Category: European Union

Kyiv, Ukraine — A massive Russian attack that set apartments alight and knocked out heating to thousands in Ukraine’s southern port city Odesa killed one person and wounded 10 others, authorities said Friday. The Thursday night strikes on the Black Sea city damaged residential buildings, the heating system, churches and educational institutions, according to Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov, who said it had been “a massive combined enemy strike.” Trukhanov said early Friday that a 35-year-old woman sleeping near a window at the time of the attack had died. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine confirmed one death and said another 10 people were wounded, including two children. Fires broke out in several places but were quickly extinguished, while the main heating pipeline was damaged, leaving tens of thousands in the cold as nightly temperatures plunge to freezing. “More than 40,000 people (as well as) medical and social institutions are without heating,” Trukhanov wrote on Telegram. “Generators and heaters are working in medical institutions.” The mayor’s office said hot drinks and blankets were being distributed while the pipeline was repaired. After fleeing during the air raid siren, Odesa resident Oleksandra said she saw pictures of her damaged home. “When everything happened, we were hiding in a shelter. We saw that this was our house in the photos from the local channels,” she told public broadcaster Suspilne Odesa. Russia has recently stepped-up aerial attacks on southern Ukraine, damaging civilian vessels and port facilities in the Odesa region, while Kyiv has intensified its attacks on Russian military and energy targets. Early Friday morning, Ukraine’s air force reported six Tu-95 bombers — which are capable of carrying cruise missiles — heading southeast from a base in Russia. Moscow’s Ministry of Defense meanwhile announced it had intercepted 51 Ukrainian drones overnight, thwarting an attack that had targeted coastal regions, including over Crimea and the Sea of Azov. Ukraine is bracing for its toughest winter of war yet, with Moscow having destroyed swathes of its generating capacity and continuing to strike energy sites. In previous winters, millions of Ukrainians endured regular blackouts and lost heating in sub-zero conditions. Ukrainian forces are losing ground in the east and concerns are mounting in Kyiv over the future of foreign military aid after the victory of Donald Trump in the United States presidential election. Kyiv has for months been appealing to its Western allies to provide more air-defense systems to … “1 dead, thousands without heat after Russian strike on Ukraine port city” →

ROME — The ancient Roman Colosseum will be the venue of gladiator fights — albeit staged — for the first time in two millennia under a $1.5 million sponsorship deal with Airbnb that aims to promote “a more conscious tourism.” But some visitors to the monument Thursday, as well as housing activists, were skeptical about the value of the arrangement, citing ongoing controversies in many cities over the role of short-term rental platforms in fueling overtourism and limiting affordable housing for residents and students. Under the deal announced by Airbnb and the Colosseum on Wednesday, the sponsorship by the short-term rental giant will cover the renewal of an educational program inside the ancient Roman amphitheater covering the history of the structure and gladiators. Eight of the platform’s users and their plus-ones will be able to participate in faux gladiator fights after the Colosseum’s closing time on May 7-8, taking the same underground route used by gladiators in ancient Rome to reach the arena. People can apply for the experience on November 27 at no cost, and the “gladiators” will be chosen by lottery. The superintendent of the Colosseum Archaeological Park, Alfonsina Russo, told The Associated Press that the deal is in conjunction with the release of Ridley Scott’s new film “Gladiators II,” which opened in Italy on Thursday. Russo characterized the sponsorship arrangement as one of the many such deals to help finance projects at the park. The Italian fashion brand Tod’s, for example, has funded a multimillion renovation of the Roman monument, including a cleaning, replacing the locking system of arches with new gates and redoing the subterranean areas. Alberto Campailla, the coordinator of the Nonna Roma nonprofit organization that focuses on housing and food for the poor, called the campaign with Airbnb “a disgrace,” and a form of “touristification.” Airbnb and other platforms offering short-term rentals “are literally driving people out of not only the city center, but also the outskirts and suburban neighborhoods,” Campailla said. Tourists from other European cities grappling with overtourism also took issue with the deal. “It seems to me that the purpose of the Colosseum today is to be a tourist attraction, but not to create an amusement park within it,” said Jaime Montero, a tourist visiting from Madrid. “In the end, tourism eats the essence of the cities, here in Rome, as in other capitals.” Visiting from Naples, Salvatore Di Matteo saw the … “A criticized Airbnb deal will let users play gladiator in Rome’s Colosseum” →

washington — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was among the first foreign leaders to congratulate U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on his early November election victory. President Joe Biden has not hosted Erdogan at the White House though the two have met on sidelines of international summits and spoken by phone. Speaking to journalists accompanying his return from visits to Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, Erdogan expressed his hope for improved U.S. ties, adding, however, that in-person meetings would be needed to achieve that end, and that Ankara needs to wait to see what kind of a Cabinet Trump forms. The two leaders had a close personal relationship during Trump’s first term in office. However, bilateral relations have also been marked by tough times during that administration. With Trump’s January return to the White House, analysts told VOA that although there may be opportunities for more cooperation in some areas, they don’t expect major changes. James Jeffrey, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Turkey from 2008 to 2010, sees Ukraine as one area with potential for cooperation. Referring to Trump’s promise to end the war in Ukraine, Jeffrey says Turkey could play a role in negotiating a cease-fire, making both sides “well-aligned for a productive relationship.” Alan Makovsky, a senior fellow for national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress, also believes Trump’s priority to end the war in Ukraine creates a significant opportunity for Erdogan. A NATO ally, Turkey has adopted a careful balancing act amid the war in Ukraine, supplying armed drones to Ukraine while maintaining ties with Russia in energy and tourism. Erdogan, who has maintained good relations with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, has long said neither side is gaining from the war and offered to host and mediate negotiations. Disagreement over Syria Disagreements between Turkey and the United States during Trump’s first term included Ankara’s frustration with U.S. support for Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) led by Kurdish militia — People’s Protection Units, known as YPG in northern Syria. After a phone call with Erdogan on October 6, 2019, Trump unexpectedly announced that the U.S. would withdraw from Syria. Many U.S. military officials, all of whom were caught off guard by the announcement, did not support the idea. Tension between the allies worsened after Trump on October 9 sent a letter to Erdogan, warning him against a military incursion into … “Can Trump’s return to White House be an opportunity for enhancing US-Turkey ties?” →

Italy’s flagship policy of holding migrants in detention centers in Albania for processing has hit a legal roadblock – as judges in Rome referred the case to the European Union’s Court of Justice, which could take months or years to make a ruling. Henry Ridgwell reports. …

Various human rights groups accuse Russia of committing crimes that amount to crimes against humanity in Africa. Several reports also have exposed Russia’s illegal export of gold worth more than $2.5 billion from Africa to sponsor its war in Ukraine. …

Amnesty International reported that French-manufactured military technology incorporated into armored personnel carriers (APCs) made by the United Arab Emirates is being used in Sudan’s civil war, a likely violation of a United Nations arms embargo.  In a report posted online Thursday, the human rights organization said it first became aware of the armored vehicles’ presence in Sudan in July, when another study revealed what the group described as “a constant flow of weapons into the country” from several nations, including China, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, the UAE and Yemen.  The APCs were part of the flow of weapons that in some cases were taken to Darfur, the scene of heavy fighting in western Sudan.  Amnesty International said additional research showed the APCs include sophisticated French-designed and manufactured reactive defense systems. The report said the vehicles are in use by the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group.   The conflict broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary fighters after relations broke down between military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF chief General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.  The two generals are former allies who together orchestrated an October 2021 coup that derailed a transition to civilian rule following the 2019 ouster of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir.  Amnesty International said the APCs are manufactured by the UAE company Edge Group and are equipped with the French Galix reactive defense system. Amnesty identified the systems in pictures posted on social media after APCs were captured or destroyed by the Sudanese army.   The Galix technology is a defense system for land vehicles that release counter measures — decoys, smoke and projectiles — when close-range threats are encountered.   In a statement, Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard said any use of the French-made weapons technology in Darfur would be a clear breech of the U.N. arms embargo on Sudan. She called on France to ensure the makers of the defense systems immediately stop the supply to UAE manufacturers.  Callamard called on all nations to “immediately cease direct and indirect supplies of all arms and ammunition to the warring parties in Sudan. They must respect and enforce the U.N. Security Council’s arms embargo regime on Darfur before even more civilians’ lives are lost. ”  The U.N. arms embargo is part of a series of sanctions that include asset freezes and travel bans imposed against Sudan for systematic human rights abuses by both the … “French military tech used in Sudan, rights group reports” →

Washington — The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders on Thursday announced that it is suing the social media company X, accusing it of spreading disinformation.   After Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, discovered that it was the target of a disinformation campaign this past summer, the Paris-based group filed 10 reports of policy violations with X, formerly known as Twitter.   Since none of the posts in question have been removed, RSF opted to sue the company in French courts “for its complicity in disseminating false information, misrepresentation and identity theft,” the group said in a statement. “Is X’s deliberate unwillingness to fight disinformation punishable by law? Does it make the company complicit in the pollution of public debate?” the statement said. “With the new case brought forth by RSF, the French courts now have the opportunity to address these pressing questions, establish X’s legal obligations and hold it to account.”  The case concerns a late August video that RSF said it found, falsely labeled as from the BBC, claiming RSF produced a report on Nazi beliefs in Ukraine’s military.  The video used RSF’s logo and photos of the group’s advocacy director, and it reached nearly half a million views by mid-September, mainly on X and Telegram, RSF said. The press freedom group later determined that the Russian government was behind the fake video.   RSF filed several reports with X about the fake video, but the social media platform did not remove any of the posts in question, RSF said.   “X’s refusal to remove content that it knows is false and deceitful — as it was duly informed by RSF — makes it complicit in the spread of the disinformation circulating on its platform,” RSF’s advocacy director Antoine Bernard said in a statement.  “X provides those who spread falsehoods and manipulate public opinion with a powerful arsenal of tools and unparalleled visibility, while granting the perpetrators total impunity,” Bernard added.  Emmanuel Daoud, an attorney representing RSF, said in a statement that the lawsuit seeks to remind X and its executives that they can be held criminally responsible “if they knowingly provide a platform and tools for disseminating false information, identity theft, misrepresentation, and defamation — offenses punishable under the French Penal Code.”   RSF’s lawsuit comes after several French news outlets sued X earlier this week for allegedly running their content without payment.  That lawsuit was filed by top French outlets including Le … “Reporters Without Borders sues X” →

MOSCOW — A Russian man went on trial Thursday on charges of high treason for a video he allegedly sent to Ukraine’s security services, the latest in a growing series of espionage cases involving the conflict. The Volgograd District Court began hearing a new case against Nikita Zhuravel, who is currently serving a 3½-year sentence for burning a Quran in front of a mosque. The new charges are based on allegations that Zhuravel filmed a trainload of military equipment and warplanes in 2023 and sent the video to a representative of Ukraine’s security agency. He could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted. Rights activists say Zhuravel is a political prisoner who was beaten while in custody. While in pretrial custody before his first sentence, Zhuravel was beaten by the 15-year-old son of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-appointed strongman leader of the mostly Muslim region of Chechnya. The elder Kadyrov posted the video on social media and praised his son, causing public outrage. He later awarded his son with the medal of “Hero of the Republic of Chechnya.” Federal authorities have refrained from any criticism of the Chechen strongman. Separately, a military court on Thursday sentenced to 24 years in prison a man convicted of treason and terrorism for setting fire to a military recruitment office in Moscow. Prosecutors said Sergei Andreev committed the November 2023 attack on instructions from the Ukrainian special services that he received on a messaging app. Treason and espionage cases have skyrocketed after President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. The cases have targeted a wide range of suspects, from Kremlin critics and independent journalists to scientists, drawing attention from rights groups. The legal definition of treason has been expanded to include providing vaguely defined “assistance” to foreign countries or organizations, effectively exposing to prosecution anyone in contact with foreigners. …

On the first day of 2025, Ukraine’s contract with Russian state-owned Gazprom will expire, shutting down a major Russian natural gas pathway to Europe. Although the Kremlin says it is ready to continue the transit deal, urging Europeans to persuade Ukraine to extend the contract, Kyiv has said it won’t budge. Russian natural gas supplies were a cornerstone of European energy security before Moscow’s February 2022 invasion, when it temporarily cut off 80 billion cubic meters of gas supplies to the continent in response to sanctions and a payment dispute. The cut-off dealt a major blow to Europe’s economy that remains palpable in 2024, according to an International Monetary Fund analysis. Since 2021, however, Europe has secured alternative suppliers for natural gas, with Russian imports via Ukraine dropping from 11% to 5%, according to Rystad Energy, an Oslo-based energy analysis firm. Observers say some EU countries have taken the issue more seriously than others. Germany and the Czech Republic, for example, have invested heavily in liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in record time, said Olga Khakova, deputy director for European energy security at the Washington-based Atlantic Council. “A lot of landlocked countries, like Czech Republic, have gone out of their way to look at alternative supplies and invested in alternative options,” she told VOA. Others, like Hungary, have doubled down on their reliance on Russia, while Slovakia and Austria have increased Russian imports. Those countries, said Khakova, “will have to live with this decision,” explaining that they’ll need to secure alternative routes. Turkey, for example, offers the only other operational pipeline for Europe-bound Russian energy. Although some European nations would prefer to maintain Russian gas deliveries via Ukraine, it’s “a difficult sell for the EU,” said Christoph Halser, Rystad’s gas and LNG analyst. He expressed confidence in Europe’s political will and supply chain logistics to forfeit dependence on Ukraine’s pipelines for Russian gas. Other analysts argue that the EU should do more to send a clear signal to companies that cheap Russian gas will no longer be available. With enforceable goals from the EU for phasing out Russian pipeline gas, companies will invest in competing projects to supply reliable European customers, Khakova said. LNG to compensate? Although Russia’s pipeline exports to Europe have decreased, Moscow has compensated for some of the shortfall with LNG deliveries via sea, road and rail, seeing the overall share of European LNG imports increase from … “Is Europe ready for year-end cutoff of Russian gas via Ukraine?” →

Brussels — The European Commission on Thursday fined Meta Platforms $840.24 million over abusive practices benefiting Facebook Marketplace, it said in a statement, confirming an earlier report by Reuters. “The European Commission has fined Meta … for breaching EU antitrust rules by tying its online classified ads service Facebook Marketplace to its personal social network Facebook and by imposing unfair trading conditions on other online classified ads service providers,” the European Commission said. Meta said it will appeal the decision, but in the meantime, it will comply and will work quickly and constructively to launch a solution which addresses the points raised. The move by the European Commission comes two years after it accused the U.S. tech giant of giving its classified ads service Facebook Marketplace an unfair advantage by bundling the two services together. The European Union opened formal proceedings into possible anticompetitive conduct of Facebook in June, 2021, and in December, 2022, raised concerns that Meta ties its dominant social network Facebook to its online classified ad services. Facebook launched Marketplace in 2016 and expanded into several European countries a year later. The EU decision argues that Meta imposes Facebook Marketplace on people who use Facebook in an illegal “tie” but Meta said that argument ignores the fact that Facebook users can choose whether to engage with Marketplace, and many do not. Meta said the Commission claimed that Marketplace had the potential to hinder the growth of large incumbent online marketplaces in the EU but could not find any evidence of harm to competitors. Companies risk fines of as much as 10% of their global turnover for EU antitrust violations. …

The European Parliament on Thursday approved a one-year delay on implementing the bloc’s landmark anti-deforestation rules, while also voting to loosen some requirements of the controversial law.  The move triggered an outcry from environmental groups, which had hailed the law as an unprecedented breakthrough in the fight to protect nature and combat climate change.  Parliament was called to sign off on a delay requested by the European Commission following pressure from trading partners such as Brazil and the United States, and some member states including Germany.  But lawmakers on the right used the vote to bring new amendments, passed with support from right-wing and far-right groups.   This de facto restarted the legislative process, as the new text should now be re-discussed by the commission and member states — creating further uncertainty over its implementation.   The legislation would prohibit a vast range of goods — from coffee to cocoa, soy, timber, palm oil, cattle, printing paper and rubber — if produced using land that was deforested after December 2020.  Exporting countries considered high-risk would have at least nine percent of products sent to the EU subjected to checks, with the proportion falling for lower-risk ones.  Among the amendments introduced Thursday was the creation of a “no risk” category that would see products from some countries — such as Germany — face virtually no scrutiny.  Julia Christian, a campaigner at environmental group Fern, said it was the equivalent of giving “EU forested countries a free pass.”  “The message to the rest of the world is unmistakable: you must stop destroying your forests, but the EU won’t end the widespread degradation afflicting its forests,” she said.  …

Russia’s military reported capturing a village in east Ukraine on Thursday, with forces closing in on the town of Kurakhove. The Russian Defense Ministry said the army captured the village of Voznesenka in the Donetsk region. The town had a population of about 20,000 before the war began in 2022, Agence France-Presse reported. Russia also reported damaging Ukrainian airfields and energy facilities and shooting down 78 drones, according to state news agency RIA. Ukraine’s military said it shot down 21 of 59 Russian drones launched in an overnight attack. The fighting followed a massive aerial attack on Kyiv and other locations in Ukraine early Wednesday, involving ballistic and cruise missiles and dozens of drones. Ukraine’s air force said its units shot down four missiles and 37 drones launched by Russia over eight regions. “It is important that our forces have the means to defend the country from Russian terror,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after attack. In his Wednesday address, Zelenskyy praised the country’s “air defense warriors.” “Every night, every day, they shoot down Russian ‘Shahed’ drones and missiles,” he said. “This morning, they intercepted Russian ballistics. This is significant. Every such success means saving the lives of our people.” Ukraine has been appealing to allies to supply more air defense systems to protect against Russian attacks, and Zelenskyy said the country was grateful “to all our partners who help us with anti-missiles and air defense systems.” “The strategic goal is to reach a practical level of cooperation with our partners that will enable us to produce the air defense systems and anti-missiles we need here in Ukraine,” he said. He added Ukraine needs to “finally push Russia towards making a fair peace.”   …

ANKARA, turkey — Turkey was offered partner country status by the BRICS group of nations, Trade Minister Omer Bolat said, as Ankara continues what it calls its efforts to balance its Eastern and Western ties. Turkey, a NATO member, has in recent months voiced interest in joining the BRICS group of emerging economies, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attended a BRICS leaders’ summit hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kazan last month, after Ankara said it had taken formal steps to become a member of the group. “As for Turkey’s status regarding (BRICS) membership, they offered Turkey the status of partner membership,” Bolat said in an interview with private broadcaster TVNet on Wednesday. “This (status) is the transition process in the organizational structure of BRICS,” he said. Ankara sees the BRICS group as an opportunity to further economic cooperation with member states, rather than an alternative to its Western ties and NATO membership, Erdogan has said. Turkish officials have repeatedly said potential membership of BRICS would not affect Turkey’s responsibilities to the Western military alliance. Aside from full membership, BRICS members introduced a “partner country” category in Kazan, according to the declaration issued by BRICS on October 23. Bolat did not say whether Ankara had accepted the proposal. An official in Erdogan’s ruling AK Party told Reuters this month that while the proposal had been discussed in Kazan, partner country status would fall short of Turkey’s demands for membership.  …

GENEVA — Families in a tiny Swiss village were packing up Wednesday after authorities issued an evacuation order with a weekend deadline because of the threat of a possible rockslide from an Alpine mountainside overhead. Authorities in charge of the eastern village of Brienz said in a statement Tuesday that they analyzed the potential danger with geology and natural-hazards specialists and recommended the precautionary evacuation by 1 p.m. Sunday. Christian Gartmann, a member of the crisis management board in the town of Albula, which counts Brienz in its jurisdiction, said inhabitants of the village, with a population of 90, were making quick preparations. A similar evacuation took place in May last year. The following month, a rockslide sent 2 million cubic meters of stone tumbling down the mountainside — but it missed the village. Another 1.2 million cubic meters still loom, leading to the new order for evacuation. “It has begun, immediately actually. People in the village organized themselves,” Gartmann said by phone. Some were “a little bit aggressive towards us” for ordering the evacuation, he said, adding that he understood their discontent. “No one is in favor of his own evacuation. They would love to stay in their houses. They have been living in these houses for generations and they don’t want to leave their village,” Gartmann said. “But actually, it’s the mountain that orders us to evacuate them.” In recent days, authorities have been advising villagers to take essential items, like computers, winter wear and school and work materials, for up to six months out of town, he said. “It’s not a total moving-out,” Gartmann said, summarizing the order to locals as “take everything that you need for the next few months. If you have some cheap … sofa at home, leave it.” Temporary lodging out of the village, which sits in between Italian and German-speaking parts of southeastern Switzerland, has already been arranged for about three-quarters of residents, and some were staying nearby with friends or family, he said. The main threat is posed by rocks that are already strewn along the mountainside, not a larger breakage, Gartmann said. A controlled explosion to trigger a rockslide to reduce the risk of an uncontrolled one has been ruled out, in part because 300 tons of explosives would be needed, he said. Blasting crews would face risks, and a detonation could also affect a nearby mountain. A severe rockslide would … “Swiss villagers pack up for evacuation over fears of another rockslide” →

Russian exiles plan a march Sunday in Berlin demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, the prosecution of Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal, and the release of all political prisoners. Ricardo Marquina reports. Narrator: Elizabeth Cherneff. …

Ukrainian overnight drone attacks have set several non-residential buildings on fire in Russia’s Kaluga and Bryansk regions, regional governors said on Sunday. “Emergency services and firefighters are on the site,” Alexander Bogomaz, governor of the Russian border region of Bryansk, wrote on the Telegram messaging app, without providing further detail. The defense ministry said its air defense units had destroyed 23 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 17 over Bryansk. Vladislav Shapsha, governor of the Kaluga region, which borders the Moscow region to its northeast, said a non-residential building in the region was on fire as result of Ukraine’s drone attack. Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Kyiv has often said its drone attacks on Russian territory are aimed at infrastructure key to Moscow’s war efforts and are in response to Russia’s continued attack on Ukraine’s territory. …

Madrid — New storms in Spain caused school closures and train cancellations on Wednesday, two weeks after flash floods in Valencia and other parts of the country killed more than 220 people and destroyed thousands of homes. Coastal areas of Valencia were placed under the highest alert on Wednesday evening. Forecasters said up to 180 millimeters (7 inches) of rain could fall there within five hours. Cleanup efforts in parts of Valencia hardest hit by the Oct. 29 storm were still continuing, and there were concerns over what more rain could bring to streets still covered with mud and debris. In southern Malaga province, streets were flooded, while 3,000 people near the Guadalhorce river were moved from their homes as a preventive measure. Schools across the province were closed, along with many stores. High-speed AVE train service was canceled between Malaga and Madrid as well as Barcelona and Valencia. There were no reports of any deaths. Spanish weather forecaster AEMET put Malaga on red alert, saying up to 70 millimeters (roughly 3 inches) of rain had accumulated in an hour. Parts of Tarragona province in the east also faced heavy rain and remained under red alert. The forecast in Malaga delayed the start of the Billie Jean King Cup tennis finals between Spain and Poland, which was set for Wednesday. The storm system affecting Spain is caused by warm air that collides with stagnant cold air and forms powerful rain clouds. Experts say that drought and flood cycles are increasing with climate change. …

Brussels — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured Ukraine and its NATO allies on Wednesday that Washington remains committed to putting Ukraine “in the strongest possible position” in the final months of President Joe Biden’s administration, before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.  At the same time, the United States expressed alarm about Russia possibly bolstering North Korea’s capabilities, including its “nuclear capacity.” “President Biden has committed to making sure that every dollar we have at our disposal will be pushed out the door between now and January 20th,” Blinken told reporters at NATO headquarters on Wednesday. “We’re making sure that Ukraine has the air defenses it needs, that has the artillery it needs, that has the armored vehicles it needs,” he added.  Blinken told VOA he expects U.S. allies’ support for Ukraine to increase and emphasized that it’s critical for Washington’s partners to “continue to more than pick up their share of the burden.”   Speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Blinken reiterated that Washington will “continue to shore up everything” to enable Ukraine to defend itself effectively against Russian aggression. Rutte and other European leaders voiced serious concerns over North Korea’s active support for Russia in its war on Ukraine. “These North Korean soldiers present an extra threat to Ukraine and will increase the potential for Putin to do harm,” Rutte told reporters.  The U.S. State Department had disclosed that over 10,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to eastern Russia, and most of them have moved to the far western Kursk oblast.  On Wednesday, Blinken described the military collaboration between Pyongyang and Moscow as “a two-way street.”  “There is deep concern about what Russia is or may be doing to strengthen North Korea’s capacities: its missile capacity, its nuclear capacity,” as well as the battlefield experience North Korean forces are gaining, he told reporters.  In Brussels, Blinken held talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, and Britain’s foreign secretary, David Lammy, among others.   In Washington, officials say President Biden is expected to ask President-elect Trump not to walk away from Ukraine during their talks at the White House Wednesday.   Trump’s political allies have indicated that the incoming administration will prioritize achieving peace in Ukraine over enabling the country to reclaim Crimea and other territories occupied by Russia.   …

The United States opened a new air defense base in northern Poland on Wednesday, an event the European nation’s president said showed the country was secure as a member of NATO even as Russia wages war in neighboring Ukraine.  Situated in the town of Redzikowo near the Baltic coast, the base has been in the works since the 2000s.   At a time when Donald Trump’s election victory has caused jitters among some NATO members, Warsaw says the continued work on the base by successive U.S. presidents shows Poland’s military alliance with Washington remains solid whoever is in the White House.  “The United States… is the guarantor of Poland’s security,” President Andrzej Duda said.  He said the permanent presence of U.S. troops at the base showed that Poland, a communist state until 1989, was “not in the Russian sphere of influence.”  The Kremlin on Wednesday called the base a bid to contain Russia by moving American military infrastructure nearer its borders.  The opening comes amid a nervous reaction among some NATO members to the election of Trump, who has vowed not to defend countries that do not spend enough on defense.   However, Poland says it should have nothing to fear as it is the alliance’s biggest spender on defense relative to the size of its economy, and conservative Duda has stressed his warm ties with Trump.  The U.S. base at Redzikowo is part of a broader NATO missile shield, dubbed “Aegis Ashore,” which the alliance says can intercept short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles.  Other key shield elements include a site in Romania, U.S. navy destroyers based in the Spanish port of Rota and an early-warning radar in Kurecik, Turkey.  Moscow had already labeled the base a threat as far back as 2007, when it was still being planned.   NATO says the shield is purely defensive.  Military sources told Reuters the system in Poland can now only be used against missiles fired from the Middle East and the radar would need a change in direction to intercept projectiles from Russia, a complex procedure entailing a change of policy.  Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Monday the scope of the shield needed to be expanded, which Warsaw would discuss with NATO and the United States.  NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will meet Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw later on Wednesday.  …

London — Germany’s plan to hold a snap election in February has raised uncertainties over the country’s military aid program for Ukraine, as the government has not yet approved its 2025 budget. Berlin is the second biggest donor of weapons and equipment to Kyiv, after the United States. The political turmoil in Europe’s biggest economy comes as allies prepare for a second term for President-elect Donald Trump in the United States. Trump has repeatedly questioned U.S. support for Ukraine. February vote Germany’s main political parties agreed to hold the election on February 23, following the collapse of the ruling three-party coalition government earlier this month. Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to introduce a confidence motion in parliament next month, which he is expected to lose, paving the way for a general election. Scholz has said he will stand again as the Social Democrats’ candidate, although some in the party have questioned whether he is the best choice amid low approval ratings. The chairman of the Social Democrats in the German parliament, Rolf Mützenich, insisted Tuesday that Scholz was the right candidate.  “I am firmly convinced that Olaf Scholz has done this country good in the last three years under the most difficult conditions. He has done everything to ensure that the coalition stays together. We have not only experienced the attack by Russian troops on Ukraine, but we have also helped Ukraine. We have also created important economic stabilization effects in Germany,” Mützenich told reporters in Berlin. Opposition poll lead However, the main opposition Christian Democrats have a big lead in the polls. The party’s leader, Friedrich Merz, argued for a quicker election.  “We are basically losing around a month for the election to the next German parliament and thus also for the formation of a government after the next election,” Merz told reporters Tuesday. “I just want to remind you that we do not have a federal budget for 2025. We are going into 2025 with this serious omission, with this heavy burden. And that is why it is completely unknown what will become of it,” he added. Debt dispute The current government — a coalition between the Social Democrats, the Green party and the Free Democrats — collapsed last week following disagreements over raising new debt to finance the 2025 budget, including the provision of military aid to Ukraine. A so-called debt brake in Germany’s constitution restricts the government’s … “Germany to hold February election amid fears political turmoil imperils Ukraine aid” →

BAKU, Azerbaijan — COP29 negotiators welcomed as an early boost to the two-week summit a pledge by major development banks to lift funding to poor and middle-income countries struggling with global warming. A group of lenders, including the World Bank, announced a joint goal on Tuesday of increasing this finance to $120 billion by 2030, a roughly 60% increase on the amount in 2023. “I think it’s a very good sign,” Irish Climate Minister Eamon Ryan told Reuters on Wednesday. “It’s very helpful. But that on its own won’t be enough,” Ryan said, adding countries and companies must also contribute. The chief aim of the conference in Azerbaijan is to secure a wide-ranging international climate financing agreement that ensures up to trillions of dollars for climate projects. Developing countries are hoping for big commitments from rich, industrialized countries that are the biggest historical contributors to global warming, and some of which are also huge producers of fossil fuels. “Developed countries have not only neglected their historical duty to reduce emissions, they are doubling down on fossil-fuel-driven growth,” said climate activist Harjeet Singh. Wealthy countries pledged in 2009 to contribute $100 billion a year to help developing nations transition to clean energy and adapt to the conditions of a warming world. But those payments were only fully met in 2022 and the pledge expires this year. With 2024 on track to be the hottest year on record, scientists say global warming and its impacts are unfolding faster than expected. Climate-fueled wildfires forced evacuations in California and triggered air quality warnings in New York. In Spain, survivors are coming to terms with the worst floods in the country’s modern history. Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama said he was concerned that the international process to address global warming, now decades old, was not moving swiftly enough. “This seems exactly like what happens in the real world everyday,” he told the conference. “Life goes on with its old habits, and our speeches, filled with good words about fighting climate change, change nothing,” Rama added. …

BAKU, Azerbaijan — When more than two dozen world leaders deliver remarks at the United Nations’ annual climate conference on Wednesday, many have detailed their nations’ firsthand experience with the catastrophic weather that has come with climate change. “Over the past year, catastrophic floods in Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as well as in southern Croatia have shown the devastating impact of rising temperatures,” said Croatia’s prime minister, Andrej Plenkovic. “The Mediterranean, one of the most vulnerable regions, calls for urgent action.” The Greek prime minister said Europe and the world needs to be “more honest” about the trade-offs needed to keep global temperatures down. “We need to ask hard questions about a path that goes very fast, at the expense of our competitiveness, and a path that goes some much slower, but allows our industry to adapt and to thrive,” he said. His nation this summer was hammered by successive heat waves after three years of below-average rainfall. In Greece, the misery included water shortages, dried-up lakes and the death of wild horses. Other speakers on the list include Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose nation has seen deadly flooding this year from monsoon rains that scientists say have become heavier with climate change. Just two years ago, more than 1,700 people died in widespread flooding. Pakistan has also suffered from dangerous heat, with thousands of people hospitalized with heatstroke this spring as temperatures soared to 47 degrees Celsius. Also on the list of speakers Wednesday is Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Edward Davis. Like many other countries in the Global South, the Bahamas has piled up debt from warming-connected weather disasters it did little to cause, including Hurricanes Dorian in 2019 and Matthew in 2016. Leaders have been seeking help and money from the Global North and oil companies. Early on Wednesday, ministers and officials from African nations called for initiatives to advance green development on the continent and strengthen resilience to extreme weather events — from floods to droughts — across the region. Plenty of big names and powerful countries are noticeably absent from COP29 this year. That includes the 13 largest carbon dioxide-polluting countries — a group responsible for more than than 70% of the heat-trapping gases emitted last year — were missing. The world’s biggest polluters and strongest economies — China and the United States — didn’t send their No. 1s. Neither did India and Indonesia. … “At UN climate talks, nations big and small get chance to bear witness to climate change” →

Blasts were heard in Kyiv Wednesday after Ukraine’s air force put the nation under an air raid alert. “Putin is launching a missile attack on Kyiv right now,” the president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said on the social media platform Telegram, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The air force earlier warned that a missile had entered the country’s airspace. “Attention! Missile in Chernihiv region heading for Kyiv region,” it said on Telegram. Russia launched cruise missiles from aircraft and ballistic missiles, the Ukrainian military said. “Explosions in the city. Air defense forces are working. Stay in shelters!” Kyiv city administration said on the Telegram messenger. The attack came after a U.S. State Department spokesperson said North Korea troops have begun fighting alongside Russians. “Over 10,000 DPRK (North Korean) soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia, and most of them have moved to the far western Kursk Oblast, where they have begun engaging in combat operations with Russian forces,” spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters during a Tuesday briefing in Washington. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke Tuesday with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov “to discuss battlefield dynamics and provide an update on U.S. security assistance” for the Eastern European country, according to Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder. Ryder said, “the secretary reaffirmed President [Joe] Biden’s commitment to surge security assistance to Ukraine.” The Pentagon also clarified the amount of money that remains available for Ukraine’s military assistance. There is about $7.1 billion left in the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which includes $4.3 billion approved by Congress in April, plus $2.8 billion that became available after recalculations.  Additionally, there is about $2.2 billion available under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative program. Ryder again underscored that the United States would rush aid to Ukraine and use all available funds. Ryder said the two defense leaders also talked about the implications of the thousands of North Korean troops now assessed to be mostly in western Kursk Oblast.  Information from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse was used in this report. …

…

LONDON — British writer Samantha Harvey won the Booker Prize for fiction on Tuesday with “Orbital,” a short, wonder-filled novel set aboard the International Space Station that ponders the beauty and fragility of the Earth. Harvey was awarded the 50,000-pound ($64,000) prize for what she has called a “space pastoral” about six orbiting astronauts, which she began writing during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The confined characters loop through 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets over the course of a day, trapped in one another’s company and transfixed by the globe’s ever-changing vistas. “To look at the Earth from space is like a child looking into a mirror and realizing for the first time that the person in the mirror is herself,” said Harvey, who researched her novel by reading books by astronauts and watching the space station’s live camera. “What we do to the Earth we do to ourselves.” She said the novel “is not exactly about climate change, but implied in the view of the Earth is the fact of human-made climate change.” She dedicated the prize to everyone who speaks “for and not against the Earth, for and not against the dignity of other humans, other life.” “All the people who speak for and call for and work for peace — this is for you,” she said. Writer and artist Edmund de Waal, who chaired the five-member judging panel, called “Orbital” a “miraculous novel” that “makes our world strange and new for us.” Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, noted that “in a year of geopolitical crisis, likely to be the warmest year in recorded history,” the winning book was “hopeful, timely and timeless.” Harvey, who has written four previous novels and a memoir about insomnia, is the first British writer since 2020 to win the Booker. The prize is open to English-language writers of any nationality and has a reputation for transforming writers’ careers. Previous winners include Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Hilary Mantel. De Waal praised the “crystalline” writing and “capaciousness” of Harvey’s succinct novel — at 136 pages in its U.K. paperback edition, one of the shortest-ever Booker winners. “This is a book that repays slow reading,” he said. He said the judges spent a full day picking their winner and came to a unanimous conclusion. Harvey beat five other finalists from Canada, the United States, Australia and the Netherlands, chosen from among … “British writer Samantha Harvey’s space-station novel ‘Orbital’ wins Booker Prize for fiction” →

Germany’s main political parties have agreed to hold a general election in February, following the collapse of the ruling coalition government earlier this month. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the vote could have big implications for Ukrainian military aid — just as Europe prepares for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s second term. …