World
US Embassy Reduces Issuance Of Visas In Russia
Under pressure from the Russian government, the Unied States embassy in Moscow is reducing the issuance of visas and other services largely to emergencies.
Consular work would be reduced by 75 per cent overall, the mission announced on Friday.
For example, visas for simple travel to the U.S will no longer be issued.
Routine services for U.S. citizens would also have to be reduced.
U.S. citizens whose visas for Russia are expiring have been asked to leave the country by June 15.
“We regret that the actions of the Russian government have forced us to reduce our consular work force by 75 per cent, and will endeavor to offer to U.S. citizens as many services as possible,’’ it said on its website.
The reason for this unprecedented move is a Russian government ban on future employment of staff that do not hold U.S. passports.
In Moscow, many foreign embassies hire Russian citizens to keep their costs down.
For many Russians, working in Western embassies is in turn attractive because they often earn much better there than on the Russian labour market.
The spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, had justified the ban with a possible recruitment of Russian citizens for the secret services of other states.
The Czech embassy is also affected.
President, Vladimir Putin has also signed a decree to draw up a list of unfriendly states.
The Foreign Ministry intends to publish the list shortly.
The countries on the list face punitive measures.
The Russian Foreign Ministry had imposed the recruitment ban in response to new U.S. punitive measures.
In April, the U.S expelled 10 Russian diplomats and imposed sanctions as punishment for interference in 2020 presidential election and for hacker attacks.
The UN on Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of the entry into force of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) – the first multilateral disarmament treaty to ban an entire category of weapons of mass destruction
The UN’s High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu. in a statement, said that the world came together 50 years ago to ban biological weapons,.
She noted that in today’s volatile geopolitical climate we can ill-afford to let this moral safeguard “erode”,
Disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu told Member States in Geneva that the BWC “remains a testament to the conscience of humankind”. Yet as technology evolves, so too do potential risks.
“We must ensure the instruments of the 20th century can respond to today’s global 21st century challenges,” Nakamitsu said.
In his message, the Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres urged all States parties to actively participate in the Working Group on Strengthening the BWC – which verifies compliance, capacity-building and assistance – and called on the Group to accelerate its efforts in this milestone year.
“These efforts reinforce the commitment in the Pact for the Future, adopted at the United Nations last year, for all countries to pursue a world free of biological weapons,” he said.
Guterres hailed the Convention as a cornerstone of international peace and security, having contributed over five decades to “collective efforts to reject the use of disease as a weapon.”
Today, 188 countries are party to the convention, which effectively prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological and toxin weapons.
The BWC stands as a safeguard, ensuring that advances in biology and biotechnology are used solely for “peaceful purposes” – and not to trigger artificial epidemics that threaten us all.
While the vast majority of UN Member States have joined the convention, nine countries remain outside.
The secretary-general called on those governments to ratify the treaty without delay.
UN disarmament affairs office, UNODA, is working to support the convention’s implementation – especially in Africa where it has engaged 100 young scientists through the Youth for Biosecurity Fellowship in the last five years.
“Together, let us stand united against biological weapons,” the secretary-general said.
As the world grapples with new global health challenges and geopolitical uncertainty, the BWC remains a vital barrier against the misuse of science.
Reinforcing it, the UN chief said, is essential to prevent biological weapons from ever being used again – whether in conflict, acts of terror, or by accident.
NAN reports that the BWC currently has 187 states-parties, including Palestine, and four signatories (Egypt, Haiti, Somalia, and Syria).
The 10 states that have neither signed nor ratified the BWC are Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Israel, Kiribati, Micronesia, Namibia, South Sudan, and Tuvalu.
Kirsty Coventry hopes her election as the first female and African president of the International Olympic Committee, IOC, beating six male candidates including Britain’s Lord Coe, sends a powerful signal.
The 41-year-old former swimmer, who won two Olympic gold medals, secured a majority of 49 of the 97 available votes in the first round of yesterday’s election, while World Athletics boss Coe won just eight.
Zimbabwe’s sports minister Coventry will replace Thomas Bach, who has led the IOC since 2013, on 23 June and be the youngest president in the organisation’s 130-year history.
Her first Olympics will be the Milan-Cortina Winter Games in February 2026.
“It’s a really powerful signal. It’s a signal that we’re truly global and that we have evolved into an organisation that is truly open to diversity and we’re going to continue walking that road in the next eight years,” Coventry said.
Runner-up Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr won 28 votes while France’s David Lappartient and Japan’s Morinari Watanabe earned four votes each. Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan and Sweden’s Johan Eliasch both took two.
Coventry, who already sits on the IOC executive board and was said to be Bach’s preferred candidate, is the 10th person to hold the highest office in sport and will be in post for at least the next eight years.
Coventry has won seven of Zimbabwe’s eight Olympic medals – including gold in the 200m backstroke at both the 2004 and 2008 Games.
“The young girl who first started swimming in Zimbabwe all those years ago could never have dreamed of this moment,” said Coventry.
“I am particularly proud to be the first female IOC president, and also the first from Africa.
Cameroon were held to a shock draw away to unfancied Eswatini as African qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup resumed on Wednesday.
Bryan Mbeumo came closest to breaking the deadlock for the Indomitable Lions when the Brentford forward hit the woodwork with a curling effort from distance in the first half.
Eswatini are ranked 159th in the world, 110 places below the central Africans, but were able to hold on in the second half, with Mlamuli Makhanya tipping a header from Cameroon captain Vincent Aboubakar over the crossbar.
Cameroon remain unbeaten after five games but could be replaced as Group D leaders before they host Libya on Tuesday next week.
Elsewhere, Tunisia continued their unbeaten start with a hard-fought 1-0 win away against Liberia to move five points clear at the top of Group H.
Madagascar moved to the summit of Group I after coming from behind to win 4-1 away against Central African Republic (CAR) in Corentin Martins’ first match in charge.
The islanders lead Comoros and Ghana by a point.
There were nine qualifiers yesterday, with Comoros having a chance to regain top spot in Group I when they hosted Mali.
Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup finals resumed after a nine-month hiatus, with the final six rounds of group matches spread across March, September and October.
The nine group winners are guaranteed a place in the World Cup finals, hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Cameroon have appeared at an African-record eight editions of the tournament but their task has got trickier after dropping two points in neutral Mbombela.
Mbeumo also had a shot deflected wide in the first half while Aboubakar was wasteful with efforts either side of the break.