halting

Announcing the move, staff at the outlet said ‘authoritarian regimes are already celebrating’ its potential demise.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) will shut down its news operations on Friday, citing the government-funded news outlet’s dire financial situation caused by funding cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration and the ongoing US government shutdown.

Bay Fang, RFA’s president and CEO, said in a statement that “uncertainty about our budgetary future” means that the outlet has been “forced to suspend all remaining news content production”.

“In an effort to conserve limited resources on hand and preserve the possibility of restarting operations should consistent funding become available, RFA is taking further steps to responsibly shrink its already reduced footprint,” she said on Wednesday.

Fang added that RFA would begin closing its overseas bureaus and would formally lay off and pay severance to furloughed staff. She said many staff members have been on unpaid leave since March, “when the US Agency for Global Media [USAGM] unlawfully terminated RFA’s Congressionally appropriated grant”.

On March 14, Trump signed an executive order effectively eliminating USAGM, an independent US government agency created in the mid-1990s to broadcast news and information to regions with poor press freedom records.

Alongside RFA, USAGM also hosts sister publications Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE) and Voice of America (VOA).

Following March’s executive order, RFA was forced to put three-quarters of its US-based employees on unpaid leave and terminate most of its overseas contractors.

Another round of mass layoffs followed in May, along with the termination of several RFA language services, including Tibetan, Burmese and Uighur.

Mass layoffs also took place at VOA in March when Trump signed another executive order placing nearly all 1,400 staff at the outlet – which he described as a “total left-wing disaster” – on paid leave. It has operated on a limited basis since then.

Trump has said operations like RFA, RFE/Radio Liberty and VOA are a waste of government resources and accused them of being biased against his administration.

Since its founding in 1996, RFA has reported on Asia’s most repressive regimes, providing English- and local-language online and broadcast services to citizens of authoritarian governments across the region.

Its flagship projects include its Uighur service – the world’s only independent Uyghur-language outlet, covering the repressed ethnic group in western China – as well as its North Korea service, which reports on events inside the hermit state.

An announcement penned by RFA executive editor Rosa Hwang, published on the outlet’s website on Wednesday, said, “Make no mistake, authoritarian regimes are already celebrating RFA’s potential demise.”

“Independent journalism is at the core of RFA. For the first time since RFA’s inception almost 30 years ago, that voice is at risk,” Hwang said.

“We still believe in the urgency of that mission – and in the resilience of our extraordinary journalists. Once our funding returns, so will we,” she added.

RFE/Radio Liberty, which went through its own round of furloughs earlier this year, said this week that it received its last round of federal funding in September and its news services are continuing for now.

“We plan to continue reaching our audiences for the foreseeable future,” it said.

It’s not immediately clear why RFA and RFE/Radio Liberty – which share the same governing and funding structure, but are based in the US and Europe, respectively – are taking different approaches.

The European Union will implement new measures against Israel and further raise support for Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said.

In her annual State of the Union address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, von der Leyen condemned the situation in Gaza as “catastrophic”, announcing plans to cut support for Israel and implement sanctions.

She also noted plans to further raise support for Ukraine, urging EU members – some of which are likely to be unenthusiastic – to rally behind the measures on both issues.

“Man-made famine can never be a weapon of war. For the sake of the children, for the sake of humanity, this must stop,” the EU chief declared.

The proposed “package of measures” includes sanctions on “extremist Israeli ministers” and settlers, a suspension of bilateral support for Israel, and a suspension of the EU’s association agreement with Israel, which gives it preferential access to European markets.

“Europe needs to do more,” said von der Leyen, adding that while she would attempt to move the bloc in unison, EU member states also needed to take “our own responsibility” on the issue.

“Europe’s goal has always been the same. Real security for Israel and a safe, present future for all Palestinians,” she said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar was quick to slam the EU chief and claimed that she was offering support to Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas.

“The remarks made this morning by the President of the European Commission are regrettable. Some of them also echo the false propaganda of Hamas and its partners,” Saar wrote on social media. “Once again, Europe is sending the wrong message, which strengthens Hamas and the radical axis in the Middle East.”

Reparations and returns for Ukraine

Regarding Ukraine, von der Leyen said she was proposing a summit to coordinate international efforts to secure the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.

The use of frozen Russian assets to fund a “reparations loan” for Ukraine was also put forward in the speech, although von der Leyen said the bloc would not seize the assets itself.

The address came shortly after Polish and NATO forces shot down Russian drones that had violated Poland’s airspace. The EU chief branded Moscow’s actions “reckless and unprecedented”.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has imposed 18 rounds of sanctions on it, targeting its economy, individuals and key sectors such as fuel, as well as nearly 140 billion euros ($164bn) in support to Ukraine, including financial, humanitarian, and military assistance.

Von der Leyen said as the EU prepares its 19th package of sanctions against Moscow, it will seek to accelerate efforts to phase out all purchases of Russian fossil fuels, as well as sanctioning the shadow oil shipping fleet used to circumvent such measures and any third countries involved.

Coalition of the unwilling?

However, Brussels is likely to encounter obstacles to such ambitions. Unanimous agreement is required to impose sanctions, and Hungary and Slovakia remain dependent on Russian energy and have blocked previous actions.

The 27-member bloc also remains divided over action regarding Israel’s war on Gaza, which started after Hamas led deadly attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Sanctions and the suspension of the trade agreement would require the approval of all 27 states, and could meet resistance from the likes of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Germany.

Other member states, such as Spain or Ireland, have been calling for economic curbs and an arms embargo against Israel for some time.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said the “double standards” demonstrated by the West over the wars in Ukraine and Gaza threaten to undermine its global standing.

However, other member states have obstructed efforts to take action and continue to supply the Israeli military with arms and equipment.

Ranging into other topics, von der Leyen defended the much-criticised tariffs deal she agreed recently with Washington, saying it stabilised ties with the United States at a time of soaring global tensions and averted trade war “chaos”.

She also asserted that the EU needs a new sanctions system targeting people smugglers and traffickers, adding it should be part of measures allowing the bloc to manage migration “effectively”.

Aug. 23 (UPI) — A federal judge has extended his preliminary injunction that blocks the Trump administration from withholding funds for 34 sanctuary jurisdictions.

The “sanctuary cities” include Boston, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick, who serves in San Francisco, wrote in the 15-page ruling issued Friday night that the government offered to reason for the opposition to the preliminary injunction except it was “wrong in the first place.”

The judge, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, also blocked the Trump administration from imposing conditions on grants that are “for a variety of critical needs.”

On April 24, he issued a preliminary order that “the Cities and Counties are likely to succeed on the merits “because they were unconstitutional violations of the separation of powers and spending clause doctrines and violated the Fifth Amendment, Tenth Amendment and Administrative Procedure Act.”

His original injunction listed 16 plaintiffs that were mainly jurisdictions in western states, including San Francisco, Portland and San Diego, but on Aug. 5 expanded it to other cities that include Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles.

On Friday, he wrote that the executive orders by President Donald Trump were “coercive threat (and any actions agencies take to realize that threat, or additional Executive Orders the President issues to the same end) is unconstitutional, so I enjoined its effect. I do so against today for the protection of the new parties in this case.”

On the day Trump became president on Jan. 20, he signed an order that sanctuary cities “do not receive access to Federal funds.” The president a few weeks later ordered that federal funding shouldn’t “facilitate the subsidization or promotion of illegal immigration.”

In May, the Department of Homeland Security publicly listed 500 cities, counties and states that hadn’t adhered to the interpretation of immigration laws. That list has since been removed.

Attorney General Palm Biondi also sent letters to jurisdictions last week, threatening them with legal recourse because they have “undermined” and “obstructed” federal forces.

The White House didn’t respond to inquiries from The Hill and CBS News on the latest judge’s order.

Sanctuary cities don’t assist federal personnel, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, from apprehending those in the country illegally.

In those jurisdictions, law enforcement is limited from sharing information about a person’s immigration status and entering jails or courthouses for arrests or interviews with a warrant signed by a judge.

People are also protected from encounters in public places, including schools and healthcare facilities.

The massive spending bill, which was signed into law on July 4, increased funds for enforcement. ICE’s budget grew from $3.5 billion to $48.5 billion.

Deportation raids have increased in cities run by Democrats.

Several lawsuits have been filed, including one last week by 20 states over the DOJ tying crime victim grants to immigration enforcement.

South Korea’s President Lee Jae-myung said he will restore a military agreement to rebuild trust with North Korea.

South Korea has said it intends to restore an agreement suspending military activity along its border with North Korea and revive inter-Korean cooperation, as President Lee Jae-myung attempts to dampen soaring tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme and deepening ties with Russia.

Marking the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule on Friday, Lee said he will seek to restore the so-called September 19 Military Agreement and rebuild trust with North Korea.

“To prevent accidental clashes between South and North Korea and to build military trust, we will take proactive, gradual steps to restore the [2018] September 19 Military Agreement,” Lee said in a televised speech.

Lee added that his government “will not pursue any form of unification by absorption and has no intention of engaging in hostile acts” against its northern neighbour.

The September 19 agreement was signed at an inter-Korean summit in 2018, where the leaders of both countries declared the start of a new era of peace.

But Seoul partially suspended the deal in late 2023 after it objected to North Korea launching a military spy satellite into space, with Pyongyang then effectively ripping up the deal as it deployed heavy weapons into the Demilitarized Zone between both countries and restored guard posts.

Tensions then spiralled between the two Koreas under Yoon Suk-yeol, South Korea’s conservative ex-president who was elected in 2022 but removed from office in April and is now serving jail time for his brief imposition of martial law in December.

South Korea and North Korea – separated along the heavily militarised buffer zone known as the 38th parallel – are still technically at war after their 1950-53 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Making clear his desire to resume dialogue with Pyongyang since winning a snap election in June, South Korea’s new left-leaning President Lee has taken a softer tone and sought rapprochement with North Korea.

Soon after his inauguration and in his government’s first concrete step towards easing tensions, Lee halted the South blasting propaganda messages and K-pop songs across the border into the North.

Earlier this month, South Korea began removing its loudspeakers from its side of the border, while Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff claimed it had evidence that Pyongyang was doing the same.

But, on Thursday, Kim Yo Jong – the powerful sister of North Korea’s long-ruling leader Kim Jong Un – dampened any suggestion of warming ties between the Koreas.

Kim, who oversees the propaganda operations of the Workers’ Party of Korea, which has ruled the country since 1948, accused Seoul of misleading the public and “building up the public opinion while embellishing their new policy” towards Pyongyang.

“We have never removed loudspeakers installed on the border area and are not willing to remove them,” Kim said.

That leads nicely to England’s pace bowlers. Having opted to pick an unchanged side for Edgbaston, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue have now bowled 82, 77 and 81 overs respectively.

Mohammed Siraj is the only India quick to have bowled more than 62.

All three of England’s pacemen struggled at times in Birmingham. Woakes was not as threatening after his new-ball spell while Tongue has been played well by India’s top order and was not as successful against the tail as in the first Test.

Change will surely come at Lord’s given three days off is little time to recover and Jofra Archer is waiting in the wings.

Could England conceivably leave out all three?

Gus Atkinson, who has not played since May because of a hamstring injury, is back in the squad but it would be a risk to play Atkinson and Archer, who has bowled in two innings in a match once in four years, in the same XI.

Woakes, 36, may need a rest but England like variety in their attack and he averages 12.9 at Lord’s – the best of any bowler in Test history.

England would also need to replace his batting at number eight if he is left out – even more so if Carse, an able batter, was also absent at number nine.

Sam Cook is the Woakes replacement in England’s squad but does not offer that same batting depth.

Do not rule out bowling all-rounder Jamie Overton adding to his one Test cap, which was earned in 2022.