RIYADMEDIA

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BEIJING — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni came to China to boost co-operation with the world’s second-largest economy and reset trade ties, she said on Tuesday, during a visit to burnish relations after leaving the Belt and Road scheme.

Meloni, making her first visit to China as prime minister, which comes after Italy left Chinese President Xi Jinping’s flagship initiative last year, said the euro zone’s third-largest economy wanted to rebalance ties with Beijing.

“Today, Italian investment in China is about three times as much as Chinese investment in Italy,” Meloni told reporters. “We clearly want to work to remove obstacles for our products to access the Chinese market.”

Asked what the right-wing government she has led since 2022 hoped to gain from her visit, Meloni said Italy sought to “strengthen our co-operation with a view to … clearly rebalancing trade.”

Italy is of strategic importance to China as it has struck out on its own with Beijing before.

It could prove to be a moderating voice within the European Union, as the bloc’s 27 members weigh up backing the Commission over tariffs on Chinese electric cars.

EU members will vote in October whether to impose more tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. Italy is one of the countries to have indicated it will back the motion.

In 2019, Italy became the only member of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies to join Xi’s Belt and Road infrastructure investment scheme that aims to resurrect the ancient Silk Road trade route, in a diplomatic coup for China.

Although Rome eventually exited the program under U.S. pressure last year, it signaled that it still desired to develop its trade ties with the $18.6 trillion economy.

Balanced trade and investment

Asked whether she had specifically discussed with Xi Chinese automakers opening factories in Italy during her Monday meeting, Meloni said “no” but added: “The issue of electric mobility is one of the topics included in our memorandum of industrial cooperation.”

Meloni on Monday told Xi that Italy plays an important role in China’s relations with the EU, which are currently dominated by talk of tariffs, but continued to say that she hoped for trade relations that are “as balanced as possible.”

“As I have said many times, we were the only nation among the great nations of Western Europe to be part of the Silk Road. But we were not the nation that had the best trade with China? Far from it,” Meloni told reporters on Tuesday, referring to the Belt and Road Initiative.

“There are other nations in Europe that have had a much higher volume of Chinese investment.”

 
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LOS ANGELES — A federal judge ordered Monday that the University of California, Los Angeles, craft a plan to protect Jewish students, months after pro-Palestinian protests broke out on campus.

Three Jewish students sued the university in June, alleging that they experienced discrimination on campus amid demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war. Yitzchok Frankel, a UCLA law student who is Jewish, said in the lawsuit that he declined an invitation from the director of student life to help host a lunch gathering because he did not feel safe participating.

“Under ordinary circumstances, I would have leapt at the chance to participate in this event,” Frankel said. “My Jewish identity and religion are integral to who I am, and I believe it is important to mentor incoming students and encourage them to be proud of their Judaism, too.”

But Frankel argued UCLA was failing to foster a safe environment for Jewish students on campus.

UCLA spokesperson Mary Osako said the school is “committed to maintaining a safe and inclusive campus, holding those who engaged in violence accountable, and combatting antisemitism in all forms.”

“We have applied lessons learned from this spring’s protests and continue to work to foster a campus culture where everyone feels welcome and free from intimidation, discrimination and harassment,” Osako said in a statement.

The University was ordered to craft a proposed plan by next month.

The demonstrations at UCLA became part of a movement at campuses across the country against the Israel-Hamas war. At UCLA, law enforcement ordered in May that over a thousand protesters break up their encampment as tensions rose on campus. Counter-demonstrators had attacked the encampment overnight, and at least 15 protesters suffered injuries. In June, dozens of protesters on campus were arrested after they tried to set up a new encampment.
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MORAINE, Ohio — A Chinese automotive glass maker says it was not the target of a federal investigation that temporarily shut down production last week at its Ohio plant, the subject of the Oscar-winning Netflix film “American Factory.” 

The investigation was focused on money laundering, potential human smuggling, labor exploitation and financial crimes, Homeland Security agent Jared Murphey said Friday. 

Fuyao Glass America said authorities told it that a third-party employment company was at the center of the criminal investigation, according to a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange. 

Agents with the Department of Homeland Security, FBI and Internal Revenue Service, along with local authorities, carried out federal search warrants Friday at the Fuyao plant in Moraine and nearly 30 other locations in the Dayton area. 

“The company intends to cooperate fully with the investigation,” Lei Shi, Fuyao Glass America community relations manager, said in a statement to the Dayton Daily News. Messages seeking comment were left with the company on Monday. 

Production was stopped temporarily Friday, but operations resumed near the end of the day, the statement said. 

Fuyao took over a shuttered General Motors factory a decade ago and eventually hired more than 2,000 workers to make glass for the automotive industry. The company, which received millions in tax breaks and incentives from the state and local governments, has said the Ohio plant was the world’s largest auto glass production facility. 

In 2019, a production company backed by Barack and Michelle Obama released “American Factory.” The film, which won a 2020 Oscar for best feature-length documentary, looked at issues including the rights of workers, globalization and automation. 

Workers voted overwhelmingly against unionizing in 2017 after some employees complained about unsafe workplace conditions, arbitrary policies and unfair treatment on the job. Earlier that year, Fuyao agreed to pay a $100,000 penalty after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the company for alleged violations involving machine safety, electrical hazards and a lack of personal protective gear.
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London police in April said they had charged two British men with aiding Russian intelligence following a suspected arson attack on a business with ties to Ukraine. This and other incidents have shaken Ukrainians who feel targeted in places where they have sought refuge. Henry Wilkins reports.
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New York — A former university professor in China went on trial on Monday in Brooklyn on charges he acted as a Chinese agent by monitoring U.S.-based activists opposed to Beijing’s Communist government at the direction of intelligence officials in China.

Federal prosecutors said Shujun Wang, a naturalized U.S. citizen, exploited his leadership role in New York communities supporting democracy in China to collect information on dissidents, and shared it with four officials in China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), an intelligence service.

Wang, who emigrated to the United States in 1994, was arrested in March 2022. He pleaded not guilty to four counts including acting as a foreign agent without notifying the U.S. attorney general and lying to U.S. authorities. Prosecutors said Wang’s scheme ran from 2005 to 2022. 

The U.S. Department of Justice has in recent years cracked down on what it calls “transnational repression” by U.S. adversaries such as China and Iran.

The term refers to the surveillance, intimidation and, in some cases, attempted repatriation or murder of activists against those governments.

Last year, a former New York City police sergeant was convicted of acting as an illegal Chinese agent by intimidating a U.S.-based fugitive to return to his homeland to face charges.

Wang, in his mid-70s, faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. Jury selection began on Monday before U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin, who normally hears appeals, in Brooklyn federal court.

Prosecutors say MSS officials directed Wang to target Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, advocates for Taiwanese independence campaigners and Uyghur and Tibetan activists.

Defense lawyers said in a June 16 court filing that Wang communicated with Chinese officials to try to “infiltrate and subvert” China’s government by spreading Western political ideas.

“Unfortunately, FBI Agents misunderstood him and his role,” defense lawyer Kevin Tung wrote.

U.S. prosecutors also charged four Chinese intelligence officers who they say acted as Wang’s handlers. Those officers are at large and believed to be in China.
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To project influence, Moscow habitually goes beyond diplomacy, using malicious hybrid strategies and, in some instances, wars of aggression.
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Armenia’s military exercises with the United States in July and increased diplomatic contacts with Western Europe suggest Yerevan continues its efforts to pivot away from Moscow. As Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, the success of those efforts depends largely on Armenia’s rival, Azerbaijan, and ongoing U.S.-backed peace efforts.
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Washington — President Joe Biden, who belatedly opted against seeking reelection, will pay a visit on Monday to the library of the last president to make the same difficult choice, more than a half-century ago.

Biden’s speech Monday at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, is designed to mark the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, enacted under President Lyndon Johnson. While there, he’ll call for changes to the Supreme Court that include term limits and an enforceable ethics code for justices, as well as a constitutional amendment that would limit presidential immunity.

But the visit has taken on very different symbolism in the two weeks it took to reschedule it after Biden had to cancel because he got COVID-19.

The speech, originally set for July 15, was once seen by the White House as an opportunity for Biden to try to make a case for salvaging his sinking presidential campaign — delivered in the home district of Representative Lloyd Doggett, the 15-term congressman who was the first Democratic lawmaker to publicly call for Biden to step aside.

Two weeks later, the political landscape has been reshaped. Biden is out of the race. Vice President Kamala Harris is the likely Democratic nominee. And the president is focused not on his next four years, but on the legacy of his single term and the future of democracy.

No American incumbent president has dropped out of the race as late in the process as did Biden. Johnson announced he would not seek reelection in March of 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War.

Biden has drawn a lot of comparisons to Johnson of late. Both men spoke to the nation from the Oval Office to lay out their decisions. Both faced pressure from within their own party to step aside, and both were ultimately praised for doing so.

But their reasons were very different. Johnson stepped away in the heat of the war and spoke at length about his need to focus on the conflict. Biden, 81, had every intention of running for reelection until his shaky June 27 debate performance ignited fears within his own party about his age and mental acuity, and whether he could beat Republican Donald Trump.

Biden has called Trump a serious threat to democracy, particularly after the ex-president’s efforts in 2020 to overturn the results of the election he lost and his continued lies about that loss. The president framed his decision to bow out of the race as motivated by the need to unite his party to protect democracy.

“I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That’s the best way to unite our nation,” Biden said in his Oval Office address. “Nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. And that includes personal ambition.”

Biden decided to seek the presidency in 2020 after witnessing the violence at a 2017 “Unite The Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where torch-wielding white supremacists marched to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, chanting “You will not replace us!” and “Jews will not replace us!”

Biden said he was horrified by Trump’s response, particularly when the Republican told reporters that “you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides.”

During his presidency, Biden has often put equity and civil rights at the forefront, including with his choice for vice president. Harris is the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to have the job. She could also become the first woman elected to the presidency.

Biden’s administration has worked to combat racial discrimination in the real estate market, he pardoned thousands of people convicted on federal marijuana charges that have disproportionately affected people of color and provided federal funding to reconnect city neighborhoods that were racially segregated or divided by road projects, and also invested billions in historically Black colleges and universities. 

His efforts, he has said, are meant to push the country forward — and to guard against efforts to undermine the landmark legislation signed by Johnson in 1964, one of the most significant civil rights achievements in U.S. history.

The law made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It was designed to end discrimination in school, work and public facilities, and barred unequal application of voter registration requirements.

Johnson signed the act five hours after Congress approved it, saying the nation was in a “time of testing” that “we must not fail.” He added: “Let us close the springs of racial poison. Let us pray for wise and understanding hearts. Let us lay aside irrelevant differences and make our nation whole.”

Eight years later, Johnson convened a civil rights symposium bringing together those who fought for civil rights to push for more progress. 

“The progress has been too small; we haven’t done nearly enough,” he said in 1972 during the symposium. “Until we overcome unequal history, we can’t overcome unequal opportunity … There is still work to be done, so let’s be on with it.”

Biden has said he is “determined to get as much done” as he can in his final six months in office, including signing major legislation expanding voting rights and a federal police bill named for George Floyd.

“I’ll keep defending our personal freedoms and our civil rights, from the right to vote to the right to choose,” Biden said from the Oval Office. “I’ll keep calling out hate and extremism, make it clear there is no place, no place in America for political violence or any violence ever, period.”

Later Monday, Biden will also travel to Houston to pay his respects to the late Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, who died July 19 at age 74. 
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washington — After President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him as the Democratic nominee, Republicans quickly focused on Harris and her work on immigration issues, calling her a “border czar.”

Congressman Guy Reschenthaler, a Republican from Pennsylvania, said at a House Rules Committee hearing Tuesday that Biden appointed Harris as the border czar 64 days into his administration. The hearing focused on an emergency resolution addressing the “failures of the border czar position and its negative impact on our fellow citizens across the country.”

“With Harris at the helm, the Biden-Harris administration made good on their promise to systematically dismantle President [Donald] Trump’s secure border [policies],” Reschenthaler said.

But was Harris appointed as border czar?

Immigration experts say no.

Theresa Cardinal Brown, senior adviser on immigration and border policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said that early in the Biden administration, Harris was assigned the task of reducing migration to the U.S. southern border and collaborating with Central American nations to address the root causes of migration through diplomacy, development and investment.

“She was never named a border czar. In fact, the border was not her priority issue at all. The border was the responsibility of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. She was never in charge of the border per se,” Brown said.

Brown said “czar” is not a recognized term under the U.S. legal system.

“But it has been adopted into American political discourse as, I’d say, a shorthand title for somebody who is given within a White House administration – within the executive branch – broad responsibility and authority to direct the administration across different Cabinet departments on a particular issue or policy,” Brown said.

Border politics

During the pandemic, the Trump administration virtually closed the border to migration, as officials implemented a health order that allowed for the rapid expulsion of migrants, effectively turning away most migrants without giving them a chance to seek asylum.

When President Biden took office in January 2021, expulsions continued, except for unaccompanied minors. Both Biden and Harris openly urged migrants not to come, but they did, presenting a political crisis for Biden at the beginning of his administration.

Biden soon asked Harris to spearhead a “root causes” strategy, banking heavily on using American investments to improve living conditions and discourage migrants from leaving three Central American nations where a significant number of migrants come from: Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.

The Biden administration also reunited families separated under the Trump administration and expanded legal immigration pathways, including increasing refugee admissions and creating a humanitarian program for migrants from Central America, Venezuela and Haiti.

Although it is not known what Harris’ immigration policy will look like, immigration attorney Hector Quiroga said he thinks Harris will continue Biden’s policies, but he noted that Harris’ immigration message has changed.

“Her record is rather interesting because in the beginning, she was very much in the diplomatic kind of way. … With experience [in the vice president office], she has said, ‘Please don’t come’ to migrants,” he said, referring to Harris’ evolution to a stricter tone and tougher message.

Quiroga is referring to Harris’ 2021 trip to Guatemala to meet with former Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei and address the root causes of illegal migration. During her visit, she emphasized the Biden administration’s commitment to helping Guatemalans find “hope at home.”

And she issued a stern warning to potential migrants.

“I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border,” Harris said. “Do not come. Do not come.”

The Biden administration has been highlighting progress at the border, noting that arrests for illegal crossings from Mexico dropped by 29% in June, marking the lowest number during Joe Biden’s presidency.
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London — British emergency services said a man had been arrested after at least eight people were stabbed in Southport, northwest England, on Monday, with a local children’s hospital declaring a major incident and the prime minister calling it “deeply shocking.” 

North West Ambulance Service said it had treated eight patients with stab injuries who had been taken to three different hospitals, including Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. 

Merseyside Police said armed police had arrested a man and seized a knife after being called to reports of a stabbing at around 11:50 a.m. (1050 GMT). There was no wider threat to the public, they added.  The police asked people to avoid the area. Photos showed several police cars, ambulances and a fire engine behind cordon tape on a street lined with houses. 

“Horrendous and deeply shocking news emerging from Southport. My thoughts are with all those affected,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on the social media network X, formerly Twitter. 

“I would like to thank the police and emergency services for their swift response. I am being kept updated as the situation develops.” 

British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper posted on X that she was “deeply concerned at the very serious incident.” 

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital said it had declared a major incident and its emergency department was extremely busy. It asked parents only to bring their children in if it was urgent. 
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The construction industry is finding new uses for artificial intelligence. In a multi-story building project in the northwestern U.S. city of Seattle, autonomous robots are tasked with documenting progress and detecting potential hazards. VOA’s Natasha Mozgovaya has the story.
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Beijing — Chinese President Xi Jinping and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni discussed the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East at a meeting in Beijing on Monday, Meloni’s office said.

Meloni, whose country currently holds the rotating G7 presidency, stressed the importance of China as a partner in dealing with growing global insecurity during their talks.

The two leaders addressed the “priority issues on the international agenda from the war in Ukraine to the risks of a further escalation of the situation in the Middle East. They also discussed the growing tensions in the Indo-Pacific,” the Italian leader’s office said in a statement.

Meloni is seeking to relaunch her country’s economic ties with Beijing after Italy exited Xi’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative last year and amid deteriorating trade ties between the West and the world’s second-largest economy.

“There is growing insecurity at the international level, and I think that China is inevitably a very important interlocutor to deal with all these dynamics,” Meloni said during the talks at Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guest House.

EU trade policy has turned increasingly protective over concerns that China’s production-focused development model could see the bloc flooded with cheap goods as Chinese firms look to step up exports amid weak domestic demand.

The European Commission this month confirmed it would impose preliminary tariffs of up to 37.6% on imports of electric vehicles made in China, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing.

Chinese officials have warned of a possible trade war, should Brussels not back down.

“Rebound into a new era”

Italy is of strategic importance to China as it has struck out on its own with Beijing before, and could prove to be a moderating voice within the bloc.

In 2019, Italy became the only member of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies to join Xi’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, billed as recreating the ancient Silk Road trade route.

And while Italy eventually left the infrastructure investment scheme last year, under pressure from the U.S. over concerns about Beijing’s economic reach, Rome signaled it still desired to forge stronger trade ties with the Asian giant, signing a three-year action plan on Sunday.  

“Both sides face important opportunities for mutual development,” Xi told Meloni at the start of their meeting.

“China and Italy should uphold the spirit of the Silk Road … so that the bridge of communication between East and West through it can rebound into a new era.”
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Washington — President Joe Biden is unveiling a long-awaited proposal for changes at the U.S. Supreme Court, calling on Congress to establish term limits and an ethics code for the court’s nine justices. He also is pressing lawmakers to ratify a constitutional amendment that would limit presidential immunity. 

The White House on Monday detailed the contours of Biden’s court proposal, one that appears to have little chance of being approved by a closely divided Congress with just 99 days to go before Election Day. 

Still, Democrats hope it will help to focus voters as they consider their choices in a tight election. The likely Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, has sought to frame her race against Republican former President Donald Trump as “a choice between freedom and chaos.” 

The White House is looking to tap into the growing outrage among Democrats about the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, issuing opinions that overturned landmark decisions on abortion rights and federal regulatory powers that stood for decades. 

Liberals also have expressed dismay over revelations about what they say are questionable relationships and decisions by some members of the conservative wing of the court that suggest their impartiality is compromised. 

“I have great respect for our institutions and separation of powers,” Biden argues in a Washington Post op-ed set to be published Monday. “What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms. We now stand in a breach.” 

The president planned to speak about his proposal later Monday during an address at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. 

Biden is calling for doing away with lifetime appointments to the court. He says Congress should pass legislation to establish a system in which the sitting president would appoint a justice every two years to spend 18 years in service on the court. He argues term limits would help ensure that court membership changes with some regularity and adds a measure of predictability to the nomination process. 

He also wants Congress to pass legislation establishing a code of ethics for justices that would require justices to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest. 

Biden also is calling on Congress to pass a constitutional amendment reversing the Supreme Court’s recent landmark immunity ruling that determined former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution. 

The decision extended the delay in the Washington criminal case against Trump on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss and all but ended prospects the former president could be tried before the November election. 

The last time Congress ratified an amendment to the Constitution was 32 years ago. The 27th Amendment, ratified in 1992, states that Congress can pass a bill changing the pay for members of the House and Senate, but such a change can’t take effect until after the next November elections are held for the House. 

Trump has decried court reform as a desperate attempt by Democrats to “Play the Ref.” 

“The Democrats are attempting to interfere in the Presidential Election, and destroy our Justice System, by attacking their Political Opponent, ME, and our Honorable Supreme Court. We have to fight for our Fair and Independent Courts, and protect our Country,” Trump posted on his Truth Social site earlier this month. 

There have been increasing questions surrounding the ethics of the court after revelations about some of the justices, including that Clarence Thomas accepted luxury trips from a GOP megadonor. 

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was appointed during the Obama administration, has faced scrutiny after it surfaced that her staff often prodded public institutions that hosted her to buy copies of her memoir or children’s books. 

Justice Samuel Alito rejected calls to step aside from Supreme Court cases involving Trump and Jan. 6 defendants despite a flap over provocative flags displayed at his home that some believe suggested sympathy to people facing charges over storming the U.S. Capitol to keep Trump in power. Alito says the flags were displayed by his wife. 

Trump, at the time, congratulated Alito on his social media site for “showing the INTELLIGENCE, COURAGE, and ‘GUTS'” in refusing to step aside. “All U.S. Judges, Justices, and Leaders should have such GRIT.” 

Democrats say the Biden effort will help put a bright spotlight on recent high court decisions, including the 2022 ruling stripping away women’s constitutional protections for abortion, by the conservative-majority court that includes three justices appointed by Trump. 

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said in a Sunday interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” that Biden’s reform push is about reminding Americans that “when they vote in November, the Supreme Court is on the ballot.” 

She added: “That is a good reason to vote for Kamala Harris and to vote for Democrats in both the Senate and the House.” 

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina pushed back that Democrats didn’t complain when a more liberal-leaning court “was pumping out opinions they liked.” 

“Only when we brought constitutional balance back from having a conservative court was the court a threat to the country,” Graham said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “What’s been a threat to the country is an out-of-control liberal court issuing opinions that basically take over every phase of American life based on nine people’s judgment.” 

The announcement marks a remarkable evolution for Biden, who as a candidate had been wary of calls to reform the high court. But over the course of his presidency, he has become increasingly vocal about his belief that the court has abandoned mainstream constitutional interpretation. 

Last week, he announced during an Oval Office speech that he would pursue Supreme Court reform during his final months in office, calling it “critical to our democracy.” 

Harris, in her unsuccessful bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, had expressed being open to a conversation about expanding the nine-member court. The proposals unveiled on Monday do not include such an effort, which is something Biden as a candidate viewed skeptically. 

As a vice presidential candidate, Harris notably dodged questions about her earlier stance on the issue during her October 2020 debate with Vice President Mike Pence. 

The Harris campaign and aides to the vice president did not respond to queries about Harris’ involvement in shaping the Biden proposal and whether she would pursue any other court reform efforts should she be elected. 

The White House in a statement said, “Biden and Vice President Harris look forward to working with Congress and empowering the American people to prevent the abuse of Presidential power, restore faith in the Supreme Court, and strengthen the guardrails of democracy.” 
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Paris — The French government says multiple telecommunications lines have been hit by acts of vandalism, affecting fiber lines and fixed and mobile phone lines as cities around France are hosting events for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

The scale of the impact is unclear, as is whether it has affected any Olympic activities. The vandalism came after arson attacks hit train networks around France on Friday, hours before the Olympics opening ceremony. 

Marina Ferrari, secretary of state in charge of digital affairs, posted on X that damage in several regions overnight Sunday to Monday affected telecommunications operators. She said that led to localized impact on access to fiber lines and fixed and mobile telephone lines. 

Paris 2024 Olympics organizers would not immediately comment. 
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BEIJING — Joint statements between the United States and Japan “falsely accuse” China on maritime issues and point fingers at its normal military development and defense policy, China’s foreign ministry said on Monday.

The ministry’s comment followed the U.S. and Japan’s criticism of what they called Beijing’s “provocative” behavior in the South and East China Seas, joint military exercises with Russia and the rapid expansion of its nuclear weapons arsenal.

U.S. and Japan leaders on Sunday unveiled a new military structure that would be implemented in parallel with Tokyo’s own plans to establish a joint command for its forces by March 2025.

It would be among several measures taken to address what the countries said was an “evolving security environment,” noting various threats from China.

“They maliciously attacked and discredited China on maritime issues and made irresponsible remarks on China’s normal military development and national defense policy,” said Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry during a regular press briefing.”

“China is strongly dissatisfied with the exaggeration of China’s threat and the malicious speculation of regional tensions,” Lin added.

The U.S. in annual reports on China’s military has called out the world’s second-largest economy for rapidly growing its military arsenal and nuclear warheads.

“China has always followed the path of peaceful development, firmly pursued a national defense policy that is defensive in nature, and its national defense construction and military activities are legitimate and reasonable,” Lin said.

He added that China “has always maintained its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required for national security and does not pose a threat to any country.”

“We strongly urge the United States and Japan to immediately stop interfering with China’s internal affairs and stop creating imaginary enemies,” Lin said.
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DEARBORN, Mich — Osama Siblani’s phone won’t stop ringing.

Just days after President Joe Biden withdrew his bid for reelection and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination, top officials from both major political parties have been asking the publisher of the Dearborn-based Arab American News if Harris can regain the support of the nation’s largest Muslim population located in metro Detroit.

His response: “We are in listening mode.”

Harris, who is moving to seize the Democratic nomination after Biden stepped down, appears to be pivoting quickly to the task of convincing Arab American voters in Michigan, a state Democrats believe she can’t afford to lose in November, that she is a leader they can unite behind.

Community leaders have expressed a willingness to listen, and some have had initial conversations with Harris’ team. Many had grown exacerbated with Biden after they felt months of outreach had not yielded many results.

“The door is cracked open since Biden has stepped down,” said Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud. “There’s an opportunity for the Democratic nominee to coalesce the coalition that ushered in Biden’s presidency four years ago. But that responsibility will now fall on the vice president.”

Arab American leaders such as Hammoud and Siblani are watching closely for signals that Harris will be more vocal in pressing for a ceasefire. They’re excited by her candidacy but want to be sure she will be an advocate for peace and not an unequivocal supporter of Israel.

But Harris will need to walk a fine line not to publicly break with Biden’s position on the war in Gaza, where officials in his administration have been working diligently toward a ceasefire, mostly behind the scenes.

The divide within Harris’ own party was evident in Washington last week during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to address Congress. Some Democrats supported the visit, while others protested and refused to attend. Outside the Capitol, pro-Palestinian protesters were met with pepper spray and arrests.

Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress whose district includes Dearborn, held up a sign that read “war criminal” during Netanyahu’s remarks.

Harris did not attend.

Some Arab American leaders interpret her absence — she instead attended a campaign event in Indianapolis — as a sign of good faith with them, though they recognize her ongoing responsibilities as vice president, including a meeting Thursday with Netanyahu.

Her first test within the community will come when Harris chooses a running mate. One of the names on her short list, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, has been public in his criticism of pro-Palestinian protesters and is Jewish. Some Arab American leaders in Michigan say putting him on the ticket would ramp up their unease about the level of support they could expect from a Harris administration.

“Josh Shapiro was one of the first ones to criticize the students on campus. So it doesn’t differentiate Harris very much if she picks him. That just says I’m going to continue the same policies as Biden,” said Rima Meroueh, director of the National Network for Arab American Communities.

Arab Americans are betting that their vote holds enough electoral significance in pivotal swing states like Michigan to ensure that officials will listen to them. Michigan has the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the nation, and the state’s majority-Muslim cities overwhelmingly supported Biden in 2020. He won Dearborn, for example, by a roughly 3-to-1 margin over former President Donald Trump.

In February, over 100,000 Michigan Democratic primary voters chose “uncommitted,” securing two delegates to protest the Biden administration’s unequivocal support for Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas. Nationally, “uncommitted” garnered a total of 36 delegates in the primaries earlier this year.

The groups leading this effort have called for — at a minimum — an embargo on all weapons shipments to Israel and a permanent ceasefire.

“If Harris called for an arms embargo, I would work around the clock every day until the election to get her elected,” said Abbas Alawieh, an “uncommitted” Michigan delegate and national leader of the movement. “There’s a real opportunity right now to unite the coalition. It’s on her to deliver, but we are cautiously optimistic.”

Those divisions were on full display Wednesday night when the Michigan Democratic Party brought together over 100 delegates to pitch them on uniting behind Harris. During the meeting, Alawieh, one of three state delegates who did not commit to Harris, was speaking when another delegate interrupted him by unmuting and telling him to “shut up,” using an expletive, according to Alawieh.

The call could be a preview of tensions expected to surface again in August, when Democratic leaders, lawmakers, and delegates convene in Chicago for the party’s national convention. Mass protests are planned, and the “uncommitted” movement intends to ensure their voices are heard within the United Center, where the convention will be held.

Trump and his campaign, meanwhile, are keenly aware of the turmoil within the Democratic base and are actively seeking the support of Arab American voters. That effort has been complicated by Trump’s history of anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy during his one term as president.

A meeting between over a dozen Arab American leaders from across the country and several of Trump’s surrogates was convened in Dearborn last week. Among the surrogates was Massad Boulos, a Lebanese-born businessman whose son married Tiffany Trump, the former president’s younger daughter, two years ago. Boulos is leveraging his connections to rally support for Trump.

Part of the pitch that Boulos and Bishara Bahbah, chairman of Arab Americans for Trump, made in Dearborn was that Trump has shown an openness to a two-state solution. He posted a letter on social media from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and pledged to work for peace in the Middle East.

“The three main points that were noted in the meeting were that Trump needs to state more clearly that he wants an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and that he supports the two-state solution, and that there is no such thing as a Muslim ban,” said Bahbah. “This is what the community wants to hear in a clear manner.”

Before a July 20 rally in Michigan, Trump also met with Bahbah, who pressed him about a two-state solution. According to Bahbah, Trump responded affirmatively, saying, “100%.”

But any apparent political opportunity for Trump may be limited by criticism from many Arab Americans about the former president’s ban on immigration from several majority Muslim countries and remarks they felt were insulting.

“I have not heard any individuals saying I’m now rushing to Donald Trump,” said Hammoud, Dearborn’s Democratic mayor. “I have yet to hear that in any of the conversations I’ve had. They all know what Donald Trump represents.”

Siblani, who organized Wednesday’s meeting with Trump surrogates, has spent months serving as an intermediary between his community and officials from all political parties and foreign dignitaries. Privately, he says, almost all express the need for a permanent ceasefire.

“Everybody wants our votes, but nobody wants to be seen as aligning with us publicly,” Siblani said.
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MESCALERO, New Mexico — Anne Marie Brillante never imagined she would have to choose between being Apache and being Catholic.

To her, and many others in the Mescalero Apache tribe in New Mexico who are members of St. Joseph Apache Mission, their Indigenous culture had always been intertwined with faith. Both are sacred.

“Hearing we had to choose, that was a shock,” said a tearful Brillante, a member of the mission’s parish council.

The focus of this tense, unresolved episode is the 8-foot Apache Christ painting. For this close-knit community, it is a revered icon created by Franciscan friar Robert Lentz in 1989. It depicts Christ as a Mescalero medicine man and has hung behind the church’s altar for 35 years under a crucifix as a reminder of the holy union of their culture and faith.

On June 26, the church’s then-priest, Peter Chudy Sixtus Simeon-Aguinam, removed the icon and a smaller painting depicting a sacred Indigenous dancer. Also taken were ceramic chalices and baskets given by the Pueblo community for use during the Eucharist.

Brillante said the priest took them away while the region was reeling from wildfires that claimed two lives and burned more than 1,000 homes.

The Diocese of Las Cruces, which oversees the mission, did not respond to several emails, phone calls and an in-person visit by The Associated Press.

Parishioners, shocked to see the blank wall behind the altar when they arrived for Catechism class, initially believed the art objects had been stolen. But Brillante was informed by a diocesan official that the icon’s removal occurred under the authority of Bishop Peter Baldacchino and in the presence of a diocesan risk manager.

The diocese has returned the icons and other objects after the community’s outrage was covered by various media outlets, and the bishop replaced Simeon-Aguinam with another priest. But Brillante and others say it’s insufficient to heal the spiritual abuse they have endured.

Brillante said their former priest opened old wounds with his recent actions, suggesting he sought to cleanse them of their “pagan” ways, and it has derailed the reconciliation process initiated by Pope Francis in 2022. That year, Francis gave a historic apology for the Catholic Church’s role in Indigenous residential schools, forcing Native people to assimilate into Christian society, destroying their cultures and separating families.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops declined comment on the Mescalero case. But last month, the conference overwhelmingly approved a pastoral framework for Indigenous ministry, which pointed to a “false choice” many Indigenous Catholics are faced with — to be Indigenous or Catholic:

“We assure you, as the Catholic bishops of the United States, that you do not have to be one or the other. You are both.”

Several of the mission’s former priests understood this, but Brillante believes Simeon-Aguinam’s recent demand to make that “false choice” violated the bishops’ new guidelines.

Larry Gosselin, a Franciscan who served St. Joseph from 1984 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2003, said he sought the approval of 15 Mescalero leaders before Lentz began the painting that took three months to complete.

“He poured all of himself into that painting,” said Gosselin, explaining that Lentz sprinkled gold dust on himself and skipped showering, using his body oils to adhere the gold to the canvas. Then he gave the painting to the humble church.

Albert Braun, the priest who helped construct the church building in the 1920s, respected Mescalero Apache traditions in his ministry and was so beloved that he is buried inside the church, near the altar.

Church elders Glenda and Larry Brusuelas said to right this wrong and to repair this damage, the bishop must issue a public apology.

“You don’t call or send a letter,” Larry Brusuelas said. “You face the people you have offended and offer some guarantee that this is not going to happen again. That’s the Apache way.”

While Bishop Baldacchino held a two-hour meeting with the parish council in Mescalero after the items were returned, Brillante said he seemed more concerned about the icon being “hastily” reinstalled rather than acknowledging the harm or offering an apology.

Still, some are hopeful. Parish council member Pamela Cordova said she views the bishop appointing a new priest who was more familiar with the Apache community as a positive step.

“We need to give the bishop a chance to prove himself and let us know he is sincere and wants to make things right,” she said.

The concept of “inculturation,” the notion of people expressing their faith through their culture, has been encouraged by the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s, said Chris Vecsey, professor of religion and Native American studies at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.

“It’s rather shocking to see a priest who has been assigned a parish with Native people acting in such a disrespectful way in 2024,” he said. “But it does reflect a long history of concern that blending these symbols might weaken, threaten or pollute the purity of the faith.”

Deacon Steven Morello, the Archdiocese of Detroit’s missionary to the American Indians, said the goal of the U.S. bishops’ new framework is to correct the ills of the past. He said Indigenous spirituality and Catholic faith have much in common, such as the burning of sage in Native American ceremonies and incense in a Catholic church.

“Both are meant to cleanse the heart and mind of all distractions,” he said. “The smoke goes up to God.”

Morello said Pope Francis’ encyclical on caring for the Earth and the environment titled “Laudato Si” addresses the sacredness of all creation — a core principle Indigenous people have lived by for millennia.

“There is no conflict, only commonality, between Indigenous and Catholic spirituality,” he said.

There are over 340 Native American parishes in the United States and many use Indigenous symbols and sacred objects in church. In every corner of the Mescalero church, Apache motifs seamlessly blend in with Catholic imagery.

The Apache Christ painting hangs as the focal point of the century-old Romanesque church whose rock walls soar as high as 90 feet. Artwork of teepees adorns the lectern. A mural at the altar shows the Last Supper with Christ and his apostles depicted as Apache men. Tall crowns worn by mountain dancers known as “gahe” in Apache, hang over small paintings showing Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.

For parishioner Sarah Kazhe, the Apache Christ painting conveys how Jesus appears to the people of Mescalero.

“Jesus meets you where you are and he appears to us in a way we understand,” she said. “Living my Apache way of life is no different than attending church. … The mindless, thoughtless act of removing a sacred icon sent a message that we didn’t matter.”

Parishioners believe the Creator in Apache lore is the same as their Christian God. On a recent Saturday night, community members gathered to bless two girls who had come of age. Kazhe and Donalyn Torres, one of the church elders who authorized Lentz to paint the Apache Christ, sat in lawn chairs with more than 100 others, watching crown dancers bring blessings on them.

Under a half-moon, the men wore body paint and tall crowns, dancing to drumbeats and song around a large fire. The women, including the two girls donning buckskin and jewelry, formed the outer circle, moving their feet in a quick, shuffling motion.

In the morning, many from the group attended Mass at their church, the Apache Christ restored to its place of honor.

The painting shows Christ as a Mescalero holy man, standing on the sacred Sierra Blanca, greeting the sun. A sun symbol is painted on his left palm; he holds a deer hoof rattle in his right hand. The inscription at the bottom is Apache for “giver of life,” one of their names for the Creator. Greek letters in the upper corners are abbreviations for “Jesus Christ.”

Gosselin, the mission’s former priest, said he was struck by the level of detail Lentz captured in that painting, particularly the eyes — which focus on a distance just as Apache people would when talking about spirituality. He believes the painting was “divinely inspired” because the people who received it feel a holy connection.

“This has resonated in the spirit and their hearts,” he said. “Now, 35 years later, the Apache people are fighting for it.”
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainians urged their government to do more to get Russia to release prisoners of war, voicing their anger on Sunday at a ceremony commemorating the second anniversary of an explosion that killed more than 50.

Several thousand soldiers and civilians gathered at Kyiv’s Independence Square Sunday to commemorate the second anniversary of an explosion that killed more than 50 Ukrainians that Russia held in the Olenivka prison barracks.

Impassioned speakers at the ceremony urged the Ukrainian government to work harder to get the soldiers freed in a prisoner exchange.

The Olenivka explosion was one of the most painful pages in the war, according to many soldiers.

“I was there in Olenivka. I was rocked by the explosion,” said Sgt. Kyrylo Masalitin, who was later released. “Never before have I felt so helpless. And those still in captivity feel that helplessness every day. They must know that we have done everything we can do to get them released.”

Behind Masalitin, more than 300 soldiers of the Azov brigade stood in formation. In unison they recited a prayer before holding aloft red flares to honor their comrades.

Russia has claimed that the Olenivka explosion was caused by Ukrainian forces firing a missile that hit the prison barracks. But increasing evidence suggests that Russian forces set off the explosion, according to an investigation by The Associated Press.

The AP interviewed more than a dozen people with direct knowledge of details of the attack, including survivors, investigators and families of the dead and missing. All described evidence they believe points directly to Russia as the culprit. AP also obtained an internal United Nations analysis that found the same. Despite the conclusion of the internal analysis that found Russia planned and executed the attack, the U.N. stopped short of accusing Russia in public statements.

Two years after the explosion, many Ukrainians still want to know exactly how it happened. The demonstration Sunday brought together people who are commemorating Olenivka with others who are protesting Russia’s imprisonment of Ukrainian fighters who defended the Azovstal steel works and were taken prisoner when Russia seized the city of Mariupol.

Many were also pressing for the release of Ukrainian soldiers who were defending the Avovstal steel works and were captured when Mariupol fell in 2022. At least 900 soldiers from the Azov brigade are held as prisoners of war by Russia. The “Free Azov” campaign has become a vociferous pressure group in Kyiv and holds weekly vigils to urge President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government to do a prisoner exchange to get free Ukrainian prisoners held by Russia.

“We’re here to remember those who died and also those in captivity. We’re here to push our government to work hard on this,” said a soldier who identified himself as Stanislav.

He said he had been a defender of Mariupol when the Russians invaded in February 2022 and he was injured in an artillery attack, losing his left arm. He was treated in the army base inside the Azovstal steel works before he was taken captive by the Russian forces and then released. After physical rehabilitation, Stanislav returned to the army and now works in military headquarters in Kyiv.

He said he will keep pushing for the release of captive soldiers.

“We’re here for a special reason, to see that our brothers-in-arms in captivity come back,” he said. “All of those in captivity.”

The event in the center of Kyiv drew together many families, including the mothers, wives and children of soldiers who were killed at Olenivka or are currently imprisoned by Russia.

Her voice cracking with emotion, Halyna Stafiichuk, 71, said her son is being held by the Russians and she hasn’t heard from him in more than two years.

“I’m crying every day. I’m just praying for a note from him that says he is OK and that he will be home soon,” said Stafiichuk. “We trust that God and our government will bring all our soldiers back.”
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