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BORGO EGNAZIA, ITALY — U.S. President Joe Biden is in Apuglia, Italy, meeting with leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies Thursday, aiming to address global economic security amid wars in Europe and the Middle East and U.S. rivalry with China. The G7 leaders arrived at the luxury resort of Borgo Egnazia, the summit venue, welcomed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Meloni’s hard-right party took nearly 29% of the vote in last weekend’s European Parliament election, making her the only leader of a major Western European country to emerge from the ballots stronger. Meanwhile Biden is dealing with a contentious reelection campaign against Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump, and a personal ordeal. On Tuesday, a day before departing for the summit, his son, Hunter, was found guilty on federal charges for possessing a gun while being addicted to drugs. Still, Biden came to the summit hoping to convince the group to provide a $50 billion loan to Ukraine using interest from Russian frozen assets, and deal with Chinese overcapacity in strategic green technologies, including electric vehicles.  The European Union signaled their support by announcing duties on Chinese EVs a day ahead of the summit, a move that echoed the Biden administration’s steep tariff hike on Chinese EVs and other key sectors in May. Biden is also lending his support to key themes in Meloni’s presidency – investing in Africa, international development, and climate change. Those topics were covered in the opening session of the G7 on Thursday, followed by discussions on the Gaza and Ukraine wars.  Gaza cease-fire With cease-fire negotiations at a critical juncture, Biden could face tough questions from leaders on whether he is doing enough to pressure Israel to pause its military campaign, reduce civilian casualties and provide more aid for Palestinians. Leaders are “focused on one thing overall; getting a cease-fire in place and getting the hostages home as part of that,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told VOA as he spoke to reporters on board Air Force One en route to Italy. Biden has “their full backing,” Sullivan added. Leaders will also discuss increasing tension along the Israeli border with Lebanon, Sullivan told reporters Thursday morning.  “They'll compare notes on the continuing threat posed by Iran both with respect to its support for proxy forces and with respect to the Iranian nuclear program,” he added. While the group has thrown its weight behind the cease-fire, G7 members are split on other Gaza-related issues, including the International Criminal Court's decision last month to seek arrest warrants for the leaders of Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The United States denounced the court’s decision, and Britain called it “unhelpful.” France said it supports the court’s “fight against impunity,” while Berlin said it would arrest Netanyahu on German soil should a warrant is released. Sullivan dismissed a United Nations inquiry result released Wednesday that alleges both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes and grave violations of international law. “We’ve made our position clear,” he told VOA, referring to a review published in April by the State Department concluding that Israel’s campaign did not violate international humanitarian law. Russian assets Biden is pushing G7 leaders to provide Kyiv with a loan of up to $50 billion that will be paid back to Western allies using interest income from the $280 billion Russian assets frozen in Western financial institutions, estimated at $3 billion a year, for 10 years or more. The goal is a leaders declaration at the end of the summit, a “framework that is not generic, that is quite specific in terms of what it would entail,” Sullivan told VOA Wednesday. Core operational details would still need to be worked out, he added.  In April, Biden signed legislation to seize the roughly $5 billion in Russian assets that had been immobilized in U.S. financial institutions. The bulk of the money, though, $190 billion, is in Belgium, and much of the rest is in France and Germany. “There's a tension here between a Biden administration ambition on an issue in which they do not have the final say, hitting against very staunch European fiscal conservatism and simply the mechanics of, how do you get something done in Europe in the week of European [parliamentary] elections,” Kristine Berzina, managing director of Geostrategy North at the German Marshall Fund think tank, told VOA. Attending the summit for the second consecutive year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is advocating for the deal to pass. He and Biden will sign a separate bilateral security agreement outlining U.S. support for Ukraine and speak in a joint press conference Thursday evening. From Italy, Zelenskyy heads to Switzerland for a Ukraine peace conference over the weekend. Africa, climate change and development Meloni, a far-right politician who once called for a naval blockade to prevent African migrants from crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, now wants to achieve the goal by bolstering international investments to the continent. Most of the nearly 261,000 migrants who crossed the Mediterranean Sea from northern Africa in 2023 entered Europe through Italy, according to the United Nations. She has aligned her G7 presidency with this agenda, and the group is set to release a statement on providing debt relief for low- and middle-income countries, dealing with irregular migration and calling for more investments in Africa. The G7 statement will reflect the Nairobi/Washington vision that Biden signed with Kenyan President William Ruto, Sullivan said. Meloni invited several African leaders as observers to the G7 meeting, including Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Tunisia's Kais Saied, Kenyan President William Ruto and Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, the president of Mauritania. The invitation follows the first Italy-Africa summit in Rome in January, where Meloni launched her investment initiative called the Mattei Plan for Africa. The Mattei Plan has been integrated into the G7’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, which aims to mobilize $600 billion private infrastructure funding by 2027 as an alternative to Chin's Belt and Road initiative. On climate change, the G7 has an uphill climb. None of the group’s members are on track to meet their existing emission reduction targets for 2030 to align with the Paris Agreement goal, according to data compiled by Climate Analytics.

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Geneva — The United Nations refugee agency says forced displacement around the globe surged to historic new heights last year, driven by conflict, persecution, human rights violations, climate crises and other disturbing events. In its 2024 Global Trends Report, UNHCR says 117.3 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide by the end of 2023. Some 68 million were uprooted from their homes by conflict and remain displaced within their own countries. Another 31 million were refugees, while tens of millions more were asylum seekers, returnees or stateless people. The report, released Thursday, finds that the number of forcibly displaced has continued to rise this year and that the current figure now stands at 120 million. "Regrettably, this is the 12th consecutive year in which this figure goes up," U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi told journalists in Geneva Monday in advance of the report's publication. "Conflict remains a very, very big driver of displacement." Grandi added that UNHCR "declared 43 emergencies in 29 countries" in 2023. "This figure, until two, three years ago, used to be on average eight, maximum 10 times a year." Grandi deplored changes in the conduct of wars, noting that warring parties almost everywhere nowadays "disregard the laws of war, of international humanitarian law and often with the specific purpose of terrorizing people, of instilling fear in people." "This, of course is a powerful contributor to more displacement than even in the past," he said. The report cites the conflict in Sudan as a key factor driving the current surge in forcible displacement.  By the end of 2023, a total of 10.8 million Sudanese were displaced from their homes — triple the number before the war began in April of that year.  Most of the uprooted Sudanese — 9.1 million — are internally displaced, while another 1.7 million are refugees. Describing himself as "very keen" to speak out about Sudan, Grandi called it "a very forgotten crisis although it is one of the most catastrophic ones — not just in terms of displacement, but in terms of hunger, lack of access, violation of human rights, and so forth." Other crises that have created a spike in new forced displacements are the conflicts in Gaza, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. UNRWA, the UN relief and works agency for Palestine refugees, estimates up to 1.7 million people — over 75% of the population — "have been displaced within the Gaza Strip, with some having been forced to flee multiple times." The report says more than 1.3 million people were displaced within Myanmar in 2023 "by escalating violence following the military takeover in February 2021" and that a resurgence of fighting in the eastern part of DRC uprooted 3.8 million people who "were newly internally displaced" during the year. The U.N. report also touches on what the report calls endless conflicts that continue to displace people in countries that include Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Of the complex mix of diverse factors uprooting populations globally, Grandi described climate change as a particularly virulent driver of conflict and displacement, with one sometimes triggering the other. "It can be a driver of conflict and hence of displacement, especially when the very scarce resources of very poor communities become even scarcer because of climate change," he said. "That drives conflict. We have seen it in so many parts of Africa, in the Sahel, for example. In the Horn of Africa, but also elsewhere." The report debunks a common misperception that many refugees go to rich countries. "The vast majority of refugees are hosted in countries neighboring their own, with 75 percent residing in low-and middle-income countries that together produce less than 20 percent of the world's income," say the report, which also notes that although children account for 30% of the world's population, they account for 40% of all forcibly displaced people. Syria remains the world's largest displacement crisis, UNHCR reports, "with 13.8 million forcibly displaced in and outside the country." The United States is identified as the world's largest recipient of new asylum claims with 1.2 million applications tallied in 2023, followed by Germany, Egypt, Spain, and Canada. Authors of the report acknowledge that solutions for forced displacement are very rare.  They note that only around five million internally displaced people and one million refugees returned home in 2023. Despite this grim assessment, High Commissioner Grandi said that solutions do exist, citing the example of Kenya which has enacted the so-called Shirika plan, to resolve its nagging refugee problem. "The President has decided, and the country's institutions have approved, that for the 600,000 refugees in Kenya, mostly Somalis and South Sudanese, measures will be progressively taken to include them in the communities in which they live. "I consider that a positive trend," he said. "And Kenya being an important country in East Africa, I hope that this will have a positive impact also on other countries."

London, Washington — Hong Kong authorities have canceled the passports of six pro-democracy activists living in self-exile in Britain. A statement issued Wednesday identified Nathan Law, Finn Lau, Christopher Mung, Simon Cheng, Johnny Fok and Tony Choi as “lawless wanted criminals hiding in the United Kingdom.” The statement said the six “continue to blatantly engage in activities that endanger national security,” including making remarks that slander Hong Kong. During a press conference, Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang announced the designation of six individuals as "specified absconders" under the “Safeguarding National Security Ordinance” commonly known as Article 23.    Tang expressed concerns about British entities attempting to influence Hong Kong’s governance and security cases, citing the listed individuals' activities as threats to national security. Tang mentioned that individuals wishing to return to Hong Kong and surrender could seek assistance from its immigration department. Simon Cheng, co-founder of the Hongkongers in Britain group, said the revocation of the passports can be seen as an act of retaliation specifically directed at Hong Kong exiles currently living in the U.K.   Last month, London's Metropolitan Police charged three individuals, including an official from the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, for helping the Hong Kong intelligence service to monitor overseas dissidents. "I believe this is a form of revenge for the 'Hong Kong espionage case' incident, and it also clearly indicates that we, as democratic activists, have become political and diplomatic hostages,” Cheng told VOA. The government has warned that anyone who provides money, leases property or co-owns a business with any of the six activists could face up to seven years in jail. Being on Hong Kong’s wanted list has had minimal impact on the daily lives of the U.K.-based exiles, said Cheng.  Since being on the list, he said, the dissidents no longer rely on Hong Kong SAR passports but use alternate forms of documents when needed. But, Cheng said, people and financial institutions may now have second thoughts when interacting with the six people described as “wanted criminals” who no longer have valid passports.  Nathan Law wrote on his Facebook page that the government’s move was unnecessary since he was granted asylum in Britain in 2021.  Law stated that in 2020, when he sought asylum in the U.K., he surrendered his SAR passport to the U.K.’s Home Office. After his asylum application was granted, Law did not take his passport back.  The cancelation of the passports was based on the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance passed in March by the city’s legislature under Article 23 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law, the mini constitution that took effect when Britain handed the city back to China in 1997.    The law covers treason, insurrection, espionage, theft of state secrets, foreign influence and interference and sabotage, including the use of computers and electronic systems to conduct acts that endanger national security.   "You can cancel my passport, but you can never cancel my identity as a Hong Kong citizen," said Christopher Mung, one of the six. “One day, we will reclaim what we rightfully deserve in a dignified manner.” The Article 23 legislation expanded on a similar national security law imposed on the port city by China four years ago in response to massive pro-democracy demonstrations a year earlier. The national security law punished anyone in Hong Kong believed to be carrying out terrorism, separatism, subversion of state power or collusion with foreign forces. Since the law took effect, hundreds of democracy advocates have been arrested, tried and jailed, and the city’s once-vibrant civil society has been stifled.   VOA's Cantonese service contributed to this report.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM — Political turbulence in Vietnam has increased the power of the police and military factions of the country’s Communist Party, as officials with these backgrounds gain seats in the top echelons of the government, experts have told VOA. Activists and analysts interviewed point to To Lam – the former public security minister who took over as president on May 18 – as a rising figure who could pose a threat to the party's collective leadership. Zachary Abuza, Southeast Asia expert and professor at the National War College in Washington, described Lam as "ruthlessly ambitious," during a June 3 call with VOA. As public security minister Lam led 80-year-old General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's key initiative – what Trong dubbed the "blazing furnace" anti-corruption campaign. "To Lam has wielded that anti-corruption campaign to systematically remove one competitor after another," Abuza said. Vietnam's collective leadership is based on "four pillars" at the top of the political structure: the general secretary, president, prime minister, and chairman of the National Assembly, the country’s unicameral legislature. Since January 2023, anti-corruption investigations have led to the downfall of two presidents and the National Assembly chairman. Truong Thi Mai is the most recent top official to leave her post. The former head of the Central Organization Committee and permanent member of the party secretariat was the fifth-ranking leader. She was accused of breaking party regulations and resigned on May 16. An analyst, who asked that his name be withheld because of increasing uncertainty regarding the potential pitfalls of discussing Vietnamese politics, told VOA on June 4 that such turbulent politics is new for the party. He added that the situation is unpredictable and will likely remain volatile until the next meeting of the National Assembly in 2026, when a new leader is expected to take over from Trong. "In the past 60 years not a single four pillar leader in Vietnam has stepped down and within only two years to have three of the four pillars step down and then a permanent member of the secretariat also step down – this is unprecedented in the history of Vietnamese Communist Party," he said. To Lam's rise Alexander Vuving, a professor at Honolulu's Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, told VOA that Luong Tam Quang, who was appointed to replace Lam as public security minister on June 6, is an ally of the new president. "To Lam has not subsided after Lam left the ministry," Vuving wrote in an email to VOA on June 7. Duy Hoang, executive director of the unsanctioned Vietnamese political party Viet Tan, said that after To Lam became president on May 18, there was a "big internal struggle" for approximately two weeks during which there were attempts to nominate a public security minister without ties to Lam. With Quang's appointment, the efforts to neutralize Lam's power failed, he said. Quang "is seen as an ally to To Lam because he's from Hung Yen which is where To Lam is from," Hoang said, referring to the country’s northern province. "It shows that To Lam is continuing to consolidate power," he said. Along with leading a "crackdown against peaceful dissent," Hoang said, Lam is known for arranging the kidnapping of whistleblower Trinh Xuan Thanh from Germany in 2017 and for being photographed eating a gold-encrusted steak at a high-end London restaurant in 2021. Before the pricey meal, the communist leader visited Karl Marx's tomb in London. "The irony that the last guy standing after an anti-corruption purge is the guy eating a $1,000 gold-leaf steak after laying a wreath for Karl Marx," Abuza said. "Increasingly he just wielded his sword and took out rivals until he was the last man standing." David Hutt, a research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies in Slovakia, struck a similar chord in a May 20 email to VOA, although he predicted a period of stability until the party’s 2026 National Congress. "There were so few people in the Politburo who met the conditions to become state president that To Lam was almost certain to get this post. Plus, the Communist Party needs stability in the top-four posts, and To Lam is unlikely to be busted as part of the anti-corruption campaign (although corruption allegations swirl around him)," Hutt wrote. Those now in top spots will probably stay there until the 2026 Congress, he said, adding, "The securocrats and the military factions are the clear winner. The Communist Party is becoming more security con[s]cious and is very concerned about its power." Beyond Quang, Vietnam's Politburo – the country's top decision-making body – is now dominated by individuals from the Public Security Ministry, and the military makes up the second-largest bloc, Abuza said, describing the domination of a "very conservative security-minded bloc." Weakened Communist Party The analyst who asked for his name to be withheld said "the situation now is very precarious for the party itself." "The power of the party is you have to control the gun in order to control the party. But now it seems like the gun has actually taken control of the party," he said, referring to the rising power of the Public Security Ministry. Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, a Vietnamese activist living in Texas since obtaining U.S. asylum in 2018, cited a general unease among her contacts in Vietnam. "I think that everyone is scared," she wrote to VOA over the messaging app Telegram on June 8. "To Lam will continue to control the country under his own regime," she wrote. An Hai of VOA’s Vietnamese Service contributed reporting from Washington.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

WESTBURY, New York — There was no upset this time for the United States as the home team was easily beaten by cricket heavyweight India at the Twenty20 World Cup on Wednesday. Suryakumar Yadav's half-century powered India to a seven-wicket win over the U.S., which had shocked Pakistan last week. With the win, India reached the Super 8 round. The U.S. can advance by beating Ireland on Friday. In a later match at Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad, Sherfane Rutherford scored an unbeaten 68 from 39 deliveries to help the West Indies in their great escape — the co-hosts beat New Zealand by 13 runs. The Caribbean lineup, 149-9 in its 20 overs, was 76-7 before its Rutherford-led recovery. Alzarri Joseph snared four New Zealand wickets and Gudakesh Motie took three — including New Zealand captain Kane Williamson for 1 — to restrict the Black Caps to 136-9 in reply. On Long Island, Yadvav's 50 runs came off 49 balls and included two boundaries and two sixes. He put on 72 runs off 65 balls in an unbeaten fourth-wicket stand with Shivam Dube, who scored 31 not out as India finished with 111-3 in 18.2 overs in reply to 110-8 by the United States. Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh returned figures of 4-9 — including two wickets in the first over — to restrict the co-hosts after India had won the toss and opted to field at the Nassau County International Stadium. India was in early trouble in its chase as Indian-born medium pacer Saurabh Netravalkar continued his golden run for the Americans. After bowling the co-hosts to the upset over Pakistan, he celebrated the wickets of Indian superstars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Kohli was caught behind for a golden duck — dismissed off the first delivery he faced — in what surely will become a career highlight for Netravalkar. Sharma (3) fell to a slower delivery as Netravalkar finished with 2-18 in four overs. Rishabh Pant scored 18 off 20 balls batting at No. 3 before he was bowled by Ali Khan delivery. With India struggling at 39-3 in 7.3 overs, the U.S. team momentarily raised visions of an even bigger shock. West Indies advanceLeft-hander Rutherford turned the home team's fortunes around, going to the crease with the West Indies reeling at 22-4 after 5.4 overs. Rutherford scored 18 off the last over that culminated with a six and a boundary. The loss left New Zealand with a strong possibility it will not make the second round. If Afghanistan beats Papua New Guinea on Thursday, three-time runner-up New Zealand will be out of contention. For most of the first half of the game, the Black Caps were on top. But Rutherford went on the attack as the West Indies added 58-2 in the last five overs of their innings. He was 15 off 14 deliveries when star allrounder Andre Russell was out for 14 in the 13th over, and he accelerated with the lower-order in a counter-attacking, 72-minute innings containing six sixes and two boundaries. "It's a good feeling, to help my team. That is what we live for and work hard for," man-of-the-match Rutherford said during the innings break. "It was a very tough surface to start on. I think 149 is a brilliant score on this wicket." After the match, Rutherford had a more optimistic tone: "It is only the start of something big to come and hopefully we can keep winning and momentum going." New Zealand started well after winning the toss and fielding, with Trent Boult (3-16) bowling opener Johnson Charles to end the first over. Tim Southee (2-21), recalled after missing New Zealand's opening loss to Afghanistan, dismissed dangerman Nicholas Pooran for 12 in the fourth over, trigging a run of three wickets for three runs. Lockie Ferguson deceived Roston Chase with a slower ball to make it 21-3 and skipper Rovman Powell (1) was caught behind off Southee five balls later. Russell went on the attack but his dismissal — caught in the deep of Boult's bowling — appeared to be an insurmountable setback until Rutherford took up the challenge. "The quality of Sherfane's innings was high," New Zealand skipper Williamson said. "The batting depth in their side was beneficial for sure. We cannot make excuses and have to find ways."

Washington — Once seemingly fading into obscurity, anti-Muslim hate groups in the United States have surged back into the spotlight in recent months, reinvigorated by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Many of these groups, such as Jihad Watch and ACT for America, emerged in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. and thrived on public fears of terrorism. But as those fears waned in recent years, so did the groups’ sway. Some disbanded, while others gravitated to other hot-button issues. From a peak of 114 in 2017, their number dropped to a mere 34 last year, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit that tracks hate groups. In early 2023, "Islamophobia was down to a slow trickle," SPLC senior research analyst Caleb Kieffer said. Then came the October 7 Hamas assault on Israel, which claimed about 1,200 lives and triggered a massive Israeli military response in Gaza. Anti-Muslim groups that had "opportunistically" seized on divisive issues, such as critical race theory and LGBTQ-inclusive policies, swung back into action. "These anti-Muslim groups went right back to their core messaging," Kieffer said in an interview with VOA. "They've been going hard on the rhetoric since October last year." Take ACT for America. Founded in 2007 by Brigitte Gabriel, a Lebanese American political activist and self-described "survivor of terrorism," it grew into one of the country's leading anti-Muslim organizations. At its peak, the group had more than 50 active chapters, each counted as a separate hate group by the SPLC. But in recent years, most of those chapters either shut down or shifted into other areas, leaving ACT for America with just eight on SPLC’s most recent list. According to the SPLC, ACT for America embraced a "nativist tone" before October 7, circulating, among other things, a petition calling to "Stop the Taxpayer Funded Border Invasion." After October 7, the group launched another petition more in line with its agenda and with a call by former U.S. President Donald Trump to stop admitting Palestinian refugees from Gaza. Warning her followers about homegrown jihadi terror, Gabriel, a staunch Trump supporter, began peddling her bestselling anti-Muslim book, Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America, in exchange for a $25 donation. In a video titled "Wake Up America" in October, she claimed, "Hamas has a large network of cells spreading all across America," from Laurel, Maryland, to Tucson, Arizona. Other groups that had also latched onto contentious issues similarly pivoted back to their core agenda. Jihad Watch, a website run by prominent anti-Muslim figure Robert Spencer, published an article last October claiming, "We’re in a war between savages and civilization. Everything else is a detail." Eight days later, an affiliated political website called FrontPage Magazine ran a piece titled "It's Islam, Stupid," arguing that everything Hamas did "has been done by Muslims throughout history and is still being practiced today.'' FrontPage Magazine is published by the David Horowitz Freedom Center, another leading anti-Muslim group. Jihad Watch is a project of the center. ACT for America, Jihad Watch and the David Horowitz Freedom Center are part of what experts describe as a well-funded, close-knit anti-Muslim industry, with each group playing a distinct role in the ecosystem. With chapters across the country, Washington-based ACT for America provides the "grassroots muscle" to the movement, Kieffer said. The Center for Security Policy serves as its think tank, he said. The SPLC-designated groups appear on other hate lists. Several SPLC-branded groups contacted by VOA condemned their designation. In a statement to VOA, a spokesperson for ACT for America rejected the "anti-Muslim" label, saying the organization has "always welcomed and included members of all faiths," including Muslims, and hosted Muslim keynote speakers at its conferences. ACT for America works "on a broad range of issues, none of which are anti-Muslim," the spokesperson said.  "As a matter of fact, since the defeat of ISIS and al-Qaida between 2018 and 2024, you didn't hear a blurb from ACT for America about radical Islam." In response to a VOA query, Jihad Watch's Spencer accused the SPLC of smearing and defaming "organizations that oppose its far-left political agenda by lumping them in with the likes of the KKK and neo-Nazis." In a brief interview with VOA, J. Michael Waller, a senior analyst for strategy at the Center for Security Policy, called the designation "slander," saying it was tied to his group's criticism of the Iranian government and the Muslim Brotherhood. Kieffer defended the SPLC's methodology, saying it only designates groups that "vilify" and "demonize" people because of their race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity. The SPLC defines anti-Muslim hate groups as organizations that "broadly defame Islam and traffic in conspiracy theories of Muslims being a subversive threat to the nation." Not every anti-Muslim hate group has stood the test of time. In recent years, dozens of ACT for America chapters have closed. The ACT for America spokesperson said most of its member groups have "turned into digital chapters meeting via zoom or other technology platforms." Last year, an anti-refugee and anti-Muslim blog called Refugee Resettlement Watch became inactive and was dropped from SPLC's list of hate groups. Another well-known anti-Muslim group called Understanding the Threat announced last year it was shutting down. The group was operated by a former FBI agent known for spreading anti-Muslim conspiracy theories. Other groups have rebranded. One former ACT for America chapter now operates as AlertAmerica.News, according to SPLC. Its focus ranges from "strengthening national security" to "fighting communism and American Marxism." Kieffer said while the group's central focus may have shifted away from Islamophobia, it continues to invite well-known, anti-Muslim speakers to its events. With the war in Gaza still raging, the resurgence in Islamophobia remains unabated, Kieffer said. But that's likely to change in the run-up to the presidential election in November. "I imagine that we're going to slowly see a decline again as these groups start to push other issues," he said. Brian Levin, a criminologist and hate crime researcher, noted that anti-Muslim hate crimes have surged in recent years, even as the number of hate groups has dwindled. That's because hatred has found a new home in the mainstream, rendering niche groups such as Islamophobic outfits increasingly obsolete, he said. "The bottom line is, the way we associate to express and amplify hatred has changed," Levin said in an interview with VOA. "Up-and-coming bigots of all sorts will find an array of xenophobic bigotry and conspiracism within general mainstream platforms." 

Brindisi, Italy — U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Brindisi, Italy, late Wednesday ahead of his meeting with leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies. He came armed with fresh sanctions for Russia, a new bilateral security agreement for Ukraine, but no breakthrough on Gaza cease-fire negotiations that now sit at a critical juncture. The United States is working with mediators Egypt and Qatar after reviewing Hamas’ response to the proposal, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Italy early Wednesday. "Many of the proposed changes are minor and not unanticipated," he said. "Others differ quite substantively from what was outlined in the U.N. Security Council resolution." As Biden was in flight to Italy, the U.S. Treasury Department announced fresh sanctions that target individuals and companies, including those based in China, that are selling semiconductors to Russia. It includes an expansion of secondary sanctions that allow the United States to blacklist any bank around the world that does business with Russian financial institutions already facing sanctions. The goal is to prevent smaller banks in China and other countries from funding the Russian war effort. The sanctions also target networks Russia uses to obtain critical materials for building aerial drones, anti-drone equipment, industrial machinery and for the country's chemical and biological weapons program, the Treasury Department said. "We are increasing the risk for financial institutions dealing with Russia’s war economy and eliminating paths for evasion, and diminishing Russia’s ability to benefit from access to foreign technology, equipment, software, and IT services," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement. The Moscow Exchange, Russia’s top financial marketplace, announced it was halting trading of dollars and euros after being listed in the new sanctions. Biden is also set to sign on Thursday a bilateral security agreement with Ukraine during his meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The agreement is intended to show U.S. resolve to strengthen Ukraine's defense and deterrence capabilities without committing American troops on the Ukrainian battlefield. The agreement would include Ukrainian commitment to reform and on end-use monitoring of U.S.-provided weapons. It will be Biden’s second meeting with Zelenskyy in the span of days; the two met in Paris on the sidelines of the 80-year commemoration of D-Day last week. Russian frozen assets Zelenskyy will be urging G7 leaders to get behind Biden’s plan to provide Kyiv with a loan of up to $50 billion for Ukraine’s war efforts against Russia, amid Moscow’s strategic advances in the battlefield. The U.S. proposal would pay back Western allies using interest income from the $280 billion in Russian assets frozen in Western financial institutions, estimated at $3 billion a year, for 10 years or more. The goal is a Leaders’ Declaration at the end of the summit, a "framework that is not generic, that is quite specific in terms of what it would entail," Sullivan told VOA as he spoke to reporters in flight. However, "core operational details" would still need to be worked out. It’s unclear whether the loan will be provided by the G7 or only some of its members. In April, Biden signed legislation to seize the roughly $5 billion in Russian assets that had been immobilized in U.S. financial institutions. But the bulk of the money, $190 billion, is in Belgium and much of the rest, is in France and Germany. A big source of concern for Europeans is who will be responsible to cover losses should interest rates fall below expectations or if the sanctions that immobilize the funds are not renewed. Russia considers the immobilizing of its assets following its invasion on Ukraine as theft and has threatened retaliation. Although Ukraine is not a G7 member, this is the second consecutive year Zelenskyy is attending the summit. From Italy, he heads to Switzerland for a Ukraine peace conference over the weekend. EU puts tariffs on Chinese EVs Biden imposed a drastic tariff hike in May to confront what he calls Chinese overcapacity in strategic green technologies and has been urging the G7 to do the same. On Wednesday, the European Union responded to the call by announcing it would slap Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) with higher tariffs, up to 38.1%, saying the imports benefit "heavily from unfair subsidies" and pose a "threat of economic injury" to producers in Europe. U.S. tariffs on Chinese EVs were quadrupled to a 100% rate, while solar cell and semiconductor import tariffs were doubled to 50%. The rates on certain steel and aluminum imports were tripled to 25%. The additional duties covered $18 billion in Chinese products. Europe is taking action to address Chinese overcapacity just as the United States has done, Sullivan said. A "common framework" on how to deal with various economic security issues posed by China will likely be included in the G7 final communique, he added. The punitive moves could prompt retaliation from Beijing, which accuses the West of hyping overcapacity claims to blunt China’s competitive edge. Biden arrived on the global forum after a family drama. On Tuesday, a day before departing for the summit, his son Hunter Biden was found guilty on federal charges of possessing of a gun while being addicted to drugs. Biden has said he would not use presidential powers to pardon his son. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to respond to further questions, including the possibility of commuting Hunter Biden’s sentence when it is given by the judge. 

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LOS ANGELES — The president of the University of Miami was chosen Wednesday to become the next chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles, where the retiring incumbent leaves a campus roiled by protests over Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. Dr. Julio Frenk, a Mexico City-born global public health researcher, was selected by regents of the University of California system at a meeting on the UCLA campus, where there were a swarm of security officers. Frenk will succeed Gene Block, who has been chancellor for 17 years and announced his planned retirement long before UCLA became a national flashpoint for U.S. campus protests. This spring, pro-Palestinian encampments were built and cleared by police with many arrests, and again this week, there were more arrests. Frenk has led the 17,000-student University of Miami since 2015 and previously served as dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and as Mexico's national health secretary, among other positions. In a brief press conference, Frenk said he was approaching the appointment with excitement and humility. "The first thing I plan to do is listen very carefully," Frenk said. "This is a complex organization. It is, as I mentioned, a really consequential moment in the history of higher education." Frenk did not comment on specific protests at UCLA this spring or the current administration's response, which initially tolerated an encampment but ultimately used police to clear it and keep new camps from forming. During public comment in the regents meeting, speakers criticized UC administrators, alleged police brutality, complained of a lack of transparency in UC endowments and called for divestment from companies with ties to Israel or in weapons manufacturing. Speakers also talked about experiencing antisemitism on campus and called for an increased law enforcement response to protesters. Later, about 200 people rallied, including members of an academic student workers union and the Faculty for Justice for Palestine group as well as students from other UC campuses. Participants held signs calling for charges to be dropped against protesters who have been arrested. Block departs UCLA on July 31. Darnell Hunt, executive vice president and provost, will serve as interim chancellor until Frenk becomes UCLA's seventh chancellor on January 1, 2025. In previous roles, Frenk was founding director of Mexico's National Institute of Public Health, held positions at the World Health Organization and the nonprofit Mexican Health Foundation, and was a senior fellow with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's global health program. Frenk received his medical degree from the National University of Mexico in 1979. He then attended the University of Michigan, where he earned master's degrees in public health and sociology, and a joint doctorate in medical care organization and sociology.

Washington — The U.S. expressed its support for providing outside information to the people of North Korea even as attempts are made in South Korea to block leaflet campaigns aimed at sending information to the North. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been rising in recent weeks due to tit-for-tat exchanges between Pyongyang and Seoul over balloons they both have been sending across the inter-Korean border. Responding to an inquiry by VOA’s Korean Service, a State Department spokesperson said on Monday that "it is critical for the people of North Korea to have access to independent information not controlled by the DPRK regime." "We continue to promote the free flow of information into, out of, and within the DPRK," continued the spokesperson, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. "We continue to urge North Korea to reduce tensions and cease any actions that could increase the risk of conflict," the spokesperson added. North Korea, listed by Human Rights Watch among "the most repressive countries in the world," considers outside information a threat to the ruling regime’s survival and denies its people access to information. The government heavily controls all forms of media and cracks down on people distributing, watching or listening to any South Korean cultural content. In what it said was a response to South Korean activists sending balloons carrying leaflets into the North, Pyongyang has floated more than 1,600 balloons filled with trash and waste into South Korea since May 28. In response, Seoul on June 4 fully suspended an inter-Korean military deal made in 2018 and resumed loudspeaker broadcasts at the border Sunday before halting them the following day. The South Korean balloons, sent aloft by human rights activists, have carried leaflets conveying information about the outside world and the North Korean regime. They also carried thumb drives containing K-pop songs and dramas. But the effort has caused controversy in South Korea, where attempts are being made to halt the campaign. In September 2023, the South Korean constitutional court struck down a law banning the sending of leaflets to North Korea, saying it violated the constitutional right to freedom of expression. Nevertheless, the opposition Democratic Party of Korea is attempting to apply other existing laws to block the campaign. The opposition party, preferring engagement with North Korea, has been opposed to sending leaflets to North Korea. The anti-leaflet law was passed in December 2020 by the liberal party of former President Moon Jae-in six months after North Korea, expressing discontentment over leaflet activities, blew up an inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong, a town in North Korea near the border. On Tuesday, Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the party, called leaflet activities "illegal under the current law." In June 2020, Lee, the then-governor of Gyeonggi Province, declared five cities in the province as "danger zones" under the Framework Act on the Management of Disasters and Safety. Gyeonggi Province borders North Korea. Lee then issued an administrative order banning people from entering the areas to launch balloons. Kim Dong-yeon, from the opposition party and the current governor of Gyeonggi Province, said on Wednesday a consideration is being made to declare some areas in the province "danger zones" to "prevent the launch of propaganda leaflets in accordance with related laws." He said he will "immediately dispatch provincial police to potential leaflet sites to bolster patrols and surveillance," according to South Korea’s liberal daily Hankyore. Questions have been raised in South Korea whether the police can stop leaflet-sending activities based on the Act on the Performance of Duties by Police Officers, according to Seoul-based news agency Yonhap. The act allows police to restrain people from causing damage to property or harm other people. Yoon Hee-keun, National Police Agency commissioner, told reporters Monday that the leaflet campaigns cannot be blocked on the basis of that law. He said this is because it is "unclear whether the trash-carrying balloons" sent by North Korea "would constitute an urgent and grave threat to the lives and bodies of the public, which is prerequisite for restricting them under the law." David Maxwell, vice president of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy, told VOA on Tuesday via email that Seoul is "complying with the 2014 U.N. Commission of Inquiry that calls on people around the world to call out North Korea for its human rights abuses, one of which is the isolation of the people and the denial of all information going into the North." Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said, "The North Korean balloons are government actions and thus a violation of the armistice," whereas balloons from the South are sent by non-government organizations. Robert Rapson, who served as charge d’affaires and deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul in 2018-21, said while Seoul’s "decision to pause loudspeaker broadcasts" is "a positive step toward de-escalation, it should go further by also pausing balloon launches from the South." 

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