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Sierra Club Reverses Decision to Cancel Trips to Israel

Sierra Club Reverses Decision to Cancel Trips to Israel
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Sierra Club Reverses Decision to Cancel Trips to Israel

Sierra Club Reverses Decision to Cancel Trips to Israel

The Sierra Club reversed its decision to cancel trips to Israel, saying it was "hastily" made and did not accord with the conservation group's mission.

"Recently, the Sierra Club hastily made a decision, without consulting a robust set of stakeholders, to postpone two planned outings to Israel," said the Club.

Earlier, the organization announced it was canceling environmental-tourism trips to Israel because of its actions against the Palestinians.

In a Tuesday statement, the Club confirmed new Israel trips would be announced later this year, saying earlier decision to cancel tours was made in ways that created "confusion, anger, and frustration."

The head of Sierra Club's National Outings, Mary Owens, confirmed in a previous mass email to hundreds of volunteers and members that trips were canceled saying the decision came after activists alleged the foundation was "greenwashing the conflict" and "providing legitimacy to the Israeli state, which is engaged in apartheid against the Palestinian people."

"Greenwashing" is a term used by anti-Israel activists that accuse the Jewish state of using environmental causes to disguise alleged human rights violations.

The Sierra Club Foundation, founded by John Muir in 1892, is a charitable foundation concerned with nature, with over 750,000 members and an annual budget for the current year of more than $97 million.

Its first trip to Israel began in 1960 to explore biodiversity, bird migrations, desert landscapes, and ancient monuments. Last year's trip was called "Natural and Historical Highlights of Israel," offered for two weeks in March for about $5,000 per person.

More than 250 upcoming trips are listed on Sierra Club's website, including more than 200 to sites in the US and others to places like Malaysia, Nepal, and Antarctica.

The email sent from Owens stated that the Club's decision was taken after a campaign an advocacy push from one "Jewish American activist" and a host of both progressive and anti-Zionist groups, including the pro-Palestinian Adalah Justice Project, the Indigenous rights group the NDN Collective, the Campaign for the Boycott of Israel, Jewish Voice for Peace, the Sunrise Movement and the Movement for Black Lives.

An employee confirmed he was aware of his organization's efforts but was not authorized to say more. A request for comment from JVP, the Jewish anti-Zionist group, went unanswered.

The decision sparked outrage in Israel, particularly against Jewish Voice for Peace, which has been working in the United States since 1996.

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World

NATO Chief Visits Kyiv After Russian Strikes

In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on June 3, 2026, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha (L) greets NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) upon his arrival in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout / Ukrainian Foreign Ministry / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on June 3, 2026, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha (L) greets NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) upon his arrival in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout / Ukrainian Foreign Ministry / AFP)
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NATO Chief Visits Kyiv After Russian Strikes

In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on June 3, 2026, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha (L) greets NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) upon his arrival in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout / Ukrainian Foreign Ministry / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on June 3, 2026, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha (L) greets NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) upon his arrival in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout / Ukrainian Foreign Ministry / AFP)

NATO chief Mark Rutte arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday for an unannounced trip, after a series of large-scale fatal Russian attacks on the Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is expected to meet with Rutte, has been appealing to members of the defense bloc for help protecting Ukraine from Russian ballistic missile attacks.

A spokesman confirmed Rutte had arrived along with NATO ambassadors from alliance members after Ukraine's national railway operator posted images of his arrival in Kyiv.

"We are gladly welcoming NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte," Ukrzaliznytsia wrote on social media.

"This visit is extremely important, just like all the previous ones, because it is a gesture of solidarity and support from the Alliance for our country," Ukrzaliznytsia added. The post was later deleted.

His visit comes hours after Ukrainian drones hit energy and military sites in the northern Russian city of Saint Petersburg where officials and visiting dignitaries were gathering for a flagship economic forum.

Russian missile and drone attacks a day earlier killed 23 people in strikes on Kyiv and the eastern city of Dnipro.

Zelensky has been pushing NATO countries to up their deliveries of air defense systems -- in particular US-made Patriot batteries and ammunition, which Kyiv says it needs to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles.

World

Putin Squeezes Armenia as Russia Seeks to Retain Global Clout

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attend a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, April 1, 2026. (Sputnik/Sofya Sandurskaya/Pool via Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attend a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, April 1, 2026. (Sputnik/Sofya Sandurskaya/Pool via Reuters)
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Putin Squeezes Armenia as Russia Seeks to Retain Global Clout

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attend a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, April 1, 2026. (Sputnik/Sofya Sandurskaya/Pool via Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attend a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, April 1, 2026. (Sputnik/Sofya Sandurskaya/Pool via Reuters)

President Vladimir Putin has read long-term ally Armenia the riot act: persist in wanting to join the European Union and you can kiss goodbye to cheap Russian oil and gas.

The Russian leader issued the warning before a parliamentary election in Armenia on Sunday, which polls suggest the party of Western-leaning Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will win.

It is not an empty threat. Armenia, a landlocked country of 3 million with centuries-old ties to Russia, is highly dependent on Moscow, which has imposed temporary bans on important Armenian exports before the vote.

But Putin's words also reflect an uncomfortable truth for Moscow. Waging war in Ukraine with no end in sight after more than four years of fighting, Russia is mounting an intensifying and increasingly complex rearguard action around the world to try to retain its geopolitical clout.

While Moscow focuses resources on the war in Ukraine, the European Union and the United States have been courting and squeezing traditional Russian allies and interests, both in ‌what Moscow sees as ‌its own backyard and also further afield.

From Havana and Caracas, from Belgrade to the ‌steppes ⁠of Central Asia, and ⁠even in west Africa, where Moscow's forces are helping fight extremists, Russian influence is under pressure.

RUSSIAN CONCERN

Armenia, a longstanding recipient of Russian largesse and home to a Russian military base, signed a partnership agreement with the US last month and Pashinyan won fulsome endorsement from President Donald Trump.

Armenia, once part of the Soviet Union, also passed a law last year setting out a legal basis for it to join the EU.

"Of course, we are deeply concerned about the Armenian authorities’ policy of rapprochement with the Euro-Atlantic community whose core policy is directed against Moscow," Maria Zakharova, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, told reporters.

"The Anglo-Saxons are openly boasting about 'detaching' Armenia, as they say, from the bear ⁠hug of 'authoritarian Russia'".

Russian war bloggers and analysts say Russia is facing a concerted and largely Western ‌attempt - as in other regions across the world - to squeeze it out of ‌the wider South Caucasus region, of which Armenia is part.

"In such conditions, the question of adapting Russian strategy (to embrace soft power and economic ‌levers) becomes key," said Russian analytical Telegram channel "The Secret Chancery", which has over 400,000 followers.

One source close to the Russian government ‌said Moscow could see that countries such as Armenia were "all waiting to see how the war (in Ukraine) ends" and some were already building new ties while Moscow was largely distracted elsewhere.

For Moscow, Armenia's hosting a meeting of European leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last month was the last straw.

Since then, Russia has temporarily banned the import of many Armenian goods, warned it might cut off cheap oil, gas and rough diamond ‌exports, suggested Armenia could be expelled from the Eurasian Economic Union, a Russian-led trade bloc, and recalled its envoy to Armenia for consultations.

Dmitry Medvedev, the outspoken deputy chairman of Russia's powerful ⁠Security Council, also hinted that ⁠Armenia's prime minister could, if not careful, suffer the fate of Bolshevik revolutionary Leon Trotsky whom Josef Stalin had killed with an ice pick.

RUSSIA UNDER PRESSURE

Meanwhile, Trump, who Moscow hoped would have strong-armed Ukraine into suing for peace by now, has instead targeted three traditional Russia-friendly countries - Iran, Venezuela and Cuba.

His actions have lifted oil prices, offering some respite to the war-battered Russian economy, but they have also exposed Moscow's inability to meaningfully help old friends. Havana has received only one shipment of Russian oil so far.

In Europe, Moscow complains it faces an increasingly hostile continent that is re-arming while holding out the prospect of EU membership to countries where Russia once held sway.

Putin ally Viktor Orban lost power in Hungary in April, leading to the unlocking of billions of euros in EU funding for Budapest. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, another Russian ally, is under pressure, with moves under way to abolish visa-free entry for Russians as Belgrade seeks EU membership.

Russia is also feeling the heat in Transdniestria, a Russian-garrisoned separatist enclave which is internationally recognized as part of Moldova, whose current political leadership wants to join the EU.

Russia is also worried about what it casts as encroaching Western influence in Central Asia, while in the South Caucasus Putin is trying to move past a rocky period in relations with oil-producing Azerbaijan, which has strengthened ties with the West in recent years.

World

US Sanctions Iran’s Largest Crypto Exchange over IRGC Links

Signage is seen at the United States Department of the Treasury headquarters in Washington, DC, US, August 29, 2020. (Reuters)
Signage is seen at the United States Department of the Treasury headquarters in Washington, DC, US, August 29, 2020. (Reuters)
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US Sanctions Iran’s Largest Crypto Exchange over IRGC Links

Signage is seen at the United States Department of the Treasury headquarters in Washington, DC, US, August 29, 2020. (Reuters)
Signage is seen at the United States Department of the Treasury headquarters in Washington, DC, US, August 29, 2020. (Reuters)

The United States announced sanctions on Iran’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange on Tuesday, accusing it of enabling the Iranian government and blacklisted state institutions to circumvent Western sanctions.

The new sanctions follow a Reuters investigation published on May 1 which showed how Nobitex had become a central node in a parallel financial system used to process hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran’s central bank and the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The report also revealed how Nobitex continued operating even after ‌the government-imposed ‌internet shutdown, processing millions of dollars of transactions.

“While Iran’s economy ‌is ⁠in free fall, ⁠the regime has chosen to co-opt digital asset technologies for its own corrupt agenda, including evading sanctions and transferring wealth out of the country,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

The Reuters investigation showed how Nobitex is controlled by two brothers from one of Iran’s most powerful families, with close ties to the new supreme leader.

The two are members of the Kharrazi family, one of the ⁠most influential dynasties in the country. Corporate records show ‌that when the exchange started, the brothers were ‌listed under a surname rarely used by members of the family.

The US Treasury announced ‌Tuesday that the two brothers, Mohammad Ali Aghamir Mohammad Ali and ‌Mohammad Aghamir Mohammad Ali, had also been individually sanctioned, along with the exchange’s chief executive officer, Amir Hossein Rad.

Nobitex had provided “significant support” to the Iranian government and facilitated a “significant number” of digital transactions linked to the IRGC and Iran’s central bank, the US Treasury said in ‌the statement.

“Following the commencement of US combat operations in Iran, Nobitex played a role in protecting and moving assets and ⁠funds out ⁠of Iran to shield regime wealth despite internet blackouts.”

Nobitex could not be reached for comment on the sanctions, which were announced after normal business hours in Iran.

In a statement to customers Wednesday on its Telegram account, the exchange said it had anticipated possible sanctions-related issues for years given "the unique challenges faced by Iranian businesses operating internationally."

"Accordingly, the necessary technical and operational preparations to deal with such circumstances have long been part of our planning," the statement said.

In an emailed statement to Reuters in April, Nobitex said it had no direct government connections and denied assisting the state.

It said that any illicit funds moving through Nobitex did so without management approval or awareness. The company also said that the two brothers had never used an alternative identity or changed their identity.