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US delegation in Armenia to express support over Nagorno-Karabakh

By
IFP Media Wire
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Armenia Azerbaijan

The US embassy said the group will meet Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and a handful of other officials “to discuss US-Armenian relations and the impact of Azerbaijan’s recent military actions on the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh”.

The United States has a large Armenian community that fervently supports Yerevan in its decades-long standoff with Baku over the ethnically Armenian enclave.

The visit comes as Pashinyan tries to survive the latest wave of protests against his tumultuous rule.

Pashinyan led Armenia when Azerbaijan first seized back large swathes of Nagorno-Karabakh in a six-week war three years ago.

That defeat sparked violent demonstrations in Yerevan that saw protesters ransack Pashinyan’s office.

Armenia’s parliament plans to launch impeachment hearings against Pashinyan over this week’s military triumph by its arch-rival when it returns to session next month.

The US delegation is led by Senator Gary Peters.

The Democrat from Michigan this month accused Azerbaijan of launching “unprovoked” attacks against its neighbour.

President Ilham Aliyev’s “regime is perpetrating a humanitarian disaster in Nagorno-Karabakh,” he said on social media Friday.

Sources say US to blame for pause in Syria’s reengagement with Arab world

By
IFP Media Wire
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Syria's Bashar Assad

Earlier this week, media reported that the Arab League committee, which was formed in May to seek a comprehensive solution to the Syrian crisis, had frozen its contacts with representatives of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

“Further steps towards supporting Syria, whose economy is in tatters, have been put on hold due to direct US pressure,” the source said.

The source pointed out that it was Saudi Arabia that launched regional efforts to reengage Syria after 12 years of isolation within the Middle East.

Kuwait, Qatar, and Morocco were reluctant at first, but later also embraced Syria into the Arab League in the hope of stabilizing the situation in the country through its economic reconstruction. Therefore, in May, the League of Arab States reinstated Syria’s membership in the organization, ending a long hiatus.

However, financial support for Syria and plans for its post-war rebuilding turned out to be hampered by the US’s Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 and its expected supplement, 2023 Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act, which might extend the US administration’s authority to sanction those cooperating with Syria, the source said, adding that anticipated investments from Arab countries never materialized.

“The reasons for discouragement were technical, diplomatic and political difficulties resulting from the US Caesar Act and other US sanctions against Syria,” the source explained.

Syria has been under sanctions pressure from the United States, the European Union and a number of individual countries since the start of clashes with Western-backed terrorists in 2011. The US restrictions are believed to be the toughest, as they include an embargo and affect third parties. US secondary sanctions were restricted until 2020 when the Caesar Act, signed by then-US President Donald Trump in 2019, went into effect.

The Caesar Act is designed to deter support for reconstruction efforts by the Syrian government. It imposes sanctions on anyone who provides funding or assistance to the Syrian government and the country’s central bank. Moreover, the legislation imposes sanctions on those providing aircraft or spare parts to Syrian airlines or who are involved with government-controlled construction and engineering projects.

In May 2023, US lawmakers also submitted the Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act to the parliament to amend the Caesar Act and further expand sanctions on those providing financial and technological support to Syrian groups and enterprises. The US government now has the authority to introduce sanctions until the end of 2025, while the new legislation, if adopted, would extend this power through 2032.

EU foreign policy chief warns migration might ‘dissolve’ bloc

By
IFP Media Wire
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Refugees and Immigrants

Speaking to the Guardian for an interview published on Friday, Borrell pointed to rising nationalist sentiment across Europe, noting that “we have not been able until now to agree on a common migration policy.”

“Migration is a bigger divide for the European Union. And it could be a dissolving force for the European Union,” he said, adding: “There are some members of the European Union that are Japanese-style – we don’t want to mix. We don’t want migrants. We don’t want to accept people from outside. We want our purity.”

However, Borrell argued that Europe’s current “low demographic growth” means that some states require an influx of immigration, calling the situation a “paradox.”

“If we want to survive from a labor point of view, we need migrants,” the official continued.

Borrell’s comments come just days after German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier declared that his country could no longer take in migrants and refugees, telling an Italian newspaper that “Germany, like Italy, is at the limit of its capacity.”

The president cited “strong immigration from the eastern borders, from Syria, Afghanistan,” as well as the arrival of “over a million refugees from Ukraine” in the last year, and called for a “permanent solidarity mechanism” to ensure a “fair distribution” of migrants in Europe

According to newspaper Die Welt, Rome is also re-evaluating its border policies amid a spike in migration, with officials reportedly notifying other EU members that Italy would be halting migrant transfers “for a limited period of time” last December. They announced the move was linked to “suddenly arising” technical issues related to the country’s intake capacity, though the suspension has continued into 2023, the German outlet reported.

While Borrell warned that dissent over immigration could eventually threaten the integrity of the EU, he pledged that, for now, the bloc would remain intact. Britain’s decision to leave the EU had served as a “vaccine” for other members, he argued, stating that “No one wants to follow the British leaving the European Union.”

Migration has remained a highly contentious issue within the bloc since 2015, when the EU was hit by an influx of refugees, as well as economic migrants, driven by poverty and wars in Africa and the Middle East.

Some countries, including Hungary and Poland, strongly opposed attempts by Brussels to force them to accept and settle migrants, which initially arrived in other member states. The Italian government, meanwhile, has closed its ports to ships transporting migrants from North Africa, insisting that other member states should share the burden of accepting them. The demand for tighter border controls was also one of the drivers behind the ‘Leave’ campaign during the 2016 Brexit referendum in the UK.

Israeli military strikes Gaza Strip amid protests at border

By
IFP Media Wire
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Israel Palestine

The military said the drone strikes targeted two military posts belonging to Hamas movement governing the Gaza Strip, while a tank hit another post from which shots were fired on troops confronting protesters.

The Hamas-affiliated radio station Aqsa reported two people had been wounded in the strikes.

In al-Maghazi refugee camp, El Sayed said drones had appeared overhead in a matter of minutes, dropping stun grenades and tear gas canisters on the heavily populated area.

Meanwhile, tanks positioned on the border shot artillery shells at the Palestinian enclave, the correspondent added.

“It seems that Israel is responding to the incendiary balloons sent by the protesters across the border,” she said.

The protesters were evacuating the area as a result of the attacks, the reporter added.

Dozens of people have been injured, according to the Ministry of Health.

Israel shut the Beit Hanouna (called “Erez” by Israel) crossing with Gaza last week in advance of the Rosh Hashanah Jewish holiday, preventing thousands of workers from getting to their jobs in Israel and the West Bank. The closure was extended after days of border demonstrations in which Israeli troops opened fire on stone-throwing protesters.

Approximately 18,000 Gaza Palestinians have permits from Israeli authorities to work outside the blockaded enclave, providing a vital injection of cash amounting to some $2m a day to the impoverished territory’s economy.

Demonstrators along the Gaza separation fence have hurled stones as well as improvised explosive devices, while Israeli troops have attacked with tear gas and live fire.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down more than a decade ago, and violence has soared over the past year and a half, with Israel carrying out frequent military raids in the occupied West Bank.

In July, Israel launched one of its biggest attacks on the occupied West Bank, killing at least 12 Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp and wounding at least 100 more.

In response to rockets fired from Gaza after Israel ended its large-scale offensive in Jenin, Israeli fighter jets struck the besieged enclave, drawing condemnation from Iran, Egypt, Jordan and the Arab League, among others.

Friday’s attack on the blockaded strip came shortly after as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the United Nations General Assembly that Israel was “at the cusp” of a historic breakthrough leading to a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in an interview with Fox News this week that the two sides were inching closer to an agreement, without providing much detail about the US-led negotiations.

He declined to specify what exactly the Saudis are seeking for the Palestinians, but said they “could greatly benefit from a broader peace.”

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalised their ties with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords in September 2020. Since then, they have deepened their relations across a number of economic domains, as well as defence.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has also told the United Nations General Assembly that Middle East peace will not be achievable until the Palestinians are granted full rights.

“Those who think that peace can prevail in the Middle East without the Palestinian people enjoying their full, legitimate national rights would be mistaken,” Abbas told the UN’s annual gathering on Thursday.

The veteran 87-year-old leader made a new appeal to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to call an international conference on creating a Palestinian state.

A UN conference “may be the last opportunity to salvage the two-state solution and to prevent the situation from deteriorating more seriously and threatening the security and stability of our region and the entire world”, Abbas added.

Iran’s Greco-Roman wrestler grabs gold at 2023 World Championships

By
IFP Media Wire
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Mirzazadeh defeated Turkey’s well-known rival Rıza Kayaalp 2-2 in the final bout of 130kg.

Egyptian Abdellatif Mohamed and Cuban Óscar Pino also won bronze medals in the weight class.

Earlier in the day, Pouya Dadmarz in the 55kg and Alireza Mohmadi in the 82kg had won a bronze and a silver medal, respectively.

The 2023 World Wrestling Championships are being held on September 16-24 in Belgrade, Serbia.

Iran summons Swiss chargé d’affaires to protest ‘unfounded [P]GCC-US claims”

By
IFP Media Wire
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The Iranian Foreign Ministry

According to a Friday statement by Iran’s Foreign Ministry, the Swiss chargé d’affaires was summoned on Thursday to express Iran’s “strong protest and condemnation” of a joint statement issued following the ministerial meeting of the United States and the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council in New York on Tuesday and the US acts of provocation.

The ministry reiterated Iran’s determination to “defend its territorial integrity, and protect its security and interests against any threats posed by the US government in connection with maritime security and commercial shipping.”

“Iran will take the necessary strategies in this regard and to secure its national interests,” it said.

Based on its wise approach to safeguard security and stability in the region, the statement added, Iran would never allow the US to plunder regional assets and resources through the continuation of its Iranophobia policy. The Swiss envoy assured that he would convey Iran’s message to American officials, it noted.

The US-GCC statement renewed their call for Iran to fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

It accused Iran of proliferating unmanned aerial vehicles and other dangerous weapons that pose a grave security threat to the region and called on Tehran to stop its activities in this regard.

Iranian officials have repeatedly warned that the country will not hesitate to strengthen its military capabilities, which are entirely meant for defense.

The US and GCC foreign ministers also reiterated their support for the United Arab Emirates’ call to reach a peaceful solution to the dispute over the three islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb, and the Lesser Tunb in the Persian Gulf through bilateral negotiations or the International Court of Justice, in accordance with the rules of international law including the UN Charter.

The three Persian Gulf islands have historically been part of Iran, proof of which can be found and corroborated by countless historical, legal, and geographical documents in Iran and other parts of the world. However, the United Arab Emirates has repeatedly laid claim to the islands.

The three islands fell under British control in 1921 but on November 30, 1971, a day after British forces left the region and just two days before the UAE was to become an official federation, Iran’s sovereignty over the islands was restored.

Iran recognizes that Arabs ruled the islands for centuries, but all historical documents show that they did so from the Iranian port city of Lengheh and therefore as Iranian subjects.

Iran’s Raisi sends congratulatory messages to King Salman, MbS on Saudi Arabia’s national day

By
IFP Media Wire
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Raisi and Bin Salman

Iran’s embassy in Saudi Arabia broke the news in a post on the X social network (formerly Twitter), which also included images of two letters.

The letters were addressed to King Salman bin Abdulaziz as well as his son, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia was established on September 23, 1932, by Abdulaziz Al Saud, the father of King Salman.

Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to resume ties following a seven-year hiatus under a China-brokered agreement in March.

The two countries have reopened their respective diplomatic missions and exchanged ambassadors.

Students start new school year in Iran

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iranian Minister of Education Reza-Morad Sahraei put the number of students in the new academic year in the country at over 16.5 million, with 1.6 million first graders who will go to school for the first time this year.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi took part in a ceremony in a school in the capital Tehran to kick off the school year and stressed the role of education and schools in the future of countries.

“The future is in the hands of those who are being educated today. The future-builders of the country are made in these schools. Accomplishing this important mission depends on the high capabilities of managers with the teachers at the center,” the Iranian president said in the inauguration ceremony.

Over 600 thousand foreign nationals and refugees, a large majority of them Afghans, will also embark on education in Iranian institutes this year.

The Education Ministry has announced that about 30 thousand new teachers will be employed and over 50 thousand retired teachers will be asked to get back on board to meet the growing needs across the country.

Live Update: Russia’s “Special Operation” in Ukraine; Day 576

By
IFP Media Wire
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Ukraine says strike on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet HQ killed and wounded dozens, including “senior leadership”

Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces claimed Saturday a strike on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol left dozens dead and wounded, “including senior leadership.”

In a statement on Telegram, the forces said a special operation dubbed “Crab Trap” was timed to strike while senior members of Russia’s navy were meeting, and that the attack left dozens of dead and wounded, “including the senior leadership of the fleet.”

“The daring and painstaking work of the Special Operations Forces enabled them to hit the Black Sea Fleet headquarters ‘on time and with precision’ while the Russian Navy’s senior staff was meeting in the temporarily occupied city of Sevastopol,” it said in the statement.

No further details or any evidence as to specific casualties among Russia’s Black Sea Fleet have so far been provided by Ukraine.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense has to date only said that a Russian soldier was missing after Friday’s missile attack.

The strike was the latest and perhaps one of the most ambitious of Kyiv’s attacks on Russian military targets in Crimea.

Sevastopol, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters, is one of the largest cities on the Crimean peninsula and was illegally annexed by Moscow’s forces in 2014.

Ukraine not discussing any Plan B for receiving fewer US weapons: Top security official

Authorities in Ukraine have not been discussing any plan of action in the event of reduced US assistance, Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Alexey Danilov stated in an interview with PBS.

“We cannot say that we have some sort of separate discussions about some Plan B. We have no desire to engage in some sidetrack discussions,” he said when asked to comment on what Ukraine is doing to prepare for the possibility of not having as many American weapons systems and ammunition as it has been using.

The senior Ukrainian security official also expressed his concern about the lack of consensus in the West about the future of Ukraine.

“They talk about assistance, but not about victory,” Danilov added.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky told US Senators at a meeting during his visit to Washington that Kiev would be defeated unless it received more aid from Washington.

New sanctions against Russia “cause more harm to Europe than Russia”: Hungarian minister

New sanctions against Russia are not needed because they “cause more harm to Europe than Russia,” Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in an interview with Russian state media TASS.

Szijjártó stated he was speaking from a “pragmatic point of view,” according to TASS, adding that “the new packages of sanctions are not necessary.”

The foreign minister added supplies of Ukrainian grain to Central European countries will destroy their agricultural sector.

“If Ukrainian grain starts to spread into Central European countries, it will definitely destroy the agricultural markets of Central Europe. Not to mention our farmers, whom we obviously need to protect,” Szijjártó continued, as cited by TASS.

Poland and Slovakia have also imposed restrictions on Ukrainian grain exports, citing the same reasons, after the European Union decided not to extend its ban on imports into those countries and fellow EU states Romania and Bulgaria.

According to Szijjártó, Hungary is ready to provide free transit of Ukrainian grain through its territory. He also noted that initially, the agreement on lines of solidarity implied permission for the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products only.

“As I understand it, they (Ukraine) would prefer to distribute grain in Central Europe, but the original agreement on lines of solidarity was not about that,” he said, according to TASS, adding that the agreement implied “permission for transit, and not for bilateral trade.”

Ukraine to receive US long-range ATACMS missiles: Report

United States President Joe Biden has informed his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, that Washington will provide Kyiv with ATACMS long-range missiles, US broadcaster NBC News has reported.

Ukraine has repeatedly asked the Biden administration for the long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to help hit supply lines, airbases and rail networks deep behind Russia’s front lines in occupied regions of Ukraine.

But the White House has not announced a decision to provide Ukraine with the ATACMS system and the missiles were not publicly discussed when Zelensky visited Washington, DC on Thursday for talks with Biden, even as the US announced a new $325m military aid package for Kyiv.

The Pentagon has declined to say whether any promise of ATACMS was given to Zelensky during his meetings on Thursday at the Department of Defense.

“In regards to ATACMS, we have nothing to announce,” it said.

A date for delivery of the ATACMS was not revealed, according to NBC.

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned earlier this month that the supply of longer-range missiles to Kyiv would cross a “red line” and the US would be viewed as “a party to the conflict” in Ukraine if it did provide such weapons.

Zelensky did not answer directly when asked about the NBC reports on ATACMS, but he noted that the US was the biggest single supplier of weaponry to Ukraine.

“We are discussing all the different types of weapons – long-range weapons and artillery, artillery shells with the calibre of 155mm, then air defence systems,” Zelensky stated, speaking through an interpreter.

“We have a comprehensive discussion and [we] work with the United States at different levels,” he added.

The Washington Post also reported that the US plans to provide Ukraine with a version of the ATACMS that will be armed with cluster bomblets rather than a single warhead, citing several unnamed sources familiar with the deliberations, and that can fly up to 306km (190 miles).

ATACMS is designed for “deep attack of enemy second-echelon forces”, a US Army website states, and could be used to attack command and control centres, air defences and logistics sites well behind the front line.

Only two options for Russia on Black Sea Fleet: Ukraine official

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council has said there were two options for the future of Russia’s Black Sea fleet – voluntary or forced “self-neutralisation”.

If it did not choose the voluntary option, it “will be sliced up like a salami”, he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Kyiv has claimed responsibility for an earlier strike on the headquarters of Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet on the Crimean Peninsula.

“On September 22, around 12:00 (09:00 GMT), Ukraine’s Defence Forces launched a successful attack on the headquarters of the command of the Black Sea Fleet of Russia in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol,” the communication department of Ukraine’s army has announced.

Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev says on the Telegram messaging app at least one Ukrainian missile has struck the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea navy in the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

Razvozhayev added another strike was possible and urged locals to avoid the city centre, where the building is located.

Putin ‘governs with deception’: Trudeau

Canada Prime Minister Trudeau has said Russian President Putin’s war in Ukraine was a “break with civilization” and a violation of “our common humanity”.

“It is an attempt to disassemble the rules-based order that protects our freedom. It is a move to weaken democracy and assert autocracy,”he said in parliament on Friday.

“Putin governs with deception, violence and repression. He imprisons his own people, and stirs up ugly sentiments of xenophobia and racism,” he added.

Canada is set to provide Ukraine with 650 million Canadian dollars ($482m) over three years for armed vehicles.

“We’re making a longer term, multiyear commitment that provides predictable steady support to Ukraine. It will include 650 million [Canadian] dollars over three years for 50 armoured vehicles, including medical evacuation vehicles that will be built by Canadian workers in London, Ontario,” he stated in his address.

Canada has provided some C$8 billion ($5.9 billion)  in financial, humanitarian and military support to Ukraine since the war began.

Canada has helped save thousands of Ukrainians: Zelensky

Canada’s military support for Ukraine has allowed us to save thousands of lives, President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated.

“This includes air defence systems, armoured vehicles, artillery shells and very significant assistance in de-mining,” he noted.

“Canada’s leadership in sanctions against Russia … really encouraged others in the world to follow your lead.”

Moscow is bent on controlling Ukraine and makes use of all available means to do it, Zelensky said in his address to Canada’s parliament.

“It is genocide … what Russian occupiers are doing to Ukraine,” he continued, adding, “When we call on the world to support us, it is not just about an ordinary conflict. It is about saving lives of millions of people.”

“Moscow must lose once and for all, and it will lose.”

Poland says grain dispute won’t significantly affect Ukraine relations

Tensions between Poland and Ukraine over grain imports will not significantly affect the countries’ good bilateral relations, the Polish president has said.

“I have no doubt that the dispute over the supply of grain from Ukraine to the Polish market is an absolute fragment of the entire Polish-Ukrainian relations,” President Andrzej Duda told a business conference.

“I don’t believe that it can have a significant impact on them, so we need to solve this matter between us.”

‘Never insult Poles again’: Polish PM to Zelensky

Poland’s prime minister has told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky not to “insult” Poles, maintaining harsh rhetoric towards Kyiv.

“I … want to tell President Zelensky never to insult Poles again, as he did recently during his speech at the UN,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told an election rally.

Poland decided last week to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports, shaking Kyiv’s relationship with a neighbour that has been seen as one of its staunchest allies since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.

Zelensky angered his neighbours when he told the United Nations General Assembly in New York that Kyiv was working to preserve land routes for grain exports, but that the “political theatre” around grain imports was only helping Moscow.

Russia plans huge defence spending hike in 2024

Russia plans a huge hike in defence spending next year, swelling to 6% of gross domestic product (GDP), up from 3.9% in 2023 and 2.7% in 2021, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

Reuters could not immediately verfiy the report.

Moscow doubled its target for defence spending in 2023 to more than $100 billion, Reuters reported exclusively in August, as the costs of the war in Ukraine spiral and place growing strain on Moscow’s finances.

Rising war costs are supporting Russia’s modest economic recovery this year with higher industrial production, but have already pushed budget finances to a deficit of around $24 billion – a figure compounded by falling export revenues.

The government was due to discuss draft budget proposals on Friday.

Russia repression ‘unprecedented in recent history’: UN expert

Repression in Russia has soared since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, reaching levels not seen since Stalinist times, a top United Nations expert has warned.

“The level of repression against the civil society independent media, and generally anybody with a dissenting voice … is unprecedented in recent history,” Mariana Katzarova told reporters in Geneva.

Presenting the findings of her first report, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Russia lamented Moscow’s “enormous crackdown” on critics since launching its war.

Zelensky promises to liberate Bakhmut

President Volodymyr Zelensky has pledged that Ukrainian forces will liberate the eastern city of Bakhmut.

“We will de-occupy Bakhmut,” he said, according to broadcaster CNN.

“I think we will de-occupy two more towns,” he continued, adding, “We have the plan. Very, very comprehensive plan.”

Russia captured the city in May after a nearly yearlong assault. Fighting has continued to be focussed there, and Ukraine has recently announced the recapture of several nearby villages as it slowly advances to Bakhmut.

Kremlin says ‘friction’ between Ukraine, Europe ‘inevitable’

It is unavoidable that tensions would grow between Kyiv and its European allies, the Kremlin announced amid an escalating dispute between Ukraine and Poland sparked by disagreements over grain exports.

“There are certain frictions between Warsaw and Kyiv. We predict that these frictions between Warsaw and Kyiv will increase,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“Friction between Kyiv and other European capitals will also grow over time. This is inevitable,” he added.

Impact of Ukraine war on European economies to worsen: Swiss study

The war in Ukraine has reduced economic growth and “considerably” pushed up inflation across Europe, the Swiss National Bank says in a study, and it predicts worse effects still to come.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Europe has seen a surge in energy prices, financial market turmoil and a sharp contraction of Russia’s and Ukraine’s economies, the report added.

The study examined the impact of the war on Germany’s, the United Kingdom’s, France’s, Italy’s and Switzerland’s economies and found that output would have been 0.1 percent to 0.7 percent higher in the fourth quarter if Moscow had not attacked Kyiv.

Inflation in each of the countries would have been 0.2 percent to 0.4 percent lower, it said.

“The negative consequences of the war are likely to be far greater in the medium-to-long term, especially with regard to the real economy,” the study said. “In one to two years, this effect is likely to be approximately twice as large.”

Kremlin: No progress on Black Sea grain, no Putin-Erdogan talks scheduled

The Kremlin has said that no progress had been made on the Black Sea grain issue and that no talks between President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan were scheduled.

In July, Russia quit a Turkish-brokered deal that had allowed Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea.

US senator Robert Menendez indicted on Egypt corruption charges, says he will not resign

By
IFP Media Wire
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Robert Menendez

US prosecutors on Friday charged Menendez and his wife with taking bribes from three New Jersey businessmen, which could complicate Democrats’ efforts to keep their slim majority in the US Senate in next year’s elections.

Menendez later stepped down temporarily from his role as chairman of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee until the case is resolved, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement, adding that Menendez had a right to due process.

The US Attorney’s office in Manhattan said Menendez, 69, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cash and gold bars in exchange for using his power and influence as New Jersey’s senior senator to benefit the government of Egypt and interfere with law enforcement probes into the businessmen.

Menendez has been an important ally to fellow Democrat Joe Biden as the president has sought to reassert US influence on the world stage, rally support for congressional aid to Ukraine, and push back against a rising China.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, as well as several other Democratic state officials and members of the US House of Representatives, called on Menendez to resign from the Senate.

“The alleged facts are so serious that they compromise the ability of Senator Menendez to effectively represent the people of our state,” Murphy – who would appoint a temporary replacement for Menendez should he go – said in a statement.

However, Menendez stressed he had no plan to resign.

“It is not lost on me how quickly some are rushing to judge a Latino and push him out of his seat. I am not going anywhere,” he announced in a statement late Friday.

Prosecutors are seeking to have Menendez forfeit assets including his New Jersey home, a 2019 Mercedes-Benz convertible, and about $566,000 in cash, gold bars and funds from a bank account.

The indictment contained an image of gold bars investigators seized from Menendez’s home as well as envelopes stuffed with cash found inside jackets bearing Menendez’s name hanging in his closet. Prosecutors said they found more than $480,000 in cash in his home.

Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, noted that Menendez’s website says that as a senator he cannot compel an agency to act in someone’s favor or influence matters involving a private business.

“Behind the scenes, Senator Menendez was doing those things for certain people – the people that were bribing him and his wife,” Williams said. He added the investigation was ongoing.

Menendez stated in a statement that prosecutors mischaracterized routine legislative work.

“The excesses of these prosecutors is apparent,” Menendez said, adding, “The facts are not as presented.”

A lawyer for Nadine Menendez, 56, who has been married to the senator since 2020, said she denied wrongdoing and would “vigorously defend” against the allegations in court.

The investigation marks the third time Menendez has been investigated by federal prosecutors, although he has never been convicted.

Federal prosecutors in New Jersey dropped a case in January 2018 in which Menendez was charged with accepting private flights, campaign contributions and other bribes from a wealthy patron in exchange for official favors. A 2017 trial on those charges ended in a jury deadlock. He was also investigated in 2006.

Senate Democratic rules require any member charged with a felony to give up their leadership position, although they can resume it if found not guilty. Senator Ben Cardin is expected to step in again as foreign relations chairman, as he did after Menendez was indicted in 2015.

Menendez, on his third term, has said he plans to seek re-election next year.

An investigation could complicate Democrats’ effort to expand their slim 51-49 seat majority in the 100-member Senate, although New Jersey has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972.

A Cuban American, Menendez has been the toughest opponent among Biden’s Democrats of any move by the administration to soften policies toward Cuba and Venezuela.

He has also been one of the Senate’s most vocal critics of Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, especially resistant to major weapons deals for the kingdom.

Criminal charges against members of the 100-seat Senate are relatively rare. Ted Stevens, a former Republican Senator from Alaska, was found guilty of corruption in 2008, but the conviction was later overturned due to prosecutorial misconduct. Larry Craig, a Republican from Idaho, was arrested for lewd conduct in a bathroom in 2007 and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct.

Menendez, his wife and the businessmen – Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes – are all expected to appear in Manhattan federal court on Sept. 27 to face charges of conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to commit honest services fraud.

Bob and Nadine Menendez also each face one count of conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right. The pair each face up to 45 years in prison, though any sentence would ultimately be determined by a judge and would likely be much shorter.

According to the indictment, Hana – who is originally from Egypt – arranged meetings in 2018 between the senator and Egyptian officials, in which officials pressed Menendez to sign off on military aid Washington had withheld over concerns about the country’s human rights record.

In exchange, Hana, 40, put Nadine Menendez on the payroll of a company he controlled that had the exclusive right to certify halal meat shipped to Egypt from the United States, prosecutors say.

The senator later sought to persuade the US Department of Agriculture to not take any action to interfere with the company’s monopoly status, according to the indictment.

“We are still reviewing the charges but based upon our initial review, they have absolutely no merit,” a spokesperson for Hana said in a statement.

The Egyptian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Prosecutors stated Uribe, who worked in the trucking and insurance businesses, gave Nadine Menendez $15,000 in cash to help pay for a Mercedes-Benz convertible after her husband asked an official at the New Jersey attorney general’s office to resolve fraud investigations into Uribe’s associates favorably.

Daibes, a real estate developer, gave Menendez gold bars and cash after Menendez sought to influence a federal criminal case in New Jersey against Daibes for obtaining loans under false pretenses, federal prosecutors in Manhattan said. Daibes pleaded guilty and received a probationary sentence.

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