Belgium's parliament is set to debate whether to ratify a proposed treaty with Iran that could allow an Iranian diplomat serving a 20-year sentence for plotting a bomb attack outside Paris to be sent back to Tehran.

The treaty has been criticized by opposition lawmakers and lawyers for a dissident Iranian group, who say it would pave the way for Assadollah Assadi, convicted of terror charges and sentenced in February 2021, to be repatriated.

The treaty's text "is tailored to Assadi", opposition deputy Georges Dallemagne said.

Assadi was found guilty of attempted terrorism after a plot to bomb a rally of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an exiled opposition group, near Paris in June 2018. The NCRI is the political wing of the exiled Iranian opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO or MEK), an exiled opposition group that is seeking to overthrow the Islamic republic.

Dallemagne predicted the Belgian government would present any release of Assadi as a "humanitarian operation," a trade for a Swedish-Iranian academic, Ahmadreza Djalali, who is being held in Iran under sentence of death.

Djalali was accused of providing information to Israel to help it assassinate several senior nuclear scientists. He taught at a Brussels university. However, it is not clear if he would be covered by the treaty as he doesn't have Belgian nationality.

Amnesty International said in May that Iranian authorities were using Djalili as a hostage "to pervert the course of justice in Sweden and Belgium."

SEE ALSO:

Amnesty Says Swedish-Iranian 'Hostage' At Risk Of Retaliatory Execution By Tehran

The London-based rights group suggested that Iran's threat to execute Djalali was tied to the trial in Stockholm of Hamid Nouri, a former prison official, who is accused of having a role in the mass execution and torture of political prisoners at an Iranian prison in the 1980s. Amnesty also said that Iran wants the release of Assadi.

Contacted by AFP, a spokesman for Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne said, "there is no connection with Djalali's case.”

He added that the minister would "explain his point of view" to parliament on July 5. The spokesman declined to give further details.

A copy of the treaty obtained by AFP showed it was signed on March 11 by the Belgian Justice Ministry and the Iranian ambassador to Belgium. It says that "the best way" to boost cooperation with Iran in justice matters was to allow convicts to serve out their sentences in their home countries. It also allows that each jurisdiction grant amnesty to the returned convicts or commute their sentences.

"This is an erosion of the legal system," opposition lawmaker Michael Freilich said. "Iran has made clear publicly that they don't see Assadi as a terrorist, but as a diplomat. He will be freed as soon as he steps foot on Iranian soil."

Debate on the treaty was to start on July 5, with the full parliament to vote whether to adopt it later in the week.

With reporting by AFP and Politico

SKOPJE -- Thousands of people protested for the third night in North Macedonia's capital against a French proposal that seeks to end a dispute with Bulgaria that is blocking Skopje's bid to join the European Union.

Some of the protesters in the July 4 rally threw paper towels, plastic bottles, water balloons, and eggs at government buildings in the capital. Some hung flowers on police shields.

Demonstrators say the proposal "Bulgarianizes" the country and does not recognize the Macedonian language and history.

The protests, backed by the center-right VMRO-DPMNE opposition party, came after French President Emmanuel Macron said he believed a compromise was near over the long-standing dispute to end Bulgaria's veto of North Macedonia's EU membership.

Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski said the French proposal was a "solid base for building a responsible and statesmanlike stance on the possibility that opens up to our country."

However, VMRO-DPMNE and other right-wing opponents demand the government reject the plan, saying it concedes too much to Bulgaria in a dispute over history, language, identity, and culture.

Bulgaria, which has been an EU member since 2007, had insisted that North Macedonia formally recognize that its language had Bulgarian roots, acknowledge in its constitution a Bulgarian minority, and renounce what it said was "hate speech" against Bulgaria.

North Macedonia has said its identity and language aren’t open for discussion.

The French proposal would have Skopje include ethnic Bulgarians in its constitution "on an equal footing with other peoples" and change history textbook, among other items, some not yet publicly disclosed.

North Macedonia's government is expected in the next few days to present the proposal to parliament.

Charles Michel, president of the European Council, is scheduled to visit Skopje on July 5 to offer support for the French proposal as a compromise between Skopje and Sofia.

The British governments says it will introduce a new round of economic, trade, and transport sanctions on Belarus and the regime of authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

In a statement on July 4, the British Foreign Office said the package of sanctions "extends some of the significant measures made against Russia to Belarus."

It said the new sanctions will be formally announced and take effect on July 5.

Western governments have imposed financial sanctions on Russia to punish it for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Belarus is not a direct participant in the war, but it has provided logistical aid to Russian troops, many of whom crossed the border into Ukraine from Belarus, leading the West to also impose sanctions on Minsk.

The statement said the British government will also restrict "Belarus's access to the U.K.'s world-class financial services sector -- banning more Belarusian companies from issuing debt and securities in London."

"The Belarus regime has actively facilitated [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's invasion, letting Russia use its territory to pincer Ukraine -- launching troops and missiles from their border and flying Russian jets through their airspace," the statement said.

Lukashenka "has also openly supported the Kremlin's narrative, claiming that Kyiv was 'provoking Russia' in order to justify Putin's bloody invasion."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, while plagued by a series of scandals at home, has taken a leading role among Western states in hitting Russia and Belarus with sanctions following the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.

The Crisis In Belarus

Read our ongoing coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election, widely seen as fraudulent.

The Foreign Office said the new action built on the "wide-ranging measures" the government had imposed on Minsk, including a 35 percent increase on tariffs on a range of goods originating from Belarus.

It has also placed sanctions on Lukashenka and senior government officials "for their continued human rights violations and undermining of democracy."

Lukashenka, 67 years old and in power since 1994, has tightened his grip on the country since the 2020 election by arresting -- sometimes violently -- tens of thousands of people. Fearing for their safety, most opposition members have been forced to flee the country.

The West has refused to recognize the results of the election and does not consider Lukashenka to be the country's legitimate leader.

Many countries have imposed several rounds of sanctions against his regime in response to the suppression of dissent in the country.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Belarus Service

Germany has suspended 120 million euros ($125 million) worth of infrastructure projects in Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Serb entity over its leaders' secessionist policies, the international peace envoy said.

Christian Schmidt told Bosnian regional N1 television on July 4 that he could not rule out that Germany could follow the United States and Britain by imposing sanctions against those seen as destabilizing Bosnia.

"Nobody should feel safe in this regard," Schmidt said without naming anyone specifically. Schmidt, a German politician, assumed the role of high commissioner in August 2021.

Pro-Russia Serb leader Milorad Dodik sparked Bosnia's worst political crisis since the end of its 1990s war and triggered sanctions against him from London and Washington after saying late last year that Republika Srpska, the ethnic-Serb entity, would pull out of the Western Balkan nation’s joint military, top judiciary body, and tax administration.

The Republika Srpska parliament in December voted to start work on a nonbinding motion meant to pave the way for secession.

In June, Dodik said the war in Ukraine has forced Bosnian Serb nationalists to delay the plans to pull their region out of Bosnia-Herzegovina's national institutions.

Dodik serves as the Serb member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, which also includes a Bosniak Muslim and an ethnic Croatian member.

Bosnia-Herzegovina is still governed under the terms of a 1995 peace treaty known as the Dayton accords that divided the country into a Bosniak and Croat federation and a majority-Serb
entity.

Based on reporting by Reuters

Iranian authorities have “temporarily cut off” access to the country’s banking system for Iranians abroad to “prevent cyberattacks,” Iranian state news agency IRNA reported.

IRNA said on July 4 that "the restrictions were applied on the recommendation of the competent authorities and in order to deal with cyber threats."

The news agency did not specify the "competent authorities" but added that the action "only concerns a limited number of banks that have the most connections abroad to banking systems, including online banking and mobile banking applications."

Iran has faced a number of cyberattacks in recent years. It has also faced accusations that it has orchestrated cyberattacks on rival nations, including Israel and Saudi Arabia.

On June 27, one of Iran's biggest steel companies was forced to halt its operations until further notice after being targeted by a cyberattack.

The Khuzestan Steel Company said in a statement that experts had determined the firm was unable to continue production due to technical problems following cyberattacks.

In 2021, an attack on the electronic-transaction system used to distribute subsidized fuel paralyzed more than 4,000 gasoline stations across the country and resulted in long lines of angry motorists unable to use their government-issued smart cards.

Iran was also targeted about a decade ago by the Stuxnet computer worm, which is widely believed to have been engineered by the United States and Israel to sabotage the country’s nuclear program.

Industry officials from Iran, Russia, and Turkey are considering a joint program to design and manufacture automobiles in view of disruptions caused by Western sanctions, Iranian state media reported.

"There is a great possibility of tripartite cooperation between car manufacturers and suppliers of the three countries," said Mohammadreza Najafi-Manesh, the head of Iran's Auto Parts Manufacturers Association, according to the IRNA news agency.

"These three countries can capture a large market for their products," Najafi-Manesh said.

Najafi-Manesh said the idea was first floated by Turkey and that Russia was "interested."

Western nations have slapped financial sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

The United States also reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran in 2018 after Washington pulled out of a deal with world powers on Iran's nuclear program.

Many Western car manufacturers launched projects in Russia to assemble cars over the past two decades, but most pulled out after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February.

Based on reporting by AFP, IRNA, and The Tehran Times

U.S. Army General Christopher Cavoli -- who speaks Russian and has a master’s degree from Yale in Russian studies -- has taken over as NATO's new supreme allied commander in Europe (SACEUR) at a ceremony in Mons, Belgium.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in his ceremony speech on July 4 that Cavoli assumes command amid "the return of brutal conflict to Europe."

He replaces retiring U.S. General Tod Wolters as the SACEUR commander.

Stoltenberg highlighted Cavoli's role in overseeing the recent buildup of U.S. troop deployments to Europe in reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The general will be primarily responsible for the planning and implementation of military measures designed to defend the Western alliance and deter Russia.

Cavoli was born in Germany and has lived much of his life on U.S. military bases. He joined the U.S. Army in 1987 and has served in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Along with Russian, he also speaks French and Italian.

He will assume a role first taken by Dwight Eisenhower, who was appointed SACEUR in 1950 before becoming U.S. president in 1953.

Based on reporting by dpa and Stars & Stripes

The All England Club -- organizer of the Wimbledon tennis tournament -- is appealing a fine imposed by the WTA women’s tour for its banning of Russian and Belarusian players from the famed event in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

All England Club CEO Sally Bolton said on July 4 that the club appealed its WTA fine, reportedly at $250,000.

The WTA reportedly also fined the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) -- the British federation for the sport -- $750,000, and a source familiar with the matter said the LTA has also appealed the fine.

The LTA did not allow players from Russia or Belarus to take part in grass-court tune-up events last month in three cities.

Bolton said the All England Club is waiting to hear from the ATP men’s tour on whether it will also fine the tournament over the ban.

The All England Club announced in April that, following guidance from the British government, players from Russia and Belarus would not be allowed to compete at Wimbledon this year.

That decision meant that players such as top-ranked male Daniil Medvedev and two-time major champion Victoria Azarenka would not be allowed to compete.

“It was an incredibly difficult and challenging decision to make. It was not one we took lightly,” Bolton said.

The WTA and ATP called the move discriminatory and took the unprecedented step of declaring they would not award rankings points to any players at the Grand Slam tournament, which is scheduled to end on July 10.

Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and dpa

Pope Francis dismissed rumors that he plans to resign anytime soon and said he hopes to visit Kyiv and Moscow in the near future.

In an interview with Reuters published on July 4, Francis also told Reuters that it “never entered my mind” to announce a planned retirement at the end of the summer, although he reiterated that he could step down some day in the way that Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI did in 2013.

The pontiff had planned to visit Congo and South Sudan this week but had to cancel the trip because doctors said he needed more therapy on an injured knee.

He said he was still scheduled to travel to Canada on July 24-30 and said he hoped to visit Russia and Ukraine sometime thereafter.

Following the remarks, Ukraine renewed its invitation for Francis to visit Ukraine and urged the pontiff to continue praying for the Ukrainian people.

"It is time to deepen connections with those who sincerely desire it,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko said.

“We renew the invitation to Pope Francis to visit our country and urge you to continue praying for the Ukrainian people.”

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP

A Turkish official and the port-operating company on July 4 confirmed that authorities had stopped a Russian-flagged cargo ship and are investigating claims by Ukraine that it was carrying stolen grain.

"Upon request, the ship named Zhibek Zholy was halted off Karasu," a senior official told Reuters. "The allegations are being investigated thoroughly. It is not written on the grain who it belongs to."

On July 3, Vasyl Bodnar, Ukraine's ambassador to Turkey, said the Zhibek Zholy was being detained by Turkish customs authorities.

Ukraine had asked Ankara to detain it, accusing Moscow of stealing grain from the territories that Russian forces have seized since their invasion began on February 24. Kyiv said the ship set off from Berdyansk, a Ukrainian port occupied by Russian forces.

The Kremlin has denied that Russia has stolen any Ukrainian grain.

Custom officials at the Turkish Black Sea port of Karasu had for now denied passage to the vessel, an employee of the IC Ictas port company told dpa.

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Marinetraffic.com said the 140-meter general cargo vessel was sailing under the Russian flag. It showed the ship late on July 1 anchored about 1 kilometer off Karasu.

On June 30, Evgeny Balitsky, head of the Moscow-appointed administration in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya region, said on Telegram that the ship had left the Berdyansk port and was headed for "friendly countries."

He said the ship was loaded with 7,000 tons of grain, but he did not specify which countries were considered friendly nor did he give any details on the origins of the grain.

Bodnar said investigators would meet in Turkey on July 4 to determine the ship's fate and that Ukraine was seeking return of the grain.

Ukraine has accused Russia of stealing its grain during the invasion and blockading its ports to keep grain from leaving the country, which has helped contribute to a global food shortage.

Moscow has denied taking Ukrainian grain, but satellite images and GPS data have been used to back up the allegations that Russia has been transporting grain out of Ukraine through the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014.

Grain is one of Ukraine's main industries. Exports totaled $12.2 billion last year and accounted for nearly one-fifth of the country's exports. Ukraine's Black Sea ports, including Berdyansk, handled about 6 million tons of grains and other crops each month before the war.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, Reuters, dpa, AFP, and AP

The Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company Workers' Union has warned that the health condition of jailed labor activists Reza Shahabi and Hasan Saeedi is deteriorating due to their refusal to eat.

The union said in a statement issued over the weekend that on the 20th day of his hunger strike, Shahabi had short contact with his family but they could not even ask about his health. According to the family, Reza Shahabi's weak voice was indicative of his physical weakness.

The union added that Shahabi's interrogator has insisted on telling his family that he can still speak.

According to this statement, Saeedi passed the 10th day of his hunger strike in the solitary cell of Evin Prison on July 2.

The union wrote that Saeedi has lost a lot of weight and is not in good physical condition, and yet, he is under interrogation.

Shahabi, a member of the board of directors of the Tehran Bus Workers' Union, has been on a hunger strike since June 13 to protest against his continued detention.

Shahabi was arrested at his home on May 10 by Intelligence Ministry officers shortly after publicly calling on the authorities to investigate death threats against him and his family.

On May 17, state television alleged Shahabi and other labor activists had met with two French nationals -- 37-year-old Cecile Kohler and her 69-year-old partner, Jacques Paris -- who have been detained and accused of seeking to foment unrest in Iran.

The allegations come as the security forces try to suppress antigovernment protests in cities across the country against skyrocketing inflation and the government's recent decision to cut some subsidies. Reports say at least five demonstrators have died in the protests.

With writing and reporting by Ardeshir Tayebi

Sweden and Finland are holding talks with NATO officials in Brussels on starting the formal process to join the Western military alliance -- a move that would mark a dramatic departure from the Nordic countries’ long-standing policies of nonalignment on military matters.

The July 4 talks are being led by Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde and Finnish counterpart Pekka Haavisto and follow an agreement with NATO member Turkey last week that led to Ankara dropping its objections to their membership.

On July 5, ambassadors from NATO's 30 member states are expected to sign the accession protocols for Sweden and Finland. It is then likely to take a few months before their memberships are ratified by all alliance members.

The historic shifts by Sweden and Finland came in the face of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine in February and other aggressive moves by the Kremlin in the region. Public opinion in the Nordic countries quickly turned in favor of NATO membership following the invasion.

Ankara initially said it would veto their membership, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accusing them of providing havens for Kurdish militants operating in Turkey and for promoting what he called “terrorism.”

Following negotiations, Erdogan said he would drop his objections but indicated he could still block their membership bids if they failed to follow through on promises, some of which were undisclosed.

Based on reporting by AFP

Iranian activist and former political prisoner Atena Daemi says that about 40 people in Ward 6 of Qarchak Prison, south of Tehran, are suspected of having tuberculosis.

Writing on Twitter, Daemi added that about 100 prisoners are kept in this ward and that the prisoners suspected of having tuberculosis have been tested. Daemi, who spent five years in prison over her activism, maintains contact with prisoners.

On June 27, Daemi published a post on her Instagram page and wrote that a prisoner in the women's ward of Qarchak Prison was infected with tuberculosis and the prison authorities were not paying attention to her condition.

"After the protest of the prisoners, this person had been taken to quarantine for a few days. But she was returned to the prison again, and after that at least three other people in this prison were infected with tuberculosis," Daemi added.

According to human rights activists, Qarchak Prison currently holds about 1,500 prisoners. Before becoming a prison for women, the site was a poultry farm and then a drug-rehab camp for men, and according to the official announcement of the prison authorities, it only has a capacity of 1,200 prisoners.

Activists and political prisoners have warned repeatedly about the poor hygiene at Qarchak Prison and what they describe as a lack of attention to the health of the prisoners.

Last year, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders warned of the “appalling conditions” at Qarchak Prison and called for an immediate reaction from the Office of the UN High Commission for Human Rights and the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran.

With writing and reporting by Ardeshir Tayebi

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on July 4 that Moscow would respond in kind to Bulgaria's expulsion of 70 Russian diplomats.

Russia's Ambassador to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova said last week she would ask Moscow to close its embassy in Sofia over the expulsions.

Bulgaria said on June 28 that the Russian diplomats had been working against Sofia's interests. They were given until July 3 to leave the country.

The expulsion, which has severely strained diplomatic ties, is the greatest ever number of Russian diplomats expelled by Bulgaria, which has European Union and NATO membership. Bulgaria has strongly backed Western sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

European countries have expelled hundreds of Russian diplomatic staff since Moscow launched its unprovoked war against Ukraine on February 24. Russia has reciprocated by sending home diplomats from numerous EU countries.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP

The office of Uzbekistan’s prosecutor general said on July 4 that 18 people were killed during unrest in the Central Asian nation’s restive autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan that broke out last week over plans to curtail its autonomy.

Security forces detained 516 people while dispersing the protesters last week but have now released many of them, the national guard press office told a briefing.

Protests broke out in the regional capital, Nukus, and other cities after changes initiated by President Shavkat Mirziyoev were proposed on June 27 to the Uzbek constitution, including removal of language that guaranteed the right of Karakalpakstan to seek independence should citizens choose so in a referendum.

But during a visit to Karakalpakstan on July 2, Mirziyoev backed off the plans and said the language would not be removed from the constitution.

In a speech reported by his press office on July 3, Mirziyoev acknowledged that there have been fatalities among security personnel and civilians during the rare mass protests in the region, with another report saying that more than 1,000 people had been injured in the turmoil.

SEE ALSO:

On The Road In Uzbekistan

Accurate information is difficult to obtain from the region, with locals reporting that Internet and phone services have been severely limited and a state of emergency restricts movement.

In an online statement, Mirziyoev said protesters had taken "destructive actions" in Nukus, the regional capital, throwing stones, starting fires, and attacking law-enforcement personnel.

In a statement issued on July 4, the European Union called for an independent investigation into the violent events in Karakalpakstan.

"We deeply regret the casualties and loss of human life and continue to follow developments closely," the statement said while calling on "all sides" to show restraint to avoid an escalation or further violence.

"The European Union urges the authorities to guarantee human rights, including the fundamental rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, in line with Uzbekistan’s international commitments," it added.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, Reuters and AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his military to continue its offensive in eastern Ukraine after the Kremlin’s forces captured control of nearly all of the Luhansk region as they steamrolled through the Ukraine’s Donbas territory.

Putin on July 4 declared that Russian forces "must carry out their tasks according to previously approved plans" and said they should continue to advance throughout the region "as has happened in Luhansk."

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, the plight of civilians and refugees, and Western aid and reaction. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

Ukraine's forces withdrew from the bombed-out city of Lysychansk late on July 3, prompting Russia to claim full control of the eastern Luhansk region, although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed to regain the lost ground.

"If the commanders of our army withdraw people from certain points at the front, where the enemy has the greatest advantage in fire power, and this also applies to Lysychansk, it means only one thing -- that we will return thanks to our tactics, thanks to the increase in the supply of modern weapons,” he said in his nightly video on July 3.

After failing to take the capital, Kyiv, Russia revised its military focus on Ukraine's east with the goal of capturing the Donbas, which is composed of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian military said on July 4 that the Russian forces were currently focusing their efforts on pushing toward the line of Siversk, Fedorivka, and Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.

The Russian Army has also intensified its shelling of the key Ukrainian strongholds of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk deeper in Donetsk.

On July 3, six people, including a 9-year-old girl, were killed in the Russian shelling of Slovyansk and another 19 people were wounded, local authorities said. Kramatorsk also came under fire on July 3.

Earlier, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that the Russian military had taken the entire territory of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said, according to TASS.

In acknowledging the withdrawal from Lysychansk, Ukraine’s military command said it had decided to pull back to save the lives of its soldiers.

Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Hayday told Reuters on July 4 the withdrawal from Lysychansk had been "centralized" and orderly, and was necessary to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers who were in danger of being surrounded.

"In terms of the military, it is bad to leave positions, but there is nothing critical [in the loss of Lysychansk]. We need to win the war, not the battle for Lysychansk," Hayday said.

"It hurts a lot, but it's not losing the war,” he said, adding that he expected Slovyansk and the town of Bakhmut in particular to come under attack.

"Still, for them goal No. 1 is the Donetsk region. Slovyansk and Bakhmut will come under attack; Bakhmut has already started being shelled very hard,” he said.

Meanwhile, on the diplomatic front, Zelenskiy and Prime Minister Denys Shmygal spoke to a conference in the Swiss city of Lugano about the need for the international community to support Ukraine as it attempts to rebuild from the destruction caused by the war.

Shmygal, in a rare trip outside of Ukraine since the start of the conflict, told the summit that "we believe that the key source of recovery should be the confiscated assets of Russia and Russian oligarchs," which he estimated at $300 billion to $500 billion.

"The Russian authorities unleashed this bloody war. They caused this massive destruction and they should be held accountable for it."

Zelenskiy, speaking via video link from Kyiv, said the reconstruction efforts in his country were a service to the entire globe.

"To rebuild Ukraine is to restore the principles of life, to restore the spaces of life, to restore what makes people human," he said.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, TASS, and dpa

Ukrainian leaders told a major international summit that their devastated country needs $750 billion for a three-stage reconstruction plan following Russia’s full-scale invasion and destruction of its cities and infrastructure.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said on July 4 at the start of the two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano, Switzerland, that Kyiv believes a substantial source of funding for the recovery should come through assets confiscated from Russian oligarchs, which he estimated at $300 billion to $500 billion.

"We believe that the key source of recovery should be the confiscated assets of Russia and Russian oligarchs," he told the conference. "The Russian authorities unleashed this bloody war. They caused this massive destruction, and they should be held accountable for it."

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking through a video link from Kyiv, said rebuilding his country is the "common task of the whole democratic world" and would be a service to all nations.

"Reconstruction of Ukraine is the biggest contribution to the support of global peace," Zelenskiy said.

Some 1,000 people are expected to attend the summit, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and the prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Poland.

The conference -- with participants from national governments, the private sector, and international organizations -- had been planned before Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine, with the original agenda to focus on Kyiv’s progress on the path toward governmental reforms.

It is not intended to be a pledging event but instead will focus on setting out the priorities for a rebuilding process set to begin even before the war ends.

Shmygal, in a rare trip outside of Ukraine since the start of the war, said direct damage to infrastructure so far from the Russian attacks amounts to at least $100 billion. He added that Kyiv is planning a three-stage recovery process.

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A first stage will be focused on fixing things that affect daily life, such as municipal water supplies.

Second would be a "fast recovery" stage to be launched as soon as fighting ends and would include items such as temporary housing, hospitals, and schools.

A third stage would be aimed at transforming the country over the longer term.

Zelenskiy said the Ukrainian reconstruction plan represented "the most ambitious project of our time."

"Reconstruction of Ukraine is not a local task of a single nation. It is a common task of the whole democratic world," he said.

"We are uniting the democratic world...The outlook of free people always prevails."

Swiss President Ignazio Cassis, co-host of the event, stressed the need to support Ukraine "in this time of horror, wanton destruction, and grief."

Cassis said it was crucial "to provide the people of Ukraine with the prospect return to a life of self-determination, peace and a bright future."

Von der Leyen told the conference that "we know their fight is also our fight."

That is "why we work in these days to help Ukraine to win this war," she said.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference that Russia needed to be held accountable for the damage caused by its "appalling war."

"We are looking at options for the deployment of Russian assets," she said, echoing Shmygal's comments on the use of oligarch funds.

"At the same time we are doing what we can to get the Ukrainian economy restarted -- getting those grain exports out of Odesa, making sure we are supporting Ukrainian industry and business to get going," she added.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

Danish police say that the gunman who opened fire in a shopping mall in Copenhagen most likely acted alone and selected his victims at random.

Copenhagen chief police inspector Soren Thomassen said on July 4 investigators do not believe the previous day's attack was terror-related.

Thomassen said three people were killed -- two Danes and one Russian citizen -- and two Danes and two Swedes were hospitalized with serious injuries.

A 22-year-old Danish man was arrested after the shooting on July 3 that caused panic at a mall in South Copenhagen. The suspect will face questioning by a judge on July 4.

Danish police said on July 4 that the suspect was known to mental-health services.

"Our suspect is also known among psychiatric services. Beyond that I do not wish to comment," Thomassen told a press conference.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP and AFP

TBILISI -- Tens of thousands of Georgians rallied on the streets of Tbilisi, angered by what the opposition sees as the government’s failure to make progress on reforms that can boost the Caucasus country’s hopes of joining the European Union.

Participants of the July 3 event, organized by the Shame civic movement and other pro-democracy groups, also displayed support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, which occupies segments of Georgian territory captured in a short 2008 war.

Protesters holding flares and waving Georgian and EU flags and banners blocked traffic on the central Rustaveli Avenue and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and for a new government of “national accord” to be formed.

Georgia has been gripped by protests after EU leaders last month deferred Tbilisi's membership candidacy, recognizing it as a “perspective member” but insisting that candidate status could only be granted as soon as “set priorities are met" and widespread reforms are put in place.

While deferring on Georgia, the EU at the same time formally agreed to take the historic step of making Ukraine and Moldova candidates for EU membership in the midst of the war in Ukraine and Moscow’s bitter denunciations of the two countries’ intensions.

Garibashvili has said his government is "mobilized" to meet the requirements set by Brussels "so that we get candidate status as soon as possible."

No immediate estimate on the number of rally participants was available, but an estimated 120,000 people took part in each of two previous rallies in the Georgian capital.

In one demonstration, Shota Digmelashvili of the Shame movement read out a manifesto and announced the launch of a new popular movement that will include opposition parties, civil society organization, journalists, and labor unions to make demands on the government.

The manifesto asserted that the country’s “main obstacle on its European path is Bidzina Ivanishvili," the billionaire founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party who is widely believed to be the top decision-maker in the South Caucasus country even though he does not hold office.

In May, the European Parliament passed a nonbinding resolution calling on the EU to impose sanctions against Ivanishvili for his "destructive role" in Georgia's politics and economy. Ivanishvili insists he has retired from politics.

In a Facebook statement, rally organizers called on Ivanishvili to "relinquish executive power and transfer it, in a constitutional manner, to a government of national accord."

The statement said a new government could "carry out the reforms required by the EU, which will automatically bring us the status of an EU membership candidate."

"A next stage of our protests begins today. We will not disperse."

The government led by the Georgian Dream party has been hit by increasing international criticism over perceived backsliding on democracy, damaging its EU hopes.

The European Commission said the conditions that Tbilisi must fulfill include ending political polarization, progress on media freedom, judiciary and electoral reforms, and "de-oligarchization."

Georgian Dream officials insist they are following democratic principles and accused the opposition of "plans to overthrow the authorities by organizing anti-government rallies."

Opinion polls show that at least 80 percent of the Georgian population favor plans to join the EU, as well as NATO, amid perceived threats from Russia.

Georgia’s aspirations to forge closer ties with the West have long angered Russia. Tensions culminated in Russia's invasion of Georgia in 2008 after which Russia recognized South Ossetia and another region, Abkhazia, as independent countries and stationed thousands of its soldiers in those areas.

With reporting by AFP

During a visit to Kyiv, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged that his country will provide additional support to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Albanese said on July 3 while meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that the new military assistance will include 14 armored personnel carriers, 20 Bushmaster armored vehicles, and a number of drones, worth a total of about A$100 million (US$68 million).

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Zelenskiy said Australia was giving Ukraine "considerable aid, in particular defense support," and that the Australian-made Bushmaster vehicles were “highly valued.” The Bushmaster is designed mainly as a troop-transport vehicle.

Albanese also said Australia would slap sanctions and travel bans on 16 more Russian ministers and oligarchs, bringing to 843 the total number of Russians sanctioned by Australia.

The visit was the first ever to Ukraine by an Australian prime minister. Many Western leaders have also traveled to Kyiv to show support for Ukraine during the war with Russia.

"It is my great honor to be the first Australian prime minister to visit Ukraine," he said.

The trip will "show very clearly to the world the solidarity that exists between the Australian people and the people of Ukraine," Albanese added.

Albanese also visited the towns of Bucha, Irpin, and Hostomel, where Ukraine says Russia committed atrocities against civilians. Moscow denies the allegations, despite widespread evidence.

"Australia supports Ukraine and wants to see justice meted out for the crimes committed here," Kyiv Oblast Governor Oleksiy Kuleba quoted Albanese as saying during his visit to the devastated towns.

Based on reporting by AFP, Reuters, and AP

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. State Department marked Belarus National Day, sending “warmest wishes” to the people but reminding the world that they remain under the harsh conditions imposed by authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka, with hundreds of political prisoners still behind bars.

“On behalf of the United States of America, I send my warmest wishes to the people of Belarus, wherever they may be,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on July 3.

However, “despite being an occasion to celebrate hard-won freedoms, Belarusians remain unable to determine their country’s future or express their views without fear of harsh reprisal,” he added.

“For the second year in a row, too many Belarusian families will mark this Independence Day separated from their loved ones, as more than 1,200 political prisoners languish in prisons for trying to exercise the freedoms this day is supposed to symbolize.”

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Glaring Lights, Lukashenka Speeches: Former Belarusian Political Prisoners Describes Jail Conditions

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Belarus was hit by a wave of protests against the results of a presidential election in August 2020 that handed Lukashenka victory despite claims by opposition leaders that the vote was rigged.

Many of Belarus's opposition leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country, while Lukashenka has refused to negotiate with the opposition.

The United States, the European Union, and several other countries have refused to acknowledge Lukashenka as the winner of the vote and imposed several rounds of sanctions on him and his regime, citing election fraud and a brutal police crackdown.

Western nations have also slapped Belarus, like its close ally Russia, with an ever-increasing list of financial sanctions in response to the Kremlin's war on Ukraine and Belarus’ efforts to aid the Russian invasion.

Ukraine's ambassador to Ankara said Turkish authorities have detained a Russian cargo ship that is believed to be carrying stolen Ukrainian grain that Kyiv says set off from Berdyansk, a Ukrainian port occupied by Russian forces.

"We have full cooperation,” Ambassador Vasyl Bodnar said on Ukrainian television on July 3. “The ship is currently standing at the entrance to the port. It has been detained by the customs authorities of Turkey."

Turkish officials did not immediately comment.

Kyiv on July 1 said it had asked Ankara to detain a Russian-flagged cargo ship, the Zhibek Zholy, because it was carrying grain stolen from Ukraine.

"Based on instruction from the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General, we asked the Turkish side to take corresponding measures," Bodnar said on Twitter.

SEE ALSO:

Ukraine's Black Sea Missile Attacks May Be An Attempt To Clear Sea Lanes For Grain Exports

"I am confident that the decisions to be taken [by Turkey] will prevent attempts to violate Ukraine's sovereignty," Bodnar said.

Marinetraffic.com said the 140-meter general-cargo vessel Zhibek Zholy was sailing under the Russian flag. It showed the ship late on July 1 anchored about a kilometer off Turkey's Black Sea port of Karasu.

On June 30, Evgeny Balitsky, head of the Moscow-appointed administration in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya region, said on Telegram that the ship had left the Berdyansk port and was headed for "friendly countries."

He said the ship was loaded with 7,000 tons of grain, but he did not specify which countries were considered friendly nor did he give any details on the origins of the grain.

Bodnar said investigators would meet on July 4 to determine the ship's fate and that Ukraine was seeking return of the grain.

Ukraine has accused Russia of stealing its grain during the invasion and blockading its ports to keep grain from leaving the country, which has contributed to a global food shortage.

Moscow has denied taking Ukrainian grain, but satellite images and GPS data have been used to back up the allegations that Russia has been transporting grain out of Ukraine through the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014.

Grain is one of Ukraine's main industries. Exports totaled $12.2 billion last year and accounted for nearly one-fifth of the country's exports. Ukraine's Black Sea ports, including Berdyansk, handled about 6 million tons of grains and other crops each month before the war.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service and Reuters

The daughter of former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been charged with “propaganda activity against the system of the Islamic Republic of Iran and blasphemy,” Iran’s judiciary announced on July 3.

An indictment for the arrest of Faezeh Hashemi, a 59-year-old former lawmaker and rights activist, has been issued, but it was not reported whether she had been taken into custody.

The charges reportedly stem from comments Hashemi made during a social-media forum in April. She was reported to have said that Iran’s insistence that the United States remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps from its list of terrorist organizations was “damaging” to Iran’s national interests.

Tehran’s demand has become a key obstacle to restoring the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Hashemi reportedly also called the wife of the Prophet Mohammed a “businesswoman” whose money the prophet spent. She later called the comments a “joke…without any intention of causing insult.”

In 2012, Hashemi served six months in jail on charges of propaganda against Iran.

Rafsanjani served as president of Iran from 1989 to 1997. He was considered a pragmatic conservative who sought to avoid conflict with the United States and the West. He died in 2017.

Based on reporting by AFP, IRNA, and Asharq Al-Awsat

Beginning in September, the Czech Republic will send fighter jets to patrol the airspace of neighboring Slovakia, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on July 3.

“I don’t see any problem there,” he said. “The government will certainly approve it.”

Slovakia earlier asked NATO allies to patrol its skies after it decided to ground its own fleet of Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets. Bratislava intends to send the MiGs to Ukraine to help Kyiv fight off Russia’s invasion.

Slovakia ordered 14 F-16 fighters from the United States in 2018 to replace its MiGs, and the first planes were scheduled to arrive this year. However, unexpected delays have pushed back that date to 2024.

Slovakia has provided over 154 million euros ($160.6 million) in military assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP

Russian journalist Maria Ponomarenko, who was detained in St. Petersburg in April on accusations of discrediting the Russian armed forces in social-media posts about the war in Ukraine, has been transferred to a Siberian psychiatric hospital, her lawyer reported on July 2.

Lawyer Sergei Podolsky said Ponomarenko will be evaluated at the Altai Clinical Psychological Hospital for 28 days.

Ponomarenko, who lives and works in the Altai region city of Barnaul and is the mother of two young children, was transferred from St. Petersburg to Barnaul late last month.

“Today I went there and handed over a parcel for her,” Novosibirsk activist Yana Drobhokhod told RFE/RL. “She is not allowed to receive letters or visits from relatives. She is allowed to meet with her lawyers.”

Ponomarenko faces up to 10 years in prison for a Telegram post about the Russian bombing of a theater in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol in which hundreds of civilians were killed. A Russian law passed in March criminalizes the dissemination of "fake" reports that "discredit the armed forces."