Author: Mirits

VIENNA — Three years ago, Andrea Vanek was studying to be an arts and crafts teacher when spells of dizziness and heart palpitations suddenly started to make it impossible for her to even take short walks. After seeing a succession of doctors she was diagnosed with long COVID and even now spends most of her days in the small living room of her third-floor Vienna apartment, sitting on the windowsill to observe the world outside. “I can’t plan anything because I just don’t know how long this illness will last,” the 33-year-old Austrian told AFP. The first cases of COVID-19 were detected in China in December 2019, sparking a global pandemic and more than seven million reported deaths to date, according to the World Health Organization. But millions more have been affected by long COVID, in which some people struggle to recover from the acute phase of COVID-19, suffering symptoms including tiredness, brain fog and shortness of breath. Vanek tries to be careful not to exert herself to avoid another “crash”, which for her is marked by debilitating muscle weakness and can last for months, making it hard to even open a bottle of water. “We know that long COVID is a big problem,” said Anita Jain, from the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme. About six percent of people infected by coronavirus develop long COVID, according to the global health body, which has recorded some 777 million COVID cases to date. Whereas the rates of long COVID after an initial infection are declining, reinfection increases the risk, Jain added. ‘Everything hurts’ Chantal Britt, who lives in Bern, Switzerland, contracted COVID in March 2020. Long COVID, she said, has turned her “life upside down” and forced her to “reinvent” herself.  “I was really an early bird…. Now I take two hours to get up in the morning at least because everything hurts,” the 56-year-old former marathon runner explained. “I’m not even hoping anymore that I’m well in the morning but I’m still kind of surprised how old and how broken I feel.” About 15 percent of those who have long COVID have persistent symptoms for more than one year, according to the WHO, while women tend to have a higher risk than men of developing the condition. Britt, who says she used to be a “workaholic”, now works part-time as a university researcher on long COVID and other topics.  She lost her job in … “Five years on from the pandemic, long COVID keeps lives on hold” →

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel said Sunday it will close its embassy in Ireland as relations deteriorated over the war in Gaza, where Palestinian medical officials said new Israeli airstrikes killed over 30 people including several children.  The decision to close the embassy came in response to what Israel’s foreign minister has described as Ireland’s “extreme anti-Israel policies.” In May, Israel recalled its ambassador to Dublin after Ireland announced, along with Norway, Spain and Slovenia, it would recognize a Palestinian state.  The Irish Cabinet last week decided to formally intervene in South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, which accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel denies it.  “We are concerned that a very narrow interpretation of what constitutes genocide leads to a culture of impunity in which the protection of civilians is minimized,” Ireland’s deputy premier and foreign affairs minister, Micheal Martin, said in a statement.  Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar’s statement on the embassy closure said that “Ireland has crossed every red line in its relations with Israel.”  Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris called the decision to close the embassy “deeply regrettable.” He added on X: “I utterly reject the assertion that Ireland is anti-Israel. Ireland is pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-international law.”  Israeli strikes in Gaza kill a journalist and children  Israeli forces continued Sunday to pound largely isolated northern Gaza, as the Palestinian death toll in the war approached 45,000.  One airstrike hit the Khalil Aweida school in the town of Beit Hanoun and killed at least 15 people, according to nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital where casualties were taken. The dead included two parents and their daughter and a father and his son, the hospital said.  In Gaza City, at least 17 people including six women and five children were killed in three airstrikes that hit houses sheltering displaced people, according to Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.  “We woke up to the strike. I woke up with the rubble on top of me,” said a bandaged Yahia al-Yazji, who grieved for his wife and daughter. “I found my wife with her head and skull visible, and my daughter’s intestines were gone. My wife was three months pregnant.” His hand rested on a body wrapped in a blanket on the floor.  Israel’s military in a statement said it struck a “terrorist cell” in Gaza City and a “terrorist meeting point” in the Beit Hanoun … “Israel will close its Ireland embassy over Gaza tensions” →

Istanbul — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Ethiopia and Somalia early next year after brokering a deal to end tensions between the two Horn of Africa neighbors, he said on X Sunday.  “I will visit Ethiopia and Somalia in the first two months of the New Year,” he wrote in a message that referred to the deal between Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Ankara on December 11. The pair agreed to end their nearly yearlong bitter dispute after hours of talks brokered by Erdogan, who hailed the breakthrough as “historic.” The dispute began in January when landlocked Ethiopia struck a deal in with Somalia’s breakaway region Somaliland to lease a stretch of coastline for a port and military base.  In return, Somaliland — which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 in a move not recognized by Mogadishu — said Ethiopia would give it formal recognition, although this was never confirmed by Addis Ababa. Somalia branded the deal a violation of its sovereignty, setting international alarm bells ringing over the risk of renewed conflict in the volatile Horn of Africa region. Turkey stepped in to mediate in July, holding three previous rounds of talks — two in Ankara and one in New York — before last week’s breakthrough, which won praise from the African Union, Washington and Brussels.  Fresh from his latest diplomatic success, Erdogan on Friday telephoned Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and he offered “to step in to resolve the disputes between Sudan and the United Arab Emirates,” his office said. Since April 2023, Sudan has been mired in a brutal conflict between army chief Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo who leads the RSF.  Sudan’s army-backed government has repeatedly accused the UAE of supporting the RSF — a claim which the UAE has consistently denied. The war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced over 11 million more. …

Kyiv, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Sunday that he would provide Syria with grain and other agricultural products on a humanitarian basis, a week after the fall of Moscow’s ally, President Bashar al-Assad. “Now we can help the Syrians with our wheat, flour and oil: our products that are used globally to ensure food security,” he said in his daily address. “We are coordinating with our partners and the Syrian side to resolve logistical issues. We will support this region so that stability there becomes a foundation for our movement towards real peace,” Zelenskyy added. According to him, these possible deliveries will be part of the “Grain of Ukraine” program, launched in 2022 to provide food aid to the poorest countries. Even at war, Ukraine, one of the world’s largest producers of grain, retains immense production capacities. And despite Moscow’s threats to shoot ships sailing in the Black Sea, Kyiv has set up a corridor there to export its agricultural products from the summer of 2023. After an 11-day offensive, the rebel coalition dominated by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on Dec. 8 overthrew Assad, who took refuge in Russia.   The fall was a serious setback for Moscow, which, along with Iran, was the former Syrian president’s main ally and had been intervening militarily in Syria since 2015. …

AJACCIO, Corsica — Pope Francis on the first papal visit ever to the French island of Corsica on Sunday called for a dynamic form of laicism, promoting the kind of popular piety that distinguishes the Mediterranean island from secular France as a bridge between religious and civic society. Francis appeared relaxed and energized during the one-day visit, just two days before his 88th birthday, still displaying a faded bruise from a fall a week ago. He frequently deviated from his prepared homily during Mass at the outdoor La Place d’Austerlitz, remarking at one point that he had never seen so many children as in Corsica — except, he added, in East Timor on his recent Asian tour. “Make children,” he implored. “They will be your joy and your consolation in the future.” Earlier, at the close of a Mediterranean conference on popular piety, Papa Francescu, as he is called in Corsican, described a concept of secularity “that is not static and fixed, but evolving and dynamic,” that can adapt to “unforeseen situations” and promote cooperation “between civil and ecclesial authorities.” The pontiff said that expressions of popular piety, including processions and communal prayer of the Holy Rosary “can nurture constructive citizenship” on the part of Christians. At the same time, he warned against such manifestations being seen only in terms of folklore, or even superstition. The visit to Corsica’s capital Ajaccio, the birthplace of Napoleon, is one of the briefest of his papacy beyond Italy’s borders, just about nine hours on the ground, including a 40-minute visit with French President Emmanuel Macron. Francis was joined on the dais by the bishop of Ajaccio, Cardinal Francois-Xavier Bustillo, who organized the conference that brought together some 400 participants from Spain, Sicily, Sardinia and southern France. The two-day meeting examined expressions of faith that often occur outside formal liturgies, such as processions and pilgrimages. Often specific to the places where they are practiced, popular piety in Corsica includes the cult of the Virgin Mary, known locally as the “Madunnuccia,” which protected the island from the plague in 1656 when it was still under Genoa control. Corsica stands out from the rest of secularized France as a particularly devout region, with 92 confraternities, or lay associations dedicated to works of charity or piety, with over 4,000 members. “It means that there is a beautiful, mature, adult and responsible collaboration between civil authorities, mayors, deputies, senators, … “Pope Francis makes 1st papal visit to France’s Corsica   “ →

KYIV — Ukrainian drone strikes on southern Russia killed a 9-year-old boy and set fire to a major oil terminal, officials said Saturday, the day after Moscow launched a massive aerial attack on its neighbor that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said was one of the heaviest bombardments of the country’s energy sector in the nearly three-year war. The boy died when a drone struck his family’s home outside Belgorod, a Russian city near the border with Ukraine, local Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov reported on Saturday morning on the Telegram messaging app. His mother and 7-month-old sister were hospitalized with injuries, Gladkov said. He posted photos of what he said was the aftermath of the attack, showing a low-rise house with gaping holes in its roof and front wall flanked by mounds of rubble. Elsewhere in southern Russia, Ukrainian drones overnight hit a major oil terminal in the Oryol region, sparking a blaze, Ukraine’s General Staff reported. Photos published by the General Staff and on Russian Telegram news channels showed huge plumes of smoke engulfing the facility, backlit by an orange glow. Oryol Gov. Andrey Klychkov confirmed that a Ukrainian drone strike set fire to a fuel depot. He said later the blaze had been contained and that there were no casualties. Russia’s Defense Ministry on Saturday claimed its forces shot down 37 Ukrainian drones over the country’s south and west the previous night. Russia pummels Ukrainian energy targets The Ukrainian strikes came a day after Russia fired 93 cruise and ballistic missiles and almost 200 drones at its neighbor, further battering Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, around half of which has been destroyed during the war. Rolling electricity blackouts are common and widespread, and Zelenskyy charged Friday that Moscow is “terrorizing millions of people” with such assaults. According to Ukraine’s air force, Russia kept up its drone attacks on Saturday, launching 132 across Ukrainian territory. Fifty-eight drones were shot down and a further 72 veered off course, likely due to electronic jamming, it said. The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces used long-range precision missiles and drones on “critically important fuel and energy facilities in Ukraine that ensure the functioning of the military industrial complex.” The strike was in retaliation for Wednesday’s Ukrainian attack using U.S.-supplied the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMs, on a Russian air base, it said. Kyiv’s Western allies have provided Ukraine with air defense systems to help it protect … “Ukrainian drones strike Russia as Kyiv reels from consecutive massive air attacks” →

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — At least 11 people have died after Cyclone Chido caused devastating damage in the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, France’s Interior Ministry said Sunday. The intense tropical cyclone has now made landfall on the east coast of Africa, where aid agencies are warning of more loss of life and severe damage in northern Mozambique. The ministry said it was proving difficult to get a precise tally of the dead and injured in Mayotte amid fears the death toll will increase. A local hospital reported that nine people were in critical condition there and 246 others were injured. The tropical cyclone blew through the southeastern Indian Ocean, also affecting the nearby islands of Comoros and Madagascar. Mayotte was directly in its path and suffered extensive damage Saturday, officials said. The local prefect said it was the worst cyclone to hit Mayotte in 90 years. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said Saturday night after an emergency meeting in Paris that there were fears that the death toll in Mayotte “will be high” and the island had been largely devastated. Prime Minister François Bayrou, who took office Friday, said public infrastructure on Mayotte had been severely damaged or destroyed, including the main hospital and the airport. He said many people living in precarious shacks in slum areas have faced very serious risks. Chido brought winds more than 220 kph (136 mph), according to the French weather service, making it a category 4 cyclone, the second strongest on the scale. Mayotte has a population of just over 300,000 spread over two main islands about 800 kilometers (500 miles) off Africa’s east coast. It is France’s poorest island and the European Union’s poorest territory. In some parts, entire neighborhoods were flattened, while residents reported many trees had been uprooted and boats had been flipped or sunk. The French Interior Ministry said 1,600 police and gendarmerie officers have been deployed to “help the population and prevent potential looting.” More than 100 rescuers and firefighters have been deployed in Mayotte from France and the nearby territory of Reunion, and an additional reinforcement of 140 people was due to be sent Sunday. Supplies were being rushed in on military aircraft and ships. French President Emmanuel Macron said he was closely monitoring the situation, while Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims of the cyclone while on a visit Sunday to the … “11 dead in French territory of Mayotte from Cyclone Chido “ →

Berlin — The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on Sunday said Germany should reconsider its membership of NATO if the U.S.-led military alliance did not consider the interests of all European countries, including Russia.    “Europe has been forced to implement America’s interests. We reject that,” the AfD’s Tino Chrupalla told German daily Welt.    “NATO is currently not a defense alliance. A defense community must accept and respect the interests of all European countries — including Russia’s interests,” Chrupalla said.    “If NATO cannot ensure that, Germany must consider to what extent this alliance is still useful for us,” he added.    The far-right AfD is polling at around 18-19% ahead of snap elections on February 23, following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government last month.    The score puts the party ahead of Scholz’s Social Democrats at 16-17% and behind only the conservative CDU-CSU bloc, which is polling around 31-32%.    The AfD has little chance of forming a government because other parties have ruled out cooperation with the far-right group.    But it could continue a streak of strong electoral showings, after a landmark win in Thuringia, one of the regions in Germany’s formerly communist east.    The far-right party has been a vocal critic of Germany’s military support for Ukraine and has argued for a swift end to the war prompted by Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.    “The German government must finally get to the point of wanting to end the war,” said Chrupalla, whose colleague, Alice Weidel, will lead the AfD into the election as the party’s candidate for chancellor.    “Russia has won this war. Reality has caught up with those who claim to want to enable Ukraine to win the war,” he said.    The conflict in Ukraine is set to be one of the major themes of the campaign, which will culminate on the eve of the third anniversary of the invasion.    Scholz has pledged sustained support for Ukraine but has counseled prudence, as he hopes to tap into pacifist currents among voters, which are particularly strong in the east.    The chancellor has resisted calls to send long-range missiles that Kyiv could use to strike Russian territory for fear of being drawn into the conflict, and recently reinitiated direct contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin. …

Warsaw — Estonia has sanctioned more than a dozen top Georgian officials including its prime minister over Tbilisi’s “criminal” crackdown on pro-European protesters, Tallinn’s foreign minister said on Sunday. Georgia’s authorities have drawn widespread criticism for their handling of demonstrators, who accuse the ruling party of eroding democracy and seeking to bring the ex-Soviet country back into the embrace of former master Russia. Police have deployed water cannons and tear gas to break up demonstrations while security agents have raided the offices of opposition parties and beaten dissenting lawmakers and journalists. “The violence perpetrated by the authorities against protesters, journalists and opposition leaders is criminal and against human rights,” said Estonia’s top diplomat Margus Tsahkna. “I call on all EU countries to react and to take actions,” he added on X. The fresh sanctions announcement comes a day after the ruling Georgian Dream party installed a hard-right loyalist former Manchester City striker as president. That election process was boycotted by the pro-European opposition amid a growing constitutional crisis. Along with its fellow Baltic states, Estonia had already banned several Georgian officials from setting foot on their territory. Those included Georgia’s Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri as well as Georgia’s richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili, widely considered the puppet master pulling the strings of Georgian politics. Since Georgian Dream claimed victory in October’s elections — which the opposition has criticized as rigged — tens of thousands have taken to the streets. Those protests have become nightly after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s shock decision in late November to shelve the Black Sea nation’s talks to join the European Union. Joining the bloc is an ambition mandated in Georgia’s constitution which polls indicate has the support of some 80% of the country. …

ATHENS, GREECE — Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, a smile spreads across the little girl’s face. Blinking behind her glasses, she inches her wheelchair forward and gently reaches out to stroke the tiny gray horse. Soon, 9-year-old Josifina Topa Mazuch is beaming as she leads Ivi, a specially trained miniature horse, standing no taller than her pink wheelchair, through the school hallway. “I really want them to come again,” Josifina said of Ivi and a second miniature horse, Calypso, after a November morning visit to her Athens primary school for children with special needs. “They made me feel really happy.” Ivi and Calypso are two of eight miniature horses from Gentle Carousel Greece, a Greek offshoot of Florida-based charity Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses offering visits to hospitals, rehabilitation centers and care homes. Trained over two years to work comfortably in confined environments and with vulnerable children and adults, the tiny equines, which stand about 75 centimeters tall, provide a form of pet therapy that carers say offers valuable interactions and learning experiences, particularly to people confined to hospitals or care homes. But the charity they are part of is struggling to make ends meet — run by one woman who funds the entire operation herself, with one assistant and no support team. How it all began Started in 2014 by Mina Karagianni, an interior architect and designer, the Athens operation is the only one affiliated with the Florida-based charity outside the United States. Karagianni came across Gentle Carousel while scouring the internet for information on caring for an abandoned Shetland pony she had rescued. When she saw photos of the charity’s work in pediatric oncology wards, “I was touched and I was moved, and I said: ‘OK, we have to bring this to Greece,’” she said. It took months to track down and persuade the U.S. charity to work with her, and even longer to obtain the requisite permits and arrange transport to bring the horses over. But after incessant efforts, six already trained miniature horses stepped off a flight from Florida via Frankfurt in November 2013. Entirely self-funded through her day job, Karagianni now has a total of eight horses — the American six, one that was later born in Greece, and Billy, the rescued pony. Karagianni transformed her family land in Rafina, a seaside area east of Athens, into Magic Garden, complete with stables, a paddock for the … “Greece’s only miniature therapy horses bring joy to many, but the charity is struggling” →

LONDON — Britain officially became the 12th member of a trans-Pacific trade pact that includes Japan, Australia and Canada on Sunday as it seeks to deepen ties in the region and build its global trade links after leaving the European Union. Britain announced last year it would join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in its biggest trade deal since Brexit. The accession means Britain will be able to apply CPTPP trade rules and lower tariffs with eight of the 11 existing members from Sunday — Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The agreement enters into force with Australia on December 24, and will apply with the final two members — Canada and Mexico — 60 days after they ratify it. The pact represents Britain’s first free trade deals with Malaysia and Brunei, but while it had agreements with the other countries, CPTPP provisions go further, especially in giving companies choices on how to use “rules of origin” provisions. The CPTPP does not have a single market for goods or services, and so regulatory harmonization is not required, unlike the EU, whose trading orbit Britain left at the end of 2020. Britain estimates the pact may be worth $2.5 billion a year in the long run — less than 0.1% of GDP. But in a sign of the strategic, rather than purely economic, implications of the pact, Britain can now influence whether applicants China and Taiwan may join the group. The free trade agreement has its roots in the U.S.-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership, developed in part to counter China’s growing economic dominance. The U.S. pulled out in 2017 under then-President Donald Trump and the pact was reborn as the CPTPP. Costa Rica is the next applicant country to go through the process of joining, while Indonesia also aims to do so. …

KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that Russia has begun deploying North Korean soldiers to storm Ukrainian positions in the Kursk region. Zelenskyy said in his evening address that he had “preliminary evidence that the Russians have begun to use soldiers from North Korea in assaults — a noticeable number of them.” He said that according to his information, “the Russians include [North Koreans] in combined units and use them in operations in the Kursk region,” where Ukraine has been mounting an incursion since August. Zelenskyy said he has also heard that the North Koreans “may be used in other parts of the front line,” and that “losses among this category are also already noticeable.” Zelenskyy said last month that 11,000 North Korean troops were in Russia’s western Kursk region and had already sustained “losses.” Washington and Seoul have accused Pyongyang of sending more than 10,000 soldiers to help Moscow, after Russia and North Korea signed a landmark defense pact this summer. North Korea and Russia have strengthened their military ties since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Surprised by the Kursk incursion, Russia has since continuously clawed back territory, halting Ukraine’s advance and rushing reinforcements to the region. A Ukrainian army source told AFP last month Kyiv still controlled 800 square kilometers of the Kursk region, down from previous claims it controlled almost 1,400 square kilometers. Ukraine hits Russian oil terminal Ukraine said Saturday it attacked an oil terminal in Russia’s western Oryol region overnight, sparking a fire. The governor of Oryol said on Telegram that fuel caught fire at “a facility” in the region after a “massive drone attack.” The Ukraine military’s General Staff said Kyiv’s forces attacked a major oil depot in Stal’noi Kon, about 165 kilometers into Russian territory. “It’s one of the largest oil terminals in the suburbs of the city of Oryol” and is part of a “military industrial complex” that supplies the Russian army, the General Staff said. Russian media showed images, purportedly of the attack, showing clouds of smoke billowing up into the night sky from a fire. Oryol regional Governor Andrey Klychkov said Saturday on Telegram that Russian anti-air defenses shot down Ukrainian drones during the attack and that the fire was brought under control at 5 a.m., although it had not yet been extinguished. He said there were no casualties. Other developments In Russia’s Belgorod region, which … “Zelenskyy: Russia ‘using Korean soldiers in Kursk’” →

BELGRADE, SERBIA — The United States plans to introduce sanctions against Serbia’s main gas supplier, which is controlled by Russia, Serbia’s president said Saturday. President Aleksandar Vucic told state RTS broadcaster that Serbia has been officially informed that the decision on sanctions will come into force on January 1 but that he has so far not received any related documents from the U.S. There has been no comment from U.S. officials. Serbia almost entirely depends on Russian gas, which it receives through pipelines in neighboring states. The gas is then distributed by Petroleum Industry of Serbia, which is majority-owned by Russia’s state oil monopoly Gazprom Neft. Vucic said that after receiving the official documents, “we will talk to the Americans first, then we go talk to the Russians” to try to reverse the decision. “At the same time, we will try to preserve our friendly relations with the Russians and not to spoil relations with those who impose sanctions.” Although formally seeking European Union membership, Serbia has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over its invasion in Ukraine, in part because of the crucial Russian gas deliveries. Vucic said that despite the embargo threat, “I’m not ready at this moment to discuss potential sanctions against Moscow.” Asked if the threat of U.S. sanctions against Serbia could change with the arrival of Donald Trump’s administration in January, Vucic said, “We must first get the [official] documents, and then talk to the current administration, because we are in a hurry.” The Serbian president is facing one of the biggest threats to more than a decade of his increasingly autocratic rule. Protests have been spreading by university students and others following the collapse last month of a concrete canopy at a railway station in the country’s north that killed 15 people on November 1. Many in Serbia believe rampant corruption and nepotism among state officials led to sloppy work on the building reconstruction, which was part of a wider railroad project with Chinese state companies. …

TBILISI, GEORGIA — Former soccer player Mikheil Kavelashvili became president of Georgia on Saturday, as the ruling party tightened its grip in what the opposition calls a blow to the country’s EU aspirations and a victory for former imperial ruler Russia. Kavelashvili, 53, easily won the vote given the Georgian Dream party’s control of a 300-seat electoral college that replaced direct presidential elections in 2017. Georgian Dream retained control of parliament in the South Caucasus nation in an October 26 election that the opposition alleges was rigged with Moscow’s help. Georgia’s outgoing president and main pro-Western parties have since boycotted parliamentary sessions and demanded a rerun of the ballot. Georgian Dream has vowed to continue pushing toward EU accession but also wants to “reset” ties with Russia. In 2008 Russia fought a brief war with Georgia, which led to Moscow’s recognition of two breakaway regions as independent and an increase in the Russian military presence in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Critics have accused Georgian Dream — established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow, accusations the ruling party has denied. The party recently pushed through laws like those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights. Pro-Western Salome Zourabichvili has been president since 2018 and has vowed to stay on after her six-year term ends Monday, describing herself as the only legitimate leader until a new election is held. Georgian Dream’s decision last month to suspend talks on their country’s bid to join the European Union added to the opposition’s outrage and galvanized protests.   Who is the outgoing president? Zourabichvili, 72, was born in France to parents with Georgian roots and had a successful career with the French Foreign Ministry before President Mikheil Saakashvili named her Georgia’s top diplomat in 2004. Constitutional changes made the president’s job largely ceremonial before Zourabichvili was elected by popular vote with Georgian Dream’s support in 2018. She became sharply critical of the ruling party, accusing it of pro-Russia policies, and Georgian Dream unsuccessfully tried to impeach her. “I remain your president — there is no legitimate Parliament and thus no legitimate election or inauguration,” she has declared on the social network X. “My mandate continues.” Speaking to The Associated Press, Zourabichvili rejected government claims that the opposition was fomenting violence. “We are not demanding … “Ex-soccer player becomes Georgia’s president in blow to EU aspirations” →

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND — A New Zealand man playing his first-ever competitive Scrabble game in Spanish, a language he doesn’t speak, has won the board game’s Spanish-language world title. Nigel Richards, a professional player who holds five English-language world titles, won the Spanish world Scrabble championships in Granada, Spain, in November, losing one game out of 24. Richards started memorizing the language’s Scrabble word list a year ago, his friend Liz Fagerlund -– a New Zealand Scrabble official -– told The Associated Press. “He can’t understand why other people can’t just do the same thing,” she said. “He can look at a block of words together, and once they go into his brain as a picture he can just recall that very easily.” In second place was defending champion Benjamín Olaizola of Argentina, who won 18 of his games. Nothing like the New Zealander’s feat had ever happened in Spanish Scrabble, said Alejandro Terenzani, a contest organizer. “It was impossible to react negatively, you can only be amazed,” Terenzani said. “We certainly expected that he would perform well, but it is perhaps true that he surpassed our expectations.” Richards has done this before. In 2015, he became the French language Scrabble world champion, despite not speaking French, after studying the word list for nine weeks. He took the French title again in 2018. Recognized in international Scrabble over his three-decade career as the greatest player of all time, Richards’ Spanish language victory was notable even by his standards, other players said. While compensating for different tile values in English and Spanish Scrabble, Richards also had to contend with thousands of additional seven, eight and nine letter words in the Spanish language -– which demand a different strategy. Richards in 2008 was the first player ever to hold the world, U.S. and British titles simultaneously, despite having to “forget” 40,000 English words that do not appear in the American Scrabble word list to triumph in the U.S. His victories are legendary in the Scrabble community, and games analyzed in YouTube videos watched by tens of thousands. Scrabble does not require players to know the definitions of words, only what combinations of letters are allowed in a country’s version of the game, but native speakers have “a huge leg up,” American Scrabble player Will Anderson said in a video summarizing Richards’ Spanish win. Richards’ mother, Adrienne Fischer, told a New Zealand newspaper in … “New Zealander who doesn’t speak Spanish wins Spanish world Scrabble title” →

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday named centrist ally François Bayrou as prime minister in an effort to address the country’s deep political crisis, after a historic parliamentary vote ousted the previous government last week. Bayrou, 73, a crucial partner in Macron’s centrist alliance, has been a well-known figure in French politics for decades. His political experience is seen as key in efforts to restore stability as no single party holds a majority at the National Assembly. Macron’s office said in a statement that Bayrou “has been charged with forming a new government.” Former Prime Minister Michel Barnier resigned last week following a no-confidence vote prompted by budget disputes in the National Assembly, leaving France without a functioning government. Macron in an address to the nation vowed to remain in office until his term ends in 2027. Bayrou vows to seek ‘needed reconciliation’ During the handover ceremony, Bayrou said that “no one knows the difficulty of the situation better” than he does. “I’ve taken reckless risks all along my political life to raise the issue of debt and deficits in the most important elections,” he said. France is under pressure from the European Union’s executive body and financial markets to reduce its colossal debt, estimated to reach 6% of its gross domestic product this year. “I know that the risks of difficulties are much greater than the chances of success,” Bayrou said, adding that he hopes to lead the country towards a “needed reconciliation.” “I think this is the only possible path to success,” he said. Bayrou is expected to hold talks with political leaders from various parties in the coming days in order to choose new ministers. Difficult political challenge The task before him is challenging as Macron’s centrist alliance does not have a majority in parliament and Bayrou’s Cabinet will need to rely on moderate lawmakers from both the left and right to be able to stay in power. Some conservatives are expected to be part of the new government. Macron’s strategy aims at preventing far-right leader Marine Le Pen from holding “make or break” power over the government. Le Pen helped oust Barnier by joining her National Rally party’s forces to the left to pass the no-confidence motion last week. Le Pen said on Friday that her party will adopt a wait-and-see approach for now and called on Bayrou to “hear” her voters’ demands, including preserving … “President Macron names centrist ally Bayrou as France’s next prime minister” →

PARIS — Credit ratings agency Moody’s unexpectedly downgraded France’s rating on Friday, adding pressure on the country’s new prime minister to corral divided lawmakers into backing his efforts to rein in the strained public finances. The downgrade, which came outside of Moody’s regular review schedule for France, brings its rating to “Aa3” from “Aa2” with a stable outlook for future moves and puts it in line with those from rival agencies Standard & Poor’s and Fitch. It comes hours after President Emmanuel Macron named on Friday veteran centrist politician and early ally Francois Bayrou as his fourth prime minister this year. His predecessor, Michel Barnier, failed to pass a 2025 budget and was toppled earlier this month by left-wing and far-right lawmakers opposed to his $63 billion (60 billion euro) belt-tightening push that he had hoped would rein in France’s spiraling fiscal deficit. The political crisis forced the outgoing government to propose emergency legislation this week to temporarily roll over 2024 spending limits and tax thresholds into next year until a more permanent 2025 budget can be passed. “Looking ahead, there is now very low probability that the next government will sustainably reduce the size of fiscal deficits beyond next year,” Moody’s said in a statement. “As a result, we forecast that France’s public finances will be materially weaker over the next three years compared to our October 2024 baseline scenario,” it added. Barnier had intended to cut the budget deficit next year to 5% of economic output from 6.1% this year with a $63 billion (60 billion euro) package of spending cuts and tax hikes. But left-wing and far-right lawmakers were opposed to much of the belt-tightening drive and voted a no confidence measure against Barnier’s government, bringing it down. Bayrou, who has long warned about France’s weak public finances, said on Friday shortly after taking office that he faced a “Himalaya” of a challenge reining in the deficit. Outgoing Finance Minister Antoine Armand said he took note of Moody’s decision, adding there was a will to reduce the deficit as indicated by the nomination of Bayrou. The political crisis put French stocks and debt under pressure, pushing the risk premium on French government bonds at one point to their highest level over 12 years. …

The arrests in Azerbaijan of several journalists, including staff at the independent Meydan TV, have been condemned by the international community, including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Azerbaijani authorities have detained Meydan TV’s editor-in-chief, Aynur Elgunash, and four of her reporters. Also being held are freelancer Ramin Jabrailzada, who is known as Deko, and Ulvi Tahirov, deputy director of the Baku School of Journalism. All are charged with smuggling foreign currency and have been ordered to be held for four months in pre-trial detention. The journalists denied the charges and said the criminal case is a result of their journalism work. During the arrests, others were briefly detained and later released, according to local reports. Journalist Ahmad Mukhtar was placed in administrative detention on charges of petty hooliganism and disobedience to the police. Blinken in a statement called on Azerbaijani authorities to immediately release the journalists who he said were “arrested for their work on human rights.” The media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders, known as RSF, described the arrests as part of a strategy to silence critics of President Ilham Aliyev’s administration. VOA reached out to authorities, but the calls went unanswered. Jeanne Cavelier, who heads RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Desk, said the government has resumed its crackdown against journalists in the aftermath of COP29, the annual U.N. climate change conference that Azerbaijan hosted.  The Meydan TV arrests again prove the regime’s “willingness to shamelessly target the individuals who dare to keep Azerbaijani citizens informed,” Cavelier said in a statement. She added that Azerbaijan has detained 13 other journalists in the past year. RSF “calls on the international community not to turn a blind eye to these grave, systematic violations of fundamental rights,” said Cavelier. Meydan TV in a statement described the arrests and questioning of its team as illegal. “Since the day we began our activities, our journalists have been arrested, they and their families have been subjected to harassment, and they have been subjected to various pressures and threats. Journalists who cooperate with us have been illegally banned from leaving the country,” the statement said. Bahruz Maharramov, a member of the Azerbaijani parliament, questioned the criticism of the arrests. “If there are real suspicions based on valid, irrefutable evidence, why should any person’s profession prevent those suspicions from being investigated?” he said.  “Why should we remain silent about the illegal actions of a mercenary … “Blinken calls on Azerbaijan to release Meydan TV journalists “ →

ROME — Italy’s government has granted citizenship to Argentinian President Javier Milei on account of his Italian family roots, a source with knowledge of the matter said Friday, confirming earlier media reports. Milei is in Rome to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and to take part in her Brothers of Italy party’s annual festival Saturday. The source declined to provide further details. The news on Italian media triggered an angry reaction from some politicians and on social media from people protesting at citizenship being given to Milei when it is hard to obtain for the children of migrants born in Italy. Italy’s citizenship laws are based on blood ties, meaning that even distant descendants of an Italian national can obtain an Italian passport. Requirements for foreigners born in Italy or who migrate there, on the other hand, are much tougher. Pro-migrant groups have proposed a referendum to ease them, but Meloni’s right-wing coalition is against any relaxation. Riccardo Magi, a lawmaker from the small opposition More Europa party, said granting citizenship to Milei was an act of “intolerable discrimination against so many young people who will only get it after many years.” During a previous trip to Italy in February, Milei told a TV interview that he felt “75% Italian” since three of his grandparents had Italian origins, and that he has “an incredible passion for Italian Opera.” Libertarian Milei and conservative Meloni have established a close relationship. When they met in Buenos Aires last month, the Argentine leader gave his Italian guest a statuette of himself wielding his trademark chainsaw. …

LONDON — A landmark hearing into nation-states’ legal obligations over climate change wrapped up at the United Nations’ top court in The Hague on Friday. The outcome could have implications for the fight against climate change — and for the big polluters blamed for emitting most greenhouse gases. The 15 judges at the International Court of Justice have heard evidence from 99 countries and dozens of organizations over the course of the two-week hearing. They are trying to determine the legal obligations of states to tackle climate change and to repair the harm caused. The judges’ advisory opinion is expected to be published next year. Emotional testimony The testimony has at times been technical – but also impassioned and emotional. Small island states have argued their existence is at stake and so international human rights laws must apply to climate change. “For young people, the demand for reparations is crucial for justice. We have inherited a planet in decline and face the grim prospect of passing on an even more degraded world to future generations,” said Vishal Prasad, campaign director for Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, which lobbied for the case to be heard. “Equally clear is the demand for immediate cessation. If greenhouse gas emissions are not stopped, we are not just risking our future, we are welcoming its demise,” he said. Polluters Countering that argument were several big polluting nations, including China, India, Britain and the United States. They argued that only climate treaties, such as the 2015 Paris Agreement, confer any legal obligations on nation-states regarding climate change. “An advisory proceeding is not the means to litigate whether individual states or groups of states have violated obligations pertaining to climate change in the past or bear responsibility for reparations, as some participants have suggested,” legal adviser to the U.S. State Department, Margaret L. Taylor, told the court on December 4. “It’s a suggestion … that some, but not all, states are entitled, as a matter of international law, to reparations simply upon a showing that the climate system has been harmed. We do not see a basis for such a conclusion,” Taylor added. Island states The U.N. General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory ruling after years of lobbying from small island and vulnerable coastal states, which argue that rising sea levels due to global warming pose an existential threat. The judges’ … “Landmark climate change legal hearing wraps up in The Hague” →

A landmark hearing into nation-states’ legal obligations over climate change wrapped up at the United Nations’ top court in The Hague on Friday. The outcome could have implications for the fight against global warming — and for the big polluters blamed for emitting most greenhouse gases. Henry Ridgwell has more. …

Patricia Hubbard Fox, the sister of the 72-year-old U.S. citizen Stephen Hubbard sentenced to jail in Russia for almost seven years on charges of “being a mercenary” for his alleged participation in fighting in Ukraine, says in an exclusive VOA Russian interview that she is still unsuccessfully trying to find out the location of his prison in Russia. She refuted the charges against her brother, saying that he would not be able to fight alongside the Ukrainian army and that he was an English language teacher in a small Ukrainian town. Click her for the full story in Russian. …

With a naval base in Tartus and an airbase near Latakia, Russia was the main source of military support for Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria. With Assad deposed and granted asylum in Moscow, Russia’s regional influence may be greatly diminished. …

CHISINAU — Moldova’s parliament on Friday voted in favor of imposing a state of emergency in the energy sector over fears that Russia could leave the European Union candidate country without sufficient natural gas supplies this winter.  A majority in Moldova’s 101-seat legislature voted to pass the state of emergency, which will start on Dec. 16 and last 60 days. A special commission will urgently adopt measures to manage “imminent risks” if Moscow fails to supply gas to the Kuciurgan power plant, the country’s largest, which is situated in the separatist pro-Russian Transnistria region.  Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said his country faces an “exceptional situation” in which Moscow could deliberately weaponize energy flows to destabilize the country, and potentially leave people “in the middle of winter without heat and electricity.”  Russian energy giant Gazprom supplies the gas-operated Kuciurgan plant, which generates electricity that powers a significant portion of Moldova proper. The plant was privatized in 2004 by Transnistrian officials and later sold to a Russian state-owned company. Moldova doesn’t recognize the privatization.  In late 2022, Moldova suffered major power outages following Russian strikes on neighboring Ukraine, which is interconnected to the Kuciurgan plant.  “This must be the last winter in the country’s history in which we can still be threatened with energy,” Recean said. “It is clear that these crises are deliberately provoked, and their goal is to create panic and chaos.”  He added that a cessation of natural gas could trigger economic and humanitarian crises, but vowed that nobody in Moldova would be left “in the cold and dark.”  Transnistria, which broke away after a short war in 1992 and is not recognized by most countries, also declared its own state of emergency this week in case the region does not receive gas supplies.  When Russia fully invaded Ukraine in 2022, Moldova, a former Soviet republic of about 2.5 million people, was entirely dependent on Moscow for natural gas but has since pushed to diversify and expand its energy sources.  Sebastian Burduja, Romania’s energy minister, said late Thursday that Romania has the resources to support Moldova “if the situation demands it,” saying it would be “a duty … in the face of the aggressions coming from the east.”  In October, Moldova’s pro-Western President Maia Sandu won a second term in office, and a referendum voted in favor of securing the country’s path toward the EU, in two votes overshadowed … “Moldova declares a state of emergency over energy as fears of Russian gas shortage loom “ →

Tbilisi — Georgia’s political crisis deepened Friday after new pro-Europe protests were announced ahead of the controversial nomination of a far-right government loyalist as president. The Black Sea nation has been in turmoil since the governing Georgian Dream party claimed victory in contested October parliamentary elections, with its decision last month to delay EU accession talks igniting a fresh wave of mass rallies. More unrest is expected on Saturday when Georgian Dream will appoint far-right former footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili as president in a controversial election process. The pro-Western incumbent, President Salome Zurabishvili, has refused to step down and is demanding new parliamentary elections, paving the way for a constitutional showdown. Opposition groups accuse Georgian Dream of rigging the parliamentary vote, democratic backsliding in office and moving Tbilisi closer to Russia — all at the expensive of the Caucasus nation’s bid for EU membership. A forceful police crackdown on the protestors has also triggered outrage at home and condemnation abroad. Washington imposed fresh sanctions on Georgian officials overnight, barring visas for around 20 people accused of “undermining democracy in Georgia,” including sitting ministers and parliamentarians, the U.S. State Department said. Police have used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the rallies, arresting more than 400 demonstrators, and the country’s rights ombudsman has accused security forces of “torturing” those detained. ‘Unprecedented constitutional crisis’ Pro-EU demonstrators have staged daily rallies across Georgia for the last two weeks, with more to take place across Tbilisi on Friday. On Saturday, an electoral college controlled by Georgian Dream is expected to elect Kavelashvili as the country’s new figurehead president, in an indirect vote boycotted by the opposition. Kavelashvili, 53, is known for his vehement anti-West diatribes and opposition to LGBTQ rights. Georgian Dream scrapped direct presidential elections in 2017. With Zurabishvili refusing to leave office, opposition lawmakers boycotting Parliament and protests showing no signs of abating, critics are questioning Kavelashvili’s legitimacy before he even takes up the role. One author of Georgia’s constitution, Vakhtang Khmaladze, has argued that all decisions by the new Parliament are void because the body started work before awaiting the outcome of a lawsuit brought by Zurabishvili. “Georgia is facing an unprecedented constitutional crisis,” Khmaladze told AFP. It remains unclear how the government will react to Zurabishvili’s refusal to step down after her successor is inaugurated on December 29. A former French diplomat, Zurabishvili is a hugely popular figure among protesters who … “Georgia crisis deepens as government set to name far-right president “ →

KYIV — Ukraine’s Defense Ministry unveiled a new state agency for its armed forces last year. It was the government’s answer to the rampant corruption within the ministry’s procurement companies and meant to be a driver of reform on the elusive path toward NATO membership. The enterprise, in charge of purchasing nonlethal military goods such as food, clothes and fuel, has already contracted 95% of the products requested for supply, and saved 25% in the process, says Arsen Zhumadilov, the CEO of the State Logistics Operator, known by the local abbreviation DOT. Soon, he says, DOT also will begin procuring drones. These kinds of results are an example of the type of reform that Ukraine hopes will help clear the path toward NATO, a key deterrent against Russia, officials have argued. Membership in the alliance remains largely a political question, with key states reluctant to grant it, fearing escalation from Moscow. Western officials are also keenly awaiting the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump before making declarations. But NATO officials have also demanded widespread anti-graft reforms before Kyiv can join. Change has been a difficult pill for many within Ukraine’s post-Soviet institutions to swallow. DOT’s promising results so far stand in contrast to the deeply rooted challenges that continue to plague the tenure of Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, including slow progress with restructuring the institution and ongoing allegations of corruption within lethal military procurement. Recently, Umerov has come under scrutiny in the Ukrainian press for appointing ministry officials with whom he also has close business ties, including Zhumadilov. Western officials are closely monitoring DOT, three Western diplomats told The Associated Press. So far, they have been pleased with the results one year since it was formed. They spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak freely about their assessments. DOT embodies the uneasy coexistence of a digital-savvy youthful ethos and paper-heavy post-Soviet bureaucracy. Its office exudes a fresh startup culture vibe, while catering to one of the most stubbornly rigid ministries in the country. The contrast underscores the spirit of how Russia’s war in Ukraine is being fought, in which innovative drone wars coincide with World War II-style trenches. “We understand that we have been on the radars of NATO, of G7 [Group of Seven] countries, of all NATO member countries in terms of whether we manage or not to put in place a procurement system that is resilient, that … “Ukraine’s reformed military procurement agency drives country’s NATO ambitions “ →