Category: European Union

U.S. and Russian diplomats met Thursday in Istanbul for talks about the operations of their respective embassies in Moscow and Washington. The meeting is the latest in a series of engagements between the two sides, including a phone call earlier this month between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Working to restore U.S.-Russia relations was on the agenda last week for talks between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The U.S. State Department said after those talks in Riyadh that the two sides had agreed to create “a consultation mechanism to address irritants to our bilateral relationship with the objective of taking steps necessary to normalize the operation of our respective diplomatic missions.” Diplomatic relations between Russia and the United States declined during the past decade, with both sides expelling diplomats. Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.  …

NOUADHIBOU, MAURITANIA — Eager students from throughout west Africa raise their hands as teachers guide them through math and classical Arabic. Then they race outdoors to meet their parents, who clean houses, drive informal taxis or gut sardines in Chinese factories. Outside, government billboards urge these families and others to fight “migrant smuggling,” showing overcrowded boats navigating the Atlantic’s thrashing waves. Inside, posters warn the ocean can be deadly. Such messaging is hard to escape in Nouadhibou, Mauritania’s second-largest city and a launch point on an increasingly popular migrant route toward Europe. As authorities strengthen security measures on long-established routes, migrants are resorting to longer, more perilous ones. From Mauritania, they risk hundreds of kilometers of sea and howling winds to reach Spain’s Canary Islands. The route puts new strain on this port city of 177,000 people at the edge of the Sahara. Outdated infrastructure and unpaved roads have not kept pace as European and Chinese investment pours into the fishing industry, and as migrants and their children arrive from as far away as Syria and Pakistan. The school for children of migrants and refugees, set up in 2018 as an early response to the growing need, is the kind of program envisioned as part of the $219 million accord the European Union and Mauritania brokered last year. The deal — one of several that Europe has signed with neighboring states to deter migration — funds border patrol, development aid and programs supporting refugees, asylum-seekers and host communities. It’s a response to rising alarm and anti-migration politics in Europe. Nearly 47,000 migrants arrived on boats in the Canaries last year, a record “fueled by departures from Mauritania, even as flows from other departure points declined,” according to the EU border agency Frontex. Almost 6,000 were unaccompanied children under 18. Tracking deaths at sea is difficult, but the Spanish nonprofit Walking Borders says at least 6,800 people died or went missing while attempting the crossing last year. Conditions are so harsh that boats drifting off course can end up in Brazil or the Caribbean. Though many praise initiatives that fulfill migrants and refugees’ overlooked needs, few believe they will be effective in discouraging departures for Europe — even the head of the group that runs the Nouadhibou school. “We can’t stop migration,” said Amsatou Vepouyoum, president of the Organization for the Support of Migrants and Refugees, the city’s leading migrant aid group. … “School helps migrants in Mauritania; can it keep them from leaving for Europe?” →

US President Donald Trump says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be at the White House on Friday to sign an agreement granting the US access to Ukraine’s lucrative rare earth minerals. But Ukraine’s leader says a few outstanding issues remain. White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington. …

The Russian economy and the Russian ruble have not collapsed during the three years of the war in Ukraine despite crippling Western sanctions. However, authorities in Moscow are not hiding the fact that the country’s economy is overheated due to rising defense spending and high inflation, while interest rates are at an all-time record of 21%.  Experts say that the U.S.-Russia talks to end the war in Ukraine could be an opportunity for Moscow to prevent more severe economic consequences.  Click here for the full story in Russian.  …

WASHINGTON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday to address the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and bilateral trade ties, amid the U.S. leader’s tariff threats on Europe and demands that the continent rely less on Washington for its security. Ahead of their meeting, Trump, who wants NATO members to boost defense spending to 5% of their Gross Domestic Product, reiterated his stance that Europe should “step up.” He told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that American taxpayers “shouldn’t be footing the bill than – more than the Europeans are paying.” In what appears to be a move to appease Trump, on Tuesday, Starmer announced an unexpected increase in the U.K. defense budget to 2.5% of the nation’s GDP by 2027, then to 2.6% the following year. “This week when I meet President Trump, I will be clear: I want this relationship to go from strength to strength,” Starmer told members of the British Parliament, underscoring what he calls his country’s “most important bilateral alliance,” with the U.S. Starmer told reporters Tuesday that the increase in defense spending was “three years in the making,” following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The increase will be funded by cutting Britain’s already depleted foreign aid budget to just 0.3% of the country’s GDP. He acknowledged that the decision to ramp up defense spending was “accelerated” as Trump moves to negotiate with Moscow without the involvement of Ukraine or Europeans and made clear he is reducing U.S. support for Europe’s security. “President Trump thinks we should do more, and I agree with him. It chimes with my thinking on this,” Starmer said. He said he also aims to further increase defense spending to 3% in the next Parliament, which will begin in 2029 at the latest after the next general election. A key message for Starmer to reinforce is that Europeans must be part of any discussions on Ukraine, said Gesine Weber, a fellow on the German Marshall Fund’s Geostrategy team. “Because it would be very odd to have a situation where you have the burden shift to Europeans, but not the strategic responsibility and the strategic reflections,” she told VOA. In 2023, the U.S. spent 3.4% of its GDP on defense, according to U.S. government data compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Insititute. European peacekeeping Starmer’s meeting comes on … “British PM Starmer to meet Trump at the White House” →

Three years after Russian troops drove everyone in the village into a school basement for a month, the people of Yahidne, Ukraine, continue to repair and rebuild their homes. Lesia Bakalets visited this community about 90 kilometers north of Kyiv. Camera: Vladyslav Smilianets. …

WASHINGTON — In a flash protest to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 20 coffins are laid out in Republic Square in Paris. The coffins —19 open and one closed — symbolize journalists held by Russia. The sealed coffin is a reference to Victoria Roshchyna, who died while in Russian detention under unclear circumstances. Overall, the conflict has contributed to 13 deaths of local and foreign journalists and 47 cases of journalists being injured as they cover the war, according to Reporters Without Borders, known as RSF. One Ukrainian journalist remains missing. Cases include Russian strikes on TV stations, gunfire, shelling and journalists being hit by Russian drones while covering Ukrainian military operations. Among those affected is Fox News journalist Benjamin Hall, who was seriously injured in an attack that killed two of his colleagues in March 2022. Hall told VOA the road to recovery has been hard. “For the first six or seven months, I was at a military hospital in Texas. And when you are going through the traumatic recovery, and you’re in the ICU, it’s brutal,” Hall said. “The amount of pain — you don’t know what’s coming ahead. But I found those to be some of the easiest moments.” Returning home, he says, and coming to terms not only with life-changing injuries, including an amputation, but also with the trauma has been harder than the immediate treatment for his injuries. The veteran correspondent was traveling to the village of Horenka outside of Kyiv with his colleagues, French video journalist Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova, when a Russian mortar attack hit the vehicle two times. Hall was the only survivor. “I had one goal, and that was to get home. And it was to get better and walk again, learn to walk again,” he said. “Before, I was just this journalist. Suddenly, you are someone who was injured, and people see you in a different way. And I found that part of that recovery was a bit harder,” Hall added. Returning to journalism was a priority for his recovery. “And so, as soon as I could, I was trying to get back in the field, and I returned to Ukraine,” he said. On Nov. 20, 2023, Hall returned to Ukraine and interviewed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The journalist traveled by train and said it was a milestone in his recovery. When he was … “In Ukraine, resilience is key to three years of war coverage” →

As U.S. President Donald Trump sped up efforts to end the war in Ukraine, VOA Russian spoke to experts who believe Washington is keen to redraw all layers of bilateral ties with Moscow. While experts agree that the Kremlin is not inclined to make major concessions at this point, Russia will need to find compromises to reset relations with the United States. Click here for the full story in Russian. …

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will sign a deal giving the United States substantial rights to Kyiv’s lucrative rare earth minerals and to compensate Washington for weapons sent to Ukraine to fight Russia’s three-year war of aggression.   Trump, at the first Cabinet meeting of his new presidential term, said that Zelenskyy will be at the White House on Friday to sign the pact and for discussions about the state of the war.  Trump said the deal “brings us great wealth,” but said his first goal is to end the war, which has killed or wounded several hundred thousand Russian and Ukrainian soldiers and Ukrainian civilians.  “My No. 2 thing is to get paid back,” Trump said of the more than $100 billion in munitions Washington has shipped to Kyiv to support its fighters. “Without our equipment, that [war] would have been over very quickly,” with Russia overrunning Ukraine.   As it is, Russia now controls about a fifth of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory and has vowed to not give any of it back in a would-be peace settlement.  Trump said he expects to eventually reach a deal with Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the fighting. Trump initiated talks with Putin about ending the conflict but the first discussions last week between the top U.S. and Russian diplomats, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, excluded Ukrainian and European officials.    “Because I got elected, this war is going to come to an end,” Trump declared. He said Putin “had no intention of settling this. We’re going to have a deal.”    But he said Ukraine “could forget about” joining NATO, the West’s main military alliance, as part of a peace settlement.   In Kyiv, Zelenskyy said at a news conference that the framework for the rare earth mineral deal was complete, but that U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine that the Kyiv government views as vital have yet to be settled.  Trump has long expressed skepticism about continued U.S. military support for Ukraine. Last year, he refused to say he wants Ukraine to win the war.   Trump has called Zelenskyy a dictator, without blaming Putin for the invasion.    The U.S. leader has said he is particularly peeved that his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, agreed to the Ukraine military assistance without any provision that Ukraine would … “US, Ukraine to sign minerals deal, but security issues unsettled” →

The U.S. and Belarus are reportedly negotiating a deal for the release of a significant number of political prisoners in Belarus. In return the U.S. is considering easing some sanctions on the country that is closely tied to Russia. Maxim Adams has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Video editor: Aleksandr Bergan, Anna Rice    …

NEW DELHI — The European Union plans to urge India to lower its high tariffs on cars and wine to boost trade, as it seeks to reduce its reliance on China, a senior official from the bloc said, ahead of a visit by the European Commission president to New Delhi. Echoing U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of reciprocal tariffs, the official said the EU would press India to cut tariffs on some goods and broaden market access for its products, while offering flexibility on agriculture issues to expedite free trade agreement talks. “The Indian market is relatively closed, especially to key products of commercial interest to the European Union and our member states’ industries, including cars, wines and spirits,” said the official, who requested anonymity due to the confidential nature of the discussions. EC President Ursula von der Leyen’s two-day visit from Thursday, accompanied by leaders of EU member nations, coincides with escalating geopolitical tensions, with Brussels and New Delhi set to outline key areas for deeper cooperation under their strategic partnership. Leyen will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, followed by discussions with trade minister Piyush Goyal. The next trade negotiations round is scheduled for March 10-14 in Brussels. The EU’s call for lower tariffs comes amid Trump’s threats to impose reciprocal tariffs from early April, which has caused anxiety for India’s exporters. Analysts from Citi Research estimate potential losses of about $7 billion annually. The EU is India’s largest trading partner in goods, with trade nearing $126 billion in 2024, marking an increase of about 90% over the past decade. Reducing reliance on China As part of its “de-risking” strategy, the EU aims to strengthen economic and security ties with India, diversify supply chains, and reduce reliance on key products from China. The EU also views India as a vital ally in addressing security challenges, the official said, including cyber threats and tensions in the South China Sea and Indo-Pacific. Leyen is also expected to seek India’s support for a “peaceful and just deal” for Ukraine’s security, the official said. The EU and India could sign an agreement to share classified security information to tackle common threats such as cyber attacks and terrorism, while exploring defense equipment trade. Despite these potential benefits, trade analysts said the visit may not yield tangible results. For substantial cooperation, the EU should acknowledge India as a data-secure country, said Ajay Srivastava, … “EU will ask India to cut tariffs on cars, wine to boost ties, reduce reliance on China “ →

PARIS — France’s foreign minister said Wednesday that he wanted “all” European countries to cooperate and start cutting back visas available to nationals of countries that refuse to take back illegal migrants expelled by Paris. Jean-Noel Barrot spoke after an Algerian-born man went on a stabbing rampage in the eastern French city of Mulhouse at the weekend, killing one person and wounding several others in what President Emmanuel Macron called an “Islamist terrorist act.” The 37-year-old suspect was on a terrorism watch list and subject to a deportation order. France had attempted to expel him multiple times, but Algeria refused to cooperate, French authorities say. “If a country does not cooperate with the French authorities, I will propose that all European countries restrict the issuing of visas at the same time,” Barrot told broadcaster France 2. “When we do it on a national level, it doesn’t work unfortunately,” he added. But if foreign governments cooperate, the European Union also could consider reducing customs tariffs for such countries, Barrot proposed. “It is a particularly powerful lever,” he said. French authorities are seeking to tighten immigration policies and border controls, in a move emblematic of the right-ward shift in French politics. “If we want our migration policy to be as effective as possible, there are many things that will be much more effective if we do it at a European level,” he said. Prime Minister Francois Bayrou was set later Wednesday to chair a meeting on immigration controls. Bayrou has called for a national debate on immigration and what it means to be French, suggesting that immigrants were “flooding” France. …

Ukrainian officials said Wednesday a Russian drone attack killed at least one person and injured two others in the Kyiv region. Kyiv Governor Mykola Kalashnyk said on Telegram that the attack also damaged five houses and four multi-story residential buildings. Fragments from destroyed drones damaged apartment buildings, a university building, and a theater in the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, the regional governor said Wednesday. Ukraine’s military said Wednesday it shot down 110 of the 177 drones that Russian forces used in their latest overnight attacks. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday its air defenses destroyed 130 Ukrainian drones, more than half of which were shot down over the Krasnodar region located along the Black Sea. Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on Telegram that the attacks damaged homes in three districts but did not hurt anyone. Russian air defenses also shot down drones over Russia-occupied Crimea, the Sea of Azov, the Black Sea and Russia’s Bryansk and Kursk regions, the Defense Ministry said. Some information for this story was provided by Reuters …

The United States and Ukraine have a framework deal in place for a joint fund to reinvest revenue from Ukrainian natural resources, according to officials familiar with the negotiations. The plan would include investing 50% of proceeds from Ukraine’s minerals, oil and gas. The United States would commit to the development of a “stable and economically prosperous Ukraine.” The framework does not include U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine, but officials said negotiations were ongoing. U.S. President Donald Trump indicated Tuesday he could meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later this week. “I hear that he’s coming on Friday. Certainly, it’s okay with me if he’d like to. He would like to sign it together with me. I understand that. It’s a big deal.” Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters …

KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukraine and the United States have reached an agreement on a framework for a broad economic deal that would include access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, three senior Ukrainian officials said Tuesday.  The officials, who were familiar with the matter, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. One of them said Kyiv hopes that signing the agreement will ensure the continued flow of U.S. military support that Ukraine urgently needs.  President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, said he’d heard that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was coming and added that “it’s OK with me, if he’d like to, and he would like to sign it together with me.”  The agreement could be signed as early as Friday and plans are being drawn up for Zelenskyy to travel to Washington to meet Trump, according to one of the Ukrainian officials.  Another official said the agreement would provide an opportunity for Zelenskyy and Trump to discuss continued military aid to Ukraine, which is why Kyiv is eager to finalize the deal.  Trump called it “a very big deal,” adding that it could be worth 1 trillion dollars. “It could be whatever, but it’s rare earths and other things.”  According to one Ukrainian official, some technical details are still to be worked out. However, the draft does not include a contentious Trump administration proposal to give the U.S. $500 billion worth of profits from Ukraine’s rare earth minerals as compensation for its wartime assistance to Kyiv.  Instead, the U.S. and Ukraine would have joint ownership of a fund, and Ukraine would in the future contribute 50 percent of future proceeds from state-owned resources, including minerals, oil, and gas. One official said the deal had better terms of investments and another one said that Kyiv secured favorable amendments and viewed the outcome as “positive.”  The deal does not, however, include security guarantees. One official said that this would be something the two presidents would discuss when they meet.  The progress in negotiating the deal comes after Trump and Zelenskyy traded sharp rhetoric last week about their differences over the matter.  Zelenskyy said he balked at signing off on a deal that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushed during a visit to Kyiv earlier this month, and the Ukrainian leader objected again days later during a meeting in Munich with Vice President JD Vance because … “Ukraine, US agree on a framework economic deal, Ukrainian officials say” →

Despite rising uncertainty over waning U.S. support, growing existential questions and ongoing Russian advances, polls find Ukrainians remain generally optimistic about their future. Lesia Bakalets reports from Kyiv, Ukraine. Camera: Vladyslav Smilianet. …

Three years since the beginning of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s economy has continued to grow because of its rampant defense spending. VOA Russian spoke with the experts who predict the defense-based growth is unsustainable and about to hit the ceiling as both industrial capacities and workforce are at near maximums. Thousands of Western sanctions imposed on Moscow also have hit certain sectors of the Russian economy, particularly damaging Gazprom, the car industry and aviation. Click here for the full story in Russian. …

Friedrich Merz, who will likely be the next chancellor of Germany after gaining the largest vote share in elections Sunday, has warned that the United States “does not care much” about the fate of Europe — and called for the continent to urgently organize its own defense capability. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the comments mark a profound shift in approach from Europe’s biggest economy. …

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Tuesday that the U.K. would increase its defense spending by 2027 to bolster its security against the threat of Russian aggression exhibited by Moscow’s three-year war against Ukraine. Starmer told Parliament that defense spending would increase by $17 billion annually, boosting outlays from 2.3% of the United Kingdom’s economic production to 2.5%, with corresponding cuts in overseas development assistance. Starmer told lawmakers the increased defense spending was a “generational response” and the “biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War.” He said it was necessary because “tyrants like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin only respond to strength.” “We must stand by Ukraine, because if we do not achieve a lasting peace, then the economic instability and threats to our security, they will only grow,” said Starmer, who is set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday. “And so, as the nature of that conflict changes as it has in recent weeks, it brings our response into sharper focus, a new era that we must meet as we have so often in the past, together, and with strength,” Starmer told the House of Commons. Britain previously said it would increase its defense spending to 2.5% of its national economic production but did not pinpoint a date. It already is one of 23 of the 32 countries in NATO that meets the goal of the West’s main military alliance for each country to spend at least 2% of its gross domestic product on defense. Starmer’s push to increase defense spending comes as European countries have expressed new concerns about ongoing military support from the United States as Trump advances his “America First” foreign policy agenda and pushes to settle the Ukraine war in discussions with Putin. Starmer has offered to send British troops to Ukraine as part of a force to safeguard any ceasefire that might be agreed to but says an American “backstop” will be needed to ensure a lasting peace.   Trump has not committed to providing security guarantees for Ukraine, saying Monday after meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House that “Europe is going to make sure nothing happens.” Trump last week called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator” but has declined to characterize Putin the same way. Some material in this report came from The Associated Press. …

BERLIN — A trial began Tuesday in Germany for four alleged members of U.S.-designated terror group Hamas who are suspected of organizing weapons caches across Europe. The country’s top prosecutor accuses the men of membership in a foreign terrorist organization. It’s a pilot case for prosecutors, German news agency dpa reported. “For the first time in Germany, people are facing charges of participating as members of the foreign terrorist organization Hamas,” prosecutor Jochen Weingarten said, according to dpa. The men are accused of seeking out some weapons depots set up years ago, as well as setting up new ones, for Hamas across Europe so it could later use the firearms and ammunition for attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets on the continent, prosecutors said when filing charges last year. The weapons were allegedly moved around Europe in preparation for Hamas’ terror attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, prosecutors said. Around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in that attack, and about 250 taken hostage. The attack triggered Israel’s air and ground offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 48,200 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians. The ministry says more than half the dead have been women and children. Hamas also considered targeting the Israeli Embassy in Berlin, the area around Tempelhof Airport in the capital and the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany, authorities said. Abdelhamid Al A., Mohamed B., Nazih R. and Ibrahim El-R. were arrested in December 2023. Prosecutors identified them only by their first name and last initial in line with German privacy laws. All four had important positions within Hamas, prosecutors asserted. The men allegedly set up a weapons cache in Bulgaria in 2019 and in Denmark later that year. They sought to find a spot in Poland but were unsuccessful, prosecutors said. …

After three years of relentless war, Ukraine is facing a mental health crisis, with hospitals overwhelmed by soldiers suffering from anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Doctors say the hidden wounds could linger for decades. Yan Boechat reports from Lviv in western Ukraine. …

The Church of England will seek to bring disciplinary proceedings against 10 clerics including former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, it said on Tuesday, implementing recommendations from an abuse report last year.  The CoE, central to 85 million Anglicans worldwide, has been in crisis over safeguarding the vulnerable since the November report, which said ex-leader Justin Welby had taken insufficient action to stop one of the church’s most prolific serial abusers. Welby eventually stepped down over the findings.  Eight priests and a former bishop were also listed among those potentially facing disciplinary action in the CoE statement as the CoE concluded its own independent review into all clergy criticized in last year’s report.  That report found that the late John Smyth, a British lawyer who volunteered at Christian summer camps, subjected more than 100 boys and young men to “brutal and horrific” physical and sexual abuse over a 40-year period.  The potential outcomes of the CoE’s disciplinary process, which is at its first stage, could result in various penalties ranging from a permanent ban from ministry to resignation by consent.  “We must not forget that at the heart of this case are the survivors and victims who have endured the lifelong effects of the appalling abuse by John Smyth. We are truly sorry,” Alexander Kubeyinje, the CoE’s National Director of Safeguarding, said in the statement.  “The Church is committed to taking very seriously its response to the findings of the review as well as responding to its recommendations.”    …

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis, who is in critical condition in a hospital battling double pneumonia, rested well throughout the night, the Vatican said on Tuesday. The 88-year-old pope was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14. “The pope rested well all night,” the Vatican said in a one-sentence statement. On Monday, the Vatican said the pontiff’s condition remained critical but had shown a “slight improvement,” adding that the “mild kidney insufficiency,” first reported at the weekend, was not a cause for concern. Double pneumonia is a serious infection that can inflame and scar both lungs, making it difficult to breathe. The Vatican has described the pope’s infection as “complex,” and said it was caused by two or more microorganisms. Francis, who has been pope since 2013, has suffered bouts of ill health over the past two years. He is particularly prone to lung infections because he developed pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed. Thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Monday evening to pray for the pope’s recovery. His friend, the Honduran cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, told La Repubblica newspaper: “I think…it’s not time for him to go to heaven yet.” The pope signaled in early February that he had a bad cold, which meant he could not read out his speeches. Despite this, he continued to work, with multiple daily meetings and even taking part in open-air Masses, despite the chill. Some well-wishers have said he should have taken better care of himself, but Maradiaga defended his work ethic. “He is aware that he has a mission he must carry out, and nothing stops him. The pope explained that he did not accept his election (as pontiff) in order to rest,” he said. In Monday’s statement, the Vatican said Francis had resumed working in his self-contained apartment within the Gemelli hospital, and had called the Catholic parish in Gaza, which the pope has done frequently during the Israel-Hamas war. …

BOGOTA, Colombia — An annual United Nations conference on biodiversity that ran out of time last year will resume its work Tuesday in Rome with money at the top of the agenda. That is, how to spend what’s been pledged so far — and how to raise a lot more to help preserve plant and animal life on Earth. The talks in Colombia, known as COP16, yielded some significant outcomes before they broke up in November, including an agreement that requires companies that benefit from genetic resources in nature — say, by developing medicines from rainforest plants — to share the benefits. And steps were taken to give Indigenous peoples and local communities a stronger voice in conservation matters. But two weeks turned out to be not enough time to get everything done. The Cali talks followed the historic 2022 COP15 accord in Montreal, which included 23 measures aimed at protecting biodiversity. Those included putting 30% of the planet and 30% of degraded ecosystems under protection by 2030, known as the Global Biodiversity Framework. “Montreal was about the ‘what’ — what are we all working towards together?” said Georgina Chandler, head of policy and campaigns for the Zoological Society London. “Cali was supposed to focus on the ‘how’ — putting the plans and the financing in place to ensure we can actually implement this framework.” “They eventually lost a quorum because people simply went home,” said Linda Krueger of The Nature Conservancy, who is in Rome for the two days of talks “And so now we’re having to finish these last critical decisions, which are some of the nitty gritty decisions on financing, on resource mobilization and on the planning and monitoring and reporting requirements under the Global Biodiversity Framework.” The overall financial aim was to achieve $20 billion a year in the fund by 2025, and then $30 billion by 2030. So far, only $383 million had been pledged as of November, from 12 nations or sub-nations: Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Province of Québec, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Participants will discuss establishing a “global financing instrument for biodiversity” intended to effectively distribute the money raised. And a big part of the talks will be about raising more money. ‘Completely off track’ on larger financial goal Chandler and Kruger both said the finance points at Colombia’s talks were particularly contentious. “It’s really about how … “Talks to protect Earth’s biodiversity resume with money topping the agenda” →

Multiple regions of Ukraine came under aerial attack from Russian forces overnight, with officials in Kyiv and Sumy saying Tuesday there were injuries and damage to buildings. Mykola Kalashnyk, governor of the Kyiv region, said a 44-year-old woman was hospitalized as a result of the attacks, which also damaged several houses. Officials in Sumy said Ukrainian air defenses shot down seven drones, but that the attacks injured two people and damaged two apartment buildings. Cherkasy Governor Ihor Taburets said Tuesday on Telegram that the military destroyed 20 drones over his region. Taburets said there were no reports of injuries or damage. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, Governor Serhiy Lysak said air defenses destroyed three Russian drones, while Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim said the military shot down seven drones in his region. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday it shot down 20 Ukrainian drones overnight, mostly over the Bryansk region that is located along the Russia-Ukraine border. Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram there were no injuries from the Ukrainian attack. Other intercepts took place over the Kursk and Kaluga regions, the Defense Ministry said. Some information for this story was provided by Reuters …

LONDON — More than 1,000 musicians including Kate Bush and Cat Stevens on Tuesday released a silent album to protest proposed changes to Britain’s copyright laws which could allow tech firms to train artificial intelligence models using their work. Creative industries globally are grappling with the legal and ethical implications of AI models that can produce their own output after being trained on popular works without necessarily paying the creators of the original content. Britain, which Prime Minister Keir Starmer wants to become an AI superpower, has proposed relaxing laws that currently give creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works the right to control the ways their material may be used. The proposed changes would allow AI developers to train their models on any material to which they have lawful access, and would require creators to proactively opt out to stop their work being used. The changes have been heavily criticized by many artists, who say it would reverse the principle of copyright law, which grants exclusive control to creators for their work. “In the music of the future, will our voices go unheard?” said Bush, whose 1985 hit “Running Up That Hill” enjoyed a resurgence in 2022 thanks to Netflix show “Stranger Things.” The co-written album titled “Is This What We Want?” features recordings of empty studios and performance spaces to represent what organizers say is the potential impact on artists’ livelihoods should the changes go ahead. A public consultation on the legal changes closes later on Tuesday. Responding to the album, a government spokesperson said the current copyright and AI regime was holding back the creative industries, media and AI sector from “realizing their full potential.” “We have engaged extensively with these sectors throughout and will continue to do so. No decisions have been taken,” the spokesperson said, adding that the government’s proposals will be set out in due course. Annie Lennox, Billy Ocean, Hans Zimmer, Tori Amos and The Clash are among the musicians urging the government to review its plans. “The government’s proposal would hand the life’s work of the country’s musicians to AI companies, for free, letting those companies exploit musicians’ work to outcompete them,” said organizer Ed Newton-Rex, the founder of Fairly Trained, a non-profit that certifies generative AI companies for fairer training data practices. “The UK can be leaders in AI without throwing our world-leading creative industries under the bus.” …