Greece Creates Two Marine Parks That May Revive Turkey Tensions
The parks will be located in the Ionian Sea and in the Southern Cyclades, an island group in the Aegean Sea, west and east of the mainland respectively. The Greek government's pledge to create a marine park in the Aegean Sea drew pushback from Turkey last year. The two countries have historically been at odds over sea borders and economic rights in parts of the eastern Mediterranean.
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Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
New poll finds 96% Idaho voters say public lands should remain in public hands
More than 60% of the land in Idaho is public land, including this high altitude lake at the base of Thompson Peak in the Sawtooth Wilderness. (Photo by Clark Corbin/Idaho Capital Sun) Ninety-six percent of all registered voters in Idaho believe that public lands should remain in public hands, according to a new poll paid for by Conservation Voters for Idaho. The poll was conducted in the aftermath of a federal proposal from U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to make millions of acres of public land in the U.S., including in Idaho, available to be sold off. The poll specifically asked Idaho voters questions about Idaho public lands and who they support in Idaho's 2026 U.S. Senate race. Alexis Pickering, executive director of Conservation Voters for Idaho, said she has never in her career seen Idahoans from all sides of the political spectrum unite behind a single issue like they have behind public lands this year. 'It really is clear that voters are unified in keeping public lands in public hands,' Pickering said in a phone interview Wednesday. 'It demonstrates that Idaho voters are very cognizant of this fight right now,' Pickering said. 'They are very engaged, and they are not going to sit this out.' More than 60% of the land in Idaho is public land of some form. The polling firm Change Research conducted the poll among 1,027 registered Idaho voters from July 15-17. The margin of error was 3.2%, according to Change Research. One poll question asked voters, 'Did you support or oppose the amendment to sell off over 3 million acres of public land across 11 Western states, including Idaho?' – with 87% of respondents saying they opposed it. Battles over public lands loom even after sell-off proposal fails Another poll question asked voters which statement came closest to their opinion: Public lands in Idaho, where people enjoy outdoor activities such as fishing, hunting, hiking, camping, and biking, should remain public and be protected so that everyone can keep enjoying them. Public lands in Idaho, where people enjoy outdoor activities such as fishing, hunting, hiking, camping, and biking, should be made available for purchase and private ownership. Ninety-six percent of Idaho registered voters said public lands should remain public, including 97% of registered Democrats and 95% of registered Republicans, the poll found. Lee withdrew his amendment to sell public lands after a public backlash and three of Idaho's four members of Congress provided public opposition from within the Republican Party to selling public lands. Even though the public lands amendment was withdrawn, Pickering said the issue isn't going away. She said Conservation Voters for Idaho plans to highlight public lands as a central issue and continue to hold elected officials accountable for keeping public lands public. Pickering also said the public is deeply invested in the issue and knows Lee could file another proposal to sell public lands. She compared the proposal to sell public lands to waking a sleeping bear. 'Now that they have woken the bear, it will be really hard to get that bear back in hibernation mode,' Pickering said. Three of Idaho's four members of Congress, U.S. Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo and U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, all R-Idaho, provided public Republican opposition to the proposal to sell off public lands, the Sun previously reported. On June 20, Risch and Crapo, both announced they were opposed to the provision in the budget reconciliation process to sell off public lands. Simpson co-sponsored the Public Lands in Public Hands Act. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho, opposed the Public Lands in Public Hands Act, the Utah News Dispatch reported. In a phone interview with the Idaho Capital Sun earlier this month, Fulcher said, 'public land should remain public, but the control, management should be local stakeholders, not the federal government.' Polling data shows that Risch received a 10% bump in support among all registered voters after they learned Risch provided opposition to the proposal to sell off public lands, up from 41% to 51%. Among registered Republican voters only, Risch's support increased from 60% to 72% after voters learned Risch provided opposition to the proposal to sell off public lands. The poll only asked voters about Risch's upcoming U.S. Senate race, where he faces re-election in 2026. The poll did not ask about Crapo, Simpson or Fulcher, Pickering said. Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@ Solve the daily Crossword
New York Times
21 hours ago
- New York Times
Israel Intercepts Gaza-Bound Ship of Activists and Aid
The Israeli navy intercepted a ship aiming to bring aid to Gaza this weekend, Israeli officials and pro-Palestinian activists said, in at least the third case this year in which a vessel has been stopped while challenging Israel's naval blockade of the enclave. The ship was rerouted to Israel and all its passengers were safe, Israel's foreign ministry said in a statement early Sunday. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an activist group, said it had organized the mission by the ship, which it called the Handala, to aid a population in Gaza facing rising starvation. The Israeli foreign ministry called the ship the Navarn, using another name associated with the vessel. The ship was roughly 40 nautical miles from Gaza when it was intercepted, according to a statement by the activist group, which opposes the nearly two-decade-old naval blockade of Gaza. Twenty-one activists from 12 countries were on board, the group said, adding that the ship carried supplies like baby formula, diapers, food and medicine from Italy, from where it set sail last week. One of those aboard was a French member of the European Parliament, Emma Fourreau, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition's website. The group's efforts to reach Gaza by sea have been repeatedly thwarted. In May, a Gaza-bound aid ship called Conscience was crippled by explosions and an ensuing fire, stopping the mission off the coast of Malta. In June, Israel intercepted the coalition's second effort, the Madleen, whose passengers included the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and another French member of the European Parliament, Rima Hassan. After the latest vessel was stopped, the coalition described the Israeli navy's actions as a 'violation of international maritime law.' Israel imposed its blockade on Gaza, with Egypt's help, after the Islamic militant group Hamas took control over the coastal strip in 2007. Israeli officials say the measure was necessary to prevent the smuggling of weapons into the territory. Since Hamas led the October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the current war in Gaza, living conditions in the territory have steadily deteriorated, and Israel has tightly controlled the flow of aid into the territory by land, sea and air. Its restrictions have drawn condemnation from many nations and rights groups, and on Saturday night the Israeli military announced that it would revive the practice of dropping aid from airplanes, and make it easier for aid convoys to move through Gaza by land. Before the ship was captured, the activist coalition published a statement saying that two vessels believed to be operated by the Israeli military were nearby. At that point, the ship altered its course toward the Egyptian coast, the statement said.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Kremlin says Putin and Zelenskiy can only meet as final step to clinch a peace deal
MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin said on Friday that a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy could only happen as a final step to seal a peace deal. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that it was unlikely that such a meeting could occur by the end of August, as Ukraine has proposed. "A summit meeting can and should put the final point on a settlement and cement the modalities and agreements worked out by experts. It is impossible to do it the other way round," Peskov told reporters. "Is it possible to go through such a complex process in 30 days? Well, obviously, it is unlikely." Ukraine says a leaders' meeting is required in order to achieve a breakthrough in the slow-moving process, which has seen the two sides hold three brief sessions of peace talks in Turkey since mid-May. In comments to journalists, Zelenskiy said Russia had begun to engage over the possibility of such a meeting. "Now, in talks with us, they have begun to discuss it. This is already progress towards some kind of meeting format," he said. A Ukrainian delegate said after the latest round of peace talks on Wednesday, which lasted just 40 minutes, that Kyiv had proposed a Putin-Zelenskiy meeting in August because that would fall within the 50-day deadline that U.S. President Donald Trump had set last week for a deal. Trump has threatened new sanctions on Russia and buyers of its exports unless an agreement is reached by early September. Peskov once again described the two sides' negotiating positions as "diametrically opposed". "It is unlikely that they can be brought together overnight. This will require very complex diplomatic work," he said. Solve the daily Crossword
