Author: Mirits

The Biden administration continues to push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and de-escalation between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. In Europe, the administration has revealed intelligence that North Korean troops are being trained in Russia to help its war efforts. VOA White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara spoke with White House national security communications adviser John Kirby on the latest developments in the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. VOA: [U.S.] Secretary [of State] Antony Blinken today warned Israel against a protracted campaign in Lebanon. He warned Israel to avoid civilian casualties, not to endanger U.N. peacekeepers and the Lebanese army. The only way Israel can do that is by operating a targeted campaign. Is it operating a targeted campaign? White House national security communications adviser John Kirby: We would like to see no civilian casualties and no damage to civilian infrastructure to the maximum extent possible. We have told the Israelis that we don’t support near daily strikes in densely populated areas, and that’s part of the message that [Blinken] delivered when he was there. We believe that there’s still a diplomatic path to be found here to bring this conflict with Hezbollah and Lebanon to a close. That was one of the reasons that Secretary Blinken traveled there. VOA: Do you support Israeli demands for an expanded U.N. peacekeeping force to include north of the Litani River? Kirby: I’m not going to get into any specific proposals one way or the other. I don’t think we’re at that point right now. … What we support is de-escalation. What we support is minimization of civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure. We also continue to support Israel’s right to defend itself. VOA: What about Israel’s efforts to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon? How far can you accept the cost of that? Kirby: Look, they have done an extraordinary amount of work towards already dismantling Hezbollah’s capability, including the killing of [Hassan Nasrallah], their leader. Hezbollah is not Hamas. They are in many ways superior in terms of military capability and resources. So, it’s a different kind of a fight. It’s a different kind of enemy that they face. And I would remind that even just in the last 24 hours, more than 100 rockets and drones [were] launched by Hezbollah towards Israeli citizens who are … “White House pushes for de-escalation in Mideast, warns North Korea for aiding Russia” →

A $50 billion loan to Ukraine from the G7 major industrialized nations is moving forward after months of negotiations, with countries announcing their contributions to the package this week.  The loan package is aimed at providing Ukraine with an economic lifeline from $280 billion worth of Russian assets frozen since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. According to the plan, the loan will be repaid with interest accumulating on the frozen Russian assets rather than confiscating the frozen assets themselves. This “creative” solution is intended to provide Ukraine with the economic assistance it urgently needs “without burdening American taxpayers,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement, adding that “these loans will support the people of Ukraine as they defend and rebuild their country. And our efforts make it clear: Tyrants will be responsible for the damages they cause.” “This will really support us,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement thanking allies for the decision. The United States will contribute $20 billion to the loan, while Canada and Britain announced contributions of $3.7 billion and $2.94 billion, respectively. The European Parliament on Tuesday approved a European Union decision to provide up to $38 billion as part of the loan. While the details of the loan are still being worked out, donors announced the funding will cover Ukraine’s economic and defense needs. U.S. deputy national security adviser Daleep Singh told reporters if the U.S. Congress approves the loan contribution, the Biden administration plans to allocate half of the $20 billion to support Ukraine’s economy and the other half for defense support. The United Kingdom’s $2.94 billion is to be used solely for Ukraine’s military, British Defense Minister John Healey announced this week. “With this decision, Ukraine is confident that it will have money to fully fund the critically important expenditures next year, including wages to teachers, doctors, pensions,” Roman Kachur, alternate executive director for Ukraine at the World Bank, told VOA. According to the International Monetary Fund, the loan is crucial if Ukraine is to meet its financing needs. “We have talked with [the] Ukrainian government about the ways to close the financing gap, which has opened up because the war takes longer than everybody expected and therefore more budget financing will be needed,” Alfred Kammer, director of the IMF’s European Department, told VOA. The fund, which has a four-year program for Ukraine, expects the multiyear financing through the loan will help the country cover … “G7 is finalizing $50B loan to Ukraine” →

kazan, russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin told BRICS leaders on Thursday that the Middle East was on the brink of a full-scale war after a sharp rise in tension between Israel and Iran, though the Kremlin chief also faced calls to end the war in Ukraine. The BRICS summit, attended by more than 20 leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan, has shown the depth of Russia’s relations beyond the Western world. Much discussion at the summit in the Russian city of Kazan was dedicated to the war in Ukraine and the violence in the Middle East, though there were no sign that anything specific would be done to end either conflict. “The degree of confrontation between Israel and Iran has sharply increased. All this resembles a chain reaction and puts the entire Middle East on the brink of a full-scale war,” Putin, sitting beside Chinese President Xi Jinping, said. Xi, speaking after Putin, said that China wanted a political settlement in Ukraine, and suggested joint efforts by Beijing and Brasilia offered the best chance of peace. “We need to work for an early de-escalation of the situation and pave the way for a political settlement,” Xi said. On the Middle East, Xi said that there should be a comprehensive cease-fire in Gaza, a halt to the spread of war in Lebanon, and a return to the two-state solution under which states for both Israel and Palestine would be established. Flames of war Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian criticized international organizations, particularly the United Nations, for failing to end the conflict. “The flames of war continue to rage in the Gaza Strip and cities of Lebanon, and international institutions, particularly the U.N. Security Council as a driver of international peace and security, lack the necessary effectiveness to extinguish the fire of this crisis,” Pezeshkian told the BRICS. Putin said that unless Palestinians got their state, they would feel the burden of “historical injustice” and the region would remain in “an atmosphere of permanent crisis with inevitable relapses of large-scale violence.” In their summit declaration, BRICS leaders called for the establishment of a sovereign, independent and viable Palestinian state within the borders of 1967. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attended the summit. At one of the BRICS+ meetings on Thursday, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar sat in for Modi who also missed one of the … “Putin tells BRICS leaders that Middle East on brink of full-scale war” →

Kazan, Russia — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday condemned the 15-nation U.N. Security Council for failing to tackle the Middle East conflict.    “The fire of war is still raging in the Palestinian Gaza Strip and Lebanese cities,” Pezeshkian told leaders from emerging economies at the BRICS summit in Russia.    “And international institutions … topped by the United Nations Security Council — who are drivers of international peace and security — lack the necessary efficiency to extinguish the fire of this crisis.”    Pezeshkian condemned Israel for violating “the red lines” of different states and “producing a new wave of violence and terror.”  Since the start of the war in Gaza, the Islamic republic has criticized the U.N. body for being inactive and ineffective in ending conflict in the Middle East.   Iran is engaged in an intense diplomatic campaign to establish cease-fires in both Gaza and Lebanon.    The efforts are also aimed at preventing the conflict from expanding across the region after Israel’s threat to retaliate to an attack by Iran on October 1.   Tehran said the attack was in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon, which killed an Iranian general and the head of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, late September.   Iran supports Hezbollah and the Palestinian movement Hamas, whose militant groups are fighting Israel.   ‘Defeating its purpose’  For his part, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, turned to social media to criticize the U.N. for turning “into a frustratingly dysfunctional platform.”   He said the U.N. was “sadly defeating its purpose” because the United States’ “unconditional support for [the] occupying regime” — Israel — “has so emboldened the regime as to expand its aggressions and atrocities across the region,” he posted on social media platform X.  The U.S. is one of the five permanent Security Council members with powers to block its decisions.   Earlier in October, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the United States of obstructing the Security Council over the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.   “[The] inaction of the U.N. Security Council due to the obstruction of the United States [is] a disaster,” he said.   Iran does not recognize the state of Israel and has made support for Palestinian cause one of the pillars of its foreign policy since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.   The Security Council is composed of five permanent members with veto … “Iran’s Pezeshkian slams UN failure to ‘extinguish’ regional crisis” →

Tbilisi, Georgia — With Georgia set to hold parliamentary elections Saturday, Rustaveli Avenue, Tbilisi’s main thoroughfare, was filled with buses and minibuses Wednesday evening, transporting supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream party from across the country. The rally drew an estimated 150,000 people, largely composed of regional government employees. Rally attendees interviewed by Voice of America’s Georgian Service echoed the ruling party’s talking points, including the claim that Georgia is being dragged into the Russia-Ukraine war and the alleged influence of foreign agents on Georgian politics. “I’m here because I want my homeland to survive,” said one government supporter. “I came because I want this country to be led by a patriotic party, not by agents of America,“ said another participant. “America is now pushing an LGBT agenda — it’s become a pseudo-liberal state,” said a third rally attendee, Omar, repeating rhetoric frequently heard from Georgian Dream. Opposition rally The pro-government rally followed an opposition demonstration held Sunday, when thousands were in the streets of Tbilisi for a “European March” supporting closer ties with the West. Participants in that march told VOA they saw it as a way to resist a slide back under Russian influence for the country. “For me, Georgia’s European future is important — to be a democratic country, tolerant, free and advanced, with Western friends,” said Tiko Nadirashvili. “This is the choice of the Georgian people.” “I am here to show my friends that we are winning this, because the [ruling] Georgian Dream [party] already knows it’s losing,” another attendee told VOA.   Georgia’s opposition is made up of four key forces. At the forefront is the United National Movement, or UNM, accompanied by its splinter group, the Coalition for Change. The other major players include the Strong Georgia coalition and For Georgia, led by former Georgian Dream Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia. The opposition’s electoral campaign has focused on the theme of European integration, warning against threats to Georgia’s Western aspirations. While it has highlighted economic issues, critics argue that its rhetoric often veers toward populism and lacks substantial policy proposals. For its part, Georgian Dream’s election campaign has framed its opponents inside Georgia and critics among Western governments as a “global war party” conspiring to pull Georgia into the Russia-Ukraine conflict — a conspiracy theory crafted to exploit fears of another war. Russians remain Georgia, which has faced two conflicts with Russia since the 1990s, still … “Georgia’s parliamentary vote poses choice between West, East” →

CHISINAU, Moldova — Moldova’s pro-European president said on Thursday that mass bribery had affected a presidential election and a referendum on joining the European Union. However, Maia Sandu vowed to press on with a Nov. 3 runoff vote to win a second term, instead of ordering a new election. Sandu issued her pledge, saying it was up to the people to determine Moldova’s future, after police said pro-Russian fugitive businessman Ilan Shor had channeled $39 million to voters in September and October. Moldovan authorities have said the campaign for last Sunday’s dual poll was overshadowed by a massive Russia-linked election-meddling scheme aimed at defeating the pro-Europe side. “Without the buying of votes, the outcome today would have been different. We would have had a convincing victory in the presidential election and the referendum!” Sandu wrote on social media. She said she had rejected suggestions of ordering a rerun of the ex-Soviet republic’s election as “no one has the right to deny our citizens a mass, sincere and free expression of their will.” “Let’s go forward to the second round. We count strictly on our people as has always been the case when the fate of the country was on the line,” she said. It was up to the judiciary to “wake up” and tackle the issue of bribery, she added. Sandu came in first in the presidential election but failed to secure 50% of votes and now faces a runoff against former prosecutor-general Alexandr Stoianoglo, who is backed by a traditionally pro-Russian party. Sandu has singled out Russia as one of the biggest threats facing Moldova and made EU integration the cornerstone of her administration. In the referendum, a surprisingly slim majority compared with opinion polls, 50.46% of voters, supported EU accession.   The police have accused Shor of an attempt to bribe 130,000 voters. He denies wrongdoing, and the Kremlin has denied interfering. It questioned the vote count, in which votes from Moldovans abroad pushed the “yes” vote over 50%. Moldova’s police chief, Viorel Cernauteanu, told a briefing on Thursday that Shor used Russia’s Promsvyazbank to transfer $24 million in October, in addition to $15 million channeled in September, to pay off voters.   During the campaign, Shor openly offered to pay Moldovans to persuade others to vote “no” in the referendum and to support a specific candidate, who he did not name publicly. He launched a bot on the … “Moldovan president says bribery affected election, pledges run-off vote” →

Paris — A Lebanon donors’ conference in Paris on Thursday has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for the war-battered country — but ending the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah that has devastated the country seems unlikely anytime soon. The pledges rolled in at the Paris conference. Early on, both Germany and France earmarked around $100 million apiece for Lebanon. The funds will support humanitarian aid in the country, where fighting sparked by Hezbollah’s rocket attacks on Israel has killed hundreds and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.   Conference host, French President Emmanuel Macron, said families need shelter, children need nourishment and schooling, the wounded need care. Solutions must be found quickly, he said, especially to avoid further population displacements, which could create new divisions in the country.  Acting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati wanted more. “What we as Lebanese expect from the international community is the following: solidarity and cease-fire,” he said. “Lebanon calls on the international community to come together and support efforts that will end the ongoing aggressions and enforce an immediate cease-fire.”  But experts doubt there will be a swift ending to the conflict. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not attend the Paris conference. He was in the Middle East, although Washington sent a lower-level delegation. Israel and Iran were not invited. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu earlier warned that Lebanon could descend into civil war.  But analyst Antoine Basbous told Europe 1 radio that the more likely scenario was Lebanon descending into chaos. Former colonial power France hopes parties in Lebanon will move on electing a new president, after a two-year power gap.  The Paris meeting additionally aimed to find ways to support the Lebanese army and the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country, which includes a large number of European troops. Both the army and the peacekeeping mission say they have come under attack by Israel.  …

Strasbourg, France — The EU parliament awarded the bloc’s top rights Sakharov prize on Thursday to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and her ally, former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia. They won the prestigious award for their fight for democracy under President Nicolas Maduro’s iron-fisted rule. Machado, 57, played a key role in Venezuela’s presidential election in July. Although the authorities proclaimed Maduro the winner, the opposition believes its candidate Gonzalez Urrutia won. Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, went into exile in Spain in September. European Parliament chief Roberta Metsola said the two figures represented “all Venezuelans inside and outside the country fighting to restore freedom and democracy”, as she announced the award in the parliament in Strasbourg, France. “Edmundo and Maria have continued to fight for the fair, free and peaceful transition of power and have fearlessly upheld those values that millions of Venezuelans and this parliament hold so dear: justice, democracy and the rule of law,” Metsola added. “This parliament stands with the people of Venezuela and with Maria and Edmundo in their struggle for the democratic future of their country,” Metsola said. “We are confident that Venezuela and democracy, will ultimately prevail,” she added. There will be an award ceremony in Strasbourg in December. The winner receives a $54,000 prize. Machado and Gonzalez Urrutia were named for the award by the center-right European People’s Party, the largest political grouping in the EU parliament. The two other finalists were jailed Azerbaijani activist Gubad Ibadoghlu — backed by the Greens — and Israeli and Palestinian organizations working together for peace, proposed by the Socialists and Democrats group. Metsola paid tribute to the finalists, saying they “all are bravely standing up for human rights and for freedom of thought in the face of unimaginable challenges”. She said that the health of Ibadoghlu — under house arrest — was “currently deteriorating significantly” and called on “Azerbaijani authorities to drop all charges against Doctor Ibadoghlu and lift his travel ban”. Far-right lawmakers had nominated US tech billionaire Elon Musk as a champion of “free speech”, but their eyebrow-raising choice was not accepted. Named after Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, previous recipients of the award include South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny. For Machado, it is her second prize in as many months as she won the top European rights prize awarded by the Council of Europe, which … “Venezuelan opposition figures win EU’s top rights Sakharov prize” →

NEW DELHI — While U.S. officials express the view that the BRICS grouping meeting in the Russian city of Kazan is not evolving into a geopolitical rival, analysts say BRICS members are working on issues that could further decouple them from Western influences. Among the topics discussed between members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are ways to establish an alternative payment system that would not be dependent on the U.S. dollar, a BRICS digital currency and an alternative to Western financial institutions like the International Monetary fund.  China, Russia and Iran – countries that face severe trade restrictions imposed by the United States – have been particularly keen about advancing BRICS’ stated goals and circumventing what they regard as illegal sanctions. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated at the BRICS meeting that he was equally interested. “We welcome efforts to increase financial integration among BRICS countries. Trade in local currencies and smooth cross-border payments will strengthen our economic cooperation,” Modi said. Russian State Duma Speaker Vyachaslav Volodin, writing ahead of the two-day meeting on the cloud-based messaging app Telegram, said the BRICS’ priorities reflect the divide between the West and the South. “The time of the hegemony of Washington and Brussels is passing. Countries choose the path of equal dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation in the interests of people, and not to please the US and its minions,” he said. U.S. officials say they are not concerned. “We’re not looking at BRICS evolving into some kind of geopolitical rival. That’s not how we look at it … to the U.S. or anyone else,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday at a press briefing. Meanwhile, India’s Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met Wednesday on the sidelines of the BRICS meeting, signaling a thaw in relations between the two sometimes-adversarial nations that some analysts suggest could have geopolitical implications. Two days before the BRICS meeting, Indian and Chinese officials agreed to resolve the vexing issue of their militaries patrolling along the India-China border. The goal is to ensure that both sides pull back troops from advanced positions in disputed areas and return to the situation that existed before the last border conflict in 2020. “We welcome the consensus reached on the issues that have arisen in the last 4 years along the border. It should be our priority to ensure there is peace and stability along our border,” … “BRICS meeting highlights geopolitical aspirations, rivalries with West” →

WASHINGTON — There is new evidence China, Iran and Russia are aggressively expanding their efforts to influence American voters to potentially sway the result of the upcoming U.S. elections. Two threat intelligence reports Wednesday, one from software giant Microsoft and the other from the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, detail growing activity by cyber actors linked to each country — all aiming to impact U.S. public perceptions with less than two weeks before voters go to the polls. The biggest change, according to Microsoft, comes from Chinese-linked actors known to researchers as Spamouflage or Taizi Flood. “Chinese influence operations have recently taken a new turn, shifting focus to several down-ballot candidates and members of Congress,” Microsoft said, noting that starting in September, China has targeted at least four prominent Republican lawmakers, all of whom are known critics of the government in Beijing. Most recently, the Chinese-linked accounts targeted Texas Republican Michael McCaul, accusing the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee of “abusing power for personal gain.”  Late last month, other Spamouflage began going after Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, Microsoft said. And earlier this month, the same effort began promoting Blackburn’s opponent in the November 5 election. Other targets include Alabama Republican Representative Barry Moore, who was subjected to content criticizing his support for Israel, and the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican Marco Rubio, who was accused of corruption. The Chinese Embassy in Washington rejected the allegations in the Microsoft report. “The presidential elections are the United States’ domestic affairs,” embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu told VOA Wednesday, echoing previous Chinese denials.  “Such allegations are full of malicious speculations against China, which China firmly opposes,” he added. U.S. lawmakers, however, said they were not surprised by the uptick in malign activity. “The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] cannot stand anyone who supports and gives a voice to those they oppress; their response is to sanction and attack,” McCaul said in a statement to VOA.  “I consider it a badge of honor when the CCP — a leading abuser of human rights, censor of free speech, and oppressor of its own people — takes issue with my work,” he said.  Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for the Chinese influence efforts to “be taken very seriously.” “China is becoming increasingly more aggressive,” Rubio said in a statement to VOA. “China’s goal is to shape American opinion on … “New evidence China, Russia and Iran targeting US elections” →

VIPPEROD, Denmark — European scientists have developed an artificial intelligence algorithm capable of interpreting pig sounds, aiming to create a tool that can help farmers improve animal welfare. The algorithm could potentially alert farmers to negative emotions in pigs, thereby improving their well-being, according to Elodie Mandel-Briefer, a behavioral biologist at University of Copenhagen who is co-leading the study. The scientists, from universities in Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, France, Norway and the Czech Republic, used thousands of recorded pig sounds in different scenarios, including play, isolation and competition for food, to find that grunts, oinks, and squeals reveal positive or negative emotions. While many farmers already have a good understanding of the well-being of their animals by watching them in the pig pen, existing tools mostly measure their physical condition, said Mandel-Briefer. “Emotions of animals are central to their welfare, but we don’t measure it much on farms,” she said. The algorithm demonstrated that pigs kept in outdoor, free-range or organic farms with the ability to roam and dig in the dirt produced fewer stress calls than conventionally raised pigs. The researchers believe that this method, once fully developed, could also be used to label farms, helping consumers make informed choices. “Once we have the tool working, farmers can have an app on their phone that can translate what their pigs are saying in terms of emotions,” Mandel-Briefer said. Short grunts typically indicate positive emotions, while long grunts often signal discomfort, such as when pigs push each other by the trough. High-frequency sounds like screams or squeals usually mean the pigs are stressed, for instance, when they are in pain, fight, or are separated from each other. The scientists used these findings to create an algorithm that employs AI. “Artificial intelligence really helps us to both process the huge amount of sounds that we get, but also to classify them automatically,” Mandel-Briefer said. …

Officials in Ukraine’s capital said Thursday that Russia attacked the region with about a dozen aerial drones overnight. Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said Ukraine’s air defenses shot down all of the drones and that there were no reports of casualties or damage. In the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine, Governor Vitalii Kim said on Telegram the military shot down three Russian drones. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday it destroyed seven Ukrainian aerial drones, including four over the Kursk region and three over the Black Sea. Officials in Russia’s Bryansk region also reported several drones were shot down there overnight. North Korean troops The United States said Wednesday that 3,000 North Korean troops were dispatched to Russia earlier this month and are being trained there, possibly to fight alongside Moscow’s troops in their war against Ukraine. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters that what Pyongyang’s soldiers are doing in Russia is “left to be seen.” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. is “working closely with our allies and partners to gain a full understanding of the situation.” Kirby said the North Korean troops traveled by ship between early October and mid-month from its Wonsan naval port to Vladivostok in Russia. Then, he said, the North Korean troops were dispatched to multiple military training sites in eastern Russia. “We do not yet know whether these soldiers will enter into combat alongside the Russian military” in Ukraine, but the possibility is “certainly a high concern,” Kirby said. “We have briefed the Ukrainian government on our understanding of this situation, and we’re certainly consulting closely with other allies, partners and countries in the region on the implications of such a dramatic group move, and on how we might respond,” Kirby said. “For the time being, we will continue to monitor the situation closely, but let’s be clear: If North Korean soldiers do enter into combat, this development will demonstrate Russia’s growing desperation in its war against Ukraine,” Kirby added. “Russia is suffering extraordinary casualties on the battlefield every single day, but President [Vladimir] Putin appears intent on continuing this war,” Kirby said. “If Russia is indeed forced to turn to North Korea for manpower, if we assign a weakness, not strength, it would also demonstrate an unprecedented level of direct military cooperation between Russia and North Korea with security implications in Europe, as well … “Russian drones target Kyiv region” →

APIA, SAMOA — The leaders of the Commonwealth group of nations will meet at a welcome banquet in Samoa in the South Pacific on Thursday, with climate change and reparations for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade on the agenda of summit discussions. Leaders and officials from 56 countries with roots in Britain’s empire, as well as Britain’s King Charles, are in the small island nation and attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which began Monday. The countries’ foreign ministers also began a day of discussions on Thursday. More than half of the Commonwealth’s members are small states, many of which are low-lying island nations at risk from rising sea levels due to climate change. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said ocean temperatures are rising in the Pacific Islands at three times the rate worldwide, and its population is “uniquely exposed” to the impact of rising sea levels. “Climate change is an existential threat. It is the number one national security threat. It is the number one economic threat to the peoples of the Pacific and to many members of the Commonwealth,” Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told a news conference after a meeting with counterparts. A number of African countries, including Zambia, warned the meeting about the escalating impacts of climate change, including the effects on food security, she added. On Thursday, Charles will be shown the impact of rising sea levels that are forcing people to move inland, a Samoan chief said. Island leaders are expected to issue a declaration on ocean protection at the summit, with climate change being a central topic of discussion. Reparations push Also on the agenda is a push for Britain to pay reparations for transatlantic slavery, a long-standing issue that has recently been gaining momentum worldwide, particularly those part of the Caribbean Community and more recently the African Union. British Prime Minister Kier Starmer said on Monday the UK will not bring the issue of reparations for historical transatlantic slavery to the table at the summit, but is open to engage with leaders who want to discuss it. CARICOM has set up a commission to seek reparations from former colonial powers such as the UK, France and Portugal. Those opposed to paying reparations say countries shouldn’t be held responsible for historical wrongs, while those in favor say the legacy of slavery has resulted in persistent and vast racial inequalities today. … “Commonwealth nations to discuss slavery reparations, climate change” →

WASHINGTON — Gathered Wednesday at a summit in the Russian city of Kazan, the members of BRICS adopted a joint declaration calling for the creation of an independent payment system based on their national currencies, a move in response to what they regard as illegal sanctions that are damaging the global economy. BRICS member countries, which account for about 35% of the global economy, issued the Kazan Declaration, which calls for the “elimination” of “unilateral economic sanctions and secondary sanctions that are contrary to international law.” The BRICS membership includes the initial five — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — and expanded when several countries joined this year, including Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia the United Arab Emirates. Expressing concerns over “unilateral coercive” sanctions that have “disruptive effects” on the world economy, the BRICS members agreed to examine the “establishment of an independent cross-border settlement and depository infrastructure, BRICS Clear.” In supporting “inclusive cross-border payment instruments,” they encouraged the “use of local currencies in financial transactions between BRICS countries and their trading partners.” Edward Fishman, senior research scholar at Columbia University and author of the forthcoming book “Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare,” said, “The BRICS have finally found a unifying mission: circumventing American financial dominance.” “For BRICS members under U.S. sanctions, namely Russia and Iran, this mission is already a top national priority,” he said. “Others such as China see it as a handy way to insulate themselves from potential sanctions in the future.” Fishman said the United States should take BRICS initiatives “seriously and move to further solidify the dollar’s advantages” as they “could well bear fruit over the next decade,” although “it’s unlikely that any of these initiatives will make a dent in the dollar’s global role in the near future.” Circumventing US dollar In his speech at the summit Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said “the reform of the international financial architecture” is “pressing,” and he called for “the connectivity” of financial infrastructure among BRICS members and the expansion of the New Development Bank, or NDB.  Headquartered in Shanghai, the NDB was established by the initial five BRICS members in 2015. It serves as an alternative financial institution to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.  Tom Keatinge, the founding director of the Center for Finance and Security at the Royal United Services Institute, said China would be inclined to join the new … “China backs Russia-proposed BRICS payment system” →

WASHINGTON — U.S. officials are becoming increasingly concerned about the emerging partnership among China, Russia, Iran and North Korea – a bloc being talked about by some in Washington as a new “axis of evil.” Those worries got a major boost on Wednesday with confirmation by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a trip to Rome that North Korean troops are now present in Russia, presumably preparing to participate in Moscow’s war on Ukraine. Just days earlier, Russia was a participant in naval drills hosted by Iran.  China, North Korea and Iran all have supported Russia’s war machine in different ways during its war on Ukraine. Iran has provided missiles and drones. North Korea has sent artillery shells. And China has provided dual-use technology and industrial products, including semiconductors and drone engines. “We’ve seen the emergence of Axis of Evil back in the late 1930s, 1938, 1939. We saw what the world did at that particular point to come together,” said Republican congressman Rob Wittman, vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee during an online discussion last month hosted by the Center for a New American Security. “We find ourselves at that same crossroads today where we have nations that do not believe in the same things that we believe in, do not believe in the rule of law, do not believe in protecting the rights and dignity of human beings.” In 2002, former U.S. President George W. Bush used the term “axis of evil” in his State of the Union address to describe countries supporting terrorism, such as North Korea, Iran and Iraq. More recently, it is being applied in Washington to describe China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken describes these four countries as revisionist powers. He wrote that a fierce competition to define a new era of international affairs is under way, and a few countries are determined to change the basic principles of the international system. “While these countries are not an axis, and the administration has been clear that it does not seek bloc confrontation, choices these revisionist powers are making mean we need to act decisively to prevent that outcome,” Blinken wrote in the November/December issue of the publication Foreign Affairs. Wittman does use the term “Axis of Evil” and said the countries involved are more capable of destabilizing the world than were Nazi Germany and its allies in … “Analysis: China, Russia, North Korea and Iran described as new ‘Axis of Evil’ by some” →

The president of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has announced the establishment of the Red Family Fund to honor humanitarian aid workers who have died in the line of duty. Kate Forbes told the organization’s general assembly in Geneva that aid workers find themselves working under “increasingly difficult” conditions that include not only an escalation in conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere but also a decrease in observance of international law. “Global conflicts have escalated, endangering civilians and our volunteers, making it even more difficult to deliver humanitarian aid,” Forbes said. So far this year, 30 of the group’s 16 million humanitarian aid workers worldwide have died in the line of duty, she said. “The surge in violence against humanitarian workers underscores a decline in the adherence to international humanitarian law and poses a direct threat to our mission,” the IFRC president said. She described each loss as a deep wound but said the deaths would not weaken the organization’s “resolve to directly address these crises.” Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, told the gathering that humanitarian workers find themselves doing their jobs across the globe amid a world shaped by “armed conflicts and political turmoil.” The Red Family Fund, according to the IFRC’s website, honors volunteers and staff from the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies “who die in the line of duty and provides a mechanism for one-time financial assistance to the families they leave behind.” “This is a tangible step that demonstrates our commitment to honor those who care for others,” Forbes said.  Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse. …

The United States said there is evidence that North Korean troops are in Russia, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv had learned that two North Korean military units were training in Russia for potential combat in Ukraine. VOA Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb reports. …

Washington — Ukraine will receive $50 billion in loans, backed by frozen Russian assets, from Group of Seven allies, the White House said Wednesday. Distribution of the money will begin by year’s end, according to American officials who said the United States is providing $20 billion of the total. Leaders of the wealthy democracies agreed earlier this year to engineer the mammoth loan to help Ukraine in its fight for survival after Russia’s invasion. Interest earned on profits from Russia’s frozen central bank assets would be used as collateral. “To be clear, nothing like this has ever been done before,” said Daleep Singh, the deputy national security adviser on international economics. “Never before has a multilateral coalition frozen the assets of an aggressor country and then harnessed the value of those assets to fund the defense of the aggrieved party all while respecting the rule of law and maintaining solidarity.” At a ceremony Wednesday in Washington, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Ukraine’s finance minister, Sergii Marchenko, planned to put in writing assurances that the U.S. loan will be paid for by the windfall proceeds of the immobilized Russian sovereign assets, not by American taxpayer dollars. “Russia is paying for this support,” Yellen said at a news conference Monday where she said the loan package was close to being finalized. Singh said the Biden administration intends to divide the U.S. share of $20 billion between aiding Ukraine’s economy and military. It will require congressional action to send military aid, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that weapons and equipment being promised now can take weeks or months to get to Ukraine. The additional $30 billion will come from the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan, among others. The idea of using Russia’s frozen assets to help Ukraine faced resistance at first from European officials who cited legal and financial stability concerns. The move gained momentum after more than a year of negotiations between finance officials and after President Joe Biden in April signed legislation that let the government seize the roughly $5 billion in Russian state assets in the U.S. The G7 announced in June that most of the loan would be backed by profits being earned on roughly $260 billion in immobilized Russian assets. The vast majority of that money is held in EU nations.  The U.S. and its allies immediately froze whatever Russian central bank assets they had … “G7 allies move ahead with $50 billion loan for Ukraine backed by frozen Russian funds” →

Ankara — Assailants set off explosives and opened fire in an attack Wednesday on the premises of the Turkish state-run aerospace and defense company TUSAS, killing four people and wounding several, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. At least two of the attackers died, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said. “We have four martyrs. We have 14 wounded. I condemn this heinous terrorist attack and wish mercy on our martyrs,” Erdogan said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the sidelines of a BRICS meeting in Kazan, Russia. Putin offered him condolences over the attack. Selim Cirpanoglu, mayor of the district of Kahramankazan, told The Associated Press that the attack on the company in the outskirts of the capital, Ankara, had abated but could not provide more details. It was not clear who may be behind it. Kurdish militants, the Islamic State group and leftist extremists have carried out attacks in the country in the past. Security camera images from the attack, aired on television, showed a man in plainclothes carrying a backpack and holding an assault rifle. Turkish media said three assailants, including a woman, arrived at an entry to the complex inside a taxi. The assailants, who were carrying assault weapons, then detonated an explosive device next to the taxi, causing panic and allowing them to enter the complex. Multiple gunshots were heard after Turkish security forces entered the site, the DHA news agency and other media reported. Helicopters were seen flying above the premises. TUSAS designs, manufactures and assembles both civilian and military aircrafts, unmanned aerial vehicles and other defense industry and space systems. The UAVs have been instrumental in Turkey gaining an upper hand in its fight against Kurdish militants in Turkey and across the border in Iraq. Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said the target of the attack was Turkey’s “success in the defense industry.” “It should be known that these attacks will not be able to deter the heroic employees of defense industry,” he wrote on X. …

Athens — Wildfire-plagued Greece has suffered its worst year in terms of climate conditions in four decades in 2024, its prime minister told parliament on Wednesday. The already sun-baked Mediterranean region has been designated by scientists as a climate change “hotspot”, with warming higher than the global average, according to United Nations reports.  Greece has been perennially struck by scorching heatwaves and destructive wildfires every summer, with conditions worsening in recent years. “We were expecting a very difficult year in terms of climate, it was objectively the most difficult in the past 40 years according to data by all scientists, including those from the national climate monitor,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament. He pointed to “temperatures constantly higher than average”, “prolonged drought”, “strong winds”, adding that Greece needed to face the consequences of climate change. The number of wildfires so far this year has reached 9,101, up from 7,163 last year, with 44,000 hectares (109,000 acres) burnt, the premier said during a parliamentary debate on the matter.   Forest blazes began earlier than normal this year, with one igniting at the end of March in the country’s north. Greece experienced its hottest summer ever, Athens’s climate monitor said in September, with premature heatwaves in June, and record-high summer temperatures. June and July were the warmest months since records began in 1960, while August was the second hottest after August 2021, the observatory said on its meteo.gr website. More than 20 people died in Greek forest fires last year, with a massive blaze in Dadia national park dubbed the most destructive ever recorded in the European Union. Rising temperatures are leading to extended wildfire seasons and increasing the area burnt by the blazes, according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  …

London — Britain’s prime minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday played down allegations made by Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump’s team of “blatant foreign interference” by his Labour Party in the U.S. election, saying it was normal for its volunteers to campaign.    Starmer also insisted that he maintained “a good relationship” with Trump, having met him for talks last month.    The former president’s legal team filed a complaint to the U.S. Federal Election Commission alleging the “British Labour Party made, and the [Kamala] Harris campaign accepted, illegal foreign national contributions.”    The filing cited media reports that Labour officials, including the prime minister’s new chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, traveled to the United States to advise the Harris campaign.    Trump’s team also submitted a now-deleted LinkedIn post by Labour director of operations Sofia Patel calling for volunteers to travel to North Carolina, saying “we will sort out your housing.”    Foreign nationals are allowed to volunteer in U.S. elections but may not be compensated.    Starmer told media traveling with him to a Commonwealth meeting on the Pacific island of Samoa that his party had done nothing wrong, and that the volunteers had paid for themselves.    “The Labour party has volunteers, who have gone over pretty much every election,” he said.    “They’re doing it in their spare time, they’re doing it as volunteers, they’re staying, I think, with other volunteers over there.”    “That’s what they’ve done in previous elections, that’s what they’re doing in this election and that’s really straightforward.”    He also denied suggestions that it could damage relations with Britain’s most important ally should Republican party candidate Trump beat Democrat Harris and secure a return to the White House.    Starmer said he had “established a good relationship” with the former president, having met him last month for a two-hour dinner at the former real estate tycoon’s Trump Tower residence in New York.    Adding to the dispute, Trump surrogate Elon Musk wrote on his X site on Tuesday that “this is war” after leaked documents from campaign group Center for Countering Digital Hate appeared to show that one of its objectives was to “kill Musk’s Twitter,” X’s former name.    The campaign group and think-tank is led by a former Labour adviser and McSweeney is a former director.  …

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it destroyed 14 Ukrainian aerial drones in areas along the Ukraine-Russia border as well as four uncrewed Ukrainian boats in the Black Sea. The ministry said Russian air defenses destroyed 10 drones over Russia-occupied Crimea, and another four over the Rostov region. Russian forces carried out a second consecutive night of heavy drone attacks targeting the Sumy region in southern Ukraine. The Sumy regional military administration said Wednesday that Ukrainian air defenses shot down 19 Russian drones, a night after Ukraine downed 25 drones in the same area. Officials in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv regions also reported drones being shot down overnight. North Korean involvement Ukraine has “information that two units of military personnel from North Korea are being trained — potentially even two brigades of 6,000 people each” — for combat in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday.  “This is a challenge,” the president said in his daily address. “But we know how to respond to this challenge. And it is important that our partners do not shy away from this challenge, as well.”  “If North Korea can intervene in the war in Europe, then the pressure on this regime is definitely not strong enough,” Zelenskyy said. “And if Russia is still able to expand and prolong this war, it means that everyone in the world who is still not helping to force Russia into peace is actually helping Putin to wage war.”  “We expect a firm, concrete response from the world,” he added. “Hopefully, not only in words.”  Also Tuesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement that Russia is playing with lives beyond Ukraine.  “Russia’s indiscriminate strikes on ports in the Black Sea underscore that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is willing to gamble on global food security in his attempts to force Ukraine into submission. … In doing so, he is harming millions of vulnerable people across Africa, Asia and the Middle East to try and gain the upper hand in his barbaric war.”   Starmer said Russia’s conduct in the conflict has shown “no respect for human life or the consequences of their invasion across the world.” Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters …

The European Union’s next foreign policy chief has told lawmakers that strengthening security must be a priority, warning that Europe must be prepared as Russia and “partly China” exploit the continent’s open societies. “European security is deeply personal to me as a native of a country that has long told others that Russia’s imperialistic dream never died,” Kaja Kallas, a former Estonian prime minister, said in written replies to members of the European Parliament published late on Tuesday. “My short-term priority must be to address the pressing global concerns: Russia’s war against Ukraine and strengthening the EU’s security and defense,” she wrote. Kallas, nominated by European leaders in June to serve as the bloc’s new high representative for foreign affairs, is set to succeed incumbent Josep Borrell. The European Parliament will hold hearings in November for members of the next European Commission. In 21 pages of answers to questions posed by the lawmakers ahead of the hearings, the Estonian politician outlined her vision for Europe’s foreign policy at a time when the bloc faces an increasingly complex geopolitical environment. The EU must stay at “the forefront of humanitarian efforts” in the Middle East,” Kallas said, and work “with all actors to support the pursuit of a just and comprehensive peace” while also pointing to challenges such as China’s support for Russia. “Actors such as Russia, Iran, North Korea, and partly China, aim at weaponizing interdependencies and exploiting the openness of our societies against us,” she added. “For this, we must be prepared.” …

Ukraine’s prosecutor general announced his resignation Tuesday amid charges that his office provided exemptions to the military draft for government officials.   “Many shameful facts of abuse have been established within the system of the prosecutor’s offices of Ukraine,” Andriy Kostin said in a statement.   Kostin’s resignation followed a meeting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held with senior officials concerning the issuance of disability certificates. The certificates allowed officials throughout the government to avoid military service at a time when the country is struggling to recruit soldiers for its fight against Russia.  “The prosecutor general must take political responsibility for the situation in the prosecution bodies of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in a statement after the meeting.   “The problem is not only that officials use their connections to obtain disability status,” the president said in his daily address. “The problem is also that people with real disabilities, in particular those disabled in combat, are often unable to get proper status and fair payments.”  Zelenskyy said a full audit has been conducted on “the pensions and other accruals” that government officials were able to acquire with the faulty disability exemptions.   Sixty-four officials within the Medical and Social Expert Commission have been notified that they are being investigated for illegally issuing disability certificates, according to the SBU, Ukraine’s domestic security service. Nine have been tried and found guilty.   The president has ordered an overhaul of the disability assessment system.  Some information for this report was provided by Reuters and Agence France-Presse.   …

The war in Ukraine is reshaping the strategic landscape of Europe. While Western and Eastern European nations within the NATO alliance recognize the Russian threat, each day, NATO nations bordering Belarus and Russia feel the immediacy of the threat. In an exclusive interview with VOA’s Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze, Lieutenant General Charles Costanza, commander of the U.S. Army’s V Corps (also known as the Fifth Corps) in Poland, discusses how NATO adapts to Russia’s evolving tactics while defending its members’ borders. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. VOA: Can you explain the different threat assessments from Eastern and Western European partners of NATO regarding Russia? Charles Costanza, commanding general of the U.S. Army’s V Corps: Clearly, in the eastern flank of Europe, the threat is real. They’re on the border with Belarus and Russia, and so, they see that threat every day differently. You see recent open-source reporting on the Russian UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones] coming over Romanian territory and Lithuanian territory. Those incursions have increased. You see the sabotage operations going on throughout eastern flank countries and Eastern European countries. So, Russia is increasing that, short of … challenges and interference [that would trigger the NATO mutual defense clause]. VOA: Do you think Russia is doing it deliberately? Costanza: Of course, they are. They weaponize immigration — I say “weaponize” deliberately. This weaponized immigration is happening in Poland, it’s all been driven from Russia to interfere in Eastern Europe. Moldova is a near-term example with their elections. Russia is actively interfering in those elections to try and shape them in a pro-Russian way. So, all that is going on right now. So, that’s part of this threat assessment piece that isn’t necessarily impacting the Western European countries as much as Eastern Europe. VOA: How threatening is Russia’s military? Costanza: I think there’s a view that Russia is going to take three to 10 years to reconstitute, and I think that we need to look at that a little differently. Russian armed forces, ground forces right now, are actually bigger than they were before the war with Ukraine started 2½ years ago, despite the losses of open-source reporting [of] 600,000 casualties that they’ve incurred during the course of the war. They may not be as well trained, but they’re bigger. Their industrial base is on a wartime footing. Their mobilization base is on … “VOA interview: US Army General Costanza discusses Russia’s threat to West” →

WASHINGTON — Efforts by U.S. adversaries to divide Americans and sow growing distrust in the upcoming presidential election have already begun to intensify, according to senior U.S. intelligence officials, who warn some countries appear to be leaning toward additional measures to spark election-related violence. The latest declassified assessment, issued Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, comes just two weeks before voters head to the polls November 5 to choose a new president and vote on a series of statewide and local races and initiatives. “Foreign actors — particularly Russia, Iran and China — remain intent on fanning divisive narratives to divide Americans and undermine Americans’ confidence in the U.S. democratic system consistent with what they perceive to be in their interests,” according to the assessment. But it warns U.S. intelligence agencies are “increasingly confident” that Russia is starting to engage in plans “aimed at inciting violence.” It further assesses Iran also “may try to incite violence.” Post-poll closing concerns Of particular concern is what appears to be a growing focus on the hours, days and weeks after the polls close, when state and local election officials begin to tally and certify the results. U.S. adversaries “probably will be quick to create false narratives or amplify content they think will create confusion about the election, such as posting claims of election irregularities,” said a U.S. intelligence official, briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity to discuss the assessment in additional detail. The official said Russia, Iran and China “may perceive a window of vulnerability to push disinformation or foment or amplify protests and threats” starting with the moment polling centers close and extending to January 6, when the presidential results are certified by a joint session of Congress. “Foreign driven or amplified violent protests, violence or physical threats to election workers or state and local officials could challenge state and local officials’ ability to conduct elements of the certification and Electoral College process,” the official said. “Particularly if they prevent necessary physical access to facilities or venues.” U.S. intelligence officials have previously warned that Russia and Iran have been especially active, running a variety of influence operations targeting U.S. voters, with a high likelihood that these efforts would extend beyond the November 5 election. Russia, they said, has been working to boost the chances of former president and current Republican nominee Donald Trump, while Iran has been working … “US warns ramped-up election influence efforts aim to stoke violence” →