Monthly: June 2021

У Верховній Раді оприлюднили проєкт великого герба Зеленського – зовсім інший, ніж виграв на конкурсі

Результат цього конкурсу, таким чином, був нині цілком проігнорований президентом

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«Справа Шеремета»: суд продовжив запобіжні заходи Кузьменко та Дугарь

Кузьменко продовжить перебувати під домашнім арештом, Дугарь – під особистим зобов’язанням.

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EU Asylum Applications Drop Due to COVID-19, not Lower Demand

The European Union’s asylum agency said Tuesday that the number of people seeking international protection in Europe hit its lowest level last year since 2013, but that the drop was due mostly to coronavirus travel restrictions. EASO said in a new report that 485,000 asylum applications were made in the 27 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland in 2020. That’s a 32% decrease over the previous year. It said that “reduced applications were primarily due to restricted mobility and travel, rather than a decrease in the number of people in need of international protection.” Two-thirds of the applications were lodged in just three countries. Germany, where most people from conflict-torn Syria are seeking refuge, registered 122,000 applications, while France had 93,000 applications for international protection and Spain had 89,000. But EASO said that when economic growth and population size are taken into account, Cyprus, Greece and Malta remain under the greatest pressure to process applications and house asylum-seekers. Most people seeking protection were from Syria and Afghanistan, followed by nationals of Venezuela and Colombia – who tend to lodge their applications in Spain – and Iraqis. Citizens of Turkey remain among the top seven nationalities hoping to find protection in Europe. 

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Diana Legacy Lingers as Fans Mark Late Royal’s 60th Birthday

Most people wouldn’t volunteer to walk through a minefield. Princess Diana did it twice.
On Jan. 15, 1997, Diana walked gingerly down a narrow path cleared through an Angolan minefield, wearing a protective visor and flak jacket emblazoned with the name of The HALO Trust, a group devoted to removing mines from former war zones. When she realized some of the photographers accompanying her didn’t get the shot, she turned around and did it again.
Later, she met with a group of landmine victims. A young girl who had lost her left leg perched on the princess’s lap.
The images of that day appeared in newspapers and on TV sets around the globe, focusing international attention on the then-languishing campaign to rid the world of devices that lurk underground for decades after conflicts end. Today, a treaty banning landmines has 164 signatories.
Those touched by the life of the preschool teacher turned princess remembered her ahead of what would have been her 60th birthday on Thursday, recalling the complicated royal rebel who left an enduring imprint on the House of Windsor.
Diana had the “emotional intelligence that allowed her to see that bigger picture … but also to bring it right down to individual human beings,” said James Cowan, a retired major general who is now CEO of The HALO Trust. “She knew that she could reach their hearts in a way that would outmaneuver those who would only be an influence through the head.”
Diana’s walk among the landmines seven months before she died in a Paris car crash is just one example of how she helped make the monarchy more accessible, changing the way the royal family related to people. By interacting more intimately with the public — kneeling to the level of a child, sitting on the edge of a patient’s hospital bed, writing personal notes to her fans — she connected with people in a way that inspired other royals, including her sons, Princes William and Harry, as the monarchy worked to become more human and remain relevant in the 21st century.
Diana didn’t invent the idea of royals visiting the poor, destitute or downtrodden. Queen Elizabeth II herself visited a Nigerian leper colony in 1956. But Diana touched them — literally.
“Diana was a real hugger in the royal family,” said Sally Bedell Smith, author of “Diana in Search of Herself.” “She was much more visibly tactile in the way she interacted with people. It was not something the queen was comfortable with and still is not.”
Critically, she also knew that those interactions could bring attention to her causes since she was followed everywhere by photographers and TV crews.  
Ten years before she embraced landmine victims in Angola, she shook hands with a young AIDS patient in London during the early days of the epidemic, showing people that the disease couldn’t be transmitted through touch.FILE – Princess Diana and Prince Charles look in different directions, Nov. 3, during a service held to commemorate the 59 British soldiers killed in action during the Korean War, Nov. 3, 1992.As her marriage to Prince Charles deteriorated, Diana used the same techniques to tell her side of the story. Embracing her children with open arms to show her love for her sons. Sitting alone in front of the Taj Mahal on a royal trip to India. Walking through that minefield as she was starting a new life after her divorce.
“Diana understood the power of imagery — and she knew that a photograph was worth a hundred words,” said Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine and author of “Diana: An Intimate Portrait.” “She wasn’t an intellectual. She wasn’t ever going to be the one to give the right words. But she gave the right image.”
And that began on the day the 20-year-old Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles, the heir to throne, on July 29, 1981, at St. Paul’s Cathedral.  
Elizabeth Emanuel, who co-designed her wedding dress, describes an event comparable to the transformation of a chrysalis into a butterfly, or in this case a nursery school teacher in cardigans and sensible skirts into a fairytale princess.
“We thought, right, let’s do the biggest, most dramatic dress possible, the ultimate fairytale dress. Let’s make it big. Let’s have big sleeves. Let’s have ruffles,” Emanuel said. “And St. Paul’s was so huge. We knew that we needed to do something that was a statement. And Diana was completely up for that. She loved that idea.”
But Emanuel said Diana also had a simplicity that made her more accessible to people.
“She had this vulnerability about her, I think, so that ordinary people could relate to her. She wasn’t perfect. And none of us are perfect, and I think that’s why there is this thing, you know, people think of her almost like family. They felt they knew her.”A postcard of a commemorative stamp celebrating the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 is displayed outside a philatelists in LondonDiana’s sons learned from their mother’s example, making more personal connections with the public during their charitable work, including supporting efforts to destigmatize mental health problems and treat young AIDS patients in Lesotho and Botswana.
William, who is second in line to the throne, worked as an air ambulance pilot before taking on full-time royal duties. Harry retraced Diana’s footsteps through the minefield for The HALO Trust.  Her influence can be seen in other royals as well. Sophie, the Countess of Wessex and the wife of Charles’ brother Prince Edward, grew teary, for example, in a television interview as she told the nation about her feelings on the death of her father-in-law, Prince Philip.
The public even began to see a different side of the queen, including her turn as a Bond girl during the 2012 London Olympics in which she starred in a mini-movie with Daniel Craig to open the games.  
More recently, the monarch has reached out in Zoom calls, joking with school children about her meeting with Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. What was he like, ma’am?  “Russian,” she said flatly. The Zoom filled with chuckles.
Cowan, of HALO, said the attention that Diana, and now Harry, have brought to the landmine issue helped attract the funding that made it possible for thousands of workers to continue the slow process of ridding the world of the devices. 
Sixty countries and territories are still contaminated with landmines, which killed or injured more than 5,500 people in 2019, according to Landmine Monitor.
“She had that capacity to reach out and inspire people. Their imaginations were fired up by this work,” Cowan said. “And they like it and they want to fund it. And that’s why she’s had such a profound legacy for us.”

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Start-Up Creates Robot to Help Kids Relax at Doctor’s Office

A robot called Robin is helping to ease kids’ anxiety in doctors’ offices and dental chairs. Deana Mitchell reports.

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Держдепартамент США продовжив рекомендацію своїм громадянам не їздити в Росію

У Держдепартаменті заявляють, що відвідувати Росію не слід через тероризм, переслідування з боку силовиків, обмежені можливості посольства з надання допомоги громадянам США в Росії і довільне застосування місцевого законодавства

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Росія тестувала ППО в окупованому Криму на тлі навчань Sea Breeze

Національний центр управління обороною Росії 28 червня заявив, що російські військові в Чорному морі стежать за кораблями НАТО й інших країн на навчаннях Sea Breeze

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Головне на ранок: Мінськ рве відносини з Брюсселем, Чехія вимагає в Росії відшкодування за вибухи у Врбетиці

Найважливіші новини на ранок 29 червня

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У НАЗК після розслідування «Схем» встановили конфлікт інтересів у діях «слуги народу» Нагаєвського

Після розслідування «Схем» у НАЗК провели перевірку й виявили, що «слуга народу» Нагаєвський надсилав у МВС офіційні депутатські звернення, «які становили його приватний інтерес»

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G-20 Ministers to Discuss Coronavirus, Climate Change, Development in Africa

The coronavirus, climate change and food security are on the agenda Tuesday as foreign ministers from the G-20 group of nations meet in Italy. The talks in the city of Matera represent the first time the ministers are gathering in person since 2019. U.S. State Department officials said Secretary of State Antony Blinken would stress the importance of working together to address such global challenges, a common theme in recent months as he and President Joe Biden set a foreign policy path heavily focused on boosting ties with allies. “To address the climate crisis, Secretary Blinken will encourage G-20 members to work together toward ambitious outcomes, including a recognition of the need to keep a 1.5 degree Celsius of warming threshold within reach, the importance of actions this decade that are aligned with that goal, and taking other steps like committing to end public finance for overseas unabated coal,” Susannah Cooper, director of the Office of Monetary Affairs in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, told reporters ahead of the meetings. Cooper said Blinken would advocate for “building a sustainable and inclusive economic recovery,” including an equitable global tax system with a minimum corporate tax rate. Finance ministers from G-7 nations, all of which are part of the G-20, agreed in principle in early June to the creation of a global minimum tax on corporations that would force companies that shift profits to subsidiaries in low- or no-tax jurisdictions to pay as much as 15% in taxes on that income to the country where they are headquartered. Protestors wearing giant heads portraying G7 leaders pose after a demonstration on a beach outside the G7 meeting in St. Ives, Cornwall, England, June 13, 2021.Tuesday’s meetings are also set to consider economic development issues in Africa, including gender equity and opportunities for young people, as well as humanitarian efforts and human rights. Italy is the last stop on a European trip for Blinken that included a conference on Libya in Germany, meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican. On Monday he was in Rome, where ministers from a global coalition to fight Islamic State terrorists said 8 million people have been freed from the militants’ control in Iraq and Syria, but that the threat from Islamic State fighters remains there and in Africa. The ministers met face-to-face for the first time in two years, pledging to maintain watch against a resurgence of the insurgents.  The resumption in ISIS “activities and its ability to rebuild its networks and capabilities to target security forces and civilians in areas in Iraq and Syria where the coalition is not active, requires strong vigilance and coordinated action,” the diplomats said in a concluding communique.  The coalition said it needed “both to address the drivers that make communities vulnerable to recruitment by Daesh/ISIS and related violent ideological groups, as well as to provide support to liberated areas to safeguard our collective security interests.”  The group “noted with grave concern that Daesh/ISIS affiliates and networks in sub-Saharan Africa threaten security and stability, namely in the Sahel Region and in East Africa/Mozambique.” The coalition said it would work with any country that requested help in fighting ISIS.  Daesh is the Arabic acronym for Islamic State.  “We’ve made great progress because we’ve been working together, so we hope you’ll keep an eye on the fight, keep up the fight against this terrorist organization until it is decisively defeated,” Blinken said at the start of the meeting. Blinken noted that 10,000 Islamic State militants are being detained by Syrian Democratic Forces, calling the situation “simply untenable” and calling on governments to repatriate their citizens for rehabilitation or prosecution.  The top U.S. diplomat announced $436 million in additional humanitarian aid for Syrians and communities in surrounding countries that have been hosting Syrian refugees. He said the money would go toward providing food, water, shelter, health care, education and protection.  The United States launched a coalition effort, now involving 83 members, aimed at defeating the Islamic State group in 2014 after the militants seized control of a large area across northern Syria and Iraq, and in 2019 declared the militants had been ousted from their last remaining territory.    Another meeting Monday in Italy focused specifically on Syria, where in addition to issues related to the Islamic State group, Blinken, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi De Maio and other ministers called for renewed efforts to bring an end to the decade-long conflict that began in 2011.    Humanitarian access, in particular the ability for the United Nations to deliver cross-border aid, were among the issues that Blinken highlighted, the State Department said.    He also expressed U.S. support for an immediate cease-fire in Syria. 

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Байден на зустрічі з президентом Ізраїлю: Іран не матиме ядерної зброї

Байден висловив сподівання зустріти нового прем’єр-міністра в Білому домі «дуже скоро»

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Австралія розширює локдаун, Британія планує зняти обмеження в липні, попри штам «Дельта»

Понад 95 відсотків заражень COVID-19 у Великій Британії зараз припадає на штам «Дельта»

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Кулеба про розрив Мінськом зв’язків з ЄС: білоруський народ належить до європейської сім’ї

У відповідь на європейські санкції МЗС Білорусі заявило про кілька кроків, зокрема, про припинення участі Білорусі в ініціативі ЄС «Східне партнерство»

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Judge Dismisses Government Antitrust Lawsuits Against Facebook

A federal judge on Monday dismissed antitrust lawsuits brought against Facebook by the Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of state attorneys general, dealing a significant blow to attempts by regulators to rein in tech giants. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled Monday that the lawsuits were “legally insufficient” and didn’t provide enough evidence to prove that Facebook was a monopoly. The ruling dismisses the complaint but not the case, meaning the FTC could refile another complaint. “These allegations — which do not even provide an estimated actual figure or range for Facebook’s market share at any point over the past 10 years — ultimately fall short of plausibly establishing that Facebook holds market power,” he said. The U.S. government and 48 states and districts sued Facebook in December 2020, accusing the tech giant of abusing its market power in social networking to crush smaller competitors and seeking remedies that could include a forced spinoff of the social network’s Instagram and WhatsApp messaging services. The FTC had alleged Facebook engaged in a “a systematic strategy” to eliminate its competition, including by purchasing smaller up-and-coming rivals like Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. New York Attorney General Letitia James said when filing the suit that Facebook “used its monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users.” Boasberg dismissed the separate complaint made by the state attorneys general, as well. 
 

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EU Warns Against COVID-19 Complacency as Delta Variant Spreads

The vice president of the European Commission on Monday warned against complacency regarding the COVID-19 pandemic as the highly infectious delta variant, first discovered in India, continues to spread on the continent. During a European Union parliamentary committee meeting, European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas said a recent advisory from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) indicates the delta variant is expected to account for 70% of all new cases in Europe by August, and 90% by the end of that month.  He said ECDC modeling scenarios suggested that further relaxations of coronavirus safety restrictions would lead to “a significant increase in daily cases in all age groups with an associated increase in hospitalizations and probably deaths.” Schinas added he had doubts about London’s Wembley stadium hosting the semi-final or final match of the European soccer championship at high capacity. He said given Britain’s travel restrictions on travel to Europe, “there needs to be a certain amount of symmetry to these decisions.””I think here that UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) would do well to carefully analyze its decision,” he added. The British government has said Wembley will be allowed to hold the Euro 2020 semi-finals and final with at least 60,000 fans. Britain’s new Health Minister Sajid David told Parliament Monday he sees no reason why the government cannot go ahead with its plan to lift all restrictions in the country by July 19. This article contains content from The Associated Press and Reuters. 
 

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Global Coalition Fears Islamic State Expansion in Africa

Western powers are promising recent successes by the Islamic State across Africa will not go unanswered, backing plans for a task force to focus on the terror group’s spread from Iraq and Syria to the African continent.The announcement Monday following a meeting in Rome by the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS comes a day before the seventh anniversary of the terror group’s proclamation of its self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and two years since the caliphate’s territorial defeat in Syria.But despite constant pressure from the U.S. military and other coalition members, Western counterterrorism officials warn that IS, or Daesh as the group is also known, has found ways not just to survive but to spread, increasingly focusing the group’s propaganda on the exploits of its African affiliates.“We are fearing the expansion and spread of Daesh in Africa,” Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told reporters Monday, citing what he described as a “cry for help” from communities in countries such as Niger and Mali.”We know that many villages have fallen in the hands of terrorists,” Di Maio said through an interpreter, adding the threat is pressing ever closer.“We’re now seeing that a number of terrorist cells are proliferating in regions such as the Sahel, where obviously the main migration routes are present, the routes of those who come to Europe,” he said.#ISIS-#Africa: “In my recent missions to #Niger & #Mali, I witnessed the cry for help from those communities” per #Italy FM Di Maio (via translator)”We know that many villages have fallen in the hands of terrorists…” Di Maio says, noting need for “holistic approach”— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) June 28, 2021Di Maio did not share details about how the new African task force will work to combat IS, though he noted the need for a “holistic approach,” which considered factors such as climate change and poverty that might drive some people toward extremism.“We must step up the action undertaken by the coalition, not by shifting our focus but by increasing the areas in which we can operate … [in] the Sahel, Mozambique and the Horn of Africa,” he said.Speaking alongside Di Maio Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken backed the call for the task force to push back against IS gains in Africa.”We strongly support Italy’s initiative to make sure that the coalition against Daesh focuses its expertise on Africa while keeping our eyes closely on Syria and Iraq,” Blinken said. “We heard a strong consensus.”In a communique issued after the meeting, ministers from the 83-coalition countries noted three of the coalition’s newest members — the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mauritania — are from Africa.Three other African nations — Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Ghana — attended as observers, officials said.As if to underscore the growing threat from IS affiliates in Africa, IS’s West Africa Province circulated a video last Friday allegedly showing fighters from the Boko Haram terror group switching sides to join with their former rivals.”We have now joined with our Ikhwan (brothers),” a former Boko Haram fighter said in the video obtained by SITE Intelligence Group.“We should not relent in our effort to fight the kuffar (infidels),” the speaker added, according to a copy obtained by Reuters.The video comes less than a month after IS-West Africa first issued claims that longtime Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau died after being captured by its fighters..@HumAngle_@Reuters have reported #ISIS-West #Africa leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi confirmed #BokoHaram’s Shekau death last month in a recent audio recordinghttps://t.co/o69685Q6TL— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) June 7, 2021U.S. officials have yet to confirm Shekau’s death, though they tell VOA the sourcing for such reports appear to be more credible than previous claims of his demise.Yet while U.S. officials and experts say Shekau’s death would be a positive development, they caution that the danger from terror groups like IS-West Africa are far from gone.“The Islamic State’s presence in Africa has been clear and steadily growing, even as IS Central’s power has waned,” said Jason Warner, lead Africa researcher at West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center.“The sheer number of IS African provinces and wings with clear staying power has arguably created an even more intractable threat from IS than we’ve seen in the past,” he added, noting the threat in Africa “is arguably at its pinnacle right now.”Yet, other experts worry that the Defeat ISIS coalition’s focus on Africa, first suggested by U.S. officials in late 2019, may be a case of too little, too late.“We agreed at the working level that West #Africa & the #Sahel would be a preferred, initial area of focus for the Coalition outside of the #ISIS core space –& w/good reason” per @SecPompeo “ISIS is outpacing the ability of regional gvts and int’l partners to address the threat”— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) November 14, 2019 “While it is good that the coalition is talking about Africa and bringing relevant countries into the discussion, any coordination seems to be still in the early stages, while the conditions on the ground are deteriorating very fast,” Emily Estelle, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told VOA.“The proposed task force should focus its energy on backing up military success with governance success,” she added. “This is the gap that lets IS and other groups keep coming back after military losses.”But there are questions about how much military might the coalition will be able to muster across Africa.France this month announced it would end its counterterrorism operation in the Sahel, and the U.S. military is still in the process of a posture review that could see more of its troops leave Africa.U.S. military officials have previously noted that the removal of U.S. forces from Somalia, ordered by former U.S. President Donald Trump, “has introduced new layers of complexity and risk.”And a report from the Pentagon’s inspector general late last year warned the terrorist threat across Africa was expanding, despite U.S. efforts to contain it.In a separate but related move Monday, the U.S. designated Ousmane Illiassou Djibo, a top official with IS in the Greater Sahara, as a specially designated global terrorist, describing him as the architect of a network to kidnap or kill westerners in Niger and surrounding areas.US designates a top #ISIS in the Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS) official as a Specially Designated Global TerroristPer @StateDept, Ousmane Illiassou Djibo –aka Petit Chapori – is a close collaborator/key lieutenant of ISIS-GS leader, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi pic.twitter.com/ii9XEWXNB2— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) June 28, 2021IS in SyriaDespite the focus on IS in Africa, U.S. officials have been warning of the ongoing threat from the terror group’s core leadership in Iraq and especially in Syria, where IS has been able to revive its fortunes in areas nominally controlled by the Syrian government and its Russian allies.There have also been persistent concerns about the 10,000 IS fighters, including 2,000 foreign fighters, being held by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a situation Blinken described as untenable.“There is some urgency,” he told reporters. “There is a need for countries to take action to repatriate foreign fighters that come from those countries, to prosecute them where appropriate, to rehabilitate and reintegrate where appropriate.”AfghanistanThe Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS also expressed concerns about the terror group’s fortunes in Afghanistan, praising efforts by Kabul to counter the so-called Khorasan province.Earlier this month, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told lawmakers there was a “medium” risk of groups like IS-Khorasan regenerating the ability to threaten the West.Intelligence assessments from the U.S. and from United Nation member states have also warned of the affiliate’s ability to threaten both Afghanistan and the wider region.Cindy Saine, Chris Hannas contributed to this report 

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Чехія офіційно вимагає від Росії відшкодування за підрив складів озброєнь 2014 року, в Москві скаржаться на «вимагання»

МЗС Чехії «застосувало міжнародно-правову відповідальність» щодо Росії у зв’язку з вибухами, влаштованими агентами російських спецслужб

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Merkel Continues to Urge Summit with Putin

German Chancellor Angela Merkel Monday continued to make the case that a face-to-face summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin is the best way to address regional issues with him, days after other European leaders rejected her proposal for such a meeting.
 
Merkel, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, proposed the summit idea during a European Union meeting in Brussels. Eastern European leaders, particularly members who share borders with Russia, rejected the proposal, saying such a meeting would reward Putin for recent aggressive Russian behavior such as cyberattacks or the deployment of troops on the border with Ukraine.   
 
The EU leaders instead agreed to establish guidelines and conditions for a future summit.
 
Speaking Monday during a virtual meeting between the French and German parliaments, Merkel once again defended the proposal, saying it is better for EU leaders to talk directly to the Russian president instead of discussing issues amongst themselves.
 
 “The relationship between Russia and the European Union is really not good at the moment, but even during the Cold War, people talked to each other,” Merkel said. “So, I think silence is not conducive to solving the problems.”  
 
Merkel did say that the discussions about how future summits might be held were helpful and bring the EU one step closer to holding a meeting.
 
Merkel pointed to U.S. President Joe Biden’s one-on-one summit with Putin earlier this month and said confronting Russia face-to-face can also result in cooperation on some issues.
 
KremIin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters last week that “President Putin was and remains interested in establishing working relations between Moscow and Brussels.” 

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В Україні вшанували День Конституції

Це державне свято встановлене на честь нині чинної Конституції України, ухваленої 28 червня 1996 року

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Anti-Islamic State Coalition: IS Terrorists Remain a Threat  

Coalition ministers met face-to-face in Rome for the first time in two years, pledging to maintain watch against a resurgence of the insurgents.The resumption in ISIS “activities and its ability to rebuild its networks and capabilities to target security forces and civilians in areas in Iraq and Syria where the coalition is not active, requires strong vigilance and coordinated action,” the diplomats said in a concluding communique.The coalition said it needed “both to address the drivers that make communities vulnerable to recruitment by Daesh/ISIS and related violent ideological groups, as well as to provide support to liberated areas to safeguard our collective security interests.” The group “noted with grave concern that Daesh/ISIS affiliates and networks in sub-Saharan Africa threaten security and stability, namely in the Sahel Region and in East Africa/Mozambique.” The coalition said it would work with any country that requested help in fighting ISIS.Daesh is Arabic acronym for Islamic State.Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella at Quirinale Palace in Rome, June 28, 2021.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the start of the coalition meeting, “We’ve made great progress because we’ve been working together, so we hope you’ll keep an eye on the fight, keep up the fight against this terrorist organization until it is decisively defeated.”He said coalition efforts had produced “significant achievements,” including virtually ceasing the movement of foreign fighters into Iraq and Syria.Blinken noted that 10,000 ISIS militants are being detained by Syrian Democratic Forces, calling the situation “simply untenable” and calling on governments to repatriate their citizens for rehabilitation or prosecution.The top U.S. diplomat announced $436 million in additional humanitarian aid for Syrians and communities in surrounding countries that have been hosting Syrian refugees. He said the money would go toward providing food, water, shelter, health care, education and protection.The United States launched a coalition effort, now involving 83 members, aimed at defeating the Islamic State group in 2014 after the militants seized control of a large area across northern Syria and Iraq, and in 2019 declared the militants had been ousted from their last remaining territory.  Secretary of State Antony Blinken accompanied by Italy’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, right, speaks during a news conference at Fiera Roma in Rome, June 28, 2021.Another meeting Monday in Italy focused specifically on Syria, where in addition to issues related to the Islamic State group, Blinken, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi De Maio and other ministers called for renewed efforts to bring an end to the decade-long conflict that began in 2011.  Humanitarian access, in particular the ability for the United Nations to deliver cross-border aid, were among the issues that Blinken highlighted, the State Department said.  He also expressed U.S. support for an immediate cease-fire in Syria.  “Stability in Syria, and the greater region, can only be achieved through a political process that represents the will of all Syrians,” Joey Hood, the acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, told reporters.  “We’re committed to working with allies, partners, and the U.N. to ensure that a durable political solution remains within reach.”  Efforts to resolve the Syrian conflict, through a combination of halting the fighting and carrying out a political roadmap endorsed by the U.N. Security Council, have seen little progress in recent years.  Hood said the international community “must renew its shared resolve to ensure the protection, dignity, and human rights of the Syrian people.”  Pope Francis shakes hands with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as they meet at the Vatican, June 28, 2021.Earlier Monday, Blinken visited the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis and other officials, with climate change, human rights and human trafficking among the topics of discussion.  The visit came ahead of an expected October meeting between the pope and Joe Biden, the second Catholic U.S. president.  Blinken is on a multi-nation tour of Europe, which on Tuesday takes him to Matera, Italy for a meeting of G-20 foreign ministers. The agenda for those talks includes the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and equitable economic recovery. 

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