RIYADMEDIA

The Spanish soccer federation fired women’s national team coach Jorge Vilda on Tuesday, less than three weeks after his team won the Women’s World Cup title and amid the controversy involving suspended federation president Luis Rubiales.

The coach was among those who applauded Rubiales when he refused to resign despite facing widespread criticism for kissing player Jenni Hermoso on the lips without her consent during the title celebrations in Sydney last month.

Rubiales, who also grabbed his crotch in a lewd victory gesture after the final, has been provisionally suspended by FIFA and is facing a Spanish government case against him for the conduct that prompted a storm of criticism and led to widespread calls for his resignation.

Vilda later said Rubiales’ behavior was improper. Men’s coach Luis de la Fuente also applauded Rubiales’ diatribe against what he called “false feminists,” and apologized on Friday for having clapped in what he described an “inexcusable human error.”

The captains of Spain’s men’s national team on Monday condemned Rubiales’ “unacceptable behavior” in a show of support for the Women’s World Cup-winning team.

Vilda was at the helm at the World Cup even though some players rebelled against him less than a year ago in a crisis that put his job in jeopardy. Fifteen players stepped away from the national team for their mental health, demanding a more professional environment. Only three returned to the squad that won the World Cup.

Vilda was heavily backed by Rubiales throughout the process.

The president currently in charge of the Spanish soccer federation, Pedro Rocha, released a letter on Tuesday apologizing to the soccer world and to society in general for Rubiales’ behavior.

Rocha said the federation had the responsibility to ask for “the most sincere apologies to the soccer world as a whole,” as well as to soccer institutions, fans, players — especially of the women’s national team — “for the totally unacceptable behavior of its highest representative.”

“In no way his behavior represents the values of Spanish society as a whole, its institutions, its representatives, its athletes and the Spanish sports leaders,” Rocha wrote.
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Two executives of a Swedish oil exploration and production company went on trial Tuesday in Stockholm for securing the company’s operations in Sudan through their alleged complicity in war crimes 20 years ago.

Swedish prosecutors claim that former Lundin Oil chairman Ian Lundin and the company’s former CEO, Alex Schneiter, supported the Sudanese government of former dictator Omar al-Bashir, who was toppled in an April 2019 popular uprising.

The two executives are accused of creating “the necessary conditions for the subsidiary’s operations by conducting warfare in a way that entailed the Sudanese military and regime-allied militia systematically attacking civilians or at least carrying out systematic attacks in violation of the principles of distinction and proportionality,” the prosecutors said.

Lundin told reporters at the Stockholm District Court that the accusations were “completely false.”

“We look forward to defending ourselves in court,” he said.

The trial is expected to run until early 2026.

A 1983-2005 civil war between the Muslim-dominated north and Christian south tore Sudan apart. A separate conflict in Darfur, the war-scarred region of western Sudan, began in 2003. Thousands of people were killed and nearly 200,000 displaced.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 to become the world’s youngest nation.

Swedish prosecutors said the Sudanese government conducted offensive military operations in the Block 5A oil field and its vicinity in southern Sudan between May 1999 and March 2003 to gain control of areas for oil prospecting and to create the necessary conditions for oil extraction, the prosecution said.

During the military operations, severe violations of international humanitarian law were committed, it said.

In a statement, the prosecution said Lundin and Schneiter “participated in the conclusion” of an agreement involving a right to search for and extract oil in a larger area in southern Sudan “in exchange for the payment of fees and a share in future profits.”

Lundin was the operator of a consortium of companies exploring Block 5A, including Malaysia’s Petronas Carigali Overseas, OMV (Sudan) Exploration GmbH of Austria, and the Sudanese state-owned oil company Sudapet Ltd.

The prosecution wants the executives barred from conducting business activities for 10 years and the Swedish company fined 3 million kronor ($272,250). They also want 1.4 billion kronor ($127 million) confiscated from Lundin Oil because of economic benefits that were achieved from the alleged crimes.

In Sweden, the maximum penalty for complicity in war crimes is a life prison sentence, which generally means a minimum of 20 to 25 years. Prosecutors typically request the punishment they want for a conviction at the end of trials.
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U.S., British and European Union officials are planning to jointly press the United Arab Emirates this week to halt shipments of goods to Russia that could help Moscow in its war against Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing U.S. and European officials.

A UAE official, in response to Reuters’ request for comment, said the country “strictly abides by UN sanctions and has clear and robust processes in place to deal with sanctioned entities.”

The UAE “is continuously monitoring the export of dual-use products,” which have both civilian and military applications, under its export control legal framework, the official added.

Officials from Washington and European capitals were visiting the UAE from Monday as part of a collective global push to keep computer chips, electronic components and other so-called dual-use products out of Russian hands, the WSJ report said.

The UAE, a member of the OPEC+ oil alliance that includes Russia, has maintained good ties with Moscow despite Western pressure to help to isolate Russia over the invasion of Ukraine that began in February 2022. It has not matched global sanctions imposed on Moscow.

The U.S. State Department declined to comment when asked about the WSJ report.

The UAE official added the UAE remained in close dialogue with international partners including the U.S. and European Union about the conflict in Ukraine and its implications for the global economy.

“UAE banks, under the supervision of the Central Bank and other relevant authorities, monitor compliance with sanctions imposed on Russia to prevent violations of international law,” the UAE official said.
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Clashes erupted in an immigrant neighborhood in Sweden’s third largest city after an anti-Muslim protester set fire to a copy of the Quran, police said Monday.

Police in Malmo said they were pelted with rocks and dozens of cars were set on fire, including in an underground garage, and described the events that started Sunday and lasted overnight as “a violent riot.”

The clashes started after an anti-Islam activist, Salwan Momika, burned a copy of the Quran on Sunday and an angry mob tried to stop him, police said. At least three people were detained, they said.

Early Monday, a crowd of mainly young people set fire to tires and debris and some threw electric scooters, bicycles and barriers in Malmo’s Rosengard neighborhood, which has seen similar clashes in the past. Several banners condemned the Quran burning.

“I understand that a public gathering like this arouses strong emotions, but we cannot tolerate disturbances and violent expressions like those we saw on Sunday afternoon,” senior police officer Petra Stenkula said.

“It is extremely regrettable to once again see violence and vandalism at Rosengard,” she said.

“Regardless of the reason behind these riots, the car fires, the harassment, violence against police officers … regardless of the reason, I think that all Swedes find this completely unacceptable,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said at a news conference.

In the past months, Momika, a refugee from Iraq, has desecrated copies of the Quran in a series of anti-Islam protests mostly in Stockholm. Swedish police have allowed his actions, citing freedom of speech.

The Quran burnings have sparked angry protests in Muslim countries, attacks on Swedish diplomatic missions and threats from Islamic extremists. Muslim leaders in Sweden have called on the government to find ways to stop the Quran burnings.

Sweden dropped its last blasphemy laws in the 1970s and the government has said it has no intention to reintroduce them.

However, the government has announced an investigation into the possibility of enabling police to reject permits for demonstrations over national security concerns.
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A longtime aide to President Joe Biden who is a senior adviser in Vice President Kamala Harris’ office is Biden’s choice to represent the United States at the United Nations agency devoted to education, science and culture.

The U.S. recently rejoined the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization after a five-year hiatus initiated by Biden’s immediate predecessor in the White House, Donald Trump.

The Democratic president’s choice to become the U.S. permanent representative to the Paris-based UNESCO, with the rank of ambassador, is longtime aide Courtney O’Donnell, according to a White House official, who spoke Monday on the condition of anonymity to discuss the nomination before a formal announcement.

O’Donnell currently wears two hats: She’s a senior adviser in Harris’ office and acting chief of staff for Harris’ husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, and lends her expertise to a range of national and global issues, including gender equity and countering prejudice against Jews, a top issue for Emhoff, who is Jewish.

O’Donnell also was communications director for Jill Biden when she was second lady during Joe Biden’s vice presidency in the Obama administration. O’Donnell helped Jill Biden raise awareness and support for U.S. military families and promote community colleges.

She has extensive experience in developing global partnerships, public affairs and strategic communications, having held senior roles in two presidential administrations, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, national political campaigns and the private sector, according to her official bio.

O’Donnell most recently oversaw global partnerships at Airbnb.

Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain said O’Donnell is trusted by colleagues worldwide.

“This is a fantastic pick, and she will do a fantastic job at UNESCO,” he said in a statement.

Cathy Russell worked with O’Donnell in the second lady’s office and said she is skilled at developing global partnerships, creating social impact campaigns and providing strategic counsel on a range of issues.

“Everyone who knows Courtney knows she is committed to the value of global engagement and strengthening American leadership around the world,” Russell said.

The Senate must vote on O’Donnell’s nomination.

The first lady attended a ceremony in late July at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, where the U.S. flag was raised to mark Washington’s official reentry into the U.N. agency after the absence initiated by Trump, a Republican. She spoke about the importance of American leadership in preserving cultural heritage and empowering education and science across the globe.

The United States announced its intention to rejoin UNESCO in June, and the organization’s 193 member states voted in July to approve the U.S. reentry. The ceremony formally signified the U.S. becoming the 194th member — and flag proprietor — at the agency.

The U.S. decision to return was based mainly on concerns that China has filled a leadership gap since Washington withdrew, underscoring the broader geopolitical dynamics at play, particularly the growing influence of China in international institutions.

The U.S. exit from UNESCO in 2017 cited an alleged anti-Israel bias within the organization. The decision followed a 2011 move by UNESCO to include Palestine as a member state, which led the U.S. and Israel to cease financing the agency. The U.S. withdrawal became official in 2018.
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A group of Afghan women are staging a hunger strike in Cologne to protest “gender apartheid” in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, one of them told AFP on Monday.

“Today the women of Afghanistan don’t have school, university, cars, restaurants, everything is banned,” Zarmina Paryani told AFP.

The activist is one of five sisters who fled to Germany in 2022 after being arrested by the Taliban for protesting in Afghanistan.

Another of the sisters, Tamana Paryani, is also taking part in the strike, which is due to last for 12 days.

Tamana Paryani posted a picture on X, formerly known as Twitter, showing a banner reading “Afghanistan should be recognized as a country where gender apartheid exists.”

The Taliban “arrest, torture and kill political and human rights activists every day … but the world is silent,” Zarmina Paryani said.

Sixteen women began the strike in the major city in western Germany four days ago, but there were only three remaining on Monday, she said.

Since returning to power in August 2021, Taliban authorities have imposed a strict interpretation of Islam, with women bearing the brunt of laws the United Nations has labeled “gender apartheid.”

Women and girls have been banned from attending high school and university as well as barred from visiting parks, fairs and gymnasiums.

They have also mostly been blocked from working for U.N. agencies or NGOs, with thousands fired from government jobs or paid to stay at home.
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Sweden on Monday said a Swedish citizen in his 30s was arbitrarily detained in Iran last year and called for his immediate release.

The Swedish government didn’t identify the man, but The New York Times said he was Johan Floderus, a Swede who had been working for the European Union’s diplomatic corps.

Citing anonymous sources, the newspaper said Floderus was arrested on a private trip to Iran for possible use by Tehran as a bargaining chip in efforts to seek concessions from the West.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, told the semi-official Fars news agency that he had no information on the case.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry said the man was detained in Iran in April last year but declined to give details.

“The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Sweden in Tehran are working very intensively on the case and are maintaining close contact with the EU,” the ministry said in an email.

“The Swedish citizen has been arbitrarily deprived of his freedom and should therefore be released immediately. This has been conveyed to the Iranian authorities,” it said. “To avoid complicating our efforts and for reasons of secrecy, we cannot go into any more detail at present.”

The New York Times said Floderus had held several positions in the European Union’s civil service, including in the European External Action Service.

In Brussels, European Commission spokesman Peter Stano declined to confirm the name or other details but said the commission was aware of the case and was working closely on it with Sweden.

“This case also needs to be seen in a context of the worrying trend of Iran arbitrarily detaining EU nationals, or EU dual-Iranian nationals, for political reasons,” Stano said.

On July 30 last year, Iran’s intelligence ministry said its agents had arrested a Swedish citizen for spying. It did not identify the man but said he was arrested before leaving Iran after several visits to the country.

The Iranians said the man had been in touch with several European and non-European suspects in Iran, and had visited Israel, Iran’s foe, before visiting Iran. The statement accused Sweden of proxy-spying for Israel.

Relations between Stockholm and Tehran have been tense in recent years.

Iran recalled its ambassador from Sweden last year after a Swedish court convicted Iranian citizen Hamid Noury of war crimes and murder during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s and sentenced him to life in prison.

The Stockholm District Court said that Noury took part in severe atrocities in July-August 1988 while working as an assistant to the deputy prosecutor at the Gohardasht prison outside the Iranian city of Karaj. Noury, who was arrested in November 2019 when he arrived in Stockholm on a tourist trip, has appealed the ruling.
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Russia has likely proposed that North Korea participate in three-way naval exercises with China, according to a lawmaker who attended a closed-door briefing with the director of South Korea’s top spy agency Monday.

The briefing came days after Russia’s ambassador to North Korea, Alexander Matsegora, told Russian media that including North Korea in joint military drills between Russia and China “seems appropriate.” Matsegora added it was his own point of view and that he wasn’t aware of any preparations, according to Russia’s Tass news agency.

According to lawmaker Yoo Sang-bum, when South Korean National Intelligence Service Director Kim Kyou-hyun was asked about the possibility of such drills, he said Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu likely proposed holding trilateral naval exercises with North Korea and China while meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in July.

Kim invited Shoigu to a major military parade in Pyongyang in July while vowing to expand military cooperation with Moscow, which U.S. officials say could involve North Korean supplies of artillery and other ammunition as Russian President Vladimir Putin reaches out to other countries for support in his war against Ukraine. Last week, the White House said Kim and Putin exchanged letters as Moscow looked to Pyongyang for more munitions.

Amid deepening nuclear tensions with Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, Kim has been trying to boost the visibility of his partnerships with Moscow and Beijing as he seeks to break out of diplomatic isolation and have Pyongyang be a part of a united front against the United States.

Diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington has stalled since 2019 over disagreements over the crippling U.S.-led sanctions against North Korea and the North’s faltered steps to wind down its nuclear weapons and missiles program.

In the briefing, Kim Kyou-hyun also said that North Korea’s recent testing activities suggest its warplanes were highly reliant on its tactical nuclear systems as its aims to achieve swift victory over the South if war breaks out, as its otherwise ill-equipped military would struggle to handle a prolonged war, according to lawmaker Yoo.

Kim has used the international focus on Russia’s war on Ukraine to dial up his weapons demonstrations, which have included more than 100 missile launches since the start of 2022. Kim’s testing spree has been punctuated by verbal threats of preemptive nuclear attacks against South Korea and other rivals if the North perceives its leadership as under threat.
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A guitar expert and two journalists have launched a global hunt for a missing bass guitar owned by Paul McCartney, bidding to solve what they brand “the greatest mystery in rock and roll.”

The trio of lifelong Beatles fans are searching for McCartney’s original Höfner bass — last seen in London in 1969 — in order to reunite the instrument with the former Fab Four frontman.

McCartney played the instrument throughout the 1960s, including at Hamburg’s Top Ten Club, at the Cavern Club in Liverpool and on early Beatles recordings at London’s Abbey Road studios.

“This is the search for the most important bass in history — Paul McCartney’s original Höfner,” the search party says on a website (thelostbass.com) newly-created for the endeavor.

“This is the bass you hear on ‘Love Me Do’, ‘She Loves You’, and ‘Twist and Shout’. The bass that powered Beatlemania — and shaped the sound of the modern world.”

McCartney bought the left-handed Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass for around £30 — about £550 ($585) today — in Hamburg in 1961, during The Beatles’ four-month residency at the Top Ten Club.

It disappeared without a trace nearly eight years later in January 1969 when the band were recording the “Get Back/Let It Be” sessions in central London.

By then its appearance was unique — after being overhauled in 1964, including with a complete respray in a three-part dark sunburst polyurethane finish — and it had become McCartney’s back-up bass.

‘Give something back’

The team now hunting for the guitar say it has not been seen since, but that “numerous theories and false sightings have occurred over the years.”

Appealing for fresh tips on its whereabouts, they insist their mission is “a search, not an investigation”, noting all information will be treated confidentially.

“With a little help from our friends — from fans and musicians to collectors and music shops — we can get the bass back to where it once belonged,” the trio stated on the website.

“Paul McCartney has given us so much over the last 62 years. The Lost Bass project is our chance to give something back.”

Nick Wass, a semi-retired former marketing manager and electric guitar developer for Höfner who co-wrote the definitive book on the Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass, is spearheading the search.

“It was played in Hamburg, at The Cavern Club, at Abbey Road. Isn’t that enough alone to get this bass back?” he added.

“I know, because I talked with him about it, that Paul would be so happy — thrilled — if this bass could get back to him.”

Wass is joined by journalist husband and wife team Scott and Naomi Jones.

The trio said other previously lost guitars have been found.

John Lennon’s Gibson J-160E — which he used to write “I Want To Hold Your Hand” — disappeared during The Beatles’ Christmas Show in 1963.

It resurfaced half a century later, and then sold at auction for $2.4 million.
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One of the world’s biggest auto shows opened in Munich on Monday, with Tesla ending a 10-year absence to jostle for the spotlight with Chinese rivals as the race for electric dominance heats up.  

Chancellor Olaf Scholz will officially inaugurate the IAA mobility show, held in Germany every two years, on Tuesday.  

But carmakers used Monday’s press preview as an early chance to show off some of the new models that will be hitting the road soon.  

The industry-wide shift towards electric vehicles will be front and center at this week’s fair, with Chinese carmakers out in force as they eye the European market.  

U.S. electric car pioneer Tesla, owned by Elon Musk, will return to the IAA for the first time since 2013 and is expected to unveil a revamped version of its mass-market Model 3.  

That Tesla, usually a holdout at such events, is coming to Munich shows it is taking the growing competition seriously, said Jan Burgard from the Berylls automotive consulting group.  

“The electric car market with its many new players will be divvied up over the next few years and people want to know: who is offering what?” Burgard told the Handelsblatt financial daily.  

Having captured an increasingly large part of the prized Chinese market, Chinese upstarts are now hoping to win over European customers with cheaper electric cars.  

Chinese manufacturers are starting “their assault on Europe with the IAA”, said industry analyst Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer from the Center Automotive Research in Germany.  

Muted European presence

Chinese groups benefit from lower production costs, allowing them to offer cut-throat prices at a time when entry-level EVs are still a rarity.  

Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius said it was necessary for European firms to stay competitive in the face of stiff competition.  

“Don’t make it worse. Don’t start a debate that we should work less hours at the same pay, those types of things. That would be going the wrong direction,” Kallenius told reporters at the IAA on Sunday.  

Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume meanwhile said he was “impressed” by the speed at which China had advanced its electric car technology.

He added that it was “crucial” for VW to succeed in China’s domestic EV market — where it is currently lagging far behind China’s BYD and Tesla.  

“The more electric cars we have, the more we can benefit from economies of scale,” Blume said.

In all, 41% of exhibitors at the industry fair have their headquarters in China, including brands such as BYD, Leapmotor and Geely.  

Contrary to the Asian onslaught, participation from European carmakers at the IAA will be muted.  

Germany’s homegrown champions Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz will be joined by Renault from France, but the 14-brand Stellantis Group will only be represented by Opel.  

BMW presented its “Neue Klasse” (New Class) generation of electric cars in Munich on Saturday, a series of six vehicles that will be manufactured from 2025.  

European automakers are investing heavily in the switch towards zero-emission driving as the European Union aims to end the sale of polluting combustion engine cars by 2035.  

The historic transition comes at a challenging time.  

While the supply chain problems caused by the pandemic have eased, surging energy prices in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine and a weaker global economy are weighing on European manufacturers.

Although car sales in the EU have steadily improved over the last 12 months, they remain around 20 percent below their pre-pandemic levels as inflation and higher interest rates dampen appetites for new vehicles.  

Climate protests

Some 700,000 visitors are expected to attend this week’s IAA.  

Climate groups have vowed to stage protests, including acts of “civil disobedience” aimed at disrupting the fair.   

On Monday morning, Greenpeace activists submerged three cars in a small lake outside the convention center.   

“The car industry continues to rely on too many cars, that are too big and too heavy. It’s sinking the planet with that business model,” Greenpeace spokeswoman Marissa Reiserer told AFP.
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About 5,000 people gathered in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki Sunday to protest a new type of identity card to be introduced later this month, police said.

Carrying Greek flags and banners, the protesters rallied at the city’s iconic White Tower, a waterfront former fortification, chanting slogans and the national anthem. They played a speech by the late former head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens, who had warned of the enemies of the Greek people.

Later, they marched through the city center before dispersing without incident.

The machine-readable cards will replace the type of ID currently issued and will contain the same information, such as name, parents’ name, address and height. The only extra information, blood type, is optional.

But the cards have inspired conspiracy theories, and some people assert the new IDs contain chips that will allow authorities to pinpoint cardholders’ locations or even control their minds. The majority of the IDs’ opponents are deeply religious.

An exasperated Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a recent cabinet meeting that the IDs will not contain “any chips or cameras or listening devices.”

The protesters’ religious connections pose a problem for the Church of Greece, some of whose bishops encourage the protests. Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens, who has none of the fiery rhetoric of his predecessor, Christodoulos, has said the Church’s Holy Synod will issue a statement about the IDs in a few days and has counseled “judiciousness and prudence.”

Another protest rally is scheduled to take place in the capital Athens next weekend.

The new IDs, which conform to an EU-wide standard, will become obligatory by August 2026.
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The first production co-directed by Iranian and Israeli filmmakers had to be shot in secret to prevent possible interference by Tehran, directors Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Guy Nattiv told Reuters Sunday.

“Tatami,” a tense thriller centered on a world judo championship, got its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival at the weekend, receiving a standing ovation.

The film takes place over the course of the single day of competition as an Iranian judoka champion, played by Farsi-speaking U.S. actress Arienne Mandi, is ordered to fake an injury to avoid a possible match-up with an Israeli competitor.

Amir Ebrahimi and Nattiv shot the movie in Georgia, a country Iranians can easily visit. They stayed in separate hotels, spoke English and did not let on that they were making such a politically charged film.

“I knew there are many Iranians there, so we were trying to keep it calm and secret,” said Amir Ebrahimi, who is an award-winning actress and stars in the film, playing the judoka’s increasingly terrified trainer.

“We were undercover. We knew it was a dangerous thing,” said Nattiv, whose previous movie “Golda” premiered at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.

Iran does not recognize Israel’s right to exist and has banned its athletes from competing against Israelis.

In an incident that inspired “Tatami,” the International Judo Federation in 2021 gave Iran a four-year ban for pressuring one of its fighters not to face an Israeli.

Claustrophobic

Amir Ebrahimi, who won the best actress award in Cannes in 2022 for “Holy Spider,” fled Iran in 2008 for fear of imprisonment and lashings after a private video of her was leaked.

She said she had to take time to think through the possible consequences before accepting Nattiv’s offer to make the film.

“What I have learnt about the Iranian government is that as long as you are afraid, they can arrest you, they can kill you, they can make trouble around you. But as long as you are not afraid … it is going to be fine,” she said.

The film was shot in black and white, using a tight, 4:3 format, like for old television programs.

“These women are living in a black and white world. There are no colors. The box is the claustrophobic world they live in. That is the one thing they want to break. They want their freedom,” Nattiv said.

Children growing up in Iran were made to fear Israel as an implacable enemy, Amir Ebrahimi said – something Nattiv said was also happening in his own homeland, with Iran portrayed as an existential threat.

Nattiv revealed he had helped Amir Ebrahimi pay a clandestine visit to Israel, something that Tehran absolutely forbids for its citizens.

“I loved it. We could be from the same nation, the same family, we are the same,” said Amir Ebrahimi.
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Israel’s prime minister floated the idea Sunday of building infrastructure projects such as a fiber optic cable linking countries in Asia and the Arabian Peninsula with Europe through Israel and Cyprus.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’s “quite confident” such an infrastructure “corridor” linking Asia to Europe through Israel and Cyprus is feasible.

He said such projects could happen if Israel normalizes relations with other countries in the region. The 2020 U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and the Biden administration is trying to establish official ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

“An example and the most obvious one is a fiber optic connection. That’s the shortest route. It’s the safest route. It’s the most economic route,” Netanyahu said after talks with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.

The Israeli leader’s pitch is itself an extension of proposed energy links with Cyprus and Greece as part of growing collaboration on energy in the wake of discoveries of significant natural gas deposits in the economic zones of both Israel and Cyprus.

Netanyahu repeated that he and Christodoulides are looking to follow through on plans for a 2,000-megawatt undersea electricity cable known as the EurAsia Interconnector connecting Israel with Cyprus and Greece that aims to act as an energy supply back-up for both Israel and Cyprus.

“You want to be connected to other sources of power that can allow a more optimal use of power or give you power when there is a failure in your own country,” Netanyahu said. “That is something that we’re discussing seriously, and we hope to achieve.”

Another energy link involves a Cypriot proposal to build a pipeline that would convey offshore natural gas from both Israel and Cyprus to the east Mediterranean island nation where it would be fuel for electricity generators or potentially be liquefied for export by ship.

Christodoulides said given Europe’s need for energy diversification considering Russia’s war in Ukraine, Cyprus and Israel are looking to developing “a reliable energy corridor” linking the East Mediterranean basin to Europe through projects including gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing plants.

Netanyahu said his government fully backs a European decision to create a regional firefighting hub in Cyprus from which aircraft and other technology could be dispatched to help put out fires in neighboring countries.

“The climate isn’t going to get cooler. It’s going to get hotter. And with, you know, with the heating up of our region and the globe, firefighting becomes a really important thing. We can — I think we can — do it better together,” the Israeli leader said.

Talks between Christodoulides and Netanyahu precede a trilateral meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday.

Since 2016 such meetings between the leaders of the three countries have become a staple of what they said are burgeoning ties that Netanyahu described as “a deep friendship, both personal, but also between our nations” that is “real” and “long overdue.”
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet with Vladimir Putin on Monday, hoping to persuade the Russian leader to rejoin the Black Sea grain deal that Moscow broke off from in July.

Here are some key things to know and what’s at stake:

Where will the talks be held?

The meeting in Sochi on Russia’s southern coast comes after weeks of speculation about when and where the two leaders might meet. Erdogan previously said that Putin would travel to Turkey in August.

Why did Russia leave the grain deal?

The Kremlin refused to renew the grain agreement six weeks ago. The deal — brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022 — had allowed nearly 33 million metric tons (36 million tons) of grain and other commodities to leave three Ukrainian ports safely despite Russia’s war.

However, Russia pulled out after claiming that a parallel deal promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadn’t been honored.

Moscow complained that restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade, even though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year.

Why is Turkey a broker?

Since Putin withdrew from the initiative, Erdogan has repeatedly pledged to renew arrangements that helped avoid a food crisis in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other goods that developing nations rely on.

The Turkish president has maintained close ties to Putin during the 18-month war in Ukraine. Turkey hasn’t joined Western sanctions against Russia following its invasion, emerging as a main trading partner and logistical hub for Russia’s overseas trade.

NATO member Turkey, however, has also supported Ukraine, sending arms, meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and backing Kyiv’s bid to join NATO.

Russia-Turkey ties haven’t always been rosy

Erdogan angered Moscow in July when he allowed five Ukrainian commanders to return home. The soldiers had been captured by Russia and handed over to Turkey on condition they remain there for the duration of the war.

Putin and Erdogan — both authoritarian leaders who have been in power for more than two decades — are said to have a close rapport, fostered in the wake of a failed coup against Erdogan in 2016 when Putin was the first major leader to offer his support.

Traditional rivals Turkey and Russia grew closer over the following years as trade levels rose and they embarked on joint projects such as the TurkStream gas pipeline and Turkey’s first nuclear power plant. Ankara’s relations with Moscow have frequently alarmed its Western allies. The 2019 acquisition of Russian-made air defense missiles led to Washington kicking Turkey off the U.S.-led F-35 stealth fighter program.

Russia-Turkey relations in fields such as energy, defense, diplomacy, tourism and trade have flourished despite the countries being on opposing sides in conflicts in Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh. Since Erdogan’s reelection in May, Putin has faced domestic challenges that may make him appear a less reliable partner, most notably the short-lived armed rebellion declared by late mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in June.

What are Russia’s demands?

The Sochi summit follows talks between the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers Thursday, during which Russia handed over a list of actions that the West would have to take for Ukraine’s Black Sea exports to resume.

Erdogan has indicated sympathy with Putin’s position. In July, he said Putin had “certain expectations from Western countries” over the Black Sea deal and that it was “crucial for these countries to take action in this regard.”

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently sent Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov “concrete proposals” aimed at getting Russian exports to global markets and allowing the resumption of the Black Sea initiative. But Lavrov said Moscow wasn’t satisfied with the letter.

Describing Turkey’s “intense” efforts to revive the agreement, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said it was a “process that tries to better understand Russia’s position and requests, and to meet them.”

He added: “There are many issues ranging from financial transactions to insurance.”
…

Swedish police on Sunday arrested two people and detained around 10 people after a violent riot broke out at a protest involving a burning of the Quran, police said.

The protest was organized by Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika, whose protests — which have included public desecrations of the Muslim holy book — have sparked outrage across the Middle East.

Sunday’s protest was held in a square in the southern city of Malmo, which has a large immigrant population, and according to public broadcaster SVT around 200 people had showed up to watch.

“Some onlookers have shown upset feelings, after the organizer burned writings,” police said in a statement.

“The mood was at times heated,” the statement said, adding that a “violent riot” occurred at 1:45 pm (1145 GMT).

According to police, the event had ended after the organizer left but a group of people remained at the scene.

About 10 people were detained for disturbing the public order and another two were arrested, suspected of violent rioting.

Local media reported that some onlookers threw rocks at Momika, and video from the scene showed some trying to break through the cordon before being stopped by police.

In another video a man could be scene trying to stop the police car that transported Momika from the location by getting in front of it.

Through a series of demonstrations, Momika has sparked anger directed at Sweden and diplomatic tensions between Sweden and several Middle Eastern countries.

The Swedish government has condemned the desecrations of the Quran while noting the country’s constitutionally protected freedom of speech and assembly laws.

Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July, starting fires within the compound on the second occasion.

Swedish envoys have also been summoned in a slew of Middle Eastern nations. 

In mid-August, Sweden’s intelligence agency heightened its terror alert level to four on a scale of five, noting that Sweden had “gone from being considered a legitimate target for terrorist attacks to being considered a prioritized target.”

Sweden also decided to beef up border controls in early August.

In late August, neighboring Denmark — which has also seen a string of public desecrations of the Quran — said it plans to ban Quran burnings.

Sweden has meanwhile vowed to explore legal means of stopping protests involving the burning of texts in certain circumstances.
…

The governor of the German state of Bavaria said Sunday that he will let his deputy stay in office despite a furor that started with allegations he was responsible for an antisemitic flyer when he was a high school student 35 years ago.

Governor Markus Soeder, a leading figure in Germany’s center-right opposition, said he had concluded that it would be “disproportionate” to fire Hubert Aiwanger, his deputy and coalition partner, but Aiwanger needs to rebuild confidence with the Jewish community and others.

Bavaria is holding a state election in just over a month. Soeder’s decision drew sharp criticism from political opponents and a cautious response from a Jewish leader.

On Aug. 25, the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that, when Aiwanger was a teenager, he was suspected of producing a typewritten flyer calling for entries to a competition titled “Who is the biggest traitor to the fatherland?”

It listed, among other things, a “1st prize: A free flight through the chimney at Auschwitz.”

Aiwanger, 52, said last weekend that one or more copies of the flyer were found in his school bag but denied that he wrote it. His older brother came forward to claim that he had written it.

Aiwanger has acknowledged making unspecified mistakes in his youth and offered an apology but also portrayed himself as the victim of a “witch hunt.” He stuck to that tone on Sunday, saying at a campaign appearance that his opponents had failed with a “smear campaign” meant to weaken his conservative party.

The deputy governor’s crisis management has drawn widespread criticism, including from Soeder.

On Tuesday, Soeder demanded that Aiwanger answer a detailed questionnaire, and his deputy delivered the answers Friday. Soeder said he had a long conversation with Aiwanger on Saturday evening.

Over the past week, there was a steady drip of further allegations about Aiwanger’s behavior in his youth, including claims that he gave the Hitler salute, imitated the Nazi dictator and had Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” in his school bag. Aiwanger described the latter as “nonsense,” said he didn’t remember ever giving the Hitler salute and did not rehearse Hitler’s speeches in front of the mirror.

On Thursday, Aiwanger said: “I deeply regret if I have hurt feelings by my behavior in relation to the pamphlet in question or further accusations against me from my youth. My sincere apologies go first and foremost to all the victims of the (Nazi) regime.”

Soeder told reporters in Munich that the apology was “overdue, but it was right and necessary.” He said that Aiwanger’s answers to his questions “weren’t all satisfactory,” but that he had distanced himself again from the flyer and given repeated assurances he didn’t write it.

“In the overall assessment — that there is no proof, that the matter is 35 years ago, and that nothing comparable has happened since — a dismissal would be disproportionate, from my point of view,” Soeder said.

But leaders of Bavaria’s governing coalition agreed “it is important that Hubert Aiwanger work on winning back lost trust,” and should hold talks with Jewish community leaders, Soeder added. He said that was discussed Sunday with Bavarian and German Jewish leaders.

One of them, Munich Jewish community leader Charlotte Knobloch, said in a statement that Aiwanger “must restore trust and make clear that his actions are democratically and legally steadfast.” She said recent days had been “an enormous strain.”

The allegations put Soeder, who is widely thought to have ambitions to challenge center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the 2025 national election, in an awkward position.

Aiwanger leads the Free Voters, a party that is a conservative force in Bavaria but has no seats in Germany’s national parliament. He has been the state’s deputy governor and economy minister since 2018, when his party became the junior partner in a regional government under Bavaria’s long-dominant center-right Christian Social Union.

Soeder, the CSU leader, made clear again Sunday that he wants to continue the coalition with the Free Voters, a more or less like-minded party, after the Oct. 8 state election. He dismissed the idea of switching to a coalition with the environmentalist Greens.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser accused Soeder of putting political tactics first.

“Mr. Aiwanger has neither apologized convincingly nor been able to dispel the accusations convincingly,” she told the RND newspaper group. Instead, she said, he has styled himself as a victim “and doesn’t think for a second of those who still suffer massively from antisemitism.”

“That Mr. Soeder allows this damages the reputation of our country,” she added.
…

Ukraine shot down 22 of the 25 Iranian-made Shahed drones Russia launched into the southern Odesa region early Sunday, Ukraine’s Air Force posted on Telegram early Sunday.

Odesa houses ports that are vital for Ukraine’s grain shipments, following the collapse of U.N.-brokered deal that allowed Ukraine to ship its grain through the Black Sea.

It was not immediately clear whether one of the ports had been hit in the Russian attack on Ukraine.

There were no immediate comments from Russia.

One of Ukraine’s richest men was taken into custody Saturday on suspicion of fraud and money laundering.

Ihor Kolomoisky’s arrest comes as Kyiv is trying to show progress in its wartime crackdown on corruption.

A Ukrainian court set Kolomoisky’s bail at $14 million, but his defense lawyers said he would not post bail, broadcaster Radio Liberty reported; instead he will remain in custody for two months while he appeals the ruling, whose legality he questions.

Kolomoisky was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2021 “due to his involvement in significant corruption.” The U.S. suspects that Kolomoisky and a partner laundered money through the United States, which Kolomoisky denies.

He supported then-candidate Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the 2019 presidential elections in Ukraine.

In his nightly video address Saturday, President Zelenskyy thanked “Ukrainian law enforcement officials for their resolve in bringing to a just outcome each and every one of the cases that have been hindered for decades.”

Zelenskyy has made it a priority to crush graft and illicit financial dealings among officials and well-connected businessmen. Kolomoisky, one of Ukraine’s billionaire oligarchs, is the most prominent figure to have become a target. Zelenskyy is moving to equate wartime corruption with treason.

The White House has noted the progress Ukraine has made in combatting graft and in safeguarding the autonomy of crucial government institutions.

In a meeting with a delegation of the heads of Ukrainian anti-corruption institutions Friday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan underscored the vital importance of independent, impartial law enforcement and judicial institutions to any democratic society. He also reiterated Washington’s steadfast support for anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine and “for Ukraine’s brave defense of its democracy against Russian aggression.”

‘We are on the move’

Zelenskyy touted Ukraine’s steady advances against Russian forces Saturday and derided Western criticism of Ukraine’s grinding counteroffensive.

“Ukrainian forces are moving forward. Despite everything, and no matter what anyone says, we are advancing, and that is the most important thing. We are on the move,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

His comments come amid U.S. concerns about the slow pace of the operation and Western reports questioning Ukrainian strategy in the three-month counteroffensive.

Ukrainian forces have retaken about a dozen villages but no major settlements. Their advances are being impeded by myriad Russian minefields and subsequent defensive lines.

John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator, told reporters Friday that Ukraine made “notable progress” in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, though he cautioned it “is not beyond the realm of the possible that Russia will react” to Ukraine’s push.

Ukrainian troops advance

In its daily battlefield update, the Ukrainian military reported no new breakthroughs but said its troops broke through Russia’s outer defense perimeter and continued to advance toward Melitopol, a major Russian-occupied urban center in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar acknowledged Friday that Kyiv’s troops, who have been trudging through heavily mined areas for almost three months, had now run into major defensive Russian fortifications.

“Where we have already moved to the next line … the enemy is much more fortified there and, in addition to the mining, we also see concrete fortifications, for example, under the main commanding heights, and our armed forces have to overcome a lot of obstacles in order to move forward,” she said.

Kirby noted that Ukrainians are aware there are tough battles ahead and added that detractors of the Ukrainian counteroffensive are not “helpful to the overarching effort to make sure that Ukraine can succeed, and they are.”

Russia says it thwarts attack

Russia said early Saturday it had thwarted a naval drone attack on a bridge that links the Russian mainland with the Crimean Peninsula.

In messages posted to Telegram, the Russian Defense Ministry said three semisubmersible unmanned boats, “sent by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge” were destroyed in the Black Sea — one late Friday and two early Saturday.

The bridge was built after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Completed in 2018, the bridge has been targeted throughout Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including an attack in July that caused major damage to the bridge and killed two people.

Grain deal talks scheduled

Two cargo vessels have sailed from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports despite fears of Russian attacks, maritime officials said Saturday.

Ukraine’s infrastructure minister says the Anna-Theresa, a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier carrying 56,000 metric tons of pig iron, left the Ukrainian port of Yuzhny on Friday. A second vessel, the Ocean Courtesy, left the same port with 172,000 metric tons of iron ore concentrate.

The minister said the vessels sailed through a temporary corridor for civilian ships from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports to the Bosporus. The ships are using the interim corridor established by Ukraine’s government after Russia quit the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a wartime agreement aimed at ensuring safe grain exports from Ukraine.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the talks are part of an effort to revive the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met Friday with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow to discuss grain exports ahead of the Erdogan-Putin meeting.

VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this story. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
…

Girls with big white hair bows and boys in blazers held hands as they lined up for their first day back to school in Moscow, with parents watching proudly and, for some including Sergei Angelov, anxiously.

Like children across Russia, Angelov’s 12-year-old daughter will study the country’s new militarized curriculum, amid Moscow’s grinding assault in Ukraine that has seen increasingly frequent strikes on the Russian capital.

“We are living in difficult times,” the 39-year-old driver said.  “All sorts of things are happening and can happen.”

Nineteen months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his troops in Ukraine, drones now hit Moscow almost daily.

The conflict has spilled to schools, with a new program designed to instill the Kremlin’s version of events in Ukraine to younger generations.

Since the beginning of the offensive Russia had already introduced patriotic lectures called “Important Conversations.”

For the start of the new school year, Putin taught the flagship lecture in front of 30 teenagers selected for their academic achievements.

“We were absolutely invincible” during World War II, Putin said, “and we are the same now.”

The Russian leader also opened a new school via video-call in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which was razed to the ground last spring before being seized by the Russian army.

Moscow-installed officials, who since the city’s capture have undertaken to erase Ukrainian symbols from public spaces, rolled out a long Russian flag across the center of the city.

‘Courage and heroism’

Russian children’s updated school program includes basic military training, reviving a Soviet-era subject that had long been abandoned.

Teachers are also to use a new history textbook praising the offensive, written under the curation of Putin’s hardliner ally Vladimir Medinsky.

More than 2,000 kilometers east in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, local history teacher Tatiana Barabanova applauded the course book, whose cover features Putin’s flagship bridge linking annexed Crimea to Russia’s mainland.

“Young people are disorientated by various mass fakes slandering our country,” she said, using terms reminiscent of Putin’s speeches.

“In this new textbook, there are very clear examples of courage and heroism,” she said.

The book praises Russia’s assault on Ukraine and features sections explaining Moscow was “saving peace” in 2014 when it annexed Crimea.

Her colleague, first aid and sports teacher Yelena Sobachkina, meanwhile, showed off gas masks and plastic hands with fake wounds that will be used in the new primary military preparation courses.

“They will understand what military service is like,” Sobachkina said, adding it was aimed at 15- to 18-year -olds.

She said the school would also introduce the teens to “tactical training and theoretical training of combat drones.”

Sobachkina plans to bring soldiers from the Ukraine front to speak to her students.

‘Prepare the children’

Sergei Varalov welcomed the prospect of seeing his child getting more teaching on the conflict in Ukraine.

“The political situation is such that the whole world has collapsed on us,” the 55-year-old builder said.

He also expressed support for military trainings and increased patriotic education.

“We need to prepare (the children),” he said, while clarifying, “I am not saying that it should be like North Korea.”

Back in Moscow, 83-year-old Nina Ivanova, watched her grandson start his new job as a teacher.

The pensioner hoped the job would “relieve him from the army” in the event that Russia would introduce another mobilization.

In the crowd, painter Irina Dobrokhotova, just back from annexed-Crimea, was dropping her son Daniil to school.

“There are reasons for concerns … You just need to be prepared for anything and not be afraid,” Dobrokhotova said.

But she added: “Everyone is hoping for the best.”           
…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy touted Ukraine’s steady advances against Russian forces Saturday and derided Western criticism of Ukraine’s grinding counteroffensive.  

“Ukrainian forces are moving forward. Despite everything, and no matter what anyone says, we are advancing, and that is the most important thing. We are on the move,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app. 

Zelenskyy’s comments come amid U.S. concerns about the slow pace of the operation and Western reports questioning Ukrainian strategy in the three-month counteroffensive.  

Ukrainian forces have retaken about a dozen villages but no major settlements. Their advances are being impeded by myriad Russian minefields and subsequent defensive lines. 

John Kirby, National Security Council spokesman, told reporters Friday that Ukraine made “notable progress” in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, though he cautioned it “is not beyond the realm of the possible that Russia will react” to Ukraine’s push.   

In its daily battlefield update, the Ukrainian military reported no new breakthroughs but said its troops broke through Russia’s outer defense perimeter and continued to advance toward Melitopol, a major Russian-occupied urban center in the Zaporizhzhia region. 

Ukraine’s military reported 45 combat clashes on the front lines since midday Friday and said fighting raged in the east where Ukrainian troops had repelled multiple Russian attacks. 

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar acknowledged Friday that Kyiv’s troops, who have been trudging through heavily mined areas for almost three months, had now run into major defensive Russian fortifications.  

“Where we have already moved to the next line … the enemy is much more fortified there and, in addition to the mining, we also see concrete fortifications, for example, under the main commanding heights, and our armed forces have to overcome a lot of obstacles in order to move forward,” she said.  

Kirby noted that Ukrainians are aware there are tough battles ahead and added that detractors of the Ukrainian counteroffensive are not “helpful to the overarching effort to make sure that Ukraine can succeed, and they are.”  

There are fears the West’s support could begin to fade as colder and wetter weather sets in, slowing the pace on the battlefield later in the year. The West has poured billions of dollars to support the counteroffensive and Kyiv says it needs more. 

Kirby also said he could not confirm reports Friday that Russia’s nuclear-capable Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles had been put on combat duty.  

The Sarmat reportedly can carry up to 15 nuclear warheads. Known to NATO military allies by the codename “Satan,” the missile reportedly has a short initial launch phase, which gives little time for surveillance systems to track its takeoff. 

Weighing more than 200 tons, the Sarmat has a range of about 18,000 kilometers and was developed to replace Russia’s older generation of intercontinental ballistic missile that dates to the 1980s. 

Russia says it thwarts attack

Russia said early Saturday it thwarted a naval drone attack on a bridge that links the Russian mainland with the Crimean Peninsula.     

In messages posted to Telegram, the Russian Defense Ministry said three semisubmersible unmanned boats, “sent by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge” were destroyed in the Black Sea — one late Friday and two early Saturday.   

The bridge was built after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Completed in 2018, the bridge has been targeted throughout Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including an attack in July that caused major damage to the bridge and killed two people.   

Ukraine claimed responsibility for the July strike but so far has not commented on Russia’s claim it prevented another attack.   

Ukraine’s anti-corruption efforts   

Ukrainian state security officials named Ukrainian tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky as a suspect in a fraud and money laundering case, the SBU security service said Saturday. 

Zelenskyy has made it a priority to crush graft and illicit financial dealings among officials and well-connected businessmen. Kolomoisky, one of Ukraine’s richest men, is the most prominent figure to have become a target. Zelenskyy is moving to equate wartime corruption with treason.  

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met Friday with a delegation of the heads of Ukrainian anti-corruption institutions, including the director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, Semen Kryvonos, Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Oleksandr Klymenko, and Vira Mykhailenko, the chief justice of the High Anti-Corruption Court, according to the White House.  

The officials discussed the progress Ukraine has made in combatting graft and in safeguarding the autonomy of crucial government institutions.   

Sullivan underscored the importance of independent, impartial law enforcement and judicial institutions to any democratic society. He also reiterated Washington’s steadfast support for anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine and “for Ukraine’s brave defense of its democracy against Russian aggression.” 

Efforts to revive grain deal

Two cargo vessels have sailed from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports despite fears of Russian attacks, maritime officials said Saturday.  

Ukraine’s infrastructure minister says the Anna-Theresa, a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier carrying 56,000 metric tons of pig iron, left the Ukrainian port of Yuzhny on Friday. A second vessel, the Ocean Courtesy, left the same port with 172,000 metric tons of iron ore concentrate.  

The minister said the vessels sailed through a temporary corridor for civilian ships from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports to the Bosporus. The ships are using the interim corridor established by Ukraine’s government after Russia quit the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a wartime agreement aimed at ensuring safe grain exports from Ukraine.  

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the talks are part of an effort to revive the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal.  

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow on Friday to discuss grain exports ahead of the Erdogan-Putin meeting.  

For nearly a year, the initiative helped facilitate the export of nearly 33 million metric tons of grain and other foodstuffs from Ukraine via the Black Sea, helping to bring down global food prices, which spiked after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia was also receiving help in facilitating its own grain and fertilizer exports.  

VOA’s United Nations Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this story. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.   
…

A controversial investment deal with China has failed to meet Italy’s expectations, Rome’s top diplomat said Saturday ahead of a visit to Beijing, as speculation mounts that Italy will withdraw. 

In 2019, the highly indebted economy became the only nation from the G7 club of industrialized countries to take part in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitious program, consisting of massive investments in infrastructure such as ports, railways and airports, aims to improve trade ties between Asia, Africa and Europe. 

Critics say the plan is a Trojan horse to increase Beijing’s influence. 

The deal is due to be renewed automatically in March 2024 unless Italy withdraws this year. 

“We want to continue to work closely with China, but we must also analyze exports; the Belt and Road Initiative has not produced the results we were hoping for,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told an economic forum. 

Tajani said Italian exports to China in 2022 were worth 16.5 billion euros ($17.8 billion), whereas the figures for France and Germany were much higher at 23 billion and 107 billion euros respectively. 

Tajani will meet Chinese authorities during his trip to Beijing from Sunday to Tuesday and prepare a planned visit by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that some experts believe will confirm Italy’s exit from the deal. 

The withdrawal “has likely already been agreed in principle with Chinese authorities,” Lorenzo Codogno, a former chief economist at the Italian treasury, said in a note. 

Meloni “will make the official announcement during her state visit to Beijing, expected by mid-October, as a sign of respect for China’s leadership,” but the Italian parliament will have the final say, he added. 

Meloni’s predecessor Mario Draghi froze the agreement and blocked large-scale Chinese investment in sectors deemed of strategic importance.  
…

Two cargo vessels have left Ukraine despite Russian threats and are in the Black Sea, maritime officials said Saturday.

The Anna-Theresa, a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier holding 56,000 tons of pig iron, left the Ukrainian port of Yuzhny on Friday and is now close to Bulgarian territorial waters, said Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov.

A second vessel — the Ocean Courtesy, traveling under a Marshall Islands flag — left the same port on Friday with 172,000 tons of iron ore concentrate. That ship arrived at the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta shortly before noon on Saturday, according to the global ship tracking website MarineTraffic. The website did not state whether the vessel is set to move on from the Romanian port.

The two vessels sailed through a temporary corridor for civilian ships from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports to the Bosporus, Kubrakov said on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter. The corridor goes along the western shores of the Black Sea, avoiding international waters and instead using those controlled by NATO members Romania and Bulgaria.

On Saturday, authorities at the Bulgarian port of Varna did not confirm whether the Anna-Theresa will enter the port or continue to the Bosporus Strait.

The ships were the third and fourth vessels that used the interim corridor established by Ukraine’s government after Russia halted a wartime agreement aimed at ensuring safe grain exports from Ukraine. The vessels had been docked in Ukrainian Black Sea ports since before Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

Their departure coincided with the official announcement of a meeting on Monday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The high-level talks in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi come just over six weeks after Moscow broke off a deal brokered by Ankara and the United Nations that allowed Ukrainian grain to reach world markets safely despite the 18-month war.
…

Ukrainian state security officials named powerful businessman Ihor Kolomoisky as a suspect in a fraud and money laundering case, the SBU security service said on Saturday.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made cracking down on corruption a priority as Ukraine battles Russia’s 18-month-old invasion. Kolomoisky, one of Ukraine’s richest men, is the most prominent figure to have become a target.

Zelenskyy, who rose to prominence as a comedian and played the role of president on a show aired on a Kolomoisky-owned TV channel, has denied having personal ties to the businessman.

“It was established that during 2013-2020, Ihor Kolomoisky legalized more than half a billion hryvnias [$14 million] by withdrawing them abroad and using the infrastructure of the controlled banks,” the SBU said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

Kolomoisky could not be reached for comment.

The security service published pictures of a group of detectives at the door of his home, with Kolomoisky receiving and signing documents.

Kolomoisky is a former owner of leading Ukrainian bank PrivatBank, which was nationalized in late 2016 as part of a major clean-up of the country’s banking system.

Earlier this year security officials searched Kolomoisky’s home in connection with a separate investigation into embezzlement and tax evasion at the country’s two largest oil companies, which were partially owned by the businessman.

Kolomoisky owned an array of assets in the energy, banking and other sectors, including one of Ukraine’s most influential television channels.

The United States sanctioned Kolomoisky in 2021 “due to his involvement in significant corruption.” U.S. authorities have also alleged Kolomoisky and a business partner laundered stolen funds through the United States. Kolomoisky has denied any wrongdoing.
…

Russian authorities on Friday declared journalist Dmitry Muratov, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, to be a foreign agent, continuing the country’s moves to suppress critics and independent reporting.

Russian law allows for individuals and organizations receiving funding from abroad to be declared foreign agents, a pejorative term that potentially undermines their credibility with the Russian public. The status also requires designees to mark any publications with a disclaimer stating they are foreign agents.

Muratov was chief editor of Novaya Gazeta, which was widely respected abroad for its investigative reporting and was frequently critical of the Kremlin. Muratov was a co-laureate of the 2021 Nobel prize; he later put up his Nobel medal for auction, receiving $103.5 million which he said would be used to aid refugee children from Ukraine.

After Russia enacted harsh laws to punish statements that criticized its military actions in Ukraine or were found to discredit Russian soldiers, Novaya Gazeta announced it would suspend publication until the conflict ended.

Many of its journalists started a new publication called Novaya Gazeta Europe that is based in Latvia.

In recent years, Russia has methodically targeted people and organizations critical of the Kremlin, branding many as “foreign agents.” It has has branded some as “undesirable” under a 2015 law that makes membership in such organizations a criminal offense.

It also has imprisoned prominent opposition figures including anti-corruption campaigner AlexeyAl Navalny, who is President Vladimir Putin’s most persistent domestic foe, and dissidents Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin.
…

Britain’s Education Department has ordered more than 150 schools to shut down buildings constructed with RAAC, a type of concrete that is prone to collapse. The decision came just days before the fall term is set to start, drawing ire from parents, teachers and politicians.

A roof beam gave way over the summer, prompting the British government to examine the risks of RAAC, Schools Minister Nick Gibb told the BBC recently. The past few months have seen a number of instances where buildings containing RAAC suddenly failed, both at schools and elsewhere.

Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, or RAAC, is lightweight and was used in construction until the mid-1990s. RAAC has a lifespan of about 30 years.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan described the government’s decision as a “cautious approach.” She reassured the public that most affected schools would remain open because the faulty concrete was found in limited areas.

But some campuses face total closure, sending teachers and parents scrambling for alternatives from relocating students to neighboring schools to reviving coronavirus-era distance learning.

Part of the shock of the government’s announcement is that it has long known about the risks of RAAC. More than 50 school buildings with RAAC have been closed in the past over safety concerns.

In June, the watchdog group National Audit Office reported about the dangers that school buildings constructed with RAAC pose to students and teachers. It cited a strong likelihood of injury or death from a building imploding.

These developments follow six months of teachers’ strikes across the United Kingdom spurred by charges of underfunding and poor government outreach.

Critics from all sides describe the mass closures as a debacle. Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said in a statement that the situation reflected “gross government incompetence … ”

In the run-up to the general election expected in 2024, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will have to consider how to win the public’s confidence and counter ridicule over his efforts in infrastructure and education.

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