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Six Georgian opposition parties appealed on Thursday for mass protests against a government bill on "foreign agents" which they say aims to block the South Caucasus country's path towards the European Union and NATO.

The bill, which critics compare to legislation that Russia has used extensively to crack down on dissent, has already prompted three straight nights of demonstrations this week in the capital Tbilisi.

POLAND 'READY' TO HOST NATO MEMBERS’ NUCLEAR WEAPONS TO COUNTER RUSSIA, PRESIDENT SAYS

Up to 10,000 protesters gathered outside the parliament on Wednesday evening before marching on the prime minister's office. At least 13 people have been detained over the past two days and one police officer was injured in altercations, the interior ministry said.

In their jointly published statement, the opposition parties hailed the protesters' "fighting spirit" and slammed the ruling Georgian Dream party for supporting the bill.

"The Russian law initiated by 'Georgian Dream' is in contradiction with the Constitution of Georgia, the will of the Georgian people to become a full-fledged member of the European Union and NATO, and the long-term goal of securing the sovereignty of our country," the parties said.

The Kremlin has denied any association with the bill.

UKRAINE'S 1-TON PAYLOAD DRONES CAN HELP RETAKE CRIMEA AS KYIV SEEKS TO DESTROY BRIDGE: REPORT

The opposition specifically singled out Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire former prime minister who founded Georgian Dream, for "trying to kill the European future of Georgia".

Ivanishvili could not be reached for comment.

The bill would require organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence. Georgian Dream says it will help promote transparency and combat "pseudo-liberal values" imposed by foreigners.

Eighty-three of parliament's 150 deputies backed the bill on its first reading on Wednesday in a vote boycotted by opposition parties. It must clear two more readings to become law.

The EU said the bill risks blocking Georgia's path to membership, while the U.S. State Department also expressed disappointment over Wednesday's parliamentary vote.

ISRAELI LEADERS CONDEMN EXPECTED US SANCTIONS, NETANYAHU VOWS TO FIGHT IT WITH ALL HIS MIGHT

"(The bill) could limit freedom of expression, stigmatize organizations that deliver these benefits to the citizens of Georgia, and impede independent media organizations working to provide Georgians with access to high quality information," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Georgia's pro-European opposition is deeply divided, including over the legacy of jailed former president Mikheil Saakashvili, whose United National Movement (UNM) party remains the country's second largest.

The UNM was among the six signatories to Thursday's appeal.

Burma’s Vice President Henry Van Thio, who served in the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and then continued in the position after the military ousted her to seize power in 2021, is stepping down for unspecified health reasons, state media said Monday.

State television MRTV announced on Monday night that 65-year-old Van Thio had been allowed to retire from his post for health reasons in accordance with the constitution but did not provide any details of his health or say who, if anyone, will replace him.

ETHNIC GUERRILLAS IN BURMA LOOK SET TO SEIZE AN IMPORTANT TOWN ON THE THAI BORDER FROM THE MILITARY

Van Thio, a member of Burma’s Chin ethnic minority and a former army officer, was named second vice president in 2016 when Suu Kyi’s party started its first term after winning the 2015 general election in a landslide. Her National League for Democracy party governed Burma with overwhelming majorities in Parliament from 2015 to 2021, before being overthrown by the military.

Van Thio was the only member of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party to stay on as a member of the National Defense and Security Council after the military seized power from the elected government of Suu Kyi in February 2021.

The council, established under a previous military government, is the highest constitutional government body responsible for security and defense affairs and is nominally led by the president. However, in practice, it is controlled by the military. Its membership is made up of the top military chiefs and cooperative politicians.

It played a key role in the February 2021 military takeover when the President in Suu Kyi’s government, Win Myint, was detained with her, and First Vice President Myint Swe, a member of a pro-military party became acting President. The move allowed the council to be convened, declare a state of emergency and hand over power to military chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.

Although the army claims it took power constitutionally, legal scholars generally describe its action as illegal. It has renewed the state of emergency several times.

Van Thio has played no apparent active role in the military government aside from helping to provide it with the veneer of constitutional rule.

He almost completely disappeared from public view until his first known attendance at the National Defense and Security Council meeting in July last year, when the state of emergency was extended for the fourth time. He was absent from the council’s earlier meetings to extend emergency rule, with bad health cited as the reason. He was reportedly treated in hospital in January last year because he suffered a serious head injury in a fall at his residence in the capital, Naypyitaw.

A few days after last July’s council meeting, the National League for Democracy announced it had expelled him from the party because of his attendance at the meeting. The party in March last year was dissolved by the military government, whose legitimacy it doesn’t recognize, for failing to meet a registration deadline.

Suu Kyi’s party boosted its majority in the November 2020 election, but in February 2021, the army blocked all elected lawmakers from taking their seats in Parliament and seized power, detaining top members of Suu Kyi’s government and party, except Van Thio and Myint Swe.

The army said it staged its 2021 takeover because of massive poll fraud, though independent election observers did not find any major irregularities.

The army takeover was met with widespread popular opposition. After peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.

Police in Greece have raided multiple homes in Athens and detained dozens of suspects in a crackdown on soccer violence that led to the death of a police officer in December.

Police officer Giorgos Lyggeridis, 31, died on Dec. 27 after being hit by a flare during violence between rival fans at a volleyball game in Athens.

GREEK POLICE OFFICER BUSTED ON DUTY WITH 225 POUNDS OF MARIJUANA

Greek police chief Dimitris Mallios said 60 people were arrested by Monday afternoon, in an operation that started late Sunday.

Mallios said the arrests followed an investigation carried out under "high secrecy" over the past four months that confirmed links between sports violence and organized crime.

"Evidence emerged about a criminal organization, consisting of 158 people, that since 2019 at least carried out criminal acts" in the greater Athens region and the cities of Volos and Ioannina to the north, Mallios said.

He added 58 homes and 15 vehicles were searched in the crackdown, and seized items included handguns, knives, drugs and wooden clubs.

"We have an absolute commitment to fight sports violence," the police chief said.

Violent soccer fans in Greece often choose lightly policed events in other sports to confront rivals.

After the police officer's death, fans were banned from attending all top-flight soccer games for two months while security measures were overhauled.

Match attendees must now carry a government-issued QR code on their mobile phone to gain stadium access.

One of China's top military leaders took a harsh line on regional territorial disputes, telling an international naval gathering in northeastern China on Monday that the country would strike back with force if its interests came under threat.

The 19th biennial meeting of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium opened in Qingdao, where China’s northern naval force is based, providing a vivid backdrop to China's massive military expansion over the past two decades that has seen it build or refurbish three aircraft carriers.

CHINA'S MILITARY TARGETS AMERICAN TROOPS, VETERANS FOR EXPLOITATION CAMPAIGN, GENERAL SAYS

The two-day talks have drawn representatives from partners and competitors including Australia, Cambodia, Chile, France, India and the U.S. and comes amid heightened tensions over China’s assertive actions in the Taiwan Strait and the East and South China seas, and as China's navy has grown into the world’s largest by number of hulls.

Zhang Youxia, the vice chairman of the ruling Communist Party's Central Military Commission, which controls the armed forces, spoke of "common development" and said "decoupling, friction and confrontation will only divide the world into isolated islands guarding against each other with suspicion."

Then he turned to China's territorial claims, which have not been recognized under international law and in some cases have been denied. Beijing has ignored rulings not in its favor, particularly in the South China Sea, where it is in dispute with five other parties over islands, waterways and undersea resources.

Japan continues to defend its control over the uninhabited Senkaku island chain, called Diaoyu by China, in the East China Sea, against incursions by the Chinese coast guard.

Taiwan last week reinforced its foothold in the disputed South China Sea by establishing satellite communications between the main island and its garrison on Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba, the largest land feature in the highly contested Spratly Island chain. China has created seven artificial islands in the area by piling sand and cement on coral reefs and equipping them with airstrips and other military infrastructure.

Zhang said China's territorial sovereignty "brooks no infringement and its core interests cannot be challenged. We do not provoke trouble, but we will never flinch in face of provocation. The Chinese military will resolutely defend the reunification and interest of the motherland."

Zhang has spoken in the past of Beijing's determination to take control of the self-governing island republic of Taiwan, which it claims as its own territory, using force if necessary. With its crucial high-tech economy, Taiwan has been building up its defenses on its own and with help from the U.S., where Congress this weekend approved $8 billion in military aid for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific.

Taiwan is also building its own submarines and trainer aircraft and waiting on the delivery of upgraded versions of F-16 fighters, battle tanks and other hardware from the U.S.

Zhang appeared to press China's unilateralist approach to foreign relations and military conflicts as espoused by Xi Jinping, the top military commander, Communist Party leader and head-of-state for life, who has eliminated all dissenting views.

China "remains committed to resolving maritime disputes with directly concerned countries through friendly consultations, but we will not allow our good faith to be abused," Zhang said. "Particularly over the self-governing island republic of Taiwan that Beijing threatens to use force to bring under its control. We will take justified actions to defend our rights in accordance with the law."

Zhang's comments follow a major shakeup of the Chinese military in recent months that has seen the still-unexplained disappearance of former Defense Minister Li Shangfu and several top officers in the missile corps.

Also due to speak at the gathering was the recently appointed head of the Russian navy, Adm. Alexander Moiseyev, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday, according to the official Interfax news agency.

It said Moiseyev met with Adm. Hu Zhongming, commander of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy, in Qingdao on Sunday, and they agreed to further cooperation on search and rescue.

"The sides emphasized the importance of further developing cooperation between the two countries’ fleets for supporting security and stability on the world’s oceans," Interfax said.

China has refused to criticize Russia's full-on invasion of Ukraine and has held multiple rounds of drills with the Russian navy and other armed forces branches, part of an alignment of their military and political postures to form a joint front against the prevailing U.S.-led Western liberal order.

Ukraine has developed deadly sea drones that have struck Russian navy ships in the Black Sea. Those successful strikes have embarrassed the Kremlin.

A climate protester who could have faced up to two years in prison for holding a sign outside a courthouse reminding jurors of their right to acquit defendants cannot be charged with contempt of court, a London judge ruled Monday.

Trudi Warner had been arrested last March and accused of "deliberately targeting" jurors before a trial of climate activists from the group Insulate Britain.

UK PROSECUTORS CHARGE 2 MEN, INCLUDING PARLIAMENTARY RESEARCHER, WITH SPYING FOR CHINA

She held a sign in front of Inner London Crown Court that said: "Jurors you have an absolute right to acquit a defendant according to your conscience."

High Court Justice Pushpinder Saini said her act was not a crime because jurors can reach a verdict based on their conscience and Warner had not interfered with jurors.

"It is fanciful to suggest that Ms. Warner’s behavior falls into this category of contempt," Saini said. "At no point did Ms. Warner assault, threaten, block, accost or impede anyone’s access to the court."

The ruling comes as hundreds of environmental activists have been arrested for peaceful demonstrations in Europe and the U.K., where tough new laws restrict the right to protest.

While the Conservative British government says the laws prevent extremist activists from hurting the economy and disrupting daily life, critics say civil rights are being eroded without enough scrutiny from lawmakers or protection by the courts.

Hundreds of people followed Warner’s lead and held similar signs outside courthouses to protest what they said undermined the foundations of trial by jury. At least two dozen "Defend Our Juries" protesters have been interviewed by police, though so far no one other than Warner has been charged.

Warner welcomed the ruling, noting it came on Earth Day, and said she was relieved.

"When you see a letter that says government department versus Trudi Warner, and when you have an indictment which is 133 pages, it’s intimidating," she said.

Water levels in some overflowing rivers in Russia were starting to drop on Monday, but flooding remains widespread, Russian state TV reports said.

More than 5,000 properties in Russia’s Kurgan region, about 1,000 miles east of Moscow along the border with Kazakhstan, are flooded, according to the Russian Emergencies Ministry, and 15,000 people have been evacuated.

ALMOST 12,000 HOUSES FLOODED ALONG RUSSIA'S KAZAKH BORDER

In the Orenburg region, water levels in the Ural River have been steadily decreasing for three days, but 12,000 residences remain flooded, the ministry said.

More than 3,000 people have been evacuated due to flooding in the Tyumen region, where emergency workers continue to monitor the condition of dams. Supplies of sandbags are being distributed to try to hold back floodwaters.

Kazakh authorities earlier this month declared a state of emergency in 10 out of 17 regions of the country, according to Russia's state news agency Tass.

Seven people have died due to floods, according to Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry, and thousands of houses have been flooded.

Experts have cited multiple possible causes of the floods. Large snow reserves in the area melting, deep freezing of the soil which doesn’t allow it to absorb rain or melting snow and a massive release of water from a reservoir.

Ahead of a planned trip to China this week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is reported to have alleged that Beijing is still committing genocide against Uyghur Muslim minorities. 

The comments in the State Department’s annual report on human rights around the world echoed language in previous years concerning China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the western province of Xinjiang. 

But the comments are notable now given the timing of Blinken’s trip to China, where he is expected to hold delicate talks with his counterparts on several key topics, including the ongoing war in Ukraine and global trade. 

In a preface the State Department’s report, Blinken said the findings document "ongoing grave human rights abuses in the People’s Republic of China (PRC)." 

ISRAELI LEADERS CONDEMN EXPECTED US SANCTIONS, NETANYAHU VOWS TO FIGHT IT WITH ALL HIS MIGHT

He alleged that in Xinjiang, China is carrying out "genocide, crimes against humanity, forced labor, and other human rights violations against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups." 

The report’s section on China details the detention of more than one million people in camps and prisons and the use of re-education camps in Xinjiang, among other abuses committed against the broader Chinese population.

China for its part, has denied these allegations for years, saying these supposed concentration camps are "vocational training centers" to curb terrorism, separatism and religious radicalism.

When he took office in 2021, Blinken endorsed a determination by his predecessor that China’s actions amounted to genocide, and he has raised the issue in meetings with Chinese officials.

A senior State Department official briefing reporters last week on Blinken’s trip said human rights would be among the issues raised by Blinken with Chinese officials, but did not mention the situation in Xinjiang. 

Reuters contributed to this report. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrived in Iraq on Monday for his first official visit in more than a decade as Ankara seeks greater cooperation from Baghdad in its fight against a Kurdish militant group that has a foothold in Iraq.

Other issues also loom large between the two countries, including water supply and exports of oil and gas from northern Iraq to Turkey, halted for more than a year.

TURKEY'S ERDOGAN FACES UNCERTAIN FUTURE AFTER SHOCK ELECTION LOSSES EXPERT SAYS

Erdogan, whose last visit to Baghdad was in 2011, when he was prime minister, met with Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as they inked agreements on water management, security, energy and economic cooperation.

"I believe that my visit and the agreements just signed will constitute a new turning point in Turkey-Iraq relations," Erdoğan said in a joint news conference with al-Sudani.

Al-Sudani said they discussed "bilateral security coordination, which will meet the needs of both parties and confront the challenges posed by the presence of armed elements that may cooperate with terrorism and violate the security of the two countries."

Erdoğan's visit "comes at a sensitive and dangerous time," al-Sudani added, citing Israel's war against the Hamas militant group in Gaza — a war that has had ripple effects across the region.

Erdoğan said the leaders had "consulted on the joint steps we can take against the PKK terrorist organization and its extensions, which target Turkey from Iraqi territory," referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a Kurdish separatist movement banned in Turkey.

The PKK has maintained bases in northern Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region.

Erdoğan had previously announced a major operation against the PKK during the summer, with the aim of "permanently" eradicating the threat it poses. He did not specify what actions Turkish forces would take in Iraq but Turkish forces have in the past carried out numerous ground offensives against PKK in northern Iraq and Turkish jets frequently target suspected PKK sites.

Ankara now aims to create a 19-25 mile deep security corridor along the joint border with Iraq, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler told journalists last month.

The insurgency — the PKK is fighting for an autonomous Kurdish state in southeast Turkey — has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the 1980s and Turkey and its Western allies have labelled PKK a terrorist organization.

Baghdad has long complained that Turkish actions in Iraq against the PKK violate its sovereignty, but appears to be acquiescing with Ankara’s operations.

In March, after a meeting between the Iraqi and Turkish foreign ministers, Baghdad announced that the Iraqi National Security Council had issued a ban on the PKK, although it stopped short of designating it as a terrorist organization. Erdoğan on Monday praised the ban.

Al-Sudani told journalists during a visit to Washington last week that Iraq and Turkey have "true interests with one another and common projects." He noted that the PKK has long had a presence in northern Iraq, "but we are not allowing any armed group to be on Iraqi territory and using it as a launchpad for attacks."

Ankara has argued that PKK's presence in Iraq threatens the planned construction of a major trade route, the Iraq Development Road, that would connect the port in Basra, southern Iraq, to Turkey and Europe through a network of rail lines and highways.

Baghdad may take a similar approach to the PKK as it has taken to Iranian Kurdish dissident groups based in northern Iraq.

The presence of Iranian dissidents had become a point of tension with Tehran, which periodically launches airstrikes on their bases in Iraq. Last summer, Iran and Iraq reached an agreement to disarm the groups and relocate their members from military bases to displacement camps.

Energy issues and water rights are also key in Iraq-Turkey ties.

An oil pipeline running from the semiautonomous Kurdish region to Turkey has been shut down since March 2023, after an arbitration court ruling ordered Ankara to pay Iraq $1.5 billion for oil exports that bypassed Iraq's central government in Baghdad. The sharing of oil and gas revenues has long been a contentious issue between Baghdad and Kurdish authorities in Irbil.

In recent years, Iraqi officials have complained that dams built by Turkey are reducing Iraq’s water supply.

The Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which provide most of Iraq’s fresh water, originate in Turkey. Experts fear that climate change is likely to exacerbate existing water shortages in Iraq, with potentially devastating consequences.

Mustafa Hassan, a Baghdad resident, said he hopes that Erdoğan’s visit "will help to solve problems related to water, because Iraq is suffering from a water scarcity crisis, and this affects agriculture."

Erdoğan said Ankara was aware of the water problems Iraq faces and that the two countries have set up "a joint permanent committee which is going to help through cooperation ... taking our shared interests into consideration."

Poland’s president says the NATO member would be ready to host the nuclear weapons of the military alliance's other members in response to Russia’s moving its nuclear weapons to neighboring Belarus.

President Andrzej Duda made the comments in an interview published Monday in the Fakt tabloid.

POLISH PRESIDENT PUSHES NATO ALLIES TOWARD HIGHER DEFENSE SPENDING

Russia has "recently relocated its nuclear weapons to Belarus," Duda said, in a reference to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko's announcement in December.

"If there were a decision by our allies to deploy nuclear weapons within the nuclear sharing also on our territory in order to strengthen the security of NATO's eastern flank, we are ready," Duda said.

He said Poland is aware of its obligations within the 32-member alliance that includes the United States.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who shares Duda’s views on national security, later told journalists that Poland's security and military potential are his priorities, but he needs to discuss this suggestion with Duda urgently.

"I would also like any potential initiatives to be, first of all, very well prepared by the people responsible for them and (I would like) all of us to be absolutely positive that we want it," Tusk said in a rather reserved response.

"This idea is absolutely massive, I would say, and very serious (and) I would need to know all the circumstances that have led the president to make this declaration," he said.

Duda has previously spoken of Poland’s openness to nuclear sharing within NATO, before Tusk's government came to power in December.

In Moscow, a Kremlin spokesperson said any deployment of U.S. nuclear weapons in Poland would be met with steps necessary for Russia’s security.

"The military will, of course, analyze the situation if such plans are implemented, and in any case will do everything necessary, (will take) all the necessary retaliatory steps to guarantee our safety," Dmitry Peskov said during a daily news conference.

Three NATO members are nuclear powers: the U.S., the United Kingdom and France.

Within the sharing program, the U.S has nuclear facilities based in some allied countries: Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey, to deploy and store the weapons. Washington retains absolute control and custody over the weapons it deploys.

Seven members of the alliance have dual-capability aircraft that can carry conventional bombs or nuclear warheads and are available for use should such a strike be needed.

Poland is a staunch supporter of neighboring Ukraine as it fends off Russia's full-scale invasion, now in its third year.

For the past year, five fit, academically superior men and women have been spun in centrifuges, submerged for hours, deprived temporarily of oxygen, taught to camp in the snow, and schooled in physiology, anatomy, astronomy, meteorology, robotics, and Russian.

On Monday, the five Europeans and an Australian graduated from basic training with a new title: astronaut.

At a ceremony in Cologne, Germany, ESA added the five newcomers to its astronaut corps eligible for missions to the International Space Station, bringing the total to 11.

HOW ASTRONAUTS ON THE ISS ARE TACKLING THE LATEST ‘UNEXPECTED CHALLENGES’ MILES ABOVE THE EARTH

ESA has negotiated with NASA for three places on future Artemis moon missions, although those places will likely go to the more senior astronauts, according to ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher. The agency is also supplying the service module for the Orion crew capsule. ESA relies on NASA and others to get its astronauts to space.

It is only the fourth astronaut class since 1978 for the 22-country agency, chosen from among 22,500 applicants. Another twelve were selected as reservists, but were not sent to basic training. Not surprisingly, the five have resumes studded with advanced scientific and medical degrees, military training, experience flying planes, helicopters, gliders and balloons, and "leisure" activities like rowing, scuba diving, hiking, skydiving, cycling, sailing, and kayaking,

The group formed "a very good team" devoid of personal rivalry, said Aschbacher. "I told them, one of you will fly first and one will fly last, and they accepted that of course, but from the heart, not just lip service ... the team spirit is very pronounced."

Sophie Adenot, a French air force helicopter test pilot, said the group was "a fantastic crew and a fantastic team." The moment that struck her the most was leaving the airlock for underwater space walk simulation when the instructor said, "Welcome to space."

"And for me it was mind-blowing, I had goosebumps. ... In a few years it is going to be me in space, not in the water with safety divers."

When she was a girl dreaming of space travel, "I couldn’t count the number of people who told me, this dream will never come true. You have unrealistic dreams, and it will never happen. ... Listen to yourself and don't listen to people who don't believe in you."

EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY SUSPENDS COOPERATION WITH RUSSIA ON MISSION TO MARS OVER PUTIN'S UKRAINE INVASION

In addition to Adenot, the ESA class consists of:

— Pablo Alvarez Fernandez, a Spanish aeronautical engineer who has worked on the Rosalind Franklin Mars rover intended for a joint mission with Russia that was suspended after the invasion of Ukraine;

— Rosemary Coogan, a British astronomer who has researched radiation emissions from black holes;

— Raphael Liegeois, a Belgian biomedical engineer and neuroscientist who has researched degenerative diseases of the nervous system, and also flies hot-air balloons and gliders;

— Marco Alain Sieber, a Swiss emergency physician who achieved sergeant rank as a paratrooper during his service with the Swiss army.

The group was joined by Katherine Bennell-Pegg from Australia, who underwent training under a cooperation agreement between Australia and ESA. She remains an employee of the Australian Space Agency. It's up to the Australian agency to find a way for her to travel in space.

Their yearlong basic training included preparation for the hostile environment encountered in space. They were exposed to multiple times the force of gravity in a centrifuge, and spent hours underwater using scuba gear to float around mockups of space station modules to simulate working in zero gravity.

They learned how to recognize symptoms of hypoxia, or lack of oxygen, by experiencing it themselves in a low-pressure chamber. Survival training included dealing with potential splashdown in the ocean and staying warm in winter while waiting to be recovered in case a landing goes off course. On top of that came academic work on scientific topics and learning about the space station's modules and equipment.

Intensive Russian language is still part of the program, even though ESA has suspended work with Russia except for the space station, where one of the working languages is Russian.

A leading fashion designer whose accessories were used by celebrities from Britney Spears to the cast of the "Sex and the City" TV series was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty in Miami federal court on charges of smuggling crocodile handbags from her native Colombia.

Nancy Gonzalez was arrested in 2022 in Cali, Colombia, and later extradited to the U.S. for running a sprawling multiyear conspiracy that involved recruiting couriers to transport her high-end handbags on commercial flights to high-end showrooms and New York fashion events — all in violation of U.S. wildlife laws.

"It’s all driven by the money," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Watts-Fitzgerald, who compared Gonzalez’s behavior to that of drug traffickers. "If you want to deter the conduct, you want the cocaine kingpin, not the person in the field."

CELEBRITY FASHION DESIGNER ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY SMUGGLING CROCODILE HANDBAGS INTO US

Lawyers for Gonzalez has sought leniency for the celebrity designer, describing her journey as a divorced single mother of two children in Cali who designed belts on a home sewing machine for friends into a fashion icon who could compete with the likes of Dior, Prada and Gucci.

They showed in court a video, from 2019, of top buyers from Bergdorf Goodman, Saks and other retailers praising her creativity and productivity.

"She was determined to show her children and the world that women, including minority women like herself, can pursue their dreams successfully, and become financially independent," they wrote in a memo prior to Monday’s hearing. "Against all odds, this tiny but mighty woman was able to create the very first luxury, high-end fashion company from a third world country."

However, the government countered that she had acquired great wealth and an opulent lifestyle, which contrasted with the couriers she recruited to smuggle her merchandise into the United States. According to the testimony of her co-defendants and former employees, ahead of important fashion events, Gonzalez, described as a micro-manager, would recruit as many as 40 passengers to carry four designer handbags each on commercial flights. In this way, prosecutors estimate that she smuggled goods worth as much as $2 million into the U.S.

All of the hides were from caiman and pythons bred in captivity. Nonetheless, on some occasions she failed to obtain the proper import authorizations from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, required under a widely ratified international treaty governing the trade in endangered and threatened wildlife species.

In 2016 and 2017, she was warned by U.S. officials against sidestepping such rules, making her conduct particularly "egregious," Judge Robert Scola said in handing down his sentence.

Although trade in the skins used by Gonzalez was not prohibited, they came from protected wildlife that requires close monitoring under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, known by its initials as CITES.

Gonzalez, addressing the court before sentencing, said she deeply regretted not meticulously following U.S. laws and that her only wish is to hug once more her 103-year-old mother.

"From the bottom of my heart, I apologize to the United States of America. I never intended to offend a country to which I owe immense gratitude," she said holding back tears. "Under pressure, I made poor decisions."

Heavy rainstorms that swept across southern China over the weekend killed at least four people in riverside cities, while a search was underway for 10 others missing, state media said Monday.

The official Xinhua news agency said three people died in Zhaoqing city while one rescuer died in Shaoguan city. It didn't say when or how they died.

WWIII COULD START OVER PHILIPPINES DISPUTE IN SOUTH CHINA SEA, CHINA 'NOT RESPECTING' TREATIES, EXPERT SAYS

The two cities in Guangdong province are among the worst hit areas of sustained torrential rains that began late last week.

Footage on state broadcaster CCTV showed rescuers in rubber boats evacuating residents from inundated shopping streets and residential areas.

By Monday, about 110,000 people had been evacuated across the province, while 25,800 people were in emergency shelters, according to Xinhua.

In Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, the government said that as of 10 a.m. (0200GMT) on Monday, the city had logged a cumulative rainfall of 24 inches in April — the highest monthly rainfall since record-keeping began in 1959.

China’s Central Meteorological Observatory extended a rainstorm warning through Tuesday evening, with heavy rain expected in large swaths of southern China, including parts of the Guangxi region and Guangdong and Fujian provinces.

Floods also battered neighboring Jiangxi province. CCTV, citing the Jiangxi Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, said 459 people had been evacuated. Rains and floods have affected 1,500 hectares of crops in the province and caused financial losses of more than 41 million yuan ($5.7 million).

Iranian and Pakistani leaders vowed to strengthen economic and security cooperation in a meeting on Monday, as the two countries seek to smooth over a diplomatic rift.

Their meeting was part of efforts by Islamabad and Tehran to mend ties which had been briefly strained in January when each carried out strikes in the other's territory, targeting militants accused of attacking their own security forces.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharifin spoke to reporters after meeting at Sharif's office, hours after Raisi arrived in Islamabad for a three-day visit.

PAKISTANI SECURITY FORCES KILL 7 MILITANTS TRYING TO ENTER COUNTRY

Authorities have deployed hundreds of additional police and paramilitary forces to ensure security during the visit.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent months, mostly blamed on Pakistani Taliban and insurgents targeting security forces in Pakistan and neighboring Iran.

Sharif welcomed Raisi with an honor guard ceremony in front of the premier's office. According to a statement released by the premier’s office, the two leaders discussed a range of bilateral issues and vowed to cooperate to fight terrorism, as well as jointly reiterating condemnations of Israel's war in Gaza.

Sharif praised Iran’s "strong stand on the issue of Palestine" and said "Pakistan is also with the Palestinians."

In his televised remarks, Raisi said that the killings by Israel in Gaza were being committed with the support of the United States and other Western countries. He criticized the international organizations, including the United Nations, saying "they say they support human rights, but they proved that they are inefficient".

He also vowed to boost what he called "unacceptably" meager bilateral trade and called for setting up more border markers. Pakistan and Iran set up the first such border market in southwestern Pakistan's Baluchistan province last year, promising to set up five more such markets under a 2012 agreement.

The two leaders also signed eight cooperation agreements, according to Sharif's office.

Authorities said the two sides also discussed the multi-billion gas pipeline project, on hold since 2014. The project — opposed by Washington for what it says is a violation of sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear program — launched in 2013 to supply Iranian natural gas to energy-starved Pakistan.

Iran says it has already completed the pipeline on its side of the border after investing $2 billion. Pakistan was supposed to finish construction on its territory by the end of 2014, but work stalled, leading to tensions between the two nations.

The Iranian president is set to meet with his Pakistani counterpart Asil Ali Zardari who helped launch the pipeline project after traveling to Iran in 2013.

He also met with Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. The two discussed regional and global developments and "affirmed commitment to peace and constructive dialogue for resolving regional challenges."

Raisi is accompanied by his spouse and a high-level delegation. He plans to visit Karachi, the country's biggest city, and Lahore, where he will meet with the country's recently elected first female chief minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif.

The visit comes after Iran's airstrike into Israel, which was in response to an Israeli strike in Syria that had killed two Iranian generals in a consular building. Pakistan is among the countries that have no diplomatic relations with Israel because of the issue of Palestinian statehood.

European Union countries possessing Patriot air defense systems appeared hesitant on Monday to give any to Ukraine, which is desperately seeking at least seven of the missile batteries to help fend off Russian air attacks.

Russia’s air force is vastly more powerful than Ukraine’s, but sophisticated missile systems provided by Kyiv’s Western partners can pose a major threat to Russian aviation as the Kremlin’s forces slowly push forward along the roughly 620-mile front line in the war.

Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot said the Netherlands is "looking at every kind of possibility at the moment" and is offering financial support to a German initiative to help Ukraine bolster its air defenses and to buy more drones.

ADVANCED AIR DEFENSE SYSTEMS PROTECT ISRAEL FROM DRONES, MISSILES

Asked at a meeting of European Union foreign and defense ministers why the Netherlands is reluctant to send some of its Patriot systems, Slot said: "We are looking again if we can deplete our store of what we still have, but that will be difficult."

Last week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the military organization "has mapped out existing capabilities across the alliance and there are systems that can be made available to Ukraine." He did not name the countries that possess Patriots.

The Patriot is a guided missile system that can target aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles. Each battery consists of a truck-mounted launching system with eight launchers that can hold up to four missile interceptors each, a ground radar, a control station and a generator.

A key advantage of the U.S.-made systems, apart from their effectiveness, is that Ukrainian troops are already trained to use them.

But Patriots take a long time to make — as long as two years, some estimates suggest — so countries are reluctant to give them up and leave themselves exposed. Germany had 12, but it is supplying three to Ukraine. Poland, which borders Ukraine, has two and needs them for its own defenses.

Asked whether his country would provide any, Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson said: "I don’t exclude that possibility, but right now we’re focused on financial contributions." He said Sweden would send other systems that could "relieve some of the pressure" on the need for Patriots.

Jonson also noted that more U.S. deliveries of air defense systems might come, after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a package over the weekend of $61 billion in support, including $13.8 billion for Ukraine to buy weapons.

Questioned about whether Spain might step up with Patriots, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said that his country "will make its decisions based on the power it has in its hands to support Ukraine."

"I don’t think we’re helping anyone if we hear all the time what it is that’s being given, when it’s being given and how it’s getting in," he told reporters at the meeting in Luxembourg.

NATO keeps track of the stocks of weapons held by its 32 member countries to ensure that they are able to execute the organization’s defense plans in times of need.

But Stoltenberg said on Friday that if dropping below the guidelines is "the only way NATO allies are able to provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to defend themself, well that’s a risk we have to take."

Beyond providing new Patriot batteries, Stoltenberg said that it’s also important for countries to ensure that the batteries they do send are well maintained, have spare parts and plenty of interceptor missiles.

In a separate development at Monday's meeting, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis expressed concern about possible Russian sabotage against facilities in Europe being used to train Ukrainian troops.

Two German-Russian men were arrested in Germany last week on suspicion of espionage, one of them accused of agreeing to carry out attacks on potential targets including U.S. military facilities, prosecutors said.

"We are witnessing very similar events in our region, not just in Lithuania but also in Latvia and Estonia as well," Landsbergis told reporters.

"There seems to be a coordinated action against the European countries that is coming from Russia," he said. "We have to find a way to deal with the threat … because Russia is fighting not just against Ukraine but the West as well."

Hong Kong has long been a major producer and consumer of great food, and a great amount of plastic and Styrofoam to go with it.

That’s going to change as new legislation aiming to stop the sale and distribution of Styrofoam products and single-use plastic cutlery went into effect on Monday.

Under the new law, single-use cutlery such as forks, spoons, straws and plates cannot be sold or distributed for both dine-in and takeaway customers. However, plastic food containers and cups can still be given out for takeaways.

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The regulation of disposable plastic tableware and other plastic products in Hong Kong aims to reduce their use at the source to cut down on pollution, Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department said in an emailed response to The Associated Press.

Restaurants were given a six-month grace period. A second phase of the ban, expected next year, will ban all single-use plastics including containers for both dine-in and takeaway.

Many restaurants have already begun implementing the new measure.

Kuen Fat Kitchen is a typical lunch stop for many people in Hong Kong. Even before the new law was introduced, it had already started to reduce the use of Styrofoam boxes.

Owner Kitty Chan said the changes will mean higher costs.

"For a single-use cutlery set, you might think it’s just a small change, but switching the plastic spoon to a paper spoon doubles the cost for us. So, it’s not so friendly to the business of the food and beverage industry," Chan added.

Customers at Kuen Fat Kitchen have mixed feelings. Some don’t want to face extra hassle when going out to eat if they are asked to bring their own containers and utensils.

"When I’m at work, I only have an hour for lunch, and I need to eat efficiently. I don’t think it’s convenient for me to bring my own cutlery and do the washing up afterwards. It’s not convenient and I don’t think it’s a good idea," said customer Darren Seng.

Others recognized the environmental impacts of their dining-out habits.

"I think it's better for the environment," said resident Thomson Choi.

Single-use plastic cutlery is the second-largest source of plastic waste after single-use plastic bags in Hong Kong, according to Greenpeace. Many businesses are changing to alternative plastics made of natural resources to comply with new rules, instead of improving their packaging, the organization added.

Greenpeace campaigner Leanne Tam hopes that the new law will discourage the throwaway culture and promote reusables, instead of "greener" disposables.

"Any kind of plastic ban policy should aim to influence the public to stay away from plastic. We should move on, and have a new approach," said Tam. "But we would like to remind the government that it should devote more resources to promote reusable instead of disposable. This is the way to solve the root of the problem."

According to the latest figures by Hong Kong's government in 2022, the city disposed 11,128 tons of solid waste per day, among which plastics contributed 2,369 tons.

Hong Kong is reliant on the city’s three landfills to handle its waste, but they are expected to be filled up by around 2026, according to the government.

The city plans to implement municipal solid waste charging from Aug. 1, but the logistics have yet to be worked out. It would compel individual homes, restaurants, and all businesses to pay for trash they throw away.

Police said Christopher Berry, 32, and Christopher Cash, 29, were charged with "providing prejudicial information to a foreign state, China." They will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

Police allege the two men collected, recorded or communicated information "prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state" and violated the Official Secrets Act between late 2021 and February 2023.

"This has been an extremely complex investigation into what are very serious allegations," said Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police counterterrorism command.

UK GOVERNMENT EXPECTED TO ATTRIBUTE CYBERATTACKS ON ELECTION WATCHDOG TO CHINESE HACKERS

Authorities did not release details about the two men. But Berry is reportedly an academic based in Oxfordshire, and The Sunday Times reported last year that Cash was a parliamentary researcher who held a pass that allows full access to the Parliament buildings, issued to lawmakers, staff and journalists after security vetting.

The report said Cash worked with senior lawmakers from the governing Conservatives, including Alicia Kearns, who now heads the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee, and her predecessor in that role, Tom Tugendhat, who is now security minister.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said last year that he raised the issue with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, saying he raised "very strong concerns" about interference in British democracy.

At the time, Cash issued a statement through his lawyers maintaining his innocence. The Chinese Embassy issued a statement calling the allegations fabricated.

Also on Monday, three people were arrested in Germany on suspicion of spying for China and arranging to transfer information on technology with potential military uses.

British intelligence authorities have ratcheted up their warnings about Beijing's covert activities in recent years.

In 2022, the head of the MI5 domestic intelligence agency, Ken McCallum, named China, Russia and Iran as the leading security threats to the U.K. He said that Chinese authorities' attempts to shape British politics included targeting and influencing a range of people in politics, including those early in their political careers.

Last month, several British lawmakers, including leading China critic and former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, told reporters they had long been subjected to attempted hacking and impersonation attempts by hackers linked to the Chinese government.

The lawmakers were speaking as American and British authorities announced a new set of sanctions and criminal charges against hackers linked to the Chinese government who are accused of targeting a huge range of officials and corporations in a sweeping state-backed operation.

Two men, including one who was reported to be a parliamentary researcher, were charged with spying for China, British prosecutors said Monday.

A new U.S. package of military aid to Ukraine will not change the situation on the front lines, where Russia has the upper hand, the Kremlin said on Monday.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday approved more than $60 billion in new aid for Ukraine which has been held up in Congress for months, causing Kyiv's forces to run low on ammunition.

"The Russian armed forces are improving their positions at the front... The money allocated and the weapons that will be supplied will not change this dynamic," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

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"They will lead to new victims on the Ukrainian side. More Ukrainians will die, Ukraine will suffer greater losses."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday urged Washington to quickly turn the bill into law and proceed with the actual transfer of weapons, saying long-range arms and air defense systems were top priorities.

"I think this support will really strengthen the armed forces of Ukraine and we will have a chance for victory," Zelenskyy said.

Russia says the U.S. defense industry will be the real beneficiary of the package.

"We also recognize that most of this money will remain in the United States. The United States will become richer and will receive additional dividends by providing assistance to Ukraine. For (President Vladimir) Putin, this was expected," Peskov said.

Russia now has grounds to confiscate Western assets after the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would allow the potential transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine, a top Russian lawmaker said on Monday.

"Washington has passed a law on the confiscation of Russian assets in order to provoke the EU to take the same step, which will be devastating for the European economy," Vyacheslav Volodin, the Duma speaker and close ally of President Vladimir Putin, said.

"Our country now has every reason to make symmetrical decisions in relation to foreign assets," said Volodin.

BLINKEN RETURNS TO CHINA WITH WARNING OVER RUSSIAN MILITARY AID

Volodin said that of the $280 billion of Russian assets frozen abroad, only $5 to $6 billion was in the United States. 

About $224 billion was in the European Union.

The House passed the "REPO Act" which would allow the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to confiscate billions of dollars’ worth of Russian assets sitting in U.S. banks and transfer them to Ukraine for reconstruction.

Three people suspected of spying for China and arranging to transfer information on technology with potential military uses were arrested in Germany on Monday.

Prosecutors said the three German citizens are accused of having acted for Chinese intelligence since some point before June 2022. They are also suspected of violating German export laws by exporting a special laser without permission.

One of the suspects, identified only as Thomas R. in line with German privacy laws, was allegedly an agent for an employee of China's Ministry of State Security and procured information in Germany on "militarily usable innovative technologies" for that person, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

FORMER HEAD OF GERMANY'S DOMESTIC SPY AGENCY FACES SCRUTINY FOR ALLEGED EXTREMISM

To do that, prosecutors said, he used Herwig F. and Ina. F, a couple who own a company in Duesseldorf that was used to contact and work with German researchers.

The couple allegedly set up a research transfer agreement with an unidentified German university, the first step in which was to draw up a study for a Chinese partner on the technology of machine parts that could be used for powerful ship engines, including those in battleships. Thomas R.'s handler at the MSS was behind the Chinese partner and the project was financed by the Chinese state, prosecutors said.

At the time of the arrests, the suspects were in negotiations on further research projects that could be useful for expanding China's naval combat strength, they added.

2 ARRESTED IN GERMANY FOR ALLEGED PLOT TO SABOTAGE US MILITARY FACILITIES ON BEHALF OF RUSSIA

The suspects also procured with MSS funding a special laser and exported it to China without permission, although it was classified as a "dual-use" instrument under European Union rules, prosecutors said.

The homes and offices of the suspects, who were arrested in Duesseldorf and in Bad Homburg, near Frankfurt, were searched.

The suspects were arrested a week after a three-day visit to China by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, his second since he took office in late 2021.

German officials wouldn't be drawn on whether the government was aware of the case at the time but said the trip hadn't played any role in the timing of the arrests.

In a strategy for relations with China released last year, the German government pointed to a "systemic rivalry" with the Asian power and a need to reduce risks of economic dependency, but highlighted its desire to work with Beijing on challenges such as climate change and maintain strong trade ties.

The document stated that "we take decisive action to counter all analog and digital espionage and sabotage activities by Chinese intelligence services and state-controlled groups, whether these activities be in or directed against Germany."

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said Monday's arrests were "a great success for our counterespionage."

"We are keeping an eye on the significant danger from Chinese espionage in business, industry and science," she said in a statement. "We are watching these risks and threats very closely and have warned and sensitized people clearly so that protective measures can be stepped up everywhere."

Four Germans were caught laying white roses in memory of Adolf Hitler at the house where the Nazi dictator was born in western Austria on the anniversary of his birth, and one gave a Hitler salute as they posed for photos, police said Monday.

Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, in Braunau am Inn. After lengthy wrangling over the future of the house where he was born, work started last year on turning it into a police station — a project meant to make it unattractive as a pilgrimage site for people who glorify Hitler.

Police in Upper Austria province said the four Germans — two sisters and their partners, in their 20s and early 30s — went to the building on Saturday to lay white roses in its window recesses.

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They posed in front of the house for photos and one of the women gave the stiff-armed Hitler salute.

Patrolling officers noticed the group and took them to a police station for questioning. The woman said that she hadn't meant the salute seriously, but officers said they found a chat with the others on her cellphone in which they shared Nazi-themed messages and pictures.

Police said they were reporting all four to prosecutors on suspicion of violating the Austrian law that bans the symbols of Nazism.