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“The simple truth is that, as we speak, children, women and men, the young and the old, are living in terror,” International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said at the opening of the Ukraine Accountability Conference in The Hague on Thursday, with about 40 nations in attendance.

Khan said an “overarching strategy” is needed to bring those guilty of conducting war crimes in Ukraine to justice.

Ukraine has granted the ICC jurisdiction over the crimes committed within the country, opening the door to the court’s investigations, since neither Ukraine nor Russia is an ICC member.

Ukrainian officials said Russian missiles struck the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia on Thursday, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 100 others.

Police said three missiles hit an office building in the center of the city, located about 270 kilometers southwest of the capital, Kyiv. The strikes, coming from a Russian submarine in the Black Sea, damaged residential buildings in the area and engulfed 50 cars in a nearby parking lot.

“This is the act of Russian terror,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the ICC meeting in a video address.

The governor of the Vinnytsia region, Serhiy Borzov, said Ukrainian air defense systems shot down another four missiles over the area.

With a population of 370,000, Vinnytsia is one of Ukraine’s largest cities. Thousands of people from eastern Ukraine, where Russia has concentrated its offensive, have fled there since the start of the war in late February.

President Zelenskyy said the dead included a child.

“Every day Russia is destroying the civilian population, killing Ukrainian children, directing missiles at civilian objects where there is no military (target). What is it if not an open act of terrorism?” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia has denied targeting civilians in Ukraine.

Warfare continues to rage in eastern Ukraine, but the British Defense Ministry said Thursday that despite continued shelling, Russian forces have not made major territorial gains in recent days.

“The aging vehicles, weapons and Soviet-era tactics used by Russian forces do not lend themselves to quickly regaining or building momentum unless used in overwhelming mass — which Russia is currently unable to bring to bear,” the British ministry said.

Grain exports

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday there is “broad agreement” on a deal between Russia and Ukraine, with Turkey and the United Nations, to export millions of tons of Ukrainian grain stuck in silos since Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24.

“Today is an important and substantive step,” Guterres told reporters of developments at talks in Istanbul among the four parties. “A step on the way to a comprehensive agreement.”

The U.N. chief broke his public silence on the negotiations, pointing to a statement from Turkey’s defense minister, who said there is agreement on major points, including the creation of a coordination center with Russia, Ukraine and the U.N.; agreement on controls for checking grain at ports; and ensuring the safety of cargo ships carrying the grain out of Odesa.

“Of course, this was a first meeting,” Guterres noted. “The progress was extremely encouraging. Now, the delegations are coming back to their capitals, and we hope the next steps will allow us to come to a formal agreement.”

While Guterres would not speculate about when the final agreement would be ready, he said he hoped the parties would reconvene next week and have a final agreement. Whenever it is, he said, he would be ready to go to Istanbul to sign it.

A U.N. official with knowledge of the talks said there was an important meeting of the Russians and the Ukrainians where they were able to make a lot of progress on sticking points.

More than 20 million tons of Ukrainian grain are being stored in silos at the Black Sea port of Odesa, and dozens of ships have been stranded because of Russia’s blockade. Turkey said it has 20 merchant ships waiting in the region that could be quickly loaded and dispatched to world markets.

The grain deal has been in the works for months, with U.N. officials raising the alarm nearly immediately after the war started about the consequences for global food security if Ukraine, which is one of the world’s top grain exporters, is unable to get its harvests out.

“Truly, failure to open those ports in Odesa region will be a declaration of war on global food security,” World Food Program chief David Beasley warned at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on May 19. “And it will result in famine and destabilization and mass migration around the world.”

WFP says 276 million people worldwide were facing acute hunger at the start of this year. They project that number will rise by 47 million people if the conflict in Ukraine continues, with the steepest increases in sub-Saharan Africa.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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An Azerbaijani journalist imprisoned on what rights groups believe are trumped-up charges has had his appeal for parole rejected.

The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan on Wednesday rejected the appeal of human rights defender and journalist Elchin Mammad to be freed after serving one-third of his sentence.

Mammad, editor of the news website Yukselish Namine and head of the nongovernmental organization Legal Education of Sumgayit Youth, was arrested in the city of Sumgayit in 2020.

Police at the time said they’d found stolen jewelry in his office. A court in October 2020 convicted Mammad of theft and illegal possession of weapons, and it sentenced him to four years in prison.

Mammad denies the allegations, and journalists and human rights defenders say they believe his imprisonment is arbitrary.

Accusations ‘do not seem credible’

Farid Gahramanov, who works for the independent Turan news agency, told VOA he believed the case against Mammad was political.

“As a journalist and social activist, Elchin Mammad was engaged in protecting human rights and freedom of expression. We can say that he was arrested precisely for this reason, because the accusations made against him do not seem credible and have not been proven in court,” he told VOA.

Mammad’s website publishes content on human rights, freedom of speech and access to information. And his nongovernmental organization provides legal assistance to low-income families.

Amnesty International reported at the time that the journalist’s arrest came a few days after he published a report on human rights abuses in Azerbaijan.

According to Amnesty, the journalist said he believed police had planted the stolen goods in his office when it was searched in his absence.

Mushfiq Alasgarli, deputy chair of Azerbaijan’s Press Council, denied that Mammad’s arrest was related to journalistic activities.

The self-regulatory Press Council says on its website that it oversees media compliance with legal and professional requirements and works to strengthen relations between the state, public and press.

“Even though whenever some people are jailed, it is assumed that it’s in connection with their occupation, that is not the case with Elchin Mammad. The charges against him are directly related to illegal possession of weapons and theft,” Alasgarli told VOA.

Problem for the nation

Alasgarli said, however, that he believed detaining such people “creates a problem not only for Elchin Mammad, but also for Azerbaijan as a whole. International organizations report these cases. These facts are used against Azerbaijan.”

The deputy chair said that in some cases it could be more effective to free such prisoners.

The Azerbaijan Supreme Court did not respond to multiple calls from VOA requesting comment.

Under Azerbaijan’s penal code, parole can be offered to people who have served a third of their sentences, provided they complied with prison regulations, Fuad Ahmadli, coordinator of the Center for the Protection of Political Prisoners and Victims of Torture, told VOA.

In October 2021, a district court denied Mammad’s request to release for parole, arguing that although the journalist had not violated any prison rules, he had not pleaded guilty to the charges brought against him.

The Baku Court of Appeals upheld that decision in December 2021.

An affidavit presented to the court from the penal colony where Mammad is held stated that he “does not show sincerity in following relevant norms of behavior, ethical rules, communication with staff and other prisoners.”

Detention ‘absurd’

Mammad’s lawyer, Fariz Namazli, told VOA the journalist had followed prison rules and that no disciplinary action was taken against him.

“Moreover, his mother is 68 years old and seriously ill. Two young children of the human rights defender have been left without their father’s care,” Namazli said.

“The detention of Elchin Mammad and the denials by the district, appeal and supreme courts are absurd,” rights activist Ahmadli said.

He told VOA that it is illegal for the court to keep someone in prison for “absurd considerations such as his negative attitude towards labor, being introverted and not keeping his bed neat.”

Mammad himself told the court that the affidavit from the penal colony “does not reflect the reality.”

The journalist said he believes it was prepared to fulfill the will of the people who ordered his arrest and that they want to keep him in prison for as long as possible.

Turan journalist Gahramanov said cases like Mammad’s hurt the already restrictive media environment in the country. Azerbaijan has a poor press freedom record, ranking 154th out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index, where 1 has the best conditions.

“Such severe punishment of journalists has a negative impact on freedom of expression in the country and serves to create self-censorship among journalists,” Gahramanov said.

Amnesty International and other international organizations have condemned Mammad’s conviction. Local human rights defenders recognize him as a political prisoner.

This story originated in VOA’s Azerbaijani Service.
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Stockholm’s District Court sentenced a former Iranian official to life in prison on Thursday for war crimes and the murder of political prisoners during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

At the time of the killings, Hamid Noury was a 27-year-old assistant to the deputy prosecutor at Gohardasht prison in Karaj, Iran. According to prosecutors, the killings were ordered by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s leader at the time. The executed prisoners were loyal to an Iranian opposition group, Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.

Noury, now 61, was arrested upon arrival at the Stockholm airport in 2019. He has denied the accusations.

The Swedish court said it believed the executions were a “serious violation against international humanitarian law” because of the international armed conflict.

A crowd of victims’ families gathered outside the courtroom cheered as the verdict was announced, said the Courthouse News Service. Many of relatives testified throughout the trial.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry believes the verdict is “politically motivated and it has no legal validity,” spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a statement.

Observers said the verdict heightens the already tense relationship between Iran and Sweden amid concerns about reprisals. Iran has been condemned for detaining foreign citizens to gain political leverage.

Noury can appeal the verdict. If he is released, he will be expelled from Sweden.

Some information for this report came from Reuters, Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press.
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A Russian arms dealer labeled the “Merchant of Death” who once inspired a Hollywood movie is back in the headlines with speculation around a return to Moscow in a prisoner exchange.

If Viktor Bout, 55, is indeed eventually freed in return for WNBA star Brittney Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, as some published reports suggest, it would add to the lore around a charismatic arms dealer the U.S. has imprisoned for more than a decade.

Depending on the source, Bout is a swashbuckling businessman unjustly imprisoned after an overly aggressive U.S. sting operation, or a peddler of weapons whose sales fueled some of the world’s worst conflicts.

The 2005 Nicolas Cage movie, “Lord of War” was loosely based on Bout, a former Soviet air force officer who gained fame supposedly by supplying weapons for civil wars in South America, the Middle East and Africa. His clients were said to include Liberia’s Charles Taylor, longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and both sides in Angola’s civil war.

Shira A. Scheindlin, the former New York City federal judge who sentenced Bout before returning to private law practice, can be counted among those who would not be disappointed by Bout’s freedom in a prisoner exchange.

“He’s done enough time for what he did in this case,” Scheindlin said in an interview, noting that Bout has served more than 11 years in U.S. prisons.

He was convicted in 2011 on terrorism charges. Prosecutors said he was ready to sell up to $20 million in weapons, including surface-to-air missiles to shoot down U.S. helicopters.

Bout has steadfastly proclaimed his innocence, saying he’s a legitimate businessman and didn’t sell weapons. He’s had plenty of support from high-level Russian officials since he was first arrested. A Russian parliament member testified when Bout was fighting extradition from Thailand to the U.S.

Last year, some of his paintings were displayed in Russia’s Civic Chamber, the body that oversees draft legislation and civil rights.

Bout’s case fits well into Moscow’s narrative that Washington is lying in wait to trap and oppress innocent Russians on flimsy grounds.

“From the resonant Bout case a real ‘hunt’ by Americans for Russian citizens around the world has unfolded,” the government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta wrote last year.

Increasingly, Russia has cited his case as a human rights issue. His wife and lawyer claimed his health is deteriorating in the harsh prison environment where foreigners are not always eligible for the breaks that Americans might receive.

Last month, Russia’s human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said: “We very much hope that our compatriot Viktor Bout will return to his homeland.”

Moskalkova said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Justice were working to see if Bout might qualify for transfer to Russia to serve the rest of his sentence.

Now held in a medium-security facility in Marion, Illinois, Bout is scheduled to be released in August 2029.

“If you asked me today: ‘Do you think 10 years would be a fair sentence,’ I would say ‘yes,'” Scheindlin said.

“He got a hard deal,” the retired judge said, noting the U.S. sting operatives “put words in his mouth” so he’d say he was aware Americans could die from weapons he sold in order to require a terrorism enhancement that would force a long prison sentence, if not a life term.

“The idea of trading him shouldn’t be unacceptable to our government. It wouldn’t be wrong to release him,” Scheindlin said.

Still, she said an even exchange of Griner for Bout would be “troubling.”

The WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist was arrested in February at a Moscow airport, where police said they found cannabis oil in a vape canister in her luggage. While the U.S. government has classified her as “wrongfully detained,” Griner pleaded guilty to drug possession charges on July 7 at her trial in a Russian court.

Scheindlin said Griner was arrested for something that “wouldn’t be five minutes in jail.”

That sentiment is shared by others. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said in a July 9 editorial that Bout illegally trafficked billions of dollars of weapons “to feed wars around the world” and has “the blood of thousands on his hands,” while Griner “made a stupid mistake with a tiny amount of cannabis. She harmed no one.”

Griner could face up to 10 years in prison. Her guilty plea was not unanticipated by those who understand that similar moves commonly precede prisoner swaps. Whelan was arrested three years ago on espionage charges that the U.S. has said were trumped up and false.

In April 2012, Scheindlin imposed the mandatory minimum 25-year sentence that Bout now serves, but she said she did so only because it was required.

He was taken into custody at a Bangkok luxury hotel after conversations with the Drug Enforcement Administration sting operation’s informants who posed as officials of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, also known as the FARC. The group had been classified by Washington as a narco-terrorist group.

He was brought to the U.S. in November 2010.

The “Merchant of Death” moniker was attached to Bout by a high-ranking minister of Britain’s Foreign Office. The nickname was included in the U.S. government’s indictment of Bout.
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An arson attack on a suburban Athens building that houses the offices of a Greek radio station and newspaper caused significant damage early Wednesday and drew condemnation from political leaders in Greece and elsewhere in the European Union. 

Explosions were heard before a fire broke out shortly after 3 a.m. at the building that houses radio station Real FM and the Real News newspaper in Maroussi, a northern Athens suburb. 

Firefighters extinguished the blaze. Fire Service investigators found the remnants of three gas canisters tied together on an external stairwell between the ground and first floors, as well as a can containing a flammable liquid. 

No one was injured, although a radio station sound engineer was evacuated and treated for smoke inhalation. The offices of a shipping company on the building’s top floor suffered the most damage. The newspaper in located on the first floor and the radio station on the second. 

Real Group owner Nikos Chatzinikolaou, a veteran journalist, posted a short clip from his car that showed the top of the building on fire and tweeted: “Explosions and fire at Real FM and Realnews! They are burning us! They are trying to shut us down!” 

Chatzinikolaou founded the media company in 2007. The group also includes news site enikos.gr. 

Real Group reported on its website that security cameras showed two people with their heads covered placing the canisters and can. 

Police said they suspect other people might have helped the arsonists escape, are examining security cameras from nearby buildings. 

The group’s news site said a serious malfunction in the radio station’s broadcast tower on Tuesday could be related to the fire. 

No one had claimed responsibility as of Wednesday afternoon. 

Greece has seen similar attacks on media outlets and other targets that most often turned out to be the work of far-left groups, but Tuesday’s fire caused more serious damage. 

“The freedom of the press is neither constrained nor muzzled by terrorist acts,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during a Parliament session. 

Opposition leader Alexis Tsipras, several government ministers and politicians from all of the countries political parties made online and live statements strongly denouncing the attack. 

European Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourov joined the condemnation and said Greek authorities must do “much more … to guarantee the security of journalists and media, because this this attack is really shocking.” 

 
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Italian Premier Mario Draghi has told his Cabinet he will offer his resignation on Thursday evening to the nation’s president, following the refusal of a populist coalition ally to support a key government bill.

“The majority of national unity that has sustained this government from its creation doesn’t exist any more,” Draghi said in a statement.

It will be up to Italian President Sergio Mattarella to accept or reject the resignation. The president could also ask Draghi to go before Parliament in the coming days to seek a formal vote on the government itself, to see if the squabbling allies would rally around him.

But if the government crisis can’t be resolved quickly, Mattarella could pull the plug on Parliament, setting the stage for an early election as soon as September. As of now, Parliament’s term expires in spring 2023.

Hours earlier, Draghi and his pandemic unity government won a confidence vote, 172-39, in the Senate despite the refusal by the populist 5-Star Movement to back the bill, which earmarks 26 billion euros (dollars) to help consumers and industries struggling with soaring energy prices.

But the snub, orchestrated by 5-Star leader Giuseppe Conte, Draghi’s predecessor, had already done its damage.

Draghi’s broad coalition was designed to help Italy recover from the coronavirus pandemic, and included parties from both the left and the right. He noted he had made clear when he took office in February 2021 that his government “would only have gone forward if there was the clear prospective to be able to realize the government program” that was the basis of the governing coalition.

“That compactness has been fundamental to face the challenges of these months. This conditions don’t exist any more,” the premier said.

The premier announced his decision after meeting with Mattarella at the Quirinal presidential palace.

Mattarella had tapped the former European Central Bank chief — who was known as “Super Mario” for his “whatever it takes” rescue of the euro — to pull Italy out of the coronavirus pandemic and lay the groundwork to make use of billions in European Union pandemic recovery funds.

The 5-Stars, who have lost significant support in recent local elections, and have slumped in opinion polls, are in disarray. Hard-line 5-Star proponents, who were skeptical of joining the government last year, have been complaining that their interests have been ignored. In the measure voted on Thursday, the 5-Stars opposed a provision to allow Rome to operate a garbage incinerator on the outskirts of the chronically trash-choked Italian capital.

In the debate Thursday, several senators blasted Conte’s decision to have 5-Star senators boycott the vote.

Being in a government “is not like picking up a menu and deciding, antipasto, no, gelato, yes,” said Emma Bonino, who leads a tiny pro-Europe party.

Others noted that Draghi had increasing become a pivotal figure in Europe as Russia wages war against Ukraine, especially with the impending departure of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Draghi has governed with the support of virtually all of Italy’s main parties, with the exception of the fast-rising far-right Brothers of Italy party, which has demanded that Mattarella pull the plug on Parliament and give Italians a chance to vote in new leaders.

Giovanni Orsina, a history professor and director of the school of government at Rome’s LUISS university, said Mattarella would likely ask Draghi to go to Parliament to see if he can command a new, workable majority.

“We’ve got the pandemic, we got the war, we have inflation, we have the energy crisis. So certainly this is not a good moment,” Orsina said. “And also because Mattarella believes, rightly, that his mission is to safeguard stability.”

Among Draghi’s achievements has been keeping Italy on track with reforms that the EU has made a condition for the country to receive 200 billion euros (dollars) in pandemic recovery assistance. Much of that EU funding is already allocated and subject to automatic mechanisms, suggesting the funding won’t be lost, even amid government instability.
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Turkish officials say there is a potential breakthrough in efforts to release Ukrainian grain to world markets as global food prices soar amid Russia’s war with Ukraine. Turkey’s defense minister, Hulusi Akar, said an agreement is likely to be announced soon following four-way talks Wednesday among Russian, Ukrainian, United Nations, and Turkish officials in Istanbul.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said in a statement after Wednesday’s talks that a deal to allow the release of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain could come as early as next week.

Akar said Turkey would play a pivotal role in checking shipments in harbors and guaranteeing the safety of Black Sea export routes. In addition, a coordination center with Ukraine, Russia, and the United Nations for exporting grain would be set up in Turkey, he said.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, while welcoming the process, also cautioned Wednesday that this is not yet a done deal.

“More technical work will now be needed to materialize today’s progress. But the momentum is clear,” he said.

Trust has been a key stumbling block in months of diplomatic efforts to reach a deal. Kyiv has said it fears that if it de-mines its ports to allow cargo ships to export grain, Russian forces will use that move to their advantage and attack. The grain has been stuck amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Aaron Stein of Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute said trust and international sanctions on Russia have been the main obstacles.

“This food corridor would require the Ukrainians to remove mines from seaports. They were put there for a reason to keep Russians from invading their country. And there is no appetite whatsoever to lift sanctions, and that is the Russian demand, and that is not going to happen,” said Stein.

The Reuters news agency quotes a U.N. official speaking anonymously as saying that most of the sticking points have been overcome, without giving details.

Moscow has so far not commented on the Istanbul talks.

Meanwhile, the U.N. warns that unless tens of millions of tons of grain stuck in Ukrainian ports are released, world food prices will continue to climb, threatening famine across the globe.

Ukraine is a leading wheat exporter, and nations in Africa are heavily dependent on Ukrainian grain. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine is determined to reach a deal.

Zelenskyy said his government is putting significant effort into resuming the supply of food to the world market. He said he is grateful to the United Nations and Turkey for their efforts.

The progress at the Istanbul talks has underlined Turkey’s position as a critical facilitator in negotiations between the warring parties, said Sinan Ulgen of the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, a research organization in Istanbul.

“President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan has been careful to highlight that Turkey wants to maintain relations with both sides. So, as a result of this balanced policy, Turkey has been trying to carve out a space for diplomatic influence as a facilitator or potentially as a mediator,” said Ulgen.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has close ties with his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts. Ahead of the Istanbul talks, the Turkish leader spoke with Zelenskyy. Next week, the Turkish leader is scheduled to meet face-to face with President Vladimir Putin in Tehran for talks that could be key to finalizing any deal to get Ukrainian grain back on world markets. 
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PAMPLONA, Spain (AP) — Bulls from Spain´s revered Miura ranch starred in a fast and uncomplicated final running of the bulls at this year´s San Fermín Festival on Thursday.

The Navarra regional government said six people were treated for minor injuries following Thursday’s run that lasted just over two minutes. Initially, the Spanish Red Cross said two people needed treatment.

No horn gorings were reported as the Miuras, known for their alertness and speed of reaction, kept mainly in a pack and took little notice of the runners as they raced to the bullring.

One runner escaped serious injury when one bull’s horn appeared to graze the right side of his head before he fell to the ground.

The festival’s eighth and final 8 a.m. run saw hundreds of people, mostly men and far fewer than usual, test their agility to accompany six fighting bulls and their guiding steer along an 875-meter (956-yard) route through Pamplona to the city’s bullring. The bulls are killed by professional bullfighters later in the day.

Tens of thousands of visitors attend the Pamplona festival, which was immortalized in Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel “The Sun Also Rises.” The festival is also popular for its 24-hour partying.

During this year’s festival, which started July 6, four people were gored, none seriously.

Eight people were gored in 2019, the last festival before a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sixteen people have died in Pamplona’s bull runs since 1910, with the last death in 2009.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has accused Russia of forcibly deporting hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians from areas it controls in the east and south of the country to Russia.

Blinken said an estimated 900,000 to 1.6 million Ukrainian citizens, including 260,000 children, have been interrogated, detained, and deported from their homes to Russia, including to isolated areas in the Far East, through filtration operations.

In a statement on July 13, Blinken called on Russia to stop these operations, which he said violate the Geneva Conventions.

“The unlawful transfer and deportation of protected persons is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians and is a war crime,” Blinken said.

The filtration operations are separating families, confiscating Ukrainian passports, and issuing Russian passports “in an apparent effort to change the demographic makeup of parts of Ukraine,” Blinken said in the statement.

The people who are “filtered out” include Ukrainians deemed threatening because of their potential affiliation with the Ukrainian military, media, government, and civil society groups, Blinken said.

He also cited eyewitness reports from survivors who said that Russian authorities had transported tens of thousands of people to detention facilities in Donetsk controlled by Moscow-backed separatists, where many are reportedly tortured.

There are reports that some individuals targeted for filtration have been summarily executed, he said.

The filtration program appears to have been planned early and matches similar operations that Russia undertook in other wars, including in Chechnya, he said, adding that the Russians must be held accountable.

“This is why we are supporting Ukrainian and international authorities’ efforts to collect, document, and preserve evidence of atrocities,” he said.

The statement came a day before the Ukraine Accountability Conference in The Hague on alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

Some information for this report was provided by Agence France-Presse.
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Thousands of firefighters battled more than 20 blazes that raged across Portugal and western Spain on Wednesday, menacing villages and disrupting tourists’ holidays amid a heat wave that pushed temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius in some parts of Europe.

In France, hundreds of firefighters, supported by six water-bomber aircraft, battled two wildfires in the southwest, which prompted the evacuation of thousands of campers, Gironde prefect Fabienne Buccio said.

In Santiago de Guarda in the central Portuguese district of Leiria, Albertina Francisco struggled to hold back tears as a cloud of black smoke billowed over the tiny village.

“It was very hard,” said Francisco, 42, who was helping her sick sister evacuate. “Nobody helped — the firefighters and the (water-bomber) aircraft only got here now. … The state must do more to help us.”

Some villagers rescued pets while others helped firefighters battle the flames.

In Leiria, where more than 3,000 hectares have burned so far, authorities blocked major motorways and side streets as strong winds made it harder for firefighters to douse the flames. Portugal’s most important highway, connecting its capital, Lisbon, to Porto, was also blocked by another fire farther north.

Nearly 900 firefighters were combating three active blazes in Leiria alone, while in the whole of mainland Portugal there were 2,841 firefighters on the ground and 860 vehicles.

In Portugal’s southern Algarve region, popular with tourists, a fire broke out in the city of Faro and spread to the Quinta do Lago luxury resort. Videos shared online showed flames edging close to villas, burning palm trees and parts of golf courses.

About half of drought-hit Portugal will remain on red alert for extreme heat conditions on Thursday, with the highest temperatures expected in the Santarem and Castelo Branco districts, the IPMA weather institute said.

Wednesday’s highest temperature was registered in the central town of Lousa at 46.3 degrees C, one degree below a 2003 record.

Retiree Antonio Ramalheiro blamed inadequate forest management in addition to the heat wave for the wildfires.

“It is scary when the fire comes,” the 62-year-old said. “If it reaches the house, it is a disgrace … you lose everything.”

At least 135 people have suffered mainly minor injuries since wildfires began in Portugal last week, and about 800 people have been evacuated from their homes, according to the Civil Protection Authority.

More than 2,700 hectares have burned so far in France’s Gironde region, prefect Buccio told BFM TV. The biggest of the two fires is around the town of Landiras, south of Bordeaux, where roads have been closed and 500 residents evacuated.

The other one is along the Atlantic Coast, close to the iconic Dune du Pilat — the tallest sand dune in Europe — in the Arcachon Bay area, above which heavy clouds of dark smoke were seen rising in the sky.

That fire led to the preventive evacuation of 6,000 people from five surrounding campsites. They were taken to a local exhibition center for shelter.

“Other campers woke us up at around 4:30 in the morning. We had to leave immediately and quickly choose what to take with us,” Christelle, one of the evacuated tourists, told BFM TV.

On the eve of Bastille Day, the Gironde prefecture has forbidden all fireworks until Monday in towns and villages near forests.

The World Meteorological Organization warned on Tuesday that the heat wave was spreading and intensifying in large parts of Europe.

With human-caused climate change triggering droughts, the number of extreme wildfires is expected to increase 30% within the next 28 years, according to a February 2022 U.N. report.

Searing temperatures also swept across China’s vast Yangtze River basin on Wednesday; firefighters tackled a forest fire near the tourist town of Datca in Turkey; and power demand in Texas hit an all-time high as consumers cranked up their air conditioners to escape the heat.

In Spain’s western region of Extremadura bordering Portugal, firefighters battled a blaze that swept into Salamanca province in the region of Castile and Leon, burning more than 4,000 hectares.

Parts of the Extremadura, Andalusia and Galicia regions were on red alert for extreme heat, Spain’s AEMET meteorology service said, adding the country’s highest temperature Wednesday stood at 45.6 C in Huelva province.
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With thousands of sanctions already imposed on Russia to flatten its economy, the U.S. and its allies are working on new measures to starve the Russian war machine while also stopping the price of oil and gasoline from soaring to levels that could crush the global economy.

The Kremlin’s main pillar of financial revenue — oil — has kept the Russian economy afloat despite export bans, sanctions and the freezing of central bank assets. America’s European allies plan to follow the Biden administration and take steps to stop their use of Russian oil by the end of this year, a move that some economists say could cause the supply of oil worldwide to drop and push prices as high as $200 a barrel.

Washington and its allies want to form a buyers’ cartel to force Russia to accept below-market prices for oil. Group of Seven leaders have tentatively agreed to back a cap on the price of Russian oil. Simply speaking, participating countries would agree to purchase the oil at lower-than-market price.

Russia has given no sign whether it might go along with this. The Kremlin also has the option of retaliating by taking its oil off the market, which would cause more turmoil.

High energy costs are straining economies and threatening fissures among the countries opposing Russian President Vladimir Putin for the invasion of Ukraine in February. President Joe Biden has seen his public approval slip to levels that hurt Democrats’ chances in the midterm elections, while leaders in the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy are coping with the economic devastation caused by trying to move away from Russian natural gas and petroleum.

The idea behind the cap is to lower gas prices for consumers and help bring the war in Ukraine to a halt. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is currently touring Indo-Pacific countries to lobby for the proposal. In Japan on Tuesday, Yellen and Japanese Finance Minister Suzuki Shunichi said in a joint statement that the countries have agreed to explore “the feasibility of price caps where appropriate.”

However, China and India, two countries that have maintained business relationships with Russia during the war, will need to get on board. The administration is confident China and India, already buying from Russia at discounted prices, can be enticed to embrace the plan for price caps.

“We think that ultimately countries around the world that are currently purchasing Russian oil will be very interested in paying as little as possible for that Russian oil,” Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo told The Associated Press.

The Russian price cap plan has support among some leading economic thinkers. Harvard economist Jason Furman tweeted that if the plan works, it would be a “win-win: maximizing damage to the Russian war machine while minimizing damage to the rest of the world.” And David Wessel at the Brookings Institution said an “unpleasant alternative” is not attempting the price cap plan.

If a price cap is not implemented, oil prices will almost certainly spike because of a European Union decision to ban nearly all oil from Russia. The EU also plans to ban insuring and financing the maritime transport of Russian oil to third parties by the end of the year.

Without a price cap mechanism to reduce some Russian revenues, “there would be a greater risk that some Russian supply comes off the market. That could lead to higher prices, which would increase prices for Americans,” Adeyemo said.

A June Barclay’s report warns that with the EU oil embargo and other restrictions in place, Russian oil could rise to $150 per barrel or even $200 per barrel if most of its sea-borne exports are disrupted.

Brent crude on Tuesday was trading just under $100 per barrel.

James Hamilton, an economist at the University of California, San Diego, said garnering the participation of China and India will be important to enforcing any price cap plan.

“It’s an international diplomatic challenge on how you get people to agree. It’s one thing if you get the U.S. to stop buying oil, but if India and China continue to buy” at elevated prices, “there’s no impact on Russian revenues,” Hamilton told the AP.

“The less revenue Russia gets from selling oil, the less money they have to send these bombs on Ukraine,” he said.

One possibility is that Russia could retaliate and take its oil off the market completely.

In that case, “the main question is will countries have enough time to find alternatives” to prevent massive price increases, said Christiane Baumeister, an economist at the University of Notre Dame who studies the dynamics of energy markets.

With five months until the end of the year, when EU bans begin to take effect, a Russian price cap plan would likely need to be in place and operating effectively to avoid further spikes in gas prices that have frustrated U.S. drivers. Biden has warned that high gas prices this summer were the cost of stopping Putin, but prices could climb to new records and lead to economic and political pain for the president.

Without the price cap, “if the EU import ban goes into effect together with the insurance ban,” Baumeister said, the impacts “will be passed onto consumers through gasoline prices.”
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British Conservative Party lawmakers cast ballots Wednesday in the first round of the election to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Eight candidates have secured the necessary support of 20 of their colleagues to make the first ballot. If necessary, further rounds of voting will take place on Thursday and next week.

Once only two candidates remain, they will participate in a runoff vote by about 180,000 Conservative Party members across the country. The winner is scheduled to be announced September 5 and will immediately become the new prime minister.

Several high-profile candidates are in the first round, including former treasury chief Rishi Sunak, the bookies’ favorite, who has several declared supporters. Other candidates are Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt.

Treasury chief Nadhim Zahawi, lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch, former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Attorney General Suella Braverman are also on the ballot.

Johnson resigned as Conservative leader last week amid months of scandals. He said he would remain prime minister until his replacement is chosen.

Mordaunt said at her official campaign launch Wednesday that the party has “standards and trust to restore” after Johnson’s scandals.

The slate of candidates is diverse, with four candidates from ethnic minorities and four women. All the candidates have similar ideas in terms of tax-slashing policies, though Sunak expressed caution.

A spokeswoman for Johnson insisted he would remain neutral in the search for his replacement.

At the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQ) session at the House of Commons on Wednesday, Johnson told Labour leader Keir Starmer, “The next leader of my party may be elected by acclamation. So, it’s possible this will be our last confrontation.”

He added that it was “true that I leave not at a time of my choosing, but I will be leaving soon with my head held high.”
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