Author: Mirits

LONDON — Tens of thousands of people across the U.K. were left without power Saturday morning after Storm Darragh hit the country with strong winds and caused pre-Christmas travel disruptions. The U.K.’s Met Office issued a rare red alert for high winds overnight to Saturday morning, covering parts of Wales and southwest England. The government warned 3 million people living in the area with a siren-like alert on their phones to stay at home Friday night. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the storm posed a “challenging situation.” “About 3 million homes will have had the emergency alert system to their mobile phone. I would just encourage anyone who has had that to follow the advice,” Reynolds told Sky News on Saturday. Darragh, the fourth named storm of the season, is also expected to bring heavy rain through the weekend, with more than 100 flood warnings and alerts in place across the U.K. One man died after a tree fell onto his van during the storm, said police in Lancashire, northwest England. In Wales, the Met Office estimated gusts of up to 150 kph, which knocked out power for over 50,000 people, according to the PA news agency. Power cuts affected 86,000 homes in England, Scotland and Wales, according to the Energy Networks Association. Trains were disrupted or suspended on several routes, including from Glasgow to Edinburgh in Scotland and between Cambridge and Stansted Airport in eastern England. Rail operator CrossCountry put a “do not travel” notice in place for Saturday due to cancellations and severe delays. Network Rail Wales suspended trains on the Welsh northern coast due to a “fallen tree blocking the line,” and several bridges in southern England and Wales were closed for safety reasons. A separate amber warning, which is less serious than the red alert but still poses “potential risk to life and property,” covering a larger stretch of the Britain and Northern Ireland is in place until Saturday night. In Northern Ireland, thousands were left without power, and several bus and train services were suspended or delayed. Christmas markets and sporting events were postponed, including the Merseyside derby between Premier League leaders Liverpool and Everton. In Ireland, which issued an “orange” wind warning, 400,000 people were left without electricity, according to the RTE news agency. Dublin Airport said a “a number of flights scheduled for Saturday morning have been cancelled by airlines” due to the storm. … “Power cuts, train cancellations as Storm Darragh batters UK” →

KYIV, UKRAINE — Denmark has delivered a second batch of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday as he traveled to Paris to meet with top politicians and dignitaries. In a message on Telegram, Zelenskyy praised Denmark and lamented a lack of dedication from other allies. “The first batch of planes provided by the Danes are already shooting down Russian missiles: rescuing our people and our infrastructure. Now our air shield is reinforced even further,” he said. “If all partners were so determined, we would have been able to make Russian terror impossible.” The announcement comes as Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region marks a day of mourning for 10 people killed in a Russian attack on Friday. A further 24 people, including two children, were injured when a missile struck a local service station, said regional Governor Ivan Fedorov. Three more people were killed in a strike on the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Friday, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said. Addressing the attacks, Zelenskyy said that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not seek “real peace.” Putin “only seeks the ability to treat any country this way, with bombs, missiles, and all other forms of violence,” Zelenskyy said. “Only through strength can we resist this. And only through strength can real peace be established.” Zelenskyy is due to meet other world leaders Saturday, including French President Emmanuel Macron, at an event in Paris celebrating the renovation of Notre Dame Cathedral after a devastating fire in 2019. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is among those expected to be in attendance, with European leaders keen to cultivate the incoming leader’s favor to persuade him to maintain support for Ukraine against Russia’s three-year invasion. It’s not clear whether Trump will meet with Zelenskyy. …

TALLINN, Estonia — In the year since Russia’s Supreme Court effectively outlawed any promotion of LGBTQ+ rights, activists say they are experiencing a climate of fear and intimidation in the country. LGBTQ+ rights have been under legal and public pressure for over a decade under President Vladimir Putin, but especially since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Putin has argued the war is a proxy battle with the West, which he says aims to destroy Russia and its “traditional family values.” Putin insists Russia doesn’t discriminate against LGBTQ+ people, but he also decries “perversions that lead to degradation and extinction.” Parliament speaker Vyacheslav Volodin last year called gender transitioning “pure satanism” that should stay in the U.S. Any public representation of gay and transgender people is banned. Gender-affirming medical care and changing one’s gender in official documents is prohibited. With the Supreme Court’s ruling in November 2023 that found “the international LGBT movement” to be extremist, members of the LGBTQ+ community can be prosecuted and imprisoned for up to six years. As a result, many people like Gela Gogishvili and Haoyang Xu have fled Russia. They lived a happy life in the republic of Tatarstan, where Gogishvili was a pharmacist and Xu was a student from China. They were detained after the Kremlin in December 2022 expanded its ban of “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” from minors to adults, effectively outlawing any public endorsement of LGBTQ+ activities. Authorities accused them of spreading “LGBT propaganda” among minors. Gogishvili was fined, while Xu was put in a detention center for migrants pending deportation. They eventually fled abroad separately and are seeking asylum in France. “I’m scared for the queer community in Russia that remains in the country,” Gogishvili said. Targeting nightclubs, rainbow flags and gay tourism Those who remain find themselves pushed into the shadows, marginalized even further and dogged by fear of repression and prison. “Six years, it’s not a joke,” said Olga Baranova, head of the Moscow Community Center for LGBT+ Initiatives. She says activists must decide if what they’re doing is worth that kind of a prison sentence. Just days after the Supreme Court ruling in 2023, the LGBTQ+ community was rattled by news of police raiding gay bars, nightclubs and venues that hosted drag shows in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities. Last spring, the first criminal case on charges of involvement with the “LGBT movement” … “Russian LGBTQ+ activists describe a climate of fear amid new laws, court rulings” →

NEW YORK — Sean McLoughlin wears a lot of hats: YouTuber. Voice actor. Coffee entrepreneur. But McLoughlin, better known by his pseudonym Jacksepticeye, likes to say he would be a therapist if he wasn’t posting video game playthroughs for his nearly 31 million subscribers.  The 34-year-old Irish creator finds that gaming enthusiasts aren’t just drawn by his expressive reactions to the latest action role-playing games; fans also resonate with his candid discussions of mental health. The supportive responses from his niche but passionate following make McLoughlin feel “less alone,” he said, forging the same camaraderie that brought him to online gaming communities as a lonely 20-something living at his family’s remote home.  That shared connection is also central to his annual fundraiser, “Thankmas.” The charity livestream is one of many online specials emerging as a modern spin on the classic telethon. Total donations have increased more than 50% over the last year on Tiltify, a digital platform that integrates giving tools into streams. The spaces are credited for allowing more authentic interactions between nonprofits and young donors — and encouraging benevolence in a corner of the web marked by incendiary rhetoric.  “If you want to do good things, the people are there, and they’ll listen,” McLoughlin said. “They’re already following you for what you do for a reason. So they’ll follow you to help out people as well.”  Follow they have. His streams have raked in more than $26 million, according to partner Tiltify. This year’s goal is to collect $6 million for two nonprofits supporting mental health: Crisis Text Line and Samaritans.  A seven-figure target would have seemed a longshot when McLoughlin entered the space. The initial idea was to hold monthly fundraisers. He hosted seven charitable streams in 2018, Tiltify records show, for causes including pediatric cancer and clean water. The year culminated in the inaugural “Thankmas,” which pulled over a quarter of a million dollars.  But McLoughlin said the pace became “a bit much.” That same year he announced a brief break from YouTube, in part due to unhappiness from the demands he felt for high content volumes. He resolved to focus on one big holiday event at the end of the year, when he said people are “a bit more giving and heartfelt.”  It wasn’t until 2020 that Tiltify CEO Michael Wasserman said the two began working closely to maximize the streams’ reach. McLoughlin reached out, according … “Irish YouTuber moves millions of followers to donate millions for charity” →

PARIS — Notre Dame will formally reopen Saturday, five years after the Paris cathedral was devastated by fire, with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump among world leaders there to celebrate its remarkably rapid restoration. Held up as an example of French creativity and resilience by President Emmanuel Macron, Notre Dame’s renaissance so soon after a 2019 blaze that destroyed its roof and spire comes at a difficult time for the country. The sense of national accomplishment in restoring a beloved symbol of Paris has been undercut by political turmoil that has left France without a proper government and in a budget crisis. Macron is hoping that the first full service inside Notre Dame and the sight of around 40 world leaders in Paris might provide a fleeting sense of pride and unity — as the Paris Olympics did in July and August. The re-opening “is the proof that we know how to do grand things, we know how to do the impossible and the whole world has admired us for it on two occasions this year,” Macron said during a televised address on Thursday, referring to the widely praised Olympics. During a visit with TV cameras last week however, he somewhat undermined the suspense behind the reopening, revealing the cathedral’s freshly scrubbed limestone walls, new furniture and vaulted wooden roof cut from ancient oak trees selected from the finest forests of France. The reconstruction effort has cost around $750 million, financed from donations, with the re-opening achieved within five years despite predictions it could take decades. Workers had to overcome problems with lead pollution, the COVID-19 epidemic, and the general overseeing the project falling to his death while hiking in the Pyrenees last year. Trump show? While the reborn 12th-century architectural masterpiece will be the main focus of public attention on Saturday, TV cameras are also likely to linger on Trump who will be making his first overseas trip since winning reelection to the White House last month. He accepted an invitation from Macron to attend earlier this week, saying the French leader had done “a wonderful job ensuring that Notre Dame has been restored to its full level of glory, and even more so.” U.S. President Joe Biden will be represented by his wife Jill, while Britain’s Prince William and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will also be present. Zelenskyy is expected to seek his first face-to-face meeting with Trump who has … “France’s Notre Dame Cathedral reopens 5 years after shocking blaze” →

The iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is reopening Saturday evening, more than five years after a fire destroyed its roof and spire. An invitation-only ceremony will include heads of state and government, with French President Emmanuel Macron delivering a speech before Archbishop Laurent Ulrich formally reopens its doors.   …

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As North Korean troops bolster Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, the U.S. is urging China to rein in its allies’ provocative actions. This comes amid indications that Beijing is increasingly uneasy about the expanding partnership between Russia and North Korea. VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching reports. …

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday introduced new long-range Peklo drone missiles being manufactured in a Ukrainian factory, the first batch of which, he said, already has been delivered to the nation’s armed forces. In footage released by his office, Zelenskyy could be seen touring the factory in an undisclosed location alongside Ukraine Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and other officials. In a post to his X social media account, Zelenskyy said the hybrid drone-missile Peklo — which means “hell” in Ukrainian — has a range of 700 kilometers and a speed of 700 kilometers per hour. He said it already has proven its combat effectiveness. Ukrainian officials said the drones are cost-effective and comparable to some Russian-made cruise missiles in terms of performance. “It is crucial that our defenders receive such modern, Ukrainian-made weaponry,” Zelenskyy said in the recording. “Now the task is to continue ramping up its production and deployment.” The announcement comes a day after Ukraine’s Defense Ministry announced plans to supply their armed forces with more than 30,000 long-range attack drones in 2025, with funding supplied by international partners. In a statement, the ministry said the drones operate autonomously and can strike enemy targets with high precision. The ministry made those arrangements in light of U.S President Joe Biden’s term winding down and the uncertainty presented by the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. Trump has voiced skepticism about continued support and said he would resolve the war before his January 20 inauguration, but did not say how. A U.S. National Security Council spokesperson in a background briefing told reporters that National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s office, at the White House for meetings on Thursday to discuss the future of U.S. support for Ukraine. The spokesperson said the meeting lasted more than an hour with Sullivan focused on Biden’s theory that improving Ukraine’s position in its war against Russia would allow Ukraine to enter negotiations from a position of strength. The spokesperson said Sullivan and Yermak discussed the four-part U.S. strategic support for Ukraine, which involves increased military assistance, economic pressure on Russia through sanctions, addressing Ukraine’s manpower challenges and sustaining support for Ukraine’s economy. To implement the strategy, the spokesperson noted the U.S. will provide Ukraine’s military with hundreds of thousands of additional artillery rounds, thousands of additional rockets and hundreds of additional armored vehicles between … “Zelenskyy reveals new medium-range Peklo drone missile” →

According to recent numbers, 120,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died fighting Russia’s invasion. The number of wounded is nearing 200,000. Those who survived — some having lost limbs — face a grueling road to recovery. In Mexico City, a unique program is offering them a lifeline. Karen Sanchez reports. …

BUCHAREST — Romania’s top court annulled the result of the first round of the country’s presidential election on Friday, adding that the entire election process would have to be rerun.  The second round had been scheduled for Sunday, and voting is already underway in polling stations abroad.  Having polled in single digits before the first presidential election round on November 24, Calin Georgescu — who wants to end Romanian support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion — surged to a victory that raised questions over how such a surprise had been possible in a European Union and NATO member state.  Documents declassified by Romania’s top security council on Wednesday said the country was a target of “aggressive hybrid Russian attacks” during the election period.  “The electoral process to elect Romania’s president will be fully re-run, and the government will set a new date and … calendar for the necessary steps,” the court said in a statement.  The second round of the presidential contest that had been set to take place on Sunday would have pitted Georgescu, a far-right, pro-Russian candidate, against pro-EU centrist leader Elena Lasconi.  Far-right parties also performed well in last Sunday’s parliamentary election in Romania, though the ruling Social Democrats emerged as the largest grouping and hope to cobble together a pro-E.U. coalition government.    The court has not called into question the integrity of the parliamentary vote.  …

Moscow — Russia said Friday its forces had captured a village near the embattled supply hub of Pokrovsk and another near the industrial town of Kurakhove, gaining ground in two key areas of the east Ukraine front line.    Moscow has been advancing in east Ukraine for months, pressing its advantage against overstretched and outgunned Ukrainian soldiers.   Russian army units “liberated the settlements” of Sukhi Yaly and Pustynka in the eastern Donetsk region, Moscow’s defense ministry said in a daily briefing.    Sukhi Yaly is about 13 kilometers southwest of Kurakhove, a strategic industrial town on the banks of a reservoir that Moscow is trying to encircle.    Pustynka lies just south of Pokrovsk, an embattled logistics hub at the intersection of rail and road routes supplying Ukrainian troops across the front line.    The nearly three-year conflict has escalated sharply in recent months, with Kyiv deploying U.S. and British-supplied long-range missiles in attacks on Russian soil and Moscow firing an experimental hypersonic weapon at Ukraine in response.    Ukraine has been trying to put itself in as secure a position as possible ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January.    The Republican has promised to swiftly end the conflict once in power, raising concerns in Kyiv that Ukraine will be forced to make massive territorial concessions to Moscow.  Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones struck the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky on Friday, killing three people and seriously wounding three others, the region’s Moscow-appointed governor said.    Images shared by Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, showed what appeared to be bodies lying on a street and outside a building, covered with blankets.    “This morning, Alyoshki was subjected to an inhumane kamikaze drone attack,” Saldo said, using the Russian spelling of the town’s name.    He said the drones targeted an aid distribution point in the town, accusing Kyiv of directing the attack “exclusively at the civilian population.”    “As a result… three people were killed. Three more citizens were seriously injured,” he said.    Kyiv did not immediately comment but denies targeting civilians in Russian-occupied areas of the country.    Oleshky had a population of about 20,000 people before Moscow launched its military assault on Ukraine in February 2022.    It lies in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, on the Russian-occupied eastern bank of the Dnipro river.    The river acts as a de facto front line between Moscow’s and Kyiv’s forces, with both sides regularly accusing … “Russia takes villages in key areas of east Ukraine front “ →

The Russian veto blocked a U.N. resolution calling for a halt to hostilities in Sudan, where a civil war has killed at least 66,000, destroyed civil institutions, causing widespread hunger, disease, sexual violence and a refugee crisis with more than 11 million people displaced. …

Prominent Georgian opposition leader and former journalist Nika Gvaramia is recovering after being beaten unconscious by police Wednesday amid pro-Europe protests in Tbilisi, according to his lawyer.   Gvaramia, head of the Akhali party under the Coalition for Change umbrella, was detained Wednesday during police searches of opposition parties’ headquarters in the Georgian capital, according to media reports.  Gvaramia was repeatedly hit in the stomach until he lost consciousness before being dragged into a police vehicle, according to local media reports.  Gvaramia is Georgia’s former justice minister and the founder of the pro-opposition broadcaster Mtavari Arkhi. He was jailed from 2022 to 2023 on charges he and press freedom experts rejected as retaliatory.  The high-profile arrest comes amid protests that have been continuing since the ruling Georgian Dream party said it was halting the country’s bid to start talks on joining the European Union. Opinion polls show that about 80% of Georgians support joining the EU.  Gvaramia’s lawyer, Dito Sadzaglishvili, said Thursday that Gvaramia’s health is now “satisfactory.”  “He believes that now, of course, is the time for the Georgian people to calmly, firmly and courageously continue to protest and fight against the Russian regime,” the lawyer said, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.  Gvaramia was arrested for “petty hooliganism” and not complying with police orders, his lawyer said. A court hearing is expected to take place within 48 hours of his arrest, according to Sadzaglishvili.  Police have also detained Aleko Elisashvili, a leader of the Strong Georgia opposition party, as well as a leader of the youth protest movement, and at least six other members of opposition parties.  The detentions come as thousands of pro-EU protesters continue to gather in Tbilisi, even as police respond with water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets. More than 330 protesters have been arrested, with rights groups saying many have been beaten in detention.  Governments, including the United States, have condemned the excessive use of force and criticized Georgian Dream for putting EU accession on hold.  Journalists attacked, NGOs raided  At least 50 journalists have been injured during violent police dispersals of demonstrations since they began on November 28, according to multiple reports.  “The protection of journalists is a hallmark of democratic societies,” Gulnoza Said, the Europe and Central Asia program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement.  “Georgian authorities’ failure to address the extensive and shocking police violence against … “Georgian opposition leader arrested, beaten unconscious as Tbilisi protests continue” →

Baku, Azerbaijan / Washington — International rights organizations and Western governments are calling on the Azerbaijani government to release prominent human rights defender Rufat Safarov. “The arrest of Rufat Safarov on trumped-up fraud and hooliganism charges is another glaring example of the Azerbaijani authorities’ relentless efforts to silence dissenting voices in the country,” Amnesty International said in a Wednesday statement. Safarov, a former prosecutor who heads the Defense Line human rights organization, was detained Tuesday and charged with fraud and hooliganism. He has been put on four months of pretrial detention. Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs told VOA that Safarov’s detention was related to a conflict between him and an individual over a land purchase. However, in a statement on social media written at his request, Safarov attributed his detention to being nominated for a human rights award in the United States. “I was supposed to travel to the United States in two days because I had been recognized as the ‘Human Rights Defender of the Year,’ ” the statement reads. “From the outset, I express my deep gratitude to U.S. Ambassador Mr. [Mark] Libby, for nominating me, and to U.S. Secretary of State Mr. [Antony] Blinken for supporting my candidacy.”  U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has confirmed that Safarov was due to meet with several senators next week to receive the State Department’s Human Rights Defender Award. “But the Azeri regime jailed him on bogus charges,” Cardin wrote on X. “His fight for justice transcends prison walls. He must be released immediately.” Libby called on the Azerbaijani government to release all those unjustly imprisoned and to abide by its international human rights obligations. The ambassador spoke Thursday at an event organized in the capital, Baku, which was also attended by the ambassadors of Britain, the European Union and Switzerland, as well as Azerbaijani human rights defenders, members of the civil society and public activists. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on Wednesday denounced criticism by the ambassadors, calling their comments an interference with the country’s judicial system. “We strongly reject the claims of the ambassadors of the U.S., U.K., Switzerland and the European Union regarding the detention of ‘journalists’ and ‘political activists’ in Azerbaijan. These statements are a clear attempt to undermine the independence of the Azerbaijani judicial system,” the ministry said in a statement. Rapporteurs at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe have called … “Rights groups, Western governments urge Azerbaijan to release human rights defender” →

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron vowed Thursday to stay in office until the end of his term, due in 2027, and announced that he will name a new prime minister within days following the resignation of ousted Prime Minister Michel Barnier.  Macron came out fighting a day after a historic no-confidence vote at the National Assembly left France without a functioning government. He laid blame at the door of his opponents on the far right for bringing down Barnier’s government.  They chose “Not to do but to undo,” he said. “They chose disorder.”  The president said the far right and the far left had united in what he called “an anti-Republican front” and stressed: “I won’t shoulder other people’s irresponsibility.”  He said he’d name a new prime minister within days but gave no hints who that might be.  Earlier in the day, Macron “took note” of Barnier’s resignation, the Elysee presidential palace said in a statement. Barnier and other ministers will be “in charge of current affairs until the appointment of a new government,” the statement said.  The no-confidence motion passed by 331 votes in the National Assembly, forcing Barnier to step down after just three months in office — the shortest tenure of any prime minister in modern French history.  Macron faces the critical task of naming a replacement capable of leading a minority government in a parliament where no party holds a majority. Yael Braun-Pivet, president of the National Assembly and a member of Macron’s party, urged the president to move quickly.  “I recommend he decide rapidly on a new prime minister,” Braun-Pivet said Thursday on France Inter radio. “There must not be any political hesitation. We need a leader who can speak to everyone and work to pass a new budget bill.”  The process may prove challenging. Macron’s administration has yet to confirm any names, though French media have reported a shortlist of centrist candidates who might appeal to both sides of the political spectrum.  Macron took more than two months to appoint Barnier after his party’s defeat in June’s legislative elections, raising concerns about potential delays this time.  The no-confidence vote has galvanized opposition leaders, with some explicitly calling for Macron’s resignation.  “I believe that stability requires the departure of the President of the Republic,” said Manuel Bompard, leader of the far-left France Unbowed party, on BFM TV Wednesday night.  Far-right National Rally leader Marine Le … “France’s Macron to serve out office term, name new prime minister soon” →

This month marks 30 years since Ukraine signed an agreement to give up its nuclear arsenal, the world’s third largest at the time. With Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearing the three-year mark, Kyiv now calls the agreement with Moscow short-sighted. VOA Ukrainian’s Tatiana Vorozhko looks at the history of the deal. Videographer: Iurii Panin …

The German carmaker Volkswagen plans to make massive cuts, triggering a warning strike by workers. The crisis at VW is another symptom of deepening troubles in the German economy — the EU’s largest — in recent years burdened by high energy costs, the war in Ukraine, and Chinese competition. Marcus Harton narrates this report from Ricardo Marquina in Berlin. …

Paris — French President Emmanuel Macron was set to address his nation later Thursday (19:00 UTC), a day after his government fell in a no-confidence vote— a first in more than 60 years. The country’s prime minister, Michel Barnier, was expected to resign Thursday.  It didn’t take long for Michel Barnier’s three-month-old government to become the shortest in the history of France’s Fifth Republic. On Wednesday, National Assembly lawmakers from the far left and far right passed a no-confidence measure. It’s left France without a functioning government for the second time this year. The move came after Barnier used a constitutional tool to force through an unpopular budget proposal that he said was key to addressing France’s sizable economic troubles. Far right leader Marine Le Pen told French TV that Barnier’s proposed spending cuts and tax increases were profoundly unjust for ordinary people — expressing optimism a better budget could be passed under a new government. Mathilde Panot from the far-left France Unbowed (La France Insoumise) party said it was time for Macron himself to leave office. Macron said he’s not going anywhere. But after losing legislative and European elections earlier this year, he’s a weakened president. France is struggling with a high debt and budget deficit, and stagnant growth. Public sector workers went on strike Thursday over salaries and working conditions, disrupting schools, city halls, hospitals and transportation. A rail workers’ strike is expected next week.   France’s turmoil comes at a challenging time for Europe. Another European Union heavyweight, Germany, is also struggling economically and politically. The bloc faces internal divisions, an emboldened Russia, a struggling Ukraine and an incoming Trump administration in the U.S., which Europeans fear will be less inclined to support Kyiv, free trade and the transatlantic alliance.  …

PARIS — French Prime Minister Michel Barnier will resign on Thursday after far-right and leftist lawmakers voted to topple his government, plunging the euro zone’s second-largest economy deeper into political crisis. Barnier, a veteran politician who was formerly the European Union’s Brexit negotiator, will be the shortest-serving prime minister in modern French history after he hands in his resignation at around 10 a.m. No French government had lost a confidence vote since Georges Pompidou’s in 1962. The political turmoil further weakens a European Union already reeling from the implosion of Germany’s coalition government, and comes weeks before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. The hard left and far right punished Barnier in a no-confidence vote on Wednesday evening for trying to push an unpopular budget through an unruly hung parliament without a vote. The draft budget had sought $63 billion in savings in a drive to shrink a gaping deficit. Barnier’s resignation caps weeks of tensions over the budget, which Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally said was too harsh on working people. It also further weakens the standing of President Emmanuel Macron, who precipitated the ongoing crisis with an ill-fated decision to call a snap election in June. Macron, who faces growing calls to resign, has a mandate until 2027 and cannot be pushed out. Still, the long-running political debacle has left him a diminished figure. An online poll carried out just after the no-confidence motion showed 64% of voters want Macron to resign. “The main culprit for the current situation is Emmanuel Macron,” Le Pen told TF1 TV late on Wednesday. “The dissolution (of parliament in June) and censorship (of the government) are the consequence of his policies and of the considerable divide which exists today between him and the French.” A small majority of voters approved parliament bringing down Barnier, but many were still worried about its economic and political consequence, the Toluna Harris Interactive poll for RTL broadcaster showed. France now risks ending the year without a stable government or a 2025 budget, although the constitution allows special measures that would avert a U.S.-style government shutdown. Three sources told Reuters that Macron aimed to install a new prime minister swiftly, with one saying he wanted to name a premier before a ceremony to reopen the Notre-Dame Cathedral on Saturday, which Trump is due to attend. But any new prime minister will face the same … “Prime Minister Barnier to resign as France’s political crisis deepens” →

Ta’Qali, Malta — Ukraine’s foreign minister called Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov a “war criminal” Thursday as they both attended an international summit in Malta, the latter’s first visit to an EU member since the 2022 invasion. Ukraine’s Andriy Sybiga also accused Moscow of being “the biggest threat to our common security” as the two foreign ministers sat on the same huge table at a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was also in Ta’Qali, near Valetta, for the talks, though officials said he had no plans to meet Lavrov. “Russia is not a partner; it is the biggest threat to our common security. Russia’s participation in the OSCE is a threat to cooperation in Europe,” Sybiga told ministers from the 57-member body.  “When Russians say they want peace they lie,” he said, adding: “Ukraine continues to fight for its right to exist.” “And the Russian war criminal at this table must know: Ukraine will win this right and justice will prevail.” ‘Destabilizing’ Lavrov, who has been sanctioned by the European Union, had not visited an EU country since a December 2021 trip to Stockholm, again for an OSCE meeting, Russian media reported. Sitting between the representatives of San Marino and Romania, he railed against the EU, NATO and in particular the United States. He said the West was behind a “reincarnation of the Cold War, only now with a much greater risk of a transition to a hot one,” according to a transcript of his remarks from RIA Navosti. He also accused Washington of military exercises in the Asia-Pacific region that sought to “destabilize the entire Eurasian continent.” The OSCE was founded in 1975 to ease tensions between the East and the West during the Cold War, and now counts 57 members from Turkey to Mongolia, including Britain and Canada as well as the United States. It helps its members coordinate issues such as human rights and arms control, but Lavrov at the last ministerial summit a year ago in North Macedonia accused the OSCE of becoming an “appendage” of NATO and the EU. Ukraine has called for Russia to be excluded from the organization, and boycotted the Skopje summit over Lavrov’s attendance. Summit host Ian Borg, Malta’s foreign minister, opened proceedings Thursday with a call for Russia to withdraw from Ukraine. Blinken also accused Lavrov — who at … “Ukraine, Russian diplomats trade barbs at Malta summit” →

WASHINGTON — Thirty years ago, leaders of the United States, Britain Russia and Ukraine met in Budapest, Hungary, and signed a memorandum that provided security assurances to Ukraine in exchange for it giving up its nuclear arsenal, then the world’s third largest. Today, nearly three years after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian officials are calling the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances “a monument to short-sightedness in strategic security decision-making” and seek NATO membership for their country. Presidents Leonid Kravchuk of Ukraine, Boris Yeltsin of Russia and Bill Clinton of the U.S., along with British Prime Minister John Major, signed the memorandum on December 5, 1994. Steven Pifer, a veteran diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 1998 to 2000, helped negotiate the memorandum. “In that document, basically, the United States, Britain and Russia committed to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and existing borders, and committed not to use force or threaten to use force against Ukraine,” Pifer told VOA’s Ukrainian Service. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited the world`s third-largest nuclear arsenal and agreed to transfer all the nuclear munitions on its territory to Russia for dismantlement, and to decommission nuclear missile launch silos. All parties to the memorandum agreed to “refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of the signatories to the memorandum.” However, in 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and fueled a separatist movement in eastern Ukraine. In February 2022, it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In a December 3 statement marking the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry called the agreement “a monument to short-sightedness in strategic security decision-making.” Clutching a copy of the memorandum after arriving in Brussels for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Andrii Sybiha called the pact a reminder that any long-term decisions made at the cost of Ukrainian security are “inappropriate and unacceptable.” “This document, this paper, failed to secure Ukrainian security and transatlantic security,” Sybiha said. “So, we must avoid repeating such mistakes. That’s, of course, why we will discuss with my partners the concept of peace through strength, and we have a clear understanding which steps we need from our friends.”   In its December 3 statement, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said, “The only real guarantee of security for Ukraine, as well as a deterrent to further … “On its 30th anniversary, Ukraine calls 1994 Budapest Memorandum ‘a monument to short-sightedness’” →

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry denounced on Wednesday criticism by Western ambassadors of the country’s human rights record, saying the diplomats’ comments amounted to interference in its judicial system. A ministry statement posted on the Telegram messaging app said ambassadors from the United States, European Union and Switzerland made the comments at an event in Baku, referring to the detention of journalists and “political activists.” The statement followed news that a veteran human rights advocate, Rufat Safarov, had been placed in pre-trial detention for four months following his arrest on Monday. It was the latest of a series of cases in Azerbaijan that have prompted Western concern about free speech and human rights. “These statements are an open attempt to undermine the independent judicial system in Azerbaijan,” the foreign ministry statement said. “Interference in the course of an investigation is unacceptable and interference in the judicial process contradicts the principle of the rule of law, the fundamental principle of a law-based state.” It was not immediately possible to determine what the ambassadors had said at the event. Earlier on Wednesday, a lawyer for Safarov told Reuters that Safarov had pleaded not guilty in a Baku court to charges of fraud and hooliganism and intended to appeal. Safarov was detained a little more than a week after the close in Baku of the major U.N. climate change conference COP29. In the run-up to the conference, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev denounced as “disgusting” a letter from U.S. lawmakers criticizing his country’s human rights record and calling for the release of political prisoners. Safarov, a former prosecutor, served three years in prison on bribery charges before being pardoned by Aliyev and released in 2019. Media reports said he had been due to leave within days for the United States to be presented with a human rights award. U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told a news briefing in Washington on Tuesday that Washington was “deeply concerned” by his detention. “And we continue to urge Azerbaijan to release all of those unjustly detained and to cease its crackdown on civil society, including human rights defenders and journalists,” Patel said. …

An operation by Ukraine launched on August 6 captured dozens of towns and villages and gained control of about 1,000 square kilometers in Russia’s Kursk region. Gradually, Russia has pushed Ukrainian forces out of about half of the territory they captured.   Our correspondent spoke to experts about how the military situation in the region could affect the initial positions taken in future peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.  See the full story here.  …

The U.S. and EU are urging Beijing to stop supporting Russia’s war machine. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited China on Monday, asking China to stop backing Russia and to work for peace in Ukraine. Our correspondent spoke to experts: Can Western sanctions change Beijing’s position?  See the full story here.    …

UNITED NATIONS — Ukraine demanded Wednesday that Russia end what Kyiv called “the largest kidnapping campaign in modern history” and return Ukrainian children forcibly transferred from its territory during the ongoing war. “Ukraine is searching for nearly 20,000 children who were subjected to illegal deportation and forced transfer,” said Daria Zarivna, an adviser to Ukraine’s president and a senior official at his Bring Kids Back Ukraine initiative. “Yet the actual figure could be much higher, but we can’t find it out — Russian officials systematically refuse to provide information,” Zarivna added. Zarivna told a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, convened to discuss the situation, that so far 1,022 children have been repatriated, and she urged the international community to pressure Moscow to cooperate. “Russia must be forced to meet its obligations under international law,” Zarivna said. “It must be compelled to allow access to occupied territories, stop deportations and forced citizenship and political indoctrination of children, provide information about transferred kids, [and] cooperate to bring them home.” Russia denies it has forcibly transferred children. “There is no program in Russia on adopting children from the area of the special military operation,” Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said, using the Kremlin term for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “Those who are orphans or those who are without relatives were only transferred onto temporary preliminary guardianship or temporary wardship, with Russian citizens,” he said. “Nor is there any basis for the allegation about the forced naturalization of Ukrainian children.” He said a decree streamlining citizenship simply provides “an opportunity to obtain Russian citizenship for humanitarian reasons” and does not require an individual to give up their Ukrainian citizenship. But the International Criminal Court disagrees. In March 2023, the court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russian commissioner for children’s rights. The ICC pretrial chamber said it “considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect bears responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, in prejudice of Ukrainian children.” “We call on member states to execute these warrants and ensure accountability,” Ukraine’s Zarivna said. In June 2023, the U.N. secretary-general added Russia to its blacklist of perpetrators of grave violations against children for Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, including the killing and maiming of children and attacks on … “Ukraine demands Russia return ‘kidnapped’ children” →