At the start of a three-day visit to Algeria, President Emmanuel Macron indicated Thursday that France and the North African country should move beyond their “painful” shared history and look to the future.

The trauma of French colonial rule in Algeria and the bitter war for independence that ended it in 1962 has haunted relations between the two countries for decades and played into a diplomatic dispute that erupted last year.

“We have a complex, painful common past. And it has at times prevented us from looking at the future,” Macron said after meeting Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

Standing alongside Macron in front of the intricate North African tilework of the palace where they met, Tebboune said, “We hope the visit will open up new perspectives for partnership and cooperation with France.”

Ties with Algeria have become more important for France because the war in Ukraine has increased demand in Europe for North African gas and because migration has been surging across the Mediterranean.

Algeria is meanwhile seeking to capitalize on higher energy prices to lock in European investment.

Macron has long wanted to turn the page with Algeria, and in 2017, he described French actions during the 1954-62 war that killed hundreds of thousands of Algerians as a “crime against humanity.”

That declaration, politically controversial in France, won him popularity in Algeria when he last visited five years ago, and he was celebrated by young Algerians.

Macron will again reach out to Algerian youth on this visit, with scheduled stops focused breakdancing and North African “Rai” pop music. France is home to more than 4 million people of Algerian origin.

However, Macron’s hopes of moving beyond the fraught history of the colonial era have proved premature.

Last year he was quoted as suggesting that Algerian national identity did not exist before French rule, and he reportedly accused Algeria’s leaders of rewriting the history of the independence struggle based on a hatred of France.

The comments provoked a storm in Algeria, where the generation that fought for independence still dominates the ruling elite and where that struggle occupies a central place in national identity.

Algeria withdrew its ambassador for consultations and closed its airspace to French planes, complicating the French military mission in the Sahel.

Before his meeting with Tebboune, Macron visited a monument to Algerians killed in the war, placing a wreath there. He said the two governments would establish a joint committee of historians to study archives of the colonial era.
…

Dutch aid agencies tended Thursday to hundreds of migrants camped in sweltering heat outside an overcrowded center for asylum-seekers as Dutch authorities investigated the death of a baby in the center a day earlier.

The Dutch arm of Doctors Without Borders deployed medics to the tiny village of Ter Apel in the northeastern Netherlands to give first aid and other assistance. A mobile hospital was expected to arrive Friday, said the organization’s national director, Judith Sargentini. It is the first time the humanitarian group was called in to assist with a Dutch crisis.

For two nights running, some 700 people have slept outdoors because the asylum reception center with an official capacity of 2,000 does not have space for them and the Dutch government is scrambling to find emergency accommodation.

With temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius on Thursday, migrants lay listlessly on blankets under four canvas shades held up by wooden poles. Some sheltered in the shadow of a Red Cross station that had Wi-Fi and power for charging their phones.

Others squabbled as they tried to board a bus to a nearby town. Inside a tent, a medic checked people who wanted care. Blue plastic children’s paddling pools were set up as washing stations, and a small row of portable toilets stood near the covered areas.

Sargentini compared the situation to overcrowded migrant camps in Greece.

“These are 700 people sleeping rough: no showers, very bad facilities, no health care from the institutions,” Sargentini told The Associated Press. “And it might not be as crowded as on the Greek isles, but if you come here after a long journey as a refugee, you think you find safety, but you find neglect. And you sleep like this. Even if you are healthy, you’ll get sick here.”

She said two people were hospitalized Thursday — a man who had a heart attack and another who did not have medication for his diabetes.

State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Eric van der Burg told reporters he was “deeply shocked” by the death of the 3-month-old baby. The cause of death was under investigation, he said.

Mohammad Ali, a 34-year-old Syrian who crisscrossed Europe to reach the Netherlands and has been in Ter Apel for about a month, said he was shocked at the conditions there.

“I’m surprised from the bad conditions here because I didn’t hear about it,” he said.

A number of factors have created the crisis in Ter Apel. It can take months or more to process the asylum applications of migrants arriving from so-called safe countries who ultimately are not entitled to stay. A housing crisis means refugees often have nowhere to go once they have been granted a residency permit and therefore stay on at asylum-seeker centers.

While many Dutch towns and cities offered places for Ukrainians who fled the war in their country, the welcome mat has worn thin for asylum-seekers from other countries. The majority of people arriving in Ter Apel are Syrians fleeing their nation’s grinding civil war.

“There’s about 60,000 Ukrainians in municipalities that are being housed there, and there you can see it was possible. But when it comes to non-Ukrainian refugees — people here are mostly from Syria, from Turkey, Afghanistan — municipalities still look the other way,” said Sander Schaap of refugee aid group VluchtelingenWerk.

In a sign of growing anger at the situation among residents, a group protested Thursday night near the asylum-seeker center, carrying banners that said “Real Refugees OK, Troublemakers Go Away” and “Enough of the Nuisance.”

The situation in Dutch asylum-seeker centers has gotten so bad that VluchtelingenWerk last week took the government and its asylum agency to court to produce improvements. Nobody from the agency was available for comment Thursday.

Sargentini wants to see change even sooner but is not optimistic.

“If we can leave tomorrow because of the government taking its responsibility, we will,” she said. “But currently, together with the Red Cross, we are here to give that needed help.”
…

Turkey is deepening trade relations with Russia in the face of Western sanctions against Moscow. Political observers say Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could be relying on Russian support to help ease Turkey’s growing economic woes as he faces reelection next year. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
…

An engineer working under Russian occupation since March 4 at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) has told VOA that Russian forces have placed artillery and missile installations within and around the property of the plant and have themselves caused explosions near the plant in an apparent attempt to discredit the Ukrainian military.

The account of the engineer, whose identity is being withheld for fear of retaliation by the occupying authorities, supports Ukrainian government claims that Russia itself is responsible for the explosions in the area of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Russian officials have repeatedly said the explosions are the result of Ukrainian rocket and artillery fire.

Negotiations have been under way for inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to gain access to the site to determine the risk of a catastrophic accident. IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said this week that he hopes to conclude negotiations with the two countries on details of an inspection visit soon.

The interview with the engineer, a longtime resident of the city of Enerhodar, where the plant is located, took place before Ukraine’s state company, Energoatom, announced Thursday that fires at a nearby coal-fired plant had cut off the last connection line between the plant and the Ukrainian power grid. The IAEA later said Ukraine told it that power had been restored through a nearby thermal power facility.

Following is a transcript of the interview, which was conducted in Russian by VOA’s Georgian Service and has been translated.

 

VOA: How difficult is the current situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant?

To date, the situation at the Zaporizhzhia NPP can be characterized as steadily difficult. At this stage, the safety of the nuclear power plant is under control. But all the ZNPP staff have to work under a lot of pressure from the Russians.

Because of this, the psychological condition of the employees is critical. In addition to almost daily shootings and bombings, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is the largest in Europe, and a radiation leak would be a global disaster.

VOA: The Ukrainian side claims that the Russians often use the territory of the power plant for artillery and missile strikes, as well as having mined the machine halls of their nuclear reactors.

I can confirm that it is. Different types of Russian artillery and missile installations are located both inside the territory of the nuclear power plant and around it, on the perimeter, near the Kakhovka Reservoir. The territory of the power plant is also filled with other Russian military equipment. As for putting mines in the facility, they talk about it here, too, but I have not seen it personally.

VOA: The Ukrainian side also claims that the Russians themselves are bombing the ZNPP territory.

Several times, from the so-called promzone [industrial zone], they bombed places that cannot affect the safe operation of the power plant. I think that the Russians are trying to discredit the armed forces of Ukraine for the purpose of propaganda that the Ukrainian army is hitting the nuclear power plant from the other side of the Dnieper River. At the same time, the Russians deliberately damaged the high-voltage power lines that connect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant with the Ukrainian power system.

VOA: What danger does this pose to a nuclear power plant?

In order to function properly, a nuclear power plant needs to send the generated energy to the power system, and electricity is needed for the pumps to work properly and for the timely cooling of the nuclear fuel in the nuclear reactors.

Here, they think that by damaging the high-voltage power lines, the Russians want to arrange a small accident and stop ZNPP for a short time, then supply us with electricity from Crimea and automatically switch the nuclear power plant to the Russian energy system. This is a very dangerous plan.

 

VOA: How is Zaporizhzhia NPP managed now?

The nuclear power plant is under the control of the National Nuclear Energy Generating Company of Ukraine [NNEGU], and we receive our salaries in Ukrainian hryvnias, which are credited to our bank cards.

So far, the Russians have not touched the management of the nuclear power plant, although I think it will happen soon. The pressure is getting stronger. Representatives of Rosatom [Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation] have arrived here several times.

They say that soon, we will be fully subordinated to Rosatom. We will work for the Russian energy system, and we will be paid in Russian rubles.

We are told that those who oppose it will have to leave their jobs. Since the occupation began, quite a few have left. However, for the safe operation of the station, operational personnel are in place and continue to work on a full-time basis. What will happen if we are disconnected from the energy system of Ukraine, it is very difficult to say. I hope it will not happen.

VOA: What is the situation in the city of Enerhodar?

In Enerhodar, the situation is relatively calm, if the occupation can be called peaceful. Artillery bombardment occurs periodically. There are still shots, according to the sounds. I think that the Russians are bombarding the cities of Nikopol and Manganets on the other side of the Dnieper River from our side, that is, from the Kakhovka Reservoir.

Enerhodar is run by the Russian military administration. Freedom of speech and expression [have] been destroyed. Ukrainian TV channels and the internet have been shut down. Since July 13, Russian internet Miranda has been turned on from Crimea. From August 1, Ukrainian mail also went out. Ukrainian banks have also left. Everyone’s salary and pension are paid in hryvnias to their cards. Both Ukrainian hryvnias and Russian rubles are in circulation here in shops and markets.

From September, the Russians are going to start teaching in the Russian language in schools, although a large part of the teachers have left, and I don’t know how they will do it. They have completely destroyed the education system. They are distributing Russian passports. This process is also going badly. It did not go past a few dozen grandparents. They were unable to raise the issue of the so-called “Republic of Zaporizhzhia referendum” yet. They have no real support.

Despite the war, we have not yet experienced a shortage of produce or medicine in the city, although the prices of everything have risen catastrophically. Supplies are made from Crimea and Russia, as well as from Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro and Kharkiv. This logistics is still working.

Some of the people left the city. They are still leaving. There are people left with families who have been working at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant for years. I personally do not know where to go if the situation becomes more complicated.

VOA: It was reported that the Russians have agreed to allow International Atomic Energy Agency experts to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. What can they change?

The International Atomic Energy Agency has been conducting periodic inspections here, and now after the inspection, it will make a conclusion as to whether the safety standards are observed in the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant or whether there is a danger of an accident or radiation leakage.

The expectation is that after the agency’s conclusion, international pressure on Moscow will intensify, and Russia will be required to withdraw heavy weapons and troops from the nuclear power plant. I think this is unrealistic. The Russians will not leave here by their own will. Without a war, it is impossible.

People here are also very dissatisfied with the Ukrainian government and demand an answer from Zelenskyy. We surrendered the entire south practically without a fight. We have known for years that Crimea was annexed, and everyone was expecting an attack from there.

At this time, the Russians entered Kherson, Melitopol — here, too, practically — without serious military resistance. At least they should have it in order not to enter the Zaporizhzhia region. To this day, I do not believe what happened. How could [the] Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant be given to Russia? Life under occupation is terrible.
…

Sweden’s immigration policies are a big factor heading into elections next month on September 11th, when Swedes head to the polls to pick a new parliament, perhaps resulting in a new prime minister. The hard right Sweden Democrats party admits to having a neo-Nazi past and polls just ahead of the election show the party gaining political ground. Some observers say public concerns about Sweden’s immigration policies could mean a previously unthinkable coalition between the far right and moderate forces is on the verge of forming.

Erik Hedtjärn is a political editor at Stockholm’s Svenska Dagbladet newspaper. He tells VOA that a new political landscape is taking shape in Sweden ahead of the upcoming election and it’s unclear which coalition will take power. The Sweden Democrats, a populist party with ties to right wing extremism in the 1990s, gained parliamentary seats in the 2010 election. It appears to be growing further in popularity, according to polls, and could result in an unlikely coalition.

“A number of parties in Sweden still says that it’s actually unthinkable to cooperate or form an alliance with the Sweden Democrats because of their past. Another way of looking at it is we’ve made some polls where we’ve asked: Which party could you accept as part of the government? Interestingly enough. Sweden Democrats. More people can accept them as part of the government than the Green Party,” he said.

Hedtjärn says the Liberals/Moderates and other centrists to the right are likely to join forces with the Sweden Democrats party.

“So, we have two new coalitions that are the main alternatives in this election which makes it different in many ways. One of the interesting things now is that those coalitions joined a wide-range of parties. On the left, you have the left, far-left and centrists. The other side you have the Liberals party and the Sweden Democrats. Two kind of disparate coalitions which have in themselves a lot of tensions. It’s not really clear how a government would function that emanates from such a wide coalition,” he said. 

Part of the Sweden Democrats’ appeal, observers say, plays on people’s fears about migration. Sweden took in the largest number of refugees per capita in the 2015 wave that hit Europe. Unlike the United States, there are no background checks on arrivals.

However, other Swedes find a Sweden Democrats’ campaign ad abhorrent. Posting a picture of a train car with the party logo, spokesman Tobias Andersson, tweeted: 

“Welcome to the repatriation train. You have a one-way ticket. Next stop, Kabul.”  Observers say Afghans are unfairly targeted, especially given the Taliban takeover last year, where ethnic and religious minorities could face death, if returned.

Swedish economist and blogger Julia Wiklander of Girls’ Globe and others warn that giving wider political berth to the Sweden Democrats undermines cherished values fundamental in Swedish society, like providing safety to people escaping conflict.

“Sweden has a reputation of being a leader for human rights globally, a leader in terms of our responsibility, our engagement with issues around the world. But a lot of things in the past decade have either stood still in Sweden or have really stagnated. A lot of issues are also at risk. At the same time, a lot of people still look up to Sweden. When we don’t reflect on history, and we don’t reflect on where Sweden is actually failing to stand up for human rights, we risk losing them,” said Wiklander.

The “whole political debate has shifted from human rights and environment issues, now with a strong polarization” on each side of the political spectrum gaining ground in communities and families, Wiklander says, adding that in her view, the rhetoric is growing “very charged and worrying.”
…

Authorities in Myanmar have detained Britain’s former ambassador to the Southeast Asian nation, where a military junta seized power last year, three people with knowledge of the situation said Thursday. 

Vicky Bowman, who currently runs the Myanmar Center for Responsible Business (MCRB), and her husband, Htein Lin, a Burmese artist and former political prisoner, were detained on Wednesday, the sources said, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue. 

A source with knowledge of the situation said Bowman and her husband had been charged with immigration offenses. 

The arrest comes as Britain announces it is imposing fresh sanctions to target military-linked businesses in Myanmar and joining the case against Myanmar in the International Court of Justice. 

Britain is the fourth country after the Maldives, Netherlands and Canada, to vow formal support for the case brought by the Gambia against Myanmar to determine whether its military conducted genocidal operations against Rohingya Muslims in 2016 and 2017. 

Three companies are being penalized with sanctions “in an effort to limit the military’s access to arms and revenue,” the British government said in a statement on Wednesday. 

A spokesperson for the Myanmar junta did not answer repeated calls seeking comment. 

Myanmar has been in political and economic chaos since the military overthrew an elected government in early 2021. 

More than 15,000 people have been arrested and 12,119 remain in detention, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an activist group. The junta claims that figure is exaggerated. 

A British embassy spokesperson in Yangon said: “We are concerned by the arrest of a British woman in Myanmar. We are in contact with the local authorities and are providing consular assistance.” The spokesperson did not name the individual. 

Bowman, 56, served as ambassador to Myanmar from 2002 to 2006 and has more than three decades’ experience in the country. 

Her husband Htein Lin, 55, is one of Myanmar’s most famous artists and a veteran activist who spent 6 1/2 years, between 1998 and 2004, in prison for his opposition to an earlier junta. 

The couple had been remanded in custody and were being sent to Insein prison, a source said, the notorious jail on the outskirts of the commercial capital of Yangon where many political prisoners are held. 

The source added their young daughter remained “safe and well.” 

Bowman is the latest foreigner to be detained in Myanmar. 

Sean Turnell, an Australian economist and longtime adviser to deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and Japanese freelance filmmaker Toru Kubota also remain in detention. 

Their governments have called for them to be released. 

 
…

Twelve thousand people in five months — that’s how many older adults received support from a Kyiv charity called “Onuky”, or “grandchildren” in Ukrainian. Anna Kosstutschenko spoke with the group’s volunteers about their work. VOA footage and video editing by Paviel Syhodolskiy.
…

Finland’s prime minister, Sanna Marin, has addressed a video posted on social media last week showing her dancing with a group of friends and celebrities.

The video of the 36-year-old, taken at a party that included Finnish celebrities, was soon published by several Finnish media outlets and spread internationally.

Shortly after the video leaked, pictures emerged of a private party at the prime minister’s official residence in Helsinki showing two well-known female social media “influencers” kissing each other, covering their bare breasts with a sign that read “Finland.”

Tuesday the prime minister publicly apologized for the pictures. She had also earlier agreed to take a drug test, which came back negative on Monday.

Addressing a gathering of her Social Democrat party in Helsinki’s Lahti Market Square Wednesday, Marin said it had been a difficult week for her, but added, “I am human, and I too sometimes long for joy, light and fun amidst these dark clouds.” She said sometimes that involves pictures and videos and other things the public might not want to see and she might not want them to see.

But she was quick to add, “I have not missed a single day of work. I have not left a single task undone.”

The prime minister received the support of her party and remains popular with the public, though in the days since the video was released, there has been a debate in the media about how the prime minister’s leisure activities might affect her job performance.

Some information for this report was provided by the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
…

The US is sending a new tranche of military assistance to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s invading force, a package valued at $3 billion dollars. This aid comes on top of the more than $10 billion in military assistance the U.S. has already sent to Ukraine in the past year and a half. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb has the details.
Video Editor: Kimberlyn Weeks
…

The White House announced its largest-ever security assistance package for Ukraine on Wednesday — six months to the day since Russia invaded — with a $3 billion commitment that brings the U.S. price tag for this 184-day conflict to $13.6 billion.

Unlike previous aid packages that addressed immediate military needs, this new package focuses on medium- and long-term military assistance that will take months or even years to land.

“This is a long-term commitment to Ukraine to continue to fight for their freedom, and bravely, as they have been doing for the past six months,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

She added that President Joe Biden will speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday. When asked if or when Biden might visit Zelenskyy in Kyiv, John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator of strategic communications, told reporters there currently are no plans for such a trip.

In late June at a NATO summit, Biden said U.S. support for Ukraine would continue “as long as it takes.” On Wednesday, the White House said that remains true.

“President Biden has been clear that we will continue to hold Russia accountable and support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Kirby said Wednesday. “… And we’re going to continue to rally the free world, galvanize allies and partners to support Ukraine as they again defend their sovereignty against this further invasion by Russia.”

The Pentagon emphasized this large new commitment doesn’t presuppose an outcome to the grueling conflict, which technically started in 2014 with Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

“This type of package does not presume any particular outcome of a conflict in Ukraine,” Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, told reporters on Wednesday. ”So, for example, if the war continues for years, this package is relevant. If there is a cease-fire or a peace settlement, this package is still relevant, because Ukraine needs the ability to defend itself and deter future aggression.

There are signs that European interest in funding Ukraine has waned, with European foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warning the continent in July against what he called “democratic fatigue” that Russia would try to exploit.

That does not seem to be the case in the U.S., where large aid packages have sailed almost effortlessly through Congress, and where a July poll saw seven out of 10 Americans support continued assistance.

But Elias Yousif, a research analyst with the Stimson Center’s Conventional Defense Program, said the administration has an obligation to continue to sell this expenditure to American taxpayers.

“It really is incumbent upon the administration to make the case to the American people as to why this investment is important,” he said via Zoom. “You know, the United States is clearly spending a great amount of time and effort on this problem. And it’ll be very important for government officials and for public policy to be pitching to the American people why this is more than just about Ukraine, why this speaks to their interests and to a certain vision for the world, and a certain world order that has their best interest at heart.”

More bullets than Ukrainians

In the last six months alone, the U.S. has doled out nearly $10 billion worth of support, comprising thousands of anti-missile and anti-armor systems, hundreds of vehicles, and nearly 60 million rounds of small-arms ammunition — more bullets, in fact, than there are Ukrainians.

“I absolutely think that it’s been worth it,” Ivana Stradner, an analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, told VOA via Zoom. “This war is also our war. So, it is in American interest to help Ukraine to win as fast as possible so we actually do not allow [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to wage this war in the way that he wants, and to put him actually on defense, rather than to allow Russia to dictate how long this war is going to last.”

But Yousif also warned the administration to be vigilant about where this assistance ends up.

“One of the main risks that we are all looking at is the risk of diversion of military hardware onto the black market,” he said. “This is something that we’ve seen time and time again from U.S. military aid programs, especially the very large ones. The United States, unfortunately, has a history of losing track of some of the arms that it provides in these large-scale military aid efforts, whether that’s been in Iraq or Afghanistan.

“And Ukraine also has a history of being a nexus of the illicit arms market — really, since the end of the Cold War. So, taken all together, the potential for losing some of these arms or having them leak into the black market could be quite high,” Yousif said.

Uncertain end, but certain determination

Now, six months and $13.6 billion later, how does this end? While no one knows the answer, the Biden administration has been clear on who holds the key to ending the war.

“It could end now,” Kirby said, “if President Putin did the right thing and pulled his troops out of Ukraine. There’s no reason for them to be there in the first place. … Sadly, we haven’t seen any indications by the Russian side that they’re willing to do that — quite the contrary.”

Zelenskyy, for his part, approached the six-month mark — which this year happened to fall on the day Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union 31 years ago — with determination and a hint of optimism.

“For 180 days, almost six months, the absolute majority of our people have no doubts that we will achieve the victory of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. “We are united. We are more confident now in ourselves than we have been in many decades.”

VOA’s Carla Babb contributed to this report.
…

As Ukraine marks the six-month anniversary of Russia’s invasion, VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports on the fallout from the conflict. Millions of refugees have fled the country, food exports have plummeted and the United Nations is warning that the world faces “maximum danger” over the situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.
…

The number of coronavirus deaths reported worldwide fell by 15% in the past week while new infections dropped by 9%, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

In its latest weekly assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.N. health agency said there were 5.3 million new cases and more than 14,000 deaths reported last week. WHO said the number of new infections declined in every world region except the Western Pacific.

Deaths jumped by more than 183% in Africa but fell by nearly a third in Europe and by 15% in the Americas. Still, WHO warned that COVID-19 numbers are likely severely underestimated as many countries have dropped their testing and surveillance protocols to monitor the virus, meaning that there are far fewer cases being detected.

WHO said the predominant COVID-19 variant worldwide is omicron subvariant BA.5, which accounts for more than 70% of virus sequences shared with the world’s biggest public viral database. Omicron variants account for 99% of all sequences reported in the last month.

Earlier this week, Pfizer asked U.S. regulators to authorize its combination COVID-19 vaccine that adds protection against the newest omicron relatives, BA.4 and BA.5, a key step towards opening a fall booster campaign.

The Food and Drug Administration had ordered vaccine makers to tweak their shots to target BA.4 and BA.5, which are better than ever at dodging immunity from earlier vaccination or infection.

Meanwhile, in the U.K., regulators authorized a version of Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine last week that includes protection against the earlier omicron subvariant BA.1. British officials will offer it to people aged 50 and over beginning next month.

In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Cabinet approved legislation Wednesday that ensures basic protective measures against the coronavirus pandemic are continued during the fall and winter, when more virus cases are expected.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, millions of students wearing face masks streamed back to primary and secondary schools across the country on Monday for their first in-person classes after two years of coronavirus lockdowns.

Officials had grappled with daunting problems, including classroom shortages, lingering COVID-19 fears, an approaching storm and quake-damaged school buildings in the country’s north, to welcome back nearly 28 million students who enrolled for the school year.
…

President Joe Biden on Wednesday praised the “extraordinary courage and dedication to freedom” of the Ukrainian people in fending off Russian fighters, six months into Moscow’s invasion, while demonstrating continued U.S. support for Kyiv’s forces with nearly $3 billion in new military aid.

On Ukraine’s Independence Day marking 31 years since escaping Soviet rule in 1991, Biden said the day “is not only a celebration of the past, but a resounding affirmation that Ukraine proudly remains – and will remain – a sovereign and independent nation.”

Biden said the new tranche of military assistance was designed to help Ukraine defend itself over the long term, with U.S. officials saying some of the weaponry might not be used for a year or two. The U.S. leader said the package would include air defense systems, artillery systems and munitions, counter-unmanned aerial systems, and radars.

The new aid comes on top of about $10.6 billion in military assistance the U.S. has already sent to Ukraine in the last year and a half.

Biden said he knows that this year’s Independence Day “is bittersweet for many Ukrainians as thousands have been killed or wounded, millions have been displaced from their homes, and so many others have fallen victim to Russian atrocities and attacks.”

He added, “Today and every day, we stand with the Ukrainian people to proclaim that the darkness that drives autocracy is no match for the flame of liberty that lights the souls of free people everywhere.”

In Norway, the defense ministry issued a statement saying Norway and Britain are jointly supplying Ukraine with micro drones used for “reconnaissance and target identification.”

Norway is also supplying a portable system that would allow Ukrainian forces to jam enemy drones, which the Norwegian defense ministry said is “particularly suitable for protecting smaller patrols, artillery positions and other important resources.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a video address from Kyiv’s Independence Square, said Ukrainians are “fighting for our destiny” and will defend their land “until the end.”

He declared that while the end of the war would be marked by peace, now Ukraine wants victory.

“And we will put our hands up only once — when we will celebrate our victory. The whole of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. “Because we do not trade our lands and our people. For us, Ukraine is all of Ukraine. All 25 regions, without any concessions or compromises.”

Zelenskyy said Ukraine would regain control of the eastern Donbas region, where heavy fighting has raged for months, as well as Crimea.

Russian forces shifted their focus to the Donbas after failing in an early push toward the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Russian-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces in the Donbas since 2014. The same year, Russian seized Crimea in a move not recognized by the international community.

“You don’t want your soldiers to die? Free our lands,” Zelenskyy said. “You don’t want your mothers to cry? Free our lands. These are our simple and clear terms.”

Public Independence Day celebrations were banned in Kyiv as Ukrainian leaders, and the United States, warned of increased Russian efforts to strike civilian infrastructure and government facilities in Ukraine.

Pope Francis used part of his general audience Wednesday to renew a call for prayers for the Ukrainian people, saying they have “been suffering the horrors of war for six months now,” according to Vatican News.

“I hope that concrete steps will be taken to bring an end to the war and to avert the risk of a nuclear disaster at Zaporizhzhia,” the pope said, referring to a nuclear power plant that Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of attacking in recent weeks.

The pontiff also talked about what he called “the madness” of war and losses on both sides of the conflict, saying children “have lost their father or mother, whether Russians or Ukrainians.”

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
…

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Ukrainians are “fighting for our destiny” as the country marked its Independence Day along with six months since Russia launched its invasion.

Speaking in a video address from Kyiv’s Independence Square, Zelenskyy said Ukraine will fight for its land “until the end,” and that while once the end of the war would be marked by peace, now Ukraine wants victory.

“And we will put our hands up only once — when we will celebrate our victory. The whole of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. “Because we do not trade our lands and our people. For us, Ukraine is all of Ukraine. All 25 regions, without any concessions or compromises.”

Zelenskyy said Ukraine would regain control of the eastern Donbas region as well as Crimea.

Russian forces shifted their focus to the Donbas after failing in an early push toward the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Russian-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces in the Donbas since 2014. The same year, Russian annexed Crimea in a move not recognized by the international community.

“You don’t want your soldiers to die? Free our lands,” Zelenskyy said. “You don’t want your mothers to cry? Free our lands. These are our simple and clear terms.”

Public Independence Day celebrations were banned in Kyiv as Ukrainian leaders, and the United States, warned of increased Russian efforts to strike civilian infrastructure and government facilities in Ukraine.

Military aid

U.S. officials are expected to announced as early as Wednesday an additional $3 billion in new aid to train and supply Ukrainian forces for years to come. The officials said the assistance would fund contracts for drones, weapons and other equipment that may not be used on the battlefront for a year or two.

Unlike most previous packages that provided immediate battlefield assistance, the new funding is largely aimed at helping Ukraine secure its medium- to long-term defense.

The new aid would come on top of about $10.6 billion in military assistance the U.S. has already sent to Ukraine in the last year and a half.

Norway’s defense ministry said in a statement Wednesday that Norway and Britain are jointly supplying Ukraine with micro drones used for “reconnaissance and target identification.”

Norway is also supplying a portable system that would allow Ukrainian forces to jam enemy drones, which Norwegian defense ministry said is “particularly suitable for protecting smaller patrols, artillery positions and other important resources.”

‘Madness’ of war

Pope Francis used part of his general audience Wednesday to renew a call for prayers for the Ukrainian people, saying they have “been suffering the horrors of war for six months now,” according to Vatican News.

“I hope that concrete steps will be taken to bring an end to the war and to avert the risk of a nuclear disaster at Zaporizhzhia,” the pope said, referring to a nuclear power plant that Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of attacking in recent weeks.

Pope Francis also talked about what he called “the madness” of war and losses on both sides of the conflict, saying children “have lost their father or mother, whether Russians or Ukrainians.”

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
…

Russia’s leading internet firm Yandex on Tuesday said it had agreed to sell its news aggregator and yandex.ru homepage to rival VK in a move likely to further limit Russians’ access to independent media.

The all-share deal, in which Yandex will acquire 100% of food delivery service Delivery Club, marks a significant shift in Russia’s internet landscape, with Yandex effectively passing control over distribution of online content to a state-controlled firm.

VK already runs Russia’s largest social network, V Kontakte, while Moscow has blocked access to some foreign platforms, including Meta Platforms’ Facebook and Instagram.

Russia’s yearslong suppression of independent media intensified sharply after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, passing a law banning what it calls “false information” about the armed forces and quashing many organizations’ ability to broadcast freely.

“The board and management of Yandex have concluded that the interests of the company’s stakeholders … are best served by pursuing the strategic exit from its media businesses and shifting to a focus on other technologies and services,” Yandex said in a statement.

Nasdaq-listed Yandex, often referred to as “Russia’s Google,” has in recent years complied with Moscow’s demands under threat of fines over which publications’ stories can feature on its news aggregator, drawing criticism over the impact on media freedom.

Moscow has not blocked access to most foreign-language media, which remain freely available in Russia and on Yandex, but search results do restrict access to any sites that communications regulator Roskomnadzor has banned, many of which are Russian-language independent media.

In February, Yandex started warning Russian users seeking information about events in Ukraine of unreliable information online.

In March, a former head of Yandex News, Lev Gershenzon, described Yandex as a key element in hiding information about the conflict in Ukraine. Yandex has denied being complicit in censorship.

“We are buying our freedom,” a source close to Yandex said. “This business had been such a weight on our feet. … This will enable us to do our business significantly depoliticized, practically completely depoliticized.”

Yandex dominates Russia’s online search market with a share of around 62%, according to its own analytics tool Yandex Radar. Google accounts for about 36%, with VK’s mail.ru at less than 1%.

That stronghold over the online search market will likely continue.

Yandex.ru displays a bundle of news stories below its search bar, followed by a rolling stream of content. The company’s entry point for search will now become ya.ru, a site that resembles Google’s homepage and is already popular with those who prefer uncluttered searches.

Yandex.ru, complete with News and Zen, will be renamed dzen.ru, Yandex said, with VK to take over development and control over “content, look and feel.”

The deal, signed on Monday, requires anti-monopoly approval and is expected to close in the coming months, Yandex said.

*Please note from Reuters that this content was produced in Russia where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine.
…

Unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, are playing a huge part in the war in Ukraine. But keeping them in the air can be challenging. One Ukrainian company is doing just that and more. Kateryna Markova has the story. Camera – Viktor Petrovych.
…

The United States warned Tuesday that Russia is “stepping up efforts to launch strikes against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming days.”

The message posted by the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv followed similar warnings from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about potential Russian actions against Ukraine coinciding with his country’s Independence Day.

“Russian strikes in Ukraine pose a continued threat to civilians and civilian infrastructure,” the U.S. Embassy said, adding that U.S. citizens should depart Ukraine if they are able.

Wednesday marks 31 years since Ukraine gained independence from Soviet rule, as well as six months since Russia launched its war.

Amid the warnings, Kyiv canceled public Independence Day celebrations.

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda traveled Tuesday to Kyiv for talks with Zelenskyy and other officials about military, economic and humanitarian support for Ukraine.

The head of Duda’s office, Pawel Szrot, told reporters the neighboring leaders would also discuss “how Poland can politically help to persuade other countries to help.”

Elsewhere in the country, Ukraine’s military said Tuesday that Russian forces carried out fresh artillery and airstrikes in the Zaporizhzhia region where fighting has raised concerns about safety near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.

Ukrainian casualties

Ukraine’s military chief said Monday nearly 9,000 soldiers have died since Russia invaded Ukraine almost six months ago.

General Valerii Zaluzhnyi made the remarks at a veterans event, giving the first official toll of Ukraine’s military losses since April.

The United Nations says it has confirmed the deaths of more than 5,500 civilians during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began February 24.

The U.N. children’s agency said Monday it has confirmed at least 972 Ukrainian children killed or injured from violence but said the true number is likely to be much higher.

Most of the child casualties have been caused by the use of explosive weapons, according to a statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
…

Ukraine marks six months on Wednesday since Russia invaded the country in what Russian President Vladimir Putin calls a “special military operation.” 

Ukraine and its Western backers accuse Moscow of waging an unprovoked war of aggression with the aim of grabbing land and erasing Ukrainian national identity. 

Putin said his aim was to disarm the country in order to preemptively ensure Russia’s own security against NATO expansion and to rid it of far-right nationalists who he said threatened Russia. 

Here is a timeline of the main events in Ukraine’s political history since it won independence from Moscow in 1991. 

1991: Leonid Kravchuk, leader of the Soviet republic of Ukraine, declares independence from Moscow. In a referendum and presidential election, Ukrainians overwhelmingly back independence and elect Kravchuk president. He is replaced by Leonid Kuchma in 1994, when Ukraine also agrees to relinquish its nuclear arsenal — the world’s third largest, inherited from Soviet times – in return for security assurances based on respect for its independence and sovereignty under the Budapest Memorandum signed also by Russia, the United States and Britain. 

2004: Pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovich is declared president but allegations of vote-rigging trigger protests in what becomes known as the Orange Revolution, forcing a re-run of the vote. A pro-Western former prime minister, Viktor Yushchenko, is elected president. 

2005: Yushchenko takes power with promises to lead Ukraine out of the Kremlin’s orbit, towards NATO and the European Union. He appoints former energy company boss Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister but after in-fighting in the pro-Western camp, she is sacked.   

2010: Yanukovich defeats Tymoshenko in a presidential election. Russia and Ukraine clinch a gas pricing deal in exchange for extending the lease for the Russian navy at a Black Sea port on Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula. 

2013: Yanukovich’s government suspends trade and association talks with the EU in November and opts to revive economic ties with Moscow, triggering months of mass rallies in Kyiv. Putin accuses the West of inciting and supporting the protests.   

2014: The protests, largely focused around Kyiv’s Maidan Square, turn violent. Dozens of protesters are killed. In February, the parliament votes to remove Yanukovich, who flees. Within days, armed men seize parliament in Crimea and raise the Russian flag. Moscow annexes the territory after a March 16 referendum which shows overwhelming support in Crimea for joining Russia. 

April 2014: Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region declare independence. Fighting breaks out and continues sporadically into 2022, despite frequent ceasefires. 

July 2014: A missile brings down passenger plane MH17 over eastern Ukraine en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 people on board. Investigators trace back the weapon used to Russia, which denies involvement. 

2017: President Petro Poroshenko, a pro-Western billionaire businessman in power since May 2014, clinches an association agreement with the EU on free trade of goods and services. Ukrainians also gain the right to visa-free travel to the EU.   

2019: Former comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskyy defeats Poroshenko in an April presidential election on promises to tackle endemic corruption and end the war in eastern Ukraine. His Servant of the People party wins a July parliamentary election. 

2021: Zelenskyy appeals in January to U.S. President Joe Biden to let Ukraine join NATO. Russia masses troops near Ukraine’s borders during the spring in what it says are training exercises. In December Russia presents detailed security demands including a legally binding guarantee that NATO will give up any military activity in eastern Europe and Ukraine. In response, NATO repeats a commitment to its “open-door” policy while offering “pragmatic” discussions of Moscow’s security concerns. 

2022: In a televised address on February 21, Putin says that Ukraine is an integral part of Russian history, has never had a history of genuine statehood, is managed by foreign powers, and has a puppet regime. Putin signs agreements to recognize the breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent and orders Russian troops there. The West imposes more economic sanctions on Russia. On February 24, Putin declares war in a pre-dawn televised address and Russia launches a three-pronged invasion, targeting Ukrainian forces and air bases with missiles and artillery and striking areas in cities. As tens of thousands of people flee their homes, Zelenskyy orders a general mobilization. 
…

The Hungarian government on Monday fired the head of the national weather service and her deputy, two days after a fireworks display to celebrate Hungary’s national holiday was delayed for fear of storms.

Technology Minister Laszlo Palkovics, under whose authority the National Meteorological Service (NMS) falls, relieved President Kornelia Radics and her deputy Gyula Horvath from their duties but did not provide a reason.

The ministry did not immediately return AFP’s call.

But the announcement came a day after pro-government media criticized NMS for their forecast of thunderstorms and gusts of wind, which prompted the cancellation of the fireworks on Saturday.

Online news outlet Origo said the agency had given “misleading information about the extent of the bad weather, which misled the operation team responsible for security.”

The NMS agency apologized on Sunday, citing “a factor of uncertainty inherent in the profession.”

In a reaction broadcast on the social network Facebook, liberal politician Andras Fekete-Gyor joked: “They couldn’t produce the desired weather, they were fired.

“No, it’s not a dictatorship in Central Asia, it’s the Hungary of Fidesz,” he said, referring to the country’s ruling party.

The fireworks display — billed as “the biggest in Europe” to celebrate “Hungary’s millennial state” — has been rescheduled for later this week.

The opposition had earlier called for its cancellation, denouncing it as “a useless waste of money” at a time when the country’s economy is struggling.

In 2006, the annual festivities were hit by a violent storm that killed five people and injured several hundred, causing widespread panic among more than a million people who had gathered to watch on the banks of the Danube.
…

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has already killed some 9,000 Ukrainian soldiers since it began nearly six months ago, a general said, and the fighting Monday showed no signs that the war is abating.

At a veterans event, Ukraine’s military chief, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said many of Ukraine’s children need to be taken care of because “their father went to the front line and, perhaps, is one of those almost 9,000 heroes who died.”

In Nikopol, across the river from Ukraine’s main nuclear power plant, Russian shelling wounded four people Monday, an official said. The city on the Dnieper River has faced relentless pounding since July 12 that has damaged 850 buildings and sent about half its population of 100,000 fleeing.

“I feel hate toward Russians,” said 74-year-old Liudmyla Shyshkina, standing on the edge of her destroyed fourth-floor apartment in Nikopol that no longer has walls. She is still injured from the Aug. 10 blast that killed her 81-year-old husband, Anatoliy.

“The Second World War didn’t take away my father, but the Russian war did,” noted Pavlo Shyshkin, his son.

The U.N. said 5,587 civilians have been killed and 7,890 wounded in the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began Feb. 24, although the estimate is likely an undercount. The U.N. children’s agency said Monday that at least 972 Ukrainian children have been killed or injured since Russia invaded. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said these are U.N.-verified figures but “we believe the number to be much higher.”

U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of Britain, France and Germany pleaded Sunday for Russia to end military operations so close to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant — Europe’s largest — but Nikopol came under fire three times overnight from rockets and mortar shells. Houses, a kindergarten, a bus station and stores were hit, authorities said.

There are widespread fears that continued shelling and fighting in the area could lead to a nuclear catastrophe. Russia has asked for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council Tuesday to discuss the situation — a move “the audacity” of which Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decried in his evening video address.

“The total number of different Russian cruise missiles that Russia used against us is approaching 3,500. It is simply impossible to count the strikes of Russian artillery; there are so many of them, and they are so intense,” Zelenskyy said Monday.

Vladimir Rogov, an official with the Russia-installed administration of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region, claimed that because of shelling from Ukraine, staffing at the nuclear plant had been cut sharply. Ukrainians say Russia is storing weapons at the plant and has blocked off areas to Ukrainian nuclear workers.

Monday’s announcement of the scope of Ukraine’s military dead stands in sharp contrast to Russia’s military, which last gave an update March 25 when it said 1,351 Russian troops were killed during the first month of fighting. U.S. military officials estimated two weeks ago that Russia has lost between 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers, both killed and wounded in action.

On Monday though, Moscow turned its attention to one specific civilian death.

Russia blamed Ukrainian spy agencies for the weekend car bombing on the outskirts of Moscow that killed the daughter of a far-right Russian nationalist who ardently supports the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia’s Federal Security Service, the main successor to the KGB, said Monday the killing was “prepared and perpetrated by the Ukrainian special services.” It charged that the bombing that killed 29-year-old TV commentator Darya Dugina, whose father, political theorist Alexander Dugin, is often referred to as “Putin’s brain,” was carried out by a Ukrainian citizen who left Russia for Estonia quickly afterward.

Ukrainian officials have vehemently denied any involvement in the car bombing. Estonian officials say Russia has not asked them to look for the alleged bomber or even spoken to them about the bombing.

On the front lines, the Ukraine military said it carried out a strike on a key bridge over the Dnieper River in the Russian-occupied Kherson region. Local Russia-installed officials said the strike killed two people Monday and wounded 16 others.

Photos on social media showed thick plumes of smoke rising over the Antonivskyi Bridge, an important supply route for the Russian military in Kherson.

On the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula, anxiety has been spreading following a spate of fires and explosions at Russian facilities over the past two weeks. The Russian-backed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, ordered signs showing the location of bomb shelters be placed in the city, which had long seemed untouchable.

Razvozhaev said on Telegram the city is well-protected but “it is better to know where the shelters are.”

Sevastopol, the Crimean port that is the home of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, has seen a series of drone attacks. A drone exploded at the fleet’s headquarters July 31, and another was shot down over it last week. Authorities said air-defense systems have shot down other drones as well.

On Monday evening, Sevastopol residents reported hearing loud explosions on social media. Razvozhaev said the air-defense system had shot down “an object … at high altitude.”

“Preliminary (conclusion) is that it is, again, a drone,” he wrote on Telegram.

Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t directly mention the war during a speech Monday marking National Flag Day but echoed some of the justifications cited for the invasion.

“We are firm in pursuing in the international arena only those policies that meet the fundamental interests of the motherland,” Putin said. He maintains that Russia sent troops into Ukraine to protect its people against the encroaching West.
…