The Biden administration, which has sought to isolate Moscow diplomatically on the world stage, is supporting efforts to re-establish technical cooperation with Russia in one of the world’s most challenging geographical regions – the Arctic.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States has successfully lobbied to boot Moscow out of various international forums, including the U.N. human rights body and international aviation agency. Last year, President Joe Biden went so far as to call for Russia to be kicked out of the Group of 20 major economies, or G20, a proposal that fizzled due to a lack of support.

But the polar region is the one place where Washington is not icing Russia out completely. Specifically in the Arctic Council, a forum for the eight Arctic states, including the U.S. and Russia, to address common challenges such as climate change, shipping routes and indigenous people’s rights.

“The administration believes the Arctic Council should continue to serve as the premier forum for cooperation among Arctic states, including on sustainability, protecting the environment, addressing the impacts of climate change, scientific research, and on other issues of importance to member countries,” said a senior administration official, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity to discuss security issues.

With no end in sight for the war in Ukraine, the administration is now working with other members of the council — Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden — to re-establish some of the ties to Moscow that were fully suspended shortly after Russia’s invasion.

As programs ground to a halt last year, Russia remained chair of the council until it handed the baton to Norway in May 2023. Morten Høglund, the council’s chair of the Senior Arctic Officials, said they are aiming to begin work on a technical level.

“The Norwegian Chairship of the Arctic Council is in the process of consulting with all Arctic States and Indigenous Permanent Participants to develop guidelines for the resumption of Working Group-level work with all Arctic States, including the Russian Federation,” Høglund told VOA.

Russia’s acceptance

Russia has indicated it wants to remain in the council. During a press conference following the chairship handover, Nikolay Korchunov, Russia’s Arctic official, said Moscow wants “comprehensive security in the region” and is “absolutely not interested in escalating the tension in the Arctic.”

“It can all be sorted out by dialogue, which would strengthen the trust,” Korchunov said.

Trust is a tall order for the consensus-based council. With Finland joining NATO in April and Sweden soon to follow, Russian security interests are diametrically opposed to those of the transatlantic allies who now call themselves the Arctic Seven.

Amid increasing challenges, though, such as rapidly melting icecaps, loss of biodiversity, and increased needs for disaster response, there’s little choice but to seek room to collaborate.

The task is now to find the gaps in the current diplomatic freeze and identify areas where scientific cooperation and other forms of non-governmental dialogue are possible, and to prepare for a post-conflict period, said Pavel Devyatkin, a senior associate at the Arctic Institute.

“Practical cooperation can build trust, especially between rivals,” he told VOA. “Though government-level science may be restricted, cooperation at the individual-level is still manageable but has many obstacles such as visa restrictions and closed consulates.”

Rationale for cooperation

The main rationale is Russia’s sheer size. With a land area of 17,098 million square kilometers, it makes up 45% of the geographical Arctic, and its coastline accounts for 53% of the Arctic Ocean coastline.

With climate change causing the ice to recede, international shipping is making increasing use of the Northern Sea Route, or NSR, which follows Russia’s coast from the Barents Sea to the Bering Strait. Ships sailing through the NSR need Moscow’s permission and an escort from Russia’s icebreaker fleet, the largest in the world.

However, the “most serious loss would be the loss of Russian data,” said Patrick James, professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California. Without Moscow’s participation, he told VOA, climatological research will suffer.

This includes research for the council’s Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program that has proven instrumental for global policy. AMAP studies showing the buildup of toxic chemicals in the blood of polar species critical to Indigenous People’s diets helped shape the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

China–Russia ties

Continued Western sanctions have pushed Moscow to increasingly depend on Beijing as a source of financing for energy projects, such as the Yamal LNG Terminal, and infrastructure plans to develop the Arctic region.

“Developing the Northern Sea Route was always a Russian goal,” said Stephanie Pezard, senior political scientist focusing on Arctic Security at RAND Corporation. “And right now, they don’t have any partners to do that, except China.”

For Beijing, investing in Russian sea ports will help with access to the Northern Sea Route, she told VOA. China has no Arctic coastline but calls itself a “Near-Arctic Power.”

The degree of Russian-Chinese strategic polar partnership is ambiguous, however, said the Arctic Institute’s Devyatkin.

“Despite the hype around the Polar Silk Road, there has been no shipping from the Chinese Overseas Shipping Company, or COSCO, along the Northern Sea Route since February 2022,” he said. “It is also unlikely that Russia would allow a permanent Chinese military presence in the Arctic to rival its own defensive complex in the region.”

From Beijing’s point of view there is a limit to how much alignment it should seek with Moscow as it tries to promote itself as a responsible stakeholder deserving a voice in Arctic affairs, said Matthew Funaiole, a China Power Project senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

And while the polar region is emerging as a space with plenty of structural tensions, Funaiole said it’s too early to conclude it has become another front for U.S.-China rivalry, the primary theater for which remains in the Indo Pacific.

“The Arctic is not going to supplant that anytime in the near future,” he told VOA.
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MELEKHOVO, Russia — A Russian court convicted imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny of extremism charges and sentenced him to 19 years in prison Friday. Navalny is already serving a nine-year term on a variety of charges that he says were politically motivated.

The new charges against the politician related to the activities of Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation and statements by his top associates. It was his fifth criminal conviction, all of which his supporters see as a deliberate Kremlin strategy to silence its most ardent opponent.

The prosecution had demanded a 20-year prison sentence, and the politician himself said beforehand that he expected to receive a lengthy term.

Navalny is already serving a nine-year sentence for fraud and contempt of court. He also was sentenced in 2021 to two and a half years in prison for a parole violation. The extremism trial took place behind closed doors in the penal colony east of Moscow where he is imprisoned.

Navalny appeared in the courtroom Friday afternoon wearing prison garb and looking gaunt but with a defiant smile on his face. As the judge read out the verdict, the politician stood alongside his lawyers and his co-defendant with his arms crossed, listening with a serious expression on his face.

Putin’s fiercest opponent

The 47-year-old Navalny is President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe and has exposed official corruption and organized major anti-Kremlin protests. He was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.

Navalny’s allies said the extremism charges retroactively criminalized all of the anti-corruption foundation’s activities since its creation in 2011. In 2021, Russian authorities outlawed the foundation and the vast network of Navalny’s offices in Russian regions as extremist organizations, exposing anyone involved to possible prosecution.

One of Navalny’s associates, Daniel Kholodny, stood trial alongside him after being relocated from a different prison. The prosecution requested a 10-year prison sentence for Kholodny.

Navalny rejected all the charges against him as politically motivated and accused the Kremlin of seeking to keep him behind bars for life.

On the eve of the verdict hearing, Navalny released a statement on social media, presumably through his team, in which he said he expected his latest sentence to be “huge … a Stalinist term,” referring to the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

In the statement, Navalny called on Russians to “personally” resist and encouraged them to support political prisoners, distribute flyers or go to a rally. He told Russians that they could choose a safe way to resist, but he added that “there is shame in doing nothing. It’s shameful to let yourself be intimidated.”

‘Punishment cell’

The politician is currently serving his sentence in a maximum-security prison — Penal Colony No. 6 in the town of Melekhovo, about 230 kilometers (143 miles) east of Moscow.

He has spent months in a tiny one-person cell, also called a “punishment cell,” for purported disciplinary violations, such as an alleged failure to properly button his prison clothes, appropriately introduce himself to a guard or wash his face at a specified time.

About 40 supporters from different Russian cities gathered outside the colony in Melekhovo on Friday, one of them told The Associated Press in the messaging app Telegram. Yelena, who spoke on condition that her last name be withheld for safety reasons, said the supporters weren’t allowed into the colony but decided to stay outside until the verdict was announced.

“People think it’s important to be nearby at least like that, for moral support,” she said. “We will be waiting.”

The prosecution asked the court to order the politician to serve any new prison term in a “special regime” penal colony, a term that refers to the Russian prisons with the highest level of security and the harshest inmate restrictions.

Russian law stipulates that only men given life sentences or “especially dangerous recidivists” are sent to those types of prisons.

The country has many fewer “special regime” colonies compared to other types of adult prisons, according to state penitentiary service data: 35 colonies for “dangerous recidivists” and six for men imprisoned for life. Maximum-security colonies are the most widespread type, with 251 currently in operation.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called out Russia Thursday at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council for the effect its invasion of Ukraine is having on global hunger. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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A Syrian national accused of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes during the early stages of the Syrian Civil War has been arrested in Germany, prosecutors announced Thursday.

The federal prosecutor’s office said the suspect was detained on July 26 in the northern city of Bremen. He was remanded in custody on Thursday.

Named only as Ahmad H., the suspect is accused of perpetrating the atrocity crimes of torture and enslavement between 2012 and 2015 as a local leader of pro-government “shabiha” militiamen in Damascus. The militiamen were tasked with helping crush local dissent.

The militia allegedly operated checkpoints where “people were arrested arbitrarily so that they or their family members could be extorted for money, committed to forced labor or tortured,” prosecutors said.

The alleged crimes took place within the broader context of Syria’s brutal, ongoing civil war, which was sparked by severe suppression of protests in 2011 by the government of President Bashar Assad.

The countrywide conflict that followed has been characterized by rampant atrocity crimes, including crimes against humanity and war crimes. Assad has denied all accusations of atrocity crimes.

Since the start of the conflict, more than 580,000 people have been killed, and nearly 13 million people have been displaced.

In 2015, Germany allowed hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees to enter the country.

Since then, Germany has become a global leader in the prosecution of Syrian war criminals under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows courts to prosecute suspects accused of committing mass atrocity crimes anywhere in the world.

Some information in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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A decision by Kosovo’s government to revoke the business license of one of the country’s leading media outlets has sparked criticism and protests.

The dispute centers on the business registration documents of  broadcaster Klan Kosova, which authorities say are in violation of the constitution.

But analysts say the move to revoke a business license is at odds with laws regulating corporate activities, and they expressed concerns about action against a media outlet seen as critical of the government.

The decision can be appealed in court. As of Wednesday, Klan Kosova, one of the largest privately owned broadcasters in the country, remained on the air.

The government said that in its business registration, Klan Kosova’s owners had named municipalities in Kosovo as if they belonged to Serbia.

A copy of the company’s registration certificate obtained by VOA shows the station is now registered with a Kosovo address.

The station said it had changed its business documents and as of June 20 had listed Kosovo in all its records at the request of the Independent Media Commission, the country’s media regulatory body.

Kosovo declared its independence in 2008 and is recognized by the United States and most of Europe. But Serbia does not recognize Kosovo and claims it as part of its territory. Tensions between the two can run high.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti dismissed criticism of his government’s decision on Klan Kosova.

“Media freedoms are vital: an attack on them is an attack on democracy. But democracy is also assaulted when powerful businesspeople break the law for financial gain. And enforcing the law against such people’s violations does not — in any way — constitute an attack on media freedom,” Kurti wrote Saturday on social media.

Ardi Shita, a Kosovo commercial lawyer, said the government’s ruling is at odds with the law that regulates corporations.

“Here we have a serious problem with the interpretation and the implementation of the legal dispositions on corporations,” he told VOA.

The Association of Journalists of Kosovo said it was alarmed about what it described as a “politically motivated” decision.

“This is the first time a decision was made to shut down a media since the end of the war,” the association said in a statement.

Embassies for the U.S, Britain, France, Germany and Italy all registered concern, calling it a “disproportionate decision that will have repercussions on media plurality.”

International media watchdogs also said they were worried by the move.

“We believe that suspension of the license of a media, which can lead to revocation of its broadcasting license, is an extreme measure and should only be taken in extraordinary circumstances,” Attila Mong, Europe representative at the Committee to Protect Journalists, told VOA.

U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier said Tuesday that he hoped for “a transparent, fair and swift” resolution to the dispute.

“Every time a government takes a decision that could impact a media’s ability to broadcast, at least it should be done after a very careful consideration and as a last resort, because the freedom of media is very important,” he told reporters in the capital, Pristina.

Kurti argued on Saturday that “following registration rules is a legal duty, not a ‘technicality.’”

“Enforcing such rules against a single violator does nothing to threaten media pluralism,” he said on social media.

But Ilir Ibrahimi of the Kosovo Business Club, an independent entity that advocates for investment in Kosovo, said such moves could damage the country’s economic prospects.

“The main problem that Kosovo’s economy faces are the internal attacks against it from the government. If these big corporations leave and they decide to invest elsewhere … then Kosovo’s economy will collapse,” he told VOA.

As journalists in Kosovo marched toward the government building in Pristina on Monday holding a banner that said, “Democracy dies in darkness,” Klan Kosova’s editor-in-chief, Gazmend Syla, said the company would take the matter to the courts.

“We strongly believe in justice, and we strongly believe that the courts will not fall under the government’s or anybody’s influence,” Syla said.

Edlira Bllaca from Pristina and Isak Ramadani from Skopje contributed to this report, which originated in VOA’s Albanian Service. 
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Planeloads of French citizens are returning home. Anti-French demonstrations are peppered with Russian flags. French military and political interests are once again under attack in the Sahel as another onetime ally is toppled in a coup.

Last month’s military power grab in Niger follows those of Burkina Faso and Mali, all former French colonies, amid mounting anti-French sentiment over the past two years. Not so long ago, their leaders and military collaborated closely with Paris, as part of a five-nation regional G5 Sahel alliance — including Mauritania and Chad — fighting a spreading jihadist insurgency.

Today, France’s military has left Mali and Burkina Faso and the 1,500 troops stationed in Niger face an uncertain future, although Paris says they will remain, at least for now. Citizens of those countries, who once cheered French forces for liberating cities and towns from militants, are now telling them to go home.

“An era is over, that in which France positioned itself as the anti-jihadist policeman of a region five times greater than its territory,” wrote right-wing French newspaper Challenges in an editorial calling for a serious rethink by Paris of its “broken down” Africa strategy.

“It is indispensable to listen to the concerned societies,” it added, “including that which doesn’t please.”

Early Wednesday, the first French evacuees from Niger returned home on two military planes. Another two, also carrying other European and foreign nationals, were to follow.

“I’m sad to leave Niger,” one French expatriate named Charles told reporters as he arrived at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport. “I’ll be following the situation closely in the coming days.”

Besides French troops, companies mining uranium needed for France’s nuclear reactors are staying put for now, say officials.

“The departure of French military is absolutely not on the agenda,” army spokesman Pierre Gaudilliere told France-Info radio Wednesday.

Yet attacks against France are mounting. On Sunday, pro-coup demonstrators hurled gasoline bombs over the wall of France’s embassy in Niamey, chanting, “Down with France.” They trampled on the embassy’s plaque, and erected Russian and Nigerien flags in its place.

On Monday, Niger’s military junta accused France of plotting a military intervention in the country — an allegation swiftly rebutted by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.

“It’s wrong,” Colonna told France’s BFM TV channel, denouncing anti-French sentiment and misinformation circulating in the country.

She described the Russian flags and anti-French slogans in Niamey as reflecting “what one could see elsewhere,” and said they mirrored “all the usual ingredients of destabilization of the Russian-African model.”

In Burkina Faso and Mali, too, analysts say Russia has been behind anti-French propaganda, and Russian mercenary group Wagner filled the void left by French forces in Mali.

“The question is this collapse is going very, very fast,” France 24 veteran reporter Cyril Payen told the news channel, referring to the Sahel. “And Niger was the last democratic bastion.”

A big question now, he added, was the future of France’s anti-terrorism operation in the Sahel, following the coup.

“It’s clearly a situation pretty catastrophic for the French, but also for the Americans” he said, who have more than 1,000 forces stationed in Niger.

France’s waning influence and image stretches far beyond the Sahel, to democracies like Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire, where official relations are good, but anti-French views on the streets are common.

Analysts cite a mix of reasons for Paris’ sinking image, from shrinking foreign aid and growing security and economic challenges facing the countries, to new players in Africa, including China, Russia and Turkey.

Disinformation circulating in some mainstream and social media, partly driven by Russia, has helped stoke negative sentiments. That – along with the legacy of France-Afrique — a pejorative term referring to France’s relationship with its former colonies.

Successive leaders, including current French President Emmanuel Macron, have promised to reboot ties with francophone Africa. Last year, Macron announced the end of France’s anti-jihadist Barkhane operation in the Sahel, although French forces would remain in smaller numbers and alongside other European troops.

Earlier this year, he promised also to downsize France’s military presence elsewhere in Africa, including closing bases and possibly “co-managing” others with African hosts.

But some critics say a bigger reboot is needed.

“Now that the Sahel is almost lost, let’s not commit the same errors in Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire,” tweeted former French diplomat and ambassador to the United States Gerard Araud. “Let’s change the shape of our presence completely. Close our bases. Learn discretion.”
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Thembi Kgatlana scored early in stoppage time Wednesday to give South Africa a 3-2 win over Italy and send it into the knockout rounds of a Women’s World Cup for the first time.

On a night of high drama and low temperatures, Hilda Magaia scored in the 67th minute to put South Africa 2-1 ahead before Arianna Caruso equalized with her second goal of the match from a Cristiana Girelli corner, briefly denting South African hopes.

A draw would have been enough to put eighth-ranked Italy into the knockout rounds.

Instead, South Africa will play Netherlands in a round of 16 match on Sunday. Sweden finished atop Group G after beating Argentina 1-0 and will next play the defending champion U.S. team.

 

Caruso’s 11th-minute penalty and Benedetta Orsi’s own goal earlier had combined to make it 1-1 in the first half in Wellington, where a southerly wind dropped temperatures close to freezing and reduced the crowd to around 10,000, mostly South Africans.

Karabo Dhlamini cut down Chiara Beccarri from behind on the edge of the area in the 11th, and Caruso sent her spot kick low and to the right of Kaylin Swart for her first World Cup goal.

Orsi mis-timed her no-look pass back to Fransesca Durante in the 32nd and the keeper’s attempt at a sliding stop came too late to prevent the ball heading straight into the Italian goal.

Robyn Moodaly hit the post with a searing right-foot shot in the 21st and the VAR ruled out another Italy penalty for a hand ball before halftime. Italy had 66% of possession and more chances in the half but South Africa had a majority among supporters who braved the weather.

 

Play in Group G reached a conclusion which had elements of a well-turned thriller, with the last two matches played concurrently and almost every possibility still in play. As South Africa and Italy began their last group match in front of a small crowd, Sweden and Argentina kicked off in Hamilton.

That created the possibility of over-lapping finishes with placings established after one match still being contingent on the other.

Sweden led the group before Wednesday’s games with six points and a goal differential of + 6; Italy was second with three points, Argentina and South Africa had one point each. That meant Sweden was definitely through to the round of 16, Italy had one foot in the knockout rounds and Argentina and South Africa both still could qualify with a win — depending on the outcomes.

But South Africa’s chances were only slight Wednesday.

South Africa took its first World Cup point when it drew 2-2 with Argentina five days ago. It led that match before Argentina scored two quick goals to draw, and also led before going down 2-1 to Sweden.

South Africa already has made an indelible mark on the tournament. Always high-spirited, it projects joy at being on the big stage. The South Africa players danced and sang before Wednesday’s match in their locker room and on the field as they warmed up. They gave their song full voice at the end to hail an historic moment for South African women’s sport.
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The French and Japanese air forces have conducted aerial exercises in Japan, the first of their kind between the two allies. But even as Paris seeks to build its military alliances in the Indo-Pacific region, France has blocked proposals to open a NATO liaison office in Tokyo.

The four-day joint drills are part of a larger French exercise, codenamed Pegase 2023, taking place across the Indo-Pacific in the coming weeks, including in French island territories.

“It’s natural that France, a resident nation of the Indo-Pacific, is particularly concerned by the geopolitical tensions felt in the region as a result of competition between the great powers,” General Stephane Mille, chief of staff of the French Air and Space Force, told reporters at a July 28 news conference in Japan’s Saitama prefecture.

China tensions

Those tensions are also felt by NATO, which describes China as a challenge to the Western alliance’s “interests, security and values.” China rejects that characterization. The NATO Strategic Concept cites Beijing’s buildup of its armed forces, its “malicious hybrid and cyber operations,” and its efforts to subvert the rules-based international order among its reasons for concern.

Closer cooperation in the Indo-Pacific is in NATO’s interest, says Michito Tsuruoka, a security analyst at Keio University and a visiting fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre in Canberra, Australia.

“NATO’s interest is very much affected by what takes place in the Indo-Pacific region. So that means that NATO has to be more engaged for its own interest,” Tsuruoka told VOA in an interview on Saturday.

“Another increasingly important pillar in NATO-Japan cooperation is about standardization and interoperability – so standardization of equipment and interoperability between the forces,” Tsuruoka said.

NATO office

At its July annual summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, NATO put forward the opening of a liaison office in Tokyo. However, French President Emmanuel Macron blocked the move.

“It’s pretty clear that President Macron wants to avert any sort of escalation, or dynamic that could lead to escalation, with China,” said Fabrice Pothier, a former NATO head of policy planning and now the CEO of the consultancy group Rasmussen Global, in an interview with VOA on Tuesday. “And he probably considers putting the NATO flag somewhere in the Indo-Pacific – even though it’s a very symbolic flag – as a bit too provocative.”

China warned the opening of a NATO office in Tokyo would “destabilize” the region. There is no such danger, says analyst Tsuruoka.

“Because what we are talking about, what NATO is talking about, is just a one-person office. So, it will never change the balance of power in the region,” Tsuruoka told VOA. “It’s just a sort of technical innovation in terms of the way in which NATO deals with the Indo-Pacific region. It’s not about NATO troops coming to Asia, or NATO now having responsibility to deter China. That’s not the case.”

Bilateral relations

For now, Paris is pushing bilateral relations with Indo-Pacific allies, Pothier said.

“France is always keen on underlining that NATO is a Euro-Atlantic organization with somehow clear geographic boundaries and responsibilities. And that going beyond that is basically going beyond its core mandate.”

The idea of a NATO office in Tokyo could be revived, he added.

“It could take some compromise and some time. But I think there could also be some alternative. You could consider the Japanese in a way offering to create and host a center of excellence with some other NATO countries,” Pothier said.
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Ukraine and Poland called in the ambassadors from each other’s countries on Tuesday as a dispute escalated after a foreign policy adviser to Poland’s president said Kyiv should show more appreciation for Warsaw’s support in its war with Russia. 

The adviser, Marcin Przydacz, also said the Polish government must defend the interests of the country’s farmers – a reference to a ban on imports of Ukrainian commodities which will expire next month. 

Kyiv and Warsaw have been firm allies throughout the conflict that erupted with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. But the exchanges reflected contentious issues. 

Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko said the Polish ambassador was told in the meeting that statements about Ukraine’s alleged ungratefulness for Poland’s help were “untrue and unacceptable.”  

“We are convinced that Ukrainian-Polish friendship is much deeper than political expediency. Politics should not call into question the mutual understanding and strength of relations between our peoples,” a Ukrainian statement said.  

Poland also called in the Ukrainian ambassador to Warsaw in response to the “comments of representatives of Ukrainian authorities,” Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.  

The tweet did not specify what comments it referred to.  

Polish media had on Monday quoted Przydacz as speaking about the possible extension of Poland’s import ban on Ukrainian agricultural produce. 

“What is most important today is to defend the interest of the Polish farmer,” Przydacz was quoted as saying.  

He also said, “I think it would be worthwhile for (Kyiv) to start appreciating what role Poland has played for Ukraine over past months and years.” 

The European Union in May allowed Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to ban domestic sales of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds. 

After the Russian invasion blocked Black Sea ports, large quantities of Ukrainian grain, which is cheaper than that produced in the EU, ended up staying in central European states due to logistical bottlenecks, hitting prices and sales for local farmers. 

The five countries want the ban on grain imports to be extended at least until the end of the year. It is set to expire on Sept. 15.  

Poland’s prime minister said recently that it would not lift the ban on Sept. 15 even if the EU did not agree on its extension. 

Kyiv has described the Polish decision as “unfriendly” and urged Ukraine’s partners and the European Commission to ensure the unimpeded export of all Ukrainian agriculture products to the EU. 

The Polish foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.  
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Megan Rapinoe’s energy as a second-half substitute failed to spark the listless United States, which slipped through to the round of 16 in the Women’s World Cup despite an uninspiring 0-0 draw against Portugal on Tuesday. 

The tie helped the U.S. avoid the biggest upset in tournament history and was just enough to ensure the Americans advanced to the knockout round. The U.S. team looked shaky at best in a game the team was expected to win. 

The Americans, the most successful team ever at the World Cup with four titles, have never been eliminated in the group stage at the World Cup. It’s the first time in tournament history that the U.S. won just one game in group play. 

The path for the Americans also hinged on the results of the Netherlands match against Vietnam, played simultaneously in Dunedin. With a decisive 7-0 victory, the Netherlands bumped the United States from the top of Group E. 

The Americans, the two-time reigning World Cup champions who are seeking an unprecedented third consecutive title, move on as the second seed. 

Lynn Williams had a chance on a header in the 14th minute but Portugal goalkeeper Ines Pereira smothered it. While the U.S. controlled possession and had the better chances, the team could not finish and the game was scoreless at the break. 

Rose Lavelle picked up a yellow card in the 38th minute, her second of the group stage, and she won’t be available for the team’s round of 16 match. 

The frustration of the U.S. fans at Eden Park was evident at the break, when there were scattered boos among the crowd as the teams headed for the tunnel. Early in the second half, a fire alarm went off in the stadium. It turned out to be a malfunctioning sprinkler. 

The United States had a free kick from a dangerous spot in the 57th minute, but Alex Morgan’s header popped up well over the goal. She put her hands to her face in exasperation. 

Rapinoe came in as a sub in the 61st minute, but the top scorer at the 2019 World Cup couldn’t find that elusive goal. 

The Americans had a serious scare in stoppage time when Ana Capeta nearly scored for Portugal, but her shot hit the right post. 

U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski tweaked his starting lineup for the match and started forward Williams and midfielder Lavelle for the first time at this World Cup. He had started Trinity Rodman at forward and Savannah DeMelo in the midfield for the team’s first two games. 

Lavelle boosted the team when she came in at halftime against the Netherlands on Thursday in Wellington when a lackluster opening half sent the Americans into the break down 1-0 to the Dutch. Lavelle’s corner to Lindsey Horan gave the Americans a 1-1 draw in the match. 

But the energy just wasn’t there against Portugal and the Americans seemed lost and unorganized for most of the match. 

The United States last lost in the group stage to Sweden at the 2011 World Cup, but the Americans still advanced to the final match before losing on penalties to champion Japan. 

 

The Americans have not needed the third and final group-stage match to learn their tournament fate since 2007, when there was a slim chance for elimination. 

Going into the match against Portugal, the United States sat atop Group E, even on points with the Netherlands but holding an edge on goal differential. 

The United States had won all the previous 10 matches against Portugal. The Portuguese have never scored against the Americans. 

With its decisive victory over Vietnam, the Netherlands heads to Sydney to face the second-place team from Group G, which includes Sweden, South Africa, Italy and Argentina. The United States plays the group’s top team. 
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Latest developments:

Croatia allocated $1.1 million for the demining of Ukrainian agricultural lands, Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said Monday.   





United Nations humanitarian office says a $3.9 billion appeal for humanitarian aid for Ukraine is less than 30% funded. 





Ukraine's Defense Ministry signed an agreement with Turkish company Baykar to build a service center for the repair and maintenance of drones in Ukraine, a ministry official said Monday.   

 

Russian officials said Tuesday air defenses shot down several Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow, with the wreckage from one drone striking a high-rise building in the Russian capital. 

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram the building was the same one struck during another Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday. 

There were no injuries reported from the Tuesday attack. 

Ukrainian drones struck Russia’s capital region multiple times in July, revealing Moscow’s vulnerability as Russia’s war in Ukraine drags on into its 18th month. 

The attacks, including the one Tuesday, have included targeting of the Moskva-Citi business district several miles west of the Kremlin, causing nervousness among employers and employees there who felt the war’s reach to Russia’s nerve center.   

Tech giant Yandex, which has offices around the Russian capital including in Moskva-Citi, asked employees to vacate offices at night when strikes on the Russian capital have tended to occur.   

The United States is not encouraging or enabling attacks inside Russia, White House National Security Council coordinator John Kirby told CNN on Monday.  

Russian attacks 

Russian attacks on Ukrainian towns have left a trail of dead and injured, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stress Ukraine’s need for long-range weapons.   

At least six people were killed by two Russian missiles that hit the city of Kryvyi Rih in southern Ukraine, Zelenskyy’s hometown, Ukrainian officials said Monday.   

Regional Governor Serhiy Lysak announced a day of mourning in the city, saying that among the dead were a 10-year-old girl and her mother. Seventy-five others were wounded, including six children ages 4 to 17 years.    

Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the missiles hit an apartment building and a university building.    

At the damaged residential building, nearly 150 of the building’s residents managed to get out by themselves, and 30 were helped by rescuers, the governor said.    

During his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said preliminary data show that the two missiles were fired at Kryvyi Rih from the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea from the area of Dzhankoy.  

“This proves again and again that for the safety of our cities, for the protection of the normal life of Ukrainians and our children, our military must have enough long-range weapons, enough means to defeat terrorists. The world’s sanctions pressure against Russia deserves a significant increase,” he said.  

“This is already a kind of genocidal everyday reality … Kryvyi Rih,” Zelenskyy’s adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on X, formerly known as Twitter.  “International law will never work if the aggressor does not see a real power behind it. The power begins with closing the Ukrainian skies with missile defense and air defense systems,” he added.   

Attack on Kherson  

Russian strikes in Kherson Oblast killed four people and wounded 17 others on Monday, among them a 16-year-old girl. Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said that one of the people killed, as well as six of those injured, were working at a utility company when it came under fire. Five others injured were volunteers.  

Later Monday, Russian forces launched a new attack against Kherson, targeting the Korabel district; meanwhile, an attack on the city of Beryslav killed another man.  

Prokudin said the intense shelling is due to Russia replenishing its forces on the east bank of the Dnipro River.  

Peace summit in Saudi Arabia    

U.S. government officials will attend the Ukraine summit scheduled in Saudi Arabia, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller announced during a briefing on Monday, saying that he could not provide more details.  

The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that Saudi Arabia would invite Western states, Ukraine and major developing countries to the high-level talks.  

Saudi Arabia’s summit is reportedly scheduled to be held in Jeddah over the weekend to discuss implementation of Zelenskyy’s peace plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.      

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called for an end to the “irrational” war in Ukraine and urged the upcoming peace talks in the Middle East to include representation from both Ukraine and Russia.     

Lopez Obrador said Mexico would only participate in the peace talks if both sides were present.   

The Mexican president has tried to keep his country neutral in the war, though his government has backed some major U.N. resolutions against Russia. Mexico has refused to send arms to Ukraine and has not imposed sanctions against Russia.   

The Kremlin said Monday it would “follow” the meeting but did not currently see conditions for peace talks with Kyiv.   

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.  
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The United States arrived at the Women’s World Cup as the favorite to win an unprecedented third consecutive title. But after an underwhelming draw against the Netherlands, there’s a real chance the Americans could be eliminated in group play for the first time in tournament history. 

The U.S. plays Portugal in the third and final match of Group E play, and if Portugal pulls off an upset Tuesday at Eden Park in Auckland, the Americans could be in big trouble. 

The United States needs to either win or draw against Portugal, one of eight teams playing in its first World Cup, to ensure the Americans continue to play in this tournament. 

“I think we feel like we have to win everything all the time,” said American star Megan Rapinoe. “That’s the expectation for ourselves. That’s the expectation playing for [the] U.S. national team. It’s just kind of like, ‘Why would you come into the World Cup if you don’t think that you should win it, and if you don’t think that you can win it?'” 

‘We have to stay focused’

The United States sits atop the group after a 3-0 victory over Vietnam in the tournament opener, and a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands last Thursday in Wellington. The Dutch are tied with the U.S. on points, but the Americans have the tiebreaker on goals scored. 

Portugal lost to the Dutch in its opener but then beat Vietnam 2-0. So, if the Portuguese beat the United States, they’ll move on, and the Americans would then need Vietnam to beat the Dutch in Dunedin — while keeping their advantage on goal differential — to advance. 

“One thing is for sure, that we have a job to do, and that’s first and foremost to take care of our game. So, our main focus right now is our performance, our team, and Portugal,” U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “What happens on the other side is something we can’t control. We have to stay focused on the things we can control.” 

Portugal could use a swarming defense to try to prevent the United States from scoring the way Vietnam — unsuccessfully — played the Americans in the opener. 

Portugal defender Ana Borges said her team will be prepared. 

“This is the stage where we want to be. It’s against these teams that we want to play because we’re going to learn and grow from them,” Borges said. “Not saying anything about the other team, but if we weren’t prepared for this challenge, we wouldn’t be playing football.” 

China-England  

England is in very good shape headed into its Group D finale against China, needing only a draw Tuesday night in Adelaide, Australia, to win the group and advance to the round of 16. 

Even a loss would be OK and push England through as group winners so long as Denmark doesn’t beat Haiti. If Denmark won and England lost, the group winner would be decided by FIFA tiebreakers. 

England edged out a 1-0 victory over Haiti to open the tournament, then beat Denmark by the same score. 

China lost 1-0 to Denmark in the opener but rebounded with a 1-0 win over Haiti and is now trying to keep its streak intact of advancing out of group play in all eight of its World Cup appearances. 

 

 

It will be a tough task: China can advance to the round of 16 if the Chinese beat England. But if Denmark beats Haiti, coupled with a China win, then FIFA tiebreakers would come into a play. A loss would mean China’s only chance at advancing would be if Haiti beat Denmark. 

England and China meet for just the fifth time, but first since a 2-1 China victory in 2015. 

England has scored in each of its last 15 matches at the Women’s World Cup for a tally of 25 goals since 2015. A goal against China would make England the first team to score in 16 consecutive matches in the tournament. 

China is looking to win consecutive World Cup games for the first time since 1999. 

Vietnam-Netherlands  

The Netherlands wants to win every match in the Women’s World Cup, but none more than Tuesday’s game against Vietnam. 

At stake: avoiding Sweden in the knockout round. 

The Dutch, the tournament runner-up in 2019, need only a win or a draw in the Group E match played in Dunedin, New Zealand. And even a loss would be OK so long as the United States beats Portugal in a game being played simultaneously. 

But the Netherlands has mapped out the tournament and wants no part of Sweden anytime soon. 

“The first aim is always to win and get to the last 16. And then after that, if we can score goals. We will, of course,” Dutch coach Andries Jonker said. “But looking at our colleagues from the U.S. and Portugal, we’ve noticed it’s not all that easy. We’ve never shown any kind of arrogance, but if we get chances to score goals, we will. We would prefer to play against the number two in this group and not Sweden.” 

The Netherlands are tied with the United States for the top spot in the group after playing to a 1-1 draw against the Americans and a 1-0 win over Portugal. 

Vietnam has already been eliminated from its first Women’s World Cup following losses to the United States and Portugal. Vietnam has lost its last five internationals by a combined score of 18-1. 

“The Netherlands tries to have as many goals as possible, and I have to say, we are at a low level,” Vietnam coach Mai Duc Chung said. “If we compare with Asia, we’re still at a low level. So, if we compare with the world, we are still quite behind. It is a success for us already. In the past two matches, we have tried our best. Great effort already.” 

Haiti-Denmark  

First-time Women’s World Cup participant Haiti would like to stick around a bit longer but needs a miracle in the Group D finale against Denmark to have any shot to advance. 

Haiti needs to beat Denmark in the Tuesday match played in Perth, Australia, and hope England beats China. If both those things happen, Haiti’s only chance would still come down to FIFA’s tiebreaker system. 

 

It’s very long odds for Haiti, which has played better in this tournament than its 0-2 record shows. Haiti held both England and China to one goal each in the first two matches. 

Haiti is on a six-game losing streak headed into what is probably its final game of this tournament. 

Denmark, meanwhile, is trying to advance to the group stage for the first time since 1995. Denmark was a 1-0 winner over China to start the tournament, then lost 1-0 to England and heads into the game tied for second in the group with China with three points each. 

A win over Haiti pushes Denmark through to the next round so long as England doesn’t lose to China. That scenario would put tiebreakers into play. 

The Danes, in the tournament for the first time since 2007, can also get through with a draw, but again, only if England beats China. 

Denmark has won five of its last seven international matches. 
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