Month: July 2023

A 20-year-old, U.S.-funded AIDS relief program that is credited with saving tens of millions of lives around the world may not be reauthorized if conservative and anti-abortion activists are successful in a campaign against it.

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was launched in 2003 by then-President George W. Bush, and since then it has channeled more than $110 billion in support for the fight against the AIDS epidemic in more than 50 countries around the world.

It has been particularly successful in Western and sub-Saharan Africa, where it helps provide antiretroviral medication to the more than 25 million people who are living with the disease.

The program received $6.9 billion in fiscal 2023. Through its history, the program has typically been reauthorized for five years at a time, in order to provide some certainty about the flow of relief dollars. It was last authorized in 2018. Advocates of the program are calling for a “clean” reauthorization that does not alter the program or introduce uncertainty about the flow of funds.

However, that reauthorization is now in doubt, as conservative lawmakers and activists have expressed concern that the program works with various organizations around the world that, in addition to combating AIDS, provide reproductive health services, including abortion.

‘Radical’ ideology

In a joint letter to key members of Congress this spring, dozens of anti-abortion groups urged lawmakers to reconsider their support for the program unless new rules are put in place that restrict the way it can spend federal funds.

“The American people do not support using taxpayer dollars to fund abortion at home or abroad,” the groups wrote. “For that reason, there exists long-standing precedent not to fund abortion, directly or indirectly, through U.S. foreign assistance. We are concerned that grants from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) are used by nongovernmental organizations that promote abortions and push a radical gender ideology abroad.”

Failure to reauthorize the program would not necessarily kill it, because Congress could still appropriate money for it each year. But it would chip away at the administrative foundation of PEPFAR, leaving it less able to adapt to changing conditions in countries participating in the program, including changes in local laws that affect the provision of specific kinds of aid, and changes in the prevalence of the virus.

Pressuring lawmakers

Several influential conservative organizations, including the Heritage Foundation, Family Research Council and Susan B. Anthony (SBA) Pro-Life America, have said that they oppose a clean reauthorization of the program. They said they would add any vote that renewed the program without changes to their legislative scorecards.

Those scorecards, which track lawmakers’ adherence to the wishes of conservative activist organizations, are influential because a low score can leave a member of Congress open to a reelection challenge from a more conservative rival.

Autumn Christensen, vice president of public policy for SBA Pro-Life America, said in a statement emailed to VOA that her organization believes the Biden administration has “bowed to the pressures of the international abortion lobby and integrated broader sexual and reproductive services (which includes abortion) into their strategic plans.”

Christensen praised legislation proposed by Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican, that would reauthorize PEPFAR for a single year and explicitly deny any funding to organizations that “promote or perform” abortions.

Mexico City policy

Those advocating for a clean reauthorization of PEPFAR point out that it is already illegal under U.S. law for foreign aid funds to be spent on the delivery of abortion services.

A 1973 provision of the Foreign Assistance Act, known as the Helms Amendment, reads, “[N]o foreign assistance funds may be used to pay for the performance of abortion as a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions.”

That language has, for generations, blocked direct funding of abortion with U.S. aid. However, it has not blocked U.S. aid programs from providing funds to organizations that provide access to abortions using funds from other sources.

Opponents of a clean PEPFAR reauthorization are demanding that stronger anti-abortion protections, such as the “Mexico City policy,” be incorporated into the program.

First adopted in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan’s administration, the policy bars U.S. aid from being disbursed to any organization that provides access to abortion services, even with non-U.S. money.

Since its original introduction, the Mexico City policy has been rescinded by every Democratic presidential administration upon taking office and has been reinstated by every Republican.

Former President Donald Trump not only reinstated the policy early in his presidency, but he strengthened it. By 2019, it was U.S. policy to refuse to provide funds to groups that even spoke in favor of abortion rights or supported other organizations that did.

President Joe Biden reversed Trump’s reinstatement of the policy when he took office in 2021.

Known impacts

Matthew Kavanagh is the director of the Global Health Policy and Politics Initiative at Georgetown Law School’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. He told VOA that the impact of the Mexico City policy is already well-known to public health researchers.

“PEPFAR is one of the most successful and impactful global health programs in the world’s history,” Kavanagh said. But when the Trump administration reinstated the Mexico City policy, “quite a few organizations actually dropped out from being PEPFAR recipients,” he said.

Kavanagh said that many of the organizations that are most experienced at providing the kind of interventions that made PEPFAR successful are local family planning organizations that offer a range of services and counseling, often including abortion.

“Local family planning organizations were no longer allowed to provide HIV prevention programming and to receive PEPFAR funding, and that was a huge loss for the program,” he said.

He also warned against plans to reauthorize the program for just one year, saying that doing so would create damaging uncertainty for organizations serving desperate people.

“Organizations around the world are depending on this for lifesaving programs,” Kavanagh said. “People are not put on HIV treatment for one year, and then taken off. People are on HIV treatment for their lives, and we need to ensure that these programs don’t have to worry that they’re going to be shut down at the end of the year.” 
…

Nearly 200 million people in the United States, or 60% of the U.S. population, are under a heat advisory or flood warning or watch as high temperatures spread and new areas are told to expect severe storms.

The National Weather Service said a “dangerous” heat wave began to scorch the Northeast and mid-Atlantic on Thursday and will continue into the weekend. Severe thunderstorms and flash floods are possible for parts of the Northeast and South, New England and South Florida. Meanwhile, the string of record-breaking temperatures will persist for the Southwest and Midwest.

“It’s (hitting) all the big cities,” said Bob Oravec, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center. “That’s why the population (affected) is so high.”

Scientists have long warned that climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, will lead to more and prolonged bouts of extreme weather.

The prediction for continued excessive heat comes a day after the World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service declared July 2023 the hottest month on record.

On Thursday, heat and humidity in major cities along the East Coast, including Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City, created a real feel above 37.8 degrees Celsius. Forecasters expect several records may break Friday with temperatures 5.5 to 8 degrees Celsius above average.

In New England, communities are bracing for the “dual threats,” as Oravec called them, of extreme heat and flash floods.

“You could have really bad heat for a good part of the day and then get a strong thunderstorm that produces heavy rains and then can produce flooding,” he said.

The Southwest and southern Plains continue to experience record-breaking heat. There, the oppressive temperatures have been blanketing the region for weeks. One meteorologist based in New Mexico called the prolonged period of temperatures above 37.8 C unprecedented.

“They probably aren’t going to have a lot of sympathy for the rest of the country,” Oravec said.

Due to the extreme heat, two of the nation’s largest power grids are under stress, which could affect Americans’ ability to cool off.

The country’s largest power grid, PJM Interconnection, declared a level one energy emergency alert for its 13-state grid on Wednesday, meaning the company is concerned about its ability to provide enough electricity.

“PJM currently has enough generation to meet forecast demand, but operators continue to monitor the grid conditions for any changes,” said Jeffrey Shields, a spokesperson for the company.

PJM isn’t the only electrical grid to issue such an alert. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which mostly covers states in the Midwest and Northern Plains, issued a similar alert Thursday.

The California Independent System Operator also issued an energy emergency alert for the evening Wednesday, in part due to excess heat in Southern California, but it expired the same day. Anne Gonzales, a CAISO spokesperson, said they expect to be able to meet demand the next few days.

And a spokesperson for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which covers most of Texas, said they expect their grid will operate per usual during this latest blast of extreme weather across the country.
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CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Friday he was confident of securing bipartisan political support in the United States for a deal to provide his country with submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology.

The so-called AUKUS partnership — an acronym for Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States — is being discussed by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in meetings with Albanese and other Australian officials in Brisbane on Friday and Saturday.

Under the deal, Australia will buy three Virginia-class submarines from the United States and build five of a new AUKUS-class submarine in cooperation with Britain.

Australian media have focused on a letter signed by more than 20 Republican lawmakers to President Joe Biden that warned the deal would “unacceptably weaken the U.S. fleet” without a plan to boost U.S. submarine production.

Albanese said he remained “very confident” that the United States would deliver the three submarines.

Albanese said he had been reassured by discussions he had with Republicans and Democrats at a NATO summit in Lithuanian this month.

“What struck me was their unanimous support for AUKUS, their unanimous support for the relationship between the Australia and United States. It has never been stronger,” Albanese told reporters in Brisbane.

Austin and Blinken arrived in Brisbane late Thursday ahead of annual bilateral meetings with their Australian counterparts, Defense Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

Marles said the AUKUS program was “on track.”

“Congress can be a complicated place as legislation makes its way through it, but actually we’re encouraged by how quickly it is going through it and we are expecting that there will be lots of discussions on the way through,” Marles told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

“Fundamentally, we have reached an agreement with the Biden administration about how Australia acquires the nuclear-powered submarine capability and we’re proceeding along that path with pace,” he added.

Australia understood there was “pressure on the American industrial base” and would contribute to submarine production, Marles said. The AUKUS deal is forecast to cost Australia up to 368 billion Australian dollars ($246 billion) over 30 years.
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New legislation that would support foundering local newsrooms across the United States has been introduced in the House of Representatives. The bill would create advertising tax credits and payroll tax credits for five years.

Introduced July 21, the Community News and Small Business Support Act is sponsored by a bipartisan duo: Claudia Tenney, a Republican from New York, and Suzan DelBene, a Democrat from Washington state.

The bill “ensures that local news organizations can continue to deliver vital news stories that matter most to our communities while allowing for our small businesses to grow and our communities to stay informed,” Tenney said in a statement about the legislation.

The bill has two main components. Local news outlets would receive tax credits to help hire and retain reporters. The bill would provide up to $25,000 to local outlets for the first year and $15,000 for the next four years. National outlets would not be eligible.

The credit would be worth up to $85,000 per journalist over the duration of the bill, the Rebuild Local News Coalition calculated. Rebuild Local News is a nonprofit that helps support local journalism.

‘Crisis’ requires aid

“The crisis in local news is so severe that it requires some public policy help, as well as philanthropy and business model improvements,” Steven Waldman, chair of the Rebuild Local News Coalition, told VOA.

Meanwhile, small businesses that advertise in local news outlets would also be eligible for tax credits of $5,000 for the first year and $2,500 for the next four years. The credits would be calculated based on total advertising spending.

“In today’s digital world, access to trustworthy and reliable news is more important than ever. Local journalists and newspapers play a critical role in increasing involvement in civic institutions, identifying government corruption and decreasing polarization. Yet, this industry is struggling more than ever to keep the lights on,” DelBene said in a statement.

A similar federal bill received some bipartisan support in the House of Representatives, but it hit a wall in 2021 and was not passed.

“There is no magic bullet solution to the local news crisis,” Tim Franklin, director of Northwestern University’s Medill Local News Initiative, told VOA. But he said he thought this new bill could be an effective way to generate much-needed revenue for local news outlets.

The U.S. news industry has been struggling for years, but the local news industry has been hit especially hard. On average, two newspapers close each week, according to a 2022 report by Northwestern.

Hundreds of closures

Since late 2019, more than 360 newspapers have closed around the United States, according to the study. The report also found that the country has lost more than 25% of its newspapers since 2005 and is set to lose one-third by 2025.

Tenney knows well the plight facing local news. She previously served as the owner and publisher of local newspapers, including the Mid-York Weekly, which her grandparents founded. It printed its last issue in 2022.

The fact that Tenney is a conservative “shows that there’s a Republican template for helping save local news and that the topic is truly nonpartisan,” said Waldman, who also co-founded Report for America, which places journalists at local outlets around the country.

The local news dilemma has had a disproportionate effect on rural parts of the country compared with more urban areas, Franklin said.

“There’s this division between the news-haves and the news-have-nots in the country,” he said.

Studies show that the fall of local news has tangible implications for communities around the country. For example, communities with less local news often experience more government corruption.

The absence of local news also contributes to increased political polarization and creates a vacuum that is often filled with more misinformation and disinformation, according to media and academic reports.

Studies also show that exposure to propaganda contributes to lower trust in the media.

“It’s very damaging to communities and democracies,” Waldman said.

To Waldman, it’s important to frame the local news crisis as a press freedom issue. Press freedom is at stake because the press itself is at stake.

“When we think about the importance of a free and robust press globally, we tend to think about that in terms of censorship, which is obviously very important,” he said. “But I think you actually have to broaden the lens to look at both censorship and the health of the press — or the existence of the press.”
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WASHINGTON – Vietnam is well-positioned to draw U.S. investors seeking to de-risk supply chains now in China, but closer economic integration between Hanoi and Washington appears unlikely to lead to political realignment, according to experts.

Addressing local media in Hanoi during a recent visit, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen hailed Vietnam as “a key partner” in the effort to reduce dependence on China by expanding manufacturing in the U.S. and with trusted partners.

“Vietnam welcomes the U.S. ‘friendshoring,’ which is beneficial to both countries and contributes to Vietnam’s growth,” Le Dang Doanh, an economist in Hanoi who served as an adviser to the late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, told VOA Vietnamese in a phone interview.

Friendshoring is the practice of focusing supply chain networks in countries regarded as political and economic allies.

Carl Thayer, emeritus professor with the University of New South Wales in Australia, said closer economic integration between Vietnam and the U.S. will not lead to Hanoi realigning with Washington against Beijing, he wrote to VOA in an email.

“Vietnam and the United States already have a substantial economic relationship. The further development of this relationship will be based on mutual benefit,” he said. “China is more concerned about Vietnam’s potential security and defense relations with the United States than it is with their bilateral economic relations.”

Beijing, however, is “extremely sensitive to any U.S.-Vietnam economic relationship that undermines China’s interests,” he said, stressing “neither Beijing or Hanoi view economic relations as a zero-sum game.”

Doanh said he has seen a shift of foreign direct investment (FDI) flows from China to Vietnam, especially since trade tensions began increasing between the U.S. and China during the Trump administration. A bilateral trade agreement that came into effect in 2001 facilitated Vietnamese exporting to the U.S., he said.

Vietnam “has no ambition” of attracting U.S. businesses to completely relocate from China given that “they are already well-entrenched there after many years of investment with billions of dollars,” Doanh said.

“Vietnam just expects them to shift parts of their production, which makes it more convenient to export to the U.S.,” he said. “Vietnam continues to attract FDI to match its advantages like cheap, young and productive labor.”

Hanoi, fearing possible retaliation from China, may want to keep Washington at a remove.

“Given the intensifying China-U.S. competition and proximity between China and Vietnam, Hanoi may feel reluctant to formally upgrade its comprehensive partnership with Washington,” said Bich Tran, adjunct fellow at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Reuters in March.

VOA Vietnamese contacted the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment to seek comments on what Vietnam will do to attract more investment from the U.S. but has yet to receive a response.

Bui Kien Thanh, an economist in Ho Chi Minh City, said Vietnam’s geographic location would give it a competitive edge in any regional competition for U.S. friendshoring.

“As a neighbor of China, Vietnam is a convenient destination for companies seeking to relocate from China,” Thanh told VOA Vietnamese over the phone.

“What’s more, Vietnam is located at the heart of the most populous and the most economically dynamic region of the world, between Northeast and South Asia,” he said.

Estimates of how much of the world’s trade passes through the South China Sea near Vietnam range from about 20% to 30%.

The U.S. currently ranks second to China in terms of value of bilateral trade with Vietnam, which topped almost $139 billion in 2022. And the U.S. is the largest export market for Vietnamese-made textiles, footwear and electronics.

Thanh said Hanoi “is well-disposed to Washington” and “very welcoming to U.S. businesses.” The two countries marked 10 years since the establishment of a Comprehensive Partnership this year.

In her Hanoi speech on July 21, Yellen cited green energy and semiconductor manufacturing as potential sectors for Vietnam to join the global supply chain. In 2021, Amkor, the Arizona-based provider of semiconductor packaging and test services, announced plans to build a smart factory in the northern Bac Ninh Province. Intel has its largest assembly and testing facility in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest city.

Thanh said that Vietnam “cannot develop its own semiconductor industry without U.S. help,” adding, “If Intel can open its largest facility in Vietnam, other American chip makers can make it too.”
…

Donald Trump said his attorneys met on Thursday with U.S. Justice Department officials investigating the Republican former president’s attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, in a sign that criminal charges could come soon.

But the grand jury investigating the case will not hand down an indictment on Thursday, an official at the federal court in Washington said.

It is not uncommon for defense attorneys to meet with federal prosecutors before an indictment, but Trump said on his Truth Social platform that the Department of Justice had not told his attorneys when action was likely.

“My attorneys had a productive meeting with the DOJ this morning, explaining in detail that I did nothing wrong, was advised by many lawyers, and that an Indictment of me would only further destroy our Country,” Trump said. “No indication of notice was given during the meeting.”

Special Counsel Jack Smith is investigating actions by Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, to try to reverse his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Officials have testified that during his final months in office, Trump pressured them with false claims of widespread voter fraud. His supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in a January 6, 2021, bid to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s win.

Trump said on July 18 he had received a letter from Smith stating that he was a target of the probe.

Several U.S. news outlets reported Trump’s lawyers had arrived at a Justice Department building and were meeting with officials in Smith’s office.

Trump is the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges, which he has sought to portray as a politically motivated witch hunt.

Any indictment in the election case would represent a second round of federal charges from Smith, who was appointed in November by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. 

Trump’s attorneys previously met with officials at the Justice Department, including Smith, before a grand jury in Miami indicted Trump in June.

Trump pleaded not guilty in Miami to a 37-count indictment charging him with unlawfully retaining classified government documents after leaving office in 2021 and obstructing justice. Prosecutors accused him of risking some of the most sensitive U.S. national security secrets.

The first charges brought against Trump came in March when a grand jury convened by Manhattan’s district attorney indicted him. Trump in April pleaded not guilty to 34 charges accusing him of falsifying business records concerning a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she said she had with him.

Trump, 77, leads a crowded field of Republican presidential candidates as he seeks a rematch with Biden, 80, next year.
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The United States imposed sanctions on several top Malian officials this week, saying they facilitated activities of the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary unit that recently staged a brief mutiny against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts say the sanctions are meant to send a message to the Malian government.

Mali’s military government Wednesday criticized the sanctions on high-ranking members of the army accused of facilitating Wagner Group activities in the country, as Mali continues its decade-long fight against Islamist militants.

A statement was read on state TV station ORTM by presenter Mah Camara, and later posted to the station’s Facebook page.

“These new measures, contrary to international law, which we strongly condemn, add to the long list of aggressive measures, acts of intimidation, blackmail and hostile campaigns against Mali,” the statement said in French.

The statement also accused the United States of having “actively contributed to the spread of terrorism and weapons in the Sahel.”

On Monday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the travel and financial sanctions against Mali’s minister of defense, Colonel Sadio Camara, as well as Colonel Alou Boi Diarra, Mali’s chief of staff of the air force, and Colonel Adama Bagayoko, the Malian Air Force deputy chief of staff.

The statement says the officers were sanctioned for “facilitating the deployment and expansion” of the Wagner Group’s activities in Mali.

Mali has been under military rule since a 2020 coup, and Wagner has been present in the country since 2021, assisting the junta.

The U.S. sanctioned the head of Wagner in Mali in May, after the United Nations released a report on a 2022 massacre in Moura, Mali, allegedly committed by the Malian army working with Wagner soldiers.

Daniel Eizenga, a researcher at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, spoke via a messaging application about the sanctions. He said the sanctions will add a layer of scrutiny for any U.S. person or anyone engaged with the U.S. financial system wishing to do business in Mali or with the Malian government, but that the sanctions are also largely symbolic.

“This is really about recognition,” Eizenga said. “The United States government is making a decision in these sanctions to say that we do not recognize these authorities as a legitimate government. In fact, we are sanctioning them, and refusing to do business with them, because they have acted in a way that is contrary to the interests of Malian citizens.”

The junta has widespread support in Bamako and in much of southern Mali but several outspoken critics of the government have been arrested. Additionally, reporting on the army’s alleged participation in massacres and extrajudicial killings in the center and north of the country has been censored.

The military government took France 24 and Radio France International off the air in Mali after they reported on another massacre, this one around the Diabaly area of central Mali, in 2022.

Authorities also asked the U.N. peacekeeping mission to Mali, MINUSMA, to leave the country following a report this past May from the U.N. human rights office on the Moura incident.

Kalilou Sidibe, political analyst and professor of political science and international relations in Bamako, told VOA that he considers the Malian government response “measured” compared to past actions toward France.

During a months-long diplomatic falling out with France, the Malian government expelled the French ambassador, asked French troops to leave the country, and accused France of spying.

Sidibe said that the U.S. remains one of Mali’s largest development partners, and he believes relations between the two countries, and popular views on the U.S. in Mali, are not likely to worsen significant because of the sanctions.

Malian public opinion is not going to change suddenly, he said, because these sanctions don’t target the population directly, they target certain leaders.

Malian leaders, including interim President Assimi Goita, went to St. Petersburg, Russia, this week for an African leaders’ summit.

Mali has received several shipments of weapons and equipment from Russia since the junta took over in 2020.
…

The Biden administration is dismissing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer to supply free grain to several African nations whose leaders are attending a summit in St. Petersburg, and calling instead for a full Russian return to the agreement that allowed Ukraine to send products from their Black Sea ports. 

John Kirby, director of strategic communications for the National Security Council, also told VOA on Thursday that the White House is closely watching a coup in Niger, a West African nation seen as a close U.S. partner in the struggle against Islamic extremism and instability caused by violent Russian mercenaries on the continent. 

The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: John, thank you very much for your time. With Russia nixing the grain deal (to allow shipments out of Ukrainian ports), which is vital for the Global South, it turns out that two-thirds of African leaders are not attending the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg. Does this poor showing mean that Putin’s food-weaponizing strategy, as you call it, is now playing against him?

John Kirby: I certainly can’t speak for the African leaders who decided to go or not to go, or what motivated them. I think the whole world, including African nations, are seeing, quite plainly, the effect of Russia’s decision to pull out of the grain deal, the effect that’s going to have on their economies, on food scarcity across the continent. And I hope that for those leaders who did show up, I hope Mr. Putin is honest with you. I hope he tells them, ‘I’m the reason why food prices are volatile. I’m the reason why you’re going to have more problems with starvation, and with access to food and grain in your countries.’ Because it is, there’s only one party responsible for the volatility we’re seeing, and for the fact that the grain is now going to be much harder to get out of Ukraine. And that’s Russia, that’s Mr. Putin.

VOA: Russia, at least publicly, is trying to downplay the impact of terminating the grain deal. And now Putin is offering, to at least six African countries, free grain and is trying to sort of replace Ukraine as a major food supplier to African nations. First of all, is it possible and how dangerous are those statements from Putin?

Kirby: On the face of it, it looks like a desperate attempt by Mr. Putin to try to paper over the impact that his decision to not extend the deal is going to have on African nations. Obviously, each of these sovereign nations have got to decide for themselves whether this new offer by Mr. Putin is legitimate and whether they want to accept it. But it’s increasingly clear that nations around the world and in the Global South are seeing this reckless, irresponsible decision by Putin for what it is.

VOA: As for alternative ways of executing the grain deal, besides ground transportation, are the U.S. and allies considering sending convoys to escort ships in the Black Sea?

Kirby: No, there’s no active discussion now about inserting warships into the Black Sea. I think we all understand that that will only escalate the tensions and increase the odds of conflict between the West and Russia and that’s not what we’re looking for. What we’re looking for is for the grain to get out. What we’re looking for is for the deal to get extended. And short of that we’re going to work with our allies and partners on other ground routes and maybe even river routes.

VOA: It seems like Bolivia is interested in obtaining (drone) technology from Iran to protect its borders, as they say. Do you find this concerning?

Kirby: We’re concerned about any export of Iranian technology that can be destabilizing. We have leveled many sanctions on Iran, some of them tied directly to their support for Russia and their export of this drone technology to Moscow. We urge all nations, no matter where they are, to carefully consider before they enter into defense arrangements with a nation like Iran.

VOA: Can you elaborate on the coup in Niger? What’s the administration’s strategy and next move to try to get the country back on the path towards democratic governance?

Kirby: Well, we also obviously want to see the democratically elected government fully respected and free to govern as the people of Niger want them to govern. We’re watching events there, very closely. … We continue to urge as we did yesterday, that President (Mohamed) Bazoum be released and be allowed to execute the office that he was voted into to represent the people of Niger. Our State Department colleagues are doing the best they can to keep people advised and aware of the situation on the ground. We advise Americans to be safe, safety first. 

VOA: Some American media outlets reported that President Biden ordered the transfer of evidence to the International Criminal Court to investigate Russian war crimes. Can you elaborate on that?

Kirby: President Biden has been exceedingly clear that we want to make sure that Russia is properly held accountable for war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine, that Russian forces and paramilitary forces and private contractors like the Wagner Group are clearly perpetrating on the people of Ukraine. And we’ve been clear from the very beginning that we’re going to help Ukraine. They have a special counsel who’s gathering evidence. We’re going to do what we can to help them collect that evidence, analyze that evidence and have it available for the appropriate international accountability mechanisms that might occur when the war is over. And that will include some coordination, some support of the work that the International Criminal Court is doing. 

VOA: Thank you very much. 

Kirby: Thank you. 
…

Afghanistan’s Taliban said Thursday their forthcoming negotiations with the United States will be centered on lifting sanctions on the country, unfreezing its central bank assets, and removing Taliban leaders from a so-called U.N. blacklist.

The two former adversaries are scheduled to meet in Qatar’s capital, Doha, later this week. Tom West, U.S. special representative on Afghanistan, will lead his team along with Rina Amiri, special envoy for Afghan women, girls, and human rights.

Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi will lead the Taliban delegation in talks with U.S. officials. His office said in a statement that “stopping violation of Afghanistan’s airspace” by the U.S. will also be on the agenda.

The U.S. team will meet Taliban delegates and “technocratic professionals” from key Afghan ministries in Doha to discuss “critical interests” in Afghanistan, the State Department said Wednesday.

“Priority issues will include humanitarian support for the people of Afghanistan, economic stabilization, fair and dignified treatment of all Afghans, including women and girls, security issues, and efforts to counter narcotics production and trafficking,” the U.S. announcement said.

In the run-up to their talks in Qatar, the U.S. delegation traveled to Kazakhstan, where they met officials from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan for a special session to discuss joint support for the Afghan people.

“I thank them all individually for a highly substantive exchange on critical issues, including security, human rights, the economy, and humanitarian needs,” West said on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the meeting in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

No country has formally recognized the Taliban since the hardline group returned to power in Kabul in August 2021, when the U.S.-led NATO troops chaotically withdrew after 20 years of involvement in the Afghan war.

“This does not indicate any change in the policy of the United States. We have been very clear that we will engage with the Taliban appropriately when it is in our interest to do so,” Vedant Patel, the State Department deputy spokesman, told reporters Wednesday.

“This does not intend to mean any kind of indication of recognition or any kind of indication of normalization or legitimacy of the Taliban.”

Patel reiterated U.S. concerns about “the egregious human rights abuses” by the Taliban and their “marginalization” of Afghan women and girls.

The fundamentalist de facto rulers have imposed their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or sharia, to govern impoverished Afghanistan, banning women and girls from education beyond about a sixth-grade level. They have barred women from most employment and visiting public places such as parks, gyms, and bathhouses.

The U.N. and other aid agencies also have been banned from hiring female Afghan staff, undermining humanitarian operations in a country where more than 28 million people need food aid. The ban forced the World Food Program to cut 8 million food-insecure Afghans from assistance.

The international community has denounced Taliban curbs on Afghan women and demanded the restrictions be reversed. The fundamentalist leaders dismiss criticism of their rule, insisting that it is aligned with the Afghan culture and Islamic law.

Special Envoy Amiri tweeted Thursday that in her recent meetings with representatives of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Albania, Bangladesh, and Morocco, they stated that women’s rights “are protected in Islam & key to economic progress and stability.”

She noted there was “wide agreement that the extreme repression of Afghan women & girls sets a dangerous precedent, particularly for Muslim-majority countries; these policies should not be normalized & the world must stand with Afghan women & girls.”
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SYDNEY – U.S. and Australian foreign affairs and defense officials will meet this week in Brisbane for annual talks. The Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations, or AUSMIN 2023, being held Saturday are expected to discuss the sale of submarines as part of the AUKUS alliance, the conflict in Ukraine, and security in the Pacific.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are due in Brisbane for talks with their Australian counterparts Saturday.

Blinken has been to New Zealand and Tonga this week as the U.S. intensifies diplomatic efforts to counter China’s ambitions in the Pacific region. Blinken told reporters Wednesday in Tonga that “as China’s engagement in the region has grown, there has been some, from our perspective, increasingly problematic behavior.”

Talks with Australian officials are expected to be wide-ranging. Analysts believe that even though Britain is not attending the Brisbane conference, the AUSMIN 2023 talks will likely focus on the AUKUS alliance, a security pact among the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Announced in 2021, the AUKUS alliance plans to allow Australia to build a new multibillion-dollar fleet of nuclear-powered submarines with assistance from Washington and London.

However, a poll last month by the Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based research organization, found that only about a quarter of Australians support the submarine deal, which could cost Australia up to $244 billion.

Arthur Sinodinos, the former Australian ambassador to the United States, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. On Thursday that the AUSMIN dialogue will cover many issues, including security and climate change.

“They begin with a framing of the issues in the region,” he said. “So, there will be discussions around what is happening in U.S.-China relations, for example. There has been more outreach to the Philippines, for example, by the US in recent times. They will go on to talk about the progress with AUKUS reviewing the progress of legislation in the U.S. Congress on this and also one of the innovations from last year’s AUSMIN was the addition of talks on climate.”

The ministerial talks in Brisbane are also expected to cover the war in Ukraine. Australia is one of the biggest non-NATO contributors to Kyiv’s war effort.

Australia has had to juggle its international relations. Historically, it has close cultural and social ties to the United Kingdom. Australia was settled by the British in 1788 and is a former colony. Economically, Australia’s recent prosperity has relied heavily on China, its biggest trading partner.

But Australia’s formal military pact with the United States, which dates back to the early 1950s, is widely considered to be the cornerstone of its national security.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to announce a state visit to Washington soon, possibly in November.
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Papua New Guinea’s leadership is promising “cascading” benefits from growing military and security cooperation with the United States following the first visit by a sitting U.S. defense secretary, while downplaying any risk to the country’s close economic ties to China.

Prime Minister James Marape Thursday praised the PNG-U.S. Defense Cooperation Agreement, signed in May, agreeing with assessments by senior U.S. defense officials that his country’s National Parliament would ratify the deal in short order.

He also lauded a separate so-called shiprider agreement that will allow PNG personnel to ride aboard U.S. Coast Guard vessels to help protect the country’s fishing rights.

“The work starts now,” Marape said, standing alongside U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin following their meeting in Port Moresby.

“Our defense capacity must be built up,” he added. “It is a partnership of choice that we made in respect to our defense cooperation but of course with the cascading benefit that links to [our] economy and, more importantly, key economic infrastructure.”

PNG and U.S. officials said Thursday that both countries have started to look at areas where investments can be made to improve infrastructure and military readiness.

The 15-year agreement is also expected to allow for a greater U.S. military presence on the island as well as joint exercises, and greater coordination in the case of humanitarian crises.

But Marape said the U.S. forces in PNG will be there only on a rotational basis, a point Austin emphasized.

“I want to be clear. We’re not seeking permanent basing in PNG,” Austin said .

“We have a long-standing relationship with Papua New Guinea,” he added. “Our goal is to make sure we strengthen PNG’s ability to protect itself and defend its interests. … We both really respect and value the [international] rules-based order.”

Austin also said the U.S. would respect Papua New Guinea’s decision to remain nuclear-free, and not send any U.S. nuclear capabilities to the island.

For now, though, the U.S. is moving ahead with the shiprider agreement, with a U.S. Coast Guard cutter scheduled to arrive in PNG next month to help counter illegal fishing, much of which has been blamed on China.

However, while the move was welcomed by Marape, some Papua New Guinea politicians fear the increased cooperation with the U.S. could rock the country’s ties with China.

“There has been widespread public scrutiny of some expansive language in the recent agreement and less focus on the fact that everything must be mutually agreed,” Brian Harding with the Washington-based U.S. Institute of Peace told VOA via email.

“Pacific Island countries welcome this newfound attention but are wary of the potential destabilizing downsides of being caught in the middle of competition between major powers,” Harding said. “They also are clear that they do not want there to be a ‘militarization’ of the Pacific, something Chinese propaganda has seized on, despite China’s own efforts in Solomon Islands.”

Marape, though, played down such concerns.

“They have no issue whatsoever with us having defense relationship with USA,” Marape said of how the agreements with the U.S. are being viewed in Beijing. “They have not made any requests to us for military relationship.”

Marape also sought to quell fears that Washington’s interest in the country is really about positioning forces in case of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

“This is not about setting up for war,” Marape said. “USA does not need PNG’s ground to be a launching pad for any offensive anywhere in the world.”
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Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell briefly left his own press conference Wednesday after stopping his remarks midsentence and staring off into space for several seconds. 

McConnell approached the podium for his weekly press conference and began speaking about the annual defense bill on the floor, which he said was proceeding with “good bipartisan cooperation.” But he then appeared to lose his train of thought, trailing off with a drawn-out “uh.” 

The Kentucky senator then stared vacantly for around 20 seconds before his colleagues in Republican leadership, who were standing behind him and could not see his face, took his elbows and asked if he wanted to go back to his office. 

He did not answer, but slowly walked back to his office with an aide and Wyoming Senator John Barrasso, a former orthopedic surgeon who is the No. 3 Republican in the Senate. After sitting down in his office for several minutes, McConnell later returned to the press conference and answered questions from the press. 

Asked about what happened, McConnell said he was “fine.” Asked if he is still able to do his job, he said, “Yeah.” 

A McConnell aide said he felt lightheaded and stepped away for a moment. The aide requested anonymity to speak about the senator’s health. 

McConnell, 81, was out of the Senate for almost six weeks earlier this year after falling and hitting his head. His office later said he suffered a concussion and fractured a rib. His speech has recently sounded more halting, prompting questions among some of his colleagues about his health. 

After the press conference, Barrasso told reporters he “wanted to make sure everything was fine” and walked McConnell down the hall to his office. 

Barrasso said he has been concerned since McConnell was injured earlier this year, “and I continue to be concerned.” 

But asked about his particular concerns, Barrasso said: “I said I was concerned when he fell and hit his head a number of months ago and was hospitalized. And I think he’s made a remarkable recovery, he’s doing a great job leading our conference and was able to answer every question the press asked him today.” 

McConnell was reelected easily to another term to lead the conference last year, despite a challenge from Florida Senator Rick Scott. But several Republicans, including No. 2 Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota and Barrasso, are seen as waiting in the wings to someday replace McConnell as leader. 

Texas Senator John Cornyn, who is also seen as a potential candidate to succeed McConnell, told reporters after the episode, “I support Senator McConnell as long as he wants to serve as leader.” 

The Republican leader is one of several senators who have been absent because of health issues this year. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, 90, was out of the Senate for more than two months after suffering from a bout of shingles. And Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, 53, took a weekslong leave to get treatment for clinical depression. 
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WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s visit to Papua New Guinea will focus, in part, on detailed discussion establishing a U.S. military presence in the country, according to experts.

Underpinning the establishment of a U.S. military presence in PNG is the Defense Cooperation Agreement the two countries signed in May.

The Defense Cooperation Agreement “will form the foundational framework for the two countries to enhance bilateral security cooperation” and “improve the capacity of the Papua New Guinea Defense Force,” said a statement released by the Pentagon on Tuesday.

“This is a major step for both the United States and Papua New Guinea,” said Zack Cooper, former special assistant to the principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy during the George W. Bush administration and now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

“U.S. officials know that they need to have access to more facilities in the Indo-Pacific region, but most of that access has been limited to existing U.S. treaty allies and a limited set of long-standing partnerships. Papua New Guinea is the first major new access point for the United States in years,” Cooper told VOA Korean via email.

“Defense Secretary Austin’s trip is likely to focus on the details and implementation, as well as providing a visible indication of growing U.S.-PNG ties,” said Terence Roehrig, professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College.

“His visit will also likely seek to allay any concerns in Papua New Guinea that this will lead to a permanent U.S. base and somehow infringe on the country’s sovereignty, an important issue since the agreement has yet to be ratified in the PNG parliament,” he told VOA’s Korean Service via email.

The defense agreement will be released officially after the PNG parliament ratifies it as expected in August. It will allow the U.S. to station troops and vessels at six sites including Lombrum Naval Base on Manus Island, according to Agence France-Presse, which obtained a copy of the agreement.

“These six sites are useful for both air and naval forces, which are both critical in the large expanses across the Pacific,” said Cooper. “For Papua New Guinea, I think this will open up new possibilities in terms of not only security cooperation but also economic assistance. This trip will help solidify those arrangements.”

Experts said Austin’s visit featuring discussions with PNG Prime Minister James Marape and his top defense officials is important as the region has become another theater of U.S.-China rivalry.

Dennis Wilder, who served as the National Security Council director for China from 2004-05, told VOA’s Korean Service via email that Austin’s trip “demonstrates that the region is a priority and that the United States will make considerable efforts to counter China’s attempts to bring the region into its sphere of influence” while the security pact “strengthens the U.S. footprint in the western Pacific.”

Roehrig said the U.S. ties with PNG are important “to keep pace with Beijing’s presence in the South Pacific” and to “ensure regional access.”

Liu Pengyu, the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told VOA’s Korean Service via email Tuesday that China is “not opposed to countries’ efforts to grow ties with Papua New Guinea and other Pacific Island countries.”

“We always advocate,” he continued, that the international community to give “more attention and support” to island nations and that “the negotiation and signing of any cooperation document should help realize this goal.”

He added, however, that “we should be on alert particularly for geopolitical games under the pretext of cooperation” and that “any cooperation should not target at any third country.”

For China, the region is the so-called Air Silk Road, an important part of its Belt and Road Initiative that seeks to connect Asia and Central and South America through Pacific Island countries.

According to Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation research center, in addition to the first island-chain, which includes Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia, China has been seeking to exert its dominance over the second island-chain comprising countries in the South Pacific such as Palau, Solomon Islands and PNG.

“China has this notion of the first island chain that they totally want to control, and a second island chain, which the Solomons could be part of, where it would establish pretty significant control,” said Bennett in a telephone interview. “The U.S. doesn’t want China to get there.”

According to the Australian Institute of International Affairs, the first chain comprises the Kuril Islands, the main Japanese archipelago, Okinawa, the northern part of the Philippines archipelago, the Malay Peninsula and Taiwan. The second consists of the islands of Japan stretching to Guam and the islands of Micronesia.

China reached a security agreement with the Solomon Islands in April 2022. The security agreement allows China to send ships to the islands to “carry out logistical replacement” as well as military forces to “protect the safety of Chinese personnel and major projects.”

Cooper said: “China will probably step up efforts in Solomon Islands and other locations in response, so American leaders and their counterparts will want to watch closely to see what Beijing might do in the coming weeks and months.”
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The White House has nominated a career air mobility pilot with key deployments in Afghanistan and Europe to serve as the Air Force’s next top general. 

In a notice to Congress posted Wednesday, the White House nominated Gen. David W. Allvin to serve as the service’s next chief.

In his long career, which includes more than 4,600 hours flying military aircraft, Allvin has commanded units leading NATO’s air training and combat operations in Afghanistan, he’s led air strategy in Europe, and he’s overseen all global air mobility operations, responsible for a fleet of more than 1,000 aircraft that fuel, transport and supply troops around the globe.

If confirmed, Allvin would replace outgoing Gen. CQ Brown, who was tapped by the White House to serve as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

Allvin was seen as a frontrunner for the position, having served most recently as the vice chief of staff of the Air Force.

Allvin’s nomination joins hundreds of other top generals awaiting confirmation to move into their new military assignments; each of those posts are currently being held up by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who has put a hold on the confirmation process until DOD revises a policy allowing service members to travel and take time off for reproductive health care.
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The U.S. government “absolutely” has recovered extraterrestrial craft, according to a former combat officer who was a member of a Department of Defense task force that investigated unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP.

Dave Grusch, in response to a House member’s questions during a congressional hearing Wednesday, said he knows the exact locations of such alien craft and that he had provided this information to the intelligence community’s inspector general.

Grusch, who has become a whistleblower and testified that he has faced retaliation for his revelations, told lawmakers that the U.S. government also possesses evidence of non-human biologics. Grusch did not elaborate, stating he had not seen any alien craft or beings himself, but was basing his testimony on dozens of interviews he had conducted within the U.S. intelligence community.

The Air Force veteran, who also worked for two intelligence agencies, was one of three former military officers who appeared before the House Oversight Committee’s national security subcommittee, which held a 135-minute open televised hearing on unidentified flying objects.

The technology “is beyond anything we have,” said David Fravor, who in 2004 as a U.S. Navy pilot videotaped off the coast of California a physics-defying flight of an object, known as the “Tic-Tac.”

“There’s four sets of human eyeballs [that witnessed the incident], we’re all very credible,” testified Fravor. “It’s not a joke.”

A third witness, Ryan Graves, was an F/A-18 Super Hornet U.S. Navy pilot stationed in Virginia in 2014 when his squadron first began encountering unknown objects. He described what he and his colleagues saw as a “dark gray or a black cube inside of a clear sphere” approximately 1.5 to 4.5 meters in diameter. Such incidents became so frequent, according to Graves, that air crews would discuss potential risks from the objects as a routine part of their pre-flight briefings.

Under questioning by a lawmaker, Graves said he knew the craft could not be of domestic origin because they were able to remain completely stationary in Category 4 hurricane winds and then could accelerate to supersonic speeds.

Graves said there were similar reports by military pilots and others from nearly everywhere in the world the U.S. Navy operates.

The hearing contained other sensational testimony, for which there has been no independent confirmation but is similar to statements the witnesses and others have made in recent years in mainstream media articles, including those published by The New York Times.

A Defense Department entity established to investigate UAP phenomena, the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, is refuting Grusch’s claim that access to some materials for an earlier task force was denied.

“To date, AARO has not discovered any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently. AARO is committed to following the data and its investigation wherever it leads,” said Sue Gough, a Pentagon spokesperson.

Grusch told the bipartisan group of lawmakers there is more classified information, including about a flying object the size of a football field, he could reveal “in a closed session at the right level.”

Lawmaker Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican from Florida, said the committee was denied access to the Secure Classified Information Facility, or SCIF, within the U.S. Capitol to hear further testimony from the witnesses regarding classified matters.

Several members of the committee pledged to work to make more information about the topic public.

“We’re trying to get to the bottom of it,” lawmaker Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican, said in expressing appreciation for the witnesses appearing at a public congressional hearing. “I want to thank everybody. We made history today.”

Lawmaker Robert Garcia, a freshman California Democrat, told the witnesses they “had a lot of courage” and characterized Wednesday’s hearing as the most bipartisan discussion he had experienced during his first seven months in Congress.

“Many Americans are deeply interested in this issue, and it shouldn’t take the potential of nonhuman origin to bring us together,” added lawmaker Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat.

Luna recently accused the U.S. government of stonewalling lawmakers’ efforts for transparency, saying she and other lawmakers were rebuffed by officials when they went to an Air Force base in Florida seeking information on UAP sightings by military pilots.

“They refuse to answer questions posed by whistleblowers, avoiding the concerns of Americans and acknowledging the possible threat of UAPs poses to our national security as well as public safety,” Luna said at a news conference last week. “It is extremely unnecessary and an overclassification.”

During Wednesday’s session, Graves noted there are many more credible witnesses with significant information but who are “hesitant to come forward” because they fear ridicule and retaliation.” He said a centralized method for reporting sightings would circumvent potential retaliation, a system lawmakers expressed interest in creating through bipartisan legislation.

UAP are “a national security issue worth looking at,” according to John Kirby, a former Navy admiral, who is a National Security Council spokesman. He said the matter is taken seriously by President Joe Biden and his administration.

“In some cases, these phenomena have affected military training, have impacted military readiness,” Kirby told White House reporters following the congressional hearing. “The truth is we don’t have hard and fast answers on these things.”
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