story was based on interviews with 30 former U.S. intelligence and national security officials. 

Vamos said the defense will claim there is political motivation behind the extradition request.

“It will be argued that, well, if the CIA were willing to assassinate him — that’s one arm of the U.S. government — then really, you can’t trust the other arm of the U.S. government, the Department of Justice, to act fairly and to prosecute him in accordance with human rights standards and what we would consider to be a fair trial,” he said. 

The CIA and U.S. lawyers leading the extradition appeal have yet to comment on the Yahoo story. Former CIA director and former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told The Megyn Kelly Show podcast in September that all actions taken were “consistent with U.S. law.” 

“We desperately wanted to hold accountable those individuals that had violated U.S. law, that had violated requirements to protect information and had tried to steal it. There is a deep legal framework to do that. And we took actions consistent with U.S. law to try to achieve that,” Pompeo said. 

Military leak 

In 2010 and 2011, Assange oversaw the publication by Wikileaks of tens of thousands of diplomatic cables and military reports relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said the leaks exposed abuses by the U.S. military. 

Assange sought refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London in 2012 after facing accusations of rape in Sweden, a case that was later dropped. He stayed there for seven years until Ecuador allowed British police to arrest him in April 2019. He was then jailed for 50 weeks for breaching bail. 

Now 50, he is currently being held in Belmarsh prison in London, as he is considered a flight risk. 

Experts say the extradition case raises vital questions about freedom of the press.

“There is the huge, huge issue of global media freedom and the way that this case could set a terrible precedent for any journalist, any publisher, trying to expose the misdeeds and wrongdoing of government, so that government can be held accountable,” Julia Hall of Amnesty International said in an interview with VOA. 

Assange faces 18 U.S. federal charges relating to allegations of hacking, theft of classified material and the disclosure of the identities of U.S. informants, which prosecutors say put the informants’ lives at risk. 

A verdict on the extradition appeal will likely take several weeks. Whoever loses can appeal the decision to Britain’s Supreme Court, which could take several years. However, Supreme Court judges may rule against considering the case, Vamos said.

“It has to be on a point of law of general public importance. The Supreme Court doesn’t hear factual disputes and doesn’t hear arguments that have been settled well before in lower courts,” he told VOA. 

 
…

Turkey is threatening to launch a new military operation against Syrian Kurdish forces after a deadly attack in Syrian territory where Turkish forces are present. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
…

For the first time since last month’s elections, Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, met Tuesday and elected a new speaker from the winning center-left Social Democrats (SPD) party to lead the 736-member body. 

The 53-year-old Baerbel Bas, from the western German city of Duisburg, has been in the Bundestag since 2009. She served as deputy leader of the SPD parliamentary group in the last parliament and its spokesperson on health, education and research.

Following her election, she noted the diversity of the new parliament and urged her fellow lawmakers to “reach out to many people in this country, especially to those who have not felt addressed by politics for a long time.” 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended the meeting, and as she is no longer a lawmaker, watched from the visitors’ gallery. Merkel served as Germany’s chancellor for the past 16 years.

Later Tuesday, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was scheduled to formally dismiss Merkel and her Cabinet, although they will be asked to stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new government is in place.

The SPD won the most seats in the parliamentary elections, but failed to win a clear majority, and is working with the environmentalist Greens and pro-business Free Democrats to form Germany’s new government.

The parties said last week they hope to have the country’s next chancellor – certain to be SPD leader Olaf Scholz – in place by early December, but acknowledged they still have a lot of work to do.

Some information for this report comes from AP, Reuters, and AFP.
…

Journalists who cover Russia’s space program say they may adopt a more cautious approach to their reporting after several aspects of Roscosmos were effectively declared off limits. 

A Federal Security Service (FSB) order, which took effect October 11, lays out information that it says could be used to threaten national security if received by foreign organizations or citizens. 

The order doesn’t directly mention news gathering and is not a blanket ban on coverage of Roscosmos, but in a digital age where reporting is shared online or via social media, journalists say they could risk being in violation of the order. 

It is also a provision of Russia’s foreign agent law, which brings further implications for media. 

Spanning 60 types of information, the FSB details content from military, intelligence and space programs that it says could be used to threaten security. At Roscosmos, those topics include financial details, project timelines and some of its space programs; information about plans and restructuring at the space agency; and details on new technologies and materials.

Roscosmos did not respond to a request for comment on how the new order could affect foreign and domestic reporting and referred VOA to the FSB. 

The FSB did not respond to VOA’s request for comment. 

Reporting restrictions 

Independent journalists and media analysts describe the order as a “tightening of the screw” and say it will make it harder to report in a transparent and independent way on the space program. 

Alexander Khokhlov, a space and science reporter who contributes to media outlets including TV Rain and Meduza, says the new measures may limit his coverage. 

As a precautionary measure, Khokhlov said, he may have to focus only on news coming from Western agencies and companies. 

“I rarely cover the topics listed in the FSB’s order; however, their formulation is rather broad. I will further refrain from writing and commenting on the Roscosmos’ activity,” said Khokhlov, who is also member of the Northwestern Federation of Cosmonautics of Russia. 

“I might as well focus on covering SpaceX and its gradual progress toward building a colony on Mars,” Khokhlov said, referring to the private space program founded by U.S. entrepreneur Elon Musk. 

Khokhlov, who has reported on Russia’s space missions and the rise of the private space sector in the U.S., said the regulations could limit what science journalists can cover. 

Describing it as “yet another step toward the information vacuum in the field of cosmonautics in Russia” Khokhlov said, “The risks are already obvious for those trying to present an alternative point of view.” 

He cited the large number of journalists labeled as foreign agents in the past year. 

As of October 15, the Ministry of Justice website lists 32 news outlets and 56 journalists who fall under the designation of foreign agent, including independent networks that are part of the U.S. Agency for Global Media.

Those added to the Russian Justice Ministry list must label all content, including news reports and personal social media posts, as content produced by a foreign agent. Individuals have to send in detailed reports of their finances. Failure to comply can result in fines and possibly criminal charges. 

“It is a heavy legal and financial load for those (journalists) with the possibility for fines and even felony charges,” Khokhlov said. 

Russia amended its existing foreign agent law in 2017, in response to the U.S. ordering news groups funded by Moscow to register under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act. 

Since then, Russia has used the designation against independent media, civil society organizations and even an election-monitoring group, in a move that critics say is aimed at punishing and discrediting critical and opposition voices. 

Analyst Bach  Avezdjanov, who until last year was a program officer for Columbia University’s Global Freedom of Expression program in New York, has been closely monitoring the impact of the law on the country’s independent press. 

The FSB’s list “threatens further the already restricted information environment in Russia,” Avezdjanov told VOA. 

“The Russian government does not hide its intent to arbitrarily designate anyone who collects, researches or reports for academic, journalistic or other purposes, information about Russia’s military and space program,” he said. 

Avezdjanov said that regulations could be used to block reporting on allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

He cited an internal audit at the space agency that appeared to show corruption or mismanagement, which resulted in a loss of billions of rubles, and led to criminal cases.

But under paragraph 37 of the new FSB order, which bans information about financial or economic problems, such information “can no longer reach the eyes and ears of foreigners,” he said.

“In effect, the law built a new iron curtain around certain types of information,” Avezdjanov said. 

This story originated in VOA’s Russian Service. 

 
…

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians, was released from a Washington hospital Monday morning after an overnight stay early in his 12-day visit to the United States. 

Bartholomew, 81, was scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden later Monday at the White House, and also to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 

The patriarch “is feeling well and is ready to continue” his official visit Monday, according to a tweet from Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. 

Bartholomew is the patriarch of Constantinople, based in Turkey. He is considered first among equals among Eastern Orthodox patriarchs, which gives him prominence but not the power of a Catholic pope. He does directly oversee Greek Orthodox and some other jurisdictions, although large portions of the Eastern Orthodox world are self-governing under their own patriarchs. 

Bartholomew was brought to George Washington University Hospital on Sunday night after he felt “unwell” due to the long flight here on Saturday and the busy schedule of events, according to the Greek Orthodox archdiocese. The hospitalization was recommended by his doctor “out of an abundance of precaution,” the archdiocese said. 

Making the latest of several trips to the country during his 30 years in office, Bartholomew is expected to address concerns ranging from a pending restructuring of the American Greek Orthodox archdiocese to his church’s minority status in his homeland, Turkey. His schedule Monday includes a visit to the embassy of Turkey in Washington. 

Also on Monday, Bartholomew is scheduled to give a speech via videoconference for the Museum of the Bible in Washington, according to the latest schedule released by the archdiocese. An earlier version of his schedule included an in-person visit. 

In the evening, he is scheduled to attend a dinner at Georgetown University hosted by its president, John DeGioia, and Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C.

On Thursday, he is scheduled to receive an honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame in an event highlighting efforts to improve Orthodox-Catholic ties, centuries after the two churches broke decisively in 1054 amid disputes over theology and papal claims of supremacy. And on November 2, he is scheduled to preside at a door-opening ceremony at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine in New York City. The shrine replaces a church destroyed during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. 

 
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