1UA TV

The Nobel Foundation on Saturday retracted its invitation for representatives of Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend this year’s Nobel Prize award ceremonies after the controversial decision “provoked strong reactions.”

Several Swedish lawmakers said Friday they would boycott this year’s Nobel Prize award ceremonies in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, after the private foundation that administers the prestigious awards changed its position from a year earlier and invited representatives of the three countries to attend.

Some of the lawmakers cited Russia’s war on Ukraine and the crackdown on human rights in Iran as reasons for their boycott.

The Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told media outlets Friday that he wouldn’t allow Russian representatives to attend the ceremony this year if given the choice.

“The basis for the decision is that we believe that it is important and right to reach out as widely as possible with the values and messages that the Nobel Prize stands for,” the Nobel Foundation said in a brief statement.

The foundation said it recognized “the strong reactions in Sweden, which completely overshadowed this message” and chose not to invite “the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran to the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm.”

However, it said that it would follow its usual practice and invite all ambassadors to the ceremony in Oslo at which the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded.

The Nobel Foundation said earlier it had extended invitations to all countries with diplomatic missions in Sweden and Norway to the December 10 event since that “promotes opportunities to convey the important messages of the Nobel Prize to everyone.”
…

Russian authorities on Friday declared journalist Dmitry Muratov, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, to be a foreign agent, continuing the country’s moves to suppress critics and independent reporting.

Russian law allows for individuals and organizations receiving funding from abroad to be declared foreign agents, a pejorative term that potentially undermines their credibility with the Russian public. The status also requires designees to mark any publications with a disclaimer stating they are foreign agents.

Muratov was chief editor of Novaya Gazeta, which was widely respected abroad for its investigative reporting and was frequently critical of the Kremlin. Muratov was a co-laureate of the 2021 Nobel prize; he later put up his Nobel medal for auction, receiving $103.5 million which he said would be used to aid refugee children from Ukraine.

After Russia enacted harsh laws to punish statements that criticized its military actions in Ukraine or were found to discredit Russian soldiers, Novaya Gazeta announced it would suspend publication until the conflict ended.

Many of its journalists started a new publication called Novaya Gazeta Europe that is based in Latvia.

In recent years, Russia has methodically targeted people and organizations critical of the Kremlin, branding many as “foreign agents.” It has has branded some as “undesirable” under a 2015 law that makes membership in such organizations a criminal offense.

It also has imprisoned prominent opposition figures including anti-corruption campaigner AlexeyAl Navalny, who is President Vladimir Putin’s most persistent domestic foe, and dissidents Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin.
…

Britain’s Education Department has ordered more than 150 schools to shut down buildings constructed with RAAC, a type of concrete that is prone to collapse. The decision came just days before the fall term is set to start, drawing ire from parents, teachers and politicians.

A roof beam gave way over the summer, prompting the British government to examine the risks of RAAC, Schools Minister Nick Gibb told the BBC recently. The past few months have seen a number of instances where buildings containing RAAC suddenly failed, both at schools and elsewhere.

Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, or RAAC, is lightweight and was used in construction until the mid-1990s. RAAC has a lifespan of about 30 years.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan described the government’s decision as a “cautious approach.” She reassured the public that most affected schools would remain open because the faulty concrete was found in limited areas.

But some campuses face total closure, sending teachers and parents scrambling for alternatives from relocating students to neighboring schools to reviving coronavirus-era distance learning.

Part of the shock of the government’s announcement is that it has long known about the risks of RAAC. More than 50 school buildings with RAAC have been closed in the past over safety concerns.

In June, the watchdog group National Audit Office reported about the dangers that school buildings constructed with RAAC pose to students and teachers. It cited a strong likelihood of injury or death from a building imploding.

These developments follow six months of teachers’ strikes across the United Kingdom spurred by charges of underfunding and poor government outreach.

Critics from all sides describe the mass closures as a debacle. Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said in a statement that the situation reflected “gross government incompetence … ”

In the run-up to the general election expected in 2024, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will have to consider how to win the public’s confidence and counter ridicule over his efforts in infrastructure and education.

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
…

Poland plans to double its armed forces to 300,000 by 2035 with a combination of professional soldiers and volunteers. As Lesia Bakalets reports, Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine has triggered a huge number of Poles from all walks of life to sign up as volunteers. Camera: Daniil Batushchak
…

In July, a group of 56 European and American lawmakers sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, demanding a tougher Western policy toward Serbia, primarily regarding its relations with Kosovo.

“We are asking for balance and proportionality to return in dealing with Kosovo and Serbia,” the Western officials wrote, adding that the current approach is not working.

Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence, which it declared in 2008, and tensions have been a constant between the two countries since then. This year, there have been several flare-ups in northern Kosovo, where the ethnic Serbs are a majority of the population.

The letter was followed by articles in U.S. and German media outlets, such as CNN and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, criticizing the West for perceived appeasement of Serbia, a Western Balkan country that the United States and its allies hope to persuade to join in sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine.

For Richard Kraemer, a fellow at the U.S. Foreign Policy Research Institute, the Western media coverage is no surprise: “These modest displays of discontent with Belgrade indicate that certain Western leaders are fed up with [Serbian President Aleksandar] Vucic’s manipulative shenanigans.”

On the other hand, Bodo Weber, political analyst and senior associate at the Democratization Policy Council in Berlin, said he does see the letter as evidence that the West is changing course toward Serbia or Vucic.

“That change would be welcome, but unfortunately, we don’t see such a turnaround in sight. Rather, the letter of a few Western parliamentarians attracted the attention of the Western media, which normally rarely write about the region,” Weber said in a written response to questions from VOA.

During a press conference in Belgrade at the beginning of August, Vucic claimed that he personally — and not the country — is being criticized for not recognizing the independence of Kosovo and for “defending the interests of the Serbian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.”

U.S. Ambassador to Belgrade Christopher Hill defended the U.S. approach to relations with Vucic’s government in an exclusive interview with VOA’s Serbian Service.

“You have policies not just for success but because they are the right policies to have,” Hill said. “We weigh our interest in formulating a policy, and we proceed with it on the idea that this is the right thing for our government to do.”

Belgrade’s ties with Russia

Serbia is formally seeking EU membership and has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations, yet it has maintained its historically friendly relations with Moscow.

“Everyone should join sanctions, certainly countries aspiring to join Europe,” Hill said. “We think that is the right thing to do and would like to see Serbia do the same and march toward Euro-Atlantic systems.”

Johanna Deimel, a German expert on the Balkans, pointed to published reports, based on a leaked U.S. intelligence document, that Serbia has quietly agreed to provide arms to Ukraine for its defense against the Russian invasion.

“On one hand, Belgrade has been criticized for refusing to join the EU sanctions against Russia, and on the other hand, it seems that, for example, arms deliveries to Ukraine are helping to turn a blind eye elsewhere,” she said.

She also said efforts to align Serbia more closely with the West are complicated by Russian influence in the region’s media and its investments in the energy sector in the Balkans.

Kraemer noted that Serbia is almost entirely dependent on natural gas supplies from Russia and maintains trade and military ties with Moscow, while pro-Russian sentiments are high in the country.

The West “has bent over backwards to try and lure Belgrade into the transatlantic fold with carrots while looking from the sidelines at Serbia’s proxy status vis-a-vis the Kremlin’s Balkan agenda,” he said.

“Why they thought this would work, considering Vucic’s overt refusal to get on board concerning Ukraine, remains a mystery to me.”

In the July letter, the U.S. and EU lawmakers criticized Vucic for close ties and support to Milorad Dodik, the nationalist president of the Republic of Srpska in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dodik has been sanctioned by the United States for “undermining the Dayton peace accords,” a U.S.-sponsored agreement that ended the Balkan war in the 1990s.

Another obstacle to better relations between Belgrade and the West is the pro-Russian stance of Serbian spy chief Aleksandar Vulin, who has been sanctioned by the United States for alleged involvement in illegal arms shipments, drug trafficking and misuse of public office.

“The Treasury Department’s sanctioning of Vulin — unprecedented as he is a sitting Serbian government official — can be rightly interpreted as a warning,” Kraemer said. “It remains to be seen whether Washington and its partners have the gumption to sanction others of similar ilk to Vulin.”

In his interview with VOA, Hill said the dispute over Vulin, whom Vucic has refused to sack, has not derailed the Western outreach to Belgrade.

“Our sanctions are not against the institutions but on the individual. We continue to work with Serbia in areas where we can find agreement,” he said.

The issue of Kosovo

U.S.-Serbian relations are also troubled by Belgrade’s refusal to recognize the sovereignty of Kosovo, which declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, almost a decade after U.S.-led NATO forces intervened to stop the ethnic cleansing of ethnic Albanians by the Serbian government.

A U.S. State Department study concluded that at least 6,000 Kosovar Albanians had been the victims of mass murder by Serbian forces in 1999.

The latest tensions flared in April when ethnic Serbs boycotted local elections held in northern Kosovo, where they are a majority. That led to the election of ethnic Albanian mayors, who moved into their offices with the help of Kosovo’s riot police.

Serbs tried to prevent the new mayors from taking over the premises, but the police fired tear gas to disperse them. Serbs engaged in fierce clashes with NATO peacekeepers, leaving more than 50 rioters and 30 international troops injured.

The election boycott followed a collective resignation by Serb officials from the area, including administrative staff, judges and police officers, in November 2022.

During EU-mediated talks between Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, the two were reported to have reached an agreement in Ohrid, a lake town in neighboring North Macedonia, to normalize their relations.

However, this agreement has not been implemented, and each side accuses the other of stalling the process.

According to Deimel, the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina “needs a complete reset.”

“It is incomprehensible to me why Josep Borell, the head of European diplomacy, and others praised the ‘Ohrid Agreement’ so much,” Deimel said. “It was a serious attempt, a concrete German-French proposal on the table, and then Vucic walks out the door and says that he did not sign the agreement.”

Hill said that the Kosovo issue is of some urgency and that progress toward its resolution is necessary.
…

Tesla on Friday unveiled a restyled Model 3 with a longer driving range in China and other markets including Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Japan, putting pressure on rivals who are expected to announce new electric vehicles in the next few days.

In China, the world’s largest auto market, the refreshed version of the Model 3 came with a starting price 12% higher than the previous, base rear-wheel drive model, reversing a trend toward price cuts which had sparked a price war between Tesla and its Chinese EV rivals.

The updated version of the Model 3 was Tesla’s first new or restyled car since it launched its global best-seller, the Model Y, in 2020. Tesla plans to start production of its Cybertruck later this year.

The rollout of the Model 3 in China and markets to which Tesla exports from its manufacturing hub there suggested that its Shanghai plant would be first to make the model. Tesla also makes the Model 3 at its plant in Fremont, California.

The new Model 3 promises a longer driving range for China, according to the company’s website. The standard version has a rated range of 606 kilometers based on China’s testing standards. That’s about 9% higher than the base model it replaces in China.

Tesla said it had started taking orders and would begin deliveries in China in the fourth quarter. In Australia, deliveries were set for January.

Tesla sold 64,285 China-made electric vehicles in July, down 31% from a month earlier, the most recent data from the China Passenger Car Association showed.

In a statement issued by its China operations, Tesla said the new model featured a better acoustic system, an improved and more comfortable interior and a display screen for back-seat passengers. Images of the exterior showed small changes that gave the sedan a sleeker front and new headlights.

The Tesla announcement came days before the Munich auto show where German automakers are expected to announce a run of new EVs. Those include a new version of the Volkswagen VOWG_p.DE ID.7 and a new electric CLA model sedan from Mercedes MBGn.DE.

Reuters first reported last November that Tesla was developing a revamped version of the Model 3 in a project codenamed “Highland.” People involved in the project said it was aimed at cutting production costs and boosting the appeal of the model.

In China, the new Model 3 starts at $35,807.78, the company’s website showed Friday.
…

Some analysts warn that the choice of countries selected for induction into the BRICS bloc suggests the grouping as a whole may be headed on a path toward decreased tolerance for public dissent and debate.

The five-nation developing bloc, which comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, announced on August 24 the admission of six countries into its fold: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Their membership is expected to become effective in January 2024.

Of the six states, four — Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and Iran — have a history of heavily clamping down on dissenting voices. Their inclusion draws them closer to Russia and China, both known as authoritarian regimes that allow little engagement by independent civil society groups.

Neil Melvin, director of International Security Studies at London-based Royal United Security Institute, the U.K.’s oldest defense and security policy group, told VOA the selection of these six nations from among some 40 applicants reflected the disparate interests of the existing BRICS members.

“Argentina is there because of its neighbor Brazil. Russia and China also want to bring in Iran. And Egypt is there primarily because of the centrality of the hydrocarbon sector to many of the BRICS countries. And, for South Africa, it likely wanted Ethiopia because of its centrality for African diplomacy,” he said. The African Union is headquartered in Addis Ababa.

“We do see a group of countries that certainly have a democracy problem, and this is strengthening non-democratic trends in the BRICS, and a human rights problem,” Melvin said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has cited Ethiopia, Iran and China among the 10 most censored countries for journalists in the world. Like political analysts, the advocacy group wants openness on the part of BRICS leaders.

Guillen Kaiser, CPJ’s advocacy and communications director, told VOA that because BRICS makes up “a significant portion of the world’s population,” it is imperative for member states, “many of which are repressive regimes,” to accept that their people want to be informed.

“The public wants transparency and accountability. Journalists provide this every day, with reporting that moves markets and allows people to make informed decisions,” she said. “BRICS leaders must accept that ultimately, their chokehold on the flow of information isn’t grounded in reality and it is in their interest to embrace a free press.”

Melvin noted that the BRICS expansion follows Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the refusal by some countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America to join the United States and most of Europe in retaliatory sanctions.

The expansion, he said, might be a signal of the bloc’s resolve to lead a new kind of Global South movement to broaden its legitimacy. “But I think this is going to be a very difficult agenda because it is relatively easy to complain about the existing [world] order.”

Melvin said if BRICS expects to offer an alternative to the West, it will have to address the challenges faced by its incoming members — an economic crisis in Argentina and massive debts faced by Ethiopia and Egypt.

“The West has been struggling with this for many years,” he said. “So, can China, Russia and the rest actually put something together? That’s the question they have put on themselves, and they’re going to have to answer that.”

Mandeep Tiwana, chief officer for evidence and engagement at CIVICUS, a global civil society alliance, told VOA that many of the newly inducted BRICS members have a record of suppressing human rights and dismantling the democratic aspirations of their people.

“BRICS is, in a sense, trying to reframe global governance,” Tiwana said. “Because when you have governments that are totalitarian in nature, it is going to create more challenges for people around the world rather than resolve challenges or create a better life for all.”

Tiwana said with Russia and China having disproportionate influence within the bloc, it is still not clear whether democratic states like Brazil, India and South Africa can have a positive influence on the other members.

“The leaders have not openly spoken about this, and our research shows that four of the countries BRICS is admitting have serious civic space restrictions, and so it doesn’t augur well for people-centered decision-making when you practically have no independent civil society in these countries,” he said.

“Our hope is that countries with democratic traditions within the BRICS alliance can influence the others to be more open to civil society so they can involve people in their decision-making.”

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said BRICS would expand more in the future.

This story originated in VOA’s English to Africa Service.
…

The adoption of a law to criminalize defamation in Bosnia’s republic of Srpska has oppositional lawmakers, media watchdogs and the EU concerned. For VOA News, Aid Mrsic has the story. Camera: Dragan Stegic
…

Ukrainian troops using Android mobile devices are coming under attack from Russian hackers, who are using a new kind of malware to try to steal information critical to the ongoing counteroffensive.

Cyber officials from the United States, along with counterparts from Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand, issued a warning Thursday about the malware, named Infamous Chisel, which aims to scan files, monitor communications and “periodically steal sensitive information.”

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, describes the new malware as “a collection of components which enable persistent access to an infected Android device … which periodically collates and exfiltrates victim information.”

A CISA report published Thursday shared additional technical details about the Russian campaign, with officials warning the malware could be employed against other targets.

Thursday’s warning reflects “the need for all organizations to keep their Shields Up to detect and mitigate Russian cyber activity, and the importance of continued focus on maintaining operational resilience under all conditions,” said Eric Goldstein, CISA executive assistant director for cybersecurity, in a statement.

According to the report by the U.S. and its allies, the malware is designed to persist on a system by replacing legitimate coding with other coding from outside the system that is not directly attached to the malware itself.

It also said the malware’s components are of “low to medium sophistication and appear to have been developed with little regard to defense evasion or concealment of malicious activity.”

Ukraine’s SBU security agency first discovered the Russian malware earlier in August, saying it was being used to “gain access to the combat data exchange system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

Ukrainian officials said at the time they were able to launch defensive cyber operations to expose and block the Russian efforts.

An SBU investigation determined that Russia was able to launch the malware attack after capturing Ukrainian computer tablets on the battlefield.

Ukraine attributed the attack to a cyber threat actor known as Sandworm, which U.S. and British officials have previously linked to the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence service.
…

Russia has been using sham websites to obtain the personal information of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and their family members, U.S. defense officials say, in what they believe is an attempt to detain the family members who are living in occupied Ukraine and deport them to Russia.

Two U.S. defense officials say a Russian information warfare unit has created at least two phishing websites, WarTears.org and ForeignCombatants.ru, that are posing as support websites for friends and family members of missing, captured or fallen Ukrainian soldiers.

Petro Yatsenko, spokesman for Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, confirmed to VOA that the two websites are scams. He said there are dozens of similar phishing websites that try to collect data from the families.

“They exploit the extremely vulnerable relatives and loved ones of missing or captured servicemen … [using] the fact that Russia does not provide Ukraine with information about those they hold in captivity,” Yatsenko told VOA. “Relatives hope that their loved one is not dead but is imprisoned, so they provide their personal data.”

One of the websites, WarTears.org, claims to have records of more than 170,000 Ukrainian soldiers in its database.

U.S. defense officials say they believe that Russia is using the names, phone numbers and addresses of Ukrainians obtained through these sites to determine whether any of the soldiers and their family members are living inside Russian-occupied territories.

Those living in occupied territories can be found, screened, detained and deported to Russia, according to the officials.

“That’s quite alarming,” said retired U.S. Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton, who spent more than two decades as an intelligence officer, “but it also shows the thoroughness of their [Russia’s] data collection capabilities and their willingness to exploit these vulnerabilities.”

Last September, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said estimates from a range of sources, including the Russian government, indicated that Russian authorities have interrogated and forcibly deported between 900,000 and 1.6 million Ukrainians. Russia has denied the claim.

Yatsenko said Russia’s FSB, the main successor of the Soviet Union’s KGB security agency, has used the personal information obtained from sites like these to extort information about Ukrainian POWs.

“By providing such information, people may unknowingly worsen the situation of their loved ones who are in captivity,” he said.

Applying personal pressure on people is a “very typical” Russian tactic used since Stalinist times, Leighton said.

“This is a refinement to that. This is definitely taking it to a new level,” he told VOA.

The sites were believed to have been created shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. U.S. defense officials say they became aware of the two sites this summer.

Not all of the phishing sites identified by the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine are from the Russian government, according to Yatsenko. Some of the fake websites are created by fraudsters trying to extort money from Ukrainians in a vulnerable position.

“They promise communication, delivery of parcels, and then engage in blackmail, saying the prisoner will be beaten if relatives don’t send money,” he said. “In 99% of cases, behind these channels are people who have no relation to the prisoners and have zero information about them.”

To find out more information on missing family members, Yatsenko said, Ukrainians should contact only official government sources. The Ukrainian government’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War can be reached at +38 (044) 390 43 90 or 0 800 300 529, Monday-Friday between the local hours of 0900-1700.
…