Copenhagen, Denmark — Swedish authorities on Thursday charged a 52-year-old woman associated with the Islamic State group with genocide, crimes against humanity and serious war crimes against Yazidi women and children in Syria — in the first such case of a person to be tried in the Scandinavian country.

Lina Laina Ishaq, who’s a Swedish citizen, allegedly committed the crimes from August 2014 to December 2016, in Raqqa, the former de facto capital of the self-proclaimed IS caliphate and home to about 300,000 people.

The crimes “took place under IS rule in Raqqa, and this is the first time that IS attacks against the Yazidi minority have been tried in Sweden,” senior prosecutor Reena Devgun said in a statement.

In a separate statement, the Stockholm District Court said the prosecutor claims the woman detained a number of women and children belonging to the Yazidi ethnic group in her residence in Raqqa, and “allegedly exposed them to, among other things, severe suffering, torture or other inhumane treatment as well as for persecution by depriving them of fundamental rights for cultural, religious and gender reasons contrary to general international law.”

According to the indictment, the aim was “completely or partially annihilating the Yazidi ethnic group as such and were part of or otherwise related to an armed conflict,” the court said.

In 2014, IS militants stormed Yazidi towns and villages in Iraq’s Sinjar region and abducted women and children. Women were forced into sexual slavery, and boys were taken to be indoctrinated in jihadi ideology.

The woman earlier had been convicted in Sweden and was sentenced to three years in prison, for taking her 2-year-old son to Syria in 2014, in an area that was then controlled by IS. The woman had claimed that she had told the child’s father that she and the boy were only going on a holiday to Turkey. However, once in Turkey, the two crossed into Syria and the IS-run territory.

In 2017, when the Islamic State’s reign began to collapse, she fled from Raqqa and was captured by Syrian Kurdish troops. She managed to escape to Turkey where she was arrested with her son and two other children, she had given birth to in the meantime, with an IS foreign fighter from Tunisia. She was extradited from Turkey to Sweden.

Before her 2021 conviction, the woman lived in the southern town of Landskrona.

The court said the trial was planned to start Oct. 7 and last approximately two months. Large parts of the trial are to be held behind closed doors.
…

AVIGNON, France — Lawyers for some of the men accused of raping an unconscious French woman who had been drugged by her husband questioned her Wednesday about her habits, personal life and sex life, and even questioned whether she was truly unconscious during the encounters.

Gisèle Pelicot’s testimony came a day after her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, told the court that for nearly 10 years, he drugged her and invited dozens of men to rape her as she lay defenseless. She fiercely rejected any suggestion that she was anything but an unwitting victim.

“Since I’ve arrived in this courtroom, I’ve felt humiliated. I am treated like an alcoholic, an accomplice. … I have heard it all,” she said at the start of the day’s proceedings, breaking at times with the remarkable calm and stoicism she has shown throughout the often harrowing trial that has gripped France.

Gisèle Pelicot, who was married to her husband for 50 years and shares three children with him, has become a hero to many rape victims and a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France for waiving her anonymity in the case, letting the trial be public and appearing openly in front of the media.

Her ex-husband and the 50 other men on trial, who range in age from 26 to 74, face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Many of the defendants deny having raped Gisèle Pelicot. Some claim they were tricked by Dominique Pelicot, others say they believed she was consenting, and others argue that her husband’s consent was sufficient.

Gisèle Pelicot and her lawyers say the preponderance of evidence — thousands of videos and photos taken by her ex-husband of men having sex with her while she appeared to be unconscious — should be enough to prove she was a victim and was entirely unaware of what Dominique Pelicot was subjecting her to from at least 2011 until 2020.

But on Wednesday, defense lawyers focused their questions on the notion of consent and whether she was aware of what was happening at any point during some of the 90 sexual encounters that prosecutors believe were rapes.

“Don’t you have tendencies that you are not comfortable with?” one lawyer asked Gisèle Pelicot.

“I’m not even going to answer this question, which I find insulting,” she responded, her voice breaking. “I understand why victims of rape don’t press charges. We really spill everything out into the open to humiliate the victim.”

Another lawyer asked whether she was indeed unconscious during one of the encounters captured on video.

“I didn’t give my consent to Mr. Pelicot or these men behind me for one second,” she said, referring to her ex-husband’s co-defendants. “In the state I was in, I could not respond to anybody. I was in a state of coma — the videos will attest to it.”

The line of questioning upset her.

“Since when can a man decide for his wife?” she said, stressing that only one of her ex-husband’s 50 co-defendants had refused his invitation to rape her. That man met Dominique Pelicot online and invited him to rape his own wife, who was also drugged, authorities contend.

“What are these men? Are they degenerates?” she said angrily. “They have committed rapes. That’s all I have to say.”

Another questioned the time and date stamps on the videos, and whether she thought the sexual acts lasted as long as the stamps suggested. “Rape is not a question of time,” she said.

“To talk of minutes, seconds. … It does not matter how long they spent. It’s so degrading, humiliating what I am hearing in this room,” she said.

At one point, Dominique Pelicot, who already said during the trial that all of the accusations against him are true, came out in support of his ex-wife, saying, “Stop suspecting her all the time … I did many things without her knowing.”

On Tuesday, he testified that all of his co-defendants knew exactly what they were doing when he had them over, saying, “They knew everything. They can’t say otherwise.”
…

…

Islamabad/Washington — Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk met with Pakistani officials in Islamabad on Wednesday to deepen economic ties and expand cooperation “across multiple sectors,” as Moscow grapples with U.S. and EU economic sanctions over its war against Ukraine.

Overchuk’s visit comes after two days of meetings between John Bass, U.S. acting undersecretary of state for political affairs, and Pakistani army chief General Asim Munir and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad.

 

During a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Wednesday in Islamabad, Dar said discussions centered on expanding economic ties between the two countries.

Pakistan’s bilateral trade with Russia reached an unprecedented $1 billion last year. The countries are committed to expanding trade ties by addressing logistical and related issues, Dar said.

According to Dar, Pakistan and Russia are expanding ties in many fields, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchases. However, sanctions against Russia restrict cooperation between the two countries.

“Even today, we looked at how to expand our relationship, and overcome this constraint of the banking system, which you know are facing sanctions, which obviously constrains our relationship, the volume of our relationship could have been much bigger,” Dar said

Dar said Pakistan and the U.S. Department of State had detailed discussions in October 2023, and American officials agreed to Pakistan’s request to purchase Russian LNG, as long as a committee of U.S. trade officials determines the price.

 

According to Dar, Pakistan views Russia as an important player in West, South and Central Asia. He said Pakistan aims to work with Moscow toward peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s army media wing said in a statement on Wednesday that Russia’s Overchuk spoke with General Syed Asim Munir, chief of the army staff (COAS), in Rawalpindi.

“Both reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to fostering traditional defense ties with Russia. Both sides reaffirmed their resolve to strengthen security and defense cooperation in multiple domains,” the statement says.

Analysts say the Russian deputy prime minister’s visit and the expansion of cooperation shows Moscow is expanding its influence in the region.

“In my view, a vacuum has emerged after the U.S. exit from Afghanistan, and Russia is positioning itself to fill that void. China is also making efforts in this direction. As a result, Pakistan is working under this policy framework to improve its relations with regional countries, including Russia,” professor Manzoor Afridi, a Pakistani academic on international relations, told VOA.

Muhammad Taimur Fahad Khan, a Pakistani international affairs expert at Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad, told VOA, “The primary goal during this period is to enhance trade, strengthen diplomatic ties, and develop infrastructure, particularly in the energy sector. However, the United States has restricted certain aspects of Pakistan’s ballistic missile program, while tensions between Russia and Ukraine have escalated. In this context, Pakistan’s relationship with Russia holds significance.”

Pakistan received its first shipment of Russian liquefied petroleum gas in 2023. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif discussed the possibility of liquefied natural gas supplies earlier in July on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit at Astana, Kazakhstan.

This story originated in VOA’s Deewa service.
…

islamabad — Russia expressed support Wednesday for Pakistan’s entry into the BRICS intergovernmental group of major emerging economies from the Global South.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk made the pledge after holding delegation-level talks in Islamabad with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who is also the deputy prime minister.

Pakistan announced last November that it had formally requested to join BRICS, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

“We are happy that Pakistan has applied … and we would be supportive of that,” said the Russian deputy prime minister during a joint news conference with Dar when asked about Moscow’s position on Pakistan’s bid to join BRICS.

“At the same time, there is a consensus that needs to be built within the organization to make those decisions,” Overchuk said, noting that “we have shared a very good relationship with Pakistan.”

Moscow initially launched BRICS in 2009 to provide members with a conduit for challenging the world order dominated by the U.S. and its Western allies. South Africa joined in 2010, and the group expanded this year with new members from the Middle East and Africa.

The Russian deputy prime minister said Wednesday that the organization acts as a platform for discussions “based on quality, mutual respect and consensus” among member countries. “It’s actually what is attracting many countries from throughout the world to BRICS,” he stated.

Russia will host the 2024 BRICS Summit in Kazan on October 22-24.  

 

Overchuk said that Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin would attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or SCO, heads of government meeting in the Pakistani capital next month. 

 

The SCO is a security, political and economic grouping launched by China, Russia and Central Asian states in 2001 as a counterweight to Western alliances. It expanded to nine countries after archrivals Pakistan and India joined in 2017 and Iran in 2023.

In a post-talks statement Wednesday, the Pakistan Foreign Ministry quoted Dar as conveying to Overchuk Islamabad’s “desire to intensify bilateral, political, economic and defense dialogue” with Moscow.

The statement said the two sides “agreed to pursue robust dialogue and cooperation” in trade, industry, energy, connectivity, science, technology and education. 
…

London — Britain is facing growing pressure to address the issue of reparations for the transatlantic slave trade and other atrocities, as the former colonial power and many of its former colonies prepare to gather for the biennial Commonwealth heads of government meeting next month.

The Commonwealth emerged from the ashes of Britain’s empire after World War II. The vast majority of its 56 members are former British colonies.

The organization is set to choose a new secretary-general at its heads of government meeting October 21-25 in Samoa, as the term of incumbent Patricia Scotland comes to an end.

All three candidates vying for the job — all of whom are from Africa — voiced strong support for reparations at a recent event at London’s Chatham House.

Ghanaian Foreign Minister Shirley Botchwey said reparations could take various forms.

“Financial reparations is good. However, the conversation is now moving to other reparations in kind. And so, either way it’s fine, but I stand for reparations,” she said.

“Whether or not the Commonwealth has a role to play will depend on the heads of government who will give the secretary-general her marching orders: that we want you involved in the conversation of reparations, we want you to put forward a common voice on behalf of all Commonwealth countries,” Botchwey added.

Joshua Setipa, a candidate from Lesotho, said the Commonwealth was the right forum to address the issue. “I support the idea of reparative justice, and I would not wait to be asked to participate,” said Setipa, a former trade minister. “More than half of the members around the table are calling for this to be addressed.”

Mamadou Tangara, Gambia’s candidate for Commonwealth secretary-general who is currently serving as the country’s foreign minister, agreed. “I am fully in support of reparatory justice. But this is a cause, a noble cause, that has to be championed by member states. And the Commonwealth can use its convenient power to facilitate the dialogue and make it happen,” he said.

At the last Commonwealth summit, in Rwanda in 2022, Britain’s then-Prince Charles — who is now king and therefore head of the Commonwealth — spoke of his deep sorrow over the slave trade.

“I want to acknowledge that the roots of our contemporary association run deep into the most painful period of our history,” Charles told delegates in Kigali. “I cannot describe the depths of my personal sorrow at the suffering of so many as I continue to deepen my own understanding of slavery’s enduring impact.”

Britain, however, has rejected any form of reparations.

The issue can no longer be dismissed, said Kingsley Abbott, director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London.

“In my view, sitting here in 2024, the fact of transatlantic slavery, the harm it caused, the harm it continues to cause, and the need for this to be addressed in some way meaningfully, can’t really be ignored any longer. And these expressions of support from the candidates I think mirror the fact that the global movement for reparations is growing,” Abbott said.

“Reparations doesn’t just equal monetary compensation under international law. It can take many forms, like restitution and compensation and rehabilitation and satisfaction, things like meaningful apologies, public acknowledgement, memorialization and things like that,” Abbott told VOA.

“And so, therefore, of course the Commonwealth has a role to play. What the Commonwealth can benefit from is the tremendous amount of very important, thoughtful work that’s been done by people, including from Commonwealth states, on this very issue.”

Former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak argued in 2023 that “trying to unpick our history is not the right way forward.” His successor, Keir Starmer, is yet to make his position on reparations clear.

The pressure will likely grow, as officials from Britain and many of its former colonies gather, as equals, at the Commonwealth summit next month.
…

The three candidates vying to become the next secretary-general of the Commonwealth have all given strong backing for Britain and other European powers to pay reparations to their former colonies for past atrocities, including the transatlantic slave trade. Henry Ridgwell has more from London.
…

Russia’s invasion has riddled the farmland in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region with land mines, leaving many local farmers without a job. But since the occupying forces left, some are growing what they can, where they can, and selling it to make ends meet. And they’re getting help from a group of volunteers.  Anna Kosstutschenko has the story.
…

Paris — France’s budgetary situation is “very serious,” Prime Minister Michel Barnier told AFP on Wednesday, saying more information was needed to gauge the “precise reality” of French public finances.  

France was placed on a formal procedure for violating European Union budgetary rules before Barnier was picked as head of government this month by President Emmanuel Macron.  

And the Bank of France warned this week that a projected return to EU deficit rules by 2027 was “not realistic.”  

France’s public-sector deficit is projected to reach around 5.6 percent of GDP this year and go over six percent in 2025, which compares with EU rules calling for a three-percent ceiling on deficits.  

“I am discovering that the country’s budgetary situation is very serious,” Barnier said in a statement to AFP.  

“This situation requires more than just pretty statements. It requires responsible action,” he said.  

The new prime minister, who has yet to appoint a cabinet, is scheduled to submit a 2025 budget to parliament next month, in what is expected to be the first major test for the incoming administration.   

‘Out of the question’ 

Within days of taking office in early September, Barnier said in an interview that “French people want more justice” in terms of fiscal policy, while several politicians have reported the prime minister mentioning possible tax increases in private conversations.  

Such a move would be a red rag to allies of Macron, who oversaw cuts in the corporate tax rate from 33.3% to 25% as well as tax reductions for households, including the wealthiest taxpayers.  

Macron has claimed a reduction in the overall tax burden by 50 billion euros ($56 billion) since he became president in 2017.  

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, a staunch Macron ally, said Wednesday that it was “out of the question” to join, or even back, a government that raised taxes.   

But years of extra spending during the Covid pandemic combined with sluggish growth have caused the French deficit to balloon, sparking the “excessive deficit procedure” by the EU, which is designed to force a country to negotiate a plan with Brussels to get their deficit or debt levels back on track.  

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who is to be replaced soon, promised to bring the deficit back below three percent by 2027 but many analysts have dismissed the plan as implausible.  

France’s central bank governor, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, said this week that the objective was “not realistic” unless the government was willing to risk “stopping growth in its tracks.”   

Apparently backing Barnier’s approach, Villeroy de Galhau called for an “exceptional and reasonable effort asked of some major companies and wealthy taxpayers” to help a recovery in finances. France, he said, could no longer afford “unfunded” tax cuts.   

But tighter fiscal policies could put Barnier on a collision course with Macron, who appointed the experienced politician — best known internationally as the EU’s former chief Brexit negotiator — in the hope that he can survive an early no-confidence vote in parliament.  

‘Dreadful error to go back’ 

“We want a stable fiscal policy that does not undermine policies that caused unemployment to fall and our country’s attractiveness to rise,” said Jean-Rene Cazeneuve, a National Assembly deputy and Macron ally. “It would be a dreadful error to go back on this.”  

Laurent Wauquiez, head of the conservative Les Republican (LR) parliamentary group on whom Barnier will depend for support, said last week that “our conviction is that in a certain number of areas we need rightist policies”. This, he said, meant “no tax rises.”  

The tax question is likely to deepen budding tensions between Macron and Barnier, who is said to have been irritated that the president did not consult him about nominating Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne to the EU Commission.  

“Knowing where Michel Barnier stands on Europe and the loss of French influence, I think he’s just suffered his first humiliation,” said one LR deputy on condition of anonymity. 
…

WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers welcomed Vladimir Kara-Murza to Capitol Hill Tuesday, celebrating the release of the Russian activist from a Kremlin prison last month. 

Kara-Murza was part of the biggest prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Russia since the end of the Cold War. 

 

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin said Tuesday that Kara-Murza “was at the forefront of the human rights struggle and an inspiration for so many people around the world.” 

 

In a letter written upon Kara-Murza’s release, Cardin said, “Your return home is both a personal victory and a testament to the unwavering strength of the human spirit.” 

 

Democratic Representative Bill Keating described Kara-Murza as one of the people Russian President Vladimir Putin most despises because of his ability to speak directly to the Russian people. Kara-Murza has twice survived suspected poisoning attempts. 

 

Kara-Murza, a deputy leader of the People’s Freedom Party, was arrested in Russia in April 2022 and later faced charges of treason and spreading disinformation about the Russian military. Russian prosecutors suggested he face the maximum 25-year sentence in a prison colony. 

 

Kara-Murza was awarded the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in October 2022 and the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2024. 

 

“Surreal doesn’t come close to describing what I feel — just a few weeks ago sitting in a maximum-security prison in Siberia and now seeing so many friends in the halls of the U.S. Congress,” Kara-Murza told a gathering of lawmakers, journalists and activists on Capitol Hill. 

 

Kara-Murza thanked the public for keeping their attention focused on his situation.

“The only way we will be able to achieve long-term peace, stability, security and democracy on the European continent will be with a peaceful, free and democratic Russia,” he said.

The Biden administration secured the release of 16 detainees in return for the release of eight detainees and two minors on Aug. 1.

James O’Brien, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, thanked Kara-Murza for his work on the Global Magnitsky Act, bipartisan legislation that authorizes the U.S. government to sanction government officials throughout the world who are human rights offenders.

“Vladimir, you gave us one of the main tools that we use to focus our advocacy for your freedom in the Global Magnitsky Act, and your work on that, I’m sure you didn’t do it as a tool for yourself, but your work on that has helped us enormously as we work to free prisoners in the Western Hemisphere, in other countries across the world,” O’Brien said.

Democratic Senator Chris Coons said Putin is still holding untold numbers of political prisoners in Russia.

“We must realize [Putin] does that, like all authoritarians, because he’s afraid, afraid of his own people, afraid of accountability, afraid of the Ukrainians who just on the border of Russia are fighting with determination,” Coons said.
…

PENTAGON — Russia’s military is bigger and stronger than it was prior to invading Ukraine in February 2022, the commander of United States Air Forces in Europe and Africa cautioned Tuesday.

“Russia is getting larger, and they’re getting better than they were before. … They are actually larger than they were when [the invasion] kicked off,” Air Force General James Hecker told reporters at the Air & Space Forces Association’s annual Air, Space & Cyber Conference.

The improvements come despite heavy casualties inflicted by Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has estimated that since 2022, more than 350,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded.

“The rates of casualties that they’re experiencing are staggering,” Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder told reporters Tuesday in response to a question from VOA.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered that the Russian army grow by 180,000 active-duty troops for a total of 1.5 million soldiers, making Russia’s military the second largest in the world, behind China’s.

“Russia is going to be something that we’re going to have to deal with for a long time, no matter how this thing ends,” Hecker said.

However, William Pomeranz, a senior scholar at the Kennan Institute, told VOA that “this move suggests that Vladimir Putin is losing the war.”

“This is an open signal from Vladimir Putin that his army and his military is in trouble and doesn’t have the resources to maintain troops in the field,” Pomeranz said.

Despite Russian improvements on the battlefield, Ukraine has continued to put chinks in Russia’s armor, shooting down more than 100 Russian aircraft since Moscow began its full-scale invasion, which amounts to dozens more aircraft than Russia has been able to down on the Ukrainian side, according to General Hecker.

“So what we see is the aircraft are kind of staying on their own side of the line, if you will, and when that happens, you have a war like we’re seeing today, with massive attrition, cities just being demolished, a lot of civilian casualties,” he said.

To gain even the slightest advantages in a war where no clear side dominates the skies, Ukraine has turned to low-cost solutions that also appeal to the U.S. military.

“We have to get on the right side of the cost curve with this. Taking down $10,000, $15,000, $20,000 one-way UAVs [drones] with $1 million missiles, we just can’t afford to do that in the long-term,” the general told reporters. 

General Chance Saltzman, the chief of the U.S. Space Force, announced Tuesday that a Space Force pilot program that uses commercial satellite imagery and related analytics to create more situational awareness for military leaders has proven very cost-effective when compared with traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance collection via U.S. MQ-9 drones, which are expensive and limited in number.

AFRICOM was able to use the $40 million Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Tracking Program to maintain situational awareness during the full withdrawal of U.S. forces from two air bases in Niger in July and August. The drawback, however, was that instead of real-time situational awareness, the data took one to four hours to get to the security team.

“Not as good as real time, right? With MQ-9 that you would have, but it’s better than nothing, right?” Hecker said.

Hecker also said the U.S. was looking into more cost-effective ways to sense incoming threats around bases, including methods like Ukraine’s Sky Fortress system that uses thousands of inexpensive sensors to identify aerial threats. He says the technology has been demonstrated in Romania and other countries.
…

new york — Get ready for a partial lunar eclipse and supermoon, all rolled into one. 

The spectacle will be visible in clear skies across North America and South America Tuesday night and in Africa and Europe Wednesday morning. 

A partial lunar eclipse happens when the Earth passes between the sun and moon, casting a shadow that darkens a sliver of the moon and appears to take a bite out of it. 

Since the moon will inch closer to Earth than usual, it’ll appear a bit larger in the sky. The supermoon is one of three remaining this year. 

“A little bit of the sun’s light is being blocked so the moon will be slightly dimmer,” said Valerie Rapson, an astronomer at the State University of New York at Oneonta. 

The Earth, moon and sun line up to produce a solar or lunar eclipse anywhere from four to seven times a year, according to NASA. This lunar eclipse is the second and final of the year after a slight darkening in March. 

In April, a total solar eclipse plunged select cities into darkness across North America. 

No special eye protection is needed to view a lunar eclipse. Viewers can stare at the moon with the naked eye or opt for binoculars and telescopes to get a closer look. 

To spot the moon’s subtle shrinkage over time, hang outside for a few hours or take multiple peeks over the course of the evening, said KaChun Yu, curator at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. 

“From one minute to the next, you might not see much happening,” said Yu. 

For a more striking lunar sight, skywatchers can set their calendars for March 13. The moon will be totally eclipsed by the Earth’s shadow and will be painted red by stray bits of sunlight filtering through Earth’s atmosphere. 
…

Human rights groups have urged Britain not to copy Italy’s approach in trying to reduce the number of migrants arriving on its shores. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer traveled to Rome this week to learn more about its success in tackling migration, as a surge of people arrive on small boats across the English Channel. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
…

Moscow — Iran’s president committed his country to deeper ties with Russia to counter Western sanctions on Tuesday, state media reported, amid U.S. worries that Tehran is supplying Moscow missiles to hit Ukraine.

Russia’s top security official Sergei Shoigu arrived in the Iranian capital days after meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang. More than two and a half years into its conflict with Ukraine, Moscow has been seeking to develop ties with the two nations, both hostile to the United States.

“My government will seriously follow ongoing cooperation and measures to upgrade the level of relations between the two countries,” the state IRNA news agency quoted Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian as telling Shoigu, Secretary of Russia’s Security Council.

“Relations between Tehran and Moscow will develop in a permanent, continuous and lasting way. Deepening and strengthening relations and cooperation between Iran and Russia will reduce the impact of sanctions.”

The United States views Moscow’s growing relationships with Pyongyang and Tehran with concern and says both are supplying Russia with ballistic missiles for use in the conflict in Ukraine.

Iran has denied sending ballistic missiles to Russia. Moscow has said only that Iran is Russia’s partner in all possible areas.

Shoigu’s trips are taking place at a crucial moment in the war, as Kyiv presses the United States and its allies to let it use Western-supplied long-range weapons to strike targets such as airfields deep inside Russian territory.

President Vladimir Putin said last week that Western countries would be fighting Russia directly if they gave the green light, and that Moscow would respond.

The Nour news agency, affiliated to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Shoigu met his Iranian opposite number, Ali Akbar Ahmadian. There was no immediate information on the outcome of the meeting.

Russia has repeatedly said it is close to signing a major agreement with Iran to seal a strategic partnership between the two countries.

Shoigu was Russian defense minister until May, when he was appointed secretary of the Security Council that brings together President Vladimir Putin’s military and intelligence chiefs and other senior officials.

Apart from meeting North Korea’s Kim last week, he also held talks in St. Petersburg with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
…

London — Meta said it’s banning Russia state media organization from its social media platforms, alleging that the outlets used deceptive tactics to amplify Moscow’s propaganda. The announcement drew a rebuke from the Kremlin on Tuesday. 

The company, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, said late Monday that it will roll out the ban over the next few days in an escalation of its efforts to counter Russia’s covert influence operations. 

“After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets: Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity,” Meta said in a prepared statement. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov lashed out, saying that “such selective actions against Russian media are unacceptable,” and that “Meta with these actions are discrediting themselves.” 

“We have an extremely negative attitude towards this. And this, of course, complicates the prospects for normalizing our relations with Meta,” Peskov told reporters during his daily conference call. 

RT was formerly known as Russia Today. Rossiya Segodnya is the parent company behind state news agency RIA Novosti and news brands like Sputnik. 

“It’s cute how there’s a competition in the West — who can try to spank RT the hardest, in order to make themselves look better,” RT said in a release. 

Rossiya Segodnya did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. 

Meta’s actions comes days after the United States announced new sanctions on RT, accusing the Kremlin news outlet of being a key part of Russia’s war machine and its efforts to undermine its democratic adversaries. 

U.S. officials alleged last week that RT was working hand-in-hand with the Russian military and running fundraising campaigns to pay for sniper rifles, body armor and other equipment for soldiers fighting in Ukraine. They also said RT websites masqueraded as legitimate news sites but were used to spread disinformation and propaganda in Europe, Africa, South America and elsewhere. 

Earlier this month, the Biden administration seized Kremlin-run websites and charged two RT employees of covertly providing millions of dollars in funding to a Tennessee-based content creation company to publish English-language social media videos pushing pro-Kremlin messages. 

Moscow has rejected the allegations. 

Meta had already taken steps to limit Moscow’s online reach. Since 2020 it has been labeling posts and content from state media. Two years later, it blocked state media from running ads and putting their content lower in people’s feeds, and the company, along with other other social media sites like YouTube and TikTok, blocked RT’s channels for European users. Also in 2022 Meta also took down a sprawling Russia-based disinformation network spreading Kremlin talking points about the invasion of Ukraine. 

Meta and Facebook “already blocked RT in Europe two years ago, now they’re censoring information flow to the rest of the world,” RT said in its statement. 

Moscow has fought back, designating Meta as an extremist group in March 2022, shortly after sending troops into Ukraine, and blocking Facebook and Instagram. Both platforms — as well as Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, which is also blocked — were popular with Russians before the invasion and the subsequent crackdown on independent media and other forms of critical speech. The social media platforms are now only accessible through virtual private networks. 
…

AVIGNON, France — A 71-year-old French man acknowledged in court on Tuesday that over nearly a decade, he was drugging his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her, as well as raping her himself. He pleaded with her and their three children for forgiveness.

“Today I maintain that, along with the other men here, I am a rapist,” Dominique Pelicot told the court. “They knew everything. They can’t say otherwise.”

Pelicot’s testimony is the most important moment so far in a trial that has shocked and gripped France and raised awareness about sexual violence. Many also hope his testimony will shed some light — to try to understand the unthinkable.

While he previously confessed to investigators, the court testimony will be crucial for the panel of judges to decide on the fate of some 50 other men standing trial alongside him. Many deny having raped Gisele Pelicot, saying they were manipulated by her then-husband or claiming they believed she was consenting.

Gisele Pelicot has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France for agreeing to waive her anonymity in the case, letting the trial be public and appearing openly in front of the media. She is expected to speak in court after her ex-husband’s testimony on Tuesday.

Under French law, the proceedings inside the courtroom cannot be filmed or photographed. Dominique Pelicot is brought to the court through a special entrance inaccessible for the media, because he and some other defendants are being held in custody during the trial. Defendants who are not in custody come to the trial wearing surgical masks or hoods to avoid having their faces filmed or photographed.

After days of uncertainty due to his medical state, Dominique Pelicot appeared in court Tuesday and told judges he acknowledged all the charges against him.

His much-awaited testimony was delayed by days after he fell ill, suffering from a kidney stone and urinary infection, his lawyers said.

Seated in a wheelchair, Pelicot spoke to the court for an hour, from his early life to years of abuse against his now ex-wife. Expressing remorse, his voice trembling and at times barely audible, he sought to explain events that he said scarred his childhood and planted the seed of vice in him.

“One is not born a pervert; one becomes a pervert,” Pelicot told judges, after recounting, sometimes in tears, being raped by a male nurse in a hospital when he was 9 years old and then being forced to take part in a gang rape at age 14.

Pelicot also spoke of the trauma endured when his parents took a young girl in the family, and witnessing his father’s inappropriate behavior toward her.

“My father used to do the same thing with the little girl,” he said. “After my father’s death, my brother said that men used to come to our house.”

At 14, he said, he asked his mother if he could leave the house, but “she didn’t let me.”

“I don’t really want to talk about this, I am just ashamed of my father. In the end, I didn’t do any better,” he said.

Asked about his feelings toward his wife, Pelicot said she did not deserve what he did.

“From my youth, I remember only shocks and traumas, forgotten partly thanks to her. She did not deserve this, I acknowledge it,” he said in tears.

At that moment, Gisele Pelicot, standing across the room, facing him across a group of dozens of defendants sitting in between them, put her sunglasses back on.

Later, Dominique Pelicot said, “I was crazy about her. She replaced everything. I ruined everything.”

A security agent caught Pelicot in 2020 filming videos under women’s skirts in a supermarket, according to court documents. Police searched Pelicot’s house and electronic devices and found thousands of photos and videos of men engaging in sexual acts with Gisele Pelicot while she appears to lie unconscious on their bed.

With the recordings, police were able to track down a majority of the 72 suspects they were seeking.

Gisele Pelicot and her husband of 50 years had three children. When they retired, the couple left the Paris region to move into a house in Mazan, a small town in Provence.

When police officers called her in for questioning in late 2020, she initially told them her husband was “a great guy,” according to legal documents. They then showed her some photos. She left her husband, and they are now divorced.

He faces 20 years in prison if convicted. Besides Pelicot, 50 other men, ages 26 to 74, are standing trial.
…

TEL AVIV — Ahead of Russia hosting the 2024 BRICS Summit from Oct. 22-24, Turkey’s application to join the group of major emerging economies is coming under scrutiny. 

The BRIC, or Brazil, Russia, India and China, platform was initiated by Russia in 2009 as an informal club to provide members with a conduit for challenging the world order dominated by the U.S. and its Western allies. South Africa joined in 2010, making them BRICS.

While analysts say Turkey’s membership bid is more about playing both sides than challenging its Western allies, some also voice concerns that Ankara is moving away from the West. 

“Turkey’s BRICS bid is one more example of the country’s drift away from the Transatlantic community,” Asli Aydintasbas, visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center on the United States and Europe, told VOA Mandarin.

Turkey’s formal application last week for membership in the BRICS bloc of emerging economies confirmed speculation of the plan after the Kremlin in June welcomed “Turkey’s interest in the work of BRICS” and promised to support Ankara’s aspirations to join it.

Ankara’s move marks the first time a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and a candidate to join the European Union has applied to join a group dominated by Russia and China. 

NATO is a political and military alliance of 32 countries created by the U.S. for collective security against the former Soviet Union. The body also serves as a medium for member-state consultation, cooperation, dispute resolution and crisis management. 

BRICS aims to challenge the political and economic dominance of mainly Western, developed nations. Critics say it struggles to accomplish much and is uniting authoritarian and corrupt governments that seek to silence opposition.

In January 2024, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates were formally added to the group.

“There’s a process of enlarging BRICS that China and Russia are engaged in,” Gallia Lindenstrauss, a fellow at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies Turkey Policy Research, told VOA Mandarin. “This bid announcement is directly tied to the S-400 sales to Turkey, and it comes as a prelude to the upcoming October BRICS meeting in Russia.”

In 2020, the Trump administration slapped sanctions on Turkey for a $2.5 billion acquisition of the Russian S-400 missile system, which is said to pose a risk to the NATO alliance and to U.S. F-35 fighter jets.

Despite the Russian missile deal, Turkey still has clear differences with the BRICS members and summit host concerning Moscow’s war on Ukraine, a key NATO concern.

While most BRICS members have taken a neutral or Russia-leaning stance on Moscow’s invasion, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week expressed “unwavering” support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and said Russia must return annexed Crimea to Kyiv, prompting a mild rebuke from Moscow.

“Turkey is going through an anti-Western mood at the moment,” Aydintasbas says. “This is made worse by events in Gaza.” 

Turkey, whose citizens are mostly Muslims, has been an outspoken critic of U.S. ally Israel’s fight against Hamas in Gaza. The conflict began after Hamas’ attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 and took as hostages 250 people. Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to the territory’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. 

Analysts say Turkey’s impatience over stalled negotiations to join the EU has also fueled its desire to form closer relations with BRICS. Ankara’s EU bid launched in 2005 has been delayed by concerns about its crackdown on Turkish opposition.

Muhdan Saglam, Ankara-based Russian Energy and Russia-Turkey relations commentator, told VOA Mandarin that Turkey’s BRICS bid is a way to show it has different faces — one for the East and another facing West.

“Erdogan is using this to show the West Turkey has alternatives,” Saglam explains. “But BRICS is not an alternative and Western authorities know that. It is important, though, because not one NATO member has applied for membership in a different organization. In this case, the political impact may be more important than economic or defense implications.”

But Saglam says the BRICS bid is also a means for facilitating deals with business partners like China.

BRICS member countries make up about 45% of the world’s population and 28% of the global economy.  BRICS countries produce more than a third of the world’s crude oil. If Saudi Arabia joins the group, which it has indicated it may, BRICS nations would produce some 43% of global crude oil. 

But analysts note while Turkey’s trade with China has grown, to more than $48 billion in 2023, the vast majority were imports from China while Ankara has a more balanced trade with its top partner — the European Union.

“Turkey may ultimately be in BRICS,” Lindenstrauss said. “But there’s no practical serious meaning here in terms of trade partners and it doesn’t change export/import trade factors.”

In June, Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, during a talk at London’s Chatham House think tank, referred to BRICS as “a dialogue platform” versus a formal economic bloc like the EU. 

“The EU remains our core partner in terms of trade investments, tourism flows … so we remain focused (on the EU), but that doesn’t mean we do not look at alternatives if they present value,” he told the forum.

Aydintasbas, of the Brookings Institution, said Turkey’s bid to join BRICS should not be dismissed. 

“BRICS membership may not mean much in practical terms and Turkey is still keen to retain its NATO membership. But it is gradually, inch-by-inch, drifting from the West — and that requires greater strategic thinking on the part of U.S. and other NATO allies, given Turkey’s regional heft and geographic location. Is this an outcome we want?”

The presidents of China and Iran have already confirmed they will attend the October summit in Russia. Although Russian and Chinse state media report the Turkish president has said he will attend the summit, Erdogan’s office has to make an official confirmation.
…

…

Germany began implementing checks on all its land borders Monday as the government tries to crack down on irregular migration. As Henry Ridgwell reports, many of Germany’s neighbors have criticized the plan, which they say undermines the core European Union principle of freedom of movement.
…

geneva — Seven candidates are competing for one of the biggest and best jobs in world sports that traditionally becomes available only every 12 years.

The International Olympic Committee announced on Monday which of its members in a most exclusive and discreet club have entered the race to be its next president. The election by secret ballot is in March.

The winner will replace Thomas Bach, a German lawyer who steps down in June upon reaching the maximum 12 years in office.

The 10th IOC president could be its first female leader, or its first from Africa or Asia. Or even its first from Britain.

They will take over a financially stable organization that demands deft skills in the challenging arenas of sports and real-world politics.

Who are the candidates?

• Prince Feisal al Hussein, an IOC member since 2010, on its executive board since 2019. Founder of the Generations for Peace sports charity. His older brother is King Abdullah II of Jordan.

• Sebastian Coe, IOC member since 2020. President of World Athletics since 2015. Olympic champion in men’s 1,500 meters in 1980 and 1984. Elected lawmaker in British Parliament from 1992 to 1997. Led the 2012 London Olympics organizing committee.

• Kirsty Coventry, IOC member since 2013, on executive board for a second time since 2023. Olympic champion in women’s 200-meter backstroke in 2004 and 2008. Appointed sports minister in Zimbabwe government since 2018. Chairs IOC panel overseeing the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

• Johan Eliasch, IOC member since August. President of International Ski and Snowboard Federation since 2021. Owner of Head sports equipment brand, CEO until 2021. Swedish-British citizen.

• David Lappartient, IOC member since 2022. President of International Cycling Union since 2017. President of France’s Olympic committee and leader of French Alps bid that will host 2030 Winter Games. Chair of IOC esports panel that steered the Esports Olympic Games to Saudi Arabia.

• Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., IOC member since 2001, vice president since 2022, and member of the executive board from 2012 to 2020. Founder of a Spain-based investment bank. Created Samaranch Foundation to promote the Olympics in China in honor of his father, who was IOC president from 1980 to 2001.

• Morinari Watanabe, IOC member since 2018. Japanese president of the International Gymnastics Federation since 2017.

When is the election and who votes?

The IOC election meeting is on March 18-21 at a resort hotel in Greece, near the site of Ancient Olympia.

Candidates and their compatriots cannot vote, leaving about 95 eligible to take part in March. Among them, members of European and Asian royal families, including the Emir of Qatar; diplomats and lawmakers, including a former president of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović; businesspeople, including Nita Ambani, whose husband is India’s richest man; leaders of sports bodies; current and former Olympic athletes.

What is the IOC president’s job?

It’s an executive role running a not-for-profit organization that employs hundreds of staff at a modern lakeside headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The IOC earns several billion dollars in revenue every four years from selling broadcasting and sponsor rights for the Summer Games and Winter Games.

Most of the money is distributed to the Olympic family: organizers of upcoming Games, including youth editions, governing bodies of Olympic sports, more than 200 national Olympic bodies, scholarships for potential Olympic athletes and special projects.

The job ideally calls for a deep knowledge of managing sports, understanding athletes’ needs and political skills.

How long can IOC presidents stay in the job?

A maximum of 12 years, with a first term of eight years and the chance for one re-election for a further four.

However, the IOC has an age limit of 70 and complex rules around membership status. It means some of the seven candidates could have to seek a special exemption while in office to complete a full eight-year mandate.

What are the challenges and big decisions ahead?

• Picking a host for the 2036 Summer Games, with India and Qatar as strong contenders.

• Renewing the United States broadcast deal that has typically underwritten Olympic finances. Bach moved quickly in 2014 to renew NBC’s deal through 2032. The next deal starts with the 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

• Both decisions factor into wider questions in regard to drafting the global sports calendar. July-August has been the optimal Summer Games slot since 2004. But a 2036 Doha Olympics could not be held in those months, and where could Games be comfortably held after another decade of climate change?

• When and how can Russia be reintegrated fully into international sports with no end to its invasion of Ukraine in sight? Coe’s world track and field body currently excludes Russian athletes entirely.
  …