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The PGA Tour, European Tour and rival Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit announced a landmark agreement on Tuesday to merge and form a commercial entity to unify golf. 

Additionally, the three organizations said in a joint news release that they will work cooperatively to allow a process for any LIV Golf players to reapply for PGA Tour and DP World Tour membership following the 2023 season. 

“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a joint news release. 

The LIV Golf series is bankrolled by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund and critics have accused it of being a vehicle for the country to attempt to improve its reputation in the face of criticism of its human rights record. 

The announcement of the merger includes an agreement to end all pending litigation between the participating parties. 

Additionally, the Public Investment Fund will make a capital investment into the new entity to facilitate its growth and success. 

“Today is a very exciting day for this special game and the people it touches around the world,” said PIF Governor Yasir al-Rumayyan. “We are proud to partner with the PGA Tour to leverage PIF’s unparalleled success and track record of unlocking value and bringing innovation and global best practices to business and sectors worldwide.” 

The rival LIV Golf circuit launched in 2022 and lured some big-name players away from the rival circuits with staggering sums of money in 54-hole events that feature no cuts and paydays for every golfer. 

Among the more popular players who made the move to LIV Golf are Hall of Fame golfer Phil Mickelson, former world number one Dustin Johnson, reigning PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka and 2022 British Open winner Cameron Smith. 
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Russia is seeking to copy Iran’s tactics in evading Western sanctions imposed on Moscow since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to a report from Britain’s Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), published June 6.

Ukraine’s allies, including the United States, the European Union, Britain, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, have imposed successively tougher sanctions on Russia, initially since its forceful annexation of Crimea in 2014. 

Russia sanctions

The measures have been significantly tightened since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, targeting the Russian Central Bank, its finance and military-industrial sectors, alongside the country’s significant oil and gas exports. Individuals close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the military have also faced asset freezes and travel bans.

The RUSI report, titled “Developing Bad Habits: What Russia Might Learn from Iran’s Sanctions Evasion,” says that “evidence is emerging of adaptations in Russia’s

financial and trade strategy.” 

“Examples include the switching of ownership of companies and properties to family members or affiliates, the use of trading companies to source foreign exchange to avoid the sanctions imposed on the Central Bank of Russia, and import substitution. … Alongside these steps, Russia is now gravitating further towards other states that have faced similarly sweeping restrictive measures or that facilitate sanctions evasion, to learn best practices, secure necessary services and establish trade relationships,” the report says.

Missiles

In a televised speech on June 4, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia is using a network of suppliers to evade international sanctions designed to prevent it from making missiles and other weapons.

“Unfortunately, the terrorist state manages to obtain the technologies of the world through a network of suppliers, manages to bypass international sanctions,” Zelenskyy said. “And we must close all such routes — together with our partners — so that there are no products of the free world in Russian missiles, in Russian weapons.”

He added, “Necessary steps will be taken.” 

Russia has procured drones from Iran and has used them to attack cities across Ukraine.

“In response — and demonstrating the seriousness with which Ukraine’s allies are treating this growing relationship — Western allies are increasingly targeting Iranian entities with sanctions,” the RUSI report says.

Adaptation

Russia is rapidly learning to adapt to the sanctions, said Tom Keatinge, a co-author of the report.

“In particular, sourcing the kind of electronic components they need to support their military, that’s the first thing,” he told VOA. “The second thing is obviously, they’ve had to look for new markets for their hydrocarbons, their oil exports. That’s a key revenue generator for the country.”

Russia said its economy shrank by 2.1% in 2022 — less than many expected —although some analysts question the reliability of the government figures. 

Russian oil

Meanwhile, imports of Russian crude oil by China and India hit an all-time high in May. Analysts said buyers took advantage of discounted prices. In December, Western nations imposed a price cap of $60 per barrel on Russian crude oil. The U.S. Treasury said that has resulted in a more than 40% drop in oil revenue in the first quarter of 2023.

The sanctions only apply to Western governments and companies trading with Russia.

“And therefore, if you’re a bank in India, you can perfectly well have a financial connection with a Russian bank,” Keatinge said.

Nevertheless, most global trade is still conducted in U.S. dollars. So, how has Russia circumvented attempts to strangle its economy? 

Iran’s playbook

Keatinge said the Kremlin is increasingly looking to Iran as a model on how to evade sanctions. Tehran has been subject to various Western sanctions since 1979 over its nuclear and missile programs and its support for terrorist groups, which Iran denies.

“Iran — as a hydrocarbon economy trying to export oil — has learned a lot of tricks over the recent years that we do see Russia start to employ. So, for example, shadow fleets of tankers — so this kind of switching oil between tankers in the middle of the night, with location devices switched off. But also using front companies in places like Turkey or the UAE to try and hide the origin of trade,” Keatinge told VOA.

Last month, Russia’s second-largest bank, VTB, opened an office in Tehran. The two countries have begun connecting their financial systems to facilitate transactions outside the global SWIFT payment system. Russian banks were ejected from the SWIFT network in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year, while Iranian banks were first excluded in 2012 before being readmitted four years later as part of the JCPOA nuclear agreement. Iran was again ejected from SWIFT in 2019, following the reimposition of sanctions by then-U.S. President Donald Trump.

Wagner

The RUSI report draws parallels between the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, which is a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, and the Wagner Group, a private army with close links to the Kremlin.

“Iran’s funding and resourcing of Hezbullah is reciprocated in numerous ways, including through support for the state’s intermediary oil trading schemes. Such joint ventures or marriages of convenience between rogue states and their proxies may possibly be mirrored in the ways in which private military companies patronized by Russia advance Russian interests (and enable the circumvention of sanctions) globally,” the report says.

Compliance

How can Ukraine’s allies prevent Russia from evading the sanctions? The private sector is the front line of compliance, Keatinge noted.

“The private sector has had to scramble to get itself in a position to ensure that it knows who its customers are, it knows who it’s exporting things to, it knows what’s allowed and what’s not allowed. And so, the result is that there are huge gaps in the system,” Keatinge said.

“We see that in the way that companies are still exporting electronics to places like Kazakhstan and celebrating the fact that their exports have gone up without thinking that perhaps Kazakhstan is just a cutout on the way to Russia,” he said.

Lessons

The report urges the West to educate the private sector on detecting illegal trades. It warns that Moscow will increasingly seek to use Iran’s playbook as it tries to circumvent sanctions.

“We need to look at countries like Iran to learn how did they shape-shift, how did they change, (in order) to anticipate what Russia might do. There has been a lax attitude towards sanctions, particularly across Europe, in the years gone by. And that has to change,” Keatinge said.
…

Russia is copying Iran’s tactics in trying to evade Western sanctions, according to a report from the Royal United Services Institute, a British policy institute. Henry Ridgwell has more from London.

Camera: Henry Ridgwell

Produced by: Henry Hernandez
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Italian regulators are looking into efforts by China’s Sinochem to tighten control over Italian tire maker Pirelli.

Sinochem owns 37% of Pirelli and a new shareholders agreement gives it the ability to choose nine members of Pirelli’s 15-member board.

Pirelli CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera sold the 150-year-old company to ChemChina in 2015. ChemChina is now part of Chinese state-owned chemical company Sinochem.

The Italian government has the ability to review such matters under what are called “Golden Powers” — rules governing assets considered strategic to the country.

The probe comes amid concern by Western governments about China’s influence and potential interference by the government in business affairs.

Some information for this report came from Reuters
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Chinese research on some key military technologies is so far ahead that the United States and its key allies may never be able to catch up, according to a new analysis by an Australian think tank.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) issued its findings Tuesday based on a review of the top 10% of the most highly cited research papers, concluding China leads in 19 of 23 key categories, including some that are likely to play a major role in Beijing’s push for military prominence in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

China “has a commanding lead in hypersonics, electronic warfare and in key undersea capabilities,” the ASPI study found, further warning, “China’s leads are so emphatic they create a significant risk that China might dominate future technological breakthroughs in these areas.”

The analysis further found that for hypersonics, nine of the 10 leading research institutions are based in China, while China is home to all 10 of the top research venues for undersea drones.

Unlike ballistic missiles, which fly at hypersonic speeds but travel along a set trajectory, hypersonic weapons are highly maneuverable despite flying at Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound.

And the gaps between China and everyone else are significant. With some technologies, like hypersonics, China produces more than 73% of all high-impact research, more than the U.S. and the next eight countries combined.

The analysis also found indications that China is using Western research institutions to its advantage.

More than 14% of “high-impact” Chinese authors — those who wrote the works cited most often — did their post-graduate training in the U.S., Australia or Britain, ASPI said, noting the percentage is close to 20% for researchers writing about hypersonic detections and close to 18% for electronic warfare.

There are some areas, however, where the U.S. and its allies maintain an edge.

ASPI said the U.S. leads in high-impact research on autonomous systems, quantum computing and quantum sensors, some areas of artificial intelligence and in protective cybersecurity.

When U.S. research efforts are combined with those of Australia and Britain, the so-called AUKUS partnership, the gap closes a bit more, though China still retains a considerable research advantage.

“The fact that the three AUKUS nations still trail China in some fields even when their efforts are tallied underscores the value of the technology-sharing agreement, whose aim is to accelerate shared technological development by enabling the partners to leverage one another’s strengths,” ASPI wrote in a statement accompanying the report.

ASPI also said it hopes the findings would “strengthen some calls for AUKUS to expand technology cooperation to other countries such as Japan.”

The U.S., Australia and Britain entered into the AUKUS agreement in September 2021 to address mutual concerns in the Indo-Pacific and to boost advancements in artificial technology, quantum computing and cyber defense.

One of the most prominent pieces of the three-country alliance included a U.S.-Australian plan to build Australia at least eight nuclear powered submarines.

U.S. defense and military officials have repeatedly voiced concerns about China’s expanding military and the advanced technology fueling the expansion.

In March, the Defense Intelligence Agency’s chief scientist told reporters in Washington that Beijing already has the world’s leading arsenal of hypersonic weapons.

The U.S. is developing its own hypersonic weapons but all of them remain in testing or development.

Other U.S. intelligence officials have also warned about China’s ability to leverage advanced technology.

In February, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines warned that the high-altitude spy balloon China sent over the continental U.S. could just be the start of Chinese surveillance efforts.

“As technology improves, as we start to see more high-altitude vehicles, in effect, we’re going to see more of this,” she said. “We’re going to have to understand that and manage it.”

Chinese officials continue to deny the high-altitude balloon that was ultimately shot down off the U.S. Atlantic coast was a surveillance device, arguing instead it was a weather balloon.

 
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While U.S. military officers here caution against too direct a comparison between the 1944 D-Day landings and Ukraine’s upcoming counteroffensive, the echoes of what Kyiv faces today are a dominant theme of this year’s commemorations of the young U.S. soldiers who died on the Normandy beaches nearly 80 years ago. 

For days the villages and towns surrounding Omaha and Utah beaches have held parades, memorial events, flyovers and parachute demonstrations to build up to the annual celebration of D-Day, the launch of Operation Overlord. The June 6, 1944, invasion marked the beginning of the Allies’ massive ground invasion which would eventually lead to Germany’s surrender and the end of World War II in Europe. 

The celebration is taking place as Ukraine prepares to launch its own counteroffensive against Russia — an impending fight for which many of those same allied forces have now provided billions of dollars in weapons and training to Kyiv’s soldiers to best prepare them to win. 

“There’s echoes of that of course,” said Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Mark Milley. However, he cautioned against making a direct comparison to World War II’s Normandy invasion, where more than 150,000 troops made landfall in Normandy in a 24-hour period and millions eventually fought across Europe to defeat the Nazis. 

The goal “is certainly the same, to liberate occupied territory and to free a country that has been unjustly attacked by an aggressor nation, in this case, Russia,” Milley said. 

Over the last several days, Ukraine has been a theme. 

“[They are] very naive, those who think peace is eternal: history shows us quite the opposite,” said Alain Holley, mayor of Ste Mere Eglise, at a D-Day commemoration ceremony Sunday. “The proof is that today, the shells are again falling in Europe, two hours by plane from here. Where and when this new war will stop, no one knows today.” 

Holley said it was imperative to stop “these arsonists, before the fire takes away our children, our grandchildren, as well as these brave young American paratroopers.” 

At the spot where Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower established the first forward Supreme Allied Command headquarters in 1944, current U.S. Army Europe and Africa commander Gen. Darryl Williams said Eisenhower’s choice to push forward was like the West’s decision to continue arming Ukraine – that it was a sign of hope. 

“We particularly need hope today, because the dark clouds of war once again hang over Europe.” 

Just 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Omaha Beach, the larger town of Carentan was the site of a key victory allowing Allied forces to advance. The commander of the current 101st Airborne Division 2nd brigade air assault troops – whose predecessors gave their lives freeing Carentan one week after D-Day — said the grounds were a hallowed reminder of the present. 

The unit was one of the first sent back to Europe after Russia invaded last year, to bolster Eastern European defenses. 

“While we did not return to fight, we were ready to fight,” said Col. Ed Matthaidess, commander of 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (air assault). “So, we stand here in Carentan today, and across Normandy this week, in remembrance not only of our past, but also mindful of our present.” 

Two days before the annual celebration of Operation Overlord, Ukraine’s ministry of defense posted a video to Twitter of soldier after soldier putting their finger to their lips, in a hint that Kyiv’s much anticipated counteroffensive is imminent. 

“Plans like silence,” the video text read. “There will be no announcements about the beginning,” according to a translation by the Kyiv Post. 

There’s usually a Ukrainian military delegation here as part of the commemorations, but not this year, as they focus on the fight at home, said a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. 

Ste Mere Eglise became the first French town liberated by Allied forces; its namesake church was made famous by 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper John Steele, whose parachute got caught on the church steeple, leaving him hanging there for two hours during the initial invasion. 

“D-Day is a commemoration. I think it’s also a warning,” said Army Col. Marty O’Donnell, spokesperson for U.S. Army forces in Europe. “While certainly there is not a world war going on right now, we certainly must reflect upon the history as we deal with current events.” 
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Seven people involved in different racist attacks against Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr have been punished by Spain’s State Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Sport, the country’s Sports Commission said on Monday.

Four men were fined $64,255 and banned from sports venues for two years after hanging a banner reading “Madrid hates Real” and an inflatable black effigy in a replica of Vinicius’ No. 20 shirt on a bridge near Real’s facilities before the team’s Cup match against Atletico Madrid on Jan. 26.

Three other people were fined $5,354.50 and banned from sports venues for one year after making racist gestures towards the Brazil international during a LaLiga match at Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium on May 21.

The sanctions come 11 days after the arrest of the four men on suspicion of hanging the effigy and their release on bail by a Madrid court.

Vinicius Jr has been in the spotlight for the past couple of weeks after calling LaLiga and Spain racist following the abuse he suffered during Real’s match against Valencia.  

The sporting world has shown solidarity with the 22-year-old since then and the Brazilian government has called for severe sanctions against those responsible for the racial slurs.

Brazil will play friendlies against Guinea on June 17 and Senegal, three days later, as a part of an anti-racism campaign.

 
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The United States imposed sanctions on Monday on members of a Russian intelligence-linked group for their role in Moscow’s efforts to destabilize democracy and influence elections in Moldova, the Treasury Department said.

The sanctions target seven individuals, several of whom maintain ties to Russian intelligence services, the department said in a statement.  

They include the group’s leader, Konstantin Prokopyevich Sapozhnikov, who organized the plot to destabilize the government of Moldova in early 2023.

“The sanctions imposed today shine a light on Russia’s ongoing covert efforts to destabilize democratic nations,” Brian Nelson, the Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in the statement.

“Russia’s attempted influence operations exploit the concerns of the citizens of these countries, to destabilize legitimately elected governments for Moscow’s own interests.”
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The European Union is pushing online platforms like Google and Meta to step up the fight against false information by adding labels to text, photos and other content generated by artificial intelligence, a top official said Monday.

EU Commission Vice President Vera Jourova said the ability of a new generation of AI chatbots to create complex content and visuals in seconds raises “fresh challenges for the fight against disinformation.”

Jourova said she asked Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok and other tech companies that have signed up to the 27-nation bloc’s voluntary agreement on combating disinformation to dedicate efforts to tackling the AI problem.

Online platforms that have integrated generative AI into their services, such as Microsoft’s Bing search engine and Google’s Bard chatbot, should build safeguards to prevent “malicious actors” from generating disinformation, Jourova said at a briefing in Brussels.

Companies offering services that have the potential to spread AI-generated disinformation should roll out technology to “recognize such content and clearly label this to users,” she said.

Jourova said EU regulations are aimed at protecting free speech, but when it comes to AI, “I don’t see any right for the machines to have the freedom of speech.”

The swift rise of generative AI technology, which has the capability to produce human-like text, images and video, has amazed many and alarmed others with its potential to transform many aspects of daily life. Europe has taken a lead role in the global movement to regulate artificial intelligence with its AI Act, but the legislation still needs final approval and won’t take effect for several years.

Officials in the EU, which is bringing in a separate set of rules this year to safeguard people from harmful online content, are worried that they need to act faster to keep up with the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence.

The voluntary commitments in the disinformation code will soon become legal obligations under the EU’s Digital Services Act, which will force the biggest tech companies by the end of August to better police their platforms to protect users from hate speech, disinformation and other harmful material.

Jourova said, however, that those companies should start labeling AI-generated content immediately.

Most of those digital giants are already signed up to the EU code, which requires companies to measure their work on combating disinformation and issue regular reports on their progress.

Twitter dropped out last month in what appeared to be the latest move by Elon Musk to loosen restrictions at the social media company after he bought it last year.

The exit drew a stern rebuke, with Jourova calling it a mistake.

“Twitter has chosen the hard way. They chose confrontation,” she said. “Make no mistake, by leaving the code, Twitter has attracted a lot of attention and its actions and compliance with EU law will be scrutinized vigorously and urgently.”
…

Latest developments:

U.S. President Joe Biden is hosting talks Monday with Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen that are expected to include discussion of support for Ukraine and training of Ukrainian pilots on fourth generation fighter jets.
The Financial Times reports Western countries worry that China and Russia could use tensions in the Arctic region to grow their influence there. Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the United States paused their cooperation with Russia as members of the Arctic Council last year in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia said Monday its forces had repelled a large-scale Ukrainian attack in the Donetsk region of southern Ukraine.

Russia’s defense ministry said the Ukrainian side’s goal was to try to break through what they considered the weakest area along the front lines, but that it “had no success.”

The Ukrainian attack, Russia said, included six mechanized battalions and two tank battalions.

Donetsk is one the Russia-occupied areas that President Vladimir Putin claimed to annex last year in a move that was rejected by the international community.

It was unclear if the reported Ukrainian attack was part of a long-planned counter-offensive by Ukraine to try to reclaim areas Russian forces seized after launching a full-scale invasion early last year.

Ukraine’s military said during a daily report that there were 29 combat clashes in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Ukrainian children

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used his nightly address Sunday to remember the children who have died “as the result of Russian aggression” since 2014, including a 2-year-old girl in the Dnipro region late Saturday.

“Today in our country is the day of remembrance for children who died as a result of Russian aggression. Since 2014. Children who would have been alive if a bunch of thugs in the Kremlin, in Moscow, hadn’t considered themselves chieftains who allegedly had the right to decide the fate of nations,” Zelenskyy said. 

Zelenskyy said that 485 children have lost their lives from Russian attacks.

“This is a number that we can officially confirm, knowing the data of each child. The real number is much higher,” he said.

He also noted the 19,505 Ukrainian children who have been deported to Russia and are still “in the hands of the enemy.”

The United Nations says that around 1,000 other Ukrainian children have been wounded.

Russian soldiers captured

Also Sunday, a pro-Ukraine group of Russian partisans alleged it had captured several Russian soldiers during a cross-border raid into southern Russia and would hand them over to Ukrainian authorities, Reuters reported.

The Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps, a pro-Ukraine group of Russian partisans, have claimed responsibility for a flurry of cross-border attacks into Russia’s Belgorod region.

In a video released on the Freedom of Russia’s channel on the messaging app Telegram, a man identifying himself as the commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps showed what appeared to be around a dozen Russian soldiers being held captive, two of them lying on hospital beds.

The commander demanded a meeting with the governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, in exchange for the captives.

“Today until 17:00 you have the opportunity to communicate without weapons and take home two Russian citizens, ordinary soldiers whom you and your political leadership sent to the slaughter,” read a joint statement posted along with the video.

Three hours later, Gladkov agreed to meet with the group provided the soldiers were still alive.

But in a later video, the Corps member said Gladkov had not turned up at the designated meeting place.

“We have already decided the fate of these guys,” he said. “They will be transferred to the Ukrainian side for the exchange procedure.”

Ukraine has denied direct involvement in the cross-border attacks.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters
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Among the thousands of fans in the stands at Europe’s biggest soccer games are a few people operating undercover. Trained volunteer observers listen for racist chants and watch for extremist symbols on banners.

“You have to be aware of the environment and fit in without standing out. You have to be discreet,” one observer, who has worked at games involving some of soccer’s best-known clubs and national teams, told The Associated Press.

“Obviously nothing gets published on social media. You have to be anonymous. You have to just sort of blend in. Don’t engage in conversations with anybody.”

A way to improve soccer

The observer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the job requires it, is part of a program run on behalf of European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, by the Fare Network, a prominent anti-discrimination group. Fare monitors about 120 games per season in Europe’s main three men’s club competitions, executive director Piara Powar told the AP, and more around the world in national team events like World Cup qualifying.

Evidence from the program, including photos taken surreptitiously from the stands, is used in disciplinary cases against clubs or national teams whose fans display racist behavior in European competitions like the Champions League.

It’s not a career, but a way to make soccer better for the future, the observer said.

Observers work on a volunteer basis, with expenses covered, and are expected to keep tabs on hardcore fan groups’ social media to track where incidents may occur.

Inside the stadium, an observer watches the stands for signs of racist, homophobic, sexist or other discriminatory chants or banners, while also keeping an eye on the action on the field, which shapes what happens among fans.

“If you get a disgruntled fan base and they’re getting beaten 5-0 and they get knocked out of a competition that they felt that they were going to progress in, then that could be another catalyst,” the observer said. “You have to constantly read the situation as it unfolds.”

Observers are expected to be familiar with symbols used by nationalist groups, especially the logos and number codes — like 88 for Heil Hitler — they use to send surreptitious messages.

Games are given risk ratings to determine how many observers are needed, and up to three observers can work at the highest-risk games.

Sometimes a game rated “medium-risk” can “blow up in your face” unexpectedly, the observer added. That sets off a scramble to document the evidence and send it to a UEFA delegate in the stands — not always easy on overloaded stadium Wi-Fi.

That documentation can then be used by the UEFA disciplinary unit for “further investigation and possible proceedings,” the European soccer governing body said in a statement to the AP.

Sometimes feeling ‘ill at ease’

Hooliganism incidents have decreased in European soccer in recent decades, but some fan groups have a reputation for racist behavior and violence. For security reasons, the identity of the observers at a game are known to as few people as possible.

The observer described feeling “ill at ease” in some situations, but never in personal danger. Observers are not expected to infiltrate close-knit, hardcore fan groups, but to watch from a distance.

“You need to get as close as you can, but be as far away as your safety requires,” the observer said.

Fare’s work isn’t always welcome.

In a case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport over a banner at a 2019 game that was judged to contain a coded racist message, Georgian club Dinamo Tbilisi sought to challenge Fare’s assessment, arguing that the observer collecting the evidence was “professionally trained to recognize potentially racist symbols and is therefore biased.”

The panel rejected the argument and pointed out that even if the banner’s message wasn’t clear to most fans, it still broke rules against racist messages.

Like referees, Fare observers can’t work at games involving clubs they support. The observer said the goal is to make the atmosphere at games safer and more inclusive for the future.

Over several years working games, the observer has seen change for the better, but so far only “baby steps.”

“It’s a professional endeavor. It’s not going for the sake of it,” the observer said.

“I’m indifferent to the results. When a goal’s scored, sometimes I have to stand up to feign excitement, but they are teams that I have zero emotional moments with.”
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The life of a German Iranian detained in Iran is in danger and she is in such pain she can barely move, a fellow prisoner who is a prominent rights activist said Sunday.

Nahid Taghavi, 68, was sentenced to 10 years and eight months in jail in August 2021 after being arrested at her Tehran apartment in October 2020, and is being held in solitary confinement at Tehran’s Evin prison.

Even after recent releases, more than a dozen Western passport holders remain detained in Iran, held according to rights groups as part of a deliberate policy of hostage-taking by Tehran to extract concessions.

“The life of Nahid Taghavi, a political prisoner, is in danger,” her fellow inmate in Evin prison, the prize-winning campaigner and rights activist Narges Mohammadi, wrote on Instagram.

Mohammadi’s Instagram account is run by her family in France based on her phone calls to relatives. Through this, despite her incarceration, Mohammadi continues to push for the rights of prisoners in Evin.

Taghavi was allowed brief medical leave in 2022, but according to her family she was returned to jail before she could recover.

“She can barely get out of her bed,” wrote Mohammadi. “She goes to the infirmary, receives strong painkiller injections and returns to her bed.”

“The pain is so severe it can be seen on her face,” she added.

Mohammadi said that Taghavi had now spent 220 days in solitary confinement. This had worsened an existing spinal disc condition, and she was now also suffering from cervical disc problems, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Taghavi was convicted on national security charges along with British-Iranian Mehran Raoof, who is also still being held. Her family vehemently rejects the accusations.

Iran on Friday released one Dane and two Austrian-Iranian citizens in the wake of the release the week earlier of a Belgian aid worker.

Their release came after mediation by Oman and the release by Belgium of an Iranian diplomat convicted of “terror” offenses, a move that troubled some rights groups.

Last month Iran also freed a French citizen and a French Irish citizen, both of whom had been on hunger strike and the subject of increasing concerns about their health.
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Tour de France organizers have set up an anti-COVID protocol for this year’s race, with riders and team staff banned from signing autographs and eating out of their hotels, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters Saturday. 

Riders and staff members were allowed out of their hotels last year. Access to the paddock at the start of the stages was open to reporters until midway through the race, when organizers decided to close it to “fight against the propagation of COVID-19.” 

Access to the paddock will be allowed when the Tour starts in Bilbao, Spain, on June 29, with everyone required to wear a mask. 

“For all the team members: Respect a confinement – Limit the interactions outside the race bubble. No eating out. Respect social distancing at the hotel,” the chart, seen by Reuters, said. 

“Do not get too close to the spectators – Social distancing, no selfies, no autograph.” 

On Friday, France reported 3,204 COVID-19 cases in the country. At this time last year, there were about 25,000 reported daily cases in France. 

Giro d’Italia organizers last month set up an anti-COVID protocol near the halfway point of the race after overall leader Remco Evenepoel pulled out after testing positive for coronavirus. 
…

Latest developments:

A 2-year-old girl was killed and 22 other injured, five of them children, from a Russian missile strike near the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the regional governor, Serhiy Lysak, said Sunday. "Overnight, the body of a girl who had just turned two was pulled from under the rubble of a house," he wrote on the Telegram messaging channel. Reuters could not independently verify the report. There was no immediate response from Moscow.
Saudi Arabia plans new oil production cuts in 2024 as part of a broader OPEC+ deal to curb output as the group faces flagging oil prices and a looming supply glut, Reuters reports. Western nations have accused OPEC of manipulating oil prices and undermining the global economy through high energy costs and siding with Russia despite Western sanctions on Moscow.
The award-winning film, “20 Days in Mariupol,” premiered Saturday in Ukraine. The documentary chronicles the port city's bitter resistance against Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The film was met with tears, applause and a standing ovation for those who toiled to keep people alive in the city.

Many of the more than 1,000 Kyiv’s air raid shelters checked during the first day of an inspection ordered by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were found inaccessible or unsuitable for use, said the minister of strategic industries, Oleksandr Kamyshin.

In a post on the Telegram messaging app, the senior Ukrainian official expressed his “disbelief” at the findings. Kamyshin said that out of 1,078 shelters examined, 359 were unprepared and another 122 locked, while 597 were found to be usable.

An inspection of all Ukrainian shelters was ordered Friday, a day after three civilians were killed in Kyiv while trying to enter a locked facility in the early hours of the morning during a Russian airstrike.

Thursday’s deaths caused a public outcry and a promise of a harsh response by Zelenskyy, which appeared aimed at Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who has clashed with the president before.

Klitschko acknowledged at a local committee meeting Friday, that he bore some responsibility but said others were also to blame, particularly allies of the president who had been appointed to lead the city’s districts.

The interior ministry said that more than 5,300 volunteers, including emergency workers, police officers and local officials, would continue to inspect shelters across the country.

Cross-border incursions

The Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps, a pro-Ukraine group of Russian partisans, have claimed responsibility for a flurry of cross-border attacks into Russia’s Belgorod region.

In a video on the Freedom of Russia’s Telegram channel, a man identifying himself as the commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps showed two Russian soldiers held captive. One of them appeared to be injured and was placed on an operating table.

The commander demanded a meeting with the governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, in exchange for the captives.

“Today until 17:00 you have the opportunity to communicate without weapons and take home two Russian citizens, ordinary soldiers whom you and your political leadership sent to the slaughter,” read a joint statement posted along with the video.

Three hours later, Gladkov agreed to meet with the group provided the soldiers were still alive.

“Most likely they (the saboteurs) killed them, as hard as it is for me to say. But if they are alive, from 5-6 p.m. – Shebekino checkpoint. I guarantee safety,” he said.

Gladkov added that fighting with a group of “Ukrainian saboteurs” was taking place in the town of Novaya Tavolzhanka, near the Ukrainian border, without providing any details.

Ukraine has denied direct involvement in the cross-border attacks.

Gladkov said Saturday, two people were killed and two were injured by Ukrainian artillery fire on Belgorod’s border region with Ukraine. On Friday, attacks in the area prompted about 5,000 evacuees from nearby border villages to find makeshift housing in the city of Belgorod, said the mayor, Valentin Demidov.

Russian airstrikes – children

A 2-year-old girl has become the most recent victim from the latest Russian airstrike near the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro. The body of the child identified as Liza was pulled from the rubble while five other children were among 22 people wounded in the attack Saturday. President Zelenskyy says Russia’s war has killed at least 500 Ukrainian children.

Writing on Telegram shortly after Liza’s body was recovered, Zelenskyy said that at least 500 Ukrainian children have been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion Feb. 24, 2022.

The United Nations says that around 1,000 other Ukrainian children have been wounded, and thousands of others have been forcibly deported to Russia.

Zelenskyy, who Thursday marked International Children’s Day, said, “Russian weapons and hatred continue to take and destroy the lives of Ukrainian children every day,” adding, “Many of them could have become famous scholars, artists, sports champions, contributing to Ukraine’s history.”

He also said, “We must hold out and win this war!

Zelenskyy went on to say, “All of Ukraine, all our people, all our children, must be free from the Russian terror!”

Russia clamps down on blue-yellow colors

Some local Russian officials are interpreting Russia’s “draconian wartime legislation,” the British defense ministry said Sunday, to mean that any public display of blue and yellow items is outlawed because it shows support for Ukraine. Blue and yellow are the colors of Ukraine’s flag.

One person has been reportedly detained, according to the ministry, for wearing a blue and yellow jacket, while someone else was arrested for displaying a blue and yellow flag “eventually determined” to be the flag of Russia’s Aerospace Forces.

Russia’s ultra-nationalist, pro-war Liberal Democratic party is an unexpected critic of the arrests, the ministry said, but its logo features yellow on a blue background.

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

Turkey, Sweden and Finland will meet later this month to try to overcome objections that have delayed Sweden’s NATO membership bid, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday after meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey in March ratified Finland’s bid for membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but still objects to Sweden joining the alliance, as does Hungary.

Turkey has said Stockholm harbors members of militant groups it considers to be terrorists.

“Sweden has taken significant concrete steps to meet Turkey’s concerns,” Stoltenberg told reporters, referring to a constitutional change by Sweden and its stepping up of counter-terrorism cooperation with Ankara.

Stoltenberg’s talks in Istanbul with Erdogan took place a week after Erdogan extended his two-decade rule in an election.

The election coincided with protests in Stockholm, against both Erdogan and NATO, in which the flag of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), outlawed in Turkey, was projected on to the parliament building.

Asked about Sweden’s chances of becoming a NATO member before a mid-July NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, Stoltenberg said there was time.

He said the next round of talks between officials from Finland, Sweden and Turkey would be in the week of June 12, but did not specify when. NATO defense ministers will meet in Brussels June 15-16.
…

Thousands gathered in Warsaw on Sunday, the 34th anniversary of Poland’s first postwar democratic election, for a protest march the liberal opposition has billed as a test of its ability to end nearly eight years of nationalist rule later this year.

Opinion polls show an election due after the summer will be closely fought, with Russia’s war in neighboring Ukraine giving a boost to the Law and Justice (PiS) government which has emerged as a leading voice against the Kremlin in Europe.

The opposition has struggled to galvanize support despite widespread criticism at home and abroad of the PiS, which has been accused of eroding the rule of law, turning state media into a government mouthpiece and endorsing homophobia.

The government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki denies subverting any democratic norms and says its aim is to protect traditional Christian values against liberal pressures from the West and to make the economy more fair.

Donald Tusk, head of the Civic Platform grouping and former European Union council chief, had called on supporters to join Sunday’s march. 

“I want the (government) to start being afraid on June 4 and for people to see they have power and they can change things,” he told Newsweek in an interview published on Monday. “I want to give people faith in their strength.”

In 1989, the partially free vote on June 4 handed victory to a government led by the Solidarity trade union and triggered a series of events culminating in the fall of the Berlin Wall that November.

On Sunday, hundreds of buses were arriving in Warsaw to bring supporters from across the country. Some said they were motivated by a row over legislation proposed by PiS to weed out undue Russian influence from the country.

The opposition sees the legislation as a government attempt to launch a witchhunt against political opponents.

In an unexpected turnaround, President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, said on Friday he would propose amendments to the law, which has already drawn criticism from lawyers and opposition politicians, as well as the U.S. State Department and European Commission.

The EU’s executive said it could effectively ban individuals from holding public office without proper judicial review.

“It’s beyond comprehension,” said Andrzej Majewski, 48, from Slupca in western Poland.
…

President Tayyip Erdogan signaled Saturday his newly elected government would return to more orthodox economic policies when he named Mehmet Simsek to his Cabinet to tackle Turkey’s cost-of-living crisis and other strains.

Simsek’s appointment as treasury and finance minister could set the stage for interest rate hikes in the coming months, analysts said, a marked turnaround from Erdogan’s longstanding policy of slashing rates despite soaring inflation.

After winning a runoff election last weekend, Erdogan, 69, who has ruled for more than two decades, began his new five-year term by calling on Turks to set aside differences and focus on the future.

Turkey’s new cabinet also includes Cevdet Yilmaz, another orthodox economic manager, as vice president, and the former head of the National Intelligence Organization Hakan Fidan as foreign minister, replacing Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Erdogan’s inauguration ceremony at Ankara’s presidential palace was attended by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other dignitaries and high-level officials.

The apparent U-turn on the economy comes as many analysts say the big emerging market is heading for turmoil given depleted foreign reserves, an expanding state-backed protected deposits scheme, and unchecked inflation expectations.

Simsek, 56, was highly regarded by financial markets when he served as finance minister and deputy prime minister between 2009 and 2018.

Analysts said that after episodes in which Erdogan pivoted to orthodoxy only to quickly return to his rate-cutting ways, much would depend on how much independence Simsek is granted.

“This suggests Erdogan has recognized the eroding trust in his ability to manage Turkey’s economic challenges. But while Simsek’s appointment is likely to delay a crisis, it is unlikely to present long-term fixes to the economy,” said Emre Peker, a director at Eurasia Group covering Turkey.

“Simsek will likely have a strong mandate early in his tenure, but face rapidly increasing political headwinds to implement policies as March 2024 local elections draw near,” Peker added.

Erdogan’s economic program since 2021 stresses monetary stimulus and targeted credit to boost economic growth, exports and investments, pressing the central bank into action and badly eroding its independence.

As a result, annual inflation hit a 24-year peak above 85% last year before easing.

The lira has lost more than 90% of its value in the last decade after a series of crashes, the worst in late 2021. It hit new all-time lows of more than 20 to the dollar after the May 28 vote.

Turkey’s longest-serving leader, Erdogan won 52.2% support in the runoff, defying polls that predicted economic strains would lead to his defeat.

His new mandate will allow Erdogan to pursue the increasingly authoritarian policies that have polarized the country, a NATO member, but strengthened its position as a regional military power.

At the inauguration ceremony, attended by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Erdogan struck a conciliatory tone.

“We will embrace all 85 million people regardless of their political views. … Let’s put aside the resentment of the election period. Let’s look for ways to reconcile,” he said.

“Together, we must look ahead, focus on the future, and try to say new things. We should try to build the future by learning from the mistakes of the past,” he said.

Erdogan became prime minister in 2003 after his AK Party won an election in late 2002 following Turkey’s worst economic crisis since the 1970s.

In 2014, he became the country’s first popularly elected president and was elected again in 2018 after securing new executive powers for the presidency in a 2017 referendum.
…

Kaija Saariaho, who wrote acclaimed works that made her the among the most prominent composers of the 21st century, died Friday. She was 70. 

Saariaho died at her apartment in Paris, her family said in a statement posted on her Facebook page. She had been diagnosed in February 2021 with glioblastoma, an aggressive and incurable brain tumor. 

“The multiplying tumors did not affect her cognitive facilities until the terminal phase of her illness,” the statement said. Her family said Saariaho had undergone experimental treatment at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris. 

“Kaija’s appearance in a wheelchair or walking with a cane have prompted many questions, to which she answered elusively,” the family said. “Following her physician’s advice, she kept her illness a private matter, in order to maintain a positive mindset and keep the focus of her work.” 

Her “L’Amour de Loin (Love from Afar)” premiered at the Salzburg Festival in 2000 and made its U.S. debut at the Santa Fe Opera two years later. In 2016, it became the first staged work by a female composer at the Metropolitan Opera since Ethel M. Smyth’s “Der Wald” in 1903. 

“She was one of the most original voices and enjoyed enormous success,” Met general manager Peter Gelb said. “It had (an) impact on one’s intellect as well as one’s emotions. It was music that really moves people’s hearts. She was truly one of the great, great artists.” 

Saariaho did not like to be thought of as a female composer, rather a woman who was a composer. 

“I would not even like to speak about it,” she said during an interview with The Associated Press after a piano rehearsal at the Met. “It should be a shame.” 

Helsinki-born

Born in Helsinki on Oct. 14, 1952, Saariaho studied at the Sibelius Academy and the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg. She helped found a Finnish group “Korvat auki (Ears Open) in the 1970s. 

“The problem in Finland in the 1970s and ’80s was that it was very closed,” she told NPR last year. “My generation felt that there was no place for us and no interest in our music — and more generally, modern music was heard much less.” 

Saariaho started work in 1982 at Paris’ Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music (IRCAM), a center of contemporary music founded in the 1970s by Pierre Boulez. She incorporated electronics in her composition. 

“I am interested in spatialization, but under the condition that it’s not applied gratuitously,” she said in a 2014 conversation posted on her website. “It has to be necessary — in the same way that material and form must be linked together organically. 

Inspired by viewing Messiaen’s “St. Francois d’Assise” at the 1992 Salzburg Festival, she wrote “L’Amour de Loin.” She went on to compose “Adriana Mater,” which premiered at the Opéra Bastille in 2006 and “Émilie,” which debuted at the Lyon Opéra in 2010. 

Award-winning work

Her latest opera, “Innocence,” was first seen at the 2021 Aix-en-Provence Festival. Putting a spotlight on gun violence, the work was staged in London this spring and is scheduled for the Met’s 2025-26 season. 

“This is undoubtedly the work of a mature master, in such full command of her resources that she can focus simply on telling a story and illuminating characters,” Zachary Woolfe wrote in The New York Times. 

Saariaho received the University of Louisville’s Grawemeyer Award in 2003 and was selected Musical America’s Musician of the Year in 2008. Kent Nagano’s recording of “L’Amour de Loin” won a 2011 Grammy Award. 

Saariaho’s final work, a trumpet concerto titled “HUSH,” is to premiere in Helsinki on Aug. 24 with Susanna Mälkki leading the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. 

The announcement of Saariaho’s death was posted by her husband, composer Jean-Baptiste Barrière; son Aleksi Barrière, a writer; and daughter Aliisa Neige Barrière, a conductor and violinist. 
…

Pope Francis warned the Vatican’s missionary fundraisers Saturday not to allow financial corruption to creep into their work, insisting that spirituality and spreading the Gospel must drive their operations, not mere entrepreneurship. 

Francis made the comments in a speech to the national directors of the Vatican’s Pontifical Mission Societies, which raise money for the Catholic Church’s missionary work in the developing world, building churches and funding training programs for priests and nuns. Deviating from his prepared remarks, Francis appeared to refer to a recent Associated Press investigation into financial transfers at the U.S. branch of the Pontifical Mission Societies: The former head oversaw the transfer of at least $17 million from a quasi-endowment fund and donations into a nonprofit and private equity fund that he created and now heads. The initiatives provide low-interest loans to church-run agribusinesses in Africa. 

“Please don’t reduce POM to money,” Francis said, referring to the Italian acronym of the Pontifical Mission Societies. “This is a medium, a means. Does it require money? Yes, but don’t reduce it, it is bigger than money.” 

He said if spirituality isn’t driving the Catholic Church’s missionary efforts, there is a risk of corruption. 

“Because if spirituality is lacking and it’s only a matter of entrepreneurship, corruption comes in immediately,” Francis said. “And we have seen that even today: In the newspapers, you see so many stories of alleged corruption in the name of the missionary nature of the church.” 

The Vatican has said it is seeking clarity on the transfers at the U.S. branch, which appear to be fully legal since the previous board approved them. The AP investigation uncovered no evidence of corruption, though a legal investigation commissioned by the branch’s new national director, Monsignor Kieran Harrington, suggested the former head may have omitted information, or glossed over Vatican concerns, in his presentations to the board that ultimately approved the transfers, officials said. 

The legal review determined that the transfers were approved in ways consistent with the board’s powers and bylaws at the time, the society said in a statement to the AP. After the review, Harrington replaced the staff and board of directors who approved the transfers, and overhauled its bylaws and statutes, to make sure nothing like it ever happens again. 

In emailed comments responding to questions from the AP, the former head of The Pontifical Mission Societies in the U.S., the Rev. Andrew Small, strongly defended the transfers and investments as fully approved and consistent with the mission of the church and the organization. 

He acknowledged Harrington’s new administration reflected the Vatican’s “skepticism” about the social justice nature of his nonprofit Missio Corp., and private equity fund, in that they focused on food security, as opposed to the traditional idea of “evangelization” that is the primary and stated mission of The Pontifical Mission Societies. 

“I didn’t agree with the apartheid between pastoral and humanitarian work of the church then and I don’t in my current position,” Small said in an email response April 26. “On the ground in Africa, these distinctions aren’t relevant as they try to find income to survive.” 

Small is now the No. 2 at the Vatican’s child protection advisory board, which Francis created to provide a response to the clergy sexual abuse scandal. He did not respond to further questions from the AP Saturday about Francis’ comments. 

Small’s boss as head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley, also did not respond to questions from AP about the transfers or the implications for the commission, which is itself raising money for its child protection programs. 

O’Malley spokesman Terrence Donilon said Thursday and Friday that the cardinal was travelling this weekend and unavailable to comment. 

In a message to members of the commission last week after the AP story was published, O’Malley said he was aware of Small’s work when he was national director of The Pontifical Mission Societies “and have come to know the work he did in developing Missio Invest.” 

“Adverse media attention is never easy, whatever its motivation. However, I have said publicly and frequently that, at least in terms of sexual abuse in the church, the media has played a vital role in helping, or maybe shaming, the church into being more open and transparent in its work as well as its commitment to improving its handling of cases and its welcome and care of victims and survivors,” O’Malley wrote in the message seen by the AP. 

“We will continue to monitor the situation and respond accordingly,” O’Malley said, adding his appreciation for the commission’s “great progress” in signing recent agreements with Vatican offices and local churches on collaborations. 
…

Green and other groups have given mixed reviews to the sometimes-rocky talks on eradicating plastic pollution, which ended Saturday in Paris with an agreement to write the first draft of a groundbreaking global treaty.

The deal reached after five days of negotiations in the French capital sees a rough-cut “zero draft” produced before representatives of 175 countries next meet in Nairobi in November — with goals for a legally binding ban in force by 2025.

“It will happen, it must happen, because we all don’t want plastic pollution in our territories, or in the oceans or anywhere,” Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution told VOA, calling last year’s agreement on the legislation “historic.”

But environmentalists and other activists offered a fractured reaction to the talks, criticizing alleged stalling tactics deployed by a handful of countries, including petroleum-rich Saudi Arabia and Russia, and intervention by industry members.

“We have seen the negative consequences of continued plastic and fossil fuel industry presence and (the) influence on negotiations, including procedural delays and distractions, as well as discussion of false solutions,” said Jen Fela, of the U.S.-based Plastic Pollution Coalition.

Still, the global environmental group, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) cited “tangible progress” nonetheless.

“After a week of negotiations, the world is one step closer to the unmissable opportunity of a global treaty to end the plastic pollution criticism,” said WWF special envoy Marco Lambertini.

Wrong direction

A century after their birth, plastics derived from fossil fuels have been key to major developments like space travel – but they have also spawned massive pollution.

In many developing countries especially, with low collection and recycling rates, plastic litters streets, tangles trees and chokes beaches. Millions of tons of plastic spill into oceans yearly, killing marine life and traveling far from its origins via ocean currents.

Microplastic particles have been detected in seemingly pristine environments and in the placentas of unborn babies. Plastic also contributes to climate change.

Alarmingly, annual plastics production — which more than doubled in 20 years to 460 million tons — is expected to almost triple by 2060, according to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“Production and consumption are rapidly growing, we’re designing products for being thrown away or being burnt in the environment,” WWF Global Plastics Policy Manager Eirik Lindebjerg said in an interview. “It’s accelerating in the wrong direction.”

Still, he said, some things are heading in the right direction. A growing number of plastics-related businesses are explicitly calling for global regulations to harmonize standards. The European Union and countries like Rwanda and Bangladesh have banned single-use plastics.

Similarly, single-use plastics will be outlawed at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with reusable cups and other items favored, in a broader effort to slash the event’s carbon footprint.

“There are things happening, but in a fragmented way and most countries aren’t doing enough,” Lindebjerg added. “That’s what this treaty is about — to bring countries together and have everyone on board to have joint regulations.”

Next steps

What will go into the draft plastics treaty remains unclear.

A so-called High Ambition Coalition of governments led by Norway and Rwanda wants to ban plastic pollution completely by 2040 and limit if not eradicate particularly problematic chemicals going into them, along with high-risk plastic products.

While the U.S. is not a coalition member, officials have said they share its goals — but favor countries developing their own action plans to meet them. Activists like the Plastic Pollution Coalition are urging the U.S. to take a stronger stance at the talks.

Meanwhile, green groups point to the limits of recycling — an option pushed by U.S. and other oil producing countries, among others. Instead, environmentalists are calling for finding plastic alternatives and changing consumption and production habits.

“Once you put rules in place, there are lots of interesting solutions that are ready to be scaled up,” Lindebjerg said.

Some green activists worry that countries and industries with a vested interest in plastic production will unduly influence the treaty’s content — and that Indigenous and other affected groups have not had enough voice.

INC’s Mathur-Filipp disputed that assessment when it came to participation by non-governmental groups. She said it was up to official delegations to decide their makeup. She also defended the slow start to the Paris talks, citing the importance for disparate groups to air their positions and “build trust.”

“Now there is compromise, willingness to speak and listen to each other,” she added. “We have moved forward. We have made progress.”
…

Latest developments:

Britain’s Defense Ministry said Saturday in its daily intelligence update on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that Russia’s VDV or airborne forces have assumed “an increasingly important role” in Bakhmut. While the VDV’s pre-invasion elite status is now “much degraded,” the entire Russia force will likely be “less flexible” in reacting to operational challenges because of the VDV’s deployment to Bakhmut.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that joining NATO is the best security guarantee for Ukraine but acknowledged that “it would be impossible” for his country to join the alliance before the war ends. In a joint briefing in Kyiv with Estonian President Alar Karis, Zelenskyy said Ukrainians “will not pull any NATO country into a war."
The U.S. State Department said it is revoking the visas of Russian nuclear inspectors, denying pending applications for new monitors and is canceling standard clearances for Russian aircraft to enter U.S. airspace due to Russia's “ongoing violations” of the last arms control treaty remaining between the two countries.
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin escalated his feud with Moscow’s military brass by alleging that Russian forces were given orders to blow up his men by planting anti-tank mines in areas that could only be targeting Wagner mercenary forces. "It was not necessary to plant these charges in order to deter the enemy,” he said. “Therefore, we can assume that these charges were intended to meet the advancing units of Wagner," he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine is ready to launch a counteroffensive against Russia.

In a Wall Street Journal report published Saturday, the Ukrainian leader said, “We strongly believe that we will succeed.”

“I don’t know how long it will take,” he said, “but … we are ready.” He said he wished he had more Western weapons, “but we can’t wait for months,” but Zelenskyy did not reveal a date for the counteroffensive.

In addition, Zelenskyy said he is a bit apprehensive about the outcome of the U.S. presidential election in 2024 because a less supportive administration could win.

Meanwhile, in his daily speech, the Ukrainian president addressed the need for a stronger air defense system through further development, supply and production of the “necessary missiles” in Ukraine. “The Ukrainian air shield must continuously have all it needs. We are engaged in the coalition of Patriot systems and the coalition of modern fighters — actively every day,” he said.

Regarding the long-awaited F-16 fighter jets, U.S. Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said they won’t be ready for Ukraine’s upcoming counteroffensive.

Upon his arrival in France earlier this week, Milley said “everyone recognizes Ukraine needs a modernized air force,” but regarding the delivery of F-16s, “it’s going to take a considerable amount of time.”

At a Friday news conference, Zelenskyy also commented on Ukraine’s coming counteroffensive, saying it is “not a movie” and adding that it is not easy to publicly describe how it will unfold.

“The main thing is for Russia to see it, and not only see it, but feel it. Specifically, we are talking about the forces that have occupied our territory,” he added. The Ukrainian president said liberating Ukrainian territories is the main goal of the counteroffensive, and that when that starts to occur, “you will understand what is happening.”

Blinken: Russian pullout required

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that a “just and lasting” peace deal in Ukraine must include the withdrawal of Russian troops for all Ukrainian-held territories.

“A cease-fire that simply freezes current lines in place and enables [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to consolidate control over the territory he seized and then rest, rearm and reattack: That is not a just and lasting peace,” Blinken said.

Speaking in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, NATO’s newest member, Blinken said such a violation of the United Nations Charter would send Moscow and “other would-be aggressors around the world” the wrong message.

Blinken added that the United States will encourage peace efforts by other nations as long as they uphold the U.N. Charter and Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.

New START nuclear treaty

The Biden administration is retaliating after Russia suspended the New START nuclear treaty. The State Department announced Thursday it is revoking the visas of Russian nuclear inspectors, denying pending applications for new monitors and canceling standard clearances for Russian aircraft to enter U.S. airspace.

The State Department said it was taking those steps and others in response to Russia’s “ongoing violations” of New START, the last arms control treaty remaining between the two countries.

“The United States is committed to full and mutual implementation of the New START treaty,” it said. “Consistent with that commitment, the United States has adopted lawful countermeasures in response to the Russian Federation’s ongoing violations of the New START treaty.”

Russia suspended its participation in the New START treaty in February in a move that the U.S. said was “legally invalid.”

Allowing inspections of weapons sites and providing information on the placement of intercontinental and submarine-based ballistic missiles and their test launches are critical components of New START, which then-Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev signed in 2010.

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

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a populist with increasingly authoritarian tendencies, is scheduled to take the oath of office and start his third presidential term Saturday following his latest election win.

Erdogan, who has led Turkey as prime minister or president for 20 years, prevailed in a runoff race last weekend despite the country’s ongoing economic crisis and his government’s criticized response to a February earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people.

Known as “reis,” or “the chief,” among his fans, the 69-year-old Erdogan already is the longest-serving leader in the Turkish republic’s history. His reelection to a five-year term that runs until 2028 extends his rule into a third decade, and he could possibly serve longer with the help of a friendly parliament.

Here is a look at Erdogan’s career and some of the reasons for his political longevity.

IT’S NOT THE ECONOMY

Many experts agree that Turkey’s severe economic woes result from Erdogan’s unorthodox fiscal policies — most notably, depressing interest rates against rampant inflation despite the warnings of economists. However, the majority of voters — he received 52% of the runoff vote — did not seem to hold it against him.

Erdogan’s endurance amid a cost-of-living crisis — inflation in Turkey hit a staggering 85% in October before easing to 44% in April — might have resulted from many people preferring stability over change as they struggle to pay skyrocketing prices for rent and basic goods.

The president has demonstrated an ability to turn the economy around in the past. And he has never shied away from spending and deploying government resources to his political advantage.

Over the past two decades, his government has spent lavishly on infrastructure to please constituents. In the period leading up to last month’s parliamentary and presidential elections, he increased wages and pensions to cushion the blow from inflation and disbursed electricity and gas subsidies.

One point of pride for many voters is Turkey’s ballooning military-industrial sector. Throughout the campaign, Erdogan frequently cited domestically made drones, aircraft and a warship touted as the world’s first “drone carrier.”

ON THE WORLD STAGE

Erdogan has swayed many Turks to his side with the way he navigates the world stage. Supporters see in him a leader who has shown that Turkey can be a major player in geopolitics while displaying an independent streak as it engages with the East and West.

Turkey is a key NATO member because of its strategic location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and it controls the alliance’s second-largest army. During Erdogan’s tenure, the country has proven to be an indispensable and, at times, troublesome NATO ally.

The Turkish government has held up Sweden’s entry into NATO and purchased Russian missile-defense systems, prompting the United States to oust Turkey from a U.S.-led fighter jet project. Yet, together with the United Nations, Turkey brokered a vital wartime deal that allowed Ukraine to resume shipping grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger.

Erdogan has hailed his reelection, which came as the country prepares to mark the centenary of the republic, as the start of the “Century of Turkey.”

A RETURN TO ISLAMIC ROOTS

Erdogan has cultivated deep loyalty from conservative and religious supporters by elevating Islamic values in a country that was defined by secularism for nearly a century.

He has curbed the powers of the military, which frequently meddled in civilian politics whenever the country began deviating from secularism. He lifted rules that barred conservative women from wearing headscarves in schools and government offices.

He also reconverted Istanbul’s landmark Hagia Sophia into a mosque, meeting a long-time demand of Turkish Islamists. The Byzantine-era cathedral first became a mosque after the conquest of Constantinople but had served as a museum for decades.

More recently, he has slammed LGBTQ+ rights, suggesting they pose a threat to the traditional, conservative notion of what constitutes a family.

TIGHT CONTROL OVER MEDIA

During his decades in power, Erdogan consolidated control over the media.

A majority of Turkish news outlets are now owned by conglomerates loyal to him. He has used his position to silence criticism and to disparage the opposition.

International election monitors observed that both the first round of the presidential election on May 14th and the May 28th runoff were free but not fair.

While voters in the second round had a choice between genuine political alternatives, “biased media coverage and a lack of a level playing field gave an unjustified advantage to the incumbent,” said Farah Karimi, a coordinator for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Erdogan’s opponent in the runoff election, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, had promised to undo the president’s economic policies and to put Turkey back on a democratic path by ending crackdowns on free speech.
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The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said four people were killed Friday in two separate Ukrainian shelling attacks on towns near the border, while officials in nearby regions reported overnight drone attacks.

Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram that shelling had struck the town of Maslova Pristan, some 15 kilometers from Ukraine’s northern Kharkiv region, and that fragments had struck passing cars.

“Two women were traveling in one of them. They died from their injuries on the spot,” he said.

Gladkov later said two people had been killed and six injured when rockets hit the town of Sobolevka, 125 kilometers to the southeast of the first incident. The victims had been standing outside close to residential buildings, he said.

Sobolevka is 14 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. Russian officials have in recent days reported intensified attacks from northern Ukraine.

Pro-Ukrainian forces have repeatedly shelled the town of Shebekino over the past week, Russian officials said. All road and rail travel in the district had been suspended until June 30, Gladkov said.

More than 2,500 people were being evacuated from the Shebekino area, he said, given that it was not safe to be there.

The governor of the Bryansk region, north of Belgorod, said four homes had been damaged by shelling, while the head of neighboring Kursk region said some buildings had been damaged in an overnight drone attack.

Long-range drones also hit two towns in the Smolensk region overnight, the local governor said.

Reuters could not independently verify the reported attacks.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces had repelled on Thursday three cross-border attacks by what it said were Ukrainian “terrorist formations” into the Belgorod region.

Ukraine denies its military is involved in the incursions and says they are conducted by Russian volunteer fighters.
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A teenager reported to British anti-terror authorities by his mother was jailed for life Friday. Matthew King, 19, will serve a minimum term of six years for plotting a terror attack on police officers or soldiers.

In what was the first terror sentencing in England and Wales to be televised, the judge praised King’s mother for taking her suspicions to the Prevent counterterrorism program.

“She took the very bold step of alerting Prevent when she had concerns for her son,” Judge Mark Lucraft said during sentencing at the central criminal court in central London. “That cannot have been an easy thing to do in the first place, and in my view she absolutely did the right thing.”

In January, King pleaded guilty to the preparation of terror acts between Dec. 22, 2021, and May 17, 2022.

King, who was radicalized online during the coronavirus pandemic, had expressed a desire to kill military personnel as he prepared to stake out a British Army barracks in east London. He also expressed a desire to travel to Syria to join so-called Islamic State.

His desires were thwarted when his mother reported him. Authorities were also tipped off through an anti-terror hotline after he posted a video on a WhatsApp group in April 2022.

The judge found that King was a dangerous offender who carried a risk of future harm to the public, despite claims by his lawyer that the defendant was on the path to deradicalization.

“It is clear that you are someone who developed an entrenched Islamist extremist mindset, extreme anti-Western views and that you intended to commit terrorist acts both in the U.K. and overseas,” the judge said.

King could be out in five years. He has already spent 367 days in prison, which will be taken into account and deducted from the length of time he has to serve.
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