Ukraine’s Countrywide Stability and Defense Council has instructed the govt to post to the Verkhovna Rada a draft legislation on generating it impossible for spiritual companies affiliated with centers of influence in Russia to run in Ukraine.

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U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron presented a united front on Ukraine on Thursday at the White House, and Biden said he would talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin if he is willing to end the invasion.

Biden has resisted talking to Putin since the Russian leader launched the invasion in February, while Macron has kept lines of communication with Putin open.

“I’m prepared, if he’s willing to talk, (to) find out what he’s willing to do,” Biden told a joint news conference with Macron.

But Biden said he would only do this in consultation with his NATO allies and would do nothing that would harm Ukrainian interests. “I’m not going to do it on my own,” he said.

Macron, for his part, said he would continue to talk to Putin to “try to prevent escalation and to get some very concrete results” such as the safety of nuclear plants.

Biden is playing host to Macron for the first state visit since the U.S. president took power in early 2021. Besides pledging support for Ukraine, the two leaders sought ways to ease some economic tensions in Oval Office talks.

Biden pledged to Macron to make changes to U.S. legislation passed by the U.S. Congress this year that European nations fear will harm their economies. Bills aimed at boosting U.S. renewable energy and the semiconductor industry have “glitches” that can be addressed, Biden said.

Macron raising French and European concerns about Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a new $430 billion bill that offers massive subsidies for U.S.-made products and is aimed at addressing the climate crisis and promoting renewable energy.

“France did not come here to ask for some kind of exception for its economy. We came to share how the consequences of this regulation impact us,” he said.

European leaders say the legislative package signed by Biden in August is unfair to non-American companies and would be a serious blow to their economies as Europe deals with the fallout from Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine.

“There are tweaks that we can make that can fundamentally make it easier for European countries to participate and or be on their own,” said Biden, adding he and Macron had had a long discussion about the topic.

Macron said it was important for the United States and its European allies to “re-synchronize” their approaches.

In a joint statement issued after their Oval Office talks, the two leaders said they were committed to holding Russia to account “for widely documented atrocities and war crimes, committed both by its regular armed forces and by its proxies” in Ukraine.

They also vowed to coordinate on their concerns regarding “China’s challenge to the rules-based international order, including respect for human rights and to work together with China on important global issues like climate change.”

NATO ministers met in Bucharest on Thursday and pledged more aid to Ukraine to help against Russia’s attacks on energy infrastructure as winter bites.

The alliance, of which the United States and France are founding members, was also discussing how to address challenges posed by China’s military buildup and its cooperation with Russia, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Macron has said in the past that China should not be a focus for NATO.

Macron and his wide, Brigitte, arrived in Washington on Tuesday for his second state visit to the United States since the French leader took office in 2017.

Biden, 80, and Macron, 44, have had many meetings at international gatherings but this was the longest time they have spent together. A glittering state dinner was planned later on Thursday, with 200 Maine lobsters flown in for the occasion.

Biden and his wife Jill greeted the Macrons with hugs, kisses and broad smiles as they celebrated more than 200 years of U.S.-French relations.

The two leaders and their wives, who dined together informally at a restaurant on Wednesday, took part in a South Lawn arrival ceremony that featured a military honor guard, a red-jacketed colonial band with the Fife and Drum Corps and national anthems.

Among the gifts Macron brought was a vinyl and CD version of the original soundtrack of Claude Lelouch’s 1966 film “Un Homme et une Femme,” the film the Bidens went to see on their first date, according to the Elysee Palace.

The Bidens presented Macron with a custom mirror made of fallen wood from the White House grounds and a custom vinyl record collection of great American musicians.

The formal dinner in a pavilion on the White House South Lawn will feature music from Jon Batiste, Chardonnay from the Napa Valley and cheeses from Oregon, California and Wisconsin.

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Japan staged their second stunning turnaround of the World Cup to beat 2010 champions Spain 2-1 on Thursday to surge into the last 16 along with their beaten opponents and dump Germany out in one of the greatest nights for the Samurai Blue.

Staring at the prospect of an early World Cup exit at half-time, Japan set up a round of 16 clash with Croatia – the beaten finalists in 2018 – while Spain had to rely on goal difference to edge out Germany. They now face Morocco.

Japan’s turnaround was built on coach Hajime Moriyasu’s revamp of his side at the break when they were losing 1-0.

On came Ritsu Doan and within three minutes he hammered in a shot from the edge of the box which Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon – whose poor clearance had created the danger in the first place – could not keep out.

With Japan’s noisy travelling fans barely catching their breath, Ao Tanaka scored from point-blank range in the 51st minute, bundling the ball in after the other halftime sub Kaoru Mitoma cut the ball back from the byline.

The VAR system took several minutes to confirm the ball had not gone out before Mitoma’s touch. Replays suggested that a sliver of the ball had not crossed the line and the verdict sparked wild celebrations similar to the scenes that followed Japan’s 2-1 comeback win over Germany last week.

“We played against Spain, one of the best teams in the world and we knew before the game that this was going to be very tough and difficult, and indeed it was,” said Moriyasu whose side lost to Costa Rica in their second match in Qatar.

“The players conceded one goal, but they persisted and in very difficult circumstances, they did very well,” he told reporters.

Spain had looked in total control in the first half but suddenly they were the ones clinging to their chance of staying in the World Cup as Costa Rica and Germany battled out their own drama in the other Group E match.

Germany won 4-2, a margin of victory that was not big enough to keep them in the tournament.

Alvaro Morata had put the Spaniards ahead when he scored his third goal in three games in Qatar, rising above Japan’s defence to power a header past goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda in the 11th minute after a cross by his former Chelsea team mate Cesar Azpilicueta.

In the dying minutes, winger Dani Olmo came closest to a leveller but his angled shot was easily gathered by Gonda.

The breathtaking win for Japan meant they topped Group E, followed by Spain in second who finished ahead of third-placed Germany only on goal difference.

Japan fans were in tears at the end of the match which gives them a chance to go further than they ever have before at a World Cup. Japan have previously reached the last 16 on three occasions and lost each time.

“There were many fans who came all the way from Japan, as well as those that stayed behind in Japan,” coach Moriyasu said. “We are gifting this win to the people of Japan and we are very happy about it.”

Spain coach Luis Enrique, who made five changes to his starting side to give first-choice players a rest, was far from happy.

“We didn’t have any danger in the first half, then in the second half, I told them during halftime to be cautious, because they would attack in the second half, they don’t have anything to lose,” he said. “I have nothing to celebrate.”

Japan defender Kou Itakura was shown his second yellow card of the tournament and will be suspended for the Croatia match.

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Jurors heard starkly different views on Thursday on whether to convict former President Donald Trump’s real estate company of tax fraud, with the prosecution describing a culture of wrongdoing at the Trump Organization and the defense blaming the greed of the government’s star witness.

In closing arguments at the criminal trial, defense lawyer Susan Necheles said Trump knew nothing about and deserved no blame for the misconduct of Allen Weisselberg, the company’s longtime chief financial officer, who pleaded guilty and testified for the prosecution.

“We are here today because of one reason and one reason only – the greed of Allen Weisselberg,” Necheles told the 12-person jury in a New York state court in Manhattan. “The purpose of Mr. Weisselberg’s crimes was to benefit Mr. Weisselberg.”

Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, said Weisselberg was a product of the “culture of fraud and deception” at Trump’s company, and not its only tax fraud beneficiary.

“He also intended to benefit the defendants, even if to a far lesser extent,” Steinglass said. “And that is enough to make those corporations criminally liable.”

Steinglass added that Trump, who was not charged in the case, “knew exactly what was going on with his top executives.”

The Trump Organization was charged in July 2021 with paying personal expenses for some executives without reporting the income, and compensating them as if they were independent contractors, in a 15-year scheme to cheat tax authorities.

If convicted on all nine counts it faces, the company faces up to $1.6 million in fines.

Weisselberg is expected to serve five months in jail after pleading guilty to tax fraud and other charges. He is on paid leave after having worked for Trump’s family for half a century.

Closing arguments are expected to continue on Friday, with jury deliberations beginning on Monday. Justice Juan Merchan has presided over the trial, which began on Oct. 24.

To prove the Trump Organization’s guilt, prosecutors must show that Weisselberg and other executives acted as “high managerial agents” when they carried out tax fraud, and intended to benefit the company in some way.

Weisselberg testified that he improperly received bonus payments as non-employee compensation and hid from tax authorities various payments from the company for his rent, car leases and other personal expenses.

Some of his testimony may have helped the defense. He told jurors his greed motivated him to cheat on taxes, and described the company’s modest payroll tax savings as a “byproduct.” At one point, he choked up on the stand while describing his embarrassment at violating the Trump family’s trust.

Necheles told jurors: “The issue here is not whether as a byproduct the company saved some money. … His intent was to benefit himself, not the company.”

Donald Bender, an outside accountant with the firm Mazars USA who was granted immunity from prosecution, was the main defense witness. He testified that he trusted Weisselberg to give him accurate financial information for the company’s tax returns, and had no obligation to investigate further.

Necheles told jurors Bender should have blown the whistle on Weisselberg.

“Bender failed,” she said.

Steinglass urged jurors to dismiss the defense’s “far-fetched argument” that Trump’s company relied on Mazars to catch wrongdoing.

Mazars cut ties with the Trump Organization in February.

Trump, a Republican, has called the charges politically motivated. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who attended Thursday’s closing arguments, is a Democrat, as is his predecessor Cyrus Vance, who brought the charges last year.

The case is separate from New York Attorney General Letitia James’s $250 million civil lawsuit accusing Trump, three of his adult children and his company of overstating asset values and Trump’s net worth to get favorable bank loans and insurance coverage.

Trump also faces federal investigations into his removal of government documents from the White House after leaving office and efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, and a Georgia state probe over attempts to undo his election defeat there.

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The liberation of Kherson in early November sparked a wave of euphoria as Ukrainians celebrated a landmark victory over Vladimir Putin’s invading army. Weeks later, this celebratory mood has now given way to all-too-familiar feelings of grief and fury as the Ukrainian authorities uncover evidence of war crimes committed during the city’s eight-month Russian occupation.

This grim process has already been repeated in hundreds of liberated villages, towns, and cities throughout northern and eastern Ukraine. On each occasion, retreating Russian troops have left behind a vast crime scene of mass graves, torture chambers, sexual violence, and deeply traumatized communities. Specific accounts of civilian suffering are strikingly similar from region to region, indicating that these crimes are the result of deliberate Kremlin policy rather than the rogue actions of individual Russian army units.

Wherever Russia establishes control, anyone regarded as posing a potential threat to the occupation authorities is at risk of abduction. This includes elected local officials, military veterans, civil society activists, journalists, and anyone suspected of overtly pro-Ukrainian sympathies. Many victims are subjected to torture and execution. Others simply disappear. Those who avoid abduction face the threat of forced deportation to the Russian Federation. Millions of Ukrainian civilians, including thousands of children, are believed to have been deported in this manner over the past nine months.

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The atrocities committed by Russian troops in occupied regions of Ukraine are only one part of a wider genocidal agenda that defines the invasion unleashed by Vladimir Putin on February 24. In areas of Ukraine occupied by the Kremlin, all symbols of Ukrainian statehood have been methodically removed and a new Russian imperial identity imposed on the civilian population. Teachers have been brought in from Russia to indoctrinate Ukrainian schoolchildren, while access to the Ukrainian media has been blocked and the Ukrainian language suppressed.

Putin’s intention to extinguish Ukrainian statehood and eradicate Ukrainian national identity was evident long before Russian tanks crossed the border in early 2022. His menacing statements have since been matched by the criminal actions of his army. Apologists had earlier been able to dismiss the Russian dictator’s genocidal rhetoric as mere political hyperbole, but that is no longer possible.

For years prior to the current invasion, Putin publicly denied Ukraine’s right to exist and insisted Ukrainians were actually Russians (“one people”) who had been artificially and unjustly separated from the motherland. In summer 2021, he took the highly unusual and revealing step of publishing a 5000-word treatise arguing the illegitimacy of Ukrainian statehood.

On the eve of the invasion, Putin lambasted today’s independent Ukrainian state as an intolerable “anti-Russia” and declared that Ukraine was an “inalienable part of Russia’s own history, culture, and spiritual space.” More recently, he has directly compared his invasion to the eighteenth century imperial conquests of Russian Czar Peter the Great and boasted that he is “returning historically Russian lands.” In late September, he illegally annexed four partially occupied Ukrainian provinces while proclaiming that they had joined the Russian Federation “forever.”

Other senior Kremlin officials and regime propagandists have been even more explicit in terms of the genocidal language they have employed to champion the invasion. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev recently described Ukrainians as “cockroaches” while dismissing the Ukrainian nation as “mythical.” Meanwhile, on Russia’s carefully curated state TV political talk shows, calls for genocide against Ukrainians have become completely normalized. Pundits dehumanize and demonize Ukrainians while routinely questioning the existence of a separate Ukrainian nation and casually discussing the necessity of destroying the Ukrainian state.

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Wed, December 7, 2022 • 10:30 am ET

Prosecuting the crime of aggression in Ukraine

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The staggering quantity of genocidal statements coming out of Russia since the invasion of Ukraine began nine months ago makes it relatively easy to demonstrate the intent that is so crucial when identifying acts of genocide. The United Nations defines genocide as meaning any one of five acts “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group.” The mass killings, systematic human rights abuses, forced deportations, and deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure carried out by the Russian military mean that Moscow is arguably guilty of committing all five genocidal acts in Ukraine.

Despite widespread awareness of the war crimes taking place in Ukraine, many in the international community remain reluctant to speak explicitly about the genocidal objectives of Russia’s invasion. Instead, debate continues over the dangers of humiliating Putin and the need for a negotiated settlement. Numerous senior officials and prominent commentators insist on addressing the invasion as if it were a particularly unruly border dispute rather than an exercise in national extermination. In reality, any talk of compromising with the Kremlin is both absurd and obscene. Advocates of appeasement must recognize that there can be no middle ground between Russian genocide and Ukrainian national survival.

In the aftermath of World War II, post-war audiences looked back on the horrors of the Nazi regime and asked how crimes of such magnitude were allowed to happen. Many of those who lived through the war protested that they had been completely unaware of the atrocities taking place around them. Similar excuses will not work in the current situation. On the contrary, the overwhelming evidence of Russian war crimes and the openly genocidal intent on display in Moscow mean that when future generations look back at Putin’s Ukrainian Genocide, nobody can claim they did not know.

Peter Dickinson is Editor of the Atlantic Council’s UkraineAlert Service.

Further reading

UkraineAlert
Oct 17, 2022

Putin’s blackout blitz: Russia aims to freeze Ukrainians into surrender

By
Suriya Evans-Pritchard Jayanti

Russia is seeking to plunge Ukraine into darkness ahead of the winter heating season by destroying the country’s energy infrastructure. Ukraine’s partners must step in to make sure Ukrainians are not frozen into surrender.

Conflict
Energy Markets & Governance

UkraineAlert
Nov 10, 2022

Battle of Kherson: Russian retreat confirms Putin is losing the war

By
Andriy Zagorodnyuk

The war is still far from over, but Ukraine’s victory in the Battle of Kherson may eventually come to be seen as one of the key turning points in the defeat of Vladimir Putin’s invasion, writes Andriy Zagorodnyuk.

Conflict
Freedom and Prosperity

UkraineAlert
Nov 17, 2022

Kherson euphoria highlights the folly of a premature peace with Putin

By
Peter Dickinson

Footage of the euphoric scenes in liberated Kherson should be compulsory viewing for anyone who still believes in the possibility of a negotiated settlement between Ukraine and Russia, argues Peter Dickinson.

Civil Society
Conflict

The views expressed in UkraineAlert are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.

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UkraineAlert is a comprehensive online publication that provides regular news and analysis on developments in Ukraine’s politics, economy, civil society, and culture.

The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia and Central Asia in the East.

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The post Vladimir Putin’s Ukrainian Genocide: Nobody can claim they did not know appeared first on Atlantic Council.

George Washington University is pursuing disciplinary charges against the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, and its president, following an October protest, according to a nonprofit representing the student. 

That nonprofit, Palestine Legal, said that the university will hold two hearings Friday to determine whether Lance Lokas, a sophomore, and the club he leads violated the school’s policy against property destruction for placing posters critical of Israel and Zionism around campus, including outside the Hillel building.

Dylan Saba, an attorney for Palestine Legal, said that Lokas and club members followed all university rules and placed posters on public lampposts in accordance with Washington, D.C., law, which allows temporary posters so long as they aren’t advertising goods or services.

“Students, like any D.C. resident, have free expression rights,” Saba said.

 

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A post shared by Students for Justice in Palestine at GWU (@gwusjp)

The hearing comes amid pitched battles over campus activism related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on college campuses, including dueling legal complaints by national organizations representing each side. The Forward spent a year following Jewish students on the frontlines of this activism at GW, and published its findings in October.

GW Hillel said that the hearings were focused on what it called “the antisemitic act of vandalism that targeted our Hillel.”

“At this time of rising antisemitism in our country, university leaders have a moral, legal, and ethical responsibility to recognize and forcefully confront this serious threat,” Adena Kirstein, the Hillel director, said in an email.

The Jewish students who were involved in placing the posters strenuously objected to the argument that they were antisemitic at the time, and Students for Justice in Palestine called those claims disingenuous in a social media post this week.

The university said in a statement to the Forward that it does not comment on student disciplinary proceedings.

“When the university receives reports of student activity that may violate university policy, the university proceeds in accordance with our Code of Student Conduct and applicable university policies and procedures,” a spokesperson said.

Lokas was not available for comment.

Posters, protest drew attention

The hearings Friday are about an Oct. 6 event organized by Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace in which they placed posters around campus supporting Palestinian rights and assailing Israel. Some used profanity, including several that stated: “Zionists fuck off” over the image of a woman wearing a keffiyah. 

The following week, the two clubs gathered outside the Hillel building — located near the center of GW’s urban campus — to protest an event hosted by GW for Israel featuring Doron Tenne, a former senior commander in the Israel Defense Forces who they accused of war crimes.

Video of the protest and photos of the posters circulated among pro-Israel organizations on social media, and at least one — StopAntisemitism.org — encouraged its followers to identify the students involved.

Posters targeting Israel were placed around George Washington University’s campus in early October, including several profane flyers outside the Hillel building. Another flyer read: “Zionists fuck off.” Photo by Eric Lee for the Forward

After the event, Palestine Legal said that campus police subsequently contacted an Arab student who was a member of SJP to question her about the protest. Lokas was subsequently contacted by university officials who held a student conduct meeting about both the protest and the posters.

The school charged Lokas with violating the student conduct code for “misconduct related to property,” according to Palestine Legal. Those charges will be adjudicated Friday in two separate hearings, one for the claims against Lokas and another for those against Students for Justice in Palestine.

Saba said the most severe sanction that Lokas and the club could face is “disciplinary probation,” which would not involve removal from campus or a ban of the group.

While the university is not seeking to enforce Washington, D.C., law, the district’s municipal code generally allows non-commercial posters to be placed on public property for up to 180 days. It includes a series of other requirements that do not appear to have been followed in this case, including that posters must be marked with the date they were posted.

Two posters were pasted onto a seating area that is part of GW Hillel’s building, which is not public property, on the same night that the other posters were pasted nearby. The organization said that removing the posters caused damage to the wooden benches. Saba said they were not placed there by Lokas or any SJP members. “A lot of people participated,” he said of the postering.

Previous clashes

Palestine Legal filed a legal complaint against GW last year, claiming that it discriminated against Palestinian students when it shut down a student support office. The office organized a virtual event for Palestinian students during the May 2021 violence in Israel and Gaza, and accused Israel of apartheid on social media, drawing a rebuke from university leadership.

Saba said that complaint is still being investigated by the D.C. Human Rights Commission.

He said it appeared that SJP had been singled out for disciplinary action by the university. Jewish Voice for Peace’s campus chapter, which helped organize both the postering and protest outside Hillel does not appear to have been sanctioned. 

Last winter, posters were placed around campus satirizing the Winter Olympics in Beijing by drawing attention to Chinese human rights abuses by showing Chinese athletes beating Tibetan monks and shooting Uighur Muslims. The Chinese Students and Scholars Association claimed that the posters were racist, but Mark Wrighton, the university president, defended them as expressions of free speech.

“I do not view these posters as racist; they are political statements,” Wrighton said at the time. “There is no university investigation underway, and the university will not take any action against the students who displayed the posters.”

The post Palestinian student activist faces discipline over ‘F— Zionists’ postering appeared first on The Forward.