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A press freedom group based in Austria has been combating a cyberattack since early September that the group believes is in retaliation for its recent report on similar attacks against independent media in Hungary.

The International Press Institute announced Thursday that the group has been fighting “a targeted and sustained cyberattack” since September 1. The assault on IPI began with a series of distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS, attacks that took the organization’s website offline for three days.

A DDoS attack is a form of cyberattack that temporarily slows or crashes a website by overloading its servers with millions of simultaneous access requests.

“It really has just strengthened our dedication and our commitment to our mission,” IPI advocacy director Amy Brouillette told VOA from Vienna, where IPI is based.

“It’s sharpened our resolve. We are more committed than ever to our mission, and we’re more committed than ever to supporting Hungarian independent media and independent media around the world,” Brouillette added.

IPI’s website has since been restored, but the organization continues to face milder DDoS attacks, the group said in a statement. The persistent assault marks the most severe attack on IPI’s online infrastructure since the group was founded in 1950, IPI said.

In response to the attack, IPI has reinforced its security measures and filed a report with Austrian police’s cybercrime unit.

IPI believes the cyberattacks are in retaliation for an August report the group published about cyberattacks against independent media in Hungary.

More than 40 Hungarian media websites have been hit by DDoS attacks in the last five months, the report found. Outlets that are critical of the government were hit particularly hard, according to the report.

IPI said evidence suggests the same attacker that has been targeting independent media in Hungary is also responsible for the attack on IPI.

No actor has taken responsibility for the attacks against Hungarian media, but IPI reported in August that the perpetrator appears to go by the nickname HANO, which is a Hungarian acronym for a medical condition that causes bodily swelling.

The attacker left a similar message to IPI. In the log data of the attack, the perpetrator left a message in English: “See you next time Hano hates u.”

Brouillette said IPI wasn’t taking that warning very seriously.

The first phase of the attack on IPI did not knock out the group’s website, but between September 6 and 8, the perpetrators brought it down multiple times. On September 8, the attack increased to 350,000 requests per second. DDoS attacks can be significantly larger.

“It was aggressively persistent,” Brouillette said.

The attacks came from servers around the world, including the United States, Germany, Russia, France, Indonesia and Singapore, but IPI said that doesn’t reveal much about where the attacker is located because the traffic is rerouted.

It is unclear whether the DDoS attacks against IPI and independent media in Hungary are government-backed, according to Brouillette.

Hungary’s Washington Embassy did not immediately reply to VOA’s email requesting comment.

Brouillette said the attack on IPI underscores the concerning state of press freedom in Hungary and around the world. In terms of media freedom, Hungary ranks among the worst countries in the European Union.

“It reflects a wider and alarming pattern of the abuse of digital tools by malicious actors, not only against journalists but also against the organizations that defend journalists,” Brouillette said.

Brouillette added that the assault on IPI underscores the increasing threat that DDoS attacks are posing around the world — from Kosovo and Kyrgyzstan to Nigeria and the Philippines.

“DDoS attacks in general are on the rise,” she said. “It’s a really big and very dangerous new front in the war against press freedom.”
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The war in Ukraine is likely to be the big topic for a second year in a row when leaders gather at the U.N. General Assembly next week. But many developing countries are hoping to shine a light on issues important to them, including development, inflation and climate change. VOA U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer has more.
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Italy is considering whether to leave the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing’s multibillion-dollar global trade and infrastructure program, by the end of the year. The dilemma comes amid geopolitical pressures from Western allies and domestic disappointment that the program has not delivered the economic benefits that the country hoped for.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni spoke to reporters after meeting the Chinese delegation at last week’s G20 summit in New Delhi.

“There are European nations which in recent years haven’t been part of the Belt and Road but have been able to forge more favorable relations [with China] than we have sometimes managed,” Meloni said. “The issue is how to guarantee a partnership that is beneficial for both sides, leaving aside the decision that we will take on the BRI.”

BRI benefits?

Italy signed on to China’s BRI in 2019, the only member of the Group of 7 most advanced economies — including Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — to do so. But Italy has not received the expected economic benefits, Filippo Boni, a lecturer in politics and international studies at the Open University in England, told VOA.

“From the Italian side, the idea was to both try and boost its exports but also to make a political move towards Brussels, as a signal that Italy was able to sign successful deals with third countries independently from the European Union,” Boni said, adding that Meloni is seeking to make a clear break with previous [Italian] governments by forging new relationships with China and the EU.

“There is a growing realization that the memorandum of understanding that was signed with China in March 2019 did not really bring the benefits that were expected,” he said. “Trade balance is still heavily tilted in China’s favor, and Italian exports to China did not pick up, did not see the increase that those who wanted [the BRI] were envisaging and hoping for.”

Geopolitics

There are also geopolitical reasons for Italy rethinking its membership in China’s BRI, said Luigi Scazzieri, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.

“There’s come to be a certain diplomatic stigma attached to it, partly because the whole of the West is rethinking its relationship with China,” Scazzieri told VOA. “And Italy being the only G7 country having signed up to the Belt and Road makes it, on the other hand, look like it’s trying to get closer to Beijing.”

Italy’s Western allies are reducing their reliance on some Chinese imports and restricting the sale of technologies such as advanced semiconductors to Beijing.

In recent years, Italy’s government has blocked the sale of some of its biggest companies to Chinese firms, such as the tire maker Pirelli, under its so-called Golden Power rules.

“It’s really a clear signal the government in Rome is sending to its partners in the European Union, and Washington most importantly, about Italy’s position on the international chess board,” Boni said.

China’s response

Questioned about Italy’s potential departure from the BRI this week, China’s Foreign Ministry insisted the program brings benefits to its members.

“The Belt and Road Initiative has attracted more than 150 countries and a wide range of partners in various fields over the past 10 years and has brought tangible benefits to the people of all countries,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters. “It is in the interests of all participating countries to further tap the potential of cooperation.”

Italy is choosing its language carefully and said it wants to boost trade with Beijing outside the BRI, Scazzieri said.

“The fear of Beijing reacting in a negative way has been precisely why Meloni has been quite careful about how to go about extracting Italy from BRI,” he said.

Italy already has a strategic partnership with China, an agreement Beijing has signed with many countries aimed at fostering economic and cultural ties. It’s likely Rome will seek to amend that document in the hope of replacing its BRI membership with a looser relationship.

“Given the centrality that ‘strategic partnerships’ have in China’s foreign policy — as of the end of last year, there were 110 strategic partnerships that China signed with countries globally — I think it might be a good way out of the Belt and Road Initiative for both countries to say, ‘We’re still engaged in bilateral cooperation,’ ” Boni said.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears to be using this week’s much-heralded summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin to tighten his control over a country struggling with international sanctions and a pandemic-stricken economy, analysts said.

Putin and Kim met on Wednesday at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a rocket launch facility in the Russian Far East, for their first summit in more than four years.

North Kores’s official Korean Central News Agency said Putin and Kim vowed to strengthen “strategic and tactical cooperation” without providing details.

Concern over arms deal

Washington suspects Pyongyang may supply Moscow with munitions for its war in Ukraine in return for help from Moscow in overcoming critical barriers to building intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-propelled submarines, and military reconnaissance satellites.

After the meeting, the U.S. warned North Korea against supplying arms to Russia.

“No nation on the planet, nobody should be helping Mr. Putin kill innocent Ukrainians. And if they decide to move forward with some sort of arms deals, well, obviously we’ll take a measure of that, and we’ll deal with it appropriately,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday.

Analysts, however, say Kim might be looking for more than technical assistance in his weapons programs.

Seong Ok Yoo, a former South Korean intelligence official who extensively dealt with North Korea, said Kim is trying to use the summit as a propaganda tool to elevate his image globally while seeking greater internal unity. 

“Kim seeks international recognition. He believes he can push the U.S. to soften its attitude toward him by touting his presence,” said Yoo, who played a key role in an inter-Korean summit in 2007.

“He wants to ensure the U.S. takes him seriously,” Yoo added.

Dog-eared strategy

Jong Dae Shin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said using an international event as a tool to rule a country is a long-established practice for members of North Korea’s ruling Kim dynasty.

For a country like North Korea, which has been isolated for many decades by heavy sanctions, the dog-eared ruling strategy has served the regime by re-enforcing loyalty and devotion among the citizens, according to Shin.

Shin said Kim seems to follow the path of his predecessors.

For Kim, a serious opportunity to enhance his standing came in 2018, when he started rapprochement with a series of summits with the leaders of China, South Korea, and the U.S.

Kim’s summit diplomacy culminated in the historic meeting with former President Donald Trump in June 2018 in Singapore, at the time hailed as a possible path to peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The two leaders met in February 2019 in Hanoi for their second summit, but they failed to reach an agreement.

Analysts say recent geopolitical developments, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the U.S.-China strategic competition, give Kim another chance to elevate his image.

Accoridng to them, Kim sees a golden opportunity to advance his country’s weapons programs with few repercussions and increase its leverage with Russia and China, which are at odds with the U.S.

In 2022, North Korea conducted a record number of missile tests in violation of multiple U.N. sanctions.

The U.N. Security Council, however, failed to act because of objections by Russia and China, which have veto power. 

In December 2017, the council passed tough sanctions against North Korea in response to the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile by Pyongyang with the support of Russia and China.  

Increased leverage

Yoo believes North Korea’s leverage with Russia has increased because of Moscow’s confrontation with Washington over the war in Ukraine. 

“There is a reversal of position from the previous summit,” said Yoo, referring to the summit between Russia and North Korea in April 2019.

Then, Kim turned to Putin for diplomatic support following the failed summit with Trump but now Russia, hungry for ammunitions, is reaching out to Kim, according to Yoo.

“In 2019, Kim had no choice but to rely on Putin to break out of diplomatic isolation. Now, Kim is in the driver’s seat,” said Cho Han-Bum, senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

International news coverage of the latest summit between Putin and Kim underscored the lavish welcome Putin prepared for the North Korean leader.

Some South Korean news outlets reported that Putin, who is known for showing up late for meetings with foreign leaders, waited for Kim for 30 minutes at the meeting venue.

The Associated Press reported that Putin greeted Kim with a handshake of about 40 seconds.  

North Korea state media hailed the summit as a “new milestone” for the development of relations between Pyongyang and Moscow.

Internal pressure

This week’s summit took place as North Korea appears to be facing severe food shortages.

Elizabeth Salmon, the U.N. special rapporteur on North Korea’s human rights, told a Security Council meeting last month some people are dying “due to a combination of malnutrition, diseases and lack of access to health care.”

In March, South Korean lawmakers briefed by the country’s main intelligence agency told reporters there was a surge of deaths from starvation and suicide due to acute food shortages.

Intae Kim, a former North Korean defector who is now the chief research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS), a think tank run by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, said Kim has pursued a policy of pushing economic growth and expanding nuclear development simultaneously since he took power in December 2011.

While the North Korean leader has advanced the country’s nuclear program, his economic plan has completely failed, according to Kim.

Cha Du Hyeogn, principal fellow at South Korea’s Asan Institute, said Kim is trying to send a message to his people with the latest summit that he is working hard to salvage the country’s economy crippled by sanctions, the pandemic and natural disasters.

Kim’s decision to ride a slow train for his journey instead of a short flight might be an attempt to send the message, according to Cha.

“The train ride reminded me of his journey to Hanoi,” said Cha, referring to Kim’s second summit with Trump.

At the time, Kim took a 60-hour train trip for the summit.

“Kim might have intended to promote an image of a leader who would be willing to take a long journey for his people,” said Cha.
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Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday it has expelled two U.S. Embassy employees from the country, accusing them of working with a Russian national that Moscow had previously accused of spying.

In a statement, the foreign ministry said it had summoned U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy and informed her that the two diplomats — Jeff Sillin and David Bernstein — conducted “illegal activities by liaising with a Russian citizen, Robert Shonov,” and they must leave the territory of Russia within seven days.

Shonov had worked as a local employee at the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Vladivostok for more than 25 years until Russia ordered the termination of the U.S. mission’s local staff in 2021. 

Russia’s Federal Security Service — the FSB — arrested Shonov in May and accused him of cooperating “on a confidential basis with a foreign state,” alleging he passed information to the United States about Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

Last month, the FSB announced it planned to interrogate Sillin and Bernstein after it accused them of directing Shonov to gather information.  

In a statement, U.S. State Department spokesman Matt Miller called the allegations “wholly without merit,” and he insisted Shonov was employed by a company contracted to provide services to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow “in strict compliance with Russia’s laws and regulations.”

Miller went on to say the U.S. strongly protested the Russian security service’s attempts to “intimidate and harass our employees.” It is unclear if Sillin and Bernstein were ever questioned by the FSB.

Some information for this report came from Reuters and AFP.
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The luxury cruise ship MV Ocean Explorer was “successfully” pulled free in Greenland on Thursday, three days after running aground with 206 people on board, authorities and the ship’s owner said.

The ship was freed by a fisheries research vessel at high tide, said the cruise ship’s owner, Copenhagen-based SunStone Ships and the Arctic Command, which had been coordinating the operation.

It was done “based on a pull from the vessel (owned by the Greenland government) and vessel’s own power. There have not been any injuries to anybody onboard, no pollution of the environment and no breach of the hull.” The name of the Greenland ship was Tarajoq and it belongs to the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, a government agency.

The ship’s owner added that “the vessel and its passengers will now be positioned to a port where the vessel’s bottom damages can be assessed, and the passengers will be taken to a port from which they can be flown back home.”

The cruise ship ran aground above the Arctic Circle on Monday in Alpefjord, which is in the Northeast Greenland National Park, the world’s northernmost national park. The park is nearly the size of France and Spain combined, and approximately 80% is permanently covered by an ice sheet. Alpefjord sits about 240 kilometers (149 miles) away from the closest settlement, Ittoqqortoormiit, which itself is nearly 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) from the country’s capital, Nuuk.

The Bahamas-flagged cruise ship has passengers from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. It has an inverted bow, shaped like the one on a submarine, 77 cabins, 151 passenger beds and 99 beds for crew, and several restaurants.

The owner also had “arranged additional tug assistance in case it was needed, however, this has now been canceled.”

Earlier Thursday, Australia-based Aurora Expeditions which has chartered the ship, said that three passengers had COVID-19.

“These passengers are currently in isolation. They are looked after by our onboard doctor, medical team and crew, and they are doing well,” Aurora Expeditions said in a statement. The others on the MV Ocean Explorer were “safe and healthy,” it added.

Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald quoted a retiree from Australia, Steven Fraser, who is on the ship, saying: “Everyone’s in good spirits. It’s a little bit frustrating, but we are in a beautiful part of the world.”

Fraser told the newspaper that he himself had come down with COVID-19 on the ship.

It added that “the vessel and its passengers will now be positioned to a port where the vessel’s bottom damages can be assessed, and the passengers will be taken to a port from which they can be flown back home.”

The cruise ship ran aground above the Arctic Circle on Monday in Alpefjord, which is in the Northeast Greenland National Park, the world’s northernmost national park.

The park is nearly the size of France and Spain combined, and approximately 80% is permanently covered by an ice sheet. Alpefjord sits about 240 kilometers (149 miles) away from the closest settlement, Ittoqqortoormiit, which itself is nearly 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) from the country’s capital, Nuuk.

The Bahamas-flagged cruise ship has passengers from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. It has an inverted bow, shaped like the one on a submarine, 77 cabins, 151 passenger beds and 99 beds for crew, and several restaurants.

Denmark’s Danish Maritime Authority have asked police in Greenland to investigate why the ship ran aground and whether any laws had been violated, a police statement said, adding that no one has been charged or arrested. An officer had been on board the ship to carry out “initial investigative steps, which, among other things, involve questioning the crew and other relevant persons on board,” it added.

The cruise liner began its latest trip on Sept. 2 in Kirkenes, in Arctic Norway, and was due to return to Bergen, Norway, on Sept. 22, according to SunStone Ships.

The primary mission of the Joint Arctic Command is to ensure Danish sovereignty by monitoring the area around the Faeroe Islands and Greenland, including the Arctic Ocean in the north. Greenland is a semi-independent territory that is part of the Danish realm, as are the Faeroe Islands.
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Beijing on Thursday blasted the launch of a probe by the European Commission into China’s electric vehicle (EV) subsidies as protectionist and warned it would damage economic and trade relations, as shares in Chinese EV makers slid.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the investigation on Wednesday, accusing China of flooding global markets with electric cars that had artificially low prices because of huge state subsidies.

The probe, which could result in punitive tariffs, has prompted analyst warnings of retaliatory action from Beijing as well as pushback from Chinese industry executives who say the sector’s competitive advantage was not due to subsidies.

The investigation “is a naked protectionist act that will seriously disrupt and distort the global automotive industry and supply chain, including the EU, and will have a negative impact on China-EU economic and trade relations,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.

“China will pay close attention to the EU’s protectionist tendencies and follow-up actions, and firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies,” it added.

Eurasian Group analysts warned that should Brussels ultimately levy duties against subsidized Chinese EVs, Beijing would likely impose countermeasures to hurt European industries.

Other analysts said the probe could slow capacity expansion by China’s battery suppliers, although the move should not pose a big risk for Chinese EV makers because they could turn to other growing markets like Southeast Asia.

Still, it could hurt perceptions of Chinese EV makers as they expand abroad, Bernstein analysts said in a client note.

The manufacturers have been accelerating export efforts as slowing consumer demand in China exacerbates production overcapacity.

Hong Kong-listed shares of market leader BYD fell more than 3%. Smaller rivals Xpeng and Geely Auto dropped 0.6%, while Nio slid 2%.

Shanghai-listed shares of state-owned car giant SAIC, whose MG brand is the best-selling China-made brand in Europe, fell as much as 3.4%.

Nio and Geely declined to comment on the EU probe, while BYD, Xpeng and SAIC did not respond to requests for comment.

The Shenzhen-listed shares of battery maker CATL fell more than 1%. CATL did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Shares in European carmakers were also among the biggest fallers on the euro zone stock index in early trading. BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes and Stellantis were down between 1.3% and 2.1% at 0728 GMT.

Strained relations

The anti-subsidy probe, initiated unusually by the European Commission and not from any industry complaint, comes amid broader diplomatic strains between the EU and China.

Relations have become tense due to Beijing’s ties with Moscow after Russian forces swept into Ukraine, and the EU’s push to rely less on the world’s second-largest economy, which is also its No.1 trading partner.

The EV probe will set the agenda and tone for bilateral talks ahead of the annual China-EU Summit, set to take place before year-end, with a focus returning to EU demands for wider access to the Chinese market and a rebalance of a trade relationship that Brussels describes as “imbalanced.”

Cui Dongshu, the secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, said on his personal WeChat account on Thursday that he was personally “strongly against” the review and urged the EU to take an objective view of the industry’s development and not “arbitrarily use” economic or trade tools.

The price of China-made cars exported to Europe is generally almost double the price they sell for in China, he added. Underscoring challenges facing established European automakers as they battle growing competition from China, Volkswagen is looking at cutting staff at its plant in eastern Germany due to low demand for EVs, the dpa news agency reported on Wednesday.

Growing market share

EU officials believe Chinese EVs are undercutting the prices of local models by about 20% in the European market, piling pressure on European automakers to produce lower-cost EVs.

The European Commission said China’s share of EVs sold in Europe had risen to 8% and could reach 15% in 2025.

In 2022, 35% of all exported electric cars originated from China, 10 percentage points higher than the previous year, according to U.S. think-tank the Center for Strategic and Internal Studies.

Most of the vehicles, and the batteries they are powered by, were destined for Europe where 16% of batteries and vehicles sold were made in China in 2022, it said.

The single largest exporter from China is U.S. giant Tesla, CSIS data showed. It accounted for 40.25% of EV exports from China between January and April 2023.

 
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Ukraine’s military said Thursday it shot down 17 drones that Russia used to target multiple areas of Ukraine in overnight attacks.

The Ukrainian military said Russia launched a total of 22 drones in several waves of attacks directed at the Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

Serhiy Lysak, the regional governor of Dnipropetrovsk, said wreckage from one of three drones downed over the region damaged buildings and cars and started a grass fire.

Lysak said Russian shelling also struck the region, but that there were no casualties reported.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down multiple Ukrainian drones over the Bryansk region of western Russia early Thursday.

Russia also said it repelled an attack Thursday on a patrol ship in the Black Sea, with Russian forces destroying five unmanned boats.

Over Russian-controlled Crimea, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram it destroyed 11 Ukrainian drones.

That came a day after a Ukrainian missile hit a strategic shipyard in Crimea, wounding 24 people and damaging two ships that were undergoing repairs.

Some information in this article came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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Russian President Vladimir Putin met Wednesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at Russia’s most advanced spaceport amid warnings from the United States and South Korea against a potential arms transfer. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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The U.S. ambassador to Russia on Wednesday visited Paul Whelan, a former Marine serving a 16-year sentence for espionage, charges he denies. Ambassador Lynne Tracy emphasized to Whelan during the meeting that the Biden administration was committed to securing his release, the State Department said.

Whelan was arrested in 2018 and convicted in 2020. Both Whelan and the U.S. government deny he is a spy. The U.S. says Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich are both wrongfully detained.

“Ambassador Tracy did meet with Paul Whelan earlier today. It was a consular visit,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters at a briefing.

“We believe Paul continues to show tremendous courage in the face of his wrongful detention. Ambassador Tracy reiterated to him that President [Joe] Biden and Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken are committed to bring him home,” Miller said.

Tracy has also met with Gershkovich three times in recent months. Like Whelan, he denies accusations that he was working undercover as a spy gathering intelligence against Russia.

Miller wouldn’t address rumors of a potential prisoner swap involving Vadim Krasikov, a convicted Moscow assassin imprisoned in Germany, for Whelan.

The Biden administration has negotiated two prisoner swaps with Russia. The first involved freeing former Marine Trevor Reed in April 2022 in exchange for a Russian pilot and drug smuggler. The second involved WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner, who was released in December 2022 in exchange for international arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death.”
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Foreign ministers of the G7 and European Union have condemned “sham elections” in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, saying they are meant to legitimize Moscow’s rule in areas illegally seized by force.

The elections took place in Crimea and the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, where President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party says it won at least 70% of the overall vote. Detailed results have yet to be released.  

In the statement issued Wednesday, the ministers said the elections are a further violation of Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty. “Russia has no legitimate basis for any such actions on the territory of Ukraine,” the statement reads. 

Watchdogs say the vote was rigged. “[T]hese are not real elections,” said Stanislav Andreychuk, who co-chairs Golos, an independent Russian election monitor. 

Andreychuk said he has evidence of widespread political suppression, including opposition candidates being thrown into jail and having their cars vandalized. In one instance, a poll-watcher was even handed draft papers. 

United Russia is expected to use the election success it has claimed for itself to exercise unbridled political control in the contested territories, including quashing potential uprisings. The party has appointed a mix of veteran separatist bosses and young pro-Putin officials to regional posts.

Russia already tortures, arbitrarily detains, and forcibly deports dissidents “to instill fear and to suppress Ukrainian culture,” the G7 statement said. As far as the G7 is concerned, these elections will only tighten Moscow’s iron grip.

But the Kremlin claims positive opinion polls and landslide election results are proof that United Russia serves the public interest.
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The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Wednesday called on Moscow to immediately release American journalist Evan Gershkovich. 

Speaking at the United Nations in New York, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russia’s actions were “beyond cruel” and “a violation of international law.” 

Gershkovich has been detained in Russia since March 29 on espionage charges that he and his publication, The Wall Street Journal, deny. The Moscow-based reporter was arrested while on assignment in the eastern city of Yekaterinburg.

In her remarks, Thomas-Greenfield urged the international community and U.N. member states to “stand with us, to stand on the side of justice, and to condemn Russia’s flagrant violations of international law.” 

“No family should have to watch their loved one being used as a political pawn, and that’s exactly what [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin is doing,” Thomas-Greenfield added.  

Russia’s embassy in Washington did not respond to an email from VOA requesting comment.

Gershkovich’s parents and his sister also joined Thomas-Greenfield at the U.N. on Wednesday. They spoke of the emotional toll of the more than five months’ imprisonment. 

“We are still in shock. Every day is a day too long. I miss him every day,” said Ella Milman, Gershkovich’s mother. “He cares deeply about people. His reporting has kept the world informed. And we all miss reading his stories.”   

On Tuesday, lawyers representing the Journal’s publisher Dow Jones requested that the U.N.’s working group on arbitrary detention declare Gershkovich arbitrarily detained and push Russia to release him immediately.

The U.S. government has already declared the journalist wrongfully detained.

If the U.N. determines that Gershkovich’s detention is arbitrary, it would publish an opinion on the matter and issue recommendations to the Kremlin, according to the Journal.   

With heads of state convening at the U.N. General Assembly this month, Mikhail Gershkovich, Evan’s father, said, “We urge all world leaders to stand with Evan and what he represents.”

“The basic right of free press and freedom of expression — these rights are bedrock principles of the United Nations,” he added at the press conference.

In response to a question about a potential prisoner swap, Thomas-Greenfield said she couldn’t share details.

“We are working around the clock. We’re working diligently to have Evan, as well as others who have been wrongfully detained, released,” she said.

She also called for the release of American businessman and former Marine Paul Whelan, whom Russia sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges, which Whelan and the U.S. government deny.

Gershkovich’s sister, Danielle, said that instead of advocating for her brother’s release, the family should be planning for his next visit home.

“Evan should be doing the important work of helping people understand matters in the world that affect us all,” she said.

“Instead, we are here to remind the world that Evan is innocent, and journalism is not a crime. We ask that world leaders help find a solution to secure Evan’s release,” she said. “If this can happen to my brother, it can happen to any journalist trying to report the news.”

Gershkovich’s arrest came as Russia imposed an even tougher crackdown on independent media after its invasion of Ukraine. 

Shortly after the war, Moscow introduced new laws defining how media could cover the conflict, which carry hefty prison sentences. 

Two weeks ago, it labeled the Nobel laureate and renowned Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov a foreign agent.

In early September, a court in Russia sentenced a journalist to five and a half years in prison for spreading what authorities said was fake news about the armed forces, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.  

The country ranks 164 out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom, where 1 shows the best media environment, according to Reporters Without Borders.  
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A fishing vessel owned by Greenland’s government will attempt to use a high tide to pull free a Bahamas-flagged luxury cruise ship carrying 206 people that ran aground in the world’s northernmost national park, authorities said.

Capt. Flemming Madsen of the Danish Joint Arctic Command told The Associated Press that the passengers and crew on the ship stranded in northwestern Greenland were doing fine and “all I can say is that they got a lifetime experience.”

The scientific fishing vessel was scheduled to arrive later Wednesday and would attempt, when the conditions were right, to pull the 104.4-meter-long (343 feet) and 18-meter-wide (60 feet) MV Ocean Explorer free.

The cruise ship ran aground above the Arctic Circle on Monday in Alpefjord, which is in the Northeast Greenland National Park. The park covers 972,000 square kilometers (603,973 square miles), almost as much land as France and Spain combined, and approximately 80% is permanently covered by an ice sheet, according to the Visit Greenland tourism board.

Alpefjord sits in a remote corner of Greenland, some 240 kilometers (149 miles) away from the closest settlement, Ittoqqortoormiit, which itself is nearly 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) from the country’s capital, Nuuk.

The Ocean Explorer’s crew made two failed attempts to get the ship to float free on its own during high tide.

In a statement, Australia-based Aurora Expeditions, which operates the ship, said that the passengers and crew members were safe and well and that there was “no immediate danger to themselves, the vessel or the surrounding environment.”

“We are actively engaged in efforts to free the MV Ocean Explorer from its grounding. Our foremost commitment is to ensure the vessel’s recovery without compromising safety,” the statement said.

Dozens of cruise ships sail along Greenland’s coast every year so passengers can admire the picturesque mountainous landscape with fjords, musk oxen, waterways packed with icebergs of different sizes and glaciers jutting out into the sea.

Madsen, of Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command, said the passengers on the Ocean Explorer were “a mix” of tourists from Australia, New Zealand, Britain, the United States and South Korea. Greenland is a semi-independent territory that is part of the Danish realm, as are the Faeroe Islands.

The people onboard “are in a difficult situation, but given the circumstances, the atmosphere on the ship is good, and everyone on board is doing well. There are no signs that the ship was seriously damaged by the grounding,” the Joint Arctic Command said Wednesday.

The weather in the region Wednesday featured sun, a clear blue sky and a temperature around 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the Danish Meteorological Institute.

The Ocean Explorer was built in 2021 and is owned by Copenhagen SunStone Ships, which is part of Denmark’s SunStone Group. It has an inverted bow, shaped like the one on a submarine. It has 77 cabins, 151 passenger beds and 99 beds for crew, and several restaurants, according to the Sunstone Group website.

The Joint Arctic Command said there were other ships in the vicinity of the stranded cruise liner and, “if the need arises, personnel from the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol can be at the accident site within an hour and a half.”

On Tuesday, members of the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish naval unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness, visited the passengers and explained the situation, “which calmed them down as some were anxious,” said Madsen, who was the on-duty officer for the Joint Arctic Command.

The command, which was coordinating the operation to free the cruise ship, said the nearest Danish navy ship was about 1,200 nautical miles (more than 2,000 kilometers or 1,380 miles) away. It was heading to the site and could be expected to reach the grounded ship as soon as Friday.

The primary mission of the Joint Arctic Command is to ensure Danish sovereignty by monitoring the area around the Faeroe Islands and Greenland, including the Arctic Ocean in the north.
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A government watchdog agency in France has ordered Apple to withdraw the iPhone 12 from the French market, saying it emits levels of electromagnetic radiation that are too high.

The National Frequency Agency, which oversees radio-electric frequencies as well as public exposure to electromagnetic radiation, called on Apple in a statement Tuesday to “implement all available means to rapidly fix this malfunction” for phones already being used.

Corrective updates to the iPhone 12 will be monitored by the agency, and if they don’t work, “Apple will have to recall” phones that have already been sold, according to the French regulator’s statement.

Apple disputed the findings and said the device complies with all regulations governing radiation.

The agency, which is known by the French acronym ANFR, said it recently checked 141 cellphones, including the iPhone 12, for electromagnetic waves capable of being absorbed by the body.

It said it found a level of electromagnetic energy absorption of 5.74 watts per kilogram during tests of a phone in a hand or a pocket, higher than the European Union standard of 4 watts per kilogram.

The agency said the iPhone 12 met the threshold when radiation levels were assessed for a phone kept in a jacket or in a bag.

Apple said the iPhone 12, which was released in late 2020, has been certified by multiple international bodies and complies with all applicable regulations and standards for radiation around the world.

The U.S. tech company said it has provided the French agency with multiple lab results carried out both by the company and third-party labs proving the phone’s compliance.

Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s minister in charge of digital issues, told France Info radio that the National Frequency Agency “is in charge of controlling our phones which, as there are software updates, may emit a little more or a little less electromagnetic waves.”

He said that the iPhone 12 radiation levels are “slightly higher” than the standards but “significantly lower than levels where scientific studies consider there may be consequences for users. But the rule is the rule.”

Cellphones have been labeled as “possible” carcinogens by the World Health Organization’s cancer research arm, putting them in the same category as coffee, diesel fumes and the pesticide DDT. The radiation produced by cellphones cannot directly damage DNA and is different from stronger types of radiation like X-rays or ultraviolet light.

In 2018, two U.S. government studies that bombarded mice and rats with cellphone radiation found a weak link to some heart tumors, but federal regulators and scientists said it was still safe to use the devices. Scientists said those findings didn’t reflect how most people use their cellphones and that the animal findings didn’t translate into a similar concern for humans.

Among the largest studies on potential dangers of cellphone use, a 2010 analysis in 13 countries found little or no risk of brain tumors.

People’s mobile phone habits also have changed substantially since the first studies began and it’s unclear if the results of previous research would still apply today.

Since many tumors take years to develop, experts say it’s difficult to conclude that cellphones have no long-term health risks. Experts have recommended that people concerned about their cellphone radiation exposure use earphones or switch to texting.
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Two U.K.-based activists have described troubling interactions with a researcher in the British parliament who was arrested on suspicion of spying for Beijing.

The 28-year-old suspect, whose name has been withheld by British police because he has not been formally charged, worked in the China Research Group in Westminster as a researcher and had a parliamentary pass. He has insisted on his innocence and is currently free on bail.

Finn Lau, a Hong Kong human rights activist currently in the U.K. and wanted by the Hong Kong authorities, told VOA Mandarin he had an unusual coffee meeting with the suspect, who initially expressed support for Lau’s work.

But when Lau mentioned plans to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s influence in British politics and raised objections to a sister-city partnership between cities in the two countries, the man suddenly said that he was busy and left in a hurry, Lau recounted.

Lau said he made repeated attempts to continue communication with the man but received no response to his emails. “I was very shocked when I saw his name in the newspaper,” Lau said.

The suspect also left a strongly negative impression on Luke de Pulford, the founder and executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), an international cross-party group of legislators that urges their governments to take a tougher approach to China.

Writing on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, de Pulford said the suspect “had an impact upon the China debate in the U.K. Parliament. He made my job harder. He hated @ipacglobal and worked to cleave people away from the IPAC network.”

De Pulford wrote in a series of posts that the suspect “briefed very strongly against some politicians in our network, and against me personally. … Privately, he was vicious – telling journalists that I was ‘dangerous’ and ‘not to be trusted on China.'”

De Pulford described the suspect as “an authoritative and knowledgeable voice” and incredibly clever.

“He hid behind a visage of ‘reasoned hawkishness,'” de Pulford wrote, describing the treatment of Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang province as “terrible” but then seeking to minimize the horror.

“Using this kind of argument he blunted the unity of the parliamentary campaign,” de Pulford wrote. “You could go as far as to say that he divided the China hawks. He was rhetorically very sophisticated. Never pushed it too far. Used his credentials deftly and reasonably.”

Reports of the researcher’s arrest have prompted questions about the level of security in the British Parliament and whether individuals are adequately vetted before being hired into sensitive positions.

David Moore, a policy researcher in the House of Commons, told VOA Mandarin the vetting process for obtaining a parliamentary pass is “relatively thorough. They ask for your previous addresses, charges and convictions. In theory, it’s quite a strong system. But the question is, how far do they delve into that? My concern is they might just be rubber-stamping applications without a genuine review.”

Moore pointed out potential security threats. “Anyone can walk into the Parliament and go to a committee room. One can easily sneak off, or even worse, personnel can let in visitors, posing national security risks. Anyone with a parliamentary pass has quite a bit of power.”

David Alton, a member of the House of Lords, called it “deeply disturbing” that parliamentary passes had been issued to an alleged Chinese Communist Party spy, enabling him to have full access to the parliamentary estate.

He told VOA Mandarin in an email, “This, in turn, gives them access to confidential information, provides an opportunity to influence Members and staff, and to subvert the workings of Parliament.”

He said, historically, the failure to detect the penetration of spies from hostile states resulted in a dilution of trust by Britain’s allies and deterred them from talking to senior members of Parliament.

However, Isabel Hilton, a Scottish journalist and founder of the China Dialogue Trust, told VOA Mandarin in an email: “We do not have much evidence about the alleged breach, but given that the suspect was arrested in March, then released on police bail, I conclude that he was not regarded either as a flight risk or a national security risk.”

“This researcher had no access to classified information,” Hilton continued. “If he was reporting to Beijing, it would have been information about how [members of Parliament] were thinking about China and what they were doing.

“At best, he could have reported on internal conversations. Clearly all pass-holders should be vetted, as I believe they are, and if these allegations are substantiated, there should perhaps be closer coordination between different branches of the security services.”
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The British government has rejected calls to officially label China a threat to its interests. Several lawmakers have called for a tougher line from the government after it was revealed that a researcher in the British parliament was arrested on suspicion of spying for Beijing.

Spying suspects

British police detained two men in March on suspicion of breaking Britain’s Official Secrets Act. The arrests came to light this week, when the Sunday Times newspaper reported that one of the suspects was a researcher in the British parliament with connections to several prominent members of the ruling Conservative Party, including government ministers.

In a statement posted online Monday by his lawyers, the researcher — whom VOA is choosing not to name because he had not been charged — said he was innocent.

“I have spent my career to date trying to educate others about the challenge and threats presented by the Chinese Communist Party. To do what has been claimed against me in extravagant news reporting would be against everything I stand for,” the statement said.

Diplomatic response

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak raised the incident with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at last week’s G20 summit in India. Speaking to lawmakers Monday, Sunak said he would defend British democracy.

“The whole House is rightly appalled about reports of espionage in this building,” Sunak said. “The sanctity of this place must be protected and the right of members to speak their minds without fear or sanction must be maintained. We will defend our democracy and our security. So, I was emphatic with Premier Li that actions which seek to undermine British democracy are completely unacceptable and will never be tolerated,” Sunak added.

However, the prime minister did not say that Britain would officially recognize China as a threat to its interests.

Beijing, meanwhile, said the allegations of spying were a fabrication. “We urge the U.K. to stop spreading false information and stop its anti-China political manipulation and malicious slander,” Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told reporters Monday in Beijing.

Security threat

Critics say Britain must be more critical of China, following a series of allegations over security breaches, including the harassment of exiled pro-democracy activists in the U.K. and the establishment of overseas police stations on British soil. Beijing denies those allegations.

Finn Lau helped to organize pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019. After his arrest by Chinese police, the 29-year-old fled to Britain. He suffered serious injuries following an attack in a London street in 2020, which he blames on supporters of the Chinese Communist Party. Earlier this year, Hong Kong authorities issued a bounty of $128,000 for his arrest, along with several other exiled activists.

Lau told VOA he has repeatedly requested meetings with the British government to discuss the security threat but has so far been refused.

“I would say that there is some kind of lack of coherent approach, or even China policy at the moment — especially regarding national security or some kind of threat overseas,” Lau told VOA.

That view has been echoed by several British lawmakers. Former Prime Minister Liz Truss is among Conservative Party members calling on the government to officially recognize China as a threat to Britain.

“These are extremely worrying reports about the level of infiltration of Chinese-supported forces into our democracy. … What we need to do is to recognize that China is the largest threat, both to the world and to the United Kingdom, for freedom and democracy,” Truss told lawmakers Monday.

Economic ties

The British government describes China as a challenge to its interests, but not a threat.

Speaking to reporters Monday during a visit to the BMW Mini car factory in Oxford, Britain’s business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, said economic ties could be at risk.

“We cannot describe China as foes. They are our fourth-largest trading partner. There are many businesses, not least of all the very one I’m standing in, which are integrated with the Chinese economy. Many jobs are reliant on it,” Badenoch said.

Activist Finn Lau says that reliance is overstated. “China only accounts for 6.1% of total trade volume in the U.K. We should focus on diversifying our trading relationships, starting from today,” he told VOA.

Both of the suspects arrested in March were released on bail. The police investigation is continuing.
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The British government has rejected calls to officially label China as a threat to its interests. Several lawmakers have called for a tougher line after it was revealed that a researcher in the British Parliament was arrested on suspicion of spying for Beijing. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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From zero to 100 kph in less than a second: A racing car built by students has broken the world record for electric vehicle acceleration, a Swiss university said Tuesday. 

Students from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences designed and built the “Mythen” vehicle that achieved the feat, ETHZ said in a statement. 

“Now, Guinness World Records has confirmed that Mythen broke the previous world acceleration record for electric vehicles,” it said. 

Covering a distance of 12.3 meters (40.4 feet) at the Switzerland Innovation Park in Dübendorf, opposite the students’ workshop, the car was powered from zero to 100 kilometers per hour (zero to 62.15 miles per hour) in 0.956 seconds. 

“This beats the previous world record of 1.461 seconds, set in September 2022 by a team from the University of Stuttgart by more than a third,” ETHZ said. 

According to the statement, around 30 student members of the Academic Motorsports Club Zurich (AMZ) had spent the better part of a year on the project. 

All the components, “from the printed circuit boards (PCBs) to chassis and the battery, were developed by the students themselves and optimized for their function,” it said. 

The vehicle weighs just 140 kilograms (309 pounds) and boasts 240 kilowatts of power, or around 326 horsepower.  

The vehicle’s driver was named as Kate Maggetti, a friend of students involved in the project, who was selected “due to her light body weight” and “willingness to take on the challenge,” Yann Bernard, head of motor at AMZ, told AFP. 

“Working on the project in addition to my studies was very intense,” Bernard added in the statement.  

“But even so, it was a lot of fun working with other students to continually produce new solutions and put into practice what we learned in class,” he said. 

“And, of course, it is an absolutely unique experience to be involved in a world record.” 
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For at least the second time this year, U.S. cyber forces have come to the aid of a Baltic ally, as concerns linger about potential cyberattacks from Russia and other Western adversaries.

U.S. Cyber Command Tuesday announced the completion of a two-month-long, so-called “defensive hunt” operation in Lithuania, alongside Lithuanian cyber teams.

The focus of the operation, according to a spokesperson with the U.S. Cyber National Mission Force, was to look for malicious cyber activity on networks belonging to Lithuania’s Interior Ministry.

Neither U.S. nor Lithuanian officials were willing to specify the exact nature of the threat, but just last year Vilnius was hit with a series of distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS), claimed by the Russian hacking group known as Killnet.

“We need to develop competences and be more resilient to cyberattacks,” Lithuanian Vice Minister of the Interior Arnoldas Abramavičius, said in the joint statement.

“The war in Ukraine has shown that cyberattacks are a powerful tool of modern warfare, so it is extremely important to be prepared and to ensure the security of our networks,” said Abramavičius. “I believe that the results of this mission [with the United States] will be mutually beneficial.”

The U.S. Cyber National Mission Force spokesperson, speaking to VOA on the condition of anonymity to discuss limited details of the operation, said the effort involved about 20 U.S. cyber troops, hunting for malicious activity and potential vulnerabilities under guidelines set by Vilnius.

This is at least the second time U.S. cyber forces have deployed to Lithuania. U.S. Cyber Command said its forces conducted similar operations in the country last May.

And both Vilnius and Washington have also been working on a continuous basis through Lithuania’s Regional Cyber Defense Center, set up in 2021, to further coordinate efforts with Ukraine, Georgia and Poland.

Word of the completion of the latest U.S-Latvian cyber operation comes just days after a top U.S. intelligence official warned the cyber threat from Moscow has not waned as Russia’s war against Ukraine drags on.

“The Russians are increasing their capability and their efforts in the cyber domain,” CIA Deputy Director David Cohen told a cybersecurity summit in Washington on Thursday.

“There are no laurels to be rested on here,” he said. “There is this is a pitched battle every day.”

Concerns about possible Russian cyber activity also prompted what U.S. officials described as a “hunt forward” operation in Latvia earlier this year that also involved Latvian and Canadian cyber forces.

Since 2018, U.S. cyber teams have deployed 50 times, conducting operations on more than 75 networks in more than 23 countries, according to information provided by the U.S. Cyber National Mission Force.

Some information from Reuters was used in this report.
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An American researcher was “doing well” at a Turkish hospital, officials said Tuesday, after rescuers pulled him out of a cave where he fell seriously ill and became trapped 1,000 meters (more than 3,000 feet) below its entrance for over a week.

Rescuers from Turkey and across Europe cheered and clapped as Mark Dickey, a 40-year-old experienced caver, emerged from Morca Cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains strapped to a stretcher at 12:37 a.m. local time Tuesday. He was whisked to the hospital in the nearby city of Mersin in a helicopter.

Dickey fell ill on Sept. 2 with stomach bleeding. What caused his condition remained unclear.

Lying on the stretcher surrounded by reporters shortly after his rescue, he described his nine-day ordeal as a “crazy, crazy adventure.”

“It is amazing to be above ground again,” he said. A well-known cave researcher and a cave rescuer who had participated in many international expeditions, Dickey thanked the international caving community, Turkish cavers and Hungarian Cave Rescue, among others.

Dickey, who is from Croton-on-Hudson, New York, was part of an expedition to map the Morca Cave, Turkey’s third deepest, when he became sick. As he was too frail to climb out himself, cave rescue teams from Europe scrambled to help save him, mounting a challenging operation that involved pulling him up the cave’s steep vertical sections and navigating through mud and water at low temperatures in the horizontal sections.

Rescuers had to widen some of the cave’s narrow passages, install ropes to pull him up vertical shafts on a stretcher and set up temporary camps along the way before the operation could begin.

“It was great to see him finally get out because it was very dire in the early days of this rescue,” Carl Heitmeyer of the New Jersey Initial Response Team and a friend of Dickey’s told NBC’s “Today” show.

Asked whether he believes Dickey would return to caving, Heitmeyer said: “I hope his mom’s not watching, but I would bet on it.”

Among those who rushed to the Taurus Mountains was Dr. Zsofia Zador, a caving enthusiast and medical rescuer from the Hungarian rescue team, who was among the first to treat Dickey inside the cave.

Zador, an anesthesiologist and intensive care specialist from Budapest, was on her way to the hospital to start her early morning shift on Sept. 2, when she got news of Dickey’s condition.

The 34-year-old quickly arranged for a colleague to take her shift and rushed to gather her caving gear and medical equipment, before taking a plane to Turkey to join the rescue mission, she told The Associated Press by telephone from the camp near the entrance of the cave.

“He was relieved, and he was hopeful,” she said when asked to describe Dickey’s reaction when he saw her in the cave. “He was quite happy. We are good friends.”

Zador said Dickey was hypovolemic — or was suffering from loss of fluid and blood — but said he was in a “stable condition” by the time she reached him because paramedics had “treated him quite well.”

“It was a tricky situation because sometimes he was quite stable and it felt like he could get out on his own, but he could (deteriorate) once again,” she said. “Luckily he didn’t lose any consciousness and he saw the situation through.”

Around 190 experts from Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Turkey took part in the rescue, including doctors, paramedics and experienced cavers. Teams comprised of a doctor and three to four other rescuers took turns staying by his side at all times.

Zador said she had been involved in cave rescues before but Dickey’s rescue was the “longest” she experienced.

Dickey said after his rescue that he had started to throw up large quantities of blood inside the cave.

“My consciousness started to get harder to hold on to, and I reached the point where I thought ‘I’m not going to live,'” he told reporters.

A statement from the Mersin governor’s office said Dickey’s “general health” condition was “good”, without providing further details.

The Italian National Alpine and Speleological Corps said the rescue operation took more than 100 rescuers from around 10 counties a total of 60 hours. “Mark Dickey was in the cave for roughly 500 hours,” it said.
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Treating and rehabilitating patients who lost limbs on the battlefield is a harsh reality for Ukraine’s health care workers. An American occupational therapist has been in Ukraine for several months to help. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story from Lviv. Camera and video editing by Yuriy Dankevych.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Western deliveries of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will only prolong the conflict.

Speaking at an economic forum in Vladivostok, Putin also said 1,000 to 1,500 Russians are volunteering for the Russian military each day and that 270,000 had signed up during the past six months.

Putin also said Ukraine’s counteroffensive, launched in June to try to reclaim territory from invading Russian forces, had failed.

Ukrainian forces have recaptured some villages in eastern and southern Ukraine as they try to break through Russian defensive lines and mine fields.

The United States announced its latest military aid package for Ukraine last week as Secretary of State Antony Blinken led a delegation to Kyiv to consult with Ukrainian leaders.  Blinken described the progress of the counteroffensive as “very encouraging.”

The United States continues to assess the progress Ukrainian forces are making on the ground, and Russia’s overall strategic goals have failed in Ukraine, said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller during a news briefing Monday.

“Their goals were to take Kyiv, to take the majority, if not all of the country, to overthrow the democratically elected government of Ukraine. In all of those things they have failed,” he said.

Miller noted that the Ukrainians have taken back around 50% of the territory that Russia occupied at the height of its full-scale invasion.

The State Department spokesman said that one indication of Russia’s difficulties in sustaining its military effort is [Russian President Vladimir] Putin “traveling across his own country, hat in hand, to beg [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un for military assistance.”

The Biden administration is reportedly considering supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles that are packed with cluster bombs and that could cause significant damage deeper within Russian-occupied territory, according to four U.S. officials.

After seeing the success of cluster munitions delivered in 155 mm artillery rounds in recent months, the U.S. is considering shipping Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) that can fly up to 306 kilometers and Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) missiles that have a 72-kilometer range and are packed with cluster bombs, according to Reuters news agency. The GMLRS rocket system would be able to disperse up to 404 cluster munitions. Ukraine has had a version of the GMLRS system in its arsenal for months,

The Biden administration has for months been mulling over the supply of ATACMS, fearing their shipment to Ukraine would be perceived as an overly aggressive move against Russia.

Some information was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Norwegian intelligence officials said Monday that the case of a 25-year-old unidentified foreign student, who was arrested in Norway on suspicion of illegally eavesdropping by using various technical devices, is “serious and complicated.”

The case was shrouded in secrecy.

The man, whose identity and nationality have not been disclosed, was arrested on Friday. A court in Oslo on Sunday ordered that he be held in pre-trial custody for four weeks, on suspicion of espionage and intelligence operations against the NATO-member Nordic country.

In an email to The Associated Press, a prosecutor for Norway’s domestic security agency, known by its acronym PST, said the investigation was in “a critical and initial phase” and would take time.

During the arrest, police seized from the man a number of data-carrying electronic devices. The suspect is a student — though not enrolled in an educational institution in Norway — and has been living in Norway for a relatively short time, Norwegian media said.

Norwegian broadcaster NRK said the suspect had allegedly been caught conducting illegal signal surveillance in a rental car near the Norwegian prime minister’s office and the defense ministry.

The suspect, who authorities say was not operating alone, was banned from receiving letters and visits. According to prosecutor Thomas Blom, the suspect “has not yet wanted to be questioned.”

Blom declined to comment further.

In previous assessments, the security agency has singled out Russia, China and North Korea as states that pose a significant intelligence threat to Norway, a nation of 5.4 million people.

In October, Norway detained a man who had entered the country as a Brazilian citizen but is suspected of being a Russian spy. He was detained in the Arctic city of Tromso, where he worked at the Arctic University of Norway.

Norwegian media have said the man called himself Jose Assis Giammaria. Norwegian authorities said he was 44, born in Russia in 1978 and was likely named Mikhail Mikushin.
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Rescuers pulled an American researcher out of a Turkish cave early Tuesday, more than a week after he became seriously ill 1,000 meters (more than 3,000 feet) below its entrance, the Speleological Federation of Turkey said.

Teams from across Europe had rushed to Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains to aid Mark Dickey, a 40-year-old experienced caver who became seriously ill on Sept. 2 with stomach bleeding. He was on an expedition to map the cave, which is the country’s third deepest.

Dickey was too frail to climb out himself, so rescuers carried him with the help of a stretcher, making frequent stops at temporary camps set up along the way before he finally reached the surface early Tuesday.

“Mark Dickey is out of the Morca cave,” said a statement by the speleological federation. It said that Dickey was removed from the last exit of the cave at 12:37 a.m. local time Tuesday, or 9:37 p.m. GMT Monday.

“He is fine and is being tended to by emergency medical workers in the encampment above,” the statement said.

Lying on a stretcher surrounded by reporters following his rescue, Dickey described the ordeal as a “crazy, crazy adventure.”

“It is amazing to be above ground again,” he said, thanking the Turkish government for saving his life with its rapid response. He also thanked the international caving community, Turkish cavers and Hungarian Cave Rescue, among others.

The American was first treated inside the cave by a Hungarian doctor who went down the cave on Sept. 3. Doctors and rescuers then took turns caring for him. The cause of Dickey’s illness was not clear.

On Tuesday, Dickey said that in the cave he had started to throw up large quantities of blood.

“My consciousness started to get harder to hold on to, and I reached the point where I thought ‘I’m not going to live,'” he told reporters.

The biggest challenges for the rescuers getting him out of the cave were the steep vertical sections and navigating through mud and water at low temperatures in the horizontal sections. There was also the psychological toll of staying inside a dark, damp cave for extended periods of time.

Around 190 experts from Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Turkey took part in the rescue, including doctors, paramedics and experienced cavers. Teams comprised of a doctor and three to four other rescuers took turns staying by his side at all times.

The rescue began on Saturday after doctors, who administered IV fluids and blood, determined that Dickey could make the arduous ascent.

Before the evacuation could begin, rescuers first had to widen some of the cave’s narrow passages, install ropes to pull him up vertical shafts on a stretcher and set up temporary camps along the way.

Dickey, who is from Croton-on-Hudson, New York, is a well-known cave researcher and a cave rescuer himself who had participated in many international expeditions.

He and several other people on the expedition were mapping the 1,276-meter (4,186-foot) deep Morca cave system for the Anatolian Speleology Group Association. Dickey became ill on Sept. 2, but it took until the next morning to notify people above ground.

Turkish authorities made a video message available that showed Dickey standing and moving around on Thursday. While alert and talking, he said he was not “healed on the inside” and needed a lot of help to get out of the cave.

After his rescue, the head of Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, Okay Memis, told a news conference that the health of Dickey was “very good.”

The European Cave Rescue Association said many cave rescuers remained in the cave to remove rope and rescue equipment used during the operation.

The association expressed its “huge gratitude to the many cave rescuers from seven different countries who contributed to the success of this cave rescue operation.”

“The fact that our son, Mark Dickey, has been moved out of Morca Cave in stable condition is indescribably relieving and fills us with incredible joy,” Mark’s parents, Debbie and Andy Dickey, said in a statement.
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