The United States, Britain, and Canada have announced new trade and financial sanctions on Belarus on the first anniversary of a presidential election that extended Alyaksandr Lukashenka's decades-long rule and sparked an unprecedented wave of protests amid allegations the vote was rigged.

Lukashenka, in power since 1994, reacted to the protests by unleashing a brutal crackdown. More than 32,000 people have been detained, thousands beaten by police on the streets and in detention, with torture alleged in many cases.

Opposition leaders have been locked up or forced to flee, including Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who left for Lithuania a day after the vote that supporters say she actually won.

Since then, Lukashenka, his inner circle, and Belarusian firms have been hit with several rounds of sanctions by the United States, European Union, Canada, and Britain, among others, leaving the Belarusian strongman internationally isolated, dependent more than ever on Russian support.

Among those entities targeted in the fresh U.S. sanctions was Belaruskali, the Belarusian potash producer, a major source of income for the Lukashenka regime, the White House announced.

Also targeted was Belarus's International Olympic Committee, "for its failure to protect Belarusian athletes from political discrimination and repression."

This comes after Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya refused to board a flight home during the Olympics after she was taken to the airport against her wishes. She has since sought refugee status in Poland.

"It is the responsibility of all those who care about human rights, free and fair elections, and freedom of expression to stand against this oppression," Biden said in a statement. "The United States will continue to stand up for human rights and free expression, while holding the Lukashenka regime accountable, in concert with our allies and partners."

On Twitter, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said, "The United States is demonstrating its commitment to holding the Lukashenka regime to account on the anniversary of Belarus's fraudulent election."

Prominent businesspeople who support the Lukashenka regime as well as 15 companies with which they are affiliated -- including Absolutbank, a private Belarusian bank -- were also blacklisted by the Biden administration, as well as entities that operate in the tobacco-products, construction, energy, and transportation sectors of the Belarusian economy.

Earlier, London announced its own sanctions.

The British measures, announced by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office on August 9, include a ban on Belarus's potash and petroleum-product exports and a prohibition on the purchase of transferable securities and money-market instruments issued by the Belarusian state and its state-owned banks.

The package also includes measures to prevent Belarusian air carriers from overflying or landing in Britain and a prohibition on the provision of technical assistance to Lukashenka's "fleet of luxury aircraft."

"These sanctions demonstrate that the U.K. will not accept Lukashenka's actions since the fraudulent election," Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said. "The Lukashenka regime continues to crush democracy and violate human rights in Belarus."

Britain also added Russian businessman Mikhail Gutseriyev to its sanctions list, saying he was "one of the main private investors in Belarus and a long-standing associate" of Lukashenka.

Canada also announced its own measures. Foreign Minister Marc Garneau said Ottawa would target transferable securities and money-market instruments, debt financing, insurance and reinsurance, petroleum products, and potassium chloride products.

"Since then, the grave injustices carried out by the Belarusian government against its own people have not stopped...these measures will apply further pressure on Belarus's leadership," Garneau said.

Canada has to date placed sanctions on 72 Belarusian officials and five entities.

The European Union, the United States, and other countries have refused to recognize Lukashenka as Belarus's legitimate leader and have slapped multiple rounds of sanctions to pressure his regime to ease its crackdown, talk with the opposition, and ensure a new election.

Speaking during a meeting with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis in Vilnius, Tsikhanouskaya said that only a common, coordinated position of all countries on sanctions and further pressure on Lukashenka will help Belarus overcome the crisis.

Separately, Tsikhanouskaya told the media that the Belarusian opposition was "advocating for organizing an international tribunal on the regime's crimes" and was "working on holding a high-level international conference to resolve the crisis in Belarus."

At a press conference, Lukashenka struck a note of defiance, defending last year's election and accusing the opposition of preparing a "coup."

He also denied that his country had any involvement in the recent death of an activist in Ukraine or in trying to forcibly bring home an athlete from the Tokyo Olympics.

Belarusians living abroad and supporters held rallies against Lukashenka on August 8 in European capitals, including Kyiv, London, Warsaw, and Vilnius. More protests were planned for August 9.

"One year ago today, the right to freely elect their leader was taken away from the people of #Belarus. The EU stands firmly with you and will continue to do so," European Council President Charles Michel, who chairs EU summits, said in a tweet.

The EU "stands firmly with you and will continue to do so. The legitimate call for a democratic future and respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights must finally be heeded."

The previous day, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that the bloc "stands ready to consider further measures in light of the regime’s blatant disregard of international commitments."

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas vowed to support Belarus's democracy movement, saying the whole country was being held "hostage" by Lukashenka.

"Alongside political support, we have launched practical assistance with our Belarus civil society action plan to support people who are being politically persecuted," Maas said.

In a statement on August 9, Amnesty International denounced Lukashenka's "campaign of brutal reprisals against dissent," saying a "plethora" of human rights violations and crimes under international law had been committed against the Belarusian people.

The London-based watchdog said dozens of human rights NGOs and other civil society organizations have been arbitrarily closed and many of their staff arrested as suspects in "fabricated" criminal cases or forced into exile.

"At least three peaceful protesters have died as a result of police use of force, while tens of thousands were subjected to arbitrary arrests and detention. Hundreds more have complained of torture," Amnesty said.

Lukashenka has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994. He has earned the nickname "Europe's last dictator" in the West for his relentless repression of dissent.

On August 9, Lukashenka dismissed "those nasty things that you throw into my face, saying that I'm a dictator."

He said his government had nothing to do with the death of opposition activist Vital Shyshou, who was found hanged in a park in Kyiv after he was reported missing last week.

Ukrainian police have launched a murder investigation into the death of the 26-year-old, who led a Kyiv-based organization helping persecuted Belarusians.

Lukashenka also claimed that Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, a Belarusian sprinter who defected at the Olympics, had been "manipulated" by outside forces.

Tsimanouskaya fled to Warsaw on August 4 under Polish diplomatic protection following a dispute with her coaching team that she said had led to her being ordered home.

The International Olympic Committee has revoked the accreditation of two Belarusian coaches over Tsimanouskaya's alleged treatment, which Japan's Foreign Ministry called "unjust" and "not acceptable."

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and AP

Hundreds of people marched in Warsaw to protest political repression in Belarus on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Belarus presidential election that the opposition says was rigged in favor of authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

Many Belarusians living in exile in Poland joined the demonstration in which people carried the Belarusian opposition's red-and-white flag and chanted "Long live Belarus!"

The protest began in central Warsaw and marched past the U.S. and Russian embassies. A speaker at the latter accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being responsible for repression in Belarus since the election awarded Lukashenka a sixth term in the election.

Belarusians also marched in Kyiv on the eve of the election anniversary to show solidarity with those who fight for freedom in Belarus and to commemorate the death of Belarusian activist Vital Shyshou, who was found hanged in a park in Kyiv after he was reported missing on August 2.

Ukrainian police have launched a murder investigation into the death of the 26-year-old, who led a Kyiv-based organization helping persecuted Belarusians.

Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya posted a video clip of the march in Kyiv on Twitter, saying Belarus made a choice a year ago "and we continue to defend it."

The Belarusian opposition consider her the real winner of the August 2020 presidential vote. The 38-year-old left Belarus out of fears for her safety amid a brutal state-orchestrated crackdown on dissent.

The results of the August 9, 2020, presidential election touched off massive street protests throughout Belarus, which led to the crackdown. Over the last year Belarusian authorities have forcibly expelled or jailed opposition leaders, arrested tens of thousands of people, targeted dozens of NGOs, and refused accreditation to or forced out journalists.

Lukashenka has earned the nickname of “Europe’s last dictator” in the West for his relentless repression of dissent, including the forced diversion in May of a Ryanair commercial flight to Belarus to arrest an opposition blogger and his girlfriend.

The organizers of the Warsaw march said the event was held as a sign that Belarusians in Poland will not give up their fight to bring change to Belarus. Among their demands was the release of political prisoners held in Belarus.

Poland, along with Lithuania and Ukraine, is hosting a number of Belarusians living in exile. One of the most recent to arrive is Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, an athlete who was granted a humanitarian visa after she refused her coaches’ orders that she return to Minsk after she publicly criticized their decisions.

The European Union on August 8 also acknowledged the anniversary of the Belarusian presidential election, saying in a statement it was ready to take "further measures" beyond sanctions already imposed "in light of the regime’s blatant disregard of international commitments."

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Twitter that Belarusians went to the polls on August 9 last year to vote for democracy.

"Since then they have stood up for those values against [the Lukashenka] regime’s brutal repression," he said. “Voices of the people of Belarus will not be silenced! We #StandwithBelarus.”

With reporting by AP

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has named the chairman of a powerful state-owned conglomerate sanctioned by the United States as his first vice president.

Mohammad Mokhber, who has headed the conglomerate known as Setad since 2007, was named as Raisi’s first vice president, the president’s website said in a statement on August 8.

Setad, or the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order, is named for Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic republic's founder.

The conglomerate and Mokhber were blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury in January. Washington said that Setad "has a stake in nearly every sector of the Iranian economy, including energy, telecommunications, and financial services."

Mokhber, who holds a doctorate in international law, was appointed to head Setad by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei after serving in a string of official positions in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.

Setad was originally founded in the late 1980s to manage confiscated properties following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

It has since turned into a sprawling conglomerate, and its subsidiary Barekat Foundation produced Iran's first local COVID-19 vaccine project. The vaccine received emergency approval from health authorities in June.

Raisi, who was elected on June 18, is expected to consolidate the power of ultraconservatives during his four-year term.

He was sworn in last week and called for a lifting of sanctions during his inauguration speech.

Based on reporting by AFP

Two villages threatened by forest fires in northeastern Siberia's Yakutia region are being evacuated, local authorities said on August 8 as more than 150 fires burned in the region.

Local authorities moved residents of two villages, Kalvitsa and Kharyyalakh, to other inhabited areas as crews worked to contain about half of the blazes burning in the area, AP reported.

The villages are among about a dozen in the region that are threatened by the fires, according to the regional operations task force dealing with the emergency.

One of the fires destroyed 31 houses and eight maintenance buildings in the village of Byas-Kuel on August 7, Yakutia Governor Aysen Nikolayev said on Facebook.

"This is a huge loss," Nikolayev said on the social media platform on August 8. "People lost everything they built and accumulated for years -- homes, property, their household."

Nikolayev said they would be provided with construction materials to rebuild their houses before the heating season begins and said each member of the affected families will be paid 30 thousand rubles.

An operational headquarters has been created and will be led by Dmitry Viktorovich Berdnikov, who will leave on August 9 for Byas-Kuel to begin the necessary work, Nikolayev said.

Nikolayev also ordered officials to clear forests around the endangered villages.

There are 155 fires in the region, the operations task force said. Eleven were extinguished on August 8, nine were contained, and seven new forest fires were discovered.

The Hungarian government’s controversial anti-LGBT law, passed in June, will apply near churches as well as schools, according to a new official decree.

The NATO member country's so-called Anti-Pedophilia Act was originally aimed at enhancing penalties for child abuse, but amendments have been added banning the "promotion of homosexuality" or gender reassignment to minors.

The latest decree will go into effect in 30 days, the government said late on August 6.

Amnesty International’s Hungarian office in reaction to the latest announcement insisted on August 7 that the law will "fail sooner or later."

"In the meantime, it is the responsibility of all of us not to give in to the government's vile incitement to hatred," the group said in a statement.

Following passage of the law, thousands of people joined the annual Budapest Pride march on July 24 in a show of support for the LGBT community and to protest the legislation.

The law, which came into force last month, has become a target of Europe’s LGBT community and their allies, putting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s conservative government again at odds with Brussels.

The European Commission called the law a “disgrace” and has launched legal action against Budapest over the legislation, saying it is discriminatory and contravenes European values of tolerance and individual freedom.

The law regulates the "display or portrayal" of products that "express homosexuality" or represent a "deviation from the identity corresponding to the sex at birth."

The government also said in its latest announcement that shops will be banned from selling such products within 200 meters of churches, schools, and child protection institutions.

Orban’s nationalist Fidesz party says the LGBT-related measures aim to protect children and families and do not target adult homosexuals.

Critics say Orban's targeting of the LGBT community, like his earlier moves against immigrants, is an effort to shore up his socially conservative base ahead of an election next year.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters

A senior European Union official says Iran is ready to resume suspended nuclear talks as soon early September, Western news agencies are reporting.

AFP and the dpa news agencies reported on August 7 that representatives of the country have given assurances in recent days that the talks will be resumed in Vienna, according to the senior EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official said the EU's negotiator on the matter, Enrique Mora, attended the swearing-in of new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran last week, speaking there with the Iranian official designated to lead the talks, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

The EU official said Amir-Abdollahian is slated to be the new foreign minister in Raisi's cabinet, but the move has not yet been announced.

The Iranians said they want to get back to the negotiating table "as soon as possible -- not just for talks but to achieve an agreement. They want a success," the EU official said.

The United States urged Iran on August 5 to return to talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal after the new hard-line Iranian president said he would seek a diplomatic way to end sanctions.

"We urge Iran to return to the negotiations soon," U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a news briefing. "For us, this is an urgent priority."

Raisi called for a lifting of the sanctions during his inauguration speech earlier on August 5.

Raisi is expected to consolidate the power of ultraconservatives during his four-year term.

The EU official told the news agencies that it was not clear whether the nuclear talks would remain under the responsibility of the Iranian Foreign Ministry or be taken over by Iran's National Security Council or another body.

The nuclear deal was signed by Hassan Rohani, the relatively moderate Iranian leader who left after his allowed two terms.

It was signed by the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China and set an easing of sanctions against Tehran in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program.

U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed crippling financial sanctions..

Trump at the time said Iran was not adhering to the spirit of the deal, accusing it of attempting to build nuclear weapons and of supporting extremist activity in the region. Iran denies the charges.

After Washington pulled out of the deal, Tehran responded by walking back measures it had agreed to under the accord.

"The EU would like Iran to freeze the nuclear activities," the EU official said, but admitted that Moscow and Beijing did not back its language on that position.

Negotiators have been meeting since April in Vienna to seek a way to bring both sides back into full compliance, with the last round taking place on June 20.

But complicating the matter, tensions have risen recently between Iran and the West, notably with an attack by drones last week on an Israeli-linked tanker off Oman that killed a Briton and a Romanian on board.

The Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized nations -- the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan -- blamed the attack on Iran. Tehran denies the accusation.

With reporting by AFP and dpa

Wildfires that have plagued southeastern Europe for days were partially extinguished on August 7, while conflagrations in Siberia endangered several villages and prompted authorities to evacuate some residents.

North Macedonia and neighboring Balkan countries have been ravaged by fires that have been raging this week, particularly in the east of the country, destroying more than 3,000 hectares.

Aid convoys dispatched from Austria reached North Macedonia on August 6, a day after the government declared a state of emergency. Serbia, Bulgaria, and Slovenia also sent assistance.

Large fires also burned in neighboring Kosovo and across the border in Albania, where fire crews managed to bring most of the blazes under control.

Large areas of the so-called Accursed Mountains -- also known as the Albanian Alps -- have been scorched by wildfires in western Kosovo near the border with Albania.

At least one person is known to have died trying to save livestock on his farm.

Kosovar armed forces were called in to help local firefighters and NATO forces provided helicopters to drop water from the air.

The fires in northern Russia have been burning for weeks, forcing the evacuation on August 7 of a dozen villages.

Ninety-three forest fires burned across 1.1 million hectares of Sakha-Yakutia in northeastern Siberia, officials said, making it the worst affected region of Russia.

Smoke from the fires covered the Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk regions. The Ministry of Emergency Situations said there is smoke and a burning smell in almost 400 settlements in the Krasnoyarsk territory and in 17 districts. About 10 flights were delayed at the Krasnoyarsk airport and one flight was canceled.

A fire engulfed dozens of houses in the village of Byas-Kuel, and all residents were evacuated, according to the local task force dealing with the emergency.

Local government leader Andrei Tarasenko said 12 settlements were currently under threat as high winds exacerbated the danger.

Elsewhere, heavy rains brought some respite to Turkey, where fires this week killed eight people and led to evacuations. But in neighboring Greece, hundreds of firefighters continued to fight wildfires that destroyed a record amount of woodland and left hundreds of families homeless.

In what one local official described as "a biblical catastrophe," more than 100 blazes have broken out in Greece as the country copes with strong winds and a heatwave. The fire service said more than 1,450 Greek firefighters were battling the fires, and reinforcements arrived from other countries, including France, Ukraine, Cyprus, Croatia, Sweden, Israel, Romania, and Switzerland.

One volunteer firefighter has died and at least 20 people have been treated in hospitals.

Fires in neighboring Turkey along the southern coast have been described as the worst in decades. The top Turkish forestry official said 217 fires had been brought under control since July 28 in over half of the country’s provinces.

Greek and European officials have blamed climate change for the large number of fires.

With reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa, and RFE/RL's Siberia.Realities

Uzbekistan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has announced it will nominate incumbent President Shavkat Mirziyoev for the country’s October 24 presidential election.

Mirziyoev, 64, made no response to the August 7 announcement, although he is widely expected to seek and secure a second term as head of the authoritarian Central Asian country.

Mirziyoev came to power after the 2016 death of longtime leader Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan’s former Soviet leader and the country's first post-Soviet president.

Since taking power, Mirziyoev has launched a significant economic-reform program and has eased some restrictions on religious and media freedoms.

Four other political parties represented in parliament have already nominated presidential candidates.

Based on reporting by Reuters and TASS

A court in Belarus has banned a popular sports portal and labeled it as "extremist" amid an intensifying crackdown on media and civil society.

The Interior Ministry said on August 6 that Tribuna.com and all its social media channels were banned because its administrators posted "materials calling for extremist activity."

Sharing content from the sports website could be met with fines or jail time, the Interior Ministry said.

Access to Tribuna.com in Belarus was blocked last year in the wake of an August 2020 presidential election that gave strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka a disputed sixth term in office.

The creator of the Tribuna.com project, Dzmitry Navosha, is a vocal supporter of the pro-democracy protest movement challenging Lukashenka’s rule. He is also the founder of Sports.ru, a Russian sports website.

Commenting on the labeling, Navosha said on Twitter that his websites will continue their work.

"In general, avoid reading resources that are not recognized as extremist. This, of course, is now such a sign of quality," he said.

Lukashenka has accelerated a crackdown on activists, media, and civil society in recent weeks as the country approaches the one-year mark since the disputed presidential election sparked unprecedented protests and international condemnation of his government.

A Moscow court has given U.S. investor Michael Calvey a 5 1/2-year suspended sentence, a day after finding him and six co-defendants guilty of embezzlement in a high-profile case followed closely by the international business community.

Even though he will not spend time in prison, Calvey said after the verdict on August 6 that the ruling was "unfortunate and deeply unfair."

"Compared to most cases, receiving a suspended sentence is already almost a victory. But on the other hand, it is simply outrageous to be convicted of a crime that never happened," he said.

Calvey, the founder of Russia-focused private equity group Baring Vostok, was detained along with other executives in early 2019. He spent two months in jail before being placed under house arrest and then released last fall.

Calvey was charged with embezzlement linked to mid-sized lender Vostochny along with his associate Philippe Delpal, who is a French national, and five others -- Russian citizens Vagan Abgaryan, Ivan Zyuzin, Maksim Vladimirov, Aleksei Kordichev, and Aleksandr Tsakunov.

Prosecutors accused the defendants of defrauding Vostochny Bank of 2.5 billion rubles ($32.9 million).

The case went to trial on February 2, almost two years after they were first detained.

Delpal, who spent six months in jail before he was put under house arrest, received a 4 1/2-year suspended sentence. He also insisted he was not guilty of any crime.

Five Russian associates who said they were innocent also received suspended sentences.

Delpal told reporters after the sentencing that it was a "sad" ruling for the whole business community in Russia.

"The court did not want to understand or could not understand that in this case there is no victim or damage and that there is no beneficiary of a potential embezzlement," Delpal added.

Baring Vostok used to be a major shareholder in Vostochny Bank. Defendants in the case claimed it was aimed at pressuring Baring Vostok as part of a business dispute over control of Vostochny Bank.

The case has rattled the investment community and prompted several prominent officials and businessmen to voice concerns about the treatment of the executives.

Baring Vostok has invested more than $2.8 billion in projects in Russia since 1994.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP

A court in Austria has sentenced a Russian man to life in prison after he was convicted of murdering a 43-year-old Chechen in a Vienna suburb last year in a case that drew international attention amid claims the killing had been politically motivated.

A spokesman for the regional court in Korneuburg said on August 6 that jurors reached a unanimous verdict in the case during the one-day trial.

The defendant was a 48-year-old ethnic Chechen who wasn't named for privacy reasons, court spokesman Wolfgang Schuster-Kramer said.

The defendant had pleaded not guilty and vowed to appeal when the verdict was delivered, according to the court spokesman.

Members of the Chechen exile community in Austria had suggested that the victim of the July 2020 slaying might have been targeted for criticizing Kremlin-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

But the court was presented with no concrete evidence proving that the killing was politically motivated, Schuster-Kramer said.

Austrian police have not named the victim, but sources in the Chechen diaspora have told RFE/RL that the victim was Mamikhan Umarov, a Chechen separatist who ran a video blog critical of Kadyrov and worked with Austrian intelligence. He had received asylum in Austria.

Prosecutors said the victim was shot several times, including once in the head from a close distance, shortly after the men met at an industrial estate in Gerasdorf, northeast of Vienna.

Blood from the victim and gunpowder particles were found on the clothing of the defendant.

A defense lawyer blamed the shooting on the victim's bodyguard, Austrian public broadcaster ORF reported.

There have been several assaults outside of Russia in recent months on critics of Kadyrov.

In January, a court in Sweden sentenced two Russian citizens from Chechnya to lengthy prison terms for their roles in last year's attempted killing of Tumso Abdurakhmanov, an exiled Chechen blogger and outspoken critic of the North Caucasus region's Moscow-backed leader.

In August 2019, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a former Chechen separatist fighter who had fled from Georgia to Germany, was shot dead in Berlin. A Russian national suspected in that killing went on trial in Germany in October.

Rights groups have accused Kadyrov, who has ruled Chechnya since 2007, of numerous human rights abuses, including kidnappings, tortures, extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and the targeted killings of political and personal rivals both in Russia and abroad.

He has denied the accusations.

With reporting by AP and AFP

The U.S. military and the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized countries blamed Iran on August 6 for last week's attack on a tanker in international waters off Oman.

The U.S. military’s Central Command said it had collected and examined evidence of a drone strike on the Mercer Street in the Arabian Sea last week that killed one British security guard and the ship's Romanian captain.

"U.S. experts concluded based on the evidence that this UAV was produced in Iran," Central Command said in a statement, using the acronym for unmanned aerial vehicle.

Meanwhile, G7 countries condemned what they called an "unlawful attack" on the vessel, which is managed by a U.K.-based company owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer.

"All available evidence clearly points to Iran," the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States said in a joint statement.

Following the July 30 attack, first Israel, then the United States and Britain pointed the finger at Tehran and vowed repercussions for such a threat on international shipping.

Tehran has denied any role in the attack.

Central Command, which covers the Middle East, said the Mercer Street was first targeted by two unsuccessful drone attacks on July 29. Investigators found the remnants of at least one of the drones pulled from the water.

A third drone loaded with a "military-grade explosive" hit the pilot house of the ship on July 30, creating a roughly two-meter hole and causing damage to the interior, Central Command said.

Investigators were able to recover part of the wing and internal components from the third drone "which were nearly identical to previously-collected examples from Iranian one-way attack UAVs," also known as kamikaze drones, the U.S. military said.

It said the triangle-shaped Delta wing drones are similar to those “actively used by Iran and their proxies” in the region, including against Saudi Arabia, in a reference to Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels, and bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq.

In their statement, G7 foreign ministers said "Iran’s behavior, alongside its support to proxy forces and non-state armed actors, threatens international peace and security."

European countries and the United States added to their accusations at a closed-door Security Council meeting at UN headquarters in New York on August 6.

"The UK knows that Iran was responsible for this attack. We know it was deliberate and targeted," said British Ambassador to the UN Barbara Woodward.

"The door for diplomacy and dialogue remains open. But if Iran chooses not to take that route, then we would seek to hold Iran to account and apply a cost to that," she told reporters.

Iran's deputy ambassador at the United Nations, Zahra Ershadi, rejected the accusation.

She accused Israel of trying to divert world opinion from its "crimes and inhumane practices in the region," repeating a claim that it had attacked over 10 commercial vessels carrying oil and goods to Syria.

Ershadi was referring to an expansion of a shadow war between Iran and Israel, that in recent months has seen vessels linked to each nation being mysteriously targeted in waters around the Middle East.

On August 5, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gatz said that his country is prepared to strike Iran, ratcheting up rhetoric at a time Tehran is breaching key planks of a 2015 nuclear deal in response to the U.S. exit from the pact.

Tensions have risen in the Middle East since the United States reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018 after then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal with major powers.

The Pentagon said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke on August 6 with Gantz about the ship incident.

Both "expressed concern about Iran's proliferation and employment of one-way attack UAVs across the region and committed to continue cooperating closely on regional security," the Pentagon said in a statement.

"They agreed to work together alongside allies and partners in condemning Iran’s aggression that undermines freedom of navigation, and they exchanged views on next steps," it added.

With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters

European Union home affairs ministers will discuss a surge of illegal border crossings from Belarus to EU member state Lithuania at an extraordinary meeting on August 18, the Slovenian EU Presidency said on August 6.

Representatives of the EU border agency Frontex and Europol will also participate in the video conference, according to a letter by Slovenia to EU diplomats seen by Reuters.

"With the situation at the Lithuania-Belarus border, the EU has come under a serious security threat and is a witness of state-sponsored weaponization of illegal migration in Belarus," Reuters quoted the text as saying.

Slovenia pressed for action, saying one aim of the meeting was to agree on measures to safeguard this part of the EU's external border and to continue to support Lithuania.

The European Union summoned the Belarusian envoy in Brussels on August 5 and held talks with the Iraqi government after accusing Belarus of creating a refugee problem in response to EU sanctions.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and other EU officials have also sought a solution with the Iraqi government, which could include a suspension of flights from Baghdad to Minsk.

Lithuanian and European officials say the migrant flows are being orchestrated by Alyaksandr Lukashenka in retaliation for EU sanctions over his government's crackdown on the opposition following Belarus's presidential election nearly a year ago that was widely regarded as fraudulent.

Poland also accused Belarus on August 5 of sending a growing number of migrants over the border in retaliation for Warsaw's decision this week to give refuge to Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya who refused to return home from the Tokyo Olympics.

Based on reporting by Reuters

Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom said on August 6 it had slowed gas shipments abroad after fire struck a processing plant in western Siberia.

No one was hurt in the fire, which happened at a facility near Novy Urengoy.

Russian media said transports of natural gas via Belarus and Poland were already decreased to around 1 million cubic meters per day.

Gazprom had already scheduled lower volumes via the Yamal-Europe pipeline that runs from the Yamal Peninsula via Belarus to Germany for the last quarter of 2021.

Authorities and company officials were investigating the cause of the fire, which happened at a gas-processing facility that is already scheduled for replacement.

Based on reporting by dpa

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says he is "prepared" for outside "interference," including from the United States, in an election next year that could chip away at the wide majority his ruling Fidesz party currently enjoys in parliament.

In power since 2010 and increasingly fiery in his national populist rhetoric, Orban has faced accusations from Brussels of democratic backsliding, cronyism, and excessive media consolidation to benefit allies.

"That will happen," Orban said in an interview with U.S. Fox News host Tucker Carlson of meddling in the vote. "We are not worried about it. We are prepared for it."

Carlson has been among the most prominent critics in the United States of immigration and has praised Orban amid criticism in the U.S. press that he’s flirting with an authoritarian leader.

Orban has taken a hard line against immigration since a European migrant crisis that saw well over 1 million refugees pour into the continent from conflict zones and other hardship countries.

"Obviously, the international left will do everything that they can do, probably even more, to change the government here in Hungary,” Orban, who describes himself as a defender of traditional Christian values, told Carlson.

The April 2022 election could shape up to be a tight race, with opinion polls showing Orban's Fidesz party neck-and-neck with a coalition of opposition parties.

Orban has led Hungary as prime minister for much of the past two decades, including around its NATO and EU membership. But he has turned increasingly skeptical of the European Union publicly.

Last month, French media watchdog Reporters Without Borders added Orban to its annual list of “enemies of press freedoms."

Freedom House has said Hungry can no longer be considered a democracy due to Orban’s continued assaults on democratic institutions.

During his election campaign last year against Republican incumbent Donald Trump, U.S. President Joe Biden cited Hungary in his criticism of Trump's policies, comparing it to “totalitarian regimes.”

"You see what's happened in everything from Belarus to Poland to Hungary, and the rise of totalitarian regimes in the world.... This president [Trump] embraces all the thugs in the world," Biden said in a town-hall meeting.

Orban had endorsed Trump’s reelection bid, saying his rival Democrats have forced a “moral imperialism.”

Asked if he expects the Biden administration to try to "prevent" his reelection, Orban said that, "sooner or later, the Americans will realize that issues in Hungary must be decided by the Hungarians.”

It is unclear what kind of "interference" he is expecting.

Orban's government has been increasingly friendly with Moscow despite EU and U.S. sanctions over a Ukrainian invasion, alleged assassinations at home and abroad, and what Western intelligence agencies say is frequent meddling in foreign elections.

"It is better even for the leftist liberal government in the U.S. to have a good partner that is conservative, Christian, democratic, and supported long-term by the Hungarian people," Orban told Carlson.

He suggested that shifting policies out of Washington were "creating destabilization and uncertainty."

"A not-loved-but-stable partner is better than an uncertain new one," Orban said. "I hope the Americans will understand that."

Orban said Trump's "America first" policy was "a very positive message here in Central Europe.... It means Hungary could be first as well."

With reporting by AFP and RFE/RL's Hungarian Service

CHISINAU -- Lawmakers in Moldova have confirmed the new government of Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita after her Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) won snap elections earlier this month.

The Harvard-educated Gavrilita's PAS holds 63 of the 101 seats in parliament in Moldova for what she described as an "integrity government."

Postcommunist Moldova is wedged between Ukraine and EU member Romania, with which it shares a common language.

The PAS had campaigned on a platform of carrying out reforms and tackling corruption, and advocates closer ties with the European Union and the United States.

Gavrilita, a former finance minister, was designated as prime minister by President Maia Sandu.

Before the vote, Gavrilita said "the most important mission is to show that an integrity government is good for the country, and Moldova can return to the list of decent states."

She vowed before the August 6 vote that her government "will not steal, will not divide public money by percentage, and will not protect crooks and bandits."

Sandu defeated her Moscow-backed predecessor Igor Dodon in a presidential election in November and called the July 11 elections in a bid to consolidate power.

"People expect a change for the better and for that we need firm actions and competent decisions that will have the interest of our citizens at heart," Sandu wrote on Facebook.

The incoming government expects to receive 600 million euros ($708 million) between 2022 and 2024 in assistance from the European Union, as well as money from the International Monetary Fund.

The West and Russia are competing for influence in the ex-Soviet republic of 3.5 million people, which is one of Europe's poorest nations and has suffered a sharp economic downturn during the pandemic.

Moldova has been dogged by instability and corruption scandals in recent years, including the disappearance of $1 billion from the banking system.

NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakh activist Asqar Qaiyrbek has launched a hunger strike to demand a new trial one month after he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for organizing activities of the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK), a banned opposition group.

Lawyer Gulshat Duisenova told RFE/RL on August 6 that her client has been refusing food and drinking only water since August 1.

She said Qaiyrbek’s health has dramatically worsened.

The warden of the minimum security penal colony in the Kazakh capital where he is being held confirmed to RFE/RL that the activist has been on hunger strike for several days.

The warden, Baghdat Amangeldiev, said the facility's medical staff were ready to provide assistance to Qaiyrbek if needed.

The 44-year-old activist was sentenced on June 21 after a court in the Central Asian nation found him guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist group and taking part in such activities.

Meanwhile in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, a court resumed the trial on August 6 of 13 activists, including four women, also accused of links with the DVK and an associated party, Koshe (Street).

The activists' trial had been adjourned after the defendants and their lawyers accused Judge Ernar Qasymbekov of intentionally switching off microphones when one of the lawyers raised the issue of political prisoners in the country.

All of the defendants were charged with participation in the activities of extremist organizations, while 10 of them were additionally charged with organizing the activities of extremist groups.

Due to coronavirus precautions, the trial is being held online.

Kazakh human rights groups have labeled four of the defendants -- Diana Baimaghambetova, Askhat Zheksebaev, Noyan Rakhymzhanov, and Qairat Qylyshev -- political prisoners.

In recent years, Kazakh courts routinely order prison or parole-like sentences for involvement in the activities of the DVK and the Koshe party, or for taking part in rallies organized by the two groups.

DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government. Kazakh authorities banned the DVK as an extremist group in 2018.

In early July, Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized Kazakh authorities, saying they had targeted at least 135 people across the country with criminal investigations and prosecutions for allegedly participating in banned “extremist” political opposition groups.

Rights groups in Kazakhstan say at least 300 men and women in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic have been convicted for ties to the DVK and Koshe or for taking part in events they organized.

Critics say Kazakhstan’s law on public gatherings violates international standards, as it requires preliminary permission from authorities to hold rallies and it prosecutes organizing and participating in unsanctioned rallies despite a constitutional guarantee to the right of free assembly.

Kazakh authorities have insisted that there are no political prisoners in the country.

UFA, Russia -- A woman on trial in the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan for allegedly providing financial support to the mother of an opposition activist jailed for extremism has been added to a federal list of extremists despite no ruling yet in her case.

The woman, Ilmira Bikbayeva, pleaded not guilty when her trial began in Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan, in February.

But Bikbayeva told RFE/RL on August 5 that her bank accounts and credit cards had been frozen without warning and when she inquired was told that her name was on the "extremists" registry.

She is charged with providing funds to the mother of Airat Dilmukhametov, a prominent opposition activist who was sentenced to nine years in prison on extremism charges last year.

Bikbayeva said she had to convince the bank to explain the freeze after her cards stopped working on August 3.

After lengthy discussions, she said, she was allowed limited access to her accounts.

Lawyer Stanislav Seleznyov of the Network Freedoms group told RFE/RL that Russian law allows for adding a person suspected of extremism or terrorism to the registry prior to a conviction and that those individuals can appeal the move.

Bikbayeva said she would consult a lawyer.

The charge against Bikbayeva stems from about 6,000 rubles ($82) that she sent to Dilmukhametov’s mother in several installments between 2018 and 2019.

Investigators say the money Bikbayeva sent was used by Dilmukhametov to conduct extremist activities.

If found guilty, Bikbayeva could face a hefty fine or up to eight years in prison.

Dilmukhametov has insisted that the case against him is politically motivated.

He was arrested in March 2019 and sentenced to nine years in prison after a court found him guilty of calling for the violation of Russia's territorial integrity and making public calls for extremism and support for terrorism.

Dilmukhametov made a video statement in 2018 urging the creation of a "real" federation in Russia with more autonomous rights for ethnic republics and regions.

BISHKEK -- The jailed leader of the Kyrgyz opposition party Turan, Jenish Moldokmatov, has reportedly ended his hunger strike at the urging of allies after his health had deteriorated.

An aide and party colleague, Erlan Bekchoro, told RFE/RL that Moldokmatov began to accept food on August 5 after party members, supporters, and representatives of the national ombudsman's office urged him to do so.

Moldokmatov had been taken to a Bishkek hospital 10 days after launching the fast when he was informed on July 26 of an additional charge being levied against him of organizing mass disorder.

He is an outspoken critic of President Sadyr Japarov.

Moldokmatov was arrested in May for the alleged seizure of buildings during anti-government rallies against the official results of parliamentary elections in October.

Moldokmatov has rejected the charge, calling it politically motivated.

He ran for a parliamentary seat in the October vote and participated along with thousands of other Kyrgyz in street protests that followed the official tallies.

The rallies eventually led to the resignations of the government and then-President Sooronbai Jeenbekov.

Japarov was among several prominent politicians freed from prison by protesters during the postelection unrest.

He had been serving a 10-year prison sentence for hostage taking during a protest against a mining operation in northeast Kyrgyzstan in October 2013. Japarov maintains his conviction was politically motivated.

Japarov easily won the January presidential election.

Moldokmatov's arrest on May 6 came three days after Japarov signed into law constitutional amendments approved by a nationwide referendum in April that has been criticized by his opponents as a move to concentrate power.

MINSK -- Belarusian opposition leader Mikalay Kazlou was sentenced to three months in jail on August 6 on charges that he disclosed information related to an official probe into an anti-regime crisis council that sprang up after Alyaksandr Lukashenka's disputed claim to a sixth presidential term one year ago.

The Minsk-based human rights center Vyasna (Spring) cited the verdict, by a court in the capital.

Kazlou heads the United Civil Party (AHP) and is a member of the Coordination Council of Belarusian Opposition (KRBA), which was set up by Lukashenka's opponents after the vote in order to facilitate a peaceful transfer of power.

All of the council's members have been jailed, forced to leave the country, or otherwise targeted for punishment since the unprecedented street protests began, unleashing a fierce crackdown by authorities in the post-Soviet nation of around 9 million people.

Kazlou's trial began on August 3 but details of the charges are unclear because it was held behind closed doors.

Before his arrest in March, Kazlou told RFE/RL that Minsk police had launched a probe against him.

He said they accused him of disclosing data related to an investigation after he was questioned as a witness in a case against other KRBA members who are accused of urging people to seize power illegally.

Kazlou told RFE/RL at the time that he was also accused of refusing to sign a document agreeing not to disclose the details of his interrogation.

Kazlou has led the AHP since 2018.

His party called on Belarusians not to vote for Lukashenka, who has run Belarus since 1994.

Almost 30,000 people have been detained, hundreds more beaten, several killed, and journalists targeted in the yearlong crackdown.

Lukashenka and other senior officials have been targeted by sanctions by the West, where many countries have refused to recognize him as the country's legitimate leader and demanded a fair election.