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Saudi Arabia was set to host talks on Russia’s war on Ukraine on Saturday in the latest flexing of its diplomatic muscle, though expectations are mild for what the gathering might achieve. 

The meeting of national security advisers and other officials in the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah underscores Riyadh’s “readiness to exert its good offices to contribute to reaching a solution that will result in permanent peace,” the official Saudi Press Agency said Friday.  

Invitations were sent to around 30 countries, Russia not among them, according to diplomats familiar with the preparations. 

The SPA report said only that “a number of countries” would attend. 

It follows Ukraine-organized talks in Copenhagen in June that were designed to be informal and did not yield an official statement. 

Instead, diplomats said the sessions were intended to engage a range of countries in debates about a path towards peace, notably members of the BRICS bloc with Russia that have adopted a more neutral stance on the war in contrast to Western powers.

Speaking Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the wide range of countries represented in the Jeddah talks, including developing countries which have been hit hard by the surge in food prices triggered by the war. 

“This is very important, because on issues such as food security, the fate of millions of people in Africa, Asia, and other parts of the world directly depends on how fast the world moves to implement the peace formula,” he said.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter which works closely with Russia on oil policy, has touted its ties to both sides and positioned itself as a possible mediator in the war, now nearly a year and a half old.

“In hosting the summit, Saudi Arabia wants to reinforce its bid to become a global middle power with the ability to mediate conflicts while asking us to forget some of its failed strategies and actions of the past, like its Yemen intervention or the murder of Jamal Khashoggi,” said Joost Hiltermann, Middle East program director for the International Crisis Group.

The 2018 slaying of Khashoggi, a Saudi columnist for The Washington Post, by Saudi agents in Turkey once threatened to isolate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

But the energy crisis produced by the Ukraine war elevated Saudi Arabia’s global importance, helping to facilitate his rehabilitation.

Moving forward Riyadh “wants to be in the company of an India or a Brazil, because only as a club can these middle powers hope to have impact on the world stage,” Hiltermann added.

“Whether they will be able to agree on all things, such as the Ukraine war, is a big question.”

‘Balancing’ 

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, failing in its attempt to take Kyiv but seizing swathes of territory that Western-backed Ukrainian troops are fighting to recapture.

Beijing, which says it is a neutral party in the conflict but has been criticized by Western capitals for refusing to condemn Moscow, announced Friday it would participate in the Jeddah talks.

“China is willing to work with the international community to continue to play a constructive role in promoting a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin.

India has also confirmed its attendance in Jeddah, describing the move as in line “with our longstanding position” that “dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward.” South Africa said it too will take part.

Saudi Arabia has backed U.N. Security Council resolutions denouncing Russia’s invasion as well as its unilateral annexation of territory in eastern Ukraine.

Yet last year, Washington criticized oil production cuts approved in October, saying they amounted to “aligning with Russia” in the war.

In May, the kingdom hosted Zelensky at an Arab summit in Jeddah, where he accused some Arab leaders of turning “a blind eye” to the horrors of Russia’s invasion.

In sum, Riyadh has adopted a “classic balancing strategy” that could soften Russia’s response to this weekend’s summit, said Umar Karim, an expert on Saudi politics at the University of Birmingham.

“They’re working with the Russians on several files, so I guess Russia will deem such an initiative if not totally favorable then not unacceptable as well.”     
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Pope Francis presided over a Way of the Cross reenactment at a Lisbon park on Friday before hundreds of thousands of flag-waving pilgrims, part of a global Catholic youth festival. 

The rite commemorating Jesus Christ’s suffering and death is one of the highlights of World Youth Day festivities, a six-day international Catholic jamboree. 

Pilgrims shrieked and waved as the pontiff, surrounded by bodyguards, slowly drove by in his popemobile to the stage set up at the hillside Eduardo VII park for the event. 

The 86-year-old pope, wearing a white cassock, paused several times to have babies brought to him, and he kissed them on the head. 

Many national flags fluttered in the huge crowd, estimated by local authorities at 800,000 people. 

The pope, who now uses a wheelchair or walking stick to get around, urged the pilgrims not to be afraid of love. 

“Loving is risky. You have to take the risk of loving. It’s a risk, but it’s worth taking,” he said. 

The crowd then watched solemnly as a group of 50 young people from more than 20 countries carried a large cross and performed a 90-minute choreography that represented each stage of Christ’s last moments. 

“Every moment we spend with the Holy Father is exciting. It motivates us to keep our faith,” Pedro Puac, 27, of Guatemala, told AFP.  

‘Like a priest’ 

The pope, who arrived in Portugal on Wednesday, began his day by hearing confessions from three people from Italy, Spain and Guatemala who were in Lisbon for the festival. 

One of the youths, Francisco Valverde, 21, from Cordoba in southern Spain, told reporters that the Argentine Jesuit had quickly put him at ease. 

“I didn’t feel any type of shame, any pressure at any moment,” he said, adding the pope was “like a priest in any parish in any town.” 

Francis, who has made concern for the poor a hallmark of his papacy, also visited a community center in Lisbon’s impoverished Serafina neighborhood. 

Local residents applauded and cheered as the pope arrived. 

Francis high-fived a little boy in a wheelchair who was waiting outside before entering to thank the charity workers for helping others. 

Since becoming pope in 2013, he has made a point of visiting Rome’s poorest neighborhoods and was well-known for his visits to slums in Buenos Aires when he was archbishop of the Argentine capital. 

Rosaries and water bottles

On Saturday, the pope will travel to the Catholic shrine of Fatima in central Portugal and then celebrate an open-air vigil in the evening at a riverside park in a Lisbon suburb. 

He will deliver a Mass on Sunday in Lisbon on the last day of his five-day visit to Portugal, when temperatures are forecast to soar to 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 degrees Fahrenheit). 

Local authorities have repeatedly urged pilgrims to drink plenty of water. 

Registered participants received rucksacks containing reusable water bottles and sunhats, along with a rosary. 

World Youth Day, created in 1986 by John Paul II, is the largest Catholic gathering in the world and features a wide range of events, including concerts and prayer sessions. 

This edition, initially scheduled for August 2022 but postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, will be the fourth for Francis after Rio de Janeiro in 2013, Krakow in 2016 and Panama in 2019.
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Tensions are high along the Poland-Belarus border after two Belarusian helicopters entered Polish air space. Poland’s army has moved additional troops and combat helicopters close to the border and there is increasing talk about the possibility of military incursion. Eastern Europe chief Myroslava Gongadze traveled to the border and has this report.
Camera: Daniil Bratushchak
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U.S. bank JPMorgan this week stopped processing payments for the Russian Agricultural Bank, Russia said Friday, as it demanded action from Washington to help Russian grain and fertilizer reach global markets.

JPMorgan had handled some Russian grain export payments for the past few months with reassurances from Washington. However, that cooperation stopped this week, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Friday.

“The direct channel between the Russian Agricultural Bank and JPMorgan … was closed on Aug. 2,” foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova was quoted by Russian media as saying.

The United Nations, the U.S. State Department and JPMorgan declined to comment.

Moscow had allowed the safe export of Ukraine grain via the Black Sea for the past year under a deal it quit on July 17. Russia has a list of demands it wants met before it will return to the arrangement.

Under a related pact, also brokered in July 2022, U.N. officials agreed to help Russian food and fertilizer exports reach global markets.

“As soon as this is done, this deal will immediately be renewed,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday.

A key Russian demand has been the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank to the SWIFT international payments system. It was cut off by the European Union in June 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Zakharova, the foreign ministry spokesperson, said the West and the United Nations “tried to present (payment processing by JPMorgan) as a working alternative to SWIFT.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on Thursday that Washington would continue to do “whatever is necessary” to ensure Russia can freely export food if the Black Sea grain deal was revived.

While Russian exports of food and fertilizer are not subject to Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has said restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance have hindered shipments.

US says Russia has strong exports

Top U.S. State Department sanctions official James O’Brien said on Friday that Russia needed to be clear about what it was asking for and what constituted success, suggesting it should be how much food and fertilizer reaches the world.

“It has put forth a number of different demands and all of them having to do with various Russian institutions not getting services from the private sector,” he told reporters. “We have made clear that we’re prepared to help on any of these matters.”

“Russia is exporting record amounts of grain,” O’Brien said. “So if the measurement is food for the globe … Russia’s complaints amount to minor allegations about a system that is working very well.”

Russia may export at least 55 million metric tons of grain in the 2023/24 marketing season, slightly less than the estimated record-breaking 57 million metric tons in the 2022/23 season, Russia’s Grain Union said last month.

Ukrainian exports for the 2022/23 season were almost 49 million metric tons, according to Agriculture Ministry data. Nearly 33 million metric tons of that was shipped under the Black Sea deal.
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The Biden administration, which has sought to isolate Moscow diplomatically on the world stage, is supporting efforts to re-establish technical cooperation with Russia in one of the world’s most challenging geographical regions – the Arctic.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States has successfully lobbied to boot Moscow out of various international forums, including the U.N. human rights body and international aviation agency. Last year, President Joe Biden went so far as to call for Russia to be kicked out of the Group of 20 major economies, or G20, a proposal that fizzled due to a lack of support.

But the polar region is the one place where Washington is not icing Russia out completely. Specifically in the Arctic Council, a forum for the eight Arctic states, including the U.S. and Russia, to address common challenges such as climate change, shipping routes and indigenous people’s rights.

“The administration believes the Arctic Council should continue to serve as the premier forum for cooperation among Arctic states, including on sustainability, protecting the environment, addressing the impacts of climate change, scientific research, and on other issues of importance to member countries,” said a senior administration official, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity to discuss security issues.

With no end in sight for the war in Ukraine, the administration is now working with other members of the council — Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden — to re-establish some of the ties to Moscow that were fully suspended shortly after Russia’s invasion.

As programs ground to a halt last year, Russia remained chair of the council until it handed the baton to Norway in May 2023. Morten Høglund, the council’s chair of the Senior Arctic Officials, said they are aiming to begin work on a technical level.

“The Norwegian Chairship of the Arctic Council is in the process of consulting with all Arctic States and Indigenous Permanent Participants to develop guidelines for the resumption of Working Group-level work with all Arctic States, including the Russian Federation,” Høglund told VOA.

Russia’s acceptance

Russia has indicated it wants to remain in the council. During a press conference following the chairship handover, Nikolay Korchunov, Russia’s Arctic official, said Moscow wants “comprehensive security in the region” and is “absolutely not interested in escalating the tension in the Arctic.”

“It can all be sorted out by dialogue, which would strengthen the trust,” Korchunov said.

Trust is a tall order for the consensus-based council. With Finland joining NATO in April and Sweden soon to follow, Russian security interests are diametrically opposed to those of the transatlantic allies who now call themselves the Arctic Seven.

Amid increasing challenges, though, such as rapidly melting icecaps, loss of biodiversity, and increased needs for disaster response, there’s little choice but to seek room to collaborate.

The task is now to find the gaps in the current diplomatic freeze and identify areas where scientific cooperation and other forms of non-governmental dialogue are possible, and to prepare for a post-conflict period, said Pavel Devyatkin, a senior associate at the Arctic Institute.

“Practical cooperation can build trust, especially between rivals,” he told VOA. “Though government-level science may be restricted, cooperation at the individual-level is still manageable but has many obstacles such as visa restrictions and closed consulates.”

Rationale for cooperation

The main rationale is Russia’s sheer size. With a land area of 17,098 million square kilometers, it makes up 45% of the geographical Arctic, and its coastline accounts for 53% of the Arctic Ocean coastline.

With climate change causing the ice to recede, international shipping is making increasing use of the Northern Sea Route, or NSR, which follows Russia’s coast from the Barents Sea to the Bering Strait. Ships sailing through the NSR need Moscow’s permission and an escort from Russia’s icebreaker fleet, the largest in the world.

However, the “most serious loss would be the loss of Russian data,” said Patrick James, professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California. Without Moscow’s participation, he told VOA, climatological research will suffer.

This includes research for the council’s Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program that has proven instrumental for global policy. AMAP studies showing the buildup of toxic chemicals in the blood of polar species critical to Indigenous People’s diets helped shape the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

China–Russia ties

Continued Western sanctions have pushed Moscow to increasingly depend on Beijing as a source of financing for energy projects, such as the Yamal LNG Terminal, and infrastructure plans to develop the Arctic region.

“Developing the Northern Sea Route was always a Russian goal,” said Stephanie Pezard, senior political scientist focusing on Arctic Security at RAND Corporation. “And right now, they don’t have any partners to do that, except China.”

For Beijing, investing in Russian sea ports will help with access to the Northern Sea Route, she told VOA. China has no Arctic coastline but calls itself a “Near-Arctic Power.”

The degree of Russian-Chinese strategic polar partnership is ambiguous, however, said the Arctic Institute’s Devyatkin.

“Despite the hype around the Polar Silk Road, there has been no shipping from the Chinese Overseas Shipping Company, or COSCO, along the Northern Sea Route since February 2022,” he said. “It is also unlikely that Russia would allow a permanent Chinese military presence in the Arctic to rival its own defensive complex in the region.”

From Beijing’s point of view there is a limit to how much alignment it should seek with Moscow as it tries to promote itself as a responsible stakeholder deserving a voice in Arctic affairs, said Matthew Funaiole, a China Power Project senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

And while the polar region is emerging as a space with plenty of structural tensions, Funaiole said it’s too early to conclude it has become another front for U.S.-China rivalry, the primary theater for which remains in the Indo Pacific.

“The Arctic is not going to supplant that anytime in the near future,” he told VOA.
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A film taking place during Russia’s war on Ukraine was recently screened before the U.S. Congress. It tells the story of two Ukrainian teens who were forcibly transferred to a Russian-occupied territory. Andriy Borys has this report, narrated by Anna Rice. VOA footage by Viacheslav Filiushkin
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MELEKHOVO, Russia — A Russian court convicted imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny of extremism charges and sentenced him to 19 years in prison Friday. Navalny is already serving a nine-year term on a variety of charges that he says were politically motivated.

The new charges against the politician related to the activities of Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation and statements by his top associates. It was his fifth criminal conviction, all of which his supporters see as a deliberate Kremlin strategy to silence its most ardent opponent.

The prosecution had demanded a 20-year prison sentence, and the politician himself said beforehand that he expected to receive a lengthy term.

Navalny is already serving a nine-year sentence for fraud and contempt of court. He also was sentenced in 2021 to two and a half years in prison for a parole violation. The extremism trial took place behind closed doors in the penal colony east of Moscow where he is imprisoned.

Navalny appeared in the courtroom Friday afternoon wearing prison garb and looking gaunt but with a defiant smile on his face. As the judge read out the verdict, the politician stood alongside his lawyers and his co-defendant with his arms crossed, listening with a serious expression on his face.

Putin’s fiercest opponent

The 47-year-old Navalny is President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe and has exposed official corruption and organized major anti-Kremlin protests. He was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.

Navalny’s allies said the extremism charges retroactively criminalized all of the anti-corruption foundation’s activities since its creation in 2011. In 2021, Russian authorities outlawed the foundation and the vast network of Navalny’s offices in Russian regions as extremist organizations, exposing anyone involved to possible prosecution.

One of Navalny’s associates, Daniel Kholodny, stood trial alongside him after being relocated from a different prison. The prosecution requested a 10-year prison sentence for Kholodny.

Navalny rejected all the charges against him as politically motivated and accused the Kremlin of seeking to keep him behind bars for life.

On the eve of the verdict hearing, Navalny released a statement on social media, presumably through his team, in which he said he expected his latest sentence to be “huge … a Stalinist term,” referring to the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

In the statement, Navalny called on Russians to “personally” resist and encouraged them to support political prisoners, distribute flyers or go to a rally. He told Russians that they could choose a safe way to resist, but he added that “there is shame in doing nothing. It’s shameful to let yourself be intimidated.”

‘Punishment cell’

The politician is currently serving his sentence in a maximum-security prison — Penal Colony No. 6 in the town of Melekhovo, about 230 kilometers (143 miles) east of Moscow.

He has spent months in a tiny one-person cell, also called a “punishment cell,” for purported disciplinary violations, such as an alleged failure to properly button his prison clothes, appropriately introduce himself to a guard or wash his face at a specified time.

About 40 supporters from different Russian cities gathered outside the colony in Melekhovo on Friday, one of them told The Associated Press in the messaging app Telegram. Yelena, who spoke on condition that her last name be withheld for safety reasons, said the supporters weren’t allowed into the colony but decided to stay outside until the verdict was announced.

“People think it’s important to be nearby at least like that, for moral support,” she said. “We will be waiting.”

The prosecution asked the court to order the politician to serve any new prison term in a “special regime” penal colony, a term that refers to the Russian prisons with the highest level of security and the harshest inmate restrictions.

Russian law stipulates that only men given life sentences or “especially dangerous recidivists” are sent to those types of prisons.

The country has many fewer “special regime” colonies compared to other types of adult prisons, according to state penitentiary service data: 35 colonies for “dangerous recidivists” and six for men imprisoned for life. Maximum-security colonies are the most widespread type, with 251 currently in operation.
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The Biden administration says they don’t expect “tangible deliverables” from upcoming Ukraine peace plan talks hosted by Saudi Arabia but rather a continuing discussion on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “peace formula” for ending the brutal conflict.

John Kirby, director of strategic communications for the National Security Council, also told VOA on Thursday that the administration continues to work with Saudi Arabia on a process of eventual normalization with Israel, and that the administration believes that normalization is “better for our national security interests.”

The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

VOA: I’d like to start with Ukraine peace plan talks in Jeddah. Can this summit be an effective way to get more countries behind Ukraine’s peace plan, especially countries from the Global South?

John Kirby, National Security Council: I think what you’re going to see coming out of Jeddah is a continuation of a process to socialize the peace formula that President Zelenskyy has put forward and to find ways to actualize it, to move on it, to help get traction for it. So the short answer to your question is, yes. Part of the object here is to expose more of the international community to President Zelenskyy’s peace formula and try to garner some support for that moving forward. A key component of this and something we should never lose sight of is the respect for territorial integrity, for sovereignty. Because President Zelenskyy’s whole formula really hinges on that idea, that principal idea in the [United Nations] charter. And that’s something that every nation – except Russia, of course – can sign up to.

VOA: Mexican President [Andres Manuel Lopez] Obrador has said that his country will only participate if both Ukraine and Russia are at the peace talks. At what point does the administration believe that Russia can be included? What needs to happen?

Kirby: I think it’s important to remember what this is and what it’s not. This is not peace talks. This is not negotiations about ending the war. People shouldn’t look at the meeting in Jeddah as a forum through which there’s going to be certain and tangible deliverables. This is really about having an ongoing conversation about what this peace formula can look like. Whenever Mr. Zelenskyy is ready to sit down with Mr. [Vladimir] Putin – and that doesn’t appear to be anytime soon – we have said and will continue to say that Mr. Zelenskyy’s perspectives, Ukraine’s perspectives, have to be the foundational element. They have to be fully respected as negotiations occur. But we’re just not there yet. Mr. Putin has shown no indication that he’s willing to negotiate – quite the contrary. We’re seeing more attacks in just the last 24 to 48 hours on grain shipments in the Danube River. He’s doing everything possible to not only try to hold on to the territory that doesn’t belong to him in eastern Ukraine, but limit Ukraine’s ability to export grain and foodstuffs to many countries around the world, including the Global South.

VOA: Is there a timeframe that the administration believes would be most effective to find a solution for an effective, just and durable peace – and is there a concern that the 2024 presidential campaign could impact U.S. support for Ukraine?

Kirby: It’s difficult to put a timeframe on what that end is going to look like. Right now, we are focused squarely on making sure that Ukrainian armed forces can be successful in their counteroffensive so that they can claw back even more territory that belongs to them from Russian forces and hopefully push Mr. Putin to the table. But again, we’re just not at that point right now.

VOA: You’re confident that the U.S. election will not impact this?

Kirby: This has nothing to do with domestic politics and everything to do with Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

VOA: [National security adviser] Jake Sullivan was in Jeddah last week, and President [Joe] Biden is pushing for diplomatic normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. What is he willing to provide to Riyadh to secure that?

Kirby: We are having ongoing conversations with our partners in the Middle East about trying to achieve a more cooperative region, a more integrated region. And we believe that normalization with Israel can be a key part of that. And so Mr. Sullivan’s conversations were a continuation of discussions that we have been having since the beginning of the administration. We certainly would like to see normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, but we understand and respect that that has got to be up to those two countries. We do believe that an Israel that is more integrated in the region is better for the region, quite frankly, it’s better for our national security interests.

VOA: Riyadh is seeking a security pact from Washington as a part of a normalization deal with Israel. Is this something the president would consider?

Kirby: I don’t want to get ahead of where we are in discussions. These are ongoing talks about how to get better regional cooperation and regional integration. And there’s no agreed-to framework right now, no set agreement or a final negotiation on what the regional integration looks like.

VOA: I want to circle back [to Ukraine-related talks] in Saudi Arabia. The fact that it’s happening there and also the fact we expect to see more representatives from countries from the Global South – what does this say to Putin? Because Moscow said they will be watching.

Kirby: I certainly hope that they are watching and I hope that they take away from this that more and more countries around the world are realizing that what Mr. Putin is doing is illegal, unprovoked and completely in violation of the U.N. charter. I also hope that when they’re watching, the Russians realize that more and more countries are beginning to see that Mr. Putin’s reckless decision to pull out of that grain deal is making them more hungry, is exacerbating existing famine conditions in many countries and contributing to food insecurity in places throughout the Global South. Many, many African leaders are realizing that the troubles that they’re experiencing at home on the continent are directly related to what Mr. Putin is doing in Ukraine. 
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called out Russia Thursday at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council for the effect its invasion of Ukraine is having on global hunger. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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Canada is publicly acknowledging for the first time that families, including Canadians, who lost loved ones when Iran shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet in 2020, have asked the International Criminal Court to take action.

The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims announced last September that it had made a legal submission to the ICC prosecutor’s office to expand an investigation of alleged war crimes in Ukraine to include the Iranian missile strike that downed the Ukraine International Airlines plane. The incident happened as the jet took off from Tehran on January 8, 2020.

The strike killed all 176 people on board, most of them Iranians and Iranian Canadians who were flying to Canada via Kyiv. Iran says its forces mistook the plane for an incoming U.S. missile.

The prosecutor’s office at The Hague-based ICC has made no public statement about whether it has opened or intends to open a preliminary examination of the association’s nearly 12-month-old request. The ICC is a permanent international court governed by a treaty called the Rome Statute that investigates and tries individuals accused of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

Under ICC rules, when considering taking up a case, the prosecutor’s office must determine whether there is sufficient evidence of a crime of sufficient gravity falling within the ICC’s jurisdiction, whether that crime is subject to genuine national legal proceedings, and whether opening an ICC investigation would serve the interests of justice and the victims.

“If the requirements are not met for initiating an investigation, or if the situation or crimes are not under the ICC’s jurisdiction, the ICC’s prosecution cannot investigate,” the court’s website says.

In a message sent to VOA on July 29, Canada’s high commissioner in Britain, Ralph Goodale, offered the first public comment by a Canadian official on the families’ request.

Goodale was appointed in March 2020 as a special adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Ottawa’s response to Iran’s downing of Flight PS752. Goodale told VOA that he has continued his advisory role since assuming the ambassadorial post in London in 2021.

“The ICC process is an option that was open to the families to request. They have done so. It is now a matter for the independent ICC Prosecutor to examine and determine,” Goodale wrote.

In an interview for the July 19 edition of VOA’s Flashpoint Iran podcast, the association’s Canada-based spokesman, Kourosh Doustshenas, expressed disappointment that neither Ottawa nor any other government has publicly supported the group’s ICC request.

ICC rules allow its prosecutor’s office to start an investigation on its own initiative or upon request from any of the 123 states that are parties to the Rome Statute. Those states include Canada, Britain and Sweden, three nations that lost citizens in the downing of Flight PS752. Ukraine, a fourth nation whose citizens were killed, is not a state party, but has accepted ICC jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed on its territory since November 2013.

Britain, Canada, Sweden and Ukraine initiated separate legal action against Iran last month at the International Court of Justice. Also based in The Hague, the ICJ is the main judicial organ of the United Nations, responsible for settling legal disputes between states.

In their July 4 application to the ICJ, the four nations alleged breaches of international legal obligations by Iran in relation to the downing. Tehran rejected the move and accused the complainants of acting in pursuit of “political objectives.”

“We have been trying to find out why these countries are reluctant to support our case at the ICC,” Doustshenas told VOA. “We understand that [the ICC prosecutors] are overwhelmed with all kinds of investigations that they are currently undertaking, namely investigations of atrocities in Ukraine and elsewhere. But we do not want our case to be forgotten.”

In his message to VOA, Goodale said that Britain, Canada, Sweden and Ukraine have “taken nothing off the table” in their pursuit of transparency, accountability and justice for the families of the Flight PS752 victims.

“But we are making certain that in the welter of legal moves that might be made, we are proceeding with proper sequencing on a solid footing without mistakes or self-imposed errors,” Goodale wrote.

In reference to the ICC, Goodale said, “As Mr. Doustshenas points out, that office has a lot on its plate right now. In the meantime, we will continue to press forward on other fronts. When you read the text of the remedies we are seeking in the ICJ, they correspond in a major way with the demands of the families from the very beginning.”

The four nations have asked the ICJ to declare that Iran violated the 1971 (Montreal) Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation. They also want the court to order Iran to apologize and extradite or prosecute alleged offenders in a transparent and impartial manner, and require it to return missing belongings of victims and provide full compensation for the families’ suffering.

The families’ association, which thanked the four nations for the ICJ application, has said its primary goal is to “reveal the truth [about Flight PS752] and bring the perpetrators to justice,” which it says will “help put a stop to such heinous crimes.”
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A Syrian national accused of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes during the early stages of the Syrian Civil War has been arrested in Germany, prosecutors announced Thursday.

The federal prosecutor’s office said the suspect was detained on July 26 in the northern city of Bremen. He was remanded in custody on Thursday.

Named only as Ahmad H., the suspect is accused of perpetrating the atrocity crimes of torture and enslavement between 2012 and 2015 as a local leader of pro-government “shabiha” militiamen in Damascus. The militiamen were tasked with helping crush local dissent.

The militia allegedly operated checkpoints where “people were arrested arbitrarily so that they or their family members could be extorted for money, committed to forced labor or tortured,” prosecutors said.

The alleged crimes took place within the broader context of Syria’s brutal, ongoing civil war, which was sparked by severe suppression of protests in 2011 by the government of President Bashar Assad.

The countrywide conflict that followed has been characterized by rampant atrocity crimes, including crimes against humanity and war crimes. Assad has denied all accusations of atrocity crimes.

Since the start of the conflict, more than 580,000 people have been killed, and nearly 13 million people have been displaced.

In 2015, Germany allowed hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees to enter the country.

Since then, Germany has become a global leader in the prosecution of Syrian war criminals under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows courts to prosecute suspects accused of committing mass atrocity crimes anywhere in the world.

Some information in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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BRISBANE, Australia — Germany failed to reach the knockout stage for the first time at the Women’s World Cup after being held to a 1-1 draw against South Korea on Thursday.

Morocco’s 1-0 win over Colombia meant Germany needed a win to advance. Led by captain Alexandra Popp, Germany created numerous scoring opportunities but could not find the winner. Colombia topped Group H and Morocco took second place, both with six points. Germany finished with four.

KEY MOMENTS

South Korea struck early in the sixth minute when a defense-splitting pass from Lee Youngju found Cho Sohyun, who produced a calm finish.

In the 42nd minute, Popp equalized for Germany with a towering header off a cross from Svenja Huth.

Germany chased the winning goal throughout the second half. The Germans had a would-be winning goal from Popp overturned by video assistant referee in the 57th minute. Just a few minutes later, Popp came close to scoring with another header but was denied by the crossbar.

Germany’s final scoring opportunities came in the 11th and 12th minutes of stoppage when two shots from Sydney Lohmann missed wide and high.

WHY IT MATTERS

Germany, the second-ranked team in the world, failed to advance from the group stage for the first time in nine appearances in the Women’s World Cup.

South Korea finished in last place in the group with one point but can feel good about holding the two-time champions to a draw.

WHAT’S NEXT

As third- and fourth-place finishers in the group, Germany and South Korea will be heading home.

Colombia will face Jamaica in Melbourne, while Morocco will head to Adelaide to take on France in the round of 16.
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A decision by Kosovo’s government to revoke the business license of one of the country’s leading media outlets has sparked criticism and protests.

The dispute centers on the business registration documents of  broadcaster Klan Kosova, which authorities say are in violation of the constitution.

But analysts say the move to revoke a business license is at odds with laws regulating corporate activities, and they expressed concerns about action against a media outlet seen as critical of the government.

The decision can be appealed in court. As of Wednesday, Klan Kosova, one of the largest privately owned broadcasters in the country, remained on the air.

The government said that in its business registration, Klan Kosova’s owners had named municipalities in Kosovo as if they belonged to Serbia.

A copy of the company’s registration certificate obtained by VOA shows the station is now registered with a Kosovo address.

The station said it had changed its business documents and as of June 20 had listed Kosovo in all its records at the request of the Independent Media Commission, the country’s media regulatory body.

Kosovo declared its independence in 2008 and is recognized by the United States and most of Europe. But Serbia does not recognize Kosovo and claims it as part of its territory. Tensions between the two can run high.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti dismissed criticism of his government’s decision on Klan Kosova.

“Media freedoms are vital: an attack on them is an attack on democracy. But democracy is also assaulted when powerful businesspeople break the law for financial gain. And enforcing the law against such people’s violations does not — in any way — constitute an attack on media freedom,” Kurti wrote Saturday on social media.

Ardi Shita, a Kosovo commercial lawyer, said the government’s ruling is at odds with the law that regulates corporations.

“Here we have a serious problem with the interpretation and the implementation of the legal dispositions on corporations,” he told VOA.

The Association of Journalists of Kosovo said it was alarmed about what it described as a “politically motivated” decision.

“This is the first time a decision was made to shut down a media since the end of the war,” the association said in a statement.

Embassies for the U.S, Britain, France, Germany and Italy all registered concern, calling it a “disproportionate decision that will have repercussions on media plurality.”

International media watchdogs also said they were worried by the move.

“We believe that suspension of the license of a media, which can lead to revocation of its broadcasting license, is an extreme measure and should only be taken in extraordinary circumstances,” Attila Mong, Europe representative at the Committee to Protect Journalists, told VOA.

U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier said Tuesday that he hoped for “a transparent, fair and swift” resolution to the dispute.

“Every time a government takes a decision that could impact a media’s ability to broadcast, at least it should be done after a very careful consideration and as a last resort, because the freedom of media is very important,” he told reporters in the capital, Pristina.

Kurti argued on Saturday that “following registration rules is a legal duty, not a ‘technicality.’”

“Enforcing such rules against a single violator does nothing to threaten media pluralism,” he said on social media.

But Ilir Ibrahimi of the Kosovo Business Club, an independent entity that advocates for investment in Kosovo, said such moves could damage the country’s economic prospects.

“The main problem that Kosovo’s economy faces are the internal attacks against it from the government. If these big corporations leave and they decide to invest elsewhere … then Kosovo’s economy will collapse,” he told VOA.

As journalists in Kosovo marched toward the government building in Pristina on Monday holding a banner that said, “Democracy dies in darkness,” Klan Kosova’s editor-in-chief, Gazmend Syla, said the company would take the matter to the courts.

“We strongly believe in justice, and we strongly believe that the courts will not fall under the government’s or anybody’s influence,” Syla said.

Edlira Bllaca from Pristina and Isak Ramadani from Skopje contributed to this report, which originated in VOA’s Albanian Service. 
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Pope Francis on Wednesday said the Catholic Church needs a “humble and ongoing purification” to deal with the “anguished cries” of victims of clerical sexual abuse, who he met privately on the first day of his visit to Portugal.

Francis was speaking in Lisbon at the start of a five-day visit to the country in which he hopes to energize young Catholics during World Youth Day, the world’s largest Catholic festival.

Six months ago, a report by a Portuguese commission said at least 4,815 minors were sexually abused by clergy — mostly priests — over seven decades.

The crisis “calls us to a humble and ongoing purification, starting with the anguished cry of the victims, who must always be accepted and listened to,” Francis said in an address to bishops, priests and religious sisters at an evening vespers service in a monastery.

He spoke of today’s “growing detachment from the practice of the faith,” saying it had been accentuated by widespread disappointment and anger over the global abuse crisis and other scandals.

Francis met privately with 13 abuse victims at the Vatican embassy in Lisbon on Wednesday evening, with the Holy See saying in a statement that the meeting took place in an “atmosphere of intense listening” and lasted over an hour.

The Vatican added that the victims were accompanied by some representatives of institutions of the Portuguese Church responsible for the protection of minors.

The Portuguese Bishops’ Conference said in a statement that the meeting was “of the path of reconciliation that the Portuguese Church in Portugal has been following in this area, putting victims first, collaborating in their reparation and recovery, so that it is possible for them to look to the future with hope and renewed freedom.”

Young Catholics converge on Lisbon

The pope landed in Lisbon to a sea of young Catholics who have poured into the city from around the globe for the World Youth Day festival, held every two or three years in a different city. It is the fourth such event Francis will preside over since becoming pope in 2013.

In Lisbon, young believers jumped and sang as they proudly waved their country’s flag outside the Vatican embassy, where the pope is residing. Young Catholics from nearly every country in the world have registered for the event.

World Youth Day “is a sign of faith and union in which all of us get together for a cause,” said 20-year-old Carlos Hernandez. “It’s very emotional.”

Francis has enacted numerous changes in the Church and has been pushing on with a series of reforms he hopes could leave a lasting legacy.

But he faces a delicate balance between appealing to more liberal believers and upsetting conservatives by giving women more roles and making the church more welcoming and less judgmental toward some, including LGBT people.

At the opening Mass on Tuesday before the pope arrived, Australian Andrew De Santos, 35, expressed hope the next generation would be able to move on from “errors” of the past.

Three huge billboards raising awareness of clerical sexual abuse were put up overnight in Lisbon hours before Francis’ arrival. One was later removed.

‘Stir things up’

On the plane to Portugal for the youth event, Francis vowed to “continue to stir things up,” a reference to his call during an earlier World Youth Day in Brazil to not be complacent but to make noise and instill change.

The 86-year-old pope, who is making his first trip since intestinal surgery in June and uses a wheelchair and cane, appeared in good form and said he hoped to return to Rome on Sunday “rejuvenated by his encounter with young people.”

In his first speech of the trip, to President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and diplomats at a cultural center, Francis said the world was “sailing amid storms on the ocean of history”, including the war in Ukraine, and urged Europe to find the resolve to help end it and other conflicts.

He said Europe should divert money spent on armaments toward boosting education and funding family-friendly legislation to help reverse a falling birth rate aggravated by prohibitive costs of housing for young couples.

He also urged Europe to rise to the challenge of “welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating” migrants, both for humanitarian reasons and as a means of boosting dwindling populations.
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Planeloads of French citizens are returning home. Anti-French demonstrations are peppered with Russian flags. French military and political interests are once again under attack in the Sahel as another onetime ally is toppled in a coup.

Last month’s military power grab in Niger follows those of Burkina Faso and Mali, all former French colonies, amid mounting anti-French sentiment over the past two years. Not so long ago, their leaders and military collaborated closely with Paris, as part of a five-nation regional G5 Sahel alliance — including Mauritania and Chad — fighting a spreading jihadist insurgency.

Today, France’s military has left Mali and Burkina Faso and the 1,500 troops stationed in Niger face an uncertain future, although Paris says they will remain, at least for now. Citizens of those countries, who once cheered French forces for liberating cities and towns from militants, are now telling them to go home.

“An era is over, that in which France positioned itself as the anti-jihadist policeman of a region five times greater than its territory,” wrote right-wing French newspaper Challenges in an editorial calling for a serious rethink by Paris of its “broken down” Africa strategy.

“It is indispensable to listen to the concerned societies,” it added, “including that which doesn’t please.”

Early Wednesday, the first French evacuees from Niger returned home on two military planes. Another two, also carrying other European and foreign nationals, were to follow.

“I’m sad to leave Niger,” one French expatriate named Charles told reporters as he arrived at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport. “I’ll be following the situation closely in the coming days.”

Besides French troops, companies mining uranium needed for France’s nuclear reactors are staying put for now, say officials.

“The departure of French military is absolutely not on the agenda,” army spokesman Pierre Gaudilliere told France-Info radio Wednesday.

Yet attacks against France are mounting. On Sunday, pro-coup demonstrators hurled gasoline bombs over the wall of France’s embassy in Niamey, chanting, “Down with France.” They trampled on the embassy’s plaque, and erected Russian and Nigerien flags in its place.

On Monday, Niger’s military junta accused France of plotting a military intervention in the country — an allegation swiftly rebutted by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.

“It’s wrong,” Colonna told France’s BFM TV channel, denouncing anti-French sentiment and misinformation circulating in the country.

She described the Russian flags and anti-French slogans in Niamey as reflecting “what one could see elsewhere,” and said they mirrored “all the usual ingredients of destabilization of the Russian-African model.”

In Burkina Faso and Mali, too, analysts say Russia has been behind anti-French propaganda, and Russian mercenary group Wagner filled the void left by French forces in Mali.

“The question is this collapse is going very, very fast,” France 24 veteran reporter Cyril Payen told the news channel, referring to the Sahel. “And Niger was the last democratic bastion.”

A big question now, he added, was the future of France’s anti-terrorism operation in the Sahel, following the coup.

“It’s clearly a situation pretty catastrophic for the French, but also for the Americans” he said, who have more than 1,000 forces stationed in Niger.

France’s waning influence and image stretches far beyond the Sahel, to democracies like Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire, where official relations are good, but anti-French views on the streets are common.

Analysts cite a mix of reasons for Paris’ sinking image, from shrinking foreign aid and growing security and economic challenges facing the countries, to new players in Africa, including China, Russia and Turkey.

Disinformation circulating in some mainstream and social media, partly driven by Russia, has helped stoke negative sentiments. That – along with the legacy of France-Afrique — a pejorative term referring to France’s relationship with its former colonies.

Successive leaders, including current French President Emmanuel Macron, have promised to reboot ties with francophone Africa. Last year, Macron announced the end of France’s anti-jihadist Barkhane operation in the Sahel, although French forces would remain in smaller numbers and alongside other European troops.

Earlier this year, he promised also to downsize France’s military presence elsewhere in Africa, including closing bases and possibly “co-managing” others with African hosts.

But some critics say a bigger reboot is needed.

“Now that the Sahel is almost lost, let’s not commit the same errors in Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire,” tweeted former French diplomat and ambassador to the United States Gerard Araud. “Let’s change the shape of our presence completely. Close our bases. Learn discretion.”
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MOSCOW – Russia’s Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by prominent investigative journalist Ivan Safronov against his 22-year prison sentence for high treason.

Safronov, 33, was convicted last year of giving Russian military information to Czech intelligence and a Russian-German political scientist, charges he denies.

The appeal hearing was held in private and journalists were invited only to hear the court’s decision, which left his sentence unchanged, Russian news agencies reported.

His prison sentence has been criticized by human rights groups and former colleagues, who argue that he was targeted for writing about embarrassing incidents in the Russian army.

He had worked as a special correspondent for Russia’s Kommersant newspaper, where he wrote about Russian defense contracts and arms deliveries. After coming under increased pressure from management, he left the paper in 2019 and briefly worked at state space agency Roscosmos in an advisory role before his arrest in 2020.

Since launching full-scale hostilities against Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has ramped up efforts to stamp out independent journalism.

Dozens of journalists have left the country, and reporting about sensitive topics such as the conflict in Ukraine and the Russian military has become increasingly difficult.

Safronov is considered an expert on the Russian military. His father, Ivan Safronov Sr., also wrote about military issues before he died in a fall from his Moscow apartment in 2007.
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Thembi Kgatlana scored early in stoppage time Wednesday to give South Africa a 3-2 win over Italy and send it into the knockout rounds of a Women’s World Cup for the first time.

On a night of high drama and low temperatures, Hilda Magaia scored in the 67th minute to put South Africa 2-1 ahead before Arianna Caruso equalized with her second goal of the match from a Cristiana Girelli corner, briefly denting South African hopes.

A draw would have been enough to put eighth-ranked Italy into the knockout rounds.

Instead, South Africa will play Netherlands in a round of 16 match on Sunday. Sweden finished atop Group G after beating Argentina 1-0 and will next play the defending champion U.S. team.

Caruso’s 11th-minute penalty and Benedetta Orsi’s own goal earlier had combined to make it 1-1 in the first half in Wellington, where a southerly wind dropped temperatures close to freezing and reduced the crowd to around 10,000, mostly South Africans.

Karabo Dhlamini cut down Chiara Beccarri from behind on the edge of the area in the 11th, and Caruso sent her spot kick low and to the right of Kaylin Swart for her first World Cup goal.

Orsi mis-timed her no-look pass back to Fransesca Durante in the 32nd and the keeper’s attempt at a sliding stop came too late to prevent the ball heading straight into the Italian goal.

Robyn Moodaly hit the post with a searing right-foot shot in the 21st and the VAR ruled out another Italy penalty for a hand ball before halftime. Italy had 66% of possession and more chances in the half but South Africa had a majority among supporters who braved the weather.

Play in Group G reached a conclusion which had elements of a well-turned thriller, with the last two matches played concurrently and almost every possibility still in play. As South Africa and Italy began their last group match in front of a small crowd, Sweden and Argentina kicked off in Hamilton.

That created the possibility of over-lapping finishes with placings established after one match still being contingent on the other.

Sweden led the group before Wednesday’s games with six points and a goal differential of + 6; Italy was second with three points, Argentina and South Africa had one point each. That meant Sweden was definitely through to the round of 16, Italy had one foot in the knockout rounds and Argentina and South Africa both still could qualify with a win — depending on the outcomes.

But South Africa’s chances were only slight Wednesday.

South Africa took its first World Cup point when it drew 2-2 with Argentina five days ago. It led that match before Argentina scored two quick goals to draw, and also led before going down 2-1 to Sweden.

South Africa already has made an indelible mark on the tournament. Always high-spirited, it projects joy at being on the big stage. The South Africa players danced and sang before Wednesday’s match in their locker room and on the field as they warmed up. They gave their song full voice at the end to hail an historic moment for South African women’s sport.
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A much-changed Sweden side reached the Women’s World Cup last 16 with a perfect record after Rebecka Blomqvist’s second-half header and substitute Elin Rubensson’s 90th-minute penalty helped them beat Argentina 2-0 on Wednesday. 

Blomqvist met Sofia Jakobsson’s cross with a fantastic header in the 66th minute to put the third-ranked Swedes firmly on course to advance as Group G winners, with Rubensson sealing the win with a superbly taken spot kick. 

Argentina, which lost midfielder Florencia Bonsegundo to injury minutes before the break, needed a victory to stand any chance of going through but never really troubled the Swedish defense or goalkeeper Jennifer Falk. 

They remain without a win in their four World Cup appearances and finished bottom of the group. 

Sweden will next face the United States in a blockbuster clash in Melbourne on Sunday — a rematch of the Olympic quarter-finals in 2021 when the Europeans won 3-0 en route to the final. 

Having already secured qualification after winning their first two games, Sweden only needed a point to top the group and coach Peter Gerhardsson made nine changes to the side that thrashed Italy 5-0. 

Only defenders Amanda Ilestedt and Magdalena Eriksson retained their places and Sweden was far from its rampant best, with Olivia Schough’s weak free kick their only shot on target in a disjointed first half. 

Blomqvist finally got the breakthrough after the hour mark and was brought down inside the penalty area by Gabriela Chavez in the closing minutes to allow Rubensson to drive the resulting penalty into the roof of the net. 
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The French and Japanese air forces have conducted aerial exercises in Japan, the first of their kind between the two allies. But even as Paris seeks to build its military alliances in the Indo-Pacific region, France has blocked proposals to open a NATO liaison office in Tokyo.

The four-day joint drills are part of a larger French exercise, codenamed Pegase 2023, taking place across the Indo-Pacific in the coming weeks, including in French island territories.

“It’s natural that France, a resident nation of the Indo-Pacific, is particularly concerned by the geopolitical tensions felt in the region as a result of competition between the great powers,” General Stephane Mille, chief of staff of the French Air and Space Force, told reporters at a July 28 news conference in Japan’s Saitama prefecture.

China tensions

Those tensions are also felt by NATO, which describes China as a challenge to the Western alliance’s “interests, security and values.” China rejects that characterization. The NATO Strategic Concept cites Beijing’s buildup of its armed forces, its “malicious hybrid and cyber operations,” and its efforts to subvert the rules-based international order among its reasons for concern.

Closer cooperation in the Indo-Pacific is in NATO’s interest, says Michito Tsuruoka, a security analyst at Keio University and a visiting fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre in Canberra, Australia.

“NATO’s interest is very much affected by what takes place in the Indo-Pacific region. So that means that NATO has to be more engaged for its own interest,” Tsuruoka told VOA in an interview on Saturday.

“Another increasingly important pillar in NATO-Japan cooperation is about standardization and interoperability – so standardization of equipment and interoperability between the forces,” Tsuruoka said.

NATO office

At its July annual summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, NATO put forward the opening of a liaison office in Tokyo. However, French President Emmanuel Macron blocked the move.

“It’s pretty clear that President Macron wants to avert any sort of escalation, or dynamic that could lead to escalation, with China,” said Fabrice Pothier, a former NATO head of policy planning and now the CEO of the consultancy group Rasmussen Global, in an interview with VOA on Tuesday. “And he probably considers putting the NATO flag somewhere in the Indo-Pacific – even though it’s a very symbolic flag – as a bit too provocative.”

China warned the opening of a NATO office in Tokyo would “destabilize” the region. There is no such danger, says analyst Tsuruoka.

“Because what we are talking about, what NATO is talking about, is just a one-person office. So, it will never change the balance of power in the region,” Tsuruoka told VOA. “It’s just a sort of technical innovation in terms of the way in which NATO deals with the Indo-Pacific region. It’s not about NATO troops coming to Asia, or NATO now having responsibility to deter China. That’s not the case.”

Bilateral relations

For now, Paris is pushing bilateral relations with Indo-Pacific allies, Pothier said.

“France is always keen on underlining that NATO is a Euro-Atlantic organization with somehow clear geographic boundaries and responsibilities. And that going beyond that is basically going beyond its core mandate.”

The idea of a NATO office in Tokyo could be revived, he added.

“It could take some compromise and some time. But I think there could also be some alternative. You could consider the Japanese in a way offering to create and host a center of excellence with some other NATO countries,” Pothier said.
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The British government on Tuesday recognized as genocide those crimes committed against the Yazidi minority by Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq in 2014.

The decision comes days before the ninth anniversary of the crimes that were perpetrated by the terror group also known as ISIS or Daesh.

“The Yazidi population suffered immensely at the hands of Daesh nine years ago, and the repercussions are still felt to this day,” Britain’s minister of state for the Middle East, Tariq Ahmad, said in a statement. “Justice and accountability are key for those whose lives have been devastated.”

Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking religious minority viewed as infidels by IS extremists.

In August 2014, IS carried out a massive attack on Sinjar, once home to the largest Yazidi community in the world. At least 5,000 Yazidis, mostly men and boys, were killed during the attack on the northern Iraqi city.

IS then kidnapped thousands of Yazidi children and women, who subsequently were used as sex slaves and child soldiers. More than 2,000 of them are still missing.

Yazidi activists welcomed the move by Britain, saying this could help alleviate their suffering years after IS was militarily defeated in Iraq and Syria.

“Thousands died, thousands more were enslaved and so many of us are displaced and traumatized. I hope this step … brings us closer to justice,” tweeted Nadia Murad, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was kidnapped by IS in 2014.

Zara Saleh, a London-based Kurdish affairs analyst, said the decision came after years of intensive lobbying by the Yazidi community.

“This means the British government will dedicate more resources to try to hold ISIS criminals accountable for their crimes against Yazidis, Kurds and other ethnic and religious groups in Iraq and Syria,” Saleh told VOA.

A United Nations team in 2021 determined that IS atrocities against Yazidis constituted genocide.

In 2016, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution acknowledging that IS was perpetrating genocide against Yazidis and Christians. In 2018, the U.S. Congress passed the Iraq and Syria Genocide and Relief and Accountability Act.
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Ukraine and Poland called in the ambassadors from each other’s countries on Tuesday as a dispute escalated after a foreign policy adviser to Poland’s president said Kyiv should show more appreciation for Warsaw’s support in its war with Russia. 

The adviser, Marcin Przydacz, also said the Polish government must defend the interests of the country’s farmers – a reference to a ban on imports of Ukrainian commodities which will expire next month. 

Kyiv and Warsaw have been firm allies throughout the conflict that erupted with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. But the exchanges reflected contentious issues. 

Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko said the Polish ambassador was told in the meeting that statements about Ukraine’s alleged ungratefulness for Poland’s help were “untrue and unacceptable.”  

“We are convinced that Ukrainian-Polish friendship is much deeper than political expediency. Politics should not call into question the mutual understanding and strength of relations between our peoples,” a Ukrainian statement said.  

Poland also called in the Ukrainian ambassador to Warsaw in response to the “comments of representatives of Ukrainian authorities,” Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.  

The tweet did not specify what comments it referred to.  

Polish media had on Monday quoted Przydacz as speaking about the possible extension of Poland’s import ban on Ukrainian agricultural produce. 

“What is most important today is to defend the interest of the Polish farmer,” Przydacz was quoted as saying.  

He also said, “I think it would be worthwhile for (Kyiv) to start appreciating what role Poland has played for Ukraine over past months and years.” 

The European Union in May allowed Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to ban domestic sales of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds. 

After the Russian invasion blocked Black Sea ports, large quantities of Ukrainian grain, which is cheaper than that produced in the EU, ended up staying in central European states due to logistical bottlenecks, hitting prices and sales for local farmers. 

The five countries want the ban on grain imports to be extended at least until the end of the year. It is set to expire on Sept. 15.  

Poland’s prime minister said recently that it would not lift the ban on Sept. 15 even if the EU did not agree on its extension. 

Kyiv has described the Polish decision as “unfriendly” and urged Ukraine’s partners and the European Commission to ensure the unimpeded export of all Ukrainian agriculture products to the EU. 

The Polish foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.  
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Denmark captain Pernille Harder converted a first-half penalty to register her maiden Women’s World Cup goal, setting up a 2-0 victory over Haiti on Tuesday and a spot for her side in the last 16.

The result ends a long drought for the Danes, who last advanced to the knockout stage in 1995. After defeating China 6-1, England topped Group D and will face Nigeria in Brisbane on Monday. Runner-up Denmark will meet Australia in Sydney.

“I’m so proud of the girls and of the team that we made it through the group stages. It’s been a long time since a Danish team did that in a World Cup,” Harder told reporters.

Denmark started with a bang and remained undeterred after a third-minute goal by defender Simone Boye was ruled offside by the video assistant referee.

Haiti midfielder Dayana Pierre-Louis conceded a penalty for handball in the 21st minute, which gave Harder her moment, coolly slotting the ball in the bottom-left corner from the spot.

The Bayern Munich player could have had two more, with a 45th-minute effort ruled offside and an 83rd-minute header disallowed after forward Signe Bruun was found to have fouled the Caribbean goalkeeper Kerly Theus outside the box.

Haiti, ranked 55th in the world, showed great spirit in search of an equalizer, dominating periods after the break, but ultimately the experience of the 18th-ranked Danes shone through and substitute Sanne Troelsgaard sealed the result in stoppage time.

Haiti ends its first World Cup campaign winless from three games.

“We’re very, very proud of our team. I’m not scared of what the future may hold, and I’m not scared of dealing with these defeats,” said Haiti Coach Nicolas Delepine.
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Since Russia invaded Ukraine, more than 17,000 Ukrainian refugees have moved to the Los Angeles area. Olena Kochetkova fled after a rocket strike killed her husband in their Mariupol bakery. For VOA, Svitlana Prystynska has the story of how one new business has helped other immigrants along the way.
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The Netherlands powered into the last 16 of the Women’s World Cup as group winners ahead of the United States with a 7-0 demolition of Vietnam Tuesday.

Esmee Brugts and Jill Roord both scored twice in the biggest win yet at the Women’s World Cup, eclipsing Germany’s 6-0 thumping of Morocco.

A crowd of 8,215 were treated to the Dutch goal bonanza in Dunedin.

In the build-up, Dutch coach Andries Jonker said he wanted the 2019 finalists to finish top of the group in order to stay clear in the last 16 of Group G leaders Sweden, who routed Italy 5-0 at the weekend.

Jonker’s team made his wish come true by blitzing Vietnam, who have lost all three games on their Women’s World Cup debut.

The Dutch scored their first four goals inside the opening 23 minutes, the pick of which saw Brugts hit the top corner.

Vietnam were under pressure from the opening minute as the Dutch chalked up 42 shots on goal over the 90 minutes.

Lieke Martens grabbed the first goal with eight minutes played when she lobbed her marker and Vietnamese goalkeeper Thi Kim Thanh Tran.

Forward Katja Snoeijs made it 2-0 three minutes later when she stroked her effort inside the post past the stranded Tran.

After Brugts’ superb third, Roord volleyed in a cross for her first goal on 23 minutes.

With half-time approaching, Tran put in a superb save to deny Roord, but midfielder Danielle van de Donk was on hand to slot home the rebound to make it 5-0 at the break.

Tran was replaced in the Vietnam goal by Thi Hang Khong for the second half, while 17-year-old Wieke Kaptein came on to make her third appearance for the Dutch.

Brugts scored again, from outside the area, when she fired into the opposite corner with a fierce strike that gave Khong no chance.

Martens had a goal ruled offside by the VAR before Roord, who had also clattered the woodwork, headed in the seventh goal with seven minutes left.
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