U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he will speak to his Russian counterpart in the coming days about a “substantial” offer aimed at bringing home American basketball star Brittney Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, both currently detained in Russia.

Other issues expected to come up between Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov include the implementation of a deal to resume grain exports through Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, and Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

The two top diplomats last spoke in person on February 15, days before Russia launched its military invasion in Ukraine. 

At a press conference Wednesday, Blinken said Washington had communicated a “substantial” offer to Moscow in order to bring home Griner and Whelan. He declined to disclose details of the offer.

“With a substantial proposal on the table weeks ago to facilitate the release [of Whelan and Griner], our governments have communicated repeatedly and directly on that proposal,” said Blinken, adding that he plans to follow up personally during a phone call with Lavrov.

“My hope would be in speaking to Foreign Minister Lavrov, I can advance the efforts to bring them home,” he said, adding that President Joe Biden has been directly involved and signed off on the U.S. offer.

Griner, who has admitted arriving in Russia in February with vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage, testified at a court hearing Wednesday that a language interpreter provided to her translated only a fraction of what was being said as authorities arrested her.

Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive being held on espionage-related charges that his family contends are bogus, has been held in Russia since late 2018.

Blinken stopped short of confirming media reports speculating that either or both of the Americans could be exchanged for prominent Russian arms trader Viktor Bout, who is jailed in the U.S.

The tentative deal on grain exports that Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations reached last week is also high on the list of U.S. priorities.  U.S. officials urged Moscow to uphold its commitment after Russian missiles struck infrastructure Saturday in Ukraine’s port of Odesa – the day after the deal was signed.  

Blinken said Russia needs to follow through on its pledge to allow the grain vessels to pass through the Black Sea.

“End this blockade, allow the grain to leave, allow us to feed our people, allow prices to come down. … The test now is whether there’s actual implementation of the agreement. That’s what we’re looking at.  We’ll see in the coming days.”

Turkish officials have opened a joint coordination center for Ukrainian grain exports and say they expect shipments to begin in the coming days. Kyiv said work had resumed at three Black Sea ports in preparation for the shipments.

At the United Nations, spokesperson Farhan Haq welcomed the opening of the joint coordination center which, he said, will “establish a humanitarian maritime corridor to allow ships to export grain and related foodstuffs” from Ukraine.

Lavrov, wrapping up a four-nation trip to Africa in Addis Ababa, pushed back Wednesday on Western allegations that his country is to blame for the global food crisis.  Lavrov said food prices were rising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and what he called “green policies” pursued by the West.

State Department officials cautioned the expected call between Blinken and Lavrov call does not mean business as usual between the U.S. and Russia, but rather is an opportunity to convey Washington’s concerns clearly and directly.  

There is no plan for in-person meetings between the two on the margins of the ASEAN Regional Forum that will be held in Cambodia in early August.

The chief U.S. diplomat said he will warn Lavrov in the phone conversation that Russia must not annex occupied areas of Ukraine as the war enter its sixth month. 

On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces have struck a strategically important bridge in the southern part of the country, using what a Russia-appointed official said were rocket systems supplied by the United States.

The Antonivskyi Bridge crossing the Dnieper River was closed Wednesday following the Ukrainian strike.

Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russia-appointed administration for the Kherson region, said the bridge was still standing after the late Tuesday strike, but the road deck was full of holes.

Stremousov said Ukrainian forces used the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) to carry out the strike.

The bridge is a key link allowing Russia to supply its forces in southern Ukraine.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, highlighted the bridge strikes in a tweet Wednesday, saying Russian forces should take them as a warning.

Podolyak said the Russians “should learn how to swim across” the river or “leave Kherson while it is still possible.”

Ken Bredemeier, Chris Hannas and Margaret Besheer contributed to this story. Some information came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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More than five months after Russia began its attack on Ukraine, there is concern the world’s attention on the war is fading. To help, Ukrainian tennis stars joined their Polish counterparts to raise awareness and funds for Ukraine. VOA’s Myroslava Gongadze reports from Krakow, Poland.
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U.S. President Joe Biden signaled his recovery from COVID-19 Wednesday with his first public appearance, in which he touted the progress his administration has made in fighting the pandemic.  

Biden, who appeared in the White House Rose Garden in a suit and tie with his signature aviator sunglasses, appeared in good spirits.  

“As I was walking out, I thought I heard a rumbling on my staff saying, ‘Oh, he’s back,’” he said. “Thanks for sticking around.”

Biden was released from his isolation after testing negative for COVID-19 twice – on Tuesday night and again on Wednesday morning, his doctor said.  

“His symptoms have been steadily improving, and are almost completely resolved,” White House physician Kevin O’Connor wrote. “These results come after the president finished his five-day long treatment of (anti-viral drug) Paxlovid.” He added that Biden will continue to wear a well-fitting mask for 10 days around others.

“My recovery was quick and I’m feeling great,” Biden said. “The entire time I was in isolation, I was able to work, to carry out the duties of the office and without any interruption. It’s a real statement on where we are in the fight against COVID 19.”

Biden tested positive for COVID-19 last Thursday. He is fully vaccinated and double boosted – both interventions that are now more available than they were earlier in the pandemic.  

“When my predecessor got COVID, he had to get helicoptered to Walter Reed Medical Center,” he said. “He was severely ill. Thankfully, he recovered. When I got COVID, I worked from upstairs of the White House, the office upstairs, for the five-day period. The difference is vaccinations of course, but also three new tools free to all and widely available. You don’t need to be president to get these tools to use for your defense. In fact, the same booster shots, the same at home test, the same treatment that I got is available to you.”

He encouraged Americans to remain up to date on their vaccines and boosters, and to remain vigilant amid the rise of a new, highly infectious variant. 

“And now I get to go back to the Oval Office,” he said. 

He did not take questions from reporters as he made the short walk to the president’s ceremonial office. 
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U.S. professional basketball star Brittney Griner, who has admitted arriving in Russia in February with vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage, testified at a court hearing Wednesday that a language interpreter provided to her translated only a fraction of what was being said as authorities arrested her. 

Griner, who faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of transporting drugs, said she was instructed by officials to sign documents at the Moscow airport without them providing an explanation for what she was acknowledging. 

In the sixth session of her slow-moving trial, Griner testified she had no criminal intent in the incident and still does not know how the cannabis oil for which she had a doctor’s recommendation ended up in her luggage. She explained she had packed in haste for the 13-hour flight from the U.S. to Russia, where she was planning to play during the offseason of the Women’s National Basketball Association. 

Griner said she was offered neither an explanation of her rights as she was detained nor access to lawyers to explain the documents she signed. 

It is unclear how long Griner’s trial will last, but a court has authorized her detention until December 20. 

During a Tuesday court session, a Russian neuropsychologist testified about worldwide use of medicinal cannabis, but the drug remains illegal in Russia. Griner’s lawyers have presented a U.S. doctor’s letter recommending that she use medical cannabis to treat pain, which she says she has sustained from her basketball career. 

She testified Wednesday that cannabis oil is widely used in the U.S. for medicinal purposes and has fewer negative effects than some other painkillers. 

But a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said last week that the legalization of cannabis for medical and recreational use in parts of the U.S. had no bearing on what happens in Russia. 

Griner’s U.S. supporters say she is being held as a political pawn, possibly for a prisoner swap. Russian officials say no exchange can be discussed until her legal proceedings are completed.   

Some material in this report came from the Associated Press.  

 
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The U.S. Justice Department is investigating Donald Trump’s actions in its criminal probe of the former president’s attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing sources. 

The Justice Department has been interviewing former White House officials, including the former chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence, who confirmed on Monday he had testified to a federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn his defeat. 

Prosecutors questioning witnesses before the grand jury have asked about conversations with Trump and his lawyers and others close to him, the Post reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. 

The testimony of Pence’s former Pence chief of staff, Marc Short, the most high-profile official known to have appeared before the grand jury, is a sign the Justice Department’s investigation of the attack on the Capitol and the fake elector plot is heating up. 

Justice Department investigators in April also received phone records of important officials such as Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows, The Washington Post said. 

The Justice Department could not be immediately reached for comment. 

A spokeswoman for Trump did not reply to a request for comment from Reuters. Trump has denied wrongdoing. 

In an interview with CNN earlier this year, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco confirmed the Justice Department had received referrals about slates of alternative fake electors that were sent to the National Archives, and said prosecutors were reviewing them. 

The fake elector plot has featured prominently in multiple hearings of the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives committee probing the attack on the Capitol.
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When images beamed back to Earth by NASA’s largest, most powerful space telescope were released earlier this month, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio shared one of them on Twitter accompanied by a Bible verse: “The heavens declare the glory of God.”

The Webb telescope is orbiting the sun nearly two million kilometers from Earth. The observatory is on a mission to locate the universe’s first galaxies using extremely sensitive infrared cameras. The initial images released to the public provided the first-ever glimpse of ancient galaxies lighting up the sky.

The reaction to Rubio’s post was inundated with remarks like, “You do realize you can only see that due to science?” And, “If only you were scientifically literate enough to understand all of the ways that this image disproves your mythology.”

Reason versus superstition?

The skeptical comments are emblematic of the long-standing, ongoing debate about whether science and religion can be reconciled.

“There are a gazillion religions, each one making a different set of claims about reality, not just about the nature of God, but about history, about miracles, about what happened. And they’re all different, so they can’t all be true,” says Jerry A. Coyne, an evolutionary biologist and professor emeritus at the University of Chicago.

Coyne, who likens religion to superstition, wrote a book called, “Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion are Incompatible.”

“The incompatibility is that both science and religion make statements about what is true in the universe,” Coyne says. “Science has a way of verifying them and religion doesn’t. So, science is based on this sort of science toolkit of empirical reasoning or duplication experiments, whereas religion is based on faith.”

Coyne says he was raised a secular Jew and became an atheist as a teenager.

“Scientists are, in general, much less religious than the general public. And the more accomplished you get as a scientist, the less religious you become,” he says.

A 1998 survey found that 93% of the members of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the most prestigious scientific organizations in the U.S., don’t believe in God.

“I personally think there’s a couple of reasons for that,” says Kenneth Miller, a devout Roman Catholic and professor of molecular biology, cell biology and biochemistry at Brown University in Rhode Island. “One of them, to be perfectly honest, is the out-and-out hostility that many religious institutions or many religious groups display towards science. And I think that tends to drive people with deep religious faith away from science.”

Mixing science and faith

Some of the world’s foremost scientists have been people of faith, however.

The Big Bang theory, which explains the origins of the universe, was first proposed by a Catholic priest who was also an astronomer and physics professor.

Frances Collins, the former head of the National Institutes of Health who headed the international effort that first mapped the entire human genome, is a one-time atheist who now identifies as an evangelical Christian.

Farouk El-Baz, a professor in the departments of archaeology and electrical and computer engineering at Boston University, says most of his scientific colleagues see no conflict between science and religion. For El-Baz, the son of an Islamic scholar, the marvel of the Webb telescope’s discoveries deepens both.

“Science actually underlines the importance of religion because God told us that He created the Earth and the heavens,” says El-Baz, who is also director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University. “And the heavens, there are supposed to be all kinds of things out there. And scientific investigations have actually proved that, yes, there are all kinds of things out there.”

Evolution, creationism or both

For many, the conflict between science and religion is often rooted in the perceived incongruity between creationism — which suggests that a divine being created Earth and the heavens — and evolution, which holds that living organisms developed over 4.5 billion years.

Miller accepts the theory of evolution and says much of scripture is metaphorical, an explanation of the relationship between Creator and His creation in language that could be understood by people living in a prescientific age.

“[The book of] Genesis, taken literally, is a recent product of certain religious interpretations of scripture,” Miller says. “In particular, it’s an interpretation that became quite influential in the latter part of the 19th century among Christian fundamentalists in the United States. And the reality is that much of scripture is figurative rather than literal.”

Jewish tradition also accepts evolution, according to intellectual historian Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, who suggests that the rise of the religious Christian right in the United States also influenced more observant Jews to harden their position against evolution.

“Medieval Jewish philosophy basically followed the Muslim paradigm,” says Tirosh-Samuelson, a professor of history and director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Arizona State University. “The Muslim theologians and the Muslim scholars showed Jews how you can integrate a monotheistic tradition together with Greek and Hellenistic science … and showed how scientific knowledge is always a tool that enables you to understand the divinely created world better.”

Vision of God

In Miller’s view, the concept of God as a designer who worked out every intricate detail of every single living thing is too narrow a vision of the Creator.

“The God that is revealed by evolution is not a God who has to literally tinker with every little piece of trivia in every living organism, but rather a God who created a universe in a world where the very physical conditions of matter and energy were sufficient to accomplish his ends,” Miller says. “And to me, that conception of God creating this extraordinary process that nature itself allows to come about is a much grander vision than a God who has to concern himself with every little detail.”

El-Baz says some people fear that science will reduce their religiosity, but the reverse is true for him.

“We understood through God’s guidance that humans evolved from other creatures, and evolution is still going on, and there’s absolutely no conflict between what science and religion are informing us,” he says. “It’s very easy to consider that a creator, or a force of creation — God or whatever faith you have — that it’s a force that put all of these things together, that created all of this.”

Tirosh-Samuelson says Judaism is not a literalist tradition but rather favors open ended interpretation, which is in keeping with her reaction to the Webb discoveries.

“The grandeur of the universe. The grandeur of God. The grandeur of the human. And in my view, there’s no contradiction between those three. On the contrary, there’s a lot of complementarity between the three,” she says.

“Jewish culture is really pretty much open to discussion and debate about practically every topic. So, there’s something very much in accord with the scientific spirit of inquiry, questioning, uncertainty, skepticism. That’s exactly the opposite of a position that is about certainty and rigidity and closed-mindedness.”
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The two remaining candidates vying to succeed Boris Johnson as British prime minister have pledged a tougher stance on China.

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who quit the government earlier this month, and the current Foreign Secretary Liz Truss are competing to take over from Boris Johnson, who announced his resignation as prime minister earlier this month following a series of scandals and ministerial resignations.

China stance

While taxation and inflation are the focus of domestic campaigning, policy towards China has dominated foreign policy.

In a recent televised debate, Truss said she would crack down on Chinese-owned companies like TikTok.

“We should we absolutely should be cracking down on those types of companies and we should be limiting the amount of technology exports we do to authoritarian regimes,” Truss said at the debate, hosted by the BBC.

The foreign secretary pledged a tougher stance against Beijing.

Human rights

“After the appalling abuses in Xinjiang, after the terrible actions on Hong Kong and the most recent outrage, which is China working with Russia and essentially backing them in the appalling war in Ukraine, we have to take a tougher stance. We have to learn from the mistakes we made of Europe becoming dependent on Russian oil and gas. We cannot allow that to happen with China. And freedom is a price worth paying,” Truss said.

Her rival Rishi Sunak called China the ‘number-one threat’ to domestic and global security.

“And as prime minister, I’ll take a very, very robust view on making sure that we do stand up for our values and we protect ourselves against those threats, because that’s the right thing to do for our security,” Sunak said.

Vote

Fewer than 200-thousand Conservative party members will vote to choose Britain’s next prime minister in the coming weeks, out of a total registered voting population of 46.5 million. The result will be announced September 5.

The candidates are appealing to a particular electorate, says Professor Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at SOAS University of London.

“The Conservative party members are more concerned about China policy than the general public in the U.K. as a whole. And this, I think, is the reason why the two prime ministerial contenders engage in a debate on China, but they were only focused on one single issue: who is softer on China, rather than what the U.K.’s China strategy should be.”

Rhetoric

Matching policies as prime minister with the rhetoric of the campaign may be a challenge, Tsang said.

“Some commitments can be achieved relatively quickly, for example the closing of Confucius [higher education] institutes, articulated by Sunak. The real issue here is whether Liz Truss will as prime minister repeat what she had said, if she continues to use the description ‘genocide’ on Xinjiang, it’s going to make the relationship between the U.K. and China very, very difficult indeed.”

Zhao Lijian, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, criticized the language used in the televised debates. “I would like to urge certain British politicians not to make an issue out of China or hype the so-called China threat,” Lijian said Tuesday.

Intelligence warning

A recent joint warning from the United States’ FBI and Britain’s MI5 intelligence service warned that China poses ‘a massive shared challenge.’

“The most game changing challenge we face comes from the Chinese Communist Party. It’s covertly applying pressure across the globe. This might feel abstract, but it’s real and it’s pressing. We need to talk about it. We need to act,” MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said in a July 6 speech, alongside with his FBI counterpart Christopher Wray.
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Ukrainian forces have struck a strategically important bridge in the southern part of the country, using what a Russia-appointed official said were rocket systems supplied by the United States. 

The Antonivskyi Bridge crossing the Dnieper River was closed Wednesday following the Ukrainian strike. 

Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russia-appointed administration for the Kherson region, said the bridge was still standing after the late Tuesday strike, but that the road deck was full of holes. 

Stremousov said Ukrainian forces used the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) to carry out the strike. 

The bridge is a key link allowing Russia to supply its forces in southern Ukraine. 

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted the bridge strikes in a tweet Wednesday, saying Russian forces should take them as a warning. 

Podolyak said the Russians “should learn how to swim across” the river or “leave Kherson while it is still possible.” 

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday repeated his false claim that he won the 2020 election during a wide-ranging policy speech that marked his defiant return to Washington – and hinted at his possible return to politics. 

“I always say I ran the first time and I won,” he said, speaking to about 600 well-heeled supporters in a hotel ballroom just a mile from The White House. “Then I ran a second time, and I did much better. We got millions and millions more votes. And you know what? That’s going to be a story for a long time. What a disgrace it was. But we may just have to do it again. We have to straighten out our game. I have to straighten out our country.” 

This came more than halfway through a 90-minute speech that was the capstone of the two-day inaugural gathering of Trump’s America First Policy Institute. In attendance were several Trump administration figures and Republican lawmakers who raised objections to the official certification of electoral votes on January 6, 2021. That event certified the victory of President Joe Biden. 

VOA asked former House speaker Newt Gingrich what he thought of Trump’s election victory claim, which is at the center of a series of congressional hearings looking at the violent insurrection attempt Trump supporters made at the U.S. Capitol that day. 

“It’s amazing that you could take a two-hour speech and figure out the 90 seconds you care about,” Gingrich responded as his security guards ushered him into a waiting car. 

The day before, VOA asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre whether the Biden administration would be watching Trump’s speech. 

“It’s not something that I’m tracking or we’re tracking here,” she said. “I don’t know what he’s coming to talk about. I guess we’ll see when he gets here tomorrow.”

Michael O’Hanlon, director of research in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, told VOA that Trump’s decision to sow doubt about the election outcome is significant. 

“Most of his policy interventions and ideas I’m prepared to live with, because at least he was playing within the rules,” he said. “At least this is what a constitutional democracy with checks and balances and democratic process is supposed to allow for and vet. However, when you stop respecting the outcome of elections, just because it hurts you personally, that is a whole different kettle of fish.” 

He continued, “I think it really gets into illegal territory pretty quickly. And so it’ll be fascinating to see if he’s indicted. It’ll certainly be fascinating to see what he says in coming weeks and months. 

“But I’m afraid that this is dangerous for our country, this kind of attitude by President Trump and his going against Democrats and Republicans, around the country, around the states within the Congress, within the system of checks and balances, just to serve his own personal, narcissistic political interest.” 

The events of January 6, 2021, have been dramatically replayed in meticulous detail in the past month during a series of slickly produced congressional hearings. Those featured an outtake from Trump’s recorded message to the nation a day after the insurrection, in which he finally promised an orderly transition. The day after the January 6 attack, Trump still couldn’t say the election was over. 

“I don’t want to say the election’s over,” he said during the outtake. “I just want to say Congress has certified the results without saying the election’s over.” 

On Tuesday, he said that part out loud and called the two attempts to remove him from office “impeachment hoax number one, impeachment hoax number two.” 

Trump also sketched out what he described as a “law and order” agenda that would take a harder line on immigrants and drug offenders and give law enforcement enhanced power. He also expressed admiration for China’s strict drug laws and its use of the death penalty in drug cases. 

“There is no higher priority than cleaning up our streets, controlling our borders, stopping the drugs from pouring in, and quickly restoring law and order in America,” he said, adding: “There’s never been a time like this. Our streets are riddled with needles, and soaked with the blood of innocent victims. Many of our once-great cities from New York to Chicago to L.A., where the middle class used to flock to live the American dream, are now war zones, literal war zones.” 

Outside, several dozen protesters gathered to oppose Trump’s appearance. “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA,” they chanted, across the street from several dozen supporters who waved large American flags and blew vuvuzelas. 

Local police officers stood nearby and watched.
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