Russian diplomat says ‘sponsor of terrorism’ label might sever ties
A senior Russian diplomat has warned that Moscow might rupture diplomatic relations with Washington if the United States designates Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, the latest in a range of diplomatic sparring in recent days between the Kremlin and capitals that support Kyiv.
A terrorist designation would cause “the most serious collateral damage to bilateral diplomatic relations,” Alexander Darchiev, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s department for North America, told the official news agency TASS in a brief interview published Saturday.
It could result in lowering or breaking off ties entirely, he said, adding, “The U.S. side has been warned.”
The Kremlin was also sharply critical of recent calls by Western nations to bar all visitors from Russia, including students, tourists and business executives. Dmitry Peskov, the presidential spokesman in Russia, said such attempts to isolate Russia were bound to fail.
Both issues have been pressed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine.
The Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have said that they will stop issuing tourist visas to Russians. Estonia and Finland called for a collective European Union ban, but other nations rejected the idea, with Germany saying that such a move would harm “innocent people.”
Russians who fled abroad to escape the Kremlin’s draconian measure of imprisoning critics of the war, as well as President Vladimir Putin’s increased repression generally, have also been critical. Tens of thousands of Russians are trying to establish new lives abroad, and some of the most outspoken would face jail if they were forced to return to Russia.
On Thursday, Latvia’s Parliament declared Russia a state sponsor of terrorism for its attacks on civilians in Ukraine, and encouraged other countries to make similar declarations.
In Washington, the Senate unanimously passed a nonbinding resolution in late July calling on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate Russia as a sponsor of terrorism for its brutal military campaign in Ukraine as well as earlier wars in Chechnya, Georgia and Syria.
The House is weighing an even stronger resolution that would add Russia to the list regardless of whether the State Department, which holds the authority to make the designation, does so.
A federal jury awarded Republican Roy Moore $8.2 million in damages Friday after finding a Democratic-aligned super PAC defamed him in a TV ad recounting sexual misconduct accusations during his failed 2017 U.S. Senate bid in Alabama.
Jurors found the Senate Majority PAC made false and defamatory statements against Moore in one ad that attempted to highlight the accusations against Moore. The verdict, returned by a jury after a brief trial in Anniston, Alabama, was a victory for Moore, who has lost other defamation lawsuits, including one against comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.
Ben Stafford, an attorney representing the Senate Majority PAC, said in an emailed statement that they believe the ruling would be overturned on appeal.
Moore defamation suit:
Italian drought: Italy’s worst drought in decades has reduced Lake Garda, the country’s largest lake, to near its lowest level ever recorded, exposing swaths of previously underwater rocks and warming the water to temperatures that approach the average in the Caribbean Sea.
Tourists flocking to the popular northern lake Friday for the start of Italy’s key summer long weekend found a vastly different landscape than in past years. An expansive stretch of bleached rock extended far from the normal shoreline, ringing the southern Sirmione Peninsula with a yellow halo.
Northern Italy hasn’t seen significant rainfall for months, and snowfall this year was down 70%, drying up important rivers like the Po, which flows across Italy’s agricultural and industrial heartland.
Many European countries are enduring droughts this summer that have hurt farmers and shippers and promoted authorities to restrict water use.
UK rail strike: Thousands of U.K. train drivers walked off the job Saturday in a strike over jobs, pay and conditions, scuppering services across much of the country. The action was the latest in a spreading series of strikes by British workers seeking substantial raises to offset soaring prices for food and fuel.
The 24-hour strike by members of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen halted trains on major routes, including the main lines between London and Scotland and commuter services around the capital.
Weekend workers, soccer fans heading for games and families seeking seaside solace from a heat wave were among those forced to change plans.
This has been a summer of travel disruption in Britain. Thousands of railway cleaners, signalers and maintenance workers staged a series of one-day strikes in June and July.
More strikes are scheduled this week on nationwide trains and on London’s bus and subway network.
The disputes center on pay, working conditions and job security as Britain’s railways struggle to adapt to travel and commuting habits changed — perhaps forever — by the coronavirus pandemic.
China-Thailand exercise:
The Chinese air force is sending fighter jets and bombers to Thailand for a joint exercise with the Thai military on Sunday.
The training will include air support, strikes on ground targets and smalland large-scale troop deployment, the Chinese Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.
China’s expanding military activities in the AsiaPacific region have alarmed the United States and its allies and form part of a growing strategic and economic competition that has inflamed tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
The training comes as the U.S. holds combat drills in Indonesia with Australia, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore in the largest iteration of the Super Garuda Shield exercises since they began in 2009.
Montenegro shootings:
Montenegro declared three days of national mourning Saturday, a day after 10 people, including two children, were killed in a daylight attack by a 34-yearold gunman who police said had recently exhibited a “change in behavior.”
The attacker used a rifle to first shoot to death two children, 8 and 11, and their mother, who were tenants in his house in the western city of Cetinje’s Medovina neighborhood.
He then walked out to the street and randomly shot 13 more people, seven of them fatally.
The gunman, identified only by the initials V.B., was shot dead later after a gunfight with police.