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Australia, Canada, UK Condemn Belarus For Repression, Rights Abuses
The governments of Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom condemned the Belarusian authorities’ ongoing ‘repression and human rights violations’.
The countries accused them of waging a campaign to shut down civil society, independent media and any form of political opposition.
Key Quotes
“We — Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom — stand united in condemning the ongoing repression and human rights violations,” the three countries said in a joint statement on Saturday.
“Thousands have been unjustly detained, subjected to torture, or forced into exile. These actions represent a flagrant breach of Belarus’ international law obligations and are a serious violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” they added, urging Belarusian authorities “to end their campaign of repression.”
Why It’s Important
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has led Belarus through more than three decades of authoritarian rule and was re-elected in January for a seventh five-year term.
Lukashenko crushed huge street protests in 2020 after an election the opposition and Western governments accused him of stealing, and all his leading opponents were jailed or forced to flee the country.
Context
Several hundred people convicted of extremism and other politically related offences have been released since mid-2024 in what analysts see as a bid by Lukashenko to ease his isolation from the West.
However, human rights groups say nearly 1,200 are still behind bars.
Lukashenko denies there are any political prisoners in the country.
Australia, Canada and the UK said they welcomed the recent releases of several political prisoners in Belarus but added that they remain concerned by what they termed as continued arrests and persecution of individuals for exercising their human rights.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Iran Threatens Trump-Brokered Corridor In Azerbaijan-Armenia Peace Deal
Iran on Saturday threatened to block a planned Caucasus corridor established under a regional deal brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump.
A top Azerbaijani diplomat said earlier that the plan, announced by Trump on Friday, was just one step from a final peace deal between his country and Armenia, which reiterated its support for the plan.
The proposed Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) would run across southern Armenia, giving Azerbaijan a direct route to its exclave of Nakhchivan and, in turn, to Turkiye.
The U.S. would have exclusive development rights to the corridor, which the White House said would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
It was not immediately clear how Iran, which borders the area, would block it but the statement from Ali Akbar Velayati, top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, raised questions over its security.
He said military exercises carried out in northwest Iran demonstrated the Islamic Republic’s readiness and determination to prevent any geopolitical changes.
“This corridor will not become a passage owned by Trump but rather a graveyard for Trump’s mercenaries,” Velayati said.
Iran’s foreign ministry earlier welcomed the agreement “as an important step toward lasting regional peace” but warned against any foreign intervention near its borders that could “undermine the region’s security and lasting stability”.
Analysts and insiders say that Iran, under mounting US pressure over its disputed nuclear programme and the aftermath of a 12-day war with Israel in June, lacks the military power to block the corridor.
Moscow Says West Should Steer Clear
Trump welcomed Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the White House on Friday and witnessed their signing of a joint declaration aimed at drawing a line under their decades-long on-off conflict.
Russia, a traditional broker and ally of Armenia in the strategically important South Caucasus region, which is crisscrossed with oil and gas pipelines, was not included, despite its border guards being stationed on the border between Armenia and Iran.
While Moscow said it supported the summit, it proposed “implementing solutions developed by the countries of the region themselves with the support of their immediate neighbours – Russia, Iran and Turkiye” to avoid what it called the “sad experience” of Western efforts to mediate in the Middle East.
Azerbaijan’s close ally, NATO member Turkiye, welcomed the accord.
Baku and Yerevan have been at odds since the late 1980s, when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia.
Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting almost all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
“The chapter of enmity is closed and now we’re moving towards lasting peace,” said Elin Suleymanov, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Britain, predicting that the wider region’s prosperity and transport links would be transformed for the better.
“This is a paradigm shift,” said Suleymanov, who, as a former envoy to Washington who used to work in President Aliyev’s office, is one of his country’s most senior diplomats.
Suleymanov declined to speculate on when a final peace deal would be signed, however, noting that Aliyev had said he wanted it to happen soon.
There remained only one obstacle, said Suleymanov, which was for Armenia to amend its constitution to remove a reference to Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Azerbaijan is ready to sign any time once Armenia fulfils the very basic commitment of removing its territorial claim against Azerbaijan in its constitution,” he said.
Many Questions Unanswered
Pashinyan this year called for a referendum to change the constitution, but no date for it has been set yet. Armenia is to hold parliamentary elections in June 2026, and the new constitution is expected to be drafted before the vote.
The Armenian leader said on X that the Washington summit had paved the way to end the decades of conflict and open transport connections that would unlock strategic economic opportunities.
Asked when the transit rail route would start running, Suleymanov said that would depend on cooperation between the U.S. and Armenia, whom he said were already in talks.
Joshua Kucera, Senior South Caucasus analyst at the International Crisis Group, said Trump may not have got the easy win he had hoped for, as the agreements left many questions unanswered.
The issue of Armenia’s constitution continued to threaten to derail the process, and it was not clear how the new transport corridor would work in practice.
“Key details are missing, including about how customs checks and security will work and the nature of Armenia’s reciprocal access to Azerbaijani territory. These could be serious stumbling blocks,” said Kucera.
Suleymanov played down suggestions that Russia, which still has extensive security and economic interests in Armenia, was being disadvantaged.
“Anybody and everybody can benefit from this if they choose to,” he said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Trump Is Considering Inviting Zelenskyy To Alaska Amid Putin’s Visit
The White House is considering inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Alaska, where President Donald Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15, NBC News reported on Saturday.
The report cited a senior U.S. official and three people briefed on the internal discussions.
“It’s being discussed,” one of the people briefed on the talks was quoted as saying.
However, no confirmation has been made about Zelenskyy’s visit
Hence, it is unclear if the Ukrainian leader would ultimately be in Alaska for meetings, but it remained a possibility.
Trump-Putin
Trump and Putin will meet in Alaska on August 15 to discuss Ukraine’s future.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said: “The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin of Russia will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska.”
“Further details to follow. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he said.
Later, a Kremlin spokesperson also confirmed the issue and said the location was “quite logical” given Alaska’s relative proximity to Russia, reported BBC.
The spokesperson added that Trump had been invited to Russia for a potential second summit.
One senior White House official told CBS News the planning for next Friday’s summit is still fluid and that it is still possible that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could end up being involved in some way.
(With inputs from IBNS)
Trump Digital Assets Adviser Bo Hines To Step Down, Return To Private Sector
Bo Hines, head of Republican President Donald Trump’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, announced Saturday that he is stepping down from his post to return to the private sector.
Late last month, a cryptocurrency working group led by Hines and including several administration officials outlined the Trump administration’s stance on market-defining crypto legislation and called on the U.S. securities regulator to create new rules specific to digital assets.
Shortly after taking office in January, Trump had ordered the creation of the crypto working group and tasked it with proposing new regulations, making good on his campaign promise to overhaul U.S. crypto policy.
“Serving in President Trump’s administration and working alongside our brilliant AI & Crypto Czar @DavidSacks as Executive Director of the White House Crypto Council has been the honour of a lifetime,” Hines said in a post on X on Saturday.
Sacks, the White House AI czar, praised Hines in response to the post announcing his departure.
Hines has twice unsuccessfully run for Congress in North Carolina.
Trump last month signed a law to create a regulatory regime for dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies known as stablecoins, a milestone that could pave the way for the digital assets to become an everyday way to make payments and move money.
Hines was a backer of that legislation, dubbed the GENIUS Act.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Why The World Is Off Track On Nutrition Targets
Dr. Heather Stobaugh, Associate Director at Action Against Hunger, paints a stark picture of rising food insecurity in the wake of multiple global crises. Speaking on the 2025 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, she outlined the drivers of the current food crisis and what must urgently change to meet global nutrition targets by 2030.
Between 2021 and 2024, a convergence of shocks pushed food prices sharply upward. The Ukraine war disrupted global wheat, corn, and fertilizer exports. Fuel prices surged post-COVID, raising transport and production costs. Climate events like droughts in the Horn of Africa worsened supply shocks, hitting the poorest hardest.
“Lower-income households spend 60-70% of their income on food,” Dr. Stobaugh noted. “When prices rise, they eat fewer, cheaper, often less nutritious meals.” Conflict-affected and displaced populations were especially vulnerable, as were women and rural communities. In some cultures, women eat last and least. They also bear the burden of caregiving, often without sufficient resources.
India stood out for cushioning its population from global price shocks. Key to this success was the country’s massive public food distribution system, food buffer stocks, and fertilizer subsidies. But while effective, such measures are resource-heavy and difficult to replicate in low-income nations. More viable are targeted cash transfers and subsidies for the most vulnerable.
Despite India’s affordability gains, child stunting and anaemia in women remain high. “Malnutrition is multifactorial,” said Dr. Stobaugh, citing poor dietary diversity, sanitation, and entrenched gender norms. Cultural practices around child feeding also worsen nutrient deficiencies, she said, underscoring the need for food fortification and behaviour change.
With just five years to meet global nutrition targets, time is running out. “2026 will be a make-or-break year,” Dr. Stobaugh warned. Without a reversal in declining global health and nutrition funding, progress may stall—or reverse.
Her call to action is clear: scale up proven nutrition interventions, integrate them into primary healthcare, and boost national and global financing. “We know what works,” she said. “We just need the political and financial will to act—now.”
Iran Cracks Down: 20 Detained Amid Mossad Spy Allegations
Iran has detained 20 people in recent months over alleged links to Israel’s spy agency Mossad, its judiciary announced on Saturday, adding that they will face strict punishment and be set as an example to others.
Vadi’s Execution
On Wednesday, Iran executed a nuclear scientist named Rouzbeh Vadi, who was convicted of spying for Israel and passing on information on another nuclear scientist killed in Israel’s air strikes on Iran in June, state media reported.
“Key facilities were Fordow and Natanz (uranium enrichment plants), for which I sent information. I told them I knew this and that about Fordow, they (Mossad agent) told me to send everything,” Vadi said in what IRIB described as a confession video it ran on the air.
“The entry and exit of nuclear material into the Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) and Fuel Manufacturing Plant (FMP) were very important to them,” Vadi, who held a PhD in nuclear engineering from Amir Kabir University of Technology, added.
No Leniency
Judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri told reporters in Tehran on Saturday that charges against some of the 20 suspects arrested had been dropped and they were released. He did not give a number.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” Jahangiri was quoted as saying by Iranian media.
He said full details would be made public once investigations were complete.
Increased Executions
Executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel have significantly increased this year, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months.
Israel carried out 12 days of air strikes on Iran in June, targeting Iran’s top generals, nuclear scientists, nuclear installations, as well as residential neighbourhoods. Iran responded with barrages of missiles and drones on Israel.
Rights group HRANA reported 1,190 Iranian deaths during the 12-day Israeli attacks, including 436 civilians and 435 security personnel.
Israel said 28 were killed in Iran’s retaliatory attack.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Turkiye, Egypt Condemn Israel’s Gaza Takeover Plan
Muslim nations must stand united and mobilise global opposition to Israel’s plan to seize control of Gaza City, said Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday, following his talks in Egypt.
Regional powers Egypt and Turkiye both condemned the plan on Friday. Ankara has said it marked a new phase in what it called Israel’s genocidal and expansionist policies, while calling for global measures to stop the plan’s implementation.
Israel rejects such description of its actions in Gaza.
OIC Emergency Meeting
Speaking at a joint press conference in El Alamein with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty, after also meeting Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Fidan said the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation had been called to an emergency meeting.
Fidan said Israel’s policy aimed to force Palestinians out of their lands through hunger and that it aimed to permanently invade Gaza, adding there was no justifiable excuse for nations to continue supporting Israel.
Israel denies having a policy of starvation in Gaza, and says Palestinian militant group Hamas, which killed 1,200 people in its October 2023 attack, could end the war by surrendering.
‘Very Dangerous Development’
“What is happening today is a very dangerous development… not only for the Palestinian people or neighbouring countries,” Abdelatty said, adding that Israel’s plans were “inadmissible”.
Abdelatty said there was full coordination with Turkiye on Gaza, and referred to a statement issued on Saturday by the OIC Ministerial Committee condemning Israel’s plan.
The OIC committee said Israel’s plan marked “a dangerous and unacceptable escalation, a flagrant violation of international law, and an attempt to entrench the illegal occupation”, warning that it would “obliterate any opportunity for peace”.
OIC’s Call
Mediating teams from Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been working for months to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The OIC urged world powers and the United Nations Security Council to “assume their legal and humanitarian responsibilities and to take urgent action to stop” Israel’s Gaza City plan, while ensuring immediate accountability for what it called Israeli violations of international law.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Newsom Slams Trump’s $1 Billion UCLA Deal, Says State Won’t Bow
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday called President Donald Trump’s $1 billion settlement offer to UCLA “political extortion,” asserting that the state will not yield to such pressure.
Why It’s Important
The University of California says it is reviewing a $1 billion settlement offer by the Trump administration for UCLA after the government froze hundreds of millions of dollars in funding over pro-Palestinian protests.
UCLA, which is part of the University of California system, said this week the government froze $584 million in funding. Trump has threatened to cut federal funds for universities over pro-Palestinian student protests against US ally Israel’s military assault on Gaza.
‘Disgusting Political Extortion’
“Donald Trump has weaponized the DOJ (Department of Justice) to kneecap America’s #1 public university system — freezing medical & science funding until @UCLA pays his $1 billion ransom,” the office of Newsom, a Democrat, said in a post.
“California won’t bow to Trump’s disgusting political extortion,” it added.
“This isn’t about protecting Jewish students – it’s a billion-dollar political shakedown from the pay-to-play president.”
Context
The government alleges universities, including UCLA, allowed antisemitism during the protests and in doing so violated Jewish and Israeli students’ civil rights. The White House had no immediate comment beyond the offer.
Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly equates their criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories with antisemitism, and their advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.
Experts have raised free speech and academic freedom concerns over the Republican president’s threats. The University of California says paying such a large settlement would “completely devastate” the institution.
UCLA Protests
Large demonstrations took place at UCLA last year. Last week, UCLA agreed to pay over $6 million to settle a lawsuit by some students and a professor who alleged antisemitism. It was also sued this year over a 2024 violent mob attack on pro-Palestinian protesters.
Rights advocates have noted a rise in antisemitism, anti-Arab bias and Islamophobia due to conflict in the Middle East. The Trump administration has not announced equivalent probes into Islamophobia.
Recent Settlements
The government has settled its probes with Columbia University, which agreed to pay over $220 million, and Brown University, which said it will pay $50 million. Both accepted certain government demands. Settlement talks with Harvard University are ongoing.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Trump Nominates Tammy Bruce To UN Role
President Donald Trump on Saturday announced the nomination of State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce as the next US Deputy Representative to the United Nations.
Bruce has been the State Department spokesperson since Trump took office in January.
Awaiting Senate Confirmation
In a post on social media in which Trump announced her nomination, the president said she did a “fantastic job” as State Department spokesperson. Bruce will need to be confirmed for the role by the US Senate, where Trump’s Republican Party holds a majority.
During press briefings, she has defended the Trump administration’s foreign policy decisions ranging from an immigration crackdown and visa revocations to US responses to Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza, including a widely condemned armed private aid operation in the Palestinian territory.
Bruce was previously a political contributor and commentator on Fox News for over 20 years.
She has also authored books like “Fear Itself: Exposing the Left’s Mind-Killing Agenda” that criticized liberals and left-leaning viewpoints.
‘Blessed’
In a post after Trump’s announcement, Bruce thanked him and suggested that the role was a “few weeks” away. Neither Trump nor Bruce mentioned an exact timeline in their online posts.
“Now I’m blessed that in the next few weeks my commitment to advancing America First leadership and values continues on the global stage in this new post,” Bruce wrote on X.
New Job For Mike Waltz
Trump has picked former White House national security adviser Mike Waltz to be his UN envoy. Waltz’s Senate confirmation for that role, wherein he will be Bruce’s boss, is still due.
Waltz was Trump’s national security adviser until he was ousted on May 1 after he was caught up in a March scandal involving a Signal chat among top Trump national security aides on military strikes in Yemen. Trump then nominated Waltz as his UN ambassador.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Europe Urges Safeguarding Ukraine’s Interests Ahead Of Trump-Putin Talks
European leaders on Saturday welcomed United States President Donald Trump’s planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the Ukraine war, while emphasising sustained pressure on Moscow and safeguarding Ukrainian and European security interests.
Trump plans to meet Putin in Alaska on August 15, saying the parties, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, were close to a deal that could resolve the three-and-a-half-year conflict.
Details of the potential deal have yet to be announced, but Trump said it would involve “some swapping of territories to the betterment of both”. It could require Ukraine to surrender significant parts of its territory, an outcome Zelenskyy and his European allies say would only encourage Russian aggression.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance met British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, and representatives of Ukraine and European allies on Saturday at Chevening House, a country mansion southeast of London, to discuss Trump’s push for peace.
Europe Welcomes Trump’s Efforts
A joint statement from the French, Italian, German, Polish, British and Finnish leaders and the president of the European Commission welcomed Trump’s efforts, while stressing the need to maintain support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia.
“We share the conviction that a diplomatic solution must protect Ukraine’s and Europe’s vital security interests,” they said.
“We agree that these vital interests include the need for robust and credible security guarantees that enable Ukraine to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it said, while adding: “The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine.”
The leaders also said “they remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force,” and added: “The current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations.”
They also said negotiations could only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities.
A European official confirmed a counterproposal was put forward by European representatives at the Chevening meeting, but declined to provide details.
The Wall Street Journal said European officials had presented a counterproposal that included demands that a ceasefire must take place before any other steps are taken and that any territory exchange must be reciprocal, with firm security guarantees.
“You can’t start a process by ceding territory in the middle of fighting,” it quoted one European negotiator as saying.
A U.S. official said “hours-long” meetings at Chevening “produced significant progress toward President Trump’s goal of bringing an end to the war in Ukraine, ahead of President Trump and President Putin’s upcoming meeting in Alaska.”
The White House did not immediately respond when asked about the European counterproposals.
‘Just And Lasting Peace’
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke and pledged to find a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine and “unwavering support” for Zelenskyy while welcoming Trump’s efforts to end the fighting, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
It was not clear what, if anything, had been agreed at Chevening, but Zelenskyy earlier called the meeting constructive.
“All our arguments were heard,” he said in his evening address to Ukrainians. “The path to peace for Ukraine should be determined together and only together with Ukraine; this is a key principle.”
He had earlier rejected any territorial concessions, saying “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier”.
NBC News cited an unnamed U.S. official as saying that the Trump administration was considering inviting Zelenskyy to join the U.S. and Russian presidents at their Alaska meeting.
A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this, and Russian and Ukrainian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Macron stressed the need for Ukraine to play a role in any negotiations.
“Ukraine’s future cannot be decided without the Ukrainians, who have been fighting for their freedom and security for over three years now,” he wrote on X after what he said were calls with Zelenskyy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Starmer. “Europeans will also necessarily be part of the solution, as their own security is at stake.”
(With inputs from Reuters)