From The Alpha and the Omega - Chapter Eight
by Jim A. Cornwell, Copyright © 1995, all rights reserved
"KING OF THE NORTH 2021 JULY-SEPT"

    This file is attached to http://www.mazzaroth.com/ChapterEight/BeastThatCameOutOfTheSea.htm from “Beast That Came Out Of The Sea” - Chapter Eight by Jim A. Cornwell, Copyright © 1995, all rights reserved.
Or return to the Astronomical Events To Appear Between 2014 Through 2017 A.D. or return to King Of The North in 2021 April-June or continue to King Of The North in 2021 October-December
WTO REGION 6 IN 1995 CENTRAL ASIA - RUSSIA, ARMENIA, GEORGIA, AZERBIJIAN, CUBA
WTO REGION 5 IN 1995 WESTERN ASIA/EASTERN EUROPE – BALKAN STATES, POLAND, ROMANIA, HUNGARY, BULGARIA, CZECHO-SLOVAKIA, YUGOSLAVIA, ALBANIA, ESTONIA, LATVIA, LITHUANIA.
    So as 2020 has passed do we know who the "King of the North" is?
    "Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.    The king will do as he pleases.    He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods.    He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place." (Daniel 11:35,36).
    The king of the north mentioned in verses Daniel 11:36-45 is the same King from the North (also known as the stern-faced king or the horn power) that was introduced in Daniel 8.    Notice how this point is demonstrated.
    Verse 35 points to the appointed time of the end, and verse 36 describes a king who will be successful until the time of wrath is completed.
Rev. 17:11 The Eighth Head: The Seventh Head (revived Roman Empire) will grow an Eighth Head in verse 11 (Some claim this to be "The scarlet animal that is to be destroyed).
    Rev. 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth (‘Ogdoos’ eighth is connected to ‘Okta’ eight; here the vision shows that the seventh head will briefly sprout another as an eighth head or an outgrowth which will be destroyed; “the eighth” king, his “wound being healed,” Rev. 13:3, Antichrist manifested in the fullest and most intense opposition to God.    He is “the little horn” with eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things, before whom three of the ten horns were plucked up by the roots, and to whom the whole ten “give their power and strength,” in Rev. 12:13, 17.), and is of the seven (originally came from the seven heads; The eighth is not one of the seven restored, but a new power or person proceeding out of the seven, and at the same time embodying all the God opposed features of the previous seven.    For this reason there are not eight heads, but only seven, for the eighth is the embodiment of all the seven.),
and goeth into perdition (‘Apoleia’ indicating loss of well-being, not of being, is used of the Beast, the final head of the revived Roman Empire; In the birth-pangs which prepare the “regeneration” there are wars, earthquakes, and disturbances, at which Antichrist takes his rise, from the sea, Rev. 13:1; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:9-11.).
(Paraphrased: “The scarlet animal that died is the eighth king, having reigned before as one of the seven; after his second reign, he too, will go to his doom.”).
    [No one can really narrow down who or what this new entity came from, but the following is food for thought.    I ran across a news article dated 6/9/2018 on my “KingOfTheWest2018.htm" file and I discovered the following statement, was made in it and was titled "Russia joined the G-7 in the late 1990s almost a decade after the fall of the Soviet Union, making the group the G-8."    And as it is seen above in prophecy the seventh head will briefly sprout another as an eighth head, which was Russia, the eighth as one of the seven.    So as it says above "in his second reign," which was in 2018, "he too, will go to his doom.]
    Most likely this king is the Russian president Vladimir Putin because of his continued push to be in the scene and his interfacing into other areas.
    The end of the year was filled with all the connection of Russia with Turkey, China, North Korea, Ukraine and Syria.     When Trump pulled our troops out of Syria and whether the prophecy below represents the beginning of the events happening in late October 2019 is still to be determined if Daniel 11:40-45 claims it represents the Northern King’s Conquests     Ezekiel 38:1 and 18 or Ezekiel 39:1-8 which states about the entwining of Russia the King of the North and the Mideast Nations and the King of the South into the prophecy above in the very near future as the King of the West has pulled out of this mess which I think Trump made the right call probably due to God's influence.
    The following image below is seen at http://www.mazzaroth.com/ChapterSix/Psalm83.htm so you can tell by the verses above who are the countries today.
    Well, lets see what happens in 2021.

2021 JULY-SEPT

7/1/2021 Belarus Leader Has Little To Fear From EU Sanctions – Analysts by Katya Golubkova
FILE PHOTO: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks at Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Heads
of Government Council in Minsk, Belarus May 28, 2021. Sputnik/Alexander Astafyev/Pool via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – EU sanctions designed to punish veteran Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko for a sweeping political crackdown will leave him largely unscathed and able to continue financing the economy and his security forces, rating agencies and analysts say.
    The European Union imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Belarus last week in response to Lukashenko’s grounding in May of a Ryanair plane flying over Belarus and the arrest of an opposition journalist and his girlfriend who were on board, a move some EU politicians likened to air piracy.
    The EU has also criticised Lukashenko’s suppression of opposition protests, jailing of political rivals and strangling of critical media.
    Its sanctions targeted some of the ex-Soviet republic’s financial lifelines, including its main export, potash, and its government financing operations.    However, loopholes mean they will do little damage, analysts say.
    “The (sanctions) package is very serious, but it could have been much more harmful, both for bonds … and on the financial and trading side,” said Alexey Bulgakov, head of fixed income research at Renaissance Capital.
    The financial sanctions ban EU entities from new Belarusian state debt, including bonds and loans issued after Tuesday, June 29, with a maturity of more than 90 days.    The European Investment Bank will halt lending too.
    But they do not touch the state-owned Development Bank of Belarus, the only bank with outstanding Eurobonds.
    “As of now there are no restrictions for EU investors to buy new Development Bank of Belarus bonds or for EU banks to lend the bank money with a maturity of 90+ days,” said Bulgakov.
    The government also has strong financial support from close ally Russia, according to S&P ratings agency.
    Minsk is due to repay $1.1 billion in foreign currency debt by end-2021, and can draw upon a separate $1 billion credit line agreed last year with Russia to help refinance this, S&P said.
    The credit line was extended to support Lukashenko at a time when he was facing nationwide protests over the results of a presidential election the opposition said was rigged.    Lukashenko denies the vote was flawed.
GOLD & FOREIGN RESERVES CLIMB
    His government can also fall back on gold and foreign currency reserves, which rose by nearly $500 million as of June 1 to $7.76 billion from early May and are now at their highest level since August last year, according to the central bank.
    State-owned Belaruskali, the world’s top potash producer that accounts for a fifth of global potash trade, also looks to face no major threat from the latest EU sanctions, analysts say.
    Its main export, potash with 60% potassium content, was not on the EU’s list of sanctioned items.    Brussels instead imposed sanctions on potash with a potassium content of less than 40% or more than 62% in the dry product.
    Belaruskali earned $2.4 billion in forex revenue last year.
    Bond traders also expect a mild sanctions impact.    Sovereign dollar-denominated Belarusian bonds are unfazed by the latest measures.
    Asked to comment, an EU official said sanctions needed to put pressure on the Lukashenko regime but also limit the impact on the Belarusian people and EU companies.
    “We have the space for any scaling up if necessary.    This is in line with our step-by-step approach,” the official added.
    Belarus Potash Company, Belaruskali’s export arm, and the Belarusian finance ministry did not reply to Reuters requests for comment.
    Russia has said it will continue to support Belarus.
    “Refinancing risks remain broadly contained given new financing from Russia and accumulated savings,” Moody’s rating agency said in a note, adding that the lack of future financing options would increase Belarusian dependence on Russia.
    The sanctions are seen inflicting some pain however.br>     Moody’s said a lot would depend on how Belarus mitigates their impact, but added: “The new sanctions pose significant downside risks to our GDP forecasts of 1% for 2021.”
(Additional reporting by Polina Devitt in Moscow, Karin Strohecker in London and Robin Emmott in Brussels; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Mark Bendeich)

7/1/2021 Russia Says Parties To Iran Nuclear Talks Need More Time Before New Meeting by John Irish and Parisa Hafezi
FILE PHOTO: European External Action Service (EEAS) Deputy Secretary General Enrique Mora and Iranian Deputy at Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Abbas Araghchi wait for the start of a meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission in Vienna, Austria April 6, 2021. EU Delegation in Vienna/Handout via REUTERS
    PARIS (Reuters) -Some parties to the Iran nuclear talks need more time before resuming negotiations in Vienna and a new round is unlikely before next week, Russia’s envoy said on Thursday.
    Iran and the United States have been holding indirect talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers that imposed restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for lifting international sanctions.
    “The #ViennaTalks on #JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) will resume as soon as all the participating states are ready for what is supposed to be the final stage of negotiations,” Mikhail Ulyanov, Moscow’s ambassador to the U.N. atomic watchdog, said on Twitter.
    “This isn’t the case in point yet.    Some participants need more time.    Looks like we will meet in Vienna not earlier than next week.”
    The Vienna talks, which began in April, are now in a pause that had been expected to last until early July.    Diplomats from both sides have said major differences remain and want the other side to make greater concessions before resuming.
    Former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the agreement in 2018, to which Tehran responded by starting to violate some of the nuclear limits in 2019 while sticking to its position that it had no nuclear weapons ambitions.
    “As the U.S. exited the deal, we need to make sure it won’t happen again.    This is one of Iran’s red lines.    We never left the deal, therefore, it is Washington that should give us assurances that it will not happen again when the administration changes,” a senior Iranian official said.
    “We are not in a rush,” the official said, adding that a resumption of talks next week depended on Washington making a “tough political decision.”
    A Western diplomat said it was still possible that the talks would resume next week.
    A second source familiar with the matter echoed this, saying nothing was set and attributed the uncertainty to internal Iranian discussions after last month’s Iranian presidential election won by hardline judge Ebrahim Raisi.    The president-elect backs talks between Iran and six world powers to revive the nuclear https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/irans-raisi-says-foreign-policy-wont-be-limited-by-nuclear-deal-2021-06-21deal but rejected meeting U.S. President Joe Biden even if Washington removed all sanctions.
    “We could resume next week but … they (the Iranians) are having their post-election consultations and they need to run their course,” said this source.    “It is … a function of their internal deliberations and of the transition that is under way.”
    France’s ambassador to the United Nations Nicolas de Riviere, a former negotiator in the talks, on Wednesday threw the ball back in Iran’s court.
    “After six negotiation sessions, the parameters of this return to an agreement are clearly identified and the most difficult questions remain to be resolved,” he told the U.N. Security Council.    “It is now crucial that the courageous trade-offs that are required are taken to conclude the negotiations and allow the swift return of all parties to the agreement.”
    He said the process could not go on indefinitely as the parameters and benefits of a return to the 2015 accord would not be the same after a certain period of time.
(Reporting by John Irish;Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed in Washington;Editing by Alison Williams, Raissa Kasolowsky and Grant McCool)

7/2/2021 Romanian Black Sea Refinery Blast Kills One, Injures Five by Radu-Sorin Marinas
Drone footage from NGO "Agent Green" shows the fire at Petromidia oil refinery after a blast in Navodari,
Romania July 2, 2021 in this still image obtained from video. Agent Green/Reuters TV via REUTERS
    BUCHAREST (Reuters) – A blast and fire on Friday at Romania’s biggest crude oil refinery killed one person and injured five others, authorities and the company which runs the Petromidia plant on the Black Sea said.
    Video footage from a nearby beach in the coastal resort of Mamaia showed black smoke rising from the area next to the refinery and some tourists reported hearing a loud bang.
    Rompetrol Rafinare, part of KMG International Group, said the explosion was inside the diesel hydrotreating unit, and that processes had been halted safely.
    At 1615 GMT it said the fire had been completely put out, the incident “was neutralized successfully” and Rompetrol would continue to provide fuels for its stations in Romania and the Black Sea region.
    “Five of our colleagues are in medical care at Constanta County Hospital, and we are sorry to inform you that a person has been identified as deceased,” its statement added.
    The company declined to comment on the likely financial damage but said an assessment of the impact on technological processes will be performed to provide a clear picture and predictability in terms of restarting the refinery facilities.
    Petromidia is based on the shores of the Black Sea in Navodari, 20 km (12.5 miles) north of the country’s biggest port, Constanta.
    It said it processed a total of 1.26 million tonnes of raw materials in the first quarter of this year, a similar level to a year before, and had been running at 84% capacity.
    Rompetrol closed 1.96% down at 0.05 lei.
(Editing by Jane Merriman, Jan Harvey, Alexander Smith and Philippa Fletcher)

7/2/2021 Detained Belarus Dissident’s Girlfriend Graduates In Absentia by Andrius Sytas
Mother and stepfather of Sofia Sapega, who was detained in Minsk with her dissident boyfriend Roman Protasevich after their Ryanair plane was grounded on June 29
are accepting via video her graduation diploma of European Humanities University, in Vilnius, Lithuania July 2, 2021. REUTERS/Andrius Sytas
    VILNIUS (Reuters) – The girlfriend of a Belarusian dissident, detained with him after the plane they were travelling on was forced to land in Belarus, graduated in absentia at a ceremony in Vilnius on Friday.
    Sofia Sapega, 23, a Russian citizen raised in Belarus, was returning home from a two-week vacation in Greece with her boyfriend, dissident journalist Roman Protasevich, when their flight was forced to land in Minsk on June 29.
    Their arrest sparked international outrage. The EU last week imposed economic sanctions on Belarus.
    On Friday, dressed in gowns and graduation hats, students of the Belarussian university which operates in exile in Vilnius watched as Sapega’s mother and stepfather tearfully accepted the diploma on her behalf via video link from Belarus.
    “We all feel resentful because this is so unjust and unfair,” said a student at Sapega’s law studies class who identified herself as Aliaksandra.
    “We all support her endlessly, and we are very glad that we have achieved that she was issued the diploma.    She is not alone.”
    Sapega has been accused of causing unrest and faces up to 12 years in jail if convicted.    Protasevich, accused of organising riots, could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.
    Both were moved to home arrest in separate flats last week.
    Sapega, whose family said she steered clear of politics and was arrested after being in the wrong place at the wrong time, was on her way to defend her master’s thesis, the final step before graduating, the university said on June 30.
    “We decided to give her the diploma as an appeal to all people in the world to support our students,” Sergei Ignatov, rector of the university, told Reuters.
    A total of five students at the university are political prisoners in Belarus, he added.
    “Graduating and receiving the diploma was the dream of our daughter, and it is sad that we are doing this on behalf of all the work she put into it," Sapega’s mother, Anna Dudich, told the ceremony.
    She passed on a message from her daughter: “Everything is still in the future.”
(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

7/2/2021 EU’s Von Der Leyen Says Flow Of Illegal Migrants From Belarus ‘Politically Motivated’ by Andrius Sytas
FILE PHOTO: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrives for an EU summit at the
Alfandega do Porto Congress Center in Porto, Portugal May 7, 2021. Francisco Seco/Pool via REUTERS
    VILNIUS (Reuters) – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday pledged support for Lithuania, which is experiencing a quickly growing flow of migrants though its 679-kilometre border with Belarus.
    The Lithuanian government declared a country-wide emergency on Friday as 150 migrants crossed the border illegally in the 24 hours ended Friday morning, more than had entered annually in any of the three preceding years.
    “Here we see indeed a pattern, a politically motivated pattern.    And European Commission and the European Union stand by your side in these difficult times,” said von der Leyen in Vilnius at a joint press conference with country’s president and the prime minister.
    “One thing is for sure: your worries and your problems in Lithuania are European problems.    I wanted to reinforce that, we really stand by your side in this difficult time,” she added.
    The European Commission could give Lithuania access to emergency funds to control an “extraordinary situation” and would send EU border and coast guard agency Frontex officers to beef up patrols, said the head of the EU’s executive.
    Lithuania’s prime minister said in mid-June she believes Belarus is behind the recent spike of illegal immigration into Lithuania, following a threat by its president that it will no longer prevent migrants from crossing its western border.
    Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said in a speech to the parliament on May 26 that the country would no longer prevent migrants from crossing its western border.
    “We used to catch migrants in droves here – now, forget it, you will be catching them yourselves,” Lukashenko told EU states, in response to sanctions imposed after the country forced a Ryanair plane with a Belarusian dissident on board to land in Minsk, where he was arrested.
    Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Friday he was unable to reach Belarus authorities to discuss the migration.
    The minister said he expects to travel to Iraq and Turkey to discuss curbing the migration, as he believes the migrants fly to Minsk via direct scheduled flights from Baghdad and Istanbul.
    “Most of these people will need to leave Lithuania and go home because, unfortunately, they will not be able to get the status of political asylum,” he told a televised government meeting.
    Just over half of the 822 migrants this year hail from Iraq, but also from Iran, Syria, Guinea, Turkey and Sri Lanka, according to the Lithuanian border guard.
(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

7/3/2021 Poland’s Tusk Returns To Frontline To Face Old Foe Kaczynski by Alan Charlish and Anna Koper
Former European Council President Donald Tusk speaks during a party convention of the main opposition
Civic Platform in Warsaw, Poland July 3, 2021. Slawomir Kaminski/Agencja Gazeta via REUTERS
    WARSAW (Reuters) -Former European Council President Donald Tusk returned to the fore of Polish politics on Saturday, becoming leader of the main opposition party in a move that revives a duel with his longstanding foe Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
    For many in the liberal Civic Platform (PO) party that Tusk helped to found, the stakes are nothing less than Poland’s future in the European Union.
    Elections scheduled for 2023 will determine if the governing nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, led by Kaczynski, will continue its disputes with Brussels over issues including judicial reforms that the EU says undermine the independence of judges and LGBT rights.
    “Civic Platform is indispensable, it is needed as a force, not as a memory, to win the fight for the future against PiS,” Tusk told a PO congress in Warsaw.    “There is no chance of victory without Civic Platform, and our history tells us that.”
    The rivalry between Tusk and Kaczynski is both deeply personal and emblematic of the division between the pro-European economic and social liberalism of PO, and the conservative social values and left-leaning economics of PiS, which to a large degree defines the Polish political landscape.
    Speaking on Saturday at a PiS congress in Warsaw – where he was re-elected leader for what he said would be the last time – Kaczynski contrasted what he said were improvements in living standards under PiS to the elitism he said preceded their rule.
    “This group (the elite) was to dominate … (and) all the rest were supposed to agree to a modest, poor and sometimes miserable life,” he said.
    “We have restored … the dignity of people, the dignity of work by raising wages, a very significant increase in pensions, raising the minimum wage.”
THREE-WAY TALKS
    The announcement of Tusk’s return came after talks behind closed doors between the new leader, his predecessor Borys Budka and Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, who had also been tipped for the leadership.
    European Council President from 2014 to 2019, Tusk helped steer the European Union through a tumultuous period marked by Brexit and the migration crisis.
    The first prime minister in Poland’s post-communist history to win two terms in office, he led PO in government from 2007 to 2014.
    During the global financial crisis, Poland avoided a recession under Tusk’s leadership, but the government came to be viewed as increasingly out of touch with the problems of younger and less affluent Poles.
    On his return to Polish politics, Tusk will still have to confront this problem, as the party, which some analysts say has struggled to define its agenda and connect with voters beyond its core middle-class, urban electorate, languishes around record lows in the polls.
    “The biggest opposition party is living through the biggest crisis in its history … Many voters who don’t like PiS also don’t want to vote for PO,” said Rafal Chwedoruk, a political scientist at Warsaw University.
    PO, whose Civic Coalition grouping has 126 deputies in the Polish parliament against the ruling coalition’s 230, has been pushed into third in opinion polls by the Poland 2050 party of Catholic journalist Szymon Holownia, whose centre-right agenda resonates with many core PO voters.
    Additionally, many younger voters view the party’s stance on divisive issues such as abortion and LGBT rights as too cautious.
    However, PiS also face problems holding together its increasingly fractious United Right coalition, and has seen its poll numbers drop this year.
    Most recently, three legislators left the party amid infighting over its flagship “Polish Deal” programme, which the party says will mean most Poles pay less tax but which critics say penalises small business owners and the middle class.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish and Anna KoperAdditional reporting by Joanna PlucinskaEditing by William Mallard and David Holmes)

7/3/2021 Russian Warplanes Practice Bombing Enemy Ships In Black Sea Drills by Tom Balmforth
FILE PHOTO: Russian Sukhoi Su-24M front-line bombers fly in formation during the Victory Day parade, marking the 71st anniversary
of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, above Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian warplanes practiced bombing enemy ships in the Black Sea during training exercises, Russia said on Saturday, amid friction with the West over NATO drills in the region and following a recent incident with a British warship.
    Moscow last week challenged the right of HMS Defender to pass through waters near Crimea, something London said it had every right to do.    Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 but most of the world still recognises it as part of Ukraine.
    Russia said the vessel had illegally entered its territorial waters and accused London of a “provocation.”    Moscow has said it could bomb British naval vessels if there are more such actions by the British navy off Crimea.
    On Saturday, Russia’s Black Sea Fleet said warplanes from its aviation units and those of the southern military district had taken part in training drills.
    “Aircraft crews … conducted training flights over the Black Sea, practicing missile and bombing strikes against simulated enemy ships,” it was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency.
    The drills involved aircraft including Sukhoi Su-30SM multi-purpose fighters, Sukhoi Su-24M bombers, Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers and Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jets, the report said.
    The exercise comes as NATO, Ukraine and allies conduct their large-scale Sea Breeze drills in the region.
    Those drills are set to last two weeks and involve about 5,000 military personnel from NATO and other allies, and around 30 ships and 40 aircraft, with U.S. missile destroyer USS Ross and the U.S. Marine Corps taking part.
    Moscow had called for the exercise to be cancelled and the Russian defence ministry has said it will react to safeguard national security if necessary.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth; Editing by David Holmes)

7/3/2021 Biden Vows To Crack Down On Russia If They Are Responsible For Recent Hacking Of Over 200 U.S. Companies by OAN Newsroom
Joe Biden in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
    Joe Biden sent a warning to Russian President Vladamir Putin that the U.S. would take action if he was to find the country was behind Friday’s mass cyberattack on at least 200 companies.    Biden spoke to reporters on Saturday and said although the U.S. did not initially think the attack came from the Russian government, he was not sure who it was for certain.
    Biden assured he told Putin the U.S. would respond to Russian-backed cyber-attacks at the pairs summit meeting last month in Switzerland. He mentioned he has yet to speak to the Russian president regarding the recent attacks.
    About 200 companies fell victim to cyberattacks within the past week.    The first ransomware attack targeted an IT company known as Kaseya, which is based in Florida.    The attack spread through the company’s network system of about 200 firms. Cybersecurity firm Huntress Labs have alleged blame on a Russia-linked ransomware group known as REvil.
    Meanwhile, U.S. Intelligence agencies have been directed to investigate the wave of attacks.

7/4/2021 Lithuania Migrant Crisis Sparks Tensions With Belarus by OAN Newsroom
Lithuania State Border guard Vytautas Makauskas stands on patrol near the Lithuania-Belarus
border line on June 21, 2021. (Paulius Peleckis/Getty Images)
    Lithuania has declared a state of emergency amid an influx of migrants crossing the border from Belarus.    Officials made the declaration late on Friday after border agents detained around 150 illegal migrants earlier in the week.
    This highlights a trend in illegal immigration since the beginning of this year, where more than 800 people have tried to cross into Lithuania from Belarus.    The deputy chief of Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service voiced his unease with the situation.
    “We are concerned about the flows (of migrants).    They are growing each day or week. This presents problems for the state and the service,” said Vidas Macitis.
    Lithuania is now accusing Belarus of sending groups over the border on purpose.    They cited previous threats from Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, vowing to retaliate against European Union sanctions on his rule by loosening border restrictions.
    In response to the situation, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged support for Lithuania, claiming their problems were the EU’s.    She said this could include giving Lithuania access to EU emergency funds and sending EU Border and Coast Guard Agency     Frontex officers to help quell the migration crisis.
    In the meantime, Lithuania’s foreign minister said the people may not be able to get political asylum in Lithuania and would need to return home.    Additionally, top officials stress the need to bolster their immigration system to better respond to similar crises.

7/4/2021 Poland’s Tusk Says He Will Leave Role Of EPP President
FILE PHOTO: Former EU Council President Donald Tusk speaks during an event of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation to discuss
the 30th anniversary of Germany's reunification in Berlin, Germany, September 10, 2020. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi/Pool
    WARSAW (Reuters) – Former European Council President Donald Tusk will leave his role as president of the European People’s Party (EPP), he said on Sunday, a day after he announced his return to domestic politics as leader of Poland’s main opposition.
    Tusk, who on Saturday returned as leader of the liberal Civic Platform (PO) party he helped to found, has been president of the EPP grouping of centre-right European parties since 2019.
    He said that talks concerning his successor as EPP president would start in the autumn.
    “Of course formally I can be the head of the party… and the European People’s Party, which unites many European parties,” Tusk told reporters.
    “But as I said, my intention is to get involved 100%, not 90 or 80%, in Polish affairs, so I have already informed my partners, prime ministers and presidents from the European People’s Party… that I made a decision to return to Polish politics,” he said.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish and Anna Koper; Editing by Alex Richardson)

7/5/2021 Luxembourg’s Bettel Admitted To Hospital After Positive COVID Test – Media Reports
FILE PHOTO: Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel departs after attending the second day of a EU summit
at the European Council building in Brussels, Belgium June 25, 2021. John Thys/Pool via REUTERS
    (Reuters) – Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel was admitted to hospital on Sunday following a positive COVID-19 test at the end of June, according to local media reports.
    He was undergoing additional tests and would remain under observation for 24 hours as a precaution, broadcaster RTL reported, citing Luxembourg’s ministry of state.
    Bettel took part in a two-day EU summit in Brussels at the end of June, where participants included French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and other European leaders.
    Luxembourg’s state ministry could not immediately be reached for comment on Monday.
(Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Editing by Alex Richardson)

7/5/2021 Nordic Fund KLP Excludes 16 Companies Over Links With Occupied West Bank by Gwladys Fouche and Simon Jessop
FILE PHOTO: A Jewish settler walks past Israeli settlement construction sites around Givat Zeev and
Ramat Givat Zeev in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, near Jerusalem June 30, 2020. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo
    OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s largest pension fund KLP said on Monday it would no longer invest in 16 companies including Alstom and Motorola because of their links to Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
    Along with a number of other countries, Norway considers the settlements a breach of international law.    A 2020 United Nations report said it had found 112 companies that have operations linked to the region, home to around 650,000 Israelis.
    The companies, which span telecoms, banking, energy and construction, all help facilitate Israel’s presence and therefore risk being complicit in breaches of international law, and against KLP’s ethical guidelines, it said in a statement.
    “In KLP’s assessment, there is an unacceptable risk that the excluded companies are contributing to the abuse of human rights in situations of war and conflict through their links with the Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank,” KLP said.
    The move by KLP follows a decision by Norway’s sovereign wealth fund in May to exclude two companies linked to construction and real estate in the Palestinian territories.
    KLP said it had sold shares in the companies worth 275 million Norwegian crowns ($31.81 million) and as of June had completed the process.    In Motorola and Alstom, it had also sold its bond holdings.
    Selling Motorola Solutions was “a very straightforward decision” as its video security and software was used in border surveillance.
    Telecoms companies including Bezeq and Cellcom Israel were removed as the services they provide help make the settlements more attractive residential areas, KLP said, while banks including Leumi helped finance the infrastructure.
    In a similar vein, construction and engineering groups such as Alstom and local peers Ashtrom and Electra were responsible for building the infrastructure, while Paz Oil helped power them.
    The other companies to be excluded were: Bank Hapoalim, Israel Discount Bank, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, Delek Group, Energix Renewable Energies, First International Bank of Israel and Partner Communications.
    Telecoms company Altice, which was listed until January 2021, was also excluded.
($1 = 8.6460 Norwegian crowns)
(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche in Oslo and Simon Jessop in London, editing by Louise Heavens)

7/5/2021 LGBT+ Campaigners In Georgia Call Off Pride Match After Office Attack
Protesters storm the office of LGBT+ campaigners at a rally against the planned March for
Dignity during Pride Week in Tbilisi, Georgia July 5, 2021. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze
    MOSCOW (Reuters) - LGBT+ campaigners in Georgia called off plans to stage a pride march on Monday after violent groups opposed to the event stormed and ransacked their office in the capital Tbilisi and targeted activists and journalists.
    Activists launched five days of LGBT+ Pride celebrations last Thursday and had planned a “March for Dignity” on Monday in central Tbilisi, shrugging off criticism from the church and conservatives who said the event had no place in Georgia.
    The march plan was disrupted on Monday by counter protesters before it could begin.
    Video footage posted by LGBT+ activists showed their opponents scaling their building to reach their balcony where they tore down rainbow flags and were seen entering the office of Tbilisi Pride.
    Other footage showed a journalist with a bloodied mouth and nose and a man on a scooter driving at journalists in the street.
    Campaigners said some of their equipment had been broken in the attack and that they had been forced to cancel.
    “No words can explain my emotions and thoughts right now.    This is my working space, my home, my family today.    Left alone in the face of gross violence,” Tamaz Sozashvili, one LGBT activist, tweeted.
    The interior ministry urged activists to abandon their march for security reasons.    It said in a statement that various groups were gathering and protesting on Monday and that journalists had been targeted with violence.
    “We once again publicly call on the participants of ‘Tbilisi Pride’ to refrain from the ‘March of Dignity’ … due to the scale of counter-manifestations planned by opposing groups…” it said.
    In the run-up, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said he viewed the march as “not reasonable," saying it risked causing public confrontation and that it was not acceptable to most Georgians, the Civil Georgia media outlet reported.
    Rights campaigners condemned the violence and accused Garibashvili of emboldening hate groups.
    “Violent far-right crowds supported by (the) Church & emboldened by (an) incredibly irresponsible statement of PM @GharibashviliGe gathered in Tbilisi center to prevent Pride March, attacking journalists & breaking into Pride office,” wrote Giorgi Gogia, who works for U.S.-based Human Rights Watch.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth/Olzhas AuyezovEditing by Andrew Osborn)

7/5/2021 Swedish Social Democrat Lofven Is Asked To Return As PM by Johan Ahlander and Niklas Pollard
FILE PHOTO: Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven speaks as he arrives to attend a face-to-face EU summit amid the
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown in Brussels, Belgium December 10, 2020. John Thys/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
    STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Social Democrat Stefan Lofven will try to win a new term as Sweden’s prime minister in a parliamentary vote on Wednesday after the assembly’s speaker asked him to return to the post he quit last month.
    The outcome of Wednesday’s vote of confidence is far from certain, and parties whose support he may need are making conflicting demands of Lofven as he seeks their backing.
    Lofven’s centre-left minority government collapsed last month after the Left Party withdrew its support over plans to ease some rent controls on housing.    Those plans have since been abandoned.
    Parliament Speaker Andreas Norlen first asked right-wing leader Ulf Kristersson to become prime minister, but his attempt to win enough support failed and Norlen turned on Monday to Lofven.
    The vote looks set to be close in the fragmented parliament, where no party has an absolute majority, and a snap election may be needed if Lofven does not secure enough votes.
    “Even if the situation is difficult, Sweden still needs a strong and forceful government,” Lofven told a news conference.
    “The Swedish people don’t want a snap election.    They want stability and security as far as that is possible during the pandemic.”
    Lofven, 63, had served as premier since 2014 until he quit a week ago after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament on June 21.
    He intends to form a cabinet of Social Democrats and Greens, a similar make-up to his previous minority government.
    “Stefan Lofven has a solution that can be tolerated by the Riksdag,” Norlen said.
    Among his backers or potential backers in parliament, both the liberal Centre Party and the Greens continued to make demands of Lofven on Monday.
    The vote could bring at least a temporary end to the renewed political upheaval stemming from the 2018 election, which produced a nearly evenly balanced parliament and big gains for the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, with whom several other parties refuse to deal.
    Lofven looks unlikely to have the support needed to pass budget bills in parliament even if he avoids a majority voting against him as premier – the prerequisite to be approved by the Swedish Riksdag.
    Victory in Wednesday’s vote would give the former union boss, who has a reputation as a skilled negotiator, several months to try to win over enough support to the budget bills, but he has said he would resign again if his budget bill failed.
(Reporting by Niklas Pollard and Johan Ahlander, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

7/5/2021 Norway Delays Full Reopening Over Delta COVID-19 Variant
FILE PHOTO: Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg speaks during a news conference about the
coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Oslo, Norway September 3, 2020. Berit Roald/NTB Scanpix/via REUTERS
    OSLO (Reuters) – Norway announced the easing of some COVID-19 restrictions on Monday but delayed the final phase of reopening the economy until the end of this month at the earliest because of concerns about the Delta coronavirus variant.
    Measures that will remain include bars and restaurants being limited to table service, limits of 20 people on gatherings in private homes, and restrictions on adult recreational sports.
    These measures could have been lifted on Monday if the government had given the go-ahead to enter the fourth and final phase of ending a national lockdown.
    “There is a risk that the Delta variant will cause a fourth wave of infection in the unvaccinated part of the population, among those who have only received one dose or are in vulnerable groups,” Prime Minister Erna Solberg said.
    The World Health Organization has said the Delta strain is becoming the globally dominant variant of COVID-19, raising concerns about whether existing vaccines will work against it.
    It could become the dominant variant in Norway this month, the health minister has said.
    Almost two-thirds of adults in Norway have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 37% of adults are fully vaccinated, according to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
    The Nordic country is also considering vaccinating 16- and 17-year-olds, with a final decision expected in September, the government said.
    Moves to ease the lockdown include allowing more people from Thursday to attend outdoor and indoor public events, provided there is testing for the virus and attendees can produce certificates showing information on the bearer’s most recent vaccination, recovery from COVID-19 infection in the past six months, and the most recent negative test result.
    Outdoor events with an unseated audience such as music festivals will be allowed to house 3,000 people, an increase from 2,000.
    Under a measure that had already been announced, quarantine-free travel is from Monday permitted from a number of European countries including the popular tourist destinations of France, Croatia and Italy.
(Reporting by Victoria Klesty; editing by Gwladys Fouche and Timothy Heritage)

7/5/2021 Factbox-Slow Progress In Balkan Countries’ Bids To Join EU
FILE PHOTO: A large European Union flag lies at the centre of Schuman square, outside the European Commission headquarters, on the eve of Europe
Day, commemorating the declaration made by Robert Schuman in 1950, in Brussels, Belgium, May 8, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo/File Photo
    (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosts a summit with six Balkan countries on Monday to forge closer cooperation as they make slow progress in their goal of joining the European Union.
    Here are some facts about the six Balkan aspirants:
ALBANIA
    The EU agreed in March 2020 that Albania, a member of NATO, could start membership negotiations.    But Albania has not yet received a date for the start of formal talks because the EU has linked its progress with that of North Macedonia, which is locked in a dispute with Bulgaria.
NORTH MACEDONIA
    North Macedonia, like Albania, won EU governments’ approval to start negotiations in March 2020.    It overcame a decades-long dispute with neighbouring Greece over its name, agreeing to be called the Republic of North Macedonia.    But Bulgaria, which is in the EU, has blocked the start of formal membership talks over a linguistic dispute that Sofia sees as a matter of national identity.    No EU country has been able to defuse the issue.
BOSNIA
    Bosnia, which was at war from 1992 to 1995, is still overseen by EU-led peacekeepers.    It submitted an EU membership application in 2016, approval of which is pending.    That means it is not yet a candidate country although it is seen as a potential one.
KOSOVO
    Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, wants to join the EU but is a long way from doing so.    It must mend relations with Serbia through EU-mediated talks that are being revived by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.    Five EU countries do not recognise Kosovo’s independence: Slovakia, Spain, Greece, Cyprus and Romania.
MONTENEGRO
    Montenegro, which joined NATO in 2017, is already in negotiations to join the EU and is seen by the European Commission, the EU executive, as likely to join the bloc later this decade, along with Serbia.
SERBIA
    Serbia, the largest non-EU Balkan country with about 7 million people, is already holding membership negotiations.    It is seen as the lynchpin in the region and the EU hopes Belgrade’s influence in the Balkans could help others reform.    In February 2018, the European Commission said Serbia could join the EU by 2025, though it called it a very ambitious goal.
(Writing by Robin Emmott in Brussels, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

7/5/2021 U.N. Envoy Tells Belarus To Free Political Prisoners As U.S Hints At Sanctions
FILE PHOTO: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko delivers a speech in Minsk, Belarus
May 26, 2021. Press Service of the President of the Republic of Belarus/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
    GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. Special Rapporteur told Belarus on Monday to immediately free some 530 jailed people whom rights groups consider “political prisoners” as Washington’s envoy hinted at the possibility of further economic sanctions against Minsk.
    Belarusian authorities have cracked down hard after massive anti-government protests erupted last summer over voter fraud allegations at an election that handed Alexander Lukashenko a new term as president. He denies wrongdoing.
    Presenting her annual report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, U.N. Special Rapporteur Anaïs Marin compared Belarus to a totalitarian state and described a “deteriorating” situation since the election.
    She pointed to the forced grounding of a passenger jet in Minsk in May that led to the arrest of a dissident blogger, something she said “illustrates the desire of authorities to end all forms of dissidence by purging society of elements it considers undesirable.”
    “It is a form of purge that recalls those practised by totalitarian states,” she said in her speech to the Geneva-based forum.
    Marin said that more than 35,000 people had been arbitrarily detained for exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly or expressing solidarity with victims of abuse.
    Three opposition election candidates remain behind bars and the fear of repression has caused tens of thousands of Belarusians to flee to seek refuge abroad, she said.
    Several other delegates also criticized the plane incident at the council debate, including the UK’s ambassador, Simon Manley, who described it as “outrageous.”
    Benjamin Moeling, the U.S. delegate, hinted at new sanctions.
    “Such contempt for international norms cannot go unanswered,” he said, describing the plane incident as “sickening.”    “We will consider further actions as necessary,” he added, in reference to sanctions.
    The United States announced targeted sanctions against key members of the Belarusian government in May after the former Soviet republic’s forced landing of the passenger jet and arrest of a journalist on board.
(Reporting by Emma Farge; writing Editing by Alison Williams and Nick Macfie)

7/5/2021 Russian Food Retailer Apologises For Ad That Included Lesbians by Alexander Marrow
A logo of Russian food retailer VkusVill is seen on a store
in Moscow, Russia July 5, 2021. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – A high-end Russian food retailer has angered both gay rights campaigners and opponents by running and then apologising for an ad that included a profile of a family in which a mother and her adult daughter both have female partners.
    A 2013 Russian law, decried by Western countries as state-enforced bigotry, bans the “promotion of non-traditional sexual relations to minors.”    Many politicians from the ruling party are stridently anti-gay.
    The advert for Vkusvill, a chain of more than 1,250 food shops, pictured four women from the family in a kitchen, and said they liked the shop’s Japanese rice balls with mushrooms and its humus.    It initially appeared with an “18+” warning indicating it should not be read by children.
    Vkusvill initially defended the advert, saying: “We think it would be hypocritical not to talk about the real families of our customers.    We advise you to weigh up all pros and cons before reading this report.”
    But on Sunday, after threats of a boycott, it deleted it from its website and issued what it called an apology to customers, employees, partners and suppliers on behalf of senior management.
    “We regret that this happened and consider this publication to be a mistake, which became a display of unprofessionalism from certain employees,” the statement said.
    More than 35,000 people commented on the company’s Instagram feed, some of them angry at the decision to run the advert in the first place, others angry at the move to pull it.
    “We are not a mistake,” wrote user @russiaforgays, calling the decision to take down the ad “cowardly.”
    Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of state news network RT, tweeted that the reversal had pleased nobody.
    “The audience of traditionalists like myself has been lost, and now the very audience they were flirting with has been severely disappointed,” she wrote on Telegram on Sunday.
    Vkusvill said in 2019 it was considering floating its shares on the stock market in New York.    It has since opened its first shops abroad in the Netherlands and says it aims to expand beyond Russia.    It declined to comment on Monday on whether the incident would affect its expansion plans or its valuation.
(Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Katya Golubkova and Peter Graff)

7/6/2021 Russia Backs ASEAN Position On Myanmar Crisis – Foreign Minister
FILE PHOTO: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting with Bahrain's Foreign Minister
Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani in Moscow, Russia July 2, 2021. Pavel Golovkin/Pool via REUTERS
    JAKARTA (Reuters) – Russia strongly supports the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) five-point position on resolving the crisis in Myanmar and conveyed a similar message to the country’s military leadership, its foreign minister said on Tuesday.
    “In our contacts with Myanmar leaders, military leaders, we promote the position of ASEAN which should be in our view, considered as a basis for resolving this crisis and bring the situation back to normalcy,” Sergei Lavrov said during a visit to Jakarta.
    Lavrov will hold virtual talks with his ASEAN counterparts, according to Indonesia’s foreign minister.
(Reporting by Jakarta bureau; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Ed Davies)

7/6/2021 Belarus Jails Lukashenko Foe Babariko For 14 Years In ‘Sham’ Trial by Maria Kiselyova and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber
Former Belarusian presidential contender Viktor Babariko, who was arrested last June on corruption charges,
attends a court hearing in Minsk, Belarus July 6, 2021. Ramil Nasibulin/BelTA/Handout via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -A court in Belarus jailed former presidential contender Viktor Babariko for 14 years on Tuesday after convicting him on corruption charges he denied, sparking condemnation from the West and the embattled opposition-in-exile.
    Before his arrest last June, opinion polls suggested Babariko, 57, was veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko’s main rival ahead of a presidential election which the opposition says was rigged last August to prolong Lukashenko’s long rule.
    In power since 1994, Lukashenko claimed a landslide election victory and a new term as president, sparking the biggest protests in the modern history of the Moscow-backed ex-Soviet republic of 9.7 million.    He denied electoral fraud.
    Ahead of Tuesday’s ruling, allies of Babariko, the former head of Belgazprombank, said the charges against him had been fabricated to thwart his political ambitions.
    “It’s an insane term for a man who decided to go into politics and became one of the leaders who woke the country from a long sleep,” said Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a protest leader who fled Belarus amid a post-election crackdown.
    “…The regime is doing everything to kill off any thought that even remotely resembles faith and hope. But for Viktor – as for thousands of innocent people in prison – what matters most is the hope in our hearts,” she said.
    The U.S. embassy in Minsk criticised the ruling.
    “The cruel sham of the Belarus court system is on display today…showing the Lukashenka regime will stop at nothing to keep power,” the embassy said on Twitter.
    After Babariko was barred from running and detained, Maria Kolesnikova, one of his allies, joined forces with two other women – Tsikhanouskaya and Veronika Tsepkalo – to lead the opposition campaign.
    Kolesnikova is now in jail, Tsepkalo has fled abroad, and Tsikhanouskaya, who ran against Lukashenko and has since emerged as the opposition’s most prominent figure at liberty, is trying to undermine Lukashenko from neighbouring Lithuania.
    The U.N. Special Rapporteur told Belarus on Monday to immediately free some 530 jailed people whom rights groups consider “political prisoners” as Washington’s envoy hinted at the possibility of further economic sanctions against Minsk.
    U.N. Special Rapporteur Anaïs Marin said more than 35,000 people had been arbitrarily detained over the past year and that the fear of repression has caused tens of thousands of Belarusians to flee to seek refuge abroad
(Additional reporting by Tom Balmforth Editing by Andrew Osborn)

7/6/2021 No Survivors From Plane Crash In Russia’s Far East, Rescue Officials Say
Russian An-26 plane with the tail number RA-26085 is seen in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia in this undated handout image
released by Russia's Emergencies Ministry on July 6, 2021. Russia's Emergencies Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -There are no survivors after a plane carrying 28 people crashed in the far east of Russia on Tuesday, Russian news agencies cited rescue officials as saying.
    The Antonov An-26 twin-engined turboprop was en route from the regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Palana, a village in the north of the Kamchatka peninsula, when it lost contact with air traffic control, the emergencies ministry said.
    Citing sources, Interfax reported that the plane was thought to have crashed into a cliff as it was preparing to land in poor visibility conditions.
    Russia’s civil aviation authority confirmed that the plane’s crash site had been found after the emergencies ministry dispatched a helicopter and had deployed teams on the ground to look for the missing aircraft.
    There were 22 passengers and six crew on board, the ministry said.    Olga Mokhireva, the mayor of Palana, was among the passengers, the TASS agency quoted local authorities as saying.
    The weather in the area was cloudy at the time the plane went missing, Russian news agencies reported.    TASS said the aircraft involved had been in service since 1982.
    Russian aviation safety standards have improved in recent years but accidents, especially involving ageing planes in far-flung regions, are not uncommon.
    The Soviet-era plane type, still used for military and civilian flights in some countries, has been involved in dozens of deadly crashes since it entered service around 50 years ago.
    An Antonov-28, a similar plane, slammed into a Kamchatka forest in 2012 in a crash that killed 10 people along the same route.    Investigators said both pilots were drunk at the time of the crash.
(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova, Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber and Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Kim Coghill, John Stonestreet and Alison Williams)

7/6/2021 Poland’s Kaczynski Slams Israel For Criticism Over War Restitution Law
FILE PHOTO: Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, attends a voting during
parliamentary election at a polling station in Warsaw, Poland, October 13, 2019. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
    WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland’s ruling party leader on Tuesday condemned comments from Israel regarding a new law that could have an impact on the restitution of Jewish property after World War Two and said the country did not owe anything to anyone.
    Poland had one of the world’s biggest Jewish communities until it was almost entirely wiped out by the Nazis.    Former property owners and their descendants have been campaigning for compensation since the fall of communism in 1989.
    However, Poland’s parliament passed a draft bill in June which is expected to make it harder for Jewish people to recover the property – drawing criticism from Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid who said the move was “a disgrace.”
    The head of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said in excerpts of an interview for Polish weekly Gazeta Polska published online that Lapid’s comments were unacceptable.
    “We make our laws ourselves, and … we owe nothing to anyone,” he added.
    Israel’s foreign ministry declined to comment.
    The bill, due to be discussed by the upper house of parliament, implements a 2015 ruling by Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal that there must be a deadline after which faulty administrative decisions can no longer be challenged.
    Critics say that would put a time limit on requests for restitution.
    Kaczynski also reignited Poland’s longstanding claim that Germany still owes Poland reparations for World War Two.
    “There are bills that have not been settled with us.    For the crimes and destruction of World War Two, Germany owes us over a trillion dollars.”
    Some 6 million Poles, including 3 million Polish Jews, were killed during the war and Warsaw was razed to the ground following a 1944 uprising. Germany says all financial claims linked to the war have been settled.br> (Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Joanna Plucinska and Alan Charlish; Editing by Alison Williams)

7/6/2021 Belarus Leader Threatens To Halt Transit Of EU Goods Via His Country To East
FILE PHOTO: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko delivers a speech in Minsk, Belarus May 26, 2021.
Press Service of the President of the Republic of Belarus/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
    KYIV (Reuters) – Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, on Tuesday threatened to stop the transit of European Union goods via his country to Russia and China in retaliation for EU sanctions.
    The 27-nation bloc imposed wide-ranging economic sanctions on Belarus last month, targeting its main export industries and access to finance after Minsk forced a Ryanair flight to land and arrested a dissident blogger.
    Rating agencies and analysts say the sanctions will leave Lukashenko largely unscathed and able to continue financing the economy and his security forces.
    But officials in Belarus have spoken of economic warfare being waged on their country, and Lukashenko on Tuesday raised the prospect of counter sanctions that would halt the transit of EU goods via Belarus eastwards.
    “First: not a step inside the Belarusian market; second: not a step through Belarus either,” Lukashenko told a government meeting.
    “Exactly the same should be done with the Germans.    Let (them) supply their products to China and Russia through Finland. Or through Ukraine,” he added.
    Lukashenko did not specify when transit could be blocked and which countries, beyond Germany, could be affected.
    When asked about the potential transit block earlier on Tuesday, the Kremlin said disruption to supply chains could not be ruled out and that serious work would be required to minimise such problems if they occurred.
    Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said his government would “look at the behaviour of our European partners” and take what he called appropriate measures that would not damage the Belarusian economy.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

7/7/2021 Russia Says Afghan Situation Can Swiftly Worsen, Pledges Help If Needed
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that the situation in Afghanistan had a tendency to swiftly deteriorate and said Moscow was ready to defend its regional allies if necessary.
    Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday told Emomali Rakhmon, the president of Tajikistan, that Moscow would help the impoverished former     Soviet republic contend with the fallout from NATO’s exit from neighbouring Afghanistan if needed.
    Rakhmon has ordered the mobilisation of 20,000 military reservists to bolster his country’s border with Afghanistan after more than 1,000 Afghan security personnel fled across the frontier in response to Taliban militant advances.
    Lavrov, speaking on Wednesday during a visit to Laos, said Russia was ready to use its military base in Tajikistan, one of its biggest abroad, to ensure the security of its allies in the region, part of the former Soviet Union and an area where Moscow tries to retain influence.
    “We are closely watching what is happening in Afghanistan where the situation has a tendency to swiftly deteriorate including against the backdrop of the hasty exit of American and other NATO troops,” said Lavrov.
    “They were unable to achieve visible results when it comes to stabilising the situation during the decades they spent there,” he said.
    Lavrov added that military obligations that Russia had undertaken in the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a post-Soviet security bloc it leads and whose other members include Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, remained in full force.
    CSTO representatives had visited the Tajik-Afghan border, most of which Russian officials say is reportedly under Taliban control from the Afghan side, in order to assess the situation and report back, Lavrov said.
    “We will do everything we can, including using the capabilities of the Russian military base on Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan, to prevent any aggressive impulses towards our allies,” Lavrov said.
(Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy/Alexander Marrow; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

7/7/2021 Hungary Rejects EU Demand To Ditch ‘Shameful’ Anti-LGBT Law by Gabriela Baczynska and Robin Emmott
FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators attend a protest against a law that bans LGBTQ content in schools and
media at the Presidential Palace in Budapest, Hungary, June 16, 2021. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File Photo
    BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Hungary on Wednesday rejected a demand from the European Commission and many EU lawmakers to repeal new legislation banning schools from using materials deemed to promote homosexuality.
    Last month, EU leaders lambasted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban over the legislation in a tense discussion behind closed doors, with Dutch     Prime Minister Mark Rutte telling Budapest to respect EU values of tolerance or leave the bloc.
    “Homosexuality is equated with pornography.    This legislation uses the protection of children as an excuse to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation,” Ursula von der Leyen, head of the EU’s executive Commission told the European Parliament.    “It is a disgrace.”
    The Commission can open a new legal case against Hungary at the European Court of Justice or use a new mechanism designed to protect the rule of law in the 27-nation bloc by freezing funding for countries that undermine democratic standards.
    Orban, who faces a national election next year, has said the new law aims to protect children and does not discriminate against sexual minorities.
    His chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, reiterated that stance on Wednesday: “Brussels’ efforts to have us allow LGBTQ activists into schools and nursery schools are in vain, we are not willing to do that.”
    The case is the latest flare-up between Hungary and the EU, which has already launched an investigation against Budapest for undermining democracy.    Orban has steadily tightened restrictions on media, NGOs, academics and migrants despite the criticism from Brussels, international watchdogs and rights groups.
    Hungary’s conservative ally, Poland, is expected to block any attempt to impose the maximum EU penalty of suspending Budapest’s voting rights in the 27-nation bloc.
‘OFFENSIVE AND SHAMEFUL’
    EU lawmakers urged the Commission not to release to Hungary funds earmarked for supporting its economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic if they are to contribute to Budapest’s anti-LGBT agenda or before it can ensure solid anti-fraud protection.
    Discriminating against LGBTI+ people is illegal in the EU, said Iraxte Garcia Perez, a Spanish EU lawmaker and the head of the socialist faction in the European Parliament.
    “That is why the new law in Hungary must be repealed.    An offensive and shameful law that goes against human rights.”
    Lawmakers also spoke against so-called “LGBT-free zones” that some local authorities established in Poland, which also faces EU legal action.
    At the other end of the spectrum, Spain became the first large EU country last month to approve a draft bill to allow anyone aged over 14 to change gender legally without a medical diagnosis or hormone therapy.
    French President Emmanuel Macron has called the split over values between the liberal West and more conservative eastern countries such as Hungary and Poland a “cultural battle” that damages EU unity.
(Reporting by Robin Emmott and Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Toby Chopra, Giles Elgood and Gareth Jones)

7/7/2021 Tajikistan Asks Russia-Led Bloc For Help On Afghan Border
FILE PHOTO: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting with Bahrain's Foreign Minister
Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani in Moscow, Russia July 2, 2021. Pavel Golovkin/Pool via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Tajikistan on Wednesday called on members of a Russian-led military bloc to help it deal with security challenges emerging from Afghanistan, hours after Moscow pledged to defend its regional allies affected by the unrest.
    The security situation in Afghanistan has rapidly deteriorated as foreign troops withdraw after 20 years, and hundreds of Afghan servicemen have crossed the border with Tajikistan in response to advances by the Taliban.
    In an appeal to the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), which includes Russia and five other ex-Soviet states, a Tajik official said his country could not handle the instability at its border without external assistance.
    “Given the current situation in the region, as well as the remoteness and mountainous terrain of some parts of the border with Afghanistan, dealing with this challenge on our own seems difficult,” the RIA news agency quoted Hasan Sultonov, the Tajik representative at CSTO, as saying.
    Sultonov’s comments came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was ready to use its military base in Tajikistan, one of its biggest abroad, to ensure the security of its allies in the region.
    “We are closely watching what is happening in Afghanistan where the situation has a tendency to swiftly deteriorate including against the backdrop of the hasty exit of American and other NATO troops,” Lavrov said.
    “We will do everything we can, including using the capabilities of the Russian military base on Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan, to prevent any aggressive impulses towards our allies,” Lavrov said.
    Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday told Emomali Rakhmon, the president of Tajikistan, that Moscow would help the impoverished former Soviet republic contend with the fallout from NATO’s exit from neighbouring Afghanistan if needed.
    Rakhmon has ordered the mobilisation of 20,000 military reservists to bolster his country’s border with Afghanistan after more than 1,000 Afghan security personnel fled across the frontier in response to Taliban militant advances.
(Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy, Alexander Marrow, Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Peter Graff)

7/8/2021 Seeking Summer Breeze And Natural Getaway, Saudis Flock To Ukraine by Margaryta Chornokondratenko and Sergiy Karazy
A tourist from Saudi Arabia takes a selfie in central Kyiv, Ukraine June 30, 2021. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
    KYIV/LVIV (Reuters) – Nabeel Kensara and Nasal Alzamzmi, a couple from Saudi Arabia, used to go for holidays to Switzerland twice a year, but coronavirus travel restrictions across Europe have forced them to discover new destinations.
    Ukraine, which only requires a coronavirus PCR or express test upon entry, is one of just a few visa-free countries for Saudi tourists.
    Ukraine stopped all regular flights last March to prevent the spread of COVID-19 but in June resumed domestic air traffic and flights to foreign destinations.
    Besides traditional city sightseeing, the country offers a variety of close-to-nature getaways – from the picturesque Carpathian mountains in the west to the bustling Black Sea coastline in the south.
    In June, Saudi national carrier Flynas launched a daily direct flight between Riyadh and Kyiv, bringing hundreds of holidaymakers seeking escape from the extreme heat.    Flynas also offers connection to the largest western Ukrainian city of Lviv.
    Out of 100 rooms in Lviv-based Bank Hotel, 60 are booked by Saudis, some coming for honeymoon, hotel manager Taras Kuzyk said.
    Kuzyk said an unexpected influx of Saudi tourists highlighted areas demanding changes to serve clients’ needs like ordering halal food, translating menus into Arabic and extending restaurant’s working hours.
    Kensara and Alzamzmi came to Lviv after having visited Kyiv and the country’s biggest mountain resort in the Carpathians.
    “It’s like other countries, it’s like Switzerland.    It needs a little bit to keep up. But people here are friendly, prices here are good.    And the environment and everything else is good,” Kensara told Reuters.
    Ukraine’s state tourism agency called Gulf Arab states a promising area for the cash-hungry tourism industry hit by coronavirus.
    In June, it brought representatives of Saudi travel agencies on a guided tour across the country, introducing them to the main tourist attractions, local culture and cuisine.
    “Saudis like to discover new places.    We’ve been impressed by so many things in the country – nature, the weather,” tour manager Mohamed Almasoud said.
    “We like the food.    The food is like Mediterranean, more like Turkish food.”
    According to Anton Taranenko from Visit Ukraine tourist association, 3,500 Saudis are expected to visit Ukraine daily comparing to 4,000 tourists in total during the entire 2020.
(Editing by Angus MacSwan)

7/8/2021 Moscow Mayor Says COVID-19 Situation Stabilising, But Cases Still High
FILE PHOTO: A medical specialist wearing protective gear transports a person on a stretcher at a hospital for patients
infected with COVID-19, on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia July 2, 2021. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Moscow’s mayor said the COVID-19 situation was gradually stabilising after a surge in infections blamed on the more contagious Delta variant, but the new daily case tally remained high nationwide on Thursday.
    The coronavirus task force reported 24,818 new cases in the last 24 hours, including 6,040 in the capital. Russia also reported 734 coronavirus-related deaths, close to a record daily high.
    Around 66% of COVID-19 cases that Russia identified in June and early July were the Delta variant, Anna Popova, consumer health watchdog head, was quoted by TASS new agency as saying.
    Some of the cases were blamed on other variants, though the Delta was dominating, Popova said.
    “Today, there are no threats or risks that would tell us that we need a lockdown or other strict measures, there is no need in that,” Popova told the state TV, TASS reported.
    Popova said only 0.7% of Russians who were fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus caught it.
    Officials have been scrambling to encourage or compel Russians to get vaccinated since infections began rising steeply last month.    Demand for vaccination had been tepid, but authorities say it has now picked up significantly.
    Adding to concerns about Russian vaccines, Sputnik V in particular, was lack of regulatory approval by some Western nations.
    Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Facebook account that calls from European nations such as France to “say no” to Russian vaccines were “unacceptable,” or a hybrid of “racism, imperial hegemony and neo-Nazism.”
    The mayor of Moscow, Russia’s worst-hit region throughout the pandemic, told residents that hospital admissions for COVID-19 patients were still very high, though down slightly from a peak last week.
    Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the city of more than 12.5 million was now vaccinating around 100,000 people a day, giving authorities room not to impose new restrictions.
    Police in Moscow said they had opened 55 criminal cases over fake certificates for vaccinations and PCR tests.    Moscow residents need to be able to prove they have had a vaccine, a negative test or immunity to be able to visit cafes or bars.
    Russia has confirmed 5,707,452 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began 18 months ago.
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov in Moscow; Writing by Tom Balmforth and Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Giles Elgood and Matthew Lewis)

7/9/2021 Nine Found Dead In Swedish Airplane Crash - Police
A small aircraft is seen after crashing at Orebro Airport, Orebro, Sweden, July 8 2021. TT News Agency/Jeppe Gustafsson via REUTERS
    STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -All nine people onboard were found dead in the crash of an airplane outside Orebro, Sweden, on Thursday, Swedish police said.
    “It’s a very severe accident,” Swedish police said on their website.    “Everyone on board the crashed plane has died.”
    Police said the plane, a DHC-2 Turbo Beaver, was carrying eight skydivers and one pilot.    It crashed close to the runway at Orebro airport shortly after takeoff and caught fire at impact.
    “It is with great sadness and sorrow that I have received the tragic information about the plane crash in Orebro,” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven wrote on Twitter.    “My thoughts are with the victims, their families and loved ones in this very difficult time.”     In a similar accident, nine people died in northern Sweden in 2019 when a plane carrying skydivers crashed shortly after takeoff.    The crash investigation showed the plane had been improperly loaded.
(Reporting by Johan AhlanderEditing by Howard Goller and Chris Reese)

7/11/2021 Lithuania To Propose Sanctions On Belarus For Flying Illegal Migrants To EU Border by Andrius Sytas
FILE PHOTO: Migrants detained by Lithuanian border guards on Lithuania-Belarus border
sit on the roadside, in Kalviai, Lithuania, July 7, 2021. REUTERS/Janis Laizans
    VILNIUS (Reuters) – Lithuania will propose on Monday expanding European Union sanctions on Belarus for sending illegal migrants across the border into the EU, its foreign affairs minister’s spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday.
    “We will propose to consider gradually expanding sectorial sanctions,” the spokeswoman said.    European Union foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels on Friday.
Lithuania began building a 550-km (320-mile) razor wire barrier on its border with Belarus on Friday, after accusing Belarusian authorities of flying in migrants from abroad to send them illegally into the European Union.    It says hundreds of mainly Iraqi migrants have crossed the frontier in recent days after being brought there by Belarus.
(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; Editing by Peter Graff)

7/11/2021 No Clear Winner Emerges From Bulgarian Parliamentary Election by Tsvetelia Tsolova
FILE PHOTO: A woman walks past election billboard of Democratic Bulgaria party in Sofia, Bulgaria, July 8, 2021. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov
    SOFIA (Reuters) -Bulgaria’s parliamentary elections failed to produce a clear winner on Sunday, exit polls showed, with the new anti-elite party     There Is Such a People (ITN) narrowly ahead of the centre-right GERB party of former premier Boyko Borissov.
    Bulgaria’s second election since April reflects deep divisions in the European Union’s poorest member state over the legacy of Borissov’s decade-long rule.
    Many have turned to anti-establishment or anti-graft parties in hope of more resolute action against pervasive corruption, blaming Borissov, 62, for turning a blind eye or even supporting powerful oligarchs.
    But GERB continues to benefit from public support for its efforts to modernise the crumbling infrastructure and road network and to bolster public sector pay.
    A survey by Gallup International showed ITN, led by popular TV host and singer Slavi Trifonov, on 23.2%, ahead of GERB who were on 23%.    Alpha Research put also ITN ahead on 24% and GERB at 23.5%.
    Even if official results confirm GERB as the largest party, its chances of forging a ruling coalition are slim, political observers say.    GERB came in first in an inconclusive election in April, winning 26.2%, but was shunned by other parties.
    ITN may be better positioned, with the support of its likely partners, two small anti-graft groupings, Democratic Bulgaria and Stand Up! Mafia Out!
    But weeks of coalition talks, or even another election, are now possible, meaning Bulgaria may face difficulty tapping the European Union’s multi-billion euro coronavirus recovery package or approving its 2022 budget plans.
SCANDALS
    GERB was quick to concede its chances to return to government were slim.
    “We will continue to work for what we believe in, no matter what role the voters have decided for us.    Actually, to be an opposition is a fair and an honourable way to defend one’s principles,” GERB deputy leader Tomislav Donchev told reporters.
    Daniel Smilov, a political analyst with Centre for Liberal Strategies, said a coalition led by ITN may be 5-10 seats short to be able to govern without the support of long-established groupings such as the Socialists or the ethnic Turkish MRF.
    “Forming a government will be very difficult,” he said.
    The protest parties, which want to foster close ties with Bulgaria’s allies in NATO and the European Union, have promised to revamp the judiciary to cement rule of law and ensure proper use of funds due to pour in as part of the EU’s coronavirus recovery package.
    Bulgaria has had a long history of corruption, but a number of recent scandals and the imposition of U.S. sanctions last month against several Bulgarians for alleged graft have dominated the campaign.
    The current interim government, appointed after the April vote, has accused Borissov’s cabinet of spending billions of levs of taxpayer money without transparent procurement procedures, among other shortcomings.
    GERB denies wrongdoing and says such accusations are politically motivated.
(Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova,Editing by Justyna Pawlak, Frances Kerry and Nick Macfie)

7/11/2021 Pro-West Party Leads Moldova Election, Preliminary Data Shows by Alexander Tanas
Moldova's President Maia Sandu waits to receive her ballot during a snap parliamentary
election, in Chisinau, Moldova July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Vladislav Culiomza
    CHISINAU (Reuters) -Pro-Western Moldovan President Maya Sandu’s PAS party was leading snap parliamentary elections on Sunday, data from the central election commission showed, on a platform of fighting corruption and carrying out reforms.
    Sandu hopes to win a majority in the 101-seat chamber to implement reforms she says were blocked by allies of her pro-Russian predecessor, Igor Dodon.
    After the counting 37.16% of ballots, PAS had 42.34% of the vote, while its main rival, Dodon’s Socialists and Communists bloc, had 33.86%, the data showed.
    Preliminary results are likely to be announced on Monday.
    The West and Russia vie for influence in the tiny ex-Soviet republic of 3.5 million people, which is one of Europe’s poorest nations and has suffered a sharp economic downturn during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Sandu, a former World Bank economist who favours closer ties with the European Union, defeated Dodon last year but was forced to share power with the parliament elected in 2019 and the government run by lawmakers aligned with Dodon.
    In April, Sandu dissolved parliament, in which PAS had 15 lawmakers while Dodon’s Socialists had 37 and together with allies he controlled a majority of 54 deputies.
    “I’ve voted for a new parliament with honest people who will allow us to get rid of those who have robbed Moldova all these years,” Sandu said after the vote.
    “I urge citizens to vote and take another step towards cleaning Moldova of thieves and the corrupt,” said Sandu, who wants to overhaul the judicial system, increase salaries and amend the constitution to make it easier to punish graft.
    Moldova, sandwiched between Ukraine and EU member Romania, has been dogged by instability and corruption scandals in recent years, including the disappearance of $1 billion from the banking system.
    Dodon, a regular guest in Moscow, has formed an electoral bloc with the communists who have accused Sandu of pursuing a pro-Western policy that would lead to the collapse of the state.
    “It depends on our voice today who will rule Moldova tomorrow.    I urge you to vote for professionals, patriots of Moldova, and not those who will put Moldova under external control,” Dodon said after the vote.
(Writing by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Gareth Jones, William Mallard and Raissa Kasolowsky)

7/11/2021 Polish TV Regulator Casts Doubt Over Future Of U.S.-Owned News Channel by Gabriela Baczynska
FILE PHOTO: Private television TVN logo is seen on satellite antennas at their headquarters
in Warsaw, Poland February 10, 2021. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
    BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Polish news station TVN24 is in breach of foreign ownership rules for media firms, the head of the broadcasting regulator told Reuters, adding the watchdog was split over whether to renew the licence for the unit of U.S.-based Discovery Inc.
    The remarks by Witold Kolodziejski raise the stakes in a case that has stoked concerns over media freedom in Poland under the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party and led to a standoff between Warsaw and Washington.
    TVN24 is Poland’s most-watched news channel and its critical coverage has long been a thorn in PiS’s side. Its broadcasting licence expires on Sept. 26.
    TVN, the parent company of TVN24, has been owned by U.S. entities since 2015 via a firm registered in the European Union to meet Polish legal requirements that ban non-European firms from owning more than 49% of Polish media.
    This has so far been enough for the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT), which under Kolodziejski has extended licences for other TVN channels since 2016.
    But in an interview, Kolodziejski said he now believed the application of media ownership rules had been too lax, posing a threat to national security should a foreign power such as Russia or China seek to buy assets in Poland.
    “I believe that currently Art.35 (of the Polish media law) does not allow for the limit to be bypassed through a vehicle in the European Economic Area,” he said, referring to 27 EU and three other European states.
    In response to Kolodziejski’s comments, TVN said: “There is no reason for not granting TVN24 the licence,” noting KRRiT had not questioned TVN’s U.S. ownership in awarding recent licences.
    “Discovery, Inc. is proud of TVN and deeply committed to its position as Poland’s leading independent broadcaster,” the U.S. company said in a statement.    “We are watching closely and will defend the business against growing regulatory overreach, anti-consumer behavior and other market uncertainty that would undercut Poland’s business environment.”
RISING U.S. CONCERN
    PiS has long argued that foreign-owned media organisations distort public debate and do not serve Polish interests, but critics say the government aims to increase control over the media and curb free speech.
    Since PiS came to power in 2015, Poland has dropped from 18th to 64th place in the World Media Freedom Index.
    Kolodziejski, who used to be a PiS member, denied political pressure in the case.
    Last week PiS lawmakers submitted legal amendments to Poland’s Broadcasting Act that would strengthen the ban on non-European firms owning more than 49% of Polish media.    If approved, the revised law would give TVN six months to adjust.
    “The U.S. has been observing the TVN licensing process and the newly proposed legislation with rising concern,” the top U.S. diplomat in Poland, Bix Aliu, said on Twitter on Thursday.
    Kolodziejski said KRRiT’s five-member council – where at least a 4:1 majority is needed to renew TVN24’s licence for another 10 years – was divided over the case, with preliminary votes on the matter inconclusive.
    Should the non-European ownership cap be asserted more strongly, he said TVN would be given time to adapt.    That could require Discovery to divest 51% of its Polish business, he said.
    Kolodziejski said KRRiT would look at ownership structure again after the merger between Discovery and AT&T’s WarnerMedia is completed.
    “This is not about TVN24 only.    The matters we are analysing refer to the whole company’s structure.    It’s a more serious matter.    To my mind, a legal solution is needed here,” he said, without elaborating.
    TVN has more than a dozen TV channels, as well as an online video on-demand platform.    Estimated to be worth more than $1 billion, it says it employs 4,200 people and posted a 2019 net profit of 540 million zlotys ($141 million).
($1 = 3.8351 zlotys)
(Reporting by Gabriela BaczynskaEditing by Michael Williams and Mark Potter)

7/11/2021 Georgians Protest Over Death Of Journalist Beaten In Attack On LGBT+ Supporters
FILE PHOTO: Participants hold rainbow flags during a rally in support of those who were injured during the July 5 protests, when a pride
march was disrupted by members of violent groups before it could begin, in Tbilisi, Georgia July 6, 2021. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze>
    LGBT+ campaigners in the South Caucasus country of Georgia called off a pride march on Monday after violent groups opposed to the event stormed and ransacked their office in Tbilisi and targeted activists and journalists.
    Cameraman Alexander Lashkarava, who was beaten up in the incident, was found dead at his home by his mother, TV Pirveli, the channel he worked for, said on Sunday. It did not disclose the cause of death.
    Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the parliament and the office of ruling party Georgian Dream on Sunday to call for the prime minister and interior minister to resign over the violence and Lashkarava’s death.
    A woman splashed red paint on the door of a government building in protest.
    Lashkarava’s death has outraged human rights activists in Georgia, who blame the authorities for emboldening hate groups and failing to keep journalists and LGBT+ supporters out of harm’s way.
    The interior ministry said it was investigating Lashkarava’s death, but did not say what caused it.    The ministry said later that Lashkarava’s “professional activities were illegally obstructed by threats of violence” during the attacks on LGBT+ supporters.
    Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili wrote on Twitter on Sunday that she had visited Lashkarava’s family.
    “What happened is a tragedy and I send my condolences to the entire media community and to all of Georgia,” she wrote.    “It must be investigated and those responsible must be punished.”
    More than 50 journalists were targeted in the violence, police said on Monday, prompting Western countries to call on Georgia to ensure freedom of expression and assembly.
    The planned pride march, which was called off before it began, had prompted criticism from the church and conservatives, while Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said the march risked causing public confrontation.
(Reporting by David Chkhikvishvili; Writing by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Jane Merriman)

7/11/2021 Lithuania Says Belarus Is Using Refugees As A Weapon by Robin Emmott and Sabine Siebold
FILE PHOTO: Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis looks on during a joint news conference with his
German counterpart Heiko Maas, in Berlin, Germany, March 17, 2021. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/Pool
    BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union should consider imposing more sanctions on Belarus because Minsk is flying in migrants from abroad to send them illegally into the bloc, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Monday.
    His government accuses Belarusian authorities of sending hundreds of mainly Iraqi migrants across the border into Lithuania, an EU member state.
    Lithuania began building a 550-km (320-mile) razor wire barrier on the border with Belarus on Friday, a move that EU foreign ministers were due to discuss in Brussels.
    “When refugees are used as a political weapon … I will talk to my colleagues in order for the European Union to have a common strategy,” Landsbergis said as he arrived for the meeting.
    He suggested the migrants were being used as a means of pressure on the EU, which has imposed a series of sanctions on Belarus since a disputed presidential election last August that was followed by a police crackdown on street protests.
    “We need to be very strict with the regimes who are using these sorts of weapons, first of all with sanctions, when these sorts of hybrid attacks are used against the European Union,” Landsbergis said.
    He said the EU should draw up a fifth package of sanctions, following blacklistings of Belarusian officials that began as a response to the presidential election but now seek to punish wider abuses.    Lukashenko has denied electoral fraud.
    Last month, the EU imposed broad economic sanctions on Belarus’ main export industries, and on banks and finance, to try to hit sources of revenue for President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994.
    EU leaders were outraged when Belarusian authorities intercepted a passenger plane flying between Athens and Vilnius on May 23 and arrested a dissident journalist and his girlfriend who were on board.
    Lithuania’s foreign ministry has told Reuters it will propose a gradual expanding of the economic sanctions.
    The EU border guard agency Frontex said on Monday it would send additional officers, patrol cars and experts to talk to migrants to gather information on criminal networks.
    “The situation at Lithuania’s border with Belarus remains worrying.    I have decided to send a rapid border intervention to Lithuania to strengthen EU’s external border,” Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri said in a statement.
    In the first week of July, Lithuanian authorities recorded more than 800 illegal border crossings at its border with Belarus, according to Frontex.
    While in the first half of the year most migrants came from Iraq, Iran and Syria, the agency said, nationals of Congo, Gambia, Guinea, Mali and Senegal accounted for the majority of arrivals in July.
(Reporting by Robin Emmott and Sabine Siebold, Editing by John Chalmers and Timothy Heritage)

7/11/2021 Cuba Sees Biggest Protests For Decades As Pandemic Adds To Woes by Marc Frank and Sarah Marsh
People gather during protests against and in support of the government, amidst the coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) outbreak, outside the Capitol building, in Havana, Cuba July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer
    HAVANA (Reuters) - Chanting “freedom” and calling for President Miguel Diaz-Canel to step down, thousands of Cubans joined street protests from Havana to Santiago on Sunday in the biggest anti-government demonstrations on the Communist-run island in decades.
    Thousands took to the streets in various parts of Havana including the historic centre, their shouts of “Diaz-Canel step down” drowning out groups of government supporters waving the Cuban flag and chanting “Fidel.”
    Special forces jeeps, with machine guns mounted on the back were seen throughout the capital and the police presence was heavy even long after most protesters had gone home by the 9 p.m. curfew in place due to the pandemic.
    “We are going through really difficult times,” Miranda Lazara, 53, a dance teacher, who joined the thousands of protesters who marched through Havana.    “We need a change of system.”
    Diaz-Canel, who also heads the Communist Party, blamed the unrest on old Cold War foe the United States, which in recent years tightened its decades-old trade embargo on the island, in a televised speech on Sunday afternoon.
    Diaz-Canel said many protesters were sincere but manipulated by U.S.-orchestrated social media campaigns and “mercenaries” on the ground, and warned that further “provocations” would not be tolerated, calling on supporters to confront “provocations.”
    The president was due to make another address to the nation at 9 a.m. on Monday, according to state-run media.
    Julie Chung, acting undersecretary of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs, said it was deeply concerned by “calls to combat” in Cuba and stood by the Cuban people’s right for peaceful assembly.”
    Reuters witnesses in Havana protests saw security forces, aided by suspected plain clothes officers, arrest about two dozen protesters.    Police used pepper spray and hit some protesters as well as a photographer working for the Associated Press.
    In one area of Havana, protesters took out their anger on an empty police car, rolling it over and then throwing stones at it.    Elsewhere, they chanted “repressors” at riot police.
    Some protesters said they went on to the streets to join in after seeing what was happening on social media, which has become an increasingly important factor since the introduction of mobile internet two and a half years ago, although connections were patchy on Sunday.
NATIONWIDE PROTESTS
    The Caribbean island nation of 11 million inhabitants where public dissident is usually restricted has seen a growing number of protests over the past year although nothing on this scale or simultaneously in so many cities.
    The anti-government demonstrations were the largest since the summer of 1994, said Michael Bustamante, an assistant professor of Latin American history at Florida International University.
    “Only now, they weren’t limited to the capital; they didn’t even start there, it seems,” he said.
    Sunday’s demonstrations broke out at around midday in San Antonio de los Banos municipality in Artemisa Province, bordering Havana.    Video on social media showed hundreds of residents chanting anti-government slogans and demanding everything from coronavirus vaccines to an end of daily blackouts.
    “I just walked through town looking to buy some food and there were lots of people there, some with signs, protesting,” resident Claris Ramirez said by phone.    “They are protesting blackouts, that there is no medicine”
    President Diaz-Canel visited the town, later saying in his broadcast remarks: “We are calling on all the revolutionaries in the country, all the Communists, to hit the streets wherever there is an effort to produce these provocations.”
    There were protests later on Sunday hundreds of miles to the east in Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba, where social media video showed hundreds marching through the streets, again confirmed by a resident.
    “They are protesting the crisis, that there is no food or medicine, that you have to buy everything at the foreign currency stores, and on and on the list goes,” the resident, Claudia Perez, said.
    The protests in Havana started around 3 p.m. and fizzled out around 8 p.m., with some protesters giving up after security forces thwarted their attempt to reach Revolution Square
    Cuba has been experiencing a worsening economic crisis for two years, which the government blames mainly on U.S. sanctions and the pandemic, while its detractors cite incompetence and a Soviet-style one-party system.
    A combination of sanctions, inefficiencies and the pandemic has shut down tourism and slowed other foreign revenue flows in a country dependent on them to import the bulk of its food, fuel and inputs for agriculture and manufacturing.
    The economy contracted 10.9% last year, and 2% through June of 2021. The resulting cash crunch has spawned shortages that have forced Cubans to queue for hours for basic goods throughout the pandemic.
    Cuba has begun a mass vaccination campaign, with 1.7 million of its 11.2 million residents vaccinated to date and twice that many have received at least one shot in the three-shot process.
    Still, the arrival of the Delta variant has prompted cases to surge, with health authorities reporting a record 6,923 cases and 47 deaths on Sunday – twice as many as the previous week. Hospitals in the worst affected province have been overwhelmed.
(Reporting by Marc Frank, Sarah Marsh and Reuters TV in Havana; Additional reporting by Nelson Acosta; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Peter Cooney & Simon Cameron-Moore)

7/12/2021 Bulgaria’s Centre-Right GERB Just Ahead In Election, Unlikely To Form Government by Tsvetelia Tbsolova
FILE PHOTO: People vote during a snap parliamentary election, at a polling station
in Sofia, Bulgaria, July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Spasiyana Sergieva
    SOFIA (Reuters) – The centre-right GERB party of former prime minister Boyko Borissov has a narrow lead in Bulgaria’s parliamentary election, partial official results showed on Monday, but it is unlikely to be able to forge a ruling coalition.
    With 95% of ballots counted, GERB won 23.9% of the vote, only just ahead of the new anti-establishment party There Is Such a People (ITN) of popular TV talk show host and singer Slavi Trifonov, with 23.7%.
    The razor-thin margin in Bulgaria’s second election since April reflects the deep divisions in the European Union’s poorest member state over the legacy of Borissov’s decade-long rule.
    Many have turned to ITN and two smaller anti-graft parties in hope of more resolute action against widespread corruption, blaming Borissov, 62, a former bodyguard and fireman, for turning a blind eye or even supporting powerful oligarchs.
    But GERB continues to benefit from Borissov’s efforts to build much needed new highways and bolster incomes while maintaining fiscal stability.
    With such tight margins, the winner of the vote could still change.    But even if the final official results confirm GERB as the largest party, its chances of forging a ruling coalition are close to non-existent, political observers say.
‘SYMBOLIC MEANING’
    GERB came in first in April’s inconclusive election, winning 26.2%, but was shunned by other parties.
    “If GERB wins, it would only have a symbolic meaning.    Borissov will try to form a government, but of course he would not succeed,” said Parvan Simeonov, an analyst with pollster Gallup International.
    The ITN party is better positioned at forming a government with the support of its likely partners, two small anti-graft groupings Democratic Bulgaria and Stand Up!    Mafia Out!.
    But the three protest parties are not seen securing a parliamentary majority, meaning ITN would need the backing of traditional parties such as the Socialists or the ethnic Turkish MRF party, to replace the current interim Cabinet.
    “I believe there will be a government, but it very well might have a limited life.    These results do not imply a broad mandate for stability,” said Rumiana Dimitrova with Alpha Research pollster.
    In a posting on his Facebook page late on Sunday, Trifonov, 54, said he would reveal ITN’s plans later on Monday.
    Weeks of complex talks lie ahead.    A third election can not be ruled out, meaning Bulgaria may face difficulty tapping the European Union’s multi-billion euro coronavirus recovery package or approving its 2022 budget plans.
    Final official results are expected on Thursday.
(Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by Gareth Jones)

7/12/2021 Pro-Western Party Wins Moldova Election, Preliminary Data Shows by Alexander Tanas
Moldova's President Maia Sandu waits to receive her ballot during a snap parliamentary
election, in Chisinau, Moldova July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Vladislav Culiomza
    CHISINAU (Reuters) - Pro-Western Moldovan President Maya Sandu’s PAS party won the country’s snap parliamentary elections, data from the central election commission showed on Monday, on a platform of fighting corruption and carrying out reforms.
    Sandu hopes to win a majority in the 101-seat chamber to implement reforms she says were blocked by allies of her pro-Russian predecessor, Igor Dodon.
    After the counting of 99.63% of ballots, only three political forces will be represented in the new chamber, the data showed.    PAS had 52.60% of the vote, while its main rival, Dodon’s Socialists and Communists bloc, had 27.32%.
    The party of Ilan Shor, a businessman convicted of fraud and money-laundering in connection with a $1 billion bank scandal, received 5.77% of the vote. Shor denies wrongdoing.
    The West and Russia vie for influence in the tiny ex-Soviet republic of 3.5 million people, which is one of Europe’s poorest nations and has suffered a sharp economic downturn during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Sandu, a former World Bank economist who favours closer ties with the European Union, defeated Dodon last year but was forced to share power with the parliament elected in 2019 and the government run by lawmakers aligned with Dodon.
    In April, Sandu dissolved parliament, in which PAS had 15 lawmakers while Dodon’s Socialists had 37. Together with allies he controlled a majority of 54 deputies.
    “I hope that Moldova will end today a difficult era, the era of the rule of thieves in Moldova.    Our citizens must feel and experience the benefits of a clean parliament and government that cares about people’s problems,” Sandu said on Facebook.
    She said that after the final count of votes she intended to form a new government as soon as possible.
    The distribution of seats in parliament is not yet clear, as the votes cast for the parties that did not win enough votes to enter parliament will be distributed among the winners.
    Moldova, sandwiched between Ukraine and EU member Romania, has been dogged by instability and corruption scandals in recent years, including the disappearance of $1 billion from the banking system.
    Dodon, a regular guest in Moscow, has formed an electoral bloc with the communists who have accused Sandu of pursuing a pro-Western policy that would lead to the collapse of the state.
    “I appeal to the future deputies of the new parliament: we must not allow a new political crisis in Moldova.    It would be nice to have a period of political stability,” Dodon said after the election.
(Writing by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Richard Pullin)

7/12/2021 Biden Admin. Cozying Up To Russia Despite ‘Hostile’ Rhetoric, Biden’s Envoy John Kerry Arrives In Moscow by OAN Newsroom
Climate Envoy John Kerry speaks during a news conference in Oslo, Norway. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)
    The Biden Administration has advanced talks with Russia, despite recent threats of revenge for alleged cyberattacks.    Biden’s Climate Envoy John Kerry arrived in Moscow on Monday to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
    The meeting between Kerry and Lavrov came after Biden vowed to take a tough stance on Russia.    However, sanctions on the Putin regime have continued to be gradually lifted.
    Kerry said he hoped to convince Russia to join Biden’s environmental goals and reduce carbon emissions.    He went on to say Biden has been ready to work together with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
    “That it’s too important, too significant and that we very much need to move together,” he suggested.    “The United States is the world’s second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, Russia is the fourth and we are among that small group of nations, 20 nations that are equivalent of about 80 percent of all emissions.”
    Reports say Kerry’s pleas fell on deaf ears in Moscow and the Russian government has no plans to reduce its manufacturing outputs or fossil fuels production.

7/13/2021 Cuba Arrests Activists As Government Blames Unrest On U.S. Interference by Sarah Marsh and Nelson Acosta
FILE PHOTO: Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel talks to the media, in San Antonio de los Banos, Cuba July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
    HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba blamed historic protests that took place over the weekend on U.S. “economic asphyxiation” and detained some of the highest profile activists, while the Biden administration said it supported the Cuban people’s right to demonstrate.
    The streets of Havana were quiet on Monday, although there was a heavy police presence and the capitol building, where more than a thousand had congregated the day before, was cordoned off.    Outages in mobile internet – the only way many Cubans have of accessing the web – were frequent.
    Thousands of Cubans joined street protests https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/street-protests-break-out-cuba-2021-07-11 from Havana to     Santiago on Sunday in the biggest anti-government demonstrations on the Communist-run island in decades.    They were protesting against the country’s dire economic crisis and handling of the pandemic, but many went further, calling for an end to communism and chanting “freedom.”
    At least 100 protesters, activists, and independent journalists had been detained nationwide since Sunday, according to exiled rights group Cubalex – some at the protests but others as they tried to leave their homes.
    “It’s becoming impossible to live here,” said Havana resident Maykel, 21, who declined to give his surname for fear of retaliation.    “I don’t know if this can happen again, because at the moment, Havana is militarized.”
    “Still, Cubans are losing their fear,” he said.
    Others Reuters spoke to said they hoped there would be no more protests, citing fears of violence, and saying they would prefer there to be more dialogue.
    The protests erupted amid both Cuba’s deepest economic crisis since the fall of former ally the Soviet Union and a surge in COVID-19 infections that has pushed some hospitals to the edge of collapse in a country that prides itself on its healthcare system.
    The tightening of decades-old U.S. sanctions under former U.S. President Donald Trump and the pandemic have exacerbated shortages of food and medicine, as well as power outages.
    A minority of counter-revolutionaries were fomenting unrest, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a more than four-hour-long televised address alongside his Cabinet. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez blamed U.S.-financed mercenaries.
    In Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden said https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-stands-with-cuban-people-call-freedom-relief-pandemic-biden-2021-07-12 the United States stood with the people of Cuba who were “bravely” asserting their right to peaceful protest, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Cuban officials should not blame the protests on U.S. sanctions.
    “It would be a grievous mistake because it would show that they simply are not hearing the voices and will of the Cuban people,” he told a news briefing.
    Some Cuban celebrities who have to date not touched on sensitive political issues publicly came out in support of the protesters.
    “Their voices should be heard and their rights to express themselves respected,” said singer-songwriter Cimafunk, whose real name is Erik Rodriguez.    “We need to unite and find the path forward together, peacefully.”
    In Miami, home to a large community of Cuban Americans, hundreds turned out in Little Havana on Sunday to express solidarity and celebrate what they viewed as the beginning of the end. On Twitter, Miami mayor Francis Suarez implored the United States to “take action.”
VIOLENCE
    Diaz-Canel denounced vandalism that took place during the demonstrations.
    “They threw stones at foreign currency shops, they stole items… and at police forces, they turned over cars – a totally vulgar, indecent and delinquent behavior,” he said.
    But the president said pro-government supporters had finally restored order, after on Sunday instructing them to fight back and “defend the revolution” – orders that caused consternation among some Cubans.
    Reuters witnesses saw protesters in Havana on Sunday confronted by smaller pro-government counter-rallies, while police officers stopped their attempt to march to Revolution Square.
    Amnesty International said it had received with alarm reports of “internet blackouts, arbitrary arrests, excessive use of force – including police firing on demonstrators.”    Reuters was unable to independently verify the use of firearms.
    Network monitoring company Kentik said it had observed the entire country go offline for less than 30 minutes at around 4pm on Sunday, followed by several hours of intermittent outages.
    “Until very recently, large internet outages were very rare,” said Doug Madory, Kentik’s director of Internet analysis.    “Internet shutdowns are new to Cuba in 2021.”
    Internet blockage observatory NetBlocks said there was partial disruption to social media and messaging platforms in Cuba on Monday, “likely to limit the flow of information from Cuba.”
    The United Nations said it was monitoring the protests and called for the rights of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly to be respected.
    Jose Daniel, the leader of Cuba’s largest opposition group, the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), was arrested as he left home to join the protest in Santiago de Cuba in the east of the country on Sunday.    His whereabouts is unknown, UNPACU activist Zaqueo Baez told Reuters.
    Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara and Amaury Pacheco, two members of a dissident artists’ collective that has made headlines https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/raised-fist-dangling-handcuffs-snapshot-cuban-dissent-2021-04-09 spearheading a broader protest movement in Cuba in recent years, were arrested on their way to protest in Havana, Pacheco’s partner Iris Ruiz told Reuters.    Otero Alcantara was in jail while Pacheco’s whereabouts were unknown.
    Another well-known dissident, Coco Farinas, was arrested as he left home on Monday in the central town of Santa Clara, his mother Alicia Fernandez told Reuters.
    The Cuban government did not immediately comment on the arrests.    Cuba slams dissidents as mercenaries in the pay of the United States and allied with anti-Castro Cuban exiles.
    “It feels like a dangerous moment,” Ruiz said by phone, noting her neighborhood had had no mobile data all day.    “I’m worried about the kind of reprisals they could take against activists – they have been increasingly plying the theory that we are terrorists lately.”
    Julie Chung, Acting Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, called for the immediate release of them and others.
    Diaz-Canel attacked what he called Washington’s hypocrisy for expressing concern when it was fueling the crisis in Cuba with its trade embargo.
    The United States tightened sanctions on Cuba under Trump, including restricting crucial remittances in the middle of the pandemic.    Biden vowed during his campaign to ease some of these measures but has yet to do so, with the White House saying it was not among his top priorities.
    “Is it not very hypocritical and cynical that you block me… and you want to present yourself as the big savior?” he said.
    He said the government had been fighting to keep the economy functioning “in the face of a policy of economic asphyxiation intended to provoke a social uprising.”
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh, Marc Frank, Nelson Acosta and Reuters in Havana; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Simon Lewis and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by Howard Goller and Rosalba O’Brien)

7/13/2021 Polish Ruling On Primacy Of EU Law May Worsen Row With Brussels by Alan Charlish
FILE PHOTO: General view of Supreme Court in Warsaw, Poland, September 13, 2018. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
    WARSAW (Reuters) – A top Polish court will rule on Tuesday on whether the country’s constitution or European Union treaties take precedence, the first of two rulings this week that could bring Warsaw’s conflict with Brussels over the rule of law to a head.
    Warsaw aims to hit back at what it says is unjustified interference in its internal affairs by the European Commission, but critics say that questioning the primacy of EU law undermines the functioning of the bloc and jeopardises Poland’s continued membership.
    Poland is embroiled in a long-running dispute with the EU over judicial reforms which critics say undermine the independence of the judiciary, but which ruling nationalists Law and Justice (PiS) party say are needed to make courts function more effectively and remove a residue of communist influence.
    Poland says the reforms are an internal matter.
    “We have seen in recent years that EU bodies such as the European Commission or the Court of Justice of the European Union acted in violation of the treaties when they decided to interfere in the Polish judicial system,” said Deputy Justice Minister Sebastian Kaleta.
“CROSSING THE RUBICON”
    Poland said in March that Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki would ask the Constitutional Tribunal to rule on whether the country’s constitution or EU treaties are more important.    The Tribunal will rule on this on Tuesday.
    As part of proceedings initiated by Brussels against Poland, the Court of Justice of the EU told Warsaw last year to suspend a panel created to discipline judges.
    The panel – the Supreme Court’s disciplinary chamber – asked the Constitutional Tribunal whether such a suspension was constitutional. The tribunal will also rule on this on Wednesday.
    The European Commission has asked Poland not to question the primacy of EU law, expressing concern that it is contesting the bloc’s fundamental principles, and some observers have warned of potentially serious consequences if it does so.
    “In my view if they (PiS) do cross the rubicon… not only infringement actions are on the table,” said Laurent Pech, Professor of European Law at Middlesex University, London.
    “I would say that it is going to make it very easy to activate the rule of law conditionality mechanism, so that should also result most likely in a suspension of EU funding.”
    Government critics say the Constitutional Tribunal itself has become politicised as a result of PiS’s reforms, an accusation the government denies.
    The tribunal’s head, Julia Przylebska, was described by PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski as a “close friend.”
    The European Court of Human Rights ruled in May that a Polish company had been denied its right to a proper hearing in the Constitutional Tribunal due to the illegal appointment of a judge.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish, additional reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Michael Perry)

7/13/2021 Scuffles Flare In Georgia Parliament After Death Of Journalist
FILE PHOTO: Activists hold posters during a rally in memory of Pirveli TV channel cameraman Alexander Lashkarava, a victim of
violence against LGBT+ activists and journalists last Monday, in Tbilisi, Georgia July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Scuffles broke out in Georgia’s parliament on Monday as journalists and opposition politicians tried to enter the lower house in protest over the death of a cameraman who was beaten up during violence against LGBT activists last week.
    Hundreds rallied in the capital Tbilisi on Sunday after the death of Alexander Lashkarava, one of several journalists who were badly hurt as violent groups ransacked an LBGT+ campaign office, prompting activists to call off their pride march.
    Protesters called for the resignation of the prime minister and government whom they accuse of failing to protect journalists as well as allowing street violence by radical groups.
    On Monday, journalists and opposition politicians tried to enter parliament to speak to pro-government lawmakers about Lashkarava’s death, although most of them were turned away by security.
    Some did get through, however, and footage showed people pushing and shouting next to a door on the floor of the lower house of parliament.    On the floor itself, people could be seen shouting, jostling and shoving one another.
    Protesters planned to rally again later on Monday.
    Police have not disclosed the cause of the journalist’s death. Nor has TV Pirveli, the channel he worked for.
    Police have detained a new suspect in the violence against journalists, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.
    Twenty people had now been detained for violence against media, including five held responsible for physical and verbal abuse against TV Pirveli’s camera crew, it said.
(Reporting by Reuters TV; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Mark Heinrich)

7/14/2021 Poland To Buy 250 U.S. Tanks As It Seeks To Beef Up Defences
FILE PHOTO: Poland's Minister of Defence Mariusz Blaszczak delivers a speech during a commemorative ceremony to mark the 81st anniversary
of the outbreak of World War Two at Westerplatte Memorial in Gdansk, Poland September 1, 2020. Michal Ryniak/Agencja Gazeta/via REUTERS
    WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland will buy 250 U.S. tanks as part of a deal worth around $6 billion, the defence minister said on Wednesday, as the NATO member seeks to bolster its defences.
    In common with many other eastern European countries, Poland has been unnerved by what it sees as increased Russian assertiveness since Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
    “Of course this is a response to the challenges we face in terms of international security,” Mariusz Blaszczak told a news conference.
    “Our task is to deter a potential aggressor.    We all know where that aggressor is.”
    Blaszczak said Poland would spend 23.3 billion zlotys ($6.00 billion) on the Abrams tanks and an accompanying logistical and training package, as well as on upgrading infrastructure and buying ammunition.
    In May, Poland announced that it would buy 24 armed drones from Turkey, becoming the first NATO member to buy Turkish-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
($1 = 3.8818 zlotys)
(Reporting by Alicja Ptak, additional reporting by Pawel Florkiewicz, writing by Alan Charlish; Editing by Gareth Jones)

7/14/2021 Ukraine President To Appeal After Court Bars Him From Firing Top Judge
FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy gives statements ahead of talks at
the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany July 12, 2021. Stefanie Loos/ Pool via REUTERS
    KYIV (Reuters) -A panel of Ukrainian judges overturned a decree by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissing the head of the Constitutional Court, prompting the president’s office to say Zelenskiy would appeal.
    Zelenskiy issued a decree in March dismissing Oleksandr Tupytskyi, who had opposed some anti-corruption reforms.    Zelenskiy called the judge’s actions a threat to national security.
    A panel of judges from Ukraine’s Supreme Court overruled Zelenskiy’s decision on Wednesday, saying the decree firing Tupytskyi violated “the guarantees of independence and immunity of a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine established by the constitution and laws of Ukraine”
    The panel said its decision could be appealed to the Supreme Court’s Grand Chamber, its highest body. The president’s office said Zelenskiy would lodge such an appeal: “The President of Ukraine will use all constitutional mechanisms in order to protect the reform process in our state.”
    Tupytskyi said he trusted the Grand Chamber to resolve the issue: “I believe the Supreme Court will be impartial when (further) considering the case,” he wrote, responding to Reuters’ requests for comment.
    He has previously accused Zelenskiy of trying to engineer a “constitutional coup” by removing him.
    The Constitutional Court under Tupytskyi struck down some anti-corruption laws in October, ruling that a proposed punishment for officials who make false asset declarations was excessive, and blocking some powers of the main NAZK anti-graft agency.
    The ruling caused a long delay in the disbursement of new loans from Ukraine’s international supporters, including the International Monetary Fund, which had demanded the reforms as a condition of lending.    Parliament later restored some of the legislation.
    Restoring all anti-corruption measures is a key condition of unlocking more loans under a $5-billion stand-by programme approved by the IMF in 2020. Ukraine has received only one tranche since then.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Alison Williams)

7/15/2021 Cuba Lifts Food, Medicine Customs Restrictions After Protests by Sarah Marsh and Nelson Acosta
FILE PHOTO: People shout slogans against the government during a protest against and in support of the government, amidst
the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Havana, Cuba July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini/File Photo
    HAVANA (Reuters) -Cuba announced on Wednesday it was temporarily lifting restrictions on the amount of food and medicine travelers could bring into the country in an apparent small concession to demands by protesters who took to the street last weekend.
    Thousands joined a wave of nationwide protests over shortages of basic goods, curbs on civil liberties and the government’s handling of a surge in COVID-19 infections on Sunday, in the most significant unrest in decades in the Communist-run country.
    The government blamed the unrest on U.S.-financed “counter-revolutionaries” exploiting hardship caused by the decades-old U.S. trade embargo that Washington tightened in the midst of the pandemic, pushing the Cuban economy to the brink.
    Several countries and the United Nations have called on the government to respect citizens’ right to express themselves.    Others like Mexico https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexico-foreign-minister-says-looking-into-humanitarian-aid-cuba-2021-07-13 have said the best way to help the Cuban people would be for the United States to ease sanctions.
    In Cuba, a growing number of high-profile artists nL8N2OQ0DK from salsa band Los Van Van to jazz pianist Chucho Valdes have criticized the authorities’ handling of the unrest, urging them to listen to protesters rather than fight them.
    Intermittent internet outages nL1N2OP1US that activists say were designed to tamp any further unrest eased slightly on Wednesday although access to social media and messaging services remained restricted.
    Officials have blamed a campaign on social media under the hashtag #SOSCuba calling for humanitarian aid for fueling the protests, saying it was launched by U.S.-backed mercenaries seeking to destabilize the Communist-run country.
    They compared the push to a U.S.-backed effort to send relief to Venezuela in 2019 https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-aid-effort-venezuela-was-not-aligned-with-humanitarian-principles-audit-finds-2021-04-30 that ended in a violent standoff on the Colombian border.
    Still, one of the campaign’s demands was for the government to lift customs restrictions on food, medicine and hygiene products that are lacking in the country amid its worst economic crisis since the fall of former ally the Soviet Union.
    And Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said on Wednesday the government would do precisely that from next Monday, lifting restrictions until the year-end.
    “It was a demand made by many travelers and it was necessary to take this decision,” he said on a roundtable on state television, alongside President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
    It was not immediately clear how much difference the move would make given that there are very few flights at the moment into the Caribbean island nation which is going through its worst coronavirus outbreak since the start of the pandemic.
    Government critic Yoani Sanchez, who runs news website 14ymedio, was quick to tweet that such concessions would not be enough to appease those who had protested on Sunday.
    “We do not want crumbs, we want freedom, and we want it nowwwww,” she wrote.    “The streets have spoken: we are not afraid.”
    Cubans say they have been frustrated by outages in mobile internet and restricted access to social media and messaging platforms since Sunday.
    “It’s been a bunch of days that noone has been able to connect,” said Havana resident Andrea Lopez.    “My husband is in Mexico and I haven’t been able to speak with him.”
    More than 200 people were detained during or following the protests, according to exiled rights group Cubalex, and only a handful have been released so far.
    Diaz-Canel said there were three kinds of protesters; counter-revolutionaries, criminals and those with legitimate frustrations.    State-run television showed images of a crowd looting a store and another attacking an empty police car.
    Interior ministry officials said in a program televised later that some of the detained would be pursued for crimes like incitement to violence, contempt, robbery and damage to public property, which carry lengthy prison sentences.
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh and Nelson Acosta; Editing by Leslie Adler & Simon Cameron-Moore)

7/15/2021 AP Reporter Beaten By Communist Officials In Cuba by OAN Newsroom
Police detain an anti-government demonstrator during a protest in Havana, Cuba, Sunday July 11, 2021.
Hundreds of demonstrators went out to the streets in several cities in Cuba to protest against ongoing food shortages
and high prices of foodstuffs, amid the new coronavirus crisis. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
    An Associated Press reporter was severely beaten by communist authorities in Cuba while covering freedom protests.
    According to reports Tuesday, Cuban police officers assaulted AP photographer Ramon Espinosa who was left bleeding after the altercation on Sunday.    He was taking pictures of anti-communist protesters in Havana.
    The communist regime has tried to block internet access and restrict international media coverage of the protests.
    However, the truth is coming out and Republican officials across the U.S. are standing up to support the freedom loving Cuban people.
    “The hour of freedom has arrived,” stated Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami, Florida.    “It’s important that we recognize what is happening in Cuba right now at this very moment; a spontaneous uprising that has never happened in the last 60 years.    That’s happened in more than a dozen cities across Cuba.”
    Democrats have failed to condemn the communist regime despite it conspiring with China to crack down on protesters.    Instead, the left called for the lifting U.S. sanctions on the communist regime.

7/15/2021 Putin Orders Govt To Help Belarus Weather Western Sanctions: Kremlin
FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin answers questions about his article titled "On the historical unity
of Russians and Ukrainians" in Saint Petersburg, Russia July 13, 2021. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolskyi/Kremlin via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russia’s government to help Belarus weather western sanctions imposed during Minsk’s crackdown on political opponents, the Kremlin said on Thursday.
    Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko travelled to Russia, a close ally, to hold talks with Putin on Tuesday.    The European Union and United States have imposed punitive measures on Belarus in recent months.
    “Support for Belarus against the backdrop of such stifling sanctions is on the agenda, and the government has been given instructions and it is working in this regard,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by John Stonestreet)

7/16/2021 Hungary PM Calls EU Action On LGBT Rights ‘Legalised Hooliganism’ by Krisztina Than
FILE PHOTO: Silhouettes of demonstrators are seen as they march around the Hungarian parliament to protest against Hungarian
Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the latest anti-LGBTQ law in Budapest, Hungary, June 14, 2021. REUTERS/Marton Monus
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary’s Prime Minister on Friday accused the European Commission of “legalised hooliganism” for an infringement action against measures by his government that the EU executive said discriminated against LGBT people.     Thursday’s action against Hungary related to a new law that bans schools from using materials deemed as promoting homosexuality or gender change, which Orban has described as a child-protection issue.
    Stepping up a war of words with Brussels, Orban told state radio on Friday: “This (EU infringement action) is legalised hooliganism… The European Commission’s stance is shameful.”
    He said the debate offered Hungarians a glimpse into “European life,” into what went on in schools in Germany, reiterating that Hungary would not let LGBT activists “march up and down” in schools promoting what he called sexual propaganda.
    Rights groups have rallied against the legislation, which Commission head Ursula von der Leyen has called a disgrace.
    The infringement action has also targeted Poland after some municipalities there declared themselves “LGBT-ideology free zones”
    It marks the latest in a series of clashes between Brussels and some of the EU’s newer eastern European members over a range of core issues also including the rule of law, migration and press freedoms.
    Orban, a nationalist who has repeatedly crossed swords with Brussels since he took office in 2010, said EU authorities were trying to impose their will on Hungary over how children should be raised.
    The anti-LGBT campaign, which his government has stepped up over the past year, looks likely to feature prominently on his political platform ahead of a potentially tough national election next year.
    In the past two weeks, huge blue billboards have been erected nationwide bearing slogan such as: “Have you been annoyed with Brussels?” and “Are you afraid your children will face sexual propaganda?”
    Orban on Friday also predicted another clash over EU recovery funds, which have been withheld by Brussels but which he said Hungary would eventually get.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than; editing by John Stonestreet)

7/17/2021 Cuba Lifts Food Restrictions Amid Anti-Communist Protests by OAN Newsroom
Cuban citizens residing in Dominican Republic take part in a demonstration against the government of the Cuban President
Miguel Díaz-Canel near the Cuban embassy, in Santo Domingo on July 12, 2021. (Photo by ERIKA SANTELICES/afp/AFP via Getty Images)
    Cuba has lifted food and medicine restrictions amid some of the largest protests in decades.    Earlier this week, Cuba announced it would be temporarily lifting restrictions on basic goods that travelers could bring into the country as protests rage on against the communist government.
    “The Cuban government has attempted to silence their [Cubans] voices and communications through internet shutdowns, violence and arbitrary detentions of dozens of protesters, journalists, activists and other repressive tactics,” said U.S. State Department Spokesman Ned Price.
    Last weekend, thousands of Cubans flooded the streets in protest of mass shortages of food, medicine and other essential items.    Cubans have also reported spending hours in lines just to buy groceries.
    Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country’s tourism industry especially hard, propelling it into an even worse economic state.

7/17/2021 U.S. Coast Guard Warns Against Boaters Traveling To Cuba by OAN Newsroom
Cuban-Americans and sympathizers protest against the Cuban government in the historic neighborhood
of Ybor City, on July 14, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images)
    Tens of thousands of Cubans have continued to protest and express anger over shortages of food and medicine, rising inflation and the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic as cries for the U.S. to intervene have grown louder.    The U.S. Coast Guard shared concern on Saturday amid reports of Floridian boaters organized to sail south to international waters on Monday morning.
    “When this started we were hearing that they were going to Cuba. Well, it’s illegal to enter Cuban waters without permission,” explained     Nicole Groll, U.S. Coast Guard.    “We educated the public and we saw a change in the narrative saying okay, we are gonna go to the international waters.”
    Organizers announced if 100 boats showed up at Government Cut, which is between Miami beach and Fisher Island, they would set sail on Monday morning.    However, their intent is not to cross into Cuban waters, but to let people on the island know they have South Florida’s support.
    One boater, Jorge Lopez, explained his intentions on making the trip.
    “The purpose is just stay on the border, no trespassing,” he stated.    “Just stay on international water and just let, again, let the Cuban people know that we’re also fighting for their freedom so that can be once and for all a free country.”
    The Department of Homeland Security warned boaters who intend to enter territorial waters risk facing heavy fines up to $25,000 and a 10 year prison sentence.    Officials added they must get permission from the U.S. Coast Guard.
    Boaters are expected to face a tough journey and the Coast Guard strongly urged them not to take to the seas and stressed it could put their life in danger, especially during hurricane season.
    “It’s dangerous on the water. Visibility still goes down, lighting happens,” Groll warned.    “…Please be safe make educated decisions.    If you get past our skill level, please come back.”
    However, the Coast Guard also handed out some boating safety tips if boaters did decide to attempt transit near Cuban territorial waters.    Tips included having working communication equipment, closely monitoring the weather and sea state, and bringing extra food and water.
    Despite the Cuban president’s recent lift of restrictions on food and medicine, thousands continue to protest amid the country’s worst economic crisis in years, which has gained an outpouring amount of support from Florida.

7/18/2021 Cuban Government Holds Mass Rally In Havana After Protests by Nelson Acosta
People carry a poster with photographs of Cuba's late President Fidel Castro, Cuba's President and
First Secretary of the Communist Party Miguel Diaz-Canel and Cuba's former President and First Secretary of the
Communist Party Raul Castro during a rally in Havana, Cuba, July 17, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
    HAVANA (Reuters) – Raul Castro was among thousands who attended a government-organized rally in Havana on Saturday to denounce the U.S. trade embargo and reaffirm their support for Cuba’s revolution, a week after unprecedented protests rocked the communist-run country.
    Government supporters gathered on the city’s seafront boulevard before dawn to wave Cuban flags and photos of late revolutionary leader Fidel     Castro and his brother Raul.    The latter retired as Communist Party leader in April but promised to continue fighting for the revolution as a “foot soldier.”
    The rally was a reaction to demonstrations https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/street-protests-break-out-cuba-2021-07-11 that erupted nationwide last Sunday amid widespread shortages of basic goods, demands for political rights and the island nation’s worst coronavirus outbreak since the start of the pandemic.
    The government admitted https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/cuba-lifts-food-medicine-customs-restrictions-after-protests-2021-07-15 some shortcomings this week but mostly blamed https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/cubas-president-blames-discontent-us-sanctions-2021-07-12 the protests on U.S.-financed “counter-revolutionaries” exploiting economic hardship caused by U.S. sanctions.
    President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who also heads the Communist Party, told the crowd that Cuba’s “enemy has once again thrown itself into destroying citizen’s sacred unity and tranquility.”
    He said it was no small matter to call a rally as the country saw increasing numbers of COVID cases: “We convened you to denounce once more the blockade, the aggression and terror.”
    Authorities said similar rallies were held nationwide.
    “This revolution will continue for a long time,” said Margaritza Arteaga, a state social worker who attended the rally in Havana.
    Workers had been convened by neighborhood block committees, known as the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, she said, and a state bus had picked her up at 4 a.m.
    Shortly before the rally in Havana officially began, authorities removed a man shouting anti-government slogans including “freedom” from the crowd.
    The number of those detained during or after protests has grown as new reports trickle in amid irregular outages https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-unrest-idAFKBN2EJ218 in internet and messaging applications on the island where the state has a monopoly on telecommunications.
    The latest tally from exiled rights group Cubalex put those detained at 450, although some have since been released.    Activists have accused authorities of repression as some videos have emerged on social media of police beating protesters.
    The government has not yet given official figures for those detained although it has said it has arrested those it suspects of instigating unpatriotic unrest or of carrying out vandalism.    State television has broadcast images of people looting Cuba’s controversial dollar stores and overturning empty police cars.
(Reporting by Nelson Acosta and Reuters TV; Additional reporting and writing by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

7/18/2021 Siberian City Residents Advised To Stay Home To Avoid Smoke From Wildfires
FILE PHOTO: A plane makes a water drop to fight a forest fire in the region of Yakutia in eastern Siberia, Russia, in this
still image taken from video released July 14, 2021. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation/Handout via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Smoke from wildfires covered the Siberian city of Yakutsk on Sunday where people were advised by the mayor to stay home and not open windows as the region fights unprecedented blazes the Kremlin blames on climate change.
    Russian military helicopters flew in firefighters earlier this week to battle the Siberian wildfires which raged across 800,000 hectares.
    “I advise you to stay indoors, follow safety measures and keep windows and doors closed,” mayor Evgeny Grigoriev said in a statement.    “I advise the city business managers to consider relieving the elderly and people with chronic respiratory illnesses from work until we stabilise the forest fires together.”
    Fires tear through Russian forest land every year, but they have become more intense in recent seasons amid unusually high temperatures across the northern Siberian tundra.
    Smoke from 187 forest fires is currently covering 51 residential areas in the Siberian Yakutia region, including its main city of Yakutsk, the local emergency ministry said in a statement.    More than 2,270 firefighters are working in the area.
    Operations at the local airport and navigation on the nearby Lena river are suspended on Sunday, Interfax news agency reported.
(Reporting by Polina Devitt; editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

7/19/2021 On Washington Visit, Belarus Opposition Leader Asks U.S. For More Help
FILE PHOTO: Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya looks on after taking part in a panel discussion
with Belarusian film director Aliaksei Paluyan in Berlin, Germany, June 11, 2021. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt/File Photo
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya appealed for more help from the United States on Monday as she began a visit to Washington with plans to meet top Biden administration officials this week.
    Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has kept a tight grip on Belarus since 1994 and has cracked down on street protests that began over a presidential election last August which his opponents say was rigged so that he could retain power.
    Tsikhanouskaya, 38, was a candidate in the election instead of her husband Sergei Tsikhanouskiy, a video blogger who has been jailed since May 2020 on charges such as violating public order, which he denies.    Tsikhanouskaya fled to neighboring Lithuania after Lukashenko’s crackdown.
    She planned to meet U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken later on Monday.    A senior administration official said meetings with senior White House officials were planned this week as well.
    She told CNN that more help is needed from the United States and the European Union.
    “The USA has a moral obligation to be with us.    I ask the USA to help civil society survive,” she said.    “Stand with Belarus.”
    The senior administration official said the United States “stands with” Tsikhanouskaya and the people of Belarus and “will continue to support their democratic aspirations.”
(Reporting By Steve Holland and Doina Chiacu; editing by Grant McCool)

7/19/2021 Russian Planes Seed Clouds As Raging Wildfires Near Siberian Power Plant
FILE PHOTO: A firefighter works to extinguish a forest fire near the village of Magaras in the
region of Yakutia, Russia July 17, 2021. REUTERS/Roman Kutukov TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
    YAKUTIA (Reuters) – Russian planes seeded clouds to bring down rain on huge wildfires raging in the Siberian region of Yakutia that in one place spread dangerously close to a hydroelectric power plant, authorities said on Monday.
    Fires have flared across Russia amid a heatwave, tearing through over 1.5 million hectares of land in Yakutia, the worst-hit region.    On Sunday, officials told people to stay indoors and to keep windows shut due to the smoke.
    The regional capital Yakutsk, sometimes known as the planet’s coldest city, was forced to suspend flights at its airport due to bad visibility, and transport on the river Lena that carves through Siberia was also interrupted.
    Fires flare across Russian forest land annually, but they have become more intense in recent years amid unusually high temperatures across the northern Siberian tundra.    Yakutia is itself in the grips of a heatwave.
    In less than two months, fires in the region have spewed out around 150 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent – close to the 2017 annual fossil fuel emissions of Venezuela, according to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), part of an European Union observation programme.
    On Monday, a Beriev Be-200 amphibious plane flown in from another Siberian region joined a massive effort to contain the blaze involving more than 2,000 firefighters on the ground.
    Around 123 fires raged on Monday over an area of more than 885,000 hectares, the region’s environment and forest ministry said.
    Firefighters took special care to contain one fire covering 41,300 hectares, it said.
    “There’s a natural water barrier from the river Vilyuy, but the fire is potentially dangerous for the … Svetlinskaya hydroelectric power station,” it said.
    Smaller-scale fires burned in less remote parts of the country.
    More than 6,500 firefighters fought to contain blazes across the country.    In Karelia, a region that borders Finland, authorities evacuated more than 600 people from villages due to fires, the TASS news agency reported.
(Reporting by Reuters TV; writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Mike Collett-White)

7/19/2021 Russia Says It Successfully Tested Hypersonic Missile Praised By Putin
FILE PHOTO: Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile is fired from guided missile frigate Admiral Gorshkov in the
White Sea in this still image taken from video released July 19, 2019. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Monday it had successfully tested a Tsirkon(Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile, a weapon President Vladimir Putin has touted as part of a new generation of missile systems without equal in the world.
    The defence ministry said in a statement that the missile had been fired from the Admiral Gorshkov, a warship located in the White Sea, and travelled at around seven times the speed of sound before hitting a ground target on the coastline of the Barents Sea more than 350 km (217 miles) away.
    “The tactical and technical characteristics of the Tsirkon missile were confirmed during the tests,” the ministry said.
    Some Western experts have questioned how advanced Russia’s new generation of weapons is, while recognising that the combination of speed, manoeuvrability and altitude of hypersonic missiles makes them difficult to track and intercept.
    Russia plans to fit the Tsirkon missile system to its submarines and surface ships.
    Putin announced an array of new hypersonic weapons in 2018 in one of his most bellicose speeches in years, saying they could hit almost any point in the world and evade a U.S.-built missile shield.
    The following year, he threatened to deploy hypersonic missiles on ships and submarines that could lurk outside U.S. territorial waters if the United States moved to deploy intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe.
    Washington has not deployed such missiles in Europe, but Moscow is worried it might.
(Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy and Alexander Marrow;Editing by Andrew Osborn)

7/19/2021 Pro-Western Party Wins Moldova Election, Preliminary Data Shows by Alexander Tanas
People queue to receive ballots during a vote at a snap parliamentary election,
in Chisinau, Moldova July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Vladislav Culiomza
(Refiles to correct name to Maia not Maya in first paragraph)
    CHISINAU (Reuters) – Pro-Western Moldovan President Maia Sandu’s PAS party won the country’s snap parliamentary elections, data from the central election commission showed on Monday, on a platform of fighting corruption and carrying out reforms.
    Sandu hopes to win a majority in the 101-seat chamber to implement reforms she says were blocked by allies of her pro-Russian predecessor, Igor Dodon.
    After the counting of 99.63% of ballots, only three political forces will be represented in the new chamber, the data showed. PAS had 52.60% of the vote, while its main rival, Dodon’s Socialists and Communists bloc, had 27.32%.
    The party of Ilan Shor, a businessman convicted of fraud and money-laundering in connection with a $1 billion bank scandal, received 5.77% of the vote.    Shor denies wrongdoing.
    The West and Russia vie for influence in the tiny ex-Soviet republic of 3.5 million people, which is one of Europe’s poorest nations and has suffered a sharp economic downturn during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Sandu, a former World Bank economist who favours closer ties with the European Union, defeated Dodon last year but was forced to share power with the parliament elected in 2019 and the government run by lawmakers aligned with Dodon.
    In April, Sandu dissolved parliament, in which PAS had 15 lawmakers while Dodon’s Socialists had 37.    Together with allies he controlled a majority of 54 deputies.
    “I hope that Moldova will end today a difficult era, the era of the rule of thieves in Moldova.    Our citizens must feel and experience the benefits of a clean parliament and government that cares about people’s problems,” Sandu said on Facebook.
    She said that after the final count of votes she intended to form a new government as soon as possible.
    The distribution of seats in parliament is not yet clear, as the votes cast for the parties that did not win enough votes to enter parliament will be distributed among the winners.
    Moldova, sandwiched between Ukraine and EU member Romania, has been dogged by instability and corruption scandals in recent years, including the disappearance of $1 billion from the banking system.
    Dodon, a regular guest in Moscow, has formed an electoral bloc with the communists who have accused Sandu of pursuing a pro-Western policy that would lead to the collapse of the state.
    “I appeal to the future deputies of the new parliament: we must not allow a new political crisis in Moldova.    It would be nice to have a period of political stability,” Dodon said after the election.
(Writing by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Richard Pullin)

7/20/2021 Russia Expected To Unveil Stealth Fighter Jet At Air Show Attended By Putin
FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he arrives to deliver a speech during a session of the
St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 4, 2021. Dmitri Lovetsky/Pool via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia is expected to unveil a new Sukhoi fifth-generation stealth fighter jet at an air show near Moscow attended by President Vladimir Putin later on Tuesday.
    A brief promotional video released ahead of the MAKS air show featured pilots from UAE, India, Vietnam and Argentina, suggesting that Moscow wants to pitch the plane for export.
    Oleg Panteleyev, head of the Aviaport analytical agency, said it would be touted as a rival to the U.S. F-35 stealth fighter.
    It is not known when the plane might be ready for serial production.    It is unlikely to take to the air when it goes on show.
    Russia has invested heavily in military aircraft and new armaments under Putin, both for its own armed forces and also to boost export revenue from weapon sales. Many of its new weapons are still based on Soviet-era technology from the Cold War.
    Rostec, Russia’s state aerospace and defence conglomerate, released photographs of the new plane covered in a protective covering in the run-up to the air show.
    In May, an unnamed defence source cited by state news agency RIA said that Rostec was working on a fifth generation light multi-role fighter jet with a single engine.
    The aircraft was expected to have a maximum speed of more than twice the speed of sound, to weigh no more than 18 tonnes, and to have reduced radar visibility and high manoeuvrability, that source said.
    Sergei Chemezov, Rostec’s chief, said last December the conglomerate was looking at producing a light single-jet fighter for export.
    Russia already has fourth-generation fighter jets – the heavy-class Sukhoi Su-27 and light-class Mikoyan MiG-29.    It only has one heavy-class fifth generation fighter jet, the Su-57, but no light-class equivalent, Panteleyev said.
    “Light-class fighter jets are more in demand in the world than heavy-class ones – they are cheaper and more suitable for states that don’t have large territories,” he told Reuters.
    In 2011, Russia used the MAKS air show to unveil the Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter.
    United Aircraft Corporation, which is part of Rostec, owns the Sukhoi aircraft manufacturer that dates back to the Soviet era.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Alison Williams)

7/20/2021 Exclusive-U.S. Expected To Take Initial Steps Soon In Aftermath Of Cuba Protests - Officials by Matt Spetalnick, Daphne Psaledakis and Simon Lewis
FILE PHOTO: Emigres wave American and Cuban flags outside Versailles restaurant, in reaction to reports of protests in
Cuba against its deteriorating economy, in Miami, Florida, U.S. July 18, 2021. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is expected to soon announce initial steps as part of the Biden administration’s review of Cuba policy and in response to Havana’s crackdown on the biggest street protests in decades, State Department officials said on Monday.
    The senior officials’ comments further signaled that President Joe Biden was not ready to soften the U.S. approach after his predecessor, Donald Trump, rolled back a historic Obama-era détente with Havana, and that the latest Cuban unrest would have a significant impact on any policy moves.
    The officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, also made clear that the Biden administration is still seeking ways to ease the humanitarian plight of the Cuban people while keeping pressure on the Communist-led government in Havana.
    Biden said last week he was not prepared to loosen restrictions for now on remittances, or payments that Americans can make to their families on the island, because of concern that the Cuban government would seize a large part of the funds.
    But Washington is looking closely at crafting a possible work-around to restore the flow of remittances, which were shut down under Trump, in a way that does not put money in the hands of the Cuban government, one of the State Department officials said.
    The official declined to elaborate but suggested it would take time to develop such a mechanism, saying: “I wouldn’t anticipate a short-term loosening.”
    Thousands of Cubans staged spontaneous anti-government protests a week ago to demonstrate against an economic crisis that has seen shortages of basic goods and power outages.    They were also protesting the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and curbs on civil liberties.    Scores of activists were detained.
    The Cuban government has blamed the protests mostly on U.S.-financed “counter-revolutionaries” exploiting economic hardship caused by U.S. sanctions.
‘A TOP PRIORITY’
    The unrest appears to have injected a new sense of urgency in the Cuba policy review, which began shortly after Biden took office in January but until now had not been treated as a top agenda item while the administration dealt with the economic recovery and coronavirus pandemic at home and challenges such as China, Russia and Iran abroad.
    “There will definitely be policy implications as a result of the events over the course of the last week.    … I’d expect in fairly short order there will be a senior U.S. government communication as to initial steps,” one official said while declining to provide specifics.
    Cuba, the official said, is now a “top priority.”    “It’s a historic moment in Cuba given that the protesters showed up to more than 58 locations throughout the island numbering tens of thousands, making demands of their government for change,” the official said.
    Under consideration as part of the review – even before the protests occurred – is whether to lift the U.S. designation of Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism,” a label Trump gave to Havana just days before leaving office.
    But the State Department official said there was no timeline for a decision on the issue.
    Also figuring into the over-arching Cuba policy review is Cuba’s continued support for Venezuela’s Socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, whose government is also under sanction by the United States, the State Department official said.    Maduro has retained power with the support not only of his military and Cuban allies but of Russia, China and Iran.
    Biden, a Democrat, had vowed during his presidential campaign to ease some of the sanctions on Cuba tightened by Trump, a Republican.
    But analysts say the protests have complicated Biden’s political leeway to do so, especially after he made a poorer-than-expected showing with voters in south Florida’s anti-communist Cuban-American community, which backed Trump’s tough policies toward Havana and Caracas and helped him win the battleground state.
    Many analysts say Biden may have to tread carefully on Cuba policy ahead of the 2022 congressional elections.
(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Daphne Psaledakis and Simon Lewis; Editing by Peter Cooney)

7/20/2021 Putin Inspects New Russian Fighter Jet Unveiled At Air Show by Gleb Stolyarov and Tom Balmforth
Checkmate, new Sukhoi fifth-generation stealth fighter jet is seen during an opening ceremony of the MAKS-2021
air show in Zhukovsky, outside Moscow, Russia, July 20, 2021. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolskyi/Kremlin via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -President Vladimir Putin inspected a prototype of a new Sukhoi fifth-generation fighter jet on Tuesday that Russia unveiled at its annual MAKS air show with an eye on export markets.
    The warplane, given the project name “Checkmate,” is likely to be touted as a rival to the U.S. F-35 stealth fighter, said Oleg Panteleyev, head of the Aviaport analytical agency.
    The warplane is expected to take to the skies in 2023 with a first batch due to be produced in 2026, Yury Slyusar, head of the United Aircraft Corporation told reporters.
    Russia plans to produce 300 of the aircraft over 15 years once serial production begins, he said.
    Rostec, Russia’s state aerospace and defence conglomerate, said the plane was hard to detect and would have low operating costs.
    Rostec’s chief, Sergei Chemezov, said it would cost $25 million to $30 million, the RIA news agency reported.    Moscow expected demand from nations in the Middle East, Asia Pacific region and Latin America, he said.
    “Our aim is to make the cost per flight hour as low as possible, to make it economical not only to buy but also to operate,” said Slyusar.
    Russia has successfully produced prototypes of new weapons systems in recent years but has sometimes struggled to move to serial production.
    Under Putin, it has invested heavily in military aircraft and new armaments, both for its own armed forces and also to boost export revenue from weapon sales.    Many of its new weapons are still based on Soviet-era technology from the Cold War.
    Russia already has fourth-generation fighter jets – the heavy-class Sukhoi Su-27 and light-class Mikoyan MiG-29.    It has one heavy-class fifth generation fighter jet, the Su-57, but no light-class equivalent, Panteleyev said.
    “Light-class fighter jets are more in demand in the world than heavy-class ones – they are cheaper and more suitable for states that don’t have large territories,” he told Reuters.
    In 2011, Russia used the MAKS air show to unveil the Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter.
    United Aircraft, which is part of Rostec, owns the Sukhoi aircraft manufacturer that dates back to the Soviet era.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Alison Williams and Steve Orlofsky)

7/202/2021 Belarus Opposition Leader Asks U.S. To Impose More Sanctions
FILE PHOTO: Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya attends a meeting with Federal President Frank-Walter
Steinmeier (not pictured) at Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany, December 14, 2020. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said on Tuesday that she asked U.S. officials to impose sanctions on companies in her country’s potash, oil, wood and steel sectors, as she visited Washington seeking stronger action against President Alexander Lukashenko’s government.
    Such measures would go beyond existing sanctions on Lukashenko’s political allies and government bodies and “will be a real hit on him, to make him change his behavior and to release political prisoners,” Tsikhanouskaya told reporters.
    She said she delivered the list of enterprises, among them state-owned Belaruskali producer of potash fertilizer, at a meeting on Monday with State Department officials including Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
    On Tuesday during a webinar sponsored by the Atlantic Council think tank, Tsikhanouskaya called for much tougher action by the world’s democracies against Lukashenko, who has kept a tight grip on Belarus since 1994 and cracked down on peaceful street protests that began over a disputed presidential election last August.
    “I think it’s high time for democratic countries to unite and show their teeth,” said Tsikhanouskaya, who will also visit the White House and Capitol Hill.
    Tsikhanouskaya, 38, was a candidate in the election instead of her husband Sergei Tsikhanouskiy, a video blogger who has been jailed since May 2020 on charges such as violating public order, which he denies.    Tsikhanouskaya fled to neighboring Lithuania after Lukashenko’s crackdown.
    Lukashenko’s opponents say the election was rigged so that he could retain power.    He denies the allegation.    Meanwhile, the government has detained thousands of people amid allegations of torture, and shuttered independent media and rights groups.
    Tsikhanouskaya called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop supporting Lukashenko.
    “The relationship of Russia and Belarus at the moment is so close that the next step is loss of independence,” she told reporters.    “We understand that Lukashenko has to pay for the support of the Kremlin.”
(Reporting by Simon Lewis and Jonathan Landay in Washington and Matthias Williams in Kyiv; Editing by Giles Elgood and Grant McCool)

7/20/2021 With Increasing Defiance, Cuban Churches Urge Government To Listen, Not Repress by Sarah Marsh
People pass by in front of the Havana's Cathedral, Cuba July 19, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
    HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba’s churches have defended those who participated in unprecedented protests and even set up a hotline to advise the families of detainees, a sign of increasing boldness from spiritual leaders on the Communist-run island.
    Protests erupted https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/street-protests-break-out-cuba-2021-07-11 nationwide on July 11 against shortages of medicine and food, power outages, the COVID-19 surge and curbs on freedom.    The government blamed counter-revolutionaries it said were exploiting hardships caused by decades-old U.S. sanctions.
    Hundreds of protesters, activists and journalists have since been detained, according to human rights groups.    Authorities say they are prosecuting those who instigated “unpatriotic unrest” and committed vandalism.
    In the days following the protests, the dominant Roman Catholic church, other religions, and freemasons issued statements in favor of free expression. After decades of repression following the 1959 revolution, an expansion of religious freedoms in the 1990s has given religious groups greater autonomy than any other organization not affiliated with the Communist Party.    But such candor is still rare in Cuba, where significant restrictions on dissent remain in place.
    “Amid the difficulties, the protests of recent days and also the detentions, the repression, the Church wants to pray for all Cubans, for all Cuba,” Dionisio García, Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, the country’s second largest city, said in a televised mass on Sunday.
    The Cuban people need changes to feel hope, he said at the Church of the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre, the patron saint of a country where an estimated 60% are baptized Catholics.
    Protestant denominations also backed the protesters’ right to express themselves, with the Methodist Church stating in a post shared on social media on Saturday: “The fact of disagreeing with the political system does not turn a person into an antisocial element or criminal.”
    All urged both protesters and authorities to avoid violence in favor of dialogue.    The conference of Catholic bishops expressed concern the government’s response would instead be “immobility” and even a “hardening of positions.”
    The Catholic Church in particular has played an important role in Cuban society in recent years, negotiating the release of political prisoners and fomenting the 2014 detente with old Cold War foe the United States.
    But government critics have at times accused the Church of not doing enough to confront authorities over human rights, in favor of a fragile entente that allows them a seat at the table of power.    That may be changing.
    In his weekly address to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sunday, Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, said he felt close to those families in Cuba suffering the most in these “difficult moments.”
    “I pray that the Lord might help the nation construct a society that is more and more just and fraternal through peace, dialogue and solidarity,” he said.
    The Cuban Conference of Catholic Religious opened a helpline for those detained and their relatives on Sunday.
    “This is focused on providing counsel for the presentation of habeas corpus, help in locating the detainees, and spiritual and psychological guidance for the relatives,” it said.
    Meanwhile, Cuba’s Grand Lodge of Freemasons – a secretive society that also has a broad reach – said in a statement it was “concerned by the excessive use of force” by authorities.
    Masonic leader Jose Ramon Vinas went a step further, writing a letter to President Miguel Diaz-Canel accusing the government of always justifying the country’s problems through the U.S. trade embargo rather than recognizing its own responsibility.
    He wrote later on Facebook that had been summoned to a police station where three officials questioned him over the letter.    In a show of the growing sense of defiance in Cuban society, he said he suggested they came to visit the masons instead where they could speak on an equal footing.
    “As I left, there was a cluster of brothers waiting for me, defying the curfew about to start – Masonic pride… thank you, thank you!”
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Christian Plumb and Rosalba O’Brien)

7/20/2021 EU Wants Reforms Before Approving Hungary’s Recovery Plan
FILE PHOTO: A large European Union flag lies at the centre of Schuman Square outside European Commission
headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, May 8, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) – The European Commission won’t approve Hungary’s recovery plan until it carries out judicial reform and guarantees that corruption cases are investigated, justice commissioner Didier Reynders said in an interview published on Tuesday.
    There are systemic problems with the rule of law in Hungary, and the European Commission is ready to use all tools to protect democracy, including the suspension of EU funds, Reynders said on the hvg.hu news site.
    In a report published on Tuesday, the European Commission listed serious concerns about the rule of law in Poland and Hungary.
    The commission said both were undermining media pluralism and court independence.    They are the only two countries in the 27-member bloc under formal EU investigation for jeopardising the rule of law.
    Reynders said he would ask Hungary and Poland again to join the planned European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which they have so far not done, because “without that we cannot be sure that there is sufficient protection against fraud and corruption.”
    He said all avenues for dialogue have been exhausted with Poland and Hungary, and this was why the commission wants to move against them.
    Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga said on Facebook that the commission was “blackmailing” Hungary because of its child protection laws, which will not allow “LGBTQ-activists and any sexual propaganda into Hungarian kindergartens and schools.”
    The Commission says the measures discriminate against LGBT people.
    The commission’s report is “full of untrue claims that were dictated to Brussels by Soros organizations because Hungary will not give in to European liberal opinion hegemony,” the governing Fidesz party said in a statement, referring to billionaire U.S. philanthropist and financier George Soros, who has long been vilified by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
(Reporting by Anita Komuves; Editing by Nick Macfie)

7/21/2021 Push To Get Wary Russians Vaccinated Leaves Some COVID Clinics Short by Polina Nikolskaya
FILE PHOTO: People line up to receive vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a vaccination centre
in the Globus shopping mall in Vladimir, Russia July 15, 2021. REUTERS/Polina Nikolskaya
    VLADIMIR, Russia (Reuters) – Alexander tried three times over 10 days to get his first dose of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in his home town of Vladimir.    Twice, supplies ran out as he was standing in the queue.
    “People line up from 4 a.m. although the centre opens at 10 a.m.,” the 33-year-old said, as he finally entered the walk-in vaccination room in the town, where gold-domed medieval churches attract crowds of tourists in normal years.
    A third wave of COVID-19 infections has lifted reported daily deaths in Russia to record highs in recent weeks and sluggish demand for vaccines from a wary population has finally begun to grow with a big official push to boost uptake.
    The switch poses a challenge for Russia, which has signed contracts to supply Sputnik V to countries around the world.
    With vaccination now compulsory in some Russian regions for people working in jobs involving close contact with the public such as waiters and taxi drivers, shortages have appeared.
    “At the last minute we all decided to get vaccinated at the same time,” Maria Koltunova, a representative of the Vladimir regional health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor told reporters on July 16.    “This has caused a problem.”
    Late last month, after several Russian regions reported shortages of the vaccine, the Kremlin blamed them on growing demand and storage difficulties which it said would be resolved in the coming days.
HURDLES
    At the appointment desks of four clinics in different towns in the wider Vladimir region last week, Reuters was told that no shots were available at this time. The earliest appointments available were next month, all said they could not give a date.     The industry ministry said it was working with the health ministry to close the demand gap in places where it had jumped.    The health ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
    Russia is producing 30 million sets of doses per month, the industry ministry said, and can gradually scale that up to a monthly figure of 45-40 million doses over the next few months.
    Overall, almost 44 million full doses of all vaccines have been released for the vaccination of Russia’s 144 million people, the industry minister said last week.
    Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin ordered the government on Monday to check what vaccines were available.
    The country does not provide data for vaccine exports and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), responsible for marketing the vaccine abroad, declined to comment.
    A laboratory in India said last week the country’s full rollout would have to be put on hold until the Russia producer provides equal quantities of its two doses, which are different sizes.
    Argentina and Guatemala have also reported delays to promised supplies.
    Despite launching its vaccine rollout in January and approving four homegrown vaccines for domestic use, Russia had given only around 21% of its entire population one shot by July 9, according to data provided by health minister Mikhail Murashko, although counting only adults, that would be higher.
    The Kremlin earlier cited ‘nihilism’ among the population; some Russians have cited distrust, both of new drugs and government programmes.
UNDER PRESSURE
    Around 12% of the 1.4 million people in the Vladimir region 200 km (125 miles) east of Moscow had been vaccinated by July 12, data provided by local officials showed.    Some people said the sudden uptick in demand for shots was due to a spate of government policies.
    These included a week-long regional requirement to prove vaccination against, or recent recovery from, COVID-19 with QR codes to enter cafes and other venues. The policy was cancelled amid an outcry from business and shortages of vaccine.
    The region also ordered some public sector and service sector businesses to inoculate at least 60% of their employees with one dose by August 15.    Cafe owners Dmitry Bolshakov and Alexander Yuriev said oral recommendations came earlier.
    Third-time lucky vaccine recipient Alexander, who gave only his first name due to the sensitivity of the issue, said he had queued for the shot of his own accord after his local clinic said it could not offer one until late August.
    But nine out of 12 people approached by Reuters at the city’s vaccination centres said they did not want to be vaccinated but had been pressured by their employers.    The local governor’s office and the health department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
    In one Vladimir café called ZZZed, owner Yuriev had, along with officials, set up a centre for vaccinations, starting with the city’s restaurant workers.    People filled out their consent forms sitting at the bar, under a disco ball.
    “We have a queue now of about 1,000 people,” Yuriev said.    With demand up, shortages of shots are the next obstacle.    “We are limited by the lack of vaccines in the region,” he said.
    The acting head of the local health watchdog, Yulia Potselueva, told reporters on July 16 that the problem of vaccine supply would be solved in the near future.
(Reporting by Polina Nikolskaya; editing by Polina Ivanova, Josephine Mason and Philippa Fletcher)

7/21/2021 U.S., Germany To Vow Action On Russia In Nord Stream 2 Deal - Sources by Andrea Shalal and Simon Lewis
FILE PHOTO: A road sign directs traffic towards the Nord Stream 2 gas line landfall facility
entrance in Lubmin, Germany, September 10, 2020. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and Germany will take action against Russia if it uses the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to harm Ukraine or other Eastern European countries, according to two sources familiar with a bilateral agreement expected on Wednesday.
    The agreement, hammered out in recent months by senior U.S. and German officials and first reported by Reuters on Tuesday, will resolve a long-standing dispute over the $11 billion pipeline, now 98% complete, being built under the Baltic Sea to carry gas from Russia’s Arctic region to Germany.
    U.S. officials insist they continue to oppose the pipeline, but said the U.S.-German agreement would mitigate the possibility of Russia using energy as a weapon against Ukraine and other countries in the region.
    The United States worries that Russia could cut off energy supplies to Ukraine or other countries as a form of aggression, and also fears that Ukraine will miss out on transit fees for gas now carried on an existing land-based pipeline.
    The agreement will avert, for now, the resumption of congressionally mandated sanctions against Nord Stream 2 AG and its chief executive.    President Joe Biden waived those sanctions in May to allow time for both sides to negotiate a way forward.
    But the Biden administration reserves the right to use sanctions on a case-by-case basis, in line with U.S. law, one of the sources said.
    Germany also agreed to contribute to a new $1 billion fund to help Ukraine transition to cleaner sources of energy and improve its energy security, said one of the sources.
    Details about the funding were not immediately available, but the money is likely to come from private sources, backed with government guarantees, one of the sources said.
    Bloomberg News reported earlier that Germany would provide an initial investment of $175 million.
    Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel failed to reach an agreement on the pipeline when they met last week, but said they agreed Moscow must not be allowed to use energy as a weapon against its neighbors.
    At the time, Merkel said Germany had a number of instruments at its disposal, including the possibility of imposing sanctions through the European Union, to respond to Russia, if needed.
‘GEOPOLITICAL PROJECT’
    Officials from both countries have continued working out the details in recent days, and senior State Department official Derek Chollet visited Ukraine on Tuesday to discuss the deal.
    State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Tuesday that Washington still viewed the pipeline as a bad deal for Germany and Europe but decided that sanctions were unlikely to halt the project and focused instead on addressing Russia’s potential use of energy as a weapon.
    “We continue to oppose the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.    We view it as a Kremlin geopolitical project that is intended to expand Russia’s influence over Europe’s energy resources and to circumvent Ukraine.”
    Price declined to address the reported agreement, but said Germany had “put forward useful proposals” and they had made progress on the shared goal of ensuring that “Russia cannot weaponize energy flows.”
    Biden faces pressure from Congress to block the pipeline.
    “Regardless of the foreign policy outcome the administration thinks it has achieved, there are still mandatory sanctions the administration has not imposed,” Senator James Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement, referring to existing U.S. law.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Simon Lewis; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Peter Cooney)
[THE ACTIONS BY JOE BIDEN TO DO WHAT OCCURRED ABOVE IS TO PUSH WHAT THE GLOBALIST SOCIALIST ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT WANTED TO HAPPEN AND OF COURSE ALSO TO REVERSE ANYTHING THAT DONALD TRUMP DID AND IT WILL HURT AMERICA'S ECONOMY IN THE NEAR FUTURE.].

7/21/2021 Ukrainian President Zelensky To Visit White House Aug. 30 by OAN Newsroom
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Polish President Andrzej Duda (not pictured) review a guard of honor upon
Zelensky’s arrival at the Presidential Palace on August 31, 2019 in Warsaw, Poland. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
    Joe Biden announced he will be welcoming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House next month. The Biden administration claimed on Wednesday that the meeting is intended to affirm America’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty.     However, the announcement comes as the U.S. is set to complete a deal with Germany on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.    The White House has lifted sanctions on companies in charge of building the Russian-German pipeline, prompting concern from Ukraine.
    Critics have argued the pipeline would reduce Ukraine’s role in regional energy commerce and expand Russian influence across Europe.    Zelensky was critical of Biden’s meeting with Vladimir Putin last month and has called on the U.S. to show public support for Ukraine amid Russian aggression in Crimea.
    In the meantime, the meeting is set for Aug. 30.

7/22/2021 Gamma Coronavirus Variant Detected In Russia, Ifax Reports
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Gamma variant of the novel coronavirus, first found in Brazil, has been detected in small quantities in Russia, the Interfax news agency cited the developer behind Russia’s EpiVacCorona vaccine as saying on Thursday.
    Russia faces a surge in coronavirus cases that authorities have blamed on the Delta variant and the slow rate of vaccinations.    On Thursday, Russia reported 24,471 new COVID-19 cases and 796 deaths related to coronavirus in the last 24 hours.
    EpiVacCorona, Russia’s second of four vaccines to be registered, was developed by the Vector Institute in Siberia.    Sputnik V is Russia’s flagship vaccine.
    “The Delta variant is widespread on the territory of the Russian Federation, with isolated cases of the Gamma variant detected,” Interfax cited the institute as saying.
    The institute said the Delta and Gamma variants were categorised as “causing concern” because they spread more easily and can reduce the effectiveness of antibodies.
(Reporting by Marina Bobrova and Maxim Rodionov; Writing by Alexander Marrow and Barbara Lewis)

7/22/2021 Norway Marks Decade Since Far Right Extremist Breivik Killed 77 People by Nora Buli and Gwladys Fouche
FILE PHOTO: A man arranges flowers next to a graffitti marking a bomb attack last Friday, in the centre of Oslo July 28, 2011. Norwegian
police on Thursday ended a six-day search for bodies on the island where anti-Islamist extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 68 people
and say they are increasingly certain he acted alone. Breivik, 32, killed a total of 76 people in a bomb attack in central Oslo followed
by the shooting rampage at the island summer camp for the ruling Labour Party's youth wing. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov/File Photo
    OSLO (Reuters) -Norway on Thursday marks 10 years since anti-immigrant extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people in the worst act of violence in the country since World War Two.
    Breivik detonated a car bomb outside the prime minister’s office in Oslo, killing eight, before driving to Utoeya island and shooting 69 people at a Labour Party youth camp on July 22, 2011.
    The day’s commemorations began with a memorial service outside what was once the prime minister’s office – an empty shell since the attack due to disagreements over how to rebuild it – attended by Prime Minister Erna Solberg, survivors and relatives of the victims, political leaders and Norway’s Crown Prince and Crown Princess.
    Outside the guarded area, passersby stopped to listen, and some hugged as the names of the victims were read out.
    “It hurts to think back to that dark day in July ten years ago.    Today, we mourn together. Today, we remember the 77 that never came home,” Solberg said in a speech on site.
    “The terror of July 22 was an attack on our democracy.”
    Breivik, 42, is serving a 21-year sentence, which can be prolonged indefinitely if he is deemed a continued threat to society.
    Debate over the attacks has shifted over the years.    Survivors, many of whom were teenagers at the time, are now determined to confront the far-right ideology which was a catalyst for the attack.
    This is a departure from Norway’s response at the time, which emphasised unity and consensus, with Jens Stoltenberg, the Labour Party prime minister at the time, calling Breivik’s actions attacks on Norway and democracy.
    “Ten years later, we need to speak the truth.    We have not stopped the hate. Right-wing extremism is still alive,” said Astrid Hoem, leader of the Labour Party youth organisation AUF, and a survivor of the Utoeya attack, at the memorial event.
    “The terrorist was one of us. But he does not define who we are – we do,” Hoem said.
    After ten years, it was time to clearly reject racism and hate once and for all, Hoem said.    “Because if we do this now, we might be able to keep our promise of ‘Never again July 22’,” Hoem added.
    On Tuesday, a memorial to 2001 teenage hate crime victim Benjamin Hermansen was defaced with the slogan “Breivik was right,” an act strongly condemned by politicians and the public and which is being investigated by police.
    The initial event will be followed by a service at the Oslo Cathedral, where Stoltenberg, now NATO Secretary-General, will speak.
    At 1200 CET (1000 GMT) church bells across the country will ring for five minutes.
    Later, there will also be a ceremony on Utoeya and the day will conclude with an evening ceremony in Oslo during which King Harald will speak.
    A group of survivors have set up a Twitter account @aldriglemme (Never forget) to re-post tweets about the attack as they appeared 10 years ago.
(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche and Nora Buli; Editing by Giles Elgood and Raissa Kasolowsky)

7/22/2021 Hungary To Hold Referendum On Child Protection Issues By Early 2022 - PM Aide
FILE PHOTO: Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Brussels, Belgium June 24, 2021. John Thys/Pool via REUTERS
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary expects to hold a government-initiated referendum on legislation that limits schools’ teaching about homosexuality and transgender issues late this year or early next year, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff said on Thursday.     Orban announced the planned referendum on Wednesday, stepping up a culture war with the European Union.
    The European Commission last week began legal action over the measures, which have been included in amendments to education and child protection laws.    If successful, Brussels could hold up funding for Hungary while the restrictions are maintained.
    “For Hungary, there are many more arguments in favour of European Union membership than against it.    Joining the EU was the right decision, it was in our national interest and it remains to be the case,” Gergely Gulyas, Orban’s chief of staff, told a weekly news briefing.
    But he said Hungary believed it had the right to comment on what he called “the rules of the club” and make decisions on its own in issues where it did not hand over authority to EU institutions.
    Gulyas said Hungary was still in talks with the European Commission, the EU executive, on its national recovery plan and was seeking an agreement.    But he added that the government would start pre-financing projects from the national budget.
    The European Commission listed serious concerns about the rule of law in Poland and Hungary in a report on Tuesday that could help decide whether they receive billions of euros in EU funds to help recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Alison Williams and Timothy Heritage)

7/22/2021 Russia, China Fail At U.N. In Bid To Shut Down Bosnia Peace Envoy by Michelle Nichols
FILE PHOTO: Christian Schmidt Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture arrives for talks to discuss forming a government
with the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) in Berlin, Germany, January 3, 2018. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo
    NEW YORK (Reuters) – Russia and China failed on Thursday in a bid to get the U.N. Security Council to strip some powers from an international envoy overseeing implementation of a 1995 Bosnia peace accord and shut down the envoy’s office in one year.
    Russia and China were the only two council members to vote for their draft resolution, while the remaining 13 council members abstained.    A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, China, the United States, France or Britain.
    Former German government minister Christian Schmidt is due to take over from Valentin Inzko of Austria on Aug. 1 as the High Representative in Bosnia. Schmidt was appointed in May by a Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council.
    The board is made up of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Britain, the United States, the European Union, European Commission, and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.    Russia said it did not agree with the decision.
    After the failure of their draft resolution on Thursday, Russia and China argued that Schmidt cannot take up his role because he has not been approved by the Security Council.    Many other council members disagreed.
    “There is no determinative role for the Secretary General, or the U.N. Security Council in the appointment process, and no requirement that the council take action to confirm Mr Schmidt’s designation,” deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Mills told the council after the vote.
    The Office of the High Representative was set up as part of the Dayton peace accords that ended Bosnia’s 1992-95 war to supervise the reconstruction of a country torn apart by ethnic conflict in which 100,000 died.
    Bosnia’s autonomous nationalist Serb region, backed by Russia, has long requested the shutdown of the Office of the High Representative.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Grant McCool)

7/22/2021 U.S. Sanctions Cuban Security Minister, Special Forces Unit Over Protest Crackdown by Matt Spetalnick and Daphne Psaledakis
FILE PHOTO: A Cuban flag hangs over a street in downtown Havana, Cuba, July 15, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on a Cuban security minister and an interior ministry special forces unit for alleged human rights abuses in a crackdown on anti-government protests earlier this month.
    The move marked the first concrete steps by President Joe Biden’s administration to apply pressure on Cuba’s Communist government as it faces calls from U.S. lawmakers and the Cuban-American community to show greater support for the biggest protests to hit the island in decades.
    The speed with which the administration has crafted new sanctions further signals Biden is highly unlikely to soften the U.S. approach to Cuba any time soon after his predecessor, Donald Trump, rolled back a historic Obama-era détente with Havana.     “This is just the beginning,” Biden said in a statement, expressing condemnation for “mass detentions and sham trials.”
    “The United States will continue to sanction individuals responsible for oppression of the Cuban people,” he said.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, in a message on Twitter, rejected the sanctions as “unfounded and slanderous” and urged the United States to apply such measures to its own record of “daily repression and policy brutality.”
    The Treasury Department said the sanctions had been placed on an entire Interior Ministry security unit and on General Alvaro Lopez Miera, minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, describing him as leader of an entity “whose members have engaged in serious human rights abuse.”
    Thousands of Cubans staged protests a week ago to demonstrate against an economic crisis that has brought shortages of basic goods and power outages.    They were also protesting the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and curbs on civil liberties.    Hundreds of activists were detained.
    Biden had promised during the 2020 campaign to reverse some of Trump’s Cuba policies, but Thursday’s announcement suggests little appetite for a return to rapprochement.
    At the same time, the administration is still seeking ways to ease the humanitarian plight of the Cuban people.
    The White House said on Tuesday that Biden would form a working group to examine remittances to Cuba in the wake of the protests.    The aim is to determine how Cuban-Americans can send money to families on the island while keeping the funds out of the hands of the Cuban government.
    Trump had imposed tight restrictions on remittances, which are believed to have previously amounted to several billions of dollars annually.
    The White House, in a statement, cautioned that the remittances issue was complex and “requires a measured and thoughtful approach in coordination with experts.”
    Biden reiterated on Thursday that his administration is looking for ways to help ordinary Cubans regain internet access after Havana restricted access to social media and messaging platforms including Facebook and WhatsApp.
    “We will work closely with our partners throughout the region, including the Organization of American States, to pressure the regime,” Biden said.
    The Cuban government has blamed the protests mostly on what it calls U.S.-financed “counter-revolutionaries” exploiting economic hardship caused by U.S. sanctions.
GLOBAL MAGNITSKY SANCTIONS
    The sanctions were imposed under the Global Magnitsky Act, used to punish human rights violators with U.S. asset freezes and bans on travel to the United States.
    But U.S. officials have acknowledged that Cuban officials rarely have U.S. financial dealings and seldom travel to the United States, limiting the practical impact of such measures.
    The unrest appears to have injected a new sense of urgency into Biden’s broad Cuba policy review, which began shortly after he took office in January.    Until now, Cuba had not been treated as a top agenda item while the administration dealt with the economic recovery and coronavirus pandemic at home and challenges such as China, Russia and Iran abroad.
    Cuba, a State Department official told Reuters, is now a “top priority.”
    Analysts say conciliatory moves are unlikely in the near term.    Complicating matters was Biden’s poorer-than-expected showing with voters in south Florida’s anti-communist Cuban-American community, which backed Trump’s tough policies toward Havana and Caracas and helped him win the battleground state.
    Many analysts say Biden may have to tread carefully on Cuba policy ahead of the 2022 congressional elections.
(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick and Daphne Psaledakis, additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Doina Chiacu in Washington and Sarah Marsh and Marc Frank in Havana; Editing by Dan Grebler, Cynthia Osterman and Sonya Hepinstall)

7/23/2021 Russia To Build First LNG-Powered Icebreakers For Arctic Sea Route by Gleb Stolyarov
FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of floating ice taken by a drone launched from Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise ship
in the Arctic Ocean, September 15, 2020. Picture taken September 15, 2020. REUTERS/Natalie Thomas
    ST PETERSBURG (Reuters) – Russia plans to build its first batch of icebreakers that are powered by liquified natural gas, a top official said on Friday, returning to an idea that was put on hold.
    Russia has the world’s only fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers.    It is building up that fleet, hoping to develop the Northern Sea Route across its northern flank into an international shipping lane as climate change melts the ice.
    “We are now returning to this topic (building LNG-powered icebreakers).    I think that by the end of the year we will decide on the possible construction of two to four medium-sized icebreakers,” Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev told reporters.
    Russia’s government has named state nuclear energy firm Rosatom as the Northern Sea Route’s state operator.
    Gas producer Novatek signed an agreement of understanding with Rosatom to develop LNG-powered icebreakers in 2018.    But those plans went quiet.    Novatek has several LNG projects in the Arctic.
    LNG-powered icebreakers cost half the 60 billion roubles ($814 million) needed to build nuclear-powered icebreakers.
    Likhachev’s deputy Kirill Komarov said Rosatom had also ordered another two nuclear-powered icebreakers known by their project name 22220.
    Arktika, Russia’s newest icebreaker that was built last year, was the first of that project series.    Another four are currently in development.
    The Kremlin wants to increase the amount of cargo transported through the NSR to 80 million tonnes from 33 million tonnes last year by shipping hydrocarbons and other resources produced in the Arctic.
($1 = 73.7251 roubles)
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Louise Heavens)

7/23/2021 Croatia Tightens Controls On Adriatic Coast To Safeguard Tourist Season
FILE PHOTO: People are seen at Banje beach in Dubrovnik, Croatia, July 28, 2020. REUTERS/Antonio Bronic
    ZAGREB (Reuters) – Croatia has decided to tighten controls against the spread of COVID-19 along its Adriatic coast in an effort to safeguard its economically vital summer tourist season, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said on Friday.
    “Any public gathering of more than 50 people will be forbidden from next week,” Davor Bozinovic, who is also head of the national civil protection directorate, told a news conference in the capital Zagreb.
    The exception will be gatherings of up to 1,000 people, such as for concerts which would require all participants to show a certificate that they are either vaccinated, tested negative for the virus, or have recovered from the respiratory disease.
    “Similarly, anyone who wants to attend any sports event will have to meet those requirements,” he said.
    Croatia, with its stunning, rugged Dalmatian coast and chains of islands, sweeping beaches, limpid seas and historic Venetian towns including Dubrovnik, is a big draw for travellers from Italy, Germany, Austria and central and eastern Europe.
    Tourism accounts for 20% of Croatia’s gross domestic product.    Despite continued travel obstacles caused by the coronavirus pandemic, officials hope this year’s season, now nearing its peak period, can raise 70% of revenues seen in 2019.
    In a further move to protect the tourist season, Croatia this week introduced obligatory tests for arrivals from Britain, Russia and Cyprus regardless of their vaccination status.    Wearing face masks remains obligatory in indoor public places and in public transport.
    On Friday, Croatian authorities reported 176 new cases of COVID-19, up from 131 a week ago and 87 two weeks ago. (Reporting by Igor Ilic; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

7/23/2021 Bosnia’s Peace Envoy Imposes Jail Terms For Genocide Denial
FILE PHOTO: Valentin Inzko, Bosnia's international peace envoy, speaks during a Reuters interview
in his office in Sarajevo, December 12, 2016. Picture taken December 12. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/
    BELGRADE (Reuters) – Bosnia’s outgoing international peace overseer decreed amendments to its criminal code on Friday to allow jail terms for the denial of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, a frequently expressed view among nationalist Serbs.
    The decree by High Representative Valentin Inzko sets jail terms of up to five years for anyone who “publicly condones, denies, grossly trivialises or tries to justify” the genocide or war crimes committed during Bosnia’s 1992-95 conflict.
    In July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces seized the U.N.-protected enclave of Srebrenica in the country’s east and killed about 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys they took prisoner.
    It was the worst atrocity in Europe since World War Two and was judged an act of genocide by two international courts.
    Inzko, whose 12 years in office end on Aug. 1 when he will be replaced by Germany’s Christian Schmidt, can impose laws and fire officials under the 1995 peace treaty that divided Bosnia into Bosniak-Croat and Serb entities.
    “Genocide in Srebrenica, war crimes and crimes against humanity…must not be forgotten or denied,” his decree read.
    It was hailed by top Bosniak politicians and condemned by Bosnian Serbs.
    Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, a member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, said the decree might lead to the dissolution of the former Yugoslav republic.    He repeatedly denied that genocide had occurred in Srebrenica.
    “This is the nail in Bosnia’s coffin,” he told a news conference.    “The Republika Srpska has no other option but to start the…dissolution,” he said, referring to the semi-autonomous Serb region of Bosnia.
    Sefik Dzaferovic, Bosniak member of Bosnia’s presidency, said Inzko had “fulfilled his obligation to the victims, his conscience, but also to the Dayton peace agreement.”
    The decree also envisages jail terms for the “recognition… (and giving of) mementos, or any privileges” to convicted war criminals.
    Based in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, the Office of the High Representative was established as part of the Dayton accord that ended a war in which 100,000 people died.
    The peace deal left Bosnia split between the Bosniak-Croat Federation and the Serb Republic, linked by a relatively weak, tripartite inter-ethnic presidency.
(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

7/23/2021 Senior U.S. Diplomat Sherman To Lead Arms Control Talks With Russia Next Week
FILE PHOTO: Wendy Sherman arrives for a meeting on Syria at the United Nations European headquarters
in Geneva February 13, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo/File Photo/File Photo/File Photo
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will lead the U.S. delegation at nuclear arms control talks with Russia in Geneva on July 28, the State Department said on Friday.
    During the first top-level meeting last month between the two nuclear powers since President Joe Biden took office, he and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to restart the talks known as the U.S. Russia Strategic Stability Dialogue, aimed at reducing the risk of nuclear war.
    Sherman will travel to Geneva for the first meeting of the resumed talks on Wednesday on the back of meetings in China on Sunday and Monday and after a stop in Oman.
    She will be joined by Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie Jenkins, whose nomination for that role was finally confirmed by the U.S. Senate this week.
    “This meeting follows up on a commitment made between President Biden and Russian President Putin to have a deliberate and robust dialogue between our two nations that will seek to lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures,” the State Department said in a statement.
(Reporting by Mohammad Zargham and Simon Lewis; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Giles Elgood)

7/23/2021 Flotilla Heads To Havana In Support Of Cuban Freedom by OAN Newsroom
Boats with Cuban and U.S. flags part of a Cuban support flotilla depart from Bayside
in downtown Miami for Cuba, on July 23, 2021. (EVA MARIE UZCATEGUI/AFP via Getty Images)
    Half a dozen boats set sail from the U.S. to Cuba early Friday morning as the fight against communism on the island continues.    Private boat owners congregated at Miami Bayside Marina in preparation to sail through the Florida Straits to Havana, Cuba.
    The U.S. Coast Guard has stressed they can’t cross into Cuban waters without facing hefty fines and possible prison time.    Meanwhile, the flotilla organizer said their destination is 15 nautical miles from Havana, where they will launch fireworks from afar to be seen by those fighting in Cuba.
Boaters arrive to take part in a Cuban support flotilla departing from Bayside in
downtown Miami for Cuba, on July 23, 2021. (EVA MARIE UZCATEGUI/AFP via Getty Images)
    “The objective is to show support…to be in international waters and have the Cuban community be able to see us and be able to see that we’re there for them, that we’re supporting them and that we’re backing them up,” said Osdany Veloz, flotilla organizer.
    Another boat owner told the Orlando Sentinel they want to “draw attention to the U.S. government” and push for their help.
    The trek through international waters comes after Joe Biden announced sanctions on some members of the Cuban regime, which is a move Cuban-Americans nationwide have said is not enough.

7/24/2021 Russia Excludes Senior Communist Candidate From Parliamentary Vote
FILE PHOTO: Presidential candidate Pavel Grudinin, nominated by the Russian Communist Party, attends a news conference after the end of
the voting in the presidential election, at the party's headquarters in Moscow, Russia March 18, 2018. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian electoral authorities on Saturday barred a well-known Communist Party candidate from running in September’s parliamentary election, the latest high-profile opposition figure to be disqualified from the vote.
    Pavel Grudinin, who won 12% of votes when he challenged Vladimir Putin in a 2018 presidential election, was excluded from a candidate list because the Prosecutor’s Office had found he held shares in a foreign company, news agencies reported.
    Grudinin, a wealthy farm boss, denied having any foreign assets and linked his disqualification by the central election commission to the potential for opposition parties to post a strong result in September, Interfax reported.
    A recent opinion poll showed the Communists and other opposition parties could pose a threat to the dominance of Putin’s United Russia party in the State Duma, Russia’s lower house, in the upcoming election.
    “The (Communist) Party is an opposition party,” Grudinin was quoted as saying by Interfax.    “Someone is afraid of the big effect that a union of left-wing forces could have.”
    The party’s leader, Gennady Zyuganov, vowed to appeal the decision at the Supreme Court, the TASS agency reported.
    A poll by the independent Levada Centre in March found that while 27% of Russians would vote for United Russia, 10% would back the Communists and a further 12% planned to support the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR).
    Saturday’s decision follows the disqualification of several opposition figures, mainly affiliated with jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
    A court ruling this month outlawed groups linked to Navalny as “extremist,” and a new law prevents heads or members of such groups from running for the lower house of parliament or taking part in other elections for periods of three to five years.
(Writing by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Helen Popper)

7/24/2021 Thousands Join Budapest Pride March Against Anti-LGBTQ Law by Gergely Szakacs
FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators protest against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the
latest anti-LGBTQ law in Budapest, Hungary, June 14, 2021. REUTERS/Marton Monus
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Thousands of Hungarians joined the annual Budapest Pride march on Saturday to support LGBTQ people and protest against a law that limits teaching about homosexuality and transgender issues in schools.
    Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in power since 2010, has introduced social policies that he says aim to safeguard traditional Christian values from Western liberalism, stoking tensions with the European Union.
    The European Commission has launched legal action against Orban’s government over the new law, which came into force this month, saying it is discriminatory and contravenes European values of tolerance and individual freedom.
    Demonstrators at the march through the streets of central Budapest said the legislation was dividing the former Soviet-bloc nation and now a member of the European Union.
    “The law is an outrage. We live in the 21st century, when things like that should not be happening.    We are no longer in communist times, this is the EU and everyone should be able to live freely,” Istvan, 27, said at the march with his boyfriend.
    Orban’s Fidesz-Christian Democrat government, which faces a tough election next year, says LGBTQ rights and other such social issues are matters for national governments to decide.    It says the law aims to protect children not target homosexuals.
    Organisers said in a statement the rally would show opposition to “power-hungry politicians” and reject intimidation of LGBTQ people.
    “Instead of protecting minorities, the Fidesz-Christian Democrat government is using laws to make members of the LGBTQ community outcasts in their own country,” they said.
    Orban owes some of his electoral success to a tough line on immigration.    As that issue has receded from the political agenda, his focus has shifted to gender and sexuality issues.
    Boglarka Balazs, a 25-year-old economist who joined the rally, said the legislation was a campaign tool.    “This is nothing more than a diversion that tries to tear the country apart.    It is a provocation because of the elections,” she said.
    A survey last month by the Ipsos polling organisation found that 46% of Hungarians supported same-sex marriage.
    More than 40 embassies and foreign cultural institutions in Hungary issued a statement backing the Budapest Pride Festival.
    “We encourage steps in every country to ensure the equality and dignity of all human beings irrespective of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” wrote the signatories, including the U.S., British and German embassies.
    Balint Berta, 29, who works at a clothing retailer, said the legislation was creating artificial tensions in society.    “The more politics incites this, society will turn around and people will turn against one another after a while,” he said.
(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Gareth Jones and Edmund Blair)

7/24/2021 CIA To Review Cases Of ‘Havana Syndrome’ by OAN Newsroom
Vintage U.S. car passing in front of the U.S. Embassy in Havana. (YAMIL LAGE/AFP via Getty Images)
    The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) inspector general is set to examine cases of the Havana Syndrome.    According to recent reports, the agency’s watchdog will review how the CIA handled agents who contracted the mysterious illness.
    Additionally, Director William Burns said he is tripling the size of the medical team in the investigation.    This comes as cases of the Havana Syndrome have ballooned in recent months.
    “The anomalous health incidents afflicting our personnel around the world are of grave concern,” said a committee official.    “There is no higher priority than ensuring the health and safety of those individuals who serve our nation.”
    Dozens of cases have also been reported in Vienna, Austria, a known hotspot for spies, as well as several in Northern Africa.    Knowledge of the illness stemmed from an incident in Havana, Cuba in 2016 where a number of diplomats became ill, sparking concerns the victims had been attacked by radio wave weapons.
    Some officials theorized if a foreign adversary is behind Havana Syndrome, they aren’t necessarily looking to harass U.S. personnel, but rather to collect information from cell phones.

7/25/2021 Putin: Russian Navy Capable Of Carrying Out Unpreventable Strike by OAN Newsroom
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, second right,
arrive to attend the Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg on July 25, 2021. (Photo by ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
    Russia President Vladimir Putin said the countries navy was able to launch an ‘unpreventable strike’ if needed. Speaking on Sunday at a Navy Day parade in Saint Petersburg, Putin said the navy was capable of detecting any enemy regardless if they were in water or in the air.
    This comes after Russia claimed it chased away a British warship when it approached the Crimean Peninsula in June.    Russia accused the ship of illegally entering its territorial waters and insisted the U.S. played a part in the provocation.
    “The Russian Navy has today everything needed for the guaranteed defense of the motherland and our national interests,” he announced. “We are capable of detecting any underwater, above-water, airborne enemy and if required, carry out an unpreventable strike against it.”
    In June, Putin said the incident was a test of Russia’s in protecting its territorial integrity.
    Russia annexed the Crimea from Ukraine in 2013. However, most of the world still recognizes the area as part of Ukraine.

7/25/2021 Rumbling Meteor Lights Up Norway; Part Of It May Have Landed Near Oslo by Nora Buli
A meteor lights up the sky over Holmestrand, Norway July 25, 2021, in this picture
obtained from a social media video. HOLMESTRAND UTVIKLING AS via REUTERS
    OSLO (Reuters) - An “unusually large meteor” briefly lit up southern Norway on Sunday, creating a spectacular sound and light display as it rumbled across the sky, and a bit of it may have hit Earth, possibly not far from the capital, Oslo, experts said.
    There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
    Reports of sightings started arriving around 1 a.m. with the phenomena being seen as far north as Trondheim.
    A web camera in Holmestrand, south of Oslo, captured a fireball falling from the sky and erupting into a bright flash lighting up a marina.
    The Norwegian Meteor network was analysing video footage and other data on Sunday to try to pinpoint the meteor’s origin and destination.
    Preliminary data suggested a meteorite may have hit Earth in a large wooded area, called Finnemarka, just 60 km (40 miles) west of the capital, Oslo, the network said.
    “This was crazy,” the network’s Morten Bilet, who saw and heard the meteor, told Reuters.
    By Sunday afternoon no debris had been found and given the “demanding” location, one could take “some 10 years” searching for possible meteorites, Bilet said.
    The meteor travelled at 15-20 km per second and lit up the night sky for about five to six seconds, Bilet said.    The summer sky was dark, with the days starting to get shorter from the end of June.
    Some eyewitnesses also said they felt a stronger wind blow with the event also causing a pressure wave, Bilet said.
    “What we had last night was a large rock travelling likely from between Mars and Jupiter, which is our asteroid belt.    And when that whizzes in, it creates a rumble, light and great excitement among us (experts) and maybe some fear among others,” Bilet said.
    There were no reports of damage or people being particularly frightened, Bilet said, adding that for those nearest it was likely more of a “spooky” event.
    A meteor that exploded over the central Russia near the city of Chelyabinsk in 2013 rained fireballs over a vast area and caused a shock wave that smashed windows, damaged buildings and injured 1,200 people.
(Reporting by Nora BuliEditing by Nick Macfie and Frances Kerry)

7/26/2021 Russia Plans Free Trade Zone On Disputed Islands Near Japan – Report
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin visits the Yasny fish processing complex on the southern
Kuril island of Iturup, Russia July 26, 2021. Sputnik/Dmitry Astakhov/Pool via REUTERS
    TOKYO (Reuters) -Russia plans to set up a special economic zone with no customs and a reduced set of taxes on a disputed chain of islands near Japan, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin was quoted as saying on Monday by Russia’s RIA and Interfax news agencies.
    A territorial row over the islands, which the Soviets seized at the end of World War Two, has prevented the two countries from signing a formal peace treaty.    Japan calls the islands the Northern Territories and Russia calls them the Kurils.
    Mishustin visited the islands on Monday, prompting a top Tokyo government spokesman to say Japan would protest to Russia over the visit.
    Mishustin said he would discuss an “unprecedented” set of economic measures aimed at the islands’ development with President Vladimir Putin.
    “This would be interesting… for Japan as well which could create jobs and work with you if it is interested,” he said, addressing local businessmen, according to a RIA report.
(Reporting by Takashi Umekawa;Additional reporting by Maxim Rodionov in Moscow;Editing by Christopher Cushing and Joe Bavier)

7/26/2021 Putin Says Russian Navy Can Carry Out ‘Unpreventable Strike’ If Needed
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu attend the Navy Day parade
in Saint Petersburg, Russia July 25, 2021. Sputnik/Aleksey Nikolskyi/Kremlin via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian navy can detect any enemy and launch an “unpreventable strike” if needed, President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday, weeks after a UK warship angered Moscow by passing the Crimea peninsula.
    “We are capable of detecting any underwater, above-water, airborne enemy and, if required, carry out an unpreventable strike against it,” Putin said speaking at a navy day parade in St Petersburg.
    Putin’s words follow an incident in the Black Sea in June when Russia said it had fired warning shots and dropped bombs in the path of a British warship to chase it out of Crimea waters.
    Britain rejected Russia’s account of the incident, saying it believed any shots fired were a pre-announced Russian “gunnery exercise,” and that no bombs had been dropped.
    Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 but Britain and most of the world recognise the Black Sea peninsula as part of Ukraine, not Russia.
    Putin said last month Russia could have sunk the British warship HMS Defender, that it accused of illegally entering its territorial waters, without starting World War Three and said the United States played a role in the “provocation.”
(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Katya Golubkova and Nick Macfie)

7/26/2021 Kremlin Critic Alexei Navalny’s Website Blocked By Regulator Before Election by Andrew Osborn and Vladimir Soldatkin
FILE PHOTO: Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny takes part in a rally to mark the 5th anniversary
of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov's murder and to protest against proposed amendments
to the country's constitution, in Moscow, Russia February 29, 2020. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian authorities blocked access to jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s website on Monday in the run-up to a parliamentary election, their latest attempt to sideline his allies cast by the Kremlin as U.S.-backed trouble-makers.
    The move, the latest chapter in a long-running crackdown on President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent domestic opponent, also blocked the websites inside Russia of 48 other individuals and organisations affiliated with Navalny.
    Russian Internet regulator Roskomnadzor said in a statement to Reuters it had acted to block navalny.com — one of the Navalny’s movement’s main websites — and the others at the request of the prosecutor general.
    A Russian court last month ruled that organisations linked to Navalny were “extremist” based on allegations from Moscow’s top prosecutor who said they were trying to foment a revolution by seeking to destabilise the socio-political situation inside Russia, a charge they denied.
    The ruling in effect outlawed them and prevented Navalny’s allies from taking part in September’s election to the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.
    Roskomnadzor said the sites it had blocked had been helping the movements covered by the court ban to distribute propaganda and continue illegal activities.
    Condemning the move, Navalny’s team said on social media it expected the authorities would soon target its so-called smart voting website, which advises peoples how to vote tactically in September to try to unseat candidates from the ruling United Russia party.
    It also said its resources on YouTube, where it posts investigations into alleged corruption among Russia’s ruling elite, were under pressure.
‘PURGE’ FROM THE INTERNET
    Google did not immediately respond when asked if Roskomnadzor had asked it to remove Navalny-related material and how it might deal with such a request.    Google Inc.’s Alphabet owns YouTube.
    Maria Pevchikh, who has worked on some of Navalny’s most high-profile investigations, said that the move by the Russian authorities had targeted the sites of individual Navalny allies, those of now defunct campaign headquarters, as well as sites designed to expose corruption in sectors like road building.
    “They have blocked all sites linked to us,” Pevchikh wrote on Twitter.    “They have simply decided to purge us from the Russian Internet.”
    Navalny allies highlighted which of their websites still functioned and urged people to download their smart voting application.
    Navalny, Putin’s most prominent domestic critic, is serving a 2-1/2 year jail sentence for parole violations that he says were trumped up.    His jailing has increased strains in Russia’s relations with the West, which has called for him to be freed.
    The United States and Britain have condemned the measures against Navalny’s allies as an unfounded blow to the Russian political opposition.
(Additional reporting by Maxim Rodionov and Alexander Marrow, Writing by Olzhas Auyezov/Andrew Osborn; Editing by Jon Boyle, Peter Graff and Timothy Heritage)

7/26/2021 Russia Rejects ‘Hostile’ Japanese Protest Over Island Visit
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin visits the Yasny fish processing complex on the southern
Kuril island of Iturup, Russia July 26, 2021. Sputnik/Dmitry Astakhov/Pool via REUTERS
    MOSCOW/TOKYO (Reuters) -Russia rejected what it called a hostile Japanese diplomatic protest following a visit by the Russian prime minister to a disputed island chain on Monday, saying he could go wherever on Russian territory he wanted.
    A top Japanese government spokesman said earlier on Monday that Tokyo was lodging an official diplomatic protest over the visit by Mikhail Mishustin to one of four Russian-held islands to which Japan lays claim.
    Russian news agencies said Japan had summoned the Russian ambassador over the matter.     Japan calls the islands the Northern Territories.    Russia calls them the Kuril Islands.
    The territorial dispute over the islands dates to when the then-Soviet Union seized them at the end of World War Two, and has prevented the two countries signing a formal peace treaty.
    Mishustin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying during the visit that Moscow planned to set up a special economic zone with no customs duties and a reduced set of taxes on the island chain.
    Russia’s foreign ministry summoned the Japanese ambassador in Moscow to protest over Tokyo’s behaviour.
    “Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov conveyed a strong protest to the Japanese side in connection with hostile steps taken by official Tokyo in recent days,” the ministry said in a statement.
    The Japanese embassy said in a statement that ambassador Toyohisa Kozuki, in his own expression of protest, described Mishustin’s trip as “going against our country’s consistent position on the Northern Territories.”
    The Japanese side “strongly demanded that the Russian side take constructive actions to advance peace treaty negotiations,” the statement said.
    The Kremlin said it valued and wanted to improve relations with Tokyo but saw nothing wrong with Mishustin’s trip.
    “As for the prime minister’s trip to Iturup island, he visits those Russian provinces that he sees fit,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters.
    Peskov said Moscow would continue to work with Tokyo towards agreeing a peace treaty.
    Mishustin said he would discuss with Putin what he called an “unprecedented” set of economic measures aimed at developing the islands.    “This would be interesting…for Japan as well, which could create jobs and work with you if it is interested,” he was quoted by Russia’s RIA news agency as telling local businessmen.
(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov, Dmitry Antonov and Andrew Osborn in Moscow and by Takashi Umekawa in Tokyo; Editing by Joe Bavier, Mark Heinrich and Timothy Heritage)

7/27/2021 UNESCO Names Romanian Ancient Gold Mine Settlement A World Heritage Site
FILE PHOTO: A general view of an old quarry is seen near Rosia Montana, central Romania, March 24, 2014. REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel
    BUCHAREST (Reuters) – UNESCO added the ancient Roman gold mining area of Rosia Montana in western Romania to its list of world heritage sites on Tuesday, throwing the town a lifeline and further complicating a long-stalled mine project.
    Canada’s Gabriel Resources, which had planned to build Europe’s largest open cast gold mine in Rosia Montana, is currently seeking $4.4 billion in damages from Romania for losses related to its stalled project at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.
    The government, which has a 20% stake in the project, officially withdrew its support for the mine in 2014 after months of country-wide street protests against it.    The company gained concession rights to the area in 1999.
    “With joint efforts from officials and specialists Rosia Montana must become a role model of showcasing the patrimony through sustainable development,” Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday, saluting UNESCO’s decision.
    The town, which has few employment options and poor infrastructure, could see an inflow of funds after UNESCO’s decision, officials said.
    Not everyone was pleased. Rosia Montana’s mayor Eugen Furdui, a long-time supporter of the mining project, said the decision only brought additional conservation costs.
    The European Union state first put the ancient Roman mine tunnels and vestiges up for inclusion on the world heritage list in 2016.
    Gabriel Resources did not comment on Tuesday’s decision.
    Rosia Montana’s remaining reserves – an estimated 314 tonnes of gold and 1,500 tonnes of silver – put it at the core of a decades-long battle between Gabriel Resources and a handful of local residents and civic and environmental groups which oppose the potential damages posed by the company’s plans.
    The project envisioned carving open four quarries over the mine’s lifespan, which would destroy four mountain tops and wipe out three outlying villages of 16 that make up Rosia Montana municipality.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

7/27/2021 Ukrainian President Fires Head Of The Armed Forces, Citing Disputes
    KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has dismissed the head of the armed forces, Ruslan Khomchak, his spokesman said at a briefing on Tuesday, citing tensions between the armed forces and the defence ministry.
    Khomchak will be moved to a post on the national security and defence council. He will be replaced by Valery Zaluzhny, who heads the military’s northern command.    Ukrainian troops have fought Russian-backed separatists in a conflict that Kyiv says has killed 14,000 people since 2014.
    “Commander-in-Chief Ruslan Khomchak is leaving his post, this is the president’s decision,” Zelenskiy’s spokesman Sergii Nykyforov told a briefing.
    “The president wants to see synergy between the ministry of defence and the armed forces of Ukraine, but unfortunately we do not see synergy, but on the contrary we see conflicts.”
    The Ukrainian media in recent months have reported disputes between the defence ministry and Khomchak. Khomchak in March denied any rift: telling the news outlet gordon.ua:
    “Here is a working relationship where everyone has his own opinion, they can argue, they can discuss, they can come to something.”
    Ukraine has urged its Western backers to speed up its entry into the NATO military alliance as a deterrent against Russia, though NATO members say Kyiv must reform its armed forces and tackle corruption to be able to apply.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; writing by Matthias Williams; editing by Barbara Lewis)

7/27/2021 Hungarians Protest Against Alleged Illegal Surveillance With Pegasus Spyware
Participants walk in front of a poster showing Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban reading: "Do you want me to steal
our privacy? We say no to your observation!" during a protest against the Hungarian government for using Pegasus spyware
to monitor journalists, opposition leaders and activists in Budapest, Hungary, July 26, 2021. REUTERS/Marton Monus
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) – About 1,000 Hungarians protested on Monday over allegations that the government used Israeli-made Pegasus spyware for illegal surveillance of public figures in Hungary, drawing comparisons with the country’s communist past.
    Protesters gathered at the House of Terror Museum in the capital, Budapest, which commemorates victims of Nazism and Communism, and marched to the headquarters of the governing Fidesz party.br>     Criticising Prime Minister Viktor Orban, some chanted: “Victator.”
    “This (allegations of illegal surveillance) was the last straw for me,” said one protester, Marcell Csupor.    “This reminds me of communist systems, and shows that the country is breaking away from the West and drifting towards the East.”
    The government, which is at odds with many other European Union member states over rule-of-law and democracy issues, has not commented on the allegations beyond saying Hungary’s intelligence-gathering is conducted lawfully.
    A report by a group of 17 international media organisations and Amnesty International this month said the Pegasus spyware, made and licensed by Israeli company NSO, was used in hacking and attempts to hack smartphones belonging to journalists, human rights activists and government officials in several countries.
    Direkt36, the Hungarian partner in the group of media outlets, said those targeted for surveillance included journalists, businessmen, lawyers and people critical of the Hungarian government.
    Hungarian prosecutors have launched an investigation into multiple complaints received since the reports.
    NSO has said its product was intended only for use by vetted government intelligence and law enforcement agencies to fight terrorism and crime.
    In Hungary, which was ruled by communists for four decades after World War Two, the minister of justice approves surveillance in matters of national security.
    Miklos Hajnal, a member of the opposition Momentum party which organised the protest, called the Pegasus case the biggest scandal in Hungary since the transition to democracy in 1990.
    “This is not acceptable in a country where people know how the socialist regime used to work,” he said.    “There is a reason for the existence of security services, but it cannot simply be to cling to power.” (Reporting by Anita Komuves, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
[IT LOOKS LIKE THE EUROPEAN UNION IS GETTING DESPERATE BY PUSHING THE ANTI-CHRISTIAN GLOBALIST SOCIALIST PROTESTORS TO USE THE ABOVE SUBJECT TO HARASS ORBAN WITH AN OUTDATED PLAYBOOK.].

7/27/2021 Thankful For Vaccines, Taiwan Praises Czech Republic As Democracy Partner
FILE PHOTO: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen holds her face mask while at The Third Wednesday Club,
a high profile private industry trade body in Taipei, Taiwan, August 19, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang
(Corrects grammar in headline)
    TAIPEI (Reuters) – The Czech Republic is donating 30,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan, the island’s president said on Tuesday, praising the central European country for taking a step that could irritate China.
    “This manifests again that Taiwan and Czech are not only firm partners on the path of freedom and democracy, but also that a friend in need is a good friend indeed,” Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said in a statement announcing the vaccine donation.
    China, which claims Taiwan as its sovereign territory, had last year condemned the head of the Czech Senate for making an official trip to the democratic island. Czech President Milos Zeman subsequently tried to defuse the row, calling the speaker’s trip a “boyish provocation.”
    Since a rare spike in domestic cases began in Taiwan in May, the government has received almost six million vaccine doses gifted by Japan and the United States, enabling it to speed up an inoculation programme that it said had been hampered initially by China, though Beijing denies playing any negative role.
    The Czech Republic’s decision to donate vaccines to Taiwan follows similar actions by Lithuania and Slovakia.
    Since the pandemic began, Taiwan has donated millions of face masks around the world, including to the Czech Republic.
    Like most governments, the Czech Republic has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan although Taiwan is a large investor in the country.
(Reporting By Yimou Lee; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

7/27/2021 Ukraine Holds Military Drills With US, Poland, Lithuania
Servicemen from Poland take part in a large military exercise entitled "Three Swords-2021"
involving more than 1,200 servicemen and more than 200 combat vehicles from Ukraine, U.S., Poland and Lithuania
at Yavoriv training ground in Lviv region, Ukraine July 27, 2021. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
    LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) – Helicopters provided air support, armoured personnel carriers rolled through fields, and soldiers fired at enemy targets on Tuesday as part of a large military exercise hosted by Ukraine and also involving the United States, Poland and Lithuania.
    The drills, called Three Swords-2021, will involve more than 1,200 servicemen and more than 200 combat vehicles and will last from July 17 to 30 at Yavoriv training ground in Lviv region.
    “You have seen several tactical exercises,” said Yevhen Moysyuk, commander of the Ukrainian air assault forces.    “They show a high level of preparedness and the readiness of our partners to jointly repel aggression,” he told a briefing.
    The drills come amid increased tensions between NATO and Moscow, which said in June it had fired warning shots and dropped bombs in the path of a British warship to chase it out of Black Sea waters off the coast of Crimea.
    Relations between Kyiv and Moscow plummeted after Russia seized Crimea and over Russia’s support for separatist forces in the conflict in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region.
    Ukraine and the United States in June held a separate military exercise, Sea Breeze, involving more than 30 countries in the Black Sea and southern Ukraine, despite Russian calls for the drills to be cancelled.
(Reporting by Gleb Garanich; editing by Matthias Williams and Gareth Jones)

7/27/2021 Japan Protests Russia’s Drills In Kuril Islands by OAN Newsroom
Kunashiri island, part of an archipelago under Russian control, visible from the Rausu Kunashiri Observatory
Deck in Rausu, Hokkaido prefecture. (Photo credit should read KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images)
    Japan has been protesting Russia’s military drills in a disputed region amid alleged talks to resolve that dispute.    On Tuesday, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said Russia ramped up its military presence in the Kuril Islands, which Tokyo considered unacceptable.
    Reports mentioned Russian forces would conduct exercises in the region until late August.    Earlier this week, the Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin traveled to the Kuril Islands and proposed a plan to establish a free economic zone with Japan in that area.
    “Just the other day we discussed with the President Vladimir Putin the set of measures that can be brought here to the Kuril Islands so that investment and economic activities can be more effective,” he explained.    “This set of measures are unprecedented.”
    Russian and Japanese ambassadors were recently summoned in Tokyo and Mosco respectively amid what appeared to be a flare up in mutual tensions.    However, analysts suggested the two countries were close to resolving their differences.

7/28/2021 Biden Claims ‘Cyber Attacks’ To Cause War With Russia by OAN Newsroom
Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe at Lubber Run
Park, Arlington, Virginia on July 23, 2021. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
    Joe Biden appeared to suggest the U.S. could go to war with Russia just days after he accused the nation of alleged cyber-attacks. He told reporters Tuesday that it’s more likely the U.S. will get involved in a major military conflict soon.
    “When we end up in a war, a real shooting war with a major power, it’s going to be as a consequence of a cyber breach,” stated the Democrat.
    Biden went on to insult Russia’s economy while falsely asserting that its economy was the eight smallest in the world.
    “When I was with Mr. (Vladimir) Putin, who has a real problem, he’s he sitting on top of an economy that has nuclear weapons and oil wells and nothing else,” he stated.    “Nothing else.    The economy is, what, the eighth smallest in the world?”
    Russian officials have yet to react to Biden’s remarks.
[I WOULD SAY THE RUSSIANS ARE LAUGHING AT WHAT JOE SAYS JUST AS WE IN THE U.S. ARE AS AMUSED AT ANYTHING THAT HE IS DOING AND AT LEAST WITH TRUMP WE KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING AND NOT WHAT THE FAKE NEWS WAS REPORTING.]

7/28/2021 Biden ‘Honored’ To Meet Belarusian Opposition Leader Tsikhanouskaya
FILE PHOTO: Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya attends a meeting with German Federal
Government's Commissioner for Culture and the Media Monika Gruetters (not pictured) during 'Berlinale Summer
Special' film festival in Berlin, Germany June 11, 2021. Christoph Soeder/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden met with Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Wednesday and expressed support for democracy and human rights in the former Soviet republic.
    “I was honored to meet with @Tsihanouskaya at the White House this morning.    The United States stands with the people of Belarus in their quest for democracy and universal human rights,” Biden wrote in a Twitter post.
    Tsikhanouskaya has pressed for stronger action from the United States against President Alexander Lukashenko’s government during a visit to the country.    She met earlier with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the top U.S. diplomat, and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
    Last week, she asked U.S. officials to impose sanctions on companies in her country’s potash, oil, wood and steel sectors.
    “Thank you, @POTUS, for a powerful sign of solidarity with millions of fearless Belarusians who are peacefully fighting for their freedom.    Today, Belarus is on the frontline of the battle between democracy and autocracy.    The world stands with us.    Belarus will be a success story,” Tsikhanouskaya wrote in her own Twitter post.
    Tsikhanouskaya was meeting again with Sullivan on Wednesday morning when Biden dropped by briefly, a senior administration official said.    It was an opportunity for the U.S. president to express his support for the people of Belarus in person, the official said.
    Lukashenko has kept a tight grip on Belarus since 1994 and cracked down on peaceful street protests that began over a disputed presidential election last August.
    Tsikhanouskaya, 38, was a candidate in the election instead of her husband Sergei Tsikhanouskiy, a video blogger who has been jailed since May 2020 on charges such as violating public order, which he denies.    Tsikhanouskaya fled to neighboring Lithuania after Lukashenko’s crackdown.
    In June, the United States, the European Union and Britain imposed sweeping sanctions on Belarusian entities and officials, and called on Minsk “to end its repressive practices against its own people.”
    The allies, along with Canada, also told Lukashenko’s administration to cooperate with investigations into the forced landing of a Ryanair jet in Belarus in May to arrest a reporter and his girlfriend on board.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Steve Holland; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Sandra Maler)

7/28/2021 U.S., Russia Hold Nuclear Talks In Geneva After Summit Push by Stephanie Nebehay and Jonathan Landay
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia's President Vladimir Putin meet for the U.S.-Russia
summit at Villa La Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/Pool
    GENEVA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Senior U.S. and Russian officials on Wednesday restarted talks on easing tensions between the world’s largest nuclear weapons powers and agreed to reconvene in September after informal consultations, the State Department said.
    U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov headed their delegations at the meeting at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Geneva.
    TASS news agency cited Ryabkov as saying he was satisfied with the consultations and that the United States showed readiness for a constructive dialogue at the talks.
    Armed with mandates from their leaders, it was the first time in nearly a year that the sides had held so-called strategic stability talks amid frictions over a range of issues, including arms control.
    U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose countries hold 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons, agreed in June to launch a bilateral dialogue on strategic stability to “lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures.”
    After informal consultations aimed at “determining topics for expert working groups” in the next round, the two sides agreed to reconvene in late September, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
    Calling the discussions “professional and substantive,” he said the U.S. side discussed its policy priorities, the current international security environment, “the prospects for new nuclear arms control” and the format for further talks.
    The decision to meet again showed the sides understand the need to resolve arms control disputes, a senior State Department official said, that have seen an end to several Cold War-era treaties, including one that limited intermediate-range missiles.
    “We know we have a responsibility as the largest nuclear weapons states to find a way to improve strategic stability to deal with a deteriorating arms control architecture,” the official briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.
    That includes dealing with threats posed by “new emerging technologies that can upset strategic stability,” the official said.
    Such new threats could include artificial intelligence-controlled weapons, possible cyber attacks on existing nuclear weapons systems and more esoteric arms such as highly maneuverable aerial or submerged hypersonic weapons that can evade defenses.
    Andrey Baklitskiy, senior research fellow at the Center for Advanced American Studies at Moscow State Institute of International Relations, told reporters in Geneva: “We are starting with a new U.S. administration, starting pretty much from scratch."
    “It’s just meet and greet and try to establish some basic understandings,” he said.
    Russia and the United States in February extended for five years the bilateral New START nuclear arms control treaty days before it was set to expire.
    The treaty limits the numbers of strategic nuclear warheads, missiles and bombers that Russia and the United States can deploy.
    The two sides had been expected to discuss which weapons systems and technologies are of greatest concern.
    “For example, Russia still has concerns with U.S. modification of heavy bombers and launchers to launch ballistic missiles, and that’s been there for a while now,” Baklitskiy said.
    The Biden administration has asserted that Russia has engaged unilaterally in low-yield nuclear testing, in violation of a nuclear testing moratorium, he said.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay. Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay in WashingtonEditing by Peter Graff and Alistair Bell)

7/28/2021 Russian Court Asked To Restrict Navalny Ally’s Freedoms For Two Years
Lyubov Sobol, a Russian opposition figure and a close ally of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, speaks with
journalists after a court hearing in Moscow, Russia April 15, 2021. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian state prosecutors asked a court on Wednesday to find Lyubov Sobol, a close ally of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, guilty of breaching COVID-19 safety regulations and to impose a set of restrictions on her for two years, her lawyer said.
    Prosecutors told the court to order Sobol to remain at home from 2200 to 0600 for the next two years, to ban her from attending mass events or political meetings and to have her check in with the police four times a month, her lawyer Vladimir Voronin said on Twitter.
    Sobol, who says the charge against her is politically-motivated nonsense, was charged with breaching COVID-19 safety regulations at an unsanctioned street protest in support of Navalny earlier this year.
    She was initially placed her under house arrest. Several close Navalny allies, including his brother, are being tried for the same offence.
    Navalny himself is serving 2-1/2 years in jail for parole violations in an embezzlement case he says was trumped up.
    Navalny’s allies accuse the authorities of using the law to crush dissenting voices ahead of September parliamentary elections.
(Reporting by Anton Zverev; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Andrew Osborn)

7/28/2021 Georgia, U.S. Troops Hold Joint NATO Drills In Wet Conditions Near Tbilisi
U.S. paratroopers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade take part in the multinational military exercise
"Agile Spirit 2021" at Vaziani training area, in Georgia July 28, 2021. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze
    TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgian and U.S. troops practised treating wounded soldiers in heavy rain on Wednesday as joint military drills between Georgia and NATO members were held at training areas close to the capital Tbilisi.
    The exercises, called Agile Spirit, will involve around 2,500 personnel from 15 allied and partner forces, the United States has said.
    The drills come amid increased tensions between NATO and Russia, which borders Georgia and said in June it had fired warning shots and dropped bombs in the path of a British warship to chase it out of Black Sea waters off the coast of Crimea.
    Ukraine is also holding military drills in the Lviv region until July 30.    Relations between Kyiv and Moscow plummeted after Russia seized Crimea and over Russia’s support for separatist forces in the conflict in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region.
    Russia and Georgia fought a short war in 2008 and around one-fifth of Georgia’s territory remains garrisoned by Russian troops.
    Video footage on Wednesday showed soldiers engaging in live-fire training exercises in wet and muddy conditions and U.S. and Georgian troops working together on medical treatment exercises.
    The U.S. Army Europe and Africa said last month that the cooperatively-led, joint multinational exercise would run from July 26 to Aug 6.
    The United States named Georgia, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Italy, and Azerbaijan as the participating countries.
(Reporting by David Chkhikvishvili in Tbilisi; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

7/29/2021 Armenia Wants Russian Army Outposts On Azerbaijan Border Amid Tensions
FILE PHOTO: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is pictured during an interview
with Reuters in Yerevan, Armenia October 13, 2020. Hayk Baghdasaryan/Photolure via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan proposed on Thursday that Russian border outposts be stationed along the length of Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan after a rise in tensions between Yerevan and Baku.
    Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other earlier on Thursday of flouting a Russian-backed ceasefire that both sides had accepted the previous day to halt deadly clashes over their joint border, which Yerevan wants demarcated.
    “Given the current situation, I think it makes sense to consider the question of stationing outposts of Russian border guards along the entire length of the Armenian-Azeri border,” Pashinyan said during a government meeting.
    He said Yerevan was preparing to discuss the proposal with Moscow and that the move would allow work to be carried out on the demarcation and delimitation of the border without the risk of military clashes.
    The Kremlin said it was in close contact with both Armenia and Azerbaijan, but declined comment on Pashinyan’s proposal.
    Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, two former Soviet republics, are watched closely abroad for any threat to Azeri gas and oil pipelines and the risk of regional powers Turkey and Russia being dragged into any conflict.
    Armenia’s defence ministry said Azeri troops had opened fire on Armenian positions at the Gegharkunik section of the border early on Thursday, prompting Armenia to return fire.    It later said the situation was calm.
    Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said Armenian forces had fired with machine guns and grenade launchers towards a village in the Kelbajar region, and had thrown hand grenades.    It said its forces returned fire.
    The ceasefire was called on Wednesday after one of the deadliest border incidents since last year’s six-week war between ethnic Armenian forces and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region and surrounding areas.
    Armenia said three of its soldiers were killed and four wounded. Azerbaijan said two of its soldiers were wounded.
    In fighting from last September to November, Azeri troops drove ethnic Armenian forces out of swathes of territory they had controlled since the 1990s in and around Nagorno-Karabakh before Russia brokered a ceasefire.
    A border dispute has since flared up, with Armenia and Azerbaijan accusing each other of incursions into each others’ territory, highlighting the fragility of the ceasefire.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth; additional reporting by Dmitry Antonov; editing by Andrew Osborn and Timothy Heritage)

7/29/2021 Russia Touts Britain, France For Wider Nuclear Talks
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman (L) and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov pose in front of their
national flags before a meeting at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Geneva, Switzerland July 28, 2021. U.S. Mission Geneva/Handout via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Thursday that it wanted Britain and France to be included in wider nuclear arms control talks with the United States, while it said that Washington wanted China to be included.
    Senior U.S. and Russian officials met in Geneva on Wednesday to restart talks to ease tensions between the world’s largest nuclear weapons powers with ties at post-Cold War lows.
    Russia’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, said it was inevitable the powers would eventually have to discuss broadening the arms control talks to include more powers and that Moscow saw Britain and France as priorities in that regard.
    “This question has taken on particular relevance in light of London’s recent decision to increase the maximum level of nuclear warheads by 40% – to 260 units,” Antonov said in comments published by the foreign ministry on Thursday.
    In separate comments, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the United States wanted China to be included in wider talks on nuclear arms control, the Interfax news agency reported.
(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

7/29/2021 Exclusive-Investigative Media Outlet Fleeing Russia To Escape Crackdown, Editor Says by Maria Tsvetkova
Roman Badanin, chief editor of investigative news outlet "Proekt", speaks during an interview
with Reuters in New York, U.S., July 27, 2021. Picture taken July 27, 2021. REUTERS/Maria Tsvetkova
    NEW YORK (Reuters) – Roman Badanin, chief editor of investigative news outlet Proekt, has left Russia with no plans to return and is evacuating his staff to avoid possible prosecution after Proekt was outlawed in a media crackdown, he told Reuters.
    Proekt has published a series of deeply researched and unflattering investigations into Russia’s ruling elite.    Russian authorities declared it an “undesirable” organisation on national security grounds on July 15, effectively banning it.
    The move was part of a widening crackdown ahead of September’s parliamentary election that has targeted media regarded by authorities as hostile and foreign-backed.
    Badanin, in an interview in New York, said he had no plans to return to Russia soon since he could face criminal prosecution. Under a 2015 law, members of “undesirable” groups can be fined or jailed for up to six years for ignoring the ban.
    The Kremlin denies media are targeted for political reasons and says any action taken against outlets or their staff result from specific circumstances and are motivated by the need to uphold the law.
    Badanin said he did not know where he would settle and that he was only in New York temporarily. He was on holiday with his wife and children abroad when Proekt was labelled “undesirable” and he decided on the spot not to return to Russia.
    He said staff at Proekt were also exposed due to a criminal investigation into alleged slander against the outlet as well as a push by authorities to label some journalists, including several that work at Proekt, as “foreign agents.”
    The term carries negative, Soviet-era connotations and subjects those designated to extra government scrutiny and labelling requirements.    Police last month raided the homes of Badanin, his deputy Mikhail Rubin and one of Proekt’s reporters in the slander case.    Rubin was briefly detained.
    “We are trying to evacuate staff…to one of the nearby countries,” Badanin said.
    Rubin is also in New York and has no plans to return to Moscow, Badanin said.    Both have been labelled “foreign agents.”
    Badanin said Proekt would continue to function in some form, although details of how that would work in practice remain unclear.    “The main difference is that a large part of the team will be out of Russia in order to avoid the possibility of any legal and extra-legal action against them,” he said.
Several other non-state outlets have complained of mounting government pressure though none have been labelled “undesirable”. (Additional reporting by Anton Zverev; Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Mark Heinrich)

7/30/2021 International Space Station Thrown Out Of Control By Misfire Of Russian Module - NASA by Steve Gorman and Polina Ivanova
The Nauka (Science) Multipurpose Laboratory Module is seen during its docking to the International
Space Station (ISS) on July 29, 2021 in this still image taken from video. Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS
    (Reuters) - The International Space Station (ISS) was thrown briefly out of control on Thursday when jet thrusters of a newly arrived Russian research module inadvertently fired a few hours after it was docked to the orbiting outpost, NASA officials said.
    The seven crew members aboard – two Russian cosmonauts, three NASA astronauts, a Japanese astronaut and a European space agency astronaut from France – were never in any immediate danger, according to NASA and Russian state-owned news agency RIA.
    But the malfunction prompted NASA to postpone until at least Aug. 3 its planned launch of Boeing’s new CST-100 Starliner capsule on a highly anticipated uncrewed test flight to the space station.    The Starliner had been set to blast off atop an Atlas V rocket on Friday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
    Thursday’s mishap began about three hours after the multipurpose Nauka module had latched onto the space station, as mission controllers in Moscow were performing some post-docking “reconfiguration” procedures, according to NASA.
    The module’s jets inexplicably restarted, causing the entire station to pitch out of its normal flight position some 250 miles above the Earth, leading the mission’s flight director to declare a “spacecraft emergency,” U.S. space agency officials said.
    An unexpected drift in the station’s orientation was first detected by automated ground sensors, followed 15 minutes later by a “loss of attitude control” that lasted a little over 45 minutes, according to Joel Montalbano, manager of NASA’s space station program.
‘TUG-OF-WAR’
    Flight teams on the ground managed to restore the space station’s orientation by activating thrusters on another module of the orbiting platform, NASA officials said.
    In its broadcast coverage of the incident, RIA cited NASA specialists at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, as describing the struggle to regain control of the space station as a “tug of war” between the two modules.
    At the height of the incident, the station was pitching out of alignment at the rate of about a half a degree per second, Montalbano said during a NASA conference call with reporters.
    The Nauka engines were ultimately switched off, the space station was stabilized and its orientation was restored to where it had begun, NASA said.
    Communication with the crew was lost for several minutes twice during the disruption, but “there was no immediate danger at any time to the crew,” Montalbano said. He said “the crew really didn’t feel any movement.”
    Had the situation become so dangerous as to require evacuation of personnel, the crew could have escaped in a SpaceX crew capsule still parked at the outpost and designed to serve as a “lifeboat” if necessary, said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s commercial crew program.
    What caused the malfunction of the thrusters on the Nauka module, delivered by the Russian space agency Roscosmos, has yet to be determined, NASA officials said.
    Montalbano said there was no immediate sign of any damage to the space station.    The flight correction maneuvers used up more propellant reserves than desired, “but nothing I would worry about,” he said.
    After its launch last week from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome, the module experienced a series of glitches that raised concern about whether the docking procedure would go smoothly.
    Roscosmos attributed Thursday’s post-docking issue to Nauka’s engines having to work with residual fuel in the craft, TASS news agency reported.
    “The process of transferring the Nauka module from flight mode to ‘docked with ISS’ mode is underway.    Work is being carried out on the remaining fuel in the module,” Roscosmos was cited by TASS as saying.
    The Nauka module is designed to serve as a research lab, storage unit and airlock that will upgrade Russia’s capabilities aboard the ISS.
    A live broadcast showed the module, named after the Russian word for “science,” docking with the space station a few minutes later than scheduled.
    “According to telemetry data and reports from the ISS crew, the onboard systems of the station and the Nauka module are operating normally,” Roscosmos said in a statement.
    “There is contact!!!” Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, wrote on Twitter moments after the docking.
(Reporting and writing by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles and Polina Ivanova in MoscowEditing by Mark Heinrich, Leslie Adler and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

7/30/2021 Polish President Says Changes Needed To Judges’ Disciplinary System by Alan Charlish
FILE PHOTO: General view of Supreme Court in Warsaw, Poland, September 13, 2018. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
    WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s president said on Friday changes were needed to the country’s system for disciplining judges, but did not say what steps he would support that could help Warsaw avoid financial penalties from the European Union.
    The EU’s top court ruled on July 15 that a disciplinary chamber at the Supreme Court, set up by Poland’s ruling nationalists, does not guarantee the judiciary’s independence and undercuts the bloc’s laws.
    The ruling stepped up a dispute over the rule of law between Warsaw and the European Commission, the EU executive, that could lead to Poland facing fines if it misses an Aug. 16 deadline to disband the disciplinary chamber and even to an eventual loss of funding.
    This could be a big problem for the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party as it tries to boost Poland’s economy after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the dispute has exposed cracks in the governing coalition.
    Malgorzata Manowska, the head of Poland’s Supreme Court wrote to President Andrzej Duda urging him and lawmakers to make changes to create an effective system for disciplining judges that cannot be called into question.
    “Everything indicates that legislative changes will be needed,” President Andrzej Duda told state-owned news agency PAP when asked about Manowska’s letter.     It was not immediately clear what changes Duda would support, or how far they should go.
    PiS lawmakers underline that the judiciary is outside the EU’s jurisdiction, but have said they are considering organisational changes to the disciplinary panel.
    Legal experts suggest cosmetic changes would not be enough to satisfy the EU’s top court.
    “The only way out is for the Polish authorities to guarantee full compliance with the order and the judgement of the Court of Justice,” said Laurent Pech, Professor of European Law at Middlesex University, London.
    Not all members of the governing coalition agree on how to resolve the dispute.
    Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Gowin, whose Accord party is a junior coalition member, has said conflicts that could risk Poland losing funds “make no sense at all.”
    Lawmakers from another coalition partner, the eurosceptic United Poland party whose leader was the architect of the government’s overhaul of the judiciary, say Poland must not be seen to bow to pressure from Brussels.
    “We are discussing some changes in the Supreme Court.    However we would not present them at the request of the European Commission.    It’s our sovereign decision if we decide to change anything,” said one of its senior members, Deputy Justice Minister Sebastian Kaleta.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Agnieszka Barteczko, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

7/30/2021 Belarus Leader Would ‘Not Hesitate’ To Invite Russian Troops If Needed
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko talk during
a meeting in Saint Petersburg, Russia July 13, 2021. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolskyi/Kremlin via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Belarus would not hesitate to invite Russian troops if needed, President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday, although he said there was no need for them now.
    Russia has maintained close military and economic ties with its ally Belarus, even as Western countries have ostracised the country since Lukashenko cracked down on mass protests following a contested presidential election last year.
    Lukashenko said Belarus had coped with the unrest without any external forces and could muster around 500,000 personnel in a short period of time, but was prepared to bring in Russian armed forces if necessary.
    “There is no need for that now.    We have quite a strong, united and compact armed force…. If it is not enough, Russian armed forces will be introduced…. If it is necessary, we will not hesitate,” Belarus’ state-run news agency Belta cited Lukashenko as saying.
    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Belarus had made no approach requesting troops, and that Minsk would need to submit a formal request before any could be deployed.
    In the year since the disputed election, Belarus has arrested thousands of protesters, and rights groups say hundreds were abused or tortured in detention, which Minsk denies.    Nearly all major opposition figures are now imprisoned or in exile.
(Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Additional reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Peter Graff)

7/30/2021 Hungarian Election Panel Clears Questions Of LGBT Referendum by Gergely Szakacs and Anita Komuves
FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators protest against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and
the latest anti-LGBTQ law in Budapest, Hungary, June 14, 2021. REUTERS/Marton Monus/File Photo
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary’s National Election Committee (NEC) approved on Friday the government’s list of questions on LGBT issues it wants to put on a referendum as part of what Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called an “ideological war” with the European Union.
    Orban, a nationalist who has been in power since 2010, proposed a referendum on ruling party legislation that limits schools’ teaching about homosexuality and transgender issues, stepping up a culture war with the EU.
    An NEC spokesman confirmed that the panel had approved the government’s questions.
    Facing a tough election next year, Orban has increasingly sought to promote social policies that he says safeguard traditional Christian values against Western liberalism.
    The European Commission has launched legal action against Orban’s government over the new law, which came into force this month, saying it is discriminatory and contravenes European values of tolerance and individual freedom.
    Orban aims to hold the referendum by early 2022 before a parliamentary election, where six opposition parties will unite against him for the first time.
    Another set of referendum questions on key government policies submitted by Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony, who is vying with other opposition candidates to become Orban’s challenger next year, was not on the NEC’s Friday agenda.
ANXIETY
    Hungarians will be asked whether they support the holding of sexual orientation workshops in schools without parents’ consent, and whether they believe gender reassignment procedures should be promoted among children.
    They will also be asked whether content that could affect sexual orientation should be shown to children without any restrictions, and whether gender reassignment procedures should be made available to children.
    The amendments, which have caused anxiety in the LGBT community, ban the use of materials seen as promoting homosexuality and gender change at schools, ostensibly as a measure to prevent child abuse.
    Several civil rights groups have criticised Orban’s reforms and a global survey last month by the Ipsos polling organisation found that 46% of Hungarians support same-sex marriage.
    Orban owes some of his electoral success to a tough line on immigration.    As that issue has receded from the political agenda, his focus has shifted to gender and sexuality issues.
    A June survey by the think tank Zavecz Research put public support for Orban’s ruling Fidesz party at 37% of all voters, while the joint opposition party list had 39% support.    Another June poll by Median put support for Fidesz at 39% compared with 33% for the opposition parties.
(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs and Anita Komuves; Editing by Edmund Blair)

7/31/2021 Cuba Receives Food, Medicine Donations From Allies To Ease Crisis by Sarah Marsh
Cuba's Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment Rodrigo Malmierca delivers a speech next to Mexico's Navy multipurpose ship
Arm Libertador Bal-02, that just arrived with humanitarian aid at the port of Havana, Cuba, July 30, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
    HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba this week received shipments of food and medical supplies from allies Mexico, Russia https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/russia-sends-covid-19-aid-cuba-defence-ministry-2021-07-24 and Bolivia in a bid to ease shortages and discontent amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades and a surge in coronavirus cases.
    The donations, which authorities started distributing on Friday, come nearly three weeks after unprecedented protests https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/street-protests-break-out-cuba-2021-07-11 broke out nationwide, spurred by frustrations with dire economic conditions and curbs on civil freedoms.
    Cuba blames the unrest on U.S.-backed mercenaries exploiting hardships it says were largely brought about by decades of U.S. sanctions and disguising attempts at unrest through the campaign #SOSCuba calling for humanitarian aid.
    Now it has taken back the humanitarian relief narrative, with the help of allies that have also blamed the U.S. trade embargo https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexican-president-says-biden-must-make-decision-cuba-embargo-2021-07-26 for much of Cuba’s woes.
    On Friday, a Mexican navy ship carrying 1,000 tonnes of beans as well as medical equipment and oxygen for COVID-19 patients arrived in the country, which currently has one of the highest infection rates per capita in the world.    Two more will arrive shortly, Interior Commerce Minister Betsy Díaz said late on Friday on state television.
    “I want to personally thank President Andrés Manuel López Obrador who … has ratified Mexico’s traditional rejection of the blockade and its will to help Cuba,” Cuban Trade Minister Rodrigo Malmierca said at the ship-receiving ceremony.
    Pedro Monreal, author of a popular blog on Cuban economics, said the relief was “positive as an emergency measure” given the seriousness of the simultaneous health, economic and political crises.
    “This has a humanitarian and political angle,” he said.    “But when you look at the long term, its relative weight is low.”
    Ricardo Torres, an economist with the Havana-based Center for the Study of the Cuban Economy, calculated, for example, that Vietnam’s promised donation of around 12,000 tonnes of rice would yield some 2 pounds per Cuban.
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh and Reuters TV; Editing by Leslie Adler)

7/31/2021 Russia Reports Pressure Drop In Space Station Service Module
FILE PHOTO: The Nauka (Science) Multipurpose Laboratory Module is seen during its docking to the International Space Station (ISS)
on July 29, 2021 in this still image taken from video. Image taken July 29, 2021. Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – The head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency said on Saturday that pressure in a Russian service module on the International Space Station had dropped as a result of an air leak.
    Pressure had fallen over a two-week period before a Russian research module, the Nauka, threw the station out of control when its engines fired shortly after docking on Thursday, but Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin said the two events were not linked.
    The fall in pressure was a result of a known minor air leak in an isolated transfer chamber of the Zvezda service module and pressure will be raised in the next 24 hours, Roscosmos said in a statement.
    “It was an expected and not a ‘sharp’ drop in the still problematic Zvezda and it is not linked to the research module,” Rogozin tweeted in response to media reports.
    Pressure in the service module dropped on July 29, the day the Nauka research module docked, to about one third of its level on July 14 but would be increased, Rogozin tweeted.
    The air leak in the Zvezda module, which provides living quarters for crew members and life support systems, was detected last year.    It poses no danger to the crew but persists despite attempts to fix it by sealing cracks.
    Russia said on Friday that a software glitch, and possible lapse in human attention, were to blame for an emergency caused by inadvertently reignited jet thrusters of the Nauka research module.
    On Saturday, Russian crew entered the research module after the air was tested and cleaned, Rogozin tweeted.
    Russia held a scientific council meeting on Saturday to discuss the future use of the Russian segment of the space station, which was sent into orbit in 1998 and is supposed to work until 2028.
    “The chief constructors council noted after considering the current condition of the Russian ISS segment that the use of the Russian ISS segment after 2024 creates additional risks due to the ageing of equipment,” Roscosmos said.
(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Giles Elgood)

8/1/2021 Russian Cosmonauts Give Video Tour Of Module That Jolted Space Station
FILE PHOTO: The Nauka (Science) Multipurpose Laboratory Module is seen docked to the International Space Station (ISS) next to
next to Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft on July 29, 2021. Picture taken July 29, 2021. Oleg Novitskiy/Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian cosmonauts have given a video tour of the interior of a research module which briefly threw the International Space Station out of control on Thursday a few hours after docking.
    Russian space officials said a software glitch and possible lapse in human attention were to blame for the mishap that caused the entire space station to pitch out of its normal flight position 250 miles above the Earth with seven crew members aboard.
    Footage published late on Saturday showed cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov opening the hatches and giving a short tour inside the Nauka module, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said.
    According to NASA’s account of Thursday’s incident, the mission flight director immediately declared a spaceflight emergency as engineers on the ground struggled to restore stability to the sprawling research satellite.
    NASA and Roscosmos each said that the seven crew members – two Russian cosmonauts, three U.S. astronauts and two others from Japan and France – were never in any immediate danger.
    Roscosmos, which this week spoke of plans to launch another Russian module to the station in November, has suffered a series of mishaps and corruption scandals, including during the construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the country’s far east where contractors were accused of embezzling state funds.
(Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Giles Elgood)

8/2/2021 Serbia Benefits From COVID-19 ‘Quarantine Tourism’ As Indians Visit by Fedja Grulovic
FILE PHOTO: People walk near "The Victor" monument at the Kalemegdan fortress
in Belgrade, Serbia, May 13, 2020. REUTERS/Marko Djurica/File Photo
    BELGRADE (Reuters) – Serbia is benefiting from COVID-19 ‘quarantine tourism’ as thousands of Indians make a two-week stopover on the way to other countries.
    India has registered more coronavirus cases than any other country except the United States.    Its citizens are barred from entering many countries during the pandemic unless they spend two weeks in another country en route.
    Serbia has become a popular stopover destination for Indians because it offers them visa-free entry if they have been vaccinated and test negative for the virus.
    They are also required to spend at least the first seven days of their stay in Serbia in isolation, depending from conditions set by their destination countries.    They must also take another coronavirus test at the end of their quarantine.
    Jagdish, who is from the Indian city of Visakhapatnam, stayed in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, en route to the United States.
    Jagdish, who declined to give his full name, said he had waited in India for “some time for things to open up.”
    “But things were not opening up …. We chose Serbia because we do not need a visa … and it (Belgrade) is also a beautiful city to explore,” Jagdish said.
    Hotel owners said thousands of Indians came to Belgrade in July.
    “I would not call this ‘quarantine tourism’, but in the end it comes to that … there are plenty of hotels which are full,” said Ilija Smiljanic, manager of Mark Group hotels.
    In June, Serbia recorded a 48.4% annual increase in tourist arrivals and the number of overnight stays increased by 39.3%, the Statistics Office said.
    Tourism accounts for around 2.5% of the country’s gross domestic product.    Serbia suffered a loss more than 1 billion euros ($1.19 billion) in revenues last year because of COVID-19 restrictions.
    Since last December, Serbia has vaccinated almost a third of its 6.7 million population.    Serbia has recorded more than 722,220 people COVID-19 cases and 7,118 deaths from the virus.
($1 = 0.8416 euros)
(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Timothy Heritage)

8/2/2021 Europe Would Be Honoured To Give Asylum To Belarus Athlete – French Minister
FILE PHOTO: Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya talks with police officers
at Haneda international airport in Tokyo, Japan August 1, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato
    PARIS (Reuters) – It would be an honour if Europe were to grant political asylum to Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said on Monday.
    Tsimanouskaya, who refused to board a flight after saying she had been taken to the airport by her team against her wishes, was “safe and secure” in Tokyo, the International Olympic Committee said on Monday.
    “Political asylum – it would be an honour for Europe to do so,” Beaune told RFI radio.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

8/2/2021 New Peace Envoy Gets Hostile Reception From Bosnian Serb Leaders by Daria Sito-Sucic
European Union High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schmidt speaks during
the handover ceremony in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina August 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
    SARAJEVO (Reuters) – German politician Christian Schmidt took up the post of Bosnia’s international peace overseer on Monday after a hostile reception by Bosnian Serb leaders who want the Office of the High Representative (OHR) to be scrapped.
    Schmidt, a former government minister, replaced Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko after 12 years as the international High Representative in Bosnia, whose office oversees the 1995 Dayton peace agreement.
    “It’s an honour for me to take this responsibility and serve the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina,” Schmidt said during the official takeover ceremony in the capital of Sarajevo.
    But Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, said Schmidt was not welcome.
    “You were not chosen as the High Representative.    The Serb Republic … will not respect anything you do,” he said.
    The OHR was set up as part of the U.S.-brokered Dayton peace accords that ended Bosnia’s 1992-95 war to supervise the reconstruction of a country torn apart by conflict in which 100,000 died.
    Schmidt’s approval in late May by the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council, a body gathering representatives of major world organisations and governments, was rejected by Bosnian Serbs and their ally Russia.
    Late in July, Russia and China also failed to get the U.N. Security Council to strip some OHR powers and shut it down.
    The Bosnian Serbs have long requested the shutdown of the OHR.
    Last week, the parliament of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated Serb Republic rejected making the denial of the Srebrenica genocide a crime, threatening the dissolution of Bosnia and passing its own decrees instead.
    Serb nationalists deny that genocide occurred in 1995 at the U.N.-protected enclave of Srebrenica, when about 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb forces, despite such rulings by two international courts.
    International envoys, whose powers stem from the Dayton peace treaty, can impose laws and fire officials.
(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Nick Macfie)

8/2/2021 Police Clear Climate Activists From Zurich Financial Zone by Michael Shields
Climate activists of "Rise up for Change" block an entrance of Credit Suiesse to protest against big banks' financing of fossil
fuel projects that damage the environment in Zurich, Germany, August 2, 2021. Schweiz Rise Up For Change/Handout via REUTERS
    ZURICH (Reuters) -Police cleared climate activists from the heart of Zurich’s financial district on Monday after dozens blocked entrances to offices of Switzerland’s two biggest banks to protest against their financing of fossil fuel projects, authorities said.
    Police in Switzerland’s financial hub said they had taken around 30 people into temporary custody during the peaceful protest that was still under way around midday.
    Police led or carried away singing and chanting activists who had taken up positions at the entrances to the headquarters of Credit Suisse and a major UBS office block on Paradeplatz square in central Zurich after they refused to disperse.
    Credit Suisse and UBS have so far failed to respond adequately to the climate crisis, Frida Kohlmann, spokesperson for the Rise Up for Change group, said in a statement.    “That is why the climate justice movement is occupying the Credit Suisse headquarters and the nearby UBS office today to draw attention to the consequences of the Swiss financial institutions’ inaction.”
    In response UBS said in a statement: “Climate protection is a top priority at UBS … We are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions across our business to net zero by 2050, with science-based interim targets for 2025, 2030 and 2035.”
    Credit Suisse had no comment on the protest, but said: “Credit Suisse is committed to climate protection and achieving the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement,” referring to the 2015 international treaty on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
    It noted it was working help clients transition to low-carbon business models, aiming to provide at least 300 billion Swiss francs ($331.5 billion) in sustainable financing over the next decade.    It also provides sustainable finance solutions for customers and was working to reduce its own carbon footprint.
    The protest comes amid a wave of civil disobedience by activists in Switzerland, where the climate is warming at about twice the pace of the global average and changing its famed mountain landscapes.
($1 = 0.9050 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Michael ShieldsEditing by Robert Birsel and David Holmes)

8/2/2021 Latin America’s Resurgent Left And Caribbean Spurn U.S. Policy On Cuba by Sarah Marsh
FILE PHOTO: A view of Cuban and U.S. flags beside the U.S. Embassy
in Havana, Cuba, December 15, 2020. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
    HAVANA (Reuters) – The United States doubled down on its tough stance and sanctions on Cuba after historic protests in the Communist-run island last month and said it would seek to support protesters.
    But many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region which is still scarred by Washington’s backing of coups during the Cold War and has shifted leftwards in recent years, are asking it to back off instead.
    President Joe Biden branded Cuba a “failed state” in the wake of the July 11-12 protests over an economic crisis and curbs on freedoms.    His administration imposed new sanctions on those who cracked down on protesters and promised the politically important Cuban-American community more actions were coming, like efforts to help Cubans circumvent “censorship.”
    While the fresh sanctions are largely symbolic, they suggest a return to a period of detente under former President Barack Obama is not forthcoming.
    The right-wing governments of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Honduras joined the United States last week in issuing a statement condemning mass arrests and calling for full restoration of disrupted internet access.
    Yet only 20 foreign ministers worldwide joined in signing the letter, signalling how relatively isolated Washington is on its Cuba policy, analysts said.    Even U.S. allies like Canada who have condemned the Cuban crackdown and supported protesters’ right to freedom of expression did not sign.
    Meanwhile, Cuba’s leftist allies in Latin America and fellow Caribbean island nations have focused their reaction on the contribution of the U.S. embargo to the country’s current humanitarian crisis, urging Washington to lift sanctions.    Mexico, Nicaragua,     Venezuela and Bolivia have sent aid.
    Some countries in the region have also warned against U.S. meddling in Cuba’s domestic matters.
    These regional divisions came to the fore last week when the Organization of American States had to postpone a meeting on the human rights situation in Cuba due to objections by more than a dozen member states.
    “Any discussion could only satisfy political hawks with an eye on U.S. mid-term elections where winning South Florida with the backing of Cuban exiles would be a prize,” wrote Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the OAS, Ronald Sanders, in a column published on digital platform Caribbean News Global.
    “The task of the OAS should be to promote peaceful and cooperative relations in the hemisphere, not to feed division and conflict.”
    He had sent a letter on behalf of 13 countries from the Caribbean Community or CARICOM – which though small, represents a significant voting block in the OAS – urging the body to reconsider the “unproductive” meeting, while other countries sent similar missives.
REJECTION OF OAS, FOREIGN MEDDLING
    Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said last month the OAS should be replaced “by a body that is truly autonomous, not anybody’s lackey,” sentiments echoed by Argentinian President Alberto Fernandez.
    He also said he thought Biden must make a decision about the embargo against Cuba given that “almost all countries of the world” are against it, while Fernandez said it was up to no other country to decide what Cubans should do.
    Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia all shifted left in recent years, while Peru last month voted in a socialist leader and Chile and Brazil appear poised to move to the left in elections due this year and next.
    “We appreciate countries that defended the Latin American and Caribbean dignity,” said Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, who has accused U.S.-backed counterrevolutionaries of being behind the protests following years of open U.S. funding of democracy programs on the island.
    The Chair of the OAS Permanent Council described the objections to the Cuba meeting as particularly unusual.
    A U.S. State Department spokesperson said it was “deeply disappointed” the OAS meeting did not take place, adding: “The people of the Americas have a right to hear from the Inter-American Commission on Human rights about the situation in Cuba.”
    “We will continue to work within the OAS to press for democracy and human rights in Cuba and throughout the Americas and are confident this informational meeting will indeed take place in the coming days.”
    William LeoGrande, a professor of government at American University in Washington, said the problem was the OAS had under Secretary-General Luis Almagro “adopted a strident partisan stance totally aligned with U.S. policy.”
    Biden was inheriting a regional foreign policy from former U.S. President Donald Trump focused mainly on Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela, that had alienated much of Latin America, said LeoGrande, pointing out the Latinbarometer opinion poll showed a sharp decline in the image of the United States.
    The OAS General Secretariat declined to comment while the State Department spokesperson said “Almagro’s leadership in supporting democracy and respect for human rights in the Americas” had returned the OAS to its original purpose.
    Biden, a Democrat, had vowed during his presidential campaign to ease some of the sanctions on Cuba tightened by his predecessor Donald Trump, a Republican, raising hopes of a return to the Obama-era detente.
    But analysts say the protests have complicated his leeway to do so, especially after he made a poorer-than-expected showing with voters in south Florida’s anti-communist Cuban-American community, which backed Trump’s tough policies toward Havana and helped him win the presidential election battleground state.
    The Democratic National Committee last week launched a digital ad campaign in Florida highlighting Biden’s “commitment to the Cuban people and condemnation of communism as a failed system.”
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Additional Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Alistair Bell)

8/2/2021 Russia Says U.S. Asked 24 Of Its Diplomats To Leave By Sept. 3
FILE PHOTO: Russian and U.S. state flags fly near a factory in Vsevolozhsk, Leningrad Region,
Russia March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File Photo/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s ambassador to the United States said Washington had asked 24 Russian diplomats to leave the country by Sept. 3 after their visas expire, heightening tensions between the two countries.
    In an interview with the National Interest magazine published on Sunday, Ambassador Anatoly Antonov did not say whether the U.S. action was prompted by a particular dispute. He said nearly all would be leaving without replacements “because Washington has abruptly tightened visa issuing procedures.”
    U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price, responding to the comments, said on Monday that Washington was not using Russian diplomats’ visas to retaliate against Moscow. He said the ambassador’s characterization was “not accurate.”
    Price did not dispute the fact the Russian diplomats would have to leave the United States and said it was “nothing new” that Russians have to apply for an extension to their visas after three years.    Those applications are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, he said.
    Moscow and Washington have long differed over a range of issues, and ties slumped further after U.S. President Joe Biden said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin was a killer.
    Tensions somewhat eased after Biden met Putin for talks on June 16, which even led to the return of some foreign investors’ money into Russian government bonds.
    But Russia from this month banned the U.S. embassy in Moscow from retaining, hiring or contracting Russian or third-country staff, except for guards, forcing the mission to let go 182 employees and dozens of contractors, the State Department said on Friday.
    “We reserve the right to take appropriate response measures to Russia’s actions,” Price said during a regular briefing on Monday.
    Washington imposed sanctions on Russia in March and April for interfering in last year’s U.S. election, cyber hacking, bullying Ukraine and other alleged malign actions, but Price said those moves were “a response” rather than an escalation.
    In the interview Antonov said: “We hope that common sense will prevail and we will be able to normalize the life of Russian and American diplomats in the United States and Russia on the principle of reciprocity.”
(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh in Moscow and Simon Lewis in Washington; Editing by Howard Goller)

8/3/2021 Blinken Says Belarus Treatment Of Athlete Intolerable ‘Transnational Repression’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks about refugee programs for Afghans who aided the U.S. during a
briefing at the State Department in Washington, DC, U.S. August 2, 2021. Brendan Smialowski/Pool via REUTERS
    (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken blasted Belarus’ attempt to send home a sprinter from the Tokyo Olympics against her wishes as intolerable “transnational repression.”
    President Alexander Lukashenko’s “regime sought to commit another act of transnational repression: attempting to force Olympian Krystsyna Tsimanouskaya to leave simply for exercising free speech,” Blinken wrote on Twitter late on Monday.
    “Such actions violate the Olympic spirit, are an affront to basic rights, and cannot be tolerated.”
    Tsimanouskaya, who sought refuge in the Polish embassy on Monday after refusing her team’s orders to fly home, will travel to Poland on Wednesday, a group of her supporters said. Warsaw has offered her a humanitarian visa.
(Reporting by William Mallard; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
[THIS IS HARD TO HEAR FROM THE REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WHOSE PARTY IS "affront to basic rights, and cannot be tolerated" ARE USING THE SAME ISSUE AGAINST AMERICANS WHO ARE BEING BLOCKED FROM THEIR FREE SPEECH.]

8/3/2021 Head Of Belarusian Exile Group Found Hanged In Ukraine; Police Open Murder Case by Natalia Zinets and Margaryta Chornokondratenko
An activist holds a portrait of Vitaly Shishov during a rally to commemorate the Belarusian activist living in exile who was found
hanged in a park near his home this morning, outside the Belarusian Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine August 3, 2021. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
    KYIV (Reuters) - A Belarusian activist living in exile in Ukraine was found hanged in a park near his home in Kyiv early on Tuesday, and Ukrainian police launched a murder investigation.
    Vitaly Shishov, who led a Kyiv-based organisation that helps Belarusians fleeing persecution, had been reported missing by his partner on Monday after failing to return home from a run.
    Police said they were considering the possibility of suicide or of a murder staged to appear as suicide. Shishov had been found with abrasions on his nose and knee but it was too early to determine whether he had been attacked, Ukraine’s national police chief, Ihor Klymenko, told a briefing.
    Shishov, 26, had felt under constant surveillance since he left Belarus last year after taking part in anti-government protests, his colleagues said. He had been warned about possible threats, including being kidnapped or killed.
    Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania have become havens for Belarusians during a security crackdown by President Alexander Lukashenko following a disputed election last year. Tens of thousands of people have been detained and leading opposition figures are either in jail or living abroad.
    “It is worrying that those who flee Belarus still can’t be safe,” exiled opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said on Twitter ahead of a meeting in London with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.    She said the death could be a crime.
    Speaking to Reuters on Tuesday, she said a non-violent transition to democracy from Lukashenko’s “hell” was possible in the former Soviet republic.    “When we put enough pressure on the regime there will be no other way out.”
    Shishov’s death was reported by the Belarus official news agency Belta, but the Minsk authorities did not otherwise comment.    Lukashenko’s spokesperson could not be reached.
    In May a dissident journalist, Roman Protasevich, was detained by Belarusian security forces after his flight from Greece to Lithuania was forced to land in Minsk.    This week, a Belarusian athlete took refuge in Poland’s embassy in Tokyo after refusing her team’s orders to fly home from the Olympics.
    The United States will closely monitor the Ukrainian authorities’ investigation into the cause of Shishov’s death, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Tuesday.
    “We condemn in the strongest terms the ongoing violent crackdown on Belarusian civil society and transnational repression by the Lukashenko regime,” Price told reporters.
SOUNDING THE ALARM
    Shishov led the Belarusian House in Ukraine (BDU) group, which helps Belarusians find accommodation, jobs and legal advice.    Neighbouring Ukraine has become a haven for Belarusians fleeing Lukashenko’s crackdown.
    “We were also repeatedly warned by both local sources and our people in the Republic of Belarus about all kinds of provocations, including kidnapping and liquidation,” a BDU statement said.    “Vitaly treated these warnings stoically and with humour.”
    Ihor, 24, a fellow Belarusian exile who had known Shishov since last October, told Reuters Shishov knew he was under surveillance, recounting instances of his car being followed or his girlfriend being approached by strangers while they were staging protests in Kyiv.
    “Lukashenko’s regime is at war, and he is at war.    He is at war with anyone who can offer any resistance,” said Ihor, who gave only his first name.
    Ukrainian police chief Klymenko said Shishov had not informed the police about his suspicion of being under surveillance, nor were police aware of any foreign agents tracking him.
    Shishov’s organisation had announced a day earlier that he had gone missing. Shishov had left his residence at 9 a.m. (0600 GMT) and was supposed to have returned an hour later.
    Belarusian authorities have characterised anti-government protesters as criminals or violent revolutionaries backed by the West, and described the actions of their own law enforcement agencies as appropriate and necessary.
    “The death takes place amid an unacceptable Belarusian crackdown on civil society, and we look forward to a complete and thorough investigation by Ukrainian authorities to establish its causes and circumstances,” the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets, Margaryta Chornokondratenko, Ilya Zhegulev and Sergiy Karazy in Kyiv and Emma Thomasson in Geneva; Additional Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington;Writing by Matthias WilliamsEditing by Andrew Heavens, Peter Graff, Mark Heinrich and David Gregorio)

8/4/2021 Olympics-Belarus Sprinter Leaves Tokyo For Vienna After Refusing To Go Home by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber and Antoni Slodkowski
A police officer stands outside the Polish embassy, as a car carrying Belarusian sprinter
Krystsina Tsimanouskaya exits the embassy in Tokyo, Japan August 4, 2021. REUTERS/Androniki Christodoulou
    TOKYO (Reuters) – Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya left Tokyo aboard a flight to Vienna on Wednesday, less than 72 hours after refusing to return home with her team.
    After spending two nights in Poland’s embassy, the 24-year-old walked onto the plane at Narita airport wearing blue jeans, a blue blouse and sunglasses with “I RUN CLEAN” written on them.
    The sprinter caused a diplomatic incident on Sunday when she said her coaches had cut her Tokyo Games short, demanding she pack her bags at the Olympic village and taking her to the airport against her wishes because she had publicly criticised them.
    She refused to board the flight and sought the protection of Japanese police.
    “I will not return to Belarus,” she told Reuters at the time.
    Tsimanouskaya had been scheduled to board a flight for Warsaw on Wednesday after Poland’s government offered her a humanitarian visa. Instead, she departed on an Austrian Airlines flight scheduled to land in Vienna at 4:05 p.m. local time (1405 GMT)     She will go to Poland in the evening, said a member of the Belarusian community in touch with Tsimanouskaya, who also said that diplomats had told her that they changed her flight due to security concerns.    The source did not specify the concerns and Reuters could not independently verify them.
    Poland’s deputy foreign minister Marcin Przydacz confirmed the athlete was still in the care of the Polish diplomatic services, but did not say where she would eventually land.
    “Ms. Krystsina Tsimanouskaya is under the care of the Polish diplomatic service,” Przydacz said in a text message.    “As we have indicated many times, for safety reasons we do not provide details of the flight route.”
    The Austrian foreign ministry confirmed she was on the flight to Vienna, but declined to comment on her final destination.
    Hours earlier in Tokyo, a spokesperson for the Narita airport, Kazunori Hashimoto, told journalists waiting for Tsimanouskaya to board the flight to Warsaw at Gate 31 that the athlete had changed routes.
    “(She) will not board the flight for Poland,” said Hashimoto.    “That is, there is a Reuters reporter on board who says they want to interview her.    So the flight she will take has been changed.”
    A Reuters spokesperson said the news agency had been in contact with Tsimanouskaya and her representatives.
    “Two of our reporters boarded the Warsaw-bound flight from Tokyo on Wednesday with the aim of documenting Tsimanouskaya’s arrival in Poland,” the spokesperson said.    “Reuters is seeking to establish whether that played any role in the decision for Tsimanouskaya not to board the flight to Warsaw.”
    The International Olympic Committee said on Wednesday it had received a report from the Belarusian team after it started an investigation into Tsimanouskaya’s claims she had been removed from the athlete’s village.
    “The IOC is opening a disciplinary commission to establish the facts in this case and to hear the two officials – Artur Shumak and Yuri Moisevich – who had been allegedly involved in this incident,” said IOC spokesman Mark Adams.
    The Belarus National Olympic Committee (NOC) did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Previously, the NOC said coaches had decided to withdraw Tsimanouskaya from the Games on doctors’ advice about her “emotional, psychological state.”
    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has accused Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime of intolerable “transnational repression” in the matter.
    The incident has focused attention on Belarus, where police have cracked down on dissent following a wave of protests triggered by an election last year which the opposition says was rigged to keep Lukashenko in power.
    Belarusian authorities have characterised anti-government protesters as criminals or violent revolutionaries backed by the West, and described the actions of their own law enforcement agencies as appropriate and necessary.
    Vitaly Shishov, a Belarusian activist living in exile in Ukraine, was found hanged in a park near his home in Kyiv early on Tuesday, and Ukrainian police launched a murder investigation.    He led an organisation that helps Belarusians fleeing persecution.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber and Antoni Slodkowski; Additional reporting by Karolos Grohmann, Parniyan Zemaryalai, Akira Tomoshige, Angie Teo and Pak Yiu; Writing by William Mallard; Editing by Leela de Kretser and Lincoln Feast.)

8/4/2021 Biden Picks Diplomat With Polish Ties To Manage Key NATO Relationship by Trevor Hunnicutt
FILE PHOTO: A bust of Polish composer Frederic Chopin is flanked by U.S. and
Polish flags in Warsaw, Poland July 6, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden picked Mark Brzezinski, a Democratic-aligned foreign policy official with ties to Poland, as his ambassador to the European country regarded as a key Western bulwark against Russia.
    Biden has been eager to strengthen partnerships in Europe to counter both Russia’s and China’s assertive posture given cool relations between Washington and those countries. Poland and the United States are both members of the NATO military alliance.     The White House announced the pick on Wednesday.
    Brzezinski, who speaks Polish, served as former President Barack Obama’s ambassador to Sweden, when Biden was vice president.    He was also on the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton.
    His father, Poland-born Zbigniew Brzezinski, was former President Jimmy Carter’s influential Cold War-era national security adviser, who advocated a tough stance countering what was then the Soviet Union and included Russia.    Poland was in the Soviet sphere of influence for four decades until the collapse of Communist rule.
    His sister, Mika Brzezinski, is a co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” news program, who feuded with Biden’s Republican predecessor Donald Trump.
    Democrats often accused Trump of being too easy on Russia and too quick to offend allies, charges he rejected.     In addition to his other diplomatic roles, Brzezinski was the first executive director of the White House’s Arctic Executive Steering Committee under Obama.
    The region is of increasing military interest to both Russia and the United States as a warming climate opens up more opportunities for shipping, fishing, drilling and mining.
    Despite the close security cooperation, the heavily Roman Catholic country and its Western allies occasionally clash over issues including judicial independence and LGBT rights.
    The White House also said Biden had finalized his nominees for ambassadors to the African countries of Togo, Benin and Malawi, picking career foreign service members for each role.    All of the positions require Senate confirmation.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)

8/4/2021 Ukraine Court Returns To State Ownership Tycoon’s Stake In Titanium Plant
FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash arrives at court in Vienna, Austria, February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader
    KYIV (Reuters) – A Ukraine court ruled that a titanium and magnesium plant 49% owned by Ukrainian tycoon Dmytro Firtash should return to full state ownership, anti-corruption prosecutors (SAP) said on Wednesday.
    The prosecutor’s office, which had requested the transfer, said Firtash did not fulfil obligations to modernize the plant, but instead moved funds from the plant to offshore companies.
    “Today, the court of first (low) instance fully satisfied the SAP claim and, by its decision, returned the Zaporizhzhia Titanium and Magnesium Plant to the state ownership,” SAP said in a statement late on Wednesday.
    Firtash’s company said it would appeal the verdict.
    Firtash faces sanctions, including an asset freeze, by Ukraine’s security and defence council, which accuses him of selling titanium products that allegedly end up being used by Russian military enterprises.    Firtash has denied the accusations.
    Firtash acquired a 49% stake in the plant through his companies in 2013, thanks to a decision by the government of Ukraine’s pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich, who was ousted in 2014.    Firtash’s managers controlled the plant even though the state had a 51% stake.
    The plant is the only Ukraine-based maker of titanium sponge, an intermediate product for titanium alloys used in industries including aircraft and shipbuilding.
    Making titanium products is a core business in Firtash’s Group DF, which includes titanium mining and enrichment, and the production of titanium dioxide, titanium slag, sponge ingots and slabs.
    “We consider this decision biased and unfair and will appeal against it,” Group DF said in a comment to Reuters.
    Ukraine-Russia relations collapsed after Russia’s annexation of the Crimea peninsula in 2014 and support for separatist forces in the eastern Donbass region in a conflict that Kyiv says has killed 14,000 people.
    Firtash made a fortune selling Russian gas to the Kyiv government.    He has been indicted on U.S. bribery and racketeering charges, which he has denied.    He has fought extradition from Vienna, where he has been since 2014.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Editing by Richard Chang)

8/5/2021 Olympics-Belarusian Sprinter Reaches Poland After Defying Order Home by Alicja Ptak and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber
A police officer stands outside the Polish embassy, as a car carrying Belarusian sprinter
Krystsina Tsimanouskaya exits the embassy in Tokyo, Japan August 4, 2021. REUTERS/Androniki Christodoulou
    WARSAW/TOKYO (Reuters) - Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya took refuge in Poland on Wednesday after refusing to return to her authoritarian homeland from the Tokyo Olympics in a saga reminiscent of Cold War sporting defections.
    The 24-year-old athlete’s case could further isolate Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who is under Western sanctions after a crackdown on opponents since last year.
    Tsimanouskaya caused a furore on Sunday when she said coaches angry at her criticism had ordered her to pack and go to the airport.    She refused to board a flight home and sought protection from Japanese police.
    Poland, which has long been critical of Lukashenko and harboured many activists from Belarus, has granted her and her husband humanitarian visas.
    “She needs to rest.    She is tired but happy to be in Poland.    She will stay in Poland in a safe place,” Polish deputy foreign minister Marcin Przydacz told Reuters.
    Some Belarusians waited at Warsaw airport, holding signs of resistance: carnations and flags in red-and-white.
    “We are here to support our compatriot, who told the truth about what is happening in Belarusian sport,” said Eugene Dudkin, a 31-year-old student, who left for Poland after being held for a night at a police station for protesting.
    Warsaw-based Belarusian opposition politician Pavel Latushko tweeted a picture with Tsimanouskaya.    “We hope that the agony of the regime will soon end, and Kristina will be able to return to conquering new sports peaks in the New Belarus!” he said.
    The sprinter, who had criticised negligence by her team coaches, spent two nights in Poland’s embassy in Japan before flying to Poland via the Austrian capital Vienna.
    She sported sunglasses with the words “I RUN CLEAN.”
    The Belarus National Olympic Committee (NOC) had said coaches withdrew Tsimanouskaya from the Games on doctors’ advice about her emotional and psychological state. It had no further comment on Wednesday, nor did the government.
‘EXCITED AND NERVOUS’
    The affair has played out amid increased concern for the safety of Lukashenko’s critics, including in neighbouring countries, following a crackdown that has seen tens of thousands of arrests inside Belarus.
    Vitaly Shishov, a Belarusian activist living in Ukraine, was found hanged in a park near his home in Kyiv early on Tuesday.    Ukrainian police have launched a murder investigation, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ordered a review into the safety of Belarus exiles.
    Sport plays a high profile role in Belarusian politics under Lukashenko, a hockey player and cross country skier known to compete in televised races in which his opponents fall before crossing the finish line.    Lukashenko personally headed the Belarus Olympic committee until he was replaced by his son this year.    His website quotes him as saying “Sport is our ideology.”
    The International Olympic Committee has started an investigation into Tsimanouskaya’s case and said it would hear from the two Belarusian officials allegedly involved.
    The United States has accused Lukashenko’s government of “transnational repression” in the matter.
    Police have cracked down on dissent in Belarus following a wave of protests triggered by an election last year which the opposition says was rigged to keep Lukashenko in power.
    Authorities characterise anti-government protesters as criminals or violent revolutionaries backed by the West.
    After the sprinter came to Vienna, Austria’s deputy environment minister Magnus Brunner, said she was safe and doing well, adding: “She is naturally worried and excited and nervous about what will happen next for her.”
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber and Antoni Slodkowski in Tokyo, Alicja Ptak, Justyna Pawlak and Alan Charlish in Warsaw, Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich and Ayhan Uyanik in Vienna, Maria Vasilyeva in Moscow;Additional reporting by Karolos Grohmann, Parniyan Zemaryalai, Akira Tomoshige, Angie Teo, Pak Yiu, Douglas Busvine;Writing by William Mallard and Peter Graff;Editing by Leela de Kretser, William Maclean, Andrew Cawthorne)

8/5/2021 Exclusive-Belarusian Sprinter Decided To Defect On Way To Airport Over Safety Fears by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber
Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who left the Olympic Games in Tokyo and seeks asylum
in Poland, attends an interview with Reuters in Warsaw, Poland August 5, 2021. REUTERS/Darek Golik
    WARSAW (Reuters) – Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya decided to defect as she was being driven to a Tokyo airport because her grandmother told her that it was not safe to return home to Belarus.
    In an exclusive interview with Reuters in Warsaw on Thursday, she said her family feared she would be sent to a psychiatric ward if she went back to Belarus, and that her grandmother had called her to tell her not to return.
    “I have always been far from politics, I didn’t sign any letters or go to any protests, I didn’t say anything against the Belarusian government,” she said.
    “I’m a sportsperson and I didn’t understand anything in political life.    I try not to do anything other than a sport in my life and I try my best to not be distracted by politics.”
    “It may sound cruel because of all the terrible things that happened in Belarus last summer but I was trying to keep away from it, but all I have wanted is to go to the Olympics and do my best,” she said, referring to protests last year against President Alexander Lukashenko that led to a police crackdown.
    “I wanted to be in the final and compete for medals.”
    Lukashenko’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment after Tsimanouskaya’s interview.
    The 24-year-old athlete caused a furore on Sunday when she said coaches angry at her criticism had ordered her to fly home from Tokyo.    After seeking protection from Japanese police, she flew on Wednesday to Poland instead of Belarus.
    Poland, which has long been critical of Lukashenko’s authoritarian rule and harboured many activists from Belarus, has granted Tsimanouskaya and her husband humanitarian visas.    Her grandmother remains back home.
    “Grandmother called me when they were already driving me to the airport,” the athlete said.    “Literally, I had some 10 seconds.    She called me, all that she told me was: ‘Please do not come back to Belarus, it’s not safe’.”
    “That’s it, she hung up,” she said.    “I would want to return to Belarus.    I love my country.    I did not betray it and I hope I will be able to return.”
‘I AM NOT AFRAID’
    Tsimanouskaya’s saga, reminiscent of Cold War sporting defections, threatens to further isolate Lukashenko, who is under Western sanctions after a crackdown on opponents since last year.
    The sprinter, who had criticised negligence by her team coaches, spent two nights in Poland’s embassy in Japan before flying to Vienna and then Warsaw on Wednesday.    She also held a news conference in the Polish capital on Thursday.
    The Belarus National Olympic Committee had said coaches withdrew Tsimanouskaya from the Games on doctors’ advice about her emotional and psychological state.    It did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment on Thursday.
    Tsimanouskaya said she had told her coach on Sunday that she was ready to run in the 200 metres, but he then went to make a call.
    “And in couple of hours the head coach came to me with the team representative and they said there was a decision made to send me home, we are not the ones who made the decision, we are only executing it.    You have 40 minutes.    You have to pack your things and go to the airport,” she said.
    The decision, she said, came from “high up.”
    At the airport in Tokyo, the coaches were taken by surprise, the athlete said.
    “They did not expect that in the airport I can approach the police.    They think that we are scared to make a move, that we are afraid to speak, afraid to tell the truth to the whole world.    But I am not afraid,” she said.
    “I am not of those people who are scared.    I am always staying for truth.    I respect myself.    I respect my work.    And I also want other people to respect themselves, to respect their work and stop being afraid and start speaking openly about what worries them.”
    Before going to Tokyo, Tsimanouskaya was not among the few Belarusian Olympians who publicly voiced support for the opposition to Lukashenko.
    Opposition figures have been prosecuted, jailed or fled since mass protests against Lukashenko began last year, even before he won a sixth presidential term in an election that observers and critics say was rigged.    He denies electoral fraud.
    Sports play a high profile role in Belarusian politics under Lukashenko, who headed the Belarus Olympic committee until he was replaced by his son this year.
    The International Olympic Committee has started an investigation into Tsimanouskaya’s case and said it would hear from the two Belarusian officials allegedly involved.
    “This is a very turbulent period of my life.    But I hope it will soon be over.    That I can continue my career,” Tsimanouskaya said.    “And I also think that I really want to help people like myself.    If they have any kind of pressure on them, I am ready to help them.”
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber and Tom Balfmorth, Additional reporting by Maria Vasilyeva, Tatyana Gomozova and Angelina Kazakova in Moscow, Writing by Timothy Heritage; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Angus MacSwan)

8/5/2021 Poland Says Belarus Lets Migrants Cross Border In ‘Hybrid War’ With EU
FILE PHOTO: Lithuanian army soldiers install razor wire on border with Belarus
in Druskininkai, Lithuania July 9, 2021. REUTERS/Janis Laizans/File Photo
    WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland accused Belarus of sending a growing number of migrants over the border in retaliation for Warsaw’s decision this week to give refuge to Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, a Belarusian athlete who refused to return home from the Tokyo Olympics.
    A deputy interior minister, Maciej Wasik, said on Thursday that Minsk was “waging a hybrid war with the European Union with the help of illegal immigrants.”
    In recent weeks, neighbour and fellow EU member state Lithuania has reported a surge in illegal border crossings from Belarus and said Minsk was flying in migrants from abroad and dispatching them into the EU.
    “There are both young men and women with children.    Belarus is using these immigrants as a living weapon,” Wasik told online broadcaster Telewizja wPolsce.
    “In recent days we have seen an increase (in migrants).    We treat it as a reaction to the granting of asylum to the Belarusian sprinter.”
    Tsimanouskaya’s Cold War-style defection has ratcheted up Western tensions with Minsk at a time when the EU has accused President Alexander Lukashenko of using migrants to hit back against EU sanctions.
    Officials in the Belarusian government could not immediately be reached for comment.
    Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday accused Lithuania and Poland of fuelling the migrant issue on the border, saying Lithuania wanted to drive migrants into Belarusian territory by force.
    Belarus in May decided to let migrants enter Lithuania in retaliation for EU sanctions meted out after Minsk forced a Ryanair flight to land on its soil and arrested a dissident blogger who was on board.
    Lukashenko at the time said Belarus would not become a “holding site” for migrants from Africa and the Middle East.
    The Polish Border Guard told Reuters it had detained a group of 71 migrants on the border with Belarus during the night from Wednesday to Thursday and another group of 62, mostly Iraqis, on Wednesday.
    That is more that the total of 122 illegal migrants the Border Guard said were detained along the frontier in the whole of last year.    Last month, 242 migrants were intercepted.br>     Wasik said migrants arriving recently had mainly been from Iraq but also from Afghanistan.
    The interior ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
    The EU has summoned the Belarusian envoy in Brussels and held talks with the Iraqi government over the issue of illegal migration to the bloc.
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Agnieszka Barteczko in Warsaw, Matthias Williams in London, writing by Alan Charlish, Editing by William Maclean, Mark Heinrich and Steve Orlofsky)

8/5/2021 Wife Of Kremlin Critic Navalny Delivers Borsch And Cherries In 3-Day Prison Visit by Katya Golubkova
FILE PHOTO: Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny takes part in a rally to mark the 5th anniversary
of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov's murder and to protest against proposed amendments to the country's constitution,
in Moscow, Russia February 29, 2020. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – The wife of jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny stayed with him in a Russian prison for three days, taking him borsch and cherries and sending “a big Hi to everyone” on his behalf, she said in a post on Thursday.
    Navalny is serving 2-1/2 years in jail for parole violations in an embezzlement case he says was trumped up.    Navalny’s allies accuse the authorities of using the law to crush dissenting voices ahead of September’s parliamentary elections.
    In an Instagram post, Yulia Navalnaya said she brought in everything her husband had told her he was missing and described preparations for the meeting.
    “The guards carefully inspect the borsch for a phone inside, cut a random patty for heroin and sniff all drinks for alcohol, then undress you and search,” Yulia said.
    She described family meeting facilities at the prison, in the town of Pokrov about 100 km (60 miles) east of Moscow, as having “a very decent look of a 2-star hotel,” with a couple of rooms and a kitchen with paintings on the walls.
    The couple spent “three happy days” without glass walls or bars, according to the post which came with a picture of Yulia posing outside the prison.    Navalny, described as very skinny but sun-tanned and smiling, was then taken back to his cell.
    Prisoners in Russian jails have some rights for family visits, but it is up to prison authorities whether to grant permission for specific requests.    Prison authorities in the Vladimir region where Navalny’s prison is located did not immediately reply to a request for a comment.
    Navalny spent nearly a month on hunger strike earlier this year demanding better medical care for leg and back pain.
    Last week, Russian authorities blocked access to Navalny’s website along with the websites inside Russia of 48 other individuals and organisations affiliated with him, in the latest chapter in a long-running crackdown on President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent domestic opponent.
(Reporting by Katya Golubkova; Editing by David Holmes)

8/5/2021 Russia Says Afghan Taliban Offensive Running Out Of Steam – Report
FILE PHOTO: A member of the Afghan Special Forces directs traffic during the rescue mission of a policeman besieged at
a check post surrounded by Taliban, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Taliban offensive in Afghanistan is “gradually running out of steam” as the group lacks resources to take over major cities, Interfax news agency quoted a senior official at Russia’s foreign ministry as saying on Thursday.
    Alexander Vikantov, deputy head of information and press at the ministry, cited examples where Afghan government forces were able to retake some districts captured by the Taliban last month, although he added that insurgent activity was notable this month near big provincial centres.
    “The Taliban lack the resources to take over and hold major cities including the capital, Kabul.    Their offensive is gradually running out of steam,” he said.
    Russia would continue to press for peace talks, he added.
    The Taliban’s rapid territorial gains in Afghanistan’s rural areas over the last few months caught many off guard, particularly the Afghan government.
    While the pace of that blitz has slowed, insurgent fighters have turned their attention to urban centres, penetrating deep into three key provincial capitals, which many fear could fall into Taliban control.
    Fighting has been particularly heavy inside the city of Herat, near the western border with Iran, Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province in the southwest, and Kandahar in the south.
    Three Taliban commanders told Reuters they had switched strategy from targeting rural areas to attacking provincial cities, in response to increased U.S. air strikes after the United States said it was ending its longest war.
    An Afghan military spokesman said this week an emergency had been declared in Lashkar Gah and government forces were getting reinforcements and U.S. air support.    “Special forces have been sent to the area.    They are in good morale,” armed forces spokesman General Ajmal Omar Shinwari told Reuters.
    The loss of Lashkar Gah would be a huge blow for the government, which has pledged to defend strategic centres after losing many rural districts to the Taliban in recent months.
(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Nick Macfie)

8/5/2021 EU Summons Belarus Envoy Over Migrant Stream To Lithuania
FILE PHOTO: Lithuanian and European Union flags flutter at Lithuanian border guards unit
headquarters near Adutiskis, Lithuania June 15, 2021. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo
    BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union has summoned the Belarusian envoy in Brussels and held talks with the Iraqi government after accusing Belarus of using illegal migrants, largely Iraqis, as a political weapon against EU sanctions imposed on Minsk.
    A spokesperson said the European Commission summoned the envoy on Wednesday in protest over a refugee problem that Lithuania says Belarus has orchestrated on its border in retaliation for EU sanctions.
    “These practices must stop and Belarus must respect its international commitments in combating irregular migration and human trafficking and migrant smuggling,” the Commission spokesperson told a news conference.
    Lithuania has reported a surge in illegal border crossings from Belarus and accused Minsk of flying in migrants from abroad and dispatching them to cross the border.
    Belarus in May decided to let migrants enter Lithuania in retaliation for EU sanctions meted out after Minsk forced a Ryanair flight to land on its soil and arrested a dissident blogger who was on board.    President Alexander Lukashenko said Belarus would not become a “holding site” for migrants from Africa and the Middle East.
    EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and other EU officials have also sought a solution with the Iraqi government that which could include a suspension of flights from Baghdad to Minsk.
    There is growing speculation that an extraordinary online meeting of EU interior ministers will convene in mid-August, normally a holiday period for EU institutions, on the migrant issue, although this is still to be confirmed.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

8/6/2021 Russia Records About 463,000 Excess Deaths In Pandemic - Reuters Calculations
FILE PHOTO: A medical specialist wearing protective gear transports a person on a stretcher at a hospital for
patients infected with COVID-19, on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia July 2, 2021. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia recorded around 463,000 excess deaths from April 2020 to June this year during the coronavirus pandemic, according to Reuters calculations based on data released by the state statistics service on Friday.
    Some epidemiologists say excess deaths are the best way to measure the real death toll from COVID-19. Russia’s coronavirus task force has confirmed a toll of 163,301 related deaths since the pandemic began.
    Excess deaths are typically defined as the difference between the observed numbers of deaths in specific time periods and expected numbers of deaths in the same time periods.    Reuters based its calculations on a comparison with the annual average of deaths in 2015-19 calculated on a monthly basis.
    Rosstat, the statistics agency, keeps a separate count from the task force and says it recorded around 315,000 deaths related to COVID-19 between last April and June this year.    Data showed that 27,118 people had died from COVID-19 or related causes in June.
    Russia experienced a surge in coronavirus cases in June and July.    Authorities blamed the more contagious Delta variant of the virus and the population’s reluctance to get vaccinated despite shots being widely available.
    The number of new daily infections has started to ease in recent weeks, but the number of daily deaths related to COVID-19 has remained near the record daily tally of 799, recorded on three separate occasions.
    The coronavirus task force reported 22,660 new COVID-19 cases on Friday and 792 deaths.    Russia has recorded more than 6.4 million cases nationwide since the start of the pandemic.
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov and Maria Tsvetkova; Writing by Alexander Marrow;Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, William Maclean)

8/6/2021 Polish Minister Criticises Supreme Court Head In Row Over Judiciary by Alan Charlish and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk
FILE PHOTO: European Union and Polish flags flutter in Mazeikiai, Lithuania April 5, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo
    WARSAW (Reuters) – A government minister accused the head of Poland’s Supreme Court on Friday of bowing to the demands of “colonial” European Union officials in a row over the independence of the judiciary that could see Warsaw face financial penalties.
    Poland’s justice minister, the architect of the judicial reforms opposed by the EU, also criticised Brussels separately.    He said Warsaw should not bow to “blackmail” and that, while he backed EU membership, it should not come “at any cost.”
    Poland faces an Aug. 16 deadline to disband a disciplinary chamber that the EU’s top court says does not guarantee judicial independence and undercuts EU laws.    If Poland fails to comply, it could be fined or eventually lose some EU funding.
    The ruling coalition, led by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, is split over whether to resist or compromise to avoid risking financial penalties.
    Late on Thursday, Malgorzata Manowska, First President of the Supreme Court, partially froze the disciplinary chamber on a temporary basis.
    She said no new cases would go to the chamber until legislative changes are made or the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issues a final verdict on the matter.
    A government spokesperson said courts act independently, and declined further comment on Manowska’s decision.
    Members of United Poland, a right-wing junior coalition partner, took a tough line against Manowska’s decision.
    “This is the absolute submission of the First President of the Supreme Court to the demands of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and Brussels officials,” Michal Wojcik, a cabinet minister and deputy head of United Poland, told Reuters.
    “This is the colonial mindset of Brussels officials and the incomprehensible mindset of the CJEU judges,” he said.    “In my opinion, our position should be completely tough.    Enough submission!.”
    Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, the head of United Poland, told Rzeczpospolita daily he opposed “succumbing to the illegal blackmail of the European Union.”
    “The belief that the EU is a good uncle and gives us money,and that we should accept all its demands at all costs, ispropaganda and false,” he said.
    Asked whether United Poland would remain in the coalition if Poland accepted the CJEU ruling, Ziobro said there were “limits to compromise.”
    Another junior coalition partner, Accord, said Poland should not put EU funding at risk.    Accord spokesperson Magdalena Sroka said she believed Manowska had done the “right thing.”
(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Agnieszka Barteczko, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

8/6/2021 Secy. Of State Blinken Meets With Ukrainian Foreign Minister by OAN Newsroom
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba
at the State Department in Washington, D.C. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
    The Biden administration made attempts to strengthen the U.S. relationship with Ukraine ahead of a meeting with the two heads of state.    The nation’s top diplomats, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, met at the White House on Thursday to exchange ideas on bilateral relations.
    “We’ll talk about challenges to each of those and the work that we’re doing together to stand for a strong Ukraine that can defend itself against external aggression,” Blinken expressed.    “Also, pursue the vitally important process of reform to strengthen even more its democracy and its economy.”
    The relationship between Ukrainan President Volodymyr Zelensky and Joe Biden has been strained of late due to Biden’s lack of action regarding the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which Ukraine has said would only help Russia develop a stronger hold on the gas market.
    Kuleba called the dialogue between the two leaders “dynamic” and hinted the conversation between the two would be about more than just the nation, but the rest of Eastern Europe as well.
    “We believe it’s in the interest not only of the United States of America and Ukraine, but also in the interests of the region that I represent,” he explained.    “Where democracy has to be advanced, where prosperity has to be promoted and where, first and foremost, security has to be ensured.”
    The meeting stood as a precursor to the first face-to-face between Biden and Zelensky, which has been scheduled for August 30.

8/6/2021 Hungary Restricts Sales Of LGBT-Themed Children’s Books
FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators protest against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban
and the latest anti-LGBTQ law in Budapest, Hungary, June 14, 2021. REUTERS/Marton Monus
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary ordered shops on Friday to sell children’s books seen as promoting homosexuality in “closed wrapping," stepping up restrictions that have set Prime Minister Viktor Orban on a collision course with rights groups and the European Union.
    The decree also included books seen as promoting gender change and containing “explicit” depictions of sexuality.    It told shops to sell them separately and banned any sale of them at all within 200 metres of a school or a church.
    The order is the first of what is expected to be a series of directives spelling out the implications of a law passed in June banning the use of materials seen as promoting homosexuality and gender reassignment at schools.
    The European Commission has launched legal action against Orban’s nationalist government over the legislation, saying it is discriminatory and contravenes European values of tolerance and individual freedom.
    Orban, in power since 2010 and facing a challenging election next year, has grown increasingly radical on social policy in a self-proclaimed crusade to safeguard what he says are traditional Christian values from Western liberalism.
    In July Hungary fined the distributor of a children’s book about same-sex “rainbow families” under a law that bans unfair trade practices.
    Orban’s government says the new law is meant to protect children and leave it up to parents to educate them about sexuality.
    Several rights groups have said the law wrongly conflates paedophilia and pornography with LGBT issues.    Ursula von der Leyen, head of the EU’s executive Commission has called it a “disgrace.”
    An Ipsos poll last month found that 46% of Hungarians support same-sex marriage.    Last month thousands of Hungarians joined the annual Budapest Pride march to protest against the law.
    The European Commission’s legal action against Hungary and a separate move against Poland are the latest salvo in a clash of cultures between Brussels and some of the EU’s newest members in eastern Europe over a range of core issues including the rule of law and press freedoms.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

8/6/2021 Russia Starts Operation To Lay Undersea Fibre Optic Cable Through Arctic by Gleb Stolyarov
A vessel sails along a coast line as it lays undersea fiber optic communications cable near
the village of Teriberka, on the Barents Sea, Russia August 6, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer
    MURMANSK, Russia (Reuters) – Russia on Friday begins laying its first undersea fibre optic communications cable through the Arctic as part of a state-run project to bring high-speed internet to its remote hydrocarbon-rich north after a private-led initiative stalled.
    Moscow is aiming to improve patchy communications and infrastructure in its far north where it has expanded its military presence and is developing the Northern Sea Route to become a major shipping lane.
    The cable link, due to be completed in 2026, will pass 12,650 kilometres (7,860 miles) over Russia’s long northern coast from the village of Teriberka, on the Barents Sea, to the far eastern port of Vladivostok.
    Dubbed the “Polar Express,” it will be operated by state-owned company Morsviazsputnik to supply stable internet in Arctic port towns as well as the Kamchatka peninsula and Sakhalin.
    Alexei Strelchenko, head of the cable-manufacturing and laying company, said it will cost 65 billion roubles ($889 million) and be financed exclusively by the state.
    The cable is manufactured in the Arctic city of Murmansk using Chinese optical fibre and Russian components, Strelchenko said. A vessel departed Murmansk on Thursday to begin laying it near Teriberka.
    The project will require additional connecting cables to link to the global communications cable network for which foreign investment would be needed, said Andrey Kuropyatnikov, chief executive of Morsviazsputnik.
    “That (will entail) partnership in terms of co-investment to expand the project to Europe and Asia.    This is a separate commercial project,” he told Reuters.    Talks are being held with companies in Asia, Europe and the United States, he said.
    A separate private-run cable project, led by Russian telecoms operator Megafon with Finnish infrastructure operator Cinia, was halted in May.    The $1 billion “Arctic Connect” project for a cable linking Helsinki to Tokyo across Russia’s north remains on hold.
    A source familiar with the Polar Express project said Megafon quit due to competition with the state as well as technical difficulties that made the project unprofitable.
    Another source familiar with Megafon’s project said it had been unable to get Russian-state approval due to national security concerns.
    Megafon told Reuters it had all the necessary state approval, but that it decided in May to review the “structure and economy” of its project, something that would take time.
($1 = 73.1100 roubles)
(Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Mike Harrison)

8/7/2021 Amsterdam Substitutes ‘Pride Walk’ For Canal Parade In 25th Anniversary Of Gay Pride
People carry a giant rainbow flag in the 25th gay pride parade in
Amsterdam, Netherlands August 7, 2021. REUTERS/Eva Plevier
    AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Amsterdam capped a month of events commemorating the 25th anniversary of its first Gay Pride festival with a “Pride Walk” through the city’s historic centre on Saturday that drew around 10,000 participants carrying flags and an enormous rainbow banner.
    Usually, one of the biggest events of the year in Amsterdam, the festival has traditionally ended with a flotilla along the city’s canals, with parties, music and dancing on the boats, quays, and in bars and people’s houses.    But the canal parade was cancelled in 2020 and again this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
    Saturday’s Pride Walk was billed as chance for Amsterdammers to not just have a party but to actively participate and show their support for LGBT rights under threat in the Netherlands and around the world.
    “Times have changed, and now a lot of (gay people) don’t feel safe anymore, even in Amsterdam 70 percent don’t dare to walk holding hands,” said Siep de Haan, who launched the first boat parade in 1996.
    Amsterdam “was a gay paradise 25 years ago and we have to get that back,” he told local broadcaster AT5.
    Flags from 71 countries around the world where homosexuality is a crime lined the route, together with a sign describing grim punishments prescribed for those convicted.
    Despite the event’s serious message, participants wore colourful outfits and marched to cheers, whistles, chants and drums as they passed through the city’s streets.
    The Gay Pride festival in Amsterdam usually draws half a million particapants and viewers.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Clelia Oziel)

8/7/2021 Poland To Dissolve Judges’ Disciplinary Chamber To Meet EU Demands by Alicja Ptak
FILE PHOTO: Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, attends a voting during
parliamentary election at a polling station in Warsaw, Poland, October 13, 2019. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
    WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland will do away with a disciplinary system for judges which the EU’s top court has ruled violates EU law, the head of the ruling PiS party said, in a bid to diffuse a row that could result in financial penalties against the country.
    Poland faces an Aug. 16 deadline set by the European Commission to disband the Disciplinary Chamber, which the EU says is being used to pressure judges or to exert political control over judicial decisions, and undercuts the bloc’s laws.
    “We will dissolve the Disciplinary Chamber as it currently operates and in this way the subject of the dispute will disappear,” Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) and a deputy prime minister, said in an interview published on Saturday with state-run news agency PAP.
    Under PiS Poland has clashed with the EU on a number of fronts, such as media independence and the rights of migrants, women and gays.
    Some legal experts say the dissolution of the Disciplinary Chamber would be a cosmetic change which would not be enough to satisfy the EU’s top court.
    “The mere dissolution of the Disciplinary Chamber doesn’t solve the problem of past, unlawful decisions and sanctions adopted by this body,” said Laurent Pech, professor of European law at Middlesex University, London.
    “If they want to comply with EU law, it is quite simple.    They have to undo everything they have done for the past five years, there is no other way,” Pech added, referring to a series of measures such as reforms to the Constitutional Tribunal, which will rule on whether the Polish constitution takes precedence over EU treaties this month.
UNCOMPROMISING STANCE
    While the Tribunal is nominally independent, most of its judges have been nominated by PiS, some to replace candidates picked by the opposition but whose appointment was refused by President Andrzej Duda, a party ally.
    The PiS-led ruling coalition is split over whether to stand firm over its legal reforms or compromise to avoid risking financial sanctions.
    Members of junior coalition partner United Poland, led by Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, architect of the reforms, have taken an uncompromising stance.
    Asked in an interview published on Friday whether United Poland would remain in the coalition if Poland accepts the EU top court’s ruling, Ziobro said there were “limits to compromise.”
    Kaczynski said reform of the judiciary, including a proposal to change the Disciplinary Chamber, had already been planned, but rejected the ruling by the EU’s top court.
    “I do not recognise these kinds of rulings as they clearly go beyond the Treaties and extend the jurisdiction of the EU courts,” Kaczynski said, adding the government would put forward its first proposals for reforming the Chamber in September.
    PiS spokespeople did not immediately respond to questions about details of the planned reforms.
    The head of Poland’s Supreme Court on Thursday partially froze the Disciplinary Chamber, saying no new cases would go to it until legislative changes are introduced or until the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issues a final verdict on the matter.
(Reporting by Alicja PtakEditing by Alan Charlish and David Holmes)

8/7/2021 Uzbek President Mirziyoyev Set To Run For Second Term
Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev attends a news conference with his Kazakh counterpart
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Tashkent, Uzbekistan April 15, 2019. REUTERS/Mukhtar Kholdorbekov
    TASHKENT (Reuters) - Uzbekistan’s ruling Liberal Democratic party plans to nominate President Shavkat Mirziyoyev as its candidate in the Oct. 24 election, the party said on Saturday.
    Mirziyoyev, 64, is widely expected to run for a second term, and win, but has so far made no comment on his plans.    He came to power in 2016 following the death of Islam Karimov, the Central Asian nation’s former Soviet leader and first president.
    Since assuming office, Mirziyoyev has launched an ambitious economic reform programme, opening up the nation of 34 million to foreign trade and investment, and eased restrictions on religious and media freedoms, but the political system remains highly centralised.
    Four other candidates have been nominated so far by other political parties, all of which have seats in parliament although opposition parties never criticise the president.
(Reporting by Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov; writing by Olzhas Auyezov; editing by Jason Neely and Clelia Oziel)

8/8/2021 Close Ally Of Kremlin Critic Navalny Leaves Russia Amid Crackdown – Media
FILE PHOTO: Lyubov Sobol, a Russian opposition figure and a close ally of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny,
speaks with journalists after a court hearing in Moscow, Russia April 15, 2021. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva
    Sobol could not be reached for comment. Her allies declined to speak on her behalf. The outlets said she had flown to Turkey on Saturday evening.    The chief editor of the Ekho Moskvy radio station also said she had left the country.
    The 33-year-old is one of the most well-known faces of Navalny’s entourage. She stayed behind in Moscow this year as other close political allies fled fearing prosecution ahead of September’s parliamentary elections.
    Sobol was sentenced to 1-1/2 years of parole-like restrictions on Tuesday for flouting COVID-19 curbs on protests, a charge she called politically-motivated nonsense.    The restrictions included not being allowed to leave home at night.
    After the ruling, she said on Ekho Moskvy radio station that the sentence had not yet come into force and that the restrictions were not effective.    “Essentially, you can interpret this as the possibility of leaving the country,” she said.
    Navalny’s allies have faced mounting pressure.    This week a June court ruling formally came into force outlawing the nationwide activist network built up by Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest domestic opponent, as “extremist”
    Navalny himself is serving 2-1/2 years in jail for parole violations in an embezzlement case he says was trumped up.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth; additional reporting by Anton Zverev, Maria Tsvetkova; Olzhas Auyezov; editing by Katya Golubkova and David Evans)

8/9/2021 Russia, China Launch Joint Anti-Terror Drills by OAN Newsroom
Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
Summit in Qingdao in eastern China’s Shandong Province. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
    Russia has launched joint military drills with Chinese troops at a training ground in Northwestern China.    The exercise kicked off on Monday and involved the forces of Russia’s Eastern Military District and China’s Western Theatre Command.
    The drills come amid rising security risks in Afghanistan as well as claims Russia and China were bracing to fill the vacuum left in the country after a withdrawal of U.S. troops.
    Chinese officials have expressed gratitude to learn from their Russian counterparts.
    “The drill reflects new concepts and new operation methods, which include saturation attack, deep-sky air landing, and drone-swarming sabotage,” explained Director Han Lin of Strategy and Campaign Training Bureau, People’s Liberation Army.    “As to practice the joint operation methods of instant concentration of fire and forces, interactions between multiple domains and rapid victory.”
    Russian officials went on to explain the drills focus on anti-terrorism operations and would not involve any form of strategic weapons. The joint exercise is expected to last through Friday.

8/9/2021 Defiant Belarus Leader Shrugs Off Sanctions, Says Athlete Was ‘Manipulated’ by Natalia Zinets, William James and Elizabeth Piper
FILE PHOTO: Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who left the Olympic Games in Tokyo and seeks
asylum in Poland, holds a t-shirt at a news conference in Warsaw, Poland August 5, 2021. REUTERS/Darek Golik
    KYIV/LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A defiant President Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday a Belarusian sprinter defected at the Olympic Games only because she had been “manipulated” by outside forces and shrugged off a coordinated barrage of new Western sanctions.
    At an hours-long news conference on the anniversary of an election which opponents said was rigged so that he could win, Lukashenko denied being a dictator and said he had defended Belarus against opponents plotting a coup.
    As he spoke in his presidential palace in Minsk, Britain, Canada and the United States announced coordinated sanctions targeting the Belarusian economy and its financial sector, including exports of oil products and potash, which is used in fertilisers and is Belarus’ main foreign currency earner.
    Lukashenko said Britain would “choke” on its measures and he was ready for talks with the West instead of a sanctions war.
    Lukashenko said he had won the presidential election fairly on Aug. 9, 2020 and that some people had been “preparing for a fair election, while others were calling … for a coup d’état.”
    Tens of thousands of people joined street protests in 2020 – Lukashenko’s biggest challenge since he became president in 1994.    He responded with a crackdown in which many opponents have been arrested or gone into exile. They deny planning a coup.
    Dismissing accusations that he is a dictator, he said: “In order to dictate – I am a completely sane person – you need to have the appropriate resources.    I have never dictated anything to anyone and I am not going to.”
    Belarus has again been in the international spotlight since sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya fled to Warsaw last week following a dispute with her coaches in which she said an order came from “high up” to send her home from Tokyo.
    “She wouldn’t do it herself, she was manipulated.    It was from Japan, from Tokyo, that she contacted her buddies in Poland and they told her – literally – when you come to the airport, run to a Japanese police officer and shout that those who dropped her off at the airport are KGB agents,” Lukashenko said.
    “There was not a single special service agent in Japan.”
DICTATORSHIP DENIAL
    Lukashenko, 66, has kept power with political support and financial backing from Russia, which sees Belarus as a buffer state against the NATO military alliance and the European Union.
    Belarus would respond if necessary to sanctions pressure but “there is no need to take up the sanction axes and pitchforks,” he said.
    Western countries announcing sanctions cited violations of human rights and election fraud.    U.S. President Joe Biden decried what he called a “brutal campaign of repression to stifle dissent.”
    “…The actions of the Lukashenka regime are an illegitimate effort to hold on to power at any price.    It is the responsibility of all those who care about human rights, free and fair elections, and freedom of expression to stand against this oppression,” Biden said.
    Biden’s executive order allows the United States to block people doing business with a wide range of Belarusian officials and others involved in activities in the country regarded as corrupt.    It also restricts the transfer of their property in the United States and their travel to the country.
    The British sanctions also prohibited the purchase of transferable securities and money-market instruments issued by the Belarusian state and state-owned banks.    Canada unveiled similar action.
    Previous sanctions, including by the EU, have not persuaded Lukashenko to change course.
    “While we take it with patience, let’s sit down at the negotiating table and start talking about how to get out of this situation, because we will get bogged down in it with no way back,” Lukashenko said.
    Tensions with Western powers hit new heights after Belarus forced a plane to land in Minsk in May and arrested a dissident Belarusian journalist who was on board.
    Separately, neighbouring Lithuania and Poland accuse Belarus of trying to engineer a migrant crisis in retaliation for EU sanctions.
    Poland reported a record number of migrants had crossed the border from Belarus since Friday, saying they were probably from Iraq and Afghanistan.
    Lukashenko says Lithuania and Poland are to blame.
    He also denied involvement in the death last week of Vitaly Shishov, who led a Kyiv-based organisation that helps Belarusians fleeing persecution. Shishov was found hanged in Kyiv.
    Lukashenko’s opponents say there are now more than 600 political prisoners in jail.
    “Sanctions are not a silver bullet, but they will help stop the repression,” exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said in Vilnius.
(Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington, Gwladys Fouche in Oslo, Tom Balmforth, Katya Golubkova and Olzhas Auyezov in Moscow, Elizabeth Piper and William James in London, Alan Charlish in Warsaw; Writing by Matthias Williams and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Giles Elgood)

8/9/2021 Treated Like A ‘Toy’: Another Belarusian Athlete On Life Under Lukashenko by Margaryta Chornokondratenko
Konstantin Yakovlev, a 36-year-old Belarusian handball coach, stands on a street in Kyiv, Ukraine, August 5, 2021. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
    KYIV (Reuters) – After Konstantin Yakovlev’s handball team won the Belarusian championship in 2007, they were about to go on holiday in the off season when they were told to stay put and wait for a special visitor: President Alexander Lukashenko.
    Yakovlev, 36, recalls how his team had to put their kit on and hold a pretend practice session that Lukashenko could watch.    They were also given special instructions beforehand on how to speak to the 66-year-old president.
    “We all want to go on vacation, and instead we had to wait for granddad, in front of whom adult men – some in their thirties, many have children and families – and we must wait and arrange some kind of circus in front of him, in full dress, create the illusion of training,” he said.
    They had their photo taken with Lukashenko but were not allowed to keep a copy because Lukashenko didn’t like the way he looked in the pictures, Yakovlev added.
    The episode, he said, offers a snapshot of sporting life under Lukashenko, who unleashed a violent crackdown on street protests after winning a disputed election one year ago.
    Lukashenko’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
    An avid ice hockey player, Lukashenko has championed sport in his 27-year-long rule of the ex-Soviet republic but professional athletes were some of the most prominent figures to speak out against him.    Some were detained, lost state jobs or were kicked off national teams.
    Now a coach after finishing his playing career, Yakovlev moved to Ukraine on Aug. 1, in the same week as his compatriot Krystsina Tsimanouskaya refused team orders to leave the Tokyo Olympics, culminating in her escape to Poland.
    “Of course, he very much refers to sports as like his own toy, and this toy began to resist him, so to speak,” Yakovlev said in an interview in Kyiv.
    “He is an illegitimate president, he lost the elections, and this is obvious to everyone.”
    Yakovlev joined the protests last year and added his signature to an open letter by sporting figures calling for a re-run of the election.    But he decided to leave the country with his three young children, after being detained for two weeks in June on what he said were trumped-up charges.
    Yakovlev has a tattoo running down his right leg, of him as a player with the numbers 23 displayed on his kit jersey and 34 on his shorts.    The numbers correspond to 23.34 – the article in the Belarusian administrative code under which he was detained.
    Tsimanouskaya rebelled when her team entered her into a 4x400m relay race without her knowledge.    The row and her defection were another sporting setback for Lukashenko, after Belarus was stripped of its right to host this year’s ice hockey world championships.
    “I think that the person was boiling over from injustice, from the stupidity of Belarusian bureaucrats,” Yakovlev said.
    Lukashenko and his son Viktor, who took over from his father as head of the Belarusian National Olympic Committee, were banned by the International Olympic Committee from attending the Games.
    “We have already become toxic as a country,” said Yakovlev.
(Additional reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber in Warsaw; writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

8/9/2021 Poland Reports Record Number Of Migrants At Belarusian Border
Polish border patrol officers detain people attempting to cross the border between Belarus and Poland,
in this handout picture released on August 9, 2021. Main Command of the Polish Border Patrol/Handout via REUTERS
    WARSAW (Reuters) – A record number of migrants have crossed the Polish border with Belarus since Friday, the Border Guard said on Monday, amid accusations Minsk is using illegal crossings to pressure European Union states.
    Poland and Lithuania have seen a surge in illegal migration in recent weeks that is so severe the countries have appealed to the EU for help, with the parliament in Vilnius planning an extraordinary session on Tuesday to discuss the issue.
    Authorities in the countries have accused President Alexander Lukashenko of using migrants to put pressure on the EU to reverse sanctions on the country or to hit back at Poland for giving refuge to Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, a Belarusian athlete who refused to return home from the Tokyo Olympics.
    The Polish Border Guard said in a statement on Monday it had detained 349 illegal migrants crossing the Belarus border since Friday.    It said the migrants were probably from Iraq and Afghanistan.br>     Border Guard spokeswoman Anna Michalska said the numbers of migrants detained since Friday were a record.
    The largest group of 85 people was detained by officers from the Kuznica station on Saturday, according to the statement.
    This year the Podlasie Branch of the Border Guard, which works on the border with Belarus, has detained 871 illegal immigrants.
    In 2020 the Border Guard detained 122 illegal migrants crossing the Belarusian border.
    On Friday, Poland and Lithuania called on European institutions to help them deal with migration.    European Union home affairs ministers will discuss the issue at an extraordinary meeting on Aug. 18.
    Lukashenko said that Belarus would retaliate when “hit” and that western countries should not use sanctions against Belarus.
    “(Sanctions) can have the opposite effect, which is shown by the reality of today’s events on the Belarusian-Polish, Belarusian-Ukrainian, Belarusian-Lithuanian, and Belarusian-Latvian borders,” he told a news conference on Monday.
    Monday marked the first anniversary of an election which opponents said was rigged to let Lukashenko win.    Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in the biggest challenge to his rule since he became president in 1994.
    He says he won the election fairly and responded with a crackdown on opponents in which many have been arrested or gone into exile abroad.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish in Warsaw, additional reporting by Natalia Zinets in Kyiv, Matthias Williams in London and Gwladys Fouch in Oslo, Editing by Angus MacSwan)

8/9/2021 Canada Imposes New Sanctions On Belarus, Targets Financial Sector
FILE PHOTO: Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau meets with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki
(not seen), in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank July 5, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
    OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada, acting with the United States and Britain, imposed new sanctions on Belarus on Monday to protest against what it called gross violations of human rights under President Alexander Lukashenko.
    Foreign Minister Marc Garneau said Ottawa would target transferable securities and money market instruments, debt financing, insurance and reinsurance, petroleum products and potassium chloride products. Washington and London announced similar measures.
    Canada acted on the first anniversary of a presidential election which opponents said was rigged in favor of Lukashenko.
    “Since then, the grave injustices carried out by the Belarusian government against its own people have not stopped… these measures will apply further pressure on Belarus’s leadership,” Garneau said.
    Canada has to date sanctioned 72 Belarusian officials and five entities.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

8/9/2021 Czech Government Opts For Interim Spymaster Amid Political Row
FILE PHOTO: Czech Republic's Prime Minister Andrej Babis arrives to attend a face-to-face EU summit amid
the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown in Brussels, Belgium December 10, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman/Pool
    PRAGUE (Reuters) – The Czech government delayed appointing a new head of its BIS counterintelligence agency on Monday in a move seen as allowing Prime Minister Andrej Babis to keep the country’s president on his side going into an October election.
    President Milos Zeman has attacked the BIS’s work on numerous occasions, berating it for warning about the intelligence activities of his Chinese and Russian allies in the country.
    Zeman’s support is crucial for Babis, whose ANO party is leading in opinion polls ahead of the Oct. 8-9 election, as only the president has the power to appoint a new prime minister.
    “The one thing Andrej Babis cannot afford is to lose the favour of president Zeman,” political analyst Jan Kvetina told Czech Television.
    The government on Monday approved outgoing chief Michal Koudelka as temporary director until a permanent chief is appointed. Respected by western allies, Koudelka, whose tenure expires on Aug. 15, has led the agency since 2016.
    The issue in sensitive in Prague. Pro-Russia and pro-China Zeman is no friend of Koudelka, while the prime minister is anxious not to alienate Western allies, who value the spy chief.
    Appointing a new BIS chief could take months as tough negotiations to form a government are expected after the election.
    “We think that such an important job should be decided by a new government, which wins the confidence of the people and the parliament,” Babis said.
    The biggest row involving the BIS erupted in April, when Czech officials accused Russian military intelligence officers of causing an explosion at an army depot which killed two people in 2014.
    Prague expelled dozens of diplomats and other staff from the Russian embassy, while Moscow described the Czech Republic as an “unfriendly” nation.
    Zeman claimed there were more avenues to be investigated, but the government and police disagreed.
    He has previously claimed that the nerve agent novichok, used in an assassination attempt in the English city of Salisbury, was made in the Czech Republic, a move seen as attempting to deflect criticism of Moscow.
    He also opposed extradition to the United States of a hacker with Russian roots accused of breaching the data of major U.S. companies. (Reporting by Robert Muller; Editing by Giles Elgood)

8/9/2021 The Facebook Group That Staged First In Cuba’s Wave Of Protests by Sarah Marsh
FILE PHOTO: People shout slogans against the government during a protest against and in support of the government,
amidst the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Havana, Cuba July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini/File Photo
    HAVANA (Reuters) – “Tired of having no electricity?” read a post in a Facebook group for residents of the small Cuban town of San Antonio de los Banos on July 10.    “Fed up of having to listen to the impudence of a government that doesn’t care about you?.”
    “It’s time to go out and to make demands.    Don’t criticize at home: let’s make them listen to us.”
    The next day, thousands took to the street in San Antonio, a town of some 50,000 people, 30 km (20 miles) southwest of Havana, kicking off a rare wave of protests https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/street-protests-break-out-cuba-2021-07-11 throughout the Communist-run country.
    Unrest has been growing across Latin America and the Caribbean as unease spreads over COVID-19 lockdowns and rising poverty.    But in Cuba authorities have traditionally tightly controlled public spaces, saying unity is key to resisting coup attempts by old Cold War foe the United States.
    The protests, Cuba’s most widespread since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, appeared largely spontaneous as Cubans vented frustrations over long lines for food, power outages, medicine shortages as well as curbs on civil freedoms.
    Yet an investigation by non-state Cuban outlet El Estornudo https://revistaelestornudo.medium.com/la-villa-del-humor-el-grupo-de-facebook-detr%C3%A1s-de-las-protestas-en-san-antonio-de-los-ba%C3%B1os-ec0a9f8ba1ec – cited by state television https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8FWLLhp8zU and confirmed by Reuters – recently showed that the first protest was convened online by a San     Antonio community forum for local people and those who had emigrated.
    The Facebook group “City of Humor” – the nickname for San Antonio which hosts a biannual humor festival – was first created in 2017 as a social space, according to one of its three administrators, Miami-based Alexander Perez.
    Over time, people also started expressing their gripes, said Perez, 44, a pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
    That prompted him and the other administrators Danilo Roque and Lazaro Gonzalez to try to “educate them” about their civil rights and claiming them through peaceful protest.
    Neither Roque nor Gonzalez, whom Perez described as two younger men who lived in San Antonio operating under the pseudonyms to avoid reprisals, responded to request for comment.
    The backstory shows how the recent expansion of web access in Cuba has been a gamechanger in fostering forums on social media to share criticism and to mobilize.
    It also shows how strengthening relations with the Cuban diaspora – thanks to the internet and greater freedom of movement – is influencing politics on the island at a grassroots level.
    Virtual communities like “The City of Humor” exist nationwide and emigres are exhorting local people on them to keep on protesting and expressing solidarity, with some even urging violence.
    All this poses a challenge to the government which has allowed relatively unfettered access to the internet, unlike China, which blocks many Western social media apps.
    Cuba has blamed the protests on online meddling by counter-revolutionaries backed by the United States, which has for decades openly sought to force reform on it through sanctions and financing for democracy programs.
    The administrators of the “City of Humor” did not receive any U.S. funding nor had they coordinated protests with other towns, Perez said.
    Cuba, where the state has a monopoly on telecommunications, has suffered intermittent disruptions in access to internet and social media since July 11, in an apparent bid to prevent further unrest.
    Protests petered out within a couple of days amid those outages, a large deployment of security forces and a wave of detentions https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/cuba-begins-handing-out-sentences-protesters-some-families-left-dark-2021-07-21.
TEACHING CIVIL RIGHTS
    Posts in “The City of Humor” – which jumped from around 4,000 to nearly 10,000 members after the July 11 protest – show users reminiscing, selling items, promoting businesses and complaining about local issues like water supply.
    Perez said the administrators decided three years ago to also attempt to rally the community to demonstrate over shared gripes, with little success.
    Last month they felt the time was ripe to try again.
    The pandemic and tighter U.S. sanctions had exacerbated Cuba’s economic woes, plunging it into its deepest crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union.    And the COVID-19 surge https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/cuba-gripped-by-unrest-battles-highest-covid-caseload-americas-2021-07-19 was pushing its already creaking healthcare infrastructure to the brink.
    “We decided this was the moment,” said Perez.
    The announcement of the protest at the church park at 11 a.m. spread by word-of-mouth and messenging applications, according to three San Antonio residents who requested anonymity.
    But Perez said he had such low expectations that anyone would show up that he went to the beach that day.    So he was stunned to get a call to say the small early turnout had snowballed.
    “We certainly never imagined that San Antonio would be the spark that lit the flame causing Cuba to take to the streets three hours later,” he said.
    Videos on social media showed San Antonio protesters shouting anti-government slogans like “freedom” and “we are not afraid.”
    “My town came out in force because it just can’t take any more,” said one resident, requesting anonymity.
    Within hours, President Miguel Diaz-Canel himself showed up, in a bid – he said later in a televised address to the nation – to show “the streets belong to revolutionaries.”
    Some videos on social media showed him being heckled but the unrest there and elsewhere soon dwindled amid a crackdown.
    Perez said a heavy security presence in San Antonio meant Cubans would have to bide their time until another protest.
    But it was noteworthy, he said, that the government already enacted reforms like lifting customs restrictions https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/cuba-lifts-food-medicine-customs-restrictions-after-protests-2021-07-15 for travelers bringing in medicine and food in response https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/street-protests-could-pressure-cuba-speed-up-economic-reforms-2021-08-04 to the protests.
    “If we manage to achieve this in a few hours of protest” he wondered, “what happens if we spend three days in the streets?”
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh, Editing by Daniel Flynn and Angus MacSwan)

8/10/2021 Norway Government Faces Big Defeat In Sept Election, Poll Shows
FILE PHOTO: Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg speaks during an Emergency Declaration for Nature and People event after the 2019 United
Nations Climate Action Summit at the U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., September 23, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/
    OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s centre-left opposition parties are expected to defeat the incumbent Conservative-led coalition government by a two-to-one margin in next month’s election for parliament, a new opinion poll showed on Tuesday.
    The Sept. 13 vote could thus end Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s quest for a third consecutive term and instead give Labour Party leader Jonas Gahr Stoere a chance to negotiate a power-sharing agreement with left-leaning groups.
    Widely praised last year for a swift coronavirus lockdown, giving Norway one of Europe’s lowest COVID-19 mortality rates, Solberg nevertheless faces a backlash over economic inequality and public sector reforms that have proven unpopular.
    In April the prime minister was fined by police for breaking social distancing rules at her birthday gathering, further damaging her standing.
    The Conservatives and smaller parties on the centre-right look set to win 55 seats in the 169-member assembly, down from 88, while the centre-left could grow to 114 from 81, the survey showed.
    The Aug. 2-6 poll by the Kantar agency for independent TV2 comes just as the election campaign kicks off and confirms a downwards trend shown in earlier polls.
    Campaigning on a slogan that it is now the “common people’s turn,” Labour promises tax relief for low and middle income families, an end to privatisation of public services, more money for hospitals and a tax hike on the top 20% of incomes.
    Norway’s Green Party is also set to boost its presence in parliament, as is the far-left Red, and both will seek to influence a Labour-led government.
    Adding to the complexity, Centre leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum has declared himself a candidate for prime minister, rivalling Stoere, although his party now polls around 16%, lagging Labour’s 23.5%.
    A growing rural-urban divide, in which many voters objected to the reorganisation of police, healthcare and municipalities, in many cases centralising key functions, has been a boost for Vedum, who got just 10.3% in 2017.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

8/10/2021 “Free Media”: Poles Protest Against Changes To Broadcasting Law by Alicja Ptak and Pawel Florkiewicz
FILE PHOTO: Private television TVN logo is see on satellite antenna at their headquarters
in Warsaw, Poland February 10, 2021. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
    WARSAW (Reuters) – Thousands of people across Poland protested in defence of media freedoms on Tuesday, objecting to draft legislation that critics say could shut down a U.S.-owned broadcaster critical of the government.
    Parliament is scheduled to vote on the legislation on Wednesday.
    The vote to tighten rules on foreign ownership of Polish media threatens to sour relations with Washington and deepen concern in the European Union over democratic standards in the bloc’s east.    Issues such as judicial independence and LGBT rights have already brought Poland and Hungary into conflict with Brussels.
    In Warsaw, one of around 80 towns and cities where protests were organised, people brandished placards with slogans such as “Free Media, Free People, Free Poland.”
    “If it happened (that TVN24 lost its licence) … it’s the end – there is no democracy, no freedom of speech,” said 66-year-old designer Iwona Leliwa-Kopystynska.
    TVN24 footage showed protesters on the roof of the Culture Ministry in Warsaw with banners reading “Free Media” and “Poland Free of Facism.”
    The amendment to the Broadcasting Act would strengthen a ban on non-European firms controlling Polish broadcasters.
    “Would we like Polish media … to be acquired without any regulations by anyone from around the world without any obstacles?”    Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki asked reporters earlier.
    While Morawiecki’s Law and Justice (PiS) party says it wants to stop countries such as Russia or China taking control of Polish broadcasters, critics say it aims to gag TVN24, Poland’s most popular news channel, whose licence expires on Sept. 26.
FOREIGN INFLUENCE
    TVN24’s parent, TVN, is owned by the U.S.-based media group Discovery Inc. via a firm registered in the Netherlands, to get around a ban on non-European firms owning more than 49% of Polish media companies.
    TVN has called the bill, which would close that loophole, an attempt to limit media freedom.
    PiS has long argued that foreign media groups distort public debate in Poland in a way that harms Polish interests.
    But the bill risks upsetting an important ally.
    TVN, estimated to be worth over $1 billion, is the biggest American investment in Poland.    U.S. State Department Counselor Derek Chollet has said future American investments could be jeopardised if TVN24’s licence is not renewed.
    Critics say the government is adopting tactics tried and tested by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a close ideological ally of PiS.
    Hungarian public broadcasters have largely become mouthpieces for the government, while several other media outlets have been shut or taken over by government-friendly interests.
    Critics say that since PiS came to power, Poland’s public broadcaster, TVP, has become an outlet for government propaganda.
(Reporting by Alicja Ptak and Pawel Florkiewicz in Warsaw, additional reporting by Krisztina Than in Budapest, writing by Alan Charlish; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
[THE GLOBALIST SOCIALIST ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT NOW KNOWS THE U.S. IS COMPROMISED BY THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND IT IS CONTINUING TO SHUT DOWN POLAND AND HUNGARY FROM ANY PATH TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEIR POPULATION WITH INFLUENCE FROM RUSSIA AND CHINA IS NOW INVOLVED.].

8/10/2021 Latvia And Lithuania Move To Stop Migrants Arriving Via Belarus
FILE PHOTO: Lithuanian army soldiers install razor wire on the border with
Belarus in Druskininkai, Lithuania July 9, 2021. REUTERS/Janis Laizans/File Photo
    VILNIUS (Reuters) - Latvia declared a state of emergency along its border on Tuesday and Lithuania decided to erect a fence in new measures to deter migrants they say Belarus is encouraging to cross illegally in order to pressure European states.
    Rising numbers of migrants have reached Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, which accuse Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of using the issue to press the EU to reverse sanctions.
    Poland says Belarus is retaliating against Warsaw’s decision this week to give refuge to Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, a Belarusian athlete who refused to return home from the Tokyo Olympics.
    Belarus in May decided to let migrants enter Lithuania in retaliation for EU sanctions imposed after Minsk forced a Ryanair flight to land on its soil and arrested a dissident blogger on board.    Lukashenko said Belarus would not become a “holding site” for migrants from Africa and the Middle East.
    On Tuesday, the Latvian government declared a state of emergency in border areas, which allows its military and police to support border guards.
    The border guard, armed forces and police will be authorised to instruct illegal immigrants to return to the country they came from, and use physical force if they refuse, the Baltic News Service (BNS) said.
    The state of emergency runs from Wednesday until Nov. 10 and requires the approval of parliament, which is expected on Thursday.
    Some 283 people have been detained for illegally crossing into Latvia from Belarus since Aug. 6, BNS said, bringing the total for the year to 343 people.
    In neighbouring Lithuania, parliament voted to build a four-metre (13 feet) metal fence topped with razor wire on 508 km (316 miles) of the 670 km border it shares with Belarus.
    “Without this physical barrier, it is impossible to protect our borders, it is very clear,” Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite told Reuters.
    The Lithuanian parliament also voted to allow the military to patrol the border alongside frontier guards and to turn back people deemed to have crossed illegally.
    Those wanting to claim asylum must now do so at an official border crossing or at an embassy.
    So far this year 4,026 people have illegally crossed into Lithuania, a country of 2.8 million, from Belarus, the Lithuanian interior ministry said last week, compared with 74 in total in 2020.
    Most come from Iraq, followed by the Republic of Congo and Cameroon, according to the Lithuanian Border Guard.    Lithuania says Belarus allows them to head for the Lithuanian border after they have flown to the Belarusian capital, Minsk.
(Reporting by Janis Laizans, Ints Kalnins, Gwladys Fouche and Nerijus Adomaitis, writing by Gwladys Fouche; editing by John Stonestreet and Giles Elgood)

8/10/2021 New Bulgaria Polls Loom After ITN Party Gives Up On Forming Government by Tsvetelia Tsolova
FILE PHOTO: A general view shows the first plenary session of the new parliament
in Sofia, Bulgaria, April 15, 2021. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov/File Photo
    SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria’s largest political grouping gave up efforts to lead a minority government on Tuesday following a razor-thin victory in last month’s parliamentary election, increasing the prospect of new polls later this year.
    The anti-establishment There Is Such a People (ITN) party narrowly won the second 2021 election on July 11, bolstered by public anger against widespread corruption after over a decade of dominance by former centre-right premier Boyko Borissov.
    But with just 65 seats it needed the support of other smaller parties in the fractured chamber of 240 lawmakers, having declined cooperation with Borissov’s GERB or the ethnic Turkish MRF party.
    Yet it failed win the backing of its potential allies, two small anti-corruption parties, after refusing to sign a political agreement with them and proposing ministers which they saw as unfit to battle high-level graft in the European Union’s poorest member state.
    In a statement streamed live on Facebook, ITN leader Slavi Trifonov said he would not put his proposed minority government to a vote in parliament and accused the two parties of betrayal.
    “Without the support of the protest parties we will not propose a government,” Trifonov said.
    “It is clear that the protest against GERB and all (that was) done by GERB has stayed in the past, while now in the parliament we see political ambitions, hypocrisy, lies, betrayals and games that are absolutely unacceptable for me.”
    ITN’s failure to lead a government increases the prospect of new elections this year, creating a political vacuum that could hamper Bulgaria’s ability to tackle an expected new upsurge in COVID-19 or tap into the EU’s coronavirus Recovery Fund.
    “The present lack of clarity concerning a multi-year policy programme, for which a permanent government is crucial … makes the economy more vulnerable amid the health crisis,” said Dennis Shen, an analyst with Scope rating agency.
    “The uncertainty might, in addition, affect the timetable for euro-area accession,” he said.
    Under the constitution, there will be two more attempts to form a government by other parties, but analysts say their chances of success look limited.
    On Tuesday, Trifonov said ITN would not back any new attempt to form a government within the current parliament, despite calls from smaller parties to agree on a cabinet with a limited lifeline of six to eight months to avoid a political crisis.
(Reporting by Tsvetelia TsolovaEditing by Bernadette Baum, David Holmes and Giles Elgood)

8/10/2021 Russia Opens New Criminal Case Against Navalny Allies by Tom Balmforth and Anton Zverev
FILE PHOTO: Russian opposition politicians Alexei Navalny, Lyubov Sobol and Ivan Zhdanov take part in a
rally to mark the 5th anniversary of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov's murder and to protest against proposed
amendments to the country's constitution, in Moscow, Russia February 29, 2020. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian authorities on Tuesday announced a criminal investigation into two allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny for raising funds for his political network, which Moscow has banned as extremist.
    The case against Leonid Volkov and Ivan Zhdanov, who are based abroad, is the first time law enforcement has publicly opened an investigation based on a June court ruling that declared Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation and regional groups extremist.
    The crime is punishable by up to eight years in jail, a sign of the rising stakes for Navalny’s political allies.
    The extremism ruling, which came into force last week, made it illegal to donate to their groups and dealt a blow to the movement built up by President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest domestic opponent ahead of parliamentary elections in September.
    While Navalny sits in jail, his allies Volkov and Zhdanov are trying to keep his anti-Kremlin cause alive by outlining their political strategy to supporters on YouTube and social media.
    Navalny is serving a 2-1/2-year sentence for parole violations he calls trumped up.
    The Investigative Committee, which handles probes into serious crimes, said in a statement that it was investigating other unnamed individuals as well as Zhdanov and Volkov.
    For years, Navalny and his allies have crowdfunded donations from supporters via their group’s website and other platforms.    They have raised funds using bitcoin, which cannot be traced by Russian authorities.
    Since the extremism ruling, his allies have encouraged backers to donate via cryptocurrencies to protect them from possible prosecution.
    Zhdanov described the case against him as “nonsense” in a post on Instagram and said he had lost count of the number of cases against him.
    Volkov and Zhdanov are also accused of other crimes that they say are part of a campaign to crush their activism and dismantle Navalny’s movement.
    On Sunday, Russian media outlets reported that Lyubov Sobol, a close Navalny ally, had left Russia and flown to Turkey. She has not commented on her whereabouts and her allies have declined to comment.
    Separately, a court on Tuesday rejected a lawsuit filed by Navalny against President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson who accused him last October of working with the CIA, an allegation Navalny had said was libellous.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Anton Zverev; editing by Giles Elgood and Angus MacSwan)

8/10/2021 Russia Showcases New Arms At Drill Near Afghan Border
Russian servicemen participate in joint military drills involving Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, at the Harb-Maidon training
ground, located near the Tajik-Afghan border in the Khatlon Region of Tajikistan August 10, 2021. REUTERS/Didor Sadulloev
    HARB-MAIDON TRAINING GROUND, Tajikistan (Reuters) – Soldiers from Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan used new Russian firearms, flamethrowers and surface-to-air missile launchers in military drills which concluded on Tuesday just 20 km (12 miles) from the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border.
    Moscow and its Central Asian ex-Soviet allies have held two separate sets of military exercises close to Afghanistan this month as Taliban militants overran much of the country’s northern provinces directly adjacent to Central Asia.
    Tajik Defence Minister Sherali Mirzo told reporters at the training grounds the drills were being held with Afghanistan in mind.
    “The situation in Afghanistan is unpredictable,” he said.
    Shukhrat Khalmukhamedov, chief of the general staff of the Uzbek armed forces, said that “this situation requires us to remain vigilant and to maintain our combat readiness.”
    The drills involved 2,500 servicemen, hundreds of armoured vehicles and 25 aircraft.    The Russian forces involved came from the military base located in Tajikistan – Moscow’s biggest facility abroad.
    Russian Central military district commander Alexander Lapin said the showcased weaponry would remain at the Tajik base.
    Taliban fighters tightened their control of captured territory in northern Afghanistan on Tuesday as residents hid in their homes and a pro-government commander vowed to fight to the death to defend Mazar-i-Sharif, the biggest city in the north.
(Reporting by Nazarali Pirnazarov; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Nick Macfie)

8/10/2021 Britain Imposes Sanctions On Belarus, Lukashenko Retorts: ‘Choke On Them’ by William James and Elizabeth Piper
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin
in Saint Petersburg, Russia July 13, 2021. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolskyi/Kremlin via REUTERS
    LONDON (Reuters) - Britain imposed sanctions on Belarus’s potash and petroleum product exports on Monday in an attempt to put pressure on President Alexander Lukashenko, who swiftly retorted that London should “choke on” the new measures.
    So far Western sanctions have done little to persuade Lukashenko, in power in the former Soviet republic since 1994, to change course from a crackdown on his political opponents.
    The British sanctions, which prohibited the purchase of transferable securities and money-market instruments issued by the Belarusian state and its state-owned banks, are the latest sanctions imposed by the West over Lukashenko’s crackdown.
    The package also includes measures to prevent Belarusian air carriers from overflying or landing in the United Kingdom and a prohibition on the provision of technical assistance to Lukashenko’s fleet of luxury aircraft.
    State-owned Belaruskali is the world’s top potash producer and accounts for a fifth of global potash trade.
    “These sanctions demonstrate that the UK will not accept Lukashenko’s actions since the fraudulent election,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.    “The Lukashenko regime continues to crush democracy and violate human rights in Belarus.”
    “The products of Lukashenko’s state-owned industries will not be sold in the UK, and our aerospace companies will not touch his fleet of luxury aircraft.”
    Asked about the sanctions, Lukashenko said Britain should choke on the sanctions.
    “You are America’s lapdogs,” he said of Britain.
    Monday marked the first anniversary of an election which opponents said was rigged to let Lukashenko win.    Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in the biggest challenge to his rule since he became president in 1994.
    He says he won the election fairly and responded with a crackdown on opponents in which many have been arrested or gone into exile abroad.
    “These measures represent a significant additional step in bringing pressure to bear on the Lukashenko regime,” Britain’s foreign ministry said.
    “They are carefully targeted to build pressure on Lukashenko, state institutions and those around him to change behaviour, while minimising, as far as possible, any unintended consequences on the wider population in Belarus.”
    Britain said the United States was also announcing new measures on Monday.    But EU sanctions designed to punish Lukashenko for the crackdown will leave him largely unscathed and able to continue financing the economy and his security forces, rating agencies and analysts say.
    Belaruskali also looks to face no major threat from the EU sanctions, analysts said.
    Meanwhile Polish authorities reported that a record number of migrants have crossed the Polish border with Belarus since Friday.
    Poland and Lithuania, which have seen a surge in illegal migration in recent weeks, have accused Lukashenko of using migrants to put pressure on the EU to reverse sanctions on the country.
    Warsaw also believes it is way of hitting back at Poland for giving refuge to Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, a Belarusian athlete who refused to return home from the Tokyo Olympics.
    The Polish Border Guard said on Monday it had detained 349 illegal migrants crossing the Belarus border since Friday, most of them probably from Iraq and Afghanistan.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper and William James in London and Olzhas Auyezov and Maria Vasilyeva in Moscow; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Angus MacSwan)
[OUR WIMPY GLOBALIST ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT AND ITS FLUNKY'S DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH THE TALIBAN AND THEY ALL HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT DURING THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION THE TALIBAN HAD RESPECT FOR HIM BECAUSE HE SHOWED THEM WITH HIS ACTIONS WHAT THE U.N. MILITARY COULD DO TO THEM IF THEY TOOK HIM ON AND THEY BACKED OFF UNTIL THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION RAN FROM IRAQ LIKE LITTLE BABIES AND NOW THEY ARE THE WOKE MILITARY AND ARE IN SHOCK AT WHAT THE TALIBAN ARE DOING.].

8/11/2021 Polish Parliament Passes Media Reform Bill Despite U.S. Opposition by Pawel Florkiewicz and Alan Charlish
FILE PHOTO: A protester holds a placard with the logo of the TVN Group during a demonstration in defence
of media freedom and against a proposed amendment to the country's broadcast media law regarding the share of
foreign capital in Polish media, in Bydgoszcz, Poland August 10, 2021. Roman Bosiacki/Agencja Gazeta/via REUTERS
    WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish lawmakers on Wednesday voted in favour of a bill that the opposition says aims to silence a U.S.-owned news channel critical of the government, setting up a clash with one of Warsaw’s most important allies.
    Washington has warned that a failure to renew the licence of Discovery-owned news channel TVN24 could jeopardise future investments in Poland, while opposition politicians have condemned the bill as an attack on media freedoms.
    “Today’s vote… is an attack on freedom, an attack on media that is independent from the government,” Grzegorz Schetyna, a lawmaker from the largest opposition party Civic Platform, wrote on Twitter.
    The bill, which would strengthen a ban on firms from outside the European Economic Area controlling Polish broadcasters, passed with 228 votes in favour, 216 against and 10 abstentions.
    “We are bringing in rules that are similar in other European Union countries, we have the right to regulate questions about capital in a way the Polish parliament deems appropriate,” said government spokesman Piotr Muller.
    TVN24’s parent, TVN, is owned by the U.S.-based media group Discovery Inc via a firm registered in the Netherlands, to get around a ban on non-European firms owning more than 49% of Polish media companies.
    The bill would forbid such an arrangement and comes shortly before the deadline for the renewal of TVN24’s licence, which expires on Sept. 26.
    “The act as adopted is an attack on core democratic principles of freedom of speech, the independence of the media and is directly discriminatory against TVN and Discovery,” Discovery said in a statement.
    Ahead of the vote, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters the country was watching the media bill and a separate bill on Holocaust restitution “very closely.”
    The media bill will now go to the upper house of parliament, the Senate.
PROPERTY RESTITUTION
    The lower house of parliament also passed a separate bill which is expected to make it harder for Jews to recover property seized by Nazi German occupiers and kept by postwar communist rulers.    This bill had already gone through the Senate, meaning it now goes to the president to be signed into law.
    “I condemn the legislation that was passed in the Polish Parliament today, which damages both the memory of the Holocaust and the rights of its victims,” Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement.
    Earlier in the evening, Polish opposition lawmakers said they had shown the governing United Right coalition could not command a majority when they succeeded in passing a motion to postpone the sitting.
    However, joy turned to outrage when speaker Elzbieta Witek said the vote had to be repeated because she had forgotten to specify the date until which the sitting was to be postponed.
    “What you are doing is absolutely illegal,” said Civil Platform lawmaker Borys Budka.
    Jaroslaw Sachajko of the Kukiz 15 party, which is not part of the ruling coalition but supports some of its policies, said the party’s four lawmakers had originally voted for the opposition motion by mistake.
    Uncertainty about the government’s ability to command a majority had mounted on Tuesday when Jaroslaw Gowin, head of junior coalition partner Accord, was removed from the post of deputy premier.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz, Alicja Ptak, additional reporting by Rami Ayyub in Jerusalem, Simon Lewis, Doyinsola Oladipo, and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Giles Elgood, Nick Macfie, Timothy Heritage, Sonya Hepinstall and Jonathan Oatis)
[THE GLOBALIST ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT IS STILL TRYING TO OVERTHROW ANY COUNTRY WHO GOES AGAINST THEIR ANTI-CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHIES JUST AS THE DEMOCRATS IN THE UNITED STATES IS DOING TO THE POPULATION AND ALL WE NEED TO DO BOTH OF US IS TO PRAY TO THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB TO PROTECT THEM FROM THEIR ONSLAUGHT.].

8/11/2021 Russia Says It Has Agreed To Lift Trade Restrictions With Moldova
FILE PHOTO: Formula One F1 - Russian Grand Prix - Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Russia - September 29, 2019 Deputy
Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Kozak waves during the podium presentation after the race REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia and Moldova have agreed to lift trade restrictions and are ready for mutually beneficial ties, senior Kremlin official Dmitry Kozak said on Wednesday, Interfax news agency reported.
    Russia in 2013 banned imports of Moldovan wines and spirits, one of the ex-Soviet republic’s main export earners, in a move that was seen as retaliation for the small country’s drive to expand ties with the European Union.
    In late 2020, the Kremlin rebuffed calls by Moldova’s then-incoming president, Maia Sandu, for Russian troops to withdraw from the breakaway region of Transdniestria, saying it would be seriously destabilising.
    Kozak, deputy head of Russia’s presidential administration, met Sandu in Moldova’s capital Chisinau on Wednesday, TASS news agency cited Sandu’s spokeswoman as saying.
    “We touched upon a wide range of issues, such as the settling the Transdniestria problem, the issue of ammunition disposal, the cooperation on duty-free supplies of Moldova’s goods to the Russian market,” Kozak said, according to Interfax.
    “We have agreed to cooperate in mutual trade, to lift the restrictions that took place,” he said.
    Sandu, after meeting Kozak, said Moldova was ready to restart the settling of the Transdniestria conflict with peaceful means, RIA news agency reported.
    Kozak also said a dialogue on all issues that concern Moscow and Chisinau would begin soon.    He said Russia was ready to help Moldova but on “mutually beneficial grounds and without compromising Russia’s interests,” Interfax reported.
(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Richard Chang)

8/12/2021 Polish Lower House Passes Media Reform Bill, Which U.S. Denounces by Pawel Florkiewicz and Alan Charlish
FILE PHOTO: A protester holds a placard with the logo of the TVN Group during a demonstration in defence of media
freedom and against a proposed amendment to the country's broadcast media law regarding the share of
foreign capital in Polish media, in Bydgoszcz, Poland August 10, 2021. Roman Bosiacki/Agencja Gazeta/via REUTERS
    WARSAW (Reuters) -Polish lawmakers advanced a bill on Wednesday that the opposition says aims to silence a U.S.-owned news channel critical of the government, leading to a swift denunciation from the United States, one of Warsaw’s most important allies.
    Washington had warned that failure to renew the licence of Discovery-owned news channel TVN24 could jeopardise future investments in Poland, while opposition politicians have condemned the bill as an attack on media freedoms.
    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was “deeply troubled” by passage of the bill by the lower house of parliament, which he said targeted the most-watched independent news station in Poland and one of the largest U.S. investments in the country.
    “Large U.S. commercial investments in Poland tie our prosperity together and enhance our collective security,” he said.    “This draft legislation threatens media freedom and could undermine Poland’s strong investment climate,” Blinken said in a statement.
    The media bill would strengthen a ban on firms from outside the European Economic Area controlling Polish broadcasters.    It passed with 228 votes in favour, 216 against and 10 abstentions, and will now go to the upper house of parliament, the Senate.
    Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller said Poland was bringing in rules similar to those in other European Union countries and added: “We have the right to regulate questions about capital in a way the Polish parliament deems appropriate.”
    TVN24’s parent, TVN, is owned by the U.S.-based media group Discovery Inc via a firm registered in the Netherlands, to get around a ban on non-European firms owning more than 49% of Polish media companies.
    The bill would forbid such an arrangement and comes shortly before the deadline for the renewal of TVN24’s licence, which expires on Sept. 26.
    In a tweet, Grzegorz Schetyna, a lawmaker from the largest opposition party, Civic Platform, called Wednesday’s vote “an attack on freedom, an attack on media that is independent from the government.”
    Discovery called it “an attack on core democratic principles of freedom of speech, the independence of the media and is directly discriminatory against TVN and Discovery.”
PROPERTY RESTITUTION BILL
    Blinken also called on Poland not to proceed with legislation that is expected to make it harder for Jews to recover property seized by Nazi German occupiers during the Holocaust and kept by postwar communist rulers.
    “We are deeply concerned that Poland’s parliament passed legislation today severely restricting the process for Holocaust survivors and their families, as well as other Jewish and non-Jewish property owners, to obtain restitution for property wrongfully confiscated during Poland’s communist era,” Blinken said.
    The bill was passed by the lower house and has already gone through the Senate, meaning it now goes to the president to be signed into law.
    “We urge that President (Andrzej) Duda not sign the bill into law or that, in line with the authority granted to him as President, he refer the bill to Poland’s constitutional tribunal,” Blinken said.
    Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said the bill “damages both the memory of the Holocaust and the rights of its victims.”
    Blinken said Poland was an important ally in NATO, an alliance “based on mutual commitments to shared democratic values and prosperity.”    He added: “These pieces of legislation run counter to the principles and values for which modern, democratic nations stand.     We urge the government of Poland to demonstrate its commitment to these shared principles not only in words, but also in deeds.”
    Earlier in the evening, Polish opposition lawmakers said they had shown that the governing United Right coalition could not command a majority when they succeeded in passing a motion to postpone the sitting.
    Joy turned to outrage, however, when Speaker Elzbieta Witek said the vote had to be repeated because she had forgotten to specify the date until which the sitting was to be postponed.
    “What you are doing is absolutely illegal,” said Civil Platform lawmaker Borys Budka.
    Jaroslaw Sachajko of the Kukiz 15 party, which is not part of the ruling coalition but supports some of its policies, said the party’s four lawmakers had originally voted for the opposition motion by mistake.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz and Alicja Ptak; Additional reporting by Rami Ayyub in Jerusalem and David Brunnstrom and Mohammad Zargham in Washington; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall, Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney)

8/12/2021 Polish PM Rejects U.S. Criticism Of Media And Property Restitution Bills
FILE PHOTO: Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki addresses the media as he arrives on the first day of the
European Union summit at The European Council Building in Brussels, Belgium June 24, 2021. John Thys/Pool via REUTERS
    WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland’s prime minister on Thursday rejected criticism of bills on media ownership and property restitution passed by parliament, after the United States, one of Warsaw’s most important allies, denounced the legislation.
    In a tumultuous sitting of parliament on Wednesday, Polish lawmakers passed a bill that would strengthen a ban on firms from outside the European Economic Area controlling Polish broadcasters.
    The opposition says the bill aims to gag the news channel TVN24, which is owned by U.S.-based media group Discovery Inc and is critical of Poland’s right-wing nationalist government.
    Late on Thursday Discovery said it has notified the Polish government that it will take legal action under the bilateral investment treaty between the United States and Poland, branding Poland’s failure to renew the TVN24 broadcasting license and yesterday’s vote as “discriminatory.”
    “The legislation is the latest assault on independent media and freedom of the press, and takes direct aim at Discovery’s TVN,” the company said in a statement.
    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was “deeply troubled” by the passage of the bill, which he said targeted the most-watched independent news station in Poland and one of the largest U.S. investments in the country.
    Vera Jourova, European Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency, said the bill sent a “negative signal.”
    “We need a #MediaFreedomAct in the whole EU to uphold media freedom and support the rule of law,” she tweeted.
    Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki denied the bill was aimed at TVN.
    “We do not have any intentions regarding a specific TV channel.    It is just about tightening the regulations, so that there is no situation in which companies from outside the European Union would buy media in Poland,” he told a news conference.
    The bills must clear both houses of parliament and be signed by President Andrzej Duda to become law. Duda is close to the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) and is not expected to veto the legislation.
PROPERTY RESTITUTION
    Morawiecki later on Thursday also defended parliament’s decision not to exempt NATO member countries from the ban.
    “A military alliance is one thing, a common legislation and a common economic area is another,” he said.
    The United States is a founding member of the North Atlantic alliance.
    Blinken had also called on Poland not to proceed with legislation that is expected to make it harder for Jews to recover property seized by Nazi German occupiers during the Holocaust and kept by postwar Communist rulers.
    Morawiecki said the law would implement a 2015 ruling by Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal that a deadline must be set after which faulty administrative decisions can no longer be challenged.
    “This has nothing to do with the fears expressed by our American friends about us,” he said.
    A European Commission spokesperson said the EU executive would continue following all issues in Poland, including the restitution bill, and would “take any action necessary within the powers conferred to it by the treaties”
(Reporting by Alan Charlish and Pawel Florkiewicz in Warsaw; Additional reporting Sabine Siebold in Berlin, Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru and Alicja Ptak in Warsaw; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Gareth Jones and Chizu Nomiyama)
[GOOD JOB POLAND GIVE THEM THE HELL THE WAY THEY ARE DOING IN THE UNITED STATES NOW.].

8/12/2021 Russian Court Asked To Restrict Navalny Spokesperson’s Freedom For Two Years
FILE PHOTO: Kira Yarmysh, spokeswoman of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, waits outside a hospital,
where Navalny receives medical treatment in Omsk, Russia August 21, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian prosecutors have asked a court to put restrictions on Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s spokesperson Kira Yarmysh, who is currently held under house arrest pending trial, for two years, her Twitter account said on Thursday.br>     Russia has cracked down on the opposition ahead of parliamentary elections in September.    Most of Navalny’s prominent allies have either left Russia or are facing prosecution.
    “The prosecutor’s office requests that Kira be granted with 2 years of restricted freedom … and that she remains under house arrest until the sentence enters into force,” a post in Yarmysh’s Twitter account said on Thursday.
    The Russian Prosecutor General’s office did not immediately reply to a Reuters’ request for comment.
    The court’s verdict is expected on August 16, another post in Yarmysh’s Twitter account said.
    Veronika Polyakova, Yarmysh’s lawyer, said on Twitter that the prosecutors want to prohibit Yarmysh of leaving home between 22:00 and 06:00, leaving Moscow and changing the place of residence.
    Yarmysh has been under house arrest since February accused of breaching COVID-19 safety regulations at what the authorities said was an unauthorised protest in support of Navalny, a charge she says is politically-motivated.
    The 31-year-old has been Navalny’s spokesperson since 2014.
    Navalny, a critic of President Vladimir Putin, is himself serving a 2-1/2 year jail term for parole violations related to an embezzlement conviction he says was trumped up.
(Reporting by Anton Zverev; writing by Polina Devitt; Editing by Alistair Bell)

8/12/2021 One Month After Cuba Protests, Hundreds Remain Behind Bars by Sarah Marsh
Gabriela Sequeira Hernandez, 17, detained by police during a protest and waiting for her appeal after being convicted and sentenced
to 8 months home arrest, holds her mother's hand during an interview in Havana, Cuba, August 10, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
    HAVANA (Reuters) – Hundreds of people, including dozens of dissident artists and opposition activists, remain detained in Communist-run Cuba a month after unprecedented anti-government protests, according to rights groups.
    Thousands took to the streets nationwide on July 11 https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/street-protests-break-out-cuba-2021-07-11 to protest a dire economic crisis and curbs on civil rights.    The government said the unrest was fomented by counter-revolutionaries exploiting hardship caused largely by U.S. sanctions.
    Rights group Cubalex has recorded around 800 detentions, a number that has risen daily as relatives come forward.    Many are still too afraid to report the arrest of family members, said Cubalex director Laritza Diversent.
    While 249 people have been released, many to house arrest, most remain in “preventative jail,” she said.    The whereabouts of 10 people is unknown.
    Dozens have already been sentenced to up to a year in prison or correctional work in summary trials, with simplified procedures and often without the chance of hiring a defense lawyer on time, said Diversent.
    “The government’s aim is to make an example of those who protested, to stop others from doing the same,” she said.
    The government did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
    Cuban authorities have not given a figure for the total number of detained in the recent unrest but say they have so far carried out trials for 62 people, 22 of which had hired a lawyer.    All but one have been deemed guilty of crimes including public disorder, resisting arrest, and vandalism, they said.
    The protests were largely peaceful, although state media showed some demonstrators looting and throwing stones at police.    One person died and several people, including government supporters, were injured, authorities have confirmed.
    Several of those sentenced were not protesting, but were caught up in the unrest, according to their relatives.
    Yaquelin Salas, 35, says her husband intervened peacefully in the arrest of a woman, calling on police agents to not treat her so aggressively.    Now he is serving a 10-month prison sentence on charges of public disorder after a collective trial in which just two of the 12 detained had lawyers.
    “What they are doing is totally unfair,” said Salas.
    Since Cuba’s 1959 revolution, authorities have tightly controlled public spaces, saying unity is key to resisting coup attempts by the United States, which has long openly sought to force political change through sanctions and democracy initiatives.    The White House has said it will do what it can to support Cuban protesters.
FAMILIES ‘SILENCED’
    Gabriela Zequeira, 17, one of several minors detained in the protests, said she was sentenced to house arrest for eight months after being arrested while walking home from the hairdressers on July 11.
    Upon her admission to jail, where she was kept 10 days incommunicado, she said she was required to put a finger in her vagina to show she was concealing nothing as part of a strip search.    Officers kept interrupting her attempts to sleep and one officer made sexual taunts, she said in an interview.
    The Cuban government initially said no minors had been detained, a statement later contradicted by state prosecutors.
    Some relatives of those detained said authorities were pressuring them to stop speaking out.
    “My family has been silenced,” said emigre Milagros Beirut from her home in Spain.    She said four of her relatives in Havana and the eastern city of Guantanamo remained behind bars for protesting peacefully.    “They’ve been told those detained will receive a stricter sentence if they say anything.”
    Dozens of political activists and dissident artists were among the detained, including some who did not participate in the protests but appeared to have been arrested pre-emptively, said Diversent from Cubalex.
    Jose Daniel Ferrer, the leader of Cuba’s largest opposition group, and Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, head of a dissident artists collective, were both arrested on their way to the protests before even arriving, according to their supporters.
    Ferrer’s sister Ana Belkis Ferrer said the family had not been able to speak to or see him, a complaint of many relatives of those detained.
    “We don’t know if he’s being beaten, if he’s well or not, whether or not he’s doing a hunger strike,” she said.
    Another detained activist, Félix Navarro, 68, president of the Party for Democracy, was in hospital with COVID-19, said Diversent.    Several of those detained have denounced unsanitary conditions in jail amid one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/coronavirus-surge-pushes-cubas-healthcare-system-brink-2021-08-11 in the world. (Reporting by Sarah Marsh and Reuters TV in Havana, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
[WAKE UP AMERICA BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND HIS CONTROLLING GLOBALIST SOCIALIST ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT IS ATTEMPTING TO DO THIS TO YOU.].

8/12/2021 Russia Arrests Top Hypersonic Research Scientist In Treason Case by Tom Balmforth and Maxim Rodionov
FILE PHOTO: A Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile is fired from the guided missile frigate Admiral Gorshkov in the
White Sea in this still image taken from video released July 19, 2019. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -A Russian court on Thursday ordered a 73-year-old leading specialist in hypersonic technology to be held in custody for two months on suspicion of state treason, the latest in a series of such cases.
    Security officers arrested the suspect, Alexander Kuranov, general director of the St Petersburg-based Hypersonic Systems Research Facility, in Moscow, state news agency TASS cited a law enforcement source as saying.
    Kuranov oversaw work on the concept for a new hypersonic aircraft dubbed Ayaks that dates back to the Soviet era, according to his facility’s website. Hypersonic technology allows objects to travel much faster than the speed of sound.
    Russia, whose ties with the West have deteriorated to post-Cold War lows since 2014, has been developing a number of hypersonic weapons in recent years that President Vladimir Putin has touted as unparalleled and lavished praise on.
    The detainee is suspected of passing secret information to a foreign citizen about hypersonic technology research that he had worked on for a long time, Interfax news agency cited an unnamed source as saying.
    Treason and espionage cases are usually held behind closed doors in Russia and case details seldom come to light because of their classified nature.
    The court released footage of the detainee being led to the hearing in a tracksuit and hoodie pulled low over his face.    He wore a face mask and his face could barely be seen.
    A lawyer for Kuranov could not immediately be reached for comment.
    State treason is punishable by up to 20 years in jail.    That sentence was handed down to an aviation lecturer from Moscow in April after he was found guilty of illegally exporting technology or technical information.
    A number of Russian scientists, soldiers and officials have been charged with treason in recent years after being accused of passing sensitive material to foreign countries.
    Critics of the Kremlin say the charges are often unfounded and cannot be scrutinised because they are classified.
(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov and Gleb StolyrovWriting by Tom BalmforthEditing by Mark Heinrich)

8/13/2021 One Dead, 15 People Injured In Bus Blast In Russia - RIA
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -One person died and 15 people were injured after a blast in a bus in the city of Voronezh in central Russia on Thursday evening, the RIA news agency reported, citing regional health department.
    Representatives of Russia’s FSB security service have arrived to the scene to investigate the bus, it said.
    About 30 people were on the bus when the incident happened at a bus stop, the RIA said, adding that various possible causes were being investigated.
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; writing by Polina Devitt; Editing by Alistair Bell)

8/13/2021 IMF Keeping ‘Close Watch’ On Belarus After Calls To Limit Reserve Funds For Country by Andrea Shalal
FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A participant stands near a logo of IMF at the International Monetary Fund - World Bank
Annual Meeting 2018 in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, October 12, 2018. REUTERS/Johannes P. Christo/File Photo/File Photo
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday it was monitoring the situation in Belarus closely, amid calls for the global lender to limit disbursement of new emergency reserves to the hardline government of president Alexander Lukashenko.
    Spokesman Gerry Rice said the lender was keeping close tabs on the matter, but the IMF was guided in its actions by the international community, which “continues to deal with the current government in the country.”
    Some U.S. lawmakers have urged the IMF to set strict limits for Lukashenko’s ability to use nearly $1 billion in new Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the IMF’s own reserve currency, that Belarus is slated to receive as part of a $650 billion allocation to all IMF members later this month.
    But experts say as long as the IMF’s members continue to recognise the government of Lukashenko, the fund cannot take more forceful action.
    In a coordinated move with Britain and Canada, the United States on Monday hit several Belarusian individuals and entities with new sanctions, aiming to punish Lukashenko.
    Western governments have sought to escalate pressure on Lukashenko, accused of rigging elections in August 2020 and cracking down on opposition to prolong his now 27 years in power.    Lukashenko has denied rigging the vote.
    In the case of Venezuela, the IMF has said it will not hand over the country’s $5 billion share of the new SDRs – or allow it to access existing SDRs – due to an ongoing dispute over whether President Nicolas Maduro is the legitimate leader of the South American country.
    More than 50 countries, including the United States and Venezuela’s largest neighbours, have recognised Juan Guaido, the head of the National Assembly, as Venezuela’s leader. Russia and others dismiss that claim and recognise Maduro, long-time president and heir to the late Hugo Chavez, as the legitimate head of state.
    A separate IMF spokesperson said the political crisis in Venezuela and lack of clarity in the international community over official government recognition for the country triggered that decision.
    However, the situation in Belarus is different, experts say, with sanctions having been imposed thus far by only a small number of countries.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)

8/13/2021 Russia Tells BBC Journalist To Go Home In Row With Britain -State TV by Andrew Osborn
Sarah Rainsford, Moscow's BBC bureau journalist, is seen on this undated photo. Courtesy of Sarah Rainsford/Handout via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia has told a BBC journalist working in Moscow to leave the country by the end of this month in retaliation for what it called London’s discrimination against Russian journalists working in Britain, state TV reported late on Thursday.
    In an unusual move that signals a further deterioration in already poor ties between London and Moscow, the Rossiya-24 TV channel said that Sarah Rainsford, one of the British broadcaster’s two English-language Moscow correspondents, would be going home in what it called “a landmark deportation.”
    The step, a de facto expulsion, follows a crackdown before parliamentary elections in September on Russian-language media at home that the authorities judge to be backed by malign foreign interests intent on stoking unrest.
    “Being expelled from Russia, a country I’ve lived in for almost 1/3 of my life – and reported for years – is devastating.     Thank you for all your kind messages of support,” Rainsford wrote on Twitter.
    Rossiya-24 said Russian authorities had decided against renewing Rainsford’s accreditation to work as a foreign journalist in Moscow beyond the end of this month when her visa expires.
    The move was a response to London’s refusal to renew or issue visas to Russian journalists in Britain, it said.
    The channel cited Britain’s treatment of state-backed Russian broadcaster RT and of online state news outlet Sputnik, saying neither could get accredited in Britain to cover international events.
    “Sarah Rainsford is going home.    According to our experts, this correspondent of Moscow’s BBC bureau will not have her visa extended because Britain, in the media sphere, has crossed all our red lines,” Rossiya-24 said.
    “The expulsion of Sarah Rainsford is our symmetrical response,” it said.
    Tim Davie, the BBC’s director-general, called her expulsion “a direct assault on media freedom, which we condemn unreservedly.”
    “We urge the Russian authorities to reconsider their decision. In the meantime, we will continue to report events in the region independently and impartially,” he said.
    Rainsford did not reply to a request for comment.    Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry (MFA), said BBC representatives had been at the ministry in recent days and that everything had been explained to them in detail.
    Zakharova said Moscow had warned London many times that it would respond to what she called visa-related persecution of Russian journalists in Britain.
    “We reject the MFA’s claims of discriminatory action against Russian journalists in the UK,” the British embassy in Moscow said in a statement, adding that Russian journalists continue to work freely in the UK if they act within the law and the regulatory framework.
    “We urge them to reconsider this retrograde step against an award-winning BBC journalist which can only do further damage to media freedom in Russia.”
    Rainsford is part of a team that supplies the British public service broadcaster’s English-language outlets with content about Russia and the former Soviet Union. The BBC also operates a large Russian-language service in Moscow.
    Rainsford, a Russian speaker, is an experienced BBC foreign correspondent who has also done stints in Havana, Istanbul and Madrid.
(Additional reporting by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Tom Balmforth, Mark Heinrich, Barbara Lewis and Daniel Wallis)

8/13/2021 On Lithuania’s Border, A Former Afghan Soldier Is Caught Between War And Politics by Gabriela Baczynska
Migrants gather near a fence at a temporary detention center in Kazitiskis, Lithuania, August 12, 2021. REUTERS/Janis Laizans
    KAZITISKIS, Lithuania (Reuters) – As Taliban fighters seized a series of provincial cities across Afghanistan, thousands of kilometres away in a makeshift refugee camp in eastern Lithuania, former Afghan soldier Fazel Rahman looked back on a war he abandoned two months ago.
    He said he had been warned by Taliban sympathizers in his home village that his life would be in danger unless he joined them, but he didn’t see that as an option so he decided to follow the path that tens of thousands of other Afghans have already taken and make his way to Europe.
    “The situation in our country has got worse.    The Taliban killed my cousin,” said Fazel Rahman, who served for 15 years in the Afghan army.    “I fled with my kids because they threatened me, warning me to leave my duty.”
    Now waiting in a former school building in the village of Kazitiskis in the Ignalina region of Lithuania, he has found himself in the middle of a standoff between Belarus and the European Union.
    The EU accuses Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko of using the refugee crisis to pressure the bloc to reverse sanctions it placed on the country over a disputed presidential election last August and its treatment of political opposition.
    With the Afghan capital Kabul now close to being besieged by the Taliban after a lightning campaign that followed the withdrawal of most U.S. forces last month, politicians in Europe are becoming increasingly concerned that more irregular migrants like Fazel Rahman may come.
    The European Union border agency Frontex has already noted an increase in people coming from Afghanistan and Syria through the Western Balkans.
    Hanging around with about 130 others in a metal enclosure outside the former school building, Fazel Rahman waits, chatting with others as laundry dries on the fence and children play in the dust and mud.
    The camp is fitted with foldout beds and showers, and it provides a temporary haven from the harsh journey, during which he said he was beaten severely by border guards.
    “Even in a war, soldiers don’t treat people like I was treated,” he said.
(Editing by Aurora Ellis)

8/14/2021 Sherman Stresses U.S. Support For Lithuania Against ‘Coercive’ China
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman is seen during her visit
to the Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul, Turkey May 29, 2021. Ozan Kose/Pool via REUTERS
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman spoke with Lithuania’s foreign minister on Friday and reiterated U.S. support for the country in the face of pressure from China over its decision to develop ties with Taiwan, the State Department said.
    Sherman told Gabrielius Landsbergis the United States was “resolute in our solidarity” with Lithuania, a NATO ally and a partner as a member of the European Union, over what she termed China’s “coercive behavior” towards Vilnius, the statement said.
    The two diplomats also discussed the political situation in Belarus, reaffirming support for the Belarusian pro-democracy movement and calling on the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, “to immediately halt a campaign of orchestrating irregular migrant flows across its borders,” it said.
    China this week demanded that Lithuania withdraw its ambassador in Beijing and said it would recall the Chinese envoy to Vilnius in a row over the Baltic state allowing Chinese-claimed Taiwan to open a de-facto embassy there using its own name.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

8/14/2021 Police Clash With Protesters Near Ukrainian President’s Office
Demonstrators clash with police officers during a protest by activists of the National Corps political party
in front of the Presidential Office building in Kyiv, Ukraine August 14, 2021. REUTERS/Serhii Nuzhnenko
    KYIV (Reuters) – Police clashed with protesters from a nationalist party near the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday when they tried to break through a police cordon.
    Reuters TV footage from the scene showed members of Ukrainian police and protesters spraying tear gas at each other.    The protesters attacked with long sticks and threw car tires and stones while the policemen barely fought back.
    Interior minister Denys Monastyrskiy said eight policemen were injured during the clashes and a criminal probe had been launched.    He wrote on Facebook that the clashes began when the police tried to search protesters on their approach to the president’s office but they resisted.
    “The Constitution guarantees the right for peaceful protests.    Everyone who had undergone basic checks would have been allowed to enter the square in front of the President’s office,” he said.
    The right-wing National Corps party organized the rally to protest against a plan known as the Steinmeier formula, which provides special status for the Donbass region, controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
    The group said the violence was provoked by police officers when they blocked access to the building, and some protesters got injuries as a result.
    “This regime… is in fact anti-Ukrainian,” Andriy Biletsky, a party leader, was quoted by the website as telling his supporters.
(Reporting by Reuters TV and Ilya Zhegulev, writing by Maria Tsvetkova, editing by Christina Fincher)

8/14/2021 Poland’s President Signs Bill To Limit WW2 Property Restitution Claims
FILE PHOTO: Polish President Andrzej Duda speaks during a news briefing
in Kyiv, Ukraine October 12, 2020. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/Pool/File Photo
    WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland’s president has decided to sign a bill that would set limits on the ability of Jews to recover property seized by Nazi German occupiers and retained by post-war communist rulers, a move likely to fuel tensions with Israel and the United States.
    “I made a decision today on the act, which in recent months was the subject of a lively and loud debate at home and abroad,” Andrzej Duda said in a statement published on Saturday.    “After an in-depth analysis, I have decided to sign the amendment.”
    Up to now, Jewish expatriates or their descendants could make a claim that a property had been seized illegally and demand its return, but Polish officials argued this was causing uncertainty over property ownership.
    In 2015 Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal ruled there should be specific deadlines after which administrative decisions over property titles could no longer be challenged.    Changes to the law were adopted by the Polish parliament earlier this week.
    The bill sets a 30-year limit for restitution claims.
    The issue of Jewish property rights in Poland is further complicated because, unlike other EU states, it has not created a fund to give compensation to people whose property was seized.
    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said Washington was deeply concerned that the Polish parliament had passed the bill, and urged Duda not to sign it into law.
    Washington is one of Warsaw’s most important allies, but relations between the two countries have been strained by the property issue, as well as other issues such as plans to introduce changes that the opposition says aim to silence a U.S.-owned news channel critical of the government.
    World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) on Saturday urged the Polish government to work on resolving the issue of property seized in the past.
    “Democracy & justice hits new low in Poland, as President Duda signs a law making it virtually impossible for all former Polish property owners to secure redress for property illegally seized during the Communist era,” Gideon Taylor, chair of operations of the WJRO said in a statement sent to Reuters.
    Before World War Two, Poland had been home to one of the world’s biggest Jewish communities, but it was almost entirely wiped out by the Nazis and Jewish former property owners and their descendants have been campaigning for compensation. (Reporting by Anna KoperEditing by David Holmes and Christina Fincher)

8/14/2021 Austria Keeps Hard Line On Deporting Afghans
Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer speaks at a news conference on Austria's role in a global sting against
organised crime dubbed 'Operation Trojan Shield' in Vienna, Austria June 9, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
    ZURICH (Reuters) – Austria stuck on Saturday to its hard line on sending home Afghans whose requests for asylum fail even as Taliban insurgent advances prompted other European Union countries to reconsider similar stances.
    “It is easy to call for a general ban on deportations to Afghanistan, while on the other hand negating the expected flight movements.    Those who need protection must receive it as close as possible to their country of origin,” Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told the APA news agency.
    Austria was one of six EU countries that insisted last week on their right to forcibly deport rejected Afghan asylum seekers.    Three of the countries — Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands — have since changed course.
    The Oesterreich newspaper published an opinion poll showing up to 90% of respondents backed the Austrian government’s line.
    It linked the support to a high-profile criminal case in June in which four Afghans in Vienna are suspected of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl who lost consciousness and died.
(Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

8/15/2021 Thousands March In Bucharest LGBTQ Pride Parade
A gay couple hugs during a LGBTQ+ pride parade near a bus stop that has anti-LGBT graffiti message
sprayed on it, in Bucharest, Romania, March 14, 2020. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS
    BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Thousands of people joined an LGBTQ pride march in Bucharest on Saturday for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, ahead of planned legislation that would chip away at minority rights.
    Socially conservative Romania, which decriminalised homosexuality in 2001, still bars marriage and civil partnerships for same-sex couples.
    Lawmakers from two different parties – the junior ruling coalition ethnic Hungarian party UDMR and the opposition ultra-nationalist Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR) – said they plan to introduce legislation to ban so-called gay propaganda in schools when parliament reconvenes in September.
    An estimated 8,000 people joined the march on Saturday, dancing and waving rainbow flags. Riot police fined the organisers for exceeding the number of participants allowed at civic protests.    The organisers will challenge the fine.
    “We have a long way to go as a country until we come to accept everyone,” said Daria, 16, at her second pride parade.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by David Holmes)

8/15/2021 Russian Wildfires Now Cover Larger Area Than All Other Fires Combined by OAN Newsroom
This aerial picture taken from an airplane on July 27, 2021 shows a burning forest at Gorny Ulus
area, west of Yakutsk, in the republic of Sakha, Siberia. (DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images)
    Several wildfires in the Siberian wilderness have grown together to become larger than all of the other wildfires in the world combined.    Reports on Friday said the fires have burned 62,000 square miles of Russian wilderness and have continued to expand towards more populated regions.
    More than 8,600 emergency workers have been working to try and gain control of the blazes.    Meanwhile, reports said record heat and dry spells have been fueling the infernos in the region, which sees wildfires each year.
    NASA said smoke from the fires has expanded to the North Pole for the first time in recorded history.    “Our goal is to bring the fire under control.    But this fire is so big that is it, let it say, very difficult to defeat it with such small resources,” said firefighter Vladimir Baybachenko.
This aerial picture taken on July 27, 2021, shows a burned forest at Gorny Ulus area west
of Yakutsk, in the republic of Sakha, Siberia. (DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images)
    Russian authorities have issued a state of emergency for the region, warning of worsening air quality as the fires move south.

8/15/2021 Eight People Killed, Dozens Injured In Hungary Bus Crash
View of the bus that rolled over on the M7 motorway, killing at least eight people, in the
early hours of Sunday near Szabadbattyan, Hungary August 15, 2021. Zoltan Mihadak/Pool via REUTERS
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Eight people were killed and dozens injured when a passenger bus crashed on the M7 motorway en route to Budapest in the early hours of Sunday, police said in a statement.
    Police said the Hungarian bus rolled over for unknown reasons at 0255 GMT 70 km (43.5 miles) west of Budapest.
    State news agency MTI said the bus, which had a Hungarian licence plate and carried more than 50 passengers, had crashed into an overpass pillar.
(Reporting by Gergely SzakacsEditing by David Goodman)

8/15/2021 Albania, Kosovo Say Ready To Temporarily House Afghan Refugees
FILE PHOTO: Albanian Prime Minister and leader of the Socialist Party Edi Rama speaks at a rally celebrating
the party's election victory, at Skanderbeg Square in Tirana, Albania April 27, 2021. REUTERS/Florion Goga
    PRISTINA (Reuters) -Albania and Kosovo have accepted a U.S. request to temporarily take in Afghan refugees seeking visas to enter the United States, the country two countries said on Sunday.
    In Tirana, Prime Minister Edi Rama Rama said U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration had asked fellow NATO member Albania to assess whether it could serve as a transit country for a number of Afghan refugees whose final destination is the United States.
    “We will not say ‘No’, not just because our great allies ask us to, but because we are Albania,” Rama said on Facebook.
    Sources had told Reuters that Biden’s administration had held discussions with such countries as Kosovo and Albania about protecting U.S.-affiliated Afghans from Taliban reprisals until they completed the process of approval of their U.S. visas.
    In Kosovo, President Vjosa Osmani said the government had been in contact with the U.S. authorities about housing Afghan refugees since mid-July.
    “Without any hesitation and … conditioning I gave my consent to that humanitarian operation,” Osmani said on her Facebook account.
    Osmani said Afghan refugees would be vetted by the U.S. security authorities, and added they would stay in Kosovo until their documentation for U.S. immigration visas was arranged.
    Hundreds of U.S. troops are still stationed in Kosovo as peacekeepers more than two decades after the 1998-99 war with the then-Yugoslav security forces.
(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Aleksandar Vasovic and Alison Williams)

8/16/2021 Poland Recalls Ambassador To Israel Indefinitely As Restitution Row Deepens
FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen at the entrance of the Polish Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel May 15, 2019. REUTERS/Corinna Kern
    WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s ambassador to Israel has been recalled until further notice, the foreign ministry said on Monday, in a further sign of the deteriorating relations between the countries after Warsaw introduced a law affecting World War Two property restitution.
    On Saturday, Poland’s president signed a bill that would set limits on the ability of Jews to recover property seized by Nazi German occupiers and retained by post-war communist rulers, bringing into law regulations that Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid branded “anti-Semitic and immoral.”
    Lapid said the head of Israel’s embassy in Warsaw was being called back immediately.
    “In response to the recent unjustified actions of the State of Israel… the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs that the Polish Ambassador to Israel will remain in the country (Poland) until further notice,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
    In a Facebook post on Sunday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he had decided to provide safe transport back to Poland for the children of Ambassador Marek Magierowski, amid what he called “an increased hatred of Poland and Poles” in Israel.
    In response to a request for comment, the Israeli foreign ministry sent a statement from Lapid originally released on Sunday in which he said, “We do not fear anti-semitic threats, and have no intention of turning a blind eye to the shameful conduct of the anti-democratic Polish government.”
    Before World War Two, Poland had been home to one of the world’s biggest Jewish communities, but it was almost entirely wiped out by the Nazi Germans.
    Jewish former property owners and their descendants have been campaigning for compensation.
    Up to now, Jewish expatriates or their descendants could make a claim that a property had been seized illegally and demand its return, but Polish officials argued this was causing uncertainty over property ownership.
    In 2015 Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal ruled there should be specific deadlines after which administrative decisions over property titles could no longer be challenged. Changes to the law were adopted by the Polish parliament last week.
    The bill sets a 30-year limit for restitution claims.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish in Warsaw and Rami Ayyub in Tel Aviv; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

8/16/2021 Russia’s Lavrov Discusses Afghanistan Crisis With U.S., China
FILE PHOTO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov listens during a meeting with U.S. climate envoy
John Kerry (not pictured) in Moscow, Russia July 12, 2021. Dimitar Dilkoff/Pool via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the situation in Afghanistan by phone and agreed to continue talks with China, Pakistan and the United Nations, Russia said on Monday.
    The Russian foreign ministry said Blinken informed Lavrov about the actions the U.S. administration is now undertaking, particularly about the evacuation of U.S. embassy staff and solving acute humanitarian issues.
    Lavrov told Blinken about Russia’s view on the situation in Afghanistan and its contacts with political powers there in order to secure stability along with law and order.
    “The heads of foreign services agreed to continue consultations with representatives of China, Pakistan, other countries concerned and the U.N. to facilitate the creation of grounds for an inclusive inter-Afghan dialogue in the new conditions,” the ministry said.
    The Taliban seized Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, on Sunday, prompting the United States and other countries to evacuate their citizens and diplomats, but Russia said the Taliban gave assurance that it was safe for the Russian embassy to continue its operations.
    While thousands of civilians desperate to flee Afghanistan thronged Kabul airport on Monday, the Russian ambassador there, Dmitry Zhirnov, said the situation in Kabul was safe and calm, RIA news agency reported.
    Lavrov also spoke by phone with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, and discussed political coordination regarding the situation in Afghanistan and its implications for the region, the foreign ministry said.
(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh in Moscow; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

8/18/2021 Leading Cuban Dissident Ordered To Serve Four Year Prison Sentence
FILE PHOTO: Jose Daniel Ferrer, who leads the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), the country's largest dissident group, holds
up a t-shirt with the writing "God, Fatherland, Freedom" in Palmarito de Cauto, Cuba, March 25, 2012. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo
    HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba has revoked the right to home detention of leading dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer and ordered him to serve the remaining 4 years of a sentence for assault in prison, sparking criticism that the order was politically motivated.
    Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), one of the Communist-run country’s largest and most active opposition groups, was arrested in October 2019 on charges of abducting and assaulting a man.
    He denied the charges but was convicted in February 2020, with his 4 1/2 year prison sentence commuted to house arrest https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-cuba-politics/leading-cuban-dissident-released-from-jail-on-house-arrest-idUKKBN21L35E two months later under international pressure.
    At the time, Cuba called Ferrer a U.S.-financed counter-revolutionary but said he was not arrested for his political views.    Critics said the government invents in common crimes to impute to its opponents that it can silence them while claiming not to have political prisoners.
    Ferrer told Reuters he would not comply with one of the conditions of his house arrest: that he refrain from political activism.
    On July 11, he was arrested as he attempted to join a protest in his eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, that was part of an unprecedented wave of anti-government protests nationwide https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/street-protests-break-out-cuba-2021-07-11, and held in “preventative prison” on charges of public disorder.
    Since then, relatives say they have not been able to speak to him or visit him.    This week they shared a court document dated Aug. 12 showing authorities had determined Ferrer had contravened the terms for his right to home detention for his previous conviction.
    As such, he should stay in prison to serve the remaining 4 years and 14 days of his original sentence, according to the document.
    “This is absolutely motivated by politics, not the law, he didn’t commit any crime, they just don’t want him on the streets of Cuba because they are afraid,” said Ferrer’s sister Ana Belkis Ferrer.
    Rights activists say authorities have used the wave of detentions in the wake of the July 11 protests to silence some of the country’s most charismatic opponents.
    The government blames the protests on counter-revolutionaries backed by its old and much larger foe the United States, that has long openly sought to force political change on the island.
    Ferrer’s relatives say they are worried about his health, especially as he had vowed to go on a hunger strike if he were detained on July 11 but has been incommunicado since.
    “No-one has been able to speak to Jose Daniel, not even by phone,” said Ferrer’s sister.    “It’s a constant uncertainty.”
    Ferrer was one of 75 dissidents arrested in 2003 during a nationwide crackdown known as the Black Spring.    He was released on parole in 2011 and soon after formed UNPACU.
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Michael Perry)

8/18/2021 Russia Labels Golos Vote Movement As Foreign Agent, Month Before Election
FILE PHOTO: Co-chairman of Golos non-governmental organisation Grigory Melkonyants
speaks on the phone at his office in Moscow, Russia March 13, 2018. REUTERS/Andrew Osborn
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s Justice Ministry said on Wednesday that it has declared the Golos independent vote-monitoring movement as a “foreign agent,” just a month before the parliamentary election.
    Golos in 2013 had been among the first non-governmental organizations to be declared as a foreign agent, which effectively suspended its operations.
    It had since been reorganized as a civil movement and resumed its work.
    “We have no doubts that the current attack on the largest community of independent elections observers just a month before the day of the vote is an attempt to prevent the citizens of Russia from using the right to observe (the elections),” Golos said in a statement.
    The government, which denies a crackdown is under way, uses the “foreign agent” designation to label foreign-funded organisations that it says are engaged in political activity.
    A Justice Ministry document cited a citizen of Armenia as the source of Golos’ funding.
    Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the movement, called that “nonsense” on social media.
    The term “foreign agent” carries negative Soviet-era connotations and subjects those designated to extra government scrutiny.
    Moscow-based Golos first angered the government by publicizing evidence of fraud in a 2011 parliamentary vote that sparked opposition protests, and in the presidential election that returned Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin for a third term in 2012.
    Golos urged Russians on Wednesday to register as election observers and pledged to continue its work.
    A poll by the independent Levada Centre in March found that 27% of Russians would vote for the ruling United Russia party in the Sept. 17-19 election, while 10% would back the Communists and a further 12% planned to support the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR).
    Several opposition figures, mainly affiliated with jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, Putin’s most serious political challenger, have been ruled out from taking part in the elections.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Peter Cooney)

8/18/2021 New Cuban Decree Tightens Controls On Social Media, Sparking Outrage by Sarah Marsh
FILE PHOTO: People carry a poster with photographs of Cuba's late President Fidel Castro, Cuba's President
and First Secretary of the Communist Party Miguel Diaz-Canel and Cuba's former President and First Secretary of the
Communist Party Raul Castro during a rally in Havana, Cuba, July 17, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
    HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba introduced tighter controls on the use of social media this week, including a ban on publications that might damage “the country’s prestige,” angering many citizens and international rights activists.
    Decree 35, published in the official gazette on Tuesday, comes a month after the most widespread anti-government protests https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/street-protests-break-out-cuba-2021-07-11 in the Communist-run country in decades, which spread in part due to information shared on social media.
    The legislation bans the spread of false news or messages and content deemed offensive or which “incite mobilizations or other acts that upset public order.”    It also provides a channel for Cubans to inform on potential contraventions.
    Those who have attempted to “subvert the constitutional order” will be considered cyberterrorists.    It does not say what the penalties will be for violations.
    “Our Decree 35 goes against misinformation and cyber lies,” said President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who has blamed the July 11 protests on an online campaign by U.S.-backed counter-revolutionaries.
    Cuba analysts compared the measure to the totalitarianism of George Orwell’s “1984,” saying that they feared the vague definitions of what constitutes a violation would allow for arbitrary implementation.
    Since the introduction of mobile internet just over two years ago, platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp have enabled Cubans to share their gripes and even mobilize in a country where public spaces are tightly controlled.
    “Cuba is formalizing digital repression,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty’s Americas director, noting the state already had monopoly over internet access, which was curtailed during and following the July 11 protests.
    Nicaragua passed similar “cyber crime” legislation https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-nicaragua-politics-idUKKBN27C392 last year and has used it to muzzle opposition, she said.
    Cuba’s new decree explicitly orders the state telecoms monopoly to suspend services to users who have committed contraventions, in coordination with relevant authorities.
‘WE CAN’T EVEN TALK’
    Cuban officials have long argued that dialogue is permitted but only “within the revolution,” to present a unified front against the United States, which has long openly sought to force political change in the country.
    Last month, the U.S. government https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-says-it-is-committed-helping-cuban-people-access-internet-2021-08-11 said it was working with the private sector and Congress to look for ways to make the internet more accessible to the people of Cuba.
    Some Cuban Americans have used social media to encourage Cubans on the island to rise up against the government, with a few even urging then to commit acts of sabotage.
    But many young Cubans say that should not be an excuse for them to be banned from expressing themselves and have taken to social media to criticize the new measure, enacted a month after protests that resounded with cries of “freedom.”
    “Now we can’t even talk,” said one doctor, on condition of anonymity, who had participated in a video https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/rare-doctors-outcry-highlights-cubas-covid-crisis-growing-dissent-2021-08-18 denouncing dire working conditions amid Cuba’s COVID-19 crisis.
    The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday Cuba should “not punish those who speak the truth” while the British ambassador to Havana, Antony Stokes, wrote on Twitter that the recent crackdown on protesters and the censorship embodied by Decree 35 would “silence legitimate voices.”
    Canada-based Cuban legal analyst Eloy Viera said Decree 35 outlined regulations rather than updated the penal code, so would not result in jailtime for those found transgressing.
    But it was a more severe and explicitly political measure to regulate online expression than a previous, 2019 decree that bans the “spreading of information contrary to the common good, morals, decency, and integrity,” he said.
    Government critics have faced fines under that decree, said Viera.    But ultimately it had not been effective and neither, likely, would Decree 35, he said.
    “They won’t be able to apply it to all the discontent of Cubans, who have found in social media a space that does not exist in the country’s public places,” said Viera.
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)

8/19/2021 New Cuban Decree Tightens Controls On Social Media, Sparking Outrage by Sarah Marsh
A woman connects to the internet at a hotspot in a public park in Havana, Cuba, August 18, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
    HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba introduced tighter controls on the use of social media this week, including a ban on publications that might damage “the country’s prestige,” angering many citizens and international rights activists.
    Decree 35, published in the official gazette on Tuesday, comes a month after the most widespread anti-government protests https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/street-protests-break-out-cuba-2021-07-11 in the Communist-run country in decades, which spread in part due to information shared on social media.
    The legislation bans the spread of false news or messages and content deemed offensive or which “incite mobilizations or other acts that upset public order.”    It also provides a channel for Cubans to inform on potential contraventions.
    Those who have attempted to “subvert the constitutional order” will be considered cyberterrorists.    It does not say what the penalties will be for violations.
    “Our Decree 35 goes against misinformation and cyber lies,” said President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who has blamed the July 11 protests on an online campaign by U.S.-backed counter-revolutionaries.
    Cuba analysts compared the measure to the totalitarianism of George Orwell’s “1984,” saying that they feared the vague definitions of what constitutes a violation would allow for arbitrary implementation.
    Since the introduction of mobile internet just over two years ago, platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp have enabled Cubans to share their gripes and even mobilize in a country where public spaces are tightly controlled.
    “Cuba is formalizing digital repression,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty’s Americas director, noting the state already had monopoly over internet access, which was curtailed during and following the July 11 protests.
    Nicaragua passed similar “cyber crime” legislation https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-nicaragua-politics-idUKKBN27C392 last year and has used it to muzzle opposition, she said.
    Cuba’s new decree explicitly orders the state telecoms monopoly to suspend services to users who have committed contraventions, in coordination with relevant authorities.
‘WE CAN’T EVEN TALK’
    Cuban officials have long argued that dialogue is permitted but only “within the revolution,” to present a unified front against the United States, which has long openly sought to force political change in the country.
    Last month, the U.S. government https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-says-it-is-committed-helping-cuban-people-access-internet-2021-08-11 said it was working with the private sector and Congress to look for ways to make the internet more accessible to the people of Cuba.
    Some Cuban Americans have used social media to encourage Cubans on the island to rise up against the government, with a few even urging then to commit acts of sabotage.
    But many young Cubans say that should not be an excuse for them to be banned from expressing themselves and have taken to social media to criticize the new measure, enacted a month after protests that resounded with cries of “freedom.”
    “Now we can’t even talk,” said one doctor, on condition of anonymity, who had participated in a video https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/rare-doctors-outcry-highlights-cubas-covid-crisis-growing-dissent-2021-08-18 denouncing dire working conditions amid Cuba’s COVID-19 crisis.
    The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday Cuba should “not punish those who speak the truth” while the British ambassador to Havana, Antony Stokes, wrote on Twitter that the recent crackdown on protesters and the censorship embodied by Decree 35 would “silence legitimate voices.”
    Canada-based Cuban legal analyst Eloy Viera said Decree 35 outlined regulations rather than updated the penal code, so would not result in jailtime for those found transgressing.
    But it was a more severe and explicitly political measure to regulate online expression than a previous, 2019 decree that bans the “spreading of information contrary to the common good, morals, decency, and integrity,” he said.
    Government critics have faced fines under that decree, said Viera. But ultimately it had not been effective and neither, likely, would Decree 35, he said.
    “They won’t be able to apply it to all the discontent of Cubans, who have found in social media a space that does not exist in the country’s public places,” said Viera.
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)

8/19/2021 Jailed Kremlin Critic Navalny Tells Russians To Sabotage Upcoming Elections by Tom Balmforth and Anton Zverev
FILE PHOTO: Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny takes part in a rally to mark the 5th anniversary
of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov's murder and to protest against proposed amendments to the country's constitution,
in Moscow, Russia February 29, 2020.     REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny appealed to Russians from behind bars on Thursday nearly a year after he was poisoned with what the West says was a nerve agent and told them to vote tactically in elections next month to try to hurt the Kremlin.
    His smart voting plan is one of the last levers Navalny and his allies have after a crackdown this summer outlawed his movement as “extremist.”
    His allies are banned from taking part in the Sept. 17-19 election, and United Russia, which supports President Vladimir Putin, is expected to win despite a slump in its popularity.
    The election is seen as a dry-run for presidential elections in 2024.    Putin, who has been in power for more than 20 years, has yet to say whether he plans to run again.
    “They’ve declared half the country extremists to grab all the constituencies…,” Navalny, wrote in a post on Instagram.
    “i>They haven’t let the strong candidates (run) in the election…. they’re scared of smart voting,” said Navalny, who has published online posts via his lawyers since being jailed in February for 2.5 years for parole violations he calls trumped up.
    Friday will mark the first anniversary of his poisoning, something he blames on the Kremlin.    It dismisses what happened to him as a Western-backed smear campaign to damage Russia.
    His voting campaign requires followers to sign up and be allocated a candidate who is judged to have the best chance of defeating United Russia in their area.
    Navalny’s allies say the campaign has come under government pressure.
    Police this week came to the homes of at least 300 Navalny supporters listed in a database of registered supporters that was leaked in the spring, according to the OVD-Info protest monitor.
    The authorities say Navalny and his allies are extremists intent on destabilising Russia.
    Leonid Volkov, a Navalny ally, told Reuters he thought the authorities might block the website used to organise the smart voting campaign.
    “We’re already seeing loads of (measures by the authorities) and the degree of hysteria is only going to grow in the coming month,” he said.
    In 2019, Navalny declared his smart voting tactic a success at local Moscow elections after 20 candidates backed by his plan won seats in the city legislature.
    A Kremlin source played down the idea of the plan as a threat.    The source said the Kremlin was more concerned by discontent over stagnant or falling living standards.
    “Smart voting is not such a big problem for us in terms of the country.    Moscow, St Petersburg – yes, there might be problems here, but not for the other regions,” the source said.
    “The problem that worries the presidential administration more is … disgruntled people.    That could influence the results.    But I think United Russia will probably still keep a majority.”
    United Russia secured a constitutional majority in the last parliamentary elections in 2016, but its rating stood at 27% earlier this month, its lowest in 13 years, according to a state pollster.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Anton Zverev; editing by Andrew Osborn)

8/19/2021 EU Ready To Impose New Sanctions On Belarus, If Situation Deteriorates – PAP
FILE PHOTO: European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium May 5, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman
    WARSAW (Reuters) – The EU is ready to bring new sanctions against Belarus if the situation in the country – which the bloc accuses of pushing asylum seekers across its borders – continues to deteriorate, a European Commission spokesperson told Polish state news agency PAP.
    Poland and Lithuania, which are members of the European Union, have reported a sharp increase in the number of migrants from countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq trying to enter their countries from Belarus this year.
    The EU has accused Minsk of using the migrants as a tool to put pressure on the bloc over sanctions it imposed on Belarus after a disputed presidential election, a charge that Minsk has denied.    Lithuania wants the EU to approve tougher rules on migration.
    “Where necessary, the EU will continue to support the Member States affected by the actions of the Lukashenko regime,” Peter Stano a Commission spokesperson said, according to the PAP report.
(Reporting by Alicja Ptak; Editing by Alex Richardson)

8/20/2021 Merkel, Putin Clash Over Navalny On Her Last Trip To Russia by Vladimir Soldatkin
Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attend a news conference following
their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia August 20, 2021. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday used her final official visit to Russia to tell President Vladimir Putin to free Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, but the Kremlin leader rebuffed her, saying the jailing was unrelated to politics.
    The talks, as Merkel prepares to step down following elections next month, coincided with the first anniversary of Navalny’s poisoning, an incident that strained Russia-Germany ties.
    Navalny was flown to Germany last year after being poisoned with what the West concluded was a military nerve agent.
    Moscow rejects that and alleges a Western smear campaign.    Navalny was jailed when he flew back to Russia.     “We … spoke about the depressing situation of Alexei Navalny,” the German leader told reporters after the talks.
    “I have demanded once again from the president to release Navalny and I have made it clear that we will remain on the case,” she said.
    Putin rebuffed Merkel’s remarks, while not identifying Navalny by name and referring to him only as the “subject.”
    “As for the subject in question, he was not convicted for his political activities, but for an offence against foreign partners,” Putin said, a reference to the embezzlement case.
    “As far as political activities are concerned, no-one should hide behind political activities to carry out business projects, while breaking the law,” he said.
    On Friday, Britain and the United States imposed sanctions on Friday on men they said were Russian intelligence operatives responsible for the poisoning of Navalny. Neither the Kremlin nor any of those named offered any immediate comment.
    Washington has also imposed sanctions on one Russian vessel and two Russian individuals involved in the yet-to-be-completed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, soon after Putin said it is almost finished.
APPEAL TO THE WEST
    In a letter to mark the anniversary that was published in three European newspapers on Friday, Navalny appealed to the West to do more to combat corruption in countries like Russia.
    In Britain, the government published details of sanctions against seven individuals it said were Russian intelligence operatives suspected of involvement in his poisoning. There was no immediate reaction from Moscow.
    Relations between Merkel and Putin, two of Europe’s longest serving leaders, soured in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, drawing broad condemnation and sanctions from the West.
    At a news conference following talks that lasted almost three hours, the leaders said they had discussed Afghanistan, Libya and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany.
    Putin told reporters that there were just 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) left to complete the undersea gas pipeline that the U.S. has opposed.    Washington says it will deal a huge blow to ally Ukraine by bypassing the historic transit country.
    Merkel said she urged Putin to extend Moscow’s gas transit deal with Ukraine that expires in 2024.
    Putin told reporters that Russia planned to fully comply with its obligations on gas transit via Ukraine and that Moscow was ready to extend the transit agreement beyond 2024 but that it needed more details.
    But Putin said he had the impression that the leadership in Ukraine had decided against a peaceful resolution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine and that Kyiv looked poised to adopt legislation that he said would amount to it unilaterally exiting a peace deal.
    On Afghanistan, Putin said it was not in Russia’s interests to dwell on the results of the U.S. military campaign there and that it was important to establish good and neighbourly relations with Afghanistan.
    Merkel is due to step down as chancellor after a Sept. 26 election that will end 16 years in office, while Putin, who has been in power for more than two decades, is next up for election in 2024, though he has not said whether he will run.
    Merkel, 67, grew up in former Moscow-backed East Germany and speaks Russian, while Putin, 68, was based in Dresden during the Cold War as a KGB officer and speaks German.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Maria Kiselyova, Andrew Osborn in Moscow and Paul Carrel and Joseph Nasr; Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Barbara Lewis)

8/20/2021 UK, U.S. Impose Sanctions On Russian Intelligence Agents Over Navalny Poisoning by William James and Simon Lewis
FILE PHOTO: Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny takes part in a rally to mark the 5th anniversary
of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov's murder and to protest against proposed amendments to the
country's constitution, in Moscow, Russia February 29, 2020. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo
    LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Britain and the United States imposed sanctions on Friday on men they said were Russian intelligence operatives responsible for the poisoning one year ago of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
    The two countries both targeted seven Russians with sanctions and also issued a joint statement warning Russia over chemical weapons.
    Washington separately imposed sanctions on another two men and four Russian institutes it said were involved in chemical weapons research or what it described as an assassination attempt against Navalny.
    Navalny was flown to Germany for medical treatment after being poisoned in Siberia on Aug. 20 last year with what Western experts concluded was the military nerve agent Novichok.
    Moscow has rejected their findings and accused the West of a smear campaign against it.
    An updated version of the British sanctions list published by the government on the first anniversary of Navalny’s poisoning included seven new names.
    “The sanctioned individuals are directly responsible for planning or carrying out the attack on Mr Navalny,” a Foreign Office statement said.
    British foreign minister Dominic Raab said the move was a warning to Russia.    “We are sending a clear message that any use of chemical weapons by the Russian state violates international law, and a transparent criminal investigation must be held.”
    The sanctions will affect those people named who have overseas assets.
    The U.K. document listed Alexey Alexandrov, Vladimir Panyaev, Ivan Osipov, Vladimir Bogdanov, Kirill Vasilyev, Stanislav Makshakov and Alexei Sedov.    It said they were all members of Russia’s FSB security service and were either directly or indirectly involved in the poisoning.
    The U.S. Treasury later said it was imposing sanctions on the same seven men and two additional Russian officials it said were involved in the poisoning: Konstantin Kudryavtsev and Artur Zhirov.
    It also targeted the FSB Criminalistics Institute, a lab where most of those implicated in the attack worked, and the Russian defence ministry’s State Institute for Experimental Military Medicine.
    The State Department also imposed sanctions on two other Russian military scientific institutes involved in chemical weapons, it said.
    Neither the Kremlin nor any of those named offered any immediate comment.
    The British government cited evidence including phone and travel records showing some of the operatives were present in the Siberian city of Tomsk at the time of the poisoning.
    For others it said there were reasonable grounds to suspect that, due to their positions in the intelligence service, they had “responsibility for, provided support for, or promoted the actions of the operatives who carried out the operation.”
    Navalny was jailed for parole violations on what he says were politically motivated charges when he flew back to Russia earlier this year from Germany.
    “We call on Russia to comply fully with the Chemical Weapons Convention, including its obligations to declare and dismantle its chemical weapons programme,” the joint U.S.-British statement said.
    “We remain determined to uphold the global norm against the use of chemical weapons.”
(Reporting by William James in London and Simon Lewis in WashingtonEditing by Timothy Heritage, Mark Heinrich and Frances Kerry)

8/20/2021 Ukraine Imposes Sanctions On Lawmaker Accused Of Meddling In U.S. Election
FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian lawmaker Andriy Derkach attends a news conference titled "Publication of facts of pressure of U.S. Embassy on Ukraine's law
enforcement agencies to interfere in electoral process in U.S." in Kiev, Ukraine October 9, 2019. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo/File Photo
    KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine on Friday said it was imposing sanctions on Andriy Derkach, the Ukrainian lawmaker who was accused by the U.S. Treasury Department of being a Russian agent and trying to interfere in U.S. elections.
    Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the security and defence council, said in a briefing that Ukraine was sanctioning Derkach, along with members of the Russian military and Russian judges. He did not spell out what form the sanctions would take.
    Derkach has previously denied wrongdoing and said he was being targeted for exposing corruption.
    He did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
    “Today, by the decision of the National Security and Defence Council, sanctions have been introduced against the people’s deputy Derkach, and a certain number of people who are under the sanctions of the United States of America,” Danilov said.
    The council also imposed sanctions on 28 members of Russian intelligence and special services, the state security service (SBU) chief Ivan Bakanov said in a separate statement.
    The sanctions were “focused on protecting citizens and counteracting Russian aggression and hybrid warfare,” he said.
    The announcements came as Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine was likely set to exit ceasefire talks over the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
    Putin was hosting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who will travel to Ukraine for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; additional reporting by Ilya Zhegulev; writing by Matthias Williams; editing by Chris Reese)

8/20/2021 Just 15 Km Of Nord Stream 2 Pipeline To Go, Says Putin
FILE PHOTO: Workers are seen at the construction site of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline,
near the city of Kingisepp, Leningrad region, Russia, June 5, 2019. REUTERS / Anton Vaganov
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – There are only 15 km (9 miles) left to finish the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany that bypasses Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
    The $11 billion project doubling the capacity of the first Nord Stream pipeline to 110 billion cubic metres a year has been a focal point of tensions between Moscow and the West.
    Despite U.S. sanctions, Nord Stream 2 is almost complete and the key question is how Russia will ship its gas to Europe once a current transit deal between Kyiv and Moscow expires in 2024.
    After meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Kremlin on Friday, Putin said Russia planned to fully comply with its obligations on gas transit via Ukraine.
    He said Moscow was ready to send gas via its neighbour even after 2024 but Russia needed to understand the scale of demand for its fossil fuel first.
    “And for this, we need to get an answer from our European partners on how much they are ready to buy,” Putin told a news conference.    “We cannot sign a transit contract if we don’t have supply contracts with our consumers in Europe.”
    The European gas market is eagerly awaiting Russian flows via Nord Stream 2 as European gas prices have reached record highs due to low liquefied natural gas supplies.
    Putin said future gas supplies were a matter for talks given Europe’s green energy drive.
    Ukraine has opposed the construction of Nord Stream 2, saying it was politically motivated.
    Before the Putin-Merkel talks on Friday, Ukraine’s state energy firm Naftogaz said the project breached European Union regulations, could not work commercially and should be stopped.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Andrew Osborn and Maria Kiselyova; Writing by Tom Balmforth and Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by David Evans and David Clarke)

8/20/2021 Afghans Fear Taliban Rule Could Stop Them Studying In Russia by Maria Tsvetkova
Afghani student Eskandar Jamili poses for a picture in Kunduz Province, Afghanistan March 19, 2019. Picture taken March 19, 2019. Eskandar Jamili
via Facebook/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Taliban’s takeover could stop hundreds of Afghans from taking up university places in Russia or continuing with classes that have moved online due to COVID-19 restrictions, students who fear disruption to their educations told Reuters on Friday.
    After seizing control of Afghanistan last weekend, the Islamist militants promised peace and basic rights, including to study.    But many – especially women, who were barred from education under their harsh rule 20 years ago – are sceptical.
(https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/times-have-changed-some-afghan-women-defiant-taliban-return-2021-08-17)
    “Now all of Afghanistan is under control of the Taliban.    I don’t know what their plans are for education,” Eskandar Jamili, 26, who has been studying remotely with a Moscow university, said in English during a video chat from Kabul.
    “I have problems with the Internet and electricity here.    I think I can’t continue my lessons in this situation.”
    During the 30-minute interview, the sound and video connection broke up several times.
    A native Uzbek speaker, Jamili completed an online Russian language course – a requirement for admission to university – earlier this year and had hoped to travel to Moscow once pandemic restrictions on Afghan nationals are lifted.
    He fled to Kabul three months ago when fighting broke out in his village near the town of Taluqan in northern Afghanistan.
    Another student, 19-year-old Ahmad Musawer Popalzai, said he was meant to start an economics course in Moscow this term but was still in Kabul.
    “We can’t study online from Afghanistan because the situation is too bad.    Everyone thinks about his own safety,” he said in a video interview.
    Most students in Kabul have stopped going to classes this week after the Taliban took control of the city, a university teacher in the Afghan capital who asked not to be named told Reuters in an online interview.
    Russia has been closed to Afghan citizens since the pandemic began.    They cannot get visas or enter via neighbours like Uzbekistan or Tajikistan that Russia has reopened travel to.
    An official at Moscow State Regional University, where Jamili had planned to study for a Master’s degree in management, said she knew dozens of Afghan students in a similar situation.
    Russia’s ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov said he was aware of the issue and was in touch with students.
    Education minister Valery Falkov told state TV channel Rossiya 24 on Friday that Russia would open its borders to all international students once a procedure had been decided, although he did not cite Afghanistan specifically.
    The Russian state agency that oversees international student admissions said 365 college places were reserved for Afghan residents for the upcoming academic year.    Some 1,500 Afghans are currently enrolled in Russian higher education programmes, Rossotrudnichestvo said, although it did not specify how many of them are currently in Afghanistan.
    “If Afghan students address us, Rossotrudnichestvo … will request for an option to be considered for them to come to Russia to continue their education,” spokeswoman Nadana Fridrikhson said.
(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova, additional reporting by Maria Vasilyeva; Editing by Tom Balmforth and Catherine Evans)

8/21/2021 Uzbekistan Accepts 400 More Refugees From Afghanistan – Russian State Media
FILE PHOTO: A vehicle drives near a checkpoint at the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan border in Ayritom, Uzbekistan August 15, 2021. REUTERS/Abror Kurbonmuratov
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Uzbekistan has accepted about 400 more refugees from Afghanistan and put them up in temporary accommodation near the Afghan border, the Russian state news agency TASS reported on Saturday, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter.
    It is unclear how many Afghans have crossed into the former Soviet republic as Taliban insurgents overran Afghanistan.    The Tashkent government has denied that senior Afghan figures such as ethnic Uzbek leader Abdul Rashid Dustum were among them.
    However, approximately 650 Afghan officers from units commanded by Dustum were already at the same health centre, TASS cited the source as saying.
    Uzbekistan said on Friday that it had sent 150 Afghan refugees back to Afghanistan as per an agreement with the Taliban and after requests from the refugees themselves.
(Reporting by Polina Devitt; editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

8/22/2021 Ukraine Sanctions Lawmaker Accused Of Meddling In U.S. Electionr
FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian lawmaker Andriy Derkach attends a news conference titled "Publication of facts of pressure of U.S. Embassy on Ukraine's law
enforcement agencies to interfere in electoral process in U.S." in Kiev, Ukraine October 9, 2019. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo
    KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday signed a decree imposing sanctions on Andriy Derkach, the Ukrainian lawmaker accused by the United States of being a Russian agent and interfering in U.S. elections, the presidential office said.
    The sanctions include an asset freeze, a ban on capital withdrawals, the revocation of Derkach’s licences, restrictions on him transferring resources of any kind and other measures.
    A top Ukrainian security official said in a briefing on Friday that Ukraine was sanctioning Derkach, along with members of the Russian military and Russian judges.
    Derkach has previously denied wrongdoing and said he was being targeted for exposing corruption.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

8/22/2021 Swedish PM To Step Down In November Ahead Of 2022 Elections
FILE PHOTO: Social Democrat leader Stefan Lofven speaks during a media conference after being re-elected as prime
minister in Swedish Parliament in Stockholm, Sweden July 7, 2021. Christine Olsson/TT News Agency/via REUTERS
    STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven caught many off guard on Sunday, saying he would resign in November ahead of a general election in September 2022 to give his successor a chance to improve the Social Democrats’ standing in the polls.
    Lofven has been prime minister since 2014, heading two coalition governments with the Green Party that have lurched from crisis to crisis, unable to command a majority in parliament.
    The most recent setback saw Lofven, a former welder and union leader, resign in June after losing a no-confidence vote.     He was returned to office by parliament in July when the leader of the biggest opposition party, the Moderates, failed to get enough backing to form a new government.
    “In next year’s election campaign the Social Democrats will be led by someone else than me,” Lofven said at the end of his annual summer speech.    “Everything has an end and I want to give my successor the very best conditions.”     He said he would step down at the party’s congress in November.
    Lofven’s Social Democrats have dominated Swedish politics for generations, but their support – like that of left-of-centre parties across much of Europe – has gradually eroded.
    In addition, the rise of the Sweden Democrats, a populist, anti-immigration party, has made forming majority governments almost impossible.
    The Social Democrats will probably benefit ahead of the elections from having a new leader, Uppsala University political scientist Torsten Svensson told Reuters.
    “The fact he takes the initiative himself, not resigning after explicit demands for it, and the fact they get to launch the election campaign with a new face is a big plus,” he said.
    Lofven’s possible successors include current Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson, Health Minister Lena Hallengren and Minister of the Interior Mikael Damberg, he said.
    Lofven took over the leadership of the Social Democrats in 2012, when their support was at an all-time low and managed to return them to power after eight years of centre-right rule.
    He got a second term in 2018, but only when two centre-right parties swapped sides, leaving Lofven caught between their demands and those of the Left Party, whose support he has also needed.
    His successor is likely to have similar problems as opinion polls show the centre-right and centre-left blocs still deadlocked.    The government currently does not have the support it will need to pass a budget in the autumn.
    Magnus Hagevi, political scientist at the Linnaeus University, said the resignation was not a surprise considering that Lofven had been on the job for a long time.
    “He does this at a time that gives the successor a chance to step into his shoes ahead of the next parliamentary election,” he said, adding that possible successors include Energy Minister Anders Ygeman as well as Andersson.
(Reporting by Anna RingstromAdditional reporting by Simon JohnsonEditing by David Clarke, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Frances Kerry)

8/22/2021 Russia Plans One-Off Payments To Military, Retired Ahead Of Election
ILE PHOTO: Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy
Nikolai Yevmenov attend the Navy Day parade in Saint Petersburg, Russia July 25, 2021. Sputnik/Aleksey Nikolsky/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said his government will make one-off payments to pensioners and military personnel this year to help them cope with a sharper-than-expected rise in inflation, the RIA news agency reported on Sunday.
    Rising food prices are a sensitive matter for the Kremlin ahead of a parliamentary election in September.
    Putin told leaders of the ruling United Russia party that the planned rise in state payments would no longer be enough to cover current annual inflation of 6.5% year-on-year, which is exceeding expected levels of 4%, the RIA report said.
    “Of course, we need to boost the income of some groups of citizens,” he said.
    Military personnel will receive payments of 15,000 roubles ($202) each, and pensioners of 10,000 roubles, Putin told the meeting.
($1 = 74.2650 roubles)
(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Jan Harvey)

8/22/2021 Putin: We Don’t Want Afghan Militants In Russia
FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference following talks with German Chancellor
Angela Merkel at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia August 20, 2021. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -President Vladimir Putin on Sunday rejected the idea of sending people evacuation from Afghanistan to countries near Russia, saying he did not want “militants showing up here under cover of refugees,” Russian news agencies reported.
    Putin criticised an idea of some Western countries to relocate refugees from Afghanistan to neighbouring Central Asian countries while their visas to the United States and Europe are being processed.
    “Does that mean that they can be sent without visas to those countries, to our neighbours, while they themselves (the West) don’t want to take them without visas?” TASS news agency quoted Putin as telling leaders of the ruling United Russia party.
    “Why is there such a humiliating approach to solving the problem?” he said.
    The United States held secret talks with a number of countries in a desperate attempt to secure deals to temporarily house at-risk Afghans who worked for the U.S. government, Reuters reported last week.
    Putin said Russia, which allows visa-free travel for residents of ex-Soviet Central Asian countries, opposes that.     “We don’t want militants showing up here under cover of refugees,” TASS cited Putin as saying.
    While some Western nations scrambled to evacuate people from Afghanistan, Moscow praised the Taliban for restoring order following its takeover of the country.
    Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Taliban leaders had stuck to their promises so far.
    “We are seeing the statements the Talibs made about ceasing combat actions, an amnesty for all of those involved in the confrontation, about a need for a nationwide dialogue … they are being implemented,” he was cited by RIA as saying.
    Lavrov said the Taliban had started contacts with former Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
(Reporting by Maria TsvetkovaEditing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Giles Elgood)

8/23/2021 Belarus Tightens Grip On Lawyers by Joanna Plucinska, Matthias Williams and Andrius Sytas
Belarusian lawyer Mikhail Kirilyuk sits during an interview with Reuters in Warsaw, Poland June 15, 2021. REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
    WARSAW (Reuters) – Belarusian lawyer Mikhail Kirilyuk says he received an unsettling text message in October from an acquaintance linked to the country’s security services.
    The acquaintance urged Kirilyuk, who had defended anti-government protesters and publicly criticised President Alexander Lukashenko’s rule, to leave the country.    According to Kirilyuk, who said the text was sent via an encrypted messaging app and described its content to Reuters, the message also contained a warning: The attorney faced arrest and revocation of his license to practice law.
    Kirilyuk left that month with his parents and young children for Poland, which has long been critical of Lukashenko.    In February, the justice ministry revoked Kirilyuk’s license, according to an April Minsk court document relating to his unsuccessful appeal.    The ministry said in a February press release that Kirilyuk had made “unacceptable” public statements that contained “rude” and “tactless” comments about state representatives, without identifying them.
    Speaking with Reuters from Warsaw, 38-year-old Kirilyuk said he believed the action against him was politically motivated because of who he had represented and his public critical comments.    He said he left because he “didn’t want to get arrested” and that he won’t return home until Lukashenko is out of office.
    Kirilyuk’s account fits with what more than half a dozen Belarusian lawyers as well as international organizations representing the profession and human-rights groups say is a pattern of intimidation and suppression of attorneys by Belarusian authorities.    Those actions include criminal and disciplinary proceedings against lawyers and disbarment, they say.
    Seven lawyers interviewed by Reuters say their licenses were removed after defending protesters, speaking out against authorities or resisting what they said was pressure on their profession.    Several of them allege that authorities monitored confidential client meetings or obstructed their work.    Reuters was unable to independently corroborate their assertions or the text message described by Kirilyuk.
    Lukashenko’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment. The president in March said there was a need to “put things in order” in the legal profession, according to comments published in the state-controlled Belarus Today news outlet.
    The justice ministry, in response to Reuters’ questions, said its oversight of the legal profession is implemented in accordance “with the principle of independence of advocacy and non-interference in the professional activities of advocates.”
    It said statements by disbarred lawyers about the persecution of the profession and interference by the justice ministry “are not supported by facts and documents, are unfounded and are based on the statements of the violators themselves.”
    The ministry said it has the power to terminate legal licenses in circumstances stipulated by law.    It added that decisions to terminate the licenses of a number of lawyers this year was because they had committed “gross violations of licensing legislation,” licensing requirements and conditions, or engaged in conduct that “discredit” the legal profession.    It didn’t name the lawyers but said it included those Reuters asked about in its questions.
    Authorities in this former Soviet state have conducted a broad crackdown on dissent since last August, when the long-standing president declared himself victor in an election that many Western countries deemed fraudulent.    The targets have included opposition politicians, activists and the media.    In an episode that shocked the West, a plane flying over Belarus was grounded in May and a dissident journalist on board was arrested.
    On Aug. 9, the first anniversary of the contested election, Lukashenko said https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/defiant-belarus-leader-shrugs-off-sanctions-says-athlete-was-manipulated-2021-08-09 he won the vote fairly and saved Belarus from a violent uprising.    In a news conference in the capital Minsk, the president said that an Olympian sprinter, who defected to Poland https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/exclusive-belarusian-sprinter-decided-defect-way-airport-family-fears-about-2021-08-05 at the Tokyo Olympic Games, had been “manipulated” by outside forces.
    At least 23 Belarusian lawyers have been disbarred since last summer, according to the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), a Paris-based non-governmental organization.    The federation said Belarus has in the past used retaliatory measures against lawyers; what was new, the FIDH said, is “the scale of repression” and that it now included criminal action.
    The disbarment of all but one of the lawyers identified by FIDH has been confirmed by statements on the justice ministry’s website or the state-run Belta news agency.    The other lawyer confirmed to Reuters their license had been revoked.
    That figure includes three lawyers that the justice ministry on Aug. 11 said had been disbarred because they had performed their professional duties “improperly” and displayed “an unsatisfactory level of knowledge of the legislation necessary for carrying out advocacy work.”
    A new law approved by 66-year-old Lukashenko in June stipulates, among other things, that only candidates approved by the justice ministry can practice law, which some attorneys say is intended to control their profession.
    Until now, bar associations chose trainees for the obligatory internships and all candidates were required to pass the bar exam before becoming a lawyer. Under the new law, the justice ministry coordinates the composition of the interns and people who have served as members of the police or other investigative agencies, if nominated by their respective state institutions, need only undergo a three month internship and an oral exam to become a lawyer.
    Justice Minister Oleg Slizhevsky has said the aim of the new law, which comes into effect at the end of this year, is to raise the quality of legal professionals and improve their advocacy.
CRIMINAL CHARGES
    Mass street protests swept Belarus after Lukashenko claimed victory in last summer’s presidential elections.    The unrest was the biggest challenge to his rule since taking office in 1994.    Authorities responded with a sometimes violent crackdown on protesters; many political opponents were arrested or went into exile.    The response prompted Western sanctions.
    Belarusian authorities have described the actions of law enforcement as appropriate and necessary.
    A key moment for some lawyers and rights activists was the arrest in September of lawyers Maxim Znak and Illia Salei.
    They represented Maria Kolesnikova, one of the leaders of mass street protests.
    Earlier this month, Znak and Kolesnikova went on trial https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/maria-kolesnikova-face-belarus-street-protests-goes-trial-2021-08-04 on criminal charges of extremism and attempting to seize power. Both deny the charges.     The authorities charged lawyer Salei with making public calls for action to harm national security.    Salei, who denies wrongdoing, is on bail while the investigation continues, according to his father, who is acting as his lawyer.
    Two other lawyers representing protest leader Kolesnikova were disbarred.
    Siarhej Zikratski, a lawyer for Znak, lost his license in March after appearing before a panel established by the justice ministry to vet aspiring lawyers that can rule on disbarring existing ones.
    Zikratski said the panel compiles information on lawyers’ media interviews, social media posts and petitions they have signed.    The lawyer added that during his appearance before the panel, it questioned him about media interviews he had given and specific parts of the Belarusian legal code.
    “We discussed why I gave the media interviews and why I did not have the right to speak out,” Zikratski told Reuters in June from his current base, the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. He now represents exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
‘PEOPLE WERE FRIGHTENED’
    The United Nations has said Belarus lawyers handling politically sensitive human rights cases have been harassed and intimidated.    In a May report, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on human rights in Belarus said interference in the work of lawyers is “systemic” and that lawyers were often denied access to clients and faced disbarment or detention or arrest.
    Belarus, in response to a UN resolution citing the May report, said the UN’s decisions have long “failed to reflect the real human rights situation in the world” and “serve as a pretext for pressure and sanctions of the collective West against states that do not obey its diktats.”
    Kirilyuk specialized in commercial law. But after security forces began detaining people in the mass protests, he and other lawyers faced a deluge of inquiries from people seeking legal help, he said.    “We had 10, 20, 30, or 50 calls a day because people were frightened. They had been tortured in prison and didn’t know what to do,” said Kirilyuk.
    Kirilyuk said he took on cases related to the protests, including that of Yelena Leuchanka, a Belarusian basketball star who authorities detained after she took part in protests calling for Lukashenko’s resignation. Leuchanka was sentenced in September to 15 days in jail https://www.reuters.com/article/us-belarus-election-basketball-idUSKBN27D1QS for taking part in protests demanding the president resign.
    Kirilyuk said the police refused to tell him where Leuchanka was being held; he and colleagues had to call around police stations before tracking her down at a detention centre in Minsk.    The lawyer said he was initially denied access to his client and then only got 10 minutes with her before her court appearance.
    Reuters was unable to independently confirm Kirilyuk’s assertions about torture or the specifics of Leuchanka’s case.
    The interior ministry, which oversees the police, referred questions seeking comment to the foreign ministry. The foreign ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment.
    During a visit to another client in detention in August last year, Kirilyuk said he noticed a camera during what was meant to be a confidential meeting.    When the lawyer’s COVID-19 mask slipped under his nose, a telephone that was in the room rang and when he answered it a voice told him to push it back up, Kirilyuk said.
    Such tactics, he said, have a chilling effect.    “It’s such a simple way to show you that ‘we hear you, we’re watching you, and everything that you say to your client is on camera,'” Kirilyuk said.
(Reporting by Joanna Plucinska in Warsaw, Matthias Williams in Kyiv, and Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; additional reporting by Natalia Zinets in Kyiv, Dmitriy Turlyun in Moscow and Robert Muller in Prague; writing by Matthias Williams and Andrew Osborn; Editing by Cassell Bryan-Low)

8/23/2021 Putin’s Pre-Election Social Payments May Cost $6.75 Billion, Add To Inflation
FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the International military-technical forum
"Army-2021" at Patriot Congress and Exhibition Centre in Moscow Region, Russia August 23, 2021. Sputnik/Ramil Sitdikov/Kremlin via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) - Social payments to pensioners and soldiers announced by President Vladimir Putin before an election next month could cost the budget more than 500 billion roubles ($6.75 billion), Andrei Makarov, a senior lawmaker, said on Monday.
    Putin on Sunday said military personnel will receive a one-off payment of 15,000 roubles ($202.41) and pensioners will get 10,000 roubles, in a move designed to help cope with high inflation.
    “Initial calculations show that processing the payments will require more than 500 billion roubles,” said Makarov, the head of the Duma’s budget committee, according to the website of the ruling United Russia party.
    Makarov said payments would be financed from additional budget revenue.
    Russia’s finance ministry and the central bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the state spending that is seen as putting extra pressure on the budget and complicating the task to rein in inflation.
    The proposed spending could total 460-480 billion roubles, which will add 0.2 percentage point to 2021 gross domestic product growth as well as to inflation, said Sofia Donets, chief economist at Renaissance Capital.
    Dmitry Dolgin from ING said Putin’s promises could cost 450 billion roubles, which will have a positive impact on economic growth.
    “This keeps in place the chance that the central bank will decide to raise the key rate by 50 basis points in September and to wrap up the cycle,” said Donets who previously worked at the central bank’s monetary policy department.
    The central bank raised the key rate four times this year to rein in stubbornly high inflation, which aggravates a decline in real disposable incomes, a sensitive issue ahead of elections.
    Contemplating annual inflation at around 6.5%, the level of its key rate and above the 4% target, the central bank will next meet on rates on Sept. 10.
($1 = 74.1057 roubles)
(Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya, writing by Anna Rzhevkina and Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

8/23/2021 Police End Extinction Rebellion Occupation Of Norway’s Oil Ministry
Extinction Rebellion protesters demonstrate at the Norwegian oil and energy
ministry in Oslo, Norway August 23, 2021. REUTERS/Gwladys Fouche
    OSLO (Reuters) -Scores of Extinction Rebellion activists blocked access to Norway’s oil and energy ministry for more than five hours on Monday, before police cleared the demonstration and made arrests.
    Around 17 campaigners, some with “Ban oil” written on their palms, occupied the ministry’s reception, while dozens of others demonstrated outside, stopping people getting into the building in central Oslo.
    They described the blockade as a part of a 10-day protest against Norway’s oil industry.    Norway is Western Europe’s largest producer of crude and natural gas and pumps some four million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
    Police started clearing the building by the afternoon and said they arrested 19 people, most of them people inside the ministry.    Another 29 protesters were arrested when they blocked a major road in the city, the force said on Twitter.
    Climate change has become a focal point of debate ahead of an election on Sept. 13, in which Norway’s centre-left opposition is expected to defeat the incumbent Conservative-led coalition.
    “For decades we have written letters, we have spoken out, we have demonstrated.    You let us speak but you are not listening,” 22-year-old activist Hanna Kristina Jakobsen told the crowd during the demonstration.
    “This is why we do peaceful civil disobedience now.    We are desperate.”
    Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Tina Bru, said she shared the worry about climate change but criticised the protesters’ tactics.
    “We’ll never succeed in the fight against climate change if we scrap democracy on the way,” Bru said in a statement.
    Extinction Rebellion is also planning protests elsewhere in Europe, with two weeks of demonstrations starting on Monday in London.
    Earlier this week Extinction Rebellion activists blocked access to an Equinor-run oil export facility on Norway’s west coast, temporarily halting the loading of oil.
(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, Terje Solsvik, Nerijus Adomaitis and Nora Buli;Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky, Mark Porter and Andrew Heavens)

8/23/2021 Poland To Build Fence, Double Troop Numbers On Belarus Border by Kacper Pempel
FILE PHOTO: Polish border patrol officers guard a group of migrants who attempted to cross the border between Belarus
and Poland near the village of Usnarz Gorny, Poland August 18, 2021. Grzegorz Dabrowski/Agencja Gazeta/via REUTERS
    USNARZ GORNY, Poland (Reuters) -Poland will build a fence along its border with Belarus and double the number of troops there, the defence minister said on Monday, to halt a flow of migrants the European Union says is being driven by Minsk in retaliation for EU sanctions.
    Poland and fellow EU states Lithuania and Latvia have reported sharp increases in migrants from countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan trying to cross their borders.    The EU says Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is waging “hybrid warfare” with migrants to exert pressure on the bloc.
    Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said that a new 2.5-metre-(8.2-foot)-high solid fence would be built on the border with Belarus.
    At a press conference at the border Blaszczak also said the military presence there would be increased.
    “It is necessary to increase the number of soldiers. … We will soon double the number of soldiers to 2,000,” he said.
    Poland’s government has come under sharp criticism from human rights advocates over the plight of a group of migrants trapped for two weeks in the open between Polish and Belarusian border guards near the village of Usnarz Gorny.
    Poland says allowing the migrants to enter Polish territory would encourage further illegal migration and would also play into Lukashenko’s hands.    “These are not refugees, they are economic migrants brought in by the Belarusian government,” Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz told reporters.
INHUMANE
    Some lawyers and NGOs accuse Warsaw of treating the stranded migrants inhumanely by blocking their entry.
    The Polish Human Rights Ombudsman said the Border Guard had violated the Geneva Convention by not accepting verbal declarations from some of the migrants that they wanted to apply for international protection in Poland.
    “People were asking the border guards for protection and the border guards were pushing them back,” said Piotr Bystrianin from the Ocalenie Foundation, which helps refugees.
    “That means they were in contact and that means they should give them the possibility to apply for protection.    … It is very simple.”
    Mahdieh Gholami, a translator helping the Ocalenie Foundation, said that Polish troops were hampering her efforts to communicate with the migrants just across the border.
    “When I start to say something the soldiers turn on engines,” she said.
    The Polish Border Guard and the army did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
    Lithuania said on Monday it would complete a 508-km (315-mile) fence along its border with Belarus by September next year.
(Reporting by Kacper Pempel, Alan Charlish, Alicja Ptak and Pawel Florkiewicz; editing by Mark Heinrich and Mark Porter)

8/23/2021 Russian Police Arrest Media Freedom Protestors by OAN Newsroom
Police officers detain a journalist who holds a placard which reads “We don’t stop being journalists” during
a single picquet of solidarity with colleagues who were added to the list of “foreign agent” media near the
headquarters of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in Moscow. (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images)
    Russian police arrested several pro-media freedom protestors. Journalists took to Moscow’s Lubyanka Square on Saturday to protest the Justice Ministry’s addition of Rain TV and the investigative outlet Important Stories to the list of “foreign agents.”
    Rain TV in particular extensively covered the poisoning and imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navlany.    The “foreign agent” label comes with closer government scrutiny.
    “It’s absolutely an unconstitutional decision because we are doing journalism and journalism is not a crime,” journalist Yulia Krasnikova expressed.    “The fact that we don’t want to write stories that other pro-government media do doesn’t mean that we violate something and that we are some ‘foreign agents.'”
    Opponents of the Kremlin said the move aimed to inhibit independent journalism critical of Vladimir Putin’s government ahead of the next month’s parliamentary vote, which was one important for Putin to remain in power.

8/24/2021 Poland’s President Prefers Media Reforms On “Market Basis”
FILE PHOTO: General view of TVN station's TVN24 television channel studio in
Warsaw, Poland, July 29, 2021. REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki/File Photo
    WARSAW (Reuters) – Taking over media owned by foreign companies should be carried out on market terms instead of introducing compulsory solutions, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Tuesday in a sign he might oppose a bill that critics say is aimed at gagging a news channel critical of the government.    Earlier in August Poland’s lower house of parliament passed a bill that would strengthen a ban on firms from outside the European Economic Area controlling Polish broadcasters.    The move was criticized by the United States and European Commission.    The opposition says the bill aims to gag the news channel TVN24, which is owned by U.S.-based media group Discovery Inc and is critical of Poland’s right-wing nationalist government.    TVN24’s parent, TVN, is owned by Discovery Inc via a firm registered in the Netherlands, to get around a ban on non-European firms owning more than 49% of Polish media companies.    The bill would forbid such an arrangements.    “In general, I believe that the issue of media repolonization is an important topic, but it would be best if it was carried out on a market basis … not compulsively,” Duda said in an interview aired by state controlled broadcaster TVP Info.    “This is a very controversial solution that is incomprehensible to our American partners for two reasons: First because of the protection of property … and second because of the value of freedom of speech,” he added.    The bill will now be voted on by the upper house of parliament, the Senate.    All bills must clear both houses of parliament and be signed by Duda to become law.
    The president has the right to veto bills or ask the Constitutional Tribunal to check whether they are consistent with the Constitution.
(Reporting by Anna Koper; Editing by Sandra Maler)

8/24/2021 Russia Uses New Hardware To Target Navalny’s Anti-Kremlin App – Experts
FILE PHOTO: Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny takes part in a rally to mark the 5th anniversary
of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov's murder and to protest against proposed amendments to the
country's constitution, in Moscow, Russia February 29, 2020. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia is using new digital hardware to target an online app that jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s team created to undermine the Kremlin at next month’s parliamentary elections, cyber experts said.
    Navalny and his allies want to use the app and their website to organise a tactical voting campaign at the Sept. 17-19 vote to land a blow to the ruling United Russia party that dominates the political landscape.
    The “smart voting” campaign requires followers to sign up and be allocated a candidate who is judged to have the best chance of defeating the party in their election district.
    It is one of Navalny’s few remaining levers after a crackdown banned his movement as extremist this summer. Several of his websites have since been blocked.
    Communications watchdog Roskomnadzor has told Google and Apple to remove the app from their stores.    Neither has done that so far and the app has been trending in Russia’s online segment.
    Late on Monday, Navalny’s allies accused Russia’s authorities of moving to block it, efforts they said had intensified since Friday and meant the app was not loading content for some users.
    “We’ve fixed some things and now the accessibility of the app is around 70%,” his allies said on Telegram messenger.
    GlobalCheck, a group that monitors the accessibility of websites in Russia and the region using sensors, said Russia was disrupting the app with equipment that uses a technology called Deep Packet Inspection, which can analyse internet traffic, identify the data flows of particular services and block them.
    Russia’s communications watchdog ordered all internet providers, including mobile operators, to install that equipment in 2019 after Russia passed legislation known as its “sovereign internet” law.
    The legislation was one of a series of moves by authorities to tighten internet controls that stirred fears among internet freedom advocates that Russia was tacking towards a stricter China-style vision of internet control.
(Reporting by Anton Zverev and Tom Balmforth; editing by Angus MacSwan)

8/25/2021 EU Rights Court Calls On Poland, Latvia To Aid Migrants On Belarus Border
FILE PHOTO: Barbered wire is pictured at the Polish-Belarusian border near the
village of Usnarz Gorny, Poland, August 23, 2021. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
    WARSAW (Reuters) -The European Court of Human Rights asked the Polish and Latvian governments on Wednesday to intervene to help migrants camped on the Belarus border.
    The fate of the migrants has become part of a broader dispute between the European Union and Belarus and groups such as Polish refugee charity Ocalenie Foundation have grown increasingly concerned for their welfare.
    The foundation has been communicating with a group of 32 migrants on the Belarus side of the border with Poland, using a translator with a megaphone from a distance.    It said on Wednesday 25 of them were unwell, with 12 seriously ill.
    It said they had no drinking water and had nothing to eat since Tuesday.
    “Fifty-two-year-old Mrs. Gul will soon die in front of her five children.    Rescue is needed NOW,” it said on Twitter.
    It said the woman was from Afghanistan and had two sons and three daughters with her, the youngest of whom was aged 15.
    It declined to provide further details about her, but said the other migrants there were also from Afghanistan.
    Additionally, 41 Iraqi nationals are stuck on the Latvia-Belarus border, news agency BNS reported.
    Poland and fellow EU states Lithuania and Latvia have reported sharp increases in migrants from countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq trying to cross their borders.
    The European Union accuses Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko of orchestrating the arrival of thousands of people at the borders in retaliation for sanctions imposed on the former Soviet republic.
    The Belarusian foreign ministry on Tuesday accused Poland of provoking migrant flows from Afghanistan as part of the U.S. coalition, according to the state-run Belta news agency.    It blamed the breakdown in border cooperation on the EU.
    Poland’s Helsinki Committee for Human Rights said this week it had asked the court to implement the temporary measure.
    The court said it requested “that the Polish and Latvian authorities provide all the applicants with food, water, clothing, adequate medical care and, if possible, temporary shelter”
    A Latvian foreign ministry spokesperson said it would cooperate with the court’s request.
    “Latvia fully respects the interim measures indicated by the Court and will continue to provide food, water and medical help on humanitarian grounds to people at risk.    It should be noted that the aforementioned measures include activities that Latvia has already been carrying out,” Janis Bekeris told Reuters in a text message.
    The Polish government spokesperson couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on the ruling.
    The court said the measure “should not be understood as requiring that Poland or Latvia let the applicants enter their territories.”
    Poland, which said this week it would build a fence on the border and double the number of troops there to halt the flow, has said responsibility for the migrants lies with Belarus.
    Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday that a convoy of humanitarian aid offered by Poland had been refused by Minsk.    His deputy foreign minister said Belarusian authorities were providing the migrants with water, food and cigarettes.
    Belarus authorities were not immediately available to comment on what aid they had been providing.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Joanna Plucinska and Pawel Florkiewicz; Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Matthias Williams in Kyiv, Andrius Sytas in Vilnius;Editing by Alison Williams and Grant McCool)

8/26/2021 Hungary’s Two Military Planes Have Left Afghanistan
FILE PHOTO: Hungary's Minister for External Economy and Foreign Affairs Peter Szijjarto gestures
during a General Affairs meeting in Luxembourg June 22, 2021. John Thys/Pool via REUTERS
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary’s two military passenger planes and all its troops taking part in evacuations have left Afghanistan and returned safely to Hungary, the Hungarian Defence Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
    Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Wednesday that Hungary’s evacuation flights from Afghanistan were nearing an end after the central European country airlifted more than 500 people from Kabul.
    Pressure to complete the evacuations of thousands of foreigners and Afghans who helped Western countries during the 20-year war against the Taliban has intensified, with all U.S. and allied troops due to leave the airport next week.
    The United States and allies urged people to move away from Kabul airport on Thursday due to the threat of an Islamic State attack as Western troops hurry to evacuate as many Afghans as possible before an Aug. 31 deadline. nL4N2PX0E5
    The head of Hungary’s armed forces will hold a news conference about the evacuations at 0700 GMT.
    Hungary, an opponent of irregular migration to Europe, has rejected any plans to accommodate large numbers of Afghan refugees, and said it would only evacuate people whose lives were at risk for supporting the NATO presence in Afghanistan.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than and Anita Komuves; Editing by Giles Elgood)

8/26/2021 Close Ally Of Kremlin Critic Navalny Appears On Social Media After Reports Of Fleeing Russia
FILE PHOTO: Lyubov Sobol, a Russian opposition figure and a close ally of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny,
speaks with journalists after a court hearing in Moscow, Russia April 15, 2021. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Lyubov Sobol, a prominent ally of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, appeared on social media on Thursday after what she called “a rather complex nose surgery,” nearly three weeks after reports she had left Russia.
    On Aug. 8, Russia’s RT and REN TV channels cited sources saying that Sobol, 33, one of the most well-known faces of Navalny’s entourage, had left Russia for Turkey. Neither Sobol nor her allies have commented on her whereabouts.
    Earlier this month, she was sentenced to 1-1/2 years of parole-like restrictions for flouting COVID-19 curbs on protests, a charge she called politically-motivated nonsense.    The restrictions included not being allowed to leave home at night.
    On Thursday, Sobol posted two photos of herself in a blue hospital-type shirt, with black eyes and her nose bandaged.    “Don’t worry,” she wrote without disclosing her location.
    “I survived a rather complex nose surgery which lasted for 4 hours under a general anaesthesia and which was planed before my house arrest and even before Navalny’s poisoning.”
    Sobol expressed gratitude to a doctor, saying she can now freely breath through her nose again, something she has struggled with for years, and said ‘a long recovery period’ lay ahead.
    The doctor, Armen Veranyan, is a cosmetic surgeon with an Armenian cellphone number on his Instagram page.    A lawyer for Sobol, Vladimir Voronin, said he did not know whether she was in Armenia.
    Neither Sobol nor Veranyan replied to Reuters messages seeking comment.
    Navalny was flown to Germany last year after being poisoned with what the West concluded was a military nerve agent.
    Moscow rejected that conclusion and alleged it was a Western smear campaign. Navalny was jailed when he flew back to Russia.
(Reporting by Anton Zverev and Katya Golubkova; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

8/26/2021 Russia Says It Will Study Taliban’s Actions Before Deciding On Recognition
FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov wearing a protective face mask attends Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual
end-of-year news conference, held online in a video conference mode, in Moscow, Russia December 17, 2020. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia has yet to determine its position towards the Taliban, and will see how they act toward the Afghan population and Russian diplomats, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson said on Thursday.
    “We think that the Taliban’s dominance, the de facto rise to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan and them taking most over the country under their control is de facto an accomplished process,” Dmitry Peskov told a briefing.
    He said Moscow now wanted to see how this would translate into the security situation for the Afghan people and Russian diplomats in the country.
    Moscow is interested in peace and stability in Afghanistan and will likely continue contacts with Washington on issues arising there, he added.
    “The situation certainly requires exchange of opinions, exchange of information, so, of course, it is highly likely that such contacts will continue,” Peskov said.
    Four Russian military planes evacuated Russian and other nationals from Kabul on Wednesday on the orders of President Vladimir Putin, as Moscow held military exercises involving its tank forces in neighbouring Tajikistan.
    Meanwhile, Russian ally and Afghanistan’s northern neighbour Tajikistan this week warned it would not recognise an exclusively Taliban government.
(Reporting by Dmitry AntonovWriting by Olzhas Auyezov; editing by John Stonestreet and Toby Chopra)

8/27/2021 Norway Halts Kabul Evacuation, Says Foreign Minister
FILE PHOTO: Norway's Foreign Minister Ine Marie Eriksen Soreide attends a news conference following talks with
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Kirkenes, northern Norway, October 25, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    OSLO (Reuters) – Norway can no longer assist in evacuating remaining citizens from Afghanistan’s capital, Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide said on Thursday.
    “The doors at the airport are now closed and it is no longer possible to get people in,” Soereide told broadcaster TV2.
    Suspected suicide bombers struck the crowded gates of Kabul airport with at least two explosions on Thursday, killing dozens of people and injuring scores more.
    A U.S. State Department report on the Afghan crisis said Norway had agreed to provide airlift support for Afghan evacuees from the Gulf region to follow-on points in Europe. The report, reviewed by Reuters, gave no details.
(Reporting by Victoria Klesty; additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by Alex Richardson and Lincoln Feast.)

8/27/2021 Plane Carrying Evacuated Afghans In Transit To U.S. Arrives In Albania
People who have been evacuated from Afghanistan arrive at Tirana International Airport, after Taliban insurgents
entered Afghanistan's capital Kabul, in Tirana, Albania, August 27, 2021. REUTERS/Florion Goga
    TIRANA (Reuters) – A plane carrying 121 people evacuated from Afghanistan and in transit to the United States arrived in Albania’s Tirana airport early of Friday.
    Passengers included babies, children and people in wheelchairs, all of whom had their temperatures checked upon arrival and were taken to tents for registration and some food, a Reuters photographer at the scene said.
    The plane arrived from Tbilisi where the Afghans had been flown to from Kabul, Albanian media reported.
    The Afghans are now expected to be taken to hotels in the coastal town of Durres, where they will stay until they are vetted by U.S. security and immigration authorities and their documentation for U.S. immigration visas is arranged.
    Albania and North Macedonia, both NATO members, as well as Kosovo, agreed to a proposal by U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration to serve as transit countries for Afghan refugees whose final destination is the United States.
(Reporting by Florian Goga and Fatos Bytyci; Writing by Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)

8/27/2021 China Will Soon Surpass Russia As A Nuclear Threat – Senior U.S. Military Official by Michael Martina
FILE PHOTO: People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers salute in front of nuclear-capable missiles during a massive parade to mark
the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Beijing October 1, 2009. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China, in the midst of a rapid nuclear weapons buildup, will soon surpass Russia as the United States’ top nuclear threat, a senior U.S. military official said on Friday, warning that the two countries have no mechanisms to avert miscommunication.
    U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Thomas Bussiere, the deputy commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, which oversees the country’s nuclear arsenal, said China’s development of nuclear capabilities “can no longer be aligned” with its public claim that it wants to maintain a minimum nuclear deterrent.
    “There’s going to be a point, a crossover point, where the number of threats presented by China will exceed the number of threats that currently Russia presents,” Bussiere told an online forum.
    He said the determination would not be based solely on the number of Beijing’s stockpiled nuclear warheads, but also on how they are “operationally fielded.”
    “There will be a crossover point, we believe, in the next few years,” Bussiere said.
    Unlike with Russia, the United States did not have any treaties or dialogue mechanism with China on the issue to “alleviate any misperceptions or confusion,” he added.
    Bussiere’s comments come as the United States is attempting to realign its foreign policy to put greater emphasis in the Indo-Pacific region to counter China’s growing economic and military might.
    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed deep concern https://www.reuters.com/world/china/blinken-expresses-us-concern-about-chinas-growing-nuclear-arsenal-2021-08-06 about China’s growing nuclear arsenal during a meeting with foreign ministers of Asian countries and partner nations in early August.
    Think-tank reports based on satellite imagery say China appears to be constructing hundreds of new silos for nuclear missiles, and Washington has accused Beijing of resisting nuclear arms talks.
    China says its arsenal is dwarfed by those of the United States and Russia, and that it is ready for dialogue, but only if Washington reduces its nuclear stockpile to China’s level.
    In a 2020 report to Congress, the Pentagon estimated China’s operational nuclear warhead stockpile to be in “the low 200s,” and said it was projected to at least double in size as Beijing expands and modernizes its forces.
    According to a State Department fact sheet, the United States had 1,357 nuclear warheads deployed as of March 1.
    China’s advances in missile technology to deliver those warheads are also a concern for the United States, and Bussiere said China last year tested more ballistic missile capabilities than the rest of the world combined.
(Reporting by Michael Martina in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

8/27/2021 Russian News Outlets Ask Putin To Call Off ‘Foreign Agent’ Media Crackdown
FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech at a congress of the ruling United
Russia party in Moscow, Russia August 24, 2021. Sputnik/Alexander Astafyev/Kremlin via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Several Russian media outlets published joint appeals on Friday telling President Vladimir Putin to call off a crackdown on “foreign agent” media that they said is destroying independent journalism.
    In the run-up to September’s parliamentary election, the authorities have declared several outlets as “foreign agents,” a legal designation used by the government to label what it says are foreign-funded organisations engaged in political activity.
    The appeals were addressed to senior Russian officials and published by outlets including the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, Forbes Russia and TV Rain was named a “foreign agent” last week, a status it denies.
    News outlet Meduza, which was designated a foreign agent earlier this year, wrote: “These statuses either lead to media being shut down or create discriminatory conditions for them to work.”
    “We’re sure these events are part of an orchestrated campaign to destroy independent Russian media whose only ‘fault’ is to honestly carry out their professional duties to their readers,” it said on its website.
    The term ‘foreign agent’ carries negative Soviet-era connotations and compels outlets to declare their status in disclaimers on their output, something they complain is akin to defacing their product and severely dents advertising revenue.
    Russia has heavily fined U.S. broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty this year and froze its Moscow bank accounts for refusing to publish the disclaimer after being declared a foreign agent.
    The Kremlin described the appeals as emotional and said it rejected the idea that media were being persecuted.
    It said the designations showed that the foreign agent law was functioning and that the legislation was needed to protect Russia from foreign meddling and that journalists and NGOs can be manipulated.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Maria Tsvetkova; editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

8/30/2021 Biden To Welcome Zelenskiy To White House On Wednesday by Trevor Hunnicutt
FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy gestures as he speaks during a joint news conference with German Chancellor
Angela Merkel following their talks at the Mariyinsky Palace in Kyiv, Ukraine August 22, 2021. Sergey Dolzhenko/Pool via REUTERS
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden will meet with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the White House on Wednesday in a show of solidarity between the two countries, the White House said on Sunday.
    The meeting is taking place two days later than originally scheduled, as Biden oversees the response to Hurricane Ida and the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
    “This visit will affirm the United States’ unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression,” a White House statement said.
    Kyiv and Moscow have been at odds since Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and backed separatists in a conflict in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region, which Ukraine says has killed 14,000 people.
    The leaders will also discuss energy security as well as the White House’s “backing for President Zelenskiy’s efforts to tackle corruption and implement a reform agenda based on our shared democratic values,” the statement added.
    The meeting comes after the Biden administration announced a deal https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-germany-deal-nord-stream-2-pipeline-draws-ire-lawmakers-both-countries-2021-07-21 last month with Germany intended partly to allay Ukrainian concerns about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea to carry gas from Russia’s Arctic region to Germany.
    U.S. ties with Ukraine were in the spotlight over Zelenskiy’s unwilling involvement in events leading to the first of two impeachment trials for Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump.
    Trump was impeached in 2019 over what White House aides described as an effort to withhold nearly $400 million in aid and a coveted White House visit unless Ukrainian officials announced investigations into Biden, then a Democratic presidential candidate, and his businessman son, Hunter Biden.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and David Morgan; Writing by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Tom Hogue and Peter Cooney)
[ZELENSKIY DO NOT TAKE ANY ADVISE FROM JOE BIDEN ABOUT HOW TO RAISE OUR CHILDREN LOOK AT THE ACTIONS OF HIS SON HUNTER A DRUG ADDICT WHO HIRES PROSTITUTES AND ILLEGALLY THROWS HIS GUN IN DUMPSTERS AND TAKES MONEY FROM OTHER COUNTRIES TO GIVE THE BIG GUY HIS 10% CUT.].

8/30/2021 Kremlin Critic Alexei Navalny’s Spokeswoman Leaves Russia – Ifax
FILE PHOTO: Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's spokesperson Kira Yarmysh accused of breaching COVID-19 safety regulations
speaks with journalists after a court hearing in Moscow, Russia August 16, 2021. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
    MOSCOW (Reuters) - Kira Yarmysh, the spokeswoman for jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, has left Russia, the Interfax news agency reported on Monday, citing two anonymous sources.
    One of the sources said Yarmysh has flown to the Finnish capital Helsinki. Yarmysh did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
    A Russian court imposed 18 months of restrictions on her freedom of movement earlier this month, after finding her guilty of breaching COVID-19 safety rules.
    Russian authorities have cracked down hard on the opposition before a parliamentary election next month, and many of Navalny’s most prominent allies have left Russia rather than face restrictions or jail at home.
    The court ruling banned Yarmysh from leaving her home at night, from taking part in rallies, and from changing her home address without first notifying prison authorities.
    She was found guilty of breaching COVID-19 safety rules over what police said was an illegal protest in support of Navalny last winter. She has said the charge was politically motivated and has appealed.
    Navalny is serving 2-1/2 years in jail for parole violations in an embezzlement case he says was trumped up.    Navalny’s allies accuse the authorities of using the law to crush dissenting voices.
(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh;Writing by Olzhas Auyezov;Editing by Andrew Osborn)

8/30/2021 Lagging In COVID-19 Vaccinations, Brussels Takes Vaccination Campaign To Shops by Bart Biesemans
A woman waits at a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination centre installed
inside a supermarket in Brussels, Belgium, August 30, 2021. REUTERS/Bart Biesemans
    BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Health authorities in Brussels began offering COVID-19 jabs in supermarkets and shopping centres on Monday to increase vaccination rates in the Belgian capital that have not kept up with Belgium’s rapid inoculation roll-out.
    Host to the European Union and NATO, Brussels has only given vaccinations to about 65% of its population, much lower than the surrounding Belgian regions, mainly because people did not respond to requests to go to vaccination centres.
    “We’re really trying to bring, as much as possible, the vaccine to the people,” Inge Neven, crisis manager responsible for the COVID-19 response in Brussels, told Reuters.
    Belgium has recorded 25,360 deaths from the coronavirus, one of the world’s highest tolls per capita.
    Neven said Brussels was home to 182 different nationalities, which made the job of reaching people to encourage them to go to a vaccination centre much harder.
    Within Brussels, vaccination is also lower in poorer neighbourhoods, even though many are just short walk from the steel and glass EU buildings and the leafy suburbs inhabited by diplomats and officials.
    “We are selecting a number of areas where a lot of people are passing by and so we try really to offer them the vaccine at their place, in their environment, where they work, where they go to school, where they live, and also where they shop,” she said.
    One shopper, who gave her name as Esther, said the vaccination points near supermarket check-outs had helped her overcome her fears about having a needle in her arm.
    “I didn’t want to but I’ve changed my mind,” she said.
    “Before I didn’t want to because I was afraid, but now I have seen other people taking it who feel better, people in my family who’ve had it and it hasn’t been a problem, so I decided to get one too,” she added.
    Others worry that Belgium will follow neighbouring France and require proof of vaccination to be able to go into cinemas and cafes.
    “I didn’t want to do it (get vaccinated).    I didn’t want to do it but as it’s going to become like it is in France, to go into a restaurant you have to show your pass, now I’m doing it,” another shopper Rudi Jacquet said.
(Writing by Robin Emmott; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

8/30/2021 Russian Cosmonauts Find New Cracks In ISS Module
FILE PHOTO: The International Space Station (ISS) photographed by Expedition 56 crew members from
a Soyuz spacecraft after undocking, October 4, 2018.NASA/Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian cosmonauts have discovered new cracks in a segment of the International Space Station that could widen, a senior space official said on Monday, the latest in a series of setbacks.
    “Superficial fissures have been found in some places on the Zarya module,” Vladimir Solovyov, chief engineer of rocket and space corporation Energia, told RIA news agency.    “This is bad and suggests that the fissures will begin to spread over time.”
    He did not say if the cracks had caused any air to leak.
    The space official has said previously that much of the International Space Station’s equipment is starting to age and has warned there could be an “avalanche” of broken equipment after 2025.
    The space station has suffered several recent incidents. Russian officials last month said a software glitch, and a possible lapse in human attention, were to blame for throwing the ISS out of control.
    Jet thrusters on the Russian research module Nauka inadvertently reignited a few hours after it had docked, causing the entire orbital outpost to pitch out of its normal flight position with seven crew members aboard.
    Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, also reported last month a drop in pressure in the Zvezda service module, which provides living quarters for crew members on the ISS that was caused by an air leak.
    The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, has said it will remain part of the ISS until 2024 and that it is open to extending its participation beyond then.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

8/30/2021 Hungarian Foreign Minister Says Agrees Long-Term Gas Deal With Russia
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Gazprom company is seen at the St. Petersburg International
Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 2, 2021. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary has agreed with Russia on all the conditions for a new long-term gas supply deal to take effect from Oct. 1, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on his Facebook page on Monday.
    Szijjarto said the agreement with Gazprom is for 15 years, with an option to modify purchased quantities after 10 years.
    “We have also agreed on the price, which is much more favourable than that we paid under the deal that Hungary signed in 1995, which expires now,” he said, without giving exact details.
    He added the deal would be signed by the end of September and Gazprom would ship 4.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Hungary annually, via two routes: 3.5 billion cubic meters via Serbia and 1 billion cubic meters via Austria.
    Gazprom said it had met the Hungarian foreign minister but did not give any details.
    “The sides have looked into the key issues and perspectives for cooperation in the natural gas sphere, including gas supplies to Hungary,” Gazprom said in a statement.
    Hungary has relied on Russia for most of its natural gas imports delivered via a pipeline through Ukraine.
    However, in recent years it has diversified gas imports, opening cross-border interconnectors with most of its neighbours and securing supplies from Royal Dutch Shell, via a liquefied natural gas (LNG) port in Croatia.
    Szijjarto said most of the shipments under the new contract will arrive via a new interconnector at the country’s Serbian border that will be operational by October.
    While reducing its dependency on Russian gas imports, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, since taking power in 2010, has promoted Moscow’s interests within the European Union, repeatedly calling for the ending of economic sanctions imposed after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
    In 2014, Budapest also signed a deal for two reactors at its Paks nuclear plant with Russia, to be built by state atomic energy firm Rosatom.    That project has been delayed.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than; additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; editing by Barbara Lewis)
[BECAUSE OF JOE BIDENS POORLY EXECUTED EXECUTIVE ORDERS IS FORCING SOME COUNTRIES TO GET OIL/GAS FROM OTHER SOURCES.].

8/30/2021 Report: Spokesperson For Alexei Navalny Flees Russia Amid ‘Guilty’ Charge For ‘Violating COVID Rules’ by OAN Newsroom
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh enters the Savyolovsky district court
prior to a hearing into her case in Moscow. (Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)
    The spokesperson for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has left Russia and reportedly gone to Finland.    On Monday, independent Russian media confirmed Kira Yarmysh left the country after facing criminal charges for allegedly violating Russia’s COVID-19 restrictions.
    The rule Yarmysh broke, according to a Russian court, was her attendance at a rally for Navalny’s freedom earlier this year.    She was later found guilty and sentenced to 18 months of “restricted freedom.”
    “Of course I do not agree that I am guilty and I did not agree with that in the court,” she expressed.    “The only thing I would change if I could go back in time seven months, I would have written more tweets urging people to come to the rallies.”
People gathered to protest against Vladimir Putin’s government at Pushkin Square
in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images)
    Yarmysh has be one of Russia’s several opposition figures who have left the country due to pressure by the Kremlin. She said her guilty verdict was the result of her political activism.
    Yarmysh has since filed an appeal.

8/31/2021 Kazakh Defence Minister Resigns After 15 Die In Arms Depot Blasts
FILE PHOTO: Kazakh Defence Minister Nurlan Yermekbayev attends military exercises held by assault troop
s at a firing ground in Almaty Region, Kazakhstan April 12, 2019. REUTERS/Pavel Mikheyev/File Photo
    ALMATY (Reuters) – Kazakh Defence Minister Nurlan Yermekbayev resigned on Tuesday, the office of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said, days after a fire and a series of blasts at an arms depot killed 15 soldiers and firefighters.
    Dozens of people were wounded by the blasts which forced the authorities to evacuate nearby settlements in Kazakhstan’s southern Zhambyl province on Aug. 26. The cause of the fire remains unclear. [L1N2PY0C6]
    The fire and blasts provoked a public outcry, especially because the explosives at the base in question had been relocated there from a facility in the town of Arys after a similar incident there in 2019 which killed four people.
(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Edmund Blair)

8/31/2021 Polish Court To Rule On Primacy Of EU Law Amid Deepening Row With Brussels by Alan Charlish
FILE PHOTO: European Union and Polish flags flutter in Mazeikiai, Lithuania
April 5, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo
    WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal is set to rule on Tuesday on whether the country’s constitution or European Union treaties take precedence, a judgment that could further strain Warsaw’s already troubled relationship with the bloc.
    The catalyst for the ruling has been a long-running dispute with the EU over changes to the court system in Poland, with Brussels angered by what it sees as attempts to undermine the independence of the judiciary.    Warsaw accuses Brussels of unjustified meddling in its internal affairs.
    The primacy of European laws over national ones is a key tenet of EU integration.    Opposition politicians in Poland say Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s challenge to this tenet not only jeopardises the country’s long-term future in a union that has helped drive its economic growth, but also the stability of the bloc itself.
    “If at some point Poland stops implementing the rulings of the European Court of Justice, the whole EU system falls apart,” an EU official told Reuters.
    The Polish government argues the EU treaties do not give Brussels the right to interfere with the judicial systems of member states and that Poland is being treated unfairly as other European countries organise courts in a similar way.br>     “The constitution is the highest law in our country,” Cabinet Minister Michal Wojcik said in a statement to Reuters.    “If it were otherwise, it would mean that we are not a sovereign state.    We did not agree to this in the EU treaties.”
POLEXIT?
    While some lawyers use the term “Polexit” to describe what they say are Warsaw’s efforts to remove itself from the EU’s legal framework, Poland is unlikely to leave the bloc for the foreseeable future.
    There is no legal way to throw countries out of the EU and surveys show an overwhelming majority of Poles support membership.
    But some government critics say Poland risks an eventual loss of EU funding.
    The government has been accused of politicising key bodies in the judicial system, including the Constitutional Tribunal itself.    Poland’s ruling nationalists, the Law and Justice party (PiS), counter that the reforms were needed to remove communist-era influence, asserting that many judges regarded themselves as above the law.
    The EU’s top court also ruled last month that a Polish disciplinary chamber for judges was illegal, a day after the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw ruled that Poland should ignore a previous demand to stop the chamber operating.
    Following a threat of possible financial penalties from the European Commission, Poland said it would disband the chamber, but failed to detail how it would replace it.    Brussels has yet to comment on Warsaw’s response other than to say that it is analysing it.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish; Additional reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in Warsaw and Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Gareth Jones)
[ITS SAD THAT POLAND IS BEING ATTACKED BY THE FACTIONS OF THE EU AND NOW THE SAME THING IS HAPPENING IN THE U.S. BY THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND TO ME THIS IS WHAT WE CALL THE GLOBALIST SOCIALIST ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT WHICH IS ATTACKING EVERY NATION AND GEORGE SOROS IS IN THE MIDDLE OF ALL OF THIS SO BE AWARE.].

9/1/2021 In Russia’s Arctic, Navalny Activist’s Election Bid Is Crushed by Tom Balmforth
FILE PHOTO: Opposition activist Violetta Grudina poses for a photo in Murmansk,
Russia May 26, 2021. Courtesy of Violetta Grudina/Handout via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – First came leaflets in her stairwell accusing her of encouraging children to become gay.    Then her office was vandalised and its windows shot at. And after that she was taken to hospital for COVID-19 treatment that she said she did not need or want.
    Violetta Grudina, an opposition activist in Russia’s Arctic port city of Murmansk, says the intimidation began after she said she would run for the city council in local elections being held alongside a federal parliamentary vote on Sept. 17-19.
    She says she does not know who placed the leaflets, shot the windows or ordered her hospitalisation and a prosecution but accuses local authorities of a dirty tricks campaign.
    She was later barred from the ballot as an ally of jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny, whose movement was banned as extremist in June.
    “It was a scare campaign, an intimidation campaign – the public steamrolling of an opposition candidate so people never even think of taking part in politics out of fear of the repressions I’ve faced,” Grudina, 31, told Reuters.
    The Kremlin has declined to comment on Grudina’s allegations. It denies targeting opposition politicians and says people are only taken to court if they break the law. The local city and governor’s offices did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
    The ruling United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin, is expected to retain its dominance at the elections despite a ratings slump fuelled by rising prices and stagnant or falling wages.
    Grudina ran a campaign office in Murmansk for Navalny until it become clear this year that it would be outlawed.
    The authorities cast Navalny and his supporters as Western-backed troublemakers bent on destabilising Russia, a charge they reject. Many of them have described intimidation, but Grudina’s account points to a multi-pronged campaign.
‘DARK TIMES’
    A former LGBT activist, Grudina says she began to oppose Putin when Russia passed a law in 2013 banning “gay propaganda” to minors, a law she said was discriminatory.    She says neither she nor anyone else was engaged in spreading “gay propaganda.”
    “First I was persecuted for my orientation, now I’m being persecuted for my views,” she said.
    In April she announced she would run for the 28-seat council in Murmansk that approves the budget for the city, capital of the region where Russia’s Northern Fleet is based.
    Defamatory leaflets appeared in her neighbours’ post boxes soon afterwards.    Then someone sealed her office shut with foam and drew a swastika on it.    It was later vandalised again and her office windows were shot at overnight, with 11 holes visible in the photographs she posted on social media.
    Grudina says that then, after she had recovered from a mild case of COVID-19 and sat out a mandatory self-isolation period, she was ordered by a court to be hospitalised, ostensibly for treatment, during the election registration period.
    She said the court rejected a negative test she had received and that she ended up in hospital for almost three weeks.
    She tried to register remotely and, when that failed, declared a hunger strike.    She was released from hospital several days later and was formally charged with flouting COVID-19 safety rules.
    Media accounts of the ongoing court case show that it rests on when she should have begun isolating and for how long rather than evidence that she infected anyone.    Grudina says she followed instructions.    The hospital declined to comment.
    Out of hospital, Grudina was able to register as a candidate – but was then barred by the designation of Navalny’s allies as “extremist,” a ruling that came into force last month.
    She draws inspiration to continue from Navalny, who is serving a 2-1/2 year jail term on charges he says are trumped up after a poisoning by what Western governments say was a military nerve agent.
    “Dark times have begun, that’s obvious,” Grudina said.    “It’s become much harder to work … (but) if we give up, then what was this all for?”
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth; editing by Andrew Osborn and Philippa Fletcher)

9/1/2021 Cuba Prepares To Vaccinate Its Children, Entire Population by Marc Frank
FILE PHOTO: A nurse prepares a dose of the Soberana 02 vaccine during its clinical trials at a hospital amid concerns about
the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Havana, Cuba, June 29, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini/File Photo
    HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba will begin vaccinating adolescents against COVID-19 this week and younger children from mid-September as part of a drive to immunize more than 90% of the population by December, state-run media said on Wednesday.
    All children ages 2 through 18 will receive at least two doses of the Cuban-developed Soberana-2 vaccine beginning Sept. 3, the official Cubadebate digital news outlet reported.
    Health Ministry official Ileana Morales Suarez was quoted as saying the campaign would resemble annual vaccinations against various childhood diseases, taking place at thousands of community-based family medical practices and clinics.
    Trials of the vaccine in minors found it to be safe and that it elicited a stronger immune response than in adults, according to state-owned manufacturer Finlay Institute.
    The decision was announced at a weekly meeting of leaders and scientists to confront the pandemic on the Communist-run Caribbean island currently battling a Delta variant-driven surge that has strained its health system and hit the younger population much harder than previous versions of the virus.
    Over the past week, Cuba averaged between 6,500 and 7,000 cases per day and 70 to 80 deaths, down significantly from a few weeks ago but still one of the highest rates in the world in terms of cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
    Vaccination of the adult population primarily using another locally-developed shot, Abdala, will be stepped up with the goal of ensuring all eligible adults have at least begun the three-shot-treatment by the end of the month.
    Cubans are desperate to get their kids back in school after months of home schooling, a prospect postponed again this September.
    The country is suffering shortages of everything from food and medicine to parts and inputs for power plants and agriculture, due to closure of the tourism industry, tough U.S. sanctions and its own inefficiencies.
    It desperately wants to tame the disease in time for the tourism season that begins in November.
    Both Cuban vaccines, with a reported efficacy of more than 90%, have been approved by local regulators for emergency use, although the data has not yet been published in peer-reviewed journals.
    In the capital, Havana, where more than 60% of the 2.2 million residents are fully vaccinated, cases and deaths per 100,000 residents are far below the national average, according to government statistics.
    Currently around 50% of Cuba’s 11.3 million residents have received at least one dose of vaccine, with more than 3.5 million fully vaccinated.
(Reporting by Marc Frank; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Bill Berkrot)

9/1/2021 Questioning Primacy Of EU Law Holding Up Recovery Money For Poland - Gentiloni by Jan Strupczewski
FILE PHOTO: European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni attends a news conference on the
economic forecast for spring 2021 in Brussels, Belgium, May 12, 2021. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/Pool
    BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Poland’s challenge to the primacy of European Union law over national law is holding up the release of 57 billion euros in EU recovery funds to Warsaw, European Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said on Wednesday.
    Poland, like all other countries of the 27-nation group, is to receive large grants and cheap loans from the EU to rebuild its economy greener and more adapted to the digital age after the economic deep slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
    But each country is to get its share of the money only once the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm and the guardian of EU laws, approves its national spending plan that has to comply with criteria set out in EU law.
    The Commission has already given the green light to 18 national plans, but has withheld approval for Poland and Hungary because it is concerned that the two countries undermine the independence of courts and media freedom.
    To make matters worse, the Polish government has recently asked the Polish constitutional tribunal to rule that EU law does not stand above national law — a claim that undermines the basis of the EU’s legal order.
    Gentiloni, speaking to the economic and budget committee of the European Parliament, said that latest move by the Polish government was now an additional factor holding up the Commission’s approval for disbursements to Warsaw.
    If approved, Poland could get 23 billion euros in EU grants and 34 billion euros in cheap loans, while Hungary can expect 7.2 billion euros in grants.
    “The fact is that we are not yet there, that the discussion is continuing,” Gentiloni said.
    “We know that this is about the requirements of the regulation and about the country specific recommendations and also the discussion, as the Polish authorities know very well, includes also the issue of the primacy of EU law and the possible consequences of this issue on the Polish recovery and resilience plan,” he said.
    European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, also present at the parliamentary hearing, said the money would not be released until the Commission was satisfied Poland and Hungary complied with the EU requirements.
    “We are seeking additional clarifications from Poland and Hungary concerning compliance, making sure that all conditions of the regulation are being met.    We need to receive those assurances before we are able to conclude positively on this.”
    Ten EU countries are already getting EU cash — Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Lithuania, Denmark, and Luxembourg have received in total almost 49 billion euros in pre-financing for projects listed in their national plans that got the Commission’s OK.
    Some of them, like Spain, France, Greece, or Denmark could even get next tranches of cash in the coming months if they show the Commission they have reach agreed milestones and targets in their reforms and planned projects, Dombrovskis said.
    Bulgaria and the Netherlands have not yet submitted their national plans to the Commission because of elections and continuing difficulties in forming a government.
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Alistair Bell)
[THE EU IS PART OF THE GLOBALIST SOCIALIST ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT IS AT IT AGAIN TO MAKE ALL TO OPERATE UNDER THEIR CONTROL AS THE DEMOCRAT PART IN THE U.S IS TRYING TO DO THE SAME THING BUT ARE SCREWING UP ON EVERYTHING THEY DO AND WE AMERICANS OUR PRAYING TO AND THAT THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB WILL PROVIDE THE EAGLE WITH TWO WINGS SOME PROTECTION FROM THEM IN THE NEAR FUTURE.].

9/3/2021 Putin Calls For Launch Of Regular Cargo Shipments Via Northern Sea Route Next Year
Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting on child protection in the digital environment
via a video link in Vladivostok, Russia September 1, 2021. Sputnik/Evgeny Paulin/Kremlin via REUTERS
    VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia should start regular container shipments via the Northern Sea Route across its northern flank from Vladivostok to St Petersburg next year.
    Russia is investing in infrastructure to develop the Northern Sea Route and wants it to become a major shipping lane as the Arctic warms at a faster rate that the rest of the world.
    Putin was speaking at an economic forum in Vladivostok in Russia’s far east.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Andrew Heavens)

9/3/2021 Czech Opposition Seeks Closer Ties With Liberal Allies, Revival Of Euro Adoption by Jan Lopatka
FILE PHOTO: A leader of Czech Pirate Party Ivan Bartos speaks in front of their campaign bus during an election rally,
ahead of the October 20-21 general election, in Klatovy, Czech Republic October 6, 2017. REUTERS/David W Cerny
(Clarifies that Pirates would weaken their alignment with Visegrad rather than step back from the group, in paragraph 2)
    PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech Republic should foster closer ties with the more liberal members of the European Union and take steps toward adopting the euro, opposition Pirates Party chairman Ivan Bartos said on Friday, ahead of next month’s parliamentary election.
    Bartos, 41, a dreadlocked software engineer, wants the country to some extent weaken its links with its Visegrad Four (V4) group partners Hungary and Poland due to their democratic failings and look for alternative alliances.
    “The Czech Republic should aim toward the liberal western Europe,” Bartos told Reuters in an interview.
    He said he valued the benefits of cooperation in culture, education and transport of being in the V4, which also includes Slovakia.
    However, “in the European context you do not want to be in a group of countries where the interests of (Hungarian prime minister Viktor) Orban win, with authoritarian tendencies, where human rights are clipped, where people are bullied for different sexual orientation, both in Hungary and Poland,” he said.
    The Pirates Party has been in parliament since 2017, focussing on transparency, direct democracy, e-government or legalisation of cannabis.    It describes itself as liberal-progressive.
    It has frequently clashed with Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who it accuses of putting personal business interests ahead of the country.
    The Pirates’ European views set them apart from Babis who campaigns on defending sovereignty from Brussels and has friendly relations with Orban.
    It is running in a coalition with the centrist STAN party as one of two opposition groups hoping to unseat Babis in the Oct. 8-9 election.
    The Pirates/STAN coalition shot to the top of opinion polls in the spring when the government came under fire for its handling of the pandemic.
    It has since dropped to third place, behind Babis’s populist ANO party and the opposition centre-right coalition SPOLU (Together), but Bartos said he believed the party has turned the corner and would be the stronger partner in a new administration.
    He said a Pirate-led government should revive plans to adopt the euro, shelved after the 2008 financial crisis, by joining the European Exchange Mechanism (ERM-2), a waiting room where a country must stay for at least two years while keeping its currency stable and its budgetary deficit and public debt under control.
    “The commitment is to get (budget deficit) under 3%, meet the Maastricht criteria (for euro adoption) and get into the ERM-2,” he said.
    Such a move would be tough sell for the eurosceptic Civic Democrats who lead the Together coalition.
    Bartos said his party would review a tender process for a new bloc at CEZ’s (CEZP.PR) Dukovany nuclear power plant, which the government plans to open after the election.
    “This includes a price cap and involvement of Czech industry as well as research,” he said, adding that China and Russia would remain excluded on security grounds.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Mike Harrison)

9/3/2021 Romania PM Urges Partners To Stay United In Coalition Crisis Talks
FILE PHOTO: Prime Minister-designate Florin Citu attends a news conference after being nominated to form
a transitional government, in Bucharest, Romania, February 26, 2020. Inquam Photos/George Calin via REUTERS
    BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romania’s Prime Minister Florin Citu was due to hold crisis talks with his coalition partners on Friday, urging them to stay united to rebuild the economy after the coronavirus pandemic despite a row over the sacking of the justice minister.
    The USR-Plus, a junior ally to Citu’s Liberals, has begun gathering signatures for a no-confidence vote in parliament after its minister, Stelian Ion, was dismissed when the party opposed a local infrastructure development funding scheme.
    A rupture in the centrist coalition, which also includes an ethnic Hungarians group, could endanger an ambitious agenda to reduce Romania’s budget and current account deficits.
    “Only this (three-party) coalition is feasible for Romania.    It’s that political setup that can handle European Union’s recovery plan, our local development, and make use of EU money,” Citu said after an emergency meeting of his Liberal Party.
    “This is my message for the coalition talks later today.    We have all promised Romania’s investments.”
    The three parties were due to hold a meeting to discuss their cooperation from 1500 GMT.
    To oust Citu’s cabinet, the USR-Plus would need to work with the opposition Social Democrats, who it previously clashed with over attempts to dilute the rule of law.
    Citu, a relative newcomer but backed by centrist President Klaus Iohannis, hopes to win the Liberal Party leadership in an internal election this month.
(Reporting by Radu Marinas; Editing by Alison Williams)

9/3/2021 Trove Of Missing Ancient Mesopotamian Artefacts Found In Norway
Seized artefacts found by Norway police are seen in this handout picture, in Viken region,
Norway August 24, 2021. Picture taken August 24, 2021. Norwegian Police/Handout via REUTERS
    OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian police said on Friday they had seized a large number of archaeological artefacts reported missing by Iraqi authorities, including what is presumed to be cuneiform tablets from ancient Mesopotamia.
    The objects were found by the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (Oekokrim), which assisted Norway’s Ministry of Culture in the search.
    The items had been part of a private collection in Norway, and while several witnesses were questioned there were no criminal charges, a police spokesperson told Reuters.     “In total, almost 100 objects of significance to the global cultural heritage have been seized,” Oekokrim said in a statement.
    “They are now being examined by experts to determine their authenticity and, if possible, establish their provenance.”     The police did not say when the items may have arrived in the northern European country, or how they ended up there.
    Iraq is the site of ancient Mesopotamia, a region home to many ancient civilizations including that of the Sumer which developed the cuneiform, one of the world’s oldest writing systems.
(Reporting by Victoria Klesty, Editing by William Maclean)
[I WONDER IF THIS CUNEIFORM MAY HAVE CAME OUT AND SURFACED BECAUSE IT IS NEEDED TO PERFORM A CEREMONY IN THE FUTURE IN IRAQ WHICH IS ASSOCIATED WITH WHY THE POPE WAS SO EAGER TO GO TO THE DANGEROUS AREAS IN IRAQ.].

9/4/2021 ‘Resist’: Russian Opposition Candidates Rally Media by Maria Tsvetkova
FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during an annual nationwide televised phone-in show in Moscow, Russia June 30, 2021. Sputnik/Sergei Savostyanov/Pool via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – A dozen opposition candidates for Russia’s September parliamentary election met scores of journalists in Moscow on Saturday with a message of resistance against the Kremlin’s squeezing of independent media.
    Authorities have designated nearly 50 journalists and media “foreign agents”: a term they say denotes foreign-funded outlets with political bias but which critics denounce as a throwback to Soviet-style persecution.
    “(President Vladimir) Putin set up a goal for himself: all media have to be destroyed because they are bothering him,” Marina Litvinovich, one of the opposition candidates, told a crowd of about 200 people, mostly journalists.
    “My friends, we have to resist while we can.    Many media will have to go underground.”
    The Kremlin denies persecuting media for political reasons.
    Critics, however, say the Putin government has regressed to repressive tactics of Communist rule in the old Soviet Union.
    “There was a time when they used the label ‘enemies of the people’.    Now it is ‘foreign agents’,” pensioner Marina Artamonova told Reuters at     Saturday’s gathering, referring to a widely-used label during Josef Stalin’s dictatorship.
    Foreign agent status requires media to file detailed reports of activities and finances, heightening risk of prosecution.
    The candidates promised journalists to campaign for overturning the legislation on foreign agents if elected.
    “Such a shameful and discriminatory law should not exist in any shape,” said Irina Dolinina, a reporter at the Important Stories investigative media outlet, who was labelled a foreign agent last month.
(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

9/4/2021 Protesters Block Roads To Stop Enthronement Of Montenegro’s Top Cleric
A truck arrives at a blockage of demonstrators during a protest against the enthronement
of Bishop Joanikije in Cetinje, Montenegro, September 4, 2021. REUTERS/Stevo Vasiljevic
    PODGORICA (Reuters) – Several thousand protesters used tyres, rocks and vehicles to block roads leading to the city of Cetinje in southwest Montenegro on Saturday in a bid to stop the Serbian Orthodox Church holding an enthronement ceremony for its new top cleric.
    The protests reflect tensions in the Balkan country, which remains deeply divided over its ties with Serbia, with some advocating closer ties with Belgrade and others opposing any pro-Serb alliance.
    Montenegro left its union with Serbia in 2006 but its church did not get autonomy and remained under the Serbian Orthodox Church, making it a symbol to some of Serbian influence.
    Opponents of the enthronement of Joanikije II to the top clerical position, known as the Metropolitan of Montenegro and Archbishop of Cetinje, pushed through police barricades on Saturday, taking control of roads leading to the city.
    At one point police used tear gas but this failed to disperse the protesters who said they would hold the barricades through the night.
    Protesters also took down a fence the police had put around the monastery in Cetinje where the enthronement is supposed to take place on Sunday morning.
    “We are on the barricades today because we are fed up with Belgrade denying our nation, and telling us what are our religious rights,” protestor Andjela Ivanovic told Reuters.    “All religious objects (churches) built in Montenegro belong to people here and to the state of Montenegro.”
    In the capital Podgorica by contrast, thousands gathered to greet the Serbian Patriarch who arrived on Saturday afternoon.    None of the church officials talked about the possibility of moving the date or the venue of the enthronement ceremony.
(Reporting by Ivana Sekularac and Stevo Vasiljevic; Editing by David Holmes)

9/5/2021 Dozens Injured In Anti-Serbian Protests In Montenegro by Stevo Vasiljevic
A barricade is set on fire during a protest against the enthronement of Bishop
Joanikije in Cetinje, Montenegro, September 5, 2021. REUTERS/Stevo Vasiljevic
    CETINJE, Montenegro (Reuters) – Montenegro police used teargas against rock-throwing protesters during Sunday’s enthronement of a Serbian Orthodox Church cleric as the nation’s religious leader, with dozens reported injured.
    The enthronement of Joanikije II at a monastery in the town of Cetinje has stirred divisions within Montenegro over ties with neighbouring Serbia. Montenegro left its union with Serbia in 2006, but its church remained under the Serbian church.
    Police used gas to disperse hundreds of protesters, some of whom threw rocks, bottles and firecrackers as church figures arrived by helicopter. Some people burned tyres and sat on roads.
    Montenegro’s deputy police director Dragan Gorovic told state TV that 20 officers were hurt, while a state clinic in Cetinje said around 30 civilians sought help for injuries.
    Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic described attacks on the police as terrorism. He blamed President Milo Djukanovic’s Democratic Party of Socialists, which ruled for three decades before losing elections last year, for organising protests.
    Djukanovic, who opposes the enthronement, accused police of excessive force.    “Today we witnessed the embarrassment of both the Church and the government,” Djukanovic said on TV.
    The embassies of Germany, Italy, France, Britain, the United States and the European Union condemned violence around the enthronement of Joanikije II, who is known as the Metropolitan of Montenegro and Archbishop of Cetinje.
    Djukanovic’s adviser Veselin Veljovic was arrested for participating in an attack against police on Sunday, state TV reported.
(Reporting by Stevo Vasiljevic and Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Pravin Char and Andrew Cawthorne)

9/5/2021 Poland Gives Humanitarian Visa To Another Belarusian Athlete
FILE PHOTO: Olga Safronova of Belarus rides Sandro D Amour during the FEI World Cup Final Dressage event at Gothenburg
Horse Show in Scandinavium arena, Sweden April 6, 2019. TT News Agency/Bjorn Larsson Rosvall via REUTERS
    WARSAW (Reuters) – Belarusian equestrian Olga Safronova has been given a humanitarian visa allowing her to live in Poland, Polish state news agency PAP reported on Sunday, after she was ostracised at home for speaking out against the Belarusian government.
    Safronova follows Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, 24, who defected to Poland last month after she said coaches had ordered her to fly home from the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
    Belarus has been gripped by a sweeping crackdown on anti-government dissent following mass protests that erupted last year over a disputed election.
    Poland has long been critical of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s authoritarian rule and harboured many activists from Belarus.
    Safronova headed to Poland after she was excluded from the Belarusian equestrian team shortly before the Tokyo Olympics, amidst allegations that one of her horses was suspected of doping.
    Reuters could not independently verify the information.
    She then spoke out against Belarusian sports officials and President Lukashenko and was put on a list of traitors against the state of Belarus, PAP reported.
    She now hopes to ride for Poland if she receives Polish citizenship, PAP said, citing her spokesman.    Her partner has also been given a visa to live in Poland, the news agency reported.
(Reporting by Joanna Plucinska; Editing by Susan Fenton)

9/5/2021 Russia’s Opposition Candidates Decry Govt Censorship by OAN Newsroom
A woman holds a placard reading “You can’t shut up everyone!” as journalists and supporters take part in a protest
against the list of “foreign agent” media in central Moscow. (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images)
    Opposition candidates in Russia’s upcoming parliamentary elections have ramped up media outreach ahead of election days.    In a news conference in Moscow on Saturday, a group of opposition candidates spoke with dozens of journalists from both state and independent media outlets.
    The candidates warned the government’s recent restrictions on freedom of the press violated Russia’s constitution.    In recent days, the Putin Cabinet designated more than 50 media outlets as “foreign agents.”
    Opposition candidates said the decision was aimed at silencing any political dissent.
    “Our authorities want to completely wipe out the media sphere,” opposition candidate Nikola Kavkazsky expressed.    “Now, the designation of Dozhd, Meduza and other media as ‘foreign agents’ are steps toward establishing a dictatorship that was described by Orwell, with the main slogan being: ‘ignorance is power.'”
    Russians will head to polls over a three-day period due to COVID-19 restrictions, while mail-in voting and early voting are underway.    The election is slated for September 17 through September 19.

9/6/2021 EU Warns Polish Regions They Could Lose Funding Over ‘LGBT-Free’ Zones
FILE PHOTO: People attend the "Equality Parade" rally in support of the LGBT community,
in Warsaw, Poland June 19, 2021. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
    WARSAW (Reuters) – The European Commission has written to five Polish regional councils urging them to abandon declarations that they are “LGBT-free” in order to receive funding, one of the councils affected confirmed on Monday.
    The European Union executive is at loggerheads with Poland and Hungary over issues ranging from LGBT rights to press freedoms.    In July it launched legal action against both countries over measures it says discriminate against the gay community.
    Polish LGBT activists posted a scan of the letter on social media and on Monday a spokesman for the Lubelskie region confirmed receiving it.    A European Commission spokeswoman in Warsaw also confirmed the letter had been sent.
    “The Commission would like to stress that declaring LGBTIQ-free/unwelcome territories, workplace or services constitutes an action that is against the values set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union,” the letter said.
    It added that extra funding under part of the bloc’s COVID recovery fund would be put on hold pending the regions’ responses to the Commission’s concerns.
    The funds are part of REACT-EU (Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe), a package of additional cohesion funds under which Poland has been allocated a total of over 1.5 billion euros.
    “At the moment, it (the letter) is being analysed in order to prepare an answer,” the Lubelskie region spokesman said in an email.
    Lubelskie and Malopolska regions have both recently voted to remain free of “LGBT ideology.”
    Gay rights is a deeply divisive issue in predominantly Catholic Poland.
    Many religious conservatives see the fight for LGBT equality as an attack on traditional values.    In 2019 numerous local authorities declared themselves free of “LGBT ideology,” seeking to ban what they see as the promotion of homosexuality and other minority sexual identities, especially in schools.
    A European Commission spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment on the letter.    The Polish Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
    Poland has also angered Brussels by asking its Constitutional Tribunal to rule on whether its constitution takes primacy over EU law.
    The primacy of EU law is a key tenet of European integration, and European Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said Poland’s questioning of this principle was holding up the acceptance of its spending plan for recovery funds.
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in Warsaw and Foo Yun Chee in Brussels, writing by Alan Charlish; Editing by Dan Grebler)

9/6/2021 U.S. Condemns Russia’s Detention Of Crimean Tatar Leader, 45 Others
FILE PHOTO: A Crimean Tatars flag flies at a rally, commemorating Crimean Tatars mass deportations from the region
in 1944, in the village of Siren, in Bakhchisaray district, Crimea, May 18, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Pavlishak
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Sunday strongly condemned what it said was Russia’s detention at the weekend of the deputy leader of the main representative body of Crimean Tatars and at least 45 other members of the ethnic group.
    A State Department statement said Nariman Dzhelyalov, deputy chairman of the Crimean Tatars’ Mejlis, was detained on Saturday by Russian occupation authorities in Crimea.    It said at least 45 other Crimean Tatars had also been detained.
    “We call on the Russian occupation authorities to release them immediately,” the statement said, calling it “i>the latest in a long line of politically motivated raids, detentions, and  punitive measures against the Mejlis and its leadership.”
    Russia’s Interfax news agency earlier quoted an unnamed “informed source” as saying that Dzhelyalov and four other Crimean residents had been detained in connection with a damaged gas pipeline in the village of Perevalnoye, on the highway from Simferopol towards Yalta.
    Ukrainian Foreign Minster Dmytro Kuleba posted a tweet on Saturday saying Russia had “escalated terror in the occupied Crimea” by detaining five people, including Dzhelyalov.
    Washington has been Kyiv’s most powerful backer since Russia annexed Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine began.    Kyiv says the fighting has killed 14,000 people in seven years.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Michael Perry)

9/6/2021 West Cries Foul As Belarus Protest Leader Kolesnikova Sentenced To 11 Years
FILE PHOTO: Belarusian opposition politician Maria Kolesnikova, charged with extremism and trying to seize power
illegally, attends a court hearing in Minsk, Belarus August 4, 2021. Ramil Nasibulin/BelTA/Handout via REUTERS
    KYIV (Reuters) – Maria Kolesnikova, one of the leaders of mass street protests against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko last year, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Monday, leading to an outcry from Western countries.
    Kolesnikova, 39, had been detained after ripping up her passport to prevent Belarusian security forces from deporting her in a standoff at the Ukrainian border in September.
    The musician-turned-politician became one of the faces of the mass opposition movement during the August 2020 presidential election, which the protesters say was rigged to extend Lukashenko’s grip on power.
    Lukashenko, who has denied electoral fraud, has been in office in the former Soviet republic since 1994 and has faced fresh Western sanctions since launching a violent crackdown on his opponents.
    Kolesnikova and another senior opposition figure, Maxim Znak, were charged with extremism and trying to seize power illegally.    Both denied wrongdoing and Kolesnikova called the charges absurd.
    Znak was sentenced to 10 years in prison.    Both prisoners will appeal the verdict, Znak’s lawyer told reporters.
    The European Union denounced the verdict, while Britain’s foreign minister called it an assault on defenders of democracy.
    “The EU deplores the continuous blatant disrespect by the Minsk regime of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Belarus,” the European Union’s spokesperson said in a statement.
    Belarus has denied committing human rights abuses and portrayed the protesters as bent on violent revolution, backed by foreign powers.
    Footage from the Sputnik Belarus channel showed the two prisoners in a glass cage ahead of the verdict.    Kolesnikova raised her handcuffed hands to make her trademark heart sign and smiled for the cameras.
    Exiled opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya wrote on Twitter that: “Maria & Maksim are the heroes for Belarusians.     The regime wants us to see them crushed & exhausted.    But look – they are smiling & dancing.”
    “They know – we will release them much earlier than these 11 years.    Their terms shouldn’t frighten us – Maksim and Maria wouldn’t want this,” she added.
    The trial, which began last month, was closed to the public on national security grounds.    The circumstances of the case, the investigators and the witnesses were not disclosed. Dozens of people came to the court building on Monday, according to several videos circulating on social media.
    Kolesnikova was among tens of thousands of people detained after the protests began.
    She was one of three women, all political novices, who joined forces to front last year’s election campaign against Lukashenko after higher-profile male candidates were barred from standing.
    Viktor Babariko, one of the men who tried to stand against Lukashenko, was jailed for 14 years in July.
(Additional reporting by Foo Yun Chee, Sabine Siebold, Guy Faulconbridge in London, Thomas Escritt in Berlin; Writing by Matthias Williams in Kyiv; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Hugh Lawson)

9/6/2021 Poland Condemns Jailing Of Belarus Protest Leaders
Belarusian opposition figures Maria Kolesnikova and Maxim Znak, charged with extremism and trying to seize power illegally, stand
inside a defendants' cage as they attend a court hearing in Minsk, Belarus September 6, 2021. Ramil Nasibulin/BelTA/Handout via REUTERS
    WARSAW (Reuters) – Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz on Monday condemned prison sentences imposed on Belarusian opposition figures Maria Kolesnikova and Maxim Znak.
    Kolesnikova and Znak were sentenced to 11 years and 10 years in prison, respectively, leading to an outcry from Western countries.
    “The decision of the Belarusian authorities … deserves firm condemnation.    This is an open crushing of human rights and another step intended to intimidate Belarusian society. This repression should not go unanswered,” Przydacz said on Twitter.
    Polish President Andrzej Duda expressed solidarity with Kolesnikova and Znak.    “Poland demands the unconditional release of all political prisoners.    These people are imprisoned for fighting for an independent and democratic Belarus,” he tweeted.
(Reporting by Anna Koper; Editing by Peter Cooney and Mark Heinrich)

9/6/2021 Top U.S. Diplomat Slams ‘Shameful Sentencing’ Of Belarus Opposition Figures
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks about Afghanistan during a media briefing
at the State Department, in Washington, U.S., September 3, 2021. Olivier Douliery/Pool via REUTERS
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday condemned the “politically motivated conviction and shameful sentencing” of Belarusian opposition figures Maria Kolesnikova and Maxim Znak.
    “These sentencings are further evidence of the regime’s total disregard for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Belarus,” Blinken said in a statement.
    Kolesnikova, one of the leaders of mass street protests against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko last year, was sentenced on Monday to 11 years in prison, leading to an outcry from Western countries.
    Kolesnikova and Znak, another senior opposition figure, were charged with extremism and trying to seize power illegally.    Both denied wrongdoing.
    Slamming “the politically motivated conviction and shameful sentencing,” Blinken called the charges against the two “bogus” and said they did not have a fair and public hearing by an impartial tribunal.
    The United States reiterates its call for “for an end to the campaign of repression against the people of Belarus for exercising their human rights inside and outside Belarus and for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners – including Ms. Kalesnikava and Mr. Znak,” he said.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington;Editing by Matthew Lewis and Peter Cooney)

9/6/2021 Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline To Start Operating In Days – Russia’s Lavrov
FILE PHOTO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a joint news conference with Armenian Foreign Minister
Ararat Mirzoyan following their meeting in Moscow, Russia August 31, 2021. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Pool
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will start operating in the next few days, Interfax news agency reported.
    The $11-billion Nord Stream 2 project is expected to double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream pipeline across the Baltic Sea and allow Russia to bypass Ukraine when piping gas to Europe.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Timothy Heritage)

9/6/2021 Poland Sees No Let-Up In Belarus Border Tensions, Says PM
FILE PHOTO: Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki arrives for a bilateral
meeting in Brussels, Belgium, July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/Pool
    WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s prime minister said on Monday he saw no prospect of a let-up in tensions on the border with Belarus amid a surge in migration and upcoming Russian-led military exercises that led to Warsaw introducing a state of emergency.
    Poland declared an emergency in two regions bordering Belarus on Thursday, following an increase in illegal migration that Warsaw has blamed on its neighbour and in the build-up to this week’s Russia-Belarus “Zapad-2021” drills.
    Parliament formally approved the emergency – the first order of its kind since Poland’s communist days – on Monday, with 247 votes against repealing the president’s decision, 168 for and 20 abstentions.
    Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called on all parties to back the measures, which ban mass gatherings and limit people’s movements in a 3-km (2-mile) deep strip of land along the frontier for 30 days.
    “We do not expect a decrease in tensions on the eastern border because in a few days the biggest military exercises in 40 years will start, ‘Zapad-2021’,” he told a news conference.
    “…we are dealing with a wide-ranging political provocation.    This political provocation concerns an attempt to illegally push thousands, tens of thousands of illegal migrants through Polish borders…,” he told later the Parliament.
    Poland and the European Union have accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of encouraging hundreds of migrants to cross into Polish territory to put pressure on the bloc over sanctions it has imposed on Minsk.
    Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei last week dismissed the accusations and blamed “Western politicians” for the situation on the border.
    Poland has also said it could face “provocations” during the “Zapad,” the Russian word for “West,” military exercises.    The main phase is due to start on Sept. 10.
    “…it is not only a diplomatic conflict, it is an attempt to violate the integrity of the Polish state, the sovereignty of our borders, and we cannot and will not allow it,” Morawiecki also told the Parliament.
    Russia, which will join forces with Belarusian troops for the drills, says it is within its rights to exercise on its territory and has been clear about the numbers involved.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish and Pawel Florkiewicz; Additional reporting by Anna Koper; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Alex Richardson)

9/7/2021 Russian Search Engine Delists Navalny’s Tactical Voting Site After Ban
FILE PHOTO: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny delivers a speech during a rally to demand the release of jailed protesters,
who were detained during opposition demonstrations for fair elections, in Moscow, Russia September 29, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian tech firm Yandex said on Tuesday it had removed jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s tactical voting website from its search engine to comply with a government ban ahead of a parliamentary election this month.
    Navalny and his allies want to use the website and a separate app to organise a tactical voting campaign at the Sept. 17-19 contest to land a blow against the ruling United Russia party.
    The campaign urges followers to sign up so they can be allocated a candidate who is judged to have the best chance of defeating United Russia in their election district.
    Russia outlawed Navalny’s movement as extremist this summer and the Roskomnadzor communications regulator has since banned their websites.
    Yandex, which dominates Russia’s domestic search market, said the tactical voting website had been deleted from its search engine automatically due to the Roskomnadzor designation.
    Ivan Zhdanov, a Navalny ally based abroad, criticised the move, saying he thought the company could have resisted more robustly and advising Navalny’s supporters to use Google for their online searches instead of Yandex.
    A court has also banned Yandex from using the phrase “smart voting” in its keyword search system, but the firm says it plans to appeal against that ruling.
    Russia is trying to ban an accompanying app, threatening Alphabet’s Google and Apple with fines if they fail to remove it from their stores and accusing the U.S. firms of election interference.
    Navalny’s team on Tuesday told their followers to download their app on Google and Apple’s stores where it remains available and not to be taken in by fake sites.    Google and Apple did not respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Alexander Marrow, Gleb Stolyarov and Anton Zverev; Editing by William Maclean)

9/7/2021 U.N. Blocked From Monitoring Rights Abuses In Belarus, Envoy Says
FILE PHOTO: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko delivers a speech in Minsk, Belarus
May 26, 2021. Press Service of the President of the Republic of Belarus/Handout via REUTERS
    VILNIUS (Reuters) – The Belarus government’s crackdown on human rights organizations obstructed the ability of the United Nations to document abuses, the U.N. envoy said on Tuesday.
    Belarus was levied with several rounds of international sanctions after a crackdown over mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko, whose opponents say he fraudulently won last year’s presidential election.    He denies wrongdoing.
    In the latest moves against Lukashenko’s opponents, Belarusian security police searched offices and homes of lawyers and human rights activists on July 14, detaining at least 10 people including the leader of Viasna-96 human rights group.
    The curbs on the largest human rights body in the former Soviet country are hindering international monitoring of human rights abuses in Belarus, U.N. Special Rapporteur Anais Marin told reporters in Vilnius, capital of Lithuania.
    She is not allowed into the country, and she said contributions from Viasna and its volunteers have been “crucial” in her mission.
    “The terrible repression that is currently targeting Viasna has a direct negative impact on our capacity in Geneva to follow up on allegations of human rights violations, to gather testimonies and to properly report on the repression, and this is probably no coincidence,” she said.
    Speaking by a videolink, the rapporteur called the detention of Viasna’s leadership “arbitrary” and said their prosecution was “politically motivated.”    She called for their release and urged that “they would not be subjected to ill-treatment in detention.”
    “Last year, I assessed the situation in Belarus as catastrophic.    I’m lacking words now to express my interpretation of the situation.    I could not imagine it could get so much worse,” Marin said.
    On Monday, Maria Kolesnikova, one of the leaders of the mass street protests last year, was sentenced in Belarus to 11 years in prison, leading to an outcry from Western countries https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/belarus-protest-leader-kolesnikova-sentenced-11-years-jail-2021-09-06.
(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; editing by Grant McCool)

9/7/2021 Kremlin Critic Decries Doppelgangers At St Petersburg Election
Boris Vishnevsky, the 65-year-old politician running for St Petersburg's Legislative Assembly, looks on during
an interview with Reuters in Saint Petersburg, Russia September 7, 2021. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov
    ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) – Boris Vishnevsky, a veteran opposition politician, was gearing up to run in elections this month when he learned that two of his opponents would not only have the same name and surname as him, but even the same facial hair in their official portraits.
    The 65-year-old seeking to renew his seat in St Petersburg’s Legislative Assembly accuses authorities of fielding “spoiler” candidates to confuse his voters and reduce his vote haul.
    He said the two other Boris Vishnevskys had changed their names and surnames, and even altered their appearances in their election photographs to look more like him.    He posted a photograph of the three of them on Twitter.
    The two other candidates could not be reached for comment.
    “What kind of a person do you have to be to change your name, surname and also your appearance to please your political boss?” Vishnevsky said in an interview.
    Central Election Commission chief Ella Pamfilova condemned the incident as an “embarrassment and an outrage” in comments to Kommersant FM radio.    But she said they would still be able to take part in the vote because of the wording of the law.
    She proposed making the two candidates submit new photographs, the RIA news agency reported. But the photographs were unchanged in the local election commission’s office on Tuesday.
    The commission rejected a complaint by Vishnevsky demanding that his rivals give their previous names on the ballot on the basis that the three candidates could be distinguished by their different middle names, TASS news agency reported.
    Russia is set to hold an array of elections on Sept. 17-19 including a vote for the federal parliament that President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party is expected to win, despite a slump in its ratings.
    Vishnevsky, a member of the liberal opposition Yabloko party who holds a seat in St Petersburg’s 50-seat Legislative Assembly, said he thought the incident showed his opponents see him as a strong contender.
    “At each elections for many years now we say that these were the dirtiest and most dishonest elections ever, and then at the next ones we repeat the same phrase,” he said.
    “It turns out the previous ones were better and these were even worse,” he said.
    Allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny whose network was banned as extremist this year have alleged a sweeping pre-election crackdown and been legally barred from taking part.
    The Kremlin denies any targeted crackdown and says any criminal action is only brought against individuals for breaking the law.
(Reporting by Dmitry Vasilyev; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

9/8/2021 Two People Killed After Gas Blast Hits Apartment Building In Russia - Ifax
A view of a gas explosion in a nine-storey residential building in the town of
Noginsk, Moscow, Russia September 8, 2021. Russian Emergency Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Two people were killed after a gas explosion struck a residential building in the Russian city of Noginsk, around 50 km (30 miles) east of Moscow, on Wednesday, the Interfax news agency cited the investigative committee as saying.
    “According to preliminary data, five people were injured and two have died – a man and a woman,” Interfax quoted regional official Anna Tertichnaya as saying.
(Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

9/8/2021 Russian Court To Consider Transfer Of Ex-Marine To U.S. On Sept. 27 – Ifax
FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who was detained and accused of espionage, holds a sign as he stands inside
a defendants' cage during his verdict hearing in Moscow, Russia June 15, 2020. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian court will on Sept. 27 consider a request by a former U.S. Marine held in Russia to be transferred to the United States to serve his sentence, the Interfax news agency cited his lawyers as saying on Wednesday.
    Russia convicted Paul Whelan, who holds U.S., British, Canadian and Irish passports, of spying last June and sentenced him to 16 years in jail.    He denied spying and said he was set up in a sting operation.    Washington demanded his release.
(Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

9/8/2021 Factbox-Norway’s Three Candidates For Prime Minister
The three candidates to become Norway's next prime minister Erna Solberg from the Conservatives, Jonas Gahr Stoere
from Labour Party and Trygve Slagsvold Vedum from the Centre Party attend a debate
in central Oslo, Norway August 9, 2021. Picture taken August 9, 2021. REUTERS/Gwladys Fouche
    OSLO (Reuters) – Nine political parties are expected to win seats in Norway’s Sept. 12-13 parliamentary election, but only three leaders are candidates for prime minister.
    Here are brief profiles of those vying for the top job:
    Jonas Gahr Stoere (Labour) – The clear front-runner, 61-year-old Stoere became leader of Norway’s Labour Party – the traditional home of the working class – in 2014. Born into a wealthy family, he has said that, after eight years of government by Conservative-led coalitions, it is the “common people’s turn”, pledging tax relief for low and middle income families and hikes for the rich.     A former foreign minister, Stoere failed at his first attempt to become prime minister in 2017 and would probably need to navigate tough coalition talks with two or more centre-left parties to get the job this time.
    Erna Solberg (Conservatives) – Solberg, 60, in office since 2013, hopes to become the first Norwegian prime minister to win a third consecutive term, but is lagging in opinion polls.    She has cut taxes, expanded oil exploration and sought to make public administration more efficient, while sharply raising government spending to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.    Her reputation took a hit when she was fined by police https://www.reuters.com/world/norway-prime-minister-fined-by-police-over-virus-rules-violation-2021-04-09 in April for breaking social distancing rules at her birthday gathering.
    Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Centre) – Vedum, 42, a farmer and since 2014 the leader of Norway’s eurosceptic Centre Party https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/norway-should-reclaim-energy-regulation-eu-eurosceptic-opposition-says-2021-08-10, is the outsider candidate. Popular for his down-to-earth style and a promise to spend more government cash in rural areas, the former minister of agriculture hopes to lead a coalition government together with Labour.    The Centre Party late last year rivalled Labour and the Conservatives https://www.reuters.com/article/norway-politics-idINL8N2IH41A in the polls but its support has since declined.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Gwladys Fouche and John Stonestreet)

9/8/2021 Climate, Wealth Gap In Focus As Norway Go To Polls by Gwladys Fouche and Terje Solsvik
The three candidates for Norway's prime minister Erna Solberg from the Conservatives, Jonas Gahr Stoere from Labour Party and Trygve Slagsvold Vedum
from the Centre Party attend a debate in central Oslo, Norway August 9, 2021. Picture taken August 9, 2021. REUTERS/Gwladys Fouche
    OSLO (Reuters) – Norway votes this weekend after a national election campaign dominated by climate change and a widening wealth gap, though whoever wins seems certain to ensure the country’s transition away from oil – and the jobs it creates – is a gradual one.
    Opinion polls show the opposition Labour party on course to replace the governing Conservative coalition of Erna Solberg, though Labour would need support from two or more other parties to secure a parliamentary majority.
    Since an Aug 9 United Nations report https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/un-sounds-clarion-call-over-irreversible-climate-impacts-by-humans-2021-08-09 warning that global warming was dangerously close to tipping out of control, climate change has become one of the two main issues of debate https://www.reuters.com/article/norway-election-oil-idCNL1N2Q21UD.     The other, in a country where egalitarianism is an entrenched value, is the growing disparity between rich and poor. (Left-wing vs right-wing support in Norway parliament – https://graphics.reuters.com/NORWAY-ELECTION/dwpkrrqwlvm/chart.png)
    The man projected to become prime minister after the Sept 12-13 ballot, Labour leader Jonas Gahr Stoere, has pledged to address inequality by offering tax relief to low- and middle-income families and hiking rates for the rich.
    “Equal rights and equal opportunity have to be secured,” he told Reuters.    “(Inequality) …has been increasing over the last years. So fairer distribution is a foundation of our policy and that will be felt.”
    The proportion of Norwegian children persistently living in low-income households grew from 3.3% in 2001 to 11.7% in 2019, according to Statistics Norway, while house prices have outpaced salaries, rising sixfold in 30 years.
OIL CLINGING ON
    Stoere says his government would also focus on cutting Norway’s CO2 emissions in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement, but at the same time work to avoid job losses in its biggest export industry, oil and gas production.
    “We have nine years to achieve the 2030 goals in meeting the Paris objectives so we will cut 55% of our emissions,” he said.
    “That is a huge transition, so we have really to get going during these first four years.    To have a fair policy on climate change requires a more active participation from … the state to support this transition.”
    Labour will have to rely on the support of two or more other parties to push its policies through, polls suggest.
    The Green Party, the Socialist Left and the Marxist-inspired Reds – all pro-environmental – are all expected to make gains and will seek to influence the next government, as will the rural Centre Party.
    The smaller parties will seek compromises to trim the oil industry’s ambitions, such as limiting its ability to explore for more deposits.
    But with the other two possible candidates for premier – Solberg and the Centre Party’s Trygve Slagsvold Vedum – also favouring further oil drilling, there seems little chance of the environmental lobby calling time yet on an industry that accounts for 42% of national exports and employs around 160,000 people.
    Norway is Western Europe’s top petroleum producer, exporting some four million barrels of oil equivalent per day. (Editing by John Stonestreet)

9/9/2021 Russia Moves Sukhoi Su-30 Fighter Jets To Belarus To Patrol Borders, Minsk Says
FILE PHOTO: A Sukhoi Su-30 fighter is seen on the tarmac at the MAKS 2017 air show
in Zhukovsky, outside Moscow, Russia, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has sent Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets to western Belarus to form a joint military training centre, fly joint missions and patrol the two countries’ borders, the Belarusian defence ministry said on Wednesday.
    The announcement comes two days before the start of military drills in Belarus and Russia that have prompted consternation in the NATO military alliance and European Union countries.
    Belarus has been at loggerheads with the West since President Alexander Lukashenko unleashed a violent crackdown on mass street protests last year.    The tensions have pushed Belarus to fall back on traditional ally Russia for financial and diplomatic support.
    Lukashenko is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday.    Earlier this month, Lukashenko said Russia would soon deliver https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-deliver-huge-military-equipment-consignment-belarus-soon-belta-2021-09-01 a huge military hardware consignment to Belarus, including aircraft, helicopters and air defence systems.
    The Russian jets “arrived at the Baranovichi airfield to form a joint training centre for the air force and air defence forces of Belarus and Russia,” the ministry said in a statement.    The statement did not say how many jets landed at Baranovichi.
    The jets will “will carry out joint combat duty to protect the air borders of the Union State.”
    NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg last week urged https://www.reuters.com/world/nato-calls-russia-be-transparent-with-military-exercises-2021-09-03 Russia to be transparent in conducting the “Zapad-2021” (“West-2021”) exercises.    Poland said https://www.reuters.com/world/poland-sees-no-let-up-belarus-border-tensions-says-pm-2021-09-06 on Monday the drills would fuel tensions that are already running high over an influx of migrants crossing the border from Belarus into the EU.
    Russia sees Belarus as a security buffer on its western flank against NATO and the EU.
    Russia and Belarus are formally part of a “union state” and have been in talks for years to further integrate their nations.
    The negotiations have long spurred fears among the beleaguered Belarusian opposition that Lukashenko might trade off chunks of sovereignty in return for even more political backing from the Kremlin.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Alexander Marrow; writing by Matthias Williams and Jonathan Oatis)

[AS YOU READ THE ARTICLE BELOW CAN YOU NOT SEE HOW IT COMPARES TO THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WITH THE FAKE NEWS AND BIG TECH CONTROLLING ALL MEDIA AND IT IS GETTING WORSE EVERY DAY AND MYSELF WITH OANN, NEWSMAX AND SOME FOX NEWS LATE NIGHT PERSONS IS ALLOWING ME TO PROVIDE THIS ALTERNATIVE VIEW TO THEIR OVER-REACH AND CONTROL AND MYSELF IS BEING ATTACKED EVERYDAY WITH SOME ENTITY IS TRYING TO BLOCK ME FROM UPLOADING THE FILES YOU ARE READING ON MY SITE AND THE GOOD LORD GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB IS GIVING ME A WAY TO GO AROUND THEM IN AN EFFORT TO BRING THEIR EVIL ACTIVIES OF THE GLOBAL SOCIALIST ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT TO THE LIGHT BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.].
9/9/2021 Top Rights Lawyer Who Fled Russia Decries Political ‘Purge’ by David Chkhikvishvili
FILE PHOTO: Ivan Pavlov, a lawyer defending Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) in an
extremism case, speaks with journalists after a court hearing in Moscow, Russia May 17, 2021. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    TBILISI (Reuters) – A top human rights lawyer who defended jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s team and announced this week he had fled Russia accused authorities on Thursday of a mounting campaign to purge the political landscape of people they see as undesirable.
    Defence lawyer Ivan Pavlov, 50, gained prominence for taking on politically sensitive cases and defending people charged with treason or espionage by the Federal Security Service, the successor to the Soviet KGB.
    He said on Tuesday that he had left for neighbouring Georgia, saying his work had become impossible due to a criminal investigation against him, a set of restrictions placed on him and state pressure on the legal outfit he founded.
    He is one of an array of people to flee during a crackdown on supporters of Navalny – a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin – and on media outlets seen by authorities as hostile and foreign-backed ahead of Sept. 17-19 parliamentary elections.     “An attempt is under way to purge the space of politically undesirable people,” Pavlov told Reuters in an interview in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.    He said the stream of people leaving was growing.
    “This stream until recently looked like a stream, but it now looks like a violent mountain river.    People are not leaving one by one, but whole teams are leaving, whole media outlets,” he said.
    Among those to emigrate this year are most of Navalny’s closest allies, whose network was banned as “extremist” in July, journalists for media outlets declared “foreign agents” or banned as “undesirable,” and several anti-government activists.
    The Kremlin denies its opponents or critical media outlets are targeted for political reasons and says any criminal action against individuals is the result of them breaking the law.
    Moscow’s “foreign agent” and “undesirable” designations are needed to prevent foreign meddling, it says.
    Pavlov came under criminal investigation in April, accused of disclosing classified information in his legal defence of former journalist Ivan Safronov, who is being held on treason charges, which he denies.
    This summer, Pavlov led the defence of Navalny’s political network at a series of hearings that were closed to the public, which resulted in the groups being banned as “extremist.”
    He said he did not think he had been targeted because of his work for Navalny, but for his years of legal wrangling with the Federal Security Service.    He denied being a critic of the Kremlin and said his role had been that of a lawyer.
    His Komanda 29 legal outfit had its website blocked by authorities this summer and was accused of circulating banned content.    It announced it was closing back in July. Pavlov said the writing was already on the wall by then.
    “After this we realised they wouldn’t let us work and that this might be the last such signal that we need to leave the country,” he said.
(Writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

[IF YOU DID NOT KNOW THAT THE POPE IS AN REPRESENTATIVE OF THE GLOBALIST SOCIALIST ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT THIS ARTICLE SHOULD CLARIFY THAT FOR YOU WHO IS DENOUNCING RESURGENCE OF NATIONALIST AND POPULIST MOVEMENTS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND YOU SHOULD REALIZE THAT THERE ARE NOW TWO TYPES OF CATHOLIC CHURCHES THE ONE THAT HAS BOUGHT INTO THE WAY OF THE WORLD AND ANOTHER ONE WHO FOLLOWS THE WAY OF THE BIBLE AS SPOKEN BY JESUS CHRIST AND THE GOD OF ABRHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB AND THE 11 DISCIPLES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT AND REVELATION.].
9/9/2021 Brief Pope Stop In Hungary Underlines Differences With PM Orban by Philip Pullella
FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis holds the weekly general audience at the Paul VI
Audience Hall at the Vatican, August 11, 2021. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
    VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - An unusually brief stay in Hungary on Sunday at the start of Pope Francis’ first foreign trip in months will underline his differences with nationalist and anti-immigrant Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
    Francis, 84, will spend only seven hours in the Hungarian capital Budapest to close an international Roman Catholic meeting before moving on to Slovakia, where he will stay much longer, visiting four cities before leaving on Wednesday.
    The Vatican’s schedule says Francis is due to meet Orban.    But the extreme brevity of his stay in Budapest has prompted diplomats and Catholic media to suggest that the pope, making his first trip since surgery in July, is giving priority to Slovakia and in effect snubbing Hungary.
    Francis has often denounced what he sees as a resurgence of nationalist and populist movements, called for European unity, and criticised countries that try to solve the migration crisis with unilateral or isolationist actions.
    By contrast, Orban told the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia last week that the only solution to migration was for the European Union to “give all rights back to the nation state.”
    The pope has called for migrants to be welcomed and integrated to tackle what he has called Europe’s “demographic winter.”    Orban said in Slovenia that today’s migrants “are all Muslims” and that only “the traditional Christian family policy can help us out of that demographic crisis.”
    “The pope’s decision to spend more time in Slovakia than Hungary must also be read in the context of his fierce criticism of nationalist-populist leaders such as Hungary’s prime minister,” the British Catholic newspaper The Tablet said.
    Speaking to reporters on the plane returning from Iraq in March, Francis said his stop in Budapest was “not a visit to a country but for a Mass.” About 75,000 people are expected.
    The U.S. conservative National Catholic Register newspaper reported that Hungarian officials, including some bishops, had failed to convince the pope to stay longer in Hungary and perhaps make a full state visit.
    The Register said some regarded the decision as “a gigantic slap in the face” of Orban.
    Francis is also due to meet Hungarian President Janos Ader before saying the Mass to conclude a Church congress that began last Sunday.
“LOOK HIM IN THE EYES”
    Asked by Spanish Radio network COPE last week what he would say to Orban about closing borders, Francis said: “When I am in front of a person, I look him in the eyes and let things come out.”
    The pope is leaving Rome unusually early on Sunday – at 6 a.m. – so that he can say the Mass in Budapest and reach Slovakia in the afternoon, without spending the night in Hungary.
    When a reporter asked at a briefing on Thursday why the pope appeared to be “running away from Hungary,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the stop there was a “spiritual pilgrimage” that should be seen in a religious context.
    Orban’s office said in an email to Reuters on Thursday that the pope’s stop for a religious event was “an enormous honour” and that comparisons with the Slovakia leg would be “misleading.”
    The trip will be the first test of the pope’s strength since surgery in which 33 cm (13 inches) of his intestine were removed because of a narrowing of the colon.
    In Slovakia he will meet the president, prime minister and parliamentarians.    Slovakia is against uncontrolled immigration but its leaders have been much less strident in their opposition than Hungarian leaders.
    The pope will also meet Slovakia’s Jewish community.    About 105,000 Slovak Jews were killed in the Holocaust and today the community numbers around 3,000.
    In Kosice, he will meet with the Roma population in the dilapidated Lunik IX district, one of the largest concentrations in the country.    Slovakia has a Roma population about 440,000, many in settlements on outskirts of towns.
    Francis will say two open-air Masses in Slovakia – which is about 65% Catholic – including one service in the lengthy Byzantine rite.
(Additional reporting by Krisztina Than and Gergely Szakacs in Budapest, Robert Muller in Kosice and Jason Hovit in PragueEditing by Timothy Heritage/Mark Heinrich)

9/9/2021 Romania’s Ruling Liberals Delay No-Confidence Vote
FILE PHOTO: Romanian Prime Minister-designate Florin Citu attends a news conference
in Bucharest, Romania, February 26, 2020. Inquam Photos/George Calin via REUTERS
    BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romania’s ruling Liberal Party put off a no-confidence vote against its government on Thursday, prolonging a political crisis that threatens economic recovery and efforts to curb a rise in COVID-19 cases.
    The junior USR-Plus partner in Romania’s centrist coalition government withdrew its support for Liberal Prime Minister Florin Citu earlier this month in a row over a regional development fund, and filed a no-confidence motion with backing from ultra-nationalist opposition party AUR.
    Liberal lawmakers have delayed setting a deadline for the vote by failing to provide the legal quorum for meetings, and ultimately challenged the motion on technical grounds at the Constitutional Court.
    On Thursday, Liberal lawmakers supported by opposition Social Democrats decided to postpone the vote until after a court ruling.
    The fracture of the Liberal-led coalition, which includes ethnic Hungarian group UDMR, could endanger efforts to reduce the European Union state’s large twin deficits, crucial to keeping its investment-grade rating.
    On Wednesday, Fitch Ratings said it would wait for Romania’s current political crisis to subside before deciding whether to maintain or strip it of its rating.
    The opposition Social Democrats backed the Liberals’ postponement of the vote even after declaring they would vote to topple the government.    The Constitutional Court said it will set a date for its ruling after Sept. 15.
    Analysts have said Citu is trying to delay the no-confidence motion until an internal Liberal Party election on Sept. 25 which he is expected to win, strengthening his position.
    Regardless of the current motion, Citu must still bring a new cabinet line-up to parliament for approval within 45 days, after USR Plus ministers resigned on Tuesday.
    A minority government of Liberals and ethnic Hungarians would rely on backing from Social Democrat lawmakers, which would make them vulnerable to concessions.
    Romania reported over 2,000 new coronavirus cases for the third consecutive day, its highest daily tally since spring.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

9/9/2021 Hungary Condemns EU Move To Fine Poland Over Judicial Reform
FILE PHOTO: Hungary's Justice Minister Judit Varga gives a joint press conference
during a General Affairs Council in Luxembourg, June 22, 2021. John Thys/Pool via REUTERS
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary labelled European Union authorities as arrogant after they moved to impose financial penalties against Poland in a dispute over judicial reforms.
    The European Commission said on Tuesday it had asked the EU’s top court to fine Poland over the activities of a judges’ disciplinary chamber, stepping up a long-running dispute over the rule of law.
    Hungary’s Justice Minister Judit Varga said the action was unacceptable.    “The (Hungarian) government has decided … to pass a resolution expressing its support for Poland, and condemn the malicious attacks by Brussels,” she said on her Facebook page late on Wednesday.
    Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who met Polish President Andrzej Duda in Budapest on Thursday, assured Duda of Hungary’s “solidarity and full support” in the context of Brussels’ “attack” on Poland, the PM’s press chief told news agency MTI.
    Orban said that Brussels is “abusing its power” and called the fine “outrageous and completely unacceptable.”    He said that the procedure against Poland is a threat to EU unity and Hungary will weigh the possibility of acting on the side of Poland in European court proceedings.
    Warsaw said three weeks ago that the chamber would be dismantled as part of wider judiciary reforms in coming months.
    But the executive Commission said it was taking action now as the chamber was already being used to pressure judges or exert political control over judicial decisions, thereby undercutting EU law.
    Varga said ignoring the Polish promise was a “scandalous and arrogant” step by a Commission that was “meddling in the judiciary and law-making process of a sovereign member state in an unprecedented manner.”
    Hungary and Poland have been allies for years, both locked in a series of conflicts with Brussels over core issues including the rule of law and press freedoms and LGBT rights.    They say they are protecting their traditional societies from Western liberalism.
(Reporting by Krisztina ThanEditing by Raissa Kasolowsky, John Stonestreet, William Maclean)

9/9/2021 Russia And Belarus Agree Closer Energy, Economic Integration
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko attend a news conference
following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia September 9, 2021. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – The leaders of Russia and Belarus on Thursday agreed to set up a unified oil and gas market and to deepen economic integration in the face of what they regard as unjustified Western sanctions on both their economies.
    The agreement, reached after Kremlin talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, is likely to be seen as the latest show of support by Putin for Lukashenko who last year used force to break up huge protests against his rule.
    The West has hit Belarus with sanctions to punish the authorities for the crackdown.    Russia is under Western sanctions too for its treatment of Ukraine.
    Moscow and Minsk have long been formally part of a “union state” and held talks about further integration.    That has prompted concerns from the beleaguered Belarusian opposition that Lukashenko will trade off chunks of sovereignty in return for even more backing from the Kremlin against the West.
    The two leaders told a news conference that they had agreed to 28 integration road maps that covered common approaches to macro-economic policies, including monetary policy, taxes and custom rules.
    They also announced plans to integrate their energy markets.
    Putin said the two countries would sign a document before December 2023 to create a unified gas market and conclude similar agreements for oil and electricity.     He said Moscow would also leave its prices for natural gas unchanged for Belarus at the current $128.5 per 1,000 cubic metres in 2022.
    “And we are not even going to index the price for Belarus in terms of dollar inflation even though it is significant,” Putin said.
    Russia, which sees the ex-Soviet republic of 9.5 million as a strategically-important buffer to its west, has helped keep Lukashenko in power with loans and political backing.
    Such support helped him weather last year’s protests which were widely regarded as the biggest challenge to his 27-year rule and were called to try to overturn what the opposition said was his rigged election win.
    Lukashenko denies last year’s presidential election was manipulated in his favour.
    Putin said Russia would provide Belarus with around $630-640 million in loans by the end of 2022.
    He said the two countries were focusing on economic integration before discussing potential political integration.
    The talks happened on the same day that Russia and Belarus formally opened vast joint military drills, a week-long exercise across the territory of both countries and in the Baltic Sea that has alarmed some NATO countries.
    Putin said it made sense for Russia and Belarus to hold the drills near their western borders given what he said were moves by NATO to bolster its presence in the wider region.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Andrey Ostroukh, Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, Darya Korsunskaya and Tom Balmforth; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

9/10/2021 Russia Summons U.S. Ambassador Over 9/11 Press Accreditations – Ifax
FILE PHOTO: U.S. ambassador to Russia John Sullivan speaks with journalists
in Moscow, Russia January 30, 2020. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s foreign ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador, John Sullivan, on Friday over an issue with accreditations for Russian journalists working in the United States, Interfax news agency reported on Friday.
    Some reporters from Russia were denied accreditations to attend 9/11 memorial events in New York, the agency said.
(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

9/10/2021 Russia Blames U.S. Tech Giants For Interference In Election
FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with the new U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan during a ceremony for newly
appointed foreign ambassadors to Russia, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, February 5, 2020. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia’s foreign ministry said on Friday it had summoned U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan to meet Russian Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov over alleged interference in the September parliamentary election.
    Russia has “undeniable proof” that tech giants, based in the United States, violated Russian laws ahead of the coming election, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
    It did not specify what companies and violations it referred to.
    “In this regard it was stated that interference in the internal affairs of our country was absolutely unacceptable,” the statement said.
    The U.S. Embassy in Russia and the State Department did not immediately reply for a request for comments.
    Russia said earlier this month that it may treat as election meddling refusals by Apple and Google to remove Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s app from their online stores.
    Navalny and his allies promote a tactical voting plan, which requires followers to support candidates who are judged to have the best chance of defeating the ruling United Russia party in local elections campaigns.
(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Raissa Kasolowsky)

9/10/2021 Kremlin Internet Crackdown Causing Major Outages As Election Looms by Anton Zverev and Alexander Marrow
FILE PHOTO: Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny takes part in a rally to mark the 5th anniversary
of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov's murder and to protest against proposed amendments
to the country's constitution, in Moscow, Russia February 29, 2020. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin’s crackdown on websites linked to jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny and on technology used to evade online bans are causing major internet outages for the Russian public, say web monitors, online gaming firms and government critics.
    The disruption shows how new tools that state communications regulator Roskomnadzor is deploying to exert greater control over the internet are causing unintended collateral damage.
    GlobalCheck, a group that monitors websites’ accessibility in Russia, said there had been widespread disruption after Roskomnadzor blocked widely-used internet services in its bid to prevent access to a banned app backed by Navalny’s allies.
    They hope to use the app to organise a tactical voting campaign to deal a blow to the ruling party at next week’s parliamentary elections.    The government wants the app banned from online stores.
    Between 5.23 p.m. (1423 GMT) and 10.13 p.m. on Wednesday, Roskomnadzor blocked Google and cybersecurity firm Cloudflare’s domain name system (DNS) services, which computers use to match website addresses with the correct servers, according to GlobalCheck.
    As a result, swathes of the internet were down for Russians for about an hour on Wednesday evening, said IT expert Mikhail Klimarev, as did allies of Navalny on Twitter.
    “There is no doubt that the blocking is happening as part of the fight with the Navalny app,” GlobalCheck said.     Navalny’s app uses the same kind of DNS services that were targeted, it said.
    Roskomnadzor did not respond to requests to comment.
    The regulator has told Apple, Alphabet’s Google, Cisco and Cloudflare to stop providing Navalny’s app with the means to bypass its blocking efforts, Interfax news agency reported.
    It has also threatened Apple and Google with fines.
    Apple, Google, Cisco and Cloudflare did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
‘GROWING HYSTERIA’
    Allies of Navalny, whose movement was banned as extremist this summer, said on Thursday the mobile functionality of their app had fallen to around 80%, but that what they described as temporary malfunctions would not derail their tactical voting plan.
    The campaign urges followers to sign up to be allocated a candidate judged to have the best chance of defeating United Russia in their election district.
    It is one of the last levers that Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest domestic critic, has left to influence politics.    He was jailed for 2-1/2 years earlier this year for parole violations on a conviction he calls trumped up.
    Klimarev, the internet analyst, said he thought efforts to block the app would likely peak next week ahead of the election on Sept. 17-19.
    “With elections coming up there is growing hysteria about smart voting and everything is being done to block it.    All the glitches in networks are related to this,” he said.
VPN BLOCKS
    Russia has passed an array of legislation in recent years to boost what it calls its internet “sovereignty” and invested in digital tools to make its internet policing more sophisticated.
    In the latest front in that campaign, Moscow has started blocking virtual private networks (VPN), arguing they enable internet users in Russia to access prohibited content, and banned six VPN providers earlier this month.
    Mart, a communications operator, said it had received customer complaints over the last few days about the poor performance of e-commerce site Avito and online virtual games World of Tanks and World of Warships.
    “The problems our subscribers were facing are, by all accounts, linked to attempts by Roskomnadzor to block several VPN services,” Mart said.
    On Monday, World of Warships said Roskomnadzor’s blocking of VPNs had disrupted many users’ gaming experience.    It said it was working to resolve the issue.
(Editing by Tom Balmforth and Mark Potter)

9/10/2021 Russia And Belarus Launch ‘Hot Phase’ Of Huge War Games
Russian service members attend a ceremony opening the military exercise Zapad-2021 staged by the
armed forces of Russia and Belarus at the Obuz-Lesnovsky training ground in Brest Region, Belarus
September 9, 2021. Picture taken September 9, 2021. Vadim Yakubyonok/BelTA/Handout via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia and ex-Soviet ally Belarus on Friday launched the active “hot phase” of a three-month-long military exercise involving 200,000 troops, which has alarmed Ukraine and some NATO nations.
    The live fire drills are the culmination of the “Zapad-2021” war games, and will run until next Thursday on Russia’s and Belarus’s western flanks including sites close to NATO and the European Union’s borders.
    Russia’s Ministry of Defence released footage of warships and tanks opening fire and fighter jets taking off.    It said the troops had practiced repelling an aerial attack.    Separately, it said it tested S-400 air defence systems on Russian-annexed Crimea.
    Mathieu Boulegue, a research fellow at Britain’s Chatham House think tank, said the first three days of the “hot phase” drills were expected to focus on defending against an attack from the West, with the next four days focused on how troops would strike back with a counter-offensive.
    Neighbours such as Ukraine and NATO members Poland and Lithuania say such big exercises so close to the frontier risk being provocative.    President Vladimir Putin denies the drills are directed against any foreign power and says they are sensible given increased NATO activity near Russia’s borders and those of its allies.
    The Western alliance, which has accused Russia of under-reporting troop movements in the past, has urged Moscow to be transparent and said it will be watching closely.
    The manoeuvres are held every four years, but this year’s drill has been seen as a particular signal of Russia’s support for Belarus and its leader Alexander Lukashenko, who has been ostracised by the West for cracking down on dissent.
    Russia sees Belarus as a strategically important buffer to its west, and helped to keep Lukashenko in power with loans and political backing while he crushed a popular uprising last year.
    Putin and Lukashenko held Kremlin talks on Thursday, described as focusing on the push to more closely integrate their economies.    They are due to inspect the exercises personally at some point, according to Belarusian state media.
    Russia’s Defence Ministry said the active phase of the drills would take place at nine sites in Russia and five sites in Belarus.    The exercises involve 200,000 personnel, 80 planes and helicopters, 290 tanks and 15 naval ships, it says.
    Military personnel from Armenia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia are also due to participate.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Peter Graff)

9/11/2021 ‘Ms Nord Stream 2?’: Germany’s Merkel Makes Difficult Last Visit To Poland
FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds a roll of paper that will go inside a time capsule during the 750th city
anniversary celebrations in Burgergarten, in Templin, Germany September 10, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
    WARSAW (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Poland on Saturday, part of a goodbye tour of Europe for the continent’s longest serving leader, risks being overshadowed by tensions over a gas pipeline and questions over her legacy in central Europe.
    Having grown up in East Germany near the Polish border, Merkel, 67, was seen by some observers as a chancellor who could relate to the post-communist states of central Europe.
    However, on her farewell visit to the capital of emerging Europe’s largest economy, her determination to complete the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Russia has soured relations.
    The pipeline pits Germany, the EU’s biggest economy, against central and eastern European nations, some of them EU members, who say it will increase the bloc’s dependence on Russian gas.
    Russia, the cornerstone of the Soviet Union that once dominated central and eastern Europe, is still viewed in much of the region with suspicion.
    “Generally she was seen as someone who understood central and eastern Europe,” said Michal Baranowski, head of the German Marshall Fund’s Warsaw office, adding Polish-German relations were at a “tricky moment.”
    “I think she’s leaving as Ms Nord Stream 2, from the Polish perspective.”
    Relations have been tense under Poland’s ruling nationalists, the PiS.
    Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz told Polish public radio on Friday he expected Nord Stream 2 would feature in Merkel’s talks with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, alongside the Polish COVID-19 National Recovery Plan, which has not been approved by Brussels due to concerns over Warsaw’s commitment to the rule of law.
CONFLICT
    Poland and Hungary are embroiled in a long-running row with Brussels over issues including judicial independence, press freedoms and LGBT rights, a conflict that recently intensified with Brussels taking legal action against Warsaw and Budapest.
    “She (Merkel) is worried that the divergences about the judicial question will grow between Eastern Europe and the rest,” said a German government source.
    Analysts say that under Merkel’s rule, Germany sought consensus and dialogue with central and eastern European states, pushing Brussels to the fore and avoiding direct conflict.
    However, some diplomats say Merkel could have done more against democratic backsliding.
    “Merkel doesn’t like revolution. She doesn’t like to rock the boat and she probably thought that she could contain it, and clearly that didn’t work,” said Sophie in’t Veld, a Dutch Liberal member of the European Parliament.
    But with anti-German sentiment still strong among many PiS voters, some analysts say Merkel may also have been wary of stirring up old animosities in a country that suffered greatly during World War Two.
    PiS politicians have repeatedly called for war reparations from Germany.
    With Armin Laschet, the conservatives’ candidate to succeed Merkel, struggling in polls, policymakers across Europe are starting to contemplate what a government led by Finance Minister Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats would mean.
    “It is very important that the next German government backs a more decided EU response to stop further backsliding in Poland, Hungary and other countries,” said Daniela Schwarzer, executive director for Europe and Eurasia at the Open Society Foundation.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Justyna Pawlak, Anna Koper and Alicja Ptak in Warsaw, Andreas Rinke in Berlin, John Chalmers in Brussels, John Irish in Paris; Editing by Mark Potter)
[IF YOU HAVE NOT BELIEVED ME THAT THERE IS A GLOBALIST SOCIALIST ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT AS YOU CAN SEE ABOVE WHY MERKEL IS HERE SEEN IN THE FOLOWING:
    Open Society Foundations, formerly the Open Society Institute, is a grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros, which financially supports civil society groups around the world, with a stated aim of advancing justice, education, public health and independent media, but we know what they are really doing which is an attack on anyone who is going against their policy and it is the same that is atacking the United States at present who are in the Democrat party who are bought and sold to it with a diferent name such as Equity, attack 2nd Amendment, want of as much abortions that they can get, and a president that thinks he is Julius Caesar by bypassing the Legislature to violate our rights, etc., etc.].

9/11/2021 IMF To Launch Virtual Mission To Belarus To Gather Data On Economy
FILE PHOTO: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin
in Saint Petersburg, Russia July 13, 2021. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolskyi/Kremlin via REUTERS/File Photo
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund on Friday said it would begin a virtual mission to Belarus, amid concerns raised about the global lender’s disbursement of new emergency reserves to the government of president Alexander Lukashenko.
    The staff mission is part of the IMF’s economic surveillance and monitoring mandate and aims to gather more information about the economic developments in Belarus and its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, an IMF spokesperson said.
    The mission will begin Monday, said a source familiar with the plans who was not authorized to speak publicly.
    It comes days after the leaders of Russia and Belarus agreed to set up a unified oil and gas market and to deepen economic integration https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-belarus-agree-closer-energy-economic-integration-2021-09-09 in the face of what they regard as unjustified Western sanctions on both their economies.
    Western governments have imposed sanctions to escalate pressure on Lukashenko, who is accused of rigging elections in August 2020 and cracking down on opposition to prolong his now 27 years in power.    Lukashenko has denied rigging the vote.
    Russia is also under Western sanctions for its treatment of Ukraine.
    The IMF last month said it was keeping a close watch https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/imf-keeping-close-watch-belarus-after-calls-limit-reserve-funds-country-2021-08-13 on Belarus but proceeded to give Lukashenko’s hardline government access to nearly $1 billion in new Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the IMF’s own reserve currency, as part of a broader $650 billion allocation to all IMF members.
    Some U.S. lawmakers had urged the IMF to restrict the government’s access to the funds.
    The mission, which will conduct interviews online, will lay the groundwork for a comprehensive ‘Article IV’ economic surveillance mission in December.    Such reviews are carried out on a regular basis by the global lender.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

9/11/2021 Serbian Protesters Demand More Action To Stop Industrial Pollution
People attend a protest to urge Serbia's government to do more to prevent industrial
pollution, in Belgrade, Serbia, September 11, 2021. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
    BELGRADE (Reuters) – About 2,000 protesters marched through Belgrade on Saturday to urge Serbia’s government to do more to prevent industrial pollution, and some denounced plans by Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto to develop a lithium mine.
    Waving banners and white flags, the protesters blocked one of the main bridges in the capital for two hours, calling for more action against water, air and land pollution by industries such as mining and power production.
    “There is no forgiveness for poisoning nature.    That is the crime which cannot be forgiven,” declared one banner.
    Another said: “Rio Tinto go away.”
    Serbia has in recent years started selling mining resources to foreign companies, despite opposition by local residents warning that increased ore exploration could cause greater pollution.
    In July, Rio Tinto committed $2.4 billion to a project to explore and process lithium in Serbia.
    The Serbian government sees the project as a chance to boost the national economy but many Serbs fear it will damage the environment.
    Rio Tinto Serbia CEO Vesna Prodanovic has said the company will meet all European Union and Serbian environmental regulations, including on the treatment of wastewater.
    Coal-fired power plants and a copper mine run by China’s Zijin has also faced criticism.
    According to a World Health Organization study published in 2019, air pollution was the main cause of some 6,600 deaths in Serbia annually.
    The former Yugoslav republic, which in the 1990s went through a decade of wars and economic crisis, has lacked resources to tackle pollution.    As it seeks to join the EU, Serbia will need billions of euros of investment to meet the bloc’s environmental standards.
    “I came here to support this wider protest for our air, water and environment,” said Jovana Stefanovic, a pensioner.     “Natural resources are getting scarce and we need to be careful about it.”
    “I came here today to make Rio Tinto leave,” said another protester, Danica Vujicic.    “We have to put an end to it (pollution), otherwise our children will not have a future.”
(Reporting by Ivana Sekularac, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

9/11/2021 Russia Uses New Hardware At Big Military Drills
FILE PHOTO: Russian service members attend a ceremony opening the military exercise Zapad-2021 staged
by the the armed forces of Russia and Belarus at the Obuz-Lesnovsky training ground in Brest Region, Belarus
September 9, 2021. Picture taken September 9, 2021. Vadim Yakubyonok/BelTA/Handout via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia used new combat robots and tactical vehicles on the second day of the active main phase of large military drills with its ex-Soviet ally Belarus, the defence ministry said on Saturday.
    The “Zapad-2021” war games, which will run until next Thursday on Russia and Belarus’s western flanks including sites close to the European Union’s borders, have alarmed Ukraine and some NATO countries.
    Troops used Platform-M combat robots, which are controlled remotely and armed with grenade launchers and a machine gun, the ministry said in a statement.    Russian news agencies said it was the first time such hardware had been used.
    New Sarmat-2 tactical vehicles have also been used, Russian media said.
    President Vladimir Putin denies the drills are directed against any foreign power and says they are sensible given increased NATO activity near Russia’s borders and those of its allies.
    Neighbours such as Ukraine and NATO members Poland and Lithuania say such big exercises so close to the frontier risk being provocative.
    “We need to realize that this (a Russian military attack on Estonia) may indeed happen in the coming years,” Martin Herem, commander of the Estonian Defense Forces said in an interview on Friday evening.
    “Russia’s goal likely isn’t to occupy us – it does not want to gain control through occupation, but it enjoys instability and influence via instability,” the BNS news wire quoted him as saying.
    The manoeuvres are held every four years, but this year’s drill has been seen as a particular signal of Russia’s support for Belarus and its leader Alexander Lukashenko, who has been ostracised by the West for cracking down on dissent.
    Russia sees Belarus as a strategically important buffer to its west, and helped to keep Lukashenko in power with loans and political backing while he crushed a popular uprising last year. (Reporting by Alexander Marrow in Moscow and Andrius Sytas in Vilnius, editing by Ros Russell)

9/11/2021 U.S. Reassures Allies Over Nord Stream 2 But Says It’s A ‘Reality’ by Matthias Williams
FILE PHOTO: Specialists perform an above-water tie-in while finishing the construction of the Nord Stream 2
gas subsea pipeline onboard the laybarge Fortuna in the Baltic Sea, September 8, 2021.
Picture taken September 8, 2021. Nord Stream 2/Handout via REUTERS
(Makes clear reference in para 10 is to Ukraine)
    KYIV (Reuters) - A senior U.S. envoy said on Saturday he had delivered reassurances to Ukraine and Poland on mitigating any threat posed by Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, but that the project was now a “reality.”
    Amos Hochstein, the State Department’s senior adviser for energy security, told Reuters there was “breathing room” until 2024 to ensure Ukraine kept its status as a gas transit country but urged Kyiv to move towards alternative energy sources.
    The United States has been Ukraine’s most powerful backer in a standoff with Moscow since Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula in 2014, but Kyiv opposed a U.S.-German deal in July that allowed the completion of the $11-billion Nord Stream 2 project.
    Russian company Gazprom said on Friday it had finished construction of the pipeline, which will take natural gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine.
    President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government fears Russia will use it as a geopolitical weapon and deprive Ukraine of billions of dollars in transit fees.
    Hochstein visited Ukraine and Poland, which also criticised the U.S.-German deal in July, “to talk and to give them reassurances,” he said on the sidelines of the Yalta European Strategy (YES) summit.
    “Look, I think we have to shift the process from talking about what we all wish would have happened, that the project would not be completed, to the reality now that it’s going to be completed.”
    Ukraine’s current transit deal with Russia expires in 2024.    Moscow has not given a firm commitment on extending it.
    Asked whether he was confident Ukraine would keep its transit status, Hochstein said: “I am 100% confident that we will do everything we can, and that the Germans are committed to do everything they can, to make sure that that transit continues.”
    Ukraine wants Nord Stream 2 stopped.    If it is not, Ukraine has called on Washington and Berlin to outline specific guarantees on protecting Kyiv’s interests.    German Chancellor Angela Merkel was on Saturday visiting Poland.
    “We are still waiting for the time when this (concrete steps) will be put on paper,” Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenskiy’s office, said at the YES summit.
    He said that “today Ukraine is forced to believe not words but real steps.”
    Washington has not said what actions it would take against Russia.
    “There is a contract in place until 2024, so we have some breathing room here to make sure that they live up to the contract that they have today and that it doesn’t end in 2024,” Hochstein said.
    The U.S.-Germany deal stipulated a new $1 billion “Green Fund for Ukraine” aimed at improving the country’s energy independence.
    “We also have to start working with Ukraine together on transitioning the energy economy here to match what’s happening in the rest of the world, and especially in Europe,” Hochstein said.
(Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Ilya Zhegulev, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

9/11/2021 Denmark Lifts All COVID Restrictions For Residents by OAN Newsroom
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (R) and Health Minister Magnus Heunicke give a press conference
on the situation in the country amidst the new coronavirus pandemic on September 18, 2020 at the
Prime Minister’s Office in Copenhagen. (Photo by MARTIN SYLVEST/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)
    Denmark has become the first European country to lift all COVID restrictions, including so-called vaccine passports.    Citing a high vaccination rate on Friday, the small Nordic country lifted all mask and distancing mandates except for in airports.
    Additionally, the health officials have removed COVID-19 off their list of viruses of serious concern saying the hospitals can now handle the virus like any other disease when cases arise.    The country’s health minister said while the government would take action if the situation deteriorates, the virus is currently under control and the Danes are ready for freedom.
    “Everyday life is pretty much the same and the freedom is there in range, but the good habits also have to be there.     So, we still have a disease amongst us which is very contagious, but we also have some very very strong weapons: Vaccines, testing and so forth in our society,” stated the Health Minister of Denmark Magnus Heunicke.
    As Denmark transitions back to normality, they are still implementing strict border controls for noncitizens.
    Visitors from outside the country will be required to show proof of vaccination or a negative test in order to enter the country.

9/11/2021 Ukrainian President Warns Of Possible War With Russia by OAN Newsroom
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talks to journalists in his office in Kiev. (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)
    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed full warfare with Russia was a definite possibility.    Speaking at a summit in Yalta in the disputed territory of Crimea on Friday, Zelensky said war was fortunately avoided last time Russia became aggressive with the former Soviet republic.
    “I think there can be.    That’s the case,” he stated.    “I think in 2014, it was unfortunately a step forward towards it by the Russian side, and then, thanks God, because of the Ukrainian people they did a step backward.    They’ve been stopped.”
    Zelensky added if an all out war were to occur, it would destroy relations between his country, Russia and mutual neighbor Belarus.    He also noted any warfare by the Russians would be the biggest mistake Russian President Vladimir Putin could make.
    At a meeting between Joe Biden and Zelensky last week, Biden reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to protecting Ukraine was from Russian aggression.
Joe Biden and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky before a meeting in the Oval Office
of the White House in Washington, D.C. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
    “The United States remains firmly committed to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russian aggression and our support for Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations,” he announced.    “Today, we are going to discuss how the U.S. can continue to support Ukraine as it advances democratic reforms, agenda and movement toward being integrated in Europe.”
    Even with these commitments, many have been concerned the U.S. was no longer a reliable ally.    During the 2014 invasion and annexation of Crimea by Russia, the Obama administration responded lightly.
    Strong words were had and new sanctions put in place, but Putin was allowed to absorb the Ukrainian territory into Russia without more pushback. Although Zelensky was not worried about the U.S.’s reliability for now, concerns about how forthcoming     Biden was about Ukraine’s accession into NATO were still existent.
    “I think yes.    I think we can, because it seems to me that today we have our relations on a different level,” he explained.    “Well, we have not received, I’ll be honest with you, a direct position on Ukraine’s accession to NATO.”
    Russia has tried to take pieces of Ukraine since 2014, de facto succeeding in annexing Crimea by force.    To fight this off, the U.S. has committed over $2 billion to Ukraine since the start of tensions and over $400 million this year alone.

[AS YOU WILL SEE IN THE NEXT 3 ARTICLES THAT THE EUROPEAN UNION IS SENDING THE POPE TO THE COUNTRIES WHO WILL NOT CONCEDE TO THEIR GLOBALISM TO GET RID OF THEIR NATIONALISM WHICH IS THE SAME THING THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO DO IN THE U.S.A. SO WAKE UP CHRISTIANS, JEWS, AND SOME CATHOLICS WHO DO NOT KNOW THAT ABORTION IS KILLING A HUMAN WITH A HEARTBEAT AND NEED TO DECIDE WHICH CATHOLIC CHURCH YOU SHOULD FOLLOW WHICH IS NOT A HARD DECISION TO MAKE.].
9/12/2021 Pope Francis Arrives In Hungary For Lightning Visit
Pope Francis arrives to board the plane for his visit to Hungary and Slovakia, at
Fiumicino Airport near Rome, Italy, September 12, 2021. REUTERS/Alberto Lingria
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Pope Francis arrived in Hungary early on Sunday, starting an unusually short stay that will underline differences https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/brief-pope-stop-hungary-underlines-differences-with-pm-orban-2021-09-09 with nationalist and anti-immigrant Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
    Francis, 84, will spend only seven hours in the capital Budapest to close an international Roman Catholic meeting before moving on to Slovakia, where he will stay much longer, visiting four cities before leaving on Wednesday.
    The Vatican’s schedule says Francis is due to meet Orban and President Janos Ader as well as bishops and representatives of some Jewish communities before saying Mass to conclude a Church congress that began last Sunday.
    The extreme brevity of his stay in Budapest has prompted diplomats and Catholic media to suggest that the pope, making his first trip since surgery in July, is giving priority to Slovakia, in effect snubbing Hungary.
    Francis has often denounced what he sees as a resurgence of nationalist and populist movements, called for European unity, and criticised countries that try to solve the migration crisis with unilateral or isolationist actions.
(Reporting by Philip Pullella and Gergely Szakacs; Editing by William Mallard)

9/12/2021 Pope Urges Hungary To Be More Open To Needy Outsiders by Philip Pullella and Gergely Szakacs
Pope Francis greets people as he arrives in Heroes' Square in Budapest, Hungary, September 12, 2021. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Sunday that Hungary could preserve its Christian roots while opening up to the needy, an apparent response to nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s stand that Muslim immigration could destroy its heritage.
    Francis was in Hungary for an unusually short stay that underlined differences with the anti-immigrant Orban, his political opposite.
    Closing a Church congress with a Mass for tens of thousands of people in central Budapest, Francis used the imagery of a cross to show that something as deeply rooted as religious belief did not exclude a welcoming attitude.
    “The cross, planted in the ground, not only invites us to be well-rooted, it also raises and extends its arms towards everyone,” he said in his remarks after the Mass.
    “The cross urges us to keep our roots firm, but without defensiveness; to draw from the wellsprings, opening ourselves to the thirst of the men and women of our time,” he said at the end of the open-air Mass, which Orban attended with his wife.
    “My wish is that you be like that: grounded and open, rooted and considerate,” the pope said.
    Francis has often denounced what he sees as a resurgence of nationalist and populist movements, and has called for European unity, and criticised countries that try to solve the migration crisis with unilateral or isolationist actions.
    Orban, by contrast, told the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia last week the only solution to migration was for the European Union to “give all rights back to the nation state.”
    The pope has called for migrants to be welcomed and integrated to tackle what he has called Europe’s “demographic winter.”    Orban said in Slovenia that today’s migrants “are all Muslims” and that only “the traditional Christian family policy can help us out of that demographic crisis.”
    Francis, 84, who spent only about seven hours in Budapest, met Orban and President Janos Ader at the start of his visit.
    The Vatican said the meeting which was also attended by the Vatican’s top two diplomats and a Hungarian cardinal, lasted about 40 minutes and was cordial.
    “I asked Pope Francis not to let Christian Hungary perish,” Orban said on Facebook.    Hungarian news agency MTI said Orban gave Francis a facsimile of a letter that 13th century King Bela IV sent to Pope Innocent IV asking for help in fighting the Tartars.
    Later on Sunday Francis arrived in Slovakia, where he will stay much longer, visiting four cities before returning to Rome on Wednesday.
    The brevity of his Budapest stay has prompted diplomats and Catholic media to suggest the pope is giving priority to Slovakia, in effect snubbing Hungary.
    The Vatican has called the Budapest visit a “spiritual pilgrimage.”    Orban’s office has said comparisons with the Slovakia leg would be “misleading.”
    The trip is the pope’s first since undergoing major surgery in July.    Francis told reporters on the plane taking him to Budapest that he was “feeling fine”
(Reporting by Philip Pullella. Editing by Jane Merriman)
[THE POPE'S SPIRUTUAL PILGRIMAGE SEEMS TO BE IN COUNTRIES WHO ARE NOT COMPLYING TO THE EU POLICIES.].

9/12/2021 In Hungary, Pope Says Anti-Semitism ‘Fuse’ Must Not Be Allowed To Burn by Gergely Szakacs
Pope Francis leads a mass in Heroes' Square, in Budapest, Hungary, September 12, 2021. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Pope Francis called on Sunday for vigilance against a rise in anti-Semitism, saying during a brief trip to Hungary this was a “fuse that must not be allowed to burn.”
    The pope arrived in Hungary early on Sunday for an unusually short visit underlining differences with his political opposite, nationalist and anti-immigrant Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
    More than half a million Hungarian Jews were killed in the Holocaust, which destroyed a once-vibrant culture across the country.
    Today, there are about 75,000 to 100,000 Jews in Hungary, the largest number in central Europe, according to the World Jewish Congress, with most of them in Budapest.
    “I think of the threat of anti-Semitism still lurking in Europe and elsewhere,” the pope said in an ecumenical meeting in Budapest with leaders of other Christian religions and Jews.
    “This is a fuse that must not be allowed to burn.    And the best way to defuse it is to work together, positively, and to promote fraternity,” he said.
    A survey by the think tank Median commissioned by Mazsihisz, the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities, found that one in five Hungarians were strongly anti-Semitic, while another 16% were what the survey called moderately anti-Semitic.
    The survey, published in July and taken during 2019-2020, said there were fewer anti-Semitic acts such as vandalism and physical assault in Hungary compared with other European countries.
    In his speech, the pope evoked the image of Budapest’s famous Chain Bridge over the Danube River, linking the two halves of the Hungarian capital, Buda and Pest.
    “Whenever we were tempted to absorb the other, we were tearing down instead of building up.    Or when we tried to ghettoize others instead of including them,” the pope said.    “We must be vigilant and pray that it never happens again.”
    He said Christian leaders should commit to what he called an education in fraternity to stand up against outbursts of hatred.
    Orban, in power since 2010, had raised concerns in Hungary’s Jewish community when several years ago he used an image of U.S. financier George Soros, who is Jewish, in an anti-immigration billboard campaign.
    In May, Orban told reporters that anti-Semitism accusations against him were “ridiculous,” adding that Hungary was a “more than fair and correct country in that respect.”
    Orban has also said Jews should feel safe under his government and that Hungary would show “zero tolerance.” for anti-Semitism.
(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs. Editing by Philip Pullella and Jane Merriman)

9/13/2021 Pope Honors Slovak Holocaust Victims On Site Of Demolished Synagogue by Robert Muller
Pope Francis speaks during a visit to the Bethlehem Center in Bratislava, Slovakia, September 13, 2021. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
(Refiles with correct date in dateline, no changes to text)
    BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Pope Francis, at a memorial to the more than 100,000 Slovak Jews killed in the Holocaust, said on Monday that it was shameful how people who said they believed in God perpetrated or permitted “unspeakable acts of inhumanity.”
    At a somber ceremony at a spot where a synagogue was demolished during the post-war communist era, ostensibly to make room for a bridge, the pope said the real reason was because “they wanted to cancel every trace of the (Jewish) community.”
    “Here, in this place, the Name of God was dishonored, for the worst form of blasphemy is to exploit it for our own purposes, refusing to respect and love others,” the pope told representatives of the Jewish communities of Slovakia.
    “Here, reflecting on the history of the Jewish people marked by this tragic affront to the Most High, we admit with shame how often his ineffable Name has been used for unspeakable acts of inhumanity!” Francis said.
    The open space, which is adjacent to a Catholic cathedral and other buildings what were spared, is now a memorial to the dead. The Jewish community in Slovakia now numbers about 2,600 people.
    “How many oppressors have declared ‘God is with us’ but it was they who were not with God,” Francis said, before listening to testimonies by a survivor who lost his parents in the Holocaust and a nun who spoke of Catholics who risked their lives to save Jews.
    At the end of the ceremony a cantor sang in Hebrew while standing near stones from the demolished temple.
    Jozef Halko, an assistant bishop of Bratislava, told reporters at the site that it was “paradoxical” that the communists decided to destroy the synagogue while letting other buildings there stand.
    Last week, Slovakia marked the 80th anniversary of the Jewish Codex – a legal framework for the persecution of Jews.    Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger apologised to the Jewish community on behalf of the country on the anniversary.
    A survey by Globsec think-tank last year said 51% of respondents said Jews held too much power globally and that they were controlling governments and other institutions.
    During World War Two, the Slovak State, a puppet regime established under the auspices of Nazi Germany in 1939 after the breakup of Czechoslovakia, had even pledged to pay the Nazis for each Jew transported out of the country.
    The wartime President, Catholic priest Jozef Tiso, is still revered by some groups in Slovakia, including members of a far-right party whose logo and other symbols are inspired by those used then by Tiso.    He was sentenced to death and executed for war crimes in 1947.
(Reporting by Robert Muller; editing by Philip Pullella, William Maclean)

9/13/2021 Pope, In Slovakia, Warns European Countries Against Being Self-Centred by Philip Pullella and Robert Muller
Pope Francis gives remarks in front of members of the clergy at the Cathedral of
Saint Martin in Bratislava, Slovakia, September 13, 2021. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS
    BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Pope Francis warned against too much focus on individual rights and culture wars at the expense of the common good on Monday during a visit to Slovakia amid increased nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiment across eastern Europe.
    The 84-year-old Francis, looking fit, is making his first trip since undergoing intestinal surgery in July.    Asked by a reporter on Monday how he felt, he joked: “Still alive.”
    On the first papal visit to Slovakia since 2003, Francis returned to a theme he had touched on during a stopover on Sunday in Hungary on how nations should avoid a selfish, defensive mentality as he recalled the region’s communist past.
    “In these lands, until just a few decades ago, a single thought system (communism) stifled freedom.    Today another single thought system is emptying freedom of meaning, reducing progress to profit and rights only to individual needs,” Francis said.
    Addressing Slovak President Zuzana Caputova, other officials and diplomats in the gardens of the presidential palace, the pope added: “Fraternity is necessary for the increasingly pressing process of (European) integration.”
    Slovakia, part of Czechoslovakia during communist times, secured its independence from Prague in 1993.    The Slovak and wider eastern European economies have since boomed but their integration into the European Union has also coincided with a nationalist backlash against increased illegal immigration, often involving Muslims from the Middle East and Afghanistan.
EASTERN DISCONTENT
    Slovakia’s neighbours, Hungary and Poland, have been at loggerheads with the EU over their hard-line stance on migration as well as over their judicial reforms and curbs on media freedoms.
    In September, Brussels told Poland its challenge to the primacy of EU law over national law was holding up the release of 57 billion euros in recovery funds to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Francis specifically mentioned the EU recovery plan on Monday, saying people were “looking forward with hope to an economic upturn” it is meant to underpin.
    The pope has often called for European solutions to the migrant crisis and has criticised governments that try, like Hungary’s, to tackle it with unilateral or isolationist actions.
    In Budapest on Sunday, in an apparent response to nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s stand that Muslim immigration could destroy its heritage, he said preserving a nation’s deeply rooted Christian heritage did not exclude a welcoming, caring attitude for others in need.
    “Our Christian way of looking at others refuses to see them as a burden or a problem, but rather as brothers and sisters to be helped and protected,” he said on Monday.
    Slovakia is about 65% Catholic.
    At a meeting with bishops, priests and nuns, Francis said Catholics also must not be inward-looking, self-absorbed and defensive, in an apparent reference to his conservative critics who are resisting change.
    “The Church is not a fortress, a stronghold, a lofty castle, self-sufficient and looking out upon the world below,” he said.
    He later visited a memorial on the site of a synagogue demolished by the communists in 1969 and paid tribute to the more than 100,000 Slovak Jews killed in the Holocaust.
(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Gareth Jones and Alex Richardson)
[WHEN DID THE POPE BECOME SO ANTI-CONSERVATIVE WHO ARE TRYING TO MAINTAIN THEIR HERITAGE AS THE BIBLE IS WRITTEN AND IS STILL RELEVANT IN OUR AGE AND HE IS NOW PRO DEMOCRACY WHICH ANYTHING GOES FOR THE ACTIONS OF HUMANITY?    IN MY FILES IF YOU GO TO THE LINKS CALLED 'GLOBALISM' AND ALSO 'WORLD GOVERNMENT' AND READ IT THEN YOU WILL COME TO SEE VERY CLEAR WHAT IS GOING ON IN OUR WORLD TODAY.].

9/13/2021 Putin Oversees Vast War Games Ahead Of Parliamentary Election
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces
Valery Gerasimov and officials visit the Mulino training ground to observe the military exercises "Zapad-2021" staged by the armed forces
of Russia and Belarus in Nizhny Novgorod Region, Russia, September 13, 2021. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw vast joint military exercises with Belarus on Monday ahead of his country’s parliamentary elections later this week, as NATO member Poland voiced concern over the drills.
    The sprawling “Zapad-2021” live fire exercises will run until Thursday at numerous sites in Russia and ex-Soviet Belarus, some of which are close to NATO’s borders.    They have caused alarm in neighbouring countries such as Ukraine.
    Monday’s exercises focused on launching a counter-offensive against enemy forces, the Russian Defence Ministry said.    In the Arctic, Russia’s Northern fleet and air force practised repelling an attack near its border with Norway.
    Putin has said the drills — which the defence ministry says involve 200,000 personnel, as well as 80 planes and helicopters and nearly 300 tanks — are not directed against any foreign country and has called them a necessary response to increased     NATO activity near Russia’s borders and those of its allies.
    The Russian leader flew into Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region east of Moscow with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, a close political ally, to review manoeuvres taking place there.
    Russia is due to hold parliamentary elections on Sept. 17-19.    The ruling United Russia party that backs Putin is expected to secure a win despite a slump in its popularity.
    NATO, which has accused Russia of under-reporting troop movements in the past, said it would watch the drills closely.    NATO officials also warned that the drills increase the risk of an accident or miscalculation that could touch off a crisis.
    “While each country has the right to conduct military exercises, limited transparency, wider context of the manoeuvres and the accompanying hybrid activities raise our concerns,” Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said.
    He pointed to a Russian troop build-up near Ukraine earlier this year and a border crisis with Belarus in which Poland and the EU accused Minsk of encouraging migrants to enter Poland.
    “Our countries and NATO as a whole remain vigilant,” Rau told reporters after meeting his Baltic counterparts in Riga.
    Moscow denies any lack of transparency and says it has voluntarily disclosed extensive information about the drills.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Additional reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; Editing by William Maclean)

9/13/2021 Russian Mobile Users Struggle To Make AppStore Downloads Before Election
FILE PHOTO: Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny takes part in a rally to mark the 5th anniversary
of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov's murder and to protest against proposed amendments to the
country's constitution, in Moscow, Russia February 29, 2020. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Some Russian mobile users were unable to download updates from the AppStore on Monday and Apple reported an outage, as the authorities sought to block a banned tactical voting app ahead of parliamentary elections this week.
    The Kremlin is cracking down on online resources linked to jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny and on technology used to evade online bans, which has caused major internet outages for the Russian public in the run-up to the Sept. 17-19 vote.
    State communications regulator Roskomnadzor has told several U.S. firms, including Apple, to stop providing Navalny’s team with the means to bypass its blocking efforts.    The app is banned due to Navalny’s movement being outlawed as extremist this summer.
    Navalny’s team on Monday said many people were reporting problems downloading their app, which they want to use to organise a tactical voting campaign to deal a blow to the ruling United Russia party, without the help of a virtual private network.
    “Roskomnadzor has broken the installation of app updates from the AppStore in Russia,” Navalny ally Leonid Volkov wrote on Telegram.
    Roskomnadzor did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation that its blocking efforts were causing the problems.
    Apple Support in Russia showed that an AppStore outage had occurred between 11.00 a.m. (0800 GMT) and 5.10 p.m., during which time it said users may have encountered problems with the service.    Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
(Reporting by Anton Zverev and Alexander Marrow; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

9/13/2021 Lithuania To Fence First 110 Km Of Belarus Border By April
FILE PHOTO: A razor wire barrier is installed on border with Belarus in Druskininkai, Lithuania
July 9, 2021. REUTERS/Janis Laizans (Corrects name of military base to Adazi, not Ainazi)
    ADAZI MILITARY BASE, Latvia (Reuters) – The Lithuanian government said on Monday work would start this month on the first section of fence along the Belarus border aimed at keeping out migrants, a 110 km (70 miles) stretch topped with razor wire that should be finished by April.
    More than 4,100 migrants, mostly from the Middle East and Asia, have entered Lithuania this year, prompting a dispute between the European Union and Belarus.
    The EU accuses Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of flying in migrants and sending them over the border in retaliation for sanctions imposed on Minsk following a crackdown on the political opposition.
    The Lithuanian government said it had handed the job of building the first section of the border fence to state-owned power and gas grid company EPSO-G, at a cost of 36 million euros.
    It will have razor wire on top and a height of 4 meters, an EPSO-G spokesman said.    Six additional coils of razor wire will be arranged in a pyramid and placed between the border and the fence.
    The remaining 400 km (240 miles) of the planned structure will be finished by September 2022, with parts marked by rivers and lakes not being fenced. The border stretches for 670 km (420 miles).
    EU members Poland and Latvia have also seen an increase in migrant arrivals this year and all three countries have resorted to pushing migrants back into Belarus since August, reducing their numbers drastically.
    Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas on Monday accused Russia, a major Belarus ally, of working with Belarus to create the crisis.
    “We are convinced that, from the very beginning, Belarus has coordinated its actions with Russia,” he told reporters in Latvia’s Adazi military base after meetings with his Baltic and Polish counterparts.
(Reporting by Janis Laizans in Adazi and Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

9/13/2021 Putin Approves Pre-Election Salary Boost For Police, Military Personnel
Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in the BRICS summit via a video link
in Moscow, Russia September 9, 2021. Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin on Monday approved higher salaries for law enforcement and military personnel ahead of a parliamentary vote, one of many measures critics say is designed to boost support for the ruling party.
    The measure, which indexes their compensation to a figure above inflation, comes days before Russians head to the polls on Sept. 17-19 for an election which the ruling United Russia party is expected to dominate despite a slump in its ratings due to declining living standards.
    Putin’s order, published on the Kremlin’s website, said the salaries of military and law enforcement personnel would be adjusted to a figure higher than inflation in 2022 and 2023.
    The increase, the precise details of which were not disclosed in the order, is based on pledges made by Putin at a United Russia meeting in August.
    Inflation in Russia last month stood at 6.7%, well above the central bank’s 4% target.br>     Putin last month also approved one-off payments of 15,000 roubles ($200) each to fire fighters, police officers, prosecutors and soldiers, among others, a move the Kremlin said was designed to safeguard the social needs of those receiving them.
    He has also pledged similar payments to pensioners, many of whom have been affected by rising food rises and inflation.
    Kremlin critics say such measures amount to targeted bribes of key voter groups upon whom Putin relies to remain in power.    The Kremlin denies the payments are in any way connected with the elections.
    Putin has been in power as either president or prime minister since 1999. He helped found the ruling United Russia party, though he is not a member.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

9/13/2021 Winner Of Norway’s Election Is Wealthy Champion Of ‘Common People’ by Gwladys Fouche and Terje Solsvik
Norway's Labor Party leader Jonas Gahr Stoere speaks at the Labor Party's election vigil at Folkets Hus
during parliamentary elections, in Oslo, Norway September 13, 2021. Javad Parsa/NTB via REUTERS
    OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s presumptive next prime minister is a man born into wealth and privilege who became an unlikely leader of the Labour Party, traditionally seen as the political voice of the working class and which built the country’s welfare state.
    Overcoming his 2017 election defeat and internal party turmoil, Jonas Gahr Stoere, 61, is expected to replace https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/norway-opposition-expected-win-election-fought-oil-inequality-2021-09-13 Conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg, 60, as tallies showed a decisive swing in favour of the centre-left.
    The son of a ship-broker and heir to a fortune worth some $16 million, according to business magazine Kapital, Stoere’s elite background was once deemed an obstacle to his ambition to lead a party rooted in the struggle for workers’ rights.
    He has promised that it’s “common people’s turn”, pledging to reduce inequality by giving tax relief to low and middle income families, cut the cost of public services and hike taxes for the rich – including himself.
    A former foreign minister and health minister, Stoere has led Labour since 2014 but stumbled at his first attempt to win power in 2017 as Solberg’s Conservative-led coalition came from behind to win a second term.
    This time, the combined centre-left has won its biggest victory in almost three decades, with Labour as the largest party in parliament.    Stoere must still navigate tough post-election coalition talks with two other parties, however.
    To form a majority government, he would need support from the rural-based Centre Party and the Socialist Left, which have contradictory policies on everything from oil production to taxes.
    He could rule in a minority, but with only an estimated 48 seats out of a total of 169 in parliament his government would be vulnerable.
    Labour’s eight years out of power is the longest since it first formed a government in 1928.    The party has ruled for about 50 of the 76 years since the end of World War Two.
NO YELLOW VESTS
    Stoere says the class differences he observed while studying in Paris in the 1980s converted him to social democracy.     “I learnt what kind of society I wanted to live in.    In France, differences between people are large, larger than in Norway – between rich and poor, between those with education and those without, between city and countryside,” he wrote in a column for Norway’s ABC News website in 2017.
    Stoere told Reuters last month that distributing the economic burden more evenly would ease the introduction of stricter climate policies – a major issue in Norway, which grew rich on oil, still the country’s biggest industry.
    “We need to avoid yellow vests.    We must ensure we cut emissions and create jobs,” Stoere said, referring to the French ‘yellow vest’ anti-government movement.
    Norway was “good at negotiating these transitions,” he said, “but we must have a society with fewer differences, which have increased with the past government.”
    Studying at Sciences Po, one of France’s top universities, Stoere travelled to the Soviet Union as part of the movement to support Soviet dissidents.
    After returning home, he worked closely with Norway’s first female prime minister, Gro Harlem Brundtland, and was later her chief of staff at the World Health Organization.
    In 2010, as foreign minister in his friend Jens Stoltenberg’s government, Stoere secured an end to a four-decade-long offshore Arctic offshore border dispute with Russia. He then served as health minister before becoming Labour leader when Stoltenberg was appointed NATO chief in 2014.
    Norway is a founding member of NATO.    It is not a European Union member but has close economic ties with the bloc that could become a sticking point in coalition talks.
    Stoere managed to hold on to the Labour leadership after 2017, when the party started the year with a large lead in opinion polls but lost an election after pledging to raise taxes and as an economic recovery boosted Solberg.
    For the 2021 campaign, he kept middle-class voters on side by making clear that only the top 20% of earners and the very wealthy would see their taxes rise if Labour won.
(Editing by Catherine Evans)

9/14/2021 Putin Criticises Foreign Forces In Syria At Kremlin Meet With Assad
FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad visit an Orthodox Christian cathedral in Damascus, Syria
January 7, 2020. Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) - Foreign forces being deployed in Syria without a decision by the United Nations are a hindrance to its consolidation, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Bashar al-Assad, the president of the Middle Eastern nation on Monday.
    The Kremlin said the comments came during a meeting of the two men in the Russian capital, after Putin congratulated Assad on his win in Syria’s presidential election.
    “Terrorists had sustained a very serious damage, and Syrian government, headed by you, controls 90% of the territories,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin statement.
    Russian support has helped Assad win back nearly all the territory lost to rebels who tried to overthrow him during the civil war that began in 2011.
    Assad, whose last meeting in Moscow with Putin was in 2015, thanked the Russian leader for humanitarian aid to Syria and for his efforts to halt the “spread the terrorism.”
    He lauded what he called a success of Russian and Syrian armies in “liberating occupied territories” of Syria.    He also described as “antihuman” and “illegitimate” the sanctions some nations imposed on Syria.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Clarence Fernandez)

9/14/2021 Ukraine Expects Next IMF Tranche Of $750 Million In December, PM Says by Natalia Zinets and Pavel Polityuk
FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal speaks during an interview
with Reuters in Kiev, Ukraine May 29, 2020. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo
    KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine expects to receive the next tranche of assistance worth $750 million from the International Monetary Fund in December, and 600 million euros from the European Union in November, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal told a news conference on Tuesday.
    Shmygal said Ukraine had fulfilled all the IMF’s conditions under the current assistance programme, adding that an IMF mission is expected in Ukraine from Saturday for talks.    Ukraine signed a $5 billion IMF programme last year but the loans were effectively frozen over concerns about reforms.
    “This mission will actually be the final one in preparation for the issuance of the next tranche – we have fulfilled all the conditions, all the benchmarks that were spelled out in the memorandum with the IMF,” Shmygal said.
    “Therefore, we expect a positive completion of this mission and expect that approximately in December, late November – early December – this is the date when the IMF tranche is possible,” he added.
    The IMF said it would restart its review mission in September, but declined to confirm any specific date.
    “As the Managing Director said earlier this summer, the mission will be working with the Ukrainian authorities on the remaining issues where agreement is needed to complete the review,” a spokesperson said.
    One of Europe’s poorest countries, Ukraine tumbled into recession due to the pandemic last year.    Under the IMF programme, Ukraine received $2.1 billion last year but failed to secure more assistance, and repeatedly revised its own estimates of when another tranche would be disbursed.
    Shmygal also said the government had a normal working relationship with the central bank and that the central bank’s decisions were “well-grounded.”
    The central bank last week raised interest rates for the fourth time this year to tackle double digit inflation.    The previous central bank governor had resigned last year complaining of political meddling.
(Writing by Matthias Williams, Editing by William Maclean and Richard Chang)

9/14/2021 Pope, In Slovakia, Says Don’t Exploit Religion For Politics by Philip Pullella
Pope Francis arrives to lead the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom in Presov, Slovakia, September 14, 2021. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa
    PRESOV, Slovakia (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Tuesday that the cross should not be used as a political symbol and warned against Christians trying to be triumphalist, in an apparent criticism of the use of religion for partisan ends.
    Francis flew to the city of Presov, in eastern Slovakia, where he presided at a long service known as a Divine Liturgy, a Byzantine rite used by Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches.
    The pope wove his homily around the theme of Christian identity, saying crosses and crucifixes were often used superficially by Christians.
    Speaking to about 30,000 worshippers, he said many Christians had crucifixes or crosses around their necks, on walls in their homes, in their cars and in their pockets but had no real relationship with Jesus.
    “What good is this, unless we stop to look at the crucified Jesus and open our hearts to him,” he said.    “Let us not reduce the cross to an object of devotion, much less to a political symbol, to a sign of religious and social status.”
    In 1950 in Presov, the communist authorities forced the Eastern Rite Catholics, who owe their allegiance to the Pope, to join the Orthodox Church.    A number of Eastern Rite clerics who refused were jailed.
APPEAL TO RELIGION
    In Hungary, where the pope stopped briefly on Sunday, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has appealed to religious sentiment in his anti-immigrant and nationalist politics, saying that Hungary’s Christian heritage risked disappearing.
    After his meeting with the pope on Sunday, Orban said he asked the pontiff “not to let Christian Hungary perish.”    The pope said in Hungary that the country could preserve its Christian roots while opening up to the needy.
    At the liturgy on Tuesday, Francis also again appeared to warn Christians against the use of their religion in so-called culture wars that he believes hurt the common good.
    “How often do we long for a Christianity of winners, a triumphalist Christianity that is important and influential, that receives glory and honour?” he said.
    In Slovakia, the far-right Kotlebovci-People’s Party Our Slovakia says it stands on three pillars – Christian, national and social – and has vowed to prevent immigration of mostly Muslim refugees.
    “The cross is not a flag to wave, but the pure source of a new way of living,” Francis said, adding that a true believer “views no one as an enemy, but everyone as a brother or sister.”
    A number of political parties in Europe, including several far-right parties in the east, use crosses on their party flags or symbols.
    In Hungary, one of Orban’s government allies, the tiny Christian Democratic Peoples’ Party (KDNP), uses a cross on their symbol.    The far-right nationalist Our Homeland Party (Mi Hazank) uses the Byzantine cross, which has two horizontal beams.
    The pope later visited one of the most impoverished communities in Slovakia, a settlement of Roma people, where he condemned prejudice and discrimination against them, saying it was wrong to pigeonhole entire ethnic groups.
    He then held a rally with young Slovak Catholics attended by around 20,000 people at a stadium in Kosice before he was due to return to Bratislava.    He returns to Rome on Wednesday.
(Additional reporting by Robert Muller in Kosice and Gergely Szakac in Budapest; Editing by Alex Richardson)

9/14/2021 Pope Calls Out Prejudice As He Meets Roma In Slovakia by Robert Muller
Pope Francis attends a meeting with members of the Roma Community at Lunik IX
district in Kosice, Slovakia, September 14, 2021. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa
    KOSICE, Slovakia (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Tuesday condemned prejudice and discrimination against Europe’s Roma people during a visit to one of the most impoverished communities in Slovakia, saying it was wrong to pigeonhole entire ethnic groups.
    Francis, 84, arrived at the bleak Lunik IX settlement on the outskirts of Slovakia’s second biggest city, Kosice, on his penultimate day in the country.
    “We cannot reduce the reality of others to fit our own pre-packaged ideas; people cannot be pigeonholed,” he said, overlooking the dilapidated concrete apartment blocs where about 4,300 people live next to the city garbage dump.     “All too often you have been the object of prejudice and harsh judgments, discriminatory stereotypes, defamatory words and gestures,” he said, after addresses from a Catholic priest who helps in the community and from several residents.
    “As a result, we are all poorer in humanity,” he said.
    There are around 440,000 Roma living in Slovakia, most of them in the eastern part of the country of 5.5 million.
    The Roma, who migrated to Europe from India in the 10th century, have long faced persecution around the world, living on the fringes of society and struggling for work.
    In Lunik’s squalid and dangerous living conditions, many residents burn whatever they can during the winter to stay warm because many buildings lack heating, making for poor air quality.
    “He is bringing some joy to this place,” a Roma woman told reporters through a translator.
    The jobless rate among Slovak Roma stands far above the national 7.7% level.
    In April, Slovakia adopted a strategy to improve the Roma situation by 2030 with a focus on employment, education, healthcare and housing.
    Addressing residents from an open stage covered by white cloth with flower designs painted by Roma children, the pope said that God saw people as equal. Some residents watched from balconies with peeling paint.
    “Judgment and prejudice only increase distances. Hostility and sharp words are not helpful. Marginalizing others accomplishes nothing.    Segregating ourselves and other people eventually leads to anger,” he said.
    Father Marian Deahos, who works with Roma people in a nearby town, said stereotypes made integration and communication difficult.
    “The biggest problem is that everybody thinks gypsies, Roma people, are inferior,” he told a reporter.
    “Everybody thinks that they steal, that they don’t want to work.    Everybody thinks they should stay in a ghetto like this and not be part of society among us,” he said.
    In his address, the pope asked the Roma to go forward “step by step, with honest work, in the dignity of earning your daily bread.”
    Earlier on Tuesday, the pope, presiding at a Byzantine religious, said the cross should not be used as a political symbol and warned against Christians trying to be triumphalist.
    His last event on Tuesday was a rally with the city’s young people at a football stadium.
(Reporting by Robert Muller; editing by Philip Pullella and Raissa Kasolowsky)

9/14/2021 Russia’s Vladimir Putin Self-Isolates After COVID-19 Infects Inner Circle by Andrew Osborn and Maxim Rodionov
FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin looks on during a meeting with athletes, participants of the
2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, in Moscow, Russia September 11, 2021. Sputnik/Evgeny Biyatov/Kremlin via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he was self-isolating after several members of his entourage fell ill with COVID-19, including someone he worked with in close proximity and had been in close contact with all of the previous day.
    Putin, who has had two shots of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, explained the situation to a government meeting by video conference after the Kremlin said he was “absolutely” healthy and did not have the disease himself.
    “It’s a natural experiment.    Let’s see how Sputnik V works in practice,” Putin said.    “I have quite high levels of antibodies.    Let’s see how that plays out in real life.    I hope everything will be as it should be.”
    Putin, 68, said the circumstances had forced him to cancel a planned trip to Tajikistan this week for regional security meetings expected to focus on Afghanistan, but that he would take part by video conference instead.
    The Kremlin said Putin took the decision to self-isolate after completing a busy round of meetings on Monday, which included face-to-face Kremlin talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
    Putin also met Russian Paralympians and travelled to western Russia on Monday to observe joint military drills with Belarus.
    He was quoted by the RIA news agency as telling the Paralympians on Monday that he was worried about the COVID-19 situation in the Kremlin.
    “Problems with this COVID are even surfacing in my entourage,” Putin was quoted as saying at the time.    “I think I’ll be forced to quarantine myself soon.    Many people around me are sick.”
    He said on Tuesday the colleague he worked with in close proximity – one of several entourage members who had fallen ill with COVID-19 – had been vaccinated but that his antibody count had later fallen and that the individual had fallen ill three days after being revaccinated.
    “Judging by everything, that was a little late (to get revaccinated),” Putin said.
    The Kremlin has had a rigorous regime in place designed to keep Putin, who turns 69 next month, healthy and away from anyone with COVID-19.
    Kremlin visitors have had to pass through special disinfection tunnels, journalists attending his events must undergo multiple PCR tests, and some people he meets are asked to quarantine beforehand and be tested.
    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin’s work rate would not be affected.
    “But it’s just that in-person meetings will not take place for a while.    But that does not affect their frequency and the president will continue his activity via video conferences.”
    Asked if Putin had tested negative for COVID-19, Peskov said: “Of course yes.    The president is absolutely healthy.”
    Alexander Gintsburg, director of the Gamaleya Institute which developed the Sputnik V vaccine, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that, in his view, Putin would need to self-isolate for one week.
    Gintsburg said any decision on the length of the isolation period was a matter for the Kremlin’s own medical specialists.
    Other world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have also been forced to self-isolate during the pandemic.
(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov, Andrew Osborn, Tom Balmforth, Darya Korsunskaya, Gleb Stolyarov and Vladimir Soldatkin Editing by Angus MacSwan)

9/15/2021 In Arctic Push, U.S. Extends New Economic Aid Package To Greenland by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
FILE PHOTO: A general view of Nuuk, Greenland, September 11, 2021. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke
    NUUK, Greenland (Reuters) – Greenland said on Wednesday it had agreed a new economic aid package with the United States which seeks to boost ties the world’s biggest island and strengthen U.S. military presence in the Arctic.
    Washington has a military base on Greenland but paid little attention to the Arctic for two decades until 2019, when it began turning to the island to try to counter a Russian and Chinese commercial and military buildup in the region.
    The aid package from USAid worth $10 million announced on Wednesday is primarily aimed at development of Greenland’s mining sector, tourism and education.
    “This is not a big amount, but symbolically it’s very important,” the country’s minister for industry and foreign affairs, Pele Broberg, told Reuters in an interview in the capital Nuuk.
    The package comes on top of a $12.1 million package announced by Washington last year, which drew some criticism from Copenhagen for creating division between Greenland and Denmark.
    Greenland, home to only 57,000 people but rich in natural resources, is a former colony and now an autonomous Danish territory.
    It gained international attention in 2019 when former President Donald Trump tried to buy the island.    Last year, the United States opened a consulate in Greenland, where it for decades has had a military base that is vital to its ballistic missile early warning system.
    Greenland elected a new government in April that has pledged to halt a large Chinese-backed rare earth mining project because it contains radioactive uranium.    The project was seen as a potential game-changer for the country’s tiny economy.
    “It has some ripple effects to say no to uranium mining, but we think there are other areas that can be developed, and that is what we will look into with the Americans,” said Broberg of a small pro-independence party.
    With an economy heavily dependant on fishing, the island relies on annual grants of around $600 million from Denmark.    However, some see the relationship with Denmark as an obstacle to economic development.
    “We don’t get the support from Denmark we need to be able to thrive.    So now we try to go our own ways, without Denmark, and we’re starting small,” Broberg
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

9/16/2021 Putin To Remain In COVID-19 Isolation For Days As Dozens In Entourage Ill
FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin looks on during a meeting with athletes, participants of the
2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, in Moscow, Russia September 11, 2021. Sputnik/Evgeny Biyatov/Kremlin via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he would have to spend “a few days” in self-isolation after dozens of people in his entourage fell ill with COVID-19, the TASS news agency reported.
    Putin was speaking through a video link at a summit of a Russia-led security bloc which was held in Tajikistan.    He had planned to attend in person before the news of the virus outbreak in his inner circle this week.
    It was previously unclear how big the outbreak was and how long Putin would remain isolated.
    “This is not just one person or two people, there are dozens of people,” he said.
    “And now I have to remain in self-isolation for a few days.”
    Putin, 68, who has had two shots of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, said this week he was now personally testing its efficiency while the Kremlin said the president himself was healthy.
    The Kremlin has had a rigorous regime in place designed to keep Putin away from anyone with COVID-19.
    Kremlin visitors have had to pass through special disinfection tunnels, journalists attending his events must undergo multiple PCR tests, and some people he meets are asked to quarantine beforehand and be tested.
(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Toby Chopra and Raissa Kasolowsky)

9/16/2021 Bulgaria Reappoints Caretaker PM Ahead Of Third Election Of 2021
FILE PHOTO: Bulgaria's President Rumen Radev arrives for the NATO summit at the Alliance's
headquarters, in Brussels, Belgium, June 14, 2021. Kenzo Tribouillard/Pool via REUTERS
    SOFIA (Reuters) -Bulgarian President Rumen Radev reappointed caretaker premier Stefan Yanev on Thursday to lead an interim government until the country holds its third set of parliamentary elections this year on Nov. 14, following inconclusive votes in April and July.
    The new interim government is expected to submit a national plan to Brussels to tap hefty EU coronavirus recovery funds and help the country cope with an upsurge in new infections as well as the possible arrival of migrants from Afghanistan.
    The European Union’s poorest member state has been struggling to form a regular government after voting out former centre-right prime minister Boyko Borissov following almost a decade of political dominance.
    Public anger over widespread corruption brought down Borissov, but wrangling and rivalry have prevented his political opponents from forging a government with a majority in parliament.
    Radev, who is running for re-election as president in a vote to be held the same day in November, re-appointed Yanev and all but three of the interim ministers who took office in May after the April vote.
    “You have already proven that you have the stamina to face a difficult legacy and work for the future of Bulgaria,” Radev, a harsh critic of Borissov, said at an inauguration ceremony for Yanev.
    Yanev’s first interim Cabinet has been popular with some for revealing that Borissov’s government spent billions of taxpayer money on infrastructure projects without proper procurement, among other shortcomings.
    It has also pushed through a revision of the state budget to provide support for businesses and pensioners amid a fourth wave of the pandemic.    But it has failed to significantly boost vaccinations against the virus, and the country has the lowest inoculation rate in the bloc.
    Two of its most popular members, Economy Minister Kiril Petkov and Finance Minister Assen Vassilev, will not be part of the new administration as the two will be launching their own political faction to drive change ahead of the November polls.
    Radev appointed Valery Beltchev, a Harvard University graduate with a long track record in banking and public finance, as interim finance minister.
(Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; editing by Christian Schmollinger, Robert Birsel and Hugh Lawson)

9/16/2021 Armenia Files Suit Against Azerbaijan At World Court
FILE PHOTO: Ethnic Armenian soldiers watch military vehicles of the Russian peacekeeping forces driving
along a road in Lachin in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, November 13, 2020. REUTERS/Stringer
    THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Armenia filed a case at the World Court asserting that Azerbaijan has violated an international treaty on racial discrimination, the court said on Thursday.
    A spokesperson for the Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Azerbaijan would defend itself “robustly” and planned to file a countersuit accusing Armenia of the same thing.
    In fighting last September to November, Azeri troops drove ethnic Armenian forces out of swathes of territory they had controlled since the 1990s in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh region, before Russia brokered a ceasefire.
    In the filing, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of subjecting Armenians to racial discrimination “for decades” in violation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which both states are signatories, the court said.
    Since the Nov. 10 ceasefire, Azerbaijan has “continued to engage in the murder, torture and other abuse of Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons,” the court cited the suit as saying.
    “Armenia therefore requests the Court to hold Azerbaijan responsible for its violations … to prevent future harm, and to redress the harm that has already been caused,” it said.
    The Azerbaijan spokesperson said the country has been compiling evidence of Armenian human rights abuses against Azerbaijanis and it would file its own suit at the court in “days.”
    The world court, formally known as the International Court of Justice, is the United Nations’ court for resolving disputes between countries.    The court has yet to determine whether it has jurisdiction in this case.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

9/16/2021 Stability Trumps Growth For Government As Russians Prepare To Vote - Economists by Alexander Marrow
FILE PHOTO: A truck drives past a campaign poster of the United Russia political party ahead of the Russian parliamentary
and regional election outside Ulan-Ude, Buryatia republic, Russia September 16, 2021. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Low wages and rising prices are crucial issues for Russians at parliamentary elections this week, but maintaining financial stability matters more to the Kremlin than driving growth, economists say, with inflation a lingering concern.
    The Sept. 17-19 election, the last major vote before a presidential poll in 2024, comes as Russia is recovering from its worst economic downturn in more than a decade, the result of the COVID-19 pandemic and low prices for oil, its major export.
    With vaccinations underway and commodity prices recovering this year, the economy is growing faster than previously expected, expanding 10.3% year-on-year in the second quarter.
    Inflation has remained stubbornly high despite five interest rate hikes this year, reaching an annual 6.84% in mid-September.
    The central bank’s most recent key rate increase, by 25 basis points to 6.75%, was last week.
    Higher prices are a major concern for voters: Oxford Economics research based on a recent WCIOM poll showed falling incomes and essential goods becoming unaffordable ranked among the population’s main worries.
    “That’s what the population is very concerned about,” said Tatiana Orlova, Oxford Economics’ lead emerging markets economist and author of the research note.
    “The economy is important in these elections because that is what’s on people’s minds.”
    Ahead of this week’s elections, President Vladimir Putin ordered one-off social payments and public sector salary increases worth at least 500 billion roubles ($7 billion) – something analysts said may further fuel inflation.
    “This might have some pro-inflationary impact going forward,” said Dmitry Polevoy, head of investment at Locko-Invest.    The central bank has said the fresh social payments – to pensioners and soldiers, among others – will not have an impact on its monetary policy.
    Kremlin critics say the measures are designed to boost support for the ruling United Russia party.    The Kremlin says the support measures have nothing to do with the election.
    With a budget surplus now close to 1 trillion roubles, the government could afford to spend even more, analysts say, but it prefers stable public finances to faster growth and improved living standards.
    “On the priority scale, both for the government and the Kremlin, maintaining fiscal and financial stability, having a high level of reserves and low level of debt, is by far a more significant objective than supporting growth and more stable, more speedy increases in real incomes,” said independent economist Vladimir Tikhomirov.
    Russia does plan to spend 1.6 trillion roubles from its sovereign wealth fund on infrastructure projects between 2021 and 2024, despite central bank warnings of inflationary risks if authorities spend too freely.
    The rainy-day fund, built up from oil revenues, stood at $190.5 billion at Sept. 1.
($1 = 72.4500 roubles)
(Editing by Katya Golubkova and Catherine Evans)

9/17/2021 Pro-Putin Ruling Party Seeks New Majority As Russia Votes by Tom Balmforth
Members of a local election commission check ballots at a polling station ahead of a
three-day parliamentary vote in Moscow, Russia September 16, 2021. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia goes to the polls on Friday to elect a new parliament in a three-day vote that the ruling United Russia party is expected to win despite a ratings slump after the biggest crackdown on the Kremlin’s critics in years.
    The vote is a test of President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power across 11 time zones from the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea as the Kremlin faces malaise at home over faltering living standards and dire ties with the West.
    At stake is United Russia’s super majority in the 450-seat State Duma, which last year helped Putin ease through constitutional reforms that allow him to run for office again and potentially stay in power until 2036.
    The vote runs until late Sunday and is seen as a dry-run for the presidential election in 2024, a highly sensitive moment for the Kremlin should it choose to embark on a political transition to a new figurehead.
    Putin, a former KGB officer who turns 69 next month, has not said if he will seek re-election when his current term ends in 2024.    He has served as president or prime minister since 1999.
    The Kremlin leader’s fiercest domestic critic, jailed anti-corruption firebrand Alexei Navalny, hopes a tactical voting campaign led by his team in exile can upstage United Russia and hurt its bid to secure a hefty new majority.
    The 45-year-old ex-lawyer whose movement was banned as extremist this summer was jailed in March in a case he called trumped up after recovering from a poisoning with a Soviet-style nerve agent.
    His allies, who accuse the Kremlin of a sweeping crackdown, have no chance of gaining even a toehold in real politics after they were barred from running for office because of their association with Navalny’s network.
    The Kremlin denies any politically-driven crackdown and says individuals are prosecuted for breaking the law.
UNDER PRESSURE
    The Communist party led by 77-year-old parliament veteran Gennady Zyuganov is seen as the ruling party’s strongest rival at the vote, followed by the LDPR party headed by 75-year-old nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
    Both those parties, like the Just Russia party, back Putin on many key policy matters.
    Navalny’s allies call the election a sham and have told supporters to vote for candidates they think have the best chance of defeating United Russia in their respective districts. Many of those politicians are communists.
    Both Putin and United Russia’s ratings have been under pressure due to years of falling or stagnant wages compounded by frustrations over the pandemic and rising inflation.
    In the run-up to the vote, Putin approved one-off payments or salary boosts to police officers, soldiers and pensioners, moves seen as aimed at shoring up United Russia’s base.
    State-run opinion polls show the Communist party’s popularity has risen in recent months, while United Russia’s rating slipped last month to its lowest since 2006, though it remained the most popular party.
    The vote is being held alongside elections for regional governors and local legislative assemblies.    It is stretched over three days as a COVID-19 precaution, a move critics say means that monitoring efforts to stop voter fraud are spread more thinly.
    The elections in Moscow and several regions will feature the widespread use of electronic voting for the first time, an innovation critics fear is non-transparent and open to abuse.
    The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe will not be sending vote observers for the first time in Russia since elections in 1993.
    Kremlin critics have accused the authorities of using dirty tricks to sabotage their campaigns.    Boris Vishnevsky, who is running in a local St Petersburg election, said two “spoiler” candidates with the same names as him and even the same facial hair in their official portraits were running against him.
    It is the first time United Russia has campaigned for votes in east Ukrainian territory held by Moscow-backed separatists where Russia has handed out 600,000 Russian passports, infuriating Ukraine.
(Reporting Tom Balmforth; editing by Andrew Heavens)
[NOW WE KNOW WHERE THE DEMOCRATS LEARNED HOW TO CHEAT IN ELECTIONS DURING THE SECOND OBAMA ADMINISTRATION AND AFTER ATTACKING THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FOR 4 YEARS AND THE CHEAT CONTINUED INTO THE BIDEN ONE.].

9/17/2021 Google, Apple Remove Navalny App From Stores As Russian Elections Begin
The Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny's Smart Voting app is seen
on a phone, in Moscow, Russia September 16, 2021. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Alphabet’s Google and Apple have removed jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s tactical voting app from their stores, his team said on Friday, after Russia accused the U.S. tech firms of meddling in its internal affairs.
    Russia goes to the polls on Friday to elect a new parliament in a three-day vote that the ruling United Russia party is expected to win despite a ratings slump after the biggest crackdown on the Kremlin’s critics in years.
    Allies of Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest domestic opponent, planned to use the mobile app to organise a tactical voting campaign to deal a blow to United Russia.
    Russia demanded this month that Apple and Google remove the app from their stores, saying a refusal to do so would be treated as meddling in its parliamentary election.
    Apple and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
    On Thursday, Russia said official approaches had been made to the two companies’ chief executives.
    Ivan Zhdanov, a Navalny ally based abroad, said on Friday the removal amounted to political censorship.
(Reporting by Anton Zverev and Alexander Marrow; Writing by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Robert Birsel)

9/17/2021 Ukraine, U.S. To Hold Joint Military Drills
FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian and U.S. state flags fly in central Kiev, Ukraine September 25, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
    KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine and the United State will start joint military exercises in western Ukraine next week, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Thursday, days after Belarus and Russian staged large-scale drills that have concerned neighbouring countries.
    The “Zapad-2021” war games ran on Russia and Belarus’ western flanks, including sites close to the European Union’s borders, and alarmed Ukraine and some NATO countries.     Ukraine said the “RAPID TRIDENT – 2021” exercises would involve 6,000 troops from 15 countries – Ukraine, the United States and other NATO members – and would last till Oct. 1.
    “The main goal is to prepare for joint actions as part of a multinational force during coalition operations,” it said in a statement.
    Ukraine views the military exercises with Western partners as an important step on the path to NATO, believing that membership in the alliance would strengthen the country’s resistance to Russian aggression.
    Kyiv’s relations with Moscow deteriorated in 2014 after Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine and backed pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s Donbass region.    The seven-year war with separatists killed more than 13,000 people.
    Ukraine’s relations with Belarus also have worsened since Kyiv called the 2020 presidential election in Belarus neither free nor fair and condemned violence against protesters.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Editing by Dan Grebler)

9/17/2021 Putin Says Russia Needs To Work With The Taliban
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit via a video link
at his residence outside Moscow, Russia, September 17, 2021. Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia needs to work with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday at a meeting of a China-and Russia-led security bloc, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Speaking via video link at the conference held in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, Putin said Russia supported a United Nations conference on Afghanistan and that world powers should consider unfreezing Afghanistan’s assets.
(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov and Maria Kiselyova; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

9/17/2021 Pope Inspired Me Over Family Values, Says Hungary’s Orban by Gergely Szakacs
FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis shakes hands with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at Romanesque Hall
in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, Hungary, September 12, 2021. Vatican Media/ Handout
via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY./File Photo
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday that his recent meeting with Pope Francis encouraged him to keep defending the traditional family though the pair avoided airing their differences over immigration.
    In power since 2010, Orban has cast himself as a saviour of Hungary’s culture against Muslim migration into Europe and a protector of Christian values against Western liberalism.
    That has won him domestic popularity – though he faces a potentially tough election next year – but brought criticism from rights groups and LGBT campaigners.
    “The meeting gave me very strong encouragement,” Orban said of his encounter with Francis https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hungary-pope-says-anti-semitism-fuse-must-not-be-allowed-burn-2021-09-12 during an unusually short seven-hour stay https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hungary-pope-meets-pm-orban-his-political-opposite-2021-09-12 in Hungary.
    “The Holy Father made it clear that the fight we are waging to protect families is the most important struggle with regard to the future of Europe,” he added on public radio.
    Last year, Hungary amended its constitutional definition of family to effectively ban adoption by same-sex couples: another win for conservatives but decried by rights groups.
    Orban cited the pope as telling him during their 40-minute meeting that there should be no debate or argument over the traditional family unit.
‘GO FOR IT’
    “He expressed himself more strongly than I have ever managed to … (He said) the family consists of a father, a mother and children, full stop,” Orban said.
    “Moreover, he said: go ahead, go for it.    And go for it we will.”
    Both Orban and the pope, in a readout on his plane on Thursday, said immigration was not discussed.
    Francis has often denounced what he sees as a resurgence of nationalist and populist movements, and criticised countries trying to solve the migration crisis with unilateral or isolationist actions.
    The Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni called the meeting cordial, and Francis told reporters that the birth rate, laws to incentivise having babies, and the environment were discussed.
    “I tip my hat,” the pope said of Hungary’s efforts to clean rivers and defend the environment, adding that he intended a full visit in 2022 or 2023.
    The pope said on the plane that the Church could not sanction homosexual marriage but governments should give gay couples legal rights in areas such as healthcare, pensions and inheritance.
    In June, Hungary adopted a law banning the “display and promotion of homosexuality” among under-18s despite criticism from rights groups and the European Union that it is discriminatory.    Orban says the law protects children.
(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Philip Pullella and Andrew Cawthorne)

9/17/2021 Ukraine To Sanction Participants In Russian Vote In Separatist - Held Area
FILE PHOTO: Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, speaksbr> during an interview with Reuters in Kyiv, Ukraine April 7, 2021. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
    KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine will impose sanctions against dozens of organisers and participants in Russian parliamentary elections taking place in occupied territories in eastern Ukraine and Crimea, a top Ukrainian security official said on Friday.
    Russia is holding the elections on Sept. 17-19 and for the first time, United Russia, the ruling party that supports President Vladimir Putin, is campaigning in eastern Ukraine on territory controlled by Moscow-backed separatists.
    “We are confident that the Russian Federation has no right to hold elections in these territories,” Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s security and defence council, told a televised briefing.
    “All participants in this process… members of election commissions, agitators, candidates, all observers who are officials in these elections will be under the sanctions of our country,” he said.
    Danilov did not specify what kind of sanctions would be applied and did not give names.
    Up for grabs in the elections are the votes of more than 600,000 people who were given Russian passports after a Kremlin policy change in 2019 that Ukraine decried as a step towards annexation.
    More than 14,000 people have died in fighting between separatists and Ukrainian forces, with deadly clashes continuing regularly despite a ceasefire that ended large scale combat in 2015.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by William Maclean)

9/18/2021 Poland’s Kaczynski Says Primacy Of EU Law Undermines Sovereignty
FILE PHOTO: Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, attends a vote during parliamentary
elections at a polling station in Warsaw, Poland, October 13, 2019. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
    WARSAW (Reuters) – The European Union’s insistence on the primacy of EU law over national legislation undermines Poland’s sovereignty, ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said in a letter quoted by state news agency PAP.
    The European Commission, the guardian of EU treaties, asked Warsaw in June to withdraw a motion filed with Poland’s constitutional court seeking a ruling on whether the country’s constitution or EU treaties were more important.
    “This is an unbelievable demand that undermines the foundations of our sovereignty, our constitutional order, the right of the Republic of Poland to success,” Kaczynski said in a letter read out at a conference for readers of the right-wing newspaper Gazeta Polska, PAP reported.
    Kaczynski, the leader of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party and a deputy prime minister, said the Commission’s request was part of the “opposition’s fight to overthrow the democratically elected government” and a “tool to impose a new, revolutionary order in Europe”
    The primacy of EU laws over national ones is a key tenet of European integration.
    Opposition politicians say Poland’s challenge to the primacy of EU law not only jeopardises the country’s future in the EU, but the stability of the bloc itself.
    Poland’s constitutional court proceedings on the matter, originally set for July, were adjourned until September 22.
    EU Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said earlier in September that Poland’s legal challenge was the reason 57 billion euros in EU recovery funds to Warsaw had been held up.
    Most of the bloc’s 27 countries have already won European Commission approval for their national spending plans, unlocking access to tens of billions of euros from the bloc in COVID-19 recovery funds.
(Reporting by Alicja Ptak; Editing by Christina Fincher)
[POLAND KEEP FIGHTING FOR YOUR RIGHTS TO MAKE DECISIONS FOR WHAT IS RELEVEANT OF YOUR SOVEREIGNTY EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF THE EU LIKE BRITAIN DID AND I AM ALSO BEING ATTACKED FOR THIS WEBSITE AND WISH THAT THE AMERICANS IN MY COUNTRY WOULD WAKE UP AND DO THE SAME BEFORE THIS GLOBALIST SOCIALIST ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT ENVELOPS THE KING OF THE WEST DUE TO THE OBAMA-BIDEN ADMINISTRTION AND THE KING OF THE NORTH MAY ALSO IN TIME.].

9/19/2021 Pro-Putin Party Heads For Russian Election Win After Navalny Clampdown by Tom Balmforth and Maria Tsvetkova
Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin visits the Moscow Public Election Monitoring Center on the second day of a
three-day long vote in parliamentary elections in Moscow, Russia September 18, 2021. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russians vote on Sunday in the final stretch of a three-day parliamentary election that the ruling party is expected to win after a sweeping crackdown that crushed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s movement and barred opponents from the ballot.
    The expected win by the ruling United Russia party will be used by the Kremlin as proof of support for President Vladimir Putin despite malaise over years of faltering living standards.
    The party that backs Russia’s 68-year-old leader faces a ratings slump, state pollsters say, but remains more popular than its closest rivals on the ballot, the Communist Party and nationalist LDPR party, which often back the Kremlin.
    United Russia holds nearly three quarters of the State Duma’s 450 seats.    That dominance last year helped the Kremlin pass constitutional reforms that allow Putin to run for two more terms as president after 2024, potentially staying in power until 2036.
    “If United Russia manages (to win), our country can expect another five years of poverty, five years of repressions, five lost years,” ran a message to supporters on Navalny’s blog this week.
    Navalny’s allies were barred from running after his movement was banned in June as extremist.    Other opposition figures allege they were targeted with dirty tricks campaigns or not allowed to compete.
    A Communist strawberry tycoon says he was unfairly barred, while a liberal opposition politician in St Petersburg says two identically-named “spoiler” candidates are running against him to confuse his voters.
TACTICAL VOTING
    The Kremlin denies a politically-driven crackdown and says individuals are prosecuted for breaking the law.    Both it and United Russia deny any role in the registration process for candidates.
    Navalny’s camp is promoting a tactical voting ploy against United Russia that authorities want blocked online.    Since voting began on Friday, Google, Apple and Telegram messenger have limited some access to the campaign on their platforms. Activists accuse them of caving to pressure.
    The election runs until 1800 GMT on Sunday when polling stations close in the European exclave of Kaliningrad.    It is the last national vote before the 2024 presidential election. Putin, who turns 69 next month, has not said if he will run.
    In Moscow, Navalny’s tactical voting campaign has recommended their supporters vote for politicians like the Communist Party’s Mikhail Lobanov.    He said he welcomed the Navalny campaign and criticised United Russia.
    “People see the glaring inequalities, they feel the effects of economic policy and the swell of repression and respond with dissatisfaction accordingly,” Lobanov said.
    At a polling station in Lobanov’s district, three people told Reuters they had voted for United Russia and three said they had voted Communist, two of them at the behest of Navalny’s team.
    One Moscow pensioner who gave his name only as Anatoly said he voted United Russia because he was proud of Russia’s muscular foreign policy and Putin’s efforts to restore what he sees as Russia’s rightful great power status.
    “Countries like the United States and Britain more or less respect us now like they respected the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 70s…    The Anglo-Saxons only understand the language of force,” he said.
    Other voters voiced anger at United Russia at a polling station in the capital of more than 12.5 million where United Russia has fared worse in recent years than in some regions.
    “I’m always against United Russia.    They haven’t done anything good,” said Roman Malakhov who voted Communist.
    The vote is being held alongside elections for regional governors and local legislative assemblies.    It is stretched over three days as a COVID-19 precaution.
(Additional reporting by Polina Nikolskaya; Editing by Gareth Jones)

9/19/2021 Navalny Allies Accuse YouTube, Telegram Of Censorship In Russian Election by Tom Balmforth
Russian servicemen vote at a polling station, which is placed in a sport hall, during a three-day parliamentary
election in the village of Ryabinovka in Kaliningrad region, Russia September 18, 2021. REUTERS/Vitaly Nevar
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s allies accused YouTube and Telegram of censorship on Saturday after the video platform and messaging app restricted access to their anti-government voting recommendations for Russia’s parliamentary election.
    Navalny’s allies already accused Alphabet’s Google and Apple of buckling under Kremlin pressure on Friday after the companies removed an app from their stores that the activists had hoped to use against the ruling party at the election.
    Voting began on Friday and runs until late on Sunday.
    The app gives detailed recommendations on who to vote for in an effort to challenge the party that backs President Vladimir Putin.    It is one of the few levers Navalny’s allies have left after a sweeping crackdown this year.
    Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov, who has carved out a libertarian image and resisted past censorship, said the platform would block election campaign services, including one used by Navalny’s allies to give voter recommendations.
    He said the decision had been taken because of a Russian ban on campaigning once polls are open, which he considered legitimate and is similar to bans in many other countries.
    Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh condemned the move.
    “It’s a real disgrace when the censorship is imposed by private companies that allegedly defend the ideas of freedom,” she wrote on Twitter.
    Ivan Zhdanov, a political ally of Navalny, said he did not believe Telegram’s justification and that the move looked to have been agreed somehow with Russia’s authorities.
    Late on Saturday, Navalny’s camp said YouTube had also taken down one of their videos that contained the names of 225 candidates they had endorsed.
    “The video presentation of the smart voting recommendations for the constituencies with the nastiest (United Russia candidates) has also been removed,” they wrote.
    Navalny’s camp said it was not a knockout blow as their voting recommendations were available elsewhere on social media.
    But it is seen as a possible milestone in Russia’s crackdown on the internet and its standoff with U.S. tech firms.
    Russia has for years sought sovereignty over its part of the internet, where anti-Kremlin politicians have followings and media critical of Putin operate.
    Navalny’s team uses Google’s YouTube widely to air anti-corruption videos and to stream coverage and commentary of anti-Kremlin protests they have staged.
‘DANGEROUS PRECEDENT’
    The ruling United Russia Party is widely expected to win the election despite a ratings slump.    The voting, which opened on Friday and runs through Sunday, follows the biggest crackdown on the Kremlin’s domestic opponents in years.
    The Navalny team’s Telegram feed continued to function normally on Saturday, and included links to voter recommendations available in Russia via Google Docs.
    On a separate Telegram feed also used by the team, activists said Russia had told Google to remove the recommendations in Google Docs and that the U.S. company had in turn asked Navalny’s team to take them down.
    Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
    In his statement, Durov said Google and Apple’s restrictions of the Navalny app had set a dangerous precedent and meant Telegram, which is widely used in Russia, was more vulnerable to government pressure.
    He said Telegram depends on Apple and Google to operate because of their dominant position in the mobile operating system market and his platform would not have been able to resist a Russian ban from 2018 to 2020 without them.
    Russia tried to block Telegram in April 2018 but lifted the ban more than two years later after ostensibly failing to block it.
    “The app block by Apple and Google creates a dangerous precedent that will affect freedom of expression in Russia and the whole world,” Durov said in a post on Telegram.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth; Additional reporting by Anton Zverev and Alexander Marrow; Editing by David Clarke)

9/19/2021 Thousands March For LGBTQ+ Rights In Ukraine Despite Some Opposition
Participants take part in the Equality March, organized by the LGBT+ community in Kyiv, Ukraine September 19, 2021. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
    KYIV (Reuters) – Thousands of people including soldiers and diplomats marched peacefully through the Ukrainian capital on Sunday in an annual gay pride parade despite some opposition to an event called off last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
    Organisers said about 7,000 attended the Equality March this year, compared to 8,000 in 2019, which saw the biggest turnout since the event was initiated a decade ago despite opposition from religious and nationalist groups.
    Homophobia is widespread in Ukraine, according to a survey by the sociological group “Rating” published in August, which said 47% of respondents had a negative view of the LGBTQ+ community.
    The marchers were flanked by police as a few hundred anti-gay rights protesters gathered nearby, but there was no violence.
    “So fantastic to be out on the streets alongside my cool @UKinUkraine colleagues and friends supporting LGBTQ groups in Ukraine,” British Ambassador Melinda Simmons wrote on Twitter.
    She posted a picture of herself surrounded by dozens of young smiling people with rainbow flags, some wearing rainbow masks.
    “We want to protect the rights of LGBT people, because they first of all are humans,” student Olexandra told Reuters.
    Dressed in military uniform, Anastasia, a veteran of the war with Russian-backed separatists, said the army had issues with equal rights.
    “The service regulations do not allow you to reveal your (true) face,” she said.    “This is the second time we have come to the pride (march) to openly say that in the army and other organisations not usually associated with the LGBT movement, there also are LGBT people.”
    The government has increased support for LGBTQ+ rights since Western-backed leaders came to power in 2014.    Parliament passed legislation in 2015 to ban discrimination in the workplace, but it does not allow for same-sex marriage or adoption of children.
    “This is already the 10th pride, it was successful, it went calmly,” Leni Emson, director of the KyivPride non-government organization, told journalists.
    Ukraine ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova wrote on Facebook on Sunday that the constitution recognises all people “equal in their rights from birth, regardless of any characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity”
    “I urge citizens to be tolerant to one another and refrain from manifestations of discrimination,” she said.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets and Sergiy Karazy; Editing by Nick Macfie)

9/19/2021 Russia’s Ruling Pro-Putin Party Wins Parliamentary Vote – Early Results/Exit Poll
FILE PHOTO: Members of a local election commission count ballots at a polling station inside Kazansky railway terminal after
polls closed during a three-day long parliamentary election in Moscow, Russia September 19, 2021. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – The ruling United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin, is on course to win a three-day parliamentary election, initial results and an exit poll showed on Sunday.
    With just 9% of ballots counted nationwide, the Central Election Commission said United Russia had won 38.57% of the vote.
    Separately, an exit poll conducted by INSOMAR and published by Russia’s RIA news agency predicted United Russia would win just over 45% of the vote.
    The party won just over 54% of the vote in 2016, the last time a parliamentary election was held.    It has since faced a slump in its popularity due to malaise over years of faltering living standards.
    Initial results showed the Communist Party finishing in second place with 25.17% of the vote, followed by the nationalist LDPR party with 9.6%.
    Allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny had urged Russians to follow his tactical voting strategy, which amounts to supporting the candidate most likely to defeat United Russia in a given electoral district.
(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Writing by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

9/20/2021 Russia’s Ruling Pro-Putin Party Wins Majority After Crackdown But Loses Some Ground by Andrew Osborn and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber
Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin visits the Moscow Public Election Monitoring Center on the second day of a three-day
long vote in parliamentary elections in Moscow, Russia September 18, 2021. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
    MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia’s ruling United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin, retained its parliamentary majority after an election and a sweeping crackdown on its critics, despite losing over a tenth of its support, partial results on Monday showed.
    With nearly 74% of ballots counted, the Central Election Commission said United Russia had won nearly 49% of the vote, with its nearest rival, the Communist Party, at about 20%.
    Although that amounts to an emphatic win, it looks like a somewhat weaker performance for United Russia than the last time a parliamentary election was held in 2016, when the party won just over 54% of the vote.
    A malaise over years of faltering living standards and allegations of corruption from jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny have drained some support, compounded by a tactical voting campaign organised by Navalny’s allies.
    Kremlin critics, who alleged large-scale vote rigging, said the election was in any case a sham.
    United Russia would have fared worse in a fair contest, given a pre-election crackdown that outlawed Navalny’s movement, barred his allies from running and targeted critical media and non-governmental organisations, they said.
    Electoral authorities said they had voided any results at voting stations where there had been obvious irregularities and that the overall contest had been fair.
    The outcome looks unlikely to change the political landscape, with Putin, who has been in power as president or prime minister since 1999, still dominating ahead of the next presidential election in 2024.    Putin has yet to say whether he will run. He was due to speak on Monday.
    The 68-year-old leader remains a popular figure with many Russians who credit him with standing up to the West and restoring national pride.
    The partial results showed the Communist Party finishing in second, followed by the nationalist LDPR party with about 8% and the Fair Russia party with about 7%. All three parties usually back the Kremlin on most key issues.
    A new party called “New People”, appeared to have squeezed into parliament with just over 5%.
    At a celebratory rally at United Russia’s headquarters broadcast on state television, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, a close ally of the Russian leader, shouted: “Putin! Putin! Putin!” to a flag-waving crowd that echoed his chant.
    Allies of Navalny, who is serving a jail sentence for parole violations he denies, had encouraged tactical voting against United Russia, a scheme that amounted to supporting the candidate most likely to defeat it in a given electoral district.
    In many cases, they had advised people to hold their noses and vote Communist. Authorities had tried to block the initiative online.
    The Central Election Commission was slow to release data from online voting in Moscow, where United Russia traditionally does not fare as well as in other regions amid signs it may have lost some seats in the capital.
    Golos, an election watchdog accused of being a foreign agent by authorities, recorded thousands of violations, including threats against observers and ballot stuffing, blatant examples of which circulated on social media, with some individuals caught on camera depositing bundles of votes in urns.
    The Central Election Commission said it had recorded 12 cases of ballot stuffing in eight regions and that the results from those polling stations would be voided.
DOMINANCE
    United Russia held nearly three quarters of the outgoing State Duma’s 450 seats.    That dominance helped the Kremlin pass constitutional changes last year that allow Putin to run for two more terms as president after 2024, potentially staying in power until 2036.
    Navalny’s allies were barred from running in the election after his movement was banned in June as extremist.    Other opposition figures allege they were targeted with dirty tricks campaigns.
    The Kremlin denies a politically driven crackdown and says individuals are prosecuted for breaking the law.    Both it and United Russia denied any role in the registration process for candidates.
    “One day we will live in a Russia where it will be possible to vote for good candidates with different political platforms,” Navalny ally Leonid Volkov wrote on Telegram messenger before polls closed on Sunday.
    One Moscow pensioner who gave his name only as Anatoly said he voted United Russia because he was proud of Putin’s efforts to restore what he sees as Russia’s rightful great-power status.
    “Countries like the United States and Britain more or less respect us now like they respected the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 70s. … The Anglo-Saxons only understand the language of force,” he said.
    There were signs of widespread apathy.
    “I don’t see the point in voting,” said one Moscow hairdresser who gave her name as Irina.    “It’s all been decided for us anyway.”
(Reporting by Andrew Osborn and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Additional reporting by Maria Tsvetkova, Polina Nikolskaya and Tom Balmforth; Writing by Andrew Osborn and Tom Balmforth; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky, Gareth Jones, Peter Cooney and Gerry Doyle)

9/20/2021 At Least 8 Students Killed In Shooting At University In Russia by OAN Newsroom
Students react as they gather outside the Perm State University in Perm, about 1,100 kilometers (700 miles) east of
Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 20, 2021. A gunman opened fire in a university in the Russian city of Perm on Monday morning,
leaving at least eight people dead and others wounded, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee. (AP Photo)
    A shooting at a college in Russia has left at least eight people dead and more than a dozen others wounded.    Russia’s Investigative Committee reported a student opened fire at Perm State University on Monday.
    There are conflicting reports as to whether the suspect was killed or detained at the scene.    Earlier footage shows the gunman, later identified as an 18-year-old-student, approaching campus in black tactical gear and carrying a rifle.
    Social media videos show students jumping from windows to escape, in turn, landing heavily on the ground and running to safety.    Students unable to flee the scene built barricades to stop the shooter from entering their classroom.
    Reports say the suspect posted a photo of himself on social media posing with a rifle and helmet prior to the shooting. He wrote he had thought about this for years.    The suspect indicated his actions had nothing to do with politics or religion, but were motivated by hatred.
    Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, made a statement noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin “conveys his deep condolences to those who lost their relatives and friends as a result of this tragedy.”

9/20/2021 Six Killed In Russian University Shooting, Gunman In Hospital
A car of Russia's National Guard is seen at the scene after a gunman opened fire
at the Perm State University in Perm, Russia September 20, 2021. REUTERS/Anna Vikhareva
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -A student armed with a hunting rifle opened fire at a university in the Russian city of Perm on Monday, killing at least six people and wounding many others, investigators said.
    Video shown on news websites showed panicked students leaping from first-floor windows to escape Perm State University, around 1,300 km (800 miles) east of Moscow, landing heavily on the ground before running to safety.
    “There were about 60 people in our classroom.    We closed the door and barricaded it with chairs,” student Semyon Karyakin told Reuters.
    The gunman was wounded after resisting arrest, and was being treated in hospital, the Investigative Committee law enforcement agency said in a statement.
    University spokesperson Natalia Pechishcheva earlier said the shooter had been “liquidated” but later said he was in police custody.    Footage from the scene showed his body lying on the ground outside the university building.
    The Investigative Committee had initially said eight people had been killed.
    The gunman was identified as a student at the university who had obtained the hunting rifle in May, it said.
    Local media identified the gunman as an 18-year-old student who had earlier posted a photo of himself on social media, posing with a rifle, helmet and ammunition. That photo could not be independently verified.
    “I’ve thought about this for a long time, it’s been years, and I realised the time had come to do what I dreamt of,” said a posting on a social media account attributed to him that was later taken down.
    It indicated that his actions had nothing to do with politics or religion but were motivated by hatred.
    Russia has strict restrictions on civilian firearm ownership, but some categories of guns are available for purchase for hunting, self-defence or sport to those who meet specific requirements.
    In May, a lone teenage gunman opened fire at a school in the city of Kazan, killing nine people and wounding many more.
    That was Russia’s deadliest school shooting since 2018, when a student at a college in Russian-annexed Crimea killed 20 people before turning his gun on himself.
    Russia raised the minimum age for buying firearms from 18 to 21 after the Kazan shooting, but the new law has yet to come into force.
(Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy, Anton Zverev; Writing by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber/Tom Balmforth; Editing by Nick Macfie and Kevin Liffey)

9/20/2021 Poland Refuses To Halt Disputed Coal Mine Despite EU Court Penalty by Foo Yun Chee and Anna Koper
The Turow open-pit coal mine operated by the company PGE is seen in Bogatynia, Poland,
June 15, 2021. Picture taken June 15, 2021. REUTERS/David W Cerny
    BRUSSELS/WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland vowed to keep its disputed Turow coal mine running on Monday despite being hit with a order to pay a 500,000 euro ($585,550) daily penalty to the European Commission for defying an earlier court ruling to halt operations.
    Europe’s top court, the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), ordered the penalty on Monday.
    It followed a request from the Czech Republic, which is locked in a dragging dispute with Poland over the Turow open-pit mine that sits next to their shared border.    The Czech government says the mine is damaging its communities.
    The mine, which produces lignite, or brown coal, has been operating for more than a century, but has recently expanded further towards the Czech border.
    The penalty order could pressure Warsaw to seek a resolution with Prague after bilateral talks started in June over technical upgrades and measures to limit damage to water levels and noise and air conditions.    A deal should end any legal disputes.
    The Polish government said the EU court’s penalty on Monday undermined those talks, and said Turow, a major source of jobs and electricity in its region, would continue operations.
    “The fine mentioned by the Court of Justice of the European Union is disproportionate to the situation and is not justified by facts,” Poland’s government said in a statement.
    “It undermines the ongoing process of reaching an amicable settlement.”
    The court’s order comes amid other disputes Warsaw faces with the European Union, largely over the rule of law.
    The Czech Republic has taken its grievance over Turow to the Commission, which last year started legal proceedings, saying Warsaw had breached EU law when extending the mine’s life.
    The country also took its case to the CJEU, and won judges’ backing for a temporary order to stop Turow’s operations until a final judgment.
“JUDICIAL ROBBERY”
    When Warsaw rejected a halt, Prague asked for a daily penalty payment of 5 million euros to be levied.
    The court on Monday agreed but set the fine much lower.
    “Such a measure appears necessary in order to strengthen the effectiveness of the interim measures decided upon in the order of 21 May 2021 and to deter that member state from delaying bringing its conduct into line with that order,” judges said.
    Prague welcomed the penalty but said it still wanted to reach an agreement in an amicable way.
    Some Polish officials strongly rejected the order.
    “The CJEU demands half a million daily fines from Poland for the fact that Poland did not leave its citizens without energy and did not close the mines overnight,” deputy justice minister Marcin Romanowski said on Twitter.
    “It is judicial robbery and theft in broad daylight.    You won’t get a cent.”
($1 = 0.8539 euros)
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Brussels and Anna Koper in Warsaw; additional reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in Warsaw and Jason Hovet in Prague; Writing by Jason Hovet; Editing by Mark Porter and Jan Harvey)

9/20/2021 Hungary PM Launches Election Campaign With $2 Billion Tax Refund For Families
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attends the opening session of parliament
in Budapest, Hungary, September 20, 2021. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary’s government will refund $2 billion of income tax to families in early 2022 and also plans a big hike in the minimum wage, right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban told the opening session of parliament on Monday, setting the stage for next year’s election.
    Orban, who faces a parliamentary election that is shaping up as a competitive race for the first time in a decade, said the economy’s sharp rebound from the coronavirus pandemic provided room in the budget for the measures.
    Hungary raised about 4.4 billion euros on international markets last week in a surprise bond issuance to help cover rising spending and a likely delay in the arrival of European Union COVID-19 recovery fund money due to a row between Brussels and Budapest over gay rights and media freedoms.
    Orban has already showered the electorate with handouts, including generous home-renovation grants, and last week extended a moratorium on loan repayments for vulnerable groups until mid-2022.
    He said the economy was set to grow more than 5.5% this year, and that there was already a shortage of labour.
    The government will issue the tax refunds to all families next February.    The payments will be capped at the level of income tax paid by someone earning the average wage.
    “In total, the tax authority will refund 600 billion forints ($2 billion) to 1.9 million parents,” Orban told parliament, importing an electoral recipe from his Polish allies, the populist and nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party.
    Poland’s ruling party had introduced a scheme giving families 500 zlotys per month for each child and also exempted most people aged under 26 from the obligation to pay income tax.
    Orban reiterated that an exemption from personal income tax for those under 25 will come into force next year.
    Pensioners will also get an extra payment due to rising inflation, he said.
    He flagged a hike in the minimum wage to 200,000 forints from 167,400 forints currently, saying that talks with employers were under way and that there was a “good chance” of an agreement.
    Opposition parties said the wage hike had been long overdue, and sharply criticised the government for what they said was rampant corruption, surging prices and a widening wealth gap.
    “Three things have grown in Hungary….your luxury, the size of yachts and poverty,” said Peter Jakab, leader of the opposition Jobbik party.    “Prices are sky high.”
    According to four opinion polls conducted in August, Orban’s Fidesz and the broad alliance of opposition parties are running neck-and-neck.    The election is expected to be held by next spring, although no date has been set yet.
    Orban, who has grown increasingly radical on social policy to protect what he says are traditional Christian values from Western liberalism, reaffirmed his support for a law that EU leaders say discriminates against gay and transgender people and goes against EU values.
    The law, passed in June, bans the “display and promotion of homosexuality” among under-18s.
    “We do not allow room for any kind of sexual propaganda targeted at children,” Orban said.
($1 = 301.8200 forints)
(Reporting by Krisztina Than and Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Hugh Lawson)
[GOOD JOB ORBAN I AM ALL BEHIND WITH YOU AS SOMEONE NEEDS TO PROTECT US FROM THE ANTI-CHRISTIAN FORCES AND MAY GOD BE WITH YOU AND PROTECT YOU FROM THEM AND IF THEY DO NOT STOP YOU NEED TO REMOVE YOUR COUNTRY FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION AND JOIN BRITAIN AND CREATE A NEW ANTI-EU BLOC AND I WOULD BET THEIR WOULD BE SEVERAL COUNTRIES WHO MIGHT JOIN YOU EXCEPT THAT CORRUPT ITALY AND ROME WHO IS IN PROPHECY OF THE BIBLE.].

9/20/2021 Serbs Block Roads In Kosovo In Protest Over Licence Plate Restrictions
A Kosovo Serb is pictured waving a Serbian flag as people protest against a government ban on entry of
vehicles with Serbian registration plates in Jarinje, Kosovo, September 20, 2021. REUTERS/Laura Hasani
    PRISTINA (Reuters) – Serbs in the north of Kosovo blocked roads on Monday near border crossings with Serbia after authorities barred cars with Serbian licence plates from coming into Kosovo.
    Kosovo police are forcing all drivers from Serbia to remove or hide their car plates and use temporary printed registration details that are valid for 60 days and cost 5 euros.
    Serbia, which lost control of Kosovo in 1999 after NATO bombing, does not recognise Kosovo and has not been allowing cars with Kosovo licence plates to enter the country.
    Around 50,000 Serbs who live in the north of Kosovo, which borders Serbia, refuse to recognise Pristina’s authorities and as the restrictions came in on Monday, dozens of cars and trucks blocked the roads in protest.
    Kosovo police deployed in riot gear as the blockades built up.
    Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti said the move was not taken to harm drivers but was a reciprocal measure against Belgrade.
    “Today there is nothing illegal or discriminatory,” Kurti said in parliament.    “Just as yesterday, today and tomorrow, Serb citizens will move freely and safely.”
    Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the situation is very “serious and difficult.”
    “When you are dealing with people who are not responsible … it is difficult to find solution,” Vucic told journalists.
    Serbia and Kosovo, a country of 1.8 million people with an Albanian majority, began EU-mediated talks in 2013 to resolve outstanding issues, but little progress has been made.
    Kosovo’s independence is recognised by some 110 countries such as the United States, Britain and most Western countries, but not by Russia Serbia’s traditional ally and five EU member states.
(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Additional reporting by Ivana Seularac; Editing by Alison Williams)

9/21/2021 Four Found Dead Near Polish-Belarus Border, Officials Say by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Pawel Florkiewicz
FILE PHOTO: A view of a vehicle next to a fence built by Polish soldiers on the border between
Poland and Belarus near the village of Nomiki, Poland August 26, 2021. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
    WARSAW (Reuters) – Three people have died after crossing into Poland from Belarus, and a fourth person has been found dead on the Belarusian side of the border following a surge in illegal migration that has caused a diplomatic row.
    Polish officials, who announced the three deaths inside Poland, gave no cause of death on Monday.    The Belarusian border service identified the person found inside Belarus as “a woman of non-Slavic appearance” but did not say how she died.
    Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said there had been almost 4,000 attempts to illegally cross Poland’s border in September and nearly 7,000 over the last two months, and put the blame for the increase in migration on Minsk.
    “(Belarus) has introduced a visa-free regime with several countries with great potential for illegal immigration, tens of thousands of people are being brought to Belarus,” he said.
    The European Union has also accused Belarus of encouraging people to cross into Polish territory, many of them from countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, to put pressure on the bloc over sanctions it has imposed on Minsk.
    Poland has started building a barbed wire fence to curb the flow of migrants and has declared a 30-day state of emergency in a three-km (two-mile) deep strip of land along the frontier.
    “There were three people who died unfortunately on the Polish side, as far as we know on the Belarusian side it was one woman,” Polish border guard chief Tomasz Praga said.
    Although he did not say how they died, he said there had been many cases of people being exhausted or suffering from hypothermia after arriving from Belarus, and some had been saved from drowning in swamps.
    The Belarusian border service said “clear signs of dragging a body from Poland to the Republic of Belarus were recorded” near the corpse found on the Belarusian side of the frontier.
    “This is a lie,” Praga said.
    The Belarusian interior ministry declined to comment to Reuters.    The Belarusian border service was not immediately available to comment.
    Praga said 110 people had been detained for allegedly helping organise illegal crossings.
    A pregnant woman had been detained after crossing the border with 13 children, none of them her own, and the children were admitted to hospital with COVID-19, he said.
    Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said 500 more soldiers would be deployed to help the border guard protect the frontier.
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Pawel Florkiewicz in Warsaw and by Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv; Editing by Timothy Heritage)

9/21/2021 Russia Was Behind Litvinenko Assassination, European Court Finds by Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden
FILE PHOTO: The grave of murdered ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko is seen at
Highgate Cemetery in London, Britain, January 21, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville
    LONDON (Reuters) - The European Court of Human Rights found on Tuesday that Russia was responsible for the assassination of ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who died an agonising death in 2006 after being poisoned in London with a rare radioactive substance.
    Litvinenko, a defector who had become a vocal critic of the Kremlin, died three weeks after drinking green tea laced with polonium-210 at a plush London hotel.
    Britain has long blamed the attack on Moscow, and the European court in Strasbourg, France, agreed on Tuesday, saying in a statement that “Mr Litvinenko’s assassination was imputable to Russia,” prompting a swift rebuke from the Kremlin.
    The image of Litvinenko, 43, lying on his bed at London’s University College Hospital, yellow, gaunt and with hair fallen out, was emblazoned across British and other Western newspapers.
    From his deathbed, Litvinenko told detectives he believed President Vladimir Putin – himself a former KGB spy – had directly ordered his killing, a charge the Kremlin denied.
    The use of a rare radioactive isotope on the streets of London, apparently to settle scores, plunged Anglo-Russian relations and Western mistrust of the Kremlin to what was then a post-Cold War low.
    A British inquiry concluded in 2016 that former KGB bodyguard Andrei Lugovoy and another Russian, Dmitry Kovtun, carried out the killing as part of an operation probably directed by the Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB.
    Endorsing that view, the ECHR said it had found “beyond reasonable doubt that the assassination had been carried out by Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun”
    “The planned and complex operation involving the procurement of a rare deadly poison, the travel arrangements for the pair, and repeated and sustained attempts to administer the poison indicated that Mr Litvinenko had been the target of the operation.”
‘EXTREMELY IDIOTIC’
    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the accusation.
    “The ECHR hardly has the authority or technological capacity to possess information on the matter,” he said.    “There are still no results from this investigation and making such claims is at the very least unsubstantiated.”
    Lugovoy and Kovtun have always denied involvement.    On Tuesday Lugovoy said the ECHR ruling was politically motivated.
    “I think it is extremely idiotic and damaging to the reputation of the European Court of Human Rights,” Lugovoy, a member of Russia’s parliament, told Reuters.
    In a separate development on Tuesday, British police said a third Russian had been charged in absentia with the 2018 Novichok murder attempt on former double agent Sergei Skripal, saying they could also now confirm the three suspects were military intelligence operatives.
    Russia has also rejected any involvement in that case, which led to tit-for-tat expulsion of dozens of diplomats.
    In the 2006 incident, polonium contamination was found in the teapot and the hotel bar where Litvinenko had been, and traces of the highly radioactive substance were left across London – in offices, hotels, planes and Arsenal soccer club’s Emirates Stadium.
    But with the main suspects out of reach in Russia, Britain was unable to pursue criminal proceedings.
    Litvinenko’s widow Marina took the case to the ECHR, arguing that her husband had been killed “on the direction or with the acquiescence or connivance of the Russian authorities and that the Russian authorities failed to conduct an effective domestic investigation into the murder.”
NOT ‘ROGUE OPERATION’
    In finding the Russian state responsible for Litvinenko’s death, the ECHR said Moscow would have had the information to prove it if the men been carrying out a “rogue operation.”
    “However, the government had made no serious attempt to provide such information or to counter the findings of the UK authorities,” it said.
    A Russian judge sitting on the ECHR panel, Dmitry Dedov, disagreed with his six colleagues on the court’s main finding.
    “I found many deficiencies in the analysis by the British inquiry and by the Court which raise reasonable doubts as to the involvement of the suspects in the poisoning and whether they were acting as agents of the State,” he said.
    The ECHR ordered Russia to pay Marina Litvinenko 100,000 euros ($117,000) in damages and 22,500 euros in costs.
    The judge who oversaw the British inquiry said there were several reasons why the Russian state would have wanted to kill Litvinenko, who was granted British citizenship a month before his death on Nov. 23, 2006.
    The ex-spy was regarded as having betrayed the FSB by accusing it of carrying out apartment block bombings in Russia in 1999 that killed more than 200 people, which the Kremlin blamed on Chechen rebels.
    He was also close to other leading Russian dissidents and had accused Putin’s administration of collusion with organised crime.    The judge said the FSB also had information that he had started working for Britain’s foreign intelligence agency, MI6.
($1 = 0.8522 euros)
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden in London, and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber and Andrew Osborn in Moscow; Editing by Kate Holton, Kevin Liffey and Gareth Jones)

9/21/2021 The Third Man: UK Charges Another Russian For Nerve Attack On Double Agent by Michael Holden
A police officer stands at a cordon around the bench where former Russian intelligence agent Sergei Skripal and his
daughter Yulia were found after they were poisoned, in Salisbury, Britain March 14, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
    LONDON (Reuters) - British police said on Tuesday a third Russian had been charged in absentia with the 2018 Novichok murder attempt on former double agent Sergei Skripal, saying they could also now confirm the three suspects were military intelligence operatives.
    The attack on Skripal, who sold Russian secrets to Britain, caused one of the biggest rows between Russia and the West since the Cold War, leading to the tit-for-tat expulsion of dozens of diplomats after Britain pointed the finger of blame at Moscow.
    Russia has rejected any involvement, casting the accusations as anti-Russian propaganda.
Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious, slumped on a public bench in the southern English city of Salisbury in March 2018.    They and a police officer who went to his house were left critically ill in hospital from exposure to the military-grade nerve agent.
    A woman later also died from Novichok poisoning after her partner found a counterfeit perfume bottle which police believe had been used to smuggle the poison into the country.
    In September 2018, British prosecutors charged two Russians, then identified by the aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, with conspiracy to murder Skripal and the attempted murder of Yulia and the officer, Nick Bailey.
    Dean Haydon, Britain’s Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, said prosecutors had now authorised them to charge a third man, Sergey Fedotov, who was aged about 50, with the same offences. [L8N2QN2MN]
    Haydon also said Petrov and Boshirov were really named Alexander Mishkin and Anatoliy Chepiga, and Fedotov’s true name was Denis Sergeev.    All three were believed to be in Russia, he said.    Britain has no extradition treaty with Russia, and     Moscow has so far refused to hand over Petrov and Boshirov.
    Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said the issue would be raised with the Russian ambassador to London.
    Russians “should recognise that our sense that justice must be done is not abated,” Johnson told Sky News in an interview while on a trip to the United States.
    The Russian foreign ministry said Britain was using the poisoning to stoke anti-Russian sentiment.
‘DANGEROUS INDIVIDUALS’
    The Skripal suspects were a three-man GRU team which had carried out operations on behalf of the Russian state in other countries, and there had been discussions with Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, Haydon said.
    “We can’t go into the detail of how, but we have the evidence that links them to the GRU,” Haydon told reporters, the first time police had categorically identified them as Russian spies.    “All three of them are dangerous individuals.”
    As with the other two Russians, British police had obtained an arrest warrant for Fedotov and they were applying for Interpol notices against him, he said.
    The police announcement came on the same day that the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia was responsible for the 2006 killing of ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned at a London hotel with Polonium 210, a rare radioactive isotope.
    British police say Petrov and Boshirov carried out the Skripal attack, while Fedotov met them several times over the weekend of March 2-4 when the poisoning occurred.
    After they were accused by Britain, Boshirov and Petrov appeared on Russian TV to say they were tourists who had travelled to Salisbury to do some sightseeing.
    “There’s the famous Salisbury Cathedral.    It’s famous not only in Europe, but in the whole world.    It’s famous for its 123 metre-spire,” Boshirov said.
(additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper and Kylie MacLellanEditing by Guy Faulconbridge and Peter Graff)

9/21/2021 Belarus Leader Lukashenko To Discuss Transfer Of Some Powers - Belta
FILE PHOTO: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends a meeting of the Collective Security Council of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan September 16, 2021. Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday he planned next week to discuss the possibility of transferring some presidential powers to the government and local authorities, the state-run Belta news agency reported.
    It was not immediately clear what powers Lukashenko was talking about.    Lukashenko faced the biggest protests of his 27-year rule last year, but weathered them with support from Russia.
(Reporting by Polina Devitt; writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Catherine Evans)

9/22/2021 Ukraine Left Puzzled After Assassination Attempt On President’s Top Aide by Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets
Markers are attached next to bullet holes in a car of Serhiy Shefir, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's principal
aide, following an assault outside the capital Kyiv, Ukraine September 22, 2021. REUTERS/Serhii Nuzhnenko
    KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian police are trying to work out who ordered unidentified individuals to try to murder a top aide of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy after his car was sprayed with automatic gunfire on Wednesday morning in an attack that shocked the political elite.
    Serhiy Shefir, the top aide and a close personal friend of Zelenskiy’s, escaped unscathed, but his driver was badly wounded and hospitalised.
    The Black Audi carrying Shefir was pockmarked with at least 10 bullet holes. Irina Venediktova, Ukraine’s prosecutor general, said the car had been ambushed as it drove between two villages outside Kyiv, the capital.
    The road is lined on both sides by forest which would have given the shooters good cover to hide and get away.
    Police said in a statement they had opened a criminal case on suspicion of attempted murder and saw three possible motives and versions: an effort to pressure the country’s leadership, an attempt to destabilise the political situation, or an attack engineered by a foreign intelligence service.
    “The purpose of this crime was not to scare, but to kill,” Denys Monastyrsky, the interior minister, said.
    Some of Zelenskiy’s advisers suggested the attack may have been orchestrated by a disgruntled oligarch or oligarchs fed up with a presidential drive to dilute their influence.    Other advisers raised the possibility that Russia may have been behind the shooting, something the Kremlin denied.
    Zelenskiy, who was in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, said he did not know who was responsible for the attack, but pledged “a strong response.”
    He said he would fly straight home after delivering his speech in New York.
    “I don’t know yet who stood behind this,” said Zelenskiy.    “(But) sending me a message by shooting my friend is weakness.”
OLIGARCH REVENGE?
    Shefir, 57, is a longtime associate and friend of Zelenskiy a former comedian who became president in 2019 after entering politics and promising to rid Ukraine of corruption.
    Shefir told a news conference the failed assassination attempt on him looked like an attempt to intimidate Zelenskiy.
    “I think this won’t frighten the president,” said Shefir.
    Zelenskiy came to power on a promise to take on the country’s oligarchs who have wielded outsized influence in business and politics since the 1991 Soviet collapse.
    Mykhailo Podolyak, one of Zelenskiy’s advisers, said the assassination attempt may have been a result of the president’s campaign against the oligarchs.
    Zelenskiy said he would be doubling down on his planned reforms rather than backing off.
    “It does not affect the strength of our team, the course that I have chosen with my team – to change, to clean up our economy, to fight crime and large influential financial groups,” he said.
    “This does not affect that. On the contrary, because the Ukrainian people have given me a mandate for changes.”
    Podolyak, Zelenskiy’s adviser, promised tougher measures against oligarchs after the attack.
    “This open, deliberate and extremely violent assault with automatic weapons cannot be qualified any differently than as an attempted killing of a key team member,” Podolyak told Reuters.
    “We, of course, associate this attack with an aggressive and even militant campaign against the active policy of the head of state,” Interfax Ukraine quoted Podolyak as saying separately.
    Parliament is this week due to debate a presidential law aimed at reducing the influence of oligarchs in Ukrainian society.
    Oleksandr Korniienko, the head of Zelenskiy’s political party, said Russian involvement could not be ruled out. Ukraine has accused Moscow, which annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and backed a separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine in 2014, of being behind assassinations in Kyiv before, something Russia has denied.
    “A Russian trace should not be absolutely ruled out.    We know their ability to organise terrorist attacks in different countries,” Korniienko told reporters.
    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said suggestions of Russian involvement “have nothing to do with reality.”
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Natalia Zinets; Additional reporting by Ilya Zhegulev and Sergiy Karazy; Writing by Andrew Osborn and Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Giles Elgood)

9/22/2021 Czech Far Right Sets ‘Czexit’ Referendum Law As Price For Post-Vote Talks
FILE PHOTO: The leader of Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party Tomio Okamura speaks during a press conference at the party's election headquarters
after the country’s parliamentary elections in Prague, Czech Republic, October 21, 2017. REUTERS/Milan Kammermayer/File Photo
    PRAGUE (Reuters) – The far-right SPD party, which may play a role in forming a new Czech government next month, would demand the cabinet propose legislation that could lead to a referendum on leaving the European Union, party chief Tomio Okamura said on Wednesday.
    Prime Minister Andrej Babis’s populist, pro-EU ANO is likely to win the largest share of the vote in a Oct. 8-9 election but may struggle to form a majority as its current partners are polling https://graphics.reuters.com/CZECH-ELECTION/lgpdwwyzqvo/index.html at or below the 5% threshold to enter parliament.
    Two main opposition groups refuse to enter a government with Babis due to what they say are his conflicts of interests as the founder of a business empire.
    That may make Okamura’s anti-European and anti-NATO SPD, or Freedom and Direct Democracy, a partner in the talks, which ANO has not ruled out.    Opinion polls put the party’s support at around 10%.
    Okamura said a pledge to propose a law on holding referendums, currently not possible, would be his price.
    Should such legislation be introduced, it would likely allow for a citizens’ petition to propose a vote, meaning Okamura could help organise one.
    “One of the fundamental conditions is for the government manifesto … to include a referendum law including the possibility of a referendum on leaving the EU or potentially NATO,” Okamura told reporters after meeting President Milos Zeman, whose role will be to moderate post-election negotiations and appoint the prime minister.
    SPD has promoted leaving the EU and an EU exit referendum for years. An opinion poll by the CVVM agency in July showed 66% of Czechs supporting EU membership, while 28% said the country should not be in the EU.
    Past attempts to enact a referendum law have stalled in parliament but Okamura’s move may put it back on the agenda — despite what appears to be significant obstacles in its path.
    Babis’s government has opposed a general referendum law that would allow voting on issues such as EU membership.    The government has also argued for high thresholds of signatures for referendums to be called.
    Any proposed legislation on referendums would need a constitutional three-fifth majority in both houses of parliament, which would be hard to achieve if the legislation is divisive, given the pro-EU opposition controls the upper house, the Senate.
    The Senate is elected in a staggered way over six years, and under a first-past-the-post system which usually eliminates extreme candidates.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Alison Williams)

9/22/2021 Kosovo PM Urges Mutual Car Plate Recognition With Serbia To Ease Tension
FILE PHOTO: Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti poses as he arrives for a meeting at the
EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium April 29, 2021. Kenzo Tribouillard/Pool via REUTERS
    PRISTINA (Reuters) – Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Wednesday his country and neighbouring Serbia should start recognising each other’s car licence plates to allow free movement of people and goods and ease border tensions.
    Serbs in the north of Kosovo have blocked roads near border crossings with Serbia since Monday after authorities barred cars with Serbian licence plates from coming into Kosovo.
    Kosovo police are forcing all drivers from Serbia to remove or hide their car plates and use temporary printed registration details that are valid for 60 days.
    Serbia, which lost control over Albanian-majority Kosovo after the 1999 NATO bombing campaign, refuses to recognise the independence of its former province and has not allowed Kosovo licence plates on its territory since 2008.
    Kurti said both Pristina and Belgrade should start recognising each other’s plates.
    “Our public offer is very practical and generous and let’s both Kosovo and Serbia remove temporary plates in order to allow the citizens to move freely and with as little delay as possible,” Kurti said in a government session.
    There was no immediate reaction from Belgrade to Kurti’s proposal.
    The two countries in 2013 committed to an EU-sponsored dialogue to resolve outstanding issues but little progress has been made.    Both the United States and the European Union have called Pristina and Belgrade to ease tensions and find a compromise.
    Around 50,000 Serbs who live in the north of Kosovo, which borders Serbia, refuse to recognise Pristina’s authority.
    More than 13,000 people are believed to have died during the 1998-99 war in Kosovo, when the southern province was still part of Serbia under the rule of late Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
    Fighting ended after NATO air strikes against Milosevic’s forces, and Kosovo is now an independent country.
    Kosovo’s independence is recognised by some 110 countries including the United States, Britain and most Western countries, but not by Russia, Serbia’s traditional ally, and five EU member states.
    Kosovo’s north has witnessed many ethnic clashes since the end of the war.
(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Ivana Sekularac and Nick Macfie)

9/22/2021 Denmark’s Premier Defends Biden In French Submarine Dispute
FILE PHOTO: Denmark's Prime Minister and head of the Social Democrats Mette Frederiksen gives her opening speech
at the Social Democrats' Congress in Aalborg, Denmark, September 18, 2021. Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS
    COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Denmark’s prime minister said on Wednesday she did not believe a new security pact between Australia, Britain and the United States that excluded France and cost Paris a defence project was grounds for a transatlantic dispute.
    Mette Frederiksen said U.S. President Joe Biden was a loyal defender of European-U.S. ties, breaking ranks with Germany and the European Commission, who on Tuesday sided with France and warned of lost trust with the United States.
    “I think it is important to say, in relation to the discussions that are taking place right now in Europe, that I experience Biden as being very loyal to the transatlantic alliance,” Frederiksen told Danish daily Politiken from New York, where she was attending the United Nations General Assembly.
    “And I think in general that one should refrain from lifting some specific challenges, which will always exist between allies, up to a level where they are not supposed to be.    I really, really want to warn against this,” she added.
    France said it was assessing all options in response to Australia’s scrapping of a $40 billion submarine contract last week after Washington offered Canberra more advanced, nuclear technology.
    The conciliatory tone follows her call in June for better ties between the United States and the EU despite a Danish media report that the United States spied on French and German leaders through Danish information cables.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, writing by Robin Emmott, editing by Giles Elgood)

9/22/2021 Polish Court Delays Ruling On Primacy Of EU Law
Protesters attend a demonstration taking place during a session of Poland's Constitutional Tribunal, ruling on whether
several articles of EU Treaties comply with the Polish Constitution, in front of the Constitutional Tribunal building in
Warsaw, Poland September 22, 2021. Banners read "Unconstitutional Tribunal" and "Constitution" REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
    WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal on Wednesday adjourned its sitting on whether the country’s constitution or European Union treaties take precedence. An EU commissioner said earlier the challenge was holding up the release of EU funds to Warsaw.
    Poland is involved in a series of disputes with the EU on issues ranging from courts and media freedom to LGBT rights, as critics accuse its nationalist government of inching towards an exit from the bloc.
    “Due to the emergence of new circumstances and new allegations and to be able to ask insightful questions … the Constitutional Tribunal adjourns until Sept. 30,” the head of the Tribunal, Julia Przylebska, said after hearing the parties.
    Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki brought the case as part of a dispute with the EU over changes to Poland’s judicial system, which Brussels says may undermine judicial independence.
    The primacy of European laws over national ones is a key tenet of European integration.
    Warsaw says Brussels has no right to interfere with the judicial systems of EU member states and argues the reforms were needed to remove communist-era influence in the judiciary and speed up proceedings.
    Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski says the EU’s insistence on the primacy of EU law over national legislation undermines the foundations of Poland’s sovereignty and its constitutional order.
EU FUNDS AT STAKE
    While some warn of a potential “Polexit,” Poland is unlikely to leave the bloc any time soon.    There is no legal way to throw countries out of the EU and most Poles support membership.
    A survey this month showed 88% of Poles believed Poland should remain in the EU and only 7% favoured pulling out, but nearly a third believed leaving was a possibility.
    But Poland could lose EU funds that have helped its economic development.    European Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni has said the court challenge is holding up 57 billion euros ($66 billion) in EU recovery aid to Warsaw.
    The EU’s top court ruled in July that a Polish disciplinary chamber for judges was illegal, a day after the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw ruled that Poland should ignore a previous demand to stop the chamber operating.
    Following a threat of financial penalties from the European Commission, Poland said it would disband the chamber, but hasn’t provided details.
    Warsaw is also waiting to hear from the Commission after five Polish regions refused to back out of declarations they would remain “LGBT-free,” which means they may lose EU funds.
    On Monday, the EU court ordered Poland to pay a 500,000 euro daily fine for defying a ruling to halt the Turow lignite mine on the border with the Czech Republic.    Warsaw vowed to keep the mine running despite the penalty.
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Pawel Florkiewicz and Joanna Plucinska; Editing by Giles Elgood and Alex Richardson)

9/22/2021 Judge Questioned Austria’s Kurz As Part Of Perjury Investigation
FILE PHOTO: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz arrives for a European People's Party (EPP)
meeting in Berlin, Germany, September 9, 2021. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi/File Photo
    VIENNA (Reuters) – A judge questioned Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz for hours this month as part of an investigation by anti-corruption prosecutors into whether Kurz gave false testimony to a parliamentary commission, Kurz said on Wednesday.
    Kurz could be charged with perjury as a result of the investigation, which began in May.    He denies any wrongdoing.
    The investigation is also a serious political challenge for Kurz.    No sitting chancellor has been charged with a crime and it is unclear whether his conservative party’s junior coalition partner, the left-wing Greens, would maintain their alliance if he were charged or found guilty.
    “I am glad that after months of false accusations I had the opportunity for several hours in early September to comment before a judge on the false accusations,” Kurz said in a statement confirming the long-awaited questioning.
    The Justice Ministry decided in July that Kurz would be questioned by a judge because of his special status as chancellor rather than by prosecutors, as is usually the case.
    Kurz has said he expects to be charged but not convicted and that he would not step down if charged.
    The investigation relates to testimony Kurz gave to a parliamentary commission created by opposition parties to look into possible corruption under a previous coalition between his party and the far-right Freedom Party that collapsed in 2019.
    Kurz told the commission he was not involved in the decision to appoint civil servant and conservative party loyalist Thomas Schmid as the sole head of Austrian state holdings group OBAG in 2019.    Schmid stepped down in June.
    Text messages obtained by the commission suggested the decision was ultimately taken by Kurz even though it was officially that of OBAG’s supervisory board, which appointed Schmid on March 27, 2019. In one exchange on March 13, Kurz told Schmid: “You’ll get everything you want.”
(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Catherine Evans)

9/22/2021 U.S., Russian Military Chiefs Meet In Helsinki For Six Hours
FILE PHOTO: Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov delivers a speech during the annual
Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS) in Moscow, Russia April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -The top U.S. military officers from United States and Russia held six hours of talks in Helsinki on Wednesday, in the first face-to-face meeting between them since 2019 as both nations adjust to the U.S. pullout and Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.
    General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Russia’s chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov, do not typically disclose the details of their discussions and statements from both sides were minimal.
    A U.S. military statement, that included details on the length of the meeting but not the agenda, said the talks were aimed at “risk reduction and operational de-confliction.”
    Russia’s RIA news agency reported the talks were aimed at discussions on risk mitigation.
    The United States and Russia have often competing military interests around the world, including in countries like Syria, where U.S. and Russian forces have operated in close proximity. How Washington and Moscow navigate next steps in Afghanistan remains to be seen.
    The U.S. military is under pressure from Congress to shore up a counter-terrorism strategy to address risks from Afghanistan following the U.S. withdrawal and Taliban takeover in August.
    President Joe Biden’s administration has said it would rely on “over-the-horizon” operations that could strike groups like al Qaeda or Islamic State in Afghanistan if they threaten the United States.
    But, with no troops on the ground, the extent of Washington’s ability to detect and halt plots is unclear.    After 20 years of war, U.S. military officials also have a dim view of the Taliban and note its ties to al Qaeda.
    Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow needs to work with the Taliban government and that world powers should consider unfreezing Afghanistan’s assets.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Maxim Rodionov; Writing by Phil Stewart and Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Grant McCool)

9/23/2021 Ukraine Left Puzzled After Assassination Attempt On President’s Top Aide by Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets
Markers are attached next to bullet holes in a car of Serhiy Shefir, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's
principal aide, following an assault outside the capital Kyiv, Ukraine September 22, 2021. REUTERS/Serhii Nuzhnenko
    KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian police are trying to work out who ordered unidentified individuals to try to murder a top aide of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy after his car was sprayed with automatic gunfire on Wednesday morning in an attack that shocked the political elite.
    Serhiy Shefir, the top aide and a close personal friend of Zelenskiy’s, escaped unscathed, but his driver was badly wounded and hospitalised.
    The Black Audi carrying Shefir was pockmarked with at least 10 bullet holes. Irina Venediktova, Ukraine’s prosecutor general, said the car had been ambushed as it drove between two villages outside Kyiv, the capital.
    The road is lined on both sides by forest which would have given the shooters good cover to hide and get away.
    Police said in a statement they had opened a criminal case on suspicion of attempted murder and saw three possible motives and versions: an effort to pressure the country’s leadership, an attempt to destabilise the political situation, or an attack engineered by a foreign intelligence service.
    “The purpose of this crime was not to scare, but to kill,” Denys Monastyrsky, the interior minister, said.
    Some of Zelenskiy’s advisers suggested the attack may have been orchestrated by a disgruntled oligarch or oligarchs fed up with a presidential drive to dilute their influence.    Other advisers raised the possibility that Russia may have been behind the shooting, something the Kremlin denied.
    Zelenskiy, who was in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, said he did not know who was responsible for the attack, but pledged “a strong response.”
    He said he would fly straight home after delivering his speech in New York.
    “I don’t know yet who stood behind this,” said Zelenskiy.    “(But) sending me a message by shooting my friend is weakness.”
OLIGARCH REVENGE?
    Shefir, 57, is a longtime associate and friend of Zelenskiy a former comedian who became president in 2019 after entering politics and promising to rid Ukraine of corruption.
    Shefir told a news conference the failed assassination attempt on him looked like an attempt to intimidate Zelenskiy.
    “I think this won’t frighten the president,” said Shefir.
    Zelenskiy came to power on a promise to take on the country’s oligarchs who have wielded outsized influence in business and politics since the 1991 Soviet collapse.
    Mykhailo Podolyak, one of Zelenskiy’s advisers, said the assassination attempt may have been a result of the president’s campaign against the oligarchs.
    Zelenskiy said he would be doubling down on his planned reforms rather than backing off.
    “It does not affect the strength of our team, the course that I have chosen with my team – to change, to clean up our economy, to fight crime and large influential financial groups,” he said.
    “This does not affect that.    On the contrary, because the Ukrainian people have given me a mandate for changes.”
    Podolyak, Zelenskiy’s adviser, promised tougher measures against oligarchs after the attack.
    “This open, deliberate and extremely violent assault with automatic weapons cannot be qualified any differently than as an attempted killing of a key team member,” Podolyak told Reuters.
    “We, of course, associate this attack with an aggressive and even militant campaign against the active policy of the head of state,” Interfax Ukraine quoted Podolyak as saying separately.
    Parliament is this week due to debate a presidential law aimed at reducing the influence of oligarchs in Ukrainian society.
    Oleksandr Korniienko, the head of Zelenskiy’s political party, said Russian involvement could not be ruled out.
    Ukraine has accused Moscow, which annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and backed a separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine in 2014, of being behind assassinations in Kyiv before, something Russia has denied.
    “A Russian trace should not be absolutely ruled out.    We know their ability to organise terrorist attacks in different countries,” Korniienko told reporters.
    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said suggestions of Russian involvement “have nothing to do with reality.”
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Natalia Zinets; Additional reporting by Ilya Zhegulev and Sergiy Karazy; Writing by Andrew Osborn and Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Giles Elgood)

9/23/2021 Senior Manager Of Russia’s Novatek Arrested In U.S. On Tax Charges
FILE PHOTO: Then-Chief Financial Officer Mark Gyetvay of Novatek speaks during the Reuters Russia
Investment Summit in Moscow, Russia, September 11, 2007. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Mark Gyetvay, a deputy head of Russian natural gas producer Novatek, has been arrested in the United States on tax charges related to $93 million hidden in offshore accounts, the Department of Justice said on Thursday.
    It said a federal grand jury in Fort Myers, Florida, returned an indictment on Wednesday charging Gyetvay, a Florida businessman, with defrauding the United States.    Gyetvay holds passports https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-sanctions-novatek-idUSKCN1UH1PL from both the United States and Russia.
    According to the indictment, from 2005 to 2016, Gyetvay allegedly engaged in a scheme to defraud the United States by concealing his ownership and control over substantial offshore assets and by failing to file and pay taxes on millions of dollars of income.
    Gyetvay, who sat on the board of Novatek’s directors and was its chief financial officer from 2003 to 2014, did not return phone calls. Novatek declined to comment.
    Beginning in 2005, Gyetvay allegedly opened the first of two different Swiss bank accounts to hold these assets, which at one point had an aggregate value of over $93 million, the Department of Justice said.
    Gyetvay was appointed Novatek’s deputy head of management board in July 2010.
    He was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Frazier of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
    He faces a lengthy prison sentence if convicted of the charges.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

9/23/2021 Russia’s Navalny Criticises Apple, Google Over App Removal, Social Media Posts Say
FILE PHOTO: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is seen on a screen via a video link during a hearing
to consider his lawsuits against the penal colony over detention conditions there, at the
Petushki district court in Petushki, Russia May 26, 2021. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said Google and Apple showed “cowardice” and acted as accomplices of Russian President Vladimir Putin by removing a voting app before this month’s election, according to his social media accounts.
    Navalny’s supporters earlier accused the U.S. tech giants of caving in to Kremlin pressure by removing the anti-government tactical voting app from their stores at the start of three days of parliamentary voting, which ended on Sunday.
    Navalny, who is in prison, has added his criticism, according to comments carried by his social media accounts.
    “The giants Apple @Apple and Google @Google have complied with the Kremlin’s demands and removed our app from their stores.    My beloved YouTube has deleted our video, and the Telegram messenger has blocked our bot,” he said in the posts.
    “I know that most of those who work at Google, Apple, etc. are honest and good people.    I urge them not to put up with the cowardice of their bosses,” he said.
    Apple and Alphabet’s Google did not respond to requests for comment sent last week after Navalny’s supporters criticised them.    Google did not immediately respond to a further emailed request for comment on Thursday. Apple could not immediately be reached.
    The tactical voting app, devised by allies of Navalny, gave people detailed recommendations on who to vote for in an effort to thwart the ruling United Russia party, which supports Putin.
    United Russia secured majority in the State Duma lower house of parliament, amid accusations of mass fraud from backers of Navalny and other parties.    The election commission said the vote was clean and the Kremlin called it an honest vote.
    Google decided to remove the app after being told its local staff could otherwise face jail time, one person familiar with the situation said last week, declining to be named.
    Responding to that comment, Navalny said in his social media posts: “If so, then keeping silent about it is the worst crime.    This is encouragement of a hostage-taking terrorist.”
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Edmund Blair)

9/23/2021 Ukrainian Lawmakers Pass Law On Oligarchs After Assassination Attempt by Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets
Opposition lawmakers argue with the first deputy parliament speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk during a parliament session to vote for a
law that order "oligarchs" to register and stay out of politics, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 23, 2021. REUTERS/Ruslan Kaniuka
    KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine’s parliament passed a law on Thursday to order “oligarchs” to register and stay out of politics, a day after an attempt to kill a top aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, which officials said could have been a response to the reform.
    The law provides a definition for an oligarch and gives a body headed by the president, the National Security and Defence Council, the power to determine who meets the criteria.
    Oligarchs would be forbidden from financing political parties or taking part in privatisations. Top officials, including the president, prime minister and head of the central bank, would be required to declare dealings they had with them.
    Zelenskiy says it is necessary to protect the country from powerful businessmen who have corrupted its political system for decades.    His opponents say they fear it will be applied selectively to concentrate more power in the president’s hands.
    “Thanks to the anti-oligarch law, Ukraine gets a historic chance to build a civilized and clean relationship between big business and the state,” Zelenskiy said in a statement.
    “Yes, many politicians do not like it.    Yes, they want to live as before, working for the oligarchs.    Yes, there was a lot of pressure on our deputies, a lot of intrigue and even blackmail.    But the law was passed.”
    The law passed a first reading in July. Thursday’s second reading, which passed with 279 votes in the 450-seat parliament, means it now goes to Zelenskiy for approval.
    Zelenskiy’s team has suggested anger at the law could be behind an attempt to assassinate Serhiy Shefir, a top aide and close friend of the president.    Shefir’s car was sprayed with gunfire on Wednesday by unidentified attackers as he travelled between two villages outside the capital.
    Shefir was unharmed though his driver was wounded.    Police are searching for the weapon and interviewing possible witnesses who were picking mushrooms nearby, Interior Ministry spokesperson Artem Shevchenko said on Thursday.
    Zelenskiy, a former TV comic, won a landslide election in 2019 promising to tackle corruption and curb the influence of tycoons who have dominated business, the media and politics since the end of the Soviet era. Opponents say he owes his own rise to the tycoon whose TV channel backed his earlier career.
    Opposition lawmaker Oleksiy Goncharenko, from former President Petro Poroshenko’s party, said by giving a presidential body the authority to determine who is an oligarch, the law “creates huge scope for corruption.”
    Kira Rudyk, the leader of the Voice party, said the bill was designed “only to strengthen the power, strengthen the position of the president and make it so that he can, together with the National Security and Defence Council, actually decide who can have control over the media and who cannot.”
(Writing by Matthias WilliamsEditing by Peter Graff)

9/23/2021 Defeated Candidates In Russian Election Try To Annul ‘Crooked’ Online Results by Maria Tsvetkova
FILE PHOTO: Members and supporters of the Russian Communist Party attend a rally to protest against the preliminary
results of the parliamentary election in Moscow, Russia September 20, 2021. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – A coalition of defeated parliamentary candidates in Moscow who allege they were cheated of victory in a parliamentary election by a crooked online voting system said on Thursday they would try to overturn the results via lawsuits and public pressure.
    Some of the defeated candidates, most of whom are Communists, have called on voters to gather in Moscow on Saturday after eight parliamentary seats where the Communists had been ahead suddenly flipped to the ruling United Russia party once online voting results were added in.
    United Russia, which supports President Vladimir Putin, won a bigger than expected parliamentary majority despite unease over living standards, interim official results showed.
    The authorities have said Saturday’s planned meeting is illegal due to restrictions on public events related to COVID-19.
    The central election commission, which has said the vote was exceptionally clean and transparent, is due to formally approve the election results on Friday. The Kremlin said the election had been competitive, open and honest.
    In a statement published on Facebook on Thursday, the defeated candidates said they wanted the authorities to annul the results of electronic voting in Moscow and for the idea of electronic voting to be abandoned for future elections.
    “On Sept. 17-19 (when the election was held) millions of citizens of our country had their votes stolen,” said the statement.    “Therefore we, candidates from various political forces, have formed a committee to annul the electronic voting results.”
    The statement was signed by Communist party candidates and candidates from the liberal Yabloko party, among others.    At least two of them said police had come to their homes to warn them about the consequences of disturbing public order.
    The statement cited plans to hold a nationwide protest against what the committee believes is the rigged outcome of the election.    No specific date was mentioned.
‘BLACK BOX’
    Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny had advised people to vote for some of the defeated candidates in a tactical voting campaign designed to try to thwart United Russia.
    Russian election officials, who promoted online voting as a transparent blockchain-based system, deny any fraud.
    They see online voting, which was used in a nationwide election for the first time, as a success which could be expanded ahead of a presidential election in 2024.
    “We need to use the practice as widely as possible,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
    But critics said that, at least in Moscow, online voting turned out to be a “black box” with very limited access to the data even for election officials.
    Three members of an election commission set up for the Moscow online vote told Reuters that laptops designed for monitoring the voting process were cut off from the system when it was supposed to start the vote count.
    Given that the results of the count were delayed until the next morning, that raised their suspicions.
    Eventually, results arrived at the commission in PDF-files with no signs that they had any relation to actual voting, Anna Lobonok, an election commission member nominated by the Communist party, said.
    “I did not understand where the figures came from,” she said, adding that calculations appear to have been made by technical specialists of a Moscow government department, which developed the online voting platform.
    Lobonok filed a complaint demanding the online voting results be annulled.
    A website set up for public monitoring of the online voting also stopped updating the data during the decryption of votes cast at night after the election.
(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova, additional reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Nick Macfie)

9/23/2021 Belarus Has Found Spies Working For West In State Factories, President Says
FILE PHOTO: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks during a news conference following talks with his
Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia September 9, 2021. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
    (Reuters) – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said some employees at state-run factories were secretly working for the West against his government on Thursday after human rights activists reported the detention of 14 workers at a fertilizer plant.
    The plant, Grodno Azot, is one of several placed under Western sanctions in response to a violent crackdown on protesters by Lukashenko after a contested election last year.    The factory was also a hub of those same mass protests.
    Lukashenko did not mention the plant or go into specifics in his comments, saying only that state employees were passing on information about how the government was nullifying the effect of the sanctions.
    He did not say which Western countries were allegedly involved in the remarks at a meeting with officials reported by the official BelTa news agency.
    “I have information that a few scoundrels are still there in some places, and they set themselves the goal of informing the West about how (Petr) Parkhomchik (Minister of Industry) and (Yuri) Nazarov (Deputy Prime Minister) are trying to circumvent the sanctions,” he said.
    “They actually spy and hand over information there.”
    Those caught spying for the West against the government should be punished, he said.
    The authorities have not commented directly on the detentions at the plant reported by human rights group Viasna 96, which said the employees were being held at a pretrial detention centre run by the KGB security police.    The KGB could not be reached for comment.
    Lukashenko said the spies in the factories “are people who deliberately harm our economy, as well as our state, for money from Western special services.”
    The European Union says it is preparing new sanctions after accusing Lukashenko’s government of engineering a migrant crisis on the Belarusian borders with Poland and Lithuania.    European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week called it a “hybrid attack” on the EU.
(Additional reporting by Natalia Zinets in Kyiv; editing by Matthias Williams and Philippa Fletcher)

9/24/2021 German Millionaires Rush Assets To Switzerland Ahead Of Election by Oliver Hirt
FILE PHOTO: Women relax on the banks of Lake Zurich on a sunny spring day, as the spread of the
coronavirus (COVID-19) continues, in Zurich, Switzerland March 23, 2021. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/
    ZURICH (Reuters) – A potential lurch to the left in Germany’s election on Sunday is scaring millionaires into moving assets into Switzerland, bankers and tax lawyers say.
    If the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), hard-left Linke and environmentalist Greens come to power, the reintroduction of a wealth tax and a tightening of inheritance tax could be on the political agenda.
    “For the super-rich, this is red hot,” said a German-based tax lawyer with extensive Swiss operations.    “Entrepreneurial families are highly alarmed.”
    The move shows how many rich people still see Switzerland as an attractive place to park wealth, despite its efforts to abolish its image as a billionaires’ safe haven.
    No country has more offshore assets than Switzerland and inflows accelerated in 2020, to the benefit of big banks such as UBS, Credit Suisse and Julius Baer. Geopolitical tensions and fears of the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic fallout made     Switzerland’s political stability attractive.
    Bank for International Settlements data show deposits of German households and companies at banks in Switzerland climbed almost $5 billion to $37.5 billion in the first quarter of 2021, and this does not include shares, bonds or financial products.    More recent figures are not available, but insiders say the inflows have continued.    “I have booked an above-average amount of new money as in the past three months,” said a veteran client adviser at a large Swiss bank who deals mainly with Germans.
    “Many wealthy people, especially entrepreneurs, fear that there will be a lurch to the left in Germany – no matter how the elections turn out,” says Florian Dürselen, head of Europe at wealth manager LGT Switzerland.
    One top Swiss banker said: “I know a number of German entrepreneurs who want to have a foothold outside Germany if things get too red (leftist) there.”
TAX ON ASSETS
    A poll on Thursday showed the SPD, on 25%, leading outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives by four points.    The SPD wants to reintroduce a wealth tax and increase inheritance tax, while the Greens – a likely potential coalition partner – plan to tax fortunes more heavily. Although both envision raising income tax for top earners, a tax on assets would raise much more money, the tax lawyer said.
    He was seeing increased demand for advice from clients, he said, noting some entrepreneurs had sought to protect themselves by making new investments through a company in Switzerland or transferring assets to a foundation in Liechtenstein.
    Simply transferring cash to a Swiss bank account, on the other hand, no longer helps. Under immense international pressure, the Swiss now share such account data with tax authorities in clients’ home countries.
    “Switzerland as a financial centre is characterized by stability, legal security and a high level of financial competence.    However, it does not offer any protection against tax evasion,” said a spokesperson for the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF).
    LGT’s Dürselen said he recently spoke with a German entrepreneur who feared Germany could soon tax foreign assets or transactions harshly, which fostered the view of Switzerland as a safe haven for capital.
    “Personally, I assume that considerable assets will continue to be moved to Switzerland,” he said.    One local politician said dozens of wealthy German entrepreneurs have inquired in recent months about residing in one of the low-tax suburbs along Lake Zurich.
(Reporting by Oliver Hirt; Writing by Michael Shields; Editing by Alex Richardson)

9/24/2021 Czechs, Poles Make Progress Towards Solving Turow Mine Dispute - Czech Minister
FILE PHOTO: The Turow coal-fired power plant is seen behind the Turow open-pit coal mine operated
by the company PGE in Bogatynia, Poland, June 15, 2021. REUTERS/David W Cerny/File Photo
    PRAGUE (Reuters) – The Czech Republic and Poland made a “significant progress” toward solving a dispute over the Turow lignite mine during talks on Friday, Czech Environment Minister Richard Brabec said.
    The talks followed a ruling by Europe’s top court on Monday, that ordered Poland to pay a 500,000-euro daily penalty to the European Commission for defying an earlier court ruling to halt operations in the open-pit mine.
    The court ruled upon a request from the Czech Republic, whose government says the mine, located next to the shared border, is damaging communities on the Czech side. Poland vowed to keep the mine running.
    Brabec said the dispute could be solved out of court.
    “After today’s talks, we see a significant progress in some of the points and we believe that after further talks… there will be more progress,” he said at a televised press conference.
    Brabec said that he expected to meet his Polish counterpart, Michal Kurtyka, on Monday, and after that expert teams would meet next week too.
    “We are still interested in an agreement, not to escalate this further… we both have lines which we cannot cross, but we see the possibility to reach an agreement,” Brabec said.
    The Turow mine has been operating for more than a century, but has recently expanded further towards the Czech border.
(Reporting by Robert Muller; Editing by Frances Kerry)

9/24/2021 Russian Police Detain Activists Ahead Of Protest
FILE PHOTO: Members and supporters of the Russian Communist Party attend a rally to protest against the preliminary
results of the parliamentary election in Moscow, Russia September 20, 2021. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian police detained opposition activists on Friday and warned they would break up any illegal rallies this weekend after an opposition coalition angered by last week’s parliamentary election urged voters to gather in Moscow.
    Several politicians, most of them Communists, have banded together, saying they were cheated of victory by a crooked online voting system in the parliamentary vote and calling for the system to be scrapped.
    The Communist Party, which is seen as part of the “systemic” opposition that is tolerated by the Kremlin and has parliamentary seats, has invited voters to meet its lawmakers on Saturday and has called for the Moscow vote result to be revised.
    The party said police in civilian clothing had surrounded its headquarters in Moscow on Friday, attributing the incident to the planned rally.
    The final election results were released on Friday and handed the ruling United Russia party that backs President Vladimir Putin 324 of the State Duma’s 450 seats.
    The Kremlin has said it wants electronic voting, which was used in Moscow for last week’s election as well as several other regions, to be rolled out nationwide in future votes.
    The Moscow mayor’s office said the Communist Party event had not been authorised because of COVID-19 and police said unauthorised street events would be a breach of public order and immediately broken up.
    But Gennady Zyuganov, head of the Communist Party, told the RIA news agency that the event was entirely legal.
    In their statement, police said officers had brought 30 people to account this week over a similar protest on Monday in the election’s aftermath.    Police are still looking for other attendees, they said.
    Police detained or tried to detain at least six people on Friday over Monday’s event and called at the homes of others, the OVD-Info protest monitoring group said.
    Marina Litvinovich, one of the candidates in the opposition coalition, told Reuters they would protest at gatherings across the country depending on turnout in Moscow on Saturday.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; editing by Giles Elgood and Grant McCool)

9/25/2021 U.S. And Ukraine Troops Partake In Combat Drills by OAN Newsroom
Ukrainian servicemen take part in the joint Rapid Trident military exercises with the United States and other NATO countries nor
far from Lviv on September 24, 2021. (Photo by Yuriy DYACHYSHYN / AFP) (Photo by YURIY DYACHYSHYN/AFP via Getty Images)
    U.S. and Ukrainian drills continue as nearly 15 countries gathered for joint military exercises.    More than 6,000 servicemen, including 150 representatives from the U.S. Armed Forces, have been set to take part in these drills on Friday in Western Ukraine.
    U.S. Army Colonel Michael Hanson said they were teaching their staff to learn how to develop a full combat training center. Ukrainian servicemen were equipped with laser engagement systems to help simulate combat.
    “One of the main efforts we have is right here at this combat training center and that’s to help develop what we call a train-the-trainer program,” he explained.    “So we are here literally helping the staff learn how to develop a full combat training center so that you can train your own soldiers in NATO standards.”
Ukrainian servicemen take part in the joint Rapid Trident military exercises with the United States and other
NATO countries nor far from Lviv on September 24, 2021. (Photo by YURIY DYACHYSHYN/AFP via Getty Images)
    A Ukrainian service member said exchanging experience has given them a lot to work with, especially when they have seen the U.S. do something better and want to adopt their actions.

9/25/2021 Norway Announces End Of COVID Restrictions by OAN Newsroom
Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg is hugged by Norway’s Minister of Health Bent Hoie during a press conference
on the corona Covid-19 situation in Oslo, on September 24, 2021. (Photo by JAVAD PARSA/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)
    Norway has eased the majority of its coronavirus restrictions amid low cases throughout the Scandinavian nation. Prime Minister Erna Solberg announced the end of Norway’s coronavirus restrictions on Friday, saying the nation was fully reopen while insisting the pandemic was not yet over.
    Norwegians may now go out to restaurants, bars and clubs past midnight, ignore the previously instated six-foot social distancing requirements and legally shake a person’s hands.    This comes as more than 70 percent of the Scandinavian country’s citizens are fully vaccinated.
    In the meantime, reports said travel restrictions at the nation’s borders will still remain in place and the country will stay in an “increased state of preparedness.”    Norway is the second Scandinavian country to end COVID restrictions after Denmark announced their removal on Sept. 10.

9/26/2021 Protesters In Netherlands March Against COVID-19 Vaccine Passport by OAN Newsroom
Opponents of the COVID-19 health pass demonstrate in The Hague, on
September 25, 2021. (Photo by KOEN VAN WEEL/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)
    Protesters marched in the streets of the Netherlands against the country’s recent introduction of what they are calling a “corona pass.”
    Hours after the government’s requirements went into effect, people took to the streets with signs to show their lack of support for vaccine passports.    Under the new rule, the COVID passes are required for admission into bars, restaurants, theaters and other venues.
    The country’s leader Mark Rutte dismissed a cabinet member who publicly questioned the new measures, saying those questions are going against cabinet policy. One restaurant owner said he will not be complying, despite the consequences.
    “I have been shouting all week that I am not going to work with the corona pass, and they have said that they are going to shut down these shops first thing.    So, that’s what you have in the back of your mind,” said Broodje Van Dootje, restaurant owner.
    Although, Van Dootje said he fears if he doesn’t comply, the government will make an example out of him.    “If I am to keep on going against it, I am only a small shop…they will close me as the first, then they can make a good statement.”
    About 72 percent of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, but face masks are still required on public transportation.    However, students and teachers notably are not required to wear masks in schools.

9/26/2021 Russia’s Putin Takes Time Off, Goes On Hike In Siberia by OAN Newsroom
In this undated picture, made available on September 26, 2021 by Sputnik news agency, Russian President
Vladimir Putin stops as he walks in the taiga. (Photo by ALEXEY DRUZHININ/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
    Russian President Vladimir Putin took a break from high politics as he spent a quiet weekend in the forest of Siberia.    Video footage released by the Kremlin on Sunday, showed Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu hiking in the woods, fishing and engaging in various other outdoor activities.
    Putin said he had to spend a few days in isolation from others after several COVID-19 cases were reported within his administration.    He added Siberian nature was truly magnificent.
    “The Siberian red deer, huge ones, I haven’t seen ones like these before, we were lucky they didn’t hit us.    They were running so fast, jumping.    They should do Olympics.    They’d be the best,” Putin stated.    “…I visited here once again and my local colleague asked to sign a document about establishing a nature preserve.    Now, it’s a nature preserve.”
    Putin was also asked about his camping tent, which features a fireplace in it.    He responded, “if you work hard, you’ll live better.”

9/27/2021 Belarus Leader Warns On NATO Troops In Ukraine, Migrant ‘Catastrophe’
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko meets state security officials
in Minsk, Belarus September 27, 2021. Maxim Guchek/BelTA
    KYIV (Reuters) – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko warned on Monday of a joint response with Russia to military exercises involving troops from NATO member countries in neighbouring Ukraine.
    Lukashenko, who gave no details of the response, also blamed the West for what he said was a looming humanitarian catastrophe this winter after migrants were left stranded and freezing on the Belarusian-Polish border.
    Ukraine is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation but has long sought closer integration with Western militaries in the hope of one day joining the alliance, a move opposed by Belarus’ main ally, Russia.
    Ukraine began joint military exercises with U.S. and other NATO member troops last week, while Russia and Belarus held large-scale drills that alarmed the West.
    Lukashenko said he had discussed the situation in Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin several times, and the Kremlin said on Monday that expansion of NATO military infrastructure in Ukraine crossed a red line for Putin.
    “You see, they are dragging NATO troops there, to Ukraine.    Under the guise of training centres, they are actually creating bases. The United States is creating bases in Ukraine.    It is clear that we need to react to this,” Lukashenko said at a meeting with officials in the presidential palace in Minsk.
    “The Russian president and I have held and are holding consultations on this issue and have agreed that some action should be taken there.    Otherwise, tomorrow we will have an unacceptable situation right on the border between Belarus and Russia.”
    Relations between Belarus and the West have deteriorated since Lukashenko cracked down on mass protests following a disputed election in August 2020, triggering U.S., European Union and British sanctions but support from Moscow.
    Belarus and its EU neighbours have also traded blame over the plight of migrants.    The EU has accused Minsk of encouraging migrants, mainly from Iraq and Afghanistan, to cross the borders in retaliation for the sanctions.
    Three migrants died on the Polish side of the border and one more just inside Belarus this month.    A fifth death – of an Iraqi man on Poland’s side of the border, from a suspected heart attack, was reported on Friday.
    Lukashenko said Belarus had treated the migrants well.
    “Yes, we dressed them, we brought them some firewood and some shawls.    But they would freeze in winter,” Lukashenko said.
    “In short: it’s a humanitarian catastrophe on the border.”
(Writing by Matthias Williams, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

9/27/2021 Jailed Belarusian Opponent Kolesnikova Wins European Rights Award
FILE PHOTO: Politician and representative of the Coordination Council for members of the Belarusian opposition
Maria Kolesnikova attends a news conference in Minsk, Belarus August 24, 2020. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko/File Photo
    PARIS (Reuters) – Jailed Belarusian opposition leader and activist Maria Kolesnikova on Monday won the ninth Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize which honours outstanding civil society action in the defence of human rights.
    Kolesnikova’s sister Tatsiana Khomich attended a ceremony on the activist’s behalf on the opening day of the autumn plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France.
    Kolesnikova, one of the leaders of mass street protests against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko last year, was sentenced in early September to 11 years in prison, leading to an outcry from Western countries.
    The United States condemned at the time the “politically motivated conviction and shameful sentencing” of Belarusian opposition figures Kolesnikova and Maxim Znak.
    “We must support the Belarusian people,” Khomich said after accepting the award on Kolesnikova’s behalf.
    “Hundreds of political prisoners are kept in Belarusian jails in awful conditions under false politically motivated accusations,” she said.
    Lukashenko faced the biggest protests of his 27-year rule last year, but weathered them with support from Russia.
(Writing by Matthieu Protard; editing by Grant McCool)

9/27/2021 Poland Says It Found Evidence Of Extremism On Migrants’ Phones
FILE PHOTO: Polish soldiers build a fence on the border between Poland and Belarus near
the village of Nomiki, Poland August 26, 2021. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
(Refiles to identify Bystrianin as head of Ocalenie Foundation in paragraph 11)
    WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s interior minister said on Monday material related to Islamic extremism had been found in the phones of migrants crossing its border with Belarus and he called for a 60-day extension to a state of emergency along the frontier.
    The European Union member state declared the emergency at the start of September over a surge in migration that Polish and EU officials blame on Belarus.    But Poland’s nationalist government has drawn criticism from rights groups over its treatment of migrants, five of whom have died on the frontier.
    “(The situation is) extremely tense…I will apply to the Council of Ministers (cabinet) for an extension of the state of emergency by 60 days,” Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski told a news conference.
    During the briefing Polish officials showed material which they said were text messages and other images linked to Islamic extremism found on some of the migrants’ electronic devices.
    Reuters could not independently confirm the veracity of the messages or images.
    Poland’s opposition and human rights groups have accused the ruling right-wing nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party in the past of stoking prejudice against immigrants for political gain.
    During the 2015 migrant crisis, the PiS leader said refugees from the Middle East could bring disease and parasites to Poland.
    Most of the current migrants have come from Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa.
    On Monday, Kaminski said the government was not trying to stigmatise the migrants but merely presenting evidence it had uncovered to show that some migrants crossing the border could pose a threat to national security.
    He said that Polish security services had found links to extremism in 50 out of 200 migrants questioned.
    Piotr Bystrianin, head of the Ocalenie Foundation refugee aid charity, said the minister showed no proof that any of the migrants posed a security threat.
    “The aim was precisely to stigmatise these people, arouse fear and try to find some pseudo-reasons for maintaining the state of emergency.    It’s pure propaganda, turning people against refugees like in 2015…,” he said.
    Poland and the EU have accused Belarus of encouraging migrants from Iraq, Afghanistan and African countries to cross the EU’s external borders to put pressure on the bloc over sanctions Brussels has imposed on Minsk over rights abuses.
    right to seek asylum and putting them at greater risk.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

9/27/2021 New Austrian Anti-Lockdown Party Seeking More Seats After Election Coup
FILE PHOTO: Chairs and tables line up in front of a cafe during preparations for the reopening of restaurants
as part of an easing of the country's lockdown restrictions amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
outbreak in Vienna, Austria May 18, 2021. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo
    VIENNA (Reuters) – A new Austrian political party that opposes lockdowns, compulsory mask-wearing and other coronavirus restrictions hopes to spread across the country after surprisingly securing seats in one of Austria’s nine provincial parliaments on Sunday.
    People Freedom Fundamental Rights (MFG), a newly created party that campaigned online and with a tour of bars and restaurants, stunned many observers by securing 6.2% of the vote in Upper Austria’s election on Sunday, above the 4% threshold required to enter the provincial parliament.
    The province of Upper Austria, home to Linz, the country’s third-biggest city, and bordering Germany and the Czech Republic, is home to much of Austria’s heavy industry.
    It is also a stronghold of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) and has the lowest coronavirus vaccination rate in Austria with 55.5% of people fully inoculated, versus 60.3% nationally.
    “We will run in Salzburg, we will run in Carinthia, we will run in the national parliamentary election,” MFG leader Markus Brunner, a lawyer who has challenged the constitutionality of coronavirus restrictions in the courts, told ORF radio, referring to future provincial and federal ballots.
    None of those are, however, due to be held until 2023, by which time many hope the pandemic will have ended.
    MFG’s manifesto stops short of opposing COVID-19 vaccinations but says it is for an “absolute freedom to choose” and against the unvaccinated being disadvantaged.
    Its success was all the more surprising since the FPO has taken a similar stance on restrictions and vaccines, though it is part of the Upper Austrian provincial government that has overseen coronavirus restrictions.
    While the FPO’s share of the vote fell more than 10 points to 19.8%, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s conservatives retained first place, rising by 1 percentage point to 37.6%.    The Social Democrats came third with a barely changed 18.6%.    Data from pollster SORA showed MFG gained voters from various parties. (Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Alison Williams)

9/27/2021 Greenland Foreign Minister Demoted After Independence Comments
FILE PHOTO: Greenland's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Business, Trade and Climate Pele Broberg arrives for a meeting with U.S. Secretary
of State Antony Blinken in Eigtved's Warehouse in Copenhagen, Denmark, May 17, 2021. Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS.
    COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede stripped an outspoken pro-independence minister of his responsibility for foreign affairs on Monday, following comments about excluding non-Inuit citizens from a future vote on independence from Denmark.
    Foreign Minister Pele Broberg suggested in an interview published in Danish newspaper Berlingske earlier this month that only ethnic Inuit people and their descendents could be eligible to vote in a future referendum.
    Broberg said a discussion was needed about potentially excluding ethnic Danes and other foreign nationals living in Greenland from participating in such a vote.
    His comments prompted Egede, who took office in April following a snap election, to disavow Broberg in a public statement, making clear that “all citizens in Greenland have equal rights.”
    Egede will take responsibility of foreign and climate affairs away from Broberg, who will keep his duties as minister for business and trade, state broadcaster KNR reported.
    Broberg said later in a statement posted on Facebook that his comments had been misunderstood, and that all Greenlanders should be eligible to vote at a future independence referendum, regardless of ethnicity and culture.
    Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953 and is now a semi-autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark.
    Greenland has the right to declare independence from Denmark, and although opinion polls show the majority of Greenlanders favour independence there are disagreements about the timing of such a step.
    The vast Arctic island of 57,000 people relies on fishing exports and an annual grant from Denmark.
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Alex Richardson)

9/27/2021 Kremlin Says NATO Expansion In Ukraine Is A ‘Red Line’ For Putin
FILE PHOTO: Servicemen attend the "RAPID TRIDENT-2021" military exercise at Ukraine's International Peacekeeping
Security Centre near Yavoriv in the Lviv region, Ukraine September 24, 2021. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin warned on Monday that any expansion of NATO military infrastructure in Ukraine would cross one of President Vladimir Putin’s “red lines”, and Belarus said it had agreed to take action with Moscow to counter growing NATO activity.
    Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close Moscow ally, accused the United States of setting up training centres in Ukraine which he said amounted to military bases.    He said he had discussed the issue with Putin.
    “It’s clear we need to react to this…(We) agreed that we need to take some kind of measures in response,” Lukashenko was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency.
    Ukraine began joint military exercises with U.S. and other NATO member troops last week, while Russia and Belarus held large-scale drills that alarmed the West.
    Ukraine, which is not a NATO member, has long sought closer ties with the West and its militaries.    It has had fraught relations with Russia since Moscow annexed the Crimea peninsula in 2014 and backed separatists fighting in Ukraine’s east.
    Russia staunchly opposes the idea of NATO membership for Ukraine. It alarmed Ukraine and the West earlier this year by building up military forces near Ukraine’s borders.
    Asked what joint actions Lukashenko had been referring to, the Kremlin said: “These are actions that ensure the security of the two of our states.”
    “President Putin has repeatedly noted the issue of the potential broadening of NATO infrastructure on Ukrainian territory, and (he) has said this would cross those red lines that he has spoken about before,” the Kremlin said.
    Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba rejected the notion of a Russian “red line” outside of Russia’s own borders, and said Kyiv had its own security to think about.
    “Putin’s ‘red lines’ are limited to Russia’s borders,” he tweeted.    “On our side of the Ukrainian-Russian border we can figure out ourselves what to do in the interests of the Ukrainian people, as well as Ukraine’s and Europe’s security.”
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov and Natalia Zinets; Writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Andrew Osborn and Timothy Heritage)

9/27/2021 Serbia Sends Tanks, Troops To Kosovo Border Amid Biden’s Inaction by OAN Newsroom
Serbian army soldiers stand guard by their armoured vehicles in the village of Rudnica near the southern Serbian town
of Raska on September 27, 2021, where tensions are high at the border between Kosovo and Serbia as Belgrade deployed
four armoured vehicles close to the frontier, an AFP correspondent saw.(Photo by IRFAN LICINA/AFP via Getty Images)
    The conflict between Serbia and Kosovo has flared up yet again after Joe Biden failed to follow up on President Trump’s peace deal for the two sides.    On Monday, Serbia deployed tanks and troops near Kosovo border in response to Kosovan officials taking off license plates from Serbian cars.
    This comes after former acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell said Biden squandered Trump’s historic deal between Serbia and Kosovo, which was signed on September 4, 2020.    Serbia said Kosovan officials have been taking an increasingly hostile stance.
    “It’s been several days of these activities, aimed only at raising tensions and threatening the Serbian people.    That must be stopped,” asserted Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic.    “The situation has to return to as it had been before when the circumstances were, I can’t say normal, because they have not been normal for the past 21 years, and then we can sit down and talk.”
    Serbia and Kosovo need to unconditionally de-escalate the situation on the ground.    Any further provocations, unilateral or uncoordinated actions are unacceptable.
    The EU-facilitated Dialogue remains the only platform to address & resolve all open issues.    https://t.co/GVv54dKRB
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) September 26, 2021
    Kosovo accused Serbia of violating terms of an EU-mediated peace process and refused to let Kosovan police into Serbia.    Belgrade has rejected such accusations.

9/29/2021 Hungary’s Orban Hits Czech Campaign Trail To Back PM Babis by Robert Muller
Czech Republic's Prime Minister Andrej Babis welcomes Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban
at the Kramar's Villa in Prague, Czech Republic, September 29, 2021. REUTERS/David W Cerny
    USTI NAD LABEM, Czech Republic (Reuters) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban backed his Czech counterpart Andrej Babis’ re-election bid on Wednesday, making a display of the close ties between the two central European leaders who have supported each other in disputes with the EU.
    The Czech Republic holds a parliamentary election on Oct. 8-9.    Opinion polls put Babis’ centrist ANO party ahead of rivals but some show him falling short of partners to form a majority government, which could hand power to a coalition between the main opposition centre-left and centre-right groups.
    On the campaign trail, accompanied by Orban, Babis stressed how he and the Hungarian leader had blocked the European Commission’s plan to distribute asylum seekers around the bloc under a quota system following Europe’s 2015 migration crisis.
    “We push for our national interests together” in the EU, Babis said after introducing Orban at a joint news conference in the northern town of Usti nad Laben, where the Czech leader heads the ANO party’s ticket.
    Orban also praised their countries’ close cooperation as well as the Czech Republic’s economic success.
    “We in Hungary are ready to maintain close, friendly, sober cooperation with Andrej Babis’s government,” said Orban, whose right-wing Fidesz party has governed Hungary since 2010, often clashing with Brussels over immigration and reforms of the media, the judiciary, academic institutions and NGOs.
    Earlier this week, the Czech government agreed to send 50 police officers to help guard the Hungarian border with Serbia, which Babis also visited last week.
ALLIES
    Babis, a billionaire businessman, has grown increasingly positive about cooperation within the central European Visegrad Group and particularly with Orban in the past few years, despite the EU’s concerns over the rule of law in Hungary.
    The Czech Republic did not join the majority of EU states this year in signing a letter protesting against Hungarian legislation banning the use of materials seen as promoting homosexuality and gender reassignment at schools.
    One of the two main opposition coalitions contesting the Czech election, the Pirate Party/Mayors, attacked Babis over his ties with Orban.
    “Viktor Orban shifted Hungary from democracy to autocracy over the past 10 years,” its chief Ivan Bartos said on Facebook.
    “He liquidates free media, liquidates the opposition, free enterprise, spies on journalists… Such policy is the model for Andrej Babis.”
(Reporting by Robert Muller, writing by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Gareth Jones)
[ITS GOOD TO SEE COUNTRIES LIKE HUNGARY, CZECH REPUBLIC, AND POLAND ARE STANDING UP AGAINST THE ONSLAUGHT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND I STILL THINK THEY SHOULD CREATE THEIR OWN THE CHRISTIAN UNION TO COMPETE AGAINST THE ANTICHRISTIAN UNION AND THEY MIGHT FIND SOME OF THE OTHER NATIONS MIGHT JOIN.].

9/29/2021 Norway’s Centre-Left Labour Seeks To Lead Minority Govt After Socialists Ditch Talk
FILE PHOTO: (L-R) Audun Lysbakken (Socialist Left), Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Centre), and Jonas Gahr Stoere (Labour) attend
the party leaders' debate in the Stortinget, in Oslo, Norway September 14, 2021. Naina Helen Jama/NTB via REUTERS
    OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s centre-left election winners abandoned their attempt to form a majority government on Wednesday after the Socialist Left Party pulled out of the talks, a move likely to lead to the formation of a minority administration.     Labour, the Centre Party and the Socialists won a majority of seats in a parliamentary election on Sept. 13, but failed to bridge disagreements over the environment and wealth distribution during exploratory talks this week.
    The country’s oil and gas production, and its contribution to climate change, was at the heart of the election campaign, and the absence of the Socialists in governement may mean any transition away from petroleum is likely to be gradual.
    “We do not believe we can find a political platform … to have an aggressive enough climate policy,” Socialist Left leader Audun Lysbakken told reporters, explaining his party’s decision.
    Labour leader Jonas Gahr Stoere, who is expected to become Norway’s next prime minister, had argued that a majority government would provide the greatest degree of predictability for the country.
    “I had hoped for a different outcome,” Stoere told reporters.
    Minority governments are common in Norway, however, and incumbent Prime Minister Erna Solberg of the Conservatives has ruled in a minority for most of her eight years in power.
    Solberg has said she will step down as soon as Stoere is ready to take power, with mid-October seen as the most likely timing for a transfer of power.
    Labour and Centre later said they would now negotiate to seek to form a government together, rather than Labour seeking to rule alone.
    “We have big ambitions together,” Stoere told reporters.
    In any case, the new government will be forced to negotiate with parliament on any proposals it presents, including on fiscal spending.
    “We will lead a responsible economic policy,” Stoere said.
    Nowrway’s oil and gas industry pumps around 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, accounting for more than 40% of Norway’s export revenues, although output is projected to fall from 2030 onwards.
    The Socialist Left Party wants to halt all exploration for new resources, which would hasten the oil industry’s decline, but Labour and the Centre have rejected this position.
    Labour is wary of potential job losses from petroleum’s demise, and champions state-sponsored policies to encourage a transfer of engineering know-how from oil production to renewable energy.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Gwladys Fouche, Gareth Jones and Toby Chopra)

9/29/2021 Belarus Opposition Says Man Killed In Shootout Was IT Worker by Natalia Zinets and Matthias Williams
Participants hold portraits of Andrei Zeltser, an IT worker with U.S. company EPAM Systems, during a rally in Kyiv, Ukraine September 29, 2021.
A 31-year-old man, identified by the Belarusian pro-democracy opposition and local media as Andrei Zeltser, was reportedly shot dead by
Belarusian security forces during a raid at an apartment block in the capital Minsk the previous day. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
    (Reuters) -Belarusian security forces shot dead a 31-year-old man, identified by the pro-democracy opposition as an IT worker with U.S. company EPAM Systems, during a raid on Tuesday at an apartment block in the capital Minsk.
    The man had opened fire against the security forces, one of whom also died, the KGB security service said in a statement.    It also said his wife had been arrested.
    The Investigative Committee of Belarus, which investigates major crimes, said a 31-year-old man was “liquidated with return fire” after resisting law enforcement officers.
    Reuters could not independently verify the statements or footage of the incident that was aired on Belarusian state television.
    EPAM declined to comment immediately.
    Forces loyal to President Alexander Lukashenko unleashed a violent crackdown on protests following a disputed election last year, including searches of apartment blocks where they believed protesters were hiding.
    In power since 1994, Lukashenko has defied Western sanctions and opposition calls to step down and described the protesters as criminals bent on violent uprising.
    The IT industry – mainly housed in a state-run technology park on the outskirts of Minsk – was a driving force behind the protests.    EPAM’s Belarusian founder was a signatory to an open letter calling for the release of prisoners and new elections.
    Local media and a senior adviser to exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya identified the man killed as Andrei Zeltser, an IT worker with EPAM.    A LinkedIn page of a man with the same name states he has worked at EPAM since 2016.
    “He was also reportedly a U.S. citizen.    According to his friends, he supported democracy movement in Belarus. His wife is detained. Mother is shocked,”    Franak Viacorka, Tsikhanouskaya’s adviser, wrote on Twitter.
    Tsikhanouskaya later added that the incident was “a result of lawlessness in Belarus.    Our people don’t feel safe anymore – even in their homes.    The autocrat holding onto the power with violence & terror creates a confrontation between Belarusians.”
    Lukashenko’s spokeswoman said the death of the KGB officer would “not remain unpunished.”
    The U.S. Special Envoy for Belarus, Julie Fisher, said the United States was seeking additional information on whether the victim in the shooting was a U.S. citizen or not.
    “This incident appears to provide further evidence of the regime’s disregard for human rights and its willingness to utilize extreme methods to threaten perceived political opponents — a pattern which is regrettably well-established in Belarus,” she said in an emailed statement.
    The official state news agency Belta reported the man was associated with the opposition movement, citing a lawmaker.    The KGB did not identify the man by name or profession but said he was a “terrorist” – language it uses to describe protesters.
    “I can’t say or think anything.    I’m shocked, I don’t understand what’s going on,” Belarusian media outlet Nasha Niva quoted Zeltser’s mother-in-law as saying.    “Andrei is a very good person, a wonderful son-in-law.”
    “Do I consider Andrei a terrorist? Of course not,” she said.
    Footage shown on state television showed plainclothes officers breaking down an apartment door and a man firing at them as they entered.
    “In response to the lawful demands of law enforcement officers, a 31-year-old resident of Minsk refused to open the door of the apartment and was locked inside it.    For the subsequent so-called ‘hype’, he was filming,” the Investigative Committee of Belarus said in a statement.
    “Given the nature of the violence used, armed resistance from a 31-year-old man, he was liquidated with return fire.”
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets, Matthias Williams and Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv; Editing by Grant McCool, Stephen Coates, Catherine Evans and Jonathan Oatis)

9/29/2021 Ukraine Signs Memorandum On Training And Maintenance Centres For Turkish Drones
FILE PHOTO: A drone Bayraktar is seen during a rehearsal for the Independence Day
military parade in central Kyiv, Ukraine August 18, 2021. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
    KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine on Wednesday signed a memorandum to establish joint training and maintenance centres for Turkish armed drones, a statement on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s website said.
    Ukraine has previously bought the drones from the Turkish defence technology company Baykar to bolster its armed forces in their fight against Russian-backed separatists in the war in the eastern Donbass region.
    Turkish ties to Ukraine have irked Russia, which warned Ankara in May against fueling what Moscow called “militaristic sentiment” in Kyiv.
    Baykar has sold its Bayraktar TB2 armed drone to Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Qatar and Libya. Canada scrapped export permits for drone technology to Turkey in April, after concluding that the equipment was used by Azeri forces fighting Armenia in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
    “We have been waiting for this moment for a long time.    This is an important event for us,” Zelenskiy said after the signing of the memorandum with Baykar.
    The memorandum was a step towards joint Ukrainian-Turkish production of the drones, the statement said.
(Reporting by Matthias Williams and Ilya Zhegulev in Kyiv; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

9/29/2021 Russia’s Putin And Turkey’s Erdogan Hold Syria, Defence Talks
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan during
a meeting in Sochi, Russia September 29, 2021. Sputnik/Vladimir Smirnov/Pool via REUTERS
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -The presidents of Russia and Turkey on Wednesday held talks on curbing renewed violence in northwest Syria and on possibly expanding Moscow’s sales of military defence systems to Ankara despite U.S. objections.
    The talks took place in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi and the Kremlin said that President Vladimir Putin was ending a period of coronavirus-related self-isolation by meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
    Neither leader made any detailed statements to the media after the talks, though Putin thanked Erdogan for the visit which he called useful and substantive.
    Turkish officials said before the meeting that Erdogan would press Putin for a return to a ceasefire agreed last year to end a Russian and Syrian army assault on Turkey-backed fighters in Syria’s Idlib region.
    “The steps we take together regarding Syria carry great importance.    The peace there is dependent on Turkey-Russia ties,” Erdogan told Putin at the start of their talks.
    Putin made only a passing reference to Syria in his opening comments, saying it was one of the areas where the two countries cooperated fairly successfully.
    The Russian leader said negotiations with Turkey were sometimes difficult but that the two countries had learnt how to find mutually beneficial compromises.
    A potential Turkish purchase of more Russian S-400 missile defence batteries was on the agenda too, something that Washington has made clear it strongly objects to.
    In an apparent reference to the Americans, Erdogan told Putin he wanted to discuss further defence cooperation regardless of U.S. objections.
    “At the UNGA (U.N. General Assembly), the typical persons especially asked us about certain issues specifically of course,” Erdogan told Putin.
    “We gave them the necessary response anyway.    It is not possible for us to turn back from the steps we took.    I especially believe this: it is of great importance for us to continue by strengthening Turkey-Russia ties every day.”
    NATO member Turkey bought Russian S-400 missile defence batteries in 2019, triggering U.S. sanctions against its defence industries and warnings from Washington of further action if it bought more Russian equipment.
    Erdogan last week indicated Turkey still intended to procure a second batch of S-400s, saying no country could dictate Ankara’s actions.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara and Moscow Buro Editing by Andrew Osborn)

9/29/2021 Exclusive-Flouting U.N. Sanctions In Africa? No One At U.N. Watching After Russia Move by Michelle Nichols and Jonathan Saul
FILE PHOTO: General view of the United Nations Security Council meeting during the 76th Session of
the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S. September 23, 2021. John Minchillo/Pool via REUTERS
    UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Russia is delaying the appointment of panels of independent experts to monitor violations of U.N. sanctions on South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic (CAR)and Mali, diplomats said on Wednesday, leaving their work in limbo.
    Russia is unhappy with the number of experts appointed from Western countries, diplomats said, and would like more Russians named to the panels.    Russia is working to expand its influence in Africa, specifically challenging traditional French sway in Mali and CAR.
    “Russia indeed put on hold the approval of a number of panels or individual experts,” Russia’s deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told Reuters.    “Unfortunately we are still faced with the situation when the proposed composition of such panels is not geographically balanced.    We have a predominance of representatives of Western countries.”
    The mandates for the panel of experts on South Sudan expired on July 1, for Democratic Republic of Congo on Aug. 1, CAR on Aug. 31 and Mali ends on Sept. 30.
    Until the council agrees to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ appointments for the new mandate of these panels, the experts can’t start work and their efforts to track sanctions violations are hampered.
    Russia is also delaying a replacement appointment of one expert to the panel monitoring sanctions on Somalia, diplomats said.    The rest of the experts on that panel are able to work until their mandate expires in mid-December.
    Guterres appoints panels of between four and six independent experts for each of these U.N. sanctions regimes.    They monitor and report to the Security Council on violations and recommend further action.
    Each year the Security Council renews the various sanctions regimes and the mandates for the panels.    Guterres then writes a letter to the council to tell them which experts he has appointed and the 15-member body – by consensus – acknowledges the decision, allowing the panel to start work.
    “Some of the experts do not meet the requirements of impartiality, neutrality and independence,” Polyanskiy said.    “This affects the results of their work.    This situation should be fixed,” Earlier this year, the panel of experts monitoring CAR sanctions accused Russian military instructors and CAR troops of targeting civilians with excessive force, indiscriminate killings, occupation of schools and large-scale looting.    The Kremlin has said it is a lie that Russian instructors had taken part in killings or robberies.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations and Jonathan Saul in London; editing by Grant McCool)

9/29/2021 EU, Britain Urge Russia To Commit To Net Zero CO2 Emissions
FILE PHOTO: A general view shows a plant of Kazanorgsintez polyethylene producer behind residential
buildings in Kazan, Russia February 16, 2021. Picture taken February 16, 2021. REUTERS/Alexey Nasyrov
    BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union, Britain and Italy have urged Russia to commit to reach net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 and step up its plans to tackle climate change ahead of the COP26 summit.
    Russia, one of the biggest polluters that has not set a “net zero” emissions target, is coming under increased pressure as world leaders prepare for the United Nations COP26 summit, which runs from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12 in Glasgow, Scotland.
    “We invite Russia to make even more ambitious commitments to achieve zero net carbon emissions by 2050, joining us and many other countries that have already stated similar goals,” the EU, Britain and Italy’s ambassadors to Russia said in a joint article, published in the Kommersant newspaper.
    The COP26 summit is seen as a crucial chance to wring out ambitious enough commitments from governments to stop global warming spiralling beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius – the limit that scientists say would avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
    The ambassadors urged Russia to “seize this opportunity” to develop renewable energy, green technologies and protect carbon-consuming forests, to help boost its economy and create jobs in low-carbon sectors.
    Russia is a major producer of oil and gas, fossil fuels that when combusted produce the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change.
    Failure to rein in climate change would worsen impacts such as the devastating wildfires and floods that Russia experienced this summer, the ambassadors said, adding that governments must work together to tackle the problem.
    Russia has said it will cut its 2030 emissions to 70% of 1990 levels, a target it is expected to achieve because of de-industrialisation since the Soviet Union broke up in 1991.
    Campaigners have said that goal could actually allow the country to increase its emissions by 2030, when compared with today’s levels.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Gareth Jones)

9/30/2021 Pro-EU Dobrev Leads In Opposition Primary To Take On Hungary’s Orban by Krisztina Than and Gergely Szakacs
Klara Dobrev, candidate of the opposition party Democratic Coalition running in the race to become the opposition's
joint candidate for prime minister, meets with supporters during the first round of the opposition primary
election, in Budapest, Hungary, September 28, 2021. Picture taken September 28, 2021. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Klara Dobrev, a 49-year-old lawyer, has emerged as the front-runner in a joint opposition bid to unseat Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban in 2022 elections, partial results of an opposition primary showed on Thursday.
    Dobrev, whose candidacy would raise the prospect of Hungary’s first female prime minister, is in a close race with Budapest’s leftist mayor Gergely Karacsony, 46, who beat the ruling Fidesz party incumbent in a major upset for nationalist Orban in a 2019 Budapest mayoral election.
    Preliminary results from the first round of the primary election are expected later on Thursday.
    Based on results from nearly half of constituencies, Dobrev, the leftist Democratic Coalition’s candidate for prime minister who favours closer ties with the European Union, leads with about 33.7% of the votes and Karacsony is second with about 29%.
    Conservative Peter Marki-Zay, mayor of a southern Hungarian city, stands third with 21%.
    If no candidate wins more than 50% of votes there will be a second primary round.
    Dobrev, a vice president of the European Parliament, has promised to reduce poverty and work for the adoption of the euro as soon as possible.    Karacsony has also campaigned on a pro-European agenda.    He has promised a more just tax system and to heal political divisions.
    A patchwork of six parties that includes the Socialists, the Democratic Coalition party, liberals, and the formerly far-right Jobbik, which has redefined itself on the centre-right, has formed a united front against Orban for the 2022 parliamentary vote for the first time since he came to power in 2010.
    Orban and his Fidesz party have been in power largely due to an election system that favours big parties.    The fragmented opposition had been unable to join forces in the last three national elections.
    This has changed now, giving hope to opposition voters who turned out in higher-than-expected numbers for the primary, with more than 633,000 people casting votes in Budapest and in 106 constituencies nationwide.
    “I have come to vote as I want to oust this government … we have an unprecedented alliance of all opposition parties,” said Budapest resident Tamas Szabo at a polling station.
    Opinion polls put Fidesz and the opposition coalition neck-and-neck, raising the prospect of the tightest election in more than a decade.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Giles Elgood, Robert Birsel)

9/30/2021 Poland Illegally Pushed Migrants Back Into Belarus, Amnesty Int’l Says
FILE PHOTO: Polish border guard officers stand guard next to a group of migrants stranded on the border between Belarus and Poland near
the village of Usnarz Gorny, Poland August 19, 2021. Picture taken on August 19, 2021. Grzegorz Dabrowski/Agencja Gazeta/via REUTERS
    WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland carried out an unlawful pushback of a group of migrants camped out on its border with Belarus in late August, an analysis of satellite imagery and other photos and videos by NGO Amnesty International published on Thursday said.
    Amnesty said that using satellite imagery from Aug. 18 it was able to detect the movement of these migrants from Polish territory back into Belarusian territory, shedding new light on their case, which has been difficult for NGOs and media to cover amid an ongoing state of emergency along the border.
    “Forcing people back who are trying to claim asylum without an individual assessment of their protection needs is against European and international law,” said Eve Geddie, director of Amnesty International’s European institutions office.
    Poland and fellow European Union states Lithuania and Latvia have reported sharp increases in migrants from countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq trying to cross their borders from Belarus, in what Warsaw and Brussels say is a form of hybrid warfare designed to put pressure on the EU over sanctions it imposed on Minsk.
    Human rights groups and the media have not been able to access the border with Belarus since early September due to a state of emergency declared by the Polish government and expected to be extended by another 60 days starting Thursday.
    Human rights groups have criticised Poland’s nationalist government over its treatment of migrants at the border, with accusations of multiple illegal pushbacks and failure to provide medical support as well as adequate food and shelter.
    Three migrants died on the Polish side of the border and one more just inside Belarus earlier this month while trying to cross into Poland.    The causes of death have not been given. A fifth death – of an Iraqi man just inside Poland, probably from a heart attack – was also reported.
    Among the thousands of migrants who have crossed into Poland since July, more than 30 have been stuck on the precipice of the Polish and Belarusian border since mid-August, with NGOs warning that many of them were in poor health and needed medical support.
    Amnesty International’s finding was published ahead of a meeting in Warsaw on Thursday between European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson and Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski to discuss the situation along Poland’s border with Belarus.
    Last week, the EU executive expressed concern over the plight of migrants stuck on the Polish-Belarusian border and urged Warsaw to protect human lives and allow the bloc’s joint frontier force, Frontex, to provide assistance in the area.
(Reporting by Joanna Plucinska, John Cotton and Robin Emmott; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

9/30/2021 Belarus Should Face Further Action Over Plane Diversion, U.S. Nominee Says by David Shepardson
FILE PHOTO: A Ryanair aircraft, which was carrying Belarusian dissident journalist Roman Protasevich and diverted to Belarus,
where authorities detained him, lands at Vilnius Airport in Vilnius, Lithuania May 23, 2021. REUTERS/Andrius Sytas
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden’s nominee as U.S. representative to a U.N. aviation body suggested on Wednesday that Belarus should be temporarily barred from voting at the council in response to its May diversion of a Ryanair flight.
    “More action needs to be taken,” C. B. “Sully” Sullenberger told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on his nomination to be the U.S. representative on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nations air safety body.
    He noted that under certain conditions ICAO “can temporarily remove the voting rights of a state for violating international norms…We should be pulling every lever necessary to hold accountable those responsible for this act.”
    The Belarus air force intercepted the Ryanair plane flying between Athens and Vilnius on May 23 and forced it to land in Minsk.    Belarusian authorities arrested a dissident journalist and his girlfriend who were on the plane.
    Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, asked at the hearing what options ICAO has “in order to prevent a repeat of these kind of actions.”
    Sullenberger said the Belarus arrest of journalist Roman Protasevich “showed flagrant disregard for international norms of aviation security and safety.”
    Sullenberger said ICAO “must ensure that those standards are upheld” and he vowed to push for a full chronology of what happened.
    Sullenberger rose to fame in 2009 as a commercial pilot who safely landed an Airbus A320 on New York’s Hudson River after hitting a flock of geese.
    The European Union, the United States, Britain and Canada have blacklisted numerous Belarus officials, lawmakers and ministers over the May episode.
    In July, the Biden administration banned ticket sales for air travel between the United States and Belarus.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

9/30/2021 Putin Advances ‘Energy Diplomacy’ With Turkey As Gas Prices Surge by OAN Newsroom
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speak as Erdogan leaves after their talks at the
Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021. (Turkish Presidency Pool Photo via AP)
    Russian President Vladimir Putin is advancing his “energy diplomacy” into Turkey as natural gas prices are hitting their new record highs.    He hosted his Turkish counterpart, Tayyip Erdogan, in the city of Sochi in Southern Russia on Wednesday to discuss the matters.
    Putin asserted the TurkStream pipeline will ensure the energy security of Turkey.
    “The gas pipeline to Turkey and a transit one to southern European countries was fully launched and it’s working,” he stated.
    The pair also discussed the Syrian conflict in which Russia and Turkey support opposing sides.    Putin highlighted “constructive cooperation” despite mutual differences.
    “It’s not easy sometimes to hold negotiations, but it has always a positive final result,” said the Russian president.    “Our diplomats learned to find compromises profitable for two sides.”
    Putin also said Russia’s relations with Turkey are developing positively amid ongoing tensions between Ankara and NATO allies.

9/30/2021 Left-Winger Aims To Become Hungary’s First Female Prime Minister by Anita Komuves
FILE PHOTO: Klara Dobrev, candidate of the opposition party Democratic Coalition running in the race
to become the opposition's joint candidate for prime minister, meets with supporters during the first round
of the opposition primary election, in Budapest, Hungary, September 28, 2021. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo
    BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Klara Dobrev’s first political campaign two years ago earned her leftist party a better-than-expected four seats in the European Parliament. Now she is one step closer to her next goal: ousting nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
    After the first round of opposition primaries the 49-year-old lawyer is now front-runner to become the candidate to lead a united opposition into an election early next year when she hopes to end Orban’s decade in power.
    With her wide experience of state administration, she could become Hungary’s first female prime minister if she wins the second round of opposition primaries, and gets elected in early 2022.
    The granddaughter of a high-ranking communist party official, Dobrev was raised in a wealthy Budapest neighbourhood.
    She has repeatedly said she does not agree with the political views of her late grandparents as her family background has been a frequent target of political attacks by Orban’s ruling Fidesz party.
    Dobrev earned university degrees in economics and law, and then went on to work for the Socialist government.    She gave up her job in 2004 when her husband, Ferenc Gyurcsany, became prime minister.
    A mother of three children, she took on the ceremonial role of first lady, though she once told an interviewer she doubted her ability to “just smile in the background in beautiful clothes.”
    Gyurcsany resigned as prime minister in 2009 and founded a new party, the Democratic Coalition.    Dobrev was a co-founder but stayed in the background until 2019 when she became the party’s face during the European Parliament elections.
    The party got more than 16% of the vote under Dobrev’s lead, nearly tripling its support from a year earlier when they received 5.38% in the national election.    She won a seat in the European Parliament, where she was elected vice president.
    During her latest campaign, Dobrev has pledged to reduce poverty, work for the adoption of the euro as soon as possible, and support the rights of LGBTQ+ people.
    She says she would dismantle Orban’s political system, including the constitution that she considers illegitimate.
    Her husband, however, remains a deeply divisive figure since a tape was leaked in 2006 from a party meeting where he spoke about having lied to voters. Gyurcsany’s image is widely used by Fidesz in attempts to discredit the opposition.
(Reporting by Anita Komuves; Editing by Giles Elgood)
[HOPEFULLY THE PEOPLE OF HUNGARY WILL STEP UP AND KEEP THE CORRUPTION OUT OF THEIR COUNTRY AND SHOW THE EU THEIR OVERREACH IS NOT WELCOME.].

9/30/2021 Russia Declares Editor Who Delved Into Navalny Poisoning A Wanted Man, He Says by Anton Zverev and Tom Balmforth
FILE PHOTO: Roman Dobrokhotov, the editor-in-chief of "The Insider" Russian news outlet, who was taken in
by Interior Ministry officers for questioning over a slander case, is escorted to a police van in Moscow, Russia
July 28, 2021, in this still image taken from video. Video taken July 28, 2021. REUTERS TV/via REUTERS /
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -The editor of a Russian news outlet that angered the Kremlin with its investigations, including into the poisoning of opposition politician Alexei Navalny, said the authorities had declared him a wanted man.
    Roman Dobrokhotov, editor-in-chief of The Insider, told Reuters the authorities had accused him of illegally crossing the border to leave Russia.
    He said he was currently outside Russia and did not want to disclose his location.    He did not say how he had left Russia.
    The Federal Security Service, the successor agency to the Soviet KGB, said Dobrokhotov had illegally crossed the border into Ukraine on the night of July 31 on foot with the help of other unnamed individuals.
    The FSB will seek his arrest and prosecution, it said in a statement.
    The Interior Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
    Media outlets and journalists critical of the authorities faced mounting pressure before a parliamentary election this month and the campaign https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-declares-protest-monitoring-group-ovd-info-foreign-agent-2021-09-29 against people the authorities deem threats to political stability shows no signs of letting up.
    The Insider angered authorities by helping to identify state security officials it said were behind the poisoning of Navalny in August last year.    The Kremlin denies any responsibility for Navalny falling ill.
‘FOREIGN AGENT’
    The Insider is one of several media outlets that Russia has this year declared “foreign agent” media, a designation that carries negative Soviet-era connotations, reduces advertising revenue and imposes labelling requirements on the outlets.
    The Kremlin denies that media outlets are targeted for political reasons.    It says action against them is solely based on the law and media designated as foreign agents can continue their work in Russia.
    On Thursday morning, law enforcement officers searched two Moscow apartments belonging to Dobrokhotov’s family and parents and seized mobile phones and computers, the editor said on Twitter.    The FSB also took his wife and father in for questioning, The Insider reported.
    His lawyer Yulia Kuznetsova told Reuters he had been declared a wanted man on Sept. 23.
    Dobrokhotov said police had confiscated his passport in July after officers searched his home and named him as a witness in an unrelated slander case.
    He accused the police of acting illegally by taking his passport and told Reuters he had every right to travel outside Russia.    He also said he considered the allegation he had illegally crossed the border to be absurd.
    Dobrokhotov attended a conference in the Estonian capital Tallinn in early September that was attended by allies of Navalny, who is currently serving prison time for charges he says were trumped up.
(Reporting by Anton Zverev and Maxim RodionovWriting by Tom BalmforthEditing by Andrew Osborn, Angus MacSwan, Frances Kerry and Gareth Jones)
[YES WE HAVE SEEN THE SAME THING IN THE U.S.A. WHEN A SOLDIER COMPLAINS ABOUT HIS SUPERIORS GETS PUT IN PRISON FOR SPEAKING OUT SO THE U.S. IS BECOMING LIKE RUSSIA SO GOD HELP US.].

9/30/2021 Russia Urges Calm Between Ally Tajikistan, Afghanistan
Tajik service members take part in a military parade near the border with Afghanistan in the town of
Khorog (Khorugh), Tajikistan September 30, 2021. Press Service of President of Tajikistan/Handout via
REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT.
    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia urged Tajikistan and Afghanistan to resolve any dispute in a mutually acceptable manner, saying it had heard reports they were sending troops to their common border, TASS quoted the foreign ministry in Moscow as saying on Thursday.
    Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon has refused to recognise the Taliban-appointed cabinet in Kabul and has lashed out at what he describes as violations of human rights in the Taliban’s siege of the Panjshir province where opposition forces held rallies.     The Taliban, in turn, has warned Dushanbe against meddling in Afghanistan’s domestic affairs.    Ethnic Tajiks make up more than a quarter of Afghanistan’s population, but Taliban members predominantly belong to the biggest ethnic group, Pashtuns.
    “We observe with concern the growing tensions in Tajik-Afghan relations amid mutually strong statements by the leadership of the two countries,” TASS quoted ministry spokesman Alexei Zaitsev as saying.
    According to the Taliban’s own information, tens of thousands of Afghan special forces fighters have been deployed in the Takhar province of northeastern Afghanistan, adjacent to Tajikistan, Zaitsev said.
    Russian RIA news news agency cited Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi as denying the movement was building up its forces at the Tajik border.
    Tajikistan’s foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment on the reports.
    Tajikistan, which hosts a Russian military base, held military parades in two provinces bordering Afghanistan on Wednesday and Thursday.
    U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed concern on Wednesday for U.S.-trained Afghan pilots and other personnel being held in Tajikistan after they fled across the border from Afghanistan last month as the Taliban took power.
    In the war’s final moments, the U.S.-backed Afghan Air Force personnel flew dozens of military aircraft across the Afghan border to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and were detained there.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Additional reporting by Nazarali Pirnazarov in Dushanbe; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Nick Macfie, Alex Richardson and Gareth Jones)

9/30/2021 European Commission Chief Seeks To Reassure Serbia Over EU Bid
FILE PHOTO: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic pose for photographers
prior to a meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, April 26, 2021. Virginia Mayo/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
    BELGRADE (Reuters) -The European Commission moved on Thursday to reassure Serbia of its future European Union membership after an internal document in Brussels showed that EU states could no longer agree to guarantee six Balkan countries a place in the bloc.
    Separately, France said it supported opening formal EU membership talks with Albania and North Macedonia, which hope to join Serbia and Montenegro as official candidates actively preparing to join the bloc, provided they pursue reforms.
    Ahead of a Balkan-EU summit on Oct. 6 in Slovenia, Reuters reported on Tuesday that the 27 member states have so far been unable to agree a declaration reaffirming their 18-year-old pledge of future EU membership for the western Balkan states.
    European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen used her stopover in Serbia on Thursday, part of a six-nation regional tour, to show that Brussels has not forgotten about their aspirations.
    “I am a strong advocate for bringing Serbia into the European Union,” she said in a speech to open a railway.
    “We support Serbia’s ambition to open as soon as possible new accession clusters,” von der Leyen said, referring to negotiating chapters, while also acknowledging that EU states had the final word in allowing Belgrade to move forward.
    Serbia, the largest non-EU Balkan country with about seven million people, is seen as the linchpin in the region and the EU hopes Belgrade’s influence in the Balkans could help others to reform.    The remaining two aspiring EU members are Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo.
BLOCKAGE
    Bulgaria has blocked North Macedonia from starting its membership talks over a cultural and language dispute.    Albania is tied to North Macedonia in the accession process under EU rules.
    French foreign ministry spokesperson Anne Claire Legendre told Reuters that, given reforms to the EU’s accession methodology, the conditions were right for an “intergovernmental conference” to launch membership talks with Skopje and Tirana.
    In February 2018, the European Commission said Serbia could join the EU by 2025, though it added this was a very ambitious goal.    That now looks out of reach as slow progress in rule-of-law reforms are holding up accession negotiations.
    Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic, standing alongside von der Leyen, promised reform and to help improve ties with Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
    Vucic, a former ultra-nationalist who pivoted towards a pro-European stance in 2008, aims to bring his country into the EU, which requires some form of accommodation with Kosovo.
    But Serbians see Kosovo as an inseparable cradle of their national identity and do not recognise its independence.
    In a positive step, Kosovo agreed on Thursday to withdraw police units from its northern border with Serbia to end an escalation over free movement between the two countries that prompted NATO to step up its patrols.
(Reporting by Ivana Sekularac, additional reporting by Robin Emmott in Brussels and John Irish in ParisEditing by Gareth Jones)
[WAKE UP WESTERN ASIA/EASTERN EUROPE – BALKAN STATES, POLAND, ROMANIA, HUNGARY, BULGARIA, CZECHO-SLOVAKIA, YUGOSLAVIA, ALBANIA, ESTONIA, LATVIA, LITHUANIA AND GET AWAY FROM THE GLOBALIZATION OF THE EU BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.].

9/30/2021 U.S. And Russia Say They Held ‘Substantive’ Arms Control Talks In Geneva
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia's President Vladimir Putin meet for the U.S.-Russia
summit at Villa La Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/Pool
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States and Russia said in a joint statement on Thursday that they had held “intensive and substantive” talks in their second meeting within a framework that is aimed at easing tensions between the world’s largest nuclear weapons powers.
    The two countries have agreed to set up two working groups, which will convene ahead of a third plenary meeting. A date for the third gathering was not provided.
    U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose countries hold 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons, agreed at a June summit in Geneva to embark on an integrated bilateral ‘Strategic Stability Dialogue’ to lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures.
    Armed with mandates from their leaders, delegations from the two nations restarted talks in July, the first time in nearly a year that the two had held so-called strategic stability talks amid frictions over a range of issues, including arms control.
    During the second meeting held on Thursday in Geneva, the delegations headed by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov agreed the working groups would focus on principles and objectives for future arms control and capabilities and actions with strategic effects.
    A senior U.S. administration official told reporters that Washington thought it was “a very productive meeting.”
    “Today the discussion was very interactive and broad-based, and we think we were able to cover a variety of issues,” the administration official said, declining to provide specifics.
    “I think this was a good building-on of the meeting that we had in July and both delegations really engaging in a detailed and dynamic exchange,” the official added.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Daphne Psaledakis; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Rosalba O’Brien)

9/30/2021 Kosovo, Serbia Agree Deal To End Border Tensions by Robin Emmott
FILE PHOTO: Kosovo ethnic Serbs pass through barricades near the border crossing
between Kosovo and Serbia in Jarinje, Kosovo, September 28, 2021. REUTERS/Laura Hasani
    BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Kosovo agreed on Thursday to withdraw police units from its northern border with Serbia to end a mounting dispute over vehicle licence plates that briefly escalated into violence and prompted NATO to step up patrols.
    The accord negotiated in Brussels calms the latest flare-up in a decades-old standoff between Serbia and Kosovo but does not resolve a bigger issue blocking European Union membership talks: that Serbia and its former province Kosovo should normalise relations following Pristina’s 2008 independence.
    “We have a deal,” said Miroslav Lajcek, the EU’s envoy dealing with one of Europe’s toughest territorial disputes.    “After two days of intense negotiations, an agreement on de-escalation and the way forward has just been reached,” he said on Twitter, where he posted details.
    Lajcek is due to meet NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday.    NATO welcomed the accord and its chief spokesperson Oana Lungescu called the broader talks “the only path towards achieving a lasting political agreement for the region and it is key to stability.”
    U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar was in Brussels to support EU-led talks, saying they showed the potential for more progress in the Balkans.
    “I think we can make enormous strides in helping the Balkans get over a very difficult period during the ’90s and hopefully, eventually become more integrated with the European Union,” Escobar said on a briefing call with reporters.
    However, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic played down hopes of any broader breakthrough for now.    Serbia does not recognise Kosovo’s independence.
    “I think the agreement is fair for the citizens.    I would like us to be able to find more lasting solutions.    That would not include recognition of Kosovo,” Vucic told a news conference in Serbia, where he was hosting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
SPECIAL STICKERS
    Under the agreement, NATO troops will replace Kosovar police units on the border, who will withdraw from Saturday.    From Monday, both countries will place special stickers on car licence plates to remove national symbols and allow free movement of citizens.
    NATO has had 5,000 troops in Kosovo under a United Nations mandate since June 1999, overseeing a fragile peace following a U.S.-led bombing campaign to end ethnic conflict.
    The new agreement ends a ban instigated by Kosovo for all drivers from Serbia to show a temporary, printed registration.    Pristina said its move was in retaliation for measures in force in Serbia against drivers from Kosovo since 2008.
    Lajcek said he was working on a longer-term solution.
    The confrontation was reminiscent of the larger Kosovo-Serbia dispute that was the EU’s to resolve, diplomats said.    One senior diplomat in Brussels said the flare-up was, in part, an attempt to get Brussels’s attention as the process towards EU membership has stalled.
    Ahead of a Balkan-EU summit on Oct. 6 in Slovenia, Reuters reported on Tuesday that the 27 member states have been unable to agree a declaration reaffirming their 18-year-old pledge of future EU membership for the western Balkan states.
(Reporting by Robin Emmott, additional reporting by Ivana Sekularac and Simon Lewis; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Gareth Jones and David Gregorio)

9/30/2021 Polish Court Delays Ruling On Primacy Of EU Law For The Fourth Time
FILE PHOTO: European Union and Polish flags flutter in Mazeikiai, Lithuania April 5, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo
    WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal on Thursday delayed for a fourth time a ruling on whether the country’s constitution or European Union treaties take precedence, with critics saying Warsaw may be stalling to try to put pressure on Brussels.
    The Tribunal started hearing the case in July but had already adjourned it three times before the Thursday sitting.    The Tribunal head, Julia Przylebska, said the sitting will be adjourned until Oct. 7.
    Poland’s nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government is involved in a series of disputes with the EU on issues ranging from courts and media freedom to LGBT rights.
    Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki brought the case in March as part of a conflict over changes it made to the country’s judicial system.    The EU has accused the government of politicising courts, including the Constitutional Tribunal.
    European Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni has said the court challenge is holding up 57 billion euros ($48 billion) in EU pandemic recovery aid to Warsaw.
    Most EU countries – but not Poland or Hungary – have already won approval from the bloc for their plans, unlocking access to funds to help restart growth.
    Some critics say delaying the Tribunal verdict is an attempt to put pressure on Brussels to accept Poland’s plan.
    “I think this is an element of pressure on the European Commission, on EU partners, a sort of threat which is supposed to hang over this until the EU backs down,” said Jan Grabiec, spokesman for the biggest opposition party Civil Platform.
    PiS says Brussels has no right to interfere with member states’ judicial systems and argues the reforms were needed to remove communist-era influence in the judiciary.    It denies having any influence over court decisions.
    The primacy of European laws over national ones is a key tenet of European integration.    Polish opposition politicians say challenging it not only jeopardises the country’s long-term future in the EU, but also the stability of the bloc itself.
($1 = 1.1714 euros)
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Alicja Ptak; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Frances Kerry)

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