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Exclusive-US Reports Delay in Freeing More Belarusian Prisoners, Opposition Says

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By Mark Trevelyan
LONDON, June 9 () – The Trump administration has told the exiled Belarus opposition of a delay in its ⁠efforts to ⁠get President Alexander Lukashenko to free more political prisoners, opposition leader ⁠Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told .
Her comments marked the first public acknowledgment of a slowing in the momentum of negotiations led by President Donald Trump's envoy John Coale that have persuaded Lukashenko to free more than 400 prisoners so far. Human rights group Viasna says nearly 870 remain in jail, including at least 170 who are "particularly vulnerable" due to age, sickness or harsh detention conditions.
Tsikhanouskaya told in an interview that ‌she had been told by the U.S. side that "the next ‌releases were postponed for a while" but she could not disclose why.
"Knowing the reason, it doesn't worry me. Of course, we want more people to be released as soon as possible, and any delay, it ruins health for many of them," ⁠she said, speaking in English. "But ⁠it's not the end of the process."
She pointed to upbeat comments by Coale, who posted on X on June 3: "We are not finished. Keep hope alive!"
requested comment from Coale and from Lukashenko's office. Neither responded.
ENGAGING WITH BELARUS LEADER A SHIFT IN U.S. POLICY
The U.S. decision to enter talks with Lukashenko – a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin – represented a sharp departure from previous Western policy. For years, he had been treated as a pariah and hammered with U.S. and EU sanctions over his human rights record and backing for Moscow's war in Ukraine.
Tsikhanouskaya – considered by Western governments to be the rightful winner of a disputed 2020 election claimed by Lukashenko – has welcomed the U.S. engagement as an important humanitarian initiative, while warning against conferring legitimacy on the veteran authoritarian ruler.
She has made no secret of her discomfort at Trump's public ⁠flattery ⁠of Lukashenko, whom he has called "the Highly Respected ⁠President of Belarus", but acknowledges that the U.S. proach has been effective.
"Neither President Trump nor those around him are naive, they understand who they are dealing with, and they can make some tactical moves to free people," she said.
SANCTIONS RELIEF IN RETURN FOR PRISONER RELEASES
In a major shift, the U.S. ⁠announced in December it was lifting sanctions on potash fertiliser from Belarus, a leading global producer, as a reward for the prisoner releases.
But this has yet to translate into a significant revenue boost for Lukashenko because EU sanctions remain in place, forcing Belarus to send its exports through Russia instead of the more efficient route via Lithuania's port of Klaipeda.
Lithuania said last month that the U.S. was pressing it to restore Belarusian access to Klaipeda, but Vilnius would not discuss this while the EU sanctions remain in force until February 2027.
Pavel Slunkin, a former Belarusian diplomat now working as an independent political analyst in Warsaw, said Lukashenko's frustration with the inability of the U.S. to bring the Europeans on board was the likely ⁠reason for the delay in the prisoner talks.
"Probably the Americans delivered a promise (to Lukashenko) that they could not fulfil," he said in a telephone interview.
"The American sanctions ⁠have never been the biggest problem for the regime in Minsk. The toughest sanctions are the European ones."
DIPLOMACY AND VODKA
Coale, 79, was pointed by Trump last year to head talks with Lukashenko. He has cultivated the former collective farm boss through long hours of talks and vodka-drinking sessions, quietly emptying his glass on the floor in order to stay sober.
Among the hundreds of prisoners to be freed are Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and prominent opposition figures including Tsikhanouskaya's husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski.
On ril 28, Coale told he expected to get more prisoners out in the next month. But six weeks later, that has yet to hpen.
On June 4, Coale rejected an assertion on X by Valery Tsepkalo, a Belarusian opposition politician and former ambassador to the U.S., that Lukashenko had refused to meet him in May.
RISING TENSIONS
The stalling of talks coincides with an increase in tensions between Lukashenko and the West in recent weeks.
Belarus has conducted joint nuclear exercises with Russia, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he believes Moscow is trying to draw Belarus deeper into the war.
Arrests of Lukashenko critics have continued, even though Coale said the U.S. had told him this must cease.
Tsikhanouskaya said people were being arrested "every ⁠day" but accurate statistics were lacking because relatives feared reprisals from authorities.
Rights group Viasna has reported at least 50 prison sentences meted out since December that it considers politically motivated. Last month alone, it added 32 names to its list of political prisoners.
Tsikhanouskaya told that Lukashenko was operating a "revolving door" to replace old prisoners with new in order to maintain his bargaining power.
While praising Coale for a "fantastic job," she said she had shared her concern that Lukashenko was trying to play tricks.
"He wants to get a Lamborghini for the price of a bicycle. Take a lot while giving a little," she said.
"And now if the Americans and the Europeans don’t maintain a principled position, we will repeat the same cycle again: Lukashenko will deceive, the sanctions will be removed, and the regime will still be there, without systemic changes."
(Reporting by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
Copyright 2026 Thomson .

Source: U.S. News & World Report

Published: June 9, 2026 1:54 PM

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Bad Bunny Meets Pope Leo in Madrid, but Should Have Taken More Photos

BARCELONA, June 9 () – Pope Leo ⁠had ⁠a brief private meeting ⁠with Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny at Madrid's Bernabeu stadium on Monday evening as both were touring ‌Spain, the Vatican said ‌on Tuesday, adding that it did not expect ⁠to ⁠release any photos of the meeting.
According to a Vatican statement, the pope met the reggaeton sensation, whose album "Debí Tirar Más Fotos" (I Should Have Taken More Pictures) won Album of the Year at this year's Grammys, with his family ⁠and other ⁠people. He offered ⁠them a short greeting before leaving the stadium, it added.
Leo, who drew the ire of ⁠U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this year after criticising the Iran war, is on a week-long tour of Spain, where he has warned that escalating conflicts ⁠have pushed the world into "profound crisis".
Coincidentally, triggering Trump's anger is ⁠something the pope and Bad Bunny, whose given name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, have in common.
The singer has been outspoken in his criticism of Trump's hardline anti-immigration policies and supported former Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, in the 2024 presidential race.
Bad Bunny headlined the Super Bowl halftime show ⁠in February, bringing Spanish language and reggaeton rhythms to the annual U.S. football spectacle. Trump called the show "absolutely terrible" and "an affront to the Greatness of America".
(Reporting by Joshua McElwee, writing by Andrei Khalip, Editing by Alex Richardson)
Copyright 2026 Thomson .

Source: U.S. News & World Report

Published: June 9, 2026 5:05 PM

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US House Speaker Johnson Meets With Trump With Surveillance Law at Risk

By David Morgan and Katharine Jackson
WASHINGTON, June ⁠9 () – ⁠U.S. House of Representatives ⁠Speaker Mike Johnson met with President Donald Trump on Tuesday to discuss his controversial pointment of loyalist Bill Pulte as spy chief, which ‌has threatened passage of ‌a surveillance law in Congress.
Trump's pointment of the mortgage regulator to serve ⁠as ⁠acting director of national intelligence has led to a showdown on Citol Hill, as lawmakers worry he may abuse his position to pursue Trump's perceived enemies. That has complicated efforts to renew the law, which allows U.S. intelligence agencies to monitor some foreign communications without court proval. The law ⁠expires on ⁠Friday.
The No. 2 House ⁠Republican, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, said Johnson was meeting with Trump to discuss next steps.
One of the reasons ⁠that the speaker's not here right now is he's over at the White House working with the president to finalize this agreement on FISA, Scalise told reporters, referring to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The renewal effort stalled ⁠in the Senate last Friday, as Republican skeptics joined with Democrats to ⁠vote against bringing it up for debate. The vote represented a significant setback for Republicans, who narrowly control both the Senate and House of Representatives.
Both the House and the Senate will need to prove the surveillance authority, contained in Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows intelligence agencies to monitor emails and other communications of foreigners located outside the U.S. without individual judicial warrants.
As ⁠the head of a low-profile mortgage regulator, Pulte accessed confidential data to push for mortgage fraud probes against several of the president's perceived foes. No criminal charges have been brought against any of them.
(Reporting by David Morgan and Katharine Jackson in Washington; Editing by Andy Sullivan and Matthew Lewis)

Source: U.S. News & World Report

Published: June 9, 2026 4:02 PM

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Brussels Presses Albania as Kushner Resort Threatens to Flout EU Environmental Law

BRUSSELS, June 9 () – The European Commission has ⁠urged ⁠Albania to act without ⁠delay to ensure it is aligned with EU environmental legislation if it wants to accede to the bloc, a Commission spokesperson said on ‌Tuesday, commenting on a planned ‌Kushner-backed luxury resort.
On Monday, Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama told ⁠in an ⁠interview that his country will press ahead with a luxury resort planned by U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and his daughter Ivanka Trump on a remote stretch of Balkan coast despite protests over its environmental impact.
The protests have been dubbed the Flamingo Revolution because the stretch of coast ⁠is ⁠a migratory pitstop for ⁠the birds. They have widened into broader opposition to aspects of Rama's 13-year tenure.
The 27-member EU has said ⁠it could admit new members, including Montenegro, Albania and Ukraine by 2030, but that depends on alignment with EU laws, including on the environment.
"Albania should refrain from action that could undermine the fulfilment of the closing benchmark, and ⁠we expect the Albanian authorities to act without delay," spokesman Guillaume Mercier ⁠said.
"We are in contact with the Albanian authorities on this issue," he added.
Faced with protests over the last week in Tirana and on the southern coast, where the resort has been proposed, Rama played down the environmental concerns and said an environmental impact assessment would be completed.
"We are very proud of what we have done for the wildlife in Albania. The European Commission has no reason ⁠to doubt our firm will to protect whatever has to be protected when it comes to wildlife and nature," he said.
Kushner's Affinity Partners' company, which is set to build the resort, has not responded to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro, writing by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Barbara Lewis)
Copyright 2026 Thomson .

Source: U.S. News & World Report

Published: June 9, 2026 2:56 PM

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Bari Weiss on verge of major promotion for ‘fantastic job’ bosses think she’s doing at CBS

Bari Weiss could be taking over the editorial leadership of another news network.
Paramount has begun preliminary conversations with several top media executives about a business-side counterpart to Weiss, the CBS News editor-in-chief, as the company awaits regulatory proval of its proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, two sources familiar with the matter told Axios.
"The search implies that if Paramount Skydance's deal with Warner Bros. Discovery goes through, Weiss would oversee all news editorial across both CBS News and CNN," Axios reported. "Her potential counterpart would manage business operations across both companies."
Among the candidates under consideration are NBCUniversal News Group chairman Cesar Conde, CNN Worldwide CEO Mark Thompson and former NBC News president Noah Oppenheim. Paramount had also weighed Ben Sherwood, CEO of the Daily Beast and former ABC News president, and David Rhodes, former CBS News president and current Sky News executive chairman, according to a source familiar with the search.
One candidate faces a procedural hurdle. Because Paramount is still awaiting regulatory clearance to acquire WBD, company executives are barred from holding conversations with any WBD personnel — which would include Thompson.
Currently, CBS News president Tom Cibrowski serves alongside Weiss, reporting to George Cheeks, chair of TV media at Paramount. Weiss reports directly to Paramount chairman and CEO David Ellison.
The role being sought would fill a void left by former CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon, who oversaw all business operations before resigning last year ahead of Skydance's merger with Paramount. No direct replacement was ever named.
The search comes amid turbulence surrounding CBS News' flagship program "60 Minutes," though a source close to the process disputed recent reports suggesting Weiss' authority could be curtailed.
"The Paramount brass loves Bari Weiss," the source said. "She has the full confidence of David Ellison, who believes Bari has done a fantastic job as editor-in-chief."

Source: Raw Story

Published: June 9, 2026 12:35 PM

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