BLOGONITY

BRUSSELS — Belgian federal prosecutors announced Thursday the arrests of several people as part of a corruption probe linked to the European Parliament amid reports in local media that Chinese company Huawei bribed EU lawmakers. The arrests came as an investigation by Le Soir newspaper and other media said lobbyists working for the Chinese telecoms giant are suspected of bribing current or former European Parliament members to promote the company’s commercial policy in Europe. About 100 federal police officers carried out 21 searches in Brussels, the Flanders and Wallonia regions, and Portugal, the federal prosecutor’s office said. The suspects would be questioned over “alleged involvement in active corruption within the European Parliament, as well as for forgery and use of forgeries,” prosecutors said. “The offenses were allegedly committed by a criminal organization.” Huawei public relations representatives in London did not respond to an emailed request for comment and could not be reached by phone. The European Parliament said only that the assembly “takes note of the information” and “always cooperates fully with the judicial authorities.” Huawei, which makes cellphones and is the biggest maker of networking gear for phone and internet carriers, has been caught in tensions between the United States and China over technology and trade. Some European nations have followed Washington’s lead and banned Huawei’s equipment from next-generation mobile networks over allegations that it poses a security risk that could help facilitate Chinese spying. The company has repeatedly denied this. European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said the EU’s executive branch had no comment regarding the investigation, but underlined security concerns the commission has about Huawei and Europe’s fifth-generation mobile phone networks. “The security of our 5G networks is obviously crucial for our economy,” Regnier told reporters. “Huawei represents materially higher risks than other 5G suppliers.” EU member states should swiftly “adopt decisions to restrict or to exclude Huawei from their 5G networks,” Regnier said. “A lack of swift action would expose the EU as a whole to a clear risk.” The federal prosecutor’s office, which did not name Huawei, said it believes there was corruption “from 2021 to the present day” in various forms, “such as remuneration for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches.” Prosecutors say payments might have been disguised as business expenses and in some cases may have been directed to third parties. They would … “Belgium makes arrests in corruption probe linked to EU” →

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened the European Union with 200% tariffs on wine, champagne and other spirits produced in the 27-nation bloc after the EU levied what he said was “a nasty 50% tariff” on American-distilled whiskey. Trump contended in a post on his Truth Social media platform that the EU is “one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World.” He said it was formed in 1993 “for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States” economically. In the last month, Trump has been waging a tit-for-tat tariff fight with its biggest trading partners — Mexico, Canada, China and the EU — in what he says is an effort to staunch the flow of drugs, especially fentanyl, into the United States from Mexico and Canada, and also convince manufacturers to close their operations overseas and move them to the U.S. to create more American jobs. On Wednesday, Trump levied 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum exports to the U.S. from 35 countries, including the EU bloc. Europe quickly retaliated with its own tariffs on $28 billion worth of U.S. exports to countries that have long been U.S. geopolitical allies, while Canada imposed new tariffs on $20.7 billion worth of U.S. exports to its northern neighbor. The new EU measures will apply not only to steel and aluminum products but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods. Motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans also will be hit, as they were during Trump’s first term that ran from 2017 to 2021. The EU duties aimed for political pressure points in the U.S. while minimizing additional damage to Europe. EU officials have said its tariffs, which are paid by importing companies and the cost of which is then mostly passed on to consumers, are targeting products from states dominated by Republicans like Trump, such as beef and poultry from Kansas and Nebraska, wood products from Alabama and Georgia, and liquor from Kentucky and Tennessee. Spirits producers have become collateral damage in the steel and aluminum dispute. Chris Swonger, head of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, called the EU move to tax U.S.-produced spirits “deeply disappointing and will severely undercut the successful efforts to rebuild U.S. spirits exports in EU countries.” The EU is a major destination for U.S. whiskey, with exports surging 60% in the past three years after an … “Trump threatens 200% tariffs on European spirits” →

Russian aerial attacks overnight killed at least two people in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, officials said Thursday. Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram his region came under attack by Russian drones and shelling, and that one other person was injured. In the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, Governor Serhiy Lysak said at least three people were hospitalized after a Russian attack hit the city of Dnipro. Lysak said on Telegram the attack damaged multiple apartment buildings, including blowing out windows. Officials in the Sumy region reported Thursday that Russian drones fell on a set of garages, setting about 20 of them on fire. Ukraine’s military said Thursday it shot down 74 of the 117 drones that Russian forces launched overnight. The intercepts took place over the Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy, Vinnytsia and Zaporizhzhia regions, the military said. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 77 Ukrainian drones, most of them in regions located along the Russia-Ukraine border. Vladislav Shapsha, governor of the Kaluga region, said the attacks injured one person and damaged an industrial building, a communication tower and a power line. The Russia military said it destroyed 30 of the drones over Bryansk, while officials in the region reported no damage or casualties. Russian air defense also shot down drones over Kursk, Voronezh, Rostov and Belgorod, the military said. The daily aerial attacks continue amid a U.S. push to secure a cease-fire in the conflict. The U.S. has proposed a 30-day halt in fighting, which Ukraine has said it would accept. U.S. officials are expected to discuss the plan with Russian officials in the coming days. The latest fighting came as Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to troops in Russia’s western Kursk region Wednesday, ordering soldiers to swiftly retake the region from Ukrainian forces. Dressed in military fatigues, Putin told the troops he was considering setting up a new buffer zone inside Ukraine’s Sumy region, adjacent to Kursk, to prevent any future Ukrainian incursions. “Our task in the near future, in the shortest possible timeframe, is to decisively defeat the enemy entrenched in the Kursk region and still fighting here, to completely liberate the territory of the Kursk region, and to restore the situation along the line of the state border,” Putin said. “And of course, we need to think about creating a security zone along the state border.” Some … “Deadly Russian aerial attacks hit Ukraine’s Kherson region” →

U.S. and Russian officials are expected to meet in Moscow to discuss a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Kremlin said Thursday that U.S. negotiators were on the way to Russia. That followed comments Wednesday from the White House saying special envoy Steve Witkoff would head to Moscow. “People are going to Russia right now as we speak,” U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday. “And hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that national security adviser Mike Waltz spoke to his Russian counterpart on Wednesday. U.S. officials met earlier this week with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia to present the ceasefire plan. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the U.S. effort, saying Wednesday Ukraine is “ready for a ceasefire for 30 days as proposed by the American side.” Zelenskyy said the halt in fighting could be used to create a broader peace deal for the conflict, which began with Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. …

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis marks 12 years as head of the Catholic Church on Thursday, seemingly out of danger after a month in hospital but with his health casting a shadow over his future. The 88-year-old was, for a time, critically ill as he battled pneumonia in both lungs at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where he was admitted on Feb. 14. The Argentine’s situation has markedly improved since then, with the Vatican confirming his condition as stable on Wednesday evening, and talk is now turning to when he might go home. But his hospitalization, the longest and most fraught of his papacy, has raised serious doubts about his ability to lead the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Catholics. Slowing down Francis had before now refused to make any concessions to his age or increasingly fragile health, which saw him begin using a wheelchair three years ago. He maintained a packed daily schedule interspersed with frequent overseas trips, notably a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region in September, when he presided over huge open-air masses. But experts say his recovery could take weeks given his age and recurring health issues, not helped by having part of one lung removed as a young man. “The rest of his pontificate remains a question mark for the moment, including for Francis himself,” said Father Michel Kubler, a Vatican expert and former editor in chief of the French religious newspaper La Croix. “He doesn’t know what his life will be like once he returns to the Vatican and so, no doubt, reserves the option of resigning if he can no longer cope,” he told AFP. Francis has always left the door open to resigning were his health to deteriorate, following the example of Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pope since the Middle Ages to voluntarily step down. But the Jesuit has distanced himself from the idea more recently, insisting the job is for life. While in hospital, Francis has delegated masses to senior cardinals but has kept working on and off, including signing decrees and receiving close colleagues. But he has missed a month of events for the 2025 Jubilee, a holy year organized by the pope that is predicted to draw an additional 30 million pilgrims to Rome and the Vatican. And it is hard to imagine he will be well enough to lead a full program of events for Easter, the holiest … “Hospitalized pope marks 12 years in job with future uncertain” →

WASHINGTON — A fossil of a partial face from a human ancestor is the oldest in western Europe, archaeologists reported Wednesday. The incomplete skull — a section of the left cheek bone and upper jaw – was found in northern Spain in 2022. The fossil is between 1.1 million and 1.4 million years old, according to research published in the journal Nature. “The fossil is exciting,” said Eric Delson, a paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History, who was not involved in the study. “It’s the first time we have significant remains older than 1 million years old in western Europe.” A collection of older fossils from early human ancestors was previously found in Georgia, near the crossroads of eastern Europe and Asia. Those are estimated to be 1.8 million years old. The Spanish fossil is the first evidence that clearly shows human ancestors “were taking excursions into Europe” at that time, said Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program. But there is not yet evidence that the earliest arrivals persisted there long, he said. “They may get to a new location and then die out,” said Potts, who had no role in the study. The partial skull bears many similarities to Homo erectus, but there are also some anatomical differences, said study co-author Rosa Huguet, an archaeologist at the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution in Tarragona, Spain. Homo erectus arose around 2 million years ago and moved from Africa to regions of Asia and Europe, with the last individuals dying out around 100,000 years ago, said Potts. It can be challenging to identify which group of early humans a fossil find belongs to if there’s only a single fragment versus many bones that show a range of features, said University of Zurich paleoanthropologist Christoph Zollikofer, who was not involved in the study. The same cave complex in Spain’s Atapuerca Mountains where the new fossil was found also previously yielded other significant clues to the ancient human past. Researchers working in the region have also found more recent fossils from Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens. …

The US administration’s efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine are putting pressure on the Kremlin. But Moscow has made considerable territorial gains and some in Russia say they are prepared to give up nothing. VOA’s Jeff Custer narrates this report from our team in Moscow. …

As the U.S. seeks to strengthen ties with resource-rich Central Asia, the European Union is also reaching out to the region. Having adopted a new strategy for Central Asia in 2019, the bloc appears to be making renewed efforts to implement it. EU Commissioner for External Relations Jozef Sikela has begun a tour of the region ahead of an EU-Central Asia summit in Uzbekistan in April. Click here for the full story in Uzbek. …

The U.S. administration’s efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine are putting pressure on the Kremlin. But Moscow has made considerable territorial gains and some in Russia say they are prepared to give up nothing. VOA’s Jeff Custer narrates this report from our team in Moscow. …

As a court in London found three members of a Russian spy ring guilty, VOA Russian spoke to Roman Dobrokhotov, the editor-in-chief of the Russian investigative outlet The Insider, who was a target of the spy ring’s plot. Dobrokhotov described how the group planned to kidnap and assassinate him and his colleague Christo Grozev after The Insider’s groundbreaking investigation on the Kremlin’s involvement in the poisoning of Alexey Navalny. Click here for the full story in Russian. …

TEHRAN, IRAN — China, Iran and Russia conducted joint naval drills Tuesday in the Middle East, offering a show of force in a region still uneasy over Tehran’s rapidly expanding nuclear program and as Yemen’s Houthi rebels threaten new attacks on ships. The joint drills, called the Maritime Security Belt 2025, took place in the Gulf of Oman near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil passes. The area around the strait has in the past seen Iran seize commercial ships and launch suspected attacks in the time since President Donald Trump first unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. The drill marked the fifth year the three countries took part in the drills. This year’s drill likely sparked a warning late Monday from the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, which said there was GPS interference in the strait, with disruptions lasting for several hours and forcing crews to rely on backup navigation methods. “This was likely GPS jamming to reduce the targeting capability of drones and missiles,” wrote Shaun Robertson, an intelligence analyst at the EOS Risk Group. “However, electronic navigation system interference has been reported in this region previously during periods of increased tension and military exercises.” US-patrolled waters Russia’s Defense Ministry identified the vessels it sent to the drill as the corvettes Rezky and the Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov, as well as the tanker Pechenega. China’s Defense Ministry said it sent the guided-missile destroyer Baotou and the comprehensive supply ship Gaoyouhu. Neither offered a count of the personnel involved. Neither China nor Russia actively patrol the wider Middle East, whose waterways remain crucial for global energy supplies. Instead, they broadly cede that to Western nations largely led by the U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet. Observers for the drill included Azerbaijan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates — with the Americans likely keeping watch as well. However, China and Russia have deep interests in Iran. For China, it has continued to purchase Iranian crude oil despite facing Western sanctions, likely at a discount compared with global prices. Beijing also remains one of the top markets for Iranian imports. Russia, meanwhile, has relied on Iran for the supply of bomb-carrying drones it uses in its war on Ukraine. Iran … “China, Iran, Russia hold joint naval drills in Middle East” →

ROME — Pope Francis’ recovery from double pneumonia continued Wednesday as a chest X-ray confirmed improvement, two days after doctors declared he is no longer in imminent danger of death. The latest medical bulletin said the pope’s condition remained stable but indicated a complex picture considering his overall fragility. The Vatican said Francis, 88, again followed its spiritual retreat remotely and resumed physical and respiratory therapy after a quiet night. He continues to receive high flows of oxygen through nasal tubes during the day and a noninvasive mechanical mask to aid his rest at night. His weekly Wednesday general audience was canceled since the Vatican hierarchy is on retreat this week as part of the Lenten spiritual exercises that have been a mainstay of the Jesuit pope’s pontificate. Francis faces important milestones this week. On Thursday, he marks the 12th anniversary of his election as the 266th pope. The Holy See has not said how the anniversary, a public holiday in the Vatican, might be commemorated. No medical bulletin will be issued. The former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected on the fifth ballot of the 2013 conclave that was called after Pope Benedict XVI resigned. While Francis has praised Benedict’s humility in stepping down and said he might follow in his footsteps, more recently he has said the papacy is a job for life. Another milestone comes Friday, when Francis marks four weeks of hospitalization. St. John Paul II holds the record for a hospital stay, at 55 days, when in 1981 he underwent a minor surgical operation and then was treated for a cytomegalovirus infection. Francis is on track to equal the second-longest stay, 28 days, which John Paul recorded in 1994, when he had surgery to repair his right hip joint after he fractured his right femur in a fall, according to Gemelli hospital. The Vatican has released no photos or video of Francis since he was admitted. The pope recorded an audio message last week to thank people for their prayers, though the weakness and breathlessness of his voice made clear how frail he was. …

WASHINGTON — The United States on Wednesday announced sanctions against the Foxtrot Network, a Sweden-based gang accused of carrying out attacks against Israeli interests in Europe on behalf of Iran. Describing Foxtrot as one of Sweden’s “most notorious criminal gangs,” the U.S. Treasury and State Departments also placed sanctions on its leader Rawa Majid, with both agencies saying in statements that he had “specifically cooperated with the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security.” “Iran’s brazen use of transnational criminal organizations and narcotics traffickers underscores the regime’s attempts to achieve its aims through any means, with no regard for the cost to communities across Europe,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. The sanctions, which usually include asset freezes and U.S. entry bans, were issued in line with President Donald Trump’s reinstated “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, the agencies said. Sweden’s Sapo intelligence service announced last May that it believed Iran had recruited Swedish criminal gang members as proxies to commit “acts of violence” against Israeli and other interests in Sweden. That announcement came weeks after nighttime gunfire was reported outside Israel’s embassy in Stockholm, and three months after police found a live grenade lying on the grounds of the Israeli compound. At the time, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported that both Majid’s Foxtrot and arch-rival gang Rumba had been recruited by the Iranian regime, citing documents from Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad. DN said the Mossad documents showed Majid — a Swedish-Turkish dual national nicknamed the “Kurdish Fox” — had been arrested in Iran and ordered to cooperate with the Iranian regime or go to jail. Later, in October, the embassy was hit by gunfire, while the day after two explosions occurred near the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen. Swedish nationals have been arrested over the suspected grenade attack, according to Danish police. The attacks in Europe last year occurred as tensions soared between Iran and Israel over the devastating war in Gaza. But Sweden has struggled to contain surging gang violence in recent years, with shootings and bombings frequently occurring across the country. …

THE HAGUE — A jet that took former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte from Manila landed Wednesday in the Netherlands a day after he was arrested on an International Criminal Court warrant accusing him of crimes against humanity over deadly anti-drugs crackdowns he oversaw while in office. Rights groups and families of victims hailed Duterte’s arrest. Within days, he will face an initial appearance at which the court will confirm his identity, check that he understands the charges against him and set a date for a hearing to assess if prosecutors have sufficient evidence to send him to a full trial. If his case goes to trial and he is convicted, the 79-year-old Duterte could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The small jet taxied into a hangar where two buses were waiting. An ambulance also drove close to the hangar, and medics wheeled a gurney from the ambulance into the hangar. The court did not immediately confirm that Duterte was aboard the arriving plane, which made a stopover in Dubai during its flight from Manila, or that the former president was in court custody. Duterte’s arrest was announced Tuesday by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, who said that the former leader was arrested when he returned from a trip to Hong Kong and that he was sent aboard a plane to the ICC. “This is a monumental and long-overdue step for justice for thousands of victims and their families,” said Jerrie Abella of Amnesty International. “It is therefore a hopeful sign for them, as well, in the Philippines and beyond, as it shows that suspected perpetrators of the worst crimes, including government leaders, will face justice wherever they are in the world.” Emily Soriano, the mother of a victim of the crackdowns, said she wanted more officials to face justice. “Duterte is lucky he has due process, but our children who were killed did not have due process,” she said. Duterte’s supporters, however, criticized his arrest as illegal and sought to have him returned home. Small groups of Duterte supporters and people who backed his arrest demonstrated on Wednesday outside the court before his arrival. The ICC opened an inquiry in 2021 into mass killings linked to the so-called war on drugs overseen by Duterte when he served as mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao and later as president. Estimates of the death toll during Duterte’s presidential term vary, … “Philippine ex-president Duterte faces charges linked to ‘war on drugs’” →

A federal court in New York has rejected a Russian businessman’s challenge to the U.S. government’s efforts to confiscate a luxury superyacht that allegedly belongs to sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleyman Kerimov. The decision brings the United States closer to taking ownership of the yacht — known as Amadea — through a legal procedure known as civil forfeiture. The ruling likely represents the biggest victory so far in plans started under former President Joe Biden’s administration to seize assets of sanctioned Russian tycoons and use them to support Ukraine’s war effort. On March 10, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that Russian businessman Eduard Khudainatov did not have standing to challenge forfeiture of the yacht because he was not its owner. And because no one else has claimed ownership, the U.S. Department of Justice will now pursue a judgment of forfeiture by default. Khudainatov’s legal team plans to appeal the decision. “The ruling is both legally and factually flawed, and we are confident it will not withstand appellate review,” Adam Ford, a lawyer representing Khudainatov and his company, said in a statement. The DOJ declined to comment on the ruling. U.S. prosecutors believe the 106-meter elite superyacht that is valued at over $230 million belongs to Kerimov, a senator, businessman and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The court also concluded in legal documents that the evidence suggests that after September 2021, Kerimov or his family exercised ownership of the vessel. In 2018, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on Kerimov. The government later alleged he or people acting on his behalf made payments for repairs and upkeep of the yacht that passed through the U.S financial system — a violation of those sanctions. U.S. law enforcement seized the Amadea in 2022. But the following year, Khudainatov, who is not under U.S. sanctions, claimed ownership interest, setting the stage for a legal battle that continues today. The outcome of the case will be important not only for the true owner and Ukraine but also for American citizens. As VOA reported in May 2024, U.S. taxpayers have spent more than $740,000 a month on the yacht’s maintenance. Last December, The Washington Post reported that servicing the yacht had cost the country roughly $30 million. The court previously denied the DOJ permission to sell the yacht and convert it into cash, a move that would save the government … “Court rejects Russian oligarch’s challenge to US efforts to confiscate yacht” →